What Chew Talkin' 'Bout, Willis?

Gary Coleman, age 42 arrested and booked after a domestic dispute turned UGLY. Apparently, his 25 year old girlfriend called the cops after an argument turned sour. Honestly I can't write anything funny or snide about this because it is just straight up sad. As a child I watched Gary Coleman's career soar to new heights and even then after the show ended, I also watched as his life became an ever-evolving train wreck. What we are witnessing is the revenge of the curse of the creatures ghost but WORSE!! Well the world don't move to the beat of just one drum,what might be right for you may not be right for some. I honestly think that it takes different strokes to move the world yes it does.

Only one album comes to mind for today:

Enjoy it Gary, if we only knew you better. Remember in jail you either fight somebody the first day, beat the living shit out of them and eat their ear OR you find a boyfriend. Good Luck and Godspeed.

El Baile De Los Que Sobran

Recently I made an unbreakable vow to never become part of the Facebook community.According to J.K. Rowling I am scheduled to die of something horribly English. A "friend",who shall remain nameless,called to suggest I should check my email because he had sent me something.What I didn't realize is he had already put the ball in motion by signing me up,acquiring a password and posted some horrible picture of me swinging a cane in one hand and spilling a beverage in the other(I was more offended because I never spill beverages,he does).By the time I had checked my e-mail and clicked on the link to accept and activate my account there were 5 requests waiting for me. 40 friends later and many years rewound I have to admit regaining touch with my family and friends that I haven't seen in years is really nice.(most of them) On the flip side though, my age has weighed deeply on my addled brain. I don't look my age which helps but everyone else does which worries me. Maybe it's the extreme cold which has had some sort of "tupperwear effect" on aging. Or the altitude which is almost like a built in Botox fed into the air I breathe. Or embracing the fact that I don't fit the age mold.(mold? No,not like the bread thing they make a cream for that) My theory is rooted not in science but in science fiction. My love of the creative process the constant erasing this polishing that is the secret in my opinion. The "I don't care I will do it my way"attitude which has not slipped by my progeny may be another factor in the equation of my mixed up background. No one arrives at a certain point in life on his own. The prodding and pushings of life in general assist in this painful process of getting old. I admit many times I don't know why I am still here or what is the final outcome for my being here. Luck or Fate? Winners or Losers? Predisposition? I don't know but any day above ground is a good day.

Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.

Friedrich Nietzsche

"OYE,HEAVY DOOTY!"
don't stop the body rock sessions

From the opening interlude to the metal driven ending this album is as innovative today as it was when I first heard it in Ecuador. I was living in the third world when the first world kicked the door in on my beach bungalow backdrop. The Fat Ninja had mailed me some tapes to pass the time as I cooled my heels in a sort of self-inflicted banishment.Chuck D and the gang had crossed the ocean to inform me that the revolution will not be televised.As if.

I have to admit I was not insanely crazy about the complete album. Big Daddy Kane didn't exactly kill it with this release like he did with "Long Live The Kane". So by the very end of the album he tries to out-rap Rudy "The King" Ray Moore (aka Dolomite)needless to say hilarity ensues.Tagline for this should be "If you are the tail,don't try to wag the dog"

Best way to start a day,listen a good old mixtape.World renowned as a DJ, Peanut Butter Wolf serves up a whole loaf of hip-hop goodness guaranteed to put a crick in your neck from excessive head bobbing. Most folks will rap along until a black person walks by which will prompt the famous "turn the volume down and act like they are listening to Michelle Branch" move.

If you don't understand "The Message"please don't look it up on Wikipedia.



And now for something completely different.

