#ted alexander

Okay, today got a bit heavy. I love and appreciate everyone who’s still with me, so let’s end this day on something light: one of my favorite Saves the Day videos (live or otherwise), a live 2000 performance of Through Being Cool’s “Holly Hox Forget Me Nots.”

This is video is peak 2000, and peak Saves the Day -- they’re just a bunch of ordinary young men having an absolute blast on stage. It’s notable that Chris Conley is wearing the same shirt here that he wears in the band’s first music video for “Shoulder to the Wheel” (which we’ll talk about a little later in the week), a testament to the band’s lo-fi, keeping it real attitude.

But what I love about this video more than anything is Conley’s dance in the song’s bridge. He’s so confident when he asks “Okay, are you ready? Let’s dance,” but then immediately breaks into this dorky little jig that’s just the most endearing thing I’ve ever seen in my life -- rhythm guitarist Ted Alexander’s shimmy throughout much of the video is on the same level. It’s all just so fun and unpretentious. I never want to underestimate Saves the Day’s skill -- they sound just as good here as they do on the album -- but their ordinariness is something I just love so much about them.

That makes it all the more funny that Saves’ next album, 2001’s Stay What You Are, became their mainstream breakthrough. Saves are no sell-outs, though (and they wouldn’t be even if selling out was a legitimate concept and not just a sham), and never fully seemed comfortable with their success. We’ll cover this tumultuous period -- and the classic albums it produced -- tomorrow.

17/06/15

Song: The Vast Spoils of America (From The Badlands Through The Ocean)

Artist: Saves The Day (Chris Conley, David Soloway, Ted Alexander, Eben D’Amico, Bryan Newman)

July: Terror on the Border – Chambersburg Civil War Seminars and Tours

Since I’m mentioning Civil War events for this summer, let me throw in one more.  The Chambersburg Civil War Seminars and Tours hosts another of their excellent programs in July.  From their website:

This Civil War tour will feature Ed Bearss, Jeffry Wert, Richard Sommers, Ted Alexander and others for this action-packed seminar. July 23-27, 2014 Based in Chambersburg, Pa.

Click here to download the…

Ted Alexander - Energy - LAD007

Label: Life & Death

Ted Alexander - Energy

Even though it's been a short work week, it's still been a stressful one. Maybe I've OD'ed on holiday family time. Either way, TGIFF. While I usually like to get the weekend started with a bass-thumping techno song, I need to first calm my nerves with some deep house grooves. 

They have a great logo, and have garnered a reputation as quite eccentric and eclectic.  Now the Italian oddball label, Life and Death,  has recently released a near perfect EP of both new and familiar artists on their scrumptious ‘Some Things (Fall)’ EP.

Brothers Fognini take off in pole position.  It’s an instant hook and I dig it.  They put on the pseudonym of Mind Against and get to work. It’s danceable and a bit strange, and delectable.  The label puts another new kid up next, Ted Alexander.  He’s offering up a nice and easy paced dance number.  Clarian North, one half of Footprintz, also makes his solo debut on here.  The second disc of the EP has some more familiar names with Tale of Us and Christian Löffler, all good and all worth checking out.

The beauty of this record is that the whole thing moves along at such a nice pace, and everything just…works!  There is nothing to get bored with. Word on the street is that the label has garnered a reputation for the tasteful and eclectic.  Add to their short run of releases (this is only #7) another charmer and you are well on your way to cementing that reputation.  Making it better still, is the cover.  Like a quick Sendak sketch of ‘Where The Wild Things Are’, it is a sure sign of the fun which waits inside the white sleeve.