Two Brand New Songs!

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Well, some of the indie snobs out there will go, “I heard these six months ago.” Well, good for you. How are the drapes in your parents’ basement? Still tacky? Most likely. This isn’t about being the first to post stuff, anyways. Some readers may not know of these new gems, let alone about the artists I’m featuring. Yay innerwebs!!!

Anyways, the first is by Atlas Sound, which is a solo project by Deerhunter‘s Bradford James Cox. This tune features Noah Lennox, which some may know as Panda Bear from Animal Collective. Lots of names there. Names are fun! Anyhow, this is the track “Walkabout”, which right now is a cut I am deeply in love with. Happy vibes spreading around!

[Download Atlas Sound feat. Noah Lennox – Walkabout]

Next up is the first track off of Modest Mouse‘s newest EP, entitled No One’s First, and You’re Next. This is supposedly cuts that didn’t quite cut it for the band’s last two albums. The track “Satellite Skin”, I am hunkering a guess that this didn’t make their last album, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank. The guitars sort of give that vibe, and to be honest? I like this track more than anything off of that album. Hey, diff’rent strokes and such. Enjoy the track!

[Download Modest Mouse – Satellite Skin]

ALSO! Below is the video for Modest Mouse’s “King Rat”, which was conceived by the late Heath Ledger. I don’t know how long this will last online, so watch it while you can!

If you don’t buy this stuff, Isaac Brock is going to come to your house. That scares me. So it should terrify you. BUY! BUY! BUY!

I got a hole inside and it’s ten miles wide…

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I was at the House of Blues in Las Vegas to see
Thrice perform. My brother had the hook-up and I was following him around as he held court. He has a sweet gig at a local radio station and he knew a ton of people at this particular event.

One particular person he knew had just walked by. Maybe he felt the need to tell me who it was because of the look on my face. The kind of look you might have if you smell something bad.


It wasn’t the smell…it was just the over-the-top rocker/douchebag persona that gave me the stink face.

He was loud and annoying and he seemed smashed before Thrice even came on stage. I ended up standing in the roped off VIP area next to this dude, and it was tough to take my eyes of him and his entourage. Shenanigans abound.

It was Ronnie Radke the lead singer of Escape the Fate.

Well…he was the lead singer. He’s in jail now.

Ronnie Radke was asked to leave the band after he was sentenced to prison for multiple run-ins with the law involving narcotics and battery for a fight that led up to the death of Michael Cook. It sounds like a bunch of drama, and you can look up the whole story here, but Ronnie Radke is not what I really want to spend a lot of time on.

What I want to talk about is how great Escape the Fate is without him!

It might be a shitty thing to say, and it has nothing to do with him acting privileged at a concert where I happened to see him. I just think that the new front man, Craig Mabbitt, does a much better as the songwriter and lead vocalist. Craig has experience as a frontman since he held the duties in the band Blessthefall.

I probably will get a bunch of heat from thinking the band is better off, but maybe if you listen to a before and after from the band you can make the decision for yourself.

Here is Ronnie on the song My Apocalypse:

[Download Escape The Fate – My Apocalypse]

My Apocalypse is good, but check out Craig on the track 10 Miles Wide:

[Download Escape The Fate – 10 Miles Wide]

Yeah…you know I am right. The band even sounds better on this album, but that’s to be expected with all the touring they had done prior to them entering the studio. Either way, both albums are required listening, but I think we both know which album I will be playing more.

You can’t afford what you take

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I loved Blitzen Trapper. If you’re in Seattle, you are in for a treat tonight as local radio station KEXP puts on a free show at the Mural Amphitheater with today’s INALLCAPS discovery: Throw Me The Statue.

After that, my peeps in Minneapolis will be able to catch them at 7th Street Entry on August 26 as they kick off a fall tour with The Brunettes. That’s right, summer just began but it’s already time to think about fall tours. Time to check out opening bands and discover new music all over again. If you’ve caught Cake in Seattle, you may have seen Throw Me The Statue open for them. If you caught The Shins way back in ’05, you may have seen The Brunettes open.

