!!! - "Intensify"
(Gold Standard Laboratories [a.k.a. GSL], 2000)
This is from !!! (pronounced "Chk-Chk-Chk")'s genius debut album. I downloaded it from eMusic in 2003, then bought the actual CD some years later. The LP came out on black, clear, and blue vinyl. It took me 9 years to realize that this lyric name-checks Phil Collins. They definitely were strongly influenced by those early '80s NYC funk-punk-dance bands (Liquid Liquid, Contortions, Konk, ESG, Theoretical Girls, etc.). Based on their song titles, it's easy to write this band off, but their jaw-droppingly great musicianship is no joke; the drum and bass interplay on it might be in the top 5 I've ever heard. In a few decades, this album will be sampled by every wannabe DJ (sorry... "turntablist"). This song's slow, hypnotic guitar part contrasts with the fast drumming to mess with the listener's perception of time / speed. I think the song goes on a little too long, though. AllMusic Guide noted that "!!! trash the axiom that says bands influenced by angular post-punk must be populated by dour misanthropes who sport wallet photos of Ian Curtis."
Fun Fact: The last things thanked in the album's liner notes are "Jet Li, sneakers, basketball, Eddie Murphy c. 1982-1987, sausages, our parents..."
Unfun Facts: Original drummer Mikel Gius was killed by a car while riding his bike in 2005. His replacement, Jerry Fuchs, died in an elevator shaft in 2009.
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| Keith Haring-ified band pic from CD booklet |
You can check out sound samples from !!!'s sister band Out Hud over here.
I finally got to see !!! on Friday, at legendary Tipitina's, inside of which I had not set foot since 2004. In fact, I had forgotten all about the basketball goal above the mixing board. !!! were rocking the hell out of it for almost an hour without me recognizing any of their songs, at which point Nic said they were gonna do two more. They then played the pretty good song "Heart Of Hearts." Nic said "This is the first time we've played in New Orleans... to more than 20 people." I was thinking that I'd go the entire show without hearing anything from their first album... Then I heard the bassline and drum part of this last song unfolding, I knew the moment had arrived: They were playing none other than my all-time favorite !!! song, "Intensify." Dude, I was so pumped. It was a nearly 10-minute rendition, replete with dual drummers at one point, and a birthday cake being handed to the guitarist onstage near the end. Probably one of my top 5 most memorable concert moments ever.
The hotly-tipped abstract Seattle rap duo Shabazz Palaces opened, and were the main reason I went. They seemed kind of underwhelming at first, since it was just two dudes, one of whom was at a laptop computer, and the other of whom was on a primitive drum set. But when I realized that I should view them more as a trip-hop / downtempo group than as a rap "crew," I started to really dig them. Think Mezzanine-era Massive Attack with some Last Poets and Antipop Consortium mixed in. (Local rapper Vocka Redu did an unannounced opening set lasting about 20 minutes; we only saw his last song.) I got a red Shabazz shirt and my sister got a white !!! tank top. The logo on it is totally genius in its simplicity: Black Flag's logo with three dots put underneath three of its bars. (Em and I had seen Digable Planets, one of Shabazz's parent bands, at Voodoo in '05.) I wore my boombox necklace and got lots of respect for it.
The fun was a bit tempered because Damion's dad had suffered a small stroke that day or the day before, but we are told that he is recovering very well.
Saturday the 21st, Record Store Day: Went to Skully'z in the rain; got the Civil Wars' RSD live CD EP for my mom for Mother's Day, and a Suzanne Vega best-of CD for myself. Got a blueberry scone and a smoothie at Community Coffee on Royal. Then went to Euclid Records and immediately saw... Dayna Kurtz! (See previous post.) Amazing... I didn't say anything to her, though, because I figured she might be pretty peeved if some random guy walked up to her and was like "Hey, I just gave away a song of yours for free on the internet." It turned out there was a big in-store performance about to occur, so I figured she was probably going to be playing. Alas, she did not. The bands I did see were Charlie Halloran Experience, Blind Texas Marlin, and Boom Chick. Boom Chick could be the next White Stripes, and are quite clearly modeled after them. I ended up staying for several hours, and got some great stuff, incl.: New Order - "Shellshock" (12"), A Tribe Called Quest - "Bonita Applebum" (12"), The Mission - Children (LP), Nicholas Payton - Sonic Trance (CD) (an overt but aurally pleasing ripoff of Bitches Brew-era Miles Davis), Eurythmics - "Here Comes The Rain Again" (picture-disc 7"). Went up the street to Harold's Nursery for a while and got a purple basil plant for no reason. It was about 20 degrees colder than usual due to a freak cold front. I skipped the "headlining" band, local punk cretins Die Rotzz.
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Today: Played basketball at Ezekiel Jackson park in Garyville (G-ville) for the first time. Planted my Styrax americanus. Watched what was probably Steve Nash's final game as a Sun; ticked & amazed that the coach only played him for a few seconds in the 4th quarter.
Sorry for talking about so much off-topic stuff recently, but March & April tend to be packed with events around here, and is actually known as "festival season" colloquially in the area. Summertime is pretty uneventful for me, so you can always look forward to less extraneous details once the weather starts really heating up. I really don't have much of a life, so please don't ever be fooled into thinking otherwise. I have kind of a nose for finding cool concerts / events, but the other 95% of my life is just as nondescript as anyone else's.
The New Orleans Bounce - "Campaign to change the name of the Hornets to the New Orleans Bounce."
Not sure I agree with this, but it's a pretty ingenious name, considering what a basketball does, and the name of the most famous strain of NOLA rap music. I think they need to pilfer the name Voodoo from our struggling arena football team.
Planets with similar climates: Liquid Liquid - "Scraper" (1983), CAN - "Mushroom" (1971) & "Vitamin C" (1972), The Pop Group - "She Is Beyond Good And Evil" (1979), James Chance & The Contortions - "Contort Yourself" [original version] (1979), Gang Of Four - "It Is Not Enough" (1982), ESG - "UFO" (1981), Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Catholic School Girls Rule" (1985), The Prime Movers - "Wind" (1984), Tussle - "Ghost Barber" (2004).
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