Category Archives: music

musicfest mini-update

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the thermals @ bodyvox

the thermals @ bodyvox

In a couple of hours I’m going to be seeing Viva Voce at some VIP party thing, but I want to write a little update before I nom nom on some Burgerville and proceed to rock out yet again.

First off, if you aren’t following me on Twitter and want to hear me geek out on a more live basis, I suggest you do so.  I’ve been taking the Worst Photos Ever with my cameraphone1 and posting them on TwitPic, as well as short bursts of textual energy, such as “THERMALS FUCKKKKK YEAH,” etc.

Anyway, long story short, last night was the best night of MFNW and probably will be the best night MFNW.  All four bands that I saw were awesome, and the sushi that I ate beforehand was awesome, and the nap I took after work but before the shows was awesome. Everything = awesome.

Seeing the Long Winters play again was especially spectacular. John Roderick has long hair and a mustache and a missing front tooth.  He’s great.  The band was as tight and energetic as ever, and the between songs banter was hilarious. For some stupid reason Berbati’s wasn’t as packed as it should be — I blame it on John’s lack of releasing an album or touring for the past year or so. That’s okay though, cause the ones who were there were pretty hardcore fans.

I shouldn’t go into details because I’m going to do that after MFNW. You all should check out the Prids, Explode into Colors2, The Long Fucking Winters, and, of course, the Thermals, who played a VIP after party at BodyVox dance studio, with a big long rehearsal mirror behind them, effectively rocking all of our testicles off.  Yes, even the ladies.  The ladies grew testicles and then they fell off, it was so rocking.  We’re all eunuchs now.

  1. I need to get a BlackBerry, srsly. ↩
  2. Dear girl who plays the melodica: marry me? Love, Josh. ↩

musicfest itinerary

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Briefly:

Wednesday
There’s only one lineup, and that is — Fences, Portland Cello Project, Damian Juardo, and Will Scheff (of Okkervil River) @ Wonder Ballroom.  I am excited about all of this.

Thursday
Dr. Dog & Helio Sequence @ Wonder
Either Cymbals Eat Guitars @ Doug Fir or Tu Fawning @ Berbati’s.  Probably the latter cause it will make us closer to
The Twilight Sad & Frightened Rabbits @ Dante’s!  TWILIGHT SAD!

Friday
Arctic Monkeys @ Wonder
Something, not sure yet
M64 @ Jimmy Mak’s
Explode into Colors @ Holocene
THE LONG WINTERS! @ Berbati’s.  YAAAAY NEANDERTHAL JOHN RODERICK!

Saturday
Lots of bands playing 30 minute sets at Rontoms
Saturday is kind of iffy.
World’s Greatest Ghosts @ Backspace
Brunettes @ Berbati’s
probly Ava Buffalo @ Berbati’s
Point Juncture, WA @ Mississippi Studios
Church & Finn Riggins @ East End

Sunday
Sunday has only one lineup, with Morning Teleportation, Mimicking Birds, Love as Laughter, and Modest Mouse as headliners. Dunno how into them I’m going to be, but Mimicking Birds is playing and I’ve really come to love the free CD-R I snagged at their MFNW show last year.

All in all, a crazy time, and lots of fun.

musicfest northwest 2009!

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(My previous entry about the current state of theatre drew a lot of comments/ire/applause, but all of the comments were in Facebook, to which I import my blog entries. I’m not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand, I knew I would get a lot of comments from my fellow Boise State classmates and friends, and I knew it would take “balls” to post something so personal up where so many actors could read it. At this point in my life I don’t really care about having “balls” to do things1. If I think something is fucked up, I’ll say it, even if I’m dead wrong. I think my post speaks to a deeper truth about the failure of theatre as a culture, as an art, and as a divine medium.  But on the other hand, I wish they’d comment in my blog, rather than on Facebook.  Oh well.  Moving on…)

One of my first posts upon my arrival in Portland was about the magical festival known as Musicfest Northwest.  It was great because I had just moved here, and I was broke, and my friends Paul and Missy were nice enough to buy me a ticket and escort my broke ass around downtown Portland so I could see a bunch of bands.  It was like being thrust into the Portland scene, and I loved it.

Now, one year later, MFNW is back, and is five days long, and Paul and I are going and we have VIP PASSES. THAT COST US EXTRA BUT WERE TOTALLY WORTH IT.  One of the bands playing at a VIP after party but not during MFNW proper is a little three-piece I like to call THE FUCKING THERMALS2.  It’s gonna be a blast. I have money now, I am going to party like some kind of rockstar, I’m going to be really tired at work on Thursday and Friday, and, most importantly, I am going to blog about it for you, my gentle readers.  So consider this week Musicfest Week.  Tomorrow I’ll write an itinerary of events/bands, and after that I probably won’t have time to write anymore, so you’ll have to wait until Saturday for reviews.

