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The Great Debate: OJ vs. MJ
I posted this on a few message boards, including Yahoo Answers! so I hope I can add some opinions to this. My opinion to the below question is "no", although it's hard right now to explain why?
Michael Jackson had a remarkable music career. He also was charged with child sex abuse. He went to trial and - although he was assumed guilty in the public eye - was declared innocent by a jury. Since his death, his life has been celebrated and remembered for his music.
OJ Simpson had a remarkable football career in the NFL. Later in life he was charged with the murder of his ex-wife and her boyfriend. OJ was also assumed to be guilty by the public but he was declared "not guilty" by a jury as well.
When OJ Simpson dies, will he be remembered as fondly as Michael Jackson has this past week?
FREE MP3 ALERT: The Dead Weather "Treat Me Like Your Mother"
I think it's a good sign to see artists on major labels give away unrestricted mp3s as part of the upcoming promotion for a new album. So, I see that The Dead Weather is on the cover of the latest issue of Spin Magazine. Not really seeing too much else written elsewhere, other than the occasional blog. No airplay on local modern rock stations yet and very little from satellite and internet programming. Maybe the world is not ready for another Jack White project, (maybe we are not ready for Jack to surrender guitar duties and settle in as a band's drummer, yet). Or maybe Jack is not getting the respect he deserves (the guy probably has more country music awards than those from the rock world). Even with a member of Queens of the Stone Age and a indie rock startlet who has rubbed shoulders with the likes of Brian Molko and Kate Moss, The Dead Weather hasn't really grabbed the mass attention one would think. I missed the quietly released single-for-sale back in March ("Hang You From The Heavens"), but grabbed the freebie "Treat Me Like Your Mother". If you ever wondered what would happen if Jack and Alicia Keys would of taken their movie soundtrack duet one step further and met more halfway, The Dead Weather may be a prototype of that daydream. Oh, and I am pretty sure that The Dead Weather already have done more promo photo shots than they have written actual songs.
Click the image below to get your free mp3 from The Dead Weather's upcoming album Horehound (in stores July 14th, 2009).
FREE MP3 ALERT: Manic Street Preachers "Bag Lady"
I missed notifying everyone about the free downloads offered by NME last month, which included Horrors remix of "Doors Closing Slowly" off the Manics' new album Journal For Plague Lovers and a cover of The Horrors' "Primary Colours". Those I believe are now long gone.
However directly from the MSP website comes two more downloads. For the price of signing up for their global mailing list, you can download the hidden bonus track off the new album called "Bag Lady" and a Jonathan Krisp remix of the same song.
Go to the official Manic Street Preachers website to get your downloads.
A Suggestion for iTunes Genius...and how I work around it until they implement my suggestion.
I Still love making mixtapes. Ofcourse they are not really tapes anymore. Most of us burn our mixes on CD-Rs. However, just like how some audiophiles still call an album or song on any format a record, I still call my homemade, self-sequenced CD-R compilations mixtapes.
I love the generous feeling of intimacy by giving a mix to a friend. I still haven't been able to establish that same feeling designing a playlist online with a URL to pass along to someone. Maybe within time, but not now. I will try it out someday in the near future, but jeez unless Myspace For Mobile allows playlist streaming, how are my friends going to listen to their Myspace playlist I create for them outside of their computers? (For a rant about Myspace Playlists, see my post from last October)
I have been critical about iTunes Genius in the past and feel it is still inferior to both Last.fm and Pandora as far as music recommendation apps go. However, admittedly, I use Genius almost daily. I use it to quickly build playlists to load onto my iPod. I use it nighttime playlists that use to fall asleep to. Genius offers a choice on how big you want that playlist to be (25, 50, 75, or 100 songs). I think it would be a great addition if Apple included a 5th selection: "CD". What this selection would do is build a playlist based on time (72 or 80 minutes) and not by the number of tracks. From there you can right click the playlist name from the left playlist column and select "Burn Playlist To Disc" for a quick mix-CD on the go. Why engineers at Apple didn't think of this before is debatable. Although iTunes does have a CD burning function, their decision to not associate the playlist building of their Genius application with CD burning may have something more to do with their obvious motive to help customers enjoy their iPods more and their CDs less.
And perhaps their is market research on their part that suggests that many people don't use iTunes to burn CDs.
So, in my desperate attempt to replicate my iTunes wish, I came up with a step-by-step process that I use to burn new mixtapes. It's not exactly "on-the-go", especially considering my history of trivial indecisiveness. But I was pleased with the results nonetheless.
