BILL'S SAC SPOKESMEN (With comments by Brian)

The dead will dance - MIX DEADLINE!

2010-10-20T21:02:00.000-07:00

Listen up flesh-eaters (Donut not included)! The deadline for the great 2010 Halloween mix is Friday October 22th! Send us your list by blog comment (or better yet, your MP3's) and the spokesmen will judge your worth...over the weekend at their leisure.

Spokesmen Halloween Mix Tape Challenge

2010-10-06T20:12:00.000-07:00

Submit your best 13 song Halloween mix tape list to the Sac Spokesmen (via comment post) and we will decide if it's worthy of the becoming this year's commemorative Dark Entries Mix Tape! Only the most disturbed, depressing, and dangerous song list will be compiled for eternity on magnetic tape with handwritten liner notes in red ink. Please don't bother sending us anything that wasn't brooded over by candlelight with Nosferatu on the telly for background horror. Your entries will be judged by a jury of your peers.

The Drums Concert Review

2010-10-02T14:38:00.000-07:00

Half the Spokemsen showed up last night to see the Drums on their San Francisco tour stop with supporting band Surfer Blood. The Independent was sold out. Fortunately Mack'nCheese scored some face-value tickets hanging out by the door. We missed the very first band entirely but caught the whole Surfer Blood set. Without knowing much more than a few listens on myspace before the show, Surfer Blood came across at first sounding somewhat like Abe Vigoda with some heavy cowbell, repetitive guitar riffs, and strong vocals. Later into their set, they pulled out some very poppy songs with instant appeal. Their frontman has some hilarious dance moves...like an effeminate prep-school male cheerleader. There were moments of genius and they played it tight. My expectations were exceeded.

The drums came on next with lots fog machine and gorgeous backlighting. There are two guitarists: Jacob Graham and Adam Kessler. One plays hollowbodies and the other plays a Rickenbacker(haven't figured out which, apologies). Hollowbody picks out the rhythm line and dances like he's taking his guitar for for a waltz around his side of the stage. Rick is a bit more subdued but cuts through with the melody nicely. No strumming at all that I've noticed, just picking. The lead vocalist, Jonathon Pierce, was a bit low in the mix but his stage presence was well received. He has the mod dance moves and dramatic poses down! He could be in love with himself or the crowd, but he is a bit infectious and fun to watch. The drummer, Connor Hanwick, was solid, and I'm guessing he's the one that hits "PLAY" to start the backing electronic tracks for each song. Even the whistle on "Let's Go Surfing" is pre recorded. At least there was no lip-sinc or hint of pretending that they were playing some of the keyboard parts. The whole effect was very easy to get caught up into and start dancing. I couldn't help myself. Blake, of the Beneficiaries, who was also in attendance was quoted saying, "I find them completely in-line with what bands ought to be doing to doing today." Other post-concert descriptors of frontman Pierce included "pretentious" and "Morrissey rip-off". They definitely force you to have an opinion one way or the other. Hard to sit on the fence with loving or hating this band.

Phono Select Wednesdays

2010-09-29T21:52:00.000-07:00

The Sac Spokesmen converged on the Phono Select store for a lunch time browse of some prime mid-town stacks. Thanks to Donut's connection with the founders we've had a chance to sneek preview the progression from interior construction, pricing and stacking the music, and the final pristine version seen this past week. The listening station turntables by the front window make you feel like a DJ when you lay the needle down and tweek the fader. There's some great display vinyl above the racks with choice selections. This visit we were pleased to see some 45's brought out for general consumption. Dal even let us buy some from the "to be priced" box! The CD selection is busting out of the shelves and there's a new hot item rack to check out. Can't wait to check the unveiling of the tape selection. My one suggestion at this point is to get a BIKE RACK out front! Meet up with the spokesmen for future wednesday lunces at phono select!

Thomas the Organ

2010-09-07T21:38:00.000-07:00

I have a new toy from the island of little lost instruments: The Thomas organ by Heathkit. It's a small kit organ with the standard cheesy voice selections. Upper and lower decks with some footpeddles as well. Several of the contacts are not working for the keys, so I need some advice on how to clean those off (Donut!). I'm pretty stoked to fiddle with it.

