Dr. Dog - Fate

The guys who made my 3rd favorite album of 2007 are about to release their new one. Check it out!
RIYL The Beatles. The Band. David Bowie. Good songwriting. Great singers. Classic rock production values.

Download The Ark
Download The Old Days

Christmas on Mars

I can only dream, but reports are that Christmas on Mars is actually going to be out and in our hands by the end of the year. Too good to be true? Coming out the same week as Chinese Democracy? Maybe, but for now, consider me excited...

Billboard Article

And I'll say it now, if this comes out, I will fly to New York to watch it with most of you fine folk this spring, provided we all agree to wait and watch together.

I've Seen Rivers

I just wanted to do a quick post about an indie hip-hop duo I've been listening to a lot of this year. Nicolay & Kay are a rapper from Houston (Kay) and a producer from the Netherlands (Nicolay) who put out a concept album this year called Time:Line, which over the course of 13 songs loosely follows a character from his birth, to coming of age, to being killed by gunfire, to hanging out in the afterlife. Kay has great song ideas and knows how to tell a good story (which make up for him not necessarily being the most versatile MC in the world), and is very well supported by Nicolay's beats, which owe something to hip hop producers like J Dilla, but also have the echoes of Boards of Canada style electronic music around the fringes. I'm surprised by how little attention this album has gotten, I think it's a really beautiful collection of songs. Below is one of my favorites:

Bill O'Reilly in One Minute

First Half of 08

I’ve been thinking about posting this for a bit and now’s a good time I guess. Year is just about half over, so I am intrigued – what albums have been your favorites of the year so far? Nothing official here, just curious how the year end lists are looking at this point.

For me, there are 4 things I’ve been seriously digging so far:

-Real Emotional Trash – Totally great and rocking. Love the jams, and reminds me why I loved Pavement so much.

-Vampire Weekend – Didn’t like these guys at all when I first heard them, but this album really snuck up on me. I can tell that it doesn’t have huge replay value, but for now, I’m enjoying it tremendously.

-Lie Down in the Light – My first serious exposure to Mr. Oldham, and it’s a beautiful thing.

-Soldier On EP – I think Tex sold this a bit short in his initial post about it. This is GREAT stuff I think. Certainly Trees is the highlight, but it’s all really fantastic beautiful stuff. Really the pointless Plasticities remix is the only thing I don’t love.

Before the year is out I know I need to hear the new Nick Cave and that recent Dennis Wilson re-issue (Kittybrains – your thoughts on that one?)

So, that’s where I’m at so far this year. You?

Filled With Dread

Above is the cover art that iTunes assigned to my copies of Led Zeppelin I and How The West Was Won.
Add this to the list of things I think are funny at 12:20am.
Also, add Dread Zeppelin's relative success to that list.

Quiz Time:
What other bands besides Led Zeppelin has had more than one nationally or internationally prominent cover/parody bands?

To Be A Rock And Not To Roll

Give it up for The Beatnix!

Lil Wayne Lives Up to the Hype

After a few listens, I'm ready to say that Tha Carter III, Lil Wayne's newest album, is better than my wildest expectations, and is a huge step forward for him as an artist, miles beyond any album he's released before. He's done exactly what I'd always hoped, but didn't dare to believe he'd do: he's largely stepped out of the gangster, crack dealer posturing that has always made it impossible for me to make it through an entire Lil Wayne album in one sitting, and has created a complicated, inventive, nuanced pop masterpiece.

For longtime fans of his misogyny and mindnumbing violence, he throws a few bones here and there, and there is of course the incredibly irritating "Lollipop" song, but most of the album goes places Wayne has never gone before: a vulnerable and heartfelt ode to his hometown of New Orleans, a couple of shockingly inoffensive and entertaining love songs, inventive concept songs about such things as being a hip-hop doctor, a space alien, and lusting after a lady cop, all backed by awesome, r&b based beats from Kanye West and others.

Wayne is "Lil" for a reason: he's been recording since he was a kid, and is still a very young artist, only 25 years old now. I hope that this album bodes well for a long, fascinating career from an artist who looks as though he's no longer content to throw away his immense talents on the same tired nihilistic themes gangsta rappers have been beating into the ground for years.

Owls

Let's turn the clock back all the way to 2001 and revisit a band that I liked at the time, forgot about, and recently rediscovered: Owls. This is a band that features the Kinsella brothers from Illinois. Tim is best known as the singer of Joan of Arc and Mike records under the moniker Owen (and before that, American Football.) They also played together in Cap'n Jazz, a short-lived band that indie critics absolutely love to namedrop.

Anyway, Tim is notoriously erratic and inconsistent in his output. He performed one of the worst shows I've ever seen in my life at the Empty Bottle in the spring of Senior Year. TexPlush knows this-- he was there. Kinsella arrived drunk and spent most of his time playing with a volume pedal and cussing out fans who started heckling him after he'd gone 10 minutes without playing an actual song. Ringing endorsement, right?

But that side of Tim doesn't get out on the Owls record because everything his kid bro Mike touches turns to gold. So this album, which features Tim on vocals and Mike on drums, is really solid and brings out my favorite aspects of the brothers' music. Also recommended is anything Mike records as Owen or American Football.

WAYLON F'IN RULES!!!

I just got an update from the Waylon Jennings website newsletter, and I thought it was worth posting.
A couple years back I ordered multiple Waylon Jennings bumper stickers, for a reason that I will not bother to recount at this time, and since then I have received a few of these newsletters. Until tonight I have never given them any attention, but something about this one caught my eye and I have now reread it several times, each time with much enjoyment.
Enjoy -


HooooAhhhhh Waylon Army!
At long last we will be launching the redesigned waylon.com website late Sunday night. The new Waylon.com will feature music to listen to, videos to watch, and the center of it all will be the waylonpedia section. This section will be enhanced and improved by each and every one of you. I'm going to enlist few experts to really get this thing going.... like Jeff, Howard and Jim to name a few. If you 3 guys would phone me on the waylon phone that would be awesome. Anyway, we'll have a brand new blog/forum and hopefully and place that will grow in space and grow into the world's foremost knowledge base of all things waylon. That means the center of the stinkin musical universe. I'm hoping it will include how he changed the music industry, stories of his incredible personal and musical integrity and some dang good music. The polos and the denim shirts and a brand new 'prison tattoo' t-shirt will be available. I'll be able to offer all kinds of special sales, lower shipping, tracking info emails etc. etc. I hope it works.

