T-shirt #357 - The Pixies - Long-Sleeve

TODAY'S COUNT: 09 blog posts remaining in the T-shirt year!!
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I think I should start adding whiskey to my iced tea, coffee, whatever I am drinking all day, in large amounts. The grades I am giving would improve. I would enjoy giving them much more, and the students would appreciate my drunken scrawl of computer type.

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T-shirt #357 - The Pixies - Long-Sleeve - MUSIC THERAPY CLUB

I considered posting just one video on this page -- keeping it simple.

But then it has to be one Pixies video, and I feel I posted some of the best Pixies videos I could find when I posted about the Pixies for T-shirt # 329.

I liked the pseudo "Battle of the Bands" thing I did for T-shirt #350, but I did not want to post another TEN videos.

But maybe I could compromise.

How about three videos?

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OFFICIAL BOILERPLATE TEXT OF THE LAST TWENTY POSTS COUNTDOWN: Hi. Thanks for reading. I am posting this "boilerplate" text everyday for the last TWENTY posts in the T-SHIRT blog year, which started on March 22, 2013. I will close out daily transmission on March 21st, day 365 of my T-shirt blog-tastic extravaganza spectacular. I will give myself a short hiatus of total non-transmission or  publication for an as yet undetermined period of time, though I am estimating about two weeks. After my blog vacation hiatus, I will resume T-shirt posts on a regular basis, also as yet to be determined (weekly? Twice monthly?) to finish blogging about all the T-shirts that were not featured in the blog year. At some point, once I feel I am rolling along nicely, I will begin regular posting through my main blog: SENSE OF DOUBT. T-shirt posts will direct to the T-shirt blog from SENSE OF DOUBT. I will continue to post THE WEEKLY COMIC LIST, the features of occasional T-SHIRTS I AM WEARING THIS WEEK, book reviews, comic book reviews, and other popular culture nonsense as I have been for a year now but all will go up at SENSE OF DOUBT and some will direct back here to 365 T-SHIRTS. Ultimately, I will begin Internet publication of my fiction, primarily the comic book satire episodic story called POP! among other projects. So, in summary, 365 T-SHIRTS will continue though intermittently. SENSE OF DOUBT will host my main blog presence and fiction writing as well as links to any T-shirt posts shared here. I hope you will continue to follow me in my journey as a writer and a content provider. Thank you for your kind attention and time you have spent with me on this and/or any other day this year. I am humbled and blessed by your readership. - chris tower, blogger, originated 1403.02
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THREE VIDEOS TODAY - none of which are by the Pixies.

I really exhausted what I wanted to share on the Pixies in T-shirt # 329.

I was going to include more long time favourites. But in recent years, I have become a huge fan of downtempo jazz, house, chillout house, ambient chill-out, deep house, and lounge music. Anything with a down beat or no down beat and just a chill factor. I prefer material without lyrics. My favourite chill artist is DJ Dimsa, who I think works in Europe somewhere, possibly Paris.

Here's the "about" on his YouTube channel. DJ DIMSA ON YOUTUBE.

DJ Dimsa is a unique phenomenon representing a very new direction in international DJing. Bedroom DJ or a Professional? Lounge or Deep House DJ? A pioneer of the Internet DJ or a leader for the new breed of Social Media DJs? All of the above and none of them at the same time. DJ Dimsa clearly stands out from today's crowd of typical DJs who narrowly specialize on one and only genre and sound -- he takes the road less travelled and leverages his almost 30 years of musical background to create his unique sound. Dimsa is an Original Lounge Crusader. He has a mission, the LOUNGE mission: to share his moods, whether it's a beachside cafe or cluster of poolside cabanas in Mallorca, Spain or an ultra-chic and hip lounge in the Bay Area around San Francisco, Dimsa has it covered.

If you like this kind of thing, check out his mixes. It is my thing. Luckily, I was able to download some of his mixes from a DJ site two years ago. As far as I know he's not producing material that can be downloaded anymore.

