I know, it's Saturday, get off my back already! That's my "I'm driving a pickup and blasting classic rock through my blown speakers" attitude. Having just been in Montana and Wyoming I realized there are more truck drivers out there than car drivers, and I'm guessing more classic rock listeners than what you get from the sedan, minivan, mini/smart car driving listeners.
As a parent you probably feel a little weird that Nirvana is a classic rock band to your kids. And if you have an infant like me, it's a little scary to think that someone like Wilco will be my daughter's classic rock.
So with that, let's see what the Loop and the classic rock format is up to these days.
WLUP/Chicago/97.9 The Loop
Friday 8/24
5:02 P.M. Kansas - "Carry on Wayward Son"
5:08 Scorpions - "Can't Live Without You"
5:12 Molly Hatchet - "Flirtin' with Disaster"
5:19 Break
5:25 Rolling Stones - "Bitch"
5:28 Alice in Chains - "Rooster"
5:35 Def Leppard - "Rock of Ages"
5:39 Guns n' Roses - "Paradise City"
5:47 Break
5:54 AC/DC - "Girls Got Rhythm"
5:58 Bon Jovi - "Runaway"
Usually I bring my satellite radio when I go on the road but for this last trip I decided to just go with the IPhone and use whatever I had in my itunes or i could just plug into Pandora, Accuradio, KEXP or Chirp. Little did I know that Yellowstone has no cell signal anywhere and I had only 600 songs loaded on my IPhone at the time (I have close to 100K on my external hard drive). So with that, I'm going to shuffle what I had on my trip.
9 songs (which is what the Loop put on during the 5p hour):
Hum - "Stars"
David Bazan - "Bearing Witness"
The Streets - "Fit, But You Know It"
Smith Westerns - "Dreams"
The Flaming Lips - "She Don't Use Jelly"
B.o.B. - "Nothin' On You" feat. Bruno Mars
Gorillaz - "Feel Good Inc."
The Drums - "I Felt Stupid"
Kid Sister - "Right Hand Hi"
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Assumption is Death...
"Be a sponge. Curiosity is life. Assumption is death. Look around."
That's one of nine maxims that Mark Parker, the CEO of Nike, uses as a guiding principle for running the company. I think that could be applied as the guiding principle for this blog as well, not to make this blog sound too serious or anything. Half the time I'm writing this in a 3am haze or a 7am "my daughter is pulling on my leg with one hand while attempting to toss cheerios at me with the other all while loudly babbling out what sounds like an infant version of Fugazi's "waiting room", state of mind. Still I think that maxim is a good reminder to keep looking for new music, avant art, new ideas, off the beaten path restaurants, indie movies, fringe theater...whatever, challenge your senses. Don't settle for the "well I own 5 other U2 albums and I really feel like getting something new but I can't think of anything so I'll just buy the latest U2 album". Or "I know everybody likes the White Stripes so whatever new Dead Weather/Raconteurs type band collaboration Jack White puts together I'm going to buy and just assume it's going to be great". I think he's super overrated by the way, not bad just not deserving of being bullet proof critically.
So, with that in mind, be a sponge and check out the latest podcast from The Tripwire. It's done by a guy who doesn't keep up on the latest music blogs, doesn't pay attention to radio, isn't being promoted to by record labels etc. He's just doing his own thing and coming across some really great music, mostly new and mostly rock based. I have found out about A LOT of great new music from him over the years.
You can steam or download it free here http://www.thetripwire.com/podcast/2010/08/05/the-tripwire-podcast-061/
Or you can search for it at Itunes under podcasts and subscribe to it free, that way it automatically downloads to your itunes playlist every couple months and you don't have to think about it, just pops up, free and easy.
So embrace your curiosity and be a sponge, lace up your Nikes, download the tripwire, clip on your shuffle, pop in the earphones and go for a run while getting lost in some great new music.
here is the latest playlist (after the jump):
That's one of nine maxims that Mark Parker, the CEO of Nike, uses as a guiding principle for running the company. I think that could be applied as the guiding principle for this blog as well, not to make this blog sound too serious or anything. Half the time I'm writing this in a 3am haze or a 7am "my daughter is pulling on my leg with one hand while attempting to toss cheerios at me with the other all while loudly babbling out what sounds like an infant version of Fugazi's "waiting room", state of mind. Still I think that maxim is a good reminder to keep looking for new music, avant art, new ideas, off the beaten path restaurants, indie movies, fringe theater...whatever, challenge your senses. Don't settle for the "well I own 5 other U2 albums and I really feel like getting something new but I can't think of anything so I'll just buy the latest U2 album". Or "I know everybody likes the White Stripes so whatever new Dead Weather/Raconteurs type band collaboration Jack White puts together I'm going to buy and just assume it's going to be great". I think he's super overrated by the way, not bad just not deserving of being bullet proof critically.
So, with that in mind, be a sponge and check out the latest podcast from The Tripwire. It's done by a guy who doesn't keep up on the latest music blogs, doesn't pay attention to radio, isn't being promoted to by record labels etc. He's just doing his own thing and coming across some really great music, mostly new and mostly rock based. I have found out about A LOT of great new music from him over the years.
