The Music Elitist

What happens when you take a watermelon, a mario-esque hammer, a bald 70’s comedian with a mustache, and the music of Metallica. You get this…
METALLAGHER!!!

Ok, now for something to love. If you’ve been living in a cave on the moon with your eyes closed and your fingers in your ears you will have never heard of Bon Iver. Last winter’s newest folk obscurist. With an album that was never meant to be anything other than, a month in a cabin away from the world where one man would let out his true feelings, it’s a pretty amazing album. If you’re really one of those people on the moon, open your eyes, take your fingers out of your ears, hop on the first shuttle back to earth, and click on this link…Bon Iver

Now, it wasn’t Bon Iver I was trying to rave about, but it’s impossible for one to understand how much you’ll like this next band if you don’t like the first.  So, for Justin “Voice of Bon Iver” Vernon’s new adventure, he’s going away from the winter, and into the volcano. Volcano Choir is very up Vernon’s alley to say the least. With lush Harmonies, and minimalist electronica beats, it’s everything you’d ever want from logic pro. So, enjoy while the lava melts the sky away. Volcano Choir

Until next time. Keep talking.

Thanks to Jeff Jocoy for this gem!

I’M STILL ALIVE!!!! Sorry it’s been so long guys. This draft has literally been sitting here for 3 weeks waiting for me to finish it. I promise I am gonna try really hard to start posting more regularly.

Most songs on the radio suck. Even if those songs are being performed by great artists. The radio single typically has the stigma of being the worst song on the album. But, I find that it happens less often with the following bands.

Taking Back Sunday
Say what you want about these guys, but this will be the “emo band” that’s still alive and kicking in 10 years. They are probably one of the most consistent bands out there as far as releasing good music goes. They don’t usually get a ton of radio airplay past their first single, but that single is usually really catchy. Their latest single “Sink Into Me” was actually my inspiration for writing this post because I couldn’t get it out of my head for about 3 days after the first time I heard it. Their first single from Louder Now, “MakeDamn Sure” had a similar effect.

Foo Fighters
I don’t think I have ever heard someone actually say “I hate the Foo Fighters“. And there’s good reason for that. The most popular songs by these guys (i.e. the ones that have been on the radio) are all legitimately good songs: “Big Me”, “Everlong” “Learn to Fly”, “Times Like These”, “Best of You”, “The Pretender”…the list goes on and on.

Incubus
When this band first became popular, they were lumped into the nu metal movement with bands like KoRn and Limp Bizkit. If you listened to their last album Light Grenades, you would have no idea how that could have been possible. But no matter what their sound, they have always managed to write great songs and their radio singles were no exception (though I want to put a bullet in my head every time I hear “Drive”…overplayed).

The Killers
“Human” is definitely starting to wear on me, but otherwise I am usually delighted to hear a Killers radio single. Most of the indie dance nights I went to back in ‘04 managed to wear out the songs from Hot Fuss before they were even popular on the radio. But that album is still my favorite by them, so that says something.

Muse
So happy these guys are finally seeing a lot of mainstream success and I look forward to their next record. But I really honestly can’t think of a bad radio single from these guys. “Hysteria,” “Time is Running Out,” “Starlight”…all great songs.

Red Hot Chili Peppers
This one I feel I should clarify. I’m talking Red Hot Chili Peppers AFTER 1991. Mother’s Milk has a few good songs, but that’s about as far back as I go with RHCP. But the radio singles from Blood Sugar Sex Magik through Stadium Arcadium have all been pretty decent (though horribly overplayed).

Rise Against
Though I felt their breakout single (“Swing Life Away”) was not a very good representation of the band’s true sound, I still think it and every radio single they have released since are all pretty good songs. They are one of the few tolerable radio bands out there right now and I have actually had quite a few of their songs get stuck in my head.

Death Cab for Cutie
Obviously these guys are just a great band, but as I have said before, even great bands can release terrible radio singles. Not these guys though. I know there are probably some hardcore Death Cab fans out there that probably don’t care for “Soul Meets Body” and “Crooked Teeth,” but I like those songs a lot.

