Monoshock @ the Hemlock, San Francisco, 7/14/2012

My Santa-esque comeback to the blogging world
Monoshock - Grady in action

Holy shit it has been a long time since I’ve even looked at my website. I want to say it’s been over a year and a half, but I’m too lazy to do the math.

Laziness isn’t in my nature — the reason I came down with a severe case of it was the new addition to my family, little Matilda Mae. She’s wonderful but as any father will tell you, being a dad is exhausting. Juggling fatherhood, a full-time job and three musical projects is enough to suck all the motivation and desire to keep this site up to snuff.

But of course I’m just making excuses like every other time I’ve taken a big break from updating Lemon Session. To be honest there’s been plenty of times I could have updated the site but instead I found myself drinking beer and watching bad music videos from the ’80s. I’ll admit it — I’m fucking pathetic.

Thankfully somebody cared — Monoshock, who I recorded when they played a reunion show back in July at the Hemlock, sent me an email recently asking — rather nicely mind you –when I was going to post these amazing live tracks (below) that they had kindly let me capture way back when.
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Raw Nite @ the Stork, Oakland, 9/13/2011

If you like what you download here, please buy records
Raw Nite live

As if life wanted to send me a message it knew I would ignore, I’m sad to report that my recording equipment has blown up.

My 16-track set up bit the dust during the Friday night of Budget Rock 10, so not only am I temporarily unable to use it, the last bands I attempted to record with it were Personal & the Pizzas, the re-united Statics, and the almighty Rip Offs, who played one of the most amazing sets I’ve ever witnessed. Yet none of what I captured will ever see the light of day because it all sounds like complete shit, and not the good kind (AKA “lo-fi”), but digital garbage.

It looks my equipment is repairable but it’s going to take awhile and require money I don’t have, now that I have a baby on the way as well as two new releases out Lemon Session (Von Zippers and Zulus). So, if you’ve been holding out on buying records from me but come to this site for the free downloads, please consider buying some records. You won’t be sorry if you do since they’re all rad.

Now onto what this post was supposed to be about: my recent recordings (pre-blow up) of Raw Nite.

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Little Queenie @ the Stork, Oakland, 3/5/2011

Can you die from exhaustion?
Little Queenie

It’s stupid how long it’s taken me to finally post this. A month ago I was so busy that I had to wait until I took a vacation to get back to this blog. But then after I mixed the tracks and wrote the majority of the post, I basically forgot to publish it for two weeks. It was dumb – I’d remember it early in my day, usually when I was nowhere near a computer; and then by the time I could’ve finished the post, I’d drink a bunch of beers and watch several episodes of “Storage Wars” instead.

Though work has sucked up the majority of my time and energy, label stuff has also been a part of why I’ve been so busy – mixing recordings for possible releases, getting everything squared away with the next two singles and even buying more equipment for live recording. So expect more content, both free and for purchase.

But I could be just wasting time and money as my wife is pregnant and according to every father I know, I won’t have a life after the baby arrives. Well, I guess it’s just trading one dream for another… But if you’re in the Bay Area and want to see how the record business works for little money, email me.

Let’s get to what you actually care about: free music.

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Liquorball, SS10, Live @ BOTH 5/20/2011

So so much in store for 2011Liquorball

If you haven’t noticed (and you probably haven’t), it’s been a long time since the last post; almost two months. But there have been good reasons for this, as I have not only been SUPER busy with the label, but I’ve actually been planning out upcoming posts.

The next two Lemon Session releases — Von Zippers and Zulus (ex-Battleship, Teenage Nightwar) — are on their way to the presses, so expect them to be available for purchase in about a month. Not only are the tracks on both records KILLER, but they will feature color sleeves that will be way too expensive for me. Of course, starting a record label is a bad financial decision, so there’s no reason for me to become thrifty all of a sudden.

This week’s post is the first in a series consisting of my recordings from the SS Records 10th Anniversary shows. Thanks to my good friend, recording genius Russ Arteaga, we have every set recorded…WELL. And what better way to show off our collaborative recording skills than with a excerpt from Liquorball’s ripping set.

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Cheap Time @ the Hemlock S.F., 3/10/2011

Slow recovery means perfectionCheap Time

The days of Percocets and popsicles are over. After two weeks of sitting around my house in sweatpants, pulling inch-long chunks of dried blood from my nose, I am back to sitting on my computer all day, pretending I’m a recording “professional.” Hopefully all the pain and sacrifice will mean better sleep, as the procedures I underwent were solutions to my horrible sleep apnea (now you don’t have to ask “what did you get done?”)

