Satan's Luau

My first knowing exposure to CP was her work in collab with the Handsome Boy Modeling School's "I've Been Thinking", although I think I've heard other stuff by her before ... and that HBM track is just such a cool listen. So given all the critical acclaim and of course free eM D/L credits, I figured why not?

Cat Power - The Greatest: B/B+

It's hard to put into words what I feel about this album. Certainly this album is not short on universal al-around praise. I am not here to heap additional praise words on it, just here to give my impressions

In terms of catching a vibe and putting it across, this album is uniformly excellent. However, I think the album requires a certain mindset to appreciate fully. In many ways, the music is sparse with melancholy vocals. Let's say you're pretty much content, this album may bounce off you ... but if the weather were poor or your mindset was blah to dark, I think this would go over real well, fit the mood

In many ways, this album reminds me of Norah's last in that it largely is roots type music. Only I feel that Chan went a little deeper into the Southern roots, country, gospel type music forms, with absolutely great players backing her ... somehow it has a depth and authenticity and soulfulness to it ... that I really didn't feel so much from NJ's last

Again, to sum, it is mood music ... it is play soft music while the rain falls at night music, ambience music par excellence ... not really something I would rep over and over, it's a bit too melancholy to play over and over -- to me, I think it is changeup music.

Posted by at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, I should have known by today's weather at Kapolei ... the normally dry and windy place looked like it was enveloped by London fog early this afternoon and sheets and sheets of rain came down

Now, it's early evening and man, it is pouring something fierce ... and the lightning and thunder are lighting up the sky and shaking the jalousies. I guess, it's time to spin some Go Team and do some email ... hopefully the power doesn't get tripped

Posted by at 6:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I got a new Gillette Fusion razor in the mail last week ... like manna from heaven or something. Totally unsolicited, here comes a FIVE blade shaver with top razor for tough spots on your face. After struggling with the Quattro for the past two weeks, let's just say its nice to get back on the G-razor bandwagon ...

Tracks from the long awaited full length album from Every Move a Picture are popping up periodically on their myspace site here.

I saw a pretty neat trailer for the cel shaded movie adaptation of Philip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly ... another weird one with Keanu ... oh and Robert Downey, Jr. I guess Mr. Depp, another member of the weirdo movie trio was busy? ... anyways, trailer here ... but there is Winona R., so two and a half weirdos

Oh yeah, and if you lack direction on what to enjoy on this lazy President's Day ... check out the Stellastarr* pod in either audio or video version ... in your iT MBE or MBE on Vid subscriptions ... good stuff ... except for a kinda mediocre version of their smash hit, Sweet Troubled Soul

Posted by at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

And now for something completely different ... so what do you get when you combine breakbeats, funk, 70s style cop show soundtracky music, cheerleaderish raps, high school band instruments (mainly choruses of horns), among other great ideas to mash together?

The Go! Team - Thunder, Lightning, Strike: A

I guess sometimes you get what you wish for. I was looking for something really different and fun. This album fits the bill and then some. It has so many great elements to it, and it's really not about single songs ... this album is a great one to listen through, and at an economical 40 or so minutes (highly doable), audio fatigue is not really an issue ... and the neat thing is that most tracks are about 3 or so minutes long (or less), so the good ideas don't turn into a repetitive bludgeoning

I had picked up a few singles from the Go! Team over the past couple of years ... and have always liked their near instrumental mash ups of all these different musical elements. So, when I had seen them actually perform live on MBE ... I was like, man, if this is the music of their new album, damn ... it's really cool

And, yes, this album turned out to be really quite a fun listen ... and I mean, this is not something that I would typically single out as something that I would imagine that I would really dig. But I do ... it works really well as background music to things like exercising, driving, even passing time at work ... it's just very upbeat, catchy stuff ... but yet, really hard to classify as being "like or similar to" a single genre.

Just a whole lotta interesting sounds, rhythms, hooks, beats ... truly a unique listen, something I would highly recommend everyone take at least a listen to. Highly addictive stuff.

