Where I'm Posting From

BAD TINGS

I believe there's a long list of things that should never happen to a human. Two of them happened to me today. I hope they never happen to you.

1. This morning immediately after taking a shower, I had to number two. This happens to me once every couple of months and can really ruin my day. One minute I'm clean and feeling great, seconds later there's brown stuff flowing from me, I feel dirty, and I may or may not be sliding around on the toilet seat.

2. I just stubbed my toe with a mouth full of water. I seriously almost drowned.

Be careful kids. Have a great weekend.
Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow night at Common People.

The Man Makes His Super Bowl Pick

Fleeting Joys "Occult Radience" (2009)

Yesterday I described the new Asobi Sesku record as having a pre-Loveless MBV sound. Well these wonderful shoegazers have a very pro-Loveless sound. Swirling guitars, layers of noise, drugged out soft male & female vocals going back and forth sounding part like love, part like death, part like hope, part like sadness. And I know you've heard many a bands drown trying to sail in Kevin Shields water, but if you haven't heard Fleeting Joys, then you haven't heard it done right. Out now from Thompson Sounds, but you can try it if you peek the comments.

video for Lovely Crawl from The Fleeting Joys previous LP Despondent Transponder

Marijuana Legalization: Yes We Can

Apparently NORML is heading a video contest in support of, you guessed it, legalizing it. Aside from the awkward placement of the "I have cancer" line and the douchey middle-aged liberal dude hangin out in a library, it's a well done video. I'll save the 'legalize it' speech for another time, enjoy the ad!

Girls Galore "Weightless" (2009)

Oh shit! Just when I thought I was out for the night I see this. Scranton's rock-n-rollers Girls Galore released "Weightless" last week through the Leopard Libido record label co-op/think tank/factory for freeeeee. Here's what they say about the record -

The embodiment of groove. Girls Galore have found the place where melody and sex meet. Slow building climaxes and silky sighs. We've woken up in bed next to these songs on quite a few hazy mornings. Yeah, it was good for us too!

Weightless, Leopard Libido, 2008

1. Ash On the Cat
2. Gold
3. Dream Preference
4. Vaguely Familiar
5. Breezy
6. Camera Shy
7. Evidence
8. Mercury

DOWNLOAD HERE! NOW!

WHAT'S GOOD THIS WEEK

click on image to view full artwork.
i need a fitting images on blog tutorial like a motherfucker.
sorry, but come out to these jams this weekend.

THIS CAN'T BE IGNORED

That frenchie Sebastian Tellier is back with a teaser video for his upcoming single 'Roche' that features beaches, blue babes, a bubble or maybe it's a balloon (either way works with this B thing!), and a huge mountain-like buttox that Mr Tellier is exploring via horse-back! Yes, just like how he was on a horse that was on a boobie on the cover of Sexuality. It's all coming to life!

Happy Birthday Rakim!

Considered by many to be the best MC of all time turned 41 today. We celebrate that here at Children of the Corn by revisiting his best work. Paid In Full in the comments.

Asobi Seksu 'Hush' (2009)

I'm a little late on posting this, and actually haven't even listened to the whole record yet. But I dug Citrus, and with the release of their first "Hush-era" video "Me & Mary"(which can be viewed below), I thought - what the heck. Asobi Sesku play popped out shoegaze ala pre-Loveless My Bloody Valentine. Other interesting notes on Asobi Sesku, their name is colloquial Japanese for "casual sex", which is awesome. And singer/keyboardists, Yuki Chikudate, received standing ovations at child prodigy recitals when she was just 8, which is nerdy. This record is a little less fuzz than previous releases which is both a good and bad thing. You'll like them, maybe love them. Record comes out on Polyvinyl next month. Check the comments for a free listen.

See This Shit. Listen To That Shit. Smoke Your Shit.

Mastodon give us new artwork for their upcoming LP "Crack the Sky" as well as artwork and the sounds of their new single "Divinations"

The T-shirt Says It All

Get it now from Print Liberation.

Representative Gingrey Back Peddles

If you don't listen to the Rush Limbaugh show from time-to-time - you should. Sure on one hand it's pure unchecked lies, hate, and liberal-bashing for liberal-bashing sake, but on the other hand it's pretty entertaining. I mean think of the genius - a confident voice talking about the culture that uneducated poor white people care about, turn it into politics - and there you go. You're made rich and loved by the white underclass, and more powerful than most people who lead the political party you support. Case in point.

Recently Rush has been ripping on Republicans in congress for not standing up for conservative values to President Obama, specifically citing GOP party leaders John Boehner and Mitch McConnell which sparked Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) to fire back at the shock joke jock -

“I think that our leadership, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, are taking the right approach,” Gingrey said.

“I mean, it’s easy if you’re Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh or even sometimes Newt Gingrich to stand back and throw bricks. You don’t have to try to do what’s best for your people and your party.You know you’re just on these talk shows and you’re living well and plus you stir up a bit of controversy and gin the base and that sort of thing. But when it comes to true leadership, not that these people couldn’t be or wouldn’t be good leaders, they’re not in that position of John Boehner or Mitch McConnell,”

And then after receiving a spew of calls and E-mail from angry conservatives, Phil back peddles! And oh does he. I guess Rush is right, Repubs in congress are pussies!


UPDATE: From watching a couple of youtube videos, I can tell youRep Alan Grayson (D-Fl.) is not a pussy. How is this dude repping Orlando? Anyway, from DownWithTyranny Blog. His recent comments on Rush -

"Rush Limbaugh is a has-been hypocrite loser, who craves attention. His right-wing lunacy sounds like Mikhail Gorbachev, extolling the virtues of communism. Limbaugh actually was more lucid when he was a drug addict. If America ever did 1% of what he wanted us to do, then we'd all need pain killers."

PWNED.

\/\/ 3 3 |)

www.amazingsuperpowers.com

click on image to view comic.

And Again.

click on image to view comic

AND AGAIN!

click on image to view comic


I'm not a comic guy at all, but I came across this site today and it provided me with some insta-lolz and the artwork is pretty fantastic too. In just three minutes of hitting the "random comic button" I came across these gems. I'm bookmarking Amazing Superpowers now, you should too.

