Christmas time means: Tris McCall's pop music 2005 abstract

For those of you who love to keep lists, and check them twice, and then realize you forgot to buy a present for your 13 yr old nephew or neice; top ten lists and extensive 2005 absracts will make you seem like the hip uncle that Tris McCall is. Oh, the man can widdle a pop-song from a pair of old socks and have it's meaning deep dive somewhere smart, but his choice to include all things pop, things i'll personally just hiss at, he takes the time to encapsulate what actually happened from his perspective. I prefer some of the artists to be a far away memory but allas he is good guy and has a fairly diverse choice of artists. Not that i'm at all implying he bought some the music he talks about, why would he? He's nut but not crazy. He's writes about that damn pop music you can't but escape and scratch your head for some of them and wonder why do people like this? Why do I care about miss Simpson? Gimme the real cornbread midwestern punk rock like New Bomb Turks, Nine Pound Hammer any day of the week 24-7-365 but I will tell you this I watched when she stunk and stunk again. Not like the replacements stunk but just because it's unbelievable how somebody who has no roots was able to get her daddy to do all the work to make her suddenly appeal to all these kiddies who were just born 10 years ago. An amazing homogenized feat, when somebody can figure out how to re-spin someting unoriginal so it seems like an old idea. Innovation is everywhere. So beware in this 21st century of ours.

Flaming lips live in LA for New Years 2005

I can't friggin' believe it's been a year almost since last years Flaming Lips show at MSG, which was surely a surreal naked and bubblelishcious experience, and I was only drinking beer and there was no need for psychodelia, nor a reason to get deep into it right now. Except that their music just translates into performance and therefore excellent live entertainment.

PDB music blog by MC Trucks of Prosolar Mechanics

If you're looking for some golden out of print nuggets, with somewhat of a Jerzee edge, you should check out the PDB take it a like a mun music blog, by MC Trucks. Lots of cool and free download links to be had.

Juliana Hatfield drinks Makers Mark on the rocks

On tour with the band X, sister hater Juliana Hatfield popped her band into the more familiar territory of Maxwells, the home of great beer, food and rock. This night was Jule's chance to show-off her guitar playing, although shy on solos as she put her back away from video camera and audience, she was slaying the guitar strings at points. She is still very sexy at 37(i think) and even can be found on myspace probably doesn't have an email and still suffering from stalker syndrome (oh the irony). If you have not downloaded or purchased her new record Made in China, you should, it is definetly in my top 20, as i went out of my way to check her out, I was expecting her to play solo like i saw her few years ago play at Rutgers outside. She has a great band and they played a long ass 1:15 set, and although not pitch perfect, she is a rocknroll chick, very approachable and personable.

Dinosaur Jr plows Irving Plaza

Had a good time last nite with wifey seeing the original verion of Dino jr. They played all the hits from their first 3/4 records. Lou Barlow is a ripping bass player(still), although I am more of a van of Mascis's tunes, the backbone of dino jr, besides the obvious J riffage, is the sonic boom of Freak scene and rythem section. Only one ma semi celeb in attendance that I noticed was Mr. Hilly Krystal and only one frat boy thrown out for pushing some young fan. Which funny enough Lou made fun of the same dude for asking them to play The Wagon telling him that it was insulting since he didn't play on the song. They played the song anyway and it was pretty awesome. I did notice a taper in the audience and it didn't seem to be one of the AV guys recording the shows for upcoming live dvd. Lots of head bobbin 90's style for all.

Live rock videos clips for the taking.

Technological innovation makes things almost too easy, although some production values are better than others but now more than ever you can find some interesting clips of shows you might of missed. Billy filo w/ True love as back-up band live at Maxwells and a clip of The Bigger Lover's final show in Philly. Some things you can't just relive but would be pretty nostalgic to catch a City Gardens show. There was the one time I should have gone down to there to see Nirvana but didn't or time a fugazi show was sold out! oh sweet bootlegs.

On a complete different note and en route to mt bikin' i spun the mighty ming mix tape #2 and after further digestion will write a proper review.

