pigeon kicking

free record #10: dios 'we are dios'

2010-01-25T12:40:00.008-06:00

after an intended-to-be-short-hiatus, we're back. almost apologies to all the unanswered emails. drag was right. anyways, dios are also back and they're tripping harder than ever. with their third record 'we are dios'--out on buddyhead--they've found their sound as the missing link between the beach boys and grandaddy. maybe there is something in the water out there in hawthorne. maybe not. either way, this is some outta sight rock and/or roll of the psychedelic variety.

starting right where 'dios (malos)' left off, they've only done two things with their down time it seems. those being: buying new records and buying new drugs. where (malos) had a stoner/weeeeeed vibe 'we are dios' comes off as an acid bath or a walk down mushroom lane. kinda like 'sgt. peppers' after 'revolver/rubber soul' i guess. also, insert some syd barrett comparison here. drippy, reverbed vocals here, slowed down and delayed over there all over mellotrons, concertinas and other korg settings and bouncy guitars or slowed fingerpicking. dios sound like they're having a blast playing even though the atmosphere conjured is more fitting to a rainy day. and while singing about drugs, booze, ice cream sandwiches, and boring everyday life they actually give it a sound all their own while you can clearly hear influences--harmonies that would make brian wilson leave his sandbox, excellent pop sensibilities that would make ringo starr smile, proggy visions that would make david gilmour stop and listen for a bit and production techniques that, hopefully, david fridmann would approve of. this album floats around on a surfer haze many ghosts of the past i think would enjoy so, grab this record and take some bong hits for jesus and drift away to soundssssssssssssss.

ps. do you think dios going back to the name dios has anything to do with ronnie james dio's stomach cancer? let's hope not. GET WELL SOON RONNIE!

arbitrary grade: california on the verge of legalizing it!

party in the u.s.a.

2010-01-23T17:14:00.000-06:00

ron paul.

2010-01-22T15:54:00.000-06:00

keywords

2010-01-20T01:27:00.000-06:00

here are some of the searches that have resulted in finding this blog.

joscho stephan
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Fiction is broadcasted in full color HD while truth is black and white.

2010-01-02T16:05:00.006-06:00

i'd like to think my old friend ben and i are on the same side of the line (in the sand.)

the smog chronicles.

oasis interview archive

2009-12-21T00:14:00.002-06:00

As the afternoon wears on, the scowls intensify. Noel has chosen now to inform Liam that he's been asked to join Crazy Horse, backing band to the legendary rock n roll warhorse Neil Young, for an on-stage jam when the group play London. Liam is not amused. "So me twat brother thinks he's Eric fucking Clapton now, does he? He'll be wearing fucking winkle-pickers and a ponytail next. He's in Oasis now and that should be enough. Our kid's better than all those blokes anyway. He's up there next to John Lennon in my book."

Q: You had a swipe at our Socceroos a while ago, suggesting they stop trying to win the World Cup because it was pointless? England didn't go to well and neither did Manchester City on the weekend.
A: Noel: Don't get me wrong. Don't forget England are fooken dreadful, too. The Socceroos as a name is fooken ridiculous. It's like a cartoon for kids. It's just ridiculous. And as for Manchester City, that was lame. All my sporting allegiances are shite. It's a good job I'm brilliant at music otherwise I'd be a miserable old bastard.

Q: But we (Australia) see the soccer World Cup as the last frontier in world sport to conquer?
A: Noel: (Leans back into couch, belly laughing) Win the World Cup? Fooking hell. You've got more fooking chance of having a champion skier. Fooking hell.

CONTEST TIME!

2009-12-09T20:00:00.006-06:00

so someone sent us this box of stuff pertaining to this sweet movie coming out starring gogol bordello. you might remember gogol bordello if you like remembering things that are pretty cool but kinda grow annoying if you sit thru it long enough. also appearing in this film are the dave matthews band and ben harper with relentless 7. this is film is coming off the heels of dave's latest release "there's another dave matthews band record?? is gollum on it?".

my precious.

anyways, i gots some swag to dish out like pepe sanchez. up for grabs are (2) two person free admission to see what is definitely going to be gogol bordello's shining moment when they piss of this guy in the theaters. there are also some wack t-shirts that the hood will not wear anymore. so to win big you need to leave a comment guessing what the linked fella would shout when gogol bordello busts into 'start wearing purple'. funniest wins. ends friday around 4pm cst.

be careful marty

2009-05-28T20:41:00.001-05:00

records2008

2009-05-06T09:00:00.006-05:00

there was a lot of good shit released this year. so in no particular order. a list of some good songs from 2008 from the records that i heard. in no particular order except for the numbered items. right on time. i'll bet at least one person is stoked on this and it's not me.

longwave - life is wrong
from 'secrets are sinister'
well it's about time that longwave released another proper full length. what's it been? like 4 years? this record is their most shoegazer record so far. criminally under the radar.

radar bros - a dog named ohio
from 'auditorium'
anyone know if mt wilson repeater any good? i'm lazy and poor.

foals - balloons
from 'anitdotes'
calling something math rock is still gay.

the secret machines - now you're gone
from 'the secret machines'
this is what happens when you cut the secret machines balls off.

school of seven bells - my cabal
from 'alpinisms'
this is what happens when you cut the secret machines balls off.

my morning jacket - touch me i'm going to scream pt 2
from 'evil urges'
this is the light at the end of a very long and very jive and very boring tunnel. how good can it be? it's rolling stone's best record of the year.

the caesers - up all night
from 'strawberry weed'
the three or four phone lines in europe must've been busy this year. decent but not great. but then again it is a caesers record.

ratatat - shempi
from 'lp3'
nintendo + qualuudes.

clinic - memories
clinic - coda
from 'do it'
a great set of bookends from a less than stellar effort. although i'm kinda glad this isn't awesome. clinic was making it look too easy for too long. turns out they're just above average weirdos.

islands - i feel evil creeping in
from 'arm's way'
another good record from some weird canadians. here's to hoping for a unicorns reunion. canadians dude.

british sea power - all in it
from 'do you like rock music?'
maybe the best way to start a record off circa 2008.

vampire weekend - i stand corrected
vampire weekend - m79
from 'vampire weekend'
at least one of these two songs belongs on the royal tennenbaums soundtrack. too bad about 'blake's got a new face'. ouch.

ra ra riot - ghost under rocks
from 'the rhumb line'
really good for a band that could have just as easily said fuck it.

sigur ros - festival
from 'med sut ieyrum vit spilum endalust'
sigur ros rules.

the walkmen - red moon
from 'you & me'
another contender for #1. though it's no 'bows + arrows'.

tv on the radio - family tree
from 'dear science'
it could have been any song from this. everyone was right--it's most excellent. (even spin!)

the duke spirit - lassoo
from 'neptune'
solid uk rock n roll. and the singer is as sexy as her voice.

tobacco - truck sweat
from 'fucked up friends'
it could have been any song from this boss black moth super rainbow record. it could have been #1 as well.