Posted by at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Okay, I am the last person to advocate piracy ... so that is not what my first recommendation relating to this album will be. If you buy this CD, it is that fun type of Sony copy protected kind ... so I advise doing like me and grabbiing it off of iTs, if you want it ... well, your computer, your wisdom

That being said ... I have really liked some of the high energy singles from Stellastarr, including "Somewhere Across Forever", "My Coco", and "Sweet Troubled Soul" ... so again, being influenced by that evil goateed, foureyed, tight shirted (must be a Brit thing) pied piper of MBE, I decided to jump in and get this album after watching a studio session

Stellastarr* - Harmonies for the Haunted: B+

First off ... didn't get the first album, which many seem to love a whole heck of a lot more than this one. I don't have it so, I can't draw that kind of comparison. What draws me to SStarr* is their unique use of familiar retro elements that I love, in a neat way that is great to listen to, great harmonies, hooks, lyrics, and those 80s style eno/edge jangly guitars

I think that there are some songs that are so easy to get behind on this album, like "Sweet Troubled Soul" and "Love and Longing". These are real obvious, and if you didn't want to take the album dive, then these are some singles to consider for your iP ... just great songs. I think I've played STS in my car, at work, on the iP wayyy too many times ... such an addictive song

I think that there is a formula that works for this band, and it involves the interchange of vox between the understated Glenn D-ish lead and the female bass player ... it seems that when this element is not used, the songs don't pop out at you. A word on the mix, if you check out the MBE performances on pod, you will notice that when they mix the bassist's voice higher ... my word, that music just pops, I mean, I love it ... the mix here kind of tunes her voice down a bit too low, and it does detract from the album when you compare it to the better mixes of their songs live

On a side note, the MBE performance featured: Lost in Time, The Diver, Love and Longing, Damn This Foolish Heart, Sweet Troubled Soul, and On My Own ... these just happen to be the strongest of the songs on the album as well, though the unnamed tracks are solid

That being said, they have a really great sound, very tight and polished, within the limitations of writing indie pop. I guess I've been really hammering at stuff that meanders and doesn't get to the point, no such problems here ... really straightforward, compact stuff that is nicely packaged in the 3 to 4 minute range. There is a lot of growing in potential for a lot of songs, I think I'll be listening to different tracks of this one for a while.

I also noticed that when they want to, they can put together this massive 80s retro new wave/college rock ear candy sound that is really easy to listen to ... but, they don't really go there as much as they could ... in other words, they don't shake the hit tree as much as they could, and that's a bit unfortunate. Whether they don't to maintain indie cred, I think they have the potential to really put together a big time, mainstream smash ... all the elements for it are there.

Overall, I think it is a great effort, there are times when I wish that this album were a bit more because of the obvious potential that is there ... and the mix of the vocal harmonies could really be better. But, at the end of the day, that is just being picky, and this album is an entertaining listen

Posted by at 6:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, I am finally getting around to doing a review of the RK players solo albums. Jenny's solo album with the Watson Twins is quite an adventure.

Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat: B+

I am turning into a big JL fan ... being so enamored by she and Blake's music in Rilo Kiley. The thing that is surprising about this effort is not its country/folky/gospelly roots both in style and verse ... but that such a different sounding album can sound so great and shake up the indie pop world. I'm gonna leave the comparisons to 1970s Linda R. or Cowboy Junkies albums to others, I just love listening to this album, it's just good music ... real good for the soul music, that just effortlessly floats, dances, and shines

The vox on this album ... WOW. I mean, the usual evocative vocals of Jenny, blended with the great vocal harmonies of the Watson Twins is a pretty otherworldly listening experience during certain songs. I know that usually I like to single out some tracks that I really enjoy. On this one, it's pretty difficult, not only because this album is a great listen ... but because I find different things about it that I like over various listens.

