This a part two to sunday’s post. Go read it here. Kilter really wanted to write about guilty musical pleasures. I knew instantly what I would write about. I was worried though. I have street cred after all. I had to write a fucking music blog for over three years to get it…and now just to keep with a “theme” I’m going to throw it all away. Kilter is trying to unseat me from my throne with this thematic gauntlet. Well fuck him. I can be honest and still keep my cred. Right? Right!?!
I mean…no one likes to admit their guilty pleasures. I mean, if you have an unhealthy fetish for cake, you tend to keep that shit to yourself. Cake for breakfast for example? You might tell your lover. He could think it’s cute? Maybe you might let it slip while drinking with friends at the bar. Maybe you do it to see how unhealthy this guilty pleasure of yours is. Normally you eat your cake in the privacy of your own kitchen. In front of the open ‘frigerator. Just in case you need to hide the evidence.
This guilty pleasure applies to all of you too. Kilter loves himself some George Michael, for example. I’m about to outdo him though. I love myself some Ke$ha. The fact I just typed her name with a dollar sign makes me blush with shame.
Cannibal
I have a friend who used to bust a gut laughing when he saw a man singing in his car. He would always imagine them singing Whitney Houston or whatever girly pop song was popular at the time. I would say, maybe he’s singing along to Metallica. He didn’t care. He would always just imagine him singing some girly and poppy, and it would crack him up!
I agreed with him and we made fun of all those dudes in their cars. Little did he know that I was one of these guys. I sing in the car. Sometimes it can be some punk or “indie” rock. A lot of the time though, it’s the sugary pop on the radio.
I’m not interested in boots, or boys for that matter… but the song is so damn catchy…I sing along. It’s embarrassing. I still am not sure why I am sharing this.
Ke$ha has a new EP out recently titled Cannibal. It has song titled “C U Next Tuesday”. You gotta love that! I’ve already rocked the new album a few times on my commute to work. I’d have to tell you to pick it up. Just be careful to not leave the CD case out in your car. You don’t wanna get caught.
When discussing the best mash-up artists, Girl Talk is widely considered the King of Kings. Girl Talk, also known as Greg Gillis, is the best there is. The album Feed The Animals is a big favorite of ours here at inALLcaps.com. It’s over 54 minutes of mash-up madness and got played hundreds of times on road trips, pre-party warm ups, and of course was on the playlist of countless trips to the gym.
My friend Jeremy and I had planned on seeing Girl Talk as soon as he was back on tour and within a 5 hour drive from our hometown. We checked for new albums and news of a U.S. tour often; it seemed like Greg was in hiding. I had worried that maybe those copyright lawyers had finally got their claws into our man. All the many uncleared samples he used in his work finally catching up with him. Then again, if that WAS the case, it would be all over the internet.
Then finally, spreading like wildfire, word of a new album called All Day. It wasn’t news of a release date…it was just released as a total surprise!
I found out later that Gillis had begun working on All Day after wrapping up production on Feed the Animals. His need to create more new music while on tour was the biggest catalyst for the material on this new album.
I fly quickly to the Illegal Arts website, Girl Talk’s label site, to grab my copy. Previous albums were distributed using a “pay-what-you-want” model, but I notice this album is just simply FREE! (you can still get your copy for free by clicking here). For hours I attempted to download the album, only to be denied by the overwhelmed site. I did finally get a copy from…well…from that same friend I mentioned earlier. Jeremy was triumphant in his attempt at the download.
I got the tracks loaded up in iTunes and the first thing I noticed was that this album is long! Clocking in at over an hour and ten minutes, this ends up being the longest album Girl Talk has put out!
The album starts out strong! A mash-up of Black Sabbath, 2Pac, Jay-Z, and Ludacris all in the first 1:20 of the first track! Another highlight is the mash-up of J-Kwon, The Ramones, and Slick Rick! Amazing!
Let’s break down a song of this new album. Track 10 is called Steady Shock. Peep it out below.
Click to play Girl Talk – Steady Shock The track illustrates how amazing Greg Gillis is at his artform. Look below to see the breakdown of all the samples in this one track. Keep in mind the track itself is under 5 and a half minutes long.