I was going to share one of his new ones, but I found an older one on his You Tube channel that I like much better. Here it is.

Impulse - Bedroom Lounge

I am going to cheat. That one doesn't count as one single song. So now I am posting THREE videos. The previous video is a freebie.

Three songs that have meant more to me than I can express in words by artists for whom I do not own T-shirts.

I went live with the next one, even though none of the live recordings on You Tube are perfect as the very beginning of the song is cut off, and all the songs are shorter versions. Still, seeing and hearing the passion of Beth Orton doing this song is amazing.

I have seen Beth Orton twice. The first time I saw her in Irving Place in New York and I was watching the warm up band as she walked up behind me with her dress for the show slung over shoulder. Other people mobbed her, so I left her alone, but we exchanged smiles.

Beth Orton is one of my favorite all time singer-songwriters PERIOD. I discovered her quite by chance, when I decided to buy some new music, two new CDs, based on reviews in Details magazine. Both artists (the other is Lori Carson) have become two of my favorites.

This song has been an anthem to me. A healing balm. A passionate, angry, tortured testament to some love lost, found, found again, whatever.

It's just a great fucking song.

Beth Orton - Feel To Believe (Live @ Union Chapel, London, 05.12.

I had an argument with some wanker online over the lyrics. I say she's singing

And I won't waste a single second
Living in hell as an idea of heaven
And if one truth leads you to five
I still don't believe in your reasons why

But this bloke, and many of the lyrics sites have

And I won't waste a single second
Living in hell as a nadir of heaven
And if one truth leads you to five
I still don't believe in your reasons why

I say that since Beth is British, her "an idea of" comes out like "nadir of." If I ever get a chance to meet or correspond with Beth, I am going to ask her. But, really, I am pretty sure I'm right.

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I cannot remember if I discovered William Orbit first and was further convinced to buy Beth Orton's first album Trailer Park (1996) because he produced it or if I found her first. I suspect I had already found Orbit in 1996 because I first fell in love with Orbit's 1993 Water From A Vine Leaf. Orbit also produced the only Madonna album I really like Ray of Light.

This next song is amazing and comes from his 2006 masterpiece Hello WaveForms.

William Orbit (feat. Kenna & Sugababes) - Spiral

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I have no real plan here. I am just letting the energy of the universe and happenstance guide me in these picks. The songs have to be great and ones that have meant a great deal to me. They also have to be from artists I have not yet nor do not plan to share about. 

Last one...

Japan Ghosts 480p Quality

Uploaded on Feb 17, 2011

originally transmitted 18.3.82. the clip everybody remembers - let the dry ice flow and the special effects roll..

I am going to let this one speak for itself. Love this band and I love David Sylvian and his solo career since then.

COUNTDOWN TO END OF THE BLOG YEAR - 08 shirts remaining

- chris tower - 1403.13 - 19:59

T-shirt #339: Dead Can Dance

T-shirt #339: Dead Can Dance

This shirt came from the concert that Liesel and I attended in Chicago at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park in August of 2012.

This was a memorable time as we had just met our baby, our boo-boo, Satchel, the tiny runt who was hiding away from the rest of the litter and when she climbed out from behind some old farm equipment, Liersel tossed aside the puppy she had been holding and decided to adopt our Satchel booness. However, we could not take her home right then because we had already planned to go to Chicago, and so I convinced Liesel to wait until we returned.

We actually stopped on the way home to pick her up and adopt her into our family. Neither Liesel nor I will ever forget it.

We were already fans of DEAD CAN DANCE WIKIPEDIA.

This is something Liesel and I had in common from before we met. I love that Liesel and I share a great deal of mutually loved music. She does not like the Cocteau Twins later years, about which she is clearly in the wrong, and she did not like THE SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS when I discovered them last year, though I think she would have liked them had she discovered them first. I like to tease her about these opinions, though my wife, Liesel, has incredible taste in all things. I like that we do not intersect in every way. How boring that would be.

