Now that I live in Austin and I'm not writing a weekly music column for SFist anymore, I've been thinking a lot about where else I can channel my writing energy.  The redesign and revival of my TypePad blog art is the new religion has been a huge step for me, and I want to take a moment to commemorate the completion of one full week of posts.  Hooray!

by draw.vox.com

Recent highlights & post notes from art is the new religion:

12/5 - Frank Smith is a band not a man:  My dear friend Ashod IMed me today and gave me the gentle, friendly advice that I need to make good on my promises.  Meaning, if I say "I'll let you know what I think of the show" (which I did in this post) then I actually need to do it.  He went on to point out the times I haven't done it.  I do feel a twinge of guilt when I never follow up on that sort of thing, but then I tell myself no one's reading so no one will notice if I don't follow up.  So thank you, Ashod, for pointing out that at least one person does care and I need to do a little work on my follow-through (and perhaps my writerly self-esteem).  Stay tuned over there for my thoughts on the Frank Smith show!

12/6 - Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac:  Did you know that Fleetwood Mac was an amazing band even before Stevie and Lindsey joined it?  (I can hear the comment one of you is making right now, and I'm ignoring it.)  Peter Green was a phenomenal guitar player, circa 1969 before he went mad and left the band.  The writer of the Santana classic "Black Magic Woman"?  Peter Green.

I have so much to say about Fleetwood Mac that it's a little scary.  I once got into a half hour discussion about Fleetwood Mac with a dude in a bar in Portland -- he'd popped off with some ill-informed tidbit about them and suddenly we were in an in-depth discussion of their history and musicality.  As much as he initially annoyed me, I kind of loved him for giving me the opportunity to talk about an obscure obsession of mine.  It was an intensely gratifying experience.  I feel obligated to mention that Ashod was at that bar with us.

Anyway, in this post all I do is embed three YouTube videos of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac and also link back to my recent 'Mac-related post here on Vox.  But the videos are really good.

12/7 - The GRAMMY nominations are in:  In which I ramble on about a company I worked for 8 years ago and share my opinions on awards for which I am not qualified to vote.  Bonus:  A comment from GRAMMY Nominee Ottmar Liebert!  (Thanks Case!)

12/10 - The Hacienda Brothers:  The good part is when I quote my friend's description of the difficulty of playing pedal steel.

And now I've realized that this post is really meta and self-promotional and therefore kinda creepy.  Sorry about that, it's just that I'm excited.  And it also illustrates the difficulty I'm having in separating the subject matter of what I post about there vs. what I post about here.  Though I have done it on occasion, I'm philosophically opposed to cross-posting, so at the very least I will try to keep the content on both blogs unique.  But being meta, self-referential and self-promotional is fair game!

OK I'm done now.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

If you're looking for a book, movie or DVD this weekend, here's what I've enjoyed lately:

Dan in Real Life

In Theaters
I wasn't sure I wanted to see "Dan In Real Life" but I'm so glad I did.  The story was funny, touching and compelling despite the presence of Dane Cook. 

Now I want to go to that family vacation house and fall for the awkward, angry and annoying yet sweet, deep and endearing Steve Carrell.  And all that cooking together, playing games together, enjoying each other's company -- are families really like that?

To Rent Or Buy

How to Lose Your Lover

But I picked up DVDs of two movies I really liked and it only cost me $6!  "The Baxter" was written and directed by Michael Showalter and stars Michelle Williams with appearance by the usual suspects (Paul Rudd, Michael Ian Black, David Wain).  "How To Lose Your Lover" is another romantic comedy starring probably nobody you've ever heard of (except Tori Spelling, but don't hold that against the film).  The premise is that the main character decides to tell everyone the truth, which ruins all his friendships, and on his way out of town he runs into a woman who he starts to fall for.  He keeps up the truth-telling, assuming it will scare her away, and hilarity ensues.  It really is a funny film and a creative script.

"Walking in Circles Before Lying Down" is about a woman struggling through her life surrounded by interesting characters, and then suddenly one day dogs start talking to her.  Dog owners or dog lovers such as myself will be amused at what the dogs have to say, but this book is well written and Markoe has a uniquely witty voice. 

In Record Stores
I met the Austin-based band The Octopus Project several weeks ago when my friend Ashod was in town on tour with Stereo Total.  Their live performance was great, complete with onstage bunny-robot-creature-sculptures and a wonderful turn at the theremin by Yvonne Lambert.  This instrumental music is weird, warm and well worth a listen.

Hello Avalanche

The Octopus Project

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

I've been meaning to write about the lovely visit I had last weekend with one of my favorite humans in the world, Ashod.  He came into town at the last moment, en route from Fresno to Portland (home to home), and we got to spend about 24 hours together.

Ashod Simonian: Real Fun: Polaroids from the Independent Music Landscape

After a late night discussing life, love, music and the future at The Homestead and El Farolito on Saturday night, we headed to Blue Bottle for coffee Sunday morning and then to The Ramp for brunch.  Ashod agreed with me that the coffee at Blue Bottle is amazing, and The Ramp is more valued for its atmosphere than the actual food.  After that we were off on a mission, per my request, to find a copy of his book Real Fun so I could buy it and have him sign it.  

[ I have to take a moment and tell you how well the book turned out.  It's a collection of the Polaroid photos he's taken during his years on the road as tour manager and/or musician, documenting the 'other 23 hours of the day' when bands aren't onstage performing.  Ashod has a knack for capturing and appreciating tiny moments, and making them special with the attention he devotes to them.  The book also has stories written by band members and a compilation CD in the back, so buy it for yourself or as a gift for the music lover who has everything.]

We called and visited several book stores, and were about to give up until I told him to call Amoeba - just in case - and they had it!  He was too shy to tell anyone it was his book but I'm so proud of him that I had to take some photos.  He kind of wanted to kill me for a second there.  We capped off a wonderful day with salad and pizza at Little Star on Valencia, and I was thrilled that they serve my very favorite beer.

While I'm busy uploading photos, here are recent photos I took of two of my favorite dogs in the world, Rudy and Jet.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

I'm so excited that one of my dearest friends has a book coming out!  It features over 100 candid Polaroids of musicians on tour during their downtime, including Spoon, Death Cab, Jenny Lewis, Broken Social Scene and tons more. 

This is the real deal -- my friend Ashod has toured all over as a musician and tour manager and counts most of these bands as personal friends and acquaintances, so nothing's posed or prepped.  Plus there's a CD compilation included with the book with tracks by Irving, Dios Malos, Norfolk & Western and more.  It's not out yet but you can pre-order at Amazon!

Ashod Simonian: Real Fun: Polaroids from the Independent Music Landscape

Read and post comments | Send to a friend