Random Notes from a Crank

If Twitter declines dramatically in use and influence because of Musk's negative influence, I wonder which online platform/s will fill the vacuum for quickly sharing information in a non-cesspool like setting? 

Well, Twitter has been a cesspool for quite a while, but at least they seemed to be taking steps to quash lies and misinformation during the previous organizational regime. 

Based on some cursory research done via the InterWebs, some of options look like Mastodon and Counter Social. 

I joined Mastodon to check it out. If you are on the platform, my handle is Quintilianw@masto.nu.

My daughter, who is home from college, asked me the other day if I went to Woodstock. My immediate answer was, "How old do you think I am?" 

I was confused obviously because she was asking about the one in 1999 because she watched the documentary Trainwreck: Woodstock '99. Mrs. Nasty and I got married during the summer of 1999, and that was the summer before my second year in my Ph.D. program. No concert-going was happening. 

I was at my local CVS, and they had a manner of bourbon called Jethro T. Boots for sale for $7.99. Hell, at that price, a fifth of that bourbon is cheaper than a six pack of craft beer. 

Music Friday: Trailer for Everyday Sunshine, "Servitude," "Everyday Sunshine," & "Ma and Pa"

One of the best bands I've ever seen live is Fishbone

Pure Energy

I first saw them as part of a double-bill with Primus. And then the second show I went to had them as the headliner of a triple-bill with Kyuss (the precursor to Queens of the Stone Age) as opening act and Biohazard as the second band.

Below I offer the trailer of documentary about the band: Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone. Then we move to the videos of "Servitude" from Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Think He's the Center of the Universe, "Everyday Sunshine" from The Reality of My Surrounding, and "Ma and Pa" from Truth and Soul. 

Have a good weekend and keep skankin' to the beat. 

Music Friday: "Sunless Saturday"

What you see above is the cover of the first CD I ever bought. The fact that Fishbone's The Reality of My Surroundings was my first CD makes me think about all the cassettes I had, ones that I now wish I had MP3s of. I once had a massive collection of cassette tapes from The Who, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and many other artists.

[Tangent Alert]

Cassettes, baby, cassettes. It's a fun word to write because the format is an anachronism. Say the word out loud. It has gruff, guttural sound to it, like something the Visigoths would mutter before battle.

Anyway, Fishbone is still around, but the following albums--In Your Face, Truth & Soul, and The Reality of My Surroundings--are the ones I've listened to the most, especially the final two.

The band's sound was/is a fun amalgamation of soul, ska, funk, and hard rock/metal.

I saw the band a couple of times at the same venue when I went to college at Truman. A group of us traveled down to the Blue Note in Columbia. The first show was a Primus-Fishbone double bill, and the second was a Kyuss, Biohazard, and Fishbone affair. At the time, Fishbone playing with Biohazard seemed like a odd pairing, but it worked out.

To properly date the Reality album, this Friday I offer "Sunless Saturday" when the band played on The Arsenio Hall Show.

Remember that guy?

Music Friday: "Sometimes" & "Rye Whiskey"

This afternoon the Nasty family travels to the neighboring state of Indiana. I'm going to see the Punch Brothers perform at Hatfield Hall at Rose-Hulman tonight, and then on Saturday we'll head over to Indy to enjoy that city's Children's Museum and then take in Toy Story on Ice at Conseco Fieldhouse.

I featured the Punch Brothers on a Music Friday in late September of '08, so by now they have a second album out titled Antifogmatic.

They're a bluegrass outfit with sometimes a decidedly chamber music feel to them as you might notice from "Sometimes." But they also go the traditional route with songs like "Rye Whiskey," as seen on Letterman.

To Terre Haute and beyond...

Music Friday: "Bastards of Young"

I'm in the mood for one of the finest bands in the history of the world, The Replacements.

This footage comes from a show in 1989, the year I graduated high school, and the song comes from their album Tim. Click HERE to watch the performance that has sketchy video and sound quality, but hey it was the late 80s, people. C'mon.

If I remember right, The Replacements were the first band I ever saw in concert at some old theater in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A good time was had, especially by the band that was known for its partying ways. In fact, I read a blog post a while back by Patterson Hood about how when The Replacements opened for Tom Petty when he saw them during high school (DBT was opening for Petty this summer, so that's why Hood was talking about the memory), Petty kicked them off the tour because the band members, known for all manner of shenanigans, raided Petty's area and stole a some of his wife's dresses that they then wore on stage that night. So I think The Replacements knew something about self-destructive zones, and they seemed to enjoy them.

A band out right now that reminds of Paul Westerberg and the boys is Deer Tick. After reading a post about Deer Tick on No Depression recently, I think there are some striking similarities. Click HERE for Dana Blaisdell's post about them if you're interested.

And here are the lyrics of "Bastards of Young":

God, what a mess, on the ladder of success

Where you take one step and miss the whole first rung.
Dreams unfulfilled, graduate unskilled.
It beats pickin' cotton and waitin' to be forgotten.

We are the sons of no one, bastards of young.
We are the sons of no one, bastards of young.
The daughters and the sons...

Clean your baby womb, trash that baby boom.
Elvis in the ground, there'll ain't no beer tonight.
Income tax deduction, what a hell of a function.
It beats pickin' cotton and waitin' to be forgotten.

We are the sons of no one, bastards of young.
We are the sons of no one, bastards of young.
The daughters and the sons...

Unwillingness to claim us, ya got no war to name us

The ones who love us best are the ones we'll lay to rest
And visit their graves on holidays at best.
The ones who love us least are the ones we'll die to please.
If it's any consolation, I don't begin to understand them.

We are the sons of no one, bastards of young.
We are the sons of no one, bastards of young.
The daughters and the sons...

Stay Positive: Going to a Show

It's not often that I get to go to shows much anymore, but when you have a gap in your schedule before school starts up again, it's good to take advantage of heading to St. Louis, having dinner with a couple of friends, and going to a show to take in some music from "emerging" bands, which seems to be the new moniker for alternative, non-corporate radio these days.

So last night a friend and I watch the double-bill of Dead Confederate and Deer Tick at Off Broadway.

I had listened to Dead Confederate a bit since I downloaded one their show in Athens, GA for free a while back (via Southern Shelter), and they remind me of Sonic Youth because of their atmospheric but hard-edged, guitar-oriented, fuzz-laden, wall of sound style. During their set I wish I would have brought earplugs because they were loud to the extent that you could feel the music moving through your body at times.

While I feel bad criticizing the band since I enjoy the lyrical mumblings of Eddie Vedder, Dead Confederate's lead singer couldn't be heard clearly, leading to unintelligible lyrics playing with their wall of sonic sound ethos.

Now Deer Tick I liked a lot already. I've been listening to their stuff for a while now (I recommend Born on Flag Day if you want to check them out), and their show was quite good. The lead singer--well oiled with beer and bags under his eyes from hard livin'--put on quite a show and cracked jokes. During the second song of the set, he displayed some Neil Diamond-like antics as the band played a soulful number from their latest release, The Black Dirt Sessions.

They played some of their more well known songs during the show, but Deer Tick also showcased some newer songs that I hadn't heard, and they were good.

And then there are the covers. I had already liked Deer Tick before I even came to the show, but after they covered "Waitress in the Sky" and "Can't Hardly Wait" by The Replacements, I liked them even more. I loves me some Replacements. And their version of ZZ Top's "Cheap Sunglasses" was quite fun too.

So Wardo, brother, thanks for taking in the show with me. Check ya later.