Happy Birthday, Syd. Shine On Wherever You Are

HAPPY CHRISTMAS 2010 FROM BARRETT & GAB

HAPPY CHRISTMAS 2010 FROM BARRETT & GAB
Originally uploaded by Iburiedpaul

Captain Beefheart's 10 Commandments of Guitar Playing

1. Listen to the birds. 


That's where all the music comes from. Birds know everything about how it should sound and where that sound should come from. And watch hummingbirds. They fly really fast, but a lot of times they aren't going anywhere.

2. Your guitar is not really a guitar Your guitar is a divining rod. 


Use it to find spirits in the other world and bring them over. A guitar is also a fishing rod. If you're good, you'll land a big one.

3. Practice in front of a bush 


Wait until the moon is out, then go outside, eat a multi-grained bread and play your guitar to a bush. If the bush dosen't shake, eat another piece of bread.

4. Walk with the devil 


Old Delta blues players referred to guitar amplifiers as the "devil box." And they were right. You have to be an equal opportunity employer in terms of who you're bringing over from the other side. Electricity attracts devils and demons. Other instruments attract other spirits. An acoustic guitar attracts Casper. A mandolin attracts Wendy. But an electric guitar attracts Beelzebub.

5. If you're guilty of thinking, you're out 


If your brain is part of the process, you're missing it. You should play like a drowning man, struggling to reach shore. If you can trap that feeling, then you have something that is fur bearing.

6. Never point your guitar at anyone 


Your instrument has more clout than lightning. Just hit a big chord then run outside to hear it. But make sure you are not standing in an open field.

7. Always carry a church key 


That's your key-man clause. Like One String Sam. He's one. He was a Detroit street musician who played in the fifties on a homemade instrument. His song "I Need a Hundred Dollars" is warm pie. Another key to the church is Hubert Sumlin, Howlin' Wolf's guitar player. He just stands there like the Statue of Liberty-making you want to look up her dress the whole time to see how he's doing it.

8. Don't wipe the sweat off your instrument 


You need that stink on there. Then you have to get that stink onto your music.

9. Keep your guitar in a dark place


When you're not playing your guitar, cover it and keep it in a dark place. If you don't play your guitar for more than a day, be sure you put a saucer of water in with it.

10. You gotta have a hood for your engine 


Keep that hat on. A hat is a pressure cooker. If you have a roof on your house, the hot air can't escape. Even a lima bean has to have a piece of wet paper around it to make it grow.

via WFMU

An appreciation by Marc Masters

The Frozen Tennis Courts of Darien

Snow Covered Tennis Courts
Originally uploaded by derickcarss

I was once a young man here,
under different stars.

stone walls crisscross bare December woods
the industry of long-departed hands
dividing fields
creating boundaries
rendered meaningless over time.

centuries of toil
culminate in an inflatable plastic snowman.

Fourteenth Street Bus Barn Owls

the 14th street bus barn owls are: johnathan r. on drums, emily m. on flute and rhodes, gabriela s. (stereogab) on theremin and kaoss pad, and yours truly (Iburiedpaul) on guitar. the songs were recorded live one night in late October in a practice space across from an old trolley barn which is now a bus barn.

Bus Barn Owls - Storm Night by Iburiedpaul

Bus Barn Owls - Superstar by Iburiedpaul

Bus Barn Owls - Suburban Jungle by Iburiedpaul

Grin and Bear It

Grin and Bear It
Originally uploaded by Iburiedpaul

Blues for Matt

Matthew Reid Gauker

Two songs from my cousin Matt who died last week.

When I was 14, Matt gave me a copy of "Loaded" by the Velvet Underground. I'd never heard anything so good. He changed my life.

The Terrascope Reviews The Rrreverberationsss!!!

For many years I've been an avid reader of The Ptolemaic Terrascope, a zine (now online) dedicated to psychedelic music both old and new. So I'm very excited to read this review of The Rrreverberationsss in their August Rumbles column:

The self-titled disk of freeform psychedelic jams by The Rrreverberationsss is an EP of four tracks recorded live in classic drums, bass and wailing guitars mode. The playing is great, the band noisy and freaked out, the atmosphere strong. The first cut 'Black Friday Gas Chamber' is short and heavy, while the second, 'Nothing Ever Felt So Real,' is a little slower with dual guitars and trippy vocals, ending in a kind of lurching hyper-jam. 'Green Fuzz,' a brief third track of stoner proportions, interjects itself before 'Heavy Snow,' the closing eleven minute cut of slow, dense jamming. A band with potential for sure, with hints of Hawkwind, Litmus and Astra in the mix.

