Take a listen, but try not to let this get to you like it did me.

Tonight Tonight

19 songs represented here, at least 1/4 of them are from 2009.

 
This is everything I hate about American Pop, but I'm not quite sure why. I guess I can't believe that the English-speaking world values the immediate future as much as these songs seem to imply. It seems too easy to dismiss the similarity in these songs as simple plagiarism or laziness (although Ke$ha's performance in "Tik Tok" is already biting off of Uffie's in "Get This Party Started," so I can't give her writer much credit, either).

Now if we as a culture do fetishize the endless possibility of "the night ahead," then perhaps these songs are a perfect and beautiful reflection of the era that birthed them, in which case I'll have to come to terms with that. Is there really something about that beat, those chords, those instruments that make a composer think of all the times he's pined for a perfect end to a shitty day? Maybe it's the American belief that anything is possible, or a lifestyle of wasting away in tedious jobs, or some deep-seated tendency in our cultural genetics to place all of one's hope and expectation into a single moment, even at the risk of total devestation in the wake of its (usually inevitable) lack of realization. Maybe we listen to this music to get us back to that place that music often takes us, between heartache and joy, nostalgia and possibility. Like a drug or a meditation, depending on how you take it, this music can feed into whatever it is we get from feeling strongly, even at the expense of taste and good judgement (you know there's a club somewhere where people are all chanting the call and response from The Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feelin'", including the Hebrew).

Maybe I'm just judgmental, cynical, or soullessly pragmatic, because these songs are popular as shit. And don't take offense if you're totally into Daughtry or Train, because Jimmy Eat World has three entries in this compilation, and they're one of my favorite bands. Still, shoot me if I ever write a song obsessing about "tonight." I think I'll stick with obsessing about the past. That sounds healthy.

Did some show promotion this weekend with Vandella, on the street and on the radio - super fun!

Also got some videos from the December show:

I've never heard of this instrument before, but it's really sweet in a "don't play it at a party" kind of way.

This rocks; it reminds me of Kraftwerk's website.

Here's a little postcard treatment I added to one of our band photos. Show's comin' up! Get a free EP with your $5 ticket!

Kimo's - Vandella w/The Mission Three
September 30th, 8PM
San Francisco, CA

Stephanie thinks it looks like a dooshy (douchey?) Nickelback poster, and I guess I know what she means.

Solvent got Best Music, baby! Also Best Cinematography and lots of compliments from the judges (though not much from the contestants).

"Solvent," our 48-hr train wreck of good intentions, was nominated for 6 awards in the contest/festival: Best Film, Directing, Writing, Music, Editing, and Graphics. You may remember the aftermath of that project, which was a clusterfuck of ditched footage and cobbled together voiceover. Like the majestic phoenix, this project was burned to the ground to form something that, in the eyes of some beholders, is beautiful. It's a bit baffling, because "Solvent" really is a pretty incoherent video, but as there is obviously no accounting for taste, there's something to be said for style without substance, at least if you're trying to win awards.

I've been playing with a new band for the last couple months, and we just finished recording an EP. The release show is September 30th at Kimo's in downtown SF. No word on the rest of the bill, but it should be a night with a lot of good music. Here are a couple songs from the CD:

Spring
Handful of Miles

These are the band names I'm reserving the exclusive right to use in the future:

Trailer Park Bingo
President D and the Gumshoes
Laphy Taphy
Mealy McGee and the Ramshackle Bandits
Raptor Tractor
Hey, That's My Cheese
Bill Trist and the Sloots
Macrame, Bitches
Radiohead

Should any suchly-named band start making money off of my awesome creative prowess, then I expect to get some free shit.

Great show, shitty recording.

Sons and Daughters