Don't Let Those Swill Merchants Rewrite You

November Sessions Media

2009-11-03T22:01:00.007-05:00

makeshiftmusic is moving to a more permanent locale at www.novembersessions.com. If you clicked on the link you'll have realized one thing: it's not running yet. You probably saw something from 1and1.com, which obviously isn't it.

November Sessions Media is something I'm venturing out and giving a shot.

You may be asking youself, what is that? It's my attempt at building a resume and expanding my journalistic horizons.

Albeit, I'm sure you're going to miss my critical musings over trivial, obscure, pretentious indie music that only me and 37 other individuals listen to, but trust me, it'll be there... just in smaller numbers.

NSM will be a project of sorts. I'll be doing more extensive probing into the music world, not only in the critical sense, but in bringing the struggling artist some attention (note I didn't say just musician).

With a little help from my friends... I'll be covering localized topics, i.e. bands, artists, entrepeneurs, anyone looking for exposure.. in a good way. Additionally, the usual social satire and musings of a pretentious jerk, like myself.

I'm hoping this doesn't turn into another node of blog-like crap, but a serious attempt at true community and creative journalism.

Until then, you can follow what's going on at blog.novembersessions.com.

-Bryan

P.S. - Here's the beta logo.

...Interesting development

2009-09-12T20:45:00.002-04:00

DISCLAIMER: I know this is a completely uninspired post (before you go posting a comment in which I'll utilize the comment moderation function to its fullest potential) but it's pretty kick ass and not all the pretentious of me.

An album featuring the Black Keys and some of the biggest names in hip-hop will be released Nov. 27 (the so-called "Black Friday" day after Thanksgiving) under the name Blakroc, Billboard.com can reveal.

The project was spearheaded by rapper Jim Jones and also sports contributions from Mos Def, Q-Tip, RZA, Raekwon, Ludacris, Pharoahe Monch, NOE, Nicole Wray, Billy Danze and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard.

Sessions got underway in early summer in Brooklyn, N.Y., with Mos Def's songs among the first put to tape. A video teaser featuring in-studio footage is now live at blakroc.com.

It is unclear who is releasing the project, although sources say hip-hop veteran Damon Dash will be involved.

The Black Keys are off the road through the end of the year, but the group has begun work on its next studio album.

In the meantime, drummer Patrick Carney starts a tour on Oct. 8 in Brooklyn, N.Y., with his side band, appropriately named Drummer, while singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach returns to the road with his eponymous solo project on Oct. 4 at the Austin City Limits festival in Austin, Texas.

Original article at: This address

Noah and the Whale - The First Days of Spring

2009-08-27T00:53:00.008-04:00

Artist - Noah and the Whale
Album -The First Days of Spring
Released - August 31, 2009 (Cherrytree Records)

Since my job has recently been slow with pumping out the stories and upon realizing that the more sleep I get, the more tired I am in the morning (yeah, it’s true.. I’m that guy), I’m throwing a couple CD reviews up here and maybe a feature. We’ll see how inspired I am after this first one.

Still maintaining that the British Isles pump out exceedingly good music like an automotive assembly line, Noah and the Whale might just be considered the Audi of modern indie music.

The English-bred indie folk pedigrees, Noah and the Whale, might not be as intrinsically original as pioneers of the genre. Yet, after weaving a sheer sense of poetic irony and blatantly personal lyrics into The First Days of Spring, they can sleep knowing they’re not privy to becoming, well, sic transit gloria.

The First Days of Spring, in essence, accounts the beginning and ending of a break-up, followed by the posthumous rebound of said relationship, albeit cheesy in concept, the album is an accessible tapestry of the new “sensitive-guy” image and wildly reverent of Belle and Sebastian.

From the melancholic wavering of the title track, Charlie Fink’s vocals are a soporific exercise of subtle tone and remarkably crafted lyrics. Never borrowing rhythm from anything other than the mere existence of Fink and his band, The First Days of Spring is a heart-on-the-sleeve album with a subtle rhythmic peripatetic of emotion, compassion and rehabilitation.

NATW’s album paints a tattered image of ups and downs and tracks like Stranger, make use of a justifiable event in life that anyone can appreciate.

“Last night I slept with a stranger/for the first time since you’ve gone/ regretfully lying naked/I reflect on what I’ve done/her legs stay forced in between mine/sticking to my skin/stroking my chest and my head/head resting on my chin”

Vast orchestration and multi-instrumental hooks force an overload of creativity and freedom into the circuits of the composition into a comprehendible tone of misery and acceptance with a little bit of music thrown in.

www.myspace.com/noahandthewhale

P.S. - Didn't make it to the other two tonight.

Tracks to pay attention to:
Stranger
Slow Glass

Yim Yames - Tribute To

2009-08-09T13:43:00.003-04:00

Artist - Yim Yames
Album - Tribute To
Released - August 4, 2009 (ATO)

All too rarely does an album come along that truly captures a moment. Yes, it can capture emotion and feeling, but the moment is something that can only be arrested once in a lifetime.

Donning the not-so-subtle moniker of Yim Yames, My Morning Jacket front man, Jim James, delicately crafts an autumnal tribute to the late George Harrison with an introspective passion.

Never Jackson Polloking a contrived eulogy, Jim James found himself alone in his studio, reflecting on the death of the late Beatle in 2001. With nothing but his acoustic and his inherent talent, James somberly recorded his six track EP with an intense reverence and respect.

Of the six covers, Love You Too is kneaded from the same fertile clay of creativity as the source work. Never treading on its toes, James’ cover discovers a distinct era in his own musical career. Meshing the layered vocals and psychedelic tendencies of My Morning Jacket with Harrison’s 1968 release, Love You Too is a singular entity with a wide-spread inspiration.

All Things Must Pass closes the album as a simple and somber track with an inflection strictly his own. It’s James’ spontaneous tribute to a musical legend and the untailored nature of his simplistic and skeletal songs are haunting, yet graceful.

www.myspace.com/yimyames

No One's First, and You're Next

2009-08-09T11:39:00.009-04:00

Artist - Modest Mouse
Album - No One's First, and You're Next
Released - August 5, 2009 (Epic)

If it’s okay to borrow some movie terminology, Modest Mouse has always been a bit of a red herring in the music world.

Modest Mouse takes its time to dig, settle and grow with a listener. They’ve never been the crazed, auto-tuned, pop frenzy most artists grow accustomed to embodying and their critical success owes its livelihood to something like a fine mix between luck and hallucinogens.

The omnipotent cacophony of multi-instrumentalists enlightening the world may be the staple of the MM sound, but vocalist Issac Brock knows the sonic shift in creativity lies in the visceral and poignant songwriting woven into the music.

Copy and pasting from the recording sessions of Good News for People Who Love Bad News and We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, the makeshift collage of music reveals a maturation, yet it exposes a steadfast dedication to the sound.

No One’s First, and You’re Next takes its first breath with Satellite Skin, easily the most radio-friendly track and also the most accessible and fades out with a fuzzy metaphysical experience, Hickory Sticks to Your Feet.

The dissonance on tracks like King Rat repeals any notion that MM lacks the kind of immediacy and creativity that inspired The Lonesome Crowded West and The Moon and Antarctica. Spanning the years of MM history, the band has overcome the rise to world-wide prominence without tainting their creativity and ardor. Defying fans and naysayers, the darkened corner of pretentious independent music is only enlightened by the Mouse.

So says the Gospel of Modest Mouse.

www.myspace.com/modestmouse

Recent Lapse in Postings

2009-08-08T16:07:00.003-04:00

I know I've been absent the past month and half on here, but I haven't given up. Just a friendly update on what I plan on posting sometime in the next few days to a week:

Reviews: Modest Mouse, Wild Light, Yim Yames and a few others.
The usual random postings.
Some band overviews and concert reviews.

So yeah, I'll be around.

The Monsters of Folk... finally.

2009-06-19T00:03:00.006-04:00

Everyone loves a supergroup.

No matter how bad they are (that’s you Velvet Revolver), how maddeningly incredible (nod to the Traveling Wilburys) or just… standard (...Captain Beyond. How much more obscure can I get? Not much.)

Yet, the mere idea of M. Ward, Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Connor Oberst (Bright Eyes) and Mike Mogis pooling their collective talents and donning the tongue-in-cheek moniker of "Monsters of Folk" is sure to spark some kind of buzz within the indie/folk scene.

The collaborative effort of all four could turn out to be a sun flare of pure creative talent ending in a never ending stream of awesomeness. Or, come September 22, many will find themselves sobbing with their head buried deep within the hands.

I hardly doubt it would be anything short of ethereal.

After a short 2004 tour under the same name, Monsters of Folk toyed with the idea of jump starting the group ever since the tour ended. The earthy, madcap lullabies of the trio have fallen into a semi-obscurity since the tour with only a select few lucky enough to have attended. It's become somewhat of a legend.

With nothing short of a pure aptitude for genius song-writing and mood setting folk, the Monsters of Folk’s album details are meager in comparison to the buzz encapsulating the group. Until then, I snagged this off of YouTube for you to enjoy, weep with joy and yes, you can thank me later, that's why the comment section is there.

(Is "there" a preposition?)

The Eternal

2009-06-14T12:44:00.012-04:00

Artist - Sonic Youth
Album - The Eternal
Released - June 9, 2009 (Matador Records)

Battling 25 years of rock atavism and a vast number of musicians relying on the music media to enhance their prowess, Sonic Youth releases their 16th studio album on their largest indie yet.

