No Action Blog

2004-07-15T10:50:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone.
Sorry I haven't updated in a while, my home internet is still down (I'm writing this at work).
Feeling pretty optimistic, actually. A lot of good songs on the radio lately. We have a pretty fine local radio station here in Columbus, and they're playing some nice new shit: Morrissey, Modest Mouse, Franz Ferdinand, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Pixies, the Postal Service, etc. Not too shabby.
Anyway, I'll try to get a longer post up soon, assuming I can fix my computer.

2004-06-25T19:40:00.000-07:00

It's been a little longer than I had wanted between postings, but I have 2 good reasons for that.
First off, my interent access has been spotty lately. I have loaded several spyware and virus checkers, as well as switch browsers from IE to Firefox, so hopefully that will help. And secondly, the wife and I have adpoted a dog. Her name is Jessie, she's a Jack Russell Terrier. We got her at the Franklin County Dog Shelter this past Sunday. She's had a rough past and is pretty timid, but is settling into her new surroundings well (with a few accidents...)
Anyway, I went to that show. Big-ups to my man DGrove for hooking us up with primo seats. It was a cool show- as I said earlier, I hadn't heard much of Guster or Rufus Wainwright, but I dug both of them. Guster was cool- good harmonies, good lyrics, nice feel. I was pretty blow away by Rufus. He has a killer voice and a real style onstage. He covered Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", and I don't think anybody's written a better song than that. Just killer.
As for Ben Folds, man, I think he's great. Great stage presence, great songs, fun show. For those of you that have heard his Live CD, he did the singalongs from that, as well as the minor-key-dramatic version of the "Song for the Dumped". He played 3 songs from his 2 recent EP's, including a more up-tempo version of "Give Judy My Notice", with Guster backing him up. The highlight of his show were 2 new songs, both of which were pretty mellow. One was a song for his daughter, a companion piece to "Still Fighting It" of the Rocking the Suburbs record, and the other was a tribute to Elliot Smith. Man, I just about lost it on that one. I have a lot of friends who kinda gave up on Ben after BF5 broke up, and I respectfully think those people should reconsider.
Anyway, gonna try to get to the record store this weekend to pick up the new Wilco record, so I can see if it is as disappointing as everyone says it is. Also gonna try to track down the new Hayden CD. If you don't know Hayden, do so. I swear, he's fucking Canadian Jesus.
And don't forget about the poll question.

Poll on!

2004-06-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

Yo.
I'm back form vacation- 5 days in Maryland, and it rocked. I missed the Darkness's show at the PromoWest on Monday, but the trip was worth it. Anyway, I'm going to see the Ben Folds/Rufus Wainwright/Guster show on Tuesday, so I'll try to put up some reaction to it shortly. I don't really do reviews, especially for the column, so I'll be keeping it pretty casual. I don't do reviews for 2 reasons: 1) There are a million other people that review shit on the web and in traditional outlets, and the world doesn't need another person doing it; 2)What makes my opinion more valid than anyone else's? What I try to do is criticism; that is, supplying a (personal) insight into work, hopefully spurring the reader to think differently (or just more) about the piece in question. Reviews make a value judgement, and I think that's crap. If you like a record or a show or something, you don't need a dipshit like me telling you it's good.
Whoa, sorry about that, I kinda got going there. Uh, anyway, I'm also looking foreward to the new Wilco record.
As for the poll question... Alright, here we go, but I'd better get responses from more people than Johnny Rawk and DGrove- if ya'll are the only 2 that are reading this, spread the word. Ok, with out further ado... The first No Action Rcok 'n' Poll:

A multi-part question: What was, in your opinion the most important album of the 1990's? What was the most important rock record of the 1990's? (if your previous answer was not a rock record) What was your favorite record of the 1990's?

Ok, email your answers to anthony@thefootnote.com and check out TFN the 1st of every month, and check back here for what I hope will be more regular updates.

Up and Let's Go!

2004-06-04T20:09:00.000-07:00

What's up everybody? The June column is up- hope everyone likes it. Let me know what you think.
So anyway, more about the blog. I haven't done anything with it since starting it because, well, no one knew about it but me and Dustin. But now that the column is up, we're up and going. So, what now then? Well, I have some ideas:
1) The No Action Mixtape. What I want to do is compile a monthly list of songs that follow some kind of topic; anything from standard categories like breakup songs and protest songs to some looser things like songs you play when there's a thunderstorm or song you play when driving. I think actually producing the tapes (or more likely cd's) may run afowl of copyright laws, but they can't do anything to us for complining a list.
2) The No Action Rock 'n' Poll. A weekly poll question, the results which may be cited in the column. I would like to use the "Family Feud" polling method- that is, no choices, just answer what you wish.
3) A general forum for music lovers to band together. (More on that in July's column*)

But to do those things, we need people. So, if you read the column and the blog, post a comment to any blog entry or email me- anthony@thefootnote.com -with your desire to join the team. Also, spread the word! The more people that join in, the better!

Ok, I'm almost done being cheesey. But keep checking back for more No Action fun.

*subject to change

1, 2, 1,2,3,4...

2004-05-18T20:32:00.000-07:00

Hello again.

This is the offical No Action blog, an extension of the No Action column that can be found on www.thefootnote.com every month. For anyone who stumbled in here, I am Anthony Eldridge, and No Action is a monthly rock 'n roll column on thefootnote.com, a monthly opinion webzine. For those of you that came over from TFN, I salute you. The pupose of the blog is to get your opinions on the various subjects I write about. The main concern of "No Action" is how rock music fits into our culture, not just my personal tastes. Therefore, I'm going to be asking for your opinion on various matters, which will help with the column. You can also expect more inane ramblings on rock music, and if you've followed me this far, you must like that.

Anyway, keep checking in periodically, and don't forget to read the Footnote on the first of every month!