the of mirror eye

* jonathan richman: ice cream man (4.5 mb) | the ufo man (5 mb) | this kinda music (7 mb) | hey there little insect (4.5 mb)
from june 03, 1986 : schauberg : bremen, germany

i was in college when i first heard jonathan richman and my first reaction when hearing his music was “what the hell? who is this?!!?” the singer had this super whiny voice and the songs were way too simple. he was playing three chord rock and singing about the road runner, the ice cream man and going to the beach. i couldn’t stand him. and i couldn’t believe that he had any sort of following at all. and i really couldn’t believe that critics liked him and thought that he had played any part in the punk rock revolution. part of it was probably that i was listening to super depressing alt country, slo-core music and “sophisticated” jazz. so i couldn’t identify with jonathan richman at all. but all my friends tried to convince me that he was totally cool.

after moving to portland, i aquired a roommate who loved him. she kept playing him all the time and at first i couldn’t stand it. but after awhile, his tunes really started to stick with me and i’d find myself humming them at random moments. and i suppose my listening tastes had broadened and i didn’t need to be listening to “sophisticated” or depressing music. and then the news hit: jonathan richman was coming to town. most everyone i knew was super excited, except for me. but i decided to go anyway because there wasn’t anything else going on. and i was blown away. here was this fellow rocking the stage with a nylon string classical guitar. and he was singing these songs with such conviction that i couldn’t help but get into it. and that’s where my love for jonathan richman started. when he was onstage, rocking the classical guitar, performing super geeky/cool dance moves, and singing his heart out.

—–+—–

just got back from seeing lemony snicket’s: a series of unfortunate events. i hadn’t read any of the books yet, so i had no idea what to expect, but it was totally cool. jim carey actually did an incredible job. and the cinematography and set design were magnificent. i’d definitely recommend this movie to everyone. also, the closing credits sequence was really, really fantastic.