DJ Spork Presents the Honorable mention show for 2005

Yes, alternative rock music fans. The alter ego known in the blogo'sphere as DJ Spork, not to be confused by MC Trucks, DJ Stroke, DJ Spookey, Spinna or Krush, has posted the third installement of an ongoing series of DJ Spork Presents indie music lovers podcasts, this one focuses on music left off the top 10 list. The medium is getting more and more popular and probably soon will be overshadowed by Vidcasts but time will tell. A lot more production to consider doing that. Now it's time to go hit the mt bk trails. Enjoy!
Download Honorable mention show 05 | Subscribe RSS View other showsDJSPORK

indie rock: Top 10 for 2005 part 2 is posted

yes, ladies and germs DJ Spork has struck again, there is a little more waxing inbetween but still less talk and more rock by: Trail of Dead, Spoon, Portastatic, Stephen Malkmus and Echo and The Bunnymen. The rumour is that the next cast will deep dive into either a genre or location theme show, or concievably; Hark! band interviews or even better yet short live performances... You have been a loverly audience. [ RSS ] [ Download part 2]

The Wedding Present: on the road documentary

As, I work on part deux of 2005's top 10 podcast, please take moment to download and view a trailer by The Wedding Present, which is basically them doing a song called "Drive" live on a radio show, which is an excerpt from a upcoming 'on the road documentary' by Third Hand Films. rock documentaries

DJ SPORK: Top 10 of 2005 podcast part 1

The Podcast subscription XML is being taken care of by Liberated Syndication, so the cast is legit allegedly now. Featured in the premier DJ SPORK podcast download part 1 of top 10 of 2005 are: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Death Cab for Cutie, New Pornographers and The Pernice Brothers. Download the podcast at libsyn.com Enjoy:[ DJ SPORK RSS ] [ DJ SPORK BLOG ][ podcast]

Kill Rock Stars: free mp3 singles and Britney's baby

A sluggish damp and rainy Jersey fall day does two things. 1) slows down the internet and 2) invites leisure time to hunt and peruse boring things like your webstats and look for free singles. A perfect Kill Rockstars band name could be Britney's baby. What it would sound like would could be something off of Linda Perry's lost album In Flight, a Ani Defranco female vocal single called "Freeway", combined with maybe something of off Men's recovery project, their freebee, "Sexual Partner", a herky-jerky drum/guitar reality song, tune about getting off, something that certainly happens to images of BS. It would be repulsive in nature this is certain. Countering is a very simple Hendrix beat tune w/ some very white rappin' narrative bit "is all for updated", which sounds like if Big Bird took you through the alphabet and let you know what Barr stood for, if you couldn't tell by their arty title: Beyond the Reinforced Jewelcase, no DMX word craft here and not all like the beasties, which is usually the point via KRS, so ok I get it - thanks! Last-up, is "Wrong time capsule" by Deerhoof which you should grab right now if you were going to clog the internet with a mp3 download. The hard l/r mono mix is a little annoying, but if you listen from afar, there are echoes of Blonde redhead, and the right channel guitar rips like the Laughing Hyenas or Preston's strat from Mule. If you have no clue what I am talking about you should make a b-line and just download Asheley'S new album somewhere and then stab your eardrums with a spoon.

Top 11 2005 indie-rock sounding list

Yeah, so you might have come here via the top 10 emusic email I sent out to a handful of you. Up at bat on the Alernative list is the new Echo and The Bunnymen album Siberia, couldn't even put it on a indie list per'se, although there is a very thin line these days. Certainly there are few come-back bands that could do it so well so I think this line needs to be redefined because deservingly is World's Apart by ...and you will knows us by the Trail of Dead, which is pretty damn good too and they've never gone anywhere in their cultdum. That said, my list is complete and it's the top list that goes up to 11. That is right folks, I have found a way to work that joke in. What is good for me is good for you.

some reviews on emusic

I couldn't resist to be some of the first to review some recent releases on emusic. Discover a Lovelier you by Pernice Brothers, The Meadowlands by Jersey's Wrens, ok this one has been out for awhile but it was new to emusic this past week. In my top 10 for the year is also, Bright Ideas by Portastatic and the most noteworthy political release On the Offense by The Poster Children.

