the brooklyn

Just writing

2011-09-10T07:34:00.000-04:00

I jumped on today with nothing specific to say. I dumped my FB page because it was taking up too much time, and I rarely get online for anything more than paying an occasional bill so I guess here is where I have to open my heart. Don't be sad for me, though...I am filling my days and moments with my wife, my two year old daughter, my four year old daughter, and my eight year old son. Oh yeah, and the occasional football game. My music addiction may never go away though. At least I don't see that happening.
I have been taking a couple of hours one evening a week to fill with extra-curricular activities without the family, and for months I have been hanging out with a couple of friends, watching lectures on existentialism and talking about our spiritual journeys. In the past couple of weeks the schedule has changed and the evening has been whittled down to two of us, looking for a way to stay out of trouble on our only night out. We have now put our heads together & decided that we will start a radio station.
Don't get the wrong idea here. While I come on this blog & rail about how much I hate the radio I have realized that quite the opposite is true. I love terrestrial radio and only wish that it...hmmm...how do I put this...I wish it wasn't so CORPORATE sounding. I wish that it didn't suck so bad. I wish that they would play new music before it is a tried true money maker. The problem is that radio is a business with no actual feelings toward what it plays. The soft rock station says "People like James Taylor? Let's play Fire & Rain 6 times a day". The hard rock/classic rock station says "People like Ozzy? Let's play Crazy Train 6 times a day". The top forty station says "People like Lady Gaga? Let's play 'Insert Lady Gaga Song Here' 9 times a day". What if someone turned on their soft rock radio station & heard Fleet Foxes? I turned a friend on to Fleet Foxes last year. He's my dads age & he loved it. Of course he had never heard of them until someone actually showed him that people who went to Woodstock and people who listened to Crosby, Stills, & Nash when they were young can still listen to new music. It just has to be introduced to them. So everyone wants to blame the digital revolution for ruining record sales, and there is some truth to that. But when I was young, new music was played all the time on the radio. I bought many a record after hearing it for the first time on radio. Now I can't stand turning the radio on & hearing the same music day after day after day. People say that radio is dead but radio just needs to wake up. Satellite radio, internet radio, Pandora...all of these mediums get it...why don't you?

-nino

An eclectic metal evening

2011-07-30T11:49:00.000-04:00

I was, quite literally, afraid that this was going to be an ear splitting assault. Friday, July 29th, at BackBooth in Orlando ended up being an eclectic, even melodic, night of technical music. Four bands & one solo artist, and four+ hours of standing.
The show opened with Evan Brewer playing bass. If there was not a seven foot tall guy with a hat on in front of me I would have appreciated this even more. Evan sat & played about four songs, one in which he sat a guitar on his lap & played both simultaneously. Amazing.

Evan Brewer - Currency

Next up came Last Chance To Reason & I couldn't really get into it. The musicians were very technical, but the songs seemed like they were all over the place, not very cohesive. The singer has about four different styles of singing which he would sometimes use in the same song. Tech geeks may get into it but as my buddy Chase said after their show "There was nothing to take away from the show that would set them apart from any other tech metal band" so that about sums it up for me.

Last Chance To Reason - Upload Complete

Third band on the setlist was Dead Letter Circus. These guys were polished and quite different from the bands that bookended them. While the music was technical and hard edged, it was...pop oriented...? The songs were memorable, the singer sounded great (he was the only "singer" of the night), and this morning I bought their debut CD This Is The Warning which just came out last week in the US. Check this out...

Dead Letter Circus - One Step

Intronaut played fourth. By this time my feet were tired from standing in one place for over two hours & I was ready for Animals As Leaders. Intronaut was different than many tech or prog metal bands I have heard. They had harmony vocals at times to go along with the growling, and the whole band is quite amazing. They are bass-heavy & if I had not stood through three bands before them I mayhave been even more impressed.

Intronaut - Sunderance

Finally ANIMALS AS LEADERS! I was honestly very surprised to see that the show sold out and that there was a manic frenzy for Tosin Abasi, the eight-stringed guitar player & leader for this band. One of the bands earlier in the night remarked that two years ago a show with a bunch of "Nerd Bands" would not have had this many people there. He was right! This place was packed full to see this amazingly technical band play & they did not disappoint anyone. The place erupted when Tosin walked onstage. and the crowd was frenzied through the 45 minute show. The three piece band was just stellar & although their show was not nearly long enough, the four hour evening left my ears ringing, even into this morning. Getting close to 40, I don't know how many more of these aggressive shows I can make it to, but for at least one night I felt as if I was 25 again.

Animals As Leaders - CAFO (Live)

Tosin Abasi - Song Of Solomon

See you soon!!

-n

Music is important...?

2011-06-08T07:14:00.001-04:00

I mean...what I'm asking is do I have to have something important to say whenever I come here to blog? To be fair we are talking about music, and while it is an art that is very near & dear to my heart it's not of immediate importance. It's not like "Hey watch out for that Lady Gaga song" & people have to go diving into the bushes.
Music is important is a much more subtle way for lack of a better term. It operates as a soundtrack for your youth, helping you reload memories. You can also attach your emotions to a song that you hear in a particularly memorable moment in life. For the songwriter music is often a path for relaying something that is on their heart. Sure, there are those that just write words on paper without an apparent deeper meaning, but I like to focus on those who have issues that they are working out in their music. Spiritual struggles are so interesting to listen in on. It tells the listener that we are not alone in the struggle between God & man, that it rages inside of the songwriter as well.

I don't just offer that people should listen to such artists as Slayer, or Me'shell Ndegeocello unless you understand that while some artists may share your struggles with spiritual issues, others may have had different experiences in life & look at the issues in a different way than you will. While a band like U2 may have a very positive spiritual outlook there are others who don't believe or struggle with their beliefs. David Bazan from the band Pedro The Lion has had a very public breaking away from God through the lyrics of his music & it is, quite frankly, fascinating to listen to someone struggle with issues he has believed throughout his life. The Merry Monk has a great article on David Bazan. Hey I have to go to work but we could talk more about this...

-nino

Sunday Listening

2011-06-05T17:18:00.001-04:00

Back to my writing exercises! I spent a good amount of time on Thursday evening with author, producer, blogger, man-about-town and fellow deviant Erik Guzman. His site is The Merry Monk and...well let's just say that you should proceed with caution the first time you visit the site. The ideas & opinions that you come up against on Erik's site may indeed cause your life's direction to be challenged. Don't say I didn't warn you. Erik gave me a pep talk about writing for life as we enjoyed large glasses of, uh, iced tea...at a nice cafe in town called Wally's. So here I go, again, on my own...going down the only road I've ever known. heh.
Sundays are great. A desirable Sunday for me involves very little movement as this should be the apex of the week, the pinnacle of a hard worked run of days culminating in the placing upwards of feet and the listening to relaxing music. Obvious to most parents who have three children this does not ever happen for long amounts of time. The most you can hope for is that the young'uns take a nap at the same time & the house is not completely out of order while they sleep. THEN the relaxing may begin. For a moment. So enjoy it quickly, if that even makes sense. But I digress. At some point I am going to talk about some music here.

Our day began with A Love Supreme by John Coltrane. What better way to thank God for the day of rest than by listening to Coltrane's most spiritual work during breakfast? This album is just stellar. If you are looking for a gateway into great jazz look no further. a bit later I threw on All Shook Down by The Replacements as I built a train track for the babies. Mellow and perhaps the most coherant release by Minnesota's indie rockers, "the mats" gave us this jem right before Paul Westerberg struck out on the solo trail. just as I began writing this I put on Either/Or by Elliott Smith. Elliott continues to give me pause even after his death almost eight years ago, and Either/Or is just stunning. Tracks like Ballad of Big Nothing and Angeles are amazing! Just do me a favor and check out Elliott Smith one day. Anyways my day has been more relaxing than I could even imagine, so I should count my blessings as they sleep. Have a good Sunday, and we will see you as the week goes on.

-n

Been far gone...

2011-06-02T08:23:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I've posted here. The Examiner.com gig was fun for a while but the discipline of it was tough. I will continue to work on being consistent with my writing (here on thebrooklyn) but it gets tough writing about metal 24/7. The thing is that I need to write about more varied music styles than just metal. If I was only a headbanger then I would certainly love to write solely about the new Amon Amarth Viking Metal record, and how Peter Steele from Type O Negative returned to the Roman Catholic Church soon before his tragic death last year. I would write about the new biography by Lars Ulrich's friend Mick Wall Enter Night & how it doesn't always paint the prettiest picture of the biggest metal band in the world. I would tell you about the new prog-metal movement & how Tobin Abasi & his new band Animals As Leaders are an instrumental class act of the new movement. All of these things and more would come from me if I only wrote about metal but I don't have the discipline to keep to one style.

Instead I want to have the opportunity to let you know that Radiohead has a stunning new record entitled King Of Limbs in which the band has truly embraced the sound they created in a way that defines them. I want to continue to talk about the serious addiction that I have developed for Frank Turner & his free spirited music & lyric. I want to be able to talk about Johnny Cash & why he is still such an American Treasure. Speaking of American Treasures, I wouldn't be able to talk about Bob Dylan if I only wrote about metal, and that would just make me wither & die inside. Rock & Roll is far too broad a subject for me to be so specific.
Don't get me wrong, I love a good metal article. I subscribe to Revolver & even pick up the occasional Metal Hammer magazine from the UK so i can keep myself up to date on the current state of metal. I'm just trying to justify the fact that I have a hard time staying disciplined to even writing a blog on a weekly basis, much less making it genre specific. Now, if Rolling Stone comes to me & requests that I write them an article monthly I will do my best to keep up. They certainly will pay better than Examiner. Otherwise, free is where I want to be. Free to be, writing for you & me.

you stay cool internet.

-n

Tickets, Ticketmaster, & The Evil Bon Jovi.

2011-02-22T07:19:00.000-05:00

So I like to go & see concerts. To me there is nothing quite like seeing a band live. From Bob Dylan to Slayer to Rogue Wave every band brings something interesting to the stage when they come in concert. Nowadays I like to go to smaller venues to see shows as the larger arenas don't seem to rock like they used to. The intimacy of a small club beats out large crowds pretty much every time. Now there's another reason not to go see big bands in large venues.
In the late eighties rock & roll was new to me as I had been brought up on a lot of southern gospel. Watching the video for Living On A Prayer & Wanted Dead Or Alive by Bon Jovi made me want to go see those guys. I mean what better concert could there be than a guy flying through the air like Superman to a 15 year old! For a short time Jon Bon Jovi was my hero. I say that with just a small twinge of embarrassment, but hey...why start trying to be hip now?

Alas I never got to see Bon Jovi in their heyday but they recently announced that they are back on tour. An email I got boasted $20.00 presale tickets, and even though I probably would not take the dive to see them I wanted to see what that kind of money could buy me. It turns out that Bon Jovi tickets, like most other tickets these days, are sold from the lower class to the high class. Fans that don't have a lot of extra money can go see Bon Jovi in the back of the arena for $20 - $40 and binoculars are NOT included. If you want to go see the show up in the front rows or in the pit where Jon himself may come out & sing to you that ticket ends up costing you somewhere around $1500 per ticket. That's right, you can't even get near those good seats unless you have $500 or more.
So back in 1994 when I saw Pink Floyd on the Division Bell tour I got my tickets early and sat in the 4th row centerstage. Those tickets didn't cost me extra. The fact is that I was a big fan, got my tickets early, & got to see one of my favorite bands waaaaay up in front. Nowadays I couldn't afford those tickets unless I wanted to get behind on my house payments. Everyone wants to know what's wrong with the music industry. Let me just say that gouging fans is not one of the answers. I love small venue shows because you can see the artist play & enjoy the show without straining to see who exactly is on stage. I may not be able to see the more popular artists because they only play large venues, but I'll take that. Rock & roll is alive in well in America. Just not at a Bon Jovi concert.

nonpoint & Straight Line Stitch at Firestone

2011-01-23T10:32:00.000-05:00

First things first; much love should be going out to The Club at Firestone at 578 N Orange Ave in Orlando. They have picked up the fumble of other clubs in the area & are running metal through downtown at a pace not seen since, well, not seen ever. The lineup over the next few months include metal mainstays Glassjaw, Cradle of Filth, Helmet, Accept, Sepultura and more. The Club says that the metal crowd has been great for them so keep it up! See shows there, tip your bartenders, & make sure that Firestone continues to book metal shows there by being a responsible metal fan. Go to www.firestonelive.ne t to check out who's playing & when, & examiner.com will certainly do it's best to keep you updated.

Friday, January 21st saw nonpoint come through Orlando with Straight Line Stitch in tow. The crowd was down the street waiting to get in but the line moved fast. The place was already filling up when I got in. Local band nuERA opened the show & had a good amount of fans in the club, getting a lot of love from the crowd. They got a pit going on the floor during their set which security seemed to keep an eye on, only getting involved when someone got airborne.

Straight Line Stitch came on around 10pm. The club was filling up by that time & the band got a great response throughout their short set. They opened with a track off their forthcoming release Fight Of Our Lives which drops on March 22nd, 2011. They then played a greatest hits package of their last disc When Skies Wash Ashore, throwing in one more new track called Barroom Brawl before ending their set with Black Veil. Guitarist Seth Thacker (In a Flock Of Seagulls t-shirt, no less) said that the set was shorter as they are using a fill-in guitarist right now & didn't have too much time to learn new tracks. No matter as they blew the house up & made a few new fans on the way. They have big touring plans for the summer & I'm sure Central Florida will see them again soon.

By the time South Orlando's nonpoint hit the stage the club was packed solid. The band opened the show with their first single off their 2010 release Miracle and won over at least this examiner.com reviewer who has never been a giant fan of the Alternative Metal genre as a whole. For a veteran band with eight releases under their wing they played with energy & punch, and singer Elias Soriano owned the club throughout the night. The crowd jumped, shouted, surfed, sang, & partied with the band like they were hanging out at a bonfire in Longwood. So nonpoint lit the crowd up and for the price of a ticket ($14.00 in advance, $18.00 at the door) the show was worth every penny.

Times of Grace & the return of Jesse Leach

2011-01-17T18:47:00.001-05:00

New article for examiner.com please check me out.

http://www.examiner.com/metal-music-in-orlando/times-of-grace-the-return-of-jesse-leach-review

The Dichotomy of Alexis Brown

2011-01-12T08:40:00.000-05:00

I write about metal for the Examiner.com here in Orlando. Since writing separate articles seems like an impossibility, at times I will cheat & place a link to my examiner article here on my thebrooklyn page.
Please click here & support your thebrooklyn in my attempts to become a rich & famous rock & roll journalist. Aaaaand as always I thank you for your support.

-nino

The state of metal - 2010 & Beyond - Orlando Metal Music | Examiner.com

2011-01-03T16:28:00.000-05:00

The state of metal - 2010 & Beyond - Orlando Metal Music | Examiner.com

The Christmas mix for 2010...

2010-12-22T07:10:00.000-05:00

I made a few "musical" Christmas cards this year. I put some of my favorite holiday songs on a disc & handed them out with a note of good cheer. If you need a primer on some hip holiday music let me give you my list of favorites...