Submini Tube Amp

2010-08-09T19:09:00.000-07:00

From the heart (bowel?) of 'Donut Labs', as Bill likes to call it, here's the newest addition to the family. Currently residing in a U-Haul cube, on its way to Seattle with one of the poster's best friends and bandmates, this submini tube puts out a monstrous 1 watt (approx). The upshot is, you get to totally overdrive the tubes and still play at a volume that won't have the cops at your door. In other words, if you're going to be renting out a basement apartment in Queen Anne, and you still want to record a cranked tube amp, this might just work. Being the first time around the block with this circuit, there were some difficulties, but overall I'm pleased with the end result. The video at the bottom of the page gives a taste of the sound, (though you have to hear it through a crummy camera mic, a room fan, and people talking). I got to hear it for about 3 minutes, since I didn't have a proper cabinet to test it with. Bon voyage, little amp.

New Single = Books

2010-07-27T21:59:00.000-07:00

Due to the excellent rapport the Sac Spokesmen have with The Beneficiaries...here is a sampling of their latest for your consideration.

Tanks Cover No. 2

2010-07-23T16:32:00.000-07:00

leftinside breaks for the kids.

The Majestic

2010-07-17T09:33:00.000-07:00

My wheelset came in yesterday, and I started building around 10:15 pm. You know, like I was on meth. About an hour later, I had something rideable, and as of this morning, here's how it is looking:

In the interest of having it ready for vacation, I've put some less-than-optimal parts on there.
The pedals are from an old, not terribly high quality mountain bike, replacing the metal ones that would no longer turn. The brake pads are a mix, but the best I could come up with that would safely stop the bike.

It is apparent that I'll need to continuously upgrade this thing, as the chainring is worn, and the cranks are janky. Anyhow, for less than $150, I'm pretty happy.

Grand Slam of Free Coffee.

2010-07-06T19:32:00.000-07:00

Today I achieved a rare feat:
4 free coffee drinks in one visit to Peets.
It was like this, but with coffee:

Look upon my works, ye mortals, and WEEP.

Someday it may grow up to be something

2010-07-06T06:51:00.001-07:00

Before...

After...

S10

2010-06-29T22:38:00.001-07:00

Uses the same disks as a popular word processor of the same era.

Tascam 32B Meter Bridge

2010-06-28T23:40:00.000-07:00

Provides a visual representation, in decibels, of the volume of sound being sent to tape, should one decide to record music.

Sennheiser MD504

2010-06-27T20:10:00.000-07:00

As we emptied the last stuff out of the practice space, we finally found my long-missing Sennheiser MD504. Back when we started Spokesmen, I was looking for it to loan to Brian. Now that we've finally been reunited, I'll probably hang on to it for a little while.

On to Other Things

2010-06-11T09:56:00.000-07:00

Screw it. Close enough.

||Updated with a new link. Hopefully will work for Burns now.||

Architect/Cyclist Bag

2010-06-01T13:53:00.000-07:00

This bag is screaming at Mackin. I heard it.

Left + inside + Breaks + Comp

2010-05-06T21:29:00.001-07:00

Andersert was kind enough to give me a CD compilation of Left Inside Breaks. [OK - I begged.] It is 18 songs, including 10 covers. All of the Sac Spokesmen cover songs are represented here, as well as a few other nostalgic picks, like "Leave Me Alone" from New Order and "Down On Me" from JAMC.
The LIB version of "Down On Me" could easily be a demo version from the band itself. "Leave Me Alone" keeps the strained/yearning trademark-Sumner vocals, the impossible-to-get-out-of-your-head bass hook, and the dreamy guitar melody, while mixing in a shuffling surf drum beat.
The thread keeping the entire comp consistent is the stolen surf drums. That, and the warbly guitar, whispered singing, and blurry bass. The untapped LIB-sound is captured nicely in Joy Division's "Disorder". The song is moody and rapturous, like the JD original.
Andersert's original songs are as gorgeous and consistently terrific as the covers. Try "Small Party" for a dreamy afternoon. It will make you drink tea if you don't already. "Click Clack" is a stand-out, sounding very close to early-period Elliott Smith. "The Beta" appears on the comp twice, because it is that good. The acoustic version credits The Beneficiaries and has a decidedly cheerier feel. Tones of bossa nova will make you swing and sway on the instrumental "Inside Poor".
The comp closes with my favorite LIB track, Broadcast's "Corporeal". It is so creepy and moody, and probably even a bit difficult. The song is 3am, broken streetlight, someone following you, no escape, spine-chilling music. It builds and builds and threatens to fall apart at every turn.
The smart thing to do is to get your hands on a copy of this comp.

