I love Canada. I really do. I grew up in Seattle so Vancouver being only a few hours away, it became a haven of chaos for my friends and I in our younger years. Mostly because the drinking age is 19, which I think is a good thing. Kids are gonna drink. Might as well have them drinking comfortably and legally in a bar, rather than in a park where they could be raped and or stabbed by a hobo. Come to think of it the drinking thing isn’t the only forward thinking they have going on up there. The government is moving toward legalizing and taxing pot. They also legalized same sex marriage nationwide in 2005. Sure we here stateside call Canada “America’s Hat” but to me that isn’t an insult. If they are “America’s Hat”, they’re a super fly lid that Don the Magic Juan would wear while he has fine ladies hanging off of him.
Not only are they up with the times socially, but their music lately has been pretty great. No longer is Canada the butt of every alt-rock joke. They’re separating themselves from the Avril Lavine’s and Chad Kroger’s of yesteryear.
SIDE BAR: Don’t send me an email to point out that both Nickleback and Avril Lavigne have sold shit loads of records. In a past article I took a jab at Katy Perry and someone sent me an email pointing out her millions in sales. You think I don’t know she’s sold oodles of albums? My point here is, no one who bought a Nickelback t-shirt back in the day is all that pumped to own it now. No one I know is still jamming This is How You Remind Me, unless they are being “ironic”. He’s a message to those people listening to Nickleback ironically. STOP
Back to the article, this week’s AOTW is one of the many new bands coming out of Canada that not only doesn’t suck, but they’re making rock music that’s interesting and fun. Hopefully these guys become as godlike as their name implies. This week’s ARTIST OF THE WEEK: Zeus.
Here’s the single How Does It Feel? off of their debut album Say Us.
Normally I’m not that big on music videos, but this one’s inclusion of ninjas won me over. I love ninjas. If you don’t love ninjas…what is your problem? Get on bored with the rest of the ninja lovers like me.
The band formed in 2009 by childhood friends Mike O’Brien and Carlin Nicholson. They had been bouncing around different 
bands in Toronto for years and decided to hook up and make the music they had always wanted to. They enlisted their two buddies Neil Quin and Rob Drake. They came upon the band name when the first venue they played needed a name to put on the marquee. Why not Zeus?
After a while they began releasing EPs. The first of which was titled Sounds Like Zeus from 2009 with Say Yes following soon after. The best way I can describe their sound is if you took elements of Dr. Dog, The Sheepdogs, and Teeth, and gave them a 70’s flare. The vocals are Doobie Brothers-esque and I love it. This next track is called Renegade.
After heavy touring heavily in the Great White North, the U.S. and overseas, they began releasing a series of 7” singles with the label Arts & Crafts. My favorite of which has a title that I find myself asking people everyday; Are You Gonna Waste My Time?
This year they released their second full-length album titled Busting Visions. It’s 21 songs of pure indie-rock gold. The sound is bigger and richer this time around. I can honestly say this might be my favorite album of the year currently. I can’t stop listening to With Eyes Closed.
Check these fellas out. They are up in Canada touring currently, so if any of you are up in those areas, I highly suggest checking them out. These dudes are impressive, artful musicians that are highly skilled. Thanks again Canada. You’ve got my full attention now so please keep the good tunes coming.
Big Hugs,
Kelly
LINKS
https://www.facebook.com/
I don’t sleep a whole lot. I think I’ve brought that up here before. I don’t know what the deal is. As soon as the lights go out and I’m alone in the dark, my brain starts running on high. I guess I just don’t have the ability to naturally turn off. Sometimes music helps. The trouble is you gotta find the right tracks or you might find yourself worse off than when you started. Nothing like a drawn out Bob Dylan track to get you thinking on shit you don’t fully understand. Next thing you know it’s 4AM and you are starring at the ceiling trying to figure out “who you are”. You gotta find the sweet spot. Few artists are in that sweet spot. This week’s legend is one of the few that help me out as sleep eludes. This week ARTIST OF THE WEEK: LEGEND is Lead Belly aka Leadbelly. The spelling has been up for debate for some time. I think it’s that analog white noise hiss that gets me. Something about it gets me to slow down. I love that hiss. It’s comforting like nothing else I know. Good Night Irene is in heavy rotation come night night time.
Born in January of 1888 Lead Belly (Huddie William Ledbetter) spent much of his early life in the racially segregated South. The post Civil War South is a region that I find infinitely fascinating. While life was terrible for many, it was a time where one could get lost entirely. If you were in downfall, from the stories I’ve read, it seems you could really disappear. That’s the thing about the rambling lifestyle that’s always appealed to me. One minute you’re playing harmonica outside of New Orleans, poor as all get out, then after a quick rail ride, you’re sweeping out front of a record store in Chicago for studio time. Sure it isn’t the most stable career path, but damnit if the idea of being able to mix it up every few months isn’t appealing. There is no lock-down. Anything is possible.
This lifestyle was not lost on Lead Belly. The man was a wildcard. Sure he attempted to live the straight and narrow for the first
twenty or so years of his life, but then he got squirrelly. Was busted for carrying a pistol in 1915, was sent away again in 1918 for killing a man. He ended up back in jail in 1930 for attempted homicide and then again in 1938 for stabbing a guy. It was during one of these several stints in jail when he was discovered by John and Alan Lomax. They recorded him for the Library of Congress while he s was still incarcerated in 1934. The songs included:
Midnight Special, Gwine Dig a Hole to Put the Devil In, Let It Shine on Me, The Titanic, Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen, Go Down Old Hannah.
