captains dead

here is the remainder of the tom waits storytellers.

19. chocolate jesus story

20. chocolate jesus

21. whats he building in there story

22. whats he building in there

23. a little rain story

24. a little rain

25. downtown train story

26. downtown train

27. black wings

28. jesus gonna be here story

29. jesus gonna be here

30. jersey girl story

31. jersey girl

32. chocolate jesus story
33. chocolate jesus

34. tango til they’re sore

35. hang down you’re head story

36. hang down you’re head

the last 5 tracks/stories are alternate versions

for all of you who are heading out tonight be safe and have a drink for me.? thanks for visiting captains dead and making the 06 a fan-fucking-tastic year.
be well ladies and gents.

xoxoxo

greg

btw, go bears!

oy vey, what a week its been. we made it to chicago record time, and without incident. its been a great visit, and has really solidified our desire to move back. not to take anything away from atlanta, cause its a great city too but the seclusion is getting a bit much to deal with. i actually prefer atlanta, as a city, to chicago, but home is home, i guess.

on another note, i find it strangely frightening the amount of people who google the phrase “ball stretching” and they find this here joint. i dont find it frightening that they find this place but the amount of people who actually are looking for info on ball stretching. is this some kind of fetish i am not aware of?

last night the wife and i hit the city and we ended up, after a couple of prior stops, at darkroom, 2210 w chicago. its a great joint with some one of the coolest staffs in the city. peforming at darkroom was an interesting local chicago band interestingly named team band. they reminded me, at least live, of a more focused and slightlier heavier cap n’ jazz or a gay ted leo. team band’s front man, greg drama, is amusing to say the least. not a great vocalist, but when you are as engaging as he is you really dont need to be.

bond

team band fight song

i know how

the past week i have been listening the hell out of orphans – which is phenomenal in case you have not digested it yet. here is part one of the much circulated, but in case you missed it, storytellers set with the storys included.

1. tango til they’re sore story

2. tango til they’re sore

3. hang down you’re head story

4. hang down you’re head

5. ol’ 55 story

6. ol’ 55

7. strange weather story

8. strange weather

9. hold on story

10. hold on

11. picture in a frame story

12. picture in a frame

13. i cant wait to get off work story

14. i cant wait to get off work

15. house where nobody lives story

16. house where nobody lives

17. get behind the mule story

18. get behind the mule

this is my car. in roughly 12 hours the family and i will be making the laborious 12 hour trek from my adopted home of atlanta, ga to the city of my birth and raising chicago, il. the last time we took this trip during the holiday season, it took us 48 hours. it was hell on earth. luckily it looks like baby jesus is going to have pity on my delicate soul and give us at least half way decent driving weather. if you, dear person, could through some decent vibeage my way so we make it there in one piece, it would be greatly appreciated. it just maybe your only ticket into heaven.

without much further ado, here is my top 9 records of the year, lovingly handcrafted into haiku form.
10.

super gay for him

i wish records were longer

a boy can dream right

9.

sounds like winter night

like a walk down dark alley

in some southern town
8.

moved out to la

to be honest i was scared

dont know why i was

7.

i expected more

like a whole big production

the greatest could have

6.

too over hyped sure

but its really fucking good

should be on all lists

5.

we shall all be bored

nice to find a pulse still left

i am wrong a lot

4.

its like a party

i wish i got all the jokes

sexy but creepy

3.

springsteen on your ass

is it nineteenseventy

me love it long time

2.

songs about assholes

if it werent for those damn hearts

a minor classic

for my number one, see a few posts below.

in case i dont post for a few days, may all the gentiles have a wonderful christmas.

one of my main character flaws is that i tend to obsess over shit. typically, its over stuff that is so ridiculous its almost embarrasing – you’ll see here in a second what i mean. over the past couple of days it has come to light that i have a deep rooted hatred for star jones. she’s like a gruesome traffic accident that i cant keep my eyes off. she has absolutely no relevance in my life, and most likely anyone with any damn sense or self respect, but i’ll be damned if i cant get her image outta my head. she has to be the ugliest and most despicable human being alive. she just has to be! does anyone else get this way about people or stuff?

one song that i have been obsessing over lately is “incident at conklin creek” by richmond fontaine. if you have never listened to their ‘05 release the fitzgerald i cant recommend it enough. if you dig calexico minus all the horns, the somber whiskeytown stuff or richard buckner, these guys will definitely be up your alley.

incident at conklin creek

here is one of my favorite uncle tupelo shows/recordings. it was recorded during their performance on 4.29.94 @ the blue note in columbia, mo.