After releasing four albums on major label Geffen Records, The Eternal finds itself sitting proudly atop Matador Records' to-do list as Sonic Youth still reigns over the world of indie rock as one of its golden idols.

There’s no doubting it: you either love Sonic Youth for what they are or you don’t. Everyone gives that ultimatum but rarely does it ever make sense – “there’s always that shade of grey.” Their music, since its inception, has been raw, evocative and inoculates its fans with an enamored cacophony of noise and prose.

Sonic Youth has weaved and crafted expansive albums following in the poli-rock footsteps of ‘60s rock demigods and all the same have closed in, creating a relentless iris shot of one subtle and dark theme in their lives. Since 1987's Daydream Nation, nearly every album holds the same constant denomination of quality and inspiration.

The band, now pushing a mean age of 51, still has a brutal mean streak; reminiscent of their latter 80s coming-of-age albums. Unveiling nothing new as far as their sound, The Eternal manages to mask its sound with conceptually autumnal lyrics with a vicious stitching.

Bassist Kim Gordon still screeches with an unwavering, and still slightly tone-deaf, emotion still battling with angst present since 1983’s Confusion is Sex. As the oldest member of the band, Gordon’s tumultuous fervor continues to grip the curtains, ripping them off the wall littering the room with shattered pieces of gypsum. Her vocals are as necessary as any other.
Married to lead vocalist Thurston Moore, with whom she has a daughter, Coco, Gordon personifies the “badass mom” stereotype and does so with the non-quandary of what’s more important to her.

The Eternal augurs as a semi-rejuvenated Sonic Youth after releasing themselves from Geffen Records. Often weathered by the idea they have lost their avant-garde quality - which in the some ways they have – their music still burrows deeply and heavily. As stated earlier, they have touched the zenith of what they can accomplish numerous times and have refurbished their lyrical and political competency.

New York’s early ‘80s scene, in my opinion, can be summed up with one word: “pretentious”. The art scene was too cool for the casual viewer and the music scene was awkwardly counter-culture; the stranger the better. Especially the indie scene, starting in the late 1970s through 1987, saw the convergence of musical genres and one of the few times when being indie really stood for something.

With bands ranging from MC5 to the Replacements to Husker Du to Minor Threat, indie punk music was at its peak and even college radio on through the 1990s was a breeding ground for purposely undiscovered students of the indie world. This was back when FM broadcasts littered the airwaves with early Madonna singles and Duran Duran and UK bands like the Jesus and Mary Chain were too cool to release singles.

This was back when “networking” was done with your mom’s van and a landline phone. Sonic Youth’s knowledge and skill factored into what made them successful, unlike younger bands, they possessed the ruse to befriend and work with promoters, journalists and fans. Many bands at the time would look up them as the “parents” of the indie movement, not because they were first, but because they knew what they were doing.

This isn’t Daydream Nation by any measurement, nor should it be. Daydream Nation was only a standard to measure their development and maturation. Albeit groundbreaking, it stood as more of an inspirational piece for the end of hardcore and the beginnings of a new era of rock. The Eternal should be viewed as part of Sonic Youth’s third movement in the opus of their career.

As their 16th album, a sense of harmony gracefully sways within the group. After being a collective entity for nearly 25 years, their inimitable sound accumulates within tracks like Gordon’s Sacred Trickster. Poison Arrow, which for the first time features Gordon, Moore and Lee Ranaldo essentially harmonizing and finds a band maturing in comfort but never forcing it.

Their unorthodox approach to the music, i.e. - complex tunings and timbre alterations, convulses the scaffolding which binds their sound. Although, their music has evolved in the last third of their career into a slightly more standard exoskeleton, SY maintains the exterior but never looses the avant-garde quality of abolishing the obligatory rhythm and standards of the music industry which continues to change.

www.myspace.com/sonicyouth

Cotton Jones

2009-06-06T13:54:00.008-04:00

After the disbanding of the misunderstood Page France, principle songwriter Michael Nau decided enough was enough. It was time to step away from the folksy aspect of songwriting, focusing on an evolving sound with Cotton Jones harkening to a soulful, funk influenced plethora of indie/folk originality.

Page France often is misinterpreted with its religious allegories and vivid imagery giving a sense of unwarranted comfort in its unintentional Christian overtones. Although Nau denounces its purpose, he never saw Page France as anything more than what it was.

"This feels like a new leaf to me. I've learned to let the music happen, rather than trying to invent something," says Nau on his record label, Suicide Squeeze’s website, "I'm still sifting through some imaginary thesis, but it makes more sense now."

Maryland-based Cotton Jones (formerly The Cotton Jones Basket Ride, probably shortened for aesthetic reasons) is the re-imagining of where Nau and Whitney McGraw, also formerly of France, can take their music.

After a handful of EPs and one LP, Nau and McGraw waltz through their debut with a viral sound and a sweetened darkness.

Leeching influences from gospel, rock, folk and soul, Cotton Jones transcends the simple interpretation of genre titles. Following many artists of the indie scene, they splinter the standard genre of their music. Creating a sound both progressive and regressive, the inherent atavism of influences gracefully paints a brilliant mural rich in color, lyrical emotion and even some excellent whistling.

More times than not, a comparison between Nau’s vocals and Jim Morrison arise on Paranoid Cocoon, Cotton Jones’ debut LP. This too is unwarranted and according to Nau, he doesn’t even listen to the Doors.

Paranoid Cocoon delves into darker subject matter than France ever dared and find Nau and McGraw writing poetry set to music and vice versa. The intrinsic values of their rhythmic lyrics and the amazed energy of their harmonies craft sagacity of endowment. Tugging on the earth-bound comforts of their lives, the album threads together a blanket of surreal imagery based in reality.

McGraw acts as Nau’s leveling factor both on the album and behind. Less of a leader figure for the duo, McGraw, along with a menagerie of itinerate musicians, add more to the album than just rhythm and a voice. They add personality, which contrary to most music these days, is the largest contributing factor to what makes music memorable.

Cotton Jones may not have the same simple, child-like qualities of Page France, but their matured approach to a soulful folk project wrecks any comparison; vaulting Cotton Jones into a lyrical sphere of would-be influential songwriting which sadly, will be overlooked by the masses.

www.myspace.com/thecottonjonesbasketride

2009-05-03T11:19:00.003-04:00

After finishing my Top 20 Albums, which was a list of albums I felt impacted this generation's music, people asked me what my favorite albums were.

1.) I hate this list. It doesn't seem complete.
2.) I really hate this list.
3.) These albums range from albums I loved in high school and those I love now.
4.) Than why post it? Because I have nothing better to do at the moment.

My Top 20

Dan Auerbach - Keep it Hid

Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation

The Black Keys - Thickfreakness

Garden State Soundtrack

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Howl

Lost Prophets - Start Something

Jay Clifford - Know When to Walk Away

Neil Young - Harvest

Led Zeppelin - III

Oasis - What's the Story Morning Glory? (Although, not their best album -Be Here Now does it for me- it still impacted my musical preferences greatly.)

Elliott Smith - Either/Or

Sublime - Sublime

Pearl Jam - Ten

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

Silversun Pickups - Carnavas

Incubus - Make Yourself

Joshua Radin - We Were Here

My Morning Jacket - It Still Moves

The Avett Brothers - Emotionalism

Kings of Leon - Only By the Night

Warm Beer and Cold Women

2009-05-02T13:27:00.005-04:00

Artist - Damion Suomi
Album - Damion Suomi
Released - April 22, 2009 (P is for Panda)

Reviving the same lamentations of post-blues lounge crooners with a dark lager in one hand and a Camel in the other, Florida-based Damion Suomi crafts the same tattered elegance with his eponymous debut album.

Suomi (say it with me - sue-me) carries the same weight under a new brand of Irish folk with the subtle qualities of late nineties alternative and alt-country begging for a deeper meaning and subsequently an answer.

According to fellow P is for Panda label artist, Mike Dunn, he describes Sumoi as, “kind of like Michael Stipe and Billy Bragg having too many beers and playing Woody Guthrie songs.”

And the comparison to Michael Stipe of REM is obvious: if Stipe smoked one too many stogies and drank his weight in Guinness, you’d have Suomi. The resemblance is ephemeral when tracks like Darwin, Jesus, the Devil and Me flourish under a melodic tempo of acoustic balladry set to the thrashings of Suomi’s power-questioning lyrics.

The consistent tone of his album generates an unwavering sense of bled-out relationships, bouts with his creator and bourbon, never outdoing himself and staying true to a foot-stomping riotous bar crowd.

His coarse rendition of the genre redefines where his music is bred. It’s deep, dark and full of righteous Southern influence, creating the rhythmic discord of the common man.

Laced with the cynical ranting of Suomi, his debut album remains simple and uplifting grafting a modern finesse on the traditional while staggering home after last call.

http://www.myspace.com/damionsuomi

Silversun's new album croons to Swoon

2009-04-03T18:17:00.012-04:00

Artist - Silversun Pickups
Album - Swoon
Released - April 14, 2009 (Dangerbird Records)

Still heavy on the fuzz, distortion and encapsulating frenzy, Silversun Pickups lavishly delivers their second full length album on Dangerbird Records after a lengthy three year absence.

Following an extensive tour in support of their acclaimed debut Carnavas, the band would come home to neglected relationships with friends and families; although supportive, they would better serve as inspiration for a new album, Swoon.

“We were landing on charts in countries I’d never been too, like Chile and all over South America. Things were changing fast.” Brian Aubert, vocalist and lead guitarist said.