evangelicals - skeleton man
evangelicals - bellawood
from 'the evening descends'
these two songs could have been any of the songs from this runner up as well.

complexcomplex - protect the chronosphere
from 'timelion'
here. go get their new record 'endtitled'. it's fat tits too.

dungen - maleras finest
from '4'
hopefully dungen doesn't change it up anytime soon. this is psychedelic at its finest from some weird foreigners.

the verve - love is noise
from 'forth'
this record wasn't as good as i had hoped but this song is great. someone get richard ashcroft some rolls and someone else get simon tong on the wire. if clinic is done with the line that is.

oasis - i'm outta time
from 'dig out your soul'
what fucking year is it? oasis and the verve both relevent again? superduper.

tapes n tapes - say back something
from 'walk it off'
remember 'you could have it so much better'? they weren't lying.

the duchess and the duke - reservoir park
from 'she's the duchess, he's the duke'
so are these guys listening to the same records that the brian jonestown masascre listen to or are they just listening to the brian jonestown massacre? (they kinda sound like the rolling stones.)

charlatans uk - oh vanity
charlatans uk - this is the end
from 'you cross my path'
the best bookends of the year for this top tenner. thanks to buddyhead for the heads up.

the last shadow puppets - my mistakes were made for you
from 'the age of the understatement'
this is good. reminds me of the moody blues.

french kicks - this could go wrong
from 'swimming'
when did it become cool to forget about totally competent bands?

albert hammond jr - bargain of a century
from '?como te llama?'
another great way to start something out. like a murder/suicide.

gnarls barkley - who is going to save my soul?
from 'the odd couple'
obviously this was gonna be good but are we ever gonna see another pelican city??

calexico - inspiracion
from 'carried to dust'
these guys are like nick cave. everything they do is awesome. but i'd bet that they haven't wrassled up as much tang as the creepy nickster has though. all 8 of 'em combined.

theivery corporation - la femme parallel
from 'radio retaliation'
whoever brought the blunts to the summerfest show these guys played last year. thanks. that ruled. some people are always thinking ahead.

grand archives - sleepdriving
from 'grand archives'
here.

magnetic fields - california girls
from 'distortion'
stephen merrit is boss. and gay.

deerhunter - nothing ever happened
from 'microcastle'
a large step away from 'cryptograms' but still pretty awesome. actual songs!

howlin' rain - el rey
howlin' rain - nomads
from 'magnificent fiend'
if you know anything about comets on fire then you already know that this is good. duder here wore his boogie gospel shoes for this outing. i'll bet this is what that my morning jacket record was shooting for. curtis mayfield '08!

the gaslight anthem - the '59 sound
from 'the '59 sound'
the boss + the replacements. although i don't think they're nearly as drunk as the replacements. i also heard this on the radio. not the best band name around.

the black angels - deer-ree-shee
the black angels - vikings
from 'directions to see a ghost'
the angels borrowed rhishi dhir from the high dials for this tribute(?) to rhishi dhir. another runner-up for favorite record of the year.

nick cave & the bad seeds - hold on to yourself
#10 nick cave & the bad seeds - jesus of the moon
from 'dig, lazarus dig!!!'
fuckin' a nick cave (still) rules. now let's hope that grinderman follow up isn't just a rumor.

#9 juniper tar - the mouth of fields
juniper tar - she's inside glass
from 'for the trees'
so another local act. everytime i see these guys it rules. everyone at the show is trashed but not as trashed as these guys. the drive-by truckers ain't got shit on juniper tar. check out the off key whilst you wait a coupla months for the next juniper tar record, buddy.

#8 brian jonestown massacre - we are the niggers of the world
from 'my bloody underground'
unbelievable. on all aspects.

the airborne toxic event - happiness is overrated
#7 the airborne toxic event - sometime around midnight
from 'the airborne toxic event'
this is one of the few songs on here that i actually heard on the radio. even the shitty corporate generic rock stations! not the best band name ever though.

#6 beach house - gila
from 'devotion'
you probably shouldn't drive to this but you should steer psychedelics directly into your brain to this.

#5 spiritualized - sitting on fire
from 'songs in a&e'
this was my favorite song of the year back in aught six or five when spaceman played it at some daniel johnston tribute show in london and it was called 'old flame'.

#4 dead confederate - the rat
from 'wrecking ball'
great southern rock n roll. good to see someone keeping it real somewhere. stupid human shit for brains.

#3 the big sleep - pinkies
the big sleep - little sister
from 'sleep forever'
even those these brooklyn hipsters blew me off for an interview this is the first runner-up for my favorite record of the year. take a chronic dose and tell me that 'pinkies' doesn't let you know that everything will be alright.

#2 black mountain - angels
from 'in the future'
a violin solo and a mellotron! and it's not the beatles! sweet!

#1 canyonsofstatic - shelter
canyonsofstatic - slowly to sea
canyonsofstatic - the disappearance
from 'the disappearance'
this is also my number one record of the year. they're the missing link between my education and explosions in the sky. there is no reason these guys shouldn't blow up. i saw them open for the big sleep and they blew them off the stage. wicked good. buy their cd so they can put this shit out on vinyl. click here. 'shelter' is numer one because of its unbelievable epicness live. no fade outs there guy!! and bring joints when you see them.

woulda shoulda coulda
bon iver and mgmt's records came out in 2007 which is why they're not on here. great records but wrong year nonetheless. unless you're totally into semantics and you're like 'well the vinyl came out in 2008 blah blah blee bloi blah'.

you can download the entire list here. plus some other songs i was too lazy to delete.
part1 part2 part3

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

the black angels

2009-05-06T00:43:00.001-05:00

julian plenti

2009-05-05T21:33:00.000-05:00

http://julianplenti.com/

dear loser (chris)

2009-03-29T15:33:00.002-05:00

you make me touch your hands for stupid reasons

uzbekistanis are tougher than you

2009-03-23T03:35:00.001-05:00

billy mays hayes

2009-03-20T23:05:00.001-05:00

the family circus was great

2009-03-20T19:44:00.003-05:00

and now it's better!

oceanship video

2009-03-19T23:29:00.000-05:00

so here is the first video from canada's indie duo oceanship. you'll have to wait a minute for their debut record but go find their 2005 ep to hold you over. or you can bring back your memories of seeing them live if you live in china. the story and animation was done by ofir sasson, who is some guy.

oceanship - hotblack

wtf?

2009-03-19T23:09:00.001-05:00

seriously wtf?

cleaning out the bookmarks

2009-03-19T23:01:00.002-05:00

some good some bad all entertaining. maybe.

william spencer - hollarado

this just in: fart

metal fuck

clothing in the year 2000

musafar (wtf?)

ragnar otnes & mads ousdal - kick the burger

la pequena hillary hulk (also wtf)

goth public access

japanese mall fountain

demonius x on failed relationships

no need for lsd, it's built-in

where's samuel l jackson when you need him?

