rock n roll sherpa

rock n roll sherpa was a burlington band that played from about 2000-2004. featuring aaron hornblas, alan beauregard, burette & gabrielle douglas, & ryan power, this supergroup released one album, 2004's 'you dont say.'

you dont say is a classic indie rock album. blending 70's psychedelic & garage rock sounds with j. mascis-like guitar solos, lyrics about unrequited love, and powerhouse drumming, this gem probably could have made a national impact if released 10 years earlier. aaron & alan split the songwriting & singing duties and their styles are very complimentary. ryan plays drums as good as anyone i've heard locally, he's a hard hitter and great when things get a little punky. gabby's bass work is solid & melodic and burettes whirling keyboards remind me a lot of the cush when things get trippy.

i've included two mp3's. the first & last songs on the album. flower is alans song and steps aarons. enjoy!

it must have been a month ago
when i said babe its time you go
i'm already looking back

it must have been a minute ago
when i said stop and you said no
i'm already looking back

the end of an error...

er, era... tanner is moving out today and, since i always post from his computer, the le duo may not be updated as frequently for awhile. i have a record review of one of my favorite local records of all time complete with an mp3 or two in the works (rock-n-roll sherpas 2004 album 'you dont say') and hopefully i can post it tonight or tomorrow before my only link to the cyber world is taken from me. good luck tanner & jenny!

the ryan/cush/cripples show last night was great. i think people really enjoyed ryans djjd stuff, and the cripples brought it. unfortunately, we didnt stay for the cush- all of us were exhausted (me from chasing around & playing ball with kyles nephew cole for what seemed like hours at a 50th birthday party) - but the cute girl at radio bean said it was her first cush show and she was absolutely blown away. I bet.

introducing my new favorite band: drums: etc...

Farm put on an excellent show at the monkey last night. nimbly switching between instruments, the three members invoked everything from ballsy blues to late 60's psychedelic guitar rock. haven't been this unexpectedly impressed by a local band since the first time i saw the cripples. if you're a fan of anything from the band to wilco to the white stripes i recommend you check out any of farms several shows in the next few weeks.

for any of you into percussion/world music, the flynn center for the performing arts is hosting two interesting shows. the first, global drum project with mickey hart & zakir hussain takes over where the album planet drum leaves off. zakir hussain is a tabla master & of course mickey hart was an important part of the dead for all those years.

yamato: drummers of japan present 'shin-on (heartbeat)' a celebration of japanese music, dance & culture. 'With a massive Taiko drum made from a 400-year-old tree as its centerpiece, Shin-On (“Heartbeat”) blends thunderous rhythms with Japanese music of delicate beauty, celebrating Japan’s rich cultural traditions.'

so that takes care of my new favorite band & the drums, now for the etc. part...i'm adding a new link to the sidebar here at the le duo. speaking volumes (aka the super fun place) is a great books/vinyl/art shop located at 377 pine st. in burlington. some of you may remember it as the site of the massively insane post fireworks party a few weeks ago. surprisingly, the insanity didnt phase norbert & anaii one bit, because they are hosting another blowout on august 3rd & also at the art hop september 7th & 8th. a great new place to see local bands hassle free.

enjoy your muggy weekend & go see the cripples!

**UPDATE** jay at spitting out teeth gives the burlington music scenes care takers a little shout out- check it out!

big band

Cecil Taylor & The Italian Instabile Orchestra

4 great shows

1. tuesday, 7/24 7pm- caspian, junius, carrigan, 28 degrees taurus, valkyrie- at 242 Main, 10 bucks. not metal or hardcore, which is the usual fare at 242, but more psychedelic, indie, experimental rock.



2. thursday, 7/26 8pm- farm, cccome?, drive the hour- at monkey house, probably 5 bucks. seven days says of farm, 'Farm are a unique band with one foot in roughshod rock ’n’ roll and the other in experimental folk-blues. The third foot, if they had one, would surely be in the grave.' i've been wanting to see them for awhile, its not often you hear a good band from the fc (franklin county)




3. saturday, 7/28- see oak first at the annual crombie street block party at 3pm and then at radio bean at 10- both free. the esteemed casey rae-hunter says 'burlington trio Oak are one of the most interesting and musically talented groups I’ve ever heard locally' -and he should know!




