Category Archives: Music

Art, Film Review, Films, history, Music, pictures, reviews, Video

Mini Classic Film Reviews:Born on the Fourth of July…

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Full Title: Born On the Fourth of July
Director: Oliver Stone
Year: 1989
Comments: This is one of greatest American stories ever told and one that needs to be heard. I think anyone that is considering joining the military should see this film or read the novel by Ron Kovic, which it is based on. Ronnie is easily one of the most admirable figures in American history. From start to finish he demonstrates immense courage; whether it is his unflinching attitude to immediately volunteer for the Marines, his tremendous bravery on the battlefield in Vietnam, his continuing determination (even after being paralyzed) to fight for his country whilst suffering in a horribly unfunded veterans’ hospital, to his new found awareness of the evil of government and war and his resulting militance as peace/anti-war activist/author/public speaker. I am always inspired by his character, even when I am incredibly frusturated by his ignorance and the way he blindly obeys the call to action to “Stop Communism.” The fact that he was able to stand up and take charge against the system that robbed him of so much (his ability to walk, his ability to reproduce, his faith in humanity, etc.) is remarkable. I love the way director, Oliver Stone, himself a Vietnam Vet, paints this wonderful picture of Americanism and tells the story of twentieth centruy America through Ron’s tale. Sometimes, especially at the beginning, it is kind of cheesy and cliched, but it works really well here, like it adds this made for TV movie feel to it that in many ways fits the ridiculous nature of American society as a whole. Kids had watched their fathers and grandfathers fight in “noble” wars and so when Vietnam came about, now it was their time to take up the arms and defend their country. Then they find out it was (and still is) all a lie- everything they were taught was a lie. Long live brave people like Ron Kovic, who can make such 180 turns after being so invested in the opposing side.
Grade: A-

Full Title: Malcolm X
Director: Spike Lee
Year: 1992
Comments: I CHARGE THE WHITE MAN FOR MAKING TOO MANY TERRIBLE MOVIES. I CHARGE THE WHITE MAN FOR BEING THE GREATEST PERVAYOR OF HORRIBLE TELEVISION PROGRAMS, OF BEING THE FAKEST SWINE TO WALK THE EARTH. Thank God, we have Spike Lee, an excellent Black filmmaker, and certainly this is one of his finest films. I would go as far as to say this is the best biopic to grace the silver screen, the model for all other biopics. Like Ron Kovic (except so much more), Malcolm X’s story needs to be heard. I would recommend y’all read The Autobiography of Malcolm as Told to Alex Healey (1965) as seen in the Recommend Reading section of this site before you watch this flick, but if you’re a little whiny bitch and you do not like to read or do not have the time then at least view this exceptional film. Malcolm’s story is the black man’s experience in AmeriKKKa. This is what makes him such a crucial figure, we see him rise through the shadows and darkness and into the light through prison. His militance transformed a whole generation of black people into liberators, truly emancipating themselves from their white oppressors. Now, I in absolutely no way can relate to that, but privileged (white) people, such as myself, can learn many lessons from the Minister’s teachings. He took everything and turned it upside down- whatever the white man said he sliced deep into and ripped out what lay beneath. One can do this with anything; take white man and insert government (though that’s basically the same thing) and peel slowly and see :) Denzel Washington steals the show as the title role and I love the way Lee moves beyond a simple “Malcolm X died on…. He was influential…” instead he provides one of the most heartfelt closers in the history of cinema: we see images of the real Malcolm and how he affected the world from the time of his death till present (then 1992) over Ossie Davis giving him his eulogy (if I am not mistaken). A powerful film for all to see.
Grade : A

Full Title: Walk the Line
Director: James Mangold
Year: 2005
Comments: What else can be said about the Man in Black that hasn’t been said over and over again. This film does a great job of capturing the early Rock and Roll/Sun Records Memphis music scene. Here we see Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and Carl Perkins. Great performances from Joaquin Phoenix (Johnny Cash) and Reese Witherspoon (June Carter); I appreciate the fact that both of them did their own vocals as well. We see Johnny go through hell and back and at times he is not that wonderful guy we know and love, but that is precisely what makes him who he is. He knows the plight of the worker, the misery of the drug addict, and (to a much lesser extent) the frusturation of the prisoner. He represents and brings out the best in all of us. He is our American Badass- no matter what political, social, relgious group you belong to.
Grade: A/A-

Art, Music, Pains of Being Pure At Heart, pictures

The Pains of Not Being Able to See a Favorite Band

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The Pains of Being Pure At Heart will be playing tonight at the Paradise Rock Club and unfortunately I will not be in attendance, but I highly recommend this show to all because they are one of my favorite bands right now. I might see Louis C.K. at my school (UMass Lowell); it’s not a substitute, but it will do.