What I do love about JL's delivery, both here and with RK, is that her voice tells a mean story. The title track is a particular shining example of just JL and guitar ... and fantastic things happen. Ironically, the song that I am most familiar with ... the cover of the T.Wilbury's "Handle With Care", featuring the current Mt. Rushmore of indie male vox, is actually one of the weaker songs on the album. It stands as an oddity because the whole album is so powered by female vox, and this song takes a bit away from the identity of the album.

It is interesting to me, that there are not any real obvious hits on the album ... but the parts stick together like a great concept album. Who knew a great concept album could be country/folkish?
Definitely not what I expected, but a very good album nonetheless ... I see this one as a changeup album for me rather than a regular rotation one, but I know that when I do play it, I will enjoy the hell out of it

Well, Jenny and the Watsons are going to appear on MBE on March 10th, I believe, I'll be tuning in live that morning ...

Posted by at 8:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It seems I've been listening to a ton of folky, countrified, understated music as of late ... must be the current trend in indie pop ... I really don't know. So anyways, this was another free eM what do I have to lose pick

Iron and Wine/Calexico - In the Reins EP: A

If you read above, it is a short set of folksy understated music, however, I think that I like this set a little bit better than some of the other artists that I've been listening to lately. The reason why is not because of common elements -- whispery vocals, twangy slide guitar, harmonies ... I just think this EP does it a bit better. The harmonies are really cool, and the interaction between the musical elements is well put together and interesting -- almost like a slightly more rootsy hybrid take of early Eagles and solo Simon or some S&G

By better, I mean that these tracks are really easily accessible -- catchy, even -- even though have a complexity in sounds, harmonies, great lyrics. Even when the music expands and sprawls, it seems to enhance the whole of it ... and really not seem like overdone meandering. I don't mind tracks of this length if they plan on doing something interesting during the time span, here there is a good mix of shorter and expansive

I have a feeling some of these tracks will get a ton of spins from me in the short term. This music was just a pleasure to listen to, very easy to get into ... almost welcomes you rather than holds you off, very cool.

Posted by at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

And so the search for original sounding bands continues in the overwhelming wave wash of various new artists who play an eerily comfortable retro sound ... that makes it possible for coots like me to follow current music trends without painful listening.

Film School - Film School: DBI

I've been listening to too much Roth Radio lately ... and he likes to make this comparison about musical influences, basically that everyone who is up and coming in music has influences ... and that every new band kinda steals from here and there to come up with their sound. And that with the good bands, you cannot see the weld marks of all the influence SLASH imitation

Something that is very noticeable early on in this effort from Film School is the similarity in vocal delivery with say, Robert S. from Disintegration era Cure. What else, post-punk wall of sound ... check. Eno/The Edge jangly delay guitar ... check. Well, okay, let's get back to the original comment -- this album really sounds like the band paid attention to college rock era, Cure

So much so, that "On and On", "Pitfalls", "Eleven-Eleven" ... in particular sounds like outtakes from Rob's band ... I mean, it's so eerily similar. I think it's like an homage to that Cure sound. And I suppose if one loved the classic Cure sound ... not really the hits era Cure, but early album Cure, either you would love it ... or totally despise it as a poor imitation

There are moments when the band meanders into a Radiohead or surreal instrumental Pink Floyd-y landscape vibe, like "Deep Lake"/"Sick of Shame" and "Garison", respectively ... and admittedly, I'm not a big fan of the RH music that kind meanders all over the place under the wall of noise and slow slurry vox ... though REAL critics tend to drool over this kind of music and can't get enough of it.

Lately, I've been real critical about songs that go north of 4-5 minutes with no point other than to be annoying in its repetiveness .... maybe I should take drugs so I won't notice such things. Some things I guess I will never understand.

