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Black Hole Sun, won’t you come?

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I thought Trent Reznor was just being mean and overly critical. He sent the following tweet after listening to Scream:

The album starts out with some sort of horrific trumpet fanfare and I am already cringing. wtfwtfwtfwtf is all I can think. Mookie is overjoyed because he has hated Chris Cornell ever since he took up with Rage Against the Machine members to form Audioslave. I, on the other hand, have remained faithfully devoted since Badmotorfinger in 1991. I was down with the whole Seattle thing and all the roles Cornell played in it. Screaming Trees. Temple of the Dog. Alice in Chains. SINGLES!


[Chris Cornell – Seasons]

If I should be short on words, and long on things to say…

The thing I have most loved about Cornell, other than his general hotness (swoon), is his impeccable gift of lyricism, as showcased above in one of his first solo efforts, from 1992’s movie soundtrack to “Singles”. So as I attempted to give track 1, “Part of Me”, a fair listen through my cringes and distorted facial expressions, I had hope that this song would start to make sense.

Alas, it is a hip hop song, and it’s not supposed to make any damn sense at all. So, it doesn’t.

I love the man. I support him in wanting to do something fun. Wouldn’t you make a record with Timbaland if you were given the chance? I just can’t fathom how he can call a track finished, and sign his name to it, when the lyrics read like the ecstasy-induced scattered thoughts of a clubgoer.

He considers the album “an interesting sociological experiment,” since people seem to be more concerned about who is making the music rather than the music itself.

Well… OK, I am trying to follow you here, but… I don’t. “Of those who are given much, much is expected.” That’s my rule, baby.

“That part’s kinda fun,” Cornell, 44, told Reuters in a recent interview. “If someone is up in arms about the idea of an artist that they really care about doing something that they just can’t believe, it begs that question, ‘Well, what is it that you would want? Would you then want predictable, comfortable salad that gets reproduced year after year?'”

“The Answer is: listen to Bad Religion and yes,” says Mookie.

The title track is a disaster. Since when does Chris Cornell have to be obvious with his lyrics? It makes me want to cry.


Take a minute to tell you now
Don’t have to raise my tone
Take the level and bring it down
I just want you to know
I got no trouble with what you said
I don’t even think you’re wrong
It’s how you say it
You lose your head
Girl I’m standing right in front of you

It’s a travesty. You may find it funny, Chris, but I adore you, and it’s not funny. There is one somewhat redeeming track on the album. I was able to enjoy “Enemy.” And look, the music on the album is really good, and I should add the disclaimer that I really don’t like present-day hip hop. This is probably a really enjoyable album for Timbaland faithfuls and others who don’t know what flannel is.

Check out “Enemy”:


[Chris Cornell – Enemy]

There are 15 tracks on this album. 15 tracks! I don’t think I can listen a second time. I’m sorry. I’m proud of you, Chris…I’m glad you are enjoying this. I’m just not there with you.

For $10, though, you might as well try the 15 track “Scream”. Listen to it and tell me what you think. And if you’re feeling nostalgic, or interested in what I loved back in the 90’s, you can check out some of the other grunge projects CC has participated in. And for God’s sake, get Singles.


A very simple song and a very angry one also…..

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This is one I’ve been hearing a lot lately. There’s a bar up here in Boston called Bukowski’s that I try to stop into every so often. Well, they generally play whatever the fuck they want, and this is a song I’ve heard a few times while in there. If you’re not familiar with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, I’d suggest learning a bit about them. We’re in that phase of music where we’re getting a few people copycatting what they did. I guess that’s good.

Well, here we have the first track off of The Boatman’s Call from 1997. The track is titled “Into My Arms” and is just a gorgeous little cut that’s become somewhat of a classic.

The next cut is also Nick Cave, albeit in a much different form. The group Grinderman consists of most of the members from the Bad Seeds, but has a much different sound than what most would really be used to. This is “No Pussy Blues” off of the debut by Grinderman.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand go buy some of this. Or else your penis will fall off. If you’re a chick and you don’t buy some of it? Well, you’ll grow a thick moustache. That’s how karma works.

NOTE FROM MOOKIE:
I loved that Grinderman song. LOVED. I found a Midfield General remix that I can’t wait to play out, and I’m dying to share it with you. Hope Zink don’t mind!

[Grinderman – No Pussy Blues (Midfield General Remix)]

Your mind always goes to a dark place

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It was unlike any other work of cinema.

And the series was unlike any other graphic novel at the time.

Nobody checked at the doors whether I had read the series and thus possessed proper credentials to get in. I was an invited guest. I’m very thankful for that.