The Lomax boys found Lead Belly to be a great resource for the songs of the South. Not only was his catalogue of southern folk and gospel astounding but the guy could play nearly every instrument he got his hands on. Sure he was noted for the 12-String guitar, but he also had his way with the 6-String, harp, mandolin, and accordion.
Later in life Lead Belly began touring with Alan Lomax. Alan would speak about his travels throughout the South, Lead Belly would play the classics. Introducing thousands to a sound they would have never known. Lead Belly became renowned as a premiere folk musician. Prior to his first European tour in 1949 he was diagnosed with ALS. His health rapidly declined and he died later that year.
I got into Lead Belly after hearing his songs cover by my favorite artists. The most famous of these covers was featured in MTV’s Nirvana Unplugged as Nirvana and members of the Meat Puppets played Where Did You Sleep Last Night. The song is haunting.
Cobain even talks of trying to convince David Geffen to buy him one of Lead Belly’s guitars.
I love Lead Belly. His life was crazy and at times violent, yet his voice and music soothe me, when I need to be soothed. It’s my comfort. I wish more music could accomplish what Lead Belly does. Check him out. You’ll love it.
Big Hugs,
Kelly
LINKS
If you’ve been living under a rock for the past week, let me be the first to tell you that Daft Punk has a new album called Random Access Memories. It’s pretty damn good. The French dudes/ Robots have gone in a different direction, and it’s fun and funky. The past albums have been raucous electronic furies that have inspired many a drunken dance parties, I’m sure this record will do the same but in a more subtle way. Throw back jam style. I’m not gonna talk about the Punk Robots today though. The blogosphere has been overrun with news on them in the past few weeks. Not to say that I don’t think they deserve the attention. Quiet the contrary. I spent many a sleepless nights with headphones strapped to my head, writing, editing, or playing Halo 3 to these guys. Sure Halo 3 isn’t as productive as the other two options, but damnit if that Robot Rock doesn’t make the multiplayer experience that much crazier. While Daft Punk is the dopest, there are some fellow Frog electro cats that seem to have fallen by the wayside. This week’s ARTIST OF THE WEEK: Justice.
The Justice duo (Gaspard Auge and Xavier de Rosney) blasted onto the scene with the award winning video for their hit single D.A.N.C.E.
I usually hate music videos. I HATE THEM. I don’t get why we need a visual component to music. The video is just fluff. And for sure this video is nothing but fluff, but this is some stylistic fluff. D.A.N.C.E. is the jam. After I heard these guys in college, they became regulars on every party playlist I put together. Their album Cross released in 2007 was the perfect thing to hold over until the release of the next Daft Punk record. These guys rage with the best of them. The album is through and through one of the best electronic records I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to. Every track builds to an exploding peak that puts the listener into an all out state of party. And there is nothing wrong with that.
Phantom Pt. II is also a must listen. Total face melter.
I’m generally pretty hesitant when it comes to electronic music. I don’t
know why that is. I’ll get countless recommendations from people and ignore them. I ignore them because I find no reason to trust fans of electronic music. Most of them are fried to a point where they have no discernable taste whatsoever. Club drugs will have that effect on people. Justice stood out though. The reason being, they are flat-out rock stars. I realized that after watching their rock-doc A Cross The Universe. The whole damn thing is on Youtube. Watch it here. These guys are fucking crazy. This movie has everything, great tunes, great visuals, drinking, drugs, guns, partying, and sex. It also enlightened me of the fact that you can Fedex handguns to people. Who fucking knew?
They released an accompanying live soundtrack for this movie also titled A Cross The Universe. It seems weird for there to be a live album for an electronic band, but in all honesty it’s pretty sweet. Definitely worth checking out since most of the songs are remixed for the live show. It’s on Spotify for all to hear
Their follow up album Audio, Video, Disco was released in 2011. Not as rad as the first but it is still a super fun record. It just doesn’t have the aggression that was present on that first album. Doesn’t mean you can’t get down to it though, totally worth a spin. I really love the track Ohio. The vocals are nuts, and the accompanying piano is great.
After you get done listening to the new Daft Punk, revisit these guys. You won’t regret it at all. Throw the headphones on and get lost in your own dance party. Why not?
Big Hugs,
Kelly
You ever have that thing where you’re telling someone a story about an awesome BBQ place you just went to, and you go into exquisite details on the sauce, the smoky flavor of the ribs, the bacon infused baked beans, and the juiciness of the pulled pork; and they just let you gush on and on about this place you are so hyped about, only to tell you at the end of it all, “actually I’m a vegetarian, I can’t go there”?
Why the fuck do these people let me carry on for what feels like hours, only to shit all over the point moments later? The only reason I’m telling this person about this place is so I can get the word out on good BBQ and it will stay in business so that I can keep eating there.
My point here guys is this: just as I want people getting good into BBQ, I want people digging good music. I write about music here so I can get the word out on GOOD MUSIC. You readers don’t have the time or the energy to waste precious moments of your life reading about bad music. If I started writing about bad music it would be both insulting to you and me. It’s a waste of time. A fucking zero. This is why I have a bone to pick with SPIN.
SPIN’s online site has an ongoing article series titled, Worst New Music. They have what appears to be a staff of writers dedicating their time to writing pieces about stuff that they have deemed isn’t any good. This is a waste of bandwidth and time. If you don’t like an album, a lot of that has to do with your taste in music. When I don’t like something, I’m not going to waste a sentence let alone 5 paragraphs about why I don’t like it. Generally I leave my commentary on music I don’t like to, “it wasn’t for me”. I wish major magazines did the same. Hey SPIN, if you don’t like a band, ignore them. Don’t put up their photo and name on a heavily trafficked site. That gets their name out there. What does that achieve?
