16 July 2009
Fair And Way Out Of Balance
I thought I'd share a behinds-the-scenes look at last evening's long-awaited launch of Shuttle Endeavour. These are images you'll not get from any news source. Not even from Fox.



We've been trying to get STS-127 off the ground since June. After five attempts, Gretchen gave up trying to stay awake during the pre-launch meetings.



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Our extremely detailed assistant launch director reminds us what direction to send the ship.



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NASA is subject to frequent budget cuts, so we couldn't wear our usual slick launch team outfits. Where the hell Leo got these is a mystery.



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There was a brief hold in the countdown as a door-to-door magazine salesman pestered the crew. At least it wasn't another damn thunderstorm.



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After buying a subscription, Commander Polansky prepares to push the 'go-up' button.


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And the launch...beautiful as always except all the recent thunderstorms in the area made the ship look a bit different.

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The post-launch parties allow us to cut loose after a successful liftoff. At the Slingin' Wheel things usually end up getting a bit crazy, especially when Oswald and Leo show up.



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And as is the norm at parties, Leo can't hold his liquor.

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All kidding aside, other than a couple of debris hits on the way up a simply gorgeous launch. Almost worth five delays!

Click For Full-Size; credit NASA/Tony Gray, Tom Farrar

 
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14 July 2009
This Weeks' Kick-Ass(When The Hell Are We Going To) Space Image

Click For Full-Size; credit NASA/Kim Shiflett

Well, maybe the sixth time's the charm. Trying again tomorrow evening a little after 6:00pm, hopefully the weather will cooperate. Once we do get the bird spaceborne I'll have some time to get caught up here, as there is a giant payload of music waiting to be shared. So think good thoughts and we'll be back soon!

When The Sky Turns To Black (The Rain Is All Around) • from Blake Miller's Burn Tape
 
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11 July 2009
Uh, Not


I reiterate, the weather may be an issue.

Next try, Sunday evening at 7:13 as the weather should improve a bit.

 
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10 July 2009
Weather...or Not

Like I said, the weather may be an issue...

This Dark Day • 12 Stones, from 2007's Anthem for the Underdog

 
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08 July 2009
127 To The Heavens-Take 2

Click For Full-Size; credit NASA/Kim Shiflett

Almost time for this weekend's launch of Shuttle Endeavour so as usual we'll be away until after the launch. The weather is looking fairly iffy this far in advance, but being it's Florida the rule is wait ten minutes and check again. We'll effort to resume the posts(we better, the music is really piling up) sometime early next week. Launch time is 7:39pm Saturday evening, so if you are in the area be sure to stop by and catch the show.

Stars • Kid Dakota, from 2008's A Winner's Shadow
 
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05 July 2009
New Music: New Roman Times, On The Sleeve
New Roman Times is a quartet fronted by husband/wife team Daniel Owens and Josie Fluri. Their new album, On The Sleeve, will be release on July 14th and is a follow-up to 2005's International Affairs. The album features '80s club beats with a precise amount of indie rock and the result is a very well done long-player that ultimately sounds familiar from the first listen. But don't mistake it for a genre re-hash of some sort; the style is fresh and unique enough to stand on its own. The band is from Austin, Texas by way of Orlando and includes drummer Mike Allen and guitarist Harris Thurmond. On The Sleeve will be released on the New Granada label. The band is planning a fall tour in support of the release.

Smoke In Your Disguise • VCR
New Roman Times: Website • MySpace • Pre-order On The Sleeve via Amazon
 
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04 July 2009
Latest Mixtape: 10-Fourth

Near Side
20 Minutes, 40 Years • Isis, from Wavering Radiant
Already Gone • Saint Bernadette, from Word To The Lourdes
Becoming Chaos • The Unravelling, from 13 Arcane Hymns
Deerslayer • Black Math Horseman, from Wyllt
Run • The Atomic Bitchwax, from Tab 4

Far Side
Take Me Home • Lowstar, from Natrual High
This Is Where It Ends • Clair. Obscur, from Hitch
Two Birds • Assembled Head In Sunburst Sound, from When Sweet Sleep Returned
Where You Sleep • Apteka, from the Tour EP
Whores • Jane's Addiction, from Up From The Catacombs(The Best of Jane's Addiction)
 