What is punk anyway

Jack Rabid from the Big Takeover takes a stab at the ellusive topic on this emusic article. We all have our answers and some of these answers might not be music related at all. To me an ultimate punk song is "12XU" or perhaps something by Black Flag like "six pack". The movie Suburbia helped define what the asthetic is and still remains oddly the same to this day, w/ spiked belts, funky hair and self made clothing. Tight pants or baggy clothing.The body is the hanger art and some take this to the extreme. For better or for worse what is great about punk is that it should be free for every little skater to decide in mid-air or when they land.

working on my top 10 for 05'

Armed with nothing more than a Fosters Oil can, Ginsing tea for lunch and some late work-nite spunk, I present to you my top 5 out of 10 for the year so far. Considering that business is in it’s 4^th quarter stretch and there are some juicy releases yet to be released or found and be noted right before cmj. Here it goes in no particular order.

• Portastatic – Bright Ideas – Merge Records
• And you will know us by Trail of Dead – Worlds Apart –
• Pernice Brothers – Discover a Lovelier you
• Spoon – Gimme Fiction
• Stephen Malkmus – Face the truth - matador

Ok, so I can’t remember the two’s indie’s as I have not copied over the files from my home computer to work computer, and well frankly my life is rife with details and a few slip to the way side only to be recalled at very weird times. Sometime during a piss and the guy next to me thinks I’m nuts. Other things that are on my radar are The Bigger Lovers, Grandaddy and anything by The Flamming Lips (see related post)

 

 

 

W - waxes on to Imagine

From Mr. Kasuda comes this very weird mix of a Beatles medley called "Imagine this" with Mr.Bush bullshiting America.

oh Canada, Of Montreal

Welcome to review stalker, todays free search bar track from emusic is off a pretty decent comp on Polyvinyl record fall 2005 sampler "So Begins Our Alabee" by Of Montreal. It's electronic and earthy. If you're looking for other bargains, vinyl addict, is a good place to drill into the world of the thrifty album hunters who are looking for that $1-5 dollar first pressing.

Joe Strummer: archives revisited

A pretty decent Pitchfork Review of a cd compThe 101'ers / Joe Strummer: Elgin Avenue Breakdown Revisited / Walker OST, three albums on one shiny disc. In my opinion though if you are going to invest in any post Clash strummer material, start with street core and work your way around. Reserve this new release for your deep dive. The man was a visionary and icon who's everyday working man ways tell the tale of a approachable humble perspective, not just thru punk but incorporating world music. To talk and live a little in the same shoes would be a powerful a action. To invite a stranger for a pint, give him all the dough in your pocket or give him/her your ear if you thought it would help, and I think it is the listening bit that made joe larger than life.

Our homework is to unfocus on our baggage and when your out and about you will soon realize you've go it good. You've got a blog and too much time on your hands.

The Black Ark of Lee Scratch Perry

The Black Ark is a pretty cool reggae site. I go into the kick recently having noticed an essential Lee perry listing on itunes. Reminded how deep reggea genre is and how influential this guy was to bands like the clash and 100s of other reggea bands. Some of my favorites like Black Uhuru, the upsetters and of course Bob Marley and the Wailers are just the tip of island, mon. Sunday mornings usually start off with Reggae Schoolroom with Jeff Sarge on wfmu, to be honest most of the time it seems to meld, like jazz once did, but slowly the subtle differences make this music great stuff to listen to when it's blazing hot outside.