Since their 2006 debut, Silversun Pickups have grown into a tightly focused band encompassing a genre often stagnant in the last few years. Their sound remains trademarked by a murky fuzz heavy guitar accompanied by vocal chord annihilating serenades by Aubert.

Silversun would take Swoon and build a darker and more thematic album, far more diverse and encompassing than its predecessor. From the opening track, There's No Secrets This Year, the band utilizes a formula of melodic songwriting and layered tracking to construct a soaring sound.

The first single, Panic Switch, is chaotic and deliberate as Aubert’s vocals conquer heavy bass lines and the wall smashing drum work of Christopher Guanlao. Brilliantly layered amidst a slew of fierce musical pairings and shrewdly distorted riffs, melody is never lost and remains inherent within every moment.

It's Nice to Know You Work Alone, a makeshift duet between bassist Nikki Monniger and Aubert, makes use subtle drops in tempo to build a mood altering atmosphere - often paying homage to nineties rock deities such as the Smashing Pumpkins and Sonic Youth.

Adding to Aubert's aesthetic vocals and turbulent lyrics, the band eagerly incorporates an entire string section to parts of the album. Now, instead of only passionate melodies stitching atmosphere into a blanket of moodiness, a string section intensifies the feeling of insurgent emotion.

Growing more articulated and mature, Silversun Pickups discovers a beauty within their own abstract melody. Topping off their second album with an avalanche of musings and a swelling of talent, they never stray far from the streets from which they got their name for inspiration, Silver Lake and Sunset Boulevard.

www.myspace.com/silversunpickups

The Twenty: Completed

2009-03-29T22:52:00.026-04:00

Every generation has its list of “must have” albums - the decade’s most influential works of genius transcending simple recognition as just an album. Some of these aren’t that album. Yet, they do represent, in my humble and pretentious opinion, albums that still maintain authority in today’s fad-heavy music scene.

(Originally, this was going to be a Top 20, but I spent more time rearranging the first six than writing. So, I just quit and decided to let you be the judge.)

Nirvana – Nevermind – 1991

Despite what I said about Nirvana before, this album is perfectly crafted, as far as grunge can be perfect.

Kurt Cobain did something that only Bob Dylan was able to do – speak to an entire of generation, although the product was drastically different.

Why was it influential?
Nevermind embodied much of what grunge music was; it was filled with angst, unsettled nerves and dug its nails into the scalp of mainstream music.

I HATE how Cobain has become the poster child for depression and contempt. Every high school age kid trying to become a part of the counterculture has a poster of Cobain looking miserable and contempt with a guitar in one hand and his greasy hair falling over his face. Come on kid, if you want depressed check out Elliott Smith – he had issues.

The thing which makes Nirvana different than Pearl Jam is the fact that Nirvana’s music was less about instrumentation, but more about lyrical content. It was personal, yet broad and did something very few can do. Nirvana was the torch holder for grunge and to this day, still impacts music.

Myspace

The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Are You Experienced? – 1967

Who better to be on this list than Jimi Hendrix?

Why is it Influential?
There isn’t much I can say that hasn’t already been said, so I’ll just list accomplishments of the album.

-Has been selected to be permanently preserved in the Library of Congress.
-Has been re-pressed on vinyl, cassette, 8-track, CD and mp3 several times over the years and is set to be released again.
-Every song on the album has been covered by other artists.
-Released three times at the time of its original pressing – U.S., Canada and U.K.

Jimi Hendrix is Jimi Hendrix. It’s amazing.

Myspace

The Flaming Lips – Soft Bulletin – 1999

Ah, the Flaming Lips… what a bunch of weirdoes.

Known for their bizarre, confusing and utterly original shows, the Flaming Lips are significant in brining an abstract, neo-psychedelic sound to the music scene musing artists from all genres.

Why is it influential?
Since its release in 1999, Soft Bulletin has been noted as the Pet Sounds of the nineties. Marrying traditional instruments like guitars, drums and bass with unorthodox usage of strings, synth and various other instruments.

It was a harmonizing factor in the use of oddity and prolific musical integrity within a style of music that is known to be vague and just plain weird.

Myspace

Led Zeppelin – IV – 1971

Come on, you knew it was going to be one here.

Why is it influential?
Quick, think of three Zeppelin songs!

I bet at least two of those came from this album. Although I can’t stand how every 14-year old learning to play guitar learns the intro, Stairway to Heaven is one of those landmark Zeppelin songs and one of their most recognizable. (Yes, I’ve listened to it backwards and it continues to be kind of annoying.)

From the iconic Hermit to my personal favorite Zeppelin song, Going to California, an acoustic dissonance of bleeding lyrics, IV just goes to prove that Zeppelin is both versatile and a freak of nature.

A group of guys from England can’t really make music this good… can they?

Myspace

Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation - 1988

If I had been numbering these, this would have been my number one.

Something happened to music late in the 1980s. I’m not really sure what it was, but music has a tendency to die and evolve over time.

Music has always loved to be dark, offer a sense of realism within an exaggerated world and be the narrative voice of an entire generation.

Some say music died on February 3, 1959 outside Clear Lake, Iowa when a place crashed with Buddy Hollie, Riche Valens and J.P. Richardson on board.

Love died at the Altamont Speedway in 1969 during Gimmie Shelter.

Than, there was grunge, but where did grunge come from?

Sonic Youth’s 1988 release Daydream Nation is essentially one of those albums. Sonic Youth’s album is like The Pixies’ Doolittle album in its expanse of influence.

As the band’s maturation from a noise-rock and punk fusion to a more traditional style of rock, Daydream Nation has been called, pre-grunge.

This album takes credit for being the most influential force in the last 20 years. It has been tagged, noted, thanked and sampled as an album which drove artists to pick up a guitar and play along to Teen Age Riot.

I could go on and on about it, but I won’t… you have one more to go.

Myspace

Beach Boys – Pet Sounds – 1966 and The Beatles – Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band - 1967

Here’s the synopsis of what happened:

After the release of The Beatles' 1965 album, Rubber Soul, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys went ape-shit, basically.

Taking time from touring with the group to focus solely on a new endeavor, Pet Sounds, Wilson conducted a symphony of harmonies which would be hailed to this day as one of the most influential albums of all time.

This album would simply become known as THAT album. That album that Paul McCartney would give to his children to make sure their musical education would be complete, as if the Beatles weren’t enough.

The album that would bring guitar gods to their knees, "I consider Pet Sounds to be one of the greatest pop LPs to ever be released. It encompasses everything that's ever knocked me out and rolled it all into one." Eric Clapton said.

This would be the album that would inspire the same frenzy of insanity in The Beatles a year later.

After a four month recording session, the Beatles would release Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band during a tour hiatus.

Topping nearly every Greatest Album of All Time Lists, including Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums, Sgt. Pepper’s is a milestone in modern music.

The Beatles would utilize everything the EMI studio had to offer trying to compete with Pet Sounds, who had access to a more advanced recording studio. Although the recording studio in the U.K. was lesser, the band learned to cut corners and use the studio as an instrument; this gave the album a sound specific to them. (I could go into detail about what was in the studio, but just look through websites… the internet is splattered with Beatles trivia.)

The beauty within both albums is the zenith of genuine creative insanity and the kind competition between the geniuses of both bands respectively. I’ll go out on a limb here to say, Pet Sounds was the conception of modern music and Sgt. Pepper’s, its birth.

BB - Myspace

Beatles - Myspace

Pixies – Doolittle - 1989

For those who don’t know, I’m only 22. I haven’t been around for many of the albums on the list… or at least old enough at the time to care. Yet, growing up I was affected by what is essentially the dark ages of grunge (the latter years of the nineties featuring such explicitly vile travesties as Creed) and more importantly the teeny-bopper pop revolution which subsequently sucked the vacuous brain fodder from every fourteen year old girl.

So, it was only natural I deny popular music for much of my life, hence my affinity for the obscure and pretentiousness in music.

The Pixies’ follow-up to Surfer Rosa, Doolittle, hands down is quintessentially the manifestation of everything music has become and will be.

Why is it influential?
There are only a select few albums I could sit here and extol about how amazingly comprehensive and significant they are, playing the part as the immaculate siren song for an entire two decades of music history.

Doolittle is one of those albums.

No other album in the late eighties has been sampled, borrowed from, pillaged and just flat out admired more than The Pixies second studio album.

It’s poetically constructed with hooks imbedded within every thrashing chorus, whip lashing lyrics and impervious moments of now conventional alternative music. It’s become the cornerstone of an entire movement of music.

Splintering the ramparts between thrash punk and indie pop incorporating vehement moments of larynx crushing screams, Doolittle is crafted from the very pool of genius from which albums like Daydream Nation, Revolver and Meriwether Post Pavilion drank and future bands will.

Myspace

Radiohead - Ok Computer - 1997

Needing no introduction, I’ll be skipping straight to the Why is it Influential bit…

Ok Computer, English bred Radiohead’s third album is not just a masterpiece, but is the testing ground of how perfect music can be. Its significance among the world at large is irrefutably and unerringly as important as a human breathing or a plant needing photosynthesis to survive.

If you could compile a 12 track CD with all the technology induced paranoia, the torment revolving life, all the subtle maddening of a decade filled with farcical fads like the Macarena and any other adjective or saying you could squeeze into a digital file…it would be Ok Computer.