I bring this up because this week at the top of this section I found a band called Merchandise. Not only is Merchandise not the “worst new music” but they are actually quite good if their sound is your thing. Merchandise is weird, they’re trying something new, and at times they are really damn fun. Here’s a fuck you to the concept of having a WORST NEW MUSIC column. This week’s ARTIST OF THE WEEK: MERCHANDISE.
Merchandise is comprised of Carson Cox and Dave Vassalotti have been a DIY band for the past five years. They got their start together in high School playing in various hardcore and punk bands holding shows mostly in storage units on the outskirts of town. The punk/ hardcore sound slowly began to fall by the wayside as the band began experimenting with a more 80’s post punk/ proto rock after they began listening to more experimental artists like Jandek and Can.
This altered their initial thrash sound into what it has now become, a Smith’s-esque throw back that can get a crowd moving. Their latest EP Totale Nite really captures that English heartbreak rock era that I once loathed but have now embraced in my softie old age. Cox’s voice even carries that Morrissey accent. It’s kooky. Anxiety’s Door, the single off the record is really a fun track that if played early, will start your off morning right. I jammed to it on my drive in to work and I’ll be damned if it didn’t put me in a great mood.
I hear this song and I can picture my friend Mike rocking out to it a Karaoke night in the near future. He’ll go a little too hard, and the other bar patrons will get uncomfortable. I can’t wait.
The second track Who Are You? continues with the good vibes. It’s a heavily layered mix, lots of instruments going on, putting the listener into a certain haze. This song would fit perfectly in any movie where some guy takes his first hit ever, or has one drink too many, and the party starts to take a turn.
Prior to this most recent release, the band had been pumping out EPs and LPs through their website like it was no one’s business. All of which are still available for free download here
http://merchandisetheband.
I started with their debut and just powered through them all. It’s interesting when a relatively small band has a bevy of material to sift through. Since they were so young when they started, you can really hear them changing things up as they themselves figure out exactly what they want to be.
Their first release Merchandise is miles away from Totale Nite. The record feels like you’re listening to a conversation between 
two people suffering from dementia. You really have no idea where things started, where they are going, and what the hell to make of it when it’s over. Songs come out of the gate sounding like ambient experimental rock and then divulge into an endless punk thrash. It’s weird. Their 7’ Es Muerte which came out a few years later shows this same confusion, they lost the experimental elements entirely and went full bore into noise rock. A poor man’s Sonic Youth of sorts.
By the time they released their first LP in 2012 titled Children of Desire, they had mellowed greatly. The drawn out feedback tones had been replaced by the melodic tinkling of a cheap keyboard. The screams had moved aside for reverberated lullabies. On the track Time they really find their sweet spot as they mix in elements of The Cure, The Smiths, and The Pet Shop boys. The video is really something else.
And before you guys go all high and mighty on me for mentioning the Pet Shop Boys in a positive light, let’s all slow down and revisit their song It’s A Sin. It’s crazy danceable and super creepy at the same time. They aren’t making music like this any more. I like this song completely un-ironically. Pass judgment if you still feel it necessary.
SPIN has them as the worst but thems strong words. Words I don’t agree with. There’s something here. They have a cool sound that no one else is trying and they are putting new stuff out CONSISTENTLY. Check them out. At the very least you’ll get a few new dancing jams for your 80’s themed parties. Get into it guys.
Big Hugs,
Kelly
http://merchandisetheband.
It took me a long time to find someone who could cut my hair right. In my early 20’s I avoided cuts like they were the plague. While in college my move was to throw a ragged Red Sox hat atop the ugly mop that cascaded from my skull to keep it out of sight and out of mind. It wasn’t until I started dating a hair dresser 10 years my senior did I realize that a good trim is a necessity to good hygiene. Undoubtedly this relationship soon went south.
Being a 22 year old jackass, I thought it would be totally okay to continue hitting her up for free haircuts. Why wouldn’t it be? Why wouldn’t she still be down to do me continuous favors after I left her high and dry with no good explanation? She couldn’t possibly be holding a grudge right?
Ladies and gentlemen, that’s how you unknowingly end up with a mullet.
I went in for my cut, she cleaned up the sides, cropped the top, but unbeknownst to me, she left that back water-falling. After that happened, I had a really hard time trusting anyone near my follicles. Mullet me once, shame on me. Mullet it me two times, I’m just an asshole looking to get a mullet
So continued my habit of going months at a time without a chop. Sure I tried different spots. Floyd’s 62, an establishment operated by heavyset chicks with purple hair and daddy issues, was my first move. Not only did I never get a good cut but each mediocre effort was followed by a uncomfortable “massage” occurrence. I’m already uncomfortable with people touching my hair, I certainly don’t want a stranger going all shiatsu on my shoulder blades. Especially after listening to them complain how their baby daddy needs to step up to the plate or his visitation rights are going the way of the Dodo. They’re big on the over share at Floyd’s. Then there was Super Cuts. What can you say about a place that charges $7 for a visit?
It took me three years to finally find Rudy’s. There I met Casey. He had the haircut I wanted so I just told him, “give me what you’ve got.” I was in and out in 10 minutes. I left looking fantastic. I had six cuts with the man. Then he left me. He left me for the big city and big dreams of New York. During all of those cuts there were three topics we hit on: baseball, football, and Neutral Milk Hotel. This one’s for you Casey. This Week’s Artist of The Week: Neutral Milk Hotel.
