Chapstick

And so the journey continues! Writing now, in the battle tried and true, from Bloomington, Indiana, where I’m learning how to save lives. Not the ordinary kind of life saving, but the basic kind, offered exclusively to anyone willing to sit through 14 consecutive days of 8 hour lectures, and end up on the other side knowing how to deliver babies, what an Epi-pen is, and of course, with a state licensure for an EMT-B (one step above a CPR certified individual).

Contrary to popular belief, this certification actually makes you smarter and more qualified than a physician to deliver lifesaving efforts. It’s true, the lectures of this class definitely make a clear argument that a two-week EMT certification course, although a pain in the ass, actually makes a person “the most valuable person in a community, valued more than doctors, nurses, attorneys, and teachers.” That’s right! MVP baby!

On a personal note, I’m going to wait for my first save to get that EMT tattoo on my arm. I’m very nervous about doing CPR for the first time, but I’m ready to get someone to the hospital in a flurry of lights and scraping metal.

Anyway…what’s in store for some great music? I’ve got some new groups chiming around between the headphone earpieces, and, without further ado….

Among the more curious twists of fates is my crossing of paths with one Sam McCutcheon of Dublin in the last weeks. He instantly promoted a band (which, I believe is the case where he has played on recordings, but is not officially a member), The Laundry Shop (www.myspace.com/thelaundryshop).

Now, before we get to reviewing their Altoid-like album (curiously strong, duh), it should be noted that Dublin, as far as I have observed, is serving as an extemporaneous Eden for a Genesis of great music. Hold on Austin, Louisville, Minneapolis, and Seattle! Dublin has some things appearing out of nowhere, much as a result of their thriving live performance scene, as well as the personal dedication some people are showing to their own productions. I’m going to do something out of the ordinary here and…post some videos!?

Now for The Laundry Shop. Their influences, immediately clear, stem from the strong London and UK rhythmic punk as seen with Bloc Party and what very similar to She Wants Revenge. Thoughtful lyrics and up-tempo guitar sections reminding me in bursts of Silversun Pickups and The May Fire.
If this band, and the others to follow, speak to the uprising of the Dublin bar scene, great! Fantastic! It seems that there exists an even more pressing reason for me to scurry on over to Dublin. It probably falls into the category of things I shouldn’t be surprised about, but I didn’t see a bunch of great music coming out of Dublin. Eyes open, people!

You probably already bought this album, so, ironically, that speaks to the necessity of it being placed here is in case you haven’t. Layered, effected guitars, over an iron-clad backbone of drums and bass complement one of the most compelling, original voices currently in rock. And, amazingly, they don’t stray far from that genre’s center. Bands out there: this is something to strive for. Listeners out there: take notes on how a great band can take a minimalist approach, disregard danceability and pop appeal, and release a meaningful, complete album.

And the return! Brush off your doldrums! MCAT complete, I’ve escaped to recover my sanity away from the testing…the testing…o! the testing!

In the meantime, your thirsts have not gone unnoticed, your raspy breath, dilated eyes, and salty torsos! Here is the interstellar burst. Here is the whining sound of a thousand cicadas! More bitesize, less regular, equally endeavoring, arguably thoughtful, aggravatingly untimed, inevitably weekly-ish, and good for your lips!

Let’s open this up! I need some contributors. I’ll do whatever it takes (aside from paying you cash), as in I’ll help you line up interviews, get passes for shows, edit, find photos. You want to submit a mix, that’s great! You want to submit an article? Even better! You want to just Email me and say something like, “Hey dude, you missed the release of this album, dummy.” That’s fine. Just send it on. This thing doesn’t write itself, harharhar!

Oo-de-lally! Oo-de-lally! The Chapstick Weekly Launch Party was superfab, and I thought I’d say a few things about it!

First off, on the monitors during the evening were two videos:
First, the Disney animated Robin Hood, probably the greatest Disney movie ever (I can see a top five really of greatest evers, also including Winnie the Pooh, Fantasia, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan…but we should all go ahead and agree that Robin Hood takes the Gold - I mean, check out legendary singer/songwriter Roger Miller as the Rooster).

Second Powaqqatsi, presented by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas. It’s basically a collection of great clips that are supposed to show “Life in Transition” aka the effects of modernization on 3rd world developing cultures.

Second off:
The model and makeup design was done by Katie Jones at Savvy Salon. If you didn’t see it, you missed out. You can see some more of her work at the upcoming Oranje. Definitely worth your while, even if your interest in fashion and style is circumstantial.

Third off:
I’d love to get some input about future parties. What do you think?

And! Then! There comes a time when it’s time to say thanks. So here it is, short and sassy (or concise and clear if we want to do professional, resume-sounding terms).

Thanks to you, Katie Jones, for being the most amazing, remarkable person I have ever known! It was a pleasure to have your involvement in this event, and I can’t tell you thanks enough for all your support and help! Gracias! Gracias! De nada!

Thanks to you, Clay Reinken, for getting the design aspect of the site looking like it’s a real site and not something that I did.

Thanks to you, Alex Jimenez, for running for Mayor in 2011.