Who's Stoked For jesus?

Meowtallica, Metallicalico, Enter Sandcat

I'm not providing a description for this one.
Just click here and love the internetz.

Death Back To Life

Speaking of Iggy and Detroit RNR, you always wonder just how many of those should've's but never made it's are out there. Here's one of them. 2009 is bringing the great. From Death's MySpace-

ON FEBRUARY 9TH, 1964 IN DETROIT EARL HACKNEY SAT DOWN HIS THREE SONS: DAVID AGE 12, DANNIS (PRONOUNCED DENNIS) AGE 10, AND BOBBY AGE 8 IN FRONT OF THE TV SET AND TOLD THEM THEY WERE WITNESSING SOMETHING SPECIAL. THE BEATLES WERE PLAYING ON THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW, AND DAVID, ENTRANCED, SAT 6” FROM THE SCREEN WIDE-EYED, WHILE THE OTHER TWO SAT EQUALLY MESMERIZED. THE VERY NEXT DAY, DAVID FOUND A GUITAR IN THE ALLEY, TOOK IT HOME, AND TAUGHT HIMSELF HOW TO PLAY. BY 1970, THE BROTHERS HAD STARTED THEIR FIRST BAND AND BEGUN PLAYING GARAGE SHOWS. THEY PLAYED FUNK/R&B, INFLUENCED BY THE MOTOWN SOUNDS COMING OUT OF THEIR EAST DETROIT NEIGHBORHOOD. THEY PRACTICED RELENTLESSLY AND HOME RECORDED OFTEN. IN EARLY 1973, THE BROTHERS WENT TO THE MICHIGAN PALACE AND SAW A PERFORMANCE OF IGGY AND THE STOOGES. FROM THAT DAY FORWARD DAVID MOVED THE BAND INTO THE DIRECTION OF ROCK N’ ROLL, FEELING IT WAS A BETTER FIT FOR THEM. DAVID WROTE THE MUSIC AND BOBBY THE LYRICS. THEIR SONGS BECAME MORE POLITICAL AND THE POWER TRIO SEEMED COMPLETE. THE BAND NAMED THEMSELVES DEATH. WITH MORE GARAGE SHOWS AND A DEMO UNDER THEIR BELT, DAVID OPENED UP THE YELLOW PAGES TO RECORDING STUDIOS AND THREW A DART. THE DART LANDED ON GROOVESVILLE PRODUCTIONS, A LABEL OWNED AND OPERATED BY DON DAVIS. DAVIS, IMPRESSED WITH THE BAND, BROUGHT THE DEMO TO THE ATTENTION OF CLIVE DAVIS OF COLUMBIA RECORDS. CLIVE GAVE DEATH AN ADVANCE AND CONTRACTS WERE DRAWN TO BEGIN RECORDING A 12 SONG ALBUM. AFTER RECORDING THE FIRST 7 SONGS, CLIVE INSISTED THAT THE BAND CHANGE THEIR NAME BEFORE THE ALBUM WAS COMPLETED. DAVID AND HIS BROTHERS REFUSED, CAUSING COLUMBIA AND GROOVESVILLE TO BACK OUT OF THE DEAL. HOWEVER, WITH THEIR RECEIVED ADVANCE, DEATH LEAKED OUT 500 COPIES OF A 45 ON THEIR OWN TRYANGLE RECORDS IN 1976 WHICH WAS DISTRIBUTED AT GARAGE SHOWS FOR FREE.. NOTHING MORE WAS HEARD OF DEATH OVER THE COMING YEARS OTHER THAN A FEW COLLECTORS WHO HAD RAVED ABOUT THEIR LEGENDARY 45. IN 2002, AN OBSCURE PUNK COMPILATION TITLED “NO ONE LEFT TO BLAME” FEATURED THE B SIDE KEEP ON KNOCKIN’. SIX YEARS AFTERWARDS, BOBBY HACKNEY’S SONS CAUGHT WIND OF THE 45 SONGS BEING PLAYED AT PARTIES IN CALIFORNIA. BOBBY HACKNEY THEN BROUGHT THE 34 YEAR OLD MASTER TAPES DOWN FROM THE ATTIC FOR HIS SONS TO HEAR. FINALLY, A DEAL WITH DRAG CITY RECORDS WAS WORKED OUT TO RELEASE THE ALBUM ON FEBRUARY 17TH 2009 – …FOR THE WHOLE WORLD TO SEE!!!

Can't wait for this record. Props to Jay Elliott for the lead. Check their MySpace for a preview of some mind-blistering Detroit rock-n-roll!

the Brighton Port Authority feat Iggy Pop Video for "He's Frank"

The Brighton Port Authority is basically Fatboy Slim under a name that's probably more acceptable in 2009. The BPA record "I Think We're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat" is a great Jaws reference and is out as of January 6th 2009 from Southern Fried exclusively through Amazon. These are the video's for "He's Frank" featuring Iggy Pop. Yes video"s". Video numero uno features the more rock-n-roll Stones-sounding "He's Frank" with the Iggy puppet basically TCOBin on stage and being as bad-ass as can be. And the second is Iggy in what appears to be the rave cave? I have to give the slight edge to the electro video because in real life Mr Pop's body gets cooler and cooler looking with age. But I wouldn't fuck with an Iggy Pop puppet either. Haven't listened to the album, but peep the comments for track list & upload.

To Take You Into The Weekend - Birds of Paradise

Animal Collective "Merriweather Post Pavillian" (2009)

I read a review once that said Animal Collective sound like what would've happened if the Beach Boys had hopped on the Magical Mystery Tour and they all just kept going and never came back. Which should totally be my shit. Oh, let me preface this review by admitting something that could get my blog privileges taken away - I've never really paid attention to AC. I've heard songs, liked some, disliked others, but never jumped on the hype. Never listened to one of their records. So yes - Magical Mystery Beach sounds great to me, which is exactly why I've been wrestling so much with gathering a feeling and writing a review for this record.

