Friday, September 30, 2005
Holy heck, Blogman! I have so much stuff to trudge through with new music/bands/blogs/podcasts to catch up on. I think I currently have about 5 other windows open right now of new blogs to check out and I just saw a article about bands that are going to be huge next year. I NEED TO CHECK DIS SHIZ OUT! I prefer to filter everything before I throw it out there so I am not inundating anyone, so hopefully I will get some good posts throughout the weekend.
TARA-BLE
Ironically, after reading article this morning in Rolling Stone about how awful Tara Ried and her show 'Taradise' are, and the fact the shows cancellation was imminent, I just found was sent this from a Page Six article:
Page Six reports that Tara Reid is bordering on a mental breakdown after the cancellation of Taradise , though I have no idea how anybody could even gauge a mental breakdown with Tara. A mental breakdown suggests that there's a mind to actually break down, as opposed to the cavity of air where Tara's brain should be.
Anyways, she recently fired her publicist and moved back to New York and had a "complete meltdown" during her interview with Steppin' Out magazine. You have to be registered with the New York Post to read the full content, but I've posted a transcript of Tara's insane ramblings after the jump.
"How many more years are [the media] going to pick on me? There's other new young bad girls. Move on to someone else! . . . I need one more great movie role so they say, 'Wow, she can act! She's a great actress.' Then I think they'll leave me alone . . . If I'm going to try and do something, it has to happen this year. I'm not stupid.
"People think [I am just a party girl], and it's bull[bleep]," she ranted to Hayden. "I wish they would just tell the truth. I'm not a drunk . . . I don't have a drinking problem. I don't have a drug problem, for sure.
"Listen, if I could get good movies, you would never see me going out. But when there's nothing to do, what am I supposed to do, just sit in my house and go crazy? But going out is not all I do.
"I'm just fed up. I just want a chance again. I want to show that I am an actress . . . I just wish a director would believe in me.
"The gossip reporters know the truth. They know they could write good things about me. They could write I'm a good person who is cleaning up her act. I am getting older, and I want different things in my life. I want to get married and have kids.
"I've had a million publicists, and they've done nothing for me . . . Publicists are supposed to fight for me and believe in me, and they don't do that. They don't!
"I thought 'Taradise' was going to help me . . . I wanted to show the whole world the truth — I'm fun . . . But do I think it was cut like that? No. It could have been a better show . . . I didn't want to look like a total party-girl drug retard. I think the shots they show aren't fair."
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
GEORGE BUSH HATES MIDGETS!?
Chris Rock couldn't resist cracking a Kanye West joke during the Concert for Hurricane Relief. Go to link for video clip on iFilm.
Chris Rock mocking Kanye West
Chris Rock mocking Kanye West
GOOD HARVEST FOR APPLE
Interesting tidbit from Business Week on the iPod Nano and Apple's profits from it vs. expenses on it:
"The verdict? It costs Apple $90.18 in materials to build the unit and $8 to assemble it, leaving a profit margin before marketing and distribution costs of about 50%. That's consistent with the margins on earlier iPod versions and serves as a reminder of what a profit machine the iPod family of products has become for Apple since it was introduced in 2001....Thus far in fiscal 2005, the iPod has brought in $2.6 billion in revenue, accounting for about 25% of Apple's total."
Full article:Businessweek - Apple Nano
"The verdict? It costs Apple $90.18 in materials to build the unit and $8 to assemble it, leaving a profit margin before marketing and distribution costs of about 50%. That's consistent with the margins on earlier iPod versions and serves as a reminder of what a profit machine the iPod family of products has become for Apple since it was introduced in 2001....Thus far in fiscal 2005, the iPod has brought in $2.6 billion in revenue, accounting for about 25% of Apple's total."
Full article:Businessweek - Apple Nano
INTERPOL - LIVE
I have been a bad, bad blogger. Due to the Schmitt family digital camera being down, I was unable to take any pictures of the Interpol concert my friend Greg and I went to. (FYI - it will be down for awhile so no pics of this Wed's Doves show in C-bus. The above picture was found online - FOOLED YOU!)
Anywho, the show was really, really good. I had no idea Interpol rocked so much. We had to deal with some odd fans doing a jangle-pop dance to opening band Boom Bit, who were a odd blend of atmospheric music with no vocals. I liked it (Boom Bit, that is), Greg didn't. It sounded a bit like what Radiohead does when they go off stage, twiddling knobs that make some odd music for 5 minutes. Worth looking into but I can't find a site for them. Then with Interpol, we had some drunk teen girl in front of us who was jumping up and down to the music like she was at a Blink 182 show or something. She was really annoying, off-beat and kept holding her cell phone up in the air. Other than some odd crowd members, the show was awesome and the bass was shaking through my bowels. They played every song I wanted to hear (Take You on a Cruise, Not Even Jail and NYC) and probably 12 others. Nice long show and worth going to if they come by your town.
