Dispatches from a Conversation about Dylan, Costello, & The Flying Burrito Brothers

Matt,

You will be proud of me. I am going to my first concert this month and it is someone good: I am seeing Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello and Amos Lee in about 3 weeks in Bloomington. I am pretty pumped....

CS
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CS,

All I can say is "WOW"...that sounds like an amazing concert...I saw Bob Dylan at UW-La Crosse in I think 2000 and he played a lot of his newer stuff and not too many classics...but I guess he has sort of changed that in his recent concerts...

Elvis Costello has always been one of my favorites...but I have never gotten the chance to see him. I am not too familiar with Amos Lee but I have heard good things about him.

Talk to you later,

Matt

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Matt,

I will admit that Elvis Costello is 90% of the reason I bought tix to this concert. I really like his music; he has a pretty diverse catalog and a very distinctive voice -- I turned on the radio the other day and within 2 seconds, I knew it was a Elvis C song, even if I couldn't identify the song right away. Sometimes I think "I can't stand up for falling down" is the story of my life.

I will also admit that I have never "gotten" Bob Dylan. I respect him and he is obviously influential, but I have never connected with his music. I would compare it to the feeling when someone tells a story that they think is funny and then says, "I guess you had to be there."I feel like I am missing something with Dylan. Any thoughts on this?

CS

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CS,

That's very interesting...I guess my interest in Dylan is two fold:

a. Everyone considers him awesome so I need to check out what the hub-bub is about. Because I am a music freak, if anyone ever says "best album ever" or "best song ever" I have a contractual obligation to investigate. So a number of the albums I own are based on good marketing you could say.

b. When I see good song writing I appreciate it. I particularly like "Positively 4th Street" in that it is so negative and it is like a slap in the face. But I guess looking back at it, I don't have a personal connection to the music as I do other bands. Dylan is always sort of like a history lesson to me [even though he has a bunch of recent work].

When I saw Dylan it made me think of how things are different now, versus when he was playing in the 60's. The Bootleg Series Volume 4 documents Dylan's concert at the Royal Albert Hall [which continually gets mentioned as the best/most important concert ever]. He was right at the crossroads of playing folk and his increasing interest in rock & electric guitars. The first half is acoustic and the crowd cheers loudly. The second half is electric and Bob is met with constant boos. At one point, someone yells out "Judas" and the crowd erupts in applause...Bob says "I don't believe you...you're a liar" and then turns to his band and says "play it fucking loud" and they burst into "Like a Rolling Stone"....

Imagine that happening at Bloomington...Just catching a little bit of that sort of magic might make a concert worth it...

CS

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Matt,

I guess that one reason I am going is that I want to see if Dylan has an in-concert charisma that doesn't carry over to his albums.

I tried listening to Dylan for the first reason that you mentioned. I figured that he was so beloved -- to the point of mysticism and hero worship -- that there had to be something there. And I was consistently underwhelmed (the song that I really liked is Forever Young. My favorite "Dylan" song is how Stealers Wheel sounds like a Dylan impersonator in "Stuck in the Middle with You.") One of the reasons I compared Dylan to the "I guess you had to be there" kind of stories is that I feel like he is more recognized as an icon of his time than as a musician. I am sure that I would feel differently about him if I had been a Baby Boomer who had gone through the 60s, especially as Vietnam was heating up. And he deserves credit for being the first artist to use his talents to address social issues and still be a mega-star. And I admire him, much like Van Morrison, for marching to the beat of his own drum and making music that interests him,critics be damned.

But I am only a casual music fan -- as opposed to being an amateur music historian, like yourself -- so in the end, it comes down to the music. I keep broadening my horizons -- I try everything from country to rap -- but I still need music that I connect with. I generally use the iPod test for music. If I am driving back to Eau Claire, got the iPod plugged in and X comes on (whether it be an artist or a specific song), how likely I am to skip X and go to the next track? Bob Dylan generally fails that test.

CS

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CS,

So were you secretly listening to Dr. Dre and The Wu-Tang Clan when you told us your favorite artist was James Taylor?

I would say that Elvis Costello and Van Morrison are the two best artists in doing whatever the hell they want too...be it classical, Irish folk music, whatever they find interesting at the moment...

