Tuesday, November 29, 2005

this is an unregistered version...

My friend Math handed me a CD today of some mixes he did, and it's kind of the aural equivalent of You're The Man Now Dog. Give it a few listens to let the subliminal messages to soak in.

No Sunlite For The Media - Weed No More

No Sunlite For The Media - Sinister Poofiness

No Sunlite For The Media - Gunshot


No Sunlite For The Media - Seven...........Free Downloads

No Sunlite For The Media - Waspgrinder

No Sunlite For The Media - There Ain't No Sunlight Thats Bright Enuff

Monday, November 28, 2005

a little respect

I never have liked the Aretha Franklin version of this song, I have always found it kind of frustrating. The last person that I want to give respect to is someone shoving it down my throat, and that's how her delivery of the song hits me. I am aware that it wouldn't be the ultra-popular song that it is today however if the mobs of karaoke crazy people belting this song out didn't disagree with me. So someone obviously is okay with Franklin's version, but for me I prefer the Otis Redding original, sung in a fashion that I can actually believe it's respect he's after.

Otis Redding - Respect

Friday, November 18, 2005

happy friday!

Man it got cold these last couple days! Therefore I'm posting some music to set your guitar on fire and kneel in front of to. This is from Funkadelic's second album, Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow, which was interestingly shortened to just Free Your Mind... for the reissue, (which seems silly to me because they didn't change the song named the same as the original album title). Whatever, Funkadelic has never been about the nit picking. I guess unless you consider that George Clinton doesn't really do anything except do really tripped out, low voice things on some of the songs and tell everyone else what to do, apparently he's quite a control freak. Funkadelic made one album without him in the late 70's though and it was terrible so I suppose his autonomy has its benefits. In other news, I saw this awful band perform last night at a battle of the bands, apparently they thought the 7 freshman girls drunkenly swaying in front of them consituted them Bonnaroo funk fusion gods. They immediately reminded me of that band in Ghost World who plays "the blues" in such a way that causes Steve Buscemi to look like humanity has failed him for the last time. If only the Mothership could have landed and reminded everyone what being knee deep in funk is really about.

Funkadelic - Friday Night, August 14th

Thursday, November 17, 2005

scratch the surface, looking for blood

Nother short post kids. This is a really fun track I think I might have gotten from Vinyl Mine a while back. It came up randomly on my itunes last week and it has been climbing the top 50 most played. So here it is, in all its AFI/Misfits/MSI influenced glory.

Punish The Atom - Filthy Boy

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

beyond all time and space

All-nighter last night, and two tests back to back this morning and I am whipped. Enjoy this great song.

George Harrison - Apple Scruffs

Friday, November 11, 2005

lessons in chessboxin

Thanks to Razorblade Runner for posting on the new GZA/DJ Muggs album the other day, which is excellent. When DJ Muggs worked with GZA on The Legend of the Liquid Sword for the song "Luminal" it was one of my favorite tracks on the album, so when I heard about this collaboration I was really looking forward to it. The album called Grandmasters has a chess theme which is evident in the song title of one of the tracks posted here, (you even get advice for your own game if you listen close). The theme works well for GZA whose past albums have had themes heavy on the intellectual side of fighting, and DJ Muggs' dark tinged production does well to color the tracks with grim style.

DJ Muggs Vs Gza - Advance Pawns (Royal) Ft. Rza & Raekwon

DJ Muggs Vs Gza - Illusory Protection (War Drumz)

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

when is the big discovery

I guess before fall is gone I should do at least one post having to do with music I like to listen to in autumn. This song is from an album I so associate with fall I even think of the album cover when someone mentions the season. I know I have been going through alot of music that I used to listen to, but it just occurred to me to get the album again since my previous copy was so scratched it was barely playable. I had a really difficult time choosing what song to post, I'd post the entire album if I could, but alas. The songs on this album are such a great mix of hardcore, metal, punk and emo that it's unbelieveable that the current trend of bands playing that mix screw it up so terribly. I guess it must be easy though considering everything Grade did after this was pretty downhill. There are those who contend that the album right after this, Separate the Magnets is their best due to the better production and musicianship but I think And Such Is Progress executes exactly the kind of emotional rawness that Sunny Day Real Estate only sung about. The edges are ragged, and therefore they can still cut as opposed to the slick sheen applied to such much of the "emo" out there, even the heavier stuff. The sound of the album is pretty unique in my opinion, and maybe that's because I never really pursued any more Canadian screamo, but it sounds like fall in audio form to me. The bite of the screamed vocals stings like approaching frigid weather and the warm guitar is reminiscent of the sun still coming through the cooling trees. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Grade - And Such Is Progress

Grade - Bedhead

Monday, November 07, 2005

i write this for the loveless/and the risks we take

I don't know about "loveless" but I took a risk this weekend and paid for it, $20 to be exact. I just bought a sweet new pocket knife last week, and had it on me when I went to a show on Saturday. Big mistake apparently, I forgot they take those things, I guess it makes sense, they don't want anyone getting stabbed. But if I was actually serious about hurting someone there are about a hundred ways I could have snuck something deadly in, rather than keep it in my pocket where they'd obviously look. Whatever. The show was probably worth it. Darkest Hour and Converge were the headlining bands and Ringworm and The Red Chord opened. The opening bands were pretty boring, Ringworm, whatever Jacob Bannon says about them being his favorite band were pretty generic sounding and their bad jokes about dogs and sex didn't really help anything. The Red Chord were a little better, they had a better sense of humor at least, they just didn't really seem to have a cohesive sound. They screwed around alot, but there was some decent grindage in there somewhere. Darkest Hour was next and they really put on an excellent show. It is probably true that the crowd makes a big part of the concert experience, and this crowd did not shirk any duties. The whole place was a frenzy of flying bodies, water, probably some beer and the sound of a band working as one brilliant explosive unit. Converge played last, and it was pretty gratifying to see a band whom I respect alot artistically and whose album Jane Doe is important to me personally. They played a good mix of older songs and newer ones, with Jacob Bannon reminding everyone that throwing up on stage can actually look cool if done correctly. Ok, maybe cool isn't the word but it didn't take away from the performance at least. I know I have posted on Converge recently, so I apologize I guess if you don't like them.

Darkest Hour - For The Soul Of The Savior

Converge - The Broken Vow

*Sorry if you are disappointed that I have no bad digital pictures of the show, I didn't have my camera...although they probably would have found a reason to take that too.

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

how about a slower one?

This song is by an artist that came to my school last week for a benefit concert to raise funds for the radio station. I showed up expecting to see the usual group of people doing their open mic night routines, and for the most part I wasn't that disappointed. Not that it was bad, one group's rendition of "Okie from Muskogee" was pretty fun. But then there was the obligatory guy that had his own fan club who went on way too long, only to the praise of the clumped group near the left of the stage. But the last person that played really was impressive, I had never heard of her but my friend knew her and had said she was good. I don't know how much justice this mp3 will do, but it's what I have. Arum Rae plays a style of blues with minimal guitar and an appreciable focus on her voice, which she uses with just the right amounts of restraint and enticing power. Even though she was tired and her guitar wasn't tuning exactly right, she was able to hold everyone captive for her set. This mp3 is from a radio broadcast she did in her native town of Lexington, Va.

Arum Rae - Didn't I?

Photo of the concert (Who needs photoshop when your crappy camera makes the pictures artsy automatically?)

Arum Rae's website