video roundup

felt like phoning in a post this morning with a few random youTubed vids.



great spoof of Magician David Blaine. I love that the fake Blaine has a goatee that is marker.



another great SNL digital short. if you love the OC like i did this slow motion death scene if priceless.



it's an old viral clip but still funny nonetheless and since i was a tour guide this is even funnier.

don't forget to wash.

The Analysis

Bright Eyes: Cassadaga

for those of you that know me, you know me feelings on Conor Oberst, the wunderkind behind Bright Eyes. His album "Lifted, or the Story is in the Soil Keep Your Ear to the Ground" is one my cornerstone albums of my life. Hit me right at the end of high school/beginning of college and has cemented itself in my personal lore. it was the start of my love affair with pretetious indie music.

fast forward a couple of years and Mr. Oberst has been called every name in the indie/blogosphere dictionary with the most prevalent being "The New Dylan." I too have jumped on that band wagon and soapboxed my beliefs about his musical talent and god given talent to make my heart, my head, and my liver hurt simultaneously. he is releasing his new album "Cassadaga" to the masses which is combination of last two records "I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning" and "Digital Ash in a Digital Urn" Listening to the record for the first couple of times you can't help but be overwhelmed by the production. It's bigger, smoother, and holistically different that a lot of his past records. But in the end it does feel like a mashup of previous work but with larger issues within the songs.

a lot of critics have railroaded Conor for being too political and tackling material too big for his britches. this is a more, dare i say it, "mature" album which i don't think is a bad thing. you can feel a lot of the sadness and growing pains coming through the lyrics with topics such as personal cleansing, war, and death doting virtually every song. but some of the songs come off with grand pagentry and lyrical flourish that make Oberst a man to watch for a long while.

my favorite standout tracks are as follows "Soul Singer in a Session Band" is a great country/soul mash up with the lyrics following a desperate man trying to sing for the masses. sonically and lyrically great to the ear as it just charges forward. also "If the Brakeman Turns My Way" is another hard driving song about growing up. there are also a handful of slower bluesy tracks that showed up a lot on "I'm Wide Awake". "Classic Cars and Hot Knives" are hard songs to get into from the start but they pull you in eventually.

as a whole the record is well produced and sonically stronger than its predecessors. yet, i can't help feeling this is more of a transitional record rather than a cornerstone of his work. i am always going to be partial to "Lifted" and "I'm Wide Awake" is amazing. yet, with the force and lyrical material Oberst displays i think we are in for an interesting ride. i still believe that he is one of the men that we have to watch with the future of music and a lt of that is personal bias but i think i have a reason to say that. pick it up and see if you agree with me.

vote democrat.

Springtime For Hitler and/or Me

well it's the start of spring folks. yes i know it was actually the start weeks ago but i'm slow and way too lazy to put in my thoughts about this time of year. why may you ask? because i live in wisconsin where spring doesn't start till August and you get three days of nice weather and then blistering humidity for a month then it's fall and then winter for 10 months. global warming it's not but more like WTF Weather. spring always tends to look like this in Sconnie. in the month of April and the end of March we get at least 1-2 days and anywhere's up to a week of good weather. this can be spread across the board or all at one time. the remaining days are either 1. snowing 2. raining 3. a combination or both 4. or the dreaded warm/cold/warm/humid/cold type of shitastic weather. i.e. why i don't like spring that much because it nevers stays consistant over time.

but one of my favorite (new) pastimes started yesterday. Brewers baseball. yes i'm a Crew fan big surprise. but any baseball team named after an alcoholic beverage is fine by me. plus the Crew have the most annoyingly interesting franchises in the league. why? because we are owned by Bud (No This isn't a Toupee) Selig's family, we were originally the Milwaukee Braves and had Hank Aaron for a little while, and our original logo is a mitt shaped like and M and a B. awesomeness. i will pretty much shit my pants if the Brew Crew make it into the playoffs this year. but the goal is simple....don't choke. they always choke and usually right after the all star break. this year all i hope is that our pitching rotation stays healthy for at least most of the season. if we can keep a rotation together, take some pressure off of the bullpen the Crew have enough talent to make some impact in the league. i am not trying to be openly optimistic but hopeful enough to watch the team.

in other spring baseball news. the Cubbies are being sold at the end of the season. i wonder if they offended another goat during the off season. rough for the Cubs but here is my suggestion. publicly sell the team like the Packers. there are enough crazy Cubs fans that would buy stock in the team. hell even Bartman would probably buy some shares....if they let him.

also in more Midwest Baseball here is The Hold Steady's Twinsified "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" mp3. entertaining and another reminder of spring.

keep hitting homeruns.