Jimmy Eat World
I can’t include these guys without a little disclaimer. Let me start by saying that when Bleed American came out in August 2001, I didn’t really have a huge problem with “The Middle.” It wasn’t by any means my favorite song on the record, but I had no issues with it. Fast forward to spring of 2002, it was quite a different story. That song turned out to be the song that introduced Jimmy Eat World…to the world. I personally feel, that was the worst possible song on that record to be their breakout single. “Sweetness” did pretty well on the radio which made me happy because that was by far my favorite song on that record and still is to this day. My point is every other radio single by this band has been better than “The Middle” (including the ones before it that were not successful: “Lucky Denver Mint” and “Bleed American”). Ok, I’m done.

AFI
There were a lot of hardcore AFI fans that were probably pretty pissed off around 2003 when Sing the Sorrow was released. But for some reason I have a feeling it was a very small group of them. I had a roommate my freshman year of college who was a HUGE AFI fan. I can’t tell you how many times I heard The Art of Drowning and Black Sails in the Sunset regularly being played from his room in our dorm. When Sing the Sorrow first came out I remember him being a tad skeptical before its release and even saying he wasn’t thrilled with it at first. But then he ended up liking it after a few listens. And then a couple years ago when Decemberunderground was released his Facebook status said something like “Trying to hate the new AFI, but it’s actually pretty good.” He’d still say to this day (and with good reason) that his favorite AFI stuff is pre-2003. But even their old fans can appreciate the music they have made since breaking into the  mainstream. That being said I’ve approved of pretty much every radio single they’ve released.

If you follow music news you’re probably aware of the unusual amount of band reunions that have happened in the last 6 months or so. No Doubt, blink-182, Limp Bizkit, Creed, Sunny Day Real Estate, The Get Up Kids and many more have all announced reunions of some kind whether it be a tour, a new record or both.

My theory on this recent boom in band reunions is that the economic downturn this country (and the world in general) has experienced is forcing artists to go back to what people are familiar with and what made them popular in the first place because it is more secure. Being an entertainer is probably one of the most volatile careers because you can be at the top of the world one day and then back at the bottom the very next.  If you don’t keep people interested, you’re gonna lose them. And in a time when people are picking and choosing what they want to spend their money on, things like music and movies may be the first thing people cut out.

When it comes down to it, most people would rather listen to blink-182 than +44 or Angels & Airwaves. More people would probably rather listen to No Doubt than Gwen Stefani’s solo material (I know I sure as hell would).

This is definitely not me trying to fault these artists in any way. In times like these you gotta do what you gotta do. And on the contrary, with the exceptions of Creed and Limp Bizkit, I am pretty happy and excited about most of these reunions. At least this recession has brought us something positive.

It’s been over 4 years since Hand to Hand’s last full-length LP (2005’s A Perfect Way to Say Goodbye) and since that time the entire band lineup has changed, with the exception of lead vocalist Rob Kellom. To describe the band’s current sound as metal or metalcore does not nearly do it justice. Their record label Lifeforce Records describes sound of Design the End / Follow the Horizon as a combination of Anberlin, Forever the Sickest Kids, Underoath, Escape the Fate & Haste the Day. Not really hearing the FTSK part, but the rest is pretty much dead on. While the music may have gotten a little more pop-friendly, it definitely has not lost it’s edge. The very first track “In This City” proves that immediately and is a great intro into the anthemic “State of Emergency”. I remember hearing that song at the last few shows that I have gone to and couldn’t wait to hear it recorded. My other 2 favorites so far have been “Mr. Warwithin” and “Love Muscle” (which was released as demo on their MySpace about a year and a half ago). This is all in all a really great record and I highly recommend picking it up.

