ahmad-go-swimmer

Davey von Bohlen/ Maritime

It’s been a while since I’ve updated! I don’t have much time, so I’ll make this brief.

In 1994, Davey von Bohlen started playing guitar for the short lived but totally awesome Cap’n Jazz. In 1995, Cap’n Jazz dismantled and former members began new projects most notably American Football, Joan of Arc, and The Promise Ring. While I have yet to delve into albums of the first two, von Bohlen’s The Promise Ring has got to be one of my favorite bands particularly because of their transition from angular sort of typical mid-90’s emo (see “30° Everywhere”) to very light, up beat pop-rock (see “Very Emergency”).

Since The Promise Ring’s break up, Davey and drummer Dan Didier (also former Promise Ring) started a few projects, including the current Maritime. I can’t recomend this band enough, they’re fantastic. I got a chance to check these out a couple weeks ago at Mac’s Bar in Lansing (where your’s truly will be playing on May 8), and I it more or less restored my faith in rock n’ roll. Being with in shouting distance of von Bohlen and Didier was strange- these are two guys whose work has totally changed the way I think about music…in a bar… in my town… drinking Jack and Cokes. I got to watch Dan play pinball and lose. Very sad- sorry, man.

Any way, the reason I had to bring this up is because I was looking at the Joan of Arc website, which basically serves as a directory for all the bands that launched from the break up of Cap’n Jazz. Davey von Bohlen had a page on there which listed all his album credits. The one that caught me off guard and sparked this entry was the credit for backing vocals on Jimmy Eat World’s “A Praise Chorus” off the album Bleed American, which I listened to almost every single day in it’s entirety through eighth grade between Take Off Your Pants and Jacket by Blink-182 and another album by an artist too embarassing to list (Creed).

So this moment of emo-centric fate has showed me that maybe I was never far too off track with regards to quality of music. If I could hang out with eighth grade Me right now, I’d give Me a pat on the back. Nice job, Ahmad!

this wasn’t all that brief. Here’s some Maritime for you!

The Triumphant Return of Blink-182

“Hi. We’re Blink-182. This past week there’ve been a lot of questions about the current status of the band, and we wanted you to hear it straight from us. To put it simply, We’re back. We mean, really back. Picking up where we left off and then some. In the studio writing and recording a new album. Preparing to tour the world yet again. Friendships reformed. 17 years deep in our legacy.

Summer 2009

Thanks and get ready…”

in other words…. HELL FUCKING YES!!!

Saves the Day has been one of my favorite bands since I was a wee-little freshman in high school so many years ago. Recently, I haven’t been super crazy about the direction that they have been moving in, but every once in a while there’s a happy surprise awaiting. Check out Chris and Dave’s new side project, Two Tongues, which is a collaboration with Max and Coby from Say Anything. It’s a really neat blend. This certainly isn’t a return to the old-school upidy emo Saves the Day that we know and love, but it’s certainly still fun music. The full-length debuts on Vagrant February 3rd.

If I forget, someone please remind me to rant about Vagrant records at some point. Thanks.

Oh, Morrissey...

I love the Smiths, but I’ve never really clicked with the few Morrissey songs that I’ve heard. In any case, I dug this song a good bit. To my knowledge, he’s making his way to Michigan in the very near future (road trip anyone?).

I was surprised though to see how old he looks. I guess no one is a hot 80’s rockstar for ever. God bless you, Morrissey.

Home Grown: Your Best Friend

When I think about third wave emo, I typically think negative, yucky, unhappy thoughts: I think about Braid breaking up, Saves the Day releasing Sound the Alarm, heavy eye liner, punching Adam Lazzara in the face, and how much I hate the British press. Yes, maybe this comes off as mildly pretentious- but I’ll say it anyway: I wish emo was still awesome, because now it sucks.

But every once in a while, a band rolls around and that makes me think that we haven’t devolved into cave men, or even worse yet, sceney boppers. Today, that band would have to be Your Best Friend out of Saginaw. Let’s consider what a band that combined all the good things from emo post 1999 (up-beat, engaging, with the occasional “awww cute!” effect), emo pre 1999 (intricate guitar parts, a rhythm section that makes your head spin, thoughtfully introspective lyrics), and group vocals with boy-band accuracy would sound like. If you think real hard, you might decide that it would probably be the best band you’ve ever heard. But you could just check Your Best Friend out on MySpace instead.

I got the chance to see these guys twice last week at Mac’s and Small Planet. Both sets were phenomenal. They’ve got a bunch of shows in Michigan over the next couple months, so make sure you check them out. They’re also pretty nice dudes, too. A+

So this is the new year...

… and i don’t feel any different.

Last night I was poking around the internets as usual and came across a couple interesting things that are definitely worth checking out. First for a bit of context, I’m a fan of a really neat band out of Bethlehem, PA called Street Smart Cyclist. Earlier this winter they decided to call it quits, which is really unfortunate. But they are all working on new projects, one of which is called Snowing. Aside from the fact that the YouTube video featured on their Myspace foreshadows some total awesomeness, their name is a verb, which I think is pretty witty.

So after poking around some more, I ran across John Galm’s blog entitled, again wittily, Some Pleasures are Guiltier than Others. Essentially, it’s a rant about why some musical “guilty pleasures” are especially ridiculous. Here’s a sample from his most recent entry:

So I guess my gripe isn’t with Bonnie Tyler. She was just a pop singer in the 1980’s that got selected to sing this song. But goddamn you, Jim Steinman. Why are all of your songs so pointlessly epic? It’s like a Brian Wilson song off of Smile but it sucks. I mean, this song builds, and builds (and builds), adding every terrible 80’s electronic (electric drums, electric keys, etc.) until it’s almost too much to take. For most people, it is too much to take.

I think its actually pretty hilarious. He wrote a post about The Ataris also- regretfully, I didn’t listen to the Ataris much when they were still in their prime, i.e. when I was 14. What actually sparked my immediate interest (and consequently, my disinterest) was So Long, Astoria, but eventually I got End is Forever and the universe regained its pop-punk balance. In any case, check it out.

In Ahmad related news: demos are going out soon which is exciting. I’ve kinda been sitting on them a while waiting to get final details worked out. If you’re intersted in getting one (for God knows what reason) shoot me an email and I’ll send one your way.

Happy New year to everyone!

Soft Focus: Ian Mackaye

Every once in a while, as I’m sure all music fans do, I like to browse YouTube for videos of bands that I enjoy. Since the beginning of last summer I’ve been really into Fugazi, so I thought I’d share this interesting/hilarious interview I’ve come across a few times. Ian Svenonius, the interviewer, is really good at making everything epic. Ian Mackaye is really good at being a baller.

EDIT: the video stopped working. Click here.

YEAH!

Alright, looks like everything is all set.

I’m unsure what the actual purpose of this blog will be, but hopefully it’ll be cool.

Also, my friend Ahlam noted that this blog and AhmadNaboulsi.com both in their completion share a birthday with Bristol Palin’s child. Amazing.

enjoy