with Jack’s Mannequin and Motion City Soundtrack
UCI Bren Events Center

One of rock’s preeminent fascinations as a genre is that it allows an amazingly wide assortment of ugly noises and nonmusical values to be snatched up improbably into music that works.  Too loud, too raspy, too whiny, too chaotic, too rudimentary all become pieces of greatness.

Add to that list “stressed out,” implying not loss of energy so much as loss of fine control, inability to discriminate and modulate, and, in general, just barely hanging on at the end of a too-demanding day (or relationship).  Weezer sounds that way in “No Other One,” a song about hanging onto a grossly flawed lover faute de mieux.

How do you do it?  You play with mere doggedness, not drive, and in weary unison, suppressing anything that could sound like alert interaction among the voices.  You declaim loudly in a slow meter—a waltz, actually, which gives a sense of circling and not really getting anywhere.  You repeat simple phrases, like “no other one,” not in joy but as though synapses are failing.  You use a slide in the instrumental part of the refrain to give a sense of the edges of things being worn off.  (Come to think of it, slide guitar has an impressive power to lay on dabs of stressed-outness in many different settings.)  You throw in an unforeseeable falsetto note to hint that the singer could lose his head at any moment.

But this is a great experience:  the stressed-out world of “No Other One” is infiltrated by order and beauty.  There are drive and counterpoint and sharp edges, sometimes even saliently (the second verse, moments in the last chorus), and the singer does have heroic composure.  You can hear all your favorite musical values while the song as a whole wears you down.

The Rolling Stones are often praised, on Exile on Main Street in particular, for making a sense of sleaziness and staleness a compelling musical value.  But that sleaze is the Stones’ home atmosphere; since they’re always wallowing in it, there’s no sense of incongruity about it.  Weezer’s norm, in contrast, is to work with pop song structures that noticeably derive from a chipper 1950s sensibility and to give a rougher feel to that pop with elements of punk and metal, all redeemed by a sweet net effect.  So there is a fairly sharp incongruity already in their formula.  But “No Other One” is rougher and has scarcely any sweetness at all, as though Weezer lost the use of the muscles that make the corners of the mouth turn up or the eye wink.

Setting aside the mordant lyrical content, the chords and melody and tempo of this song make it sound like it was written first for a tender performance, even a lullaby, by another kind of artist entirely, but then Weezer got hold of it—at the end of a very long day—and bashed out an abusive cover version.  My uncertainty whether Weezer is even playing their own song seals the stressed-out deal.  I’m lost in admiration at the perfection in their abdication.

Last Call With Carson Daily Show featured Weezer on the artist of the day with them performing an old classic, “The Sweater Song”, “If You’re Wondering If I Want You To… I Want You To”, as well as “Can’t Stop Partying” which we feel are some of their better live performances captured of late. Check them out.

It was clear to us watching last night that the addition of Chamillionaire in this last song of the night was no value added.. the Weezer crowd on the other hand…. well, ye, dedicated.

also check out the Weezer Covers here.

A couple weeks ago in this post I mentioned this video of Jon Stewart taking MSNBC’s new morning show Morning Joe to task over their Starbucks sponsorship. As always, Jon is on point, neatly dissecting the absurdity of the MSNBC team’s seemingly odd relationship with their show’s patron.

Or so I thought.

As much as I appreciate Jon’s fiendish logic, I wonder if we haven’t moved into some bizarro cultural landscape that I would characterize as post-ironic. In the post-ironic cultural landscape we are so hyper-aware of the irony of any given situation, rather than using the irony as a tool for critique, we embrace it by drawing attention to it, while simultaneously accepting it. Advertising today teems with examples of this condition. In post-ironic advertising, advertisers and their partners are hyper-aware of the purported soulless/sell-out nature of their business. To appeal to an audience that they perceive (somewhat correctly) as being as cynical about advertising as they are, they demonstrate this awareness in nod-and-wink fashion to demonstrate their authenticity, that they’re on the level, that we’re all in on the game. Thus, in today’s cultural climate, as much as Jon Stewart – idealist that he is – would like it to be different, it is valid for Joe Scarborough to claim that they were being sarcastic (except that he was actually confusing sarcasm and irony, but oh well) about their show’s sponsorship, because we have moved beyond the belief that someone who endorses a product really “loves” it. It’s merely brand association and a way to pump dollars into the programming. Or an attempt to have your cake and eat it too.