1. Early On One Christmas Morn - Bruce Cockburn

Early On One Christmas Morn by Bruce Cockburn

More Bruce Cockburn music on iLike

2. Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
3. Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing - Sufjan Stevens

4. You're A Mean One Mr Grinch - Thurl Ravenscroft
5. Baby, It's Cold Outside - Johnny Mercer & Margaret Whiting

Baby It's Cold Outside by Johnny Mercer

More Johnny Mercer music on iLike

6. Must Be Santa -Bob Dylan

7. Gabriel's Message - Sting
8. Greensleeves - John Coltrane
9. I'll Be Home For Christmas - Elvis Presley
10. Away In A Manger - Johnny Cash
11. Please Come Home For Christmas - James Brown
12. Santa Claud Got Stuck In My Chimney - Ella Fitzgerald
13. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - U2

14. Silver Bells - Lou Monte
15. Run Rudolph Run - Chuck Berry
16. We Wish You A Merry Christmas - Weezer
17. Christmas Time Is Here - Vince Guaraldi
18. Deilig Er Jordan - Kings Of Convenience

That's the list! Check out some of these, have a happy , safe, holiday season, & give love to those around you.

-nino

A hastily thrown together metal mix...

2010-12-15T17:06:00.000-05:00

...Is still a metal mix. today I listened to the big four of thrash, I listened to System of A Down, Skid Row, Motley Crue, Living Sacrifice, Demon Hunter...I listened to Hair of A Dog by Nazareth. Queensryche, Judas Priest, Heaven & Hell, Ozzy, Zombie, Maiden, and Tesla. There was very little rhyme or reason to my list other than the need to fit as much rage into my day as possible.

I gotta say, it worked out pretty well.

I mixed two Ryan Adams records in between all this metal & it seemed to cut the mix up pretty well. Ryan Adams is pretty metal for an alt-country rock guy. Plus I needed to get back into the metal mood slowly or I might end up tackling someone with all that pent up anger & hate that metal is supposed to bring. Cardinology is a solid rocking disc By Ryan Adams & the Cardinals. They have a new disc that came out yesterday that I will probably purchase with some Christmas iTunes money if any comes my way. If no Christmas iTunes money comes my way then I will probably break down & buy it sometime the week after Christmas. Now the only question is whether I buy on iTunes or get a hard disc.

If I have time tonight I may put together a better mix of metal. I did miss out on listening to some Zeppelin today, & there were a few other notables (How did I miss Alice Cooper?) but all in all it was a rewarding day. Not once did I hear The First Noel.

-nino

A Metal Christmas?

2010-12-15T06:52:00.000-05:00

I've been filling my days up with countless indie bands, and alt-rockers. Last night, though, I woke up in the middle of the night missing metal. It feels like I have forgotten to call a close friend for weeks now & then woke up & thought of him. Yea, that friend...the one who still wears an Overkill t-shirt...the one who doesn't have any jeans that aren't ripped, or any pants that aren't jeans...the one with the long stringy hair & the beer belly...I need to make a call to metal guy today.

The people at work are going to want to hear Baby It's Cold Outside & instead they will hear Cold Ethyl. They will want to sing along to Jingle Bells but all they will hear is Hells Bells. White Christmas won't be playing, but World Painted Blood just might be. That's right, Metal Nino has returned. It may only be for one day...at least you will hope so. Then again he may be back for an extended stay, say, through Christmas? It's not that I don't like Christmas music. I mean, what kind of a person doesn't like Away In A Manger sung by the one & only Johnny Cash? All I'm saying is today I feel like I have to listen to loud guitars. So Let's meet back here at the end of the day & I'll have a list for you. Don't I always? Hope you're looking forward to your day as much as I am...

-nino

More lists or rather not

2010-12-13T17:31:00.000-05:00

Well, not a list...

I actually just put random songs on my mix today. I think there were three full albums intertwined in the various random songs. I can't remember the first full album I listened to, but I remember Thickfreakness by The Black Keys because, well, it's Thickfreakness & it's hard to forget. Greasy blues are never a bad thing. Currently I'm listening to Ryan Adams' Easy Tiger. The more I listen to Ryan Adams the more I like Ryan Adams. He has a new disc coming out real soon, so that's something to be excited about as well. Sorry so short today but life intrudes. I may have more for you tomorrow.

001101010101nino0101111010101010

A bebop Friday

2010-12-10T17:19:00.000-05:00

I love listening to Jazz. I don't know if there's something that I'm missing, maybe I don't get the big picture...but there is something about listening to the greats that just makes my workday fly by. Today I listened to Charles Mingus' East Coasting & Miles Davis Birth Of The Cool...I listened to Herbie Hancock & I listened to Roy Eldridge & Dizzy Gillespie. i listened to other things during the day, but I don't even want to bring the name of modern rock & roll artists up in the same paragraph as these guys. Some people say it sounds like elevator music, some would say that jazz listeners are snooty, some would rather listen to top 40 radio. Me, I think these artists pay tribute to their craft & their genre by giving us some of the best music on record in history. Here are a couple clips for you.

As always, thanks for listening...

-nino

Two Days of Music

2010-12-09T17:27:00.000-05:00

I had a "C" day yesterday. I started the day off with a Counting Crows marathon...

1. August & Everything After
2. Recovering The Satellites
3. This Desert Life
4. Hard Candy
5. Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings

...Very rewarding. After the Counting Crows party ended I was too tired to go far on my dial so I ended up on Colin Hay - Are You Lookin' At Me? That voice is so unmistakable.

..and then I went to Coconut Records' Davy Album. Jason Schwartzman (Funny as he is on bored to death) is made to be an indie singer/songwriter.

...and then I finished the day with Sonic Temple by The Cult.

Today was an altogether different day. My Friend Ann Feign mentioned the word Plastikman & made me want to listen to Sheet One, that brilliant 1993 Detroit electronica masterpiece. Richie Hawtin is one of the strong foundations that electronica has built on for many years. Take a listen...

After that I put on the new Deadmau5 4 X 4 = 12 which is very cool to work to. Then I listened to Mumford & Sons Sigh No More, although I have to say that I couldn't get too into it as work kept intruding on my listening. I listened to Brandon Flowers solo CD & I'm starting to like it more & more.

Grand Archives has a new Demo out which I believe you can get for free. Just go to http://www.grandarchives.com & you can DL demos of their new music for free. Now don't say that I didn't get you anything for Christmas.

-nino

Listening to on a Tuesday

2010-12-07T17:06:00.001-05:00

Listening to what, you may say? Today was a strange day. I didn't know what to do this morning, but you can't really go wrong with The Beatles. I think it was Weezer that threw me off. I had a bit of a nineties induced haze there for a bit this afternoon. you can make fun of the Smashing Pumpkins all day (I do occasionally) but don't mess with Pisces Iscariot. What a record. The Nine Inch Nails there at the end of the day made the office happy so there I am being a people-pleaser. Ah well, this is my full list for the day, with a few highlights lade into video form for your enjoyment. Listen to this...

1. The Beatles - A Hard Days Night
2. Okkervil River - The Stand Ins
3. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
4. Weezer - The Red Album
5. Smashing Pumpkins - Pisces Iscariot
6. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
7. The Jayhawks - Hollywood Town Hall
8. Janes Addiction - Nothing's Shocking
9. NIN - Pretty Hate Machine
10. NIN - Broken EP

See you real soon,

-nino

Listening 12.6.10

2010-12-06T16:53:00.000-05:00

Monday music

1. Frank Turner - Love Ire & Song
2. Fred Hammonds - Pages Of Life Chapter 1
3. R.E.M. - Document
4. Prince - Musicology
5. Justin Townes Earl - Harlem River Blues
6. Metallica - Master Of Puppets
7. Anthrax - State Of Euphoria
8. Beastie Boys - Ill Communications

These are great videos! Check it out man. Love Mondays...

-nino

Across the river from Canada....

2010-12-03T17:02:00.000-05:00

Is the very interesting city of Detroit in the cold beautiful State of Michigan. My listening today can be traced back to artists who made their home in Michigan at some point. If they have lived in Michigan then Michiganders can claim them & they do. Bill Haley (of Bill Haley & The Comets) lived in Michigan. So did Ted Nugent, Eminem, Kid Rock, & the MC5. Maybe you didn't know, but these artists I listened to today also hail from this frigid northern state. Check it out...

1. Rhythm Corps - Common Ground
2. Rhythm Corps - The Futures Not What It Used To Be
3. Brendan Benson - My Old, Familiar Friend
4. Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies
5. Iggy & The Stooges - Raw Power
6. Stevie Wonder - Talking Book
7. White Stripes - De Stijl
8. Patti Smith - Horses
9. Sufjan Stevens - Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lakes State

I hope everyone has a safe weekend, tip your server well...

-nino

Listening for December 2nd, 2010

2010-12-02T17:11:00.000-05:00

Busy day, but the music played all day...

1. Frank Turner - Love Ire & Song
2. The Florida Boys - On A Journey
3. Johnny Cash - My Mothers Hymnbook
4. John Coltrance - Giant Steps
5. Bruce Cockburn - Christmas
6. Broken Bells - Broken Bells
7. Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
8. Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary
9. Refused - Shape of Punk To Come

My dad gave me a CD he got in Dollywood of The Florida Boys out of Georgia. They are a southern gospel group, & the sound is right out of history.
Often John Coltrane gets me in a Christmas mood.
Refused is becoming my choice of end of the day music more & more.

-nino

Listening List 12/1/10

2010-12-01T17:03:00.000-05:00

1. Rhett Miller - The Instigator (at 7:30a)
Lead Singer of the Old 97's in his first solo disc - comfy morning pop
2. The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang
Jersey Boys 2010 release soulful rock record
3. The Jayhawks - Tomorrow The Green Grass
Re-Release coming in 2011 with additional tracks!
4. M. Ward - Hold Time
Folky songwriter finds mojo
5. Michael Knott - Life of David
Heartfelt Acoustasism
6. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of The Moon
Classic Psychedelic Album
7. Teenage Fanclub - Shadows
Great new disc from 90's alterna-pop rockers
8. Temple of The Dog
Back before Cornell left Soundgarden, a one-off masterpiece
9. 77's - Direct
Newish music from Southern Cal legends
10. Jakob Dylan - Women & Country
Produced by T Bone Burnett
11. Foo Fighters - One By One (at 4:40p)
Bit of rock & roll to end the day

There it is, another day of listening.

-nino

Orlando's Local & The Sweetkisses Reunion

2010-11-30T07:23:00.001-05:00

Friday night (That would be Nov 26th) I had the opportunity to get out of the house. Orlando's Sweetkisses, who had not played in about 4 years, would be making their grand return to the stage at the BackBooth in downtown Orlando. I got to the bar at the end of Bartender Brian's set & hung out waiting for the show. They did not disappoint, opening up with Mountains of California & blasting through an old favorites set, including a sing along of Can't Get Lucky & a cover of Whiskeytown's 16 Days which was a staple of their live shows in the past. I think there was only one new song that they unveiled on Friday & the 40 minute set was loud & tight for a band that hadn't played in many years.

Singer & rhythm guitarist Ed Lamoso, who has played in a few different bands in the past few years (Most recently The Vanity Plan), really seems comfortable with this group of guys. Ed is a multi-instrumentalist who has played drums, guitar, & bass all over the southeast and his decision years ago to grab a microphone and front this band has worked out well. His voice is strong and distinctive & the songs are catchy and carry a punch. Sean Holcomb's guitar leads work well with Manny Foret's ryhthm guitar (that's right people, a three guitar band), & the rhythm section with Alex Couch on bass and Larry Fulford on drums. These guys are pros & the music certainly has carried over the years.
So you know, they are playing another show over at the BackBooth on December 10th, so if you want to hear some rock & roll & have a good time go on down & catch The Sweetkisses.
As a quick aside (time to get to work) I walked across the street after the Sweetkisses show as someone in the bar had told me that Thomas Wynn & The Believers were playing (And no cover charge) at Tanquerays. I stuck around for a while & listened. What I heard was very soulful rock & roll played by a strong group of musicians. Thomas is a passionate singer, & the musicians he has around him make this band groove. The place was packed, people were dancing, the harmonica player was just amazing, & I will try to catch these guys again. If you hear about these guys playing around town go downtown, support your city, & check out Thomas Wynn & The Believers.

That's it! Remember that for every song you hear on the radio there are literally hundreds of artists, band, & musicians that are much better than what's on the radio that you will never hear until you get out there & listen.

Cheers.
-nino

Damien Jurado Rocks (Acoustically) my world.

2010-11-11T07:18:00.000-05:00

There. I finally got it off my chest. Last week I had a chance to see Damien Jurado play for the third time in my life. The first time was years & years ago in Orlando. He was on a stool in Park Ave CDs & the impromptu show was fun. The second time he opened for Okkervil River at Webster Hall in Manhattan & played well. The show was packed in Manhattan with folks mostly there to see Okkervil River but my buddy & I cheered on Damien nonetheless.
This show last week was played at The Social in downtown Orlando, once again opening, this time for Shearwater. Was that a run on sentence? I don't know. Anyways...
We met Damien before the show as he hung out near the merchandise table, and he was gracious to each person he met. We bought a record of Saint Bartlett (we already have it from emusic but nothing like the physical product!), then I got a chance to snap a picture! We checked out pictures of each other's sons (my son is a big fan) & he signed a postcard as the show was 18+ and Judah could not be there. Then we talked about Slayer & the thrash shows we have seen for a few minutes (I have no idea how we got talking about thrash, but it reinforces my idea that all men love metal) and Tara & I went to meet a few friends and get ready for the show.

Damien played alone with his acoustic guitar & two microphones and was amazing, the set heavily loaded with songs from his new recording Saint Bartlett, & his last, Caught In The Trees. There were many calls for "Ohio!" as well from the crowd & he obliged. There are a few things that made me & Tara happy with this show. First of all, each song was a performance. Damien's songs are moving & emotional, (some would say depressing but I would refrain from throwing him into a box like that) and I really saw him acting out each song on stage with conviction through the entire performance. From new songs like Rachel & Cali to Sheets to Ohio he sang each as if you really needed to hear this story. There is no filler. So the show was great & if he comes to your town go & see the show. Better yet, go out & buy Saint Bartlett! The songs are fresh. THEN go out & see him live. You will have seen one of the true artists of our time. OK I'll stop. But if you listen to anything that I have ever spoken of, listen to Damien Jurado.

-nino

Posting in October

2010-10-08T07:21:00.000-04:00

I'm finally getting back to posting. It's been a long summer full of taking care of children & keeping head above the proverbial water. This month brings two concerts, with another coming in the beginning of November though. Last weekend (October 2nd, 2010) was Slayer, Megadeth, & Anthrax at the Hard Rock Live in Orlando.

I would have loved to see the entire 45 minutes or so of Anthrax but as the line to get into the Hard Rock was 1/2 mile long we managed to get in to see about 3 songs. From what I did catch of the show I am hoping that they come back & do an entire show here as the few songs I did catch sounded great. They were energetic & fun, jumping around the stage like crazed indians. I myself caught Metal Thrashing Mad & I Am The Law (The Judge Dredd song) & was very disappointed that they were done. They did say that they would be back next year with a new disc, so that gives me some hope.

