A Quick One...

So a quick little post here but I MUST share this song. Because I am in love. In love. Or perhaps, more accurately, in love again. Eddie Argos, lead singer of Art Brut, mastermind of my year-end topping Bang Bang Rock and Roll, the songsmith who won me over completely with Good Weekend (with possibly the best line/delivery in a song ever...."I've seen her naked....twice.....I'VE SEEN HER NAKED......TWWWWICEEEE!"), and the artist who disappointed me with the rifftacularly disappointing A Little Bit Complicated (okay fine, Nag Nag Nag Nag rocked) is back in full form with the band Glam Chops and I am, once again, in love.

So in love I'm resorting to horrific run-on sentences. Yes yes indeed.

But first, back history (if this post were a movie, this would be a cool flash back, possibly in black and white and absolutely in slow motion). Summer of '04. I, but a wee youth in the summer post freshman year of college, had for the first time a job and thusly, for the first time, money. And like any 18 year old college student with money for the first time, I spent it. All of it. You do not care to know how many CD's I bought that summer but I did receive a personal letter from the RIAA thanking me for my efforts to help negate the effects of piracy. Most likely my best purchase that summer was Rhino's No Thanks! punk rock boxset. A four disc education into the miracle of d.i.y., lo-fi, and three chords played quickly. It, if I may refrain from hyperbole, changed my life. I like lots of types of music. Heck, I like most types of music. But I love punk. I love the ideas behind it, I love the loud guitars, I love that you don't actually need to know what you're doing to be able to make some incredibly powerful and long lasting statements. Looking back now, four years later, I can see a large part of the personal philosophy that I follow today was derived from the No Thanks! box set, Our Band Could Be Your Life, and Please Kill Me; all things I experienced that summer.

So how does this relate to Glam Chops? First off (and most importantly, I feel), Glam Chops is the best name for a band that ever has been and likely ever will be. Honestly, all bands from now on should be given a numeric name, preferable in chronological order. No more will we have to deal with Clap Your Parade of Arcade Stars. No, they'll simply by known as Band #217. It is now useless to go on naming our bands with words because there will never be a more perfect name that Glam Chops.

Now that we've established that fact....

I love their song (and it's the only song of theirs that I've heard) "Are You Ready Eddie, Eddie Are You Ready?" because it sounds JUST like it came from the No Thanks! box set. It is absolutely perfect three minutes and thirty two seconds of of mid-1970's punk rock. Think (appropriately enough) of Eddie and the Hot Rods. It's glam-y, yes (it does have horns and a hit of Bowie after all) but it's also punk but more pub band punk. This song could be slipped onto No Thanks! and given to a 18 year old me and I wouldn't be able to tell it didn't belong. I'd probably actually guess it was just a Modern Lovers track.

Oh and did I mention that the last minute of the song is Eddie Argos singing/speaking/rapping over a bit that is highly (and by "highly" I mean they flat our stole but it's punk, it's okay) reminiscent of The Ramones, specifically Pinhead? I didn't? Well, I just did. It's amazing. Probably the pinnacle of my life, really.

But I don't wanna hype up this song too much. Here is the link. Click. Listen. Love. And, um, give me a job. Seriously.

Glam Chops - Are You Ready Eddie, Eddie Are You Ready?

To Potential Employers -

I am now at that point where I am (very) actively looking for a job, ideally jobs that are new media/social media related. I'd love to work in the music industry since that's what I'm truly passionate about. Again, those of you who actually know me are already sick about my rants and ravings about the music industry and it's future. Get me started and I will talk about how things are and how things should be and how the industry as a whole can get there for hours. I've posted some of these thoughts on other blogs I write and on my facebook. Although I'd love to be in the music industry, I am almost equally fascinated by media in general, especially how technology applies to it. The changes wrought by the Web 2.0 blow my mind and I want to be a part of them and the changes that will are on their way with the coming of Web 3.0/the Semantics Web.

But I'm getting a bit off topic. This post is mainly meant as a greeting to people who are reading this blog after reviewing my resume. First off, thanks. Really, thank you for taking the time to check this out. I do appreciate it, even if you come here and think I'm nuts or have terrible grammar or whatever. Which brings me to my second point. I was a bit conflicted about whether or not to include this blog on my resume. It was not and is not written for a professional audience. I write it for people who are passionate about music, especially undiscovered music and who want to read about band who deserve more attention then they are getting. As such, this is not the ideal endorsement of myself as an employee. I talk about stuff such as music downloading and the writing style is not polished but is rather an explosion of ideas and thoughts jotted down as quickly as possible. Yes, there are misspellings and yes my grammar is not always perfect. I could go back and edit everything and clean it up but I fear that would take the spirit out of my Lester Bangs-like ramblings (okay, comparing myself to Lester Bangs is a bit much, I know) and as I said, this is not written for a professional audience. I'm aware that they will read it but it's not for them.

The reason I included this blog on my resume is because I felt it was an easy way to show knowledge of and experience in new media, in social media, and passion for music/media. It was much easier (and space saving) to just include a link to this blog than it was to list out all the other blogs and tumblrs that I have, the flickr and photobucket accounts, the memberships on multiple social networking sites, the accounts on multiple video sites, the memberships to so many message boards dating back as far as 2000 (and the untold number of posts....I would guess more than 10,000), and so on. So yes, posting this blog was a lot easier than listing all that out on my resume. So I hope you read it for what it is and judge it based on that. Thanks

In Yr. Head...The Acorn

Those who have the honor (or curse....more likely curse) to hear my rants on a somewhat daily basis know that I can be prone to hyperbole when I describe things I like. I know this and they know this so it works. They just block out about half the adjectives I dispense and everything is alright. With this in mind, one would be hesitant to take my word when I say what I am going to say about The Acorn but honestly, I swear, I'm not exaggerating. Not much at least.

This story starts in September of 2007. Heady times full of mirth and innocence. Ahh, glory days. I had heard a few good things about on this internet thing about this band called Vampire Weekend so I made a note to check them out live. Conveniently they were playing a free show Vassar College (5 minutes from my apartment) three days from when I made a note to check them out. Really, it doesn't get much more convenient than that. So I went with not much in terms of expectations, having only heard a couple songs.....and was promptly blown away. I remarked to my friend at the show that this band, Vampire Weekend, would soon be playing on a much later stage. Much much larger. Well, here we are about 10 months, a Spin cover, and a SNL appearance later and I think it's fair to say that my prediction was pretty much on target (admittedly it was pretty obvious).

The first time I saw The Acorn was under similar circumstances. I'd heard a couple songs and really liked one. I'd heard some good rumblings on the internet about them. So I checked them out after work in May at the Mercury Lounge. I had low expectations. I was blown away. Once again I found myself telling a friend that this is a band that you're going to see playing much larger stages and soon.

Not that The Acorn is Vampire Weekend. They are obviously not. They don't have the same commercial appeal nor the same ability to write a great 3 minute pop song. No, on record they remind me more of early (EP) Arcade Fire, or maybe Arcade Fire with Vampire Weekend's sense of rhythm (technically wouldn't that be Paul Simon's sense of rhythm?). They play folk music with a world beat and that aspires to be grand and great without trying to be epic. Unlike so many other bands, The Acorn are not self-consciously hip. Maybe it's a Canadian thing?

Did I mention they're are from Ottawa? Not quite Montreal but you can see a similarity with many of those bands. They certainly are an interesting band to watch. The lead singer is half Honduran half Swiss. Their lead guitarist is asian. They have two drummers. Their latest album is a concept album about the lead singer/songwriter's mother. Not exactly your typical indie rock band (though the concept album about your mother sounds sort of like a Jeff Mangum/Fiery Furnaces collaboration...).

The record is good. Not great. Good. Interesting at times. Sort of boring at other. But live, they are fantastic. Live, these folk songs take on a grandeur and scale that brought to mind (and I hate to say this since I'm not really a fan of this band) U2. Yes, I just said it. The Acorn are the new U2. Lets hope Rolf is less insufferable than Bono.

Check this band out live and tell me if you agree.

