Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
John Vanderslice
John Vanderslice had been playing music for several years, first as a member of MK Ultra and then as a solo artist, but his career didn’t really take off until he set up camp in a San Francisco rehearsal space and started talking bands into letting him record them. He called the studio Tiny Telephone, filled it with vintage recording equipment, and before long was making first-class recordings. The studio’s popularity took off quickly, both with arty acts like Deerhoof and major-league indie rock stars like Death Cab for Cutie (who have recorded two albums there). Death Cab guitarist Chris Walla, who doubles as a record producer, has gone so far as to call Tiny Telephone the fifth member of his band. While studios are closing right and left these days, Tiny Telephone recently celebrated its tenth anniversary.
But rather than settle comfortably into his mixing desk chair and give up the stage, Vanderslice continued his solo career and kept getting better. His 2005 album Pixel Revolt proved to be his breakthrough, gaining him international acclaim. In addition to showcasing his recording skills, it displayed his knack for writing lyrics that touched on weighty issues (terrorism, political paranoia) through the personal narratives of fictional characters. “Trance Manual” appears to be the last thoughts of a journalist before he’s killed by a bombing in Iraq.
Vanderslice’s latest, Romanian Names, continues in a similar vein, but it’s much less heavy-hearted than Pixel Revolt and 2007’s Emerald City. The lyrics, more impressionistic than ever, are filled with imagery from nature: forests, horses, swimming, stars. Even a song titled “Hard Times” conjures pleasant memories of a summer vacation.
JOHN VANDERSLICE: The Casbah, Tuesday, June 30, 8 p.m. 619-232-4355. $12.
Here's something you might be interested in.
John Vanderslice
John Vanderslice
John Vanderslice had been playing music for several years, first as a member of MK Ultra and then as a solo artist, but his career didn’t really take off until he set up camp in a San Francisco rehearsal space and started talking bands into letting him record them. He called the studio Tiny Telephone, filled it with vintage recording equipment, and before long was making first-class recordings. The studio’s popularity took off quickly, both with arty acts like Deerhoof and major-league indie rock stars like Death Cab for Cutie (who have recorded two albums there). Death Cab guitarist Chris Walla, who doubles as a record producer, has gone so far as to call Tiny Telephone the fifth member of his band. While studios are closing right and left these days, Tiny Telephone recently celebrated its tenth anniversary.
But rather than settle comfortably into his mixing desk chair and give up the stage, Vanderslice continued his solo career and kept getting better. His 2005 album Pixel Revolt proved to be his breakthrough, gaining him international acclaim. In addition to showcasing his recording skills, it displayed his knack for writing lyrics that touched on weighty issues (terrorism, political paranoia) through the personal narratives of fictional characters. “Trance Manual” appears to be the last thoughts of a journalist before he’s killed by a bombing in Iraq.
Vanderslice’s latest, Romanian Names, continues in a similar vein, but it’s much less heavy-hearted than Pixel Revolt and 2007’s Emerald City. The lyrics, more impressionistic than ever, are filled with imagery from nature: forests, horses, swimming, stars. Even a song titled “Hard Times” conjures pleasant memories of a summer vacation.
JOHN VANDERSLICE: The Casbah, Tuesday, June 30, 8 p.m. 619-232-4355. $12.
Comments