Welcome to my side of the 'net. I ruminate over music, books, movies, places, or people that have somehow made me what I am or continue to influence me to this day. I usually post links to mp3s of songs I find interesting.
ATTENTION:
The mp3s linked to this site are for evaluation and sample purposes only. The files are only hosted temporarily, so if they're unavailable, it's gone for good. If possible, some of these links are sourced back to the musicians's official website. Please make sure to support the musicians featured herein by buying their records, going to their shows, and purchasing their merch.
Cat Power's latest album, The Greatest has been repackaged with different slip covers. It's nice to see that Matador has given a bigger push for Chan Marshall. She's been touring acoustic lately. Prior to that, she had a backing band complete with horn section to replicate the albums Southern bent. I feel uneasy whenever she does her tours by herself. She seems to end up with either a genius live performance or a worrisome glimpse of incoherent rambling and half-assed noodling on her guitar or piano--talk about getting one or the other!
I've been digging through sites and found this remix of Cross Bones Style from the Moon Pix album. This was the first song I ever heard from her. I don't think I could turn back now.
I wanted an excuse to write about her and post a picture. So there!
There's been quite the glut of Radiohead-influenced acts that have been coming out of the woodwork. Some bands prefer the group that did The Bends (Travis, come on and fess up!) while some prefer to carry on where the pioneering group left off in their (in my opinion) magnum opus, OK Computer. Mew is part of the latter. With more mood shifts than a manic depressive having an episode, this band brings on the grandiose pomp of prog-rock and marries it with more ambient touches. The Danish collective is on tour with Kasabian and will be hitting Neumo's on October 16. Their new album is entitled And The Glass Handed Kites Up. Here's a track off that platter:
Things to know about The Haunted: 1. They're from Sweden. 2. They were former members of death metal band At-The-Gates. 3. The difference between The Haunted and At-The-Gates is that The Haunted has more of an 80's thrash metal influence, perhaps more along the lines of DRI. 4. Their new album, The Dead Eye, will see release on Halloween day.
Here's a video to No Compromise off their last album, rEVOLVEr.
The people at the A&E channel are the biggest cockteases on earth right now. It's Friday night and it's almost 11 PM. It's supposed to be time for one of my favorite shows, MI-5 (a.k.a. Spooks in the UK). I checked my cable TV guide to make sure that I'm not missing it, and...
...it's not scheduled to broadcast at all!!!...
...I'm upset...
I checked online at the A&E channel to find out what the heck's happening. The channel still has a section on the show, yet there wasn't anything regarding when they're airing again. I had to check the posts on the messageboard and some folks are awful pissed about what they've done. How could they only air two episodes and then replace the show with marathon CSI airings?
Once I get done with that marathon broadcast, I'm done with that channel. They can show all the Dog, The Bounty Hunter they want and I could care less. Fuckers...
Why do I fall in love with TV shows that are so damn good, they disappear (see Arrested Development, Undeclared, Freaks and Geeks, and Chappelle's Show, to name a few)?
The slick sound of The Jam is revived with Juan Pablo Dream; a group hailing from Bulacan (a locale north of Manila). The group consists of frontman Bing Austria, bassist Alexander Dumlao, guitarist Aurelio Castro, sax player Eman Tabujara, and trumpet player Christopher Carpio. Bing used to be the vocalist for ska band Put3ska. The band first wanted to do bossa nova tunes but fortunately for us listeners, didn't pan out that way. They decided to go the Northern Soul mod route the way Paul Weller and his mates at The Jam went. The rest is...well, you know.
Their debut album Soul Up! is now out. Here's a tune off that platter.
I Would Tell You That I Love You If I Thought That You Would Stay
Boys Don't Cry is perhaps one of the first few songs that I ever enjoyed that didn't come from my parents's record collection. That hint of sadness and teenage angst intermingling with the ascending-then-descending melody is very potent to a young and impressionable mind. It only made matters more interesting to see how effective it was for Robert Smith to wear black, sport lipstick, eyeliner, and poofy hair.
Here's Grant Lee Philips doing a version of that very same song:
I always find a great joy whenever Morrissey releases a new album. It means that there are singles up for release. You Are The Quarry eventually got the re-release treatment to add the b-sides to the singles released off the album. I wonder if the same will eventually be done for Ringleader of The Tormentors? I'll have to admit that I hadn't really given this album too much of a listen yet, even if it had been released last spring. Now that things are settling down with all my record purchases and such, I can perhaps find the time to really give this one a go.
In the meantime, here are some b-sides off a couple of his singles. I Knew I Was Next is from You Have Killed Me while If You Don't Like Me, Don't Look At Me is off The Youngest Was The Most Loved. These tracks show that The Moz has some bite still left in him.
I'm sure it's been known that the teenage Rivers Cuomo used to sport a mullet and learned to play guitar from Fates Warning's Jim Matheos. I don't think too many people have heard of Rivers's stint with a sort-of prog metal band called Avant Garde.
I've had luck with some opening acts for groups that come to town. Some notable ones that I've seen that I've eventually become a fan of:
stellastarr* - can't remember if they opened for The Libertines, Longwave, or Franz Ferdinand The Haunted - opened for Shadows Fall Mommy and Daddy - opened for Bloc Party Corrosion of Conformity - opened for Megadeth The Mooney Suzuki - opened for The Hives
I've also had the dubious distinction of seeing The Killers open for Franz Ferdinand when both bands still hadn't made it to the big-time.
Then there are also those times where I'd go to a show only to see the opener. That's the case for Kasabian next month when they have Mew to open for them. I can leave after Mew's set.
This Saturday, there may be another addition to that list when Converge opens for Mastodon.
I've also added a song off a tribute compilation to The Cure.
