Author Archives: admin

Ghosts of old loves are blowing in the pines

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Alexisonfire is all growed up. Unfortunately, I forgot to add their older albums in my iTunes rebuild, so I can’t prove it to you. But they released their fourth full-length album, Old Crows/Young Cardinals, just a couple of weeks ago and in it I can hear mature sounds ranging from hardcore punk to newcore screamo.

I even hear a bit of Tiger Army in there somewhere. That’s a compliment. While these boys did hit the scene kicking ass and taking names, they’ve only gotten stronger in the 8 years since the band formed. And it seems that rather than being influenced and inspired by bands they’ve toured with, it seems that they’ve taken something else from all the touring they’ve done.

In an interview with CHARTattack: “I think the big thing influencing myself and Dallas when we were getting off the road was having played a lot and done some touring with some bands that we didn’t like,” says guitarist/vocalist MacNeil. “We knew what we didn’t want and what we wanted to distance ourselves from, and that became equally important as what we were trying to get to.”

Apparently this continues even as they attack every date on Warped this summer. On their own tour blog, they say:

I’d say the most surprising thing about this tour is the amount of bands that are faking it. Straight up lip-syncing nonsense!
To begin with Millionaires don’t sing at all, and the one dude from brokeNCYDE is up there just pretending. I digress………..

Track 2, “Young Cardinals”, is the song I would say shows just how serious they are, and it’s one of the strongest on the album in my opinion. In fact, it blows me the fuck away.

[Download Alexisonfire – Young Cardinals]

The boys do have some good words for other acts on Warped Tour. The Gallows, a band on new dad Brett Gurewitz’s Epitaph label, reportedly “play harder than everybody everyday”. Rapper POS carries himself “like he is fronting for a punk band.” Of course they’re going to have kind words for Antiflag, since they’ve toured the world with them and even sing on their record. Last but not least they cite hometown boy Shad because, well, you’ve got to back up your brothers. So check out these four and maybe watch for us to talk more about them in an upcoming podcast. You are subscribed to the podcast aren’t you?

One more song for your listening pleasure. I like “No Rest” as well. I think it showcases their expertise on their tools and equipment. The lyrics aren’t terribly inspired, and you know what a lyric snob I am… But the execution of this track is impeccable so I am letting it slide.

[Download Alexisonfire – No Rest]

Check out Warped Tour this summer if you can. The day-long festival has barely gotten started, so you have no excuse not to find a show near you (if you’re anywhere in the contiguous yoo-nited states that is – or in Quebec tomorrow). And get in on one of these massive circle pits that Alexisonfire inspires.



More indie stuff

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I just wanted to post another quick one, as I’m having a busy day dealing with lots of drama. So much fun, that drama!

The band Deerhunter just released a new EP, entitled Rainwater Cassette Exchange. The song posted today is a pure piece of pop glory, while still maintaining an edginess to it that means they can keep that one thing many bands love – cred. So here’s “Disappearing Ink”. And with that, time to go disappear back into the void of BS and drama. Till next week.

[Download Deerhunter – Disappearing Ink]

As usual, go buy this stuff. Or else a puppy dies. True story.

Electroclash revisited

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So this post features a couple of tracks that I used to play years back when DJing. It depended on my mood, really, as I liked to bounce around between genres.

The first cut is by the pretty much unknown group Adult. I actually saw these guys live before they really became “in” with the whole electro crowd. Not bad, if I remember right. This song got them quite a bit of play, and resulted in a good Carl Craig remix of this track. I’ll even post that remix, also, as a little gift. So here’s Adult.’s “Hand To Phone”.

[Download Adult. – Hand To Phone]

[Download Adult. – Hand To Phone (Carl Craig Remix)]

Next up is more Felix Da Housecat. This time under his guise of Aphrohead. This song was an absolute bitch to get my hands on, but I’m glad I did. The Clashbackk label produced a lot of unbelievable stuff, and this one is no different. Here’s “Blindmanwilly”, a track that revolves around none other than a harmonica loop, which is pretty fitting if you think about it. One of Felix’s lesser known tracks, but probably one of his best, in my opinion.

[Download Aphrohead – Blindmanwilly]

And yes. Go buy stuff. It makes me smile. As does shiny things.

Stuck in the middle, and the pain is thunder

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I wasn’t shocked by the news because to be quite honest, he was already dead to me. I didn’t feel like I needed anything else from Michael Jackson. I didn’t think the world needed anything else from him. Hadn’t he given enough?


