Who is Sergey Chilikov??

A few years ago, I was really drinking the p4k kool-aid on this new band, Beruit. “They” were the brainchild of 19 year old Zach Condon, who recorded Gulag Orkestar in the bedroom of his parents' New Mexico house. How he recreated the sounds of 19th Century Eastern Europe on a MacBook, I’ll never know, but I was really digging it and streamed their MySpace tracks while prepping tax returns in the Spring of 2006. I ended up buying that first record, but when I played it for the LOML, she thought it was kinda scary and all the chantings/old-world music* reminded her of Muslim Jihadists (I’ll admit that not all of their songs are as cheery/pop-friendly as “Postcards from Italy”).

Well, this weekend, the LOML and I took our little one to the 12th Annual Lebanese Food & Cultural Festival at St. Elias Maronite Church! A friend of mine at work is a HUGE FAN and I was really bummed we missed it last year. My wife is such a good sport, that we didn’t make the same mistake twice.

I ordered the BEIRUT CLASSIC (Deluxe Baked Kibbee Plate) which included baked kibbee, grape leaves, spinach pie, rice, green beans (Ioobia), Lebanese Salad, and pita bread. The LOML had DJAJ MISHWI (Grilled Chicken Plate) which had half a grilled lemon chicken, rice, green beans (Ioobia), Lebanese Salad, and pita bread.

To me, there seems to be a lot of similarities between Greek and Lebanese food. I’ve ordered Kibbee (which kinda reminds me of Lebanese Meatloaf) at the Olive Branch in Cahaba Heights before, but I think my favorite dish was the green beans. They were in a tomato based sauce and had CINNAMON, which was kinda funky, but still tasty.

Apparently, there are a ton of Lebanese food fans in BHM, because St. Elias was packed. Even though the meals were a little pricey ($15 for the BEIRUT CLASSIC) I had enough leftovers for dinner last night. PLUS it’s all for a good cause. I’m glad to see so many folks supporting local events like this, and I really want to keep taking our sweet little baby to stuff like this as she gets older.

After lunch, we took a quick tour of their sanctuary which featured some impressive stained glass. You’ve probably driven past St. Elias hundreds of times and didn’t know it. It’s located right off I-65 in Southside and you can see the steeple from the interstate.

* BTW, I saw Hawk and a Hacksaw open for WILCO last spring. They were gimmicky/redundant. Not sure I’d go see Beruit play live . . .

Measure Me Sunday

A couple* weeks ago, I had planned on posting my own “Measure Me Sunday” where I would track my progress at the gym and healthy (healthier) eating habits. Weeeelllllllllll, I never posted those initial measurements, and since then haven’t really made any progress, so I never followed through with it. Sorry.

After NOLA (and some encouraging word from the LOML), I feel like this past week has been really good on the healthy lifestyle front. As of today, I’m 205.5 lbs, which is 1 pound less then my original weigh-in last month, but I’ve probably lost closer to 5 this week, if you count what I weighed in at last Sunday (from all those crappy (albeit, delicious) calories in NOLA). It’s pretty tempting to want to hop on the scale every day, but going forward, I’m going to try and only weigh-in once a week. Since I’m not rocking p90x, I don’t think I’m going to measure (neck, chest, gut, etc.) every week, but I might do a monthly progress report.

Oh yeah, why else I’m posting?

Everyone knows music can get you PUMPED up when getting your sweat on. I made a “Work-out Mix” when I signed up for Planet Fitness and here are some songs that have helped me “Push it to the Limit” (port of Miami) on the treadmill and elliptical (I’ll admit to air drumming while listening to some of these). If you’re looking for some new tunes to GET YOU IN THE ZONE, I’d recommend any (though, some may have explicit content!!)

“Thrash Unreal” (Against Me!) – I wore my AM! shirt the other day. I could tell the Sleeve Monsters were frightened

“D.O.A.” (Jay Reatard) – 68 seconds of sweaty rock

“I’m So Hood – REMIX” (DJ Khaled, etc.) – you’d be surprised how much Rap and Hip-Hop improves your cardio (and AUDITING!)