Jhon thumb vs Buzzkill

What does jazz grunge guitar sound like? You should attend to this NJ. "Now that word has spread throughout the tri-state area of what is being
billed as the Jhon Thumb Homecoming, it is confirmed that Bruce Steinert
Jr. has booked a flight from San Francisco to Newark so that Buzzkill can
join the guitar-face faceoff. Who will win? Will it be Chris Wargo?
Betting is now open. Will you be the first one to be punched in the face
by Dan Roorda? Will Jhon make it to the stage before being thrown out?"
re-live it: Tonight 8/28 Court Tavern

download:lovegas | buzzkil | Jhon THumb

Not Just Anyone can be Trs MCcall

Well Not Just Anyone can be as ambitious as Tris McCall. He has given himself a challenge, which for him just a pittance. He is going to post a free mp3 on his once a week. The hello or The fireside chats took it one step further a couple years ago by writing and recording a new song once a week. Not as easy as it sounds. Sure, if you have a back log it is do-able, as I'm sure Tris has. His claim is that "Not just anyone" is the best recording he never released, almost. Says track comes from his Straw Man Special cassette. The recording is clean and a good sampling of what he is all about. check it out.

Lollapalooza 05 Blogwarrior festival

I am a weekend blogwarrior because being back at a large Agency means there is no time to eat, rock or crap. However those that have true music jobs like Jon Pareles, the new york times pop music writer, have hit the "weekend festival" 05 'pallooza's 2 days worth of shows in Chicago for us(me). His summary is that YES, The Pixies translate to the main stage. I already knew that and this is not news. There are no grandious mysterious claims like back in pooza 03. It is obvious the brand is established. Some lucky people are going there this year to see some of their favorite rockers and knowing why a water costs $10. I might be making the number up but I am sure I am pretty close. It's a very large water. Hitting the stage are: Chicago native Liz Phair(picture courtesy of ny times), Weezer (metal posers),...and you will know us by the trail of dead (fun name to not abbreviate and one of the Indie bands that is famous for destroying their gear after every show --at least the drums), Pixies (songs about monkeys and UFOS - both funny song topics), Digable Planets (old hip hop) and Perry Farel on the kidsapooza stage(follow- trends muchs?). Honestly, it is too bad it was not scaled down in scope instead of cancelled across the country. There are a couple fall tours to look forward to before the clear channel ruined large live rock shows as we know it because of the control they have over the airwaves(a blog for another time inself).

Chime in people
What are your poza memories? I just remember being pissed because I couldn't go see Nirvana and played a loozerpallooza indie show down in south jersey somewhere. Why do you think the clear channel suck?[easy target]

Maybe by then I will have part of my life back? If anybody else goes to see something cool I would love to get a report, a cd, a blog... Hey even a bootleg of 05 pooza! Since, I do have a foreseen steady commute for the next millennium, I will have time to listen to music again. So in those regards you win.
Fall indie shows to look forward to: NJ's Wrens and Built to Spill.

Rock shows for your summer vs Pollstar

I have been underwater at my new Agency gig but allas, i will be dreaming and remembering a time that I actually went to rock shows and had a good time. This summer please drink lots of beer and enjoy: Teenage Fanclub, Arcade Fire, and Pretty Girls Make Graves.

I heard awesome things about the recent Dinosour Jr. reunion shows. They played mostly older material and sounded great, my buddy Walter said he heard people complaining at the Philly that people wanted to hear the more recent stuff and also said J Mascis looked like an old hippy man and has long lochs have gone completely grey, and somehow Lou Barlow looks like he is pulling 30. Now it's only a matter of time for firehose to get back together for a tour and get edFromohio off the bar stool down in the Carolinas. Who would you like to see get back together from when music was good?

So you wanna be a has been Rock Star

Round 1 dismissal was a good choice. The best thing I can say is these wanna be Rock Stars are not INXS clones. That would be miserable. What makes it questionable is that for the most part you can pick who's images they are ripping off. Some of their first song choices were very telling. Come on people has there ever been a real Van Halen since David Lee fronted the band? Drummers and bass players are easy to replace. Personalities not so much. Guitar player's, well it gets a little tricky in particular if they are part of the sound. Isn't that right Mr. Dave Navarro ex-RHCP? We know you love yourself that is obvious. What will be interesting to see if they can really see something interesting in a performer and if said skills will also translate in their hits, as well as new material. The fans want to hear the old stuff. It's hard to bring the magic and then come back from the dead.