Megadeth was next. They jumped right into Holy Wars... from Rust In Peace & played the entire 9 songs from that disc front to back. Then they played a few radio hits with Trust, Headcrusher, A Tout Le Monde, & Symphony of Destruction, & ended the night with Peace Sells. They were great last time I saw they but amped everything up this show. Dave Ellefson, Dave's original bassist, was back in the band & every moment of that show was tight.

Slayer came up last, & I totally understand why they would not play any earlier. That show honestly took everything out of me. Letme preface this by saying that I went to the show primarily for Megadeth. I know some slayer stuff but not like I know Megadeth.I've heard that they were a good band to see live but I have to tell you that seeing them live, they may be the most intense band ever. In fact, I'm going to go ahead & call it...Slayer = The Most Intense Band Ever. From the opening drop of the white sheet in front of the stage to the last notes of Angel Of Death this band had me & my two buddies blown back. Loud, tight, fast, angry, rowdy...these guys whipped the crowd into a frenzy. They played two songs off their new disc, World Painted Blood, then they blew through the entire recording of Seasons In The Abyss, finishing with Raining Blood, South Of Heaven, & Angel of Death. They played just over an hour but when the show was finished we were all wiped out. This was one of the top five shows that I have been to in my life.
OK so Sunday I'm going to see Bob Dylan...I know, change of pace, eh? I will let you know what happens!

-nino

Demon Hunter

2010-07-13T06:51:00.000-04:00

Have you heard of Demon Hunter? Do you like your metal sans hair? This thrash band came about in 2002 with the very solid debut self titled album. I have never heard their second disc Summer of Darkness, but I do have The Triptych, their third disc which is very good. Storm The Gates Of Hell came out in 2007 & this is a good place to start if you are looking for an entry point into Demon Hunter. Melodic Metalcore? Yes, actually, as hard as this band rocks there is a melodic streak to them.
This year brought The World Is A Thorn which follows the path Storm The Gates forged, bringing a keen sense of melody into the forefront of their songs. I dig these guys, they cite Living Sacrifice as an influence & have been on tour with them. They come to Orlando in August & I am back & forth on whether I should take my son with me to the show. Firestone tends to start their shows late & the crowd may be a little more rough than I want to get him into. I'll do a bit more research before deciding one way or the other, but I know that he would love going. Anyways...Here are a couple of live tracks off Storm The Gates Of Hell as all their videos have been disabled for embedding on YouTube.

Demon Hunter - Fading Away

Demon Hunter - Storm The Gates Of Hell

I think I've created a monster...

2010-07-12T06:32:00.002-04:00

Since my son was born in 2003 I have been feeding him music. Everything from Damien Jurado to eighties pop music to some metal and everything else in between. Judah (my son) owns a copy of John Coltrane's A Love Supreme. Yes that's right. So everytime I play something that he has not heard before the question comes up "Can you put this on my mix?" meaning his iTunes playlist that I have made up for him. Everytime a song comes on the radio it's "Do you have this?" "Can you put it on my mix?" so much that I have forbid him from asking me some days. He loves Woody Guthrie, The White Stripes, Dylan, Johnny Cash, Stevie Wonder, Michael W Smith, The Beatles, Band Marino, A-Ha, & so much more.

I think his favorite right now is Stryper. He has all Stryper's discs in his mix & he drives his mother crazy during the days listeing to Stryper at loud volumes. If they come back into Orlando you will see the two of us at the concert as it is something that has now bonded us. Some of his favorites from Stryper are Loud & Clear (Which I don't think Michael Sweet can sing anymore with the high vocals)off their first disc & More Than A Man off To Hell With The Devil. I'm thinking about taking him to the Demon Hunter show here in Orlando in August but it may be too far past his bedtime. Last time I took him to see Andy Mckee & he crashed 1/2 way through the show. I watch everything that goes into his ears & he still has a very eclectic mix of music & I implore you to learn about great music with your kids instead of letting them just find it on their own. The radio is full of garbage, musically & lyrically. It's just one more way you can bond with your kids.

Last day of June.

2010-06-30T21:28:00.003-04:00

Thank God that the first 9 days of summer here in Florida have passed! I only have to endure another 82 or so days of hot-shower humidity, cancer producing heat, & bugs! Yes yes I know "If you hate the weather why are you in Florida?" you will undoubtedly say. Well, I happen to enjoy the other 282 days that are considerably less humid, less hot, & less buggy. I especially appreciate the 91 or so days of winter when the weather occasionally dips down to the 40's in the evening, in the high 60's during the days, and never rains. Seems like heaven to me; I wish it was like that every day of my life.
Well enough about the weather. I have been spending a few days each week running & I am always thinking about what in fact I would like to listen to while I'm running. For instance today it was Metallica's ...And Justice For All. Metal seems to always be a big hit when I'm running as it keeps me pumped up & makes me want to run harder. It actually makes me want to hit something so it is probably a good thing that I'm so slow & can't catch up to any of the other joggers.
Funny thing is that a few days ago I popped in (still have that cassette player lingo) Soul Asylum's CD from 2006, The Silver Lining. I bought it off iTunes with part of my $25.00 gift certificate for Father's Day & am seriously impressed. It may be the best Soul Asylum has ever sounded. That is saying quite a bit as this band really had its hey-day back in the late eighties - early nineties. You remember Runaway Train...Black Gold...Somebody To Shove? Yea those guys. First song plays while I'm jogging & Dave Pirner belts out "If you get all depressed when you get undressed"...HAHA!! What a great song to listen to while I am running to lose that extra "good life" I have around my waist. The song is called Stand up & Be Strong & the disc is now part of the running rotation. So there's that.

Ozzy Osbourne continues to find great young guitarists to play on his discs. Randy Rhoads, Jake E Lee, Zakk Wylde, & now the newest of the group, Gus G. Formerly Gus played in a band called Firewind & knowing Ozzy's recording schedule Gus'll probably be able to stay with his current band in-between Ozzy's schedule. Osbourne's new disc Scream showcases an interesting new style. I dig the songs, like the guitar sounds & will keep digging on this disc through the summer. I suggest you at least mosey on over to your favorite music store & take a listen to it. I like it, and I'm not even embarrassed. He may have been a reality show star but Ozzy stills knows how to rock.

Soul Asylum - Stand Up & Be Strong

Ozzy Osbourne - Let Me Hear You Scream

See ya in July,

-n

95th Post!! Whatever to write about...

2010-06-22T19:29:00.001-04:00

I don't know what to say...Father's Day has come & gone & I got a $25.00 iTunes Gift Card from mums & I can't decide what to do with it. I could try to get more old southern gospel. Russ Taff Walls Of Glass was a great old eighties gospel album.
I could go OZZY with the new disc Scream. I could buy Eminem's new CD....hmmm don't think that's gonna happen too soon. The Gaslight Anthem has a new CD out which I have listened to a bit. I put my eMusic account on hold for a few months because of low funds or else I would have bought it there because THAT is where I discovered them. So there's an idea. Last night laying in bed I thought about using it all on little played eighties songs...so there's a novel idea. Maybe not a good idea, but an idea just the same.
If you have any ideas please let me know as this card is burning a hole in my Mac & I don't think it will last the night. If I had known that I was gonna get it last week I would have waited to buy the new Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers CD but...actually I couldn't wait. I would've bought it anyways. So there's a bit of confusion for tonight. Help me out, people.

-n

What to write about now...

2010-06-15T07:16:00.000-04:00

I think I covered it all. Every new recording, every concert, every great song of the 50's 60's 70's 80's 90's 00's, every up & coming artist, every great music store in Orlando, every great place to see shows in town...I really have nothing else to give, people.
As I sit here, drinking coffee (Caffe Verona, Starbucks, ground $5.99 12oz bag right now at Publix) & reflecting upon the past year or so of posting I have come to no conclusions. I may have made some life better through the listening of a forgotten band, and perhaps not. Some of you may see eye to eye with me on some random complaint about the music business, while some of you don't.
Hell, some of you like what the music business feeds you & why should I be bothered by that? Obviously most of the music that plays on the radio has been approved by a group of your peers & so the radio stations already know that you will listen. I feel as an adult that I don't have to be spoonfed my likes & dislikes, whether that be in the music business, politics, or choice of breakfast cereal. Just because every "Forward Thinker" that you know told you that Barack Obama stood for change doesn't mean that you had to believe it. Just because the Wheaties commercial tells you that it, in itself, is the "Breakfast of Champions" doesn't mean that it isn't full of additives & preservatives. So the same goes in the music business. They tell you that what is on the radio is what is best. I don't believe it. If enough people do the same then the radio will start playing what you want. We the people of the world have all the power. The power to make change, the power to eat right. The power to say no. The power to turn the radio off.

Nino steps off the soapbox, flashes a wave & smiles.

A shot rings out.

-n

New Music

2010-06-09T07:11:00.001-04:00

I'm listening to all sorts of different stuff lately. Blitzen Trapper has a new disc out, Destroyer Of The Void, which I have taken about 2 listens to. It's folkie & catchy (two things I like) & it will get more playing time as the weeks progress. I've listened to the new Damien Jurado, Saint Bartlett, for the past 2 weeks & wow! What a different album for Damien to make. It has a real vintage feel to it, and I'm really digging the songs. Check out Josephine.
I've been stuck on The Black Keys since their new disc Brothers came out. The new disc is very good, don't get me wrong...but it hearkens me back to the dirty blues sound of Thickfreakness from 2003. I'd like to write a little more about The Black Keys when I get time. OK off to work, just wanted you all to know that I was still here.

-n

Some music

2010-05-26T07:04:00.000-04:00

Here are some clips for some music that I have been listening to lately. Gogol Bordello's new disc is my son's favorite right now...

Hurricane J - The Hold Steady

Gogol Bordello - Pala Tute

Broken Social Scene - Forced To Love

Freedy Johnston - Rain On The City

Damien Jurado has a new CD out!! Look for a review later this week if time allows.

Do I look good in black?

2010-05-09T15:11:00.000-04:00

Hmmm...I like the new colors of thebrooklyn. I liked the new colors from a few months ago as well but it seemed to have so much of a calming effect on me that I only wrote 2 entries in 2 months. So here we are, Back in Black. Friday morning & I am listening to The Juliana Hatfield Three's Become What You Are. This 1993 release still holds weight for me. The songs are still edgy as well as being catchy & Juliana's voice is so yin to the music's yang. Does that make sense? Ah well it does to me.
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers added a show on September 16th in St. Petersburg. The tix are still ridiculously expensive for a poor guy like me...too bad for me as I would love to see the show.

My friend Mike told me to buy Forgiveness Rock Record by Broken Social Scene so I downloaded the first 9 tracks off emusic this morning. I'll give it a few listens & see what happens. I have not had the time to dig into BSS as another friend mentioned in a blog that another record of theirs, You Forgot It In People, is one of his pedestal discs. you know, the kind of release that you love so much that you have to put it on a pedestal? Well, I listened to it a few times but not enough to feel that way. The new record seems to be a bit more of a hook laden record upon first listen. I'l put it on the turntable tomorrow morning for work along with another listen to Freedy Johnston's new disc Rain On The City. I could also listen to Heaven is Whenever by The Hold Steady & Trans-Continental Hustle by Gogol Bordello tomorrow morning. After thinking about all the music I get to listen to in the morning at work, I actually feel like I can face Monday. Ahh music, the stress great reliever. That's it...It is Mother's Day, & I got some mothers to take care of...

-n

The National!

2010-05-06T07:26:00.000-04:00

Got up early to go to work, have a few minutes. I'm listening to Alligator by The National this morning. I've read more than one review about this band that speaks about their slow burning songs. It sounds funny, but the fact is that quite a few of their songs build from sparse beginnings to a blistering crescendo. Matt Berninger's deep baritone voice did not please me upon first listen but it did draw me in. After just a few listens to Alligator I was hooked to this album. There are quite a few discs coming out in the next few months but I don't think there are any i am anticipating more that High Violet. I am now going to give you a special gift. Well, The National & NPR Radiop are, but I am helping it get to you. NPR is streaming the new disc at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126220062 so you can go & listen to the new album in its entirety. Don't just listen to me. Go check it out for yourself! I think you will like this band if you don't already. I think I'll mosey on over to NPR as soon as Alligator is finished on my iPod.

-n

Unretired...

2010-05-04T19:54:00.005-04:00

OK so since yesterday when I wrote my final farewell to the blog I have had a renewed interest. I feel like Barbara Streisand who retired from touring in 2000 only to come back for a comeback tour in 2006. I feel like the Brett Favre of the local College Park music blog blogging community, tearfully speaking of spending more time with my family only to return the day after with a new contract with the Jets. That's right, people...I referenced a celebrity who is not a musician. Get used to it! It's my new lease on life. Next I might review the new issue of Jeff Lemire's Sweet Tooth from Vertigo Comics. I'm crazy like that! Truthfully I probably won't do that. But it's all part of my new expanded view on life. I can talk about my family, and maybe I will...I can certainly talk about the other love's of my life, be they comics, Chuck Palahniuk novels, quirky sermons by Isaac Hunter, or The Detroit Lions.
My first love is music & I probably won't stray far from it, but i feel like Jack White of The White Stripes. The simple music & style of The White Stripes has passed him by some & he now feels the need to expand out to other things, be it producing, playing in The Dead Weather, or making movies with Renee Zellweger (who I waited on once while waiting tables in NYC. She is the sweetest most generous girl you want to serve.). That's right, I am the Jack White of my own life, slowly expanding my grip of the world, conquering one subject at a time.
So M.I.A. has a new song out called Born Free. I love love love it but I would implore you to try out 2007's KALA if you have not heard her or if all you have heard is Paper Planes. KALA is one of the most interesting discs I have ever listened to. It shows that indie hip hop has an amazing future ahead of it. She also has her first release Arular on emusic. The new disc drops June 29th & I am excited to hear where she goes next.
I'm listening to the first song released on The National's new disc entitled High Violet. The song is called Bloodbuzz Ohio and the new disc will be released (God willing) on May 11th. Yes that's right...next Tuesday. Dark, brooding pop done very well is The National & if you have no idea what on earth I am talking about do yourself this one favor & go purchase Alligator at your favorite local hip independent music store. There you just may fall in love with this band listening to that 2005 masterpiece. Then Boxer was released in 2007 in all it's splendor. You can get their older discs (again) on emusic or better yet purchase them at Park Ave CD's in Orlando.
OK out of gas, & dinnertime at 7:45p. Love & bones.

-n

M.I.A. - Bucky Done Gun

The National - Mistaken For Strangers

Wow did I fall off?

