September 13, 2006
punching a brick wall
(aka The Future of the Arts in the Scenic City)
Recently, Josiah posted a link to the newly formed, city-funded program,
Arts Move Chattanooga. A lot of discussion has taken place thus far, and I
encourage local readers to check it out.
Coming out of those discussions, I've sorta felt prompted to ask some important
questions about being an artist (of any medium) in Chattanooga.
1. What do you feel is the biggest challenge faced by local artists?
2. What keeps the 'arts scene' from becoming fully realized?
3. How often do you actively support local artists? (through attending galleries,
purchasing art, etc)
4. To what extent is the city responsible for actively improving the arts?
Posted by davidm at 11:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 11, 2006
prose and cons of davidm.
Show preview for Essex Green.
(the show is this Sunday, 5/14)
In other prose and cons news, I received my first piece of fanmail thru Myspace.
This came from David in The Holding Pattern:
Good to see you on here, David. I've been trying to keep up with your work in the Pulse. You have a knack for putting into words what you hear and it's appreciated.
Awww....shucks. You're making me blush.
Posted by davidm at 11:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 26, 2006
the prose and cons of davidm
From Chattanooga Pulse.
This show preview for Richard Buckner was supposed to begin like so:
"I dreamed of a couple dancing close and drunk in the spray of lights they made."
-Richard Buckner, Since
Two record reviews. One for The Streets. The other for Parts & Labor.
Show preview for upcoming Jairus-farewell show.
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April 20, 2006
prose and cons of davidm.
Show preview of upcoming Half-Handed Cloud show.
Which as you now know, does not include Kil Howlie Day.
Posted by davidm at 01:03 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
April 10, 2006
half-handed cloud
Half-Handed Cloud, Halos and Lassos.
Chattanooga native, John Ringhofer, sings joyful Christian minuets on his 5th release. Stereo typewriters, drum machines, and Casio keyboards flesh out the arrangements on the Smile-esque record. Brief and to the point, Ringhofer (also part of Sufjan’s Noisemakers) paints an interesting slightly-schizo picture. The tracks change form quickly. Each one falls under the 2 minute mark. The record is at its best in one sitting.
Posted by davidm at 07:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
eagles of death metal
Eagles of Death Metal Death by Sexy.
A crazy man laughs. Distorted guitars jangle and pop on “I Want You So Hard.” Riffs pulse from the speakers. Octave piano bounces on top. Layered vocals sing the refrain: “My friends are talking and they’re telling you/ just leave him alone cuz the boy’s bad news.” Midtempo rocker, “I Got a Feeling,” wails, “I love you baby, you’re just nineteeeeen.” A floor tom beat grooves with over-compressed guitars and choked crash cymbals. “Cherry Cola” beats down pounding drums, and a solo vis-à-vis Brian May.
“Solid Gold” breaks album form with shaker, deep drums and acoustic slide. Calm vocals swagger and gleam: “You’ll see us coming and we’ll make you scream.” A lone guitar alternates a few notes behind the mix. Processed vocals bend with the hook “Sweat!” Acoustic blues, tambourine, and handclaps groove on the black spiritual, “Bag O’ Miracles.” Harmony vocals sing, “Oh yes I got me some trouble Lord…Oh yes I feel so sad and lonesome.” A whistler solos. Feet stomp. People enter and exit the room. A child speaks. A grown man yells, “Praise God!”
The duo consists of Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) and Jesse Hughes. Death by Sexy is a loud, in your face, old-fashioned rock record. Chauvinistic and irreverent (“I Want You So Hard” and “Bag O’ Miracles”). Catchy as hell. And poised to rock your socks off.
Posted by davidm at 06:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 05, 2006
prose and cons of davidm.
Review of At War With the Mystics.
The Flaming Lips.
Posted by davidm at 10:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 29, 2006
prose and cons of davidm.
Band of Horses Review.
I forgot to say Best Record of 2006, though. My B.
NEEEEEEEIIIIIIIGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by davidm at 08:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 22, 2006
the prose and cons of davidm
Record review of Mates of State, Bring It Back.
Mates of State on the web.
I have no idea where the Band of Horses review is. I gave it an 8.8 too.
