Tuesday, July 1, 2008

free record #9: cavedoll 'no vertigo'

once again a review goes out late. ah consistency you are the glue that holds america together. well that and little plastic american flags. so anytime a record says 'for fans of the rapture, radiohead, interpol and the cure' i'll check it out. well maybe more of the three former than the latter, but still. i digress. sure i hear parts of those three oft-compared current outfits (as of lately it seems) but i also hear pieces culled from talking heads, 60's pop, electronic and 80's new wave; 'taste like a hurricane' sounds like it could be some lost blondie nugget and 'cut in half' might be done by david lynch and david byrne.

this is not bad at all for an apparent studio rat (speculation) as 'no vertigo' was written (or co-written), recorded, mixed and mastered by camden chamberlain at cavedoll's studio kitefishing in slc, utah. oddly enough there is not word one about joseph smith or jackson county, missouri. this is really good for something that gothtards would go apeshit over as gothtards and i usually don't see eye to eye. or hear ear to ear as i've got nothing against goths, just some of the music is questionable at best. it's bouncy and catchy in all the right places and they even offer two covers; 'paint it black' and david bowie's 'heroes'. sharing production and vocal duties with his wife, chamberlain also plays the guitar you're hearing but part of the reason this record is good is that the rhythm section is spot on. you know, when they put their pills and drum machines down.

apparently this is just the first of no less than 10(?!) releases for this year from cavedoll with a planned data dvd containing their entire discography in massively unworthy mp3 format and other superfan shit like videos and photos. so if you think the rapture smiles too much when they bounce, check out cavedoll's darker side as they can jump just as high.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

free record #8: the lions rampant 'play rock n roll ep'

so it would seem that rock n roll is alive and well in cincinnati ohio (via kentucky). although the trio that is the lions rampant would seem more at home in detroit. this first or two ep's is finished in just over 17 minutes and touches upon garage rock just as much as the blues. think of a less experimental than the jon spencer blues explosion, to which whom they are compared in the press release, and more rocking than the black keys (also in the press release). then again 3 is greater than 2 so there's no surprises there. still it would seem more appropriate if these guys called the place home where the dirtbombs, the von bondies, the white stripes and the detroit cobras call home rather than the afghan whigs. the afghan whigs are the reason i think of cincinnati as an r'n'b city (read: fuckcity) instead of rock n roll.

i know it's overused but where's the mc5 comparision? or the stooges? personally, i'd be more inclined to look into something if it was compared to either of those two than the blues explosion. sometimes jon spencer comes off as trying too hard and we all know that's ryan adams' job

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

free record #7: the dilettantes '101 tambourines'

so writing about that warlocks show the other night got me thinking about other jonestown massacre bands. and then i remembered i got the dilettantes debut a few months ago and it was laying around here somewhere. then i found it and listened to it again and i don't remember it being this good. and then i got to thinking that if i had spent however many years with anton newcombe i would hope i would know a thing or two about songwriting.

with this wisdom bestowed upon him, gion and his bandmates create a sound comprised of garage rock's punkish leanings, a mid-90's britpop swagger and the psychedelic noise that san francisco is known for. as for gion's words, the lyrics seem comtemporary yet could have survived the beat generation as well. and not that pretentious either! then he delivers them on a spectrum that contains not only a honkytonked mick jagger and an unpretentious jim morrison but a punkish sneer he could claim for his own. (had billy idol not ruined them for everyone). guitarists jefferson parker and brock galland, bassist nick marcantonio and drummer kc kozak conjure up some rock n roll that has a timeless quality not unlike the brian jonestown massacre. the inevitable byrds comparison is best heard on 'the whole world', yet 'like crazy' could be from one of those nugget's series showcasing 60's underground psychedelic.


wearing california on their collective sleeve thru-ou the whole of the album, the most cali-sounding tunes ('never go without', 'don't you ever fall') are the jefferson parker penned. while other guitarist galland contributes a song as well ('kiss & run') which might be the most rock n roll on the album, with the drums driving along at the quickest pace heard all afternoon. it's got the best solo from the album on it as well. i guess it's no wonder why the writing process is as democratic as it is because i'm sure joel gion was tired of getting punched right in his quiet sidekick mouth.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

live review: the black angels & the warlocks

so what are the chances that two of your favorite bands will share a bill? and what are the odds that they play at a wicked local venue with a wicked local band? now takes those chances and odds and add them to the odds that this will be the best show you've ever been privy to and what do you get? well, if you happened to be at the mad planet here in milwaukee last night to catch the warlocks and the black angels play (and judging by the attendance you weren't) then those odds were astronomically out of your favor but you bet your chips right by going.

