Bobby Womack tracks got her fat ass laying flat on her back

If people could sweat loneliness and heartbreak (romantic and non-romantic alike) and soak it up in a towel, you'd wring the towel out in a bucket. Someone would drink that water and pen a short, powerful novel about the human condition. The words on the pages would float like a melody and the melody would be Bobby Womack's "Ruby Dean".

"Ruby Dean" by Bobby Womack

Fuck You Friday + BoogadaBoogadaBoogada

So it's time to bring back something that's fallen by the wayside as of late, Fuck You Friday! Just to recap, Fuck You Friday was an irregular feature where I'd post something that I should probably have been ashamed to share. It all works out in the end, since being self-deprecating gives me free scene points, plus you, the reader, get to look down on me for enjoying such music. Plus you can download it and have your very own guilty pleasure.

So today's Fuck You Friday is a two-fer, coming at you straight from late 90's Z100. When I was a sixth grader, my musical tastes were a bit weird. I really liked the foo fighters and the smashing pumpkins, but I was also really into radio station parody songs, like "Star Wars Cantina" which Z100 played a lot. (I was also kind of a nerd.) Listening to Z100, hoping to catch "Star Wars Cantina", I kinda started to get into some of the dance music that they played. The other day I heard a DJ spinning a freestyle set and he threw in "Set You Free" by Planet Soul, making it the first time I've heard it on the radio in ages. That song is my first memory of knowing that a song is referencing drugs (a kid at sleepaway camp with glowsticks told me all about spelling out your name in lights and he mentioned this song a bunch). Listening to it now, I think the lyrics might actually be "Set You Free" and not "X T C", but it was still a milestone in my life. I guess.

"Set You Free" by Planet Soul

Also,

Check out Can You See the Sunset from the Southside? for a cool bit on Screeching Weasel, complete with MAD downloads. If you're not familiar with the band and don't feel like downloading all 20 songs, do yourself a favor and at least snag "Punk House". Personally I prefer the version of "Hey Suburbia" off of '88's BoogadaBoogadaBoogada! It's a little faster than the one they've posted, so if that's your thing, check it out here. Plus you can't go wrong by playing modified Ramones' tunes.

"Hey Suburbia" by Screeching Weasel
"I Wanna be Naked" by Screeching Weasel

Try singing along in Dylan-esque gibberish, It's Fun!

Sometimes I start to fixate on how creepy Bob Dylan is these days and I forget how awesome young Dylan was. I'm not gonna go off too much on the topic, since gushing about how Dylan's awesome is probably akin to blogging about how the Beatles sold a buncha records.

"Masters of War" by Bob Dylan

Off of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, a scathing anti-war song. It pains me that I'm not hearing popular music with this kind of rebellious passion today.

"The Times They Are A-Changing" by Bob Dylan

The titular track from Dylan's third release is easily one of the finer songs, lyrically, of all time. But you knew that, right?

"It's all over now, Baby Blue" by Bob Dylan

This is a really cool tune that I never paid much mind to until it came up in an English course I'm taking this semester. Apparently Joyce Carol Oates was so inspired by this song that she wrote "Where are You Going? Where Have You Been?"

"Don't Think Twice, It's Allright" by Bob Dylan

One of the greatest break up songs I've ever heard, off of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.

"Lay Lady Lay" by Bob Dylan

Fuck Blue Öyster Cult, this song is where cowbell skills should be at. I was introduced to Nashville Skyline through a good friend of mine during a heavy Johnny Cash phase and I couldn't be more grateful to him.

"Girl From the North Country" by Bob Dylan

Speaking of Johnny Cash, this track from the same album contains one of the weirdest vocal pairings ever. Remarkably, Cash's strong baritone goes extremely well with Dylan's... weird Dylan voice.

"Tonight, I'll be Staying Here With You" by Bob Dylan

The various guitar work on this tune is similar to "Lay Lady Lay", it's just rocking a couple notches harder. The pedal steel especially is just stellar on this one.