The end of the 1990s was an earmark - the hundred dollar bill in the currency of human existence. Ok Computer is like the hidden watermark in the top right corner, often not seen, yet when it is, we’re all inspired by this intentional enigma serving as both security and inspiration to unseen splendor.

Myspace

The Flying Burrito Brothers - The Gilded Palace of Sin - 1969

Another obscure band from back in the day; I was introduced to Gram Parsons by a friend not to long ago. I never realized the man even existed.

Alt-Country by the definition is something like a mixture of country and southern rock, as well as taking influence from all styles of music, but holding dearly to its roots in country.

Hiding behind the scenes of much of country music and music in general in the 1960s, Gram Parsons is sort of a Man Behind the Curtain. Taking part in both The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, he exemplified musical integrity and would influence musicians for decades afterward.

He would die at age 26 from a drug overdose, followed by a really awkward story involving the transportation of his body.

Why is it Influential?
The Gilded Palace of Sin was never a success, yet to this day is ground-zero for many alt-country and non-country musicians alike. It’s a catalyst by which countless musicians would find themselves reaching towards for when in need of inspiration.

Fusing country and soul, many of the tracks found on the album have been covered and dissected many times over.

Christine’s Tune, an unfairly catchy opening song, makes you realize that these guys were truly on to something and it’s a shame nobody knows.

YouTube

Pearl Jam – Ten - 1991

Pearl Jam formed in 1990, crafted their debut album, and accomplished a feat, in my opinion, that ranks them as the recipient of “The better grunge band”. It’s a simple matter of affairs when it comes to making an album, right?

Why was it Influential?
Needless to say Ten, in more ways than one, surpasses fellow grunge demigods Nirvana’s Nevermind.

My typical rational for saying such things: Pearl Jam is just a better band all around. (Retract previous statement and insert, “Pearl Jam is just a better band all around, if, Nirvana was sans Dave Grohl. Grohl has to be one of the most underappreciated artists of today and easily a certified genius, which gives Nirvana the upper hand.)

Pearl Jam might not have the immense amounts of propinquity of its fans and critics that Nirvana has. Yet, it would not be a stretch of the imagination to say that Pearl Jam, or Eddie Vedder in particular, created a sense of urgency in the song structure unforeseen by many at the time. Later becoming a vice for lyrical content and instrumentation that is more than just an ambiance but like that of well-written novel, is the legacy Ten leaves behind.

Pearl Jam is by no means a pioneer of the genre, nor the inspired concept album, but more likely brought it into the mainstream of a grunge heavy scene by means of speaking less from the ranting of an emotionally damaged kid, but more from an abused youthful perspective and satirical underlying statements.

Myspace

Ramones – Ramones - 1976

According to dictionary.com punk rock is defined as, “A type of rock-'n'-roll, reaching its peak in the late 1970s and characterized by loud, insistent music and abusive or violent protest lyrics, and whose performers and followers are distinguished by extremes of dress and socially defiant behavior.”

I like this definition better… The Ramones.

Bred out of the Borough of Queens, the Ramones would defy music standards and fabricate a style of music, changing the very means by which we see music today.

Why is it Influential?
…it created punk music.

Punk music has been an influential factor ever since the inception of three power chords, strummed with the fervor and antagonism of a group of kids sick and tired of society, stadium rock and politics.

"We decided to start our own group because we were bored with everything we heard," Joey Ramone once explained. "In 1974 everything was tenth-generation Led Zeppelin, tenth-generation Elton John, or overproduced or just junk. Everything was long jams, long guitar solos.... We missed music like it used to be."

So, they just decided to become something more, or less, than everything surrounding them - the product?

A generation of pissed off kids with something to say.

Videos

NWA - Straight Outta Compton - 1988

If you know me at all I can almost guess what ran through you’re head, “What the HELL do you know about NWA? You hate rap.”

Which is true, but this whole purpose of this diatribe on music is the influence is took on modern musicianship and there is no denying that rap and hip-hop are easily one of the biggest.

Breeding the biggest names in rap, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E and MC Ren, NWA’s roots are buried deep in Compton and stay there. Named one of the most influential groups of all time, NWA has served as the template from which all rap is cut.

Why is it Influential?
Where would rap be without it? This is gangsta rap, pure and simple.

Website

Beck – Odelay - 1996

When Beck released Mellow Gold in 1994 everyone would come to assume Beck would be another of those ‘novelty artists’ that would die off as soon as everyone began hating Loser.

That was until he told everyone, where it’s at.

This is pre-Midnight Vulture, pre-the Information, this is before everyone hated the fact he’s a Scientologist - even though he’s been one for most of his life.
This was back when he held true to a rootsy, quasi-hip hop style infused with acoustic multi-instrumentation.

Why is it influential?
The man won a Grammy for it, that’s why. Plus, Odelay laid the groundwork for a new genre defying movement that would help prove that experimentation isn’t such a frightening thought. He would stitch together genres of music like hip-hop, indie rock and pop like no one else had at this point. He would begin to transcend a genre title and make music that was viral and catchy and be a stepping stone for many artists today. Drum machines really do work when used properly.

Myspace

Nick Drake - Pink Moon – 1972

"Now we rise and we are everywhere." - Quoted on Nick Drake's gravestone in Tanworth-in-Arden cemetery.

Nick Drake is one of those artists who suffered from a Van Gogh syndrome - the one where nobody knew they were submersed in an infinite talent until it was too late. Drake died in 1974, at the age of 26 and Pink Moon would be the last album he would see pressed.

Pink Moon is sparse in instrumentation, but lyrically autumnal, eloquent and completely embodies much darker themes in his latter months of life.

Why is it influential?
Drake’s music is foreboding of a movement of bare folk music focusing heavily on lyrics and melody over a multi-faceted pop extravaganza. It’s quiet, subtle and inherently beautiful from start to finish. It’s timeless and never ceases to inspire writers, musicians, actors and everyone in between that takes the time to respect the power of his words.

Myspace

Jesus and Mary Chain – Psychocandy - 1985

The 1980s, in my opinion, were just too damn weird. Why did everyone think ridiculous hair, scarves and odd colored leather jackets were cool? (That also kind of describes the Jonas Brothers too, but they’re just… *insert your own adjective here*)

In the same vein though, the 1980s bred contemptuous and depressed individuals who loved to be ‘cool’ by being ‘too cool for everything.’ The Cure, for example, was the same way.
The album in question, Psychocandy, is no exception to the rule. It was angsty, freakishly distorted and filled with a sense of knotty contempt for the world outside of the music.

Why was it influential?
Going beyond the superficial look of the band, the music is simply just as wall shattering as it was in 1985. It’s a giant foam middle finger to the world and an expression of the first amendment in a monosyllabic tongue equating throwing a toaster in a bathtub.

Psychocandy’s main contribution to today’s music is its uncanny ability to create something huge without making a huge scene. It’s simple and makes a vast statement: that it’s not just about performance, but about the content and talent needed to be something more.

As stated earlier, they were too cool for mic kicks, windmills and jumping off speakers into the crowd. They’d rather be faint, livid and hate you from under gelled hair. Even more so than the Cure, which is why JAMC makes the list.

Myspace

Beastie Boys - License to Ill - 1986

What hasn’t been said about the Beastie Boys already? They’re limitless in talent? Yes. They’re obnoxious, loud and can destroy a parent’s image of their children? Yes. What’s not to love about the Beastie Boys?

Consisting of Mike D, MCA and Ad-Rock, the Beastie Boys are hailed as an influential hip-hop group spanning two decades of music history. As the first hip-hop group to break, and subsequently top, the Billboard Top 200, the Beastie Boys earned commercial and critical success and have gone on to become a legendary group.

Why is it influential?
There’s just something to No Sleep Til Brooklyn that’s timeless, Paul Revere is simply classic and who doesn't know the words to Fight for Your Right?

Breaking the genre by sampling classics from artists like Wild Sugar, Led Zeppelin and having Kerry King of Slayer lay the guitar tracks on the album, the Beastie Boys debut album had something to offer that no one else at the time could. What is it?

Its success rests on the idea that it brought rap and hip-hop into the mainstream by channeling white kid angst through the fundamentals of urban music. Playing as a conduit to much of where music has ended up, it nevertheless has issued in a new era in music. One that would no only bend genre but seize punk qualities and hoist them on top drum machines with raunchy lyrics, samples and, to this day, still make most parents cringe.

Plus, the album just kicks ass.

Myspace

Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks - 1974

This is kind of a scary name to tackle. Everyone has a favorite Dylan album or Dylan song and will fight until broken noses have no more blood or their fingers no longer have any nails left. It’s a dark trail to traverse.

Bob Dylan needs no introduction and there is neither the room nor musical capacity to describe just why Blood on the Tracks is an amazing album. To rightfully describe what Bob Dylan had accomplished for music today is a feat this list won’t go into, but here’s the short version.

Why is it influential?
Dylan’s name is synonymous with lyrics most cannot begin to wrap their head around. It’s lyrically profound and yearning for change. Dylan has proven that he is an immeasurable lexis picnic basket of philosophical, social and political prose.

As Dylan’s 15th studio album, Blood on the Tracks holds dearly the sensibilities of a wiser and more subdued Dylan suffering from a separation from his then wife, Sara Dylan.

“It was gravity which pulled us down and destiny which broke us apart -You tamed the lion in my cage but it just wasn't enough to change my heart.” - Idiot Wind

Blood on the Tracks represented the currency of inspiration and after years of so-so reception from fans and critics, the album rose above and nearly managed to supersede Highway 61 Revisited. This is just one polished album in the ever expanding catalog of Bob Dylan which continues to grow to this day.

