Happy New Year Y'all

We are goin' downtown LA tonight to see JUSTICE, Peaches, 2 Live Crew and more!!

Here are two videos for your New Years:

First is in Taipei, Taiwan. It's New Years 2008 at Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world. NUTS!!!!


Second is 2 Live Crew and some 80's bikini babes because if you took the '08' and turned it around it would say '80', hee hee.



Happy 2008 from cLAy TV!!

Top 15 Music Videos of 2007!!

Here at cLAy TV!! our goal is to listen to good music and watch good music. I have posted my favorite albums for you to listen to and now it's time for my video round-up for 2007. I chose 15 for you to watch. Why 15? Not sure? There are also honorable mentions that I will link you to if you want to see those as well.
I remember watching Mtv's top 100 end of the year countdown back in the day and watching it the whole way through. I would guess what the top 10 would be. I was usually right. SO now it's my chance to make a video list!
Before we get started, this was the number one video on Mtv exactly 20 years ago. This is dedicated to all you Mtv generation kids who lived in small towns and Mtv was your only outlet to cool stuff!
Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel ("Sledgehammer" is the most played music video in the history of Mtv)


15. Justice - "D.A.N.C.E" (t-shirt goodness, seeing these guys tmrw night in dwtn LA!)




14 MSTRKRFT - "Easy Love" (does this make you horny baby?)



13 Feist - "1 2 3 4" (it's so damn catchy and fun to watch)



12 Bjork, "Declare Independence" (she's got the raddest video catalog ever!)



11 Animal Collective - "Peacebone" (oooohhh, scary)




10 Bloc Party – "Flux" (robot love, isn't that a golden earring song?)



9 Modeselektor - "Black Block" (go to the show)



8 Modest Mouse - "Invisible" (hacky sack madness)

Modest Mouse - Invisible

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7 Black Moth Super Rainbow: Sun Lips (dead animals, peta is pissed)




6 Spoon: "Don't You Evah" (little yellow guy grooves!!!)





5 Arcade Fire: "My Body Is a Cage" (epic fan video)



4 Kanye West, "Can't Tell Me Nothin'" (hicks gettin' down)




3 Bat for Lashes, "What's a Girl to Do" (girl rides bike with animals)




2 Menomena: "Evil Bee" (this is creative shit)




1 Signatune (Thomas Bangalter edit) by DJ Mehdi (soo good, my fav, real)


Honorable Mentions:
LCD Soundsystem: North American Scum (scum on the moon)

Arcade Fire: "Neon Bible" (Win Butler)

Battles: "Atlas"

Foo Fighters: "The Long Road to Ruin" (funny Dave, funny)

Modest Mouse: "Dashboard" (shiver me timbers)

Blonde Redhead: "Top Ranking" (good ol' Miranda)

Escort: "All Through the Night" (on the Muppet show tonight!)

HEALTH: "Heaven" (Walter Steiner is cool)

Liars: "Plaster Casts of Everything" (human body as a screen)

Rjd2: "Work It Out" (weird thing to get good at)

Lyapis Trubetskoy: "Capital" (haven't seen a russian video this good since the last Gorky Park video)

The Tough Alliance: "A New Chance" (Euros on scooter)

Tobacco: "Hawker Boat" (dick simmons)

St Vincent: "Jesus Saves, I spend" (i wish she would have been my cub scout leader)

Silversun Pickups - "Lazy Eye" (teenage love)

Ted Leo: "Bomb. Repeat. Bomb." (mmmmm, neat)

M.I.A.: "BOYZ" (worldly 80's)

ONCE: "Falling Slowly" (good movie, good song)

The Shins: "Australia" (orange balloons)

Deerhoof: "The Perfect Me" (backyard style)

Le Rev: "Escape Me" (cute girl running down street, played with these guys at Spaceland too!)

My Top 20 of 2007!!