- Pick a song and click the Genius playlist button (it looks like a flower, but look closer and it's either an atom or molecule). Set the "limit to" playlist count to 100 (if 100 songs is too much to sift through, then go ahead and pick a lower number).
- Rather than clicking "Save Playlist", create a new playlist and name it after the base song. Use the word "genius" and feel free to get cute (see my examples below).
- Drag and drop the songs in the Genius playlist to the newly named playlist.
- Now, time to choose songs from the 100 that Genius selected. On the very bottom of he iTunes window is the total time length of the playlist. The key is to get the time below 1 hours & 20 minutes. Here are some rules I applied when choosing songs to keep or delete. a. Only one song per artist. This will actually cut the song cut in half and bring the 80 minute goal closer. b. Choose songs that do not exist in any previous mix-CD or pre-recorded CD. c. Feel free to replace songs in case Genius chose a alternate version. I did this for the Follow The Genius mix. Genius chose a the slower-then-faster version of 45 Grave's "Partytime" while I preferred the more famous version that appeared on the Return Of The Living Dead soundtrack (the one which lyrics reflect partying teens facing their impending doom, not the one with lyrics that speak of a young girl raped and abused). So I just deleted the version I disliked and dropped in the version I did. I would had done this for "Mr. Jones" by Psychedelic Furs from the same mix. I let the original version that appeared on their first greatest hits album rather than the preferred version that appears on their Talk Talk Talk album.
- Once the playlist has been sorted and deleted enough to be under 80 minutes, then the playlist can be re-sorted with the base song on top and burned to CD.
Here are my first two mixtapes I made with iTunes Genius. The first is based on The National's "Mistaken For Strangers" titled Mistaken For A Genius Mix. I like this mix because it helped me get alot of the various indie rock singles on my hard drive on a CD while also choosing some one-hit wonders from the early years of modern rock (Happy Mondays, Charlatans). The second is based on Killing Joke's "Follow The Leaders" titled Follow The Genius. This mix seemed to capture alot of various goth/post-punk songs, yet it's interesting that Genius chose songs from the most recent Bauhaus and Damned albums and even selected something from the glam/proto-punk era ("Amateur Hour" by Sparks).
Below are my complete mixes published (song and artist)
MISTAKEN FOR A GENIUS MIX CD
1. "Mistaken For Strangers" by The National
2. "The Only One I Know" by The Charlatans
3. "An Honest Mistake" by The Bravery
4. "Step On" by The Happy Mondays
5. "Spread Your Love" by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
6. "Keep Your Eyes Ahead" by The Helio Sequence
7. "Tonight I Have To Leave It" by The Shout Out Louds
8. "Reason Is Treason" by Kasabian
9. "Blood" by The Editors
10. "Hunting For Witches" by Bloc Party
11. "Must Be The Moon" by !!!
12. "Battle For The Sun" by Placebo
13. "Standing In The Way Of Control" by The Gossip
14. "Here's Your Future" by The Thermals
15. "It's A Hit" by We Are Scientists
16. "Between Us & Them" by Moving Units
17. "Hold On, Hold On" by Neko Case
18. "Morning Light" by Gliss
19. "I'm Confused" by Handsome Furs
20. "Slow Hands" by Interpol
15. "It's A Hit" by We Are Scientists
16. "Between Us & Them" by Moving Units
17. "Hold On, Hold On" by Neko Case
18. "Morning Light" by Gliss
19. "I'm Confused" by Handsome Furs
20. "Slow Hands" by Interpol
FOLLOW THE GENIUS MIX CD
1. "Follow the Leaders" by Killing Joke
2, "Amateur Hour" by Sparks
3. "Partytime" by 45 Grave
4. "Little Miss Disaster" by The Damned
5. "To Hell With Poverty" by Gang Of Four
2, "Amateur Hour" by Sparks
3. "Partytime" by 45 Grave
4. "Little Miss Disaster" by The Damned
5. "To Hell With Poverty" by Gang Of Four
6. "Adrenalin" by Bauhaus
7. "Glass" by Joy Division
8. "The Back of Love" by Echo & The Bunnymen
9. "Stargazer" by Siouxsie & The Banshees
10. "Hollow Eyes" by Red Lorry Yellow Lorry
11. "Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang)" by Specimen
12. "Into The Valley" by The Skids
13. "Mr. Jones" by Psychedelic Furs
14. "Dance with Me" by Lords Of The New Church
15. "Primary" by The Cure
16. "Careering" by Public Image Limited
17. "Spiritwalker" by The Cult
18. "Nightmares" by Flock of Seagulls
19. "Cruisers Creek" by The Fall
20. "Release The Bats" by The Birthday Party
For more on iTunes Genius, please read Let's Get Genius and Not So Genius
ROTW: Super Furry Animals - Dark Days Light Years
SUPER FURRY ANIMALS - DARK DAYS LIGHT YEARS (Rough Trade)
I was unfamiliar with Super Furry Animals until I heard one of their songs covered by The Wildhearts last year. The song was called "Ice Hockey Hair" and appeared on Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before - an album of covers, most of which were true to the originals. Eager to hear more, I often imagined Super Furry Animals to be a spacey, psychedelic-ish power pop band - maybe similar to an experimental Fountains of Wayne cut or Red Planet's "Starforce" off their Revolution 33 album.