2009-03-19T15:37:00.000-05:00

Kutiman mixes YouTube

2009-03-12T16:08:00.005-05:00

A few years ago I was shown Lasse Gjersten's videos where he "beatboxes" and plays drum set/piano by recording himself doing each sound effect/hit/note and cutting and pasting them to make full fledged songs.

Beatbox
Drum set/Piano

But that's OFN.

Earlier this week Steel Buddha has shown me something new that might be the greatest musical feat the internet has ever provided. Kutiman took dozens of videos off YouTube and cut and pasted them together to make Thru You.

http://thru-you.com/

Hit "play" and listen to all seven songs. Then go back to the first and listen, click "credits" and it will overlay the people whose videos were used. If you click on a name it will pause the song for you and open a new tab with the original YouTube video for you to watch.

I've listened to it all about 20 times already.

Truely badass.

ukuleles brah

2009-03-11T01:23:00.001-05:00

better than mtv

2009-03-11T00:44:00.003-05:00

denny 'blazin' hazen - average homeboy

deshawn crackhead - amazing grace

the great daryl nathan - fourth of july

the el paso police dept - think twice

sonseed - jesus is my friend

i was just hacking around the other day

2009-02-21T15:02:00.002-06:00

don't get run over by some hard-on

2009-02-20T20:17:00.001-06:00

jones big ass truck rental & storage

2009-02-19T19:33:00.001-06:00

http://jonesbigasstruckrentalandstorage.com/

the off key

2009-02-19T16:00:00.002-06:00

so the off key is the schleicher brothers from juniper tar and their other two brothers that aren't in juniper tar. and aaron is doing a song a week for a year. it's awesome.

stuff

2009-02-19T15:58:00.002-06:00

stuff

2009-02-18T19:05:00.000-06:00

mike tyson is fucking crazy

2009-02-10T15:12:00.001-06:00

free record #9: cavedoll 'no vertigo'

2008-07-01T16:30:00.005-05:00

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.

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

2008-06-25T19:02:00.000-05:00

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

free record #7: the dilettantes '101 tambourines'

2008-06-24T21:11:00.003-05:00

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.

live review: the black angels & the warlocks

2008-06-22T16:24:00.001-05:00

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.

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

2008-06-10T15:51:00.012-05:00

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.

the ultimate warrior was insane

2008-05-16T14:46:00.000-05:00

new gnarls barkley video

2008-05-10T15:02:00.004-05:00

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.

(the best damn) band website template ever

2008-05-09T04:49:00.005-05:00

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

2008-05-09T04:47:00.000-05:00

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

sell outs?

2008-05-05T07:16:00.002-05:00

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

pork and beans

2008-05-02T15:06:00.002-05:00

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

the details

2008-05-02T04:28:00.001-05:00

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.

live review: complexcomplex

2008-04-13T04:43:00.021-05:00

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.

fukudome

2008-04-07T04:21:00.000-05:00

yahtzee

2008-04-07T03:52:00.002-05:00

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

boss tuneage tuesday 3/25

2008-03-25T12:53:00.000-05:00

bill monroe - pike county breakdown
david bowie - always crashing in the same car
kruder & dorfmeister - 1st of the month part 2
al green - your love is like the morning sun
clinic - thank you (for living)
spiritualized - medication
dr john - croker courtbullion
burning brides - blood on the highway
green apple quickstep - los vargos
led zeppelin - over the hills and far away
malcolm middleton - monday night nothing
nic armstrong & the thieves - back in that room

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

stuff

2008-03-25T00:56:00.000-05:00

stuff

2008-03-23T21:10:00.003-05:00

too bad fartface ebaums world won't letcha embed.

princess1
princess2
angry about spam

fart

2008-03-16T04:47:00.000-05:00

boss tuneage tuesday 3/11

2008-03-11T16:48:00.003-05:00

still on a short hiatus (except for random videos) until i get finally moved into milwaukee. jealous?? anyone notice there's a-been nothing??

sharon jones & the dap-kings - let them knock
daft punk - one more time
dion - new york city song
chamillionaire - skit
thunderball - chronic dose
interpol - hands away
the country gentlemen - little bessie
the decemberists - july july!
paul & linda mccartney - heart of the country
galactic - as big as your face
ugly casanova - hotcha girls
caroline's spine - sullivan

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

nardwuar

2008-03-11T02:44:00.003-05:00

vs. buddyhead

vs. henry rollins

vs. david cross

banjos

2008-03-08T15:15:00.002-06:00

better than mtv

2008-03-08T14:58:00.002-06:00

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

fuckin skanks

2008-03-06T00:37:00.001-06:00

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

boss tuneage tuesday 3/4

2008-03-04T23:57:00.001-06:00

another close almost 'weak tuneage wednesday'. also, there's gonna be less until i gets my laptop fixed.

the pogues - squid out of water
devastations - i don't want to lose you tonight
the cyrkle - red rubber ball
the smashing pumpkins - jennifer ever
canned heat - bullfrog blues (live)
deep purple - space truckin'
six organs of admittance - jade like wine
nick cave & the bad seeds - supernaturally
st. germain - so flute
richard hawley - the sea calls
dynamite hack - anyway
sons of the pioneers - twilight on the trail

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

boss tuneage tuesday 2/26

2008-02-26T11:17:00.002-06:00

gone drinking in florida. be back sometime this weekend with posts or something after i've fucked off this entire week!

the turtles - happy together
the jesus & mary chain - teenage lust
comets on fire - the swallow's eye
debris - female tracks
giant sand - drab
immortal technique - fight until the end
moth - hearing things
mercury rev - in a funny way
prefuse73 - plastic
sparklehorse - piano fire
the detroit cobras - shout bama lama
serge gainsbourg - des laids des laids

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

new gnarls barkley

2008-02-25T18:15:00.005-06:00

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.

nerds

2008-02-23T14:39:00.001-06:00

20 grand man

2008-02-20T10:10:00.001-06:00

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.

doesn't get much funnier than this

2008-02-18T05:54:00.001-06:00

david coverversion: richard thompson vs. the star spangles

2008-02-18T03:51:00.000-06:00

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

2008-02-18T03:11:00.006-06:00

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

2008-02-18T00:28:00.008-06:00

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

new tapes n tapes & new islands

2008-02-17T23:01:00.000-06:00

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

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

2008-02-15T16:31:00.003-06:00

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

2007 misses: midnight movies

2008-02-11T04:53:00.000-06:00

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

grand archives

2008-02-07T15:50:00.000-06:00

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

2008-02-07T03:52:00.000-06:00

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'

2008-02-07T02:10:00.000-06:00

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

david coverversions: wildwood flower

2008-02-06T08:07:00.000-06:00

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

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

david coverversion: fleetwood mac vs. seaweed

2008-02-06T03:40:00.000-06:00

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

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

boss tuneage tuesday 2/5

2008-02-05T15:45:00.000-06:00

fucking snow again.

the music - into the night
richard thompson - beeswing
eels - last stop: this town
bush - warm machine
the seldom scene - hit parade of love
the von bondies - been swank
patterson hood - belinda carlisle diet
the gun club - for the love of ivy
cannibal ox - the f-word
tv on the radio - let the devil in
the tornadoes - swinging beefeater
a.a. bondy - black rain black rain

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

what's a pederast walter?

