SO - Muxtape or SpotDJ?
Muxtape's pretty web 2.0 looking, but crashed HARD yesterday, so I checked out SpotDJ, which is all kinds of bells and whistles. ANYWAY, I put together a mixtape of a whole bunch of bands I'll be seeing over the next few months. If you have an hour, please to enjoy and don't forget to share your mixes with me.
When Fred Schneider paves the way toward the chorus with the lyric "Faster, pussycat/ Thrill, thrill!/ I'm at the mall/ On a diet pill!", I can't tell if he's being sarcastic or honestly reveling in his superficial surroundings, and that alone is evidence that the band hasn't lost much of what made it so great in the first place.
I don't have the record, have no plans on buying it, but the above quote just made my fucking week.
Out like a lamb. OUT LIKE A LAMB.
A few weeks ago I won the new Say Hi [formerly ...to Your Mom] off of Clicky Clicky [thanks, it showed up in less than 24 hours!] and it is pretty good! Above average electro pop sounds right. I do not think I would go see them live as a headliner, however maybe they will open a gig I'm going to anyway, or show up at a festival I'm attending. I would totally check them out then.
You can pick up all sorts of shit over at the Calo Verde website right now. I got the pre-release digital download of "April" a few days ago. At first it's slightly disappointing, and I'm not really sure why. However it starts getting good about a third of the way into it. I think the only way to describe it is that the recipe is the same, it just tastes better. More mellow that "Ghosts of the Great Highway", way better than Mark Kozelek's solo records - I don't know, there's certainly no "instant" connection to this one, but I'll give it time. I've already got my tickets for his MFA show.
Also from Calo Verde is a pre-release digital download from Alan Sparhawk's [of Low] "rock" outfit. I've only listened to it once, and there's totally an instant connection there. Reminded me immediately of Codeine or Karate. I was kind of 'meh' when I saw they'd be playing live in a few months, but now that I've heard the record I think I have to go.
AND THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS! I watched some TV but didn't get too excited about it. I read gossip message boards. I played World of Warcraft, specifically going backwards and working on my rogue's lockpicking skills, which I forgot about. It's looking like a busy weekend IRL, actually.
Yo, I totally just printed and filled out a Fug Madness bracket [.pdf file] from Go Fug Yourself. Lindsay Lohan FTW!
Wednesday night was the big Bob Mould show. It was fine. I was kind of in a crappy mood, and was all hot and sweaty inside the club, so the show was actually probably really good, I was just too pissed off to enjoy it. I didn't even take pictures. I got to see my old friend Paul who I used to see all the time but now only like every other year.
Bob only played three songs from District Line, and since one of them [Again and Again] was an immensely improved live rendition, I didn't mind. Everyone got real pushy pushy shovy shovy at the end for the Husker Du songs and it reminded me of my friend Isaac and the Sugar show in Providence where I thought I was going to die, so I guess it was a little sad too. ANYWAY, I'm glad I went and would I go see Bob Mould again? THE ANSWER IS YES!!1!@!
Opening band Halou were unfortunately utterly unremarkable. I had the impression I would like them, but it was pretty bland live.
And that was the week that was. No good records were released and I am getting real impatient about the release of The Love Boat, Season 1 [seriously, I can't find it ANYWHERE in stores...]
Another busy week where only a million things happened. OK, nothing happened. Can you tell this web-log is winding down?
ANYWAY, last Friday Rob suggested we check out Caspian playing at The Middle East Downstairs, and after concerns about weather and etc. I finally just said YES! THAT SOUNDS LIKE AN EXCELLENT IDEA BOYFRIEND SINCE THERE HAVE BEEN NO SHOWS TO ATTEND TO IN FEBRUARY!!1!!
Oh my God. Can I even begin how amazing they were? The crowd was full of awful children, but luckily Caspian were Loud. However, it was a Post-rock Loud, so there were some quiet moments where all you could hear was your average Friday night bar conversations and sounds instead of the music. A little irritating, but what an awesome find. I bought a T-Shirt AND a CD [I know!]. A++, Power Rockers!
Monday, Nine Inch Nails released a new record [What WHAT?] internet only like Radiohead. Once the server load calmed down, I was able to get Ghosts I-IV sometime on Tuesday. It's 36 instrumental tracks. It's a bit much. It's all very sketchey and demoey. They're all good - there's just no...story? Cohesion? I mean, if you took all of the interludes from The Fragile [and these are SO like The Fragile's interludes] and put them together, does that make it a good record? THE ANSWER I THINK IS NO!!1!!. REQUIRES FURTHER LISTENING.
Go Away White is just god-damned brilliant. Puts Interpol and Editors and Bloc Party RIGHT back in their place. Seriously - I had SUCH low expectations for this. I figured it would be a dramatic Love and Rockets record - but it really just picks up from 4AD's In The Flat Field. It doesn't even sound like they're trying and it's white hot.
Finally, The Gutter Twins. Oh my God. Do you know what this record feels like? It would be like if I smacked Rob around, then left him, then crawled back to him through glass to beg his forgiveness, only to have him kick me to the curb, fetal, bleeding and sobbing. Greg Dulli and his dirty white boy soul combined with Mark Lanegan's Whiskey for the Holy Ghost - HOW COULD THIS NOT SLAY ME??!!?!?!?
IT WAS A BUSY MUSICAL WEEK!