Raised By Wolves 2009-11-21 Playlist

New episode of Raised By Wolves Podcast up. Joe reviews the Dethclock show and I play my one of a kind Whites Stripes bootleg from Spaceland circa March 2001 as well as bunch of demos from Adam Ant, Mötley Crüe and The Zombies.


Check it.
~Chris


(1) Roxy Music-Out Of The Blue
(2) Iggy Pop-Tell Me A Story
(3) Jarvis Cocker-Angela
(4) Mötley Crüe-Kickstart My Heart (Demo)
(5) The Dickies-She
(6) Mika Miko-Wild Bore
(7) Born Against-Well Fed Fuck
(8) Black Flag-Spray Paint
(9) The Zombies-Summertime (Demo)
(10) Joe Cocker-Honky Tonk Woman
(11) Moving Sidewalks-Need Me
(12) David Liebe Hart & Adam Papagan-Women Today
(13) The Who-Jaguar
(14) The White Stripes-When I Hear My Name (Spaceland-March 3, 2001)
(15) Canned Heat-On The Road Again
(16) The Prodigy-Stand Up
(17) F.Y.P.-Remedy
(18) The Hex Dispensors-O-b-I-t
(19) Adam & The Ants-Beat My Guest (Demo)
(20) Roky Erickson-Don’t Slander Me
(21) Humble Pie-Up Our Sleeves

Gotta check this album out. Dropping 27th of november.

The listing of featured artist is magical. None other than Mos Def, Q-tip, Raekwon, Pharoahe Monch and late ODB is just 5 of the 10 artists that collaborated with the Black Keys band.

The Black Keys is a duo that was formed in Akron, Ohio, 2001. Since then they have released 5 albums including the latest produced by Danger Mouse, and released 2008.

The duo is frequently compared to the White Stripes and their music in the field of blues-rock. Early 2009 they started a project speargheaded by rapper Jim Jones, which results in an album this nov 27th, the so called black friday, day after thanks giving.

The album will only be available on Itunes and independent record stores. So chop chop, cop one the digital way.

The recording sessions are documented in a series of webisodes that can be watched here.

Here´s a sample from the album, but I suggest hardly that you go buy the album. Could be one of the best albums this year.

Coochie – Ludacris & ODB

Enjoy!

Every time a 0 is involved with the turning year, people tend to go crazy over “the best _____ of the decade”. Lists come out about music and movies and tv shows and whatever. Well, I decided to do that. Because I’m a dork. What I ended up doing is a list of things for every year since the year 2000. I will talk about some of them and leave links to others that I think are fantastical and that I belive you (whoever you are) might enjoy. So. Here we go. Expect to see some bands that repeat, and some that you know I like, if you like me:

2000
Does anyone remember how fantastically catchy ‘Bohemian Like You’ was? The silly video with the karaoke-thing, etcetera? There was a lot of decent music coming out around this time, and I remember being consistently barraged by good albums. This wouldn’t continue through the rest of the decade. Californication would be the last time I would enjoy RHCP as a band.

Dandy Warhols (song – Bohemian Like You); Red Hot Chili Peppers (album – Californication); Smashing Pumpkins/Foo Fighters/A Perfect Circle(show – Summersault – Winnipeg Stadium); Nine Inch Nails (video – Into the Void)

2001
In 2001 I succumbed to sexy pop for a favorite song. Seriously. That song is awesome. Frusciante’s album was magical, and I think my video of the year is really the only choice.

Kylie Minogue (song – Can’t get you out of my head); John Frusciante (album – To Record only Water for Ten Days); Tragically Hip (show – Winnipeg Arena); Fatboy Slim (video – Weapon of Choice)

2002
Dave Grohl makes the list twice as a drummer in this year, and probably would have taken the album too, but from out of nowhere came what would change my mind about Canadian music in that I ended up following almost every project that Broken Social Scene had outside of it’s main band after hearing the album and seeing them live.

Queens Of The Stone Age (song – Go With the Flow); Broken Social Scene (album – You Forgot it in people); Broken Social Scene – (show – Pyramid Cabaret); Tenacious D (video – Tribute)

2003
I remember the moment I fell in love with Sit down Stand up. It was on the eve of the album coming out, and Radiohead played a live show that was broadcasted to Silver City theatres in Canada. When that song reached the crescendo into the fast ‘raindrops’ part, I was almost on the edge of my seat. Which I could also say about the Metric show. They were second on a bill of three that featured Hot Hot Heat as the main act, and were still relatively new, but downright sexy and exciting to watch. I’ve since seen them six more times.

Radiohead (song – Sit Down, Stand Up); Mars Volta (album – De-Loused in the Comatorium); Metric (show – Pyramid Cabaret); Buck 65 (video – Wicked and Weird)

2004
The second time a John Frusciante album makes my favorite albums. This album is widely regarded as his most ‘mainstream’ and is a fantastic, great-amazing thing, just like the Bowie concert, which was the last concert I ever saw at the ol’ Winnipeg arena.

Secret Machines (song – Nowhere Again); John Frusciante (album – Shadows Collide with People); David Bowie (show – Winnipeg Arena); DFA 1979 (video – Black History Month)

2005
I’ll never forget how many phone calls I got when Nine Inch Nails annouced that they’d be coming here. It was the first time I was going to see them, after being a fan since 1994. My phone rang off the hook, and for one song during that show, so did my emotions. I kinda quietly, completely lost it, and felt like a dummy. Ha! By the way, that Esthero video’s freakin’ hot, and I agree with every sentiment in it.

Sufjan Stevens (song – Come On! Feel the Illinoise!); Fantomas (album – Suspended Animation); Nine Inch Nails (show – MTS Centre) Esthero (video – We R in Need of a Musical Revolution)

2006
I saw Wintersleep by myself in front of about 30 people, and skipped work to get there. When I talked to the singer about this, he dedicated a song to me. How nice. As far as Nausea goes, I don’t know what it is about that song, but something in it drives me nuts. It’s way too good and it doesn’t even realize it.

Beck (song – Nausea); Regina Spektor (album – Begin To Hope); Wintersleep (show – The Collective); Eagles of Death Metal (video – Boy’s Bad News)

2007
National Anthem of Nowhere has become my most listened to track on last.fm, and I think the Wintersleep album has since become one of my most listened to albums. They will both continue to rise in numbers. If I did a song by song and album by album breakdown, these two would make somewhere within the top three. And it’s pretty cool that I got to see Mike Patton in any of his 34i83902439024 bands, but Peeping Tom blew me away.

Apostle of Hustle (song – National Anthem of nowhere); Wintersleep (album – Welcome to the Night Sky); Peeping Tom (show – Trocadero); Feist (video – 1234)

2008
God, In Rainbows is great. And Secret Machines live, that’s something so completely underrated, I don’t even know how to describe it to you. The power that they have to get an audience going, is a sight to behold and yet there were so few people there that I was kind of disappointed in the turnout. Oh, and yes, I realize that Feist gets the video 2 years running for the same album, but they’re both great videos.

Kaki King (song – Montreal); Radiohead (album – In Rainbows); Secret Machines (show – Pyramid); Feist (video – I feel it all)

2009
I know, it hasn’t been that long, but Them Crooked Vultures was exactly the album I wanted it to be. So there.  And as far as Spookey’s song goes, this is the second time I’ve talked about it in my blog. Previously appeared in my “songs you won’t see in Guitar Hero or Rock band“, and it’s just something to behold. Metric’s video was perfect, it was the video that I wanted them to have. Something sweet and cute instead of overtly dorky like all of their other videos. As far as Leonard Cohen’s concert goes, I hadn’t been a huge fan beforehand, but was introduced, and BECAME a large fan because of how amazing that concert was. Everything he did was perfect. The singing, the sounds, the engagement with the audience was fantastic. Top five concerts in my life, that one.

