Monthly Archives: May 2010
Apologies To J. Johnson Fans
I’m truly sorry. Please accept my apology. I will not be able to completely review Jack Johnson’s latest album To the Sea. I reviewed about 1/3 of it this morning, but then I realized that I must get rid of the album in order to listen to the Back From The Grave compilation. It had to be done.
Gay Humans Bones Music Video
Here’s the video that Glen linked to earlier by Justin Kelly. Might as well, just post it here lol. Notice the cameos! Speaking of which, I read somewhere that Hunx and Harlem will be touring together, what an excellent fusion.
Chris
Mnstrm Song Reviews
Call this a new feature of KLYAM. It probably won’t be something written regularly, but it will show up every now and then. Basically, I’m going to do short reviews of songs that are currently dominating the airwaves of local hip-hop machine JAMN 94.5.
Ludacris Ft. Nicki Minaj – “My Chick Bad” – Grade: B+ – Luda lude drops some sweet lines that deal with shit along the lines of cartoons, hard liquor, and Tiger Woods’ wife. The chorus is weak, yo’. It’s rap chorus writing 101. Minaj, like her boy Luda lude, does no self-censoring of herself. Fuck that. She unleashes some explicitly great lines — most impressive being the first words out of her mouth: “Now all these bitches want to be my bestie, but I leave them hanging like a testy.” That’s just amazing.
Usher Ft. Will-I-Am – “OMG” – Grade: C- – What the fuck is this shit? Seriously. A fake audience clapping alone to a shitty song? Repeats of “oh my God” and “oh my gosh”??? A completely average beat. The verses aren’t completely terrible thanks to some decent instruments. Even the hook to the bridge stands well on its own. Other than that, Will-I-Am and autotune kill this song. Kill in a bad way.
Rihanna – “Rude Boy” – Grade: B – This might be my favorite Rihanna song. There are some songs in her catalog that are absolutely terrible, some average, and that’s about it. This one doesn’t really feel like it has been done before. It sounds surprisingly original for a song of its nature. This does make for quite a club bangerrr. It took enough writers (six) to come up with this, but I’ll let that one slide for now.
Drake – “Over” – Grade: C – Simply stated this song is boring. Even the rapping isn’t anything spectacular. It seems like Drake is racing against a clock once he starts dropping lines.
The Man Behind The Vids
The man behind the Hunx and His Punx music videos is also the man behind Harlem’s “Gay Human Bones” video.
His name is Justin Kelly and there was feature in the San Francisco Bay Guardian on him.
Check it out: http://www.sfbg.com/2010/05/25/gay-outta-hunters-point?page=0,0
Rock and Roll 101
Here it is for your viewing as ordered by King Khan and XYZ.
Chris
Dean Spunt Punched :(
Dean Spunt, drummer/singer of KLYAM favorite band No Age, was recently socked in the face by club bouncers in Portugal. This according to Randy Randall, the other member of No Age. Two close friends of the band were also involved in this random act of violence. Dean is one of the nicest musicians I’ve gotten to meet. I can’t imagine anyone causing harm to such a great guy. From the looks of the pictures, it seems like his eyebrow got messed up pretty bad. No Age’s publicist said he is fine and of course we are all glad to hear that.
Head over to the No Age blog to see pictures.
Summertime Video
Summertime, soak up the sunshine with you!
Chris
I Don’t Control Time Zones
Once upon a time I was at a party and some gal mentioned Terry Gilliam and I told her my favorite Terry Gilliam film was Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998). She responded that it was “too mainstream,” a point I beg to differ, but regardless, I was taken back. I tend to pride myself on my love of relatively obscure and non mainstream artists (particularly in music). Now, let’s not mince ;) our words here, I do not base my tastes on how commercially successful or not a piece of music is. It’s simply not a factor. I listen to a song/album and if I like it I do, if I don’t, then I don’t. As simple as that. The mainstream just isn’t my bag and I have a hatred for much of it, there’s no reason I need to be associated with it, like Chomsky and Porn. With that being said, if we Klaymers, especially me, grew up in the 60s, we would be surfing safari on the mainstream. You would probably catch me crying my eyes out with all the ladies in the sea of Beatlemania. Now today, my favorites conist of 90-95% independent, underground artists and 5-10% heavy hitters in the mainstream. If we took Doc Brown’s Delorean for a spin and hit up 1967, it would be vice versa, and even my then unknown faves of that era like the Velvet Underground, were on the majors. Strange. The reason I find this peculiar is because I feel like the whole DIY, Punk ethic and aesthetic and what have you is something I highly value and is a big part of music/art for me. If I was a teen a few decades back I would have a totally different experience. In this respect, I am really glad I was born twenty years ago.
Anyone else’s mind wander like mine or do I just have too much time on my hands? lol
Chris
MCS “Cut Your Hair” Cover
Motion City Soundtrack covers Pavement
Very well done cover I’d say.
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 