We’ve been moving into this space for a long time now. In my mind, the tipping point had to be this infamous clip from Wayne’s World, probably the most epochal example of what I am trying to describe.

More recent examples include:

Brands such as Pepsi buying airtime on SNL to be featured in mockumercials.

The current crop of Old Spice commercials.

Weezer’s post-ironic promotional parody Snuggie infomercial that says, “Isn’t the whole post-industrial mass commercialization of everything just such a farce? That’s why we’re offering a free crap product from those infomercials you see on tv all the time to help promote our new album!”

Nail biting you got me again!  It hurts after you get to where the nail is connected with the rest of the finger, but how else do you grossly and awkwardly halt boredom?  I’ve heard of bitter stuff you put on your nails to get you to stop biting them, but that reminds me a little too much of sour apple spray you train a dog with.

I’ve been way too late since whenever I first wrote about my lack of sleep due to not sleeping and then waking up early.  Recently, I’ve been trying to put together my ideal soundtrack for what would play during Grizzly Skag Bear.

Here are three songs that would definitely be on the soundtrack:

Say Anything – Woe

Weezer – El Scorcho

A Day To Remember – NJ Legion Iced Tea

Those are some starters.  Write you’re own movie if you want to create your own made up soundtrack.

A Weezer soha nem volt az a csapat, akik nagy megfejtésekkel bombázták volna a zenei életet, de mégis mindig sikerült olyan lemezeket kihozniuk, amit az ember akár évekkel később is szívesen hallgat. A ‘92-ben alakult kaliforniai pop-punk négyes idén is előrukkolt egy új albummal, mely immár a hetedik a ‘94-ben megjelent “Weezer” óta.
Az új, “Raditude” című korong…

rögtön egy ugrálós, táncolós slágerdallal, az “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You to) I Want You To“-val indul, melyhez a srácok már le is forgatták első klipjüket. Hát érdekes lett, ajánlom mindenki figyelmébe (a cikk végén meg is találjátok!), van benne szerelem, dráma, made in hungaria és horror. A “Raditude” tulajdonképpen elejétől végéig viszi tovább ezt a vonalat, persze mindenféle betétekkel, így az “I’m your Daddy” melankolikusabb hangvételétől a Lil Wayne-nel közösen rögzített “Can’t Stop Partying” electro beütésű hangzásától a britpop-os “Love is the Answer“-ig. Kiemelném még a “Let it all Hang out” kezdő gitár riffjét, ami engem nagyon emlékeztetett vmire… Talán a Beverly Hills 90210 főcímzenéjére, de ki tudja… A lemezt záró “I Don’t want to let you go” külön figyelmet érdemel, hiszen egy-két a korongon szereplő dallal ellentétben ez is azok közé tartozik, amelyek akár külön is megállnák a helyüket, sőt a téli időszakban akár a rádiókból is szívesen viszont hallanánk. Ezt a dalt azonban követi még egy, nevezetesen a “Turn Me Round“, ami enyhén grunge beütésével egy újabb színfoltja lett a lemeznek.
A lényeg tehát, hogy rendkívül szórakoztató, és élvezhető anyagot hoztak össze ismét a srácok, az egy lemezes “Raditude” önmagában is egy újabb Weezer-élményt hordoz magában, de a deluxe verzió is érdekesre sikeredett, ugyanis négy további dal is helyet kapott rajta. Érdemes emellett arra is odafigyelni, hogy a borítót díszítő kép egy National Geographic díjával kitüntetett alkotás, amin egy Sidney nevű kutya látható ugrás közben. Wow.

10/10

Töltsd le itt: http://www.songo.hu/46041/207206/8/Weezer/Zeneletoltes.aspx

Vedd meg itt: http://bookline.hu/product/home!execute.action?id=8089&type=62&_v=Weezer_Raditude

Pulling a sweater by its thread is a tedious way to destroy it. Putting in a washing machine with incorrect settings and too much bleach is a much more efficient method.