Spookey Ruben (song – Mechanical Royalty); Them Crooked Vultures (album – Them Crooked Vultures); Leonard Cohen (show – MTS Centre); Metric (video – Gimme Sympathy)

I’ve been having a thought recently on songs I love, that if they came out between ‘77 and ‘81 would be deemed as Punk Classics. To me they all have the right combination of noise and attitude and have carried the musical side of Punk into other genres.

I know that they will not be everyones choice of a Punk tune, and I am not saying that they are…just that they would have been if they had come out in 1977.

Here is my list, let me know if you agree or not. Come up with a top five and I will post it as a seperate topic.

Song 2 – Blur

I can feel myself going absolutely mental as the chorus kicks in. Whoo Hoo.

I Predict A Riot – Kaiser Chiefs

It contains the word riot – always a good start – and the immortal line ‘if it wasn’t for chip fat she’d be frozen’, absolute genius.

Buck Rogers – Feeder

Fuckin stupid lyrics but a great riff, a real jump about tune.

Headshrinker – Oasis

The Gallaghers have a definate Punk attitude and some cracking tunes alongside some absolute shite. Headshrinker is one of their best.

Creep – Radiohead

Sums up my teenage years…or at least what most people thought of me. Still am a weirdo.

Killing In The Name – Rage Against The Machine

Political, Purposeful and Powerful. An amazing tune that builds to a great finale and captures the Punk attitude to life in general.

Richard III – Supergrass

Simply great pogo music.

Fell In Love With A Girl – White Stripes

This song could have been written by Pete Shelley. It would not have been out of place in 1979.

Back in June I began the ever subjective task of trying to come up with a Top 100 albums list for the past decade. As one might imagine, not an easy thing to do when you’re an audiophile. I will still come across albums when I walk the dog or am driving in the car and shake my head and say, ‘How could I have missed that album on my T100?’ truth is – space is limited and there’s only so much room in the head and heart (that could be said about a lot of things, I suppose.) In any case, there are certainly glaring omissions, as with any list. You will not see U2, The White Stripes, The Strokes or The Killers on this listing…nor will you see any rap or hip-hop. Nothing against decade-defining albums for critics to laud over, but truth be told, they’re not spinning in my head 10 years later. It’s my list and you’re welcome to take stabs at it – in fact, I welcome the criticisms and comments. That’s what makes the aural debate so fun. With that, ‘Cry Havoc, and Let Slip The Dogs of War…’ I will reserve space in early 2010 for the near-misses and my commentary on other lists that might pop up across the ’scene.’

Zane Lowe in Teignmouth. Photo by tj.moore at Flickr.

Setlist:

1. Kasabian – Clubfoot
2. Biffy Clyro – That Golden Rule
3. Chemical Brothers vs. Party – Galvanise The Empire
4. Black Sheep – The Choice Is Yours
5. Radiohead – The National Anthem
6. U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday
7. Pink Floyd – Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)
8. Public Enemy – Fight The Power
9. Whateverman – P.E. Theme
10. Old School Break
11. John Lennon – Power To The People
12. Led Zeppelin – Immigrant Song
13. Rage Against The Machine vs. Whateverman – Killing It
14. Rage Against The Machine – Killing In The Name
15. Edwin Starr vs. Whateverman – What War
16. White Stripes – Seven Nation Army
17. System of a Down – Chop Suey
18. Sex Pistols – Anarchy In The UK
19. The Prodigy – Firestarter
20. The Prodigy – Warrior’s Dance
21. Ian Brown – F.E.A.R.

A radio rip is available to download for free here.

The above is not a setlist as much as this year’s most exciting megamix – and there’s a phrase I haven’t bandied around with complete abandon since 2004. Previously, I mentioned something of writing about my favourite remixes of the year and although perhaps this isn’t the ’something’ I was expecting to write, c’est la vie. This year has been fucking awful for good remixes. I could only find three that met my flaky standards. One was the Stuart Price remix of Paparazzi which I overplayed anyway and don’t really enjoy any more, and doesn’t exist much outside of the middle eight anyway. Another was the Does It Offend You, Yeah? remix of Uprising that sometimes is better than the album version – a claim which is completely reliant on my mood at any given moment in time. But I’m a complete whore for DIOY,Y remixes anyway, so it’s a completely predictable anticlimax. The third was the Filthy Dukes mix of To Lose My Life that I thought was fun for a few weeks but it dulled quickly. Thinking about it, I only really liked it because it sounded like Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, White Lies and Bimbo Jones in one big melting pot, then I realised that they all do their own thing independently and it sounds better than this track. And with that thought, this brief flirtation was o-v-a-h.

I was reminiscing about the Teignmouth weekend a couple of days ago and realised that Zane Lowe’s warm up set for the evening was, not only one of the best openers I’ve seen for a band, but it fit the bill for resuscitating this dismal commentary. I’ve seen Zane DJ in a couple of other venues before, but he didn’t leave any kind of impression on me. This clicked. He actually did two half hour sets sandwiched between some really happening local bands, and the second was superior to the first, which is above. Rather annoyingly, the audio of the second never surfaced, and I don’t remember much of it other than an amazing remix of Bonkers, so I can’t even describe it. It was amazing. But back to the first set – Zane made me dance. I never dance. Ever. I’ve never understood the appeal behind DJing, or how some people are into it in the same way that I’m into peanut butter M&Ms (you’re pressing play on a track someone else created? Inspirational.) but I have a new found appreciation for it all now. Kind of.

I loved the way it was put together – though I will say that the airhorns all the way through got me excited for a play of the Freemasons remix of Ring The Alarm, which Zane obviously did not play: it was so not the audience for the Freemasons (myself aside, and I would have danced for everyone else there if it had come on),  but I loved all of the thought which had gone into each track and how it would work best in the mix. It was a great blend of genres, alongside music from today and music from ye olden days as well that provided an education for some of the younger audience members there (“Isn’t this from that Fatman Scoop song?”). It created an air of context for the set Muse went on to play, both musically and emotionally, and that’s a beautiful thing.

I would have taken System of a Down out though. I hate that song. Flobots would have worked just as well there.

Nice work Zane Looooooooooooooooooowe. I’m on board.

O músico, que já acumula participações nas bandas White Stripes, Raconteurs e Dead Weather, arranjou um novo projeto – e dos bons – para participar. Ele vai produzir o novo álbum de Wanda Jackson.

Momento parêntesis: A cantora, agora com 72 anos, é conhecida como a rainha do rockabilly. Ela começou a carreira cantando country e gospel, mas acabou indo mais para o lado do rock durante uma turnê com Elvis Presley – com quem teve um relacionamento, inclusive.

A revelação foi feita em entrevista ao jornal “The Oklahoman”. A cantora disse que curtiu o trabalho de Jack White com Loretta Lynn, outra veterana da música, que levou vários prêmios. “Eles fizeram um super álbum, mas ele não a levou a fazer algo diferente. Mas ele me disse que vai forçar algumas coisas para mim, então vamos ver”, disse a cantora.

O álbum anterior dela, de 2003, foi produzido por Elvis Costello e foi seu primeiro de estúdio em 21 anos. Em abril de 2009, ela entrou para o Hall da Fama do Rock, com apoio de artistas como Bob Dylan e Bruce Springsteen.

Sorria, gente!