on my way to the show i was planning the night in my head. first up i will get the 'get smoked call', and then i'll see locals call me lightning, followed by the black angels, and then the warlocks will burn the whole fucking place down. this wasn't exactly a correct assumption, in fact it was completely wrong. i walk in unsmoked to hear 'we're the warlocks and we're from los angeles.' and i'm like 'i thought this shit went down at 10. oh well i guess i missed call me lightning. fuck it.' nope, for some reason the warlocks opened the show--not that i have anything (or had anything) against call me lightning--i thought the locals would play first. it doesn't seem unreasonable that the band on tour wouldn't open. oh well at least there wasn't any awkward standing around as i was rolling solo.


the warlocks played a set mostly composed of favorites ('the dope feels good', 'hurricane heart attack', 'come save us', 'the dope feels good') and some from the latest release heavy deavy skull lover; 'so paranoid' but the set seemed suspiciously short. maybe 8 songs. 9? draped in strategically placed light, the warlocks' silhouettes were all we we're allowed to see. this along with the fog that the fog machine spewed (that constantly reminded me i wasn't smoked) totally added to the ambience the music was putting out. head warlock bobby hecksher was kind of downer when he kept saying that the venue wasn't right and he'll never play there again. then again he kept reminding us that he was sick as well so maybe the two we're related. maybe that's just the los angeles in him. either way, i think the warlocks cemented themselves last night as the best jonestown massacre offshoot band (with black rebel motorcycle club coming in at a dangerously close second).


locals call me lightning came out and thrashed a ridiculously awesome set. apparently a dude from mudhoney (mark arm) and jack black (if jack black grew his hair long, ruled the bass, and wasn't a retard (most of the time)) moved to milwaukee, found the best drummer in town and started a band. then they get signed to frenchkiss and then the warlocks opened for them before they opened for the black angels. that is pretty much all i know about them. well that and they shop at the same local record shop i go to. but man, can that kid play the drums even though he wears this ridiculous o-face the entire time. check em out if you can. that is if you dig solid rock n roll.


i've never heard about the black angels live set so i wasn't sure what to expect when i saw 2 film projectors, a film strip projector and an overhead projector. coming out and tearing up 'manipulation' the black angels blazed thru songs off of both their albums plus one i didn't recognize called 'sitar jamb no. 1'. thru-out the entire show, various films and movie clips with played over the band and some some of the audience intermixed with various pictures and slides. the only clip that really sticks out was the 100 meter dash form some olympiad or something was played backwards. it's really weird watching people sprint backwards with this unbelieveably perfect psychedelia is thrown right at your face. and by weird i mean totally fucking sweet. i really wish it was season and i could've eaten a chronic dose for saturday june 21st which could have been the only way last night would've been better. but even that would be only marginally better. because last night was pretty tits. during the entire set the band rotated instruments and even the drummer mid-song. speaking of drummers, the little drummer girl wrecks. my guess is that she likes the velvet underground a whole bunch. plus she's superhot. this tour goes thru july and i highly suggest you attend as this one was only 10 bones or clams or whatever it is you call them these days. stay tuned for an interview with black angel christian later on down the line. ok, so the only complaint i have is that they didn't play 'the prodigal sun'. meh.

well, that and then george carlin died. dang.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

free record #6: ben sollee 'learning to bend'

so one of the main people helping keep this scene alive is jeffrey smith of louisville, kentucky's crash avenue publicity. however, right in the middle of a move i started getting all these records in the mail from jeffrey and no way to review them as i was without internets. granted this is still the case but my boyo let me break into his place to get this up while he's at a 9-5. sweet!

right from the start ben sollee's 'learning to bend' let's you know this isn't going to be a typical record. 'a few honest words' burns slowly with the classically trained ben plucking his cello then glides into bowed playing with some fiddle and very not-typical percussion. also calling the president out on his horseshit (maybe) is a pretty ballsy move on your debut record. from there the record picks up steam and chills out along the way in all the right places with glorious help from abigail washburn and bela fleck and many many others. having written all the song except one ('a change is gonna come' is a reworking of the 1964 sam cooke tune) ben's lyrics are as talented as his cello playing. this album is teeming with influences from all over the map; classical, jazz, folk, americana, bluegrass, old r&b and is overflowing optimism. plus it's got a jaw harp! sweet! with a great pop sensibility this album is also as eclectic as they come. i wouldn't be suprised to hear any one of these songs to close out a coen brothers film. i also wouldn't be suprised to hear any of them songs on the radio as well. and not just sweet sweet npr either. the barnstorming good times that are 'it's not impossible' and 'bury me with me car' seem that they could have been conjured up by some toothless moonshiners in the backwoods of west virginia. but don't worry kids, this reocrd also has guitars on it too, like the slow strum of 'i can't' and the finger-picked 'prettiest tree on the mountain'. as a singer, the closest resemblence i can relate to would be james blunt, who i am just getting into as the same generous boyo has turned me onto him. if your familiar with james blunt, ben sollee's music is as sincere as james blunt's. which is not a bad thing.

so if you're not tired of the same old shit dropping out the major labels collective dirty twat, then by all means don't look into ben sollee, bury your head in the sand and wait for the next nickelback disaster. but if you are tired of the same old shit or you just have an appreciation for excellent excellent musicianship and clever wordplay then go buy this record and throw out your incubus records. well you should do that anyways, but i digress.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

new gnarls barkley video

gnarls barkley - going on


check out bob gnarley as he hits up festivals all over this blue and green motherfucker this summer. click here for dates.

