ACROBATICS EVERYDAY

a couple years ago, we got shipped a case of food product at kuci. we opened it up and god-damn if you wouldn’t have guessed it, there was 16 or so bottles of a hot sauce with the face of dexter holland, B.A. USC and singer of The Offspring, on it. i took 2. “gringo bandito“; it’s delicious! i continue using it to this day. dexter holland: real man.
we’re into the dog days of summer, sad. things to look forward to include: acrobatics allthetime, no negativity tour 2009, and my birthday!

on wednesday we welcome palin-free alaskas, the superior universal studios florida, kevin “toughguy” greenspon, and nicole “i’mnot” kid(”din’”)man. if you want to get your swell on, and swelter softly with some sweet sounds, you know the spot.

have you heard the new shakira single? god! what a grooooove! of all the famous people in the world, she is among the raddest probably. bringing lycanthropy to the mainstream, breakin the rules of domesticity. an organic disco that doesn’t feel tacky or forced, who could have thought in 2009.

however: i have one huge problem with this song.

here is the song:

shakira - she wolf - she wolf

at 1:14 of this otherwise mostly impeccable jam, there is the weakest and most inane wolf-howl i have ever heard in my entire life, mixed high enough above the rest of the chorus that it just shatters the entire track. it’s a stupid sound that seems like such an aural afterthought, tacked on with a gaudy as F “duh.” it’s ugly and unappealing, and so flagrantly unsexy that it makes me just want to barf all over the radio.

in case you don’t want to listen to the whole song (it’s mostly really great, i swear! that guitar tone is so totally killer) i’ve made this:

see you on wednesday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

okay, summer 2009 is half over. bizarre! i can hardly believe it. august 1, a year ago today we were struggling to put a stage inside phoenix (then) grille for thao and her boys. feels like yesterday! i can feel the weight of 100 people bouncing along to her enveloping voice. that was a good night!

i’ve been working hard hardly working and it doesn’t really allow me to blog it as hard as i want to — believe me, i want to blog hard. this past wednesday on my radio program, 5 minutes before going on air and with no gameplan i devised a simple plan for my next month or so on air: an aural world tour, 1 song per country until all countries have been represented with music. i cobbled together enough for one program already, which you can download if you want. it’s a fun adventure in which i am discovering some amazing music. the world section at kuci is somewhat strange: in vinyl, we’ve possibly 100 or more african records, some of which have the gnarliest cover art ever, seriously, the aesthetics of african vinyl 70s/80s is hard to beat; then we have something like 75 israeli records, maybe 75 irish-flavored ones, and really just a handful of stuff from the rest of the world. strange, in my opinion! luckily our world CD section is a little more varied. in any case, i’m going to have to hit up some record shops sooner or later lest i skip papau new guinea or gambia.

anyway. one of the winners i discovered this past wednesday is a folk music vietnamese CD on an italian label felmay, which has apparently a large selection of very good ethnic musics. the artist is called “Gia Dinh <>” and the album is called “Que huong (homeland).” of course, there are all manner of accent and intonation marks on every letter so i have no idea how to accurately pronounce any of the song titles or anything. but here are two of my favorites:

Gia Dinh <> - Nho Mua Thu Ha Noi - que huong (homeland)

Gia Dinh <> - Hat Xam: Nuoc Chai Doi dong - que huong (homeland)

this is the ba pho in question, the leader of the gia dinh band.

you can buy the cd at various places on the internet, it is amazing.

what else. august is very show-filled. keep an eye at the main .com site for updates…highlights include a solo set from mr rob barber of high places in his THE URXED project which is ruling. i think that’s it for now.

ok, work 9-5 is killer, hello fake adult world!