Continua para ver los videos:

Amarillo: Pearl Jam – Yellow Ledbetter

Naranja: R.E.M. – Orange Crush

Verde: Pink Floyd - Green Is The Colour

Negro: Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun

Azul: White Stripes - Blue Orchid

Blanco: Jefferson Airplane – White Rabbit

Rojo: Rush – Red Barchetta

Purpura: Jimi Hendrix – Purple Haze

Rosado: Aerosmith – Pink

Escarlata: Grateful Dead – Scarlet Begonias

Yes, it is up for argument, of course. But I know what i hate, and for these albums, there was nothing to hate on, save a stray throw-away track here or there. That’s pretty much how I determined which albums to include and which to leave off: did the WHOLE product deliver? I didn’t limit myself to numbers, as in only 2 for each year, but instead just went with albums I could not leave off unless some Strokes hater held a gun to my head. It’s complete coincidence that I ended up with the nice, sort-of-round number of 25.

This list is not exhaustive, I’m sure people will mention a few that I’ll kick myself for forgetting while I was making this. Others will mention albums I wish I could forget, such as anything by TV On the Radio, a band that I cannot for the life of me understand why it is so well-regarded. One last heads up: don’t bother offering any Dave Matthews or John Mayer suggestions. They have, at best, 3 or 4 good songs between them, definitely not enough for placement on such hallowed ground.

2000:

sunny day real estate—the rising tide

This album is full of jangly guitars and soaring vocals bellowing beautiful lyrics–it always makes me remember the ocean and the beginning of my marriage. All good memories. 

Fave tracks: One, Tearing in My Heart

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coldplay—parachutes

Damn, gotta say, when this came out it seemed like Chris Martin and company actually had a chance of giving Radiohead a run for the money in the art-rock circuit (that is a circuit, right?). But then all their albums sounded exactly the same. Not saying they didn’t have good songs on other albums, but come on: most of it sounds exactly the same–for example, one single song on Viva la Vida, their latest, has been the subject of upwards of 5 different plagiarism lawsuits by artists ranging from Cat Stevens to Steve Vai. Regardless, Parachutes was a beauty when it came out, and when you factor in the sweet memories that go along with it for me, it’s only gold.

Fave Tracks: Trouble, We Never Change

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ghostface killah—supreme clientele

It could be argued that this album signaled the death knell of what many hip hop purists (such as yours truly) consider to be “true” hip hop. Yes, we are elitist bastards.  But without getting into arguments about the greatness (or lack of greatness) of Lil Wayne and Chamillionaire, anyone can at least appreciate the cementing of Ghostface’s status as the best rapper to emerge from Wutang Clan. I mean, have you heard Iron Man? And then he follows up with this a few years later. BEASTLY! Listen up. This was as good as it was going to get for many, many years (one could argue).

Fave Tracks: Buck 50, Wu Banga 101

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2001:

radiohead—amnesiac

The first of two Radiohead albums on this list, Amnesiac constantly ended up in my regular rotation during the glorious “Aughts.” It is possibly one of the most accessible ‘Head albums, surpassed perhaps by only 2008’s In Rainbows in terms of listenability.

Fave tracks: Pyramid Song, Knives Out

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white stripes—white blood cells

I remember exactly where I was when I first heard this introduction to The White Stripes, and how many albums can you say that about? It blew my freaking mind. Jack White entered the realm of genius for me with his fusion of old blues and modern rock. There is still no better stimulant on the market for getting a day started off than this banger.

Fave Tracks: Hotel Yorba, The Union Forever

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the strokes—is this it?

Here we have the controversial British version of the cover for this first Strokes album, which was of course not available in the more prudish U.S. But with or without that art, it was still a revelation, and came out the gate with more buzz than a thousand beehives. Backlash followed, of course, but regardless of whether Julian Casablancas can actually sing or that his voice was doctored with various studio trappings to make him sound better (a charge I don’t buy after hearing their later efforts), this album along with White Blood Cells is a killer on every level.

Fave Tracks: Someday, Hard To Explain

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bjork—vespertine

There are some incredibly beautiful tracks on this album. Bjork is from another planet. Her voice itself is poetry. I love her.

Fave Tracks: Hidden Place, Pagan Poetry

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2002:                                                                

neko case—blacklisted

The first of three albums by Neko Case, this album showcases her voice in a way that makes the term alt-country not sound completely stupid. For whatever reason, I am reminded of the Michael Scott quote in the TV show “The Office,” when he says, “ You don’t call retarded people retards. It’s bad taste. You call your friends retards when they’re acting retarded.”

Fave Tracks: Tightly, Pretty Girls

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the flaming lips—yoshimi battles the pink robots

From crazed punk beginnings to the masterpiece that was ’99’s The Soft Bulletin, this follow-up to that revelation of Wayne Coyne’s song-writing ability was a true window into this incredibly sensitive soul. And after meeting him in person (and basically forcing him to take a copy of my book), I can say that he is about as genuine a rock star who also happens to be a real person as any rock star has ever been. If that makes any sense.

Fave Tracks: Ego Trippin’ At the Gates of Hell, Do You Realize??

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beck—sea change

I first heard this Beck album while “working” as a DJ at UNC Greensboro’s 10 watt student-run radio station. It’s the first full-length Beck album that I know of that has him actually writing lyrics some sense can be made of—a real (wait for it…) sea change in his style. It is also heartbreaking, about his breakup from some model, I hear.

Fave Tracks: Little One, Lost Cause

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2003:

yeah yeah yeahs—fever to tell

This 3-piece, Karen O-fronted band is garage rock at its finest as far as I’m concerned. She’s so weird and rock-starry. I’d be afraid of her in real life. Which is just how she likes it, I’m sure. Just listen how she whispers “I’m rich, rich, rich rich rich. I’ll take you out boy.” F-ing hardcore, regardless of the tear sliding down her cheek in the “Maps” video.

Fave Tracks: Rich, Y Control

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death cab for cutie—transatlanticism

For me Ben Gibbard is sort of the poor man’s Thom Yorke, and a total bastard (he married my imaginary girlfriend, Zooey Deschanel). But with this album and his other project, The Postal Service, he pretty much cemented his place in the starry night of my soul or whatever. He writes some catchy shit. But I think an Amazon reviewer said it best: “If you’re an overblown emokid with a yen for the melodramatic, you should buy this CD. You may now stop reading.”

Fave Tracks: Lightness, Passenger Seat

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2004:

air—talkie walkie

This album is on here because I like it more OVERALL than their previous Aughts effort, 10,000 hz Legend. But to be fair, there are a couple of songs on that generally disliked album that are some of my favorite Air tracks, such as “How Does It Make You Feel” and “Vagabond.” But this record is definitely more cohesive and sets a great mood for being drunk/high/tired, so we’re going with this one. And for the record, it is WAY beter than 2007’s Pocket Symphony.

Fave Tracks: Run, Another Day

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danger mouse—the grey album

While this is not officially an album you can buy, since Danger Mouse never got the rights to any of the Beatles or Jay-Z tracks he used to make this groundbreaking album (which, for anyone living in a musical cave for the past ten years, is a mash-up of The Beatles’ “White Album” and Jay-Z’s “Black Album”), I would be remiss not to include it on this list. For better or worse, DM started the massive wave of mash-ups with this effort, and also got himself a pretty good paying gig as half of Gnarls Barkley. Plus, this shit just kicks. Whoda thunk it?

Fave Tracks: Encore, 99 Problems

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2005:

my morning jacket—z

I believe that, along with Death Cab, Dashboard Confessional, Bright Eyes and My Chemical Romance, My Morning Jacket helped create and nurture the wimpy mid-Aughts  juggernaut that was known as Emo. But unlike Dashboard and Bright Eyes, they don’t totally suck. This is one of my favorite albums of all time. So, cheer up, Emo kid.  

Fave Tracks: It Beats 4 U, Knot Comes Loose

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eels—blinking lights and other revelations

Mark Everett is the frontman of EELS (or eels), and is probably, when I really consider it, the person I most relate to as far as “getting” exactly what he is talking about with the majority of his songs. This double album has songs on it that I absolutely hate (such as the co-penned with one of the guys from R.E.M. “Hey Man”), but since there are over 20 songs on offer here, there is definitely at least a full album’s worth of incredible compositions. My favorite memory associated with this record is painting my daughter’s bedroom in preparation for us to move into our first owned home. Tears me up just thinking about it.

