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Sunday, September 30, 2007

4-0


Another Sunday, another record broken by Brett Favre, another win, another reason to go skipping down the street to school tomorrow...I think we all need to stop, take a breath, and saver this while it lasts...


Get all your Eddie Money merchandise in one place...namely here.

Iran So Far

You know, if you think Iran is going to be the next-Iraq, you have had a pretty good couple of weeks as the Iranian President came to New York and made himself look like an idiot...Saddam never did this and I think that it slows down a rush to action that may not be truly needed....here is Saturday Night Live's take on it...politics and music collide again:



I think it is also very interesting how some consider homosexuality a choice and is a product of our permissive liberal society. And yet when the Iranian president says essentially the same thing, everyone, and I mean everyone, says "that's ridiculous" and when they heard it an entire nation chuckled and shook their head. This man is a threat to us?

Eddie Vedder Solo

Last week Sean Penn and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder were on Charlie Rose talking about Into the Wild for which Vedder did the soundtrack.



Eddie Vedder -- No Ceiling

Pick up the Into the Wild soundtrack here.

Almost

The Huskies almost beat #1 USC tonight 27-24...we are making progress I guess...but please, please, please can we ditch the purple and keep the throw back jerseys?



Belle & Sebastian -- I Don't Want To Play Football

If you are interested in singing with Belle & Sebastian get more information here.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

West Wing & Massive Attack

Politics and music combine perfectly in this clip from the West Wing's ...one of the best choreographed scenes I have ever seen...this eventually leads to Martin Sheen temporarily stepping down as President and Speaker of the House John Goodman becoming President for a few days...the song is Massive Attack's "Angel" from their outstanding Mezzanine.

"Dissolved Girl" is another track from Mezzanine and is just as good.



Massive Attack -- Angel

Massive Attack -- Dissolved Girl

Every Massive Attack is worth investigating and you can get them all here.

Heroes of Popular Wars

I have been watching the new Ken Burns documentary The War this past week (parts 5,6, and 7 start this Sunday) and I am surprised about how little of it feels like I've seen it before...know what I mean? I had been on a WWII movie kick for a while recently, Band of Brothers series, A Bridge Too Far, Flags of Our Fathers, Battleground and so at first 15 more hours of WWII seemed like it could be a chore rather than "an experience" but thankfully I was wrong...

Which brings me to a group that introduced themselves to me via email this week...Heroes of Popular Wars. First off, in the most shallow form of commentary, I love the band name.

To give you a clue of what we are dealing with here with H of PW, here is a part of their bio [which seems to be written in poem form]:

From the onset to the encore, from the broken guitar strings to the couple breaking up in the front row.

They're the Heroes of Popular Wars.

Of the two songs I've sampled so far, I really enjoy "Famous on the Moon"...and I've put the old "Recommended" stamp of approval on it. "The 3rd of July" is more ambient...but that's not really an accurate way to describe it...although there is a little Brian Eno in there somewhere...Enjoy.

Heroes of Popular Wars -- Famous on the Moon [Recommended]

Heroes of Popular Wars -- 3rd of July

Learn more about Heroes of Popular Wars here.

New Easy Street Records Mural


Be sure to buy your Ben Harper Belt Buckle here.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Star Wars

My favorite clip from the Robot Chicken Star Wars episode:

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Pills

I am in grad school studying health care administration and so now that school is back in session I will probably have a lot more posts about health care related stories...such as this...

Don't misunderestimate the importance that Wal-Mart will play in the future of health care...today they announced that they are expanding their $4 dollar medication list by 10%.

The Chemical Brothers -- The Pills Won't Help You Now

The new Chemical Brothers album, We Are the Night, is good but you should start here.

Can't Sleep

I can't sleep and I am listening to songs on shuffle...two artists back to back that I have never thought as being related but now I can see it...or maybe it is just a sleepless haze...

Pavement -- Painted Soldiers

Andrew Bird -- Simple X

More officially sanctioned Pavement mp3s from Matador here.

Discover more Andrew Bird at his website here.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

First Day of School


Washington State has to have one of the latest school start dates anywhere...mainly because I think summer really doesn't get here until late June...and this year it leaves by the start of September...this is what I am dealing with today...fog and rain...
262 days until graduation...

One of the most interesting boxed sets out there is The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds Sessions set. It is available here.

Hitting the Wall of Sound

Mistrial.


The Wall of Sound:

The Beach Boys -- Why Do Fools Fall In Love?

