Guerilla Garden

It may not be the most beautiful garden in town but it's easily the coolest.

Two years ago, a fire destroyed the three story building that sat on this lot (depsite being directly across the street from the fire station). Since then the lot has sat vacant along an otherwise busy block in downtown Montpelier. I'm not sure of all of the details as to why the owner hasn't rebuilt or sold the lot but it doesn't matter; what matters is the guerilla garden idea.

Last summer, without any consent from the property owner, people started planting stuff in the vacant lot. This year, a few more plants were added, the rock border was laid out and the signs were hung (the small sign on the ground with the turtle says "Take Back").

The reason I like this gangly little garden so much is that it speaks to the desire for a sense of community in Montpelier. People care what a vacant lot looks like. People care that the lot sits vacant. People care what happens in their town. People want a vibrant downtown that furnishes that community. And whatever reasons that stand in the way of the owner rebuilding, they aren't going to stop those people from expressing their feelings.

It's a runt of a garden but it speaks well of the town.

Montpelier Does Its Part

The state house lawn was turned into a collection area for people wanting to donate supplies to victims of Hurricane Katrina yesterday and today. I don't know if they are going to extend it into tomorrow also but there was a continuous stream of cars dropping off food, clothes, diapers, etc while we were down there last night and today.

For a small town (Montpelier has 8,000 residents and there are about another 30,000 in the surrounding towns), the outpouring of kindness has been impressive. I don't know how many trucks have been filled but it's more than I ever thought Montpelier could generate. Hopefully, it'll make the next few weeks for the victims slightly more bearable.


Here is a list of charities that are accepting donations for victims of Hurricane Katrina:

Bread for the World
Christian Children's Fund
Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC)
Church World Service
Episcopal Relief and Development
Heifer International
International Medical Corps
International Orthodox Christian Charities
International Rescue Committee
Mercy Corps
Nazarene Compassionate Ministries
Operation Blessing
Oxfam America
Red Cross
Save the Children
United Way
World Concern
World Hope International
World Relief
World Vision

Laura Veirs

If any of you are planning on catching Sufjan Stevens next week up in Montreal (or elsewhere on this tour), you may want to get to the show in time to see the opening act, Laura Veirs.

Veirs is a singer/songwriter out of Seattle who released her second album for Nonesuch last week. You can stream four songs from the album here.

The song "Galaxies" is reminiscent of Helium's early albums. However, the other tunes are beautiful folk-based tunes with lots of layered sounds dancing below surface. I was already excited about seeing Sufjan but discovering the beauty of Veirs makes the show a nice double-bill.

Like the Sweaters. Love the Pants.

There isn't really anything I can say that'll add to this site. It's perfect just the way it is.

But I am amazed at how she holds the exact same look in every photo. It never changes. She's just so happy about the sweaters.

Courtesy of Insound.

US-Mexico Saturday 7:30pm(EST) ESPN Classic

A nice diversion from all of the hurricane coverage tomorrow will be the "El Classico de Norteamérica". This is one of the best rivalries going and it never disappoints.

The game is a qualifying match for next summer's World Cup in Germany. However, both of these teams are dominating our region and are certain to qualify. Here are the standings (top three qualify; fourth place plays a playoff against an Asian team to qualify):

Team	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts
MEX	6	5	0	1	11	3	+8	16
USA	6	5	1	0	12	3	+9	15
GUA	6	2	3	1	9	9	0	7
CRC	6	2	3	1	6	10	-4	7
TRI	6	1	4	1	4	10	-6	4
PAN	6	0	4	2	3	10	-7	2

Back in March, Mexico beat the US 2-1 down in Mexico City. However, over the last nine matches between the two sides, the US has won six and tied once. And in the last six matches played in the US against Mexico, the US has not lost (5-0-1). In fact, Mexico didn't score in any of those six matches. Plus, most importantly of all, the US beat Mexico 2-0 in the last World Cup to advance to the quarterfinals.

This frustrates the hell out of Mexico because, until the mid-90's, they dominated our region and often tried to compare themselves to Brazil and Argentina. However, since the US National Team program has improved, they now can't even claim leadership of our region (even if they won't admit it).