Formed in the early 90’s Neutral Milk Hotel was the brainchild of lead singer/ guitarist/ composer Jeff Mangum. The then unemployed Mangum spent his days traveling the county, crashing on couches, and playing music. He released a series of demos and one-off cassettes under the moniker Milk. Many were circulated without any official release back and have now become coveted collectors items.
These cassettes like Mangum himself were complex, erratic, and often
beautiful. Not only do they feature early tracks from a man that would become an icon, but also a varying array of strange experimental soundscapes, as well as :59 second interludes of screaming over muffled music. These demos give an idea of the what was to come from Mangum and Neutral Milk Hotel.
The first official release from Neutral Milk Hotel titled On Avery Island came in 1996. This album featured Mangum backed by a collection of fellow Elephant 6 Label musicians brought in for studio work. The album is…strange. It’s not quite indie-rock. It’s not quite folk rock. It’s not all out experimental. It’s a mash up. There are upbeat rock tracks like Gardenhead/ Leave Me Alone.
Heart breaking folk songs that push the listener to tears like April 8th
and insane experimental instrumentals like Pree Sisters Swallowing A Donkey’s Eye
For Neutral Milk Hotel, On Avery Island was like the first round of a boxing match. Feeling things out. Finding out what works and what doesn’t. Never fully commits to one sound. This at times can cause the record to feel a bit disjointed. Not as much an album, more of a mix tape. The one constant throughout though are his lyrics. His words are poetic and vivid. In the realm of 90’s lyricists, I lump him with Cobain in that, often times the words on their own don’t seem to make sense but when strung 
together in song, they are powerfully moving. After the release Mangum found the permanent members that would come to make up Neutral Milk Hotel, Scott Spillane, Jeremy Barnes, and Julian Koster. Despite the addition of backing, the band was and always will be Jeff Mangum’s alone.
Two years later they released the critically acclaimed In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. It was inspired by the story of Anne Frank, written by Mangum after having recurring dreams about WWII. The record takes everything that worked on Avery Island and expands upon it. This is a true album. The songs flow succinctly one after another in a perfect stream, rising and falling, taking the listener on a wondrous 40-minute ride. The opening track King Of Carrot Flowers Part 1 sucks you in right of the bat. Mangum’s vocal style is unique and draws you in with its’ undeniable vulnerability. There’s an audible strain in his voice that makes the subject matter hit home that much harder.
The arraignments and instrumentation on the album are intricate and lovely. There are so many background sounds going on that the subtle nuances heard by simply putting on a pair of headphones, as opposed to a set of speakers, is astounding. My favorite track on the record is the up-beat and chaotic Anne Frank shout out Holland, 1945. It’s one of the saddest songs I know, but when the band starts up, I can’t help but feel the need to dance.
I recommend everyone sit down, imbibe a substance or two, and listen to Aeroplane all the way through. This was a very important album to a young Kelly McD, as well as many popular indie bands that we know today (Arcade Fire, The Decemberists, Bon Iver). They recently reissued the record with an accompanying book with words from these very artists that you can pick up on Amazon. Do it.
The band went on a yearlong worldwide tour with Aeroplane. That can be grueling on anyone, especially if you tend to have a more fragile personality, which Mangum defiantly has. They played their last show in October of 1998. Maybe it was the fame, maybe it was the touring, perhaps it was the media, whatever it was, Mangum had a break down. Something sent Jeff Mangum into the shadows and he took Neutral Milk Hotel with him. The group disbanded in 1998. For the most part Mangum has stayed out of the limelight returning to the stage sparingly, usually only to promote various charities. Mangum is often asked about making another album, but has given no indication that it will ever happen. Outside of a few bar gigs here and there, his only big appearance in the past 15 years came in 2012 when he appeared at the Coachella Music Festival. It seems odd for a guy who hates big crowds, phony media persona’s, and being in the spot light, to have his first big show at a music festival attended by 150,000 people that are generally some of the biggest ass bags in Southern California. I’m just saying man, baby steps. Plus it’s very hot there.
That said this band is one of my favorites of all time. Maybe Mangum flew too close to the sun and lost both his wings and his mind. That’s okay. He’s got two albums in his back pocket, one of which is considered by many to be the most influential indie-rock album of the past 20 years. He doesn’t need to make more music. He’s done that. Now he can go cobble shoes somewhere like he’s Daniel Day Lewis or something.
Check them out. Great band. Great songs. Party on.
Big Hugs,
Kelly
LINKS
http://walkingwallofwords.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/
Generally these articles are pretty fun and silly. I write about my issues with the world and the music I listen to while dealing with said issues. But I’m not in a fun mood these days. I have no reason to be. My personal life is a mess, my career is in a stand still, I’m about to be unemployed, and I can’t remember the last time that laughed for the hell of it. This week was even worse. A day that I hold near and dear was forever tarnished by the monstrous acts of a few. Sure the bombing of the Boston Marathon has saturated the media for the past few days, and sure you’ve heard enough about it, but I’m going to get my fucking say. Boston was my town. For a long time I felt like I didn’t have a home. Seattle had always been the place I grew up, but after the age of 15 I had never lived in a place for more than a year. It took me six years before finally settling down. Six years of the vagabond lifestyle before I finally landed in the city of Boston. It really is unlike any other place in America. It’s a blue-collar town where the people are hardened, but once you enter that inner circle, you are there forever. Boston has a special place in my heart. I was there for five years and I will always look back on those years as some of the happiest of my life. I may never be able to say that I am from Boston, but I will forever be able to say that, at one point, it was my home. This Week is an AOTW tribute to everyone from Allston to Downtown, from Southie to Cambridge, from the North End to Fenway; big ups to Boston and the music about you. We are all hanging with you.