Sioux City Blues

This one's for you, Bob

Just learned that my friend Bob Isleman died last week. I had many good times in Chicago with Bob. He was a huge jazz fan with immense knowledge of jazz from the early 20th century. He turned me on to King Oliver, Mugsy Spanier, Mezz Mezzrow, and his alltime idol Sidney Bechet.

Bob Dylan 1966

Excerpts from a 1966 Playboy interview of Bob Dylan
PLAYBOY: "Mistake or not, what made you decide to go the rock-'n'-roll route?

DYLAN: "Carelessness. I lost my one true love. I started drinking. The first thing I know, I'm in a card game. Then I'm in a crap game. I wake up in a pool hall. Then this big Mexican lady drags me off the table, takes me to Philadelphia. She leaves me alone in her house, and it burns down. I wind up in Phoenix. I get a job as a Chinaman. I start working in a dime store, and move in with a 13-year-old girl. Then this big Mexican lady from Philadelphia comes in and burns the house down. I go down to Dallas. I get a job as a 'before' in a Charles Atlas 'before and after' ad. I move in with a delivery boy who can cook fantastic chili and hot dogs. Then this 13-year-old girl from Phoenix comes and burns the house down. The delivery boy - he ain't so mild: He gives her the knife, and the next thing I know I'm in Omaha. It's so cold there, by this time I'm robbing my own bicycles and frying my own fish. I stumble onto some luck and get a job as a carburetor out at the hot-rod races every Thursday night. I move in with a high school teacher who also does a little plumbing on the side, who ain't much to look at, but who's built a special kind of refrigerator that can turn newspaper into lettuce. Everything's going good until that delivery boy shows up and tries to knife me. Needless to say, he burned the house down, and I hit the road. The first guy that picked me up asked me if I wanted to be a star. What could I say?"

Who Lived In This House?

From Boyd's Directory of the District of Columbia:

1887 Charles Morrison, clerk and John H. Martin, porter.
1892 John Martin, laborer.
1903 Charles R. Martin, porter, and Della Martin, washer.
1908 Charles Martin, laborer

Father

On a Tower in Vermont
Originally uploaded by Iburiedpaul

We climbed mountains together.

Rest in peace.

Show This Saturday

3 Minutes of My Childhood

Nice Breeze

Nice Breeze - Lose it in the Sun by Iburiedpaul

More River Sessions

River Sessions

One song from the session

the entire session

The River Sessions from Barrett Jones on Vimeo.

You Are Beautiful

Life is Beautiful
Originally uploaded by Iburiedpaul

quote of the day

Happy people don’t create anything. I find creation hinges on being well-fucked-up.
Joe Strummer

Goldman Sachs = Gold In Sacks

Gold In Sacks
Originally uploaded by Iburiedpaul

Robber barons

Amazing Street Drummer in NYC

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Rrreverberationsss

Released today on the awesome 267 lattajjaa label, my latest musical project: The Rrreverberationsss

Recorded November 2009 in Austin, Texas
Gunnar Hedman - guitar, synth, vibes
Ian Hedman - drums
Barrett Jones - guitar, vocals
Dave Junker - bass, guitar
Gabriela Schneider - synth

You can order it here

Shadow Carousel

April 2010 Drones Club video

Boxer Girl

FUNK THE WAR!

I Miss You

White Mountains, New Hampshire
Originally uploaded by Iburiedpaul

March 2010 Drones Club

Rooting DC

Food Not Bombs

February Drones Club Video

Our Garden: The Video

Barb and Dave's (White) Wedding

Barb and Dave's Wedding
Originally uploaded by Iburiedpaul

January Drones Club Video

I just pooped a lil bit

Graffiti at Takoma Metro Stop
Originally uploaded by Iburiedpaul

graffiti on an ad for Metro drivers, Takoma Metro platform

The Birds

Life is Short

This is a painting by Laurence Pignarre Wyllie. I got to know her and her husband Andy through our mutual friend Hackmuth. They had some fun parties in their little run-down row house near N &13th St. NW. She and Andy were part of a scene of ex-Peace Corps people enjoying a last summer of slacking on their way to a State Department career.

