Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Relocation!!

Hey kids. If you're reading this, that means that this blog has officially RELOCATED. Yes, now that the new Dr. Pants Website is up and running, we decided that this blog (now re-christened The Pants Report) can live on the same domain as the rest of Dr. Pants world. So go ahead and click one of the text links you just read over, or click the title of this blog entry, and resume your ravenous consumption of this piece of essential bloggy internet stuff at its new location. See y'all over there. Peace out.

David

Friday, June 3, 2011

The Dr. Pants Chronicles 3: Move So Slow

Dustin struggled to breathe through the mist of spray-tan. David was already unconscious. Kenneth was prostrate and prone. And now, the lights in Dustin’s eyes began to fade. He wondered, possibly a final thought: How had they gotten the drop on them?

After enjoying a brunch of donuts, the trio had returned to the Dr. Pants Medical Funk Facility, eager to begin the search for a new bassist. But something was amiss. As the doors swung open, they didn’t hear the usual soundtrack that P.A.N-T.S. would choose, but the deep thump of house music. The air was thick with...something.

“P.A.N-T.S.?” David shouted, expecting the computer’s reply.

Kenneth and Dustin looked at one another. They’d never had a problem with the Personal Android Nano-Tech System before--except for that time it went evil and kept re-mixing their albums as nu-metal. But after the last logic upgrade, it was working perfectly.

“This has to be a joke, right?” asked Dustin. “I thought we agreed not to install a personality, because that’s always what happens in the movies right before a sentient computer tries to kill everybody.”

In the shadows, they heard a giggle and the shuffle of tiny feet. They swung around, but found their bodies would barely respond.

“I’m moving so slow,” Kenneth said. “It’s like walking in molasses.”

Now the tittering came from behind them. And from the left and right. Dressed in skin-tight glittering faux-leather, the tiny orange forms of the Guido-loompas emerged and surrounded them. Their eyes, as always, were covered in sunglasses.

“Yo. Yo. Yo.”

They spoke the same syllable over and over again, as always. The Guido-loompas never said anything else, but there was menace behind the word. How long had they been trying to kill the band?

And now they had drugged them with some sort of aerosol party cocktail, no doubt to make it easier to bronzer them to death.

But just as Dustin had held on the longest, he was also the first to draw in the first sweet breaths of air after his orange shell had been cracked. He blinked and began to make out shadows in the sunlight of a figure waking his friends.

The haze cleared and he looked around. They were outside the Funk Facility, a trail of unconscious Guido-loompas leading out the front door, ending a few feet away.
“What...what...” David struggled to say.

“I came for the audition and found you guys being spray-tanned by these goofy midgets,” said the man. “I fought them off with my bass and dragged you outside before the fumes got to me. I’m Devin, by the way.”

(Written by Greg Elwell)

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

The Dr. Pants Chronicles 2: Log-sack

The hulking 9-foot frame of Log-sack loomed in the doorway, towering over the band. So large, he seemed to swallow up their entire field of vision, but in a crack between his massive arms and inhuman torso, they could see the bound and gagged figure of Kenneth behind him.

This was not the Log-sack they had known. Half Kenny Loggins, half John Cusack, the composite man had been a friend to them in the past. His back bore the brunt of the collapsing roof when an earthquake hit Dr. Pants Medical Funk Facility. He helped fight against the abomination Cussina (half Joan Cusack, half Jimmy Messina) when it sought to disrupt a studio recording.

But now, the easy half-smiles of the star of “Better Off Dead” and the singer of “Danger Zone” were aligned in a frown.

“What are you doing with Kenneth?” asked David. “Have you hurt him, Log-sack?”

His tree-limb arm came crashing down, knocking the band off their feet. He lumbered forward and as the lamp swung across the ceiling, it illuminated the swirling logo of their nemesis, the diabolical Professor Tornado, seared into his chest.

“Tornado’s gotten to him,” Dustin shouted. “Argh! If only he was more Cusack than Loggins. Then maybe he wouldn’t be so conflicted!”

The beast, confused by the notion that Loggins might somehow be less conflicted than Cusack, didn’t notice Aaron reaching into his pocket and pulling out his box cutter. It would be useless against the nigh-invincible might of Log-sack, but maybe...just maybe...if he could throw it to Kenneth, he could slice through his bonds and begin work on the beast’s one weakness: a funky beat...

The box cutter barely made it over Log-sack’s shoulder, in the narrow space between his mountainous body and the ceiling, landing inches away from Kenneth. His eyes, red like the Danger Zone, swung to Aaron and with a voice much like that of a movie star, Log-sack bellowed. He turned away from David and Dustin, allowing them to aid their captive friend, but in the blink of an eye, he lunged.

Aaron, screaming, was caught in the unbreakable grip of Log-sack’s arms. But it lasted only a moment. The screaming stopped and the creature let his prey fall lifeless to the floor.

Behind the beast’s back, the rest of the band exchanged mournful looks. They really needed to find a new bass player.

(Written by Greg Elwell)

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Dr. Pants Chronicles 1: The Aftermath of the Doppelganger War

Dustin shuddered as he peeled bits of raw chicken off the arm of his jacket. It’s not as if any of the other band members loved being pelted with raw meat, but none of the others were vegetarians.

“It’s like they do it just to spite me,” he said to David, who still had feathers in his hair.

“They’re our evil doppelgangers,” David replied. “They don’t specifically hate you. They hate all of us. Makes me wish they’d never accidentally mutated from our blood samples that one time.”

“THIS makes you wish they’d never been mutated from our blood samples? THIS? Not the 800 other times we’ve had to fight them?” Dustin asked incredulously. “I don’t care if they loved us and bought us candy, I still wish they didn’t exist. They give me the creeps.”

Kenneth coughed sheepishly. It had been his trials of the Pants 4000 DNA testing kit/amp that accidentally created their wayward twins.

At least we got a song out of it, guys,” he said. “A pretty kick-ass song.”

