the Notes and Scratches

In the Meantime

I’ve been sleeping on keeping things fresh ‘round here, so I’ll just hustle through some recentlies:

1) This update will be in list form because, on Leslie’s good recommendation, I just finished Sandra Newman‘s The Only Good Thing Anyone Has Ever Done and it is all po-mo-list-ridden. Surprisingly, to me at least, it provided a sense of hope that David Foster Wallace-y textual chicanery can actually, in the right hands, produce a moving narrative. (Oh, and for those who’ve read it: i wonder, is the only good thing anyone’s ever done is ‘tell stories’?)

2) We’re visiting Kansas City and Lawrence this weekend, to play shows with the amazing and charming Harvey Girls. They are generous and kind and make great music and were interviewed recently ‘cos of that. Do you live in Kansas? Come to a show, say hello! Do you have friends, relatives, lovers in Kansas? Tell them to come say hello! Details on our Shows page.

3) Met and played with Unlucky Atlas and Some by Sea who were both charming and good. Poor Some By Sea seemed real tired at the end of a long-ish tour, we hope their trip back home was great! Really adored the spirit of Unlucky Atlas, nice cats, willing to help carry instruments, smiled and said hello immediately, hand-make their musics’ packaging, made lovely songs, a great poster, and just generally had a warmth i dig. Check this, their Terence Hannum is a great visual artist, too— this is an oil on linen.

4) I met Jessica Hopper what feels like forever ago, we were probably both like 20 or 21 or 22, and holy crow did she leave a bad taste in my mouth. She was doing promo (i think), for Pedro the Lion and i had dinner with them all and old friend TW Walsh who was on tour/playing in Pedro at that time. Jessica Hopper was nothing short of condescending, manic and mean-spirited through out the meal. Fast-forward to the present and dang, it’s nice the world affords second-chances; these days, i completely want to smooch and then one day marry her prose. Why? Well, there’s this, this, this, this, this (yes, i did it) and finally, and perhaps most importantly this. I have no idea what she’s like in person nowadays, but if half as charming and intelligent as her writing, i’ll have to suppose our first encounter, years ago, was just a bum first-impression. Hopper also makes a great zine called Hit It or Quit It, and i hearts me a zinester on principle.

5) We are planning a big old tour for July. MI, OH, Canada, eastern seaboard, Carolinas, KY, TN, MO, best start hiding your children now, ‘cos we’re a coming and are a good at playing hide ‘n seek.

6) Barnard College Zine Library :: improbable wonderful and true sentence #17 = arcade fire on pancake mountain :: the Midwest Nest Fest is going to be lovely-great :: fave band #329 = the Spectacular Fantastic!

7) David Rees of Get Your War On fame on the why the Minutemen are are the greatest punk band of all time:

D. Boon’s bassist and best friend, Mike Watt, still plays bass, writes music, and tours the country in a Ford Econoline van; and that Mike Watt ends his gigs with the exhortation to “start your own band, paint your own picture, write your own book”—twenty years after his friend’s death broke his heart—and that Mike Watt continues to champion this D.I.Y. punk philosophy while many other punks have burnt out, grown soft, or given up; and that Mike Watt (I imagine) perseveres in part to honor his brilliant friend’s brief life and the possibilities bequeathed to future musicians, artists, activists, punks and outsiders—is one of the greatest American success stories of all time.

8) Thanks to all who’ve come out to shows recently, see you soon!