Music from My Mailbox
This month has probably been the most prolific month for me since I’ve started this blog. I’ve blasted out 20 posts (21 counting this one) and cleared out my mailbox three times. By my own low standards, that’s amazing. I think I deserve a vacation.
Items of note for you to note: Amanda Zelina makes a third appearance on these hallowed pages. This go ‘round, she has released an album of gritty blues under the name The Coppertone. It’s very much in the vein of the Dead Weather. I’ve liked everything I’ve heard from Amanda and this is no different.
When I opened the e-mail from These Guys and read all the typical raves, “These Guys are the second coming, blah, blah, blah,” I almost hit delete and just moved on. Instead, something made me click the link to watch the
video for “Pete’s Sweet Sixteen.” It is just auto-tuned, cross-dressing hilarity: “You’re like a sister to us, bro.” I can’t let you miss out on this.
In a similar vein are the Deli Boys, whose indictment of Sex & the City culture is neatly wrapped up in “P.R. Girls.”
And if you’re tuning in for some regular ol’ rock ‘n’ roll, try Shellshag, The Enthusiasts, or Tomorrow’s Tulips. You know I ain’t gonna steer ya wrong.
As always, follow the links for more information.
The Coppertone Blues / Rock / Soul
From: Ontario, Canada
Band
MySpaceNighttime Wishes.mp3
ThoughtRock / 2-Step / Funk
From: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Band
MySpaceEchka (I Like to Party).mp3 ShellshagPunk / Rock
From: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Band
MySpaceCrashing Rockets.mp3 PackFMHip-Hop / Rap
From: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Band
MySpaceI F*cking Hate Rappers.mp3 
These GuysRock / Comedy / Grunge
From: Los Angeles, Calif.
Band
WebsitePete’s Sweet Sixteen.mp3 The EnthusiastsGarage / Blues / Pop
From: Ardsley, N.Y.
Band
MySpaceIn the City.mp3
Hot Hot HeatIndie / Minimalist / Showtunes
From: Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Band
MySpaceZero Results.mp3
Moving CastlesIndie / Rock / Progressive
From: Tyler, Texas
Band
MySpaceWives (You’re Near Me Always).mp3 
The Deli BoysElectro / Crunk / Comedy
From: New York, N.Y.
Band
MySpaceP.R. Girls.mp3 Thank GodPunk / Experimental / Jam Band
From: Columbia, Atlanta, Charleston
Band
MySpaceIce Age.mp3 MonarquesPop
From: Portland, Ore.
Band
MySpaceAngel Eyes.mp3
Tomorrow’s TulipsMinimalist / Pop / Shoegaze
From: Costa Mesa, Calif.
Band
MyspaceEternally Teenage.mp3 ~~~~~
Pictures, top-to-bottom: The Coppertone, These Guys, The Deli BoysLabels: "alternative", blues, comedy, hip-hop, indie, rap, rock
R.I.P. Dennis Hopper, Gary Coleman, and Art Linkletter
It’s one of those weird coincidences that celebrity deaths seem to come in threes. Last year Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and Ed McMahon passed within two days of each other – Michael and Farrah on the same day. Now, over the past four days, we’ve lost Art Linkletter, Gary Coleman, and, today, Dennis Hopper.
Hopper, 74, died of prostate cancer; Coleman, 42, after suffering an intracranial hemorrhage; no specific cause has been given for Linkletter, who was 97 years old.
The idea that death comes is threes is an old superstition, extending to the idea that death in a family or community comes in threes and that bad luck in general comes in threes. A book titled
“How Did It Begin” explains that the superstition of three may have started with British troops in the Boer War who thought it bad luck to light three cigarettes from one match.
Some miscellaneous thoughts on the latest three stars:
Inverting a famous line of dialogue spoken by Peter Fonda in “Easy Rider,”
Manohla Dargis wrote of Dennis Hopper in
The New York Times:
Dennis Hopper – actor, filmmaker, photographer, art collector, world-class burnout, first-rate survivor – never blew it. Unlike the villains and freaks he has played over the decades – the psycho with the mommy complex in “Blue Velvet,” the mad bomber with the grudge in “Speed” – he has made it through the good, the bad and some spectacularly terrible times. He rode out the golden age of Hollywood by roaring into a new movie era with “Easy Rider.” He hung out with James Dean, played Elizabeth Taylor’s son, acted for Quentin Tarantino. He has been rich and infamous, lost and found, the next big thing, the last man standing.
~~~~~
Number One on
ChartAttack.com’s “Ten Reasons Gary Coleman Was Cool” list:
Coleman made cameo appearances in several music videos going back to the early '90s. Some notable ones include Raging Slab’s “Anywhere But Here,” Kid Rock’s “Cowboy,” and Moby’s “We Are All Made Of Stars.”
