Xifer's Braincookie archive:
July 16, 2003 | here

July 23, 2003

Okay, first things first:
Indian Aroma just opened up next door to the JSP offices, just a few doors down from the Red Devil. Yum. Go there. I mean it.

[There exist expressions in the English language that make no sense whatsoever. To wit:]

Now then--
Got a buncha cool feedback from readers and folks who maybe just looked at the pictures. Great to know that there's more positive-vibe for the scene than certain online sources of scene-reports might imply. I did take a little good-natured shit about calling myself the best engineer in my
whole price range. Oh well. I get better everyday, and I try to take care of the band's needs onstage first. Hope that counts for something. Anyway, thanks
to y'alls for writing, and please don't hesitate. Prop me up or call me out. Sometimes I even find time to answer.

So as promised, here's a little description of why I (quietly) think I'm qualified to say any of this shit in the first place: I really do see about 20 bands a week. Sometimes they're all at the Red Devil Lounge, and there exists the argument that I'm seeing the scene from that one homogeneous
perspective. To that I say 2 things:

[Did you know that most languages don't have a translation for the English 'will have seen?' Romance languages (por ejemplo) see no need for a tense where you express a time in the future when tomorrow is the past...]

-By the time July ends I WILL HAVE SEEN Tunisian groove pop, progressive electronic/hip hop, Appalachian bluegrass, post-modern blugrass, a variety of acoustic and electric rock and pop, punk bands, drag queens, Oakland-style funk, country (and western), a smattering of electronic/jazz/funk hybrids, goth, and uh...Viv 4 more times. oh, and
Wayne Hussey from the Mission U.K./Sisters of Mercy playing acoustic. No shit.

The booking practices at the Red Devil are (if I may say so) some of the best in town. If you've ever had the pleasure of dealing with Sarah Aldinger, you know that she is fair, helpful, and eminently positive. She is not bitter. She is not hateful. In situations where most bookers wipe their brow and say, "bring x number of people or we'll never book you again," Sarah is apt to say, "Hey, lets find some creative strategies for promoting your show so that people come to see it and then we wanna book you again. Wouldn't that be great??" Most of all, she is a true music lover. Unlike bookers who cater to a particular genre or sub-genre, Sarah caters to music. Word.

-I ain't always at the Red Devil. If I have a night off (and I understand this is indicative of my own obsessions) I'm usually at Secret Studios or at some sorta musical event. Occasionally I stay home. Not much. The club was closed Sunday. Here's what happened: I stopped by Club Jazz Nouveau--the new dinner place over in the Cannery
where the legendary John Handy was playing with a septet featuring 2
female violinists. After the set I was chatting with my pal, Marcus Shelby, who was holding down bass for the gig, and he suggested we stop into Bruno's where an all-female jazz/funk outfit called London Street was playing.

[There exists a tendency toward misogyny in the English language. Maybe this is the wrong way to say this, but]

You know that thing that happens when you see a female band member, and you always wanna check her out to see if she's really nailing it or if she's in the band because she's hot?? Here's a band where everyone's female, everyone can play like a badass, everyone's groovin righteous, and there's no real shortage of hotness onstage to boot.

Anyway, London Street- Check 'em out if you have the chance.

CD's I've been listening to this past week:
Lee Morgan - caramba! (with Joe Henderson and Billy Higgins) Band on the Run reissue (go on, say what you want. I'm guilty as charged) Funkadelic - Standin' on the Verge of
Gettin' It On, an older disc by a band called Hammerlock who played here in June, and PC Munoz and the Amen Corner - So Shines a Good Deed in a Weary World. Oh, and of course, demos from the upcoming GRIDDLE disc, Turning
Violet. And GRIDDLE is, as some of you know, the name of my band. stop onby our site ifnyahavasec. It's http://www.griddle.cc.

Geez, I'm reading back and its me-me-me. Is this columnist thing going to my head already??! Next week it'll be you-you you, I promise. or us-us-us. at some point we'll whisper in a corner about them-them-them...thanks for stoppin in.

xifer

Xifer may be reached by e-mail at christopher@jaysieganpresents.com