Rogue Wave - Asleep At Heaven's Gate

Fresh from under the christmas tree, this is Rogue Wave's newest album, and it's pretty darn spiffy. Word.

EDIT: For those who want some additional info, here's what I got. This is Rogue Wave's third album, and it's great. I've really been digging this genre lately, with new albums from the likes of Iron & Wine, The New Pornographers, and Band of Horses taking up most of my listening time. Rogue Wave fits right in there, and their progression musically is great to follow. Their first album is basically all acoustic guitar, and it wasn't until their second album that the band's front man Zack Rogue really embraced the full band sound. This third effort elevates their sound even further. These three albums have become staple listening in the house for Kristen and I. Here's the first single they released from this album:

Atmosphere - Strictly Leakage

A nice little Christmas present from our friends Sean and Anthony. Those Atmosphere boys must've had a busy year. Grab this free album while you can and sit tight while you wait for their next release.

http://rhymesayers.com/atmosphere/

Top Ten of 2007 plus One

These are not necessarily my best songs of 2007, but they are the ones that summed up my year.

1. Fiery Crash - Andrew Bird
I spent a lot of time in airports and airplanes over the past year. This song sums up the feeling of waiting helplessly in Airports, and the only way to have a good flight is to imagine it crashing before you get it on.
2. Goodnight Rose - Ryan Adams
This song gets me every time. It is kinda cheesy, but damn if it doesn't make me want to go follow the Dead
3. I'm impressed - They Might Be Giants
TMBG is the first band I started liking on my own. I was glad to see them take a more rocking turn on this song. The kiddy stuff can get kinda annoying.
4. Wild Mountain Nation - Blitzen Trapper
I just found out about this band a last week. Described as Pavement meets the Dead scared me away, but damn if this isn't a fine album and a great song.
5. Between My Legs - Rufus Wainwright
Ah Rufus, you are so unabashedly gay you nearly become a stereotype. Do we need the Phantom of the Opera reference in this Song, no. Did we need the album of Judy Garland covers, prolly not. Are you one of the best song writers alive today, maybe. This song goes from Rocking to weird in the span of 4 minutes and 30 secs
6. Life on Mars - The Bad Plus
From their release Prog, takes my favorite Bowie song to its natural prog-rock/jazzy conclusion
7. What Would Jay-Z Do? - Ben Lee
I love Ben Lee, yes he has been described as a rainbow riding a unicorn, but damn if he doesn't write clever pop songs. And who hasn't wondered what would Jay-Z do?
8. All the Old Show Stoppers - The New Pornographers
Damn, damn, damn. Is there a better album out this year? Is there a better song on the album? I'll fight you if you want.
9. Lyndale Avenue User's Manual - Atmosphere
Remind of the early fall days of living in Minneapolis.
10. Dreamworld - Rilo Kiley
Yeah the album was boring, but I really like the Fleetwood Mac-esque song on this album
11. It's Only Divine Right - Michael McDonald
technically from 1979, but unearthed this year, it is truly a great song. Unfortunately the audio recording does not do it justice. Check out the video here

Daft Punk: Alive 2007

[Update] Pitchfork review captures the sentiment well:
Daft Punk Alive 2007

Eddie Vedder - Into The Wild

This movie soundtrack is a sparse, pleasant walk through Vedder's crooning and acoustic guitar playing. Vedder plays every instrument on the album, and wrote all but two of the tracks. Most of the songs are only around two minutes long, but at 33 minutes in total runtime, this album is best ingested as whole anyways.

PJ Harvey - White Chalk

Here is her new album, it is much different than anything else she has ever done. On White Chalk, Polly Jean just sings and plays simple piano, no guitar. The lyrics are sparse, haunting, and she uses her voice as an instrument to set the tone of the album. You could say this is her Sea Change album. Give it a listen then google some reviews.

I'm Not There Soundtrack

As both Paul and Colin can attest to I have been obsessed with Todd Haynes' Dylan biopic I'm Not There. I don't know if it is the subject matter or the pomposity of the six different actors playing Dylan (Cate Blanchett? Richard Gere, a 12 year old black kid?), but I am obsessed. This of course is not Rotten Tomatoes, so I am gonna save my review of the film itself for another place.