With over 370 samples that comprise the album All Day, there is plenty of samples you are sure to know well! There are some mysterious ones in the mix. They sound familiar but you are going crazy trying to figure out the original work the sample comes from. Never fear! The internet music geek community created a wiki page within hours of the new album release to identify all the samples used on the album. Check out the wiki article here. A less detailed, but considered more accurate version exists over here.
Now… many of our readers have asked me, is this album BETTER than Girl Talk’s previous album Feed The Animals. It isn’t better. In fact, Gillis’ albums Unstoppable and Night Ripper are better albums. All Day just doesn’t have the energy these previous albums have had. All Day is more like a “party-starter” than the full on party rager. The one thing that I like about All Day is that Gillis lets the samples breathe a bit more. Although this is what actually takes a bit of the excitement out of the album, it ends up making the album seem more mature to me.
Gillis talks about pacing himself in a recent interview with MTV:
“I’m really interested in the rate of change but sticking with the same source material for a bit longer. It’s a little bit more patient, mostly because I’ve spent just about every day working on it, editing it, going over each segment. It’s been a full-time commitment.”
If you still think this album might be better than Feed The Animals, please refresh yo self with this video that mashes up all the source videos that make up the song “Play Your Part (Part 1)”.
I have always said that insanity and genius share a very thin line.
This is the perfect sentence to describe Chicago rapper Kanye West. West is quirky and erratic at times. He says and does things without thinking about them first. For example, Kanye goes off script at a Katrina Relief benefit concert and says “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” (well some of us were already thinking that). There’s also the Swift incident at the 2009 MTV Music Awards. On the music side of things, Kanye has redefined the rap and hip-hop games. Maybe there is a correlation between Kanye’s personal and romantic life unravelling with the quality of his work.
It’s not unusual is it? I think some of the most amazing art has been produced by troubled people during troubled times. Mozart, Beethoven, John Mayer… I think people just write Kanye off as an asshole and hate on everything he does. Like Batman says, “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” I wonder if Biggie and Tupac would have had similar problems if their lives were not taken so early. Tupac in particular had potential for violence and quirky behavior. Regardless, he’s loved by everyone who appreciates rap and hip-hop.
I empathize with Kanye though. I know what it feels like to have everything fall apart. Everything could even seem to be going great, but you keep burning bridges and breaking hearts with every step. I know how it feels to have lost love and lost your mother. West described losing his mother like “losing an arm and a leg and trying to walk through that.” I’ve been there. That pain I felt affected many around me who loved me. Instead of fixing it, you keep chipping away at the foundations. Chip away until it all comes crashing down around you. Although, unlike Kanye, I can’t get centered in Paris while working as a shoe designer for Louis Vuitton.
Banned album art for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Let’s have a toast for the genius! On November 22, 2010 West’s latest album will be released. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is Kanye’s best album, and might be one of the best Hip-Hop albums in the last ten years. Not easy to say. I feel like arguing with myself about it. With every spin of this record though, I believe it more and more.
You know that this is not going to be a basic hip-hop album from the first 30 seconds or so of the opening track of the album. The track, called “Dark Fantasy”, features a rap/spoken word intro from Nicki Minaj. Minaj is an up-and-coming rapper with a British accent that really sets off the intro in my opinion.
You might think you’ve peeped the scene, you haven’t. The real one’s far too mean. The watered down one, the one you know; was made up centuries ago. It made it sound all whack and corny, yes it’s awful, blasted boring. Twisted fiction, sick addiction, but gather ’round children, zip it listen!
When you hear that first track, you can hear how Kanye has really stepped up his game on the production front. Yeezy’s willing to experiment and stretch with his sound. This isn’t the same cat who just speeds up Dr. Dre drum beats and vocals. He’s grown more confident and is less worried about experimenting with new sounds. This experimentation doesn’t just end or level off with the first track. EVERY track on this album sounds fresh and exciting.
The real highlight for me is a track toward the end of the record. Track 11 is “Blame Game” featuring John Legend and comes in at almost 8 minutes. Although the final 2 minutes is Chris Rock going on with a skit that is slightly funny, but a whole lot heartbreaking. John Legend is such a talent and probably deserves a ton of credit for how dope this track is. West doesn’t disappoint either. His raps are spat through venom and bile, tears and blood. Yeezy does some interesting effects on his vocal in this song. Perhaps it’s the “voices” in his head. You’ll have to hear it for yourself.
On a bathroom wall I wrote “I’d rather argue with you than to be with someone else.”
