Music We-tards at Wefest

ok, I made it back in one piece from drinking lots of beer in various forms and hanging out with a bunch of dear wefesters. I even started a group for all wetards to post and contribute photos on flickr. Jim Testa wrote up a great summary on his jerseybeat.com website about the whole wetard thing, aviso'hara's extra-ordinary drummer Benny will live in infamy. Needless to say if you didn't go down for this jammed packed Memorial Day Weekend's all star festivities of sleep deprivation: you haven't lived. Your not a worthy musician or rockband, poet, music writer, dj, or pimp.

Rye Coalition vs. Pretty Girls Make Graves

For this week double cd burn you should consider that both of these bands have invented and borrowed a new spin on themselves. While Rye has regressed to a teenage jersey metal fantasy with CURSES from their previous ACDC/jesuslizard pounding, PGMGs have done some forward experimenting and swizzled in some new instrumentation layers on their tracks. Now I don't know if mr grohl saw his opportunity to work with a jersey band and lead them down the studio road to put lots of cheesy grohlisms on the vocals and mindless solos. I had to keep checking my pod to see if it was Rye or Sebastian Bach. They should have gone with steve evetts from my pov. Evetts knows noise having produced some of best from deadguy to Sepultura but I digress. In all a brave record to make and it deserves a listen as it comits and stays strong all the way through. Stand-out tracks: "Pussyfootin'", "Young Yellers" and "Achille's Wheelchair" for sounding like Ozzy. Double pitchforks if you dig 80's metal.

Now as for Élan Vital by Pretty Girls make Graves, they are adding more cursesque guitar delay to fill the void, whistles and shakers. Is it neu metal or a bad set of tattoos? I for one could never decide on particular choices so why make one? If New Romance & Good Health are straight forward for them. This is their endhits, their redmedicine. The point where they should keep it going from the profunctory post hardcore to the other category yet to be pigeonholed in the bin. Standout tracks: "Pyrite Pedestal" and "The Number".

Thank you Gern Blandsten and Matador for making records that matter.

The Real indie WeFest 2006

Oh, what a blast Wefest 2006 is going to be. No where on the planet will such like minded individuals gather for a dollar admission. No where on the planet will the spirit of DIY music live free like in Wilimington, NC over Memorial Day Weekend. If you are really into music this is for you. If you have any questions just call Kenyata the organizer and father of the real WeFest which he started in 1996. This music fest is about bands before they become houshold names. Wefest is like no other. Wefest does not invite corporations and detests everything the clear channel is. This fest gives out free swag until it is all gone. Wefest is about hanging out with individuals known as Johnny puke and drinking beer. Wefest is about making a journey once a year. This fest is a sleep deprivation experiment. Visit: the myspace page & get more info

So you wan be a Rockstar?

If you are a talented singer and interested in participating in the new CBS "Rock Star" Series with:

Tommy Lee (drums)

gallop Clark (G & R)-Guitar

Jason nested (metallic)-Bass

Yes, this is the show that x-jane's addiction guitar player Dave Naverro hosts, aka the ultimate LA glam rocker, where a bunch of wanna-be's tried out for INXS. Some of them were pretty good singers and out of my league.
You need to do 2 things:
1. Go to www.rockstar.msn.com download application and fill it out.

2. Send the application along with a tape/video/CD (or all 3-the more the better) to: Mark Burnett Productions 640 N. Sepulveda LA, CA 90049 Attn: Conrad Riggs (Producer) -Tell him you know his massage therapist to give your demo credability. This is not a joke.

The Akron/Family will be near the nj water

The bearded Akron/Family slow folk earth jams are getting a decent buzz on tour, they are coming to Asbury Lanes April 8th, so all low-fi folkies be warned if you dig elliot smith, organs, and experimental wilco type stuff. Their recordings put on the layers with subtle waves of samples. Hopefully, some of the jersey shore air will give them some vitality and be able to live up to theirgreat review from the pitch dorks. Their label young god records has them on a long ass tour. Support them on emusic >> banner to the right.

yeah yeah yeah Flaming lips video

Go find the yeah yeah yeah Flaming Lips video over at yahoo. Fantastic Lips cover of Bohemian Raphsody over at take your medicine live from SXSW. That is all for now other than you should check out DJ spork presents: show #8 Le rock Sheik rock show!

Darondo - for people who love to funk

Straight from Ubiquity records - The new-old sounding urban-funk-soul record of Darondo is simply, something to reckon with. Let My People Go has got elements of Al Green, Sam & Dave, and this early soul groove that normally sounds generic to me and done. This is the real deal. If you love "If you want me to stay" by p-Funk, and early James Brown, grab the first few tracks from emusic and put them in a mix along side the other greats and you are in like flin. If you dig the world urban-music thing you should also swing by on Wednesdays to Fuel friends. She posts this type of stuff about once a week -- plus a bunch of other treats and recently a hilarious Jeff Tweedy SF Amoeba record store story. For those on the East Coast who have only heard of Amoeba records think of it as a close 2nd to the Princeton Record Exchange snobbery experience, which for the most part 'wears' away once you realize they are only like that because (A)they care and (B) some have worked there forever. I do have a Amoeba-T so I actually have sympathy for most music store clerks and vowed never to do. It's much more fun to torture them and ask them stupid questions, but honesly having been shopping at these type of places for so long; I'm either friends with them or have learned to put the mask on and throw the attitude right back, it's only thing they respect. ~Your sociological music pimp.

