Poster for to End/Save All Posters

Available for free at the show.

James Kafader hath conceived again. It will be epic.

love always,
The Chop

The Chop performs!

The Chop is soon to be donning holocaust cloaks, hopping in wheelbarrows, and storming castles all across this Western Coast a la the Dread Pirate Roberts.  Get your gate keys ready.

Dates this spring:

February 28th (Saturday): Coho Cafe in Stanford, CA *

March 14th (Saturday): Chop's 509 Club (All Ages!) in Santa Rosa, CA * 

March 19th (Thursday): Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco, CA **

this is the big one, friends.  You have to come to this.  buy a ticket, with love.  Mr Kafader's most stunning poster to be posted very soon.

April 10th (Friday): Brainwash Cafe in San Francisco, CA - Blue and Gold (solo) 

April 15th (Wednesday) at Coho Cafe in Stanford, CA

April 17th (Friday): Kimo's in San Francisco,  CA *

April 24th (Friday): Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, OR

May 1st (Saturday): The G Street Pub in Davis, CA

May 2nd (Saturday): Stork Club in Oakland, CA *

May 14th (Thursday): The Old Ironsides in Sacramento, CA

May 15th (Friday) : Luckey's in Eugene, OR

May 16th (Saturday): Mars Bar in Seattle, WA ^*

* with Goodbye Nautilus

** with The Dont's and Low Red Land

^* with Quadrillion and Kill Cupid

Dates and details and all updates are also available here:

www.thechoprocks.com

In other news:

We're on Rhapsody (an online music service)...Rhapsody pays artists (all of them) royalties for every listen to a song (about 1 cent per play...but still).  Support this company!  Support The Chop by playing our album on Rhapsody.  We love pennies!

Also, please exhibit your unyielding devotion to our cause via Facebook an up and coming online social network which has gained some popularity among the youth.

would anybody care for a peanut?

rob

Blue and Gold's first show

Hey Folks-

I (Rob) decided to begin recording and performing solo under the name Blue and Gold.

The first show happened about 10 days ago at a cafe in San Francisco called Brainwash.  It's also a laundrymat, and generally a cool place to hang out, though their equipment stash left something to be desired. It was a fun and relaxed sort of time with a few friends and bandmates.  Soaptones (aka Eric from Goodbye Nautilus) also played a set of his songs.

Blue and Gold has a myspace page with some very primitive demo recordings up, but I reckon I'll keep getting better and will definitely be posting new stuff there soon.

Here's some videos from the show...these are all my songs, except the last one's a Boyz II Men cover.

"Five Points"

"Get Up On Your Feet":

"Radio Doctor Part I":

"I Missed You More":

"The Pace":

"End of the Road":

Where did the time (and all my 5 dollar bills) go? Vol II: SuperBowl edition!

So very much has been occurring in the spacetime of The Chop multiverse, but I can't find the cord to connect my camera and share the numerous hilarious/gregarious pictures with you.  I find text-only posts to be pretty bland, so I'm reverting to one of my favorite topics to expound upon....video games and their effect on my life.

In the last installment, I carefully explained the impact Street Fighter II had on my life.  The response was vast in scope and voluminous in nature. "More!" you cried.  Today I oblige.

While the beer and guacamole-consuming public are in the grips of "football fever" a syndrome typically fueled by "actual games" with "modern teams" who play a carefully plotted game ripe with subtlety and real world importance (sort of), I am still completely in love with a little cartridge (nay, phenomenon!) known as Tecmo Super Bowl (alternately/commonly/incorrectly referred to as Super Tecmo Bowl).

To say this game has affected my life would be gross understatement.  This game continues to define 15 year old friendships.  This game has yielded some of the most glorious victories and most crushing defeats ever experienced (on earth).  This game made me the man I am.

The game (in brief, for to explain it's intricacies would take many a page):

A football game for NES which incorporates all the teams, uniforms, colors, and player rosters of the time.  This in itself was a huge innovation in football gaming technology.  You have access to a first and second string (all real people, with individual portraits and statistics) and can sub players as you wish.  Defensive players are there as well, but no changes or substitutions are possible.

The game is playable as exhibition or in the context of a season, for the game invents a full 16 week schedule and auto-plays all the games you don't want to.  In other words, you can play one team through an entire season and post-season, and let the computer autoplay all the other games (for which outcomes and stats are generated), or you could conceivably play every single game in a season.

My history with the game:  

Christmas Day, 1991:  Ernest, my best friend at that time, calls gushing with excitement.  He has received Tecmo Super Bowl for NES.  His elation is barely concealed as he comments on the graphics with a now oft-cited and fondly remembered, "you can see the wrinkles on the ref's face!"

Needless to say I was excited to see the wrinkles on the ref's face.

