If any of you have read a music blog, you may have noticed I take after my predecessors. I've got some favorite links on the right side, a way to contact me, and now my second weekly theme. These are by no means new features I came up with. I ripped them off, but we all know that nothing is new these days. Cynical much?

Anyway, here is the newest old at this moment. I'm sure you've all discovered a band and simply couldn't go without carving out some time in your day to sit down and listen. [convoluted analogy warning!] I imagine this feeling is much like what Cortez felt when he got to Mexico. He wasn't the first to set foot in this foreign place, but it must've felt good to know he was a conquistador.

The first band I've chosen to highlight are the Fleet Foxes. They've got a sound dependent upon the interwoven harmonies between or among the vocalists -- I'm not sure how many there are. Their sound is very much akin to a Grizzly Bear or My Morning Jacket. Just look at the track list for their second EP: "English House", "Yellow House" and "Mykonos", "Okonos". Coincidence, or secret assembly of the world's first superband? Either way I can't listen without conflating the three bands together. I love it! It's an all-star indie band without the hassle of stuffing fourteen people in a cramped studio.

While I kick myself for not going to their show in nearby Omaha earlier this month, revel with me in the magic of Fleet Foxes with these two songs.



These gems are off their debut album with Sub Pop. Although I've never been there, they feel like what I think Northern California would feel like: or perhaps, how it would feel for a transplant from Tennessee. They describe their music as "baroque harmonic pop jams". What are your thoughts?
Fleet Foxes--Ragged Wood
Fleet Foxes--Drops In The River

Ah, jeez, why not? If Neil's voice grates your nerves, I apologize, but I couldn't stop myself from adding this one, a live track from a 1978 show in San Fran.
Neil Young--Cortez The Killer

(This is the first post in a series on the music and musicians I am connected to firsthand. That is, these are my friends, and this is their story. Each Wednesday I will post a blurb detailing their musical careers, however short or unheard of they may be.)

We all have dreams, but rarely do you meet someone like Kalin Krohe. He is the type of guy that is going to see his dreams through to their ultimate triumph or final end, no matter what.
Kalin hails from my hometown of Alliance in the panhandle of Nebraska, and has been a friend of mine for a few years now. Like most people, I was initially put off by his hard-lined approach to life in general. I thought at the time that my judgements of him were qualified by a realistic outlook. The unstoppable drive he had, and still has today, was annoying to put it bluntly. But since then, I've learned to take his ambition with a grain of salt and a touch of jealousy.

Back in the olden days of my teens, Alliance wasn't exactly the place you'd expect to find a burst of artistic expression. It was like most small towns. We had a movie theater, cruising the Butte, high school sports, and parties. For the most part, that was okay for everyone.
Sure, we had the upstart teen centers, the programs put on by clubs, and other events around town designed as an alternative to the latter choice, but nothing ever came to complete fruition, and we all became used to the dull life. But then three guys formed a band, and in the process helped bring about something new to do. They called themselves Palm Dell and played shows at an elementary school.
No, they didn't go on to get signed and enjoy modest success. But they did what they could and built up arguably the largest following in the area. In the first stages, Collin Lybarger, drummer, and Arlo Brittan, vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter, were the foundation. A couple others had short-lived spots in the band, but it wasn't until the band started auditions for a bassist did Kalin join up.
I don't want to presume to know the intimate inner-workings of the band, but from what I know playing with the band later on, Kalin had to settle with being third in the line of creative command. Bands with egalitarian roles are few and far between so this was almost inevitable and in no way forced upon him. But it only amplified his determination to do something bigger if the opportunity arose.
After about four years of playing together as a band, Palm Dell as I've just described called it quits around May of 2006, I believe.
(I'll be talking more about Palm Dell in later pieces about Collin and Arlo, once I get their consent.)

Now, along with going to school in Mitchell, South Dakota, for satellite communications, Kalin is promoting his new venture, Krohe Records, exhaustively. When he launched his Myspace site in the middle of March, most everyone I talked to about it in my small circle of friends were skeptical. We had our doubts. Is this really a record label? Is it just a Myspace page? No one really knew what to think of it.
Over the course of a few weeks, numerous Facebook wall posts, the recording of a podcast, and a couple long phone calls, I'm beginning to think Kalin is going to go somewhere with this. If not, he's certainly going to try his hardest.

If you haven't already, point your browser to http://www.myspace.com/kroherecords and prepare to be surprised like me.

We can definitely try, though.

How many times a day do you just wanna get up off your chair and boogie? It's an hourly thing for me. I really try to stop myself when it happens, but I couldn't hold back when "Bra" by Cymande started playing a few minutes ago. Check, check, check it out and you'll see what I mean.


Cymande--Bra

What may seem like yesterday to some of you was more than half a lifetime ago for me. Did your troubles seem so far away then? Personally, I would give just about anything to become unstuck in time and travel back to that age when time didn't mean a darn thing. I really miss wiling the days away by setting new pogo-stick records and zooming down slip and slides.
This last weekend, as I said I was going to, I went back home for the umpteenth time since moving out last August. I didn't have much of a reason to drive the seven hours, save the wider, fluffier bed and a little one-on-one time with Fluffenschlagen.

