Over the Rhine- Drunkard's Prayer

[bloop]

Well, I don't want a knock-down drag-out fight either, so I think you were pretty fair overall, and you picked out the major highlights very well IMO.  It's fine that there's no uniform opinion on this album here.  I thought we'd never see anything less than a rave (well, I guess there was afro's brief take, which was much more positive than negative like yours).

[Josh]

It's fine that there's no uniform opinion on this album here. I thought we'd never see anything less than a rave

Yeah, disagreement on this album is acceptable. Anyone who differs with me on Andrew Bird's album, however, will face mean-spirited taunting.

[murlough23]

Andrew Bird sucks.

Just kidding. I have no idea who the guy is.

NP: "Better Now", Collective Soul

[Aaron]

Yeah, disagreement on this album is acceptable. Anyone who differs with me on Andrew Bird's album, however, will face mean-spirited taunting.

Hush now young man.  

[Josh]

Andrew Bird sucks.

Just kidding. I have no idea who the guy is.

NP: "Better Now", Collective Soul

Andrew Bird marks the point on the musical grid where my tastes and bloop's tastes intersect. Check out our music journals.

[bloop]

Well, there's at least a couple places, so I suppose our musical tastes are at least intersecting parabolas.  The top of our lists are pretty similar really, and I wouldn't be surprised if Picaresque ends up rating highly with you as well, but we'll see about that.

Seriously, murlough, I could see you really getting into it.  I mean, it's arty and very accessible as well.  Wanderer would likely think it's pretty good, too.

[Josh]

Back to Drunkard's Prayer... has anyone else noticed the cicadas?

[murlough23]

So one day, Karin and Linford were driving through rural Utah. They came to a bridge where the highway crossed a river, and noticed that there was a gate blocking their path, which was guarded by several Mormons. Karin slowed the car to a halt, got out, and had a brief conversation with one of the Mormons. Then, she pulled out her wallet, handed the Mormon a few dollars, and got back in the car as the Mormons opened the gate for her and Linford to pass through.

"What was that all about?" Linford asked as they drove away.

Karin looked over at him and explained, "They're taking their toll, these Latter Day Saints."

[Tom]

oh, that was SO bad that it was good.

[danny316]

Karin looked over at him and explained, "They're taking their toll, these Latter Day Saints."

Crap, that outdoes mine.

Over the Rhine says that their music is "haunted" by Jesus Christ, but Latter Days ain't about anything like that.

I need some practice at this stuff.

[enemy anemone]

got back from the Hollywood concert about an hour and a half ago.  I'll just post the setlist and refrain from commenting for now.

Kim Taylor
(something with the phrase "bruised girl")
(something with the phrase "black sheep")
I Came To
Hit Me
Telephone

Over the Rhine
(**w/ Kim Taylor)

I Want You To Be My Love
**Born
**Spark
**Lookin' Forward (dedicated to Jennifer, the Runaway Bride)
Anything At All
Suitcase
Bluer
Drunkard's Prayer (Linford on accordion!)
Ohio (Karin solo on piano)
Firefly
(my notes are confusing--there may have been another song here or it may have just been the introductions)
**All I Need
Cruel and Pretty

Encore:
Hush Now
(audience sang Happy Birthday to Ryan, who turned 25 and was presented with a cake.)
(unfamiliar jazzy song; I wrote down the phrase "December skies" but did some digging online and found that the song is "Moondance", except Karin sang "December skies" instead of "October skies".)
Latter Days

Encore the Second:
My Love is a Fever

----
even though there was standing room only and the club was hot and packed, it was great. too short of course.  

more comments later.

[StaceyG]

oooh, i'm jealous about moondance.  i actually just got out of my car and was listening to van morrison on the way home from church.

[Josh]

"My Love is a Fever"? Score! I don't think they've played stuff from Eve in a good while, and that song kicks booty.

[Brenden]

"My Love is a Fever"? Score! I don't think they've played stuff from Eve in a good while, and that song kicks booty.

Incidentally, that's probably my least favorite OTR song.

[enemy anemone]

Moondance was awesome. it was my first time hearing the song.

there's something about hearing/seeing a song performed live--some of the songs from that I would have considered among my least favorite sounded great. I think I'm converted now.
 
I hadn't heard "My Love is a Fever" before. I had seen the title, which kind of confused me, because they do a song called "Fever" that has the phrase "your love is a fever". (I *love* that song.)

Hush Now was especially delicious, and I loved that they played two of my favorites, All I Need Is Everything and Latter Days. and I Want You To Be My Love is a great opening song.
I had noticed the accordian on stage but didn't have any idea what song they'd use it for, if they'd use it at all. it looked nice just sitting there. (and uh, I normally don't like accordion.) it blew me away that they played it for Drunkard's Prayer. the idea of it just doesn't seem to work, but it did.

oh, and I really dug the bass and guitar player. he has played with Buddy Miller, which might explain why he looked vaguely familiar; I think I've seen pictures of him. anyway, I thought that was cool. and he was great.