In the meantime, if things go to hell in a hand basket, I have parked the current design of waylon.com onto www.waylonandwillie.com. That site will be there for a short time with everything except e-commerce. The current forum will still be there just in case. I don't totally trust technology quite yet. Look for a sister site at waylonandwille.com based on the greatest friendship in musical history. I'm looking to launch that one in September -- but I am an optimist.

Anyway, please be patient and check out waylon.com on Monday morning bright and early to see if I look like a fool. We will be keeping the same phone number for now...240-285-2700 but our new email contact will be......david@waylon.com.

Thanks for your patience... I think it's going to be really cool as this thing progresses.

WAYLON F'IN RULES!!!

cya Monday

David

ps -- type in WGJ to save %20 for the next 18 hours or so on the old site!

Pitchfork vs. Obama

So thanks largely to Q I've become sucked in to reading Pitchfork reviews and sometimes gettuing angry about them. I contemplated posting about yesterday's Radiohead review, which was yet anolther in the LONG line of "rock is dead" stupid reviews (seriously, how long has that been going on? Drop it already), but decided against it. But now, here's something that really got my goat. From today's review of the new Erykah Badu:

"The American media and public have spent a fair bit of the past months being fascinated and appalled by various remarks from the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, of Chicago. Those months have also seen a fairly warm critical reception for Erykah Badu's terrific new album-- one whose notions and ideologies sometimes come from the same nexus as Wright's. Badu's theology is different, of course: more personal, more scattered, less Christian, laced with Five-Percenter notions. And Badu salutes Farrakhan explicitly, rather than just nodding politely across the South Side. But there's an odd echo in her wording on that one: "I salute you, Farrakhan/ Because you are me." Less than a month after this record's release, Wright's most notable acquaintance was describing the reverend as someone who "contains within him the contradictions-- the good and the bad-- of the community.... I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community." He is me? Until he hits the press club, anyway."

OK, so what the hell is going on here? It seems that what they are saying is that Badu is embracing the anger and tricky politics of men like Wright and Farrakhan, while Obama disowns them. That last line in particular (Until he hits the press club) really paints Obama as truly disowning these ideas. And yet, Obama's main speech about this issue - the speech that this review quotes directly from - refutes that point. They REPRINT the quote where Obama says that he can NOT disown Wright and disown his ideas, then they condemn Obama for doing just that? I mean, serioulsy, are they stupid? Can they not read? It seems crystal clear that Obama could have completely thrown Wright under the bus and saved himself a lot of headache, but he chose to talk about the feelings in the black community and to won those feelings. He chose to say, essentially, he is me. Just as Badu says. And yet, for some unknown reason, Pitchfork decides to skewer him.

And why? To what aim? Is it jsut that they think it's kewl to insult politicians? This whole thing leaves me baffled and angry.

And this doesn't even get into the final paragraph of their review where they rally against reviewers who say all black music must be about gund, violence, etc. Which is a good idea, but you know... Pot. Kettle. Black.

"Korean Drummer Steals The Show"

Exactly.

Radiohead Teen Idols!

I was just reminded of this song, which is one of the more enjoyably catchy Cure/U2-esque albums from-- the, I would submit, almost underrated-- Pablo Honey:



But check out that video! Look at all of them being all skinny and floppy haired (and in some cases, not bald!). Colin Greenwood, especially, had perfected that disaffected gothy stare while he played bass. And look how much happier Ed O'Brien must have been to be striking guitar hero poses with an open button-down shirt than he must be now, playing sundry percussion instruments during Thom and Johnny's electro-experiments. The less said about Thom Yorke's Kurt Cobain bleached blonde long hair, the better. Johnny Greenwood, of course, looks and plays exactly the same. Nice to know some things aren't as susceptible to change.

Night at the Hip Hopera

Apropos of nothing except the fact that it rules, here's an awesome Kleptones song. Enjoy.

Q: Are We Not Men?

Sorry for my lack of quality posting lately. Things have been swamped. But to make up for it, I pose to you fine folk an honest question:

DEVO: Ahead of their time geniuses or silly gimmick?

Surely the answer will be somewhere in between, but I have a very hard time pinning down exactly where. Once you move past “Whip It” (which is one of those 80s songs so entrenched in my head and wrapped up with nostalgia that I can’t even begin to objectively figure out if it’s good or not) and move into their cannon you’ve got some really great stuff. “Beautiful World” is fantastic (despite being a bit ruined by excessive use in commercials) as are their covers of “Satisfaction” and (to a lesser extent) “Working in a Coal Mine”. But the real gem to me is “Girl U Want”, a fantastic, driving song with a typically bizarre video clip to accompany it:



Come on, that rules.

But there’s also stuff that I just can’t get behind as being brilliant. I could post some late period stuff here but that’s hardly fair – to evaluate them we really should focus on their prime. But that prime includes “Jocko Homo”, which, I think, kind of sucks:



Of course, watching that you realize that, music aside, there’s something pretty amazing going on here. I mean, it may not always work, but clearly these guys are going for something. This is only reinforced by the fact that this is from 1978, which is way early for music like this. But all that doesn’t change that I just plain don’t like listening to that song.

So I don’t know. They’re a band I *want* to love, but sometimes the quality of music gets in the way of that love. I’m interested to hear your thoughts.

Oh, and in closing, I present the Devo Corporate Anthem, an oddly sublime little piece for your enjoyment:

Our Famous Classmate

I wanted to know how many people have heard the She & Him record by Allison Hall's own Zooey Deschanel. Since my only prior experience with her and music was watching her in the chorus of "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum" directed by Jen Bender, I was somewhat skeptical of the whole deal.

I've since listened to the album and downloaded it from eMusic, and I have to say I really do like it. First of all, Zooey is a legitimately great vocalist. There are traces of Neko Case there, which would already be enough to sign me up. But beyond this, there are some really good tracks on there. Whether it's an issue of her being a master chanteuse or M. Ward being a master enabler, it doesn't really matter. This is some good listening.

I guess the obvious reference point sound-wise would be 70's California country-rock, a la The Flying Burrito Brothers, meeting Linda Ronstadt or someone like that. A lot of the vibe sounds like other M. Ward stuff, but Zooey is listed as the sole songwriter on most tracks. Also, there are a few covers tossed in, which are probably the only weak links on the album.

Anyway, this has been a pleasant surprise. Would be interested to know what others think.

Lie Down in the Light

I'm pleased to say that I'm really loving the new Bonnie "Prince" Billy album, Lie Down in the Light. I counted myself a pretty big fan of his awhile back (especially back when I was still that guy having religious experiences at Jay Farrar concerts), but in recent years I'd started to grow pretty bored with the predictability and dourness of all his soft, pretty, sad songs. But in some ways this new album is a striking turn away from many of his old patterns: for one thing, it's the rare Will Oldham (the man behind the Billy moniker) album that I could describe overall as "not at all a downer". It's still soft and pretty, and still benefits from many repeat listenings, but it's also shockingly happy. I might even define a couple of the themes of this album as "contentment" and possibly "joy".