Have you had a chance to hear the new Bruce Springsteen yet? If you aren't a big fan of his work at least give "Radio Nowhere" a listen too...best song from him in a while in my opinion...

Matt

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Matt,

Thankfully, I have advanced far beyond my college days in terms of music. My iPod has everything from Run DMC to the Flying Burrito Brothers.

I go hot and cold on Springsteen. At his best (i.e. Born to Run),there is no one better. But he has put out some pretty shitty music too.

CS

2 Tim Burgess-es

Here in Seattle, we are in the middle of a City Council campaign that has a candidate running by the name of Tim Burgess. Now all you music buffs out there know Tim Burgess as the lead singer of the great Britpop band The Charlatans [known as The Charlatans UK here in the United States].

Apparently, they are not the same person.

You decide which is which:

Tim Burgess [Seattle] has some bad news today...his campaign is $115,000 in the red.

The Charlatans UK -- Love is the Key

The Charlatans UK have a new single coming out October 22nd called "You Cross My Path. Get it here.

787

This was big news here in Seattle yesterday but I am not really sure if anyone else cares...the brains behind Boeing'S new plane, the 787, was fired on Tuesday a few days after announcing that the planes were six months behind schedule...

The Stereophonics -- Buy Myself a Small Plane

The Stereophonics have a new album called Pull the Pin...you can buy it here.

What the Hell?

Maybe this will stop those people worried about the Bush/Clinton/Bush/Clinton presidential trend...oh yeah, that's me...if Barack wins the new list looks like this:

Bush/Clinton/Bush/Dick Cheney's 8th cousin

Scary.

From the AP:

According to her spokeswoman, Sen. Obama, D-Ill., is a descendent of Mareen Duvall. This French Huguenot's son married the granddaughter of a Richard
Cheney, who arrived in Maryland in the late 1650's from England, said Ginny
Justice, a spokeswoman for Lynne Cheney.

New Hype Machine

Head over to the Hype Machine if you would please...they are about to debut an updated version of the site and they are waiting for 10,000 people to be watching the page before they do anything...3440 and counting...

5-1

Last week's Packers loss was so brutal that I couldn't write about it...this week was better obviously with the Pack beating the worst named sports team in America. But our weak running game scares me...but all in all another happy week.

The Ventures -- Hawaii Five-O (or is should be "Hawaii Five-And-One")

You learn something new everyday...for me it was that The Ventures are still around and touring. Get their albums here.

Chuck & Janis

Chuck Todd used to have one of the coolest jobs, Editor & Chief of The Hotline. Now he's the Political Director of NBC News, forced to give trite oversimplifications to complex political issues with Brian Williams [who is hosting Saturday Night Live next week], Tim Russert, and Chris Matthews.

This week, Todd mixes music and politics in claiming that Al Gore, John Edwards, Sam Nunn, and Fred Thompson didn't act as they truly wanted to in office and now that they are out they can live up to the Janis Joplin lyric: "Freedom just another word for nothing left to loose."

Of course Chuck Todd's never been elected to anything [except maybe to the party planning committee for the Political Communications Department at Johns Hopkins.]

And it makes me wonder...name one Senator that optimizes Janis' lyric? I would say Russ Feingold from Wisconsin fits the bill pretty well. If I were to ask Mr. Todd, what Senator Feingold's biggest political liability is and the key reason why he didn't run for President?...The answer has got to be that his votes and positions are not conducive to building a broad political coalition.

This political freedom seems to buy freedom of conscience and not much else.

Big Brother & The Holding Company -- Down on Me [Live]

Buy all of Janis' solo work here.

Always Stay With Your Boat

A sign on a light pole in Seattle:

Harry Belafonte -- Banana Boat (Day-O)

Harry's site is here and you can get his albums here.

Album 3

Now that Radiohead's In Rainbows [a.k.a. Album 7] is out, we can all focus on the next urgently needed opus, Portishead's Album 3. Filter Magazine has a little update on the progress of the album:

The long waited third Portishead LP is finally closer to being finished. According to a blog posted by Geoff Barrow, the album, which has been ten years in the making, is currently in the mixing stage.