"It's Allright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)"

This track appears along with "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" and "Subterranean Homesick Blues" on Bringing it All Back Home. Although "Subterranean Homesick Blues" is a little more well known for it, this track has Dylan doing the same folk singer speech rap that Billy Joel could not hold a candle to on "We Didn't Start the Fire".

Rhymes with Vulture Cock

So this year, on April 20th, I ventured over to SUNY Purchase to check out Culture Shock, an annual music festival / carnival held free of charge for students and the public at large. The festival's always had cool lineups, one year featuring a Ghostface set from a very much on the lam ODB. First band I caught was Zoroaster. The easiest way for me to describe them would be to say they're a black shoegaze metal band. Some of their awesome is definitely lost in translation though. If you're down for some heavy ass meandering riffs, then this could be your cup of tea. If not, move on. A big plus to these guys is that the guitar players "beard-ass beard" (to quote my metal consigliere) matches his flying V guitar.

I wish I could find a picture to illustrate it better, but most of the pictures I could find of them were clouded in darkness. They were playing "Mons Venus" as I walked up to the stage midset. There's another track available on their myspace.

"Mons Venus" by Zoroaster

Next band I caught was Catch 22. I've always been pretty open about the fact that I'm a man who loves his ska, and third wave ska punk is no exception. I've long considered Catch 22 to be the best in the punk ska game, so I was definitely looking forward to their set. Although it was certainly enjoyable, something just didn't sound right. It seemed like there was a new vocalist, or maybe he quit smoking, and they only played two songs I knew ("9mm and a Three Piece Suit" and "Keasbey Nights"). When I got home I did a little reading, and apparently the singer I was thinking of left the band in '98. Oops. I'm really only familiar with their first demo, Rules of the Game, and subsequent album, Keasbey Nights. Apparently (i.e. according to wikipedia) after the original vocalist Tom Kalnoky heard that Victory Records was going to do a remastered version of Keasbey Nights, he got annoyed and said that he'd rather just re-record the entire album with his new band Streetlight Manifesto. I've been listening to the re-recorded album next to the original, and it's a little weird. It's kind of barely different, just a little more polished, a little faster. Part of the charm for me of the original was its rough sound, but they seem to have tightened it up a smidge without compromising things.

"Keasbey Nights" by Catch 22
"Day In Day Out" by Catch 22
"9mm and a Three Piece Suit" by Catch 22

"Keasbey Nights" by Streetlight Manifesto
"Day In Day Out" by Streetlight Manifesto
"9mm and a Three Piece Suit" by Streetlight Manifesto

"I'm Better than You" by Catch 22

That last one really isn't ska, it's a punk song off of their demo tape. I put that on a mix for my girlfriend when I was 16 and it only occured to me a few days ago how dumb it was to put a song with the lyrics "I don't give a shit about you (I'm better than you)" on a mixtape for a girl you like. That was in the day when mixtapes were really on tapes...

If you ever feel like waxing nostalgic, like I sometimes do, do yourself a favor and go to tapedeck.org



I missed Mission of Burma cuz I was busy boozing etc., and after the first fifteen minutes of the Girl Talk set, they had already stopped the show like 5 times to tell people to get off stage. It just seemed like bad things were afoot, so I got outta there.

"Outlaw" by Mission of Burma
"Smash Your Head" by Girl Talk

Also, Michael Showalter MCed on Saturday, so although I didn't stick around for any bands, I did stay to watch him talk for a bit. I love that guy.

jah will advertise it.

"Hungry" by Large Professor
"Shark Attack" by the Bouncing Souls
"I Like Food" by Descendents
"You Really Got a Hold on Me" by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles

get it? get it?

Slow Stupid and Hungry

Smoke Two Joints- Sublime

As High as wu tang get- Wu Tang Clan

Quest for Herb- Murphys Law

in memoriam

Today, I mourn the loss of my finest footwear, my best pair of cons. When I went to slip on my black, low top, pre-Nike takeover, Converse Chuck Taylors, one of the sides just split open, ending the life of my last pair of the greatest shoes ever made. Sure, I've still got my green high tops, my monochrome high tops, and my red high tops, but none of them compare to the black oxford. I could get a new pair of them, but I told myself I'd never buy converse sneakers again after Nike bought them out. I've really been enjoying my new pumas recently, but now I feel like I missed out on time I could've had with my cons. In order to help cope with my own pain, I bring you some songs about loss.

