Something Sessions: Lost and Found (10-26-13)

 

 

Lost and Found's session is finally available for your eyes, as well as your ears. If you've never watched a band from the speedwood genre play an acoustic set in the worship center of a church, let me be the first to introduce you to such an experience. George even breaks out the bongos (or conga or whatever kind of drum that was) for the last song. Enjoy the videos and go listen to episode 6 of the podcast for the full session and conversation.

 

Visit the Something Sessions page on this blog to see links to the individual videos.

Episode 6 with Lost and Found is ready for your ears!!!

Episode #6: A Session & Conversation with Lost and Found
Recorded: October 26th, 2013
Released: November 2nd, 2013
Lost and Found is a band that needs no introduction. This probably sounds strange because there's little chance you've heard of them, but what I mean is that no introduction I can give them would do them justice. They're a very unique duo whose music can only truly be understood by way of one of their incredibly entertaining live shows. You probably haven't heard of them unless you have a friend who's a fan, as most of their audience comes from word of mouth. And despite the fact that they may be new to you, they've been touring the world and playing their music for over 25 years. While it may be necessary for you to see what they have to offer in person in order to fully "get it", this session is my attempt to share the wonder that is Lost and Found with you all, in hopes that, at the very least, you'll want to hear more and go to a show next time they come to Houston (or whichever town you happen to live in). I've been a fan for nearly 14 years and their music has gotten me through some tough times. So I hope you enjoy this very special podcast that I was so very lucky to have been a part of...

This podcast includes all the music and conversation we took part in, but if you'd like to see videos of just the songs, visit the Something Sessions page of my blog for Lost and Found's session.

Lost and Found's Links:
http://www.speedwood.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lost-And-Found/6049173991
https://twitter.com/hengh

Episode #5 is finally here!!!

This was my first Robert Ellis show in over a year. Even though I missed a few songs due to some recording hiccups, you certainly won't go hungry after sinking your teeth into this hearty performance. It's missing a few songs but there's still a dozen or so to enjoy. And for those of you who feel the need to mindlessly cheer when you hear your hometown's name mentioned by someone on stage, there's a song he wrote about living in Houston. Woo! Enjoy some rollickin' good tunes...

 

>>Click here to visit the Podcast Page

Batman: Arkham Origins Official Trailer

 

The first full trailer for the newest game in the Batman: Arkham series of video games, titled Batman: Arkham Origins, is finally here. There's no sign of what the gameplay will look like yet but the scene in this video is pretty indicative of how intense this game will be. Stay tuned for tomorrow's big Xbox announcement. It's going to be an expensive Christmas this year for me and pre-teens around the world...

Robert Ellis Pays Tribute to the Late George Jones

 

 

Here's a video of Robert Ellis paying a beautiful tribute to George Jones. I defy you to not be as transfixed with this performance as I was.

Free Comic Book Day 2013!!!

Wolverine politely invites you to visit your local comic shop for FCBD 2013.

 

 

Free Comic Book Day 2013 is upon us! Make sure to visit your local comic shop on May 4th for the best sales of the year, free comic books and lots of other freebies. I usually pick up about 4-8 free comics and check out the sales going on at my favorite comic shop, Bedrock City Comics. They have 4 locations, including Westheimer (just outside the loop), Bay Area Blvd & Highway 3, FM 1960 & Veterans Memorial, and near the Heights on Washington. I'll probably also be stopping by Third Planet on 59 near Kirby to see what they have. If you want to find a comic shop near you, check out this handy Store Locator to find all the participating comic shops in your city.

 

Every year, publishers put out exclusive stories and special edition reprints in the form of free comic books. Shown below are just a few of the awesome comics being offered on FCBD. You can visit the comics page on Free Comic Book Day's website to see all 52 of the comics offered on Saturday.

 

 

So make sure to take advantage of this freebie fest on Saturday, May 4th. Even if you're not into comics, go see what they have to offer at your local shop and give it a try. And for those of you with kids, they have tons of youth-oriented comics for their little innocent eyes. I know I can't wait to have kids and bring them to the comic shop every year for this event...and every Wednesday in between.