“Brooklyn Go Hard” (Jay-Z) – I listened to this song a lot last year

“Swagga Like Us” (T.I.) – Can’t wear skinny jeans

“Stay Positive” (Hold Steady) – Title should be self-explanatory. Great song when finishing up your work-out.

“Superimposed” (the Glass) – If I was ever going to film a car chase scene in a French film, I’d want this as the background music. I don’t know why.

“Search and Destroy” (Iggy Pop & the Stooges) – Get your ass the hell off my boat


“Freedom” (Rage Against the Machine) – the verses are a little dull, but the intro/chorus guitar riff is sweet

“Blood and Thunder” (Mastodon) – Roooooooooooar, literary references!!!!

“The Wolf is Loose” (Mastodon) – this song would scare the baby

“Walk” (Pantera) – I wish I played football in high school, just so I could listen to this song before the Friday Night Lights.

“Creeping Death” (Metallica) – some good ole fashioned 80’s thrash metal

“Holier than Thou” (Metallica) – my favourite track off the Black Album.

“Broken, Beat & Scarred” (Metallica) – 46 year-old James Hetfield could be hard to take seriously, but this song is good stuff.

I’ve got a whole lot more songs on the playlist, but we’ll save those for another day (?)

* has anyone else gotten into discussion/debate about the word “couple” when describing any amount other than two?? I’ve always used the word “couple” to describe anywhere from 2 to 4 (maybe even 5) objects/items. My sweet, dear wife likes to point out there are 2 people in a couple, and therefore “couple” shouldn’t be used to describe any other amount. I really should be saying a “few” . . .

I and Love and You

One of the best parts of my day is rocking our sweet baby girl to sleep. We have a couple different playlists on my iPhone and she really likes the Avett Brothers (BTW, how sweet is having a speaker in the iPhone? It’s like having a portable baby boom-box). Anyways, we’ve been listening to them since we were at the hospital, and we both like our special music bonding time . . .

I love my wife. I love my daughter. Life is good . . .

Hope you and yours had a Happy Valentine’s Day!

Jay Reatard

I've always* been really proud of the local music that's come out of Memphis. Besides the obvious (Lucero), I could easily put albums by the Glass, Reigning Sound, Pawtuckets, Corey B, Snowglobe and even Augustine (one LP wonder!) among my favorite records.**

A few weeks ago, the Memphis (errr, global) hipster community was rocked when Jay Reatard passed away at the age of 29. I'm gonna be honest. I had never listened to any of his music. I remember seeing the Final Solultions and Lost Sounds mentioned in the Memphis Flyer from time to time, but I can't claim that I'm some Reatard super-fan (I did watch p4k's A>D>D interview with him last fall though). I always thought the coolest thing about him, was the bass player in his band went to my high school ("boring rich kids") and escorted my sister for Spirit Court six (?) years ago.

Well, today I've been streaming (FOR FREE) a good bit of his stuff on his website (and myspace) and I'll say it's pretty good. Nothing helps you tie down a Statement of Cash Flows like crazy, lo-fi, jangly noise pop (with a touch of faux British accent!). But seriously, he put some good stuff out there, and you should at least check out his (major, errr Matador) indie label debut, Watch Me Fall.

* Accidental Mersh notwithstanding

** I know it'd really impress you if I said I liked the Oblivians, too.

1372 Overton Blog

So this week saw the release of LUCERO’s major label debut, 1372 Overton Park!


I received my pre-ordered* CD last Saturday and I have to say it’s really good (what else would you have me say??). In addition to Rick Steff (?) and Todd Beene (??) “joining” the band, the boys have added a full horn section to this record, completing their slow and steady transformation into the next E. Street Band.


I wasn’t sure what I thought about “rock piano” on their last record, and I’m not sure I love the horns on all these new tracks, but "What Are You Willing to Lose?" absolutely DESTROYS with that Memphis horn-y soul!!

Last night was the Memphis record release show at the Levitt (Overton) Shell (I read this morning that something like 4,000 people attended the free show). Can’t believe it’s been almost 9 years since I was at their s/t record release show @ the Hi-Tone (I’ve been to four of their six Memphis release shows).

If you’re only looking to download a few tracks, check out “Smoke”, “What Are you Willing to Lose?”, “Hey Darlin’ Do You Gamble?” and “Mom” (as heard on One Tree Hill, oh double dear).

