The Comedy Life of Brian

The Boston Globe covers IB's upcoming move. Is it February 15th yet?

Labels: comedy

Do I have the balls to post my '07 best of music list almost a month into '08? Hell yeah.

10.) Arcade Fire - Neon Bible - Look past the hype. This is a really good record. A stronger album than Funeral, but missing the shock that album had because everyone expected a knockout record here. This album is very visual to me. I see the story when I hear these songs and it evolves each time I listen to the record. Thanks to the last Wasteland Comedy Hour show 'No Cars Go' now has extra meaning to and runs the risk of getting me teary eyed every time. My one gripe - I feel like this band still hasn't hit their full potential and hasn't figured out how to capture their live show on record. When they do, we're really going to get our minds blown.

9.) LCD Soundsystem - The Sound of Silver - Kind of an easy pick as well, but this album is undeniably great. It isn't just some throwaway dance bullshit - this record has a soul and a bunch of songs that mean something. Not that you will notice that right away as you dance in your living room. Great use of live instrumentation. Only thing that hurts this record is a couple of skippable tracks. Highlights like 'All My Friends' more than make up for that though.

8.) Smoke or Fire - This Sinking Ship - Someone has to make a fucking awesome punk record, right? This year it was Smoke or Fire who follow up the solid 'Above the City' with a record that tops it in every way. Fun to listen to all the way through with some songs that flat out burn. If you still have a soft spot for late 90s pop punk or skate punk but hate most of today's 'punk' bands, you will probably dig this record.

7.) Maritime - Heresy and the Hotel Choir - 'We the Vehicles' was a great album - full of indie rock you can dance to by one of my all time favorite songwriters. This isn't that album, and at first that was a huge disappointment to me. What a grower this one was though. It has a bit more of a rock edge than past Maritime records, but it manages to cover all of the bases for this band. It calls back to some of the best eras of The Promise Ring, hits all of the things that makes Maritime a great band on their own, and also lays the groundwork for future expansion. Added bonus - this record got me to listen to 'Glass Floor', the first Maritime record which is actually a damn fine record in its own right.

6.) Motion City Soundtrack - Even if it Kills Me - First guilty pleasure on the list. These guys have been on a decline since their debut album, but even knowing that, their records are still undeniably catchy, sugary and fun. The record is produced partly by the duo of Adam Schlesinger and Eli Janney and partly by Rick Ocasek. Typically this would be the kiss of death, but not here for some reason. Great pop-punk stuff with some keys and moog mixed in. They should have canned the piano ballad though. This will be a great record to dust off again in the spring.

5.) Jimmy Eat World - I feel like I shouldn't like this band anymore. But I do. Boy do I ever. After the slight disappointment that was 'Futures' Jimmy Eat World bounces back with another really great highly polished pop record. Catchy as all hell - this one is a guilty pleasure that I still can't put down. Try to deny the sing along chorus in 'Electable (Give it Up)' or the first single 'Big Casino' (JEW always has a killer lead single).

4.) Weakerthans - Reunion Tour - If I was calling the shots, this wouldn't have been the record that the Weakerthans made to follow 'Reconstruction Site' - which was easily one of the most perfect records of all time. They pulled back the rock here, stopped worrying about being catchy, and didn't worry about all that concept album nonsense. Thats what it seemed like on the first few listens anyway. Then you realize that Reunion Tour is an extremely confident record with some of the best songs that the band has ever written. Added bonus - 'Virtue the Cat Explains Her Departure' is one of my favorite songs of all time. And John K. Sampson is still the greatest lyricist in rock right now. So there.

3.) Minus the Bear - Planet of Ice - Wow. A huge step forward for this band. The bands last record 'Menos El Oso' is possibly in my top 10 of all time, mainly because it is such a perfect easy listen (for me anyway). This on the other hand is a very different record. Challenging at times, well varied, more powerful, and more technical. 'Knights' is one of the catchiest, most danceable songs this band has ever created. After this record there really is no telling where this Minus The Bear will go next and I can't wait to find out.

2.) Interpol - Our Love to Admire - This album just clicked for me during a specific moment of my life this year when I was writing for 'Doc Severinsen and the Short Range Time Machine' and 'The Wasteland Comedy Hour'. I'd put it on every time I started writing and often listen to it on repeat. Without a doubt I have listened to this album more than any other in 2007. It is almost difficult to put into words why I like it so much - it is extremely well sequenced and the songs really fit well for me as an album but it still has some of the best standalone tracks of the year. It is also a more polished, poppy version of Interpol which just goes down easy.