Disclaimer: I had to fake the cover art (above) because our scanner is weird.

Docu-lunch 01: Realms of Unreal

2010-05-06T21:01:00.000-07:00

Burnt Toast will be hosting the first of many "docu-lunches". The first film is about the artist/writer/mentally-insane Henry Darger. The running time will not allow the DVD to be consumed in one lunch hour, so we'll take a one-week intermission between halves. Showtimes are at noon on Monday - June 7 and June 14 at the Toast House.

Sorry, but this one is closed doors - for Spokeys only.

Let's Wrestle Tanks.... and Win

2010-04-25T15:57:00.000-07:00

Sac Spokesmen (aka 'Old Spolks') cover song challenge is quickly becoming due. The song is Tanks by Let's Wrestle. The due date is April 30, 2010. Things are getting pretty tense around here. I've even printed out the lyrics.

Know your cog

2010-04-21T21:47:00.001-07:00

After ordering the wrong bike cog not once, but TWICE, I finally have arrived at a faster, better, stronger fixie. I'm not really excited about stopping cause it just wants to GO. Maybe Toast can run a workshop on the hipster jump and skid move...

On an unrelated note, Edmund Bedford's latest cover song is now posted for streaming. STYLAPHONE!

Beneficiaries play Rock-It Room

2010-04-08T20:28:00.001-07:00

The Beneficiaries is Bill and Blake. Bill from Sac Spokesmen acclaim. Blake claiming all of San Francisco. Blake is a mathematician by the way. He likes Jonathan Richman's late period. Weird. So Beneficiaries had their 3rd open mic stint. The first two took place in Stockton at a coffee place that puns on the theatre it is housed in. I forget the pun, and therefore forget the name of the place. But Rock-It Room is in San Francisco in the district of emmmm, I don't know. I got there at 9:15pm, right after The Beneficiaries played. But the open mic policy is that you can play twice. TWICE! So around the strike of 12:00, the second set was performed. Two quick songs were applied, assured and easy, like a good deodorant. They surf-iachied through a 3 minute instro which elicited several cheers of joy (unless that was just the girls at the pool table making a shot). The Beneficiaries finished the evening strong and fragrant, like a familiar perfume, with a sweet ode to ex-love and a hummable chorus. When asked for a summation of the night from Andersert, it would be "no more 10 year Scotch - nothing younger than 16 for me". If someone can find a picture of the little boy in Desperado playing the guitara, please replace the image above. Salma was cool 10 years ago, but now she's on 30Rock and her chest is a parody of itself.

Jeremy Jay Diatribe - Spokesmen Podcast 001

2010-04-04T20:48:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our first edition of the Spokesmen podcast! In this edition we rant about Jeremy Jay. Burnt Toast wants to know: "Is this guy for real?"...Hilarity ensues...

1)To listen from this blog, just click the play button or the picture below.
2)To subscribe to the actual podcast, do this:
On itunes just go to menu item Advanced/Subscribe To Podcast/then copy the link from the title of this blog post into the URL dialogue box(hover your pointer over the title and then right click "copy shortcut" to save the link address).

Red Box = Zero

2010-02-06T10:15:00.000-08:00

Halfway through watching Tarantino's latest offering my DVD rental from the local Redbox froze up and refused to play 3 whole tracks from the basement bar/shootout scene. I am affronted. The DVD looked like someone held a lighter up to one edge of it. That's what I get for letting my Netflix queue get tied up with chick flicks...The rest of the movie I was able to view was classic Quentin!

Are You Electronic?

2010-01-31T20:03:00.001-08:00

The Spokesmen checked the Sacramento Electronic Music Festival Saturday night at the Townhouse for the last night of the event. We were basically Lifeliner groupies for the evening and taking in the whole scene. As an outsider to the world of electronic music here’s my general observations of the event:
I have no idea what is really going on with all the tweaking of knobs and buttons on all the equipment! In general each of the acts had a minimum of one or two mix masters hunkered over a table laden with two or three glowing drum machines, some laptops, various other analogue or digital gear and tangles of cords and wires. As the set progresses, these dudes will fiddle with knobs and tap the glowing buttons as if it were a keyboard. To the discerning ear it may seem obvious what they’re doing, but to a newbie the first question we asked ourselves was, “is that stuff legit? Is he actually doing something or is this just something prerecorded he could walk away from?” The answer of course is yes, they are talented skillful at whatever it is that they are doing…It just looks too complex to be true.
Some highlights of the event were:

1) Lifeliner opening up the night with an excellent set of drum and noise machine tweaking 101.
2) The group Homo-Erectus playing their set with oversized paper-Mache Unicorn head helmets.
3) MothSpy donning Zorro outfits had a nice slow groove with ebow guitar and a guest female vocalists.
4) Night Night provided a glorious rendition of Bella Lugosi’s Dead. Best line of the night, “I’m just checking email up here…”
5) DJ duo downstairs using an actual Nintendo hooked up via midi and set to beats. Excellent cover of Ace of Bass.
6) Paper Pistols has a huge sound for just two guys. Turns out Mogwai doesn’t really need 6 or 7 people in the band, just these two guys!

7) Lovely array of fixies displayed up and down 21st street.

Spokesmen live

2010-01-24T22:21:00.001-08:00

Props go out to the Spokesmen who came down to support their fellow at a local open mic in Stockton. Thanks for slummin' it! Microphone mishaps aside, I guess it went allright. If I do this again I'll try to get on the list earlier next time so - 10:40 is a little late on a school night.

Other Announcements:
1) Pattern Kids song is up and running and on top of the playlist to the left. Check!
2) New song has been selected for Spokesmen Cover Song Challenge VI: Corporeal by Broadcast! I'm stoked. Unfortunately some Spokeys have been expressing their dissapointment in public with apparent fluency in foul getstures. Let's keep it clean shall we...for the kids?

Laying it down

2010-01-11T20:30:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I went for a ride down the waterfront on beautiful foggy morning. I was having a lovely time until I took a tight turn on conrete ended up on my butt. It was slick and I wasn't paying attention. Everything checked out fine after twisting the handlebars back into alignment with the wheel. It's been a long time since I crashed. Good times.

Anybody else have a good story to tell?

Bold New World

2010-01-01T11:31:00.000-08:00

Happy New Years Spokesmen! Great job on this last round of cover songs. Good listening session at the Donut family residence last night...except for the unfortunate absence of Mack-and-Cheese (New Dad! Congrats!) and Burnt Toast (Bum Back! emoticon) Hope to see you all soon... But not too soon, I like not working.

Brand new colony - LIB

2009-12-30T06:56:00.000-08:00

Latest Spokesmen cover song challenge. This one's from left inside breaks. Click on link below or lefthand sidebar. Also check out Edmund Bedford's cover (no artwork just yet), it's choice. We'll post more from the rest of the spokey's when they're available.

I've always liked the main part of this Postal Service song and kind of been bored by the end of it. In my first pass I cut the ending, but subsequently brought it back after hearing Donut's version. There seems to be some value in keeping the basic road map of the song. Unless you're sideburns and you do a fabulous job changing up the whole thing. Hopefully if you listen hard enough you'll here some shoegazer, swamp-abilly sampled drums, sinister vocals, and very special fuzz -tremelo-noise pedals from Donut Industrires (see previous pedal review postings).

Best of 2008! Bill Doug Brian Commentary

2009-12-17T22:12:00.000-08:00

Finally the best music of the year....2008 that is. Better late than never!
Just click the play button next to the title.

This an audio recording of Sideburns, Anderssert, and special guest Doug D. as we reflect and bash on the music of 2008. I've had this sitting on mini-disc for a long time and finally downloaded and edited it. My intent is to do this every year, but I utterly failed to get it out in a timely manner this year. Apologies.

Spokesmen Are Streaming!

2009-12-09T20:29:00.000-08:00

Check out the new music player on the lefthand sidebar widget thingy! Just click a song and play. I only posted what I had. Please post the rest of your stuff in the dropbox and I'll get it going. I know there's also a way to associate images as well but this is all I could wrap my brain around for the time being. Maybe Donut can take it from here...

Let me know if it works for you!

Also, do we want to post songs from the latest go-around or wait till the official listening party?

Gateway to west sac

2009-12-03T23:21:00.000-08:00

Check out the newly refurbished bike path bridge across I-5. Used to be a train bridge I believe.

Rider Profile - Side Burns

2009-12-02T21:03:00.000-08:00

The man and the machine. Here's a few shots. I'll let Brian describe his own bike. I was fortunate enough to be there when he first picked up from Mission Bicycle and even got to see the color rendering beforehand.

