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Word up to everybody that made it to the super secret dance party last night. Abe and Ben joined me on four turntables and we rocked the hell out of the Egyptian Theater. I've gotta say, it was one of the best parties I've ever played.
Big Thanks if you came and danced. No thanks at all if you came and hung out outside the mall, therefore causing the police to come and shut things down at 3AM instead of sunrise. Big Thanks to Owen for letting us borrow the PA. Biggest Thanks to our hosts, who have balls of steel for throwing an all-night party in a movie theater.
Also, Sunday afternoon I'll be DJing at Urban Outfitters from around 1-4. There is a 20% off sale if you've got an (old) student ID. Come say what's up.
In case you didn't know, today is record store day. Most places in town have a sale and/or in-store events. I know Brazos is playing at End of an Ear at 2, you might find me there.
In celebration of record store day, and because I felt like it, I made a list of the vinyl I brought to the party last night. I played mostly off Serato, but you can check out the contents of my crate after the jump...
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Rhythm Based Lovers Boogie Vision/ Snow Drift
Funky Beat Funky Crunch
Wavelength Funk Dreams
David Axelrod The Edge (Mophono Remix)
Crazy P Love on the Line (Unabombers Remix)
Lee Douglas EP
Technotronic Get Up
Devo Disco Dancer
Hot Streak Body Work
Full House Communicate
Mantronix Got to Have Love
Rhythm Based Lovers Arctic Sun
Cornelius Point
Apollonia Sex Shooter
Bohannon Let's Start a Dance
David Byrne Make Believe Mambo
Citizen Kane Run!
Love Drop You Can't Take Your Eyes Off Me
Disco Sucks EP
Blackbelt Anderson Alfax
Eric B. and Rakim Know the Ledge
Galaxy Sound Company Disco Edits
Monterrey White Label Hip Hop Edits
Dam-Funk Rhythm Trax
T&A Breaks
Primal Scream Movin' On Up
Gay Marvin Disco Edits
Giorgio Moroder Knights in White Satin
George Clinton Why Should I Dog U Out?
Timex Social Club Rumors
Incredible Bongo Band Apache
Jungle Brothers I'll House You
Booka Shade Mandarine EP
Off the Cuff Shake
Hollertronix #3 (I think)
Egyptian Lover Egypt, Egypt
Black Box Everybody, Everybody
T&A The Chedda
T&A Breaks
Escort Love in Indigo
Greenwood Rhythm Coalition Hollywood Gossip
Patrick Cowley Do You Wanna Funk
Billy Ocean Caribbean Queen
Bobby Brown Rock Whitcha
World Class Wrecking Cru World Class
Dan Hartman Instant Replay
Ratex X Promo Street Player Remix
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Last Night's Crate
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Way of Life
I just had the hilarious revelation that I would be a completely different person had I not bought Eric B. & Rakim's Follow the Leader when I was 17. Expect a 2000 word essay about this in the somewhat distant future. For now, just enjoy this homage by Lil' Wayne and some other guys whose game is so serious they could sell a hooker some pussy.
Oh I forgot about peace. PEACE.
Eye On Media: Hey Brah
This is a copy-past of the "about" section on Brahsome.com. It includes bios for the writers. If Maxim was "doin it for all the right reasons" it would be brahsome.com.
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"Brahsome.com is an irreverently humorous look at the worlds of sports, music, and entertainment.
Brinson is a 26 year old living with his parents while he tries to finish school while writing for Brahsome, Mr. Mittens, The Sporting Blog, and AOL Fanhouse. He enjoys long walks on the beach and Red Bull.
Stamos is a 27 year old half-jew who, when he’s not writing for Brahsome, enjoys all things NC State and dark liquor.
C. Brahkowski is a 27 year old from Austin. He enjoys stingers, Floyd-dog, and growing beards for days at a time.
The Piler is a 28 year old who practices law when he’s not blahging or piling. The greatest thing that ever happened to him was when his mother got a job with Nintendo. That was roughly 14 years ago and it’s been downhill ever since.
