gradual companion piece

aureliusj: Destruction Unit perform Night Loner live at 285...

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 20:44:29 -0400

aureliusj:

Destruction Unit perform Night Loner live at 285 Kent in Brooklyn

“Hypoxia”. Chiangmai, Thailand. January, 2013. *I...

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 21:53:00 -0500

“Hypoxia”.
Chiangmai, Thailand.
January, 2013.

*I would encourage watching this with a decent set of headphones or speakers.

“Motorcycle”

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 19:37:00 -0500

“Motorcycle”

Marnie SternBrooklyn, New YorkNovember, 2012

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 22:23:00 -0500

Marnie Stern
Brooklyn, New York
November, 2012

The Flight Path to LaGuardia501 images and 22 seconds of...

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 21:42:00 -0400

The Flight Path to LaGuardia
501 images and 22 seconds of audio.
Brooklyn, New York.
August 19th, 2010.

Pool, Shark.Brighton, UK.May 2012.

Sun, 03 Jun 2012 16:58:35 -0400

Pool, Shark.
Brighton, UK.
May 2012.

Tour Diary - Rest of May

Sun, 03 Jun 2012 16:50:16 -0400

Alright, it’s been a hot minute since the last update. Let’s keep this breezy…

Quickly, a word about France. What’s France’s deal? Knowwhaddimean? Hey France, I’d like to be able to buy cigs at 11am on a Saturday morning. Maybe some fresh bread too. You aren’t a second world country and this isn’t 1910. Since you are so good at surrendering, surrender to the idea that I wanna buy some shit whenevs. People could be a little nicer. I’m trying here. You had so much potential. Okay, I’m done being ignorant about France. Moving on.

Clermont FD, France:

Played in a squat. Stayed upstairs in a room full of gnarly mattresses. Nate and I went for a walk and got semi seriously lost. The city itself isn’t much to speak of, but I do think this is the home of Michelin Tires.

Paris, France:

Ya know, it’s Paris. Beautiful when it wants to be but otherwise a complete fucking mess of urban sprawl. Parts of Paris make Brooklyn look like Fiji. Okay, maybe that’s an overstatement but you get it.

We walked over to a huge festival and caught some of a BLACKIE set and this Swedish band The Field. We got fed some whack pasta. The bartender was a dick about us wanting to drink Coca-Cola on ice. The kids were awesome. Everyone had a good time.

Brighton, UK:

It’s nice to be speaking the mother tongue again. Took the ferry to the UK. Brighton was pretty interesting. It had a boardwalk that had a coney island vibe. Saw some chavs. Bought some veggies, including the juiciest peach ever placed on earth. Dima forgot to wake up and bring the van from the hotel after the show, so I had to run over there and wake him up. Had some ciders while we waited.

Leicester, UK:

Show was in a really cool restaurant basement (The Cookie Cutter) basically in a strip mall. Got some books: Keith Richards autobio and this book called Outliers about people who are really good at stuff and why. Saw more chavs. Played more soccer.

Liverpool, UK:

Home of the Beatles. Walked around the port area and center for a few with Nate. The show was in a dank basement at this place called The Shipping Forecast. The opener was a rad band called Vasco Da Gama. Show was packed, sound was good. People got drunk. Good night all around.

Dublin, Ireland:

Took a ferry to Ireland. Walked around Dublin for a few. Nice place. Had an arepa from a little stand and it was one of the best things I’ve ate all tour. Seriously missing legit Mexican food. The show was in a huge place and was the largest turnout of tour I’d say. Met Vinnie from Adebisi Shank (no mask, nice guy) andBarry from Richter Collective. Sold some merch. Met King Joffrey from Game of Thrones (he’s a big fan) and crashed out at a cushy hotel in my own room. Was feeling so gnarly that I took 2 showers this day.

Galway, Ireland:

Cute little city on the water. Irish people were out getting all sorts of drunk this evening (surprise!). Washed our clothes, watched some TV, took a walk. The day was pretty much a misty non event for me at least, but I did have fun watching a drunk guy lean on a car for awhile.

