All Apologies

 Rambling   

Hope you guys had a good Turkey Day. Sorry it’s been cricket cricket around here. Had way too much going on. I’m going to *try* to get some writing done while I am in Dallas this week, but no promises. In any case, you’re not really missing much in the music world - new releases have slowed down and not much as far as shows go either. If you’re an old school reader, you’re probably wondering when my Super Fantastic Mix is going up.....it’s not. Way too much music and I didn’t organize at all during the year. You may still get the covers edition but if that happens it won’t be until next week.

Oh and I guess I should put Holiday Hello Kitty up, but I am going to Hawaii in 10 days so I’m thinking we should get Tropical Hello Kitty instead. Or maybe a compromise of both....I’ll decide when I get to Dallas. Catch you on the flip side peeps.

Annuals Announce 2009 Tour Dates

 Rawk Shows   

Glad to see a press release for the Annuals newly announced tour dates in 2009. We get a Casbah date on 2/18. Yay! Full tour schedule if you rawk on. In the meantime, busy yourself with playing with the Such Fun album art.

P.S. Watch for tickets and an album giveaway closer to the show date. Also, you can stream “Confessor” in the listen section.

Casbah 20th Anniversary Shows On Sale Now

 Rawk Shows   

Tickets for all the January Casbah 20th Anniversary shows went on sale on Saturday. There are a few shows that will probably sell out so get ‘em while you can. Unfortch, I am pretty much going to be gone the entire month of January. So go and have a good time for me. Here’s the current list of shows:

Wed 07: Bob Log III, Heartaches, Widows $10
Thu 08:  Lucy’s Furcoat and guests $20
Fri 09:  Lucy’s Furcoat and guests $20
Sat 10:  The Dragons, Deadbolt, Wild Weekend, Black Hondo $14
Tue 13:  Meat Puppets, Benji Hughes $15
Thu 15:  Honey Glaze, Charo and guests $15
Fri 16:  El Vez Greatest Hits Show $20
Sat 17:  The Album Leaf, Ilya and guests $15
Mon 19:  Anti-Monday League Presents Three Mile Pilot $20
Tue 20:  Three Mile Pilot $20
Wed 21:  Louis XIV, The Silent Comedy $15
Thu 22:  Louis XIV, Apes of Wrath $15
Fri 23:  No Knife, Creedle, Uncle Joe’s Big Ol’Driver $20
Sat 24:  The Penetrators, The Loons $20
Sun 25:  tapes n tapes and guests $15
Wed 28:  Goblin Cock and guests $10
Fri 30:  Adolescents and guests

Full schedule and links to get tix here.

Music Mondays - Weekly Roundup

 Rawk Tunes   

I did actually listen to these this time around.

Army Navy - My Thin Sides (yt)
These guys are on my radar because of PDX’s KNRK. I just missed them at Beauty Bar on Saturday, but they are from L.A., so I hope to catch them soon.
More info: myspace

Larsen and Furious Jane - Vietnamese Pool Boy (click to stream, right click and save as to dl)
Larsen and Furious Jane - Local Nobility (click to stream, right click and save as to dl)
From the press kit:
“In a sort of half-secret way Larsen & Furious Jane have become Denmark’s most personal indie rock band […] Zen Sucker becomes an inspiring maze […] An album where you can work your way in deeper while constantly finding new gold. After establishing themselves as a phenomenon of alternative songwriting Larsen & Furious Jane have started developing in an extremely exciting direction.”
-- Politiken
More info: myspace

Paper Route - Empty House (click to stream, right click and save as to dl)
I did really like this EP...good track for sure.
More info: myspace/previously on chickrawker

School of Seven Bells - My Cabal (click to stream, right click and save as to dl)
From the press release:
Brooklyn’s School of Seven Bells just may be your new favorite band. Helmed by Benjamin Curtis and sisters Alejandra and Claudia Deheza, they came together in 2004 while their bands - Secret Machines and On-Air Library!, respectively - were on tour. While watching PBS at 3am, Alejandra caught a show about the School of Seven Bells: a mythical South American pickpocket academy that may or may not have existed in the ‘80s. The idea of seven minds working as one appealed to her, as did the phrase’s cryptic musicality, and a creative spark ignited.
More info: myspace
I really dug this - reminded me of Azure Ray meets Cocteau Twins.

New Tunes for the Week

 Rawk Radio    Rawk Releases   

In Stores 11/23:
Guns N’ Roses Chinese Democracy
Only available at Best Buy. It’s been streaming on their myspace but I doubt they’ll leave that up for long. Besides you just need to read Klosterman’s review here to figure out whether or not you care. (Also check out Klosterman’s fake review of the album that he wrote a couple of years ago here. )

In Stores 11/24:
Killers Day and Age
Streaming on their myspace now.