4. also saturday, 7/28 8pm- come celebrate the release of the cripples self titled debut with the cush & ryan power at higher ground- tickets are 6 bucks before saturday if you can get them from aaron jeb or andy & 8 bucks day of show. from what i've heard of the cd it is amazing- and you can always count on the cripples to put on a good show. the cush are at the top of their game & ryan is playing some weirdly unique music. its sure to be the show of the year.

ProgBlog

Casey Rae-Hunter's new progressive-leaning music blog, ProgBlog. Space/Psych/Kraut/Tech/Tweak. Hear what Casey has to say about what's cool. Or if not cool, then at least awesome.

tomorrow i'll blog about 4 must-see shows going on this week.

Slayer!

this is for jaime-lynn

july 17, 1967

summer of love. yesterday was the 40th anniversary of Trane's passing. here's a video of the quartet lookin' sharp & bringing it:

thursday through sunday

july 19-22 at #4 howard street (corner of howard & pine behind speeder & earls) the green door studio is hosting a dump sale. art- art supplies- lights- vinyl- music & electronic equipment- fabric- unique & scary halloween props- weapons- armor- bikes- cheap art & gifts- sculptures- traps- yarn- masterblaster.

also, todd is showing some original art i think; he's moving away & trying to get rid of a lot of stuff before he does. come take advantage!

and to top it all off, dynasty is performing what may be there last show as a full band on saturday night.

its the summer of dump.

friday already?

oak, there were valleys, cursillistas. tick tick, kriya.

go.

bastille day

the show last night was so much fun. i'd like to thank everyone in the (sextet), greg, toby, kyle, marnie, & sara paule as well as the other bands a snake in the garden, negative body, & hello shark.

i finally put some songs on my myspace page! they were taken from the great recording that greg made. they are both short & similar. please tell me what you think of them.

our next gig will be at the green door studio for art hop 9/7/07. not sure who'll be in the band then. hopefully we live up to our debut!

nightbirds of a feather...

Spend an intimate evening with the Nightbirds at the Radio Bean at 11pm this Friday 7/13/07.... it will be a special rare performance... you wont want to miss....ALL AGES!!!

things to do

The Cush plays Calkin's Barn at the Intervale in Burlington, VT, Thursday, July 12th at 6:30 pm. It is an all ages show.

friday night, the sweethearts of my rodeo, the smittens are rocking club metronome along with new yorkers the beasties & locals colin clary & the magogs and missy bly. at midnight help celebrate davids birthday!

on saturday or bastille day, my new project the le duo (sextet) debuts at kriya studio with negative body (also debuting) a snake in the garden & hello shark. the (sextet) features former and current members of nest material, "party star", sun circle & oak and should be a lot of fun.


pick berries this weekend.

labor (not) ready?

as many of you may know, i have been struggling for the last 8 weeks or so to find a job. the nest egg i received after leaving my last job didnt last as long as i hoped, thanks in part to the op and asiana house (and my own stupidity) well, today i decided to look into labor ready, the work today, get paid today temp place next to the o.n.e variety store on n. winooski ave. i went in and asked the lady how it works. its easy she says. two forms of i.d, pass the tescor integrity and behavioral test, and then show up at 5.30am when you're available to work. simple.

the test involved reading simple questions and then entering your answers on to a key pad that looked like a credit card machine. some sample questions:

in the last month have you done these illegal street drugs- meth, ice, crank, crack, coke, uppers, downers, poppers, mdma, etc?

1. always
2. sometimes
3. rarely
4. never

and

you feel its appropriate to hit some one who has angered you.