Weezer’s seventh release “Raditude” is clearly an indicator that the band has the ability to take their music in many different directions and still have the end result be a rocking album. There are so many different styles of music in this collection, it’s almost as if Cuomo & company wanted to see just how far they could push the musical limits envelope, and still make it work. Well push it they did, and made it work they have.

One of the main reasons for the wide array of musical styles in “Raditude” is the high number of different song-writing and producing collaborations that took place during the making of it. Cuomo had a co-writer for almost every song, working with everyone from the familiar sounds of fellow pop-rockers Butch Walker (Marvelous 3, Butch Walker and the Let’s-Go-Out-Tonites) and Tyson Ritter & Nick Wheeler (The All-American Rejects) to some of today’s biggest R&B and Pop producers such as Lukasz Gottwald (Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears, Katy Perry) and Jermaine Dupri (Mariah Carey, Run-DMC, Usher). Even drummer Patrick Wilson contributes to the writing efforts on the track “In the Mall”. Two of the album tracks “Can’t Stop Partying” and “I Don’t Want to Let You Go” come from Cuomo’s solo writings, and can be found in different form on “Alone Vol.2 – The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo” which was released last November.

Thus far “Raditude” has been met with mixed reviews mainly due to the variety of music on the album, and the use of electric and otherwise unusual instruments. Say what you will about Weezer putting a dance-club track on the album, but the new version of “Can’t Stop Partying” is in a far better musical context than the previously recorded acoustic version, while still allowing you to appreciate the irony of Rivers’ lyrics. The truth of the matter is the music world is a-changin’ on both the business and creation hemispheres, and those who want to succeed in it, must do the same. In “Raditude” Weezer has found a way to do just that, while at the same time getting back to what made them so good. Two albums removed from what was nothing more than a sub-par collection of top-40 fluff, it is safe to say that the Weezer we all know and love is back. They are back to writing insanely catchy guitar riffs with loveable, yet dorky lyrics, and that’s exactly where they should be.

[+]Listen to “Raditude” on Weezer’s myspace page now.

Esta ha sido una semana cargada de presentaciones divertidas en shows gringos, así que empecemos con la mejor de la semana. Los Pixies demuestran que aún pueden aplastar a cualquier bandita del momento y parten la liga tocando “Debaser” en el show de Jimmy Fallon.

Podrían amputarles los brazos e igual tocarían a la perfección. Puntos extra para Kim Deal que se nota 3 kilos menos gorda.

Lady GaGa y Weezer, después del salto.

Ahora le toca a Weezer, quienes en serio, no lo logran. El nuevo disco, sus canciones y sus videos están mediocres, blandengues y Rivers Cuomo está lejos de su mejor forma musical. De todas maneras, aquí pueden comprobarlo con una presentación bastante débil de “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To” en el show de Conan O´Brien.

Para terminar tenemos a la caraja mas over the top, teatrera, intensa y drogadicta de los últimos años, mi querida Lady GaGa. Debo decir que poco a poco le estoy agarrando cariño y me tripeo las quemadeces que hace cada vez que le prenden una cámara delante.

Véanla disfrazada del jorobado de Notre Dame gótico tocando “Bad Romance” en el show de Jay Leno. Me cagué de la risa con los bailarines gimp que tiene y la coreografía de tigres que hacen, la jeva canta bastante bien y suena duro en vivo.

En carnaval me voy a disfrazar de bailarín de Lady GaGa. Decidido.

Like I told you back in July, I f*cks with Weezer and this is exactly the reason why!  This is so awesome.  This is also why I need a f*ckin budget!  YAKWII branded Snuggies would make a killing!  Gotta get a sponsor….

However, in the meantime, I took the liberty of mocking up what the YAKWII Snuggie would look like.  Check the prototype after the jump.

I know, it’s rough.  And my model didn’t give me the America’s Next Top Model energy that I was hoping for.  She didn’t have the eye of the tiger mentality that we need to get this project off the ground.  Oh well…Rome wasn’t built in a day.  Baby steps people….baby steps.

If anyone wants to contribute funds to get this project off the ground – PLEASE let me know ASAP!  We can ride the Snuggie wave and get PAID!!!

(Ha ha…I have to laugh at some of the sh*t I put up here sometimes.  Jackasses like me are the exact reason why the internet is dangerous.  This chick probably has zero clue that she has become the spokesmodel for YAKWII branded Snuggies.  Oh boy….)