You can steam or download it free here http://www.thetripwire.com/podcast/2010/08/05/the-tripwire-podcast-061/
Or you can search for it at Itunes under podcasts and subscribe to it free, that way it automatically downloads to your itunes playlist every couple months and you don't have to think about it, just pops up, free and easy.
So embrace your curiosity and be a sponge, lace up your Nikes, download the tripwire, clip on your shuffle, pop in the earphones and go for a run while getting lost in some great new music.
here is the latest playlist (after the jump):
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Real Estate "Out of Tune"/Song of the Day
Real Estate - "Out of Tune"
Yes there is more to the Jersey Shore than those MTV embarrassments. I just read that one of the guys from the show is expected to make around $5 million next year through endorsements, appearances, and salary from the show. Yes I said million. Are you kidding me? Real Estate is a Jersey Shore band who I've mentioned before as an artist that really surprised me at the Pitchfork Festival. They were great. This song is going to be a 7" release due out in October, they'll probably make about $500 from it, yes I said five hundred. That's what you get for having real talent and for being a true Jersey Shore native. By the way, I can't believe that bands are still putting out 7" records (I love it!), that's what the cool kids call small vinyl 45's (singles) for those of you not cool. I'm talking to you out of touch parents.
Anyway, this is like cool jazz for the rock world. I just got back from Yellowstone National Park at it reminds me of the kind of music you want to hear when you're driving through Big Sky country with nothing but the horizon, rolling hills and bison to keep you company. In other words beautiful serene music.
Pre-order it here
Out Of Tune by truepanther
Yes there is more to the Jersey Shore than those MTV embarrassments. I just read that one of the guys from the show is expected to make around $5 million next year through endorsements, appearances, and salary from the show. Yes I said million. Are you kidding me? Real Estate is a Jersey Shore band who I've mentioned before as an artist that really surprised me at the Pitchfork Festival. They were great. This song is going to be a 7" release due out in October, they'll probably make about $500 from it, yes I said five hundred. That's what you get for having real talent and for being a true Jersey Shore native. By the way, I can't believe that bands are still putting out 7" records (I love it!), that's what the cool kids call small vinyl 45's (singles) for those of you not cool. I'm talking to you out of touch parents.
Anyway, this is like cool jazz for the rock world. I just got back from Yellowstone National Park at it reminds me of the kind of music you want to hear when you're driving through Big Sky country with nothing but the horizon, rolling hills and bison to keep you company. In other words beautiful serene music.
Pre-order it here
Out Of Tune by truepanther
Thursday, August 19, 2010
The Ting Tings/Social Media/Song of the Day
The Ting Tings - "Hands"
The Ting Tings are another band in the recent trend of good two piece bands along with Mates of State, Matt and Kim, The Black Keys, The White Stripes, Captain and Tennille (just seeing if you're paying attention), Sleigh Bells, Local H and No Age. I'm sure there are a bunch more, that's all I can think of off the top of my head. This British duo consists of perpetual sunglass wearing Ivor Novello and Jules De Martino, they switch off between playing drums, guitar, bass, keyboards and cowbell. They are definitely the most pop sounding of the bands I mentioned above.
I'm not featuring these guys today because I think it's a great song (it falls a little too much on the mainstream pop side of sound for my tastes), it's just an ok song. Rather I want to show how bands and their labels (in this case Columbia) are getting a little carried away with using social media to promote.
If you want to download this song then click this http://bit.ly/tingtingshands, which will bring you to their facebook page, if you want to listen to the song you have to click on the "like" button, if you then decide you want to download the song you have to enter your email address, then they send you a confirmation email back, in which you have to click another link to go to another site where you then have to right click in order to download the song. make sense? I know, getting a little out of control, that's why you need "music for parents" to sift through all this for you. If you want to then download a remix of the song, go back to the facebook page and click on the "share" button...I stopped at this point, not sure what other hoops you have to jump through after that.
Here is a remix of their excellent first single from their first album:
The Ting Tings are another band in the recent trend of good two piece bands along with Mates of State, Matt and Kim, The Black Keys, The White Stripes, Captain and Tennille (just seeing if you're paying attention), Sleigh Bells, Local H and No Age. I'm sure there are a bunch more, that's all I can think of off the top of my head. This British duo consists of perpetual sunglass wearing Ivor Novello and Jules De Martino, they switch off between playing drums, guitar, bass, keyboards and cowbell. They are definitely the most pop sounding of the bands I mentioned above.
I'm not featuring these guys today because I think it's a great song (it falls a little too much on the mainstream pop side of sound for my tastes), it's just an ok song. Rather I want to show how bands and their labels (in this case Columbia) are getting a little carried away with using social media to promote.
If you want to download this song then click this http://bit.ly/tingtingshands, which will bring you to their facebook page, if you want to listen to the song you have to click on the "like" button, if you then decide you want to download the song you have to enter your email address, then they send you a confirmation email back, in which you have to click another link to go to another site where you then have to right click in order to download the song. make sense? I know, getting a little out of control, that's why you need "music for parents" to sift through all this for you. If you want to then download a remix of the song, go back to the facebook page and click on the "share" button...I stopped at this point, not sure what other hoops you have to jump through after that.