1. always
2. sometimes
3. rarely
4. never

a third of the questions were about drugs, a third fighting at work, and a third stealing from your employer. i answered the questions truthfully. no, i never fight at work. no i dont show up to work under the influence of drugs. the test took me about 8 minutes. after i was finished the lady said 'takes just a minute for the results.' i stood there wondering how awesomely i had done. man i aced this motherfucker i said to myself. then the lady turns to me and says, 'sorry, you are unqualified to work here. try back in one year.'

holy fucking christ

i stood there for about 5 seconds thinking this slack jawed bitch must be joking with me but no.

egad!

so, to wrap this story up, i passed an incredibly comprehensive background check to work for the fucking department of homeland security but i wasnt qualified enough to work at labor ready where crack heads & ex-cons clean shit out of toilets.

rock & roll

hey there music fans. the cripples brand new cd, who's title i'm not sure of, was debuted this after noon on dj spofford's show on wruv 90.1 the better alternative. download or stream it here. after you hear it i'm sure you're gonna want to see their cd-release show on the 28th at higher ground. tickets are available now from any member of the band. they have to sell some before the 28th so if anyone is interested contact them through their myspace page or drop me a line & i can connect you with them. ok enjoy.

cherry soda & a pickle

han bennink was fantastic- i'm not going to do a play by play review because i suck at 'em, but lets just say the show started with han's drum kit covered with cardboard boxes which of course had to be bashed away & anthony coleman went right to work preparing his piano with duct tape & weird glass objects (maybe ashtrays, couldnt really tell) they played with more joy & creativity then any show i've seen in recent memory. being able to clearly love what you do after 40+ years in the biz is amazing.

we went to the famous schwartz's hebrew delicatessen for montreal smoked meat sandwiches- it was my first time & i loved it. such a simple meal but delicious- a great historic place to eat in montreal.

in local music news, tick tick has shows tonight tomorrow & saturday- saturdays show at kriya studio featuring casiotone for the painfully alone, the donkeys, & burlingtons own nintendo rockin' geeks the moon bank. also on saturday, magic sparkle & many mental mistakes play an early show at radio bean. sevendays says 5pm, johnny told me 7pm. who knows? the cave bee's & neil cleary at the monkey on friday. sounds like a great weekend of music! enjoy...

bennink in montreal

tomorrow jay (spitting out teeth) and I are going to the festival international de jazz de montreal to see han bennink, a dutch drummer who is quickly becoming one of my favorite musician. I used to try to get to montreal jazz fest every year- but its been probably 4 years since i've made it. the first time was an accident, i went up with my brother and some of his friends to see edgefest, which was a rock fest featuring collective soul, our lady peace, and the tea party (you stay silent, knowing, always in time- see how this love stays divine) but there was awesome street jazz everywhere and rush was playing at the spectrum and i stood in front listening to a good 10 minutes of neil pearts drum solo in awe (i was 16)

but i digress

han bennink is playing in a duet with the pianist anthony coleman, whom allmusic.com describes as '(a) talented standout of the avant-garde and klezmer-oriented jazz coming out of N.Y.C.'s downtown throughout the '80s and '90s" it should be an awesome show!

hopefully I'll see everyone tonight at the superfun place...bring beer, hoola hoops, and squirt guns.

JB

what happened, really?

so bush pardoned scooter libby. blah blah blah. is anyone really surprised? the part that really pisses me off is that MY nickname used to be scooter. it fell out of vogue probably 20 years ago and the last person to regularly call me that, my uncle vinnie, died last summer (rip)

july 4th is close- even if you dont want to celebrate 'u.s independence day' you should still go to a bbq because lots of shit happened this day including the death of bob ross or as jez & mark call him, god.

reminder from ben about this show: "reminder to bring your own drinks to the show and maybe make one of them a sparks. cause its goin late.
oak 10:15 - ryan power 11 - dynasty 12 - more powers 12:45 - cripples 1:15
approx...

i've caught some slack lately from some of my long time readers about not having anything personal or non music related on the blog anymore. just where bands are playing & shit. i told them i was trying to make up for burlingtons lack of casey rae-hunter. but you want personal? ok, the transmission on my kia died yesterday, ruining what was shaping up to be a lovely ride to carmel, ny to look at bernese mountain dogs with tanner and jenny. we were saved by a 16 year old girl and a 6'10" behemoth named andrew. read about it here.