The Severed Cortex

Link: http://www.re-collection.org/

Sounds odd I know. Still kinda interesting.

More stuff. Looks like I won't be too far behind after these. Having a good two month lull in buying music helps in getting caught up. Well, not from a music listening standpoint I guess.

Oracular Spectacular by MGMT

Maybe you can pronounce it management. They used to be called that, but they changed the name to MGMT. Now I'm not sure if you can call them management. Now that we've cleared that mess up. I was absorbed in Vampire Weekend when this came out. In fact, sad to say, I heard Time to Pretend in a commercial recently and that's what prompted me to buy Oracular Spectacular. I should clarify a little. I'd heard the track several times before. I just never got around to listening to the rest of the CD more carefully. Strange, because Time to Pretend is a fantastic song. The commercial made me go back and listen, and that's when I realized I had missed the boat. Not the first time. Won't be the last. There's just too much music out there for one person to possibly listen to. This was one of the last bits of music I bought prior to the move. Fast forward to after the move and I've managed to listen to it end to end more than 20 times. You listen to a lot of iPod packing and unpacking boxes.
I found some music nuts at my new work, or we found each other, and a week into the new year the obligatory top 10 of 2008 question was bandied about. This release made it to number 5 on my list and was in the top 10 of several of my new co-workers. Vampire Weekend still topped my list, but that's only on pure appeal. Oracular Spectacular has way more depth. There is no weak song from end to end and two songs really, really stand out; the aforementioned commercial music and Electric Feel. The rest of the songs aren't bad by any stretch. They just aren't quite as accessible. That's really what gives this so much more depth than the much hyped Vampire Weekend. Everything on Vampire Weekend was accessible. You have to work your way past the two really good ones to get to the real heart of this, but the extra work is worth it. Here's how I'd suggest doing it. Buy the two pop songs and enjoy them. Then one day come back and sample some of the others. You'll be intrigued enough to buy the whole thing and wonder to yourself why you didn't do so to begin with.

Twilight by Baskervilles

Way back in 2003, Baskervilles had themselves a minor, critically acclaimed, eponymous release that slipped under the cracks pretty much everywhere. It sat on my Amazon wish list for years out of print. Now of course it is available on iTunes. This one is their 2008 release. As good? Maybe. Same critical acclaim? Not so much. This one is sticky sugar pop through and through, and is a little reminiscent of Apples in Stereo. If you are looking for rock and roll you needn't look here. These ain't the songs you're looking for. If you're looking for some happy pop you can get two scoops of it here. Replete with horns. It doesn't get much happier feeling when you throw some horns in. I think that's true with me at least and when the production is sometimes not quite there, as it is here from song to song, horns can really help improve it. I know that sounds like they were throwing in horns for the hell of it. Maybe a little here and there. Still, in the grand scheme of things, this is way better than any pop you'll hear on the radio. Who listens to radio anyway? Try Smash. If you like that one go for the lead track A Little More Time. If you like those two and you still aren't convinced, pick any of the remaining tracks in the first half. I don't think there's a one that would turn you against it. The second half of the release has a few stinkers. Not really bad stinkers, but in comparison to the rest of the CD they don't pass the sniff test. It's 14 tracks long which stretches your music dollar, but probably should have been 11 or maybe 12.

The High Decibels by The High Decibels

Just as all music is derivative, sometimes it makes no bones and returns to its roots. Often it fails. You need something more than just being a copycat. Occasionally someone does manage to figure out copying (easy) and innovation (much tougher) at the same time. The High Decibels may have the recipe. This is another one where I've been sitting on it for months and then I hear it in a commercial. In this case I had already purchased it the week it was released. I believe I heard it on an ESPN promo and I'm pretty sure it was That Dude I heard.
The High Decibels go back to the time when rap was much simpler. A day when it longed for mainstream approval. Summertime party music. Simpler looped beats, real cutting and scratching, and lyrics that by today's standards are considered candy ass. Believe it or not, there used to be a time when rap had nothing to do with bitches and ho's. I know, I know. I loves me some bitches and ho's too. We all do. But, sometimes I don't have to put my mind on my money and my money on my mind. And when that time comes, I want to listen to some good time rap. Can you be mad listening to Run-DMC? Or Beastie Boys? De La Soul? LL Cool J? Put the High Decibels in that group. Simple drum beats, blues guitar licks actually played, not looped, two turntables and a slam poet microphone. Seriously, he's a slam poet by trade. Get this, the blues guitar licks are done by a white guy. Trust me. It's from Oakland and it all works. Pick any song on here. They all sound the same. If you like one, you'll like them all. You know what the best part is? You don't have to put a Parental Advisory sticker on it and its still really good. Innovative.

