The NY Times is reporting that Led Zeppelin is finally moving their music in to the digital age. I’m a big fan of Led Zeppelin and I’ve heard a lot of stories about how they’re extremely picky on licensing their songs for movies. Hearing the news that they’re going to allow their songs to be sold in digital formats comes as a very surprising piece of information but I guess they finally decided to move on from the 70’s. So I guess once I get a new iPod or at least get my existing one fixed, I’ll be able to get some high quality Led Zeppelin songs for the iPod. If only my iPod weren’t under the weather I’d probably get some of those songs today. At any rate, get out there and support Led Zeppelin. Buy some songs guys and gals.
If you’re a fan of rockabilly like myself, you probably know who Southern Culture On the Skids is. I’ve really been listening to their stuff a lot lately and it got me questioning if they had put anything new out lately. Well, I came to find out that in fact they had released an album on February 20, 2007 that’s titled Countrypolitan Favorites. I picked it up earlier today during my lunch break but haven’t had a chance to listen to it. With any luck I’ll get a chance to crack it open later today and give it a listen.
A few nights ago, a band by the name of Guster was on Jay Leno’s show. The name sounded familiar but I don’t think I’d ever really heard their music before. After hearing the song they played on the show, I feel myself becoming a fan. They slightly remind me of a mix between Fountains of Wayne and Death Cab For Cutie (but only very slightly). Their new CD’s called Ganging Up On the Sun and it’s been out since mid-2006 but I would suggest checking it out.
Recently I’ve been listening to the Bitsmack.com podcasts and geez if they’re not the funniest things I listen to these days. I never really got in to podcasts but theirs just get so retarded sometimes that it’s just funny. It’s mostly rambles about video games and such but then often goes of into tangents about spam messages they received or the occasional voice mail that was left. Go to the website and check out the one that was recorded yesterday.
I made my weekly trip to the Columbus Metropolitan Library to take back the books / CDs that I borrowed the last time and check out the new selections. Grabbed a few tech books on Mac and XML and some B.B. King CDs. I saw B.B. King a number of years ago with a couple of friends and he puts on a great show so I wanted to see what some of his newer music’s like. Still good as I figured it would be. I may soon place an order with Amazon for a couple of his albums. My next library trip might involve checking out some Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker. We’ll see.
I got a chance to listen to the new Spookshow album “Psychosexual Chapter II” (available November 1, 2006) and love it. For those that don’t know Spookshow, they are: Miss Behave - Lead Vocals, Mike Dungeon - Guitar, Deadbeat - Drums, Knife Dungeon - Guitar, and Carol Anne - Bass. The first album “Pyschosexual Chapter I” was great and I feel like this one picks up where the last one left off. You could line up the tracks from the first album, put the tracks from “Psychosexual Chapter II” right after them, listen to them straight through, and feel like your listening to a very extensive record. This isn’t a bad thing by any means. It’s nice to hear what different / new sounds a band has to offer but it’s especially nice to see that Spookshow has stuck to their guns. I’m a huge punk / psychobilly fan so most anything Spookshow produces will turn out great. On to the tracks…
The CD’s track list is as follows:
1.) I Can’t But I Won’t
2.) All I Want Is To Poke Your Eyes Out
3.) Baby Baby Baby
4.) Carry Me Home
5.) Talk About the Living Dead
6.) Follow Me Darkness
7.) Bloodshed
8.) We Are Bleeding
9.) Here Come the Zombies
10.) Love Them Young
11.) Angel Without Wings
12.) Burning
13.) So Lonely I Could Die
14.) Sleep With the Dead
My top five for the CD are as follows (in order as they appear on the CD) with their associated reasons:
1.) Track 1 - I Can’t But I Won’t
First off, it starts with the CD off with the familiar “guitar chord being plugged in” sound that you hear on the first track of the first CD. Very classy. I always enjoy hearing that because you know what you’re about to listen to is going to rock very, very hard. Secondly, and the main reason that I like it, the song just has a very relaxed feel to it. It’s not fast punk but it has a mild Ramones feel to it (record Ramones, not live; Jesus not live) if you turned the BPM (beats per minute) down by about 20. Almost has a “KKK Took My Baby Away” feel to it. Regardless, the track’s fantastic.
2.) Track 2 - All I Want Is To Poke Your Eyes Out
Come on. How do you not love a song about poking someone’s eyes out? Miss Behave makes poking someone’s eyes out sound so romantic when she sings about it.
3.) Track 11 - Angel Without Wings
Right off the bat Miss Behave makes it clear where she stands. It feels like she’s bossing your around when you listen to it. Kind of like you’re on the floor after having the crap beat out of you and she’s kicking you in the stomach. And you have no say in the matter about the obvious killing spree that she’ll be going on once she’s done and if you don’t like it, well you’re pretty much dead anyways.
