Stuff I Think and Shouldn’t Say 47
This week was a busy one. No, I didn’t get a job, Mom, so those emails can stop.
What more do you want from me?
In IP’s Super Secret Hush-Hush Staff Forums, I talked a lot about an interview I was conducting this past Tuesday, but I neglected to let you all in on it. Now, it’s not because I don’t love you, dear readers. I had to keep it a secret, as Widro and Matthew Michaels wanted me to “kick butt and take names” with Inside Pulse’s Exclusive Interview with Austin Aries. I talked to the Ring of Honor and TNA wrestler for a good hour, of which 40 minutes was recorded and subsequently transcribed.
(Ssquared Note: if you are to transcribe anything, pay someone else or hire an intern. This puppy took almost 7 hours to get as to near perfection as it is.)
One of the nicest people I have ever talked to. He loves his life, he loves his job, and he’s just super cool. I went from being an ardent supporter to huge fan to an ardent supporter/super fan of Austin Aries. Sure, he doesn’t keep up on music like I would have assumed, but not everyone is a nerd. You’d think with all the travel time, he would like to listen to something new, but I digress. Some people have to work out for a living. Others, like me, do…things.
Again, I cannot stress enough how much I would love you if you just listened to the MP3 or read the transcript. Hell, we even talked about music. It also got me a plug from Scott Keith in his blog. Granted, he didn’t link THIS column and make me the quasi-celebrity I yearn to be, but a plug’s a plug.
After a month of bitching about music retail, I don’t want you all to think I hate music. In fact, I love it more than 85% of the world. That’s why I am such a “Douche-y Magoo” when I see how horrible mainstream music is. I don’t need the biggest collection of CDs to be Music’s Greatest Fan. I know better now, even though I didn’t in my youth (read: 3 or 4 years ago.)
Once I had over 1000 discs, I knew it was time for a change. Radiohead at 2004’s Field Day Festival afforded me the chance I was waiting for. I had to unload crappy music, and no one could stop me. Also, I couldn’t afford transportation and tickets to NJ for the show on my sucky salary, so I sold 350 CDs on two different occasions. It was a nice way to make several hundred dollars, and my boss was happy. Why?
Oh, I sold them at my old store.
Sure, I thought these CDs weren’t worth keeping, but there was something for everyone. Every single album went to a good home that week, as the “Just In” Bin was heaping full of my stuff, and not the usual crap you tend to find. I didn’t sell Backstreet Boys and 311 CDs by the armful because I didn’t own any. (That last part isn’t really true. I owned Black and Blue, but that was a gift from an ex. Nice gift, right? Now you know why I dumped her: her taste in music sucked. Oh, and she cheated on me, but that’s for another column. We were talking about Music, right?)
Danzig Thrall: Demonsweat Live was the easiest decision I had to make. I sold that one back without even blinking. At 15, I thought “Mother” was the greatest thing. What a cool song. Hell, MTV told me that, as the video was in heavy, heavy rotation back when MTV meant something to me. Later that same year, Kurt Cobain killed himself and the non-stop coverage his death received made me honestly believe the folks in the production truck thought he might be resurrected. At 22, that album blew and if I was going to be bringing “ladies” home that liked his music, I had bigger fish to fry.
Bitches that love Danzig eat people.
I think I read a study about that.
Honestly, I had so much garbage that I knew I wasn’t going to listen to, it was worth it. If you have a big CD collection, you are either: a rock journalist, a loser, a thief or a DJ.
I honestly didn’t want people to think I stole that many CDs. I worked in a record store, for God’s sakes. If people thought even I didn’t pay for it, why would they? I miss that store. I miss the memories and the friends I made there. I miss the customers and new releases. I think about ordering CDs to stock the sections and opening on Black Friday and getting to be rude to people because, for one day only, I was too busy to give a shit. I even miss doing the paperwork.
But I don’t miss those crappy CDs.
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.:.Columns from the Week that Was!.:.
Greg Wind: Between the Notes
Kyle David Paul: Let’s Rave On
Gloomchen: Totally True Tune Tales
Mathan Erhardt: More Reasons Why Being Deaf Sucks/Rocks
I still love Grut. I got to love him two times this week. Thank you, Grut, and Happy (belated) Birthday.
Mark Neeley presents The NeelDown Video Review: WWE SummerSlam 2003. Even though he is trying to convince me that Jars of Clay are awesome, I will plug his stuff because I like him. Also, he doesn’t believe that Super Mario Brothers can be defeated in 11 minutes, so I am telling him now: go ask Lucard.
I had a friend beat Rygar with his feet, so I still think that anything is possible with enough practice.
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Tegan and Sara – Living Room
I really wanted to include “Walking With A Ghost” this week, but the audio on all the videos I found was horrible. Just dreadful.
Tegan and Sara are one of those sweet, fantastic acts that makes you really proud to own everything they put out. Funny, smart, irreverent and cute-as-hell, the sisters are talented and Ssquared has a feeling (just like the Beatles did!) they’re long overdue for a break.
(Please, Merciful God of Music, make these ladies the most popular act in the world. While you are at it, can I be rich? Seriously, I will give, like, 9% of my yearly earnings to blind kids and people with funny walks. Nine percent really is a lot. If you give me a billion dollars, it’s 9 million, right? Just something to think about, Lord of the Rock/Good Things. In Ryan Adams’ name, amen.)
As always, head to Tegan and Sara to learn more.
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brought to you by
.:.Albert Strokes Alone.:.
Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. is releasing his debut solo album in 9 October – but it looks like it will only be available in the UK.
Curly haired Al is putting out Yours To Keep through Rough Trade, and – as yet – there are no plans to release the LP – which features guest stars including Strokes singer Julian Casablancas, Sean Lennon and Ben Kweller – in his native America.
Hammond put together a band of bassist Josh Lattanzi and drummer Matt Romano for the record, and sings on most of it himself.
Strokes manager Ryan Gentles, who also guests on the album, tells Billboard, “It sounds like Albert. If you don’t know him, you just have to listen to the record, and you will know him intimately.”
He adds that Hammond – currently on tour with his band in Australia – may even play some live shows in Britain to support the release.
(credit: Gigwise.com)
Not since his father’s album has a Hammond done anything this neat. (Albert Hammond Sr. wrote and performed the 70’s classic “It Never Rains in Southern California” and all this stuff.)
Of course he got his famous friends to play on it: they’re famous. That’s what rich and FAMOUS people do.
They also:
1) Date model/actresses or hot musicians.
2) Wipe their asses with hundred dollar bills.
3) Litter.
4) Kill hobos.
Now you REALLY know what Albert Hammond is up to: killing hobos while littering. Before today, you just thought he was the rhythm guitarist for the Strokes. Don’t you feel smarter already?
.:. Brock and Marr: BFF Fo-Eva?.:.
Former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr has joined US cult heroes Modest Mouse as a permanent member Isaac Brock has confirmed.
Marr has been collaborating with the Seattle natives on their latest record but Brock now says that he is such an indispensable part of the band he is becoming a full paid up member.
Marr will tour with Modest Mouse in support of their new album which has the working title of We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank.
Brock told Rolling Stone: “He made a cautious commitment to write and record with us, and then the tighter we got, he was like, ‘okay, let’s tour too’.”
“Then he was pretty much a member of the band – not pretty much. He’s a full-blown member of the band. It’s really f*ckin’ nice.”
(credit: Gigwise.com)
Yeah, that’s really nice, alright.
THIS IS JOHNNY MARR.
He was Morrissey’s collaborator with the Smiths. He wrote everything except for the lyrics. He even wrote some of those, the genius!
I do not know what it is that Isaac Brock said to Johnny Marr to convince him to join his band of merry men, but that’s a pretty sweet pick-up. If I were to use a baseball analogy, it would be like A-Rod joining the Mets or Sawks just to get the opportunity to shut the snobby Yankee fans up who whine that he sucks. Yeah, the reigning MVP is sucky. Right.
Johnny Marr, you have great taste. If you were to join any band, I am glad you chose this one.
I am seriously going to throw up the day this album comes out.
.:.My Neighbor Had a Datsun .:.
The Datsuns have announced full details of their forthcoming third album which is out on October 2.
Entitled Smoke & Mirrors, the LP is a ten song affair including the lead single “System Overload” which is out on September 18.
The track listing is:
What Are You Stamping Your Foot For
System Overload
Waiting For Your Time To Come
Stuck Here For Days
Maximum Heartbreaker_All Aboard
Such A Pretty Curse
Blood Red
Emperor’s New Clothes
Too Little Fire
(credit:Gigwise.com)
Here’s a good band. Look them up and fall in love. I’ll even give you a link to their website.
.:.Albarn Calling?.:.
The Clash bassist Paul Simonon has spoken for the first time about how he got involved with Damon Albarn’s new band.
The Gorillaz chief has collaborated with Simonon, former Verve and Blur guitarist Simon Tong and Fela Kuti drummer Tony Allen on the The Good, The Bad and The Queen, which is due out in January 2007.
Speaking about the project Simonon said that as soon as he heard the music he decided to get involved.
He said: “I came down to listen to two tracks, and I could hear a bass line for it immediately. We thought let’s give it a go and we basically started from that and we started a whole new record.”
Albarn has been working on the album, which has been produced by Gnarls Barkley’s Dangermouse, for the last two years.
(credit: NME.com)
Two legendary(-ish) guitarists sign up to help out new(-ish) bands in the same week? Ridiculous.
This is incredible, but I have heard rumblings that next week there will be even BIGGER announcements that rock the music world to its very core:
Monday:
Roger Daltrey will give up the Who once and for all by joining Panic! At the Disco if no reason other than to make me throw up into my own mouth for the second time. This time, it won’t be from excitement, but rather, fear and disappointment. Shame on you, Roger Daltrey.
Tuesday
Following Daltrey’s lead, David Gilmour has a sit down chat with the boys from Coldplay, convincing them once and for all that Chris Martin is, in fact, a vagina. They kick Mr. Paltrow to the curb and Gilmour will start writing all the music for the band. I will like them once again, because I am a fickle bitch that way.
Wednesday
With nothing left to live for, the incomparably emaciated Iggy Pop joins A.F.I. He does that because “real ‘emo’ kids know their parents don’t love them, so they stop eating…like me” He then plays the William Tell Overture on his ribs. That’s the team-up we all (read: NO ONE) want to see.
Thursday
Madonna starts touring as the opening act for Justin Timberlake. He invites her because he still has an “axe to grind with Britney Spears.” Having already banged all of Spears’ other friends, he only needs the 40-ish mom to complete the set. Madonna, it appears, is still a whore. Hot! Hot! Hot!
Friday
Kevin Federline and 50 Cent (both look good in tank tops, right?) will release a 7 inch split of a Wangsta/Popozao mash-up called “Stupid Bitches Who Need They Ass Kicked” ( © the Bootleg) which will haunt them in their dreams.
-Federline, distraught that he was over-shadowed on the cut, will lose his mind and attempt to jump Fitty outside a NYC night club with a cheese wheel. He will die when his face is ripped clean off, and he bleeds out all over his white jumpsuit.
-I will name this day “K-Fed is Totally Dead, Thank GOD Above” Day.
-SPIN Magazine will name him artist of the century, lamenting that had he not been taken from us “before his prime” we may never know how influential he could have been. They will cite Jim Morrisson, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Buckley and Kurt Cobain as “highly influential musicians who were taken too soon as well.”
-I will destroy SPIN’s Manhattan offices.
-Rolling Stone will still suck.
.:. Rufus Lets The Lid Off.:.
Rufus Wainwright has revealed that he is working “feverishly” on the follow up to 2004’s Want Two and 2003’s Want One.
The singer is planning a release for 2007.
A posting on his official website reads: “Rufus is presently working feverishly on his new album for release in 2007. Sessions have taken place in New York, Berlin and London.
“Contrary to published reports, there is no specific release date set, the album has not been titled nor has a first single been chosen. You’ll be the first to know if you’re a regular visitor to this site.”
(credit: NME.com)
The man who did the second best cover version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” number one is Jeff Buckley, has a new album in the works. That’s good news for me and…I think Kyle David Paul likes him too.
Go us!
.:.I’ll Always Love You…Ryan Adams.:.
Ryan Adams is streaming new track “France” on his official website.
The song, which evokes the 80’s soft rock sound of the singer’s Rock N Roll album is the first new material since 2005’s 29.
Adams is currently touring the US with his band The Cardinals and previewing a number of new songs including ‘Promises’, ‘Breakdown Into The Resolve’, ‘Blue Hotel’, ‘Two Hearts’ and ‘Everybody Knows’.
(credit: NME.com)
This track is killer.
I love that Ryan can segue from alt-country to 80s rock so painlessly. I don’t care that Pitchfork hated Rock N Roll, I thought it was a genius effort from an infectiously talented performer. I promise I am not saying this because I am still posturing for a wedding singer.
I just love Ryan Adams in a healthy, manly way. He is one of the many things great with the world of music. He is sunbeams, rainbows, and a gaggle of happy little puppies wrapped in a basket woven out of thousand dollar bills.
Thank you, Ryan Adams. You rule!
Ryan, you still haven’t called me. It’s been weeks, man. Don’t be scared. You and I should talk about a price. I figure the ceremony will only be a few hours, and if you cover “Wonderwall” and learn “At Last” and “Hallelujah,” I’ll toss in several thousand dollars more. You like money, don’t you? Me too. Wow, we have so much in common. Let’s chat.
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Check out the Archive or you can just click the individual reviews below:
Tha Dogg Pound – Cali Iz Active
Murder by Death – In Bocca Al Lupo
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1) He’s a rightie.
2) He is Native American and German. SMS is also just irrationally angry about a lot of things: ponies, push-ups, and physical therapy, in particular, but that has nothing to do with his heritage.
3) He thinks the people behind Kidz Bop are geniuses.
4) He once had long hair. It looked ridiculous.
5) Eric S. reads his stuff just to check grammar and punctuation, but never responds to Shawn’s emails.
6) He didn’t REALLY kill that guy in Reno. That guy totally fell.
7) SMS once beat a rabbit in a foot race. It was “sleeping.”
In college, Ssquared had 4.2 speed…running downhill.
9) He used to be able to dunk a basketball.
10) SMS could easily grow the greatest moustache ever known to man.
I hope you enjoyed this week’s Stuff I Think and Shouldn’t Say! as I dislocated my shoulder twice while typing it, which seriously prevented it making the deadline.
First, Tracy tore it out of socket while lifting my shirt to scratch my back because I COULDN’T REACH THAT SPOT WITHOUT DISLOCATING MY SHOULDER. Oh, the irony.
The second time, I was being sneaky and trying to send my lady a text message while she was in the other room. As I stood up from the computer desk in the bedroom, I busted ass on a stack of magazines and with a cat-like grace, swung the bad arm violently to prevent tumbling through the French Doors between the bedroom and the living room.
Yeah, so if any of you have leftover scripts for Vicodin (Hi, Eric S.) drop me a line.
We’ll be together again in 14, gentle readers.
Keep it real!
Ssquared
Ssquared @ MySpace
...read full article...
