The Yet To Be Named Jonathan Coulton Project Band

The boyfriend and I went to two Jonathan Coulton shows in Massachusetts Thursday and Friday. He previewed new material and his new band featuring the King of the Drums himself, Marty Beller and Chris Anderson (better known as "The Guy" from the Anaheim and Asbury Park videos among many other accomplishments).

I'm not going to do a full write up on these shows, because really this is a TMBG blog not a Jonathan Coulton blog, and also all of both shows are up on YouTube so you could just watch them yourself if you are interested. But I will say that the shows were FANTASTIC! Jonathan did a few songs acoustic before bringing out the band and the electric guitar. They played a nice mix of new stuff and old stuff. I enjoyed all the new songs and managed to ear worm myself with the one about mustaches all day yesterday. The banter was hilarious, especially in Northampton on Thursday when Jonathan was still getting used to his guitar and the new material and making some entertaining mistakes.

The audience in Somerville on Friday looked like pretty much the largest geek gathering since PAX East in March and in fact I think they were largely the same people. Jonathan had us all boo when he picked up the electric guitar just to see what it would sound like and a few people hissed. He decided the hissing was the worst so of course people hissed at him the whole rest of the night. He said one of the things he appreciated most about the Jonathan Coulton audience was their talent for taking a joke and running with it. Which immediately resulted in numerous people in the audience yelling either "Arrrrrrr" or "Awwwww" in a direct carry over from the PAX concert.

The band sounded fantastic, particularly on the new arrangements of old stuff like Creepy Doll and Mandelbrot Set. Marty was terrific as usual and exhibiting some classic Marty drumming faces. I really like Chris Anderson a lot. He provided some nice harmonies on a few songs and he's a pretty kick-ass bass player (though not my favorite mind you, that role has already been filled ;-). And despite some tuning issues and a few slip ups Jonathan rocked the electric guitar.

Thursday's show provided some celebrity audience watching. I knew John Hodgman was going to be there because he Twittered about it. He was easy to spot mingling in the main floor crowd. He posed for some pictures with fans but we didn't bug him. Just before the show started Flansburgh came in with Jamie Kitman and another friend. It seemed that the club had neglected to save them seats and they ended up watching the whole show standing by the stairs. I suspect that I was actually sitting in the seat meant for Flans, or at least the one marked with his picture.



(Psst, that was a joke.) Given the number of TMBG T-shirts I saw in the audience I was impressed that Flans managed to stay relatively incognito.

I went to visit the restrooms in the basement before the show (which were very small and in an odd location) and ended up getting serenaded through the open green room door while waiting in line. I originally thought it was Marty singing but after hearing the show I think it was actually Chris Anderson, possibly with Marty singing along. Hard to say since I couldn't see them. They were singing an Indigo Girls song though.

After the show I was back downstairs using the facilities again and ended up standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for the boyfriend as Marty came out of the green room to say bye to Flans. He met my eye and smiled at me and I waved a little. Then he walked right over and started talking to me. I was so tongue tied I'm afraid I wasn't very eloquent but we had a nice brief chat. I can only imagine what it looked like to the boyfriend to come back from the bathroom to find me chatting with Marty Beller.

So lots of fun was had at both shows.Here are a few videos I took of four of the six new songs, the first two from Northampton and the second two from Somerville. Enjoy!

The Stache




Today With Your Wife




Nemeses




Sticking It To Myself

Stage Announcements - 7/23/10

Just a short entry today. I'll post up a short recap and some videos of Jonathan Coulton's shows with Marty later.

In the meantime, please enjoy this fun interview. It is filled with silliness and good quotes. And Oreos.

There's A Picture Opposite Me - 7/21/10

Silly one today, to make up for downer post on Monday.





"What's that blue thing doing here?" - Fingertips, They Might Be Giants

Send submissions to theroommustlistentome@gmail.com

Bottom Of The Heap

I know, I know. Late again. I'm sorry.

Apologies if this entry is a bit of a downer. Though I try to keep the personal life stuff off this blog for the most part, I will say that I have been pretty down in the dumps lately. This is not proving to be a great summer for me. If I can offer you a piece of advice: don't grow up. Being an adult is highly overrated. My usual antidote to an emotional slump is a TMBG show but since I am still two months away from my next one I'm going to rely on the rockin' combination of Jonathan Coulton and Marty Beller to pulls me out of the doldrums this week. Come on boys, don't let me down!

This week's somewhat dreary topic, because I honestly couldn't think of anything else, is my 10 least favorite TMBG songs. I should clarify that I don't hate any of these. I don't think there are any TMBG songs that I truly dislike. These are just the very bottom of the list for me. I'm not in the habit of skipping songs when I listen to an album so I do still listen to these songs fairly regularly. But they haven't made it onto any of my TMBG mix CDs that I typically listen to in the car. I think I am afraid to completely eliminate any song from rotation for fear that it will eventually grow on me. It has happened with plenty of other songs and I don't want to deny any song the chance the chance to become a favorite. But for today these are the bottom of the heap.

