WAIT A SECOND

we've been back in america for months! go to the new blog!

www.michaeljordan.tumblr.com

Sono Negli Stati Uniti

Yo everybody, it's good to be back and see all the boys and have all kinds of East Coast USA fun. Even the NY Times knows what a good time I've been having.

New MJ songs SHREDDDDDDDDDD. Our 7-10 fans should be real psyched, we are.

Love to everybody, and a safe flight to James Hodges and the rest of our Berlin squadron.

updates!

- at the crack of june michael jordan will be back in action. definitely trying to play out by mid-june, please contact us about any shows, pool parties, and/or grill-oriented activities.

- i got arrested. yep. i have to go to court a week from tomorrow. for what did i get thrown in jail, you might ask? none other than that magical green plant that has made bands like boris and electric wizard so good for so long. hopefully this explains my absence from supporting my friends in bands in the nyc area. i will be back... hopefully soon?

- r.i.p. tin kitchen -- for the sake of blurb -- i got the pleasure of seeing tin kitchen play in new brunswick on a few different occasions. even after gaining a very respectable new jersey following the performances always seemed to surprise the audience. how a melody and ambiance driven 2nd-wave-emo-influenced group got so many people moving still blows my mind but there was a certain punk ethos even behind it. while the central motif of riot grrl music focused on experimentation through emphasizing the "ugly", tin kitchen managed to create the same freedom through objectively pretty and minimalist means; using sonic repetition of simple melodies to create a wide foreground for hidden energies - like classically punk drumming and subtle guitar arpeggios - to bring out a very much gorilla energy. the members were also some of sweetest gals around, they had an attitude so ingrained in positivity for the local scene that they could make any band feel like a bunch of celebrities. they will be missed by everyone.

- Indiana Jones was ridiculous. Decide for yourself what kind of ridiculousness I mean.

- joe is having a really intriguing concept of a show this coming saturday. if i can, i will totally be there. go and support him as he has an all-star line-up of bands play on subways, on beaches and weird amphitheatres. details at www.sleepwhendeadnyc.com

oh what huh?

Acid Mothers Temple

acid mother's temple in berlin from James Hodges on Vimeo.

i went and saw acid mother's temple last night. i know you can't see anything much in the vid but you can HEAR it. Just understand that what you're hearing is one man on a guitar, nothing more.

and my reward for anyone who happens to inform me about a sublet for the summer has escalated to full on HUGS. I miss you guys.

riot riot upstart

check out this video from may day that i took, i'm gonna miss living in a place where squatting and riots are just a part of public life:


may day berlin 2008 from James Hodges on Vimeo.

in other news, i'm looking for a place to live this summer! i crash land in the metropolitan jungle may 30 and I need a place to stay for the summer. anybody got a room mate leaving for the summer? if so, and rent is doable, i would be forever ingratiated. i would shower you with positive energy.

hit me up on jamesdoesthings -at- gmail dot com

stay up!

Bro Age

Our buddies in Fiasco are playing at Bowery tonight with No Age.

The best part about Fiasco is Julian.  The best part about Julian is that he goes to this school.  The best part about the school he goes to is that HE DOESN'T HAVE TO SHOW UP so he is ALWAYS AROUND NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO.

Viva the return of MJ to USA.

peep Mike Sheff in the video.

Hey guys, remember this place?

Slasher Risk @ DBA

Can I get a woo-woo for ten minute sets?

This band was awesome when we played with them at Silent Barn, still awesome now, and still really nice and friendly.  

In another thought, I really want to hate on lolcatz but they are so damn cute...

Damn, what happened to the summertime cookouts?

Okay, so is this crazy for me to want?

A $250 portable gas powered generator?

I mean, it could be an investment: think about a whole summer's worth of outside BBQ shows in remote places (or parts of parks far away from houses?  or that turf soccer field by the train tracks?).  We could play with all of our friends and not worry exactly about having a "space" to throw some shows.

What about overpasses, or the Watchung Reservation?

Any thoughts?  Feedback?  Is this a good idea, or some silly juvenile wishful thinking?

-Alex.

i don't care that you and i have finals

last 9 days in europe. let's get drunk.

For Those of You Still in Gotham

Something worth checking out:


Max Ryazansky put on a lot of the first hardcore shows I ever went to. Since then he has done a lot of really sick and interesting photography work having to do with punk rock and eccentric Americans. Check it out:


He will have some work up at the show posted above, so check it out and support a solid dude doing solid things. You can see a lot of his photos via the link below.

