When you get there, click on the entrance image to hear a little welcome then listen to the following -
Mad Dog's Rock Stage - 15-16 Puzzle, The Big Smokes (Andy Balham, Sarah Beanz, Johnny Cashpoint, Stevie Windsor), The Half Racks, Johnny Cashpoint (feat. Freudian Slip), King Arthur, the Sweetleaves, The Black Suzies + EXCLUSIVE VIDEO FOOTAGE OF OCTOTHORPE LIVE!
Bloodberries & Cream, No Cash Value and others to appear shortly.
Acoustic Stage - Henrietta & the Hostages, Deshead, Niveous, Me$$iah, The Big Smokes!
Electronic Stage - Electroclashpoint, X-Tokyo River God & Redcar!
Stubs Quiet Zone - Exclusive photos, poetry from Bjam and an exclusive sneak preview of the new Octothorpe comic!
That should keep you busy
I have checked all the links and they seem to work, but if you come across any glitches, mistakes, or broken links just let me know and I'll fix them as quick as possible. I hope you enjoy - Yay Octothorpe!!
j$
Apologies for cross-posting but i didn't want this to get buried in the monkey business thread ....
Deshead is soooo right ,
Cant fault it . This may be the cutting edge of the festival scene,
I mean did the peeps at woodstock think that their fesival would be so huge, or the Isle of white?
or even Glastonbury many years ago
Just finished listening to and enjoying the festival. Well done to everyone and especially J$ for putting it all together. Only by a slender thread were you all spared the very drunken version of The Slender Giant
"Some may say I couldn't sing, but none may say I didn't sing" - Florence Foster Jenkins
jack shite wrote:thanks TT. i really got to give some big props to leaf's family and friends too. they brought the "fest" for sure.
So am I to assume, from this last post, that they are the crowd in the BG of your track and it's not simply a crowd track from a bootleg of a Dead concert that you recorded at one of the many hundred concerts you were attending flying on 'cid?
Bolio wrote:Busy with the live thing this weekend but I didn't see our Song up anywhere, here's the tribute from 'No Cash Value.'
FIXED! Sorry, I didn't get an up-to-date version from you or FS so I assumed it was coming wehn you got back ... anyhow, it's on the site now and it's great!
I will be reviewing everything shortly, just because I think everyone did a bang-up job, and captured the spirit intended. Thanks, all!
Rock Stage Reviews from the front line by Johnny 'No Lester Bangs, he' Cashpoint
15-16 - This is such a cool rock band song, somehow made better by not having a rock band behind it, if that makes sense. I could listen to that solo-ing all day long. I imagine it drawing in the crowds so by the end of the song the curious have been summoned to the stage and the throng is drooling for more. great start!
Half Racks - bring a manly groove, lodged firmly somewhere between Creedence and Mudhoney, which really suits the Octothorpe style. I am tapping my foot, sipping my beer and watching the kids mosh down the front.
Johnny Cashpoint - I like this a lot. I wanted to crunk up the original but it came out somewhere else thanks to a fantastic vocal performance by FS. The crowds aren't sure about the male vocalist, but they can't help getting caught in the groove, I hope. Oh God, am I the Einar of Octofest?
King Arthur - I have heard two versions of this song, yours and Starfinger's, and both are great, in completely different ways, which is a tribute to all of you (including #) - I love the driving drums and the sweet little synths. This lyric is probably my favorite of all # songs I have heard (except maybe Top Drawer)
Glass Eye - Lighters aloft! I love the feel of you live (oo-er) and those backing vocals towards the end are really sweet. Good work and the most # sounding so far if only because of the way it was recorded live!
No Cash Value - Ha! the Dolly and Kenny of Songfight bring the nutpop to the rock stage very nicely! Creepy kids music for freaking out the adults. Nice job! If Barney was a member of #, this would be his signature tune
The Sweetleaves - I heard an acoustic version of this, and that was good, but this is brilliant! Fantastic! the wah guitar is a master touch. This is strangely moving and tender, and the cheering, however cheesy, just adds to it. You clearly brought your fan base Really, really good stuff, boys.
