Music: Take a Bow

Local quintet Loom brings down the house; ruins the carpet.

Most of Salt Lake City’s bike-riding, yoga-practicing, NPR-listening youngsters are quick to claim cultural enlightenment. Truth is, however, the bulk of kids who attend rock shows recoil when they see a violin onstage. The last instrument most beer-swilling bar patrons want to hear is a violin unless they have season tickets to the symphony or could double as extras for Saturday Night Live’s “Goth Talk” sketch.

Loom violinist/vocalist Kim Pack is well aware of audience members’ tendency to stereotype the band’s music when they see the bowed strings. They expect to hear something slow, melancholic and down tempo. “A lot of people don’t know what to expect,” she says. “Some say ‘Oh, this is going to suck,’ but once they see our set, they usually change their minds.”

Audiences across the country—from Washington to Georgia—opened their ears and embraced Loom, violin and all. Perhaps their success owes something to pop-punk act Yellowcard whose own strings help spice up an otherwise bland sound. Then there’s Salt Lake City’s Subrosa whose violin use is more dark and gothic. Perhaps a trend is starting?

Could happen. Consider Loom’s quick growth. Though barely a year old, the local quintet has released an EP, signed to locally owned and operated Exigent Records and toured extensively. Their sound is a hard, tense tangle of explosive, intricate instrumentation and sweeping harmonies. It is, in short, the antithesis of down tempo.?

The members of Loom share a house on Paxton Avenue—formerly occupied by fellow local rockers Paxtin—where they live, practice and play shows. Their invigorating live performances, replete with a light show orchestrated by vocalist Josh Devenport, leave witnesses in a state of mild euphoria. Just ask the kids from a sparsely populated, seldom traversed town in North Dakota who squeezed into a musty barn to catch Loom on tour. They came, they rocked, they spent their last pennies on merchandise—probably hoped to get inside the rockers’ heads. But can outsiders really comprehend the nuts and bolts of Loom?

“If you want to discuss our taste in music, you would really have to write five different articles,” drummer/vocalist Jarom Bischoff deadpans. Guitarist/vocalist Mike Cundick (aka Dork) believes disparate influences are part of the driving force behind Loom’s musical vitality. “All five of us have different backgrounds. Punk, jazz, hardcore, classical … there’s a little bit of everything,” he says.

Pack points to a small collective of bands that each of Loom’s members cite as influences, including local favorites Form of Rocket. However, judging from the playful jabs exchanged by Bischoff and bassist John Finnegan—who says Bischoff is never shy about voicing his distaste for things he doesn’t like—disagreement is key to Loom’s creative fire.

And, despite some contentious practice sessions, Bischoff says that Loom is the band he and his bandmates have always wanted:

“We’re currently writing our first full-length album, and we’re hoping to do a split 10-inch with [Exigent-signed, Portland-based] Prize Country. Our goal is to tour six months out of the year. Based on the hospitality we received last time around, we can definitely make it happen.”

Finnegan notes that Loom’s first tour was punctuated by all sorts of rock & roll antics. Loom members skinny-dipped in the Atlantic Ocean at midnight, inadvertently sleep-walked into a bed populated by a married couple, and—in a late night drunken stupor—mistook a DVD player and a set of pristine white-carpeted stairs for a urinal.

Pack explains that Loom’s new tour motto involves refraining from indiscriminately pissing beyond the toilet, so potential hosts across the country can rest assured their electronic devices and hall carpets are safe. If mayhem ensues, Pack can always apologize profusely and soothe ruffled strangers with her unassuming violin.

Music: Prime Numbers

Rock minimalists tone it down to the lowest common denominator.

It’s hard to explain Numbers to those unfamiliar with the Bay Area trio. It’s not that their music is convoluted or pretentious—it’s just difficult to convince people that Numbers are a band. Seriously. Tell someone that you’re interviewing Numbers and the smartass might even ask which number you’re interviewing (Single-digit? Double? Odd? Even? Prime?).

It’s also hard to track down facts about Numbers on the magical World Wide Web. Type “Numbers” into Wikipedia (That’s right: Wikipedia. We do intense research at City Weekly), and you’ll get a fine description of the concept used to describe and assess quantity, but nary a mention of rock music. It doesn’t help to refine your search with “Numbers band” either, unless you’re truly interested in learning the intricate mechanisms of toll-free telephone numbers. They might as well have called their band the letter “A.”

Then again, Numbers have never been big on content, and the mystery surrounding their persona might be more than a clever journalistic conceit for segueing into the band’s growing infatuation with minimalist music.

Formed nearly seven years ago during San Francisco’s burgeoning no-wave, dance-punk scene, Numbers launched when guitarist Dave Broekema and keyboardist Eric Landmark left their similarly tech-oriented band Xerobot to work with drummer/vocalist Indra Dunis—an addition that, while slight, set the foundation for Numbers’ distinct edge. Their first label, Oakland’s Tigerbeat6, “specialized in the bleep-rock, whatever-you-want-to-call-it, electronic genre, and that confused a lot of people,” Broekema says in a phone interview. “We do have electronic aspects to our band, but having a live drummer really sets us apart. We were essentially a rock band on an electronic label.”

While they found an audience who ate up their spastic dance-rock and earned a notorious reputation for playing an instrument called the Berserk (“Which was mostly a homemade noisemaker that specialized in making irritating, jarring sounds,” Broekema laughs), they’ve since gravitated toward a more mellow sound and a new home in indie-label heavyweight Kill Rock Stars.

“It’s exciting to find a label that’s superresponsive to what you want to achieve and come to your town and just be supportive,” Broekema says. “We’ve been on certain unnamed labels that will put a CD out but won’t answer your phone calls and hide from you after they do it. I think it’s important that, with that kind of different direction we’re taking, we need that kind of label.”

?As for the sound sway, Numbers simply outgrew the need for speed. “We kind of did the dance-punk thing to death,” Broekema says. Our first couple of albums were kind of spazzy and fast-paced. But on [the group’s second release] We’re Animals, there are some elements that are pretty new we decided to carry that through.”

If Numbers thought they did dance-punk to death, then their latest album Now You Are This is the nail on that coffin. Taking cues from their idols, Kraftwerk (their name actually stems from a Kraftwerk song title), Now You Are This explores all the facets of electronic minimalism to create a very somber, very beautiful sound. Dunis’ voice and heavy beats clash wonderfully with eight-bit, NES-style droning. But like any good experimental band, Numbers never forget to add some pop-sensibility to counteract any sterile robotics that might alienate fans.

“We have consciously developed ourselves in that [minimalist] style, but we write for ourselves first of all,” Broekema says. “You’ll always get people asking us if we’ll play our old stuff, people who just want to freak out, but it seems like people are getting into what we’re doing now, even though it’s not the same style. We definitely don’t get the immediate audience reaction that we used to get, but it seems like we’re slowly winning them over.”

As for those hoping for a Berserk comeback, you’d better exhale: “We’ve since retired it to Eric’s basement. We’re into making pleasant sounds now.”

Music: Comfort of Strangers

Laura Gibson finds home off the map.

It’s easy to picture Laura Gibson strolling wide-eyed through Portland’s neighborhood streets, looking skyward and just completely digging autumn’s shifting palette. She says she loves to watch the leaves turn colors, loves to feel the air turn crisp, then cold. Something about seasonal change brings out the best in her. The pensive 27-year-old folk artist doesn’t sweat the small stuff—she thrives on it.

“None of my songs are huge, dramatic events,” she says, her young nephew chattering in the background. “I think that life is really grand with the pain and romance and all that. I definitely view the world as grander than a day-to-day grind. But I’m enchanted by little things: random people you meet; conversations that you have. That makes me really excited and inspired.”

Passion for detail pays off big time on If You Come to Greet Me, Gibson’s full-length debut on Portland’s Hush Records. Strapped with her trademark nylon-stringed guitar, she brushes the album with spare, intimate strokes of insight largely sourced in her late grandparents’ romantic writings.

“I moved back to my hometown, to my mom’s house, for a month. She told me about these two huge boxes just packed with letters between her mom and dad when he was in the Navy. I never really knew my grandparents on either side, and I was going through this period where I wanted to know who I was and where I came from,” she says, adding that reading their words revealed much about their and her own personalities. “I’ve always liked that era—the ’40s and ’50s—so I kind of got caught up in their world for a while.”

