Best music of 2006 in my top 11 list

Now that we're in Q4, it's time to look back and see what releases have secured their spots in my top 11 for 2006, so here it goes:

• radiodread by Easy Star All-stars- which if you haven't the justice that prevails to the bands music, these dub-masters remake the classic ok computer as if it were their own. it is awesome
• The outsider by DJ Shadow is quite the diverse mix from acoustic to blow your trunk open speaker bangin' rok the house. I have turn it down at stop lights
• Just like the fambly cat by Grandaddy, ok so totally bummed this is the last one but looking forward to his 'solo' material efforts.
• curses by rye coalition, ode to jersey metal you can't go wrong
• At War With The Mystics by the Flaming Lips. Disguised anti-war songs and the regular fun art-rock associated with this modern day uplifting acid induced band.

The contenders: m ward, ben kweller, hold steady(haven't heard the whole thing yet) tons of discovered bootlegs from r bally that might require their own category and perhaps a singles list, which the will include th re-mastered "you faded" by Chavez; as the number one single from their upcoming box set Better Days Will Haunt You dvd/cd, as there is no indie guitar rock band that even comes close to the tones, textures, drumming, and massive 10 chord attacks. I think I played it like 10 times in a row today having lost the original pentagram ring ep to my college days at RU, and to think this track is just the b-side! We'll see what time allows but if you do anything and don't know anything about Chavez. Do your guitar loving ass a favor and pick it up 10/10 and crank-it. It was cutting edge in the 90's and yet the band still holds the bar way up there as far I am concerned and about 20 other snobs I know. If you know of any band that it reminds you of; I am all ears? Thanks.

Cheap Trick in NJ Sept 16th

Now i'm not used to major shows happening right around the corner from my house, but it seems The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders will present Music Fest ’06 on Saturday, September 16 in Cranford featuring Cheap Trick!(8:30) Mike Peters of The Alarm Is going to play the second set(2pm), w/ bunch of more expected performers like a beatles cover band Fab Faux and LaBamba’s Big Band with guest vocalist Southside Johnny.

On ther turn table is radiodread which OK Computer done by the Easy Star All-Stars. Highly recommended.

Cover it with gas and light it on fire by ween

I am getting very excited for the PA ween show on Aug 31 with the Lips and sonic youth. To get me in the mood I've been digging into the archives over at ween.net's audio archive that has classic duo ween at The court tavern where they futz with cassettes inbetween songs, hassle their friends to bring them beers to stage while Kirk Miller their sound guy messes with the analog delay. I was always inspired by all the folks and rabid fans ween had that have been following them around since the days of fanzines and cassettes.

Some other ween related bands and cast of characters that have played a part in lives of ween are for starters: Amandla which is Claude Coleman;s band who also played in Skunk with Sweeney of Chavez fame. Chris Harford, is another awesome fellow with lots of great recordings with Mickey. Probably one of my favorite singer song writer types. Sim cain and Andrew Weiss(Rollins band/ Gone/ Greg Gin Band / Ween producer) have also done stints along with Coleman in Harford's Band of Changes. other goodness to seek out is False Front which is Guy’s or band Dickie Moist the singer in moistboyz.
Tiny lights and instant death a drums and bass duo were Dave Dreiwitz. Their classic 'The Enabler' as relived by ween with Dave singing is great.

Who the hell is Sebadoh?

I completely agree with Brandon Stosuy that "those stoner fucks created something essential" as he remembers the indie glory days with the re-release review of Sebadoh III over at pitchdork. Mr. White Bread (Brandon’s old self published zine) makes you want to relive the hey-day of indie-dome. He or Lou Barlow might not say it but they seem to speak of a certain time period that reminds me of the moment when you peeled apart his zine, Boiled Angel, Crank, or some other rag like Insight there in print was some band you’ve never heard of or some off the wall reference. You knew you found something real in some little dustbin of a shop, a nugget amongst the stax of wax and in the corner hidden like porn. In our case one of the congregrasion shops was Cheap Thrills(RIP), in New Brunswick for local rags, mail order or literally trading shit through the mail. Postage was somewhat cheaper and everything was new well sorta because we still remembered the 80's, or at least I did, and all the cool crap that it had to offer (sst, twin-tone, homestead ) and then we were presented with lo-fi. "Oh lordy" I was pretty dumbfounded to be honest at first, although I did quite thoroughly enjoy the Lync cassette Brandon passed over to me, icky mettle from Jim T and No Pocky for Kitty from my housemate rocker Ted. There was a charm to be had, music revealed itself much slower than it does today but like all cool things there was some hurtin' material out there, so like any good discerning shopper you will need to check it out for yourself. What makes music essential these days? Somebody please answer.
I know like all good music blog readers today, you relied on the guys who's only reason to start a fanzine was so they could get some free swag at first(my story) but told it like it was or it least they tried until somebody else convinced you otherwise. I remember having unhealthy amounts of Epitaph swag in my po box all the time that paid for a few six-packs over the course of a couple years. I usually dug all the Dischord stuff (in particular Fugazi on vinyl) and usually found a home for the empty records and a few other record peddlers. You had fun poking fun at the ones you didn't get but you didn't abuse your power for fear of literally getting into fight with some band because you slagged them.

