Grist for Raditude

Here's the fresh catch of the weekend ya'll. I hope it inspires you to go out and make the world a better place. Above is a picture of Mick driving a rad car called a Morgan (they're made of wood)... in St. Tropez. Does it get any radder? I bet your favorite indie-folkster-cum-4th-grade teacher isn't doing that! By the way, I'm gonna be doing that, as soon as I get off my ass and start serving my fellow man, dig?

Completely unrelated to that (or is it?), I've recently come upon a couple of remixes that I'd like to share. It should come as no surprise to most of you that I'm a big fan of the remix. The ability to completely reimagine a song with a sampler or new instrumentation ranks among the greatest cultural contributions of the 80s and 90s. And I'm always on the lookout for rare ones. Note: I'm a fan of the official remix - done by people with actual talent in a studio - not the endless amateur mismashes on YouTube made by anyone with Ableton and a bag of cheetos. Anyway, the first track is the Sylk 130 remix of that Donna Lewis hit I was talking about awhile back. [two Donna Lewis posts in the first 3 months of the blog?! Drew's definitely pissed he gave me posting privileges!]. The second is the U.K. mix of the Warren G banger, "This DJ". I accidently happened to notice this version is subtly different than the main U.S. mix, with a different intro and beat. So you gotta be payin attention! Or you won't catch this stuff, because nowhere did it say 'remix' on it. Unfortunately, they only released the clean version (common for a lot of alternate mixes back in the day - what can you do?). Sorry my turntable sounds like it was made by Fisher-Price. ¡No trabajo, no Hi-Fi!

Donna Lewis - I Love You Always Forever (Sylk 130 remix)

Warren G - This D.J. (U.K. mix)

All Intentions

With regards to my friendo the Truth, he may be right and very influential most of the time; there can always be a place for flaw. True Pitchfork media is a pothole full of tight jeans with undone ties and a new swagger of sports coat. But if you weed through the mess and find something worth reading.. (we all know that the taste may suck, but the writing is good) you may find more overinduldged over saturated watered down crap. Sooo.....this brings me to the Four Tet interview. If you have not picked up the new album, do so. I know we are only 1 & 1/2 months into the new decade but There is Love in You will rank among the best in the future. Anyway, I can go on and on about how Mr. Hebden is a genius and how he could be changing the face or rock and roll...well, maybe not. He does however plug a local fav of his. Check out some new unrock music coming from across the sea.

What's with all these bands leaving out 'the' in their name?

Don't you hate it when a trend gets going and everyone silently hops on board and starts relating whatever the idea is to you like it was their own, when they obviously just lifted it from someone else, who stole it from someone else, etc. until everyone is running around doing/saying the same thing, until someone calls them on it and then they feel like unoriginal ass-clowns? It's like that with bands right now, who name themselves a plural noun, but intentionally leave out the 'the' (the same thing happened 10 years ago, but back then everyone intentionally left in the 'the'). Problem is, it's stupid and a pointless decision. I'm gonna mint a new rule about bands: if you're the genuine article, leave in the definite article. If you're a fucking poser, go ahead and be ____s. It's different, and hey, everyone is doing it. Ironically, the first time I remember seeing a name like this was that awful Chapel Hill band Cities who were around for 6 long months and actually released a record on Yep Roc back in 05-06. I remember how awkward their name sounded then. And now - shit - look what we got on the roll-call: Emeralds, Girls, Mountains, Lights, Lanterns, Savoirs, Crocodiles, Grooms, Laarks, Ahleuchatistas (double shitty for leaving out 'the' in a foreign language), Brakes, Maps, Soulsavers, Espers, Headlights, Islands, Pens, Nurses, Ganglians, Woods, Noisettes, Eulogies, Clues... this is just a partial list from Pitchfork's reviews just from 2009! Oh, and I'm not counting bands with compound-word names like Turbo Fruits, Best Coast, and Fruit Bats - those are still wrong, they just don't seem as annoying as the short, single word ones. I wonder if 'Douches' exist yet. If not, Drew I got a new name for your project! (j/k man, I can't quit you. you know that)

Seriously, when was the first time you can recall a band with this type of name? Before 5 years ago, I can only think of two exceptions: Melvins and Eels. I think it might've been a mini-trend among psychedelic/krautrock bands in the early 70s too, but who gives a shit about that really, that's definitely not where these kids today are drawing inspiration from. If you happen to meet someone in a band with a dumpy plural noun name, tell them you're going to copy all of their music illegally to your hard drive, just like they copied their band name from someone else. Enforce creativity now before the world gets any duller!