User Review: The Bass Fuzz Pedal

2009-11-25T23:47:00.000-08:00

User Review – Bass Fuzz Pedal

Donut Industries has again generously offered me the use of a prototype pedal for select spokesmen tracks. This pedal is straight up distortion under the heavy influence of fuzz. The controls are Fuzz, Gate, EQ, and Level. When fully cranked the fuzz made me feel a little nervous, like standing too close to a large electrical sub-station. It’s a much more satisfactory sound for a bass than typical distortion if you want a nice synthetic sound that’s distinguishable through the mix. After experimenting with some recorded tracks I was pleasantly surprised to hear some uncompromised round bass tones still present without post processing the EQ. The level output offers enough buzz to rattle your teeth if necessary and EQ is straightforward enough. The mystery knob for me on this pedal was Gate. From my understanding this is acting in part as a limiter for the distortion. But it also will mute any sounds that drop below a certain level when fully open. I’ve heard this is awesome for funk…but it might not be where I’m at with post-punk-surf tendencies. If you aren’t playing full throttle all the time you get a little bit clipped off your notes. There was no problem tweaking the gate to achieve my goals, but I think it will warrant my further experimentation. As far as packaging, there was some modest apologies given as to the labeling and knobs attached. However, aside from the first pass label-maker text (I liked the font and layout) I thought the design was superb especially the huge knob for fuzz, ‘cause that’s what we came for!

Lennon – Solid fuzz without losing all resemblance to bass. Great output…good possibilities for regular guitar as well. Incredibly bright violet LED!

Ono-Gate control takes some getting used to and could be more of niche style playing with the clipped attack.

User Review: The Oscillation Overthruster - a Prototype

2009-11-15T19:57:00.000-08:00

At first glance this pedal appears to be a stage prop from a 1950’s sci-fi movie. Just picture some nerdy college geeks hunched over some boxy equipment with knobs and an oscilloscope as they try to repel the monster which is smashing through Philadelphia and the National Guard by emanating a sonic onslaught through standard hi-fi speakers. This is that box…with a delightful glitter blue paintjob. There are so many knobs and possibilities I feel initial guilt about messing up someone’s lab experiment if I touch anything. But how can anyone resist tweaking? I couldn’t. There are 7 different controls not including on and off: Ramp, Gain, Speed, Fine, Smooth, Depth, and Space. Seriously…haven’t we all been on the lookout for some means of controlling Depth and Space? From a user stand-point, all these knobs control pretty much what you’d expect.

The control over the output is exceptional and I was not overwhelmed at all by the amount tweaking required to find my sound. By comparison, my BOSS TR-2 tremolo pedal has the standard Rate, Depth , and Wave control and works great…But it will be hard to go back after the fine tuning I was able to control on the Oscillation Overthruster. And my favorite feature on this pedal = gain! Where the Boss pedal usual steps down the output, the O-O makes it all crazy. Another thing that makes you feel like ground control for Mercury era NASA is the super bright LED which matches the speed and intensity of the signal you select. For now, this pedal is clearly a prototype. And the manufacturer makes no claims to its future production model specs. However I will have a hard time “remembering” to return it.

Bonnie = Killer control and over-the-top output will make you sound like Dwayne Eddie played by Joey Santiago.
Clyde = I’m not seeing this pedal anywhere in stores or on-line. Not sure what “Ramp” is doing for me.

Everybody's Cycling Stockton!

2009-11-11T21:35:00.000-08:00

Workin' a decent route for the waterfront in lovely downtown Stockton. Who's game?

That's Right, Gents.

2009-09-30T22:24:00.000-07:00

You are now in control.

Zeroooooooo

2009-09-08T15:03:00.000-07:00

Styx "Best of Times" = Barry Manilow meets Eagles

Labor Day Ride

2009-09-08T07:14:00.001-07:00

Spokesmen (minus one founding father Donut), with special guest and tour guide, Mr. Wes Steed, took a ride around Midtown and East Sac in the AM hours on Monday, holiday. The ride culminated in a stop at the fine Tupelo to stay hydrated. Or does coffee de-hydrate? So in total we rode something like 94 miles (with a missing decimal point in there somewhere). My chain fell off once, but no other hazards to speak of, unless one speaks of insects flying into eyes.

Tin Toy debut readied

2009-09-04T06:45:00.000-07:00

Done

Best of Times**

2009-09-02T21:18:00.000-07:00

We just got back from our latest ride and had a great opportunity to MEET and GREET with Dennis DeYoung from STYX!! Can you believe it?