The band couldn’t argue with that. Risking their lives wasn’t always fun. Saving Oklahoma City from robot spiders and amorous pigs wasn’t easy. But at least they got some cool music out of the deal.

Aaron looked at his bandmates, perplexed.

“Wait, did you guys get hit by all those exploding chickens? Didn’t the velvet blankets shield you?”

Dustin removed a beak from his pocket and then pointed to his wedding ring. David and Kenneth did the same.

“We’re all married, dude, remember?” asked Dustin. “So, while you were hiding in bed with the Doppel-groupies, we were remaining faithful to our ladies and dodging raw chicken thighs. Where’d they go, anyway?”

The Doppel-groupies, like the Doppelgangers, had fled the scene once the poultry started popping. And with them went the secret location of Dr. Pants, their mentor and legal guardian, if the boasts in their ransom letter were true.

David wandered about with his cellphone up in the air, searching for a signal.

“Anyone know where those crazy bastards have left us this time?”

“Mmmm, probably southside,” said Kenneth, consulting his GPS. “Yep. South Penn. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

The men nodded silently. They would look for an exit. They would call for a ride. And then they would get some donuts.

(Written by Greg Elwell)

Friday, May 13, 2011

On Music & Italy

Sometimes it becomes clear to me that there are forces in the world that are out to break me and make all that I find joyful turn to misery.

Not the most positive way to start a blog entry about my recent, absolutely amazing trip to Italy with my wife and her parents. I am aware of this. Still, when you can get outside your normal life and routine and look at things from the outside a bit, certain things become crystal clear.

Many times we take vacations to renew ourselves…or allow ourselves to be renewed. Even if we don’t know that’s why we do it, it’s still probably why we do it. I have been in desperate, desperate need of renewal. The many journeys K.C. and I take on the road playing music do not renew me. I suppose they could, if I allowed them to sometimes. I have been in quite a dark place recently, I think. Darker than I really had realized or imagined. It is only in the light of this amazing vacation and what I’ve allowed it to show me and do to me have I become aware of this. Some of you might be saying, “Well, of course you feel better. You’re in ITALY.” It’s not always that easy, though. There have been moments on this amazing journey where I’ve been a bit too jammed up with worrying about things at home, etc. to really enjoy the moment. As I type this, I have arrived at a place where that’s not the case, at least for now.

We give ourselves over in slavery to so many things. There are many days where I am not too far from believing the adage from “Fight Club”: “Do you own your possessions, or do your possessions own you?” I don’t know that it is only my possessions that have owned me lately. I have been owned by my own fear, my own ambition (which can be a dangerous thing…how much of our own ambition is grown out of fear that we will NOT amount to a point that is satisfactory to us? Can we not trust that God/The Universe/whatever has a plan that will be perfect in the long run?).

I have also been impaired in my enjoyment of music lately. My ability to really enjoy listening has been quite affected. I need to utilize it as the symptom it is more often…I should know by now that if the music is largely not pleasurable/interesting and more frustrating/befuddling, it’s a sign that all is not well in my mind and heart.

I am so proud of this record that we’ve made, the new Dr. Pants EP (the 1st of 4), but the truth is I can’t control what anybody thinks of it or what the world does with it. It’s not my job to, either. I desperately want to believe that great music will make room for itself…but it doesn’t always work this way. The truth is that Dr. Pants is probably destined to be a cult band, and the cult is still finding us. I’m so grateful for the people who have discovered the music over the last few years and have really connected with it. I pray that I am more grateful for that every day than I was the previous day.
I also have felt so desperate financially…it’s interesting that, even though this entire trip was paid for by my in-laws (an amazing, amazing thing), it’s been good to give up control of the money. I’m not in control of the money. I can’t even try to pay for anything, because I don’t have a single Euro of my own in my pocket. That’s a little different. It’s like, “Just stand back and be blessed, because there’s nothing you can do about it.” Pretty humbling on some level.

I’m so glad for the moments I’ve had on the plane ride over, and the trains throughout Italy, to listen to entire records on my iPod, and to just sit and enjoy. It’s pretty much all been entire records that I’m not very familiar with…I’ve even listened to a few things for the first time ever, start-to-finish. Of course, as I’ve been in Italy, my mind has been its own jukebox as well. Certain tracks come irresistibly to mind (how can one walk around the city of Firenze, as the Italians call it, and not think of “You Enjoy Myself” by Phish?), and others from the plane ride over stick in my head and, for whatever reason, become cornerstone songs to my own personal soundtrack for the trip (both “Broken” and “Rhinestone Eyes” by Gorillaz). Something about being in a foreign country, outside one’s own home, opens the ears. I don’t know what it is. I think I have just been approaching a sort of potential burnout with work in general…including the radio show. Now, though, I don’t feel that way at all…I am so pleased to listen to some of the new(er) things in my iTunes that I hadn’t even been able to approach before…to listen and think, “Yeah, I’d really like to play that.” Italy is interesting, too…there isn’t as much attitude surrounding music here as there is in the US right now, or Oklahoma, even. I love Oklahoma, and I love the music scene there, but there are tastemakers at work in Oklahoma, just like there are everywhere else, and sometimes I wonder if there’s really room for all of us in the new world of the growing Oklahoma music scene.

I desperately don’t want to be bitter or resentful about that, though, and that is truly helped by the experience of this trip. I don’t want the root of bitterness to take hold in my heart in regards to anything, whether it be in regards to my work or anything else. I want gratitude, peace, joy, grace. I want all these things in abundance. And I very much want them even more after this experience.

I have to be guarded…because I believe that these things can be stolen away, if I allow them to be. Stolen by bitterness, fear…these things that I can fall prey to so easily. Here in the holy city of Rome I sit, and these things are clearer than ever. I can only hope they remain clear once I come home.