Tony Blackburn-UK-DJ slash Pirate-First Pirate DJ on BBC Radio One-Born 1943
Joe Beck-US Guitarist Extraordinaire-Solo Artist-Born 1945
Tony Ramone-Hungarian Born Drummer-US Band The Ramones-Born 1952
Louie Perez-Drummer slash Percussionist-US Band Los Lobos-Born 1953
Rob Manzoli-Singer-UK Band Right Said Fred-Born too sexy in 1954
Eddie Jackson-Bassist-US Band Queensryche-Born 1961
Marcus Vere-Synth Player-UK Band Living In A Box-Born 1962
Roddy Frame-Guitarist slash Singer-Scottish Band Aztec Camera-Born 1964

R.I.P.
James Jamersen-Bassist slash Tireless Session Master slash Co-Founder of the Motown Sound-US Band The Funk Brothers-Born 1936 Died August 2,1983



now go find out "the message"

Crying Is Bad When You Are Kissing

I promised myself I wouldn't write anything about this album but it's parked itself on heavy rotation by the Zune gremlin so it has become almost unbearably unavoidable. From the beginning of the first song I am immediately warped somewhere else ripped from the comfort of my living room. Sounds cheesy right? Yeah I am not the greatest of word typists in this game but "Loveless" is just such an amazing album with so many wonderful memories attached it would be a crime to not share it with everyone. Yeah right,like anyone living in that time period wasn't listening to th... Oh I just remembered 1991 and the stuff all my friends and I were listening to!(blurry flashback segway)

The planets must have aligned perfectly during the months before and after the new year rang in just from the volume of the 1991 musical mega hit catalogue.(what an absolute mouthful)

Here are just a few examples of what I'm blathering on about:
(this is in no particular order)


Blood,Sugar,Sex,Magic - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Nevermind - Nirvana
Arise - Sepultura
Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill
Chronicles - The Velvet Underground
Foxbase Alpha - Saint Etienne
Trompe Le Monde - The Pixies
Eight Miles High ep - Husker Du


I guess that you honestly can't be in a million places at once but this minor setback only strengthens my resolve to share an unbiased view toward discovering new/old music all the time. Music is the ultimate form of a true person to person connection. Beats the hell out of Twitter. Sorry Twitter.Oh snap, are we still cool?


"OYE,HEAVY DOOTY!"
where did my youth go sessions

Too many miles skated away underfoot listening to this on my Walkman...My calf was hulk-like and freakishly weird looking on my lower leg.

"Come On Pilgrim". What could I possibly type that would make you want to listen to this? Maybe some back story right? OK; In my youth I worked in an Italian restaurant washing dishes and cooking 6-7 hours a night.Very tiresome repetitive work for those not familiar with kitchen work.The minute this tape went in it felt like I had slam dunked 4 redbulls down my gullet. Yeah this album will clean you out and replace your insides all wrong. You will love it or hate it, there are no grey lines with Frank Black.


Johnny Marr and Morrissey the 90's version of George and Weezy Jefferson. The Love slash Hate relationship you could not get enough of. The soundtrack to my high school second junior year.

If you didn't get the irony on the "Bitchin' Camaro" track then read no further. Growing up in the Miami-Ft.Lauderdale area and being 1 of maybe 30 skaters kinda leaves you segregated to a small crew of people so when new music came around we all crowded around the tape deck and listened greedily to the insane tales of life in a far off world called California. The music scene was breaking out hard in Southern California shooting chunks of dissent all the way across the states to hit small pockets of the resistance to bad pop radio dug in among the palm trees and tropical tanning products that shone in the Florida sun. This album rocks in so many ways you have to check it out.

Etta James-US R&B Singer Cadillac Records Superstar-Born 1938
Michael Cotton-Synth Player-US Band The Tubes-Born 1950
Stephen Jones-Aussie Electronic Musician-Born 1951
Malcolm Green-Drummer-UK Band Split Enz-Born 1953
Richard Finch-Bassist-US Band KC&The Sunshine Band-Born 1954
Andy Cox-Guitarist-UK Band Fine Young Cannibals-Born 1956
Gary Tibbs-Bassist-US Band Adam&The Ants-Born 1958






now close the dang door you're air conditioning the world...

More Shit I Can't Afford... (wah!)