You can’t mention Boston without singing a Dropkick Murphys song. This band has become synonymous with the city for years, even more so since they released their track Shipping Up To Boston, which was attached to the film The Departed. These fine punk gents have been keeping the irish folk sound alive in one form or another since 1996. They rip. Huge energy, musicianship is flawless, and they can get a crowd going like you wouldn’t believe. I saw them in 2007 during the Red Sox World Series parade. They played on the back of flatbed truck as a drunk Jonathan Papelbon danced what might be deemed as a sorry excuse for a jig. The city was over run with people that day, and the Dropkick Murphies garnered nearly as much attention from the hordes as the new world champs.
I remember this shit like it was yesterday. I love these guys a lot, and then you read stuff like this and you love them more.
Another Boston song that isn’t a Boston song at all in reality, comes from the band The Standells, a 1960’s garage rock band that put out the track Dirty Water in 1966. This band is not from Boston. Hell they aren’t even from Worchester (pronounced WUHSTER). These assholes are from LA. And yeah…I count that as a knock against them. If you meet someone from LA and the first thing they say is, “I’m from LA”, you secretly hold it against them. I don’t care who you are. Hell, I live in LA now. Rarely do I enjoy the company of people who tell me they are from LA. Not only that but I generally don’t enjoy the music coming out of LA. But this song….this song is about a city I love and I am on board.
The last track I want to get into here is also forever paired with the city. Many life long locals will say they hate this track, but sometimes people don’t know what’s good for them. Since the dawn of playing Sweet Caroline during the 8th inning of Red Sox games, the team has won two World Series. One of the happiest memories I have in this town is going to a Red Sox game with three of my best friends on my 21st birthday. Beer was spilled, chats were had, and Sweet Caroline was most definitely sung.
The best part of this night was when we went to a bar afterwards where people were watching Monday Night Football in relative silence. That was until my buddy Alex took it upon himself to put on Bon Jovi’s You Give Love A Bad Name. Alex is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. No one hates Alex. But at that very moment, every on at The Tam wanted to punch his face in.
The Marathon has always been a welcomed tradition. It was on Monday, no class, the Red Sox played early, and the city for the most part turned into a big party. It was a one-day Mardi Gras. Generally my friends and I would throw a party the Sunday prior before and spend Patriots day wandering the streets in recovery. That was the way things were. It was always friendly, fun, and safe. That is not the way things are now. As I write this, Boston has become the center of attention with bloody headlines again. A shooting at MIT. I don’t know what’s going on with my adopted city, but I know the people living there, and anyone that has ever lived there will stand strong. Boston is not a city that flinches. If the people of Boston shied away from adversity, they never would have developed that accent. I love you Boston. I always have. Even when I was lost in your streets while being chased by a guy whose fiancé I may or may not have hooked up with. But that’s another story for another day. Stand strong Beantown
Big Hugs,
Kelly
I’m going to put something out there and you can take from it what you will. Black people are cooler than white people. You can say that’s a “racist generalization” and then make claims that not all black people are cool by pointing out Steve Urkel or something, but come on dude….Urkel was the shit and you know it. Guy was dealing with sciences that the government hasn’t even begun to tap into. If that’s not cool then I don’t know what is. If only Laura had cared enough to notice.
Since white guys especially tend to lack in cool points, we try to catch up by getting in on cool black guy culture stuff. We stole the sweet R&B songs back in the day and marketed them as our own. When hip-hop blew up, we sagged our pants and threw Vanilla Ice at the masses.
Side note: White rap was and will always be pretty lack luster with the exception of Snow and Eminem.
And now we are trying to get in on blues. English dudes did it back in the day (The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton) but we White American guys are giving it a shot now. This modern era of Blues definitely feels like it’s lacking brothers. With the exception of the recent Gary Clark Jr., for the most part, blues is being played at festivals by old white dudes with pony tails, doing their best to cover an old Son House song in between stories from the old days when they backed B.B. King once in Tucson in 1983.
Some mainstream bands are trying to keep the genre alive (Black Keys, Jack White, Mofro). What do they have in common? All white guys. And now, the WHITEST OF WHITE GUYS (Justin Vernon) has a blues album. Vernon is more recognized by his band name Bon Iver. That’s right. The sleepy dude from Bon Iver has a blues album. It doesn’t get much whiter than Bon Iver. Prior to listening to the record I was considering sending my friend a long email about the “bastardization of black music,” but then I played it. Low and behold, it’s good. This week’s ARTIST OF THE WEEK: The Shouting Matches.
Actually formed in 2006 in Eau Claire Wisconsin
(This is BIG for Eau Claire. I’ve been there. It’s a whole lot of nothing. You either leave after high school and never come back or you die there. Take your pick)
The Shouting Matches are a bit of an indie super group. Comprised of Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Brian Moen (Peter Wolf Crier/ Larrks), and Phil Cook (Megafun/ DeYarmond Edison).
Vernon links up with his old buds for a good old fashioned rowdy down. Their first album Grownass Man not only has a great title, but is loaded with fun tracks that you could feel comfortable throwing on at any summertime BBQ, unlike Vernon’s work with Bon Iver which would in fact kill a party dead. Not to say Bon Iver isn’t a good band. It’s just the things they are good at 
aren’t conducive to day drinking. They are best for lulling people to sleep. But that just isn’t my thing.
