Thanksgiving is staring me in the face, and I like it. First off I purchased tickets today for two super-hot smokin' shows coming to San Francisco. The Counting Crows w/ Toad the Wet Sprocket and Zero 7 are both coming to feed the SF music fans with fresh head cheese. I saw the Crows last year and again this past summer, as always the band is flawless but the gamble is whether Adam can be sober enough to finish the show. I hope that by the time they return "home" to San Francisco the sets will be tight. The new Crows album "Hard Candy" has been in steady rotation since I downloaded it from the internet.
I
can hear the screams of music piracy but I do buy a lot of music and I do buy
tickets to numerous shows. The way I see it the Crows received over $300
dollars of my cash last year so they can throw me a bone with an inferior copy
of their latest album. I did buy the double live cd this past year:)
This band has matured and their recordings are damn near flawless even when recorded live. Adam's songs range from the happy and joyful to the slit your wrist and turn out the light variety. Music for the bi-polar masses! Anywho I highly recommend the "Live in NYC" double cd as a beginning course and the new one does have some gems as well.
Zero
7, where do I begin? I stumbled onto this group quite by accident and
by the end of the summer their latest cd was "THE" soundtrack for Labor Day in
Newport Beach. Andy turned me onto a new music genre that grew out of
house and club music. Chill Tracks are all the rage now, many of the
commercials you hear on tv (car ads and other tech stuff) use music from Zero 7
and other groups like them. I found a great Zero 7 track on Ultra Chilled
2. This is a compilation from the UK with a variety of tunes to Chill by.
Sort of an updated Pink Floyd vibe, not a new age wind chime "chill".
Don't be fooled! New age music will try to be "chill" but it lacks the
creativity these new groups and dj's bring to true Chill tuneage. "Whoa,
dude are ya still with me bra, stay close it's gettin' choppy."
Anywho, I was in the Virgin Mega-Store earlier this summer while on a date, I think? I mean I was with a girl but I couldn't figure out if she was interested or not. Advanced years of social retardation setting in. It doesn't get easier, it's still a mystery why I get mugged and attacked at a random show in Berkeley by a real cutie then I can't figure out if I should try to kiss someone I've been out with three times. Ummm? Don't know if I want to chase that one right now? Later children, much later. So what the hell was I babbling about? Oh yeah the Zero 7 cd. So on the cover of this cd is a label proclaiming this to be "THE BABY MAKER CD OF THE YEAR". As a goof I picked it up and joked to my "date?" that I maybe I should buy this cd. She agreed and what started as a joke turned out to be a musical boon. The purchase also included a dvd and bonus track disc, quite a bargain. The snapshot above is from that day, I caught two women reading the "Worst Case Scenario Handbook: Dating". Since I was in dating confusion at the time the picture seemed perfect. Anywho, the cd was an aural feast and while I had liked the one song I knew the entire cd floored me. Snowy then Alexis and Andy and Jim, everyone was indoctrinated and now I get to see their live show. The dvd contained one live performance so I am really really stoked to see the entire set. In other words add this cd to your collection yesterday!
Leftcoast and the rest of the tribe wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Be sure to take that time to see what you have and say thanks to your family and tribe for making your life richer.
Peace-
Sean