My experience has gone like this, first listen - not feeling it. Second listen - I can hear some songs I like. Next listen - not feeling it & can't find the songs I thought I liked. Next listen - this is really awesome. Yet another listen - I can appreciate this, but can't enjoy it. And again I'm listening to it while I type this and think I'm enjoying a lot of the things I planned on writing that I dislike about Merriweather Post Pavilion.

What I wanted to write about is how weird for weird sake this record is. How inhuman it sounds. How it's a full LP without any songs on it. Maybe I'm being unclear with that - there aren't any songs on here that I want to listen to over and over again. In fact when I listen to this, I listen to it from start to finish each time. Sure, I break from it to get in and out of my car or whatever, but when I put it on I'm not going to "Summertime Clothes" or "My Girls". Just start it at track 1, and push through. And in this listeners opinion, it's a better LP than it's songs are as just songs.

At time I feel this record is like a living, breathing, growing, shapeshifting organism. I'm telling you it will change on you. There's no way to describe it's focus because it just isn't there, except that it's a pop record. The music rarely builds, but rather bursts. It's not chocolate melting in your mouth, its pop rocks mixed with Cherry Coke going bonkers. Synth sounds come from here, percussion falls from the ceiling, bells in the background, all of it layered thick under harmonized vocals that pave the way. Nothing sounds out of place, in fact there's not a second of this record that sounds like it was wasted with space that couldn't fit a sound. But at the same time it sounds out-of-place. I don't know how anyone could listen to this and say there aren't parts where there is just too much going on. Details get lost in the big picture, and I think there are even portions when the big picture gets lost in the details. Perhaps that's the magic of it.

I'm still not completely sold on Animal Collective or Merriweather Post Pavilion, but there was a time a few weeks ago where I thought one listen was enough. I'm not sure what led to a second listen, but that led to a third and a fourth. I guess this is a grower for me, which is frustrating because I want it to burst in my ears like it has for the billion other bloggers who have written about this record. And I can completely understand why people fall for this band. They're music is interesting, mysterious, ambitious, 'smart-sounding', organic but inhuman, new but classic - guess I'm just falling in slow-motion. Present in the comments. Video for "My Girls" below. Purchase from Domino Records.

My Bloody Valentine "Loveless" remastered (2009)

This needs no review. If you've heard Loveless before you'll want to check it out. The remaster sounds great. If you somehow haven't, then make your life immediately better by doing so. Big present in the comments.

Marijuana Inc - Tuesday January 22nd on CNBC

Iron Age "The Sleeping Eye" promo-sampler

oh wow.


Iron Age The Sleeping Eye promo from S. Khan on Vimeo.

WHAT'S GOOD THIS WEEK

You may have or have not heard of The Corner Bar. It's a relatively new spot on N Main in Wilkes-Barre across the street from The Saloon. They have Horror Movie & punk rock posters on the wall, serve cheap beer, and areonly open on Friday's w/ entertainment provided. This week's entertainment is a dj-ed event of sad drinking songs from NFM, Pawloski, & Geoffery Wayne-Wayne. And what better time of the year to be sad and drunk? The holidays are clearly behind us, and it's cold as fuck out. Drink, be warm, and cry.

Daft Punk vs. Adam Freeland: "Aer Obama"

Daft Punk vs. Adam Freeland - "Aer OBAMA" from Gold Greendot on Vimeo.

Not half as cool as the Young Jeezy/Jay-Z video below, but it just furthers the point that art & youth culture all over the world are coming together to celebrate politics and change in America. I know I've had my Obama goggles on for the past few days, but who wants to swim above the excitement right now? Let's drown in it!

Young Jeezy w Jay-Z "My President Is Black" remix

"My president's black, in fact, he's half white/ So even in a racist's mind he's half right/ Even in these racist times it's all right/ My president is black but his house is all white."


Jay-Z My President is black Remix LIVE 1-18-09 from pleasedontstare on Vimeo.

LOSE YOUR SHIT.
i hate being white.

Change Is Gonna Come

I had a chance to watch a portion of Obama's "We Are One" inaugural concert that was on HBO this past Sunday. What I saw was a pretty wonderful event that rotated back-and-forth between speeches (Denzel, Jamie Fox, Tom Hank, ect) honoring our nation's past president's and leaders with some pretty uplifting musical performances kicking off with Springsteen's "The Rising" complete with what looked like was a thousand person choir to back the boss up. It was awesome. Other musical guests included Mary J, Garth Brooks, Herbie Hancock, ect. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the whole concert, but the most compelling part of what I caught was a duet between the 'lady of soul"Bettye LaVette and New Jersey's Soul of da shore Bon Jovi.

The duet, which can be seen below, did a great rendition of the Sam Cooke's 1964 classic "A Change Is Gonna Come". A song that I feel like has skipped our generation, not only as beautiful and moving civil rights song, but even as a classic piece of American music. It was written by Cooke just before his death as a sort of response to Dylan's "Blowin In the Wind". Cooke was apparently so taken back that that a white person could have an understanding of racism in America, that he saw this as a hope for the civil rights movement which compelled him to pen the lyrics. Of course the meaning is not things are where we want to be, but eventually change is inevitable. A better and more equal union is inevitable. And it's that feeling of hope, for a better future, that keeps us going - innit?

It seems this song has made a comeback with the Obama campaign, as our president even borrowed from Mr Cooke's lyrics during his now-famous election night speech when he thanked his supporters stating, ""It's been a long time coming, but tonight, change has come to America." Yes kids, this is the song. Your soundtrack for today.

While being covered many times by many over the years, I'm including my favorite rendition, a nine and a half minute psychedelic soul journey by Baby Huey. I can honestly say after discovering this version of this song this past spring that it is easily in my top five recordings of all-time. Every time I play this track around a group of people, I always have at least one person coming up to me in awe asking what the fuck that was I was just playing. It really grabs you. And of course out the Sam Cooke original.

Change has come, or at least begun.
Congratulations, President Obama.
Congratulations, America.



Sam Cooke"A Change Is Gonna Come"
Baby Huey"A Change Is Gonna Come"

p.s.

Watching the swearing in at the LCCC student center and it's standing room only.

