Thursday, January 29, 2009
Cream Calendar Brian Jonestown Massacre at Exit/In April 9
Posted by Adam Gold on Thu, Jan 29, 2009 at 3:01 PM
If you're lookin' for a good time--and by "good time" I mean getting kicked in the face or watching a band crumble under the weight of their steward's ego--then I recommend going to see The Brian Jonestown Massacre Apr. 9 at Exit/In. The last comment might seem like an unfair "dig" on BJM leader Anton Newcombe, who's going to spend the rest of his life, or career--it is unclear which is likely to end sooner--living down the unhinged, nefarious excesses immortalized in the 2004 documentary DiG!. Double-edged sword though. Had it not been for that film and his antics in it, most people wouldn't know who he is.
Newcombe has made some great records and is (supposedly) clean these days. The interview I'm posting above, however, suggests the contrary. It was filmed backstage at Denmark's 2007 Roskilde festival, where--in Anton's world--there is apparently a lot lost in translation between English and well....English. Tickets to the Exit/In show are $16 and can be purchased here. More upcoming Exit/In shows after the jump.
Also coming soon to Exit/In:
Erin McCarley - Tonight!
Dirty Dozen Brass Band - Tomorrow
Vic Chesnutt w/Elf Power - Tuesday
Annuals - Mar. 6
King Khan and the Shrines - Mar. 13
Superdrag - Mar. 14
Chairlift - Mar. 28
The Whigs - Apr. 3
Doug Stanhope w/The Mattoid - Apr. 10
Peelander-Z - Apr. 23
Comments (14)
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Very nice! That'll be a great show. I haven't seen them in a year and a half or so, but it was one of the better BJM shows I have seen. Anton was well behaved and Joel was back in the band. They were firing on all cylinders. Played for a long, long time.
Re: Dig!...Funny thing is the Dandies are basically MIA (at least in this country) and the BJM are still touring and putting out good records -- and playing bigger venues all the time. The major label band shot their wad and are in anonymous semi-retirement. The band nobody wanted to sign got a boost from Dig! and keep chugging along. I know the last BMJ album didn't get great reviews (I really like it) but that last Dandies album was criminally lame.
In my opinion every Dandies album has been criminally lame. That aside, they did play Mercy Lounge just a few months back and I'm sure they play HUGE venues abroad.
i was gonna say, Dandy Warhols played here not long ago, but i can agree they're definitely better known overseas than here.
however, i can't help but think people are more in love with the crazy, volatile, drug-addled "genius" involved in the image of BJM than their music. Much like with Daniel Johnston, if it weren't for that movie, i don't think most people would have ever given a shit about their music.
i mean, i hate to be the troll here. i just don't hear anything there worth so much jizzing in the pants over.
casio -- not so. bjm were great to me (strung out in heaven being my favorite). couldn't believe how fucking crazy anton was. what a dipshit. great band.
I think "Nevertheless" and "Servo" are pretty undeniable songs. I also think that as good as some of the songs are BJM's real strength is in their ability to appropriate a psychedelic aesthetic. I do think some of that stuff is pretty haunting. People always romanticize tortured genius. I think in the case of Anton you can really hear it in the work. Same with Daniel Johnston. There isn't anything wrong, inherently, with a documentary giving that kind of thing exposure. If anything it shows how context affects the listener. I grew up in L.A. and remember always reading about and hearing about this crazy rock 'n' roll story in our midst, but at the time it was in full swing I was a teenager and BJM always played 21+ shows, so I was never able to experience it, despite my proximity. The documentary did shed light on what I'd been curious about. I appreciated that. The thing is, that documentary is more entertaining and compelling than any record either of those bands have made.
Man, that last Dandy's record is terrible, and so is the new BJM record. But it's safe to say that "Strung Out in Heaven" is pretty incredible. In fact, I'm gonna go throw on "Got My Eye On You" right now.
Still torn on the show though.
i dunno. i've given BJM lots of listens, and all i hear is aimless, uninspired 3 chord drones with phony british accents. so. i guess i just don't hear it. no doubt, Anton has more than his share of demons and it certainly shows in the sheer bulk of his creative output, but nothing about it really seems all that amazing to me. seems more like quantity over quality. it's cool if you can spit out an album over night, but it's not that impressive when it still sounds like you only spent a night on it.
so i dunno. you guys have me questioning my judgment again. i'm going to attempt another listen or two.
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