new track from of montreal

yes, i said "from of."

pitchfork has posted a new song from of montreal's upcoming album skeletal lamping.  if you are me, you are very excited about this album.  there's a lot of good shit coming out this fall, but this may just be the best.  maybe.

it's a good thing i got a job.  this fall is going to be expensive.

mixtapes

do you like mixtapes?  here are two of them:

1. Wale's THE MIXTAPE ABOUT NOTHING - my friend Mark alerted me about this one.  Thanks Mark!

2. Ludacris & DJ Drama's GANGSTA GRILLZ: THE PREVIEW - Billboard and Obama alerted me about this one in a story about the Obama campaign slamming one of the songs for being offensive about Hilary Clinton, John McCain, George W, and Jesse Jackson.  Thanks Billboard and Obama!

best headlines

in order to provide my readership with the most pertinent information that comes up in music news, i have several music rss feeds on my google homepage.  just in case there's something to catch my eye.  something i need to know and report.

i actually applauded billboard when i saw this headline.  i clapped.  i've been doing that a lot.  but you know how headlines on entertainment websites put words in "quotes" to make clever puns on the titles of albums or whatever?  like this blog they could say brandon gets "quiet" about his blog.  something like that.  ok, you all know that, you read those websites, get to the point.

panic at the disco and dashboard confessional are going on a rock band sponsored tour.  so what's the headline?

best use of quote marks in a headline ever.  although the story below that is pretty good too.

'08 is the year for free music for the people.

hi!

two things.

1. don't forget to get this week's free track from the pretenders' new album.  download it here.  it's hosted by ilike this week.  this one's called "the nothing maker."

2. murs & 9th wonder have a free album you can download!  just go to their official website and there you have it.  it's called sweet lord.  there's a little video intro by murs and an option to donate if you so choose.  he mostly just wants you to get his new album when it comes out, because now you owe him big time.  source: freehiphopnow.

go! team free stuff!

i'm not sure if this is a new development or if they've offered this stuff on their website for a long time, but you can get some free music from the go! team!  including:

-Get it Together EP (early release)

-remixes BY the go! team

-remixes OF the go! team

-song parts (so you can make your own remixes OF the go! team)

so yeah.  these are all available at thegoteam.co.uk/freestuff.  you'll need to sign up for their mailing list.

source: aversion

the mighty underdogs have a release date!

a long time ago i worked at this place where i got to help interview the mighty underdogs.  they are a hip hop group consisting of gift of gab, lateef the truthspeaker, and headnodic.  they put out an ep shortly thereafter which was awesome.  they said the full length would be out in '08.  but i never heard anything about said full length.

until i read today's email!

the album drops october 14th!  this autumn is awesome for music releases!  you can pre-order it here.  there's also album artwork there, a track list, and the chance to preview it.  oh, and you can see the crazy amount of guests including mf doom, casual, mr lif, chali 2na, and more!

also, here's a video!

tuesday tomorrow: minimalist edition

lost boys: the tribe

shine a light

dark city (director's cup)

no music.  maybe alice cooper

free pretenders

hey, remember the pretenders?  they have a new album coming out.  and it would seem they are releasing one song per week, free on their website, leading up to the actual album's release in september.

the album will be called break up concrete.

go to their official website weekly for the downloads.  this week's track is called "boots of chinese plastic."

source: billboard

new calexico track!!

this is my 100th post on this blog.  not bad.

anyhow, on monday touch & go/quarterstick posted a brand new calexico track.  it's called "two silver trees" from their upcoming album carried to dust. (out september 9th)

more info here. (along with a link to a video preview of more new calexico!)

mp3 is posted here.

enjoy! that's what i'm doing.

almost free paul westerberg album!

in case you haven't read any music news websites today, you can get the new paul westerberg album on amazon for 49 cents. it's called 49:00 and it's all one long mp3 track.

you can get it on amazon or here.

more info, including a pdf of liner notes, can be found here.


i have not yet downloaded it because i am not at home. perhaps tonight though (even though i'm getting beck tonight too)

free dandy warhols ep

this one's not even a download. the new DANDY WARHOLS ep is free at participating record stores.

it's called earth to the remix vol. 1. remixes from their upcoming album earth to the dandy warhols. it's available now.

more info here (includes a link to a free download of one song, so there's that). it's not super clear, but i assume "participating stores" are all the stores that participated in record store day.

tuesday

a day late on this, mostly because i work now and am currently house sitting.

now that i work friday through monday (i'm having a hard time adjusting to that), one awesome thing is that new albums come out on what's essentially my saturday. i don't have to work, i get to go to the record store at my leisure (or early in the morning if i am super excited), and have three days off of work to enjoy the new albums.

anyway, what's out this week? it's tuesday...today.

