Putting the "!" in M!ich!gan, 200!

Not much to say, but I got the tour photos all updated and they'll be appearing soon. Off to Chico for a weekend romp with Rally Boy, the pop wonders from Portland. I just like to say "pop" and "Portland" in the same sentence.

Why couldn't I sleep *that* well on tour?: The show went quite well last night, we played a (mostly) fast set, did the best version of Everything That's Wrong we've ever played, and hung out with the Chicago kids until it was late, late late. After our set I chatted outside for awhile, and got mightly sleepy. So, I took advantage of our pillow-filled luxury van parked out front and headed out for a "rest." Of course, my nap lasted a couple hours, and I woke up to the saxophone from Sweep blasting down windy 17th street. I rubbed my eyes, found my jacket, and headed inside to catch their set. What an amazing live band, all energy/math/mad skills all over the stage. I felt lucky to be a part of it, if only for a night.

Saw some old friends and chatted on the side of the stage, it felt like 1998 all over again for a minute. No more shows for awhile, but our next one will be another live broadcast, and we're planning a completely different setlist for the event.

Work doesn't feel so bad today.

My apologies to any and all who witnessed my whiny post yesterday. The wonders of technology have allowed me to go back and magically make all the bad words disappear. Now, isn't that better?

The Papa M show last night was quite good, with the added bonus of getting over at a decent hour. Charles Atlas were quite amazing, perhaps overshadowing the headliner a tad with their spacy/drony/pretty mix of keyboards, guitar, and string bass. The songs with drums sounded a bit like what the Virgin Suicides soundtrack could have been had Air not made Moon Safari first. Papa M came onstage with a talented full band, bass, drums, piano, and the occasional banjo. He played all new songs, I'm guessing off his upcoming-yet-much-delayed album, and every one of them featured vocals. The songs were good, albeit not very engaging, and I'm still not a big fan of his voice. Part of me couldn't shake the thought that the slightly-country tunes would sound better had Will Oldham been singing to them. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the set. He still is an amazing guitar player.

So I'm listening to the wonderful Slatch Mix, and this song by The Faint comes on, picked by Melissa, and I figured out why the thought of The Faint has always turned me off. It's not because I hate dance music, or because keyboards leave me cold, it's because I hate the title of their new album, Dance Macabre. It's that last word that gets me, it sounds too much like Macrame, which is a word I hate, and that sounds too much like macaroni, which is one of the cheesiest (sorry) words every invented by man. That being said, I like the song quite a bit.

Tonight we're going to see Papa M and Charles Atlas at the good ole' Bottom of the Hill. Ah, sitting in my usual spot, pint of Pabst in hand, watching the good music. Tonight also features our first band practice since tour, and these things tend to go either incredibly well or dismally bad. We'll see what will happen.

MP3 of the week: Sine there are (roughly) ten weeks left in the year, and since I follow that tried and true music geek tradition of the Top Ten List, I've decided to start early. The remaining MP3s of the week for this year will be from notable 2001 releases. This is not a list, and these are in no particular order. Enjoy.

I had never heard Mercury Rev before this year, but the talk about their newest album, All Is Dream, was getting to me. I mean, even rotten Spin rated it a point better than the new Sparklehorse record. Something had to be up. Crouched on the hardwood floor of my friend's pad in Brooklyn last month, I made her put on the album, and I couldn't remember the last time I was so impressed by something on the first listen. Nite and Fog is the single off All Is Dream, and is one of my favorite tracks.