The glow of amazing experiences of people, places and things wears off so quickly, too quickly. I hope that these lessons I have learned in Italy, about gratitude, grace, fear, bitterness and music…I hope that these lessons do not fade once the glow of Italia grows faint. There is so much in those lessons that is about my life every day, everywhere, and not just about these amazing few days spent in Italy. Let me always remember.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

The Music & The Consciousness

Consciousness is a weird thing. It’s such a strange idea that each one of us is just this small, humanoid creature, with a consciousness that SEEMS enormous, but only because it’s all we know in the whole world. If we had any way to compare or experience a comparison between our individual consciousnesses and, say, all of them put together, or the consciousness of what many of us would call “God,” we would, I’m sure, regard the playgrounds of our individual minds as small. As it stands, though, these playgrounds are the only place each of us will ever exist, and all we take in, all we experience and all we think/feel in reaction thereto will be the entire makeup of that playground.

This is the kind of thing that I think about, or more than likely, quasi-freak out about, when I wake up in the morning these days. I have these moments in the night and in the morning, when I wake up from sleep, where I realize how small I am (this has been happening to me since I was a teenager, but the experience has evolved a bit…it used to just result in abject fear…now, for some reason, it just makes me kind of sad). I realize that all these crazy thoughts I have, all these weird ideas, or opinions, or feelings are mine only, and no one will ever know they’re there unless I express them somehow.

I said not too long ago on Twitter that art was “the only sensible reaction to the human condition.” When I say “human condition,” I mean exactly what I have just been describing here. This is where music comes in for me…it is by far the art form I relate to the most, and so it has always been my first choice in terms of some way I might communicate to the world.

So, I can’t help but do it. If I want to somehow communicate some of these things, I must make music. Maybe the music I make won’t impact you in the way this blog entry has…maybe you’ll listen to the upcoming Dr. Pants EPs and think, “this doesn’t really sound like it’s about human consciousness at all.” That’s fine. I hope to get around to tackling some of these ideas more directly as time goes on. But I do hope you’ll listen. I’ll keep making music even if you don’t, though. I’m pretty sure my sanity depends on it.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

25 Records That Mean Something To Me, #2


It's hard to talk about Frank Zappa and just mention one specific album. In fact, when I initially conceived of this series of blog entries (of which I've managed to complete a whopping ONE so far), I'm sure I had a different Zappa album in mind than the one I'm about to talk about. But I pulled this disc out earlier today when I was picking out music for K.C. and I to clean the house to, and realized that somewhere, at some point, I obtained a new copy of it and replaced the original CD copy I had gotten 15 years ago. I was pleased to discover this; it meant that I didn't have to worry about the disc wearing out any time soon. My other copy had been worn slick, as I recall. It was scratched up pretty bad, especially for a CD in MY collection (I tend to be pretty protective of my discs...I had taken this record on so many road trips, placed it and removed it from so many CD wallets, that it finally started to look pretty rough). Anyway, all of this to say that I realized THE GRAND WAZOO is a record that means something to me, for sure.

THE GRAND WAZOO is the second of two albums Zappa released in the early seventies that highlighted his particular take on what might be called a jazz-rock fusion (the first being WAKA/JAWAKA)...an extension of the HOT RATS concept, but in a larger ensemble context. These are almost Zappa's "big band" albums; when given the opportunity to record with a rhythm section including guitars, keys, bass & drums augmented by a full brass and woodwind section, these two albums were what came out. There is a jazz structure (or some version thereof) to many of the tunes here. Some sort of theme, head, or main melody (or several) occur, then a series of solos by different members of the ensemble, and then a return to the theme(s) at the end of the piece. That is probably an oversimplification, but it gives at least a little bit of context for those who might not have heard this record.

It's an album that is complex without being difficult, serious without being dreary, goofy without being childish, and beautiful (gorgeous, even) without being saccharine, even for a moment. The finest example of all these attributes, I think, is the final track, "Blessed Relief" (I personally hear the first word there as "bles-sed", two syllables, not one). It's a elegant, slow piece, with a sort of lilting melody at the beginning that gives way to a gorgeous, open section with great electric piano arpeggios. Then come the solos, which are fantastic. In my first post in this series I talked a great deal about atmosphere...this particular track has atmosphere to spare. It's a fairly unique track in Zappa's oeuvre; there's really not another quite like it.

As unique as it is, the song and the album still very much bear Zappa's image, sound, and vibe...but perhaps in such a way that a certain grace is present that isn't always found in some of his other work. Highly recommended, highly regarded.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Playlist for Mixtape Jones #32

AIRLINE TO HEAVEN-WILCO
DESTROYING TO SAVE-ARBOURETUM
HEADACHE-FRANK BLACK
WALK IT BACK-R.E.M.
ASSUMED BY YOU-SPIRIT KID
GO AHEAD-BANJO OR FREAKOUT
CREAM SODA-MOON
WILDERNESS-SLEATER-KINNEY
RATS-BLACK HEART PROCESSIONAL
PERFECT DAY-LOU REED
VENUS SHAVER-SHILPA RAY
LORD CHESTERFIELD-THURSTON MOORE
GROW UP-DANIELSON
DRIVE AROUND-JANA POCHOP
ANOTHER LEGO IN THA CROSS-CHOCOLATE USA
NEVER GET OLD-DAVID BOWIE
THE EXECUTION OF ALL THINGS-RILO KILEY
WHITE FALCON FUZZ-THE MOTHER HIPS
BILL FOR THE USE OF A BODY-CHAIN & THE GANG
THE BIG BRIGHT GREEN PLEASURE MACHINE-SIMON & GARFUNKEL
VOLCANO-SWANS
HIGHWAYMAN-SANDMAN
BOOM-JJ
WAITING FOR A WAR-THE SUBMARINES
BORN-STEVEN DROZD
HEY YA (LIVE)-TREY ANASTASIO
(OH WELL) WHATEVER-THE REBEL SET
I DON'T FEEL YOUNG-WYE OAK
STAR WARS TRIBUTE-SIFL & OLLY
I SAW HER STANDING THERE-THE BEATLES