Friday, May 9, 2008

(the best damn) band website template ever

so whilst crunching it up out in portland, kicker chriscoyier has cranked out yet another internet project. enter (the best damn) band website template ever dot com. if you're in a band and need a sweet tits website hit chris up. chris does amazing work on this internets so help him feed his kids!

yacht video

i don't know much about these guys but i likes what i hear.

Monday, May 5, 2008

sell outs?

anyone want to advertise on this site?? hit us up. we will be back up and running at at least half-steam here soon.

Friday, May 2, 2008

pork and beans

a new weezer song...? let's hope #6 is better than #5, which was really #2.
click me.

the details

so i've just been hipped to these canadians and you can catch them in may if you happen to be living in canada. good indie popish-ness.

May 2 Rimouski, Quebec Bar Le Rhino
May 3 Halifax, Nova Scotia Gus's Pub
May 4 Fredericton, New Brunswick The Capital
May 6 Sherbrooke, Quebec Telephone Rouge
May 8 Trois Rivers, Quebec Nord Quest Cafe
May 9 Montreal, Quebec Le Divan Orange
May 10 Toronto, Ontario The Drake
May 12 Hamilton, Ontario The Casbah
May 21 Regina, Saskatchewan The Club
May 22 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Lydia's Pub
May 23 Canmore, Alberta Canmore Hotel
May 27 Cranbrook, British Columbia Misty's
May 30 Calgary, Alberta The Stetson
May 31 Calgary, Alberta The Palomino

check some tuneage at their myspace.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

live review: complexcomplex

so a few weeks ago or so, my friend karl called me up and asked "hey randy, do you still write for that blog?" and i was like "not really" and he was all "well, complexcomplex is playing in milwaukee in a couple weeks and i was wondering if you would you want to do a review?" and i was like "sure".

so on last tuesday (4/8) i gets back around 9:30pm with enough time to get to the up & under for complexcomplex's 11pm start. while waiting for the time to pass, i eat a sandwich, pull some tubers and notice that cops is on, in that order. so i get there around 11:30pm and complexcomplex is obviously already wailing away. these guys take their cues from (at least) jazz, hard rock, math rock, nerdy electronic, the prog nation, and probably static on the tv. this was proven true as some songs got as spacey as the farthest out part of pink floyd's 'echoes' to some impromptu eclectic jamb that caused some
drunken heckler to yell out "repeat to fade, repeat to fade, repeat to fade..." with the pun hopefully intended. of course that probably wasn't heard over the beautiful racket been served up.

so after the first song (for me) is over i overhear these goobers behind me wooing some b.f.s.p. with these ridiculous eagles lyrical questions. that was pretty hilarious. then they (the band) do this excellent instrumental version of rage against the machine's 'down rodeo'. over the course of the two sets they entertained the masses with many an original and various tuneage renditions from ratatat, cake, dub trio, squarepusher and maybe more! in fact, they gave us two dub trio songs to which the same
drunken heckler to inquire "why the fuck didn't the dub trio just fuckin' play tonight then?" before the latter. other highlights include this super hot fucking skank hanging all over this middle aged super crunchy hippy. that was super weak cause she was really hot and not at all crunched up and he was probably some douche who probably wrote a haiku about jerry garcia; the rest of the females leaving at set break; the drums sounding awesome, as you might remember the drummer tim from those moonshiners the groggers (rip) but this time with an actual kit he scored off some hobo outside when he traded him the old boxes he used for drums in the groggers, as you can't sleep in a drumkit. now that i mention it, you also might notice that the bass player, karl johnson from wisconsin, oddly resembles a local but world famous bassist. or you might remember him from the paradise string band. luke palmer plays a bitchin' fender rhodes that he runs through some shit like a laptop or an xbox or some bullshit. it sounds sweet though, whatever the heck it is. and he rules it as well.

you should check out their link up there for a song and tour dates as they are in chicago or something coming up. they will be back in milwaukee at the very same place at the end of the month as well. check it out cause it ain't like there's tons of shit to do in milwaukee. also the up & under has this killer belgian ale on tap that i totally forgot the name of because i was way too crunk off of it to understand what the barkeep was saying when i asked him 3 times what it was called. go buy complexcomplex's excellent brand new self released debut record 'timelion' as well you fucking nerd.