anyone been to the ST VINCENT DE PAUL thrift store in laguna / el toro? they had this insane sale last few days in honor of the USA. i picked up a way too much stuff for way too little coin, so great! it’s cheaper and better organized than the neighboring goodwill and sal-army, so i plan on frequenting it anyway. found a neato stash of CDs today — picked up 3 discs — a wire album, a his name is alive promo CD, and an album that has ridiculous art without any artist / album title / label info. i put it on in the car: it was ambient noise with no regard for utilizing a cd’s fundamental “track” property. that is to say that “songs” would start and stop within tracks on the cd, and i’m pretty sure track 6 was ~10 seconds of silence into some more silence on track 7 with noise starting up again some time deep in. all in all a rousing success. i’ll find some info on theat mystery disc and post it up here. i also picked up a grandma-exercise VHS.

his name is alive’s always been way interesting to me (and by always i mean the relatively short time between my virginal encounter w/ and now); their fondue approach, wait that metaphor doesn’t really work, let’s just go with the cliché, melting pot sound is somehow really organic yet mildly “2001.” their records end up sounding sort of like genre compilations that transcend era, people, and fads. to produce such an output, a certain degree of proficiency with writing and recording is totally needed, resulting in a shifting sound that never sounds…wrong? but never sounds forced, or worse, gimmicky.

his name is alive - bad luck girl - stars on esp

i also ate at hollingshead’s delicatessen. now that is something any resident of orange county needs to do: choice as fuck sandwiches in a cozy market atmosphere. if you like beer, the deli/market doubles (triples?) as a pub: you can get all manner of small-time slash imported beer on tap not to mention that the majority of the ‘market’ component of the store is essentially a pantheon of beers, like a mini-bev mo with a family-owned element that cinches the deal.

tight shows in a few weeks. electro-dance jammer mid-june was sweaty and so fun. thanks to the wizards who fueled the evening’s audio.

ok so i’m done, rad!

recap: last night with surf and math and post-everything at the cross cultural center was awesome. thanks to jon from capillary action for being so on top of everything and making sure that show happened. those dudes have been on tour around the entire world for basically 4 months so do check their nutty chamber-pop tunes out. gestapo khazi tore shit apart at the 11th hour too! paul’s first show as fuzzy knuckles was totally tight and by sunlight brought the shimmering post-roque.

TONIGHT brings with it the most anticipated show of the young summer: the heroes of tongue-firmly-in-cheek (or is it?) sleaze-rave, captain ahab, headline a literally electric evening starring (dashing member of XBXRX vice cooler’s) hawnay troof, the cheerleader spunk of ear pwr, and the bah-roque nes bloops of adventure. $5, beall center, 8pm

things on the horizon: summer shows! a lot of good stuff from now til september. one of my faves, the mighty lone star staters, indian jewelry! made in mexico (ex-arab on radar!) with all leather (locust’s justin pearson!)! other fun stuff!

indian jewelry - walk through fire - we are the wild beast

made in mexico - viva la luz - guerillaton

more: LIFE’S BLOOD will be alive soon. check that! tapes and vinyl and cds forthcoming. groovy!

even more: i start working at ATLUS USA soon. i worked there last summer playing video games all day and writing bug reports. it will be fun probably and a decent amount of $$ = lifesblood etc stay alive.

beyond this: the fall may hold the surprise of a lifetime.

by the way: have you heard the new dirty projectors? that is some quality.

dirty projectors - remade horizon - bitte orca

that CHORUS! that guitar breakdown. it’s so amazing, it sounds like nothing else, so broken up and so slight yet intricate, complex, and fully immersive. the vocals of course, rousing and invigorating. those dirty projectors sure are a cute bunch too…

what else what else what else? who’s sick of pitbull? also, god i hate jamie foxx’s music. F that s. tonight though!