Playlist for Mixtape Jones #31

UNDERWHELMED-SLOAN
PROVE MY LOVE-VIOLENT FEMMES
DON'T HAUNT THIS PLACE-THE RURAL ALBERTA ADVANTAGE
ALL DAY SUCKER-STEVIE WONDER
CADILLAC LADY-SUGAR FREE ALL-STARS
MY DRAWERS-THE TIME
SWIM-SURFER BLOOD
HAPPY BIRTHDAY-RYAN ADAMS & THE CARDINALS
SAY SO-UH HUH HER
SALTY CITIES-RAH RAH
THE MORNING OFFICE-EUTOPIAN ACCIDENT
SWITZERLAND-JANA POCHOP
RAFTER-TULSA
EVERYBODY SAY-TAKKA TAKKA
SUMMER COULDA LASTED FOREVER-MAURA KENNEDY
UNREQUITED LOVE SONG-JARED LEKITES
THE REST OF MY LIFE-YELLOWBIRDS
CHEAP THRILLS-FRANK ZAPPA & THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION
DEVIL-SAY HI
ALDRIDGE-3 PENNY ACRE
TWO ON A TIGHTROPE-SUZI RAGSDALE
BIGMOUTH STRIKES AGAIN-THE SMITHS
IF YOU'RE FEELING SINISTER-BELLE & SEBASTIAN
NICK DRAKE-JENEE HALSTEAD
DADDY'S GONNA PAY FOR YOUR CRASHED CAR-U2
ARENA-SUUNS
WAKE UPS-SALVA
GET AROUND TOWN-REVOLVER
CAESAR-TY SEGALL
ME IN HONEY-R.E.M.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Playlist for Mixtape Jones #30

GO-PEARL JAM
THE STALLION, PT. 5-WEEN
WATCHING OVER ME-GREEN CORN REVIVAL
THE MECHANIC-NICOLETTE GOOD
TWO-HEADED BOY-NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL
SPLITSVILLE-THE DISTRICT ATTORNEYS
ANIMAL-JENNY & JOHNNY
SONG FOR THE SUN-SWANS
RUN ME OVER-THE BABIES
THE RED BARON-GAME THEORY
ALL I NEED-RADIOHEAD
WHEN YOU'RE OUT TONIGHT-CAMI STINSON
PERIPHERAL VISIONARIES-YOUNG GALAXY
I WANT TO BE WELL-SUFJAN STEVENS
CARNIVAL KNOWLEDGE-LOOSE FUR
FLYING-THE BEATLES
ONLY SHALLOW-MY BLOODY VALENTINE
SNAKE EATER-PURPLE CHURCH
YOUNG SILENCE-ECHO LAKE
MR. LET'S FIND OUT-THE CARIBBEAN
ALWAYS, TO BELONG-THE LAST ROYALS
WHAT A WONDERFUL MAN-MY MORNING JACKET
FAST ENOUGH FOR YOU-PHISH
GOOD LIFE-SARAH SAMPLE
STAY SHARP-LAURA PEEK
BODACIOUS-PRIMUS
RANO PANO-MOGWAI
MOTION PICTURES-JON MCKIEL
HOLIDAY IN THE SUN-THE SEX PISTOLS

Thursday, February 17, 2011

The Mixtape Jones Radio Show #28, 2/15/11

LOS ANGELES-FRANK BLACK
TALKIN' 'BOUT THE SMILING DEATHPORN IMMORTALITY BLUES (EVERYONE WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER)-THE FLAMING LIPS
ONE DAY-SWEET LIGHTS
I GET OUT-BEAUTY MARQUES
SWEET POTATO-CRACKER
THE FIRST LINE-MARCELLUS HALL
ATLAS-BATTLES
OBSCURED BY CLOUDS-PINK FLOYD
SERFER-WOODSMAN
CERA Y UNO-CAFE TACUBA
CALM TO THE SEA-DEPTH & CURRENT
NO ONE'S GONNA LOVE YOU-BAND OF HORSES
WHERE'S SUMMER B?-BEN FOLDS FIVE
DIRTY LITTLE SECRET-CARY COOPER
HAUNTED-JAIME MICHAELS
BLACK RIVER-JAIME MICHAELS
THE MAN WITH THE TIME MACHINE-JAIME MICHAELS
SHE WAS THE ONE-PETER HOLSAPPLE & CHRIS STAMEY
GUITAR PLAYIN' KIND-ANDREW DELANEY & THE HORSE YOU RODE IN ON
SINK/LET IT SWAY-SOMEONE STILL LOVES YOU BORIS YELTSIN
WHO'S IN CONTROL?-BRITISH SEA POWER
CORVETTE BUMMER-BECK
TABLE CLOTH-HOMEBOY SANDMAN
ALIVE-BEASTIE BOYS
TOUCH ME IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME-ROBERT POLLARD

The Mixtape Jones Radio Show #27, 2/8/11

SERVE THE SERVANTS-NIRVANA
WEY WEY HEP UH HOLE-THE SOFT BOYS
MY IMAGINATION-SPIRIT KID
ANVERS-13 ORIGINAL COLONIES
DON'T CARRY IT ALL-THE DECEMBERISTS
AMERICAN FLAG-DEREK WEBB
LOVE WILL TEAR US APART-JOY DIVISION
THE SIREN SONGS-THOMAS FEINER & ANYWHEN
JEANE-SANDIE SHAW
BROKEN THINGS-K.C. CLIFFORD
PLANT MAN-GARY YOUNG
DOG BREATH, IN THE YEAR OF THE PLAGUE-FRANK ZAPPA
CAN'T STOP THE ROBOT-GRANDPA GRIFFITH
SUMMER (BENNETT HALVERSON MIX)-WORLD RACKETEERING SQUAD
A SALTY SALUTE-ETERNAL SUMMERS
SUPER STUPID-FUNKADELIC
WATERMELON MAN-HERBIE HANCOCK
N.Y. FLAT TOP BOX-NAKED CITY
IN A LESBIAN MEADOW-SUN CITY GIRLS
GROW CLOSER-THE NELS CLINE SINGERS
CODE MONKEY-JONATHAN COULTON
DILLINGER EYES-JEREMY MESSERSMITH
ALWAYS ON MY MIND-READING RAINBOW
IS THIS A TEMPEST IN THE SHAPE OF A BELL-SHADOW SHADOW SHADE
ASK THE BEAR-ANDREW DELANEY & THE HORSE YOU RODE IN ON
HEIRLOOM-SUFJAN STEVENS
TWO EXCLAMATION POINTS-VOLCANO, I'M STILL EXCITED!!!
PRODUCTION-THYMME JONES
RINGFINGER-NINE INCH NAILS