Official Site of the Murder by Death
Murder by Death @ Myspace
The Inside Pulse:
Adam Turla – Vocals, Guitars
Sarah Balliet – Cello, Keys
Alex Schrodt – Percussion
Matt Armstrong – Bass
Murder by Death having refined their sound with several years of touring and recording, returned in May 2006 with In Bocca Al Lupo, a haunting and powerful LP littered with solid songs about the sins of many and the redemption of few. While others within the industry are struggling to string together enough songs for a passable record, Murder by Death weave contrasting styles into a cohesive concept album that serves as a reminder why so many are obsessed with the Bloomington, Indiana quartet. Featuring songs that conjure images of saloons and unpaved stretches in American folklore, In Bocca Al Lupo’s 12 songs focus on redemption and justice; the lies people tell, not only to themselves but to their maker are examined and explained in length. The title itself is an Italian phrase (“into the wolf’s mouth”) that is equivalent to “break a leg,” but Murder by Death have launched headlong into the mouth of said wolf and plan to destroy it from the inside with this spirited release and subsequent tour.
Positives: “Boy Decide,” “Shiola,” “One More Notch,” “Brother,” and “Sometimes The Line Walks You” are all phenomenal songs that could have been deftly crafted by Johnny Cash or Leonard Cohen. MbD have taken major steps forward in terms of production and composition as the rhythm section has a much fuller feel than on previous albums. A great number of chances were taken and, not surprising for MbD fans, they all work. “The Big Sleep,” a song directed to the family of the accused illustrates the sensitivity and time that Turla and the band put into each and every second of a track. The effort put forth by the band on In Bocca Al Lupo, eclipses their last release Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left of Them?, a near perfect album in it’s own right.
Negatives: There isn’t anything to complain about with this release, save for the obvious choice by new fans; one number that a first time listener might have a hard time falling in love with: the sea shanty “Dead Men and Sinners.” This piece stays true to the idea that Murder by Death work incredibly hard with the concepts presented on their albums and by telling the story of a cursed boat and its crew, they show their commitment to making music that they love and appreciate.
Cross-breed: Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave and Whiskeytown playing in an old Western saloon.
Reason to buy: Just over a year ago, I wrote that MbD would never make it to MTV, and that I was sure that was the music channel’s loss. I am proud to admit that I was wrong; Murder by Death not only has made it onto the network’s radar, they were featured as their band of the day in July. In Bocca Al Lupo is a phenomenal album full of roaring bass and powerful lyrics. A “can’t miss” album for both fans and newcomers alike.
...read full article...
Stuff I Think and Shouldn’t Say 46
There isn’t a whole lot that excites me about music anymore. The downward spiral that the retail music industry is currently trying to ride out, and will ultimately succumb to, has been hard to watch. I know I have mentioned this before, but I really was the biggest fan of record stores. I love that new CD/LP smell.
It always bothered me that stores like Best Buy and Circuit City use new release CDs as a “loss leader,” another gimmick to get you to set foot in their store. They don’t mind spending $8.99 to purchase the album, but selling it for $.01 more. It’s chump change to them.
They have marked the TVs and the DVDs and the like up so much, that what’s a penny profit? Nothing. They don’t care, but they also don’t mind the effects this has on the so-called Mom and Pop stores around the nation. They don’t care that independent chains can’t keep up; they just want to bowl them over.
The music industry used to be a MONSTER. The world held it’s collective breath when new releases were coming out. I remember my neighbors talking about standing outside of the Strawberries in Clifton Park or Saratoga, just waiting for the doors to open to grab the new Duran Duran.
That does sound fairly ancient, right?
Sad thing is, even two weeks ago, I showed you that it really hasn’t been that long since the biggest release in history occurred (read it again, if you must!) and things really didn’t drop off dramatically from there. Limp Bizkit had a big release a few months after that, selling 1 million albums in a week. Alicia Keys had a mega-debut, as did Coldplay, but it was a very slow, painful descent into the mess we now know. There were beams of light like Come Away With Me, Norah Jones’ jazz masterpiece. A jazz-terpiece, if you will.
Honest question: When was the last time you set foot in an FYE, Coconuts, Tower Records, or even a local store? Maybe it was for a Black Friday special. On that “holy” shopping day, everyone and their mom is selling stuff for way less that it would normally retail for.
Honestly, I would venture to guess that only 30% of my readers ever go into a music retail store anymore. Part of the reason for that is because it is much harder in the digital age, to get consumers to walk through the door if you aren’t holding some HUGE sale that makes Best Buy look foolish. Those don’t make you lots of money, you just hope that for each $8 Killers CD, you can sell a DVD player or some $14 CDs as well.
That’s the problem right there!
Damn it, I don’t want to go to a record store, with a sign on the awning that read “Blankity Blank Music, Movies & More!” I want to talk to staff that really KNOW and love music, not a person who can show me where Final Fantasy’s He Poos Clouds is stored alphabetically in the music section.
Why aren’t we doing digital downloads IN the stores? I remember reading HITS Daily and inter-company memos about the necessary evolution of the business, and yet I haven’t seen a major change. The stores aren’t records stores anymore (sorry Tower!) but rather, a HUGE entertainment franchise. They became Best Buy, but with no TVs. Maybe they do try and sell TVs, but that’s not important.
As for in-store downloading, not every title would have been available right off the bat, but if you offer the albums that aren’t ready to be ripped at a reasonable price, people won’t feel as cheated. They might actually ENJOY buying the music.
That was another problem with the “old” system: the consumer KNEW they were getting ripped off. That was 6-7 years ago, and an entire new generation of music fans is growing up without the guilt or fear of repercussions that I experienced as a Napster virgin. You loved the bands; the artists, and felt badly that you couldn’t afford their music, but knowing the words was more important than paying for it, right?
When we dealt only in Maxell cassette tapes and a boom box that allowed us to tape a friend’s newest purchase, we didn’t feel that badly. Now, a friend buys that new Tapes ‘N Tapes album and puts it on their harddrive, thousands and thousands of digital friends “tape” that album as well. If every person who owned the album made 5 copies for friends, that wasn’t too bad, as their were still over 400,000 people buying it. No one cared.
Now, they are only selling 200,000 copies in three weeks, and hundreds of thousands are sampling their wares for free, it appears as though there is no end in sight.
Kind of tragic, but not a tragedy.
To paraphrase “the greatest living band on Planet Earth,” the giants at Sony, Universal, Warner, well, “they did it to themselves, they do, and THAT’S why it really hurts.”
Instead of changing the price points and ENCOURAGING people to head to the stores to buy the album, and making it cheaper to own the physical CD and not the digital one, they insist that CD sales will always be up. If the labels set a $10-12 price per album on iTunes or Rhapsody, and set the price of the ENTIRE album (CD, booklet, all the bells and whistles) for less, in the range of $7-8.
(Before I get an angry email from some underling at Sony, let me say now that I understand that back royalties would need to be reworked. Tough. Get your team of lawyers on drawing up some new contracts, and those people who aren’t willing to budge, release them. If they can’t see that times have changed, and that you have set a price outside of the purchasing range of the public, they need better advisors, and I will gladly negotiate their new deals for them. I am sure that most artists would rather have as many people hear their music as possible, so they would take any deal they could get. I just don’t get how major labels can afford to sell of royalties through a limited release to companies overseas, that inevitably end up in a bargain bin for a $1, but can’t get their heads around the fact that they created this monster, and in order to save their jobs, they MUST fix it.)
Back on track here: sure, it seems like a major loss, but if you could go into any store in the U.S., Canada, hell, ANYWHERE, and get a CD for that price, wouldn’t you make the trip? Everyone is doing JUST that when they purchase from iTunes. The material, the songs, that’s cheap, and if the labels want to tell me that the costs of printing and pressing are too high, bear in mind:
THEY OWN THE PLANTS.
They aren’t subcontracting this out. They send the masters, the artwork, everything, to their OWN plants, to create their albums. We don’t need to nail an exact figure here, but even if it cost them three dollars to make every CD, with Ssquared’s Plan for Saving Retail Music (© pending) they would still make five dollars on every purchase. DUH!
Listen, the attitudes of music fans need to be changed. Instead of being the rock that is standing in the way of such an ocean of discontent, be a jetty.
If you really see the music industry as various “shades of gray,” you’re a tool. Since no one that reads my column is a tool, all I can say is that the heads of these labels really do think that they have us (the consumers) figured out. Labels have been petitioning to raise they prices at iTunes when the really should be leaving them right where they are. Five years ago, people just took and took without regard for the legalities of it all. Now we have them WILLING to pay for the product, and you are going to mess that up by alienating them for WHAT? Fifty cents a download?
(Another note for the future Sony emailer: Yes, I can do the simple math: a dollar more on 400,000 units is 400,000 more dollars.)
Here’s a problem for them:
Two decades after my parents were buying 100s of LPS, myself, my sister and my pre-teen cousins hardly buy music at all. Most is given to me because of this glorious site, but why doesn’t Kristin purchase CDs?
“The prices are too high.”
Today is my mother’s birthday. She, at 52, didn’t want the new Ashlee Simpson (thank GOD!) or Chris Brown or Celine or any CDs, which was a first.
She wanted a laptop. Not just any laptop, a fast one…to download songs she likes.
Build it and they WILL come.
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.:.Columns from the Week that Was!.:.
Greg Wind: Between the Notes
Kyle David Paul: Let’s Rave On
Gloomchen: Summertime Blues, News, and Views
Mathan Erhardt: More Reasons Why Being Deaf Sucks/Rocks
Tom D’Errico: The New Classics
I love Joshua Grutman. He’s quite a catch, ladies. Don’t worry about his love for this “gloomchen,” he is waiting for YOU!
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The Dresden Dolls – Girl Anachronism
If you have never seen or heard the Dolls, this is a great place to start. The video features Amanda Palmer in various wigs and even just chilling in a bra.
I love her. She’s really “out there” musically, but in such a good way. The Dresden Dolls take chances. They are making ballsy music in a time that the only stuff that really “moves units” are safe and bland.
It’s about the art; their passion for creating. If you are interested in checking out more, head here to learn more.
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brought to you by
.:. Rare Collection of Best Eyes’.:.
Conor Oberst and co. will release a 19-track set of singles, unreleased tracks, and more, recorded between 1998 and 2005.
While Bright Eyes fans anxiously await the follow-up to 2005’s I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn, Conor Oberst and co. is sating their hunger with a set of singles, unreleased tracks, collaborations and covers recorded between 1998 and 2005. Noise Floor, which hits shelves Oct. 24, features tracks pulled from four-track cassette, MiniDisc, reel-to-reel tape, and computer, as well as a guest appearance from Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney.
Here is the track listing for Noise Floor:
1. “Mirrors and Fevers” (Don’t Be Frightened of Turning The Page EP – 2000)
2. “I Will Be Grateful for this Day” (Sub Pop Singles Club – 2001)
3. “Trees Get Wheeled Away” (Lost & Found, Volume 1 – 2003)
4. “Drunk Kid Catholic” (3 Hit Songs From Bright Eyes – UK single – 2003)
5. “Spent on Rainy Days” (Home series on Post Parlo Records – 2002)
6. “The Vanishing Act” (Too Much Of A Good Thing 7″ – 1999)
7. “Soon You Will Be Leaving Your Man” (Motion Sickness 7″ – 2000)
8. “Blue Angels Air Show” (DIW cover mount 7″ – 2002)
9. “Weather Reports” (Unreleased 7″ with M.Ward)
10. “Seashell Tale” (Unreleased 7″ with M.Ward)
11. “Bad Blood” (Album Leaf 7″ split – 2001)
12. “Amy in the White Coat” (vinyl only b-side No Beginning To The Story EP – 2002)
13. “Devil Town” (The Late Great Daniel Johnston – 2004)
14. “I’ve Been Eating (for You)” (3 New Hit Songs From Bright Eyes – UK single – 2001)
15. “Happy Birthday to Me” (Feb. 15) (3 New Hit Songs From Bright Eyes – UK single – 2001)
16. “Motion Sickness” (7″ – 2000)
Additional tracks available on vinyl only:
17. “Act of Contrition” (Second Thoughts compilation – 2000)
18. “Hungry for a Holiday” (Album Leaf 7″ – 2001)
19. “When the Curious Girl Realizes She Is Under Glass Again” (Sub Pop singles club – 2001)
20. “Entry Way Song” (Amos House Vol 2 – 2002)
21. “It’s Cool, We Can Still Be Friends” (Transmission One: Tea At The Palaz of Hoon – 2000)
(credit: Spin.com)
Mark down today (July 22nd, 2006) as the day I officially said: Thank you, Saddle Creek. I didn’t have QUITE enough Bright Eyes stuff. I need more. Much more.
Sure, Tracy leaves the room when I put it on. Granted, Conor is too cute for me to worship unless I secretly admit that I love him (which I can’t do because Ryan Adams has my heart!)
I don’t care. I will own both versions (CD and LP) and both will receive MILLIONS of plays between now and the end of my life. My obsession knows no depths.
>.:. Wolfmother Shoots Video for ‘Jackass’.:.
Watch out Australia: The stars of “Jackass” are coming down under with plans to record a video with Wolfmother and to presumably wreak some havoc. Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O et al will star alongside the afro’d Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother in the clip for the band’s forthcoming single, “Joker & the Thief,” according to Wolfmother’s official website. The song is also slated as the lead single and video for Jackass: Number 2, set for release on Sept. 22. The Malloys, who also directed the clips for Wolfmother’s singles “Mind’s Eye” and “Dimension,” will be at the helm of this video. The band’s self-titled debut has moved just under 200,000 copies in the U.S.
(credit: Spin.com)
Well, I guess that “Dimension” being the theme music to Dane Cook’s “Tourgasm” isn’t enough exposure. No, neither is “Woman” being used in promos for A&E’s “Driving Force.” I know that every band wishes for this kind of buzz surrounding their first album, but Wolfmother are really trying to be heard in EVERY house in America, even those that will know who they are.
My mom watches A&E, so I am sure she has heard that song. My grandmother has HBO, so she probably saw Dane Cook a time or two.
Should I hate them now? I DID establish the precedent with Coldplay; a band I love cannot also be known or liked by my mom or her mom. That’s too weird.
.:.B.I.G. must be CRAZY! .:.
The duo behind the runaway hit “Crazy” and the legendary rapper Notorious B.I.G. get the mash-up treatment on The Gnotorious Gnarls Biggie.
Following in the footsteps of The Grey Album (Jay-Z and the Beatles, the calling card for Gnarls’ Danger Mouse) and Black and Blue (Jay-Z and Weezer), Brooklyn-based DJ/producer duo Sound Advice have fused Gnarls Barkley and the Notorious B.I.G. for The Gnotorious Gnarls Biggie. The online album, which has been repeatedly removed from MySpace, mixes Biggie’s biggest hits with tracks from Gnarls Barkely’s debut, St. Elsewhere and can be streamed at this website.
(credit: Spin.com)
Stumbling through the interweb the way I do, I happened upon this link earlier in the week. The only problem with this one is that Notorious B.I.G.’s label is not fond of their property being used in such a way without consent.
Who cares!
This is a fun and intelligently constructed mash-up, one that rivals the power of Danger Mouse’s own Grey Album tomfoolery from few years back.
Please, enjoy.
.:.Clubbed Foot?.:.
The remaining members of Kasabian have talked for the first time about the decision to split with founding member Kris Karloff.
As we reported earlier this week the band announced they were parting company with Karloff due to differences over the recording of their new album Empire and the future of the group.
Of the split and the fans reaction to it Tom Meighan said: “Fans should understand that if there is a problem within the band we address that. We know it better than anyone. We want the fans to get behind our band instead of the few who f*cking whines all the time.”
