A Poet Named Revolver

I read lots of music blogs, I spend way too much time on the internet but despite that the music I listen to most is usually recommended to me by people I know and trust in real life. I got A Poet Named Revolver Meets Gruesome for my friends in Bloomington, IN's Dust From 1000 Years last time they stopped through Albany on tour. They left me with a stack of cds from bands they had found while on the road and this album came at the top of their list of recommendations.

When I got the CD it was just a burned copy so I didn't know any of the track names (I still don't know most of them) or what the record was called or what the art looked like. I listened to it a couple times without thinking about it and found that I had songs stuck in my head but I couldn't figure where they came from. It took me a couple weeks to stumble upon it again and find that these were the songs that got stuck in my head(ex meadows in particular). The album is one part the microphones, a half part at the drive in a good dose of Simon Joyner. There is an immediacy and desperation in the songs that really take you into another world for a while, for example the fade in opener ExMeadows puts the listener on the run from what seems like the end of the world. Postwar Pop takes a more folk but yet abstract approach to the end of a city.

Unfortunately A Poet Named Revolver has already decided to call it quits. We think its a shame but are glad for the one record they did make, it is awesome, you should listen to it. You can buy it from here.

mp3:Poet Named Revolver - ExMeadows
mp3:Poet Named Revolver - Postwar Pop
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Yo La Tengo + Broken Social Scene Live at Cornell

As usual I was running late to see Yo La Tengo and Broken Social Scene(presents Kevin Drew), but I did get to drive down rt 89 on the way which had a very pretty if somewhat dark view of Cayuga Lake the whole way. I highly recommend it, I bet its even better in the day time.
I'd like to admit before I start really get into this post that I've never really listened to either of these bands all that much despite both of them being somewhat iconic in the indie rock world and the fact that this show provided the one chance to see them together on what are otherwise separate tours, seemed like a good opportunity to check them both out.

I missed the beginning of Yo La Tengo's set and by the end of it I felt like that wasn't all that I was missing. I really just don't get whatever it is that they were getting at in there set which ended with about a six minute songs who's lyrics were mostly "Lets talk about nuclear war, yeah". Thats not my main gripe though, mostly the set seemed to me just sort of uninspired. In my past experience though bands don't get signed to Matador Records or last more than twenty years for nothing and I am willing to bet I really am missing something here, so I would ask you dear reader to please help fill me in. If I was going to put one (of the fifteen) Yo La Tengo records on my mp3 player to give my self a chance to see what they are all about which one would it be and why?

Broken Social Scene on the other hand who I also didn't know too much about before hand was awesome. They put on a rip roaring show all the way through (there were no ballads and no female members, I don't know if there was any correlation) and got the whole crowd to hug itself, literally. Their new record Spirit If is quite good and I have also since been directed to their classic You Forget it in People which I would also recommend.

Mt Eerie live at Bard

After my ride got pulled over by a cop on the way to pick us up for Mt Eerie last monday we were running late & worried we would miss the beginning of the show. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, Phil's car broke down and after a string of bad luck he showed up at the packed hall at around 11pm looking exactly like he does in this picture.

He had just sold his trusty tour mobile for 100$ to a mechanic and had a rental car he could barely fit all his gear and merch in. He had admittedly had a really bad day and after telling everyone about it he announced he was going to do an all request show!!! Everyone started spasticly screaming the names of songs. Having not seen him before he played the best hour and a half set I could have hoped for including a slew of my favorite old microphones songs off the Glow Pt 2, including I want wind to blow straight into the glow part 2, the moon and he ended with sing along versions of I can't believe you actually died and Human Human. Lucky for me I had my handy mp3 player to record the whole thing.

I've heard that he rarely plays stuff off the glow pt 2, I'd be really interested to hear from anyone else who has seen him on this tour about what he played when you saw him.


mp3: I want wind to blow + The Glow Part 2 (live @ bard 11/5/07)
mp3: Solar System
mp3: Great Ghosts
mp3: 2 Blond Braids

You can check out his new expensive(60$) but worthwhile album/picture book/disc over at pwelverumandsun.com .

Here are a couple of my recordings i have mastered a little, if you are interested in getting the whole set drop me an email at am3081 at gmail dot com.