The other thing I will say is that I am guilty in terms of liking the new retro sound as much as the next youngster with no clue about college rock, new wave, post punk due to NOT BEING BORN ... thinking that this is SO NEW ... I guess having lived through the same musical trends now one and a half times ... it seems that I tend to lose patience over bands that sound so similar to another band that it's like you could interchange the names and no one would know the difference

At the end of the day, this is another lesson to all of us ... not to believe the hype. Believe what your ears hear ... our ears hear something that is not to our liking, anyway ... so we resurrect the old DBI rating and apply it here

Posted by at 1:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If I can sum it up, this one is based on one word ... this word sometimes gets us in trouble, this word sometimes gets the best of us, this word to stop this blathering is curiosity. I guess I was wondering why this one gets so much play on Star, well I personally wonder no more ... the eMusic free music bonanza begins

Matisyahu - Live at Stubbs: B/B+

Has the world ALREADY forgotten that there was a little band from Long Beach called Sublime? Or, on the other hand, is it just that Sub like so many other bands prematurely departed leaving us with very little to go on in a way, but much of it good ... that we want to fill that void with similar sounds.

I think that it may be very easy to draw the inevitable comparison on first listen that the vibe is very reminiscent of Bradley's band ... heck, the delivery is eerily similar to him as well. In fact, I think it's really hard to ignore the similarities, I personally find it real difficult to separate the two.

So here's my impressions in short ... if you really liked Sub (we most certainly do), you are really going to like this. In fact, you will be very troubled by the eerie similarities that abound. Yes, we can all be music critics and state the obvious that the emcee here is fundamentally Jewish in appearance and material ... but man, when you close your eyes, sometimes you can be fooled by it.

All that musical confusion aside, there are some tremendous numbers here like, "Chop Em Down", "Heights", "Close My Eyes) (all very remiscent of the LB style), "King Without a Crown", and "Exaltation" are the strong cuts. I think that "Refuge", "Aish Tarrid" and "Fire and Heights" are particularly strong, and aren't in an obvious Long Beach style. Ref is a bluesy reggae with a great message; AT is just great reggae/dub ... whereas FandH is 1970s style instrumental jam rock. He also does a surprisingly good "Beat Box" ... didn't see that one coming, not in 8 million years, it's not Rahzel level, but still amazingly good, and he does a mean WB rap (makes me almost wonder what would happen if he wasn't so good at laying down the LB sound)

And top to bottom it is a great listen. What I really appreciated was that Matis stayed away from the temptation to murder the Jamaican MC dub style, what so many local bands here apparently do not fear and commit audible murder with each breath. I really liked the positivity and the spiritual lyrics as well and the general upbeat tone of the music.

So if you have that free offer from eMusic, have some iT credits, or have some money burning a hole in your pocket ... you could do worse if you like the style of Sublime, LBAS and Short Bus, 311, etc. We think this one is a bit short on originality, but the musical style that it carries forward is certainly worthwhile.

So it's not the most original stuff we've ever heard ... it still is quite the fun changeup, shake things up listen ... greatest live album since KISS Alive??? Who buys live albums, anyways besides us ... and it seems as if Matis puts on a great show, too band he would perform here at the boycotted Pipe

Posted by at 2:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One episode at a time ...

Yacht Rock!!!

... And in other news, looks like Pat B. will play a show or two here in October.

Posted by at 1:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have read the all the positive reviews surrounding this album. I actually had downloaded the "Stormy Weather - EP" from iTs quite a while ago ... so given some free tracks from eMusic, I figured why not, after all I did at one point many many many moons ago enjoy the music of E&tB

Echo and the Bunnymen - Siberia: C

I guess I consider "Lips Like Sugar" and "The Killing Moon" to be the great singular classics of E&tB, so my tastes is that of the casual music fan of the band rather than the truly hardcore. I suppose with this download I was hoping to catch lightning in the bottle, much like I did by dl-ing New Order's recent one. I liked Stormy Weather well enough, so I thought ... well, it's not on my dime, thanks to eM

Many of the other reviewers have greater context for the band than I do. They rave about the guitar playing and the accessibility of the album, and I can see all of that. This album really has a great sound about it ... some have called it a return to the roots of their sound, and that is a good observation as well.