The ties that bind aren’t delivered point-blank on Greet Me, with lyrics lifted directly from one letter or another. Instead, Gibson’s fascination with Billie Holiday and buried ancestry winds through the album’s occasional waltzes and the overall nostalgic feel that perfectly complements her timeless voice. Since teaming up with Norfolk & Western’s Adam Selzer—a collaboration that led her to Hush—Gibson has fine-tuned her delivery for stronger, more self-assured effect. The result is several heartbreaking moments of understated genius strung along bits of musical saw, violin, lap steel, trumpet, upright bass, accordion and other instruments played by herself, Selzer and a crew of polished indie-folk musicians. When asked if their relationship is a natural extension of Portland’s hip, thriving music scene, Gibson laughs. Not exactly, she says.

“When I first moved here, I didn’t get that Portland had such an amazing music scene. My understanding of indie music and bands was just like, ‘Oh, they are really cool and that doesn’t seem like my thing at all,’” she says, adding that she’s never been one to pursue new, cool groups. “I could never keep up. I love music, but it’s more music that finds me.”

Which isn’t to say Gibson’s not proactive—or cool in her own right. How many artists get their start performing in convalescence homes? Gibson picked up a guitar eight years ago but didn’t play out until five years later, booking gigs at senior centers while pursuing math in college. When she moved to Portland, resolving to make music full-time, she wanted an outlet more meaningful than traditional concert venues. “My father had cancer from when I was 11 to 14. He passed away. We did a lot of hospice in our home,” she says, adding that she always hoped to work with similar programs in the future. She met a woman who ran a hospice for patients with late stages of AIDS and began performing every Tuesday. There, she established a bond with the audience that carries over into nearly all of her shows today.

“I’ve played a few shows in loud bars where you just don’t feel that connection,” she says. “I always have this understanding of me giving something to the audience and the audience receiving something. There’s an interaction there that’s hard to put into words.”

It might seem like an obvious perk of musicianship, but many bands overlook the unique opportunity to connect with strangers on a very personal and emotional level. Gibson says she is not an entertainer, but she loves to be onstage. Some interpret her stage presence as quiet and shy, which is only true to the extent that she never walks into a room and shouts “Yo! Let’s get crazy!” Pay closer attention, however, and you’ll notice Gibson’s charming speech—a spontaneous, wayward ramble between songs.

This is the sort of unpretentious, non-self-aware quality that helped endear Gibson to Hush Records. At Selzer’s prompting, she sent an e-mail to the label’s co-founders who, in turn, listened to her demos. No hoops. No fuss. And, one year later, they released her debut. “The people and timing were right,” she says, acknowledging that it’s not always so easy.
And, of course, there’s more work to be done. Gibson recently recorded an EP which she plans to distribute on tour, but not to reviewers or record stores—just a little something for the audience. She’s also working with a composer in hopes of producing a more planned-out, orchestral sophomore album.

“I have a certain aesthetic that’s just me that will remain on the next record, but I’m excited to try different songs,” she says, adding that planned collaborations might add an interesting twist to her solo work. “I’m always going through different processes and trying to approach things in new ways. You just never know how it’s going to translate.”

Music: Future of the G-G-G-Ghost

Local trio aims to exorcise the music scene.

It’s a question that marks the beginning of casual campfire conversation, often escalating into a sleepless night for its participants. It’s also a question that I find fitting for an afternoon with the band The Future of the Ghost. I like to think, sitting in a deserted Nobrow Coffee & Tea, surrounded by band members Will Sartain, Cathy Foy and Tommy Nguyen, that I can evoke some of that campfire excitement. Come on: They, like—yoiks!—have the word “ghost” in their name.

“There’s a ghost in our practice space,” Nguyen says.

“Yeah, Tommy saw a ghost there—some sort of dark shadow,” Foy adds.

Sartain is a skeptical: “I don’t know,” he says, shaking his head. “There aren’t ghosts there.”

A haunted practice space seems right for a band who is trying to shake up old spirits. After the breakup of Stiletto, Foy—who played drums in the all-female Salt Lake City group—called Sartain (of The Tremula and solo fame) to discuss a new band over coffee. Describing her apathy about a music scene that was relatively … er, dead, the two recruited Nguyen (The Rubes) to breathe new life into it. But how does a band subvert a scene that each member’s past band had a part in creating, or, what makes The Future of the Ghost different?

“I want to be a punk band,” Sartain says. “But not in a traditional sense. I want to be interested in society. I think that a lot of bands now are shallow. I want to be in conjunction with the real world and a band that can be amazing on a social level.”

“You have to respect the people who come see shows,” Foy adds. “We can do our part: We want to make more of a dialogue between the band and people who come see us.”

“Will and I have talked about this philosophy of punk,” Foy continues. “I remember the bands I would see five or so years ago, playing at Kilby Court. I didn’t go to be critical, I just wanted to move and be moved. We want to recapture that spirit, the heyday. We want to light a fire under everyone’s ass.”

“I just want to rock,” Nguyen says.

It might sound ambitious, but consider their track records. In just six months, the three have already written half of a second album before they’ve released their first, the scary-good Freak Out. Oh, and they’re also planning a six-month tour.

“We’re definitely ambitious,” Sartain says.

“But we’ve all been in bands since we were 17, and we kind of know the deal,” Foy finishes, referring to her band’s uncanny ability to gel—a chemistry that propels their music. Freak Out combines the professionalism of seasoned musicians with the erratic spontaneity of a band willing to risk everything to save the music they love so much. Mixing the right amount of garage-punk, rock, pop with some dark undertones and socially anxious lyrics, Freak Out could be this year’s most eccentric, self-aware rock album—and a thick slap in the face to all the up-and-comers who sacrifice originality for hipster cred; interesting sound for predictable, slick production (Freak Out is also a completely analog record; no computers were involved). It will indeed light a fire under your ass.

And, whether or not they buy into the whole supernatural world, they have a whole lot of exorcising to do before they can safely deliver Salt Lake City’s music scene from arguable evil.

Music | Review: Shut down and turned on with Liars and Interpol at In the Venue.

  I figured the recent Interpol/Liars show would be popular, but it wasn’t until I drove down 200 South and saw a line that snaked around In the Venue that I realized how seriously it would go off. It was nice to see the show moved from Orem to Salt Lake City (a move that screwed fans who bought $40 tickets for the original Orem show while the rest of us shelled out $27 or even $10), but I hadn’t seen a crowd that big there since Moby in 2002. (Please tell me you remember Moby. No? Man, I’m old.)

I’ve dealt with lines before, I thought, this is no biggie. Little did I know the ensuing night would go down as one of the most beautiful/chaotic nights in Salt Lake City concert history.

Shout Out Louds, a playful Cure-ish band from Sweden, opened and sounded pretty good, albeit muffled, from the line outside. Apparently those tickets don’t lie when they say “Show at 7 p.m.” I reached the front of the line, ready to assume the position when some burly bouncers shouted “No video cameras, digital cameras or … camera phones!” That’s right: After giving you a nice rub-job, they searched your phone for picture capabilities—it felt downright Homeland Security-ish. These requests are usually made by the band, so it got me thinking: Did Interpol have some freaky accident that left them hideous and photographically unsuitable? Because God forbid low-res, pixilated images of bassist Carlos D’s mustache appear on the Internet. The question would haunt me for the rest of the night.

I then saw a dude with wild, skunk hair and a “Drum and Bass for a Fucked Up Place” T-shirt pounding on the gate from within the drinking area screaming, “Interpol!” I wish I’d had a camera phone.

Over my concertgoing years, I’ve come to the conclusion that In the Venue is primarily a dance club that was blessed with a couple of good stages because, like a baby in possession of a Nintendo Wii, it doesn’t know how to operate or run the gifts bestowed upon it. Country-punkers Lucero were also scheduled to play that night at Club Sound, In the Venue’s more intimate side. Since the two share the same bar, I was able to catch some of Lucero opener Bobby Bare Jr.

I felt sorry for those Lucero/BBJ folks because one bar plus two shows equals eternal lines and few chances to get drunk. And what self-respecting Lucero fan isn’t drunk when the band plays out?

Back on the Eastern block, the kids were not alright. They didn’t get Liars who, despite a blistering (although somewhat short) set of primal, percussive-heavy art-rock, just freaked them out. They just stood stiff throughout the performance, arms folded in hipster indifference. Some girls near me were particularly terrified by frontman Angus Andrew; dressed head-to-toe in a white three-piece suit. The 6-foot-plus Aussie romped around onstage and screamed through a trippy effect-laden microphone while maybe 10 people shouted in approval. Oddly, he kept saying how much he loved us. Maybe Aussies show their appreciation by frowning and cringing.