 

May the 4th be with you! (had to say it)



Something Sessions: Sergio Trevino (4-17-13)

 

 

It's finally time for another session! This one was a real treat and I'm very grateful that Sergio was able to make it. To make it even better, that beautiful music you hear in the videos and podcast is coming from my 12-string Takamine. It was an honor to have such a talented musician play my favorite guitar. Enjoy the videos and go listen to episode 4 of the podcast for the full session and conversation.

 

Visit the Something Sessions page on this blog to see links to the individual videos.

Episode #4: A Session & Conversation with Sergio Trevino

 

Episode #4: A Session & Conversation with Sergio Trevino
Recorded: April 17th, 2013
Released: April 27th, 2013
My next musical guest, Sergio Trevino, is the singer/songwriter/guitarist of one of my favorite bands by the name of Buxton. He also has a side project called Ancient Cat Society, which plans to release their second album sometime this year. Sergio was kind enough to accept my invitation and play a variety of songs, both unheard by me and a couple of my favorites. We also had a lively discussion about his songwriting style and what it's like to be involved in the music industry. This podcast includes all the music and conversation we took part in, but if you'd like to see videos of just the songs, visit the Something Sessions page of my blog for Sergio's session. (To be posted soon...)

Sergio's Links:
http://www.facebook.com/buxtonband
http://www.buxtonband.com/
http://www.facebook.com/ancientcatsociety
http://ancientcatsociety.bandcamp.com/album/stay-home-2
http://cedarboybailey.bandcamp.com/

Something Sessions: Gabe Mckinzie (4-15-13)

 

 

As promised, Gabe Mckinzie's session is finally ready for your viewing pleasure. I was still feeling out the whole recording process during this one, so please forgive the lack of volume on the last video. Apparently, when you plug in the sync cable to your iPhone, it blocks the microphone and gives you quieter audio. At any rate, it was a great session and I'm so glad Gabe could do it. He was even kind enough to play a bonus track at the end. Enjoy the videos and go listen to episode 3 of the podcast for the full session and conversation.

 

Visit the Something Sessions page on this blog to see links to the individual videos.

Best. Weekend. Ever.

I've been looking forward to this weekend for a while now. I just had to go to Record Store Day. I wouldn't dare pass up a chance to see one of my favorite bands, The Rocket Summer. And I always love seeing Buxton, also one of my favorite bands. Alas, for reasons I won't go into, it looked as though I wouldn't be able to go to any of these amazing events. But everything seemed to line up perfectly, all at the last second too, and I had one of the best weekends ever.
 
Saturday:
I was all geared up to skip sleeping on Friday night and head to my favorite record store, Cactus Music, around 3am the next morning. I became a little distraught when I saw on Facebook that there were already 7 people in line before 11pm on Friday. So I rushed through my night and arrived at the store around 1am. Fortunately, no one had shown up since I saw the photo and I secured the number 8 spot in line. Then came the waiting. Around 4am it started to get unbelievably cold, especially for springtime in Texas. For the first time in my life (that I can remember anyways) I wore 2 jackets. And even with those layers plus my long sleeve shirt, I was still no match for the cold. Around 6am I gave in and soaked up some heat in my van, as to not go insane from the cold. Around 7 or so, an old friend showed up and I had someone to talk to for a couple hours. Then, at 10am, the doors opened and the fun began. I didn't have enough money to get all the records I wanted, but I still managed to get the top 2 on my list.

I looked around the store for a bit and waited for my friend to get through the line. Finally, I felt like I was going to die of hunger so I signed up for some sweepstakes they were having, got my fiancee some coffee and left. After eating some lunch, the lack of sleep finally hit me. I crashed and hard. I woke up in time for dinner and much to my delight, was feeling up to going to Buxton's show at Discovery Green. We drove downtown and enjoyed our first Buxton show in quite some time.

We even got to talk to a few of the guys in the band, including my podcast's next musical guest, Sergio Trevino. (Look for Sergio's episode next weekend...April 27th or so)

Afterwards, we got home and Ana went out with her friends. I, once again, crashed hard. Midway through my second nap of the day, I received a phone call informing me that I had won tickets to see The Rocket Summer on Sunday. After fully waking up, I listened to the voicemail again to make sure I didn't just dream such a thing, as I often do. It was quite real and now I had tickets to see a show I had been looking forward to for months and had no way of paying for.
 
