it's a mistake to look for tickets to see one of your favorite singers in los angeles during a presale while telling yourself that you won't buy any, because what are you supposed to do if you find two GA tickets? not get them?? a better person than me could do that, perhaps.
i love the way this has turned into a blog about music. when i started this, i had no idea that's what would happen, but turns out, i really enjoy writing about my favorite music. now, to figure out how to make money by doing that...
courtesy of the frames messageboard here is a link to the website for colm's new cd. currently, you can listen to three songs (although i can't seem to get blue shoes to work...) i've listened to time will tell four times already; it's beautiful. i'm not sure when this will be available, but it looks like you will eventually be able to buy it online.
also, in pearl jam news, mike said in an interview that the band has songs for a new album, and hopes to release it this year (although whether that will actually happen, i'm not too sure). maybe they'll play some new songs on their east coast tour? the most exciting part is that they are teaming up with brendan o'brien again,who produced some of the best pearl jam albums (vitalogy, no code, yield...) i particularly like what o'brien said in an interview with billboard magazine: "they were great to me when we were making records together [before], and we still remained very good friends ... i still think they're a great band. eddie has one of the best, if not the best, voices out there. when he sings, people believe them."
i seriously doubt i'll see anything as good as once (what is it about that movie?) again at siff this year, but i'm still excited about this:
The 34th Seattle International Film Festival May 22 - June 15, 2008 The Largest Film Festival in the U.S. Kicks Off With Battle in Seattle Bottle ShockHighlights Closing Night Gala 418 Films in 25 Days, With 101 Premieres and More Than 600 Screenings
Seattle, WA - SIFF is proud to announce the 34th Seattle International Film Festival, the largest and most highly attended event of its kind in the United States. Running a full 25 days, SIFF will present 191 narrative features, 57 documentary features, and 170 short films from 69 countries, including 43 World Premieres (16 features, 27 shorts), 38 North American Premieres (19 features, 19 shorts), and 19 US Premieres (10 features, 9 shorts). SIFF 2008 will unspool from May 22 through June 15 at multiple venues throughout the city. The full schedule will be available in The Seattle Timesand online May 8 at www.siff.net.
"This year's SIFF is fiercely independent with wide-ranging opportunities for people to explore new ways to look at the world through cinema," says SIFF Artistic director Carl Spence. "Seventy percent of the films in the program are currently without US distribution, offering an array of options for new discoveries and extraordinary film experiences. It is also of note that almost half of the features in the program are from first or second time directors."
The Festival gets underway Thursday, May 22 at Seattle Center's Marion Oliver McCaw Hall with the Opening Night Gala presentation of Battle in Seattle, a gripping dramatization of events that rocked the world when Seattle was host to the World Trade Organization.
every year around this time, mike mccready (pearl jam guitarist) organizes a benefit concert at the showbox for the crohns/colitis foundation. mike has crohns disease, and it does not sound like a fun disease to have, so kudos to him for talking about it and doing all that he can to raise money for research.
the highlight of the show, for a pearl jam nerd like me, was a reunion of mike's first band (from the 80's), shadow, doing a jimi hendrix tribute. mike is such a great guitar player, and in pearl jam he doesn't really always have the space to show that. i was completely mesmerized by it for about 40 minutes. kim virant, a great local singer, sang on little wing, and duff mckagin from guns n'roses came out for a few songs too.
someone emailed me and asked me what frames album i'd recommend for a new fan. that's hard for me to answer; i have my favorites, of course, but other people may not agree. so i thought i'd do my own version of a guided tour through frames albums. not that i'm an expert or anything - far from it... but here we go:
another love song this is the first frames album, released in 1991 i believe. it's out of print now, although you can download it from various places online. it was recorded for island records (i think) and they subsequently left that label. this is the dancer from a concert in dublin last new year's eve (an aside - i think i might try to go to dublin next year if they play on new year's eve. kristine, wanna come?:):
fitzcarraldo this is their second album, released in 1995. if you've seen once, you'll probably recognize say it to me now (although the album version is somewhat different from the one in the movie). there are some great songs on this record, but it's not one of the ones i listen to the most. interestingly, fitzcarraldo is a movie by werner herzog about a man who is obsessed with building an opera house in a remote town in peru and literally pulls a ship over a mountain. it's hard to describe this album, but i guess it's probably the most "rock" record the frames have. when i listen to it, it sounds kind of dated, although one of my favorite frames songs, red chord, is on this album:
dance the devil this is the album that made me love the frames, and i think it's still my favorite. it was released in 1999. if you've seen the swell season live, there might be a few songs you recognize here: pavement tune (i want my life to make more sense to me), and star star. my favorite song is 7 day mile:
i think i have a soft spot for this record because it's the first frames album i heard; i cannot for the life of me understand why this band is not bigger in the US -well maybe they will be now that glen won an oscar. i have no idea. there are a few albums that feel to me like a best friend, that i can listen to over and over, that i know so well i can sing along perfectly, that i fall asleep listening to. no code by pearl jam is one; dance the devil is another.
