an explanation

the cafe is taking july and august off. thankfully we have the freedom to do so and we're not in this for the money (cause there is none!). there are several good reasons, here goes:

1. all of you are spending your money on big festivals and tours. and who can blame you? salt lake is fortunate to get some great summer concerts.

2. we're an all ages venue and kids are out for the summer. we didn't do well last summer on shows (i think the showbread show was the only one we broke even on). we rely heavily on word of mouth and without kids in high school and college in session, there is no word of mouth.

3. it's hot. last summer we had two swamp coolers and fans and the heat of the cafe was almost unbearable. this year the swamp coolers have been torn out (they pooped out) so it will only be warmer.

4. there isn't a high quality of touring bands coming through. no offense to any touring band we've turned down, but it just is a lull in the concert season in salt lake (spring and fall are great though).

so there you go. add to that lawrence and i will be in africa and the middle east for about two weeks in the middle of july and august and we wouldn't be able to do any shows during that time or the week before and after. we don't do shows to make money so it's okay by our goals to take a breather from it.

one thing i'm really excited about is coming back in september with a full roster of shows with all the great local bands we love working with (we're hoping for more atherton shows in the fall!). with no one playing the cafe over the summer, we hope that everyone will be excited to get back onto our humble stage.

have a great summer, catch us tomorrow or next friday at our last two shows and always feel free to myspace us. we'll keep up the blog as much as we can.

and as long as i'm at it, sorry we don't serve drinks. i promise it's not just to make you angry. the espresso machine doesn't work (it's pricey to replace it) and all of those supplies are remnants from when the cafe was in full swing. and yes, i know, we could be making money by doing so!

who is the tallest man on earth?

If you said that guy from Asia, technically you're correct. However, there is a new 'correct' answer to that question now.

The tallest man on earth is also a singer songwriter from Sweden who has taken over my ipod for most of this past month. Simply put, it's unique, but still very ear friendly. I love it. He sounds a lot like Dylan, which I know is a bold statement, but true. It's great summer "let's go camping" music.



You can listen to the whole album, titled shallow grave, on his website. Check it out.

faster than myspace

yeah hate to say it, but this blog's been talking about kate nash since last fall. today she's one of the featured artists on myspace. so there you go: read our blog and every once in a while we'll give you a heads up from across the pond. i think tim gets full credit for this one.

i was gonna put in a kate nash picture, but myspace has had an unknown error. that's hilarious and well timed.

the whitest boy alive's favorite band

i'm not sure how i came across rubies' myspace page, but it's been about 5 days & i still haven't closed the browser window or stopped listening to the tracks over & over. the fact that it is the whitest boy alive's self proclaimed favorite band (they are on tour together) says a lot about their music. it is mellow, danceable, disco folk & it's pure goodness. rubies is lead by Simone Rubi & Terri Loewenthal & you can read more about their story here. here's the video for "i feel electric" i don't love it but the music is good.

tax dollars

it's rare when i feel like my taxes went to something that actually affects me. today though, i saw my tax dollars hard at work. these are the cd's i checked out from the sandy library:

architecture in helsinki - places like this
bright eyes - cassadaga
mos def - true magic
ladytron - witching hour
talib kweli - reflection eternal
sea wolf - get it to the river before it runs too low
lyric's born - every where at once
deerhoof - the runner's four
black mountain - in the future
t bone burnett - tooth of crime

my tax dollars hard at work. and someone sent me the new showbread cd. so that's a bonus.

BSS

Get ready for a new Broken Social Scene album due this summer. They just can't be stopped.

This go around will be the second in the "Broken Social Scene Presents" concept, this time Brendan Canning is taking the wheel. It'll make their appearance at the summer twilight series that much better.

I will sleep now.

"you and me we're not so different..."

paper rival's full length dialog is out now, but itunes is still the best place to get it. like too many good indie bands, their cd is hard to find (slowtrain: do you have it?). their myspace says that some best buy stores have it (i don't understand what wea distribution means if you still have to call around to best buys to find out if they have it).

at this point i should go ahead and dive full length into the label problem. photo finish excitedly signed pr several years ago, eager to put money into their music. since then, they've signed non-indie bands 3oh!3 (white boy gansta rap from colorado), envy on the coast and danger radio. this type of scattered signing doesn't help a band like paper rival. they've already missed out on some opportunities from legitimate indie media simply because it was assumed they were pop-passe.

also since their signing, paper rival has written and recorded a brilliantly overcast and gloomy indie record that still has momentum, hooks and strong vocals (no whiny emo vocals here). evocative songs like bluebird and the family ghost haunt the listener without losing their marketplace appeal.


i know it's only half way through the year, but right now i'm putting dialog in my top 5 for 2008 (sorry foxboro hot tubs). i know you're likely as broke as i am, but this is an album worth $9.99. think of it this way: that's only two gallons of gas!