Fave Tracks: In the Yard Behind the Church, I’m Going To Stop Pretending That I Didn’t Break Your Heart

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2006:

neko case—fox confessor brings the flood

Second Neko album on the list, and arguably her best ever. Her voice reminds me so much of Patsy Cline’s. She is a true artist, with seemingly little care about her “image” as far as whether or not she fits into the sterotypical chanteuse mold. She’s all about the voice. Example: her album “Blacklisted” was supposedly named that because while performing at Nasvhille’s famous Grand Ole Opry, she took off her shirt (I never heard if she was completely topless or just offended the genteel southern sensibility with her bra alone) and was banned for life. Totally punk, and what puts the “alt” in her country stylings, I can only suppose.

Fave Tracks: Star Witness, Dirty Knife

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decemberists—the crane wife

Along the Flaming Lips album that follows, this was the last album that my wife and I shared. Every time I hear the 3-part Crane Wife song the album is named after, it destroys me. In a good way. I’ll leave it there. Don’t want to make a complete fool out of myself, after all. Not drunk enough for that anyway. Give me a few hours. Perhaps that dragon will rear its head in the comments.

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beck—the information

This album is the epitome of cool. And one of about 45 albums that Beck released in the Aughts. I’m still not sure if I’m being impartial enough regarding choosing this album over, say, Guero or Modern Guilt, but whatever. These year/decade-end lists are always subjective and come down to much more about what effected the listener personally more than something like whether the songs held complexity in their structures. This album came with a DVD of every song being lip-synched by Beck and his friends, and I would often put it in the DVD player and hit repeat on it over and over again. It was like having a bunch of tripping acid-freaks to keep me company through surely some of the strangest times in a lifetime of strange times.

Fave Tracks: Cellphone’s Dead, No Complaints

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the flaming lips—at war with the mystics

They played a free show in Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park on May 21, 2006 in support of this album. It was amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoIohWnbVSk

Fave Tracks: My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion/ Vein of Stars

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2007:

radiohead—in rainbows

As I said earlier in this post, this is probably the most easily listened to Radiohead album (which is most likely why it won or was nominated for more Grammys than any other from their amazing catalog, most notably OK Computer, which is (not so) arguably one of the greatest albums ever recorded). But this one is definitely right up there, and if nothing else serves to cement Radiohead’s place among the greatest bands to ever record together.Plus, they gave it away for free on the internet, and that’s totally kickass.

Fave Tracks: Nude, All I Need

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amy winehouse—back to black

Fuck this album. I can’t even remember why I have it on here, and it was easier to write this sentence than to screw up the formatting on this post by erasing it.

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2008:

MGMT—oracular spectacular

When I finally got up to NYC to meet my agent and publishing house handlers in January of this year, MGMT was still all the rage, and I therefore felt much less of a cultural disconnect than I had originally feared, ’cause I’d been on this bandwagon for a long time, based mainly on the fact that two hippie guys made up the band and had lyrics like, “I’ll move to Paris, shoot some heroin and fuck with the stars/ You’ll man the island and the cocaine and the elegant cars,” which totally runs contrary to their hippie guy image. Plus many of the songs on here an infinitely hummable, as my 9 yr. old daughter will happily testify.

Fave Tracks: Time To Pretend, Kids

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fleet foxes—fleet foxes

I first heard Fleet Foxes when they appeared on SNL in January. They are from Seattle (how cliche…1991 called, it wants its premiere underground music scene back), but sound like they are Straight Outta Appalachia. Which is kind of disturbing to me, since this means that the two most well-known Appalachian-sounding artists are from the west coast (the other being Los Angeles’ Gillian Welch). But no matter. Listen to this record and know that what you are hearing is authentic bluegrass-tinged. Every time I hear it makes me yearn to go back to Kentucky, if Kentucky weren’t so littered with ignorant rednecks and memories of unbridled happiness that make everything now pale in comparison. And you just can’t live like that.

Fave Tracks: White Winter Hymnal, Blue Ridge Mountains

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2009:

neko case—middle cyclone

I’ll be the first to admit that my exposure to much new music has been severely hampered this year, so it’s pretty anemic of me to only have one album listed for 2009, and to have the one album listed be by an artist that already has 2 other albums on this list. But this record is my favorite of Neko Case’s so far, and her insightful lyrics never cease to amaze me along with her incredible voice. Plus almost all the songs are about love (a first time for her), and the album ends with 28 minutes of frogs and crickets making night noises, which is a perfect way to fall asleep. So there’s that, too.

Fave Tracks: The Next Time You Say “Forever”, The Pharoahs 

ARTIST OF THE DECADE:

I decided on this designation based solely on who had the most presence on the list. Radiohead, Flaming Lips and Beck came close, with two albums each on here, but in the end it wasn’t enough. Thanksfully I didn’t have to think much on it, since only one artist had three albums on my list, and that was, of course,

NEKO CASE

She’s incredible. Have I mentioned that yet? Watch this video, buy her albums, thank me later.

This is an old White Stripes Song, from before they made it big. It’s a shame they never got a chance to make a music video for it because I’m sure they would have made a kick-ass one if they did. Just thought I’d post it for the sake of being random (it’s always good to surprise your readers now and again).

10. November Rain
Guns N’ Roses

Guns N’ Roses had come onto the scene with hard rocking hits like Sweet Child o’ Mine and Welcome to the Jungle, but with their twin Used Your Illusion albums they really managed to find a new epic tone to their music. This epic quality was further shown through their video for the 9-minute November Rain, inter cutting one of the concerts with the story of a wedding which goes horribly wrong. The way the story plays out matches with the music and creates a fantastic, large-scale music video.

9. The Hardest Button to Button
The White Stripes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLESpHrtvxs

It may seem simple at a quick glance, yet this video is really a work of ingenuity and wonderful technical achievement. This fantastic editing works both with the music and to make it incredibly enjoyable to watch. And hey, it was even spoofed on The Simpsons!

8. Just
Radiohead

Chances are you haven’t seen a video quite like Just. Radiohead sets out to state a message with this video, even if we’re not sure what that message is. However, the fact that its open to interpretation is perhaps a part of of its brilliance. Why is he lying on the ground? What does he know that keeps him immobilized? And more importantly, how is it that whatever he knows also affects everyone around him in the same way?

7. Jeremy
Pearl Jam

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMRTOZExfJA

Most videos coming into the 1990’s were pop fluff or simple concert scenes, nothing very serious; that is until Pearl Jam came along. Pearl Jam is now notorious for shunning videos for their music, but they did make a couple in their early days, one of which was Jeremy. Jeremy dealt with a topic as serious as classroom shooting and violence and depicted it in an artistic manner in order to display its underlying roots. It was a video with a message, and will be remembered for a long time because of that.

6. Hurt
Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash is responsible for one of the most emotional videos out there. It is a beautiful and artistic portrayal of his life. Cash gives a no-holds barred portrait of himself here, and he certainly doesn’t pretty it up at all. He looks old and weathered, worn by the harder years of his life. Cash is a legend of music and here he lays his life out for everyone to see.

5. 1979
The Smashing Pumpkins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2snP7rGP6g

There is a quality to the 1979 video which is hard to describe. Perhaps its nostalgia, for those whose carefree teen years are over, or perhaps its a confirmation for those who are currently in those years. Its a reminder of why its great to be young. Its a celebration of days when all you really worried about was where the next party was going to be and who was going to get the beer. Even if that was never your high school experience, you can still admire this video for looking great and having its own unique tone and feel.

