May
Posted on 28th May 2008
Given my penchant for rocking and all, I wanted to let you know that this Friday night my other hot rock band Children of the Unicorn will be rocking at the Knitting Factory over there at 74 Leonard Street at 9pm. Right after us, Girls, Girls, Girls, an all-female tribute to Motley Crue will be playing. Does this town have everything or what? I know- I can’t believe it either. Anyway, you should totally come. You like good times, right?
On a side note of great importance, I also wanted to mention that Harry Allen, Public Enemy’s “Media Assasin” and wise man in general, recently named Children of the Unicorn’s “Night Shark” song “the greatest dumb metal song ever.” How cool is that? You can read where he totally said that right here.
May
Posted on 27th May 2008
As rumored in the Scandinavian press, my hot rock band
Valley Lodge is about halfway done recording our new and second album, which will include ten incredible songs. The picture above is of some of our amps that we were totally going to use on the record but ended up not using after all because we ended up just using some other amps instead so now they are just sitting in the hallway looking cool. We are recording most of the album at Beauty Rock recording studio in scenic Queens. It is a cool studio and there is a good smoothie and juice shop nearby so we are totally drinking healthy drinks all the time while we are recording the hits.
I am recording some additional bits and parts of the record in my apartment while our other guitar player John Kimbrough records a bunch more tracks simultaneously at his home studio in Los Angeles. It is a futuristic process that would have been quite difficult to do back in the last millenium. When we’re all done recording the individual tracks for the album, we will get everything together and then mix the fuck out of it, turning some shit up and turning other shit down in various places until we get it right. I am looking forward to hearing the end product. As far as I can tell, the songs are a little simpler and more rock-oriented than the songs on our obscure first album (which is soon to be re-released in Japan and hopefully followed by a full Valley Lodge invasion of the Asian invasion). There is a lot more shredding on the new album too, which is never a bad thing. Most of the songs appear to be about chicks though upon further examination they are actually about the human condition and also banging.
I am mostly excited to put our new album on in my apartment and listen to it while I clean the bathroom or something. What happens beyond that is anyone’s guess. Maybe we can get a song used in a deodorant commercial or something. I tend to think the record will be good to listen to while driving though (and also banging, though I personally don’t tend to put it on for that as I have trouble listening to my own voice while not wearing pants).
As for titles for the new album, the jury is out on that one too, though right now “II” seems to be the frontrunner in my brain. I would also like to put a naked chick on the cover, sort of like Roxy Music and the Ohio Players used to do. You really can’t go wrong with that sort of thing (unless of course you want to show the album to your mother, in which case you should probably not have the naked chick on the cover).
Anyway, I will keep you posted on all of this and then maybe you can go clean your bathroom or go driving or bang someone while listening to our new album too. Talk about good times. We have pretty much nailed it with this one.
May
Posted on 27th May 2008
Today, in tribute to my much-rumored 1/4 Canadianness (my grandfather was from Ontario), I would like to share with you a highlight reel from the career of the great Montreal Canadien Maurice “Rocket” Richard, known French Canadian and one of the greatest hockey players ever to lace up skates. The first player ever to score 50 goals in one season (1944-45 NHL Season), Rocket was so great that when the league suspended him for deliberating injuring another player (and a ref while he was at it) in 1955, the people of Montreal rioted and even pelted NHL president Clarence Campbell and his fiancee with eggs and garbage the next time they tried to attend a Canadiens home game. As if all that weren’t enough, Rocket played on the same line as someone named Toe (the also legendary Toe Blake, that is). What are the chances? Now that’s old time hockey.
May
Posted on 26th May 2008
Hi. Thanks to the futuristic new comedy website UCBComedy.com, I can now share with you some excerpts from my recent (March 20, 2008 to be exact) Dave Hill Explosion show featuring star of radio and television Ira Glass from NPR’s This American Life. I hope you enjoy it so much. There’s some interview stuff above and below is a song I wrote and sang for Ira featuring the inimitable
Phil on backup wails.
May
Posted on 22nd May 2008
49 and he still has the best hair in the business.
Dave Hill
May
Posted on 21st May 2008
Attention People of New York City:
Hello. This is your man Dave Hill writing to remind you one last time that TOMORROW, Thursday, May 22 at 9:30pm, I will once again be delivering the goods big time in the form of my gravity-defying one-man examination of the human condition known to all sorts of people as the Dave Hill Explosion. I realize, of course, some of you may recognize the date May 22 as the very same date that the Greek army of Alexander the Great defeated Darius III of Persia in the Battle of the Granicus in 334 B.C. (a wild scene by all accounts). Or maybe that date brings to mind that one time the Hashshashin totally tried to assassinate Saladin near Aleppo, which is out of town. Or maybe it has got you thinking of the day in 1826 when the HMS Beagle departed Plymouth with that nutjob Charles Darwin aboard. And if you think my show won’t be incorporating all of these things as well as an examination of a bunch of other stuff that happened that day in history, well, you are in for, like, a seriously big surprise. The New York Times is already calling the thing where I draw parallels between the Hashshasin and the ‘78 Mets “unparalleled, a must-see for baseball fans and Fatimide Dynasty enthusiasts alike!” Likewise, the Wall Street Journal describes my one-man, 20-minute silent reenactment of the time in 1842 when farmers Lester Howe and Henry Wetsel discovered Howe Caverns after stumbling upon a large gaping hole in the ground as “right on the money!” Anyway, I really hope you can make it, if not for all of that stuff then at least for the part of the show where I celebrate the birthday of Japanese admiral and known poonhound Toyoda Soemu (b. 1885) with a cake-cutting ceremony and brief reading of Soemu fan fiction. And as if all of that is not enough, I will of course be joined on stage tomorrow night by my incredible guests John Oliver (The Daily Show) and Doug Gillard (Guided by Voices). The great Brett Gelman will also be joining me on stage for a very special performance you simply must see to believe (HINT: It’s going to be hornet-riffic!). Come- won’t you? You can reserve tickets right here.
