Tag: Music I Like

The Christmas Booty: A Partial List

I just started using my Christmas iTunes giftcard. I love music but find myself really reluctant to use any of the credits just waiting to be spent. It’s free money, I don’t know what the problem is. But I just grabbed my first album, a little known 2002 release by The Squire of Somerton. You don’t know him, and that’s a shame.

Here are some of the season’s other highlights.

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Venture Bros: Season One

Animated adventures of failed super-scientist Doc. Venture, his bodyguard/Swedish murder machine Brock Samson and Doc’s charming boys. Also include the mundane details of arch-villainy and costumed aggression. From my sweet wife who likes the show as well.

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Raymond Scott’s “Soothing Sounds for Baby” An ambient electronic soundtrack for child development, recorded in 1964. Raymond Scott created much of the music that ended up in Warner Bros cartoons of the 40’s and 50’s like “Powerhouse” and “Dinner Music For A Pack Of Hungry Cannibals.” Just the guy you want influencing your child’s young mind.

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Interior Desecration’s: Hideous Homes from the Horrible ’70s and The Gallery of Regrettable Food by James Lileks. Mean things said about food and decor from the decades before punk rock and after the WW2.

A 1950’s pamphlet on “Meat, The Main Course.” An irony-free version of the Jame Lileks book. Needs to be scanned and shared online.

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A damn sharp knife for the kitchen. An even more dangerous Cuisinart mandolin.

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There’s more, for later…

I'm Glad I'm Older But…

… my birthday just sucked.

Monday was my birthday, and our week-old car coming apart just didn’t start my 36th year off to a good start.  With the car out of commission, it meant my sweetie couldn’t go shopping.  So, no car, no gifts and no cake. I’m happier being older then I ever was before, but Monday was a type of day that I’m glad doesn’t happen offen.

The saga of the car continues to be phone tag between the dealership, State Farm and myself.  I feel like we will be stuck with some of the bill.  That’s the way things happen.  When something bad happens, more usually follows.  I don’t believe in the “bad things happen in 3’s” idea.  Too arbitrary.  I’m just riding this thing out and happy that we had stocked up on beer.

So, until my sense of humor is fully recharged the following mystifying/reassuring lyrics from the Walkmen helps keep things in perspective.  The real beauty of the song is the piano, so give this song a listen (MP3) courtesy of music blog Mars Needs Guitars.

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“‘We’Ve Been Had’ by the Walkmen

Well I’m a modern guy I don’t care much for the go-go
or the retro image I see so often telling me to
keep trying maybe you’ll get here someday
keep up the working, ok
I close the book on them right there

I see myself change as the days change over
I hear the songs and the words don’t change
I write them out of the book right there

We’ve been had, you say it’s over
Sometimes I’m just happy I’m older
We’ve been had I know it’s over
Somehow it got easy to laugh out loud…”

There are more lyrics, but I like this last line the best.

Richard Cheese, Free Music Hurray & Still Have to Pay for a Car

There are many reasons to love loungestar Richard Cheese, but his “private letter” to soon-to-be-single Britney Spears is just beautiful…

“…Together, Britney, you and I will finally find the kind of marital happiness that only Annette and Warren have known. We’ll travel the globe, inspire the masses, make the whole world sing. And, we’ll do it on the floor about a hundred times a day. Hey, I’ll even drive the car so you can hold the babies on your lap in front of the airbag. “

Just a small sample of one man’s love for Britney.

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While cruising my usual collection of MP3 blogs, found out from largehearted boy that Minty Fresh Records is giving away a free EP by french band Prototypes.

I heard them on Georgia State’s radio station, and liked them ever since.

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Today was spent looking for a new car to replace the one injured in an accident.  While we thought the process would be like getting root canal, it turned out pretty painless.  The biggest surprise was the salesmen and woman.  No high pressure, polite, and professional.  Remarkably low-key and none of them reeked of desperation.  Which was a welcome change.

The new car will be very unsexy.  Since the insurance company ruled our current car a total loss (but still completely drivable), we had been forced to buy another.

The day we found we needed a replacement car, my sweetie drove by one much like this on Peachtree Industrial and the 285…

I wish.

The Lower the Frequency the Better Your Chances: Tickets on the Radio

I told my friend Vas that I won tickets off the radio to see Nouvelle Vague.  It was 88.5 that was giving the tickets away and he was complaining about some station in the 100’s.  Everyone in Atlanta will be calling for tickets on one of those stations. And what great crap they will be giving away (music snob alert!)

Fewer Listeners + Lesser Known Artist = Better Chances

Math so easy G.W.B. could do it.  Anyways, the show was great.  Nouvelle Vague does french-flavored bossa nova covers of Big Black, The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen, etc…  Lovely singers and great musicians that took what could be a terrible concept and made for extremely good entertainment.

Unfortunately, my sweet wife was nursing a cold and couldn’t partake. Hopefully she will be able to join me for Ladytron tomorrow.  Looks to be a sold-out show.

Here’s to working hard and enjoying the fruits of my labor.