Reasons Why Music Sucks

so as i was sitting on my couch last night watching American Idol (i know i loose cool points for that but so screw me nothing else on tuesday or wednesday before Lost) i realized something. the music business sucks. a lot of me has always wanted to be in a band and yada yada yada you can fill in the rest of the blanks. but right now i think music is the last place to be in any entertainment. here are a couple of my reasons why i think music sucks right now and, and why i think there are amazing things happening and why.

Bad Things
American Idol
watching AI you can see why the era of mass collaboration on the internet and music business is pulling it down and apart. i have had to sit through Sanjaya ruin two of my favorite songs and because of a bunch of crying Tweeners and Soccer moms i have to see legitmate contestants leave. but this isn't new for Idol and it won't be in the coming years because i think that ultimately AI is ruining music and the music business. if you look back on past Idolers there have only been 3 successful albums. Two winners (Underwood, and Clarkson) and one 4th place finisher in Daughtry. Fox loves to handjob itself and say what a success the show has been in the biz and i can't discount that. but i believe that putting people who don't know anything about music (technically, historically, socially) is bad for a medium that has the chance to affect so many people. in the end all we have gotten is hundreds of Fox drones putting out senseless crap or making me sit through bad karaoke versions of songs i love that i heard better when i am hearing them at a local dive bar when a drunk regular drinks to many brandy old fashions and thinks they can sing "Black Velvet" idol won't go away and it won't get better because no one this year has the chance to out sell Carrie or Kelly.

Corporate Companies Having Record Labels
Starbucks has started a record label and the first signee is Sir Paul McCartney. this isn't good for music consumers. we already have thousands of indie labels which put out great music. and a handful of big labels that put out really shitty music. pretty soon they will just have to do a nationwide talent search of all the baristas that work at Starbucks so that they can drone us out with their senseless shit everytime i walk in the place.

DRM
you don't know what this means well look it up and realize how pissed people are.

Good Things
Indie acts hitting the charts
this year alone the Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, and The Shins have hit #2 on the charts which is a promising trend that i hope continues. yeah it's hip to be in an indie or emo band right now but at least this music is challenging and progressing the collective conscious.

Public Radio
small and large left of the dial radio stations are amazing. listening to NPR was part of my childhood and now i am old enough to enjoy it. also small indie/college radio stations streaming over the internet is why music and radio is still good.

BitTorrent
having the ability to download music is a great tool that a lot of bands are using and should keep on using. there is so much amazing ways you can use these things to get your music to people and looking at other ways to make money i.e. licensing or just touring forever can make it worthwhile.

ok so that was my quick little analysis. take it or leave it. i'm tired and my coffee isn't working so i fucking crabby. bye.

don't sit on a cactus.

video roundup

it has been a long week so i decided to basically phone in my post today. i was perusing the InterWeb looking for useless videos and found a few gems for your viewing pleasure. but in reality i just thought these were awesome.

IDontLikeYouInThatWay.com - Peyton
Uploaded by IDLYITWdotcom

who would have thought that Peyton (Cut That Meat!) Manning was funny. my favorite line is "Now I'd stab a snitch" near the end. priceless



another great SNL short. only reason this is funny is because i have 2 nephews and 2 nieces and i have been subjected to Dora the Explorer for years now.



i am a sucker for really pop love songs. Bryce Avary or The Rocket Summer as he goes by is absolutely addictive with his tunes. here is a shaky live song from the new album coming out this summer. can't wait.



if you haven't read "The Golden Compass" when you were younger read it now. Philip Pullman's novels were some of my favorite as a child and this is the first trailer for the movie. the ubergeek in me is 'cited for this flick.

that's the roundup enjoy them as long as they stay active.

stay away from elephants.

