Lots of people ask about our influences and ‘roots’. I managed to track down some video of the band that inspired the start of Jagged Spiral – Gauchos. They kick all ass, and someday we will be good enough to open for them.
Yours Darkly,
Month: April 2007
Jagged Spiral Concert Tickets
Jagged Spiral Concert Ends In Tragedy
This is what happened at our Seattle Concert last week. I told Josh to dial it back a bit, but he wouldn’t listen and unleashed the Drums of Doom:
We had a great time, and fortunately no one was hurt (Since no one was actually in the audience.) Unfortunately, we are not allowed back to Seattle and our accountant is still sorting out the damages. Our lawyers are still trying to determine whether our performance can be considered an act of terrorism.
Yours Darkly,
couldn't have said it better myself
I just love the manic intensity of some of the stuff on Lefsetz. It’s nice to know that there are people out there who still care, and those people and I apparently share similar viewpoints. (Seriously, I was thinking of writing a very similar post before I heard of this one!)
http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2007/04/18/sam-cutler-on-live-earth/
So there ya go.
Horns up!
-josh
10 Failed Tech Trends of 2005
Interesting article in an old Extreme Tech issue. By interesting, I mean more than a little galling.
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1906395,00.asp
It’s amazing how much contempt people actually have for “average Americans.” On the one hand, you have the writer pointing to the consumer as THE arbiter in all things tech, as in noting that we (the consumer) don’t want multiple standards. This is absolutely true: when I buy a DVD, or a laptop, I want the thing to Just Work; it’s why people are still buying Apple Computers. The things Just Work.
On the other hand, this constant harping on the public’s inability to “understand” what “good audio” is absolutely insulting. It’s like this: people don’t care. They just don’t. People don’t want “high fidelity” sound because the sound they have is good enough.
Does vinyl sound better than CD? Arguably. Do CDs sound better than mp3s? If the mp3 is ripped at a low bitrate, sure. At 160 kbps or above, does it really matter? Stop for a minute and listen to your surroundings; it’s probably pretty loud. Is that extra dynamic range really gonna make much of a difference on your evening commute, sitting next to a cattle truck on 494? Not really.
It’s not that I don’t care; as I guy who is into all things audio, I want my music and movies to sound great. That they don’t is lamentable. But don’t blame the technology, and don’t blame the public. Blame the people producing all of that crass, relentlessly mediocre material, and the executives who have so much contempt for their audience that they’re convinced that’s what we really want.
-josh
The Stick of Destiny
The Entire Jagged Spiral Crew (And 2/3 of our fans) went to First Avenue last night for the Celtic Frost / Type O Negative show. There was an opening band, but unfortunately we got there just as they ended.
After a refreshing frisk at the doorway, we proceeded upstairs where we could get our drink on. When the sound check started for Celtic Frost, we descended to the mosh pit.
I don’t know about you-all, but I learned long ago that I do not pay $22 to hide near the coat check, or hang near the womens’ restroom to oogle. I can go do that for free at Barnes and Noble in Maple Grove. The quality isn’t nearly as good, but you get what you pay for…but I digress.
Anyway, I don’t fear the mosh pit, especially not here in Minnesota. So we stood in the center of the crowd when Celtic Frost opened up, and held our ground until the end of their set.
They were Loud. They were Tight. They were ON. These guys have been playing for YEARS. Celtic Frost was popular with skaters back in the 80’s fer chrissake. They were scary. They wore face paint, and they made KISS look like a bunch of pussies. I could easily imagine any of them dismembering fans and roadies alike backstage as a warmup for the show. Especially the bass player. [shiver]
The band finished, and the drummer threw his drumsticks into the mosh pit. One of the sticks bounced off at least three outstretched hands before rolling to at stop at the feet of…
Josh.
I’m telling you that stick went to him, like he was meant to have it.
He did not pick it up right away. He looked around first, as the room went silent, and the eyes of the entire crowd watched to see what he would do. Then as gracefully as King Arthur pulling Excalibur from the stone, Josh picked up the drumstick that had pounded a ringing into our ears for the last hour (My ears are still ringing as I write this blog post.)
I did a quick check of all the available exits, and prepared myself for impending Moshpit Hogpile of Doom sure to follow, but no one made a move. Suddenly, we were saved by the house music and the video of Seth Green’s show where he plays with dolls. Everyone’s eyes glazed over and were pulled to the pretty lights on the big video screen, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
I might always regret not thinking to track down the person with the other drumstick and seeing if they would part with it or sell it…
Type-O Negative was next, and the intro to their show was quite rude. It started with extremely loud polka music (The Chicken Dance, in fact) which was REALLY loud. That lasted forever, and just when I thought I couldn’t stand any more, they lowered the music, and someone walked out on stage. The crowd started to cheer…
…and it was a fucking roadie. Then the lights came back up, and the loud polka music, now even
This was almost funny once, but they proceeded to repeat this joke several times.
