Perfect Pussy Announce Vancouver Show

Riotous Syracuse punks Perfect Pussy have announced a 36-date tour. It begins tomorrow and includes a stop in Vancouver on March 25. Unfortunately, they'll be playing a conventional venue rather than a house or art space (not that either are inherently better; Perfect Pussy are just suited to DIY).

Stream Perfect Pussy's debut cassette EP I have lost all desire for feeling below:

Love Cuts: A Mantra

How to get through a day with three simple words: "Hi Smile Wave"

 

Stacked. Stoked: Village, Fantasy Prom (EP Release), OK Vancouver OK, and Philoceraptor at Astorino’s, Feb. 19

 

This is looking like the most stacked show of the year so far, besides tonight's Courtneys/So Pitted/Woolworm/Peace show. It's TWO DOLLARS, AND it's Fantasy Prom's EP release. Gonna be a rip, right.

Further details at the event's Facebook page.

FREE DOWNLOADS: Imaginary Pants Demo Cassette and 7" (Both Self-Titled)

Photo credit: Steve Louie

Imaginary Pants are an indie pop duo that includes Rose Melberg, originally of K Records signees Tiger Trap (amongst other bands). She plays/has played in a lot of bands since relocating from Sacramento to Vancouver several years ago, but Imaginary Pants are probably my favourite.

Oh, and check this Masahiro Takahashi 7" pre-release show that Imaginary Pants, Half Chinese, and one of my most beloved Vancouver bands, Love Cuts (pop with a scrappy punkster edge), are part of. All ages! Pay what you can! Early show! Astorino's! Always a cool time!

"I Urged Everyone To Watch the Last Known Footage of Grammy, ..."

"... at which Uncle Carl waved me away, suggesting it wasn't the time. That was it: she was gone."

 - Nathaniel G. Moore, Savage 1986-2011 (Anvil Press, 2013)

Introducing "Record Lows"

For months, I'd considered archiving Andre Sider af Jackson A. Ragg III and starting a new blog because of technical issues. I've since sorted those issues, but I still wanted to give this blog a minor facelift, and the onset of a new year felt like an appropriate time to do so.

I renamed this blog mainly because I grew tired of not having known how to pronounce "Andre Sider af", especially when people asked me my blog's name. I also grew tired of explaining the title: "I don't know how to pronounce it, but it means 'Other Sides of' in Dutch. It's from a Sonic Youth album, and 'Jackson A. Ragg III' is an online name I use."

I've chosen "Record Lows" because of the polar ways the term can be interpreted. My gut reaction, which I'm sure most people share, is to interpret "record lows" negatively: "record low sales." But the term can be positive too: "record low murder rates." I'm also fond of the term's potential to distract - even deter - readers from the blog's content. If they can't (won't) read the title critically, they likely can't (won't) read the blog critically either; they'll likely be unreceptive of most of the art I share. Such readers are not my ideal audience.

Initially, "Other Sides of Jackson A. Ragg III" made sense: With music as my main subject, I talked in ways many people probably didn't know I could. But after four years, which sometimes felt like a milestone, I'd largely outgrown the title: My "other sides" had long been in the open; I don't even use pseudonyms anymore. My blog needed a title that held more current personal meaning. My 2013 was perforated by personal "record lows," but they were filled by and overflowed with professional "record highs," some of my proudest - and often least expected - experiences, opportunities, and accomplishments, hence the polar word "record."

I don't have plans to update Record Lows' layout, diversify or streamline its content, or post more frequently, but that could all change at any time.

Thanks for reading, listening, commenting, "Like"ing, etc.

The Courtneys: Reminders

I need a job, I need a life
Got a debt, and it's causin' strife
Got a number in my wallet
I've nothing else, so I guess I'll call it

I remember when my life was like this first verse from the Courtneys' "Insufficient Funds". Conditions: just left home for the first time; untouched mountain of student loans, Olympus Mons, followed me to the complete opposite side of the country; the only prospect a cousin's cousin's e-mail: art gallery manager; starving industry; nothing to lose but nearly just as much to gain. The most exhilarating period of my life.

Thanks for the reminder every time.