Here's a bit of the smack talk coming out of the Mexico team:

Coach Ricardo Lavolpe - "In the Olympic qualifier we put four goals past them and in the last friendly in the United States they beat us on a header in the 93rd minute. That is not a way to demonstrate superiority."

Forward Jared Borgetti - “They want to beat us, they want to demonstrate that they keep getting better, that each time it’s more difficult to beat them. They have talked about being able to play us man for man. I’d like to see that. It would be great if, in their house, they attacked us, that they not bunker and counterattack in order to achieve a tie.”

Forward Francisco Fonseca - "Obviously they are going to say that, but on the field we will tell them the opposite. They have grown and this cannot be denied. The World Cup (Korea-Japan 2002) comes to mind. But we command CONCACAF" he affirmed.

Forward Jared Borgetti - “‘I have not seen the United States and I really don’t know how they are playing. I think Mexico is playing very well and that is what gives me much calm.’ “

Goalie Oswaldo Sanchez (responding to a question about Alexi Lalas' claim the US is better) - "Alexi who? I’ve never heard of him."

Here's a great video showing some other the rougher and glorious moments in the rivalry's history. The guy who put it together even got the kick to Lalas' groin in there. The whole video is a must-see. It's 45mb so it's best to right-click and "save as".

To all of you lucky suckers going to Columbus for the match, I'm immensely jealous. Enjoy the bratburgers, beer and goals.

Fats Domino & Alex Chilton Missing

The sadness doesn't stop.

From E! (and tipped by spinachdip nyc):

One of rock 'n' roll's chief architects is missing in the rubble of New Orleans. Fats Domino and his family were unaccounted for Thursday, presumed lost in his home town in the wake of the catastrophic Hurricane Katrina.

Domino was last heard from on Sunday night, a day before the storm struck. During a phone call with longtime agent Al Embry, the 77-year-old R&B legend insisted he would ride out the hurricane in his three-story New Orleans home with his wife, Rosemary, and daughter."I hope somebody turns him up, but as of right now, we haven't got anybody that knows where he's at," Embry told the wire service. "I would think he might be safe because somebody said he was on top of the balcony."

Domino's house was located in the city's 9th Ward, an area that is heavily flooded and littered with dead bodies.

But at least one report bearing hopeful news has come in.

Satirist and Simpsons star Harry Shearer, who holds strong ties to the wracked city, told Reuters that he had heard unconfirmed reports from friends that Domino made it to the New Orleans Superdome, where more than 20,000 displaced citizens took refuge.

And from an email forwarded to me from the fellow that writes Confessions of a Butcher:

Henry Owings (Chunklet Magazine) just posted this bulletin on MySpace.


So apparently a lot of NO's music folk are going to memphis. My buddy
Andy has just informed me that Quintron's okay. He was visiting his
mother when it all went down. No news about Miss Pussycat as of yet.

However, Alex Chilton would not leave his house when Peg & Dan Rose
came to get him. A fist fight ensued, and Alex gave them the keys to
his truck. Totally crazy. But Alex is nowhere to be seen and he was in
a location that's not looking too good.

That's all I know. People have been asking me about Quintron (he was
scheduled to play Atlanta this weekend) so I'm just the messenger.

UPDATE:

Good news! According to CNN, Fats has been found.

Rock 'n' roll pioneer Fats Domino was among the thousands of New Orleans residents plucked from rising floodwaters, his daughter said Thursday. Karen Domino White, who lives in New Jersey, identified her father in a picture taken Monday night by a New Orleans Times-Picayune photographer.

The photograph shows Domino -- the singer behind the 1950s hits "Ain't That a Shame" and "Blueberry Hill" -- being helped off a boat near his home in the city's Lower 9th Ward.

His whereabouts since the rescue were not immediately known. Nor was there any information about his wife, Rosemary, friends said.

The Clientele

There was some kizmet in the air tonight that suggested that I post about The Clientele.

First, Stereogum has a post up about their new album Strange Geometry including a link to the first single off the album, "Since K Got Over Me".

