(04.30.04):
Last night Zerostars wrapped up the recording and mixing of our soon to be released EP. Things always change at the last minute and last night we made some wonderful minor changes to Ballerina that just make the song even more powerful than it originally was. Many thanks to Neal over at B Side Audio for taking us on and pretty much producing the EP, as well as doing all the engineering and mixing. He played such a big part in how everything sounds, and we couldn't have made this EP without his expertise. Plus, speaking from past experience in the studio, we all felt super comfortable in Neal's studio. Next steps are to get the EP mastered and then finalize the artwork which Jason will be doing. I'm sure at some point in the near future we'll post a clip or two on the Zerostars website. I can say that I'm super proud of the songs we recorded. Big thanks to the band!

Driving to the recording studio 04.29.04

New album review posted under Reviews. Check it out if you have a moment. I'm really going to attempt to do one review a week. Things have been pretty hectic with the band, and I've been doing a bit of freelance work so that's been eating up a lot of my free time. Hopefully I'll get a review of Lali Puna's newest album up early next week. I have a stack of albums that I'd like to review, all of which are quite good.

Song: Maps (Yeah Yeah Yeahs - I'm addicted to this album. I ignored it last year and only recently picked it up for like $6.99. God is this such a great raw album. And Karen O is the new Debbie Harry, so incredibly sexy. And the video for Maps just blows me away.)

I Sit and Look Out

I SIT and look out upon all the sorrows of the world, and upon all oppression and shame;
I hear secret convulsive sobs from young men, at anguish with themselves, remorseful after deeds done;
I see, in low life, the mother misused by her children, dying, neglected, gaunt, desperate;
I see the wife misused by her husband—I see the treacherous seducer of young women;
I mark the ranklings of jealousy and unrequited love, attempted to be hid—I see these sights on the earth;
I see the workings of battle, pestilence, tyranny—I see martyrs and prisoners;
I observe a famine at sea—I observe the sailors casting lots who shall be kill’d, to preserve the lives of the rest;
I observe the slights and degradations cast by arrogant persons upon laborers, the poor, and upon negroes, and the like;
All these—All the meanness and agony without end, I sitting, look out upon,
See, hear, and am silent.

Maybe we need Whitman now more than ever. Where are those that sing the song of the people? I started thinking that maybe Bukowski is the closest thing we have to a modern day Whitman. I know Bukowski is dead, but still. I told my friend Kim that she needs to be heir to the Whitman/Bukowski throne.

Or maybe I'm just crazy, or feeling a bit down today.

Album: Rejoicing In The Hand (Devendra Banhart)

(04.27.04):
The state of Wisconsin is safe from giant African snails.

Listening to the new Jolie Holland album, Escondida. I would be lying if I didn't say that this is the best album to come out so far in 2004. Jolie writes the type of songs that invite you to crawl inside the lyrics and chords. When she pleads, "Give me some of that old fashioned morphine," it's enough to make you want to join her in her quest. This album marks her proper debut after last year's stunning collection, Catalpa. More on this album later...

Replaced by the iPod	Replaced 1's and 0's

I will say that the whole recording process was crazy. Last time I was in a studio we recorded to 1/4 tape. The band has been recording digital for some time now, but not to the same extent as our session last weekend. I've never witnessed so much cutting and pasting of music. It's amazing how far technology has come, even a bit frightening...

The band spent the last two days in the studio recording and mixing songs for an upcoming EP. Photos and video are forthcoming...

...later in the day, from the Zerostars recording session April 24th and 25th at B-Side Audio.

Mikey listening to mixdown	Neal and Jason

Jason writing a new song	Corbett and his tea

Recording video clip #1 :
Why Jason plays guitar (836kb)

(04.20.04):
Raw dance party footage (5.8MB) featuring some kick ass dancing by some Chic-A-Go-Go regulars from the Sunday taping of Chic-A-Go-Go. At some point when I have time I'll edit this mess of stuff down into something decent. As for now this will have to do...

Song: The Leavers Dance (The Veils - Combine Longpigs, and Suede with a touch of Radiohead and you'll get this band. Great song.)

(04.19.04):
quot;The remarkable thing about television is that it permits several million people to laugh at the same joke and still feel lonely." -T.S. Eliot

This week we celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Turn TV Off Week. Turn TV Off Week starts today, April 19th and goes through April 25th. Here's a short list of things to do besides watch TV:

Read a book that you've always wanted to read
Start writing a book or short story
Go for a run or a walk
Ride your bicycle
Watch the stars
Fly a kite. God knows it's been windy enough in Chicago these past few days
Go visit an old friend, or at least call one
Participate in an anti-war protest, or any protest for that matter
Create art
Take some photos
Listen to your favorite musician, band, or album
Write a letter to somebody, but not an email, a real letter that you can send through the postal service
Work in your garden, or start a garden

Do whatever you want, but promise not to watch your TV. Life is too amazing and beautiful to be sacrificed in front of the television. If you turn off your television I promise that you'll smile a lot more. And maybe, just maybe you'll cut the cord forever.