This Just In....
This morning the website pitchfork.com awarded the Radiohead albums "Ok Computer" and "The Bends" 10.0s as well as their coveted "best new music" tag. I just hope it helps the band sell some records!
In other news....
Pablo Honey received a lowly 5.4 :(
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
crash landing by jimi hendrix (released 1975)
crash landing
side a
1 - message to love
2 - somewhere over the rainbow (not a cover)
3 - crash landing
4 - come down hard on me
side b
1 - peace in mississippi
2 - with the power
3 - stone free again
4 - captain coconut
New favorite Old Band
Every time i have ever heard this band I have been like "wow thats awesome I gotta check them out" and somehow I have never put the effort/energy into actually doing it. This post is to remind me to go buy all of their records
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
children of nuggets: original artyfacts from the second psychedelic era 1976-1996
if you're thinking this is going to be as good as the first nuggets compilation it's really not. a lot of these songs, i don't think, come even close to being labeled psychedelic. still, there are some really choice tracks on here. most of which i have uploaded separately.
DISC ONE: part one//part two
1. Vanishing Girl - The Dukes of Stratosphear (i fucking love this song, no better way to start this compilation)
2. Help You Ann - The Lyres
3. The Real World - The Bangles
4. We're Living in Violent Times - The Barracudas
5. The Trains - Nashville Ramblers
6. Seven Years - Watermelon Men
7. Strangers When We Meet - The Smithereens
8. Wading Through a Ventilator - The Soft Boys
9. I Can't Hide - The Flamin' Groovies
10. The Girl from Baltimore - The Fleshtones
11. It's a Good Thing - That Petrol Emotion
12. She's Fine - Stems
13. All My Life - Point
14. Down at the Nightclub - The Creeps
15. (My Girl) Maryanne - The Spongetones
16. She Turns to Flowers - The Salvation Army
17. You Are My Friend - Rain Parade
18. Mr. Unreliable - Inmates
19. (I Thought) You Wanted to Know - Chris Stamey and the dB's
20. She Don't Know Why I'm Here [Single Version] - The Last
21. There Must Be a Better Life - Biff Bang Pow!
22. Slave Girl - Lime Spiders
23. I May Hate You Sometimes - The Posies
24. I Helped Patrick McGoohan Escape - Times
25. It's About Time - The Pandoras
26. I Live for Buzz - Swingin' Neckbreakers
27. I Want You Back - Hoodoo Gurus
DISC TWO: part one//part two
1. This Damn Nation - The Godfathers
2. Tell Me When It's Over - Dream Syndicate (kendra smith's band prior to opal)
3. Whenever I'm Gone - The Prisoners
4. New Kind of Kick - The Cramps
5. And She Rides - The Long Ryders
6. Motorbike Beat - Revillos
7. Tears (Only Dry) - The Vipers
8. 25 O'Clock - The Dukes of Stratosphear
9. Don't Give It Up Now - The Lyres
10. If and When - Chris Stamey and the dB's
11. Pabst Blue Ribbon - The Untamed Youth
12. There She Goes - The La's (one of the most un-psychedelic songs on this compilation but i've always enjoyed it)
13. Kingsley J - Vibrasonic
14. I Can Never Tell - The Crawdaddys
15. Make Me Stay - Green Telescope
16. Everyday Things - The Plimsouls
17. I Wanna Destroy You - The Soft Boys
18. It's You - Mickey & the Milkshakes
19. Apology - The Posies
20. Lights Are Changing - The Bevis Frond
21. Ahead of My Time - Droogs
22. Welcome to My Love - Funseekers
23. Flowers in the Sky - Revolving Paint Dream
24. Metal Baby - Teenage Fanclub
DISC THREE: part one//part two
1. The Unguarded Moment - The Church
2. I Can't Pretend - The Barracudas
3. Out of the Unknown - Died Pretty
4. L.A. Explosion - The Last
5. I'll Cry Alone - The Flamin' Groovies
6. Sunspots - Julian Cope
7. Hindu Gods of Love - Lipstick Killers
8. Death and Angels - Green on Red
9. Barbed Wire Heart - Sinners
10. Pink Frost - The Chills
11. She Told Me Lies - Chesterfield Kings
12. Beauty and Sadness - The Smithereens
13. Test Drive - The Mummies
14. Busy Man [EP Version] - DMZ
15. Love Will Grow - Stems
16. She Goes Out With Everybody - The Spongetones
17. Hypnotized - The Plimsouls
18. No Apology - The Unclaimed
19. God Knows It's True - Teenage Fanclub
20. You Keep on Lyin' - Hoods
21. Don't Break Down - The Sting Rays
22. The World Has Changed - The Fleshtones
23. Baby What's Wrong - Cynics
24. Psycko (Themes from Psycho and Vertigo) - Laika & the Cosmonauts
25. My Name Is Tom - The Jigsaw Seen
DISC FOUR: part one//part two
1. Gentle Tuesday - Primal Scream
2. With a Cantaloupe Girlfriend - The Three O'Clock
3. Like Wow -- Wipeout! - Hoodoo Gurus
4. Bad News Travels Fast - The Fuzztones
5. Plains of Nazca [Single Version] - Sun Dial
6. Getting Out of Hand - The Bangs
7. Please Don't Tell My Baby - Mickey & the Milkshakes
8. One Half Hour Ago - Rain Parade (david roback's band prior to opal)
9. You're My Loving Way - The Aardvarks
10. Transfiguration - Screaming Trees
11. A Scandal in Bohemia - United States of Existence
12. Where the Wolf Bane Blooms - The Nomads
13. Cheated and Lied - The Vipers
14. Strawberries Are Growing in My Garden (And It's Wintertime) - The Dentists
15. Won't Need Yours - Tell-Tale Hearts
16. Weakness - Inspiral Carpets
17. You'll Know Why - Miracle Workers
18. Not My Memory - The Unknowns
19. Far Away - The Prisoners
20. Ain't That a Man - The Optic Nerve
21. Mink Dress - Plasticland
22. Tight Turn - Raybeats
23. One Way Ticket - The Nerves
24. Tracy Hide [Cover Version] - The Wondermints
Oneida Interview
I feel like I have been posting shit. This is not that. This is an Oneida Interview. EMHU tour this summer is going to be based around catching these MOTHERFUCKERS WHO NEVER COME TO AUSTIN
Monday, April 6, 2009
more sxsw recaping: awards and highlights
wow it was 3 weeks ago. Maybe you guys are already eyeballing oh-ten, but I am still working my way through this.
I looked through my master list....excluding local bands (with one exception) these were "the best" bands I saw over sxsw (listed as chronologically as possible).
The award to end all awards award: The city of Austin and the APD for running a soft machine for the festivities. ("yeah you can't have bands playing outside at 2 in the morning" no citation at Charlie's (moved inside). No return visit. No visit to RanchO on Thursday. No nothin anywhere. SXSW's "complaints" not honored as such.)
top bands award:
the beets, vivian girls, pterodactyl, popo, dark meat, the dirty projectors, motel motel, prince rama, what's up?, dd/mm/yyyy, tUnE-YaRdS, Quiet Hooves, The Very Best, Rad Racket, When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, Mayyors,
the "next year's reverb" aka this year's trendy effect because its being put to good use at this moment, although soon other bands will surely bastardize it award: slap back echo (props to Popo, Pterodactyl)
In a surprise move, dethroning reigning champion "biking" (5 years running)--
The most efficient mode of transportation award: Staying in the same place
Most charismatic front man: Jim from Dark Meat
The set I had the most fun during award: Rad Racket @ Moose Lodge
Best Hard Rock: (tie) When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, Mayyors
Most you gotta be fucking kidding me event in my festival: The saga of Brett's dog*. (*-more on this later)
Band I wanted to see the most that I missed, with story attached: Thee Oh Sees
Band I would have most wanted to see if I had known they were playing: Flower Travellin' Band (yeah! they played Thursday!)
Guru Award: Mercer West, Todd Patrick
Best/(Only) Drug Award: Coffee
Best Short-Term Hunger Stopper Award: Grilled Cheese
Best place to catch some zzzzzs on the fly award: the "office" at treasure city thrift
Most Pleasant Surprise: The Vivian Girls. They were great! Awesome band.
Overrated AND Underrated award: Sleep
Most likely heir to Phosphorescent: Motel Motel
Coolest Merch: Tune-yards vinyl debut. it comes out of recycled LPs....they took old LP jackets and cut the sides, flipped it and then screenprinted over the cardboard. Awesome! Sustainability, dawg!
Best worst best idea that will totally be repeated: booking 40 bands on the same day
Best t-shirt award: Zach from Pterodactyl had a t-shirt that read backwards "I am a fascist" in this kinda Jackson Pollock font. I swear it took me like 3 hours to figure out that it was something backwards, and not just gibberish that looked vaguely like some foreign language. Would love to see that t-shirt coming at me in my rear view mirror....
get a glimpse of it here
more maybe coming, maybe not...I'll tell the story of Brett's dog for sure...and probably Saturday night.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Put one hand in the air if you love real reggae music!
Both of these videos are via the Turntable Lab blog.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
swang...
asleep at the wheel...juggling!
this dude's a local legend among the old timers....
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
all the bands i saw over sxsw, chronologically
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My boy Nick inspired me....here goes...
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Tuesday:
1. Total Abuse
2. The Frest & Onlys
3. The Beets
4. The Vivian Girls
5. The Strange Boys
Wednesday day:
6. Wild Moccassins
7. The Carrots
8. Daniel Francis Doyle
9. Air Waves
10. Yellow Fever
11. Quiet Hooves
12. Brazos
13. {{{SUNSET}}}
14. Pterodactyl
15. EAR PWR
16. Grandchildren
17. Mellow Owl
18. Reverse X-Rays (I'll count it...why not)
19. Golden Triangle
20. Real Estate
21. Rainbow Arabia (improperly listed here...DNP, but saw them later...don't want to renumber everything...)
22. Popo
23. Dark Meat (ultimate Wednesday quote: "we took out the part with Sweet Child of Mine cause we didn't want to get Chunked" -Jim from DM)
Wednesday night:
24. Still Flyin'
25. The Mae Shi
26. Transmography
27. The Chap
27+. some other really unmemorable bands
Thursday:
28-31. Shitty NPR bands I had to wait through to see The Dirty Projectors
32. The Dirty Projectors
Thursday evening...Evan's Show:
33. Lake
34. Bearsuit
35. Motel Motel
Thursday night: Todd P Midnight Acoustic BBQ--some bands didn't play exactly to schedule but this is a guess (repeats in parentheses)
36. Anni Rossi
37. Ducktails / (Real Estate)
38. Love of Everything
39. Jeremy Jay
40. Psychadelic Horseshit (don't know if they actually played...)
41. Tyvek
42. Los Llamarada
43. Wavves
43. (Vivian Girls)
44. Talk Normal
Friday, day, Treasure City:
45. Sievert
46. Sievert's friend
47. Divided like a saint's (i caught 1 song while getting pa equipment)
47. (EAR PWR)
48. Prince Rama
49. What's Up?
50. dd/mm/yyyy
51. tUnE-YaRdS
52. Quiet Hooves
53. Evangelicals (I was napping, but heard them play)
54. Long Legged Woman
54. (Popo)
Friday Night, at Hi-Lo
54. (dd/mm/yyyy)
55. Ninjasonic
56. **miscel** at some point in the week i was biking by and caught some of The Very Best at Red House...I think this was Thursday, actually.
Saturday:
57. Odawas
58. Fiasco
59. Spiked Punch
60. Numerators
61. Graffiti Monsters
62. Hermit Thrushes
63. Secret Lights
64. MEDIUMs
65. The Black
65. (Rainbow Arabia)
65. (Daniel Francis Doyle)
66. When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth
at this point my brain quit working and I missed a couple bands....
67. Canadacoda
68. Rad Racket
69. Gary War // PC Worship (i saw something involving these guys...Mercer played drums)
70. Geoff Reacher
71. Air Waves
72. Waco Girls.
73. Pillow Queens
73. (Prince Rama)
74. Theater Fire
75. Lemonade
75. (Mellow Owl)
then off to a house show at Charlie's. I could feel a gaze of death and only stayed for one incredibly awesome band (I missed Thee Oh Sees...more on that story later)
76. Mayyors
Sunday: AWETHUMFESTF IV
77. Gayle Gold
78. Nanobangbang
79. SHAMS
80. TJ Lazerphone, who is a DJ, not a band, but makes it an even 80.
And there you have it!!!!!
Album Review: The Strange Boys ...and girls club
I almost feel like this has to start with "The First Time I Met The Strange Boys was..."
It doesn't though. I'm going to skip all that, and also basically skip talking about the record.
I have been thinking a lot about rock and roll lately, as I sometimes do, and one thing I have decided for myself is that the bands and the scene that exists now is like a fulfillment of early rock. I think I get to be the first to say it (hopefully, I'd like the distinction...maybe someone else has already) but the band that this Strange Boys record instantly reminds me of is The Monks. The Monks were a fabricated band, much like many other bands of their time period. I'll skip the history lesson, just go rent the documentary, its great. But they were doing it sort of for fun, like, what crazies consider fun, and on some level, it just happened to be art. This Strange Boys record sounds fun, in the same way the way the cover art looks fun, and in the same way as long as you don't whine about it life is really fun, but the art element is all them, completely unfabricated, and because of that, its brings a very organic consistency to the whole record, and I think this is what people refer to as a "timeless" quality. Because people are always interested in other people...the journey outside the self so to speak...something basic to the human experience.
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Some people will tell you there is no progress in music, like since the dawn of time, that it is just different. Some people think there will never be a band better than The Beatles (these people usually make me sick). Some people will say music is only relative to the society at the given time that it is created.
I may be the minority opinion, but I disagree with all of this. I can never seem to prove shit to the nihilists, but I use humanism as my definitional benchmark of what rock and roll ideally stands for, and I think we have come a long way. I also think that music is for the past and future. Its a comment on the past, and meant to be listened to in the future. Even on a microscopic level, how good a song is at any given moment is related to the form of the song aka, the immediate past and future of the song.
I think for the most part, American music is getting better, and that must mean there is something in American society getting better. I think the broad historical circumstances that would lead to this are pretty much a matter of record at this point....meaning, punk--->80s DIY---->rise of indie labels--->cheap recording---->internet/myspace booking etc. etc. etc.. That is not meant to be an exhaustive list. And I don't think that is going to revert, short of the apocalypse. ...I think the DIY community is going to continue to grow and strengthen, and lead to more great bands per capita.
At this point, its almost hard to believe a band used to need luck and/or connections to seriously pursue being a recording artist, and even then they still might not hit. DIY is so easy now. You may never get to the point where you can support yourself financially off what you do, but that is such a false idol of a goal in my opinion, anyways. Why do you want to support yourself financially off your music? So you can get wrapped up in this mental cycle where you think you need to continue to live off your music indefinitely, aka appeal to a market, in order that you can dedicate your whole time to music? It's an easy fallacy to fall into, but I think less common with the current DIY set than with previous incarnations of the national music scene.
This is all to say that the bands are better. The bands can focus on what they do as art, and can function in society that way. Like the name of an old Strange Boys song, it can be "Art For Art's Sake."
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