I hope that you can’t relate to the story told in this song. It’s the worst kind of love. The worst kind of lust. It’s painful heartbreak. It might be your fault. It might be the world against you. It might be that bitch (or asshole) is just crazy. I read somewhere that Kanye considers this his favorite song from his new album. There is no question it’s my favorite track on any of his albums. Troubled equals great art.
Don’t forget to check out KanyeWest.com if you find any of this interesting. Ye has been releasing a free song under the G.O.O.D. Friday project (GOOD Music Records is Kanye’s record label) for the last 13 weeks. There are some real gems to grab over there.
There is even a 30 minute video for the track “Runaway” on the new album. My only suggestion is watch it in 1080p… it’s beautifully shot, but awfully weird.
In the 1920s, Ernest Hemingway’s friends and colleagues bet him that he couldn’t write a COMPLETE story in just six words. As you can read above, they had to pay up. Hemingway considers it his best work.
I’m sure that this isn’t what the song “Baby Shoes” by the group Bad Books is about… but maybe you could be persuaded?
Bad Books is a band/project that joined friends singer/songwriter Kevin Devine with Andy Hull and his band Manchester Orchestra. I had first heard about the project while talking with Kevin Devine before his show at the House Of Blues in Las Vegas.
I’m still waiting for this album to ship on vinyl, but I have had the MP3’s for a few weeks now. It’s the best sort of mash-up. Two of my great bands getting together and make something new and fresh.
I found a statement about the “story” of the song “Baby Shoes” from Andy Hull. During a studio session with 104.5, a Philadelphia radio station, he said this:
“It’s a fictitious story (…) if it was me, say I’m the character. I have a kid and the kid dies and then I give the kid to Satan and Satan brings it back to life. But it’s an apocalyptic baby so it tries to kill me and so I try and kill it and that lands me in prison and her out on the loose.”
Bad Books
That dude is so hilarious, isn’t he?
Have you heard about this concert in Atlanta the day before Thanksgiving? It’s called The Stuffing.
I beg you…whoever is in charge. I hate Thanksgiving. Family get-togethers give me the worst kind of fear and anxiety. Please…send me free tickets to cover The Stuffing… I’ll have no choice but to go. It’s work…can’t get out of it. My family would have no choice but to understand. No grinding my teeth while anguishing over dry turkey and awkward conversations. Maybe… finally, I can have a Thanksgiving that is memorable in a good way.
Full line-up for The Stuffing: Manchester Orchestra Dead Confederate Bad Books Kevin Devine Death On Two Wheels O’Brother Gobotron Stadiums Harrison Hudson All Get Out
Check out the first official video from the band Bad Books:
Tomorrow is November 2nd. For most people it’s just day 306 of another poopy year. 59 more to go until a fresh start!
In the U S of A it’s significant every year as it’s our Election Day. This year, it’s a tough election. Your mailbox has been filled with thousands of politicals ads and flyers that candidates collectively have spent millions of dollars on. Dollars that would have been better spent to help the constituents they are trying to persuade.
Popular words this election? Reform, Recovery, and Jobs.
New fad this year? Tea. Tea? Some new party drug I think. /shrug
Germs Of Perfection a tribute to Bad Religion
I have been listening to a lot of Bad Religion lately. They are my favorite band. Of. All. Time. That being said, it is not unusual for me to listen to some BR. There was a catalyst for me to queue them up this time around.
If you need a push…check out William Elliott Whitmore‘s cover of “Don’t Pray On Me” from the 1993 album Recipe For Hate. It’s definitely my favorite cover from the tribute album. Click the play button below!
With 18 Bad Religion albums on repeat for a few days and an election on my mind, a particular song stuck out. Well, it was a lot more than one song, but there was one that I have always liked a lot and that fit particularly well for your Election Day.
Hey sit down and listen and they’ll tell you when you’re wrong. Eradicate but vindicate as “progress” creeps along. Puritan work ethic maintains its subconscious edge As Old Glory maintains your consciousness. There’s a loser in the house, and a puppet on the stool, And a crowded way of life, and a black reflecting pool, And as the people bend, the moral fabric dies, The country can’t pretend to ignore its people’s cries. You are the government. You are jurisprudence. You are the volition. You are jurisdiction. And I make a difference too.
Yep. That’s all there is. A lot gets packed into that 1:22 punk rock rocket ride.
