i've moved...

please redirect yourself to aaronsawyer.com to get the "latest"....

ladies and gentlemen, the unthinkable has happened...

Yes, it's true, the unthinkable has happened, my free webspace so generously hosted by UK has seemed to vanish into the thin airs of the world wide web. What this means to you, or in normal people speak, most of the links to songs are dead, officially six.feet.under. So you must hold tightly until I can find some more space, or a new pad to host my fun "blog parties"...okay I have found myself drifting, back.on.topic. (is there ever a topic, alright, back onto the stream of conscious...who's a what's it...)

I'm writing to you from a little thing we call Walt Disney World killing time before I journey to France, England, Morocco, Norway, Germany, China and other spots of the world, well, let's reduce my world travels to a little place called the Experimental Planned Community of Tomorrow, no I'm not joining a cult, just heading to EPCOT.

IN OTHER NEWS:

• Franz Ferdinand are reporting that they have nearly 12-14 songs in the pocket and are supposedly heading back to the studio shortly after their release of You Could Have It So Much Better.


• In what looks like an act of protest to those blaspheming folks at MTV and VH1, DCFC, are apparently releasing a video for every track on their new record, Plans (...so I made that whole blaspheming part up, but hey, if the shoe fits...)


• Travis is back in the studio recording a follow up to 12 Memories, with producer Nigel Godrich whom you might recognize as the producer of The Man Who and The Invisible Band. Following the trend of nearly every major recording act they are chronicling this recording process in a series of online journals on their website.


• The ever litigation happy Fab Four are back at again, this time their target, EMI. As if they couldn't collectively go out and buy Africa they feel compelled to sue EMI for over $50M clams. Has Yoko's crack habit really gotten that bad??

further proof that myspace is the next major world religion

See for yourself... Who has the time for this anyways??

my space or your space...

If you are reading this blog, and by putting these words together in your mind to form sentances, you are indeed reading this blog, then you know about MySpace and its uncanny ability to suck people into is HTML black hole and judge the caliber of person they are by the amount of friends and comments they have on their profile. Oh how fragile life is...

Despite being a black hole of wasted time and self-worth (and latest marketing craze, MySpace has created a great way for unsigned acts to get their music to the masses across the globe and this post is going to be some of my top pics of MySpace meglomaniac.

For several months, Matt over at You Ain't No Picasso, has raved about Locksley, and frankly I wouldn't have heard of this Brooklyn gem if it hadn't been for him. Deliever powerful, British Invasion Era pop, these guys have made a name for themselves in the NYC club scene. Listening to these guys will remind you of early Beatles (think Meet the Beatles or Beatles for Sale) or The Kinks, right down to the matching suits. From the abundance of "hook-y-ness" to the vibrant harmonies, Locksley is a band you need to be introduced to. Check out their MySpace page to download four songs from their first EP.

Friends, sometimes you just want to kiss them on the mouth for letting you in on acts like Castledoor. I owe this one to my good pal, Alex. Castledoor is California indie whatever, yes indie whatever, not quite electronic not quite rock but not alternative or pop or mainstream, thus indie whatever (aside from music snob I'm now a genre creator). With amazing programming and engaging soundscapes, Castledoor can be reminiscent of the Postal Servie or Styrofoam at times and voice that hints of early Alex Greenwald (of Phantom Planet) but with a sound all to their own. Originally a duo they have now expanded to a trio consisting of Gabe Combs, Nate Cole, and Adam Breeden. Interestingly enough, the only place you can find these guys is on MySpace, so make your way over to their MySpace page where you can download a three song EP/demo.

Next time look for a spotlight of some of my Belmont U. buddies that have their music up on MySpace.

In other news, another REUNION!! Why are all my favorite bands of my adolescence getting back together, one would assume that this would be a joyous occasion but let me remind you of the crime of the Green Album by Weezer... Thanks to Reese on this find.

there is a puddle by my computer...

Consider yourself warned....

doveman.

doveman plays lamp rock
doveman plays insomnia pop
doveman likes jasmine tea and single malt scotch
doveman does not live in brooklyn
where is brooklyn?

Alright, if you can understand that please let me know because it still confuses me. Well except for that Brooklyn part because on the first couple listens you might think that doveman was a roomate of Sufjan's during the recording of Seven Swans. Doveman is laid back folk/jazz/acoustic...ok let's just say that doveman is mellow, the perfect thing to compliment a cool night at home dedicated to relaxing and doing whatever you do when you throw on mellow music. The music can be reminiscent of Sufjan's at times (I would say due to the use of the banjo as more of an acousitc guitar) but the voice definately reminds me of Belle and Sebastian, it just sounds foreign at times. Silent Uproar has a great review of their album The Acrobat up on their site. Their website has two MP3's from The Acrobat up for download along with some life cuts and their Steffani Birthday EP. But for you here's some music anyways...

MP3:
Doveman - Honey
Doveman - Teacup

Kevin Max and Mikeschair @ Exit/In October 23rd

Last night was surely a milestone in my life, not really a "milestone" in the sense like a giant monolith that appears due to an event in your personal history but more like a "yardstone"; I could relate it to you like an 8-year old boy finding a geode in his backyard.

