Monday, March 31, 2008

tuesday tomorrow

just a reminder: don't believe all the news stories you read tomorrow. because it's april fool's day. i probably shouldn't put that out there. after all, what if i want to put something on here? i'd ruin the whole foolin'!

but not only that, it's also:::

tuesday tomorrow.

the worlds of music and watchin' stuff present us with some more material on this april 1st.

music

*R.E.M. - Accelerate. I don't think this will be all that big. Probably just another forgettable post-90s REM album. But I could be wrong...
*
Moby - Last Night. What? TWO famous baldies in one day?
*Van Morrison - Keep It Simple. Sweet...
*Black Keys - Attack and Release. I wish they put a decay and sustain in there.
*Kylie Minogue - X. At last, it gets an American release!
*
My Blueberry Nights Soundtrack. Looks fantastic, with songs by Cat Power, Otis Redding, and much much more. I don't think there's anything exclusive though, so you might as well pick up the original albums these songs appear on.
*
Outlaw Country. Compilation of a bunch of great songs and not-so-great ones. Good for an introduction to the genre, but again, nothing really exclusive, far as I can tell.
*
Dino 5 - Baby Loves Hip Hop. As I talked about before. Unless it's a very elaborate april fool's joke.

and other stuff by birdman & lil wayne, trina, and whatnot that i don't really even have a passing interest in. unless i'm missing something, there's nothing too terribly essential in my eyes.

watchin' stuff
*Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. I enjoyed this movie, and wouldn't mind adding it to my "Tim Burton" section of my DVD library.
*The Lascivious World of AC Stephen & Ed Wood Jr. So awesomely trashy. Big fan of the title of this collection.

Ain't nothin essential here, oh no no no.

Also, Happy Birthday to one of my favorite actors ever, Mr. Christopher Walken.

Friday, March 28, 2008

from jurassic 5 to...

DINO 5!

pitchfork just posted a story about what chali 2na has been doing since the breakup of jurassic 5.

he has been recording with dino 5!

chali is joined in dino 5 by prince paul, scratch (the roots), ladybug mecca (digable planets), and wordsworth (eMC) now, i wouldn't call it a j5 ripoff.  mostly because it's for babies.

baby loves hip hop will be in stores april 1st.  unless it's an april fool's joke.

there's an mp3 and video here: babyloveshiphop.com

Monday, March 24, 2008

what to get tomorrow

because it's tuesday tomorrow!

new audio experiences:
-raconteurs & gnarls barkley of course!
-not that i really care, but there's a new b-52's album??
-ghostface has a rarities collection called The Wallabee Champ

newish visual experiences:
-the upright citizens brigade: asssscat!  OMG.
-lost highway - FINALLY out legit in the states, in a widescreen version.  
-bonnie & clyde - "ultimate collector's edition"
-the kite runner
-walk the line - extended cut

so how about that!  not a lot but some real notables.  especially raconteurs and gnarls barkley and UCB.

Friday, March 21, 2008

the wunder years

time to write about another old band i used to dig, and it turns out i still do.

personal experience of this band:
so this band was opening for the lawrence arms at the arms' first fort collins show, at the starlight lounge. this was back when the starlight was THE place to see a punk rock show in fort collins. before the back alley lounge, before the allegations of misconduct on the part of the owner. it was the second home of all and all the o&o bands of the time. to this day, even though the starlight is closed and i live in denver, i've been to more shows at the starlight than any other venue. probably more than all the other venues combined.

anyway, the wunder years were playing there, so i went to rocks off (back when fort collins had a respectable record store, it was called rocks off) and looked to see what i could find. there was an ep for real cheap, like 6 bucks or something. a split with a band called sorry about the fire. at the time i thought "sorry about the fire" was the name of the album. still, it was worth it for these 5 wunder years songs. especially the first one:

the wunder years - you know who you are

you can get this ep at the official springman records website. it's cheap. do it.

anyway, i went and saw them. the frontman was named brian moss. between the wunder years' set and that of the lawrence arms' i went and spoke with brian moss. see, instead of selling generic band t-shirts, they had thrift store shirts with a wunder years logo ironed on. quite clever. he dug through the pile with me to find the perfect shirt. i ended up with a sweatshirt in fact.