2010-05-03T18:54:00.001-04:00

I don't know why this happens...oh wait I do know how this happens. Imagine this: Young man gets a taste of playing in a band as he watches friends do well, starts writing, releases a few recordings, plays a few shows, gets married, has first kid, moves to New York & writes about 20 songs with wife & son in tow, has another kid, moves to Florida for family & job considerations, stops making music as another child is born, starts writing about music to keep himself close to the music, then stops writing about music as responsibilities of life slowly begin to weigh more than it used to. Even in the past few months fleeting moments to blog about Freedy Johnston's new CD (Rain on The City, new music from Freedy Johnston can you believe it) or The Doobie Brothers great disc Toulouse Street (hits all over) have been few & far inbetween. Believe me, my friends, the desire is there. I want to tell you that I finally listened to a Slayer album (Seasons In The Abyss, chilling) & that I spend a good chunk of my emusic money this month on classic The Imperials records (Heed The Call & One More Song For You, don't judge me) but I have no time to do such things.
Instead I change diapers, take one kid to Free Comic Book Day & another to read Hop On Pop for the 500th time. I love my life, but the less important things have fallen away to the point where they have become (dare I say) hobbies rather than passions. Believe me, give me an hour to hang out & talk about the music & I will listen & talk with the best of them (Ask my good friend & music barista Ed about last weekend chatting up The Allman Bros, Motley Crue, Michael McDonald, Iron Maiden, etc.) but I have less & less time to devote to it. I'm not saying that I give up, but you may not see me spending as much time here as I would have in the past. If someone can help me get my smart phone set up to blog I may be here more but as it sits I will be content to grump occasionally & beam when I feel the need to. Those who read the blog I appreciate your comments & your love, & I will do my best to be here when I can.

-n

Concerts making you broke?

2010-04-17T07:47:00.000-04:00

Just a short note...Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers are releasing a new disc this May called Mojo. I'm very excited about that. Their last album The Last DJ came out in 1992 and I thought it was one of Petty's better discs, lashing out about the record industry & the greed associated with it. One song in particular that always got me was Money Becomes King . It talked about a fictional rock star who went on later in his career to do beer commercials & sell "Gold Circle" tickets to his more affluent fans. Now Mojo comes out & Petty is out on tour! I'm excited until I see that the nose bleed tickets will set me back about $65.00 each, and of course if I want a MOJO VIP PACKAGE that will set me back about $300.00. Petty's not doing beer commercials, and I will certainly buy his new CD but I guess I'm not a Gold Circle guy. That Rogue Wave show cost me $13.00 per ticket & I stood in front of the band & enjoyed the hell out of that show. You won't see me in the back of a basketball stadium paying through the nose for any show ever. I'm kinda disappointed. Maybe that's the way it is nowadays but I don't have to like it.

Trying to catch up...

2010-03-31T18:06:00.001-04:00

That's right y'all...I have had a few minutes for the past couple of days so I'm feverishly writing in order to catch up on my writing a bit. I know, the glut of info all at once is not as good as the steady stream of music conciousness that you usually get but I do what I can. I work in an office, for heaven's sake...cut me some slack.
I've been thinking about the perfect song lately. A friend of mine has said that he's more into the great album than the great band, and I will agree with that. Most bands never get to put out one truly fine record and the ones that do must be commended. If you know a band that has released more than one great album then you are looking at a truly great band. But my question is what is the perfect song? Last week I was driving home from work and Hair of The Dog by Nazareth came on. Now maybe when I'm on the way home from work I am more perceptible to hyperbole, but that song came on & it hit me like nobody's business...THAT is a truly great song. Great stolen riff, all kinds of punch, just a solid shot of a song. A few days later Money For Nothing by Dire Straits came on & I felt like I was having a Deja Vu. Mark Knopfler from Dire Straits was voted one of the 30 greatest guitar players ever in Rolling Stone, has had a great
career in music & has consistently been a very solid songwriter in pop, rock, & country music but Money For Nothing won a grammy in 1986 for best song & has stood the test of time. The riff is unmistakeable, & the song just has a groove that very few pieces of music have. So I figured that an artist can make a career in music by having just one of these perfect songs that just lasts. Whether super talented, or not talented at all...the song stands alone.

Andy McKee; always solid.

2010-03-31T06:51:00.004-04:00

Do you capitalize after a semicolon? Anyways I think of all the new music that I have been listening to over the past month or two the most exciting has been Andy McKee's new disc Joyland. Andy rose to international fame & fortune (well fame at least) from posting some video of him playing "Africa" by Toto on Youtube. I think to date there have been somewhere in the area of 6,000,000 hits on Youtube of that video. This new disc was released 1 week ago & continues to blow me over with each listen. The iTunes download has 4 videos of him playing different songs, including a great rendition of "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" by Tears For Fears. If it were just the covers though, Andy wouldn't be as exciting an artist as what he is. Just as on the last disc I purchased, Art Of Motion, this CD is all about the originals. Joyland, Blue Liquid, My Life As A CPA (Parallel Universe #43) are all stunning songs to listen to. I hesitate to even tell you that there is no singing in that it may turn you off & it shouldn't. The melodies are all played with his guitar, and there may be better guitarists out there, but I have not seen one play with more grace & emotion than Andy McKee. If he comes to your town find a date & go. It does not matter one bit if you have ever heard his songs, he is charming & funny, the songs are amazing to watch live, & the show will make you happier than any Motley Crue concert ever could. Don't just drop out of this blog. drag down & watch the videos. They will change your life kids. And you know I would never steer you wrong.

Drifting

Africa

Joyland

Has It Been Forever?

2010-03-26T07:06:00.010-04:00

Goodness I am so sorry that I have been non-existent. Sickness, phone picture problems, more sickness, busyness...I feel like I have ignored my friend thebrooklyn, and all of you. Enough of that though, I am back! I have many things to talk about, first order of business being THE CONCERT!!! Yes I saw Rogue Wave on March 13th. They were amazing, the pictures are all here. The opening band was called Avi Buffalo & blew me away. Avi himself is the lead singer & guitar player & can't be more than 21 years old. The songs were great. The EP that I bought at the show was very mellow, but their show was anything but. I found a single on iTunes called What's In It For? that sounds a bit more like the show did, but rest assured their debut comes out in April from Sub Pop Records (which is now on emusic people try to keep up!!).

As good as Avi Buffalo was, however, the people were there to see Rogue Wave. Zach Rogue, the band's lead singer said that this particular show was their first headlining show in the State of Florida, and it was sold out. Seven or eight songs in, it seemed like they almost played the entire new disk Permalight to open up the show. Then they got into some Descended like Vultures playing Medicine Ball, Bird on A

Wire, Publish My Love, & Love's Lost Guarantee. Descended Like Vultures (The recording) holds a special place in my heart as I played the disc over & over after it came out until & had worn out the MP3's. They also got into Asleep at Heaven's Gate with a few songs including Harmonium near the end of the show that got everyone moving. The show ended with them playing Permalight with

about 20 people onstage

dancing. If you have been to The Social in Orlando you know that the house music bleeds in from the club next door and so inbetween each song Zach would make a comment that he wanted to have his own dance party later in the show which culminated in this crazy mess of a finale.

Now...if you have made it through this review you will now here me rage about something that just annoyed the living hell out of me. I don't talk about this too often, but I used to play my guitar out and about in Orlando. I did shows here & there both with a band & solo with my guitar. I have even played at this incredibly special club The Social. Most of the patrons that have been at the shows I have watched & the shows I have played at were

very good people. They were the kind of people you want to go to a concert with. At this show, though, right behind me stood 2 girls who talked throughout the entire Avi Buffalo show. As he played they talked. As he got louder, they got louder & began to yell at each other about their boyfriends & things at work, and how they didn't like Avi Buffalo & couldn't wait to see Zach. Now the reason I mentioned that I have played this club is because I know that when people begin to talk you can hear it onstage. Just because it was something they didn't really like does not give them the right to yak right in my ear while I am trying to get into this band who is working very hard onstage to build a fanbase. What I felt like saying to them I can't print here because my moral fiber is just too high. What I did was turn around & tried to be nice. I said "Could you two please quiet down? You are being so loud I can't even hear the band playing" Their look was of horror! "Are you kidding?" came out of one of their mouths. The other said "OK, no problem". How ridiculous that I have to ask someone to shut up at a freakin concert! OK so maybe I'm turning into a grumpy old man, but I ask only that people try to think of one another as they go through their day. I promise it will not be this long before I regale you with some other silly musical thing.

nothing to say, so I'll say nothing...

2010-03-11T06:38:00.006-05:00

I will say something. You may refer to it as nothing when speaking about thebrooklyn around the water heater today with your stay at home friends, or around the water cooler with your at work friends. "Did you read thebrooklyn today? What was that guy talking about? What a waste of my time, talking about nothing..." or something like that is how I imagine the conversation happening. Then you will go on to talking about the presidents new policy on something, or your favorite sports player's indiscretions off the field/court/ice. What you might want to ask your friend is "What are you listening to?" I love that question. If that person says Michael Jackson he/she may still be in mourning, please do not make a crass joke. We're talking about the King of Pop.Maybe they will tell you that they just can't stop listening to this cool new band on the radio called the "Kings of Leon". Now Kings of Leon put out their first disc in 2003 but put that aside, you don't want your friend to think that you are too smart. The fact is that when a rock band hits the radio it shows, albeit in a small way, that "Rock & Roll Is Not Dead". Never mind the fact that rock music has always had it's place in music since, well, forever. Or at least the early 1950's. So celebrate the fact that this band of preacher's sons, & dirty hippies are doing so well. Only by The Night is the current disc that you may hear on the radio all the time. Use Somebody was a big hit on the radio & I heard Sex on Fire last year about everytime I turned the radio on. Yes, radio still overplays songs as much as that chick in the cubicle next to you who has to hear Free Your Mind by En Vogue every morning before she kicks off her day. But buck up, cowboy. Rock & Roll is here to stay.

New week, follow, follow...

2010-03-08T06:48:00.006-05:00

Let's see here...I bought Johnny Cash's Ain't No Grave last week & have had a little time to listen to it. First impression is that I still liked The Man Comes Around much better than the past two but I'll listen some & let it grow on me. The new Vampire Weekend CD Contra is very good. Easygoing pop songs for the country club set is a very simple way to put it, but the world music influences in their music makes them a very interesting listen. I have some other stuff to listen to this week, including some old Jeff Beck Truth, The Byrds Mr Tambourine Man, and Broken Social Scene's You Forgot It In People. That last one I picked up some vibes from a friend, thought I'd see for myself. So I'll let you know. Otherwise have a good week, let me know if you need anything, and let's all just take it easy. It's only March you know, and there's a good 7 months or so until the new christmas albums are released.

THAT METAL SHOW!

2010-03-02T06:33:00.005-05:00

I won't usually talk about anything on TV here because, well, this is my blog and I'll talk about music and musicians and if you don't like it too bad. I'm sorry, I shouldn't get defensive. You were just asking. You didn't mean anything by it. Come to think of it, though, I do watch VH1 Classic often. I watched a great metal documentary over the last week and they actually play videos. Who could imagine? But the star of VH1 Classic is THAT METAL SHOW. The three buddies talk about the classics, talk about hair metal, talk about thrash, they toss out new metal bands, their favorite discs. They also have a guest every week the likes of Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, Joey Kramer of Aerosmith, or Ronnie James Dio & Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath/Heaven & Hell. The host of the show is Eddie Trunk who worked for Megaforce records in 1986 as a young man which catapulted him into DJ work since then. The two co-hosts are Don Jamieson & Jim Florentine, comedians who just so happen to love metal. The show is often a train wreck which just adds to the fun of watching it. The guys are comfortable with each other, which usually makes the guests comfortable on the show. I think it airs live on Saturdays at either 11p or 11:30p, but I DVR it so I can watch anytime. Check it out, it's just great that metal has an outlet.

The CD Owner, the Record Owner, and the Cassette

2010-02-24T06:39:00.006-05:00

I have rediscovered the joy of owning a CD. I think it was that stop in to Park Ave CD's a few months ago that really got me thinking. You know, when you get a disc or a single off iTunes you get to listen to the tracks, and I have always maintained that the songs are the most important thing. And I still believe that. But there is a special kind of happiness that comes when you crack open that CD to see the artwork on the disc, the "special thank you" that the band gives, the pictures in the booklet, who wrote the songs...It's just nice to own a piece of the band rather than a "Digital Booklet" & a bunch of songs. It has played to the impatient dude that I am, that when I am sitting in front of my mac & Johnny Cash's new disc comes out, I just gotta have it. Today I will wait until I hit the record store & buy it. Now I just have to figure out a way to take lunch where I can get to Park Ave & back.

Unable as they are to be played in a vehicle, the vinyl record is not only a great piece of our music history, but it is (maybe surprisingly to some of you young'uns) quite a solid way to listen to the

music. There are some out there that will tell you that the record sound is the best way to listen to music overall & I don't completely disagree. Sure there have been many new technologies since the record but for a rich full sound you can't do much better than vinyl. Stores sell record players cheap & you can buy vinyl at record stores & garage sales all over the country. Many a day I have picked up a Dylan, Van Halen, Ozzy, Skynyrd, Johnny Cash record for pennies at a garage sale.

This brings us to the cassette. This poor undeserving method of music listening has many many a girlfriend happy as we made them mix tapes of our favorite songs that we listened to as we thought of them. Those that are closer to my own age will remember taping things off the radio, breaking the tabs when we really like the songs that we put on the tape to make sure that we wouldn't tape over them, then taping the holes so we could tape over the songs that had once been so important to us. I still have a couple of cassette players in the house, and one of my cars has a cassette player. They warp in the Florida heat, and cannot be trusted to not unravel at the first sign of trouble, but I have good memories in my heart of the cassette tape. Have a great day people.

My man Chris...

2010-02-22T22:05:00.005-05:00

A few months ago I heard some great demo stuff by a friend of mine from the Detroit area. He asked me how I liked it & I told him, honestly, that it sounded like all the great artists that I love to listen to in The Jayhawks vein of alt country. I passed the songs around a bit & got great reviews from everyone who listened... & not the kind of "oh that's your friend?Sure, it's good" type of praise. More like the "Who is that you're listening to?" type of praise. Chris Bennett has been making music since...well we met & I saw him play when he was barely past 15 (round about 1988?) in a band called Glorious Thunder. I'm sure there are still a few people in the Detroit area with that cassette. I know that I still have it. Chris played with a couple more friends in a band called Sleepyhead U.K. (yes I have that disc too) through part of the nineties playing beatleish pop music and then I moved to Florida & Chris ended up moving to Nashville where we did not communicate for quite a few years. I am told that Chris played music in Nashville & went through the "machine" that is the Nashville music scene for a few years. I believe it was 2008 when we reconnected & last year when he sent me the new tracks. I feel like the turmoil that Nashville brought really gave him quite a solid foundation because the songs have a real weight to them for pop music. And make no doubt about it...this is the kind of pop that I wish the radio played. It would bring me back to the airwaves in a moment. I just wanted to take a moment to share these tracks with you, and to let you know that you can be a fan of Chris Bennett on Facebook (you know you have a Facebook account, don't try to be hip). While you're at it, why don't you become a fan of thebrooklyn too. I could use the fans so I can start making all that advertising money I've been talking about for...oh...about 80 posts or so. Meanwhile click the link below to check out the tunes...

http://www.reverbnation.com/christopherbennett

Weekend Listening

2010-02-22T06:27:00.005-05:00

..."Just like Starting Over" is a poignant start to 1980's Double Fantasy. At times to me this is a tough listen as half the record is John Lennon pop & the other half is Yoko Ono and her art punk sound. But Johns song's are happy, contended pieces that would show after a 5 year break in recording that he had settled down some & was very intent on being the family man that he never had the chance to be. Unfortunately the record was released only weeks before he was murdered in front of his building in NYC & we as a nation never got to see that side of John.