I remember attending a couple of openings at galleries where she showed her paintings. She painted big, moody pictures, a contrast to her petite stature and wide smile. I think she was born in Paris. She spoke English with a thick French accent.

Andy's State Department job soon had them moving to Africa. At the going-away party they threw at their house, everyone came to say goodbye. I remember Laurence reclining on a blanket in the backyard. She was pregnant, smiling, having a good time. That must be six years ago now.

Yesterday I learned that she and her two sons are among the missing in Haiti.

My heart goes out to Andy. To lose the ones you love is a terrible thing.

UPDATE 1/21

via a Facebook comment dated 1/18:

Andy Wyllie is now in San Domigue with is brother and Father.
They will go to Haiti in a few days to get the bodies.

life in a time of zeros and ones

011110

Girard Children's Community Garden

WE ARE ART

Takoma Metro
Originally uploaded by Iburiedpaul

Four Tet : Much Love to the Plastic People

"Four Tet is giving away this incredible DJ mix."

DCFOODFORALL January Potluck

Rip Off City

via email:

Concert Fans Beware!

There’s a train wreck about to happen and consumer groups say YOU will be the victim if the two most powerful corporate interests in the live concert business get their way. But you can help stop the merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation. The government needs to hear from music fans now. Tell the Department of Justice that you’re against these monopolies amassing illegal power over consumers, before it’s too late. antitrust.complaints@usdoj.gov

As a concertgoer you have already felt the pain, and if Ticketmaster and Live Nation get their way, it’ll get worse. In the last 12 years, since Live Nation and its predecessor started its widespread takeover of the concert industry, concert ticket prices have shot up 82% while the consumer price index has gone up just 17%*. We are concerned that if the two concert industry behemoths, Live Nation and Ticketmaster, are permitted to merge, the variety and quality of artists coming to local venues will be affected, and your costs could rise further and faster.

Five of the nation’s most prominent public interest groups called on the Department of Justice to block the proposed merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation:

“Consumers deserve a fair deal in the entertainment marketplace, not the fewer choices and higher prices that would result from this merger,” said Susan Grant, Director of Consumer Protection at Consumer Federation of America

“This merger is an insult to both musicians and consumers,” said James Love, Director of Knowledge Ecology International

“We cannot envision a remedy that would ease this chilling impediment to competition… In the absence of other effective, expeditious remedies, the proposed transaction should be prohibited.” American Antitrust Institute White Paper

As described by Senator Herb Kohl (WI) in the House Antitrust hearing, “This merger will not only expand Ticketmaster’s control of the ticketing market by eliminating a competitor, but it is also creating an entity that will control the entire chain of the concert business – from artist management to concert promotion and production to ticketing and ticket resale.”

“This merger would be a disaster for consumers. Nothing short of blocking this takeover of the ticket market by two industry behemoths will be acceptable,” said National Consumers League Executive Director Sally Greenberg

“As president, I will direct my administration to reinvigorate antitrust enforcement. I will step up review of merger activity and take effective action to stop or restructure those mergers that are likely to harm consumer welfare…,” said Senator Barack Obama when he was campaigning for the presidency.

If you agree with the consumer groups and lawmakers, make a difference and LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD NOW.

Send a message to the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice telling them you support President Obama’s campaign promise to protect the American public from abusive monopolies.

antitrust.complaints@usdoj.gov

To learn more, check out:

ticketdisaster.org

Public Interest Groups Call on Justice Department to Block Ticketmaster/LiveNation/Comcast Merger

American Antitrust Institute's White Paper TICKETMASTER - LIVE NATION

Philadelphia Weekly’s cover story “Monopoly Rules”

Signed,

The 9:30 Club, I.M.P., Merriweather Post Pavilion, Jam Productions, Metropolitan Talent, Another Planet Entertainment, Frank Productions, Stone City Attractions, Rams Head Live, The Black Cat ... and independent concert promoters and venue operators nationwide.

*Study by Princeton University economist Alan Krueger

---

Plan B

Yet another world meeting without action on climate change.

Our leaders aren't doing their job. We look to them for action, not talk.

