The House of Hunt

In this day and age of manufactured bands, auto-tune, and enough studio production to suffocate the entire eastern seaboard, it is utterly refreshing to discover a new musical talent…that special someone who blows all expectations out of the water, makes them into a tasty sandwich with extra havarti cheese and dill pickles, and then proceeds to eat that yummy expectation sandwich.

This gentleman is one such individual. My friends, I give you April’s Uncle Bones!

So…I’m sick today. At work and I’m sick. I feel like my arch-enemy Lex Luthor has run over me with a truck outfitted with kryptonite-laced Goodyear tires (of course! Goodyear! That evil corporation of no-do-goodery). My head, my stomach, my cape…everything hurts. I should probably go home and rest. And by “go home and rest”, I mean fly towards the sun and allow its luscious golden rays to regenerate my broken body.

Did I mention that I saw Superman Returns last night?

I would be completely and utterly remiss, on this, the inaugural day of my history-altering blog, if I didn’t make mention of my best half. Some men’s wives are their better halves…mine is my undoubtably my best half. If you haven’t had the chance to be in her presence, you truly haven’t lived. She is the most Godly, beautiful, smart, sexy, patient, loving, funny, thoughtful, amazing, and all-around awesome woman I have ever known. Did I mention that she’s a total hottie?

She can own your sorry butt at air hockey or bowling, she’s a world-class cook, and she’ll do it all with a panache that makes the Queen of Sheba look like a common street beggar. She’s everything that God knew would be needed to sooth the savage beast that is me. I love you baby. Thank you. For everything you do and everything you are.

I sing of the Manifest electric. I sing of record gems found. I sing of the grandness of music past and present, alive with chords of joy and fervor.

Basically what I’m saying is that Manifest Music here in Charlotte kicks major ass.

I went yesterday after work with the intent of tracking down some music that I’ve lately been hankering. Outer Circle, Thrice, The Beautiful Mistake…among many others. The treasure trove that I found defies description. But being the hard-headed idiot savant that I am, I will attempt it. Behold the glory!

Touch Soundtrack - Those of you who know me well know of my love for all things Dave Grohl. This little number is a soundtrack that he composed back in 1997 for the movie Touch. I had forgotten about its very existence until I happened upon it yesterday. Mostly instrumental stuff, but there are a few songs on here as well. Awesome goodness from the greatest individual in modern rock.

Airbag/How Am I Driving EP - I’m a Radiohead fan. Yes, it’s true. And I was overjoyed to find this rare EP just sitting on the rack, waiting for me to discover it and snatch it up. I had tried ordering this a few years ago from Amazon, but to no avail. It is now mine. It’s got one of the best songs Radiohead has ever done, Palo Alto. Yes, you can be jealous. Very jealous.

Quiet As It’s Kept - The Billions are a band that should be a lot bigger. Like bigger than U2 bigger. They’re awesome. And great people to boot. This is their first album. Come back to NC boys. Please?

Art Core Volume One - Back in the day, their was this little label that could, named Tooth & Nail. This was one of their first releases. It features, among other things, a song by Starflyer 2000, with Leigh Bingham (1000 cool points to whoever identifies her first) as guest vocalist. I’m not sure if the name Starflyer 2000 was simply chosen for this song or if it was an early working title for Starflyer 59, but I’m sure someone will clarify that for me at some point. I await the answer as a child awaits their first trip to the dentist.

The Beautiful Mistake/Ettison Clio Split EP - I’ll be honest. I bought this for The Beautiful Mistake tracks alone. Maybe Ettison Clio is good, maybe they’re not. Only time will tell. But TBM is one of those bands who are so good that they’re superb. And I have no idea what they’re up to right now. I hear from lead singer Josh Hagquist from time to time (he was my first interview for Relevant Magazine), but their website is currently down. Curse you Al Gore!!!

My Other Band, Volume One - Mono Vs. Stereo blessed us with the gift of Maylene and the Sons of Disaster last year. This year they bestow this interesting compliation of side/new project bands. Specifically, there are five bands on here, from guys in other bands (or who used to be in other bands. For instance, Royal Empire Music features Davy Baysinger and Jared Byers, formerly of Bleach. Or Matthew Thiessen and the Earthquakes is the side project of the lead singer of Relient K. Or Flaming Watches of Death is Michael Bolton’s new supergroup with David Hasselhoff. Stuff like that. So far I dig this.

So there you have it. Musical jewels. Auditory manna. I am awesome.

Wow.

In the realm of all things awkward on this, God’s green earth, the walktoward has to be one of the most awkwardest. You know what I’m talking about…the walktoward. That most unholy of situations when you’re walking from one destination to another, say from the nuclear silo to the control room, and your path happens to cross with another human being headed in a tangentially-related direction. In the off-chance that it’s someone who you know and actually want to talk to, social disaster is averted.

But woe be upon your head if it’s someone you don’t know. Social graces being what they are, you’re left in a veritable morass of a conundrum. Do you glance up at the person and fein enough interest to offer them a courtesy headnod? A weak “hey” or “what’s up?” Do you keep trucking, staring at the laces of your shoes like they just committed international genocide and deserve to be handed over to the courts of the U.N.? Or perhaps you fake sudden cardiac arrest and hope that the person you’re passing isn’t of the charitable sort…and that they actually won’t do anything to help you.

It’s a tough nut to crack, my friends. And I’ve yet to find a solution. At some point, I hope to eliminate the walktoward entirely by simply avoiding all human contact completely. I’ll be sure to let all of you know when this is accomplished. It will be a momentous occasion. I envision it being something like this.

Boy howdy, this here intranet sure is nifty. I wish I had invented it. Curse you, Al Gore!!! However, I hereby claim this here piece of cyberspace real estate in the name of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain.

Oh and hopefully this place will entertain you in some small way. If not, consider sending money to make me work harder on it. Or just send the money. Either way, it’s a win-win situation for me.

Shazam!! And with that, I leave you with a little something I like to call awesome, with a side order of sweetness: Black is the new Black.