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April 26, 2008

this is just to say...

...if you ever get the opportunity to catch an avett brothers show anywhere within a 200 mile radius of your own particular city of orign i would encourage you to do so. by any means possible. i did just that last saturday nite as i journeyed into atlanta with micah seth and joel tunis. after eating our fill of fellini's pizza we strolled into the variety playhouse where the avetts did a pretty fandamtastic job of solidifying their status as one of my favourite new bands. and not just because they play that sort of punk infused country rawk that melts to the core of my heart in seconds flat...although i'm sure that's part of it. it's just that it's not very often that you can go to a show and have your face rocked off only to realize that at no point during the evening did an electric guitar ever make an appearance. scott avett played drums on two or three songs but for the remainder of the show it was just two acoustic guitars an upright bass and an asian man who may or may not have been yo yo ma wielding his cello as though it were a weapon. seriously - he did everything short of hoisting it on his shoulders and playing it behind his head.

from the opening strains of if i get murdered in the city to the closing coda of if it's the beaches it was a phenomenal show. and i was glad i had worn my lucky concert shirt. punches were thrown - babies were born - tears were shed and micah snagged an interview with a kid from spin magazine wherein he expressed regret because he thought that he had paid money to see the allman brothers. which explains why he was yelling out jessica at random intervals. it was a perfect ending to the now infamous ultimate - what do you mean neko's not with the band tonight - concert weekend. now if we could just convince okkervil river and the avett brothers to do a tour together. that would be something to behold.

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April 12, 2008

albums you should own: the cowboy junkies the trinity sessions

in the summer of '93(?) i went on a short term mission trip to the dominican republic for two fun filled weeks of hard labor at a missionary camp. at the tender age of almost 20 i was put in charge of a work crew of 16-18 year olds responsible for cleaning the rooftops of the dormitories around the outer edge of the camp. and when i say rooftops i'm talking about large sheets of ridged fiber glass that were probably a stunning shade of off white to dull grey when they were manufactured, but due to years and years of neglect had become a rich mossy green colour. it was tedious work consisting of lots of bleach and intense scrubbing - but we managed to have a good time nonetheless. life stories were exchanged - games were played - countless songs were sung - and amazingly no one fell off that roof (one or two legs did poke through it... with sexy results). there was some speculation that due to the age and third worldliness of the materials we were working with that there may be some asbestos lingering in the mix somewhere. but we were not dissuaded - in fact we adopted the motto that we would complete our task asbestos we could.

one day one of the girls starting singing this song about miners dying from toxic fumes in a gold mine. and we all laughed and laughed. not because she couldn't sing, because she could and it was really an appropriate song for the task at hand. and a really pretty song to boot. naturally i wanted to know who sang the song but i didn't want to sound like an idiot so i did the whole "who sings that song again"? she still looked at me like i was kind of an idiot and said the song was by the cowboy junkies. and i said oh yeah, i saw them on austin city limits a couple of weeks ago. which was actually true. so when i got back to the states i went to the sam goody at the mall across the street from st. andy's pca and picked up a copy of the trinity sessions on cassette. at first i just listened to mining for gold on endless repeat because at that point in my life i thought it would be a fantastic opener for whatever heart wrenching mixtape i happened to be working on. and i also firmly believed it was the most beautiful song i had ever heard.

and it was - until the day i mistakenly let the cassette deck spool over to track 2 and heard misguided angel for the first time. it was such a stunning song about falling in love with the wrong person. and i remember thinking to myself at the time: if i ever get to that point in my life where falling in love becomes necessary i hope it happens with the wrong person. and you know what? it totally has happened - countless times. thank you cowboy junkies! i would be remiss if i did not confess that misguided angel is easily on the short list of my favourite songs of all time. so much so that one night back in college i insisted that heidi learn the song so that we could perform it at a folk festival the school was putting on. as i recall she was unfamiliar with the song so i loaned her the cassette and honestly - i think she stole it from me. because i never saw it again and also heidi was very fond of stealing. and of telling anyone and everyone she met that she herself some was a misguided angle.