This is of course the place where I can wax philosophically about music, and albums. the official sound track to I'm Not There, is in essence a Bob Dylan tribute album. This albums reads like a list the most popular indie singer songwriters (Jeff Tweedy, Sufjan Stevens, Iron and Wine, Cat Power etc.) and a list of artist whom my dad might think is cool (Jack Johnson, Eddie Vedder, Richie Havens, Roger McGuinn, etc.). On any tribute album you can go one of two ways, first is to take the words/music of the orginal song and change them to fit your own personal style; or two pay homage to the song and play the song as close to the original recording as possible. This album does it both. For those artist unfortunate enough to attempt the latter the songs are in short miserable. The shining example is "Highway 61 Revisited," which sounds like Karen O decided it would be a good idea to get drunk and go down to the 400 Bar's Dylan sound like contest.

There are song great takes on Dylan songs here, I espeically like Tweedy's "Simple Twist of Fate" which treads the line perfectly between a homage and making the song his own. Sufjan takes his own brand of pomposity on "Ring them Bells" and makes it work. Also former Pavement frontman Steven Malkmus does a fine job on the two tunes he was charged to do.

It would be remissed, if I did not mention the back up band for many of the tracks, The Million Dollar Bashers. A supergroup of side men consisting of Sonic Youth stars Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley, Wilco guitarist Nels Cline, Television guitarist Tom Verlaine, Dylan bassist Tony Garnier, guitarist Smokey Hormel and keyboardist John Medeski. They really shine and are the highlight of the album. Execept they play on the aforementioned "Highway 61," which is pure shit.

WEEN- La Cucaracha

Did I already post this? Oh well, it is deserved of a second listing.

This is the newest album from the brothers WEEN (actually not brothers and not named WEEN). For those unfamiliar, WEEN started as Gene and Dean Ween out of New Jersey, with their first album God WEEN Satan on Minneapolis label Restless Records. They would go on to record an album while high on gasses and glue (The Pod), an album of country music original classics (12 Golden Country Greats), the sexiest album cover of all time according to Playboy (Chocolate and Cheese), one of 2000's best albums (White Pepper) and one of the best albums Phish could only dream of recording (The Mollusk). I didn't even mention the other classics like Pure Guava, Quebec and the many live albums and website only releases.

La Cucaracha is classic Ween. Songs that break the barrier of definition, songs that meld early 90's electronica with Polka, songs that make you smile, dance, want to hit your bong (or your bubbler, depending on preference) and songs that just plain rock.

If you dig this album, I highly suggest checking out White Pepper, Chocolate and Cheese and The Mollusk.

Songs on La Cucaracha to listen to first: Sweetheart in the Summer, Friends, Blue Balloon, Learnin to Love and Spirit Walker.

Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog

Sam Beam apparently hasn't read the indie rock handbook. Rather than keep with his traditionally sparse sound, The Shepherd's Dog features lush production and a new direction for Iron & Wine. Fans of Iron & Wine's early recordings may not care for this new direction. But I think it's a sign of maturity and natural progression of an artist. Beam brings the same delicate vocals and well crafted lyrics but this time with something much more substantial to back it up. Enjoy.

His Name Is Alive – Xmmer

Xmmer is the latest record from His Name Is Alive released on September 18, 2007. Lead by Warren Defever, HNIA hails from Livonia, Michigan (which is just outside of Detroit for those of you on the west coast). This is the second record to feature Andrea Francesca Morici (ANDY FM) on vocals.

I just bought this record after their show last night at the 400 Bar. Fantastic show. Great songs, great band with some noisy weirdness thrown in for good measure. They're live shows usually consist of homemade stage props made from painted cardboard and people in gorilla outfits running around passing out bananas. Before this show started, they handed out a dozen or so tambourines for audience participation throughout the show. This added a nice looseness and it was kind of like a hootenanny without all the singing. Lots of good shakers last night strutting their tambo skills. Nice.