Can anyone put together a cogent argument against Damn The Torpedoes by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers being the best record as a whole by the band in their discography? I love Petty & The Heartbreakers new music over the past 10 years & think that they are just a solid album band but it's hard to go against that 1979 classic that put Petty into the public eye in a big way where he & (in a much lesser way) his bandmates have stayed for the past 30+ years. If you are looking to dig into Petty's career this would be a great older (the band's third) album to pick up. There are only 9 songs on the record & you can't say one title off that album that I wouldn't like to hear in concert. Come to think of it, I just really want to see Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers in Concert. When they go back out on tour I will be in line with a tent, much like I was for Lollapalooza tickets back in 1992.

Time to go put in my hours for the man, but today feels like a Tom Petty day.

Eighties Revue, in French

2010-02-19T06:56:00.012-05:00

I dreamed of an 80's show when I was quite a bit younger than I am now (I think I started dreaming of this around 2000). I dreamed of going out on tour to play all 80's pop tunes complete with guest appearances & encores...you know, the whole 9 yards. It was a good idea but was missing some measure of excitement, like french girls. Idea, meet fruition. Or as you young TV watching types may say "I'm Nino, and Nouvelle Vague was my idea." The show on Tuesday was an homage to all that was great in 80's pop & synth pop, ranging from Blue Monday by New Order to Master & Servant by Depeche Mode to Blister in the Sun by The Violent Femmes. The show on Tuesday night was a blast, my only complaint being that I didn't get but about 5 hrs of sleep before rolling out of bed for work on Wednesday. Josh Mease opened the show. I wrote something about him earlier this week, but I will write a bit more. I got his disc Wilderness from eMusic this morning & have been listening to it. It will be in constant rotation at work for awhile, I can already tell. Nouvelle Vague (which is Marc Collin, Olivier Libaux & a host of female vocalists French, Brazilian, & otherwise) released 3 late last year & then went out on tour with Helena Noguerra(A belgian actress & singer, silver dress) & Karina Zeviani (A singer / songwriter in NYC via Brazil, pink tights). Karina sang on the last disc, singing Heaven by The Psychedelic Furs. This is my very favorite song on the disc, she kills it! Better than the Furs if I do say so. I don't believe Helena has ever played with NV but she has a beautiful voice. They opened with So Lonely by The Police, played Making Plans for Nigel by XTC, Just Can't Get Enough (If my memory serves) and Master & Servant by Depeche Mode, Blue Monday, Friday Night/Saturday Morning by The Specials, Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division, Blister In The Sun, God Save The Queen by The Sex Pistols, and more. The show was fun, everyone got into it (especially the two making out in front of us), and the 80's are alive & kicking still. Do yourself this favor; go to iTunes & listen to their stuff. You will find something you dig & download it because at the end of the day, Nouvelle Vague is just cool.

Tomorrow, ok?

2010-02-18T06:46:00.005-05:00

It's late in the morning & I have to get to work. Y'know, if more of you read this blog & send gifts of money for my writing prowess I wouldn't have to get to work & would write a great article about Nouvelle Vague & their opening act Josh Mease. Unfortunately none of you have followed through on this thought I have of getting paid by the people so I still have to have a real jobbie job kind of thing. That being said, I did not get home last night from The Club at Firestone until about 12:45a & thus I was not at the old Mac at 6a to write. I will tell you this; Josh Mease was very good. I'm a sucker for the singer-songwriter type & he fits the bill well. Most of the set he played acoustic with a dude - Let's call him Frank - playing a small keyboard with him. A couple of the Nouvelle Vague guys joined him onstage for the last couple of songs to play full band & I have to say that I was impressed with the whole show. The "Special Lady" that I mentioned in the last post turned to me at one moment during his set & said "I would listen to this on purpose" which, if you know the lady like I know her, is a big compliment.

Josh makes his home in Brooklyn these days & I'm jealous, but I will still be buying his first disc this weekend. Meanwhile you can check him out in this video called "White Diamonds". I cannot promise anything, but would like to have a few pictures up tomorrow of the rest of the show. Cheers.

I can't live without my radio! Err, iPod...

2010-02-16T06:13:00.005-05:00

I wonder if anyone would listen to a radio station in whom I would be the program director? I'm searching the WORLD WIDE WEB for a radio station that I can program. I'm thinking a metal show, a jazz show, and most other times cutting edge new music playing on my radio. Maybe I'll have a "Deep Tracks" hour where I play non radio cuts from classic records, old & new. Maybe I'll even have some special shows where I talk about one special artist per week. What a great idea! I know that I would listen. What I should have done some years ago (with my hatred of currect local radio) is invented satellite radio, but I digress. I'll keep you updated of course, because you, thebrooklyn, are my love. I tell you my deep thoughts (about music), my fears (about music), my hopes (about music)...I feel like you always listen. I never catch you listening to Britney Spears, or bashing radiohead because you "don't understand it". You are so much like me, thebrooklyn. Maybe that is why I love you so much. I'm going to be taking a special lady (not this one here) to see Nouvelle Vague here in Orlando on Wednesday, the 17th of February. It's sort of a late Valentines Day outing as the band have decided to grace Orlando with their beautiful presence. I will start writing a blog entry this morning and post it on Thursday with some pictures from the show. Then next month I will be going to see Rogue Wave not long after the March 2nd release date of Permalight, their new disc! I'm excited to finally see Rogue Wave as I have stated before that I missed their free show in Union Square in NYC & still seeth over it. But I don't mind paying, as long as the venue is intimate (The Social in Orlando) & the company is good. Some people like the beach, and some like the mountains, but I like the feel of a small venue with warm sound and good tunes. Until later this week y'all...

Why was Appetite For Destruction so good?

2010-02-07T17:33:00.011-05:00

Some a' you young people may not realize, but Slash is not just a spokesperson for Guitar Hero, and the member of a fair to middlin' band called Velvet Revolver. Slash, along with Axl Rose, Duff McKagan, Izzy Stradlin, & Steven Adler are the band responsible for Guns N Roses Appetite For Destruction. Released in July of 1987, CD sales moved slow after the first single Welcome to The Jungle was released. It wasn't until the second single Sweet Child of Mine first hit the airwaves in 1988 that the band began to skyrocket to infamy. The rest, as they say, is history. Appetite went to #1 on Billboard, Sweet Child was a #1 single, Welcome to the Jungle was re-released & went top 10, and they released another single, Paradise City, which went top ten as well. Guns won all sorts of awards, eventually selling close to 30 million records...& Axl became a sort of control freak. You have to understand though, that the band he was playing with were all doing massive amounts of drugs, and Axl took control of things. Slash, Izzy, & Steven Adler were heroin addicts (Nikki Sixx' book The Heroin Diaries documents some of Slash's struggles), and the entire band seemed to be enjoying their success more than would keep them alive. Axl eventually fired Adler & hired Matt Sorum formerly of The Cult to play drums & went on to record Use Your Illusion I & II.

But back to Appetite. The disc opens with Welcome to The Jungle, a song about Axl seeing the Big City life after moving from Indiana. It's So Easy was written about life as a band in L.A., and then Nightrain about, you guessed it: The cheap wine (that always gave me a huge headache after I drank it). Out ta Get Me may be giving us a glimpse into Axl's head early in life, paranoid, violent & ready to fight. Mr. Brownstone is another name for Heroin ("I used to do a little but a little wouldn't do it so the little got more & more") continuing in the theme, followed by Paradise City to end side 1 if you owned it on cassette way back in the day. Side 2

opens with My Michelle, written about one of Axl's girlfriends, followed by Think About You & then Sweet Child Of Mine. Closing with You're Crazy, Anything Goes, & Rocket Queen, the record might give you an idea of what LA looked like in the late eighties...seedy & drug infested. Certainly not an album to purchase for that special tweener in your life, It hits hard from the first track, and keeps fighting through to the last track. This is the sound of a band scratching & clawing to be big. As far as I'm concerned, every song is a classic on this record (Except maybe Paradise City, which was played way too often for just being an OK track.). As far as I'm concerned, once the lineup changed, the band was never the same. As I have said before, bands are not great, albums are great, and in the Halls Of Metal this release sits with the best of them, an image of the Los Angeles scene in the eighties that was never as good as when Guns & Roses was playing in the clubs there.

The return of LS...The Infinite Order

2010-02-04T06:35:00.008-05:00

Living Sacrifice has returned. Seriously people, when I heard that these guys had packed up in 2003 I was inconsolable. The people needed what LS what giving, which was groovy, heavy, brutal thrash metal. In the beginning of last decade screamo was all the rage & when I first heard Bruce Fitzhugh's growl I knew that at least this band had not forgotten what thrash metal was all about. They released 3 fine discs with Bruce as the lead singer before 2003. Reborn in 1997, The Hammering Process in 2000, and Conceived in Fire in 2002. The next year they all decided to break the band up & pursue other interests. The members went on to join Evanescence, P.O.D., Norma Jean, and other bands as well as to pursue other interests. Then 2008 comes along and LS gets back together, tours with Demon Hunter, and announces that they are back! That year we got Death Machine, a 2 song EP of new material with a promise that more was coming. And here we are in January 2010 with The Infinite Order. The album is truly brutal. The riffs are heavy, the lyrics are heavy, this band is heavy. This is not music for the faint of heart. I will say that as a band Living Sacrifice has not relented, and they have not slowed down. This is the heaviest music that I have heard since The Hammering Process, and I have to watch who I listen to this around! People get frightened when they hear this music coming out of my headphones. Well good, some people need to be frightened. Buy it, download it, go to www.solidstaterecords.com & read more about Living Sacrifice & the other great metal bands churning out new music over there. Then be back here in a few days as I start reviewing classic records & why they are so "classic".

Spoon - Transference !!

2010-01-31T14:11:00.006-05:00

I'm not going to try and give you the whole 9 yards on Spoon. The fact is that I don't know everything about the band. I know that the first record I heard from Spoon was Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga & I was literally hooked like a Big Mouth Bass in an ESPN fishing tournament. The drums were so cool...the songs were so catchy...Indie band my left ear! This was soul music regurgitated from the 60's Motown era, pop from the 80's New Wave era. Sure they were a bit quirky but if this had been released in 1986 Spoon may have been the biggest band in the land. Alas, this was 2007 & the musical landscape has changed dramatically. So what we have here in Ga5 is a mostly undiscovered (by the masses) gem. I have listened to it for 2.5 years now & it has not lost it's legs.

January 2010 has brought us Spoon's latest piece of work entitled Transference. The new disc is self produced, bringing a raw element to the band's pop stylings. Often bands try to out-do their last offering or continue in the success of the last disc by releasing more of the same. Spoon seems to not have been pressured by these things as they are pushing forward their trademark punchy pop sound. Transference is not as immediately accessable as the last CD. Many of the songs sound at first like they are in various stages of completion. I learned after a few listens, though, that part of the beauty of the disc is in it's "Work in Progress" feel. The songs still capture you with their hooks, the drums are still crisp, and you will still end up singing along. I have been slowly listening to earlier records & I like Gimme Fiction (2005) as well as A Series of Sneaks(2002). As time goes on I will continue to dig into their long history (been around since 1994!) & maybe one day I'll write a nice bio. For now suffice it to say that these last 2 discs bookend a great jumping off point for a very hip, very fun band. Take it from me. Spoon will make you smile.

Don't You Evah - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Written in Reverse - Transference

Neil Finn & the well lived life...

2010-01-23T18:16:00.010-05:00

And now another one of those artists that is near & dear to my heart...Neil Finn came out of New Zealand in the late 70's to write & sing for Split Enz, a band his older brother Tim Finn had started earlier in the decade. Neil wrote some of the more well know Split Enz Tracks including the hit I Got You. In 1984 Tim left the band & after a short time they disbanded. Neil, Enz drummer Paul Hester & bass player Nick Seymour started back up as what eventually became known as Crowded House. Now if you have never heard of this band I have only 4 words for you: Don't Dream It's Over. Starting to come back to you? Crowded House was released in 1986. Don't Dream It's Over made it to #2 on the US Pop charts & received heavy airplay on Mtv. Something So Strong followed & also received heavy airplay on Mtv as well as radio. 1988 brought Temple of Low Men. The record went top 50 in sales & was critically acclaimed but did not bring a hit single. 1991 saw Neil's brother Tim join as the brothers had been recording tracks together to record as The Finn Brothers. The tracks eventually became Crowded House' third record Woodface & brought the band fame throughout the world, except, of course, the US. Lush, elegant pop; Woodface is a marvelous record. Tim left the band after that disc & in 1993 Crowded House released one more record, Together Alone, & disbanded in 1996 as Paul Hester wanted to spend more time with family & Neil wanted to expore more of his musicality. The band ended with a concert on the steps of The Sydney Opera House for reportedly more than 150,000 people. Neil has gone on since the breakup to record two solo records, Try Whistling This & One Nil (Released as One All in the US). He has also recorded two records with his brother Tim as The Finn Brothers with Finn & Everyone Is Here, the latter being one of my very favorite discs. Neil has also released two records as the 7 Worlds Collide project, collaborating with many artists & musicians like Wilco, Johnny Marr (of The Smiths), Eddie Vedder (of Pearl Jam) & many others. The newest release, The Sun Came Out was released in September 09 & benefits OXFAM, a charity fighting world hunger. He even reformed Crowded House (without Paul Hester, who commited suicide in 2005) to release Time On Earth in 2007 & is currently working on another Crowded House disc. So I know, funny how you thought this band Crowded House was a One Hit Wonder, huh? Neil Finn is an amazing artist who has been writing, playing, and singing in rock & roll bands since the late 70's and is still relevant today, making music that makes people think about relationships, their beliefs, and the world all around them. Bravo Neil! I will continue following your career for as long as you continue caring about what you do so much.

My faves have a checkmark:

Split Enz - Dizrythmia

Split Enz - Frenzy

Split Enz - True Colours

Split Enz - Waiata

Split Enz - Time & Tide

Split Enz - Conflicting Emotions

Split Enz - See Ya 'Round

Crowded House - Crowded House √

Crowded House - Temple of Low Men √

Crowded House - Woodface √

Crowded House - Together Alone

Crowded House - Time On Earth

Neil Finn - Try Whistling This

Neil Finn - One All √

The Finn Brothers - Finn

The Finn Brothers - Everyone is Here √

Neil Finn & Friends - 7 Worlds Collide

7 Worlds collide - The Sun Came Out √

I Got You (Split Enz)

Don't Dream It's Over (Crowded House)

Better Be Home Soon (Crowded House)

Chocolate Cake (Crowded House)

Driving Me Mad (Neil Finn)

Won't Give In (The Finn Brothers)

Take a Walk (7 Worlds Collide)

Second Chance (Liam Finn)

Carrying pink iPods...