The band is currently on tour and playing nightly at the California State Fair. Of course, we all gathered up the wives and rocked hard to a sampling of all of their greatest jams the opening night of the fair. What made this even better was that Brian had won backstage passes for all of us to meet the band from a contest put on by 96.9 The Eagle. Thanks Eagle! We couldn't help but mention our fun loving bike club to the guys and we were so surprised to find out that Dennis DeYoung is an avid rider, too! He thought it might be a great way to pass the time during his stay in Sacramento and joined us on a 10 mile loop of the American River Bike Trail and followed the amazing ride up with some great food at Adalbertos. We even brought along an extra club uniform for Dennis to wear and had somebody take our picture. We couldn't wait to share it with all of our readers and fans alike. Thank you Dennis for taking us on the ride of our lives. It truly was The Best of Times!

Above Photo (from Left to Right): Bill, Matt, Brian, Dennis DeYoung, and Jason.

Your song selection for coversong #5 is The Postal Service "Brooklyn Blues."

** The following events were just what Brian told me. Don't blame me if they actually didn't take place.

whammy

2009-09-01T22:21:00.001-07:00

How about some shots of the gear: Guitars, amps, pedals, percussion what have you? Here's a shot of the Jaguar I have on long term loan and the infamous tremelo. I was just reading Brian's MBV propoganda booklet (33 1/3) about Kevin Shields claiming his sound is all about the tremelo.

fixie back from the shop

2009-08-25T22:44:00.000-07:00

Picked up the bike tonight. Looks good and rides nice. It will take awhile getting used to fixed gear. I scraped the toe basket when making a really tight turn, and I never realized how much I rely on freewheel on a regular bike. I think I'm gonna let the paint set up a little more before throwing it on the bus.

The squirrels in Land Park say

2009-08-25T19:46:00.000-07:00

Future Spokes(wo)men

2009-08-23T22:58:00.000-07:00

Took my 4 year old girl, Ethne, to the park today to "ride bikes" for the first time. We have a sweet hand-me-down bike from a co-worker with training wheels and we cruised the sidewalks for a good 1/2 hour. At first she had trouble with the coaster-break concept...and watching the road instead of her feet. After she got the hang of it she had a blast and pretty soon I was almost jogging to keep up with her. She had a couple slow-motion spills onto the grass but she got right back on.

I don't remember training wheels really. I think I went straight from a big wheel to standard bike. But it was cool to see her digging it.

No actual photos of the occasion, just this picture of Ethne's dream bike. The Hello Kitty Mach III.

Spokesmen vs. Watchmen

2009-08-23T22:39:00.000-07:00

Burns double dog dared any of us to watch the Watchmen and actually like it. Sorry, but I saw it last night and enjoyed it. Give it a 8 out 10, very entertaining. Only thing I didn't care for was the set design for the "fortress of solitude" face off at the end. Favorite character was Rorschach... "you don't get it do you? I'm not locked up with all of you, you're all locked up in here with Me!"

Fight Nerds

2009-08-21T07:40:00.000-07:00

The first rule of Fight Nerds is that you can sometimes talk about Fight Nerds
The second rule of Fight Nerds is that you only fight on even years

Please feel free to refresh us on the rest of the rules...

watership down on the water

2009-08-21T06:45:00.000-07:00

watch

'on the water'

walkmen video

and weep

Notice:

2009-08-20T12:41:00.001-07:00

Temple does not have food.

Fixify

2009-08-16T19:59:00.000-07:00

I'm upgrading the free bike I've been commuting on to fixie. A friend of mine told me about a cool bike shop in Stockton where they customize fixies and cruisers on the cheap called Port City Cyclery. I checked em out last week and they seemed pretty down to earth, thought the bike was a decent candidate (old Raleigh). So I left my bike there and in a week or so I should have a new wheel set, cog, and paintjob. Apparently my cranks are short enough so I'm good there. They didn't try to sell me anything except for the bare minimum I would need to change it fixed gear. The front gears are bolt together so they're just going to take off the small ring. Brakes will stay too. Color will be a gray green with white forks.

I'll start out fixed and see how I like it. The wheel is fixed-free changeable but I haven't bought the freewheel cog yet.

Now I just need some man-capri's and loafers.

