not that they give a shit, prolly.

anyway, here’s the black crowes and gem and noel from oasis doing ‘down on the street’ at radio city music hall in june of 2001.

i was at this show.

brotherly love tour. new york city. fine memories. christopher and tp. great summer weather. staying in that weird room above the irish pub on 14th street.

the world trade center still had a few months in it back then.

which reminds me of the funniest thing the great don hodge ever said, which went something like, ‘yeah, man, the twin towers … whatever happened to those things?’

come on!

what intrigues me about this record is that it comes in two forms: the cd form has two different discs, the first is ‘before the frost.’ rock. the second is ‘until the freeze.’ a lil more country, bluegrass even at times. solid. where it gets weird is that the double vinyl, which i have, mixes all the tracks up … alright … but the completed mash up is supposed to then be a concept album with a loose narrative running thorough it about the allure of the city and the return to the country. i haven’t heard enough yet to voice an opinion on the concept beyond saying that these cats have clearly found real inspiration again and have made two back-to-back incredible albums. greenhorn. aimless peacock. appaloosa. what is home? familiar yet deeply experimental. and you have to keep reminding yourself that ‘before the frost … until the freeze’ is live. live in the studio (levon helm’s, no less) before a small audience. they’re becoming the closest thing we’ve seen to ‘the band’ since, well, ‘the band.’ good on you boys. it’s been fun growing up with you. glad you’re still with us.

how fucking cool is gem archer? and how much does he look like elliott smith … weird, no?

i always thought this was one of those tracks that needed liam … on the record, his voice during the chorus is pure tube mic molestation of the warmest kind. dirty. but, shit … what a lovely song. put some years on it, listen to it filtered through the guy who wrote it … beautiful. one of those moments that makes getting older seem like high art …

i missed the oasis thing when it happened stateside. i don’t know … it was the mid-90s. i was indie rock. no tv. out of it in many ways. i remember talking with this guy ned who was in the little music scene that was going on at the time in sf one night. we were standing on 16th street in front of maya taqueria waiting for the bus. somebody brought up oasis, and ned said something like, ‘oh my god, will somebody please kill that band!’ that was basically all i knew about oasis during their heyday. ned hated them. sorted.

about six years later, i’m in new zealand. i own a diahatsu three cylinder car. the stereo system consists of a cd player and two one and a half inch battery powered speakers tossed up on the dash. somewhere on the south island, somebody had a copy of ‘(what’s the story) morning glory?’ that i burned. the next day, i remember coming out on the other side of this massive two-lane tunnel and seeing a sea of epic waterfalls and snow capped mountains while listening to cast no shadow and thinking, ‘this is the greatest music i have ever heard. period.’ i found a copy of ‘the masterplan’ somewhere else and – along with the copy of ‘revolver’ i brought with me – listened to a steady rotation of oasisbeatlesoasisoasisbeatlesoasisoasis for the next six weeks.

when i got home, i went to amoeba and bought everything i could find with the word ‘oasis’ on it. singles, videos, albums, you name it. i drove my roomate nuts with the oasis. it was weird … nobody else got it. we all shared musical tastes back then but for some reason, this oasis thing i was on was my own trip. it was a minor obsession. and it went beyond the music itself. they just embodied cool to me. like when you’re a kid and you first feel what rock and roll feels like and you just want to eat it up. the clothes, the attitude, the language … fucking mega, mate. it was another shot at 16. falling in love again … shit like that.

but above all, the gallaghers were brilliantly hysterical. down to earth billionaire rock stars with a working class aesthetic. the mancunian schtick is all about taking the piss and not taking yourself seriously, but delivering it all as serious as a heart attack. americans failed to get this. oasis offended contemporary american sensibilities … primarily because they were honest. and they didn’t flinch. or apologize. and i loved that.

i only saw them once, in 2001 in nyc with the black crowes. radio city music hall. epic. they were a wall of sound, and nearing the height of their live prowess with gem and andy and andy. they barely moved. as a lifelong fan of the black crowes, oasis – the opening act – blew them off the stage that night. no questions asked. wasn’t even a fair fight.

noel will linger, hopefully. and as that clip above can attest to, the guy probably needs to cut the big cumbersome lumbering beast loose and stretch out a bit. and i’m into it … small stateside club gigs. more experimental songwriting. sorted. let’s get intimate, noel. you’re easy to love.

but somewhere in my heart of hearts, i just kinda want to know that somewhere liam gallagher – lead singer from oasis – is in jail after beating the shit out of a bouncer outside of an awards show where he was thrown out for repeatedly calling robbie williams ‘queer’ from the stage. childish, destructive, unnecessary, but … i don’t know.

it feels right.

that was now. this is then.

this song is the last track on the new dexateens album ‘singlewide.’ i listened to this song a dozen times before i realized that david berman – the silverest jew – lends a minimalist guest vocal. brilliant. and anyone who wonders how david berman found the dexateens, you need only hear/read the song’s first line. this one’ll move you, even though the boys are so god damn country they’re hard to understand. but they do more with seventy five percent lyrical comprehension than most do with more …

i like ronnie dio and i like vaseline
i enjoy the feeling feeling of a sharp crease in my jeans
i can see you smiling boy, so here’s a simple question

can you whoop it?

my daddy’s name is elton my momma’s name is jean
my car’s a chevy nova, and my woman’s 17
she moved into my place cause her parents intervene now

can you whoop it?

rocks are for the honest
guns are for the wise
lies are for the frightened
for the blind man and his blinds [?]
i live in the space created by your compromise

so can you whoop it?

saw the dexateens last saturday at chelsea’s. brilliant. loud. brilliant. still mourning the death of oasis, some jesus on the mainline rock and roll was much needed. i got very drunk and had to be cared for. it was one of those nights … yup, one of those nights. i stripped off all my clothes and attempted to play music before an audience. considering i still have pink toenails from the anniversary party at hooch’s, it was very guerrero street circa 1998 around these parts this weekend (in more ways than one …)

still helpless at 11 am sunday …

wanna talk about oasis but … not quite ready. lazy, i am. that’s something i’ll miss about oasis right there. they were a little lazy, too …

As of last Friday the 28th August, I have been forced to leave the Manchester rock’n’roll pop group Oasis.

The details are not important and of too great a number to list. But I feel you have the right to know that the level of verbal and violent intimidation towards me, my family, friends and comrades has become intolerable. And the lack of support and understanding from my management and band mates has left me with no other option than to get me cape and seek pastures new.

I would like firstly to offer my apologies to them kids in Paris who’d paid money and waited all day to see us only to be let down AGAIN by the band. Apologies are probably not enough, I know, but I’m afraid it’s all I’ve got.

While I’m on the subject, I’d like to say to the good people of V Festival that experienced the same thing. Again, I can only apologise – although I don’t know why, it was nothing to do with me. I was match fit and ready to be brilliant. Alas, other people in the group weren’t up to it.

In closing I would like to thank all the Oasis fans, all over the world. The last 18 years have been truly, truly amazing (and I hate that word, but today is the one time I’ll deem it appropriate). A dream come true. I take with me glorious memories.

Now, if you’ll excuse me I have a family and a football team to indulge.

I’ll see you somewhere down the road. It’s been a fuckin’ pleasure.

Thanks very much.

Goodbye.

NG.

A STATEMENT FROM NOEL
28 August 2009

“It’s with some sadness and great relief to tell you that I quit Oasis tonight. People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer.

“Apologies to all the people who bought tickets for the shows in Paris, Konstanz and Milan.”