O piesa care imi place si ea foarte mult. Se pare ca oamenii astia de la Relatii cu Clinetii in general au gusturi bune la muzica (asta ca sa ma dau putin cu periuta si eu)

Oricum din cate imi aduc aminte a aparut aceasta reclama si intr-o reclama a lor

Ah, America. We must celebrate our coming into being this week! We do that by stuffing ourselves!! Too cool! All other countries, just ignore the following, and move on the the reviews. But for you Americans, remember to thank yourself for being so cool and welcoming my awesome reviews pretty much every week. I know how much you readers sit in wait for my next post. Oh boy, you say to yourselves, what amazing releases we he hip us to next? Well, you all just need to calm down. I want to THANK YOU for caring, and reading, and occasionally commenting. It rocks! See ya soon!

Jay Farrar and Benjamin Gibbard – One Fast Move Or I’m Gone: Jack Kerouac’s Big Sur – *** – Sorry to all the smarties out there, but I am not too familiar with Jack Kerouac, I mean I know who he is, just haven’t read any of his stuff. But, lucky for me, I don’t care about lyrics that much anyways. And the music on this is solid. Very California sounding, whatever that means.

Kings of Convenience – Declaration of Dependence – ***1/2 – Great to hear these guys again, and glad to see they’ve still got it. This is classic Kings of Convenience, heartfelt songs, the almost whispered vocal delivery, and the unique but compelling melodies. Great!

The Spinto Band – Slim & Slender EP – *** – Almost too short to even call an EP, these 4 songs show that the band has more in store for us. Also includes a great cover of Brazil, which is always a good addition in my book.

Weezer – Raditude – *** – Not sure what to say about this. I think there are some great moments when they are just being themselves. But when they start adding rap elements, Indian music, whatnot, I just feel uncomfortable. And perhaps they have oversimplified, but at the same time, I don’t need complicated elements to enjoy something. I just think the enjoyment won’t last as long as previous albums.

Dashboard Confessional – Alter The Ending – *** – Solid effort from this band. I think they are less focused now on the message of their songs, and are more focused on the musicality of it all. Some songs go on a bit too long, but there are some definite bright moments in this album.

Ah, America. We must celebrate our coming into being this week! We do that by stuffing ourselves!! Too cool! All other countries, just ignore the following, and move on the the reviews. But for you Americans, remember to thank yourself for being so cool and welcoming my awesome reviews pretty much every week. I know how much you readers sit in wait for my next post. Oh boy, you say to yourselves, what amazing releases we he hip us to next? Well, you all just need to calm down. I want to THANK YOU for caring, and reading, and occasionally commenting. It rocks! See ya soon!

Jay Farrar and Benjamin Gibbard – One Fast Move Or I’m Gone: Jack Kerouac’s Big Sur – *** – Sorry to all the smarties out there, but I am not too familiar with Jack Kerouac, I mean I know who he is, just haven’t read any of his stuff. But, lucky for me, I don’t care about lyrics that much anyways. And the music on this is solid. Very California sounding, whatever that means.

Kings of Convenience – Declaration of Dependence – ***1/2 – Great to hear these guys again, and glad to see they’ve still got it. This is classic Kings of Convenience, heartfelt songs, the almost whispered vocal delivery, and the unique but compelling melodies. Great!

The Spinto Band – Slim & Slender EP – *** – Almost too short to even call an EP, these 4 songs show that the band has more in store for us. Also includes a great cover of Brazil, which is always a good addition in my book.

Weezer – Raditude – *** – Not sure what to say about this. I think there are some great moments when they are just being themselves. But when they start adding rap elements, Indian music, whatnot, I just feel uncomfortable. And perhaps they have oversimplified, but at the same time, I don’t need complicated elements to enjoy something. I just think the enjoyment won’t last as long as previous albums.

Dashboard Confessional – Alter The Ending – *** – Solid effort from this band. I think they are less focused now on the message of their songs, and are more focused on the musicality of it all. Some songs go on a bit too long, but there are some definite bright moments in this album.