Big Smokes - Is a 'super' group - Sarah Beanz (vocals, percussion), Andy Balham (vocals, guitar), Stevie Windsor (Guitar, backing vocals, percussion) and me (bass, vocals, definitely that way round). We decided to write 4 songs on the spur of the moment, and perform them as live as possible, in the vein of #...
Online Guys - This is my favorite of the four songs that we did - great vocals, lovely guitar solo, fantastic melodic chunky bass playing (ahem) and my vocal appearance right at the end comes too late to ruin it! Octothorpe Park - I wanted to do something very Cashpoint for Octothorpe and here it is. Double pun - Thorpe Park is a big, well-known amusement park in South England, and I was thinking of the Ramones' 'Pallisade Park' when I wrote it. Could do with some wurlitzer in there. Have since discovered C is not my key
Black Suzies - Hahaha! That's great! Mad tribal drumming always goes down well in my book. It would clear out the non-believers, leaving the cool hippies to paint themselves with mud down the front and do spirally dancing ...
Now to trudge through the mud to the other stages ...
Last edited by j$ on Sun Apr 03, 2005 6:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Acoustic Stage, reviewed in a knitted cardigan by Johnny Cashpoint
The Big Smokes - Andy sings this one - this is third take live. The lyric is really funny and #-esque. Recorded around a single mike, I think it came out pretty damn well, actually! I am not sure if I am allowed to divulge its meaning, so I won't - I am playing a mini-guitar very badly but fortunately I am far enough away from the mike for it not to matter! We were quite drunk by this point ....
Deshead - Ah, lovely piano - and your version actually sounds like the original! I love the 'forces at work' descending vocal part. That's tremendous. In fact this is tremendous all the way through. It's fantastically over-the-top! Good work, especially as I twisted your arm to appear I can hear Rufus Wainright doing this, if he was mainly and straight, of course ...
Henrietta & the Hostages - I love the Spanish, flamenco-y feel to it. Is that real brass, or a clarinet, or whatever - it sounds like it, and it's great.. the mad nattery backing vocal is just the right amount of kooky. Good work -where did I put my castinets? I want to shimmy along (and I look good in a red dress!)
Me$$iah - I know, I know, what's it doing on the acoustic stage? Well, Me$$iah was going to do an acoustic set but had a major computer-related calamity - all we could get up in time was the remix of his songfight entry. I like the original song, I can imagine it working very well as an acoustic song , and Me$$iah has been incredibly supportive throughout the whole Octofest set-up so he gets up there. Damn it, with a song this catchy, who can complain?
Niveous - Ha! A very nice love song for Octothorpe? I do like Niveous covers, you always nail them, and the stripped down mood works really well to give it an edge. A suitable closer for the Acoustic Stage. In the perfect world, # would take the stage and add full mad instrumentation for a 20 minute jam, but we can't have everything!
Last edited by j$ on Sun Apr 03, 2005 6:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Electronic / Experimental Stage by Johnny 'Take your fingers out of your ears, philistines!' Cashpoint
Electroclashpoint - I wanted to do something more weird, but the catchiness of the song overtook me. I have never actually heard the original - i programmed it into my sequencer from the sheet music. At some point I must listen and figure out how far from the truth I am!
Redcar - Ah man, that is great - very nightmarish! Poor rock! very Floyd-ish - lovely bass and guitar. Drums are great too! How many ways can I say wow? The creepy vocals and feedback section is mindblowing. How often can I say I enjoyed every second of an 8.30 song? Kudos to you!
XTRG - Trademark stuff, Niv! I love this sonic experimentation stuff you do? What I can make out from Nataly K, is this aimed at the burglars? if so, they should be very very afraid!