The Analysis: Battlestar Galactica

Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica
i'm a huge geek/fanboy/science fiction nerd wrapped up inside a hipsters body. this should surprise anybody and therefore big surprise i am a loyal BC fan and i thought i would offer the two cents about season 3's finale last night.

i will have to admit i have gotten to this show later than everyone else. i didn't start watching from the beginning but because of the wonders of dvds i have seen every episode including the miniseries. therefore i feel like i have the ability to offer my piece on this amazing show. but first my gut reaction on this season: Meh.....

It started off amazingly with the humans making a break for it off of New Caprica and all the shit dodging/shots firing/starship battles that any ten year old could enjoy. in there they through in political oppression, unlawful imprisonment, and unjust punishment which made for compeling television the likes i haven't seen on more than maybe two shows in the past 6 years.
then they left New Caprica and the shit started to hit the fan. in the episodes that followed we saw people get thrown out an airlock, people jump out of an airlock, box each other in a crappy ring and more hookups, breakups, and bitching about hookups and breakups that i thought i was watching Desperate Housewives. i just think that they ran out of ideas and didn't have the ability to hit everyone with the pretentious political revisionist banter that have fueled so many past episodes. every line just seemed to lack power and punch that would make you analyze things to no avail. plus the revealing of the mythology took on a Lost style pace in that in an episode full of virutally nothing you got 1 minute of answers crammed at the end.

but i'm gonna have to say the finale was ok. Baltar was acquited in a nice courtroom finale that actually brought back that lovely punch of political analysis that i have loved about this show. we found out (maybe) 4 of the final 5 Cylons were (Tigh, Tyrol, Anders, Tory) which was ok and not all that surprising. and then the final climatic scene where the Cylons were attacking for the first time in god knows how long and then all of a sudden Lee was seeing Starbuck (who was apparently deceased in the shows attempt to stir things up) and she said she could show him where earth was. bam. done. see you again in 2008.

WTF! ok fine it was a so so ending but whatever it wasn't shocking. it was just all crammed together and the fact that we have to weight 9 months for the next installment is just bullshit. it's said to say but i think this show is starting to jump the shark. they are out of twists and turns and the politics is getting overrun. but i am a fan through and through. therefore i am gonna watch when it comes back on. let's just hope that i don't forget about the damn thing in the meantime. oh well. at least Entourage is coming back.

stay away from lasers.

The Analysis: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists- Living with the Living

i thought i would throw in my two cents worth today about a new album that is flowing through my ear drums this week. Punk songster Ted Leo is a man that i have grown to love with honest adorement (if that's a word) over the past couple of years. not having much exposure to his music before 2004's Shake the Streets i soon began to absorb all of his music including Hearts of Oak and The Tyranny of Distance. Well his new album is longer, more complicated, and challenging than all of the past.

what i love about Ted Leo is the fact that he has the ability to put the melody of the song in the verse and not in the chorus. on songs such as "Who Do You Love", "C.I.A.", "A Bottle of Buckie" he places the hook right before the chorus which can be so bizarre to some people who are used to the Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus mentality. plus the melody is never a simple hit you in the face type of sound but more a gradual realization that by changing the inflection in his voice you hear something different. Leo is really more a singer/songwriter than a punk musician. But with his socially conscious lyrics and lightning fast solos he is one of the most interesting men in music.

"C.I.A" and "Bomb. Repeat. Bomb." are two cooly anti-war/government tracks. the thing with Leo is that his lyrics may be politically motivated but they don't sound preachy. "Bomb" is a frenatic punk anthem that doesn't let up for a second as he rips through the chords faster than any drum stick while shouting "Bomb. Repeat. Bomb."

