FRIDAY NOSTALGIA!! — Braid pt. 2 and UPDATE!!!

Heyo there all ye' faithful TOMErs. This is just a quick note to tell you: We are tired. We wanted to have an extra special-cool FRIDAY NOSTALGIA!! post today... but alas, we just weren't able to crank a new one out for you to feverishly devour. If you'll notice, the TOME is now on track for a post every single day, and we couldn't be more proud to have you visiting us often for reviews on the exciting world of music we're constantly being immersed in, so thank ye' kindly. We really appreciate the readership and the comments peppering our little blog here, and are especially grateful for the wonderful bands and musicians sending new music our direction every day!

A couple of reminders — As always, we are looking for talented writers to join team TOME! If you think you share a similar taste and passion for music as either Ryan H. or Craw'z and have a knack for the written word, please feel free to e-mail us with a sample of your work: tometotheweathermachine@gmail.com. Don't be shy now. Second, you may have noticed our flashy little badge on the right-hand side of our page... yes, we totally caved and set up a Facebook account for the blog. Feel free to "fan" us or "like" us or whatever as you see fit by clicking on the badge—the Facebook page allows for folks who don't necessarily visit every day to see in a flash what today's post is all about. Go ahead, join the party... you know you want to.

And now, just so we don't leave you empty handed on this glorious Friday afternoon, please enjoy pt. 2 of Ryan H.'s healthy obsession with that wondrous proto-prog/emo outfit Braid by reading his in-depth interview through SLC's (completely awesome) SLUG Magazine. Enjoy, and happy weekend!

SLUG Interview: Ryan H. on Braid

Read Ryan's previous gush on Braid in an earlier FRIDAY NOSTALGIA!! post here

—Craw'z 5/21/2010

FRIDAY NOSTALGIA!! — Gastr Del Sol

Camofleur (Drag City, 1998)

For: Oval, Jim O’Rourke, US Maple

Byline: A definite contender for my favorite record of all time. A true work of art.

One day, I’ll have a book written about Camofleur. This is a record with so much to unpack, it’s daunting... where to start even? The instrumentation? The formless-forms? The dada-patchwork lyrics? The ingenious electronics? The nakedness of it all, the hollow moments? The fact that to this day, over a decade later, nothing sounds remotely close to it in scope, beauty, or vision? One day... one day, I’ll write a book about Camofleur. Today, I write a blog post. I write a blog post because I fear that Camofleur is in danger of becoming lost and forgotten. It’s the strange and obscure side-project of the magical Jim O’Rourke—his somewhat unlikely collaboration with the post-punk innovating Squirrel Bait’s David Grubbs. O’Rourke’s had his hands in enough masterpieces to solidify his immortality by now. But it’s depressing that he may not be remembered for his greatest achievement. So this is just a little nudge. A little reminder.

Camofleur... This is folk. Gorgeous folk. This is electronics, ambience, free-floating dream sequences, space-station static. This is backwards delay effects. This is trumpets, trombones, saxophones, pianos, organs, slide guitars, strings, woodwinds, accordions, steel drums. This is rock, this is celtic jams (that segue into the most beautiful 3:38 of recorded music I think I’ve ever heard), this is kraut, ballads, this is... pop. This is rubato guitar interludes. This is timing, surprises, twists, turns, jokes, tragedies. This is drums—grooves you’ve never heard or dreamed possible. Best of all: this is emotions. This is poetry, imagery, allegory... wait, wait. Emotional. What a terrible, derivative, cliché word used to describe music these days. It’s not even cool to be emotional (unless you're the Arcade Fire or, more recently, the Antlers) anyway. So, distinction: Gastr Del Sol is not emotional. This is one of the only bands and one of the only albums I’ve experienced that makes me truly emotional. You see, “emotional” in music usually ends up being nothing more than sympathy or empathy. Like watching a movie—you cry for those whom you’ve seen suffering sadness. You cry for others—nothing has really happened to you. Camofleur happens to you. Camofleur makes you suffer. Camofleur makes you joyous. Camofleur makes you scared. It makes you wonder, and inspires your imagination. It is both impressive and expressive. It makes you breath with it, live with it, die with it. “As corpse” is a phrase that will haunt me for the rest of my days.

Hallelujah, Drag City somehow still has this available on LP... grab it up before it’s too late. Study it. Grow with it—let it grow you. After Camofleur, nothing seems impossible. Gastr Del Sol represents the limitless potential of music and the unique hyper-creative abilities humans have in artistic expression. One day, I'll write a book about Camofleur... today I just haven't done it justice.

—Craw’z 5/14/2010

FRIDAY NOSTALGIA!! — R.I.P. Guru

Welcome once again to this week's edition of 'FRIDAY NOSTALGIA!!' I'm not exactly sure why that has to appear in all caps and with two exclamation points, but that's how Ryan started these things, and what with my obsessive-compulsive attitude towards blog-roll consistency, that's how she stays. So be it.

You may have heard the sad news that Keith Elam (aka Guru) succumbed to cancer this week—an illness he'd been battling for sometime now. Guru was a pioneer of hip hop on several fronts. His work with DJ Premier as Gang Starr is some of the finer hip hop to have been released in the 90s, and his contribution to the hybridization of jazz and hip hop in his famous Jazzmatazz series of albums literally saved the (what should have been obvious) idea that the two styles can coexist after Miles Davis' horrifyingly bad attempt on his final album, Doo Bop.

The cut below is my personal favorite Guru track. It takes me back to a time when I was a punk skater kid, watching 411 and Transworld videos. In fact, I was introduced to Gang Starr and Guru subsequently through hearing this song on Steve Olson's spot on Shorty's "Fulfill the Dream" video. I really miss those times... skateboarding was one of the first activities that gave me that wonderful false sense of rebellion: not wearing helmets, sneaking into R-rated movies, listening to music with explicit lyric tags on the fronts of the CDs... Hip hop (and discovering actual good hip hop especially, Wu Tang, Deltron, DJ Shadow...) was a huge part of that time in my life. Ahhh, Gang Starr... you once made me feel like a prince. Thanks for the great times, Guru—you shall not be forgotten. You truly are "Above the Clouds" now.

—Craw'z 4/23/2010