And of course, it's joy with a few bizarre Will Oldham style twists thrown in. So far I've been especially fascinated by "So Everybody", which is a song that somehow makes an act of public oral sex sound like the highest expression of love and spiritual contentment. I'm not kidding, give it a listen. It won't stream (hasn't everyone been having problems with that recently?) but here's a download link.
So Everyone

"The eyes are the windows of your face."

This guy's ability to elevate mediocre writing to the level of genius is... well... genius, I guess.

Coldplay Goes Political!

You Are Not Needed Now

Just felt like it was time I did a quick Townes Van Zandt post. There was a time when this guy was one of my biggest artistic heroes, and even if he's too depressing for me to take most of the time these days (he outdid even Elliott Smith in terms of writing terminally sad songs) he was an incredibly talented, and criminally under appreciated songwriter. As Steve Earle famously quipped: "Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in America, and I will stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that."

Here's a song from High Low and In Between, one of a series of stellar albums he did in the 70's, before he really got around to the serious business of drinking himself to death and destroying his voice.

New Dosh = Pretty Great

I've been a little hard on Andrew Bird's recent collaborator Martin Dosh, mostly due to my preference for the drumming of Kevin O'Donnell, but I have to admit I'm enjoying the new Dosh album, Wolves and Wishes. A HUGE step forward from the only other album of his I've heard, Pure Trash.

For some reason I can't get it to stream, but here's a download of the first track:

Don't Wait For The Needle To Drop

Best Bill O'Reilly Clip Ever

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

You should never need an excuse to play Big Star

Just because it's a blessedly low-key Sunday afternoon, and these guys kick ass.

Principal's Office

It recently came to my attention that Q has not heard this track. I believe the conversation that tipped me off went as follows:
me: "'Lip Gloss' is the 'Principal's Office' for the new generation"
Q: "What's 'Principal's Office'?"
me: too shocked to speak



Download it here

Rising Down update: Rising Up

I just wanted to state for the record that, despite the questionable taste of the video I posted here a few weeks back, the new Roots album is very very good.

More Replacements

I am a big Replacements fan myself. My favorite record of theirs is Pleased To Meet Me and my favorite track on that is "Alex Chilton," which is doubly great since it concerns the impossibly awesome Big Star. The band had gotten somewhat more "mainstream" by the time they released this-- less screaming and bigger hooks-- but given that this came out in 1987, it sounds raw as all hell. Distinct memories of listening to this one in a rental car in Cape Town with Eric and two other friends.



I also can report that Paul Westerberg's solo career got off to a very promising start before derailing a third of the way into his second album. But his first one, 14 Songs is real solid and it served as my soundtrack to many a solitary walk through the deserted streets of west Evanston at dusk. The first song, "Knockin' On Mine," is a great, rowdy hit-the-road type of anthem. I still remember him playing it on Saturday Night Live in 1993 on his first solo tour. (This post is quickly turning into my personal nostalgia tour. Well that's kind of the Replacements for you.)




And then as far as blatant Replacements followers go, my personal favorite is Buffalo Tom. Much like the 'Mats, they've been cruelly denied the big-time success they rightfully deserve, but their fan base is very loyal. (Especially in Boston, where they're from.) Their new album, Three Easy Pieces, was way up on my Top 10 list from last year, but this track, "Mineral," is from Let Me Come Over, which almost everyone agrees is their apogee and perfect for those who appreciate the more tuneful side of the Replacements.




Finally, two pieces of 'Mats trivia for those who care. (Sure you could look the answers up online, but you could also switch around chess pieces while your opponent is in the bathroom.)

1. (easy one) The Replacements' bassist, Tommy Stinson, is now a member of what band? If you don't know this, you like Hannah Montana.

2. (harder) What New York (state) band was loudly trumpeted as the next Replacements, embraced by members of the band, and even released a single that was co-written with Paul Westerberg-- only to go on to an utterly unimpressive career devoted to selling out at all costs?

I'll post the answers in the comment section tomorrow. I think these are pretty easy-- if you cheat they're really easy-- especially the first one.

Tweedy and The Replacements

I've been on a Replacements kick the past week or so. They're a band that I've been aware of for a long time, of course, but I never bought any of their music, and can't say I'm all that familiar with their catalogue. Then with the recent reissue of a few of their earliest albums, I decided to give them a shot, and I've really been enjoying Let it Be. (Are they trying to say something by naming it after a Beatles album? I'm not sure what the story is with that.)

This may not sound intuitive at first, but the band they remind me of most on this album is Still Feel Gone era Uncle Tupelo. Some of the themes are similar, and you can even just barely detect a dash of country at the edges of some of the Let it Be tracks ("Unsatisfied" in particular strikes me as, at the very least, a song it would be very easy to do an alt-country version of). But the main thing that strikes me is how clearly influenced Jeff Tweedy was by Paul Westerberg's vocals. There's an mp3 floating around on the internet of Wilco covering "Color Me Impressed" live, and before playing it Tweedy jokingly says "Everything we do is based on The Replacements." But compare these two songs and tell me that there's not a grain of truth in that:

Here's "Answering Machine" from Let it Be:


And here's Uncle Tupelo doing "Gun":

Joanna Newsom Sounds Like Specific Cartoon Characters

Like many of you, I am a big Joanna Newsom fan. One of my great regrets was missing her show at BAM when I visited New York a few months back. (Had tickets but a death in the family forced me to skip the show.) But anyway, I often recommend her to friends regardless of their taste in music. When I do this, I usually have to offer the caveat: "She kind of sounds like Lisa Simpson when she sings." And this is generally true, as heard on "Sadie," the highlight from her first album The Milk-Eyed Mender.



But today I was listening to The Milk-Eyed Mender in my car (I've quickly learned that is is the medium by which music is heard in Los Angeles-- a car stereo), and I came to an important realization. (I hope you're sitting down as you read this.) On certain tracks, Joanna Newsom sounds much more like Butters from South Park. Check out "Inflammatory Writ."



I will of course be publishing these findings in a major academic journal this fall, but I wanted to give you all a sneak preview since my discovery is likely to send shock waves through the industry. At the very least, it will rival my 1994 treatise on the manifold similarities between the voices of J Mascis and Elmer Fudd.