Since I don't have any mp3's of the show last night, here are a few select, live tracks from their live album, the Black Session, recorded August 27,2002.
MP3 - Stella Was a Diver Who Was Always DownEXPIRED
MP3 - Hands AwayEXPIRED
MP3 - NYCEXPIRED
THROWIN' BOWS
Elbow's new album is out today, Leaders of the Free World. This really snuck up on me and I had no idea it was releasing so soon.
Here are some tracks that have been circulating. I don't care much for Picky Bastard but I like what Station Approach is doing.
MP3 - Picky BastardEXPIRED
MP3 - Station ApproachEXPIRED
LOCKED AND LOADED
50 Cent's upcoming film debut, Locked and Loaded, has a lot of hype surrounding it as well as stirring rumors that it is 50's shot at getting an Oscar. Yes, that's right. I just typed Oscar. It is directed by Jim Sheridan and "focuses on an orphaned former drug dealer who puts his criminal past behind him to pursue rapping." Sound familiar....(cough) 8 Mile (cough)?
Here is 50's theme song for the movie, much like Eminem's "Lose Yourself", called "Hustler's Ambition". I think Em's got him beat.
MP3 - Hustler's Ambition
Link code
I am trying to figure out how to get links to appear as the URL vs saying LINK, like this http.thetestpilot.blogspot so here is a test.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
MAXïMO PARK
Maxïmo Park are an indie rock band out of Newcastle, England. I would say they fall in between Franz Ferdinand and The Futureheads - less pop than FF but less bizarre and punk than the FHs. Their debut CD, A Certain Trigger,
MP3 - Apply Some PressureEXPIRED
MP3 - GraffitiEXPIRED
MP3 - Going MissingEXPIRED
MP3 - The Coast is Always ChangingEXPIRED
DCFC COMING TO A TV AND RADIO NEAR YOU!
Death Cab will be performing LIVE tomorrow morning (Friday, 9/23) at 11:15am PACIFIC on KCRW's 'Morning Becomes Eclectic". For those of you living in Southern California, you can tune in to 89.9 FM. The program can also be streamed on the web at www.kcrw.com.
In addition, the band will be the musical guest on the "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" next Tuesday, September 27! Check your local listings for the air time in your area.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
ROADTRIP...?
"An enormous pink bunny has been erected on an Italian mountainside where it will stay for the next 20 years.
The 200-foot-long toy rabbit lies on the side of the 5,000 foot high Colletto Fava mountain in northern Italy's Piedmont region.
Viennese art group Gelatin designed the giant soft toy and say it was "knitted by dozens of grannies out of pink wool".
Group member Wolfgang Gantner said: "It's supposed to make you feel small, like Gulliver. You walk around it and you can't help but smile."
And Gelatin members say the bunny is not just for walking around - they are expecting hikers to climb its 20 foot sides and relax on its belly.
The giant rabbit is expected to remain on the mountain side until 2025."
GOBLET of FIRE - TRAILER 2
ALL HP FANS - check out the link below for the new Harry Potter trailer. For some reason, the US Warner Bros. site for Goblet of Fire only has the first trailer. You have to go to the UK Warner Bros. site to see a new one. It looks awesome and definitely the scariest HP yet. There are shots of Mad Eye Moody; the veela/Fleaur; the flying Beauxbaton carriage; Durmstrang including Viktor; dragons and the maze from the Tri-Wizard Tournament; Harry/Cho and Hermione/Viktor at the dance; the underwater creatures, etc. IT LOOKS WHACK-TASTIC! These kids are looking older and more ragtag as well.
(What is odd is that when I was checking it out last night, it showed me a different trailer for #2. It had 90% of the same things but there was a shot of the Durmstrang shipping coming out of the lake and dialogue of Harry telling Ron "I don't want eternal glory!", so there might be another trailer out there...)
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
HARRY AND THE POTTERS
One last post for the day...probably.
I found a link to this band a while ago. If you read HP books, you might get a good laugh. I really don't think I have listened to these guys for longer than :30 but it is funny enough to read the song titles and see what lyrics they come up with. I am waiting for J.K. Rowling to bring the Hammer on these guys.
HELP: A Day In The Life
War Child Music has been around for awhile, offering exclusive recordings by popular artists with all proceeds going to helping victims of armed conflict. On Sept 6th, all of these artists went into the studio to cut a song for the HELP CD. This is quite a nice lineup. You can sample the songs and buy what you want or get the whole CD, released Sept 26th.