Limerick, Ireland:

Stab City. This place is kind of scary. There are huge bullys everywhere just trying to get in fights. Having an accent doesn’t help. The show is in a tiny room and I think Nick played behind John. Got fish and chips with Nick. Took a short nap around soundcheck. Didn’t really sleep at night because caught a ferry to UK early the next morning and I drank a red bull at like 4am.

Photo

Tue, 29 May 2012 12:35:39 -0400

Tour Diary 5/24/12

Tue, 29 May 2012 12:30:39 -0400

We wake up at about 7am for our drive from Porto to Zaragosa, Spain. I mosey down to the van in my PJ’s. Not interested in changing into jeans today. I’m not feeling great because Nate got a vodka-7up and it was so strong, I drank like half of it on top of a couple of beers and now my head hurts. I hate vodka. Makes me feel awful.

On the road we go up the coast a bit. I’m sitting shotgun and the ride seems to take forever. We kick the soccer ball around a bit just to stretch and feel alright. Everyone sleeps a bit just to try to catch up.

On the drive I listen to a bunch of …Trail of Dead. I forgot how good that band is. Wish that guy toned his voice down just a little bit but he’s a hell of a songwriter.

We finally arrive in Zaragosa around five or six. Our venue is difficult to find in the sense that half of the roads we have to take to get to it won’t accept our van. After some maneuvering and illegal turns we manage to get the van in there.

Dima and I run to get wifi at a coffee shop. I’m missing American coffee like no other. Also, Americano sounds like something you might order in Europe. It hardly ever works with the barista in question.So I get yet another espresso and chill for a few. John and Dima go to check out a strange church that’s a huge temple. It’s hybrid roman/ottoman style. Kind of strange.

The venue is a little club. Maybe a hundred and fifty or so capacity. Tera Melos is the only band tonight and they go on around 9pm. The show is good and before long it’s finished, we’re loaded out and we go to dinner with the promoter at a vegetarian place that does tapas and stuff. The Spanish do potatoes in spicy sauce and other tasty treats. We all had a Fritz Cola, which is a super high caffeine soda. Pretty good.

After dinner we go to the hotel, which is kind of sketchy. Upon parking about a quarter mile from the hotel (due to the weird pedestrian only streets here) I see a guy walking out of an alley flicking a bag of drugs. He looks pretty amped up and speeds off in his car. When we get into the hotel lobby the clerk doesn’t do any any english so John takes the liberty of speaking as much Spanish as we can. Some of the guys go back to the van and bring it to the makeshift parking garage the venue has set up.

Sunrise.Porto, Portugal.May, 2012.

Mon, 28 May 2012 11:26:31 -0400

Sunrise.
Porto, Portugal.
May, 2012.

Tour Diary 5/23/12

Mon, 28 May 2012 11:21:23 -0400

We get up and have some coffee at Costa’s in Madrid. He lets Banana, the bunny, out of it’s cage to hop around and the seemingly benign Banana eats a hole straight through Nick’s headphones. He’s bummed, as it’s the second pair he’s gone through on this tour. We eat a little bread and walk over to the van to drive to Porto, Portugal.

The drive to Porto is kind of a long one. The landscape is arid. It’s no wonder now why the Spanish and Portuguese ended up settling where they did during their conquests. Oddly enough, for all the traveling I do I’ve never been to Mexico (I’m going in 3 weeks) but I’ve been told by the guys that these parts of inland Spain look almost exactly like Mexico. Maybe minus the taquerias.

We get stopped at the Spanish/Portuguese border. To our delight, instead of strip searching us like in Croatia, They just ran a dog through our van. He didn’t find our huge stash of heroin, but he did clean some of the crumbs off the van floor. Good dog.

When we get into Porto we load into the venue, which is an interesting place. It’s like a supper club on the 4th floor with a pretty good sized venue in the back. The floors are finished wood and the sound is atrocious because the treble and high mids are bouncing all over the place. Every snare hit from John sounds like a gunshot anyway.

