Handmade Harmonies

I've always considered myself as a lover of art, but even more as a talented waster of time.  Staring at items I have no intentions of purchasing is my nearly perfected hobby.  (Alas, if only I never needed to take bathroom breaks.)  With the discovery of Etsy, my "place to buy and sell all things homemade," my skills are being refined, sharpened, and tested in ways that other websites could never inspire.  I visit Etsy to stare at things, but also to support independent artisans who make stuff purely for creation's sake.  Etsy’s more questionable craftspeople refuse to be deterred by lack of talent or, in some cases, probable blindness, and this determined artistic spirit thrives in all categories of Etsy’s community.

Though the taxidermy section is most enchanting, the music section of Etsy is worth perusing. True, many items for sale are nothing more than poorly Photoshopped fan art. However, if you happen to have a few hundred dollars lying around, cluttering your cabinets and causing slips on stairways, a trip to the instrument section will easily remedy the problem. No room for that baby grand in your studio apartment? Then check out this thumb piano! OK, maybe it won’t suffice as a piano replacement, but I’m sure it sounds cool, and check out that sublime splattered paint job on top.

Maybe you’re longing for a Vegemite-flavored adventure. Summon the Outback with this hand carved didgeridoo. Beware; the warranty will not cover any damage caused by captivated marsupials.

Of course, your life may already be filled with instruments, and you certainly don’t want to cause any instrument-sibling rivalry. In this case, why not outfit one of your guitars with a hideously hippie-ish guitar case cover? Even if your gig gets pretty rowdy, the vomit stains will never show!

Don’t get me wrong: some of these products may be hideous, but I’m grateful to those who craft them. After all, where would music be (and all art, really) without desperate attempts at innovation?

Concert Review: Heavy Trash at the Summit 11/13/09

I went to this concert with my friend Roman in celebration of my birthday. I had never heard of 'Heavy Trash' before, but he assured me that the show would be marvelous; he had seen 'The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion' upwards of five times in France, in very large clubs where he was far away from the stage.

Jon Spencer is quite the musician. Originally fronting the band 'Pussy Galore,' he later switched his musical scope entirely, going from a noise rock band to the bluesy punk of the 'Blues Explosion.' After that, he formed 'Heavy Trash' with a friend - Matt Verta-Ray - which marked a transition from 'White Stripes'-esque garage rock to '50's style rock and roll with punk rock freakouts for good flavor.

'Cheater Slicks' and the 'Unholy Two' opened up for Heavy Trash. Our cadre of people missed the 'Unholy Two' because we ended up going to 'Extreme Wieners,' a proletariat gourmand's dream; hot dogs topped with anything from pineapple to sauerkraut. Hit this place up if you are at a show at 'The Summit' and are starving; it will not disappoint!

After hot dogs, we got to see 'Cheater Slicks,' who were loud to the point of incomprehensibility. Unfortunately for them and the audience, the sidestage monitors were not working at all during the show, so they had no other recourse but to crank everything past eleven. Halfway through the show I put my earplugs in, but that did nothing to eliminate the strain on my eardrums (I would have tinnitus for two days afterwards).

Eventually, 'Heavy Trash' took the stage, and we were struck by the audacity of their attire. Spencer and his men were wearing extremely well-crafted suits which were emblazoned with Nudie-esque patterns and ostentatious baubles and bangles. Spencer took his SM-57 in hand (a mainstay for all burgeoning garage rockers) and began to croon some songs, over a Roy Orbison-esque guitar figure. The double bassist slapped his way through several numbers without breaking a sweat, and the drummer was suited perfectly for the style and was, for lack of any better adjectives, beastly.

Throughout the night, Spencer stuck to playing rhythm guitar on his acoustic, while Verta-Ray handled all of the theatrics. It seemed that Heavy Trash was cultivating a clearly vintage aesthetic until Spencer took his hands off the guitar and belted one of the most soul-shattering screams I had ever heard over a three cord rhythm at 140bpm. I had arrived in some sort of strange universe where the Sex Pistols and Elvis coexisted, and both of them were angry! As if a button had been pressed, people began thrashing and a mosh pit formed. Naturally, since my crowd was right at the center, we contemplated as a group whether or not to partake in the violent activities; it was at this point that Roman jumped on stage.

After the show, the band was gracious enough to take a bit of time to talk to the fans. Roman went up to Spencer and told him how much he admired his music, and then got a picture with him. I had been admiring the bassist's slap technique and bass (a 1950's upright from Germany with a solid carved back), and talked shop with him about fifteen minutes on the way out.

Overall, this concert made me feel as if I was a child of a different time period, and the kindness of the band and care for their fans definitely cemented a desire within me to see 'Heavy Trash' again, or at least Jon Spencer in some other project.

Check out the video for 'Dark Haired Rider' below: