TOO EARLY FOR FLAPJACKS?

I hereby resolve not to be one of those bloggers who starts every blog post apologizing for the lack of updates. But I gotta admit, what with life and work and everything else, the posting on here is never gonna be super consistent-- I try to write only when I have something to say, not just constantly post mp3s and concert dates as done for $$$ by the more promotional blogs I still have in my RSS reader from New York. Still, I always feel like I could be doing more. So Kimberly Isburg's column in last week's Juice really struck a chord with me.

Isburg writes about how she used to consider herself an "overachiever," but 2009 left her more with items lingering on her to-do list than sense of accomplishment. She keeps thinking about that paint she bought in September and hasn't put on the walls yet. Or the unpacking she hasn't quite wrapped up since moving. The friends who are having babies, getting advanced degrees, earning promotions, "cooking gourmet meals on weeknights." And all that time wasted on social networking websites. (Which, a recent study says, lead to bigger and more diverse social networks-- duh. But they don't give me the same sense of satisfaction as having talked with somebody in person.)

Anyway, I could relate. 2009 was the first year when I didn't feel like I was making big leaps in either my business journalism or my music writing. I didn't have my work published in any new publications or take on any major new roles. I didn't compose any sprawling think pieces that someone could recommend for one of the Da Capo best music writing books. My most ambitious idea never quite came to fruition, making me just another annoying schmuck with a half-formed concept for a book, maan. And, like Isburg, I moved-- from Brooklyn to Iowa, in my case, meaning that I was also removed from a decent barometer of how my year was stacking up against those of my peers.

Then again, I had one hell of a year. I moved! I bought a home! I decided living 1,000 miles from my employer and the center of my music universe was actually an awesome idea! I met a bunch of new people, got my head out of my Brooklyn/indie bubble (sort of), and continued to write tons of stories and discover new music that moved and entranced me. I made it so I could basically walk across the street to see the Japandroids. I went to the 80/35 festival. I went to the Pitchfork festival. I saw more movies. I took time to read more. It may have been below zero around here the past couple of weeks, but with the skywalk and all the great restaurants and bars downtown, I have been spending less time in the cold than I would have had to in New York. A guy I met the other night at Hessen Haus, a Greenwich Village native, told me living in Iowa "feels like cheating," and he's right. So what if I still don't have enough shelves for all my books and CDs, or if I haven't put anything on the walls yet in my "office"? I won.

Then why do I still feel as if-- right now, while I'm productively typing these words for publication to my friends and neighbors and relatives and even total strangers-- there are a million other things I should be doing? Yesterday! In more places! Harder, better, faster, stronger! For great internet justice...

Isburg's resolution this year is to give herself a break. I don't know if I can do that. In fact, I probably can't. But it's good advice to remember.

Lots going on here lately, not much I can comment on interestingly at length. Poison Control Center, Christopher the Conquered, and Wolves in the Attic sounded great as usual during the New Year's bash at the Des Moines Social Club (whole scene was a little crowded, though). Hanwell, a band out of Newton, Iowa, were a nice surprise at the Vaudeville Mews the other day, peppering their set of Wilco-tinged rock with covers of songs by the Kinks and Elvis Costello. I stopped by the Mews again Saturday night to check out another local band, Cleo's Apartment, who I recall being really fun this summer at 515 Alive, but as I realized the show wasn't going to start until the a.m. hours, I resolved to catch them next time instead. Lame, I know. But give me a break.

I noticed only too late they were giving away free pancakes.

UPCOMING: Asklandaganza on Saturday at the Mews (I'll be there fer sure), Pentagram 01/26 at the Mews, Jemina Pearl 02/05 same place, Headlights 02/23, A Sunny Day in Glasgow 03/04, Zoos of Berlin 03/28, Electric Six 03/31, Morning Benders 04/09. At bigger venues, Brad Paisley plays Wells Fargo Arena on Friday but I'll miss due to the cost and Mrs. Des Noise's birthday, Tim McGraw 02/13, Black Eyed Peas 03/25.

ONE FOR THE MONEY

I haven't been ignoring you. I've been going to shows! Nothing particularly earth-shattering to report (other than: 515 Alive? Fun!) so let's keep this casual:

The highlight of the past few days would have to be the 515 Alive festival here in downtown Des Moines on Saturday night. Compared to the higher-profile 80/35 earlier this summer, this free event skewed younger, with lots of high school kids walking around. Hardly a crowd worthy of the kind of fun-hating done by local business owners last week (I didn't stay until the end, but "drunkfest"? Have you been out on a weekend night around my building lately? No comparison).