Art, CD Review, Honorary KLAYMERS, Music, pictures, Punk, reviews, Video

Album Review: Maine Coons-Maine Coons

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Artist: The Maine Coons
Full Title: Maine Coons
Year: 2010
Label: Spent Planet

Tracks:
1) My Kinda Luv- 9
2) I Am a Motherfucker- 9/10
3) Hey Dickhead- 9
4) Ghetto Queen- 9
5) Pull the Plug On Grandma- 9
6) Hologram (Urinals)- 7
7) Uniform Choice- 8
8) Tired and Unispired- 8/9
9) Fast and Easy Livin’- 7/8
10) Can’t Follow Thru- 7/8

Comments: This is good jerkin off music. Yeah, I said it. I figured the nature of this band fit such a description. This is truly slimy Punk Slime right here, guerrila pop art at its finest. The first five tracks serve as instantaneous catchy classics. With very little effort they seap into yer psyche and crawl around for a while. Just fast, punk ditties with that gorgeous garage rockin’/ early Black Lips/King Khan & BBQ underbelly. This album has an incredible beginning, like nothing else I have seen in a while. Rarely, does an artist hit me with a ton of bricks like these guys- from “My Kinda Luv” to “Pull the Plug On Grandma,” I’m totally hooked. I love the direct vulgarity of tracks like “I Am a Motherfucker” and “Hey Dickhead,” where fans of Garage Punk, so to speak, will find themselves chanting the lyrics everytime it blasts thru their speakers. Alas, after “Pull the Plug” I am somewhat severed from the initial appeal.”Hologram” is okay, but feels more like a filler track. “Uniform Choice” and “Tired and Uninspired” are really good songs and definitely save the second half of the album from spoiling the whole LP. The last two tracks are not terrible, but simply do not cut it, at least for my money. Overall, this is a fun, invigorating, and at times fantastic record that needs to gain more recognition. Musically, I am always fascinated by the sparse production, which is relatively easy on the ears and that is not a bad thing; the simplicity of just vocals, keyboards, guitars, percussion. Two guys run this show- one on vocals/keyboards while the other bro plinks his gee tar, commands the drums a la Mark Sultan (with his feet) and shares vocals duties with his comrade. Lastly, I missed some of my favorite MC songs in “How Long Is It Going to Take For You to Find God” and “Inside You,” both of which do not appear here and I think should have replaced some of the weaker numbers. Ohh well, if you like immediate pop hooks in the vain of Black Lips, Jay Reatard, King Khan BBQ, Box Elders, Harlem, and others usually featured on this site, then I am positive you will enjoy this motherfucker. Without a doubt, the Maine Coons are amongst my new favorite bands and I hope to see them live again soon. Peace out, I gotta go kill some dickheads and then piss on their graves.

Grade: A-

Concer t Review, concert review, Music, reviews, Tours, Uncategorized

An Evening With Greg Dulli- Concert Review-Brattle Theater

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Yesterday was the moment I have been waiting for quite a while for a chance to see Greg Dulli live in concert, and even though it was an accoustic show, its a chance I have been waitng for since I first heard the Afghan Whigs 6 years ago (I was late to the party, I know)

Opening Act: Craig Wedren from Shudder to Think

Anyway doors were supposed to open at 7:00, they actually opened at around 7:20. First let me just say although the Brattle theater seems like an odd choice for a venue, for this show it worked at least, it was intimate, the sound was great, and everyone had a good view of the stage (which probably couldn’t hold more then 3 people). The opening act Craig Wedren ex lead singer (or current he didn’t seem that sure himself) of the band Shudder to Think. His set consisted of him with a guitar and a few pedals which he used masterfully. It was an experience in minimalism, and he really seemed to enjoy being on stage, all musicians do but he really seemed to relish the opportunity. I wasn’t familiar with his solo work or his work with Shudder to Think, but what I heard I liked, he defiantly falls into the singer-songwriter category of music, in fact for one Shudder to Think song he said here is the song ‘drastically reinterpreted’ and I got the feeling it was reinterpreted not only because of necessity of being the only man on stage, but because this was the song of he had envisioned, and that’s probably the best way to describe Craig Wedren’s music, it was solely is vision. Truth is Craig is just a very, very talented guy who was doing playing his songs, the way he wanted them to be played, and it worked, the set was strong and it set the mood for the main act.

B+

Greg Dulli Setlist

1. St. Gregory
2. God’s Children
3. Blackbird and the Fox
4. The Lure Would Prove Too Much
5. Bonnie Brae
6. Kings Only
7. Fourty Dollars
8. Hyperballad (Bjork Cover)
9. Step into the Light
10. Gunshots
11. If I Were Going
12. Summer’s Kiss
13. Follow You Down
14. The Stations
15. Never Seen No Devil

Encore
16. Candy Cane Crawl
17. Down The Line
18. Teenage Wristband
19. Twilight Kid.

