5/13/08 White Lightning
Homepage: Corey Roelofs.
Well, that happened...
Thanks to everyone who made it to the first-ever White Flight show! For those who weren't there, White Flight split the show in to two sets. For the first one, he was seated, playing the acoustic guitar with a few other guitarists/percussionists and Quincy Quartz on drums. They played "Song for Augustine", "Pastora Divine", "Solarsphere", "Obsidian" and "Panther" kind of medley-style. Then a set change and firing up some white LED lights and incense. The second set played off pre-recorded tracks from the upcoming Fall '08 release of "White Ark". "Panther" again, "Princess Pentagon", "Black Hole", the Superargo remix of "Deathhands", "Great Gold". Onstage was a dreamscape of animal-masked figures, pulsing lights and a prowling, pink tank-topped White Flight. Offstage was Dance Party U.S.A!
Lot's of questions about everything - upcoming plans, tours, all of that. For now it's all written in water - I'll let you know as soon as we're carving in stone.
Range Life
5/10/08 White Flight
Homepage: Pre Sense Form.
Tonight's the night! White Flight plays his debut live show at the Jackpot, $7/ 8PM. There'll be dj'ing throughout and performances by Suzannah Johannes collaborator Hanz Bronze, Brooklyn's Quincy Quartz and Kelly from Fourth Of July's side project Hunters and Gatherers. White Flight plays around midnight. Details...
Along with gracing the stage tonight, White Flight will be gracing the walls. In the last month he's done a series of Sacred Geometry paintings, some big, some small, that will be on display at the Jackpot and will be for sale. So anyone working on their apartment's - or their mind's - Feng Shui -- one of these White Flight paintings should be just the thing!
Such a thrill to have White Flight back in town, doing what he does best. We're incredibly lucky here in Lawrence to be around so many extraordinary music makers, most of whom play downtown - for cheap - on a regular basis. The return of White Flight shakes me with how ephemeral it all is, how we take so much of what's around us for granted. To Justin - and to all the musicians who give our local culture it's Life and it's YAWP! - the music you make means the world to us, so Don't... Fucking... Hold... Back...!
Range Life
5/8/08 Get There!
Homepage: Zaguar.
Fourth Of July rocks it tonight at the Jackpot in Lawrence with Boo and Boo Too, L.A.'s The Little Ones, and NYC's Ra Ra Riot. 9PM/ $10.
Friday night don't miss The Dactyls release show for their terrific new 7" at Love Garden. 7PM/ Free. Details (and mp3's of the new tracks) HERE.
And then Saturday night it's the long-awaited debut performance by brother White Flight! Here's what I know: Hanz Bronze, Quincy Quartz and Hunters and Gatherers will all be playing opening sets. White Flight's performance will be in two parts - songs from "White Flight" on the guitar and then songs from the upcoming "White Ark" not on the guitar - the better to dance! Some DJ'ing in-between and after by Josh Powers, Candlepants and 1,000,000 Light Years.
More soon.
Range Life
5/7/08 There Will Be Dancing
Homepage: Zaguar.
Fourth Of July plays tonight in Omaha at Slowdown, opening for Ra Ra Riot and The Little Ones. $10/ 9PM. And then again tomorrow night in Lawrence at The Jackpot, with the addition of Boo and Boo Too. Details HERE.
Dri's back from tour. Thanks to everyone who made it out for the shows! There will be more dates soon, including a very exciting opening slot for Modest Mouse at The Pageant in St. Louis on July 1st!
Some photos and video from Dri's tour soon. And more on White Flight's show this weekend.
Gotta seize the day while it's still "day".
Range Life
5/3/08 ^^^
Homepage: Zaguar.
Dri makes her last stop of the tour with Northern State tonight at Kilby Court in Salt Lake City. For everyone who got to catch her on this tour, we hope you dug it. She'll be out again this Summer for sure. Plus a new video and at least three new remixes from "Smoke Rings" that we're anxiously awaiting...
Also tonight - and speak of the devil - DJ Josh Powers rocks his Saturday Soul Clap at the Eighth Street Taproom. 10 PM/ $2. Stay late, maybe he'll drop a remix!
[UPDATE: Suzannah Johannes is playing tonight at the Jackpot, opening for William Elliot Whitmore. Details HERE.]
And then tomorrow afternoon, outside the towering splendor of Oliver Hall, the boys in Fourth Of July and Archetype let loose for the Oliver Hall Block Party, noon - 4PM, 1815 Naismith. This show is FREE.
And a week from tonight: White Flight at the Jackpot!
Cha-ching!
Range Life
5/2/08 >>>
Homepage: Zaguar.
Great to see Dri in Lawrence last night! Man, that full band version of "Two Are One"... the old reverby wash on her voice... those white boots... You don't want to miss these shows if you're in Denver or Salt Lake Citow! Remaining dates with NYC's Northern State are HERE.
Speaking of "Two Are One", there's a wonderful track review up at Daytrotter.com done by pop-maestro Andrew Morgan. Check it HERE.
What up, suburban Kansas City? Fourth Of July plays tonight at the Mission Theatre, at 5909 Johnson Drive, with The New Amsterdams and Dead Girls Ruin Everything as part of the JayRock "Free Clinic" Benefit for KU Med. Fourth Of July plays at 9:45. More info HERE.
And then don't miss Fourth Of July and Archetype playing this sunny Sunday outdoors at the Oliver Hall Block Party, 12 - 4. Info HERE.
Range Life
5/1/08 May Day
Homepage: Zaguar...
Our girl Dri comes home tonight to rock the Taproom! Just talked to her - she's in Des Moines getting a Subway sandwich. Still two more dates on the Northern State tour, in Denver and in Salt Lake Citow. But it'll be a treat to catch her home-towning it tonight. She's dj'ing after 10 and then show around midnight.
The day's flying by and there's too much to do. Fourth Of July show info for this weekend below.
Range Life
4/30/08 ///
Homepage: Varz on the image, Zaguar on the Helvetica Neue.
Here she comes, Minneapolis: Dri and her Dap Kings, playing all your favorite tracks from "Smoke Rings" at the 7th Street Entry. $10/9PM. For the rest of Dri's tour dates, check HERE. And don't miss her tomorrow night in Lawrence at the Taproom!
Two Fourth Of July shows this weekend: K.C. and Campus.
Speaking of Campus, saw that Supereme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is speaking at the Lied Center tonight. Anyone going? Nothing more fascinating than spending two hours basking in the blah, blah, blah of the Conservative Mind!
Couldn't they invite Kargo X?
Range Life
4/29/08 ***
Homepage: Sara McManus, rocking Chicago from New York.
Dri gets back in the groove with Northern State tonight, playing Schuba's in Chicago. $12/10PM. For the rest of her tour dates, check HERE.
If you're in Lawrence, don't miss Dri this Thursday night at the Eighth Street Taproom. $3/10PM. She'll be DJ'ing early and then lighting it up with her band, probably 11:30ish.
Still waiting on some hot new Dri remixes but in the meantime, has there been anything hotter than 1,000,000 Light Year's strobe-lit version of "Meet Me Out"?
Range Life
4/27/08 ***
Homepage: Zaguar. For past homepages check HERE.
Dri in Cleveland tonight, bringing it hard to the Grog Shop. $10/9PM. Get there, Cleveland!
For those in Lawrence - I guess word is out - Dri and her band will be playing this Thursday night, May 1st, at the Eighth Street Taproom. Details soon.
Other shows coming up this week: Fourth Of July plays the JayRock Benefit Show at the Mission Theatre in Kansas City on Friday, May 2nd with The New Amsterdams and Dead Girls Ruin Everything. And then on Sunday, May 4th, Fourth Of July rocks the Oliver Hall block party at 1815 Naismith with Archetype.
Your concert calendar,
Range Life
4/26/08 Viaggi Dri
Homepage: Sara McManus, Team Rudy's, Outfield, #4.