I’ve always understood that this song was probably a call to Anarchy. I like to think it’s just a call to excercise your rights. This, after all is a country “Of the People, by the People.” Sometimes I think that we Americans take this for granted. We ARE the government. If our Government failed us, then it was our own failure. We don’t have to wait for the Government to change things. The power of change is in our hands. Maybe the way to change is something more revolutionary than just casting a ballot. That I can’t tell you. I do know that this is ours, and together we can be great again. Together we all vote. On November 2nd, we are the Government.
You get your say tomorrow on how we walk into the future, and I make a difference too.
I sometimes wonder if Lady Gaga just bit all the great things about pop stars like Michael Jackson and Britney Spears, sexed it up, magnified it, perfected it, and then realized… oh…I could have just stolen all of this from Peaches!
The Canadian-born Peaches has always been completely out there and on the edge of performance art. She has pushed past comfort levels on sex, gender, and fashion. She’s been doing that for over 10 years. That means all the women pop and rock stars who have a bit of extravagance in their albums and on stage did it in the wake of the very talented Peaches.
Some of the Peaches first shows included strap on dildos and stage blood. She’s recently performed with what she calls a “pussy-light”
You might think Peaches is just shock and awe. I had thought that before, until I learned that she plays all her own instruments, programs all her own beats, and produces her own albums.
She was signed to Sony but was dropped after her big budget video was released. It revolved around Peaches sitting in a locker room while her armpit and pubic hair grew to Rapunzel-esqe lengths. Peaches has opened for Queens of the Stone Age, Nine Inch Nails, and Marilyn Manson.
If that isn’t enough to get the message across to you about her eccentric individualism, I’ll tell you a story about the one-woman show interpretation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Sir Tim Rice musical “Jesus Christ Superstar” that she decided to take on earlier this year. At first, the people who owned the rights to the musical said nope… but she was persistent and finally got the opportunity to put on the show on March 25-27 an Berlin’s HAU1. You might be thinking it was a disgusting disaster. Right?
“Not only did Peaches set it off, she managed to surprise us all by showing off an expansive vocal range, a musician’s natural sensitivity to the dynamics of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s score, and an emotive prowess that is rarely if ever displayed in her own, less holy, music.”
I’ve only seen parts of this musical, and it doesn’t seem totally outside what she would be interested in. Still, I had to learn why she wanted to do this. It’s a lot of work and probably was exhausting to make it happen and then to perform it alone all night. Doing a bit of research I found this quote from The Peach herself:
“When I was 16, I often sang the whole musical to myself all alone in my room. It tells an entire story without spoken text, only with vocals, in the style of a rock opera. I’m a performer, my concerts are extravagant and play with exaggerations. This project allows me to do without all this. I wanted to confront this task totally exposed, because it is a possibility. It’s a question of stamina. Performing ‘Peaches Christ Superstar’ is the most intense and powerful stage experience I have ever had.”
Those of you who are intrigued but dissapointed you missed those dates in Berlin, never fear. She’s coming Stateside and it’s probably a once in a lifetime kind of event.
Here are tour dates for ‘Peaches Christ Superstar’:
Dec.10 — Boston — Institute of Contemporary Art Dec 11 — New York — The Concert Hall at New York Society for Ethical Culture Dec 14 — Chicago — Portage Theater Dec.17 — Los Angeles — Orpheum Theatre Dec. 18 — San Francisco — Herbst Theatre Dec. 21 — Toronto — Queen Elizabeth Theatre
But wait there’s more! Because I like you, I want to give you a BONUS! A remix treat just for you.
I was in a daze on Sunday. I was back on my couch watching football. I had spent a lot of time on this couch this weekend. You see, I was participating in ExtraLife, a 24 hour video game marathon to raise money for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. The marathon is no 5k race. Nothing that easy. The marathon was to play video games for 24 hours straight. From Saturday 8AM to Sunday 8AM.
I fell right into deep sleep at 8:01 sunday morning and woke up at 1PM. Watched some football and walked around my house like a zombie, unsure what to do next.
Then I watched the late game, Skins almost beat the Colts, and then started to feel the weight of sleep on my head again. I planned on doing one last check of email and facebook and then head back upstairs to go back to bed.
That’s when I caught the news in my facebook feed.
