accidentalist

Greg Dulli has too many bands.  After the success and fade of The Afghan Whigs, the rise of The Twilight Singers, a solo album, and a brief stint in a soundtrack band, The Gutter Twins started as a project between Dulli and Mark Lanegan (The Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age).  Actually, each had collaborated on each other's work (most notably on the 2006 The Twilight Singers EP, A Stitch in Time) but more or less officially started The 'Twins in 2006.  Saturnalia, the band's first album, was released earlier this year and reunited both Dulli and Lanegan with Sub Pop Records.

"God's Children" on "Later With Jools Holland" (BBC TV)

The Gutter Twins lends its sound primarily to Dulli's musical arrangements, sounding much like The 'Singers with dual vocals complementing each other.  Definitely not a bad thing; however one wonders if Dulli should have just released all his post-Afghan Whigs efforts under The Twilight Singers moniker, including Lanegan into the mix.

Video for "All Misery/Flowers."

Touring in Europe currently, The Gutter Twins will be back in America to play Lollapalooza in Chicago in August.

"Idle Hands" on "Late Night with David Letterman" (CBS)

Grabbed from just a few minutes ago:

Before you ask, yes this is a revision of an older post.  I don't know what I was thinking when I started writing about my favorite bands and movies.  I would discover later that Edward Hirsch would do the same in his "Poet's Choice" column, covering both foreign and post-9/11 American poets.  I'm not sure what direction this series of posts will go, but it'll eventually find its direction.

One of my favorite bands of all time is a little-known UK band called Adorable.  They formed in Coventry in 1991 and quickly found success touring with Curve the following year.  This was quite an early accomplishment and Adorable found themselves grouped into the shoegaze scene, much to their chagrin (they wanted to be considered pop).  As the band became more popular, they became more brash, outspoken, and arrogant.  This had a backlash on the band, particularly with the British media (yet seemed to work for labelmates Oasis a few years later).

Adorable had a short-lived career on Creation Records, yet released two absolutely brilliant records, Against Perfection and Fake, the latter of which never received an American release.  I had the pleasure of seeing them play in Chicago many years ago and their energetic performance still rings in my mind.  It's too bad they never toured the US for their second album.

After strained relations with Creation, Adorable broke up onstage in Brussels in 1994.  Robert Dilliam would find success playing for The Zephyrs, and Peter Fijalkowski would form Polak (unfortunately another under-appreciated band).  Wil (Stephen Williams) and Kevin Gritton took more "formal" jobs in the field of education.

Oddly enough, Adorable has been making a comeback lately.  Earlier this year, a compilation album (Footnotes) was released on Cherry Red and music video director Tom Laurie has made his presence known on YouTube.

Homeboy (by Tom Laurie)
Sistine Chapel Ceiling (by Tom Laurie)
Kangaroo Court (by Tom Laurie)
Sunshine Smile
Favorite Fallen Idol (live)
Cut #2 (live)
Pete Fijalkowski: A To Fade In (live)

These days it's rather difficult to write on a regular basis.  The daily grind of work and school tends to leave little enthusiasm for anything else.  Nearly everything I write has been for workshop, managing a moment for work policies, proposals, and project plans.  I've been both too busy and too lazy to focus on anything and everything.  So time for a change - maybe I'll manage something weekly.  I have no idea what this will be focused on, but it'll sort itself out eventually.  There might be some repeats of old posts as I consolidate (and revise) my other journals.  Please pardon the redundancy (and idiocy).

So let's get this started again. This place is a ghost town.

I've tried to make a daily habit of writing on a daily basis. I've come to realize that my attention span has been so horribly damaged by the touch-and-go mentality of today's society that I really need to spend more time developing it properly. With that said, school's going okay I suppose. It's a humbling experience to know that everything you've written so far has been incorrect. Okay, I'm exaggerating, however the effect remains. The workshops and feedback have been great. I know exactly what my weaknesses are and what I need to work on.

The instructor for my style class is actually younger than me. Not that it matters, but I'd have to say that this is the first time this has ever happened. Interestingly enough, he knows a lot of people that I do (or did - back when I was a more diligent journalist).

I've also started a new journal with Blogger. Honestly, I find the way it is utilized so much more conducive to writing than Livejournal or Vox. While there is a strong community focus on the SixApart efforts, I find that its presence is pretty much closed within that bubble.

I've quit smoking. Nasty habit. I'm back on the gum, which just isn't as satisfying. It is like getting nourishment through a feeding tube: all of the effect with none of the pleasure.

Anyway, this journal is going public again (for the most part).