1. we’ve been had

2. fifteen keys

3. the long cut

4. grindstone

5. satan, your kingdom must come down

6. anodyne

7. watch me fall

8. looking for a way out

9. new madrid

10. sandusky

11. true to life

12. acuff rose

13. atomic power

14. slate

15. postcard

16. no depression

17. gun

18. chickamauga

19. give back the keys to my heart

20. whiskey bottle

21. effigy

btw, if you happen to have comcast cable with on demand, there is a very cool ted leo documentary of his performance at coney island from 03 on concert tv. thanks to matt for pointing this out.

holy crap this is funny

as we hurtle through space on this rock called planet earth we, as members of the human race no matter your race, religion or sexual orientation, are all looking for something. the something i speak of is a connection, which is either a blessing or a curse of the human condition. connections help validate our existence. it doesnt matter if these connections are to lovers, friends, family, enemies, children, records, cars or money. all of our connections make us feel alive. they fill some place in our hearts and minds that otherwise would be vacant. i maybe full of shit, but there is no other way to explain the popularity of social networking sites like myspace and facebook. there cant be that many finely chiseled dudes trying to nail fake underage pussy, can there? of course there can, who the hell am i kidding? even on that level the potentially accused is trying to make some kind of connection.

sometime during my 10th or so listen to the kamikaze hearts’ oneida road i knew i had, or was attempting to make an emotional connection. “reckless but not enough to be noticed” a line off of “deer hunter” kept resonanting through my psyche. in seven short words, lead kamikaze heart, troy pohl, summed up the essence of my life. as simple as that phrase is, it packs a whallop in the context of the song. those words led me to listen to oneida road with a different set of ears. a set of ears that sadly dont get used as much as they should, mainly due to my own laziness.

oneida road reminds me of the instant that i realized being an adult was like “what the fuck is this? this is what i have been waiting all these years for?” it actually wasnt one instance but a multitude of happenings, ie broken hearts, unpaid parking tickets, calls from creditors, a growing indifference to the world, etc. that all culminated into one unwanted awakening. its the loss of innocence, the compounding feelings of regret and self doubt, themes touched on throughout oneida road, that inevitably made my connection to this record even more obvious.

if it werent for the fact that the albums closer, “guyana central high school class of 78,” is about a cult like suicide, it would be a perfect opener. the start of a new life, new possibilities, and the “gonna grab the life by the balls” mentality that only youth can bring. only to be brought back down to earth during the remainder of onieda road. gaven richard, the other lead heart, leads a chorus of “i’m so proud of all of you” given by what i still feel is a commencement speaker to a graduating class. to me the song will always be about hope, no matter what i found out in this article.

when mr pohl sings “about all the good things we’ll have in the end..” on the lead track “top of your head” i want to believe him. during trying and what sometimes seems like insurmountable situations, we always speak of how things will get better. we always want to believe the things we say, but we know that we rarely ever fare so well. there is always that gilmmer of hope, and pohl brings it in spades.

when i listen to oneida road, i truly listen. oneida road needs to be listened to, and not merely heard. for all of these reasons, and a few more, oneida road is by far my favorite record of the year.

no one called you a failure – in studio at kdhx

half of me – in studio at kdhx

deer hunter

as the father of a jackass two year old, who happens to be my world, i cant begin to fathom what mr. j robbins, of jawbox fame, and his wife must be going through. their soon to be one year old son, callum, has been diagnosed with some disorder that is far beyond my knowledge. needless to say, this disorder kills children, most of them before their second birthday. if everyone that visits this site, daily, can donate at least a dollar we can at least give callum a chance.

here is some of j robbins work

dismemberment plan – superpowers

jets to brazil – psalm

promise ring – emergency! emergency!

burning airlines – a lexicon

maritime – king of doves

please donate, if you can.