Anyway, the true test of overly hyped bands is that if when you can spin it 6 month to 10 years later and if does not make you sick to your stomach that it is still fresh, it takes you on a time warp but for a moment. The Meadowlands get me a little queasy because I did overdose on it a little for awhile when it came out and it has past the test. Looking forward to the new one fellas!

The best bastard pop mp3 music blogs

Personally I look for variety from mp3 bloggers. They are my modern day djs and heroes. Their tastemaker agenda is usually pretty clear: They breath music on their sites through one another and like rapid fire they constantly feed off each other to produce some great content. For instance I read an awesome review of the Scratch documentary on I am Fuel, you are Friends and got 'Rock it' by Herbie Hancock, and The Ultimate Lessons 'tracks 1,2 & 3' by Double Dee & Steinski and then down the bottom I was reminded of The Whitey Album by Ciccone Youth(1988) which was Sonic Youth's inside joke project that was released after Day Dream Nation, which i just saw on the counter of Tunes in Hoboken just last week. She give props toYou Ain't no Picasso, for posting and then I spied a bunch of songs Beck has covered including 'Pink Moon' by Nick Drake and 'Clementine' by Elliot smith. He's seems to be out having fun at Lollapalooza in Chicago enjoying things the way us old music scenesters used to.

You get the idea. The rules are simple and road is deep and wide. If you see something you want removed they will oblige with obligatory purchase link; simple freakin enough rule to follow i would say. The new is always mixing with old and nowhere is this more evident than on this mash-up of the The Clash's 'magnificent seven' and basement jaxx by 2 Many djs(soulwax) posted by Analog Giant.

What is strange is the language of music is compiled of jargon and the 'next thing' as the kids just want to be different for sure PDB. We know we were once these kids. I was so out of the loop a little and I had no idea what a mash-up was until a friend at work gave me whole bunch of flaming lips mash-ups or 'Bastard pop'. Once the alignment was straightened out, I might not have been paying close attention, almost like drunk driving; if it weren't for the fact these blogs keep me somewhat in tune and on course fill the addiction. I of course being able to smell re-hash in 2-3 chords or less using my sonic ears I can dissect boring rock from somewhat innovative music as like my spanglish. I am an immediate fan of any new band that can pass the spork test, give a decent nod to old ideas and take "it" to that next level even if it is 1.5 degrees removed. Does real music need decades or centuries to take a large leap or will it matter soon? Someone smart said years ago that pop music would turn into coverland and so it is bastard pop is born.

Free Majestic Twelve mp3 swag

Ok, If you like that 'I'm on the Mexican radio' song by Wall of VooDoo mixed with your beer and politics then my dear friends you will dig North Carolina's Majestic Twelve's new album Schizophrenology
which they are distributing for freakin' free on my space and their site. The single is "Condoleezza Check My Posse" which is pretty funny in a puppet sort of way. My particular favorite standard indie track is called "Cry". All tunes have politics and a nod to the earth that makes the music personable. This Kenyata guy is somebody you could hang out with late at night and just kick-it. Oh, wait I've done that over at wefest a hundred times where DIY lives and your mother wonders what a we-tard is because you seem to have an average iq, 'you went to college, and you have a decent job but you won't blink at driving 500 miles to hang with a bunch of music loving freaks. Anyway, check out the tunes.

Addicted to Mp3 blogs

So, always wanting to pay my way but interested in what fine gems people like Heather from Fuel Friends and the Aquarium Drunkard are serving up. I now find myself digging into the realm of live bootlegs and well recorded shows. There are a few must haves over at rbally.net: GBV at the 40 Watt, a Jeff Tweedy 48 song set, Jesus and Mary Chain Live in Vienna and over at Transmission3000.com: two sets by the Afghan Whigs, Fugazi, and Hot Snakes to name a few. The T3 server is a little slower than Bally's imac server but you will be happy. These guys have almost any sort of live band from The Smiths to The Cure in the alternative genre that is worth having. It's pretty incredible that people took such care to document some of these bands. So now you can just sit back and putt stuff in shuffle mode and the trip is on. No need to worry about never seen such and such band.

This has not replaced purchasing music of course, for instance, I picked up the new Thom Yorke at Tunes in Hoboken the other day and it is fantastic. It's pretty much in the vain of the Radiohead Kid A material. "Black Swan" us a stand out track because Yorke says fuck a lot in the refrains. This is mp3 blog thing is on some level satisfying my completist and budget needs when it is too damn hot to do any yard work, waste cash on crap i might not have checked out to othewise. So the Rock will always be on.

Once last thing as a fyi in the freebee music circuit. The recent issue of Mojo comes with a really good James Brown summer compilation cd featuring a bunch of Mr. Brown's influences, some classic tunes and some of the funk he contributed too. If can find any copy's I say go for it.

