Boom Boom Satellites - taking it to America!

Can't really say they are a "new" band, but new to me, you may dig em as well....

Absorbing both electronic and rock elements, Tokyo’s BOOM BOOM SATELLITES created a completely new and unknown sound; a sound that NME stated was “like The Prodigy fighting Underworld with bloody big sticks.” This sound not only established them as an exciting new band, but also boosted their profile as one of the most distinguished music producers in Japan.

Check out the You Tube click for "kick it out" right here.

The brain child of Bassist/programmer Masayuki Nakano and guitarist/vocalist Michiyuki Kawashima, BOOM BOOM SATELLITES have been combining distortion-drenched rock and punk guitars, with electronic dance music and heavy jazz elements to constantly evolve and refine their innovative sound over the last decade.

It's not only music fans who are captivated with their mind blowing live performances, their music has also caught the attention of prominent anime film creators and Hollywood motion picture producers. A number of tracks from the group's album, Full of Elevating Pleasures, contributed to the soundtrack of the CGI anime film Appleseed. "Easy Action" was included on the soundtrack of the mammoth anime film Vexille. Their tracks "Scatterin' Monkey" and "4 A Moment of Silence" from their first album Out Loud, were featured in the film The Dark Knight and "Shut Up And Explode" became the opening theme song for the PlayStation Store exclusive and later television anime series Xam'd: Lost Memories.

Here are Boom Boom Satellites Confirmed Tour Dates

October 10th, 2010 - New York, NY
New York ComicCon and Anime Festival - Far East To East Showcase (FETES)
w/ Puffy Amiyumi
Irving Plaza

October 13th, 2010 - Washington DC
9:30 Club

October 16th, 2010 - Asbury Park, NJ
The Wonder Bar

October 17th, 2010 - Philadelphia, PA
North Star Bar

Oct 19 - Boston, MA
TT the Bears

October 20th, 2010 - New York, NY
CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival 2010 Official Showcase
Backstage Bar

October 23rd, 2010 - New York, NY
Best Buy Theatre
w/ Gary Numan

October 25th, 2010 - Los Angeles, CA
Troubadour

October 27th, 2010 - San Francisco, CA
The Independent

October 31st, 2010 - Portland, OR
Halloween Show
Peter's Room (Roseland)

Special In-store Signings at Giant Robot LA & SF
CDs for these events will be bundled with a special BBS muffler towel!

Sunday, October 24th 5-7pm
GR2
2062 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
gr2.net
(310) 445-9276

Tuesday, October 26th 6-8pm
GRSF
618 Shrader Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
gr-sf.com
415-876-4773

The band's myspace page is here for plenty more news/tunes.

Whoa..thats wild.

Okay this is just too odd to not share.

This past weekend I grabbed a few new cds. One was
"Thelonious Monk Live at the 1964 Monterey Jazz Festival". Well I listened to the cd at work on Monday. I was checking out the liner notes and wouldn't you know..."Recorded on September 20, 1964".

Then today (September 21st) I was listening to ANOTHER cd I had bought. This one was "Jaco Pastorius Big Band, Word of Mouth Revisited" and I was listening and wanted to read about his career once more (I had read the book on his life and tragic death) but then I was thrown for a loop.

Jaco had died on September 21st 1987.

Wonder what cd will be in the cards for September 22nd??!

The Alarm, Showcase Live, Foxboro MA, September 16, 2010

The Alarm
Showcase Live, Foxboro, MA
Thursday September 16, 2010

As I stood outside of Showcase Live in Foxboro Massachusetts talking with an old friend a younger woman approached us. "Who played here tonight" she asked, "The Alarm" we both said in unison. She paused and said "Are they local?" It is okay, such is life for the Wales based band that has been playing second fiddle to U2 for the better of 25 years now. That doesn't sway the nearly sold out club from raising fists, jumping up and down and singing along like it was 1986 all over again.

Touring to support their April 2010 release "Direct Action" the band would dip in to cuts, but would focus the bulk of their energy on their early hits. Gone are "Twist", Eddie MacDonald and Dave Sharp, but the voice of Mike Peters carries it on. Walking to the stage in a dark shirt and pants yet still a youthful color to his hair and a smile that went ear to ear. He strapped on the acoustic guitar, said his hellos and the band launched in to "Declaration/Marching On" the two lead off tracks from their 1984 album "Declaration".

Peters worked the audience well and guitarist James Stevenson stuck some rock star poses, but this was mostly a Peters affair. Changing between acoustic and electric guitars Peters sang with such urgency was knocking in to the microphone stand. The band dipped in to some newer tracks but were careful in their selection as they knew the audience wanted to be whisked back in time.

Tracks like "Where were you hiding when the Storm Broke", "Strength" and "Rain in the Summertime" (in which at the conclusion Peters filled his mouth with water and spat it high above the audience) sounded terrific. Peters still has the range in his voice, but worked with the audience for hand claps, and sing alongs. Peters told a great story about how the New England area is one of the places the band got their early success in the US. He told a story about their first time playing in Massachusetts was opening for U2 at the Worcester Centrum. He continued that the band had done considerably well with their 30 minute time slot and when they left the stage the audience was chanting their name, calling for an encore. The band was not sure what to do and they were told to not break the union contracts as it would cost about $5,000 to do so. U2 manager Paul McGuinness walks over, sticks his hand in his pocket and paid the $5,000 out of pocket for us to play....so here is a song we'd like to dedicate to U2 and we always think...this is the song they payed $5,000 to hear...this is "We are the Light".

The only other time Mike took a long time to chat was with regard to the foundation he works with/for "Love, Hope, Strength" an organization that works to find bone marrow donators. Mike has battled cancer twice and was like a proud papa telling how they have had 45 people so far appear as matches for people all over the world. Find out about it here.

