Can you pick out the future punk rocker?

These kill me, for some reason.

I Say Ha, You Say Hunh

Assuming this is a genuine, non-Photochopped image, that took balls.

It's True What They Say

If you're going to Frequent Trendy, Pretentious restaurants, don't forget your Spoon.

Happy ... Tuesday?

Not a huge fan of Werner Herzog's films, but this is worth a look.

The Majesty Of ... Lamar!

Meet our soon-to-be new family member, Lamar. He's a five-year-old retired racing greyhound that we're going to pick up tomorrow morning. It's a common misconception that retired greyhounds need lots of exercise. In fact, a walk or two a day is all they require.

If you want, you can check out Lamar's (aka Jacobi) racing stats here. Out of 79 races, he had 22 wins and 14 seconds.

Wish us luck.

Stewart Lee

Never heard of this guy until yesterday. Very funny.

Definitely street art

Ouch

Um...

Catchy Friday

I don't think these guys will be as big as Hurts (not much love for them last week), but they've got what it takes when it comes to general all-round catchiness. If they're not Swedish, they should be.

Jimmy Kimmel Gets Some, Too

Leno is everybody's bitch these days ...

Shit!

Perhaps we should put a black armband on our beloved blargh here. Teddy Pendergrass dead at 59. Love TKO indeed...

And I'm just a fountain of good news today...

Apparently Doug Fieger, of the recently mentioned Knack, is battling brain cancer.

Shit. Jay Reatard dead at 29.

Very sorry to hear this news. Memphis can't afford to lose any more musicians.

2010 Is Already a Better Music Year Than 2009!

I fell in love with Roky Erikson after watching a documentary about him, "You're Gonna Miss Me." He performed with Okkervil River at SXSW the last couple of years, and evidently is now ready to release an album with them as back-up and Will Scheff producing.

From Bitchfork:

The album features songs written by Erickson throughout his life, as well as "found-sound and archival recordings culled from Erickson's home videos and recordings made in the Rusk State Hospital for the Criminally Insane," according to a press release. (Erickson spent several years in the hospital in the early 70s, after a drug possession arrest.)

I'm going to use this as an excuse to get back on acid!

Guilty Pleasure

This video was my first introduction to OK Go several years ago. My initial impression was that it was a good song from what appeared to be a clever bunch of guys who don't take themselves too seriously.


They've got a new one out, called Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky, inspired LARGELY by Purple Rain. Embedding is disabled, but check out the video here for what I assume is the first single, "WTF?"

As the title of this post subtly hints, OK Go is a guilty pleasure of mine, but I should say that I only enjoy them in short bursts. I probably can't explain this phenomena in a way that makes sense, but typically, I start an OK Go disc thinking, "Wow, this is better than I remembered!"

As I make my way through the album, however, eventually arriving at the back-loaded weaker tracks, OK Go begins to sound not so much like a power-pop juggernaut, but a group of disingenuous chameleons cranking out disposable music that only sounds like power-pop. "Shit, you almost got me! Nice try, OK Go."

Then, a few months will pass, I'll give the same album a spin and think, "Wow, this is better than I remembered!"

Weird.

Manic Street Preachers

As long as we're playing "What I Got for Christmas," here's the MSP's '09 release Journal for Plague Lovers. It made Metacritic's best of the year list. It's been compared, inevitably, to The Holy Bible (the album, not the holy writ), since it features lyrics of the late(?) Richey James Edwards. I don't hear anything in it that's nearly as dark, but there are some nice hooks in the middle tracks.

Transference

Spoon has a new album out next week. Can't wait that long? Check out the exclusive first listen at NPR.

All Jarvis, all the time

Touted as the next John Peel (until he gets bored), Jarvis Cocker has a new radio show Sundays on BBC 6. Elvis, Shirley Bassey, Judy Nylon, and, of course, Sir John Betjeman. Available via BBC i-player here.

Special Delivery!

Fuck The Pandas, we've got honeybears!

I got a Barnes & Noble gift card for Xmas and naturally spent it on music. Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears are new R&B revivalists, but that description sells them short. I saw them in NC and at ACL and they're great.

