It List: Monday

Mincemeat or Tenspeed | Nero's Day at Disneyland | Lavas Magmas | Yellow Crystal Star | Dromez | Yatagarasu (Dwelling of Doom)

I can't remember which psychedelic drug also makes you sweat less but I am going to try to acquire some of that before heading to the show tonight.

New Science Projects | Eyes, Wings & Many Other Things | Daniel Folmer (Pastime Tavern)

I never really understood the shit that gets thrown NSP's way. I guess it is the eccentrically messy faux-blues stomps done by a young white boy in war-paint. Does seem a bit unauthentic but I think he makes up for with his theatrical grandstanding which some might find annoying but I find kind of endearing. Even though I would not consider myself a super fan I have to admit the dude has a special place in my heart. I didn't get into local music until around 2006ish and the thing that sparked my interest was a performance by New Science Projects I happened upon on a trip to J&J's when all I was looking for was a slice of pizza. I grew up in the Austin area so I was constantly surrounded by music, going to live shows back when The Alamo Draft House was the Village Cinema Art. Even though I saw tons of my favorite bands from far and away, I never paid mush attention to what was going on locally outside of the occasional track heard on KVRX.

There are two key moments in my youth that sparked my lifelong obsession with music. My grandmother buying the Peel Slowly and See box set for my 13th birthday was one. The other involved a crush I had at the age of 14 who would carry tapes of Surfer Rosa and Daydream Nation - inherited from an older sibling - in her purse at all times. My grandmother instilled in me the sense of musical discovery and that connection between the giver and recipient. Veronica Cecca instilled in me the passion for discovering new music in order to pick up chicks, and that there is alot of crazy alternative music out there that sounded like nothing else I had ever heard.

So what does this have to New Science Projects? I had never given two thoughts about local music before that night at J&J's, I was always too busy listening to what ever album I was obsessing over at the time. After that night I made a consorted effort to check out more local music and as you can now tell I am knee deep in it. So you could say, along with two examples listed above, that show was a musical turning point for me. I still listen to Belle and Sebastian on a near daily basis but good god do I enjoy things like having my ear's rattled by the vicious noise of Gheistheistler in the complete darkness of a basement surrounded by boys and girls with a collectively repulsive BO. Great fun. If I wouldn't have walked into the basement that day I don't know if I would have caught wind of what the local scene has to offer. My life would definitely be less for it.

Looking back now I’m not going to say that NSP is one of my favorite acts around but his performance on the final day of Strawberry Fields was pretty epic.

Kudos to Pastime for the diverse booking.