Pitchfork TV: One Week Only : Joy Division

Pitchfork is streaming Grant Gee's Joy Division doc about the beginnings and growth of the Manchester band. It's a great documentary on one of the greatest, but it's only up for a week. Take some time it check it out below.

Times Leader on the Knox Disaster

We're coming up on the 50th anniversary of the Knox Mine Disaster. An accident and crime of corporate greed against the working class people of Northeastern Pennsylvania that killed twelve men. An event that rocked the community and spun the spotlight on the safety and rights of the miners who are the working-class history of our area. The Times Leader has a really wonderful piece on the disaster and lists some events coming up to mark the anniversary of this tragedy.

COMMEMORATIVE EVENTS

Tuesday: 7 p.m., video documentary followed by discussion. Earth Conservancy, 101 S. Main St., Ashley.

Through Thursday: Display and video presentation for groups of 8 or more. Call 654-6209 or 357-9564 to reserve.

Thursday: 10 a.m.-1 p.m., display and video presentation; 11:20, candle-lighting and blessing ceremony. Overlook Professional Center, 200 Overlook Drive, Pittston.

Reverend King.

I'm sitting here watching President-elect Obama's inauguration ceremonies on MSNBC with my son. Tomorrow we'll have a new president. What a way to celebrate this man and his dream. We're still getting there, but fuck. Hope is a great feeling.

PITTSBURGH'S GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!!

Despite being the 'old Browns' and named after a poem, the Ravens proved with their play yesterday that they deserved to be in the AFC championship. I know I'm not being very original in comparing Flacco to Big Ben, but this game reminded me too much of the 2004 AFC Championship. A game that still bums me out. A wide-eyed rookie QB Ben Roethlisberger lost to the battle-tested and destiny-bound New England Patriots and Tom Brady. They were the establishment, in the middle of a dynasty. Big Ben was the new guard, but he just wasn't there yet. Heck, even the Eagles were in the NFC championship. Soooooo 2004.
But yesterday wasn't 2004. The Steelers were obviously the best team on the field. After winning against the second best defense in the NFL three times, and after testing themselves week-in and week-out against the toughest NFL schedule - they proved that not do they have the best defense in the NFL, but that they deserve to have a chance to prove that they are the best team in the NFL. The Tomlin era may have started last season, but it arrived this year - through this season. Coolest coach in the NFL. Dude demands respect, and plays Steelers football. All questions answered. HERE WE GO!!

Game Time

3 - 0 Steelers.
Nine minutes left in the first.
I'm sitting next to a Ravens fan.
Too bad for him.

El Goodo "Coyote" (2009)

When was the last time a psychedelic rock band from Wales knocked your socks off? Oh yeah, the Super Furry Animals. Well now SFA's young-buck buddies El Goodo are here to prove you know of at least two Welsh bands who can kick ass, and in the hearts of some of our worlds, save rock-n-roll.

El Goodo's sophomore release kicks off with 'Feel So Fine'. A track that, while less vintage sounding than the rest of the record, is a ginormous stomper that mangles fuzzy guitars, bobs heads, and makes me pray for California sunshine. This track has more of a BMRC revival-sound, which works, because it hits you in the balls well enough to keep you listening.

Then enter a time machine into the rest of the record - a series of songs built around chilled-out harmonies, psychedelic sounds, and multi-instrumental guitar rock-n-roll that make you feel like "it's all happening" right around you. The Kinks, Love, The Byrds, The Beach Boys - it's right here. Sometimes subtly, sometimes not - but it's all done really well.

In fact, you could file 'Coyote' under records you could probably trick your burnt-out rocker uncle into believing are a collection of lost b-sides from The Kinks & The Byrds. Or at the very least some obscure could've/should've Brit Invasionist that's only known to the shelves of some psych-record snob. F'real - the songs, the lyrics, the production, the instrumentation, the feel - it's all 1966 as fuck.

Hell, it even takes you back to the Yellow Submarine in "Pete", a quirky psychedelic child's fairy tail song that plays out the problems of a 'crazy' named Pete who's thoughts float out of his brain and hang out with him under an umbrella.

My favorite from the bunch is 'I Saw Her Today', a track that, for lack of a better word(s), has a south-west cowboy movie feel? that gallops under an arrangement of organs and horns to a story about the virginal sighting of a girl who when she speaks 'keeps those blues away'. Each song has a distinction from one another that keep the record moving well enough, but still harbors the same feel, so that you're not left wondering if you're listening to a compilation of different sixties style bands.

Right now I have to believe this will end up on my top ten of the year in music. The only bummer is that Coyote hits with nine songs coming in at under thirty minutes. The hunger pains are already beginning. Up the Welsh. Oh yeah, they don't use last names either - meet Jason (vocals, guitar, keyboard), Pixy (vocals, bass, guitar, keyboard), Lewis (guitar), Elliot (drums, keyboard), and Matty (vocals, keyboard). Do yourself a favor and introduce your 2009 to Coyote.

Steelers beating The Ravens Is Going To Be Huge TV

In fact, the only block(s) of television expected to be bigger in 2009 - the Super Bowl.

Says CBS News and Sports President Sean McManus:

The scene in Pittsburgh always creates really, really good television. We’re in the late window; the entire game will be in prime time. I expect a really good rating. Again, it’s going to come down to how close it is late in the fourth quarter. I’m not going to predict the exact number. But, other than the Super Bowl, I’m relatively certain it will be the highest-rated show of the year on any network in any time slot

Broken Lizard: Slamdance Salmon

Broken Lizard are back, premiering their new indie - The Slammin Salmon, today at the Slamdance Film Festival. In this film, the BL dudes are part of the wait staff at an upscale restaurant owned by an ex-heavyweight boxing champ, played by Michael Clarke Duncan. Basically, the staff is terrible, to shape them up the owner offers a $10,000 bonus to the wait staff member who earns the most tips at the end of a single night. The loser gets a punch in the gut. The red-band trailer is below, but what I really want you to check out is the Rotten Tomatoes piece on the BL dudes where they reveal their twenty-five favorite movies of all-time. Oh, and you'll need to ready your Netflix queue as well. I'm still not sure which list I'm on the most, it's really a great mix of films. Oh, if you're still wondering Broken Lizard are the dudes who brought you Super Troopers/Club Dread/Beerfest. Best dudes.