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New Music: Fanfarlo, Reservoir
Today is the last day you can download Fanfarlo's great new album, Reservoir, for just a dollar through the band's website. We spent most of yesterday driving around running errands and had the music playing the entire time and enjoyed every track on the album. Each song stands on its own in conception and delivery, and it is one of the flowing albums I've ever heard. Simon Balthazar has assembled a wonderful group of musicians whose music is more of a defining moment or an event than just a song. The obligatory hooks and assorted sounds are there, but there is something more to what this band is doing; maybe it's just everything seems to mesh so well that one can only hope there is much, much more to come from them in the future. I first learned of this band via a post from Captain Obvious, and from what I've read the band is proving to be a blog favorite. They should...this album needs to be in most everyone's collection. Highly recommended, should be one of the top releases of the year.

Drowning Men
Fanfarlo: Website • MySpace
 
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03 July 2009
From The Blogroll: 07.03.09

Echoes In The Wind...I Wasn't There
Foeweel !!! ???...The Wall Can't Read Your Handwriting
How Marvellous...The Lure
Mars Needs Guitars...The Letter
The Midnight Tracker...A Sleepy Summer Night

 
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From The Inbox: 07.03.09
Toronto's The Junction will be releasing their third album, Another Link In The Chain. If you aren't familiar with the band, they feature a nice combination of upbeat indie-pop grooves and jazzy melodic bits resulting in a very catchy sound. The band will self-release the album and will be in stores on July 28th. The Junction is comprised of Brent Jackson(guitar/vocals), Matt Jameson(bass) and Mike Taylor(drums), and have become a staple in the Canadian music scene.

Pick Your Battles
The Junction: Website • MySpace • Watch the band's store for the release

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Concord, North Carolina's Avett Brothers feature some of the most beautiful traditional folk/bluegrass/acoustic music you'll hear. Scott(vocals and banjo) and Seth(vocals and guitar) started making music together as kids, and their group's genesis begins when they were members of a rock band called Nemo which played regularly in Greenville, NC. They will be releasing their newest body of work, I and Love and You, on September 29th through Columbia Records. They will also tour extensively through August in support of the release. Exceptional sound, highly recommended.

I and Love and You
The Avett Brothers: Website • MySpace • Pre-order I and Love and You thorugh Amazon

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Pacific Theater will release their debut full-length album, Animals at Night, on August 11th. Two years in the making, and recorded and mixed in Farnham, Quebec at Petite Église by Mark Lawson (Unicorns, Final Fantasy, Beirut), the record blends indie rock sounds, new wave influences, ambient textures and a hint of shoegaze while establishing energetic and original sounds. Pacific Theater formed in the spring of 2007 by Dan Ryan and Adam Travis, who worked together at New York City’s venerable Bowery Ballroom. The duo became the band as they are known today with the additions of friends Daniel Bellury and Gina Yates, accomplished musicians and songwriters in their own right. Pacific Theater are currently playing shows along the East Coast and are planning a U.S. tour in support of the new album. They've also already started work on their next album.

Lions
Pacific Theater: Website • MySpace • Watch Whale Heart Records for the release

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Seattle's Final Spins has released their debut album, This Is Then/That Was Now, and the sound is totally 60's garage rock with a twist of Dylan and Springsteen. No surprise considering the band lineup: singer/guitarist Joe Syverson(Throw Me the Statue), bassist Zach Tillman and guitarist Colin Wolberg(Siberian), keyboardist Chris Early(Amateur Radio Operator, Band of Horses) and drummer Colin English(Hardly Art’s Pica Beats). Amazingly, the band only played six shows together before releasing the album; hard to believe, since they sound so deep into their music for such a short time together. Excellent!

Let Me Fall
Final Spins: MySpace • This Is Then/That Was Now available via CD Baby

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August 4th is the release date for Medeski Martin & Wood's third segment of the Radiolarians Series, Radiolarians III. Recorded last December, Radiolarians III finds the group doing what they do best, mixing genres perfectly and improvising in what is the best album for them to date. Rising grooves, primal beats, a bit of psychedelia and electronica all mesh together into a flighty sound that actually becomes more epic with each listen. All three albums will be compiled into a limited-edition boxed set with extensive packaging, vinyl, and bonus audio and video content, in time for the holiday season of ‘09. Radiolarians III will be released through the band's own label, Indirecto.