Blockhead - Uncle Tony's Coloring Book

Blockhead is probably best known for his production work With Aesop Rock, as well as some Rhyme Sayers artists. Blockhead's newest solo album is faster and more upbeat than his two previous efforts, but it's still 100% Blockhead. Dig it.

In Rainbows album artwork

Thanks for the upload. It took me awhile to find the album artwork for this, but I believe this is the official one, for those of you who are as anal as me and give a shit about something this trivial.

For those who don't like this particular one, there's a pool of album art here.

Radiohead - In Rainbows

Sounds like the Radiohead we all know and love. I paid £ 2, service charge £ .45 for a total of $5.00. There is talk that the 128 bit rate is poor quality. Sounds OK through my earbuds. Enjoy

Muse - Absolution

In reading the reviews for this album, I noticed that everyone mentions Radiohead. So that means I have to as well. But these guys are more than a clone band, they have their own grand ambitions. I'll let another reviewer sum up the album:

[It's] the sort of opus that Queen might have made had they been 25 years younger and brought up on Radiohead and Metallica as well as classical music and opera.

Overall, Muse has won me over with their grandiose rockingness.

Atmosphere-Sad Clown Bad Fall (Number 10)

Fresh off the heels of Sad Clown Bad Summer (Number 9), comes the Fall EP. Similar in style to the Summer album, this one is supposed to be about the joys of fall, the depression of the end of summer, and, well, whatever Slug wants you to think.

Having just seen them live in LA this past week, I am glad to say their touring band (consisting of Ant on the one's and two's, and a full backing band) is amazing and ads that element to his songs that is missing when it is just him and Ant. Slug took in the LA love for the entire 2 hour set, breaking down old classics and new tracks, including 4 new songs from the forthcoming full length, When Life Gives You Lemons. If the tour is coming near you, I HIGHLY suggest it.

With that, check out Lyndale Ave Users Manual and Peyote.

bob - contract with the lord

for those of you who are not familiar with the often passed over "born again" era of dylan's career (roughly 1979-1982), here's a great live recording from one of twelve shows he did in San Francisco in Nov 1979, filled to the brim with jesus lovin' grooves, soapbox sermonizing, and random shout outs from the crowd. bob seems to do little without creating a stir, and that especially goes for this period in his career. opinions may differ on the music and ideas that came out of bob at this time, but one thing is for certain: this is no put-on, he believes every word of it.

the baddest yet of the bad plus

300

So I have a non-music entry. This is the movie itself, not the soundtrack or anything. I figured we just got a bump in storage recently, so why not. Let me know if the quality is decent for you guys.

The Fountain Soundtrack

Sometimes a piece of music can evolve way past it's original intent to become a culturally recognized cue. Clint Mansell created one of these with his leitmotif on the soundtrack for Requiem For A Dream, "Lux Aeterna." It's a piece that everyone has heard at least once, somewhere, in a movie trailer, in a commercial, or maybe on SportsCenter. Putting aside any issues someone might have of this being a simple sell-out job, "Lux Aeterna" remains a haunting, powerful, and brilliant piece of music. (if you wanna hear it, do a youtube search for it, you'll get a bunch of different versions of it.)

So, wait...why am I talking about music that I haven't actually uploaded? Well, for as good as "Lux Aeterna" is, I think that his most recent collaboration with Darren Arnofsky is even better. The soundtrack for The Fountain is one of those soundtracks that truly enhances the film, elevating it, making the film that much more powerful. It's really low-key & mellow, so pop this music in while you're star-gazing, or reading the newspaper on a rainy Sunday morning.

The New Pornographers-Challengers

There are no surprises, power pop with lots of complex melodies, even some semi-glam. The musical variety makes for good listening. I like track 1-My Rights Versus Yours and track 4-Myriad Harbour.

Tenacious D - Live

Posted is Tenacious D's live concert in Winooski, Vermont, Sept. 2001

It is not new (but still pretty funny).

