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2005 DIARY ARCHIVE December 31 "Auld Lang Syne" Well here it is, New Year's Eve. Recliner's playing a private party tonight, but before we dash off to sing "Auld Lang Syne" (which roughly translates to "the Good Old Days"), we must stop and give 2005 its proper eulogy. Before we do, I'd like to stop and acknowledge that song. Written in 1788, people have sung the damn thing for 217 years. Now that's some staying power we'd be interested in. Now, on with the wrap up... It was a good year for the Recliner crew. Not so much politically, but don't get us started...We found ourselves playing some great shows. Some crap shows too, but that's the way it goes, right? Still, our music found its way onto various TV shows, radio stations around the world, onto video games, and of course onto the Internet. For us, it was the year of the web. In fact, we had our legs all over the place. Lots of press, podcasts, connections with other artists, bookings...you name it, it took place on the Internet. Hey, this thing just might catch on. But 2005 was a good year to meet a lot of great people face-to-face too. You know, the good old fashioned way, in the clubs, in the studio, and in the strip clubs. Point is, there are lots of people helping the Recliner train roll along, and we'd like to acknowledge them here. Mind you, these are in no particular order, so here goes. Please raise a glass to: Ron Lieberman, the fifth Recliner, for paying his own way down to spend time with us and add some incredible playing on Tranquilizer; Doug Muise, for superb help in all things web; Connor McDonald, for all thing editing, as in videos, as in a full video of Nadia in the red dress (where's my copy, by the way?); Aaron Prellwitz, for making us sound better than we are in the studio; Greg Jones, for all things loaned, begged, and borrowed...and played in the studio. Our friend Jet, for all things played on the SF airwaves; Jason, for all things played on the Internets (including a whole show on Insomnia Radio devoted to yours truly); Mateo, for his generosity in the artwork department (just wait until you see the new CD); We Are Invisible (Jen, Rebecca, and Dom), for playing with us throughout the year, and dragging Kevin up onto the drums, not to mention adding some real character to the new CD; Nadia, Megumi and Liddy, for dressing up our otherwise dude-ish video; and most of all, to our fans, friends and family who made it out to our shows and supported us along the way. We could not have done it without you, nor would we have wanted to. Finally, I'd like to include the words of our new friend Mateo, whose artwork adorns our new CD, Tranquilizer. It's a poem that accompanies the painting, "Forlorn" (on our cover), from his own website. It's a little chilling how well it fits the new CD. One day I was floating feeling lost at sea I drew this round fella he was looking at me He drifted past dark spots in his boat made of plastic tried to make sense of it all the world now so spastic The sea then grew silent waiting and listening the ideas brush past so shiny and glistening I threw in my line hoped this time I'm winning it was time to move forward a new stage beginning. So there you have it. Sayonara 2005...hello new world (if you make it so). Happy new year everyone. December 24 "He Knows When You are Sleeping..." Well, now we know that it's no longer just Santa Claus who knows if you've been naughty or nice this year. Turns out our President has been requesting that information too. Does that mean he's going to bring all the good anti-war activists goodies for Christmas? Don't count on it. Well, in lieu of any special gifts, we at Recliner headquarters have been cooking up a treat all our own. Yes, we have unearthed a few new verses to that old chestnut, "Twas the night before Christmas..." Enjoy: Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, 'cept for George getting soused His P-bass was hung by his amp with such care He knew the Recliner boys soon would be there Ward with his Fender and John with his drums And Kevin with a Gibson all ready to strum When up on the roof there arose such a clatter They ran up to see what the !%*!