I’ll be at the SS Records 10th Anniversary shows this weekend if you wanna say “hi” or make arrangements to buy some records and not have to pay for shipping. I’ll be the bald guy with a spotty blonde beard doing nerdy crap like taking pictures or annoying the guys from the A-Frames.

This week’s recording is from a young band of punk rockers from Memphis known as Cheap Time. If you haven’t picked up their albums on In The Red, get the hell off this site right now.

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Homostupids @ The Stork, Oakland CA, 3/5/2011

Finance my habitual promise making!Homostupids

Hey, great seeing you again! Thanks so much for coming by and grabbing some free stuff. This post is a real treat for those who love lo-fi live recordings of crazy punk bands — if it were the 90s, you’d be trading this shit on cassette.

But before you go running off to download the free songs posted below, make sure you take a second and check out the releases page. We got records in the can, ready to go and the only thing that’s stopping us is the money part. All that I ask is that if you like what you see and hear here, buy some records.

Anyway, I’m hours away from having huge chunks of my throat cut out, and adopting a diet of ice cream and
Percocet. This week’s recording is from the Homostupids, the best spastic punk band out there right now.

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Hank IV, Live @ Hemlock, 5/24/2010

Well, there went the momentumHank IV

Jesus christ where the hell does the time go?! And WHERE THE HELL ARE MY PRIORITIES?!!! When I should’ve been posting sweet live recordings *cough* and news about all the amazing shit going on at my label, I wasted my time looking at eBay for crap and listening to podcasts. (Disclaimer: listening to the Best Show On WFMU is not a waste of time. Exhibit A Click and hear.*)

To be honest, I’ve actually been working hard on future posts, in the hope of cranking out at least one a week for at least a few upcoming weeks, but we’ll see — being that I have no attention span whatsoever, any kind of regularity to this is something worth celebrating.

This week: a 2010 recording of SF’s oldest teenagers, Hank IV.

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Sex Church, Live In Oakland! 10/16/2010

Keeping up the momentum, kind ofSex Church

Well, I missed the weekly deadline I gave myself, but at least I made the second week! Yep, I’m staying alive and moving along, lining up a bunch more recordings to give away for free. Just last week I captured both Little Queenie and the almighty HOMOSTUPIDS, which I should be getting up sooner rather than later. (Sadly, my recording device corrupted the amazing 1/2-hour set from Butcher Cover and its proving to be impossible to salvage.)

By the way, thanks to everybody who started buying up singles from the Lemon Session Singles Club 2010 once they were made available for individual purchase. Note to all interested — the Aluminum Knot Eye records are being bought up a few at a time, so make sure to buy one before they’re gone.

This week’s free download? A live Sex Church recording from October 2010.

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A-Frames, Live @ Hemlock 5/24/2010

Taking me back a decadeErin of A-Frames

Though I have plenty of reasons to feel “blessed,” being a music fan that lived in Seattle around the turn of the 21st century is right up there at the top.

I will be the first to admit that the music from Seattle in the early ’00s wasn’t earth-shattering — I can count the number of really great bands to come from that time on one hand. But those bands were the first steps to expanding my musical taste and teaching me that your favorite bands are typically not the flavor of the day.

Looking back, I bet I wasn’t alone. I swear within two years, the Seattle scene went from pretty much ALL New Bomb Turks and Heartbreakers rip-offs to every other type of band. Phrases like “Killed By Death” and “No Wave” seemed to have become common vernacular within a year.

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X In S.F., 5/24/2010

Of course I mean the Australian XX from Australia

If you aren’t friends with Steve Lucas of X on Facebook, you probably don’t know the drama behind the band’s first tour of the U.S. in 33 years. Apparently Lucas has a herniated disk in his spine, causing him great pain when he sits for long periods of time, like when flying cross country or riding for hours in a van.

By touring, Lucas is ignoring doctor’s orders, which usually isn’t the best idea. On May 28, he wrote:

“I have been advised to end the tour. I was advised not to take it on. I am now being told I am in need of surgery as the real option. I would have to come home… defeated. The longer I stay seated (as in a bus for hours upon end) I increase the level of damage.”

But yet the tour continues.

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