Wait. Before continuing, I should probably introduce the first in a cast of characters that I'll be writing about. Fluffenschlagen goes by many names, but formally she's Macie.
Last April, almost by chance, my mom found the love of our family's collective life: a golden retriever puppy. She was absolutely the cutest thing I'd ever laid eyes on, and to this day she still retains the title. Unfortunately though, she's also picked up a nasty streak of misbehavior. From whom, I haven't a clue...

While home my mom and I got to talking about my sister and I's old babysitter, Natalie. One thing led to another, and I then started to think about all the music I used to love back then: Jock Jams, Alanis Morissette, Chumbawamba, and my biggest idol of all, Garth Brooks. To this day, I still get a kick out of listening to "Whomp! (There It Is)". So, I'm going to try my hand at posting a few songs that rekindle those memories of my childhood. If you don't find any songs to download, just bear with me. I'm among the uninitiated in a lot of the ins and outs of blogging, so it may take some time. But, when they do see the light of your computer screen, I hope a few good memories pop up for you too!



To start it off, get up from your chair, ready your dancing hands, feet, and hips, and play the most widely adopted stadium ritual ever. OK, maybe I need to check my sources on this one, but I'm sure you all know it. Have fun!
Los Del Rio--Macarena


And here is one that has gained my adoration since that ripe age of seven I was in '96. It's a solo version of the best song off Wilco's "Being There". In order to lessen the costs of possible fines, I'll leave it at that. I still need to look into the legal side of posting songs.
Jeff Tweedy--Red-eyed and Blue

[this blog does not count toward the not blather-y type]

Like that, only times the sound of ten thousand Boeing 787's jet engines recorded then played through one million Marshall stacks behind megaphones. Things are off to that much of a roaring start. I'm proud to announce that your efforts have brought this blog great success. In fact I just... I just got offered a deal to... wait for it, wait for it... go on a trip to... ALLIANCE, NEBRASKA!

Can I get a, "Yeah?"

Sometimes I wonder if a budding Sergei Brin ever took trips back to his hometown after thinking up Google.

Can I get a gallon of gas? Anyone?

Generally on days like today, the pleasant sort, you go out and bask in the warmth and do typical 'fun in the sun' things. Maybe read a book on a bench in front of the Union, go for a stroll down 16th Street, or play a little frisbee with some friends. Since it had been quite gloomy yesterday, the day before that, and most days in recent memory, you'd think it'd be almost impossible not to get with it and enjoy the weather.

But no, I've got to study astronomy, and we all know how much fun that is. So again I found my way to this bit of respite from too many synapses firing at once. I surely didn't want to spontaneously self-combust or anything.
(As a matter of fact, that's why there are so many fire extinguishers here at the library. Betcha didn't know that, huh? Learn something new every day.)

One thing I can impart to your by now weary eyes and mind -- caused by this blather, which I guarantee will stop in the next write-up -- is the newest concept spearheaded by a few fellows from across the pond named Radiohead.
They've unlocked the safe and let out instrument tracks from what is my favorite song on "In Rainbows", "Nude", and are calling on the world to remix that shiz. I'm excited to hear what either improvements or horrible downgrades are going to result from this.
If one of the approximately thirty of you who have frequented my page are interested, you should be able to find a link in the iTunes Store. Let Thom guide the rest of the way.

From the tips of my toes, hello again!

Two posts in one day? What prolificness! you say. No, no, no. This is not my first official blab about music. In fact, it's not really about anything. I'm just taking a break from the ten, that's right, ten-page paper about Mozambique only three tenths of the way done. It's going quite well in my opinion, although I think my teacher may not appreciate the angle I'm writing it from.

You see, because I didn't go on a wild and crazy spring break trip like the rest of the world aged 18 to 21, I am imagining this paper about a country in the southeastern part of Africa to be my getaway from the metropolis of Lincoln. So excerpts like, "'From the confluence it flows about 50 miles (80 km) northeastward to enter Delagoa Bay,' where it turns out you lost your left shoe. Which is unfortunate, because we’ve only covered two pages worth of a ten-page paper. Maybe Mouke packed an extra," may not display the hard work and determination Dr. Melvin Johnson was wanting me to put into this bugger.

But, it keeps me from going completely crazy reading page upon page of weather patterns, orogeny, and biome classification among other things. So that's good. And that's all.

Here today, gone tomorrow.

Isn't that what it feels like? Nothing seems to stick around anymore. It all just whooshes past like the New York subway -- only, most day-to-day affairs don't leave behind that overwhelming stench.
And what do we have to keep track of the bustling new world? Blogs, among other things. Since my memory is notoriously bad, I thought a blog would be just the thing to file away those thoughts which seem to escape down the tunnels of imagination.

A little word to the wise however - don't expect to be blown away. My life is as monotonous as any, and my ramblings about music (which, I'm guessing, will compose the majority of posts) are likely to be repetitive. But then again, who's keeping score?

So this marks the beginning of what I hope to be an interactive journal of sorts. You're welcome to leave a comment anytime, about anything you want. Just keep it lively, folks. There's only going to be one rule: blah is not allowed.