Posted 1 year, 1 month ago
It could have been a complete trainwreck. The stereotypical washed-up rocker cashing in on his glory days, trampling on his legacy in exchange for that badly needed check. Most times, that’s how these nostalgia tours wind up, and all the warning signs were there. Only one original member in the band? With his son filling in as a band member?Substituting himself for the mythic, departed frontman? 30 minute self-congratulatory video before the set? Peter Hook presents: Unknown Pleasures had all the markings of a disaster.
Reading Dave Segal’s interview with Peter Hookin the Stranger helped allay my fears. I got a sense from the interview that at least he was approaching the material, and the tour itself in a respectful way. But I still didn’t know what to expect as I walked into the Showbox last night.
And then the band took the stage, kicked into “No Love Lost”, and erased any skepticism I still had.
The 5-piece band ripped through Unknown Pleasures, and a handful of other Joy Division songs over the course of their set, and followed it up with two quick encores. The crowd ate up every minute Read More...
Posted 1 year, 5 months ago
I have a couple of performances coming up that are a bit out of the ordinary for me. First off, this Wednesday, Sept. 1, is the Show & Tell Regulators’ All Vinyl Extravaganza, where Timm and I will be reviving our ridiculous tandem DJ project, the infamous Car Stereo Destroys Michael Bolton Tape. Expect odd sounds, overlapping and conflicting audio, cheap records, and weird beats. Our accomplices that night? DJ Sea-Tac International Airport, DJ Penicillium Roqueforti, DJ Vincent Price, DJ n00b phACE, and DJ See You At The Party Richter. It will be a night like no other, guaranteed.
The following week, Citizen Mori and I will be performing improvised soundtracks to portions of Matthew Barney’s Cremaster Cycle. I’ll be playing live guitar with plectrum and e-bow, through a series of effects pedals and software plugins, with some occasional drum machine accompaniment.
Both events take place at the Living Room in Capitol Hill, an excellent little venue with great atmosphere, in a great location. Hope to see some of you at one or both of these events, as they are likely one-time-only occurrences.
Posted 1 year, 5 months ago
I was lucky enough to get in to this year’s Capitol Hill Block Party for free for a few hours, thanks to a friend’s unexpected +1 pass. The lineup wasn’t good enough to justify paying for a ticket, but I’ll happily show up to just about anything for free, cheapskate that I am. Sadly, Blonde Redhead ended up cancelling due to illness, but getting to see !!! do their thing was pretty fun.
I also got to see a cool little old-school goth band called Zola Jesus, holding court on the Vera stage to a small-ish but enraptured audience. The front woman paced and crooned, stalking the stage and singing intensely while her bandmate pumped out layers of dark, dreamy synths and drum machine beats. It was an unexpected experience, and the rest of the crowd seemed to agree. After all, they demanded an encore from the duo, who happily (if a goth band can be described this way) obliged.
I assumed this was a local group, considering they were playing on the small Vera stage, against the headlining set by Atmosphere over on the main Neumo’s stage, and I was looking Read More...
Posted 1 year, 5 months ago
So tonight, I had some delicious homemade enchiladas, drank a couple of beers, watched some of the new season of Project Runway, and ate some amazing gelato. Pretty fun times, all around.
Oh, and in between doing all of that, the fledgling little record label that I co-founded put out our 7th official release, an album of remixes from my recent full length LP as Miniature Airlines. If you liked the album, you should check this out too.
The more we keep doing this sort of thing, the more excited I am about running this thing. The more attention, the more releases, the more legitimate and fulfilling it feels, even if it is still just a collection of MP3s sitting on a server somewhere. We have big plans. And I figured out the trick to this whole record label thing recently – just act like you are one, and take it seriously. Put in the work and the care, and it will grow into its own. That’s what we’re in the process of doing, and it feels good.
Posted 1 year, 6 months ago
What better way to break a months-long unintentional blogging hiatus than a few quick, spoiler-free thoughts on the film adaptation of Scott Pilgrim?
So for starters, as we’ve been repeatedly warned, it is different from the books. Significantly different? Maybe in some ways. The plot is pretty condensed, eliminating a lot of side stories and gags, and combining elements of different subplots and characters. This should really come as no surprise, since you just can’t fit 1,200 pages of comics into a 2 hour movie, even one as fast-paced as this. I can’t really call any of these changes detrimental. Yeah, your favorite secondary or tertiary character might not have made the cut (Joseph? Lisa? Mobile?), or your favorite Toronto location might not have any screen time, but the tone and spirit of the story are there, unscathed.
The cast is pretty much perfect. There was (and probably still is) a lot of worry about Michael Cera as Scott Pilgrim, and his interpretation of the character brings more of his introverted schtick than I get from the book. That said, he also has the perfect bewildered and oblivious air about him. He works in the role, even if it feels like the character Read More...
Call it TMI times one thousand. Call it your one-stop cyber-stalking repository for the one and only Dylan Sean Abbott, yours truly. This site is basically just an automated aggregator for blog posts, photos, and other syndicated content I've created, found, or shared online. It's my entire online life, wrapped up in one easily navigable package for your browsing pleasure. The only thing it lacks is a 24/7 webcam (but don't hold your breath for that one to show up).