*Included in my pre-order was a pretty sweet Lucero patch . . . but I think you all know where this is going

Grab Your Bag, and Grab Your Coat

The Avett Brothers are performing on Dave Letterman tonight and releasing their new record, I and Love and You, tomorrow (9/29).


I’m pumped and have already listened to the entire thing 30+ times the last week over at NPR. It’s really good. I also want to be the first to point out the Jackson Browne & Randy Newman influences (Rick Rubin, you sly dog, you!!)

Give or Take the Subject or the Verb

So I was browsing around the interwebz this week and saw HOLY MOLEY, Corey Branan (sic) and Jon Snodgrass just released a split EP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I could wax nostalgic about Cory Branan for 2000 + words, but what else is there to write about him. He’s a brilliant word-smith. He’s half bat-s*** crazy (have you seen him perform live?). His debut propelled him to semi-stardom (Dave Letterman, Rolling Stone, the Playboy mansion, etc.), but his oft-delayed follow-ups have him slipping back into obscurity (I think he likes it like better that way). Anyways, if you haven’t heard his music, you should, and if have, but don’t like him, why are you blog-stalking me?!?!?

Jon Snodgrass is one of the vocalists for Drag the River, a fantastic “alt.country” band from Fort Collins, Colorado, who are “bad at breaking up” (they love to announce the band is calling it quits, only to reunite some odd months/years later). The first time I saw DtR was at the P&H Café, opening for you know who (Lucero), ummmmmmmm, 7 years ago?? I’ve seen them a couple more times since, but their Live @ the Starlight** has been on steady rotation of my life since. Lucky for Birmingham, Jon will be here this November, as part of the Revival Tour.

Well, Cory and Jon teamed up this summer to release this SWEET 7 song EP on Suburban Home records. You can get it on vinyl or cassette, but don’t worry; each comes with an instant mp3 download. Oh, and you can stream the entire thing here or below.


** Suburban Home is also offering a FREE download of Live @ the Starlight (WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?? You should be downloading this!!!!!). George Jones, Steve Earle, and the Misfits (in addition to Drag the River originals) never sounded so good!

Cleaning Out My Closet

This week, I was home on “stay-cation” and doing random tasks around the house (mostly yard work, cleaning out our storage shed, and de-cluttering closets in anticipation of the baby). Thursday I was working on our (home) office closet and found all these old framed posters/autographs I had from back in the day. There’s a (personalized) Bryan Adams autograph from the first time I saw him in concert (I’ve seen him three times). I also had (generic) Galactic and Medeski, Martin & Wood autographs and a framed Widespread Panic poster from their Thanksgiving 2000 shows at the Mid-South Coliseum. I’m planning on giving those away (possibly through BHAM.FM) to anyone who wants them, but there was another framed poster I was sure no one (outside of Memphis) would be interested in.

In high school, some of my good friends were in a band called RETROSPECT. They were really good (seriously, I’m not just saying that). They went through a “jam-band” phase, and then settled on straight ahead pop-rock (Big Star is so hot right now). I know the music industry is tough (darn near impossible), but I really thought they could have “made it” had their music fallen into the right hands.

The New Daisy Theater (was) a pretty “hot” venue back in the day, and would book RETROSPECT with other local (high school) up and coming bands. This was a good business move on the Daisy’s part because it brought in tons of high school aged kids when there weren’t any other shows going on. One band RETROSPECT would often get booked with was Accidental Mersh. They were a bunch of punk MUS/White Station kids and they were awful!!!! Seriously, they were so annoying and played the crappiest cover songs and all their preppy/snobby East Memphis friends would pack out it out!!!!!! As a “real” music fan, it was just annoying (and confusing) watching all these kids rock out to such crappy music. Even today, I can still picture their dopey bass player singing the “Owwwwww” part to Elastica’s “Connection.” Lucky for Memphis, the Mersher’s eventually graduated high school and went on their separate ways (and the RETROSPECT fans rejoiced!).

A few years later, I heard one of the Mersher’s started a band at UGA called the Whigs. They were getting a lot of buzz, but I was reluctant to give them a chance. Then I heard them on-line, and I couldn’t help myself. I felt like Rob Gordon after hearing those punk skater kids (the Kinky Wizards) outside his record shop. I didn’t want to like them, but I couldn’t help it. I bought Give Em All a Big Fat Lip and it was really good.