"68 guns" was a blistering take and was about all us soccer moms and dads could do to hold ourselves back. Sure we had to shuffle back in to our mini vans and wagons post show, but we all felt like those "rebels" we once were.

The encore began with a wonderful version of "Walk Forever By My Side", a track that should be played at most weddings, but doesn't even seem to be widely known. As a fan of "alternative" music in my later high school years I kept thinking I'd have done anything to be close to this band and there I was, 1 row deep away as the band was playing songs that felt like I had hand picked. The night was perfect in many ways and when Peters came to the edge of the stage and started the opening of "Spirit of 76" I had one of those concert moments...its so very very rare...but it happened. I was whisked back 20 years and I felt 20 years younger, my palms got clammy, my knees and legs started to ease up under me....the band had me floating. There was nowhere else I wanted to be and as my voice grew even more hoarse with each passing line I could hardly get the words out through the huge smile.

Lights came up, and fans chatted quick with one another, most talking about the next persons vintage Alarm concert t-shirt. For just a little while everyone hit rewind on the way back machine and nobody was ready to go face their "absolute reality".

Full Set List:
Marching On
Direct Action
Where Were you Hiding when the Storm Broke?
Release The Pressure
Superchannel
Absolute Reality
Drunk & Disorderly
Blaze of Glory
Rain in the Summertime
We are the Light
Unsafe Building
Strength
One Guitar
Rescue Me
45 rpm
68 Guns
Walk Forever by My Side
Spirit of 76'



Here are some shots I took from the show. Kudos to Showcase Live for being cool with pictures, and overall VERY positive experience..I hope to be back.


















The Alarm page is here.

It would be easier on the Price is Right....

Well we done gone and done it...we decided to get a new car.

A new car for us is sort of a big deal, like for most. The biggest thing for us is we tend to drive cars in to the ground. The car we are replacing is a 1998, and it has 219,000+ on it. The impressive part is it still has the original clutch. The thing is/was a workhorse and I honestly have to say I will miss it. The biggest thing is just knowing it was such a dependable car.

Sure the new car is wonderful so far, but I need to get used to a car payment. With all the paperwork we have been doing for this new car we realized we made our LAST car payment NINE years ago this coming Sunday (or that was the day the title was created for us). It is just crazy. I've had this car longer than my son!

It was taken very good care of, but it is tired. I've got someone lined up to pay about $500 for it. My mother thinks we should get a least $1000 for it...but its a hard sell when a car has that high of miles on it. It might be easier to sell if it was an automatic as well..perfect..I mean PERFECT first car. 6 cd changer, moon roof, power just about everything...really if I was a junior/senior in high school my folks would be imploring me to buy it.

That is about the biggest news around these parts...

Shellac - Middle East Cambridge, MA September 6, 2010

Shellac
The Middle East Downstairs, Cambridge, MA
Sunday, September 6, 2010

Support - Helen Money

Okay, so folks have a "bucket list" of stuff they want to do before they "shuffle off this mortal coil". You know, see the Pyramids, or swim in all the major oceans..whatever..its cool stuff. Well I created one for bands that I wanted to see. Granted there are always "new" bands that come along I'd like to see but there are always those bands you *love* but just have missed for whatever reason. Well I finally got to see Shellac and that was one more I could check off. (read the link as to why it took so long..band doesn't tour too much!).

Upon arrival the sold out, and hot middle east was a buzz as cellist Helen Money was on stage. I caught about 2-3 songs of hers. It was okay, but the audience was still pretty chatty. Difficult for a lone cello to quiet a room full of people down. It was packed and when Money was done I eased my way down the side of the venue towards the front. Being taller I try to get off to the side some, to ease the pain of those behind me. I ended up about 15 feet back a little off to the right, but there was no person as tall, or taller than me in front of me.

The band are their own roadies so they were on stage setting up the gear. The trio of Steve Albini (guitar/vocals), Todd Trainer on drums and bassist/vocalist Bob Weston lined themselves close to the edge of the stage, set up their gear and left for about 10 minutes.

Walking out decked in a "Wolf Shirt" Albini and Trainer locked in to a quick buzzy groove. The amps used by Weston and Trainer have these "huge" simple looking heads (the tops of the amps) and the sounds he can get out of these amps are just awesome. You've never heard a buzz on a guitar like this, anywhere. The audience was electric, jumping up and down, singing along and shouting requests. After a few tunes the band stopped and Weston began the first part of one of the things the band is known for a "short question and answer". People asked about the gear, (some complex wire answer was given) if they were having fun (they were) and when is there going to be a new record (not sure, playing new songs tonight).

The pace as good all evening. Not a lot of lulls. There were a few more question and answer sessions and at one point Albini took the audience to task regarding the "song requests" that were prominent all night. In a nutshell Albini said "We don't care what you want to hear

At that point the audience mellowed some with the constant shouts. One person yelled during a Q+A "Can you hurry up I need to get home and go to bed".

As the show ended the band cleared the gear and then Albini and Weston began to sell shirts from the front of the stage, something I thought was cool. It allowed the band/fan interaction, even it it was brief. I sorta wanted a shirt, but it was 'black on black' and that is not something i usually rush to buy. Oh well, I like to support the bands I like.

The band tours so sporadically who knows what I'll be doing in the maybe 5+ years it will take them to come back, but I'd love to see them again.


read about the band on wiki, read even more on their site (label site) here and as always myspace.

There were two decent articles in the Boston Phoenix this week re: the band. One was an overview (about the band touring etc) here and then the full interview that was sampled for can be found here.