‘We’re still a gang of mates. It’s us against the world. I’m gutted. It’s sad after you’ve been with someone all those years and he’s a great person and friend and it’s just one of those things.”
Moving onto Karloff’s replacement Meighan revealed that Jay Mehler, who played with the band at their recent festival appearances, won’t become a full time member at the moment.
“Jay’s just coming in to do the live parts,” he told The Sun. “We’ll make that decision when the time comes but he’s wonderful.”
Kasabian release their new album Empire on September 4.
(credit: Gigwise.com)
Breaking up, it appears, IS hard to do. Personally, I would be the last person to leave a band that had received so much hype and developed a strong following. I have no idea why people can’t find a way to “stay together for the kids.”
The marriage may not be strong, but you’re married to the music. Move on or move forward. Every band has problems. Just don’t give up because times are hard. Your big break might be just around the corner, or it might never happen.
I just think it’s worth the sacrifices to stay with a group that is moving forward than to start fresh after 5 years, unless something is really wrong.
.:. I’m Not Al, but here’s a New Album.:.
So here it is, the full details of the record which Brandon Flowers has called the “best album of the last 20 years”, we’ll reserve judgement on that.The Killers release their second offering, a twelve track affair, Sam’s Town on October 2 via Island Records.
As previously reported on Gigwise the first single to be cut from the album will be ‘When You Were Young’, which hits the shelves on September 18.
The track listing according to the NME is:
Sam’s Town
Enterlude
When You Were Young
Bling
For Reasons Unknown
Read My Mind
Uncle Jonny
Bones
My List
This River Is Wild
Why Do I Keep Counting?
Exitlude
(credit: Gigwise.com)
Yes…there will be awesome!
The dance-rock revolution of 2004-2005 was spear-headed by this intrepid group from Las Vegas and Franz Ferdinand. Will they continue along to boogie heaven? Is a new sound in the works?
You will have to wait, like I do, until September 18th to find out.
.:.’Head…Roots?.:.
The Roots have sampled indie experimentalists Radiohead on their forthcoming album.
The hip hop collective have taken a section of the ‘Head’s track “You And Whose Army” and used it in their song “Atonement.”
You and Whose Army originally appeared on Radiohead’s acclaimed album Amnesiac.
“Atonement” is one of the tracks featured on The Roots’ new album Game Theory, which Def Jam will be putting out on August 29th.
(credit: AngryApe.com)
Mwahahahaha.
Just when people start to whine about Radiohead losing touch, they say “Hey ?uestlove, you should use a sample of one of our songs.”
Delicious. I have no doubt that this song will, in fact, be the greatest thing I have ever heard. Thank you, Roots. Thank you, Radiohead.
I am sobbing a bit (happy tears!) but this year keeps getting better!
.:.Following Winchester.:.
Break out your surgical masks (or, you know, don’t) because the gimmicky Liverpudians in Clinic have set the release date for the follow-up to 2004’s Winchester Cathedral. Visitations will be released October 9 on Domino Records, and is set to include “Jigsaw Man,” a song that was made available on the band’s website earlier this year.
Here’s the full tracklisting:
01. Family
02. Animal/Human
03. Gideon
04. Harvest (Within You)
05. Tusk
06. Paradise
07. Children Of Kellogg
08. If You Could Read Your Mind
09. Jigsaw Man
10. Interlude
11. The New Seeker
12. Visitations
(credit: PrefixMag.com)
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Check out the Archive or you can just click the individual reviews below:
Camera Obscura – Let’s Get Out Of This Country
The Streets – The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living
The Flaming Lips – At War With The Mystics
The 303s – Lines of Parallel Minds
lostprophets – Liberation Transmission
Mew – And the Glass Handed Kites
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Ten Things You Might Not Know about Shawn M. Smith:
I have an attitude problem.
I am loud and obnoxious.
I tend to tell inappropriate, or just lousy, jokes in public settings.
I like cooking for friends, family and my girlfriend.
I hate being alone.
I have three tattoos: one each on my shoulder, inner arm and ankle.
I like monkeys and collect anything monkey-related.
I have an enormous toy and comic collection that I cannot bear to part with.
I am only happy and/or productive when it rains (and it’s raining right now.)
He is a total “mama’s boy,” and only wrote this so that fact ten could say “HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!”
We’ll be together again in 14, dear readers.
Keep it real!
Ssquared
Ssquared @ MySpace
...read full article...
The Weekly Music Pulse Stuff I Think and Shouldn’t Say 45
March 21, 2000 is a date that will forever live in infamy. It’s the day the music (industry) died.
Everywhere we turned, there they were. MTV, VH1, ABC, CBS, it didn’t matter…they had a new album, and we needed to know about it. A painfully simplistic cover: 5 marionettes dressed all in black. The million dollar smiles were hidden beneath twisted, smarmy faces. It’s sad that I still remember the cover after all this time, but there is a reason.
This was the last “blockbuster” album of a generation, maybe ever. I wish I could say that I was talking about a rebirth of the Jackson 5 or that Boyz II Men added a member and were takin’ it to the streets (© Doobie Brothers.)
On this dark, dark day, the CD breathed a last gasp, and save for several small diaphragmatic spasms, slowly gave way to the digital age.
N Sync’s No Strings Attached. It was simple marketing: the group had split with an egomaniacal manager, Lou Perlman, whose puppet-mastery had brought the New Kids on the Block around the country as a limosine driver, would create a powerful empire in Orlando. Perlman developed Backstreet Boys and, in turn, handed the ‘N Sync-ers fame, but not the fortunes they were promised. These 5 gentlemen sued to be released from his command, resulting in a subsequent move to Jive Records. As a parting shot, the group decided to craft a “perfect” pop album.
A ridiculous claim, you say? It might not be your cup of tea, but the numbers don’t lie.
1.1 million sales the first day, a record that will never be touched. 2.41 million sales
the first week. No one has come close since.
In fact, the highest grossing album of the past two years, Kelly Clarkson’s Breakaway, has only moved 5,366,933 units in 82 weeks.
82 weeks?
Poke fun at the boy-band fad all you want, but ‘N Sync had sold 9,936,104 CDs in 2000 alone…in the U.S. Yes, Napster existed and people were using it like crazy, but the manufactured goodies offered up by Justin Timberlake & Friends set a sales record that year based on the strength of THREE hit singles: “Bye, Bye, Bye,” “It’s Gonna Be Me,” and “This I Promise You.” Today, there are albums currently on the market with more singles released this year (i.e. Pussycat Dolls) that have barely sold more than No Strings Attached sold in a DAY.
That was only six years ago.
How can you spin this one?
Record labels were greedy and are notorious for pushing “copy cat” acts onto the market based on the success of established artists. These acts flounder, the labels lose money, become reluctant to develop new talent, and after decades of this bullshit, they are stuck holding a money bag that is significantly lighter than it used to be.
Two years ago, if you had told me that an established, albeit, derivative act like Nickelback would sell less than ‘N Sync sold in one week, I would have laughed right in your face. Hard. Established acts with HUGE built-in fanbases should sell albums in the millions, and yet, a group of men who sang and danced their way into 10 million households in the new millennium, will go down as the last great album ever.
Like them or not, ‘N Sync were a product, and they found a way to move units. They weren’t in your face, were all moderately-to-highly talented singers who understood that in order to change their place in history; to not be remembered also-rans to the Backstreet Boys, they needed to bet the house on one last hand. On No Strings Attached, ‘N Sync wove R&B, dance and hip-hop with pop melodies/harmonies. The record was all things to all people, and contrary to popular opinion, the majority of their sales were to college-aged men and women, not just the shrieking pre-teens.
College women bought that album because it was fun and current. It was trendy. The 18-24 male demographic purchased the disc to get laid. Simple as that. Chicks dug ‘N Sync, and owning this meant you were “sensitive” and understood the things that women like, and, in turn, women.
(Ssquared Note: Dudes who like chick flicks are liars. Dudes like chicks and chicks alone. Everything we do is in the hopes of getting laid. We aren’t supposed to be selfless and caring; we need ass. This might be off-topic, but it’s true.)
With the proliferation of person-to-person file-sharing, millions of people started downloading singles. Then they realized that the albums were rushed and disjointed, and felt that one or two good songs for $12-18 dollars wasn’t a steal, when you could do just that with an internet connection and were willing to eat some memory on your hard drive.
These people never went back into a record store ever again, and that is sad. I grew up dying to just set foot in Strawberries or Record Town. I remember that no trip to the mall was complete until I conned my mom into walking into those stores. We couldn’t go grocery shopping, or head to Saratoga, without me coming home with some new purchase.
Is it destined that my kids might never even SEE a record store?
52 people are listed as personnel involved in the recording and engineering of No Strings Attached. That’s just the group, the producers, the composers, and EVERY pop engineer under the sun. The guys knew what they were doing. They might not have seen the proverbial “writing on the wall,” but they knew that in order to sell a copious amount of CDs, they needed to make the songs they had sound perfect. The resulting tour brought in over $20 million for the guys, so the expenses they may have fronted to make the album were quickly recouped.
MTV and TRL changed the landscape of pop music. As terrestrial radion lost its credibility time and time again, the alternative pop authorities pushed new and fresh artists. Sure, a lot of it was cookie cutter and bland. For the most part, the music they played was garbage. Whatever the labels want shoved down the consumers throats is what gets talked about. Where did the rock journalists go?
The web.
They BLOG.
Ironically, me and music ended up in bed together. We both got published and got exposure in the same place; a place I didn’t know existed until my freshman year in college (1996, and we used POPmail to send and receive messages, not IMs and Gmail and broadband wasn’t even a gleam in ANYONE’s eye) the WORLD WIDE WEB.
At the end of the day, 52 people set out to craft a modern-day pop masterpiece and single-handedly brought down the Evil Empire. A bunch of rebels with plucked eyebrows and flat irons.
Pearl Jam’s debut, Ten, has sold 10 times what their latest album, Pearl Jam, will scan by the end of the year…and this might be the second best album they wrote. How sad is that? Why isn’t it on radio?
There is no radio…not anymore?
Does this mean that even if Thriller was released tomorrow, that only 3 million people WORLDWIDE would own the pressed foil and glass? What about Dark Side of the Moon and Frampton Comes Alive, Aqualung and Ok Computer? Raising Hell?
Will we really be passing MP3’s on to our grandkids? Will we hand them dusty old iPods with the extra three buttons and remark that this was high-tech “in our day?”
I hope not.
But it’s too late to stop this machine now. The big-wigs here in NYC and in L.A. are convinced that the machine they’ve been riding doesn’t need an overhaul. That even though it gets -20 miles to the gallon, that it’s still not quite ready to fix.
People always laughed that it would serve the industry right to have it all come undone, for the companies to collapse and fall to bits at the feet of the very men and women who ripped off both the artists they represented and the consumers that lined their collective pockets.
It might only cost 3 dollars to make the album, but let’s retail it at a 500% mark-up!
Maybe it isn’t really ‘N Sync’s fault. I am older and wiser than the 19 year old that purchased No Strings Attached, so I know better than to assign blame where it doesn’t quite belong.
It just feels better to make someone else the scapegoat.
The real problem was me all along. The kid with 20 bucks to spare and a desperate need to hear Kula Shaker. With the advent of listening stations and the proliferation of sites where streaming was possible, we could find out in 30 seconds or less whether or not this album was any good. And today, I wouldn’t buy the CD I had heard so very much about.
More and more, we (the consumers) started to realize we had been had. The A&R folks who had told us about the “new Beatles” and the “new Who” (Oasis and Seven Mary Three, respectively) really didn’t try to give you 12 great songs. You were lucky to get 1 or 2 for $18.
While people like me were still supporting the old school, the tried-and-true, you guys sent the executives in their corner offices a message: a big f*ck you.
Shame on me for taking so long.
When I got myself a computer with some speed, some balls, I downloaded most of the other shit I would have been tricked into buying. The old stuff that my dad had bought on vinyl for two Hamiltons and that the gurus at Warner and Capitol wanted and expected me to do the same for the CD.
Screw that. I ripped it.
I ripped all the classics.
I kept supporting the new guys, the up-and-comers, but if my dad got laid to your tunes, you could suck my ass. I was gonna steal your shit, and there wasn’t a thing you could do about it.
The industry is dead, and I really don’t know how to feel.
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.:.Columns from the Week that Was!.:.
Greg Wind: Between the Notes #2
Kyle David Paul: Let’s Rave On
Gloomchen: Summertime Blues, News, and Views
Mathan Erhardt: More Reasons Why Being Deaf Sucks/Rocks
Jeffrey R. Fernandez: The Saturday Swindle Sheet presents sKR33d! – Vol. 1, #1
(note to JF2k6: what’s sKR33d?)
Tom D’Errico: The New Classics
That Bootleg Guy’s Weekly Sports Pulse
So, Aaron Cameron AND Fernandez return two week’s after I decry, nay, I DEMAND a return? Sweet Jeebus, I have some pull! Thank you, Inside Pulse. You are the greatest! [oh, and Cam proves that
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Tom Pandich offers his expert analysis of Johnny Depp’s cash cow. This is the kind of movie to build a career around, just ask Keanu (who has the Matrix trilogy to permanently pad his wallet.) It’s all about residuals, baby.
Murtz!
Last time, I plugged Lucard with this spot, and remarked that it was like linking to the front page of this very site. Now, another Executive Board member gets his due, as Murtz Jaffer, IP’s authority on all things Reality TV, gets a mention during Big Brother All-Stars. Lucard gets mentioned at the U.N., Murtz is on the feed for a prominent CBS show, and I get Dan Hevia sending me comments on my MySpace page? If I don’t get a blurb in Page Six on Monday, next PPV, you are ALL getting invited to the Mango. Widro might make the best salsa, but can he make that much salsa for all of my readers?
Probably.
My readers all tend to go to Widro’s PPV bashes anyhow.
Huzzah!
I love Grut.
Moving on.
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Bright Eyes – “Easy/Lucky/Free”
I am quite surprised that I never saw this video when the album dropped. I bought it (2005’s Digital Ash in a Digital Urn) the first day it came out, but this video slipped under my radar when I moved to Queens in February.
Let me offer this statement about Bright Eyes: I love Conor Oberst. I won’t say he’s a “modern day Dylan” or “Leonard Cohen with a falsetto.” He is, however, a stand-up guy. He toured with R.E.M. and Bruce Springsteen during MoveOn.org’s “Vote for Change” tour and allowed his music to speak for him. He didn’t go out and bash the President on foreign soil (read: Dixie Chicks) and he has a unique sound that sells.
He’s turned down every major label offer that his been pushed his way, a task that shows how committed he is to helping out the label, Saddle Creek Records that launched him. He’s Teflon and, frankly, I would rather listen to every note of his entire catalog than listen to Nickelback for ten minutes. Does this make me a snob, a douche, or an opinionated prick with bizarre taste?
I am too old to be in his target audience, and too fat to be emo.
What’s my deal?
When did I become a whiny bitch?
(Tracy slaps me a few times a day, and I yell ‘ouch’ even when it doesn’t even sting.)
I <3 Bright Eyes.
(K-Fed is a douche, though.)
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brought to you by
.:.From Justin to Belly.:.
Poor Kelly Clarkson! The New York Post’s Page Six reports that Clarkson has been offered to join 50 Cent as the only artists to have a custom flavor of Vitamin Water created in their honor, but she can only seal the deal with the water company if she loses some weight first. 50 Cent’s Formula 50 flavor, which debuted in late 2004, came loaded with 50 percent of one’s daily vitamins and 50 went on the record promoting health and fitness around the time of its release.