While no other details have been announced, Portishead are the curators for this year's (All Tomorrow's Parties sponsored) Nightmare Before Christmas Festival going down in Minehead, England on December 7-9. The band will also perform among the likes of Thurston Moore, Black Mountain, Silver Apples, Aphex Twin and a slew of others.

Portishead -- Elysium

Here is Portishead's blog and get their albums here.

Unstoppable

The headline: "Clinton has lead in New Hampshire primary"

A 21-point lead that is...The poll has only 62% headed toward Barack, Hillary, and John...leaving a rather large undecided category or a surprising large number of Chris Dodd fans...Some of the lower tier candidates might drop out before New Hampshire but the Big 3 are here to stay until at least Super Tuesday, February 5th [in which 20 states have primaries.]

Whenever articles are printed about Hillary's lead in national polls, they ignore the fact that our candidates are not chosen that way. It doesn't really matter if Hillary is leading in the national polls if she loses the Iowa caucus, New Hampshire, Michigan, and South Carolina primaries...But Hillary is pulling close in Iowa and leading in New Hampshire, things are looking...wait for it...UNSTOPPABLE.

House of Brothers

There is music that is spontaneous and energetic and there is music that is carefully crafted and thought through. The new band House of Brothers falls into the 2nd group with their orchestration and pop melodies. Right now, you can download the single "Deadman" for free:

House of Brothers -- Deadman

Poison Control Center

What encompasses the Midwest? Like pornography, I can't really describe it but I know it when I see it.

Some basic ground rules: Ohio is not in the Midwest. Any state in the Eastern Time zone is not in the Midwest...I almost want to say the Midwest is west of the Mississippi and East of the Rockies but then you're eliminating Wisconsin and Illinois...Also, any state that fought in the Confederacy isn't in the Midwest...they are in the South. End of discussion. This eliminates Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas.

I think of this as I listen to my Midwest brothers, Poison Control Center from Ames, Iowa.

They have a great little ditty "Glory Us" which reminds me of Eels vocals vs. Mates of State's organ.

Poison Control Center -- Glory Us

PCC have an album and an EP out on Afternoon Records. Get them here.

Jango

Since we here at YASR are now a big time music blog, we get a lot of corporate swag sent to use that we have to donate to the Goodwill...I mean who needs two of the new Toyota Matrices anyway?...

One of the benefits I have been enjoying over the past week has been a promo look at the a new social music site, Jango. It's a little bit like last.fm, a little like iLike, and a little bit like Facebook.

Anyway, I like it and I have some promo invites and I can give away...if you are interested just drop me an email and I will send you one [supplies are limited...not too sure how long it takes to recharge my invites].

I'm Not The Only One To Notice This I Hope

Jack McBrayer a.k.a Kenneth the NBC Page from 30 Rock

John Edwards a.k.a Candidate for President

Uncomfortable Headline of the Day

"Jewish Power Dominates at Vanity Fair"

Here is some additional information:

It's a list of "the world's most powerful people," 100 of the bankers and media moguls, publishers and image makers who shape the lives of billions. It's an exclusive, insular club, one whose influence stretches around the globe but is concentrated strategically in the highest corridors of power.

More than half its members, at least by one count, are Jewish.

Bad Religion -- American Jesus (Live)

Bad Religion have a new album out called New Maps of Hell which you can get here.

Vern Funk

This is Seattle...this is what it is all about...this is real...it is not a parody...well, it is a parody...but this is a real insurance company...and a very successful one at that...

Photos

Blogger's photos aren't working right currently...hopefully the problem will fix itself...until then imagine a big old black pirate flag photo in the Pirate Prude post.

UPDATE: So now the pirate photo works but the older ones don't....mmmm.....

Pirate Prude

I'll keep this short: Pirate Prude rock.

Pirate Prude -- Devil's Hairslut

Get more free songs here. The Pirate Prude blog is here.

Juviley

You never know what is waiting for you in your inbox...recently my level of spam has gone through the roof and so I am getting a little less careful about what I send to the "report spam" folder of my gmail...an email from this group...well, singer/songwriter almost had the same fate last week...

