Six degrees of Jon Brion.So it looks like just about anything to which Jon Brion can be connected, even indirectly, is pretty much great by definition. Sure, there’s the easy links like Aimee Mann, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I didn’t know until yesterday that my favorite musical supergenius was also part of Jellyfish for their second album. This all came to my attention this weekend when I was looking up information on Jason Scheff, a very good studio and live bass player I saw and heard on a concert DVD given to me by a friend. Scheff was involved with a project called L.E.O., a sort of ELO-style one-off project saluting the amazing studio prowess and melodic hook-heaviness of 1970s AM-era power pop, but with more modern lyrical sensibilities. I was immediately intrigued since I grew up on ELO’s music and am not afraid to admit it. I have a bunch of their stuff on CD, including Time, which I think is one of their best. (Apparently one of the songs from that album is familiar to anime fans, meh.) L.E.O. was put together by a Boston-area musician who goes by the pseudonym “Bleu,” and includes members of Self (free as in beer music!), Jellyfish, and other great indie acts. I found a good deal online and ended up buying not only the L.E.O. album, but also Redhead by Bleu, the two original studio albums by Jellyfish, and the new one from Fountains of Wayne. Power pop festival at my house! *Nothing to do with Fedora at all, but I wanted to share the melodic goodness with someone. Enjoy! |
All celebrated out.My friend and long time musical partner Rich had a big 40th birthday bash at his house yesterday. Lots of people brought their families. Rich had made a heck of a stage in his backyard complete with luau decorations and lighting. I brought PA, and got there early to set up sound. The whole band came and we did a nice, relaxed 90-minute show to an appreciative packed “house.” We used the opportunity to wave goodbye to our friend and cellist Okorie, who is moving to the ATL in a few weeks. He brought totally unexpected parting gifts for everyone in the band — wait, isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? — and I had a lingering gift from the holidays since I hadn’t seen him in several months. Also we were gifted by the presence of our good buddy Tom Hnatow, who we expect will become increasingly more difficult to nab as his other project, These United States, takes off. (I coined the new description, “trippy Americana,” to describe them, in case you hear it later in Rolling Stone or something.) The kids were real troupers and stayed up until after 11:00 with very few problems or meltdowns. Ethan even took over the drums and Evie the bass at some point after 9:30, and our friend Mike has pictures which I’ll post when I see them. Between the heat, packing and unpacking gear, the setup, playing, breakdown, wrangling the kids, packing and unpacking (again), and general merriment, we are just exhausted today. I helped fix a bug or two this morning but am taking the rest of the weekend off — too much celebration for one week for this cat! |
Can I has lolz?It’s about time for open standards, don’t you think? |
The pain followed me home.Good parts about taking the day off:
The not so good:
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