Content vs. Taste

Sort of in response to the Pitchfork bashing that followed in the wake of the Rolling Stone bashing, and sort of to continue to trumpet The Dirty Projectors, I'd like to point out what I consider to be the distinction btw the two publications.
Pitchfork, despite it's often questionable taste, borderline offensive approach to hip hop and cocksure writing staff, continues to provide the most/best content anywhere.
Two cases in point -
1. The Pitchfork music festival has a ton of bands over 3 days in Grant Park and it's only $65 total. They have Public Enemy, Mission of Burma and Sebadoh all playing seminal albums in their entirety. If that's not putting their money where their mouth is I don't know what is.
2. Pitchfork.tv just launched, and tho it's clearly still a beta operation, they've blown any comparable website out of the water. Here's Dirty Projectors performing for them:

REM is back (again)!

I'm glad Drischord posted the below-- I wasn't sure if any of you even cared about REM anymore, since so few do. I posted this link in my comment (which is way longer) but it's so clever that I think it's worth a separate post:

LINK

It perfectly captures the PR bullshit relationship that rock zines like Rolling Stone have with the big rock bands, in particular, the tendency with each 3.5-4 star review of an established band's new album to point out how it was a response to the faults of their previous album.

REM Returns From A Trip Around The Sun

I'm sorry to post right on top of Eric's essay, but I can't contain my love for the new R.E.M. CD any longer. In summary, it's smart, it's catchy, it's succinct and it actually rocks really hard.

A little background on my personal relationship with R.E.M. I really love their earliest albums and their mid-90's work. Murmur, their first record, might still be their best, but who could argue with Reckoning or Automatic For The People? I also love Fables of the Reconstruction, Life's Rich Pageant, New Adventures in Hi-Fi and Up. (I know it's not cool to like Up, but Tex Plush can back me up on that one.) Really I love almost everything they've ever done (including Monster)... up until Reveal, which was disappointment personified, and Around the Sun, which was borderline horrendous.

As bad as they'd been recently, Accelerate is near total redemption. I'm particularly thrilled with the punk-like energy on tracks like "Living Well Is The Best Revenge," "I'm Gonna DJ" and "Horse to Water," the latter of which can be heard below.



And where there isn't punk energy, there's awesome melodies and appropriately political lyrics, like on "Mr. Richards."




Yeah, the album isn't perfect. "Hollow Man," "Houston," and "Until the Day Is Done" are all fine but unremarkable. But there isn't any jaw-droppingly bad song wrought with self-righteousness a la "I'll Take The Rain" or "I Wanted To Be Wrong"-- lowlights from their two prior releases. The worst songs on this album are merely good.

To conclude, I've been listening to this album non-stop since I got it, so much so that I haven't even had time to listen to the new Sun Kil Moon, which I bought on the same day. Check it out.

You asked for it...

Ok, this is super long, but if you are as committed to navel-gazing time travel movie analysis, you will get through it. Basically, my college has this sort of internal blog-like network that I still sometimes post on, and I posted this. Then some people responded on their own pages. I don't have the responses handy but I've included my two main posts:

Ok, so the Onion article brought up a thought I had about the massive plot hole in Back to the Future. And I'm not even talking about the alternate reality stuff from Back to the Future II, which was awesome and blew my fourth grade mind, even if it probably doesn't stand up to logic.

Instead, I'm talking about the ending of the first movie. In the beginning of the film, the McFly family is a bunch of losers-- the mother is depressed and overweight, the father is a wimpy nerd who accomplished nothing and his brother and sister are lazy and worthless. Marty, perhaps to escape his dreary family life, hangs out a lot with an eccentric local inventor, who one night calls him up to go test out his new time machine before (SPOILER ALERT) getting shot by Libyan terrorists. At that point, Marty goes back in time and the movie as we know it plays out. While in the past, Marty shows no concern for the "Butterfly Effect" and, in fact, dramatically changes the future of his family life.

Then when he goes back to the future/present, he finds that his family life has changed-- his father is a successful science fiction writer, his mother is confident and attractive (not unlike how she was in 1955- va va va voom!) and his brother is gainfully employed ("What? I always wear a suit to the office!"). Now, I'm going to put aside the implausibility that with all those changes the exact same sperm/egg combos would have resulted at the same times, producing Marty and his siblings exactly as they were before, genetically speaking. And he even had the exact same girlfriend (and had made the same plans to go to the lake that weekend-- only this time he's got a kickass truck!). There will of course be problems when his family's like, "hey remember that time last year when you did such and such." And he won't, because he had a completely different upbringing.

But here's the weird thing-- when he returns to 1985, he goes back to the parking lot to find the scene from the beginning of the movie play out exactly as it did the first time (except of course that (MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT) the Doc is now wearing a bullet proof vest). Except the Marty who he watches go back in time had a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SET OF LIFE EXPERIENCES. I'll accept that to protect the space time continuum, Doc Brown made sure that he still became friends with Marty and he still sent him back to the past at the exact same moment as before (he had seen the video footage of same). But here's what I'm wondering-- and this would have been an interesting additional sequel. What exactly did the alternate, better-1985 version of Marty do when he went back in time. He would have, of course, heard about his parents' meeting and falling in love, all thanks to their mysterious friend Calvin Klein who was never heard from again after totally rocking the dance with his Chuck Berry/Pete Townshend/Eddie Van Halen-like guitar heroics. So he would have had a different set of priorities while back there, and moreover would have been especially taken aback that the meek, deferential Biff with whom he had grown up, was a bullying asshole who pushed his dad around. I wonder what that movie would be like....

Well, here's the thing-- I don't have to wonder! In Back to the Future II, Marty goes back to the past from the future (in order to get the sports almanac back from Biff). And he sees the exact version of himself that I was just talking about and, as he sees, that Marty does the EXACT SAME THING HE DOES IN THE FIRST MOVIE!! That's weird!

As I think about it, maybe that's not a fundamental flaw, as much as it is overwhelmingly unlikely. On the other hand, maybe it raises some interesting questions about fate and free will.

[As a sidenote, while you can come up with plausible explanations how this would happen, I feel like the filmmakers weren't expecting the audience to think about these issues. We were just expected not to question the concept of Marty basically revisiting the first movie because, on a meta-level, that's just really cool (which it was)].

Anyway, so I posted that and then some people responded and I responded to them:

I think that's the paradox I was getting at. One answer, sent to me via email by [redacted] is that time travelers are constant, like the speed of light. Truth be told I'm not sure I understand that from a physics perspective, but it does sort of explain the answer to your question, which is why his own memories didn't change immediately upon his father kissing his mother at the dance.