Posted by davidm at 10:59 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
March 09, 2006
the prose and cons of davidm
I'm way pumped about this week's issue of The Chattanooga Pulse.
Indie rock hits the Scenic City stands today.
Interview and review of Jaymay and Sea Green, See Blue.
Jaymay on the web.
On the myspace.
Record review of Dead Heart Bloom. This record is a free download. C'mon peeps.
Dead Heart Bloom on the web.
On the myspace.
Posted by davidm at 10:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 04, 2006
rabbit valley road on sxsw
No, I'm not going to SxSW this year (unless some newspaper wants to give me
an all-expenses paid trip to cover the event...heh heh). But if I was going, these
are the bands I'd be most keen to see. I'm sure I missed a lot; the best schedule
I've found is here.
The task of keeping up with everything at SxSW is daunting, but this is a pretty
good indication of how I would spend my time there. So if you are going, and
looking for recommendations, here's mine. I'm interested to hear from any
Chattanooga citizens that are making the trek, and what you plan on doing while
you're there.
Wednesday, March 15
3PM - Go! Team @ Waterloo Record's (Instore)
4PM - Ted Leo @ The Parish Room
7PM - Tapes n Tapes @ Austin City Limits Studios
10PM - Willy Mason @ Antone's
Thursday, March 16
6:30PM - Blackalicious @ Town Lake Stage at Auditorium Shores
7 PM - Spoon @ Town Lake Stage at Auditorium Shores
8 PM - Margot and The Nuclear So and So's @ Nuno's Upstairs
11:15 - Man Man @ The Velvet Spade
1 AM - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah @ Eternal
1 AM - Parts & Labor @ Velvet Spade
Friday, March 17
3PM - The Go! Team @ Stubb's
8PM - Rosanne Cash @ Town Lake Stage at Auditorium Shores
10PM - Jaymay @ Spiro's Patio
11PM - Band of Horses @ Red Eyed Fly
12:40 AM - Animal Collective @ Fox and Hound
1AM - The Foxymorons @ Spiro's Patio
Saturday, March 18
(sometime in afternoon) Anna Kramer/ A Fir-Ju Well @ Cream Vintage
12:15AM - Okkervil River @ Emo's Annex
1 AM - We Are Scientists @ Fox and Hound
Posted by davidm at 01:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 01, 2006
tfp enters 2006?
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the Times-Free Press on Sunday afternoons. And
Trevor Higgins is one of my good friends. I enjoy his work, and he's very proactive
in the music scene, but...their website sucks. Aside from major headlines, it's only
available to paying subscribers. I do not get this at all. I understand that
maintaining a paper that size costs a lot of money, but that's what banner ads and
pop-ups are for. I refer you to exhibit A and B. TFP controls information in this
town. Since it merged (it used to be 2 different papers), it has no competition.
I can only attribute its pay to play web interface to arrogance.
Many people are unaware but the paper does have a blogsite. I frequent the site
on a weekly basis, and I'm always very frustrated with its interface. It always
comes off as more of a medium for informal reporting than a true blogsite. The
biggest problem is that it's not a public forum. The only way to comment is to
e-mail the author, and comments aren't ever posted from what I'm able to
gather. As of today, this has been updated so that blog entries are posted in a
window on the main page alongside their new podcasts (I haven't checked those
out yet). But the new system's archiving features are terrible. And you still can't
comment. I don't understand why they are eschewing a public forum such as
this one.
I'm sure a lot of people will read this from the paper, and I want you to understand
that I'm not looking to be a critic; I truly want to see your newspaper
do great things, and I would love to see it command a great web presence in the
city, but c'mon this isn't rocket science. And you have the cash to implement
a great website. So what's stopping you?
Posted by davidm at 01:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
the prose and cons of other people
I didn't have very much to do with the current issue of The Pulse.
Record review of The Teenage Prayers, Ten Songs.
Teenage Prayers on the web.
But there are some other good articles there.
Check out Aaron Mesh's article on the brand spankin new Chattanooga Craigslist.
The newly revitalized Pulse Blog is also worth checking out. A cool feature of the blog
is that content, comments, etc are going to start making their way into the
paper. Colrus asked me to start posting there as well, and also wants to start stealing
from me. I told him to get lost. Just kidding. It's fine by me.
