Aural Consumption, Part Three

Since I came back from New Orleans two weeks ago, I've been dying to go back.  I'm a Chicago native and very aware of the rich musical roots that are buried throughout this city that occasionally surface to trip you up to remind you they're still here.  I was spoonfed at an early age by my mother to appreciate all forms of music, specifically those that come from my native city, and I can tell you no other form of music gets to me like the blues, jazz, r&b, and soul...however, a close second is my love of brass bands and ensembles.  Unless you knew me between ages 12-18, you wouldn't have the slightest clue that I am and have always been a trumpet player before guitarist.

Although my trip to New Orleans was more of a pit-stop on the way home from Baton Rouge rather than an actual trip, all I wanted to see was a second-line parade.  Unfortunately, the only second-line I saw was hired by a wedding party on Bourbon St., in fact, my entire day and a half stint in New Orleans was spent in the French Quarter, which in and of itself isn't a negative, but the fact that I had little to no chance to actually experience the culture and music of New Orleans is what irked me most.  Like I said, I'm from Chicago, I see tourists everyday.  The last thing I want to do is visit a city centuries older and culturally richer than Chicago and be stuck with a hundred other midwestern tourists.  Unlike Chicago, the roots of New Orleans musical past are still growing in the present and I missed out on them, but that's alright, I'm already scheming my way back within the next year or so.

So as I griped to my fellow-musician friends about not really getting an authentic taste of New Orleans, one fella I knew in high school and played in bands with showed me something spiffy...yep, downright spiffy.  Knowing my affinity for all things brass, he told me about a band of hometown heroes that I shamefully admit never hearing of before in my life: the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble.  Pretty much the tightest brass band I've heard in a while since Earth Wind & Fire, Blood Sweat & Tears, and Chicago combined, proving once again, you don't have to reach for those upper registers or kiss notes to make a good brass band.  So, here's to more of my musical excavation throughout Chicago...I know it's here, it's just stumbling upon it at the right time.  Enjoy.

Aural Consumption, Part Two

Although I missed his show at the Park West in Chicago last Friday, I felt it would be a horrible injustice to overlook posting a review of some kind of Martin Sexton's latest release, Sugarcoating.  I wasn't a fan at first listen, but after a fourteen hour drive through the night from Chicago to New Orleans, it began to grow on me like the Spanish moss growing in increased abundance through Mississippi on into Louisiana.

Sugarcoating employs the perfect ratio of bittersweet songwriting spanning the realms of blue-eyed soul to country and of course, in true Marty style, some good scatting folk.  A paradox in his own right, this album is sure to win over Marty fans, like my friend Johno, that became disenchanted by his previous release, Seeds, a few years ago.

The title track is probably the most intruiging on the album, clearly recounting the events of September 11th in retrospect nearly a decade after the fact, while still making it seem like it was just yesterday.  The song calls into question the morality of our past actions and when we as a society will start to admit the truths of our motives and whether we're trying to be heroic or profitable.  Other tracks like Boom sh-Boom, Easy On the Eyes, and Long Haul offer a hint of bittersweet and tormented obsession mixed with the perfect amount of tenderness, lending nearly half the album poetic love songs with enough twang to lure in most mainstream country fans should they stumble across the album.  Marty definitely opens himself up to broader audiences on this one.  Other tracks like Friends Again and Wants Out recall the laments of a tired soul sick of fighting and yearning for resolve.  Sugarcoating's not without its high points, with songs like Livin' the Life and Shane, Marty offers up his usual optimism through realism and gives the album a very well-rounded, melodic feel overall.  The production and musicianship alone makes this album - that was almost completely recorded live - worth a listen.

Beans, Chai, and Lemon-Lime

Oy, my head feels like it's caving in...never been this exhausted.  Plus, I'm being taken a bit aback by the post-prime hipster sitting across from me.  Her thermos full of chai is surprisingly nauseating.  It's giving flash-forwards to my 4am shift tomorrow and I'm not entirely appreciating that goofy orange thermos of chai hell.  Equally, her lemon-lime body butter is stinging my nostrils ala Ron Burgundy from roughly 15 feet away...kudos ma'am.

As a result, this minor injustice to my olfactory led me to further peruse around for related coffee/barista nonsense...I've decided I want this toy:

The simple fact that on the back, one of her dislikes is listed as "make-up" and "MSG" makes this the best damn action figure ever...the fact that it's available on Amazon is even better.  Definitely the best thing I've stumbled upon while looking for textbooks.

Better still - although I'm completely inacapable of it - is latte art.  It just makes me hopelessly yearn to be a legitimate barista:

Beyond the Bean

Aural Consumption

Just some music I've stumbled upon lately.  I've gotten bored as a minimalist/folksy kinda person lately.  As a rule, the season generally determines the music I consume.  Thus, the anticipation of spring leaves me with wanting some new band or genre that was previously unheard of or dismissed.  My two favorites this week are Miike Snow and Owl City.

I want this old man, his headphones, and his apartment full of reel-to-reels:


...as long as I also have this bedroom and the synthesizer full of lights:

...'cause the road tastes like wintergreen.

So here we are again, well, here I am again. Waiting at the station for my train. Never underestimate the wonders of a BlackBerry when Twitter seems somewhat insufficient for words.

I'm heading up to Hull House today. Hope to take some pictures and post a few impressions, whatever I may have if any. It's back to the blogosphere for me, just have to find my sea legs again.

'Til then...

The Ice Breaker

So I need to get my groove back into my blogging. Been a rough 6 months or so since my dad committed suicide...a weighty topic, but it's been one of those that consumes everything even though you don't always realize it. Like the cheesy Hollywood line that suggests you see that person everywhere in everything when it's actually true.

Either way, I'm looking forward to finally graduating, moving out (again) and so on and whatnot...so there you go.

Well, boyfriend's here :) time for some lunch and love...

U2 360 Chicago

So in anticipation of their upcoming return in July to Soldier Field, I decided to finally upload and share the videos I took this past September during U2's North American leg's opening night. Enjoy.