Dri and her band rocking it tonight in Toronto at The Mod Club, opening for NYC's Northern State. They head back in to the States tomorrow, hitting Cleveland, Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver and Salt Lake Citow. Plus a secret show in Lawrence on Thursday, May 1st that I'm not supposed to be telling you about. So don't pass it on!
In Lawrence tonight, don't miss the grand opening of the Wonder Fair art gallery, downtown in the basement of the Casbah. This opening show is by the Fresh Produce artists. Details HERE. And Candlepants deejaying!
Range Life
4/25/08 Friday Night Fever
Homepage: Zaguar. Anyone else who'd like to contribute, you're always welcome. Send images sized 535 X 445.
Man, what a killer show last night at the Taproom. Blood On The Wall is kicking off a tour - dates HERE - and if you have a pulse, you won't want to miss them.
Same with Dri, who plays tonight at Les Saints in Montreal, opening for Northern State.
Also tonight, don't miss The Roseline/ Fourth Of July/ and Arthur Dodge at the Jackpot. Check below for links. Gotta fly to work...
Zaguar
4/24/08 Shows
Homepage: Zaguar.
Dri on tour tonight, opening for Northern State at Pearl Street in Northampton, Massachusetts. The tour goes in to Canada tomorrow and then back down through the Midwest. Itinierary HERE. (And nice to see "You Know I Tried" getting bumped up the Hot List at the sixty one! "Smoke Rings": soundtrack to the Summer!)
Some serious Rock N' Roll tonight at the Taproom with Blood On The Wall, The Dactyls and Bandit Teeth. Details HERE.
And then Friday night, it's The Roseline's CD release Party, for their new record "Lust for Luster", at the Jackpot with sets by Fourth Of July and Arthur Dodge. Lusty!
Range Life
4/23/08 Dri on Tour!
Homepage: Zaguar.
Dri kicks off her tour opening for NYC's Northern State tonight in Boston, Massachusetts at Great Scott. $10/ 10 PM. If you've been digging "Smoke Rings", don't miss Dri on this tour, bringing it all to life with a live band. For upcoming dates, check HERE.
We're hoping to have some Dri exclusives coming your way in the next two weeks - cough cough, Powers - and perhaps even a surprise show en route, so heads up. For now, if you missed it, HERE is Coke Weed X's terrific Suzannah Johannes-laced remix of "Goodnight, Baby" to keep you warm - or, now that it's warm - to keep you cool...
Tons of shows coming up: White Flight, Suzannah Johannes, a few with Fourth Of July. Next thing we know Wilco and M.I.A. will be playing on the same day...
Range Life
4/17/08 ***
Tonight: Don't miss 1,000,000 Light Years and Suzannah Johannes opening for Bitch at the Jackpot, 10 PM. The boys in Fourth Of July met Bitch at a show they played together last Fall in Charlottesville, VA and say she's ace - lot's of call-and-response, taking-it-to-the-Man, rapture. Show details HERE.
Have you heard??? Brother White Flight is making his debut live appearance in Lawrence at the Jackpot, Saturday May 10th. He'll be performing songs from "White Flight" as well as from the forthcoming "White Ark". He'll be decking the walls with his recent artwork - beautiful, kaleidoscopic paintings based on sacred geometry. He'll be DJ'ing, maybe a kissing booth, the works... Mark your calenders, everybody, for "A Night with White Flight"!
For those of you in Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Cleveland, Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver and Salt Lake City, our girl Dri will be breezing through your town with her pimped-out van and her band, opening for NYC's Northern State. Tour starts April 23rd. Dri's been killing it with the band, going all organic - no samples - so expect the "Live Soul" versions of the songs on "Smoke Rings". More soon...
Anyone else been anxiously awaiting Glenn Greenwald's new book "Great American Hypocrites: Toppling the Big Myths of Republican Politics"? Man, I have. Why? "The deceitful electoral tactics and manipulative personality-based myths the Right has perfected and continuously deploys to win elections, and the ways in which our slothful, vapid and complicit establishment press propagates those myths is the principal subject of this book. And understanding and exposing that right wing/ media partnership is a necessary precondition for weakening it." Float like a butterfly,
Sting like a bee!
Range Life
4/9/08 April Madness
All right, Hawks fans.
Spent the night editing home video from the Big Win on Monday. A bunch of us watched the game over at the Bull House, including members of Fourth Of July and White Flight, old friend Kilo Fontanello and, front and center, Range Life Graphic Designer Pre Sense Form. Check the video HERE.
And then after the game it was basically Mardi Gras downtown. If you need your memory re-charged or just want to scope the scene, check it HERE!
For those in Lawrence, save at least a little room to party this Saturday night, April 12th, at the Taproom, as Ms. Gloria Vanderbilt from Double Trouble celebrates her birthday with a dance party themed "Sweet 16". 10 PM.
And then Sunday night, the 13th, Suzannah Johannes opens at the Jackpot for friends Minus Story. Details HERE.
On the horizon: Dri on tour with Northern State. And a White Flight show????
April Madness, shaking us from our slumber!
RRRRRange Life
4/7/08 Goooooooo Hawks!
Jayhawks mania here in Lawrence as we get ready for tonight's Big Game. If you missed the Celebration after Saturday's win, you can live it vicariously HERE. Can you "Woo, Woo, Woo?"
More soon.
Range Life
4/2/08 Goooooooo Hawks!
Leaving the same news title - not to be superstitious or anything. Missed the party downtown after the Hawks won on Sunday? Check it HERE and HERE.
Fourth Of July plays tonight at the Mission Creek Festival in Iowa City, at The Yacht Club, 9 PM.
HearYa has posted the "Live Indie Session" they recorded with Fourth Of July back in January in Chicago. They did "Purple Heart", "Surfer Dude" and then two new songs and an interview. Permalink is HERE. Pretty rockin.
Thangs coming up: Blood On The Wall play at the Solidarity Bookstore Friday night, 4/4. Whoa. Details HERE. And then DJ Josh Powers brings his game-winning combination to the Taproom Saturday night, the 5th. If the Jayhawks win on Saturday, expect to find the Taproom crowd-surfing down Mass, along with all the other buildings downtown...
And then there's THIS...
Uh, Range Life
3/27/08 Goooooooo Hawks!
Friday night should be hot: the Hawks take on Villanova in the Sweet 16 and then Josh Powers drains soulful three's and deep-funk alley-oops at the Eighth Street Taproom, right after the game.
Fourth Of July has a show coming up on Wednesday, April 2nd, kicking off the first night of the Mission Creek Festival in Iowa City. They're playing at The Yacht Club, $5, 9 PM.
If anyone in Lawrence has a lead or a lease on some practice space, I know some pretttty cool musicians who are looking. Seriously. Rock the CONTACT.
And our pal Glenn Greenwald is encouraging everyone to watch Charlie Rose's interview with Iraqi journalist Ali Fadhil and professor Sinan Antoon for a strong dose of different perspective on our invasion and occupation of Iraq. Definitely worth watching. You can do so HERE.
Range Life
3/18/08 Spring Break
Homepage: Zaguar.
The FADER posted some live footage from Dri's show at SXSW. Check it HERE.
And don't miss the free downloads from Fourth Of July's "Daytrotter Session" HERE.
Two hot Hot HOT Fourth Of July shows this week: Wednesday night, the 19th, opening for Langhorne Slim at the Jackpot (show is 10 bucks) and then Saturday night, the 22nd, making their Jazzhaus debut, alongside the boyz in Archetype! Details HERE.
Nerd time: been on a kick reading about the shake-ups in American Economics, sparked by THIS.
And Obama went deep in THIS speech today. Seriously. It's 37 minutes long but it's worth every second.
As I'm sure has been said at the Jazzhaus: One Love.
Range Life
3/13/08 Don't mess with...
UPDATE: Check out the Fourth Of July "Daytrotter Session" up now at Daytrotter.com!