Also, I completely redesigned joshuabelville.com, implementing a wordpress blog design instead of my shoddy HTML.  This will make it a lot easier to update, which I desperately need.  Anyway, I say that because I will be writing a quick blog post about my set at Hempstalk this last weekend, so perhaps you should head over there and RSS feed some shit so that you can stay up to date on whatever cool thing it is I’m doing, yes?

RSS feeds are a wonderful things, folks.  They’re like picking out your favorite articles of the newspaper.  Use them. Love them.

PEACE!

  1. Sorry, that just sounds so wrong… ↩
  2. They just call themselves the Thermals. ↩

my favorite song (of mine) & the future

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Three blog posts in a day?!  What, have I become a regular blogger?

Truth is, it’s hot outside so I’m holed up in my room with an air conditioner.  Literally the only cool spot in my room is the air conditioner blowing on my face.  Otherwise it’s still hot.  I know, I know, I’m lucky to even HAVE an air conditioner.  I remember many summers as a kid being very warm in my room, loving and hating the summer at the same time.

Anyway, I’ve been thinking lately about the sheer amount of songs that I have.  How many written, how many recorded, etc.  The truth is, most of them aren’t any good.  I for some reason decided to put out a lot of unfinished, rushed, and generally mediocre music for people to listen to.  This was a mistake on my part.  Of all the songs I’ve recorded, only a few are worth putting on an album.

So what I’m planning is to “retire” my old albums — aka get rid of them.  Start fresh.  Make a new album, record and produce it better (or, you know, go to a recording studio), get some kind of a band together.  The usual.  No more “Kittens & Puppies” (except live, of course).  No more “Here I Found Your Stupid Bike.”

I’m also essentially bowing out of the 50/90 challenge here.  I think part of my problem is that I write too many songs and don’t edit any of them.  Also I don’t get a lot of feedback from people.  I’ve written about this before, but it’s hard to get people’s opinions on your music, unless they give you money.  There’s something humbling about a person actively wanting to purchase the music you create.

While I’m done with 50/90, I will continue to do FAWM, because some of my best songs come from FAWM.

Speaking of good FAWM songs … if you were to ask me what my favorite song of mine was (and believe me, no one has), I would have to say this one.  Despite being recorded with a Casio Rapman (casiocore, baby!), it somehow feels like a complete track; the music, lyrics, the slight tongue-in-cheekness of the whole thing.  It’s like a casio Depeche Mode.  It’s called “Too Young.”

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Alright, that should be enough blogging for the next few months.

show #2: 7/28 horse feathers & thao with the get down stay down @ the woods

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I really feel the need to write this entry not because the show was phenomenal (which it was), but more to spotlight The Woods, the new musical venue in Sellwood.  It is, in a word, great.  It used to be a funeral parlor for chrissakes!  Imagine if the Fisher family decided to hold rock shows in their viewing room — THAT’S what the Woods is like.  Unfortunately I didn’t think to take pictures of the place while I was there, but their website has some good pics, so check it out.  And if you live in the area, go see a show there!  Support that place, because it rocks.

It also couldn’t have had two more musically different bands.  Horse Feathers is very quiet; Thao Nguyen, not so much.

Horse Feathers

Horse Feathers

Horse Feathers was first.  Their lead singer, whose name I don’t know but he looks kind of like Ron Howard so let’s call him Ron, was so quiet at times he whispered.  He plucked his guitar quietly too.  In the Crystal Ballroom, that would’ve been murder (and my friend Paul said that there were many times at other shows when he couldn’t hear them).  However, the acoustics in the Woods were PERFECT.  The sound was mixed perfectly.  No one was too loud or too quiet, and there was only one instance of feedback, probably due to the sound guy tinkering around1

Anyway, their songs were beautiful, their cellist is gorgeous and if she reads this, hi, you’re gorgeous, why were you hanging out with that weird hipster looking dude?  I’m fun.  I’m … tall.  I can make you laugh.  Etc etc.  The guy in the glasses to the right in the picture can play the saw, which is awesome.  Just really great stuff all around.

Thao with the Get Down Stay Down

Thao with the Get Down Stay Down

Next up was Thao Nguyen, a tiny timid girl who really knows how to get down.  Again, their set sounded GREAT.  I hadn’t really listened to Thao prior to this show; I’d heard a couple of songs, but didn’t get into them that much.  Now I feel bad.  After the first song she shyly asked us all to stand up (we had been sitting for Horse Feathers — not rudely, of course, but because it was mellower).  After a couple of songs everyone was dancing as much as hipsters could dance2.

They also had the wonderful Portland Cello Project play a couple of songs with them.  I guess they’re all going on tour together, which is great.  Oh!  And I learned that Andrew Bird, who I saw on the bus a couple of days following his show at Edgefield, was in town recording tracks for Thao’s new album!  Pretty awesome.

So that was that.  I have some new t-shirts, and I have a new cool place to see music.  Everything’s doing juuuuust fine.

  1. You’d be surprised how many feedback problems come from the sound guy trying to get it “just right.” ↩
  2. As in, they were moving their arms. ↩