29.1.08

Brandt Walks Out

I know I know, shut up. I don't you see posting, so don't give me any lip.

I'll give you the lowdown, short and sweet. Friday night saw Irene hanging with some clown named Kanye, so your hero, armed with cassettes (more on this shortly) decided to make an early visit to Brooklyn to work on the tunes. Dinner of course, is meant to be had immediately, so Dokebi it was. Our stomachs filled with fine Asian food and our hearts fueld by Sake, we brought it back to B's to begin work on the tunes. But first, we checked out some old cassettes (NEW CREATURES, AREA 88, TONES ON TAIL bootlegs) and then fired up the studio computer...

Which didn't work. crash crash crash crash!

B surprisingly remained much more calm then I would have thought he would. Maybe it's cause a. we've been through this before and b. the entire album is backed up in like ten different places. Anyhow, being musicians, did we break out the guitars and keyboards and write? Hello no, we went down the block and drank for hours and hours at that place we went to for Matt's birthday (No relation to that bar in the city we used to call "That Place We Went That Time With Murray"). While drunk, I somehow ordered us tickets to see the Joy Division doc which is playing here next month for 2 nights only. Massive. Thanks to Jenn for putting that doc in my head. Anyhow, I don't even recall going home, though B tells me I left "abruptly", its that goddamn japanese beer I like.

So Saturday, I recovered and decided, studio be damned, I'm working on some tunes. I set up my very minimal set up in the apartment and worked on a song called THE CHATTING BIRDS, which was recorded probably around 2003/04 in a "jam" with me, B, ash and starring Link on sax. I spent hours and hours on this song and we really psyched, so I told B to come over and check it out, cause, well he wasn't doing shit anyway (except getting the computer fixed). So he came over and marked out for the tune. Did some tweaks and then of course we decided to go to Spurs to get some grub. After a nice walk, we settled in at Spurs, ordered, and B walked out. What the F right? Fucker just gets up and walks out. I was like you're a dick and cancelled his order. Band breaks up in Spurs, right?

Ok what really happened was, we ordered food, had a drink and then he found out his girlfriend was locked out of their apartment. So he dropped everything and ran to Brooklyn and left me by myself to eat a burger. *sigh* Alone again, naturally. Then I went and got Irene from work.

Sunday, we did nothing. Nothing. We had dinner with my folks and then watched the Rumble, which was sweet but G left me with 4 girls to watch it cause he was ill. Fucker.

And here I am. Currently kicking the shit our of Matt and The Kidd in Facebook Wrestling, my new obsession. Awesome. Bye bi bi.

F

25.1.08

24.1.08

23.1.08

My New Favourite Shit

The Works of Bobby Hacker. This shit makes me cry laughing (You might not agree)






21.1.08

Weekend Picture Frenzy

Whats up, y'all. It's the end of another busy week here at MOGworld. The usual ups and downs. Lotta drama, lotta frustration, but also a lot of fun and good times with friends, especially this weekend. I'll focus on the good times for your entertainment.

Been spending the usual few days a week at Brandt's. We've been armed with the four essentials, bass, guitar, sintes, and beats and that again is proving to be a sweet combination as the results are quite solid. Again, many conversations internally about how to release albums, get the stuff out there, etc. I've been spending a lot of time researching different ways of reaching people in this day and age and how people can get the music, etc. It's a whole new world out there since the days when Caroline distributed Whiteline to the entire USA. I just feel like after spending 4 years on an album, you want the CD, you want to hold it, you want to hand it to someone. But let's face it, maybe, what, 100 people will actually buy it? It's almost better for us to give it away. So I think we do a limited pressing of this one and then do digital releases for the subsequent EP's (with an eventual CD that compiles said material). I mean, I am interested in a lot of new young bands and out of respect, I order the CD's and I am getting fucking CD-R's that some "label" burned for me. I don't mind it, but it represents a new mindset to me that I embrace yet have qualitative issues with. It's not a bad thing and I am trying to move forward. Its challenging yet fun. Let's see how this all evolves.

Thursday night, Irene and I made our first trip to the new venue, Terminal 5, to check out Editors once again. This venue is pretty quality. I haven't seen a fucking place here this big in ages (it's all the way on the west side in the upper 50's). It's actually rather comfortable, with another bars so you can get a (overpriced) drink pretty easily, and the sound is quite good. As B pointed out to me, it's the Bowery people, and they usually do a good job. No exception here.