It may be hard to judge a band from their ninth studio album without hearing one through eight. So maybe this review isn't really for casual fans to read, rather those like me who have heard the name but never the sound. Although Dark Days Light Years contains elements of pop, psychedelia, and celestial overtones, Super Furry Animals do not sound at all like the spacey, psychedelic-ish power band that I dreamt of. The neo-psych qualities are equal to some of the more modern, festival-occupying jam bands in existence today. Although only one member is assigned to man the synths and keys (Cian Ciaran, opposite two guitarists - Gruff Rhys and Huw Bunford), the majority of Dark Days is electronic-driven over raw drums, with the stringed instruments often used as only embellishments.
I had come to the conclusion many years ago that, since contemporary electronic music can be traced all the way back to the early 70s with Germany's Kraftwerk as a focal point, we are now in a era in which an artist, without precaution, can sound "outdated" without the privilege of sounding "retro". SFA may actually be the first casualty of my misfortunate revelation. When listening to Dark Days I sense the latest technology in sound emulation and in-studio manipulation being employed. But I can't quite put my finger on if something is either being stifled or horrendously overdone (like possibly the consistent sound effects on the vocals...dude, take a break from it already). It reminds me, although admittedly a far reach, like the Power Rangers episodes on Saturday Morning in which the special effects on TV are sophisticatedly constructed, yet watered down by some limited budget that a only Saturday morning tween television shows can be burdened by.
It's difficult to appreciate the pop sensibilities when the vocal melodies sound constructed by templates. I realize that pop music is all about stimulating the limbic with a hook that the brain finds both pleasant and comfortably, yet sub-consciously, familiar. But then there is pop overkill - music that makes you feel taken advantage of...like that new romantic interest who knows your every move and weakness, thus triggering skepticism. Super Furry Animals sound like a band that is hard to trust and, in turn, one that sounds as if 5000 miles is not the only thing keeping you from being in on the joke (if there is one).
If I had to choose one song to be transferred to a mix - one that survives while I leave the rest behind, it would be "Helium Hearts", a novel love story with an introduction that is only missing the fitting summertime afternoon jock introduction for which commercial radio hasn't used since around 1986. An honorable mention is "Where Do You Wanna Go?" which hits the same poptopia target as "Helium" yet held back by the aforementioned template use in the song's outgoing bridge (which by the way, connects with "Lliwiau Llachar", a non-English version of the previous track). From there, if you take away the two 8 plus minute space jams, while deleting a few of the tracks with those irritating special effected vocal tracks, you just may have yourself a somewhat decent power pop EP.
Click the album image above to buy the CD from Amazon, or register your email address at the Super Furry Animals website to get a free download of "Inaugural Trams" (featuring guest vocals from Nick McCarthy of Franz Ferdinand).
FREE MP3 ALERT: Jay Reatard "Ain't Gonna Save Me"
Whenever I find a free download worth sharing, I think I would like to post it immediately rather than hold onto it wait until I compile enough news for my somewhat regular RADAR installments. So from now on, lookout for the header "FREE MP3 ALERT".