Stoked for Slammin Salmon, but WTF!? Need more on Super Troopers 2!

Bootleg Black Bart by Mishka

Not much needs to be said about this one. It's a t-shirt of our new President hangin out with Young Jeezy & Bootleg Black Bart by a blue Lambo with matching rims. Comes out today from Mishka.

+++++++++Cameraphones+Cutouts++++++++++

Cut-outs @ Cinemark.
Shayna looks like shes being tickled.
Gran Torino was great!
I can't crop photos for shit.
sue me!

Oh Shit.

Quote Of The Week - Sergio Pizzorno of Kasabian

The Kasabian hype train continues to roll. As they have seemed to perfected the Oasis way of re-creating their public-interest, usually through witty Brit slang, before the release of each record. This quote is from the upcoming issue of NME. And I love it. Kasabian have somehow gotten the always crazy/sexy/cool Rosario Dawson 'involved' for a track and the starlet played it for Quentin Tarantino. The rocker-n-rollers reaction -

"That's when you sit at home in Leicester tucking into your beans on toast going, 'Fucking hell man, what's going on?'"

The beautiful and talented Sergio Pizzorno ladies and gentlemen.
Kasabian's third full-length record is due out in April.

The London Apartments "Signals & Cities Forever" (2009)

"Signals & Cities Forever" marks the first of, what will probably be, a handful of records that I fall in love with in 2009 that very few others will care about. The London Apartments are essentially one wonderful Candadian name Justin A. Langlois. On "Signals & Cities Forever", TLA churn out a record of dreamed out lo-fi fuzz that's shrouded by soft pianos, spoken-in-space vocals, and electro/glitch beats to create a beautifully atmospheric and "surrounding" post-rock record. And let me add, that by surrounding, I mean it's not really a record that I'd put on to explore every lyric, every rhythm, every electro blip - am I avoiding calling it background music? Yes, I am. This is much better than that. I just put it on and kind of let it take over. And it kind of takes you where it goes on it's own. kinds of. kind of. It's hard to describe. This record is like staring at a city from a forest, it's a surreal and unnatural sight. The sounds of space and soft voices don't exist in the urban landscape, just as man-made bleeps and electro beats don't associate with nature. But somehow The London Apartments pull all that together to create the best snowy day record to spend alone with so far this year.
Oh, and to celebrate his birthday and snowfall in Ontario, Justin posted this record with artwork at a high-quality bit rate to download at The London Apartments website for FREE . He turned 25 on Tuesday. I suggest you head over there to wish him a happy birthday by checking this wonderful piece of music out. "Signals & Cities" promo video with the track "Fair is Fair" below. The video was directed & edited by Danielle Sabelli & Justin Langlois. Enjoy!

Kids & Cops in Hanover Village Need To Look The Fuck Out

from today's Police Blotter.

HANOVER TWP. – A man was arrested by township police early Wednesday morning for allegedly assaulting a 2-year-old boy and an officer.

William C. MacBlain, 23, of Hanover Village, was charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, resisting arrest, reckless endangerment and two counts of disorderly conduct. He was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $10,000 bail.

According to the criminal complaint:

Township police responded to a dispute at an apartment in Hanover Village just after 4 a.m. and encountered a man, identified as MacBlain, outside yelling.

A woman inside told police MacBlain and others were inside the apartment drinking alcohol. She came down from upstairs to remove a 2-year-old boy from the room when MacBlain began to argue with the woman.

Police alleged MacBlain shoved the child, who suffered an arm injury, the criminal complaint says.

Once outside the apartment, MacBlain head-butted an officer causing a laceration near the officer’s eye, police said.

A preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled on Jan. 22 in Central Court.

In Love With This Photo

This photo, and a few others from the session, were posted on Ben Smith's blog over at Politico.com. The occassion? President & VP - elect were meeting with Supreme Court Justices. I could tell already that the new prez's photographer guy, Pete Souza, is going to deliver some bangers over the next four, well, eight years. right?
Apparently camera nerds are interested that he's a Canon guy. Apparently his weapon of attack is the new EOS 5D Mark II.

Air Jordan 2009

I'm not up opn my sneaker game at all.
I got a pair of rubber boots for christmas.
But this commercial can't be ignored.

Dig Out Your Soul In The Streets

Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul In The Streets


To help promote Oasis' psychedelic-mature record "Dig Out Your Soul", the lads looked to NYC street musicians to introduce their album to the world. No, they weren't handing out free records. The musicians learned from sheet music, rehearsed, and took it to the streets. Once everything was set, video wizards The Malloys followed Liam, Andy, & Gem with cameras to meet the musicians and watch them perform the new Oasis tunes. This is the documentary that came from it. Released today, the film shows some cool interviews that feature a humble and down-to-earth Liam just chillin with his dudes. And the music and performances that come from it are fantastic! 18 minutes, watch now!

The Weekender Loves The Vintage Theater

Peeking at today's Weekender gave me a sigh of relief. I mean last week their cover story was basically a review of a video game that came out last spring. Seriously. And my beef with this arts and entertainment rag has always been that they focus too much on crappy bars and the ugly people who attend them, which I guess is supposed to be entertainment, but rarely the arts. And when they do it's usually something equally as crappy like the Fine Arts Fiesta.
So back to this week's cover, a true arts & entertainment feature worth checking out, on The Vintage Theater in Scranton. I read a blurb a few weeks ago about this spot opening, which had me very excited. It's a theater that is going work as a non-profit collective venue housing all-ages shows, art exhibits, and weekly showings of classic films. Their grand-opening is this weekend showing Hitchcock's classic "The 39 Steps."
Not a whole lot else from the article, except that the organizer, Conor O'Brien wants this to be a community based art space with a focus on keeping entertainment economical. All awesome! Now keep this going Weekender.

Address, upcoming schedule, and appropriate links below.