Jackie DeShannon -- When You Walk In the Room

You really should own the Phil Spector boxed set, get it here. You get 5 CDs for only $20!

Monday, September 24, 2007

Living Dangerously in the U-District

Reason #1,366 why you shouldn't walk around the University District at 2:00AM and reason #765 why I won't miss too much Seattle when I leave...


On Saturday, September 22, 2007 at about 2:00 AM the victim was standing at NE 45th and 15th Ave NE. when approached by a male suspect who asked for a "light".

The suspect displayed a handgun and told the victim to get on the ground and hand over his wallet, which the victim did. The suspect took the wallet and told the victim to walk in the opposite direction. The suspect then fled the area. The victim was not injured. Responding officers were not able to locate the suspect. This incident was assigned Seattle Police incident number 07-391783. If you have any additional information about this crime, please call the Seattle Police at 206-625-5011.

Interestingly, this is from a Wikipedia article about the main street in the University district, The Ave:

Another factor contributing to the Ave Rats' decline was the extension of organized, gang-related criminal activity on the Ave in recent years. Several groups, whose signature graffiti "tags" can be seen throughout the U. District, contributed to the transition in drug sales from marijuana (formerly sold by Ave Rats and transients) to include the organized sale of methamphetamine and cocaine. This transition has resulted in multiple incidents of gun-related violence, as well as obvious deals occurring in broad daylight.[10] Regular visitors to the Ave could often recognize the same individuals standing at or "patrolling" the same areas, day after day.

The U. District has seen these problems recur. As reported in the University District Herald in 1921, librarian "Miss Mary Baker ask[ed] for police protection from gangs of boys" who were causing what is today described as vandalism and harassment. Librarian Clara Van Sant wrote: "Men hang outside the door to smoke, gossip, and pass comments to ladies coming into the library," behavior that apparently continued through the early 1920s.[11]

Ryan Adams -- City Rain, City Streets

Buy Ryan's albums here.

3-0

Has it been 10 minutes since the last time I mentioned I'm from Wisconsin?...more importantly, have I mentioned that I am a Packer fan?...and this weekend was a big weekend for me and my fellow Cheeseheads:
  • Packers crush the Chargers
  • Brett Favre ties Dan Marino's touchdown record
  • I received my Season Ticket Waiting List Postcard....what?
Let me explain...I have been on the Packers Season Ticket waiting list for three years now and each year the good folks in Green Bay send a postcard telling me roughly how many decades I have to wait to get tickets...

So I am 69,193 on the list...things are looking up as last year I was over 72,000 if I remember right...to put this in perspective the entire Lambeau Field has a capacity of 72,922 so I have to roughly wait until nearly all the seats at Lambeau turn over from one person to another...if roughly 3,000 go through the list every year than I will be waiting about 23 years until I can see Brett Favre's daughter Brittany lead the Packers to the Super Bowl again!

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Vacation Music

When I was on vacation two weeks ago, I caught a concert of a local blues band, the Eau Claire Blues All-Stars...my friend from college Adrian is their lead singer...

Classical Monkey

Ever wanted to hear the Arctic Monkeys do classical?...enjoy the first 30 seconds of this song from the Brianstorm single...

Pick up your Arctic Monkeys lighters here.

Ever Seen A Sun Rise?


The answer is "No." Sure, I've been awake when the sun came up but I have never sat and watched the sunrise...what am I missing?

This brings me to the oddest Black Sabbath song I have ever heard..."Laguna Sunrise." No vocals and no electric guitars...but a melody that will be with you after you finish listening.

Buy your Black Sabbath Reunion Mirror here.

Chess Club

When I was in Chess Club in high school, Gary Kasparov was the best chess player in the world and had just defeated the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue...After high school I didn't play chess as much and haven't really followed the comings and goings of chess' top players...so as I switched over from watching the Bears getting whipped by the Cowboys, I was surprised to see that Mr. Kasparov is now a major political figure in Russia.

Tonight on 60 Minutes, they had a long piece on Mr. Kasparov and his Russian non-governmental organization, the United Civil Front. I couldn't find the video yet, but here is a video with Charlie Rose interview Mr. Kasparov and his thoughts on Russian politics...



Bob Dylan -- Only A Pawn In Their Game

Bob Dylan has a new boxed set coming out called Dylan...pre-order it here.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Have a Cigar

Oasis' Noel Gallagher is a Daddy again.