Myspace

Elliott Smith – Either/Or -1997

Elliott Smith, although obscure to some, was an extremely talented musician with a knack tightening the cables around an idea to get as much from it as he could without loosing integrity as a songwriter.

After years of fighting off depression, alcoholism and drug addiction, Smith would go on to release several albums from semi-favorable to acclaimed reviews within his lifetime.

In 2003, Smith’s death, surrounded by controversy, was a blow to a scene of fans and friends alike. Ben Folds, a close friend of Smith, would record Late, a song in tribute of his dear friend:

“When desperate static beats the silence up - A quiet truth to calm you down - The songs you wrote - Got me through a lot”

Why is it influential?
Smith’s Either/Or album is a pure example of how lo-fi production value can be a blessing and is representative of music being neither perfect nor Utopian.

Smith didn’t need thousands upon thousands of dollars wasted on simple, dark pop tunes. Between the Bars, an achingly melancholy song only lasting a brief 2:22 is wistful and reflective and perfects his aptitude to be something more than a suffering artist rising from the ashes of nineties demigod, Kurt Cobain's death.

He embodied more than just another misery ridden musician, but one of the greatest singer/songwriters of the nineties who will in the near future recieve the credit he deserves.

Myspace

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Damn the Torpedoes - 1979

Damn the Torpedoes is Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker’s third studio album and would be the first non-contractual obligation after releasing themselves from under MCA. As everyone knows, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers would eventually become one of the largest bands to come out of the era and to this day, still rock your face.

Their third album would also set the stage as a leaping off point for the band and would later set the stage for some of the best albums of all time, for example – Wildflowers in 1994.

Why is it influential?
I’m going to take a break here and just say: You’ll know why when you hear it. It’s main reason for showing up on this list is simple: Without it Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers may have fizzled out and the world would be currently sans Tom Petty.

There is a certain amount of nostalgia to it, but there may be something more. The album is stripped down and cohesive as any album ever should be and will be. Damn the Torpedoes is a record which needs to be listened to in one calm sitting and soaked in like sugar over Absinthe.

Myspace

Let me know what you think - I enjoy debates and compliments.

Third Eye Blind - Wilmington, NC - March 27, 2009

2009-03-28T15:37:00.007-04:00

I remember buying my first cd.

It was Everclear's So Much for the Afterglow... but the second cd I bought was Third Eye Blind's eponymous debut album. (I have to give myself a pat on the back here for not buying into the late nineties pop machine and sacrificing my integrity for N'Sync's Bye, Bye, Bye. I have two older sisters’ whose grunge filled angst and incessant hair band trivia to thank for that.)

Third Eye Blind is that quintessential late-nineties band continuing to hypnotize with catchy choruses, stitched together flawlessly with a fine tuned mix of upbeat and dark lyrical prose. After releasing their self-titled debut in 1997, they went on to release their follow-up Blue in 1999 and Out of the Vein in 2003.

Finding just one person in this rain dampened audience without a goofy smile on their face after singing along, or at least mouthing the words, to the seminal Semi-Charmed Kind of Life would have been a near-impossible task.

After lighting incense, duct taping a rug to the floor and an intense 45 minute set change, a barefoot Stephen Jenkins and the rest of his revolving band came out on stage emitting a cheesy rock star persona and dressed completely in black.

Initially, the band started with an enigmatic, distorted and fuzz-heavy jam session amping themselves for Non-Dairy Creamer, the single off their newest EP, Red Star. Garnering all the intensity of long-time Third Eye Blind fans, they managed to make a skirt-wearing Goth kid smile and another guy with a pony tail cry.

Neither of those are lies.

After announcing they put the final wrap on their fourth studio album, they headed straight into Graduate, a song most everyone was familiar with. Jenkins emancipated his own brand of unstable energy jumping off and across anything he could find.

They pushed on for over an hour, playing new, old, the obscure and even a little bit of Nelly, meanwhile keeping the crowd moving with extended solos by original guitarist Tony Fredianelli and Jenkins' pure energy.

From stellar guitar and drum solos during Jumper to fan favorites like Motorcycle Drive-by and Slow Motion, 3EB never ceased giving an exuberantly vigorous performance - never straying far from the chart climbing singles that made their career.

www.myspace.com/thirdeyeblind

P.S. -
Dear Wilmington,
Your denizens suck. I've been to a couple on concerts in Wilmingtion and plenty of other concerts in different places, but you guys excell in the business of hoarding assholes. Just a friendly heads-up.

Ben Kweller with the Watson Twins - Cat's Cradle - March 1, 2009

2009-03-10T20:43:00.005-04:00

I know, I know… it’s been a while since my last update, but due to circumstances WAY beyond my control, I had to take a little family time followed by the most non-productive week of my life.

I’m starting back with another concert rundown.

I have to give props to the Cat’s Cradle for definitely being one of the best venues in North Carolina. It’s small, it serves Stella Artois, sells old concert posters and most importantly, welcomes incredible bands and artists on a weekly, sometimes daily basis.

To preface this, I wasn’t too familiar with Ben Kweller, although he and his band are amazing musicians; country music isn’t my pretentious-indie-kid forte’.

The show openers, The Watson Twins, were essentially the main reason for attending the show. Having been introduced to the Watson Twins via Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins’ album, Rabbit Fur Coat, I was instantly intrigued.

Their performance alone was easily worth the drive and money and after a brilliant cover of Bill Withers’ Ain’t No Sunshine, it had to be said, “I’ll take the hot one.”

Despite my limited knowledge of Kweller and his music, he managed to swathe himself in all that is poppy and country, swelling the space with incredibly catchy tunes and a classic country persona. Kweller emits an energy that electrifies a room full of fans and those not yet privileged to be one.

As a known multi-instrumentalist, Kweller only made use of three instruments throughout the night: his guitar, a piano and a harmonica (which was played with one hand while the other played piano). From the ragtime/country fused Gypsy Rose to his exceptionally standard, yet satisfying ballads, Ben Kweller’s show leaves no one unimpressed.

His music, especially that on Changing Horses, may be narrow in scope - his live performance is one that begs for repeat attendees and fans born of his undeniable talent.

www.myspace.com/benkweller

For anyone who cares:

Mar. 13 – Vetiver, Wilmington, NC
Mar. 24 – Third Eye Blind, Wilmington, NC

The Old Ceremony - Cat's Cradle - Feb. 14th, 2009

2009-02-15T11:37:00.015-05:00

Who - The Old Ceremony
Where - The Cat's Cradle
When - Feb. 14th, 2009

It's been a while since the release of Our One Mistake, The Old Ceremony's sophomore release, and after finally pulling Walk on Thin Air out of... yeah, you can make up your own joke and insert it here... the band offers fans a spot-on Valentine's Day gift at a CD release party/concert.

The Chapel Hill based pop-noir band has amassed a loyal following within the local music scene, noted for their unique circus-like stage presence and implementation of multiple instruments (ranging from guitar to violin to cello to xylophone to cow bell). The Old Ceremony is a crystal clear example of how music has not lost its integrity.

Playing to a sold-out Cat's Cradle, The Old Ceremony figuratively grabbed the audience, "by the haunches and humped it into submission," with an enamored vitality and surging live show rivaling falling power lines in a circus tent.

With hanging luminaries and Christmas lights in check, TOC boisterously exhibited an eclectic collection of inspired pop/rock jams, channeling everything from a house band at a 1950s sock hop to harmony based world music to Houses of the Holy era Zeppelin - all engineered to melt your face with unexpected jam sessions including violin strumming and xylophone solos.

Album - Walk on Thin Air
Released - Feb. 14th, 2009

Walk on Thin Air is easily the band's most progressive release to date. Throughout the album, vocalist and songwriter Django Haskins fathers conceptually stunning moments and emotionally melting lyrics that never weaken nor falter.

Utilitarian, perfected and lyrically moving moments like those infused within the title track, Walk on Thin Air, are what drive the album to the limits of brilliance. From the upbeat melodies on tracks, Someone I Used to Know and Ready to Go, Haskins limitlessly toys with the concept of masking dark lyrics with cheerful melodies; it’s both provocative and inspiring.

This is an album that anyone can connect with and one in which anybody can find more than enjoyable. It’s expressive, without being cryptic. It’s moving, without being cheesy. It’s minimal, without losing its complexity.

Walk on Thin Air hardly feels rushed and incomplete - it's one of those albums you'll always keep alternating between your CD player and the visor. If anything is apparent at their shows: it's that devoted fans are never far away - showing the same dedication as other notable bands from the Carolinas - i.e. Jump, Little Children.

(And coming from me that's a huge compliment.)

www.myspace.com/theoldceremony

Keep It Hid - Dan Auerbach

2009-02-11T00:34:00.009-05:00

Artist - Dan Auerbach
Album - Keep It Hid
Released - Feb 10, 2009 (Nonesuch Records)

Dan Auerbach’s solo album is like that “official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle” dad pointed out hiding majestically behind the desk after all the Christmas gifts had been opened.

Assuming, your name is Ralphie and you live in fear of that intangible parent figure incessantly waving their finger at you chanting, “You’ll shoot your eye out!” denying you the happiness of a warm gun after pelting Black Bart right between the eyes.

Yes, that was two references. Yes, for the people who are nice enough to frequent my little site, this is another obscure musician I think everyone should love and admire… because my taste is impeccable and speaks to all walks of life.