Tracklist:
1. Radiohead - I Want None Of It
2. The Coral - It Was Nothing
3. The Zutons - Hello Conscience
4. Elbow - Snowball
5. The Magic Numbers - Gone Are The Days
6. Maximo Park - Wasteland
7. The Go! Team - Phantom Broadcast
8. Emmanuel Jal - Gua
9. Keane and Faultline - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
10. Kaiser Chiefs - I Heard It Through The Grapevine
11. Bloc Party - The Present
12. Hard-FI - Help Me Please
13. Belle and Sebastian - The Eighth Station of the Cross Kebab House
14. Tinariwen - Cler Achel
15. George and Antony - Happy Christmas, War Is Over
16. Gorillaz - Hong Kong
17. Babyshambles - From Bollywood to Battersea
18. The Manic Street Preachers - Leviathan
19. Razorlight - Kirby's House
20. Damien Rice - Cross-eyed Bear
21. Mylo - Mars Needs Women
22. Coldplay - How You See The World No.2
ELIZABETHTOWN SOUNDTRACK
Latest movie/soundtrack offering from Cameron Crowe. Releases today I believe. Here is the tracklist:
01. 60B (Elizbethown Theme) - Nancy Wilson
02. It'll All Work Out - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
03. My Father's Gun - Elton John
04. io (This Time Around) - Helen Stellar
05. Come Pick Me Up - Ryan Adams
06. Where to Begin - My Morning Jacket
07. Long Ride Home - Patty Griffin
08. Sugar Blue - Jeff Finlin
09. Don't I Hold You - Wheat
10. Shut Us Down - Lindsey Buckingham
11. Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) – The Hombres
12. Hard Times - eastmountainsouth
13. Jesus Was a Crossmaker - The Hollies
14. Square One - Tom Petty
15. Same in Any Language - I Nine
You can stream it here:LINK
01. 60B (Elizbethown Theme) - Nancy Wilson
02. It'll All Work Out - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
03. My Father's Gun - Elton John
04. io (This Time Around) - Helen Stellar
05. Come Pick Me Up - Ryan Adams
06. Where to Begin - My Morning Jacket
07. Long Ride Home - Patty Griffin
08. Sugar Blue - Jeff Finlin
09. Don't I Hold You - Wheat
10. Shut Us Down - Lindsey Buckingham
11. Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) – The Hombres
12. Hard Times - eastmountainsouth
13. Jesus Was a Crossmaker - The Hollies
14. Square One - Tom Petty
15. Same in Any Language - I Nine
You can stream it here:
Monday, September 19, 2005
RYAN ADAMS NAME-CHECKED MY WIFE'S COUSIN IN ROLLING STONE!
Not my great claim to fame but whilst reading through my latest Rolling Stone (Sept. 22, 2005 with Rolling Stones on the cover), I was reading a interview with Ryan Adams and noticed that he name-checks a cousin of my wife's! Louise has many many a cousin but this guy I recall because my wife and her family were passing his CD around within the past year or so. All I remember is that he is singer-songwriter and his big hit, "Rather Not Know" is based on his father dying.
Anyways, here's the excerpt from RS:
Q: Who's the best songwriter that no one's heard of?
A: How would we know? Off the top of my head, there's a fellow who lives in North Carolina named Kenny Roby that wrote a song called "Rather Not Know." He was in a band called Six String Drag that was around at the same time as Whiskeytown. He's phenomenal.
Here is the article in fullLINK
Check out Kenny's website as wellLINK
Anyways, here's the excerpt from RS:
Q: Who's the best songwriter that no one's heard of?
A: How would we know? Off the top of my head, there's a fellow who lives in North Carolina named Kenny Roby that wrote a song called "Rather Not Know." He was in a band called Six String Drag that was around at the same time as Whiskeytown. He's phenomenal.
Here is the article in full
Check out Kenny's website as well
Sunday, September 18, 2005
CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH!
Not that I ever plan to be cutting edge with this blog, but I am WAY behind on this band.
I have seen blogs talking about Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! for a good 6 months now but it has taken me forever to get my hands on a copy of their album. After holding back for a few more spins, I can fully endorse this guys.
I don't really know a lot about them or how to describe their sound but they are indie rockers out of NYC (Brooklyn, I think), and it seems that word of mouth through blogs and a 9.0 Pitchfork review
More copies of their debut, self-titled ablum
MP3 - Let The Cool Goddess Rust AwayEXPIRED
MP3 - Over and over AgainEXPIRED
MP3 - The Skin of My Yellow Country TeethEXPIRED
Friday, September 16, 2005
WTF
If you can get through the the first :25 seconds or so of this, you are in for the wierdest He-Man clip I have ever seen. I don't get it.
