Rock Star Journalist

There’s been some upheaval at my place of employment. Lots of stuff going on, and the heat at the end of it all sucks out any life I might have left. Hence, there hasn’t been much of a posting presence here this week. This is to say nothing of the fact that there’s been little music news that I feel I can comment upon.

In lieu of my posting, which should return next Monday with a big-ass Fourth of July type post, do yourself a favor and check out the WONDERFUL links posted to your left. There’s scads of entertaining stuff, and there should be more than enough to keep you busy until I return on Monday.

Booker T & the MGs - “Time Is Tight“

Leonard Pitts, Jr. wrote a fantastic editorial piece in today’s Miami Herald. The man’s a stellar writer, and his views on the black community are always insightful and well-reasoned, and today’s piece was no different.

In it, Pitts talks about how some of the biggest names in hip-hop (Ludacris, Ice Cube, and 50 Cent) are up in arms because Oprah won’t give them airtime on her program. He then goes on to explaine exactly why that might be, citing misogyny and violent anti-social rhetoric.

I think he sums it up best here:
“You cannot curse people and expect them to support you, cannot offend them then ask them to welcome you. I’m reminded of what mama always said about respect: you got to give some to get some.”

It’s a fine read, and you’d do well to ask your paper to carry his column. It’s one of the few bright spots on the local rag’s editorial page.

50 Cent - “In Da Club”
Ice Cube - “It Was A Good Day”
Ludacris - “Get Back“

Lately, my big thing at work has been mix cds. I’ve been a big fan of making the things since I first got a cd burner back in ‘99, but I go through this ebb and flow of making the things. Currently, I’m flowing.

There’s been Do I Hate Myself? volumes one and two, featuring AOR / MOR radio hits from the ’70s and ’80s, such as Yes‘ “Owner of a Lonely Heart”, America’s “Sister Golden Hair”, Toto’s “Africa” and so on and so forth. They were a good week-long project between me and two of my co-workers, and resulted in me burning an obscenely large number of copies for people.

Then there was Geek Rock, with MC Chris‘ “Ratz”, Weird Al’s “Dare To Be Stupid”, Jamie Kennedy’s “Rolling With Saget”, and a host of Saturday Night Live stuff, like the Natalie Portman rap and “Lazy Sunday.”

The one I’m most proud of, though? The power pop comp I just got done doing. We’re talking Cheap Trick, Matthew Sweet, the Replacements, the Smithereens, and two of the greatest one-hit wonders ever, the Plimsouls’s “A Million Miles Away” and Big Country’s “In A Big Country.” Now, I know that these songs were pretty much it as far as either band was concerned.

The Plimsouls’ Everywhere At Once is pretty decent, but Big Country? They shot their wad on that song. I’ve heard other stuff they did, and it comes nowhere near being as good as “In A Big Country.” But you know what? That’s completely okay with me. That song is so fucking amazing that even the fact that Dashboard Confessional covers it on their new album can’t ruin it for me. It’s that damn good. Probably my number one “cheer up” song of all time. You can’t beat it. The lyrics are easy enough to sing along to, and the guitar line all distorted to sound like bagpipes? Fucking brill.

Dashboard Confessional - In A Big Country” (video)
The 15-Minute Hipster has a link to Face to Face’s cover of the song, as well.

the Plimsouls - “A Million Miles Away“

Bomb the Music Industry! is probably the coolest band out there right now. Seriously. Ska, punk, pop, rock, new wave… all rolled up into one little package fronted by former Arrogant Sons of Bitches frontman Jeff Rosenstock.

Oh, did I mention that all the BTMI! albums are free? Yeah, their newest, Goodbye Cool World hit the net just a little over a week ago. They have two others, Album Minus Band, and To Leave or Die in Long Island. Both free. You can download all three of them over at the band / collective’s website.

BTMI! is on tour this summer, as well. Go see them. They “everyone to learn some songs on some instruments, let us know before we play and play some songs with us. Everyone gets to be in this band.” Awesome, yes? Expect a review and pictures of their live show when I see them at Groundwork next month.

Goodbye Cool World
Album Minus Band
To Leave or Die in Long Island

Bootlegs, videos, and live stufff

One Grand Prize winner will receive:
* A trip for two to Warped Tour 2006 August 11th at Tower City Amphitheater in Cleveland, OH - plus accommodations and transportation to and from the show!
* A pair of tickets for the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame tour
* A guitar signed by all participating artists
* Backstage passes and the opportunity meet all the artists and attend a BBQ with Warcon artists Helmet and Adair
* A video iPod from Fuse.tv loaded with shows from FUSE, participating artists’ videos and current albums
* An annual subscription to download all of your favorite Warped Tour bands from past and present at Audio Lunchbox
* An annual subscription from Alternative Press Magazine

Entries due by August 11.

ENTER NOW

Ever since the Postal Service’s Give Up, it seems that electronics are the new indie rock flourish de rigeur. Brandston, who were by all accounts a much loved underground emo-pop act, have layered their new album in dance-y touches like synths and sequencers that make a bid for mainstream acceptance. Hello, Control sounds not so much like an emo-pop dance record (which would have been completely rocking), but like a slightly less fun Killers / Bravery album. Brandston takes the dance / funk / club elements that their radio darling sound-alikes use and drop them in as an afterthought to what is otherwise a droning snooze-fest. Big irony points to the bands for naming one of the tracks “Nobody Dances Anymore”, however.