So then, yes, the space time continuum trumps. And that leads to the exact thing I was musing about-- what were the life experiences of Marty 2? (Marty 2= the one who Marty 1 sees escape the Libyans at the end of the first movie). We know that he basically reenacts the first movie, because Marty 1 sees him in Back to the Future II. But what happens to him after that? I think he's stuck in some kind of feedback loop-- bc think about it. For whatever reason he finds himself in the exact same circumstances as Marty 1, having performed the exact same actions too (ie, calling himself Calvin Klein, getting his parents to kiss, and finally playing Johnny B. Good at the dance). We also know that he gets sent back to 1985 via the lightning storm. When he gets back to 1985, he is in the exact same position he always knew. His parents are cool, his siblings are cool, Biff is a wuss. That's how he grew up, thanks to Marty 1, and he goes right back to it and continues on his way. Now, of course, his story is much less compelling because he doesn't go through that same emotional journey that Marty 1 went on-- his family was always ok, so he didn't have that same existential dissatisfaction that Marty 1 originally had.

BUT, meanwhile, we also know that Biff went back to 1985, gave himself the sports almanac and ended up becoming rich, creating the dystopian 1985 from the middle section of the second movie. At that point, i could be wrong, but there should be three Marties existing in the same place and time (at least).

Marty 1- the one we all know and love

Marty 2- he should have gone back there too, because Biff gave himself the almanac the same night.

Marty 3- the one who GREW UP in that alternate reality. To get around this last one, the writers concocted the idea that he was away at school in Switzerland (which incidentally would really screw up him going back in time in the first place-- especially now that Doc Brown, as we know, is committed to an asylum in that reality).

UNLESS-- Marty 1's actions in the second movie (retrieving the sports almanac and burning it) insured that Marty 2 never saw that dystopian 1985 because by the time he went back there, Marty had already fixed everything. Thus Marty 2 can continue to exist happily ever after in the happy Marty 2 loop.

What's also weird to wonder is which set of memories and experiences does the Marty of 2015 have. He of course is a bitter, failed man because he drag raced with Needles (Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers!), and hurt his hand, thus runing his very promising music career playing instrumental versions of Huey Lewis hits. But which set of time travelling experiences does he have?

I think at some point the story definitely collapses in on itself. All I know is this: only seven more years until we have HOVERBOARDS!!!

And that's it. Two final thoughts:

1) While I was home last week I watched part 2 on demand, and it's still awesome, though it's hilarious how futuristic they expected the world to be by only 2015. On the other hand, I was in Grand Central the other day and they had these weird ads projected up on the pillars there and it totally reminded me of the kind of constant advertising they often put in movies set in the future (I think Minority Report had a lot of stuff about that).

2) The best resources for all of this are

• http://www.bttf.com/film_faq.htm
  A FAQ written by the filmmakers-- shows that they were well aware of these issues. It's actually really fastinating
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_to_the_Future_timeline
  Wikipedia, as always, comes through. The graphic showing the various time lines is especially useful. It also links to the entry on "The Grandfather Paradox," which is interesting too.
  

Thoughts?

Chuck Berry Revelation

Rock and Roll history is finally set straight!

Concert Ticket Prices = Out Of Control

I just paid $100 for 2 tickets to see Wilco at McCarren Park Pool. This is getting crazy. For one thing, this show will probably be annoying because of the hipsters, but really- how is anyone supposed to afford that?
McCarren Pool holds an insane amount of people - JellyNYC (who is NOT producing this show, but do selflessly and brilliantly produce the greatest free live concerts ever known to man) claims that capacity is 5000+, which means that all told they (by 'they' I in no way mean JellyNYC, the producers of entirely separate yet incredible free live shows) stand to make at least $250,000 for this show, not including beer, etc.
wow.
I don't have enough fingers on my hands to count the amount of shows i've not purchased tix to for this summer because of the excessive cost. Wilco is probably the only band I would do this for (okay, Led Zeppelin too), but I'm forgoing seeing them multiple times this year because every single show is so expensive.
Just goes to show how the industry to trying to make up for the lost revenue of CD sales. Prepare to start paying much much more for every concert, except for the free shows put on by JellyNYC. Those shows will be free. And well produced. By 5 hard-working people that have 1 over-exuberant friend.

Come out and pla-ay

I'm in the midst of an accidental film festival of movies set and shot in the gritty New York City of the 1970s that are either about, or prominently feature, the subway. So far that's included:
-The Warriors
-The French Connection
-The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3

Anyone know others? Ridiculously enough, I've never seen Taxi Driver or Mean Streets, so those will probably have to come soon. But any others? (I've already seen Dog Day Afternoon, but that's the same idea. Midnight Cowboy maybe?)

Lick the Rapper Update

This morning I was awakened by a car outside my window blasting Lil' Wayne's "Lollipop" song. I have a sinking feeling it's going to be the hit of the summer.

Corona

Calexico gives a cool Tex/Mex flavor to this classic Minutemen song. Yesterday I was doing my taxes with a Corona in my hand and really feeling it.



"I only had a Corona/5 cent deposit!"

The Internet is Amazing

Pretty low quality, but still...

A Dr. Kittybrains Mixtape

ELO, "Laredo Tornado"

Download 'Laredo Tornado'

ELO, "Sweet Is The Night"

Download 'Sweet Is The Night'

Alice Clark, "I Keep It Hid"

Download 'I Keep It Hid'

John Sebastian, "What She Thinks About"

Download 'What She Thinks About'

This Song is Floating My Boat Right Now

I've been lazy about getting a divshare account (and since I tend to read/post to this blog from work, it's been kind of irrelevant anyway), but I'm now testing out posting a link to a song:



Echo & the Bunnymen - The Cutter

This is the first track off of Echo & the Bunnymen's Porcupine album and was a single. I first was curious about them after hearing about how much the last Arcade Fire album rips them off (answer, as it turns out: a lot!) and then I heard "Killing Moon" in a bar and loved it and that was that. Anyway, for people disinclined towards the kind of anthemic semi-dancey British New Wave/Post-Punk that the Bunnymen traffic in, this song might not do it (i.e., Drischord probably needs not apply) but as for me, I can't get enough of it. The bridge sections especially (starting at 1:45, and coming in again at 2:53 or so) kicks my ass every time.


PS Ok, that's annoying-- apparently to embed it, it has to be in mp3 form. I rip almost all of my music in .m4A form, which has slightly better quality at lower bit rates than mp3. I have an mp3 version of this song anyway, but still, that's a silly feature.

