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MUSIC

Another very cartoony album review

MUSIC

A very cartoony show review: Santa Feb. 5, 2009

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MUSIC

A Very Cartoony Album Review

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MUSIC

A Change is Gonna Come

I was watching the Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial a couple days ago on HBO.com.  Though my internet doesn’t seem to allow “moving pictures,” the audio came in fine and I was able to hear a stirring Denzel Washington speech and a solid acoustic version of “The Rising” sung by Bruce Springsteen and a backup gospel choir. Things got interesting, however, when the band struck up “A Change is Gonna Come.” Soul Singer, Betty LaVette, strutted out and …

MUSIC

Our Year in Lists

It’s that time of year again — the end of it. With only a couple weeks left until 2009 takes over, there’s nothing left to do but reflect on the year that was. Oh, and to take whatever happened in the past 11-plus months and compile it all in various numbered lists. Be it the best dressed or biggest news items of ‘08, there is a list or Yahoo! News photo slide show available to capture it. The most prevalent, …

MUSIC

And the Nominees Are…

Winning awards is easy. Name an award. An Oscar for best picture, you say? If you want to be taken seriously, you’ve got to give your movie a one word title. Titanic, Gladiator, Braveheart and Chicago all did it. Nominees like Traffic, Babel and Chocolat all had the right idea. If you want people to see your film as important, get Paul Haggis to write horribly memorable lines like “Girlie, tough ain’t enough” from Million Dollar Baby, or “I’m the …

MUSIC

Now That’s What I Call a Compilation CD!

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What were you doing ten years ago? I was an 11 year old wearing a “repeat three-peat” Chicago Bulls t-shirt while listening to the Godzilla soundtrack on repeat. From Puff Daddy rapping to Zeppelin to The Wallflowers covering David Bowie, the soundtrack of the 1998 monster movie remake was excellent in so many ways. That pop music collection, however, couldn’t compete with another compilation released that year, NOW That’s What I Call Music. The NOW series debuted in the United …

MUSIC

Puddle of Mudd vs. Plain White T’s

How is it that two bands that sound so very different can completely suck in equal amounts? One band is from the shiny happy suburbs of Chicago, the other is from decidedly less shiny Kansas City. One band’s name conjures images of filth while the other’s name makes one think of a Tide commercial. One band uses heavy distortion to make their power-chord driven songs sound interesting, and the other uses heavily auto-tuned vocal harmonies to make their power chord-driven …

MUSIC

It’s Time to Pay the Price

A couple years ago I had the opportunity to see one of my favorite bands, Saturday Looks Good to Me, at the Canopy. Their modern take on 1950s pop served a lot of great purposes as a high schooler and I was really excited to see them as a freshman in college. Unfortunately, their set was disappointing. The beauty of SLGTM was their boy-girl harmonies, their use of horns and bells, the aesthetic created by drowning all their songs in …

MUSIC

Let’s Be Honest

Will Sheff, songwriter and frontman for Austin’s Okkervil River, can see two sides of the coin. Before he took on Okkervil duties as a full time endeavor, he was also a music critic. Still, he often writes songs from a journalistically objective view and the music is clearly examined and perfected before it’s put on a record. But how does that affect his view of his own music? Does that affect the songs he writes? Does he think he tried …

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Most Recent Music Comments

{username}

Thanks for the article, Ben.  I was not familiar with this band until now and even though I won’t be able to attend the show on Friday they are now on my radar.  A *good* jam band is hard to find, and these folks appear to fill…

{username}

Nice article, love the Dead quote in the beginning. If they can get down here to Central FL I’ll definitely be heading out to the show. Some of my friends have finally stopped wincing when I say “jam band.“ I’ve now tried my best at more descriptive…

Ben Valocchi avatar

good call on that Herring recording, Josh. Love that version of Exit Music….here’s a clip of the Cinco de Mayo show (from about six months prior). As I recall, this Shakedown went on for roughly a half hour, while getting into the Trampled Underfoot jam in the…

{username}

sux

{username}

whats a zmick?

{username}

Here is a link to download the aformentioned 2007 show at Red Herring, a true gem from the early Zmick archive, again recorded by Ben Valocchi: http://www.archive.org/details/zmick2007-11-02.logitech

{username}

My biggest concern is that the free Caribou show at the Krannert is now not at the Krannert and no longer free. But then, I guess if that’s my biggest concern, then I’m doing pretty well—at least I still have potable water! Still, I would prefer it…

{username}

Who’s got the crack?