DEAD CAN DANCE OFFICIAL SITE.

Dead Can Dance are described in Wikipedia as a English/Australian, neo-classical "dark wave" band. I guess this as good a description as any. Songs have a medieval style or are actual medieval songs re-imagined.

Though Dead Can Dance formed in the 1980s, I did not discover them until the early 1990s, probably around 1993.

This next video isn't from the show we saw, but it's from right around the same time during the course of that tour, so it's close enough to what we actually saw in concert.

This next video is one of my favourite Dead Can Dance songs.

Dead Can Dance Host of Seraphim Live Montreal 2012 HD 1080

I was not too impressed with the new Dead Can Dance material from the band's 2012 release promoted during the tour we saw: Anastasis. It's good because it's Dead Can Dance. But it's not great.

Many fans are clearly more heels over head in love with Lisa Gerard than Brendan Perry. The best Dead Can Dance song featuring Brendan principally is "American Dreaming," which I will add to the collection of videos that I share at the end of this entry.

Lisa Gerard also has produced solo work and has contributed to movie soundtracks.

Lisa Gerard's voice is like something from another world. The sound of an angel both beautiful and fierce, both lovely and frightening.

I think Dead Can Dance is a good subject to explore some other material, notably, the following PODCAST.


WELCOME TO NIGHTVALE

Okay, I know. It's about time I started listening to WELCOME TO NIGHTVALE. Actually, Josh Hall at Fanfare recommended it to me months ago, and it has sat on my "to do" list since then. I was reminded of its existence, again, by WARREN ELLIS, and opened the link to

COMMONPLACE BOOKS: WELCOME TO NIGHTVALE

in my browser, vowing to start listening to these podcasts once I finished my current audio book, GONE GIRL.

Welcome to Nightvale is described as

WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE is a twice-monthly podcast in the style of community updates for the small desert town of Night Vale, featuring local weather, news, announcements from the Sheriff's Secret Police, mysterious lights in the night sky, dark hooded figures with unknowable powers, and cultural events.

WELCOME  TO NIGHTVALE is a wonderful pastiche of mixed genre satire and fiction. As one reviewer characterized it: ""Welcome to Night Vale" is relentlessly witty, morbidly hilarious, chaotically unique and often unexpectedly profound. I'm pretty sure the restless soul of H.P. Lovecraft ..." I would add that Lovercraft's restless soul is propelling them onward, watching on with rapt but silent approval. I did not like the rest of what the reviewer wrote.

There are currently 41 episodes of twenty minutes each in length, so it's not too difficult to catch up as I am doing.

Here's some more information if you need to read up on it to be convinced.

Do Not Approach the Dog Park: Welcome to Night Vale
by ALEX BROWN: a snippet:

In the darkest spaces between nightmares and hallucinations is a place unlike any other. The town is populated by hollow-eyed messenger children and ominous hooded figures, haunted by non-existent angels and towers of roaches in deer masks, and tormented by a tiny underground army and wheat and wheat byproducts. A hellscaped sky stretches its gaping maw over the Sand Wastes and Desert Flower Bowling Alley and Arcade Fun Complex, and citizens who aren’t busy battling their evil doppelgangers or being converted into buzzing shadowpeople defined only by the absence of light in the vague shape of a torso and limbs go about their daily lives and try not to get on the bad side of the City Council or the Sheriff’s Secret Police.
Welcome to Night Vale.

WELCOME TO NIGHTVALE WIKIPEDIA

THE STRENGTH OF NIGHT VALE'S LIVE SHOWS

WELCOME TO NIGHVALE: Where David Lynch meets the Twilight Zone

WELCOME TO NIGHTVALE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Check it out!
Trust me.
I'm a doctor.

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Since I just wrote about the Lovecraftian inspired WELCOME TO NIGHTVALE, I also wanted to promote another Lovecraft influenced art thing I recently discovered: CTHULU SLIPPERS.