Posted by davidm at 12:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 22, 2006
the prose and cons of davidm.
From the Chattanooga Pulse.
Live review of Tremont Beauty Salon.
Tremont Beauty Salon on the web.
Interview with Monster Cock.
Monster Cock on the web.
Record review of Songs of Green Pheasant.
Posted by davidm at 09:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 16, 2006
the prose and cons of davidm
A CD review from the Chattanooga Pulse.
We Are Scientists on the web.
Show review of Little Country Giants from a couple of weeks ago.
Little Country Giants on the web. Download Something To Be Proud Of
Posted by davidm at 08:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 08, 2006
A Fir-Ju Well
A Fir-Ju Well is coming back to Chattanooga, Wednesday, February 15.
Check them out online and then come out to Rhythm and Brews to see them,
Zombie Army, and Tremont Beauty Salon.
The Pulse ran this article on the show today.
Posted by davidm at 07:50 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
February 02, 2006
what's new in the world of davidm
Lindsay Aquila made this.
A lot has been going on. Big emphasis on a lot.
I am starting to write for The Chattanooga Pulse, covering music.
I'm way stoked about this opportunity, and hopefully, you fine people
will enjoy my contributions to the paper.
I have been tooting my own horn saying I'm going to release some
solo music for the past month. The truth is that I haven't even started
recording yet. I've been so busy looking for a job that I can't
work on much else. Although, I do have a good deal of material written
right now, and I've recently spoken with some friends to help put
together a band for a few live appearances.
Plus, our studio (which is called Twisted Ankle BTW) is still in need of a drum
kit. Hopefully, this will be remedied soon.
The A Fir-Ju Well show is coming up, February 15. I just got the posters
in the mail yesterday. They are beautiful. I will post more about that later.
There are some other things in the works right now that will be awesome for
me and for the city of Chattanooga. I don't want to go into details just yet,
but I'm pumped regardless.
I've felt like a completely different person since January 1.
(Out with the old, in with the new.) Like I'm shaking the dust off my feet.
Life kicks ass.
Posted by davidm at 11:28 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 17, 2006
show promotion at lamar's
Someone asked me recently why there aren’t as many shows at Lamar’s as there used to be. I’m pretty open about not being a fan of the venue, and there are a few reasons why.
Several years ago, Lamar’s was a great venue largely because you could put on shows there at a low cost. How many people remember seeing Neutral Milk Hotel, The Dirty Three, and Olivia Tremor Control there? At some point while I was living in Nashville, punk bands started playing there. One show in particular, a fight broke out, and the main room was trashed.
Following the event, Lamar’s setup a *No Show* policy. Eventually, they saw their alcohol sales go down which were probably pretty hefty during the hay days between 1998 and 2000. Instead of reversing their policy, they started having a room rental fee. This is pretty common for some venues, but there are several problems in this particular instance. For starters, all they have is a room. There is no PA; they don’t staff the events; and they don’t offer a cut of their bar sales to make up for any losses on your end.
Continue reading "show promotion at lamar's"
Posted by davidm at 12:12 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
December 30, 2005
year end resolution(s)
I like making lists.
And I like looking thru lists to find music that I totally missed.
This is not a top 10 (or top 15). It's just a list of records I dug in 2005
favorite records of 2005
Wolf Parade, Apologies to the Queen Mary
Over The Rhine, Drunkard's Prayer
Bright Eyes, I'm Wide Awake It's Morning
Beck, Guero
South San Gabriel, The Carlton Chronicles
The New Pornographers, Twin Cinema
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, st
Sufjan Stevens, Illinois
Broken Social Scene, st
Antony and The Johnsons, I Am A Bird Now
Kanye West, Late Registration
The Decemberists, Picaresque
LCD Soundsystem, st
Coldplay, X&Y
Spoon, Gimme Fiction
favorite unsigned bands of 2005
A Fir-Ju Well (Atlanta)
Jaymay (NYC)
The Teenage Prayers (NYC)
The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers (Chapel Hill)
Margot and The Nuclear So and So's (Indianapolis)
Cari Clara (Cincinnati)
Imagine Asians (Nashville)
year-end links
Top 50 Music Videos of 2005 You can watch them all too!
metacrtitic top 50
Artists Best of... Courtesy of Pitchfork.
