If you asked me this morning if I was going to watch the Grammys, my response would’ve been “when are they?”  No idea, don’t care.  No sizzle for the Grammys, despite the fact that they’ve actually turned a corner in improving the telecast with big artists, “once in a lifetime” duets etc.  I found it to be one of the odder phenomenons of the music business how MTV stole all the juice from the Grammys with the VMAs for many years, turned the music awards show into a spectacle and now the Grammys have stolen it all back.  On top of that, the concept of Grammy parties thrown by the labels seems about as irresponsible as that friend of yours who rolls up in a Porche, you wonder how the heck he could afford that vehicle, and then realize his credit cards are ganked to the max to “make ends meet.”

So what brings a jaded mofo like me back to watch the Grammys?  Reading on the Tripwire that Radiohead is rumored to be performing, either “House Of Cards” or “15 Step with the USC Marching Band.  Whoa to the baby.  Suddenly the Grammys become DVR-worthy.

Where last week’s announcement of the line up for Coachella appeared to be met with a mixture of head scratching and shrugged shoulders, today’s announced line up for Bonnaroo 2009 should provide the sizzle concergoers are looking for. I trekked out to that sweatbowl of crabgrass and body odor last year and loved every minute of it, but in the back of my mind I felt like this would probably be the last time I would be in Manchester, TN.  Looking at this year’s line up gives me second thoughts, however.  The folks at Superfly who put the whole shebang together seem to have found the right balance between genres of music, young and old, to garner the audience they’re looking for.  The big question will be whether such a fine line up will bring the masses.  In slightly better times, $224.50 + fees + flights + hotel/RV rental + all the corndogs you can stand would represent the one and only vacation excursion for many young people.  Now I’m not so sure- on the news I heard a report where “movies are the new vacation”.  MOVIES!  Jeez Louise, we really must be running out of money these days when PAUL BLART is displacing sandy beaches, or open air music festivals, or going to a foreign country.

www.bonnaroo.com

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Phish (2 Shows)
Beastie Boys
Nine Inch Nails
David Byrne
Wilco
Al Green
Snoop Dogg
Elvis Costello Solo
Erykah Badu
Paul Oakenfold
Ben Harper and Relentless7
The Mars Volta
TV on the Radio
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Gov’t Mule
Andrew Bird
Band of Horses
Merle Haggard
MGMT
moe.
The Decemberists
Girl Talk
Bon Iver
Béla Fleck & Toumani Diabate
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Galactic
The Del McCoury Band
of Montreal
Allen Toussaint
Coheed and Cambria
Booker T & the DBTs
David Grisman Quintet
Lucinda Williams
Animal Collective
Gomez
Neko Case
Down
Jenny Lewis
Santogold
Robert Earl Keen
Citizen Cope
Femi Kuti and the Positive Force
The Ting Tings
Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Kaki King
Grizzly Bear
King Sunny Adé
Okkervil River
St. Vincent
Zac Brown Band
Raphael Saadiq
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Crystal Castles
Tift Merritt
Brett Dennen
Mike Farris and the Roseland Rhythm Revue
Toubab Krewe
People Under the Stairs
Alejandro Escovedo
Vieux Farka Touré
Elvis Perkins In Dearland
Cherryholmes
Yeasayer
Todd Snider
Chairlift
Portugal. The Man.
The SteelDrivers
Midnite
The Knux
The Low Anthem
Delta Spirit
A.A. Bondy
The Lovell Sisters
Alberta Cross

The sweet cocktail of dry heat, greazy hipsters and adventurous tunes better known as Coachella announced its line up today. Last year was the tipping point for the weekend long getaway festival- there were about 15 of these suckers, from Coachella to Bonnaroo to Lollapalooza to, um, actually there were so many of them that I can’t remember their names. I imagine the combination of the economy driving the porcelain bus will cause a scaling back of these events, which is for the best. I went to Bonnaroo last year, which was an absolute blast, largely because probably 98% of the people in attendance were music junkies who traveled from all over the country to converge on Manchester, TN. There was a communal atmosphere of “hey, we’re all in this dirty sweaty mess together so let’s all enjoy it” that you aren’t going to find when people can take a short train ride from their apartment to a site just outside the city.