Undone
Medeski Martin & Wood: Website • MySpace • Watch the band's store for the release

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The lovely Genna Giacobassi of Fiction Like Candy is in the midst of a neat project, a cover song a week for the summer and all done by fan submission. The two most recent offerings are Elvis Costello's Beyond Belief and a tribute to Michael Jackson with Girlfriend. If you haven't heard Genna sing, you need to. If her voice doesn't do it for you, someone needs to check you for a pulse.
 
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July Sky

Click for full-size; feel free to steal or share!

Took this image from our back patio about 20 minutes ago. It looked pretty unique so I thought I'd share it.

Lights In The Sky • Nine Inch Nails, from The Slip
 
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Mooning You

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has begun mapping the moon for future landings, and later in the mission will capture images of the Apollo equipment left behind from those fake moon landings (the movie set has been moved from Arizona to Taurus-Littrow), so those of you that subscribe to that theory will be able to shift focus back to Area 51. We left that in Nevada.

Moon Baby • Godsmack. from 1998's killer self-titled LP
Goodnight Moon • Shivaree, from 1999's I Oughtta Give You a Shot in the Head for Making Me Live in This Dump
All I Wanted Was The Moon • Josephine Foster, from This Coming Gladness
Living On The Moon • Jeremy Fisher, from 2005's Let It Shine
 
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02 July 2009
Repost: Lowstar, Natural High EP

Lowstar, one of the first bands we'd heard from when Local Vertical was just a baby blog-and sadly one band that still seems to fly under the radar-has some new music out and not surprisingly it's just fantastic. Four tracks make up the Natural High EP, and even though it's only four it was very difficult to choose which one to share. But you can hear all of them at the band's website as we felt like torturing you into a couple of mouse clicks. Lowstar is a London-based four-piece band that has a knack for killer guitars, appropriate lyrics, stomping drums, and not getting the recognition they deserve. Hopefully, a label will discover how good they are and sign 'em up. Until then, let's hope the blog word-of-type chain works in their favor. Highly recommended.

mp3: Natural High • Drone, from 2006's Alphabet Blues
Lowstar on MySpace • Website • Alphabet Blues on You Tube
 
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New Music: Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle, Havana Winter
Wayo, I've got three days off! For those of you that don't know me-that's pretty much all of you-that's like an eternity of time off for me. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do but a break is always welcome. And to set the extended stay away off right, I present to you these two droids...err, Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle. A Toronto-based four-piece folk rock band, their new release Havana Winter is good music to further a good mood. Hearn is best known for his work with Barenaked Ladies and has continues to refine his solo career. Featuring collaborations with Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson, Hearn and Thin Buckle feature dynamic and soaring melodies along with catchy tempos. Appropriately described as a great headphones album, Hanava Winter is just a good listen all the way around. It's the band's fifth album and will be released in the States on July 28. Excellent, highly recommended.

Huntsville.ca
Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle: Website • MySpace • Watch Kevin's store for the release
 
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27 June 2009
More Of The Lonely H
Thought we'd share another track from the killer recent release by The Lonely H, Concrete Class. The Lonely H is a four-piece Seattle classic rock band that has flat got it figured out. The booming voice belongs to front man Mark Fredson, and along with drummer Ben Eyestone, bassist Johnny Whitman and guitarist Eric Whitman, their music is simply timeless in sound and lyrics. Perfect for any tabletop jukebox in any diner on Route 66, in any local honky tonk or on any stereo playing in front of a group of friends, their sound is almost a celebration of Americana and old blue jeans and moonshine. In this day and age of so much electronic communication that the mouth is almost obsolete, Concrete Class takes you back to the front porch of the house you grew up in while you watched Uncle Ed change the battery in the Torino. I hate using the hokey term 'feel-good music', but that's exactly what it is. They are going to be on tour through the end of July, and if my work-schedule luck holds out a bit, we're going to try and catch them either in Jacksonville or Orlando in early July. Yes, they sound a lot like the Eagles; by coincidence, the Eagles also sound a lot like them. Highly recommended.

Out West
The Lonely H: MySpace • Concrete Class available via Amazon
 
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