2010-01-22T06:38:00.003-05:00

Yesterday afternoon Best Buy called me with the best news all week; my rapid exchange iPod had arrived at the store & was ready for pickup! Now I can stop carrying the back up pink iPod that I have been using all week. It's not mine. I mean it, I was just using it! Anyway, Back in Black (& 160gb) for me. Moving right along...Spoon has released a new disc entitled Transference & I will be throwing out my two cents as soon as I get a day of listening to it under my belt. I am in a good mood already today, what with the new Spoon release & the iPod back. Oh yeah, it's also Friday & that never hurts. I got some things brewing in my head for next week. Along with the new disc review I have wanted to write a bit about Neil Finn. Neil, if you don't know the name, was most well known as the singer for Crowded House throughout the eighties, writing songs great songs as Don't Dream It's Over, Something So Strong, and Chocolate Cake. Neil, though, has put out a remarkable amount of music throughout the years both before & after Crowded House. So that's a teaser there. I can't wait to dig into his musical output as he is an artist very near to my heart. That's it. Now onto my day. Have a good one yourself & we'll see you here next week.

Music Is Good

2010-01-17T22:55:00.004-05:00

I'll be quick & to the point...I was out of the area for the week beginning Monday, doing self improvement in the woods in North Florida & for some terrible reason I left my headphones at home. I know, I know, go buy a set of headphones right? Wrong. You have to have the correct set of headphones to listen to your music the right way. You just can't stick anything in your ear & expect to have the same experience as when you have a nice set of Sony studio monitors, or EarCandy headphones. No sir, it's the right way or no way! Truthfully by the end of the week I would have taken a tin can with a headphone jack had it been available, but I'm chasing rabbits, aren't I? The rest of this story goes I finally got into my vehicle on Friday & started driving I realized that I had been MUSIC STARVED! I hadn't heard anything but the sound of a firefighter playing the bagpipe (don't ask) in a week, and when the radio was flipped on, a heavenly sound came through. It was Led Zeppelin playing Nobodys Fault But Mine. The song, usually credited as being written by Blind Willie Johnson (although no one knows for sure who wrote the song & it is in the public domain) is a traditional delta blues song, a spiritual, and was covered by many artists over the years. In fact, Bind Willie Johnson has the earliest recorded version sometime in the late 1920's, and it is the reason that he has been widely accepted as the writer of the song. The Zeppelin version is quite different in structure & had some additional lyrics, and as far as I'm concerned is in the top 10 Zep songs of all time, maybe top 5. So all the way back home I heard one after another, songs that just lit up my heart with happiness. I Want You To Want Me, Wild World, Ain't Talkin' Bout Love, the list goes on & on. Turn on classic rock radio & you may hear many of these songs two, maybe three times a day & get sick of hearing them...but turn off your music for a week & all the reasons you listen come roaring back, if only for a moment. This has been your PSA for the week.

Matisyahu at the library...

2010-01-10T20:54:00.007-05:00

No I did not see him there. Turns out I found a disc that I had not seen before called No Place To Be. CD has a Message In A Bottle cover along with a few remixes, and the DVD (that's right, the DVD) is Live In Israel. Some interviews, a concert, and some good footage of Matis playing basketball. All in all a good pick up from the library. I'm still waiting for dude to come back to Orlando so I can see him live, but this DVD will have to do for now. On a completely unrelated note, I purchased tix to see Rogue Wave in March at The Social in Orlando. I missed them when Asleep At Heavens Gate came out & they did a live performance at Virgin Records in Union Square, but I'm not going to miss them this time. I wonder aloud if they have something new coming out. Anyone? Anyone? Hmmmm I'm going to have to look into this. Descended Like Vultures is one of my favorite pieces of music altogether, and the fact that this band could have released a CD that amazing keeps me listening to them. So we'll see how they sound live, and if something new pops out I will let you all know about it. Alright next week I will be out of town, and so I may try out my new phone. If I can blog from my hip new phone I will, but do not expect much, I am not such a quick learner with these things. Plus it's not like I'm going back to NYC for the week. More like the middle of nowhere America so the availability of WiFi may be a dream anyway. If all else fails I will see you all next weekend. Cheers.

Strange Buying Patterns...

2010-01-09T23:16:00.007-05:00

Yea so I went to Park Ave CDs tonight and $20.00 just jumped out of my wallet & ran to the cash register. They have a used CD section that is amazing. Somebody pawned off their metal collection & I went to it. I got Bark At The Moon & The Ultimate Sin by Ozzy Osbourne, which if I'm not mistaken are the only two releases with Jake E. Lee on guitar. I also bought Angel Dust by Faith No More which is their second major label release, a great follow up to Epic. While browsing I passed by a couple of discs by Judas Priest, Slayer, Motley Crue, Metallica, Anthrax, and AC/DC among others. That works well for me as I am scouring the racks these days to build up my 70's & 80's metal collection. So to go along with my Iron Maiden & Priest albums I now have a couple more Ozzy recordings. Don't get me wrong kids, I like The Owls like everyone else, I just have felt the need to dig into this treasure chest of metal to find myself. Soon I will return from this journey & find myself a better, more assured person. Until then, I may be filling some of this space with some interesting choices of artists. Maybe you should just understand at this point that soon all the hipster kids will be wearing Maiden shirts & singing "Breakin the law, breakin the law" & if you don't keep a close eye on this blog you may get left behind. So be ahead of the curve while you can still find early eighties metal t-shirts relatively cheap. Anything is better than what we have here. OK so for next blog entry, everyone out to buy an old metal tshirt. Remember, Judas Priest is good, Iron Maiden is good, a Motorhead t-shirt is an A+ pickup! You have detention if you come back with a Slaughter t-shirt or Bon Jovi t-shirt circa Slippery When Wet or after.

2010! iPod problems AGAIN?

2010-01-07T06:46:00.004-05:00

I know I know, quit complaining. My iPod is not charging. The last one I had through the rapid exchange at Best Buy wasn't charging either. I'm so glad that I have that warranty through Best Buy. It really is worth it. Those multi year warranties may not be wrth much with other electrical appliances but if you get an iPod, you had better get some sort of service plan.

I have been all over the boards for the past couple months since our last one sided conversation. Fact is I fell into early british heavy metal and have not dug out of the hole. Judas

Priest, Iron Maiden, Motorhead. OK mostly Iron Maiden. When I was younger I was sheltered from this terrible devils music from concerned friends & family, but what I have found since dipping into the treasure chest that is the first 7 releases by this band is an avalanche of influence on metal! As I dig more I want to give you all an entire small discography but for now I will

say that after the first two discs they went with a new lead singer

who is still with the band. Killers, their second release has a different sound with Paul Di'Anno, the original lead singer, but I like his voice and love the disc. After that I have been listening to bits and pieces of different albums, but as of right now I would say that Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son is quite good and of course

Number Of The Beast, which may be their best known release is also very good. I also understand why my family kept me away. Very dark stories, scary imagery...this is a metal band. ike I said, I am in the early stages of exploring a band with 14 studio releases so I need some time. That said, I am glad to be back! Expect more in 2010 from The Brooklyn.

What about Christian Rock?

2009-11-05T21:00:00.009-05:00

I had a fun day today, listening to music that I don't usually listen to anymore. I made a playlist up of entirely christian music. Mostly older stuff, eighties christian rock...some nineties, and maybe two or three from the past few years...

Charlie Peacock wrote an amazing book that I read back in 2003 called At The Crossroads. It was and still is a much needed call to an industry that should have its eyes on much more than a Dove award. What really blew me away about the book is that Charlie having all the ammunition to just hammer away at the christian music industry instead writes with much love &

compassion toward an industry that at times seems to lose the plot. It is one of the better books that I have had the pleasure of reading in my life & if you are interested in the christian music industry I implore you to read it. Kingdom Come is a disc released in 1999 & has good thoughtful lyrics wrapped in piano pop "ish" music.

You may know who the electronica band Cloud 2 Ground is. Sure maybe you didn't own their sophmore release, , or their first disc E-Majn. But you may have heard of the band Shiny Toy Guns who just released their second disc Season of Poison last year or maybe their first disc We Are Pilots. Jeremy Dawson & Chad Petree got their start at N-Soul Records before branching out into the clubs as Slyder & in 2004 put together the original full lineup of Shiny Toy Guns who have had a couple of tracks on the radio since about 2007 & were nominated for a Grammy in 07.

The 77's released a couple of very good albums before getting signed to Island Records & releasing The Seventy Sevens. Mike Roe & his

bandmates were young, The band was tight, and they had the look as well as an alternative sound that was flavored somewhat like The Replacements. The self-titled disc was released in 1987 and unfortunately another one of Island's bands also put out a new album that year. The band was U2, and the release was entitled The Joshua Tree. Now Island Records was never a huge label, and when the entire label went out on what would turn into the biggest selling album of U2's career (more than 10 million sold!) The 77's never really stood a chance. They continue to put out very good music and will always be one of my favorite acts because of their sound and Mike Roe's sense of humor.

I could probably tell a short story about each of these bands but I won't. I'll try to find a link to each one that you can click when you get to their names under the blog. Then you can go & check it all out yourself. All I'm saying is that just because your local Christian radio station only plays milk through your speakers doesn't mean that there isn't meat out there. Sometimes you have to hunt for the meat, right?

Thursday 11.5.9

Charlie Peacock - Kingdom Come

Cloud 2 Ground - The Gate Beautiful

Petra - More Power To Ya

Switchfoot - The Beautiful Letdown

The Seventy Sevens - The Seventy Sevens

The Choir - Circle Slide

Delirious? - Mezzamorphis

Jars Of Clay - Jars Of Clay

Michael Knott - Life of David

Undercover - Boys & Girls

Undercover - Branded

Poor Old Lu - Sin

The BoogieMonsters - God Sound

Living Sacrifice - Conceived In Fire

-n

Nineties redux

2009-11-03T17:42:00.006-05:00

OK I think I got it all out of my system. I made a playlist of early 90's music & let it fly all day. Of course it was mostly the onslaught of grunge that filled my playlist but I added The Counting Crows August & Everything After & some other mid tempo stuff I dug in the olden days of 1993. I also almost bought The Cranberries debut album Everyone Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? but then realized that I would listen to it once & then forget about it again

for months & months. I really don't need to be spending this kind of money (Even if it is only $6.99 on iTunes right now) on impulse silliness. Especially when a new Weezer album (Ratitude!) is slated to come out next week! OK maybe I shouldn't blow the money regardless of Weezer's new disc but I have to have something to look forward to musically. There is Megadeth coming up...maybe I should start saving now since a concert tee may set me back at least $40. Plus there's the beer cost, and the bourbon. With any luck the t-shirts will not suck, the beer will not be flat, and the whiskey not watered down. OK downward spiral, time to bail. See you soon!

Tuesday 11.3.9

The Wallflowers - The Wallflowers

Singles Movie Soundtrack

Gin Blossoms - New Miserable Experience

Soul Asylum - Grave Dancers Union

Counting Crows - August & Everything After

Smashing Pumpkins - Cherub Rock

Pearl Jam - Ten Redux

Soundgarden - Superunknown

Nirvana - Nevermind

Alice In Chains - Dirt

Stone Temple Pilots - Core

-n

2 posts on a monday

2009-11-02T20:38:00.002-05:00

These days after daylight savings time ends just seem so long. I woke up at 5a this morning & now at 8:30p it feels like days & days have gone by. Today was an easy going day at work, so for the most part the music was easy going as well. I don't have much to expound upon today so rather I will dig up some video footage of each of the artists that I listened to at work, and then I will watch some baseball & try to sleep.

Monday, 11.2.9

Pete Yorn - Back & Fourth

Duncan Sheik - Whisper House

Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True

Ferraby Lionheart - Catch The Brass Ring

Foo Fighters - In Your Honor (Acoustic)

Freedy Johnston - Never Home

The Who - The Best Of The Who

Bob Dylan - Blonde On Blonde

We Are Scientists - Brain Thrust Mastery

The Wallflowers - Bringing Down The Horse

-n

Where is the love?

2009-11-02T06:21:00.007-05:00

I have been reaching for new things....trying to find something that makes me feel like writing. I have been listening to songs rather than albums which makes it hard to list, but today I will start listing albums again. It was a good idea when I started it awhile back & when I stopped it my writing became less consistent. Over the last week I have listened to Devendra Banhart's new CD What Will We Be & I am very impressed. America's favorite dirty hippy has written a seriously good new album & may actually come out of this with a single. I hope so; American radio could use a guy like Devendra. I listened to Bob Dylan's Desire album and I can't believe that I have not heard this whole album! It's a bit different musically than his 60's output but very close in spirit. the protester comes out somewhat during a few of the tracks on Desire. I think that it may be the last work of Bob's from that era. Everything since that mid-seventies CD has been Dylan looking for (and finding) a different sound. Check it out if you have not. I was very impressed. I guess Duncan Sheik is still working on Broadway as I picked up Whisper House from the library & realized that it is music from another show that he worked on. I'm glad he found another way to express his artistry, and the music is good. I wonder if he will come back to make another CD without the broadWAY behind it. I guess we'll live & see. That's it, time to go to work. Listen to Devendra Banhart's stuff below.

-n

Freedy Johnston, anyone?

2009-10-28T06:32:00.008-04:00

I went to a Sheryl Crow conert many years ago. There. I said it. Whew, I feel much better. It was June 24th 1996 & my buddy Chris wanted to go down as it was a free show in Pleasure Island at Disney. Hootie & the Blowfish were there (I really feel like I'm confessing something here) and some dude was opening named Freedy. So we stood in line outside the concert hall waiting. There was a big screen outside the hall where we stood and watched Freedy Johnston play. When he played Bad Reputation I was blown away...What a great song! He played one after another from This Perfect World & the next day I bought the CD. I have listened to that disc no less than 1000 times since that day & it remains fresh as the first day I heard it. This Perfect World is kind of a concept album, revolving around the same characters & themes throughout the album and it is quite powerful. A few years later I picked up Never Home from a used CD store to check out what came after This Perfect World and after the immediate thought of how it was NOT like the last CD I came to like Never Home a lot. Because I haven't said anything about his style, let me say this: Freedy plays an acoustic guitar, the songs are well crafted folk-ish rock & roll. Some of the tracks rock, some of them are mellow, but they for the most part all have this murderous trait to them. The songs kill, even though not all the songs are about murder. But they have the capability to kill in the lyrics & in the music. I have some earlier music from Freedy that I have bought since but you have to start with either This Perfect World or Never Home. They are different in that Never Home is a straight ahead disc with good catchy songs, and This Perfect World is all interconnected, the songs weaving together a mystery of a tale. And now...the rest of the story: Yes, we watched Hootie & the Blowfish. Yes, we got inside to see Sheryl Crow. A friend called to make fun of me about a month later when he saw the concert on VH1 from across the country and saw me in the crowd. I even met her later that night & gave her a rose that I had found outside the hall. Surprisingly she didn't seem very impressed. So ended that love affair. Then later that night I met Alice Cooper. He had played in a Pro-Am goldftournament at Disney and was walking into the parking lot at Downtown Disney when we stopped him. He was gracious & kind (much nicer than Sheryl, maybe I should have given the rose to him) and signed our tshirts. He even almost stabbed my friend Chris in the back with the pen we had for him to sign our shirts. We talked about football for a few minutes & then he left. It was the moment that my love affair with Alice Cooper began. Now you know...the rest of the story.

-n

Random dis-jointed musings...

2009-10-20T18:17:00.004-04:00

How can you possible get tired of listening to your iPod when you have 19,000 songs?

I wish I knew the answer to that as occasionally at work I just want to throw out the music I'm listening to & listen to...I don't know..transmissions from space maybe.