Big Smokes - I love this one - the repitition and lead bass, the vocal filters and the mixture of pretty and horrible sounds - maybe not that electronic but certainly experimental, and I think capturing a feel of the Octothorpe. Nice clear mix and some great solo-ing....
Last edited by j$ on Sun Apr 03, 2005 6:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
What you thought I was going to say anything bad about something I organised??? Seriously though, there's not a duff 'un amongst them. personal favourites are The Sweetleaves, Deshead, H&tHs, Redcar and X-TRG, but every one of them does the concept proud, and hopefully Octothorpe too ... good job and thanks to everyone ...
It's you who should be thanked Johnny! Awesome job putting this together! And great job to everyone who contributed...there are some real gems in this festival...reviews to follow in a coupla days.
First of all, on behalf of Octothorpe, I would like to thank each and every person who had anything to do with this very positive outpouring of support. Mad Dog and I have not only loved every minute of it, but have great plans for preserving this effort in a number of ways (more on that later). We have not yet heard from Stubs, but past experience leads us to believe that he is always happy to hear someone (anyone!) other than us singing his words.
I would not call what is to follow "reviews" in the normal sense, although I will pull away from speaking for Octothorpe on these - this is from me. Think of it as thanks for a job well done. I apologize in advance if I missed anyone - this thing is huge!
<B>Johnny Cashpoint - Festival Management</B>
What can I say? Could anything have been better than this? You conceived it, managed it, executed it, and pulled it of on time and on budget, AND acted as host and MC. Can you run our next tour?
<B>15-16 Puzzle - Rot to Fill</B>
This is one of the prettiest songs I have written, IMHO. In fact, it may be the only time I have tried to write a pretty song, since Amy was to sing on it. It is wonderful to hear this in your voice. You have executed it closer to my original vision than did we, while still keeping the manic Octothorpe nature intact. Thank You.
<B>The Half Racks - Zombie Son</B>
One of the few guitar songs we have done, and boy, did you guys bring the guitars! Jeff Williams should be credited for the original music, as he did the guitar and showed me the bass line (whoa - three whole notes over and over), but Mad Dog owned this song on our original. You have taken it from there and re-invested the Mad Dog spirit back into the music itself, and the result is powerful. And Gleen finally got to get "My Favorite Things" in there without someone playing or singing over him! Thank You.
<B>Johnny Cashpoint (with Freudian Slip) - On My Block</B>
Your controlled frantic vocal approach captures the urban spirit we tried to achieve in a fresh way. We have tried time and time again to get people to jam with us on this song in live settings, with varying degrees of sucess. You have provided some new riffs that should prove helpful in this ongoing effort. We may just steal some of that keyboard action for our own live shows. Thank You.
<B>King Arthur - Do the Math</B>
This was done before we had any instruments. The whole thing was pretty much automated casio accompaniment. Your version with an actual arrangement gives us the incentive to go back and have another look at this one. You have reminded us what a fun song this would be to actually perform. For that we thank you. Now if we could just play and sing as well as you... (reproducing the mangled prosody must have taken a few years off your life, though)
<B>No Cash Value - Across the Dusty Plains</B>
Love that you gave the song a context. Ours was based on Mad Dog's personal experience, to some extent, but you guys have pushed it to another level of psychosis. I suppose they did have looney bins in the old west, didn't they? It's got that whole "coming to take me away ha ha he he hoo hoo" feeling. Remind me to buy a slide whistle. Thanks for the madness.
<B>Primitive Screwheads - Glass Eye</B>
Screwheads? Screwballs, I would say. I can't believe that you guys played this live at the L.A. show. What were you thinking? All kidding aside, I am beside myself. This is the first time that I know of that an Octothorpe cover has been played live by anyone anywhere. The way the lead singer drops out near the end and the backup guy picks up the lyric is spot on! Thank you guys, really.