UPDATE 2: Congratulations to the House Of Representatives today, passing a clean FISA bill devoid of "retroactive immunity" for the telecoms, and to Kansas Reps Nancy Boyda and Dennis Moore for doing the right thing. More HERE and HERE.
Our girl Dri is in Austin, ready to rock South by Southwest. She plays tonight, outside the festival, at Chain Drive, 504 Willow Street, in Downtown Austin. And then she kicks off the FADER/Levi's Fort party on Saturday, the 15th at 1:30 PM. The Fort is at 204 E. 4th Street (between Brazos and San Jacinto). If anyone's down there and wants on the Guest List for the Fort show (which also features Spank Rock, Santogold and 2 Live Crew), rock the CONTACT form!!!
Some new things up on our YouTube channel - Pre Sense Form put together a still shot/ live shot video for Dri's "Hot As Hades" and Patrick Hangauer put up Part 2 of the Fourth Of July Fall Tour documentary.
Don't miss the "Spring Fling" on Saturday night, the 15th, at the Taproom, DJ'd by Double Trouble. 10 PM.
Other news: two Fourth Of July shows next week - on the 19th at the Jackpot and on Saturday, the 22nd at the Jazzhaus with Archetype. Also next week, the return to Lawrence of brother White Flight.
On the up and up and up.
Range Life
3/10/08 Jackpot!
Late notice - but Dri will be filling in for Save The Whales tonight at the Jackpot, 10 PM. A little last warm-up before heading to Austin for SXSW. More on that soon. But get to that show tonight! Show details HERE.
Z
3/3/08 ***
UPDATE: Word is the Congress is going to split the FISA vote in two - one to update the law, the other to grant the telecom companies who spied illegally "retroactive immunity". For those in Kansas, Rep. Boyda has come out strongly against granting telecom immunity. See HERE. Our Lawrence Rep, Congressman Dennis Moore is so far undetermined. Call Congressman Moore's office and tell them you'd like to urge Congressman Moore to vote AGAINST any telecom immunity. It's quick, it's easy. They'll take your name and address so they can send a follow-up letter (well, that and tap your phone, right?). But this is one of those fundamental power struggles where the Corporate and Political elite are trampling rights the rest of us take for granted: the right to privacy, the right to oversight, the right to sue. If it doesn't piss you off, don't bother. If it does, call your Congressman. Dennis Moore's office number is 202-225-2865, by the way. (/Z)
Homepage: Zaguar.
Thanks to everyone who made it out to the Taproom show on Saturday! Suzannah, Dri and Fourth Of July all killed it. I'll try to put some video up soon.
Fourth Of July is back at it tonight, opening for Athens, Georgia's the Whigs at the Granada. More show info HERE.
If you missed our post of Fourth Of July's "Heart Attack", from the Fourth Of July On The Plains sessions, featuring Dri and Orenda Fink from Art In Manila, Music For Robots has it up HERE.
Other shows this week: 1,000,000 Light Years will be continuing his sound-exploration Wednesday night at the Taproom and Suzannah Johannes will be rocking the full band at the Jackpot, opening up for the excellent Phosphorescent on Friday, the 7th. And then DJ Josh Powers brings the Saturday Soul Clap dance-a-thon to the Taproom on the 8th. Nice new track, Powers!
On the political front, the majority Democrats are set to cave to the minority Republicans on granting "retroactive immunity" to the Telecom companies. Why? I'm not sure anyone knows. It makes no sense. Glenn Greenwald's flummoxed. Kargo X is shaking his head. Our government is about to wave the magic wand over definitive lawbreaking by the Bush Administration, middle-fingering the Bill Of Rights, all for what? Some cookies from the First Lady? A fruit basket? What's Indie Rock gonna do about it?
Besides rock...
Range Life
2/27/08 ***
Our favorite bar in Lawrence, the Eighth Street Taproom, is in the thick of celebrating their 15 Year Anniversary with shows every night this week. Tonight it's 1,000,000 Light Years, breaking from the braids of digital/analog and going Free Jazz. As I understand it, everyone is enouraged to bring any instrument they'd like - hand-drum, windchimes, skin-flute - and is asked to participate at will. Or you can just sit back and dig the musicians at work. This will be the first in a Wednesday-nights-in-March residency for 1MLY at the Taproom.
Other highlights of the Taproom's 15 Year Anniversary celebration are: Boo and Boo Too rocking it Thursday, the 28th; The Danny Pound Band rocking it Friday, the 29th; and, kicking off March Madness, a Range Life showcase with Fourth Of July, D*R*I, and Suzannah Johannes on Saturday, March 1st!
Lot's of questions about our SXSW plans and this year we'll be represented by Dri, playing a FADER/Levi's even on Saturday, March 15th. More details soon.
And, we're thrilled to announce some tour dates upcoming for Dri, opening for the bad girl's of Northern State! Details HERE.
Range Life
2/21/08 Questionnaire
Snowing hard out your window and feeling like you're never going to get over this Seasonal Affective Disorder? Then get yourself to the Taproom tonight for the warm sounds of Reggae and Trenchtown Rock, dj'd by our very own Dri.
Sick of the bar scene and/or had your fake I.D. confiscated at Jenkin's Liquor? Well, Fourth Of July and Baby Birds Don't Drink Milk take it off the map and into North Lawrence on Saturday for a House Party at "The Duke", 336 Elm Street (Elm is the first right after crossing the bridge into North Lawrence). Saturday, the 23rd, 10 PM.
Bored by the blather of politics and MSM news coverage and open to some satire and diamond-cutting clarity? Thank the Gods for Kargo X and Glenn Greenwald.
Looking for a new band to love? There's some magic in the internatinal grapevine.
Are you all about imeem? Check us HERE.
Did you miss Dri and Suzannah Johannes' Live Chat and shows for Daytrotter in Rock Island, Illinois? Catch back up HERE.
Other things on the horizon: 1,000,000 Light Years going Free Jazz, Wednesday the 27th at the Taproom; Fourth Of July/ Dri/ Suzannah Johannes at the Taproom Saturday, March 1st; Fourth Of July opening for the Whigs at the Granada, March 3rd; Suzannah Johannes opening for Phosphorescent at the Jackpot, March 7th; and Dri at SXSW, March 15th.
Range Life
2/13/08 Action
Dri and Suzannah Johannes head up to Rock Island, Illinois today to A) record sessions at the famed Daytrotter studio, B) host a webcast Live Chat taking any and all questions and C) play live at Huckleberry's Pizza, just below the Daytrotter studio, at 7PM.
It's all gonna be pimp, but don't miss the Live Chat, which will start at 5:30 PM, Central and which you can watch on Daytrotter.com and/or participate in HERE.
This Friday night, Feb 15th, it's our post-Valentine's dance party at the Eighth Street Taproom, featuring DJ's Powers and Candlepants. More info HERE, including a promise of some Miami Bass, ladies!
And then FISA, FISA, FISA. The Democrat-led United States Senate decided it wasn't a half-bad idea to give the law-flaunting Bush Administration everything it wanted as far as increased spying power on it's citizens - including, for no justifiable reason, "retroactive immunity" to the telecom companies that agreed to break the law in the first place. When Bush/Cheney say "Jump!" and the public paying attention say "Hell No!", the Senate must think they're saying "How High?".
So now it's wrangling between the House and Senate bills - the House bill with no "retroactive immunity" (since granting that would be insane and would stop the American people from ever finding out the extent to which they've been spied on illegally, much less hold anyone accountable for anything) and tighter restrictions on the spying - versus the Senate bill which is shite. For those in Lawrence, you can reach your favorite U.S. Representative, Dennnniiiissss Moore's office at 785-842-9313 and encourage him to vote "No" on any FISA bill which includes "retroactive immunity" for the telecoms.