DOESN'T SOUND GOOD FOR BP
Here is an article I recently read on Pitchfork with Bloc Party. It is kind of disappointing to hear Kele say that he thinks 'Silent Alarm' was "rubbish". Also, he hints that BP won't be around for long..."Nobody starts a band to make friends; you do it because of the music. As long as we look at the band for what it is, that'll be fine. We're only going to be doing this for a few years anyway." Chegg it.
LINK
Thursday, September 15, 2005
YOU CAN DO IT!
Finally, posting music has been discovered, so let's do this.
The band I have found, followed and loved the best this year has to be Bloc Party. I am sure this is old news to all of you hepcats out there so I won't bore you forever on this. I actually checked out what Wikipedia had to say about them the other day - interesting
LINK
Well, now that we have brought everyone up to speed and this is old news, here are a few NEW tracks from their recently released Silent Alarm Remix album.
LINK
The album comes with proper releases of a lot of B-Sides - Skeleton, Always New Depths, etc. so it is a MUST.
MP3 - Like Eating Glass-Ladytron Zapatista Mix EXPIRED
MP3 - Blue Light-Engineers Anti-Gravity Mix EXPIRED
MP3 - Plans-Moqwai Remix EXPIRED
The band I have found, followed and loved the best this year has to be Bloc Party. I am sure this is old news to all of you hepcats out there so I won't bore you forever on this. I actually checked out what Wikipedia had to say about them the other day - interesting
Well, now that we have brought everyone up to speed and this is old news, here are a few NEW tracks from their recently released Silent Alarm Remix album.
The album comes with proper releases of a lot of B-Sides - Skeleton, Always New Depths, etc. so it is a MUST.
MP3 - Like Eating Glass-Ladytron Zapatista Mix EXPIRED
MP3 - Blue Light-Engineers Anti-Gravity Mix EXPIRED
MP3 - Plans-Moqwai Remix EXPIRED
MP3 FROM MY SITE
O.K. - I think a co-worker and I figured this out. This SHOULD BE a mp3 of a band called Holopaw and the song is called "Losing Light". Let's see if this works...
MP3 - Losing Light EXPIRED
MP3 - Losing Light EXPIRED
Monday, September 12, 2005
HOLDING PATTERN
3:28PM I was surprised at my lack of responses from other music blog-ees on how to post music. I am still trying to solve that issue and until I due, this blog is on hold or I will completely give up.
Saturday, September 03, 2005
STILL HERE...
11:40PM I need to figure this blogging thing out! I see other blogs on blogger and they have links, profiles and tons of stuff going on. I need to solve this Mystery of the Blogging! Seriously, I need to post mp3's, that was the whole idea here. i might have to contact the other bloggers I frequent and see what the secret is...
11:56PM well, I have figured out how to add links. After some minor altering of code (!), I did it. I wish I could change the colors and fonts but that will have to wait...
12:06PM i figured out how to do my profile...I guess that is cool...it looks like posting mp3's is not possible though. Well, you can phone in a posting that will be published as a mp3 but that is it...must keep looking. I also need to figure out how to spruce this home page up! I am a friggin' graphic designer for crying out loud! I have to solve that as well...
12:11PM HAH! Look at that! I added a friggin' hit counter to my blog. well that was a good high for a few seconds...
12:29PM I guess that is it for tonight. I can't find much about changing my header or adding mp3's or changing the border around. Good night.
11:56PM well, I have figured out how to add links. After some minor altering of code (!), I did it. I wish I could change the colors and fonts but that will have to wait...
12:06PM i figured out how to do my profile...I guess that is cool...it looks like posting mp3's is not possible though. Well, you can phone in a posting that will be published as a mp3 but that is it...must keep looking. I also need to figure out how to spruce this home page up! I am a friggin' graphic designer for crying out loud! I have to solve that as well...
12:11PM HAH! Look at that! I added a friggin' hit counter to my blog. well that was a good high for a few seconds...
12:29PM I guess that is it for tonight. I can't find much about changing my header or adding mp3's or changing the border around. Good night.
BLOC PARTY - (no, not at my house)
I guess a good way to start this mutha off is by talking about a band I like - nay - possibly love. I don't know why, but these guys make music I really like. Blending ballads with upbeat songs about kids being born liars, I dig it. Though I hate most 80's music and the whole idea of them being 'New Wave' kills it for me, these guys stand out and make me wonder what I missed.
If I figure out how to/if I can post mp3's I will because I have probably everything by them. For now, here is a link to their site. They have few mp3's to sample. Go to the 'Downloads' page and check out the 'Banquet: Phones Disco Edit'.
http://www.blocparty.com/go.php?object=home
Day 1
who knows where this will go...ideally, it will be a posting on music, current events, etc. hopefully there will be some humor to it and something you might take away some day. at some point, maybe it will become a podcast as well. that depends on how much stuff I think I have to say and if it would be entertaining. we shall see.