4. Everybody Hurts
R.E.M.

(No youtube available)

Ever been stuck in a traffic jam and wonder what other people are thinking? Now you can know! In Everybody Hurts, REM makes a statement about conformism and the rat race of modern life and how we become prisoners of our own thoughts, unable to break through the societal boundaries around us. As the music progresses and the video nears its climax, it reaches an emotional peak which is hard to top when it comes to the medium of music videos.

3. Buddy Holly
Weezer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFzg8IWcpR0

How much fun is this video? Spike Jones directs Weezer in a video which places them on the set of Happy Days. The special effects here are almost flawless and are reminiscent of those used in Forrest Gump. It may not necessarily have a message or a powerful statement, but then again neither does the song. Its a fun, fluff song with a wonderfully imaginative and fun video.

2. Sabotage
The Beastie Boys

Yet another Spike Jonze video. Sabotage plays out like a cheesy 70’s cop movie, and is highly entertaining as such. It is a video of pure fun; the music matches the action perfectly. Its light-hearted and certainly doesn’t take itself seriously. And its also one of the most memorable music videos to date.

1. Thriller
Michael Jackson

The ultimate music video, taking the genre to a whole new level. This John Landis directed mini-movie ended up being a 13-minute epic which redefined the purpose and grandeur of music videos. It may seem a little dated now to some, but it has managed to draw legions of fans and is the grand-daddy of all music video.

Thanks to Tyler we have Brendan Benson singing and playing a White Stripes song: You’ve Got Her in Your Pocket and also he playing the band the song: We’re Going To Be Friends

Download links:

You’ve Got Her in Your Pocket: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HSGACFZT

We’re Going To Be Friends: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CDZUPL2U

Please, let me know when the links stop working!

Una extraña canción de White Stripes con sonidos muy mezclados y muy divertida

The White Stripes

http://open.spotify.com/track/0LVRIyo9rj7oSrGu1z150w

The White Stripes – Icky Thump – Conquest – 2007

Centosettantotto. Il numero di parlamentari che si sono sottoposti al test antidroga. Alla fine, tutti puliti. La pantomima di un controllo volontario mostra ancora una volta l’ipocrisia di una classe politica che crede alle proprie menzogne.
Eppure. C’è una frequenza distorta, una nota, che nessuno coglie. Una sottile linea bianca che influenza chi è nei posti in cui si decide. Il caso Marrazzo è sorto alla luce della pubblicità mostrando come il morbo della dama bianca sia mellifluo, si insinui nel mistero, nelle ombre della personalità. Da un lato, l’immagine pubblica di Marrazzo, ex paladino dei consumatori, governatore di sinistra di una regione importante come il Lazio, un oppositore degli sprechi nella sanità pubblica. Dall’altro lato, l’oscurità del Marrazzo dipendente (? aspetto naturalmente ancora da chiarire), che di giorno sacrifica valigette da cinquemila euro all’altare della coca, obbedisce ad essa e ad essa è fedele come avesse prestato giuramento alla maniera di un massone. Allora, se l’uomo non è libero, nemmeno il politico lo è. La sua decisione pubblica è prima mediata in privato dal demone bianco.

• Test antidroga per i parlamentari, Casini: «Un atto di responsabilità» – Corriere della Sera

  • Era stato La Russa a (ri)lanciare l’idea: «È giusto che i politici si sottopongano volontariamente ai test volontari antidroga». Detto fatto: il ministro della Difesa aveva subito effettuato le analisi che sono praticate normalmente dalle pattuglie sul territorio. Risultato? Negativo.

  • L’idea è piaciuta a Carlo Giovanardi: il sottosegretario alla presidenza del Consiglio ha messo a disposizione i locali del Dipartimento per le politiche di contrasto agli stupefacenti.

  • Il leader Udc si era fatto promotore nella scorsa legislatura di un battaglia antidroga, dopo il caso Mele (il deputato centrista scoperto in un noto albergo della Capitale durante un ‘festino’ a base di coca) e il servizio delle «Iene» che svelò la positività di alcuni parlamentari a un test antidroga.

  • Di diverso avviso Paolo Ferrero, segretario di Rifondazione comunista, per il quale «il test è totalmente demagogico, è una presa in giro. Giovanardi dovrebbe dire che se un onorevole venerdì si è fatto dieci piste di coca, nell’analisi del capello lunedì non se ne troverà traccia. Le tracce di cocaina svaniscono molto prima, così come è assurdo che in giro per le stazioni ci sono i cani antidroga allenati per le droghe leggere mentre non riconoscono le droghe pesanti. Il sistema repressivo è tutto basato verso le droghe leggere perché l’altra, essendo la droga degli strati alti, viene lasciata correre»

  • Replica secco Giovanardi: «Le tracce nel capello restano sei mesi, caro Ferrero: sei rimasto indietro»

• APCom – Droga/ Sono 178 i parlamentari sottoposti a test in tre giorni

  • Oggi giornata ‘boom’ di affluenze: 79 a fare gli esami
    Roma, 11 nov. (Apcom) - Sale del 50% il numero di parlamentari che si sono volontariamente sottosposti al test antidroga proposto dal Sottosegretario alla Presidenza del Consiglio con delega alle tossicodipendenze, Carlo Giovanardi. Solo oggi, terzo gionri di svolgimento dei test antidroga sulle urine e sui capelli. si sono sottoposti volontariamente ai prelievi 79 parlamentari. Complessivamente, pertanto, nei primi tre giorni della settimana si sono complessivamente sottoposti al test 178 tra deputati e senatori.

• Il fiume di coca che inquina l’economia, Guido Gentili

  • nessuno aveva previsto, in generale, che una "droga" propriamente detta, nel caso specifico la cocaina, potesse avere un ruolo significativo nella crisi da "finanziarizzazione estrema" che ha portato il mondo sull’orlo del baratro

  • Né, tantomeno, qualcuno aveva previsto che il consumo di cocaina sarebbe divenuto, in Italia, un problema che attraversa l’intera società, comprese le sue classi dirigenti

  • la storia italiana è piena di scandali e scandaletti del genere a metà strada tra cronaca nera e di costume

  • da diversi anni il fenomeno è cresciuto a tal punto da essersi radicato in pianta stabile in tutti (nessuno escluso) i circuiti decisionali e professionali che contano

  • Ne è scaturito così un sistema grigio a bassa affidabilità, in buona parte sommerso e in parte sulla soglia dell’emersione, che esercita una sorta di codice di selezione al contrario e condiziona il sistema di relazioni inquinate, appunto, dal fattore cocaina

  • Dati e autorevoli analisi lo confermano

  • l’allarme lanciato dal capo dipartimento sulle dipendenza dalle droghe della clinica universitaria di Ginevra: ormai si ricoverano a decine i banchieri, gli operatori di piazze finanziarie e i professionisti

  • Silvio Garattini, direttore dell’Istituto Mario Negri di Milano, ha spiegato che «l’uso della cocaina (che crea un’alterazione nella percezione del rischio) da parte di operatori del mondo della finanza può aver avuto un ruolo nel dispiegarsi della crisi»

  • apocalisse bianca

  • Dalla metafora alla realtà, il Po – segnalava già nel 2005 l’Istituto Negri – è "un fiume di cocaina", tanto è pieno dei residui delle "piste"

  • il Cnr stimava in 4,2 miliardi i costi del consumo di coca

  • nel 2007 l’Osservatorio della Regione Lombardia diretto da Riccardo Gatti prevedeva entro il 2010 un aumento dei consumatori di cocaina del 40 per cento

  • a Milano la classe dirigente è prigioniera della droga (cocaina ed eroina) e del giro che la smercia : «È una società civile in ostaggio e potenzialmente sotto continuo ricatto», e la prevenzione deve essere fatta anche in azienda, «perché lì sta la classe dirigente della città»

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Therefore this is just a blog of nothingness to let you all know that I went to Vegas for a few days. Done and done.