The record will be in stores in the U.S. Tuesday, May26th (Monday, May 11th in Europe). If you live in the Central Florida area there is an in-store acoustic performance at Park Ave. CDs in Orlando the day of the release and the CD release show is Saturday, May 30th at The Social with Gorilla Fight, My Complex Island and Adeste. They will then be embarking on an east coast tour:

6/3/09
Jacksonville, Florida
The Pit
w/ Teamwork, A Fall to Rise, The Fear of Falling, and Nomenclature

6/4/09
Charleston, South Carolina
The Oasis

6/5/09
Spartanburg, South Carolina
Ground Zero
Burnfest!

6/6/09
Asheville, North Carolina
Stella Blue
w/ By Morning, Social Ghost & Milestone

6/7/09
Knoxville, Tennessee
The Catalyst
w/ Crisis in Hollywood

6/9/09
Covington, Kentucky
The Mad Hatter
w/ Crisis in Hollywood and The Burning Season

6/14/09
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Croc Roc
w/Crisis in Hollywood, DeSoto Jones and Casting Out

6/16/09
Richmond, Virginia
The Camel
w/ Crisis in Hollywood, Varcella and Thru the Rear View

6/17/09
Blacksburg, Virginia
The Lantern
w/ Aside Oceans, Love & Reverie and Porcelain Smile

6/18/09
Charlotte, North Carolina
Tremont Music Hall
w/ Crisis in Hollywood

6/20/09
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
Swampgrass Willy’s
w/ Crisis in Hollywood and The Siren

I’ve lived in Florida my whole life and something I hear from people constantly is “I hate the radio” or “The radio sucks.” If you’ve ever listened to radio in Florida, you know those statements aren’t an exaggeration. But while all radio does in one way or another suck (no matter what state you’re in) I want to focus mainly on rock station formats in Florida.

I never listen to the radio in Orlando because the only rock station I get here is 101.1 Real Rock. This station is absolutely deplorable. Just take a look at the songs they have played in the last hour:

• Sixx A.M. – Life is Beautiful
• Silverchair – Tomorrow
• Sublime – What I Got
• Papa Roach – Lifeline
• Foo Fighters – My Hero
• Marilyn Manson – The Beautiful People
• Saving Abel – Drowning (Face Down)
• Third Eye Blind – Graduate
• Saliva – Family Reunion
• Nirvana – Lake of Fire
• AC/DC – Rock ‘n Roll Train
• Godsmack – Awake
• Slipknot – Dead Memories
• Drowning Pool – Bodies

Now, with the exception of Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Sublime and Third Eye Blind, that’s a pretty awful hour of music. Like I said, I have lived in Florida my entire life and radio has pretty much been this way the whole time. Even when I was living in South Florida the rock stations just constantly played bad music like this (with the exception of 103.1 The Buzz, but they’re not owned by Clear Channel so that’s probably why). I assumed it was just the fact that big radio stations owned by Clear Channel all play horrible music. But when I visited California last summer, my eyes were opened. Here’s KROQ’s current Top 25 most played songs:

1. Green Day – Know Your Enemy
2. Silversun Pickups – Panic Switch
3. Kings of Leon – Sex on Fire
4. Apocalyptica feat. Adam Gontier – I Don’t Care
5. Kings of Leon – Use Somebody
6. Big B feat. Scott Russo – Sinner
7. Rancid – Last One to Die
8. The Offspring – You’re Gonna Go Far Kid
9. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Zero
10. Incubus – Black Heart Inertia
11. Incubus – Love Hurts
12. Cage the Elephant – Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked
13. The Airborne Toxic Event – Sometime Around Midnight
14. Rise Against – Audience of One
15. The Killers – This is Your Life
16. Far – Pony
17. Anberlin – Feel Good Drag
18. Hollywood Undead – Undead
19. Asher Roth – I Love College
20. 311 – Hey You
21. White Lies – To Lose My Life
22. Depeche Mode – Wrong
23. Coldplay – Life in Technicolor II
24. The Offspring – Half-Truism
25. U2 – Magnificent

When we were driving around L.A. we listened to KROQ for 15 min and in a row I heard Foo Fighters, Sum 41, Atmosphere and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I was flabbergasted. Not one Nickelback or Godsmack song. Now, obviously Clear Channel wouldn’t keep Real Rock here in Orlando for so long if there wasn’t a market for it. If the amount of white trash I am surrounded by on a daily basis is any indication, there clearly is. And THAT’s why radio in Florida sucks. Because apparently the majority of people in Florida have horrible taste in music.