Mr. Ambulance Driver vs. A Safe Bet

I got an email from Wayne of the Flaming Lips yesterday to check out a preview for their new single "Mr. Ambulance driver". You can listen to it: Windows or QuickTime which is on the wedding crashers soundtrack. It's fairly minimal, 70's-esque quagmire that builds itself up like all good Lip's tunes. Starts off with a nice guitar and electric piano talking about some sirens in the distance... Fairly fitting for the new kind of living 'Mericans are doing these days that the rest of world as already known for a very long time. Today's free emusic toolbar single "A Safe Bet" by Bats And Mice from their 2002 album Believe It Mammals is good rock. The chorus echos something classic emo by Sunny Day Real Estate mixed with some choppy midwestern bass riffage in the verses. Most definetly the better freebee mp3 of the week for sure. The hook relies on that sound found in more distinctive SDRE tunes but should make somebody curious enough to hear a couple more. There is a new Ep available on Lovitt records and as I parused the comeback of Bats And Mice makes sense because one of the guys played in Richmond's VA'sEngine Down, who are consequently calling it quits but not before going out on a long cross country tour in Aug.

What the hell is going on with all these bands breaking up? Catch a few free mp3s off of epitonic's site ED's 02 album Demure has some awesome guitar rock then do the dead on the cheap from emusic. Trust me on this one kids.

The Air Guitar Champs vs Q and not U

Well damn these bands if they can't stay together longer than a few measly years. Haven't they ever heard of the rolling stones, REM and U2? Who is going to be the big Indie band that is going to do their thing until they are these old farts. Ok so maybe Q and Not U feel they've left their mark and it is time to move onto other projects. I'm not so sure doing your new thing and then disappearing is such a great idea. Ok so perhaps superchunk and Fugazi are decent models and radiohead even though they are not really indie they have longevity in their art. E.G. is paying off in the wallet area. Solo projects in my opinion should remain as something you fall back on, especially if your group is starting to pick. Ok sure. If they were men they would say. Hey i have to get a real job that pays. I can respect that completely. The magic happens though when the combo is together. You write some songs with your buddies because you have "it" when your're together. For a decent live band reminder we are going to have to go beyond kereoke and step into the world of Air Guitar Championships. That's right Aireoke. The 2005 finalists have been announced! The showdown is happening July 14th at the Key Club in West Hollywood. Contestants will with wrestling tags like C-diddy, American Breeder and NY regional winner Bjorn Turoque will be judged on technical prowess, stage presence and "airness". Now this is a show worth paying to see. Who would not want to see somebody air to "Eruption" by Eddie Van Halen. I know I was pretty good at it when I was a kid. ~Diver Down

Superchunk's No Pocky for Kitty - Yeah!

Formerly on Matador Records and available thru Merge now Superchunk's seminal indie rock album No Pocky for Kity originally released in 91' is now available on emusic.com! This is a must have for any indie rock snob. Like I can't even talk to you if you haven't blasted this one full-on. I had borrowed it many moons ago on cassette from my friend Ted. Their whole catalog is available including, tossing the seeds 7" compilation which you should also have for their version of Sebadoh's "It's so hard to fall in love" and of course "Slack Mother Fucker". If their ever were a indie rock anthem that is the one. A close 2nd is of course the tune "Web in front" off of Icky Mettle by The Archers of Loaf, which by the way I have not been able to find anywhere either. So somebody please hip me to a legal version of it. This too was on cassette for a very long time that I got to review for Jersey Beat, then a girlfriend ran off with the CD version, I had aquired after the tape had smoldered away... Yes, it's true you can recount your life biographically thru music like in the movie High Fidelity.