~~~~~
Art Linkletter’s biggest successes came mostly before my time, but I’m familiar with “Kids Say the Darndest Things,” the Bill Cosby-hosted TV series based on Linkletter’s books. Linkletter was also a passionate anti-drug activist – his daughter, Diane, jumped to her death in 1969, an act Linkletter said was caused by her LSD usage.
Today’s music is a seeming bizarre mix of things, but trust me when I tell you I will relate it all back to our topic: “Born to Be Wild,” of course, was made famous in Easy Rider; “Cowboy” I explained above. (That video is
here); “We Love You; Call Collect” is an appeal to an erring daughter to return home. Linkletter recorded the song with Diane, ironically, just a few months before her death.
Born to Be Wild.mp3 ~ Steppenwolf
Cowboy.mp3 ~ Kid Rock
We Love You; Call Collect.mp3 ~ Art and Diane Linkletter
Labels: classic rock, current events, hard rock, rap, Uncategorizable
NiN|Ja2009 sampler
I was pleased to check my email this morning and see some info on the upcoming Nine Inch Nails/Janes Addiction tour (otherwise known as NiN|Ja2009). The North American tour starts May 8, just up the road from me in West Palm Beach.
What was especially cool about getting notice on this was a link to download a six-song EP with new – or new versions – of music from the bands. Along with stuff from NiN and Janes are a couple of songs from Tom Morello’s new band Street Sweeper, who is also on the tour.
And if all of
that isn’t enough to make you crazy, at the
NiN Website you can also get tour info, media from each band, streaming music, and new multi-tracks for you to create your own remixes.
This tour looks to be one of the tastiest of the summer, so if you get a chance, definitely get there. Word from last Thursday’s SXSW appearance was that Janes Addiction (with the full original line-up) killed. Here’re the scheduled dates:
2009-05-08: West Palm Beach, FL; Cruzan Amphitheatre
2009-05-09: Tampa, FL; Ford Amphitheatre
2009-05-10: Atlanta, GA; Lakewood Amphitheatre
2009-05-12: Austin, TX; Frank Erwin Center
2009-05-14: Albuquerque, NM; Journal Pavilion
2009-05-15: Phoenix, AZ; Cricket Wireless Pavilion
2009-05-16: Chula Vista, CA; Cricket Wireless Amphitheater
2009-05-18: Las Vegas, NV; The Pearl
2009-05-20: Irvine, CA; Verizon Wireless Amphitheater – Irvine Meadows
2009-05-22: Mountain View, CA; Shoreline Amphitheatre
2009-05-24: George, WA; The Gorge Amphitheater
2009-05-26: Englewood, CO; Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
2009-05-27: Kansas City, MO; Starlight Theatre
2009-05-29: Chicago, IL; Charter One Pavilion
2009-05-30: Noblesville, IN; Verizon Wireless Music Center
2009-05-31: Clarkston, MI; DTE Energy Music Theatre
2009-06-02: Toronto, ON; Molson Amphitheatre
2009-06-03: Mansfield, MA; Comcast Center
2009-06-05: Camden, NJ; Susquehanna Bank Center
2009-06-06: Holmdel, NJ; PNC Bank Arts Center
2009-06-07: Wantagh, NY; Nikon at Jones Beach Music Theater
2009-06-09: Columbia, MD; Merriweather Post Pavilion
2009-06-10: Burgettstown, PA; Post-Gazette Pavilion
2009-06-12: Charlotte, NC; Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Clap for the Killers.mp3 ~ Street Sweeper
Whores (2009).mp3 ~ Janes Addiction
Not So Pretty Now.mp3 ~ Nine Inch Nails
Labels: industrial, rap, rock, upcoming shows
"How can one Chandra be so Levy"
I’m assuming most of you by now have heard that police are
close to charging someone in the unsolved murder eight years ago of Washington, D.C., intern Chandra Levy.
It’s a sad case and I’m glad the family will finally be able to get closure.
With that in mind, here goes my un-PC post of the month. How many of you remember Eminem’s 2002 album
The Eminem Show? How about the single, “Business”? Well, since the resurfacing this past week of Chandra Levy’s name, there’s a line from “Business” that is stuck in my head: “How can shit be so easy? / How can one Chandra be so Levy?”
It’s a tossed-off line that doesn’t seem to mean much, just getting attention in its timeliness: Levy’s body was found four days before
The Eminem Show’s U.S. release.
Just after the album’s release, a member at one discussion board (who admitted he has too much time on his hands) analyzed the line as such: “It could mean that, since her disappearance has been such a big deal, her ‘leaving’ could have been tweaked by Eminem (i.e.) ‘How could one Chandra be so ‘leav-y’,’ as in ‘how can one person cause such a commotion for disappearing, or be so allusive [
sic ]?’” As far as I know, Em himself never commented further on the lyric.
However you figure it, the song is what Eminem does/did best: A smooth flow, interesting rhymes, and a badass beat.
file removed Labels: current events, rap
Clear the Lane
Like usual, I’m a day or two late, but I just learned this morning that occasional Rage Against the Machine vocalist Zach de la Rocha has finally completed his debut solo album. He’s apparently not with a label right now and is deciding how best to distribute the as-yet-untitled disk.