My 10 Least Favorite TMBG Songs

10. Bee of the Bird of the Moth - Hey, it's my favorite of my least favorites. Does that count for anything? I highly suspect that I will grow to love this song one day. It just hasn't happened yet.

9. S-E-X-X-Y - This is probably more a case of indifference that anything else.

8. Stompbox - This is just a little too dark even for me. But since I can never understand the lyrics anyway it doesn't bother me that much.

7. E Eats Everything - I actually quite like the lyrics. I think it is the spoken word aspect that I don't enjoy.

6. John Lee Supertaster - In the right circumstances I can enjoy this song but it has to just the right circumstances.

5. Mr. Excitement - I just don't like rap. Sorry.

4. Employee of the Month - Huh? I just don't get it.

3. You'll Miss Me - I actually don't mind the demo tape version of this song but the one on the album is a little too abrasive.

2. I've Got A Fang - This creeps me out. Between the weird voice and the weird lyrics it just gives me the willies.

1. She Thinks She's Edith Head - This song rubbed me the wrong way from the get go. It is always my first response when someone asks me about songs I don't like. I can't even say what it is that bothers me. Secretly however, I sort of suspect that maybe I don't dislike it as much as I think I do and that someday it will suddenly vanish from this list entirely.


There we go. I promise a more cheerful topic next week. Suggestions welcome.

Stage Announcements - 7/16/10

No new news to report today so we are going retro.

Here's a short one from 1995 in which Linnell makes a statement that has long since been proven false.

http://www.sean.co.uk/a/musicjournalism/tmbg.shtm

From 1998, this interview is a perfect example of why fan girls should not conduct interviews.

http://www.strangeadvice.com/johnlinnell.html

And in a more recent interview Flansburgh proves his total ignorance of World of Warcraft.

http://blogcritics.org/music/article/an-interview-with-john-flansburgh-of/

There's A Picture Opposite Me - 7/14/10

This week's entry has been submitted by Jaime. Enjoy!






"They might be rain, the might be heat, they might be frying up stalk of wheat." - They Might Be Giants, They Might Be Giants

Email submissions to theroommustlistentome@gmail.com

Where Have You Been Hiding?

We all have our favorite songs, the ones that we just fell in love with the first time we heard them. But what about those songs that creep up on you? You know the ones. You ignored them at first or were simply indifferent to them. Sometimes you downright disliked them. But over time, you listened to them again and again until one day something just clicked and you realized, "Hey, I love this song!" Maybe it just took hearing it in the right situation or being in the right mood but suddenly you have a whole new appreciation for that song you couldn't care less about yesterday.

I'll tell you a secret. For several years this is actually how I felt about ALL TMBG music. My boyfriend has always been a fan so I definitely heard their music: riding in the car, playing in the background in the apartment, tucked into mix CDs he gave me. I never disliked it, there were even songs I quite enjoyed but I was, overall, pretty indifferent. Somehow it took the right time and the right song for it all to click with me. Then it was like opening a flood gate and I couldn't believe it took me so long to see the light.

Today's Audience Participation is dedicated to those songs that came late to the party. The ones you didn't realize you loved until one day you did. Which is why it is called:

5 Songs I Didn't Realize I Loved Until I Did

5. Pencil Rain - This song used to irritate me, though I don't know why. Then I read an article about They Might Be Giants in which the writer referred to this song as "an ode to urination." I thought, "What the hell? Have I just been totally missing something?" I went back and listened to it again while reading the lyrics and though I have no idea where the guy got the urination idea, I did suddenly realize that, when taken literally, it is about actual pencils falling from the sky. And this gave me a whole new appreciation for it.

4. She's An Angel - I was indifferent to this song until I was having a conversation about whether or not there was a TMBG song appropriate to use as a first dance song at a wedding and suddenly realized this is probably the closest thing to a love song they've got. At least in my opinion. And then I loved it.

3. Metal Detector - This one took hearing Linnell talk about his inspiration for the song on Studio 360. Not only was it eye opening but the book that inspired it was written about treasure hunting on beaches that I know from my childhood which was pretty cool.

2. Self Called Nowhere - Part of my John Henry awakening. From talking to other fans, it seems that pretty much everyone has a weak link when it comes to TMBG albums. Meaning, there is just one album that you aren't as familiar with and haven't listened to as much. The one you are always surprised to discover a song is on because part of your brain has ignored it's existence. John Henry is mine. But I had my boyfriend's copy in the car for a few days recently and realized that not only do I love this song, but it is probably my favorite of all the albums and I just didn't know it. Huh?

1. Subliminal - I know I've told this story before but I did not love this song until I heard it live. Or at least I didn't know I loved it. But the first time I heard it live was such a startlingly intense experience I think I had chills. It is one of my very favorite live show memories. Now every time I hear those opening accordion notes they make my heart soar. Which is an incredibly dorky thing to say but so true. Incidentally, the beginning of this has always reminded me of Paul Simon's The Boy in the Bubble.

I look forward to seeing your selections. And does anybody have a picture they want to submit for Wednesday? I don't have an entry yet. I can make one but I'd love to give someone else a turn.