@#! was the matter What to their wondering eyes did appear? It was Santa, he was singing and stinking of beer. With an acoustic guitar, so beat up and battered He really did reek, I mean the guy was just shattered Dressed in a shirt that said "Free Mumia" The guy was the spittin' image of Jerry Garcia A wink of his eye and a puff on his pipe The boys in the band were in for quite a night He spoke not a word, and went straight to his work The way he played guitar made them all feel like jerks Such finesse, such control, you could tell he had practiced Then he whipped off some tunes from Santana's Abraxas When he finally stopped, the band was in awe They couldn't believe this thing they had saw When he sprang to his sleigh, he slurred a goodbye And the chorus to "Yeah", I swear it, no lie Then they heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight "Hey, I heard that new "Tranquilizer" CD, that stuff is alright!" ...we wish you a Merry Christmas. Recliner's new Tranquilizer is just around the corner. December 11 "Hello, is there anybody in there..." Good thing we're not getting paid to keep this thing updated, or we'd have been canned long ago. And yet, exciting news...the CDs are back, and boy are they nice and shiny. And great sounding, we hope. If you hold 'em up to your ear, they sound good. Not a lot of tape hiss or anything. Anyway, it's the "holidays". You know, Festivus and such. And we'd like to remind you, we're still donating the proceeds of our "Make a Friend" sales to the Red Cross. What could be better hung from the mantle with care than a Recliner CD for your loved one--or your enemy if you're truly angelic? So as the year winds down, and we look forward to a big 2006, we'll be getting our New Year's speech all ready for you. A soliloquy to our friends and predictions for the new year. Just like People magazine. Yeah, so there's not a whole lot of deep thoughts on our minds today. Just a few trivial things to break the silence. So why not just list 'em out? Here goes: * White Stripes at Live 105's "No So Silent Night": S-U-C-K. * John Vanderslice Independent downloads : F-*-C-K-'I-N C-O-O-L. * Please, John. Be our friend. * What took so long for the red states to come around? * Tranquilizers. Mmmmmm. * 3 is the new 4. * Why the f*ck did they cancel Arrested Development? Oh. (see 4th on list) Merry Christmas, Festivus, Festival of Lights, Kwanza, etc. if we're not back around these parts before then. November 10 The Interview For all you .pdf and PSP "challenged" folks, we bring you the Kill Your FM interview. Just click here to get the text November 1 Not So Dead It's the Day of the Dead. A day when we celebrate our fallen family and friends and offer up some treats for their spirits. And so it was this night, with a big old heapin' helpin' of rock, along with We Are Invisible and Turn Me On Dead Man. Thanks to all the fine folks that made it out to the show last night. Even one of the biggest, nicest Halloween nights in a long, long time couldn't keep you away. We should have plans for a holiday show sometime soon we hope. Adios for now amigos. October 24 Get Happy! Ventured out to see a "band" last night, called, oh you just nevermind what they were called. We're not ones to slag off other bands, unless that other band has the owner of Comix on Divisidero as a member. F*#%! D!ck. I digress. Anyway, so called "band" started off strong enough. Very happy dance pop stuff that reminded me of 70's theme songs mixed with some Beck-ish trumpet accents. Think Mr. T headed out in the van to catch a Beulah show. No, that's way too kind--but a fun visual nonetheless. On the record, it all sounds nice enough. In person too. And people seemed to be enjoying themselves. I've been told this is a very "it" band to be into, afterall. So why was I so, I don't know, angry? Well, the closer I looked, the singer couldn't really sing. The drummer(s) couldn't really drum, and the guitarists couldn't really play either. But it took me over half the show to realize it, because they seemingly were playing "the parts", faking along the whole time to sequencers/samplers. However, their hands were telling the whole truth. What did I expect? I knew they used samples. I guess I realize that it's just not a lot of fun to realize you're being cheated, and that the band you've paid good money to see (okay, I was on the guest list) is in essence playing air guitar along to their favorite record. Maybe even one they actually played on. On the way out, I overheard their manager saying that they played the same exact set every night. I guess the sequencer goes in order, and you gotta play what comes next, right? Oh, and it was only a 45 minute set too. On my way past him, I asked about their extensive use of samples and how much they actually played themselves up there on stage. His response floored me. "Hey, all the greats do it too," he said. Well, if you say so. Ah, but it's a nice transition to our next show at Cafe DuNord on November 1. For better or for worse, I promise this show will