Category > Now Hear This!
Perhaps it's simply the fact that I am older and a bit less cynical, but heavy music made with guitars seems to have become pretty terrible. I used to really enjoy it. Now, let me qualify that by stating that I probably don't know enough to really give an adequate estimation on the subject, but I hear lots of heavy music all the time — from super hardcore like Immolation to what fans of said band would call "pussy shit" …
Some film soundtracks have a way of defining a moment in modern times. Recently, Larry Gates of Curb Service showed us this truth by honoring one of the best soundtracks to a film at this Sunday's edition of The Great Cover Up: Pulp Fiction. Others to consider are A Hard Day's Night; Superfly; Easy Rider; The Graduate; Saturday NIght Fever; Fast Times at Ridgemont High; Top Gun; Dazed and Confused; Resevoir Dogs; Magnolia — the list could seriously go on …
With the holiday season officially in full swing, and Christmas music and Muzak being played from every speaker system in earshot, I thought it might be worth sharing this tune that I rediscovered over the Thanksgiving weekend. I love Peanuts as much as the next person; it’s as American as it gets and generally filled with decent tales or morality and humorous asides. The season calls for at least one, if not multiple, viewings of the famous A Charlie Brown …
Back in 2003, local Parasol-umbrella label Grand Theft Autumn rallied their friends and foes over the years to create a compilation album intriguingly titled Continue Reading… | Comments (2) 
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Near the end of my performing career, my band, Absinthe Blind, had the chance to open up for Starlight Mints at The Casbah in San Diego in August of 2003. Naturally, we did the chit chat thing with them upon arrival and following the show. It was learned soon thereafter that one of their members, Andy Nunez, also owned Opolis, an extremely hip all ages joint that does indie rock shows, in Norman, OK. He suggested that we hook up …
Around the turn of the century, Philadelphia was on drugs. Or so it seems any way. Evidence points to the huge uprising of bands that willfully gave themselves a “psychedelic” tag, culminating in the compilation and subsequent release of Continue Reading… | Comments (2) | Permalink
I like to think I’ve led a bit of a charmed life. I believe that we all think that to a certain degree; one can’t look ahead to each day without holding on to a few nuggets from the past that brought smiles to our faces. For me, it was stuff like winning a Little League Championship, catching a home run ball at Wrigley, opening for bands like Swervedriver and then, ten years later, booking tours for Adam Franklin (their …
Like most children, I gravitated to the things I was not allowed to pursue. For music, that meant at least two of every five songs that we heard on MTV. My folks, bless their hearts, simply didn’t want my young mind corrupted by the likes of artists like Twisted Sister, Dead or Alive, Duran Duran (their early stuff was basically softcore porn in a song) and the like. One such artist that my father freaked out about was XTC. Unfamiliar …
With summer waning, there are few things left to keep the warm sun firmly in place. For me, one of them is to keep listening to The Lassie Foundation’s split CD with Duraluxe, I Duel Sioux and the Ale of Saturn. I’d argue that the first five songs on this album qualify as the most depthful pop music to come out of the west coast in this decade. Those who had the pleasure to watch the band perform can attest …
After watching a poorly attended but completely incendiary performance by the upstate New York band Hopewell on Friday night, I was inspired to start digging out some of my other favorite Catskill Mountains musicians. One such performer goes by the name of Grasshopper, who is better known as a guitarist and songwriter of one of the world’s (arguably) most influential rock bands of the past twenty years: Mercury Rev. And while I’d love to post the whole of Deserter’s Songs …
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I was all set to pounce on this, but it’s the truth. There used to be bands in town I was afraid of, like I’d have a heart attack during their set. There are still some great bands, but they’re pretty and dainty and low in cholesterol. …
I will be at Danu this evening. And seeing as tomorrow - St. Pat’s - is my birthday, I will be celebrating with tons of green and fun!
Big Blue will actually be on 6-9, despite what is posted elsewhere. Then, hightail it over to Bentley’s!
Ahh - good point - I will plug them in the appropriate sections.
Yeeee! This sounds so fun! Any word on covers for any/all of these? Maybe SP could spring for punch cards and some discounts if we make it to all, eh?