Here is the band at City Sol on June 28th: Crooked Legs

Here are some links to some other videos I shot of the band in early May at the Mercury Lounge: Low Gravity, Crooked Legs, Flood

10,000 Words About No Age

Taken at Bard College and the Bowery Ballroom in early May of 2008

Don't Call It A Comeback

I'm back.  With power power?  No.  Just back.  Where have I been?  I've been hustlin'?  No, I've been busying graduating (Can I graduate?! Yes....yes I can) and looking for jobs (um.....no snarky songs to quote here) and looking for a new apartment.  Yes, I felt being a 20 something unemployed blogger wasn't cliched enough so I'm moving to Brooklyn, hopefully in a few weeks.  

But now that the horror/whore that was capping is over with, I can re-focus some attention here.  

So for my triumphant return, a list.  Mainly because I don't really have an videos or photos to post as of yet.  Shush.  Don't hate.

So a list.  What manner of list?  Well, it was going to be a Top X Albums.  But then, that's so arbitrary and limiting.    So I'm going to pick a method just as arbitrary but more suitable for my use.  So, without further ado, here is my Top 10 Favorite Arbitrary Collections of Music...

10 - Arcade Fire - Funeral > cause it's the best album of the 00's.  

9 - Animal Collective - an album consisting of 3 songs each from Sung Tongs, Feels, and Strawberry Jam > because AC singles - atmospheric filler = perfection

8 - Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Broom > cause I love the last 30 seconds of "Gwyneth"more than I should.

7 - Pixies - first 6 songs from Surfer Rosa > lets be honest, it goes downhill steeply after that....but the first 6 songs were their best.

6 - Ra Ra Riot - not their debut album but an album of my own creation featuring, in this order, A Manner To Act, Each Year, Can You Tell, Suspended in Gaffa, St. Peter's Day Festival, Oh La, Everest, Too Too Too Fast, Run My Mouth Off, Ghost Under Rocks, Dying Is Fine.  

5 (tie) Tokyo Police Club - Tesselate > where Dave Monks sings "running barefoot, you and I"

Yeasayer - 2080 Live on Conan O'Brian > when they do the "YEAH YEAH" chant towards the end of the song

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - The entire first album is underrated and over hated.  It's crazy pop music sung by a crazy bob dylan impersonator and I adore it.

4- The Beatles - Abbey Road, side two > if I have to explain this then you don't love music.

3 - Mission Of Burma - An album that is mostly Signals Calls and Marches but also with Peking Spring, Max Ernst, Academy Fight Song, The Ballad of Johnny Burma, and That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate

2 - Neural Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea > As is because it's completely perfect as it is.

1 - The National -  Alligator + Boxer (but more realistically, most of Alligator but plus Fake Empire, Slow Show, Apartment Story, Squalor Victoria, and Mistaken For Strangers)

Update

Sorry for the lack of posts, I've been busy trying to graduate, etc. I write this as I take a break from my 40 page paper (single spaces, of course) which is due in a little over a week.

Also, I've been hard at work on a new venture I hope to be able to pull off. I'm not going to say much about it now but it relates to the ideas I've been putting forward on the Tumblr I started, which is here: ThirdWaveofMusic

I'm seeing Man Man twice next week and Yeasayer once so I should get some good pictures/video to post after that. I also have some thoughts on lo-fi/Emperor X written that I need to post.

Things will pick up considerably once I finish up my degree in a few weeks.

In Yr. Head....Ra Ra Riot

Ra Ra Riot is a hard band to photograph.  You have to have a pretty good camera and actually have some skills as a photographer to capture them.  Why the difficulty?  Well, Ra Ra Riot is always on the move.  There is six of them: vocals and keyboards (Wesley), guitar (Milo), bass (Mathieu), drums (Cameron), cello (Alexandra), and violin (Rebecca).  But this is no chamber pop sextet, like they are so often portrayed.  No, Ra Ra Riot is like a Mentos thrown into a bottle of Diet Coke.  They are an explosion of energy, of limbs flailing, and instruments colliding.  Think band-in-a-blender wild exuberance of Minor Threat combined with the instrumentation and ernest enthusiasm of the Arcade Fire with a solid dose of the melodic nature of the Police.  

