Public service announcement

You were probably hoping that I had given up making these stupid little videos, huh?

Sorry. (Sigh.)

This one is a big commercial for The Industrial Jazz Group's upcoming east coast tour (October 15 - 24, 2009).

Of note: it features unfinished excerpts (raw, unmixed, etc.) from the forthcoming album (to be released in 2010).

It also relies, as usual, on the camera work of Matt Lichtenwalner, Tany Ling, and me.

I suspect that it will make you either want to see the show, or want to run screaming in the other direction.

(Please note: the word "jazzer" is used ironically in this context.)

* * * * *

You may also run screaming in the other direction when I remind you that the Industrial Jazz Group is having a fall fundraiser, in support of our October tour! You can find out more, and contribute to the cause (for as little as $1!), here. Every penny counts! Seriously.

Plus! Check out the remix contest.

Jazz of the Future

RIP George Russell.

RIP, also, to the days when jazz could be the subject of its own television show, in which viewers would be invited to understand its present and ponder its future. You know: the good old forward-thinking days.

(Now that the future is here, does that sort of old-time optimism seem quaint to you? I sure hope not. Even the future needs a future.)

Let's pretend it's Friday

So I can get to that weekly wrap-up post I hinted at earlier.

Ready?

Tany Ling riffs on the mustache theme.

Mike Richardson surprises us all by posting two shaving videos.

Ian Carroll does an engaging stream-of-consciousness thing linking beat-boxing, the national anthem, and Nick Cave.

And Jill Knapp anticipates the "United Breaks Guitars" story by at least a little bit.

Just a little nascent band-blogging from this group I love -- with more to come. Get on over there and heckle these brave pioneers in the comments, won't you?

Oh! This should probably go over there too, but what the hell, I'll stick it here:



What is it? Matt Lichtenwalner's video detailing his process for drawing Telepath, a character from the Uniques comic. Matt accompanied the visuals here with the title track from the IJG's second album, City of Angles.

The thing is fascinating to watch. I'm thinking it would be really cool if one could somehow similarly trace the evolution of a musical score (which is, after all, another kind of drawing). But at the very least the software tool involved seems like it could be employed to great effect in an IJG video someday. Hmmm.

Wednesday evening economic meltdown music

Speaking of self-absorbed blog posts, this tune (from this album) is sort of like that, I guess.

On the verge of a nervous breakdown I decided to fight right to the end / But if I ever get my money I'll be too old and grey to spend it / Oh, but life goes on and on and no one ever wins

Did I ever tell you how much I love the Kinks?

Upcoming

A VERY STUPID, hastily-edited little promo spot about our upcoming tour, done in the style of the bombastic action movie trailer. (All that's missing is the deep masculine voice-over.)

Does this make you want to see one of our shows? Please?

Friday, April 3 (Bakersfield) - Cal State Bakersfield's Dore Theater. 8 PM.

Saturday, April 4 (LA) - El Cid. 10 PM.

Sunday, April 5 (San Diego) - Please note the new venue! We are now at Dizzy's in San Diego! Mesa College Big Band at 6 PM, PLOTZ! at 7 PM, and IJG at 8 PM!

More info at the IJG website.

Friday morning economic meltdown music, continued

John Mellencamp covers Woody Guthrie.

Now that's what I call bricolage

(What's "bricolage," you ask? Check here.)

More Friday morning economic meltdown music

The immortal Nina.

Hang in there, people!

The intelligence of a box of parrots

This burns with the white-hot fire of eleventy-billion awesome suns. Do you too "find cheap populism oddly arousing"? Watch it.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

Boozey rides again

IJG, live in Olympia, WA, in September of 2008.

Friday morning economic meltdown music

Apropos of nothing

A little taste of our New Year's Eve show up here in Portland. I guess this is, uh, not your typical IJG fare -- but it seems to fit the moment. (Full details on the personnel, etc. at YouTube.)

Thanks to everyone who supported us in 08!

Razzleberry dressing, anyone?

While we're at it, I loves me some Mr. Magoo:



This cartoon scared the shit out of me when I was a kid -- no idea why. Now I find it creepy but entertaining.

The best thing about this shoe story...

...is how the cable news networks are playing it over and over in slow motion.

Why did I get into teaching?

So I could be this guy, of course:



The smell of children, indeed.

A band of many influences

You never know when one of them is going to pop up in an impromptu post-gig singalong (this one occurred last Wednesday night, when we were in Eugene):

John McCain is a selfish prick

As promised, our anti-McCain ad, in a version we did last night at Le Voyeur in Olympia. It's pretty stupid and tasteless, but then, most negative ads are.

For soprano (Ling), piano (Durkin), and bullhorn (Rosenboom). Videography by Matt Lichtenwalner.

The video:



The words:

John McCain has a microchip
implanted in his head to give him helpful tips
on how to start the next world war
and what that ugly little button is for

John McCain is an evil boob
they feed him chopped up kittens through a plastic tube
he farts whenever he thinks too hard
his victims are all buried in his backyard

Yes he has been baking in the Arizona sun
simple things are hard to comprehend
he'll use his medieval mace
to make the world a safer place
only for the rich Americans

John McCain is a selfish prick
who pokes at open wounds with a salty stick
he peed in your coffee pot late last night
he thinks that everything is going alright

More updates to follow.

And so's your mother

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Because I'm addicted...

...to making these stupid little videos, here's one for "Bongo non Troppo." The audio is the album track (that's right, this tune is featured on LEEF), but the video is (mostly) from the recent tour... plus a few shots from a public domain film on the beatnik scene in Greenwich Village (circa, oh, a few decades ago)...



At various times, I have introduced this tune as being dedicated to the proposition that disco does not, in fact, suck.

Videography by the usual suspects (ML, JK, AD, the Internet Archive)...

Text-based posts to return soon...

[My closing comment in the video: "Thank you to all our dancers."]

The Frog

Another video (this time a bit more, uh, constructed). Another new tune.

Audio recorded live in Sacramento, at the Fox and Goose. It's raw and unedited, for those of you who care about such things.

Band cinematography by Matt Lichtenwalner and yours truly. Newsreel footage of the frog-jumping contest, and other footage of random animals, taken from the Internet Archive.

The Sac band: Zick, Templeton, Francis, Wright, Knudsen, Griesser (saxes); Rosenboom, Richards, Johnston, Richardson, Carroll (brass); Newell, Schnelle, Ling, Knapp, me (rhythm).

I'll be damned if Schnelle wasn't channeling his inner John Bonham on this tour. Amazing.

Other explanations and commentary to follow in the "big tour post."