After dinner, we take a walk. Porto is by far the coolest city we have been to on this tour. It definitely does not feel at all like the western world. There are port castles everywhere (like El Morro in Puerto Rico), it’s old, it’s dense and it looks like Bladerunner. From pictures I’ve seen of cities in North Africa, I’d say it looks more like that than say Oxford or Stockholm. It’s definitely got that poor people living simply in warm weather feel.

We walk down to the river, which is about a thousand feet lower in elevation than where we started, and the walk was through a really poor section of town. They were tons of cats everywhere. When we got the the river, the idea of walking back up the hill does not appeal to us, so we take a tram that looks kind of like a pope-mobile roller coaster back up the hill. It costs us about 1,50€.

Back at the venue we hang out on the internet for awhile and watch the opening bands. There are a bunch of people there. The band plays and it’s a good crowd. At least good enough for an encore.

After the show we head back to the hotel arranged for us. We’re all hungry but nothing seems to be open so Nate and I make some sandwiches. Our room is awesome. It has 3 beds and a huge balcony overlooking the city. There are bats outside so I go check those guys out. They are eating bugs near the light. There are no outlets to charge anything, which is weird. We pass out for about three or four hours because we have to be up early for a drive to Zaragoza, Spain.

Photo

Sat, 26 May 2012 12:58:44 -0400

Tour Diary 5/22/12

Sat, 26 May 2012 12:50:36 -0400

I wake up in the hotel at about noon in Castellon. We bust out of the hotel and are in search of fruits and drinks for the drive to Madrid. About halfway down the street I realize… I’ve left my phone in the room. Thankfully the nice lady at the counter has it. We grab it. Get some avocados and tomatoes and get on the road to Madrid.

I’ve been talking about getting a knife to cut fruits, bread and cheeses along the way. I found one at the gas station. It’s pretty rad, it has a boar on it in some ivory color with metal work on the handle for 7€. I also grab a huuuuge block of some spanish cheese and some bread and now we’re in business.

I forgot to mention that I finished the biography about Brian Wilson called “Catch a Wave”. I gave it over to Nick and he read it. Highly recommended. I’ve moved on to a biography about Bobby Fischer called “Endgame” and on this day I finished it as well. It’s especially good at being a biography and not too boring about the chess stuff. Brian Wilson and Bobby Fischer have in common that they were pretty incredible at what they did, but they are fucking nuts. Wilson getting very involved with substances and Fischer was a tyrannical asshole, God rest his soul.

When we get into Madrid, we make a stop at Santiago Bernabeu (sp?) which is the stadium where Real Madrid plays. Personally, I’m more of a Barca fan but it’s cool nonetheless. They are trying to ding us for like 16€ apiece for a tour of the field and it takes an hour. Fuck that. Dima gets a little soccer ball at the team store and we take off for the venue.

On the way from the stadium to the venue there are protests that are making our lives a living hell. They are protesting eduction cuts. College is free in Spain and the kids would like to keep it that way. There are probably five thousand people protesting. It’s a mess. In the traffic, John is trying to coax Nate into telling a girl that she is “muy linda”. Trouble is, she’s not that cute and Nate doesn’t take the bait.

We get to the venue about an hour later and parking is a mess yet again. Eventually we get settled and load in. Costa and Luigi are the promoters and they take good care of us. After load in we walk over to their place through the narrow streets of downtown Madrid. There are a ton of transvestite hookers along the walk and it’s a funny sight to see. Costa has wifi and pizza and snacks and a bunny named Banana that just roams free. Banana has a ton of personality, but he gets freaked out when there are seven dudes roaming around the place

After dinner we walk back to the venue and the guys get ready to play. A few of the people from the band All Fits show up and It’s nice to see them. The guys play and there is a ton of dance during the set, especially on the part of Costa’s friends girlfriend, who is pretty drunk. She’s a funny one.

After the show we leave the van and walk back to Costa’s. We hand out for a few, pet the bunny, and eventually pass out.