...one last tidbit just in from the Pitchdorks for the complete indie rock fools, there is a Chavez re-issue in the horizon which will include one unreleased track(which is sad) and a 'documentary' of the band when they toured with Guided by Voices called Boys Making Music ...Music Making Men. They never got the large respect they deserved outside of nyc but i see it in my future to be stuck inside riding the fader once again. No noise yet on the matador site so must be some insider stuff. The Guitarist Clay Tarver went onto make his millions producing the Got Milk adverts and bassplayer Scott did some acting. Really was a shame they never did a third record. Their recent reunion shows these past few years were awesome.

Kung fu Prog Champions by Hiromi

If you like Jaco and some of the out there King Crimson you are going to dig the in-f-ing-credible keyboard playing of Hiromi from this live perfomance to what looks like a very polite Japanese audience. Granted there is some prog i detest. Like how many notes can i fit in beat type of stuff. This is musical, there is a bass solo, and she switches to piano mid-way, which is a cool move. Reminds me a in strange way of Drums & Tuba, without the sampling and funk and copious notes, because those fretless basses sound like a dobro.

Vegetable Man Syd Barrett dead @ 60

One of my favorite singles was a Jesus and Mary Chain 7" that had a Syd Barrett Cover on the b-side called "Vegetable Man". While the cause of death has not been disclosed, CMJ reports he was a type 2 diabetic. Famouse for downing unhuman amounts of acid and then quiting Pink Floyd when they broke and moved into his mum's house in Cambridge, there were tons of bands like the Flaming Lips, Johnny Mar and Bowie to name a few who credited him as an influence to their music and existance. Nevermind the Beatles, he was an innovators innovator for Rock Music as we know it. Music of the momemt has some mp3s and I guess I am Floating.

//The Eraser | Thom Yorke \\ gives the mystery away

Ok, the bad thing about on the spot video podcast documentaries is that all the mystery is given away. Artist can come accross as boring and flat. So all artists should not think they can just start putting themselves on the small screen. On the other hand for folks who are pationate about music can see and hear the real answers in this dark moody piece. Truth vs fiction vs sad music industry hot air is the musical promotion playing field. What is great about Mr. Yorke's art is that his passion comes accross as 'from the real'. The precedent that is being set-up is quite astonishing. Grounded in fact, and a little editing, he reveals his impules for making music in this video cast series posted on his label's site Xl recordings. Once you get over the brit accents and are able to focus, the environmental commentary and humanity comes off as noble and plain good like John Lennon's notion of peace & love songs with title evidence like "Atoms for peace" . He's the musical Picasso of the century, next to the dada-pop-art of The Flamming Lips. Surely some faceted absolute scale could mapped but that would initially leave too many gaps. What is amazing to me is how subtle the human /SPIN\ can making a few notes be more interesting using the format or what reffered to as the Emergency Broadcast Channel System: There are two TY interview segments and 4 30 second song clips in this feed.

Pitchfork Music Festival cd: free sweet sounds

Last month Emusic offered an anti-records sampler. This month to one up them there is a free sampler from the pitchdorks, and Damn it's pretty good. Granted some of the bands were obvious includes; but the ones I had no clue about are worth my download bandwidth. The best part is the free part, no need to go scowering their site, or any of my usual free mp3 haunts. Get the Pitchfork music 'samplete' while it is hot. Besides the obviouse selections: tapes n' tapes, art brut and ted leo; the unknowns struck as familiar chords and beyond my expectation of the usual pitchfork disapointments of late. They must have picked bands by penalty of death. Normally I am very disapointed on the bands they decide to "hype". They've been fired many countless times not just for their poor word choice but moreoever for their really bad taste. I am Diging the futureheads tracks, although sounds like big country, also like the hip-hop of Mr. Lif and the indie sounds of chin up chinup. Not bad. thanks!

Redhotchillipeppers vs The Raconteurs

Call it a comeback, the RHCP "Dani California" video on music.com is pretty cliche but for a band that has been around as long as Flea and boys they can get away with it being that they've been a band since the 80's. The samhain misfits and glam section are funny while the nirvana part is pretty dark considering their relationship with the black tar, almost killing Keidis a number of times. See Scar Tissue.

The band backed by jack white, The Raconteurs, does steady as she goes,decent band, great fun for White but nothing special in the video, the song has the obvious chorus and would expect them to have taken some risks. The winner here deserves a full cd purchaseStadium Arcadium. i will though be happy if mr white doesn't go near the stuff.

Shout at the Devil posts

Part of my normal saturday routine is going to emusic but lately it's been agravating because so is the rest of working stiff world. So thanks internet mp3 devils for posting some great tunes on 6/6/06 and there abouts. Here are some mp3 blogs that really are going to help your commute. I guess I'm floating with six six six, the always reliable I am Fuel you are friends, can you see the sunset, and LA's RockInsider's post on the devil made me do it. thank you f'rs