They Say It's Your Birthday...

Well, it's not my birthday, or anyone I knows birthday, but I just listened to Nick Cave's early work in the band Birthday Party. They aren't the easiest band to listen to, but they do really rock. It's weird to listen to Nick Cave being so loud, since he really mellowed out quite a bit after moving on to a solo career, but his new project Grinderman, is definitely a direct descendant of the Birthday Party.

Speaking of Birthdays, next up were Birthday Suits, an amazing duo from Minneapolis. I first saw these guys at the Raven, and have since missed them only by mistake or accident. The drummer half (Matthew) might well be the most talented drummer I've ever seen live. He plays these weird poly-rhythms that sound perfectly in time. And he has fun while he does it. The guitar/vocal half (Hideo) can't be contained by any mere stage. From the first note to the very last he jumps, runs, slides, climbs, kicks and crashes all over the place. But not in the hardcore punk way that you worry about him hitting your girlfriend or impaling himself on a mic stand. And also not in the fake scremo way that makes you think he reherses his flailing in time to the songs and has every move choreographed. If you ever get a chance, see Birthday Suits. At the very least, buy any of their cds or records you can find. Here's a picture I took of them at Total Fest a couple years ago.

Did I mention that it snowed a skiff last night? Then it melted. But I can hardly be counted as the first Missoula blogger to notice snow this year. I'm still waiting until I can take my shovel out for a spin.

...One Week Later

So, It's been a week since I've updated. It's been a hot week. Our apartment is consistently reaching temperatures in the mid 80s during the day. We have a couple of fans, but they don't really do much to help, but they keep the air moving. That being said, I'd rather have this heat than the extreme cold of a Montana winter. Soon, Darcy and I will be going to movies just to escape the heat. Last year that resulted in us watching "License to Wed," a film I would not recommend to anyone.

On the music front, I spent the tail end of last week listening to a forgettable hip hop album from Akrobatik called "Balance." Not awful, just sort of there, with a couple of nice beats and an above average flow, but nothing to write home about.

Then I moved on to the Alan Parsons Project. I started with the classic 1981 album "Eye in the Sky." Despite it being made in the 80s, I still felt like I needed a Quaalude to fully understand the 70s style soft rock. Speaking of Quaaludes, have you watched the new show "Swingtown" on CBS yet?



It's a great show, and perfect for summer. I've really been digging it. Watch full episodes online here.

Then other Alan Parsons album on my computer was "Tales of Mystery and Imagination," where Parsons creates a soundtrack for the works of Edgar Allen Poe. IT's good, and really good music to read to which I did.

I relived some of the 90s next with Alanis Morissette's classic "Jagged Little Pill." I've always maintained that whether or not she meant it, her song "Ironic" is the best definition of Irony, since none of her examples of Irony in the song are actually ironic, which is by definition Ironic! Awesome!

In the midst of the Alanis listening I got a call from one of my oldest friends Jake, who lives in Sweeden, saying he was in town. I went out and had a few beers and cheese fries with him and caught up on old times. It was nice.

Now I'm listening to Alice Donut "Donut Comes Alive," which sounds exactly as it should, being on Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles (link slightly NSFW) label. More soon.