Oasis -- Born on a Different Cloud

Buy the new Oasis DVD Lord Don't Slow Me Down here.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Zombie Completeist

I am complete and total freak for The Zombies. I've got to have close to 10 CDs plus the Zombie Heaven boxed set...I even buy the various greatest hits collections even when I have all the individual songs on them because I want to hear how their song selection and order changes the music (the best I've found is the Absolutely the Best collection)...

As I was searching Easy Street Records earlier this week I came upon a new "Zombies" CD that I knew nothing about...my mind was racing, my stomach a little sick...

A Zombies collection I didn't know about...well to be fair it is a collection of music made by members of the Zombies immediately following their breakup...although there are four previously unreleased Zombies songs/demos on the album...Needless to say, I bought it straight away but I haven't gotten to dive into it yet...until then, here is a Zombies classic...

The Zombies -- Whenever You're Ready (Mono Version)

If you don't own Odyssey & Oracle...it's okay...we're going to get through this together...

Hired Gun

Foo Fighters leader and Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl on being considered Kurt Cobain's hired gun:

"We've been called hired guns and I just laugh. Anyone who has ever been in
a band, hell... anyone who has ever even listened to a band, understands what
happens when one of those elements is removed from the combination. It just
falls apart."

Thursday, September 20, 2007

My Grandma Says "Thank You"

MSNBC:

Perhaps the most striking change is a new large-size 5 printed in the lower right-hand corner of the backside of the bill in high-contrast purple ink. That feature was added to help the visually impaired.

Rilo Kiley at First Ave.

When I was on vacation last week, I got to go see Rilo Kiley at First Avenue in Minneapolis with my sister...we hadn't been to a real concert together since Oasis back in....gee, I don't know...it was that horrible Brotherly Love tour they did with The Black Crowes...thankfully we only had to sit through Spacehog (although "In the Meantime" was awesome) before Oasis came on...and then we could just skip The Black Crowes...

But I digress, here are two songs from the new Rilo Kiley album, Under the Blacklight.


Get your Rilo Kiley stickers here, t-shirts here, and records here.

JT...As My Sister Says

It is important to remember that most pop stars have an overall education level slightly above (or below) high school graduate....if these people couldn't sing or dance they'd be pumping gas...here is Justin Timberlake (JT to my sister) on Oprah...

Asked if he's dating anyone now, Timberlake said yes, but wouldn't give her name.

During his appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," Timberlake did talk about his struggles to deal with the paparazzi who shadow his every move. He said tabloids try to turn celebrities' lives into soap operas.

"If two famous people are dating each other, what I've found and I could be wrong, but just in my personal experience, if you're not going to get married, then you're
breaking up," he said. "It's one or the other."
Is this what passes as interesting discourse..."If you aren't getting married then you are breaking up?" Captain Obvious.

Ground Zero

When Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced he wanted to see Ground Zero in New York I thought this will be a great moment...A lot like a Holocaust denier touring Auschwitz.

Some people disagree...

Mayor Rudy Giuliani released the following statement on Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad:

"Under no circumstances should the NYPD or any other American authority assist President Ahmadinejad in visiting Ground Zero. This is a man who has made threats against America and Israel, is harboring bin Laden's son and other al-Qaeda leaders, is shipping arms to Iraqi insurgents and is pursuing the development of nuclear weapons. Assisting Ahmadinejad in touring Ground Zero - hallowed ground for all Americans - is outrageous."

Senator Hillary Clinton released the following statement:

"It is unacceptable for Iranian President Ahmadinejad, who refuses to renounce and end his own country's support of terrorism, to visit the site of the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil in our nation's history."

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Music Is My Radar

When I first started this blog I was using FileDen for my hosting needs but I have slowly transferred over to YouSendIt pretty much because The Hype Machine doesn't recognize my FileDen posts...so I am retiring my FileDen songs, but before I do, here they are one more time:

Beck -- Where It's At

Bloc Party -- Helicopter (Live at Glastonbury 2005)

Blur -- Theme From Retro

Dntel -- Breakfast In Bed

Doves -- Last Broadcast

Fall Out Boy -- A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More 'Touch Me'

Gogol Bordello -- American Wedding

Herman's Hermits -- A Must To Avoid

Herman's Hermits -- No Milk Today

Iggy Pop -- Mr. Dynamite

Jens Lekman -- Friday Night At The Drive-In Bingo

John Mayer -- Kid A (Radiohead Cover)

Kasabian -- Me Plus One

Morphine -- Cure For Pain

Oasis -- A Quick Peep

Patton Oswalt -- How We Won the War

Radiohead -- I Want None of This War

Ryan Adams -- Burning Photographs

The Darkness -- Stuck In a Rut

Doves -- There Goes The Fear (Live at Glastonbury 2003)

The Hold Steady -- Chips Ahoy!