Maxim's Site

zechland

mike crow and i made it out to prague this weekend where i ambushed mike sheffield and our assorted extended family members in town. they were all mad nice (thanks guys) and showed us what's up in prague. turns out there's a lot of shifty living to go along with the pretty bridges and shit.

i already posted this video on my tumblr but until i recharge the batteries in my camera this is all i've got. peep it:


cross club, prague from James Hodges on Vimeo.

big ups to layla, brad, lynn, sophie, beth etc etc

Jersey

Word is this graffiti is at the exit for Newark/Jersey City off 280.

Right that's:
JAGERBOMBS!! fuckin jagerbombs chief
Incredible.

As soon as my friend uploads the photos and video I'll kick y'all some words on an Italian hip hop show.

Love,
KM

Some Nostalgia

So, I was hanging out on the internet the other day, when good friend David Hauptman made a joke about Boston Beatdown.  So I promptly went on youtube and found someone who posted the entire 40 minute FSU love/beat-fest.

thanks xseektruthx!  My favorite part is when one of the FSU guys is talking about how if Ian Mackaye saw a kid drinking a beer at an all ages show, he might shoot him a dirty look.  in boston?  kid'll get the shit kicked out of him, and his back broken on the t-stop at commonwealth ave, and stabbed in kenmore square.

I ran into cohort Ian-Bert today in the Steinhardt computer lab -- first time we'd seen each other since like before Spring Break, it was rad.

JAMES: SICK VIDEO.

KYLE: SICK BEARD

MIKE: SICK MP3.

Nothing new except Joepaper and I went to the foundation center to continue looking for some showpaper funding.

Party on dudes.

to the guys from skidmore who shannon says read this:

wuddup?

-alex

we aresterdam

i know i know, i said i was going to post videos from spain and morocco ages ago. i just have way too much footage, and my stomach turns like i have to poop every time i look at it. its coming though. maybe someone cares.

but in more recent and less stomach-virus related news, a few of us went to amsterdam this weekend. a lot of a'dam is mickey mouse tourist hell, but we caught a protest put on by some hippy punx for autonomous spaces. and we investigated those 'coffee shops' a little bit.


mj23 at amsterdam squatter demo from James Hodges on Vimeo.

for more info on squatters in amsterdam check out www.spaceinvaders.cryptodrunks.net

sometimes i post mp3s

i was bored.



smothered in hugs (guided by voices cover)

back in the first world

hello all. i just returned from my voyage through spain and morocco. it was rad, but right now we're all wiped out by african stomach parasites. once i've recovered i reckon i'll have some videos to share with you.

jared got shot in the face with pepper spray by a preteen soccer hooligan in valencia!

stay tuned.

Addendum to the post below

I didn't post any fun stuff in the spring break post so let me make that up to you.

Here's a video from one of my favorite shows in recent memory, one of my favorite showspaces, and one of my favorite current punk bands. They're breaking up this spring, and they were one of those bands I got into when I was young, saw a ton of times, and got every record. Marshalltown, Iowa boys, though they could have called New Jersey their second home.
Modern Life is War at 538 Johnson playing First and Ellen.


Mike Sheffield and I's legendary joke band, NAUGHTY is back on myspace.


Check it out if you like riding motorcycles upside down and hair metal. Violate Me is my personal favorite.

NAUGHTY

And now some things I miss from America.

Reporting in!

What up team. Let's recap spring break.
To answer Alex's question, some of us did meet up. I hopped an overnight train to Berlin and teamed up with the likes of one James Hodges and our beloved friends Mike Crowley and Laura. Berlin was awesome. It's covered in graffiti and wacky murals. It's unlike any other city I've visited, I almost felt like it was something someone invented for a movie or something. We cooked a lot of food and explored and drank beer. We also went to a haunted house in what used to be a Nazi bunker. Once inside the haunted house, there's a guy there whose job it is to follow you through the corridors and scare you periodically. He did a really good job, and loved picking on James.

After about 6 days in Berlin, I saddled up my horse and moved on.