[Note to self: Never EVER do this. Not Even Once. It is rude to the audience. The audience is why you are on stage. If you hate your audience that much, then simply don’t go on tour.]
Eventually, Type-O Negative actually came out on stage, and we once again held our ground at the edge of the mosh pit. A few times we got sucked into the swirling void of flailing bodies, (and I got punched in the nose by an underaged girl. I’m assuming it was an accident) There were plenty of other attractions and distractions in the moshpit, but mostly Type-O Negative was shiny, high-goth metallic.
After the show, Josh pointed out that Type-O Negative on stage sounded Exactly like Type-O Negative on their latest album, Dead Again, and there endeth the lesson.
Yours Darkly,
The Birth of “Bad Kitty”
Practice today went well. It was the first practice with my new bass, and I couldn’t be happier. The tone is great, and it plays like buttah. After a couple hours of fighting the Dragon, my hand would need a break, but a couple straight hours with the new bass and I couldn’t even tell. Typing is more strenous than playing this bass. It’s wonderful to have a quality piece of equipment in the studio.
We started off with Bullets and Forced Entry (Since they are in the same tuning) then moved on to Hallowed Ground. While we are getting progressively better, it seems the longer we practice in each session, the worse we get. I suggested we practice LESS often.
After practicing, we worked on a new song, which came into some semblance of a shape, with a defined verse/chorus/bridge. After roughing in the structure, we recorded a couple passes of it. Then I presented some scat vocals I had been bellowing in the car, not much more than a melody, but some lines that kept repeating in my head.
We recorded the scat melody, and then Eleven presented some lyrics he had worked up when the song existed in another key. We opened up another track (Because Tracks Are Free you know). He recorded a rough of his vox , during which he ad-libbed some verses, including the line “Bad Kitty” which really clicked.
Whether the lyrics stay or not, the combination of “Bad Kitty” and “Wicked Tongue” will seed the theme of the song, and the rest of the lyrics, and no doubt get us into significant trouble with our significant others.
I did some reverb and compression on the mix, then burned it to CD. The vocal pieces seemed to layer pretty well, and I will review our work during my daily commute. Hopefully more lyrics will rise up from the chaos…
The song really pulled together quickly, only three sessions and we have rough outline of a real song. Scary.
Yours Darkly,
A Jagged Reggae
What happens when Jagged Spiral consumes too much alcohol during a practice session?
This.
Mon.
Don’t ask why my Jamaican sounds Italian.
Yours Darkly,
metal!!
Paging through Rift magazine brings me to the following observation: it’s simply inconceivable to me that anyone would react to the bands being reviewed the same way I did the first time I heard “Ride the Lightning.”
I know how biased and unfair a statement that is, but it’s true. This doesn’t just go for weird indie bands with asymmetrical haircuts; it goes for music in general, these days. Slipknot kinda rocks, but there’s no *atmosphere*, no sense of real purpose. Slipknot doesn’t offer the kind of escape Metallica or Napalm Death did, and you can be damn sure the Current doesn’t either. Maybe it’s that I’m older, jaded and cynical. All of these things are true.
But, dammit, what happened to music?
-josh
Shanghai-ed
It was a strange weekend.
There we were; Josh, Colin and myself, all minding our own business and peacefully enjoying the scenery at BJ’s bar in Minneapolis. I had just finished my standard poison of choice, and ordered a second: Tequila, Whisky, Diet Coke, twist of orange, dash of cinnamon (I haven’t named it yet)
Next thing we knew, we were on a Russian Trawler, tied to chairs and being interrogated by a group which I think was the Siberian/Lesbianese Army. Whoever they were, they did not shave, had horrible breath and were as unintelligibly drunk as we were. (We later agreed that the food was slightly better than at BJ’s bar.)
Sunday night, we were returned. Our band manager, Sugar, gave us a quite severe lecture on safety, sobriety, international law, and the Geneva Convention. She showed us a letter which seems to suggest that since our manager wasn’t responding to the ransom notes, our captors decided to return us. We couldn’t figure out which one of us was “the loud one” although I probably snore the loudest of us three, especially after drinking.
I’m sure there is a moral to this story, but I’ll be damned if I know what it is. Probably “Don’t mix Tequila with Whisky unless you know what you are doing.” Hell we’re professionals, and we still got Shanghai-ed.
Yours Darkly,