The movie is amazing. It’s an epic journey. I completely got the feel for the alternate reality that felt as if it were floating through time despite the dates read from Rorschach’s journal.

The music chosen for a film is essential, and sometimes critical, in setting this feel. I love that both the original tracks and covered tracks were used, again mirroring the flow through a mostly undefined place in time.

One of the covers was done by My Chemical Romance. Below, check out the making of the video for “Desolation Row”, a Bob Dylan cover. And apparently, Gerard Way is qualified to record a song for The Watchmen.

Now at midnight all the agents
And the superhuman crew
Come out and round up everyone
That knows more than they do

I also loved the well-placed inclusion of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” The movie is brilliant, and despite the fact that not all songs that made the soundtrack are favorites, I believe they were expertly chosen.

Get in the mood now with some Jimi Hendrix.


[Jimi Hendrix – All Along The Watchtower]

See the movie, buy the soundtrack, read the series. That is all.

More stuff I just really like……

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I had a bit of a buying spree on digital download site Stompy recently. They handle mostly electronic stuff, so there’s your warning for what’s listed here today.

The first of the two is another DFA track that just is a huge winner in my book. It’s Shit Robot’s “Lonely Planet” off of the Chasm – EP. I’m pretty surprised I haven’t seen this track floating around on the blogs, to be honest. This is just a gorgeous track. My only gripe is that it could’ve easily been twice as long, and still been just as good. That’s not really a complaint, however. So enjoy!

[Download Shit Robot – Lonely Planet]

Next is a track that I used to play all the time when I DJed. Anyone that’s seen the movie Snatch and is a huge fan of it will know the bass lick that you hear right off the bat. This is a house track, so it does get repetitive, but I can easily listen to this over and over, if only to figure out what the fuck Brad Pitt is saying in the quote used! Don’t bother trying the DVD. I did that. Under any subtitles? This one line is the only one that doesn’t come up as intelligible. Fuck! Well, here’s “Dirty Snatch” off of the Igloo label. Oh, and it’s supposedly common knowledge that house legend Derrick Carter made this, but I’ve never had that confirmed. Anyone that can? Get’s a big prize. A smile on my face.

[Download – Korin Ladke – Dirty Snatch]

Yes. Buy this stuff. Or you can buy some flowers for your mom. She deserves some nice flowers. Especially if she has a kid that doesn’t buy the fuckin’ music they listen to, because that makes her sad!

You don’t know, you think you know

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You had her all wrapped up in a neat and tidy package… One that you would never open. You thought you knew, but you didn’t know.

You didn’t know that she eats dark choc-o-late and reads dirty magazines.
And it was even news to her that you could kill her with a kiss.

She had no idea how badly she’d need to try to step into your open arms, and she had no forethought about demanding a kiss.

She broke a few rules.


[Harrison Hudson – Kill Her With A Kiss]

This is the only picture of Harrison Hudson I’ve ever seen, so I was taken aback when I heard the tunes on their debut album Blood, Sweat and Sweat. It’s like I am hearing a more approachable, more fun-loving, but just as hard-rocking, Chris Robinson.

Pictured here is the frontman for the three-piece band that bears his namesake. Hudson is backed by Brandon Dees on bass and Steven Kadar on drums, who are talented enough to sound like a quintet. They really embody the southern rock sound. And of course the genius that are Andy Hull and Jeremiah Edmond signed them to Favorite Gentlemen. I am entranced by the sound and the lyrics. I can’t be more eloquent than that.

I even love that they managed to make a word like “Californ-I-ain’t” sound cool, as demonstrated in Track 4, “California Girl”.

Ah, that’s a better picture. I am going to become a groupie. I am in love with these guys. I need my saving grace; I keep fallin’ into love with every pretty face I see…

Probably the song on the album that is strong enough to go toe-to-toe with any of history’s greatest southern hits would be track 6, “Clown”. Oh please be my guest and enjoy. ENJOY!

Oh, I gave you my heart and you took it like a common meal…


[Harrison Hudson – Clown]

Go to their website and copy the embed code for the widget below to help promote them and bring GOOD MUSIC to the masses:

And then support the bands we love, along with our favorite label in the universe, by visiting the Favorite Gentlemen store.

And just for the hell of it, play Blood, Sweat and Sweat (by the way, could you get a better name for a good strong rock and roll album coming out of Tennessee?) side by side with the Black Crowes. Do it. I dare ya.