So Josh Freese has a new CD out. If you don’t know who Josh Freese is, he is a studio/session drummer who has played for A Perfect Circle, The Vandals, Devo and most recently Nine Inch Nails (until last year). Apparently the guy has a pretty great sense of humor. Check out the different album packages he has available. My favorite is the one that costs $75,000:

• -Signed CD/DVD and digital download.
• -T-shirt**
• -Come out on tour with me for a few days.
• -I write, record and market a 5 song EP about you and your life story.
• -Take home any of my drumsets (only one but you can pick which one)
• -*Take shrooms and cruise Hollywood in Danny from TOOL’s Lamborgini OR we play “quarters” and then hop on the Ouija board for a while.
• -If you have a band, I’ll join it for a month….play shows, record a CD together, have a swim party, etc…. or none of the above. We could also just sit in yer basement and jam old Van Halen.

OR

• If you don’t have a band I’ll be your personal assistant for a month (4 day work weeks….10 am to 5 pm) and then we take a limo down to Tijuana and I’ll show you how it’s done (what that means I can’t legally get into here, right this minute). If you don’t live in LA but are in the USA I will come to you and be your personal assistant/cabana boy for 2 weeks.
• -Take a Flying Trapeze lesson together in the San Fernando Valley and then Robin from NIN and his wife make us raw lasagna.

It’s times like this I wish I had ridiculous amounts of disposable income so I could see if he would actually do all this stuff. Anyone want to loan me $75,000? And by loan I mean, give some money I don’t have to pay back.

Deftones bassist Chi Cheng is still in a coma from a car accident back in November. His bandmates have set up a blog and donation site to help Cheng with his medical bills. Please help out if you can.

Slipknot percussionist (and I use the term “percussionist” loosely since part of this guy’s arsenal are kegs played with a baseball bat) Chris Fehn was quoted by Kerrang! this week saying:

“I think we’re going to overtake [them],” Fehn told Kansas City Star. “We haven’t even made our [Metallica's 1991] Black record yet. Wait until we do that. It’s over, dude. We’re going to overtake any band that sells out soccer arenas in Europe. We’re going to do it. We’re the last chance as far as the world goes.”

It absolutely baffles me that a band as shitty as Slipknot REGULARLY talks themselves up this much. Oh, and they “haven’t even made their black record yet”. Well, you might wanna get crackin’ guys. It took Metallica 8 years to get to THEIR Black album. You’re on what? Year 10 now? And it took the Foo Fighters about 13 years to get to the point where they could sell out Wembley and they had the drummer for NIRVANA singing in their band. Good luck with that.

Don’t get me wrong, I hate Metallica as much as the next guy. But the fact that Slipknot would even attempt to COMPARE themselves with to a band like Metallica (that is for some reason considered by most to be legendary) is just appalling.

It appears that all hopes of a Led Zeppelin reunion without Robert Plant have gone bye bye. And thank God for that. Could you imagine Led Zeppelin with Chris Cornell, Steven Tyler or even worse yet…Myles Kennedy singing for them? John Bonham would probably rise from the dead and beat the living fuck out of Jimmy Page using only his drumsticks. Oh, but there’s even BETTER news in this article:

Thankfully, however, it looks like Creed won’t be reuniting either as plans to draft Alter Bridge singer Myles Kennedy — or any singer for that matter — for Plant’s spot look dead as well. Mensch admits the band auditioned some new frontmen, but “no one worked out.” “That was it. The whole thing is completely over now,” Mensch added. “There are absolutely no plans for them to continue. Zero. Frankly, I wish everybody would stop talking about it.”

Thankfully?! Hahahaha! Even Rolling Stone writers hate Creed! This is fantastic. 2009 now looks about 85% better for music. Now if only we could stop that Limp Bizkit reunion from happening…