Yet, the album can drag at times and feel a tad unsettled. Some of the guitar hooks blend around the mid tracks and you forget each glorious melody until you listen again and again to get the full understanding. the album itself feels unsettled with only a handful of tracks feeling comfortable and gooy. but i can't blame Ted for this feeling because listening to each track you hear the pleading in his voice for change in a lost country. as a musician he is smarter and more talented than most singers working today. yet, know one but the inclusive set realize this guys power.

so my advice is buy Shake the Streets first and come to love this. then buy this album because until you appreciate his past work can you love this new work.

keep the melody flowing.

The BoobTube Evalution: Recommendations

well i'm back folks from a lazy spring break. thought i would start the week with a little BoobTube Analysis for you all. since so many shows are either on break, rounding out their seasons, or the midseason replacements are making their rounds. i felt that i should give my opinion on some new shows and addictions.

DVD Pick of the Week
Prison Break
the woman and myself decided to delve into the world of The Fugitive 2.0 or Prison Break as Fox calls it this past week. we wanted something to keep our minds numb for a couple of days so going through 22 episodes wasn't such a bad idea. this show has enough shanks, pedaphiles, and male brooding to make a guy become a rat. the show is deliberately fast paced and energetic although all the serialized dramas that are present on television today is getting a little annoying. but i have to admit i am a huge geek for these types of things. season one was all we got get through and are probably going to have to wait for season 2 on dvd before we delve back into the show. it's entertaining but not groundbreaking i.e. perfect spring break laziness DVD show.

Best New Show
Debate: The Black Donnellys or The Riches
so i am playing devil's advocate in my head as to which show is more entertaining and more worthwhile. both shows are playing rivals for their dreaded monday night time slot but Donnellys seems to be an improvement from the Studio 60 faltering at NBC. which sucks because i enjoyed parts of Studio 60, just nothing that didn't involve Matt and Danny. but i digress....the Donnellys is moving a little slow for my taste but Haggis is doing his best. i think the show is interesting enough to get more episodes out before i can make a final judgment. it is also trying to challenge Grey's and the departed OC for indie soundtrack of the moment. at least it is trying.
the Riches is an interesting show and i think in parts has better writing. Eddie Izzard (one of my favorite comedians by far) is great in the gypsy/suburbanite dad who takes the place of a deceased family. i can assume there will be tons of gypsy/redneck/hippie jokes in the future. as long as Eddie is on scree he is better than any performance on the Donnellys but the show isn't as tight and streamlined with certain parts struggling at their seams.

Pros and Cons of the coming weeks
- Entourage returns....this show is still better than over 75% of all television. can't can't wait to see what happens to Ari.
-The Tudors premeires on Showtime....Jonathan Rhys Meyers is King Henry the 8th and this looks violent and high budgeted and therefore i'm gonna check it out.
-Sweeps month followed by season finales....nuff said.

that should be good enough of a round up. look for more reviews in the coming weeks and recommendations.

walk softly.

damn

so who is excited for the movie 300? because i am tons and lots. ok that made no sense. i don't really have a post for today just pure blood and gore video pleasure for you all. look for my review of the movie next week sometime. and until then keeping searching the Interweb.

crosswalks are not fun.

the releases: March 6th

in my infinite wisdom i feel it is time to start having running articles throughout this blogish type thing. my goal is to critique the releases of new music and movies every week to say what i think is credible and what i think is crap.

this is a particularly interesting week for the blogger geeks (i.e. Me) because Montral's Arcade Fire releases their second full length "Neon Bible" today. i am lucky enough (thank you Interweb) to have had the album for a couple of weeks now. i enjoyed the Fire's previous album but it just didn't hit me right when i needed it and therefore fell by the wayside. needless to say this band is probably the biggest in bloggo world right now and with sold out shows across the country and SNL performances with Haitian guitars (see below youtube thingy) they deserve the title justly. needless to say right now in my few of currently released albums this year it is the best so far. beating out the likes of the Shins, Bloc Party, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and countless others. there has been a lot of virtual handjobing with the critics over this album and i can see why.

when you poke through the album and pick it out track by track the gloom and doom that Win Butler throws at the audience is astonishing. stand out tracks for me include "Intervention" "Keep the Car Running" and the most interesting track "(Antichrist Television Blues)" which is Bruce Springsteen if he spent all his time in a church doing anti-depressants that weren't working. for all those pretentious indie people out there who don't already have the album pick it up because it is easy to listen to and by the end you will feel a tad morbidly depressed. everything that i want in an album.