Monday, April 7, 2008

fukudome

yahtzee

zero punctuation from the escapist magazine. good times.

call of duty 4


army of two


resident evil: umbrella chronicles


sim city societies


uncharted: drake's fortune

Sunday, March 23, 2008

stuff

too bad fartface ebaums world won't letcha embed.

princess1
princess2
angry about spam


Sunday, March 16, 2008

Saturday, March 8, 2008

banjos












better than mtv

the dead boys - sonic reducer


johnny cash & june carter - please don't play red river valley


geto boys - damn it feels good to be a gangsta


foo fighters - big me (live)


mos def feat. pharoahe monch & nate dogg - oh no

Thursday, March 6, 2008

fuckin skanks

i know shit is old but it's fucking hilarious.

Monday, February 25, 2008

new gnarls barkley

so the wonderduo known as gnarls barkley is releasing their follow up to the multi-platinum grammy winning 'st elsewhere'. you can check out the first single 'run' from 'the odd couple' set to hit shelves on april 8. check it here for windows media player (lame) or here for the real player (also lame). then go buy that shit. i wonder if pelican city has gotten more recognition because of the danger mouse blowing up recently. if not that's superlame cause pelican city is tits. big fake just above a c-section stripper tits.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

20 grand man

so it takes 6 months to reach 10000 and only 2 months to reach 20000. are people still really that into seeing britney spears vajoyna?? derb.

Monday, February 18, 2008

doesn't get much funnier than this

Photobucket

david coverversion: richard thompson vs. the star spangles

i figured i'd put these two star spangles posts together.

"i feel so good i'm going to make somebody's day tonight
i feel so good i'm going to make somebody pay tonight
i'm old enough to sin but i'm too young to vote
society's been dragging on the tail of my coat
now i've got a suitcase full of fifty pound notes
and a half-naked woman with her tongue down my throat"

richard thompson - i feel so good
the star spangles - i feel so good


go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

2007 misses: the star spangles

the star spangles 'dirtybomb'
remember when the strokes apparently made nyc cool again? at least that's what rolling stone probably said. well back in the early to mid aughts, other bands were making great music and they didn't need super rich parents or boarding schools in switzerland. one of those bands is the star spangles. dishing out the punk so prevalent new york city's veins--see the ramones, the heartbreakers, richard hell & the voidoids, the dictators and so on--the star spangles made nary a splash with their super catchy punkish leanings debut 'bazooka!' back in 2004. i had all but forgotten about them when i randomly came across their follow up 'dirtybomb'. giving putting out records another shot (they were dropped from capitol before they went under i think), they're back with a reformed line-up though all the original members played on this. it might have sat on a shelf or two for some time, i don't know, but it doesn't exactly pick up right where 'bazooka!' left off. they had legendary organ/piano player ian mclagan play on this record which is what probably gives it its bluesy garage feel. thats a pretty tits coincidence as i am currently reading this awesome book. check both out or
else you're a neo-maxi-zoom-dweebie making yourself a better citizen.

the star spangles - tear it to pieces girl


go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

david coverversion: the stooges vs. superdrag vs. the replacements

anyone still listen to superdrag?? well they're back together and ready to kinda kick some geeky ass and wax some hipster minge again. while they're back in the studio recording some original tunes a buncha people aren't gonna hear, we're going to revisit some of their covers. back in the early aughts they released a kinda ep/lp unit that saw them re-record some older shit and also had some new shit. 'greetings from tennessee' contained their take of the kinks' 'you really got me' and the replacements' 'bastards of young'. for a time too long the replacements were unknown to the dude here. when pigeon kicking's own nicholas said that while i was looking into the smiths, i should check out the replacements as well. seeing is that i'm the last one on the replacement train, i figured i don't need to get into that much of their history. paul westerberg is adored by lots of motherfuckers everywhere, tommy stinson has been playing bass in guns'n'roses since 1998, his brother bob died in 1995, and chris mars was also in golden smog and together they made a tremendous racket back in the early 80's up in minnesota. as i only gots 'let it be' and 'tim' i am looking forward to hearing more of them very much. iggy pop i might have heard before. i mean who doesn't want to go on a royal carribean cruise? his band the stooges i have definitely heard before as 'fun house' is fucking excellent rock n roll record. the 'we will fall' tribute record is pretty good and also has monster magnet, blanks77, and pansy division amongst some other cool and lame bands.

the replacements - bastards of young
superdrag - bastards of young
superdrag - 1970
the stooges - 1970

superdrag - sucked out

superdrag tour dates
04.09.08 the 8x10 10 e cross st baltimore, md 21230
04.11.08 terminal 5 610 w 56th new york, ny 10019
04.12.08 johnny brenda's 1201 n frankford philadelphia, pa 19125


go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

Sunday, February 17, 2008

new tapes n tapes & new islands

so here is finally some new tapes n tapes. off the soon to be released and eventually on lotsa best-of lists come december 'walk it off'. they posted this track up on their myspace dealy but you can skip that pussyshit and get the track directly below.

