Nu Rave Brain Wave

We all know that sometimes (infrequently) I live abroad in England, but nothing will ever change my innate Californianess. However, I am forgetful and I have to fully disclose that I completely forgot to apply to get my expatriot ballot or whatever they call it, for the California state vote on November 2nd. That DOESN’T MEAN that I can’t haphazardly in a daze create a playlist based around my favorite Proposition, #19 and urge you to vote Yes on Prop 19 if you too have the greatest blessing of being born in or living in California. We also all know that I don’t try and give off the impression of intelligence when I write this blog (have you ever read it?) so I won’t give you my reasons behind wanting Prop 19 to pass, but just know that not only am I informed, but me/my friends/my state would benefit greatly from the passage of this Proposition. That alone is reason enough for you to vote yes, no? Find a mix of my 12 favorite (and totally not just whatever jumped out at me while hastily browsing iTunes) songs that are either 100% about weed or mention it/other drugs. ENJOY. Free Drugs ;-)

01 The Growlers – Drinkin’ The Juice Blues
02 Crusaders of Love – Good Time All The Time
03 Bob Dylan – Rainy Day Women #12 & #35
04 King Tuff – Sun Medallion
05 Black Lips – Drugs
06 Best Coast – The Sun Was High (So Was I)
07 Wavves – Weed Demon
08 The Strange Boys – Drugs Iggy Drugs
09 Black Lips – Dirty Hands
10 Adam Green – Drugs
11 Black Lips – Stoned
12 Ella Fitzgerald – When I Get Low, I Get High

mp3 | Nu Rave Brain Wave’s ‘Yes on 19′ Mix

APR. 1 VANCOUVER, BC VENUE
APR. 2 SEATTLE, WA CHOP SUEY
APR. 3 PORTLAND, OR DANTE’S
APR. 5 SANTA CRUZ, CA CREPE PLACE
APR. 6 SAN FRANCISCO, CA CAFE DU NORD
APR. 7 SAN FRANCISCO, CA CAFE DU NORD
APR. 9 SAN DIEGO, CA THE CASBAH
APR. 10 LOS ANGELES, CA TROUBADOUR
APR. 13 DENVER, CO LARIMER LOUNGE
APR. 14 KANSAS CITY, MO RECORD BAR
APR. 15 CHICAGO, IL SCHUBAS
APR. 16 CLEVELAND, OH GROG SHOP
APR. 17 TORONTO, ONT MOD CLUB
APR. 19 MONTREAL, QUE LA SALA ROSA
APR. 20 BOSTON, MA GREAT SCOTT
APR. 21 PHILADELPHIA, PA JOHNNY BRENDA’S
APR. 23 NEW YORK, NY BOWERY BALLROOM
APR. 24 NEW YORK, NY BOWERY BALLROOM

His album ‘Minor Love’ came out yesterday in the US and he has since released a video for the song ‘What Makes Him Act So Bad?’. Watch it below…

DOWNLOAD ->Adam Green -Heart Attack

What I’ve come to expect from a live Adam Green show is a large dose of ridiculousness, some crazy dance moves, a strikingly amazing range in terms of vocals and a hefty bag filled with monkeys. Although I’ve only seen Adam Green three times, they all had a huge impact on my Summer 2008 and I think they’ve had quite a large effect on how I felt about his show on Saturday February 6th at the Concorde 2 in Brighton. The first three times I saw him were in San Francisco at the Rickshaw Stop which was the size of the bar at the Concorde 2, then at the Troubadour (big-ish only compared to the Echo) and then Amoeba. It was a wonderful three days filled with child-like wonder, stolen Raybans and handpicked (by us!) encores and partial setlists.

But more to the point: his show at the Concorde 2. Green’s backing band walked on stage to, well, no fanfare which I found a little offensive because while they do play backup for Green on tours, they’re a different band, Spacecamp (formerly Spacekamp) and they’re all incredibly adept and have a wonderful knack for keeping time with Adam, which, by the way, is nothing to sneeze at. But when Adam Green walked onto stage, my face immediately fell. He looked so thin compared to the last US tour I saw him on – he must have lost atleast 20lbs. Gone was his cherubic Jewish-James-Dean-Face (for the most part) and certainly gone was his little bit of chub, he appeared tired and gaunt. Without going too much into personal problems that are completely none of my business, but it seems (especially on ‘Minor Love’) that the Adam Green of old – with his surreal, sexual, ridiculous lyrics and buoyant music, has been partially replaced by a reserved, melancholy album that wouldn’t seem to fit with his racuous live show.

But, to that end, they did immediately launch into a song which saw Adam running around stage in a crazed manner – his usual way. There were sparks of Adam’s former brilliance, though, despite his changed appearance: the folky, hilarious ‘Grandma Shirley & Poppa’ (before launching in Green shouted ‘FOLKUS!’ – thankfully he didn’t lose his all of stage banter skills – although half the time it was nonsense); the all-time classic ‘Drugs’ (although Green didn’t hit the deep notes the way he did previously); and the dancey ‘Emily’. But the stops and starts, which I mentioned that Spacecamp took in dexterous stride, broke up the eveness that I had come to expect from Green. The songs that he made his solo career on are still as wonderful as they ever were, but there was a lack of effervescence, a lack of cohesiveness – a strange disconnect from the audience and even if it was a mostly valliant effort.

But unfortuntely, everything just seemed to fall short. That’s not to say that it wasn’t still entertaining or enthralling – Adam Green puts on a good show but having seen him at a brilliant point in his career where you couldn’t take your eyes off of him (and that’s a mean feat too because following him around on-stage for 40 minutes is an eye-workout) this show just didn’t hit the mark. Perhaps it is his popularity in England, and subsequently his larger venue show did nothing for me compared to seeing him in a closet, but when he took off his leather jacket and exposed some suspicious cuts on his stomach (he let some girl lick it…. WEIRD) I just had to gulp and turn away. This is not the Adam Green I once saw.

