October 31st, 2004

Song in my head:
"Like a Friend" by Pulp

The last time I gave out Halloween candy, I was in high school. In other words, it's been about six years. It was an absolute blast but it was a madhouse. Our seven bags of candy were gone in one hour. As a back-up, we gave out Chewy bars, Pop Tarts and Mardi Gras beads. Good times.

Watched Dawn of the Dead and Donnie Darko this morning. This was my first time to see Dawn and it probably won't be the last. Darko is always great (I think today's viewing is five in total viewings).

Ted Leo was right on the money Friday night. Great sets by him, along with Just a Fire and Engine Down. I walked up to Ted and said hi after the set. I felt like I was 16. As in, I didn't know what to say other than thanks.

Went to a costume party Saturday night in a button-down dress shirt and tie. It's different than what I wear everyday, so it's dressing up for me. I could have donned a British accent and claim I was from the Office. Alas, it was not meant to be.

More festivities to attend to now. More wrap-up and news tomorrow.

Comments

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Catherine Wheel

Originally posted: Tuesday, August 29th, 2006 Despite managing to release five proper albums, Catherine Wheel was one of those bands that always seemed to slip past the mainstream rock crowd. Yes, they got some nice airplay in their day, but people seem to have forgotten about them. You may hear “Black Metallic” or “Waydown” on a “classic alternative” show on Sirius or XM or maybe even on terrestrial radio, but that’s about it. For me, they were one of most consistent rock bands of the ’90s, meandering through shoegazer, hard rock, space rock and pop rock, all while eluding mainstream pigeonholing. Led by the smooth, warm pipes of vocalist/guitarist Rob Dickinson (cousin of Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson), Catherine Wheel featured Brian Futter on lead guitar, Dave Hawes on bass and Neil Sims on drums. They weren’t a pretty-boy guitar band, but they weren’t a scuzzy bunch of ragamuffins either. Though the band hailed from England, Catherine Wheel found itself more welcome on American air

Best of 2021

Last year, my attention span was not wide enough to listen to a lot of LPs from start to finish. Too much went on in 2020 to focus on 10-15 albums, so I went with only a couple to spotlight. Well, 2021 was a little better, as I have a list of top four records, and a lot of individual tracks. (I made a lengthy Spotify playlist ) So, without further ado, here’s my list of favorites of the year: Albums Deafheaven, Infinite Granite (listen) Hands down, my favorite album of the year. I was not sure where Deafheaven would go after another record that brought My Bloody Valentine and death metal fans together, but they beautifully rebooted their sound on Infinite Granite. The divisive goblin vocals are vastly pared-down here, as are the blast beats. Sounding more inspired by Slowdive, the band has discovered a new sonic palette that I hope they explore more of in the future. It’s a welcome revelation. I still love their older material, but this has renewed my love of what these guys do. J

2023 Update

Check out my newsletter. If you like what you see, hit Subscribe: https://themeparkexperience.substack.com/

Theme Park Experience

Search This Blog