tapes n tapes - hang them all

do you know who i am? i am the arm and i sound like this...

islands - the arm

bob, i want all my garmonbozia. that gum you like is going to come back in style.


go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

Friday, February 15, 2008

david coverversion: blanche vs. the rolling stones vs. social distortion

so that new blanche record is tits. i might have said before that it's gothic americana at it's haunted finest. if anyone remembers their first album 'if we can't trust the doctors...' then you remember their glorious take on the gun clubs 'jack on fire'. for 'little amber bottles' they continued their having one cover on our record dealy and cut a take of the rolling stones 'child of the moon'. 'child of the moon' was the country/honkytonk influenced b-side to the 'beggars banquet' single 'jumpin' jack flash'. kicking favorite mike ness and his social distortion finished off my favorite album of theirs, 'white light white heat white trash', with the raucous good time that is 'under my thumb'. so whats the deal with all the hits lately. someone want to let us in on why 2000 people hit this shit in the last 36 hours??

blanche - child of the moon
the rolling stones - child of the moon
the rolling stones - under my thumb
social distortion - under my thumb


go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

Monday, February 11, 2008

2007 misses: midnight movies

midnight movies 'lion the girl'
los angeles' midnight movies flew way under the radar this year with 'lion the girl'. as i hugely enjoyed their self-titled debut a few years back, i can't believe i forgot about this record. this technically should be a 2007 forgot not a miss. i digress. the noir that oozes from this record is all over the spectrum. a little surf here, some spacey shoegaze and jesus & mary chain there, 50's love, 60's organs, catchy riffs, steady competent drumwork, and an idea that the sing chick has a copy of 'chelsea girl' are all combined into one excellent record. check out 'two years' as it starts off like a lost lee hazelwood & nancy sinatra track before jumping into some organ loving raveonettes romp with a sonic youth noise concoction and finally wandering off into that long david lynch goodnight. fucking excellent. had this gotten the proper attention 'two years' would have been the #1 song of the year.

midnight movies - two years


go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

Thursday, February 7, 2008

grand archives

so as the david coververions are getting kinda boring, i guess i'm gonna start writing about new music that catches my ear. i really didn't want to add this aspect because when you read other bloglames, all they do is talk about how they heard this awesome track from some totally new band that you've never heard of before. fucking selfish indie cred. like 'check this totally new band, sweaty cunt, that mixes ubergay electro and a totally ironic screamo style singing blended nicely in with some pussy-ass twee' or 'check this totally awesome skaemo band, tigerfart, with hipsters who dress so retrocool that it doesn't matter that their music sucks cunthairs'. keep on the look out for these fucking guys and remember i told you about them first. at least make it seem that you don't only surf myspace in search of your holy grail band, like you actually have a life and real skin and blood friends away from your computer nerd screen.

anyways, only because i came across grand archives will i be doing this. those of youse from the great northwest probably know about these cats. this mat brooke--formerly of band of horses--led quintet concocts the same dreamy-ish indie pop as his previous band. archives is sorta like this northwest supergroup with member playing in previous bands such as the joggers, the jeunes and a bunch of other groups you've probably never even heard of. as i listened to both band of horses records, i was curious as to why 'cease to begin' was missing something that 'everything all the time' had. well that missing piece is mat brooke. grand archives self-titled debut record hits shelves on feb 19 courtesy of subpop. head over to their mylame page to hear other tracks, currently they only have one other song up. and grab 'torn blue foam couch' below.

grand archives - torn blue foam couch
band of horses - weed party
the joggers - wicked light sleeper


go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

david coverversions: the supremes vs. vanilla fudge vs. beethoven

the song 'you keep me hangin' on' was first recorded by the supremes on their 1967 'the supremes sing holland-dozier-holland' record. the supremes arguably being the most popular of the 60's girl groups. most popular because they hit it off with whites and blacks which meant more places they could perform at. a few years later vanilla fudge gave a shot at the song and became one of the more known takes. vanilla fudge was sweet back it the day. only seriously around for barely 3 years it seems like half of their catalog was comprised of covers. they got back together for a record in 1984 and then again in 2001 and 2007. 2001's 'the return' was a record that saw them try out rod stewart, marvin gaye, nsync and the backstreet boys. i don't know about that latter shit. who does vanilla fudge think they are? richard thompson? cause richard thompson they're not. anyways, 2007's 'out through the in door' was all led zeppelin covers and i'm sure isn't bad. if you want to know what the zep stuck in molasses sounds like, the in door can probably answer that for you. for 1968's 'the beat goes on' which wasn't an album of songs as much as it was a collage of sounds with song excerpts or something. their moonlight sonata/fur elise hybrid is pretty boobs. i think it's pretty sweet that somehow a band i like combines my two favorite beethoven compositions into one song. sweet tits. so anyone have rod stewart's take of hangin' on?? i bet it's also sweet tits.