Here is a remix of their excellent first single from their first album:
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Dean & Britta/Yo Gabba Gabba/Galaxy 500 tour
Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips better known as the band Dean & Britta, formerly Luna, formerly Galaxie 500 (at least Dean is), will be on an upcoming episode of Yo Gabba Gabba. Galaxie 500 was one of my favorite bands in college. I still have the vinyl album of On Fire that I had in college in working order which can't be said of a lot of my albums that I either lost, broke, warped, whatever. I don't say that to sound like I was cool in college either, I wasn't, when I was in college most people still had mostly vinyl, CD collections were just starting to be built. It's kind of like now, it's not really cool to have an MP3 collection over CD, you just kind of do, except that now it's actually cool to have vinyl over anything else, I've also seen that cassette tapes are making a comeback but I don't really believe it, it's just something for people to write about. Watch for 8 tracks to have about their third hipster revival in a couple years.
Anyway, Dean and Britta on Yo Gabba Gabba...
They also announced that they'll be touring as Galaxie 500, check out the dates and website HERE. This is a can't miss "Call the Babysitter" event for sure!
Anyway, Dean and Britta on Yo Gabba Gabba...
They also announced that they'll be touring as Galaxie 500, check out the dates and website HERE. This is a can't miss "Call the Babysitter" event for sure!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
The Love Language "Heart to Tell"/Song of the Day
The Love Language - "Heart to Tell"
Apparently I'm really digging this 60's sound revival that a few bands are coming at us with. I've already told you to go out and buy Best Coast and Girls and now with their second album, Libraries, The Love Language have made an excellent summer album full of melodies, great songwriting, strumming guitars and even some strings thrown in to add a little wistfulness. I can't believe I just used "wistfulness", that isn't going to make a parent buy into a band, that's sounds like I'm describing a cute lullaby CD...oh well, just trust me. Hand claps can be used for adult rock music to great effect without making you feel like you have to clap along only when you're at a stop light with nobody next to you, so why not go with wistful and strings? I remember one of the coolest guys I knew, who owned an indie label, had giant sideburns before people had giant sideburns again, crazy hair, bell bottoms, tennis pro on the side, great ears for not only new bands but new sounds, he was credited on an album under musicians for "handclaps". So there you go, my weak argument for wistful strings.
Apparently I'm really digging this 60's sound revival that a few bands are coming at us with. I've already told you to go out and buy Best Coast and Girls and now with their second album, Libraries, The Love Language have made an excellent summer album full of melodies, great songwriting, strumming guitars and even some strings thrown in to add a little wistfulness. I can't believe I just used "wistfulness", that isn't going to make a parent buy into a band, that's sounds like I'm describing a cute lullaby CD...oh well, just trust me. Hand claps can be used for adult rock music to great effect without making you feel like you have to clap along only when you're at a stop light with nobody next to you, so why not go with wistful and strings? I remember one of the coolest guys I knew, who owned an indie label, had giant sideburns before people had giant sideburns again, crazy hair, bell bottoms, tennis pro on the side, great ears for not only new bands but new sounds, he was credited on an album under musicians for "handclaps". So there you go, my weak argument for wistful strings.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Just Buy These
No reviews, no opinions, no email lists to sign up for, no illegal downloads
Songs:
Best Coast - "Boyfriend" (the single is free at amazon right now)
Sufjan Stevens - "Come on! Feel the Illinois!"
Avi Buffalo - "What's in it for?"
Japandroids - "Younger Us"
Janelle Monae - "Cold War"
Albums:
Frightened Rabbit - "The Winter of Mixed Drinks"
Radiohead - OK Computer (If you don't already own this you have no excuse now, the album mp3 is only $5 at amazon)
Songs:
Best Coast - "Boyfriend" (the single is free at amazon right now)
Sufjan Stevens - "Come on! Feel the Illinois!"
Avi Buffalo - "What's in it for?"
Japandroids - "Younger Us"
Janelle Monae - "Cold War"
Albums:
Frightened Rabbit - "The Winter of Mixed Drinks"
Radiohead - OK Computer (If you don't already own this you have no excuse now, the album mp3 is only $5 at amazon)
Friday, August 13, 2010
Friday Shuffle vs. Triple A (AAA) radio chart 8/8-8/12
Today I'm going to battle the AAA building radio chart from last Sunday at 12:01 a.m up to today. "Triple A" stands for Album Adult Alternative, which used to mean they would play tracks deeper into an album than just the single and they kept it mostly rock based. Now it means "grow old with your audience, play new stuff from old bands and very few new bands, and stick to the singer-songwriter type guys and gals". In other words, boring. In the radio world and in most of the advertising world the biggest demo that's targeted is 18-34 year olds. AAA leans a little higher than that, which means it's the type of radio station that is going after us, the parents who have lost touch with music, no thanks to these radio stations. I think they sell our desire for new music short. What do you think?