If none of this pisses you off, consider: the New York Times had the story on the Bush Administration using the telecom companies to illegally spy on Americans all ready to roll a few months prior to the 2004 Presidential Election - but the Bush Administration strong-armed them into holding the story until after the election. Which the Times, of course, did. And thanks!
What else? - I've been digging this song "I Just Wanna Live" by the international grapevine.
C'mon, Spring!
Zaguar
2/8/08 Blazed-Out
Homepage: Varz. Past homepages at Range Life Flickr.
L.A. was a trip - caught Drug Rug at Spaceland, did some serious dining, took a hike up in Griffith Park. Caught some sun, which was crucial. Thanks to everyone who took me out, took me in: Tim and Selena, B*rock and Julie, Cory, Keith, Soren, Cliff and Cathy. I got back to Lawrence and it snowed...
Next week will be special, with both Dri and Suzannah Johannes doing Daytrotter Sessions on Wednesday and then playing a live show together at Huckleberry's Pizza, right below the Daytrotter studio in Rock Island Is For Lovers, Illinois.
And our old friend Kristopher has a new site Pianist Errant to document his mission of freeing classical piano from the concert halls and bringing it to the motherfucking People.
That's 2008 - Suzie, Dri, Chopin on the beach, Obama at the polls!
Range Life
1/29/08 The boyz
are back in town. Zaguar off to L.A., missing Blood On The Wall tonight at the Replay. So far, so good (?) on FISA. Dri will be at SXSW! Suzannah Johannes, Quincy Quartz and Hanz Bronz bring some chaotic splendor up to Bloomington on Sunday, the 2nd, to play at the Poison Oak house. THIS was interesting, if you're in the mood for it. Same with THIS.
Wild world...
Range Life
1/26/08 ***
Homepage: Zaguar.
Last stop of the Fun-in-the-Sun tour for Fourth Of July and Coyote Bones tonight at Opolis in Norman, Oklahoma. Thanks so much to everyone who made it out to shows, however densely or lightly attended. We plan to make 2008 a pretty amazing year for Fourth Of July, so definitely stay tuned!
Don't miss Suzannah Johannes this Sunday night, the 29th, at the Taproom with visiting troubador Hanz Bronz and our friend Quincy Quartz. 10 PM.
And if you haven't seen it, Range Life is featured in the latest FADER magazine, which you can download HERE.
Zzzzzzaguar
1/25/08 ***
Homepage: late-night Zaguar.
Fourth Of July and Coyote Bones take Apollo's chariot over southern Missouri and into balmy northwest Oklahoma to play just outside of Tulsa, at King Of Clubs in Claremore.
We have a special treat today - a remix of Dri's hit "Goodnight Baby", done by Fourth Of July drummer Brian Costello, aka Bronco, aka Coke Weed X. With the help of Terrordactyls bassist John Bergwell and guitarist Brendan Costello, and Suzannah Johannes - who's playing Sunday at the Taproom - ol' Coke Weed X put together quite the cocktail. Check it HERE.
And, just for fun HERE'S what happened with FISA yesterday. (And HERE'S some more good commentary.)
Zaguar
1/24/08 St. Louis
Homepage: Z.
Fourth Of July and Coyote Bones get in to their convertibles and head down to sunny St. Louis today to Folk-Rock the Creepy Crawl. Tomorrow night in Tulsa and Saturday night in Norman and that's the tour. Hope everyone who's made it to shows so far has had a blast! Any show reviews, let me know - I can link to them or post them.
This Sunday night at the Taproom, three of our favorite performers play: Suzannah Johannes, who's EP of Hanz Bronz songs will be our next release, Hanz Bronz himself, and Quincy Quartz, on keys, pocket trumpet, drums, Life.
And if you're following political dorkscape at all, Congress is back in session and the Senate is debating the FISA bill where one side (guess which?) wants to pass a version that grants "retroactive immunity" to the telecom companies (AT&T, Verizon) that illegally spied on Americans, via wiretaps, for years - at the behest of Bush/Cheney and without court approval. The other side, being led right now by Senators Dodd from Connecticut and Feingold from Wisconsin plan to filibuster any bill that tries to get passed with the immunity grant, on the basis that it is a fucking outrage to make the unconstitutionally criminal behavior of those in power disappear with the wave of a fairy-wand. So, anyway - something to think about. To read more, check out Glenn Greenwald, Firedoglake and Open Left.
Zaguar
1/23/08 Bloomington
Homepage: Z.
Fourth Of July and Coyote Bones roll through the green meadows of Bloomington, Indiana tonight to rock Uncle Fester's. Finally!
If you haven't, get yourself the new Blood On The Wall record "Liferz" and turn it up so loud that icicles shake from the trees.
And then light a little fire, get cozy and zone out with THIS unreleased track from "Fourth Of July On The Plains", featuring Adrianne Verhoeven and Orenda Fink.
We're gonna make it...
Range Life
1/22/08 ***
Homepage: Zaguar.
Fourth Of July and Coyote Bones bring their flip-flops and Zinka to the Canopy Club tonight in Champaign, Illinois.
Announcing: Suzannah Johannes, Hanz Bronz, and Quincy Quartz at the Taproom this Sunday night.
mp3 for Fourth Of July On The Plains unreleased-track "Heart Attack" tomorrow.
In the meantime, here's Andy Warhol on The Love Boat.
Range Life
1/21/08 ***
Homepage: Zaguar.
Fourth Of July and Coyote Bones tonight at The Note in heat-wave Chicago. Lather up!
Omahype has pictures from the show at Box Awesome in Lincoln HERE.
Happy Martin Luther King Day!
Range Life
1/20/08 ***
Homepage: Zaguar, owning the "Bragadoccio".
Fourth Of July and Coyote Bones tonight at Big V's in sunny St. Paul. NOTE: This show was originally scheduled at Triple Rock and has been moved. Big V's is the spot!
Happy Birthday to our sister Dana - chef, transporter, and light of our lives!
Loving some Glenn Greenwald and, always, some Kargo X.
Also, some hot RZA production-tips at Remix Mag. (the video is in the right-hand column, halfway down the page). (I'm looking at you, SayMyName.)
Zaguar
1/19/08 ***
Homepage: Zaguar.
Fourth Of July tonight at Bemis Underground in Omaha playing with tour-mates Coyote Bones and friend's Flowers Forever at the reception for an art show featuring Todd and Orenda Fink, Gillian Welch and Nick Zinner from the Yeah Yeah Yeah's.
Saw my boy Josh Powers last night and he says he's done with his Range Life mixtape, which may or may not give a taste of some of the new White Flight. Hoping to share it soon!
YouTube fever!: this and this and this.
Zaguar
1/18/08 Shows
Homepage: Zaguar.
The boys are off. If you can, catch Fourth Of July as they tour with Omaha's Coyote Bones the next nine days in Lincoln, Omaha, Minneapolis, Chicago, Champaign, Bloomington, St. Louis, Tulsa and Norman - you know, all the warm places...
One note: the show in Minneapolis on Sunday has moved from Triple Rock to Big V's to make room for the man, the myth, the legend - White Williams. Whatever!
Ghosty CD release show in Lawrence tonight at the Bottleneck. With Ad Astra Per Aspera and Suzannah Johannes. After-party at the Taproom with MC Candlepants.
Got turned on to these guitar shredding videos recently. Pretty tight.
Unreleased Fourth Of July mp3 and tour updates soon.
RRRRRRRRRange Life
1/10/08 Now
Homepage: Zaguar. Past homepages can be found at Range Life Flickr.
Hope everyone had a great New Year. We did it Double Trouble-style at the Taproom and then stayed up late dancing to Hanz Bronz songs. Spent New Year's Day in the reading chair finishing off the new "Slash" Autogiography - a total auspice for me. For whatever reason Slash has become a symbol of transition in my life, from first seeing him plug in his Les Paul in the "Sweet Child O' Mine" video and thinking I finally understood what "cool" was to watching his solo in the "November Rain" video a few years later and thinking I finally understood "un-cool" - for real - to moving to Los Angeles and the very first night I was there, walking down Sunset and seeing this dude in the distance wearing a leather jacket and a top hat and thinking "Oh, god... who does this guy think he is?" - and then, getting closer and forgiving him cause Oh, it was Slash. So, it feels good to kick off 2008 with my man. And read the book! It.Is.A.Trip.