And if you haven’t caught anyone in awhile, then no time like the present to consult the schedule of your nearest straws-on-the-floor music venue and get on it! You’ll be glad you did. I know you have read our posts about discovering great music in opening bands. Try Pollstar.com to figure out who you are seeing tonight, next week, or next month.

And right now, preview some Throw Me The Statue:

[Download Throw Me The Statue – Noises]

You get lost when you find hope in a feeling

Blah blah blah they use drum machines and a glockenspiel. I have to mention that because everyone else and their wiki points it out and far be it from me to act like I don’t notice. I think the most notable thing about this band is the laid-back but earnest way the music and sincere lyrics are delivered. There is something very respectable about that. In this way, and only in this way, I can compare them to Death Cab for Cutie without worrying that you will think they are another sound-alike band.

Creaturesque is to be released this coming Tuesday, and it’s the second full-length album for the band. Just last year, the album Moonbeams received praise and media attention. Check out the video for “Yucatan Gold” from 2008.

And now you know what to do…

Michael Vick? This post is dedicated to you…..you asshat!

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So Michael Vick was “conditionally reinstated” by the NFL. Well gee, ain’t that great? Not really. You mean to tell me Pete Rose is banned for life for betting on games, but a guy who ran houses where dogs were bred to fight and kill gets another chance? Now, I must say my opinions don’t represent everyone writing for this blog. So I will put this bluntly. Fuck you Michael Vick. You will never live this down, so this first song? Is dedicated to you. Here’s “No Heaven” by Champion.

[Download Champion – No Heaven]

Weird, though. I just heard this song for the first time a couple days back. Where? Well, in a trailer for a game coming out on the PS3 on October 20th called “Borderlands“. The trailer for the game is below. Looks like a lot of fun, and I’ve already pre-ordered the sum-bitch. Hopefully Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare tides me over until then. But hey, we also have the new Batman game coming out in August, also.

So this song reminded me of a song from about 2002 that I am sure a few people here would know. Timo Maas first made a name for himself with the remix of Azzido Da Bass’ “Dooms Night”. A video featuring this remix is below.

Well, the above track by Champion reminds me of a track done by Maas entitled “To Get Down”. Really. Take a listen and tell me these two aren’t somewhat similar. Both are good tracks, but definitely very much alike. Take a listen to both and decide for yourself.

[Download Timo Maas – To Get Down]

So….go buy stuff. Or Michael Vick will come over and take your dogs! I mean, that’s pretty scary, isn’t it?

Travel back from whence you came and take your elixirs with you…

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If you can’t trust the wind, who can you trust?
If you can’t love sin, who can you love?
If I begin will you let me finish up?
If I fell down would you pick me up?
If I don’t drink from a silver cup, like you,
Would you say so long, farewell, and good luck?

I got free tickets to the Traveling Circus and Medicine Show from my brother. TLO had been angling on going to this show for what felt like weeks. (It wasn’t…) I have always wanted to see Counting Crows live, and this was my chance. But two things kept holding me back. One, the way-too-pricey ticket, and two, the fact I had seen enough youtube videos of live shows, and read enough reviews about the same shows to fear that it would be a lot of money for a shitty performance.

Maybe you have heard the same things? Maybe you have seen Counting Crows live? Here is the skinny on what is wrong about Counting Crows live. This will be tough to keep short, but I will try. Adam Duritz is an overly affected douche bag who whines a lot, talks too much between AND during songs, and has reworked all our favorite songs from August And Everything After and Recovering The Satellites. What I mean by reworked is ruined. You’ve been singing along to Mr. Jones and Angels Of The Silences for 10 years. You love these songs. They have meaning to you. You think you duet quite nicely with Adam…/cough

Adam doesn’t give a fuck about you. He is tired of these same songs. He makes it impossible to sing, or even enjoy the songs. All Adam cares about is Adam and the hot girl in the black dress he wants to poke. SAVE YOUR MONEY AND DON’T SEE THEM LIVE!