What I can say is that despite all the things that would usually tip things towards me liking an album, the early part of this album really left me with that "... and thennn" feeling. None of the tracks felt particularly focused or tightened up, where I could as a listener wrap my mind around them ... lots of good sounding meandering, though. The latter part of the album left me that "what if" feeling, like what if they followed their instincts, this album coulda be a contendah ...

That is one thing that I thought stood out to me, lots of long winded songs early on that could have used some editing down and focusing (a bit too much north of 4 and 5 minutes) ... lots of good ideas here, too bad the execution wasn't there, to my taste anyway. "Of a Life" is an example of a shorter song that was pretty solid ... and "Make Us Blind" has the elements of old school E&tB classics but it never takes off, and as a result ... is just okay (maybe it's all the repetition of the chorus, we got the point).

Now the most frustrating song of the album is "Everything Kills You" ... not that it sucks, but that I would think that it is a great direction for the band, almost 20 years since their heyday in the college rock era, a very mature sounding song ... EEK GASP, that doesn't even use elements of their their traditional sound. It really stands out among the early songs on the album, and it's only a good but not great song.

The same can be said about the title track "Siberia", which takes a similar approach in sounding appropriately mature in design, BUT actually does make use of the old elements that make their sound great ... how I wish there were more songs like this on this album, this track was very good. "Sideways Eight" is more in the classic vein of E&tB music, could have appeared in the 80s album ... and is of an appropriate length where it doesn't get repetitive and redundant, and above all is also a very good track. I really liked the harder edged guitar driven sound of "Scissors in the Sand", which is a really well put together pop rocks song even though it is pretty epic in length. "What If We Are" is a great closer, a nice different piano-acousti ballad ... I like to call its placement the ironic "What If ... there was focus throughout the album" ... we'd be dangerously relevant, second half of the album just makes me shake my head.

I think what the album shows is that the band does not lack for ideas as much as an ability to focus, choose to follow its instincts when it has come upon a new sound, make choices as to how it wants to come across many years since its debut. I think that in many ways, listening to the early part of the album is frustrating because the focus is not there, about halfway they start to show some focus and ideas and then they finish so strong, and it makes you wish that it was consistent all the way through ... oh well.

In the final analysis, I can add "Stormy Weather" and make my favorite Echo songs a two-point-five style trio ... other than that, maybe I say YMMV if you are a hardcore E&tB fan. And if you are a fan of delay jangle guitar but with more pop focus, I guess I would point you to U2's or ... yes, we still can't believe it, New Order's WFTSC.

Posted by at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I suppose if you have read us enough, you know of my longstanding Joshua Tree-esque boycott of the band that once made me oh-so-thankful for MTV in the early 80s --- one of my favorite bands of the era. I blame Virgin Radio and iPod for bringing me back into the fold

U2 - How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb: A

Don't get me wrong, I still think Zootopia and Pop were BIG BIG missteps (ehh, the truth is I never really warmed to anything JT and beyond, except for some songs here and there) ... that I would compare to a Mettish L/Re-L phase for the biggest band in the world. I just happen to think that this album is really a great album from the Dubliners.

I was initially made curious of the album because of the poignant "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own", in fact, God knows how many times I played that ballad over and over and over. The song is truly epic, and goes along with the great ballads such as "One", "Bad", "Stay" and even the simply ubiquitous played to death and dismemberment, "With or Without You"

Then there was that "it" song from the iPod commercial, "Vertigo" ... although I've become more in the middle about the song ... when I first heard it, I was like wow, I can dig this harder edge rocking U2. Recently, I've come into liking the power ballad, "Original of the Species" from another commercial.

I suppose that it is somewhat ironic that I came into this effort basically by commercials and advertising, and that seems so unlike the stronger social and political stances of the band. Lately, I've been discovering other great songs, like "Miracle Drug" and "City of Blinding Lights". I guess the larger portion of my appreciation comes from the return of the boys to a middle ground between the post punk ringing delay guitars and the poppy ballady efforts ... this album takes some of the best of the old and the new sounds and puts them forth in a really compelling, accessible effort

Even when they dabble with a Depeche Mode "PJ" stompy motif like "Love or Peace or Else", it doesn't sound forced, fake, contrived or pointless ... it is very solid. Another track I liked early on prior to getting the album, "All Because of You", I just liked it for the way it just rode the percussion, and I thought what a good arena rock type song to get the peeps clapping in unison.