MUSIC
*beck - modern guilt (vinyl). i held off on this for the vinyl release. so now i'm excited. it comes with the free download, you know. and it's 180 gram virgin vinyl! yes! as far as the musical content goes, i haven't even really listened to it and you probably have, so you tell me.
*paul weller - 22 dreams. dude's the man! also includes guest contributions from noel gallagher and graham coxon. i recommend getting it here.
*brian jonestown massacre - just like kicking jesus ep
*david bowie - live in santa monica '72
*css - donkey. you know, i really am getting in the mood for some party music so...

VIDEO
*high and low - kurosawa + criterion
*vampyr - dreyer + criterion!
*spaced - the complete series. this has been on my netflix queue for awhile. the team behind shaun of the dead and hot fuzz! i'm pretty excited about this one.
*21. no idea if this is any good but i need to rent it for the lcd soundsystem song.

that's it. there's plenty to be interested in here. top picks are spaced, high and low, and beck. although i hear good things about the paul weller.

my first tuesday of being employed means a tuesday i might spend some money on.  what's out this week?

tuesday tomorrow:

MUSIC!

*The Hold Steady - Stay Positive.  I could like these guys, but I've never given them a fighting chance.

*Nas - (untitled).  I wish he'd kept the title to this but I can understand.  Plus I don't think that'll have an impact on the sure-to-be-provocative material on the album.  This album is a big deal.  It's gonna be.  Nas may be the most important figure in hip hop today.

*Wire - Object 47

*Hellboy II Soundtrack - gotta love those Danny Elfman scores.

*Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons - The Motown Years

VIDEOS

*Reno 911 - Season 5.  I stopped getting these after season 3, mostly because they seem to recycle the same jokes.

*Trafic (Jacques Tati film).  nice.

run, run

time for free association writing game!!

Our Protagonist had a date that night. Not really a date date, but it was something. His first social interaction since he quit the scene after he realized what those people were. He was just now realizing he was the same thing the whole time. It wasn't the scene that made him that way. It was just who he was. Before he quit. OK, it is who he still is. Not that he really still is, if you know what I mean. Such injustice! Right?

The important thing to note here is that he was at last accepting who he was and what he had to do. Not that I'd expect you to accept him or his actions. That's just too much to ask.

So his date was with the girl from the bar that he'd vowed he'd never step into again. And the dinner was to be at that place he'd sworn off after that nervous breakdown. Not that he picked that place. He couldn't believe he was about to go there with her. But then again, he wasn't about to go downtown. The alternative was just not worth it. He had some pride left.

So he had a goddamn PBR at the goddamn bar, and he asked the goddamn girl in the Converse sneakers to go get some goddamn burritos at that place. She wasn't hungry and someone had spilled goddamn PBR on his shirt, so he decided he'd change, come back in a couple hours, and take her to...well, that place.

It was one of those times. When "let me guess. PBR." lead to "we might as well go to Tony's and get some of those vegetarian burritos," and concluded with "well I have to change my shirt, I wouldn't want to upset Tony! I'll pick you up later."

The joke about being the biggest cliché he could come up with was of course on him. Put simply, he was being himself. As much as he hated it, he loved drinking PBR at that bar, and Tony's burritos were delicious. He knew Tony wouldn't care if he came in with a dirty shirt, though. He just had to say something to get out of there.



and that's it for now. maybe i'll continue the story at a later date. i'll probably take out the "he's dead now" part though, i don't think i like that. same with the contradictory part...did he or didn't he suggest the burrito place?!

new logo and such

i decided to make a logo. i dunno. i like ampersands. so i put one in my logo. not sure if i'm completely satisfied though. feedback?

i also made some minor alterations:
*changed "about me"
*added link to the hunger site. you should go there (and all of the others) every day.

and while i'm writing a frivolous blog, i might as well do another "shout outs" where i mention all the places i get traffic from. this is just from the past week.
*Bucharest, Romania (3 visits!)
*London
*"Unknown," Portugal
*Paris
*Melbourne, Australia
*Berlin
*Kitchener, Canada
*Seoul
*Stavanger (Stig!)
*Amsterdam
*Belleville, Canada
*Montreal
*Tel Aviv, Israel
*"Unknown," Greece
*Jerusalem
*Groningen, Netherlands

also, i seem to on a regularly basis get traffic from people searching from Southland Tales "I'm A Pimp and Pimps Don't Commit Suicide." like, every week. so that's something.


in other news, now that i have a job i feel more productive. that's why i'm blogging more now. i've just been in a better mood. so that's good.

last.fm gets better

I just found this story on punknews.org.  