There are some things I want in this life, and I have to admit I have the majority on
LOCK DOWN.
(damn I still want a midget though)

Well kiddies from a frustrated music follower who can't afford the lifestyle of the slightly young and disorganized festival junkie comes this years line-up for the Coachella Music Festival. And yes I am still pissed that I missed Peter Murphy singing "Bela Lugosi's Dead" hanging upside down a-la-Dracula the other year.(I don't know years)

call me frustrated... Tickets for the 2010 edition of Coachella go on sale Friday (January 22) at 10 a.m. through the fest's official site, with a three-day pass costing $269.

The full lineup for the 2010 Coachella festival, according to concert promoter Goldenvoice:

Friday, April 16: Jay-Z, LCD Soundsystem, Them Crooked Vultures, Vampire Weekend, Deadmau5, Public Image Limited, the Specials, Grizzly Bear, Passion Pit, Echo and the Bunnymen, Benny Benassi, Fever Ray, Grace Jones, She & Him, Erol Alkan, the Avett Brothers, Calle 13, the Whitest Boy Alive, the Cribs, La Roux, Yeasayer, Lucero, DJ Lance Rock, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Proxy, Ra Ra Riot, Deer Tick, Wolfgang Gartner, Aeroplane, Iglu & Hartly, Sleigh Bells, P.O.S., Baroness, Hockey, Little Dragon, White Rabbits, Wale, Kate Miller-Heidke, As Tall as Lions, Jets Overhead, Alana Grace, Pablo Hassan.

Saturday, April 17: Muse, Faith No More, Tiësto, MGMT, David Guetta, the Dead Weather, Hot Chip, Devo, Coheed and Cambria, Kaskade, 2Many DJ's, Major Lazer, Dirty Projectors, Gossip, Z-Trip, the xx, John Waters, Les Claypool, the Raveonettes, Mew, Sia, Camera Obscura, Tokyo Police Club, Porcupine Tree, Old Crow Medicine Show, Aterciopelados, Bassnectar, Frightened Rabbit, Dirty South, Flying Lotus, Corinne Bailey Rae, Pretty Lights, Shooter Jennings, RX Bandits, the Almighty Defenders, Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros, Craze & Klever, Zoe, the Temper Trap, Portugal. The Man, Band of Skulls, Girls, Beach House, Steel Train, Frank Turner.

Sunday, April 18: Gorillaz, Pavement, Thom Yorke, Phoenix, Orbital, Spoon, Sly and the Family Stone, De La Soul, Julian Casablancas, Plastikman, Gary Numan, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Sunny Day Real Estate, Yo La Tengo, MUTEMATH, Deerhunter, Infected Mushroom, Club 75, Matt & Kim, the Big Pink, Gil Scott-Heron, King Khan and the Shrines, Florence and the Machine, Yann Tiersen, Little Boots, Miike Snow, Talvin Singh, Ceu, B.o.B., Babasonicos, Owen Pallett, the Glitch Mob, Mayer Hawthorne, Local Natives, Rusko, the Middle East, Hadouken!, the Soft Pack, Kevin Devine, Paparazzi, Delphic, One EskimO.






whatever...

The Death Of Soul

I put off writing this until all the hype had died down and everyone went back to focusing on Haiti and how much they have donated to the cause. I didn't want to seem insincere to Teddy's family and friends who actually knew him on a personal basis. All I have to connect him to my life are the memories attached to the soundtrack of his voluminous back catalogue of hits. Teddy was a big part of my childhood thanks to my fathers love of R&B and the Soul cuts that littered the airwaves back in the late 50's thru early 70's before the explosion of the softer side of the seventies when all the white artists started exploring their pain of their whiteness (see AM gold the Time Life compilation). All songs filtered through the needle on the record and seeped heavily like thick maple syrup through me and left indelible scars of a sense of helplessness that being a young hispanic male on the verge of puberty I could not fully realize until my voice cracked.Teddy said "No,not yet;you still have a ways to go". In a time of greats like Bobby Womack,Marvin Gaye,Smokey,Al Green,Curtis Mayfield to name a few Teddy distinguished himself by adding just the right amount of anguish in his voice that made you really connect on a higher harmonic range. He will sorely be missed.Teddy Pendergrass dead at 59, done in by colon cancer after surviving a near fatal car crash in 1982 which severed his spinal cord.
I think a little bit of Philadelphia died that day.