So I found an old concert poster from a Big Ass Truck show that RETROSPECT and the Mersh opened for (B.A.T. was an awesome local band from Memphis that “almost” made it - I think they had a video on MTV at one point, and had some college radio play, too). I was dropping off a load of old clothes and other sundries at Goodwill and threw the B.A.T. poster in for good measure. Before I left, I took a pict on my phone and sent it to N!ck and Harden for a good laugh.

“Some kid at Goodwill is really gonna be pumped when they find this,” I wrote.

N!ck replied, “CAN YOU BELIEVE that the lead singer of Accidental Mersh is now in MGMT?!?!”

WHAT?!?!?! Are you serious?!?!?! I quickly Googled (I’m already addicted to my iPhone) “MGMT Accidental Mersh” and sure enough there was an article in the Commercial Appeal last year about how this Mersher was now hitting it big. I’m sure you’ve heard their song “Kids” on the radio (I still think of Lil Kim when I hear it – thank you Hood Internet). Not only has MGMT signed to Columbia Records, but they’ve played the Late Show with David Letterman, and OPENED FOR RADIOHEAD!!! Holy Crap!!!!

So yeah, if any MGMT super-fans are living in Birmingham. Head on down to the Goodwill on Green Springs and pick yourself up a framed poster from Andrew VanWyngarden’s high school band Accidental Mersh (opening up with RETROSPECT for Big Ass Truck). I’m sure it’s a one of a kind!!!

and by "New" (REMIX)

Hehehe (awkward laughter)

I totally did not check out any cd’s from the library and burn them to my home computer . . . that would be illegal . . . don’t do it, kids!!

TV ON THE RADIO

I can’t say I was that familiar with their music before the show (I burned a couple cd’s from Stephen and D, and saw them on SNL and the Colbert Report earlier this year), but TV on the Radio put on a ROCKING good time Wednesday night.* This band oozes New York City cool and makes you want to move to Brooklyn and participate in a literary collective or slow food co-op. Kyp Malone also makes you want to grow a very, very large beard.

Any blog post re: this show wouldn't be complete without mentioning the fact that TVOTR played before an intimate crowd of 300 at Bottletree (tickets sold out back in February) whereas they've been accustomed to playing shows to audiences of hundreds (thousands?) more! The sign on the door said no photography or video equipment allowed, so you’ll have to settle for this really blurry/crappy camera pict!

* If you’ve got an extra $.99 on an old iTunes gift card, go ahead and download "Staring at the Sun," last night’s closer!

I Will Possess Your Blog

Catching up on the ole blog (blah, blah, blah) . . .

Went to Death Cab for Cutie last Tuesday night. Scored a photo pass and took some close-up picts. Still waiting for Zooey Deschanel to confirm my Facebook friendship request . . . You know the drill . . . head over to BHAM.FM for more

PS – In case you were wondering what else I do besides cook, go to concerts, and take pictures of both, I’ve got two more shows to look forward to (this month):

Wednesday (5/13/09) – TV ON THE RADIO
Monday (5/18/09) – COLDLPAY (with the LOML)

The Avett Brothers Should Be Your New Favorite Band

The Avett Brothers were SWEET!!!

Go buy their records!! Go see them live!! Go to BHAM.FM to see some other picts and thoughts from the show!!

Birmingham Rock City (remix)

Ok, so remember when I said yesterday Birmingham had completely lost its mind with all the concert announcements this week??? And remember how last week I was talking about the Thermals and how sweet they were?? And then I kinda referenced the two together??

Yeah . . . today the Thermals announced they’re coming back to Birmingham!!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! Who will we find out is coming to Birmingham tomorrow???????

PS – the Hood Internet also dropped a Thermals/Katy Perry mash-up this week. K.P. sounds like a less man-ish Pink to me. I may or may not have listened to this song on repeat today . . .

Birmingham Rock City

Man, has this been one SWEET week in Live Music News!!! First, I guess I should clarify my post from last week.