feature 3 bands that are actually playing every note live that you're hearing that night. October 14 Green Day Three of us had the distinct pleasure of seeing the Green Day show at the Warfield Theatre last night. Those boys have come quite a way since Gilman Street. And while they can no longer be called punk rock, they did rock. It was fun to see a few mohawked fans in the crowd singing along to Cheap Trick and Queen covers. Even cooler was seeing the band kind of wing it toward the second half of the evening, clearly playing for themselves and the joy of acknowledging their roots and how far they've come. I have to say I almost enjoyed the Clash covers more than their own "hits", but anyway you slice it, it was a very memorable night of music. Now back to bed. My ears are still ringing. October 10 Fall Music-Part 2 This past weekend in San Francico was a fall classic. Blue Angels swirling overhead, good Bloody Mary's up on the roof, and an early close to the day, all while listening to the perfect soundtrack. In this spirt, we give you part two of our music list, with the second part of the alphabet (and a few we missed the first time around). The Cramps/A Date With Elvis...just in time for Halloween. Gordon Downie/Coke Machine Glow...in Canada, this guy is god. The singer from the Tragically Hip gets even weirder and atmospheric here. And Canadians know a thing or two about fall. Gram Parsons/Grievous Angel...took me a while to understand why this guy is so revered. Find out fer yerself. Jim white/whatever you can find...curl up with almost anything this guys done and your favorite pumpkin ale. John Vanderslice/Pixel Revolt...our studio mate knows a thing or two about nuance. And he's out on the road this fall. Mamas and Papas/Greatest Hits..."all the leaves are brown..." Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos/The Prosthetic Cubans...Never been there, but imagine Cuba's delightful in the fall. Mountain Goats/The Sunset Tree...yummy lyrics and easy melodies, going down like candy corns. Neko Case/Blacklisted...A timeless voice. I love you Neko. I know where you live. Just kidding. R.E.M./Murmur or half of Document...can't understand what he's singing about, but it might as well be about fall in the south. The Shins/Chutes Too Narrow...reminds me of an indie Simon and Garfunkel... Simon and Garfunkel/Graduate Soundtrack...for Mrs. Robinson alone, this album makes the top of my list, and perhaps for that reason, my judgement may be cloudy. Wilco/Being There...so maybe the later albums got more attention and were a little more varied in sound, but this one started it. The Wrens/Silver...moody, rocking, and the end of the list. So there you have it. Just a list for list's sake, but from the heart nonetheless. Of course there are a million others that belong here. Neil Young comes to mind. But these are the ones cued up on the old CD player this week. And no, we're not going y'alternative on you any time soon. The list just so happened to land that way. Just something to enjoy until our own fall release hits you in late November, early December. October 4 Fall Music Fall is unmistakably here. Yes, just 4 entries we were hailing the arrival of summer. Well, the hell with summer. Who needs it? Too much pressure to get outside and see the sun, get a tan, and be happy. Fall is my favorite time of year. The pressure's off. We all know winter's coming at this point, so it's time to switch focus and get our sweaters outta the cedar chest. Inevitably, when that first chill appears in the air and the days grow shorter, I find myself gravitating toward to a certain music selection. Autumnal music, if you will. Stuff that's a little moodier, maybe a little darker. Stuff that goes better with scotch. Huh? Well, think about it. You probably don't listen to a lot of the Beach boys in the fall or into winter. Unless it's their holiday album. But who listens to that? I know, who listens to the Beach Boys either? It's a square reference, but I'm sticking with it. Okay, how about the "alterna-hero" of the populous, Beck. His new CD is a decidedly summer affair. Happy, shiny and shimmery. Sure you can play it anytime you damn well please, but it's summer music, no matter what you say. So I thought I'd take a moment to list out some of the music that puts me in a decidely fall mood. Nothing too obscure this time around, just some old chestnuts as well as stuff that just came out, in alphabetical order no less: The Arcade Fire/Funeral...good and dark. Beachwood Sparks/Once We Were Trees...reminds me of the Byrds. Nice and jangly. You can see the fall colors. Beatles/later period