Sunday:
We arrived at House of Blues and first up was a band called Versecity. I couldn't decide if I liked them, as the sound wasn't set up too well for the band, but I did like their energy. Oh and, after years of wasting my childhood with those silly books, I finally found Waldo. He was pretty easy to spot.

Next up was a guy by the name of Joe Brooks. I wasn't really feeling it for the first half of his set but the second half was pretty good. He played some good songs, including some pretty decent covers of The Black Crowes, The Beatles, Young the Giant, and one I didn't recognize.

The Highlight of My Weekend:
Finally, The Rocket Summer. Now let me preface this by explaining my fandom and adoration for this guy. The first time I've ever even heard of TRS was at a show 2 1/2 months ago. He played an amazing solo set then and after buying (yes, I said buying) all of his albums (ok, so I downloaded one, get over it), I instantly became a huge fan of his music. I can't even tell you how many times I've listened to those albums over the past 10 weeks. So now I finally got to see him with his band AND I was able to bring my lovely best friend with me too. He started out solo but was soon joined by the band.
 

The show was alive and kickin' and then BAM! The backdrop falls to reveal the band's logo. And it only escalated from there.
 

Being a man of many instruments, or as I like to call him, "The Hands-Free One-Man Band", he pulled out instrument after instrument for our entertainment. This drum was pulled out just to riff for about a minute.
 

A song ended and while looking away, I didn't notice that the band had left the stage. A looping noise and a still-lit stage were seemingly all that remained. A couple minutes passed by and the confusion set in, for me at least. Then everyone cheered as Bryce walked back in and settled in a spot in the middle of the crowd about 6 feet away from Ana and me. His roadie set up a mic stand and he played 2 songs amongst the crowd, which had everyone cheering.
 

After Waldo and some other fans helped Bryce to crowd surf his way back to the stage, we were treated with quite a few more songs before seeing singers from the other 2 bands (and the sound engineer) join the band on stage for a song.
 

After a while, Bryce climbed off the stage and started singing with Waldo and a few other lucky fans in the middle of the crowd. (Sorry, my pictures of this moment didn't turn out so well.) And then came the end. Or so we thought. After a few minutes, Bryce came back alone and explained that we were nowhere near done and he had just gone to get a drink of water.
 

He began taking requests from the audience, and at one point, listened to his own music on a fan's phone in order to remember how to play an old song of his. After a few crowd requested songs, we had to go home. And he was still playing. This was the last show of his tour and I got the feeling that he wanted it to go on forever. I'm writing this over an hour after leaving and for all I know, he's still there. Probably not but it wouldn't surprise me if he was. The man puts on an incredible show and I can't wait to see him live again. I was a little disappointed that I didn't have time to talk to him after the show but I'm still going to try everything I can to get him to do a session for my podcast. When I met him months before, he was an amazingly nice guy and I was fortunate enough to let him know how much his music inspired me.
 
This weekend could've been like any other but it turned out to be one of the best I've ever had. And I made sure to write this story for you as soon as I could, so as to not lose the fire I'm feeling right now. Thank you Cactus Music for the tickets. Thank you Bryce Avary for once again inspiring me in a way that most other musicians can't. Thank you Ana for standing next to me during this amazing experience.

To see all of the photos I took this weekend, search for Noise Fix on Facebook. I'll be posting them soon...

Episode #3: A Session & Conversation with Gabe Mckinzie

 

Episode #3: A Session & Conversation with Gabe Mckinzie
Recorded: April 15th, 2013
Released: April 20th, 2013
My first musical guest is the talented frontman of Sleeper Street, Gabe Mckinzie. He played 5 songs and we talked about a variety of things, including music, unhealthy food and the economy. It's always nice talking to Gabe and I'm really glad I was able to not only see his musical prowess in person but to also share it with you. This podcast includes all the music and conversation we took part in, but if you'd like to see videos of just the songs, visit the Something Sessions page of my blog for Gabe's session.