The gig was really good, as always. The band is awesome, I thought they played better here than last time at Webster and I am shocked at the size of the crowd they draw. They packed this place. My only geniune complaint is that I felt their setlist was pretty safe. When we saw them around this time for the first album, they were playing a gutsier set that had B-sides, new tracks etc. mixed with the hits in the right place. Well, I guess that they have a record to promote here. In this fucked up day and age, I wonder what kind of sales a band like this does. Does it matter to tour everywhere in the US anymore if youre a band from the UK? Who knows. Anyway, the band is still, in my opinion, underrated and they put on a fucking great show. The third album, like Kasabian, is gonna be the trick. They have an interesting future ahead. Fun night.

Friday, the Monday night idiot convention got together to eat some awesome fucking Momofuku. Lurch made it happen and got us in and I will let the pictures speak for themselves:









Yumtastic, mamafucka.

During this meal, the Kidd described my beard as "Pacino On Vacation":



Then we went to see CLOVERFIELD. I have to admit, I got sucked in by the viral marketing and despite having a weird 9/11 related aversion to the film, I was kinda pysched to see it. I like JJ Abrams. I think he is a smart dude and a good filmmaker with a lot of good ideas. I admit to never having seen LOST, but I know Abrams comes up with some original stuff. With CLOVERFIELD, we knew we had to see it ASAP or it would be impossible to see it without some contamination from fanboys or assholes who will have seen it before us. So we saw it and the mistake was sitting between the Kidd, who hated it, and Irene, who was bored by it. And honestly, I sit directly in between their positions. I love the idea of this film more than the execution. I dig the set up, and I think this was very clever filmmaking. However, there's so much stuff in it, having been through 9/11 first hand and knowing the NYC geography is all off (i know, but fuck you with the suspension of disbelief, if this is supposed to be "found footage" then at least be accurate with where these people are going how things lay out), I couldn't help but finding myself less and less interested as it progressed. I feel like New Yorkers can't take this movie seriously as we have been through much worse and much more real. One guy yelled when the movie was suddenly over DON'T EXPECT ME TO CLAP FOR THIS. Agreed.

I was actually more interested in the STAR TREK trailer, which I am excited about. That's a huge fucking crapshoot, that movie and I am obsessed with how they are going to pull this off. We shall see.

Then we tried to go to KGB, but it was too crowded and we ended up at some kiddie bar, which was mildly funny because young girls started dancing with Evan. Observe.





After awhile it got tired, especially when this silly bitch yelled at me for "Judging" her (I was trying to encourage her to dance more because she was so couche) when all I wanted was the party keep going. OK I was judging the dumb bitch...



G was slightly entertained...



Lurch was touching from a distance...



Then we were joined by the returning SK, which Irene was really excited about:



Don't let those sweet faces fool you, these two chicks will CRUSH your if needed. Also, they haven't seen each other in a year and yet wear co-ordinated outfits without consulting one another. That's some sick shit. Anyway...

Sunday was the fun lazy day, but it was fucking freezing. We went to Tribecca for brunch, clowned around, hit up Rebel Rebel and Meyers and then stayed home just to survive the cold. I ain't no SummerMan, asshole. Then Evan helped me find rare Cerati tracks. Thanks guy!

Look at my nephew's poor dog, who just got fixed. Poor girl, she's in so much pain:



Big hello to my friend in France, Damien, who, as Peka, has a sweet album coming out despite going through some heartbreak. It's gonna be a great album. He's the first musician I have "met" (through E-mail) that I have been excited about since Saintface. I think this guy is a real talent.

Finally, I co-produced an animated movie that is coming out next month and some of the reviews are coming in. Check out these two:

http://www.aintitcoolnews.com/node/35337

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2008/01/19/204930.php

I'm pretty psyched. Buy that. No freebies, assholes!

F

19.1.08




This is pretty much the same face I made while watching CLOVERFIELD....

14.1.08

13.1.08

Bearded

Hello All:

Been keeping it low key as of late. The writer's strike is not helping, so my attention is turned to business matters and the what we will refer to as "the movie", which occupies a lot of my time as well. In the meantime, I have decided to keep the beard for the time being, it is now referred to as my "Strike Beard" and it has received thumbs up from many different corners. I think they grey hair helps make it look more distinguished and less hipster bullshit. Beard as of this writing:



It's been a rough week for members of the MOGpac. Details aren't important but I've been feeling down and useless about the setbacks several members are currently facing. It gives one perspective. However, like all things MOGpac, I try to keep the vibe light and the writing strong (Despite the strike) and hope I can be a little ray of light in the larger scheme of things. Stay strong, mens. Same goes to you, Damien.

Been cranking out some music as well. Yesterday and Wed saw me making the trips to Shitfriend Studios to work on the final track for the album, which is making a big comeback from the original original sessions from way the fuck back. It gave me the opportunity to try out my vintage Clone Theory pedal, which was absolutely fucking worth the investment cause it sounds amazing. It reminded me of my old flange pedal from the early days that I lost at lyric except much better. All those years of trying to get a specific sound, B and I found it in about 37 seconds. Fucked up, right? So anyway, it was fun just writing basslines and going through some amazing loops and drums. Yesterday, we busted out both the guitars and bass and did some musical chairs on this track and busted in wide. It was an early and quick day, but a smart lunch at Atlas set the positive tone and we got the desired results. More to do, but a good start.

Friday night saw Irene make another ultra rare appearance with me in Brooklyn to celebrate the birthday of young Anjuli (the girl who always cooks for everyone else's birthdays). While waiting by the subway by Virgin, the Kidd made an accidental cameo, which was lovely as he is handsome and wore a yellow rain slicker. Then Irene and I and her people made it to Brooklyn where we dined at PT, a B/Al haunt that B had been telling me about for months. Well, it was fucking awesome and we had a blast all evening. Good wine, excellent food, and they make a sick awesome fusilli. It was a fun night hanging out with the cool kids from Irene's scene, all of whom I am very fond of.

After working on beats with B yesterday, I met Irene at home, we got ourselves a pizza and we watched Shoot Em Up, which I thought was hilariously cheesy yet good. If this was Asian, it would be the best movie ever made. I think they promoted this movie wrong. My friend Katz was a producer on it and he told me this as well I think. Anyway, it was fun mind candy for an hour and a half and got a few pops outta me!

And here I am typing at you with my beard on. Hopefully this will be a better week. We're gonna see Editors again, which should be great. Lotta Dulli coming up and those Gutter Twins tracks are pretty good. That's it. Go back to bed.

F

7.1.08

"French Scumbag"



That's me. French Scumbag. Beard or no beard. I might take a poll. Who knows.

Well Christmas/Holidays are officially over. The Canadian family left on Wed and then finally we handled the Italian side of the family on Sunday, complete with new baby, now 9 months old, who took a liking to your hero. We bonded. He comes from good Star Wars lovin' stock, so he is set. His older brother showed up with a complete Hoth playset. Points. Poor Irene though, her only days off have been spent helping my moms in the kitchen. She never gets a break!

Been laying low otherwise. Gearing up for the return to work, the movie, etc. In the meantime, it was life as a full time musician. Live 7 always on. Remixes. New tracks. Ideas. Plans being made etc. Ventured out to Brooklyn on Saturday. The original plan was to work with B but he and his girl had been sick all week and I didn't catch their filthy germs and pass it on to the above mentioned kids who I was seeing the next day. So B and I kicked out an epic evening at Dokebi which started in the bar, went to the table grill, and then headed back to the bar. Three bottles of Kurosawa later and the 2008 HF agenda is laid out. Much discussion about what the future holds for us in terms of how we release our material. Digital? Compact Disc? Questions abound. We might actually release something this year believe it or not, so now those things we have held off on discussing were discussed. During this meeting, a song came off the album, and an older one returned. While B handles that, I am lying the foundation for the next TWO releases, EP. One will be moody (and called The Zoe Lund EP) and other will be the dance EP featuring all these techno rock songs we thought were going on the album. I write all this down so that in the start of 2009 I can look at this and see if it happened or not. This time, it just might...

Also during this hiatus from my non musical world, I have been updating the aggression obituary I reached a certain point and then I drew a complete blank, which is insanely odd for me. I can't remember about a two year period where the Kidd went to college (Mark was already gone at this point) Ash came back to the band and we played shows for PURE LIQUID EGO before starting FLOOD. Luckily, with the exception the guitar players, everyone from that period is amongst the living, so mostly thanks to Matt and Ash (and with an assist from The Kidd) I have started to put parts from this period together (including the infamous "Missing Turntables" incident). I'm glad I am getting this down now before I really forget.