Then I noticed that the Iron Horse down in Northampton, MA just added a Clientele show on Thu. 10/27. So, it seemed like perfect timing to hang a post about the sweet folk-pop band from Hampshire (that's old Hampshire; not the new-fangled Hampshire next door to VT).

The problem with the show on the 27th is that The Mountain Goats are playing at the Iron Horse the night before and I'm not making that drive on back-to-back nights. If John Darniele has a full band with him, then I'd probably go with that show since The Sunset Tree is one of my favorites of the year.

The Clientele - Since K Got Over Me (courtesy of Stereogum)

The Concret

OK. Let's just get this out of the way.

Yes. Their song "Say Something New" is being used in ads for Target.

Yes. It does annoy me when bands sell their songs for use in commercials.

No. I don't dismiss them for doing it. I hope they got the nice payday they deserve for it.

Now that's over...The Concretes are another pop band hailing from the land of blondes, meatballs and cheap furniture; Sweden. There's eight of them in the band so they need some big paydays from Target to feed the whole crew. Last year, they released their self-titled debut and this year they are back with a disc of rareties.

Wait...what the hell? Their second disc is a disc of rareties? Shouldn't they have saved that stuff for say their fifth album? Oh, what the hell, it's still good stuff and their cover of The Stones' "Miss You" is sublime. If this was the SATs, the correlation would work like this:

The Concretes : Miss You :: Cowboy Junkies : Sweet Jane.

The Concretes - Forces
The Concretes - Miss You
The Concretes - New Friend

Jens Lekman Coming to VT

How long does it take to get to Bennington from Montpelier? Hopefully, not too long since the King of Swedish Pop, Jens Lekman, will be playing at Downcaf on Oct. 13th. (Note: I can't find any info on the venue. Does anyone know what Downcaf is?)

His full tour dates and info on his new compilation album of singles can be found on Pitchfork.

I posted about Lekman back in July but in case anyone doesn't want to jump back to that post, here are the links to his tunes and video.

Jens Lekman - You Are the Light
Jens Lekman - Black Cab

Video for "You Are the Light"

Gold Sounds

While I was gone, I received an email from Brown Brothers Recordings reminding me that next month (9/27) they'll be releasing their album of jazz covers of Pavement tunes. The email also let us know that there is a new streaming cut from the album (titled Gold Sounds) on their website.

Being a huge Pavement fan, I've been following this project since I heard about it last spring. They've been occasionally changing the streaming tune on the site during that time so I've had the chance to hear their versions of "Summer Babe", "Stereo", "Platform Blues" and now, the current selection, "My First Mine". "Summer Babe" was easily the best of the four but "My First Mine" is pretty good too.

Just to clarify, Brown Brothers are the album's producers while the musicians are James Carter (reeds), Cyrus Chestnut (keys), Ali Jackson (percussion) and Reginald Veal (bass). I don't know shit about jazz besides the "Coltrane basics" but I'm looking forward to picking this thing up. So far, it has sounded pretty good.

I could nitpick about the track listing though:

1.Stereo
2.My First Mine
3.Cut Your Hair
4.Summer Babe
5.Blue Hawaiian
6.Here
7.Platform Blues
8.Trigger Cut

I'd much rather hear their interpretation of "Type Slowly" than "Blue Hawaiian" and "Forklift" might have been more interesting than "My First Mine". Or perhaps it would have been amusing to hear what they would have done with "5-4=Unity" which is Pavement's tribute to Dave Brubeck's "Take Five". Could they have done a jazz cover of it that would have shown both love for Brubeck's and Pavement's songs? It would have been the unique situation of covering two songs at once.

UPDATE: I got an email from Brown Brothers Recordings today letting me know that they did in fact record a version of "5-4=Unity" and that it would be released at a later date. According to them, it's a "real head turner".

Northlandz

Well, I'm back from a long weekend in NJ. My son had a good time at Yankee Stadium (even though he only made it through five innings) and loved taking the ferry, bus, subway and cab there and back.

If you've ever been to NYC, you know that one of its charms is that you see things there that you don't see anywhere else. And it didn't disappoint this time either. While waiting for the ferry in Weehawken, we saw a huge seaplane (about the size of a 737) land in the Hudson River. It came in really low which gave us the disturbing view of a large plane backed by the skyline but eventually touched down in the river. I don't know if it was an emergency landing or planned but we did see a barge towing the plane later. For my son, it was just frosting on a huge cake of NYC entertainment.