Thanks to you, Patrick McNellie, for helping me out in the many small areas you did.

Thanks to you, beer people, for donating beer!

Thanks to all of you, for helping to make my event a success. Hope to see you at the next one!

MF! The party is upon us, as suddenly as a 30 degree weather shift in Indiana! An electric feeling, from the depth of my tarsals to the tingling ends of my carpals, is reverberating through my body. I hear a maniac, purple-hatted Gene Wilder shouting/singing something over the storm! It’s kind of like this:

There’s no earthly way of knowing
Which direction we are going!
There’s no knowing where we’re rowing
Or which way the river’s flowing!
Is it raining?
Is it snowing?
Is a hurricane a-blowing?
Not a speck of light is showing,
So the danger must be growing.
Are the fires of hell a-glowing?
Is the grisly reaper mowing?
Yes, the danger must be growing
‘Cause the rowers keep on rowing
And they’re certainly not showing
Any signs that they are slowing!

STOP THE BOAT! Savvy Salon on the BRAVE (BroadRipple Avenue) will be momentarily become an outrageous oasis to the desert of style and good music typically found in Broad Ripple on Saturday nights (in fact, probably found in most major cities….).

Editors Note: Savvy Salon could always be considered this Oasis.

There will be drinks and dancing, wanderings and wonderment, and great music all night! Pull up your socks, jump of your boat docks, and be ready to rock! I’m going to karate chop a panther, I’ve done it before!

See you there, we couldn’t do it without your imagination and shaking booties! After all, We are the Music Makers, we are the Dreamers of Dreams.

It is safe to say that the best beers in the world come from Belgium. Before the goose-steppers ran amuck, Belgium boasted more than 3000 breweries, today that figure is around 100. Even American breweries have taken notice and started to reproduce and play around with traditional Belgian beer recipes.

Allagash brewery from Portland, Maine has emerged as one of the leading American breweries producing authentic Belgian style beers. They serve up a plethora of different and creative beers, ranging from under $10 to nearly $20 a bottle. For this article, I recommend sampling their Triple Reserve. Allagash’s Triple Reserve is a bench mark upon which most other triples can and should be measured against. Their Triple has a high carbonation (I imagine it is what fizzy lifting drink feels like on one’s tongue), and a cloudy, golden, almost honey coloration. As in the nature of Belgian-style beers, you will immediately notice a quickly-fading, not overly-sweet taste to it.

With a price tag of $7.92 at the ghetto shop down the street, it is reasonably priced (for one 750mL bottle, so the size of two large pints), and it packs a punch at 9% alcohol. If you’re not in the know, please pour your Belgian style beers into a rounded bottom glass (think brandy glass, goblet, large wine glass, etc), and if you don’t have one of those, just use any glass you got.

For Tony the Yodeling Shetland Pony’s sanity, please do not be a philistine and drink it out of the bottle, you will be like a child clown without shoes! Have you ever seen one? It’s disgusting!

Music and umbrellas set the scene on the front deck of Taste Cafe in SoBro (South Broad Ripple)! Cool off with a cool lunch with the many gourmet salads to choose from. (Esp. our savvy favorite: beet salad, tortellini salad, and curry chicken topped off with a quenching tea/lemonade beverage. Numbingly deliciosa!

Speaking of taste, check out the Ronson genes! Charlotte Ronson, sister of music maestro Mark Ronson, has a remarkable clothing line that found now at Urban Outfitters! From high-waisted sailor shorts to stacked sandals, this line is a savvy favorite!

ps. Duh! “Electric Feel” by MGMT is totally beaching!
pps. Savvy is proud to launch “what’s next” in hair care, by Sebastian. www.sebastianprofessional.com

Moments before a figure emerges from a thick fog, the cloud-wall moves, jerked in currents and streams by the sudden approach of something travelling at a great speed. Something massive. Something danceable, intangible!

(It’s going to be the best album ever…I can’t wait.)

The figure, the awoken (or sleepless) beast that is the new Beck album, has not only begun to stir, but is barreling forward at a breakneck pace. I had the intense pleasure of pre-viewing his new tracks over the weekend (you can too, if you foolishly don’t want to download it yet – beck.com), and if I hadn’t already pre-ordered this album, I would get it right now. As in, F you, I can’t wait for this album.

Driving, 60’s teeny-pop drumlines electrified by Danger Mouse (Yeah, that guy from Gnarls Barkley and Gorillaz) provides buoyancy for layers of bouncy, heavy keys and unfiltered, unabashed guitar licks. Where Danger Mouse ends and Beck begins is hard to say, and their natural fusion is apparent on this effort.

OMG! I can’t waaaaiiit.

Seriously let’s get so serious for a moment. Seriously. Metaphors aside, Beck has a stethoscope that hear music’s sublime beating heart and breathing lungs. I’ve seen it.

Let’s abstain from using words like “re-invent” and “experimental” from describing every new Beck album. He moves more subtly through the shifting tides of music’s capabilities, creating his only consistency through his continuing, adaptive ability to find synthesis in all things that are beautiful (something that Lao Tzu could only call succeeding).