This year I have listened to so much new music it's insane, not to mention all the old stuff I got this year too. Here is a list of my top 20 and then a bunch of honorable mentions. It's based on the amount I actually listened to each of them. It has nothing to do with the "the best" albums of the year according to critics and shit. I hate it when they say "the best" albums of the year because "best" is subjective, it's your opinion. My top 20 and another's SHOULD be different. I have seen so many lists that have all the same shit.....well, I guess I have some of those too, but mine is a bit more varied. So here they are, MY favorite albums this year, and if you don't agree, good for you! (ps I haven't heard every damn album out there so quite possibly I am missing an album that I would have loved but haven't heard yet:)


20. Holy Fuck -LP (Toronto, big, loud, instrumental, groove, heavy chug, strangely melodic)

19. Sunset Rubdown- Random Spirit Lover (Montreal, Wolf Parade side project, first half of album rules)

18. Riverboat Gamblers- To the Confusion of our Enemies (Denton/Austin Texas, punk, fun times, sing-a-long, yay)

17. No Age- Weirdo Rippers (L.A., bringing back the spirit of 80's dirty inventive punk rock weirdness)

16. Lifetime- Lifetime (Jersey, fast punk melodies, I've had a place in my heart for these guys for a long time)

15. Arcade Fire- Neon Bible (Montreal, everyone likes this, sweeeet live, turn it up or listen on headphones to 'get it')

14. Spoon- Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Austin, soul, Indie, everyone likes this one too, just plain good, can't believe I opened for these guys way back)

13. Modest Mouse- We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (Seattle, these guys have been a fav of mine for a long time, album overlooked this year I think, always good)

12. Yeasayer- All Hour Cymbals (Brooklyn, indie rock world music, fresh sounding, blazing a new genre)

11. Health- Health (L.A., beat heavy, noise, turn it up and just go nuts)

10. The Weakerthans- Reunion Tour (Winnipeg, regular old indie rock, grows on you, great lyrics, old fan of these guys)

9. Deerhoof- Friend Opportunity (San Francisco, indie/noise rock, pop sensibilities, dissonance, disjointed, condensed, asymmetrical and otherwise unconventional song structures, raw and at times strident sound surfaces)

8. M.I.A.- Kala (London of Tamil/Jaffna origin, hip-hop, electro, grime, dancehall, world music, everyone likes this one, unique, fun)

7. ENVY- Abyssal (Tokyo, hardcore/screamo, ambient, huge builds, walls of sound, they kill, love this EP, whoa!)

6. Melt Banana- Bambi’s Dilemma (Tokyo, noise, punk, insane freak out stuff, melodies galore, nuts, crank it, yesssss!!!)

5. Les Savy Fav- Let’s Stay Friends (NYC, idiosyncratic indie rock, been a fan for a long time, art rock, just don't give a 'f' and play, great live!)

4. Justice- Cross (Paris, fat, dirty beats, electro-house, like it's being played through an AM radio, DANCE!!)

3. Battles- Mirrored (NYC, beats, drums, mostly instrumental, keep going back to this one, mathy greatness, whoooo!)

2. LCD Soundsystem- Sound of Silver (NYC, dance/punk, never the same song twice, witty lyrics, old sound guy for six finger satellite which I played with in an old band of mine, he was just a sound guy then, but now?! WHOA!!! Epic)

1. Tegan and Sara- The Con (Calgary, pop/melodic, probably a surprise for most of you, awesome catchy songs, sing-a-long the whole album, lesbian indie greatness, listened to this one the most of all, my girl loves it too and that always helps!)

Honorable Mentions: Marnie Stern- In Advance of the Broken Arm, The Animal Collective- Strawberry Jam, Converge- No Heroes, Big Business- Here Come the Waterworks, Menomena- Friend and Foe, Kanye West- Graduation, Every Time I Die- The Big Dirty, Jay Z- American Gangster, Okkervil River- The Stage Names, Radiohead- In Rainbows, The Twilight Sad- Fourteen Autums and Fifteen Winters, Modeselektor- Happy Birthday, Burial- Untrue, Eluvium- Copia, Bowerbirds- Hyms For a Dark Horse, Bjork- Volta, Blonde Redhead- 23, Deerhunter- Cryptograms, Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Is/Is EP, Explosions in the Sky- All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone, Bloc Party- A Weekend in the City, Klaxons- Myths of the Near Future, sunnO))) & Boris- Altar, Tarentel- Ghetto Beats on the Surface of the Sun Disc 2, Crystal Castles- Demos, DJ Mehdi- Lucky Girl, Fuck Buttons- Sweet Love for Planet Earth EP

cLAy TV!! F-M The Wisconsin Dells!!

I am back yall' I went to MN for 5 days and had a great time. I had the chance to talk to many people about cLAy TV!! and the vote is, it rules!! Most people said that they come here every day and it's the best place to see actual videos that are actually good. Thanks so much everyone, let's make '08 even bigger.