The Kaiser Chiefs -- Everyday I Love You Less and Less (Live at Glastonbury 2005)

The Killers -- Mr. Brightside (Live at Glastonbury 2005)

The Raconteurs -- Intimate Secretary (BBC Live Session)

The Remains -- Don't Look Back

The Rentals -- The Love I'm Searching For

Tokyo Police Club -- Box

Travis -- Quicksand

Vampire Weekend -- Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa

Voxtrot -- Firecracker

Whiskeytown -- Midway Park

Youth Group -- Sorry

Youth Group -- The Frankston Line

Plushgun


I get a song or two emailed to me a week and and without a doubt I am the most excited about this song from Plushgun among all the songs I have ever received. Imagine Postal Service with guitars...Enjoy!

Plushgun's Myspace page.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Forgotten Classic #4: Freestylers "Freestyle Noise"


The Freestylers entered my life the summer of 1998 and left shortly thereafter...It was my first summer working at a Boy Scout summer camp and over the years the staff members introduced me to groups that small town Wisconsin had hidden from me including the Parrotheads of Jimmy Buffett, Sunny Day Real Estate, and Slint.

Buy all the Freestylers albums here.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Forgotten Classic #3: The Flys "Got You (Where I Want You)"

Who can forget the movie Disturbing Behavior? After all it does have the future Mrs. Tom Cruise and that guy who played Cyclops in the X-men movies in it...

More importantly, who can forget the best song on the soundtrack to Disturbing Behavior, The Flys' great "Got You (Where I Want You)?"

The Flys -- Got You (Where I Want You)

It seems that all three of The Flys CDs are out of print...you can buy all three used on Amazon for a total of $4.45 plus shipping...

More Emo Philips

You might be a fan of Emo and not even know it...you might remember this scene from the "Weird Al" classic UHF:


Emo Philips

With apologies to Patton Oswalt, without a doubt my favorite comedian is Emo Philips. There is no one like him...listen for your self:

Emo Philips -- Bonus Track

Emo Philips -- Duck-Billed Platitudes

Emo has a few albums out there that are sometimes hard to track down. You can buy two of his shows together on one CD here. Another show "Emo" was on CD but is now out of print...You can get a used copy on Amazon.com.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Eskimo Joe

Eskimo Joe is an Australian band that is try to make it big here in America after having some great success in the Land Down Under. Their new album Black Fingernails, Red Wine will be released September 25th. Here are my thoughts on the album, in math equation form:



Here is the title track:
Buy the new album here.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Vacation Mini-Mix

I have a lot more time with my mp3 player during this past week of vacation than I do when I am at work or school and I have been enjoying some stuff that I haven't listened to in a while...here's a sample of what I'm talking about...





Buy Oasis, Embrace, The Smitherereens, and Patton Oswalt CDs here.

Let's Try This Again

I'm not sure why these songs didn't show up on the Hype Machine so we will try it again...enjoy.

Badly Drawn Boy -- Soul Attitude

Devendra Banhart -- Heard Somebody Say

Blur -- Mr. Robinson's Quango (Live)

Lou Reed -- I Want To Boogie With You

Food From Home

Paella.

VVR

My car broke down a few weeks ago and I have been getting everything I need in life (groceries, books, music) from stores that are within walking distance of my apartment...When you walk everywhere you see a lot of things you probably wouldn't notice in a car...such as this graffiti on the side of the Jack in the Box in the U-District...remember, Hitler only went so far as to be a vegetarian...the vegans were just too far out there for him.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Rated PG

Turns out, my blog is rated PG...and part of the reason is I talk about "Dick" Cheney every once in a while...you can find you your own rating here.