There are 29 stations across the country whose playlist contributes to determining this chart, which is based on airplay of songs over a Sunday to Saturday time period. They include WXRT/Chicago, WRXP/NY, KFOG/San Fran, WZGC/Atlanta, WXRV/Boston, KMTT/Seattle, KTCZ/Minny, KBCO/Denver, KINK/Portland, WTTS/Indy, WMMM/Madison...a lot of these stations have names like "The River", or "The Mountain", or "Cities", you get the picture.
So here we go, you tell me. Are these stations properly targeted to us?
1. Michael Franti & Spearhead - "The Sound of Sunshine" 449 spins/ same # as last week/12 weeks on the chart
2. John Mayer - "Half of my Heart" 354 plays at the 29 stations so far this week/+1spin compared to last week/12 weeks on chart
3. Sheryl Crow - "Summer Day" 345 spins/+38x/9 weeks
4. Ray Lamontagne - "Beg Steal or Borrow" 319x/+9/7wks
5. Jack Johnson - "You and Your Heart" 287/-12/19
6. Alpha Rev - "New Morning" 278/-35/22
7. Brandon Flowers - "Crossfire" 250/+23/6wks
8. Sara Bareilles - "Kind of Anything" 237/-4/11
9. Greg Laswell - "Take Everything" 230/-21/17
10. Avett Brothers - "Head full of Doubt" 213/+18/12
11. Black Keys - "Tighten Up" 213/+2/14
12. Dirty Heads - "Lay me Down" 198/+8/9
13. Jack Johnson - "At or With Me" 196/+17/3
14. Robert Plant - "Angel Dance" 195/+44/2
15. Mumford and Sons - "Little Lion Man" 193/0/5
and my shuffle 11:15 a.m Friday the 13th:
Ryan Adams - "My Winding Wheel" (this is the kind of artist that should be on that chart above more often)
Butthole Surfers - "Ulcer Breakout"
Superchunk - "Burn Last Sunday"
Cupcake - "Darkness Surrounds You"
Arrested Development - "United Minds"
Grizzly Bear - "On a Neck, On a Spit"
Blink 182 - "The Party Song"
Alkaline Trio - "Enjoy your Day"
Sunny Day Real Estate - "Rodeo Jones"
Blue Meanies - "Dilate"
Paul Westerberg - "Crackle and Drag" (alt. version)
Miles Davis & Gil Evans - "The Pan Piper"
Kajagoogoo - "Too Shy" (hahahahahaha)
Cloud Cult - "Take Your Medicine"
Material Issue - "What Girls Want"
Rogue Wave - "Publish my Love"
There are 29 stations across the country whose playlist contributes to determining this chart, which is based on airplay of songs over a Sunday to Saturday time period. They include WXRT/Chicago, WRXP/NY, KFOG/San Fran, WZGC/Atlanta, WXRV/Boston, KMTT/Seattle, KTCZ/Minny, KBCO/Denver, KINK/Portland, WTTS/Indy, WMMM/Madison...a lot of these stations have names like "The River", or "The Mountain", or "Cities", you get the picture.
So here we go, you tell me. Are these stations properly targeted to us?
1. Michael Franti & Spearhead - "The Sound of Sunshine" 449 spins/ same # as last week/12 weeks on the chart
2. John Mayer - "Half of my Heart" 354 plays at the 29 stations so far this week/+1spin compared to last week/12 weeks on chart
3. Sheryl Crow - "Summer Day" 345 spins/+38x/9 weeks
4. Ray Lamontagne - "Beg Steal or Borrow" 319x/+9/7wks
5. Jack Johnson - "You and Your Heart" 287/-12/19
6. Alpha Rev - "New Morning" 278/-35/22
7. Brandon Flowers - "Crossfire" 250/+23/6wks
8. Sara Bareilles - "Kind of Anything" 237/-4/11
9. Greg Laswell - "Take Everything" 230/-21/17
10. Avett Brothers - "Head full of Doubt" 213/+18/12
11. Black Keys - "Tighten Up" 213/+2/14
12. Dirty Heads - "Lay me Down" 198/+8/9
13. Jack Johnson - "At or With Me" 196/+17/3
14. Robert Plant - "Angel Dance" 195/+44/2
15. Mumford and Sons - "Little Lion Man" 193/0/5
and my shuffle 11:15 a.m Friday the 13th:
Ryan Adams - "My Winding Wheel" (this is the kind of artist that should be on that chart above more often)
Butthole Surfers - "Ulcer Breakout"
Superchunk - "Burn Last Sunday"
Cupcake - "Darkness Surrounds You"
Arrested Development - "United Minds"
Grizzly Bear - "On a Neck, On a Spit"
Blink 182 - "The Party Song"
Alkaline Trio - "Enjoy your Day"
Sunny Day Real Estate - "Rodeo Jones"
Blue Meanies - "Dilate"
Paul Westerberg - "Crackle and Drag" (alt. version)
Miles Davis & Gil Evans - "The Pan Piper"
Kajagoogoo - "Too Shy" (hahahahahaha)
Cloud Cult - "Take Your Medicine"
Material Issue - "What Girls Want"
Rogue Wave - "Publish my Love"
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Indie Rock Alphabet/Parents & Kids
The last entry I gave you under this category was for They Might Be Giants, who make albums specifically for adults and specifically for children, but the kids can actuall enjoy the "grown up" albums as much as the adults and vice versa.
