Thursday, January 28, 2010

Medications play Faraquet - Ronny's - Chicago Sat., March 14, 9 p.m. 2009

Back in March, I drove to Ronny's for the first time. Medications finally came. I think I bugged them for three years, every few months. "When are you coming to Chicago?" was all every message asked. They finally did.

I had a 1GB camera card at the time. It kept messing up on me. Stopping recording. Not letting me record. I'm lucky I got 80% of this song, but for the hardcore fans, I'm sorry it cuts off at such a ridiculous point.

I'm as pissed as you are.

SOMEONE ELSE recorded this! They said it was part of a documentary. Footage plz?

This is a Faraquet song.

Enjoy.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

An open letter to Youtube...

Please,

Fix your log-in issue where you just go back to your crappy google link and log-in page.

I'm not going to link my account, it's not a google account.

I know my password is correct, you are telling me this yourselves.

MURDER.

There's many sites with unresolved issues of this.

Sincerest thanks,

JY

Sunday, January 24, 2010

The Mopery seriously wants to entertain you...

Please don't be disrespectful at DYI places.

Seriously.

All these people want to do is go out of their fucking way to give you a good time.

They put money, time, and resources into letting you come in for free, throw a few bucks down, bring some beer, SMOKE YOUR CIGARETTES even!

Be nice!

Someone got kicked out last night. he seemed like a nice guy, considering he was sooo plastered i'm sure he even rivaled MY hangover today, it being my birthday at midnight!

I didn't see him do anything. People fell on the floor a bunch, dudes were pushing, windmill dancing and shit. The guy seemed genuinely pissed and bewildered at it all though. Maybe he was too drunk to know that he did something.

do whatever you want, just don't hurt people or damage shit. i miss fugazi regulatin'.

Chicago is a crazy town.

Warehouses having really great touring bands, and the bands telling me they would rather play at a place like that, than a proper venue. Some are bands from hundreds of miles away! This is why I love music.

CLUES - Schubas, Tommorow Never Knows - 01/17/2010

First of all :

"Remember Severed Head" is about Scylla, NOT "Perfect Fit". Didn't feel like editing in a small clip just to have some sort of explanation.

"Haarp" is about Charybdis.

i'm happy with how all of this came together. The Scylla/Charybdis tie-in that I just so happened to have hit the record button.

I shot 9/10th's of this show half heartedly while I jumped around, and really the only decent stuff made it in this cut of stuff.

I was standing in the wrong spot for maximum vocal goodness for some of the faster, fuller songs, and I knew it, so I just got wacky. They pretty much played the entire LP.

You may notice someone say "oh my god" , and WTF, etc... It was pretty much the story after every song they played.

I knew these songs were going to be better live, but even in the upper right, where the vocals still kicked and resonated in your left ear, walls of sound creeped in from every angle.

It's my birthday.

I spent it in a warehouse watching Bear Claw and a touring band from Tennessee called New Brutalism. A nice surprise.

Cheers.


Enjoy.

CLUES - Schubas , 01/17/2010 from John Yingling on Vimeo.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Jay Reatard : a brief thank you from Spoon, a photo from his last show, etc...

The intro snippet from Spoon is from the New Year's Eve show that, sadly, was Jay Reatard's last. The photo following it is the only decent photo I got from that show.

I put in a picture from when he played Aragon Ballroom with the Pixies last November, just to show you how many people were watching him (whether they cared or not.) Aside from getting this Spoon clip and photo of his last performance out in the open, I'm still very bothered by his passing, so I put a little more something together.

The last clip is from the Empty Bottle show w/ Nobunny, Hunx and his Punx, and Box Elders. The sound quality is just too good to not have up on the internet for you all to enjoy. The songs are Trapped Here and Greed, Money, Useless Children.

Thanks to everyone who has reached out to me about the first video. I didn't think it would mean so much to people and make so many people happy. I'm really, truly grateful that you all enjoyed it so much. I know some of you are just kind of blindly hunting around for footage, interviews, and anything you can find to try to make things a little better. This is all I can really offer. This particular night was ridiculously rowdy. Goner Records showcase of sorts, you could tell everyone was just there to have a sweaty good time. I have a ton of mediocre sound quality videos. Let me know if you want me to put them up on the tube. Enjoy.