Here is a new post for those F-M people. If you have been to cLAy TV!! you should know that I have a "F-M" post here and there, it means "Fargo-Moorhead." It's where I went to college and where I became....ME! So, these posts are for all that went there and all those who should have.

This is rare footage of my old band, The Wisconsin Dells performing 'Banished.' I have more secret F-M footage up my sleeve so keep coming to cLAy TV!! because I post almost every day.

cLAy TV!! MERRY X_MAS!!

Here is one new and one old. I am off to MN for 5 days so there won't be post until just after x-mas. Watch for my top albums of the year!! BYE and thanks for your support!!
One New, I know, The Killers? yeah yeah, but the video is fun.



One Old, RUN DMC. Classic.

cLAy TV!! Muppets do the Talking Heads.

This purple dude at the end says it all, "that is some weird shit man." I wonder if this aired on the regular Muppet Show back in the day? If so, it's bad ass and I must have been ultra hip in 4th grade.

cLAy TV!! Prinzhorn Dance School, Fionn Regan, Spoon, Trentemoller

Prinzhorn Dance School: Cute girl. Rhythmic choreography. And they say "shocker" Hee Hee.


Fionn Regan: Wanker. Funny idea. Keeps you watching.



Spoon: Japan. I have been to many of these places. Little yellow dude grooves. One of my top videos of the year!


Trentemoller: Russian. Dog. Space. Float.

cLAy TV!! SPIN VS PITCHFORK Best of 2007!!

SPIN Magazine is First, Pitchfork is Second. These are two big on-line "alternative" sites that posted lists for 2007's best music. They are both similar as are many of the reviews I have seen. I am not huge on either list but I thought I would put them out there so you can compare your favs to theirs.

20 OF MONTREAL -----------------------------20 LIARS
Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? ----Liars

19 ARCTIC MONKEYS-------------------------19 FEIST
Favourite Worst Nightmare------------------ The Reminder

18 FEIST------------------------------------------18 KANYE WEST
The Reminder------------------------------------ Graduation

17 THE NATIONAL----------------------------- 17 THE NATIONAL
Boxer ---------------------------------------------Boxer

16 LILY ALLEN ----------------------------------16 LIL' WAYNE
Alright, Still… ------------------------------------Da Drought 3

15 JUSTICE--------------------------------------- 15 JUSTICE
†
†

14 BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN--------------------- 14 DEERHUNTER
Magic ---------------------------------------------Cryptograms / Fluorescent Grey EP


13 THE HIVES------------------------------------13 JAY-Z
The Black and White Album------------------- American Gangster


12 PRINCE---------------------------------------- 12 NO AGE
Planet Earth --------------------------------------Wierdo Rippers

11 LIL WAYNE----------------------------------- 11 JENS LEKMAN
DA DROUGHT 3---------------------------------- Night Falls Over Kortedala

10 THE WHITE STRIPES ------------------------10 BURIAL
Icky Thump ------------------------------------------Untrue

9 SPOON --------------------------------------------9 THE FIELD
Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga -------------------------------------From Here we go Sublime

8 JAY-Z----------------------------------------------8 BATTLES
American Gangster -------------------------------Mirrored

7 AMY WINEHOUSE------------------------------ 7 SPOON
Back to Black---------------------------------------- Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

6 RADIOHEAD -------------------------------------6 ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
In Rainbows-------------------------------------------Strawberry Jam

5 M.I.A. ---------------------------------------------5 OF MONTREAL
Kala -------------------------------------------------Hissing Fauna, Are you the Destroyer?

4KANYE WEST------------------------------------- 4 RADIOHEAD
Graduation-------------------------------------------- In Rainbows

3 LCD SOUNDSYSTEM----------------------------- 3 M.I.A.
Sound of Silver---------------------------------------- Kala

2 ARCADE FIRE -------------------------------------2 LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
Neon Bible-----------------------------------------------Sound of Silver

1 AGAINST ME! --------------------------------------1 PANDA BEAR
New Wave-------------------------------------------- Person Pitch

I like Pitchforks list best for sure. It's crazy that Against Me! is the best over at SPIN!! I haven't seen them on any best of list!? And Panda Bear isn't even in Spin's top 20. LCD Soundsystem has been in top 5 on most lists I've seen and so has M.I.A., Kanye West, Arcade Fire, and Radiohead. Both lists are missing many of my favs. My brother's top of 2007 that was posted here on cLAy TV!! got put up over at large hearted boy!! Go check it!! His is far superior to these two. Large Hearted Boy has a ton of other compiled lists too!
Not sure if I will post a top list of 2007, too difficult. But maybe?? Video list maybe?? Whatever? Who cares?

cLAy TV!! DJ Mehdi, Liars, Familijen, Rjd2, Menomena

DJ Mehdi: This is a funny video about two dudes broin' out. Makes we want to start new handshakes with my buddies.



