April 2005 Archives

This may come as a surprise to some of you but I don’t listen to Weezer. Not that I dislike their music, I just never really listened to any of it, well, aside from whatever songs were played relentlessly on the radio in the mid 1990s. So for me, Weezer is the "Sweater Song" and that silly video for "Buddy Holly." Sorry, that's all I've got.

On a semi-related note, all the press I’ve ever read about Weezer front man Whats-His-Name concerns his less than sane behavior. But so what, I’m a little neurotic, why won’t somebody write about me? What do I have to do? Write some well crafted, guitar driven, pop tunes that vaguely mask my inability to relate to other human beings on a socially acceptable level? Because I could probably do that . . .

Stuff to Sample: From Weezer's new album Make Believe "Beverly Hills" and "Haunt You Every Day"

Ben Folds is goofy looking. Look at him. Goofy. The thing is, I’ll probably end up looking a lot him if my hair gets much longer, with my oversized sun glasses and "vintage" ringer tee (and you know I'm still rockin them hard, even though they are so last summer). And I don’t want to look like Ben Folds. I don’t want to be goofy. Ah, but I digress.

Ben is an artist that I have major respect for but just can’t bring myself to admit it to anyone. His last solo effort Rockin' the Suburbs was solid (Weird Al Yankovic directed the video for the title track by the way), that Fear of Pop thing he did was spectacular and he produced William Shatner’s fantastic 2004 release Has Been.

Now Ben drops Songs for Silverman plus a bonus live disc Songs for Goldfish. It’s Ben doing what been does. You will either like it or you won’t. Ben plays his piano. Ben sings the songs. Ben plays the piano some more. And all the while, Ben looks goofy.

Stuff to Sample: Ben Folds’ “Jesusland” from Songs for Silverman and “Rockin the Suburbs” from Songs for Goldfish.

In my eyes, the Chemical Brothers have redeemed themselves. Not that they ever really fell from grace but their last album Push the Button was sub par, to be nice about it.

But just because the album wasn’t very good doesn’t mean the videos can’t be the best things ever, and I haven’t seen a Chemical Brothers video I didn’t like. First, go here and check out the video for "Get Yourself High" and then take a look here for the video to "Believe".

This album’s stock seems to be rising. Kung Fu fighters wearing boom boxes? Classic.

Stuff to Sample: Videos of "Get Yourself High" and "Believe"

Uhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmm. WHITE STRIPES! WHITE STRIPES! WHITE STRIPES! Got your attention? The new album Get Behind Me Satan drops June 7 but the first single “Blue Orchid” is out now.

So what can we expect from the Stripes’ latest offering? Probably rock and roll, probably heavy 70s funk influence and probably more falsetto then I really think I can cope with.

Jack-boy describes the new release as an exploration of "characters and the ideal of truth." Yeah, very deep Jack. Wow . . . so mind blowing I totally didn’t notice that the new single is a complete Electric Six rip off.

Stuff to Sample: The Electric Six’s White Stripes’ "Blue Orchid"

When I miss something, I try to miss it big. Case in point: Queens of the Stone Age. Up until about a week ago, all I knew about QOTSA was that they are a metal influenced collective led by Josh Homme, Dave Grohl provided some of the drumming occasionally and that video by Shynola for “Go With The Flow” was fun to watch. But that’s all I knew. After getting the new QOTSA album Lullabies to Paralyze, I feel I should learn a little bit more. And as such, I feel that all of you should learn more as well. Let’s start here.

I have no basis of comparison, because I don’t have any earlier QOTSA, but I really enjoy their new disc. It has hints of metal and hints of garage rock wrapped up in this stomping, rollicking tour through rock ‘n’ roll. And we all know that rock ‘n’ roll is good for the soul.

Stuff to Sample: Queens of the Stone Age’s "Medication" and "Tangled Up In Plaid" from Lullabies to Paralyze

Sometimes I’m so disappointed with today’s music press, especially Rolling Stone. One would think that they know better, but apparently they don’t. Take for instance this quote to describe Z-Trip’s new album Shifting Gears. RS says, “influential mash-up maestro survives trip aboveground.” Why use the buzz-word “mash-up”? Why can’t they say he’s a phenomenal DJ with superb mixing prowess? Does using the word “DJ” or “mixing” scare off potential consumers? Or just confuse their weak minds?