Mega Breakfast by The Chap

I managed to stumble onto The Chap outside of my normal music discovery channels. I heard Proper Rock and said to myself, wtf? In the middle of a rush hour drive, I stopped the iPod, rewound it, and listened again. There was just so much going on that I couldn't take it in with just one listen. That doesn't happen to me very often. Like, pretty much never. I fired up the voice recorder and made a note to find out more about the song later. And the group. I found Mega Breakfast, listened to the tracks and bought it.
This is another one of those that you either love or hate. Obviously I love it. I think it's one of the most creative things I've heard in awhile. There's really nothing I can compare it to. Menomena might be close, but The Chap are clearly their own thing. What that thing is, I'm not really sure. Maybe you'll be able to figure it out better than me. They write songs with complex structures like prog rock, but without all that technical bullshit that prog rock fans love. Interestingly, it's the that love of technical bullshit that makes it impossible to actually like prog rock fans. And it's usually them espousing some band that in the grand sphere of musicians are probably the least technically adept players. I digress. So it's not really prog rock. It's not really electronica either. It's not really gay disco music. (Yes, saying gay disco is redundant, I know. I just like saying it) It's not really cabaret. It's not really emo. And yet, somehow, it is all these things. Truly unique. Or at least unique to me. I challenge you to find anything like it. There are songs that hit right between the eyes. There are some that I have no idea what they are. As a collective they make a bizarre collage. The aforementioned Proper Rock is great, as is Ethnic Instrument, Fun and Interesting, and a couple others. If you can make it past any one of these three and are still intrigued you should just buy the whole thing and judge it on its entirety, not individual songs. And if you listen to one of them and say no way, you have to at least admit that The Chap are the inventors of whatever it is that they do.

I love Starbucks coffee. I know there are a lot of people out there that hate Starbucks either because it is too strong, too expensive, or too pretentious. I can agree with them for the most part, but I do love strong coffee. In fact, I like my coffee like I like my women; black and bitter. Normally, cheapskate that I am, I would never spring for something as pricey as Starbucks when gas station coffee will do, but there's something about Starbucks coffee that makes me pay the extra. I believe it to be some sort of heroin derivative additive and one barista told me on the sly that he believed the same thing.
If it isn't the 'additives', what could it be? Whatever it is it's making my pee smell like more Starbucks coffee. I don't notice this about anything else I drink. I could drink a case a beer, shake the dew off my lilies twenty times, and not one of those times would it smell like beer. I drink gallons of XXX Vitamin Water and almost equal amounts of Fruitopia. Not once have I completed the beverage cycle of life and said, I detect hints of raspberry, lemon, and acai. (Seriously, what's an acai?) So they get you with the smell coming in the store, the coffee itself, and then another time when you raise the local water table. It's probably their way of saying this cup is done and you need to go get another one.
As if the heroin additive wasn't enough by itself. Evil bastards.

Link: http://badbadteacher.com/

A complement to yesterday's bad parenting link.
I understand that sleeping with Mrs. Sherfield when I was in fourth grade would have reflected badly on her. Sleeping with her when I was in eleventh grade would have too, but I wouldn't have minded near as much. The real problem was that by the time I was legal, she didn't live there anymore.

Link: http://www.parentsbehavingbadly.com/

You have to pass a test to drive a car and yet any two idiots can breed.

Link: http://www.floridatechsports.com/article.asp?articleID=3176

Holly is the starting catcher after transferring from a JUCO. That's her in the catcher's gear in this story. Also her tagging out a runner at home here.

On top of winning the game in the bottom of the 10th, Ryan's line is now .410/.507/.738 Damn impressive at any level of baseball, much less a collegiate freshman. That's a 1.245 OPS for those playing at home. And to think he broke his hand and was out for 4 weeks.

That's not even the best part. Both are making solid grades in engineering school.

I may have shirked my writing duties, but I didn't shirk my hanging out with Robert duties. Since we last left, Robert and I have seen a couple of movies (Mall Cop - meh; and Sharks - cool, but short). It took us two shots to see Sharks at the IMAX. The first time we showed up it was sold out. We went to Dave and Busters and played video games for a couple hours instead that day.