Basically, I just like these songs……

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Yep. Two songs I like. Now, I get assloads of promo stuff from places, but I’ll be honest – I don’t like a lot of it. It’s not that it’s not good. It is. I just don’t think it would be fair to post music just for the sake of continued e-mail press releases! There are a few I do like. I promise all you PR-firm folks I will get to the ones I do like! My one year at UNLV back in 2000 was a Comm major with an emphasis in PR, so I feel your pain for the amount of work you do for a mere pittance.

Anyhow, here are two tracks I’m just in love with right now. I just went through a nasty fucking break-up (isn’t it funny how they guy always takes the shit end of that stick?) so this first one made me forget a lot of my problems, which I realize are so damned small compared to everything else in the world right now. Perspective, people!

So first off I’ve got the group Air France. They’re from Sweden. Whoa! Clever! Sarcasm aside, I like what these guys do. Very ethereal and uplifting, and this song of theirs is exactly what I needed right now. This is the track “Collapsing At Your Doorstep”.

[Download Air France – Collapsing At Your Doorstep]

Next is a song I had sort of forgotten about for a while. He’s one of the many artists that continues SubPop’s tradition of really good indie bands. His name is Chad VanGaalen and he’s definitely influenced by guys like Neil Young, if that gives you any real idea of his sound. Check out “Sing Me To Sleep”, and I bet you will understand why I felt good after this. Great tune, folks.

[Download Chad Van Gaalen – Sing Me To Sleep]

And lastly, your PSA telling you to buy some of this or I will kidnap whatever domesticated animal you own and sell it to a Chinese restaurant.

Baby Baby Baby! It’s Always Baby Baby Baby!

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New Found Glory kicks off an enormous tour today with a show in Brisbane, Australia. In the coming months they will blow through Australia, Japan, coast to coast in America, Canada, keep the eastward momentum going throughout Europe, and wrap it up in Germany by June. Amazing. And I know they are going to kick ass and have the time of their lives on this insane trek. I may have to jump over to the L.A. area to catch a show in March.

These boys are batshit bonkers. I love them to death. They’ve been churning out pure skinny kid punk rock (that’s a genre I may have just made up. I’m not saying the NFG fellas are all skinny kids) for more than ten years. Two of my favorite albums from NFG are covers from movie soundtracks. In 2000 they released From The Screen To Your Stereo with adorable, fun, sped-up tracks like “The Neverending Story” and “Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough”, and this gem which catches my breath every time. There exists a video of them playing this acoustic which I’ve never been able to properly copy. It’s just beautiful though:

[New Found Glory – The Glory of Love]

This was such a great idea that they reprised it in 2007 with From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II with all kinds of greats, but again, it just melts my heart to hear this Cash cover. Listen all the way to the end for your special treat:

[New Found Glory – It Ain’t Me Babe]

NFG loves to use the interwebs and video cams to have fun. Currently on their myspace site you can get involved in their latest: NFG: A Game By New Found Glory where you can use the band members as your fighters, to promote the album, Not Without a Fight. Over the years they’ve done podcasts, crazy music videos, and other silly shit that reminds us all not to take ourselves too seriously. Check out the promo video and notice the big man himself, Brett G of Epitaph (slash Bad Religion), narrating. By the way, if my lame attempt to manipulate html (I’m not a code monkey, I only sleep with one)is successful, you can pre-order the new album to the right:

NFG Press Conference

Speaking of not taking yourself too seriously, I think this was maybe what happened when they recorded the album Coming Home. I still have mad love for them. I still sang along to the sappy songs on that album. But it honestly sounded like it was recorded specifically in hopes of getting radio play (oh no! Am I dissing radio AGAIN?!) Don’t let that turn you off. It was clean and well-performed, but I don’t think it really represented their sound and their shtick well.

Catch their show as they come blazing across the globe. And pick up any albums you may have missed along the way below:



Rebels have more fun

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Here’s one that’s short and to the point. Ever heard of Soulwax? No? Well, they’ve been around for a while and have been at the forefront of the bastardized genre of eletro. They’ve done remixes for the likes of Daft Punk and LCD Soundsystem, and have remixed one of my favorite artists – David Bowie.

This remix, of “Rebel Rebel”, will be on a future compilation entitled Most of the Other Remixes. I haven’t seen a release date on it, but have seen that there will be remixes they’ve done for Bowie, Miss Kittin, MGMT, and more. Enjoy! Oh, and be warned, the start of the song is super screechy and a bit harsh.

[Download David Bowie – Rebel Rebel (Soulwax re-edit)]

And well, buy some stuff. Make Obama’s stimulus crap seem like it makes sense. Or something like that.