RIP Michael Larsen aka EYEDEA. The 28 year old MC and indie rap legend passed away today at his home in Minnesota. Our condolences to EYEDEA’S family and our friends at RHYMESAYERS. “Ya know I’m saying Kinda just turned around from the whole situation Rejecting everything that was going on Thats how I walked into heaven. I Walked away, walked away, walked straight into heaven…I Walked away, walked away, walked straight into heaven…”
I sat there crushed. Totally unexpected and way before his time. We lost a great artist and lyricist. The underground Hip-Hop scene just lost a major player.
Eyedea started his career in the late 90’s early 2000’s with rap battle wins at Scribble Jam and Blaze Battle. Although his technical skills are sharp as a knife, it’s his ability to tell a story in his raps. Another rapper that does this is Tupac, and it’s one of the reasons that I am such a fan. If you can rap and tell a story, I’m totally impressed.
While listening to Eyedea all of Monday, I realized there is even a track by both Tupac and Eyedea with similar subject matter but with two completely different perspectives.
Tupac has a track he did under the Makaveli moniker that relates to the relationship he has with his gun. Check out Me and My Girlfriend below.
Tupac loves his gun. Like any relationship it has its ups and downs. Relationships can sometimes be very toxic. Eyedea lays down a story about a boy and a gun that starts to take a bad turn, but luckily doesn’t have the ending you might expect.
And it wasn’t until the day that he got rid of it that he felt like he was safe / no longer a slave to that piece of shit.
Weaving a tale so perfectly into a rhyme and then into a rap song is something many rappers should learn. Otherwise you aren’t connecting with anyone. I’ve connected so strongly to Eyedea, Tupac, Biggie, and Jay-Z because they master the art of storytelling in rhymes.
For some reason though, with the exception of Jay-Z, this tends to coincide with an early exit of life and career. Rest in Peace Eyedea. You will be missed.
BEFORE YOU GO TOO FAR! THERE IS A NSFW PICTURE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST. I DON’T WANT YOU TO GET IN TROUBLE OR EMBARRASSED. IT’S JUST A NIPPLE…BUT YOU NEVER KNOW. DID YOU SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM TO SEE IT? YOU ARE NAUGHTY!
The artwork for an album is just as important to me as the music itself. It lends itself to creating an initial impression before listening to an album, and then after listening, you look back and maybe gather a new impression. Sometimes an album cover will be very simple and straightforward. Like just a picture of that band. This is usually a bad sign for what’s inside. I have been wrong, but normally, if the band didn’t get creative on the outside, the music lacks that same creativity and enthusiasm.
I could have done the “Top Ten Album Cover of All Time” kinda thing that a lot of music mags and sites like to do. You have likely seen those ad nauseum. I want to do it a little different. I want to share three album covers that I thought were interesting enough that they actually got me to buy and crack open a cd case and get me to listen to what was inside. Thankfully, the music was as interesting as the image outside!
The Birth
STARDEATH AND WHITE DWARFS – Birth First off is the album Birth by the band Stardeath and White Dwarfs. This is just insane looking. That guy looks like he is scared and crazy and maybe also experiencing G forces in a centrifuge. It’s crazy looking isn’t it? But then when you listen to the album, it doesn’t match. Or does it?
The album has a Dark Side of the Moon feel to it. After listening to the album, I get the album cover. It makes sense. Maybe this image is how maybe you look in your minds eye when you go crazy. When you start to unravel. Maybe I am stretching! Well, that’s what is says to me. One thing is for sure, it’s an unforgettable album cover.
Y LA BAMBA – Lupon I’m lucky, because I have access to bands and can ask a question or two about a song or an album. I recently emailed the PR for the band Y La Bamba to ask what this album cover for Lupon was all about. It doesn’t NEED an explanation, but I just knew there was something deeper to this one. An older man with a strong manly mustache that has lightning coming from his eyes like tears. Then, if that wasn’t enough, a cute kitty on his forehead whose eyes are shooting out the name of the band.
Let’s listen to a song while we wait for the PR guy to get back to us.
That voice right? Young and beautiful with a warble of an old soul. The harmonies with the others in the group make it seem dreamy. Heavenly.