“Little boys can sleep a little safer” jokes aside, the man was most recently just trying to do his best with what faculties he had to create his own beauty and his own normal. Can you imagine trying to grow up Michael Jackson, with all that talent, all that warmth and love inside, and being subjected to the abuse and neglect that he was, and being carried on the shoulders of an entire poor as dirt family to bring them to greatness?

When “Thriller” was released in late 1982, the music industry, the music video industry, the music merchandising industry, and the music producing industry was absolutely turned upside down.

My next-door neighbor hung the poster of MJ and Brooke Shields, and the girls on the street would sing to the poster and get so angry at Brooke! We loved him and we wanted to be his PYT.

Pretty young things, repeat after me: say na na na

[Download Michael Jackson – PYT]


Paul McCartney sharing vocals on The Girl is Mine. Eddie Van Halen providing guitar for Beat It. Few icons throughout history have united parents and children in their love and admiration for their work. Young and old and people from all races and tastes just loved Michael Jackson. Neighbors gathered to watch the video premieres and the hourly replays. The man changed music and “Thriller” is the highest-selling album of. All. Time.

He wanted more. He wanted to continue to change music, to allow his art to evolve. He wanted to keep dancing. He wanted us to keep dancing. He accepted every challenge and challenged us all to do the same.

There are those who say that you were either a Prince fan or a Michael Jackson fan, but if you remember with a clear head you will realize that with “Thriller”, the King of Pop absolutely paved the way for Prince and for ALL Black artists to follow. There is just no question. So perhaps as 1986 rolled around and you were all about Prince, you may have moved on. But Michael Jackson was startin’ somethin’.

[Download Michael Jackson – Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ (2008 remix)]

And he was a tortured soul.

So I can’t cry for the loss. I believe his suffering is over and I say Go in Peace. We’ll keep dancing.

Dragonslayer impressions

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So the latest release by indie-rock darlings Sunset Rubdown is now out officially. I’ve had a chance to kick back and listen for almost two weeks, and figured I would give everyone my thoughts on this latest effort by Spencer Krug and crew.

First off, it’s only eight tracks. Which has me scratching my head, to start. It also is quite the far cry from what they did with their last album, Random Spirit Lover. That release was easily their strongest to date, Dragonslayer included. While this latest album features some high-quality tracks, such as Idiot Heart and Nightingale/December Song, it seems to leave me feeling as though I am just missing the full potential. This could be a consequence of the structure of their last album, which worked as a continuous piece that told a story throughout. The album’s strongest point may be in the way it finishes. The epic “Dragon’s Lair” is a robust and lengthy – at over 10 minutes – track. A very pleasing way to end this album.

As usual, the lyrics are deep and thus makes this album an album you must sit down and listen to. Unfortunately, most music buyers aren’t this type, and will continually buy vapid releases by the likes of Lady GaGa, et al. Overall, if you are a fan of Spencer Krug’s work in general? You will most likely like this. If you are not familiar with his work? I would strongly suggest listening to Wolf Parade’s Apologies To The Queen Mary first, and then delving into the Sunset Rubdown releases. To help familiarize readers, I have left one track from this release here, as well as one from their album Shut Up I Am Dreaming. I’d give this a solid 8 out of 10. The pros of this album far outweigh the few cons, and it adds to the growing list of solid and great works by this excellent band.

[Download Sunset Rubdown – Idiot Heart]

[Download Sunset Rubdown – Stadiums and Shrines II]

And I’m tired. So no smartass remarks today. I go sleepy now. YAY SLEEPY! Buy this!

To be lost that their loss is no disaster

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Sampling. Stealing. Borrowing.

Or an attention-deficit tribute to everything your life has ever
seen, experienced, appreciated, and created.

Which is about how I feel right now, so I am glad I chose Crocodiles for today’s post. Picture the teen-angst rock-out library scene in The Breakfast Club. Being a kid of the 80’s, there are times when this is all I can see in my head. Punch yourself in the face, hurdle over some library shelves, and scream until the glass cracks. Rock out alone. Rock out with your friends. Straddle something and thrash your head. Drop to the floor in convulsions.

Allow all the pictures, scenes from your life, to flip past you in a jumbled and frenetic form.

Settle down for a moment of introspection, and then do it all over again.

And that’s how this album, “Summer of Hate”, plays out to me. It was released in April of this year. Check out one of the more manic tracks, Refuse Angels.

[Download Crocodiles – Refuse Angels]

You’ve got to find this album. I Wanna Kill is worth the price of the whole thing, yet I’m not going to share it here, and is one of the greatest tributes to pop-genre sampling that I’ve heard in awhile. Go buy it.
And then go see them live. A lot of these shows are with an interesting electronica band called Holy Fuck.

Meanwhile, I’m going to get back to my brooding and random study of American poetry.

