AI Roundup and SIlversun Pickups

First, a little AI roundup.

Every time Adam opens his mouth, I expect cock dust to come streaming out, but instead am greeted by one of the most feral rock howls going. I am not sure what kind of Faustian deal this guy had to make to get those pipes, but I am sure his colon’s health will pay the price in the end. There is really no way this guy does not make it to the finals. Every week he destroys (I mean seriously butchers the shit out of) a classic, minus his take on Smokey Robinson and Tears for Fears, and it seems to fly. That is what happens when you have enough swagger to go out there and do whatever you want. I would not be shocked to see him drop a reggae version “Smells Like Teen Spririt”, or put a Christian rock spin on “Shout at the Devil”, it would be absolutely awful, but the dude has the balls to make it work. Whether you watch Idol or not, it is worth checking out the way he made a pure mockery of “Born to be Wild”, but ended up killing it because it sounds like he has an army of castrati in his throat.

This season is pretty impressive, because once you weed out Matt, Chris and Lil’, and they should be leaving 1-2-3 over the consecutive weeks, the talent pool is pretty balanced. Anoop is continually amazing, and gets better every week. I just doubt that his frat brothers have enough pull to out vote the millions of teenage girls that will push Adam and Allison to the finals. I guess when you figure all of the above into the equation, I am still voting for Danny Gokey. His wife died, or something.

On a completely different note: if you have seen a movie trailer or tv spot, or commercial over the past year or so, you have no doubt been assaulted ad nauseum by Silversun Pickup’s “Lazy Eye”. It has been pretty much inescapable. If you were thinking that their Smashing Pumpkins impersonation would go the way of Jonathan Melvion, guess what? You were wrong. Their second disc, Swoon, comes out this week and pretty much goes all Siamese Dream over their debut disc.

I emailed some friends earlier and said I can already feel the floor sagging under the weight of bouncing twentysomethings when these kids hit the Peel on their next tour. Check out this leadoff track, and especially note the ridiculous breakdown when the song hits the 2:55 mark.

Enjoy!!

Silversun Pickups - There's No Secrets This Year

Mondays with Merzbow, pt.2

So last week I posted the first installment of what could be a 50 week series, the entire 50 cd set called Merzbox. Judging from my counter, this was not much of a hit, which is a shame because this is some very exciting if just a wee touch challenging music. Perfect for relaxing or zoning out at your desk.

Unfortunately, week 2 might be even more of a stretch. It contains just one track, the 47 minute opus, " Balance Of Neurosis."


I will give the project a couple more weeks to see if it picks up any steam, but for this week load up and veg out.

Enjoy!

Drunk at the Pulpit, mixtape

After the two and a half weeks of non-stop rain that has been dumped on the ’07, this week’s mix is tailor made for soaking up the freshly rediscovered sun, loading up the grill and partaking in your favorite recreational beverage of choice (mine would be Makers and ginger, but think tonight is more suited to Stone IPA, which I highly recommend you check out).

There are a couple of artists on here with great new discs worth looking up. First is the smoking hot Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears from Austin, TX. These guys shake and shimmy with all the hot buttered, ferocious soul of a Memphis nightclub circa 1967 without all of the unpleasantness of police dogs and fire hoses. “Bitch, I Love You” sounds like The Woggles fronted by Little Richard. Also on here some new tracks from Page France leader Michael Nau’s alter ego Cotton Jones. Paranoid Cocoon, their new disc of psychedelia lite, should be filed in the corner section where Harpers Bizarre meets Grandaddy, and right behind some sweet bubblegum nuggs.

Random tracks on here include great new music from Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach, Jenny Lewis, Heartless Bastards and M. Ward.

Be sure to stick around long enough to check out the Two Gallants tracks. I had initially written these guys off as a Walkmen wannabe band, but after a good friend of mine convinced me to check them out live at a local in-store performance I was instantly hooked. Granted their newer material hits closer to lighter Saddle Creek fare, tracks like “Steady Rollin’” would be right at home being covered by Johnny Cash on his later American Recordings.

Sorry, no AI comments for this week. It pretty much played out as expected.

Enjoy!

Mondays with Merzbow pt.1

About three years ago, I was lucky enough to score Merzbow’s ultra-rare 50 disc Merzbox set. The only down side is that they are all CD-R’s, and I am not sure how well they were burned, or what the shelf life of the discs are so am in the process of uploading them all to my hosted Amazon backup. Since I am going to uploading them anyway, I figured I might as well share them with all via this site. Because of the sheer volume of this amount of music, I am going to do one a week (hence “Mondays with Merzbow”).

I will try to include a little more commentary week to week, but for week one just sit back and let the best white noise and experimental mind fucking Japan as to offer wash over you.

Don’t get me wrong, listening to Merzbow can at times be challenging but if you have the stones to stick it out, you will walk away relaxed, refreshed and ready to set the world (if not just your office) on fire.

Yes - Hearts of Sunrise

Even though I have somewhere around 12,000 tracks on my iPod, sometimes I am shocked to find the one perfect song is not on there. I was walking my dog this morning before work, and for some reason I really needed to hear “Hearts of Sunrise” by Yes. After scrolling frantically for a block or two, I realized it just wasn’t there.