Prog beats Jam, Zappa beats Prog

This series of posts has reminded me of the time when I was a sophomore in high school, and I was on a school bus on the way back from a school chorus trip, sitting next to a senior who knew a lot more about music (and did a lot more drugs) than me. At one point during the ride, he gave me his headphones and said "Check this shit out", and played me "Toads of the Short Forest" from Frank Zappa's Weasels Ripped My Flesh.



I can't say I listen to much Frank Zappa anymore (and as with Labyrinth, probably wouldn't be that impressed if I heard this song for the first time today), but at the time this song completely blew my mind. By the time Frank came on the track and started explaining the different time signatures each instrument is playing in, my conception of music would never be the same.

Addendum

Since my posts are always inordinately long, I'm going to try out writing a short one, which is that I forgot to mention the converse of my theory from my last email, which is that I often don't care for stuff that you kinda have to have seen when you were a kid. So, when my roommates put on Labrynth during college, I was like, "What the fuck is this shit?" and hated it. Similarly, I can usually cause people to throw things at me with my blithe dismissal of the quality of Lord of the Rings (books and films), though I'm confident that had I read about Frodo's adventures when I was really into swords and dungeons and sometimes dragons, it would be some of my favorite shit ever.

Further Thoughts on Paul Simon

As I think about it, I actually do have some more thoughts on Paul Simon and Graceland, as I sit here finishing up some work (being a lawyer rules!) before I go out and the album plays in the background.

There's something that amuses me about our generation's recent re-appraisal/appreciation for Graceland (Vampire Weekend, obv, but also other bands now not being embarassed to namecheck the album, including, if I recall, Travis Morrison from Dismemberment Plan in an interview a couple years ago, et al). For people who are our age (that is mid-late twenties/early thirties), Graceland came out when we were at the perfect age to sort of passively and subconsciously absorb music that was being played by our parents (1986). Though everyone goes through a period where the music they want to listen to is the exact opposite of what their parents listen to, I have a feeling that many of us retain an affection for stuff we listened to as kids before we really had the opportunity to form our own taste. Although I can now listen to Graceland and appreciate the fluidity of the playing, the seamless integration of genres, and the effortless-seeming hooks, etc, when I was a kid I just loved the horn riff from "You Can Call Me Al."

I feel the same way about lots of things-- movies I loved as a kid will always make me happier than any movie I saw later and think is objectively "better" (Back to the Future-4-Life). And with other types of music-- as a kid, I was exposed through a variety of means to a handful of musicals, the cast albums to which are still some of my favorite music ever. While I generally have a soft spot for watching (and sometimes performing) musical theater, I'll never enjoy the ones I see now as much as the ones I saw/committed to memory back then. So, while I love Pirates of Penzance because I watched the Kevin Kline/Linda Ronstadt*/Angela Lansbury movie version literally hundreds of times, I've never seen HMS Pinafore and I can't imagine I'd like it that much. And for that matter, while I appreciate other Paul Simon albums (and actually grew up in a similar way with the Simon & Garfunkel albums, though at a slightly older age), I don't get nearly as much joy from them as I get from Graceland.

I wonder if there are any other pieces of culture (musical in particular) that were as ubiquitous and widely acclaimed as Graceland was at the time that can/will be re-appraised by our generation because we basically have an almost Pavlovian response to it.



*Incidentally that was another gateway into Graceland for me-- I already knew Linda Ronstadt as "Mabel" so I was really psyched to hear her duetting on "Under African Skies."

On King Crimson

Eric asked and I oblige. A post about King Crimson.

I'm far from an expert on them and really only know two eras of theirs - their first album and their "return" in the mid 90s. First album is obviously pre-Belew and back then, yeah, they were one of the wankiest prog bands to ever wank. But they kind of rocked a bit too. Their first album is something of a guilty pleasure. In searching YouTube for a good video of the original band playing live, I found, uh, this. It's "In the Court of the Crimson King" (which was used spectacularly in Children of Men) set to a Tom & Jerry cartoon. This may be best viewed while hanging out with your favorite talking towel.



As for Belew's involvement - I actually have not heard that first album with him. By the time I pick them back up in the 90s they are firmly in the mode of "old guys showing off their virtuosity". Which I guess is what they always were, but at least when they were younger they had some ambition and gusto. Now they're just... well, judge for yourself. Here's "Elephant Talk" from, I don't know, some album with Belew. VROOM maybe?

Paul Simon at BAM

As the internet commenters say, "First!" After a sighting of one "T. Plush" (no wait, that's too obvious-- it was "Tex. P."), last night, there has been a feverish battle to be the first one to blog the living shit out of the show we saw last night. So here I am.

Paul Simon's got a monthlong residency at BAM with three sets of concerts, each of which is basically a hybrid concert and tribute. This one was "Under African Skies," so it was entirely songs from Graceland and the intermittently awesome/weak Rhythm of the Saints. Ladysmith Black Mambazo was there in full force, as were several African (and one Brazilian) singers who sometimes sang lead on the various tunes. All in all it was fantastic-- the backing band was phenomenal. He still has the same bass player from Graceland (who plays those awesomely rubbery fretless bass licks, as well as the Seinfeld theme-esque slap breakdown in "You Can Call Me Al") , and guitarist from Saints. And there were something like five percussionists who played various and sundry instruments. The groove was airtight-- something the boys in Vampire Weekend (who were in attendance, "predictably," per Tex) could learn from (not that i'm hating).

By far the highlight for me was David Byrne, who first danced awkwardly and tall-ly while he sang backup during "Born at the Right Time." That was awesome because it reminded me of what I would do if I were in his position.
But then he took the lead on "I Know What I Know," and even more awesomely, "You Can Call Me Al." I do hope some enterprising soul managed to film this and puts it up on youtube, because it was fantastic. Imagine what it would sound like if David Byrne sang "You Can Call Me Al." Amazingly, that's exactly what it sounded like! Though that seems redundant, it doesn't quite capture how much it sounded like a perfect mash-up of "Once in a Lifetime" and "You Can Call Me Al." I kept expecting him to segue straight through "Who will be my role model? Now that my role model is gone. And you may tell yourself, this is not my beautiful house! And you will tell yourself, this is not by beautiful wife! But if you'll be my bodyguard..." It was great. Afterwards he got on his bike.

Related question: Adrian Belew played guitar on Talking Heads' Remain in Light. (Amusingly, I believe he also did some session work on Graceland). After playing with Bowie and the Heads, Adrian Below joined Robert Fripp in King Crimson. I have always written off King Crimson as proggy wanking (without having heard it, in fairness), but apparently the first album they put out as the revamped King Crimson, Discipline, is not proggy at all, and actually continues in the new wave worldfunk vein of Talking Heads, et al. Does anyone have it? How is it? I'm looking your way Dr. Kittybrains...