It was the first truly cold night in Nashville this fall and I had just returned home from Chitown a mere 4 hours earlier from seeing the bless'd Whitesox clean up in the World Series game one against the Houston Astros. It had been a struggle to get back in time but I had to get back in town to see this show. My roomates' band, mikeschair, was opening for Kevin Max, 1/3 of the Christian super-group DC Talk. This was huge to me as DC Talk's albums like, Free At Last, JESUS FREAK, and Supernatural were staples in my musical upbringing. I can look you in the eye and say that band and those albums were direct segways to me getting into the bands I love today like Radiohead, U2, Indie Rock and serveral others. The last time I saw DC Talk, well for this entry's purpose, Kevin Max was in either late 97 or early 98 during their Supernatural Tour at Freedom Hall in Louisville. Needless to say it had been a while since my last experiance with any member of the former poster boys of Contemporary Christian Music. It was a tad surreal for me to see Kevin Max in a small club with a capacity of approximately 500 when the past three times I saw him were in venues that could seat in the five digits.

The show started an hour later than it was supposed to (I would know, the fruits of my labor happened to be the concert poster) which translated to the audience waiting outside in the cold an hour longer than we were supposed to, oh well, it could've been like the Sufjan show where we waited outside for over two hours to get into the venue. After we got in Exit/In the show started promptly with a great set from mikeschair, where they tore through their standards like "Be Hear Now", "Awaken Me", "Free", and the new Mute Math inspired "Otherside". Being a Nashville based band they brought a good crowd to the show and had great presence for their first appearance at the famed Exit/In. If you're into CCM consider yourself warned, these boys are about to become a household name (...so I felt a bit obligated to say that seeing that three of them are my roomates).

KMax's set followed a prompt 20 mintues later, I thought it'd be a lot longer set change based on the hour doors delay precedent, but started off with a rather rockin' number known as "Confessional Booth" (or at least that's what I remember it opened with...where was my notepad when I needed it). The set lasted a little over an hour, he played most of the songs off his new record and a couple off his old, he popped out "Your Beautiful Mind" for the token mid show acoustic set and closed with an acoustic song which I can't remember backed by the guitarist for The Violet Burning.

I walked out really impressed by the show, through all the years/albums/live shows, Kevin's voice has really stood the test of time and don't worry he still has the Leslie Cabinet firmly placed between the vocal chords for Elvis like vibrato. He seemed a bit awkward on the stage at times, often singing with one hand tucked firmly in his blazer pocket but that could be for several reasons, it was a CD Release party, a triumphat return to Nashville with a new outlook on life and new material, and it was a club show, a far cry from the venues of yesteryear. It was a throroughly good rock show with great musicianship and quality songs.

KMax was performing songs off his new release, The Imposter, out now on Northern Records. It's more of a rock 'n' roll effort than his last release which was just a little more weird. Throughout the record you find elements of the new wave renaissance in the backing programming and synths in tracks like "Confessional Booth" and "The Imposter" but there's also a major riff rock song in "The Royal Path of Life". The Imposter has a very spiritual feel to it, as is to be expected from an old CCM artist, but on listening to this record a couple times it's a very honest spiritual vibe. Growing up, I was weened on Christian rock, acts like Audio Adrenaline, Hoi Polloi, Dakota Motor Co., Black Eyed Sceva, Bleach, the classics...and after looking back on this and listening to the records again you get the sense that a lot of these songs lyrically seemed forced or canned so they can still fit in the scope of mainstream Christian rock. In "The Imposter", Kevin is very poetic about his journey struggle with spirituality when he realizes that the imposter in his faith is actually him. At the helm of this project was Andrew Prickett (of Violet Burning) who along with producer played the roles of guitar, keys and keyboarding. He did a great job of straight up bringing the rock on this record but still spotlighting the out and out talent that KMax possesses in "manley vox box". From "Confessional Booth" to "Fade To Red" you can truley tell that while Toby Mac might have been the marketting genius behind DC Talk, Kevin Max was definately the voice that defined them.

MP3:
Kevin Max - Sanctuary
Kevin Max - Confessional Booth

Post Script: Be sure to check out the post below, cause yeah, it's definately been two posts in one night...oh baby, I'm back!

tales of handsome blokes and dashing dames...

So the title of this post has nothing to do with the content you are reading and hopefully will continue to read but as I ponder words I will fill this page with and that expanse known as the title bar stars back at me feeling ever so deprived and I fill it in with the wittiest most clever comment I can think of in 30 seconds. Run on sentance I know, Mrs. Samples be damned... Alright onto what is important. According Silent Uproar, Keane's November 8th follow up to Hopes and Dreams, Strangers, will include "...a 2-disc DVD set featuring a documentary about the band, backstage footage, live concert footage, and exclusive practice space footage..." They also have a review of My Morning Jacket's new album and The Beatle's This Bird Has Flown... Tribute.

I was flying from Chicago to Louisville yesterday and I had managed to forget my headphones to my iPod so it was looking to be a quiet flight, in lieu of this I made my way to Hudson News to scope out the books, which happened to be way overpriced (Thanks Amazon for making me a true ebenezer), then I wandered over to the periodical section sifting through the women's interest and porn, I found the latest issue of Rolling Stone. To my amusement Bono was gracing the cover of this issue, it happened to be the 12th time he has had this honor. The contents of this issue centered around "the interview" with Bono, I kind of brushed it off as just a 2 or 3 page spread but decided to purchase this publication despite my gut feeling. As I made my way onto Southwest Flight 412 I became pleastenly surprised that 2-3 pages was only the tip of the iceburg on this large interview. It was an amazing interview where Bono let down his guard and discussed his childhood, faith, politics and music. You might now like U2 and you might think Bono is a nut or maybe even the antichrist but he surely is a good leader for the college aged of this generation who encourages us to get off our posteriors and get involved not just in our community but in the world. You should definately pick up this issue and check out the interview or go here to read a snippet of it and even download a podcast: Bono Interview.