The next 5 days were spent among friends in Paris, the city of lights. We ate a lot of good food, attended some super Euro dance clubs, stayed up late, and celebrated by 20th birthday. I also saw Versailles with Mary and her whole family which was fun. On my first night there we went out to this bar to meet some people we know and it was a good time, when that bar closed some French guys made friends with us and took us to their favorite spot and started buying us free drinks, an unexpected birthday gift. Anyway, we left there real late, and when we came out, everybody was crowding the platform to hop the late night bus home. These 5 dudes were standing with their arms around eachother, one of them asked us for cigarettes but none of us had any, so he walked away back to his squad. Upon putting his arms around them again, however, one of his friends cracked him in the face which put him flat on his back, unconscious from his head hitting the sidewalk. The 4 dudes then took turns beating on his face. The first guy held him by the hair and punched him repeatedly. The next guy kicked him in the face a few times. The last guy was on crutches and smashed one of them across his face. All while this dude was unconcious on the ground. They took off and somebody called the cops, we got on the bus and got the hell out. So that was TOTALLY insane.

All in all, killer spring break.
Much love to everybody, what's new with you?

More like... Sprung Break.

Yo dudes, what up.

I just got back on friday from my spring break trip to New Orleans to do some work.

It was a pretty fun trip, met some weird girls from sarah lawrence, some normal people from columbia, and some trashy people from the French Quarter.

It was pretty nuts... the group we were supposed to be working for no longer exists in Louisiana, as we found out the day we flew in, after driving six hours trying to find a building that is now boarded up and abandoned.  We did, however, find another place to stay, make food, shower, etc.

My buddy Jason and I primarily worked with some really nice people from Tennessee, which was rad.  We had a dance party with some old ladies.  I ate a lot of fried chicken and jambalaya, upped my stats in strength and dexterity so I could use the nail gun while roofing, and did some sightseeing around the levees and the 9th ward, talking to some of the people still living there.

And yes, people are generally nicer down south, and yes, there was a large amount of people missing their teeth.

Want to hear about your spring breaks: did you all wind up meeting up at some point? 20 story beer bongs?

p.s. i think i am going to be rick astley for halloween next year.

spank it

last night i probably saw the best concert i've seen in prague so far. jessie evans from the vanishing with toby dammit from SWANS playing drums. it was at a venue called skutecnost which is an art gallery and bar below some hostel though it felt much more like a big wine cellar.




this guy named ventolin from east czech republic opened. aside from looking exactly like dwight from the american version of the office, he played sick beats and sang and shit. comparisons are stupid but fuck, it reminded a lot of dan deacon.

holler back,
mike

stop snitchin

this weekend, i did things that would probably give my parents a heart attack.
this video has pretty much been my mantra.




lots of love,
michael

Sometimes I feel like this is my Xanga...

...Just kidding.  I never had a Xanga.  Or a Live Journal.  Actually, I remember a girl from my school who had a live journal, and her parents found out, and made her delete it because they thought it was so dumb.

so she started another one and wrote about that.

aaaanyway, i saw this on the interweb.  maybe you guys have seen it?  maybe i am late on this one?  whatever, i thought some of the stuff was super funny...

like this:

keep rocking.

suckers.

who else misses new jersey? (part one)

expect more soonly, both more homesickness as well as updates from berlin and my upcoming journey through spain and morrocco. viva!

Busy Bee

Yo internet.  Yo MJ.

i've really dropped the ball on this whole internet blog thing.

my bad.

i've been super busy though!  i started a non-profit with some kids in music business... we just got a grant and are applying for another one, and are in the running for a 10 thousand dollar grant for winning a business plan competition.

it is pretty exciting.

i went back home and played some jazz music at mr. t's surprise anniversary party.

no, not that mr t.

yeah, tutoriello, the band teacher.

uhmmm you can check out that whole non-profit thing i guess, www.voiceofreasonrecords.com.

we pretty much right now are just doing benefit cd's/concerts to fundraise and help promote other good causes... eventually we want to go on high-school/college/community tours, show kids how to put on a benefit concert, show them the benefits of musical activism, blahblahblah.

hope all is well.

-alex.

i still use this thing?

yes, i do. at 4:42 am prague time in fact.



this weekend i went to an event called the sperm festival. an act called burbuja played cool avant garde music while a cat-ram and a chicken-elk became aware and frightened of the concept of time by a man with a giant clock for a head. symbolism, anyone? i'm thinking the cat-ram is like god and the chicken-elf is like the devil. time is michael jordan and the man wearing the giant clock for a head? obama.

i made some new dogboy songs. (dogboy being a name i've been making poppy noise songs under) it might not be your thing.




ahoy,
mike

Quick Updates

Up'd the punx last night at the CPA and saw some Italian Oi and street punk bands. Hung out with some punks from Pisa, they told me they'd check out MJ. Lots of skinheads in attendance. Fun times.

