First things first, exclusive Donald Passman interview posted here next week! Sweet.
Meanwhile… you know the drill but as a reminder, In Short is our “tribal” feature here at Outlandos HQ. Meaning that, chances are if we share the same taste in music, we share the same taste in other random stuff — lifestyle stuff. And by lifestyle, we mean drinking, bouncing or jumping up and down on the stairs for the fun of it. All in a day’s work, so to speak.
1. Boxed Wine
Recently dabbling in it. After all, 4 to 6 bottles of wine for the price of one. Wine not? Apparently, boxed wine sales across the board increase 30% this year thanks to ye old recession. Our new fave is Black Box. Our least:
2. It’s a Bird. It’s a Plane. It’s a Dude on a Rubber Ball.
Whoa. You might miss it the first time, keep your eyes near the upper right. Kind of makes you want to go out and try it. Or pull a Halpert:
3. Volkswagen Clues into Tribes
Sort of. Sneaky of them to sponsor something where it’s cool by association. Certainly smart. If only lawnmowers had music boxes:
xo
10/26/09 | Comments (1)Tags: CUT THROUGH THE NOISE, IN SHORT, KATE BRADLEY, OUTLANDOS MUSIC, Seth Godin, Tribes —
Just getting ready to program The Daily Dose for November, for sure, these guys will be showing up alongside older tunes we think make sense as well as our wine and cheese picks.
What’s that you say? You couldn’t stand to miss a single Dose? We hear ya. So, an RSS feed to solve your woes, because we love you. We really do.
Now for what’s been playing at Outlandos HQ so far this month:
1. The Dimes, The King Can Drink the Harbor Dry
Portland Oregon 4-piece. Mellow but not in the annoying Gray’s Anatomy way. Sounds a whole lot like John Stirratt’s (of Wilco) side project The Autumn Defense. Simon & Garfunkel too. Ten Days After even. Buy it.
2. Dodos, Time To Die
Also mellow but edgy, lots of unexpected syncopation. Hints of XTC and even… Phish. Strange, I know. Bet you’ll like it
3. Gidgets Ga Ga, The Big Bong Fiasco
Remember those Nuggets
xo
10/19/09 | Comments (0)Tags: Cheap Trick, CUT THROUGH THE NOISE, Dodos, Gidgets Ga Ga, KATE BRADLEY, NOW PLAYING, OUTLANDOS MUSIC, The Dimes —
The last couple of years, I’ve been off meat, generally. If it’s bloody, it’s out. I know, kind of weenie. Believe me, I have tried. But unless it’s stringy, in a pattie, in casing or bacon, no go.
But our friends have been raving about this local meaterie, Fleisher’s. It’s the next town over, about a 30 minute drive. High-end stuff, all organic. So we finally go on Saturday and at first, I’m a little wary. The vibe is well… all-meat, all-the-time. A hand-painted sign above a cabinet full of spices commands “Rub Your Meat.” Five points for bawdy humor. Although, I steer far away from the ribeye and steak section, which, I know, if that’s your thing, these babies are like the gleaming rubies of Meatville. But when in Rome….
About 10 of us were waiting around for 15-20 minutes while the clerk took what seemed like forever helping the guy in front of us (he’d never heard of kielbasa!). More and more people were piling in. Call me impatient.
Finally, it’s our turn. The sign says, among other things that meatballs and hot dogs are their specialty. So that seems like a must. I’ll do meatballs. And sausages… fancy kinds. Moroccan lamb, kielbasa, that kind of thing. Admittedly, I’m dawdling. Mentally planning menus in my mind, trying to calculate what’s already in our cupboards. Plus there’s an entire case of gourmet cheese to deliberate over. The clerk offers me samples and I halfheartedly say no thank you, mentioning the other people waiting in line. But he insists, adding “everyone gets the same personal attention here, there’s no rush.” Wow. Really? How wonderful it is to be a customer! Decidedly, I LOVE this place. I purchase way more than intended, including a $19/lb (!) hunk of cheese and casually mention that it’s our first time in the shop. Without hesitation, the clerk (who I now realize is the owner a.k.a. the “Mooru,” brilliant!) insists we grab a package of gourmet specialty hot dogs from the freezer, complementary. Wow, again. I already love them. But now, as easy as that, I’m a fan for life. I don’t even like meat, mostly 
.
What do you know. Quality, personal attention, and added value strike again.
10/12/09 | Comments (2)Tags: CUT THROUGH THE NOISE, KATE BRADLEY, MASOKO SOCIAL, OUTLANDOS MUSIC, The Value of Emotional Value —
Following in the Outlandos tradition of Letters from the Road, our guest post this week comes from Skip Matheny of my new fave band Roman Candle:
Dear Fanny,
I saw your band/show last night. Thanks for putting me on the list and asking for advice, critiques, etc…. I’m not sure what to tell you exactly. You all were great. In fact, I imagine you will be very popular, and maybe better — very quickly. I don’t have a critique in the world about your show or aesthetic. You all seem to have nailed that down pretty well. However I might say the same thing to you I usually tell any writer, including myself, which is: think in terms of “songs” and listen to a fair amount music made before the year you were born.
Off the bat, that might seem like a nostalgic thing to suggest. It’s not. It’s about finding and learning about good art. Your band’s songs are great but if you want to make records for the next 10 or 15 years, artistically speaking, you will likely find more substance in songs than in guitar tones. I think there’s a lot to be learned by realizing you are a writer in a long tradition that stretches back before your own time, even (way) back before recorded sound — and the “thread” or the common thing through all of that tradition is the form of the song. It’s an interesting and mysterious thing, and it repays the attention you give it.
If you go listen to any of the records that came out last Tuesday and then listen to, for example, Joni Mitchell,”The Gallery” or David Bowie, “Life on Mars,” or Stevie Wonder, “Do I Love Her?” you’ll probably hear some similarities (verses, choruses, 3 minutes long). In contrast to the new records which, for the most part, are a bit vacuous when it comes to being interesting songs. You can blame the music industry or whoever you like but the unfortunate thing is how anemic most current individual songs are. I’m not suggesting there’s no great active songwriters or that “the past” is the place to be for good music. There were just as many turd songs in 30′s-70′s as there are now. It’s just that great songs were a bit easier to find in those decades and maybe harder to find now. Which is no small bummer considering there is equally about 5 squillion more recorded songs today, than in all those decades combined. I don’t mean to tangent. I’m just saying that unless you all develop into a strictly noise-core act, the song is going to be the medium in which you all work. So I am suggesting you give it as much attention as you can.
Also there’s plenty of books to read — and here again, I would say don’t be scared of the very old ones, Geoffrey Chaucer, Homer even. Often they are more ‘modern’ in style and subject matter than anything on the NY Times best seller list. Words are an underestimated medium in songwriting and it helps if you read authors using them well. Hopefully, they rub off.
Please don’t think I’m presuming to have any big answers here though. Writing songs is not easy and the more I do it, the more mysterious it gets, so I’m not sure how qualified I am to be offering all these suggestions. You’re a smart one though and I’ll probably be asking you for advice sooner or later. Anyway, I hope your band makes a killing.
Skip
10/5/09 | Comments (0)Tags: CUT THROUGH THE NOISE, David Bowie, Joni Mitchell, KATE BRADLEY, LETTERS FROM THE ROAD, OUTLANDOS MUSIC, Roman Candle, Skip Matheny —