<B>The Sweatleaves - Skyline</B>
Mad Dog says "Who would have figured a laid-back Skyline?". This was the most surprising cover of them all, for that reason. This is gonna stay on my mp3 player for a long time. Every cover of this song seems to move it into a whole new genre, and this one is a gem. You have indeed made us proud that the material has this amount of versatility. Jack - you have added a lot of material into the arrangement that sounds like it might have come from other Octothorpe songs. Is that true, or all my songs that similar, or both? And Leaf, getting a real crowd in the mix was pure genius. Since I have never been to Quadra Island, I have visions of these people crowding the beach around a big bonfire drinking beer while you and the guys play as the sparks and smoke drift out to sea. Thank You.
<B>The Big Smokes - Online Guys</B>
There are so many connections here that we have a hard time figuring out which ones are intentional and which are accidental. We DO think of ourselves as Online Guys. This IS a vitual party, we ARE thick and small. No, wait. OK, you missed a few. Since you have several songs here I will be brief - I understand that your effort was not neccessarily in the style of Octothorpe, but in the spirit. You probably hit that mark a little closer later in the evening after a few more beers!
<B>The Big Smokes - Octothorpe Park</B>
We like to mention ourselves in our songs, too. This reminds me of one of my favorite old Beach Boys recordings, a live version of Palisades Park, and you can't do any better than that. Thank You.
<B>The Black Suzies - Grandfather Sword</B>
Fucking Suzies have out-Octothorped us again! Just goes to show we COULD still record with no instruments. Thanks, assholes, for taking away our excuse. Your participation in this thing has probably made me smile more than any other. Glad to have you guys for friends. I would hate to have you for enemies. Let's do some shows, gentlemen. Don't forget your guitars. We might need to borrow them this time.
<B>Octothorpe - Across the Dusty Plains Video</B>
This one goes out to Malachi Constant. It's been a long haul, but the light is at the end of the tunnel, eh? Can't wait to see more. Thanks, man.
<B>Electroclashpoint - Top Drawer</B>
You are the man, Johnny. What a fun take. This one will make Stubs proud. There are some great lines in here, like the deal with the pennies, and you have brought them to the fore. You are not so far from the truth as you might think you are. Go have a listen. I dare you.
<B>Redcar - The Rock's Nightmare</B>
For those not in the know, let me explain the Rock. Blue was here for Song Fight Wet and Wild in 2003, and the drum set was walking off the 1" high drum riser at the studio. He went out into the woods (or maybe I did) and got this huge rock to put in front of the drumset. The rock has been a mascot of sorts ever since. Not only did we take it to the show that year, but for last year's "Octothorpe and Friends" show in Seattle, Rabid Garfunkle was appointed gaurdian of the rock, carrying it from the studio to the venue. From the photographic evidence, he apparently managed to show it a good time along the way. Finally, when Glenn, Blue, and I played for MC Frontalot at last year's Penny Arcade Expo, we again used my drum set, and the rock came along. In order to make it look a little less stupid sitting up there on the riser, we had it mic'd. Before the curtain went up, Front did a little team-building ritual where we he split us into two groups and had us try to either move the rock to the left or the right. If everyone was properly focused, the rock would not move, and it did not! Later Front told the audience that the rock was not provided by the venue, but that we had (*groan*) "brought the rock!".
The day that I cleaned up the studio after the break-in, moving everying of value remaining, I did not notice the presence of the rock in the studio. I became afraid that the burglars had even taken the rock, and poste that fear on the board. For a few days I fretted that the burglary must have been some sort of inside job, for why else would anyone take the rock, unless they knew its history? Well, all you songfighters are off the hook now, as the rock was found, sitting on top of the pot bellied wood stove in the studio. I really don't know how it got there, I may have put it there myself, I don't recall.
Now, as far as this song goes, it is incredibly moving that anyone would bother to write such an epic number for a lowly rock. Not only is it long (well, it is!), but it is big, as well. It has the presence of, well, a really big rock. This is the music that I would listen to if anyone was making this stuff and putting it on CDs anymore.