for the birds this is their next album; it came out in 2001. this is my second favorite, probably, although depending on the day, it might be number one. to me, this album has a bit more of an independent feel to it. i think that's probably because it was the first record the band really recorded where you can tell that they kind of said, well who cares about the record company? there is no clear "single" on here like revelate or pavement tune. i also think it's interesting that this album was partly recorded by steve albini (who did in utero, one of my favorite-sounding records). during some of the songs, you can hear noise of people walking around and stuff like that. before one song, i forget which one, you even hear a dog barking. this is definately an album that will take time to grow on you, but once it does, you won't be able to stop listening to it. here's headlong:
again, if you've seen the swell season, you might recognize lay me down and what happens when the heart just stops. i think this album, perhaps more than the others, has an interesting mixture of soft and loud songs. you have a song like headlong - which i adore - followed by something like early bird, - which i also love - a great song to turn up loud and sing along with. i also think it's worth noting that, in my opinion, this record has some of the greatest lyrics in the frames catalogue.
their next album, burn the maps, is not really one that i listen to very often. there are some good songs on there, but i just don't find myself reaching for it. this is finally:
the most recent album is the cost. this album is, by far, the most un-frames one, if that makes sense. i think it's a good record, but not one i would recommend to someone who doesn't know the frames. falling slowly (although a very different version than the one marketa and glen do) and when your mind's made up (wow, those songs are on 3 albums) are on here.
and then there's their live album, setlist, which is brilliant. i have it on my ipod, and listen to it almost every day on the way to work. there is a good mix of songs on here, and glen's story about the dog who inspired what happens when the heart just stops is pretty funny.
.. and if anyone has any clue where i can get from the breadcrumb trail, i'd be ever so grateful.
glen hansard:Music is medicine and dreams. For me that's what music is, when it's at its best. It makes time stop. It's salve. For me music is a moment of peace
where to begin? this was an AMAZING concert, and i'm pretty sure words can't possibly do it justice.
i saw the swell season last november, also at the moore theatre (which will forever be famous to me as the place the video for evenflow was shot. i can't go to a show here without picturing eddie vedder jumping from the walls), and that show had a much different feeling to it than the one on wednesday. for 5 months, i've been saying that that was one of the best concerts i've ever been to and i really didn't think it could be eclipsed. but it was. everything from the opening chords of say it to me now to the end of forever young was absolutely perfect. i have to say that the show in november felt a bit more intimate (probably for obvious reasons.. this show sold out i think in about 15 minutes. damn that oscar!) but now, glen and marketa (especially) seem a lot more confident and at ease with their performances. plus, the fact that all the members of the frames were there was icing on the cake (if you have been reading, you may know that the frames are one of my favorite bands. more on that later)
in oakland, glen did say it to me now without any amplification, but he plugged in his guitar and used the microphone in seattle. he said later that he was getting sick, but you would never be able to tell it. he's an incredible singer; what i love so much about the frames and, to a lesser extent, the swell season is that so many of the songs start out quietly but then build and build until the end when glen is almost screaming.
i don't remember the exact setlist; it was a little different from oakland, but not by a whole lot. marketa played her new song again, and it was even more beautiful than i remembered. although i kept my eyes on her and colm (the violinist), i did look at glen a few times, and the way he was watching her sing was really sweet. after she finished, it seemed like glen was going to play his new song (which i was hoping for), but marketa left the stage for a few minutes, and they played suffer in silence (a frames song) instead. very nice. it actually took me a minute to realize what it was, because i wasn't expecting them to play that. (it's from burn the maps, if you happen to care).
speaking of frames songs, they also did your face again, which i think is a perfect song for glen and marketa to sing together. i have to mention here that i love her voice. it seems to me that i can hear her more than i could in november, and i think that's probably because she is starting to get more confident in herself onstage. the three songs she sang by herself were great, and she really adds something wonderful to the songs she and glen do together.. especially falling slowly , and one of my favorite songs from the swell season album, this low.
ok, now i'm going to sound like a teenager for a minute, so bear with me: the best part of the concert actually came after the show. my friend kristine and i decided to wait outside the theatre and we met glen and marketa. i've never wanted to meet one of my favorite musicians before, because i've always thought, well what would i say, and what's the point of having an autograph? i guess i never realized how completely star-struck and like a teenager i would feel if that ever happened. my heart was pounding, and the only thing i could think of to say was "the frames are my favorite band." it was just completely surreal to be face to face with this person whose music i listen to almost every day and whose lyrics make me feel better when i'm sad. /end teenage gushing.
highlights
what happens when the heart just stops like falling slowly, no matter how many times i hear this song, i can never seem to get tired of it.
glen's storytelling i think this is always a highlight of frames and swell season shows. he cracks me up even with the jokes i've heard before. his comic timing is awesome (he always pauses before the punch line) and kristine was saying that the way he moves his hands when he's telling a story is really funny too. i think that must be an irish thing or something. this is what a dork i am: i noticed that during star star after colm plays the bit from willy wonka and the chocolate factory glen said "you're turning violet, violet; off to the juicing room." ha! i found myself saying something similar to a girl in my class today who was eating all the cantaloupe at lunch.
fitzcarraldo this is another song that i can't seem to get tired of no matter how many times i hear it. and i especially love to watch marketa play piano on this song; man, her fingers fly!
... there were other highlights i'm sure, but this week has seemed so surreal that i can't even really think straight. i'm going to watch last night's survivor and then go to sleep.