Liars: Looks neat, naked people are always fun and song is tense. They are up for album of the year by many media outlets as well. I'd say it's up there for me too.



Familjen: Crazy man playing an accordion and a boy rockin' those drums.



Rjd2: Where in the hell did this guy find the time to get good at this? And does he get more action from the ladies because of it?



Menomena: This video never ceases to be dull. Very great video, maybe one of my favorites this year. Oh, great band as well, voted by many as one of the top albums of the year.

cLAy TV!! Nihon no Ongaku: BORIS!!

Boris has no boundaries. They can completely slay you with mind f'n straight rock or break you down to tears with 20 minute epics. They just plain rule. I saw them in Tokyo a couple years ago. So good!! I own Pink, Heavy Rocks!, and Vein. They all rule though. Here is a taste of some of the shit Boris can do, fast and slow and everything in between. Watch Wata on guitar, whoa. First is live in LA, second is an epic, third is kickin some ass.

cLAy TV!! Come, let's DANCE!! MF'ERS!!

You know living in LA you find yourself at crazy loft parties or events and there is usually a DJ and everyone is just....dancin, and you know what? I love it!! It's fun, so stop denying it, dance music is fun!! It brings out the kid in you, crank it and just let it consume you, DO IT!! You'll be happy you did.

Daft Punk is really huge for a reason, they are gooood.



Justice is really damn good, this is a great song and the album is even better. Check this out too, it's pretty funny: Google it... Justice: "D.A.N.C.E." (Live on "Jimmy Kimmel Live")



MSTRKRFT is great too.



Modeselektor is real goood. Get their new one, Happy Birthday, me likey. I think I posted this video already, but I like so, 1 MORE TIME!!



Clark. Not as dancy but electro goodness and a rad video. BUGS are weird man.



Dan Deacon. Silly man.



Escort. Not a big fan really, but watch THIS!! Well done.



DJ Mehdi. This guy is great. I have two of his albums, yes sir, goodness.
I have posted this before, this just may be my favorite video of the year.


Crystal Castles. Man oh man. Just plain rockin'


Now you know, it's fun to dance and get nuts. Make some time for it in your week. I know this is a lot to watch but in about a week I will be off for 4 days. So you could wait to watch some of them during that time, do a xmas dance with grandma and santa even!!

cLAy TV!! Arcade Fire, Beirut, Blonde Redhead, Boredoms

Arcade Fire: My Body is A Cage. Fan Video, very stoic.



Beirut: Elephant Gun. Asian with elephant trunk, YES!!



Blonde Redhead: Top Ranking. Saw these guys at Raplh's. Saw Miranda July (girl in video) at the the Redwood Bar in dwtn LA, and read her book. This video is strangely compelling. Oh, and saw her movie.



Boredoms: 77 Boadrum
77 Boadrum was a concert held on July 7, 2007 (7/7/07) at 7:07 pm consisting of 77 drummers. The concert was organized by Boredoms. The title of the concert was a portmanteau of "Boredoms," "Drum," and "77." It was held at the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park in Brooklyn, New York. It is rad. So are the Boredoms. They are Japanese.

cLAy TV!! Top 20 of 2007!!

This is a list my brother, Kyle, does every year. It's a pretty damn strong list. I think you should believe any guy in a banana suit that is a also a lawyer in Manhattan. Go to Myspace music or Google them and listen, if you don't know em', you are missing out, they won't disappoint.
Thanks Kyle!!






1. Sunset Rubdown – Random Spirit Lover
2. The National – Boxer
3. Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam
4. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
5. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
6. Les Savy Fav – Let's Stay Friends
7. Miracle Fortress – Five Roses
8. Shapes and Sizes – Split Lips, Winning Hips, A Shiner
9. Marnie Stern – In Advance of the Broken Arm
10. Vampire Weekend – Blue CDR
11. Loney, Dear – Loney, Noir
12. Patrick Wolf – The Magic Position
13. Panda Bear – Person Pitch
14. Menomena – Friend and Foe
15. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
16. LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver
17. The Besnard Lakes – The Besnard Lakes are the Dark Horse
18. Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha
19. Bowerbirds – Hymn for a Dark Horse
20. Dirty Projectors – Rise Above

cLAy TV!! The lost city: San Diego

I have spent some time here, it's nice. The epidemy of SoCal. Beachy and brodie brodie. Yeah doggy! Bro Bro. But hey, wow, great music comes out of this place. Here are some that I own. Click them and listen. In no particular order.