The more I live I see this life’s not about me

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Imagine it’s sometime around 1989. You’ve just spiked your hair and combed your sweet mullet, or used a half-can of Aqua Net on your four-inch-high bangs.
It’s Friday night, and your jeans are tight.
It’s time to go see Great White.

You didn’t know how rock-n-roll looked
Until you caught your sister with the guys from the group
Halfway home in the parking lot
By the look in her eye she was giving what she got

Seems like their set is a bit short… Your voice isn’t even hoarse yet! What’s this… They aren’t even the headliner?! Some Christian band called Stryper is headlining this thing? Dude, time to go smoke a doob in the parking lot.

Fast forward to sometime around 2007, and I watched a hot dude – minus the mullet – experience a similar reaction when Bayside performed as one of the openers for Anberlin. I think someone made him stay and slow dance as Anberlin covered “Creep” as their closing song… He must have been in love. But to this day, he can’t stand Anberlin. All because they headlined a show instead of one of his favorites.

You didn’t know Anberlin was a Christian band? Well, most people don’t. For awhile they seemed not-entirely-sure how comfortable they were with that identity, to tell you the truth. Anberlin experienced their first major airplay on Christian radio, such as Air-1. In an early interview, they sidestepped the “are we a Christian band” question, despite having roots as a bona fide Christian punk band (the lead singer Stephen Christian and the bassist Deon Rexroat formed the punk band called SaGoh in high school, short for Servants after God’s own heart). Some of Anberlin’s early songs were re-worked SaGoh songs. An early blog post on the Air-1 website even once criticized them for such a sidestep. They’ve progressed to admit that they are able to share their faith with the other bands they’ve toured with and it’s a rewarding and enriching experience.

There is a strong sound to this band. The long and short of this album review post is going to be thus: “any distaste for them is undeserved.” That’s all I have for you today. I must be distracted by late 1980’s hairstyles.

Check out the video for “Godspeed” of their 2007 album Cities:

New Surrender, the band’s most recent release, is their first to be recorded on a major label. And they appear proud of what they’ve done, elevating themselves past writing about holding hands toward the issues and struggles they see in their lives and the lives around them. Case in point, lyrics from track 8 “Burn Out Brighter (Northern Lights)”.

[Anberlin – Burn Out Brighter]

And much to the dismay of loser radio jocks everywhere, I am pretty sure that the song “Feel Good Drag” currently in heavy rotation is not about drugs. It wasn’t even funny the first time, unless you’re thirteen. If I hear another dj suck in his breath dramatically while announcing this song, I just might show up and punch him in the neck. You’re on notice. You sound like an idiot.

You can support the indie label Tooth & Nail by checking out Anberlin’s earlier albums, or grab the new one out on Universal Republic. Just clickety-click below.


A little of the old, and more of the even older

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So I was having breakfast in this diner I go to and I heard an artist I hadn’t really listened to in quite some time. The guy’s name is Louis Prima. Most people younger than myself don’t know who he is. It’s understandable, considering that he’s from the Vegas limelight of the mid to late 1950’s. However, some people may remember him through more of a pop culture window. Anyone that saw Disney’s The Jungle Book may well remember King Louie. Well that voice, my friends, was that of Louis Prima’s.

Well, he was one of the first big stars in Las Vegas. We’re talking just before the Rat Pack came in and took his crowd. He would pack the Sahara’s showroom every night with this mix of risque humor and swingin’ jazz. It was like New Orleans, but wilder. He had the help of a great sax player by the name of Sam Butera, and his band, The Witnesses. Here you get a good example of the craziness of what this guy could do. Here I’ve given you guys an instrumental cover of Love of My Life (O Sole Mio) as well as a massively energetic stomper in St. Louis Blues. Definitely check this guy’s catalog out if you’re into this stuff. It’s not all this frenetic, but just imagine watching a show that this guy put on!

[Download Louis Prima – Love Of My Life (O Sole Mio)]

[Download Louis Prima – St. Louis Blues]

Next up is a track from a somewhat forgotten band from the late ’90’s. They were the Amazing Royal Crowns and they hailed from Providence, Rhode Island. When I was still living up in the Boston area, I had heard about these guys, and am pretty pissed I never got to see them live. Tons of energy like you’ve never seen, and probably never will. They’re classified as “psychobilly” and this is the first track off of their self-titled debut.

[Download The Amazing Royal Crowns – Shiverin’ In The Corner]

Yep. The obligatory message reminding you to not be a leech and go buy this stuff! If you download and not support the artist? A kitten somewhere dies. Or a limbless kid contracts a venereal disease. I dunno. Just go buy this stuff!