The Shouting Matches are very different. They sound like Tom Petty got together with The Derek Truckers Band, drank a bottle of Old Crow, and decided it was time to play some down ass Southern style tunes. That’s good news for the general public for a few reasons. One being that it means Justin Vernon lacks self-importance which has become an epidemic in the indie world and prevents artists from doing fun things. Two being; these guys can really play.
Their Song Mother, When? is a driving song that is perfect for kicking a road trip off. You can really appreciate the musical talents of Justin Vernon here. I never appreciated his guitar playing abilities until now. I’m gaining loads of respect for the guy. The drumming is also superb. Reminds me of The Sonics, liberal use of the snare. I dig it.
This version is of the band’s initial EP Mouthoil.
This isn’t Vernon’s first foray into another genre. Last year he dabbled in a bit of hip hop with rapper POS. It’s good to see the man isn’t afraid to try new stuff. Too many times, guys from the indie scene keep putting out the same songs over and over again. It gets old fast. One trick ponies seem to have a longer lifespan in that genre than any other due to the fact that fans hesitate saying anything negative about it for fear of being mocked for “not getting it”.
When I said earlier that the band has a Tom Petty-esque sound, I meant it. Their song Seven Sister sounds like a lost Heatbreakers song from 1991. It’s an easy jam to throw on and vibe to. Sure this song isn’t gonna change the world, but not every song needs to strive to do that. Sometimes I just want something to drink a cold beer to. This is that type of song.
One of my favorite things on this album is the inclusion of the organ. Rarely is there the right amount of organ. It’s either way too much, or not nearly enough. Can you say that about any other instrument? I guess the Theremin. But really, when have you been listening to a song and said “Man this could really use some more Theremin”? New Theme Song features the perfect amount of organ. I’m happy about that
I hope my opening to this won’t be considered wildly racist. It’s just fact. Most white guys like myself came to terms with it a long time ago. Black guys are just cooler in every aspect of our pop culture. Music, fashion….black guys did it cooler first. Robert Johnson, Howlin Wolf, Honey Boy Edwards; these guys will never be matched in the blues world, especially not by the cat from Bon Iver. But they did give everyone else something to strive for. Go check out The Shouting Matches. Worth it.
There are a few factors that played heavily into this week’s Artist of The Week. The first of which was, I needed a legend. I didn’t feel like looking back last week after finding a band like Retstavrant. When you see them live, you can’t help but want to tell people about them. The other factor was nostalgia. I spent this past weekend in the great city of Seattle watching two friends get married to each other. It’s a bit weird going back to my former home in these recent years. As I grow older the memories of my youth spent there fall further and further into the past. They start to seem less like memories, and more like a dream I had once. Details get hazy. Timelines are misconstrued. That’s what happens when you get older. It’s not so much the memories themselves that are important, it’s the spirit of the memories. We attempt to keep these memories intact the best we can by rehashing them in story form. So this weekend, surrounded by friends, after a few drinks, it was only a matter of time before we got into these stories. Stories from more innocent and albeit, more fun times, back when I was happy and hopeful.
When I first moved back to Seattle to finish up my high school career. I would have these long drives back and forth from my grand parents’ house to where all of my friends lived. During those drives I would listen to Seattle’s alternative station 107.7 KNDD ( The End). This was the peak of my happiness I think. I really didn’t are about anything. I had my whole future in front of me. This year was my reward for the time spent in the Midwest hellhole that was Carmel, IN. So I tired to find music, happy music, that matched this new found idealism. That was why I latched on to this week’s AOTW: Legend. It just sounded fucking pretty. It was uplifting. In no time at all I couldn’t get the songs out of my head. Soon I had bought the album and had it on repeat. What the hell had happened to me? I had gone from a kid who liked gutter hip-hop and grunge music to singing love songs in an attempted falsetto. At the time I thought it was kind of sad, but I look back know on the tenth anniversary of Give Up’s release and I think that I really would like to feel that way again, happy and most importantly hopeful. Good music is good music. This Week’s Artist of the Week: Legend is The Postal Service.
Ten years, ten fucking years. I feel old. That means it’s almost time for the high school reunion. Fuck that though. You’d have to pay me a fair amount to get me to attend that bullshit. Any one that I want to see from High School, I am still in contact with. Everyone else, I was more than happy to forget. Part of me thinks that Facebook really put a damper on the whole reunion thing. I don’t go ten seconds without being updated on someone’s life let a lone ten years. What do people talk about at those things anyways? Where was I? Oh yeah. Ten years since the first release from The Postal Service, comprised of Ben Gibbard (Death 
Cab for Cutie) and Jimmy Tamborello (DNTL) AKA The Postal Service. The album is ten songs that are electro pop perfection. The harmonies between Gibbard puts together are unrivaled. He might have the most heartbreaking voice in pop music.
This initial single I heard from the album was Such Great Heights, a barrage of blips and synth. That teamed up with Gibard’s poetic lyrics and angelic voice, create a treat for the lobes. Both the frontal cortex and ear variety. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve listened to this song since it’s release. If you haven’t heard it, you’re either lying about not hearing it to sound “cool” and “different”, or you’ve ben living under a rock or the past ten years. The accompanying video is futuristically beautiful and hypnotic. Kind of like 2001: A Space Odessy but without he acid trip bit in the middle.
Upon the release of Give Up the gentlemen of The Postal Service were greeted with praise from both general public, and critics. The music just made sense. It was one of those “right time” albums. 2004 was definitely the “right time” for a sweet, sad, yet poppy album that everyone could enjoy. Just like Garden State was that “right time” movie in 2005. The difference is, Give Up 
holds up, whereas everything aside from the Method Man scene in Garden State feels like it’s taking itself waaaay to seriously. You was on Scrubs Zach Braff!! Take your money, buy a nice home, and start a family. Quit being so damn sad.