stuff...the earlier stuff is summer music, dontchaknow. Bob Dylan/post '64 stuff...again, the early protest stuff is so summer, don't you think? Built to Spill/everything and anything...even in the summer, it's fall in Idaho. Calexico/Iron and Wine/In the Reins...introspective in places, fall energy textured with pumpkin spices. Okay, just kidding. Earlimart/Treble and Tremble...music for a dead friend Elliott Smith/From a Basement On a Hill works nice...and here's the Dead friend. Be sure you don't listen to Figure 8. it's too happy, even for him. Grant Lee Buffalo/Fuzzy...something quintessentially fall about it. Jay Farrar/I can hear anything he's done (which includes Son Volt or Uncle Tupelo) playing in a pumpkin patch shack. Kinks/Village Green Preservation Society...timelessly fall, especially "Monica". Led Zeppelin/III...listen close, you can hear the leaves falling There. That should get you started. I'll post part 2 in a few days, provided Nick Hornby doesn't sue me for stealing his shtick. September 30 Another One - and Done Wow. we leave the country for a coupla weeks and another hurricane strikes. Not that we could have done anything to prevent it. But we're still on the case. So buy some CDs, buy some for your friends. And remember, we don't see a red cent. But the Red Cross does. In other news, we finished mixing our new CD. In the nick of time as our man George George Carney (too much soul for just one name) heads off to Africa for a couple weeks to play with the bush men and teach them a thing or two about rhythm. In the meantime, we'll be getting the mastering done and trying to come up with something to name the CD. Suggestions welcome. We're shooting for a November release. That's it for now. Give what you can. September 1 Doing What We Can Disaster brings out the best and worst of people. We prefer to dwell on the positive. Here's a great web page with links to places to donate for disaster relief. We're also trying to do our part by donating all proceeds from our online sales at CDBaby of "Make a Friend" to the American Red Cross for disaster relief. Donate some money and get a CD. August 31 Dropped Jaws Sorry, this one has nothing to do with music or anything remotely pleasant, but had to get it off my chest. First of all, our hearts go out to everyone effected by this nightmarish storm in the gulf states. The gutwrenching footage and stories out of Louisiana and Mississippi have been tough to watch unfold, and we can only imagine what it must be like to actually be there. But what's even harder to stomach is how politicized the whole thing has become already. Or how moronic some of our elected leader's comments have been. You've got the left blaming the right for ignoring warnings, cutting FEMA funding to the area, even global warming. While on the right, some extremists go as far as to explain the disaster as God's payback for New Orlean's moral indignations. Yes, and what about Biloxi, Mississippi? Lord knows it's right up there with Las Vegas or Amsterdam. And then we have a governor actually comparing the tragedy with the nuclear holocaust of Hiroshima. Umm, not quite. You might want to do your research on that one. Unfortunately, not even John Stewart can make us chuckle about this right now. August 25 Anticipating Summer Ah, summer is almost here. Huh? If you live in San Francisco like we do, you know what I'm talking about. What the rest of the country calls "the Summer months" are the arctic freeze months for us. It was colder here last week than it was in Juneau, Alaska for chrissakes. No, our summers are spent indoors with a guitar, swilling whiskey, writing "whoa-was-me-kill-me-now" songs. But then September finally rolls around and "blinggg" (that's the magic wand sound), summer is here. Everywhere else, people are getting ready for Thanksgiving and tailgating at football games, while we're just breaking out the shorts and our worn copies of Pet Sounds. September also seems to bring with it some great music. Inevitably some of our favorite bands release new records around this time and then come around on tour. Like our friend John Vanderslice. His new record, Pixel Revolt, is quite tasty. Or the New Pornographers. How do they fill a song with so many hooks? Neko, please show me the way. Yes, it's finally going to be a good summer. August 18 Oh, My Head A few things we learned during our guest stint bartending at Elixir: 1. Corzo is amazing tequila. 2. Old Potrero is really tasty rye whiskey. 3. St. Pete's Old English Ale comes in the coolest bottle. 