Point Taken

I think everyday of something to post or talk about with people but the more I spout on about this 'so called' medium we call music, the more I tend to be ignored. It's not because my taste sucks. Perhaps its that corporate Irish pub that overpowers my voice. But I need to acknowledge that I did set this site up to point out the death of rock.




and these guys are supposed to know better! If a singer is going to have personality surely a skirt is not necessary. So in continuing with the R&B vibe that the Truth is going for; Sade still has it.(kinda)



here's to the panic attempt!

A Lesson in Rock

You guys are in for a treat today. Above is PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE that Rock once existed, and in it's highest form. Why is it so hard for people living today to understand? Besides obvious coolness, there are three small, but important, lessons to be gleaned from the above photos. Please close your web browser and meditate on them after reading.

1) Sling Your Axe Low

- Look at how low Dee Dee's got his bass! It looks like a Wild Stallion trying to charge away while he pounds thunderous BASS NOTES out of it with the help of his huge Ampeg. You can bet he's not playing bass "chords" that low, no, he's thumping out G-A-C and meanwhile vibrating clitorises all the way in the back of the room. Johnny's no slouch, either; he's got his Mosrite hung at a respectable level, WAY below where these rookies are slinging from today. [Remember when it was cool for awhile - in the early 2000s - to play guitars at nipple level? While playing technical Emo-metal? Thankfully those days are behind us]

2) FULL STACKS

- I'm not gonna have that argument with the guy that's like "man, I got this little combo, y'know, and it sounds really good mic'ed, it's all I need." It may be all you need, Pee-Wee, when you're playing to foster children at La Petite Academy, but it doesn't sound good. Don't let a soundman come near your shit with an SM57, ever. They're gonna run that puny signal through an Aphex 'Aural Exciter' and it's going to excite no one, and you're gonna be up there 'rockin' and everyone's wondering what they're drinking next cuz they're so bored. Let the amps do the work. Just look at Johnny in photo 4 - TWO AMPS! Two full-size cabinets. (Make sure they say 'Marshall' or 'Orange', etc. on them. Not 'Replica' ) You know what size club they're playing in? Not big. When he plays that power chord in G you're gonna feel it as well as hear it.

3) Lead Singer With A Personality

- Not many bands do the free-mic'in lead singer these days, presumably because they want to save money and shit and have people work double duty, which I can understand, but you need to realize what you may be missing out on. Just check Joey out up there. He's got it. First of all, he could play in the NBA if he had muscles; dude's really tall. Second, he's got a killer leather J on, one that you can't buy at Old Navy (you might be able to nowadays). And third, he's got the voice, the jeans, the vibe, the stance, and writes good lyrics. Bingo. And he's doing a cool salute to get you kids to ignore your curfew and party and find out who you could be if you were actually awesome like him.

That about sums it up; the School of Rock is fun, eh kids? Now, to those of you who would say "But Truth, my town sucks, the only shows I go see are wimpy 'folk' bands [ever notice how folk is the new emo?] and political hip-hop; how can I ever truly Rock?" I would say to you, 'The above photos were taken at The Pier in Raleigh' (a part of the now-vanished Cameron Village Underground, I think). You can do it. Just imagine how the song below sounded in that tiny space in that shitty town, before you even knew what to expect b/c of Myspace or stupid blogs like this one. Bliss. Now, go forth to your gig at the chain Irish Pub and tear the motherf***ing roof off.

The Ramones - Oh Oh I Love Her So

We Are Alive

Almost a month and no activity on here. Drew - post on yer fucking blahg! Don't tell me you started this shit just to share that plagiarized Best-Of list with the 3-10 people who already know your wack taste in music. Now I have to make a post just to make sure this place registers a pulse. I thought I'd share one of the best R&B jams of 2008, by none other than Ms. Mariah Carey. Nicely underplayed too, I think, at least around here. I'm not sure if Carey classifies as a cougar yet, but a glance at the pop charts over the past 2 decades reveals she's been around for quite some time. Impressive that she can still churn out tracks like this (or at least find producers to) that rank among her best work. Seriously, I haven't liked a song of hers this much since Dreamlover, which used to give me a chill as a little whippersnap. I'm also including the full complement of promo-only remixes. I don't usually like electro remixes of hip-hop/R&B songs, but these... well, I'm posting em ain't I? There's also a rap mix featuring that poser Rick Ross, but it's surprisingly shitty, so I'm not including it, as well as the usual assortment of instrumentals & radio edits that are basically redundant, and you can find them elsewhere if you really want them. Merci beaucoups, fuckers!

1. Touch My Body

2. Touch My Body (Seamus Haji & Paul Emanuel Club Remix)

3. Touch My Body (Craig C Club Mix)

4. Touch My Body (Subkulcha Remix)

5. Touch My Body (Seamus Haji & Paul Emanuel Dub)

6. Touch My Body (Craig C Dub)