Sources familiar with the album tell
Billboard “it features de la Rocha playing keyboards and that the sound is a hybrid of ‘Led Zeppelin and Dr. Dre. Some of it has the power you’d expect from him in Rage.’” The album will also feature former Mars Volta member Jon Theodore on drums.
De la Rocha has been working on this album since he left Rage in 2000. Over the past seven years, he has collaborated with such hip-hop stars as Chuck D, the Roots, and KRS-ONE, to name just a few. It's not known if any of those artists will appear on the upcoming album.
And, of course, there was the Rage reunion at Coachella earlier this year. The performance was initially thought to be a one-off, but that was cast into doubt following Chris Cornell's exit from Audioslave. Four more performances are planned as part of the Rock The Bells Festival with the Wu-Tang Clan. It was also recently announced that Rage Against the Machine would play at the
Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans this October.
I don’t have anything from the new Zach de la Rocha album (yet!), but I do have a couple of things you may not have heard. The first two come from a boot called
Keep It Zipped. For once, I’m gonna show some love for my source and tell you I found these songs at a blog called
Wake Your Daughter Up. If you check that blog, Travis has posted eight additional tracks.
The next two are Rage b-sides. “Darkness” is the b-side of “Killing in the Name,” and “Clear the Lane” the b-side of the “Vietnow” single.
The last track is an alternate version of “Bombtrack.” It’s labeled as acoustic, but that’s not strictly correct. I don’t really know where it came from, but I’ve had it for years. Actually, I’ve had it so long, it’s possible I got it from the
original Napster.
We Want it All.mp3 March of Death.mp3 Darkness.mp3 Clear the Lane.mp3 Bombtrack (alt version).mp3Labels: rap, rock
Call it a mélange, a pastiche, if you will
Once in awhile – not every day, but once in awhile – I’ll get an e-mail with some music attached. Sometimes it comes from a fan / friend of a band, other times from someone wanting to promote a band or album. Most of the music is pretty good and I’ll usually respond indicating my appreciation to them for taking the time to e-mail me. I also promise to write about the music as soon as I can.
If there’s anyone reading who has sent me music, you’re probably aware that I’m slow about getting to that. Believe it or don’t, there’s a reason for that!
While I like the music, sometimes it’s way different than what I usually post here. I end up putting it on the back burner, trying to think of a way to integrate it, and there it sits.
Instead of doing that, what I thought I might do instead is start an irregularly occurring feature where I can post about music different from what you usually get here. By doing that, I can, I hope, expand the horizons of a couple of my readers, and keep myself from looking like such an ungrateful ass when people send me stuff!
~~~~
First up is the person I’ve been putting off the longest: Tago Mago, about which I know nothing other than he/she/they periodically put out remix EPs. Their site is
here, with plenty of downloads and other stuff. This remix of Outkast’s “Ms. Jackson” is from the Tago Mago EP
My Quiet Corner to Reflect.
Ms. Jackson (remix).mp3 ~~~~
While we’re on the subject of remixes, DJ Chris Cox took
The Politik's self-titled debut and remixed it into a 13-minute version. I guess that’s for busy people who don’t have time to listen to an entire CD. Actually,
BlogCritics wrote that the album is “destined to be a DJ favorite and ultra hip music fan’s prized possession” and that it contains “some of the most beautiful music that you may not have heard, unless you’re really up on your shit.”
Politik Mix Tape.mp3 ~~~~
Headway is a band from Nottingham, England. A reader who shares a hometown with the band clued me into them. They’ve been together more or less since 2003. Their debut EP is scheduled for a Sept. 18 release. There’s a long list of influences on Headway’s
MySpace space, from Nine Inch Nails to Stevie Wonder. They describe their sound as “elegant piano mixed with a driving rhythm section and swooping rock guitars.”
Safety.mp3 ~~~~
This Is Somewhere, the third album from Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, just came out Aug. 7 on Hollywood Records. The band is from Vermont and are slowly working their way up to the big time with recent spots on Jay Leno and Craig Ferguson’s shows. In October, they’ll go on tour with Gov’t Mule. I’m also seeing and hearing a buzz around the blogosphere, so keep your ears open for these guys. Tour information and stuff is on the
Grace Potter site. They’re actually coming to South Florida in early 2008, so I will need to pencil that into my date book.
Ah, Mary.mp3 ~~~~
Now that I have someplace to put it, if you are somehow associated with a band or just want to share their music with me, drop me an e-mail at e0a8198 at yahoo dot com.
Labels: indie, new stuff, rap, remix
This month has probably been the most prolific month for me since I’ve started this blog. I’ve blasted out 20 posts (21 counting this one) and cleared out my mailbox three times. By my own low standards, that’s amazing. I think I deserve a vacation. 
The Coppertone 
These Guys
The Deli Boys