Lick the Rapper

His drooling superfans over at Pitchfork are having a difficult time getting the hard-on they were hoping for over this new pop song from Lil' Wayne.



Personally, I take this song as an encouraging sign that Wayne is leaving his thug pose at the door with his new album, and is trying to cross over into the 14-year-old girl demographic (which I have to assume is at least part of the marketing plan with this video). This may just be a mediocre sex song, but I'd certainly take it any day over the songs he used to write about shooting snitches.

But what I find amusing about the video is this: in the recent tradition of such lamentable pop hitmakers as 50 Cent, Lil' Wayne has chosen to base an entire song around the idea that eating candy can be a metaphor for oral sex, and in particular that a "lollipop" is like a penis. In this context, Wayne seems to spend an awful lot of time in this video with a lollipop hanging out of his mouth. And granted, most of the time he's just holding the lollipop in his hand and waving it around at the camera, but periodically it's definitely in his mouth. It seems like a strange oversight for an industry as homophobic as mainstream rap.

Of course, he also spends a lot of time sitting on the roof of a car playing an electric guitar...in a song that to my ear has a total absence of guitar. So it seems as if nobody put a lot of thought into the subtleties of this video.

In Hopes of Riling Up Quinapalus

Can you believe that Hillary Clinton actually released another 3 am advertisement? It's like her version of "Cheaper By The Dozen 2."

Nick Cave

So Nick Cave has a new album out - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! with 3 exclamation points mind you. Cave is a guy who I don't listen to a ton, but I always am interested in. He's just such a fascinating presence to me - the kind of rock star that you don't get very many of, and even less of these days. Rock has always been a young man's game, and I almost feel like it's moving more and more in that direction. In the glossy Rolling Stone (the magazine, not the band) world there's less room for cranky, gnarly old men in rock. I mean, where is Lou Reed anyway? Or Frank Black? Or countless others who could still be making music but are off on the sidelines. And yet, here's Nick Cave. He's 50, he looks like he's from a totally different era, and he really only sings about 3 things: 1. Dirty sex. 2. The Bible. 3. Murdering people. He's an intense man, and the fact that I don't listen to him every day is no indication that he's not amazing - just that his music can get a bit intense - as Q and Tex will perhaps recall from my forcing them to listen to Murder Ballads back in the day.

Anyway, this is mostly just a rambling excuse to post some videos, but I do think it's a shame that the kind of individuality from a guy like Cave is so often bred out of rock. Or maybe I'm just becoming a cranky old man myself.

Here's a classic from Mr. Cave which you really must watch:



And the new single:

Remembering Charlton Heston

His greatest role?

I see that you're enticed by my daughter's awesome rocking tits.

Awful South Park

I need to vent about one of the worst South Park episodes I've ever seen, which aired this week. My annoyance is two-fold. One is that this episode-- a not-even-veiled metaphor about the writers guild strike-- appears to fully take the side of the fat cat studio executives and mock the writers for wanting a bigger share of the pie they created. While Parker and Stone put their money where their collective mouth is (note that I linked to a free internet download of their show), they totally oversimplify the larger issue and put their tired, predictable libertarian slant on it.

My second complaint is that, while their commitment to contemporary issues makes them unique, they often whittle down an issue to a mere fraction of itself and thereby distort what actually happened. I still like the show, but I feel like Parker and Stone haven't matured alongside their fans who discovered them as teenagers. Too often they just end up playing to a new generation of teenagers.

Now I need to admit that the show may have taken a crazy left turn in the last 5-6 minutes and I wouldn't know because I turned it off. But that's my feeling based on what I saw.

More Bjork

There's a good chance you've already seen this video, but if not, you must. And if you have, why not watch it again? Bjork has tons and tons of amazing videos, but this one may be her finest.

Wanderlust

Everyone should stop what they're doing and watch this high-res version of Bjork's new video: Wanderlust. It is absolutely stunning. Too big to embed here. Follow the link if you want to live.

[ed: link fixed]

Hitchens on Hillary

He's talked a lot of bullshit about Iraq, and last week I was annoyed by the shallowness of his anti-Obama screed, but I still can't get enough of Christopher Hitchens when he's trashing the Clintons.

Rising Down

The Roots have a new album coming out next month! Check out the first video, in which they....brutally murder some white guy. Not sure what that's about, but I'm sure they had a good reason. It definitely sounds like they're further exploring the dark, driven, rock sound that they brought to a new level on their last album.



PS. Despite the glibness of my above remark, if I really put some thought into it, I'd say that they're brutally murdering the white guy as a metaphor for black people taking revenge for all the historical wrongs done to them, and choosing to become the oppressors themselves, in a sort of a reverse-apartheid fantasy. Maybe not the most sophisticated political statement, but rather than step into a HUGE pile of shit by analyzing it further, I'm just going to stop there for this morning.

Revisiting Roxy Music

In the spirit of revisiting ELO, I've decided this blog is the perfect place for me to finally begin preaching about the glory of Roxy Music. Not crappy Bryan Ferry as lounge singer/Avalon era Roxy Music. Screw that band. No, I'm talking about Roxy Music when they first started - when it was all about Brin Eno and a crazy group of musicians playing this insane mash-up of Bowie-esque glam and old school rock, all while being Elton John-sized showmen. They were great. Sadly, that version of the band only last one album (their eponymous debut), but man what an album. I highly doubt anyone other then possible Dr. Kittybrains is into this album, but you really should listen to it.

To whet your appetite, here is a brilliant live performance of the opening track. For reasons unknown to me I can't embed the video, so you'll have to settle for clicking on this link. Enjoy:

Remake/Remodel

A Reconsideration: Revisited

True to my word, I did pick up ELO's Out of the Blue used the other day (that makes two CD's I've purchased entirely because of this blog, which makes it a success for the music industry!). It was funny to listen to it because now this kind of shit is so up my alley-- lush, totally over the top arrangements and ear-candy melodies-- but when I was younger and just getting into music for real, I would have thrown it out because it had - *gasp* synthesizers and *shudder* sessions musicians and *horror* platinum success. (I was really into the "authenticity" of self contained bands that wrote and played everything like The Beatles, of course, or The Clash (on their first album, which was my favorite at the time) or The Band's Music from Big Pink where even the horns were played by the band.

ANYWAY, I'm kind of loving this ELO album (though it's still sort of a guilty pleasure), and I now want to buy all their big albums. I'm especially fond of the song "Telephone Line," (not on this album-- from the one before), which was used to great effect in Billy Madison when Steve Buscemi crosses Billy off of his "People to Kill" list before incongruously applying dark red lipstick to his face.