Just got news from Matador Records about the new Jay Reatard album due in August. The link will take you to Jay Reatard's page on the Matador site and give you everything you need to know about the making of the new album Watch Me Fall. After reading what Jay has to some, look for the download link for the first taste of the new record titled "Ain't Gonna Save Me"
THE LINK TO JAY REATARD'S PAGE AT MATADOR RECORDS
Just got news from Matador Records about the new Jay Reatard album due in August. The link will take you to Jay Reatard's page on the Matador site and give you everything you need to know about the making of the new album Watch Me Fall. After reading what Jay has to some, look for the download link for the first taste of the new record titled "Ain't Gonna Save Me"
THE LINK TO JAY REATARD'S PAGE AT MATADOR RECORDS
ROTW: John Doe and The Sadies - Country Club
JOHN DOE AND THE SADIES - COUNTRY CLUB
Do you know how I came to the realization that I really enjoyed this album? When I found myself researching original versions for practically every song that John Doe covers with the Sadies. And when you come to think of it, isn't that the real reason why artists choose to perform covers? It's not parody. It's not like the dozens of awful pop-punk/nu-metal covers that one would had to endure over the past 10-15 years everytime they turned on their local modern rock station. No one suspects that George Michael influenced Fred Durst in any way or that anyone in Alien Ant Farm were huge Michael Jackson fans. And although I can't recall right now who did the Don Henley cover a few years back, I never bought that one either.
So far since acquiring Country Club, the original Hank Sr. version of "Take These Chains From My Heart" has been a staple on my personal Myspace profile playlist while a certain ex of mine can hear the Dean Martin version anytime she calls thanks to T-Mo's caller ringback service. Patsy Cline's "Stop The World" has been downloaded to the jukebox at my local watering hole after repeated requests. I even quoted a line from Tammy Wynette's "Till I Get It RIght" as a Facebook status update recently. That is what a good tribute album does - it inspires the listener to discover and re-discover.
Country Club is a collaboration between X/Knitters bassist John Doe and Canadian indie alt-country band The Sadies. Joining the list of legends mentioned above, John and the country canucks also pay tribute to Johnny Cash, Porter Wagoner, and Merle Haggard among others. Many of these classics were new to me, although they would probably appear to be standard to someone like a Chip Hanna or DJ Johnny Volume, who spins country outlaw country music around Tempe alternating venues with DJ Dana (Valley Fever). It's a give-in that any true X fan, especially those who enjoyed John and Exene's work as The Knitters, would enjoy Country Club. While The Knitters may sound tongue-in-cheek at some points - like a band deserving of the chicken wire they would had to play behind if they had gigged during more primal times, John Doe and The Sadies come off more sincere. The overall setlist favors the "slow dancing on an empty dancefloor past last call" numbers your granddaddy remembers.
So pick-up this record, grab a bottle of Old Crow, go visit your ol' grandpappy, and let the tales of country music's past fly.
Click the album's image above to buy the CD from Amazon. Check out the video below, showcasing the John Doe in the studio recording the album's first track "Stop The World"
ROTW: The Picturebooks - List of People To Kill
Starting today, I am going to do my best to post one record review a week. In fact, I will just call it ROTW (Review of the Week) to make it sound all snazzy and official. Expect it by Monday morning but hopefully by Sunday afternoon. Most will have links from the album's image to Amazon or CDBABY.
THE PICTUREBOOKS - A LIST OF PEOPLE TO KILL (Nois-O-Lution)
First listen, first thought: Refused and The Shape Of Punk To Come. The reason is a bit difficult to explain. The debut album from The Picturebooks doesn't sound too much at all like the 1998 final LP from the Swedish hardcore band, however I sense a parallel in the philosophy for which both records were created. The Picturebooks appear as a post-punk band willing to take risks to expand the minds of the global garage rock consensus, much like the risks Refused took when expanding the minds of their hardcore audience. The Picturebooks in this case are using a plethora of multi-layered instrument tracks, spoken dialog/sound effect samples, signal processors, and soccer-stadium-sized call & response back-up vocals. There are also things I am hearing on this album that I could possibly mistake for tape loops and synths. A List of People To Kill not only sounds experimental, but possibly more pre-calculated than the sometimes spontaneous Refused album. And while many were caught off guard 11 years ago by the well produced and highly-processed recorded output of Shape..., I expect many similar reactions from the garage rock community. Ultimately, I predict an easy pass for this German band, especially in a era where Jack White duets with Alicia Keys and The Black Lips frolic with members of the Wu-Tang Clan.
Second listen, second thought: Am I going to do extensive research on the band and find out that this is actually a side project of The Modey Lemon...or perhaps outtakes from their Thunder and Lightning album? No dice, but if you can imagine the thick fuzzed out groove of songs like "Crows" and the intensely dynamic vocals of "Predator", then you'll have a fairly good idea of the base sound foundation of The Picturebooks.