Haha. No, just kidding. Kidding on sparing you the details, not kidding on the actual going to Vegas part. Ah, Vegas, where to begin?

Beer #1 at Harrahs

Sharing Beer #2 with the Blue Man Group at The Venetian

Hydrating our Lion friend with Beer #3 at Treasure Island

A few mates and I flew in a couple of hours before the next set of mates arrived, so we made it our mission to drink as many beers in the short time frame we had, at as many different casinos and hotels as possible. We caught the monorail down to Harrahs and began our beer-binge there with a wonderfully cheap bottle of Bud Lime. Mmmm delicious. While walking through and observing the casino, I chugged my beer as fast as possible, only stopping for air  in between every few chugs to ensure survival. I knew I only had a short amount of time remaining before our arrival at casino number two; The Venetian.

The Venetian is so beautiful. It is like a little piece of Italy, only in the middle of the desert. The ceilings are painted with a blue sky and clouds and there is a river that runs through the middle of the hotel with several gondolas passing by. It really is spectacular. After admiring the beauty that is The Venetian for a few minutes, it was time for Beer #2. This time is was my personal favourite, a Bud Light. It was my turn to buy and conveniently, it just so happened to be happy hour at the bar we wound up at. Sweet deal; $2.25 for a bottle of Bud Light. Please, tell me where I can get beer this cheap in Australia… ummm, that’s right… NO WHERE! Another reason to add to the list of ‘why I want to move to the U.S.A.’

Chug, chug, chug. We walked as fast as our legs could carry us to Treasure Island. This is where Beer #3 was purchased. I wish I knew the name of the beer we bought, but unfortunately I have no recollection. And no, this isn’t because I was drunk (yet), but because I’ve never seen this type of beer before in my life!  I was going off Nicole and Kelly’s recommendations and, needless to say, it tasted amazing haha. By this point, the rest of our tribe had called to tell us they had landed and were on the way to the MGM (our hotel) so we started walking back down the strip to meet them there.

View of part of the Vegas strip on the walk back to the MGM

While walking back, I guess you could say the beers started to ‘take affect‘ and we got a little sidetracked by the amazingness that is the Bellagio sound and water show. I’m not sure if this happens every half hour or every hour on the hour, but what ever time it was when we were passing by,  people were crowding around so we figured it was about to start and decided to stay and watch it.  Let me tell you, it really is something. One of the prettiest sights I think I’ve seen in my life. Watching the water move so gracefully to the music is extremely calming and relaxing. I could have sat there for hours waiting and admiring, but there was no time for that, we had to get back to the hotel to meet the others.

The sound and water show out the front of The Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Ugly Sticks for everyone!

We met up with the rest of the clan at the MGM and decided it was time for more wonderful alcoholic beverages… Off to New York, New York to get Ugly Sticks from Coyote Ugly! Mmmm, Ugly Stick, I have been longing for you since we first laid eyes on each other back in 2007. I’ve spent endless nights dreaming about the day we would meet again. Today would be that day and you did not disappoint! I ordered the slushy fruit punch Ugly Stick with Bacardi 151… Now, not sure if you know your alcohol, but Bacardi 151 Rum is a high proof (75.5% alc/volume) dark rum. It is a form of over-proof rum which is not available in several countries due to its excessive alcohol content. Haha. Needless to say that, along with the beers, this went down a treat and not before too long, we were all nicely buzzed and decided it would be a great idea to have a photo with the CSI promoters. Some how after this we ended up at Wendy’s and Subway which was rather epic, and that is all I remember! Haha.

Yay for CSI Promoters and Ugly Sticks in Vegas!

A new day and new arrival. Ick, sounds like we’re in the maternity ward at a hospital. Nooooo! Just a new day in Vegas and yet another mate arriving in. Today was the day we picked up our mini van, which we later named Jan; Jan the Van haha. Jan would be our wise accomplice for the next 48 hours, however, I prefered to think of her as more a best friend forever, and by forever, I mean only two days. Before heading back to the airport, we stopped to stuff our faces with In-N-Out which is a burger joint that is really only available in California and Nevada. We had to have a group photo taken out from of In-N-Out, because, I mean, who doesn’t do that? Haha.

Jess, Don, Me, Kelly, Nicole & Kristi at In-N-Out in Las Vegas.

The hallway that never ends at the MGM!

After picking Crys up from the airport, we headed back to our hotel to get ready for the nights events. Sidenote: Did I mention how bloody long the hallway leading to our hotel room at the MGM was? From our end looking down, it appeared there was no ending! Of course it was just our luck that we were literally right down the end of it! Tonight was going to be super fun and I was soooooo pumped up for it. It started with a buffet dinner at the Bellagio. Oh My God. I have never seen a buffet so amazing before in my life. The meat was delectably superb, if you are a seafood fan, then you’ve just hit the jackpot and the dessert bar was out of this world! I didn’t know what to do with myself. I wanted to eat the entire place but my stomach wouldn’t allow it! I managed maybe three main servings then some fruit and chocolate covered strawberries and I was done. My poor belly looked like I was pregnant with quads on the way but I couldn’t care less! Best buffet ever to grace this planet! I’m drooling now just sitting here and thinking about it. Do yourself a favour and go and check it out; $36 for dinner, good deal. Included non-alcoholic beverages too.

Kelly Clarkson @ The Hard Rock Hotel

Next stop was The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel to see the one and only Miss. Kelly Clarkson perform on her All I Ever Wanted Tour. Just quietly, this was our reason for going to Vegas… but don’t tell anyone that *pinky swear*. I was beyond excited for this show. We weren’t too sure about our seats but upon checking them out, we realised they were amazing and a lot closer than what the seating chart made them seem to be. Excellent. We went and chatted to some other friends at the concert before getting told to go back to our seats, boooo. The lights went down and ACDC’s You Shook Me All Night Long started blasting over the sound system. It was time. EEEEEEEEEE! My GOD! She was AMAZING! Best I’ve heard her sound in a very, very long time! She blew me away and I fell in love all over again with her voice. She performed a cover of Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes which left me speechless. It was phenominal. I could say the same words over and over again to describe how amazing this woman is, but they could never do her justice. You just have to see her live to appreciate what a talented artist Miss. Clarkson is.

And if you thought the night couldn’t get any better… you were wrong! Free entry and guest list to Studio 54 for Jess’ birthday! Wooohooo. We drank, we danced, we drank some more… I wish I could write more here but I really don’t remember much of the night hahaha. Here, maybe this photo can sum it up for you…

Extreme close up of my face. What am I doing? I will never know...

Drunk glassy eyes haha

The next morning we had to be up at 6:30 am to drive to Phoenix in Jan the Van. I thought I’d hate myself at that point but I was first up, first showered and super cheery that morning haha. Weird, I know. I guess it’s cause I learned my lesson of never mixing beer with liquor and just stuck to the beer… all seven of them haha.

Stay tuned for our Phoenix adventures.

CAN AN AMAZING SONG BE COVERED AND STILL BE AMAZING? CAN A DULL SONG BE COVERED AND MADE INTO SOMETHING GREAT?

Under follows a list of my PERSONAL favourite cover songs (in random order), and those i wish I’d never hear in the first place. A cover song can make a song into something fresh and wonderful, OR destroy them.

Purple  = original artist

Red = cover artist

PRINCE VS SINEAD O’CONNOR

(Nothing Compares to You)

Winner? Sinead O’Connor!

Depeche Mode vs Johnny Cash

(Personal Jesus)

Winner? Depeche Mode!

Dolly Parton vs The White Stripes

(Jolene)

Winner? Hard to tell.. Both so different and oh so great !

