R U Ready for September?

I hope you've got your consumerist 'sights on', because September is shaping up to be a big month for media. We've got some grunge revival brewing, some great bloggaze (you like that?) records coming out, and I'm still waiting with bated breath for the first indie sex tape scandal. Here's the scoop:

-Neon Indian Album - surely the first album to come packaged with a working analog synthesizer **gimmick points**
-Big Troubles Album
-Chairlift Album (?) - lead single already released on my ex-roommate Ethan Silverman's label

-Toro Y Moi EP - back by popular demand to his chillwave sound
-Mudhoney Documentary
-Pearl Jam Documentary
-St. Vincent Album (wasn't excited about this initially, esp. after her contrived attempt to get some weak ass twitter buzz going , but it sounds like it could be alright in a Feisty kind of way. more candy)

-For Locals: Hopscotch festival, Moog festival (October, technically, but is slated to feature retirement home legends Tangerine Dream, Roedelius, AND Eno, so you should plan in advance)

Now I'm mildly depressed b/c I realize that everything on the above list will likely be covered by NPR, and I am self-consciously NOT a part of the NPR demo. 'That's Not Public Radio' is NOT the name of this blog. So am I missing anything - Drew, 'Contributors'?? Preferably some underground shit that a shut-in like me doesn't have access to.

a quickie

Below is one of my favorite hip-hop 'bangers' of the last few years. It's by a Winston Salem gent who goes by Lil Rise and the song is 'Come and Get It' [how's that for SEO?] Unfortunately, since I'm not in touch with the black community, it is completely unattainable - undownloadable, unpurchasable, not on any distributed physical format that I'm aware of (although it got plenty of airplay on 102 Jamz; such is the state of the music industry today...), and probably unknown outside of North Carolina - therefore, I'm forced to do a Myspace embed (file under: Stuff white people do not like). Hope you enjoy.

and Drew, re: your USB dongle - come and get it homeslice!

Find more artists like Producers of NickiMinaj,Wacka,Jada "BuyBeatsH at Myspace Music

"If you or anyone you know knows the whereabouts of this song in physical form, HIT US UP!" - Robert Stack

This Looks Rad

Pearl Jam Twenty from Pearl Jam on Vimeo.

Ok, so finally a movie I'm stoked about. A documentary about Pearl Jam, the entity - along with Starbucks and Microsoft - most emblematic of the 'idea' of Seattle, and that moment in time, about 20 years ago, that I received secondhand a few years after the fact though mainstream commercial outlets in suburbia. Never been of fan of the aforementioned entities, but they do provoke a weird nostalgia, perhaps of the 'last days of old-America', before the amphetamine rush of the internet->post 9/11 axis of never-ending political dramedy via Bush/Bin Laden/Daily Show->massive banking fraud and quid pro quo by the ultrarich, for the ultrarich->massive anxiety over employment/inflation hidden under the Millenials' shallow positivism and a Real Simple glossy expanse of negativespace and soma-like tranquility. Back when America was confident enough to be sloppy, embrace chain restaurants and think Bill Gates was cool. Anyway, this movie is perfectly timed and looks well-executed. It also looks like a way for Cameron Crowe to revisit his Singles-era glory days after his recent 2 hour music-video flops, i.e. Elizabethtown. Or it could just be the season for grunge documentaries. Either way, sign me up for this one.

UPDATE: Slate confirms the 'season of grunge' thesis (as well as touching on a couple of my other suggestions) in an insightful article by Monsieur Reynolds.

super tuesday

....more to come

The genius of Oasis

As Drew continues his Summer of Lucking Into Good Music (capped by a Cinderella-like DJ spot at White Collar Crime this thursday! which should be can't miss) I'm going to take a different tack, since he seems to temporarily have 'blissed-out dance pop' on lockdown. You see, like the proverbial kid in the candy store, Drew is bingeing on all of these sugary pop confections and soon enough he's going to come crashing down with a tummy ache. At which point he'll see the value in some good old fashioned rock-n-roll. Enter Oasis.

Noel Gallagher's a minor genius. I'm always impressed by someone who can take something generic and make it seem unique; rather than someone who makes something unique seem generic (like Lady Gaga). The creative half of the Gallagher bros does just that - he takes guitar lines that, melodically and rhythmically, you would expect to come from some guitar-playing hippy bro at a keg party (they are mindlessly ordinary) and makes them immediately identifiable as Oasis songs. Part of that has to do with his voice, I realize, but it's also to do with the certain vocal lines he chooses, his guitar tone, and the imagery he's cultivated for his brand. Oasis are always said to 'sound like the Beatles', except that they don't really, the Beatles were never this plain. The Beatles didn't double as 'pro-England' soccer hooligans either, which Oasis certainly do. The point is, in pop, mystique is as important as the music itself, and Noel Gallagher is a genius because he understands that and edits his music and persona down to their most banal elements, going further than any other band was willing to go stripping away gimmicks, using the exact same guitar licks in every song, eventually reaching a pared down state of plainness that is called 'Oasis'. Here's a good example.

This will serve as the comedown music after this thursday's 'Drubiza'.

This Summer Ain't Ova

just put this one on repeat



I've been a bit out of control lately to say anything coherent, but I still know where the Jams are!