The ALL-era Descendents, now on tour.
I have been a rabid fan of Descendents for many, many years, but until I saw them headline Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin a month ago, I had always avoided their live releases. To be fair, when I was younger, I avoided most live releases. I liked the idea of having the record, and the live show – two separate entities. I think it was some sort of OCD thing. (more…)
4AD 2010
In 2008, Deerhunter released not one, but two of that year’s most revered albums. Only one was scheduled for release—Microcastle. But when it leaked to the internet, singer/songwriter Bradford Cox (also of Atlas Sound) decided to release an entirely different album to be included with retail versions. This new album was called Weird Era Continued. Though both are very different records, they have seen equal amounts of celebration in the indie rock community since their release, and not just because of the quality of the music itself. It was a move made by Cox to raise incentive to actually go out to a record store and buy a record, and whether or not it worked is a moot point. The intention was well-appreciated by music lovers everywhere.
With Halcyon Digest, Cox and his crew have made their anti-internet sentiments even more clear. (more…)
Matador 1999
3/13/10-3/15/10
Album of the Day: Pavement “Terror Twilight”
This has been on my turntable for the last three days. I just keep flipping from side to side. I bought the vinyl used at Love Garden years ago, back when it was still the old upstairs store. The near-mint copy was only six dollars. Nowadays, with vinyl being how popular it is, I bet “Terror Twilight” would go for at least double that amount. Hell, maybe even triple, what with their reunion tour coming up later this year. That is part of the reason I was listening to Pavement, actually—I just paid $54 for my GA ticket to the Uptown show on 9/11/10, and even though the show is still six whole months away, I feel myself getting more psyched for it all the time. I never got to see Pavement live. They are one of those bands that first turned me on to great rock music, and I came along just a little too late to actually witness them. (more…)
Polydor 1980
2/19/10
Album of the Day: The Jam Sound Affects
I bought this record on vinyl at Love Garden a couple months ago, and it remained on my turntable for about three weeks straight after that purchase. It is the first Jam record that has really reached out and grabbed me. I know they have a lot of great records—I really like “All Mod Cons” and “This Is the Modern World”, as each album is peppered with obvious classics. But as albums, they are not as cohesive and consistent as “Sound Affects”. “Start!”, “Pretty Green”, and “Monday” are an excellent example of the perfect set of opening songs. And the last two—“Boy About Town” and “Scrape Away”—are two of The Jam’s best songs ever. Lastly, the last song on side one, “That’s Entertainment!”, really hits home with me. It’s more or less about the entertainment industry and the amoral world within it. “They’ll kick you in the balls—I tell ya, that’s entertainment” sings Paul Weller. Isn’t it, though? I know you all watch Jackass! (more…)
11/18/09
Brendan Benson
Lots of cool stuff is happening here at the end of the year. This month alone, my band The Dead Girls has two amazing gigs—one we already played, which was this last Saturday opening for Brendan Benson at the Bottleneck. Here’s a video of us from that show performing “Don’t Change” by INXS.
the Dead Girls – “Don’t Change” (INXS cover) from Nick Spacek on Vimeo.