Another solid track is "A Man and a Woman" a very FM-friendly contemporary pop sounding song ... feels like a lighter reprise on classic NYsD vibe. And for you classic ringing sound fans, there is an refreshing of it in the take of "Yahweh", that twists it into another contempo pop sounding song -- I can see myself playing this more and more in the near future. I'm really not in a place at the moment where I would snob such songs, I'm just looking for stuff that I enjoy listening to rather than finding something in "art".

There really aren't any particularly skippable, weak tracks on the album, though I do think "Crumbs from Your Table" and "One Step Closer" are pretty marginal ... in that they haven't grabbed me like most of the songs on the album. I would almost prefer that they kept the rambling U2-esque "Mercy" ... but then I think they would have had a good handful of similar sounding contempo pop rocks, all kind of in the "Miracle Drug" vein -- which in the final analysis, I would be okay with because it's just well put together pop rocks, nothing wrong with that.

I, for one, am glad all the experimentation with techno and dance is largely gone, and the band has gotten back to playing straightforward, emotional, human, stripped down, warm, very live sounding music. I would not be surprised if they sweep in Grammys tonight ... this is that kind of effort that makes all the other offerings out there seem really weak in comparison.

It's been quite a while since I've had this album and I continue to find new stuff that I like about it. That's why I think it is a solid A, and perhaps maybe when I think about it ... verging on the best of the stuff of late 04/last year.

Posted by at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In minor news today, HB1963, which people may know better as the ultimate fighting ban in Hawaii bill was defeated in committee today. I'm not going to say anything outside the fact that the bill is the most grossly underinformed characterization of current mixed martial arts ... however

DON'T YOU FKG THINK THERE ARE MORE IMPORTANT ISSUES TO ADDRESS?!?!?!?!?!

damn.

Posted by at 6:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

(Image: AP)

Thanks for the ten great seasons with the Steelers, and your class and grace.

I will always remember how unlike so many other stars here for the Pro Bowl several years ago, you sat and signed and signed and signed at Waikele KMart until everyone in line was taken care of. And how you were so friendly and accommodating to the fans, including me (and signed everything I gave to you) ... where many other players left whenever they felt like it or cut their signings short, disappointing fans who lined up for hours for them.

Posted by at 5:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

(Image: AP)

Posted by at 5:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Don't get me wrong, I was raised on a healthy dose of dark, post punk synth music. I have always wondered whether there was some kind of inside joke about it that I didn't get ... namely were there people with black everything who took it seriously, and did the bands actually take it seriously

She Wants Revenge - She Wants Revenge: C-

It's all here, the repetitive driving synth lines, the melancholy guitar lines that delay and ring out into the electro white noise buzz, the dark topicality of forbidden and questionable human behavior, the vocal guy that sings purposely monotone ... heck, I'm sure everyone has heard albums like this, so let's move on

I think the ironic part about music such as this, or in this genre, is that it's always hard to wrap your arms around it and say, Yes, I love this -- to for lack of better words, embrace it. Like I said, it all seems like a big damn satire to me. If you consider the stronger bands in the genre, or shall we say, the ones that are more commercially successful ... well, they have all the requisite elements, and the "it" factor that distinguishes them from the same sounding mob of poorly executed Gang of Four/Sisters of Mercy/Joy Division imitators.

I guess my basic impression of the album is that I feel like I've heard it all before. Sure, there are some really great singles on it, like "These Things", which I like because it sounds like Violator-era DM; or the big darkly danceable, slick "Out of Control". You know, I don't know if it is that certain songs aren't produced or polished enough but they failed to get my attention.