I really enjoyed Kim Taylor. she said she had a really bad cold, but she still sounded good. her guitar was intriguing--she kept pounding on the lowest string, which seemed *really* low. I have to say, I liked it at first and thought it was as effective accompaniment to her songs, but she played like that on just about all the songs and I started to wonder. the last song, Telephone, wasn't like that. I think that was my favorite of hers.
she has a couple songs available for download on her site here.

I had heard that the band doesn't mind flash photography, but I know it can be very annoying to other concert-goers. I had my camera along and tried to take some pics without the flash, but needless to say, they didn't turn out very well. since other people around me were using their flash and kind of annoying me, I figured I might as well get a few pictures of my own.  [_[  they're  here if anyone wants to see. (please pardon the lovely views of the backs of people's heads; I was afraid of further annoying people by raising my camera too high and blocking their view.)

anyway, I'll stop rambling now. I'm interested in hearing murlough's thoughts on the concert.

[murlough23]

I had heard that the band doesn't mind flash photography, but I know it can be very annoying to other concert-goers. I had my camera along and tried to take some pics without the flash, but needless to say, they didn't turn out very well. since other people around me were using their flash and kind of annoying me, I figured I might as well get a few pictures of my own.

*sheepish grin*

Sorry. I only started doing it when others did, which I took to mean that the venue didn't have a policy against it.

Anyway, thanks for the recap and a correct setlist (I'll go edit mine).

anyway, I'll stop rambling now. I'm interested in hearing murlough's thoughts on the concert.

I'll get a review up within the next few days, hopefully. My brief list of thoughts can be found in the Concert Journals thread.

Your pictures are excellent. I'll post mine, but because the settings for my flash are a bit confounding, most of them are blurry and look like the composite of 2 images (especially funny in one picture where you can see right through the back of a guy's head).

Oh, and P.S. - Thanks for checking into the Kim Taylor CD for me. I'll probably download what I can from her website for now and pick up the CD a little bit later.

NP: "Silence", Joy Williams

[enemy anemone]

*sheepish grin*

Sorry. I only started doing it when others did, which I took to mean that the venue didn't have a policy against it.

heh, I didn't know that was your camera. I was mainly thinking of the girl in front of me to the side.
looking forward to seeing your pics!
the ones I took without the flash make everyone look like a red blur, with kind of a two-image effect. in one pic, it looks like Linford has a ton of hair but no head.    the one I took of Kim Taylor almost looks cool enough to be artsy. I think I'll go ahead and upload them just for whatever.
glad my anal notetaking efforts were useful.  
and regarding your comments elsewhere on Karin, yes, she is beautiful. I found her absolutely mesmerizing.  

[Tom]

wow. sounds like a fantastic show. sadly, i've never seen OTR in concert. the one and only time i've ever noticed them coming to Arkansas, they had to cancel. it was the Ohio tour. i had already bought my tickets too. got my money back, but i'd rather have had a show.

FYI if you're interested my revised, expanded & updated DP review is up over at Relevant:

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/article.php?sid=6299

[murlough23]

heh, I didn't know that was your camera. I was mainly thinking of the girl in front of me to the side.

The thing was,  wouldn't have set my flash to be that bright and obnoxious if I had realized that my first two pictures, taken with a less intense flash mode, had come out just fine. They looked too dark as I was looking back at them on the viewer, but once I looked at them on my computer, they were fine. The ones with really bright flash had the problem of being too exposed, so they were blurred, composite images.

and regarding your comments elsewhere on Karin, yes, she is beautiful. I found her absolutely mesmerizing.

Glad you feel that way, because I was expecting comments more along the lines of, "Sheesh, you're such a guy."

[murlough23]

P.S. I was jealous of Schil's spiffy new avatar, so I made myself one from one of her photos.

NP: "The Seer's Tower", Sufjan Stevens

[enemy anemone]

ah, that's great!

[murlough23]

[murlough23]

Oh, and since I'm feeling productive tonight (for a change), here's my concert review. Finally.

http://www.epinions.com/content_4343832708

[enemy anemone]

ahhh, that was a good read.

except...Lisa Kudrow?

by the way, the bass and guitar player's name is Rick Plant. I took note of his name because he's played with Buddy Miller and others (in fact, he plays on Buddy's latest album, Universal United House of Prayer). and, well, I was kinda crushing on him for a little bit there.  alas, I didn't write down the drummer's name.  

[bloop]

Cool.  I gotta try to play "Firefly" sometime soon (it could end up my favorite OtR song).  

*sigh* If only I knew the piano.

[murlough23]

ahhh, that was a good read.

except...Lisa Kudrow?

It might have just been the angle from which I was looking at her, but I think it had something to do with the nose. It's kind of an odd comparison, because Lisa Kudrow is someone who, to me, looks more goofy than attractive (I probably just associate her with her character on Friends, though Romy & Michele's High School Reunion certainly didn't help), but I don't think Karin is goofy at all. I suck at describing what people look like, so I just went with the first thing that came to mind.

and, well, I was kinda crushing on him for a little bit there.