after that show, i picked up their full length cd, one of my favorites ever, pitstops on the road less traveled. i friggin love every song on this album. but my favorite is maybe this one, which closes the album:

the wunder years - the electric shoes

i don't think you can find this album anywhere anymore. i think the label is out of business. sucks to be you.

and then they recorded one final release, an ep that is also out of print, called fashion over function. a couple days after the release date, they played at the back alley, which i think is one of my favorite venues ever (but it did get closed down). but it was a 21+ club and at the time, i was not yet 21. i was like 18. so i actually emailed brian moss asking if it was really 21+ and stuff. i never got word back. but i went to the show early, i think i got in with an x on my hand. i was all by myself at the show. anyway, i sat at a table, and was just sitting there by myself waiting for some rock & roll, and brian came up to me. now, he had only met me once, to help me look through the shirts. but he somehow put 2 & 2 together and figured i had written the email. and somehow remembered little old me. because he came up to me and asked if i had any problems getting in etc. seriously nice guy.

they played the show and it was awesome the end. they broke up a couple days later.

brian went on to form the ghost, and pitchfork even liked the album!

and then the ghost broke up. now he's performing solo under the name hanalei.

but the wunder years, that's the real deal (not that his other projects are fake), and will always hold a special place with me.

the sound of this band:
people call them "emo" but i really don't see it. i call them heartfelt rock and roll music. not whiny, just hearty.


holy crap, i am just about done with the w's in my music listening project! only a few random x's and some xiu xiu, some random y's and some yo la tengo, youngblood brass band, you am i, random z's, and zzzz and i'm DONE!

Thursday, March 20, 2008

elvis costello hates cds!

i don't really like them much either.

vinyl is much better, and when it comes to portability, digital is kinda the way to go.  i concede that cds sound much better than compressed formats, but really, cds are no vinyl.  the only time you can listen to a CD where you can't listen to vinyl (other than the archaic notion of the discman, and i definitely don't have skip protection) is in the car.

ok, where was i going with this?

my favorite record label, touch & go, was the first that i knew of to offer free digital downloads with the purchase of vinyl.  i don't know if they were actually the first.  but now it seems ALL the indie labels are doing it, and my vinyl collection has benefitted greatly from this trend.

my favorite artist of all time, elvis costello, seems to see things the same way.  a few years ago, he released an album, the clarksdale sessions, exclusively on 10" vinyl.  and now he's my hero, because he will be releasing his new album, Momofuku, on vinyl only, with a free digital download.  the other interesting fact to note here is that he had said he wasn't planning on releasing any more music until the music industry figured itself out.  i guess he figured it out himself, with a little help from the indies.

so this means elvis costello does respect the modern music fan!  this current round of bs reissues kinda had me worried for a second there.

the other thing: the album is due out april 22nd.  as in about one month from now.

what a great news item to read after being sad that LOST won't be back until april 24.  the new EC album comes out BEFORE lost comes back!!

kinda curious what direction he'll take with this one.  his last 5 albums or so have been completely different from one another. "rowdy rhythm," "whiskey soaked southern rock," "classical," "jazz," and "new orleans soul" are some words to describe his most recent albums.  any speculation on the new one, given the title MOMOFUKU?  maybe paul simon-style world music?  hip hop? actually the title seems like it could be japanese.  maybe he's embracing japanese culture.  what if he releases his inner polysic on this album?!

more free musics

i think i might have to make a list of "best free music releases of 2008" rather than the general one that everybody does.

the war on drugs are a band that just signed to secretly canadian.  you can download their ep here.

i have not yet heard it, but how can i not recommend free music, especially on SC?

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

christmas comes early this year

well, not christmas, but music.

TWO high profile albums have just been announced to have release dates pushed FORWARD to next week, march 25.

Raconteurs and Gnarls Barkley.

the only difference is that the Gnarls Barkley album is available NOW on itunes.  starting today.  i guess it was announced yesterday.  but f itunes and its DRM bs and its 128 kbps bs.

anyway, two big albums next week that we weren't expecting quite yet.  from two "super groups."

sweet.