But all the hipster babies, the unjust ticket prices and even the jerk bouncers were forgotten the moment Interpol came out. “Pioneer to the Falls” introduced the well-dressed boys in top form, and they obviously thrived in the small venue—not only playing to the fans before them, but above and around them as well. Guitarist Daniel Kessler proved himself a star—far from the sparse strummer from Interpol’s three albums. The New York City band rolled through a set that included plenty of hits, but they absolutely killed when things slowed down with “Not Even Jail,” “Rest My Chemistry” and “Pace is the Trick.” The crowd swooned. It was the closest I’ve ever come to feeling romantic at a loud rock show.

I couldn’t see any visible deformities on any Interpol members, but I did notice that singer Paul Banks wasn’t wearing a tie—and, as part of a band that prides itself on fashion, I can see why he wouldn’t want people taking his picture in such slobbish attire.

Sayde Price

SLC songwriter keeps it simple

Photo by Erik Daenitz // Sayde Price

Sayde Price has a look that turns quickly from young and innocent to piercing and contemplative. Her actions appear well thought out—from the way she peels a sweet potato to how she readies herself to sing.

It’s one of the first sunny spring days when City Weekly catches up with the Salt Lake City singer-songwriter. After cooking a light vegetarian lunch, she sits adjacent to her Avenues home’s garden and plays a song—yet to be titled.

Unraveling the newest in her small repertoire, her eyes roll back and her lips curl as her ghostly falsetto soars in a rapid crescendo. She fingerpicks her way through the song simply and delicately—an example of her conscious shift forward musically.

Price wants to move forward musically because, she says, her recent debut, Wilt All Rosy, is already outdated—its contents are 3 years old, written when Price, now 20, was “just a child” living at her parents’ Fairview, Utah, home. Unfortunately, she still can’t get booked in any of the over-21 venues in town.

To bolster her musical career and to move beyond the now-dated tracks, Price recorded the album independently in April 2010 with producer Scott Wiley at June Audio, with a slew of local musicians. It was picked up by Northplatte Records in early 2011.

Although Price feels it’s outdated, the album glows. Arranged in the order of when each song was written, the album documents the time in Price’s life and the 10 songs’ specific, if not similar, goals.

“It is about creating specific images, and that doesn’t necessitate that each lyrical turn of phrase has some sort of deeper metaphor,” Price says. “For me, that’s not necessary. It’s just the vulnerability—or even the texture of a sound—where the value comes from.”

Price is calculating how to strip away layers to arrive at the bare essence of the humanness of being, playing with the sparseness of sonic possibilities for her next conceptual album.

“I want to make an album that’s like a beet that was just pulled out of the ground and it still has the dirt on it—an exploration of the minimal,” says Price. An apt metaphor for a farmer’s daughter.

Price’s parents—owners of Sunbridge Growers—encouraged her to pursue whatever path she wanted in life. Price began violin practice at 5 years old and picked up the guitar some years later. But there wasn’t anyone to play with in her hometown, so she’d mostly write and play in her closet. “There was something really special about being in that confined space,” she says.

A friend eventually persuaded Price to play an open mic at Muse Music Cafe in Provo, where she performed two songs: “a rough sketch preceding the first finished song,” she says, and “Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie” by Joanna Newsom, to whom she still garners comparisons.

She caught the ear of some prominent Provo scenesters while playing more open mics. Velour owner Corey Fox eventually helped her land some opening slots, while McKay Stevens and Joshua James—Northplatte Records’ co-founders—invited her to demo at James’ home studio. Nothing much came from those interactions until three years later, when she had moved to Salt Lake City and recorded Wilt All Rosy.

After one listen to the album, it was a no-brainer for Northplatte to sign her, Stevens says, specifically because of her voice—which he describes as “angelic, tender but piercing.” And because she’s a true artist.

“She has such a huge vision, and she is very opinionated, which can be good and bad with a musician. She’ll turn down opportunities that don’t fit her vision,” Stevens says. “She’s a creator with everything she does, whether it’s her [clothing] style, music or art.”

Price complements the label’s stellar, mostly Provo-based lineup: Joshua James, The Vibrant Sound, Desert Noises and Parlor Hawk.

Northplatte gives her autonomy as she prepares the pieces of her next effort. “I don’t feel any pressure now to adhere to an aesthetic or a sonic sensibility. I don’t think they’ll ever hold me to a creative standard,” Price says.

So now she just battles herself.

“One of the most difficult things is self-doubt. Ultimately, I want to create something that I’m interested in and that compels me,” Price says. “That is so exciting of an experience.
“I never want to feel like I brought something into the world that felt inauthentic or contrived.” 

Music: Get On the Bus

Earl Greyhound wants you to ride with them.

You don’t see Earl Greyhound comin’. Their name, and the ostensibly pretentious cover of the Brooklyn trio’s eponymous debut EP, conjures a tea-sippin’ neo-wave band. The album art for their LP bow Soft Targets (Some Records) showing a rearview of be-‘froed bassist/singer Kamara Thomas in repose further complicates attempts to divine the group’s essence without, you know, actually listening to the music. And you gotta hear these guys.

“Because we’re from Brooklyn,” singer-guitarist Matt Whyte says, admitting misconceptions about his band, “most people either assume it’s gonna be a snarky Williamsburg band.” Whatever that means, Earl Greyhound isn’t that—isn’t a lot of things—and a guess gets you nowhere.

Even when an Earl Greyhound song, says “S.O.S.,” starts with bright, chunky chords and a rumbling bass line, barreling into a moaning chorus, perhaps telegraphing a doom-y Zeppelin-esque Viking quest (and it kind of is), you don’t foresee Thomas’ cooing backup vocal or Whyte’s fingerpicked staccato bridge riff evoking such left-field references as .38 Special and ELO. And it gets crazier. “All Better Now” pumps up the soul tires on the MC5’s Detroit-sonic wheels; “It’s Over” appears to meld Otis Redding to Cheap Trick; “Like a Doggy” takes The Pixies’ loud-quiet-loud aesthetic to Motown; “Back and Forth” feels like Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes backed by Black Sabbath on white pills.

Fact is, there are surprises all over Soft Targets, an album that makes a rock fan weep convulsively and beg for more like a homely girl in the throes of a G-spot orgasm orchestrated by some Hollywood dreamboat. Only Earl Greyhound’s rock & roll ass-kicking, according to Whyte, is anything but intelligent design; it just—pow—kind of happens. “Kamara and I have been making music together for a few years now,” he says. “That’s one of the great things about any collaboration. … Things can develop organically.”

Those organic origins, with a bit more detail: What happened was, beginning in 2002, Whyte and Thomas played together as a piano-and-guitar duo, working mostly with Whyte’s songs. As their sound evolved, growing taller and louder, the need for a drummer materialized. They found Christopher Bear and, by January 2003, they were playing out. In 2004, Ricc Sheridan joined, and Whyte says that’s when Greyhound started to move at a “much, much faster” clip. The Earl Greyhound EP came later that year, and Soft Targets was released last summer to copious applause which, incidentally, meets Earl Greyhound at every tour stop.

But even with word-of-mouth and good press, nobody seems to get the license plate of that proverbial bus. And the closest we get to a mission statement is the band’s motto: “Rock Your Faces, Mix the Races,” which Thomas has elucidated in the past. She swears that once you catch their live show, pre-existing boundaries instantly begin to fade. They are, she says, part of a new cultural phase re-defining lines of gender and race.

That’s the thing, though. We’re conditioned to crave boundaries, parameters—some little cubby in which to keep everything neat and defined and digestible. Sure things and soft targets allow us to not waste time, money or thought in our efforts to be entertained. We don’t need to be blown away; we’ll settle for being occupied. Then comes Earl Greyhound.

Soft Targets is one of the best rock & roll records this year, this decade, century, millennium and any other exaggerated time span including Zep’s long, lonely times. It pilfers an array of genres and subgenres (garage-rock, soul, power-pop, metal, stoner rock, classic rock, blues) to create cool, propulsive sing-alongs that are easy like a Sunday morning, but turgid as a Saturday night.

It’s so simple, but so complicated; there must be an Architect—but Whyte maintains it’s just a happy accident. Thomas, he says, is relatively new to the bass and therefore more navely creative on the instrument than schooled bass players, relying on her vocalist’s knack for harmony to guide her. It’s just one example of Earl Greyhound’s Big Bang, but it’s telling. Some things just sneak up on you, and it pays to be ready when they do.