And let me clarify this. Mash-up is what one does when they don’t know how to mix properly. In order to compensate for lack of talent they just throw two songs together, willy-nilly, like Destiny’s Child singing over Nirvana’s “Smells like Teen Spirit.” But normal people just eat it up because its Destiny’s Child and Nirvana and hipsters embrace it because it is ironic. Which goes to prove that most of American and hipsters are what I will refer to as “low functioning."

Z-Trip is obviously very talented; one listen to Shifting Gears will show you why. If he was just a “mash-up maestro,” he’d still be living in his mom’s basement trying to make Backstreet Boys vocals fit into any Iron Maiden tune.

Ok, so right now, Z-Trip’s first single “Walking Dead” featuring Chester Bennington of Linkin Park is dominating rock radio. I can’t wait till the rock heads with poor taste snap up the album only to find out its mostly old school hip hop beats and funk (superb stuff at that, too)! Oh I can see their faces now, all scrunched up in disgust, wondering what happened. Hahahahahah! Ahhhhh. What was I saying?

Stuff to Sample (And I do mean sample): Z-Trip’s "Walking Dead" and "The Get Down" featuring Lyrics Born. Also, check out some of Z-Trip's other full-length mixes available for download here and here.

Mash-Ups are the worst thing ever. def. Mash-Up: Poorly mixed songs helping mediocre wannabe DJ douche bags with two turntables impress the drunk chinks at local bars since 1999.

Drunk Chick: Hey isn’t that Missy Elliot rapping over 3 Doors Down?
DJ Douche: Why yes. Yes it is.
Drunk Chick: Ohhh! (swoons) Where did you find that remix?
DJ Douche: I made it myself.
Drunk Chick: Ohhh! Let’s go back to your place.
DJ Douche: Ok, just don’t wake up my mom, she has bridge club in the morning.
Drunk Chick: Ohh that’s hot that you live with your mommy! Do you still wet the bed too?

I hope by now that you have all seen the new Adidas joint directed by Spike Jonze and featuring a Karen O and Squeak E. Clean collabo. (You can still see it here).

But who are these people and why do they matter? If you don’t know who Spike Jonze is, you shouldn’t be reading this. In fact, you should probably start to question the worth of your existence. Seriously, question it.

Karen O is the lead singer of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and has captured the hearts and weak minds of the horned-rimmed glasses-wearing hipster nation. And why not, especially since style, and not substance, seems to be the culture currency these days. Yes, she can dress but what else can she do? Only time will tell.

And finally, speaking of style, there is Squeak E. Clean, producer and musician extraordinaire. This dude has his soapy fingers in everything! Squeak E. is finishing up production work on the new Bumblebeez album. Next he will head up production duties on the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ album plus the upcoming release of Squeak E. and Karen O’s solo collabo album. The list goes on! Check out his website for more at www.squeakeclean.com. This boy has been busy.

Stuff to Sample: Squeak E. Clean and Karen O's "Hello Tomorrow" and the Bumblebeez's "Pony Ride" from their last album Printz.

They look a bit alike don’t they? As well they should. The one on the left is Spike Jonze (AKA Adam Spiegel) the one on the right is his brother, Squeak E. Clean (AKA Sam Spiegel)

You know, I really like the Arcade Fire, but I never wanted to do a post about them. I mean, what could I say that hasn’t already been said by every other hipster zine and music nerd? I would probably bungle whatever it was I was trying to say and it would end up being something horrible and awkward like, “Come to my town, me love you long time.”

No, that would hardly do this band’s power and prowess any justice. Besides, that’s just weird. Maybe if I asked in French, “Venez à ma ville, désirent ardemment je t'aime le temps?” Is that even the correct translation? I hope it doesn’t get twisted into some horrible insult. Well, at least no more twisted then the English version.