The Mixtape Jones RAdio Show #26, 1/25/11

THE GREETING SONG-RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
A SHOT IN THE ARM-WILCO
DAYS OF WRATH-THREE MILE PILOT
BEFORE DESTRUCTION-SPOON
OH APPALACHIA-SEAMONSTER
SEE NO EVIL-TELEVISION
STORY FOR YOU TO TELL-J WAGNER
OLDER BROTHER-PEPPER RABBIT
THIRTEEN-BIG STAR
LULLABY FOR NATANYA-JAIME MICHAELS
BELLTOWN RAMBLE-ROBYN HITCHCOCK & THE VENUS 3
LOST-ONE RING ZERO
GUNS OF NAVARRONE-THE SPECIALS
ROCK N' ROLL MCDONALDS-WESLEY WILLIS
RAINBOW IN THE DARK-DAS RACIST
YOU DON'T KNOW ME-GROSS RELATIONS
LEFT OF THE DIAL-THE REPLACEMENTS
FOR ASH-MARNIE STERN
STAR SIGN-TEENAGE FANCLUB
I DON'T MIND IT-SCREAMING FEMALES
GETTYSBURG-MON MONARCH
I WANT YOU TO BE MY LOVE-OVER THE RHINE
FULL FATHOM FIVE (THY FATHER LIES)-THE YOUNG SCAMELS
BEES-WARPAINT
OH WOMAN, OH WHY-PAUL MCCARTNEY
HEY PRINCESS-POPSICLE
STILL WINDMILLS-SL
SCOPITONE SCOPITONE-SWEET LIGHTS
MEET JAMES ENSOR-THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS
PACHUCO CADAVER-CAPTAIN BEEFHEART

The Mixtape Jones Radio Show #25, 1/11/11

THE SPANGLE-MAKER-COCTEAU TWINS
CLOSEDOWN-THE CURE
PEARL-CHAPTERHOUSE
ORPHANS-J WAGNER
SOMEHOW TO KEEP IT GOING-COTTON JONES
LONESOME SUNDOWN-THE HALO BENDERS
TACOLAND-THE DEAD MILKMEN
HAPPINESS BURNS-TWO HOURS TRAFFIC
CANDY-FRANKIE ROSE & THE OUTS
ARNOLD LAYNE-PINK FLOYD
THE ROOM OUTSIDE-MINI MANSIONS
A NEW STAIN-HALLOWEEN, ALASKA
FOGBOW-JOAN OF ARC
VERIDIS QUO-DAFT PUNK
FAST LANE (BLACK GRASS REFIX)-HUSKY RESCUE
CAROLINE-ELLEN TIPPER
SLIP AWAY-KATHRYN CALDER
SO CRUEL-U2
I'LL STILL BE A GEEK AFTER NOBODY THINKS IT'S CHIC (THE NERD ANTHEM)-MARIAN CALL
BOOTYFEST-DR. PANTS
PHYSICAL CITIES-THE BAD PLUS
LITTLE UMBRELLAS-FRANK ZAPPA
LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE-LEVEK
HEDONIST-SHARON LANG
PARANOID ANDROID-RADIOHEAD

The Mixtape Jones Radio Show #24, 1/4/11

RUN'S HOUSE-RUN-D.M.C.
BRIGHT LIGHTS BIGGER CITY-CEE LO GREEN
CASTLES IN THE SNOW-TWIN SHADOWS
SINK/LET IT SWAY-SOMEONE STILL LOVES YOU BORIS YELTSIN
U DON'T LIKE ROCK N ROLL-HUNX AND HIS PUNX
WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF OUR TIME-THE FIBS
SMITH & JONES FOREVER-SILVER JEWS
BANKS OF THE RIVER-PETER CASE
I SEE THE LIGHT-CRACKER
HAUNTED-JAIME MICHAELS
WAKE UP TIME-TOM PETTY
GRONT LYS I ALLE LEDD-CASIOKIDS
JEANE-THE SMITHS
DON'T GO AWAY-DEPTH & CURRENT
GOOD EVENING-THE CONCRETES
FAIR SHARE-SALTPETRE
DISTANCE & TEMPTATION-IN GRENADA
HARRY & BESS-FERRABY LIONHEART
NAKEDGIRLS.COM-BROTHER GRUESOME
CELESTE (LIVE)-ASOBI SEKSU
TAKE MY HAND-LONEY DEAR
DON'T STOP BELIEVIN'-PETRA HADEN
ANNIE HOLD ON-PHIL HENRY
IMAGINATION-JABEE
THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED-GIL SCOTT-HERON
AULD LANG SYNE-BLACK ON WHITE AFFAIR
DISCOVERER-R.E.M.
POLICE ON MY BACK-THE CLASH
LET HER DANCE-THE BOBBY FULLER FOUR

The Mixtape Jones Radio Show Holiday Special, 12/21/10

WAAYYY behind on playlists. Going to go ahead and throw them up here so that they are all represented. This blog will probably move and get a facelift some time in the next couple months, so stay tuned...

