To look as cool as you can wear t-shirts with your favorite bands logo! Buy one on the show, and support the music. Or rock out with a vintage rock band, you can not go wrong!
one of the things that gets under my skin is having to wait for a music download to finish. i usually end up playing something silly, like online bingo or some other flash game, while I'm trying to kill some time. it's an easy way to kill 10 minutes while waiting though.
i might actually be re-posting about 20 shows, fyi. anyway, one band that i really dont think about until i listen to em, and then i want more is teenage fanclub. if you’ve never checked em out definitely check out bandwagonesque – one of the best records of the 90’s, or their “greatest hits” record, four thousand seven hundred sixty six seconds. purchase em here. this is a fm broadcast of teenage fanclub performing at the paradiso in amsterdam on 11.20.95. its an fm broadcast, btw.
sup, a-holes? hey i gots an ipod condom to give away from the fine folks at music skins dot com. actually its not a condom but it will protect your shit real proper like cause they’re made with a space age polymer or 3m vinyl. supposedly they can be put on and taken off with no problems. anyway, i got this particular one to give away. so if you got either of the ipod classics and you want to win it, just leave a comment, any comment. contest ends on friday @ 8 pm eastern standard time.
this is one of the coolest and least essential things i have ever seen.
here is a lovely scotland bbc broadcast of teenage fanclub at the glasgow academy on 5.26.05.
if you happen to be a amy winehouse fan the men of owl and bear have what i would assume to be a good to great quality recording for your downloading pleasure. if that wasnt enough, they also got wilco, lambchop, nirvana and of montreal shows available.
file this one under, just leave em be. sure most of their early stuff sounds like shit but thats half the allure. anyway, the first three mats records are getting remastered. will i buy em? sure. will i be happy about it? no.
here is an fm broadcast of the much under appreciated, at least stateside, teenage fanclub performing at the paradiso in amsterdam on 11.20.95. its an fm broadcast, btw.
i am feeling real bitchy/catty/petty tonight for no apparent reason. my feelings bring to mind how mr costanza must have felt during the opening festivities of festivus. i got a real problem with the people or actually one particular person at merge. i will preface this by saying that merge is probably my favorite label and i hold no ill will towards the blind higher ups, but their publicity department leaves something to be desired. being a former publicist for 8 years, i know a little something about the game and how its played. granted, i am no stereogum, aquarium drunkard or my ol’ ky home, all great sites in their own regard, but this little edge of the blog-o-sphere does pretty ok for itself. i am about to burn a bridge but i really dont care, its not like they have done anything for me. so about two months ago, i had requested a couple of interviews from the lady publicist at merge. i was told one artist would be available and the other two were questionable. fine, i can deal with that. i went through the trouble of typing up a few questions and sent them over. i didnt expect a quick reply but we are going on three months and have yet to hear anything. at this point i aint expecting anything, but you know what? just out of professional courtesy, an email saying “hey the artist(s) dont have time, sorry” or “your questions suck, so go fuck yourself.” either/or would have been sufficient. i am a big boy and can handle rejection, but silence is not necessarily golden in this case. how difficult is it to send an email stating either of the above scenarios? its not difficult let me tell you. i used to do it just about everyday. at least people know where they stand. i dont know if its some fucked up indie rock ego trip, or just plain laziness. whatever it is, fuck em. i dont need em. i am not on any one’s mailing list so quite frankly i dont feel compeled to lightly suck on the fingers that feed me.
with all of that bullshit being said, i will not hold it against los angeles’ the broken west, who recently signed to merge. their debut i can’t go on, i’ll go on chaulk full of jangley pop brilliance. usually when you describe a record as such there is something a bit pussified about it, but the broken west have created a “dudes” version of the jangley pop genre. i cant go on, ill go on is very reminiscent of the power pop invasion of the mid 80’s and 90’s which included bands like teenage fanclub, one of my personal faves, red kross, matthew sweet, another favorite, and big star. the broken west is not re-inventing the wheel here, but they are definitely adding another spoke that is really quite difficult to resist. if this doesnt end up in my top ten of the very young year, i would be really suprised.
they are touring as we speak, and will be in athens @ the 40 watt on 3.20. check out their myspace page for details.
there is no sweeter voice in all of music than the one owned by mary lou lord. even with all her voice’s sweetness there is a hint of sadness in just about every song she sings. i guess thats why i really connect with her and her choices of songs she covers, because even the greatest moments in ones life are filled with a little bit of melancholy.
she doesnt write too many songs, but the ones she has are pretty solid – see what was supposed to be a breakout record, got no shadow for proof. the songs she covers are grade A and often will include the works of springsteen, elliot smith, teenage fanclub, richard thompson, and her favorite go to guy, the much unappreciated nick solomon aka the bevis frond. i cant stress enough the awesomeness of nick saloman and his work. unfortunately, his records can be hard to come by but they are well worth the hunt.
for those that are not up on the history of miss lord, please check out her wikipedia page and if you are feeling up to it here is some info on mr saloman.
here is mary lou performing at the first act guitar studio in boston on 9.9.05