Encore 2

20. Black Love

After Craig left at about 8:35 Greg Dulli and his back up band Twilight Singers guitarist Dave Rosser and multi-instrumentalist Rick Nelson of the Polyphonic Spree, took the stage at about 9:00. Throughout the show they seemed relaxed and was joking around with the audience. Greg told a story about the last time he was in the Brattle Theater, that was good for a laugh, and he called out someone in the front row for checking his email while he was playing, also good for a laugh. I guess my one problem is their should have been more audience interaction, the Brattle only holds about 235 people and Greg really could of turned it into an event, something like VH1-Story Tellers, except people would be watching this. Musically what can I say the man has his detractor’s, just before I left, I read something in Blender saying he was embarrassing himself now on this tour, me I thought he was great, his voice sounded strong, the band was in synch, the setlist gave the audience a nice career retrospective plus a little taste of some new material. Since it was an acoustic show everyone was in their seats the entire time, nobody got up until the encore, the atmosphere was very mellow, but the audience was composed of die hard Greg Dulli fans (tickets sold out in under a week) and Greg really put on a great live show, I know I left happy.

A-

Hunx and His Punx, Music, music video, News

Hunx and His Punx Sign To Hardly Art/ New Song!

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Blurb from the Hardly Art website:
News headlines don’t lie! The titillating bubblegum pop outfit Hunx & His Punx have signed with Hardly Art, with a brand new full-length forthcoming in early 2011. The new lineup – featuring an all-girl all-star group in addition to Hunx – is currently in the studio in NY and will perform their last show of the year at the Hardly Art showcase at Shea Stadium in Brooklyn on 10/21. Find more details on their artist page, stream a handful of tracks over at the band’s MySpace, and stay tuned for more info on the band’s new LP!

Hardly Art is a sister label of Sub Pop Records.
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New song and music video alert:


Classic CD Review, Music, The Walkmen

Classic CD Review: The Rekoys [2003]

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Band: The Recoys
Label: Troubleman Unlimited

1. “Song on the Paper Dolls” – A
2. “Shake Off Your Nerve” – A
3. “Over Your Shoulder” – A-
4. “That’s the Punchline” – A
5. “Blizzard of ’93” – A-
6. “Let’s Get Educated” – A
7. “Let You In” – A-
8. “Modern Art Museum” – A-
9. “Look Out Your Window” – A-
10. “Roy Orbison” – B
11. “Tribute: The Recoys” – A

Comments: As a big Walkmen fan, I’m impressed by the mere fact that Hamilton Leithauser was playing stuff this good when he was only 19 to 22 years old. You’ll be able to tell these guys had been playing in bands since middle school. Right off the bat, “Song of the Paper Dolls” is distinctively Hamilton. It’s clean garage/power pop — at least compared to most of the stuff I call that on this site. “Shake Off Your Nerve” has shakers and saxophones. It’s a dancer that’s more punk than most of anything that would end up coming out of The Walkmen catalog. Speaking of The Walkmen catalog, “Over Your Shoulder” starts a trend on this collection of tunes (The Recoys never released an LP) of “Walkmen” songs. “Over” has all the niceties that Leithauser and Bauer would wind up incorporating in their future band. Of course, “That’s the Punchline” and “Blizzard of ’93” (renamed “Blizzard of ’96) wound up on the Walkmen’s debut full-length Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone. This has nothing to do with anything, but when Ham says “that’s a change of style” on “Punchline,” I realized that these songs actually do represent a change of style. “Blizzard” is sloppier and heavier on Rekoys. “Let’s Get Educated” is perfect garage rock revivalist material. It’s like the Strokes, but before the Strokes. Dirtier than the Strokes. Nice and dirty. “Modern Art Museum” is a passionate rocker. You can really hear it in Ham’s voice. “No one understands The Recoys” is sung on the very last song. Don’t worry, though, when their “ship comes in” you will understand them. What that means I don’t know! Fans of The Walkmen, definitely try to get your hands on this. You’ll appreciate this as a reference point in Hamilton Leithauser’s (and Pete Bauer’s, if you’re really looking) career. The Recoys broke up in 1999 after a three year stint.

Grade: A- (92)

Band Spotlight, Music, music video, Video

The Afghan Whigs – Miles is Dead-live & The Afghan Whigs – 66

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For me this is Greg Dulli at his best, when he was with The Afghan Whigs, who for many had two sides to them pre and post sell out the first video is from (in my opinion) one of the greatest albums ever made Congregation (although ‘Miles is Dead’ was a hidden track), the second song ’66’ is from the album they said Greg Dulli sold out for the fame he never achieved 1965. In any case the grunge and R&B infused Afghan Whigs were one of the most influential bands of the 90’s, even though they had two very different sound by the time they broke up, their influence will last for generations.