Monthly Archives: May 2011

Black Lips, Music, Random

A Guide To Black Lips Singles/Non-Album Tunes

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In an interview with Rhapsody at South By Southwest 2011, Black Lips Joe and Jared said they have no intention of releasing an album full of their singles. Collecting them all PHYSICALLY could turn out to be quite the task. Digitally speaking, though, they are riding the cyber-wave (thanks to NuRaveBrainWave for the Singles Club!) so go out and get it.
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“Best Napkin I Ever Had” – 2010 – Very nonsensensical, it reminded me at first of “Fad” and “MIA,” which is a very good thing. This, along with “Before,” doesn’t sound like much of a precursor to Arabia Mountain, but for the one-off kind of thing this was, it was nice.

“Before You Judge Me” – 2010 – Sonically, this is truly a post-200 Million Thousand kind of song. Joe is the lead vocalist, there’s some noisy guitar licks and other lead guitar fun, but the rhythm section is strong and steady — amongst the “tightest” we’ve heard the guys to date.

“Disconnection” – 2009 – Musically somewhere between Good Bad Not Evil and 200 Million Thousand, this is what I would put in the categories of straight, fuzzy, and simple. It is principally sung by Joe Bradley, but features backing vocals by the others.

“99 Victs” – 2009 – Cole does his raspy yowls on this fast, lo-fi noisy punk tune. Sounds like it would’ve fit nicely on We Did Not Know.

“You Know” – 2009 – Vocal samples and twangy instrumentals. A fun random tune.

“Born To Be A Man” – 2009 – An ole rockabilly/country thing that’s both fun to listen to/attempt to sing along to.

“Leroy Faster” – 2008 – “I look like a raptor and I know crack kills Leroy Faster!” sing the boys on the chorus of this one, which was a most worthy b-side off their Bad Kids 7″. The verses are humorous (“Rollin’ up another fag, you take a hefty drag, it looks cool when you gag”) with drug references (of course) and the chorus is great.

“Hasabe” – 2008 – Spoken-word and yowling by Cole backed by a basic drum beat and a repetitive guitar riff.

“Italian Sexual Frustration” – 2007 – One of the fastest tunes these guys have in their repertoire, it sounds light years ahead of their first two albums (quality-wise) despite employing the same sounds and effects that they’ve done from the start.

“Wild Man” – 2007 – A passionate and fun as can possibly be cover of The Tamrons 1967 classic.

“Make It” – 2006 – “This is a country song” are the words often uttered by Ian St. Pe before the Lips break this out in show. As a non-album tune, this has had the staying power in their set because it’s such a loving number and best of all — Cole gets to solo.

“Stuck In My Mind” – 2005 – Recorded in 2000, this was the first song that Black Lips ever wrote. The bass line and the lead guitar twangs pack punches.

“Stoned” – 2005 – A hard-hitting punk tune that’s got many an explosion and outburst.

“In & Out” – 2005 – This is pure ROCK and ROLL from start to finish. Done right. Joe knows best.

“Robitussin” – 2004 – Never officially released, Bradford Cox discovered a cassette containing this under his bed in 2007. This was supposed to be on We Did Not. Sure sounds like it. “Please please one more sip! I just want to robo-trip! Mommy, mommy, I’m so sick…Robo-robo-robo-tussin!”

“The Ballad of Ray Marsh” – 2004 – Penned by Jack Hines, this was a part of the above cassette. This is Bradford’s favorite Black Lips tune. Pretty noisy and a lot like the Robitussin narrative.

“B52 Bomberboy” – 2002 – Lo-fi for sure, but recorded really well. It’s pretty amazing to me that a lot of the band’s earlier cuts like this one and their debut album, in particular, were recorded so well in comparison to We Did Not and Let It Bloom.

“Ain’t Comin’ Back” – 2002 – The best or at least one of the best out of the bunch that they first recorded in their way early years. Displays the incredible vocal harmonies and fantastic chord progressions that have defined Black Lips all these years.

Art, concert review, Music, pictures, Punk, reviews, Video, White Wires

Concert Review: White Wires, Big Big Bucks, Luau @ Starlab (4/29/11)

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Bands: Luau, Big Big Bucks, White Wires, Colleen Green
Location: The Starlab (Somerville, MA)
Date: Friday, April 29, 2011
Comments:

Act I– Luau: These fellas rocked pretty hard and had a lot of enthusiasm, I was definitely rockin to their set. At the same time, I wanted a bit more and if I see them again, hopefully I’ll see a longer set. I felt like they had an old school hardcore edge to them, maybe, maybe not, but not limited to just that. I was also amused by the in between song banter- funny stories of mushrooms tripping and why you shouldn’t watch Reservoir Dogs during such activities. I think we can all agree on that account.

Act II– Big Big Bucks: I saw these guys last year (almost exactly last year, matter of fact) opening for Uninhabitable Mansions. That was a decent show and so was this one. The Bucks follow a similar trend as Luau, playing loud, fast Punk. I thought they played a solid set, but I feel like if I was more familiar with their material I would enjoy more. Thus, I will have to check out their music at some point and give it its due. Overall, I thought they were slightly better this time around.