Maybe our leaders are working for someone else?

There are some things money can't buy. Money can't buy a new climate. It can't buy an extinct species. Or a polar ice cap. Or the water in the sea. Or the temperature of the air.

The old models won't get us out of this fix.

Consensus-driven policy has achieved nothing.

Bringing your own shopping bag to the grocery store has achieved nothing.

Denying climate change exists has achieved nothing.

What's next? Unplugging

Common Good City Farm

Snow!!

picture by stereogab

Goodnight Keith Moon

Goodnight Keith Moon

Jack Rose, R.I.P.

Gone too soon

I first heard Jack Rose in 2003 at the now-defunct 611 Florida space in Washington, D.C. The crowded room was silent for over an hour. We were all transported. After his set I talked with him briefly. He was open and funny. I remember him plunking a box of vinyl LPs of Opium Musick (his new album at the time) down on the livingroom floor, cutting the tape with a pocket knife, and selling me the record for $10.

The next time I heard him was in 2006 in Providence, RI. He played the closing set of Terrastock. Our ears (and minds) were fried after three days of incredible music, yet he held the room as he picked out waves of ringing tones. It was a transcendent moment, one that I will never forget.

"Jack was one of a handful of people I've ever saw that can take an instrument and literally go beyond - there's lots of people out there who are merely good or great, but when he really felt it and channeled it, there was something divine and transcendent in his touch. No tricks, no electric effects, just the sensation of making that perfect thing that lifted you out of this world."
Terrascope

The Water From My Tap is Brown

Washington, DC – December 7, 2009- The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC WASA) is issuing a precautionary boil water/bottled water advisory for a portion of Northwest DC, affecting approximately 750 buildings.

DC WASA experienced a loss of pressure around 12:00 noon on Monday, December 07, 2009. This resulted in a drop of water pressure in the vicinity of 16^th Street and Georgia Avenue, NW . A smaller neighborhood may have lost water pressure entirely, which could present a water quality problem.
...
Although we do not have an indication that the water system has been contaminated, as a precaution, DC WASA recommends that you boil all water before use or use bottled water. Water should be brought to a rolling boil for one minute and cooled before using. Boiled or bottled water should be used for drinking, washing dishes, brushing teeth, making ice and for food preparation.

In addition, discard any food prepared today with water after 11:00 am. When preparing foods to eat, use the drinking water alternatives listed above or cook items that do not require water. For utensils and cooking instruments, use single-use items or those that have been sanitized. Some pathogens are not killed by alcohol gels or hand sanitizers, so soap and disinfected water are specifically recommended for hand washing.

The boil water advisory will continue until further notice, when the system is thoroughly flushed and the acceptable water quality is confirmed by water testing. This process will take at least two days. Please stay current by visiting our web site at www.dcwasa.com. DC WASA is taking all necessary steps to minimize the risk of water quality problems, including the immediate flushing of all lines in the impacted neighborhood.

December Drones Club Video

Austin Psych

Religion

I always believed that I have something important to say and I said it. That’s why I survived because I still believe I’ve got something to say. My God is rock’n’roll. It’s an obscure power that can change your life. The most important part of my religion is to play guitar. Lou Reed
via Dust Congress

Taking a Look at the Lederer Youth Garden

The Lederer Youth Garden, adjacent to Marvin Gaye Park in northeast Washington, D.C., is operated by the DC Department of Parks and Recreation. The department's web page describes the garden as "an environmental resource for area youth groups, day care centers, home school students, and classroom groups...equipped with a computer lab, weather station, classroom, garden, and animals". The plot of land is large, and features an impressive greenhouse.

Last spring, the Mayor came here for a promotional event in which he was joined by the makers of Miracle-Gro to dedicate the garden. Everyone posed for a photo.

Unfortunately, since then the garden has been largely neglected. The classroom building sits unused and most of the garden is overgrown with weeds. Hundreds of bags of donated Miracle Gro now sit stacked on the side of the garden, still unopened. On the sunny October day I visited Lederer Youth Garden, the one full-time parks employee on duty sat inside playing video games.

Lederer is proof that growing a community garden takes, well, community involvement. In too many cases, that involvement seems to be missing. In the northwest quadrant of the city, the waiting list for a community garden plot is often 3 years. But in the eastern wards, there are no waiting lists. Lederer Youth Garden and others like it sit idle.