No way I would've been allowed to go to something like 515 Alive when I was 15 or 16, but man, it must've been an exciting experience for those kids-- out in the downtown at night, dancing under the stars to music you'd usually have to be 21 to check out at a bar or club, if you even knew where to find it. I tried to put myself in their frame of mind. Three stages-- the middle one felt the hottest, so we mostly stuck to the main stage and the techno stage at the opposite end of the event. (Oh, and there were people performing in a few of the local bars, too, but with everything looking too crowded-- last year's event brought out 14,000-- we braved the muggy heat outdoors.) At the techno stage, we saw a couple of DJs spinning some relatively minimal, straightahead stuff, beneath an empty building with a flashing applause sign in the window. Wish I caught their names, but the first guy did a great job of letting the beats build, so you'd get peak after peak and hands would go into the air. The second guy would just sort of alternate between peaks and valleys, but the beer must've been flowing because there always seemed to be someone who was really feeling it.

Over at the main stage, I actually caught the performers' names. Journalism! Jurassic Five apparently split up, but former member Akil the MC made the trip to Des Moines in support of a new solo album, Soundcheck. I can freely admit the things that separate Akil's music from some of my favorite rap: It looks backward rather than forward, it means exactly what it says without a hint of mischief or wordplay, and it can be super preachy. But I'm not gonna pretend he didn't put on a charming, good-time show the other night. Akil seemed sort of sad and uncertain without his group, and that vulnerability made him more likable-- you felt like he actually wanted to be here. It didn't hurt that he kept shouting out Iowa, with a hint maybe of effort but not sarcasm. We got to the stage right in the middle of Jurassic Five's "I Am Somebody", and Akil-- now backed by the DJ from his pre-Jurassic crew-- also briefly did an a cappella snippet of "Concrete Schoolyard" (I guess the whole song is a little too group-centric to fit in at a solo show, bummer). All in all, lots of old-school beats and unbridled positivity. Local MCs came up to join Akil on stage to show off their stuff, and the highlight had to be when one woman opened her mouth and sang in a gorgeous gospel voice instead of reciting her (in one would-be Asher Roth's case) crisply delivered but not exactly spontaneous-sounding verses. Akil did new stuff, too, including one song based around the whole "one for the money, two for the show..." shtick. Not so great, but it was an uncritical kind of evening and any musical shortcomings couldn't dim the overall enthusiasm. Akil later came back to do a verse with local funksters Cleo's Apartment, who were fun to dance to and had a lead singer whose hairdo and tie gave her a space-age look reminiscent of Janelle Monae. Never did see the Jungle Brothers, though... anybody have a recap?

Christopher the Conquered, Casper & the Cookies, Nuclear Rodeo, and Bradley Unit and the Members played at Vaudeville Mews on Thursday night, and I was there, too. I don't really feel like I retained enough observations from that night for a thorough review, but I was pleased by Bradley Unit's wry, low-key jangle-pop, complete with a cover of my beloved Scottish group Belle and Sebastian. I realized I had seen Nuclear Rodeo before-- catchy power-pop, highlighted by a song about Iowa's own Shawn Johnson. Athens, Ga. power-poppers Casper & the Cookies were energetic performers with lots of stage moves, and I know they've toured with Ames band the Poison Control Center, but the crowd was REALLY thin this night, and I gotta say I don't remember any of the songs well enough to run out and bring everybody I know next time-- maybe I just wasn't in the right mood. And locals Christopher the Conquered headlined, with a fine set of piano pop that culminated in a ballad for singer Chris Ford's girlfriend, away in Chicago that night. The PBR was getting to me by that point, but I seem to recall Chris (who is a reader and a nice dude, so in other words someone difficult to write about objectively) coming out into the crowd and singing that one from the floor.

Which is about where I want to be right now, unless I can make it as far as the bed.

Atmosphere tomorrow night at Simon Estes, and I'm already definitely going to see Jamey Johnson at the State Fair. Caught the I-Cubs on Friday, too, but you don't need a recap of that (they won!). What else is going on?

This post would've been a lot more interesting if I had taken pictures as I was people-watching on Saturday night. Really varied crowd that night, from hippies to just about everybody else. The common thread was people looking like individuals-- always refreshing.