...and given the lack of smiley emoticons i chose to employ, that reads far more sarcastically than i ever intended (my apologies). i actually find this to be a great article and an interesting discussion, seriously : )
Once it leaves the basement, it is then called what? hmmm…....could it be mainstream? accessible? appealing on a mass-level? POP??? Quickly it will become a fad, over-saturate the media, and piss people off. Then everyone can write articles based on how that shit sucks, too. chickens are…
In general, I think music is much more interesting now than in 1995. I definitely am very glad contemporary music has expanded beyond the four-piece rock lineup that dominated much of the 90’s. The point of the above isn’t so much about a sound or an instrument…
2010 is not 1995. I’m not sure why anyone would expect a music scene to remain stationary as the world of popular music moves around it. Also, today, making popular music with mainstream appeal and being innovative and cutting-edge are usually exact opposites.
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Awesome looking lineup… I’m excited. Another vote towards the Smoking Popes rocking out at the first Laughing Prairie Dog festival… it was a pretty good energy, and plenty of groups considering the cheap ticket. The rest all look pretty good for the ticket price as well. …
(Not to talk too much, but I would delight in being proven wrong. I hope that there are many vegan dishes, and next time I am there, I will ask the owner for dishes that are vegan that are offered and post them as a comment here,…
I understand the disclaimer, and I appreciate it, but given the title of the article, it would be nice to have more of a talk with the owner and less of a “to the best of my knowledge” thrown in the article as an aside, when vegan…
Nate, No offers to crash but I was wondering if you’d ever considered publishing the plans to your trailer. You might make a dollar or two especially after you go solar! Let me know if you do it. Sincerely, Don
Not sure if it’s been mentioned here, but they’ll also be playing the Old Rock House in St. Louis on May 22
Interesting about who owns land in the path of the Olympian Drive extension. My comment was in response to ‘Tony C’s remarks about the I-74 expansion. Just who owns land in the 150 [BloomingtonRd]-I-74 corridor?? Because the corridor is zoned for future use as Commercial/Industrial, I am…
(happy face)
Wow, great article. I wish you the best in your endeavors and hope you have a nice trip.
Um. Yeah — check out that “General Disclaimer” at the bottom of the article, folks.
As an adoptee, I can empathize—although I’m not an international adoptee, and I apologize if I’m assuming too much on the nature of your adoption. You can feel what you feel, but don’t be too hard on yourself. When I started a search for my birth family,…
I highly doubt a single dish is vegan at Bombay. Most Indian dishes use Ghee(essentially clarrified butter) as the base fat. While I guess they could make some dishes with canola oil, I would for sure ask the exact ingredients before I consumed if you are following a vegan diet.
You’re right! Every runner, in my opinion, is a real runner.
Congratulations on the AG place! In all of your accomplishments, don’t forget what it was like to think a mile was an impossible distance. Getting to the six-mile point takes a lot of training and preparation to acclimate the mind and musculature to so much pounding. Your…
Sounds like it!
I heading out on my 9 miler before my 10 hour work day right now. Do I have what it takes?
Nice, killer work pretty man…the channeled, one sided collaborated rhyming poem. An oft forgot genre. The ruckus was felt even here in my living room, which is normally a safe haven from ruckus.
wait, I was commenting on the wrong thing - sorry - he’s actually a gigantic sellout but who really knows what all this is about.
If the democrats didn’t have Kucinich, and the republicans didn’t have Ron Paul, where would both these parties really stand? These men actually mean what they say.
Joel, thank you for the opportunity to answer these questions and have them posted here. I really appreciate it! Yes, I was thrilled to see that Rep. Kucinich flipped today, so he will has committed to voting yes for health reform. I appreciated his comments which seem…
It appears to me that your reviewer did all that could be expected: she paid her money, saw the play and conveyed her impressions. The review (on the whole, laudatory) may have been rushed, in a generous attempt to publicize the production while it was still available…
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Awesome looking lineup… I’m excited. Another vote towards the Smoking Popes rocking out at the first Laughing Prairie Dog festival… it was a pretty good energy, and plenty of groups considering the cheap ticket. The rest all look pretty good for the ticket price as well. …