What I just realized (and google confirms) is that this very evening that I type is the 2 year anniversary of the death of the Big A itself. My only thought (for now as I am saving it for the other site) is a quote from G who summed it up after reading the history of the aggression today for the first time: "You were in a band for 15 years...the end". Exactly.

Onward and Outward.

F

HEY LADIES, WHO IS THE COOLEST GUY ON THE PLANET?



PUTIN?



FRENCH PRESIDENT WHO SCORED CARLA BRUNI?



GUTTERBALL?

3.1.08

The First Great Rumor of 08

The Sun starts the year off with a rumor specifically designed for your hero. It's as if some newspaper hacks in London sat around a table with some kind of agenda against me. Perhaps some cunts are involved, who knows. I post it here just to see if it comes true cause it's almost too perfect, but again anything can sound awesome on paper, its the tunes that count, kids

"LIAM GALLAGHER is set to front a Manchester supergroup in a “mad fer it” live show.

The OASIS singer will share the stage with a whole host of other rock ’n’ roll legends from the city at the Manchester V Cancer charity concert next month.

He will perform joint vocals with former STONE ROSES’ singer IAN BROWN, and the pair will be backed by trio FREEBASS who consist of ex-SMITHS star ANDY ROURKE, NEW ORDER’s PETER HOOK and MANI from PRIMAL SCREAM.

Freebass has been a side project of the three bass legends for a few years.

But the show at the MEN Arena on February 23 will be the group’s first proper concert.

A source told me: “Liam and Ian Brown will join Freebass on vocals in their first full live show.

“It will be one of the musical events of the year. Manc music fans will be in rock ’n’ roll heaven.”

Freebass have been quietly working on an album for the last year.

All three of the founder members are from the Manchester area and play the bass guitar on the material.

For vocals in the studio they have called in favours from Liam and Ian as well as CHARLATANS singer TIM BURGESS and Primal Scream frontman BOBBY GILLESPIE.

If the Cancer show is a success they could follow it up by hitting the festivals in the summer.

Rourke organises the charity show, which was one of my gigs of the year in 2007.

And with Gallagher and Brown signed up for the performance, this year’s gig could be even better than last time. Other acts being lined up to perform include THE VERVE, JAMES, INSPIRAL CARPETS and HAPPY MONDAYS.

Rourke revealed: “This year’s gig is going to be talked about for years to come.

“We’ve got some of the biggest bands of the moment lined up as well as some legendary acts.”

Bring it on... Visit www.versuscancer.org for more information."

For the record, Freebass scares me in the biggest way possible. It is probably my dream musical project but the suck potential is ginormous cause all three guys are, well, nuts. It's almost like I don't want it to happen cause I don't think it could be what my brain thinks it is. Sort of like sleeping with a supermodel I think. I leave those things to G.

F

2.1.08

Alias



The State guys continue to own it, and they're continuing collaboration with the Rudd leads to this genius, aka the Kidd's new Gimmick. Thanks Kidd.

HAPPY 08



Let's drink (some tea) for 08.

I don't have it in me to do a best of list so I'm gonna wing it a bit. Brandt might do it, complete with record labels, catalogue numbers and italics but I'd rather look ahead. I will tell you CONTROL was my favourite movie of 07 (NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN was a close close second) and Maserati's INVENTIONS which started the year as my fave stayed my fave. The competition was not fierce unfortunately. Gig of the year is a tough one, cause Jarvis rocked (was that this year?), and Hawley owned, but Chemlab had a little special something for me on an emotional level. So I'm gonna cop out on gig of the year, cause I might be forgetting something.

On the small screen, 24 broke my heart with it's shittiness, as did Heroes with it's halfassedness, but Boston Legal made up for it for my Tuesday night laugh, and I like new stuff like Chuck, which is strong. In comics, again, like last year GREEN LANTERN is the best shit out there.

I made a lot of declarations of things I wanted to do in 07, none of which fucking happened, so I'm gonna refrain from listing shit. This is what happens when movies go into production. I am excited for Hypefactor as always, as we have a treasure trove of material that we are THIS close to unleashing (I say this every year). It'll be worth it though. Gonna get some new Oasis in 08 I hear, and some Kasabian and maybe MAYBE some Freebass, which would be a good way to spend 08. Movie wise, 08 is gonna be sick with Batman and Indy and Star Trek (which I am really interested in).

I'm excited for 08. I hope to share as much as the next 365 days as possible with you. Let's start the New Year off right with the cool kids:




F