Love,
Dave Hill
May
Posted on 20th May 2008
Whether you play guitar or not, this video is incredible in, like, 50 different ways.
May
Posted on 19th May 2008
Today I figured I’d practice my typing by writing about some stuff that I, Dave Hill, have been totally digging lately. I can’t remember if I wrote about this before, but the first thing that I am totally digging is T-post, which is sort of like a magazine that comes in T-shirt form to your house where you live. T-post is based in Sweden and- as you probably already know- those motherfuckers are from the future. Anyway, every six weeks you get a cool T-shirt that has an interesting article printed on the inside of the shirt. Then on the front of the shirt there is a cool design or illustration that is somehow based on the article on the inside of the shirt. Get it? I know, how cool is that? For a guy like me who likes reading stuff, looking at art, and wearing T-shirts, T-post pretty much nails it. If these shirts gave handjobs I would probably never even have to leave the house.
Another thing I have been really liking lately is a restaurant by my house called dell’ Anima. I was turned on to this place by a friend of a friend and I have been loving that shit ever since. They serve lots of excellent pastas and risottos and meats and good wines and stuff and it’s awesome. Yesterday I went there for brunch and it was kick-you-in-the-nuts good. I can’t even get into it. Don’t start going there though because I don’t want it to get too crowded. Oh, alright, you can go. Fine!
This weekend I finally got to the Peter Beste Norwegian Black Metal exhibit at the Stephen Kasher Gallery over there in Chelsea and that shit was awesome. I got the book and everything. If you live in New York, you should go, fucker.
Another thing I have totally been getting into lately are wolves. What are they thinking? What do they do all day (I mean besides howling at the moon, sleeping, creeping around, and killing stuff that never saw it coming)? Nobody knows really. Still, I love them just the same. And as for those guys who wear ironic wolf T-shirts- watch out! If you ever ran into a wolf in real life it would be game over.
May
Posted on 19th May 2008
Attention People of New York City:
Mondays- am I right? Anyway, this is your man Dave Hill writing to let you know that this Thursday, which is to say May 22 on the Roman calendar, I will be showing up at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre over there in Chelsea for yet another hour or so of top notch entertainment priced to move ($5, which is seriously, like, not very much money considering you get to hang out in a dark basement with me, Dave Hill, a guy with whom it is totally fun to hang out in a dark basement). I am, of course, referring to my critically acclaimed triumph of the human spirit known in the medical community and also on the posters for my show as the Dave Hill Explosion. That sh*t starts at 9:30pm. Yeah, I know- I can’t believe it either. File under: just another day in the life of being this guy. I was pointing to myself for the last part of that sentence. It made it harder to type but ultimately it was worth it. Anyway, as you can probably imagine, my show this week is going to be pretty incredible on several levels, not unlike the mighty salmon, livelihood of the coastal dwellers and awesome fish in general, that- against all odds- fights its way upstream and ultimately to its death just for a few seconds of hardcore fish banging. Folklore has it that salmon return to the exact spot where they were born to spawn. Similarly, my show this week will take place on the very stage where I first came to know the love of a good woman (and in the same socks). As if all of that is not enough, my guests at the Explosion this week will be similarly awe-inspiring. For example, the great John Oliver, popular Daily Show correspondent and known British person, as well as the great musician Doug Gillard, whom you may know from his brilliant solo work or as the guitarist for indie rock legends Guided by Voices among other stuff, will be on my show. Not too shabby. Anyway, I totally hope you can make it. You, me, John Oliver, and Doug Gillard in the same basement? I have been waiting for that sh*t my whole life. You can get tickets right here.
Love,
Dave Hill
May
Posted on 13th May 2008
Here’s a few fun Internet things that have been sent my incredible way of late. Above, thanks to one of the greatest Dave Hill Explosion guests I have ever had, Lady Bunny, Hitler sings the theme song to “The Jeffersons.” It’s really something.
My friend Leeza hipped me to a couple extremely useful sound effects, here and here. Make them a part of most parts of your life right now.
And finally, from the great Lawrence Scaduto, comes “No Country for Gay Men,” which is also quite something. Here it is:
No Country For Gay Men from Lawrence Scaduto on Vimeo.