I was glad I noticed it before it was too late...Juviley is Or Zublasky from New York City who makes beautiful pop music. Comparisons to Belle & Sebastian and Elliott Smith would be appropriate. In the song available for download here, "Go Try Again" I hear a lot of the Kings of Convenience...that sort of sound made while reflecting on your life on a cloudy Saturday afternoon...

Juviley -- Go Try Again

You can buy the entire Juviley album from his myspace page here.

Upcoming show:
October 10th, 7:00pm
Juviley @ Wicked Willy's
149 Bleecker St.
New York, NY 10012

Album 7

I just pre-ordered Album 7 from Radiohead...officially titled In Rainbows. In my earlier post about the news of the release I didn't mention that there is no "official price" and you can pay whatever you think if fair. A very interesting idea considering a typical record contract [for a band of Radiohead stature] would give the band between $2-3 a CD. Now that Radiohead is record company free, nearly the entire purchase price goes straight to Thom and the Boys.

That being said, I bought my copy for $12.99 [6.38 pounds + a .45 pound service fee]. I am more than happy with this because I had given up hope for any new Radiohead release this year and I love the fact that I learned about the release and get in in under a week and a half. I am not the typical buyer however as I will happily pay for the downloads and then buy the set that comes out in December...

The confirmation email they sent me says that I will receive another email on the 10th...tick tock...tick tock

The Truest Things Tony Snow Ever Said

From The Raw Story:

Letterman told Snow he keeps hearing what a warm, cordial man Bush is in private, but that "something happens when you put him in front of an audience. ... He can't get it, it's stuck in gear. ... Is that a fair assessment?"

"Yeah," said Snow. "And there are time you want to just dash your brains out against the wall."

$220,000 Reasons to Change Things

The track listing that cost Jamie Thomas $220,000:

Guns N Roses "Welcome to the Jungle"; "November Rain"
Vanessa Williams "Save the Best for Last"
Janet Jackson "Let's What Awhile"
Gloria Estefan "Here We Are"; "Coming Out of the Heart"; "Rhythm is Gonna Get You"
Goo Goo Dolls "Iris"
Journey "Faithfully"; "Don't Stop Believing"
Sara McLachlan "Possession"; "Building a Mystery"
Aerosmith "Cryin'"
Linkin Park "One Step Closer
Def Leppard "Pour Some Sugar on Me"
Reba McEntire "One Honest Heart"
Bryan Adams "Somebody"
No Doubt "Bathwater"; "Hella Good"; "Different People"
Sheryl Crow "Run Baby Run"
Richard Marx "Now and Forever"
Destiny's Child "Bills, Bills, Bills"
Green Day "Basket Case"

I have always been a little hesitant about posting songs on this blog from artists that have not expressly asked me to...and this case makes me reexamine those thoughts. So from here on out, I will just post music sent to me by the artists themselves and free tracks available on official band websites.

Shiver Down The Spine Of Every Music Blogger

This case [for which Wired is writing a great blog about] going on in Duluth, MN should make every music blogger stop and think a little bit...why aren't bloggers getting sued by the RIAA yet?

More West Wing, More Massive Attack (Sort of )

My buddy Craig suggests an even better West Wing choreographed segment than the Zoe Kidnapping/Massive Attack's "Angel" clip. This clip comes from the Season 2 episode "Two Cathedrals" and features Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms." The context here is a press conference following the disclosure that the President has MS and the press wondering if he is going to run again.



Tip of the hat to MGR, who sent along a cover of Massive Attack's "Angel" by Sepultura which changes the tone of the song significantly.

Sepultura -- Angel [Massive Attack Cover]

Strange Bedfellows

I must admit that I have listened to my fair share of Rush Limbaugh over t he years. We don’t have too much in common politically, but he is entertaining if you have mastered the skill of cognitive dissonance. I also appreciate Rush has the same pull that Howard Stern has; people who disagree with him listen to hear what he will say next.

If you have ever listened, you are undoubtedly familiar with Rush’s intro music played at the start of his show and returning from commercial breaks. It is essentially a catchy base line repeated over and over again with no lyrics.

