Category Archives: rant

CD Review, Lists, Music, Random, rant

Top 5 Labels [1/2 Year 2010 Style]

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Top rated albums from January to June 2010 by label. If a label is a subsidiary or an imprint of some larger label, the larger label/owner will be used. Score multiplied by .4 if at least one album scored a 90 or above. Score multiplied by .3 if at least one album scored an 84 or above. Score multiplied by .2 if at least one album scored a 76 or above. Score multiplied by .1 for everything below that.

1. Beggars Group [Includes Matador Records, Rough Trade Records, XL Recordings, and 4AD]: Hippies by Harlem [95]; Gay Singles by Hunx and His Punx [95]; Be Brave by The Strange Boys [91]; Contra by Vampire Weekend [90]; High Violet by The National [88]; Minor Love by Adam Green [85]; The Monitor by Titus Andronicus [84]; Big Echo by The Morning Benders [83]; Before Today Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti [77]; Brutalist Bricks by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists [75]
– Grade: 272.5 (38+38+36.4+36+26.4+25.5+25.2+16.6+15.4+15)

2. Warner Bros. [Includes Sub Pop Records, Atlantic Records, Vice Records, and Epitaph Records]: Teen Dream by Beach House [95]; I Will Be by Dum Dum Girls [94]; Expo 86 by Wolf Parade [92]; Avi Buffalo by Avi Buffalo [89]; Male Bonding by Male Bonding [89]; Something For Everybody by Devo [89]; Adventures by Bobby Ray [82]; Brothers by The Black Keys [81]; Shame, Shame by Dr. Dog [75]; Realism by The Magnetic Fields [74]
– Grade: 213.3 (38+37.6+36.8+26.7+26.7+26.7+16.4+16.2+7.5+7.4)

3. Merge Records: Work by Shout Out Louds [89]; Swim by Caribou [83]; Transference by Spoon [81]; Volume Two by She & Him [81]
– Grade: 84 (26.7+24.9+16.2+16.2)

4. EMI (Includes Capitol Records, Mute Records, and Virgin): This Is Happening by LCD Soundsystem [81]; Plastic Beach by Gorillaz [78]; Sisterworld by Liars [76]; Head First by Goldfrapp [74]; Heligoland by Massive Attack [73]; Of the Colour… by OK Go [69]
– Grade: 68.6 (16.2+15.6+15.2+7.4+7.3+6.9)

5. Universal (Includes Interscope, Geffen, and A&M): Permalight by Rogue Wave [84]; Thank Me Later by Drake [78]
– Grade: 40.8 (25.2+15.6)

5. Secretly Canadian: Pigeons by Here We Go Magic [83]; Odd Blood by Yeasayer [81]
– Grade: 40.8 (25.2+15.6)

——————-

Predictions: If both Black Lips and No Age release new LPs in 2010 and they are awesome (as projected), then the Warner Bros. grouping might just gain some ground. I’m not so sure there are going to be any more really really noteworthy Beggars Group releases besides Interpol for the remainder of the year. We’ll see. Merge, I’m sure, will see its stake rise up with the release of Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs and Superchunk’s Majesty Shredding.

Beer Review, Random, rant

Beer Review: Sol

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Brewed By: Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma
Owned By: Heineken International
Method: Bottle [12 FL OZ]
Quantity Consumed: 7

Comments: The thing about Sol is that you must stick a lime in the bottle in order to appreciate it. Once you have one Sol, you can have six more and still think you are still drinking your second one. Sol doesn’t do much damage to your motor abilities BUT don’t think that I’m saying you should just keep guzzling them down without restraint. No, no. Consume in moderation over a few hours. 7 is moderation when looking at the big picture. Also, I’m pretty sure you will enjoy the taste. It’s much better than any other beer that I’ve had. I’ll be ordering my next shipment soon.

Grade: A (Not perfect, but what beats it?)