<B>x-tokyo-river-gods - Vigilantes</B>
In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that was in the IRC when I first heard this, and told Marcus Kellis that I wasn't sure that I could make it all the way through. He said that I had better, and reminded me how many Octothorpe songs we have made people sit through. That said, I DID make it through, more that once, in fact. Well, I sort of had too. I wanted to figure out what you were saying, since I certainly appreciate the fact that you bothered to participate after such a short songfight history. Your contribution made me remember how broad songfight can be, and despite the bickering and flame wars, how accepting of different approaches and styles. God knows it took us a while to make any headway here. Thanks for the reality check.
<B>The Big Smokes - Slipstream</B>
Now I am starting to see the Octothorpe influence on your session. This sounds like something we might do, if we played different instruments. Well, and if we could sing.
<B>The Big Smokes - The Slender Giant</B>
Now these are as close to Octothorpe lyrics as you can get without Stubs in the house. Can we call you if he is ever too busy? Hint: the Slender Giant needs a name if this was to be genuine Octothorpe. Bob or something. Nice with the extra syllables here and there. That clenches it. Thanks guys. Wish we could have been there.
<B>Deshead - On My Block</B>
It was really fun to hear this on the piano. Do you have the sheet music? We could add to this to our upcoming "unplugged" show. Another take on this material just goes to reinforce our love of it. Thank You for showing us another angle.
<B>Henrietta & the Hostages - Blueberry Hassle</B>
Wow, did I write this? It is amazing what you can do to a song and still have it be the same song. This is another one from which I am going to borrow for live shows, particularly those fluid sax and flute interludes, with your permission. Actually, this is one of my favorite recent songs of ours, and you have made me love it even more. Thanks You.
<B>Me$$iah - Piece of my Hea(r)t</B>
I understand that you had something else in mind, but ran into certain technical problems. I can relate. Seems almost appropriate to the events leading up to this festival. Thanks for choosing a nice song to contribute to the festival. I appreciate your partipation under trying circumstances. I really am going to have to learn to play the guitar one of these days, I suppose.
<B>Niveous - Eternal Flame</B>
Niv, I don't know enough about your intent here to comment fairly. If it's that bad stuff happens to people, well yeah, it does, and I can relate. If you just came to play the festival and show your support, that's cool too. We could use some quality entertainment, and I enjoyed listening to your song. Thanks for being here.
<B>Jack Shite - Photoshop of Mad Dog</B>
Jack got some great shots last time he was in Seattle. This is one of the more "representational" of the bunch. We hope to use one of his more artsy-fartsy shots on a CD back cover one of these days. Don't lose those, Jack. Thanks in advance!
<B>Rabid Garfunkle - Have You Seen This Rock?</B>
You have heard Rabid's story above. This fuzzy shot is from the frenzied night of fun he had with our mascot. He did get her home before curfew.
<B>Bjam - a poem</B>
It's fun how many different ways people found to participate. This little ditty is full of the non-sequitors we love so much. Most of your rhymes are a little too clean for Octothorpe's proclivities, but you make up for it with Spudinator/Computer. Pure Octothorpe. Thanks. Sorry that we probably screwed up your line breaks by contributing the comic so late in the game and pushing you further into the corner.
<B>Octothorpe - Comic</B>
Yeah, we thought that it would be appropriate to give something back to the festival, so we have previewed our upcoming comic book here. Only the cover needs to be completed (we have the requisite GRIT ad for the back cover done) before we will be in your face hawking this puppy. Save your bucks.
<B>Merchandise Tent</B>
Well, start saving them tomorrow. Today, go and buy a shirt or a CD!
<B>Info Booth</B>
HAHAHA. Got a few laughs here. Even we don't think we are a good band. In fact, we aren't a band at all. We are an act. But thanks for putting it in writing. We can use it in our press kit.