Thankfully I only spent a couple bucks on drinks, otherwise I would have thrown my Corona bottle at Adam. (He would have been fine; I am sure his ego deflects things like that.)

So go on and tear it up
Black and cold with the dust
‘Cause I believed in the Lord
But he don’t show up anymore

The saving grace besides the free tickets was the band Augustana. The music was fantastic and the frontman was likable. He has a distinctive voice that catches your attention and holds it. Sadly the lead singer, Dan Layus, kept minimizing the band by saying things like “Don’t worry, we are almost done and Adam will be back.” This is just unnecessary and makes the crowd uncomfortable. If the crowd is liking your set, which they will (and did), there is no need to apologize.

The other problem was the format of the entire concert. I’ll let Affected Adam explain:

Dear Everyone-Who-Happens-To-Read-This,

I know you’re all used to showing up at 8:30 or 9PM for concerts that started at 7. It’s understandable. You’re there to see YOUR band and you’re showing up when you think they’re gonna play, right? Well, starting on Thursday July 16th at Marymoor Amphitheatre in Redmond, Washington, that’s all going to change.

Ladies and Gentlemen, at 7:15PM, when the curtain goes up on The Saturday Night Rebel Rockers Traveling Circus & Medicine Show, Augustana AND Counting Crows are all going to be walking out onstage together and that show is going to start with EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US onstage singing and playing our brains out. We’ll do a few songs together and then it may be Counting Crows that plays the first set alone. I don’t know exactly how the shows going to run every night. It’ll definitely be different a few days later in Friant, CA when Michael Franti & Spearhead join up. It’ll probably be different every night. The only thing I know for sure is that EVERY show on this tour is going to start with EVERYONE onstage together and we’re going to all be running on & off stage all night playing on each others songs and playing songs all together and basically just playing whenever we feel like playing. So you get my point, right?

That means is that all the bands collaborate on each others’ sets. Which means I had to endure Adam through some of Augustana’s set. One of the other artists on the ticket couldn’t make this particular show, so at least I didn’t have to watch him ruin Michael Franti’s songs too.

Before the show I had spent some time getting to know Augutana’s songs. All likeable, but nothing jumped out at me. It wasn’t until I heard the band live that I found some songs to love. Augustana sold me with the song “Dust” that they played about half way through their set. You may have noticed the lyrics scattered throughout this post. It’s a strong song that grabs you and demands attention. I love the lyrics, the music, the harmonizing. It’s just great. This song was worth the trip. In fact I bought the album the next morning and have played it over and over. Singing it over and over and over.

That’s also what we want to do at your live shows. Sing along. Remember that Adam. Cuz I believed in Adam/But he don’t sing anymore

[Download Augustana – Dust]

If a man can’t lie, how can he speak?
If the sun don’t rise, would the moon be out of reach?
If I came home, would you get down on your knees?

I bought Can’t Love, Can’t Hurt and I think you should too!

I can take the trouble, I’m 60 feet tall

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If you’ve never wondered what it might be like to wake up in the morning and find a handful of deadbeat, derelict, drunken rockers sprawled out all over your kitchen crackhouse style, then you don’t have The Dead Weather’s debut album and you need to obtain it… Pronto.

You blink when you breathe
And you breathe when you lie
You blink when you lie
You blink when you breathe
And you breathe when you lie

It’s called Horehound, and it was recorded in three weeks by the supergroup comprised of Jack White of The White Stripes on drums and vocals, Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age on guitar, Jack Lawrence of The Raconteurs on bass, and most notably, Alison Mossheart from The Kills fronting the band with the dirtiest whiskey-soaked vocals you’ve heard since before Grace Slick tried to Build A City.

