Tag: Music

Posted on

Oh baby!!!

Circuit City finally got a new shipment of the Ion USB turntables, so I ran and snatched one up before someone else did. The first thing I did was convert the Bastro single of “Nothing Special” that Mr. Jeter hooked me up with to a nice rich MP3 encoding. Hopefully this won’t piss off David Grubbs too much (hey, we did go to the same church as kids), but here it is for your listening pleasure:

Bastro – Nothing Special

I was so stoked to hear this song again after about 15 years. Good, isn’t it?

I’m trying to find a permanent place to set this thing up to enable quick conversions of all my old vinyl, and when I do, I will be posting a lot of good stuff that needs to be heard, so stay tuned!

Posted on

Several Things Of Note

Please don’t send me Microsoft Word Documents. ‘Nuff said.

The Origami Boulder Company sells finely crafted works of art.

The 419 Eater details a hilarious scamming of the scammer in this effort to fight back against infamous Nigerian Scams (419’s).

Me and Jeremy getting mad props for Channel 18 on Mefi Music

Another Chatham family right-time-right-place newspaper appearance.

On those Interwebs, you have to know how to ask questions the smart way.

Sometimes, it’s useful to know how to snatch an expiring domain.

Another useful thing is A List of Every Website Statistic Publicly Available.

Sit back and laugh as you make your best friend talk to his/her ex boyfriend/girlfriend on the phone.

Joey’s history of bands in Louisville is good. That’s pretty much how I remember it too.

Posted on

New Music!

Back in August I was in Louisville and got to record some tunes in an airplane hangar with Jeremy. It was too much fun. Check out the free tunes to hear them. Jeremy provides the guitar and bass, while I do the drums and other banging of things. Listen closely on one of the tracks for the jet plane taking off, which cleverly disguises an error in the song we made.

On another note, Jeter completely rocked my world this week by sending me the previously mentioned 7″ recording of Bastro doing My Dad Is Dead’s Nothing Special, a song which is very important to me because of its awesome drumming. Not to mention the fact that it’s just an awesome song, and I have been dying to hear it since 1992. I couldn’t believe it when it showed up in my mail, and my wife and kids looked at me funny when I shouted with glee and jumped onto the coffee table. Thank you, Mr. Jeter. I owe you one. Or 100.

Now, I must go buy a turntable. This 7″ has pushed me into deciding to delve in and get the Ion iTTUSB, which will allow me to start converting my 400+ vinyl albums to digital format. This will take a while to do, but there is so much vinyl I have that never came out on CD that it will be worth it.

Lastly, I’ve decided to start a new band. I’m going to put an ad out soon seeking one guitarist and one bass player to form the power trio from hell. If it doesn’t leave my ears ringing and my knuckles bloody, then I will have to try again. So, who wants to play?

Posted on

My New Music Site

Ladies and Germs, introducing ChathamMusic.com.

I finally took what used to be http://music.www.willchatham.com and created a separate site just for it. Now that it has its own space to live, I will hopefully be able to generate more traffic for it, and I will be able to keep it better organized. Since it is running atop WordPress, it will be a lot easier to update as well.

I figured that with the generic Chatham Music name, the new site could server for any of the Chathams who decide to record music in the future. For now though, you will find the usual Crain, Cerebellum, Undermine, Second String, The Modlins, The Merle, and music history stuff that has been there for a while. Hopefully I will have more to add soon.

Posted on

Gnarls Barkley

I don’t know if it’s because I don’t have MTV, or I don’t have my ear to the streets of current top-40 music, but for some reason I have never heard of Gnarls Barkley. But now that I have witnessed the following video, I have gained a deep respect for him/her/it/them. Check it out:

Posted on

What’s Going On?

I’ve been working a whole lot.

That’s about it, really. I like working. I really like the fact that the current work I am doing is challenging, stimulating, and educational. I really, really like the fact that I am working for myself and am better off than ever before.

Workaholic?

Perhaps.

Is that bad?

Only if it leads me to neglect my family, which it doesn’t. I work because I love my family and want to enjoy them more.

What’s my end goal?

Well, of course it would be nice to retire at 45 and vacation the rest of my life, but that ain’t gonna happen. I think I’ll settle for working less, playing golf more, and enjoying my family even more than that.

Is this the weirdest blog entry I have ever made?

