All posts by G. Gordon Gritty

CD Review, Entertainment, Music, Uncategorized

CD Review: Forgiveness Rock Record [2010]

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Band: Broken Social Scene
Release: 5/2010
Label: Arts & Crafts

1. “World Sick” – A-
2. “Chase Scene” – C+
3. “Texico Bitches” – A
4. “Forced to Love” – B
5. “All to All” – B
6. “Art House Director” –B+
7. “Highway Slip Jam” – B
8. “Ungrateful Little Father” – B+
9. “Meet Me in the Basement” – B-
10. “Sentimental X’s” – B+
11. “Sweetest Kill” – B
12. “Romance to the Grave” – B
13. “Water in Hell” – B-
14. “Me and My Hand” – B

Comments: I’ve always heard about Broken Social Scene, but I’ve never given them a proper listen. “World Sick” is a solid foray into the band’s discography. It’s one of those under-the-radar epic songs, similar to a Dan Boeckner-led Wolf Parade jam. “Texico Bitches” has an awesome rhythm, personally reminiscent of Uninhabitable Mansions. Another thing…I would be a little shocked if Here We Go Magic wasn’t at least a little inspired by these guys. And another thing: the band’s tempo is little bit slow or else a lot of these B/B+ tunes would be A-/A range. It makes them a bit forgettable.

Grade: B (85)

Entertainment, Food, humor, Music, Random

An Ode To Sonny Bryans

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Arish loves his Sonny Bryans!

For a good chunk of us living in the US of A, we will never get to experience Sonny Bryans. I never heard of it until two minutes ago. But but but but but. King Khan enjoys the restaurant so much that he wrote a little song available for listen on the Shrines Myspace page. Here: http://www.myspace.com/kingkhantheshrines

Chris will definitely listen to it because Khan name-drops Mumia Abu-Jamal.

“Sonny Bryan’s Barbecue
Burning hot in my gullet
Makes me want to shave my mullet
Sonny Bryan’s Barbecue
Free ribs, free cole slaw, free Mumia Abu-Jamal!
Sonny Bryan, friend of Kobe Bryant
Missed and loved by us all.”

Entertainment, Music, TV, Video

Walkmen On Thee Oh See

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Sorry for the misspelling. I meant The O.C. I think I might have posted about this before, but I was never able to find footage on YouTube.

Go to 4:38 to see the first song and then 8:00 to hear the second. Side note: I’d love to kiss a chick during “What’s In It For Me.” Lucky bastard.

Little House of Savages (live version) The Walkmen At The Bait Shop, The Walkmen perform on camera as Seth works the door while Summer arrives.
What’s In It For Me (live version) The Walkmen At The Bait Shop, The Walkmen perform on camera as Seth admits to Summer why he got the job at the Bait Shop, then he kisses her.

Here is what lead singer Hamilton Leithauser had to say:

Singer Hamilton Leithauser enjoyed his experience filming the show, though he felt that the staged enthusiasm for the band was a bit much. “There were maybe two hundred extras on the set pretending to just love us, and I had to sing along with the music, and of course everyone else is fake playing — they’re not even plugged in,” Leithauser said. “So it was really an awkward scene for me, but I think you’re just supposed to stand there and look cool anyhow, so I just tried to do that.”

Leithauser, who was surprised the show allowed the Walkmen to play two songs, sees television performances as a solid, if ephemeral, means of promotion. “I don’t think we’ll gain fans,” Leithauser said. “I think people will buy the record though. I think a lot of people bought the record after we were on Dave Letterman and Conan, but I don’t think you can really gain actual fans who are going to really care about the band through such a mass-market thing.”

——

Just look at the fans, nobody goes that nuts over the Walkmen at shows. It’s like they are seeing Metallica or some shit hahaha.

Entertainment, Music

A-L Recommendations

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These are sort off-beat recommendations from bands you may or may not have heard of. Basically, these are songs that are in my library, but I hardly ever listen to them.

A – Abe Vigoda – “Hyacinth Girls”
B – Big Japan – “Life Saver”
C – The Cribs – “Men’s Needs”
D – Down AKA Kilo – “Lean Like A Cholo”
E – El Guincho – “Palmitos Park”
F – Fuck Buttons – “Sweet Love For Planet Earth”
G – Growlers – “Swallowed Whole”
H – Her Space Holiday – “Tech Romance”
I – Inner Circle – “Sweat”
J – Jesus and Mary Chain – “The Hardest Walk”
K – Kraftwerk – “The Model”
L – Last Shadow Puppets – “I Don’t Like You Anymore”

7" Review, Entertainment, Music

Classic Review: Tour Split

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Bands: Jay Reatard/Thee Oh Sees
Release: 2009
Label: Shattered Records

1. “Telephone Network Voltage” – A-
2. “Blank Blogs” – C-
3. “7484” – C+
4. “Castiatic Tackle” – C

Comments: “Telephone Network Voltage” erm…”Hiding Hole.” I’m not quite sure when “Telephone” was composed, but it seems like a “Hiding Hole” demo. The lyrics are a little different and this version is particularly distorted and lo-fi. This version also features an extended guitar solo. It’s pretty good, but I think I prefer “Hiding Hole.” “Blank Blogs” isn’t a demo or an alternative version of a Jay song, it’s merely an exhausting instrumental. C’mon, guy! Thee Oh Sees sort of pick things up where “Blank Blogs” left off with an extremely lo-fi horror inspired instrumental/spoken-word piece. There is some degree of catchiness in the mess…not much though. All right, all right, all right. This is a pretty lame split.