(credit: Spin.com)
.:.Tooting Your Horn…with YOURSELF.:.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, ThinkFilm has acquired all North American rights to the film “10th & Wolf”, featuring Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee’s first full-fledged acting role.
Based on a real-life mob war in Philadelphia that took place during the late ’80s and early ’90s, “10th & Wolf” (which was actually shot in Pittsburgh) follows the attempts of one mob family to wrest control of a piece of turf when the head of the another mob family is incarcerated. The cast also includes Giovanni Ribisi, Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Piper Perabo, Dash Mihok, Lesley Ann Warren and Brian Dennehy.
“I just did this role with some amazing actors,” Lee told MTV.com back in November 2004. “[Ribisi] is amazing. It’s really hard-core, kind of violent. You’ll have to look for it. They’re just about done shooting it.”
(credit: Blabbermouth.net)
.:.It Always Feels Like Somebody’s Watching Me.:.
Call Out: “All those bands, Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, they [are] only influenced by each other and Blink-182. How can that be a good thing? Emo, whatever you want to call it, is dangerous.” — Killers frontman Brandon Flowers
Response No. 1: “Do I think of myself as dangerous? Not at all! It’s a shame that [Brandon Flowers] feels that way really.” — Panic’s Brendon Urie
Response No. 2: “I think [the Killers] maybe tried to order drinks from us at the MTV Video Music Awards, because they thought we were waiters.” — Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz
(credit: Spin.com)
.:.Help?.:.
The 19th annual Farm Aid benefit will be held Sept. 30 at the Tweeter Center in Camden, N.J., just across the Delaware River from downtown Philadelphia. Farm Aid co-founders Neil Young, Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp will perform, as will Dave Matthews. Tickets go on sale July 14 to members of the FarmYard club and July 22 to the general public.
Young announced the details July 6th during a press conference at Philadelphia’s Reading Terminal Market. “It is unfortunate that we have to continue doing this,” he said. “I really hope that we don’t have to do Farm Aid forever.”
To date, Farm Aid has raised more than $29 million in support of family farms, locally grown food and fair pricing. The Camden location was chosen due to the high amount of farmers’ markets in the surrounding area.
“Family farmers are our best choice for good, fresh, wholesome foods,” Young said. “When you choose local, sustainable, humanely raised, or organic food from family farms, you are keeping family farmers on the land.”
(credit: Billboard.com)
.:.The BEST Western Would Be Apropos.:.
Manic Street Preachers front man James Dean Bradfield has denied that the band are to split and revealed that he has already begun writing material for their new album.
Bradfield releases his first solo album The Great Western this month and with Nicky Wire also readying his own solo album rumours had been rife that the Welsh trio were about to call it a day.
However, he told the BBC: “It would take a hell of a lot for us to split up at any point in the future. But we have taken a brief hiatus, we committed to not releasing anything for two years because we realised we had been in a band for 21 years.”
“After finishing the tour we felt we deserved to take a break, get some perspective and then make the next Manics album is as good as we can make it.”
Describing the next Manics record he said that the material would be “in your face,” “aggressive” and “rock and roll”. Bradfield releases The Great Western on July 24 and precedes it with the single ‘That’s No Way To Tell A Lie’ on July 10.
(credit: Gigwise.com)
.:.Adolescent Large Shiny Knives Was Taken?.:.
Seattle’s Blood Brothers announced an Oct. 10 release date for Young Machetes, their sixth studio album, produced by John Goodmanson and Guy Piccioto of Fugazi fame. The revered masters of mixing synth-pop, hardcore, violence, sex, and catchy choruses have been steadily gaining notoriety since 2004’s viciously danceable Crimes, a record Spin dubbed “savage punk rock that shifts and shakes like the bleachers during a homecoming orgy.”
Known for their sass as well as their high-octane performances, Young Machetes is sure to be packed to the brim with the Blood Brothers staples: raging keyboard riffs, fierce guitar meltdowns, and anthemic versus for the masses to scream along to. Stay tuned in the upcoming weeks for the announcement of their fall tour.
(credit: Spin.com)
.:. Friends Don’t Waste Wine When There’s Words to Sell.:.
Interpol have broken their silence and revealed that they are hard at work on their third album.
The New Yorkers have been working on the record since the beginning of 2006 and plan a release sometime in 2007.
Writing on their official website they announced: “We’re hard at work on the writing of album three. We’ve been at it for six months – in case you heard we were on hiatus.
“We’re all very excited about it and think that you will be too. Having yet to record, we can only say that Release will come sometime next year.”
Although its early days on the project they did reveal a couple of song titles, saying: “We can’t offer much of a preview at present, but I can tell you we’ve got one gem in the works entitled ‘The Heinrich Maneuver’. And another that was called ‘Pawn Shop’. But that’s called something else now.”
In other Interpol news apparently Carlos has a new dog, an Italian greyhound called Gaius, which looks like him – sounds f*cking scary to us.
(credit: Gigwise.com)
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Check out the Archive or you can just click the individual reviews below:
Surfjan Stevens – The Avalanche
They Might Be Giants – Podcast Highlights
Johnny Cash – American V: A Hundred Highways
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That’s a wrap for this week. Wednesday, I head to another surgeon to get a second opinion about shoulder surgery, so after 9 months of pain and physical therapy, I might finally have an answer other than this:
If I have surgery, it will only be 3 more months of PT before I can raise my arm above my head. Sounds like fun, right?
I have been depressed about my job situation, sad about my body falling apart, but IP’s been a nice reprieve from it all. Thanks for the support and please keep the emails coming.
Keep it real!
Ssquared
Ssquared @ MySpace
...read full article...
The Weekly Music Pulse Stuff I Think and Shouldn’t Say 44
It’s becoming a trend: the Inside Pulse Music Staff are all getting married. Gloomchen was the first to jump on the bandwagon by having a small ceremony in Minnesota. Marriage, it appears, suits IP’s number one Music Lady just fine.
Turns out that one of my favorite dudes here, “Open” Mike Eagle, is off getting hitched AS WE SPEAK. Mike, who dabbles in a bit of the hip hop and has the coolest last name of anyone on the intraweb, is going have an honest man made out of him. One day, he will have a whole stable of rappers and singers under his wings, as once he tied the knot, he became “Off The Market” Mike Eagle, and he will sell 50 million Kidz Hop records.
Happiness abounds.
With every marriage that readers hear about, I get the inevitable question: Ssquared, when are you and Tracy getting hitched?
I have no idea.
Tracy and I have been together just over a year and a half. The woman is my soulmate; I have no doubts about that. Part of the reason that Ms. Ssquared hasn’t got a pretty rock up on her marriage finger (trademark pending!) has to be that I am broke. Really, really broke. I haven’t yet been reduced to stealing packets of Ramen from Rite Aid, but it’s close.
Reason numero dos: It looks like I will be getting surgery after all…but I still don’t have a definitive answer. My shoulder got totally jacked up back in September carrying what my boss refers to as the most expensive 5 pound box in Olive Garden history. The way my shoulder dislocated, you would think I was carrying boulders. It was a box of binders, alright?
What?
Apparently, I am frail.
The thing that truly prevents me from getting married has nothing to do with either of those two points. While they are good reasons that we can’t get married, yet, they won’t prevent me from doing it at some point.
See, I can’t do a shotgun wedding. I can’t walk into Town Hall and sign the papers and kiss and smile and be okay with it. My mother and sister would kill me if I did. Financially, it’s a frigging awesome idea. Who wouldn’t sign a paper to get the best sex of their life?
Why is a bride smiling on her wedding day?
It’s because she knows she’s already given her last blowjob.
I know that the day will be super special for Ssquared’s Lady, and that she will be wearing white (a farce) and looking beautiful (as always) but I have no idea what to do for a reception. Who plays the music? Will I get to hear “Lover, You Should Have Come Over?” Will the DJ think to play “The Light” by Common?
Some niggaz recognize the light but they can’t handle the glare
My biggest fear is that DJ Joey G will show up and play some lame ass (c)rap like “Baby Got Back” and all the old white people will dance like the uncoordinated shits that we truly are.
My mom and I have talked a great deal about what she and I should have our dance be, but what song: “A Song for Mama,” “You are The Sunshine of My Life,” or “In My Life?”
I told you this was big to me.
I think about the song that Tracy and I would dance to for the first time as husband and wife. I know that Etta James’ “At Last” is the perfect song, as it was playing on the radio the first time she ever laid her head on my shoulder, ever held my hand. Tracy looked me in the eyes and told me that it was one of her favorites, and I just smiled and pushed the hair from her face.
She looked so beautiful, and I would be lying if I didn’t know right then that she was the one. THE ONE. This woman has brought me so much joy through some really tough times, I would be doing her a disservice to take her off to matrimony-ville (trademark #2 pending) with anything other than her perfect wedding.
How do you know when you’re at a hillbilly wedding?
Everyone is sitting on the same side of the church.
She wants a romantic sunset wedding on the beach. Seeing that I almost died in the Caribbean a year ago, the ocean freaks me out. It’s a metaphor, right? I almost died in St. Thomas, she wants to forever kill my bachelorhood up to our knees in sea boogers. Fine, it’s beautiful, I like it, let’s do it.
We’ll dance to Etta James classic song and we’ll kiss and smile and the Smith family will add another great woman to the fold. It will be a fairy tale (at which I take tons of Benadryl) and we will both get some matching/similar platinum jewelry (gold looks horrible on me) and I will settle into married life with a smile on my face.
As long as no one plays any Metallica, Limp Bizkit or any corny, corny, corny line dancing songs, I think I just might enjoy myself.
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.:.Columns from the Week that Was!.:.
Greg Wind: Between the Notes #1
Kyle David Paul: Let’s Rave On
Gloomchen: Summertime Blues, News, and Views
Mathan: More Reasons Why Being Deaf Sucks/Rocks
Masters of Horror: John Landis – Deer Woman IP Movie’s Rob Sutton examines this DVD release from Showtime’s horror anthology series. Some of the greatest directors and writers in modern horror teamed up to create this series and I, for one, am very appreciative of the faith Showtime put in. Yes, some of the stories fell flat on their face, but for the most part, this was an accurate sampling of all the things that have made horror movies great for viewers.
Night Watch – Scott “Kubryk” Sawitz reviews the first(!) movie I actually went to the theater to see by myself. I always felt a certain stigma was attached to those men who sat in the theater by themselves. Maybe they couldn’t get a date, maybe no one else wanted to check that particular flick out…who knows? I sat in the AMC theater off Times Square waiting for this movie to begin by myself. I watched a drug deal happen a few rows in front of me, and when the dealer caught my eye, I flashed a shocker at the dude. Turns out, that guy reads this site regularly, so a big shout-out to Mike (last name withheld because he sells drugs for a living) from Ssquared.
Side note: before the movie began, I was reading a book in the theater and went to the restroom, where a homeless gentleman was masturbating into the sink. Classy, right?
Got to love New York. Where else does that happen?
Nyogtha – Someone once told me that plugging Lucard is like plugging the front page of Inside Pulse itself. Lucard, for those who are out of the loop, is the IP Culture section editor-at-large whose weekly column is legendary for many reasons:
1) Alex is a good dude whose recipes got me laid a lot in college. Cooking = sex!
2) Lucard is a fantastic writer who makes me incredibly insecure about my own skills, which forces me to work harder.
3) I like Edamame and he talks about it this week.
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Ssquared’s Music Pulse Hook-Up!
The Sword – “Winter’s Wolves”
Age of Winters is one of my favorite albums of the 2006. This is a sample of what I had to say back in March:
Metal fans can enjoy the retro-70’s feel as distortion and power are pushed to the forefront, and even casual listeners will enjoy the musicianship and contagious rhythms. The retro-charm might wear thin, but the quality and skill with which the Sword perform will supercede any of your doubts. No, this isn’t your father’s metal; it’s better!
If you like hard rock and have been dying to listen to something new, check out Age of Winters.
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brought to you by
.:.Ryan Adams Announces Summer Tour.:.
After cranking out three studio albums in 2005, Ryan Adams hasn’t made much of a peep this year, save for a legal beat-down on some overenthusiastic file-sharers back in March. (Side-note: nothing breeds new fans like litigating your current ones, just ask Lars Ulrich.)
While it’s already halfway through 2006 and there’s not a single whiff of new Adams material, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals have announced a string of summer tour dates. Before the trek begins in full force in July, the band will play two warm-up gigs tomorrow night in New York City, first at the Arthur Lee of Love benefit show at the Beacon Theatre, then late night at the Bowery Ballroom.
The shows keep Adams on the road through August, including a stop at Nashville, Tennessee’s Ryman Auditorium, once home to the Grand Ole Opry and site of his infamous 2002 “Summer of 69″ meltdown.
In a February interview with Spin, Ryan claimed the heckling trauma forced him into therapy, and that his fans are “a bunch of f*cking cocks. They come to my shows to provoke me.” It’s unimaginable that anybody in the staid, reserved crowd at Chicago’s Lollapalooza will do anything to provoke him when he wraps up his tour there in August.
06-23 New York, NY – Beacon Theatre (Benefit for Arthur Lee) *
06-23 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
07-20 Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
07-21 Baltimore, MD – Sonar
07-22 Norfolk, VA – The NorVa Theatre
07-23 Charlottesville, VA – Charlottesville Pavilion
07-25 Knoxville, TN – Bijou Theatre
07-27 Myrtle Beach, SC – House of Blues
07-28 Charleston, SC – Charleston Music Hall
07-29 Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle
08-01 Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
08-02 St. Louis, MO – Pageant
08-03 Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue
08-04 Chicago, IL – Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
* with Robert Plant, Ian Hunter, Nils Lofgren, Yo La Tengo, Garland Jeffreys, Johnny Echols, Flashy Python & the Body Snatchers (aka Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah with members of Dr. Dog)
(credit: Pitchfork.com)
I have lived in New York City now for a year and a half. Ryan Adams lives here, and I haven’t seen him once. Not on stage, not in person, not at all.
Ryan Adams does (not) read my column, so I am putting this out there for him:
(Ryan, buddy. Would you be willing to play at my wedding?)
Since he constantly (ignores) emails (from) me, I hope my boy(crush) hooks me up (and we can get totally hammered on my future in-laws dime.)
Call me.
.:. I’m a Modest Mouse.:.
The dates are still more than a month away, but Modest Mouse have pulled out of a brief, early August trek through California (Santa Barbara, Sacramento) and Oregon (Bend, Troutdale). According to the official Modest Mouse site, the band is currently on lockdown in a Mississippi studio with producer Dennis Herring (Counting Crows, Jars of Clay), completing the follow-up to its breakthrough album, Good News for People Who Love Bad News.
(credit: RollingStone.com)
Whoo hoo. Modest Mouse is recording a new album, which I won’t be able to purchase due to lack of funds.
I need a job.
(Hey, Ryan Adams. Call me and give me a job. Seriously, I will just stand there and light cigarettes for you. Want a shot? I’ll get that, you just sit down and look like you haven’t combed your hair in two years.
Anything for you, dude)
.:.The Man Who Taught Britney That Thing K-Fed Likes Readies FutureSex/LoveSounds.:.