Three Mile Pilot : Indie, went on to form The Black Heart Procession. I hear TMP is recording a new album!

Drive Like Jehu: post-punk/post-hardcore that went to Rocket From The Crypt and Hot Snakes and The Sultans and Back Off Cupids etc...

Sleeping People: Math Rock / Progressive/Instrumental

Tristeza: Progressive / Psychedelic / Indie

The Locust: Punk / Experimental / Progressive/Insane

Clikatat Ikatowi: Art Punk

The Album Leaf: Alternative / Ambient / Electronica

Pinback : Rock / Alternative / Indie

Man, that is just a taste, add a comment if you want to add more awesome S.D. bands.

cLAy TV!! Music Gotz...

This is a blog that I will do from time to time about what music I have recently gotz, bought, stolen, traded, killed for etc... and you can click their name, go to their page and check em out. I own these albums nonetheless. I will like all the stuff I put up and some I will totally dig and some I may even love but it's for you to discover. I will not give them ratings or anything, see for yourself. ENJOY!!

Battles: Mirrored
Genre: noodled, mathy electro

Burial: Untrue
Genre: Dubstep

Holy Fuck: LP
Genre: lo-fi improvisational electronica

F-M...Almost opened for Green Day...

SO, one of my old bands, the scrodonauts, got on a battle of the bands bill to get the chance to open fro Green Day on their Nimrod tour at the Civic Center in Fargo. We were a punk band and thought we had a good chance.

Well, the night came and we WON! YAY!! We even beat out our arch enemy's band, can't remember their names now, they wore makeup, asses. We thought we had the chance to play at the Civic Center with Green Day, not that we really cared about them anymore, but still a chance to play in front of thousands or screaming fans, of theirs. That night was also going to be the scrodonauts CD release party. We had just finished recording at Super Asbestos Studio too, thanks Zespy, and we were stoked to release it that night.

The night before the show we were all at Ralph's and in comes Billy Joe and Mike Dirnt from Green Day. They knew some people in Fargo and knew of Ralph's so they came down for a beer. Neil, the singer of the scrodonauts and I shared a picture of beer with Billy at the bar and just shot the shit for a good 15-20 minutes. Nice guy. He knows some of the same people as us, his wife is from MSP and her brother is Steve Nesser pro-skater/played in Fistacuffs (a band we had played with.) So Andy, our bass player ends up going to their hotel to party more, why not me? not sure actually, I am a busy guy ya know. Anyway Andy got in a fight with Billy!! "Andy did not exactly get into a fight Billy Joe directly. He innocently inquired about a Screeching Weasel button on Billy's jacket. Apparently this was a sensitive issue for old Billy at the time, and he yelled at him. This prompted Billy Joe's very large "friend" (bodyguard?) to pin Andy against the wall by his neck. Billy felt bad and called off his large associate. The Green Day singer apologized to Andy" (From Fargo Band Family Tree)

Next day. At the civic center and my whole family is in town for the show. The Green Day Nimrod Banner is up and the roadies were hard at work. We had our own dressing room with food and beer and, well, we were rock stars! THEN, the tour manager comes up to us and says, " Tre (drummer) hurt his foot last night fooling around in the hotel and they are cancelling the show." NO!! So, they did. Never saw or heard from them again. They still owe us one. But we played at Ralph's that night and the show killed, the back room was packed and fun was had by all. For a while after that there were a lot of jokes and funny stuff that were made about it. Here is a flier that says we just got off the road with Green Day.

And here is a pic of us playing at a SK8 park in Grand Forks to a small yet happy crowd. Yay. BTW, our recording never came out, but we got tapes yo. Boo Hoo, so is the nature of most F-M bands.

cLAy TV!! Liars, Chromeo, B.M.S.R.,Bloc Party

Here are some videos that are good. This is a repost from my myspace blog. They are all good and fun..

