iamserio.us

I went to see Iron & Wine back in October as part of a trip to Eugene I took with my lovely girlfriend, Rachel. It was absolutely necessary, you see, since this Iron & Wine tour was not making a stop in Seattle. Not only that but the show in Eugene was to be a solo act and thank the Bee Jee for that. Not really in the mood for one of his reggae sessions. I need my folk clean and original. None of that Jah Love.

I even made some artwork for this one for a different project. It came out pretty good so here it is. Boom. You’re lookin’ at it. Click the image for a high res version you can print off all on your own! Wahoo!

All in all a good show and a pretty good recording with which to shove that point into all of your faces. Boom. You’re hearin’ it.

Iron & Wine 2008-10-06 McDonald Theater – Eugene, OR
Download: iaw2008-10-06.at943.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: iaw2008-10-06sample.mp3

And even before that, there was another time that I slam dunked on this scene like a hellacoptah. There surely was a time in May of last year when I saw Subtle drop a lyrical bomb on The Nectar Lounge down in Fremont. And for certain it was the man with the plan and the microphone stand.

Supporting acts were Efterklang and Slaraffenland from somewhere in Europe that is probably cold as hell right now. Finland? Sweden? I don’t know. One of those ones. If there is interest I’ll put up the Slaraffenland set.

Subtle 2008-05-10 The Nectar Lounge – Seattle, WA
Download: subtle2008-05-10.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: subtle2008-05-10sample.mp3

Efterklang2008-05-10 The Nectar Lounge – Seattle, WA
Download: efterklang2008-05-10.soundboard.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: efterklang2008-05-10sample.mp3

I had the opportunity to record Bronze Fawn at the Cumulus Festival last weekend so I did that. Yeah. Me.

I actually didn’t even realize that the Cumulus Festival was going on or that it was hosting Earth, This is a Process of a Still Life, Joy Wants Eternity and a few others I’d totally be into hearing in a live music setting. Sadly, I’m uninformed so that didn’t happen. I did, however see Snowman Plan, You.May.Die.In.The.Desert, and Bronze Fawn.

A buddy of mine tackled a three-cam for Bronze Fawn and the jury is still out on the final product. One of our cameras randomly started zooming partway into the set. I’m not sure how long it’s going to take to edit the video down since we were using two AVCHD cameras and one HDV camera and I’m sort of letting Dan deal with the editing situation since he works for Adobe and probably has that crap locked down.

Additionally, the soundboard feed sounds just awful. Thankfully the microphone feed is not awful so that will be something you can listen to right about now:

Bronze Fawn – 2009-01-25 The Vera Project – Seattle, WA
Download: bf2009-01-25.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: bf2009-01-25sample.mp3

You.May.Die.In.The.Desert – 2009-01-25 The Vera Project – Seattle, WA
Download: ymditd2009-01-25.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: ymditd2009-01-25sample.mp3

Snowman Plan – 2009-01-25 The Vera Project – Seattle, WA
Download: sp2009-01-25.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: sp2009-01-25sample.mp3

El Ten Eleven kicks off their semi-national tour tonight (sorry East Coast… or should I say LEAST COAST! HA!).

If you’re interested in taping a show, I highly suggest busting out those microphones and camcorders because these dudes are cool as hell about it. They want you to be up in their grill with all sorts of recording equipment. Polaroid cameras, mimeographs… chisel and a goddamn tablet of slate. Just get up in that piece.

Personally I’m definitely going to the Seattle show and I’m heavily contemplating going down to Portland for the show the next night. Limiting factors include: 1) whether or not I can borrow m’lady’s car 2) whether or not I actually want to drive to Portland and back in one day.

If someone in Portland wants to pick up taping duty on this one that that’s awesome. The Someday Lounge is a great venue with two balcony areas from which to tape. They also have a Canon XL-1 off of which you might be able to snag an auxiliary video source.

11.05.08 | Monterey, CA | Monterey Live

11.06.08 | Oakland, CA | Stork Club

11.07.08 | San Francisco, CA | Make Out Room (early show, ete on at 8:45)

11.08.08 | Arcata, CA | The Alibi

11.10.08 | Seattle, WA | El Corazon

11.11.08 | Portland, OR | Someday Lounge

11.12.08 | Boise, ID | Neurolux

11.14.08 | SLC, UT | Burt’s Tiki Lounge

11.15.08 | Denver, CO | Larimer Lounge

11.17.08 | Kansas City, MO | Record Bar

11.18.08 | Columbia, MO | Mojo’s

11.19.08 | Urbana, IL | Canopy Club

11.20.08 | Grand Rapids, MI | Founders Brewing

11.21.08 | Cleveland, OH | Beachland Tavern

11.22.08 | Athens, OH | TBA

11.23.08 | Rochester, NY | Bug Jar

11.25.08 | New Haven, CT | Cafe 9

11.26.08 | Brooklyn, NY | The Bell House

11.28.08 | New York, NY | 92Y Tribeca

11.29.08 | Pittsburgh, PA | Brillobox

12.01.08 | Fort Wayne, IN | 816 Pint and Slice

12.02.08 | Chicago, IL | Schubas

12.03.08 | St. Louis, MO | TBA

12.04.08 | Norman, OK | Opolis

12.05.08 | Dallas, TX | The Cavern

12.06.08 | Austin, TX | Beauty Bar

12.10.08 | Hollywood, CA | Hotel Cafe

12.19.08 | Flagstaff, AZ | Hotel Monte Vista

12.20.08 | Tucson, AZ | Plush

Whoa long time no post, eh?

I actually haven’t recorded anything in a while just because I’ve been busy with a new job and being social with friends and all that. I recorded Subtle and Efterklang a few weeks back but I still haven’t matrixed the recording because I am sort of lazy. I will do that soon, though, because I know there are some folks wanting to hear those recordings. The main hold-up is that I’m waiting to hear back from another guy who filmed Subtle so I can mix my video with his.

So back to the subject at hand: El Ten Eleven.

I guess all you can really say is “Well, shit.” because it’s so mesmerizing to see these two guys completely own their respective instruments in every capacity. Even now I’m trying to think of a way to write about their skills and prowess that doesn’t come off sounding completely douchey and I’m drawing a blank. I think I’ll opt for silence and let the recording speak for itself.

El Ten Eleven – 2008-06-05 Sunset Tavern – Seattle, WA
Download: ete2008-06-05.akgc1000s.sbd.matrix.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: ete2008-06-05sample.mp3

P.S. Two-cam video (with help from Steve Robinson) coming soon!

I truly am the king of wit and original comedy.

No but seriously, these guys are good and I like them a lot. That’s why I took the time to purchase tickets (Ten bucks? Bitch, please) and go to the show. I even took the time to stand perfectly still so I could get a good recording.

I had to stealth this one because I messaged them on Myspace about recording the show and they never got back to me. So I got back to them. By recording it like a motha. I figure they’re cool with it. They seem like the kinda guys who, if they stumbled upon this site, would be all “Hey this guy is cool. We’re cool with this.” And then we’d high five each other and drink some Rainier tallboys while we talk about our favorite episodes of the popular late-eighties comedy Perfect Strangers (mine is the one where Larry and Balki go into business making pastries that, ultimately, explode in their faces due to an oversight in the recipe that requires a song to be sung while creating the confections).

The recording turned out fairly decent since the crowd was fairly well behaved (save for the loud drunkie who kept talking about how she’s going on vacation tomorrow… multiple times).

Vampire Weekend – 2008-03-26 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
Download: vw2008-03-26.at943.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: vw2008-03-26sample.mp3