I think I like this album best when it verges on established sounds that I like, but then I think to myself, I like those other bands and their albums better ... to where, I would pop in their CD necessarily, than listen to SWR ... I guess I feel that way about "Monologue", "Someone Must Get Hurt", and "Tear You Apart", which are good but there's something else in the past I can think of that's better ... then there are moments where they try to put together a hooky song, and it just turns out that they really only mimic well, they can't put together a compelling original sounding song, like "Broken Promises for Broken Hearts".

Well, as we have liked to say over the past year and a half, the old is new again. This album is tolerable as background music ... for say, Hot Topic shopping or your neighborhood body jewelry establishment ... I kid. In all seriousness, it is an okay listen if you like dark synth, however, it won't move you to play it over ... it will move you to grab that Go4, SoM, DM, JoyD, etc. and dust it off

I do recommend "These Things" and "Out of Control", as singles to buy. The album itself is pretty mediocre, and we think about a C-

Posted by at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

(Afternoon update: Looking like this will be another JB classic.)

Well, don't you feel good that finally we have nearly official confirmation that .... a) no Stones show here in April ... and b) no second U2 show. Because our life was so taken with the obsession over these things happening ... I think if anything, all it shows is that the RS have good business peeps looking out for them. I mean, why play a town that is broke from being concerted out in a one month period ... especially when you charge RS prices, hey people didn't exactly dig U2 prices for the heaven seats in the Homage to Rust. So everyone get ready for JJ and the KFest ... too bad I'm not going, oh my heart is breaking .... NOTT

Heard a supposed new one of Moz's new one ... I mean, he did say different direction, sounded like Morrissey's version of Kashmir, odd indeed. Actually it was funny because I had DLed the Moz song, but opened up a new one from Built to Spill at the same time ... so I thought the BtS one was the Moz song, which puzzled me b/c it sounded so much like vintage Mossy, maybe they should trade songs?

As my greedy addiction for pods continues, I guess I'm the last to know ... there now is a Mrazcast. Apparently boy wonder is looking for a new guitarist for the band ... and I guess is doing the take in the tapes from every TD&H --- basically lotta stuff from auditions. Kinda interesting because there's a pretty cool takes of familiar Jason tracks. Most of the jibba jabba is boring pointless and stupid, but the music actually has some nice moments ... the outro with the Jodeci cover, who saw that coming?

Also took a listen to Lisa's pod based off her reality series, and it kinda was like listening to news segments on NPR ... it was oddly numbing and ehh. more passion, please.

As a matter of curiosity I checked out the preeminent local metal band's website ... and of course, what would a visit be without listening to their musical offerings, no? Reminded me of the old DRI style ... a crossover style, sometimes called metalcore in the olden days. Like the Simpsons, it's been done before, and ... I'm surprised how TIRED it sounds, I mean, I am really surprised at my adverse reaction to it ... I think that I actually may have liked it in 86 ....haha

Posted by at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Haven't really been doing much other than the daily routine. The music pods that I have really liked in the past few days were the latest KCRW MBE pod of Blake of Rilo's side project, The Elected ... and after being into the Sundayrunners awhile back, nice to hear great new stuff on the WOXY The Lounge pod -- only three tracks, but really like the direction (even better than the tracks on their current album).

I've been picking off a few obscure tracks here and there, including a fairly good but odd cover by The Method and Result of H&O's Private Eyes ... another great cover that is slightly older is Kathryn Williams cover of Pavement's Spit on a Stranger ... and Margot & The Nuclear So and So's Dress Me Like a Clown. All I feel about my latest foray into finding music is that ... man, there is so much out there, but when you find something you like, it's worth it

The other thing I noticed ... is that while listening greedily to the DLR morning show, the guy struggles in some interviews with getting into a good flow and asking good questions. When it's just his stage, it's fine ... and Animal is hilarious, reminds me of a real life version of Tim M's Ladies Man

(afternoon update: Bono gave the keynote today at the National Prayer Breakfast, an interesting read if you go here.)

Posted by at 10:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)