I like Music Blogs. I like reading original thought/content and hearing about new music that's coming out. I don't like reading "breaking news" about Mandy Moore and Ryan Adams getting engaged over . . . and over . . . and over . . . There's nothing fresh or insightful . . . and it will get picked up by FoxNews or CNN a few hours later anyway.

But yeah, this has been an exciting week for Music Lovers here in Birmingham. In only the first three days of this week, WILCO, TV ON THE RADIO, and the AVETT BROTHERS have all announced dates in BIRMINGHAM!!! Hellz yeah!!!!

Please tell me tomorrow T-Pain (with Lonely Island??) is coming back to Workplay!!! (fingers crossed)

Deep Thoughts

I realized something last week . . . a lot of music blogs (p4k, stereogum, etc.) pretty much all break the same "breaking news" . . .

For instance, today in Google Reader, I read three (I guess this makes four) different articles about the Thermals new single "Now We Can See" (last week it was Eddie Vedder singing U2 at an Arizona Best Western). Does anyone else think that's annoying?

And I really like the Thermals (well, I like their catchy melodies, not so much their post-apocalyptic lyrics)



But thats why I like Food and Photography blogs better . . . you may have similar topics (ingredients, subject matter, lighting tips), but you're not going to read the same thing twice . . .

I Have Signal

Tonight I’m heading over to, drum roll please . . . Bottletree (big surprise) to see Los Campesinos! and Titus Andronicus, in what p4k is calling “the highest-energy tour of the year”!

I haven’t listened to a whole lot of LC! but they were one half of my favorite Hood Internet mash-up from 2008, The Year This Club Broke (My Heart)!!!

If you’re bored on Monday, check out Bham.fm to see any of my thoughts or pictures from the show . . .

These go to Eleven

I am not metal.* I am an accountant. There are many pleats in my pants . . .

But that does not mean I can’t crank it up to 11 and furiously complete Financial Statement Disclosure Checklists!! Today I went out and bought “Leviathan” on my lunch break. It will come in handy this spring, when I get review notes as I’m shutting down my computer, and they need to be cleared by the next morning.

Look how metal I am . . . in my J. Crew sweater

*To further prove how un-metal I am, I was listening to Beyonce vs. Fleet Foxes “Single Foxes (Put a Wood on It)” all morning. I can’t believe this was a Hood Internet reject?? This song is tight!

Baby, It's Warm Outside . . . Seriously, It's like 70 degrees

Anybody lookin for a jolly good time this Monday (December 22nd) should come out to Workplay and see Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors play a Special Christmas Concert with Red Mountain Church.

I've known Drew since the 6th grade (our lockers were beside each other at Houston Middle School) and he is living the American dream (or every American musician's dream). After graduating from UTK, Drew set out on the road and has played at least 500 shows across the US. He's recorded some great albums (his latest, Passenger Seat, made it to #4 on iTunes Top Folk Albums the week it was released), got some great press (he was featured in the November Paste music sampler) and married a great girl (Ellie has joined Drew out on the road and they make a great musical team). This week also saw Billboard and USA Today review his "A Neighborly Christmas" album.

I've never been to RMC, but it looks like their music is pretty similar to the Auburn RUF albums from the early 2000s (Boundless Free and Love Unknown) and those are really good.

Hope to see yall out Monday night. Drew and I will probably try and recapture this image from ECS Prom '98 (I had some wicked Bama Bangs in high school).

Nostalgia has a Playlist

And it starts off with “Glory Days” by the Boss . . .

Am I starting to go through one of those “What does it all mean” phases?? No, not really, but I am a bit taken aback that it’s been FIVE YEARS since I graduated from college?!?!? What happened?? Seriously, I can vividly remember the first night I moved my stuff into the J.A.M. House and had Cancun’s Mexican Grill for dinner, when I was a wee, baby freshman . . .

Well, not only has it been 5 years since I graduated from Auburn (I did go back for an extra year to get my MAc), it’s also the 5 Year Anniversary of the final “On the Backporch” broadcast (my weekly alt.country/bluegrass/folk/Americana radio program on WEGL 91.1 FM)!

My wife tries not to roll her eyes when I talk about my time as a “college DJ,” but it’s one of my proudest and fondest memories of Auburn. I started out as a freshman in the “prime” 12-2 am Tuesday and 2-4 am Thursday night slots, and eventually moved my way into, in my opinion, one of the better slots in college radio . . . 6-8 pm Sunday night (students are driving back into town, studying for tests on Monday, etc.).