Act III– White Wires: Straight up, the White Wires were the band we came for and without a doubt it was worth it. The Wires’ played a great set of fun, beachy, Rock and Roll anthems that put me in a fanastic, summery mood. Some of my favorites included “Let’s Go to the Beach,” “Girly Girly Girly,” and “Ha Ha Holiday.” All of which seemed to garner a positive crowd response in the form of euphoirc, fun filled, light moshing, albeit a late arrival for said mosh pit. We were also treated to an entertaining interlude a la luau in which we learned about the great town of Mianus- apparently it’s pretty tight in Mianus! Overall, I enjoyed the set, especially Allie’s steady drumming; always looks like she’s having the most fun! Well everybody had tons of fun lol.

Act IV– Colleen Green: Sadly, we missed Colleen’s set :( but there is a link to her awesome music down below. Do yourself a favor and check it out. Can’t wait to see her live!

http://colleengreen.bandcamp.com/

Grade: 7/10- All in all, a fun night and pleasant first experience at the Starlab.

Lists, Music, Song of the Day

Spring Tunes [2011 Edition]

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Here are some songs that remind me of this time of the year, coming pretty late (compared to other years when I’ve done such a list in early March…blame it on the shitty weather!):

“PHOTOCORNERS” – Lovely Feathers – In general, Lovely Feathers early material (’04, ’05, ’06) is warm weather kind of stuff. Their bare-boned and oddly uplifting aesthetic gets the birds singing. The song “Pope John Paul” reminds me of Quebec; in fact, on a school trip there in 8th grade (six years ago, time flies) the Pope had just died two months prior and Chris and I were speculating on the implications of 666 – June 6, 2006. In 9th grade I wrote an essay about “Pope John Paul,” but I could have sworn I first heard the song in 2005, yet it came out in April 2006 so it had to have been then (on WMBR). Anyway, you might be wondering why I didn’t choose “Pope John Paul” as thee song for this little thing and the answer is I couldn’t’ find a decent YouTube video so you’ll have to settle for “Photocorners”.

“TWO WEEKS” – Grizzly Bear – Though not a huge huge fan of Veckatimest, I really enjoy this one off of it. It was joyfully overplayed over at WERS at the time of its release — spring 2009.

“PARIS 2004” – Peter Bjorn and John – A favorite of mine during the springs of 2008 and 2009, a commenter described it best (replace summer with spring): “This song reminds me of this summer..i would listen to it when i got up in the morning an i would look out the window and the sky was clear and with a couple of puffy clouds and the trees really really green.”

“We Used To Be Friends” – Dandy Warhols – I first heard this tune some years ago and then I heard it at my high school’s TV BBQ, which, from the time or two that I attended, had a playlist that was generally filled with catchy “indie-rock” such as this one.

“Someday” – The Strokes – MLB 2k8 was the mode of my discovery of this song. I was immediately hooked to it and in fact Is This It happens to be a mighty spring-time record

Psychology, Video

Sleep Paralysis, Crazy Shit!

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Does anybody else suffer from this? I sure do! It’s unpleasant, annoying, and sometimes downright horrifying. For those that don’t know sleep paralysis is basically when you are in the transition from sleep to fullly awaken; your mind is awake, but your body is still in sleep mode, therefore you cannot move, hence the “parlysis.” Share some experiences if you like in the comment section. Just today I felt like I was in the fetal position, felt like I was suffocated with music blaring in my ear. I could not move whatsoever and it went on longer than usual- about 10-15 minutes, at least it seemed. When I came to, I was sleeping on my back and no one was around, no music was playing. I get sleep paralysis at least a few times a month, often a few times a week. I have a mild version of it, some folks have to deal with a day to day (or night to night) trauma. Check it out.

Art, Band of the Week, Music, pictures, Punk, Video

Band of the Week: Colleen Green

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This week the pleasant pop hooks of Colleen Green grace the righthand side of our site reserved only for the coolest of cats. And this kitten is definitely not one to miss; Colleen plays fun, no bullshit, lo-fi Rock and Roll: a lone guitar, a drum machine, and an excellent voice. I’ve heard some make comparisons to the likes of Daniel Johnston and the Ramones and I can definitely see those comparisons, but I think she has more of her own thing going. People that come to mind as possible influences are The Vaselines or The Dum Dum Girls, at least I hear it in the vocals. In any case, the production is very much a DIY, minimalist sorta deal, but at the same time the songs are as welcoming as a Beach Boys number. My favorites are “I Wanna Be Degraded”- feels like a female Bobby Ubangi, which is so damn cool as well as “Oh Baby.” She also has recorded several kick ass covers from all over the spectrum from The Pixies (“Cactus”) to Blink 182 (“M+Ms”) to our guy Nobunny (“I Am a Girlfriend”). On top of all that, Colleen is labelmates with Honorary KLYAMers Hunx and His Punx (Hardly Art).

P.S. up until three days ago I had never heard of Colleen, but I met her at a show at the Starlab in Somerville, MA (she’s really nice!), of which a review will be up soon. Alas, I missed her performance :( but I will be sure to catch her again when she plays next.

Here’s some links:
http://colleengreen.bandcamp.com/

http://hardlyart.com/colleengreen.html