Timbaland, Rick Rubin, and Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas are among the producers prepping Justin Timberlake’s second solo album, FutureSex/LoveSounds. Due September 12th, the record will be preceded by a brief U.S. club tour and the single “SexyBack,” set to hit radio July 7th. Timberlake’s last effort, Justified, has sold more than 3.5 million copies.
(credit: RollingStone.com)
Okay, I am going to come clean on some stuff.
I own every ‘N Sync album.
I own JT’s solo disk.
I am a loser, as I will probably buy this without thinking, but forget to pick up the Modest Mouse album.
(Ryan, don’t let this affect our relationship)
.:.Arctic Monkeys Bassist Officially Bails.:.
After sitting out Arctic Monkeys’ recent North American tour due to “fatigue,” bassist Andy Nicholson has officially left the band. In a statement on the group’s Web site, the remaining three members wrote, “We have been mates with Andy for a long time and have been through some amazing things together that no one can take away. We all wish Andy the very best.” Nick O’Malley will help the band finish off its summer tour dates.
(credit: RollingStone.com)
Retard.
How the hell do you quit when the band is the hottest it has ever been? Only total pussies quit due to “fatigue.” You end up in rehab. Or you die.
I feel badly that everyone in the world will forget your name, Andy, by Monday.
Except for NME. The next thing you work on will be compared to Monkeys, and you will get a second 15 seconds of fame. Then you should disappear to work with Pete Doherty on his new addiction, Jenga.
Why, what would YOU do with that much free time and no access to drugs, alcohol, or loose women willing to fulfill your every sexual fantasy?
Yes, even Christian rockers slam the groupies. Some just go through the back door. Christians like anal.
.:.Maidens…of IRON.:.
Iron Maiden will release its 19th studio album, A Matter of Life and Death, Sept. 5 via Sanctuary Records. The follow-up to 2003’s Dance of Death was produced by longtime collaborator Kevin Shirley. Maiden will support of the set with an international tour that begins Nov. 18 in Aalborg, Denmark.
Track listing for A Matter of Life and Death:
“Different Worlds”
“These Colours Don’t Run”
“Brighter Than a Thousand Suns”
“The Pilgrim”
“The Longest Day”
“Out of the Shadows”
“The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg”
“For the Greater Good of God”
“Lord of Light”
“The Legacy”
(credit: Billboard.com)
I added this bit because my roommate didn’t send me anything for “Forward Progress.” He might have mentioned this, or some obscure Danish speed metal act, but I had to choose.
.:.Yup, Somebody Loves You. It’s true..:.
It’s been nearly a decade since we last heard new Portishead material, but founding member Geoff Barrow insists an actual album may be emerging at the moment. Commenting on the group’s MySpace page, he wrote, “The tracks are in a right mess but sounding like [an] album for the first time in years. It’s nice to think us old gits have a few tunes in us without sounding like coffee table Zero 7 [or] Moby chill-out shit!”
(credit: Rolling Stone.com)
Always wanted to write the above header. I like Portishead, so I hope this album comes out the same day as Chinese Democracy.
The money I get from my new job working with Ryan Adams…
(Ryan, seriously, it’s been 10 minutes…call me! I love you more than a fat kid loves cake!)
…I will buy 209,000 copies of this album and make it number one on the Billboard charts. The world may not care who bought all the albums, but they will trace the transaction to a tiny record store in Upstate New York. The owner, a fat man with a lisp and body odor, will mention that I was there with Ryan Adams and Julian Casablancas…
(Julian, buddy. Totally miss you. Remember when you offered me a position with the band? I take it back, I CAN play the harpsichord.)
…and we just threw a blank check on the counter and took the 208,999 copies we pre-ordered at that location. Ryan will purchase the other copy for me as a gift. He’s a giving guy, that one.
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Check out the Archive or you can just click the individual reviews below:
The Colour – Between Earth and Sky
The Dresden Dolls – Yes Virginia
Burden of a Day – Pilots & Paper Planes
Willie Nile – Streets of New York
Front Line Assembly – Artificial Soldier
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One more week without Fernandez and the Bootleg here in IP Music has got me all sorts of confused. In honor of Jeff taking some time off, and armed only with Google Image Search and a keen eye, I must find out…:
Daggett from The Angry Beavers!
Look at those teeth! If Fitty doesn’t look like an Animated Beaver, I must be blind!
Enough tomfoolery. I have a huge box of stuff to review and not enough coffee to get it all done this week. I have to resist the urge to tackle too much and burn myself out. Must…pace…self.
Be good, stay safe, and keep it real!
(Ryan Adams…you complete me.)
Ssquared
Ssquared @ MySpace
(P.S. If Thom Yorke is reading this, I just wanted you to know that I love the lazy eye/midget elf thing you got going on. Let’s hit the bong and talk about the stars, baby.)
...read full article...
The Inside Pulse:
Sarasota, Florida’s Burden of a Day are heir to the throne of “screamo/metalcore” band of the minute. The over-exposure of this genre, regardless of what Alternative Press and Fuse TV try and tell you, has burnt out the market and clones like this band have been popping up and cluttering the desks of many a reviewer.
Burden of a Day’s influences run the gamut, with artists like the Smiths and Green Day mentioned alongside Thrice and Underoath on their personal Myspace sites.
Once this style is dead and buried, I am pretty sure that no one will care. The long and shaggy, diagonal bangs will be snipped after college graduation into some appropriate “professional” cut, and the fans of these bands will spend decades trying to hide the neon star tattoo on their wrist. This is “peer-pressure music” at it’s best: you heard it was cool from a friend or you like a girl that enjoys this style, so you actually think it’s cool before you have a chance to listen to it. Don’t bother adding this to your collection, as there truly is no wing in the Hall of Fame for “Music We WISHED Hadn’t Happened,” but friends will snoop through your CD collection after college and you WILL have to answer for this one.
Positives:
Christians have been making music for a long time. DC Talk conned millions of us into buying Jesus Freak with their Nirvana-esque video and subsequent marketing campaign. The idea of “spreading the Gospel” by appealing to what’s hot in music at the moment is a time honored tradition and the band might be trying to bring people to God through Jesus Christ. One can’t be too sure, though. There are only two or three songs worth listening to discover the meaning, but once your eardrum splits, one should have no interest in discovering the their objective.
Ironically, the band knows what they are doing. They do what they like and have no aspirations to be signed to a “major” label. That’s truly admirable at a time when Top 40 radio is cluttered with crappy hip-hop and poorly crafted pop music that people are paying to get into rotation, only the indie labels will touch this stuff. They don’t have to give big advances for the rights to the albums, the people who enjoy the screaming will buy it, and if the company only sells 10-20,000 units, everyone wins.
The guitarist and the rhythm section are actually fun to listen to and seem very competent in various styles. They aptly maneuver between power punk riffs and slapping metal rhythms with ease, even tossing in the occasional homage to hair metal.
If I could find a single reason to replay this album, I would put it here, but I can’t. The music is fairly well-written, but the inability of the vocalist to decide when it is an appropriate time to scream like he’s auditioning for the local Linkin Park/Thursday cover band, and not discerning when he should actually “sing,” make this a major “pass.”
Negatives:
Judeo-Screamo is the new black.
If you are singing for Jesus, sing for Jesus. Even the big guy upstairs couldn’t decipher this drivel, and he spoke Aramaic.
Lyric : definition (as it pertains to Music) :
Having a singing voice of light volume and modest range.
(credit: Reference.com)
It’s time for people to take note. Don’t call yourself a lead singer or vocalist if you can’t find the correct pitch and when all else fails, you shred your vocal chords in the name of whatever-it-is you consider “music.” Just because everyone else tells you this is “heavy,” does not mean it is.
It’s just a serious drag that I couldn’t get an advance copy without the vocals. Had I wanted to hear the mating call of the Eastern Screech-Owl, I could have gone to the Bronx Zoo.
Holy crap, I didn’t buy this album and I want my money back.
Cross-breed:
Avenged Sevenfold with J.T. Woodruff or Geoff Rickley taking turns singing…an ear-splitting garbage-fest.
Reason to buy:
If you enjoy not being able to discern 7/8s of the words on an album, this might be for you. If as a child, people dared you to spend the night in the haunted house in your neighborhood, and not only were you able to sleep through the evening comfortably, you awoke well-rested and are looking for another scary challenge.
...read full article...
The Weekly Music Pulse Stuff I Think and Shouldn’t Say 43
Don’t get me wrong, I truly do enjoy writing the Weekly Music Pulse, but I’ll elaborate later in this very column as to why I am dropping that part of the title. Trust me, the answer is at the end!
In the mean time:
Earlier tonight, I had a vision.
There, in a desert oasis, was a Native American man sitting on a log. Yes, a log in the desert, as it was a “vision” and not reality. It was a vision, so a log can be wherever I need it to be. My vision = logs are everywhere and are used for benches or stools, capisce?
This Native American, had tears running down his face. The burnt out remains of a once lit cigarette were clenched between the fingers of his right hand.
“Why, sir, are you crying?” I asked.
The man’s voice shook my core, “Fernandez is gone. The Bootleg is gone. What have I left to read?”
I reminded him that the best way for us, the Inside Pulse Music Staff, to carry on was to live up the standard that they set.
“Cut and Paste, Cut and Paste?” he said.
I shook my head, “No sir, Cut, Paste, and Italicize!“
Welcome To The Dollhouse
As some of you may not have heard, there are some Super Secret Rumblings about the future of Inside Pulse and a V(ersion)3. Changes are a coming, heads will soon be rolling, and I just want to let you loyal IP Music Fans know that I am totally safe…for now. That’s because while Gloomchen can do all the reviews in the world, eventually, that machine will break down!
Gloomchen has done a phenomenal job through all of the various personnel changes and some tumultuous times, and I wanted to thank her here for all the hard work behind the scenes.
I also want to say “hi” to Kyle David Paul, our Monday Columnist, who had to take a sabbatical while he began a new life in KOREA! Turns out that Kyle was offered a job teaching English, and was told that he would start immediately, so off he went. I had friends in college who taught in Japan through the JET program (Ssquared note: google it, I don’t know what JET stands for!) and said it was the most rewarding experience. If you can’t get enough KDP here (and I heard he has a ton of reviews coming up, so be on the look-out) follow his life through this site. He’s also working on his second novel, so send him an email and check up on IP Music’s only Canuck.
The reason I can jest at such time, truthfully, is that I stuck around long enough to make myself indispensable. No, not because of my monster hits and winning personality, but because I will not only chronicle my legal battles with my former employer here for the world to see, or tell tales of how I almost died on a Caribbean Cruise, but I do what I am asked: make minimal waves.
Frankly, when I quietly appeared three months into IP’s existence (November 2004, for those playing along at home) I never thought I would have this big ol’ sexy column. Sure, I disappeared during the shoulder/disability crisis, but personal life can get in the way of the intraweb.
And like Fernandez and Cameron have told me, don’t get caught up in this crazy rollercoaster…take a seat on the bench a while and let others enjoy the ride for a bit.
On a Serious Note
Two weeks ago, I promised you a slew of reviews, and I have yet to deliver. The CDs are sitting just a few inches from my keyboard, and it’s been really hard to write. Not to dive too far into the realm of “blog” writing (which may or may not be happening with V3) but I have suffered a second-degree personal tragedy. It wasn’t my family or friends, but it was a close friend’s family. Make sense?
Every person has to take a step back and reprioritize at some point, and after a very close friend told me that her father had taken his own life, I have spent the better part of the last few weeks in shambles.
No, I didn’t know her father at all, and I feel selfish for feeling this way, but her father and I had something in common: we both suffer from bipolar disorder. I know that you might also hear the disease referred to as “manic depression,” because of the wild and seemingly irrational mood swings, but I prefer the term I used. I am Bipolar.
My father was bipolar, his father and brothers were bipolar.
There were quite a few times that we sat and talked about how she could reach out to him one moment and he was distant and angry, and the next he was the same happy-go-lucky man she had remembered, and how that made her feel unloved. It hurts to feel a rejection that someone doesn’t understand that they are giving off. Remember: parents are supposed to be the first true source of unconditional love for any child, regardless of whether or not it ends up that way. Life’s not easy for the sufferer or the people who get caught in their path during an episode.
Suicide is not the answer, and while I make light of many things, there is nothing funny about that.
If someone you know starts talking about taking their own life, tell someone or do something. If you don’t have the power to intercede on their behalf, find someone who does: a parent or guardian, even a counselor or R.A. for those still in college, and tell them. Sometimes, it is a phase, a passing thought or a phrase from someone who sincerely does not want a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Sometimes it isn’t, and it’s better to be wrong and have that person be upset, than to say nothing and think there was something you should have done.
The valley of pain over losing a friend, lover, best friend, or close family member through suicide is deep and treacherous.
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.:.Columns from the Week that Was!.:.
Gloomchen: Summertime Blues, News, and Views
Open Mike Eagle: Letters From Freakloud
Mathan: More Reasons Why Being Deaf Sucks/Rocks
The Ultimate Fighter coverage has been phenomenal here at Inside Pulse. Shelly goes above and beyond and really has a grasp of the fighters and the format of the show. I missed the first 43 minutes (!) of this week’s episode, so I was glad to see this today, if only to know what the hell “wifey” (that’s Native American for FRIEND!) was talking about. Who came back? Wait, what happened to Matt? Thank you, Shelly. Having you and Sick here has made the Pulse much more MMA centric.
Puroresu Pulse Issue 72. David Ditch is my guilty pleasure. It’s not his wit or his charm, it’s his love of Japanese Pro-Wrestling! With Gordi on a hiatus, Ditch fills a hole in my life that can’t be filled by Ring of Honor alone.
Cars- Scott “Kubryk” Sawitz writes a lot of reviews here at Inside Pulse. He’s concise and thorough, and this one made me want to go see Cars. So I will.
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Ssquared’s Music Pulse Hook-Up!
The Editors – “Munich”
I am so glad found this!
Enough kidding aside, I reviewed the Editors’ The Back Room last month, but hadn’t seen a video for them anywhere.
I guess I missed it, but you shouldn’t have to, dear readers. So here is another sample of this really great, hidden treasure sort of disc that you need to hear…yesterday.
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brought to you by Kingdom of Loathing
.:.Cutting to the Chase.:.
Maybe they don’t feel like cutting a rug, but– Ta-Dah!– the Scissor Sisters felt like cutting a new album. The glitter-tastic band’s sophomore effort, titled, yes, Ta-Dah, arrives in North America on September 26 (September 18 in the UK), on the heels of the leadoff single “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’”, which appears internationally on September 4. The song is a collaboration between the band and one of their more obvious influences, Elton John.
Although the band has yet to reveal a complete tracklist, Ta-Dah will probably feature some of the new material that the Sisters have been performing live on stage all the way since Live 8 last year. According to Billboard.com, “Hairbaby”, “Monkey Baby”, “Paul McCartney”, “She’s My Man”, and “Everybody Wants the Same Thing,” are all likely candidates for the final track list. The band is also rumored to have collaborated with another one of their idols, Roxy Music singer Bryan Ferry. So much fabulousness…I think I’m going to explode!
More information about Ta-Dah will appear on the band’s new website, which arrives on the interweb June 30.
(credit: Pitchfork.com)
Ta-Dah? Evidently, those other “Sisters,” the POINTERS, really did steal the name Whoopity Freakin’ Doo right out from under the unintentionally gayest act since the Village People. Sounded like a classic, but Ta-Dah! says so much more.