The Year of Sufjan Stevens
I'm by no means a music journalist (thank God), but if I had to sum up
the music scene of 2005, it would have to be: The Year of Sufjan Stevens.
The guy's been around for a while, but everyone was all about this new record.
Rightfully so, as it is incredible. (He also put on the best show I've seen all year.)
It's funny though, how a guy can rise from relative obscurity to be in everyone's
top 10 list by year's end. He's the man.
Posted by davidm at 01:20 PM | Comments (10) | TrackBack
December 08, 2005
(disturbing) fish-sticks
Tonight at Lamar's, Disturbing Fish presents American Analog Set with
Chris (no relation to Tom) Brokaw.
Doors open at 9 and the cover is $8.
I just finished the VCF record which means I will be completing work for the
X-Mas EP entitled "The Jesus Clause EP." I hope to have it up by Saturday or
Sunday at the latest. Promise(s).
I've prepared a special holiday blog that will include all kinds of holiday
downloads for you and your internet-loved ones.
On Sunday, I'm heading off to Music City USA to visit the Opryland Hotel
and it's awesome light display. This has been a tradition of mine since I lived
in Murfreesboro, and it's worth the 2 hour drive.
_______________________________________________________________
Currently Listening:
jaymay
_______________________________________________________________
last night at lamar's
- ok before i begin, some guy just farted really loudly next to me (I'm at the
library) and now it stinks something awful.
- I sat upstairs for the whole show last night. I've never done this before. It's
sort of like a skybox because when you're upstairs you don't watch the band
(even though you have the best view), you talk to everyone up there. Second,
regardless of how little you smoke, you reek the next morning because
everyone's smoke is covering your body, hair, etc.
- Apparently there was some debate b/t the ladies over whether I looked liked
Adam Brody. I was waiting for the catfight to begin. I also got into the age-old
OC argument: who was cuter: Summer Roberts or Anna Stern?
- One of my favorite terms is man-collector. It always reminds me of the song
"Molly's Chambers" by Kings of Leon. It also reminds me to stay the fuck away.
- As a sidenote. On my way to the library this morning I heard Mark Kozeleck's
cover of "Ocean Breathes Salty" on the radio. I've never been a huge fan of his,
but sometimes you hear him exactly when you want to.
_______________________________________________________________
Check out the best commerical ever. It's by Sony.
_______________________________________________________________
The Grammy nominations came out last week. I'm always kind of bored by
the nominations and the awards show itself. Why is it that the Oscars are
fairly respected and the Grammy's are not? Kanye is up for like 5 or 6 awards
this year. And Arcade Fire???
Posted by davidm at 12:34 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
December 02, 2005
power of the middle finger
So I was looking at NPR's site yesterday and they had a feature on
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and their overnight success this past summer.
The story focused on music blogs, podcasts, and Pitchfork Media, showing how
a relatively unknown band could do so well without a record label.
In case you were unaware, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah sold 10,000 records this year
and is selling out venues across the country and up until recently didn't
have distribution into major record stores.
Meanwhile the Big 4 of the RIAA is in neverending pursuit of closing file-sharing
networks, P2P, and the like. Every month they dump hundreds of thousands of
dollars into Abusivo, Angel City, and Lindsay Lohan. They work on product placement,
sell ringtones, buy TRL-time, and publicize the hell out of artists that are
here today gone tomorrow.
Oh, the times they are a-changing.
_________________________________________________________________
This week has been crazy. I've spent most of it recording and mixing.
VCF record is almost complete (I'll clap my hands and say yeah).
That project took way too long for a lot of reasons...some of which were
my fault; some of which were not. On Monday, I do the mastering thing and
breathe a short sigh of relief as I gear up for exams.
In addition I have trips to Nashville and DC for the next 2 weekends, and then
I'm going back to the old life...nah, I start on new recording projects which
I look forward to.
_________________________________________________________________
Dane Cook hosts SNL tomorrow night. ("Are you out of your fucking minnnd?")
Currently listening:
The Teenage Prayers
Jaymay
KRS-One
Posted by davidm at 07:34 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack