silence is a rhythm too

Sunday 6/29
This weekend is the infamous GLASTONBURY festival in the UK, a huge 3 day event featuring pretty much everybody who's anybody in music world today - including most of my favorite bands. The NME has some pretty extensive coverage of it, and the festival site also has some web casts of the bands performances -you need the fat pipe connection for it to work...believe me, I tried it on the puny 56k and it failed miserably.

Also in The NME is this item on The Flaming Lips compensating Cat Stevens for the song Fight Test, due to it's similarity to the song Father & Son. Not really too surprising, because they really do share a hefty chunk of melody...


Saturday 6/28
Last weekend while surfing cable I came across MTV, and there was some show on about some up-and-comers. The act they were profiling was THE POSTAL SERVICE, and they showed a bunch of clips of them playing live. It totally grabbed my attention, and led me to learn that this an offshoot of Brian Tamborello's Dntel project. That stuff is lo-fi, glitchy electro-folk, and featured a host of indie rock singers, including Benjamin Gibbard, singer for Death Cab For Cutie. He sang one song on the Dntel record, and here the collaboration is extended into a full length album. They never met, instead sending each other CD-rs of material they had been working on. The result is a mostly uptempo synth pop album, with guitar added. The slower songs are reminiscent of Dntel, with the quirky rhythms and glitches, while the other stuff is pure, modern synth pop. I love this because it's the sound of a bunch of current electronica styles blended perfectly into pop songs, the best of both worlds. Let's hear it for the white indie geek and his laptop!


Thursday 6/26
The RIAA is going after illegal music file sharers in a big way. The people over at I Love Music are having a field day with this one! Stay tuned for more info as this is sure to be a hotly contested issue... and don't forget to visit my downloads page for some illegal file sharing!

I picked up a bunch of new music this week that I'm still in the process of absorbing, among them the new Liz Phair, some crazy early '80's style new wave record from The Sounds, and the new Broken Social Scene called You Forgot It In People. I've listened to it twice, but my early impressions are that it's going to be one of my favorite records of the year.


Monday 6/23
Finally some news on THE RAPTURE... the album Echoes will be released in the US on October 14th, with the vinyl available on September 8th. It's about freaking time.

I forgot to mention a couple of other cool records that should be available this week...the reborn Ze Records is reissuing the classic compilation Mutant Disco, essentially all of the bands on the label in their 12" remixed art-funk disco glory. On a similar bent is the new Soul Jazz compilation New York Noise, featuring a whos-who of the early '80' scene. A big week for us compulsive music shoppers....


Sunday 6/22
New mp3s this week from Fountains of Wayne, Bonobo, Sly & The Family Stone and Dr. Lonnie Smith doing Beck's Loser. Last week's are also stil up due to my buggering up of the links to the tunes. I also got around to doing a couple of other updates around here yesterday. I'm getting kind of bored with the look of this place, so some changes may (or may not) happen.
This Tuesday is a big day for new music, with the new Liz Phair, GangStarr, and Beyoncé (yeah, that's right...I totally dig her new single), and then there's a Madlib Blue Note remix thing, and the Polyphonic Spree re-issue - if you don't already have it, go and get it!


Friday 6/20
It occured to me this week that some of my favourite records so far this year aren't from this year. Let's start with The Polyphonic Spree, released in 2001 - being re-released next week. Hot Hot Heat's came out last year, and the 2 older records by The Soundtrack Of Our Lives came out in 1996 and 1998. These two albums (Welcome To The Infant Freebase / Extended Revelation) are both big records, with the latter matching (and on some tracks eclipsing) Behind The Music. And then there's the Duran Duran boxset....and Chas is obviously just as excited by it as I am!

I've said it before but I'm really enjoying the new GRANDADDY album. It's really catchy stuff, and I think Now It's On could be a hit. Definitely weepy in places, but pretty memorable anyway.

Today's bitchin' "Five Disc Shuffle" at work...

The Harder They Come soundtrack
Channel 2 compilation of Output Recordings
The Essentials... by Devo
Think Tank by Blur
Fever To Tell by Yeah Yeah Yeahs



Friday 6/20
I've just figured out today that the link to my mp3s on the downloads page was out of order all week. Well, I've fixed it and I'll be leaving those tunes up a little longer for anyone who is interested...DOH!!

Thursday 6/19
I'm totally digging the new Fountains Of Wayne album Welcome Interstate Managers. I'm a big fan of the band Ivy, and guitarist Adam Schlesinger is also in F.O.W. , so I had a vague idea of what they might sound like. Also,the people over at the Matador Records Bulletin Boards have mentioned them in the past, always in a positive light. This is ultra catchy indie rock and pop, a more masculine Ivy if you will. The record's songs all share suburban American life themes, from the quarterback dropping back in the pocket (All Kinds Of Time) to "having a bright future in sales" - kind of like a younger, hipper Steely Dan. Pretty good stuff, leaving me wanting to search out more of their music.

This week's new release that's got me most excited is the bizarre Boogaloo To Beck album put out by Dr. Lonnie Smith. He's a whiz on the Hammond B3, and it is an album of Beck covers done straight up jazz style. I saw it on the racks and had to know what it was like, and am happy to report that it's pretty freaking cool. Beck's songs are funky to begin with, and they lend themsleves very well to being jazzified. From Paper Tiger to Devil's Haircut and He's A Mighty Good Leader, if you dig jazz and Beck this might just float your boat.


Monday 6/16
A few more interesting news items courtesy of The NME...Radiohead have announced a US tour, with Stephen Malkmus opening the first leg of the tour, and Supergrass taking over for the second leg. That's a pretty good double bill that isn't coming to my town. Boo. The nearest spot is Alpine Valley in Wisconsin, which is a great place to see shows, but too far for me to go.
The most bizarre story has to be the one about The Polyphonic Spree joining the Disney family. They've signed with Disney affiliate Hollywood Records, who is re-issuing their debut album with a bonus 4 track CD on the 24th of this month.

Check out the new mp3s today,featuring tracks from Elefant, Mink Lungs, The 3 Sounds and Duran Duran's Late Bar. Mmmmm, tasty.

I just have to say once more that I can't get enough of that Elefant album. Such a hugely catchy record, perfect for summertime listening. I've been making a mix tape for the wife to listen to in the car, and when it came time to put an Elefant tune on it I could not pick just one, and so I think I'll tape the whole thing for her instead. I've got her and our 3 1/2 year old rocking out to Interpol in the car, and I think they might like this one even more.

On the subject of wife and child I'd like to announce to the world that my wife is "with child", and we're about three months along. The due date is December 20, AKA Christmas week -YIKES!- We will be finding out whether it's a she or a he in about a month....


Saturday 6/14
I scored my Blur ticket today, so I am a very happy boy. Not only that, but I also picked up the Duran Duran Box Set that I've been babbling on about for a while. God, what a lush freaking set. Each single's cover is lovingly replicated, and each one has the 7" & 12" versions plus all the b-sides (some of my fave DD tunes ever, especially the tune Late Bar). Now I need to get me them Buzzcocks and Stranglers singles boxes too!
I have had no time to do any kind of updates today, so look for some new mp3s on Monday. Tomorrow is Fathers Day, and since I'm a dad I get to go and play 9 holes of golf with a couple of mates...woo-hoo! It's going to be sunny and in the 80's, so it's perfect weather for it. Then it's a bit of salmon on the grill for dinner. Ah, life is good.


Friday 6/13
I've been listening to The New Pornographers' Electric Version more and more lately due to it's insanely catchy songs, beautiful vocals and shiny happy sound. The track The New Face Of Zero And One has some drumstick work at the beginning that is pure Adam & The Ants. In fact it made me dig out my copy of Kings Of The Wild Frontier, and reminded me of what a great record that is. Turns out Adam's back in the news this week having been arrested again for disorderly conduct and general looniness. Another sad rock star story.

I found out this week that Blur are coming to town on July 13th. They're playing my fave venue in town to see bands, First Avenue (a lot of you will know this place if you've seen Purple Rain - it's the club where all the live stuff happens). Anyway, tickets go on sale tomorrow, and I am so psyched. I've seen 'em twice (the first album tour -to a half empty room- and the Parklife tour -a sold out room) and both times they were great. In light of the hugeness of their new album I expect a great show!


Thursday 6/12
I picked up Radiohead's Hail To The Thief this week, and well, it's a Radiohead record. It hasn't really grabbed me yet, but then sometimes these things take time. The link provided is to to the new Radiohead Television site which I would be able to tell you more about if I actually had an internet connection that could handle it, but I've read about it and it looks pretty cool.
The new record I'm enjoying the most is GRANDADDY's Sumday. It's stylistically more of the same, gloriously melancholic, and catchy as hell. If anything it's a lighter, happier , less glum affair than The Sophtware Slump. When I bought my copy of The Polyphonic Spree record it had a sticker on the front that featured a quote from Grandaddy's Jason Lytle. It said something like "listening to this changed my life", and on the new record it seems like maybe The Polyphonic's positive, sunny influence shines thru' just a little... :-)
According to THIS story in The NME, those reclusive heroes of electronic music KRAFTWERK are set to spring into action at the beginning of next month. They have recorded a new version of Tour De France and are releasing it a couple of days after the actual race starts. An album will be released as well, with several versions of the song and a few other new ones too. It's about time! Bring it on....


Monday 6/9
A few interesting items from The NME today...Wayne Coyne sings on a new Chemical Brothers track...seems like it would work pretty well. Also, Madonna & Missy Elliot do an ad for The Gap. It's all about the benjamins, baby. Tomorrow is a big day for new music, with albums from Grandaddy (heard it and it's big), Radiohead, Steely Dan and the Duran Duran Singles '80-'85 box set. Amazingly enough, that's the one I'm most excited about!


Satuday 6/7
So I've told you about my one new favourite band - ELEFANT of course. I cannot stop listening to their album, and it's a total cliché, but it's really a case of being "this year's Interpol". Everybody I've played it for has ended up liking it. My other fave new band are MINK LUNGS. Another NYC act, this four piece is out there. All four members write and sing, and the music is all over the place. It's definitely rock, sometimes raging hard, other times psychedelic and jangly. Lyrically it's pretty wacky too, with songs about flying saucers, coming like a gorilla and all kinds of other crazy shit. There is a remote resemblance to The Pixies here, and I've seen them compared to The Flaming Lips too. All I know is I'm digging it. The track Catch Me has one of the greatest Steely Dan guitar solos to never appear on a Steely Dan record. And that makes me love it even more.
Mp3s this week from Faultline, The New Pornographers, The Faint and a nice dose of perversion from Serge Gainsbourg. Enjoy!


Thursday 6/5
If you are a regular visitor to this place you might have noticed that things have slowed down a little, with fewer updates on a daily basis. I am the father of a terrific 3 and a 1/2 year old, who for the last couple of years has been taking naps in the afternoon -you know, babies need this sort of thing. As you can imagine, this is when Daddy gets to do his thing -surf the net, make a mix tape for the car, pick his nose, whatever. More importantly, it's the time I got to spend working on updating this little site of mine. A couple of weeks ago it became apparent that the afternoon nap was going to have to go, as the precious miracle was up at all hours during the night, not in the least bit tired. Her mother -who is not a deep sleeper like me- finally laid down the law, and the nap is now a thing of the past. Which of course leaves me without that little window of opportunity to write. I enjoy doing this, and hope to continue to do it, but until I can figure out a bit of a regular schedule for working on it updates will be a bit more sporadic.


Monday 6/2
Thom Yorke says in 2 years time, Radiohead will sound unrecognisable. My co-workers and I bandied about several possibilities...back-up band to Snoop Dogg, bluegrass -Oh Brother, What Hast Thou Done?- , folk music? It's hard to imagine something Thom Yorke singing on not sounding Radiohead-like and it will be interesting to see what further re-invention will bring about...

Some new music coming out tomorrow from The EELS, Audio Bullys, The Fountains Of Wayne (next week), and a new compilation of stuff on Eighteenth Street Lounge called Den of Thieves.

Thanks to The Rub for THIS link to a great interview with one of my fave rock goddesses Chrissie Hynde, which then led me to this story about The Chills, a band I've been listening to lately. A friend of mine asked me to burn some stuff for him, so I dug out Submarine Bells -featuring the insanely catchy Heavenly Pop Hit, which led to Kaleidoscope World, which led me to wonder whatever happened to them. Good to see they live on.

I've signed up with HaloScan to get some kind of instant comment thing going on here, and as soon as I can figure out how to get the code to work it will be up and running.
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