Hopefully Maron Isn't Just A Louie Clone

I know we don't see a lot of Louie CK's parent's on Louie...I think we've only had one episode with Louie's mother, if I remember correctly...but when Marc Maron''s friends are introduced as being all stand-up comedians, just like Louie's, it's just too hard not too compare the two the two shows.  Don't get me wrong, the world would definitely be a better place with more shows of the caliber of Louie but having listened to many, many, many WTF episodes I think that critical comparisons between Louie and Maron will drive Marc crazy and so I would have thought he would have gone out of his way to make the shows significantly different...even if it possibly made it not quite as good as it could be.  Either way, I'll be watching May 3rd.

 

Rhett Miller's Voice Needs A Break

The Old 97's Rhett Miller is having some major vocal problems recently and some 97's show have had to be cancelled.  Here's one of my favorites from the Blame It On Gravity album from 2008 called "Dance With Me."

You can find more Old 97's songs to stream on their SoundCloud page.

The Boxer Rebellion Have A New Video

The new Boxer Rebellion video "Diamonds" is out tomorrow...but it's up on YouTube now so here you go:



It's a slow burner that I really like.  I'm a little embarrassed to say that I wasn't familiar with The Boxer Rebellion until seeing Going The Distance with my wife a couple of years ago.  I've been a fan ever since and I'm really looking forward to their new album which is due this year.

You can currently get a six-song EP on their website for free and for your listening enjoyment here's a nice cover of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence."

All Six Star Wars Movies At Once

It's not quite as awesome as The Shining shown backwards and forwards at the same time but all six Star Wars movies at once is pretty good. At least get through the first minute to hear the main title themes piling on top of each other as they are slightly delayed by a few seconds on each film.

   

Here's a quick little live version of the theme played by Buckethead who then transforms his guitar into a blaster and something sounding a little like R2D2.

Buckethead -- Star Wars Main Theme [Live] [mp3]
You can find the full video here and buy Buckethead's albums here.

New Daft Punk Album Cover

Daft Punk's new album Random Access Memories comes out May 21st and you can order it here.

Begin Here: Tyrannosaurus Dead

In this series we give you the key songs that you should check out from newer artists.

Today's group is Tyrannosaurus Dead from England.  They have a new EP Pure//Apart coming out in June and you can preview two songs below.  I really enjoy their fuzzed out style and "Soft" "will certainly be making its way into my top songs for 2013.

  "Soft"

The second song is called "Sadie" and is certainly at least the second greatest song ever with the name "Sadie" in the title.
 

These two songs are back to back on the EP and they flow very nicely into one another.  You pick up the Pure//Apart EP on the bands Bandcamp page.

YouTube Deep Tracks: Live Zombies

In this series we comb YouTube for live tracks or rarities of some of my favorite artists.  

My favorite group from the 1960's would have to be The Zombies and I've written about that a couple of times.  Today's YouTube Deep Track is a live version of "Gotta Get A Hold Of Myself" from the British TV show called the Hippodrome Show.  The song itself was a UK single only and you won't find it on either of the Zombies official albums Begin Here or Odessey and Oracle but it is regularly found on Zombies collections like my personal favorite Absolutely The Best.



The Zombies -- Gotta Get A Hold Of Myself [Live from Hippodrome Show, 1966] [mp3]
You can purchase the studio version of this song here.

A New Direction For Sigur Ros

I'm really enjoying the new Sigur Ros song " Brennistein."  Here's the new video which reminds me of Tool more than what you typically expect from Sigur Ros.



Their new album Kveikur doesn't come out until June and you can order it here.  Here is what they have selected for their album cover.

Nick Offerman's Ode To Paste Magazine

Nick Offerman a.k.a. Ron Swanson from Parks and Recreation is currently on the cover of Paste Magazine and to celebrate he wrote a short song thanking them for the honor.  I like it a lot!

Nick Offerman -- Ode To Paste Magazine

You can subscribe to Paste here and get a free t-shirt in return.  

Archie Bunker's Thoughts On Minnesota

I've been working through the entire run of All in the Family and I've been really enjoying it. Here's a video clip I made for Archie's thoughts on Minnesota:



The All in the Family theme song went through a few different versions and the one highlighted below is from the later seasons when Carroll O'Conner and Jean Stapleton sang the lyrics a little slower so everyone could understand the line "Gee, our old LaSalle ran great."

All in the Family Theme [Version from later seasons] 

And here is a longer piano version of the closing theme played by Roger Kellaway.

Roger Kellaway -- Remembering You [All in the Family Closing Theme]

You can buy All in the Family DVDs here.

New Low

Low have always been one of my favorite local bands...they hail from Duluth and I'm from Wisconsin...I know, not too local but still you take what you can get.  You can grab their new song "So Blue" from the upcoming The Invisible Way on Soundcloud right now.  


For the video of "So Blue" they would like to be sent photos that are inspired by the song. You can find more information on that on their Facebook page.

You can also pre-order The Invisible Way here.

Rifftrax Kickstarter Campaign + MST3K Theme Song Variations

I'm a huge fan of Mystery Science Theater and Rifftrax and so I was excited to see that Rifftrax recently started a Kickstarter campaign to purchase the rights to Twilight which would let them host a live riffing to theaters across the country later this year.  Their goal was $55,000 and so far they are nearly $100,000 over their goal.  Twilight here we come!

Here's a clip explaining the Kickstarter campaign:


Here are a bunch of different versions of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 theme song...some with Joel and some with Mike singing.

Sung by Joel Hodgson:

MST3K Theme Song KTMA Version
MST3K Theme Song Season 1-4

Sung by Mike Nelson:

MST3K Theme Song Season 5-6
MST3K Theme Song Season 7
MST3K Theme Song Season 8-9
MST3K Theme Song Season 10

And here's the instrumental from the end credits

MST3K Love Theme

Here's the official Mystery Science Theater home page and you can  buy all the MST3K DVDs from Shout Factory.

Eraserhead and The Eraserheads

It took the better part of two days of stopping and starting but I finally finished watching David Lynch's Eraserhead.  In some ways this movie screams for a Mystery Science Theater or Rifftrax take on it while at other points there are some truly beautiful/disturbing visuals that justify this films cult status.  I don't believe the film had a proper trailer at it's release in 1977 but here is a fan made trailer that will give you an idea of what you'll experience watching this film.


While searching around for clips/commentary to the film I discovered a band called The Eraserheads from the Phillipines who were very popular in the 1990's.  As you might imagine it is super catchy, chorus heavy rock...which is right up my alley.

The Eraserheads -- Magasin

Buy Eraserheads music here.
The Eraserheads official site.

Similar Album Covers

Since I'm on the subject of Alabama Shakes, here is their album cover:

It more than reminds me of one of my favorite albums from 2006, The Black Angels' Passover.

Alabama Shakes -- Hold On [Live]

This is one of my favorite Saturday Night Live performances from the past couple of years. "Hold On" is the first track from Alabama Shakes great debut Boy and Girls.