Gogol Bordello

In anticipation of Gogol Bordello's recently announced tour, specifically First Ave on November 1st, I'm posting their last two albums for your listening pleasure, Super Taranta! and Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike. Both albums are fantastic but neither really give you the full Gogol Bordello experience. Seeing them live is like running away with the Circus. You will get sweaty, loose your voice, and maybe a bit bruised, it will be one of best live shows you could attend this year. So, download these albums, listen to some Gypsy Punk, and join me at First Ave on November 1st.

Built To Spill - Ancient Melodies of the Future

Built To Spill is one of my favorite new discoveries. I know, I know, they've been around since MTV was playing the first Pearl Jam songs, but I only started listening to them last year. I guess I'm finally catching up on a band that was ahead of it's time.

I'm no music critic, so you wont hear me talking about how their music "blends intensely layered harmonies and pounding rhythms with emotional resonance that isn't unified on the sonic surface, but with enough patience, resonates on a level that connects the band's body of work, while also taking it a step further. "

Whatever.

Here's what do I know; this is their 2001 release Ancient Melodies of the Future, and it's spectacular. It is easy to come back to this album again and again. The songs are varied and intricate, and move from hard rock to soft ballads to twangy old country. Most of you have probably heard these guys before, but if you haven't, it's accessable alternative rock that gets stuck in your head. Most notably, The Weather is an emotional track that really connected with me.

Also, if anyone has their newest album You In Reverse, I wouldn't mind having that.

Easy Tiger - Ryan Adams

*****I had been planning to post this album months ago, but now I am finally getting around too it. *****



Ryan Adams is everything I hate about music today. He is arrogant, mean, tends to do ill advised duets, and takes himself way, way to seriously. Kinda like the Decemberists wrapped into a huge ego. With that being said Ryan Adams has put out some of the best music in the last 10 years. Beginnng with his work with Whiskeytown and moving to his solo work, Ryan music has been phenomenal. To this day Gold and Heartbreaker remain as two of my favorite albums. The later being the greatest Bob Dylan album, Dylan had nothing to do with. The most fun of his early work has been guess the influence. Ryan can go from Dylan, to Paul Westerberg, to the Smiths, to the Dead, to Gram Parsons, to Willie Nelson in the span of an album. The Love is Hell eps being perfect examples of this.

In 2005 was probably Ryan's most creative and turbulent year. Like Jay Bennett he thought it would be a good idea to release 3 albums in one year. The results were Jacksonville City Nights, Cold Roses both with the Cardinals. He capped the year with 29. While the albums are good, they are not a great as they could be. You have a feeling after listening to the albums you wish he would have spent the entire year making one awesome record, rather then the three.

In 2006 Ryan got himself clean, wrote a million songs (which I blogged about here.) And came out with a tight solid effort, Easy Tiger. Easy Tiger, is a great album. It tackles the general Adams' topics such as women screwing him over. But there is a maturity on this album, that was not generally seen in his previous work. Take for example the first single, Two. The song overcomes its unfortunate duet with Sheryl Crow, and tells the story of drug addiction and his eventual recovery. The album's closer, I Taught Myself How to Grow Old, sums up Ryan's past and his eventual future. It his harder to play find the influence on this record, which makes it seem Ryan has become more comfortable in his skin. I would be remised if I did not mention my favorite track on the album, Goodnight Rose. A bombastic, country bar classic. Which I think has one of the greatest guitar licks in recent memories. Also Ryan's vocals are great, I especially like when he has realized he has written too many words to fit in the space of the song so he just says them really fast.

*****This song updated while listening to Nick Drake on random. *****

say watt?

the first "solo" recording that i know of from the former Minutemen and fIREHOSE bassist/vocalist.

seems like he didn't really want to do this one all on his lonesome, and so he invited just about anyone of the alternative scene circa 1995 that showed a pulse or could fog a mirror... Eddie Vedder, Dave Grohl, Thurston Moore, J Mascis, Frank Black, Evan Dando, Dave Pirner, Henry Rollins, Flea, Lee Ranaldo, Mike D, Pat Smear to name a few.

gotta love the naked greco-roman cover art, i know kevein does as a wrestling fanatic.

has nice little jazz snippets too.