Rode my bike into the italian countryside today, chilled and had a beer in a little town 6 km or so outside of florence.

Exams tomorrow. OOF.

cant wait for the mashups...

I'm about to leave and go see EARTH.

But I had to post this first.

Back on the Attack

Updates:
My bike was stolen. R.I.P. my blue "limited" mountain bike, my best friend in Florence. I hardly knew ye.

I saw Venice and Rome. Venice was really cool. Everything was like mind shatteringly beautiful, like something out of a Final Fantasy on super nintendo. Kind of like this:

Rome was also super cool, everything there was epic and terrifying. Once again I will not have pictures until returning to gli stati uniti.

I went to some clubs the other night. That was funny. One of them was all ages and had tons of Italian high school kids.
I also went to where George Clooney lives, Lake Como. It was really pretty but probably would have been more fun if I were like 50.
Pretty soon there are some shows at the socialist squat, hopefully those will be cool. I'm playing a lot of guitar.

Here's one of my favorite Italy-related movie scenes.


That's all for now kids. Miss you a bunch. Peace and love.
KM

japanther

japanther at west germany, berlin from James Hodges on Vimeo.

japanther played on my (temporary, new) home turf last night. kreuzberg is like the hood section of berlin, which means there is a gun shop that sells AK's nearby. I will get pictures soon. until then, this video.

i think the dudes were psyched to see a bunch of new york kids at the show. also, i talked to ian for a minute after the show and he is probably the first person ive ever heard say "i love ocean county new jersey". i dont know what to make of it.

SOMEONE IS WATCHING! (keep it coming)

i wish i was sky masterson.

ps i miss all of you

berlin is nice

i've been in berlin for a week and a half now, the novelty's slightly worn off and i can finally sit down and get my hands dirty in the internet again.

so now get ready because i'm gonna have lots of digital knick knacks to share. first up is this video from a show we peeped last weekend. the band was nervous kid from bologna. maybe you would compare them to lightning bolt. or hella. and no one would blame you. and that's only a bad thing if you've got a serious chip on your shoulder.


nervous kid at scherer8 from James Hodges on Vimeo.

It was at Scherer8, a 'house-project' in an outer district. it used to be a squat but now they have a contract with the government. its still tenuous though and mostly it reminds me of silent barn.

News From The Home Front

<===hanging out with marx and engels

<===for the boys on the east block

I got a job at a coffeeshop.  It's been hell, but there's free coffee and envelopes of cash involved.

You guys left one hell of a mess back here in the states.  Nobody's fault, really, a collective effort; a conundrum created on behalf of all citizens.  

Television has come back into my life and has begun to fascinate me in the most terrible way possible.  

New TV Friends:

DR. PHIL - What a fucking whacko.  This dude is a calculated genius...he used to be an expert witness, one of those guys that testifies and "dumbs down" the litigation for the lay(wo)men on the jury to understand.  I'm also fairly certain the sinister psychologist is using some previously-unknown method of mind-control on Oprah Winfrey, but his goals are unclear as he has not articulated any demands yet.

MR. ROGERS - I was pretty much raised by this guy, so it's very touching to catch an occasional visit from the make-believing cardigan king.  Finish feeding those fish Mr. Rogers, so we can watch picture-picture.  The mechanism of mass-consumption has never been more gracefully explained.

PBS UNSOLVED MYSTERIES SHOW - My old friend Sam Lowry narrates a show about zombies and the shroud of turin, among other bizarre phenomena.  Great straight-faced fun with a British accent.

GLOBE TREKKER - Hot girls lead you around the globe.  My favorite part of every show is when the episode's hot girl makes a face after trying local food.

INFOMERCIALS - Great one that's been running lately: Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You To Know About, a book by seasoned conman Kevin Trudeau, definitely on the FCC's top-10 most wanted assholes list.  Check out what Our Venerable Lord Wikipedia has to say about him.

All of this leads me to believe that Dr. O'Blivion was right: television is the new frontier, complete with lawmen & bandits with little difference between them. What he did not predict--or maybe what his maker knew and he did not--was that the television would permeate and it's residuals would manifest elsewhere: the organ would grow outside of our bodies in a placeless place. And so the writer's strike continues.

