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Randy Numens vs. Lucas & The Cops

is this randy numens?


So we should probably address what occured the other night at the Randy Numens show that nearly occured at Potluck House.

Let me first preface this by stating that the people that run Potluck House are amazing and wonderful people for attempting to put on a show in a space that was far too small. Additionally, they opened up their home at the last second to take on a show that was originally intended to occur in a MUCH larger space. Kudos to them for even trying.

The Numens' boat arrived at Pier 86 at around 9 PM and Spencer and I quickly ferried them to the show in the CPR armored vehicle, along with all of their amps, drums, drum hardware, etcetera. Upon arriving at Potluck House, we were dismayed to find that Lucas, the drummer for openers Hello Boss had also brought all of his drum gear to and insisted on dragging it up into the size-too-small Potluck House performance space. We agreed to let him keep his shit upstairs if he would just keep it out of the way...so as the tiny room filled with smelly musicians carting boxes of gear around, the little guy dragged half of his crap into the tiny room. Lucas then insisted on putting his hot pink drum rug under the Numens' kit, so everything was moved around and replaced on his rug. Luckily, the Numens weren't privy to this because they were busy placing a collect call to the ISS Space Station and then were further occupied with freebasing cocaine off of a rusty spork.

the little fucker himself

At this point, the show organizers and I were both stressed but not out of control. A lot of times, when you've got a bunch of bands playing, at least one person is a a bit overly neurotic (see: controlling douchebag) but usually, things tend to go off alright. Despite various protestations, he insisted on using not two or even three but four cymbals in a room that barely had room for even a bass drum.

Hello Boss played an enjoyable set considering the room and sound limitations but directly afterwards, Lucas decided that he was taking off. This is a classic asshole musician move and of course, he told me he planned to take his rug and his drum throne (which admittedly nobody asked to borrow) and his rack tom (which he had assured us could be used by other bands). Lucas additionally took two of the Randy Numens' cymbal stands in his hurry to get out of the venue. The Numens were prepared to let this go but I made sure to give Lucas a piece of my mind before he left (and you can too! IM him @ chosungalbi). He later accused me of calling him names and physically attacking him, which is ridiculous because I'm a 3 foot midget with one leg.

So let's just say if you're ever playing a show with a band called Hello Boss, watch your gear carefully because Lucas Berman wants your equipment even though he's apparently loaded according to his bandmates--who for the record are some of the nicest people imaginable. I mean them no harm with this post, it's just that they really need a new drummer. Guys, if you're reading, I will gladly take Lucas' place.

Oh and by the way, the Randy Numens never even got to play. The cops showed up and shut the show down just as they were going on. Pretty shitty night.
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The Top Five Records of All Time (A Personal List)


I was speaking with a good fellow tonight and amidst conversation about more important things, the topic of top five records came up. This is dangerous territory; top five lists tend to be either boring or discrediting, and my main concern is twofold: one, that even if no one else is, I am quite tired of my own top five lists, and two, my top five record list is indeed quite rote. Does anybody need to hear my say that Exile on Main Street is a good album?

The answer is yes. I have decided to forgo my reservations and record this, my list of the top five albums of all time. But before I begin I must get a few things out of the way.

1. This is the last top five list I will make public. It truly is the most trivial kind of blog post, and if I wasn't taken with a sudden desire to write this, I would have stopped ages ago. There will not be a follow up list if it turns out I forgot something. Though you are welcome, nay encouraged, to respond with a list of your own. We may subsequently debate, and make merry.

2. They Might Be Giants will not be on this list, though they are very good.

3. Lists tend to be a fairly revealing exercise. I take the example of movie lists. If your favorite movie is The Truman Show, probably you haven't seen that many movies. If your favorite movie is Eternal Sunshine, you're probably a douchebag, and if your favorite movie is Yes Man, you probably don't care that much. Any of those positions are fine, but I think its far more interesting to say your favorite movie is, say, Pan's Labyrinth, which is a commendable choice but means your perspective is uniquely yours, than it is to say your favorite movie is the Godfather. Sadly my own list will tend more towards the latter, as my music tastes were defined primarily by the tapes my dad had in his car (a Chrysler LeBaron, no less).

4. Because I really want Rain Dogs on this list, but can't see fit to substitute anything else for it, this is actually going to be made up of six albums. Rain Dogs is very good besides, so go pick it up if you haven't.