My new suggestion is a recently published book meant to teach kids the alphabet using some pretty cool artists as the letter titles. Check it out, Indie Rock Alphabet book, you may even learn about some new bands in the process, plus I bet you can use a refresher on the alphabet.
They pretty much do a good job except I would have gone with Of Montreal, Oxford Collapse or Okkervil River on the "O" and Pavement, Pinback, Pogues, Pernice Brothers, Peter Bjorn and John, Phoenix...there are a million better "P"'s than Pearl Jam.
Animal Collective
Belle and Sebastian
Cat Power
Deerhunter
Elliot Smith
Fiery Furnaces
Gillian Welch
Hold Steady
Iron and Wine
Joy Division
Kings of Leon
Liars
Modest Mouse
Neutral Milk Hotel
Over the Rhine
Pearl Jam
?uestlove
Radiohead
Silver Jews
Tom Waits
Uncle Tupelo
Vampire Weekend
Weezer
X
Yo La Tengo
Zombies
My new suggestion is a recently published book meant to teach kids the alphabet using some pretty cool artists as the letter titles. Check it out, Indie Rock Alphabet book, you may even learn about some new bands in the process, plus I bet you can use a refresher on the alphabet.
They pretty much do a good job except I would have gone with Of Montreal, Oxford Collapse or Okkervil River on the "O" and Pavement, Pinback, Pogues, Pernice Brothers, Peter Bjorn and John, Phoenix...there are a million better "P"'s than Pearl Jam.
Animal Collective
Belle and Sebastian
Cat Power
Deerhunter
Elliot Smith
Fiery Furnaces
Gillian Welch
Hold Steady
Iron and Wine
Joy Division
Kings of Leon
Liars
Modest Mouse
Neutral Milk Hotel
Over the Rhine
Pearl Jam
?uestlove
Radiohead
Silver Jews
Tom Waits
Uncle Tupelo
Vampire Weekend
Weezer
X
Yo La Tengo
Zombies
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Update: The Arcade Fire/MP3/Lumberjack song/Lolla/live video @MSG NYC
Last week I gave you Arcade Fire's The Suburbs as my album of the week and I said it would be the indie rock album of the summer. I was wrong. It's the rock album of the summer as it comes in at #1 on the Billboard charts after it's first week. Nice job masses.
I also gave you the heads up a while ago from Twitter (@musicforparents) to check out their show at Madison Square Garden being streamed live on Youtube and Directed by Terry Gilliam. I didn't want to watch it because I knew that I would be seeing them at Lollapolooza and I wanted to be surprised by their show. The Lolla show was great, the sound was a little off but it still was amazing. They aren't all wearing a suit and tie like the first time I saw them at Lolla in '05, and they don't have the elaborate stage production and antics like the last show I saw them perform at The Chicago Theater. Instead they are more focused on the music, they still have a cool video happening behind them and they still move all over the stage but it really seems like they are "feeling" the music now more than ever.
Check out the MSG show here. btw-the video looks amazing, at Lolla I was on the side up front and moved to the back center but missed a lot apparently after watching these videos. I didn't know my computer screen could look so good.
Here is the song they started their set with, it's from the new album:
If you want to watch the set in proper order here is the set list:
“Ready To Start”
“Neighborhood #2 (Laika)”
“No Cars Go”
“Haïti”
“Empty Room”
“The Suburbs”
“Crown Of Love”
“Rococo”
“Intervention”
“We Used To Wait”
“Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)”
“Rebellion (Lies)”
“Month Of May”
“Keep The Car Running”
//
“Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)”
“Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”
“Wake Up”
Also, I'm not sure how much influence Terry Gilliam had in the directing of the concert but it definitely was nothing like this video
I also gave you the heads up a while ago from Twitter (@musicforparents) to check out their show at Madison Square Garden being streamed live on Youtube and Directed by Terry Gilliam. I didn't want to watch it because I knew that I would be seeing them at Lollapolooza and I wanted to be surprised by their show. The Lolla show was great, the sound was a little off but it still was amazing. They aren't all wearing a suit and tie like the first time I saw them at Lolla in '05, and they don't have the elaborate stage production and antics like the last show I saw them perform at The Chicago Theater. Instead they are more focused on the music, they still have a cool video happening behind them and they still move all over the stage but it really seems like they are "feeling" the music now more than ever.
Check out the MSG show here. btw-the video looks amazing, at Lolla I was on the side up front and moved to the back center but missed a lot apparently after watching these videos. I didn't know my computer screen could look so good.
Here is the song they started their set with, it's from the new album:
If you want to watch the set in proper order here is the set list:
“Ready To Start”
“Neighborhood #2 (Laika)”
“No Cars Go”
“Haïti”
“Empty Room”
“The Suburbs”
“Crown Of Love”
“Rococo”
“Intervention”
“We Used To Wait”
“Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)”
“Rebellion (Lies)”
“Month Of May”
“Keep The Car Running”
//
“Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)”
“Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”
“Wake Up”
Also, I'm not sure how much influence Terry Gilliam had in the directing of the concert but it definitely was nothing like this video
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
"That Song from that Commercial..."