"OYE,HEAVY DOOTY!"
turn out the lights session

(fist up in the air)We miss you Marvin!

Bobby used to sneak into the recording studio late at night with a bottle of wine,take off his shirt and shoes and write, sing and record the whole night through...

Vocoder work on "I Thought It Was You.." in a word...remarkable!

The Rev. had a jealous woman throw hot grits on him while he was in the shower. Hell truly hath no fury, right? Ahmad would appreciate this story.

If you missed the boat on this one the first time around,no worries take the ticket this time and run with it. Right Ice-T?



Al Foster-UK-Jazz Drummer Phenom-Born 1944
Larry"Legs"Smith-Jazz Drummer-UK Band Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band-Born 1944
Steve Grossman-US-Alto Sax-Miles,Elvin Jones,Coltrane-Born 1951
Tom Bailey-Singer slash Keyboard-UK Band Thompson Twins-Born 1954
Bob Rosenberg-US-Producer slash DJ-The Supergroup Will TO Power-Born 1959
JoJo Mayer-Swiss Drummer-The Monty Alexander Group-Born 1963
Jim O'Rourke-US Band Sonic Youth-Experimental Guitar God slash Producer-Born 1969
Jonathan Davis-Vocalist-US Band Korn-Born 1971
Crispian Mills-Guitarist-UK Band Kula Shaker-Born 1973



now don't forget to collect your belonging as you exit the site...

Aliens Are Among Us....

Sign Me Up.

Canada Can Rock,Yessiree...

Today will be a spot dedicated to the hard working and generally all around nice people of Canada. I had a couple of bands already in mind that I was going to write about but that was completely shot to shit when I started digging a little deeper into the ole record crates.Apparently Canadian musicians are so deeply interwoven into this tapestry we call the American music scene that separating them from the US would be like separating conjoined twins that share the same heart and throwing the punier one in the trash.Not an easy task I think for a Tuesday.All I really wanted to do was to thank them for being good neighbors and sharing all their goodies with us.Not to mention the fact that Canadian bands are as vast as the frozen tundra that covers the majority of their countryside. I would like to point out also that Canada means "settlement" taken from a St.Lawrence Iraquion word.This settlement is bursting at the seams with really good music and luckily for us with the advent of modern technology we may access the plethora auditory wisdom which spews forth from its loins.(gross)sorry I watched 30 days of night and had really weird dreams about being stuck out in the cold and chased by unknown attackers.I had kicked the blankets off in the middle of the night. and without further ado......



"OYE,HEAVY DOOTY!"
A Mari Usque Ad Mare (from sea to sea)


The Arcade Fire was introduced to me through a mutual friend who usually goes a little light for my tastes but on the whole has a firm grasp on music.He burned me "Neon Bible" and I downed "Funeral"both in which I was pleased with what I heard immediately and actually repeated both the albums when they were done. I enjoyed both immensely and that's always a plus with new stuffs. Thank you Canada.


Another fine album I stumbled on.I can't say I have heard anything like this since.It really captured an era of silliness and fun which was the late 90's. Damn if I didn't have fun though. Great for background music at parties. If you have friends. If you don't, well grab a carton of ice cream and head to your bedroom and maybe this album will make you jump up and down in bed in your robe with cold cream all over your face like a 17 year old girl in a John Hughes movies. Thank You Canada.



The Cowboy Junkies?? Shall I even go on? To the uninitiated this group has gotten sooooo many people play.HOW MUCH you ask? Think all the ass of all the boy bands in the world have collectively got and maybe you can understand the relevance to music that this band signifies. I apologize but I watched "Be Kind Rewind" this week and that sentence sounds so Jack Black. So,yeah I like this band more than just a little.Thank You Canada.