Gabe's Links:
https://www.facebook.com/SleeperStreet
http://sleeperstreet.bandcamp.com

Record Store Day 2013!!!

 

Record Store Day 2013 is now upon us! The 6th annual event is happening at a record store near you on Saturday, April 20th. For those of you not familiar with this event, it's basically a day that celebrates physical record stores and encourages music lovers to visit their local shop and see what it's all about. Exclusive albums and releases on vinyl and CD are made just for this occasion and are usually hard to find if you don't wait in line on RSD morn. There's something for every music lover, as evidenced by the huge list of RSD releases. If that's not enough, most record stores will be giving away a ton of freebies for paying customers. At my favorite record store, Cactus Music, they usually give the first 100 or so customers a tote bag filled with all kinds of goodies like music samplers, stickers and sometimes a free record or two. This year, Cactus Music has promised a free Dale Watson 7" to the first 50 paying customers on RSD.

 

 

 

And did I mention that this year they'll be providing breakfast? I did now. I could go on and on about all the awesome things going on this Record Store Day...and so I shall. Deal with it. Cactus Music is also having a sweepstakes for an awesome guitar, so make sure to at least stop by the store at some point that day and enter.

 



 

 

Last but not least...Cactus Music and pretty much every record store with a stage, will be hosting a variety of in-store performances and other artsy events. If you can't make it to Cactus, there are several other record stores here in the Houston area and all over the country that you can visit on Saturday. Just use RecordStoreDay.com's handy little store locator to find one near you.

So perhaps I'll see you at Cactus on Saturday. Or maybe you're not cool enough. Who knows what your problem is. If you are cool though, and you want to get your hands on some primo music, make sure to get there early. And I mean way earlier than opening time (10am at Cactus). I plan on forgoing all slumber Friday night and getting there around 3am. I know, I'm intense.

So go support your local record store this Saturday and be very aware that vinyl is still alive and kickin'...

P.S. Once you've had your fun at Cactus Music or the record store of your choosing, head on over to Discovery Green in Downtown Houston. One of my favorite bands, Buxton, will be playing an outdoor show on Saturday night. It's always a great rockin' time with those guys...

Fiction Family: Bio & Free Download

If you like Switchfoot or Nickel Creek, you're in luck. A few years ago, Jon Foreman and Sean Watkins decided to collaborate and the result was an incredible self-titled album. Now, they're back with their second effort, "Fiction Family Reunion", and a couple new members to boot. Below I've posted an EPK (electronic press kit) about the band that gives you some insight to their music and creative process. I've also included a link to an awesome website called NoiseTrade.com, which offers select songs and albums from bands at 2 great prices: Whatever you want to pay...or free. You can download Fiction Family's "Holiday EP" from NoiseTrade at no cost. Or  you can be a nice guy and give them a few bucks for their troubles. I highly recommend this band for any fan of good music, although I recommend listening to their first album before the new one.

Episode #2 features Sergio Trevino's Live Set at Leon's Lounge

This solo show at Leon's Lounge was a great experience. The stage was in a small room to the side of the bar and was filled by 15-20 enthusiastic friends of Sergio Trevino. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the second set he played, but if the first set was any indication, it was surely a good time for all. He played songs by his bands Buxton and Ancient Cat Society, as well as a few new songs. I enjoyed every minute of it, as I'm sure you will when you listen.

 

>>Click here to visit the Podcast Page

Episode #1 of the Podcast is Live!!!

The first episode of my podcast is online! It's called "Adding to the Noise" and I appreciate all the listens and subscriptions you can throw my way. The first episode just outlines the format of the podcast, but I promise that subsequent episodes will be filled with all kinds of awesomeness. To listen, just go to the 'Podcast' tab at the top of my blog.

A Sneak Preview of She & Him's New Album...

The aptly titled "Volume 3" will be in stores this May, but the folks at Merge Records have put up a sample of the album on Sound Cloud for our listening pleasure. Personally, I think Zooey's singing sounds a bit flat but I'm not ready to pass judgment on the whole album just yet. I always seemed to be torn between listening to the first single of an album and waiting until the album comes out to listen to any of it, and in this case, my curiosity got the better of me. I'll let you know what I think of the album when it comes out. But until then, give this song a listen and let me know what you think...