The oddest part of the weekend was our visit to Northlandz: Home of the Great American Railway in Flemington, NJ. We've all seen large model train layouts but this thing is ridiculous. It's the equivalent of Richard Dreyfus' pile of mashed potatoes in Close Encounters. Someone started building this thing and didn't stop until it had well passed the obsessive stage. Here are some statistics on the thing:

Highest Mountain	30 feet(6,000 scale feet)
Longest Bridge	40 feet
Number of Bridges	300-400
Number of Trains	100+
Feet of Track	50,000(8 miles) Atlas Super-Flex track
Buildings	4,000+
Wood	Enough wood to build 42 large houses
Enough wood to build 42 large houses	52,000 square feet
Lichen Trees	500,000+

The path that you follow to view the entire exhibit is a mile long and goes up and down three stories. Even with my son basically speed walking and running through the museum, it took us an hour and 20 miuntes to get through it.

It was interesting for about twenty minutes but then it became repetitive and then it just became bizarre as you start to wonder what the hell happened in this person's life that drove them to build something like this. It's so far beyond anything normal or healthy that it begins to creep you out. Oh, did I mention that part of the way through the exhibit you enter a large room that has been made into a small theater where the owner plays one of his three pipe organs for you? Did I also mention the doll display towards the end where they have a large Pee Wee Herman doll sitting at a table with some Asian dolls drinking tea? Trust me, it's a freaky place that belongs in Weird NJ.

But my son thought it was cool.

Going Away Again

I'll be heading down to NJ tomorrow for a long weekend and to take my son to his first Yankee game (and, hence, for him to hear his first f-bomb). I'll see you on Tuesday.

Okkervil River

Nope. That isn't Bob Geldof in the photo over there. That's Will Shef of Okkervil River.

Earlier this month, at the Magnolia Electric Co. show at Higher Ground, I ran into a friend who suggested that I listen to Okkervil River. The next day, I found a few mp3 on the band's site. Now, after a few weeks of letting these tunes swish around in my brain, I'm left with the feeling that I'm a friggin' idiot for not having heard them earlier.

The New York Times has compared them to The Decemberists but I think that's rather obtuse. Both bands utilize a multitude of instruments and have a folk-base at it's root but The Decemberists are much more polished. Okkervil River is more roughed up and less poppy than The Decemberists. They sit closer to Lullaby for the Working Class on the chamber folk-pop spectrum.

Plus, they have a boatload of mp3 files available on their site. These are my four favorites but if you are hungering for more, go here.

Okkervil River - Black
Okkervil River - Red
Okkervil River - Westfall
Okkervil River - The War Criminal Rises and Speaks

Video - Okkervil River - It Ends With a Fall

Brat Burgers

Ever gone to a BBQ where they were serving both brats and burgers and wished you could have some of each but don't want to overstuff yourself?

Well, the finest combo since chocolate and peanut butter is now here...the brat burger.

The fine gentleman who writes the blog, Confessions of a Butcher, sent me his recipe for these bad boys. With his permission, here it is:

2 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef (round would be ideal, I usually use the shop trim, which is somewhere in the mid to upper 80% lean realm).
2 1/2 lbs fatty ground pork (two boned pork shoulders are about perfect. I usually trim the top cap off first and use for salt pork since we don't want these burgers swimming in grease)

The two main ingredients in the spice mixture are mace and mustard.
Often times you will see allspice used instead of mace since it's
easier to find and it's a bit more accessible to most people's palate.
For 5 lbs. of meat I use
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon Mace (or 1 and a 1/4 teaspoon Allspice),
1 teaspoon dry mustard,
1 teaspoon fine ground white pepper (substitute 1/2 teaspoon fine black pepper)
1/2 teaspoon Marjoram
1/4 teaspoon coriander or caraway (not huge on the caraway, as it's
more the Wisconsin/Johnsonville type)
1 teaspoon dried milk powder (to bind and imitate traditional
bratwurst which have milk in them.