WONDERFUL CHRISTMASTIME-PAUL MCCARTNEY
I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS-JOSH MEASE
CHRISTMAS (BABY, PLEASE COME HOME)-R.E.M.
SILENT NIGHT-WEEN
HE'S COMING HOME-DEAN & BRITTA
BIRTHDAY BOY-CROCODILE
BLUE CHRISTMAS-CLARE & THE REASONS
FUNKY CHRISTMAS-SUGAR FREE ALL-STARS
TOY JACKPOT-BLACKALICIOUS
THE LITTLE DRUM MACHINE BOY-BECK
ELECTRONIC SANTA-BLAZER FORCE
CHRISTMAS IN HOLLIS-RUN-D.M.C.
THE FRIENDLY BEASTS-EUTOPIAN ACCIDENT
FROSTY THE SNOWMAN-COCTEAU TWINS
ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH-SARA JACKSON-HOLMAN
THE FIRST NOEL-SASKATCHEWAN
THE BEATLES CHRISTMAS MESSAGE 1966-THE BEATLES
O HOLY NIGHT-PETER HOLSAPPLE
XMAS FEELING-DEPTH & CURRENT, FEAT. SKATING POLLY
TEENAGE CHRISTMAS-EUX AUTRES
FRUITCAKE-THE SUPERIONS
LINUS & LUCY-VINCE GUARALDI
CHRISTMAS ALL OVER AGAIN-TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS
THE CHRISTMAS SONG-ALEX CHILTON
CALIFORNIA CHRISTMAS-SLEEPY REBELS
TINY TREE CHRISTMAS-GUSTER
SLAY BELLES-STUDENT FILM
HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER)-JOHN LENNON & YOKO ONO
THANK GOD IT'S CHRISTMAS-QUEEN
SILVER BELLS-JOHNNY MATHIS
CHRISTMAS 2007-WEIRD FILES

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Can't Sleep.

I (David) can't sleep. I can't sleep because I'm dreaming too much. Not dreaming while asleep, mind you, but dreaming while I lay there, trying to get to sleep. Every thought is about something I'm doing, creating, working on, or something that I WANT to be doing, creating or working on. I lay with my head on the pillow, and my head is about to explode with thoughts about Dr. Pants, the music we're working on right now, the anxiety I have about whether we'll actually be able to get this gargantuan project done this year (4 EPs, and all the accompanying artwork, design, new website, mixing, mastering). I think about how I want us to do a short tour this year, at some point, somehow, some way (even if it's just two shows in Texas). I think about how all of it seems possible and yet not possible all at the same time. The songs, the music, whether new or old (I mean, it could be a song from the EP we're doing now, or one of the 3 that we plan on doing, or it could be a song from Gardening In a Tornado or Cusack-Loggins, or even Feezle Day or earlier) run through my head. I work on solos and try and make them better, hear notes and phrases that I want to play next time we perform the song, or when we record it.

I think about the Mixtape Jones Radio Show and how I long to grow its audience. I want to create a community of people nationwide who are listening to the show, commenting on the Facebook page, all talking about our favorite songs of the moment, of the year, of all time...

I long for a moment when things fall together and obstacles are removed, overcome, no longer a concern...my head spins as these thoughts and ideas and desires overtake me and eliminate any possibility of true rest until some of it, any of it, comes to fruition. It's as if my restless spirit has decided that it must be cured, or subdued by progress, by measurable steps taken if sleep is to return to my life.

This has been going on for days. Somehow I got to sleep last night between 2:30 and 3:00 am...I am hoping maybe, somehow, now that I've poured some of this out through the keyboard, that tonight I can make my head stop earlier.

I am grateful that the things that keep me up at night are about passion. They are about a true dedication to work that I love. Are there stresses in my life? Money worries, etc? Absolutely. But sleep has and does serve as an escape from those things. I said I have anxiety about whether I'll get this project done, and that's true, but I also have such hope that it feels a lot less like stress and more like anticipation.

Okay. Going back to give sleep another shot. I hope it only keeps my brain at bay temporarily, and that I have the same struggle all over again tomorrow night.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Thoughts on 2010, the "Renaissance Year"

Maybe you saw it coming, ye few dedicated souls who actually read this blog on a regular basis, or read it back when I actually bothered to post things that weren't just playlists for the radio show. Maybe there were clues, like THIS or THIS, but I have to say I did not see it coming. When I say "it", I'm referring to the fairly massive musical renaissance that occurred in my life this year. I went from barely wanting to hear anything new, not caring about most things other people were excited about, having a bad attitude about just about every new sort of "indie darling" band that came out, to, as things stand now, feeling like I'm more likely than not to enjoy most things coming out that people are excited about.

How did this happen, you ask? I know that doing the radio show had a great deal to do with it. It's like if you suddenly got a job putting together floral arrangements but had disliked most new kinds of flowers you had encountered over the last five or six years. Things would change REALLY fast. I think you'd learn to love flowers again, and you'd have things that became your favorites, or that you found new, unexpected beauty in. I started looking for flowers to make my little two-hour "arrangements" out of, and lo and behold, I found some really great stuff.

I think I have also finally escaped the shadow of my career in corporate music retail. And (my apologies if anyone I used to work with in those stores takes this personally...it's just how I feel) I have finally realized how toxic working there was to my ability to truly enjoy music. I didn't spend much time during the day there listening to anything I really cared about or enjoyed that much, usually (especially if it was new music) because I didn't want to associate that music with work (I wrote a whole blog entry about records I feel I sacrificed to the work god, but I can't seem to find that entry right now). So I sat through a lot of things that were just mediocre...records that I didn't hate, but didn't like enough to want to own and enjoy on my own time. Then, by the time I got out of work, I wanted to hear something I loved and had some sort of attachment to so badly that I would just listen to a bunch of older music on my iPod that I had loved for years. This was not a path to continued musical growth. And even though, in September of 2008, I officially quit my full-time management job in corporate music/movie retail, I was part-timing it at one of my old stores off and on for another year and a half-ish after that. I finally cut that tie for good in February of this year, and it has made a huge difference.