In keeping with the whole sound-alike phenomenon, we have the newest release from Umbrellas, Illuminaire. Frontman Scott Windsor seems equally adept at channeling Ben Gibbard, Morrissey, and Sam Beam. Sadly, however, the man can’t seem to find the pop sensibilities that make all three men gods in the music world. The Death Cab, Smiths, and Iron & Wine frontmen all share a knack for catchy melodies or turns of phrase that make what are otherwise sad and melancholy tunes something to remember. Illuminaire is so drenched in distortion and echo that any clever wordplay is lost to swirling guitars and feedback. There is also the occasional electronic flourish that I assume is meant to evoke the Postal Service, but merely falls flat.

Personally, I’d just be happy to hear a band that sounds like themselves without shamelessly aping another act. The popular trend in label signings, be it the Militia Group, Victory, or whomever, is to sign a band that sounds enough like another popular act to mimic their success and rake in tons of dough. This the scary place from where Panic! At the Disco and their ilk come.

Brandtson’s Purevolume page.
Umbrellas’ Purevolume page.

Death Cab For Cutie - “The New Year”
the Smiths - “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want”
Iron & Wine - “Jezebel”
the Postal Service - “Such Great Heights“

Because I’m too lazy to write full-length reviews at the moment, here are some capsule reviews. Expect a full review of the new Umbrellas disc Illuminare, as well as Brandtson’s Hello, Control on Monday. In the meantime, check these out.

Yo La Tengo - “Murdering the Classics”
This is completely unlike any of Yo La Tengo’s other efforts. Whereas the rest of their catalog is this pretty and sunswept pop, this is not pretty. As a matter of fact, it’s rough and unpolished. However, it’s fucking fun as hell. Taken from 1996-2003’s performances by Yo La Tengo on WMFU during their fundraising marathon, this is some pretty off-the-cuff cover shit, not like the perfectly rendered cover of “Little Honda” from I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One. No overdubs, no auto-tuning… no practicing. Probably the one Yo La Tengo album people who hate the band will absolutely adore. It borders on amazingly amateurish at times, but the fun involved is infectious. It’s an ear-to-ear grin of a record.
Download “Tighten Up“

Banner Pilot - “Pass the Poison”
Minneapolis’ Banner Pilot certainly like their hometown heroes Dillinger Four. Not that it’s a knock against them. Hell, the Banner Pilot boys do that particular gritty style of punk rock proud. There’s a nice strong rock backbone to the whole EP, and it just powers through seven tracks. While it might sound familiar, there’s enough talent here for the band to find their own take on the Leatherface / Dillinger Four / Grabass Charlestsons rock sound and really make a name for themselves.
Download “Uptown Sleep Solution“

Violet Nine - “Any Wonder”
The opinions on Violet Nine over at the Amazon.com page for Any Wonder are so divided and vehement (on both side of the argument) that I’m almost worried to throw in my two cents. In any case, here’s the deal: basic, Click Five style power pop. Violet Nine remind a lot of similarly-named Stroke 9 in that their music is catchy, but unremarkable and slightly dull. It’s amazing that the lead-off single, “Yell It Out”, was stuck in my head for days after I heard the cd, but I was neither thrilled nor annoyed by it. It was just… there and not really doing anything, which does a pretty good job of summing up the band: they’re out there, but not really doing anything one way or the other.
Download “Yell It Out“

Wow. Want some new sounds to “bump to” in your “hooptie” this summer? Truck on over to Pure Volume to download Sleeveless, a digital music sampler.

The sampler features the Architects, Dresden Dolls, Every Time I Die, the Matches, the Blood Brothers, the Working Title, and more. All gratis. Free. Por nada. Et cetera, et cetera.

You can download it track by track at the Sleeveless page or get the whole magilla right here. This is the first one the site’s done, so get your copy and make it all popular and shit so it happens again and again.

This is so good, I don’t even have to post an explanation.

Interesting news tidbit from FARK. Seems that a 12 year-old Canadian girl in Hailfax was raking leaves when she discovered a grenade.

The girl (named Ruby) said she “recognised it from a picture on her Green Day t-shirt.” Her dad called the army, who came out and took care of the grenade. Evidently her yard was once the site of a munitions factory.

Now… maybe it’s just this day and age, or maybe it’s because she’s female, but she recognized what it was because of a picture on her t-shirt? Wow. When I was six, I probably could have told you what a hand grenade was. At twelve, at least one of my friends could have told you the exact specs and explosive capabilities of said hand grenade.

Then again, we were little boys who liked playing commando, army, whatever the hell you want to call it. We also had enough G.I. Joes and plastic army men to hold off an invasion from the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, the Sinister Six, and COBRA. All at once, even.

from American Idiot:
“Holiday”
“Boulevard of Broken Dreams”
“Wake Me Up When September Ends“