Friday Night: Harry Merry, Quintron @ The Drunken Unicorn

Now that my wife has finished up her time-consuming dissertation and is a “Dr,” we can start having a life of movies, drinking and bands.  Last night that meant going to the Drunken Unicorn to see New Orleans’ Mr Quintron and Miss Pussycat.  

Playing last, he threw down something fierce, covered in a sheen of sweat in front of an organ decked out with the grill of a Lincoln.  He gets a huge sound out of his sound system, deep organ swells and analog dance beats from his self-created Drum Buddy.  The second to the last song was “Witch in the Club ” (mp3), which was more pop-singly than the rest of his set, but I loved it.  The mp3 sounds good, but Quintron is all about shock-and-awe performance and needs to be seen to hear the songs in their full sonic glory.

The second performer was the most bizarre musical experience that I ever had.  Harry Merry is a one-man keyboard band from Holland.  With his glazed-over confusion at sound check, apparent unfamiliarity with his keyboard stand and bizarre Dutchboy wig and sailor outfit, we couldn’t figure out if he was real or performance art.  But his songs, crazed, child-like keyboard romps, were fantastic, bizarrely named (“The Appetite Gets Satisfied Each Bite”), and often too long.  Listen (and download) the indescribable on his myspace page. I’ll be curious to see if the pictures I saw taken end up online, here’s hoping.

The first band that played were Thee Crucials.  A solid and highly energetic old-school rock band.

Our first time at the Unicorn was good, the bands were all great and 22 oz. Sapporo cans a bargain. Future music plans include definitely going to Muse, and hopefully seeing Ladytron and Nouvelle Vague at the Variety Playhouse in September.

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Mr. Quintron on Flickr

Mr. Quintron – Wikipedia

Harry Merry on Tocado Records

Thee Crucials on Myspace

I (heart) Music

My love affair with music is one that came about partly due to my hatred of the musical soundtrack to my high school years.  Smalltown (population 1,400) fans of Def Leppard, Skynyrd, Van Halen and Iron Maiden had me searching for a musical oasis.  Instead, angry young Rob discovered Ministry, Skinny Puppy, Severed Heads, Scraping Foetus and Tuxedomoon, amongst others.  While maybe not the best thing to do, my parents let me DJ at a college station at age 13.  WSUC’s huge music library introduced me to many a band that I loved, collected, and later left behind.  If none of these bands mentioned live in your mental jukebox, then no worries.  It was the sound of teenage depression and I’m sure Mom and Dad worried that the noise coming from the bedroom would drive me to suicide.  Which was close, but I lacked the nerve.

Forward fast to a happy, healthy v. 35.8 of myself and I still love music.  Now, internet enabled, many an hour has been spent surfing MP3 blogs, adding files to my iTunes library.  I haven’t totally embraced the Atlanta local scene, but I do love the occasional Athens/Elephant 6 band that comes from east-of-Atlanta.  Despite the fact that file sharing has actually kept me off peer-to-peer networks, I still find myself making new weekly discoveries via the net.

Simple example, today I was listening to KCRW.  Heard a song that was just gorgeous, the playlist said it was The Bird and the Bee, looked for the song on Hype “discover, listen and buy music discussed on the best mp3 blogs,” found it on Loudersoft and voila… I now have their lovely song “I’m A Broken Heart.”  And before complaints of stealing come up, I’m buying this one hopefully tomorrow.

So, the internet is great, even when it comes to feeding my need for covers, be it bizarre (Soundtrack to “Grease”) or inspired (Matthew’s Celebrity Pixies Tribute). Seriously, Pixies fans, check the “Bee-Gees” cover of “Wave of Mutilation.”

And Friday, we see Mr. Quintron. Yeah, music!

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Me on Last.fm

Music: Mine, Grant's and Muse's

I’ve wasted much of the morning using Apple’s Garageband program to screw with songs of my own, plus a couple of midis pulled from the internet.  The tunes will never amount to anything significant, but its fun noodling around with them

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Big-time news for an Atlanta stagehand/musician friend of mine.  Grant Davis (pictured above with Arlo Guthrie) just got signed to Sony.  His music is county/rock, he practically lives at Sidelines, and his album is being played on stations out west from what I heard.  This weekend friends will be getting together to bust his chops and ask for money.  

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MUSE!

I never thought that I would be seeing my favorite british rock band in Atlanta, even though they have played here in the past.  But they’ll be at the Tabernacle, August 6th.  Is it stupid that the Tabernacle doesn’t have a website?  Anyways, the Muse myspace page is streaming the whole album, which I will be listening to once I am done posting this.  British online music site PlayLouder posted that tonight they will be playing a London show.

“Tonight they play their comeback show at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, dubbed The Empire Strikes Back Super Massive Concert, it’s a gig for fans only… and PlayLouder, who will be popping along to tell you how it goes. PlayLouder that is, not fans. They’d just scream hysterically in your face while their eyeliner runs everywhere. . .       . . .Go on admit it, it’s good isn’t it. . . “

New album, coming to the ATL, good?… yes it is!