Stay down, they like to aim high.

brnt -- mp3 knowledge

me and my suite mate brad want to start tagging. mainly because it is legal in a lot of places around here and we are pussys

here's a demo i did for michael jordan that didn't become a song.
break yr brain

speaking of which, we got some new ones on our myspace.



spread love bozos

prague

I guess I have been slacking on this stuff. aside from occasional bouts of thievery and a very sore liver, prague has been beautiful. before getting my camera swiped at an overly 'european' dance club, i managed to take some pictures. maybe this will give you an idea of the first few days of my trip.


this is my apartment. it is huge. i'm pretty spoiled. it looks like some post-apocalyptic squat. except for all the ikea.



dali is funny.
campus.

i'll put more up later. i really want breakfast.

a few days ago some czech girl told me "everything is popular in prague". that basically explains it all. they really like bad american pop and nü metal. the electronic music scene here is ridiculous[...ly better than new york]. cross club has become the becon for my friends and i. lots of beer and people doing drugs and pretty girls and smoke and usually very good house.

tomorrow, i'm going to see thedeathset at a place called klub 007 which apparently is some punk squat run by 14 and 15 year olds. the black dice are playing there in march. yeah brooklyn.

i miss you michael jordans.

Lawrence Arms/HOT WATER MUSIC show

So last night was Hot Water Music, and it was pretty fucking intense.

I showed up about halfway through the Lawrence Arms... which was pretty standard.  They played a pretty decent mix of new stuff and old stuff; most of the kids were really into the Oh Calcutta! songs, which was expected I guess.  Brendan made some jokes about growing a beard for the show and wearing flannel.

Hot Water Music was really fucking awesome.  They opened with A Flight and a Crash and the place just went ape-shit.  It was a pretty good crowd, no real assholes, everyone was really into grabbing each-other and screaming and stuff.   I guess some guy tried to fight one of the security guards up front, during Choked and Separated, the instrumental part and HWM pretty much stopped and said something along the lines of "we haven't played in 3 years and we're not about to play for fights". 

Over-all really fun show.  Got to see the sights of Sayreville.  Left with a souvenir from a crowd surfer.

Pretty jealous of all you kids out there getting a first hand look at el mundo.  Keep it real.

-Alex

ciao di toms river bus station

q: will i miss this?
a: probably

Ciao Di Firenze

Greetings friends. I've got some time between classes so I figured I'd say hi from the computer lab here at Villa Ulivi, NYU La Pietra.


Italy is alright. It's beautiful here but people are largely into dumb shit. There's a lot of bad graffiti and stenciling all over this city, and lots of bad music in bad bars and clubs. All the kids I've met thus far are pretty boring. There's a Socialist compound/squat that's pretty cool, and some people into a punk scene, but I've not been here long enough to really get into that stuff too deeply. I've got my hands on a bike and I've found some message boards and talked to some punk and socialist kids, so hopefully that will open up some new opportunities to get into wild things. I miss my friends and playing loud music. There's a lot of cool graffiti all over the CPA (Socialist spot) and I've got some pictures but I'm not sure I'm gonna get any of my stuff developed until I get back to the states.
Here's a goofy flier for a show that I think I'm gonna go to in about 2 weeks.



Youth crew straight edge stuff, wigger mosh, and nikes are still really big here. It's like Boston 2001 but the bands aren't as good.

Anyway, more updates to come. As Murphy's Law once said, America Rules.
KM

MAN - - - > vs. < - - - INEVITABLILITY

on june 5th in the year 2004, ronald reagan's eyes opened for the first time.  he found himself submerged in a thick and sticky pool of inky black psychobabble, floating in place in a soiled hospital gown.

"how did i get here?" reagan asked.

"unimportant."  responded the thick pool, undulating around him.  "ronald wilson reagan, art thou finally ready to begin?"

reagan gulped nervously.

"my name is reagan, and i am ready to begin."

dearest friends

dearest kyle and mike: what's it like on the other side? new jersey is not changing. here are some nice photos of it. eat healthy.

PICTURES! DOWNLOADS!

Yo so as James said, we were recorded live on ZRadio! Thanks to those guys, we had a great time in Phila.
Also! The shit we recorded with Conor for the split sounds great. Use this link to check out "WIRES" which will be on the split and whatever else we decide to do with the three songs we did.
Now? A bunch of pictures from a couple New Brunswick shows and the philadelphia excursion.
Included in these pictures are members of the following sick bands.
Tin Kitchen
New Brunswick ladies with sass and class. They kind of sound like Mineral. How awesome is that?
Each Other's Mothers
Representing Strong Island. Girls into guitar tones.
Snake Vision
New Brunswick guys. Brofest '99. On tour now with Sublime.
Deer Friends
Nerdy in the best way.