god-damn, 3 nights of live music, in so many settings! thursday saw the happy hollows and big whup shred all over the weird arts complex amphitheatre. friday, i went to club avalon and felt out of place, but the field was incredible, SO MUCH BASS. 4 song set, which is totally lame, and yeah, F that weird and obnoxious MC/hype dude up in the DJ booth. the juan maclean started slow; 4-on-the-floor, check, handclaps, check, woah, THEREMIN SOLO, okay neat but the fourth time, getting kind of ooooold. but they had an epic epic epic closer (”7 gates of hell” ?) that blew me away (though it could have just been the fucking bass, holy shit, it was like el niño). dudes in 59fiftys trying to grind up on under-21 honies with no shame, sashaying around and casually, no, accidentally! getting a little touch as their hands danced stiffly up and down the sides of totally (?) disinterested ladies. smoothly spinning around the cap, NOW ur kool dude!

yesterday INK-N-IRON at the queen mary in long beach to see THE SONICS play their only southern california show ever. 3 wall-to-wall floors of tattoo artists from around the world on the boat, some two hundred classic cars all over the place in their chopshop low-riding sparkledust glory, a lot of babies! and live music no one watched. until the woggles, who are like garage rock superheroes who have all the right moves. see them should you ever get a chance; the fuzztones schlocked their way through an hour of garage-honk that was not unlovable but was unmemorable. cut out some of the cheese, dude, rudi! maybe in berlin waxing on and on, wearing a joey ramone haircut, about lovin sex and drugs is not so dated…

and yes, the goddamn SONICS, nearly 50 years later, playing their first ever southern california show. in their 60s right? old. jerry roslie looked really old. but SHIT the guy can still deliver that shrill and destructive howl. STRYCHNINE, ya, YA! they’re going to be back in august, 2 dates in la at the echoplex and sunset junction + somewhere in san diego. be there! all the hits, every last one. if you are curious as to the setlist just grab your sonics record and check off every goddamn track! lo-fi, no-fi, garage rock, whatever-the-hell–it exists because this band wanted to destroy everything before everyone else. unfamiliar–myspace picks up the ball. check out the gnarly graffiti font! summer jams. life-affirming, amazing. shredding amps.
sidenote: graduation is 6 days away. what’s it anyway, just a new hat!

here’s a disc i found laying around the station a while ago. “explosion” by some berkeley no-fi freak-punks called coomers. can’t find antyhing on the internet about these dudes. on the super 8 label, i think, if i remember correctly.

coomers - zombies - explosion

tight stuff that would never exist were it not for the sonics. okay, long post over and out!

if you need more impetus to download the record:

coomers - crowd pleaser - explosion

download coomers - explosion

this is like the first time i have made a ‘mix’ for the purpose of potentially playing sound director in a night-life social situation. i think it’s neat and fun and has enough twists and turns without being too obnoxious.

it’s sort of a big file, so if you’d rather download it, the file is located here.

for the sake of ‘fun’ i’m not gonna reveal the tracklist. if you want to know, though, just ask.

in other news–stoked to say that a couple of really neat artists have just confirmed instudios on my KUCI radio program POSITIVE CONFUSION - june 12th with “so cow” from ireland, playing spunky medium-fi pop, sometimes in korean (?) and june 19th with “chicken little” from nashville, jamming folk punk. if you have a farm animal in your band name and want to play on june 26th, let me know. just kidding?

okay so it’s been quite some time without a post here @ acrobatics everyday headquarters. with this in mind let me say that this blog will hitherto be at no loss for content. content always!

firstly, to answer the ever-present question of WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ACROBATICS EVERYDAY since i (sam) am graduating: nothing. while i am going to attempt to draw up some sort of ‘divison-of-labor’ thing so as to ensure that irvine stays on the concert-map for as long as people in irvine want to see good music, in the short-term, nothing is changing.