Jun 10 Dallas, Texas
Jun 11 Austin, Texas
Jun 12 Houston, Texas
Jun 13 Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jun 14 Birmingham, Alabama
Jun 15 Atlanta, Georgia
Jun 18 Brooklyn, New York
Jun 20 New York, New York
Jun 23 Cleveland, Ohio
Jun 26 Denver, Colorado
Jun 27 Phoenix, Arizona
July 5 Los Angeles, California
Jul 11 Amsterdam
Jul 12 London
Jul 14 Nurnburg
Jul 15 Berlin
Jul 21 Ravenna
Jul 22 Milan
Jul 30 Dublin
Aug 1 Cardiff
Aug 4 London
Aug 22 Seattle
Aug 29 San Diego, California

Magic through Macy and Modjo

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That’s a stupid title. I know. Whatever. The tracks, however, aren’t stupid. They’re both record rips from my own collection, which I think a lot of people reading this regularly are starting to get used to. Hey, I have a lot of good shit on wax. What can I say?

Anyhow, after the Modjo postings a few weeks back, I tried in vain to see if anyone else had already posted the Harry “Choo Choo” Romero dub of their cut “Lady”. Nope! So here is the “Titanium Dub” by Romero. A bit too long, as he probably could’ve cut at least a minute off the total length, but a good DJ will know how to use this extra time well.

[Download Modjo – Lady (Harry “Choo Choo” Romero’s Titanium Dub)]

Next is a track I hadn’t listened to in years, in all honesty. Macy Gray’s “Sexual Revolution” got the remix treatment by the boys at Subliminal, and this is really the only worthwhile mix – save for the acapella – on the 12″. Dark, dirty, and just the right length. One of the more underrated and impressive cuts by Subliminal, in my opinion. Definitely take a listen to this one! So fucking beautiful….so fucking beautiful!

[Download Macy Gray – Sexual Revolution (Nunez, Morillo, and Who Da Funk’s Super Dub)]

Next week, by the way, sees the release of the new Sunset Rubdown album. I picked up a copy at their show here in the Boston area last week, and they didn’t fail to impress yet again. The album has a couple key cuts on it I do love, and next week to coincide with the release, I’ll put up a review of the album. So stay tuned!

As usual, open your pockets. Help these guys out! Buy this stuff!

The pleasure’s all mine cuz we have seen good times

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Why didn’t The Little One submit a post on Friday? She was cheating.

She wanted to be able to submit the Anniversary post today. She’s selfish. What. Me. I’m The Little One. I’m selfish. I want this post all to myself. I’m sneaking it in here, too. No one knows it’s coming.

That’s right, you read correctly. Anniversary. One year ago, Mookie submitted his first post on our blog about this crazy new band he discovered when they opened for STP. It was Billy Boy on Poison. I don’t think either of us have spoken of that band since.

Mookie had been talking about starting an mp3 blog for some time. And I believe it was actually a year ago today as I lay in bed while he tinkered around in the office. He started shouting out blog names. Some were taken, others were shot down by The Little One. Well, me. We went through this already didn’t we? Anyway. I can’t help but go into all of this because I not only get to sneak this blog post in, I also get to claim credit for naming the blog.

That was me. IN ALL CAPS. I miss you, in all caps. I love you, in all caps. I totally heart you… IN ALL CAPS. And we both love the music just as much. We’re dead on serious and committed to this. And we’ve only made plans to hold your little hand -oops. Got ahead of myself.

Don’t say I ever rickrolled you. That was Tony Toni Tone, and they’ve done it again. I digress. Listen. We’ve discovered a lot of new and old music alike just by doing this blog, and I hope you’ve been able to expand your auditory horizons as well. Because I’m the one who chose to write this post, I’m going to be the one to pick the artists who have made me the most proud or excited about this thing, our big fat one year old bundle of joy.

Red of Tooth and Claw I was impressed with this band that Mookie found, Murder By Death. A gritty, testosterone laden sound accompanied by a cello. This is dark country rock infused with lyrics of death and remorse. I have tried to see them live once since hearing of them, and my quest isn’t over yet.

This is a cow The fascinating cult legend that is Daniel Johnston was shared with us by Walt Zink. Even Pearl Jam covered this tortured artist. He many times cannot recollect the lyrics to his songs due to the cocktail of drugs prescribed to him…

Wild Like Children Tilly And The Wall really touched me in so many ways. I can’t describe how their lyrics manage to figure out everything that my child id still wants to say. The upbeat but slightly underground and always witty music I loved to listen to so long ago.

