Why is it so Honorable to mention things?

Some things make it to the top, and some stop right before they get there. Now, while some people seem to think that it is honorable to mention those that just missed the cut, I'm pretty sure that I remember reading in high school that "second place is just the first to lose." So instead we'd like to give you a list of things that although pretty good, we would still put a bumper sticker of Calvin pissing on them on our F-350 super-duty dually harley-davidson edition lowered badass trucks (yes, they are rolling on DUBS).

Or maybe we'll just list some stuff and then write some stuff about that stuff so you can read it and be amused or not amused while you try not to think about whether or not you are getting carpal tunnel in your mouse arm.

*My favorite video....None Shall Pass by Aesop Rock. C'mon, dude wears a cartoon pig hat.



*Record I hate but that plays all the time because it's listed first in Amarok.....Myth Takes by !!!

*Guiltiest Pleasure: Lil Wayne

*Most overused band photo: Put 'em in animal masks...Seriously that shit was a conspiracy.

*Most overused Band Flash Website Idea: Bugs. Dragonflies and buzzy bees on every freakin site.

*Some records that almost made it to the top 10.

Emerald City by John Vanderslice...Damn fine record. Damn fine live show. Nicest musician of all time.

Neon Bible by Arcade Fire....Amish or not I like this record. I got tired of reading about it every second of every day but, i did like it.
Popular Demand by Black Milk (myspace). Some great hip hop.

The Wishes and the Glitch by Say Hi. Came out of left field. Songs from the heart.


Oh and Happy New Year.

My New Year's resolution: Somehow do even less. Less is the new not as much.

Del moves to Def Jux

Def Jux announced recently that they would be releasing Del the Funky Homosapien's (myspace) first solo record in 8 (7 depending on the source) years. The record will be almost entirely produced and written by Del save for a few "key assists" from producers J-Zone, KU and Opio, and according to the Del, you can expect a fair helping of the funk:

"I would say this album is funky, but it’s not a funk album. It’s more
hip-hop than anything. But I definitely tried to give it funky influences
and stuff"

The new record is called 11th Hour and it hits the shelves February 26th. You can put in you preorder over at the Def Jux site.

Before I sign off I want to be sure to make mention of something. See, I've read the "first solo album in 8 years" line in a couple of other spots....and while this is true it hurts me that few people are mentioning Del's other stuff. He remains active with the Heiroglyphics crew, the Hiero Imperium Label that he co-owns and let's not forget he was also part of one of the top 5 hip hop records of all time in there too.....If I have to tell you that I'm talking about Deltron 3030, you shouldn't feel that embarassed....but you should go buy it before you pay your rent this month.

Here's one of my favorite Del raps ever, plus a classic....stay tuned for a promo mp3 if one pops up.

Things You Can Do from Deltron 3030 (buy)

Wacky World of Mass Transit by Del the Funky Homosapien (buy)

Newer Heiroglyphics with Dan the Automator....or vice versa

Cadence Weapon.

I just listened to (and downloaded) a new song over at the Cadence Weapon myspace, and it has given me an excuse to take a long overdue look at his 2006 debut, Breaking Kayfabe.....and yes I'll be renaming the blog to "Every Single Canadian Artist that I Can Possibly Mention Before I Die".

The term Breaking Kayfabe (wiki) refers to breaking character, or letting people see that something isn't real even when they already know that it's not. On the album Breaking Kayfabe, Cadence Weapon breaks convention, and let's you see the guts of each song. He exposes every part of the process, allowing each bit to play it's part with no pretensions about what it is supposed to be. This allows him to use the same tools to put together an altogether new machine....one with big-gnarly bone-crushing exposed gears.

I certainly don't mean to say that Cadence Weapon is altogether reinventing rap. What I do mean to say is that there is art that hides it's origins...like a perfectly polished marble statue. And there is art that allows you to see the process within the finished piece. Breaking Kayfabe is the second type, it feels finished but not so polished that you can't distinguish the layers. The beauty of this approach is that you never get totally comfortable listening to Breaking Kayfabe. It won't let you relegate it to a low-end bump while you figure out what to do tonight, or talk about your favorite Indian restaurant.

I don't know....
Like, the percussive staccato keyboard part on Oliver Square that doesn't pretend to be anything but, and that you can't tune out. Or just when you get comfortable with the groove in Sharks you get ground out of your daze at a minute thirty. Or like how you can't help but listen to every part in Fathom for a few seconds each, and you can't quite reconcile them to be one thing.

So here's the jam from Breaking Kayfabe, a video from the same, and you can check out his myspace to listen to the "open ended new shit" of a new song. The new record should be going down this spring.

Sharks by Cadence Weapon (buy)

Black Hand Video

Classic Rock?