Articles, Crime, economics, history, interviews, pictures, Politics, rant

Great Chomsky Quote

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“The United States hasn’t faced a threat probably since the War of 1812.” Noam Chomsky, 1994 from Demystifying Democracy, here is a link for the interview.
http://www.chomsky.info/interviews/1995—-.htm

What do y’all think of that statement? Naturally, in light of the tragedy on 911 it makes you question such a thing (as you should normally anyway), but I probably agree with Noam. I don’t know enought about my history to point to the War of 1812, but certainly the fact that we have a massive military budget for defense from possible threating forces is a joke. Now, like everyone else I don’t want to see another 911, of course. But, to me, that doesn’t constitute as a “threat” as in a threat to the preservation of our entire nation and/or government as it is for some other countries. The attack on 911 was murder on a grand scale and the perpetrators should be held accountable, but that doesn’t appear to be an objective of our goverment, sadly. So, I highly doubt we have to worry about another coutnry threating our overall security, but how do we prevent future, heinous, acts of terror? Well, we stop committing terror ourselves. What do other people think about Chomsky’s quote and my little rant?

Art, business, Culture Jamming, economics, Entertainment, history, humor, Music, pictures, rant

The Problem With Music

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Speaking of horrifying, disgusting behemoths, such as major labels, I thouhgt I’d post a link to Steve Albini’s harsh classic, “The Problem With Music.” I searched “Fuck Major Labels” on Google and this was the first thing to come up lol. I don’t agree with all of it, but he makes many good points and has the knowledge to back it up, plus it’s quite humorous in the Albini sense.

http://www.negativland.com/albini.html

Art, Articles, Culture Jamming, Entertainment, humor, Music, pictures, Random, rant

Major Labels Are Not So Major

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Here’s a random rant I wrote a while back:

I often hear artists say they must sign to a major label to gain commercial success in the music world. Supposedly with such corporate support they are able to reach more people with their music, people they would otherwise never reach. Perhaps, this is true. Of course, this would not be the punk rock way of going about things. Signing to a major label is a sign of selling out to most fans of the punk orientation. By the early 1990s, we witnessed various underground (many of the punk variety) artists make the leap from independent labels to major labels. Some achieved the commercial and artistic success they sought, others saw little to no change in album sales or fan base. In fact, several groups have abandoned or have been dropped by their major labels and have made a return to the underground. What really fascinates me is that some of these bands have sold more records on their independent labels than on their major counterparts. This makes one question the earlier assumption that higher status means higher chart positions. There are numerous examples that disprove this theory. Sonic Youth fans recently enjoyed the release of their latest, sixteenth studio album, The Eternal. This album is particularly significant because it marks the first time in twenty years the experimental rockers released a studio album under an independent label; this time it was the prominent and well-respected, Matador Records. Previously they were signed to Geffen Records, a major label. But, naturally, none of this matters because it does not matter if you sell a hundred records or a million or whatever. What matters is if you have integrity in your art and that you are enjoying yourself. Then again, various miserable fucks have made fantastic music over the years, so I guess you don’t even have to enjoy yourself, but you deserve it!

Thank God, I managed to write X amount of words on the music industry without using the bland term “indie,” until now. I hate that word (even though I am guilty of its use) it’s too vague. If anyone has an actual definition for said word. Pitch it to me. For now, keep on rocking (independently) in the free world.

Books, Entertainment, Random, rant

Thoughts on Hunter S. Thompson

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I really dig Thompson’s no bullshit style of writing. He told exactly what he felt and wasn’t afraid to include detail and perspective down to minutiae. That said, he really tired this approach. Ho, ho. I will say some of his phrases are money. Getting to his books: Fear and Loathing was interesting as fuck to start, but had me losing interest toward the end of the tale. Better Than Sex was witty, but had a lot of fluff that maybe only political junkies appreciate? Hey Rube has a lot of interesting columns and some flat-out uninteresting ones. His rant on eliminating the pitcher position was gold whereas his schpeel on the XFL was merely average. He’s good in small doses. A nice read on occasion. I give him a B.

Entertainment, Music, rant

Harlem @ House of Blues

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Harlem, you know that really awesome band from Texas who Chris and I saw at Great Scott just short of a month ago, will be back in these parts in a couple of months. July 14, to be exact, at the House of Blues. No, no, no. I know what you are thinking. They couldn’t even draw a sold-out GS crowd, so any chance of them headlining a 1,000 capacity venue seems moot, don’t you think? Right. They will be opening for the perfectly average hard-rock/blues outfit Dead Weather. Fellow KLYAMer Matt will be presumably in attendance and he’ll be in for a treat. In a summer void of great concerts, I’d probably go to this one. BUT it’s $29 bucks and $29 for a quickie set from Harlem (fuck they only played 25 minutes at GS as headliner) is a bit much.