So without further trepidation, let's begin:

6. Rain Dogs - Tom Waits

The shit that hit the fan the hardest. I find it increasingly difficult to say that Tom Waits doesn't just have like seven things he does very well that he does over and over, but this record's pretty fucking inspired. Also worth noting is I was inspired to pick it up based on Paul Rudd wearing a t-shirt with the album art on it in Knocked Up.

5. Wowee Zowee - Pavement

In which Stephen Malkmus gives up trying to be a rock star and retreats into his dickishness. But this is the album I will play for my children, the implausible majesty of a poetic musician who claimed to care only slightly and cared only slightly more.

4. Exile on Main Street - The Rolling Stones

Possibly the most vicious album of all time, and one that doesn't shy from dropping N bombs because Mick is not from America and doesn't care about it. Not that this concept doesn't appeal to the meanest-spirited part of my nature, but there's a certain vindication that a record of such cynicism was embraced by the earnest-at-large general public. And not one song is not awesome.

3. Highway 61, Revisited - Bob Dylan

I didn't like Dylan's quote about not liking nature because it can't touch the fortitude of dreams until I read Rousseau and realized that the enlightenment's obsession with the Natural is limiting and Dylan's invection is much further-reaching. Taken as a statement of philosophical weight, it injects his lyrical concepts with an artistic height that as much as I've always revered him, I never credited him with, and even if not, these are the songs on which Dylan's songwriting is at its premium. Much like Lil Wayne, its possible no one will really ever understand him completely, which ascribes a quite literal timelessness to this record for as long as anybody still cares. Also, a Wayne/Dylan collabo would be ideal.

2. The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground

Necessary. If I had a nickel for every time a band wasn't as good as the Velvet Underground...

1. Abbey Road - The Beatles

The real shit. This is it, the greatest album of all time; a statement about the state of the world (The Beatles would hereby like you to believe we are all connected, by love) pulled off with the grace and beauty that makes me believe it. If all music were this good I'm convinced there would be no wars. You hear that, Barack Obama? Start making music now.

And that is it. The six greatest things anybody has done to sound. And despite my initial acknowledgement of subjectivity, I now believe that this is pretty much Truth. That's what writing alone will do to you.

But if you were truly offended by this, here is the list of honorable mentions:

Astral Weeks - Van Morrison
Loaded - The velvet Underground
Greetings from Asbury, NJ - Bruce Springsteen
Hex Enduction Hour - The Fall
Doolittle - Pixies
Bee Thousand - Guided by Voices
Illmatic - Nas
Emperor Tomato Ketchup - Stereolab
The Lonesome Crowded West - Modest Mouse
Separation Sunday - The Hold Steady
Gimme Fiction - Spoon
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NEW WHITE RABBITS SINGLE


I thought White Rabbits and I were chums. I lovingly reviewed their debut album for MIT's The Tech before it came out in '07, likening it to The Strokes and The Specials and claiming it was better than if "half of the Beatles come back from the dead, reunite with McCartney and Starr and then team up with Radiohead to release a double-disc concept album." That was maybe a wee bit far-fetched* but it did inspire several of their parents to frame my review and hang it on their walls, and also send me e-mails about how grateful they were to me, blah blah blah. I went on to interview Stephen Patterson, the band's keyboardist and singer, and feel overall responsible for the band's success, popularity, talent, and birth.

A few weeks ago I e-mail them asking to play this festival I was organizing, and was sort of snubbed by their booking agent. WTF! Then out of nowhere they release this awesome new single "Percussion Gun" that sounds incredibly like labelmates Radiohead. WTF! Really, WTF, White Rabbits? Did I give you permission to get so damn good? Remember: I made you, and I can just as easily break you.

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You Be The Director

Hi Paul,

I was unable to speak with you Thursday and again on Monday because Dan was working with us. I have run into a slight conflict. My brother's last hockey game of the season is Saturday afternoon at the civic center in Hartford. Angus will be playing goalie and I have already committed to be there. I was wondering, seeing as I will be missing Dress, if you would rather I not perform on Sunday? If not, I perfectly understand. I will speak with you tomorrow.

Thank you, Rebecca
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Vancouver - "Lying on the Floor"




This is kind of a vanity post, but bear with me. Back in high school I was the main bean in this indie pop group called Vancouver. I wrote all the songs, drew the sleeve art and also made us wear maroon dentist uniforms. Also in the band were Greg "Scott" Sutliff (born: Worcester, MA), Benjamin "Funk" Yoakum (born: Altamonte Springs, FL), and Shomik "Sherlock Holmes" Chakrabarti (born: Lincoln, NE). Together we would rock a bunch of shows throughout our last year of HS and generally eat a ton of Fazoli's (RIP) after rehearsals. Our EP was called The Royal Paper Air Force.