This past weekend the plan was to go see an adaptation for kids of Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor. At the very last minute we decided to go to the Supercross instead. I've never been to Supercross before and I expected there to be 5-7000 people there. Tops. I was really surprised to see 35,000 plus. Never knew the sport was so darn popular. I had heard of Jeremy McGrath and Ricky Carmichael and I knew they had something to do with riding dirt bikes, but I didn't really know it was Supercross. Turns out, they were the face of Supercross for many years. Basically Supercross works like this. There are two classes, Supercross and Lite; the difference is engine size. Each class has two heats of 20 racers, for which the top 9 in each heat qualify for the main event. The stragglers in each class race a last chance qualifier, where the top two can qualify for the main event. In the main event, Lites run 15 laps and Supercross runs 20 laps. The key to it all is the hole shot. If you aren't a great racer, that is. If you are a great racer then the hole shot is not that big of a deal. You can make up the difference provided one of the other really good riders didn't get the hole shot. There were about 6 riders who were really, really, good, and a lot of riders who weren't. Case in point: James Stewart wrecked twice in the Supercross qualifier ... and still managed to finish 9th and qualify for the main event. That guy was balls to the walls. Chad Reed, who won the event, was another really good rider. Both were way better than their competition. In between it is all high production, slickly polished interviews, and overtly placed sponsorships. And a lot of eye candy, although I let Robert keep the binoculars for 95% of the time. Oh, and the Jagermeister trick jumping team was there, which was plenty freaking cool too.

Once the race goes 3 laps, it's real hard to figure out who is leading, and it's sure hard to watch all the action at once. That's true even if you were at the very top of the Jones Dome like we were. Still we had a good time.

Some pics: Start, Hole Shot, Big Jump, Technical, Straightaway
Trick Jumpers: Sweet, Sweeter, Sweeterer, Three At Once

It's been awhile since I've even had some time to write ... or felt the inspiration ... and I'm horribly out of practice. Plus, I just switched to Sanka. So have a heart. These are not in any particular order.

Venus on Earth by Dengue Fever

It will be clear two minutes into the first song whether you're going to like this or not. Dengue Fever is a collective of LA musicians fronted by Cambodian born pop singer Chhom Nimol, who pretty much sings the entire album in her native tongue of Khmer. I just lost you right there, didn't I? Yeah. You either love it or you don't. Personally, I find it kind of intriguing. Most of the time anyway. It wears a little thin at times. The real question is, would it lose you quicker if it weren't for the musicianship, which is fantastic. If you block out the lyrics and concentrate on the music itself, you'll find tons of late 60's psycho lounge, pop hooks, all with a SE Asian flair. And all very well executed. A perfect example of this is Oceans of Venus. For songs in English try Tiger Phone Card or Sober Driver. For a Khmer song, I like the lead track Seeing Hands and the final track Mr. Orange.

Neptune by The Duke Spirit

I really liked the first full length from The Duke Spirit titled Cuts Across the Land. So much so that I couldn't pass it up when I spied the discounted price on it at Vintage Vinyl. I don't know why I think of the DiVinyls when I listen to these guys, but I still do even on this second full length. Odd, since other than lead singer voice similarities they really aren't very much like at all. This one isn't quite as good as The Duke Spirit's first full length though. For the most part it is more of the same from their first one, but the material on this one just isn't as strong. The songs are all solid and enjoyable, but none of them just grab you, which is always what I'm looking for. From that standpoint I'd just say Lassoo is the best of the bunch, however don't be afraid to buy the whole thing and have it playing in the background.

Get It Together by Supersuckers

I didn't have to buy this one. It was given to me by my friend Nancy. Be that as it may, I would have bought it and had I spent that money I would not have been disappointed. The first full length release of new material from Eddie Spaghetti and the crew in three plus years is yet another raucous 45 minutes of fun. What else would you expect from the band who brought you such gems as Pretty F*ck*d Up and Born With A Tail. I guess I should say mostly new material. Some of this was on the Paid EP from a couple of years ago. Either way, this is a real rock and roll album and there are some gems on this one too. I'm going to say that this may not be their best batch of material, but it is definitely their most polished release. You can count that as a negative if you want, and under most circumstances I would too, but I'm not going to in this case. I just like the Supersuckers that much. In fact, I recommend you buy the whole thing and then go see the band live. Wear ear protection. If you simply insist on buying one song get I'm a F*ck*ing Genius. It's a real crowd pleaser done the way that only the Supersuckers can do it. (Warning: contains pottymouthing.)

