(This was originally posted here where you can see any media links, etc.)
This is frustrating. The IT department at UAB no longer believes that I'm a current student, so now I can't log in to BlazerNet so that I can adjust my schedule for the upcoming semester. After talking to two helpdesk guys, one person in the Registrar's office and two people in Admissions I still can't log in. The latter two offices both see me as active, and can think of no reason I shouldn't be able to use the system. I think I've finally convinced the IT department that there is something wrong.
The Recognition, my band, played at The Bottletree this past Friday with Sex Dragon[1] and The Gore Gore Girls. We were sandwiched in between two groups both aiming for that garage rock authenticity thing, which with few exceptions (The Oblivians, Nine Pound Hammer and The Mummies), I have little patience for. It's not quite as irritating and full of uniform signifiers like the whole rockabilly/"psychobilly"[2] thing, but it's close. The crowd was a little different from usual, but a lot of fun and the set went well minus one amp taking a little one song vacation. Plus, I think we got our first piece of honest to god hard copy press. Birmingham's own Manhattan dwelling crazy right wing music critic, JR Taylor gave us a blurb. It's positive, if, well...a little odd. "Working-class rock"? I mean, maybe. I'm down with some organized labor, but I sell coffee and type on keyboards for a living. Hey, though, we "might...be pioneering a new genre of post-MTV punk.[3]" What's yr band doing?
Speaking of the band, we had one of the most successful practices ever last night, adding three songs to our repertoire. We've got a new (well, a reworked) original, a cover of Jawbreaker's "Shield Your Eyes" for a comp (at least, I think there's a comp) and a cover of the attached song by one of my favorites, Discount.
[1]Awesome name, though. It's one of the guys from The Immortal Lee County Killers on guitar/vocals and Sweetdog on drums. Sweetdog is a name that apparently rings out in Birmingham, unless like me you don't really run in a circle where a name like "Sweetdog" rings out. (Note that this is in jest. Sweetdog was a charming individual; I'm merely jealous that I never have gotten a nickname.)
[2]My own private little hell is a Reverend Horton Heat and/or any band with a high pompadour quotient with tendencies towards Misfits covers show. I mean, I love the Misfits but it's in the same way I love the Three Six Mafia/Hypnotize Minds catalog. It's hilariously over the top, there's a depth of musicality that is lacking in many of their peers and it's fun to listen to while driving.
[3]So, do I get my first mill soon? Or, will we merely toil in relative obscurity too far ahead of our time? Watch out for The Recognition 2027 middle age reunion tour!
Would you believe it? I was digging through my old godaddy records seeing if I still owned a couple of domains, thinking I had finally let this one go. Happily, I found that I still owned it until some point in January (and should probably renew it). I found an old backup of the original blog's posts, but I need to strip out a bunch of database crap to import it. I'm not totally sold on importing the whole thing, because it's roughly six years of my life documented and very much of it is cringe-worthy. So, if I motivate myself to make a little best-of, or at least strip out some of the less crafted entries, it should show up in the archives here.
While I've said it before, I'm full of good intentions on using this space to write more regularly. To all the fine folks on Vox and LJ: these posts are all originating here where there will embedded songs and videos and such.
Speaking of embedded songs, to start things out on my top five records of 2007, in tribute to Pimp C (nee Chad Butler) who passed away recently, here's "International Players Anthem" by UGK and featuring Outkast from Underground Kingz. Just click the link and it should play the song directly in yr browser.