the supremes - you keep me hangin' on
vanilla fudge - you keep me hangin' on
vanilla fudge - moonlight sonata/fur elise
beethoven - moonlight sonata
beethoven - fur elise

mark ronson feat. daniel merriweather - stop me

ps. if you're interested in daniel merriweather check out this streamage for his song 'chainsaw'.


go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

free record #5: hotpipes 'hotpipes'

i've been sitting on this record for awhile. i don't know why. and i guess seeing is that they've got a new record coming out in a few weeks (feb. 29th) it would be a good idea to finish this one off.

this defendant be: hotpipes. when i first heard this record i couldn't quite get past the 'the walkmen meeting the talking heads in elvis costello's practice space and hitting record' description. at least for side a. side b let's you know that they listened to '13 songs' and the first hot hot heat record as well. as i'm already happy with what tennessee has kicked out over the past coupla years--see kings of leon, the features, be your own pet, framing hanley--i was excited to see what else tennessee had up its sleeve.

this record has been getting regular rotations in my home and car stereos. songs made up of delicious indie hooks bordering on lo-fi that only give the feeling that they are on the edge of coming apart. sometimes just before they do, they jump into a bouncing chorus or they do sorta dissipate and fall off. as with terrene's 'the indifferent universe' these songs here seem to flow into one another. maybe it's just that there is no silence between them. the loose feel of this record brings up imagery of laid back live and control rooms. no one stressing over certain sounds or parts like that goober from the strokes did. as with the previously mentioned kings of leon, there is a definite southern vibe kicked up with the dust here. simple organ and keyboard melodies shine thru the laid back mixture of naked but excellently played drums, scattered guitars, and distinctive vocals. song such as 'if...don't...' and 'so bored' make excellent use of the ivories while songs like 'song for the late riser' and 'rattle cats' let the drums carry the song on.

this is what i like in music. a band coming together for the sake of music. there's no over-production here. this almost gives the impression that this is just a flashy demo. well, flashy for a demo. there isn't much more you can ask for than a decent band who actually sounds like they're having a good time and not overdubbing the vibes in later. this makes me very excited for the leap year day release of 'futurebolt' which i will most certainly be picking up. also "cause god is a whore".

arbitrary grade: i'm a-gettin' whiskey drunk tonight!

if...don't...
test song
starter kit
rattle cats


go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

david coverversions: wildwood flower

there used to be this dude on the ebay that would sell used cd's for 0 dollars and 8 cents plus a buck shipping. he might still be out there, his seller name was kmak333. from him i got a-many awesome record supercheap and a fuckton of shit i'd never heard (of) before, also supercheap. one of those was this 'mountain guitar pickin'' compilation. crammed packed with sweet authentic old time bluegrass standards and some tunes i hadn't heard before. this tune was made famous back in the late 1920's when the carter family came down from the mountains with this song in their repertoire. a hit on both sides of the fence, many people gave takes on this song with or without the lyrics. for bluegrass you need 2 things. 1. you need to know the g, c and d chords. and 2. you need a simple melody you know how to play in g. the melody for 'wildwood flower' is very recognizable and over the years many crackers have given it a shot. as always send ones we ain't gots.

the carter family - wildwood flower (live 1935)
earl taylor & jim mccall with the stoney mt. boys - wildwood flower
the ventures - wildwood flower
mike ness - wildwood flower
duane eddy - wildwood flower
flatt & scruggs - wildwood flower (live)
johnny cash - wildwood flower
the nitty gritty dirt band - wildwood flower
woody guthrie - sinking of the reuben james


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david coverversion: fleetwood mac vs. seaweed

seaweed hit the northwest scene about the same time i was getting my first pubes. lumped in the same scene as quicksand and mudhoney and jawbreaker, i first heard these cats in the movie 'clerks'. among the many excellent tracks on the 'clerks' soundtrack--alice in chains' 'got me wrong', stabbing westwards' 'violent mood swings', the jesus lizard's 'panic in cicero', those bad religion and golden smog songs--was seaweed's sweet take on fleetwood mac's 'go you own way'. you all know fleetwod mac right? in between losing members to kid fingering cults and having records that push 4 million units for the man considered failures to the lead singer needing coke blown up her ass in the studio, fleetwod mac has written some excellent tunes. from the billion selling 'rumours' comes this track. and the other fleetwood mac track, which happens to be my favorite of theirs. the other seaweed song is from their 1995 album 'spanaway' and happens to be my favorite of their tunes.