This song I've posted was a song I wrote and recorded with Greg right after school ended. It was going to be part of our second EP that never materialized. At some point, I may re-record these songs as a kind of last nail in the coffin thing. I think we did all the material live, but this was the only reasonably well-recorded one (and let me stress the word "reasonably").

The EP was gonna be called Vancouver. The track list was gonna be this:

1. Bloody Murder
2. Lying on the Floor
3. Vancouver 1 & 2
4. Ambulances

What I like about "Lying on the Floor" is that it serves as a good document of the way I wrote music when I was younger. Basically I just did what I thought sounded good and didn't really think too hard about it. I guess after I came to NY Julian kind of pointed out how I used a bazillion major seventh chords in my songs and so I kind of moved away from that for a while.

Anyhow, this song is driven by an easy-listening vibe. I had some sort of affinity for the Steely Dan-esque, even when I wasn't listening to Steely Dan. My favorite bands senior year were the Shins, Beulah (who had just broken up), and Belle & Sebastian. I also loved the second Strokes album. This song attempted to combine a lot of those influences. The middle section is influenced by Trail of Dead's Source Tags & Codes, but I basically took out all the threat and theatricality. The end canned vocal is a straight Paul McCartney impression (one of our local radio stations once played "Hey Jude" on repeat for 24 hours). What else? I really like the way the lead guitar sounds at the end. Everything has its something good.

So you can listen to this mess below. It's not played so hot but I think it's a good song with a pretty ambitious non-standard vocal melody (that I may or may not have pulled off). We were always pushing the timing off because we were all basically lame virgins with no real edge or chops. Also, I will reluctantly admit that playing with a metronome is pretty essential practice.



Lying on the Floor (Gregs Drums) - Spencer Tricker

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Randy Numens bring the frauleins!


It's Friday night and you have no plans...I know. It's cool, we got you covered. Last night, I got a text from one Asa Van Gumby telling me that his band RANDY NUMENS would be in the United States for one night only this Friday. So I threw some shit together as fast as I could and thus, Randy Numens will melt faces tonight at Potluck House. Check it:

9:30 PM - 12:30 AM
@ Potluck House, 606 W114th b/w Broadway & Riverside
Live music, film, art on the walls, FREE booze with $4 cover


Numens Sampler
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Last night I dreamt somebody loved me...




Kanye's response to a recent South Park lampooning (I'll ask the kids about this later):

"SOUTH PARK MURDERED ME LAST NIGHT AND IT'S PRETTY FUNNY. IT HURTS MY FEELINGS BUT WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM SOUTH PARK! I ACTUALLY HAVE BEEN WORKING ON MY EGO THOUGH. HAVING THE CRAZY EGO IS PLAYED OUT AT THIS POINT IN MY LIFE AND CAREER. I USE TO USE IT TO BUILD UP MY ESTEEM WHEN NOBODY BELIEVED IN ME. NOW THAT PEOPLE DO BELIEVE AND SUPPORT MY MUSIC AND PRODUCTS THE BEST RESPONSE IS THANK YOU INSTEAD OF "I TOLD YOU SO!!!" IT'S COOL TO TALK SHIT WHEN YOU'RE RAPPING BUT NOT IN REAL LIFE. WHEN YOU MEET LITTLE WAYNE IN PERSON HE'S THE NICEST GUY FOR EXAMPLE. I JUST WANNA BE A DOPER PERSON WHICH STARTS WITH ME NOT ALWAYS TELLING PEOPLE HOW DOPE I THINK I AM. I NEED TO JUST GET PAST MYSELF. DROP THE BRAVADO AND JUST MAKE DOPE PRODUCT. EVERYTHING IS NOT THAT SERIOUS. AS LONG AS PEOPLE THINK I ACT LIKE A BITCH THIS TYPE OF SHIT WILL HAPPEN TO ME. I GOT A LONG ROAD AHEAD OF ME TO MAKE PEOPLE BELIEVE I'M NOT ACTUALLY A HUGE DOUCHE BUT I'M UP FOR THE CHALLENGE. I'M SURE THE WRITERS AT SOUTH PARK ARE REALLY NICE PEOPLE IN REAL LIFE. THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO DRAW MY CREW. THAT WAS PRETTY FUNNY ALSO!! I'M SURE THERE'S GRAMMATICAL ERRORS IN THIS... THAT'S HOW YOU KNOW IT'S ME!"