2008-01-31T03:05:00.000-06:00

free record #4: mark ronson 'versions'

2008-01-30T06:30:00.000-06:00

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.

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

boss tuneage tuesday 1/29

2008-01-29T15:52:00.000-06:00

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)

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

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

2008-01-29T15:36:00.000-06:00

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

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

david coverversion: the chordettes vs. oranger

2008-01-25T07:19:00.000-06:00

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.''

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

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

2008-01-24T23:07:00.000-06:00

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

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

david coverversion: dr dre vs. ben folds

2008-01-22T08:19:00.000-06:00

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

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

boss tuneage tuesday 1/22

2008-01-22T03:22:00.000-06:00

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

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

2007 misses: times new viking

2008-01-21T03:49:00.001-06:00

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 popmelodieën 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

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

better than mtv

2008-01-20T04:17:00.002-06:00

sinapore sling - listen

tupac - hit 'em up

neil young - all along the watchtower

mojo nixon - elvis is everywhere

harry chapin - taxi

2007 misses: speck mountain & wooden shjips

2008-01-18T08:01:00.000-06:00

hopefully i keep finding cool shit from last year or this theme is gonna die.

speck mountain 'summer above'
wooden shjips 'wooden shjips'
when i hear the term space rock i get a few sound images swirling around inside my head. explosions in the sky, the secret machines, spacemen3/spiritualized, pink floyd (specifically the 'piper at the gates of dawn', 'meddle', 'dark side of the moon' and 'saucerful of secrets' eras. yeah i know, that's almost all of it.) all different but correctly labeled: space rock--and the definition kinda depends on the listener. this doesn't mean a 12 song album based on a HAL9000 and david bowman conversation or a 12 minute totally trippified-wah guitar solo about 'event horizon' being kickass. i mean, it can but what i'm shooting for is some non-crunchy guitar noodling, 1000 lbs of reverb, ~~maybe~~ certainly some delay/chorus as well, synths, maybe a slower tempo, some ohhs and ahhs vox, and an overall ethereal ambience that--if the correct dosage is taken--gives the feeling of floating past the earth and not really giving a shit. (this has nothing to do with the fact that speck mountain sounds a lot like mazzy star.) check out spiritualized's 'sway' if you get a second for some clarification. while wooden shjips is clearly the more spaced of these two bands, both dive head fucking first into psychedelic as well. these are my two favorite ''unknown before this year'' records of the year. that i missed the first time around.

speck mountain - stockholm
wooden shjips - we ask you to ride

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

david coverversion: 16 horsepower vs. hank williams vs. mike ness

2008-01-18T02:24:00.000-06:00

after his first solo venture mike ness released his second solo outing 'under the influence' which is made up of covers (almost, he adds a new version of 'ball and chain' which is full of honkytonk swagger). choice rock, bluegrass and country covers from the likes marty robbins, carl perkins, hank williams and on. here he gives hank williams haunting 'six more miles (to the graveyard)' an excellent fiddle-filled punkabilly take. and despite looking like a serious bro, mike ness is a total badass. and speaking of badass, bluegrass loving pseudo-christians 16 horsepower also give an excellent rendition of a depresso hank tune. 16 horsepower gets compared to nick cave a lot, not sonically so much, but they share the same surrounding darkness. plus they play squeezeboxes. badass. not much has changed in the hank williams camp, but we'll letcha know as soon as we hear anything.

mike ness - six more miles (to the graveyard)
hank williams - six more miles (to the graveyard)
hank williams - alone and forsaken
16 horsepower - alone and forsaken

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

boss tuneage tuesday 1/15

2008-01-15T14:36:00.000-06:00

i didn't want the best of list to fall on a tuesday as this is a lot of tuneage for one day. oh well. shit happens.

lee hazlewood - friday's child
lucero - the weight of guilt
william elliott whitmore - the buzzard's won't cry
the dead milkmen - spit sink
thunderbirds are now! - we win (ha ha)
nirvana - radio friendly unit shifter
the features - exorcising demons
enon - marbles explode
jim croce - one less set of footsteps
islands - don't call me whitney, bobby
viktor vaughn (venomous villain) - back end
graham coxon - i can't look at your skin

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

records2007

2008-01-15T04:44:00.001-06:00

fucking finally. i started doing this shit about 3 weeks before christmas and save for a few posts here and there, it has taken up all my nerd free time. i went back and listened to most of these, most i didn't have to but i wanted to make sure with the ones i did. after a brief sabbatical here's my 2007 in music list. seems like this was the like the 4th or 5th year in a row that we've had good luck with music and driving across the country for months and slinging pies when i wasn't traveling allowed for much listening time, maybe too much as i didn't get super acquainted with many of these records that i wanted to. so without any more interruptions. a list in no particular order. this isn't supposed to be a numbered list, just my favorite 50 or so releases. a lot of these lists i read are like 'my favorite 8 records' and shit. there is way too much music released in a year to have anything less than at least your favorite 50 or so. maybe that's just me. check it and bring joints.

choice
grinderman 'grinderman'
nick cave could fart onto some 1/2" tape ran at 7.5 ips and it would rule. and be on this list. (obviously.)
grinderman - get it on

the clientele 'god save the clientele'
after the excellent 'strange geometry' went virtually unnoticed a couple of years ago, i was totally stoked for a new clientele release. this time they added the superfoxy multi-instrumentalist mel draisey to their big star meets love meets 60's pop sound. there's some reverb in that sound too.
the clientele - bookshop casanova

the warlocks 'heavy deavy skull lover'
this is kinda picking up where 'rise & fall' left off. the warlocks return with the soundtrack to the apocalypse. if the apocalypse was strung-out on codeine. somehow they manage a bigger sound with less people. odd.
the warlocks - slip beneath

grayskul 'bloody radio'
after releasing an excellent debut ['deadlivers'] a few years back rhymesayers third finest act released another half-dark half-comic bookish underground hip hop record. this record featured guest spots from slug [atmosphere], andrea zollo [pretty girls make graves] and aesop rock. i hear they wanted to take pieces from all of hip hop's sub-genres and create something for everyone.
grayskul - missing feat. andrea zollo

grizzly bear 'friend' ep
it's amazing how these guys always release awesome fucking music (even if it's rehashing some old shit.) you know, in between gargling marbles and swallowing miles of cock. it's also very surprising that you never hear them play a reverb-drenched rusty trombone.
grizzly bear - shift (alternate version)

the besnard lakes 'are the dark horse'
in this day of bands and artists and whatnot releasing every time they ironically fart into a microphone, it's good to see a band not afraid to release an 8 song lp. getting help from other canadians [members of godspeed you! black emperor/a silver mt zion, stars and the dears all contributed] the besnard lakes created an excellent album full of different ideas that all seem to work. at times they're ripping shoegaze or brian wilson or an in-your-face wall of sound (sometimes all the same time) and other times, well, check out the loungey and surfy (sorta) vibe that builds up without gaining speed of 'for agent 13'. you'll get it.
the besnard lakes - for agent 13