fleetwood mac - go your own way
seaweed - go your own way

fleetwood mac - second hand news
seaweed - start with


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Thursday, January 31, 2008

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

free record #4: mark ronson 'versions'

i received this record in the mail a couple of months ago and it has been getting regular spins. i meant to get this review out sooner but the 2007 list took more nerd effort than originally planned.

so anyways,
this defendant be: mark ronson. anyone who knows and loves '100 days, 100 nights' by sharon jones & the dap-kings should get this record (then again to know 100 days is to love it). i digress. in reality this should be by mark ronson & the motherfucking dap-kings because they appear on all but one track and are the main reason why this album is so fucking good. the dap-kings are also the daptone label's house band, playing together on a bunch of releases since 2002. whether they are at the forefront of the track ['god put a smile upon your face'] or just helping the groove move along ['pretty green'], they own. plus that funky drummer is something else altogether. considering he produced many blog-loved acts [amy winehouse, lily allen], many 'music superstars' [christina aguilera, robbie williams], worked with big names in hip hop [mos def, ghostface killah], worked with big names in guitar [jack white, rivers cuomo] and has been approved by jay-z, mark ronson has not gotten the attention in america he deserves. anyone remember how every motherfucker everywhere gobbled up those cockblasts fall out boy after jay-z approved of them? wot's... uh the deal. anyways, the latest release from mark ronson is comprised of covers minus the three mini-tracks using the word version. all of these songs i had heard before and although i wasn't super familiar with a few of them, they all are excellent funked up reinterpretations worthy of the dancefloor--be it nyc club or london discotheque. anyone looking for an ass shaking good time or like being reminded of the soulful motown and stax days of yore should look no further.

r and b/soul newcomer daniel merriweather helps ronson piece together the smith's 'stop me if you've heard this one before' with the soon to be coverversioned 'you keep me hanging on' by the supremes ('stop me' was #80 in rolling stones top 100 songs of the year). and taking the pasty whiteness of coldplay and replacing the piano and vocal melody with the openly blackness of the daphorns is an excellent way to kick off any album, let alone this one. he also brings ol' dirty bastard back from the bone orchard to help him remake the britney spears made famous but not written by her 'toxic' as the albums only straight ahead attempt at bridging new school hip hop (old school hip hop influence is found all over). other times he brings in the original writers [kasabian, maximo park's lead singer] to help him along. other collaborators include lily allen, amy winehouse, kenna, phantom planet and santo gold. (whoever the latter is.) mostly british songsmith work was selected for this record [radiohead, the jam, the zutons, kaiser chiefs, the smiths, the charlatans, coldplay] but there is some flag waver tuneage [kings of leon, ryan adams, the aforementioned spears] as well. for a club dj, mark here has shown his inner funk and soul that is apparently worthy of the dap-kings, which makes it worth my time. not that my time is ultra-valuable, but it's the same time that paris hilton gets. shit. anyways, mark ronson was also just a part of rhymesayer's tribute record to michael jackson. it's also probably totally worth looking in to.

so honestly, i never thought we'd get anything remotely popular (well, anything at all when this started out) for review on this site ('versions' was #2 and double platinum in the uk and mark was nominated for a few grammies with his amy winehouse work and overall 2007 production output), but this is great. who knew that making fart jokes and finding new ways to call people gay (elton john's mouth is a cockholster) would reap such killer benefits? tits!

arbitrary grade: that hooker didn't have vd!

mark ronson feat. lily allen - oh my god
mark ronson feat. the daphorns - god put a smile upon your face
mark ronson feat. amy winehouse - valerie
mark ronson feat. tiggers & odb - toxic
mark ronson feat. kasabian - l.s.f.

kaiser chiefs - oh my god
coldplay - god put a smile upon your face
the zutons - valerie
local h -
toxic
kasabian - l.s.f.

check out the video for 'oh my god' with lily allen here.


ps. i know that there should have been at least a metric fuckton of linkage, it's just that i'm lazybones.


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Tuesday, January 29, 2008

boss tuneage tuesday 1/29

no comment.

neil young & crazy horse - cortez the killer
paperboy - ditty
crowded house - don't dream its over
radar bros - we're not sleeping

the caesers - you're my favourite
oasis - mucky fingers
the hollies - bus stop
lee hazlewood - summer wine

rem - hope
eric burdon & war - spill the wine
bob seger - still the same
greg kihn - the break-up song (they don't write 'em like that anymore)


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david coverversion: okkervil river vs. big star vs. elliott smith

i can't remember if i've written about big star before but they are great. underrated back in the day but people came around. i'm not too sure about the history of big star (here) but i know that chris bell died back in the 70's and alex chilton sang lead vocals on the box tops' 'the letter' back in the 60's. chris bell recorded a stellar solo record, 'i am the cosmos', before his death that wasn't officially released until 1992. first appearing on the 'from a basement on a hill 2' and then on the official posthumous release 'new moon' is elloitt smith's take of my favorite big star song 'thirteen'. and back in 2006 for their australian tour ep, okkervil river recorded a cover of 'o, dana' from 'third/sister lovers'. also added are a few of my favorite tracks from bell's 'i am the cosmos'. insert dick joke here.