Atmosphere - Sad Clown Bad Summer 9

"Just in time for some Summer fun Slug and Ant drop an Atmosphere appetizer while they put the finishing touches on their 6th studio album, When Life Gives You Lemons... due early next year. Until then enjoy 5 new sun filled summer inspired songs from Atmosphere, so get 'em while it's hot and this gem is still available..."

Number 9 in the Sad Clown Bad Dub series, this is great treat for Atmosphere fans and newcomers alike. Most of the songs feature piano and have a summer groove that is undeniably head noddin'. Put this on in your car and drive around the Lake Calhoun with the windows down, these 5 songs just taste like summer. For those of you that aren't hip-hop fans, give this a try. These songs rely on sweet melodies and the lyrics are easy to swallow. Enjoy with a glass of Tang.

Mo' Music. Mo' Better.

By the will of His Steveness, we now have a lot more storage available on the iDisk. Apple recently announced a few long overdue upgrades for .Mac subscribers including a bump in iDisk storage from 1 GB to 10 GB. What does that mean for you? Well, we can now host a lot more music without worrying about the iDisk getting too full. I'll still continue to monitor the space and balance it with the rest of my usage. But don't let storage be a reason you don't upload an album. So, let's get this thing rolling.

Nick Drake-Tanworth-in-Arden

Tanworth-in-Arden is a collection of 18 solo acoustic songs recorded by Nick Drake at his home in 1967/68. The songs are traditional acoustic folk with a blues vein. Even though it is a poor recording, sounds like a home-cassette/bootleg it's still interesting to hear a young Nick Drake.

Stereo Total - Paris<>Berlin

Are they from France or Germany? I'm not really sure but they do make infectious pop music that I don't understand. Stereo Total's latest effort, Paris<>Berlin is more of the same sex-infused, euro-pop. Stereo Total will play the 7th Street Entry on September 1 with The Octopus Project. Enjoy.

Two in One Night!

One of the things that's always amused me is the state of Sam Coomes. Dude is a friggin' genius, yet he gets absolutely zero cred. Everyone wants to talk about his (ex) wife, Janet Weiss, cuz she's in Sleater-Kinney. Everyone wants to talk about the fact that he was in Heatmiser with Elliott Smith.

I've always preferred to think that Elliott Smith was in Heatmiser with Sam Coomes. Sam Coomes' drummer is also in another band, some "punk" outfit outta Portland.

I'm not even kidding. This is the guy behind The Donner Party, and the mastermind behind Quasi. Sheer pop genius, and who are the famous ones? The ones who don't deserve it.

Ah, the suffering of the preterite.

Anyway, back to this Quasi matter. If Sam Coomes had done nothing in his life besides record his work with The Donner Party, he'd already be one of my heroes. But then he went and recorded Featuring 'Birds'. Listen to those thunderous drums that open the album (okay, Janet, I guess you do deserve to be famous), listen to Sam pounding on his Rocksichord! Listen to the soaring, sickly sweet pop melodies! Listen to the bitter lyrics!

There's only one bad song on here, and it's the one written by Janet, "Tomorrow You'll Hide" (stick to drumming, girl, cuz you got that going on in spades).

You need the money
So you've got to play it dumb.
But if you play it long enough
It's just what you become.

Justice - †

Look, I'm not going to shit you - France is, by and large, a ghetto for popular music. Sure, you can point to "AIR" and maybe that Robert Miles guy (though I'm pretty sure he's half-Brit - he's got that sort of a thing emanating, bad teeth and his nose isn't big enough to be French), but AIR are basically weenies even though that first album had its moments.

Have you ever heard French hip-hop? Don't seek it out - it's so bad, it's seriously used in the soundtracks for "edgy" porn films that feature a dude with an accent and a mole on his ass.