Ok…I got the info about the cover. Ready? The man in the picture is the grandfather of the frontwoman, Luz Elena. She has never met the man, but his influence on her father, Guadalupe, was a heavy one. Luz says this about her father:
My father had a difficult time with forgiving my grandfather for his childhood dark memories. Carrying his frustration and anguish on his Kin…projecting guilt, resentment, and confusion.
Her father’s friends nicknamed Luz’s father Lupon. The cat on Lupon’s forehead represents Luz. It’s her spirit-head on the third eye of a man she’s never met. Trippy huh?
I wasn’t expecting all that. That’s what I mean though. You can hear that heaviness in the album, along with some hope and rebirth. Maybe heaviness is the wrong word. It’s more like a melancholy sadness. Still, there is struggle. You can hear the struggle of woman surrounded by a family of men, the only daughter among many sons. Usually, the first man a woman ever loves is her father. Imagine a father with some daddy issues, and the affect that might have on a young woman.
ELECTRIC TICKLE MACHINE – Blew It Again
When I first got the album Blew It Again, it was in a simple CD case with a white cover that had the name of the band and the album. It was meant to just get the music to reviewers and radio stations as soon as possible. I liked the album, had planned on writing about it, and then suddenly many months had passed. I was re-listening to the album recently and finally iTunes was able to load some album art. It’s a young teen girl with a pony tail and a blue shirt that ends right past her nipple. Showing some “neathage,” or at least I think that’s what that is called. I never really thought much about the ripped corner. I guess I should have known it was a bit of censorship, but for some reason I never processed it that way. I just assumed it was some artistic touch. When I decided that I really wanted to write about this band, I checked out their website and found the album cover you see on the right.
I tried to contact the bands PR to get more info on the girl, the idea behind using that picture as the cover, I needed answers. Alas, no response as of right now.
The sound of the band is lo-fi gargage rock. Don’t let this hinder you though. I am sure that when I say lo-fi garage rock you think it’s gonna sound like crap? Not so. The band just does a lot with very little. It stays fun yet sounds beautiful. Check out a track:
Curious about the bands name? I was too. Look what I found on the bands website:
I think it’d be best if I explained the rationale behind our name (which is not a euphemism for a vibrator). Electric Tickle Machine is meant to be a reference to the evolving relationship between humanity and technology, specifically the vessels through which we process and regurgitate our culture, art and entertainment.
If that’s not enough to sell you on picking up this album, check out the video below. It makes me want to buy two copies on vinyl, frame one and hang it on my wall!
Friday October 1st, Minneapolis rapper Slug and DJ/Producer Ant took the stage as the group Atmosphere for their Las Vegas stop of the “To All My Friends” Tour. The openers, all fantastic, were Blueprint, Grieves & Budo, and DJ Rare Groove.
A predominately white crowd was wrapped around the escalators, waiting to get in to the House of Blues inside the Mandalay Bay. This was a relatively early show, with doors opening at 5PM. All-ages shows must often start very early when the venue is inside a casino!
Ant and Slug
This is the first time Atmosphere has sold out the House Of Blues in Las Vegas. I’ve seen a ton of shows at this venue, but it’s been a long time since I have seen a sold out show here. In this bad economy, concerts have suffered. To sell out the House Of Blues is a testament to the popularity of both Hip-Hop and of Atmosphere. It doesn’t hurt that the group takes such good care of their fans. Slug was walking outside the venue, thanking fans in line for coming to the show. Ant was upstairs out front of the merch desks during the opening acts to take pictures and sign albums for fans.
It takes more than a handshake and an autograph though. You must be able to deliver the goods on stage. Deliver they do.
When Atmosphere hits the stage, they start the show with “Trying to Find A Balance”. This was a perfect track to start a packed-to-capacity show. It’s a song about Slug’s struggles with getting the respect he felt like he deserved early on in his career. It’s a song that speaks volumes about the tough road as an artist and a rapper.
Slug and company are all rockstars. Obviously, I say this loosely, since I am talking about a hip-hop group. Although it is not a huge stretch to say they rocked, since on stage there were a guitar and a keyboard player. If we think of DJ Ant as the drummer then the picture is complete. The performance is what earns Atmosphere the “Rockstar” title. Sluggo brings such a passion and energy to the stage. He stirs up the crowd into a frenzy, so much so that a fight breaks out. Slug admonishes the security for kicking out the wrong person, then goes into a slow jam to mellow out the audience. That’s all the mellow we get, when the group puts the foot back on the gas pedal for the rest of the show.