• The Vintage Theater’s grand opening, featuring the Alfred Hitchcock classic “The 39 Steps:” Jan. 16-18, Fri./Sat., 7 p.m., Sat./Sun., 3 p.m. $5 evening, $3 matinee.

• The romantic classic “Random Harvest:” Jan. 23-25, Fri./Sat., 7 p.m., Sat./Sun., 3 p.m. $5 evening, $3 matinee.

• The campy Roy Rogers western “My Pal Trigger:” Jan. 30-Feb. 1, Fri./Sat., 7 p.m., Sat./Sun., 3 p.m. $5 evening, $3 matinee.

• The Photography of Matt Artz and Jess Confer: Feb. 6, 5 p.m.

• The dark comedy “Little Shop of Horrors:” Feb. 7-8, Fri./Sat., 7 p.m., Sat./Sun., 3 p.m. $5 evening, $3 matinee.

• Steamtown Improv, Here We Are In Spain and Rare Bird Show: Feb. 13. Steamtown Improv and Rare Bird Show at 7 p.m., Here We Are In Spain and Rare Bird Show at 9 p.m. $7.

• Donny Kirschner and Satellite band show: Feb. 14, 7 p.m., $5

• To reserve/pre-order tickets, e-mail your name, number, and amount of tickets needed to Boxoffice@ScrantonsVintageTheater.com.

• The Vintage Theater is located on the first floor of The Ritz Building at 222 Wyoming Ave., Scranton. Info: www.scrantonsvintagetheater.com, 570.561.9546.

It's 2009 and Change Has Come To America!

Is this really what the mainstream media are going to report on now? Apparently Charlie Gibson and ABC News care about indie rock. So hip. And CNBC care about the economics of marijuana and even how pretty it is. THE LIBERALS ARE TAKING OVER! I can't wait for my mom to start sparking up to Animal Collective!

Interesting points to note if you follow the links and watch the videos. I have the same Bad Brains shirt as the dude in Wavves. I thought it was lost but found in my closet two days before X-mas. Stoked! Just in time for a timeless photo. & props to Trainwreck for making CNBC's medical marijuana gallery. It may be a NorCal staple, but it's home is right here in NEPA. NANTICOKE! NANTICOKE! NANTICOKE!

MF Doom "Ballskin"

A couple two, tree years ago. Maybe four? it seemed like MF Doom couldn't be stopped. He was rockin aliases that put out a massive amount of tunes that turned the underground urban music world upside down. Guest spots. Special Herbs instrumentals in volumes. Dude was (I cringe typing this)a hip hop juggernaut. Then things got weird. He was accused of both lip-synching his live shows and even sending impostors in the Doom mask to lip-synch his live shows. Pitchfork says he cleared all that up. Either way, somewhere in the mix, I sort of lost interest.

But dudes back with a new track, so I'm listening. It's called 'Ballsack'. I know what that is. The song doesn't remind me of mine, but maybe MF Doom's is different. It's a 90 second diddy that sounds like classic Doom. Which still isn't boring. You can find it on his MySpace Music Player. This will be on his upcoming record 'Born Like This' due out this year on Lex Records. This reminds me - I need to revisit Madvillian + remixes.

Best Mayor

Pittsburgh's Mayor Luke Ravenstahl is being a really really awesome dude this week by announcing today that he is changing his name for the love of his cities football team, the honorable Pittsburgh Steelers & the hate for their opponent in the AFC Championship, the felony-vulnerable Baltimore Ravens.

Mayor Ravenstahl, meet Mayor Steelerstahl!

Bummer it isn't going to be a permanent move, as the change only lasts through the football contest that will undoubtedly end in the Steelers favor on Sunday evening. But this does officially mark that the city of Pittsburgh and all that inhabit it have stopped all other facets of business and life to focus on sports. And who could blame them? You're in the middle of your first 'Tomlin-era' Super Bowl run, and Pitt's basketball team has remained unbeaten since being ranked #1 for the first time ever in history. ever. HERE WE GO!

Geeked.

Truth be told - over art, music, fashion, politics, and anything else I've covered on this blog, the study of quantum mechanics is the coolest thing going on in the world right now. I mean us humans have done pretty well for ourselves figuring out all the shit we can see, imagine how awesome things will be when we figure out everything we can't see? Plus, who doesn't get excited about dancing electrons? Parallel worlds, awesome. yes?

Anyway, Discover Magazine dropped a doozy of an article yesterday about how scientists are figuring out that the nature-built process known as photosynthesis in plants is energy efficient as fuck. So efficient that we're studying it in hopes that one day humans can figure out how to use energy the plant and flower way. So efficient that they think the laws of quantum mechanics are involved. You probably wont read this article. Hell, you've probably already stopped reading, but if you want to continue to read how some scientists think that quantum mechanics is responsible for photosynthesis, our sense of smell, and our own consciousness then let me blast you over to that (p)article. Lol, see what I did there?

Fever Ray "s/t" (2009)

Whenever I listen to anything related to The Knife I can't help but feel like I'm Max in Where the Wild Things Are and these Swedish weirdos are music playing in on the island. The steel drum and tribal rhythms + dark spaced-out synths + not-of-this world vocals usually have me asking, "What am I? Where am I?" Well I'll tell you, you're a little boy in a wolf suit and you're running around the motherfucking jungle.
With Fever Ray, Karin Dreijer Andersson drops Olof, her partner in The Knife, as well as anything that's poppy or dancey about their music. That leaves all the creepy spooky spacey stuff that impressively finds a way to create a beautiful record, that by the ears of this listener, can stand up to anything recorded by the duo. Not much of a departure here from what she's known for, not that it's a bad thing, it's a psychedelic progression of 'Silent Shout'. Kind of "Silently Shouting In Space", and it's more than enough to hold any fan over for the next The Knife release. No date on that yet, though it's been reported that it's going to be an opera based on the ideas and theories of Darwin.