Track 1, “60 Feet Tall”, would be my new theme song if I really wanted to slip into complete debauchery and decide to enhance the dark circles that wish they could take up permanent residence on my face. Instead, I will just play it in secret when I decide to drink alone. It’s a 5+ minute track, so instead of sharing that here, I will share “So Far From Your Weapon”, serving as a warning to all of us that that vice we crave is willing and waiting. Check it out:

[Download The Dead Weather – So Far From Your Weapon]

And if that isn’t enough warning, check out “Bone House”:

[Download The Dead Weather – Bone House]

The Dead Weather is currently on tour, bringing all their demons and tempting you to come along for the ride… All over the country this summer. Tonight they play in Detroit at The Fillmore. Try to check them out at First Ave in Minneapolis on Monday. That would be a legendary show. For all dates check out their website. Mookie and I will be catching them at Outside Lands in one month!

And of course you don’t want to buy CDs anymore. You want to listen NOW! Here are some links to download the albums. Show some love. Buy the music, support the site, but most of all, support the artists.

Don’t act like you can’t act, I know I’ve seen you do it
Better learn to shake hands….

What to post….what to post…..

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So after the high I felt after last week’s interview with house legend Derrick Carter, I feel the strong need to post something fantabulous. I don’t care that that’s not a word. I say it is. So there!

So I finally got around to buying a couple new tunes I had meant to grab. And they’re the focus of this week’s post. They’re both fun, funky, and keep with my style of just being a little off kilt when it comes to musical tastes. And that’s a good thing. I think it’s why George keeps me around. Between you and me, I think it’s because he was afraid I’d launch an affirmative action case against him for not having enough of us pale skinned folks on staff. Kidding, of course. I’m translucent.

So enough stupidity. You want music. I know. The first is a track that was making huge waves online just a couple months back. It’s the group YACHT, and this track is a cover of the track the Fabulous Stains did called “Waste of Time”. You can now finally pick it up via whichever buying method you’d like. Great track!

[Download YACHT – Waste of Time]


Next is the track “Golden Phone” by UK oddball Micachu. I say oddball in the nicest way possible, because holy fucking christ, you need to see this kid’s hair! I mean, it’s like her – yes, that’s a female – hair is Flock of Seagulls gone terribly wrong! But dammit, this song is just catchy as all hell, and has that great balance of catchy and poppy as well as underground just enough. So here’s “Golden Phone!

[Download Micachu – Golden Phone]

And seriously. Check this girl’s hair. WTF? I can forgive it.

And from the folks at BIZ 3? I am gonna pass along a little message about a contest. It’s the HARD Fest. And you can win tickets! Check out the info on how you can win by clicking here.

As usual? Buy stuff. It’ll help the economy. And if you buy a song, an angel gets its wings. Know how I know that? Because I’m a wholesale wing seller. Fact. I <3 CAPITALISM!!!

Your hands are wrapped around your own lie

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When your brows furrow and you try not to breathe while taking in a song you haven’t heard before, you know you have just discovered something amazing.

Sounds like you found a new favorite band. I took that right from their description on their MySpace page. That’s witty. But I think it’s true!

Honey it’s not too late for you
If you ask me I’ll tell the truth
It’s not the things you want to hear
Baby you’re running out of time
Leave now before I change my mind

It’s been a long time since I fell in love with a piano-backed band. Good ones just don’t come along often enough. Farewell Flight, hailing from Harrisburg PA (hey! I’ve been there…) does it so expertly. They deliver such a beautiful, clean sound. Some tracks are painful and melancholy, others are upbeat, each track always strong. They work hard at it – just ask them! Sound. Color. Motion. is their first full-length album, released independently last fall after a split with their label. Speaking of working hard, prior to this record, they put out two EPs which were self-recorded and self-produced.

The final track on this album is a terrific crescendo and, I might add, a quite excellently written love song. Check out “Slow”:

[Download Farewell Flight – Slow]

I’ll make myself clear

I do have a new band to include among my favorites.