After a few more listens, I begin to select a standout: Track 4, "Prince Trafficlight". Although the song's first moments are occupied by paper thin drumbeats and a guitar lick with reverb that could only come from a batcave in the early 80s (think Bauhaus/Alien Sex Fiend/early Cure/The Horrors), it's the morbid desperation reminiscent of Black Wave-era Lost Sounds that drew my immediate attention. However, when the vocals are not screaming with blood curdling emotion ala Jay Reatard, The Picturebooks are showcasing pop sensibilities that could put them in the same class as The Caesars and The Hives. Going deeper through the songs on A List of People To Kill, I come across "You Can Not Make It Right" which proves The Caesars comparison in equal parts against verses that have the neo-psychedelic quality that previously only the Modey Lemon had been able to produce.
A List of People To Kill inspired my own list of people who I need to personally share this album with. For the rest of you out there, click the album's image and purchase the mp3 version of the album. It's also available from eMusic.
VIDEOS: See the band perform "On The Go" live
Watch the video for "Machines".
Three Phoenix-Area Bands to Look Out For In The Rest Of 2009
BECKY LEE
This young singer/songwriter is sometimes billed as "Becky Lee and Drunkfoot", "Becky Lee Walters", or "The Becky Lee Band" - for which I hear the latter she least prefers. Ms. Lee has spent ten months as a Phoenix resident after a few years residing in Switzerland where she wrote, recorded, and toured often. You can catch her and her band (featuring Ryan "Wong" Rousseau from Tokyo Electron/Earthmen and Strangers on bass and Jeff from Hands On Fire on drums) perform at places like The Yucca Tap Room and The Rogue West. Where ever she has played, patrons are caught emptying out after her set carrying a warm and fuzzy glow. I am not comfortable categorizing Becky's style as pure Americana or Alt-Country, however she does possess a down home honest and modest character on stage not unlike Neko Case or maybe even a Jenny Lewis. In June she will return to Europe to play the B:O:M:B Fest in Bremen, Germany before heading off to Berlin and Paris - all cities that she is no stranger to. You can wish her a safe trip this coming Tuesday (05/19/09) at The Yucca where she will share the bill with popular folksman Matt Reveles. The rest of her story, as well as tour dates, can be found on her myspace page.
THE PSYCHIC DETECTIVES
Formally Thee Pillow Fight, The Psychic Detectives are a three piece noise-rock outfit whose music sounds as if it was inspired by 3rd generation garage rock, no wave, progressive classic rock, and the more delinquent, less contemporary side of punk. When I witnessed them live last month, I was reminded of "Return of The Rat" era Wipers and some of the bluesy proto-punk that bands like Antique Scream have brought to young ears. When the singer/guitarist (who according to their myspace page either goes by the name 1085 or Irish) isn't dressing in drag like in the above picture, he is sporting a nice kaja-mullet or maybe even a doo which recalls Nigel from Spinal Tap. Luckily their most recent performances have included less shtick and shenanigans thus helping audiences concentrate more on their eclectic blend of underground rock. Check them out on their myspace page.
SCORPION VS. TARANTULA
Some may say drummer Notah plays in too many damn bands. However, with the undecided future of Thee Unfortunates, Scorpion vs. Tarantula may become his main vehicle. Joining Notah is the founding member of Lansing, Michigan's Chinese Millionaires - Jay Bennett along with former Paperbacks singer from Chicago - Laura Hotshot. The mid-westerners relocated to the much hotter frontier of Arizona last summer. I am going on record as to say, with full confidence, Scorpion vs. Tarantula would had been Jeff Dahl's favorite local band had he not moved away to Hawaii two years ago. Jeff likes all-girl groups, but loves great co-ed gritty-punk'n'roll bands with strong female singers (ala Texas Terri & The Stiff Ones). Ms. Hotshot may not be Texas Terri but she is the closest Phoenix has had to a dominant lady warrior of rock'n'roll in a long, long time. With Notah's relentless cymbal-crashing and madman/genius hard-beat timing - blended with Jay's chainsaw guitar attack, Scorpion Vs. Tarantula comes off like a Motorhead/Guitar Wolf car wreck demanding immediate attention. The sound is heavy enough to not make anyone miss the bottom end of a bass player on stage, yet fast and frantic enough to solicit a swarm of young rockers ready to shimmy and shake in-almost-sync of Hotshot's rapid stage moves. All SvsT needs is one or two high profile shows on any of Arizona's many legendary stages to solidify their already existing reputation. From there they will be a sure bet for one of the best rock/punk bands in Phoenix for 2009. Hear what they have so far on their myspace page.