Liars: Houseclouds



Chromeo: Bonafide Lovin'



Black Moth Super Rainbow: Sun Lips



Bloc Party: Flux

cLAy TV!! Nihon no Ongaku: ENVY

SO, I lived in Tokyo for a while and I found all sorts of rad music. I will feature one every now and again. Here is one of them: ENVY. If you can handle his voice when he screams you can understand his passion, of what I am not sure, but damn, he can let it all out. The first one is a fan video and the second is live. Both have the same song called, "Scene." It's emo screamo noise greatness.

ENVY: I own: A Dead Sinking Story and Insomniac Doze. Get them and crank it, they're really good.






ps. The title means "Japanese Music"

F-M...Flier and Story: The Scrodonauts

So, here is another flier by my main man, Neil Fasen. This is from a band we both played in called The Scrodonauts. We were a punk band. I don't think Neil practiced sober once. Chris Danforth and Andy Martinson were also in the band. The flier says no alcohol or drugs so I think it was at the Perot House, which was a punk rock "straight edge" house, but everyone there always seemed wasted? I think we 'snuck' some 40s in anyway. This flier reminds me of the band Smashdown from MSP who we played with a couple times. They liked us so they put us in their zine. They made us sound like "Fargo, YA YOU BETCHYA" and I remember being pissed. Here is the zine article and a review of us by them. Look for naked Neil (sorry buddy) we don't know how they got that picture! Get out your glasses and read it, click on the pages to make em' bigger. It's funny.











ps. more scrodonauts posts in the near future!

cLAy TV!! One New-One Old

Bjork is cool. Still.

One New.

From Volta...




One Old.

From Post...

cLAy TV!! Ambient, Sleepy, Long, Great

This is a genre that I really like, long, droney, moody, with builds, dreamy, awesome on headphones while laying in bed type of stuff. Try it, you will see...

Mogwai is one those bands:

I own Rock Action and Young Team. Both very nice. Here is a video of theirs.



Fuck Buttons is one of those bands: Yes sir, patience is a virtue.



Explosions in the Sky is also one of those bands: I own: Those Who Tell the Truth...
Video is done by some kid.



There a so many more of these kinds of bands. Go to you itunes and get sappy with them.

cLAy TV!! 4 Goodies....MMM....

SO, these are from my old blog, but they are still pretty damn new and cool. There are many more people on this blog now so watch them for the first time or do it again, DO IT!

These guys have a great new album: Strawberry Jam by Animal Collective. Get it.

"Peacebone"

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Modeselektor: "Black Block"



Modest Mouse: People as Places as People

People as Places as People

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Jape: Floating

JAPE Floating by DADDY and M&E
Uploaded by MatthewANDemelie

F-M...Senator...

Senator was one of my old bands... Phil from Les Dirty Frenchmen/The Trans Ams has a blog called "the odyssey" and he did a blog about us. Thanks Phil! Here is his blog. I added our claim to fame show playing with Sleater Kinney and the set list from that show that I kept. Cool.



While a local scene burns its brightest, there is no end to the little bands that sprout up overnight and fade away just as quickly. Some of them are quite good. Senator was one of these bands.

Senator members were all from Moorhead State (or MSUM, depending on when you graduated or quit) and released a cassette demo in the mid 90s that continues to get my regular attention. It sounds like the ramshackle offspring of The Yips, Kicking Giant and Unwound, with a healthy dose of frantic pop/punk crammed in there. Fargo was a whirlwind of small-town punk rock activity in the 90s. Bands formed, played around, made tapes and fizzled out. Then the members would shuffle around with members of some other band and start again. Like other bands from college towns, every member had a lot going on at once. They did time in lots of other groups, often more than one at the same time. Drummer Clay Johnson was in several others with Senator bass player Eric Kjer alone (although I don’t remember if any of these bands were active at the same time). I even played in a band called C.O.B.R.A. with guitarist/singer Ben Graner for a time. The other guitarist, Jen Holland, didn’t play with large number of bands–although she was in a Minot, ND band called Madeline. Long story short, these kids didn’t stick with one thing for all that long.

Jen and Ben trade vocal duties, and their voices share an inviting, amateurish charm. And songs often explode into a reckless tornado of low-fi, lump-in-your-throat excitement. Those moments are plentiful on their tape, and gives you a good idea of how much fun they were to hear live. I don’t want to build it up too much. They were just good. I keep it in my car and it always makes me think of early Spring for some reason. I only saw them play a few times.