Yes, that was sarcasm.

Dan Auerbach is one half of the Black Keys, the soulful, incendiary blues-rock duo hailing from Akron, Ohio, and easily could pass as a love child of Gregg Allman.

Keep It Hid, Auerbach’s first solo album, surpasses being just another solo effort from an arrogant vocalist burdened by a band who refuses to experiment - it’d be especially hard to defend given the fact the Black Keys is comprised of just Auerbach and drummer, Patrick Carney.

In an interview with Paste when asked why he chose the direction that he did, Auerbach said, “It’s like if an actor were only allowed to make a movie with the same cast as the same character for the rest of his life. It’s very strange that people think like that.”

Keep It Hid goes beyond what the Black Keys' exultant fifth album, Attack and Release, managed to do – which was take the staple blues composition, fuse it with a rootsy Southern Rock sound, jam it into an old Peavy amp and render the listener incapable of breathing without an auxiliary ventilator.

Auerbach is best known for his gut-busting guitar licks and two-string chord plucking most apparent in his work with the Black Keys. He’s built a catalog of simple blues-focused, foot-stomping music and kept tightly to the mold for four albums, until the critically acclaimed Attack and Release, which as stated earlier was an absolute triumph.

Beginning with the opening track, Trouble Weighs a Ton, Auerbach eases in with a doggerel acoustic tune - something most Keys fans are not entirely familiar hearing. His soothingly ragged voice discretely burrows its way in, displaying an enthusiasm to, sorry for the cliché, venture out on a limb instrumentally.

Opening with the lyrics, “What’s wrong dear brother, have you lost your faith?” the album boasts the same ambiguous subjects and personally ascetic lyrics which Keys fans love and connect with.

Experimenting does come with its set-backs and everyone is susceptible to making flawed works of genius.

Exhibit A: Mean Monsoon, a Doors-esque track with an opening lick resembling Derek and the Dominos' Layla a bit too much, which can be forgiven, especially given the fact its composition and lyrical integrity are routinely aware that Auerbach is creating a gradient slope of tracks increasingly harder for him to one-up.

“The one thing I didn’t want to do is to try to sound different from the Black Keys,” Auerbach said on his website. It doesn't rely too heavily on the Black Keys sound as much as it expounds on it. He’s still the same Dan Auerbach as always, just somewhat matured, wiser and quasi-evolved in his music.

Keep It Hid touches on the infinite talent engrossing all that is Dan Auerbach, never overstating himself, never denying his abilities. He has yet to tap completely into the azure reserves of his talent though. He’s a guy who creates a reverent sound, adding enough of his soul and complexity into the music to make the album both unyielding and profound.

www.myspace.com/danauerbachmusic

Fleet Foxes

2009-02-05T14:24:00.005-05:00

I've mentioned before that Fleet Foxes' self-titled release, "is a bit like petting a unicorn.”

It was referring to the extraordinary conditions that had to take place in order to compose something so rare… After millions of years of intense heat and pressure, two world wars, Scorsese finally winning his Oscar, Global Warming and other minute and sundry events, the conditions were perfect for one such album.

These seemingly disconnected and unrelated things have nothing in common, right? That’s true, they don’t.

This is unerringly why their debut album is like nothing else. It has nothing in common with most music today.

It takes so much more to stand out from the crowd these days. Between globalization and the voluntary loss of personal thought, assimilation just simply happens.

So many aspiring singer/songwriters pay their homage to the perennial '60s rock era, and it's basically expected. The baby boomer generation bred such affluent diversity among its children that naturally it would produce a brilliant impact on music for decades to come.

Too bad everyone does it.

Musicians often rely on past musical exploits to better build on their own talent and it is no more apparent than with Fleet Foxes. The band encompasses an era; borrowing influence from Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, the Kinks and even the Beach Boys –but unlike most, they never become their parent's vinyl collection.

Foxes bring a rustic harmony based melody to a scene populated by synthesized vocals. Bridging the gap between chamber pop, rock and folk, the band's vocal aesthetic mirrors the syrupy pop of groups like, the Beatles and Pet Sounds era Beach Boys. It's the multi-part harmonies that define Fleet Foxes' sound. These choral-like qualities give it an authentic taste of lost talent and a style missing in the midst of a radio recorded fallout.

Fleet Foxes audaciously casts their line into the crowd of music snobs and casual listeners and catching a buzz tailored specifically for them.

After signing to Sub Pop, Fleet Foxes became more than another basement indie band; they surpass genre titles. Hearkening back to early recordings of bands like My Morning Jacket, their sound is similar, but they do it even better.

This Seattle-based band, just a few years out of high school, already has become a band all their own. They’re quickly becoming one of the most buzzed-about bands in America.

Haven’t heard of them yet?

You’re just not listening hard enough.

Front man Robin Pecknold's voice never falters, the warmth in his voice comforts, his songwriting invites and the band creates a wistful affair that begs to never let go.

www.myspace.com/fleetfoxes

Just in case you care:

J. Tillman's name probably doesn't ring a bell and it's okay. Tillman is Fleet Foxes multi-talented drummer, the thing that makes him special is the fact Tillman is an excellent guitar player and songwriter.

Touring the Pacific Northwest and Europe since 2004, he's a commodity nobody knew they wanted.

You can check him out at the usual spot... Myspace.

www.myspace.com/jtillman/

M. Ward - Hold Time

2009-01-27T20:18:00.008-05:00

Artist - M. Ward
Album - Hold Time
Release - Feb. 17, 2009 (Merge Records)

“It’s networking." responded a stripper when asked how she ended up in the porn industry.

Matt Ward, or simply M. Ward, is a singer/songwriter from the Portland, Oregon area, embraced by all tiers of music junkies and casual fandom. His slow burn to fame came about after his 2001 release Duet for Guitars #2.

M. Ward’s enigmatic qualities subdued his media attention, keeping him a well guarded secret to the Portland area for a few years. That was until he caught the curiosity of fellow musicians like Conner Oberst, the White Stripes and Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley, who would bring him along on tour as their supporting act.

Not only playing solo, he had caught the attention of actress and raspberry-laced vocalist, Zooey Deschanel, and the pair would go on to record as the vintage '60s pop, She and Him. As rumors have it, Oberst is also currently in the works of forming a band with Ward.

Embracing his expressive, deft guitar playing and clever ways of making me feel like my dad when thoughts like, “They sure don’t make music like this anymore,” run through my head, M. Ward is the sort of guy who clinches the imagination and follows each album with a thick haze of satisfaction.

I’m going to preface this with an, ‘I’m sorry’.

Music swapping is a highly lucrative, yet evil deed. Things just sort of happen; it starts off innocent, than the music swapping gives you that bashful look and you can’t resist. Next thing you know you and the illicit music are sitting on the hood of your car while Zeppelin plays softly from your flat stereo system, watching the radio tower flicker in the distance and discussing if Bob Weir of the Dead was really all that bad.

You decide that he is. Afterward, you take music home… and take things slowly.

And don’t act like you’ve never done it… you’re all culpable. Every last one of you has intentionally pirated music whether it is the act of downloading or receiving the aforementioned download.

Hold Time, M. Ward’s sixth studio album, is guilty of being just as addictive and gratifying as his other albums.

For those who are familiar with any of M. Ward’s work, it obvious here that he’s doing something different: it’s less rustic and more pop. In all its continuously feel-good greatness, Hold Time is a step in a different direction, but not in the opposite.

Never Had Nobody Like You, is another retro pop signature of the lunar connection between Ward and guest vocalist, Zooey Deschanel; a track which could easily be slipped onto Volume 2.

Ward’s style both transcends the music itself, but never exceeds its limits. He’s become a pioneer of his own frontier, but on tracks like One Hundred Million Years, a folk/country tune in which any fan of Ward can take comfort, it’s obviously prime Ward - stripped down, idyllic and fills the room with a sense of wonderment.

Hold Time makes well of Ward’s most recent musical ventures, disclosing an evolved sound with the promising ring of his prior albums. He never lets go, never gets ahead of himself. It’s right where it should be.

www.myspace.com/mward

matt pond PA

2009-01-18T11:16:00.006-05:00

Consistency is essentially one of, if not the, biggest set-back in music. It's an epic blunder which leaves the listener sitting in a dark room, stuck in a melancholy state, caught between disappointment and rage pondering two things, "Is there a God?!" and "Did I just blow $15 on this crap?"

Failures in recent music history:

Sammy Hagar.
Jimmy Page pimping out Kashmir.
Whoever introduced Paul McCartney to Wings.
Fall Out Boy and the subsequent bands following in their footsteps.
Whoever thought a rap/metal fusion was a good idea.

That short list didn't include bands who thought doing a concept album was a good idea or groups who went disco or those who just recorded a bad album... and there are hordes of them.

It's what happens when you've been with the same band for too long and/or you just decide that pumping out an uninspired album for the sake of annual record sale projections - it's understandable, we'll still love you pre-insert album title here.

It's the same love that drives a Detroit Lion's fan to getting "0-16" tattooed underneath the team logo on their back.

matt pond PA is a band that never changes. It can be a disastrous thing, if it weren't for the fact that matt pond PA produces some of the best music available.

matt Pond PA can be considered many things: chamber pop, baroque, indie rock - basically anything you'd want to. Headed by the eponymous singer/songwriter Matt Pond who, as one might guess, originally formed the band in Pennsylvania in 1998.