I must confess that Lovecraft is one of those authors at which I have taken several runs but have not fully invested. I have read a few stories, started and failed to finish others, but also I have not really applied myself. I am determined to rectify this oversight. It's time for some LOVECRAFTIAN absorption.

This comic, CTHULU SLIPPERS, is a very divertisement. Updates every Monday. Here's the latest reprinted without permission. I am sure creators Andrew Jack and Natalie Metzger would not mind. I am spreading the good word of the great work. ENJOY.

It's really good stuff.

Trust me.

I'm a doctor.

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GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn

I liked Gone Girl. I did not consider it "misogynistic." Fatal Attraction is misogynistic. But even so, ascribing to feminist politics does not mean never writing a woman as a villain. Sometimes I think reviewers write criticism just to stir up controversy and sell papers not because they actual believe the crap they espouse. Though it's overwritten and a bit too kitschy in places, Gone Girl is a taut and gripping thriller about the murder of Amy Elliott Dunne, Nick Dunne's wife, and what happens as Nick tries to defend himself as evidence consistently points to him as the lead suspect. The sound of the basic plot may not inspire, but the book is so full of twists and "gotcha" moments that I really want to share nothing about the plot beyond the one sentence I wrote. I am disappointed to read that Gillian Flynn chose to rewrite the ending of the story for the film. I may not even read these articles to get any sense for why she did this rewrite. "The ending is perfect," which is what my wife said to me when we discussed the book (as she recommended it to me), and I happen to agree. Great thriller, great page turner, a very strong read by a fresh new novelist. I will definitely read her other two books when time permits.

VARIOUS GONE GIRL REVIEWS AND ARTICLE LINKS

Gone Girl - NY Times review

Gone Girl - Chicago Tribune review

GONE GIRL on GOOD READS

GONE GIRL ON WIKIPEDIA

MARY GAITSKILL HATES GONE GIRL

Gillian Flynn on Gone Girl and accusations of misogyny

Gone Girl to be a movie

Gillian Flyyn rewrote book ending of Gone Girl for film

DEAD CAN DANCE VIDEOS

Sanvean (I am your shadow) - Lisa Gerrard

Dead Can Dance - Yulunga (Spirit Dance)

Dead Can Dance - The Arrival and the Reunion

Dead Can Dance - American Dreaming

Dead Can Dance - Towards the Within

Dead Can Dance - The Spider's Stratagem

COUNTDOWN TO END OF THE BLOG YEAR - 26 shirts remaining

- chris tower - first published - 1402.23 - 18:23
updated - 1402.24 - 20:32
final publication - 1402.25 - 10:04

T-shirt #329 - The Pixies

T-shirt #329 - 

The Pixies

On Saturday the 8th, just five days ago, my step-daughter Piper and her boyfriend Adam went to see the Pixies in Detroit.

When I listed my top ten favorite bands (which was actually a top thirteen) in T-shirt #273, I did not list the Pixies. But they were in my secondary list.

Here's what I wrote in T-shirt #273, which was dedicated to U2 and the Vertigo Tour and I think it bears repeating because for some of you, this is the way you see it for the first time and for regular readers, it never hurts to see it again (because who am I kidding, how many people click ANY of my links):

TOP TEN FAVORITE BANDS
... okay, actually the top thirteen and a secondary list of many.

U2 is definitely a favorite band, but would it make my top ten? I don't think so. Here's a quick list of absolute top ten bands:

The Jam, Cocteau Twins, 10,000 Maniacs, The Indigo Girls, Pink Floyd, Steely Dan, Everything But the Girl, King Crimson, Radiohead, Stereolab, Spyro Gyra, Sigur Rós, The Clash.
Okay, that's thirteen. But I was going by iTunes playlists and most frequent listening stats. And there's a secondary list, and this is where you will find U2:

Kraftwerk, The Innocence Mission, Japan, Talking Heads, U2, REM, The Art of Noise, Genesis, Hooverphonic, DEVO, Simon and Garfunkel, Haircut 100, They Might Be Giants, New Order, Joy Division, The Style Council, Cabaret Voltaire, Lush, Dead Can Dance, This Mortal Coil, The Pixies.