the coral 'roots & echoes'
i've been a fan of the coral ever since i heard 'dreaming of you' when they were 15 and i was 21. it's kinda weird for me to still like these particular throwback 60's revivalists as i hate everyone younger than me but the music has been excellent since day one. plus my buddy from england knows these guys and said they're cool dudelys in real life. very much unlike the moochers in bloc party and the poser crackers in the libertines. (i also hear.)
the coral - rebecca you

voxtrot 'voxtrot'
i was really glad to see the voxtrot decided to cut the ep bullshit and release a proper record. fucking everything these fucking noobs do is sweet. no you guys i'm seriously.
voxtrot - ghost

the lionheart brothers 'dizzy kiss'
this gets a lot of comparisons to brian wilson. i guess that seems fair. the lionheart brothers feature some former members of 120 days and serena maneesh so you know going into this it's going to be good. 'dizzy kiss' came out way early last year in norway and comes out in the uk in a week. get the import here. (you might have to pay in kroners though).
the lionheart brothers - 50 souls and discobowl

blonde redhead '23'
ever since i picked up 'misery is a butterfly' on a whim, (maybe on a recommendation from that nerd in jimmy eat world) blonde redhead has been one of my favorites. the first time i heard '23' (the song) i probably hit rewind like 16 times. hands down my favorite song of the year. it's like a ghost singing out to you thru the darkness and the rain. plus that ghost, kazu makino, is supersexy. (obviously. she is asian.)
blonde redhead - 23

mando diao 'never seen the light of day'
i'm pretty sure this was the year of the scandinavians. yup, another band from sweden. this time in the form of super catchy hooks and a good pop formula that never gets tired. breaking out their acoustic axes this time around, this album makes it 3 for 3 on their last 3 outings.
mando diao - if i don't live today, then i might be here tomorrow

panda bear 'person pitch'
someone needs to tell this guy to relax on his mushroom intake. after his next album or two of course.
panda bear - take pills

benzos 'branches'
descriptions i came across as i couldn't pinpoint it all. trip hop, early dance, ambient, drum n bass, jazz. and there are guitars on this record too. really fucking awesome guitars. play this one for the lady and you'll be pounding vaj in no time. ecstasy optional.
benzos - teach me

calla 'strength in numbers'
isn't anyone else glad that calla has made basically the same album 5 times now? i know you're going to say ''but duder, i like it when bands explore the fringes of their musical boundaries. open your eyes and taste the fucking colors brah!'' and i say ''yeah but not fucking every band is radiohead and i like it when not every fucking band tries to be.''
calla - rise

two cow garage 'three'
this would be on this list even if we hadn't interviewed them here. and more songs and description here.
two cow garage - should've california

jose gonzalez 'in our nature'
hopefully for his solo outings, jose pulls a calla and sticks with his tried and true proven formula that works every time. i wouldn't mind seeing a junip full length someday.
jose gonzalez - time to send someone away

liars 'liars'
thing(s) that i like about liars records: they are always interesting and i could never fall asleep to one. thing(s) that i don't like about liars records: they never have their earlier records at the lame record shops i go to.
liars - freak out

interpol 'our love to admire'
you can tell that peter katis and matador weren't involved. even though rich costey has a pretty credible resume it still sounds like it had to pass some major label test listen. but after releasing my favorite record ever ['antics'], it would be very hard to top that let alone ride the coattails of. that being said, 'the lighthouse' is the second best song from the last 365 days. 'pioneers to the falls' is a very close fourth or fifth though...
interpol - the lighthouse

kings of leon 'because of the times'
here's some more excellent cross-eyed southern fried rock n roll served up on your plate. the south may rise again. maybe. if it doesn't involve books. and not racism.
kings of leon - knocked up

prince 'planet earth'
if you don't like prince you are either: 1) a racist or 2) so deep in the closet you're in narnia or 3) a racist. also, ''i love you baby but not like i love my guitar uh huh''. prince rules.
prince - guitar

the ravonettes 'lust lust lust'
an orgy of garage fuzz, dark surfish-noir, drum machines, synth bass, a huge love affair with the jesus & mary chain and pop music from the 50's and 60's being produced by lou reed during his 'metal machine music' days. boss.
the raveonettes - hallucinations

arcade fire 'neon bible'
i don't think there is a better moment of music this year than "been singing hallelujah with the fear in your heart".
arcade fire - intervention

blanche 'little amber bottles'
heartbroken gothic americana at its finest from some of jack white's old and current running crew. legend has it this record was finished last year but it took some time for any label [the uk's loose records] to get their heads outta their twats and finally release this gem. other than that--dusty banjos dude!
blanche - o' death, where is thy sting?

the groggers 'the groggers'
hands down the best sounding percussion you'll find anywhere. bring whiskey. and a tooter. and your celtic jersey. another contender for my favorite release of the year.
the groggers - throw your red paint

ilan eshkeri 'stardust ost'
john murphy & underworld 'sunshine ost'
marco beltrami '3:10 to yuma ost'
nick cave & warren ellis 'the assassination of jesse james ost'
these are the awesome soundtracks to some kickass movies. marco beltrami has done the soundtrack's to some movies i've seen and some that i haven't. the music for those which i've seen didn't catch me the way it did for 3:10. anyone remember the music for 'the proposition'? me too, that's why i went ahead and got the assassination soundtrack before seeing the movie. i don't know if the sunshine soundtrack has been released on cd or whatever yet. it should be. it's fucking awesome. danny boyle hooks up with underworld again!? score! that underworld & john murphy tune was ripped from some youtube dealy as well. so dealy with it.
ilan eshkeri - shooting star
john murphy & underworld - sunshine climax (capa's jump)
nick cave & warren ellis - falling
marco beltrami - ben takes the stage/dan's burden

deerhunter 'cryptograms'
this is another one i have a hard time describing. bringing ambient, shoegaze, psychedelic and punk to the table and jumping in between them seemlessly. makes me excited for the atlas sound record next year. and the next deerhunter release.
deerhunter - white ink

white rabbits 'fort nightly'
my favorite debut record of the year. maybe the best drumming all year. (sounding as well because technically the groggers used cardboard boxes and feet on tables in a percussive manner.)
white rabbits - march of the camels

okkervil river 'the stage names'
even if this record blew gary glitter it would be on this list for the 'sloop john b' takeover. but fortunately it rules and doesn't blow gary glitter. mostly because it's not a 12 year old.
okkervil river - unless it kicks

the white stripes 'icky thump'
good to hear jack white continue his venturing and then still have time to stay at home too. plus it's got bagpipes!
the white stripes - a martyr for my love for you

the shins 'wincing the night away'
some more top notch pop song writing drenched in some form of lsd and childhood daydreaming.
the shins - red rabbits

