Vic Chestnutt

In case you missed it over the holidays, Vic Chestnutt died. Maybe he found his 'sweet relief'. R.I.P.

I need HELP...

Back in the old days of Finetune, CDRs, and mix tapes, I'd somewhat randomly throw together a bunch of songs to listen to. Maybe there'd be a theme. Maybe not. I'd give it a catchy little title, and listen to it once in awhile til I burned it out.

Now, though... I'm stumped.

I have tons of songs on my computer. Some I know and love. Some I've yet to really listen to. Some belong only with albums (remember albums?).

I don't know how to organize. How do you organize your songs? How do you pick which group goes onto the mp3 player?

The only thing I've done so far is... Have a folder for artists. Then, I put the whole lot of his/her songs onto the mp3 player alone. In other words, off I go, and it's Elliott Smith day. All Elliott Smith. Nothing else. Or, alright, it's a Spoon night.

I'm having a hard time grouping and listening to other songs. I don't know how to group them. I'm thinking, I can stick to my old school ways, and make "mix tape" playlists. A hodgepodge grouping of maybe similar, maybe not, songs? Is this what people do? Should I try to categorize them? I think I'd go nuts.

NEED ADVICE!!!

Manchester Orchestra

Free "Sessions" EP download.
http://www.myspace.com/transmissions
Includes sorta stripped down versions of a few songs.

There are others here too. I see Bon Iver.

Tried sending the "I Got Friends" mp3, but both "rich" and "yahoo" bounced it back to me.

Mighty Mike

Mike Jackson died and there was no action on this blog. Hmmm. Sales are thru the roof, the memorial was a massive debacle/rousing success depending on who you talk to, MJ was all doped up, and the estate is in shambles. He truly was Mighty Mike!!

On top of his game :




Bonus: Here's a moonwalk tutorial


At least this guy showed some class at memorial:

Goooo, Little Record, Goooo!

Some Pixies news:

New Music

Old Music

Happy 30th

The Sony Walkman turned 30 today. I remember my first one and I still have one in working condition (am I embarassed or proud????) . I also have a Walkman mp3 player. I guess I'm a sellout.

SPOON

I told myself I'd post a more thought-provoking entry next. Something beyond, "check out this free mp3." But when I find the newest Spoon song, how could I possibly resist?!? Spoon is my favorite active, current, relevant band. This new song does not disappoint.

http://iguessimfloating.blogspot.com/2009/06/mp3-new-spoon-got-nuffin.html

Spiral Stairs

"Maltese Terrier" - in honor of Tiki, Louie, and Sonny/Sunny/Whatever its name was.

http://www.spin.com/articles/hot-new-download-spiral-stairs-maltese-terrier

White Page Edge

No not the side of the paper, but It Might Get Loud. I've got to check this out at a theater for maximum rawk potential.

Joaquin or Fidel

I don't know if his current look was procured before or after naming his current album 'Hombre Lobo'!! A long way looks wise from A Man Called E, but not musically.

In My Dreams from Letterman 06/09 -- just beautiful:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoahQUxyVyw

Gateways to Geekery

I had not checked out The Onion's AV Club web site recently, but the added a nice little feature called 'Gateways to Geekery'. Basically if you know nothing about a certain genre of music or film or are clueless on a author you heard was good, this feature will give you ideas where to start your listening/watching/reading.

Beck starts a Record Club

On his website Beck will post (looks like stream) a new cover song each week. This week he does Sweet Lou and VU.

Lemonheads "Waiting Around to Die"

Free on Amazon...

http://www.amazon.com/Waiting-Around-To-Die/dp/B002D6AG8K/ref=amb_link_84639971_2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=right-2&pf_rd_r=0QW59VC3SRFMYG3R7X9Z&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=482108991&pf_rd_i=678551011

"Jolly Banker"

Wilco. A waltz of sorts. Of course I like it.

http://www.wilcoworld.net/guthrie/

Modest Mouse

New Modest Mouse B-Side.
Stream only.
6+ minutes long.
Takes about 3 minutes before the singing starts.
Then only lasts for under 2 minutes.
Craziness. Jumbled, overlapping lyrics.
Not my cup of tea.

http://www.thetripwire.com/listen/2009/06/18/modest-mouse-whale-song/

The Manchester Orchestra may wear their influences (including Modest Mouse) on their sleeves, but to me... they are way more listenable than this song.

MGMT

"Time to Pretend" is free here...
http://www.spin.com/audio/mgmt/track-01

Free SUBPOP Sampler

with tracks from Iron & Wine, Fleet Foxes, and Flight of the Conchords.

Did the Beatles Destroy Rock?

or maybe someone should write a book called "Did the Beatles Invite Rock?', as IMO everything before could be classified as R & B.

Did the Beatles Destroy Rock?

Twilight Singers "When Doves Cry"

Just a stream, no mp3, sorry...

http://www.spin.com/articles/spin-exclusive-greg-dulli-apollonia-cover-princes-when-doves-cry

I haven't had a chance to even listen, so no opinion yet. Dulli does killer covers though, so I'd bet it's at least solid, if not amazingly awesome.