I’m not sure how long they lasted, but Ben went on to start Akeley, a haunting little Duluth, MN folk/pop project that’s managed to outlive all of his other bands (at least I think it has). Eric is in a Minneapolis band called Sugoi!. I’m not sure what Clay and Jen are doing these days.

For your downloading pleasure, I’ve ripped the Senator demo below. Enjoy one of Fargo/Moorhead’s forgotten gems.


Shirts Vs. Skins
Kickwriting
More + More
Jackpot! Burning Luck!
Mudslide
Carbuncle
Pimply-faced Whores
Note to Myself
Pharmacist

F-M... The Trans Ams are going to $#% You Up Now...

I very well may have seen this band more times than any other band ever. They seemed to play everywhere, I think I played with them more than any other band I have ever played with. They are F-M legends. Very nice that my old band The Scrodonauts had a part in their "last" show. Yeeeee Hawwww!!

Here is the flier from that show:



And is here is video of them playing one of their classics, "Ropin" :

Daewon Song VS. San Pedro

So, Reeks and I went to San Pedro last night to see my friends Rolling Blackouts.
http://www.myspace.com/rollingblackouts
Toys That Kill also played. http://www.myspace.com/toysthatkill
Great times. I talked to Daewon Song for a bit too, if you don't know he is one the best sk8ers of all time, precision tech stuff. Watch this and see:



Here is a pic with him and I:



Here is a photo of Daniel(Rolling Blackouts), Emily(his wife from MN), Reeks and I.



Oh, and Sturgen and Susy from the soviettes were there too, they say hi.

cLAy TV!! 5 Goodies....

First: My Robot Friend, not a grrreaaat song but a neat video.



Second: If you don't know already Arcade Fire plays insane live shows that people constantly rave about. I still hear about how awesome the show at the Hollywood Bowl with LCD Soundsystem was...missed it. damn.



Third: Joanna Newsome. Crazy voice, she's good though and this video was made by a fan. Neato.



Fourth: JT. Yep, I get it, but it's good, just listen and watch, it grooves...



Fifth: Rocket From the Crypt, one of my all time favorites, old and good, crank it..

cLAy TV!! Les Savy Fav

These guys are great, I am sure your cool friend mentioned them to you once. I have been listening to them for a while. Their live shows rule like nuts. So, here is a newer video off their new album..."Let's Stay Friends" Watch it if you like watching people dance funny. I know I do.

F-M history...If you know what this is....

then you should consider yourself very lucky...



My memorable time was this party. These are the fliers we handed out around campus, stylish huh? The party was huge!




Oh, and I remember Meg. B. selling the new 7 O'Clock Sucker 7" that I still have and love.


Oh Oh, this is what happened, but as I remember the party went on and on...



Oh Oh Oh, the dates don't match up...this warning must have came from one of our other parties, whatever, you get the point, I will post that parties flier some other day...bye.

Fargo-Moorhead Flier

OK, so I will occasionally put up old fliers from days gone by. Here is the first one. It was done by Mr. Neil Fasen. It's a classic. He and I played in The Scrodonauts together in like 1997-98. It was at The Bowler. We were rad and still are.

cLAy TV!! Oldie but Goodie....

Man, I used to SK8 every day. Now it's about once every two weeks just up and down the street. This video inspired me to get back to it. Now you too, let's skate!!

cLAy TV!!

THE THERMALS
THE BODY THE BLOOD THE MACHINES

Remember some of those Pavement songs, or Veruca Salt songs, or other 90's alternative type pop songs,they were so fun and cool, well the thermals keep that alive. I have had this album for a while now, it's good. I just saw a video that renewed my Thermals likey.
Watch this and buy it. It's fun.

Shot at Love w/ Tila Tequilla

I am addicted. damn. Ruiko and I watch it on-line. Watch about half-way through, if you can, and see what a grandma says to Tila.

• MTV
• Music Videos
• MTV Shows
• Entertainment News

I am dumb.

cLAy TV!! New Music...

Here is a blog that I will do from time to time about new music (old too) that I have gotten and maybe a video that goes along.

Health "Health" LA band. Sooo damn good. You will be hearing more of these dudes sooon.



Yeasayer "All Hour Cymbals" Brooklyn Band. Really cool. You got to get it. It's hypnotizing. They do this weird world, gospel, primal thing but hip it up with beats. Great Album.

cLAy TV! One New-One Old

One New.
Radiohead is cool. Still.

"15 Step vs. Se7en


One Old.
Paranoid Android-OK Computer

cLAy TV! More Videos!