Really, you gotta go back to the great Serge Gainsbourg before you find truly "great" music from our brothers in liberty. Dude may be off-the-charts homely, but he got all kinds of ass (Brigitte Bardot? Jane Birkin? Hello nurse!) and he laid down some off-the-wall shit. Have you heard the breaks on Histoire de Melody Nelson? Out. Of. Hand.

Anyway, all of this is a round-about way of saying how much I'm loving this new album from, yes, French rockers Justice. † (option "T" for all you Mac-heads) is pretty much a revelation. I don't know if these guys dig on the Jesus, and frankly, I don't care, because this is like Christ coming up from the dirt as some sort of flamethrower-sporting cyborg who happens to party with all the hott ladies. Seriously, I dare you to throw this on the ol' car stereo and not instantly be driving 10mph faster.

As far as highlights, the opener "Genesis" is okay, but it's when "Let there Be Light" takes off and works its magic, subtle as a punch in the face, that you know what you're up against. You know that moment in The Matrix when Keanu Reeves, our generation's most versatile actor, turns his head and says in his most solemn tone "I know kung-fu"? "Waters of Nazareth" is an approximation of what's going through his head at that moment.

This album isn't going to change your life, and it's probably going to be irrelevant in another two months. But right now, it fucking moves. Don't sleep on it.

Cross.zip

the guy that wrote that one song from the VW ads

as requested... mr. drake's three full studio albums.


five leaves left - '69


bryter layter - '70... includes John Cale and a bit of Richard Thompson.


pink moon - '72

The Thrills-Teenager

The Thrills=Irish Beach Boys-Bipolar Disorder

The Thrills are an Irish band that get their primary influence from the Beach Boys. This is not a bad thing. Van Dyke Parks wrote a few songs for them on their excellent last album.

This is album number 3.

Excellent driving, chilling, beach, lounging, party, boating music.

Mum-Go Go Smear The Poison Ivy

Mum=Sigur Ros + Woman Singer.

Enough Said.

Happy Wedding Tretter, this is my gift to you!

Interpol-Our Love To Admire

One of my favorite acts, especially live, do not dissapoint on their new album. This just leaked so I don't fully know the quality, but what I have heard I love.

Check out the first single Heinrich Maneuver.

Volta-Bjork

Why write a review when there are so many out there.

Games for May Tribute Concert

Here is my last Syd Barrett related post until more obscure Syd recordings are unearthed. For the 40th-anniversary of the Games For May at Queen Elizabeth Hall concert hall, Robyn Hitchcock, Graham Coxon, and heavy friends performed a Syd Barrett tribute concert. The set list included songs performed 40 years ago and other Barrett favorites. Robyn Hitchcock does a wonderful job of capturing the spirit of Syd and his music. The files were downloaded from the internet archives.

Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring

http://www.theirheartswerefullofspring.com/index.php

Today I bring to you a band I had never heard of, but quickly fell in love with.

Their Hearts Were Full of Spring hail from London and play, according to their MySpace Page, "Life affirming magical indie pop."

This album, These Are Our Songs, We Wrote Them For You, is a long lost debut album by the band when it was only 3 members. Currently on tour in London and working on a new album, the band now consists of over 6 members.

Their sound is very unique while still holding on to that britpop, indie twee sound that so many of us love.

Highlights: As Long As The Sun Shines, Fall Into These Arms and Stars.

Icky Thump - The White Stripes

Probably the most anticipated album of the early summer, if not the year, Icky Thump is not the return to the garage band roots of their earlier work, as some would hope. It caries some elements of their self titled debut, and De Stijl; but it also throws in the touch of experimentalism that made Get Behind Me Satan such a head scratcher.

The Detroit Duo's 6th studio album is a head scratcher and will divide many a fan. I find the album quite enjoyable. Not as great as Elephant, but really what could be? Jack White really stretches himself in his songwriting on this album. This album seems to be more a collection of small stories then other efforts. From the title track's bombastic recounting of a trip gone wrong south of the border, to Rag and Bone, a tale of gypsy like junk pickers.

Great hi-lites are 300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues, and the closer, Cause and Effect. Songs that I do not care for are St. Andrew (This Battle Is in the Air) and Conquest. The later I heard was a cover, but I can find no information beyond that.