other interesting tracks and albums to consider this week.
Bright Eyes- Four Winds (EP)
what for Cassadaga to come out on April 10th and just download these songs....especially Four Winds.
Albert Hammond Jr.- Yours to Keep
Strokes guitarist releases solo album....haven't heard it yet but going to soon hopefully.

don't listen to everything you read.

dont' take painkillers

so for those of you perusing the Interweb this week might have stumbled across a few new mp3s. i got my hands on some Wilco tracks, supposedly from their new record "Sky Blue Sky" the tracks themself don't seem overwhelmingly amazing but i don't think that they are master copies just leaked tracks.

the first track is "Either Way." a piano driven ballad that harks back to some of the older days of yore in Wilco land. it is really simple but it enjoyable. haven't had time pick apart the lyrics. it gets a Bish rating.

track 2 "You Are A Face" is a little bit of a rocker type track that is so well placed on either Being There or A.M. it isn't anywhere near that good but it is the standout track by far.

track 3 is "Walken" which is a combo of the above two tracks. all of the tracks are short and minimalist type things. it will be interesting to see how the tracks end up on the new record. i'm just really sad that the lovely "The Thanks I Get" which showed up on Jeff Tweedy's solo shows. but we will wait and see and hopefully i can find some new tracks and maybe post them for your listening pleasure. but for now enjoy my favorite new Wilco track below.



stay away from donkeys.

airing the pornish dirty laundry

so i started watching American Idol this year. that seems like a sin for me for some reason but hey i don't want to do my grad school readings and it comes on before Lost. i have to admit it is fun arguing with colleagues about who is good and who is not around the watercooler (classroom really). i have had a lot of misgivings about American Idol in the past but i know that it is good canon fodder to throw at people when discussing pop culture. therefore, i have made it my goal to watch AI all year and she what this round of contestants brings.

People I Like
Lakisha, Melinda, Chris Sligh, Blake Lewis
besides these folk i don't really care about everyone else because i like the power of the women and the uniqueness of the boys. otherwise the boys suck and it is really only a competition between like 4 women.

Greatest Scandal
Antonella Barba
you all know what i am talking about. the Jersey college girl whose pornish photos hit the Net this week and the hilarity ensued. when looking at the photos i just had to laugh because these are not completely unusual photos that i haven't seen at any random kegger throughout my college years. i just love it when dirty laundry hits to web when you start the semi-fame with reality television. now everyone is anxious to see whether or not she makes the cut but i want to keep her around for the random punchlines that you could throw at this girl. the hilarity and scandal is just enough to keep her around and destroy her morale every week. plus it makes me realize if (when i say if i mean never) get famous i won't be able to last ten minutes with some of the facebook photos i got out there. oh well not like that picture of me and that donkey is going anywhere. damn tequila. if you want proof of what i am talking about look at her performance below and the lovely pic as well.


damn Celine Dion.

don't forget to tip your bartenders.

random cleavage acknowledgement

welcome to cut human resources. i'll be your host (insert witty stage name here) and here is the rest of the story.

oscars were last night. it was long, my ass hurts, hollywood is stupid, and i can't predict shit. all in all it was a so so awards that had everything from overlong montages to showy musical numbers. some surprises, some not so surprises, and a lot of technical awards that i have no clue what any of them mean.

Here are my highlights....
-Will Ferrell, Jack Black, and John C. Riley doing the whole comedy singalong



-Forest Whitakers amazing acceptance speech for Best Actor.......truly inspiring

-Helen Mirren= the hottest woman in the room....who would have thought

-Scorsese winning, I know it isn't original it was cool

and that's about it really. Ellen did a commendable job and Arkin surprised the shit out of everybody by pulling out the supporting actor award. He still owns the best scene of 2006 for me in Little Miss Sunshine. The Departed took home the top prize and i slept through virtually every other minute. now if you excuse me i'm gonna go and try my interpretive dance skills so that i too can make it on the oscars.

don't think too hard.