OK, now I don't feel so guilty for crushing on Karin. (You know, in that totally-non-serious-celebrity-crushing sort of way, which I honestly don't do very often to begin with.)

[murlough23]

Cool.  I gotta try to play "Firefly" sometime soon (it could end up my favorite OtR song).  

*sigh* If only I knew the piano.

If I knew the piano, the first thing I'd want to learn to play would be "Lifelong Fling". I tried to figure out the chords on guitar, and I got most of 'em down (it's in the key of D minor, if that helps), but it just doesn't sound good on guitar at all.

[enemy anemone]

It might have just been the angle from which I was looking at her, but I think it had something to do with the nose. It's kind of an odd comparison, because Lisa Kudrow is someone who, to me, looks more goofy than attractive (I probably just associate her with her character on Friends, though Romy & Michele's High School Reunion certainly didn't help), but I don't think Karin is goofy at all. I suck at describing what people look like, so I just went with the first thing that came to mind.

ah, okay, gotcha. I can kinda see a resemblence with regards to their respective noses. but yeah, when I think Lisa Kudrow, I think more goofy/spacy than attractive.

this may sound crazy, but in trying to think of someone else Karin looks like, I kinda thought of the actress who plays Chloe on 24. don't throw anything at me! Mary Lynn Rajskub's face has a puffiness that Karin's doesn't have, plus she generally looks grouchy on the show, but here she is all glammed up, and here's a pic of Karin smiling and with her hair up. there, that's not too much of a stretch, is it?

I'm still going to go hide now.

OK, now I don't feel so guilty for crushing on Karin. (You know, in that totally-non-serious-celebrity-crushing sort of way, which I honestly don't do very often to begin with.)

hehe, exactly.

anyway, in other stuff, I had fun playing the chords for Firefly, but I can't sing it.
I can kind of play the piano, but other than basic one-note melodies, I can't play anything by ear. I have to have music in front of me. I can only hope that they'll expand their selection of sheet music.
does anyone know what's going on with the chords in "Ohio"? the shifts from major to minor fascinate me.

[bloop]

Yeah, I tried piano.  They didn't start you on "Firefly" or "Lifelong Fling" or anything.  I started by doing some little tune concerning a crawling hungry caterpillar.  I just couldn't commit to that.

[bethany]

The other day I was driving my 7 and 9 year old brothers to their flag football games, and my mom and I were in the front seat talking, with the radio off, when all of a sudden I hear my brothers singing from the backseat, "I was born to laugh, I'm gonna learn to laugh through my teeeeeears" Apparently they heard "Born" once in my dad's car and picked it up.  Ahh, the sweet sound of children singing Over the Rhine.

[murlough23]

Yeah, I tried piano.  They didn't start you on "Firefly" or "Lifelong Fling" or anything.  I started by doing some little tune concerning a crawling hungry caterpillar.  I just couldn't commit to that.

Well, I didn't start guitar on "Frail", either, but it was one of the first things I wanted to learn, meaning that I had to get the basics down in order to be able to get to that about a year and a half later.

NP: "One Day Remains", Alter Bridge

[enemy anemone]

The other day I was driving my 7 and 9 year old brothers to their flag football games, and my mom and I were in the front seat talking, with the radio off, when all of a sudden I hear my brothers singing from the backseat, "I was born to laugh, I'm gonna learn to laugh through my teeeeeears" Apparently they heard "Born" once in my dad's car and picked it up.  Ahh, the sweet sound of children singing Over the Rhine.

 =)
very cool.

[murlough23]

Ahh, the sweet sound of children singing Over the Rhine.

Just wait 'til they get to "Changes Come".

NP: "How Do You Love", Collective Soul

[bloop]

Well, I didn't start guitar on "Frail", either, but it was one of the first things I wanted to learn, meaning that I had to get the basics down in order to be able to get to that about a year and a half later.

NP: "One Day Remains", Alter Bridge

I think beginning lessons geared toward the college student that I was would have been somewhat better.  I know one must start with that which is simple, but that doesn't mean it has to be inane.  There's a way to teach the beginning older student that won't seem silly to them.

(Guitar lessons went better for me.  I could play "Disarm" by The Smashing Pumpkins fairly well by the end of the first month.)

[dgp11776]

Holy crap!  Gotta give up some serious thanks to Josh for sending me this.  I never really got into OTR all that much, but this album is astonishing.  The incorporation of pop, folk, country, soul (vocally), and jazz make me feel warm & fuzzy all over.  Karen Bergquist is one heckuva singer - her voice makes me want to sway.  My favorite song, far and away, is "Little Did I Know."  But, honesty, start-to-finish, I love this album.  It's great for quiet time, dinner music, or office music.  A solid A-grade album here.

[Josh]

A new interview with Linford has been posted at Looking Closer!

[RedcoatJones]