If you haven't seen it, we were pretty thrilled to part of the latest issue of FADER magazine - the "Now" issue. You can download it HERE. It's got everyone asking again about the newWhite Flight. All I can say is it's upcoming. Summer '08?
In the meantime, there's plenty of "Now": Dri's record is lighting it up, Suzannah Johannes is finishing an EP and the bad boys in Fourth Of July will be on the road, with Omaha's Coyote Bones, in a buggy pulled by Clydesdales, all over the Midwest. Fourth Of July Midwest Tour dates HERE.
Fourth Of July will also be playing this Saturday, January 12th at the Record Bar in Kansas City with Miles Bonny and the Terrordactyls as part of the CD release party for "Answers" - the wonderful new record by Ghosty. Congratulations to them!
If you're in New York and think you've got plans this Saturday night, think again. After over a year in New York, Priest Fontaine is finally bringing it to the Glasslands in Brooklyn the way he brought it so many times to the Taproom here in Lawrence - pretty sweaty, totally skewed, and as on-the-pulse and full of life as anything any of us had ever experienced. So make it happen! If you can Beleive, you can Milk Believe!
And finally, we've got a new Weekly Movie up on the Range Life YouTube Channel, a collage of recent live and random footage. Check it HERE.
Back to the reading chair...
Range Life
12/28/07 200Great
New Year's Round-up: Pre-party in the city of fountains, KC, MO, on Sunday night, the 30th with motherfucking Fourth Of July and the motherfucking Roseline. They're playing in Westport at McCoy's, 9 PM.
And then New Year's Eve, Dj's Candlepants and Gloria Vanderbilt, aka Double Trouble steer the Taproom ship into the New Year with their autographed Bobby Brown sail billowing. Fuck champagne, Let's Dance!
Bad Boy Brendan Costello is on it with this week's Weekly Movie, turning a late-night infomercial into a music video for Dri's song "Free Tonight". Check it HERE.
More YouTube: some video of Fourth Of July rocking a rooftop party in Brooklyn back in October. Check it HERE.
Suzannah Johannes just finished recording her first EP. Watch for it soon.
Nice review of Dri's "Smoke Rings" from Pensatos. Check it HERE.
And Fourth Of July shows all over the Midwest in January, with Omaha's Coyote Bones. Dates HERE.
Happy New Year, everybody! Warm thoughts, warm wishes.
Range Life
12/21/07 OK!
Jingle-Bell Rock tonight at the Eighth Street Taproom with The Roseline doing their Thang and then Fourth Of July doing Theirs.
Fourth Of July has also booked a bunch of Midwest shows towards the end of January. Check them HERE.
Damn, Fourth Of July FEVER. This week's Weekly Movie is Part 1 of 3 in the Fourth Of July Fall Tour documentary, edited down by Patrick Hangauer. Check that shit HERE.
Together with our friends at Black and Greene Records, we've put together a digital jukebox of previously unheard/unreleased material, like a ragtag bunch of carolers showing up at your computer's doorstep. HERE they are!
I'm so pleased with and proud of our three national releases this year: the documentary-enhanced White Flight cd, "Fourth Of July On The Plains", and Dri "Smoke Rings". You'll hear from (and hopefully see) all three in 2008, which, if I can do any-fucking-thing about it, is gonna be a serious Hurrah for us. Just wait and see...
In celebration of our '07 releases, we've bundled them together for $20 at the Webstore, juuussssstttttt in time for the Holidays.
Speaking of: Welcome Home, Lawrence ex-pats!
Safe travels, Activist-thoughts, Lucid Dreams, No-front socializing and Happy Holidays to everybody!
Range Life
12/13/07 Finals
Dri tonight at the Replay, opening for her friends Grand Ole Party.
Some Dri love from V Magazine HERE.
As promised, we're gonna man-up and try to get through a month of delivering on our "Weekly Movies". First up, Bad Boy #1 Brendan Costello busts in on the BullHouse, the manse on the Stadium riviera where most of the Fourth Of July boys live. Starrring SayMyName, Bronco and Brendan, Patrick and Kelly Hangauer. Check it HERE.
Also some footage up from the Fourth Of July show last week at the Jackpot, performing a knives-out new song called "Wedding Day". Watch it HERE.
Fourth Of July plays next on Friday the 21st at the Taproom with Lawrence High band The Roseline. Make sure they don't drink!
If you haven't, check out our friend Joey Gee's new rad-site for his label Pink Teeth.
And local legend Tom King has a new article on Lawrence.com inspired in part by our brother White Flight, who's back kickin' it in Guatemala. Check it HERE.
Wonder what our Constitution will look like in 2012?
Range Life
12/8/07 Snowy Moon
Thrilled to announce some Dri shows, starting tomorrow night, Sunday the 9th at Slowdown in Omaha with Vampire Weekend and Grand Ole Party. Next stop: Wednesday, December 12th at the Picador in Iowa City with Headlights and Grand Ole Party. And then back to La-La-Lawrence with Grand Ole Party at the Replay on Thursday, December 13th.
Lawrence tonight: Josh Powers puts the Soul in Soul Clap at the Eighth Street Taproom. Ladies!
Fourth Of July has planned a Midwest tour in January with Omaha's Coyote Bones, sure to warm each venue with passions and drinks. Dates soon. Fourth Of July was featured recently on NPR's "Second Stage". Check it HERE.
Excited to bring back one of our lost-in-the-shuffle features - I'm talking "Weekly Movies" - with a vengeance. For the next month, we'll be debuting a new movie every Thursday, starting the 13th with a "Cribs" riff on the Fourth Of July boys' house done by Brendan Costello.
And more in the works, as always. Been doing a lot of thinking about this next year for Range Life - getting back to indie, pushing the creative spirit. Oh, and "White Ark". Fucking get us on board!
Range Life
11/30/07 Show Update
Homepage: Pre Sense Form, from way back in the Summer. Remember that? For past homepages check Range Life Flickr.
We need a few more days for Dri show announcements. In the meantime, you can catch Dri with Fourth Of July this Saturday night at the Granada, playing with Ample Branches, Ghosty and The New Amsterdams. More info HERE.
And then next week check out 1,000,000 Light Years opening for D Numbers and Headlights at the Replay on Tuesday, December 4th and Fourth Of July back at it at the Jackpot with Suzannah Johannes on Friday, December 7th.
Get there!
Range Life
11/26/07 Introducing "Smoke Rings" (#11)
Homepage: Zaguar, hazy album-art remix.
Listen to "Smoke Rings" on Dri's Virb page. More links on the Dri Splash Page.
The last track on Smoke Rings is "Smoke Rings", an old jazz song written by H. Eugene Gifford and Ned Washington in the 1930's and famously recorded by Les Paul and Mary Ford in the 50's. Dri had discovered this song on a mixtape a friend had given her and thought it would be a perfect song for her and her Art In Manila bandmate, Orenda Fink, to cover.
The song "Smoke Rings" can definitely be understood in a variety of ways, from pensivity with a cigarette to the ephemerality of life to getting super-high. But ultimately I think this song is important in how it comments on - and deepens the understanding of - all the songs that came before it. On an album so full of emotion and so framed by the give-and-take between guys and girls, I think it's beautiful to look back and see the songs - and the different genres and voices - at ease with one another. It's like our loves and desires, connections, social situations are really just rings of smoke, clear and perfect before our eyes one moment, breaking apart and dissipating the next. That's why we called the record "Smoke Rings" - the creative consciousness of making the record had already turned into memory...