I also feel as though I'm finally starting to get some sort of grasp on how to organize my collection in iTunes, or am becoming more comfortable with the iTunes interface, feeling less irritated with it, etc. I still feel as though there's a better way to do it that I have yet to find, but it doesn't bother me as much as it used to. I also (very bravely, I think) deleted a whole bunch of older, more familiar music from my iPod last week, and dumped a ton of newer records (or newer records to me) on to it. Shuffle brings up a whole ton of stuff that is new and exciting now. It's fantastic.

So, there it is. A progress report on some of the issues I've discussed in this blog in the last couple of years. Hope that similar, awesome things are happening in your musical life...comment and share. More soon. This year I'm going to post a best records of the year entry, and then y'all can fight it out in the comments section.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

The Mixtape Jones Radio Show Year-End Mixtape, 2010


Alright, kids. We made it! We made it to the end of this crazy year. I have a lot to say about the songs on this mixtape, so here goes...

SIDE 1:
HIDE IT AWAY-RETRIBUTION GOSPEL CHOIR
I started this year in an absolute musical drought. I was really feeling pretty awful about the fact that I hadn't really gotten excited about anything new in quite some time, and also that the new things I was hearing weren't exciting me at all. I started downloading free MP3s from places like Stereogum and Magnet, and this song was among the first ones I heard that actually gave me hope. It wasn't that it was really all that better than most of the other things I was hearing, rather I think it just hit me the right way. An appropriate start to the mixtape, then. The beginning of my own renaissance, right here.

DANCE YRSELF CLEAN-LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
Oh my goodness, where has this track been all my life? I love the low key intro that gives way to the full on danceathon...plus the lyrics are fantastic. I think LCD Soundsystem are quite emblematic of the way my ears have opened this year...I had previously dismissed James Murphy et al as uninteresting, simply because they weren't my usual electronic bag (Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, etc.). This record brings me to a warm, fuzzy place.

JERICHO-K.C. CLIFFORD
One of the best records of the year that you probably haven't heard. Am I biased? Maybe, but I think Mike Canter's review will tell you everything you need to know. Plus, being that I tour full time performing with K.C., this song (and all the others on "Orchid") was a very big part of my 2010.

COME ON BABY GRACE-BOSTON SPACESHIPS
Robert Pollard has released a lot of music in the last couple of years, but there are always some absolute diamonds in the pile if you're willing to dig for them. This one sticks out like a sore thumb...just one of the best damn rock songs released all year long. Exquisite.

ROCOCO-THE ARCADE FIRE
In a year full of surprises, this was one of the biggest ones for me personally. I did not expect to have an entire, self-contained mini-renaissance with the Arcade Fire. If any one band was emblematic of the coarseness I had developed with regard to the indie rock scene and its sacred cows, it was the Arcade Fire. I didn't think they were awful. I was just utterly convinced they were not anywhere NEAR as good as everyone thought they were. And then, thanks to an Amazon Daily Deal, I downloaded this album and, most unexpectedly, fell in love. Thanks, Arcade Fire.

I'M COMING THROUGH-CRAIG BETHELL
I have to thank my friend Brian Williams for this one. Back in January, K.C. and I were on tour on the east coast and drove through Richmond, VA, where Brian lives with his wife Jennifer. He gave me a mixtape (or CD, rather) to listen to in the car on the drive the next day, and this was on it. I was lukewarm at first, but got to the point where this has become one of my favorite tracks of the year (even though I believe it technically came out in 2009). I love the end where it trails off into a sort of "dialogue & piano duet"...

CANDLE IN THE WILLOW TREE-ROUND MOUNTAIN
This wasn't released in 2010, either, but I didn't hear it until this year. Robby & Char Rothschild, who comprise Round Mountain, are old friends of mine from college. Serendipitously, we all ended up at the Folk Alliance conference together in February, and I got to hear them perform for the first time in a dozen plus years. This is from their 2007 album "Truth & Darkness." It would be the first of several moments this year where I came back in touch with people from my past who are making amazing music...

SAY YES-SHADOW SHADOW SHADE
Okay, so this is one of a few instances on this mixtape where I'm totally in love with the song, but I have yet to purchase the full album. I plan to, once my Emusic rolls over next month! This song is so happy, it just kills me. Such a great single. Reminds me of the glory days of 120 Minutes on MTV...something I would have heard there. Innocence reclaimed! Fantastic.

MECHANICS & MATHEMATICS-VENUS HUM
I've been a Venus Hum fan from the beginning, and have the privilege of being friends with one of the members. Their new album came out in 2009, but I didn't manage to get my hands on it until this year. So glad I did. I think this song is incredible, and incredibly easy to relate to...

NATALIE (THE MICHAEL)-THE FIBS
Another track that wasn't released this year, but that I really only discovered this year. The Fibs toil in obscurity in Philadelphia, but have managed to put together some really great songs. Their future is in question at this point, but maybe if you all go crash their MySpace page they'll pull it together and make some more music.

NEW WAY BACK-GREEN CORN REVIVAL
What can I say about GCR that I haven't already said? Miraculously awesome fusion of country, new wave pop and a whole bunch of other things. Great record. Mind-blowing live performance. Great people. Go go go go get this record now. This was step one in becoming totally, completely enthralled with the local music scene in Oklahoma this year.

BEGINNING OF THE HEARTBREAK/DON'T DON'T-PETER GORDON & LOVE OF LIFE ORCHESTRA
This technically didn't come out in 2010, either, but was reissued this year. I could have just as easily included the 2010 redux of this track ("Another Heartbreak/Don't Don't (Redux)"), but it was about three minutes longer and I was already cramped for space! Peter was a teacher of mine in college, in addition to being a fantastic composer with lots of amazing music to his credit. I couldn't be prouder to say that. James Murphy and DFA records put out a great compilation of his late 70's dance oriented material this year. Go get it.