the comas 'spells'
after 'conductor' was released i had faith in the college/indie scene again. i was a little skeptical about this new release from the comas, as vagrant records puts out a lot of emo/punk bullshit and maybe thought that the comas were trying to cash in. not the case. here is some more excellent psychedelic indie-pop full of lost love and tongue-in-cheek geekiness.
the comas - now i'm a spider

black rebel motorcycle club 'baby81'
taking (the best) pieces from their three previous records certainly means the club have done it again. they sound kinda pissed off this time as well. maybe they left some of their ennui in 2004.
black rebel motorcycle club - berlin

band of horses 'cease to begin'
not as memorable as 'everything all the time' but still better than 90% of the horseshit out there. more proof the south may rise again someday.
band of horses - islands on the coast

jason isbell - sirens of the ditch
the final entry for a southern revolt. excellent songwriting that was proven time and time again in the later days of in the drive-by truckers. if you can't wait for the next drive-by album, get this as a quick fix.
jason isbell - shotgun wedding

a band of bees 'octopus'
all you need for this is a simple equation. lo-fi + country + psychedelic + dub + jazz + a love for early rock n roll = octopus. maybe my favorite record of the year.
a band of bees - the ocularist

bettye lavette 'the scene of the crime'
i didn't find this until the last week of 2007. yes, this was a last minute addition. it's tits. having been making records since 1962, she only "made it" a couple of years ago with 'i've got my own hell to raise'. this year's 'the scene of the crime' is: rock n roll + funk + soul + hints of gospel + country wine + the drive-by truckers as her backing band + spooner oldham wrecking the ivories + choice covers from some legends = why didn't anyone talk about this album? cunts.
bettye lavette - choices

eluvium 'copia'
stunning ambient from the great northwest.
eluvium - ostinato

william basinski - el camino real
stunning ambient from the big apple.
william basinski - el camino real

stars of the lid 'and their refinement of the decline'
stunning ambient from texas.
stars of the lid - don't bother they're here

ulrich schnauss 'goodbye'
stunning ambient from berlin.
ulrich schnauss - einfeld

sharon jones & the dap-kings '100 days, 100 nights'
4'6" sharon jones and this 10 foot wall of down home funky soul growing behind her. this is unbelievably excellent. filling in for the hole that not having curtis mayfield or james brown around anymore creates. for those of you in the know, the dap-kings played on the most recent mark ronson release (which will be reviewed here very shortly).
sharon jones & the dap-kings - keep on looking

dungen 'tio bitar'
top notch psychedelic jazziness from sweden's finest one man band. i'm surprised that this isn't on any of the top 2007 lists i've read. must be everyone is still trying to hold onto some very important indie cred. whatever that is. maybe someone heard this before them and now they can't let on that someone else was there first.
dungen - familj

sea wolf 'leaves in the river'
this is where i expected to put the new beirut or maybe the new bright eyes record. but this is better. and duder here didn't have to fuck off to france to make it. (not that beirut's new record isn't really good.) plus it's got some sweet accordions. tits!
sea wolf - song for the dead

ween 'la cucaracha'
stronger than the previous 'quebec'. this ranks up there with other ween heavy hitters like 'chocolate and cheese', 'white pepper', and 'the mollusk'. ween man. fuuuuucking weeee-eeeen. man. even though it seems this is a kinder gentler ween.
ween - object

kula shaker 'strangefolk'
after releasing one of the most underrated sophomore efforts ['peasants, pigs & astronauts'] in the last 20 years, the shakers finally return with more of their indian influenced britrock. tits.
kula shaker - dr. kitt

cheeseburger 'cheeseburger'
the perfect record for any situation where you are drinking booze, plan on drinking booze, just got done drinking booze, should be done drinking booze, drinking booze under your bed in the dark, plan on getting a little blow to go along with your booze, or you are at your local pub and the jukebox is eerily quiet and you want to get the party started. plus they've got the word burger in their name so they'd slide in automatically, even if this was a pink tribute record. (it's been a little while since anyone's given a fucking shit.)
cheeseburger - do you remember?

battles 'mirrored'
let's hope this post-rock sorta-supergroup continues to do what they did this year. make sweet sweet music with covers i can stare at for minutes on end. even though the term math rock is gayer than two dudes making out in a park.
battles - tonto

do make say think 'you, you're a history in rust'
explosions in the sky 'all of a sudden i miss everyone'
six parts seven 'casually smashed to pieces'
citay 'little kingdom'
lengthy and epic-y instrumentals were spot on this year. too bad my education didn't release one this year. that shit woulda fit nicely in there as well.
do make say think - a tender history in rust
explosions in the sky - catastrophe and the cure
six parts seven - falling over evening
citay - former child

a place to bury strangers 'a place to bury strangers'
i think it was buddyhead who hipped me to these morose motherfuckers. i totally see why buddyhead likes these cats. i heard they broke into the jesus & mary chain's house and stole all their equipment and didn't change any of the settings on it. then they listened to some velvet underground and maybe some singapore sling and made this record that could easily be the soundtrack to some movie made by david lynch, john hughes, satan and darren aronofsky. it's really fucking good. plus the main stranger makes these killer guitar pedals used on this record.
a place to bury strangers - the falling sun

no age 'weirdo rippers'
i think this is guitars and drums and shit but i might just be hearing clouds trapped in mason jars.
no age - every artist needs a tragedy

dr. dog 'we all belong'
this record rides on this peculiar steely dan wave at some times. kinda reminds of a slightly less psychedelic/more pop-oriented asteroid #4 or lilys. doesn't seem to have the 60's vibe that 'easy beat' had. i guess that previous steely dan reference would be that this one has a coked-out 70's vibe to it.
dr. dog - alaska

the octopus project 'hello, avalanche'
black moth super rainbow 'dandelion gum'
anyone get in (off) on 'the house of apples & eyeballs'? seeing that i randomly grabbed that for the title and bands involved alone i was not sure what to expect from these two bands going solo. each of these albums are exactly what i hoped them to be. excellent sunshiny electronic and experimental psychedelic music for nerds and probably made by nerds.
the octopus project - i saw the bright shinies
black moth super rainbow - drippy eye

soulsavers 'it's not how far you fall, it's the way you land'
this album features the vocal stylings of mark lanegan. also they cover 'no expectations' by the stones and 'through my sails' by neil young. still want more info? will oldham (aka bonnie 'prince' billy aka palace (brothers)) and one of the brosephs from doves guest as well. i first heard of soulsavers off of the layer cake soundtrack. and after hearing that they were able to make pussies like starsailor sound killer, i looked into this. this has sort of a holy revival feel to it (somehow) by way of its sweet atmospherics. and mark lanegan. their take on 'no expectations' is the third best song of the last 12 months.
soulsavers - kingdom of rain

dalek 'abandoned language'
at first this record seemed dark and brooding. then it seemed ambient and loungey. either way it's most excellent blueprint hip hop.
dalek - content to play villain

