Cstone ’10: Friday!
Whoops, this slipped through the cracks for a while…been busy traveling to Pittsburgh, reading papers, stimulating young minds with my dazzling intellect, etc.
Hipsters watching Timbre play yet again.
Paper Route rockin’ the theremin.
The crowd was definitely into it. A very high energy show…
…which was only helped by numerous trips to the mini- drum-set above the piano.
Children 18:3 bringing their uniquely fun, cheesy, trash-punk to a sweaty tent somewhere at the festival.
Eisley packed out the Gallery Stage, complete with people lining up around the sides of the tent.
And put on what was perhaps the most solid show I’ve heard from them yet.
It’s definitely worth mentioning that earlier in the day, their little sister put on a quite decent acoustic set…
The always sultry Over the Rhine came on last, for their second set of the festival.
Ex-VOL Kenny Hutson tore it up, as usual.
All in all, a very solid show–and it was great to hear some drums again, after the last, stripped-back show we saw them at in NC. Oddly, the MC spurted on stage after the set and called it a night, despite rumors that there was at least a three song encore planned. By that point, if nothing else, everyone around us seemed royally tired out…and OTR’s famously prickly attitude toward music festivals and the events’ accompanying foibles had already been fully displayed that evening. Who knows.
There was more going on the next day, but we had to be back in DC before too long. And so it was time for the 16+ hours back to the east coast.
I have returned!
So said MacArthur. Whether I would be better off sticking to his first proclamation is yet to be seen…
Sixty hour work weeks killed my posting.
But I got a new lens, for a (freakin’ awesome) wedding I’m shooting next weekend. Sigma 28-70mm f/2.8, for those interested. Next up, the 30mm f/1.8 and the 70-200mm f/2.8. Anyone else want something shot?
And that new acquisition makes me excited.
Not to mention that I’m between part-time jobs…so with only my regular forty hr, I had a bit of time this week.
The difference between this and my old lens is already freakin’ amazing. I adjusted some light levels on two of these pictures and converted the one to BW….and that is all, which is amazing me.
Glass makes all the difference.
In quick movie blurb…
Lars and the Real Girl–terribly awkward to explain (and watch, initially) but terribly funny as a result. In a sincere, heart-felt kind of way, a la Juno. I agree with critics who herald the church/community aspect as the most redeeming part of the film, far above and beyond any metamorphosis in Lars himself. I highly recommend it.
In music, the new Hammock is out–and they’re a band I cannot get enough of.
Sixpence is making new music. Which is good. But they’re featuring more songs from Leigh, whose voice I grew up loving…but past experience with her lyric ability makes me grow dubious (with the exception of the great song off the self-titled). Both Sixpence and OTR continue making noises about being less literary and less esoteric. Newsflash: that’s why we love you, guys. Keep the musical, lyric, and artistic exploration and allusion going, or this is one hardcore fan, at least, who will continue to put your latest releases on the bottom shelf with much chagrin. And tears. I’m not asking for sad songs, or that you deny where you are in life or your true artistic self, (etc), but please. Pretty please.
Finally, in light of Myanmar, I strongly recommend the old favorite, Feed the Children
.
Low
…and speaking of archive.org, they also have a great, recent performance by Low off of Radio France.
Think Innocence Mission with a much more somber feel (and even more minimalism) influenced by Mormonism instead of Catholicism, or think all of the best uses of negative space from Over the Rhine’s Good Dog era…
two quick links to interviews…
with Rosie Thomas and Linford Detweiler. I find the RT article interesting because she delves into her personal life and its impact on her records (details I always suspected, but never knew) and the LD piece arresting because of his unusually gentle/humble/non-critical take on spirituality.
Josh Ambrose 