elliott smith - thirteen
big star - thirteen
big star - o, dana
okkervil river - o, dana

chris bell - you and your sister
chris bell - i am the cosmos


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Friday, January 25, 2008

david coverversion: the chordettes vs. oranger

sheboygan wisconsin's (wheeeuh! wisconsin!) own the chordettes brought together pieces of early traditional pop and (mostly) barbershop (fucking wheeeeuh! barbershop!) starting off with their take of pat ballard's 'mr sandman'. since forming in 1946 they had many a-hit in their tenure but that means nothing compared to the road they paved for future girl groups such as the supremes, the ronettes, the crystals, the angels, the shangri-las et al, and held some inspiration for the vocal stylings of the rest of motown. motown fucking rules but more on that later. once again, again, we head over to the 'stubbs the zombie' soundtrack for oranger's take. oranger is blueprint indie from california and totally sounds like it. hey at least they're not broheed & cambria! bung bung bung bung.

the chordettes - mr sandman
oranger - mr sandman

ps. anyone know what this line is from?
''hey they thinks they're the cowsills.''


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Thursday, January 24, 2008

david coverversion: elton john vs. the beach boys vs. terry jacks

that hippydippy terry jacks brought the song 'seasons in the sun' to the beach boys where they recorded but never officially released their pretty great take. terry then recorded and eventually released his version and it sold like hotcakes. somewhere around 6 million units pushed for the man. not bad after it sat dormant on his shelf for a year or so. terry jacks is canadian and part is me is super jealous of that. he also rewrote some of the lyrics that was originally written by some french fucking guy as to not be so depressing. and now here is another never officially released beach boys song--elton john's 'crocodile rock'. it's amazing to me that they manage to sound like bigger donghuffers than elton john, who is probably the most famous huffer of all time. which is fine. swallow what you want to swallow but that farfisa is fucking great in elton's version. just great.

terry jacks - seasons in the sun
the beach boys - seasons in the sun
the beach boys - crocodile rock
elton john - crocodile rock



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Tuesday, January 22, 2008

david coverversion: dr dre vs. ben folds

and here i thought ironic rap covers were a thing of the 1990's. someone needs to ironically cover 'nuthin' but a g thing' and 'dre day'. or how about this entire album cause it's fucking stellar. that would totally get someone on the map. i didn't know that ben folds had given this a shot until this last summer when i saw him perform it on tour every fucking night. still dude can play two pianos at once. one with his hands and one with his feets. and that's pretty goddamn sweet and that makes ben folds a huge supernerd. which is cool. let's hope dr dre takes rap back this year.

dr dre - bitches ain't shit
ben folds - bitches ain't shit


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boss tuneage tuesday 1/22

fucking snow.

the exit - home for an island
the detroit cobras - let's forget about the past
the afghan whigs - john the baptist
possum dixon - in her disco
suicide - rocket usa
peace orchestra - who am i
okkervil river - the latest toughs
nick drake - river man
john zorn - the sicilian clan
dirty three - the zither player
cut chemist - spat
manic street preachers - suicide is painless


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Monday, January 21, 2008

2007 misses: times new viking

times new viking 'present the paisley reich'
after hearing about these guys from shane in two cow garage, i checked it out. i'm glad i did but i'll let them describe themselves. "Breath in: snuff a line speed, a half hour jump on your cheap amplifiers, salad yet once a half hour with you yet cheaper guitar against the wall. Write eleven popliedjes, lay the emphasis on cryptic and forget everything your song teacher you ever learned has. Seek your neighbor girl on and tell her that your musics will make. Lay her emphatically from that she must not try to sing. Stick, now that you it really are, also just your tongue between her lips till you certainly are that they that rather has not. Give her then you eleven popliedjes and (optioneel) a guitar. Question her these eleven popliedjes with you together to not to sing, expect of it surplus. Mess what with the buttons on the amplifier, let the hamster of your neighbor girl also once over the strings run, sign the head of the father of your neighbor girl on the skins of a Bears Smit drumstel, call her feather ten-year-old little brother and lay from that its father him really real hatred. Breath out: and voila, Yourself Summoned. Sounds good? Sounds in it really yet better. Blessed with a delicious dose ADHD-spontaneity and a fine nose for popmelodieƫn know Tim New Viking on Summoned Yourself a particular charming pot borrow-fi garagepop down to dump. A kind of contemporary version of The Shaggs, but then without the implicit family tie. More a neighbor boy-neighbor girl tie thus." sounds about right. also they're influenced by shark fucks and kickin' it. viva lo-fi! viva matador! viva finding cool shit you missed out on the first time around.

times new viking - devo & wire


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