As mentioned above, it's not a good sign that you are on the road to musical bliss if the only new music you know comes from TV ads or a show like Gossip Girl. That doesn't mean that all TV music used as "beds" (radio term for background music) is bad, a lot of it is really good and deserves some recognition here.
See if you can guess which Ad these songs are from. Answers "after the jump" (silly blogging term for click on the "read more" link).
1)
2)
3)
4)
OK, that's all I have time for now, still catching up after a Lolla weekend...next time I promise I'll bring up the fact that Target used a band named Starfu*%#er for one of their ads.
See if you can guess which Ad these songs are from. Answers "after the jump" (silly blogging term for click on the "read more" link).
1)
2)
3)
4)
OK, that's all I have time for now, still catching up after a Lolla weekend...next time I promise I'll bring up the fact that Target used a band named Starfu*%#er for one of their ads.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Just Buy These
No reviews, no opinions, no email lists to sign up for, no illegal downloads
...
Songs: (5 new, 1 newish)
Arcade Fire - "Ready To Start" ($3.99 mp3 album from image below)
Rogue Wave - "I'll never leave you"
Yeasayer - "Ambling Alp"
The New Pornographers - "Crash Years" ($5.99 mp3 album below)
Rodrigo y Gabriela - "Hanuman" ($5 mp3 album from image below)
Cymbals Eat Guitars - "Wind Phoenix (Proper Name)"
Albums: (1 new, 1 not new)
Band of Horses - Infinite Arms
Ida Maria - Fortress Round My Heart
![Infinite Arms [+digital booklet]](http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B003PX85GK&tag=music0283-20)
...
Songs: (5 new, 1 newish)
Arcade Fire - "Ready To Start" ($3.99 mp3 album from image below)
Rogue Wave - "I'll never leave you"
Yeasayer - "Ambling Alp"
The New Pornographers - "Crash Years" ($5.99 mp3 album below)
Rodrigo y Gabriela - "Hanuman" ($5 mp3 album from image below)
Cymbals Eat Guitars - "Wind Phoenix (Proper Name)"
Albums: (1 new, 1 not new)
Band of Horses - Infinite Arms
Ida Maria - Fortress Round My Heart
Friday, August 6, 2010
Friday Shuffle vs. Lollapalooza
Welcome to Lolla weekend. I think this is a great event, you will read about people calling it "Wall-Mart" on the lake, or that it's "just one big corporate advertisement". Who cares? When you're standing there listening to the music and watching a band give it it's all on the big stage with the city skyline in the background do you really care about the fact that it's the Budweiser Stage they are playing on? I hope not. You probably took the L or a bus to get to the show, which has ads all over them, if you see a band at a small venue there's probably a neon sign lit up for whatever radio station is sponsoring it, or some sort of table tent with a beer ad on it, or a special drink of the night paid for by a distributor. Lolla isn't any different than any of those, so get over it and enjoy the fact that you can see about 50 bands in 3 days, outside, in the heart of one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
There are some great headliners this year: Arcade Fire (guaranteed to put on an amazing show), Green Day (if you've never seen them they deliver!), Erykah Badu, Cypress Hill, Soundgarden (kind of whatever on this one), The Strokes, Jimmy Cliff, Lady Gaga, and Phoenix.
For new upcoming type bands check out: Wavves, Cymbals eat Guitars, Matt and Kim, The Soft Pack, The xx, Metric, Cut Copy, Harlem, Deer Tick, Edward Sharp & the Magnetic Zeros, Rogue Wave, Yeasayer, Blitzen Trapper, Frightened Rabbit and The Cribs.
To check out some non-traditional bands see: Mavis Staples, Los Amigos Invisibles, Raphael Saadiq and Gogol Bordello.
And of course, the kids stage, Kidzapalooza, is loaded with great stuff everyday from 11:30am - 4:15pm.
So here we go, I'm going to shuffle a playlist of Lolla bands against my regular shuffle:
Lolla (it turns out I have 444 songs from Lolla artists to shuffle from) I'll take out any repeat artists, 15 songs...
Blitzen Trapper - "Heaven and Earth"
Green Day - "She"
The National - "American Mary"
Social Distortion - "Telling Them"
Rogue Wave - "Love's Lost Guarantee"
The Antlers - "Two"
Arcade Fire - "Empty Room"
The Cribs - "We Can No Longer Cheat You"
Frightened Rabbit - "Swim Until You Can't See Land"
Eryka Badu - "Otherside of the Game"
Company of Thieves - "Oscar Wilde"
Cypress Hill - "(Rock) Superstar"
Flosstradamus - "Act a Fool"
Deer Tick - "Easy"
Grizzly Bear - "Lullaby"
Vs. The Regular Shuffle...