Visit the Turn TV Off Your TV website.

Song: A Minor Place (Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - I went to see Bonnie on Friday night. It was an excellent show. He did a fantastic version of this song, which is one of my favorite songs ever.)

(04.18.04):
Just returned from a fantastically fun filled day. Zerostars taped an episode of Chicago's very own Chic-A-Go-Go, and we all had such a great time. Seriously, I can't recall when I last had this much fun. Lots of dancing ensued. I'll post the dates that we'll be on tv. I also shot some additional digital video footage that I'll be editing down to post on the site.

Me standing in front of the Chic-A-Go-Go set.

Showing support for Zerostars	Empty soundstage.

Local band Chin Up Chin Up.

A couple of months back Chin Up Chin Up lost their bass player and friend, Chris Saathoff, to a drunk driver as Chris was exiting the Empty Bottle after seeing a show. Chic-A-Go-Go taped a memorial show for Chris. You can learn more at the Chin Up Chin Up website.

Dance Party #1 w/Chin Up Chin Up.	Dance Party #2.

After taping the show.

Yesterday Jason and I were aimlessly wandering around Wicker Park. Since I didn't have my camera on me I asked Jason to take a photo for me. This is the photo:

(04.13.04):
Lately it seems that everybody is in love with peace loving Canada. Recently a Canadian judge said that file sharing was legal in Canada. Canada wasn't very supportive of the war with Iraq, and rightfully so. A few years ago Michael Moore focused on Canada's low murder rate in his documentary Bowling For Columbine. Yet today in the new I read that Canada is allowing for the world's largest seal hunt. According to salon.com:

Some 12,000 sealers armed with rifles and spears headed for the ice floes and islands off eastern Canada on Monday in the world's largest seal hunt, followed by protesters condemning the $20 million harvest as barbaric.

Hunters are allowed to kill 350,000 young seals this year, the largest amount since the government instituted quotas in the 1960s. The harp seal population is growing at 5.2 million and pelts are garnering record prices of about $50 each."

What is this all about? Seems just a bit cruel and evil. Seriously, wearing seal fur is not cool in any way. This is sick, barbaric, and wrong. I won't be playing the Canadian national anthem anytime soon.

(04.07.04):
Do you ever get the sense that the world is just too overwhelming? It's just that we wake to the news telling us that more American soldiers have died in Iraq. Then, there are terrible atrocities occurring in Sudan, similar to the ethnic cleansing that occurred in Rwanda ten years ago. And here I am, sitting at a computer screen and not doing a damn thing about the mess we live in.

Life is just so fragile. And yet we race around...

Sorry to be so down. Yet who the hell am I apologizing to?

Last night Zerostars practiced for the first time in over a month. Up until last night I hadn't played bass since our show in February. Lots of rock posturing and devil signs ensued. April will be quite the busy month for the band. On April 18th will be taping a performance for the legendary Chicago Public Access television show Chic-a-go-go. All are welcome and you can get more details at the Chic-a-go-go website. On April 24th and 25th we'll be recording our latest e.p. at B-Side Audio. Then, once we wrap up recording we're playing May 1st at Wise Fools Pub. So really the break was good for us as we'll be spending a lot of time together.

Listening to: Bach Cello Suites. Yesterday a coworker suggested that there needs to be a bar that only plays classical music. I don't think that bar would last very long.

Reading: Oxford History of Western Art. Yesterday this arrived in the mail. It's one mammoth of a book much like the Norton Anthologies of Literature.

(04.06.04):
Work equals freedom.

		Listening to:The Incomplete Triangle by Lansing-Dreiden. Can't figure these guys out. Some sort of art collective. Brilliant and fascinating stuff. Seriously a solid album. Just wish I could play it louder, but I can't. Sample lyric, "Weekends seem to pass us by with a flash/Paychecks lead to cars that lead to a crash."

(04.05.04):
Another reason why Wilco are so damn brilliant. Seriously, this band is onto something huge, real, and beautiful. Somebody needs to stick a fork in the RIAA and the whole damn recording industry. Long live Wilco!!!

Oh, and specbebop.com had a birthday last week. Happy Birthday specbebop.com. You are now a year old.