We begin playing the game incessantly.  Ernest's father ("Big Joe Beserker") even got really into it, and they played it and argued about it enough to have Ernest's mother take the controllers away as punishment.  Over the last 18 years, Ernest and I only end up seeing each other a couple times year (first because we drifted apart (I partially credit Tecmo Super Bowl with rekindling our friendship five years ago) and now because we live on different coasts) but when we are together, we always play Tecmo Bowl.

Johnny Buffalo Balls Magrans and I also have a rich history with Tecmo, we started our friendship in highschool, with a tradition of me coming over to his parents house for Sunday dinner, a tradition that was enriched by our weekly Tecmo Bowl games.  These days we typically only play when Ernest comes into town, resulting in brutal three man tournaments lasting far into the night.

How the playing has changed:

Amazingly (for a Nintendo game) it has held up not only for its nostalgia value (although that is quite high) but for the fact that our strategies and approaches have changed over the years.  With many games of this era, one reaches a certain basic level of skill and then plateaus forever.  The truly great games however show a subtlety of play and a strategic depth that defy this convention.  Tecmo Super Bowl is most certainly one of these games.  Over the last 17 years, our skill and understanding of the game has changed dramatically.  We've discovered under-appreciated players and made them legends,  we've learned the proper use of every defensive position, we've completely banned punts and field goals from the game, and perhaps most importantly, we've thoroughly incorporated gambling into the ritual.

Present Day:

We have a hotly debated "tier" system which proposes to rank the teams, then we revel in creating new matchups and different ways to bet on them.  Although we long ago established a standard, needs-not-be-discussed "5-dollar a game" rule, in recent spates we've begun making numerous side bets on things like running yards and pass completion percentage.  Other standards (of betting) that have evolved are the following: Shutout pays double, safeties pay 2 dollars, kickoff return pays 3 dollars, and a blocked extra point pays 10 dollars (these are quite rare).

As another testament to the amazing durability of NES games, we continue to play that original cartridge given to Ernest 17 years ago.  At some point I took possession of it and eventually bought Ernest another via Ebay, which I then had signed by Tecmo-era 49ers running back Roger Craig at a book signing on Haight Street.  Ernest responded by permanently affixing a Henry Ellard trading card to my copy.

I know I claimed to be ready to face an opponent in Street Fighter II, but have since realized that I am now only mediocre at that game.  Tecmo Super Bowl is a completely different story...I am chomping at the bit to take you on.  I don't care what team you pick, I don't care who you think you are, I will beat you and take your 5 dollars.

Also, as a sidenote:

Bo knows absurd dedication to a Nintendo game (this is not me, and I haven't accomplished this, though Ernest has at least come close):

it's certainly possible that I reached for the secret too soon,

rob

Record Shopping in the 21st century

This past Saturday, I woke up feeling unbelievably terrible, the result of a long-lasting adventure in the Mission which included shuffleboard, a Moped shop, and culmination/deterioration into champagne toasts at the top of Dolores. Waking up on a Saturday and having absolutely nothing to do is a beautiful, albeit occasionally overwhelming, feeling. I pondered this in a booze trance and decided to hit the streets for coffee, to catch a movie by myself, and to go record shopping.

I still really love the record store experience. I love pretty much every aspect of it, and living in San Francisco has a benefit in the awesome resource that is Amoeba records. I should also mention that I recently fixed my component turntable and have been getting into vinyl, so I went over there to buy some used records as well as CDs, and I noticed some things.

I suppose vinyl is inherently cool, but I want to talk about how Amoeba's pricing of said vinyl struck me as oddly indicative of what is and is not cool in terms of old(er) music these days. They get a lot of used vinyl there, so much so that they are offering to give away boxes of it for art projects or industrious DJs or community vinyl reconditioning experiments. Naturally they don't take scratched up stuff, so most of the albums look great. The main differences therefore are in price, and after my experience on Saturday I found myself (over)analyzing some of the current trends in retro-music coolness, as indicated (solely) by the seemingly arbitrary pricing of good condition vinyl.

Steely Dan The Royal Scam
Price = 3.99
Purchased!

Why do people hate the Dan? I seriously don't understand why no one (apparently) desires this album. There were two of these!  This record particularly strikes me as a highpoint of 70s cool. Slick production, hot solos, cryptic lyrics concerning San Francisco. How can Journey be making such a comeback whilst Fagen and Becker get no love?

Van Morrison Astral Weeks
Price = 26 dollars
Not Purchased!

Van is most certainly the man, and this album proves it. I've been familiar with it for several years now, but it has come back up in my musical rotation lately, and I thought I'd see about the vinyl. It was only available as a new pressing, hence the inflated price. I had no idea the kids were purchasing this stuff, but all in all, it's a good thing. Sunny days ahead.

Paul Simon Paul Simon
Price = 2.99
Purchased!

This is a classic for sure. I guess Graceland is probably selling well right now, based at least in part of Vampire Weekend's success and I couldn't find a copy of that at all, new or used. This not being sought after doesn't really surprise me, but it doesn't mean it's not fucking great. Terrific songwriting like Mother and Child Reunion and Me and Julio, and the other album tracks really showcase him as an interesting and I think highly underrated guitar player.