Man, that was insensitive.
Honestly, I have no problem with homosexuals at all. I find the Scissor Sisters to be very fun, and progressive, and light…in their loafers.
…
Talk about starting on a bad note.
.:.Cashing in from the “Great Beyond”.:.
As recently reported, the next chapter in Johnny Cash’s celebrated American Recordings series is nearing its summer release date– with American V: A Hundred Highways hitting stores on July 4. How appropriate for such a consummate American institution.
Once again produced by ZZ Top understudy Rick Rubin, the album will feature twelve selections taken from the country legend’s final 2003 recording sessions. The official tracklist has made its way into the Pitchfork inbox, via a recent press release from Lost Highway Records:
01 Help Me
02 God’s Gonna Cut You Down
03 Like the 309
04 If You Could Read My Mind
05 Further on up the Road
06 The Evening Train
07 I Came to Believe
08 Love’s Been Good to Me
09 A Legend in My Time
10 Rose of My Heart
11 Four Strong Winds
12 I’m Free From the Chain Gang Now
A less flashy batch of tunes than the previous American entry (which saw the Man in Black singing on such square-peg covers as “Personal Jesus” and a dazed Fiona Apple duet on “Bridge Over Troubled Water”), the record offers a genuinely warm epitaph to Cash’s influential career with weathered but spirited takes on Bruce Springsteen, Gordon Lightfoot, and Rod McKuen tunes, as well as his own “Like the 309″, which marks Cash’s last original composition put to tape.
As Rubin said in a previous statement about the collection, “These songs are Johnny’s final statement. They are the truest reflection of the music that was central to his life at the time. This is the music that Johnny wanted us to hear.”
(credit: Pitchfork.com)
Johnny Cash is the country artist that my white trash family “up north” didn’t like. They loved them some George Strait, though, so I really hope Rick Rubin doesn’t try and get together with him for some sessions.
.:. Murdered…in the parlor…with a Zombie?.:.
Hard rocker Rob Zombie who directed last year’s The Devil’s Rejects and 2003’s House of 1000 Corpses, has signed on to write, direct and produce a new Halloween movie for an expected October 2007 release. He will also act as music supervisor. Zombie says his take on the horror classic will make a complete break with the previous Halloween films. “Everything that has come before does not figure into this one,” Zombie told The Hollywood Reporter. “That series is done.” But there is one familiar element Zombie plans to retain: The signature Michael Myers mask.
(credit: RollingStone.com)
Zombie has since gone on the record that he is not planning on making Halloween 9, but will instead create a newer version of the origins of the fabled Myers. Bravo, Rob. Way to buck the system!
Hey, when Hollywood runs out of ideas for new movies, go to the guy that has recycled the same song for the past three albums! He seems like he’s got his finger on the pulse (pun not intended) of pop culture!
Hollywood and Rob Zombie = match made in Heaven!
.:.Strokin’ Vedder and Homme.:.
The Strokes have enlisted the help of Eddie Vedder and Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme for a cover of Marvin Gaye’s 1971 hit, “Mercy Mercy Me.” The song will appear as the B-side to the Strokes’ upcoming single, “You Only Live Once,” expected to be released in July. Vocals on the B side are split between singer Julian Casablancas and Vedder, while Homme shares percussion duties with Strokes drummer Fabrizio Morretti. The band, currently on tour, recently shot the video for the single in Los Angeles.
(credit: RollingStone.com)
Well, at least all the stuff that PJ’s front man was doing with the Strokes here in New York makes sense. He was working with them…a bit of a vacation from the PJ monotony, and as long as he remains focused on rocking and having fun for the first time in 10-15 years now, things can only get better.
As for Homme, I find him a tad over-rated, but the Eagles of Death Metal’s last album was fun.
.:….And I Would Do Anything for Love, But I Can’t Stop Eating!.:.
Beefy arena-rock singer (and sometime actor) Meat Loaf has sold more than forty-eight million copies of his 1977 sophomore album, Bat Out of Hell, and the album’s 1993 sequel, Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell. Now, he feels like he deserves the rights to the album’s title. Meat Loaf (real name Michael Aday) has filed a lawsuit claiming that his name should be the only name associated with the phrase and music. In the suit, he seeks more than $50 million in damages from the song’s original scribe Jim Steinman and his own manager David Sonenberg, who he says have been disrupting the release of the third Bat Out of Hell album, due this year.
(credit: Rolling Stone.com)
If your manager is telling you not to put out the third Bat album there is a reason. It’s usually one of the following:
1) No one is going to care (i.e. “Who the ‘F’ is Meat Loaf?”)
2) Since you had prosthetic breasts in Fight Club, you grew them for real and it’s embarrassing.
3) It’s generally a bad idea, but you just don’t realize it…yet.
See, not everyone is out to get you, Mr. Loaf. Fans of SITASS (i.e. my mom and my Native American “friend” Chief Runs-Out-Of-Jokes) know that you can still hit that A above High C. You don’t have to prove it anymore, and after that dreadful performance with the McPheeverous One on Old White Folks Can’t Vote For An African-American Idol, you should keep this bat couped up in the belfry, sir.
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Check out the Archive or you can just click the individual reviews below:
The Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldiers
The Submarines – Declare a New State!
Mabus – Cheers, To Doomsday Gloom
Thursday – A City By The Light Divided
Paatos – Silence of Another Kind
Def Leppard – Yeah!
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.:.Another Week, Another Legend.:.
Billy Preston, the gifted keyboardist who recorded with both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and scored two of his own Number One hits, died of kidney failure in Scottsdale, Arizona, Tuesday at fifty-nine.
Preston worked with everyone from the Stones and Beatles to the “No Longer Red Hot” Chili Peppers.
A phenomenal talent that will surely be missed.
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I have had just about a week to reflect on Jeff Fernandez’ final Saturday Swindle Sheet. I was shocked that he broke this cute little team up, and out of respect for Jeff, I will not use the “Weekly Music Pulse” moniker again.
You will always be the Saturday lynch pin here in IP Music, and life got in the way of your awesomeness. Sure, Greg will be a fill-in who can garner an intelligent and rabid fanbase, but where are all the dick-and-fart jokes guys going to?
Where will I find out who 50 Cent looks like?
Actually, I have the answer right here. It came in an envelope with no return address, but I opened it right here in the Grace Chateau lobby.
(Seriously, Widro has the Mango, I live in a chateau…deal with it.)
50 Cent not only LOOKS like Mush Mouth (from Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids) but he has the same “cake-hole full of marbles” approach to speech as well.
This was never meant to be high-art, but thanks Jeff for the “mammories.” There may never be another “Dramatis Personae,” but there’s always your archives!
Keep it real!
Ssquared
Ssquared @ MySpace
...read full article...
Official Site of the Submarines
The Submarines @ MySpace
The Inside Pulse:
The Submarines are :
John Dragonetti (Jack Drag) and Blake Hazard
Due to exposure on TV and in major motion pictures, indie-rock has taken a turn toward the mainstream again because the influences of musicians such as: Bright Eyes, Death Cab for Cutie and Iron & Wine. The popularity of many of the most successful acts is simple: play melodies that people can hum at work sonically textured by lyrics they can relate to while touring incessantly and hope that “word of mouth” marketing works. This stylish experiment, Declare a New State!, is destined to find itself wrapped in the fabric of adolescent and/or hipster subculture.
Maybe it is fate, not loneliness, that compels us all to reach out and find a “perfect match.” This subtle guidance leads to moments we, as humans, might observe as happenstance. The Submarines are lead by the true life husband-and-wife tandem Jack Drag and Blake Hazard (great-granddaughter of F. Scott Fitzgerald,) a duo still very much enamored with the dramatic concept of love, who realized space was needed to fix a failing relationship. Hazard and Drag met on the road, however, relocating from Boston to L.A. together saw them break up on the eve of the 2004 California presidential primary, an event that eventually inspired the song “Vote.”
The time apart allowed them both to see that creatively (“Brighter Discontent”) and personally they were each other’s perfect match, which is apropos, as they are so in tune with one another, the genuine lyrical give-and-take helps move their colorful tale forward to a palatable ending.
The album was never meant to see the light of day. Originally, it was a gift for their friends, a “thank you” for the love and support. One of those friends eventually mixed the sessions for them as a wedding gift.
Most newlyweds get a blender or fine china. This is a sonic gravy boat for us all, a rare, undiscovered treat.
Positives:
Saccharine sweet and fluffy soft, this album is for the discerning listener. Nothing is forced or contrived, and the recipe is one that everyone can enjoy. “Peace and Hate” sums up the feelings of two people who truly were meant to be together, but life got in the way: “I should be gone/cast away/but still I’d love you/through all peace and hate.“
Negatives:
Wistful, gentle songs are not for everyone. If you aren’t a fan of Rilo Kiley or Teenage Fanclub, you won’t enjoy this experience. Try it anyway…it’s a bittersweet and evocative piece, well worth the effort. Just don’t throw this on your iPod and expect to have a killer workout.
Cross-breed:
The Postal Service as fronted by Neko Case and Sam Beam. Susanna Hoffs and Blake Sennett leading Wilco.
Reason to buy:
You need a soundtrack to your heartbreak, but need to keep a smile on your face out of fear that the sun will make you weep. Stay inside and listen to this, assured that after the heartache has gone, this is still a great album.
...read full article...
I’m Just Your Average Homeboy!
In just five months, YouTube has gone from beta testing to part of the national zeitgeist. The website is a place where anyone with a home video can post it online and create an endlessly entertaining diversion for bored office workers–who’ve been watching 40 million clips a day.
(credit: CNN.com)
I read this piece earlier in the week, which was a fantastic stroke of luck, as I was thinking all week about the viral video phenomenon. Sites like YouTube.com are a great launching pad for many unknown artists, as it is free to register and post videos of your shows.
For years now, sites like GorillaMask.net have been popping up all over the Internet, featuring videos of people getting hit in the genitals, slapped with a fish, funny stuff like that. Google Video debuted a few months ago, and while it appears to be a much tamer community than YouTube due to a stricter set of restrictions, at any given time, typing in the word “boobs,” “ass,” or “sex,” will bring up a wide array of entertaining, or lame, video clips. Some are two kids fighting in a crowded mall, shot from a camera phone; others feature middle-aged white men that are convinced of their rap prowess.
I wish Mike Eagle would get some video up, especially in lieu of this week’s Letters from FreakLoud, but I digress.
The system that both sites have in place could really prove to be a blessing for undiscovered musicians and established acts. We live in the digital age, and while the record labels appear to be against not only the proliferation of person-to-person media swapping, they also don’t like copywritten material popping up for people to view, free of charge. They send angry letters, and force the sites to remove those links, which, I feel is a really bad idea.
Now, don’t get me wrong, companies like the WWE and NBC have a right to ask for the files to be removed. The pay a lot of money to produce the product, and in order to protect any interest they might have in such a service for themselves down the line, but they truly are missing out on a golden opportunity. Instead of turning people away in droves, they could embrace this new format and it would allow their shows and products to reach new artists. If you miss this week’s Saturday Night Live wouldn’t it be great to just surf onto one of these sites and find the episode? Since there is no replay of the show, at least not for many months, it could be a great way to reach out and embrace new fans, to connect with a new audience.
When Saturday Night Live’s “Lazy Sunday” rap skit was featured on YouTube the night after it was LIVE on air, it brought in over 1 million hits in a matter of hours. Not days, HOURS! Seeing that the show hasn’t been getting great reviews or ratings since the late 70s, you would think that SNL and NBC would figure out a way to market this sketch, other than putting it out on a $15-20 DVD that would go on sale in 6-8 months. They basically threatened to sue everyone that was hosting it, which was their right, but I don’t think it was very intelligent business.
This featured skit could have saved SNL last season, and while it brought about a minor spike in ratings that subsequently waned, NBC had the opportunity to reach out to the new consumer market: the digital one.
Record labels might be suing the pants off of anyone that could be sharing music at any given time (which, for the record, is douche-baggery at its finest. These guys are all paying hundreds of million dollars of fines in payola scams, but I can’t send an MP3 to Widro?) but they understand that the business model they have been working with is archaic. Come on, since the emergence of the LP as the format of choice; tapes and CDs, even vinyl, music sales have slowly decreased year after year. The old formats just aren’t important to people, they don’t care about the artwork as much as people might think, and while a good percentage of the population might still care, some people just want to check out new stuff.
The number of P2P sites and programs is up because while it might seem like an easy “problem” to contain, it really isn’t. Yeah, you can shut down a site here and server there, but the technology is spreading and advancing at a breakneck pace. I remember my friend downloading the first edition of Napster in college, and how much stuff we could find on there at the time, and this was only in 2000! Type the word “torrent” into any search engine and you will get back a list of over 10,000 sites that are currently hosting such files. Six years have come and gone, and yet the RIAA thinks that they should prosecute the people downloading the material when the true criminals are the people who think that every record label needed its own service and that people will pay 7 times what it takes to produce the individual album. They act as though music collecting is a privilege, ignoring that the consumer is the one that has lined their pockets with hard earned money. With iTunes, Rhapsody, Yahoo Music and the multiple other “legal” digital music services out there right now, at any given time there are 400,000 people downloading music, which, for the record, is way more than the number of people that could occupy EVERY record store in the world at the same time.
YouTube, obviously, has become a haven for people like myself that want to discover new bands. All you need is a friend with a camera and the cables necessary to upload the files to a PC or Mac and its instant stardom…sort of. If the band is on MySpace the site offers musicians a way to instantly interact with potential fans. Shoot someone an email and a friend request, they can instantly check your band out and decide whether or not they like you enough to add you as a “friend.”
The reason I mention MySpace Music is simple: it’s a genius idea. The best part about it is the fact that you are joining a LEGAL community in which the built in fanbase is in the tens of millions. You could send hundreds of friend requests a day and be inundated with messages and comments the likes of which you could never garner with their depth and reach. It’s the type of service that artists have long been searching for. Every day is a new day to meet new people and make fans out of them. That’s why the labels are all creating profiles for every artist they have. If you know how to use the site, it can actually make being an independent artist quite profitable. This affords musicians the chance to make the music they want without corporate restrictions. If you have enough people in a town or state that are a friend of the band through these sites, when you roll through that town on your next “mini tour,” you won’t have as many empty rooms to play to. Ask any musician who they’d rather play for: 50 people who came to see the headliner and have no idea who they are or those people and 10 more that actually know the words to your songs, even without an LP in stores. My guess is that 10 times out of 10 they’ll say the latter.
I have already heard stories from bands about fans flying from New Orleans and California for shows in tiny venues here in New York City. They know what the band is up to as they develop a connection with the artists they love. They get to interact with the singers and guitarists. They shoot emails back and worth with the drummer. It’s not about asking just for an autograph these days; the connection is deeper than that.
And that’s what these music moguls are missing.
The connection.
Sites like these are making it possible for an artist to get out there and meet their fans and give them the ability to feel like part of the show. Members of the street teams to be the only people who knew the manager or drum tech on a first name basis. They were the only ones who knew where the band was staying and partying after the show. Back in those simpler times (which may or may not be the case, as with age, we all tend to gloss over the murky truth of those times anyway) they were just happy to get the free or discount tickets. Now everyone knows that such-and-such is the manager of Band XYZ; he’s right there in the Band’s top 8.
Shoot him an email, Doug. See if the band wants us to throw together a meet-and-greet at Applebee’s after the show?