For instance, Earl Greyhound is sneaking into town as the support act for Soundgarden vocalist-turned-Michael Jackson-tribute-artist Chris Cornell. Unless you’re a Soundgarden fan looking for reliable greatest hits by one-fourth of the original artists, and your expectations are comfortably low enough to endure his solo crapola, you might miss one of the best bands that’ll ever come through Salt Lake City. You’ll get your $39.50 worth from Earl Greyhound alone—they do, in a convenient phrase, kick ass.

“How much ass do you kick?” Whyte paraphrases the question for Thomas, riding beside him in the Greyhound van.

“Mucho.”

La Farsa

Salt Lake City's La Farsa get ready to release their first album.

 La Farsa

I entered the La Farsa house, and founding members Erin Haley and Ryan Cron welcomed me. Haley put a beer in my hand and waved a shirt in my face. On the shirt were the words “La Farsa” and a picture of a matador dragging a flag, as though to entice a bull. La Farsa is Spanish for “the farce” or “the deception” and is used to describe a macabre play, a circus sideshow, or something so obscene it is like a circus sideshow. Haley and Cron were laughing behind the shirt. She drew back the shirt, and I saw La Farsa merchandise—T-shirts, tote bags, buttons—strewn about the room.

Like a bull, I was confused but intrigued. So, what is the farce?

Haley shoved a pile of shirts off the couch and we sat down to listen to the Salt Lake City band’s recently mastered album, At the Circus, and chatted about their upcoming West Coast tour.

Cron and Haley flipped through the merchandise and explained that their shirts are made of organic cotton, their CDs are packaged in eco-friendly cardboard sleeves, and they’ll be touring in a “green” van powered by natural gas. La Farsa’s members are political activists whose passions extend from the environment to gay and lesbian rights (coincidentally, their CD release party is happening during Pride weekend).

They aren’t cutting any corners with the release of their album, which opens with a pastiche of a city soundscape and a noodling violin that fades into hand clapping and guitar strumming that introduces Haley’s ballad “Some Insight,” about being lost in translation in Spain. The five multi-instrumentalists add musical and vocal layer upon layer, displaying each musician’s presence—but in tasteful minimalism—to bring the song to a climax.

Each song on the CD is like a different sideshow of a larger circus and is highlighted by Cron’s mellow, Grizzly Bear-ish “Grand Delusions,” Flora Bernard’s swaggering blues rhythms and rapid-fire vocals on “End Times,” and Cron’s Irish-styled anthem titled “Johnny Untitled.” The nine-track album ends with Haley’s waltz, “Elephant Revisited,” that sounds like an appropriate farewell to a good night at the circus, sending the kids dancing merrily home.

Just as a bull is misled by the matador’s flag, so La Farsa lures its audience with music. But when the flag is drawn, the audience is in for much more than a mere musical performance. As Haley explains, “We like to mess with the audience, and make it not just a concert but a show.” That’s the farce.

Music | Henry Rollins gets a few (more) things off his chest.

Henry Rollins scares the?shit out of me—and not just because his neck is twice the size of my thigh. A tight package of brawn and wit, the former Black Flag and current Rollins Band frontman, author, poet, actor, record-label owner, spoken-word artist, publisher and unconventional talk-show host has a voracious appetite for knowledge and little patience for ignorance and hypocrisy. I’m anxious about asking the wrong question, of seeming like one of those people who hijacked his America and ransacked it within an inch of its freedom-loving life. And I’m not talking about foreign terrorists. Then again, this is the man whowner, spoken-word artist, publisher and unconventional talk-show host has a voracious appetite for knowledge and little patience for ignorance and hypocrisy. I’m anxious about asking the wrong question, of seeming like one of those people who hijacked his America and ransacked it within an inch of its freedom-loving life. And I’m not talking about foreign terrorists. Then again, this is the man who once penned a pro-choice article for Spin magazine while most of his contemporaries continued to brag about notches on their belts. Bitches. Hoes. That’s not part of Rollins’ vernacular. In fact, he’d love to take on the Food and Drug Administration’s reproductive advisery committee and show all those invisible appointees that “you just don’t get to tell a woman what to do with her ovaries.” The chances of that happening are pretty slim. Since The Henry Rollins Show launched on IFC in 2005, he’s sat down with subjects diverse as Werner Herzog, Russell Simmons, Gore Vidal, Larry Flynt, Arianna Huffington, Joan Jett and Christopher Walken. He’s even entertained Kiss leader Gene Simmons, a notorious misogynist and arrogant rock star whose favorite conversation topic is himself. How did he not lose his cool? “I just let Gene be Gene,” Rollins says, adding that Simmons isn’t exactly Mussolini. “I don’t have any real bones to pick with him. He doesn’t harmfully impact my life. He didn’t invade Iraq.”
That would be Bush. Cheney. People who won’t give Rollins the time of day. He’d love to sit down and debate the hell out them, but “I don’t think they would be foolish enough to go on camera where we own the footage and can cut it any way we want,” he says. Ditto for Christian fundamentalists. They’re too busy telling homosexuals how much God hates them: “I don’t know anything about religion, but what I have gleaned about Christ—if he was a person—is that he was just a character who embodies all of these pretty cool ideas. I can get with that. What pisses me off is the people who espouse his word [then start attacking minorities]. It’s like, ‘Start acting like it, you homophobe.’”
Rollins doesn’t have much respect for cowards. He does, however, recognize that there’s a time and place for certain discussions. His work with the United Service Organizations, for example, doesn’t involve berating the troops about justification for the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
“I’m not onstage speaking to soldiers in Iraq saying the war is bogus,” he says. “What they’re dealing with every day and what we read about is quite a different conflict. They wake up, they’ve got a 12-hour shift and the job is Don’t Get Blown Up.” Overseas, Rollins keeps things light and sticks to more humorous topics: dating, driving, Los Angeles. When he hosted two Iraq veterans on his talk show, he gave them the floor.
“They were very respectful, but they said ‘This is an unsustainable conflict—we’ve been there and this thing sucked,’” he says. “You should have seen the hate mail I got for that. I thought ‘What? I just let these people say what they wanted to say—and they’re patriots!’”
Rollins gets a lot of letters from soldiers telling him what they’ve done. They send photographs of bodies on fire, torture victims they’ve found—visions of hell. It sends chills down his spine and gives him great concern for how this generation of war veterans will be met by folks back home.
“What do you do with well over a million people coming back in various states of trauma? Who pays for it? Well, the government doesn’t seem to want to,” he says. “That’s going to be a very visible part of the American landscape—the man with that interesting walk because he has a missing leg.”
Rollins manages to keep other things on his mind. He’s watching the presidential campaigns, waiting to see which Democrat takes the primary. No way is he voting Republican. Politics are always on his mind. He wishes people were more cynical, hopes they’ll wake up and take back their country from the corporations and warmongers who ripped it away.
Of course, he’s not cynical about everything. Rollins is excited about today’s music. No, not the kids on MTV, but the more obscure bands, such as Dax Riggs, who in a just world would be on everyone’s radar. People who claim great music is dead aren’t paying enough attention. “Music doesn’t suck at my house nor does it on my radio show,” he says. “There are bands putting out records this week who are completely happening. Music is in a really good place, and I think that’s partly due to major labels hitting this critical mass.” One of the main reasons he’s on TV—to tune people in to true talent.
The Internet’s a bright spot, too. Black Flag and DOA could have used the Web to further their careers. With MySpace and YouTube “you’re seeing the indie network become what it should have been in the ’80s and basically saying fuck you to the man—which is always the right thing to do.”