Monsters of Folk is Jim James (MMJ), Connor Oberst (Bright Eyes), M. Ward (solo and She & Him), and Mike Mogis (I don't know who he is). It's um...folky, but not in a bad way.

Finally, because I needed to spend another $3 to get free shipping, there's 'Toys In the Attic.' You could do worse.

Happy Birthday, E

The King would be 75 today! A moment of silence, if you please.

Priscilla was on the Today Show this morning, in fact. Matt Lauer asked her what Elvis would be doing if he were alive. Come on, everybody knows the answer to that question. He'd be scratching frantically at the inside of his coffin.

Catchy Friday

Move over Lady Gaga; you're done.

Shit

Willie Mitchell, Al Green's producer. Kinda old news, but still ...

Just Because

More here.

Did I Really See That?

I never caught Back To The Future III, but this is funny. Watch the kid on the right (Verne). Yes, this is actually in the movie ...

A God Among Men

Courtesy of Schoolism, here's a sneak peek from their Masters Series, profiling the astounding talent of Mort Drucker. I can't tell you how many hours I spent enjoying Mr. Drucker's work in MAD Magazine.

A Wii bit thinner...

So back in August Caroline decided to invest in Wii Fit. I was glad as I've gained a pretty decent amount of weight in the last four or five years. Since August 10, I've dropped almost 25 pounds. The Wii fit workouts in and of themselves don't do too much in terms of major calorie burning, but they do help with flexibility and can provide a decent aerobic workout. The key thing that helped me was the ability to set goals and weigh in every day. I ride a stationary bike most mornings and do a short Wii workout when I can in the afternoons.

I didn't change what I eat or drink, I just modified the amounts and tried to be smarter about processed foods. I don't really eat fast food or snack much, and I usually avoid soft drinks, so that part was easy. It feels great to be having to buy smaller pants. And while I'm not down to my Memphis era fighting weight, it feels good to be a whole lot thinner.

The other fun thing has been getting into some of the other Wii games. I just got Tomb Raider, which is going to challenge my ability to wear those smaller pants.

Ugh

Since I have been working my bastard ass off lately (except, of course, for our very enjoyable ten day Christmas trip to England and Amsterdam, ahem), and therefore listening non-stop to my favorite play-as-you-work CDs, I thought I would share a couple with you in case you ever find yourselves in a similarly unfortunate predicament. Maybe not your cup of tea, but, hey, neither is being at the office at midnight. Fourtet is straight-up electronica. Higamos Hogamos is more like a more ambient take on Spiritualized. Fire that procrastinator!

Great video

If one of you bastards hasn't posted this already, you should have.

Happy New Year, Bastards!

Be safe if you go out tonight ...

50!

Happy Birthday, Paul

Yuck

I'm okay with this message right up until they show the drooling baby. I understand that kids can be born with it, but that's still disgusting.

My Best Of 2009

Was it me, or was this a really disappointing year for new music? Nothing much grabbed me. Everything the critics raved about left me cold. Embryonic? Nah. Merriweather Post Pavilion? Nope. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix? Not so much.

Here are my favorites for this year, in no particular order.

The Xx - xx (It's the same song over and over, but it's a good song.)
Visqueen - Message To Garcia (Chops and pipes!)
Tinted Windows - Tinted Windows (Guilty pleasure. My brain says no, but my heart says yes.)
Heartless Bastards - The Mountain (Holy shit, that voice!)
Jarvis Cocker - Further Complications. (Maybe not as catchy as his first solo album, but I can appreciate his world view.)

Honorable mention to Sigur Rós for Med sud I eyrum vid spilum endalaust, even though I didn't talk about it. I know you guys don't go for that kinky shit.

Put 'em on the glass, ladies.

$94.61?!

Ten years ago this month, we released the Subteens first LP, Burn Your Cardigan. If memory serves, we gave away more than we sold, but man, that seems like a lifetime ago. I was jobless and back in graduate school, didn't have kids, and had only been married three years. In fact, my wife and I had just bought our first house the year before, and I was about to turn 31. Sigh ...

As I recall, we originally got started recording with Christine from The Chubbies sometime in 1998. (I refuse to name the studio, because the owner fucked us on a handshake deal. Hey, live and learn ...) It seems like we sat on this stuff for awhile - probably because we were broke - and when we revisited it in 1999, it was clear it didn't measure up to our ... um ... exacting standards.