Along with the gorgeous harmonies from Orenda Fink, the song "Smoke Rings" features hotshot producer SayMyName on rhythm guitar and local legend Dave Swenson, from Arthur Dodge and the Horsefeathers and The Danny Pound Band, on the Les Paul lead. Such an honor!
Dri will be playing a few shows in December - should have some details soon. And then the plan is to have her out in the Spring, rocking the mic the world over.
We hope you've dug the "Introduction" to Dri's "Smoke Rings". Once we get a few more videos and remixes worked out, we'll be launching a seperate archive of this series, hopefully in the next week or two.
Thanks for checking in and Stay Cool - which, right now, means Keep Warm!
Range Life
11/21/07 Introducing "Smoke Rings" (#10)
Homepage: Zaguar, slicin' and dicin'.
Listen to "Goodnight, Baby" HERE.
Watch Dri's performance of "Goodnight, Baby" from the Taproom last month HERE.
Dri's on the Homepage at VIRB right now. You can stream the album and hopefully become friends!
SayMyName was the man behind "Two Are One", "Indria", "Inspiration" and "Hot As Hades" and he's back today with "Goodnight, Baby", the shortest and sweetest track on Smoke Rings. I'd say the hallmarks of SayMyName's production are the gut-checks of the bass drum and his textural precision, forming little glitch-symphonies of digitized sound. Both seem on concentrated display here. Thank you to SayMyName and to the other uniquely amazing producers who worked on this record. From Nezbeat's lush, gliding instrumentation on "You Know I Tried" and "Free Tonight" to 1,000,000 Light Years' anxious-orchestration on "Meet Me Out", to Josh Powers' classic-break redefinitions on "Don't Wait" and "What's Real", these guys killed it - and still managed to complement each other. Thanks, Boys!
We're going to take Thanksgiving through the weekend off and come back on Monday to introduce the closing track, "Smoke Rings", and re-cap. So mark your iCal's for - let's say 2PM, Eastern?
For those of you in Lawrence for Thanksgiving, if you feel like gettin' away from the fam or showing your second-cousin a glimpse of the Scene, come out to the Jackpot at 8PM for some art on the walls, including Patrick Hangauer's "Siegfried-Tiger-Roy" triptych. And if you don't get enough gravy at dinner, there'll be plenty on stage, including the first performance in quite a while by Hunters and Gatherers, aka Kelly Hangauer from Fourth Of July and Save The Whales. Ladle up!
Wow - if things weren't busy and hectic and nuts enough already, tomorrow kicks off the "busy, hectic, nuts" season. Let's all try to take deep breaths, be good listeners, tell our loved ones we love them and keep the fires in our hearts stoked and burning bright no matter how cold and crazy it gets!
Happy Holidaze!
Range Life
11/20/07 Introducing "Smoke Rings" (#9)
Homepage: Joey Gee, envisioning diamonds of Dri. For more diamonds, check out Joey's record label, Pink Teeth. For past homepages, check in at Range Life Flickr.
LISTEN to "What's Real" at Dri's MySpace.
Lyrics HERE.
And, as promised, HERE is how "What's Real" sounds after being run through SayMyName's beat-grinder.
"What's Real" was produced by DJ Josh Powers, one of our local legends and the primary reason to go out and get your dance on here in Lawrence. Dri and I first heard this beat at Josh's DJ night, the first Saturday of every month at the Taproom. Seeing people dance as hard to it as they did to Josh's funk/soul classics sealed the deal. I love how mixed-up it is between digital and analog, the electronic beat and the deep soul fuzz. And dude can sing! If you missed yesterday's movie link to Josh and his daughter Ruby rocking "Hot As Hades", check it HERE.
Lyrically, I think this song's a real catharsis for Dri. The heart of this record is an honesty about the difference between the impulsivity of one's early-20's and the deeper understanding of one's later-20's. "What's Real" was written pointedly to one of Dri's girlfriend's going through the emotional chaos of young-love, though it could just as easily be written by the Dri now to the Dri then. "Just give it a bit of time/ Only you can read your mind/ Sometimes giving away your heart/ Means breaking it apart". That's some serious shit. And we've all been there. So let's be big enough pimps to be honest about it - and then let's Dance!
You can Mail Order "Smoke Rings" HERE and get the summerlove promo poster HERE. Should be in stores everywhere, let us know if it's not! For other links, check the Dri Splash Page.
Back tomorrow with "Goodnight, Baby". And gravy recipes!
Range Life
11/19/07 Introducing "Smoke Rings" (#8)
Homepage: Zaguar, getting addicted to Photoshop.
Dri Splash page HERE.
Track 8 on SMOKE RINGS is "Hot As Hades". Listen to it HERE.
"Hot As Hades" was produced by SayMyName, who you may know from his hits "Two Are One", "Indria" and "Inspiration". If you check in tomorrow, we'll be posting SayMyName's latest hit, a remix of the Josh Powers- produced "What's Real". Not to get too confusing, but perhaps the biggest fan of today's track, "Hot As Hades", is Josh Powers' daughter Ruby. We'd heard that she had quite the song-and-dance number to "Hoppin' Hades", so we went to the Powers residence with boy wonder Brendan Costello and filmed it. You can watch Josh and Ruby and catch some of the freshest dance-moves tearing through Kansas HERE.
Perfect song for a day like today, sunny and 70 in Lawrence. Don't mean to cut this short but the waves are calling...
Check in tomorrow for "What's Real".
Range Life
11/16/07 Introducing "Smoke Rings" (#7)
Homepage: Quincy Quartz, doing to Dri's album-art what Quincy Quartz does: turn it to Gold. For more in our series of "Smoke Rings" album-art remixes, check Range Life Flickr.
Today we're introducing Track 7 on "Smoke Rings", the 1,000,000 Light Years-produced "Meet Me Out".
LISTEN to "Meet Me Out" at Dri's MySpace.
1,000,000 Light Years is Patrick Hangauer, also the bassist for Fourth Of July and Save The Whales. Not only did he produce the original track for "Meet Me Out" but he has done a really wonderful remix which you can DOWNLOAD HERE. (enable your pop-ups!)
"Meet Me Out" was another track that came together in the studio, at Mixtape Soundlab. We were in the studio for 87 days, so it's not that big a deal. Still, we hadn't heard it before going in and now, on the finished record, it sounds so fundamental.
To me, this is the most "Lawrence" track on the record, the song that most eerily captures a place and time. Place: downtown Lawrence, in and around the bars. Time: somewhere between 1:30 and 2:30 AM. You feeling me? It sounds intoxicated, driven, excited, impulsive and a little vampire-ish. I love how Dri references some Fourth Of July lyrics, from the song "Pimps In Paris", where the singer is hoping he doesn't start playing-it-loose while his girlfriend is away for the semester. This song could have been that girlfriend's reply, leaving a dance-club buzzed and lovelorn on a stormy night in a foreign city. She looks at her cell-phone to see if he's called and he hasn't and so she grips it tight like a microphone. And the storm clouds all around her turn in to big boombox speakers. As it starts to rain, she starts singing - in a close-up you can catch the glint of a fang. Now all we need's a budget for the music video!
Thanks to everyone who has been supporting us with this record - it means the world. Some people have been asking if Dri will tour and, while nothing is set, she's working on putting some shows together in December. Any ideas or special requests, let us know!
We'll be back on Monday to introduce "Hot As Hades".
87 days in the studio - I wonder what that would've sounded like?
Range Life
11/15/07 Introducing "Smoke Rings" (#6)
Homepage: Zaguar. Staying fly on the fly.
LISTEN to "Free Tonight" at Dri's Virb page.
WATCH the Dri and Zaguar-curated Party Pics video for "Free Tonight", starring, well - just about everybody we know.
"Free Tonight" is the second of two tracks on "Smoke Rings" prodced by Nezbeat, one of the baddest bad boys around. I was telling Nez the other night it seems like all of Lawrence is his crew. That's what happens when everyone feels your beats.