What in the name of Baphomet is a “stealth metalhead”?  Webster’s Dictionary defines the term as…well, it doesn’t define it.  But if I were to try my hand at being a dictionary, I would say that it’s someone who keeps their love for metal on the down low.  Sadly, I don’t know any stockbrokers or bankers with Black Sabbath on vinyl, so here’s the next best thing: celebrities!  Because everybody loves celebrities!

5.     Rivers Cuomo

“progressive metal”

It’s no secret that Rivers Cuomo loves metal.  From their earliest years, Weezer professed an undying love of Satan and all things evil, even going so far as to invoke the dark lord himself on several of The Blue Album’s biggest singles.  But long before the blood sacrifices that made him a teen pop sensation, there was Avant Garde.

Yes, my friends, that’s Rivers Cuomo on lead guitar.  Did you hear that?  Those licks!  That shredding!  That, my friends, is what we call “the metal”.  Unfortunately, Avant Garde failed miserably to achieve anything in the way of success, (which is surprising given that every hair metal band in the 80s had a record deal.)  This lead to the band changing their name to Zoom before disbanding completely, likely due to their inability to pick out cool band names.

4.     Phil Elverum

What do you mean I have to wait another week for my Burzum import?

Most of you reading this probably don’t know who Phil Elverum is.  It isn’t really surprising since most of you apparently suffer a brain embolism at the thought of listening to anything that doesn’t suffix with “core”.  Despite that, Elverum is our number 4 stealth metalhead.

Known mainly for his band, Mount Eerie, the first Phil on our list rose to indie stardom earlier this year with his latest release, Wind’s Poem – a record informed by countless hours of poorly engineered black metal that I don’t have any interest in listening to.  In a world where hipsters ironically latch onto Xasthur, it’s his unabashedly unironic love that puts him on our list.  We would’ve put him higher, but you’re all a bunch of cunts who would probably bitch about it.

3.     Demi Lovato

Unleash the fucking fury.

Demetria Devonne “Demi” Lovato[1] (born August 20, 1992) is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She is best known for her role as Mitchie Torres in the Disney Channel Original Movie Camp Rock and Sonny Munroe in Sonny With A Chance.

Which is probably why it was so surprising when she openly stated that she enjoyed Job For A Cowboy and Dimmu Borgir.  While both bands ultimately fall on our list of all time Worst Bands Evar, it still fills us with joy at the thought of fingerblasting her to “Run To The Hills”.  At the very least, we’re looking forward to her eventual split with Phobia (now featuring even more guitar solos from Kerry King) once she leaves the safety of her Disney Channel backers.

2.     Ryan Adams

sigh…

Much like our beloved Rivers, Ryan Adams has a not-so-secret love of metal.

Ironic or not, that shit slays.

1.     Phil Anselmo

We’re going to refrain from making jokes about Phil Anselmo lest he pull our balls out of our assholes.

“A ha!” you shout to no one in particular, “Phil Anselmo isn’t a stealth metalhead!  He was in one of the most popular metal bands of all time!  He even owns and operates Housecore Records – a label dedicated to bringing you the finest in metal-slash-hardcore!”

True enough.  Anselmo is largely known for fronting Pantera.  However, it is his credentials with side projects which earn him our top spot, often releasing more respectable albums from Christ Inversion, Down, and Necrophagia alongside shit like Cowboys From Hell.  Simply the fact that Pantera was not metal enough for Anselmo only cements our respect for the man.

Honorable mention: Apparently the singer from Jimmy Eat World worships Satan and listens to Godflesh or something.  Though we couldn’t be bothered to verify this information via Wikipedia, we would at this time like to speculate that the success of Jimmy Eat World may have nothing to do with their music and everything to do with blood orgies.

-Aaron

Travis Barker (Blink-182), Rivers Cuomo (Weezer), Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy) y la última sensación del country americano, Taylor Swift protagonizan el último spot del videojuego “Band hero”.

Taylor, que afirmó su admiración por sus compañeros de reparto como “héroes musicales”, aparece deslizándose en un living junto a los demás jugadores como si esto se tratase ya de una seña de identidad de los juegos musicales de Activision, cambiando después de la entrada el tema de Bob Seger por uno de la propia cantautora.

Aquí el making off.

