Tags: Picture of the day
The second album from this Americana powerhouse. If Ryan Adams used to excite you but now seems tired, this is a “go to” album for you.
Tags: Americana, Indie rock
I hate Linda Perry for a lot of reasons. First of all, 4 Non Blondes was a supercool rock group with a supertough female lead–something there’s not nearly enough of in 
modern rock–and she broke ‘em up because they were getting too big. Then, she did this wicked cool solo album with another powerful female lead–Grace Slick–and didn’t follow that one up, either. Then she loaned her strength to Pink and crafted a popgirl record that was actually pretty damn awesome. Now, she sends me a submission–Deep Dark Robot–that’s as good as anything she’s done before, and I see it’s on an imprint, Custard Records. Unfortunately, it’s an RIAA album. And I have a policy of not getting sued, and at the same time trying to help struggling artists who haven’t been able to get major label support yet (or have eschewed it). Yeah, but it’s her own label, so it’s okay. Really. I hope.
This album is just too good–nay, too great–to ignore. If you dug her prior work, you’ll love this. If you always wished Melissa Etheridge would move away from formula blues and really knock an emotionally deep song out of the park, you’ll love this. If you like Sleater Kinney or any other grrrl group, you’ll love it. Goddamn it, you’ll just love it. So taste it below and then go buy it. And to all the girls Ms. Perry has helped to stardom, take note: This is what real, raw, and gutsy music sounds like.
Fuck you, Linda Perry. Please don’t sue me for offering your brilliant music to my fans.
Pray (4NB, live, acoustic, Dec. 1993)
What’s Up? (4NB, live, acoustic, Dec. 1993)
Beautiful-Clem Snide (Xtina cover)
Tags: Bootleg, Indie-ish rock
My semi-regular post about all things related to comic books–America’s greatest contribution to the literary field. This week, updates about the Chew TV show, the Deadpool movie, and more….
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Tags: Captain America, Comic books, Deadpool, Garth Freakin Ennis, Spider-Man, Superman, The Caped Crusader, Thor
Went to see Colin “Men At Work” Hay at The Birchmere last night–he’s supporting his new (and great) Gathering Mercury album (review here).
Let me start by saying that the opener, Chris Trapper, was way better than an opener has any right to be. (I plan on doing a feature on him soon.) He was so good, in fact, that I started asking myself why Colin would allow someone this good to preceed him. I started thinking maybe Mr. Hay wouldn’t measure up.
Of course, I was wrong. Colin Hay has a tremendous presence and a voice that booms through the room–like Van Morrison or Eddie Vedder, he can convey all kinds of moods and completely capture a crowd. I’ve always enjoyed his studio work, but I’ve never been fortunate enough to catch him live, and what I never noticed before last night is how good his guitar work is. Hay is extremely skillful, making complex, emotional music seem simple and easy. It’s deceptive on his studio albums, but live you can really see the music that’s behind all of his catchy, sentimental songs. And I mean sentimental in a good way. Hay is comfortable expressing the love he has for his father, but never gets schmaltzy, never gets twee.
Great show–if you can get there tonight, don’t miss out….
I don’t know much about The Dogs. Try doing the research yourself. Just Google “Dogs Camping” and see what you find. See what I mean? But here’s what I do know: Their album is free on Bandcamp–it’s name your price, and you can name zero bucks. Now, I could be a wiseass and say it’s worth every penny, but I won’t because that would be doing an uncool thing to a really cool band. Most of the stuff you find on Bandcamp is junk, but The Dogs’ album is really, really good. It’s pure pop–fun, bouncy, hooky, with plenty of handclaps and harmonies, lots of jangly guitars and quick drum riffs. No, it doesn’t all work–but most of it does. And it works more than well enough to leave you wanting more.
Check it out.
Tags: Indie Pop
The Los Angeles Lakers are still the favorite to win the title according to the experts who do the NBA basketball predictions found at BetUs, and even though the two-time defending champions haven’t played their best over the last week or so, we think that it’s just a blip and that the Lakers are just getting ready for the most important part of the season. While they’re still led by Kobe Bryant, the key to the Lakers’ three-peat hopes lie with their big men.
Andrew Bynum has shown why, when he’s healthy, he may be the best center in the game being Orlando’s Dwight Howard, although that also says something about the state of centers in the league. Bynum is rarely healthy, but he looks to be in fine form heading into the postseason, and he’s even developed an attitude, earning a suspension for a flagrant foul on Minnesota’s Michael Beasley, and he’s defended teammate Pau Gasol in a war of words with New York’s Amare Stoudemire, who called Gasol “soft”. It’s good to see that Bynum has some fight in him, and Bryant certainly respects that he is getting fired up.
Gasol needs to feed off that intensity because he’s the best low-post scoring option that the Lakers have, and he may be the best low-post scorer in the game overall. And for those who say that Gasol is soft, he’s still snagging over 10 boards per game, and it doesn’t have to be all about brute force, which has never been his game. Gasol’s game is based on skill and positioning, although when he gets mad, he is as good as any forward in the game. He was the difference in the Lakers’ win two years ago, and paired with Bynum, he gives the Lakers the ability to get high-percentage shots in the post, which is necessary in the playoffs.
Tags: Sports
D-Sisive (Derek Christoff) has reasons to be bitter. He won the 2009 Polaris award and got nominated for an 0h-ten Juno, only to get sued for copyright infringement and see his career fizzle as fast as it popped. Also, he’s a Canadian rapper, which doesn’t usually lead to good results. And that bitterness is all over his “come back” album (although he really hasn’t been away very long), “Jonestown 2: Jimmy Go Bye Bye.”
Like his previous, award-winning work, the album is packed full of pop cultural references to everything from Vanilla Ice and Mariah Carey’s Christmas album to Franz Kafka, unusual wordplay, and more honesty than you can ask for–and probably more than D-Sisive should really provide. Like his most obvious reference point, Eminem, the deep introspection here reveals a highly flawed individual–one who thinks he’s right, even when everyone else can tell he’s wrong. At points, the listener may want to grab D-Sisive and tell him that he reason he isn’t as big as Jay-Z is not because he’s white or because he refuses to sell out or because he’s from Canada (although, truly, none of that helps): It’s because there’s a lot of other really, really talented rappers out there, too, and the game is hard. Not that D-Sisive should quit: He’s extremely good.
Get the whole album free here. It’s truly sad that so many talented artists have to give their music away, but the flip side is: The music really has to stand out these days in order to capture ears and hearts. If you dig rap, though, I think this one will work for you. Solid, solid stuff.
Tags: Free Album!, Hip Hop
