Radical Transparency

Ran into The Spinto Band on a sidewalk by a big blue mailbox in the mushroom capital of the world today.  They were eating pastries and looking at recording studio space.  It was funny asking questions and having six people respond, rarely more than two voices at a time, gracefully, coherently.  They looked more like rockstars than I'd ever seen them.

This is the song they played to close out last summer's music festival.  It's not on an album.  I stole it from here.

Click here to download:

Give Me Just a Little More Time.mp3 (3353 KB)

Went to see The Spinto Band in Philly last night.

A band called Hoots and Hellmouth played the set before Spinto's.  They were awesome.  No drummer, just little plywood platforms under their feet and lots of stomping.

I woke up this morning wanting more, so I swung by Geesh and Jon's to borrow the H&H CD they bought at the show.

They weren't home.  And neither was the CD.  So I grabbed what was sitting on their stereo and sent them text messages thanking them.

I found Frightened Rabbit.  An album called Sing the Greys.  My favorite so far is track 11, a song called Snake.

Click here to download:

Snake.mp3 (2379 KB)

Note: Pretty sure it's "pack your chapstick and your tights," but I think they should change it.

I don't understand this song.  I don't really even know if I like it.  But I can't stop listening.

I got it from a mixed cd that Jon gave me the other day.  All Park the Van music, music that shares Spinto's record label.

Not sure on what album the song was originally released, but here's Seth Kauffman's website.

Click here to download:

50 Lashes.mp3 (4471 KB)

I am very late to this party.  This video was posted in 2006, and over 41 million people have already watched it.  I found out about it tonight while watching YouTube Live and waiting for The Spinto Band to come on.



I saw OK Go live in Providence, RI in probably 2001.  They opened for Phantom Planet.  Tiny venue.  We went because Jason Schwartzman was drumming.  We were hoping for a little Max Fischer proximity.  As we walked in, we saw Schwartzman at the t shirt table.  Zeke got excited.  "Hey Schwartzman, take off your shirt!" he screamed.  Schwartzman heard.  He looked up, made eye contact with Zeker, reached for the bottom of his shirt, gave a little up fake, and shook his head.  We laughed, walked through the crowd to the table, and bought totally sweet Phantom Planet armbands.

Tough crowd for Spinto in DC the other night.

Made me wonder what a band should do when, halfway though a show, the audience is still a little dance shy.  Tune everything out and play for the music itself?  Rock it hard for the handful of fans that are going crazy?  Or pay close attention, rethink the song list, take the tempo down a notch, get people swaying, and build from there?

I thought Spinto had a chance to slow down and reengage on Friday.  They sped it up instead.  And it didn't work.

But Pumpkins and Paisley, track 8 on Moonwink and a free download on Amazon, did.

For me anyway.  And, apparently, for YouTube as well.  They featured the video today. 



Probably laying some groundwork for Spinto's participation in YouTube Live next Saturday.

The first time I saw The Spinto Band live, they opened with this song.  And rocked a very small house. The East End Cafe in Newark, DE. 

December 2003 if I remember correctly.  Or earlier maybe.  Two members of the band were still in high school.

I'm going to see them again tonight.  In Washington, DC.  At a more substantial venue.  And I'm pretty sure they won't play Kind of a Girl.  Which is a small bummer.  But, someday, when they're truly big and famous, they'll get back into the old stuff.  They'll want see what the fans saw in the beginning.

They'll want to remember moments like this:

Sorry I don't have any solutions
But I admire your problems
Though I can't tell if they're from the heart or
Just a conversation starter

Gotta respect a rhyme like that.

Kind of a Girl is not on either of Spinto's "real" label-released albums.  I have it on a compilation that's been drifting through my family since we first got to know the band.  We label the burned CDs Nashville Recordings.  Kind of a Girl is track 13, but, given that show at East End, I'll always think of it as a track 1.

Click here to download:

13 Kind Of A Girl.mp3 (2984 KB)

I sent an email this morning to Jon from The Spinto Band:

We had an awesome time at 1st Unitarian in Philly on Friday.  I was jumping around like crazy, and Kevin and Kevin, two of Parker's musician friends were 100% into it throughout the show.  After the show we discussed, and we all (Parker, Giuls, Zach, Kevin, Kevin, and I) think you guys should work a Ween cover into your repertoire.

He responded:

We've been working on a 45 minute version of Poop Ship Destroyer.  It's almost ready.

Ambitious.  And true to Ween.  I'd probably go with something a little more crowd friendly.  A bridge song, if you will.  You know, ease people into things.  But if Poop Ship is speaking to you, Spinto, play Poop Ship.  I respect that.

Regardless, Poop Ship or no Poop Ship, I'm going to take Jon's email response as a promise that The Spinto Band will be covering Ween, in the near future, at a smallish concert venue near you. 

I expect The Spinto Band to take this blog post as a challenge.

Back to Basom is track 7 on White Pepper.

Click here to download:

07 Back To Basom.mp3 (4423 KB)

Going to see The Spinto Band play later tonight.  They call their music lollipop rock.  One of my friends is a little more descriptive.  When I first gave him a few songs on a mix, he listened, loved it, and introduced it to his friends as nerd rock.

Click here to download:

14 Japan Is an Island.mp3 (3421 KB)