I think I'm going to try these over Labor Day weekend. Thanks again, Jace.

Garden Highlights

I planted these hydrangea trees last year and they are going great right now. The only downside to them is that I planted them on the southern border between our property and our neighbor's yard. So, they tilt towards the sun coming from their yard which gives our neighbors a great view of them but we see the less desireable backside of them from our deck.

But that's a minor downside for a tree with such a long plentiful bloom. The blooms are white now and will turn pink over the next few weeks. Then after the first frost in late September, the blooms will turn a light tan as they die for the winter.

Pop Soda

Among the many great things about Vermont is the large number of independent stores, craftsmen and food companies. This is largely because Vermonters are very supportive of independent business over national chains and brands.

One of my favorite local businesses is Pop Soda. The micro-beer market at this point is pretty saturated but there's still a gaping void for alternatives to the national soda brands. And Pop Soda is a great option to start filling that void.

Produced in Moretown, VT and available throughout central VT, the stuff rocks. Each of the three flavors contain a bit of spice to them to let you know you are drinking something unique but also plenty of summer sweetness to keep you coming back. My favorite is Lemon Lavender; although lately, the Citrus Hibiscus has been growing on me.

So, if you live in the area or are visiting and want to try something locally produced and massively enjoyable, pick up some Pop Soda. Here in Montpelier, we get a bit spoiled because they sell it at the farmer's market straight out of the keg (as fresh as it gets) but it's available in four packs around the area and in some restaurants like Positive Pie.

Ryan Schierling

Ryan Schierling is a professional photographer who does a lot of work in smokey clubs capturing live music on film. I don't remember how I stumbled onto his site but I really enjoy rolling through the guy's portfolio of music photos. All four of the portfolios listed on his site are worth your time.

I think he lives in the Seattle area so a lot of his photos feature bands from that area but he also has shots of national and international acts (as evidenced by the Architecture in Helsinki picture to the left).

He also has another site that displays photos from his more general portfolio of work.

Indie Rock on VPR

Currently, there is no indie rock programming on Vermont Public Radio. They have almost every other music genre that isn't supported by the private radio stations in Vermont (e.g., classical, jazz, folk, worldbeat, Irish, etc.). In fact, they play classical all afternoon and then from 10pm-12am every weeknight. Wouldn't it be nice if they just took one of those 2-hour evening slots and played a few indie bands?

If you feel that way, please contact VPR to let them know. You can contact them using their "Contact VPR" page on VPR.net.

I sent them an email a few months ago making this request and got a very nice reply back that left me a bit encouraged. In my email, I acknowledged that classical music fans donate a lot of money but also pointed out to them that other influential public radio stations such as Minnesota Public Radio had recently started broadcasting indie rock. I let them know that I'm not expecting them to do a lot of programming changes but just one 2-hour slot a night. A fairly modest request.

The reply I recieved said that they agree that the VT radio market does not support this music genre and they were aware of MPR's "The Current" and Washington's KEXP. However, she said that they are unlikely to make a change at this time. She said that our best chance of hearing indie rock on VPR will be on the new music-only station that VPR is setting up right now. She said that they are currently discussing programming options for the new station and appreciated my interest in indie rock programming.

I then spoke to a friend who works at VPR and he said that her reply sounded rather encouraging. He felt that if VPR recieved a few more similar requests that there would be a good chance of hearing indie rock on the new station when it begins operating.

So, with that in mind, if you want to hear lots of music similar to what is discussed on this blog, please contact VPR and let them know. Polite, cordial and direct emails get the best results.

How Do You Say "Rout" in Spanish?

Well, as I feared, Real Madrid popped in a pair of goals in the first half and rolled in the second half to a 5-0 crushing of the MLS select team.

The result will reassure Europeans misimpressions of the quality of US soccer. They think we stink and this result did stink. But US soccer is still strong and getting better. Perhaps this will encourage European teams to further underestimate us next summer in Germany and that can only help the US National Team.

El Boxeo Update

Well, despite our best efforts, it looks like El Boxeo couldn't find a place to play on Aug 31st. I got an email from them today saying thanks for the help but that they'll skip this date and try to come to VT later.