Just in case anyone else out there had the same problem this morning, here ya’ go.

Ramblings on AI and a new mix

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Skinny Bobby Harper March Megamix

Since I was not able to get to a mix last week, and I have the benefit of pain medicine this afternoon, I am going to get this week’s mix posted a little early.

No real specific theme this week, other than I would say most of these tracks are from the mid to late 70’s with a touch of early 80’s thrown in. Just a general hodgepodge of some songs I dug as a kid (hence the KISS tracks) and have ended up floating around on my iPod, plus a handful of AM radio faves. Feel free to put on your WSB 750 “Skinny” Bobby Harper throwback jerseys. Random tidbit, Harper a DJ at WSB 750 in the seventies was the inspiration for Dr. Johnny Fever on WKRP in Cincinnati.

Anyway, back to the mix. Highlights include: a couple of tracks from Suzi Quatro. When I was in third grade I really loved the song “Stumblin’ In”, but I will always remember her as Leather Tuscadero. Playing Leather on Happy Days ensured that she would never be big in the states, but she was able to put together an impressive run in the UK as a glam artist through out the seventies. Also, a nice track from Geordie, better known as Brian Johnson before he met AC/DC, also included is an interesting boogie track from Elf, featuring Ronnie James Dio before his stings with Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Dio. I have also included a couple tracks from Nick Gilder that are from right after his days in Sweeny Todd but before he had his one hit with “Hot Child in the City”.

Feel free to add comments or questions. I would be curious to hear some feedback on some of these tracks.

Against Me! - The Handlebar - 04/19/2009

I haven't been running this blog very long, but for all the shows I have pimped it is hard to believe it has taken me three months to getting around to one at The Handlebar, especially since it is just around the corner from my house.

Not too much I can say here except that I cannot imagine a better deal on a Tuesday night than an $11 dollar show within walking distance in, and crawling distance home.

I have read several great interviews with Tom Gabel, singer/guitarist for Against Me!, and all of them would do a better job talking about their inspirational DIY ethic, and the success they have found while never selling out.

The best I can offer is that if you have ever wondered what it would sound like if you could morph Billy Bragg and Mike Ness into a quasi political, aggro rawker with an acoustic guitar in one hand and a molotov cocktail in the other; this show is for you, so start saving those nickels. Other than that, I will let the music do the talking. Included in this list of originals is a nice Replacements cover, and an interesting choice cover of an Old Crow Medicine Show covering Dylan.

Enjoy!

Bonnie "Prince" Billy - The Grey Eagle 5/27/09

For the most part, I have seen pretty much everyone live that I want to. Not that there aren’t always going to be new bands I want to see, or old favorites that I want to see again. But for the most part I have been able to check out just about everyone I want minus a list of about 3 or 4. Despite who you talk to, this list doesn't vary often and includes Diamanda Galas (will likely never happen), Leonard Cohen (could still happen one day, but I don’t deserve it because I blew a great opportunity in 1993), New Order (even in the hodgepodge lineup they are currently sporting, they are still one of my all time favorite bands that I have never been able to check out), Van Morrison (I feel pretty good this will happen sooner or later, barring an abrupt death) and Bonnie “Prince” Billy (odds are great, as this is the main reason for this post).

Looks like I will be able to pull out the mental Sharpie and cross one more off that list, as Bonnie “Prince” Billy rolls into The Grey Eagle on May 27th.

From his work with Palace Brothers through his solo career, BPB has emerged over the past decade as one of the great living storytellers/songwriters, and will eventually if not now find a home in the same echelon as Cohen if not Dylan.

I am posting a random variety of some of my favorite BPB songs including mostly originals, a rerecording of one of my favorite Palace Brothers songs, and a few covers including Elton John, Kenny Rogers and an amazing cover of the Dead’s “Brokedown Palace” (which regularly challenges “Sweet Jane” as my favorite song of all time). Plus I am including the video for Kanye West’s “Can’t Tell Me Nothin’” which features BPB and Zach Galifinakis as the result of what happens when the FFA meets LSD.

Tickets are on sale now.

Yeah Yeah Yeah's - It's Blitz

At this stage of the game it is pretty safe to assume that the Yeah Yeah Yeah's are never going to release anything that smokes as hot as their debut EP. Fair enough, that five track beauty contains what might be the best straight up fifteen minutes of rock to be released in the double aughts, with time running out for anyone to snatch that honor away.

Each full length since then has skirted a little closer to the mainstream, while still managing to hang on to just enough edge to get rated favorably on Pitchfork (come on, it doesn't get much more Top 40 than the crushing heartbreak of "Maps").

Their latest disc, It's Blitz will probably find the same fate, and wind up as a soundtrack bullpen for teen dramedies for the rest of the spring. However, that unpleasant nugget aside, Blitz is easily one of the best discs so far of 2009. Dave Sitek's production keeps Blitz loaded with enough dance beats to make even the crustiest indie rock fan discard their Silver Jews disc gently on top of a pile of Coors Light cans and get their wiggle on (no this is not describing anyone I know, present company included). Usually when a disc leads off with its best track ("Zero"), that is a sign of shit to come. Blitz is an exception, and keeps things chugging from start to finish.

Definitely worth checking out.