<<UPDATE :: 4/17/08 :: I've just uploaded a slightly more refined version of the MP3 I put up yesterday. I added some compression to help the overall volume levels and adjusted the EQ so it doesn't sound so muffled. Hopefully it's more listenable.>>
Seattle band Minus the Bear played a concert on their Spring 2008 tour at the Bluebird in Bloomington, Indiana last night. They put on a solid show, which you can listen to above or download (sound quality is so-so. Listenable, though.) They started their set with one of my favorite tracks, "Knights", and played a lot of songs off their latest (and in my opinion, greatest) album, Planet of Ice. If you haven't heard of Minus the Bear, this is definitely the album to start with. And if you have a set list from last night's show, let us know!
I've only been listening to Minus the Bear for the past year or so and don't know much about the band, but with their collared dress shirts, they fit in with the IU college crowd quite well and looked like they could be teaching assistants for an IU business school stats class. Musicianship and vocals sounded great, though I haven't listened to the recording yet (and sorry for not naming the MtB guys - go to Wikipedia or leave a comment below if you want to name them). The drummer kept a terrific pace most of the night with a bin full of spare sticks to replenish those that accidentally flew loose during rapid-fire snare hits, and the lead guitarist had some kind of motion-sensor effects pedal(s) (Korg Kaoss pad, perhaps? I couldn't see it) that mimicked Planet of Ice's strange guitar effects perfectly as he spazzed out to some of the songs, moving at times like one of the drunken, screaming sorority girls at the front of the stage. The vocalist/guitarist sounded good but a bit drowned out by everything else, and the bassist kept terrific lock-step with the drummer and keyboardist/programmer (who used a MacBook Pro in addition to other hardware.)
Openers Portugal the Man and Brooklyn's Big Sleep set a decent stage. Portugal the Man were a brilliant surprise: I'd never heard them, and though their name leaves much to be desired (sounds like a little kid's' interpretation of Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man ... or something), they let loose with a riff-heavy set that at many times echoed Black Sabbath, the Mars Volta, and... um... Wolfmother? (who at many times echo Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, etc. Sorry if this sounds like an insult if you're reading this, PtM guys, but it's meant to be a compliment.)
Anyway, Portugal the Man played like Led Zeppelin at their best compared to the next group, the Big Sleep, who made me want to take a big sleep. The trio for the most part sounded like a beginning band at practice, except for the drummer, who did a good job at keeping the guitarist/vocalist and keyboardist/bassist?/vocalist in line. I haven't heard any of the band's recorded stuff, but my wife said she felt like she was in high school again listening to a friend's band play a basement party. I felt like I was in high school again trying to navigate my way through the slew of teen-angst-grunge bands riding the Nirvana/Soundgarden/Seattle wave. Thanks for coming to the wonderful corn-fed state of Indiana, guys, but really, Brooklyn's probably a much cooler place to learn how to play guitar.
And thank you, Minus the Bear (please don't sue me for recording your concert and putting it online — I swear it's a simple act of spreading the good word about you to those who haven't heard!) for visiting the land of corn and Colts. And ditto to Portugal the Man: though your EP was sold out by the time my wife went to grab a copy, you've definitely earned yourselves a few new fans, so please swing back through Indiana again soon - and be sure to bring more copies of your albums.
I'm looking for photos from the show to post with this, so if you have some (or better yet, video!), let me know, and enjoy the show!<<UPDATE :: 4/17/08 :: I've just uploaded a slightly more refined version of the MP3 I put up yesterday. I added some compression to help the overall volume levels and adjusted the EQ so it doesn't sound so muffled. Hopefully it's more listenable.>>
Seattle band Minus the Bear played a concert on their Spring 2008 tour at the Bluebird in Bloomington, Indiana last night. They put on a solid show, which you can listen to above or download (sound quality is so-so. Listenable, though.) They started their set with one of my favorite tracks, "Knights", and played a lot of songs off their latest (and in my opinion, greatest) album, Planet of Ice. If you haven't heard of Minus the Bear, this is definitely the album to start with. And if you have a set list from last night's show, let us know!
I've only been listening to Minus the Bear for the past year or so and don't know much about the band, but with their collared dress shirts, they fit in with the IU college crowd quite well and looked like they could be teaching assistants for an IU business school stats class. Musicianship and vocals sounded great, though I haven't listened to the recording yet (and sorry for not naming the MtB guys - go to Wikipedia or leave a comment below if you want to name them). The drummer kept a terrific pace most of the night with a bin full of spare sticks to replenish those that accidentally flew loose during rapid-fire snare hits, and the lead guitarist had some kind of motion-sensor effects pedal(s) (Korg Kaoss pad, perhaps? I couldn't see it) that mimicked Planet of Ice's strange guitar effects perfectly as he spazzed out to some of the songs, moving at times like one of the drunken, screaming sorority girls at the front of the stage. The vocalist/guitarist sounded good but a bit drowned out by everything else, and the bassist kept terrific lock-step with the drummer and keyboardist/programmer (who used a MacBook Pro in addition to other hardware.)
Openers Portugal the Man and Brooklyn's Big Sleep set a decent stage. Portugal the Man were a brilliant surprise: I'd never heard them, and though their name leaves much to be desired (sounds like a little kid's' interpretation of Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man ... or something), they let loose with a riff-heavy set that at many times echoed Black Sabbath, the Mars Volta, and... um... Wolfmother? (who at many times echo Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, etc. Sorry if this sounds like an insult if you're reading this, PtM guys, but it's meant to be a compliment.)