JPSherrill avatar

Any band that makes the effort to pay homage to ! = Metallica @ = Beatles # = 2pac $ = Moldy Peaches % = Grateful Dead ^ = Dave Clark 5 All in one show!  (with Herb Alpert interpolations to boot) That’s what tasty jams is all about  

{username}

THE CAKE IS A LIE

Most Recent Comments

{username}

Illinois has simply had no luck at all in these Mizzou games. None. I think maybe we’re do for a couple of bounces to go our way. If we get one or two (or sever or eight) breaks, I think it’s a win. 

Dan Schreiber avatar

Jason, Savoy could easily join the CPL tax district, which is probably closer to most Savoy residents than the Tolono library is.  But my impression is that Savoy residents as a whole don’t want to pay the cost of the CPL (Tolono’s library taxes are cheaper), even…

{username}

Sorry, but I am lagging behind on updates to the map. Also, some construction projects were delayed from their original start date. On a more positive note, I am putting together a map of haunted houses in Central Illinois. I have a few plotted already, and I…

{username}

I’ve never gotten the privilege of all the services CPL cardholders get.  I just want to be able to go out of my way to drive to the CPL to check out books, pay fines, maybe buy some coffee, and enjoy the library.  None of those activities…

{username}

These days, there is more to using a library than checking out books. At one time, paying into the Lincoln Trails system probably would cover the expenses incurred by other libraries in the system. Now, with Internet, videos, coffee shops, wireless Internet hubs, etc., I suspect the…

{username}

(speaking as a Savoy resident)  By paying taxes to support a member of the LTLS, we are paying our “fair share” to use any LTLS library—Tolono, Champaign, Urbana, etc.  This is how library systems work.  The 6% of CPL’s circulation represented by Tolono users is NOT significant…

Rob McColley avatar

I read Timbo’s argument. I think the key word is “speculating.“

{username}

I would be interested to hear more about the “word on the street”—how are individual hauling companies fulfilling their promise to recycle?

{username}

Timbo makes a smart, sound argument. Reread it.

emma reaux avatar

I joined on 09-09-09 after living here over a year, and having to listen to my dad tell me how his best friend is, like, #27 or something crazy like that, and how said friend never lived further than 50 feet from the Illini Inn while going…

Dan Schreiber avatar

And, I might add, no one is being prevented from using the Champaign library. They are just being asked to pay their fair share if they are going to use it as their primary library.

Dan Schreiber avatar

The equation is pretty simple here. If you want social services, then pay the taxes required to run those social services. These things only work if everyone puts in their fair share. As a heavy user of the Champaign Library, I say bravo to this new policy.

Timbo avatar

Curtis Orchard is always good for an hour or three, especially if you have rugrats.

Timbo avatar

What is the increased marginal cost of serving a resident of Savoy or Mahomet? I suspect negligible. What is the increased revenue to be realized by this new policy? I suspect very little. Aside from these financial aspects, what are the most probable results from this new…

{username}

Looks like you are also all members of the killer sideburns club.

{username}

Thanks for the article, Ben.  I was not familiar with this band until now and even though I won’t be able to attend the show on Friday they are now on my radar.  A *good* jam band is hard to find, and these folks appear to fill…

{username}

Nice article, love the Dead quote in the beginning. If they can get down here to Central FL I’ll definitely be heading out to the show. Some of my friends have finally stopped wincing when I say “jam band.“ I’ve now tried my best at more descriptive…

Joel Gillespie avatar

@Annie: Yeah, my bad. That was the best part! Drinking + memory exercises = fun @Rob: According to Ask the English Teacher, “My dictionary says ‘drunk’ is an archaic past tense of ‘drink.‘“ We’re all about the new grammar around here.

Tracy Nectoux avatar

Katie, have the residents of Savoy and Tolono thought about having their taxes raised a little to help their public library expand? That’s a possibility for them. And then everybody wins.

Ben Valocchi avatar

good call on that Herring recording, Josh. Love that version of Exit Music….here’s a clip of the Cinco de Mayo show (from about six months prior). As I recall, this Shakedown went on for roughly a half hour, while getting into the Trampled Underfoot jam in the…

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