And I am still leaving out many great bands and groups of artists who function like bands, such as Aphex Twin and most especially Machine Love(note the link to my entry on them in my other blog). I have given Machine Love some LOVE on my pages before, but in 273 posts, I am not sure where.

I would say this is a pretty good start to the favorite bands list. Though not a top ten, those thirteen bands are those I have listened to most often over the years. Though great and frequently in my rotation, U2 falls into a secondary category of favorites that I adore but for one reason or another were not as constantly played as first thirteen. I also think it's worth noting that of the thirteen "favorites," I have blog posts specifically dedicated to nine of those thirteen top bands, and I have plans for posts with three more of them.

All that said, though U2 is not in that top thirteen bands, I do love U2 and have a long history of loving them and listening to them.

I believe that when I made up my lists in T-shirt #273 that I had quite forgotten my list in T-shirt #46. Here's what I wrote in that post:

This list excludes childhood loves (the Partridge Family, the Osmonds, the Jackson Five), musical artists who are not bands even though they may be backed by a band, and newer bands that I have not loved long enough to consider placing in the top ten. I also do a little doubling up.
Though numbered, the bands are not ranked.

1. 10,000 Maniacs
2. Cocteau Twins
3. The Jam/ Style Council
4. Spyro Gyra
5. Steely Dan
6. Pink Floyd
7. Everything But The Girl
8. King Crimson
9. The Indigo Girls
10. Talking Heads

As much as I love Devo, they do not make this list. And other bands who I love with a great burning passion, like Joy Division (see T-shirt #35), Kraftwerk (T-shirt #36), and Sigur Rós (T-shirt #12); other great bands do not break the top ten but would be in my top twenty, such as Radiohead, Roxy Music, the Clash, Dead Can Dance, and the Police.

Even though DEVO is not in the top ten favorites, they are in the list of bands or musical artists that I want to see live. A list that also includes bands I cannot see live, such as Pink Floyd, Roxy Music, and the Jam.

So the lists are similar though not identical. For instance, the Clash is not on the earlier list. Neither is Sigur Rós, Radiohead, or Radiohead. I had Talking Heads originally in that early top ten list and then dropped them upon consideration to a secondary list.

The Pixies make that secondary list not because I am a huge Pixies fan gone berserk with Pixies adoration but because the Pixies are one of those bands that one is supped to like if you are someone like me given my other fandom focuses and general aesthetics. Now, don't get me wrong, I like the Pixies. I like them a lot. I think they are a GREAT band. But I am not as completely off my rocker nuts about them as other people in my orbit are and I resist the pressure I feel to be so nuts.

The next question is whether or not I would put the Pixies on a list of greatest bands in the history of modern music, and I think I can say without reservation that I would. Many of my favorite bands would not make that list, a more objective list, measuring greatness, impact, and some kind of seminal factor.

I featured the Pixies many semesters in my musical artists of the week and talked about the band's importance to modern music as we know it.

I had the pleasure of seeing the Pixies during their first reunion tour in 2004 11 years after their inexplicable break up in 1993.

I saw one of the shows at the Aragon and ran into many other Kalamazooans there.

It was a great show. The Pixies were dead on target with their music and their set. The distance and time from the original recordings and early years had given them a necessary perspective allowing them to play songs lovingly and without sounding forced.

Given my companion at the time, I did not dance but actually secured seats from which to sit and watch and listen. It was an unusual way to see a band that gets me dancing.

Before the concert, I ate at a nearby Vietnamese restaurant in Chicago.

I also bought the live recordings through a service that records the show and produces high quality CDs mixed from the sound directly from the concert's sound board.

