Wonder where all the good redneck white hick rap has been hiding all this time?
Look no further:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPeHk4WMWpY]
Edit:
Chuggo’s Last.FM page. I love the tags and artist description.
Chuggo is living proof that Canada is not as great as white people make it seem.
From Idolator comes news that teenagers who can’t spell don’t like what last.fm tells me is a noise rock / shoegaze band called No Age (I’ve only heard their name before, so I’m just going to trust the wisdom of crowds here when it comes to their sound).
I love comments on internet videos.
When a comment begins with, “but i agree with mamii4u2envii,” there’s just something that brings a smile to my eyes and a bounce to my step. What did mamii say, though? “sucked.lol.i love punk and rock music but this video sucked.the guitar was so loud you couldn’t even hear the vocalist.and the video looked low rent.lol.i thought it was going to be a cool song but i couldn’t even hear the lyrics=[[”
I see. Punk is known for its hi-fi production and gorgeous music videos.
“This video is cool, but the sound effects are like a vaqqum machine…seriously this song is weeeiirrdd =/”
My God, could you imagine what they’d say if you put a Lightning Bolt-type band up?
Okay, okay, “It’s 2 min. into the video and I still don’t understand what the hell is going on! I’m surprised anybody watched the video this long!”
But you know, I’m actually going to give MTV props for putting something up that appears to have challenged how these people see music. Maybe it’s not the greatest song of all time, but at least it’s not Vampire Weekend or Panic at the Disco — bands which are rigidly formulaic.
In what reads like an orgasmic tale of being bit by a rabid dog, the man from the Glastonbury festival who was hit by Amy Winehouse describes the experience.
Hot Topic is going to be getting into the digital music realm. That almost seems like it’s been a long time coming. What bothers me more is this Project (RED) thing that sounds like a total con scheme. But hey, at least you get a “crackerjack surprise” once a week!
Whaaaat? Conor Oberst sits down to cry with talk to Marissa Moss at the Huffington Post. My personal issues with him and his music aside, at least he’s honest enough to admit this about The President Talks to God: “I don’t even know how much of a song it is–it’s more like a commercial to a point of view.”
Okay, I’m not joking: whichever judge is citing Joni Mitchell in their rulings should probably, like, stop.
Stereogum tells us new tune by The Verve has surfaced for those interested.
Oh dear. Peter Gabriel is going to cover Vampire Weekend on his forthcoming CD (apparently it’s been delayed about as long as GnR’s Chinese Democracy?). “I think playing with yourself makes you go blind after a while.” Hopefully someone will let the guys over in Vampire Weekend know that.
For anyone who is 13 who still gives a damn about Slipknot, apparently the band is going to release a new single tomorrow.
Sort of old news at this point, but for anyone who is curious, here’s part of Barack Obama’s iPod playlist. It is actually really true that a guy like Ludacris is a great businessman. I’m not sure why or how he came to be one, but he is. Besides, who can’t relate to this?
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=K9BRhiYthAE]
An ongoing feud between Jay-Z and Oasis took place regarding the Glastonbury festival. Noel Gallagher (that dude from Oasis, you know?) wuz all like, “No bitch, I ain’t takin’ no negro at mah music festival.” And Jay-Z was all, “I’m gonna play Wonderall so that everyone gets one more chance to hear how hard it sucks.” …Or something.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXZsO16w9sw]
This would be the 2001 sophomore album/masterpiece by the NYC-based trio, though the band’s roots in Denton, TX might go further to explaining the sound of this thing. The best word I can think of for it is “hot,” but that requires some clarification. This is the soundtrack to a humid summer night, a record full of dark textures that lumber and creep forward, dripping with woozy sweat.
This tone is clear right from the beginning with “Fear of Fireflies.” A low bass anchors the track while acoustic and electric guitars, organs, subtle synths and various percussion snake around it, winding in with Aurelio Valle’s strained-yet-disaffected voice and slightly spooky lyrics (”A sea of fireflies hover at the dark, following tracers, scattering apart, following me”).
“Traffic Sound” is harsher, driven by a kick drum and hollow guitar tone that emphasizes the empty space in the song. “Slum Creeper” sounds like what a song with that title should sound like–it shakes forward in a sinister, dirty lurch. “Mayzelle” and “A Fondness for Crawling” are instrumental numbers that both slowly build tension while unleashing atonal, ghost-in-the-machine noises.
“Hover Over Nowhere” is the record at its “prettiest,” a hazy, lazy ballad that takes its time, unfolding slowly over seven and a half minutes. “Tijerina” follows a similar formula, but builds to a more fevered climax before coming back down. What’s really interesting is the final track, a cover of the relatively spare “Promenade” by U2 (from 1984’s The Unforgettable Fire, if you care), that doubles the original song’s length. Even if it is relatively up, compared to the prior 9 tracks, it comes off as a surprisingly perfect addition/end note.
If you’re half-awake, trying to fall asleep sans-AC on a warm night (as I was when I decided to write this), this would be a fitting soundtrack to that state. As illustration, an audio youtube of “Fear of Fireflies” for ya:
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=YtgpSOG5lrQ]
If you dig this, they also have 4 other pretty good albums: Calla (1999), Televise (2003), Collisions (2005) and Strength in Numbers (2007).
With the advent of computers came mp3s and the internet followed by iPods and iTunes followed by decreased CD sales and increased online sales. No one that doesn’t work for a major record label will dispute that this is a good thing. The flow of music from person to person takes place at a rate exponentially faster than it would have even a decade ago. In 1998, it took a lot more work to discover music that wasn’t just on the radio, it was much more difficult to find decent bands in the alternative realm. Thanks to the internet, all of this happened and is happening. This is the best thing that has happened to music since recording came into play.
With that being said, I’m here to ask: remember record stores? Not like the music section of Hastings or Barnes and Noble, but real record stores.
Personally, I love record stores. One in particular. It’s called Homer’s. There are a few Homer’s in the Lincoln-Omaha-Council Bluffs area, but the original one in downtown Omaha is the best record store that I’ve ever been to.
It’s in an old building in Omaha’s downtown historic (according to tourist centers) Old Market. A magnificent area, really. The store is long with an old wooden floor. There’s always incense burning, which I don’t really dig, but it has a certain feeling to it, y’know? There’s a tub of posters advertising concerts past days that run about two dollars. All along the left wall are vinyls. I’m not really into buying vinyl, but one day I did find A Hard Day’s Night by the Beatles for like eighteen dollars. Seriously, I’m not dumb. Every band I’ve ever heard of has a little separation marker in the CD section. Obviously there are plenty of bands that I haven’t heard of there. They have a huge “Staff Picks” section with really great staff picks in every genre. Everyone that I’ve encountered that works there is really cool. The store is really a fantastic place.
Record stores will be a thing of the past in a few years. And, to be honest, that makes me pretty sad. iTunes just can’t inject me with the feeling of holding a solid form of music in my hands in a room full of music and music memorabilia. Sorry, Steve, but you just can’t compete.
So tell me about your record stores.
