Yearly Archives: 2003

Well, luckily for you someone out there is willing to school your uneducated ass on the basics. Get yer Indie Rock Primer right here.

Thanks to Eric for pointing out this link to me.

Clay Aiken is #1 on the Billboard charts and Elliott Smith is dead.

Fuck you, world.

Geezers can get it right, too!

It’s time to let the monolith of commoditized music collapse like the Berlin Wall. Musicians can make records if they feel like it, or not. Wide open pipes are ready to transport us, mainstream and fringe alike, into the ears of an eager audience who appreciates us and is more than willing to financially support us. Get out of the way if you can’t lend a hand because … you know the rest by heart. (full commentary)

donewaiting.com writers have been hitting the live shows lately, and they have the reviews to prove it.

Well, as life continues to move on, what better way to soundtrack it than a 5 disc Johnny Cash box set? Get all the info here.

Fond Farwell by Elliott Smith

the light bright’s now black and white
you took apart a picture that wasnt right
pitch burning on a shining sheet
the only maker that you’d wanna meet

a dying man in a living room
trying to get to the door
god knows what for
this is not my life…

it’s just a fond farwell to a friend
it’s not what i’m like
it’s just a fond farwell to a friend
who couldnt get things right
a fond farwell to a friend

he said really i just wanna dance
good and evil matched perfect
it’s a great romance
i can deal with some psychic pain
if it’ll slow down my higher brain

veins full of disapearing ink
vommiting in the kitchen sink
disconnecting from the missing link
this is not my life

it’s just a fond farwell to a friend
it’s not what i’m like
it’s just a fond farwell to a friend
who couldnt get things right
a fond farwell to a friend

i see you’re leaving me
and taking up with the enemy
the cold comfort of the inbetween
a little less than a human being

a little less than a happy high
a little less than a suicide
the only things that you really tried
this is not my life

it’s just a fond farwell to a friend
it’s not what i’m like
it’s just a fond farwell to a friend
who couldnt get things right
a fond farwell to a friend — Elliott Smith

Elliott Smith has died at the age of 34.

I was fortunate enough to see Elliott Smith play a bunch of times, both with a band and as a solo act. My favorite performance was at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, a few months before “Figure 8” came out. He played the entire album by himself and his acoustic guitar. Hearing those new songs in such a raw form was something really beautiful, something really special.

The world got a little worse today.

PS: If you’re up for it, discussion here.

Goodbye Warren Zevon, Goodbye Johnny Cash, Goodbye Wesley Willis, Goodbye Elliott Smith.

The Twilight Singers are back and they’re currently on tour supporting their latest release, “Blackberry Belle”, and it’s my humble opinion that you should buy it pronto.

Greg Dulli was interviewed by Tiny Mix Tapes and here is my favorite bit:

Tiny Mix Tapes: You’ve mentioned that Blackberry Belle has over 25 different musicians throughout the album. Was it a conscious effort to work with these people on specific tracks or was it just a matter of who was in town at the time of recording?

Greg Dulli: It’s the Twilight way. I got a song that wants to strut, let’s get some hookers in here to fuck. (full interview)

75 dates over three years. Which isn’t that insane, to be honest. It’s not even one show a week. Considering he’s kicking it off with shows from 2/13 through 2/20, the rest of the shows could really be spaced out. More than a typical run, for sure, but not close to Celine Dion size.

Just when I was down about the fact that everyone seems to be writing the same article over and over again about The Strokes, Jim Derogatis from Chicago goes and makes me happy with a well written, different angle. My favorite two quotes from the piece:

The joy of hearing the Strokes onstage and on album is reveling in their sense of tasteful restraint. They are a lover hovering on the verge, prolonging that transcendent moment just before orgasm. Or they are a subway train hurtling precariously down the tracks at top speed; you may have to hang on to the strap for dear life, but there is no danger of the train ever derailing.

and

Dismiss the Strokes as overhyped media darlings if you will, or write off “Room on Fire” as evidence of a sophomore slump. But to do so is to not only be thoroughly wrong, but to miss out on one of the strongest and most energizing albums of the year.

Full article found here. The new album comes out next week, not today, kids.

[link found via ypersound.com]