Pond plays the role of the revolving door, tossing out band members and pulling others into his lush, textured world of music. The biggest change followed after Pond uprooted himself from Philadelphia and moved to New York City in 2003.

After meeting Brian Pearl (guitars/piano), Dan Crowell (drums), and Steve Jewett (bass) he would create the strongest lineup to date - at least according to the masses. Everything before that is just as vivid and symphonic as their most recent albums - my personal favorite being The Nature of Maps from 2002.

matt pond PA fabricates a moody atmosphere stationed between three, unrelated terms: rapturous, confessional and the abstract form of Newton's Third Law of motion.

Often incorporating other string instruments, such as the cello and the violin, matt pong PA creates a unique sound not often heard in the genre.

As one of the hardest working bands, at least as far as recording - they've released roughly seven LPs and EPs over the past six years. matt pond PA is consistently talented, creating their brand of mellow indie rock.

The only gripe: as the in-house songwriter, Pond is sometimes too innocuous and too vague. Never does it take away from the music, nor does it make it any less tolerable. At times, the lyrics seem to try to convey too much interpretative surrealism that are too inexplicit to make sense. On most occasions though, the lyrics are just too well written to not be recognized.

"Night comes in and takes our light as we turn once again in the sun; we don't have to drift out of sight, as the shadows will fall and run."

Amid dulcet instrumentals and catchy pop choruses, the integrity of the music is never left out in the rain as catchy hooks aren't relentlessly pounded against your head like a caveman trying to play Neil Peart's drum set; they're more overt and it's the kind of music you want to have stuck in your head as you go to sleep.

PS - You can download "The Freeep" legally and free, here.

www.myspace.com/mattpondpa

Someone else's Top 5 Albums of 2008

2009-01-14T13:38:00.011-05:00

I try to do what I say I'm going to do... so here's another take on the Top 5... not as pretentious either.

Someone else's Top 5 Albums of 2008

By: Kayloni Wyatt

5.) Santogold - Santogold

After accidently coming across Santogold on YouTube, my first thought watching her perform was, “Why the hell is MIA performing? I thought she was pregnant?”

I was wrong because Santogold is much less annoying than MIA.

Her music is a brand of her own, with punk, new wave, and eclectic all over her album ‘Santogold’.

After giving the album a good few listens, it grew on me. Her first single “Les Artistes” was an indie/rock hit and made her a fixture among music artists and critics.
The album has received great praise in 2008 from magazines and the industry itself.

www.myspace.com/santogold

4.) N.E.R.D - Seeing Sounds

I’ve always been a fan of this band, until they broke up out of nowhere in 2005.
I settled to listening to their second album Fly or Die for a while until I eventually lost it…on purpose.

But, due to random boredom, they got back together to make their third album, ‘Seeing Sounds’.

The first single “Spazz” received less airplay than their other single “Everyone Nose” which had a music video. I hated the music video due to Lindsay Lohan making a worthless appearance in it.

The album shows their true producing talent as every song is written by Pharrell Williams. Every song is more unique and unlike them, which makes it even better.

www.myspace.com/nerdofficial

3.) Does it Offend You, Yeah? - You Have No Idea What You’ve Gotten Yourself Into

Does It Offend You, Yeah?, formed in 2006 out of Reading, Englad.
Their electro/ dance punk sound has made critics compare them to Daft Punk, Justice and Digitalism.

As for the name of the group, according to an interview it came from an episode of the original British version of “The Office”. They have a way of screaming at you, literally. As soon as you go on their MySpace page at less one of their songs immediately grabs your full attention.

The one song that made me pay over $20 bucks just to get their album from a friend in the UK was “Let’s Make Out.” Every song is a different dance track that I guarantee has been played at a rave.

The only way I can hate this band is if I hear another one of their songs in a horrible movie trailer.

www.myspace.com/doesitoffendyou

2.) Lykke Li - Youth Novels

I’ve tried so many ways to avoid her when she first came out. I just remember seeing her video one day on MTVU in the cafeteria. However, I gave her a try when my two persistent friends kept singing her songs out loud and posting her other songs all over MySpace.

And I must say that I’m pissed that I actually avoided her.

Her music is a mixture of soul and electro and her voice makes it even better, even though she’s basically talking.

Rolling Stone magazine put her song “I’m good, I’m gone” in the # 24 spot for the 100 best songs of 2008.

Her album “Youth Novels” is a book of her life, which sounded like it. It was filled with break ups and makes ups…cliché I know, but I had to do it.

She even did a cover of the song “Knocked up” which is originally by, and featured, Kings of Leon and that just makes her awesome.

www.myspace.com/lykkeli

And the drum roll please...

1.)Mindless Self Indulgence - IF

If you have never heard of Mindless Self Indulgence you need to choke on something…I don’t care what it is but choke!

I’ve never heard this band until 2007 when I went to Projekt Revolution and ended up working by the second stage, where new artists performed. MSI hit the stage with lead singer Jimmy Urine (yes, that is his name) talking about animals having sex and throwing condoms into the audience.

After their set I had the chance to get an autograph and picture with him. Yes, I just bragged about it, because it was that fucking awesome!

With their new album, IF their sound stays the same as their earlier albums. However, this album was even more of a big “Fuck You” to their record executives. Every song showcases Jimmy’s ability to make the masturbation and sex on the road funny.

This album made my summer more interesting since my friend and I blasted it every day after work and during our road trips. In other words this album deserves to number one for one reason… “IT’S MOTHER FUCKING AWESOME!!”

www.myspace.com/mindlessselfindulgence

Honorable Mentions:
Paramore –The Final Riot!
Kings of Leon- Only by the night
Jack’s Mannequin- The Glass Passengers
The Killers- Human

Blitzen Trapper

2009-01-14T00:06:00.013-05:00

Using "Dylan” as an adjective is nearly as overused as the terms "green", "global warming" and any acronym introduced to the common vernacular, including "LOL", "OMG", "TTYL" and my least favorite, "DUI".

I'm venturing to say that calling a band or artist Dylanesque is neither meaningful nor accurate, very few people transcend to the same plane of lyrically human existence as Bob Dylan. I'm not trying to accuse those artists of being lesser musicians, you just don't do it - he's too iconic to be replicated.

Nobody remembers Dylan for being anything more, or less, than Dylan. He's burned his legacy into the souls and minds of American pop culture forever and nobody can strip him of that. It's both an honor and privilege to be him.

Well, I'm going to break that rule.

Blitzen Trapper, an experimental, Americana rock band based out of Portland, Oregon, earns the right to be considered, Dylanesque.

Ok, well after that pseudo-rant I should have refrained from saying that and rightfully so. Yet, Blitzen Trapper captures one of the essential elements, belonging to a laundry list of elements, that can earn them a right of being Dylanesque.

They create an American experience.

As a beautifully comprehensive score capturing the essence of American folk music… it builds a connection. It’s like Chicken Soup for the Drifter’s Soul. It’s impulsive, passionate and embodies the same spirit that drove pioneers out west.

Trapper is not Dylan, just Dylanesque. They've crafted an art of mimicking a master and being good at it in a way in which they generate their own style. This is most apparent in their 2008 release, Furr, they render themselves as the kind of kids pictured driving cross country soaking in all things this land has to offer: the sky, the woods, the history and the future.

Swimming across all streams of music media, Blitzen Trapper switches veins from being the rootsy acoustic rock, like in the title track Furr about a coming of age 20-something coping with lycanthropy, to a funky brand of melodic pop and back again.

Playing as a sextet (for the math-impaired that's six members), Blitzen Trapper is a vastly talented group of musicians pushing this northwestern movement of rootsy music, alongside bands like Fleet Foxes and Band of Horses into the rest of the music scene.

These will be the artists who spend their life playing the 'grizzly man and the sad man', the one’s left behind by time – torn away from their homes. These are the artists born of the wrong generation, of the wrong century, the ones who should have spent their formidable years living in a cabin on a pond.

An extra long weekend post - Atkins/Zeppelin/The Unborn

2009-01-11T12:17:00.008-05:00

There's something to be said about how excellent old school country music is.

People who know me tend to give me that awkward look where their eyes squint and they get that baffled look as their head tilts a little bit when I say that I like Chet Atkins.

Chet Atkins is one of the greatest finger picking guitar players. He's old school and he's definitely the kind of music people associate with a banjo and the state of Kentucky. A friend of mine gave me his Tribute to Bluegrass album... and it's immensely twangy and entertaining. It definitely rekindled my love for this style of music.

I'd also recommend checking out Doc Watson for anyone interested in Chet Atkins. Not quite a finger picker, but Doc Watson can carry the storytelling aspect of country music to a whole new level.

Led Zeppelin -

After longtime speculation that Led Zeppelin would go on without front man, Robert Plant, it's finally been confirmed that there are no plans for the band to tour.

*Insert sigh of relief*

A couple months ago after hearing that Zepp, minus Plant, was planning a 2009 tour, potentially, with Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge vocalist) taking up the reigns of vocals.

I was... distraught to say the least.

I obviously don't like to stand on my soapbox and preach... ehem, but I would have truly hated to see Zeppelin stoop like that. I'm sure it was not a matter of them selling out, they have enough money as it is, but the prospect of Plant not fronting the band is disheartening.

For a full story, check out Paste Magazine's website.

The Unborn -

Ok, I said I would bring some other entertainment outlets to his blog and I am.

I went out on a limb and agreed to see The Unborn with some friends of mine.

I'm pleasantly surprised as to how much some horror movies don't fail (i.e. The Strangers), but I regret to say that The Unborn lived up to all my expectations.