The Postal Service went on a very successful and lucrative tour to follow up their album. Even though there are only ten songs, every single one of them is great. Their other most notable hit found on the record is The District Sleeps Alone Tonight. It’s more of the same drum machine, looped piano, and guitar, normally stuff I hate, but Gibbard ties it all together and makes something worthwhile. The guy is talented, and his voice is one that should be more recognized by music fans and critics alike as one of the best in the game.
Here’s something I learned in doing a bit of the old research for this piece. Jenny Lewis lends here pipes for the female harmonies on that track. That’s right. Rilo Kiely’s Jenny Lewis. We can all start dropping that factoid at parties now and look like the hippest assholes on the planet.
Despite the success of the Postal Service’s record, ten years have passed and the band has been quite adamant that there will not 
be another. BUT despite saying that for the past ten years……there still is no new album. There is a double disc reissue of Give Up featuring two new tracks and long with a ton of B-sides and remixes. One of these new tracks A Tattered Line of String. It’s a decent song. Not great. Good. To be honest, it’s just good to hear something new from Gibbard before he buries himself in his summer hobby: tweeting about Seattle Mariners baseball.
The Postal Service will again tour of Give Up in the coming months. This is exciting, but damnit dude, can’t you just hop on the computer and record eight more songs instead? Plus Ben doesn’t seem to take this touring thing too seriously. He posted this video with the headline: Postal Service Rehearsal: Behind the Scenes.
That’s cool dude, I’ll buy your reissue, and I’ll reflect on the good ole days. The biggest bum out of it all is the fact that my favorite Postal Service song of all time won’t be on the album. It’s a cover of Phil Collins’ song Take A Look At Me Now. It’s like I always used to say, Phil Collins songs are great, if only Phil Collins didn’t spend the whole time running them with his voice and drumming.
Check out the Postal Service. Sure they only have one album, but that means getting up to date on their stuff won’t take long at all.
Big Hugs,
Kelly
http://postalservicemusic.net/
Generally the last week of the month is used to look back and reflect on a Legendary Artist. We revisit their material; shower them with love, and all that happy crap. This week wasn’t feeling it though. I really wasn’t. Too much of my time is spent listening to people tell stories about bands that they knew back in the day and how music today is just ripping off their stuff. Who cares man? As time goes on, I find myself having less and less patience for people who feel the need to tell you how much better things “used to be”. Great dude, I’m so glad it used to be rad. That doesn’t mean you just give up and continually look back. You’ve got to keep your head up. For example, rap music used to be great. Used to be. That doesn’t mean I gave up on the genre. I keep slogging through. Looking for that next great record. I didn’t give up on the entire genre after hearing Wiz Kalifa. You can’t let one jackass ruin everything for you. So instead of looking back this week, I want to highlight a new artist that I found this past Sunday and don’t want to sit on for a week.
I have a bad habit of showing up too early to things. I’ve been trying to break that habit recently. It hasn’t been working out really. I found myself showing too late, or missing events entirely. I couldn’t find that sweet spot. So this past Sunday I arrived at a Deer Tick show brutally early. It’s one thing when you are along, but this time I had brought with me a group of friends. They weren’t pumped. The first opener hadn’t even gone on yet, and it was looking like there would be a full two hours prior to Tick taking the stage. This is disconcerting for several reasons, the first of those being the fact that PBR Tall Boys cost $9. You can do a fair amount of beer drinking during a Tick show. In fact it’s encouraged. The second reason being, openers generally are not what you are hoping for. This time was no different. First up, The Shrills.
Most of The Shrills took the stage in full-face paint; the lead singer wore a mask. They spent the entirety of their set shrieking into the mics that had the reverb on full. They may have been able to jam on their guitars a bit, but that’s about it.
Their singing voices were shit and their stage presence was nightmarish. The Shrills had put a damper on the evening. I was half beer buzzed, tired, and completely unsure whether I was going to make it. Neither were the ten people that had tagged along. There was still an hour and change until Tick took the stage. The life had been completely sucked out of the room. The party was dead. The Zima’s were gone. The only person having any fun was some broad sitting next to us who was screaming her head off throughout. No one liked her though. Not even her friends. We needed a pick me up in a big way. You usually can’t count on the second act to kick things into a higher gear. That is unless that second act is this week’s Artist of The Week: Restavrant.
Troy Murrah (Guitar/ vocals) and J. State (Drums) make up Restavrant (pronounced restaurant). The two-man band hails from
Victoria, TX. They started playing together after they moved out to Los Angeles where Troy was working as a set decorator and J. was attempting to make it as a screenwriter. While they had other gigs, their real passion was always music. Troy plays a relentless guitar, attacking each the song with a Vedder like growl. While J’s drums….well they aren’t really drums at all. His kit features mostly junk. Car rims, paint buckets, suitcases, and licensee plates for symbols. The only true drum pieces were a few electronic pads (Very Phil Collins of State).
Their first album was released in January of 2008 titled Returns To The Tomb Of Guiliano Medidici. While this is technically a blues-rock record, at it’s core Returns is a dance record that happens to feature a harmonica. The techno drums paired with classic blues instruments are a crazy juxtaposition, but it works. The sound is unlike anything else out there. A great example of this jux is heard on the track Joe D. The song is top notch. It’s not often these days that a rock band gets people dancing. These boys certainly did.