Anyway, Portugal the Man played like Led Zeppelin at their best compared to the next group, the Big Sleep, who made me want to take a big sleep. The trio for the most part sounded like a beginning band at practice, except for the drummer, who did a good job at keeping the guitarist/vocalist and keyboardist/bassist?/vocalist in line. I haven't heard any of the band's recorded stuff, but my wife said she felt like she was in high school again listening to a friend's band play a basement party. I felt like I was in high school again trying to navigate my way through the slew of teen-angst-grunge bands riding the Nirvana/Soundgarden/Seattle wave. Thanks for coming to the wonderful corn-fed state of Indiana, guys, but really, Brooklyn's probably a much cooler place to learn how to play guitar.
And thank you, Minus the Bear (please don't sue me for recording your concert and putting it online — I swear it's a simple act of spreading the good word about you to those who haven't heard!) for visiting the land of corn and Colts. And ditto to Portugal the Man: though your EP was sold out by the time my wife went to grab a copy, you've definitely earned yourselves a few new fans, so please swing back through Indiana again soon - and be sure to bring more copies of your albums.
I'm looking for photos from the show to post with this, so if you have some (or better yet, video!), let me know, and enjoy the show!This post isn't as focused as those previous, but read on, kind sirs and madams:
A big week for me at Angie's List and for Adopt An Animal. At Angie's List, I set up our magazine department's blog and released List-en up!'s first true video podcast. I say "true" video because previous episodes were in what was technically a video format, but were basically a still-image slideshow with pictures to accompanying the audio. This time, though, I actually followed a home energy auditor and videotaped the house-inspection process. After watching the video, I hope you have an audit performed on your home to find out how much money you can save through some simple energy-efficient upgrades.
As for the blog, you'll notice that its design is basically the same as the Angie's List podcast site. For the "Blue House Blog," as we're calling it (thanks to Brandon Smith, Angie's List magazine artist and Goldfish Don't Bounce bandmember, for the awesome logo!), I used the same Wordpress content management system, and the same theme, K2, simply because it works well. It looks good on its own, but is easily customizable and functions quite well for the most part. And though I have little PHP-programming experience, going into the code and fiddling with certain things isn't too difficult. And there's a tremendous network of free plugins, forums, and bloggers that serve as terrific resources for any Wordpress-related problem.
On a Wordpress-related note, I've posted some more dogs for adoption in Indianapolis at my Wordpress-based Adopt An Animal site. Please check them out (an adult female German Shepherd and adult male Pit-bull mix) and let me know if you or someone you know is interested.
Finally, I hope to install Ableton Live this weekend and create my first digital mix of some songs I've been really into lately. If you have any experience with Live and have tips to offer, please let me know. Thanks!
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As for the blog, you'll notice that its design is basically the same as the Angie's List podcast site. For the "Blue House Blog," as we're calling it (thanks to Brandon Smith, Angie's List magazine artist and Goldfish Don't Bounce bandmember, for the awesome logo!), I used the same Wordpress content management system, and the same theme, K2, simply because it works well. It looks good on its own, but is easily customizable and functions quite well for the most part. And though I have little PHP-programming experience, going into the code and fiddling with certain things isn't too difficult. And there's a tremendous network of free plugins, forums, and bloggers that serve as terrific resources for any Wordpress-related problem.
On a Wordpress-related note, I've posted some more dogs for adoption in Indianapolis at my Wordpress-based Adopt An Animal site. Please check them out (an adult female German Shepherd and adult male Pit-bull mix) and let me know if you or someone you know is interested.
Finally, I hope to install Ableton Live this weekend and create my first digital mix of some songs I've been really into lately. If you have any experience with Live and have tips to offer, please let me know. Thanks!
For awhile now, I've been wanting to volunteer for something. There are so many causes that need help that it was almost overwhelming for me to decide what I could truly make a difference with, but I think I've found it. I've started a web site/organization called Adopt An Animal (at adoptananimal.org) in order to help homeless animals find loving, responsible homes.
My friend Josh from work is helping me out, my wife's offering public administration know-how, and hopefully soon many more will volunteer their time. So far we have one animal, a female dog, available for adoption.
"Avril" was a stray who wandered around our workplace campus and was lucky enough to be taken in and kindly fostered with another of my coworkers, Lindsey (sorry if I spelled it wrong!) I took some video of the dog Lindsey and her husband are fostering, posted it on Adopt An Animal's website, Facebook, and YouTube, and will offer it in a podcast as soon as iTunes approves it (should be any time now.)
Though we definitely want to help strays find homes and foster families place their fostered pets, we also hope to volunteer our services to local animal shelters and rescue organizations and offer help with video and other online media like podcasts, blogs, websites, etc. I think most animal welfare groups are short-staffed, under-budget, don't have the multimedia experience, or all of the above, so Adopt An Animal will help where it's needed.
Also, though we're currently in Indianapolis and will begin by assisting Central-Indiana pets, we'd love to expand as much as possible. So if you'd like to offer your services, no matter where you are, let me know! And if you're fostering a pet or if you're part of an animal welfare organization and would like help with adopting your animals, be sure to visit AdoptAnAnimal.org and let us know, or contact me through this blog.
(2-27-2008 update: Avril's been adopted! Her foster family decided to keep her. One down, millions more to go :) )