While listening back to the basic rhythm tracks, somebody jokingly wondered if we could get another band's drummer (John "Bubba" Bonds) to come re-record the songs right then. After everyone stopped laughing, we seriously began to pursue the possibility. Unbelievably, we tracked him down, and in the middle of a fucking monsoon, Bubba brought his drums over to the studio. After accommodations were made to ensure his comfort (Kram and I made a quick trip to Buster's for a fifth of Jack Daniels), we got down to business. Much of what you hear on Burn Your Cardigan is first or second take, which means that those recordings represent the second or third time he had EVER PLAYED THOSE SONGS. I'm still amazed.

The fact that you can still find Burn Your Cardigan for sale for more than 45 cents is extremely flattering. It was genuinely a team effort, and despite all of its flaws, I'm still proud of it today. I just wanted to take a minute to commemorate one of my old band's few accomplishments in some small way.

Glitter and Doom

One of the best live albums I've heard in years. Fornication Trumps Predestination.

What do you call a guy who hangs around with musicians?

Talented People What?

Fede Alvarez, a Uraguayan filmmaker, made this short film for several hundred dollars and subsequently signed a deal with Sam Raimi's Ghost House Pictures to develop and direct an original project.

Damn.

This Can Only Be Described As Genius

Thanks, Joe!

Finally

Sorry Lurker. Am I forgetful or is it just Fucking Terrible Procrastination?

Without a doubt, this album is one solid chunk of seventies power-pop goodness, start to finish. After an amazing initial run - primarily on the strength of "My Sharona" - The Knack was ultimately brought to its knees by ego, cocaine and ridiculously bad management.

Sweet Georgia Brown (GiGi)

New baby.

Avatar

Made me want to Av a Crap. Without a doubt, the effects are groundbreaking, but the rest of the movie is just so bad (the acting is awful, the story hackneyed, and it's 3 fucking hours long) that I was turning blue myself. Honestly, it's worth seeing for the CGI, but only if you're going to see it in 3D (I imagine the IMAX version is even more impressive).

Shit

Dan O'Bannon. Google him.

Must Be Santa

I think Bob's gotten into Dave's egg nog.

Dylan Xmas Album

Honey, I Forgot The Presents, but I picked up "Christmas in the Heart" on vinyl (it came w/ the CD). Bob's pipes are getting a bit rusty, but the album is not without its charms. I got Them Crooked Vultures as well. The drums are good...

Again with the holidays

I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday season. We're off to New York on Friday afternoon. I'll be expecting presents from each of you when I return.

Modern Toss

Found this last night on BBC America. It's Modern Toss, a series built around bizarre cartoon shorts and brief live-action sketches. Read more here, if you so choose.

This is Mr. Tourette, Master Signwriter, which made me laugh mightily.

Hhhhhhhot!

I wish I could watch this again, but I've kicked my monitor in.

Right Fucking Now

Absolutely irresistible. Fart Twice, Please.

Worth The Wait

I'm suddenly wearing Fairly Tight Pants.

Mudcrutch

I've been enjoying this album by the Fabulous Tom Petty's original band, Mudcrutch. As the story goes, this was Petty's band from his Hogtown days that included Tom Leadon (brother of Eagle Bernie). When the band moved out to LA to make it big, the record company suits took one look at TP and said 'those teeth will sell a million records,' and convinced him to re-org and rechristen the band. I don't know which of these songs were written back in the old days, but they've definitely got the country groove / swamp boogie thing going. Enjoy. Or don't. I don't care.

Ha!

I'll bet Joe is hungover today

A great day in college football yesterday. Boise State wins, Cincinnati wins a thriller, Texas wins, and most importantly, Florida loses and Tebow cries.

Catchy Friday

Whatabitch || Garage Sessions from Kurran and the Wolfnotes on Vimeo.

A different, Joe-friendly video (which for some reason will not embed properly) here

I will participate in meaningless online surveys

Get your votes in for the 29 best chalkboard gags in Simpsons history.

Are your toes tapping?

Mine are.