And they tour, tour, tour. 500 shows in 40 states over the last 4 years, in – wait for it – that DIY style you know we love. Make sure you check out the EPs and the full-length. They will be recording another this fall. Meanwhile, enjoy “Over:”

[Download Farewell Flight – Over]

Help out this indie indie band and buy something. Then you can say you knew them when.

Derrick L. Carter – the interview!

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Okay, this is the special treat I’ve worked so hard to get. Just this past Friday, Chicago house legend Derrick Carter graced Boston again. One of my good friends, Randy DeShaies, booked Derrick just two weeks prior to the event, so this was a simple slap in the face to wake me up and make me go dance – which I rarely do. I’ve wanted to get an interview with Derrick for years, now. That started while still helping George with the Vegas website we co-owned earlier in the decade. The blog gave me a new opportunity, and after really being persistent? Derrick obliged.

So after the show Friday, July 10th, he gave me a few minutes to discuss his views and be his usual jovial joker self. The conversation started with a lot of joking, and with Derrick outing his pal Mark Farina – jokingly – via the use of his iPhone. The text he read from it, as Derrick says, has Farina saying, “I was going to pee in Boston Friday, and looked up, and saw your big head staring at me!” Definitely only something the BFFs could share. And most definitely get a laugh out of me.

Eventually, we briefly discussed his discography, where he made note that he really doesn’t have a favorite record, per se. “I don’t have one of those moments where everything culminates,” Carter states. He continued by saying he’s “more evolutionary than revolutionary.”

This makes sense to anyone in the game as long as he’s been in it. People simply do need to evolve in order to survive the game, and his statements re-affirm that. As he continued, “I’m just trying to find a spot where everything works out, and it’s all good.”

When asked about putting on a show for the folks that come out to see him, he sort of shirked when I made mention of a quote that Erick Morillo gave me, but it still holds true. All those years ago, he told me that he simply knew people paid to see a show, so he wanted to try to put one on. While this may have changed with Morillo? The statement did speak volumes, and Derrick’s take was a bit more verbose and insightful.

“When you get that sort of platform,” he begins, “and you’re able to do things with people watching, and you’re charged with presenting people with a good time? That’s my situation.” And despite it being a different city on countless nights? “I’m here. This is not my home, but whatever. We’re trying to have a good time, so let’s do it.”

When finally asked about any new projects, he was vague about a new one, but the reasons are simply put by the Chicago legend. “I’ve got an album I’m working on, but I don’t have a whole lot of….’This is some secret shit!’ or have a insight into any of it.”

Despite the brevity of the interview, I felt incredibly lucky to be able to pick his brain with even what sounds like basic questions. Then again, it’s not every day I can spend talking to someone that helped influence how I DJ’ed.

Seriously? Go see this man play. You won’t be disappointed! This week, there are no MP3s posted, but I have left a link where many of the man’s live mixes are posted up online. Click here to check out these mixes.

And take the time to go buy his stuff! Now!

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked

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The very first post on this blog was about Billy Boy on Poison. You can reminisce here.

It feels like I have come full circle. Nearly a year later I discover that Billy Boy on Poison has finally released their debut album, Drama Junkie Queen.

It was worth the wait. It’s a solid effort by a band that I predict will be a well known rock name.

I might just be biased. I mean…it would be a bad omen for this blog if the first band we write about goes quietly into the night. That’s the thing though, this band probably doesn’t even know what quiet even means.

This album rocks with the voracity that EP only hinted at.

This band opened for STP over a year ago. I wouldn’t be surprised if one day those tables get turned.

Billy Boy on Poison is rock and roll.

Here is your proof:

[Download Billy Boy on Poison – Drive Me Insane]

Are you asking yourself what happened to the rock bands of your youth? Are you walking down the aisles of your record store or the list of albums in iTunes wondering; will any of this rock my socks off? Trust in us and click the Amazon link below.