Connections help any business man; he might get a better job or help it might help him close the big deal. Today, more than ever, the DYI artist is building similar relationships with fans on their own. They want you to know that they do appreciate your support and love. They want you to know where to go to see the next show. They want to see your lighters in the air. Bands want to know you love them, so stroke their egos a bit.
If some band from Topeka, Kansas drops you a message and wants to see what you think of their music, take a good listen. Tell them what you think.
We live in digital world now, baby. The man isn’t keeping us down any more!
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.:.Columns from the Week that Was!.:.
Sunday: Saturday Swindle Sheet!
Tuesday: Totally True Tune Tales
Wednesday: Letters From Freakloud
Thursday: More Reasons Why Being Deaf Sucks/Rocks
Friday: The New Classics
Cheap Heat returns as Daniels reports from inside Widro’s Palace…the aptly named Luxurious Widro Complex. I watched the Mets replay later that night, but it wasn’t the same. Find out what our fearless leader does during a PPV. Trust me, if you ever get the text message…try the salsa.
McFarlane Gets Lost. Figures GOD, PK, reported that Lost will, in fact, be heading for the peg hooks of your local hobby store. This makes me even more sad that Spawn’s creator hasn’t snatched up 24 for the same treatment. Who doesn’t want a Tony Almeida figure? A one-handed Chase? Imagine Season Two Jack with a Hacksaw and a severed head!
The 50 Club: 12 Angry Men- McCullar and his peeps check out an American classic. Do they agree that it’s one of the greatest films of all-time? Does it join Raging Bull, Vertigo, and Chinatown in IP Movie’s 50 Club? And, for that matter, what about The Bridge on the River Kwai? Check ‘em out!
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Ssquared’s Music Pulse Hook-Up!
Murder by Death – Brother
Murder by Death is the first REPEAT Music Video Plug!
The most email I have ever received over a column poured in two weeks ago when I plugged the Indiana quartet. Glad to see there is so much MbD love out there. I mentioned last time that I was a really big fan of not only their sound, but of them as people. The reason for this was pretty simple, as when I first started here at Inside Pulse, lead singer Adam Turla actually wrote me to let me know he appreciated what I had said and answered some questions.
hey this is adam from murder by death- thanks for the review- you said some very nice stuff and it was very well written, especially for a first write-up. since you posed these questions in the interview and i happen to
be sitting on my ass at a computer, here are my answers…
1) Do you listen to a LOT of Bright Eyes?
actually, not to sound like an asshole but of the few bright eyes songs I have heard, i find them completely unlistenable. i’ve only recently heard his stuff and granted, i havent heard entire albums but i can’t even
make it through a song. kinda funny huh? but hey music is strange like that.
2) Why so much piano?
we simply had a pianist in the band- when we started playing it was me (guitar and vocals) piano, and violin- then by the time we started playing shows it was the full band of guitar vocals, drums, cello, piano, and bass.
3) Why a concept album?
i take fiction and poetry writing, as well as religion as my majors in college so i thought it would be fun to bring a fictional element to an album- we also love movies and tried to make the album play like a movie-the
new album which we have just started writing is also a concept album.
thanks again- adam
So, the man not only READ the review, but took 3 hypothetical questions and answered them for me. In his defense, I love his voice on the new album, and I have gained a new appreciation for its sound. The Bright Eyes reference was more about the depth of the lyrics, which he addressed in the third answer. He was working on writing, so it makes sense for Who Will Survive… to have such an epic feel to it.
Anyway, if you missed it, this past Tuesday, In Bocca Al Lupo hit stores. This is MbD’s third full-length LP, and shows a great deal of maturity and growth. If you want to check it out, head here.
The band was in Manhattan this Tuesday for two shows. One was that night at the Knitting Factory, but during the late afternoon they celebrated the record’s release at the Virgin Store in Union Square. I couldn’t go, but there is a video of an acoustic version of “Brother” from that performance.
The same song TWICE in one column?
Madness.
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.::.Forward Progress with Jon Sevastra.::.
In an interview with Billboard, industrial metal granddaddy and famed frontman of Ministry, Al Jourgensen, announced that he will be making a bee line for the studio after his current tour to finish his anti-Bush trilogy of albums. The forthcoming album The Last Sucker will follow up 2004’s Houses of the Mole and this year’s Rio Grande Blood. The bomb dropped with the announcement that Jourgensen will hang up his snake-bitten cowboy hat and focus all of his energy into his new record label 13th Planet Records. With his remarkable history at WaxTrax Records, we should only expect some brilliant new blood via the new label.
In the June 2006 issue of Revolver Magazine, former Pantera and Damageplan skinsman, Vinnie Paul Abbott, calls out Phil Anselmo about all of the hard times and ill-intentioned words thrown around in the years preceding, and following, guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott’s murder. In one of the most in-depth interviews since his brother Dime’s murder, Vinnie shares his last memories with his brother, clears the air about the still boiling bad blood between himself and Anselmo, talks about his new label “Big Vin Records” and the first release of Rebel Meets Rebel featuring himself, Dime, Rex Brown and David Allen Coe.
Mmmm, soapbox. I’m a little torn. As a strong advocate for the advancement of metal and all its nuances, I’m thrilled with mainstreaming of metal on VH1. They’re on a teaching kick lately with shows like Rock Honors, Supergroup, and the plethora of metal specials airing now. Bottom line, this is great exposure for metal. Exposure leads to new blood. New blood keeps people hooked.
But VH1? Am I the only one who feels a little slighted by the fact that VH1 is the first major outlet to jump on this bandwagon. FUSE is trying but only really catching the already digestible pop metal, set aside their half hour Uranium program. MTV is, and has been, a lost cause. I guess we should all just take that grain of salt, put it on our popcorn, kick back in front of the tube and get what we can. I can only hope that this popularizing of metal doesn’t put the true roots of a live and fan based genre up on a pedestal out of reach for those of us who were raised in the real metal culture. Times they are a changin’.
This is Jon Sevastra reporting from the metal underground for SITASS news.
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brought to you by Brooklyn Industries
.:. I Predict a Riot…I Predict a Riot!.:.
Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson was nearly killed in a hit-and-run accident Sunday when crossing the street in downtown Leeds, England. The band reports that Wilson is “the luckiest man alive, because he is still alive” and credits the frontman’s survival to his air-defying and knee-bending trademark stage jumps. “The jump meant he was flipped over the top of the car, hitting the windscreen, rather than getting trapped under it.” Wilson’s injuries were minor: a broken toe and bruising. Police are still investigating into whether the accident was related to drunk or just reckless driving. The Kaiser Chiefs’ scheduled June shows will go on as planned with Wilson at the helm.
(credit: RollingStone.com)
.:.J Lo Has Moves?.:.
After canceling a number of worldwide spring performances earlier this month for undisclosed reasons, Jennifer Lopez has confirmed her own MTV reality show, Moves. The program will follow six professional dancers trying to make it big in the entertainment business with Lopez — the singer turned actress is also executive-producing the eight-episode run, making appearances throughout the series. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Moves is scheduled to air in the fourth quarter.
No word from Kevin Smith of Clerks fame, as to why one of his best friend’s ex ’s is using a WIDELY acknowledged nickname of his for the title of her newest endeavor. Jason Mewes was the only person I could reach for comment on such short notice, replying “Snoogans!”
You heard it here first: Snoogans!
Had he said “Snootch to the Nootch” I would have laughed more, but we can’t get picky with our celeb interviews here at Inside Pulse.
.:.Don’t Hate the Player, Hate the Game.:.
Jayceon Taylor, a.k.a. The Game a.k.a. Fitty’s Bitch,” was arrested in California last week, on charges of “on charges of possessing a deadly weapon after being pulled over by police for a traffic violation.”
While searching the MC’s whip, officers came across a set of brass knuckles and promptly took him into custody. His court date is set for next month, and he was released on $20,000 bail. This is the second brush with the law this year for the Game. In April, an arrest warrant was issued after he missed a March court date for his involvement in a mall riot in North Carolina in which he was charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
(credit: RollingStone.com)
.:. Babyshambles Lose Record Deal.:.
Babyshambles — fronted by Kate Moss’ now infamous ex-boyfriend Pete Doherty — no longer have a record deal. Although the band released its debut album in America just this year, it appears Babyshambles have been dropped from their label. While representatives from Rough Trade Records maintain the relationship came to a “natural end,” a recent incident in which Doherty allegedly squirted a syringe of his own blood at an MTV camera crew might have been a factor in the decision.
(credit: RollingStone.com)
Talk about going from bad to worse. This guy can’t seem to keep out of the papers in the UK, and now he gets released from the only record deal he could get by SQUIRTING HIS BLOOD at a camera crew. That’s really smart, Pete.
You are a known intravenous drug user. You do tons of coke and have talked in the press before about your penchant for unprotected sex. You draw a syringe full of your own blood and spray it at people? That’s just crazy. Someone, anyone, needs to step in and save this guy. Get him committed to a serious psychiatric treatment facility and leave him there. If he sneaks out, don’t chase him with cameras, don’t interview him, just pretend you don’t see him and let his life fall apart away from the prying eyes of the media. If no one acts like we need to hear about this guy, he might get the picture about his situation and quit being a tool.
It’s either that or he dies and we lament about “what could have been.”
.:. Shot Through the Arm, and You’re to Blame.:.
Beanie Sigel, the popular rapper who has been shadowed by his violent past, was wounded by gunfire during an attempted robbery May 25th.
The rapper was shot one or two times in the upper right arm shortly after 8 a.m., police said. He was hospitalized and is in good condition.
According to police, the apparent hold-up was attempted by five males traveling in two cars,. It was not clear where the shooting took place.
Sigel, born Dwight Grant, was released from federal prison in August after serving a year on a gun charge and was acquitted of attempted murder the following month. He was also briefly jailed in November for failure to pay child support.
(credit: Billboard.com)
Riiiiiiight. Just when I thought the new State Property was going to go off without a hitch, Beanie goes and gets shot.
Well all know there is a reason that this happened.
If you continue to run around with a gaggle of thugs and act like a total douche, real thugs will show up and try and jack your pretty diamond bracelets.
Funny, a guy can sit in jail for a year, locked up 21 hours a day, and yet the minute he gets out, he goes right back into the waiting arms of the crowd that got him busted in the first place.
He didn’t die.
Maybe he will turn his life around this time?
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Check out the Archive or you can just click the individual reviews below:
Mitch Willer – Sylvia Sidney…I Love Her Still!
The Like – Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking
The Dixie Chicks – Taking the Long Way
Lansing-Dreiden – The Dividing Island
Gnarls Barkley – St. Elsewhere
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Welcome to the Jungle! We’ve got pleated khakis!
Designer Tommy Hilfiger decided it was time someone did something about Axl Rose’s decade long promise of a new Guns N’ Roses album: He kicked his ass.
Evidently, Tommy Hilfiger’s step-son used to be married to the woman with whom Rose is currently linked. I don’t think that Hilfiger approves, as while at the Plumm night club here in New York for actress Rosario Dawson’s birthday bash, he decided to do a little bashing of his own: Axl.
Actually, he slapped him a few times, called him some names, and got himself and Lenny Kravitz thrown out. Kravitz didn’t have anything to do with the fracas, he just happened to be the darkest person in the room, and we all know how Hilfiger feels about blacks.Granted, the blows that landed were glancing, but it appears that Rose has matured a great deal since the glory days of GNR, as the Axl of old wouldn’t have taken that 15 years ago.
Rose, as it was reported in the May 20th edition of the NY Post, Times, and Daily News, had moved the fashion mogul’s beverages, which sent Hilfiger into a “foamy-mouthed rage.” Kid Rock was there and sided with Axl, saying that Hilfiger was upset that he was moved to make room for ” rock stars.”
Showing the kind of Grace that NO ONE thought he possessed, Rose merely shrugged the incident off, even poking fun later during his special acoustic set. He dedicated the song “You’re Crazy” to “my good friend Tommy Hilfiger.”
Regardless of how you feels about Axl Rose and his Chinese Democracy promises, this story is damned funny.
(credit: NYPost.com but it was EVERYWHERE)
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It appears that Fernandez and I have set up quite the nice little system here. I get all the weird holiday weekends (i.e. Mother’s Day, Memorial Day) and he gets to write wrestling tournaments.
Hey, I won the damn thing, so I can say what I want to about it. I beat KDP, the Bootleg and Gloomchen on my way to the title. Yeah, it was a screwjob finish in the end, but I got 3 seconds of pure bliss with my buddy Summer!
Jeff is a good dude.
Go gentle on him next weekend.
I will see you guys in two weeks. Tons of reviews from me next week, so be on the lookout.
Keep it real!
Ssquared
Ssquared @ MySpace
...read full article...
There used to be a time when singles were big business. Not in a “hey, take this $10,000 and play my new band’s single” sort of way, but in that folks would go and seek out a band’s CD single and enjoy. They didn’t have the bells and whistles of a full-length LP, but that was the fun of them. They were cheap and easy, and you could decide if you truly liked an artist. There were Top 10 CD Singles in Record Stores, with not a DVD in sight.
Music stores used to be able to sell ONLY music. I know the smaller, indie stores are set up in such a way, but this was a different time.
You’d hear a song on Fly 92 or Hot 97 (just substitute your local top-40 Pop/Modern station here) and would head to the store to find this killer release. The clerk would tell you that the album, unfortunately, wasn’t available yet, but you could always grab the CD single. For a $1.99, how could you go wrong?
While there, you would browse the racks while Johnny Q. Associate would guide your buying process. He would make recommendations for comparable artists using such classic lines as: “If you love Danzig, you will really enjoy Slayer,” or “Well, Alice in Chains is great, but you might really like Mudhoney.” (*phrases actually used in training manuals for a former employer of mine)
Once you buy two or three CDs and the single you ACTUALLY came in for, you meet another employee, Wanda Cashierchick (she’s evidenty German?), who mentions that you really should purchase a few CD wipes or CD cleaners to make sure that all the built up dust in your CD player doesn’t cause any scratches on the disks. Hell, you’ve just spent $40 more than you originally intended, but it might be worth it.
Maybe Wanda Cashierchick knows something about the vicious nature of those tiny clumps of skin and hair and airborn mess that you don’t. Maybe in Germany, dust is the leading killer of music fans? I’ve never been there, so I can’t exactly say for sure. My guess, though, is no.
See the thing with CD singles that record companies and stores liked was that it was easy to convince someone that was looking for one album (that may not have been released yet) that they will like something else. It’s the nature of sales, but it is the reason that most people dread going into a corporate store like FYE or Sam Goody (R.I.P.) The larger stores have higher rent. Higher rent means they need higher sales to cover the cost of running the store, so they need you to actually learn to sell. They don’t care if you can’t tell the Vines from the Hives, just know the alphabet and be able to push people with comments like “Well, that CD is really affordable, but a large number of the newest models, which might be a little more expensive, have a feature known as ‘progressive scan’ which makes it easier to watch films with multiple layers of encryption.” (*more talk from the same manual).
No, it isn’t a lie, necessarily, but the nature of the game requires the staff to constantly be upgrading. Honestly, if the store isn’t an independent chain, 2/3s of the crap that comes out of the employee’s mouth is some variation of the corporate directive: sell, sell, sell. That’s all they are told to do, so they do it.