4. These three things consumed in tandem are absolutely deadly. We also learned that our friends are very generous. With everyone's help, we raised quite a bit of money for the Boys and Girls Club of San Francisco. Thanks to all that came out. We'll post some pictures from the event soon. Now...back to bed. August 8 We Are Quite Visible Well, we thought August would be a sleepy little month for the Recliner clan. Pretending we were all Euro and taking a month break. But no. We're American's damnit! And when duty calls, we Rock. Or something. Bone chilling fog be damned. Here's what's going down, and what's done gone down already: Kevin's outting with We Are Invisible proved to be a success. Nothing like three practices and a bunch of complicated beats to make an out of practice, ex-drummer queasy. But the Hill Sisters pulled him along by their boot straps, slapped a dress on him, and shoved him up there on the mighty Slim's stage. How cute. This week, our own Ron Lieberman brings his own brand of rock to the Cherry Bar (which used to be The Covered Wagon) in San Francisco on Friday, August 12. We've said it before and it bears repeating now....Ron is our hero. Come join us in worshipping at his feet and give his Morgansterns a look-see. They're fine fellas from L.A. and they make a heck of a racket. The week following, three-fourths of Recliner will be boozing it up for charity on the 17th guest bartending at Elixir in San Francisco. Our own Ward Evans will be off running a fact finding mission in the great midwest states of the USA. And if he comes back to tell us Bud Light is not so bad, and gee I'm getting to like Nickelback, and boy, I can see where The President might have been right about a few things... we're never letting him out of the state again. What the hell am I talking about? Just come out to Elixir. Drink some good beer. And feel better about yourself in the morning. Lastly, we'll be rounding out the month with a little intimate show at the Edinburgh Castle with our good friends We Are Invisible. So as you see, Recliner is indeed quite visible this month. So stop by. Say hi. August 1 Upon second listen It's been a few weeks now since our recording sessions ended, and upon further listen, we're scrapping what we have. We obviously drank too much tequila, and somebody forgot to tell Kevin we weren't playing "every" song a half step down. Just kidding. Everybody's just as excited, if not more, about the new recordings. We could probably split the songs into two camps. The balls to the walls rockers. And the more introspective, but no less Recliner-sounding mellower tunes. Again, tequila can do that to you. We're itching to get in and twiddle some more dials with Aaron and get this thing mixed. Still deciding on an album title. The top contender: The Mollusk. Or maybe not. On a side note, Kevin's been busy practicing for his upcoming drum debut with We Are Invisible this week. Word is, he's scared shitless. 7+ years since the last live show playing drums will do that to you. More on that once we see how he does. July 11 A Year in 4 Days 3 a.m. we close the door to Tiny Telephone and head home. We've crammed a years worth of recording into four days. Well, at least it feels like that this morning. We get to leave with some pretty cool sounding rough mixes Aaron made us. And waddya know? They sound like real songs. Like somebody who knew what they were doin' went and recorded. Our final day we had our friends the Hill sisters (Jen and Rebecca) lay down some fine vocal harmonies, and the esteemed Greg Jones made like Emily and blew. Come on people! It's a hurricane reference. He was playing the trumpet. So exhausted and happy, we head home from another great time in the studio and agonize over the time in between until we can get back in and mix. July 9 Overdub-ilicious Third day in the studio and we're onto the overdubs. So we laid down all the basic tracks the past two days and even had our friend Bobby Lucero come in and do some fancy frettin' over Masuki Jones. Today our friend Jen Hill came in and laid down some fat bassoon on a few tracks. And the fifth Recliner, Ron Lieberman, flew up from LA to finish out the sessions with us. Ron also plays The Morgansterns in L.A. We worship Ron's feet. And at his feet too. It's exciting to hear the songs coming to life. It's sometimes hard to tell if a song's going to be any good until you really give it a little TLC. Or is it THC? July 7 Let the Patron, err Recording Begin It's the first day in the studio and the band is sounding good. We're laying down all the basic tracks today and it's going surprisingly fast. We're basically playing live in the studio then we go back and do our harmonies, add a boatload of guitars and anything else we can think of to flesh out the songs. Our awesome engineer and friend Aaron Prellwitz, who was with us for Make a Friend is back at the helm this time around. We can't say enough good things about Aaron. The man is the Tasmanian devil of engineers and he gets a pretty mean drum tone. Tiny Telephone, owned by the esteemed John Vanderslice, has more gear than the last time we were in. Crazy PA heads turned into load roaring amps, new EQs and Pres and things that go way over our heads. But we're using 'em. And we're liking the way they sound. 