Mingle2 - Minneapolis Singles

R & R

I'll be blogging from an undisclosed location this weekend and next week for a little R & R before school starts again...I hope to post often but it probably won't be as much as usual...this should keep you satisfied for a little while:

Badly Drawn Boy -- Soul Attitude
From the Once Around the Block single

Devendra Banhart -- Heard Somebody Say
From the I Heard Somebody Say single

Blur -- Mr. Robinson's Quango (Live)
From the Live at Budokhan album

Lou Reed -- I Want To Boogie With You
From the The Bells album

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Corrected Links

I posted some songs with the wrong links earlier...here are the corrected ones:

Silverchair -- Straight Lines

The New Pornographers -- All the Things To Go To Make Heaven and Earth

More Anagram Fun

Karl Rove:
Ark Lover

Owen Wilson:
Online Wows

And by far the best one I've found so far:

Britney Spears:
Presbyterians
Betrayers Spin
Nearby Priests

Deo Vindice

With Karl Rove leaving the White House last week, there was another round of talk about how President Bush (like Brian Wilson) just wasn't made for these times and that some distant futuristic America will have the technology to "Get Bush."

This reminds me of Mr. Jeffries from my AP U.S. History class in high school and The Great Seal of the Confederacy with the motto "Deo Vindice" which is "God Will Vindicate."
At least with President Bush, we give God a break and force History to be the judge.

Political Anagrams

I've been recently spending a lot of time on the Internet Anagram Server that give you anagrams for whatever name you type in...Here are some of my favorites:

George Bush:
Bugger Shoe

Dick Cheney:
Checked Yin
Chicken Dye
Chick Needy
Dicky Hence

Larry Craig:

Carry Grail

Mitt Romney:
Memory Tint
Metro Minty
Mime Not Try

Hillary Clinton:

A Chi Trill Nylon
A Chin Trill Only
A Corn Thinly Ill

Some names are suprisingly disappointing, such as John McCain and John Edwards.

Words of the Day: "Breastplate of Righteousness"

From Christopher Hitchens' take on the Sen. Larry Craig story:

The men interviewed by Humphreys wanted what many men want: a sexual encounter that was quick and easy and didn't involve any wining and dining. Some
of the heterosexuals among them had also evolved a tactic for dealing with the
cognitive dissonance that was involved. They compensated for their conduct by
adopting extreme conservative postures in public. Humphreys, a former
Episcopalian priest, came up with the phrase "breastplate of righteousness" to
describe this mixture of repression and denial. So, it is quite thinkable that when Sen. Craig claims not to be gay, he is telling what he honestly believes to be the truth.

It's God's Will

Not that I was looking for a a reason to not vote for Bill Richardson, he just goes out and gives me one. Now that's a considerate politician:

"Iowa, for good reason, for constitutional reasons, for reasons related to the Lord, should be the first caucus and primary," Richardson, New Mexico's governor, said at the Northwest Iowa Labor Council Picnic. "And I want you to know who was the first candidate to sign a pledge not to campaign anywhere if they got ahead of Iowa. It was Bill Richardson."

Saturday, September 1, 2007

The Manics: The Band My Grandma Told Me Was Cool


My Grandma was born in England and met my Grandpa while he was fighting there in World War II. When I was little, my Grandma would fly over and visit her family nearly every year and she would always bring presents home for my sister and me. When I was a little older, my Grandma would bring a CD home that was popular in England (her niece, Diane, helped her pick it out).
She gave me my first copies of Oasis' "What's the Story Morning Glory" which I had heard about but hadn't picked up yet and a band called the Manic Street Preachers. I had never heard of them before but their album Everything Must Go became on of my all time favorites.
This is a track from their next album, This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours...remixed by the great Massive Attack.
Not all of the Manics albums are available in America, to get them all go here.

New Silverchair

Silverchair have a new album out that is getting great reviews (4 stars from Rolling Stone). This is a long way from "Freak" and "Tomorrow" and I really enjoy it.


Buy all the Silverchair albums here.

Saturday Afternoon Is For Dancing

Hillary's Top 10 Promises

From Thursday's Letterman: (Personal favorite, #2)

10. Bring stability and long-term security to The View.
9. Each year on my birthday every American gets a cupcake.
8. You will have the option of rolling dice against the IRS for double or nothing on your tax return.
7. If you're having trouble getting a flight and Air Force One is available, it's yours.
6. My vice-president will never shoot anybody in the face.
5. I'll turn Gitmo into a Dairy Queen as soon as possible.
4. For over a century there have only been two Dakotas. I plan to double that.
3. We will finally have a president who doesn't mind pulling over and asking for directions. Am I right, ladies?
2. I will appoint a commission to find out what the heck is happening on Lost.
1. One more pantsuit joke and Letterman disappears.

Neptune Marquee #3: Superbad