It was terribly funny.

Definitely written and geared towards the preteen values of horror movies, The Unborn follows a babysitter terrorized by nightmares of her mentally ill mother, locusts and a florescent-blue eyed little boy who does nothing more than make gawky faces and scream a lot.

Screenwriter, David S. Groyer decided to make a witch brew of bad plot devices and came out with uninspired, anti-religious psycho-babble mixed in with a hit-and-run involving a kid on a big wheel.

All the scares in the flick attempt to not be typical (and fail), most of which end up being hilarious - just wait for the boy stuffing himself in a medicine cabinet and popping out. It's awesome. Everything in the movie is so prolonged and contrived that it would take a double dose of Viagra to get enough blood pumping to make your heart rate increase. They are a lot like a Family Guy moment how drawn out they are.

Odette Yustman is a cardboard cutout of the babysitter archetype and her friends are even worse. They're the inbred offspring of The Hills actresses and Keanu Reeves with a speech impediment.

At least you get to see Gary Oldman use a shofar. Epic.

Yes, they actually are named after a type of grass.

2009-01-09T12:35:00.009-05:00

I don't try to be elitist or obscure with the music I like. It just happens that way. Now back to being obscure...

I stumbled upon Vetiver (the band below) not too long ago...

...and it's pretty much sealed the deal that I've become a fan of Naturalismo.

What is Naturalismo?

In the most user friendly fashion, a simple definition: It's experimental folk music with prides itself on the idea it takes a naturalistic approach to the genre.

Devandra Banhart, a fellow folk musician and close friend of the band, said in a 2006 interview that, "...[E]verything is a derivative of nature. Everything. Even the most plastic, most synthetic things are derived from nature. The source of them is found in nature at some point. Naturalismo becomes a completely all-inclusive thing...it’s this anthropophagic attitude towards the world."

Vetiver is easily one of the most original, but abnormal bands I've heard in a while.

It is typical acoustic and percussion laced folk music and yet, it’s enigmatically different. It exposes a sense of surrealism and warmth in its simplicity that can only be conveyed by personal love of the genre.

It’s so easily accessible, but it strives to be different, without alienating its fans and the casual listener.

Frontman/songwriter for Vetiver, Andy Cabic’s vocals aren’t quite on the same plane of weirdness as Banhart or Conner Oberst, but it is definitely identifiable.

Getting accustomed to Cabric’s voice isn’t nearly as abrasive as the wavering drones of Oberst, so for first time listeners, Vetiver won’t be as much of a daunting task as the first time I heard Bright Eyes.

Throughout their three studio albums, the entire band fantastically utilizes numerous instruments, specifically engineered to evoke a dreamlike coma – leaving you dazed and wanting more.

www.myspace.com/vetiverse
www.vetiverse.com

P.S. - I understand not everyone is going to be as impressed by these guys as I am, but as long as you're open enough to new music that isn't always 'radio friendly', you'll always find something new and better out there. Music isn't dead, you're just not looking for it.

Top 5 Albums of 2008 - I know, it's typical.

2009-01-07T21:11:00.014-05:00

I know it’s extremely predictable to make a Top list of 2008, but I felt compelled to do so. These have been rolling around in my head for a month or so now.

My Three Part Disclaimer:

a.) You may disagree with this… and that’s fine.

b.) No, I have not heard every album in 2008.

c.) I’m not saying my musical preference is better than yours, but this is my own personal opinion and take on the albums.

5.) She and Him: Volume One

Two of the biggest factors as to why Volume One makes the cut:
a.) Zooey Deschanel
b.) M. Ward

Actors turned musicians tend to not… well, make good music. That is unless the actor turned musician was already a talented musician.

And that IS the case here.

An unlikely pair, Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward combined their lifelong affinity for 60s and 70s pop music and created an ethereal album of revival-folk-pop - and did so flawlessly.

Deschanel's incredibly beautiful vocals, the subtle guitar playing of Ward and the layered harmonies which resemble that of the Supremes are just a couple examples as to how She and Him took a retro music trend, expounded on it and sent it to a whole new level of unexpected poppy, feel good music. They ultimately left their, now patented, throwback style on the top shelf - just out of reach from any other trendy wannabe artists.

www.myspace.com/sheandhim

4.) Thao Nguyen - We Brave Bee Stings and All

Running across Thao Nguyen was un-doubtedly one of the most surprising events of 2008. At the time she had just entered the Hotel Cafe' Tour roster (which the H.C. is currently my Mecca, by the way) and easily the best thing about the show (at least musically, Ingrid Michelson holds a special place in my heart - and other places…not saying the show wasn’t up to par).

Regardless of my attraction to chicks with red hair, Thao Nguyen is a tiny glint of hope for innovative new music. It equals that of throwing your grandmother’s china cabinet out a three story window, but with an effervescent, youthful melody.

She's scrappy, sexy and can play the shit of a guitar with a rockabilly flair that would make the Reverend happy.

We Brave Bee Stings and All is tattered pop/rock; combined with "confessional cannon" lyrics and happily disjointed emotions, Nguyen creates a punch-drunk-love affair.

Her voice assails over lyrics that go straight for the kidney punch. Nguyen generates the ferocious notion that her youthful tendencies are nothing to be taken lightly. With disparaging words and fashioning images of frenzied youths taken too lightly, she took the unorthodox route to adulthood.

www.myspace.com/thaomusic

3.) The Avett Brothers – The Gleam II (EP)

The Avett Brothers is simply one of the most talented bands out there and they've been recognized as such.

Delivering one of the best live shows and always coming back home to North Carolina to play, they’ve garnered a following of fans ranging from 76 year old bluegrass junkies, frat boys, neo-hippies, etc - all sharing the same... 'tree' during the show.

The band has truly changed since releasing their first album in 2000. The Avetts', made up of Scott and Seth Avett, Bob Crawford, and occasionally Joe Kwon, are pure ecstatic energy, the closest thing to a nuclear reactor you can get without growing a banjo out your ass.

Within a matter of seconds The Avett Brothers flow from a ferocious punk energy to twangy likings of Chet Atkins to the concise love of lyrically strong tunes as the Beatles.

The Gleam II is not quite an LP, but more of an extension of 2007's Emotionalism. It's solid groundwork for a constantly maturing and changing band that is bound to a natural sense of the music they create.

This band is creating a following that will note it, “one of the the best things to happen to music since the beach guitar.” (Maybe that statement won’t be as well received as I perceive it, but the beach guitar is badass.)

Either way, I've never met a person who dislikes the Avett's.

www.myspace.com/theavettbrothers

2.) Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight

This is the epitome of why I think the UK genetically modifies its children, sort of along the same lines as Utah or USC breeding football playing monsters.

They create some of the best music.

It's an album that has no need for the buffer effect. It's direct and has no need to play with euphemisms.

Lyrically, it has the same consistency as wet concrete and is sly enough to make its way into a subconscious dive, sticking with you long after the last guitar riff in "Heads Roll Off" fades out.

As vocalist Scott Hutchinson's chew toy, Frightened Rabbit's sophomore album is brutal, stripped down and personal. It's lyrically as close to emo as you can get without eyeliner and ambiguously 'feminine' band members. This is mature, personal and is something everyone can connect with.

www.myspace.com/frightenedrabbit

1.) Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes

There’s a tranquil ripple effect within music composed with the same archaic and soothing qualities equating that of a religious experience – it’s rare and is a bit like petting a unicorn - you instantly think to yourself, “Did that just really happen?”

Fleet Foxes’ self-titled album is a feat of some opulent love and passion for a universal language, often taken for granted.

Vocalist Robin Pecknold’s shy demeanor and ‘skinny kid’ syndrome (allergies) were cause for an awkward teen to stay indoors and submerse himself in all things melodic and compelling. A fondness of some of the greats: Young, Dylan, Cash, among others, factored into a withdrawn kid spending more time with his guitar than breathing between measures.

Fleet Foxes is a product of a folk movement throughout the Pacific Northwest and thus far… have mastered said movement. The band describes their music as, "baroque harmonic pop jams" and that is exactly what it is.

Lyrically, Fleet Foxes captures a supernatural essence of a world completely secularized. It’s the sort of experience that comes along very rarely in a lifetime and, as cheesy as it sounds, can completely transcend day to day lifestyles.

The album catches the same organic, acoustic resonance as harmonies recorded in a medieval cathedral. It’s haunting, harmonious and utterly refined. It’s the work of understanding a medium often littered with factory produced facsimiles - and doing everything opposite of that.

More than anything, they have a respect for it.

www.myspace.com/fleetfoxes

Honorable Mentions:

William Fitzsimmons - The Sparrow and the Crow

Joshua Radin - Simple Times

Rise Against - Appeal to Reason

Sun Kil Moon - April

The Black Keys - Attack and Release

Jack Johnson - Sleep Through the Static

Matt Pond P.A. - The Freeep

This vacant blog finally found a calling

2009-01-07T12:44:00.000-05:00

I've had this blog for some time now, not sure why because my life is neither interesting enough nor am I that self-involved that I can necessitate telling you about my day to day activities.

Music.

That's the theme here. There will probably be some focus on other entertainment outlets but it'll be the main one.

I hope to create a blog that someone will go to, read and take something away other than, "What a pompous piece of crap."

Hence, why I plan on duping others (like that story about the carpenter and the oysters) to contribute their own opinion - so I...
a.) Won't be the only one to blame.
b.) Add dissenting opinions other than my own for everyone's well being.