The Dictators are playing on Potrero Hill.
It’s hot. I go and stand out back.
The only other person out back is a tall young guy.
Heavily tattooed and scarred and he’s smoking a cigar.

What’s your favorite number? he asks me.
Seven.
He holds up his middle finger.
There’s a seven tattooed on it.
He drives a cab.
He’s well read.
I guess he had a lot of time to read in jail.
Armed robbery, he says.
I don’t say anything, just stare at the busines card he presses in my hand.
That’s my beeper number, he says, you know, if you ever need a cab. Just put in the number seven. I’ll know it’s you.

Back in North Beach. 2:30 am, I’m at the bar in my pyjamas and a big sweatshirt that says Brooklyn on it that I stole from that one band’s dressing room. The bar is closed and we are locked in, drinking until dawn, except that I’m drinking coffee. I smoke super slim 120 cigarettes and don’t realize that they make me look like an asshole. I don’t talk to anyone. The woman sitting next to me sleeps gently with her head on the bar, hand still clutched around a glass of Green Chartreuse. I close my eyes. Everyone is on coke and green chartreuse. They sniff and talk:

Sometimes, when you’re out at sea for a long time, and you don’t see anybody or anything, strange things happen. Like, there’s a man who stands at the edge of my boat, looking at the horizon at night. He usually comes after I’ve been sailing for a while. I call him Captain Kirk. You want more coffee?
There’s a sniper on the roof in Chinatown.
What?
There’s a sniper on the roof in Chinatown!
I’m NOT drunk. Seriously.
Are you gonna stand there like a fucking idiot, or are you gonna play some goddamn dice?
I am psychic, you know. I can see your aura.
Whose bright idea WAS this?
I hate having to say goodbye every fucking time I leave somewhere. Why can’t I just fucking leave?
I was born a neurotic Jew.
But you’re not actually Jewish.
That’s just not the point.
That ticket I got today is more than my fucking god-damned rent.
Does my hair look O.K.?
He threw the gun up on the roof.
Why?
I don’t fucking know. Maybe he didn’t know what else to do with it.

Greenwich Avenue and I sit on the floor in my room. At night I listen to talk radio shows where people call in to talk about anal sex. I like talk radio because it makes me forget that I am sitting around in a room with posters and pictures and newspaper cuttings and books and over-turned orange-crates as furniture and no bed. But right now I’m listening to Weezer. The first album, the blue one. It’s been playing for a while. Every time it stops, I lean forward and press play again. Afternoon sun plays havoc with tired eyes.

Columbus Avenue. I sit on one side of the bar and Tim stands on the other side. He gives me free coffee and free food and we just stare at each other. We do this every day and I don’t even know how it began. We’ve never said more than two words at a time to each other, but now he looks at me and says,
I loved the sunflower you gave me.
Good.
I’m going to plant it in my backyard. They grow real tall.
It’s fake, I say after a while.
What?
It’s fake. The sunflower. It’s made of plastic. There’s an off/on switch on the bottom and when you turn it on it sings You Are My Sunshine and dances a bit.
Oh.
So you can’t plant it.
Oh.
In your backyard…my voice trails off. We go back to staring at each other silently.
You didn’t notice the off/on switch? I can’t help saying it. Now we both know he is stupid. My face doesn’t move an inch. Tomorrow we will act like it didn’t happen so that I can have free coffee and food and somewhere to sit where I feel safe and he can have someone sitting there opposite him that doesn’t say anything and looks OK because all the other customers are pricks and he’s sensitive to it.

Green Street. I buy cigarettes at the Korean place. I go to the other bar that I rarely ever go to. I’m still in my pyjamas. The dust motes hang in the air, almost motionless. Almost. A man sits down next to me. I don’t look at his face. I see his hands. The number seven on the middle finger. I push the bowl of pretzels toward him. I say,
Have a pretzel. Do they have pretzels in jail?

Greenwich Avenue. I sit on the floor in my room with posters and pictures and newspaper cuttings and books and over-turned orange-crates as furniture and no bed. I take my asthma inhaler and smoke my asshole super slim 120 cigarettes. When the record stops, I lean forward and press play. After midnight I switch to talk radio.
All I’m saying is that I got my fist so far up his ass that I was massaging his heart, it says to me.