6/10

Partial setlist
Grandma Shirley and Poppa
Drugs
Emily
Carolina
Morning After Midnight
What Makes Him Act So Bad
Gobin
Give Us A Token
Buddy Bradley
Dance With Me
Bluebirds

View the rest of my Adam Green photos at FLICKR.

Download -> Adam Green – What Makes Him Act So Bad

Tomorrow.
ADAM GREEN
San Diego
Beauty Bar
Midnight.

GO GO GO GO GO GO

Get ready, February 16th!!!

1. Breaking Locks
2. Give Them A Token
3. Buddy Bradley
4. Goblin
5. Bathing Birds
6. What Makes Him Act So Bad
7. Stadium Soul
8. Cigarette Burns Forever
9. Boss Inside
10. Castles & Tassels
11. Oh Shucks
12. Don’t Call Me Uncle
13. Lockout
14. You Blacken My Stay

Yeah! That’s right! Adam Green, NRBW favorite and friend of ours, is announcing his 6th album. His previous album ‘Sixes & Sevens’ was one of my favorite records of 2008, so you know this one’s going to be good. It’s called ‘Minor Love’ and is due to be released on the 8th of January 2010. He’s also lined up a tour to support, which obviously only is going to take him through the UK and Europe because he ignores the US like nobodies business, but since I get to see him here in Brighton, I’ll forgive him this once. See all his tour dates below:

January
26 Dublin Academy 2, Eire
27 Belfast Speakeasy
29 Glasgow Stereo
30 Newcastle O2 Academy 2
31 Leeds Cockpit

February
1 Manchester Club Academy
3 Cambridge Junction
4 London Electric Ballroom
5 Birmingham O2 Academy 2
6 Brighton Concorde 2
8 Lille Aeronef, France
9 Brussels AB Box, Belgium
10 Amsterdam Paradiso (upstairs)
11 Amsterdam Paradiso (upstairs)
13 Stockholm Strand, Swden
14 Oslo Parkeatreat, Norway
15 Gothenberg Parken, Sweden
16 Copenhagen Loppen, Denmark
18 Hamburg Uebel & Gefanrlich, Germany
19 Cologne Gloria, Germany
20 Berlin Postbanhof, Germany
22 Vienna Arena
23 Munich Freiheiz, Germany
24 Zurich Mascotte, Switzerland
25 Lausanne Docks, Swtizerland
27 Rome Circolo degli Artisti, Italy
28 Milan Magnolia, Italy

March
2 Barcelona Razzmatazz 2, Spain
3 Madrid, Spain
4 Lisbon Santiago Alquimista, Portugal
8 Paris L’Alhambra, France (tbc)

Tickets go on general sale on 10th November.

BREAKING NEWS: Taking a little break from his tour with the Cribs, Adam Green and his Spacekamp crew will be playing @ THE FLOWER POT in LONDON (KENTISH TOWN), TOMORROW on OCTOBER 14th. It will be his ONLY solo show of this tour in the UK so I would get down there. DID I MENTION IT WAS FREE? If I didn’t have some serious shit to take care of and some £££ to spare, hell, I’d be there. Apparently, doors @ 7, onstage at 9-930? Good luck, Londonians, you bitches.

This gig is going to be really special. It’s going to benefit the fab Jon Wiskey Wiley who was Adam Greens touring guitarist on the last US tour. He woke up one day with no movement in his arms and legs and was subsequently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. That is shit. Just utter shit. However, his friends have put together a great benefit at the Shank which is a really cool little venue in NYC. (Yes, I have been there, and yes, I am SO hip.) It’s gonna be a great show, musically, and can really benefit Jon. The state of healthcare in this country (okay, I won’t get too political, I swear) is a FUCKING JOKE and the amount of good people who have to go without insurance is enough to make me sick. So go, support Jon, help him pay the fucking medical bills and see great music. Win Win win win win. Press release after the cut.

(more…)

The Cribs are currently mixing the album – the first they will have recorded with their new guitarist Johnny Marr – in Los Angeles.

The Cribs will play:
Norwich UEA (September 24)
Cambridge Junction (25)
Liverpool Academy (26)
Hull University (28)
Glasgow Barrowlands (29)
Newcastle University (30)
Manchester Apollo (October 2)
Lincoln Engine Shed (3)
Leeds Academy (4)
Exeter Lemon Grove (6)
Southampton Guildhall (7)
Leamington Spa Assembly Rooms (8)
Bristol Anson Rooms (10)
London HMV Forum (15)

*Oh BTW, Adam Green = tour support. Mother-f’er has been in LA recording and done 0 gigs. Thanks, dude.

Rolling Stone Magazine’s The Smoking Section Presents: DYLAN FEST 2009!

A night to get drunk and celebrate Bob Dylan’s greatest hits!

Featuring…
Hymns
Adam Green
Grant Maxwell – The Morning Pages
Jody Porter – Fountains Of Wayne
The Pierces
Matt Romano – Little Joy / Albert Hammond Jr. Band
Russell Simins – Jon Spencer Blues Explosion / Men Without Pants
Fab Moretti – The Strokes / Little Joy
Nikolai Fraiture – The Strokes / Nickel Eye
Sammy James Jr. – Mooney Suzuki
The Teenage Prayers
AND MANY MORE TO COME!!

Nikolai and Fab will be there, and a member of Albert Hammond’s band. That’s a lot of Strokes-related action at Mercury Lounge on May 21st. $10.00 tickets go on sale at noon today. – from BV