Lionman shows the band’s quieter side. Troy’s voice is reminiscent of the very Delta Bluesmen he modeled his guitar playing after. It’s haunting and would be right at home in the whiskey soaked juke joints of the old.
The band is touring now on the heels of their second record from 2012 comically titled Yeah, I Carve Cheetahs. Gone is the electro drum kit of Return. The junkyard drum kit junkyard is now utilized to the fullest. More paint bucket and suitcase. Less Yamaha. The guitar is reminiscent of The Black Keys’ Rubber Factory and Magic Potion, two records that truly ripped. Bev D’s incessant riffs combined with Troy’s screams from the gut make it one of their best tracks.
Their even more boiled down sound explodes off of their track Hey Dolly. Last week I talked about how I don’t like bangers. This is dance shit I can get behind. It’s dirty. It’s sweaty. It’s dripping with booze and smells likes cigarettes. That’s some shit I can get behind. Why can’t they play this in the clubs? Why can’t I meet a girl into this? The hell is going on with this country?
These boys singled handedly saved that show last Sunday. The energy was gone and they put it back. They got people amped and ready for Tick and gained some new fans in the process. They did their fucking job, which in this day and age seems like asking too much from people. Check these fellas out and you will not be disappointed. I leave you with their latest video, the title track from the album, Yeah, I Carve Cheetahs. Check their stuff out.
Hugs,
Kelly
LINKS
http://www.facebook.com/
This past Friday I went to see Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers. Calling it fucking nuts would be an understatement. Korine always finds a way to mesh together brilliance and bullshit in a way where you as a viewer begin considering his bullshit brilliant. It’s a nothing story, with phoned in performances from everyone aside from Franco and the ATL Twins, but I liked it. Albeit I did fall asleep for a portion, but that is no fault of the movie, more a fault of my own for going out for drinks prior to an11PM movie after working a 12-hour day. I was soft that night. I got sleepy
I know this column is about music and I’m getting to that. The soundtrack to this movie is seizure inducing. There are these long drawn out transition scenes that feature topless chicks and dancing bros in an all out beach-fest frenzy, all to Skrillex’s Scary Monsters and Nice Spirits, Gucci Mane and Waka Flocka Flame’s Young Nigga, and Waka’s Fuck This Industry. I was introduced to party music and a party scene that I have never been, nor will ever be a part of. Like so many other spring break locales, South Florida is home to the “banger”. If you are unfamiliar with the term ‘banger” just imagine any hard-hitting hip-hop song that blew up the charts for a bout a month and there you have it. The most recent example of the “banger” is Ace Hood & Rick Ross’ track Bugatti.
At first I hated this song, but soon I couldn’t get the hook out of my head. 
The beat is so-so, the lyrics are atrocious, but for some ungodly reason I can’t stop blasting this song. I used to do it in private where I wouldn’t be judged, but now I’m pumping the volume everywhere I go. That god damn hook can’t be stopped.
Bangers have never really been for me though. They generally aren’t my vibe. Hip-hop has always been a lyrical thing in my mind. A good beat has never been that important. My enjoyment comes from whats being said. This week’s artist of the week is a man who’s got the words. I was turned onto this him about two weeks ago when a buddy of mine sent me this teaser video that was released prior to dropping his EP.
The documentary-esque images, the richness of the composition, all backed with the spoken words of Raz. It’s a powerful combination. It lifts the curtain back and gives the public a glimpse at the work that went into this EP. Raz now has my attention. I went from not knowing of his existence to ready and waiting for whatever he would release at the drop of a hat. This 
week’s Artist of The Week: Raz Simone.
This being his first EP, and it only coming out FOR FREE two days ago, there isn’t a whole lot of information out there for me to draw from. He’s got a few videos out and is starting to gain some momentum in the local Seattle scene getting played on stations like 90.3 KEXP and KUBE 93.3. He recently peaked the interest of hip-hop heads over at NPR with his “beatless” story track They’ll Speak. This doesn’t appear on the EP, but damn it packs a punch.
Despite local nods and NPR sniffing around, for the most part this guy remains an unknown to the media. The only real information on him comes from his own website.
Raz, a Seattle native, did not get his musical start in hip-hop but rather singing in church. Rap music didn’t first hit his ears until the 6th grade. His first flirtations with rhyming came when he began writing 
and performing at poetry slams. Years later her began putting his words to music and beats. His website is pretty vague on what happened next saying only, “after signing to a label, leaving a label, starting a band, taking a hiatus from music and having a “real” job and then traveling, Raz came back to Seattle.”
Where did he go? What was his real job? These are the thing’s I’d like to know. Hopefully we will find out sooner rather than later. Whatever did happen during Raz’s hiatus, it influenced him deeply and moved him back to music. For that, we can all be thankful. His words are personal, his voice, a deep blues rasp that overlays his EP’s melodies perfectly. His song Cold has been on repeat in my iTunes since Tuesday.
His latest video is for his track with collaborator Sam Lachow titled Sometimes I Don’t. Raz is on point. The hook, softly sung over the jazz horns, is really something. I’m not wild with my first taste of Lachow though. Maybe that’s just because I saw the video first rather than simply hearing the track. I can’t take that guy seriously in that stupid hat.
These songs give you taste what this EP is all about. Sure they aren’t bangers but that’s not what Raz is going for with Solomon Samuel Simone. These songs may not make you get up and move; rather these songs will move you. Download this EP now and get in on the ground floor with this guy. You will not be disappointed.
SOLOMON SAMUEL SIMONE EP DOWNLOAD
http://www.datpiff.com/pop-
Big Hugs,
Kelly
LINKS