Last.fm is launching its Artist Royalty Program.  Click for details, but basically independent and unsigned bands can get compensated with some ad revenue from ads that run alongside their streaming music on the site.  granted, it's not a lot of money per track streamed, but every little bit helps, right?

last.fm is the site that compiles what i listen to and puts that list over there to the right.  if you would like to be my last.fm friend, ad me!  my profile is here.  but there are songs you can stream on the website, so starting wednesday (when the program launches), help out your favorite independent/unsigned bands by streaming their music on the site!

so sign up already!

early notice

according to an email i received today, of montreal (my favorite band of 07, and if they play their cards right by releasing an equally brilliant album this fall, potential favorite band of 08) will be playing in denver on november 16th!  far as i know, this is the first official announcement of any official dates.  

another show i was alerted about is a very cool local show.  these bands are among my top colorado bands and i haven't seen them in awhile:

matson jones - they haven't played a show in so long!! their myspace has a bunch of songs you can download if you like.  if you don't know them, get on it because they are damned good.

monofog - i totally play kickball and/or go way back with the majority of this band.

sour boy bitter girl - one of my oldest and dearest friends!

magic cyclops - c'mon you know magic!

charly "city mouse" fasano - i have no idea but i shall.

july 24th at the bluebird.  be there, denver!

free miss kittin track!

today i was listening to some Annie as a result of the latest new song to leak from her new album (SO excited!!).  the song is called "Songs Remind Me of You" and can be downloaded here.

anyway, this made me decide to listen to the new Miss Kittin album, which is way better than it's getting credit for.  It seems largely ignored, like people don't care about her anymore, but I think the album is awesome.  Listening to that album prompted me to go to her website, where I discovered a free non-album track to download!  Just head over to the "goodies" section of her website to get the song entitled "FFF fff ..."

It's a strange track, but I like it.

More reading about Miss Kittin directed me to a free 2-track download from FRONT 242.  You can get that here.

little jackie

i was just watching conan and a band was on called little jackie. i missed them in my "tuesday tomorrow" post, because their album came out this week.

they are totally awesome. a combination of old school soul, pop, and somewhat hip hop. the song they played on conan was a whole lot of fun. so therefore, you need to check them out.

here is their myspace.

look into it. you'll be glad you did.

tuesday t'm'rr'w

hi.  stuff out.  now i can buy it if i want.

music releases:

*beck - modern guilt.  hell yeah! produced by danger mouse.  preview video thing here.

*willie nelson & wynton marsalis - two men with the blues.  live recording of two greats!  also available as a double lp.

*patti smith & kevin shields - the coral sea.  another live recording of two other greats!

*saul williams - the inevitable rise and liberation of niggytardust!  it gets a physical release!  if you didn't get it for $5 (or free) last year, now you can get it otherwise.  it has a few bonus tracks that weren't on that original digital release.  great album any way you obtain it.

*melvins - nude with boots

*ron sexsmith - exit strategy of the soul

*ratatat - lp3

*chromeo - fancy footwork. deluxe edition!

*nick cave & the bad seeds - dig, lazarus, dig! damnit, a fancy version comes out like 2 weeks after i finally get this.  this one comes with a hardcover book.

*cocorosie - god has a voice, she speaks through me. 7" picture disc.  mine arrived in the mail today!

*3Oh!3 - want. local! i'm holdin it down in the 303.  it was funny to see them on the myspace front page.

*v/a - life beyond mars: bowie covered.

digital versatile discs (video specifically)

*the future is unwritten. joe strummer documentary.  so want to see this.

*mon oncle antoine.

and a bunch of bullshit.

vinyl haul

(EDIT: apparently i was way out of this when i made this post.  i spelled it "hall" the first time.)

so i 95% have a job.  just need to pass the drug test and background check.  i didn't do nothin, so i should have this.

as a result, i went shopping.  at wax trax, the greatest place.  picked up this vinyl, in alphabetical order.  i am very happy:

-The Coward Brothers - The People's Limousine 7" (elvis costello & t bone burnett)

-DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince - Rock The House

-Four Tops - Reach Out

-Eric B & Rakim - Follow The Leader

-Françoise Hardy - Françoise

-Michael Jackson - Got To Be There

-Porter Wagoner - The Thin Man from West Plains

-Stevie Wonder - My Cherie Amour

-Talking Heads - Fear of Music

-The Temptations - The Temptations Sing Smokey

-Wilson Pickett - The Wicked Pickett