Music that Lives on My Computer: Last.fm

After seeing that Mr. P’body posted some of his musical tastes using his account at Last.fm and some of their tools, I had to do the same.

Artists most played overall:

Click the chart to see the remaining 40 bands that made the top 50.

Songs most recently played this week:

I find that I like Radiohead songs when performed by other groups. The Mark Ronson song is a great cover of their song “Just”. The funk-filled song has loads of horn section, great beat and a sweet video (Quicktime Video).

For another great Radiohead cover check out the 2003 MP3 of “Paranoid Android” played by the UMass Front Percussion Ensemble.

For those looking to get exposed to lots of great music, I would highly recommend the Not Your Usual Bollocks podcast.

“NYUB was created to provide on-demand refuge from main-stream radio. NYUB harnesses podcasting technology to bring direct to you, the best independent and unsigned artists from the rock and electronic music genres. It’s not your usual bollocks…..because mainstream radio is shit.”

Check his site for podcasts, playlists, and band links.

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Related Posts:

Neon Poisoning: Back in the Day: Junior High DJ
UMass Drumline 2005
stereogum: Mark’s Ronson’s “Just”: The Bootleg Video

Back in the Day: Junior High DJ

From the time I was 13 until I was 18, I was a summer DJ at WSUC, at SUNY Cortland. Having a broadcast license in 8th grade was cool, and my very loving parents let me DJ from midnight to 2am. I guess it just meant they were happy I wasn’t partying like most of the kids.

I was a terrible DJ, but the station’s bad luck was my good fortune. Their huge record library saved me from Def Leppard and Iron Maiden (popular in my high school.) Instead, I found Ministry, Pete Shelley from The Buzzcocks and one song from Suicidal Tendencies that I played over and over.

Now, I just found the Punk Rock Orchestra, a 50 piece group that orchestrates punk tunes. They don’t have full songs available, but samples are there to be found. Which comes back to Suicidal Tendencies…

…enjoy this little snippet of Institutionalized (MP3) from their sounds page.

My musical tastes have changed and evolved (my Last.fm page) but everytime I hear one of the girl DJ’s on WRAS 88.5FM I wish I could be playing tunes on their station. She’s so bad on-air that it takes me back to the good old days.

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Also…

NPR Piece on the P.R.O (MP3)

Moog = Vogue @ Eyedrum: Analog Musical Heaven in Atlanta and Online

You may not know the guy but you know his machines. Robert Moog (sounds like vogue) made the electronic machines and keyboards that made groovey analog music possible. From the indie art enclave Eyedrum website and mailing list comes the following info on a Saturday night of Moog-themed events…

“An evening dedicated to the recently departed father of the Moog synthesizer and builder of theremins. Tonight’s lineup will feature a screening of the film “Moog” by Han Fjellestad.

Eyedrum will host a Bob Moog tribute on Saturday, September 17. Bob Moog, inventor of the Moog line of synthesizers and builder of theremins died last month. Eyedrum will pay tribute by showing the film “Moog” by Hans Fjellestad. This feature documentary film explores Moog’s collaborations with musicians over the years, and his ideas about creativity, design, interactivity and spirituality. The film was shot on location in Asheville, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tokyo and London, featuring appearances by Keith Emerson, Walter Sear, Gershon Kinsgley, Jean-Jacques Perrey & Luke Vibert, Rick Wakeman, DJ Spooky, Herb Deutsch, Bernie Worrell, Pamelia Kurstin, Tino Corp. with Charlie Clouser, Money Mark, Mix Master Mike, and an eclectic mix of performers. This screening will mark the Atlanta premiere of the film.

MOOG [a film by hans fjellestad]

There will also be performances by local Moog enthusiasts (Neil Fried, Don Hassler, Howard Wershil, Zachary Hollback, Chris Swartz, Gene Thompson, William Silbernagel, Scott Burland, Robert Cheatham, Allen Welty Green, Oliver Smith, & Blake Helton) featuring many participants from last year’s Theremin Summit, as well as Dennis Palmer and Bob Stagner of Shaking Ray Levis from Chattanooga.”

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The Electrical Spectacle put out one of my all-time favorite albums. Analog keyboard instrumentals, real drummer, throwing down fast and grooving slow. The following review does a good job of describing the music of the band. Two of the songs are longer then 8 minutes, and all four are worth the download. MP3’s to be found at Electrical Spectacle “Mood Modulation EP”. I’d be curious to hear anyone’s reaction, and no, I have nothing to do with the band.

Welcome to the Best of New Orleans! Hot Seven 12 31 02

“Like this contagious club concoction, Electrical Spectacle looks to the past for innovation. A study in the vintage keyboard sounds of the ’60s and ’70s, the Spectacle’s retro-futuristic sound is the perfect antithesis to most of what goes on in the organic, roots-obsessed local music scene. The group’s massive Moog synthesizer collection sets the tone for electro-effects and the whirring of the theremin. “