SIDE 2:
COME ALIVE (WAR OF THE ROSES)-JANELLE MONAE
Sheesh. This woman is amazing. The single most interesting female african-american artist of the last twenty years, at least. Some of you will shout heresy, I'm sure, but this record helped me come back to R&B and related music this year. I had been in a serious rock rut for a long time. Thank you, Janelle Monae. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

LOOKING FOR A DIAMOND-JARED LEKITES
This young Oklahoma gentleman also took me by surprise this year. In case you didn't catch my interview with him a couple of weeks ago, you can hear it again on the Mixtape Jones Radio Show on 12/28 and 1/2. His EP is an incredible, beautiful Brian Wilson-esque burst of creativity. Go get it.

DAGGERS-THE QUICK & EASY BOYS
These guys are a lot of fun. I love the way this song slowly builds to its climax. Big thumbs up.

SONGBIRD-K.C. CLIFFORD
Again, one of the best records of the year that you haven't heard. I put this song on here as well because, when K.C. and I are playing shows together, I sit out on this song, and I sit and watch/listen to her sing it from just a few feet away. It's the best part of the whole night for me. This song is so amazingly beautiful and poignant. One of my favorite songs in the world right now.

POCKETS-MON MONARCH
I was a Chuck E. Costa fan before he put together this group, and made an amazing new record with them. But I'm even more of a fan now. Most of the record isn't this poppy, but I couldn't resist this song and it's charms.

NOW THAT I'M OLDER-SUFJAN STEVENS
Another one of the biggest surprises of the year was Sufjan's amazing, dense, electronically infused album, "The Age of Adz." This isn't one of the more glitchy songs on the record by any means, but I felt like it fit in best with my mixtape, and with the mood of the year in some ways.

SAVE $-SHORTWAVE SUNSHINE
Gabriel Hays, of Shortwave Sunshine, is another guy I went to college with. It was truly a delight to me to see/hear that he had crafted such a fantastic record this year. Everything on this record has such taste...it's finely crafted at every turn. Highly recommended.

HOW I GOT OVER-THE ROOTS
The Roots finally released an album this year that I think all their fans can agree is really great. So many great tracks to choose from, but I went with this one because it will get stuck in your head for days.

SCISSOR RUNNER-JENNY & JOHNNY
I still don't have this whole record, either...again, Emusic...but this track refuses to wear out. Catchy, brilliant, clean, delightful duet vocals. Good on ya, Jenny & Johnny.

ONLY EXISTING FOOTAGE-THE EXTRA LENS
This is the only track on this mixtape that I feel like I could possibly regret later on...not because I don't think it's good, but I feel like I could potentially feel later that it wasn't a year-defining track for me. It's such an interesting song, though, because it pulls together a few disparate worlds for me. I spend so much time on the folk circuit in my work life, and I hear a lot of singers that sound like this, but the production arrangement is very indie rock...again, I feel like it's the type of record more people in the folk world should be making. Take risks, people!

BJO, PT. 2-WEIRD FILES.
Yes, this is me. My alter ego outside of Dr. Pants. Dr. Pants didn't release any new music this year (we're saving all that for 2011), but I did manage to squeeze out this bizarre little EP. Go buy it HERE.

SUPERFAST JELLYFISH-GORILLAZ
Oh Gorillaz, entertaining to the last. This song will remind me of being on the road this year...rocked in the car a whole bunch of times.

RUNAWAY-KANYE WEST
Holy crap. This the last of the "unexpected musical miracle" tracks...after "808s & Heartbreak" I wasn't expecting much from Kanye West. And then, lo and behold, he releases one of the best albums of the year. This album (and this song) is SO dark...it's a harrowing listening experience, at least for me, but it's cathartic on some level, and the music/production is so impressive. This song, in particular, is just so gorgeous. And a 4 minute, auto-tuned, wordless vocal outro???? I can scarcely think of another move as ballsy in recent memory that turns out as well. Bravo, Kanye, you social disaster.

AND THIS IS WHAT WE CALL PROGRESS-THE BESNARD LAKES
Next to "Orchid", this might be my favorite album of the year. The gentlemen on Sound Opinions refer to it as an album where "Brian Wilson meets My Bloody Valentine", and they couldn't be more right. It is as gorgeous as the Beach Boys, with a noise factor that is quite simply delicious. Put it on, lay back, relax, drift...

SICKIE BOY-ROBYN HITCHCOCK & THE VENUS 3
And then, one of my favorite artists in the world puts out a fantastic record, too. The third in a line of records with the Venus 3, Robyn is on a roll. This is one of the most fun tracks he's put out in a while, as well. This song, just like so many of the songs here, will always remind me of this year, and all the good things that came with it. Thanks, Robyn.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

The Mixtape Jones Radio Show, Playlist, 12/7/10

GOLDEN BOY-PRIMUS
RED-KING CRIMSON
LEARN THE LANGUAGE-MR. DREAM
I CAN'T PUT MY FINGER ON IT-WEEN
YOU'RE SO GREAT-BLUR
PARKING LOT BLUES (LIVE)-SATURDAY LOOKS GOOD TO ME
GOOD OLD GIRL-MARIAN CALL
MOTHER OF GOD-PATTY GRIFFIN
USED TO BE-VIOLENT FEMMES
THE WORLD AIN'T SLOWIN' DOWN-ELLIS PAUL
HEARTBREAKER-GIRLS
WHY-UNMARKED CARS
WHAT WE KNOW-SONIC YOUTH
PRETTY BUSY-REGAL DEGAL
LOS ANGELES-PHOSPHORESCENT
PARIS-LAURA MARIE
CATERWAUL-RYAN ADAMS
THE DRINKING SONG-MOXY FRUVOUS
NO SCRUBS-AVI WISNIA
A LITTLE COMMUNION-TOO YOUNG TO UNDERSTAND
NARROW WITH THE HALL-WOMEN
NEVER COME AROUND-LA SERA
SWEETNESS AND LIGHT-LUSH
SECRETS-HIGHLIGHTS
WATER-EGGSTONE
SURFIN' COW-THE DEAD MILKMEN
ROSE GOES TO YALE-JEFFERSON STARSHIP

Much more soon, kids. :)