I love listening to Living Sacrifice but the folks at work get on edge a bit when they hear Bruce Fitzhugh's voice pummeling their ears. Even a recent listen to Chickenfoot's self titled disc got the office up in arms. What is it about Metal that gets everyone up in arms? And I'm talking about METAL. Megadeth, Metallica (early), Iron Maiden, LS, System of A Down, Children of Bodom, Dethklok...nobody minds an occasional Poison song or Jon Bon Jovi scene in a sitcom but put on Mudvayne & everyone throws a fit.

When I hear Britney Spears it hurts my ears but that doesn't seem to make anyone turn the radio off. Lady Gaga makes me wanna hurl but as long as the mindless can shake their bootie to it that's just great! Listen I don't care if Madonna likes Lady Gaga as far as I'm concerned she should put a sock in it. But I digress. Leave me alone & let me listen to Judas Priest or Testament and I'll leave you alone to listen to the new Black Eyed Peas with the rest of the radio listening world.

Didn't realize that I had so much pent-up anger inside me. I appreciate the intricate guitar work of Marty Friedman to the dance moves of Justin Timberlake, so sue me.

I need to go cool down with some Mastodon so enjoy your days & don't let your children grow up to be Lady Gaga.

-n

Out the window...

2009-10-17T08:00:00.008-04:00

My list has gone directly out the window...and it's Dave Matthews fault. A number of years ago I got into the DMB for a while. They are a good band and I had a good time getting into their live shows. Nowadays I cringe listening to them. Again, don't hate me for it...I dig the acoustic stuff with Tim Reynolds and I listen to DM's solo disc as it was really good but I can't listen to the DMBand. It's not that I don't respect them, it's not that I don't...I don't know. Very small doses these days, that's all I'll say. So when I got to Dave Matthews Band on my iPod I just took a sabbatical. That is not to say that I won't climb back on the horse & continue on but for now I have gotten into playlists. Last week I built a playlist from all the music that I had bought over the past few months, and early this morning I built a playlist called Wilbury. That's right, a nice dose of Dylan & Petty, some Roy Orbison, a touch of George Harrison and there you go. I don't have any ELO so I can't add any Jeff Lynne to the mix, but that gives me something to look forward to! As of this moment I'm working on updating my eighties playlist to include every bit of music that would fit in that genre. I hope to have about 7 days worth so I can just throw it on and catch a nice mix of eighties classics without hearing Wang Chung 10 times. What's next? I don't know. But I will tell you that after a few listens to the new Alice in Chains recording, Black gives Way To Blue, I miss Layne Staley more than ever. Every review I read talks about how the new guy's voice sounds just like Layne's & I just don't see it. I mean, don't get me wrong...It's similar in sound...but are you kidding? Layne had a voice with weight. When he sang a song you wanted to know what he was talking about. I didn't like the idea about the new singer but heard some good reviews & a friend had the CD so I took a few listens. Mybe you'll dig it, I don't get the same vibe. Maybe next month I'll come back & tell you how great it is after multiple listens, but so far, nothing. I will tell you that Pearl Jams new disc Backspacer is a gem. I haven't been this excited about PJ since...well since their last disc. But this one is a garage rock gem, and you should check it out. OK that's all the ramblings I've got. I gotta get moving on these blog entries, as this month I have been doing much listening & very little writing. All that will end soon.

-n

Must...stop...listening....to...MUSE

2009-10-10T15:51:00.005-04:00

I was introduced to this band in early 2005 while hanging out with a friend in a pub in the Lower East Side. My friend says "Have you heard this band Muse?" Amazing band. He played a few tracks off Absolution that night and I went home and downloaded the recording off iTunes. After listening to it for a few months I decided to tell everyone I knew about these guys. It was rock & roll, there was no question...but these guys had a groove about them. What I mean to say is that the music feels groovy. Hard rock that has soul is hard to come by. They had a few harmonies, and a real big sound for a three piece. So how cool. Come the middle of 2006 they release their new album Black Holes & Revelations. Now this disc is not Absolution. Not at all. Don't get me wrong...the rock & roll is still there. But all of a sudden the groovy has taken over. The harmonies are more prevalent. The production is more slick. I got the feeling that if Queen were young in this day & age they may be trying to make music like this. The keyboards take a bigger place in the music, and I can't find a reason to complain about it because despite all the harmonies, and despite all the electronica, and despite the polish, this recording has punch. Which brings us to The Resistance. When this came out I popped through the songs on 30 second clip on iTunes & thought "How overproduced!" and went and bought Megadeth's new CD. Then I went back & listened again & thought "It can't possibly be that dynamic. It sounds amazing, but I haven't bought the new Pearl Jam yet, maybe I'll just wait." Then the significant other that lives in my house said "Why haven't you bought the new Muse CD yet? I want it, buy it!" The past few years I have been very much moving closer and closer to the lo-fidelity sound, but she was right..I dig Muse, I'm sure this CD will be fine. Now after about 2 weeks I have not been able to take it out of my CD player in my car, and I can't stop listening to it at work. I believe it to be the best work by this threesome since I started listening to them. Let me tell you a little bit about the disc. It rocks. Plain & simple. The songs are tight and they have punch. Now let me tell you that the harmonies have gotten stronger, and they are all over this disc. The production is very slick. This may be the most polished piece of music that I have bought in a long time. Oh, and the keyboards are much bigger, much more prevalent. So in summary, more, more and more. And there you go. Muse may be the best disc I have purchased this year, and will no doubt be in my top three for the year. Go out and buy this and your heart will thank you. I'm sure Muse will as well, they have never been as big stateside as they are across the pond. And if you are going to see U2 on this tour I'm sure that you will enjoy the opening band, MUSE.

Much to say about Damien Jurado...

2009-09-30T21:37:00.009-04:00

I don't think Damien Jurado has put out a song that did not grow on me, if not immediately, at least eventually. His songs are full of longing, full of turmoil. I think that anyone who likes to listen to lyrics will find a common bond with Jurado. Maybe one of his songs reminds you of a girlfriend who left town promising not to forget you, only to do exactly that. Maybe it reminds you of a family trip you took when you were young, or a family member no one wants to talk about. There's a familiarity when you listen to the music, & you may not even know why. Waters Ave S came out in 1997 on Sub Pop Records after Jurado gained a following in Washington State making cassettes for friends & fans. His second Sub Pop album Rehearsals For Departure is a classic like few I have ever listened to hundreds of times. The themes are deeply familiar, the songs are hauntingly catchy, and the mood, while upbeat & clever, is decidedly morose. Songs about girls leaving town, songs about kidnapped girls returning home, songs about cheating and moving on are all handled as delicately as you would speak about your own relationships. Ghost of David, released in 2000 goes another step, detailing death & dead relationships with a real sense of suppressed emotion. Damien's last recording with Sub Pop came in a noisy indie rock album called I Break Chairs. It's a nice change to see Jurado break free from the acoustic guitar for a moment and let loose, but as he signed to Secretly Canadian in 2003, he released Where Shall You Take Me? which brings us back to that haunting familiar relationship refrains that he pulled off so well in Rehearsals. On My Way To Absence followed in 2005, and then And Now That I'm In Your Shadow in 2006. These two releases, at least for me, cemented that this guy was one of the great songwriters of my generation. The songs, the songs, the songs. They are so moving on these two discs that I don't even know what to say anymore. Very rarely does an artist stay solid for an extended amount of time in rock & roll (lo-fi, indie, folk rock), crafting a career based on a very solid discography of well written songs. This is presicely what makes Damien Jurado my hero. With no hype, no rise & fall, and basically no bad apples in his library, he has continued to grow as a songwriter and forge a following in a very grassroots fashion. Caught In The Trees was released in 2008 & followed with a short tour around the country. I wait patiently as he hopefully is working on crafting the next batch of songs, and I implore you to try out On My Way To Absence or Rehearsals For Departure first, then work your way into quite an amazing artists life.

Tuesday, 9/29/9

Muse - The Resistance

Spoon - A Series Of Sneaks

Mark Olson & Gary Louris - Ready For The Flood

Dave Pirner - Faces & Names

Damien Jurado - Caught In The Trees

Damien Jurado & Gathered In Song - I Break Chairs

Damien Jurado - Just In Time For Something

Damien Jurado - On My Way To Absence

Damien Jurado - Rehearsals For Departure

Damien Jurado - Waters Ave S

Damien Jurado - Where Shall You Take Me

-n

I'm 4 letters into the alphabet...

2009-09-28T19:58:00.006-04:00

...and already I'm looking for ways out. For the most part this self-imposed journey into the deep dark recesses of my iPod has been good for me. It has allowed me to further explore music that I bought & listened to only briefly before turning to newer music, and it has also allowed me to explore music that I bought and have not listened to at all. So I'm digging it. I guess the only problem is that when I buy new music I want to limit myself to only listen to it on the weekends as I'm undertaking this great exploration of my iPod. Maybe I should ease up, go to the iPod list when it suits me, listen to whatever I want when I want otherwise. I have been not only missing out on the new releases that I have been buying, but also some great classic releases. CD's like Spoon's A Series of Sneaks or Freedy Johnston's Can You Fly or Mark Olson & Gary Louris' Ready For The Flood. These are all great releases that I have not been able to dig into because I have been so adamant to stay the course from A - Z. So no more. Rock & Roll tells us to buck the rules and so I will. I will continue to run through my iPod list from A to Z but I will take the scenic route, taking days or even weeks off to follow whatever artistic journey I feel i need to. I'll be like Sufjan Stevens who, after declaring that he will be making an album for each of the United States took a break after the first one (Michigan) to release Seven Swans then proceeded to release two discs about Illinois, and is next month releasing a reworked version of a 2001 album Enjoy Your Rabbit entitled Run Rabbit Run. I'm sure his intentions are pure concerning the release of each of his state albums but he is not letting that notion ruin his artistic expression otherwise. I will not let my desire to play each song on my iPod rob me of the joy that I get from listening to what I want, when I want. From this moment on, don't judge me for stepping off the yellow brick road, for what would life be without detours.

Tuesday 9.22.9 & Wednesday 9.23.9 I was out of the office

Thursday 9.24.9

Counting Crows - Live House of Blues Orlando

Counting Crows - New Amsterdam - Live At Heineken Music Hall February 6, 2003

Counting Crows - Recovering The Satellites

Counting Crows - Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings

Counting Crows - This Desert Life

Crash Test Dummies - God Shuffled His Feet

Creed - My Own Prison

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Chronicle Volume 1

Crosby, Stills, & Nash - Greatest Hits

Friday 9.25.9

Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young - Deja Vu

Crowded House - Crowded House

Crowded House - Temple of Low Men

Crowded House - Time On Earth

Crowded House - Woodface

CSS - Donkey

The Cult - electric

The Cult - Sonic Temple

The Cure - Disintegration

Monday 9.28.9

The Cure - Greatest Hits

The Cure - The Head On The Door

The Cure - Mixed Up

The Cure - Staring At The Sea: The Singles

Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours

Cutting Crew - Broadcast

Cyndi Lauper - Twelve Deadly Cyns...And Then Some

Daft Punk - Discovery

Daft Punk - Human After All

Damien Jurado - And Now That I'm In Your Shadow

-n

The days of Counting Crows...and MEGADETH

2009-09-22T06:29:00.007-04:00

Here we are sprinting toward the end of the year. It will be Thanksgiving before you know it, and then we'll be into 2011. I've already done my yearly Counting Crows live show for the year & it looks like I'll be checking one more thing off my "things to do before I die" list as MEGADETH is coming to town in November. Megadeth just put out their 12th studio album Endgame and don't look like they'll be slowing down anytime soon. My birthday came and went & with it came an iTunes gift certificate which I used on the aforementioned new Megadeth CD. I've played it through 2-3 times & it seems the longer this band keeps making music the more they rediscover their 80's sound. This, of course, is a good thing as some of the best thrash metal of all time was released in the eighties, some of it coming from Megadeth in the form of Peace Sells...But Who's Buying? and Rust in Peace. But Dave Mustaine & a constantly changing band of musicians continue to solder on. Dave's lyrics always challenge, as he takes on politics, old band members, and religion with the same fervor he once used to take on Metallica after they kicked him out of the band so long ago. I say that had they never kicked Dave out of Metallica in 1983 we never would have had Megadeth, and that, my friends, would have been truly tragic. Check out Endgame and if you have a few extra bucks check out The System Has Failed which to me is top 5 thrash releases of the 21st century so far. Me? Hyperbole? Never. I only speak the truth.

Wednesday 9.16.9

Chevelle - Live From The Road

Chevelle - This Type of Thinking Could Do Us In

Chevelle - Vena Sera

Chevelle - Wonder What's Next

Chicago - Chicago 17

Chicago - Chicago 25

The Choir - Chase The Kangaroo

The Choir - Circle Slide

The Choir - Speckled Bird

The Choir - Wide-Eyed Wonder

Thursday, 9.17.9

Chris Cornell - Carry On

Chris Cornell - Euphoria Morning

Chris Robinson - New Earth Mud

Chris Robinson - This Magnificent Distance

Chris Tomlin - See The Morning

Chuck Prophet - No Other Love

Cibo Matto - Pom Pom: The Essential Cibo Matto

Cinderella - Long Cold Winter

Friday 9.18.9

Cinderella - Long Cold Winter

Cinderella - Night Songs

The Clash - London Calling

Coconut Records - Davy

Coheed & Cambria - Good Apollo Im Burning Star IV, Vol 2: No World For Tomorrow

Coldplay - Parachutes

Coldplay - A Rush of Blood To The Head

Coldplay - Viva La Vida or Death & All His Friends

Coldplay - X & Y

Common - Be

Monday 9.21.9

Common - Electric Circus

Common - Finding Forever

Common - Universal Mind Control

Counting Crows - Across A Wire: Live In New York

Counting Crows - August & Everything After

Counting Crows - Face The Promised land (Live)

Counting Crows - Films About Ghosts

Counting Crows - Hard Candy

Counting Crows - Live At The Fox Theatre

Counting Crows - Live CN

-n

Jazz on Tuesday

2009-09-16T06:31:00.004-04:00

Wish I had something more to say this morning but I'm still half asleep. On Monday I listened to Cannonball Adderley's Somethin' Else & I realized that I have never quite heard this recording like I did on Monday. It came alive to me & traveled to my soul. Of course I always have a hard time explaining how jazz affects me but this one really felt good. So maybe I had my first real jazz listening experience. On Tuesday I listened to Charlie Mingus & Charlie Parker for most of the day & with a few song exceptions I felt very little. Maybe it was my mood, maybe it was the artist, who knows. So we take it for what it was worth. For me it means revisiting Cannonball Adderley's music as maybe it just fits me better than many artists that I listen to. Or it could be that Somethin' Else is just something else. Miles Davis does play on that session so there's that, and the recording has a great overall sense of melody. OK let's get to the music. I'll see you soon.

Monday 9.14.9

Bush - Sixteen Stone

The Byrds - Sweetheart of The Rodeo

C & C Music Factory - Gonna Make You Sweat (Single)

Cab Calloway - Are You Hep To The Jive?