"Bro Hymn Tribute" by Pennywise
"Tha Crossroads" by Bone Thugs N Harmony
"Jellyhead" by Crush

Oh wait that last tune is just an awesome middle school jam.
My bad, I got mixed up there.



Make sure you kids leave room for the holy spirit, now.

Hardcore Mutant Ninja Throwdown

I was recently sent this awesome video, which combines the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles concert tour from a whiiiile back with Never Back Down, the intro track on Throwdowns's Haymaker album. In the begining it's just amusing and pretty well edited, but around the breakdown it just becomes awesome. The simulated ninja mosh pit is fantastic, it's just like two seconds long but honestly reminds me of a pit. There's also about three seconds where leonardo is totally picking up change. Great video. Haymaker, awesome album pick it up, classic Throwdown super tuff very punk influenced hardcore. Get ready for childhood idols throwin down some straight up cussin (nahaha get it).

Chicharrones

So lately I've been somewhat immune to the electronic bleat of my alarm clock, which has lead me to augment it with my CD player alarm. For whatever reason, I've really been enjoying waking up to the Best of Buena Vista. The first track, "Chicharrones con Tostones" by Compay Segundo just has something about it that shakes me awake right when it comes on, but lets me gradually float in and out of sleep. I don't know about everyone else, but my dreams tend to incorporate sound that's going on in the waking world. If someone is trying to talk to me while I'm sleeping, it'll be woven into a dream, and the same thing with sound from the radio or the TV. Something about the tinny mute on the trumpet in this track has just been making my dreams nutty. It's hard to explain since I have trouble remembering my dreams, but I know that this album has made them crazy.

"Chicharrones con Tostones" by Compay Segundo

Righteous Bro

So I know this won't do much to counter the Breetards assertion that he listens to heavier music than I do, but today I want to talk about Ani DiFranco. I used to listen to her a good amount, and I still would put Living in Clip in my top live albums, but in the past couple years she's kind of dropped off of my radar. After listening to some Andrew Bird last night, I did a little reading up on him, and saw that after being signed to DiFranco's Righteous Babe label, he joined her in the studio for her 2006 album Knuckle Down. Since it's been a while since I've sat back and enjoyed some Ani, I took a bit of my afternoon today to catch up on her past two albums, Knuckle Down, and 2006's Reprieve. The two albums definitely have very different sounds, Knuckle Down being a lot more rich, while Reprieve is a little more experimental. The sound of the strings on Knuckle Down is a great compliment to DiFranco's unique guitar style, standing out the most on "Manhole", "Studying Stones" and the titular track. That rhythmic style that made me fall in love with her guitar playing comes out the most on "Knuckle Down".

"Knuckle Down" by Ani DiFranco
"Studying Stones" by Ani DiFranco
"Manhole" by Ani DiFranco

Although I usually prefer the more experimental stuff, Reprieve wasn't as much up my alley. The album has a much more atmospheric feel, and features her experimentation with tape loops and electronics. I did enjoy the track "Decree" more than most of them, however. Even if the album as a whole has a sparse feel, this track has a ton going on, electronic beats and melodies just barely audible under the guitar, looped vocals on top of each other, and these ambient swells that all complement each other very well.

"Decree" by Ani DiFranco

If it wasn't for my interest in Andrew Bird, I never would've given these Ani tracks a listen. That means everyone should take some time out to give some Andrew Bird a listen. It never disappoints.

"Scythian Empire" by Andrew Bird
Plus my personal favorite,
"Fake Palindromes" by Andrew Bird

Also,

The As Blood Runs Black track from the Breetard's post was accidentally uploaded as an iTunes protected track, so if you downloaded it, you couldn't listen to it. The file's been changed in the original post, but you can download it right here too.