!esreveR

2009-08-15T09:00:00.000-07:00

Bill,

This is the pedal I was telling you about with the reverse reverb function.

Bring me the wah of Bill Anders!

2009-08-12T16:46:00.000-07:00

Bill, this is your reminder to bring your pedal to work.
I believe I will be receiving a shipment tomorrow with the correct item.

L.I.B. - Dreams Never End

2009-08-03T20:36:00.000-07:00

Hot new offerings from Left Inside Breaks for Spokesman IV!
Click on the image for the download:

Matt just showed me how to hook up this link on the blog: 1 hour into it and I'm still mildly entertained.

I went into this song thinking I would take a different course than the last few covers and maybe change themes...maybe something clean and simple. That turned out to be harder than I thought. So I compromised and used no reverb...at least at first, and a simple drum machine loop (more bossa nova than pop unfortunately).

The concept was to make the vocals stand out but keep lyrics somewhat unrecognizable. And I've been wanting to try to hook the mic up to a delay guitar pedal and see if I could sound like Lux Interior from the Cramps. For the guitars, I was heavily influenced by a mix CD that burns gave me and a band called "the grass widow" and their straightforward driving style. The bass was going to carry the melody between verses so I cranked it higher than usual. Turns out I distorted it unintentionally, which was better than what I had planned i think. The squeaky guitar peeps in-between are a half-baked idea that might've improved with a few more tries, but that's all the time I had. All in all it still seems to count as a left inside breaks song.

The image is my pop's el camino. No real backstory there.

Sorry ladies, he's off the market.

2009-08-03T06:56:00.001-07:00

Dreams Never Get Finished

2009-08-01T21:49:00.000-07:00

Here's my submittal for Spokesmen Cover Song IV: Dreams Never End (original by New Order).

We got together at Bill's place this evening for a listening party, which only halfway materialized. However, the food, beverages, and company more than made up for the dearth of completed covers. Many thanks to Bill and Joanne, Ethne and Sophie for their hospitality!

Doctored photos of the event may be posted at a later date, once we have songs from Brian and Jason.

Anyhow, click the cover art for the download, and read below if you want an entirely uninteresting description of process, etc.

The band name "Freedom Club" derives from the cover picture, which I found linked on a design blog I frequent. So far the only person to correctly identify the (in)famous structure in the picture without prompting is Wes.

This was probably my sixth or seventh attempt at figuring out just what the hell to do to cover the song. If you're familiar with the original, it is almost two songs in one; a super long intro that eventually segues into the main verse/chorus part. Every time I had something in mind for the intro, I would get stumped at how to make the transition and eventually complete the second. There are some real mutants on the computer here, versions with everything played backwards and then reversed, really speedy Unrest-y versions, an intro that sounds like a (hamfisted) outtake from Long Division, and more, which will be seeing the business end of a delete key when I start running out of drive space.

A simple, slow approach ended up working best for this one, and I severely reduced the instrumentation from what I had originally intended. The main thing you hear throughout is easily one of my favorite instruments, and best thrift store scores: the Wurlitzer Electric Piano (Model 200; shown here with the cover off so I could clean it up a bit).

Found this thing at Funky Furnishings when it was still on Broadway for an insanely low price. One of these days I'm going to rig up a sustain pedal out of old hi-hat pieces. It has been on pretty much every piece of vinyl put out by that other band I play with, and when we had to downsize practice spaces, the Wurli came home with me. The electronics are really crackly, and so it took a good deal of judicious editing to get a track that wasn't static laden. You can still hear a few pops in the song that just couldn't be removed.

The bridge and then the balance of the song is a single track of guitar, and there's a bass that plays not one, but TWO notes. The over-reverbed tambourine was supposed to serve as the base for more percussion to come, but I ended up not wanting to busy the song up too much. And that's pretty much all that is one there. Thank god Hooky only sings about 3 notes in this song, so I didn't have to do 12 vocal tracks to mask my deficiency in that department.

OK, this is a boring read.
Off to my beverage!

Fashion

2009-07-29T07:15:00.000-07:00

I wore cropped pants to work with dress shoes and no socks. You can't get away with doing anything fashion forward at work without getting sly remarks so here is a short lesson in fashion.

Counts Updated

2009-07-20T16:30:00.000-07:00

For your records:

1 more free coffee for Bill.
1 flat tire for Matt.

Please to be noting:

Updated counts will now be kept in the left hand portion of the page.

Because Virtually Nobody Was Asking For It.

