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.
I hope everyone reading could do their part to be responsible and make sure to get tested and continue the habit of putting on that jimmy hat when needed. Also wear red to show your support for AIDS awareness.
BTW, tonight's the NU 107 Rock Awards. We may just get to see Urbandub win some awards as well. I hope at least one of these members in the band would win the guitarist, drummer, or bassist categories.
So sang Chris Cornell on a song for the Singles soundtrack. Little did we know then that the former Soundgarden frontman would go on to craft a solo album, join refugees from Rage Against The Machine, divorce his wife, and move to France. Lots have happened since I last actually gave CC a shot to my hearing. This may actually be a welcome listen as his performance in Sweden was documented for the rest of us who can't be there. This is like meeting an old friend.
01. Doesn't Remind Me 02. Like A Stone 03. Wide Awake 04. Fell On Black Days 05. Billie Jean (Michael Jackson Cover) 06. Be Yourself 07. Redemption Song (Bob Marley Cover) 08. Peace Love And Understanding (Elvis Costello Cover) 09. Original Fire 10. All Night Thing 11. Black Hole Sun 12. Call Me A Dog 13. Thank You (Led Zeppelin Cover)
Yeah, I'm blogging about them again. It's turning into quite the fansite, isn't it? I should really write with proportion to how long a song lasts. In this case, it should be really short. Here's Raims, Myrene, Mong, Mike, and Diego with their Myspace exclusive, Close Encounter.
The band's video for Sugod was also nominated for the 2006 NU 107 Rock Awards Best Music Video category. I hope they take this one. Marie did a great job directing it after all. I also hope they bag the Album of the Year as well. Ever since I loaded the thing into my iPod, I've been jamming to the tunes rather harsh. The event happens on Friday, December 1.
The Shins have dropped the first single to what may be the first good album up for release in 2007, Wincing The Night Away. It arrives in stores January 23.
Dave Mustaine has once mentioned that he was retiring Megadeth all-together. It seemed fitting enough since he seemed to be the only remaining original member. It didn't matter that the guitar genius of Marty Friedman and Nick Menza's manic time changes on drums were to me what made me the avid listener back in the day. It doesn't matter that the only other member from the very beginning, Dave Ellefson isn't in the lineup anymore either.
One good thing about this is that at least Dave has still churned out aggressive music to keep the die-hards satisfied. I wish I could say the same for Axl Rose and his Chinese Democracy.
Today's tune was initially created for the Gears of War video game soundtrack. It's a demo which could still be improved on by Mustaine and the others in the studio until it's final version on United Abominations, the new record due in 2007.
There's nothing like having lots of turkey, cranberrry sauce, stuffing, gravy, myriad desserts, and snacks occupying your taste buds during this holiday weekend.
I'll see you all on the other side of the turkey dinner. Happy Thanksgiving!
UPDATE: If you want remixes of this ditty, you can head over to the Sandwich Myspace site to listen. There's also an additional track which at this moment I haven't listened to yet.
To you sir, thanks for letting me see your visionary work in films the likes of Gosford Park, Short Cuts, and The Player. Thank you for giving the world M*A*S*H, McCabe & Mrs Miller, Kansas City, and many television shows like Combat.
...Good music, that is. I've included some photos from the Fusion Cafe show that featured Eux Autres and headliners Math and Physics Club for today's post. I've never been to The Vera Project's temporary venue before. It's so comfy in a small-space kind of way. It was also convenient for me considering it was a straight shot coming from the ferry terminal. All I had to do was go uphill until I got to Fourth Avenue. There were about 100 or so people in attendance. The show was intimate, yet generated energetic vibes of a gig that would've had twice the attendance.
Eux Autres will be ready with a new album soon, so it'll be a short wait more before we get new songs from them. I also had a nice brief chat with Heather and Nick after their set as they manned their merch station after their set which opened the evening. I told them about how in a span of a couple of weeks, I've seen a total of 3 music groups based in Portland. With one of them being Viva Voce, Heather told me that they've gigged with them before but hadn't heard the new record yet. I also told them about the Decemberists show the night before and how it was so outstanding to see them at The Paramount. They were egging me to move down to Portland at the rate that I've been checking out their locals at club and theater venues.
Of course I had to be a merch whore again and purchased some of their wares.
I enjoyed a little bit of The Lonely Forest's set. With their posse from Anacortes in tow, they powered through an energized set of Muse/Rush/Tool-inspired songs in the progressive hard rock vein.
Boat was also entertaining with their multiple references to Chicago. They encouraged the crowd at hand to use the homemade shakers they distributed before starting their set. Their brand of power-pop is something akin to Weezer or even Pavement, down to the eccentric lyrical quirks.
After them, I was then really psyched to check out Math and Physics Club. They went through a short set that included songs from the new record like LaLa Lisa and older material like Weekends Away and today's featured song, Graduation Day.
The Decemberists are criscrossing the country in support of their latest release (their first on a major label), The Crane Wife. Tonight, they'll be close to home as they perform at The Paramount Theater.
I'm so excited to see the group and hear the latest material in all it's progressive-rock glory--all pumped on this end to hear that megamega epic, The Island alone. That's worth the price of admission there.
I heard from a contact from Minneapolis that Colin wasn't feeling well at last Sunday's performance. I hope he's more up to it this evening. It can be so difficult to bounce back from an ailment while on the road with the lack of sleep and weather changes among other factors preventing recovery.
Today's song is an outtake from the Crane Wife Picaresque sessions. I think Colin figured that this wasn't fitting creative flow of the whole album. Here it is now for you to listen to anyway.
Update: So I went to the concert last night. Being that it was The Paramount, they have an inconsistent policy regarding whether or not you could bring in a still camera, so I decided against taking mine along.
The band was in the best form they could be this evening. Colin was still sounding rather gruff with his voice and apologized for the condition. That didn't detract from the outstanding music they played though. Of course, playing The Island was my highlight of the evening as Jenny Conlee and Lisa Molinaro went on a full-on keyboard assault with this prog epic. I also got to hear some personal favorites off the old albums like We Both Go Down Together, Engine Driver, and Red Right Ankle. Their encore also included a revisionist reenactment of the first Thanksgiving where the turkeys slaughter the pilgrims and the native americans trying to get them. The cast for this featurette included Lisa Molinaro, Chris Funk, and John Moen and various extras from the General Admission section.
The stage design was perhaps the best I've seen in this whole year of concertgoing. It's very simple with huge red Japanese lanterns strewn along the periphery of the band's performance space. This is overshadowed by a huge backdrop of a Carson Ellis mural (Carson is Colin's wife, for those not aware). It's basically a huge version of the drawing below:
Going to this show has cemented The Crane Wife as my favorite album of the year. You'll all eventually find out what the other nine are in a post before year's end.