Tears For Fears vs Gary Jules

(Mad World)

Win? Again, no way I can choose.. Gary Jules made an amazing cover by turning a great song into something way different, a completely different genre.. Love them both!

The Who vs Hilary Duff

(My Generation)

Winner? The Who, who else?

Gary Numan vs The Dead Weather

(Are Friends Electric)

Winner? Though both versions are amazing and the Dead Weather version is the most played for me right now, The Numan version has to be the all time favourite..!

Aerosmith vs Macy Gray

Winner? Aerosmith!

Oasis vs The Mike Flowers Pops

(Wonderwall)

Best? Kinda funny, but mostly just weird (the cover)! Oasis got the best version, ofc..

El 16 de julio del 2007 una multitud se reunió en una calle de Newfoundland (Canadá), para ver el show secreto denominado “One Note Show” un concierto de una sola nota; anunciado horas antes en la web de el grupo The White Stripes. Cuando estos llegaron, se subieron al escenario, tomaron posesión de sus instrumentos y…

Tocaron un Fa y se fueron.

Enhorabuena hoy te viste un concierto de garage rock completito.

While actress Milla Jovovich may be trying to draw in your attention with talk of extraterrestrial owls and an imminent fear of the fourth kind, there’s a phenomenon that has been slowly gaining momentum in the music world….

Bands and musicians have been switching members and pairing up like Xenon Octa-Flouride (XeF8) would, if it ever is going to be invented (thanks Wikipedia!). In layman’s terms, we’ve been getting a lot of new supergroups, side projects, and collaborations – some that could have been foreseen, and others that seem to have appeared out of nowhere.

The Almanac Singers seen here with Bess Hawes, Arthur Stern and Sis Cunningham

Now, the idea of a supergroup is not a recent innovation by any stretch of the imagination – the supergroup goes all the way back to the Almanac Singers - a combination of Millard Lampell, Lee Hayes, Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie that got its start in 1940. From the 60’s until today, we have been given plenty more supergroups, such as in 1969 which brought us both The Plastic Ono Band (which included the likes of Eric Clapton, both George Harrison and Ringo Starr, Keith Moon and Alan White – just to name a few) as well as Blind Faith (which also featured Mr. Clapton, but had Ginger Baker, Steve Winwood and Ric Grech to boot). 1988 brought us the Traveling Wilburys, which was the tour de force of George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan. And although they Wilburys only stuck together for about a year after Orbison’s death, that cosmic aligning is something that has not met it’s match… yet.

The Monsters of Folk

Among the recent crop of supergroups is a group I mentioned last week – The Monsters of Folk, which consists of folk songsters Connor Oberst and  Mike Mogis from Bright Eyes, M. Ward of She & Him, and Jim James from My Morning Jacket. They’ve been associated under the Monsters name since 2004, but have all been so busy with their respective main attractions that they weren’t able to release their self-titled first album until this year. You’ve definitely heard their track “Say Please” on the Peak – and both M. Ward and Connor Oberst gave free concerts in NYC this summer!

Ben Gibbard and Jay Farrar

Moving down the line from most folky to least, next up is the recent pairing of Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard with Jay Farrar, member of Uncle Tupelo and frontman for Son Volt, the two bands that he played with throughout the 90’s before he launched his solo career in 2001. Gibbard and Farrar first got together in 2007 to record the soundtrack for One Fast Move and I’m Gone: Kerouac’s Big Sur. Both the movie and the album came out on October 20th, the day before the 40th anniversary of the prolific author’s death. You can see the music video for “San Fransisco”, the last track on the album, here. And you can expect to see more from them in the future.

Taking a detour into the realm of electronica, at the end of September, Thom Yorke, the lead singer of Radiohead, slipped this little surprise into his blog:

Thom Yorke and Flea

Of course, those shows were sold out in 20 minutes. Flea, as you know, is the Red Hot Chili Peppers Bassist – and he seemed to be ecstatic to be on stage with Yorke, playing cuts from Yorke’s solo album The Eraser (2006). There hasn’t been a follow-up to the October concerts, but that’s something you should keep an eye out for as well.

Jack White and Alison Mosshart sharing the mike at Glastonbury this year

Next up come two really driving groups. First is The Dead Weather, whose song “Hang You Up From the Heavens” I featured in my first week of blog-writing. The Dead Weather was formed by Jack White who’s been extremely active – leaping from the White Stripes, to the Raconteurs, to the recent release of “It Might Get Loud” – a documentary featuring White, The Edge, and Jimmy Page. The band also features Alison Mosshart of the Kills on lead vocals, Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age and Jack Lawrence, who played with White in the Raconteurs. And to sweeten the deal, they just announced a show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on November 17th! Tickets for that are going on Sale this friday, so get ‘em quick.

The "Them Crooked Vultures" teaser photo from earlier this fall

And finally, we come to Them Crooked Vultures, or TCV as they call themselves. TCV is big news. On drums is Dave Grohl, from Nirvana and the Foo Fighters. On vocals and guitar is Josh Homme, from the Queens of the Stone Age. The kicker is that John Paul Jones comes soaring in on bass. They’ve got a really great sound, full and rocking, but what remains to be seen is whether TCV will be able to stay afloat once their star power has worn off. Their self-titled first record is due out on Sony in a week, which should be an insta-grab for all hard rock fans. But for now, check out the full album on the band’s website!

So, I apologize about all the name dropping – it’s not something I routinely do. If you think a supergroup has been left out, please let me know. Or if you feel the need to justify the Tinted Windows‘ existence, by all means, please try. But if you do, I’ll kindly remind you that their lead singer is from Hanson, and we’ll go our separate ways. Wikipedia to the rescue once again!

——————————–

Peak Keyword: MMBOP

Hello once again good people of blogworld. I felt that it was about time I posted again as it’s been nearly a month, my excuse if you’re interested is that I started a new job just about a month ago and I have been just a little busy. But enough of that and on with the post!

Have you read in the press about the celebrations accompanying the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall? I can’t believe that it was 20 years ago, can you? Anyway part of the celebrations involved a concert near the site of the old east-west barrier which included a twenty minute set from U2. The whole shebang was promoted and I believe set up by MTV. I assume that they have some highly paid and highly skilled PR people working for them. Highly paid maybe but highly skilled I doubt very much. Why do I draw this conclusion? Well largely because in their infinite wisdom MTV decided to ensure that the 10,000 ticket holders were going to be the only people that would see the stage. How did they do this? Well they built a wall of course! Did no one see the irony in this? Many German Radio Stations with tickets to give away in competitions sent them back in protest and I must say that I don’t blame them. You can read about it here

Even the combined weight of the giant members of U2 couldn't crush MTV's Berlin Wall

It’s been a while since I last posted any criticism of the banking industry, but now those poor impoverished bankers (apologies I should have started that with a W rather than a B shouldn’t I?) are getting close to their bonus levels of old the time is surely ripe. What I will never understand is how a bunch of people who came close to destroying the whole industry and have caused serious damage to the world economy should be paid any form of bonus? What the f*ck is that all about. Anyway if that wasn’t bad enough it has been brought to my attention that Wall Street Banks Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley have bullied their way to the front of the queue for the swine flu vaccine H1N1. At the same time many health care workers, pregnant women and people at risk are still waiting. Click here to read the story. It used to be said that in the event of a nuclear catastrophe in the world the creatures that would survive and thrive in post apocalyptic times would be rats and cockroaches. I believe that is still essentially true, however I think that bankers should also be added to that list although perhaps they are just rats and cockroaches already! What do you think? OK as I have said many times before that this is essentially a music blog so let me bring so music into it, something relevant to the story of course.

“Rat In Mi Kitchen” – UB40. The band bought their first instruments with £4,000 compensation that former lead singer Ali Campbell received from injuries he received in a bar fight as a 17-year-old. Compensation people, not a bonus ok!