Just Jack, Scanners, James, Kid You’ll Move Mountains, and Cursive are just a few more of the artists that make me ecstatic and proud to be a part of this great thing and this great guy.

Thanks Mookie.

Sometimes you just can’t hold back the river

Here you go… I’m on your side. We’re always right.

[Download American Analog Set – Punk As Fuck]

Daft Punk bootie here…..

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Yes, it’s a bootleg. I ripped this one from my personal collection. The B Side does have a lot of pops in it, so be warned. Thing is, I like the pops and hissing from vinyl. It creates a much warmer feel to the music. Unless it causes skips. Because there’s hell to pay, then.

Anyhow, this is a bootleg I picked up god knows when. Probably in 2001. If you want it on wax? Here is a link for you all. This is a bootleg of Daft Punk’s “One More Time”. I can still remember where I was when I first heard this. October of 2000, and I went to the event Monster Massive out in L.A., and Armand Van Helden started his set off with this. Ridiculous. To see probably fifteen to twenty thousand kids go nuts was surreal.

That said, the track hasn’t died off in popularity much at all. This is a DJ friendly bootleg, with the B Side tossing in this random vocals saying “Alright, alright, back to your stations.” Not sure why. Fuck it. A good bootie for you all if you’re a die-hard collector of their stuff. I’d only rate it a 7 out of 10, because it does get repetitive, and I feel that if it had used more of the original song’s vocals, it would have cut down on this.

Download and enjoy!

[Download Daft Punk – One More Time (Bootleg White Label mix – Side A)]

[Download Daft Punk – One More Time (Bootleg White Label mix – Side B)]

And since these are bootlegs, I’ll just say to go buy the authentic product. Because you’re awesome if you do.

The canary sings with such particular instruction

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everybody runs when the telephone rings but nobody’s making a call

Their second EP, Bridges and Tunnels, came out last October. They’ve spent a lot of time playing gigs in bars where they weren’t even old enough to be in the audience. And they’ve been compared no less than eighty-four times to The Strokes.

The Strokes? What the hell? I don’t hear it. Odd coincidence that I just this week started listening to Gaslight Anthem again, because that’s who I would compare them to if you made me. Or The Offspring.

Haha. Caught you there. No, really. Because I am so batshit bonkers for The Offspring, I can hear an indie interpretation of the opening to “Half-Truism” in Static Jacks'”Resistance/Self-Control.” Go ahead, tell me I’m wrong.

There is something that makes me so happy in the music on this EP. I can’t put my finger on it; could it be the line give up on hope, cast out your dreams? I feel like I am back in SoCo Dabbs’ bedroom being schooled on The Violent Femmes and Morrissey and listening to the way he pronounced Ralph Lauren as if it were an Italian name. I could be thirteen again, trying to decide if I was the preppie with high bangs or the skater chick with an asymmetrical style. I’ve always been a triberunner, it’s true.

I want you to take a listen to “Wine Cellar.”

[Download The Static Jacks – Wine Cellar]

I love it. The boys at Static Jacks may have given us the latest EP for free, but I became and instant fan and bought the previous one, Sonny Halliday straight away. Now I’m going to ask Daddy if we can finally start a label, because the next one they record needs to have better sound quality.

Uh oh, we better hurry, because the Jacks’ guitar player Henry tells me they’re recording it now and it should be out this fall. They are releasing their stuff via RCRD LBL, the online label/blog network.

In the meantime, here is a remix of a song I’ve been singing all day. At least in the remix the vocals have a chance to shine.

[Download The Static Jacks – RAC Maury Remix Fire On The Bridge And In The Tunnel]

Have I dispelled any conception that these guys sound like The Strokes? I still don’t get that association. Did the guy who said that just have them next to each other in his iTunes? Because Stevie Ray Vaughn follows them in mine. And speaking of shining, I am really appreciating the guitar licks in this track off the old EP. Not that I’m making a comparison… But… Check out The Canary Sings.

[Download The Static Jacks – The Canary Sings]

the storm that brought the flood which kept me cold
was brought by you thats what i was told
and i bet that it’s true

There you have it. Between The Static Jacks and Middle Distance Runner, I am really thankful that we started this blog because I love that I was able to discover bands like these and share them with you. I would say those are my two favorite finds of the past year.

So make me happy and buy these EPs. And if you’re in New England, go catch a show. I wish I could be there. I bet they are absolutely loverly to see live. They’re in NYC, DC, PHL, and some Conn/Mass too. Tell me how the shows are!! That’s an order!

No Amazon links for you this time… Just go straight to iTunes and nab some indie delights. And picture The Little One floating through the office during the day singing I see the fire on the bridge and in the tunnel below…