What do you do when someone just responds this nakedly to being teased? I don't even know if this constitutes humor. Good for you, buddy. Oh, and anyone in doubt that Little Wayne is a nice person, check out the vids below (high five Justin):






I AM A GANGSTA


See also: Kanye Live: Futuro-epic Horror Show (CPR, March)

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Can No Doubt pull this off?


A lot of the vaguely insecure white kids I know from the tri-state area seem to have gone through a "ska phase" in middle school. Either I'm ahead of the curve or extra-insecure, because my ska phase hit around third grade and lasted up through middle school. The Specials were the cream of the crop, no buts about it, but as an awkward fat girl with aspirations towards singing, Gwen Stefani became my celebrity role model because a) she wasn't awkard; b) she wasn't fat; c) she could fucking sing. Evidence:





Eventually I moved on to other musical interests (see: aggressive unwashed men from the Northwest) but looking back, No Doubt's first three records totally rocked it (yes, I'm including Return of Saturn... the guitars sound great and Gwen's awesome pink hair inspired me to dye mine in seventh grade).

Why did Rock Steady suck so much? Gwen got engaged. Gwen got ready to pop some babies out. Gwen got happy. It's the same reason Cat Power sucks now. Same reason Isaac Brock sucks now. I know for a lot of people No Doubt wasn't about the angst, but pick any break up song off Tragic Kingdom and TRY to tell me "Hella Good" can even stand next to it.

Anyway, Mrs. Rossdale is taking a break from the Harajuku girls and touring with No Doubt again. Now that they're ALL parents (save bachel0r-for-life bassist Tony Kanal...sigh) I was prepared to write off any new recordings as more cheeze. BUT they just put out a cover of Adam and the Ant's "Stand on Deliver" and I'm shocked to find that it's pretty good. Everyone on the commenst sections of stereogum and youtube is trashing it, but come on, guys... it's pretty tasty:



Is this passable? Or have they just set the bar so low that I'll be happy with anything that doesn't sound like Parramore?

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Top 5 Favorite Record Stores

My CD collection: good for liner note perusal, road-trip soundtracks, disc-man powered jogs, and holier-than-thou anti-downloading speeches. Where would I be without it? Probably not at any of these fine music-purchasing locations, set to stock CPR releases just as soon as we start mass-producing them.


5. CUTLER'S RECORDS & TAPES: New Haven, CT

Their website banner makes them seem like a much larger presence in Yale City than they really are -- Cutler's has majorly downsized, and is now about a third of the size it used to be. This means a lot less vinyl, a lot less used CDs, and a lot more knick-knacky crap. No, they don't do in-stores, and yes, they severely overprice their wares. But they do stock a helluva lot of great (new, full price) CDs, which is more than you can say for most Connecticut music retailers (see: Walmart, Best Buy, FYE... does FYE even still exist?).  Cutler's is sort of like the King Lear of New Haven small businesses. It's reigned for a long-ass time (founded in 1948 with the help of Mr. Sam Goody himself, it's now a third-generation family business). It's possibly gone a little crazy (who the hell is buying gum shaped like cigarettes?). It may have inadvertently caused the death of its most virtuous daughter (the long-gone expanded vinyl section, may it and Cordelia rest in peace). Not really sure where I'm going with this metaphor. Point (vaguely) is, if Cutler's died forever, Yale kids would have to download all their new music, and then the school would have to police downloading, and then how would everyone get the AwEsOmE new WAVVES record?!?!

4. NEWBURY COMICS, Boston, MA etc.

Okay, okay, hate on Newbury all you want for inventing the "selling crap to make up for lagging CD sales" format. Three reasons why this Massachusetts chain still rocks:

A) A lot of new mainstream releases get sold for $10 (look for the pink sticker). Best you can find those for on Amazon.com is ~ $7, and with s/h it'll put you over $10. Plus, sometimes Newbury has signed booklets with special releases. SO if you don't feel like waiting for cheaper used copies of, like, Bon Iver to show up in stores, hit up Newbz and look for a pink sticker. You can feel good about supporting the (sort of) little guy.