The tune Rush uses is a small part of “My City Was Gone” by The Pretenders which on the surface is amusing, given lead singer Chrissie Hynde’s liberal political leanings (see examples here and here). Music does make strange bedfellows.

It turned out that Rush had been using the song as his theme and not paying royalties for the song’s use. In 1998, Hynde was successful in getting Rush to stop using the song temporarily. A month later, they agreed on a compromise: Rush could use the song and donate his royalty payments to PETA.

The Pretenders -- My City Was Gone

I can't find an official Pretenders website, so buy their albums through Insound here. Donate to PETA here.

I'm Suprised

I am surprised by the size of the beatdown that Hillary gave Barack this quarter ($27 million total vs. $20 million total). When you look at money just for the primary election, things get a little closer ($22 million for Hillary vs. $19 million for Barack). I really thought Hillary had tapped out her donors in the first few quarters and that Barack's "lots of small donors" trend would continue and expand...I haven't seen yet what Barack had for total number of donors but Hillary claims to have added 100,000 new donors...

Poor John Edwards brought in 7 million dollars...

I am eagerly awaiting the Republican totals...I think Mitt & Rudy will be fairly close with Fred Thompson raising less than John Edwards....

Guilty Simpson -- Money Motivated Movements

This song is from the Adult Swim compilation Chrome Children Volume 2 get it here.

All I Want For Christmas Are Tickets To See The Verve

The Verve have announced a small four date tour in December...unfortunantly the tour stops are in London, Glasgow, Belfast, and Manchester....so Santa, I need airline tickets as well....


Mogwai -- Christmas Steps


Mogwai's drummer is auctioning off his old pacemaker for charity. Bid on it here.

Holy Crap, The New Radiohead Album Comes Out October 10th

LP 7 is here!...well in download form at least on October 10th...The album is called In Rainbows and the official website is here.

Here is a track listing...with information on a bonus disk that will be available when In Rainbows is available in physical form December 3rd.

Tracklist For In Rainbows:

01. 5 Step
02. Bodysnatchers

03. Nude

04. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi

05. All I Need

06. Faust Arp

07. Reckoner

08. House of Cards

09. Jigsaw Falling Into Place

10. Videotape

Bonus Disc:

01. MK 1

02. Down Is the New Up

03. Go Slowly

04. MK 2

05. Last Flowers

06. Up On The Ladder

07. Bangers And Mash

08. 4 Minute Warning

Holy Crap, I'm Made the Top 10

When I started writing these posts, in my mind I envisioned my girlfriend and my mom reading my posts and not much else...but over the weekend this blog made the Top 10 most popular tracks at the Hype Machine for my Ben Harper post...Wow...

Here is Hype Machine's front page...

And when you scroll down a little bit...there we are...

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...

Eddie Money -- Two Tickets to Paradise

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.

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

Ben Harper -- Strawberry Fields Forever (Beatles Cover)

Be sure to buy your Ben Harper Belt Buckle here.

Star Wars

My favorite clip from the Robot Chicken Star Wars episode:

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.

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...

The Beach Boys -- Be True To Your School (Single Version)

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!

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!

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...

The Arctic Monkeys -- If You Found This It's Probably Too Late

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.

Black Sabbath -- Laguna Sunrise

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.

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.

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."

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.

Rilo Kiley -- Dejalo

Rilo Kiley -- Close Call

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."

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 -- Just Impolite

Plushgun's Myspace page.

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.

Freestylers -- Freestyle Noize

Buy all the Freestylers albums here.

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.

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:

Eskimo Joe -- Black Fingernails, Red Wine

Buy the new album here.

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...

Oasis -- Eyeball Tickler (Rare b-side)

Embrace -- Keeping

The Smithereens -- I Saw Her Standing There (Beatles Cover)

Patton Oswalt -- At Midnight I Will Kill George Lucas With A Shovel

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.

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

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."

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.

Manic Street Preachers -- If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next (Massive Attack Remix) **Highest Recommendation**

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.

Silverchair -- Straight Lines

Buy all the Silverchair albums here.

Saturday Afternoon Is For Dancing

Goldfrapp -- Number 1 (Alan Braxe and Fred Falke Main Remix)

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