I started “On the Backporch” my Junior Year, and took a very Accountant-like approach to the show. I had Excel spreadsheets with every artist and frequency of play. I typed up mailing lists with every record label I could find in No Depression and sent out e-mails asking for freebies. I had a (basic) HTML webpage set up where I posted my playlists every week, and I made flyers for the show in Word, to post around campus. I really liked being a college DJ.

I’m grateful Zandura101 helped capture my last show on CD (I put a lot of thought into what songs would be played on the FINAL broadcast) and hope you enjoy (reading) it. If I was real tech-savvy, I would stream the show on-line, but I feel like that may not “be cool” with the Music Industry and/or Google/Blogger. If any of y’all are interested, I can actually burn you a copy (complete with PSA’s and my riveting commentary).

On the Backporch - December 14, 2003

Neil Young - Everybody Knows this is Nowhere

Boys from Indiana - Call This Country Boy Home

Son Volt - Windfall

Be Good Tanyas - Lakes of Pontchartrain

Faces - Ooh La La

Whiskeytown - Dancing with the Women at the Bar

Ween - I Don't Wanna Leave You on the Farm

Jesse Malin - High Lonesome

Longview - Leavin' Tennessee

Bob Dylan - Girl from the North Country

Byrds - Christian Life

Patty Griffin - Long Ride Home

Wilco - Dash 7

White Stripes - We're Going to Be Friends

Blair Combest - Every Once in a While

Tom Petty - Angel Dream No. 2

Rolling Stones - Wild Horses

Big Star - Thirteen

John Prine - Yes I Guess They Oughta Name a Drink After You

Catherine Irwin - Will You Miss Me

Wildwood Valley Boys - Heartbreakin' Devil

Bottle Rockets - Lawd, I'm Just a Country Boy in this Great Big City

Bright Eyes - You Will. You?Will. You?Will. You?Will.

Alison Kraus - Oh, Atlanta

Reeltime Travlers - Little Bird of Heaven

Tennessee Boltsmokers - Turn Out the Light (Love me Tonight)

Cory Branan - Crackerjack Heart

Cory Branan - (She's My) Rock and Roll

Gram Parsons - Medley Live from Norther Quebec: Cash on the Barrelhead - Hickory Wind

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Will the Circle Be Unbroken

Johnny Cash - We'll Meet Again

Uncle Tupelo - Acuff-Rose

Lucero - The Last Song

Top five musical crimes perpetuated by Stevie Wonder in the 80s and 90s?

Back in college, Mike P. and I came up with a “Cool Quiz” (what a lame name, right?) to gauge one’s music knowledge and street credibility. Here are some of the questions we came up with:

The Velvet Underground & Nico cover art was created by what famous art icon? Andy Warhol. What was on the cover? A Banana

Can you name one or more of David Bowie's alter egos? Ziggy Stardust, the Thin White Duke

Who is Pete Best? The Beatle's original drummer

Where did Tom Morello graduated from college? Harvard

Well, you can imagine my excitement when I saw the Bottletree started hosting a Music Snob Trivia Night a few weeks ago!!! Every Tuesday, teams compete in eight rounds of music trivia benefitting Scrollworks.

Whaley, JD, D. Rooney & I went 2 weeks ago (JD came up with the best team name in the history of music snobbery - “Oh, I heard of them 6 months ago), and although I was confident we would walk away victorious, we came in 5th (apparently there are a lot of music nerds, err, snobs in Birmingham). The rounds range in categories from Album Cover Art, Music Theory, Misheard Lyrics, Rolling Stones, etc. and you weigh your answers 1, 3 or 5, depending on how confident you are. Does anyone know what Andy Summers is doing on the cover of the Police’s Synchronicity . . . yeah, me neither (he was making a telephone call).
Anyways, if anybody wants to join us, we’re heading up there tomorrow (Tuesday) and it starts around 8:30.

PS – For those of you who have not been to Bottletree, they have some of the best food (vegan and “regular”), and also bring in some of the the indiest of indie acts in music (I can't believe I missed Vampire Weekend earlier this year!)