Pick of the Week (10/31/05)

Oliver Nelson -- Blues and the Abstract Truth (Impulse) 1961

Nothing Halloween for the week, unless you'd accept some bad pun about how scary good this one is. It's the best jazz album I've heard in a very long time, varied between pieces but wholly consisten, and containing the kind of playing by Dolphy that makes you wish there was more flute in all genres.

Your Broken Life

I haven't been blogging much, but I've been writing a ton. The results are starting to show up, and I'm excited to announce the debut of my new, non-music column at Olympian Shadow Farm:

Your Broken Life

So go for a read, and if you don't like it, I'll explain to you why you're wrong.

We're Here to Pump! You Up.

Hans and Franz would appreciate this article, but I'm not sure if I'm more unsettled by the fact that it needs to exist or amused by the sidebar:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4359874.stm

Pick of the Week (10/17/05)

Emperor X -- Central Hug/Friendarmy/Fractaldunes (Discos Mariscos) 2004

Proof that indie rock can still be done like it used to be done while sounding new and not like the indie that it's hip to deny.

So it detects cancer, but can I hear "Hey Ya" again?

This story needs no commentary.

Blood and Thunder

Adrien Begrand kicks off his new, sure-to-be-a-classic metal column on PopMatters today. Get caught up on all the doom and mayhem (and incredible artistry) you've been missing out on.

New Releases This Week

Barr -- Beyond Reinforced Jewelcase (Kill Rock Stars) 2.5/5
Christopher Bissonette -- Periphery (Kranky) 3/5
Bloc Party -- Silent Alarm Remixed (Vice)
The Castanets -- First Light's Freeze (Secretly Canadian) 4/5
Celebration -- Celebration (4AD) 3/5
The Clientele -- Strange Geometry (Merge) 3.5/5
Constantines -- Tournament of Hearts (Sub Pop)
Dangerdoom -- The Mouse & the Mask (Epitaph) 3/5
Deerhoof -- The Runners Four (Kill Rock Stars) [review forthcoming]
Explosions in the Sky -- How Strange, Innocence (Secretly Canadian)
Great Lake Swimmers -- Bodies and Minds (Secretly Canadian)
Emmanuel Jal & Abdel Gadir Salim -- Ceasefire (Riverboat/World Music Network) 4/5
The Long Winters -- Ultimatum EP (Barsuk) 3.5/5
Magnolia Electric Co. -- Hard to Love a Man EP (Secretly Canadian) 3/5
Matt Pond PA -- Several Arrows Later (Altitude)
Paul Weller -- As Is Now (Yep Roc)
Xiu Xiu -- Life and Live (Xeng)

How Do I Tell the Dead Kennedys They're Awesome?

Not so much for the music, but for pulling out of their tour because Coors is a sponsor. Following a press release, Rock and Rap reports East Bay Ray as saying, "Because we were not alerted to the ultra conservative, right-wing sponsor for this event, we could not see a reason to go ahead and perform at this show in good conscience. Dead Kennedys want nothing to do with this event or Coors and I am disgusted that they are now sponsoring punk shows, something they are politically at odds with."

Besides the fact that they make piss-water beer, you should avoid Coors because they're essentially Corporate Evil. The twins and general depiction of women is relatively forgettable in the world of advertising, but I'm also not sure they're down with lefties, gay, trees, punks, Jews, or water (except the fantastical Rocky Mountain variety). Learn more at: http://www.corporations.org/coors.

I used to like Killians, but haven't knowingly had a Coors product in years.


More on being blocks away from and not attending a Rolling Stones show later today...

They Also Shoot Canoes

Rarely has reading something made me so interested in seeing a band play. Check out Lee Henderson's take on They Shoot Horses Don't They:

http://www.popmatters.com/music/nowhearthis/they-shoot-horses-051006.shtml

If you're too busy (right now) to read, here's the money moment:

"The drummer, Julia, is a skinny girl with a ghost's dedication to rhythm; pounding and pounding and pounding. Death's own posthumous army trots on skeleton horses to this rhythm. I'm telling you. This is the drums of the war of the afterlife of bananas. She conjures devils in yellow skins with pale intentions. She makes you slip on the scary."


In other live news, the pre-Stones-concert partying started last night (not that the house across the street needs an excuse), but the rain has started this morning. Could be trouble in Cville...

New Releases This Week

Fiona Apple -- Extraordinary Machine (Epic)
Broken Social Scene -- Broken Social Scene (Arts & Crafts)
Cream -- Royal Albert Hall, London, May 2-3-5-6 (Reprise)
The Deadly Snakes -- Procella (In the Red) 3.5/5
Dwele -- Some Kinda... (Virgin)
Brian Eno -- The Pearl (Astralwerks)
The Fall -- Heads Roll (Narnack)
Kirk Franklin -- Hero (Jive)
Franz Ferdinand -- You Could Have It So Much Better...with (Epic) 3/5
Paula Frazer -- Leave the Sad Things Behind (Birdman)
The Go! Team -- Thunder, Lightning, Strike [US edition] (Columbia) 3/5
Delia Gonzalez and Gavin Russom -- Days of Mars (DFA/Astralwerks) 1.5/5
Jana Hunter -- Blank Unstaring Heirs of Doom (Gnomonsong)
Liz Janes and Create(!) -- Liz Janes and Create(!) EP (Secretly Canadian) 3.5/5
Jimmy Eat World -- Stay on My Side Tonight EP (Interscope) 3/5
Kiss Me Deadly -- Misty Medley (Alien 8/Southern) 3/5
KRS-One -- The Lost Album (Koch)
Let Go -- Let Go (The Militia Group)
The Magic Numbers -- The Magic Numbers (Capitol) 3/5
Metric -- Live It Out (Last Gang) 3/5
My Morning Jacket -- Z (RCA)
O.A.R. -- Stories of a Stranger (Lava/Atlantic) 2.5/5
The Occasion -- Cannery Hours (Say Hey) 2.5/5
Liz Phair -- Somebody's Miracle (Capitol)
Tiger Saw -- Sing! (Kimchee)
Tokyo Rose -- New American Saint (SideCho)
Trife da God w/ Ghostface -- 718: Stapleton to Somalia (Koch) 3/5
Twista -- The Day After (Atlantic)
V/A -- One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found (Rhino)
We Are Wolves -- We Are Wolves (Fat Possum) 3.5/5

Pick of the Week (10/3/05)

I've been extremely busy with the writing, editing, and traveling, and don't have the slightest thought on this week's pick (unless it's to say something boring about how awesome Ray Charles is and how I figured this out way after everyone else). Instead, my pick's going to be something to read, Stylus's "Top 50 Movies of the New Millenium." I've seen the list (pre-rankings), and I think the ongoing feature should make for a fun read -- less snark than you'd expect in one of these things, and entertainment's actually going to count for something.