 When I met the woman who is now my wife, Liesel, I discovered that she was also a Pixies fan. I had the word "huge" originally modifying "Pixies," and I took it out because I do not consider myself or Liesel a "HUGE" Pixies fan. I like the Pixies. I recognize how great they are. But there are many other bands I love more from a purely personal taste perspective.

One thing that has always struck me about my wife, Liesel, is that she has great taste. She has great taste in everything but especially in music. Our musical tastes do not align perfectly, but we're pretty closely synced.

We adopted "Velouria," the first song off the 1990 album Bossanova.

We used some of the lyrics in our wedding invitation: "We will wade in the shine of the ever."

Perfect.

Priceless.

More on this story in the entry for T-shirt #279: thirtysomething.

THE PIXIES OFFICIAL SITE

HERE'S MY TOP FIVE FAVORITE PIXIES SONGS. TOUGH CHOICE. BUT HERE YOU GO.

I have a few other goodies to share, also.

THE VIDEOS

A song with lyrics based on Un Chien Andalou, the 1929 silent surrealist short film by the Spanish director Luis Buñuel and artist Salvador Dalí, is going to be one of my favorites. But the song has such a great hook. I think it's one of the Pixies' best songs.

Pixies - Debaser (Official Video)

Girls playing the bass are super hot and awesome. Kim Deal happens to transcend this tawdry praise and achieves a hole new level. This is a fantastic song and proof that Frank does not have to be the front man on every song.

The Pixies - Gigantic

Yes, I am going with the best known Pixies song as a fave. What of it? But this video is so awesome. And I prefer the UK surf version of this song. I first heard it on the X-Files, which may be how I came to connect with the Pixies for the first time.

The Pixies - Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf)

Since I leaving "Velouria" for last, my fourth choice is very tough because there's tons of great songs to choose from. A lot of people might choose "Where's My Mind?" or "Bone Machine" is popular. Though top tracks in You Tube are a bit puzzling. Check out this list.

• Top tracks
• Albums

Where Is My Mind?		3:56
Hey		3:32
Trompe le Monde		1:49
Cecilia Ann		2:06
Space		4:21
Debaser		2:57
Gigantic		3:57
Alec Eiffel		2:55
Here Comes Your Man		3:20
Bone Machine		3:04

My fourth is going to prove that Doolittle is my favorite album. But I also have to go with this clip from Letterman.

The Pixies- Monkey Gone to Heaven

And lastly "VELOURIA," one of the two songs that Liesel and I consider "our songs." I own recordings of the Brixton shows featured here, so a final Pixies treat. The lyrics of this song are capable of transporting me to the early days of my relationship with Liesel. It always kindles our love for each other.

"Velouria"

hold my head
we'll trampoline
finally through the roof
on to somewhere near
and far in time
velouria
her covering
travelling career
she can really move
oh velveteen!

my velouria, my velouria
even i'll adore you
my velouria

say to me
where have you been
finally through the roof
and how does lemur skin
reflect the sea?

we will wade in the shine of the ever
we will wade in the shine of the ever
we will wade in the tides of the summer
every summer
every summer
every
my velouria
my velouria

forevergreen
i know she's here
in California
i can see the tears
of shastasheen

my velouria, my velouria
even i'll adore your
my velouria

Pixies - Velouria (live)

And now for those treats that I mentioned...

bowie on Pixies

Great stuff by the masterful Mr. Bowie!! If you look at You Tube, you will also find a video of Radiohead talking about the influence of the Pixies.

Though not the Pixies, this next is from the Breeders, whom I may love more (at least The Last Splash) than the Pixies for the excellence of the Deal sisters.

Cannonball - The Breeders

Damn that's a great song.

Okay, Okay, I LOVE THE PIXIES. Damn you. Damn you all.

It's true.

Not put down the pipe.

COUNTDOWN TO END OF THE BLOG YEAR - 36 shirts remaining

- chris tower - 1402.13 - 15:59