Already being touted as what will be one of the video's of the year, FR delivers a magical haunted quest with "If I Had A Heart." Fuck Buttons remixed it, and it's streaming at the Stereogum Blog and will be released as a b-side on the 7" coming out on MuteMute next month with the LP to follow. Check the comments :)

Psychi Ills "Mirror Eye" (2009)

Traveling into the past and shrinking themselves down small enough to crawl into Syd Barrett's brain with instruments and enough drugs to record eight songs must have been a pretty hefty task for the members of Psychic Ills, but gosh darn I'm glad they did. "Mirror Eye" balances on bongo-led percussion and droney rhythms stacked under loads and loads of distorted guitar and synths that hypnotize then burst into hydroponic jam sessions right in your very ears. Vocals are few and far between, and even then are so muddied and distorted, they serve more as a reminder that you're supposed to be reminded of what it's like to be on drugs listening to music that was probably made by people while on drugs. That's not to say you can't enjoy this sober, but I doubt that how the artists intended it. This won't end up on your albums of the year list, but you'll be glad this is on your ipod next time you're feelin weird. This came out on The Social Registry label yesterday, actually. You know what's in the comments.

In Wilkes-Barre News

City Councilmen wants to beef up fines on graffilthy. Burn those artsy suburban kids who are really bored! And W-B's favorite dude that punched a lot of over dudes in the face gives the city cookies and ice cream!

Best Dude

BBC News presented a interview today that could easily top my favorite piece of journalism at the end of 2009. That's right. Stop depressed. Because this dude, Owen Brown, is an 82-year old headbanger that will brighten your day with his Iron Maiden records. Bless the devil's heart. Meet Owen here. Excuse the commercial.

p.s.
props to jake from an albatross,
the dude with the realest heavy metal news, for showing me this.

Serving the Ravens...Again.

You can tell that the Steelers spent their bye week working on the few patches needed to get them back to being a highly efficient run-and-smash offense again. The result is Willie Parker gaining nearly150 yards on the ground with two touchdowns, a 14:43 time-of-possession in the third quarter (versus only 17 seconds being held by the Chargers), one sack and a clean jersey for Ben Roethlisberger, 22 first downs, zero turnovers, and 35 points on the board to give the black and gold a 35 - 24 win that advances them to the AFC championship. And with that, a third meeting against the Baltimore Ravens. You know, the Baltimore Ravens, who no matter the talent and hype just can't seem to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers. Like my friend Alexander Russin has been know to say, "they're a football team that are named after a poem." I have nothing else to add at the moment, but I'm sure the shit talk will flow freely throughout the week.

Franklyn

This vigilante, religion-smashing, fantasy, sci-fi, noir, thriller stars the boring but sometimes surprising - Ryan Philipe, goth's new screen goddess - Eva Green, and Control's Ian Curtis - Sam Riley, and is in UK theaters next month. No US distributor has been named yet:( But man does this look kick-ass.

More on Franklyn from Wiki

Franz Ferdinand "Tonight" (2009)

I'll admit I just downloaded this and have only had a chance to preview these tracks, but it's really what you expect out of FF. And I mean that in the highest respect. I am a fan. It's catchy disco punk that will pop out a radio hit and get some great remixes. And it's deserved because their new ordered remix/cover of LCD's 'All My Friends' jumped onto a ton of my mix cds in 2007, and deserves to be revisited with this release. If you like FF then def cop this. I can see this turning boring car rides into disco feak-outs. Album out on Domino on the 26th.


Album link in comments.

Crippled Black Phoenix "Night Raider" (2009) / "The Resurrectionists" (2009)

When there's ex-members of Mogwaii & Electric Wizard involved, you pay attention. When you hear their music is described as 'ENDTIME BALLADS' you really have no fucking clue what the fuck theyre going on about, but whatever. YOU'VE GOT MY ATTENTION. And when you hear Crippled Black Phoenix, you'll just know it. You'll feel, or at least I felt, almost privileged to listen to such an impressive piece of music. And I completely understood the description.
After releasing an under-the-radar LP and single , the european 'post-rock/doom-folk' collective hit back with a mammoth double album, 'Night Raider'& 'The Resurrectionists'. Every song is filled to the brim with sounds of the future and the past that create it's own world soundtrack of epic music that ranges from the spaced out very 'dark side' sounding opening track of 'Time Of Ye Life/Born For Nothing/Paranoid Arm Of Narcoliptic Empire' to the haunting ballads like 'Burnt Reynolds' and crushing post-rock jams that flirt with shoegaze like '200 Tons of Bad Luck' this is definitely a must hear release. These records are so good that my girlfriend makes me turn them off because they make her that sad. I mean fuck.

No word on a release date, but check their myspace for sample music, then step into the world of Crippled Black Phoenix. It's a sad but beautiful creation that is ambitious and monumental and all of that. But what's important is that it delivers. My only reason from putting this below The Pains of Being Pure At Heart as the best release of 2009 in the week and four days we've been into this musically glorious year is that it's just not as enjoyable. It's really sad. It's way more impressive, and very beautiful in parts, but it's certainly a record you need to listen to in full to enjoy, and it's a lot to take in. But I love it. It's a monster. Nothing official on a release date, but word is mid-march.

Album link in comments.

NFL PLayoffs: LETS GO STEELERS

As a LaDanian Tomlinson-less Chargers travel to the town with the great football team, the first thing they will notice this afternoon is the mid-twenties January temperatures that go along with Heinz Field. The last thing is the scoreboard, which will read something like 27 - 10 in favor of the home team, Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart "s/t" (2009)

Ah, dream pop - you get me every time. Especially when you're done this well. New York's Pains of Being Pure at Heart have had the internet going crazy in the eleven days we've called 2009, so much - in fact, that I feel a little late on posting anything about them. But I'm doing this because if there's one new record you must hear so far this year - I'm going with this. Fuzzy guitars take the lead here over popped out rhythms that are glued together by the back-and-forth of dreamed-out male/female vocals. The interesting thing about this album to me is that everyone who talks about it has a different favorite song off it. Start to finish - it's that good. The record comes out on Slumberland Feb 3 and you can cop that shit here.

East Coast dates including Philly and NYC in February listed on their myspace.

Video below. Album link in the comments. Enjoy!

Summertime Blues

Someone remind me of this video come June.



With that said, midnight sleigh riding/sledding/sled riding is in full effect tonight. Can't wait!

