San Fran Update

Day 2 in San Francisco....

This morning I hiked around for 3 hours. Noah's bagel and coffee for breakfast...top notch. What a great city. When you are from the mid-west you tend to romanticize anything that is foreign i.e. deserts, mountains, oceans, beaches, cute girls, er...ok. you know what I mean.( I wonder if people from the coasts romantize pigs doing it in 6 inches of mud???)

I love this place. The city is electric...aside from the cable cars....Tonight I sat on the 39th floor of the Marriott lounge overlooking the bay and surrounding mountains. In Indy, the 39th floor gets you a good view of some cool grain silo's and some sweet subdivisions.

I called BJ and spoke with him for awhile. I really screwed up by forgetting to call him prior. I think he could have come to spend some time with me. Balls. He suggested I try the Irish Bank near Union Square tonight. That is real close to here so I am on my way after I post this. I bought tickets to see Kronos Quartet w/ Matmos & Walter Kitundu on Friday night, right across the street from the St. Regis. I can't wait. I have a Kronos Quartet lp from the 80's in my collection. Apparently they are still on the fringe of the mainstream. I read today too that the David Byrne and Brian Eno lp, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts has been reissued. Joseph Bennet turned me onto that when it came out. I plan on seeking it out this weekend. Hopefully I can find it.

And....BJ & Susannah are getting married November 11, 2006 in Las Vegas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Vegas Baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so looking forward to this. BJ is one of my soul mates of this world. I wish him and Susannah the best......Also, Jeff Stepp & Keri are getting married soon. The celebratory party is in Danville IL on May 20 , 2006. Congrats Jeff & Keri. Love you guys!!!!!!!!!!

While walking around today, I heard My Kind of Soldier on the IPOD. Why didn't that song make the top 10??? I nearly started dancing at the corner of Market and Powell today!

Air Waves

I'm in San Francisco for a few days attending the annual NERVES meeting. This is an organization of private practice and academic Neursurgery practice executives. The agenda looks very good this year and I look forward to seeing several people that I only see once a year.

I'm staying at the nicest hotel I've ever been to, the St. Regis. Tonight I ate at Ame restaurant here in the St. Regis. Grilled Halibut with olive and chickpea tompenade. Yummy.

This room has it all, dvd, plasma tv, ipod hookup, touch screen climate, lighting & shade control, a bath and separate shower. Even the terlit is behind a glass door. Sweet.

It was a very long day, a 3 hour layover in Dallas, DFW. (reminds me of the Jimmie Dale Gilmore classic, Dallas...have you ever seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night?). I started 2 books on the flight: Staring at Sound (Jim De Rogatis' Flaming Lips Biography) and The History of God by Karen Armstrong. This one is a comparative history of the 3 main monotheistic religions. I read about 100 pages of the Flaming Lips book. It's very informative and reads very fluidly. De Rogatis obviously admires Wayne, who wouldn't? I made about a 5 page dent in the God history book. Also listened to BTS' new cd again, You In Reverse. Its an instant classic. Very powerful and full of hooks. Also listened to Mercury Rev and 3 Flaming Lips lps. This is what the ipod is built for, long distance travel. I remember the old days of traveling to St Louis for a week each month, I would pack about 20 cd's in my briefcase for the trip. No longer.

I have quite abit of free time tomorrow and then not until Saturday afternoon/evening. I'll let the weather be my guide. Didn't see any good bands playing, aside from Dino Jr, who I just saw last week. Really want to spend half a day in North Beach. I loved that area of town when I was here with John Veltri a few years ago.

Car Tunes

Jon Langford - Gold Brick/Nashville Radio Companion CD

Jonboy is on a roll. I've been enjoying these two new releases immensely. Gold Brick is a proper solo album (the logical follow up to Skull Orchard?) while Nashville Radio is the companion cd from the coffee table book that highlights the artwork and lyrics from the mekons to the waco's. This book is beautiful. The songs are acoustic versions of songs from Jon's career. Langford may be the most important songwriter anywhere right now. More on the book from the Bloodshot website.

Nashville Radio is the first collection of his acclaimed art. It reproduces 215 paintings and etchings, along with song lyrics and autobiographical writings. The book also comes with an specially recorded exclusive CD of Langford performing 18 of the printed songs.

Here's what the pointy-headed art history people have to say about it:

"Langford’s 'song-paintings' fuse publicity-shot portraiture with imagery derived from folk art, Dutch still life, classic Western wear, and the cold, cold war—all instilled with sharp, sardonic wit and a Constructivist sense of the power of language. He applies his completely distinctive style to the depiction of American music giants such as Bob Wills, Hank Williams, and Johnny Cash, and also to more ghostly, marginalized figures — blindfolded cowboys, astronauts, and dancers — jerked around by the forces of success and exploitation, fame and neglect.

Built to Spill - You in Reverse *UPDATE*
This is the new one for BTS fans. Wow. I've listened twice and it may be their best effort. The song 'Conventional Wisdom' is my first favorite. My initial reaction to it was, 'this sounds like a Phyllis song. So it has to be fabulous. I suspect I'll be listening to this much closer on the plane to San Fran today.

Nick Lowe - Party of One
I found this in the used pile at Luna recently. I love Nick Lowe. There, I said it. His songwriting just hits me in the right place (The Beast in Me is a top 20 fave song for me). Party of One is a fun album from the mid-90's that includes some classics like, You Got the Look I Like, Jumbo Ark, What's Shakin on the Hill, All Men are Liars (a personal favorite). Scoop it up for some fun pub rock.

The Posies - Every Kind of Light

This is the latest from the re-formed Posies. We all loved them in the 90's, but now they are back with a great album. Jack Rabid from the Big Takeover, told me to pick this up. I had been skeptical from some reviews I read, but he was right, it's a winner. Jon Auer wins in the songwriting dual. At least 3 of these melodies will trouble you for days. Highly recommended.