Thanks to JP Boneyard and Mike Swiatlowski, I finally returned to my favorite place to play: Palmer, MA! Brian & Henning joined me for a set of hits, near misses and soon to be classics. Six songs in all. Though I was experiencing some head/brain/dizziness issues at the show, I still felt comfortable performing. It was great to see some familiar faces and some pals from back home (special thanks to Lesa, Debbie, Karen, Mark & Emily for making the trip).

Diamond Junction's wonderful interior color scheme and lay out, which I haven't encountered in ages, recalls various rolling skating rinks, bowling alleys and arcades from the mid 1980's. Birthday parties from the distant past flooded my memory.

After my set and those by the great Eric Hnatow and the also great San Serac, candlepin bowling commenced:

Lastly, I'd like to mention that I'm on the look out for a (and I don't remember the name of the brand) plastic hip-hop dog by the name of "Sassy". This bitch is part preppy and a whole lotta pimp. She was the one I had my eye on, but it wasn't in the cards. Below are the dogs that I randomly purchased from the dispenser at Diamond Junction. If I had $80 in quarters, they would've all gone into this machine:















Ahhhh, I wish all shows were like this one...
-jason

Seasonal music

I realized last weekend that I had a strong, burning desire to listen to some Smiths albums... and after I had got them out, I tried to remember the last time I put anything of theirs on. This lead to a discovery that the Smiths fall into the category of what is know as summer groups. They just happen to work the best for my ears in the summertime.

Jonathan Richman is another character whose music is certainly comfortable with a warm, sunny climate and those sticky summer nights. Also, I generally listen to Robyn Hitchcock throughout the year, but I feel as though I'm turning to "Eye" & "I Often Dream of Trains" mostly when fall approaches. Those albums in particular go well with leaves changing colors, brisk evening breezes and yes, the feeling of decay in the air. The winter, oddly enough, is the time where I need the Beach Boys the most. I go to "Holland", "Friends" and "Pet Sounds" late at night for quiet headphone listens.

Are there people who you find yourself playing at certain times of the year?

-jason

mmm...

Last month Lesa & Henning from the Fawns performed this marvelous cover version of a BH song as a part of the Spouse residency at the Elevens.

Soundtracks & me

My friend Dylan suggested I look into the music from "Valerie & Her Week of Wonders". I've yet to see this Czech New-Wave, lesbian vampire film, but I can't get enough of its haunting soundtrack lately. It's a rather difficult album to classify, but one might file it somewhere between "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Wickerman".

Another recent addition to the Jason library is the soundtrack to Jacques Tati's "Trafic". In this score, Charles Dumont bounces between three or four themes where there's an interesting push and pull between a lively whistled tune and full out French psychedelic jams.

"Rushmore" certainly tops my all time soundtrack list. The British Invasion cuts and the sleigh bell jangling, swinging baroque sounds from composer Mark Mothersbaugh is a constant inspiration to my songwriting and arranging. That Wes Anderson sure has immaculate taste (click here to see a poster from my Wes Anderson Soundtrack Night)! Others that I constantly revisit are Jon Brion's "I Heart Huckabees", "2001: A Space Odyssey", "A Clockwork Orange" by Wendy Carlos, Curtis Mayfield's "Superfly", "Blow-Up" and "The Squid and the Whale". I feel the greatest film score of all time might just be "The Third Man" by Anton Karas. Did you know that the theme was released as a single and spent eleven weeks at the top of the Billboard Charts in 1950?

Are there soundtracks or scores that you really love? Please share.

-jason

ps- Does "A Hard Day's Night" count?