I would be remissed if I did not mention Meg White's drumming. I can not say anything better then what was said here.

Well enjoy and let me know what you all think.

***This post updated while listening to the Cubs v. Braves***

PBW in the Hizzee!

Lately I've been on a mixtape craze. Don't know why, I just am. Kyle's mention of a Licensed to Ill cassette made me wax nostalgic for my old collection of cassingles, mixtapes, and assorted commercially released cassettes, long since buried deep in the landfill. Since tape decks are very nearly in the same historical heap as the 8-track player, it's hard to make a true mixtape, and hard to listen to any tape you might stumble across.

Which means we've gone digital. Totally fine with me, because it makes these things easier to copy, record and distribute. There's nothing like the muted distortion on a well-used cassette, and frankly, it's nothing that I truly miss.

With all that said, here's a mix of rare/unusual covers by Peanut Butter Wolf, the head of the nonpareil Stones Throw Records, called "Cover Me Badd". This beast is an appeal to the rare record dork in us all; watch as he throws down all kinds of wack cuts. Who records these? Who releases them? And why on earth does PB Wolf have copies of them?

Beastie Boys - The Mix Up

I'm a huge fan of the Beastie Boys. I have been ever since I ended up with a tape of License to Ill in my car one summer while in high school. I'm not sure where it came from, probably accquired while picking up Mr. Jackson in Baraboo or stolen from Kevin on one of his visits home from Minneapolis. None the less, that tape made many trips from Madison to Mauston and back worth the ride. Like many suburban white kids, it was my introduction to Hip-Hop. The B-Boys showed me that Hip-Hop could be fun and accessable to everyone.

Anyway, like most people, I'm surprised that the Beastie Boys have held on to their career for this long. I was sure that the six-year hiatious between Hello Nasty and To The 5 Boroughs would've killed any chance of another record. To The 5 Boroughs is not their best work, but it's got some good cuts. It cannot be denied that the Boys are old and don't have the spark that they used to. That's exactly why I'm so please that this new album is something completely different. Like the compilation, In Sounds from the Way Out, The Mix Up is an instrumental album. Deep funk grooves and tight drum breaks make this a fantastic album to just put on and drive around town on a hot summer day. If you like the instrumental tracks from Check Your Head and Ill Communication, then you'll like this.

Enjoy.

Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare

You can tell the Arctic Monkeys are British because they spell "favourite" with a "u." And everyone knows that British rock is always top.

Cheers.

Supergroups

Here are a few supergroup CD's for your retro listening pleasure. First we have Blind Faith -Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Rick Grech, and the great Steve Winwood. Next we have 4 Way Street (live album)-Crosby Still Nash and Young. Finally a collaboration between Brian Eno and John Cale, Wrong Way Up. Enjoy

SPOON Password

Hey Everyone.

The password for the Spoon album is

nodatta.blogspot.com

SPOON- Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

The amazing new SPOON album. For previous fans, it sounds like a mix of Gimme Fiction and Kill The Moonlight.

As a whole, the album works incredibly well. The songs all sound very different alone, but when listening in the correct order, they really seem to lead to the next.

This album will definitely grow on you and could easily be on the Top Ten of 2007 list come December.

Check out Cherry Bomb, Rhythm and Soul, Finer Feelings, and the whole fucking album!!

The Traveling Wilbury's

Supergroups have been something of an odd side note in popular music. A collection of stars playing music often for fun, and releasing a only handful of albums/songs. The first true supergroup was probably Cream, but some could argue it was The Million Dollar Quartet, a jam session with Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and Carl Perkins. The strange thing about Supergroups is that it there is always one guy with in the group that seems to be out of place. This is the case with the Traveling Wilbury's. Jeff Lynne though an accomplished musician and producer always seemed out of place in the Wilbury's.