I have another apology to make, I Twitter. So with that said, I have two things to say in my defense. (1)I am sad to confirm that I can't claim credit for being cool enough to pick this up on my own. (2) I downed this on a recommendation from Questlove of The Roots fame,my pal...(just kidding,that's like psycho talk, muahhhhaha!!! oh sorry.) It's one of his Sunday Swift f.m.tracks. LOVE IT! So get it,get it,get it. Thank You Canada.

LOVED IT! I heard this and it made my brain pack a bag and go to Ecuador for a week and do hard drugs. Then I got a job at a Wet Willies in Savannah,Ga. Finally, things started getting weird in my life, believe you me. I had been really into Trans Am "surrender to the night" a couple years earlier so this seemed like a smooth transition. Sort of like using underwear in the day and a pull-up at night. Thank You Canada.



Special shout out to Nelvana Films for always supporting the up and coming Indie film directors.

Because I suck all these birthdays are from yesterday January 12th.
Whatever!!
(old guy handwave from far off)


Cynthia Robinson-Vocalist-Bad Ass US band Sly and the Motherfucking Family Stone-Born 1946
Philipe Rose-Vocalist-Indian Chief of the Village People-Born 1954
Per Gesele-Guitar player and everything else-Swedish band Roxette-Born 1959
Rob Zombie-Musician slash Director-US band White Zombie-Born 1965
Zach De La Rocha-Vocalist slash Social Activist-US band Rage Against The Machine-Born 1970
RaeKwon-Hip-Hop Assassin Lyrical Swordsman-US group Wu-Tang muthafucka-Born 1970
Mel C. (aka Sporty Spice)-Vocalist slash Sex symbol-UK group Spice Girls-Born 1974






Now get off my lawn before I call in the leeches....

Juliet Burke Is A Bad-Ass

So many new things have been circling overhead the last couple of weeks so the writing has been pushed aside momentarily. Lots of new and exciting music has made its way into my greedy little hands to bring in the new year. I consider myself to be of the discerning tastes when it comes to certain things but where music is invloved, I am a slut. Or as I dubbed myself yesterday a "twitwhore".only after speaking to Questlove of "The Roots" fame.It generated a couple new followers on Twitter but after that brush with the famous I started spouting off at the mouth about food recipes and cocktail concoctions. I had turned the corner and began sharing myself with the cyberworld. If you scream in space will anyone hear you?

For X-mas I received a ticket to the Gogol Bordello show which was AMAZING to say the least. The venue was weak but not crowded. We arrived early and quickly made our way to the front gate and held our post until the lights went low. I had done some research on the opening band The Extraordinaires the week before the show only to wrap my mind as to what type of show it was going to be. The last time Gogol Bordello had played in the area DJ Scratchy had played a 1 hour set of Balkan inspired music which ranged from The Cows to Gypsy orchestra set to a thumping dub beat with many flavors peppered in for a smooth path into your virgin earholes. My earholes were fully violated the month before due to a run-in with a couple of pirate torrent sites which shall remain nameless (wink-wink-nudge-nudge) So I like to do my research before I run straight into something like a Gogol show. The outcome was 100% refreshing.The opening band was called The Extraordinaires which are originally a 2 piece band consisted of Jay Purdy and Matt Gibson straight outta Philly. The music they create is something akin to a Rube Goldberg illustration jumping off the page, pulling its pants down mooning you then writing the most profound lyrics ever conceived...It was kinda like watching a young Flaming Lips meets They Might Be Giants. In their own right though I cannot say they mimic them but for the uninitiated that is basically what YOU might hear on the street spewed out by music critics.The set was tight and fun with a taste of "we have an inside joke" but we will never tell. Fun & energetic they kept the crowd rolling along with them in the van telling stories making people laugh.Good vibes abounded.Minor fish technical difficulties aside a good show all in all.