Zack Hill - “The Primitives Talk” (2010)

Sat, 26 May 2012 12:49:19 -0400

Zack Hill - “The Primitives Talk” (2010)

Photo

Fri, 25 May 2012 13:50:00 -0400

Tour Diary 5/21/12

Fri, 25 May 2012 13:49:34 -0400

We awake to our french promoter breaking back into the house and fixing his computer. I’m feeling pretty funny because I tore that thing apart last night for the greater good of our internet situation. He brought us fresh OJ and croissants. I pull my clothes off of the drying rack and we say our goodbyes to the Mat.

On the road again and Nate and I are back to our old tomato soup and bread tricks for lunch. Somewhere after we cross the Spanish border we stop at a gas station to refuel and they have a whole bunch of futbol gear there. I grab a Barcelona (my favorite team) scarf and we get a soccer ball. It should be noted that we broke the frisbee somewhere in the alps and we are now game less. I’m also happy to be in a place where I can communicate (albeit rudimental) in the native tongue.

We are headed to Castellon which is probably about a third down the coast of Spain? Not sure, but it’s on the Mediterranean in the area of Valencia. On the way in we have a hell of a time parking.

We load in and park reallllly far away. Which leads me to a thought: If you want the band to load out and play at your bar, thus generating revenue… save them some parking! So anyhow we walk back and see a spot near the bar that we might fit into. I stand in the spot, and Dima gets the van. I get in a face off with a rotund young spanish lady in a BMW about the parking spot. She wants it but I’m standing in it surrounded in backpacks. She eventually starts swearing at me and screeches off. “I’m staying. Drinking my coffee.”

Long story short, we pull the people mover onto the sidewalk and watch like hawks until we get the spot.

The show goes off well for Tera Melos, being the only band. It’s Nick’s birthday today, so John’s little gift to him is the let him play “Another Surf” for as long as he’d like. It goes on FOREVER. Pretty cool. The guys visit with some kids for awhile and it looks like we are off early, as it’s about 10 when we leave.

We roll over to the hotel and decide to get some dinner for Nick’s Bday. The problem is, every damn place is closed! It seems they eat dinner in Spain from a window of 8pm til 10pm. We’ve missed it by about 15 minutes. Eventually, after some searching around, we run into a trusty kebab shop, where the coca cola flows like a river and falafel is growing on trees. The meal is pretty tasty. Eventually we walk back to the hotel and Nick and I chat for a little bit about Midnight Oil and The Cardigans before passing out.

Ty Segall - You Make The Sun Fry (2011)

Fri, 25 May 2012 13:49:02 -0400

Ty Segall - You Make The Sun Fry (2011)

Pizzagirl stereotypes. Madrid, Spain.May, 2012

Thu, 24 May 2012 14:08:24 -0400

Pizzagirl stereotypes.
Madrid, Spain.
May, 2012

Tour Diary 5/20/12

Thu, 24 May 2012 14:05:25 -0400

I’m first up in the morning, so I figure out how to use the coffee maker and start swapping everybody’s laundry into it’s proper place. Dima comes back from his run and before we know it, it’s time to leave for our four hour trip to Tolouse. Some of our clothes haven’t dried, which is something I hate because it usually means mayhem for the smell of my clothes.

Our drive is short and we arrive in Toulouse early. We load all of the stuff and and we all set out for a little walk. Nick stays back to chat with family and friends. Out in the world of Toulouse things are pretty cool. It’s a sizable city. There are some cool theaters and lots of shops. There’s a huge river and old architecture that comes standard with most European city. To generalize, I would say that I’m not crazy about France, but I could do Toulouse.

For dinner we had anchovy pizza (nope), tomato pizza (yes), ham and egg quiche (yes, but I’m trying to take it easy on the meat) and lasagna (it’s sweet?!).

The show starts and I later stalk a filming position from the upper balcony. I prefer these filming positions just because they are a little out of the ordinary.

After the show we went back to one of the dude’s in the opening band’s place. Their drummer looks almost exactly like Vince Rogers. I sufficiently messed up the wiring of his computer by hijacking some internet and sharing it. I hung my previously wet clothes to dry and marveled in my sense of accomplishment as I fell asleep.

Tera Melos.Porto, Portugal. May, 2012.

Wed, 23 May 2012 22:10:24 -0400

Tera Melos.
Porto, Portugal.
May, 2012.