La Rocca - "Sing Song Sung"
The Go-Betweens - "Heart and Home"
UNKLE - "Lonely Soul"
The Freddy Jones Band - "Take the Time"
Ween - "Japanese Cowboy"
Carlos Ortega and His Latin Combo (Casolando) - "Vals Del Idiota"
Closer - "Omnipotent"
Death Cab for Cutie - "State Street Residential"
Dianogah - "What is Your Land Mass"
Flight of the Conchords - "Business Time"
The Black Crowes - "Hotel Illness"
Air - "Once Upon a Time"
The Incredible Moses Leroy - It's a Sunday"
Blur - "Colin Zeal"
Pixies - "Head On" cool way to end it, Pixies doing Jesus and Mary Chain
Thanks to everyone who came out to the MFP event on Wednesday. Huge showing, surprised me!
this is the song you requested guy with freakishly enlarged calves, I don't want to say who it is so I don't get a C&D on the blog, can't give away the big ones like this without possibly getting in trouble. I will say it's from that bald vegan DJ whose real name is Richard Hall, who also runs a Tea shop in NYC. right click to download.
">First link
There are some great headliners this year: Arcade Fire (guaranteed to put on an amazing show), Green Day (if you've never seen them they deliver!), Erykah Badu, Cypress Hill, Soundgarden (kind of whatever on this one), The Strokes, Jimmy Cliff, Lady Gaga, and Phoenix.
For new upcoming type bands check out: Wavves, Cymbals eat Guitars, Matt and Kim, The Soft Pack, The xx, Metric, Cut Copy, Harlem, Deer Tick, Edward Sharp & the Magnetic Zeros, Rogue Wave, Yeasayer, Blitzen Trapper, Frightened Rabbit and The Cribs.
To check out some non-traditional bands see: Mavis Staples, Los Amigos Invisibles, Raphael Saadiq and Gogol Bordello.
And of course, the kids stage, Kidzapalooza, is loaded with great stuff everyday from 11:30am - 4:15pm.
So here we go, I'm going to shuffle a playlist of Lolla bands against my regular shuffle:
Lolla (it turns out I have 444 songs from Lolla artists to shuffle from) I'll take out any repeat artists, 15 songs...
Blitzen Trapper - "Heaven and Earth"
Green Day - "She"
The National - "American Mary"
Social Distortion - "Telling Them"
Rogue Wave - "Love's Lost Guarantee"
The Antlers - "Two"
Arcade Fire - "Empty Room"
The Cribs - "We Can No Longer Cheat You"
Frightened Rabbit - "Swim Until You Can't See Land"
Eryka Badu - "Otherside of the Game"
Company of Thieves - "Oscar Wilde"
Cypress Hill - "(Rock) Superstar"
Flosstradamus - "Act a Fool"
Deer Tick - "Easy"
Grizzly Bear - "Lullaby"
Vs. The Regular Shuffle...
La Rocca - "Sing Song Sung"
The Go-Betweens - "Heart and Home"
UNKLE - "Lonely Soul"
The Freddy Jones Band - "Take the Time"
Ween - "Japanese Cowboy"
Carlos Ortega and His Latin Combo (Casolando) - "Vals Del Idiota"
Closer - "Omnipotent"
Death Cab for Cutie - "State Street Residential"
Dianogah - "What is Your Land Mass"
Flight of the Conchords - "Business Time"
The Black Crowes - "Hotel Illness"
Air - "Once Upon a Time"
The Incredible Moses Leroy - It's a Sunday"
Blur - "Colin Zeal"
Pixies - "Head On" cool way to end it, Pixies doing Jesus and Mary Chain
Thanks to everyone who came out to the MFP event on Wednesday. Huge showing, surprised me!
this is the song you requested guy with freakishly enlarged calves, I don't want to say who it is so I don't get a C&D on the blog, can't give away the big ones like this without possibly getting in trouble. I will say it's from that bald vegan DJ whose real name is Richard Hall, who also runs a Tea shop in NYC. right click to download.
">First link
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Tiny Lounge & MFP Tonight
Don't forget that tonight is the first MFP night out. I'll be playing music at the Tiny Lounge in Lincoln Square from 9p - 1a. Notice I didn't say "spinning" music? Yeah, It's not going to be a 25 and under sweaty dance party so stop practicing your moonwalks, robots and worm on the floor dance moves. You won't be hearing two turntables and a couple Macs mixing together 8 different songs and genres ironically like...
OK, I may sneak a little bit of that in but I doubt you'll notice it, very subtle.
Instead I'll be playing a lot of music you're reading about and listening to here. I'm not going to have any Lollapollooza tickets for this weekend to give away, but you will be hearing a lot of music from Lolla artists. There aren't any drink specials. but you don't go to a place like Tiny to get a bucket of beers. right? Instead you'll get some of the best cocktails in the city prepared by some of the best bartenders in Chicago, a well thought out wine list, a discerning taste beer selection and some really good food. So head on out, say hello, bust up those dog days of Summer and enjoy some refreshingly new Summer music.
And yes, you can be a fan of this blog even if you aren't a parent. Especially if you're a recently peg-legged Chicago ex-pat living in the middle of the Aegean Sea with an Afghani jewelry expert and working with foreign exchange students. Yeah, I'm talking to you EN.
OK, I may sneak a little bit of that in but I doubt you'll notice it, very subtle.