Atmosphere played a lot of great cuts from some of their older albums, but there were a few songs off the new album, To All My Friends, Blood Makes The Blade Holy. It’s a great album that shot up to #2 on iTunes top 10 album downloads the week of September 11, 2010. Among long time fans, it seems to be a bit of a disappointment. Many felt that it’s not as serious and heavy as previous efforts. I think they are wrong though. It’s an album by a group in a different state of mind. Now that the band no longer needs to work multiple jobs in between tours to pay bills and raise families, there is no fire and drama in the lyrics of Atmosphere’s rhymes. Instead we have a group who is thankful for their success, but still executing their music and art at the highest levels. I hope after seeing some of those songs live Friday night, that the fans on the fence about this new album might have had their opinions revised. The new song “Freefallin'” was one of the highlights of the show for me.
Atmosphere were a long way from home, but the crowd treated them like hometown heroes. I’m sure this won’t be the last time Atmosphere sells out a venue in Las Vegas.
We’re not afraid to tell you about other places to discover music. We know you will be back. You love us!
We are not worried at all that you will check out thesixtyone and fall in love and break our hearts. You would never do that to us. We like that we can have an open relationship where we think it’s fine you go and have a “fling” with this other site. They make discovering music a game. We can’t do that for you. We want you to have it. After you have had your fun though, you’ll come back here. We take care of you. No games here. Just love and music.
“Really? There’s love at TheSixtyOne! I can ‘heart’ songs I like!” you must be saying into your monitor. I’m guessing, because obviously (OBV) I couldn’t really hear you.
Alright. That’s true. You can heart things at thesixtyone. Go ahead. Give your heart(s) away. Maybe when you are done you can at least show us you “Like” us.
Quest screen on thesixtyone
TheSixtyOne has quests you can complete to get hearts and reputation. For example, the Caution – Very Hot! quest involves listening to seven songs on the “hot” tab. Complete it and get 5 reputation and 3 hearts to give away to songs you love.
Gimmicky.
No…It’s not gimmicky. It’s cool. I’m just starting to get jealous. Don’t mind me…
TheSixtyOne leaves the aesthetic of the site up to what you are listening to at the moment. For the most part this is awesome. The band will post some artsy band pic and this really looks cool. Like the page for the reggae band Easy Star All Stars. Sometimes, though, it seems like someone needs a lesson in web resolutions. For example, the UK band The Whip has awesome music, but a shitty looking profile.
The Whip’s music is fantastic though. Check out this Electro-Rock smash “Trash” from the album X Marks Destination.
You can even make playlists. Check out my PARTY playlist! I really might use TheSixtyOne as my party music headquarters. I could load up the site on my 46″ TV and run the music through my home theater. Imagine how people at the party would love that. If they hear something they like, they just peek at the TV to find out who the band is, and get some info about them. I can even leave out the wireless keyboard and let my guests heart the songs they liked! I think that would be Party 2.0!
(most of my friends are geeks and nerds…so trust me, this would be a hit!)
Lots of your favorite artists are already on TheSixtyOne. Jonathon Coulton? Check. The up-and-coming-selling-out-shows-everywhere Weepies? Yep. They also have lots of indie and relative unknowns getting lot’s of love. Just because they are unknown to the masses doesn’t mean that a music savvy person like yourself should stay in the dark. You should know about an artist like Subtxt who creates beautifully textured soundtrack-esque music or an artist like Michael Joy who produces some beautiful mellow Americana.
What’s the name of the site about? Well, there is a Highway 61 that runs 1,400 miles from New Orleans, Lousiana to Wyoming, Minnesota. It generally follows the great Mississippi River. The highway has a lot of history attached to it, but what’s more exciting is that it was an important highway to music. It was often dubbed the “Blues Highway” and is mentioned in countless songs. Elvis Presley grew up in the housing projects built along it; Martin Luther King, Jr. would later be murdered at a motel just off Highway 61. Robert Johnson was said to have sold his soul to the devil at the “crossroads” of Highway 61 and Highway 49. Did someone at TheSixtyOne sell their soul? I think so. Be careful you don’t spend too much time there. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.
They love music at TheSixtyOne, so I must endorse them. I use them, and I think you should too. Buy some music, visit thesixtyone.com and follow OUR blog on facebook or in your favorite RSS reader.