Tips for shopping for perfume

Perfume works well to highlight our individualities. Once you know what smell fits your personality, image and lifestyle, it's time to go shopping. But be aware - shopping for perfumes usually is not an easy task. Do you know how to shop for the right perfume?
First of all, don't use any fragrance before going to the shops. If you perfume yourself and then go out and use another perfume, you won't be able to detect the real smell. This can lead to disappointment later because the new perfume will smell different than the first time, unless of course you use both fragrances each time. Avoid spicy food before shopping, as it might temporarily take away the ability to distinguish different scents. Remember that your nose is ‘rested' in the morning, thus it's the best time to try out new perfumes. You may be too tired in the evening to choose between sandalwood with a hint of amber and sandalwood with a hint of musk.
It's very important to try on the perfume before you actually buy them. The same perfume smells differently on each person because of different reaction to one's body. So if the commercial says it smells like fresh citrus with a hint of patchouli, it's better to try out what it really smells like when it mixes with your own scent. Individual body chemistry is also the reason why you shouldn't buy perfumes just because you like how they smell on your friend or cousin. Always try a fragrance on your skin, not on your clothing or a tester sheet.
You don't have to decide whether you like the perfume or not right after trying them out. The scent is always very strong when applied; it usually wears out after more than 10 minutes and then you can feel the real smell. This period of time is also needed for fragrance to react with your skin. Give yourself a little time to decide!
If you're not sure what perfume you really want to have, it's ok to try several types and brands. However, you should avoid spraying more than three different perfumes at a time. If you try out too many scents they will confuse your smell and you won't be able to recognize the difference between them.
Try on some new scents. It won't hurt and you can make some great discoveries! If you're an attached person and you've been loyal to lily of the valley scent since early teen days, you can find a whole new world inside local perfume shop. Just don't be afraid to experiment! If you're looking for perfumes for a daytime, remember that the smell shouldn't disturb you or people around you. If perfume smells great, but it attracts your attention all the time, there's a great possibility that the smell will irritate you after several hours. Perfumes for evening and special occasions are meant to be heavier and stronger, but they usually don't irritate because they are supposed to be worn for a shorter period of time.
Keep an eye on discounts. Many perfume shops offer ‘perfume of the day' or ‘perfume of the week' with a considerable rebate. Don't miss out on discount coupons in local press or mall; they can help you to save a little or even afford the fragrance you've dreamt about for years. Also, don't be shy to ask shop assistant about additional discounts: many shops apply some extra rebates to loyal clients. Maybe all you have to do is sign up for shop's loyalty program. If you're faithful to one and only perfume, buying bigger phial is always an option that pays off.

Homemade Beauty Recipes 1

www.fun2fun.com

Honey Mask Recipe
The best facial mask is honey. Place a cloth in warm water and apply to your face to open the pores. Smear on honey, and leave on for 15 to 30 minutes. Rinse off with warm water, then use cold water to close the pores. Use once a week.

Miracle Whip Exfoliator
"Yes, I am talking about the same Miracle Whip your Aunt Mable uses in her macaroni salad. Apparently, women all over the US are using this salad dressing ingredient on their faces to remove dead flaky skin.

I have not tried it myself, but supposedly, KRAFT MIRACLE WHIP Exfoliating Facial makes an amazing treatment for normalizing over-oily skin.
Here is how you apply this "miracle cream":

Make sure all your hair is pulled back from your face. Apply a thin layer of the KMW all over your face, up to the eyelashes and make sure to also put some on your neck. The "fumes" from the vinegar may bother you so walk around the house to try to escape them. LOL!

Leave on for 10 minutes, then massage gently. The dead skin cells on your face will roll off in rubbery little balls. Rinse your skin with tepid water, then cleanse as usual following your regular beauty regime. If you apply the KMW every day, in 6-8 weeks your skin should be completely renewed.

I cannot help but wonder if this Miracle Whip eats away at the dead skin cells on your face, what does it do to the inside of the body when someone eats it?? Pretty scary!!! One person believes that the vinegar in the Miracle Whip is what causes the exfoliation and rejuvenation. If that is true, why not try a mixture of organic apple cider vinegar with some olive oil, apply that and see what happens? One could whip together the olive oil and apple cider vinegar, apply it to their face and then use the leftovers on their salad!

I think I will start experimenting with some ingredients and try to come up with a facial recipe to rival the KRAFT MIRACLE WHIP!"

Special Note from, Lucie:
"After reading Victoria's email about the Miracle Whip beauty trick (the above is an excerpt from that email), I bought a small jar of Miracle Whip. I applied a slighter thicker layer than was recommended, and the vinegar smell was quite strong.

After a minute or two the Miracle Whip 'melted' and that left my face very shiny and oily looking. After 10 min., I washed the Whip away and I couldn't believe the results. All the flaky dry skin was gone and my skin felt tight and smooth. Very strange, indeed!"

Remove Hair Build-up Recipe
1/4 cup vinegar
1 cup water
After conditioning the hair use this as a final rinse. Leaves your hair soft and shiny.

Hair Egg Conditioner Recipe
1 teaspoon baby oil
1 egg yolk
1 cup water
Beat the egg yolk until its frothy, add the oil then beat again. Add to the water. Massage into the scalp and throughout your hair. Rinse well.

Hair Conditioner One Recipe
Combine mashed avocado with some coconut milk. Comb it through the hair and let sit for 10 -15 minutes, rinse out.

Shampoo Recipe
In a blender, combine 1 ounce olive oil, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar. Use as regular shampoo.

Remove Conditioner Buildup Recipe
Baking soda removes conditioner build-up from your hair. Rub in and rinse thoroughly, then shampoo with your regular shampoo.

Hair Conditioner Two Recipe
Mayonnaise is a great conditioner for dry hair.
Depending on the length of your hair, apply approximately 1/2 cup of mayonnaise to your dry hair. Work into hair really well and then cover your hair with a plastic bag, allowing to set for about 15 minutes. Rinse thoroughly and then shampoo as usual.

Avocado Facial Recipe
Avocado is a naturally rich moisturizer. Mash the meat of the avocado into a creamy texture. Massage into the face and neck . Leave on for 15 minutes and gently rinse off.

Facial Mask Recipe
Squeeze half a lemon and mix the juice with one beaten egg white. Leave on your face overnight or, for a quick pick-me-up, just 15 minutes. Splash warm water on your face to rinse.

It helps to removes blotches, because the lemon works as a bleaching agent.

Lighten Circles under Eyes Recipe
To lighten dark circles under your eyes, wrap a grated raw potato in cheesecloth and apply to eyelids for 15-20 minutes. Wipe off residue and apply an eye cream.

Egg & Honey Mask Recipe
Mix together 1 tablespoon honey, 1 egg yolk, 1/2 teaspoon almond oil and 1 tablespoon yogurt. Honey stimulates and smoothes, egg and almond oil penetrate and moisturize, and yogurt refines and tightens pores.

Egg, Avocado & Mud Facial Mask Recipe
(best for oilier skin types)
Clay is available in powder form at any health food store. Mix 1 tablespoon dry clay with 1 egg yolk, 1/4 of a mashed avocado and enough witch hazel to create a smooth mixture. Mud dries excess sebum while the egg yolk and avocado replenish lost moisture. Witch hazel tones.

Egg & Olive Oil Hair Mask Recipe
Mix two whole eggs with four tablespoons of olive oil. Smooth through hair. Wrap head with plastic wrap, and leave in hair for 10 minutes. Rinse well.

Fruit Smoothie Hair Mask Recipe
Blend 1/2 a banana, 1/4 avocado, 1/4 cantaloupe, 1 tablespoon wheat germ oil and 1 tablespoon yogurt. For extra conditioning, squeeze in the contents of a vitamin E capsule. Leave in hair for 15 minutes.

Facial Exfoliater Recipe
2 heaped tsp fine oatmeal
1 tsp. baking soda

Combine ingredients, and add enough water to make a paste. Apply to skin and rub gently. Rinse and gently pat dry.

Banana Wrinkle Fighter Recipe
Banana is wonderful as an anti-wrinkle treatment. Mash 1/4 banana until very creamy. Spread all over face and leave for 15-20 minutes before rinsing off with warm water followed by a dash of cold. Gently pat dry.

Grape Cleanser Recipe
Grape juice makes an excellent cleanser for any skin type. Simply split one or two large grapes, remove pips and rub the flesh over face and neck. Rinse off with cool water.

Oily Skin Mask Recipe
Mix 1 tsp. brewers yeast with enough natural yogurt to make a thin mixture. Pat this thoroughly into all the oily areas and allow it to dry on the skin. After 15 - 20 minutes, rinse off with warm water, then cool water and blot dry.

Homemade Honey Beauty Recipes

Stir 1 teaspoon honey into 4 cups (1 quart) warm water. Blondes may wish to add a squeeze of lemon. After shampooing, pour mixture through hair. Do not rinse out. Dry as normal.

Facial Toner
In blender, puree 1 Tablespoon honey with a peeled, cored apple. Smooth over face; leave on 15 minutes. Rinse with cool water.

Moisture Mask
Mix 2 Tablespoons honey with 2 teaspoons milk. Smooth over face and throat. Leave on 10 minutes. Rinse off with warm water.

Smoothing Skin Lotion
Mix 1 teaspoon honey with 1 teaspoon vegetable oil and 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice. Rub into hands, elbows, heels and anywhere that feels dry. Leave on 10 minutes. Rinse off with water.