Clues, Schubas, Tommorow Never Knows...

Tommorow Never Knows 2010, from what I hear, was all sorts of amazing.

I was not in top form for buying tickets to any of these shows. Atlas Sound was a priority but it just didn't happen.

However, I was treated to a set from Clues at Schubas last night.

Haunting energy flowed from these fellows.

I was running on two hours of sleep, and trying to compensate with beer and other things not only made for a very weird and surreal experience, but the ensuing story telling from Alden Penner, in hindsight, sums up the night.

A story about greek mythology and hints about nature overtaking were brought up.

Was the world coming to an end?

Are Clues some sort of saviour brought forth from the heavens to save us all?

Something new was played.

Cameras could not be held steady.

Waves of sound washed over me.

People in the crowd got a little bit too serious.

Maybe Alden and company really are the answer to all of our prayers, and these few people in attendance were the only ones who knew it. A few people in the crowd were almost hyperventilating the whole thing. Moments like this make you realize, music is some people's reasoning for just getting out of bed.

super nice guys who were just as tired as i was.

It was a short set, but let's hope we see them back a few more times considering the history of Alden's projects.

Some sadly shaky video will be up soon.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Shitty bands should have a law enforced....

Thanks for all the kind words concerning that, I hope you got a smile from it in this shitty time.

I'm looking over these Reigning Sound videos...

Mindblowing live band.

There should be a world rule that any cookie cutter ratings-whore bands should have to see a band like Reigning Sound, or Jay Reatard, or better yet, go on tour with them.

The heart, guts, and sheer emotion some of these shows have, it's something you just can't fake.

Some people just don't seem to know that things like this exist. This is why i'm doing what i'm doing...

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Jay Reatard : A Tribute...

"Jay was as full of life as anyone we've ever met, and responsible for so many memorable moments as a person and artist. Were honored to have known and worked with him, and we will miss him terribly." - Matador

I was at what I think was his last show in Milwaukee, and while I stupidly didn't film any of it (the one time out of ten I saw him) , it was the best i'd ever seen him play. The new band members (from Cola Freaks) and Jay played the songs slower, like on record. If you've ever seen him before with the old band, you know it was about 3X faster. I doubt this has any hidden meaning, maybe they just thought it sounded better. I certainly thought so. Playing it slower, Jay was actually singing, bringing out the crazy hooks that those songs had when you'd listen to them at home.

I talked to Jay a lot, he'd come to Chicago often. He was always super gracious, and really nice. A far cry from the people that think he was just out to punch you in the face.

I hope this gives someone, anyone, something to smile about.

Cheers.





up @ pitchfork! thanks dudes!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

R.I.P - JAY REATARD May 1, 1980 - January 13, 2010

Fuck.

29 years old.

...sigh.

I was at one of (if not his last) shows NYE in Milwaukee with Spoon. Jay and the cola freaks played all of his songs slower like on record. Should have filmed it, as it was the best i'd ever seen him.

Sorry for the cliche, but it's such a fucking shame. He was ALWAYS super nice, and gracious. I'll throw something together in his honor and put it up tommorow.

The next upload will be.....

MEDICATIONS. Not only Medications, but "Medications" in the sense that they played a faraquet song...Chad played drums!

I'll try to have it up by next week.

Cheers.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

the pAper chAse - When (and if) the Big One Hits, I'll Just Meet You There....

I have been a fan of the Paper Chase since the year 2000, when I was sitting in my brothers car, and noticed an odd looking cd, which turned out to be "Young Bodies Heal Quickly, You Know". I was 15. I asked him what it was, and he said "Oh, you're not ready for that yet." Being into pop punk and punk rock primarily, at the time, I thought "fuck you!" , and stole it from him.

It was the best decision of my life, musically.

Since that year, The Paper Chase have been turning out consistently great records, including a DOUBLE record, part of which is out.

I've seen them many times, and every time there has been hearts on the floor, with Congleton, Weaver and co. eventually converting everyone in the room The twisting and turning of Congleton, the lumbering frantic bass making you back away just a little bit as to not get hit in the face by this fellow. Don't worry though, they know what they're doing. Go see them live. Grab a beer, and get ready.