“Reward” – Teardrop Explodes. One of the bands early singles was “Bouncing Babies” which actually had its own tribute song released by the Freshies, “I Can’t Get Bouncing Babies By The Teardrop Explodes“

A banker with swine flu.........'nuff said!

Another story in yesterdays newspaper was about yet another failure in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Cerne. It has just been returned to service after nearly a year out of action and £23 million of repairs following a serious electrical fault in September 2008. The LHC in simple terms is trying to recreate conditions that existed just before the Big Bang that created the universe billions of years ago. The search for the elusive ‘god particle’ was stopped this time by another power cut. How was this caused? Well when an LHC support worker found the source of the outage he found a piece of bread being eaten by a bird! I wonder if the bread was the remains of an LHC workers lunch or was it manna from heaven? I thought I’d include the last comment to placate any creationists that might be reading this, you’re wrong but at least I placated you! You can read the Guardian’s article on this incident by clicking here. I must add that this is also one of the headlines of the year too! Big Bang Goes Phut As Bird Drops Baguette Into Cern Machinery!

This time those boffins at the large hadron collider in Cern had made sure that their plans for a big bang would not be upset by some bird brained idea. Crustice had to be seen to be done

“Danger High Voltage” – Electric Six. A rather excellent song and listen out for the counter point vocal from none other than Jack White off of the White Stripes, Raconteurs and Dead Weather

And finally I simply have to mention ITV’s X Factor, sadly I have been hooked beyond the point where all the no hopers have gone (well except for john and Edward, although more about them later). Finally this week John and Edward (or Jedward as the tabloids have christened them) made it into the bottom two this weekend. I would have expected Simon Cowell to use his casting vote to cast them out, but he chose to put it to the public vote which meant that Lucie Jones leaves the show. I never have had any respect for Louis Walsh but I used to maintain a degree of respect for Mr Cowell. However that has completely gone now. Given the opportunity to rid us of Jedward he copped out, or did he simply want to get rid of the act most likely to beat one of the acts he is mentoring. At this point I really hope that Jedward win the competition, not because I think that they have any talent or deserve to win, but simply because that would mean Mr Cowell would have to give these two walking toilet brushes a £1 million recording contract. Perhaps that would finally kill off awful TV shows like X Factor. Big Brother is dead now let’s kill the X Factor!

John and Edward

Two toilet brushes

File this one under “Strangest Things Ever.”

This particular thing would be the Oak Ridge Boys’ cover of the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army.” I’m not quite sure what would possess them to attempt such a thing. Joe Hadsall may have some answers in his Enjoy story Friday previewing the ORB concert set for that evening at Memorial Auditorium in Pittsburg, Kan.

As a cover, it’s not terrible, but it’s nearly devoid of anything in the way of vitality. One can almost imagine them performing this live, and Jack White suddenly appearing in a flash of blinding light, launching into the song’s muscular guitar riff and then obliterating the band in a blast of pure rock ‘n roll energy … or, at the very least, singeing that one guy’s beard.

So, enjoy … or not. At the very least, you can revel in what will be the strangest choice of cover material you’ll hear all day.

Recently I decided to turn on the radio in my car (my iPod was acting up.) The sound of Jack White’s voice immediately filled my speakers and flooded my car with noise. This was not the White Stripes. It was a side-act. I do not like side-projects. They are almost never as good as the genuine product, which is understandable, because their purpose is (mostly) experimental. Jack White is the perfect example for my thesis: Side projects are not good (or rather, not as good as the original act that they are replacing.)

Case-in-point: The White Stripes (a band consisting of Jack and Meg White.) They have released six (6) albums, which I will rank in order of best to worst (according to my opinion- not aggregate sales):

1. (Best): Elephant (Best Track: I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself)

2. Get Behind Me, Satan (Best Track: My Doorbell)

3. De Stijl (Best Track: Truth Doesn’t Make a Noise)

4. White Blood Cells (Best Track: Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground)

5. Icky Thump (Best Track: I’m Slowly Turning Into You)

6. (Worst): The White Stripes (Best Track: Do)

At some point, Jack White decided he wanted to make music with a full band, and not just his percussionist (Meg White.) Enter: The Raconteurs. The Raconteurs are the most commercially successful Jack White side-project, as well as the most critically acclaimed. I understand why Jack decided to make music with them (the universal desire to explore his range as a songwriter with the addition of a bassist, keyboardist, back-up vocalist and guitarist, and a banjo.) The Raconteurs are (arguably) better than the White Stripes in some schools of thought, as their hit singles have become just as popular (if not more) as most of the the White Stripes’ material.

For instance, the following songs kick (fucking) ass: Old Enough, Level, Steady as She Goes, Broken Boy Soldier, and Hands, among others.

My gripe is not with the Raconteurs.

In exploring his desire to create music with other artists, Jack White became addicted to side-projects (to the point where the White Stripes have almost become neglected and forgotten.) I should note that their seventh (7th) studio album is in production, however. So, at the expense of the White Stripes, Jack White decided to create music with the following acts:

The Dead Weather, The Upholsterers, The Go, Loretta Lynn, Beck, Holly Golightly, Soledad Brothers, Alicia Keys

The success of these side-projects is mixed, at best. As a fan, it’s hard to quantify the way I feel about this. Yes, I love Jack White as a musician, and was (at first) interested and pleased at this newfound musical endeavors, but as the side-projects and collaborations pile up, and the 7th White Stripes album gets delayed, I find myself growing increasingly frustrated and turned-off to all these distracting duets and bands Jack has been flirting with.

Swan Lake: Better Than Sunset Rubdown

I have had these same feelings with Spencer Krug of Wolf Parade, and his subsequent side-acts:

Sunset Rubdown
Atlas Strategic
Handsome Furs
Swan Lake
Frog Eyes
Johnny and the Moon
Hot Hot Heat
Fifths of Seven

I would much rather hear a new Wolf Parade album, then another bizarre Sunset Rubdown single.

Side projects are not always bad. Sometimes they are AMAZING, and better than the original act. The best example I can come up with off the top of my head is The Postal Service. Ben Gibbard’s by-mail collaboration with Jimmy Tamborello has held up over time, and is (arguably) better than any album ever released by Death Cab for Cutie.

The case can be made for and against side projects all day long, but at the end of the day, I think artists should go the route of Ben Gibbard. Make one, solitary album that completely knocks critics out of their chair(s), while also knowing when to call it quits. Because, ultimately, if an artists strays too far from his flock, he will alienate his fan base (and probably his band mates as well.) This is why the Postal Service remains so awesome. They released one (1) album (which was incredible, and loved by fans and critics alike), and then went right back to creating music with Death Cab. Despite the (overwhelming) demand for a follow-up album, Ben Gibbard hasn’t budged. This is what makes a great artist. He knows how to toy with his audience (without upsetting them.) Ultimately, will there be a follow-up to 2003’s Give Up? Probably, yes. But in making us (the fans) wait so long, and by focusing on his primary band, Ben Gibbard has succeeded where Jack White has not: He created something amazing, took a step back, and went back to doing what his fans wanted – creating more albums with Death Cab for Cutie. I should probably also mention that Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley joined Ben Gibbard on vocals for this album – another successful side-act.)

Bravo.

Now let’s just hope that Mr. White “gets it” and the White Stripes‘ 7th album is better than their last effort (the progressive, experimental, and mediocre Icky Thump.) Also, let’s hope that the side projects end. Because, let’s be honest, The Dead Weather sucks, and will probably motivate tired acts like the Kings of Leon (who are already far too commercial) to set out on the side-act expedition (something that no one [see: the real fans] want.)

Final Note: Some of the best side-acts come from Canada. Leslie Feist (of Feist and Kings of Convenience, and formerly of Broken Social Scene and Wilco) is incredible.