4/28/05 The Hemlock and Free Pudding Played the Hemlock Tavern last night with our label mates We Are Invisible. Good show. Some new tunes, of which I forget the majority of lyrics for. No matter, you couldn't hear a word I was saying. I'd be amused to hear it back and hear a snapshot of what was going through my mind at that point after a few technical difficulties. Seems I can't get through a show without the power going out or a string breaking, or my pants falling down or some- thing within the first two songs. And of course it also feels like an eternity although was told it wasn't so bad. So we get to the club, and their handing out pudding in the alley to some homeless looking people. I'm imagining there was a little Methedone handed out as well. So of course I helped myself. 4/15/05 Recording Date Set So it's an affirmative. We go into the studio in July. Tiny Telephone's the place. Now, we gotta get cranking on new songs. We've probably got 5 or 6 solid tunes ready to go, with another 5 or 6 half-baked things. Stay tuned for more on that. 3/24/05 The Kings Holy shit. The Kings of Leon smoked the house this past Friday at the Great American Music Hall. Very inspiring, and humbling at the same time. Ah, youth and young manhood. Or something like that. Saw them again opening for U2, and what a difference a small hall makes. Sooo much better at the Great American. Can't imagine that opening slot does anything for them with the kind of sound they got that night. I hope for their own sake it's not like that everywhere they go. Bunch of people scratching their heads going "what the hell is this?" Still, if U2 comes calling, do you worry about the sound? I guess not. January 21 "Final Countdown" T-minus five days and counting before the big CD Release Party. We're busy getting everything ready for the big push, so don't be too surprised if we don't answer your drunk phone calls for a while. We're gearing up with some cool videos, downloads, pictures, artwork. And music. Stay tuned for a whole lot of new stuff to appear on the site. We'll have some samples of some songs up shortly in case you're not there on Friday to hear them first hand. We've also been practicing as best as Recliner can practice for the big show, and have a few surprises in order. Hope to see you at the show. January 10 "New Music" We started out the new year the way you should. With a fist full of dollars from returned Xmas gifts we made a trip down to the local record shop, and began trolling for used (but new) CDs. One of my personal favorite activities. Also made a trip online for some downloads...and that's when it struck us. How ungratifying an experience it is to download a bunch of tracks, and not have a package to open, or liner notes to read, or artwork to peruse. Aside from the fidelity issues, that's my biggest beef with digital distribution. Don't get me wrong. The introduction of iTunes, Rhapsody, and all the others, was probably one of the biggest things to happen to the music industry this side of the Spice Girls. But wasn't one of the appeals of music the whole visceral experience that went along with it...and yes, that includes ogling Posh Spice (my particular favorite). The music wasn't the same without it. It struck us, why not provide some digital downloads with artwork and things for the folks that buy their music online (which is fine by us). So, suddenly we had our first new year's resolution. Get the people something to ogle, damnit! As you read this, we've employed our team of graphic designers, illustrators and lyric reprinters to come up with a solution. So stay tuned for further developments on that. We only pay these guys with our groupie leftovers, so there isn't a whole lot of incentive to work, really. But we've got some shows coming up, so we'll get it done sooner than later. If you missed it on the home page, here for your listening pleasure is our friend DJ Spatula's remix of Making a Friend. Enjoy. And see you at a show real soon.

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