The Supreme Genius of King Khan and the Shrines by (of course) King Khan and the Shrines

Remember how much I love campy music? Remember how much I like garage rock? Remember how much I like when you put both of those things together? Man, do I love it and man does King Khan and the Shrines deliver it. From what I gather, King Khan is a showman of the highest order. That kind of stuff rarely translates to a studio record, but let me tell you it does on this one. You know from listening to this one time that you have to see this crazy bastard live. That's all great but what hooks me is the garage band, Stax-era sound. Very soulful and very much a wall of sound like I likes it. Took My Lady to Dinner is both a rollercoaster of fun and a damn funny song. Hey, I love a good homage to plump women. As Joe Tex once said, Shutup fool. I don't want no woman with no skinny legs. On top of the great music you'll find on this release, it's also the best value. You get sixteen original songs. C'mon. You can't beat that. Even K-Tel can't do you right like that.

Link: http://www.firstgiving.com/drewmoore

Yes, you read that correctly. This time it is for a good cause though. In order to raise money, and awareness, The Prarie Center Against Sexual Assault (is there somebody for sexual assault?) has their 3rd annual Walk A Mile In Her Shoes March April 18th in Springfield. I have been asked to walk in it, which entails marching a mile in womens shoes. I'm hoping for a nice flat but judging from the pictures on the website, it's going to be all transvestite hooker shoes. Laugh all you want, but shouldn't that laugh cost you something? I believe it should. You can make amends by donating here or by clicking the link to the blog post. C'mon. It's worth $5 isn't it?

Jim Noir - Jim Noir

Did Jim Noir spend a lot of time listening to Donovan? Chances are good he did. This whole release has a trippy sixties Donovan feel to it. Was it a deliberate attempt to copy Donovan? I don't think so. These days it's really tough to release music without someone saying it is derivative of this or that. I'm doing it now. So what. Jim Noir sounds a little like Donovan. Personally, other than Mellow Yellow, I think Donovan was kind of cool. Generally I don't like damn dirty hippies, but I'll make an exception every once in awhile. Jim Noir is not a damn dirty hippie. If anything he's Donovan with an electronic bent. This eponymous release is heavily overproduced, full of sugary pop keyboards, and yet it still manages to capture that 60's analog fuzz sound. Without the high production values you might suspect this is a sixties era Mickie Most project. The release is chock full of good songs, most happening in the first half. Don't You Worry is the standout, but plenty more come close.

Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords

If you don't know who Flight of the Conchords are, you live in a cave. Or you don't have HBO. They are, admittedly, an acquired taste. They throw a lot of deadpan humor spaghetti at the wall and some of it just doesn't stick. The music they create does. It's not only well crafted, it's downright funny. These two Kiwis are the heirs apparent to the throne currently held by They Might Be Giants, which was, we all know, abdicated by Weird Al Yankovic, who, you may remember, conspired with Doctor Demento to snatch it from Ray Stevens, who, at the time, was just riding around with it in the back of a pickup truck, still drunk with power years after wresting it away from Allan Sherman. You all know the story. I don't have to repeat it for you. I've had this thing for at least six months, listen to it about every three or four weeks, and peel back another layer of comedy gold. The musical skill is top notch too. They're able to skewer Bowie, rappers, Pet Shop Boys, dub, Kraftwerk, and a host of other genres all with impeccable skill. Every song on here is good. Just succumb to the pressure and buy the whole record.

Valient Thorr - IMMORTALIZER

I've talked about Valient Thorr before. They are, by far, the dirtiest band I've ever seen. Collectively they need a bath. I shouldn't make a cultural judgment about them. They probably don't have showers on their home planet. Despite, or because of, their general sweatiness, these guys rock. Probably because it is primarily guitars, guitars, and guitars. Oh, and it's fronted by a charismatic lead singer with plenty of swagger. Anyone willing to write a song about dead ghosts haunting Jesse Helms soul is OK in my book. That's kind of the knock on Valient Thorr. The songs are populist rhetoric wrapped up in a scary rock and roll package. A wicked, hard driving, rock and roll package. Hey, a lot of great rock and roll has a left leaning political edge to it. It's hard to write a pop song professing your love for trickle down economics. Like Rush Limbaugh on the right, this stuff screamed at you, jackhammered at high decibels repeatedly, gets a little old. At least for me. Still love the high intensity rock though. Tomorrow Police is the epitome of what I'm talking about. If you make it past that try the lead track.