12/12

Not much to post lately:
although good things are on the way.

Check out Denver's own Nathaniel Rateliff and the Wheel:
on their recent Daytrotter session. These are probably the best recordings to date from the band, as their only record was recorded before the band was in its current formation.

Saw Invictus last night:
Great story. Good movie. Lots of rugby action, if you're in to that sort of thing. Still well worthwhile to watch even if you're not. However, no big surprises either.

In case you missed it:
Aquarium Drunkard posted a great interview with Kris Kristofferson a few weeks back.

Austin favorites Monahans:
have just reissued their out-of-pring debut record Low Pining for the first time on vinyl. Doesn't seem to be available online at this time though.

Also, I just saw Monahans tweeted:
"New Doug Burr songs kill!!!!" - Makes me even more anxious to hear that new record.

Not sure why I like this picture so much. Guess it just reminds me of my childhood:

















(Picture credit here)

Awesome

Stuff, part 12

I'm not sure that it merits an entire review:

but Lucero's show at the Fox Theatre on 5/30 was hands down the best I've ever heard the band sound. Ben and the guys drank in moderation, and it really showed as they played every song spot on. Sure it lacked the high elevation drunkenness that tends to ensue at their shows, but musically, I was more than exchange debauchery for the perfectly performed set.

What I should have titled my previous blog about The Hangover:
"The Hangover (the movie, not the one from the Lucero show)"

Have you noticed that strike anywhere matches:

don't really light on anything except the striking surface on the box?

I just can't pay for them:

but I'll have to admit I put in to win tickets to 3eb this Friday in Denver.

For those of you who have been chomping at the bit for any and all Avett material (even if it's not new songs):

fuel.tv just posted videos of recent performances of "Color Show" and "Salina."

Very soon:

I'll be posting info about the upcoming Thrift Store Cowboys/One Wolf 7" split vinyl.

Sorry if you hate sports and/or UT:

but this is a good story.

Am I the only one:

who feels a little sad for the Lemonheads for going from being a pretty big grunge band in the 90s who probably played to pretty large audiences to playing 200 person capacity clubs 15 years later? I guess everyone's got to pay the bills somehow.

Forgot to mention:

how cool it is that Bob Dylan mentions Billy Joe Shaver on his new album. Read Shaver's thoughts on the shout out here.

I've been trying to find more info:

but the last update I've heard on Shaver's shooting case was that he was indicted back in September of 2008. Otherwise, news on the subject has completely fallen off the radar. I guess this is probably a case of the wheels of the legal system turning very slowly. Hopefully it will get settled out of court and go away. Whatever actually happened, Shaver's an icon and Texas needs him.

Don't miss:

the Cory Branan/Jon Snodgrass split 12". It will probably sell out at some point in the not too distant future. And also, what's this about Cory's next record coming out on a "much bigger label?" That's fantastic news, but I'd heard nothing about it until the passing comment by VC.

Seen:

Old Chicago restaurant neon sign where the "ago" was no longer lit. The joke possibilities are endless.

Not a music entry, but I just couldn't help myself

If you read this blog, you probably don't care about pro basketball, and even if you do, you probably don't care much about the Nuggets. That is all completely understandable to me. However, if you haven't stopped reading yet, you should check out the recent ESPN article about Chauncey Billups. It's really a fantastic story about one of Denver's hometown heroes. As much as the moniker of "Thuggets" was hard to argue with at times last season, I really don't think it's accurate anymore. As badly as the NBA likely wants to see a LeBron vs. Kobe finals series sheerly for monetary reasons, I honestly believe the Nuggets just might have tapped into the Rockies magic from a year and a half ago. No reason to get ahead of myself, but they are playing good basketball right now. And you've got to love Chauncey's personal road to the spot he's in now.

Why Boise State Should Join the Mountain West Conference and Join (Save) the BCS

First of all, my sincere apologies. This is a music blog and here I go talking about football of all things. I guess it's okay when no one reads your blog anyway.

I've been meaning to write this for some time, but was spurred on finally by a fantastic article by Rick Reilly, which you can find here.

We've heard every year that the BCS system is flawed and there is typically an argument by the team who just missed (or was never considered for) the national title game. I hope to avoid rehashing the tired arguments that you've already heard here.

My interest lies chiefly with the Mountain West Conference. This is a conference that 5 years ago had very little respect in the nation and was very solidly located middle of the road, or maybe even closer to the end of the road, when it came to overall conference power. However, this is no longer the case. The MWC has steadily become a force to be reckoned with. This year is a great example, with Utah (arguably one of the best teams in the nation), TCU, Air Force, and Brigham Young all putting up great seasons.

Are they as strong as the Big 12 or SEC? No, probably not.
Are they as strong as the Pac-10 or Big-10? Overall, maybe not, but Utah and TCU could have competed very well in these conferences.
Are they as strong as the ACC or Big East? Yes. Most definitely. And these are automatic BCS berth conferences, to boot.

So why has the Mountain West been left out? Well, this falls under the category, I think, of the MWC being comprised of schools that have not traditionally been football powerhouses. Also, the population of the mountain west states has historically been much smaller than those in the eastern U.S. However, consider that last year, 5 of the top 10 fastest growing states in the U.S. were in the geographic mountain west region, and guess what, Utah tops that list.

Will the BCS get "fixed" any time soon? I don't know, but as far as Utah is concerned, the BCS is already fixed.

My solution is that the Mountain West needs to be changed ever so slightly and then included as a BCS conference, from which the winner will then have the opportunity to play for the national title. The WAC, Conference USA, Sun Belt, and MAC can't really make the same argument, so I think the argument is best focused on creating a strong conference of mountain west schools.

The primary change is that Boise State needs to be added to the MWC. Boise St. was undefeated this regular season, and then lost by 1 point in their bowl against TCU, the second place MWC school. Boise State and Utah are the 2 non-BCS schools that have won BCS bowl games. Utah has, in fact, won both BCS bowl games they have played in. Further, Boise State has been a consistently good program for the past decade, and a stronger conference is just the ticket for them to make the jump and silence the skeptics. According to some reports, they have already been invited to the Mountain West, so to an extent, they may control the BCS destiny of the top mountain west teams.

The other main change is the MWC must improve their strength of schedule for the next few years in order to gain the long term respect they need. These schools have beaten a number of BCS conference teams, but the biggest argument against them has always been their weak schedules. Add one more big conference team to the schedule, combined with the conference round robin of Utah, Boise St., TCU, Air Force, BYU, and even Colorado State, and you've got a conference that certainly deserves the same respect as the ACC and Big East. At the very least, the MWC winner should be allowed to play the winner of the ACC or Big East the last week of the season to determine their BCS status.

While I hate to discuss kicking schools out of the MWC, San Diego State is a weak link these days, and could be replaced by a school like Nevada, Tulsa or Rice, which would only strengthen the conference even more, and provide further justification for their inclusion as an automatic BCS berth school. Wyoming, UNLV and New Mexico are down as well, but showing promise, having beaten Tennessee, Arizona, and Arizona State this year, respectively.

My apologies to Hawai'i, but I just can't justify adding you into this conversation at this point.