Grade: C+ (78)

Art, Entertainment, Music

KK+BBQ To Play Vivid LIVE

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What is Vivid LIVE?
Vivid LIVE is an artist curated festival, created and produced by Sydney Opera House. The 2010 Festival is led by two of America’s most influential artists – Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson. Together they have assembled a program of music, theatre and visual art which offers bold visions of contemporary American life and celebrates fearless innovation and ambition.

King Khan and BBQ Show Description:
Punk, soul, garage-rock, doo-wop, noise, country and free jazz all get thrown into their pop culture blender. What emerges is a seamless new synthesis that finds a place on the base of your spine and crawls its way up, slowly.

Lock up your daughters, your pets and your plush toys, lest they fall victim to the ravages of these bad boys of rock. Not all Canadians are nice…

Details:
3 JUN
THE STUDIO
$35*/$30*

concert review, Entertainment, Lists, Music

Top Concert Experiences

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Updated to include all the recent shows:

Keyword is “Experiences,” which takes slightly more into account how fun the show was than how awesome the bands were. Quality of opening bands are considered as well.

The Best
1. March 2010 – Black Lips/Box Elders/Movers+Shakers – Grade: A+
2. March 2009 – Black Lips/Gentleman Jesse & His Men/Mean Creek – Grade: A+
3. May 2009 – King Khan & The Shrines/Mark Sultan/Homosexuals – Grade: A+
4. October 2009 – KK+BBQ/Dum Dum Girls/Downbeat 5 – Grade: A+
5. April 2009 – No Age/The Beets/Lemonade – Grade: A+
6. October 2009 – Jay Reatard/Nobunny/Hunx and His Punx/Box Elders/Useless Eaters – Grade: A+
7. September 2009 – Walkmen/Here We Go Magic/The Dig – Grade: A+

Amazing
8. December 2009 – Arctic Monkeys/Screaming Females – Grade: A
9. August 2008 – Radiohead/Grizzly Bear – Grade: A
10. November 2009 – Pixies/Jay Reatard – Grade: A
11. November 2009 – Sonic Youth/The Feelies – Grade: A
12. February 2010 – Editors/Antlers/Dig – Grade: A
13. March 2010 – Spoon/Deerhunter/Strange Boys – Grade: A
14. September 2009 – The Rifles/Mike Fiore – Grade: A
15. August 2009 – Arctic Monkeys/Modey Lemon – Grade: A
16. May 2009 – Animal Collective/Grouper – Grade: A
17. September 2009 – Pains of Being Pure At Heart/Depreciation Guild/Cymbals Eat Guitars – Grade: A
18. July 2009 – Head Automatica/Cubic Zarconia – Great: A
19. July 2009 – Handsome Furs/Dri/Cinnamon Band – Grade: A
20. November 2008 – No Age/Soft Circle/Silk Flowers – Grade: A

Great
21. January 2008 – Editors/Hot Hot Heat/Louis XIV – Grade: A-
22. June 2009 – Sunset Rubdown/Elfin Saddle/Witchies – Grade: A-
23. April 2010 – Girls/Dum Dum Girls/Leisure – Grade: A-
24. July 2008 – No Age/High Places/Abe Vigoda/Ppalmm – Grade: A-
25. April 2010 – Harlem/Tulsa/Girlfriends – Grade: A-
26. October 2009 – KK+BBQ/Dum Dum Girls – Grade: A-
27. March 2010 – Beach House/Bacherlorette – Grade: A-

Very Good
28. October 2008 – Built To Spill/Dinosaur Jr/Meat Puppets – Grade: B+
29. February 2010 – The Growlers/Married Men/Forest Fire – Grade: B+
30. August 2009 – Warlocks/Morning After Girls/Vandelles – Grade: B+
31. July 2009 – Jay Reatard/TV Smith/Pretty & Nice – Grade: B+
32. September 2009 – Wavves/Ganglians/Many Mansions – Grade: B+

Good
33. March 2010 – Vivian Girls/Male Bonding/You Can Be A Wesley- Grade: B
34. January 2010 – Mission of Burma/The Konks – Grade: B
35. October 2009 – Rural Alberta Advantage/Lovely Feathers/Arletta – Grade: B
36. September 2008 – Paul Weller/Rifles – Grade: B
37. July 2009 – Trevor Hall – Grade: B
38. January 2009 – Mission of Burma/Neighborhoods/Faces on Film – Grade: B

Pretty Good
39. October 2007 – Morrissey/Kristeen Young – Grade: B-
40. March 2009 – War on Drugs/The Drones/Tsui – Grade: B-

All Right!
41. July 2007 – Psychedelic Furs/Alarm/Fixx – Grade: C+
42. August 2007 – Weird Al Yankovic – Grade: C+
43. September 2007 – Bob Dylan/Elvis Costello/Amos Lee – Grade: C+

Too Long Ago To Remember
44. July 2000 – B-52s/ – Grade: N/A

Glen Maganzini