prior
rants
Extremely
Non-Current Bathos
12/14/04 - Wow! It's
been awhile since Curtis last updated this site. Alot has happened
since then - some good, some bad. That's life. Gotta live it!
But, it's always more politic to start with the good news. Put your
best face forward. So let's kick off with the following:
***
RECORDING! RECORDING!
RECORDING!
"PERFECT IN MY MIND" (full
length album) AND "BREAKFAST WITH CURTIS" (7-song EP)
ON THE BRINK OF FREAKIN'
COMPLETION!!!
***
Curtis is FINALLY putting the
finishing touches on recording the tracks that will form his first full-length
album, with working title "Perfect in My Mind." The dynamic
Grace
Falconer is mixing and co-producing and Curtis is so excited he can
hardly keep it together. Shige "King-Shige" Matsumoto proferred his
awsome services as lead guitarist. Chris "Molson" Olsen proferred
his super-sized talent by drumming on some of the tracks. And Anthony
"Tonus the Bass God" Esposito pulled out all of the stops and played bass
on almost every single freakin' track (except one) in the space of two
days (without any preparation and still did a damn good job).
Curtis puts these guys on the SPECIAL THANKS list and sends them his best
for their efforts. If you run into these guys in your travels, please
treat them with respect.
Curtis also puts Atlantis
Black and the Teenage
Prayers on the SPECIAL THANKS list for helping to kick-start this whole
project. Curtis would never have begun if it wasn't for them.
Much love and many, many thanks! So, don't forget to treat them with
respect too.
You might be saying, "That's
nice, Curtis, but what of the 7-song EP titled 'Breakfast with Curtis'
that proceeded this full length masterstroke? Like, where is it?"
WELL, it looks like the 7-song will hit the presses simultaneously with
the full length. The aim is to offer variety. The result will
be
to offer lots of choice, right out of the gate. Of course, Curtis
fans (and I know you're out there somewhere) will need both releases to
complete their collections. (Oh, joy!) And you know that Curtis
will be burning the midnight oil to get these jems ready for consumption!
What the heck? Curtis admits that he has taken his sweet time polishing
these jewels. It's taken soooooo long, it's do - or not do and drop
dead. Believe me, the world would be an emptier place if Curtis just
dropped dead without releasing his musical oeuvre. So, in keeping
with Curtis's commitment to humanity, these hits will see the light of
day - any moment now.
***
CURTIS APPEARS ON THE WORST
TRIBUTE TO THE OFFSPRING EVER
- NOT JUST ONCE, BUT FOUR
TIMES! -
(AND OTHER TRIBUTE ALBUMS
AS WELL!)
***
Curtis has thrown his hat in
the ring with others on Anarchy Music's "The WORST Tribute to the Offspring
Ever." Curtis is doing his best to pay homage to the Offspring with
his cover version of "Come Out and Play" with a tasteful meld of
Offspring and Curtis style. Trivia buffs will appreciate that Curtis
also guests as the drummer on the equally superb (if not superior) tracks
provided by Atlantis Black, the Teenage Prayers and Pure 13 for the same
album.
Curtis was also audacious
enough to provide tracks for a Jet tribute album put out by the same label.
Due to a production snafu, Curtis is not credited with his track on the
Jet tribute - which is just as well, because he doesn't like the
way it came out.
(Please note that Curtis
can't vouch for the quality of the crack staff at Anarchy Music - in fact,
Curtis has yet to meet any of them - these tributes were competed via correspondence
course. Curtis has heard a rumor that the same Offspring tribute
album has been released overseas bearing the title "The BEST Tribute to
the Offspring," proving that there's no accounting for taste (which
is a truism that Curtis is banking his whole musical career on).
Curtis has also been credited
with tracks on the Tribute to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Distillers put
out by the same label - Tributized (Tributized, Anarchy Music, Cleopatra
- it's all the same), which he is sort of, well actually, proud of.
* * *
We'll be carting all of our
stuff to Acme Underground on 11/18/03. And not just our musical equipment
mind you, but ALL of our stuff. We're moving in. It's just
that cozy. The restaurant above, the rock below. Add a couple
of brick arches, and you can make believe it's the Cavern Club. Totally
gear. Our tribute to Autumn kicks off at 9pm. And, especially
for you kids, we're being followed by the Holidays at 10pm. They
are Curtis's favorite ad-hoc acoustic act around. They were born
our of necessity and it looks like they're here to stay, too. So,
call all the people you haven't spoken to in the last four to five years
and set up a reunion. Use Curtis music as your Autumnal backdrop.
Did I mention we're available for weddings?
- - -
Alright - C'MON KIDS!!!
Acme Underground ALL NIGHT PARTY - Tuesday 9/30/2003 - (stay up with us
until midnite and ruin the rest of your work week with a hangover and fatigue
- you know you want to) It all starts with Teenage Prayers
at 8pm, Curtis at 9pm, HEAP at 10pm and the Holidays at 11pm. No
reason to leave. Many reasons to stay. All occasion to drink,
drink, drink. You can move about - BUT DON'T DANCE - you'll need
a permit for that.
- - -
Hey, we had fun at our unannounced
gig opening for HEAP Niagara last Wednesday, 9/24/03. You know, I
think we'd do almost anything to support those guys. Anyway,
we were so excited by the way the show turned out, we're booking a mall
tour looking to play every reading lounge in every Barnes & Noble we
can find. If you know of their talent scout's name, hook us up.
We're also working on a tour of the Quik-Marts at Exxon stations coast
to coast. This could be big, with all the decaf tea and cheese and
peanut butter crackers we can stand. I hope they plan ahead and clean
the rest facilities.
- - -
Well, due to circumstances beyond
our control, the Siberia Bar gig was rudely pre-empted by the Blackout
of 8/14/03. No point in playing a gig when there's no light to see
anyone by, no P.A. to sing through and no fridge to keep the beer cold.
It probably saved us all from embarassment, seeing as we were going to
wing it "semi-unplugged," since drummer Chris O. is away on vacation ("semi-unplugged,"
meaning with acoustic guitar and accompanyment from Rob Watts on bass and
a boom box playing our pre-recorded drum tracks - yes we still needed electricity
to pull it off). I remember Chris going on the weekbefore he left
for vacation about Mars or Mercury being in retrograde and how this was
supposed to wreak havoc with all things mechanical. How right he
was. Next time, I'm putting my money on the Chris O. prediction for
the future's market...