B) In-store performances! Sometimes they're really good. Sometimes they're not. Either way, they somehow make live shows sound pretty darn good, at least at the Newbury St. location. Even Elliott Smith knew that.


C) POSTERS. Not sure why, but Newbury stocks some awesome prints of your favorite band's random show in Seattle, numbered and signed by the artist. Even if you can't get to Boston, they sell many of these posters online.

3. NORMAN'S SOUND & VISION, Manhattan


In the bargain basement, everything is half off. Many items in the bargain basement are priced at $1.99.

You do the math.

2. WATERLOO RECORDS, ATX


I worked at their video annex, so of coures I'm partial. But their used section is king of the jungle. Tons of rare singles at good prices, pretty much anything you want from Matador's 90s roster, and you can listen to whatever you find on their (nice) headphones, no purchase necessary. A great way to kill an afternoon. Plus, they're selective about the used items they take in, so rather than wading through a sea of crap (like at Norman's) you're marveling at a large cavern of jewels (like that pyramid in Disney's Aladdin). They've also got a large local music collection (actually, it's just under the "Texas" heading, but it's good for finding new things) and some solid staff recommendation listening iPods.  And again, good in-stores.

1. CHEAPO, Austin


Name says it all. Cream-your-pants-sized space full of used discs. Some of them suck, some of them are super difficult to find. It's like a treasure hunt. Most of it's treasure. If you spent three days there you STILL wouldn't get through all of their stock, and they get tons of new things in every day (there are racks dedicated just to the new additions of the past week). This is where music-loving slackers go to die, because they get so excited about how many CDs there are and forget to eat for days. Maybe that's just me. They're also really nice about returns/exchanges -- if you don't like a CD, even if it plays fine, they'll take it as a return and let you swap it out for something more your liking.

Honorable mentions: New England's Bull Moose, NYC's Other Music, Bird Man, that weird jazz place on 3rd ave., Chapel Hill's CD Alley. Other ideas? Comment about 'em.

Y'all can thank spirit-crushing insomnia for inspiring me to bring this fantastic list to you. And aside from other lazy CPR bloggers forgetting to log out of my gmail account, this is my inaugural post. I'd eat a chocolate soy pudding to toast that, but I already ate the whole six pack. Boo.

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SMiLE, songs by brian wilson & van dyke parks

first listen to 'little pad' uploaded to youtube by somebody...


if you want to hear twelve more songs at least as good as this, read on.

brian left, van dyke to the right, not sure where
in 1966, brian wilson, age 24, & van dyke parks, age 23, met at the home of local impresario/producer/musician terry melcher, age 24. the beach boys had recently released pet sounds, the 1st album under the beach boys moniker, whose performances featured studio musicians instead of beach boys. brian wilson had already announced his intention to record a new album called 'dumb angel' (as yet to be renamed SMiLE). soon after meeting parks, wilson called on him to collaborate on some new material in his house on laurel way in beverly hills, CA.

to aid in an approximation of the amount of money brian wilson could afford to burn at the time: in order to get into his house, one needed to crawl through a tree house that he had installed at the front. inside the house was a portable sauna, a tent made of $30,000 worth of fabric that he only used once because it was too stuffy, and a room filled with 7 tons of sand where he kept his grand piano so that he could feel the sand between his toes as he composed.

van dyke parks, on the other hand, having no track record in the recording industry yet, was living in a garage apartment and using a gas station pay toilet. when he arrived at brian's house for their initial collaboration he was offended by the extravagance until brian set him up with a car and $5,000. this is a route van dyke could make were he to leave from his apartment to visit terry melcher, and then brian wilson, in one outing.

after brian acquired $2,000 of fine afghani hashish, the two set to work and over a few months produced what would become the abandoned album that was meant by brian to rival the beatles' revolver. however, mental illness, black market amphetamines, psychedelics, and personal pressure to surpass his previous successes led to brian becoming too distracted and SMiLE was cancelled.

------------------------------------------------------------

this is the cover that was meant for the album:
tracks that were intended for SMiLE have been released on subsequent albums, official outtakes collections, and bootlegs. i've combed through a lot of these recordings and, based on library and internet research, i've put together a SMiLE that contains only the recordings from this period that i would listen to repeatedly. each track is beautifully composed by brian wilson, most with charming, quirky lyrics by brian and van dyke parks.

i uploaded it to mediafire & you can download it here at
<this link>.

ALSO:
if you want to download what some of my non-album source material was, or more,
<click here>
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