"My Fears have become Phobias" by As Blood Runs Black

Lez get breetarded

well hello....planet earth
my brother the green hornet asked me to to start contributing here on cigar box guitars, instead of just sending him songs and getting mad when he forgot to post them. My tastes are just about as absurd and eclectic as his, but range more into the heavier stuff. So if you've ever gotten a little tired of hearing about super indie scenesters or how many hoes ghostface REALLY deserves then tune in.
today we're talking about tracks with great double bass parts. As a drummer myself it makes my calves hurt sometimes to listen to some of these songs.



As I Lay Dying- 94 Hours



These guys are amazing at laying down rock solid drums, bass, and rhythm guitar, and lacing more complicated lead guitar over it. The vocals are juuuust growly enough and its hard to decide what really makes the song. The bass drums get crazy around the second verse, the beat remains nice and slow though, which gives it that heavy as hell sound.




And come on, the dudes name is Jordan MANcino




Lamb Of God- Boot Scraper









Off of their earlier album As The Palaces Burn, this is the perfect example of how awesome it is when the rhythm guitar matches the bass drums perfectly. Gives the song a really full sound. Chris Adler is widely regarded for his very clean and crisp bass sound. He also has one hella metal beard.



As Blood Runs Black- My Fears Have Become Phobias





This song is just all around amazing. Plenty of nice slow breakdowns, fast verses, blast beats, crowd sing along bridges, and crazymetalguitar. the entire song is no doubt worth your time, but near the end he just busts into one of the fastest and yet slowest beats I've ever heard in my life. ridiculous.

THIS GUY

EVERYTHING COMES TO AN END

It might not have been the mind blowing season premiere we had a year ago, but what an episode Sunday's Sopranos was. Bobby Bacala raises his hand to a boss? He's got to be crazy. Also, I know it was necessary, as far as the plot is concerned, for Bobby to come out on top, but are we supposed to believe that he just kicked the piss out of the man who beasted Muscles Marinara? Drunk or not, that's a little loco. I missed Christopher's presence last night, probably my favorite character, but the not so subtle hint at brewing trouble between him and Tony should make for interesting plot. Add that to Tony's tensions with Bobby, plus assume that Paulie's always unhappy about something, and you've got a bit of dissension in the ranks. Then, consider the fact that AJ is getting serious with a minority single mother. Knowing the Soprano parents feelings on interracial dating, you have to guess that it only gets worse when the minority in question is already a parent. Then you've got the Feds' mounting case against Tony, his new assault rifle, and the piece of Bobby's shirt stuck in a dead man's clutches. We're only one episode deep and already Tony has trouble coming at him from every angle.

Then again, when Bobby's daughter sings with her babysitter about the little ducklings, maybe that's a sign of good to come for Tony (It all comes back to the ducks.). I'm guessing that it's a sign of good things not to come, but I'm a pessimist, and Tony acknowledges himself that he's headed for the can or the embalming room. If they keep up the pace, something they had trouble with last year, this is going to be one hell of a season. I'm not gonna hope for any specific outcome, because then it won't happen, but I would like to see Tony and Junior reconciled. Even if Tony clips him in the next breath, I'd like it. Really, if I think about it, I think I'd like it more if that's how their relationship ended. Junior needs to go down in a firestorm, not this gradual loss of dignity he's going through now. One of my favorite things to tell people is how Uncle Junior hung out at my tennis matches in high school, on occasion, since I played with his grandson. I'm kinda glad I didn't have HBO then, or I've probably been more star struck than I was when I met ghostface, definitely not as calm as I was when I met Mos Def, certainly not as interested in throwing someone off a cage as when I met Mick Foley, and positively not as confused as when I met that redhead who told me how she used to be on Head of The Class. I've only heard of that show because one of the adult actors on the original season of All That used to reference it occasionally. I think he was on it too. I wish I met him. It's also too bad I didn't have a copy of Ungrateful Heart in high school, or I totally could've had it autographed.

"Dicitenciello Vuie" by Dominic Chianese
"Piscatore Pusilleco" by Dominic Chianese

I don't know what either of those means in Italian, but I like to pretend the second one is a song about vaginas that smell like seafood.