Monday, March 17, 2008

tuesday tomorry

hey guess what!

today may be st patrick's day, but it's

TUESDAY TOMORROW

lots of music. i'm low on time so this will mostly be a list.
-She & Him - Volume One (M. Ward & Zooey Deschanel!)
-DeVotchKa - A Mad and Faithful Telling (one of the best Denver bands to hit the big time!)
-Destroyer - Trouble in Dreams (Will Sheff wrote the product description on the amazon page!)
-Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward
-Neon Neon - Stainless Style
-Lyrics Born - Everywhere at Once
-Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing


and dvds, can't forget the dvds.
-Southland Tales (this movie was so amazingly ridiculous!  a MUST OWN DVD.  i want it to play all the time at my apartment.)
-Revolver (I didn't even know about this Guy Ritchie movie, but it's probably fun like Snatch & Lock Stock)
AND SOME CRITERION RELEASES:
-Mafioso
-Antonio Gaudí
-The Ice Storm

yeah, good stuff.  did i miss anything pressing? also, any comment on any of these releases? the only ones i know i REALLY REALLY want are devotchka and southland tales.

Friday, March 14, 2008

free talib kweli mixtape

talib kweli, over the past 15 months or so, has fast become one of my favorite MCs.  i used to not like his voice; i actually left his performance at bumbershoot during the first song a couple years ago (although the sound quality was horrible, which had a lot to do with it).

but since i got into him, i've been way into him.  i'm talking really about his free download album Liberation with Madlib, and also Eardrum.  Admittedly, I need to poke my head into his past some more for his best stuff (Black Star, anyone?)

but anyhow.  he's done it again.  delivering MORE free music.

go to his myspace blog for a free download of a new mixtape with DJ Mick Boogie.  it's called Talib Kweli & Mick Boogie Present: The MCEO Mixtape

I haven't heard it yet (the download is being pretty slow, and i just started it) but I don't have to tell you I am very excited.  you should be too.


Talib Kweli & Mick Boogie present: MCEO Mixtape: FREE DOWNLOAD!

Monday, March 10, 2008

tuesday tomorry

maybe i'll just start calling it tuesday tomorry.

tuesday march 11.  that's 311!

AUDIO
*Presidents of the United States of America - These Are The Good Times People - people kinda forgot about them after the first album, but they really haven't put out a bad album.  The last one had a couple lame songs but also some fantastic pop tunes that just make you feel good.

*Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - Eleventh Hour - Super stoked on this one.  lots of people are.  I might just have to get it despite not having any cash flow.  I've heard "Bubble Pop" and despite its kinda silly hook, it's a joy to listen to.  of course, this is all just something to help tide us over for that Deltron album, whenever that's coming.  Starting to look like 2009, I'd guess?

*Why? - Alopecia - A case of an opening band that impressed me and converted me.  Doesn't happen often to me.  But they opened for Yo La Tengo in '06 or so, and I quite dug them.  Seems they've re-emerged on general blogger consciousness for their Cure cover, but this album doesn't have it.  I still recommend it.  Something for the birthday wish list or to note for later when I have money.

*Junkie XL - Booming Back at You - sweet.

*The Mighty Underdogs - The Prelude EP - it is available in stores now, but you coulda gotten it from giftstribution.com long ago, like I did!  anyway, this is a hip hop supergroup consisting of Gift of Gab, Lateef, and Headnodic.  Very good.  Looking forward to the full length.

*Alkaline Trio - Goddamnit (10th Anniversary Edition) - shoulda pre-ordered it.  Still, if you want it, you should get it from asianmanrecords.com because it'll be much cheaper than anywhere else.  this album holds a special place in my heart.  this is a remastered version and it includes a DVD with a 2 hour documentary about the band with interviews with all the major players.  I want this.

VISUAL
*No Country For Old Men - I'm surprised this is already out on DVD.  Probably coulda milked the theater market a little more with all the oscars.  The only thing is, it seems to be a pretty bare-bones DVD so there will probably be a better one out later on.

*Georges Melies: First Wizard of Cinema (1896-1913) - This dude was a magician that went into film...and basically invented special effects.  One cannot claim to have a very complete film knowledge if they don't know Melies.  And this DVD set can probably just be called the essential Melies DVD.  

*Dangerous Crossing -and- Black Widow - These are two different films.  But Fox Film Noir is putting them out.  I don't really know anything about them, but they are probably classics of noir, and should probably be put on Netflix.

did I miss anything?