Too Much Joy, Indeed

Wait, major labels are evil and stupid?

Too Much Joy frontman Tim Quirk runs down his hilarious royalty statement. Right ... here.

(Courtesy of The A.V. Club.)

All Good Things...and this too...

My beloved Bobby Bowden (pictured above on the right), FSU coach for the last 34 years, winner of two national championships (including one perfect 12-0 season - suck it, Gators), and the 2nd winningest college coach of all time, has announced his retirement. The past few years have been lean ones for the Seminole win column, and many have been clamoring for him to go. I started going to FSU games during his second season, so as far as I have ever known, he IS FSU Football. It's a sad day, but hopefully the beginning of our return to greatness.

It's Funny Because It's True

The Hazards Of Flight

Okay, who here is Feeling The Post Thanksgiving blahs? This should do the trick.

The Hazards of Love

I found a used copy of The Decemberists CD from last Spring. There's a story developing throughout the album, which is a curious thing to find these days. It's not really grabbing me yet, but that may just be because it's more demanding than, say, a Ramones album. Fight Through Patiently and see what you think.

I Probably Shouldn't Watch...

but I can't help it. All signs point to my beloved Seminoles getting beaten like dogs by the Gators, but hopefully FSU will show up and make a game of it. Fortunately it's Jesus Tebow's last year so we wont' have to put up with him anymore. I am very much looking forward to a Florida/Texas championship game, though.

I'm Not Part of this System!

Andy Samberg - I Threw it On The Ground - watch more funny videos

Alright, if Jay Bastard is going to post muppets covering Queen, it must be time for an Andy Samberg video. I think these are about the only funny things left on SNL.

Happy Turkey Day

Shouldn't I be wearing a fez or something?

Nerdgasm

I'm not a huge Family Guy fan, but this might be funny.

Will You Do The Fandango?

I think this is relatively new ...

I Love Shit Like This

This is a scene from 2006's Children of Men. According to fxguide, the shot is a composite of London's Battersea power station and a bridge located over the M3 in Surry, but check out the Pink Floyd homage that you might have missed. Click to embiggen and look between the two chimneys on the right.

New album preview...

I've Found The Patience to upload roughs of all the new songs in the proposed running order. I'd dig some honest feedback regarding the running order. Songs are still fairly rough (and some are even missing some recent additions) but they're getting there. 'Off White Wedding' and 'Can't See You Anymore' now have horn sections and I recorded a new solo on 'Everything Was Fine' but these parts aren't on here yet. Jamie added some killer pedal steel and guitar to 'Natchez' and 'Heart's on a String' and blew my mind. Those parts are on here. Feedback people- and don't blow sunshine up my ass.

OK, I give up......where are all you assholes?

Report in please.

Cohen Live in London

Fresh off the show I saw in Durham, I thought I could interest you guys in this. Feel the Presence. Cohen's already excellent lyrics have taken on additional gravitas with age. This is pretty close to the show I saw, except that he played Famous Blue Raincoat and didn't play Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye.

Jarvis the Great

Interesting video here. A culture editor over at The Guardian.com was gushing about it and it does have a satisfying simplicity to it. Reminds me of David Byrne.

Hilarious AC/DC album review

From Popdose, a fantastic review of AC/DC in which song titles are translated for those who don't understand what the songs are about.

Tough

This is what Jay's daughter is going to be like when she grows up. I just know it.

Why no...

I didn't see Leonard Cohen in the last couple of days. Why would you ask such a stupid question?

Yup

I think I've Found The Passion for new music that I've been missing the last few months.

Moody Wednesday

Bastards, may I present The xx, a group of British 20 year olds. This song, "Crystalised," is the first single off their recent (August) debut album, which I predict I will be purchasing this evening.

Read reviews here, or visit the bands official site.

It's Good!

Finally caught this yesterday with the missus. Pretty funny as zombie movies go, and relatively scary as Woody Harrelson movies go. Good Sunday afternoon matinee material.

Anybody else seen it?

Teenage angst

I've never really gotten into Thom Yorke or Radiohead, but I must say I quite like this effort, which apparently is from the soundtrack to the latest Twilight movie, and is no worse off for that.

Might be interesting....

No U.S. release date yet.