Like "You Know I Tried", the instrumental track for "Free Tonight" came to us on an endless mixtape Nez had put together of all his yet-to-be-used beats from the last few years. There was so much good shit on there, we could have made three records just with him. "Free Tonight" was originally called "80's Club", drenched as it is in sparkly synth and that primal, early-Madonna kick-drum. I love how Dri flipped it to be a meditation on that girl out dancing at the club, buoyed by the sounds, so into it she's not even touching the ground. And that girl goes out and goes out, dances and dances, drinks and parties, makes so many friends - and suddenly it's a few years later and she's ready for change. That's how I hear this song: it's a conscious call for "living in the moment", made that much stronger by having done some living. Dri's a pimp.
Splash page HERE.
And those bad boys Fourth Of July are back at it tonight, playing the Replay Lounge in Lawrence. More info HERE.
Check back tomorrow for the introduction to track 7, "Meet Me Out". Hear there's a pretty hot remix...
Probably not "KJ hot", but pretty close!
Range Life
11/14/07 Introducing "Smoke Rings" (#5)
Homepage: fellow indie-chanteuse Suzannah Johannes. Well, there you go! Homepage history at Range Life Flickr.
Dri Splash page HERE.
LISTEN to "Inspiration" at the Range Life MySpace.
Lyrics HERE.
Wish we had some video, but I stayed up half the night working on a clever idea that ultimately tanked, so we're cutting our losses and will be back to WOW you with imagery tomorrow, when we introduce "Free Tonight" with party pics.
"Inspiration" was produced by SayMyName and today is SayMyName's 22nd birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY to him and here's to hoping he gets 22 kisses (from 21 other girls than his Mom!)
So the story in a nutshell is that SayMyName had sent the gist of this track as an mp3 in an email that somehow got foresaken. Halfway through recording, Dri decided to do a few more songs and we went searching for track ideas we may have overlooked. I can't explain why we slept on this the first time. I think it came at a time when we were seeking something dancier. Dri now says it's her favorite song on the record. It's a spine-tingler for sure. Classy and lovely with the promise of redemption from heartache. I remember coming back to the studio one night after work and Dri had just finished recording this song. I sat down to listen to it and wound up on the ground laughing because it sounded so good. I'm not sure I've gotten up.
Great shout-out from Crown Dozen HERE.
"Two Are One" remixers Homeowner have revealed themselves!
We've got a capellas bounced, so anyone with an ear towards doing a remix, let the label know!
Big $$$! Fame and fortune! All your wildest dreams!
Range Life
11/13/07 Introducing "Smoke Rings" (#4)
Homepage: Zaguar. Album art remix. You can download the album-art psd HERE and rock a remix of your own. If you size it 535 X 445 pixels and send it to me as a jpg, it could very well bask in the glory of being our homepage image for the day. Why not?
Download "You Know I Tried" at Dri's MySpace or at our Webstore.
WATCH the music video for "You Know I Tried", directed by Range Life videographer Brendan Costello.
Who's doing the remix???
Click HERE and watch the lovely, bittersweet lyrics appear.
I don't know where to start with this track. Every song on every CD and mp3 and record I own could turn overnight into "You Know I Tried" and I don't think I'd mind. It's the kind of track a Music Doctor could prescribe to soothe you and sway you and make your mind cascade through all the moments of attraction, the little firefly-phermones that light up your memories. Maybe that should have been the title, huh? - "Firefly Phermones".
This is a Nezbeat track and when Dri and I first heard it, it was on a mix CD Nez made of a bunch of his tracks that he'd "copyright protected" by triggering little samples of "Neeeezzzzzzzzzzzzz-beat" and "www dot archetypesite dot com!" throughout everything. So the demo Dri did had all these voices behind her. I heard it that way so many times that it took me a while to get used to the album version. I still hear that sighing, high-pitched "Neeeeeezzzzzzzzzzz" from time to time, like a ghost in the machine. And that's fine - kid's a total pimp.
When Dri was in the Anniversary, a lot of her singing was higher-register. Even with Art In Manila and Fourth Of July, she tends to really "place" her voice and make it compatible. I think the real revelation on this record, and definitely on this track, is how rich and sultry her lower-register is - how powerful. There's a certainty, a confidence, in her natural voice that really expresses so much of her character. It's wonderful to me - and, I hope, to others who know her - how present she sounds on this record. It's so indisputably Dri, it's kind of wild. Hers is one of the few voices that can put me entirely at ease.
It should be mentioned that the "Caddy" in the song is no front. Dri was driving around a Caddy all Summer, with big sunglasses on, windows down, drinking a Pepsi. Not sure who the rest of the song is about but what a dunce! That Caddy could have gone anywhere!
Alright. Hope everyone's digging the record. For links, check the Dri Splash page. We'll be starting to cross-post on a wordpress page, for posterity's sake. I'll have that link perhaps tomorrow - "Inspiration Wednesday".
I'm ready to throw open the windows - bump "You Know I Tried" - get in to this Indian Autumn.
Zaguar
11/12/07 Introducing "Smoke Rings" (#3)
Homepage: Zaguar. Another album art re-mix. HERE is a link to download the album-art psd, so all of you visual geniuses out there can do your own remix and help a brotha out.
LISTEN to "Indria" at Dri's MySpace.
Indria. It all started with some audio bling by SayMyName. But then his laptop crashed (it couldn't handle the heat of his drum programming). So he had to re-sample and rebuild. Where would we be without SayMyName? Honestly.
I remember no one thought we could make a song out of the instrumental. The chords and melody were too strange. Dri waited and waited to demo it, wary of how intimidating it sounded, especially when it was turned up Extra Loud.
I'm not sure what broke the spell. Maybe some smoke rings. The lyrics to "Indria", which you can read HERE, were written in a phase of trying to be totally honest about experiences, regardless of how self-righteous or vulnerable she seemed. I think there's the jolt of each in "Indria". It's like the Indie-girl version of Destiny Child's "Say My Name" - the heroine telling the zero what's what. And yet wanting him; wanting him to be a Hero...
The producer of "Indria", our very own SayMyName, is so named because of his gently pimp home-recorded version of the Destiny's Child track (Listen HERE.) That's when we knew SayMyName was on another level - the soft-spoken, mild-mannered kid was slipping away to channel Timbaland and Beyonce. I don't think I'd ever been so flipped.
Check out the Dri Splash page for links.
Also check the Dri shout-outs at FADER and Rock Sellout.
Tomorrow's introduction of "You Know I Tried" will feature the first music video done for "Smoke Rings", a Taproom soulscape shot by Brendan Costello.
And more to come. I've got a few days off from work and am refusing to leave the house. If you see Dri or Varsity or Styles or Eastwood out on the town, call the Smoke Rings police! They're all supposed to be shackled to their computers!
555-5555
Range Life
11/9/07 Introducing "Smoke Rings" (#2)
Homepage: Zaguar, another album-art remix. Where's my peeps? If anyone would like to remix the Dri "Smoke Rings" album art for a Homepage during this series, let me know, I'll send a link.
LISTEN to "Don't Wait" at producer Josh Powers' MySpace.
WATCH our video introduction to "Don't Wait", starring Dri, Josh Powers, Bronco and Zaguar.
READ Zaguar's account of how "Don't Wait" came to be at Joey Gee's hotspot, Fuck Yeah! Go Team!
For other links, check the Dri Splash page.
Some kids wondering who's behind the Homeowner remix of "Two Are One" from yesterdays post. All I can tell you is that one of them is also a Studio Owner and the other is a co-owner of my favorite hip hop group in town.
So, we'll be taking the weekend off and will be back on Monday to introduce "Indria".
Lot's of love.
Range Life
11/8/07 Introducing "Smoke Rings" (#1)
Homepage: Zaguar, album-art remix.