richard hawley 'lady's bridge'
this duder from pulp channels roy orbison and that dude singing about trees and shit from that restaurant scene in 'kingpin'. at times he also seems to be doing his best mark lanegan impression. that's pretty cool. this album gives off this nashville-via-the 60's feel to it. maybe neil diamond going laid back rockabilly after coming down from (or going on) a scott walker bender. either way, we're still waiting on that pulp reunion. thanks to my old kentucky blog for the heads up on this gem.
richard hawley - lady solitude

mary weiss 'dangerous game'
the old lead singer of the shangri-la's hooks up with memphis's reigning sound and delivers a throwback to her old sound. an update if you will on the sound she was famous for. if you listen closely, you can hear what the raveonettes hear. plus the reigning sound are fucking badass. also ''kids...kids don't know shit''.
mary weiss - don't come back

rjd2 'the third hand'
what's this? the half of soul position located behind the decks leaves def jux and is now singing pop songs? what the fuu-uuck? as i was expecting a sample based marathon i got some indie based instruments. not what i was expecting but a good time nonetheless. better than that last dj shadow record.
rjd2 - laws of the gods

the sadies 'new seasons'
excellent alt-country from the great white north. the guitar player shreds honkytonk all over this motherfucker here. the old 97's should take note here. plus these guys were on 12 0z mouse. so that's pretty sweet.
the sadies - what's left behind

frog eyes 'tears of the valedictorian'
this is excellent indie, with boundaries touching on the psychedelic and experimental, from the great white north. more people seem to talk about this band than listen to them. the destroyer and sunset rubdown/wolf parade connection (frog eyes main man casey mercer formed swan lake with dan bejar and spencer krug) only seem to be a conversation piece and no one actually wants to listen to it. too bad for them as 'tears of the valedictorian' draws many comparisons to various stages of tom waits, nick cave, the cramps, roxy music, john philip sousa and on and on. the lyrics could be heavy or they could be nonsense; i still can't decipher what he's saying. check out the killer one two punch of 'evil energy, the ill twin of...' and '...eagle energy' when you get the album.
frog eyes - "stockades"

busdriver 'roadkill overcoat'
you probably won't be surprised that busdriver's old man wrote the screenplay for the blockbuster 'krush groove'. you might be surprised that he guested on islands last album for the song 'where there's a will there's a whalebone'. this year's 'roadkill overcoat' was once again filled with his abstract lyricism and eccentric delivery, just as he's been doing for the better part of the last decade. check it out.
busdriver - pompous posies! your party's no fun

there you go. the year 2007 in music. due to all the overlooked records we are gonna start right away with our missed 2007 gems. so go ahead and tell me i'm wrong.

ps. i know that's a lot but 2007 coulda been the year i bought the most records ever. and i know it's totally superweak to be undecided and not make it a reasonable 25 or something selections. life sucks. get a fucking helmet.

ppss. and all the hype about 'in_ra/inb/_/o_w/s' was right. it's tits, i just didn't want to be another wanker writing about it.

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

3:10 to yuma

2008-01-12T00:41:00.000-06:00

so i just peeped '3:10 to yuma'. as it seems to be listmania times, here are the best 6 westerns in the last 20 years.

6 sunset riders (the arcade game)
5 unforgiven
4 back to the future 3
3 the proposition
2 tombstone
1 3:10 to yuma

ps i haven't seen 'the assassination of jesse james by the coward robert ford' yet. go see '3:10 to yuma'

records2007 II

2008-01-11T21:30:00.001-06:00

well here are the efforts that didn't make the cut. expect the big winner list ~~tomorrow or the next day or the next~~ at some point. i figured a lot of totally decent records might have gotten snubbed. so here's the rest of the end of the year dealy. and then the lame-o's. first?!? (brah, i'm totally confused and disillusioned.)

still competent or didn't get enough spins
young galaxy 'young galaxy', terrene 'the indifferent universe', pela 'anytown graffiti', arctic monkeys 'favorite worst nightmare', mark ronson 'version', bill callahan 'woke on a whaleheart', caribou 'andorra', editors 'an end has a start', the national 'boxer', radiohead 'in/rain/bow/s', the good the bad and the queen 'the good the bad and the queen', america 'here & now', the fiery furnaces 'widow city', richard swift 'dressed up for the letdown', the broken west 'i can't go on, i'll go on', neil young 'chrome dreams II', bruce springsteen 'magic', the twilight sad 'fourteen autumns and fifteen winters', the detroit cobras 'tried and true', elliott smith 'new moon', castanets 'in the vines', a hawk and a hacksaw 'a hawk and a hacksaw and the hun hangar ensemble', mexican institute of sound 'pinata', iron & wine 'the shepherd's dog', deerhoof 'friend opportunity', dinosaur jr 'belong', nine inch nails 'year zero', the field 'from here we go sublime', les savy fav 'let's stay friends', gogol bordello 'super taranta!', the chemical brothers 'we are the night'...

ehhh...
modest mouse 'we were dead before the ship even sank'
who the fuck wants to hear linda perry get kicked right in the nutsack and then yelp out 16 sea shanties? i certainly don't. the sea captain from the simpsons isn't even on this. how is that possible?

clap your hands say yeah 'some loud thunder'
as much as i agree with slinging biscuits out of yer apartment, these fucking guys let a buncha people's ears down this year. (well at least mine.) save for 'goodbye to mother and the cove'.

the bravery 'the sun and the moon'
obviously. i mean i didn't actually get this record but i bet that this--and i'm just speculating here--is what deaf people fucking sounds like.

editors 'an end has a start'
the music itself has lost some of the interpol and added some of the arcade fire's largeness. it's great but some of the lyrics are pretty weak. like duder was sleeping with a copy of 'chicken soup for my cunt' under his pillow. so i put it on both lists. seems fair.

the rosebuds 'night of the furies'
starts off pretty strong ('my punishment for fighting') but gets very limpwristed very quickly.

satellite party 'ultra payloaded'
someone needs to tell perry farrell that he doesn't need to put out records anymore as it's not 1988. at least dave navarro didn't release anything this year. bonus! double bonus if he found his shirt. (i didn't get this either but that last solo perry record blew autistic preteens and i'm guessing things have changed for the worse.)

vhs or beta 'bring on the comet'
jim james and some other my morning jacket goober couldn't help this. disco is fucking dead so lay off the fucking hi-hat and quit acting like gay zombies.

the smashing pumpkins 'zeitgeist'
tuh.

look for records by these cats on lists next year this time maybe?
the black angels, the verve, vampire weekend, the brian jonestown massacre, grinderman, the jesus & mary chain, oasis, the black keys, nada surf, rage against the machine, clem snide, portishead, my bloody valentine, longwave, the fever, eyedea & abilities, wax fang, satan's pilgrims, the secret machines, wolf parade, stevie wonder, get cape. wear cape. fly, flight of the conchords, dr. dre, social distortion, british sea power, the magnetic fields, the whigs, white denim, nick cave & the bad seeds, the big sleep, drive-by truckers, sun kil moon, gutter twins, ambulance ltd, los campesinos, the features, the avalanches, isobel campbell, dead meadow, zach del la rocha, doves, elbow, final fantasy, the mountain goats, !forward russia!, atlas sound, foals, jim white, deerhunter, franz ferdinand, islands, madvillain, hockey night, mf doom & ghostface killah, m83, radar bros, black mountain, the racontuers, seaweed, silver jews, spiritualized, stellastarr*, medeski martin and wood, local h, william elliott whitmore, tapes n tapes, tortoise, gillian welch, slint, gnarls barkley...did i miss any??

records i'm not looking forward to but i'll probably get cause i'm lame
weezer

as always these posts are subject to unknown updates (like when i finally figure out that the national is overrated).