WFMU.ORG independent free form radio Marathon

Don't be a grumpy old fart. Pledge your devotion to wfmu now. They give you free entertainment all year round and you don't have to listen to a second of commercials. You almost won't ever hear anything twice. You get some stickers and a cool t-shirt for $45 if you pledge your love to these folks. If you drop larger cash the ante goes up. They do it for free and stream for free-- this marathon keeps the lights on. It is radio for the people and by people. Beware of their blog.

incomplete nj punk band list

I know Jack Monohan of Brighton Bar infamy, Jack Rabid of The Big Takerover and Jim Testa of Jersey Beat could probably write the enclopedia of NJ/Hardcore/punnk bands from the 80's. The wiki early N.J. hardcore list is decent, which currently includes one of my faves D.U.H., which i have the cassette of and I'll burn some classic cuts so I can play on the DJ Spork presents: show. The list discludes a bunch but includes some of Monahan's(estimated age 54) shorecore scene bands. Like Fatal rage fromMutha records, The Heat blast Kids, and every other damn kid on the block. I was in a couple of those central jersey ones (Psychic Fair & The Leisure Set) that hosted Monahan's band at the First Unitarian Church of Plainfield. Dumb kids who just distributed tapes like everybody else to our friends. I posted some mp3s in my discography archive. But do not fret, as all good worldly punkers know you can always tune in Thursdays to Pat Duncan's punk show on wfmu to get fresh taste of what seems like yesterday.

your new band video

"There are just too many things to say about this video. I really think that this band will be the turn-key in some huge shift in popular music culture. Like what the bee gee's or grunge did. Fantastic!" No Women, Children or Indians were harmed during the filming of this rock video.

In other rock news: The boognish is making it on the wagon asWeen announces some shows in the south east. DJ Spork presents: has just posted his longest podcast ever with the follow up of Jersey's Best Dancers II. [ download it now ]

Attack of the Mariachi bands!

My brother and his wife had a Mariachi band perform at their wedding in Vermont in 2004, eventhough they were 3 hours late, and literally fell out of the van to perform, they were great. They knew all the clasic Mexican songs like Cucurukukoo Paloma and my dad asked them to play few others. This recent sploid post called Death of the Mariachi's is pretty good and really shows how latino america or Americanos are becoming part of our society but certainly with out an ongoing culture clash. The tartget of course is a racist post on aol. Get a fuckin'life estupido minister of non-culture I am pretty insulted, this music is rich, and about revolutions, land, and love and if you fight that you have nothing.

Joy division and Elliot Smith vs. The Brian Jonestown Massacre

There is some fairly dark and mysterious intrigue about Joy Division, and the mystique surrounding the band and the brilliant-but-doomed singer Ian Curtis, who committed suicide in 1980 on the eve of the bands first American tour that have influenced many a band, and to learn that a documentary film called Control is in the works is pretty cool and very long overdue. Like most docs though I hope it continues the mystery, as they sometimes are too revealing in some cases and ruin that "coax" (thing in Spanish), that I don't know that makes the audio experience special. Sure the press helps perpetuate the myth as that is their job. In another morbid sense though it's cool to see tribute records like To: Elliott, From: Portland released, with all your favorite drunken-dark-junkie hits, like needle in the hay by Eric Mathews, and The December do justice to "clement", so it is a matter of time before somebody will do a doc on elites mysterious self-stabbing. So much tragedy in brilliant rock music for instance the mentally unstable, who live on the edge of sanity, like Anton Newcombe's world known as the Brian Jonestown Massacre there is a documentary that will draw you into his post modern music, featuring the Dandy Warhols in a film called DIG!(fyi currently on demand, so you already paying for it). But since you're all hip 60s revivalist you probably knew all this already but if not, be prepared this dude is manic. As per usual do yourself justice, drop a tab and sample some from emusic, I personally would start with tracks from Take it from the Man!, pluck a couple tunes pointed out by the AMG folks and you won't be disappointed. If you're not a emusic member click the logo to your right so i get some credit. Thanks.

And the 2005 Critics said: The New Pornographers

Tris Mccall's critics 2005 poll came in a week ago, nice to see that people agreed with some of my choices. For a couple giggles and barried present social comentaty his misc category is a nice slice of 2005. In celebration of Indie Jersey celebrating and voting for something somewhat meaningful, I squeezed out a music podcast dedicated to NJ in January, DJ Spork Presents: Show #5 Jersey's Best Dancers. Download it or subscribe.