Skin Softening Bath
Add 1/4 cup honey to bath water for a fragrant, silky bath.

Hair Conditioner
Mix 1/2 cup honey and 1/4 cup olive oil. (Use 2 Tablespoons oil for normal hair.) Work a small amount at a time through hair until coated. Cover hair with a shower cap; leave on 30 minutes. Remove shower cap; shampoo well and rinse. Dry as normal.

Honey Cleansing Scrub
Mix 1 Tablespoon of honey with 2 Tablespoons finely ground almonds and 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice. Rub gently onto face. Rinse off with warm water.

Firming Face Mask
Whisk together 1 Tablespoon honey, 1 egg white, 1 teaspoon glycerin (available at drug and beauty stores) and enough flour to form a paste (approximately 1/4 cup). Smooth over face and throat. Leave on 10 minutes. Rinse off with warm water.

Know Your Local ... Electro-rocker: Vanessa Chamberlain of Cavedoll

Cavedoll singer/producer Vanessa Chamberlain, wife and creative partner of frontman Camden, is a local scene mainstay known for her signature sound and style. Chamberlain’s been in the biz since she was just a wee thing singing Christmas carols to senior citizen style. Chamberlain’s been in the biz since she was just a wee thing singing Christmas carols to senior citizens: “Anywhere they could put a mic in front of me, I’d sing.” Cavedoll performs as part of the free, all-ages Fat Flake Festival at the Gallivan Center, Saturday, Nov. 15, 4:30-10 p.m.
n
nFavorite songwriter?
nExcluding my husband Camden? That is such a hard question. John Lennon. Default is always a Beatle. John Lennon is definitely an amazing songwriter. Especially after he left The Beatles. Some of the lyrics off of Imagine...
nnIf you could do one thing for America what would it be?
nThe one thing I’m trying to do right now is raise global citizens [referencing her three children]. Children aware of problems that go on beyond their front door. I hope that all parents feel that is their duty to raise good Americans.
nnn
n n n n n n n n n

Vanessa Chamberlain n Age: 29 n Utah Resident: 26 Years n Band: Cavedoll

nWhat local causes do you support?
nThe Utah Pride Center and Shriner’s Hospital. People need to support Shriner’s and donate because they’re running out; that’s what they survive on. nnFavorite coffee and tea place?
nMy favorite all time place in Salt Lake is The Beehive Tea Room. It’s a great place to take a date, a casual date. It’s a sit down and chat and have a tiny sandwich place.
nnFavorite snack?
nI’m way into raw almonds, it’s my default snack.
nnPerfect afternoon?
nIt would probably involve yarn at some point creating something. And being with Camden.
nnWhat nature spot do you enjoy escaping everyone at?
nI live by Millcreek in Salt Lake [City]. Whenever we can we go up there. It’s really, really pretty.
nnWhat was the first album that really resonated with you?
nJane’s Addiction’s Nothing’s Shocking. I remember dancing in my bedroom and losing my mind.
nnWhat would be an embarrassing band from youth you might not like to bring up?
nWhen I was in the 5th grade I was so into Paula Abdul. And now she’s so crazy, that poor woman. It’s like when people get too rich they get weird.
nnFavorite instrument to play?
nMy voice, I guess. I’d actually much rather produce songs than sing them.
nnAny local visual artists turn you on?
nI really really got into the 337 Project when it was here. Our music was listed on the DVD.

Desert Rocks Music Festival

Outside of majestic Moab, Deseret Rock Music Festival brings the desert to life.

  On Memorial Day weekend, driving south past Moab over bumpy dirt roads, concertgoers pull into the Desert Rocks Music Festival, pointed by a humble little red plywood sign with blue lettering.

Amid sagebrush and a slot canyon on the 320-acre San Juan County site, these fans bring an energy that starkly contrasts with the empty, harsh climate, like the verdant shrubbery juxtaposed with the red rock. They travel here for the local and national bands, the community and the outdoor attractions. And at night, the atmosphere becomes even more vibrant, with music, fire dancers and, over the main stage, white LED lights that spell out “DESERT ROCKS” like a constellation in the star-laden southern Utah sky.

In 2005, co-founders Luke Benson and John Corkery launched the festival, charging $15 for two nights of camping; 150 people watched eight bands playing on flatbed-trailer stages. Attendance has crept up steadily to 800 in 2009, and volunteer crews now build professional-grade stages two weeks in advance. “Now, if attendance hits our goal for 2010, which it most likely will, we know we have something here ... something real,” Corkery says.

The little festival that could has certainly been real for Utah-based bands. “We started the festival to support local bands, to help get them big, out to a larger audience. It worked,” Corkery says.

Case in point: local jam-band Wisebird, who now tours and is distributed nationwide. “It’s because of their music, but we think we helped them out along the way,” Corkery says. This year, Wisebird and local staples Stonefed, Equaleyes, Afro Omega, Parlor Hawk, Marinade, Puddle Mountain Ramblers, Scenic Byway and CWMA winner Spell Talk (formerly The Naked Eyes), among others, will perform.

While the music connects with the audience, the audience also connects with, well, themselves, creating a recognizable community vibe. The festival attracts a collection of good-hearted music and outdoor enthusiasts who care about each other. “I don’t think you find this at any other festival,” Corkery says, “and it’s our music that draws them.” Battling the elements—for, at minimum, a couple hours each year—certainly pulls people together. In 2009, a flash-flooding river ran through camp, yet people laughed while helping each other man the barricades, good time uninterrupted.

By day, these outdoorsy types lick their chops at the prospect of playing in Moab’s two national parks and surrounding wilderness. The opportunity for adventure is boundless. And this year, partnered with Plateau Restoration, Desert Rocks presents the Green Excursions Program, offering guided and interpretive rafting trips down the Colorado River, hiking in Arches National Park and mountain biking the world-famous Slickrock Trail. Corkery says many musicians will take these jaunts, so it’s a good opportunity to meet and greet. Yet, all the physically challenging outdoors indulgences don’t stop people from dancing the night away—music goes as late (or early) as 6 a.m.

While dance steps leave footprints, the festival, as a whole, hopes to leave none behind, environmentally speaking. They’re ramping up their green initiatives this year, striving for zero-waste and 100 percent renewable energy for power—solar and biodiesel. Additionally, they’re taking steps to neutralize carbon with offsets.

Even with all these bonuses, there’s more: Folks get stoked on the Desert Rocks headliners like JGB, featuring Melvin Seals, Chali 2na, The Mother Hips, The Motet & Friends, Emmit-Nershi Band and Groundation.

Groundation’s polyrhythmic reggae-soul soup will feed starving fans ready to reach new musical heights. Their tour, initially ending mid-May in Hawaii, was extended when trombone player and Park City resident Kelsey Howard advocated for one of his favorite fests.

Despite being sometimes chaotic for bands—with rushed sound checks and logistical hustle-and-bustle—Groundation frontman Harrison Stafford loves festivals. “It brings all these people, all walks of life, together to celebrate what’s most basic and innate. Festivals unite all religions, all people; it’s thousands of people with nothing but smiles on their faces and joy in their hearts,” Stafford says.
He’s excited to see the people of the desert come together for his first Southern Utah trip. “The desert’s always a good place to be; our spiritual backbone began there [biblically]. The desert talks to people,” Stafford says, regarding Rastafarianism and reggae. “It’s that quietness of the desert where God can really shine. He lives in and with everyone. And in music.” 

Skin Care for Men

Have you ever seen a couple together and thought, "He must be taking his mom out to lunch"-only to find that the couple is married?It's a fact: men's and women's skin age differently. Testosterone causes men to have thicker skin, which means that it tends to sag and wrinkle less and is a more effective barrier against environmental irritants and bacteria. Not only do women have thinner skin, but their oil glands produce slightly less oil than men's, which means they have less "natural" moisturizer.
Men usually shave their faces, which exfoliates the dead cells and lessens the appearance of wrinkles. On the down side, for many men shaving is an abrasive experience and can account for the roughening of the skin along the jaw line and cheeks.

Regardless of the inherent advantages that men have when it comes to their skin, a daily skin care regime can work wonders to maintain a vigorous, youthful appearance (that testosterone doesn't last forever, guys). Skin care for men is remarkably similar to that for women. You will want to clean your skin every day, apply toner and moisturize your skin. And always use sun block, at least SPF 15.