Here are 3 Videos. They are pretty good.



Minus Story. This girl is pretty fun to watch and it is probably the cheapest video ever made. Decent song too, little 90's sounding but likeable.



Yeah, I know. The White Stripes. The video is fun to watch but the song is pretty bad.



Ida Maria. Good song. Poppy, punky, catchy as all hell. Won't probably go get the album or anything but check it.

cLAy TV! Commentary...

The state of music is not the olden days where you could walk down the street and say, "Hey, do you like 'legs' by ZZ-Top?" and the person would most likely say, "yes." And then you could talk about the video, the band, and other ZZ Top stuff.
Music just doesn't strike a chord with the masses any more (mind the pun), there are very few artists that everyone can identify with anymore and that makes talking about music different these days and a bit frustrating.
It's so nice to share the music listening experience with people, when you can say, "Yeah, I love that song, and wow, how about that video!" it's that shared experience that gets people stoked and feel happy that you can love or at least know the same artistic medium. These days, I talk to people about music and, sure, I throw band names out and so do they, and some match up, but the knowledge of each artist and the level of interest varies greatly. It's rare to be on the same page anymore because music is just soooo, accessible. Don't get me wrong, I love music and love hearing new music but does anyone love, especially indie/music enthusiasts really LOVE any music anymore? I buy a new album, I like it, I play it 5 times, I move on to the next. it's bad. I don't give it a chance to grow on me more, maybe I will revisit it again, but not really. Maybe it's my own fault?! Should I just buy 1 album every two months and really give it love and 'live' with it, probably not. Should I stick to Top 40 and hang out with muggles? Nope. I think the last time the masses came together and really knew an artist and everyone you knew, knew it, and liked it was "Hey Ya" by Outkast. Everyone knew the video choreography and knew the lyrics and liked it. You could talk to all walks of life and they thought is was neat too, and that made you feel good, didn't it!? Will that happen ever again? Or are we all just turning into musical introverts?
I guess the way to go is to see LIVE music. That will always bring the people together to like the same thing. But, I have noticed at shows too lately people seem to be there just because they are supposed to, because their hip friend said it was going to be cool. Then you get 50% of the crowd who knows about the artist and the other half looking around and wondering if they should go to Urban Outfitters tomorrow and get those black tight pants that kid has on. Oh, that reminds me, I have to get those tight black pants. OOOPS, I am one of them!
So anyway, the mission of cLAy TV! is to get us on the same page again. I will blog what CDs I have gotten or what videos I have seen and then when I see you, we can connect and laugh out loud about how happy and cool we are.
Clay

Double Uncle!

My sister Kathleen had her second child!! Yay!
Noah James Kesteloot.
Kayla is my other niece.

1st Installment of cLAy TV!!

cLAy TV! It's all about music. Ta hell with Mtv! (except for it's exceptional reality shows of course)

DJ Mehdi, Modest Mouse, Bat For Lashes, Chromeo
LA peeps, look for Lincoln Blvd on the West Side in the Chromeo video!

SIGNATUNE (Dj Mehdi / T. Bangalter edit)
Uploaded by BECAUSE_MUSIC

Modest Mouse - Invisible

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Bat For Lashes - What's A Girl To Do

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CHROMEO - Tenderoni

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Turkey Day 07' Vegas Style!!

So,

Reeks and I went to Vegas for T-Day. Stayed at the Riviera for 3 nights. It was fun. It was cold too! Penny slots were a hi-lite. We slept a lot and drank a lot. Here are some pics we took. Yeppers.

Operation Initiate + My Mayasian Tsunami

New Blog. My MySpace one is played out. I will post day to day things about what I have been doing, listening to, watching and other neat stuff.
Should be fun.

AND NOW,

TSUNAMI VIDEO FOOTAGE FROM MY BEACH!

If you don't know already, I am a survivor of the Dec. 26th 2004 Tsunami. I was on the beach in Penang, Malaysia on vacation and saw it and ran from it. Here is dead-on footage about what my experience from the Tsunami was like. I just found it on-line, it's giving me chills. The first one and is a link from the same beach we were on. The second one is a different beach that was about 100 miles north. The third one is from the same island I was on and it is pretty much exactly what I saw.

http://www.videodive.com/cunami04.php (click on Penang, Malaysia)

and



CRAZY!

Here is another one. It looked just like this at the beach I was at!! Wow! Freaky!


Tsunami In Malaysia - Click here for the funniest movie of the week