4.) Track 13 - So Lonely I Could Die
This track’s short (1 minute, 39 seconds) but I love the guitar in it. One guitar has a more aggressive feel to it while the other has a slower, almost surf rock feel to it. The earlier part of the song seems like it could definitely fit into the soundtrack of a movie, but which movie I don’t know yet.
5.) Track 14 - Sleep With the Dead
Again, Miss Behave let’s you know what she wants: to sleep with the dead. I’m particularly fond of this track due to Miss Behave’s singing. You can really hear her vocal abilities come out in this one. I love her voice as it is but this track absolutely brings it out.
The above are only my top five. All the tracks on the CD are great but those are the five that come to mind when I think about the new album. Please be sure to support Spookshow and pick up their new CD when it comes out November 1, 2006 or even check out their new merchandise (shirts, hoodies, etc.). You can get more information on Spook show at their website http://www.thespookshow.net/ or on MySpace.
I recently found out that the main library in Columbus has CDs and DVDs and such. They actually have a decent selection. I found some Hayseed Dixie, HorrorPops, and Billie Holiday. If you haven’t heard of Hayseed Dixie check ‘em out. They do bluegrass covers of songs like Ace of Spades, Runnin’ With the Devil, and War Pigs.
I have really gotten into Rise Against as of late and their new CD “The Sufferer and the Witness” is fantastic. To me they seem like the “new age Bad Religion” because of their lyrics. Not entirely policitical but similar. While searching YouTube for Rise Against videos I came across one that features the song “Ready To Fall” from the new CD. The video is labeled as “PETA - Rise Against”. It has a lot of footage of animal cruelty and is really messed up. For me the worst parts are the dog (alive) getting thrown into the garbage truck and the animal that’s getting it skin/fur torn off.
Ever since I started reading Get In the Van (2nd Edition, by Henry Rollins) and listening to more Black Flag it’s made me miss Bummer. Oh, and seeing the Red Hot Chili Peppers on Saturday Night Live sorta brought on the feeling too. Mainly because of Flea. He was such an inspiration to me; still is. Rarely does one see a bass player get into the show as much as Flea, Mike Dirnt, Chuck Dukowski, or any of the other all-star bass players.
Anyways, it was always nice getting together with the boys and practicing for a show coming up later that week. I was always especially proud of the two times I managed to break the E string on my bass from laying into it so hard. Oh well. I guess that was then. At least I have some audio (actually linked to in a previous post I made), pictures, and even VHS of some of the peformances to remember it by.
April 22, 2006
I went to Barnes and Noble trying to find Linux Format but they sold all two copies they got. When the sales person came back to the information desk I asked where any books authored by Henry Rollins would be located. Nothing else was said. The sales person took me directly to the books. When I asked if he got this question often he replied that Henry had been on National Public Radio earlier that day. So I guess he went to skim through some of the books himself earlier that day and new exactly where they were.
At any rate, I picked up “Get In the Van” (2nd Edition) by Henry Rollins. The book is a detailed journal Henry kept starting with him living in D.C. and eventually becoming the lead singer for Black Flag. Needless to say the book is great. I’m already most of the way through it. And it’s got me listening to “Can’t Decide” by Black Flag from the “My War” album. I purchased the “My War” album earlier today on CD at one of the local record shops; Singing Dog on 1630 North Hight Street in Columbus, OH to be exact. I’ve liked Black Flag for some time now and have heard some of the song but after listening to the lyrics it makes sense and I can really relate to it. Maybe that’s why I like it so much.
Back to the book. A lot of the entries are Henry hating life and living in a shed that’s located outside of “the Ginn’s”. And then you get the other entries that are amusing. For example, one of the entries Henry mentions that Black Flag is playing a show in Munich, Germany and he gets hit in the head with an unopened can of beer and states,”I grabbed a mic stand and begged the guy to come and get killed. He ran out of the place.” Or the more recent entry I read where Henry suggests changing the laws each week and not telling anybody. That could make for a fun week.
I got a chance to listen to the new Spookshow album “Psychosexual Chapter II” (available November 1, 2006) and love it. For those that don’t know Spookshow, they are: Miss Behave - Lead Vocals, Mike Dungeon - Guitar, Deadbeat - Drums, Knife Dungeon - Guitar, and Carol Anne - Bass. The first album “Pyschosexual Chapter I” was great and I feel like this one picks up where the last one left off. You could line up the tracks from the first album, put the tracks from “Psychosexual Chapter II” right after them, listen to them straight through, and feel like your listening to a very extensive record. This isn’t a bad thing by any means. It’s nice to hear what different / new sounds a band has to offer but it’s especially nice to see that Spookshow has stuck to their guns. I’m a huge punk / psychobilly fan so most anything Spookshow produces will turn out great. On to the tracks…