2009-07-16T16:37:00.000-07:00

Spokesmen III: Primary (the Cure)

Click on the cover to download an mp3 (or in Jason's case an m4a) of the track.
In order, they are by:

Read My bBook - AKA Toast - AKA Brian
(Unknown) - AKA Cheese - AKA Jason
LeftInsideBreaks - AKA Soup - AKA Bill
Iron Brotherhood - AKA Donut - AKA Matt

Post an angry comment when it inevitably fails to work.

This blog is running dry

2009-07-09T18:28:00.000-07:00

Bunch of fruits...

Creative forces

2009-07-07T19:46:00.000-07:00

Burnt Toast, the man behind the TinToy.
Here is a guy who's clearly not afraid to take
risks...Unless they violate jobsite protocall or
Cal-OSHA safety standards.

Tin Toy Tin Toy Tin Toy Tin Toy Tin Toy

2009-07-06T06:16:00.000-07:00

Well, Burnt Toast wasn't so keen on falling back on Read My Bbook time after time. It's just sloppy. No excuse. So after 15 seconds of consideration, and with no reason at all, my new """""band""""" name is Tin Toy. I mean, drum roll please............................ Tin Toy!!!

Testing for Audio...

2009-06-30T19:18:00.000-07:00

OK..
I think I figured it out.
Click on the cover to (attempt to) download the Iron Brotherhood mp3 of Primary.

Or maybe its just an excuse to post my picture again?

HEY GUYS, LOOK AT ME!!!

What Bill and I Did on Our Summer Vacation

2009-06-26T16:41:00.000-07:00

Yeah, that's (not) us riding (not) our fixies at an unfilled hydroelectric power station somewhere in (I think ) Slovenia.

But that is pretty much how we would look if we were there and we had those bikes and you squinted.

Seriously though, click through and check out the whole photo set. Amazing pics!

Update: I just realized that I put "Toast" on the picture instead of "Donut". God help me if I try to be Brian.

A shining symbol for cyclists everywhere...

2009-06-25T21:21:00.000-07:00

I hereby award Kevin Bacon honorary SacSpokesman Legacy status.

Observe the speed:

The Determination:

He knows how to take a fall:

And how to jump the hills with his homey Lawrence Fishbourne:

and I can't say enough about the hair:

The Golden Boy Does It Again!

2009-06-25T17:38:00.000-07:00

Unbelievable!

Even on a late morning coffee run, Left Inside Bill gets comped a decaf.
The freebie count for this cycle so far:

Bill: 1
Brian: 0
Matt: 0
Jason: (abstain)

Primary Artwork

2009-06-24T17:57:00.000-07:00

You've seen the best (Burns!), now here's the rest:
I'll let those responsible comment on their own.

Leftinsidebreaks:

Jason's Band Whose Name I Do Not Know:

There are rumors that people are already using this one as their desktop background.

Iron Brotherhood:

I had a larger concept in mind, but these two images evoked a really corny Junior Boys-esque quality that I set against an 80's-future background, and tried to keep everything colored Primary.

I'll try to figure out some doohickey to post the actual music after I get back from Costco. Where the real rockers spend Tuesday nights.

WANTED: 'SPLIT PEA' ANDERS

2009-06-24T06:33:00.000-07:00

Just cuz this man rides

with a shiny white helmet,

do not be mislead!!

He is dangerous!!

Wanted for running red lights,

not using proper hand signals,

exceeding speed limits,

and killing 538 women.

Burnt Toast saying Hello

2009-06-24T06:15:00.000-07:00

Sup' Spokeys!

My cover art here for the Primary (Cure) single. Took me hours to do this needle-work. Yep, that's Class-A embroidery right there. I finished my song early, as always, so had the time to do something special.

What got ME into Spokesmen?

Brotherhood! IRON Brotherhood!

Bike Bloggers

2009-06-23T20:15:00.000-07:00

Yay! first to post! Today was a Spokesmen listening day: round up the bikes outside the office (Jason left his bike at home and had to ride the company bike!), ride to lunch - Azules and Luigi's, sit outside and gather around an ipod to hear the latest cover song contribution from each member. This month's song - Primary by The Cure. Fabulous contributions by all. Amazing how different each interpretation has been so far. The image above is possible EP cover. I think Matt will post individual cover song art very soon, they're all very cool. On our way back Matt led us over to view some really romantic graphitti. See banner above.