This particular clip is from when they played the Empty Bottle in 2009. I drove to Milwaukee the night before, and obviously had to catch them in my hometown. I have a ridiculous video of "Go Fishing" that i'll throw up a little later (from the beat kitchen show, I know there's other footage from that show out there!) but here's a song that i've never heard live before this time, from their first LP.

Enjoy.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Double Dagger @ Permanent Records - July 09

Double Dagger performs The Pyschic at Permanent Records in Chicago.

This was in July. They played THREE shows here! They opened for Fiery Furnaces, played this show, and then later that night played a loft space.

I had no idea who these guys were, my friend told me I should go, so I grabbed a few beers and headed to the always fun Permanent Records. If you haven't been there, check it out! You can order online now as well.

They played like they were in front of 500 people. Huge energy, hilariousness, and humbleness. They then played the loft show later that night to ten times the sweaty, sweaty individuals. I got some killer video of that. Show me you want 'em and i'll throw a few up!

What a bunch of swell dudes.

ROCK!

David Yow crowd surfs with bruised ribs...

Jesus Lizard are a bunch of badasses, but you didn't need me to tell you that.

This was back in November of 09', in which Jesus Lizard played two shows at Metro in a row. Friday night Yow had to go to the hospital and ended up with bruised ribs....

This was the next night...Yow and co. , bruised ribs and all...

Jeremy Enigk - When Will I Speak

Dear Jeremy Enigk :

I am fully convinced you are a superhero.

Jeremy came to the Abbey pub a while back...may 2008? I have always been a really big fan of everything he's done. The United States of Leland stuff were even tear-jerkers.

So, missing out on the original SDRE (which I finally saw in '09), I was really stoked to go see him on a freezing cold night. He played by himself, with what seemed like 80 or so people just standing mouths agape. A mohawked dude in front of me was really into it. He even played more than a couple sunny day songs, a leland song, and that was back when I only had a 1GB memory card. So, in risk of running out of room, I taped about 45 seconds of 10 songs. In hindsight, it was a bummer, but I made sure to rectify it when he came back.

Below, we have Mr. Enigk at Bottom Lounge a mere six months later! Equally mindblowing show.

Jeremy Enigk knows how to kick you in the face, all by himself.

Jeremy, please tour for O.K. Bear soon, I think it's some of the best you've ever done.

Without further ado, the FIRST song I ever downloaded in the mid nineties, on my 14.4k modem, a (from what I can gather) never-released track...

..When Will I Speak :

New Spoon - Written in Reverse...

I realize Mystery Zone is hard to find, but honestly, it's not really worth my time to upload (with such crappy internet). It's sort of like "I turn my camera on" without the hooks and backup vocals. You'll hear it in a few weeks if you haven't already.

However, I really like this new song...old to the true internet nerds, but decent quality. Hopefully there's more like it on the new jam. (Transference...Jan 19th. Merge)

Written In Reverse...

Saturday, January 2, 2010

New Years.

Jay Reatard + Spoon.

Jay Reatard and his new band played all of their stuff 3X slower, like on record, and it was the most impressive i've ever seen him. I've seen him a lot, but damn this was great to hear the songs slower. TOO. MANY. HOOKS. I was geeking out the whole time. Cheers jay.

Afterwards, a too easy, hassle-free stage jump, I wandered into a realm that had all sorts of quality products and hanging out...and a Mortal Kombat II machine.

SERIOUSLY?!?!

MKII!?

played a few rounds of MKII with Kano, drank some red bull, and bailed.

This video pretty much sums up my last 2 years of filming with the "little camera that could" A Canon Powershot Elph SD1000, which, if you don't know, is not something i'd normally opt to film a bunch of cool shit on. However, the video quality is spectacular for what it is. Proper measures are being worked on slowly.

This, was not in Chicago.

I do give Milwaukee much props for hosting such a classy non cheesy New Years! Aside from someone stealing my full 22 oz. beer in the bathroom WHILE I WAS LOOKING, all was well. $4 gigantic beers, and all the balloons you could want. The Riverside Theatre was just like it's partner in crime, the Pabst! Great place to see Spoon.

Hey, Riviera, take a page from this place.

2010 marks a new start for this blog. Proper internetz shall be gotten. I have A LOT to give to you all, so your patience will be rewarded.



...and on the way down.....