In Stores 11/25:
(international) Noise Conspiracy Cross Of My Calling
Produced by Rick Rubin. Listen here.

Rivers Cuomo Alone 2: The Home Recordings Of Rivers Cuomo
Listen to tracks here.

Scott Weiland Happy In Galoshes
You can listen to a couple of tracks on myspace.

The Sword Age of Winters/Gods of the Earth
A special box set of their releases available on their tour dates with Metallica or at amazon here. Still not hip to the Sword? Check out “How Heavy This Axe” (click to stream, right click and save as to dl)

Impacting on radio:
(alt rock)
Franz Ferdinand - Ulysses
Offspring - Kristy, Are You Doing Okay?
Pink Spiders - Gimme Chemicals
Staind - All I Want
(triple a)
Aimee Mann - 31 Today
City And Colour - Sleeping Sickness

Exploring My Love of Triple A Radio

 Rawk Radio   

The more I write about radio, the more I realize that I really am a Triple A radio lover at heart. They do play some stuff that I don’t listen to, especially the more classic rock side of the catalogue, but I do really love a lot of what plays on Triple A. In San Diego, we have a great Triple A station (KPRI) and even though Sophie (KCSF) is officially Hot AC, they have their own Triple A tendencies. There is definitely a crossover with the alt rock playlists, but I find that Triple A plays more stuff that I love than I hate. So let’s take a look, shall we? Here’s the current top 10 in Triple A:

1. Coldplay - Lost
2. Snow Patrol - Take Back The City
3. O.A.R. - Shattered (Turn The Car Around)
4. Eric Hutchinson - Rock and Roll
5. Ray LaMontagne - You Are The Best Thing
6. Pretenders - Boots of Chinese Plastic
7. Killers - Human
8. Beck - Orphans
9. Bret Dennen (feat. Femi Kuti) - Make You Crazy
10. Sara McLachlan - U Want Me 2

I look at the rest of the Triple A chart and see all sorts of stuff I listen to - Kings of Leon, Ryan Adams, Keane, Death Cab For Cutie, Augustana, Delta Spirit, Ben Folds/Regina Spektor. I don’t even mind the occasional John Mayer song. I can listen to a Triple A station anywhere in the country a lot longer than your average Alt Rock station. Yes, there are exceptions, but for the most part, I pretty much try to find the Triple A station or pray for satellite radio when I am travelling (though my fave XM stations were lost in the merge with Sirius. Boo.) Because what’s the alternative? Most of the time it’s a crappy CC alt/active rock station that I can listen to for about 20 minutes before they play something I totally hate. Speaking of alt rock, you know you’re curious about their top 10 - what exactly crosses over? So for comparison, here’s the Alt Rock Top 10:

1. Offspring - You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid
2. Kings of Leon - Sex on Fire
3. Rise Against - Re-education Through Labor
4. Apocalyptica - I Don’t Care
5. Weezer - Troublemaker
6. Killers - Human
7. Shinedown - Second Chance
8. Metallica - The Day That Never Comes
9. Theory of a Deadman - Bad Girlfriend
10. Death Cab for Cutie - Cath

Um, yeah. I could go the rest of my life not ever hearing another Offspring and Metallica song and I would totally be okay. I’m also gonna complain about hearing the new Guns and Roses on alt rock radio. Not to mention crap like Mudvayne, Hoobastank and Linkin Park. (Though I do think Triple A played Linkin Park’s “Shadow of the Day”, which I will admit is tolerable only in that it sounds like bad U2.) Of course, there is plenty of alt rock that I still listen to. And I am always happily surprised when alt rock embraces something I would never guess would make it into mainstream radio programming (The Ting Tings at #38!) but that doesn’t really happen that often.

I guess my point here is that while my first love of radio was built upon a great alt rock station (XTRA in its heyday) and re-inforced by a renaissance in alt rock radio led by KBZT and Indie 103.1, I think lately my musical taste runs decidedly on the Triple A side. I’m definitely gonna need to work through that idea. 

Music Mondays - Weekly Music Roundup

Disclaimer: I may or may not have actually listened to these songs. I am just posting them for the greater good.

The Postmarks - 11.59
This is from their recent album of covers. Cool concept - a song for each number.
More info: myspace

Apollo Sunshine - Singing To The Earth (To Thank Her For You)
This is the new remix by the Ed Banger artist Mickey Moonlight.
More info: myspace

Spindthrift - Ace Coltrane
From L.A. Recently Paste’s artist of the week.
More info: myspace

Fallbrooke - Losing It
Alt rock from south Florida. For the emo kid in you.
More info: myspace

The Republic Tigers - Fight Song
This song from the KC band is on the OMFGG (Gossip Girls Soundtrack), which I totally heart.
More info: myspace.