1.) Radiohead - In Rainbows - Yeah. This is kind of a safe, easy pick but it really is my favorite album of the year. The whole download thing is an important event by itself, but this is the first Radiohead album I truly -loved- since 'OK Computer'. I could listen to this record endlessly. I think looking back in 10 years this will be one another record that I can associate with this time in my life (I remember listening to it before heading out to my wedding rehearsal) and it will also be a record that will be an important part of music history.

Honorable Mentions:
* Against Me - New Wave - Great ballsy major label bow. Just a little off balance as an album.
* Ted Leo - Living With The Living - Leo is back on track with this one.
* Chuck Ragan - Los Feliz - Great live record catching a moment in time.
* Dan Deacon - Spiderman of the Rings - Some really fun songs on here.
* New Pornos - Challengers - Their best album yet and the first that I really like.
* Gaslight Anthem - Sink or Swim - another great punk album. A little to derivative to make the top of the list.
* Big d and the Kids Table - Great Boston Ska and Dub
* The Shins - Wincing The Night Away - Their best album.
* Tim Armstrong - A Poet's Life - Shitty lyrics aside, this is a really enjoyable dub/rocksteady disc stripped of all of the expectations that a Rancid disc carries.

Need to listen to more:
* Les Savy Fav - Lets Stay Friends - I think I really like this record, just haven't been able to hear it enough yet.

At Work Music of the Year
* Pinback - Autumn of the Seraphs - Great background music.

Music DVD:
* Thursday - Kill The Houselights - Inspiring. Why are all the great bands from Jersey?

Best Import I Don't Yet Have:
* The Rumble Strips - Girls and Weather - Release the full length in the US! I've already worn out the US EP!

Disappointments:
* Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City - Falls apart after a strong first half. Don't be so serious dudes.
* Say Anything - In Defense of the Genre - Bloated double disc missing everything that made Max Bemis' first record great. Bring back the Gang Vocals!
* Rilo Kiley - This is fun, just not a great record.
* Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Some Loud Thunder - They didn't make use of Dave Friedman's production - thats a crime. This band just needs to have more fun.
* White Stripes - Icky Thump - I think I may have grown out of this band. This record does nothing for me.
* Wilco - Sky Blue Sky. Pitchfork nailed it. This is dad rock. Thats fine since Tweedy is a dad, but I don't want to hear it. Give me noise!

Bands I Think I Should Look Into This Year:
* Tegan And Sarah
* Attack in Black
* Iron and Wine
* The National

I love music. Can't wait to hear another hundred or so albums in '08.

Labels: Music

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Labels: audio

From The Onion.

Labels: video games

Hey look, Neil wrote something!

Labels: writing

ImprovBoston is moving and the move is generating quite a bit of excitement. Ray's blog post on the topic captures it pretty well.

I'm going to try to check in with some more thoughts of my own this weekend.

Labels: comedy

I suppose if I didn't write about this, I'd have no right to continue having a blog.

This past Sunday was the The 'Complete History of ImprovBoston, Abridged' show. It was a wonderful review of IB history from way back in IBs 25 year history all the way up to IB's most recent showcase show. By some stroke of luck (translation - Eric Mill) 'Uniprov' the Unicycle improv show I worked on this summer with Eric Mill, Manny Hernandez and Pete Fenzel was to have a 3 minute surprise slot.

So after a long day of workshops, rehearsals, and unicycle riding that started at noon, I slipped in the theater a little bit after the start of the 9 PM show. After watching some of the excellent show, the four of us caught up downstairs and thought through our appearance. It was kind of formal and conversational, but we came to the conclusion that we'd storm the stage during our slot as if we were literally taking over the show. We'd explain that we were going to perform for the rest of the night, get a suggestion from the audience, and start improvising. As the 3 minutes went on, the plan was that someone was going to fake an injury. That person would most likely be Pete Fenzel. Then some people would attend to his fake injury and others would instead try to keep the show going and play through it. This would reach the conclusion of either a uniprov 'breakup' or an awkward ending.

We all should have went out and bought lottery tickets.

So our time comes to enter the stage. We come out with huge energy (maybe too big) and the crowd is on our side faster than any of the past uniprov experiences. We did about a scene and a quarter and then shit got out of control.

From my perspective I turned around and saw that Eric had fallen off his unicycle and was on the ground along the back wall. The air was clearly taken out of the room. I assumed that Eric decided to be the one who faked the injury, so according to plan I awkwardly tried to power on with the show. While onstage I started to question things though. I saw Eric's girlfriend MB onstage which clearly wasn't part of the plan. But then Eric came to and was saying things that only the stereotype of a man who knocked him out would say - 'where am I', 'I don't remember anything'. Next MB said 'If this is a joke I'm going to fucking kill you guys' - that made me question reality again. Keep in mind that while all this is going on I'm still trying to improvise on a Unicycle.