Hazelton Stand Up!

from today's Police Blotter:

HAZLETON – A city woman faces charges for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend early Friday morning.

Nicole L. Naprava, 28, of 151 Berner Ave., was arraigned on charges of simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct, according to court records. She is jailed at Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $50,000 straight bail.

According to an affidavit:

Hazleton police responded around 2 a.m. for a report of a man that had been assaulted by a woman with a knife at 151 Berner Ave., police said.

Police could see a large amount of blood on the kitchen floor along with a large kitchen knife.

There was also white rice on the floor.

Eric Fetchko told police he had just come home with his girlfriend and when they got inside of their home Naprava got on her cell phone with an ex-boyfriend, police said. The couple began arguing.

During the fight, Naprava allegedly became irate and grabbed a kitchen knife, police said. Fetchko grabbed her arm to stop the attack.

Naprava then took a pot from the stove that was filled with rice and threw it at Fetchko, which caused his nose to bleed, police said.

Fetchko then called 911. His girlfriend fled on foot.

Police found Naprava at her ex-boyfriend’s place after following footprints from the couple’s home to another residence, police said.

A preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled for Jan. 15 at Central Court.

Long Legs, Burgandy LipsDancin Down on the Sunset Strip

And in records I'm really excited for in 2009 news, San Francisco's Girls have recently leaked some info on their MySpace Blog -

The album is oh so close guys and girls. The wonderful press we have received as well as kudos from fans has been amazing. Lack of planning and time to spend on the completion of the "album" has made it a long process. We just got back to San Francisco from our own studio in my parents house in Santa Cruz. We did some work polishing as well as laid some amazing drum tracks with our new drummer Garett Godard. Just two -three mics on the drums in a lovely ill-angled wood floored room made for some great albini-esque results. The future is very exciting this album is a great album its honest, loose, ethereal, obnoxious and perfect. We cant wait for you to hear it.
L
O
V
E
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I
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L
S

Find out why I'm peeing my pants in anticipation for this record by watching the video's below and download "Lust For Life." I'm not going to pretend it's as good as Iggy's Lust For Life, but I think it stands on it's own. Sidenote - Girls frontman Cristopher Owens is probably the most crazy, sexy, cool lookin dude in music right now. And his music makes me want to roll the dro, live in a garden by the bay, and smile at the sunshine. Enjoy!





Click to Dowload Girls"Lust For Life"

Title Fight Are Top Ranking

photo stolen from their myspace. credit to jesse lipfert.

Lately it seems like I can't escape Title Fight. Not that I haven't always loved them, but geez - you don't realize when they stop being your best friends little brother's band. Message boards, blogs, and mouths won't shut up about them. Videos of their live shows look like clothed punk rock orgies with kids crawling all over each other to get near the mic for sing-a-longs, and their most recent release 'Kingston' ended up on plenty of punk rock year-end lists. Adding to their credentials, AbsolutePunk.Net recently placed them along side acts like Cursive, Saves the Day, Muse, and Morrisey as part of their Most Anticipated Albums of 2009 preview. While I think most of that list can suck shit, I recognize AP is a well-respected media mogul in it's own genre, so many props to the lads. Things I need to do this weekend - grab some pizza, the Kingston ep, and feel young.

NEPAers Inauguration Day Gathering

From Rita Boyle, Obama Volunteer Organizer, Delegate, Superwoman.

Tuesday, January 20th 10:30 am to 2:30 pm

Newtown Café – 724 Hazle Street in Ashley (Ashley/Newtown/Hanover Twp.)

In the warmth and comfort of a locally-owned restaurant, join volunteers and supporters of President-elect Obama to watch his Swearing In Ceremony and other Inauguration festivities.

This is a wonderful alternative for Obama supporters who will not be in Washington, DC on January 20th.

Large screen plasma TVs, buffet and cash bar, and the company of many good-hearted Obama supporters!

To RSVP: phone Kathy @ 570-855-3522

Use The Force Luuuuuuke

Could The Force be with you? A toy due in stores this fall will let you test and hone your Jedi-like abilities.

The Force Trainer (expected to be priced at $90 to $100) comes with a headset that uses brain waves to allow players to manipulate a sphere within a clear 10-inch-tall training tower, analogous to Yoda and Luke Skywalker's abilities in the Star Wars films.

Continue Reading @ USA Today

No Need To Title.

I Know I'm A Week Late On This ButTop Albums of 2008

It's 2009, and while I've had this blog registered for actual months now, I'm finally making a first entry. 2008 was an enjoyable year for music. Not great great great. But enjoyable. I think any disappointment was made up for when I heard the Darker My Love & Charlieboy records, '2' & 'ghost.' respectively. '2' for smashing any record in it's way. It's My Bloody Oasis meets California psychadelica done right. To me, it's just a perfect record. I could listen to it over and over again and just love it more with each grooved out listen. And Charlieboy's 'ghost.' for being that unknown, come out of nowhere record that not many people cared about, but when you listened to it for the first time you knew it was something special. It's like if M83 met up with Braid on a snowy day to eat LSD and be as cute as bunnies. Okay, ill stop typing now. But I'll continue to drink my wine. Here's the list.

edit: I wrote that mess above and made the list below last night, obviously a bit tipsy. I'll stand by my top ten, but my god, sorry for the babbling paragraph. At least I had the sense to stop typing and continue drinking. One observation about my list I just made - eight out of my top ten were from North America, mostly the states. And here I thought I was into Brit Pop? USA! USA! USA!
& Sorry for only including descriptions for two of the records. Click the band name to link to their myspace. If you like what you hear add the request to the comments and I'll post it in there. xo.

1) Darker My Love '2'
2) Oasis 'Dig Out Your Soul'
3) M83 'Saturdays = Youth'
4) Charlieboy 'ghost.'
5) MGMT 'Oracular Spectacular'
6) White Denim 'Workout Holiday'
7) Robes 'The Breaks'
8) Hercules & Love Affair 's/t'
9) The Dodos 'Visitor'
10) King Khan & the Shrines 'The Supreme Genius of King Khan and The Shrines'