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

wtf?

2008-01-11T00:31:00.001-06:00

boss tuneage tuesday 1/8

2008-01-08T16:07:00.000-06:00

the magnetic fields - abigail, belle of kilronan
flatt & scruggs - reuben
galaxie 500 - way up high
stone temple pilots - lounge fly
deltron3030 - battlesong
dinosaur jr. - feel the pain
propellerheads feat. shirley bassey - goldfinger
my morning jacket - lowdown
mark de gli antoni - hong kong
the black heart procession - why i stay
british sea power - the land beyond
mc5 - i want you right now

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

powerthirst

2008-01-06T10:10:00.001-06:00

david coverversion: the ventures vs. ennio morricone

2008-01-05T05:35:00.000-06:00

dude. spaghetti western meets surf. dude.

the ventures - the good the bad and the ugly
ennio morricone - the good the bad and the ugly

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

10000 hits

2008-01-04T12:49:00.000-06:00

wow. 10000 hits in less than a year. this was certainly most unexpected. granted most of them were probably skreemr hits or people looking for a glimpse of britney spear's beefy slimehole. (which bears a slight resemblance to a rotting bullhead but that's neither here nor there). but still 10000 hits. wheuh!

david coverversions: lonesome town

2008-01-04T07:31:00.000-06:00

this song having been written in 1958 is one of baker knight's million performance songs. i'm sure you're asking 'who in the fuck is baker knight?' and i'm about to reply with read here. i'm sure i had heard ricky nelson's version of 'lonesome town' before seeing 'pulp fiction' but it's not from that that i remember it most. back again to the soundtrack to 'stubb's the zombie'. the game i never played even though i can't stop listening to the album. from said soundtrack comes milton mapes' spectacular brokenhearted indie take. i didn't know shit about this band until i read here. not what i would have guessed, but i'm on the look out for one of the milton mapes records. i do have the pleasure of having and knowing about the cramps debut ep 'gravest hits', being produced by alex chilton. another coverversion for another day is their take of the trashmen's 'surfin' bird'. unfortunately, i only have the vinyl lp of the ventures sweet instrumental take of it. anyone got a copy or something, by all means, send it along. i was kinda surprised, totally saddened and totally aroused all at the same time when i heard the ditty bops were lesbians. tragic.

ricky nelson - lonesome town
milton mapes - lonesome town
the cramps - lonesome town
the ditty bops - lonesome town (live)

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

david coverversion: nine inch nails vs. joy division vs. starchildren

2008-01-03T16:08:00.000-06:00

the crow soundtrack is amazing; with cuts from the jesus and mary chain, the cure, stp, rage against the machine, violent femmes, medicine...etc, it gives an excellent gothic feel to keep in stride with the movie. granted i only saw the movie once and don't really remember much more than the plot. that's fine with me. i also remember hating the sequel. anyways, for said album nine inch nails did a take on joy division's 'dead souls'. rollins band also gave a take on suicide's 'ghost rider' but that's for another day. everyone knows the joy division legend. ian curtis hanging himself on the eve of their first american tour. i'm surprised that it took someone (anton corbjin) over 20 years to make a movie based on joy's legacy (control). i haven't seen it yet, but then again i haven't seen the new townes van zandt and roky erickson documentaries yet either. (or this one). whoops. for the 'means to an ends' tribute record, starchildren aka the smashing pumpkins (basically), gave a laid back take of 'isolation' from joy's second album 'closer'. the 'means to an end' record is excellent with the likes of tortoise and low and codeine and girls vs. boys all contributing.

the smashing pumpkins (starchildren) - isolation
joy division - isolation
joy division - dead souls
nine inch nails - dead souls

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

boss tuneage tuesday 1/1

2008-01-01T23:34:00.000-06:00

so the first song i heard in 2008 was 'i want it that way'. never let your friends drive. or control the radio. i guess it coulda been worse. it coulda been nickelback. then 2008 would be totally fucked.

electric light orchestra - showdown
ratatat - loud pipes
guided by voices - bright paper werewolves
medeski martin and wood - the dropper
belasco - chloroform
the cramps - new kind of kick
lionel richie - hello
pulp - i spy
social distortion - through these eyes
kings of leon - talihina sky
creedence clearwater revival - long as i can see the light
herman's hermits - i'm henry the VIII, i am

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

bo fo' sho

2007-12-31T15:33:00.001-06:00

thanks to math is sexy

better than mtv

2007-12-27T15:52:00.000-06:00

the secret machines - nowhere again

interpol - specialist

green day - basket case

leonard cohen - suzanne

the black crowes w/ stereophonics & jools holland - twice as hard

boss tuneage tuesday 12/25

2007-12-25T03:19:00.000-06:00

for some reason people tell me to be giving this time of the year. mostly jesus. and marc bolan.

t-rex - xmas message

for lack of posts lately. here's a whole buncha relevance. happy birthday america! i mean jesus.

trans-siberian orchestra - christmas canon rock
jim white - christmas day
the ventures - sleigh ride
james brown - soulful christmas
barnyard playboys - eight-ball for christmas
jesse malin - xmas
weezer - christmas song
the smashing pumpkins - christmastime
bright eyes - the night before christmas
caetano veloso - in the hot sun of a christmas day
elvis presley - if everyday was like christmas
the flaming lips - christmas at the zoo
deerhoof - xmas tree
fuck buddies - no playstation2 for christmas
mew - she came home for christmas
mogwai - christmas steps
okkervil river - listening to otis redding at home during christmas
seachange - christmas letters
smoking popes - o holy night
daniel johnston - merry christmas everybody
steve earle - christmas in washington
the walkmen - no christmas while i'm talking
harry nilsson - remember christmas
vince guaraldi trio - christmas time is here

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

boss tuneage tuesday 12/18

2007-12-18T23:48:00.000-06:00

~~almost~~ totally forgot.

grinderman - go tell the women
gang starr - tonz 'o' gunz
robert palmer - sneakin' sally through the alley
immaculate machine - old flame
konono no. 1 - kule kule
22-20s - shoot your gun
2pac - white man'z world
albert hammond jr. - holiday
spiritualized - you know it's true
black rebel motorcycle club - complicated situation
curtis mayfield - check out your mind
pink floyd - if

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't

placebo instrumentals II

2007-12-17T16:02:00.000-06:00

thought i had a few more than this. oh well shit happens.

dub psychosis
h.k. farewell
theme from funky reverend
hug bubble

go buy whatcha likes and delete whatcha don't