Protect Your Skin
Sun is damaging to the appearance and health of your skin, and even those of you who spend a total of five minutes in the sun per day-getting in and out of your car, for instance-will want to heed the following tips. Always use an SPF 15 sunscreen and apply it everywhere the sun's rays might touch you: ears, the back of your neck, and bald areas of your scalp. If you're sweating or swimming, apply it at least once an hour. Wear tightly-woven clothing to prevent the sun from penetrating the fabric and getting to your skin.

Sunburns
If that week-long beach volleyball tournament has left you with sun-reddened, throbbing, blistered skin, there are a few things you can do to lessen your discomfort. Apply aloe vera to burned areas to moisturize and promote healing; chamomile steeped in water can help to relieve the sting; calamine lotion will lessen the itching; cool compresses, baths, and showers will sooth your skin, and adding vinegar or cooked oatmeal to your bath water will reduce the sting. Starchy, liquefied raw potatoes applied directly to the sunburned areas will also lessen the pain, but make sure that you wait until the mixture dries completely before you rinse it off to reap the full benefits.

Acne
Acne is a problem for many men. Thick skin and active oil glands can cause everything from the occasional blemish to full-blown acne. Men's acne treatment is similar to women's, but the products tend to be a little more concentrated. Our Baking Soda Scrub recipe (below) is non-irritating and will sooth and gently exfoliate your skin. For other tips and recipes to treat acne, go to Acne Prone Skin Care.

Baking Soda Scrub
Wet your face with warm water. Apply 1 tbsp. baking soda to dampened skin, massaging gently but thoroughly all over the face (including behind the ears). Rinse carefully removing all the baking soda, and repeat the process. Dry your face, apply toner and sun block.

Hot In Here?: Karrin Allyson shines at the Sheraton.

As the chilly rains of late fall soaked into downtown Salt Lake City on Monday, Nov. 10, jazz vocalist Karrin Allyson did just about everything in her sultry power to counter the cold with the sunny warmth of Brazil in the 187th performance of the GAM Foundation’s Jazz at the Sheraton concert series.nThe two-time Grammy Award-nominated artist’s latest album, Imagina: Songs of Brazil (Concord), is culled primarily from Antonio Carlos Jobim’s vast catalog. However, given Allyson’s eclectic background—she’s recorded nearly a dozen albums spanning the entire spectrum of jazz holding down duties as a singer, songwriter, pianist, composer and bandleader—her live shows are wonderfully varied and unpredictable.
nOn Monday, Allyson interspersed enchanting samba and bossa nova rhythms with jazz standards, including Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints,” John Coltrane’s ballad, “I Wish I Knew,” Nat Adderley’s “Never Say Yes” and her own bluesy “Sweet Home Cookin’ Man”—of which she noted, “Blues gets you through a lot. First you get them, then you need them.”
nStill, those sun-drenched Jobim classics stole the show. And although Allyson (whose first name is pronounced “Car-in”) did play a few of the lesser-known Brazilian standards—like the one she dedicated to her mother, who happened to be in the audience, “Estrado do Sol”—her fresh vocal takes on some of the most commonly covered Jobim tunes particularly stood out, especially the evening opener, “A Felicidade (Happiness),” “Desafinado (Slightly Out of Tune)” and “Double Rainbow.”
nRhythm within Brazilian jazz is so central to the sound and drive of the music that often every instrument onstage added their own pops, bumps and beats to the sway, including Allyson’s vocals. Jobim as a composer always wrote with a particularly free structure around those intricately syncopated beats, allowing for the space needed for ample improvisation and skillful soloing—often performed by Allyson’s masterful scatting, playfully bopped off of the pounding bass or the thrashing of the percussion. When not seated at the keys, the songstress sauntered about the stage working out those contagious rhythms with her gyrating hips as her metronomic foot tapping could be heard adding just one more sound accenting the heart hammering pulsation of the music.
nAn old line of praise all too casually bantered about in the jazz community concerns the artist’s ability to make any song their own—and there really is truth buried within the familiar quip. If, as a jazz musician, you fail to play the standards as if they were your own tunes, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re no good, it just means you have no style. And, in jazz, without style, you have nothing. As Allyson nailed song after song at the Sheraton—be it a bawdy blues tune, a ballad waltz or those spicy Brazilian classics—she proved that without a doubt she has what it takes: plenty of magic, plenty of style.

The Suicycles

New full-length CD out Friday

 The Suicycles

 For many local musicians, releasing a single EP would be viewed as a huge accomplishment.

Not so for The Suicycles. Beyond their two EP releases earlier this year, the group made a video to an unreleased song, started a radio show and have a full-length album, Sex, Drugs and Death, out June 17.

The Suicycles were created in 2010 when frontman Camden Chamberlain and drummer Van Christensen shifted their attention to new music not meant for their main project, Cavedoll, and created a two-piece band with other instrumentation coming off a laptop. It was a questionable move, since Cavedoll had recently been revitalized and released a new album.

They recruited Robert Roake on guitar, Chris Cole on bass and Kellie Penman on keyboard to complete the initial Suicycles, which gradually made it easier for Cavedoll to fade away.

“They both co-existed for a time, but eventually it became clear that The Suicycles had become my focus,” says Chamberlain. “Cavedoll had lived a good life, so the time felt right.”

The Suicycles hit the studio in late 2010, writing more than 30 songs while bringing in each new member to add to the recordings and, eventually, move into the Suicycles house/home studio.

During this time, both Chamberlain and Roake had become inspired by Teresa Flowers’ program on UtahFM.org and decided to launch their own show on the Internet radio station. Waiting for the Rapture With the Suicycles gave the duo a chance to promote their latest works while bringing in guests and conversing about whatever topics they saw fit.

Roake said the show’s “been going very well. We have had some great guests and been able to promote some cool new local music. After several months, we can almost work the CD player at the station, so that is going to be great soon, too.”

Since the start of 2011, the band has been “blitz-attacking” the music scene, first with random tracks leaked in January, then with the EP 4 Psychotic Car Rides in February, the video for “SL,UT” released in March, several concert appearances in April and then their second EP, Experiments in Being Awake, in May. Now, the group looks to cap off their musical exploits with the release of the full-length album Sex, Drugs and Death.

The album sounds nothing like Cavedoll and barely resembles what’s been released so far by The Suicycles, showcasing every member’s unique talents in the dirtiest electronica-rock they could muster. It’s as if they are saying to the listener, “You’ll hate us in public, but love us in private.” The album probably will be a secret favorite of many.

The Black Keys

Soul Brothers: The Black Keys craft an instant classic.

Just more than a week ago, the two men who make up The Black Keys were holed up in New York City doing all manner of work to promote the release of their stellar, soulful new album, Brothers.

Pat Carney and Dan Auerbach were doing a series of phone interviews about their upcoming tour, playing network TV shows and basking in the afterglow of a splashy feature in Rolling Stone. Monday afternoon, after talking to City Weekly, they were scheduled to have their picture taken by legendary rock photographer Mick Rock while anxiously awaiting the Tuesday record release.

The duo has come a long way since they spent the record-release eve for their sophomore album, Thickfreakness, right here in SLC. Back then, Carney says, no one was paying them much mind.

“We were touring in a Buick Century, like April 2003, and we were driving from Akron to the West Coast,” Carney recalls. “The one main promo thing we had the whole tour—because we had, like, no press at all going on—was a show called Good Morning Salt Lake City [Ed. Note: It was actually Good Things Utah]. We got up at like 4:30 in the fucking morning, and we got there and it was so bizarre.

“We just straight-up lied to them on TV, told them we were normally a 12-piece jazz band, but today we’re going to be doing a two-piece blues thing. Right after our segment, they taught you how to make a lobster bisque wrap or something like that. It was the weirdest bit of promotion we’ve ever done.”

The days of driving a sedan cross-country are long gone for Carney and Auerbach. The Black Keys have grown by leaps and bounds since that first Salt Lake City stop for a gig at the Zephyr Club; last year, they played the Twilight Concert Series for a crowd that had to be in the 15,000 range.

Brothers is bound to make them even more popular. The collection of 15 songs retains their bluesy base, while expanding The Black Keys’ sound in new, more soulful directions. They recorded most of the album at the famous Muscle Shoals studios in Alabama, where icons ranging from the Rolling Stones to Aretha Franklin recorded some of their best stuff.

Carney credits the duo’s experience working on last year’s Blakroc project with helping push The Black Keys out of their comfort zone, incorporating more keyboards and using less guitar on Brothers than previous efforts. Blakroc paired Carney and Auerbach with a slew of hip-hop’s finest MCs, including Q-Tip and Mos Def, creating a hybrid of hip-hop, soul and R&B that stuck with them as they went to record Brothers immediately after wrapping work on Blackroc.