But in answer to Dr. K's question about when someone's going to bring this sound back, I think that the Apples in Stereo (and to a lesser extent of Montreal) were right in this pocket on their last album:


Down to the vocodered-vocals. No vibra-slap though.

The Space Monkey

I think you guys are mostly unfamiliar with them, so I want to recommend the Ricky Gervais Show podcasts, of which I'm a pretty big fan. It's a very simple format: Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant (creators of The Office and Extras) sit around with their friend Karl Pilkington; Karl speaks about various topics, and they make fun of him for being an idiot. One of their funniest regular segments is called "Monkey News", in which Karl reads news items he's found on the internet about monkeys. Below is a fan-video animation of a Monkey News segment, which Ricky loved and is plugging on his website.

Andrew Bird's New EP - Soldier On

I assume a few of you already have this, but here it is anyway. This is the first, and best, track off of Solider On, which as far as I can tell is only available online or mailorder from France. I highly recommend.

The Trees Were Mistaken


I love the drum loop. So much more dynamic percussively than Dosh's work on Armchair. Or at least much higher in the mix than most of the drums on that album.
Soldier On also contains a Bird track from the Janet Reno-currated Songs of America compilation!

Obama's Speech

I'm ready to say that this speech was better than any I can remember hearing from a mainstream politician in my lifetime, and contained a more nuanced, bold, accurate discussion of race than I ever expected to hear from a politician in my lifetime. One of the main criticisms I've heard voiced about it so far is that perhaps it's too nuanced, too brave for many voters to take, and too complicated to be digested in our crass, soundbite-and-spin oriented media-industrial complex. I don't want to believe that that's the case. I'd like to think that a politician this thoughtful, nuanced, and principled is exactly the sort of candidate who ought to do well in a country that is surely hungry for a change from the last eight terrible years. All I can say is: I supported Obama before today, but this was the moment when I started to truly believe that he had it in him to be a historically momentous president. And not because of the color of his skin, (and I can't really speak to the true content of his character) but because he's ready to talk about real, divisive, historic problems like race with a depth and seriousness that no other major politician seems to be able or willing to do. He's not pandering to anybody, and he's not ready to throw his longtime friend and pastor under the train for political expedience (the way I have to imagine the Clintons would do in a second), but instead tries to give us a real explanation of his relationship to his pastor, even if that explanation is possibly too complicated to play well on the 24-hour news stations.

If the Clintons somehow manage to wring the nomination out of the next few primaries, we'll be fools for electing them over this guy. If the Clintons manage to get the nomination through back-room shenanigans even after losing the popular vote, then the Democratic party is very possibly going to lose me forever, and it may indeed risk losing a whole generation of younger voters.

"Dedicated to Johnny Cash, A Real American Gangster"

Who would have guessed that even Snoop Dogg would one day cut a Honky Hop track? Drischord, I'm afraid that ship has sailed without us.



"Girl my love's gonna last just as long as my high...and I'm high all day, every day."

A Reconsideration

All right, without telling you guys who this is, or when it's from, I'm curious as to whether it's insanely obvious or not. No looking it up. Listening to this yesterday made me think - shit, I think somebody's going to bring this sound back sooner rather than later. What do you guys think?

(And does anyone know who/what/when this is just from listening? I purposely went for a deep cut.)

Following Up On The Dirty Projectors

I thought I'd go ahead and post a couple of tracks from my favorite album of 2007. I'm curious to hear what ya'll think.
The gimmick of the record is that they took the lyrics from Black Flag's Damaged and wrote new music. New GREAT music, I say.
These two are a couple of the mellower songs on the record, but two of my favorites.

Rise Above - Dirty Projectors

download 'Rise Above'

Thirsty and Miserable - Dirty Projectors

download 'Thirsty and Miserable'

Malkmus

Funny that Drischord mentioned the new Malkmus album as I just picked it up and was coming here to discuss. I have never listened to his solo stuff for some reason. But as of late I've been listening to a lot of Pavement, and I liked the song the AV Club included in their review, so I decided to give it a shot.

So, first things first, this is most defnitely NOT Pavement. I'm with D on that. It seems that Malkmus has really established his own thing with the Jicks now, and that thing is distinctly different from Pavement. Although his voice and guitar style is so distinct that it can't ever get 100% separated from Pavement. But purely on it's own merits I think the album is pretty fantastic. It's very jammy - there are a bunch of songs that clock in over 5 minutes (and one 10 minute one) and usually that's because the songs end in a giant rock out. So if you're looking for the tight little songs from Slanted, or the weird experiments of Wowee Zowee they're not here. What replaces them are these crazy freak out jams. Here's the first track, which is suitably odd, but then finds this great groove at the end that Ijust love. Check out the guitar stuff around the 4 minute mark that sounds more like Queens of the Stone Age then Pavement.



So this makes me curious to check out his other 3 solo albums to see if this is a new rock out style or if this is what he's been doing ever since Pavement.

Anyone else pick this up yet? Do you like it, or is it too over-indulgent, which, I'll be the first to admit, is something that defintely does not scare me away.

Blitzen Trapper

Saw these guys live a week ago. I can't say they put on such a great show, but they have a few good tunes and this is one of them. (How's that for tepid?)

Tweedy On Migraines

Jeff Tweedy posted on the New York Times' Migraine blog:

http://migraine.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/05/shaking-it-off/

That New Gnarls Barkley Thing

I'm not sure what the general take is from you folk on Gnarls Barkley. I liked Crazy enough, but didn't think it was that amazing. I only heard that album once, and had the same basic reaction - good but not enough to inspire me to buy it (but then again, few hip hop albums do get me in that way). But I'm kind of in love with the new single. Here's the video.

As an added bonus, the video may causes seizures in those who are prone to that sort of thing, so, you know, be careful.

Bon Iver

This is the album of the moment for me. Stunningly gorgeous acoustic music made in the woods.

Dungeons and Dragons

Wilco on SNL

For those of you that missed it, here is Wilco on SNL doing my least favorite song from SBS, 'Hate It Here'.
Suprisingly, I actually thought this came off better than the second song they did, the far superior 'Walken'. Or maybe I was just distracted by Tweedy's hideous jacket.

Rainbow Stew

Hey all you tree-hugging hippies, take heart! Merle Haggard really does want to believe in your utopian visions, and he'd drink your hippie kool-aid if he could. It's just that no matter how hard he tries, he can't get beyond a tongue-in-cheek endorsement.