Problem is, you wanted to know who sung “Over My Head” (The Fray) and you are walking out with a Keane CD, Elbow’s Asleep in the Back, Love is Here by Starsailor, two packets of 99 cent CD wipes that you will never use and a $14.99 CD player cleaner (but you can use it in your DVD player, game system and PC as well!) that you really don’t need.
I receive emails all the time asking me why I left what sounds like such a cool job as being a Manager of a Record Store. I got to be paid for listening to music all day (although it was all a corporate sample which, if Eliot Spitzer looked into with his Payola Investigaion, would find that companies were PAYING for the right to be advertised in the stores.)How could you give up that awesome discount? Yeah, 30% was pretty awesome, but the decision was easy after 3 years.
I love music. I could care less about cleaners, wipes and gift wraps. I like to talk about bands people should know, or might be hearing from soon. I like helping Mothers and Aunts find CDs for their kids based on what they like. Hell, I told the women to call me if the kid didn’t like it, and I would do the return for something they did like instead. The company would rather I offered a gift card. Why is that?
It’s a double sale.(*corporate term AGAIN!)
One, the parent/family member first bought a gift card, driving the sales of those. Two, the kid would then come back to the store with said card and would buy music with it. More often than not, a kid with a 30 dollar gift card would spend another $15 of their birthday/holiday money, generating more sales for the store.
Hey, it’s good business, but its not why I always wanted to work in a record store.
When I mention my previous job, you might think my life was like Empire Records. You think that we dance around in a grocery store sized modern musical marvel. We are all young and trendy, mostly attractive, and love to talk to ANYONE about music. There was a point when it was like that, and I was taking rich 40-somethings in Connecticut out to their van for a quick shag. There was the girl from the Fleet Bank across the way who I bagged, so there’s another perk. She was fun.
Anyhow, my day sucked. I got in at 8 a.m. and was alone doing paperwork from the night before. Based on the numbers, I would have to tell my staff what items to try and push for the day, and how many Units Per Transaction we needed to have. (*I hated that company…Units Per Transaction? Does it matter that I sold a $200 DVD player and not 2 $20 CDs? No. They would rather that after I talk to the couple with the DVD player and gain their trust, I con them into buying a DVD cleaner. Seriously, don’t push fun movies on the people who just bought the DVD player…no, let’s give them a DVD cleaner for a DVD that won’t need a cleaning for a year.)
That sucked.
I understood it was a business, and the rent was high, but I hated crunching numbers. Some people aren’t cut out to be a numbers man, which was why I hired people that could see that bottom line. I am a creative guy, and I was the one who pushed to do different things within the store to generate familiarity within the community. We were pushing to do in store signings in the store, maybe even some performances, but were turned down by corporate because the sales generated wouldn’t offset the man hours. Then they did the same idea I had in another store, three different times. All local bands with big followings, just like I pitched. And did I ever get any credit? No.
So, the next time you go into a local FYE, Strawberries, Coconuts or some other chain store like that, be nice to the help. They have a boss who’s boss is breathing down their neck to sell more flat piece of cotton and some mildly diluted bottle of rubbing alcohol.
It’s just a numbers game to them.
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Ssquared’s Music Pulse Hook-Up!
Murder by Death – Until Morale Improves The Beatings Will Continue
Murder by Death is a Bloomington, IN quartet that I reviewed in my very first piece here at Inside Pulse. Matthew Michaels hired me after reading my sample review of Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them? so I have this connection with the band, so to speak.
It is because of them that I exist here, as I wouldn’t have been compelled to write in unless I was moved by the album, which I was and still am to this day, and seeing that their new release, In Bocca Al Lupo is hitting the streets May 23rd, I decided that this video was apropos.
Check out the new stuff at Murder By Death.com. They are launching a full national tour in the coming weeks, so be sure to check them out when they are near your town. You will NOT be disappointed.
Enjoy!
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.:.Columns from the Week that Was!.:.
Summertime Blues, News, and Views
Letters From Freakloud
More Reasons Why Being Deaf Sucks/Rocks!
Auditory Assault
Into the Pit
IP’s own MMA expert, Reverend Sick, takes us through UFC happenings behind and in front of the camera. Great read every time out.
The 50 Club – Fargo
My buddy Michaelangelo McCullar and crew take a look at an underappreciated Coen Brothers classic. Does it get the respect it deserves? Read it and see. I participated in this feature a few weeks back when we discussed Vertigo, the Hitchcock classic, and I truly welcome an opportunity to do it again.
This month, Inside Pulse Music Staff and various writers from around our great site compiled a list of the seminal “first impression” tracks from the modern album era. The first part kicks off with a phenomenal explanation of the elimination process and criteria for selection from our own Greg Wind, and continues for two more parts. If you actually remember where you were the first time you heard Nine Inch Nails’ “Head Like a Hole” or who drove you home from school the day you first heard Weezer’s “My Name is Jonas,” this is for you:
Album One, Track One: First Impressions, Part One
Album One, Track One: First Impressions, Part Two
Album One, Track One: First Impressions, The Conclusion
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brought to you by Brooklyn Industries
.:.Danger Doom to Release Free EP.:.
Though Danger Mouse is hard at work with the success machine, Gnarls Barkley, he hasn’t forgotten about his buddy MF Doom, with whom he collaborates on the group Danger Doom.
The pair, who have been collaborating with Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, are readying a new EP that will be available for free exclusively through AdultSwim.com. The as-yet-untitled project will voices from Adult Swim’s shows like Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Minoriteam, according to Billboard.com.
The first track, “Corn Dogs,” is set to be released on May 15, while eight more tracks and skits will be available each week after that.
(credit: Spin.com)
I loved the Grey Album, the Jay-Z/Beatles disc that Danger Mouse did, and I really dig MF Doom and the Danger Doom Album from last year. If you, like me, love the whole indie rap revolution, make sure to hop online tomorrow and grab “Corn Dogs.”
It will be rad!
.:.Universal Coughs Up $12 Million in the Name of Payola.:.
Universal Music Group — the world’s largest record label and home to Metallica, U2, Gwen Stefani, Kanye West, the Killers and others — will pay a $12 million settlement in New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s payola inquiries. Universal was charged with bribing radio station employees for air play. Along with the $12 million that will go toward charity, Spitzer has ordered the label to cough up an additional $100,000 in investigation costs and reform adjustments. Of the four major labels, Universal is the third to get slapped with a settlement: Last July Sony Corp. agreed to pay $10 million, while Warner Music Group followed agreeing to $5 million last November.
(credit:RollingStone.com)
.:.Snoop Dogg Accepts Blame In Heathrow Flap.:.
Snoop Dogg has accepted responsibility for using “threatening words or behavior” in a brawl last month at London’s Heathrow Airport. The 34-year-old rapper, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, appeared at Heathrow police station and “accepted a caution for a Section Four Public Order Act matter, using threatening words or behavior,” police said May 11th.
A caution means a person has accepted responsibility for the offense, and a record will be made. No further action will be taken, police said.
Snoop and five other men were arrested on charges of violent disorder and starting a brawl, and spent the night in jail after trouble flared when some members of the rapper’s party were denied entry to British Airways’ first-class lounge.
Seven officers received minor injuries, mainly cuts and bruises, and one suffered a fractured hand. Five others arrested in the disturbance were expected to appear at the police station later in the day.
British Airways has banned Snoop from future travel on the airline, it said last month
(credit: Billboard.com)
So, it turns out that Snoop is the “big dog” when it comes to accepting responsibility for his missteps. This is a good thing.
I said it a few weeks ago, and I stand by the statement, that British Airways is a garbage airline. Don’t fly with them.
If I had to pay $20 for a not-so-tasty sandwich on a transatlantic flight after I had been denied access to the “privileged members” section at an AIRPORT, and I was Snoop, I would have bashed some heads in too. I just know that messing with international law enforcement agents isn’t such a neat idea based on the current political climate.
Next time you find yourself in such a situation, just punch a baggage clerk. They are so used to the abuse, they might welcome an unforeseen head injury and the night off. If you hit me in a similar situation, I might even split a hoagie with you.
.:.Thom Yorke Solo Plans REVEALED!.:.
Thom Yorke sent out the following message to Radiohead’s W.A.S.T.E. fan club:
this is just a note to say that something has been kicking around in the background that i have not told you about.
its called The Eraser.
nigel produced & arranged it .
i wrote and played it.
the elements have been kicking round now for a few years and needed to be finished & i have been itching to do something like this for ages.
it was fun and quick to do.
inevitably it is more beats & electronics.
but its songs.
stanley did the cover.
yes its a record!
no its not a radiohead record.
as you know the band are now touring and writing new stuff and getting to a good space so i want no crap about me being a traitor or whatever splitting up blah blah…
this was all done with their blessing. and i don’t wanna hear that word solo. doesnt sound right.
ok then thats that.
i think its out in july and im pretty certain XL are going to put it out.
love thom
It all becomes very clear: Thom Yorke’s album, The Eraser, is due out July 11 on indie label XL Recordings.
Track Listing:
01 the eraser
02 analyse
03 the clock
04 black swan
05 skip divided
06 atoms for peace
07 and it rained all night
08 harrowdown hill
09 cymbal rush
(credit: Pitchforkmedia.com)
Basically, this means that Radiohead’s next release won’t hit streets until 2007, as the band is currently touring and cannot get back into the studio until they are back home/off the road. Well, if I can’t get the FULL band, I will take a solo-ish effort from Thom and smile just the same.
Should be really good.
I just think it’s funny that he wrote all the songtitles in lower case deliberately.
That won’t win him any new fans with people who already find the band pretentious, but it should keep die-hards like myself very happy. It’s all about keeping us in a state of perpetual excitement and anticipation.
Not in the way Guns N’ Roses have with Chinese Democracy, but you catch my drift.
.:.Alice Cooper Honored in North Dakota.:.
Forget Hollywood, veteran rocker Alice Cooper will put his handprint down on Fargo, North Dakota’s Walk of Fame (which we’re told is “bustling”) when he play’s the city’s Civic Center on May 15th. But that’s not all the Peace Garden State has in store for Cooper, with a population of some 60 — yup, just 60 people — the town of Alice, North Dakota will give Alice Cooper its key to the city. Cooper, who hosts the syndicated radio show Nights With Alice Cooper five times a week, hits the road this summer beginning June 30th in St. Paul, Minnesota.
(credit: RollingStone.com)
I wonder if Chad Kroeger will ever get the keys BACK to his house. I think his wife left him when she realized that he was a Canadian Scott Stapp, without the good backing band or Jesus.
Oh and congrats to the man known as Alice Cooper. That’s a cool honor. I want to have my hometown (Ballston Spa, New York) ask me to put my hands in cement for the Walk of Fame. Yup, me…immortalized so that one day, children can look at their parents for answers and they can say, “He was a web-journalist. Kinda bloggish writer, but he was funny…on occasion. Now let’s go get some churros!”
That will be my proudest day.
Why?
I will own the Churro Stand!
I want to keep an eye on my legacy, guys. I also get to make a nice penny while doing it. Ooh, maybe I will sell “dirty water dogs!”
The wheels are already in motion.
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Rage – Speak of the Dead
Katatonia – The Great Cold Distance
Panzer AG – Your World is Burning
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Great White Manager Gets Four Years for Club Blaze
Dan Biechele, the former tour manager of Eighties heavy metal band Great White, was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison and three years probation for setting a fire in a Rhode Island nightclub in February 2003, a blaze that killed 100 fans and injured twice that number.
Biechele set off pyrotechnics that ignited the flammable foam lining of the Station nightclub’s walls during the band’s performance there, resulting in the fourth-deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history.
Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr., who had heard testimony from many of the victims’ family members during the three-day hearing, said in his remarks that Biechele’s sentence was imposed to punish him for his negligence “and not the results of [his] actions.”
“You and the victims’ families will be forever mindful of that fatal night, and it is not within the power of this or any court to fashion a sentence reflective of the enormity of that tragedy,” he said.
The ruling strikes a compromise between prosecutors — who pushed for a ten-year sentence — and Biechele’s lawyers, who requested community service for what they called an “accident.”
Several relatives of the victims were enraged at what they considered a light sentence for twenty-nine-year-old Biechele.
“My son has never known his father,” said Heidi Peralta, girlfriend of Great White guitarist Ty Longley, who died in the fire. She told the court that she was three months pregnant at the time of the catastrophe. “We never got to go to ultrasounds together. We’ll never have family portraits. We’ll never have any of that, and it’s not fair.”
Biechele, who pleaded guilty in February to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter for firing off pyrotechnics without a license, tearfully apologized to the victims’ families in court. “I don’t know that I’ll ever forgive myself for what happened that night, so I can’t expect anyone else to,” he said. “I can only pray that they understand that I would do anything to undo what happened that night and give them back their loved ones.”
Biechele’s sentencing has not appeased prosecutors, who plan to pursue owners of the West Warwick Station, State Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch told CourtTV.
The club owners, brothers Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, were indicted in December 2003 and each pleaded innocent to 200 counts of involuntary manslaughter — two counts for each individual killed — for violating state fire code by allegedly padding the club’s walls with combustible foam.
Michael Derderian’s trial is tentatively set for July 31st; no trial date has been scheduled for his brother.
(credit: RollingStone.com)
One hundred people lost their lives that winter evening three years ago, and I understand that they died a horrible, horrible death on a night where they just wanted to relive a few memories with a band that they all appreciated. Sadly, it was the last show for so many, and while I don’t think that Biechele is the only person to blame for such a miscommunication/case of negligence, he will live with that night for the rest of his life. Yes, he can go to jail and serve his time, but in the court of public opinion, he will always be remembered, if anything, as the man whose ignorance killed many people.
I hope that the families of the victims can learn to forgive this man. God only knows that he may never be able to truly forgive himself.
Where’s the Bump?
It has come to our attention that Ashlee Simpson, pop-garbage queen and SNL hoe-down dancer, has gotten some rhinoplasty done. Back in February, many people began to notice the slightly “off” appearance of Ashlee, and now we can see what she was building toward…a smaller nose. Now, it isn’t that extreme a procedure, as People reported weeks back that the surgery was performed on April 21st, but the bump in her nose is totally gone.
Side by side photos show a marked difference in the profile and tip, and when asked for comment, Simpson is basically just laughing.
There are a lot of reasons she is evidently having a good time with all this: 1) we are still talking about her 2) people are still buying her albums 3) she looks more like Jessica, so now she gets to go for her dream man: Johnny Knoxville.
There is just no shame in Hollywood. From the fake tan, to her father’s meddling in her sister’s marriage, people will do anything to be famous and stay there!
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And with that, loyal readers, I bid you adieu. Today is Mother’s Day. If you forgot to get your mom a card or a Fudgy the Whale Ice Cream Cake, you aren’t a horrible person. Maybe just a call will suffice, but show her that you understand how very much she has done for you.
Luckily, I got to spend all day Friday and Saturday with Mom here in Queens and took her to Coney Island yesterday. My back is killing me from the Cyclone, but I am still sitting upright. That’s a good thing.
My mother taught me to dream. To pick the biggest, toughest challenge in my life and go for it without fear. One day soon, I am sure I will be proud of what I have become because of her love and devotion, but at least I know she is.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the ladies. Grandmothers, Great-grandmothers, Moms and Mom’s-to-be. This is the one day that you are recognized for your commitment to your kids, to the sacrifices you’ve made and the love you’ve given unconditionally. Thank you, from all the sons and daughters of the world.
Keep it real!
Ssquared
Ssquared @ MySpace
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