Last week, Carney was excited for Brothers to see the light of day, since he and Auerbach had completed work on it nearly three months ago. But he remained pissed that Brothers leaked on the Internet a month ahead of time, ruining the communal experience of “people on the same page, experiencing something together for the first time, at the same time.”

“Instead you have a bunch of fucking fat teenagers sitting around stealing people’s music,” Carney says. “It makes it shitty for everybody.

“It’s like when our manager posted something on our Web page about how we have a song in a Twilight movie, and we get like 400 comments about how we’re sell-outs. But you have these people out there on the Internet who are stealing our record, and it’s like, this is why we have to put a song on the Twilight soundtrack, because we’re not fucking selling any records!”

That becomes less of a problem with each new Black Keys release, though. Brothers will likely bring The Black Keys a slew of new fans. And many of them will surely earn Carney’s scorn when they steal the duo’s next album. 

Facts about perfume 2

 

Fragrance is much more than simple scented liquid; there are many interesting things about perfumes and perfumery.
• We can smell perfume because it is very volatile and molecules of fragrance leave our skin easily. They take off bottle or any other surface easily too; this is why you should keep a bottle closed all the time.
• People used to use perfume to mask body odor not that long ago. It was because of daily bathing was neither affordable nor popular.
• Perfumes come in spray bottles nowadays in order to keep the oxygen from getting into bottle and perfume from getting out in the air, but things used to be different. Perfume bottles used to be made with caps, but this way of storage had some problems as fragrance had regular contact with air. First, it made perfume to evaporate in about a year; second, it used to change perfume's fragrance eventually.
• Glass bottles are not suitable for storing perfume because they let the light inside the package and thus contribute in ruining the scent. Exposure to heat causes fragrance to grow worse as well. However, glass bottles are very common.
• You should re-apply perfume every four hours in order to keep the smell fresh and rich.
• The most famous and the most recognizable brand name of perfumes is "Eau de Cologne". It's manufactured since 1709.
• In early days of perfumery, fragrance used to be made out of herbs and spices like myrtle, sandalwood, pepper or cedar.
• The smell of perfume will last longer and feel stronger if you apply it on certain points of your body. Nape, other side of the ears, the cleavage, place under each breast, the inside of elbows , back of knees, inside of ankles, hipline and folds of thighs are the secret areas. Armpits are also included into this list, but you shouldn't spray perfume in there if you use scented deodorant.
• Although France is called the center of modern perfumery, fragrance become popular and cultivated in this country only during Renaissance (14^th to 17^th century).
• Modern perfume is a mix of alcohol solution and scented oils. The first perfume made by using this technique was created in 1370 in honor of Queen Elizabeth of Hungary.
• The smell of fragrance depends of person's diet and medication, because these thing influence body chemistry and person's perception of smell.
• Perfume may cause allergic reactions including skin irritation, nausea or breathing disorders.
• According to researches, large numbers of Japanese use fragrance to display internal harmony; French females use it for seduction while Americans believe that perfume inspires confidence.
• Ancient Egyptians were masters of perfumery; perfume bottles used to be thrown into crowd on triumphal parades of Julius Caesar to show his victories in Egypt.
• Scientists believe that smell is the easiest trigger to recall memories; they also say that a scent of a perfume smelled long ago can't be completely forgotten.
•The oldest perfume bottle was found in Cyprus island. The fragrance inside was made of olive oil, myrtle, cinnamon, anise, laurel and bergamot approximately 4000 years ago.

Tips for men

Shaving
Try shaving in a steamy shower for a nice, close shave. Your hair is a lot easier to cut when its wet and supple.
Body Care
Spend some time with your skin; cleanse, exfoliate, and moisturize using clean, simple body cleansers and lotions. Masculine rugged features can often mask dry, chapped skin. As you age the skin becomes more dry and may begin to flake - take action now.
Fragrances
There are a multitude of fragrances for men. Reconnoiter the cologne counter and try out some of the new pheromone-based musks. When you find one you like, shop around often the best deals are had through on-line shopping.
Suits
Choose a suit that de-emphasizes your extremes. If you're short, look for strong vertical elements: pinstriped suits; and two-button jackets which form a deeper v than the three-button kind. If you're very thin, choose a jacket with wider shoulders. Heavy middles look better in darker colors, monotone from top to bottom.

The Natural Products

 

Natural-based personal care products have become more popular in recent years as marketers and consumers discover the benefits of natural ingredients such as vitamins, herbs and materials derived from the sea. At the same time, however, as natural products gain widespread acceptance, a true definition for the term natural becomes more obscure.
The word natural is easily twisted, noted Warren Raysor, president and founder of Abra Therapeutics, Forrestville, CA. The meaning depends on who is trying to define natural. Is petroleum natural? Are all things that exist in the world natural? It depends on who is defining it.
Natural ingredients are seasonal with limited quantities. Smaller companies relying solely on natural ingredients must target smaller audiences. And larger companies often use the word natural as a marketing tool, but their products are 99% synthetic, according to Mr. Raysor.
Of course, there are benefits to using synthetic materials. For example, synthetics are uniform from batch to batch. With natural ingredients, each batch is unique, taking more time to perfect the outcome. And despite recent reports, the safety of synthetics versus natural ingredients is not a black and white issue, said Mr. Raysor. He noted that the company uses Parsol 1789, a synthetic sunscreen, in several products.

There are a lot of natural things you dont want to get next to, such as poison ivy, while many preservatives are not harmful. But natural often suggests nutritional, Mr. Raysor said.
Using natural ingredients is also beneficial because customers are often more familiar with herbal names than other naturally-derived ingredients.
Vitamin fractions are generally so difficult to pronounce, customers dont understand their value, said Mr. Raysor. Herbals, on the other hand, are easier to understand and read.
Abra has had long associations with herbal formulators, organic farmers and producers. The newest Abra product is Adaptagen Phytoserum which contains green tea, sage leaf, Siberian ginseng, schizandra berry and grape seed to protect environmentally threatened skin. Green tea, a natural photo-resistant and anti-carcinogenic leaf, has been used for thousands of years in eastern tea ceremonies.

Randy's Records

Warehouse in My Head: Randy's Records gives vinyl fiends reason to celebrate.

1978 wasn’t the best year for music by many estimations; except for the punk innovations in Britain, not much worthwhile was going on. But in Salt Lake City, a musical landmark was being born.

That was when Randy Stinson, a record aficionado whose apartment was (and is) crowded with vinyl, founded Randy’s Records. Sure, Randy’s Records has changed with the times, adding cassettes, CDs and even some movies on VHS and DVD, but the place is primarily about vinyl, from rare Beatles and Elvis to your favorite band’s new release.

There was a time in the mid-’90s when those new vinyl releases seemed poised to go the way of the dodo. “When CDs came out, for a while it looked like people weren’t going to want vinyl anymore,” Stinson recalls. Collectors, however, never lost their lust for records, and recently vinyl has made a comeback. “The main reason people like vinyl is, [it] just sounds better. It sounds richer, sounds more real. I can be fooled into thinking I’m there in the studio by listening to a record.” Vinyl also came back in the universes of dance music and hip-hop, whose DJs like to “scratch” or manipulate them by hand on the turntable.

Randy’s hosts a $1-an-album sale every year, but this year it’s different. He’s cleaning out a lot of items from his warehouse across the street from his 900 South storefront to offer tens of thousands of items that he hasn’t offered before. Each Friday and Saturday in June, he’ll add items to the stacks.

With something like 90,000 albums in stock, Stinson is looking to get 30,000 discs out for browsing during the sale. Everything from classic garage rock to Lawrence Welk, Barry Manilow to Led Zeppelin, The Band to The Beatles on colored vinyl. “We’ve got a lot of classical and country,” he notes. “You could probably pick up some stuff and turn around and sell it online for $10, but I don’t have time to do that.”

Another thing collectors love is the album art. From the surrealist paintings of Roger Dean on Yes albums to vintage Beatles covers and beatnik-influenced jazz albums, none of it looks quite the same on a tiny CD sleeve. “I also like to look at the liner notes on albums,” Stinson says.

Vinyl albums do demand a little more maintenance than CDs; vinyl needs to be protected from scratches and scuffs. But there’s something about the sound of a vinyl album that many collectors believe CDs or digital downloads can never duplicate, a warmth in their crackle, Stinson notes. “I believe it’s therapeutic.”