Why is that? Carl Rollins has some ideas. I talked to Carl at the garden, where, as a volunteer, he has started to clean out the weeds and plant fall crops.



Carl is a master gardener and co-president of the DC Environmental Education Consortium. He's also Farm Coordinator at Common Good City Farm.

(Posted on DCFOODFORALL )

Drones Club - November

Listen to a sample from the November Drones Club CD-R

Transformation

Transform sorrow energy to sympathy and it will bring you love.
Yoko Ono

The Great Harvest

DC Food For All Launch Party

Zombie

Drawing by Sean Yates

sun spawn

The Drones Club - October

Here is a sample from The Drones Club CD-R for October.

I need some reparation

Note from A & R

There's no way in the world any sane person would buy or want to listen or put anything behind this record
April 25, 1966 memo from Columbia Records A & R department rejecting the Velvet Underground's demo

+++++++++++++++++++

Street Manifesto

a Digger handbill from 1967

Paulson's Folly

I made this video last fall but just rediscovered it today. I made the video for a song I wrote about the economic apocalypse. It's a protest song. Still feels relevant, so I posted it.

happiness is a warm beach

happy
Originally uploaded by Iburiedpaul

life's a beach

The Power of an Audience

Lots of hype this weekend about the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. You know the line: three days of peace and music, the highwater mark of 60's counterculture, etc, etc. It was all distilled into nostalgia a long time ago and is now a boomer cliche. That said, I've always been fascinated with the event, the idea of thousands of people coming together in a field in the country, taking hallucinogens, dancing to loud music, and losing themselves in the moment. The raves of the nineties had this too. Every culture has some form of it. There's a primal need for it.

The second Woodstock concert, in 1999, went down in a spree of violence, looting, and rape. Old timers shook their heads, disappointed by the nihilistic attitude of the younger generation. But you could bring your cooler full of food and beer to Woodstock in 1969. If you brought your cooler to Woodstock 1999, it was confiscated at the gate so they could sell you $12 slices of pizza and $4 bottles of water.

The difference between 1999 (or 2009) and 1969 is the role given to the audience. In 1969 it was still possible to think of the performers, organizers, and audience as one. Everyone participating together to make it happen. By 1999, the role of the audience had evolved from participant to consumer. A participant gives their own energy to the collective experience. A consumer simply consumes. Locked together in a corporate CAFO, the alienated audience of 1999 chose nihilism. Is there any other choice?

With live music, there is an emotional loop that runs from the musicians to the audience back to the musicians. Neither the musicians nor the audience are in control. Each depends on the other. This strong connection is also very tenuous. When the audience is relegated to the role of passive consumer, the musician is relegated to the role of vendor, and the concert becomes a transaction.

It's hard to lose yourself in a moment that's sponsored by Visa.

Majick Rainbow Station Video Soundtrack

Jay and Ryanne used a Majick Rainbow Station recording in this video. The track fades in at :27 and later at 2:10

Exploding Plastic Inevitable

Crossoads

Cream, 1968

I'm Thinking of You, Matt

painting by Matthew Reid

Reggae in a Babylon

From a 1978 documentary of the London reggae scene.

Magic Against Death

painting by Hackmuth

A Stereogab creation

poundcake with blueberries
Originally uploaded by Iburiedpaul

This tasted as good as it looks.

Drums on Georgia Ave

steel drums
Originally uploaded by Iburiedpaul

video shot by @stereogab

Happy Birthday

How I Remember Him
Originally uploaded by Iburiedpaul

I miss you

Parade Day

Marching
Originally uploaded by Iburiedpaul

Forget the Mall, the REAL Folklife Festival is on Georgia Ave. today.

Blood On The Tracks

Went down to water the garden and found police tape, camera crews and the people who show up to look at a wreck. We tied up the tomatoes and lamented the drowned cucumbers. And we lamented the suffering of the people who were there the night before.

Mr. Williams came by and we talked about how Metro has to keep 30-year old cars in service while the Metro General Manager is making $326,000 a year (plus a $60,000 annual living allowance) and how that's DC for you.



And then we watered the peppers and picked a little mint and headed home, thinking about what we could plant in memory of what happened at the bottom of the garden.

Sign of the Three Eyed Men

Play That SG, Sister!