Instead I'll be playing a lot of music you're reading about and listening to here. I'm not going to have any Lollapollooza tickets for this weekend to give away, but you will be hearing a lot of music from Lolla artists. There aren't any drink specials. but you don't go to a place like Tiny to get a bucket of beers. right? Instead you'll get some of the best cocktails in the city prepared by some of the best bartenders in Chicago, a well thought out wine list, a discerning taste beer selection and some really good food. So head on out, say hello, bust up those dog days of Summer and enjoy some refreshingly new Summer music.
And yes, you can be a fan of this blog even if you aren't a parent. Especially if you're a recently peg-legged Chicago ex-pat living in the middle of the Aegean Sea with an Afghani jewelry expert and working with foreign exchange students. Yeah, I'm talking to you EN.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Arcade Fire-The Suburbs /Album of the Week
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs (available today! 8/3/2010)
This is probably the most anticipated indie rock album of the summer. It's the Montreal based band's third release after the critically praised Funeral in 2004 and Neon Bible in 2007. As you can see they take their time releasing new records and the music shows why. They are one of the few artists I would recommend buying ears unheard. They put a lot of thought and effort into their albums and truly make "albums", meant to be heard as a whole. The new album is out today so be the first Parent on your block to get to know what may possibly be the album of the year. You can buy it at the usual places or go to the band's website and get it a little cheaper with some extra stuff thrown in to accompany the MP3 download. http://www.arcadefire.com/
Here is the song from Funeral that they burst onto the scene with 6 years ago.
Arcade Fire - "Neighborhood #3 (power out)"
When you take 3 years to make a brilliant album the band deserves to have a professional review. I think Chicago's own Greg Kot usually gets it right and his review reads like a break down of a Richard Linklater film or an insight into Wilder's "Our Town". Good stuff...
Memory, childhood, home. These are big subjects that have obsessed novelists, movie makers, playwrights and songwriters for decades, if not centuries. Now the Arcade Fire, a band not known for thinking small, tackles them all in its third studio album, “The Suburbs” (Merge).
This is probably the most anticipated indie rock album of the summer. It's the Montreal based band's third release after the critically praised Funeral in 2004 and Neon Bible in 2007. As you can see they take their time releasing new records and the music shows why. They are one of the few artists I would recommend buying ears unheard. They put a lot of thought and effort into their albums and truly make "albums", meant to be heard as a whole. The new album is out today so be the first Parent on your block to get to know what may possibly be the album of the year. You can buy it at the usual places or go to the band's website and get it a little cheaper with some extra stuff thrown in to accompany the MP3 download. http://www.arcadefire.com/
Here is the song from Funeral that they burst onto the scene with 6 years ago.
Arcade Fire - "Neighborhood #3 (power out)"
When you take 3 years to make a brilliant album the band deserves to have a professional review. I think Chicago's own Greg Kot usually gets it right and his review reads like a break down of a Richard Linklater film or an insight into Wilder's "Our Town". Good stuff...
Memory, childhood, home. These are big subjects that have obsessed novelists, movie makers, playwrights and songwriters for decades, if not centuries. Now the Arcade Fire, a band not known for thinking small, tackles them all in its third studio album, “The Suburbs” (Merge).
Monday, August 2, 2010
Jesus will send you cookies/songs of the day
Les Savy Fav - "Let's Get Out of Here"
The new album from these Brooklyn rockers leaked over the weekend so they were kind of forced to give one of the songs away for free. They put the album up for sale as a "donate" thing like Radiohead. Unlike Radiohead they don't have millions of passionate fans all over the world so they had to promise that Jesus would send you cookies and all sex sins would be forgiven if you donated some money for the new album. I don't need either of those so I'm grabbing it for free.
Le Savy Fav are often described as art rock but don't let that scare you away, that's just critics trying to sound sophisticated. Recommended if you liked Buffalo Tom pre-parenting or The Hold Steady post-parenting.
Ra Ra Riot - "Boy"
Free MP3 HERE
Love this band. Recommended if you liked Lemonheads pre-parenting or Bloc Party post parenting.
btw - I watched Private Parts again over the weekend, which is a much better than expected movie, and it reminded that I once heard Howard Stern say he believed in Jesus only for hexes. I wonder if he will add free cookies for a donation to Le Savy Fav to that list?
The new album from these Brooklyn rockers leaked over the weekend so they were kind of forced to give one of the songs away for free. They put the album up for sale as a "donate" thing like Radiohead. Unlike Radiohead they don't have millions of passionate fans all over the world so they had to promise that Jesus would send you cookies and all sex sins would be forgiven if you donated some money for the new album. I don't need either of those so I'm grabbing it for free.
Le Savy Fav are often described as art rock but don't let that scare you away, that's just critics trying to sound sophisticated. Recommended if you liked Buffalo Tom pre-parenting or The Hold Steady post-parenting.
Ra Ra Riot - "Boy"
Free MP3 HERE
Love this band. Recommended if you liked Lemonheads pre-parenting or Bloc Party post parenting.
btw - I watched Private Parts again over the weekend, which is a much better than expected movie, and it reminded that I once heard Howard Stern say he believed in Jesus only for hexes. I wonder if he will add free cookies for a donation to Le Savy Fav to that list?
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