LISTEN to "Two Are One" on Dri's MySpace.
DOWNLOAD the "Two Are One (One Is Two Remix)" by Homeowner. Who's Homeowner? Just some Pimps we know.
"Two Are One" started with the beat - a broken-horseshoed gallop by SayMyName. Most of the rest was made up one summer afternoon at Range Life HQ with Dri singing and playing the organ. It was the first song we recorded when we hit the studio late-August at Mixtape Soundlab with our not-so-secret-weapon engineer, Jim Vollentine.
As I remember it, Jim had Dri put her voice and her organ and the lyrics in this big black hat and he got out this wand and waved it around, kind of all up and down and all over the place. And then he reached in and pulled out... the absolute cutest little white bunny! But a bunny wasn't what we needed - no matter how cute! - so he waved the wand again, punching the air like some tuxedoed conductor and - BOOM! - when the smoke lifted, there was "Two Are One"!
Kelly Hangauer from Fourth Of July and Lindsay Mayer from Save The Whales came in later and played horns on the second half of the song. Even Dri got in the mix with some trombone. The way Dri and Jim approached this track, layering vocal over vocal, getting thick with the ambience, became a kind of motif for the record: building sonic space with harmonies until, well... the two were one.
"Two Are One" lyrics HERE.
Check out the Dri Splash Page HERE.
Thanks to Terrorbird and all the deejays on College Radio for putting Dri Top 100 on the charts - #66 and counting!
And thanks to Pre Sense Form and Unresort for their tireless work on things. We'll be introducing these tracks week-daily (taking the weekend to catch up!). There's so much to share, you just never know how time and energy will conspire.
So, anyway - back to Guitar Hero!
Range Life
11/7/07 Dri?
I know, I know... We were supposed to be kicking off our "Introducing 'Smoke Rings'" series today and we're going to have to push it until tomorrow. So much going on, the full-on flux, and we need to catch up! So tune in for "Two Are One" tomorrow.
Thanks to everyone who made it to the CD Release Party last night! Felt good and was wonderful to have the support. Three cheers for Dri! Hot! Hot! SO HOT!
Still entertaining our FADER friends. Tonight it's the Taproom. Save The Whales will be unleashing their first show in months and Dri, Double Trouble, Powers and maybe even Zaguar will be rocking the pinwheels, the solar systems, the one's and two's. That's at the Eighth Street Taproom, 10 PM.
Be back soon.
RL
11/6/07 Dri!
Congratulations to Dri, the light of our lives! Her solo record, "Smoke Rings", is available everywhere today. If you're in or around Lawrence, please come to the CD Release Party at the Jackpot at 9 PM. Suzannah Johannes plays around 9:30 and then Fourth Of July and then Dri with Josh Powers and Special Guests. (SayMyName, anybody?) This is it - our careless, helpless plunge into a "fourth quarter" release. It just had to be heard!
Listen Here
Dri MySpace
Dri Virb
We'll be introducing the songs on "Smoke Rings" - and the players and producers who made it - daily, starting tomorrow. So please check in. And let us know what you think - it makes such a difference.
Hope you dig it!
Range Life
11/4/07 Dri Pre-party
Homepage: Pre Sense Form - the reason everything always looks so pimp.
About to turn on the jets. Dri gets back from touring the West Coast with Art In Manila tonight - just in time to prep for her release parties. Monday night, the 5th, she's drankin' and deejaying at Teller's, 10 PM. And then Tuesday night, the 6th, is the Dri "Smoke Rings" CD Release Party at the Jackpot in downtown Lawrence, with performances by Dri (with Josh Powers and special guests), those Bad Boys Fourth Of July and fellow Lady of Rock Suzannah Johannes. I think that's about as good as it gets right now!
For some icing on the cake, we're going to be launching into another Range Life series, this time introducing the 11 hot trax on "Smoke Rings", one a day for 11 days. There'll be video introductions and performance footage, the premier of Brendan Costello's video for "You Know I Tried", some free downloads, remixes, homepages, interviews - the works! Now all we've got to do is get started on it! Yeah, you know how we roll here in Lawrence: cool as ice until the water starts boiling!
Cherry on top: FADER magazine is going to be in town, in the mix, doing a full report on the Lawrence scene. Get out that floss!
For more on Dri, check The Pitch, the Kansas City Star, Present Magazine, Lawrence.com, Badical Beats and Okayplayer (though there's not a permalink, so you may need to search it.)
To mail order the CD or the hot Hot HOT poster, check our Webstore.
When you're done dancing on the ceiling, let's us know what you think!
Range Life
10/31/07 Lions, Ninjas, Chippendales...
Sorry for the lack of updates, everybody. Took some time to catch up after New York and then we've been swamped with readying for the Dri "Smoke Rings" release on Tuesday.
Trick or treat? Treat! Angie Sullivan on the Homepage (a detail from her wonderful, would-be CMJ poster).
Trick or treat? Treat! How about Fourth Of July playing a costumed in-store at Kief's Record Store in downtown Lawrence around 5 PM. Trick? Maybe closer to 6 PM. Patrick will be a Lion. Treat! SayMyName will be a Ninja. Trick! Brendan will be a...
Trick or treat? Treat! Jeez, kids... How about Double Trouble rocking the Taproom Halloween extravaganza, 10 PM. Trick! Dancefloor usually rocks closer to midnight. Trick! Let's flip it and rock it earlier! Treat! Here's how it went down last year. (Trick! There's also Archetype at the Jackpot.)
Treat! Alright! How about this Lawrence.com podcast with Dri. Trick! She's disappeared on us again to tour with Art In Manila. Treat! She'll be back this weekend, ready to rock her CD release party on Tuesday, November 6th at the Jackpot! Treat! Also performing, Suzannah Johannes. Treat! Also performing, Fourth Of July. Treat! Treat! Treat!
Sorry, kids - doesn't seem to be any more room in those goodie-bags!
UPDATE: Oh, there's a little more room. Kargo X, over at Daily Kos is killing it today with This and This. So sweet you want to vomit.
Happy Howwwllllllloweeen!
Range Life
10/22/07 Afterglow
Homepage: Sara McManus. There's also Range Life Flickr. And if anyone has any good New York or CMJ shots, put them up there!
The Boys are back in town! (Watch out ladies...) And, of course, as soon as they're back, our Girl takes off. Dri heads back on the road with Art In Manila, this time hitting the West Coast opening for Saddle Creek's The Good Life - Fourth Of July's former tour-mates. A little incestuous, isn't it?
CMJ went off grandly, I think. Dri and Powers got the heads nodding and the spines tingling and then Fourth Of July took out their guitars and graffitied the walls with lover's pleas and fiery chords. One of the songs they scrawled, "Goodbye", is up now on the Fourth Of July MySpace, the third of three in our "Tour Singles" series. Having had our after-party fall through twice at Piano's, we ended up at the Palace in Brooklyn, listening to Zeppelin, drinking $1.50 Budweisers and doing our best to dodge the kissing machine, aka gayornotgay.com. It was such a treat to see everybody - basking in old friends, making new ones - it's easily the highlight of the year. Thanks to everyone who came out!
Now it's all eyes on Dri. Her solo debut, "Smoke Rings", comes out November 6th. (Pre-order HERE.) We just shot a video last night for "You Know I Tried" - glowing in the red glow of the Taproom. Steezy's on it. We'll be having a pre-release party at Teller's on Monday, November 5th and a CD release show with performances TBA. In the meantime, you can check out Dri - and probably get her new CD from her at the show - as part of Art In Manila. Tour dates HERE.
Still re-grouping. I'll have footage from the shows and much more soon. Any feedback from the last few weeks, please share!
Candle's burning.
Range Life
10/16/07 Daily Update (#30 of 30)
Today's Homepage: Quincy Quartz, Tm2, Angie Sullivan, Joey Gee, Sara McManus, Neil Krug,