Hot snakes disband

Damn those hot snakes. Christ just when I thought loud pounding rock and roll was making a comeback. F-THIS!!! Well all the more reason to start your own band because in the end --it is always for the kids because the kids are alright.

gratis daily eMusic tool bar

So if the weekly free itune does not make satisfy you, perhaps a free daily mp3 via the emusic indie providers tool bar will float your boat! I know for me in general everything is pretty vanilla that is free unless it is label specific. Today's freebee is described as a "emo rapper"(?) Called Atmosphere from epitaph. What it involves is you thinking is: 1) Yes, here is a another white cusin' and angry eminem type but is really two dudes. 2) The sound is tough, like Sublime was a tough, on the free single called "trying to find a balance". The chance meeting has made me a little curious to be honest. 3) You can always delete the bar if you are unsatisfied and file. I for one am going to give it a try this week and see how it goes. 2 thumbs up for emusic for trying something more marketing more aggresive. I'm sure the bands appreciate. My only wish is that they expand their indie rock section more.

XBXRX noise vs performance

Xbxrx noise, originally from Alabama, have signed to polyvynl records to follow-up their much touted 2000 releases Gop Ist Minee which they recorded when some of them were barely in highschool! Their spastic version of punk rock melds the mind because it's so damn fast and spend most of the 20 minute show running around the venue. No performance is ever like the last. By buying their music helps them entertain the next crowd. I am curious to see if they take it to the next level visually. Otherwise it is not anything you are going to really spin but just talk about. It's just art with a thinly veiled point. The band is something fun you experience. Just like more tribal Crash Worship which I saw flood the Wetlands in nyc, and swing a flaming boars head into the audience. The bonus of their show is that it can go on for hours if club management lets them. There was another NJ band called Codger which did a similar thing. Basically make a huge fuckin' mess, played a set of deranged metal noise and just get the whole audience involved in their performance.

On the flip side there are bands where the musical performance is just as important as the content. The flaming Lips and >Neurosis fall into this category. Neurosis is more metal and about the mystique they create and the lips more about the art and mad hatter type of fun, I mean the second you introduce a puppet to sing along and very large bunny rabbits you know you've chosen the blue pill. No green. Blue. Green. Both are heavy into multi media aspect of their performance and make the experience well rounded. Consequently a group I used play with was more about what you can say with art through social imagery. See suran song's site.

The third type is good ole live rocknroll. Band and audience.

From Russia w/ Love Foo Fighters & Gorrilaz

Get 10MB worth of songs just for signing up with Allofmp3.com. When you get there make sure to click the English text link in the upper left hand corner. Their registration process is not immediate but it will get to you. Their pricing structure is more than fair and they give you the option to download not only mp3 files but cd quality too!

My takes were: Gorillaz from their new album Demon Days, second cut "Last Living Souls" and one of the deeper tracks from In Your Honor by the new Foo Fighters called "Virginia Moon" (Featuring. Norah Jones). Dave's raspy swagger is complemented very well by Norah's voice. Has this down home lounge jazz guitar feel with drum brushes, xylophone, and piano. The Gorillaz track is pretty cool and I think I am going to have to invest in the whole cd. The synth string arrangements are cool. It's not over produced electronic and the melody is strong.

fishing for music

Today's google cast unveiled Kempa.com: MP3's of the week: Musical 'mistakes' / scoldings has a bunch of outakes of some happy accidents that were left in during the mix. Of note is the archers of loaf when the drummer hits his noes. Funny stuff. These aren't the full tunes but was ok. You could make a whole set-list of this stuff. Which could prove to be very annoying. I do like listening to live bootlegs for this very reason though even more. I like that you can get a sense of bands live energy, recording translation and live crowd chemistry. A recent show I downloaded(because I was there) was a wrens show from last year at Maxwells when all of a sudden they had a crowd and they were coping w/ the fact they didn't have to clap for themselves anymore and their jersey pride. Some of the other notable bootlegs I have somewhere in my archives are: firehose, melvins, mule, superchunk, helmet and ween off the top of my head. Gotta love that rockn roll. Some of these shows are on video to boot. Some other repositories: Music of Elliot smith and etree.org is for tapers who trade cdrs. Somebody hip me to the most recent peer to peer please as the courts duke it out with Mark Gorton of Limewire.

