Zombies Of The Stratosphere

That is the name of this German CDR compilation I just got from Brad that has a Lake Holiday song on it. It’s a demo, mind you, with just him playing. I think I have the track on a demo disc somewhere… it’s Beach Boys-meets-Jesus And Mary Chain sounding. I’d like to add it to the repetoire sooner rather than later. But either way, it’s something else to add to the official discography. Too bad the burn isn’t terrific – it’s skipping on my stereo CD player.

Rehearsal went well tonight, first time with everyone in this latest iteration of Lake Holiday present. Clicked pretty well – we were sounding pretty good. Laura picked up on all the material really quickly, having an actual musical education must help. That rehearsal space is pretty cramped for five people with gear though. Must get a fan or something in there, cause it stinks after a couple hours.

I got every streetcar and subway this evening, took me barely 10 minutes to get down to the space and back. Fantastic.

np – various artists / Zombies Of The Stratosphere

The Days Of Our Nights

Been giving this Luna album a critical reassessment lately. I had been lukewarm to it for the longest time – liked some of it, indifferent to some of it, but for some reason since Romantica came out I’ve been appreciating the contrasts between the two. Where Romantica is summer-y and bouncy (as bouncy as Luna can get, anyway), TDOON is more reserved, but in a stately sort of way. Summer, winter. On it’s own, I didn’t quite get it but as a companion piece to Romantica, it’s superb.

All these superfreaky memories…

Gotta wonder about the implied sensitivity of listening to this Soft Boys song all day today, of all days. But you know what? There’s enough people being sombre today, no one needs another thimbleful in an ocean of tears.

A very strange day – partly from being totally exhausted after last night’s escapades (yeah, movie and a concert now qualifies in my book as ‘escapades’), I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop all day. Checking news sites round the clock, expecting to discover something horrible has happened but finding only memorials and tributes, all the while refusing to turn on the television…

Kept banker’s summer hours at work today… in at 10, out at 3. I simply couldn’t focus on much for reasons stated above. Came home, crashed for a couple hours… and not just a power nap – crashed HARD.

“Posiitve vibrations shine through all creation” – Robyn Hitchcock

np – The Soft Boys / Underwater Moonlight (duh)

Once again, today’s entry is really for yesterday. Quite an evening of entertainment. I’m tired, so will keep it brief.

Went to see Signs. M. Night Shyamalan is really an excellent director, none better today at suspense. His fondness for the supernatural/ extraordinary for his subject matter only endears him to me more. Signs was good. The final act, I dunno about, was a bit of a let-down, but didn’t diminish what the film had accomplished to that point.

Nu-Music nite at the Shoe – saw Allison Moorer tonight and Marah. To get the shallow bit out of the way, I’ll just say Allison Moorer is stunning (she ain’t just well lit) and leave it at that… and that Southern accent. Meow. Anyway, it was a good show – she did country music they way country would sound if anyone in Nashville had any soul anymore… and it was refreshing to hear real professional musicians for a change. And I got a set list though I wasn’t really trying to… keyboardist say me checking out the backline and handed it to me. Thanks man, wanna pass me that Deluxe Reverb while you’re at it?

Marah simply rocked. Only traces of their alt.country roots came through, as whatever they were before, now they’re simply RAWK. In a good way, though. Terrific stage show, energy was at 10 and then some. Note to self – learn to jump around on stage more.

Also snagged a copy of the Soft Boys’ Underwater Moonlight – the double-disc Matador edition. Yippee.

The Lateness Of The Hour

Technically, this should be an entry for yesterday (Monday) but it’s past midnight. So.

Band practice went laaaate tonight. Spent five hours in that room… and with four guys in there, it gets gamey after around two. Yup. Note to self – bring a little fan down there, anything to move the air. Yeck. Anway, tonight was essentially two sessions – the first was getting back into the groove with Craig and amplified Brad. First time in three weeks or so, thankfully we picked up pretty quickly. Only errors were mental ones resulting from my mind drifting a million miles off. We’re picking out some new material for the 25th – looks like a Magnetic Fields cover and another fresh composition, not sure which. We shall see.

After Craig had to leave to feed his cat through a tube, The Laura finally showed up – not a reference to the lateness, which she wasn’t, but the fact that we (well Seventeen anyway) had been playing phone tag and whatnot with this girl for ages and now she was here. We jammed around for about an hour with me behind the kit (!), so it was a bit of a farce from the get-go but she fit into everything quite well, from what I could hear – even with Brad’s cheapo keyboard. She knows how to play and *what* to play – everything fit the song pretty well. Quite pleased about that, we’ll see how things go on Thursday with a full practice and everyone playing what they’re supposed to.

And that was my evening. Now I wait for laundry to finish so I can sleep. Long night planned for tomorrow (tonight) too, going to see Signs then to the Horseshoe to see Marah and Allison Moorer.

np – The Magnetic Fields / 69 Love Songs