but enough about that - back to the (hot)topic at hand. the whole record was recorded straight to tape at the church of the holy trinity in toronto in 1988 and it consists of a few originals and a handful of covers. the most prominent being sweet jane which pops up on film soundtracks from time to time. i believe walking after midnight was featured in that christian slater/marisa tomei vehicle about the guy who had the baboon heart and wow - talk about tear jerking cinema. the first time ever that a movie moved me to tears like that all the while making me feel inadequate because i was just so...human.

which reminds me - the reason i've decided to talk about this record now is because the cowboy junkies have recently released trinity revisited in celebration/memoriam of the twentieth anniversary of the original album. wherein they returned to the same church and recorded each song again with ryan adams, natalie merchant, and jeff lynne in tow. the revisit is pretty uneven at times (see angel, misguided - anything involving jeff lynne) but it definitely has its moments thanks in no small part to ryan adams. he sort of saves the day. now if only someone could step in and help him save his own albums.

anyway - as a whole the trinity sessions album is one of those time and place pieces of magic. cowboy junkies have made countless records since then but none have come close to matching the quiet urgency of that record. which is why i don't own or enjoy any of them. some folks that i've recommended this album to in the past have complained that they cannot get into the album because it's so mellow. i no longer consider those people friends and have since refused to recommend any new music to them ever. because if you reject a peice of music that i love....well, you might as well be rejecting me.

Posted by young_christopher at 9:28 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

April 2, 2008

measured out in coffeespoons

the frost if off the pumkin the fodder is slowly recovering from the shock of winter and somewhere in the tri-state area reg is launching into the opening stanza of t.s. eliot's ode for ezra pound - april is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land mixing memory and desire stirring dull roots with spring rain. reg was a big fan of that particular stanza repeating it often in whatever random philosophy class i happened to be taking back in those lazy crazy college days.

as i recall there were several. and truth be told this april is shaping up to be a pretty daunting month for our dear friend almost old christopher. what with the recent developments at work and...and now i'm wondering if i should delve into that particular topic at this juncture. no - it's still a bit blurry so i shall refrain. for now let's just say it might have been a good idea to hang on to that apartment at 416 stones river cove in nashville.

but let's not get distracted by all of that because as you may or may not know(care) the ultimate concert weekend is nearly upon us. and boy have i gotten myself into the proverbial pickle here. i fly to borelando on the 14th returning home on the 16th. then it's up to nashville on the 18th for okkervil river and new pornographers then i turn around and head to atlanta on the 19th to see the avett brothers live and in concert. i know i've mentioned this all before but the newish wrinkle is that i have to somehow get myself to an airport for a weeklong work trip in las vegas on the 20th.

i'm still trying to decide how i feel about this upcoming stint in las vegas. i mean it will be pretty rad to go to vegas for a week, but i'll be going by myself. that's the downside of my job. i get to go on these all inclusive trips to various and sundry locales but it's just me. and pretty much any city can be a tad anticlimactic when you don't have a sidekick. unless said city has a water theme park in or near the hotel. i'll confess i've gotten to the point where i don't feel awkward going out to eat at restaurants by myself anymore but i don't love it. because it can be difficult to fake talk/text on a cell phone with a mouth full of food. at least in vegas i can purchase a dinner companion or two if i so choose.

and then of course there's the gambling. but unlike kenny rogers i'm not really a gambler (nor am i big fan of rotisserie chicken). i never really mastered any card games in part due to my rigid southern baptist upbringing and also because i'm deathly afraid of papercuts. so i guess that means i'll have to brave the sea of senior citizens at the slot machines. i'm saving up lucky coins as we speak. if i'm fortunate i'll clear enough cash to take in the wonder and the mystery of celine de soleil . does anyone know if such a show exists? if not it really, really should. i'm sure all of the casinos have comment boxes so i'll be sure to recommend it. after all who wouldn't fork over a cache of cash to see celine sing my heart will go on as she twists and twirls acrobatically 42 feet above the stage.

which reminds me - if anyone out there has any free time and/or feels that they are on the cusp of a lucky streak feel free to join me in vegas. i'll have a second key card ready and waiting for you at the front desk. and if for some reason i am not in the room when you and your party arrive - i will most likely be in the hot tub. and as always bathing suits are optional.

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