God, what am I doing? Now you can see why I never wanted to do a post on the Arcade Fire.

Stuff to Sample: Arcade Fire on BBC's Radio 1. "Neighborhood #2 (Laika)" and "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)/Rebellion (Lies)"

Ever wonder what would have happened if Bob Dylan made love to the Beatles and that coupling spawned a crazy four-headed monster? Yeah, me neither.

But if Dylan did have the audacity to get John, Paul, George and Ringo sloppy drunk in order to take advantage of them, the offspring would probably sound a lot like the Redwalls (I shudder to think what the love child of Dylan and the Beatles might actually look like).

The Redwalls are four kids from the Chicago suburb of Deerfield who breeze through the yester-years of brit-rock like it ain’t no thing. They recorded their debut album Universal Blues in a friends’ apartment and then set off to garner tons of attention from the local music press. And thanks to their ability to sound like half of the 1960s rock ‘n’ roll scene, the Redwalls scored a major record deal. Their new album De Nova will be in stores on June 21, three days after Sir Paul McCartney turns 63.

Universal Blues is like a brit-rock and pop orgy in my head and all the biggest swingers are here! Hey, there's the Rolling Stones and the Faces. The Beatles are spending seven minutes in heaven with Bob Dylan in the closet. And has anybody seen Slow Hands? Why isn't he here? Shouldn't he be here?

Stuff to Sample: The Redwalls’ "Colorful Revolution" and "It’s Love You’re On"

There are nights when all I dream about is Karen O. What do you dream about?

I see this spot everynight, but it dawned on me that some of you out there may not have seen it.

Go look at it. Why? Spike Jonze and Karen O.

More on this later.

It was beautiful outside today. The sun was shining brightly, the breeze was blowing sweetly and I was stuck in the office. How bad does that suck? So I started trawling through my iTunes library to find some tunes that remind me of bright days and warm nights.

The song that immediately popped into my head was Gandharva’s “The First Day of Spring” but I didn’t have it on my machine so I kept looking. What I found was Low’s new album The Great Destroyer. Now I know what you are thinking. Low? Low? You mean those lo-fi, slow rockers from Duluth, Minn.? That Low? Are you kidding? What do they have to do with sum-sum-summertime?

Well, I got to tell you, The Great Destroyer is fairly upbeat (by Low’s standards) and there is this one song that really struck me while I sat at my desk staring longingly out the window. Try it on.

Stuff to Sample: Low’s “California” and just because I love you, Gandharva’s “The First Day of Spring”

All of the sudden I’m sick of listening to this post-punk, rehashed alterna-crap and new wave influenced rock that will probably dominate the radio for the next year. I have a rather large list of bands that I could review, but I just don’t want to. I can’t bring myself to do it. But, in order to feel like I’m not slacking off, I’m just going to make a list.

Hot Hot Heat’s Elevator - This album is great EXPECT that it is missing all the raw riffs and energy that punctuated their previous efforts.

The Bravery’s The Bravery - To save time writing a post about this band, please read my thoughts concerning Elefant. Where ever you see "Elefant", just replace it with "the Bravery". The record industry made this band for the sole purpose of captializing on a fad, as a result, the record is good, but I still cannot get past the fact that they are all corporate shams.

Louis XIV’s The Best Little Secrets Are Kept - Take afore mentioned music genres and add a bit of glam rock and misogyny and you have Louis XIV. Their overzealous need to prove they are true rock stars is borderline stupid. Yes, you are supposed to sleep around and be pompous asses, you’re in a rock band, no need to keep telling us, we know because we have your album which obviously means you’re a rock group and not in a pack of roving etiquette experts.

The Best Little Secrets Are Kept is not good. I get the feeling they were made by the industry and not several years of hard work in the underground. However, I don’t feel like doing the research because right now I just don’t care.

I’m going to go back to listening to the Strokes, Interpol, Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party, at least I know those guys are legit.

Stuff to Sample: You should all have one or more releases by the Strokes, Interpol, Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party. Go listen to one of those albums. You'd be better off.