The Rock Boat vs The Flaming Lips

If I were to take a vacation on boat with a bunch of rock fans. First I would have to see what the destination was and then what the entertainment was going to be like. Usually opting for hanging out in the bar with a good ol jukebox. But since there are choices onThe Rock Boat VI the band I would remotely even be insterested in seeing would be better than ezra but If had to pick one I would go with the Flamming Lips on xingolati cruise. Now here is a show. Hanging out with their supporting cast of Large bunnies, golden people and fearless freaks would be a worth the ticket in itself and save me a trip to Oklahoma and probably would exausting but cool, if you reserve now before July 1st you can get a discount with code "thelips". Also on the lip cruise is G. Love and Special Sauce, Medeski Martin and Wood, John Popper Project featuring DJ Logic and The Mutaytor. Got any mushrooms? Go to their video section as you might not even need it. I know it does not take me much to get a flash back going...

superdrag google Music Hack

If you are dead broke and want some new music put this snip ["-inurl:htm -inurl:html intitle:"index of" "Last modified" mp3"] of code [between the brackers] in the window and start seeing what you find: today's search yielded: plenty o' classic rock, some live Super Drag, where i got them doing a version of 'Motor Away' & 'Bastards of Young' both great tunes, that my band the slow wire has covered. If i have to tell you who those songs are by you should really click away right now or if not do some research. You will be doing your Ipod a favor.

Another weird yield were these mtv vj clips try-out, in dutch i think, somebody please clarify, it's almost as if the sync was completely off and suddenly forgot how to speak comrehend English.

Pernice Brothers Discover A Lovelier You

There are several slices of life when some of your favorite music makers likePernice Brothers start to either sound similar or borrow from each other. Tastes change, music recording trickery evolves but the core evidence is all the same. If the songs are great is all that matters to us guitar junkies. The smooth part of PB reminds me why I like Startflyer 59, conversely SF59 reminds why I like PB song writing and both of these bands are appreciated because of other guitar heroes like Johnny Marr and the ethereal vocal reverb presence of the railway children, bunnymen, etc. Highlight are the title track 'Discover A Lovelier You', 'Saddest Quo' for the tremelo, and 'dumb it down'. Your best bet to discover this music on the cheap is emusic.com, although their Indie selection is not as wide, their Jazz and other categories go very deep and eclectic.

SHINOLA VOL. 1 deemed too brown

Ween fans know when something is too brown, dark or of having lack of taste and that was probably rejected for their commercial "use" is going to full of music to annoy your co-workers by. Shinola Vol.1 reportedly has 12 songs and you can be pre-ordered from Musictoday.com. They are keeping the track listing a secret. So you just need to keep the faith because the bassmaster Mr. Andrew Weiss has put this collection together. No new brown jems but i'm sure the boognish vibe is all over it. Aaron and Mickey are writing and recording new songs. Which is awesome. No tour dates but there should be spotted show for us lucky NJ/NY/PA kids. They have had some personal hits in the last few years, with Claude Coleman jr's car accident, Kirk Miller their long time soundman leaving their ranks, and another members fight with the touring afliction.

Radio KRUD: Killer Cuts

Anthony Volodkin has hipped me to a gamer album from radio krud. Now, I gave up gaming right around 96', having finished all of the Blizzard games ( Diablo burnt me out) so this might be where you remember; as surely I don't. Check out Radio KRUD: Killer Cuts which you can stream right from his sitehype-non-standard. Yes it is 'strangely entertaining': mostly instrumental prog-rock march soundtracks, with 80's coy metal killing joke gothic type riffs, others are clearly rave inspired - happy mondays type stuff. Ideal for zoning out when you're deep in the code so rip it before it is gone. Weirdly at some point though some of the more intricate music reminds me of the French band Magma that was created by drummer Christian Vander; but only for a umberto ecco moment. The world of magma is truly some far out prog-rock from another planet --literally.

embrace UK single "out of nothing"