this thursday JUNE 4, acrobatics everyday will be presenting a free show on behalf of the UCI arts department quarterly BOXED art event. this begins at 6pm with free food and an art opening at the university art gallery. music will start at about 7:30, and will feature BIG WHUP and THE HAPPY HOLLOWS, two mostly-LA based indie-pop bands. probably one of the more accessible-type shows we’ve done in a long time, but given that it’s an outdoor deal that is meant to seamlessly integrate with the art events around…didn’t want to bring the noise for posterity’s sake. not to say big whup and happy hollows are gonna tip toe around their distortion pedals…

a couple of shows post-grad will probably fill out june–a relaxed banger DOS (feat. mike watt + kira roessler) and CAPILLARY ACTION on june 15th and an off-the-fucking-chain face-destruction dance party with CAPTAIN AHAB, HAWNAY TROOF, EAR PWR, and ADVENTURE on june 16th. stay tuned for locations for those two.
with that let me share with you an excellent find i came across some moons ago. aaron dilloway of the ever-relevant wolf eyes recorded this music in 2005 in nepal while his wife did research on something or other. it is the sounds of street performer musicians, sort of like the kinds you see at 3rd street in santa monica except they are fucking snake charmers. it is a BEAUTIFUL and enchanting album, fittingly titled SOUNDS OF THE INDIAN SNAKE CHARMER by the Nath Family. It is out on HANSON RECORDS (though the LP is sold out).

nath family - untitled 2 - sounds of the indian snake charmer

i’d say if you dig this, buy the CD version from hanson. or petition for a vinyl repress!

download NATH FAMILY - SOUNDS OF THE INDIAN SNAKE CHARMER

so winter break has come and gone in a flash not unlike normally. o bother! school, school. i managed to have to do acrobatics everyday stuff throughout break except for a brief trip north which was most excellent.
january and february are already chock full of shows. life has gotten so busy so fast! it’s okay.

there may soon be a satellite acrobatics everyday presented night (monthly/bimonthly) at a beautiful theatre in santa ana. developments as they come!

check out this cute audio player:

i was going to put up music by artists playing the next show on january 18th but i am in the midst of a music library-transport so i only have a limited amount of music on this computer. so there is a nice ali farka toure song for you.

the first winter’s warmth show last sunday was way swell. UCI locked us out of the room we were supposed to use (thanks for not showing up to work, dudes), but we compensated by using maybe the smallest space we’ve yet held a show in (the cross cultural center’s “library” room). big ups to all performers for being spirited and taking the room snafu in stride and all the attendees for coming and being the amazing audience they/you always are!

january 18th brings so so glos (NYC), pizza! and A.M. (LA), and my band, magic mirrors to the cross cultural center–followed quickly by high places on the 20th! plus, birthday cake! acrobatics everyday is almost 1.

mount eerie yester-day with julie doiron and fred squire (nom de plume ‘calm down it’s monday’). great great performances, great sound + venue, great turnout! thanks for coming and sharing the afternoon!

some great fotos over at vivian lee’s flickr.

[mount eerie with julie doiron and fred squire - who?]

the show was recorded by myself and paul mceldowney - my recording is exceedingly quiet though, and i have seen or heard paul’s isight recording. we’ll try to get some up! the sound was truly impeccable.

next tuesday’s election day, and at night we’re gonna watch the electoral college while parts & labor, white fang, and adrian orange (aka thanksgiving) play songs. i’m not sure if gowns is playing. this show’ll be at the PHOENIX FOOD COURT, recently renamed from the PHOENIX GRILLE for reasons beyond me. this show will take place in the SMALL ROOM. we’ve always utilized the main phoenix space, but that has proved unworthwhile for a number of reasons, perhaps greatest of all the sometimes poor sound quality that results from the totally high ceilings. so yeah! we’re gonna do it in the small room it’ll be a blast.

i might redo the site soon. probably not though!

i went to the eagle rock music festival yesterday, it was great. free, fun, pizza (not free), rain (very free). saw some great bands (this one, and this one, and this one, and more).

this saturday night PONYTAIL is going to play at uc irvine, at the phoenix grille. please come to this. this will be the best concert of the year. if you come, you will not regret it. you won’t. seriously. please come, please bring your friends, PLEASE!

a fantastic video for my favorite song on the field record.

here’s a track i have listened to a million times today. it is so good.

[new order - blue monday]

new show by STARFUCKER (no NIN relation) added to the schedule. look at it.