What time is it? Monopoly Time!!! (with Finn and Jake)

http://www.usaopoly.com/games/monopoly-adventure-time-collectors-edition

It usually takes a few years to get the merchandise gravy train rolling after a new cartoon gets some success. And finally, we have some more Adventure Time goodness to sink our teeth into. USAopoly has created dozens of Monopoly versions based on various licenses, such as tv shows, movies and even Beatles albums. Now, fans of the Cartoon Network series can travel to the land of Ooo and buy up all the wonderful properties there. My one criticism, and this applies to all of the versions of Monopoly that they offer, is that the corner squares aren't themed like the properties. It's just the same old boring Go, Jail, Go to Jail and Free Parking that we all know and love(?). So if you're a fan of the show (or just obsessively collect every version of Monopoly you can get your hands on), make sure to check this one out or even pre-order it.

In-Store Performances are up!!!

If you click on the "Live Videos" tab at the top of my blog, you'll have access to all of the in-store performances I've recorded at Cactus Music. I'll be adding some more soon, so look out for those too...

Batman: Arkham Origins...Yay or Nay?

May Cover Revealed: Batman: Arkham Origins - News - www.GameInformer.com

 

 

Batman: Arkham Asylum was my favorite game of all time...until the sequel, Batman: Arkham City came out. If you love Batman, playing video games, amazing stories or just awesome graphics, these games will blow you away. And now, the long awaited third game in the series is upon us. I'm excited beyond belief but I do have my reservations about this one. First, it's not going to be made by Rocksteady. They made 2 incredible Batman games and it's going to be hard for a different studio to match that. The new studio does have access to their game engine though, so we'll see how they utilize it. No word yet on the voice actors or writers of the game. Mark Hamill has said he wouldn't do the Joker anymore and from the announced plot of this new game, it doesn't look like Joker would even be a part of it. Hopefully we'll have Kevin Conroy back as Batman, but possibly not since the game is a prequel which stars a much younger Batman. Also, I'm pretty sure they lost writer Paul Dini after excluding him from the last game's add-ons and comic tie-ins.

 

So can Batman: Arkham Origins match the intensity and incredible gameplay of the first 2 titles? We'll have to wait until October 25, 2013 to find out. I guess it's time to start my Christmas list...

 

Here's a first look at the new game:

 



The Flaming Lips - The Terror Out April 16!

At this point, it doesn't really matter if a new Flaming Lips album is good or not. Their multi-decade career has been full of such magic that loyal fans can just take each new direction the band goes in with grace. This is the official announcement for the U.S. release of their new album "The Terror", which comes out on April 16th. And yes, it's just as jarring and incoherent as some of Wayne's past announcements...

Welcome to NoiseFix!!!

Welcome to the official blog of my new project, entitled NoiseFix. The title is an allusion to the term "news fix" but of course replacing news with noise. The reason for this is because I want to have a site/blog where I can update everyone on the goings-on of the world that relate to entertainment, and by that I mean things that entertain me and/or will hopefully entertain you. And by noise, I mean anything that makes an impression, whether it's good or bad.

This project will consist of blog posts, an all-encompassing podcast, audio downloads and video performances by wonderful, amazing musicians. The topics of discussion will be pretty much anything entertaining, including Music, Movies, TV Shows, Cartoons, Comic Books (and perhaps regular books?) and much more.

Join me as I share conversation with wonderful people and film awesome music sessions by some of my favorite bands and artists. You might even see a song or two performed by myself every now and then.

And stay tuned for a full website, which will have everything the blog has and much more! Until then, I'll be posting everything on here and Facebook. And go "like" NoiseFix on Facebook! (once I set that page up...)

Have something to discuss? Send me a message and I might bring it up on the podcast or blog. Or you can even sit down with me and talk on the podcast about whatever's on your mind. I'm listening, Houston...*

*blatant Frasier reference

Get Your NoiseFix!!!