The Traveling Wilbury's were a collection of some of the most important musicians in the 60's and 70's. Comprised of George Harrison (The Beatles); Bob Dylan; Jeff Lynne (ELO); Roy Orbison; and Tom Petty. They all originally got together to record a B Side for George Harrison. The song ended up being "Handle with Care." Their contributions eventually lead to the group to record a full album of original songs. Recording under pseudonyms (a ploy used by another supergroup) they released Traveling Wilbury's vol 1. With the death of Lefty Wilbury (Roy Orbison) vol 2 was never relased, though often thought of as Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever. A third an final volume was released in October of 1990. I have managed to gather from the internets, both official studio releases (vol 1 and vol 3) as well as a collection of outtakes, b-sides, and various performances which have been labeled as vol 2 and 4.

Musically the Traveling Wilbury's isn't that great. The albums are more about the musicians and the fun and joy they have playing music together. On many of the Dylan parts, one wonders if he is trying to sound like if he eats gravel and has lost the ability to enunciate any word in the English language. But he is puts all that he can in Crime/Cop drama of "Tweeter and the Monkeyman." The highlights are always those songs where the group is trading vocal lines, and vocal jabs, such as "Handle with Care," and "End of the Line."

If anyone has any interesting supergroups, I would love to have them posted to the iDisk.

***This post updated while listening to "Overkill" by Colin Hay"***

Coachella 2007 Videos

A little something different. These are some videos I took with my digital camera at Coachella this past weekend.

The first couple are of Jarvis Cocker. Please note I was extremely drunk at this point so the videos are pretty shitty. Fun though, cause Jarvis is great on stage.

The video of the green computer screen is from Bjork. The DJ would put different blocks on the screen, with each block making a different distinct noise. He would then move, twist, replace and generally fuck with them to make the beats. It was pretty amazing. I only wish I had taken a video when he had at least 10 blocks on the screen and was drawing lines between different ones.

The last few videos are from Rage Against The Machine. It truly was an amazing experience. They sounded like they should have, played the greatest hits, didn't preach too much and then rocked the place to the core. Screaming FUCK YOU I WON'T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME over and over was exactly how I hoped it would be. Ohhhh so much fun.

Enjoy. If you want to see some photos from the weekend, as well as from SXSW, check out

www.flickr.com/photos/cderekj

Elliott Smith - New Moon

To say Elliott Smith was an under appreciated artist until his untimely death in 2003, is a misnomer. Smith found marginal success with albums such as Figure 8, XO, and Either/Or. Most notably he found true recognition with Miss Misery, the Oscar nominated song from Good Will Hunting. His genius as a musician and a song writer had been widely acclaimed by many in the business. Smith life is truly a strange one. For an interesting read check out Smith's wiki page. Because I would much rather have you read something that can be edited by anyone, rather then my insane ramblings.

It was however his suicide on October 21st, 2003 that really brought him to my attention. His self vocalizing, dark haunting lyrics really hit me. Though I knew about him before his death, but it was the mystery around his death that made me listen to his music. The first album I got was the one finished after his death, From A Basement on A Hill. Probably not the album Elliott would have finished, but a good indication of his style. From that point on I made it my mission to get everything from Elliott that I could get my hands on.

Kill Rock Stars Records will be releasing New Moon. A collection of 24 songs recorded between 1994-1997, the most prolific in Smith's career, which saw the Kill Rock Star Elliott's Self Titled and Either/Or releases. Like many demo and out take albums this has some very familiar songs. However what is great about this is that the audio quality is much better then most of the demo albums floating out there. And the producers made the double album flow like a true Elliott Smith album.

If you are not an Elliott Smith fan, or do not know much about his music, New Moon is probably not the best place to start. For those of you know Elliott's music New Moon is a great listen and really brings his music full circle.

For my next post I will take a vote. Should I post:

1. Traveling Wilbury's - Vols. 1 through 4
   
2. Fountains of Wayne - Traffic and Weather
   
3. Eef Barzely - Bitter Honey
   
4. Ben Folds - 1990 Demos
   

Let me know in the comments and I will post the album in about a week or so, of course with my clever insight and choppy prose.

****This post updated while listening to Rain Delay Theatre on WGN Radio****