This weeks freebie from itunes, is better than most by this UK band called Embrace which has a radio-esque/coldplay sense who apparantly have been around for awhile. The ballad "out of nothing" is charming and to the point and not a waste of your bandwidth time, in particular since it is free. The song slides in with the big rock guitars and is backed by some piano. Although some hardcore fans will not confuse them for ian mckaye's first band called Embrace, we still give the single a 5.9, and will let the originals duke it out in litigation but I doubt it since it's been awhile... But it does bring up an interesting point. At some point in this next lifetime the kids are going to run out of band names, especially those that will need to be mass marketed. How do you recylce creativity? "Never mind whats been selling, it's what your buying" ~ blueprint by fugazi

aviso: fan fair is as inspiring as bad press

I can't say enough great things about the few local NJ scene people out there who go out of their way to propogate the aviso hara myth, some are very bad and obviuosly had issue with our music and I hope they are converted eventually by the believers who do write up articles titled: "Aviso'Hara Reforms, Returns and Rekicks ASS". Compared to Ryan Schrieber's much respected zine PF, where reviewers are allowed to run off the mouth and not fear any consequences from their actions. Sure I cherish a good swipe but six paragraphs? It's easier to be negative when writing music reviews. I certainly feel Mr. Schrieber owes us another swing, the pitch fork slander has been haunting us. No, we're not angry at all and you think we would be over it by now but I believe, like the wrens, we deserves some respect not because we're from jersey and jersey is cool(for a moment), nor nostalgia sake, but because Aviso' tries to do something slightly different and this other jackass(Mr.Reid) over at PF decided to take a piss on something we worked very hard to create and it still gets our goat. New Aviso'Hara material is coming your way soon. I promise as best I can and then we will see what happens.

slave driving "alternative" music execs

Ok, so sure a cd costs .25 cents to manufacture these days and depending on the label thousands of dollars to promote, with a good song the label can stand to make a large profit margin with only selling 20,000 units. But how much do you think they might be willing to pay for a paid internship. i don't care if you're punk. I found this post today on craigs list for some mid-town based label wanting to pay a "intern" $100 a week plus transport Boasting $476.00 a month!. This is criminal and so way below the poverty line, this executive needs to get his head checked. The money is almost an insult. What are people thinking? There was this posting The Interns' Guide: Low-Cost Live Music but damn, at least respectable slavery comes with housing.

tv on the radio vs radiohead vs The New Year

Always a spetic for seemingly overly computerized songs. I always wonder if the "mix" translates to the live thing. Radiohead does it hands down, they drag all their weird shit on stage and rock it. However, when it comes to minimalistic songs like "dreams" by tv on the radio a featured band on epitonic, the questions always comes-up in the back of my head, not that I've ever seen them... but that is where some bands are going, and I should go. I really do dig this particular song, better than other stuff i rememeber hearing, that or it grew on me like a good songs should sometimes, but perhaps I should engage them in a debate with an interview first. Songs like "chiness handcuffs" by The New Year are minimal and sounds like a band to me straight up. The vent is over.

The slow death of tape

I enjoyed this post so much from from weblogincs digital music blog I had to comment. Yes, things are easier today and part of the world still purchases casettes and even messes around with the archaic format but damn there are so many new mays to manage music that it can drive you a little bonkers. I said it before in my analog living blog, that this here digital on the move era is exausting.

Tralala all fired up vs the dj

Available for the next month from the pitch dorks, is this band that sounds just like their name: Tralala doing a tune called "all fired up" from audika records. Over and over the verse/chorus goes and cliche lyrics repeat but if i heard 10 of these fem led songs with the same energy I would be a huge fan for sure in a cherry blosom clinic sort of way. The organ in the background, and meet you at the burger hop, will make all 50's revivalist happy for sure. I was trying to download the new DJ/rupture tune "Low Income Tomorrowland" but allas that link is conjested probably due to the 4.5 star rating!(fyi they used to do 1-10 rating but have editorialized themselves somewhat) Note: the dj negrophonic site does have a couple mp3 sets worth streaming by DJ /rupture: gold teeth thief.