Regarding permanence, I hope that everyone will agree to let us reproduce the festival on our website for the longer term. We will host the songs there, too, if there are no objections. Further, we would love to make OctoFest '05 into a CD. Let us know if we can get source .WAV for this project, should you wish to participate.
<B>Toilets</B>
Not working, as promised. Good thing there was no beer garden.
<B>Bortwein - Logo Banner</B>
Nicely done, as always, Bort. Wondering if you would be interested in working with us on the artwork for the above-mentioned CD?
Spud wrote:Regarding permanence, I hope that everyone will agree to let us reproduce the festival on our website for the longer term. We will host the songs there, too, if there are no objections. Further, we would love to make OctoFest '05 into a CD. Let us know if we can get source .WAV for this project, should you wish to participate.
You have my permission to take any or all of my crappy html and reproduce it on your site! I can probably get you all the source material, if that is quicker than right click 'n' saving ....
As for the CD, that would be cool - again you have my permission to use or not use any of my musik outpourings as you will. I assume Freudian Slip and the rest of the Big Smokes feel the same - where do you want those WAV files uploaded?
Oh, and I heard Top Drawer at last! Not so far off the mark, after all
Spud wrote:
<B>King Arthur - Do the Math</B>
(reproducing the mangled prosody must have taken a few years off your life, though)
Actually, I took it upon myself to repair most of the mangled prosody, deliberately singing it so the words sorta matched up with the rhythms. Mangled prosody is, in general, one of my pet peeves with songs, so once I'd figured out roughly where the melody was supposed to go, I just stopped listening to your version...
You're certainly welcome to make whatever use you want of this, and if you'd like the original .wav file (or a higher quality .mp3), pm me and we can work out a way to get it to you.
Charles
"...one does not write in dactylic hexameter purely by accident..." - poetic designs
Spud wrote:
<B>x-tokyo-river-gods - Vigilantes</B>
In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that was in the IRC when I first heard this, and told Marcus Kellis that I wasn't sure that I could make it all the way through. He said that I had better, and reminded me how many Octothorpe songs we have made people sit through. That said, I DID make it through, more that once, in fact. Well, I sort of had too. I wanted to figure out what you were saying, since I certainly appreciate the fact that you bothered to participate after such a short songfight history. Your contribution made me remember how broad songfight can be, and despite the bickering and flame wars, how accepting of different approaches and styles. God knows it took us a while to make any headway here. Thanks for the reality check.
<B>Niveous - Eternal Flame</B>
Niv, I don't know enough about your intent here to comment fairly. If it's that bad stuff happens to people, well yeah, it does, and I can relate. If you just came to play the festival and show your support, that's cool too. We could use some quality entertainment, and I enjoyed listening to your song. Thanks for being here.
lmao. OK. First off, Eternal Flame (the reason why I'm laughing). I love doing covers as most people know. Eternal Flame is one I do all the time and I figured it was a perfect raise your lighters festival tune so I included it. In hindsight, I wish I would've done "That's Not What I Need" or some other Octocover but oh well there's always Hxaro. As for my x-tokyo tune (which I see you did not realize was me), it's another of my sonic experimentations and one of the few that include me playing guitar on it. Here's the lyrics to Vigilantes:
Times like these make me lose hope
Why do the good ones always get hurt
Someone needs to call vigilantes
Someone needs to pay for hurting you
These hours are full of darkness
The madness that comes from crying
Someone needs to call vigilantes
Someone needs to pay for hurting you
Someone needs to call vigilantes
Someone needs to pay for hurting you
In the future I'd like to redo the tune with an actual vocalist. Well, I hope the band enjoyed.
Wow. Thanks for the explanation, Niv. No, I just can't keep up with the board anymore, with teaching and working. I had no idea that you were x-t-r-g. Shame on you for fooling me. Anyway, yeah, I got the lighter-lifting thing. It is a great song. Happy to have you on stage, and thanks again.