Afghan Whigs Tribute

http://www.summerskissrecords.com/

Only listened to a few clips. Didn't sound amazing to me. Still, thought I'd share it since we're all big Whigs fans.

PS - I love "The Whigs," but hate that they named themselves that. Surely they realized that "The Whigs" already refers to "The Afghan Whigs."

PPS - It'd be nice to see the Whigs cover an Afghan Whigs song.

The Charts, REAL Emo, & Muzak

Just some fun links:

The Top 20 Album Sellers Of The 2000s

Endless Original Music

Muzak: From The Elevator To The Future

Superchunk

New song. Free download...

http://www.spin.com/reviews/superchunk-leaves-gutter-merge

God, I love(d) Superchunk.

Jay Bennett

In case you didn't know former Wilco sideman Jay Bennett died last weekend. Here's a wrap-up featuring a link to a free download. No cause of death yet as far as i know. Well I love Summerteeth and Bennett had a big hand in that. I know I like Wilco better when Bennett was in the mix than before or after. If you haven't seen the Wilco documentary I recommend it. It's about the trials and tribulations the band went thru while making Yankee Foxtrot Hotel and shows a lot of backstage, let's say, confrontation b/t Jeff Tweedy and Bennett. The doc features a version of Summerteeth's My Darlin' sung by Bennett. It's terrific. You can hear it on Bennett's myspace page.

The Beastie Boys

On Jimmy Fallon. NEWSFLASH!! They are O L D ! !

http://www.nbc.com/late-night-with-jimmy-fallon/video/episodes/?vid=1111135#vid=1111135

The interview starts at about 14:30 and the performance starts at about 19:30.

Starclub

Does anyone else remember this song from the early nineties? I find myself humming this from time to time. It's not big enough to even garner a youtube link. I love the harmonies and the 'days of the week' lyrics. I remember this song was played over the opening credits of the movie "The Crush" w/90's ingenue Alicia Silverstone.



http://www.singingfool.com/Title.aspx?publishedid=504232

Is Rock Dead?

As I was reading this article, I got more and more angry...

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/05/20/van.zandt.save.rock/index.html

Van Zandt says, "Nobody's buying records... because they suck!" Totally untrue. Nobody's buying records because they can get them for free. And, even if he believes that all or most or many records suck, wtf!!! He is in a position to help to change that. And, he's been in that position for years. When posed the question, or when given the chance, he should be a promoter of good music; not the trasher of all rock music.

Laziness. Laziness from Van Zandt. Laziness from CNN.

The better angle would be something like... Here are 5 great rock bands that you've never heard of... Ten or twenty years ago, they'd have been the household names... The Pearl Jams, the Rolling Stones, the Nirvanas, etc... Now they go unheard... Why?

I don't listen to every highly-touted new band anymore. And I no longer have time to dig around and discover unknown rock gems. But, I am positive that these great rock artists still exist. And, I'm certain that a new one starts up each week, and will continue to do so for a long, long time.

Awesome rock music is not dead. It is not dying. It does not need saving. But, if we expect those artists to be household names, rock music (and music in general) needs a new way to generate money.

Coldplay, Ash

Couple of quick hitters. You can download a copy of a live album from Coldplay. They are handing out a physical copy at their shows this summer (so I'll have both).

About a year ago I heard about Ash doing this. Now it has come to pass. An interesting experiment, I guess only time will tell if it pays off and others follow. Not many have followed the Radiohead/NIN ploy of giving away albums, so who knows how this will do. You can download single #1 for free at their website.

Dark Night of the Soul

I don't think I'll have to sell this to hard. Here's a list of the contributors on this Danger Mouse/Sparklehorse collaboration:

James Mercer of The Shins, The Flaming Lips, Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals, Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, Julian Casablancas of The Strokes, Frank Black of the Pixies, Iggy Pop, Nina Persson of The Cardigans, Suzanne Vega, Vic Chesnutt, David Lynch, and Scott Spillane of Neutral Milk Hotel and The Gerbils.

The album is called Dark Night of the Soul. I love when the 'guest vocalist' thing is pulled off well and that definitely is the case here. It's not hard to do on tribute albums, but more difficult to do w/original material. Off the top of my head this is right up there w/Unkle's "Psyence Fiction". I need to listen on headphones instead of my crappy computer speakers. After reading the article it's best to listen while it's still streaming and available.

Bonus: Spinner has full, new streaming releases every week. This week they have the new Jason Lytle of Grandaddy amongst others.

The Beatles

Duh, right? I know. But check out this guy's opinions. Some are right on, others are debatable. I stayed up way too late one work night reading and reading and reading.

http://magazine.jamsbio.com/2009/01/05/playing-the-beatles-backwards-the-ultimate-countdown/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=ad&utm_campaign=facebook-beatles

How could this blog thing start with anyone other than the Beatles. It just wouldn't be right.