Then I came to the realization that it was real. MB and someone else (Manny possibly) picked Eric up to take him offstage. Below Eric on the ground were sizable puddles of blood. At that point I basically went into shock. I think we 'finished' the slot. The show went on after us, and the audience was seriously spooked. I wandered downstairs absolutely shocked. All I could think of was the fact that while my friend Eric was pretty seriously hurt I was trying to keep a show going, improvising about cupcakes. Sure, it wasn't my fault that I was in that position, but I felt horrible.

Most of the time following I was just wandering around with no idea what was going on or what to do. I recall flashes of clarity though. I checked to see if they had called an ambulance for Eric. They did. I found out what was going on with the Neutrino set that was supposed to follow (who cares - is Eric OK?). As the ambulance pulled away I caught up with Manny outside. He said that he was heading over to the hospital. I was embarrassed, amongst the insanity I hadn't even thought of that. We let Pete know and we all headed over to the hospital.

The hospital was really strange. I hate them to begin with. Thankfully Eric was OK. No concussion. All the doctors were confident that he didn't need a cat scan. After a couple of hours at the hospital we headed out and I took everyone home. We saw Jason Haas on the way home and were able to give him the scoop that Eric was OK. I got back around 3 AM Monday morning and sent some emails before going to bed to tie up some loose ends.

So I don't think we will ever improvise on Unicycles again, helmet or no. I'd like to keep riding for pleasure though - I realized at I'm still pretty good at it and I really enjoy it. It is really strange to thing that after hearing all through this project how dangerous what we were doing was (and ignoring it) that everyone was right . I wish it just didn't take a head trauma for us to realize that.

The other noteworthy thing was how much this reinforced how much I care about the uniprov guys and the IB community in general. The whole night was a really fucked up bonding experience for Me, Eric, Pete, Manny and MB. I was reminded of the fact that these guys are really great friends of mine who I care about a great deal. And IB in general was very supportive - amazing understanding when the incident happened, and extremely caring afterward.

I'm a lucky guy. I should be safer and protect my damn head so I can enjoy it.

Labels: comedy, head trauma

Rachel Rosenthal snapped a cool picture of me hanging out and watching the 'History of IB' show last night. It took place before things got a little crazy - I need to write about that...

Labels: comedy

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No one launches products like Apple - and boy do I ever love following along. Technically I don't even know if it really exists, but I already want a MacBook Air.

Labels: technology

Either that TV is massive, or that woman is Rick Moranis tiny. Either way, I like it.

Labels: technology

Speaking of my birthday, this morning brought the following birthday greeting from the ever awesome Will Luera to one of the IB email lists:

"What doesn’t the man do? Seriously, he gets married while still committed to at least three shows. He does improv on unicycles. He records his farts at 3:30am for our amusement. The man is a monster.

Happy Birthday Brian Perry!"

Don't get me wrong, it was very nice, but it also made me think for a minute. From my eyes, the above statement gets me an odd mix of flattered and scared.

That's too much thinking for my birthday though. I got a lot of warm wishes from great people today and it makes me very very happy.

OK - Now I'm playing Mario Galaxy for real.

Labels: comedy, personal

My good friends Greg and Christine DeSantis (I originally wrote my good friend Greg DeSantis and his wife, but corrected myself since I would have looked like a dick) are launching the new web project 'One Whole Year'. Their quest is to live one whole year eating only foods that they make for themselves. Nothing prepackaged. Nothing processed. Nothing made by others.

I support the project, but I'm a bit surprised that Greg is doing it. I tend to associate the guy with eating big bags of chips and such all day long. In fact he was over my house about a week ago and we ate Pizza from Sweet Tomatoes (awesome!) and Newman-O's (also surprisingly awesome). A far cry from what he is taking on now.

I think the project will be a great success though. Greg has a history of putting himeself through extremely entertaining challenges - in fact in another life I participated in a few with him.

I find the whole deal inspiring to be quite honest. It makes me want to dive into some of the things that I'm scheming about for 2008. None of them will be that noble though - that's not the way I roll. That will all have to wait though since it is my birthday and I'm 39 stars into Mario Galaxy.

Labels: friends, links

If you can get past the intro this is pretty fun to watch.

Embed code is broken for some reason, so here is a link:

http://www.mi145.com/index.html?episode=779

Labels: Music