Probably. I am interviewing myself. That’s what happens when I start writing after having worked about 50 hours this week. Sheesh.

I did find time to make my first venture into electronic music. It ain’t much, but check out this:

Greebo – by Me (mp3)

Click the arrow to start playing it, right click and Save As to download it.

Tell me what you think. I think it needs more.

Posted on

Searching For Songs

My search party has returned on their Taun-Tauns empty handed. It’s time to close the shield door on the South Wing as Chewbacca moans in agony.

Pretty much since the original Napster was ever worth a darn I have been searching for two songs, but have always come up empty handed.

The first song, which should be easier to find, is called Nothing Special by Bastro. The song was originally done by My Dad is Dead. This song was one of my favorites, but the only copy I ever had was a tape I made from Paul Oldham’s split 7″ of Bastro and My Dad is Dead. That tape is long gone, but my need to hear the song has only grown stronger over the years. The drumming on it was stellar.

The second song was from a mixed tape originally given to my brother when he was in 9th grade at the Brown School in Louisville (which would put me in 5th grade at the time). I think he got the tape from Brian McMahon or Britt Walford. On the first side was the seminal Flex Your Head LP from Dischord Records (I have that on vinyl still), but on the other side were a bunch of random songs.

There were no liner notes or anything, so I don’t know who sang it, but the song i think was called Refrigerator Kid, and was about a kid getting stuck inside of a refrigerator and suffocating. Morbid, yes, but it stuck with me all these years, and I’d love to hear it again.

That tape I inherited from my brother pretty much steered me away from Def Leppard and Nena, altering my musical tastes forever.

Anyone know anything about these songs, where I might obtain a free MP3, or even buy them?

Posted on

Dinosaur, Jr. Owned Me

What was anticipated as being the Best Week Ever is now over. It was quite a week. Two extremely exciting events were tempered by a run of bad luck.

As you know, the week started in Atlanta at An Event Apart, which was exciting, fun, and fulfilling. I got to meet Eric Meyer:

Me and Eric Meyer

I came back home to a very sick family. I worked one day with Position Builders, my part-time gig, before I had to take the rest of the week off to take care of my family. Double ear infections, vomiting, walking pneumonia, and sinus infections have all been present in this household over the last 2 weeks. I have escaped all of this, somehow.

Bring The Noise
Friday came and all was set straight. I went to see Dinosaur Jr in concert. I cannot describe how much the second album by this band, “You’re Living All Over Me”, influenced my drumming, my tastes, my life, and my musicianship as a whole. I was extremely upset the night I didn’t get to go see them in Lexington, KY in 1990.

Then the original lineup split ways and things were never the same. Until last night.

Lou Barlow, J Mascis, and Murph were all back together, bygones being bygones, and they absolutely rocked my socks off. I had tears in my eyes at one point. The raging sound that they managed to tame into this beautifully orchestrated barrage of power absolutely floored me. It was the loudest show I have ever been to, and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. I felt like I was cheating myself and the band by even considering putting in the earplugs I had in my pocket.

They played only one song beyond the first three albums. This was a good thing for me, though I could tell many people there were expecting to see the poppy Dinosaur Jr of the early to mid 90’s – the Lollapalooza version that was not at all like the original trio.

I think they played all but one song from “You’re Living All Over Me”. They even played their cover of The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” – complete with Lou’s gutteral chorus line and the abrupt ending.

The level of stokedness I still cannot describe.

What more could I ask for??? I am still in awe and unable to grasp the sheer magnitude of what bombarded my soul last night. The cycle is now complete. The circle is unbroken.

Posted on

Assorted Stuff

A buddy from one of my favorite online geek hangouts, the Broadband Reports Web Developer board, has been collecting VW commercials on his site for VW lovers. I’ve always been partial to VW’s, having learned to drive in a ’67 Beetle, and their commercials area good reflection of their uniqueness in the auto industry.

This is my last week at my current job, and I am excited. The future is wide open and I am looking forward to trying to make it on my own. I have been working hard at drumming up some web design business, and have 6 sites I am currently working on. I also have a few other irons in the fire, and will write more about those as they (if they?) develop.

Next week is the big week: An Event Apart is on Monday (though I am waiting to find out if I still get to go since I won’t be an official RSIS employee anymore, even though it has been paid for), and Dinosaur Jr. is on Friday. Been looking forward to this for a loooong time.

clicky