I'm trying to describe the band and I feel like I'm failing.  Ra Ra Riot is one of those bands that is greater than the sum of it's parts, greater than it's recordings (thus far) and a band that needs to be experienced.  

I've been trying to figure out, what was the best live show I ever saw.  Was it the Arcade Fire back in May or was it Ra Ra Riot last night at the Bowery.  I think it's Ra Ra Riot and here is why.  The Arcade Fire was a incredible band giving a good show.  But they could roll out of bed on a cold Canadian winter morning and give a show that good.  That's not to take away from them, that's actually a compliment.  But Ra Ra Riot last night was a good band giving the performance of their lives, a good band giving an incredible show.  The band knew it.  The crowd knew it.  The crowd was causing the band to escalate and the band returned the favor and caused the crowd to escalate and the whole night everybody in the Bowery Ballroom just spiraled upwards, out of control.

This was the 4th time I've seen Ra Ra Riot live.  I first heard their music courtesy of somebody from Syracuse, where the band formed at college.  This was back about a year ago, in April of '07.  I thought they were okay.  They only had an EP out and while it was interesting, had a Arcade Fire meets the Police vibe to it, I didn't obsess over it or anything.  Later that summer, in June, they headlined a show at the wonderful South Street Seaport Festival.  By this point I was starting to really enjoy their EP and hey, free show in the city.  So I went with the girlfriend, sister, and her friend.  None of us really knew the band at all outside of a song or two.  We were all blown away. We all proceeded to become completely obsessed with the band.  So much so that the girlfriend, another friend and I drove all the way to Boston to see them at the Friends of John Benefit concert in the middle of a blizzard. Disappointingly, they kind of sucked.  They were lifeless and boring.  

I saw them again, a month later, on a whim, opening for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.  They were really good.  Not as great as they were at Seaport but still damn good.

But then last night.  Wow.  Like I said earlier, I'm still searching for words to describe them.  Probably the best show I've ever seen.  

I would be remiss if I didn't go into some of Ra Ra's songs.  So without further ado:

- A Manner To Act: a two minute blast of swirling strings and skronky guitar before it all collapses in on itself

- Can You Tell - a sweet Police-esque number

- Dying Is Fine - Tragically relevant yet ultimately triumphant with a middle jam session reminiscent of Modest Mouse.

- Suspended in Gaffa and Hounds of Love - The two covers they perform, both by Kate Bush, both work wonderfully with the Ra Ra's strings. 

- Too Too Too Fast - This song should have been on the Donnie Darko soundtrack.  It sounds like something you'd hear on one of the multitudes of the Best of the 1980s! cd's they used to hawk on tv all the time.  It's like a great lost song by a-ha or Tears For Fears.  It has such a good 80's vibe that for the longest time I thought it was a cover.  Hell, maybe it is a cover.  

What I think I love about Ra Ra Riot is how they use their string section.  Stings are not uncommon, especially in adventurous indie rock (thanks a lot Sufjan).  But most bands use strings as an after thought, an arrangement, a finishing touch.  Not so with Ra Ra Riot.  Not only are the strings integral to the songs themselves, they're often the lead instrument.  Not many bands write riffs for a cello or violin and not too many bands have the hooks of their songs played by strings.  Pop music?  Yes (Toxic, anyone?).  Indie rock?  No.  But not only are the strings integral to the songs but Ra Ra Riot doesn't forget the first rule of rock like so many other bands, namely, don't forget to rock.  So there are strings but the songs bounce along with a punk urgency.  

So I guess I've pretty much exhausted my feelings on Ra Ra Riot.  I'll leave by beseeching you to check these guys out.  They may not be my favorite band right now (The National) but they're my favorite new band and when they actually release an album, they could very well overtake the National for that top spot.

Here are the links to some video I shot at the Bowery Ballroom last night:

A Manner To Act

Run My Mouth Off

Too Too Too Fast

Ghost Under Rocks (2nd Encore)

Here is a link to an mp3 of A Manner To Act: Download

Here is the link to a recent live show on WOXY that's very good: Link

Coming Soon: Pictures from last night