Cold War Kids at the Bowery Ball Room

So thanks to Druglas, I caught Delta Spirit, Tokyo Police Club, and Cold War Kids at the Bowery Ballroom last night. Aside from falling asleep, missing the Tarrytown stop, and leaving a brand new Tokyo Police Club shirt on the train, the night was a success. Delta Spirit opened about twenty minutes after we arrived, with a ton of plaid and rhythym. Honestly, any band that makes use of a converted trash can lid / tambourine is okay in my book. Maybe it's my love of Chuck Norris or maybe it's my love of Gin, but I couldn't stop referring to the band as Delta Force.

I hadn't heard them before the show, but I definitely will be keeping tabs on them from now on. They didn't give the titles for any of their songs that I can recall (doesn't mean they didn't actually say the song titles), so I did a little digging around and came across two tracks that I really enjoyed from their set, "Streetwalker" and "Gimme Some Motivation".

"Streetwalker" by Delta Spirit

"Gimme Some Motivation" by Delta Spirit

Tokyo Police Club hit the stage after just a quick break between sets and were frenetic and abrupt in the most wonderful way possible. I enjoyed their set so much I really wish that I hadn't stayed away from their show with Ted Leo last summer, after the rain hit. Although I enjoy their recorded stuff, they're definitely a band whose records just cannot express how much fun they are live. Try giving their daytrotter session a listen for the closest example the internet can give you.

Tokyo Police Club at Daytrotter

My only real issue with their set was the hipster audience. No matter how great the opening bands are, nobody ever dances for anyone but the headliner. It drives me crazy to see all those people standing still while I flail about.


Cold War Kids were fucking ace. The highlight of the entire show was definitely "Saint John", where they closed out the show by having everyone and their mother from the tour coming out on stage to rock with some form of percussion or another. Some guy we met outside swiped a tambourine and a maraca off of the stage afterwards and was leading singalongs with them. When we joined in, he gave me the maraca, and I felt kind of guilty with a maraca stolen from the band. He wasn't giving it back if I turned it down though, so I shook it for a while, then tucked it into my jacket when my gin soaked brain couldn't take that bean shakin sound anymore. The Cold War Kids played a few new songs, all of which were enjoyable, but didn't really rock quite as hard as some of the strong points in the set. I couldn't give you the whole set off the top of my head, but "Red Wine, Success", "Passing the Hat", "Hospital Beds", "Hang Me Out to Dry", and "We Used to Vacation" were all excellently executed. Especially that last one.

"We Used to Vacation" by Cold War Kids
"Saint John" by Cold War Kids

This Video is Fantastic

Sad Kermit

I really love this video, but I kinda feel like it's a bit overboard to flash to Jim Henson's picture towards the beginning. I was only five when he died, but I'd looked up to him for all those five years, and it hit me pretty hard. I still look up to Jim Henson. His death and the re-run of "Farewell, Mr. Hooper" (since the original ran two years before I was born) were probably the most depressing events of my early years that I can recall.

get maaashed up

I'm not really big on the whole "mash up" thing. I didn't get into the grey album, I don't really girl talk, I dunno, just never got into it. Of course, there are always exceptions, like when I heard Jay-Zeezer for the first time.

"Say It Ain't December 4th" by Jay-Zeezer
"My First Song's Name is Jonas" by Jay-Zeezer
Jay Zeezer Official Page

Maybe I'm crazy, but I kind of like this version of December 4th better. The other tracks are mostly just novelty, though "My First Song's Name is Jonas" is pretty great, right until it peters out at the end. Anyway, I found another mash-up album I can really enjoy, by way of The Rap Up.


I mean, I can't think of a time when I've ever not wanted to listen to Luda, likewise for the Jackson 5, so it's pretty much right up that awesome alley. Plus, in stark contrast to the Jay-Zeezer project, every track is a great listen. Download a zip of the whole tape at 5G Productions.

WHAT?

I was at the bar tonight and on one of the TVs there was some kind of interview/concert montage of Dashboard Confessional. Chris Carraba still exists? I had no idea.

A majority of the writers for this blog had a phase in which they liked the song "Screaming Infidelities". True story. Shit happens.

"Screaming Infidelities" by Dashboard Confessional

I need to stop being so honest.