Calexico - Garden Ruin

Camper Van Beethoven - Telephone Free Landslide Victory

Cannonball Adderley - Somethin' Else

The Cars - Complete Greatest Hits

Cat Power - The Greatest

Cat Stevens - Greatest Hits

Chagall Guevara - Chagall Guevara

Tuesday 9.15.9

Chagall Guevara - Chagall Guevara

Charles Mingus - Blues & Roots

Charles Mingus - The Clown

Charles Mingus - East Coasting

Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um

Charles Mingus - Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus

Charlie Parker - South of The Border - The Verve Latin Jazz Sides

Charlie Parker - Yardbird Suite: The Ultimate Charlie Parker

-n

The iPod Returns

2009-09-14T06:35:00.004-04:00

I got it back.

Went to Best Buy on Saturday & my iPod was sitting on a shelf. Just waiting for me. I guess they tried to call earlier in the week but had an old phone # on my account & so I never got the call. That is just unforgivable. They should have looked me up on Facebook or the Yellow Pages... or come by my house...my iPod was fixed & no one told me.

Well that's enough complaining. I'm back onto my "Listen Through My iPod" tour & next on the list will be to finish up with the B's with Bush and The Byrds and then we are on to the C's. Cab Calloway will be playing this morning! There will be no week long artist celebrations in the C's. A half day of Charlie Mingus, a half day of Counting Crows, a few hours of The Cure. We will be in the D before I even know it. So uh, let's get this party started.

-n

The iPod Blues

2009-09-11T06:31:00.005-04:00

It's times like these I wonder if they will ever make an indestructible iPod. Maybe military grade covering so it can withstand the bumps of everyday life? I'm just pining away for my 160GB right now, please don't mind me.

The week has not been bad, all things considered. I go straight to eMusic where I can still pull most of my purchases from the past. So I'm listening to Sonic Temple from The Cult, Pearl Jam's Lost Dogs, Dirty Diamonds from Alice Cooper, all of Andrew Bird's discs...I certainly miss going forward on my plan to listen to every track on my iPod but I have a lot of time for that. I'll work for at least the next 30 years, I have a lot of time...

Sonic Temple was a good disc but for my hard earned dollars nothing even comes close to Electric by The Cult. The reason that disc wa sthe absolute greatest sounding record by this band is because of Rick Rubin. Rick Rubin is the man who started Def Jam Records, began LL Cool J's career, Public Enemy's career, The Beastie Boys' career...He revived Johnny Cash's career in the nineties after a downturn, he recently revived Neil Diamonds career with the disc 12 songs. This man also produced what I think may be the greatest recording of 1991 which would be Blood Sugar Sex Magick by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He recently produced Metallica's last disc Death Magnetic which is by far the best music they have made since 1989's ...And Justice For All. So we are talking about one influential looking crazy person. He is currently the co-head of Columbia records and as far as I can see there is no better place for him. He keeps good artists honest, gets them away from the big production & back to what makes them great. Go to Wikipedia & check out his discography one day. You will be stunned at where his fingers have been.

Lists return next week (hopefully),

-n

iPod trouble again?

2009-09-06T22:19:00.005-04:00

You have got to be kidding me.

I've only had this iPod now for about a year. Last time I can't even remember what the problem was but I know that I've only had my 160GB back for about 3 months and now it's not turning on anywhere except on my little orb at work. Tempting as that may be to keep it just because it IS working somewhere, I brought it to Best Buy again. So I'm looking at about a week or so they say before I get my baby back. Until then it will be listening to the new eMusic stuff that I got last week. Wanna know what I got? Let me tell you...

I got Born in the U.S.A. by The Boss. Surprisingly this is the first time that I have ever owned this recording. Sure I've heard most of the songs at some point in my life but this disc plays so well as a full record that I had to have it. I finally bought a few CDs that I've wanted actually. Neil Finn: 7 Worlds Collide is a live disc with Neil & Tim Finn along with many special guests such as Eddie Vedder, Johnny Marr of The Smiths, & Lisa Germano. Good music, some old Crowded House classics, mixed in with some other great songs.Speaking of Eddie Vedder I got a disc of Pearl Jam B sides called Lost Dogs. It's a double disc, a lot of good old tracks to mine here. Also discs from The National, Spoon, Fishbone (Truth & Soul!!) & Deertick. So next week shouldn't be so bad. Plus it's only 4 days. So have a nice holiday, listen to Woody Guthrie at some point tomorrow, raise a glass to the labor unions who gave the working man a voice, and don't drink too much. We'll see you next week sometime.

Wednesday 9.2.9

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Talkin Blues

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Uprising

Bob Marley & Friends - Bob Marley & Friends

Bob Seger - Greatest Hits

Bobby Darin - The Ultimate Bobby Darin

Bobby McFerrin - The Best of Bobby McFerrin

Bobby McFerrin - Beyond Words

Bobby McFerrin - Circlesongs

Bobby McFerrin - Simple Pleasures

Bon Iver - Blood Bank

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

Bon Jovi - New Jersey

Thursday 9.3.9

Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet

Bonham - The Disregard of Timekeeping

Boston - Boston

Boston - Third Stage

The Boxer Rebellion - Union

Breathe - All That Jazz

Breathe Owl Breathe - Ghost Glacier

The Breeders - Cannonball (Single)

Bria Valente - Elixer

The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Take It From The Man!

The Brian Setzer Orchestra - Guitar Slinger

Bright Eyes - Lifted Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep You Ear To The Ground

Britney Spears - In The Zone

The Broken West - I Can't Go On, I'll Go On

Friday 9.4.9

The Broken West - I Can't Go On, I'll Go On

Bruce Cockburn - Anything Anytime Anywhere (Singles 1979 - 2002)

Bruce Cockburn - Christmas

Bruce Cockburn - You've Never Seen Everything

Bruce Hornsby - The Way It IS (Single)

Bruce Springsteen - Born In The U.S.A.

Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run

Bruce Springsteen - Greatest Hits

Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska

Bruce Springsteen - The River

Bruce Springsteen - Working On A Dream

Buddy Holly - Greatest Hits

-n

New Living Sacrifice!

2009-09-01T19:17:00.008-04:00

I just read on the Solidstaterecords.com website that Living Sacrifice will be releasing a new studio release in November! Entitled The Infinite Order, it will be released on November 3rd and this brings (at least for me) many questions that I have had about these guys over the past year or so. If you don't know who Living Sacrifice is suffice it to say that...if you listen to Metallica and you say to yourself "not too bad, but I wish they rocked a lot harder" then you may dig Living Sacrifice. If you listen to rock radio & it makes you throw up just a little bit, then you may want to listen to a Living Sacrifice CD. If sometimes you just feel the need to throw your head around like mad while believing passionately that God is pleased watching you mosh, then you should try Living Sacrifice. I first got into them on This is Solid State sampler CD Vol.1 when they released a song called Reject off their 4th proper studio release Reborn. It was an instant jolt to my system as I had never gotten into anything quite so hard. Death metal just never was my thing, and my thrash experience never strayed far from the 4 Horsemen of Thrash (actually 3, i could never quite stomach Slayer). The song Reject hit me like a sledgehammer. They were passionate about their faith and they were relentless. Since then I have been sold. Harder & tighter than any other thrash band I have ever heard, their live show is honestly like no other show I have ever been to. The Hammering Process came out in 2000, which many will tell you is their finest piece of work. They broke up in 2003, I believe, after their 6th release Conceived in Fire, and went on to other bands & things. A greatest hits CD came out in 2005 and I figured that was it. Then they rose from the ashes in the summer of 2008 to go on a summer tour with Demon Hunter. At the end of summer in 2008 came the recording Death Machine with two songs, and the promise of new recordings. But only now have I heard that this recording has been done! I am happy in that I need some good head banging in my life right now. Living Sacrifice is certainly not for everyone. If your favorite band is Nickelback, Living Sacrifice may not be up your alley. Then again, maybe you will find something that you have been looking for your entire life.

Living Sacrifice - Reject on youtube

This is live at The Social in Orlando, the show I went to.

Tuesday 9.1.9

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Natural Mystic

Bob Marley & The Wailers - One Love

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Rastaman Vibration

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Rebel Music

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Roots of A Legend

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Soul Rebels

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Survival

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Talkin Blues

-n

The Vanity Plan!

2009-08-31T21:05:00.006-04:00

Before I go any further in my life I have to tell you this...The Vanity Plan have released a new disc entitled The Ignorant Are Sold. The disc is widely available in that you can pick it up on iTunes for less than 6 bucks... and I seriously think you should. Imagine what you think real rock & roll sounds like...this is what you are going to hear, some serious rock and roll, and if you live in the Orlando area & get a chance to catch them live do not miss the chance. Their first CD No More Lovers Die Tonight came out in 2007, and each member has been out moonlighting with other bands & working on various side projects for the past couple years. Now they have regrouped with a solid, hard new set of songs. One of their tracks recently made it on The EA Sports video game Madden 10 and before you know it this band may be playing for more than the $5 - $6 bucks that you can catch them at right now. That's it. The Vanity Plan. The Ignorant Are Sold. iTunes. Do it. Do it.

Friday 8.28.9

Bob Marley - Songs Of Freedom

Bob Marley - Stop The Train

Bob Marley & The Wailers - African Herbsman

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Confrontation

Bob Marley & The Wailers - The Essential

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Exodus

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Feel Alright

Bob Marley & The Wailers - First Trip

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Fy-Ah Fy-Ah

Monday 8.31.9

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Fy-Ah Fy-Ah

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Gold

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Kaya

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Keep On Skanking

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Legend

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Live At The Oakland Coliseum

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Love Light Shining

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Natural Mystic

-n

On to Bob Marley

2009-08-28T06:58:00.003-04:00

Ok quick note...Bob Dylan's days have passed here on the iPod list. I've come to a time when I must dig in. Bob Marley is here in the brooklyn & I will be there for maybe 2 weeks. So sit back, relax, and dig the sound of freedom.

Tuesday 8.25.9

Bob Dylan - John Wesley Harding

Bob Dylan - Love & Theft

Bob Dylan - Modern Times

Bob Dylan - Nashville Skyline

Bob Dylan - Oh Mercy

Bob Dylan - Self Portrait

Wednesday 8.26.9

Bob Dylan - Shot of Love

Bob Dylan - Slow Train Coming

Bob Dylan - Time Out Of Mind

Bob Dylan - Together Through Life

Bob Dylan - Wonder Boys Soundtrack

Bob Dylan - World Gone Wrong

Bob Marley - Chant Down Babylon

Bob Marley - Dreadlock Rasta

Bob Marley - Greatest Hits

Bob Marley - The Legendary

Thursday 8.27.9

Bob Marley - The Legendary

Bob Marley - No Sympathy

Bob Marley - One Day Of Bob Marley

Bob Marley - Original Cuts

Bob Marley - Reggae Ruler

Bob Marley - Revoulution Experience - Singles Collection 1970 - 1971

Bob Marley - Songs Of Freedom

-n

Dylanorama! Matisyahu!

2009-08-25T20:35:00.009-04:00

I seriously don't get it.

Bob Dylan, troubadour of the protest movements of the 60's. Bob Dylan, well traveled old blues soul currently making some of the best roadhouse blues music ever made in the past 15 years. Bob Dylan, American treasure much like Mark Twain. This man who has weathered a career spanning 47 years is still so, so, unrespected! "I just can't take his voice! He can't sing! I can't listen to that! Where's my No Doubt CD?" I hate to say

that we don't really want to think about our music, that it's just enough to leave it in the background, or have it to dance to. Poetry is certainly not an American pastime. Everyone knows "Weird" Al Yankovic but how many people can tell me who the curent Poet Laureate is? Bob Dylan will always be revered by some, loathed by others, and treated with indifference by most of the world. I can't change the world, but I will continue to beat this into people's heads. This man is an American Icon, and he will not be with us forever. Do me a favor & buy ONE Bob Dylan CD. Greatest Hits is a good CD chronicling his early years and has many great hits. Anything from Time Out Of Mind & after is amazing, each record with it's own feel. My personal favorite from this time is Love & Theft but Modern Times is great & Together Through Life is good as well. I heard that he is putting out a Christmas CD this year, so I can't wait to hear it. Bravo Bob, keep on doing what you do...I hope to be able to see you live again when you pass through.

MATISYAHU has finally released the follow up to Youth. It is called Light, and it was released today. I have been waiting for this CD for what seems like forever & I'm glad for the wait because this disc delivers. This guy moves me like very few artists have. Hasidic hip hop infused reggae, he is driven & passionate & it shows in each track. I implore you to get out & buy the new CD. I have seen clips of his live shows & would love to catch him if he comes down south to Central Florida. I know that he will be performing in NYC because, well, why wouldn't you if you lived in Brooklyn? Of course you would. And when i start thinking about live shows I start wishing I was back in Brooklyn.

OK here's the list dump from last Thursday on:

Thursday, 8.20.9

Blur - Parklife

Blur - Think Tank

Bob & Doug McKenzie - Great White North

Bob Dylan - Another Side of Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan - Before The Flood

Bob Dylan - Blonde On Blonde

Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks

Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series Vol 4: Live 1966: The Royal Albert Hall Concert

Friday 8.21.9

Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series Vol 4: Live 1966: The Royal Albert Hall Concert

Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series Vol 6: Live 1964

Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series Vol 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack

Monday 8.24.9

Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series Vols 1 - 3: Rare & Unreleased 1961 - 1991

Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home

Bob Dylan - 1965 Revisited Box Set

Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

Bb Dylan - Good As I Been To You

Bob Dylan - Greatest Hits

Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited

Bob Dylan - John Wesley Harding

Tuesday 8.25.9

Bob Dylan - John Wesley Harding

Bob Dylan - Love & Theft

Bob Dylan - Modern Times

Bob Dylan - Nashville Skyline

Bob Dylan - Oh Mercy

Bob Dylan - Self Portrait

Bob Dylan - Shot Of Love

-n

On The Eve of Dylan

2009-08-20T06:46:00.003-04:00

Not too much time today but I had to get these three days in so...I'm noticing that my iPod doesn't catalog all my music under artist name. That means that when I get finished A - Z I will have to go back to my iTunes & fish out the rest of the CDs that I missed. Am I the only one who this happens to?

Monday 8.17.9

Benji Hughes - A Love Extreme

The Bens - The Bens

Big Boi - Speakerboxxx

Billy Holiday - Lady In Satin

Billy Holiday - Quintessential Volume 1 1933 - 1935

Billy Bragg & Wilco - Mermaid Ave Vol 2

Billy Joel - Greatest Hits Vol 1

Billy Joel - Greatest Hits Vol 2

Billy Joel - Greatest Hits Vol 3

Tuesday 8/18/9

Billy Joel - The Stranger

Bing Crosby - 20th Century Masters: The Christmas Collection

The Black Crowes - Greatest Hits 1990 - 1999

The Black Crowes - Shake Your Money Maker

The Black Crowes - Warpaint

The Black Keys - Chulahoma

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Baby 81

B.M.R.C. - Howl

Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Black Star - Black Star

Wednesday 8/19/9

Black Tide - Light From Above

Blindside - About A Burning Fire

Blindside - Silence

Blindside - A Thought Crushed My Mind

Blitzen Trapper - Furr

Blonde Redhead - Misery Is A Butterfly

Blondie - Parallel Lines

Blue Man Group - The Complex

Blues Traveler - Four

Blur - Parklife

-n