Outside in the 22 degree cold with a windchill factor of "my balls are freezing off "stood the band talking to everyone who passed by.I of course approached them and thanked them for such a great performance and commented on the sheer luck of embarking on tour with Gogol.They gushed genuine graciousness. And let me in on the secret of how the adjoining members (they were now four) had only played with them for 7 days because Gogol had asked them to bring in more players..Truly I was fooled. They made something truly wonderful from the curve ball that was thrown at them.The CD and book they GAVE me was in a word "Beautiful" and being a frustrated artist myself I can appreciate the work and love that when into the packaging as well as the music.Electric and Benevolent an album and a story that chronicles a scientists journey down the path of discovery and self realization that all things are relative... My favorite song is still "The man in the suit".The company that put it out is called PUNK ROCK PAYROLL. check it out and be amazed ...I think I need the Van Wars album next, I need to check out the band Kill You In The Face also. Thanks again guys.

The Gogol Bordello part of the show was impressive,I am a seasoned veteran of their shows so in saying "impressed" it's only because how can they seem so chaotic but organized; sporadic but tight. Eugene and his people are charismatic and devoted to their fans. He stopped at one point when a bouncer had manhandled a girl that was thrown over the barricades and asked the guy "is this not the new year"his accent bit heavy"If this the new year then why can't we leave those old things behind?" he bit heavily into each syllable. The bouncer shrugged and the song went on.His point resounded in my mind every year we wipe the slate clean and we can be better that we were before. So let's try it... oh and I stole the set list after the show was over. yesss....SCORE!

"OYE,HEAVY DOOTY"
resetting the Zune is bad...


Yes I know this album looks like a graphic designers portfolio piece trying to impress the headhunters from the Ad agency you've always wanted a job with. However,don't be hasty when looking up cover art. I received a bootleg of this the day it came out. The Rocking Horse Winner was another experiment headed by Henry Olmino. Let me explain, in all the years I have known this guy he has had maybe 20 bands.This was my favorite to say the least because all the others were missing "esa chispa" the spark,the life force of any band.Jolie provided that spark and rocketed the slick sound(3 drum techs?come on Matt) further out of the small scene in Ft.Lauderdale.Fully original sound from beginning to end I regret never sitting in to see the live show although The Fat Ninja said they were amazing.

Leave it to the ice and cold to produce louder than your mom bands. Hailing(no pun intended)from Vancouver, B.C. a two piece auditory nightmare of cacophonous sound bridging the realms of science and technology filtered thru what it seems is two dirty bandaids, the Japandroids throw catchy hooks and snappy lyrics together like the commercial when the chocolate gets mixed with the peanuts butter. AMEN.

Throwing away tapes is a really,really hard thing for me to do.I still own a Sony Walkman but the motor is sort of done and everything plays back at just a little bit slower than the live reproduction.This was just recently transfered to the digital Zune experience format. Yeah I still like it, maybe because this came out before the tidal wave over Over-Emo youth brigade took over the airwaves.Not too whiny but more important very much rocking.You'll swoon to the lyrics.Maybe I can lable this "guilty pleasure".Sort of like ABBA.

I can't remember the first time I heard The Blue Hearts but I believe in was in the late 80' maybe early 90's from a friend of mine who was really into video games, anime(when it was dubbed Japanimation)and asian things in general. Hiroto Komoto rules!! His voice resounds with colorful lyrics and a general playfulness reminiscent of The Jam or The Clash.Makes for a great party soundtrack,I can't stand still when its on.

I though drug addiction was bad until I started watching this during the actual running of season 3 due to the fact that I live in West Buttfuck Egypt so TV reception is spotty at best. With the advent of DTV I wasn't too broken up about missing anything because I realized that TV on DVD was the greatest thing since disposible diapers. SO, the week before everything went digital we hunkered down in front of the tv and watched the last episode of season 5 in full HD. The next day when all the stations went HD, we lost ABC. I received season 5 for xmas so it could tide me over but the new season is drawing down on us and no ABC in sight yet.


help.

Born on this date

Franz Sebastian Haindl - Austrian Composer - Born 1727
Slim Harpo - American Songwriter - Born 1924
Clarence Clemmons - Sax player - E Street Band - Born 1942
Naomi Judd - Singer - The Judds - Born 1946
Mary J. Blige - Singer - Born 1971



and now I must search the heavens for ABC...