Velvet Underground Velvet Underground
Price = can't remember, but it was expensive
Not Purchased

Not to be confused with The Velvet Underground and Nico, this is the third LP, post-John Cale that has Candy Says and Pale Blue Eyes on it. Scorchingly affecting on headphones. Anyway, VU are forever cool, so this isn't really surprising, but again, there were new pressings of what I was considering their least appreciated (but also best, in my opinion) album so I guess it's still selling. On the plus side, the CD is mixed/mastered to have that hi-fi that's sort of intentionally lo-fi feel to it and almost reminds me of how vinyl sounds anyway.

J.C. Superstar
Price = 3.99
Purchased

I won't bother to defend this. It's obviously uncool, but I love it.

Bill Cosby To Russell, My Brother, Whom I Slept With
Price = 1.99
Purchased

The Cos is cool. I think he gets minimal respect because he's more understated then many modern comedians, more of a storyteller really and less like what stand-up comedy has evolved into. I think he's cool, but it's unlikely that the popular opinion will turn on that one anytime soon.  I particularly liked this album cover and will probably hang it up.

Bruce Springsteen Various Albums
Price = various prices!
None Purchased

An interesting one for me because I am convinced he's coming back on the coolness wheel. I've always idealized the man, but my peers have and continue to be somewhat hard on him (this despite the fact that the almost uninanimous "Best Record of 2007", Arcade Fire's Neon Bible draws very heavily and unabashedly from The Boss). Born in the USA was present in multiple cheap copies as this is often considered to the young, hip, newly-converted Springsteen fan to be a lowpoint (Wrong!).  Nebraska, the de facto "it's cool to like this (Springsteen) record cause its sparse and edgy" option, was not to be found. Again, no real surprise. All in all though, there were just very few choices for a man who's recorded albums consistently for 35 years. Someone is buying up these other 70s gems (Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, Greetings From Asbury Park, etc...).  I guess I'm saying...Bruce is coming back. Believe.

trenchantly insightful,
The Amazing Rob

November happenings

It's been busy and frenzied, my children...

At the beginning of the month, we debuted our new lineup and opened for The Spinto Band at Bottom of the Hill.  It was awesome, as exhibited here:

The Chop was a vicious task-master of rock that eve I can pledge!

The boys of Spinto hopped up and helped us close the show with our whiskey-fueled anthem to Wilmington, Delaware.  The Spintos are a killer band and awesome dudes to boot.  Please send love/money their way whenever possible.

Also--HUGE NEWS:

"We Want It All" is available on iTunes, Amazon.com, Rhapsody and a host of other digital music vendors.  Access!  But here's the really big one.

The Chop's record slip-slithered its way into the Pandora database.  

This is actually a monumentally awesome development in our world.  If you don't know what Pandora is, please go check it out immediately.  It's a terrificly easy-to-use resource for music, and it is 100% FREE. Now we spend all day listening to the other songs that the massive Music Genome Project deems similar to our own.  You have no idea how rewarding an experience this can be.

Coming soon for The Chop:  new songs, new album, new outfits, new haircuts, and a new unquenchable lust for power!

Hurrah!

New song + New lineup + Album in stores + Help needed

Dear constituents,

Many things have been happening here in the hearts and minds of The Chop. Here's a summary:

1. We are hard at work on our new lineup for the November 2nd gig with The Spinto Band.  Tom has stepped forward and taken over the bass guitar.   And with that change, we've also got a new drummer, Aaron.  He's awesome.  Check out his exploits/skills with his other band Pegataur, or with his old band BoyJazz.

2. Our album, We Want It All is now available at record stores across this great country!  (literally,  two stores that are at diametrically opposed spots of the continent).

Get it at:

Amoeba Records in San Francisco, California  (1855 Haight Street)

or

Rainbow Records in Newark, Delaware (54 E Main Street)

Please please please go in and promptly fondle/buy it.

It's also available online now at CDBaby, and soon at various other digital outlets (updates to follow)

3. We have written and recorded a new song entitled "Born in Wilmington", a tribute to our hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.  The song is in the form of a traditional Irish drinking song and is meant to be sung loudly, whilst drinking.  Lyrics are here.

It is available for the listening/downloading on our various sites and also, here it be:

Fancy yourself a writer?  "Born in Wilmington" is just begging to have more verses written.

We ourselves cut at least three from this recording.  If you submit a verse that we like, we'll send you something cool (I swear) and maybe even sing it on stage.  So submit one.  Or just write us and tell us what you think.  About anything.  

Wondering how you can help us out?

Right now what we need is reviews, writeups or mentions of any kind.  Please pass our info along to anyone who will listen.  Download our songs (album here) (drinking song here) and pass them around as much as you can.

Thank you.

Led Zeppelin II "Heartbreaker" solos do not happen in a vaccuum,

robert