My old buddy Robin Jacksaphone is blowing through with his traveling band, the Vagabond Opera. They've been doing a west-coast circuit for the past couple years, and are getting really tight. There's some great musical virtuosity and showmanship on display. Highlights include Skip the judo master of the Cello and the opera battles (really!) between Eric and Leslie. Everyone's got zazz.

Watching their show last night reminded me what talent really means, and how performance can be a transcendent act. You look at someone differently after seeing that kind of thing transpire; the rockstar effect. There were parts in this show where I would involuntarily/incredulously drop my jaw, that made the top of my head tingle. And now I have a teenage schoolgirl band crush on Leslie, of course. She sings some songs in French!

Anyway, this was the opening night of their tour, so things just get better. The rest of the dates are:

• September 27th: Petaluma, CA
• September 28th: Sutter Creek, CA
• September 29th: Santa Cruz, CA
• October 1st: Monterey, CA
• October 2nd: Los Angeles, CA
• October 4th: Alta Dena, CA (Los Angeles)
• October 5th: Santa Monica, CA
• October 6th: San Diego, CA
• October 7th: San Francisco, CA
• October 9th: Berkeley, CA
• October 10th: Ashland, OR
• October 12th: Portland, OR

Details on their website. I strongly recommend the SF show, which will be at Amnesia, which will be a great venue for them.

At a higher level, as my friends and cohorts move on through their paths in life -- careers, PhDs, families, etc -- it's really amazing to see the wonderful things people get into. It makes me want to step my own scene up a notch.

Last night went out to a kick-ass rock show at the Logger Bar in Blue Lake. It was fantastic in many ways.

First of all, the music was good! The headlining group was Orange Sunshine, from the Netherlands:

The problem with music in the late 60's was the hippy shit, right? The goddamn peace and love stuff, the acoustic folkies, the going-to-San-Francisco-with-flowers-in-yr-hair.
But what if the 60's were as wildly murderous a time as these strange days? What if it was ALL Charlie Manson and napalm and muddy drugfreak people and Up Against the Wall, Motherfucker? Well, then, there'd only be, like, 5 bands left standing- the Stooges, the MC5, Hendrix, Blue Cheer, and Orange Sunshine.

They were well supported by Ghengis Khan from Oakland (no link, sorry) and notable locals The Ravens. It was all good loud, driving, rock and roll. Orange Sunshine and Ghengis Khan featured singing drummers (always a strong configuration when it works), and the Ravens frontwoman Melissa Medina is channeling some serious shit.

The Logger Bar is also a great place to have a show. It's big enough to actually have a show in, but small enough that it feels full even when 1/2 the crowd hasn't shown up yet. It's also covered with ancient logging paraphernalia, like giant esoteric chainsaws and pickaxes. They serve 24oz cans of Pabst and although the two sturdy women behind the bar could have used a barback, it worked out ok.

And finally, everyone was there. It had the feeling of public life that I've been craving, and there were also girls (hooray, girls!).

Yeah, so a good time was had by all. My neck is sore today. Kudos to Kelly B for doing such a great job of organizing it. Hopefully this will happen more often.

So, I saw this somewhat amusing documentary called Dig!, about the Dandy Warhols (old Portland band, made it big w/European ringtones) and The Brian Jonestown Massacre (junkies from California). It's an interesting time capsule of 1990s Americana, which we watched back on Vagabender in Tuscon. We're making fun of it in this audio dispatch with the "You're out of the band!" and "I can play 400 instruments!" lines.

In it, main ego-man from BJM comes off like a borderline messianic kook, which is by other accounts more or less accurate.

The thing you don't really get from the documentary is how fucking good his music is. Clearly overblown sense of self? Yes. Also a sonic genius. Since I don't have to deal with the personality, I enjoy the product.

Real Audio Link for this tune which I picked up thanks to my exposure to Satellite radio. Dave says it's "like hippie Massive Attack." I like it. I also like the video of their design studio apple made.

Also from satellite picked up on Eastern Sun, which is less poppy and more electronicistic, but also good.

And finally, from Pandora (riffing off "Supernaut" by Sabbath) I found "Sin's a Good Man's Brother" by Grand Funk, which will definitely make it into my weight-lifting rotation.

My comrade and colleague Farsheed has posted another of his amazing picsound creations. I just love these things. Basically, he makes some music, then does a little animation or image to go with it. It's bonafide internet art. Awesome.

Click and see. The fact that this sort of thing is not allowed makes no sense to me. I mean, the ads for Fahrenheit 9/11 were much more disparaging to Boosh.

Can't wait for the networks to stop mattering.

Via Farsheed (midnightparking.com), I discover the Portable Folk Band.

Lovin' this track. There are more available from archive.org on the band's site (clicky above).

Or maybe you'd rather see Connie Chung:

Via Farsheed (midnightparking.com), I discover the Portable Folk Band.

Lovin' this track. There are more available from archive.org on the band's site (clicky above).

Or maybe you'd rather see Connie Chung:

Bruce's new album (along with the new Hank III, which is pleasantly less-produced) are on heavy rotation at this point in the Summer of Jefferson. Here's Bruce on CNN:

The Seeger Sessions are really great. It's a whole new Boss, I say, both vocally and musically.

Bruce's new album (along with the new Hank III, which is pleasantly less-produced) are on heavy rotation at this point in the Summer of Jefferson. Here's Bruce on CNN:

The Seeger Sessions are really great. It's a whole new Boss, I say, both vocally and musically.