Reading Ben's entry about Jethro Tull got me thinking. I'm sure I've
liked a few bands and been afraid to tell people about it, but more
often I get accused of pretending to not like something that is
universally admired. For instance, my absolute detestation of Led
Zeppelin and the vast majority of what we in America refer to as
"classic" rock. Now I will admit that sometimes I'll hear the
beginning of a song and think, "damn this sounds like it could be a
good song." Inevitably though, it is ruined within seconds by the
shrill skullfucking wail of Mr. Robert Plant. Once that dude puts his
imprint on something, it is ruined my friend. This is true of any
number of 70's vocalists, who I guess were just doing their best to
upstage the guitarist and scream as loud as they could about some
stupid shit. But people really can't believe I don't like that stuff.
To not like classic rock is some sort of mortal sin in these parts.
With this being my first entry on this blog, I will attempt to explain myself

I probably didn't even hear a Led Zeppelin song until I was like 20
years old. My parents had three records that I can remember in the
house. Captain and Tenille's Greatest Hits, Saturday Night Fever, and
John Denver's Rocky Mountain High. Now that's enough to turn you off
to music entirely. And for a while I had absolutely no interest in
it. Until Weird Al came along, that is. The first Weird Al Yankovic
record came out in 1983 and it is the first record that I can remember
buying. I may not have liked music, but I loved comedy. Later that
year I think MTV convinced me to purchase Killroy Was Here by Styx. I
mean there were robots in the video. Very cool. I think I also
noticed an addition to the family record collection. Michael
Jackson's "Thriller." Of course. So I was now officially in to
music.

Around this time my brother, who is five years older than me was
starting to get yelled at about coming home wearing Millions of Dead
Cops and Circle Jerks t-shirts. Like any good high school outsider in
the early 80's, he had discovered punk rock. This would be of
interest to me a little bit later, but for now all that I was really
interested in was the Dead Milkmen. "Big Lizard in My Backyard."
That was about as funny as funny gets to a 10 year old. My brother
went to see them on the Bucky Fellini tour in 1987, but of course my
mom wouldn't let me go. It was a school night and she really didn't
want him corrupting me worse than he already had. I gave him $10 to
get me a t-shirt which I wore almost every single day of sixth grade.
The shirt is referenced by nearly everyone who signed my yearbook that
year. On the front it had the surfing cow (cows were also a subject
of great humor to me) on the back it said "smell like a cow tour."

I imagined the Dead Milkmen as a punk band, but really they were kind
of like a typical college rock band mixed with some surf and rock a
billy. The punkest thing about em was the snotty delivery of their
lyrics and their referencing of other real punk bands like the FU's
and Butthole Surfers. Anyways, they opened the floodgates to the rest
of my brother's record collection which included every great punk and
thrash metal record of the day. I saw a Motley Crue video on MTV one
day and my brother told me they sucked and handed me a copy of "Ride
the Lightning" to listen to instead. Among my other favorites were
the Dead Kennedys, Circle Jerks, Anthrax, Black Flag etc.

By the time I made a serious attempt to find out about the history of rock and roll, the things that I could get into were the early Rolling Stones, Kinks, Link
Wray, Otis Redding, James Brown, etc. I'm sure the reason why is the
fact that they share an economy of songwriting with the punk bands I
grew up with. No ten minute guitar solos, no overbearing lead singer,
nothing forced. OK, so maybe James Brown’s obsession with hot pants led him down some dark alleys occasionally, but he always found his way out. Classic rock will just have to remain that great enigma to me. If I haven't gotten it yet, I doubt I will in the future. It's not cuz I'm cooler than you, it's probably just cuz I
didn't grow up with it.

Random Jamdom

Soon , I will have a proper job....then I will by records...then you will get proper record reviews. Till that day arrives here are a few songs that make my ever-growing ears happy.

I found this song while stumbling around the myspace-verse looking for some new/unappreciated artists. The song is from yet another Canadian artist, this one goes by Astral Black. There isn't much info out there about Astral Black and there hasn't been any activity at his myspace for a month, so who knows if the dude is even still around. Either way the song features Royce 5'9 and it rules. They use that mid-word-alliteration* style in the verses and I find that style to be awesome.

Dead Already by Astral Black

*I thought there was a word for alliteration in the middle of words, but it would appear (with minimal research) that it has more to do with repetition every syllable....depending, of course, on who you ask.


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The other song I wanted to post I heard this very day over at Side One: Track One, and I fell in love instantly. It's by MGMT and I'll post the song here to save a little bandwith but you should really click through and check out the write up over there. Here's a hint: electro-pop heaven.

Time to Pretend by MGMT (buy links at myspace)

David Reed at Max Protech

David Reed's newest paintings are currently on exhibit at Max Protech, in Chelsea. Reed has recently become one of my favorite painters, somehow managing to carry a barely lit torch of abstract painting out of the 70's. Reed's paintings, expressive without becoming too subjective, investigate the language of painting through brush stroke/ gesture, color and form. The often irregular sizes of his canvases can appear to be arbitrarily chosen, though the composition always seems engaged appropriately to justify such decisions.

I'm also a fan of David Reed as a writer. I encourage those of you who actually like to read about art, instead of just looking at the images, to check out his website, in particular his essay titled : New york Painting Circa 1968: Notes Toward the Missing History of Experimental Abstraction.



The images shown here are not Reed's most recent paintings on display at Max Protech. You'll have to get out into the world to see those.

Buying Beth in Battle Mode Made Breezier than Before

Photo: Mofatt Media

Just so you know, Technical Know-How, from Toronto band Beth in Battle Mode is now available on iTunes. I wouldn't usually mention something like this nor would I generally promote the supporting of an i-thing, but this record is so fucking good. I mentioned it here before and I pretty much listen to Pesto's at 8 every single day. I also found out from a commenter that the song (or part of the lyrics anyway) is based on a Kids in the Hall skit.

Also, is every band from Canada now? Not since the Michael J Fox-Bryan Adams early 80's double whammy have my thoughts so often been on the great white north. But that's cool I like the place quite a bit. They actually get to go to the doctor there too.


Pesto's at 8 by Beth in Battle Mode (buy at iTunes)