The problem for the big festivals like Coachella is they are constantly having to at least maintain if not exceed the line up they produced in year’s past. Being beholden to big headliners leads to desperate decisions and is what killed the first incarnation of Lollapalooza. I believe Metallica was the moment that annual tour jumped the shark. As much of a Beatles freak as I am, I wonder if Paul McCartney could be Coachella’s shark. I’m puzzled by Paul these days- why release your latest album as a side project called The Fireman? I realize it’s more adventurous than anything you’ve done in years and years, but if you release it as a McCartney album fans and critics will be impressed by your musical ambition instead of just scratching their collective heads.

But I digress. The line up for Coach09 is solid but I wonder if it will get those fringe music fans to pack up their SPF 45 and embarrassing floppy hats to head to the desert when dollars are tight. I think to combat the economy they might’ve needed to throw sick ducats at someone huge (U2 comes to mind) to ensure a sellout weekend. The festival promoters are not stupid, I’m sure they tried but hey, ducats are tight for them too. Here’s the line up for your perusal.

COACHELLA VALLEY MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL 2009

PAUL MCCARTNEY, THE KILLERS, THE CURE

MORRISSEY, AMY WINEHOUSE, FRANZ FERDINAND,
MY BLOODY VALENTINE, LEONARD COHEN
CONFIRMED FOR
APRIL 17, 18 AND 19

TICKETS ON SALE

FRIDAY APRIL 17: Paul McCartney, Morrissey, Franz Ferdinand, Leonard Cohen, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Beirut, The Black Keys, Girl Talk, Silversun Pickups, The Ting Tings, The Crystal Method, Ghostland Observatory, Crystal Castles, The Airborne Toxic Event, We Are Scientists, N.A.S.A., Patton & Rahzel, M. Ward, The Presets, The Hold Steady, A Place to Bury Strangers, Felix da Housecat, Buraka Som Sistema, Ryan Bingham, Bajofondo, Peanut Butter Wolf, Noah & the Whale, White Lies, The Bug, Alberta Cross, Los Campesinos!, Craze & Klever, Molotov, Switch, Gui Boratto, Steve Aoki, The Aggrolites, People Under the Stairs, The Courteeners, Cage the Elephant, Dear and the Headlights.

SATURDAY, APRIL 18: The Killers, Amy Winehouse, Thievery Corporation, TV on the Radio, Band of Horses, Fleet Foxes, MSTRKRFT, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Atmosphere, Mastodon, TRAV$DJ-AM, Henry Rollins, Crookers, Turbonegro, Hercules and Love Affair, Superchunk, Glasvegas, Dr. Dog, Drive-By Truckers, Booker T & the DBT’s, Amanda Palmer, The Bloody Beetroots, Surkin, Para One (Live), Calexico, Liars, Bob Mould Band, Zane Lowe, Electric Touch, Blitzen Trapper, James Morrison, Drop the Lime, Glass Candy, Thenewno2, Gang Gang Dance, Billy Talent, Ida Maria, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Zizek, Cloud Cult, Tinariwen.

SUNDAY, APRIL 19: The Cure, My Bloody Valentine, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Throbbing Gristle, Lupe Fiasco, Paul Weller, Peter Bjorn and John, X, Antony & the Johnsons, Roni Size, Public Enemy, Jenny Lewis, Groove Armada, Paolo Nutini, Christopher Lawrence, Lykke Li, The Kills, Okkervil River, M.A.N.D.Y., Clipse, Sebastien Tellier, Fucked Up, Perry Farrell, The Horrors, Late of the Pier, K’naan, Junior Boys, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Supermayer, No Age, Vivian Girls, Shepard Fairey, Themselves, Gaslight Anthem, The Knux, Mexican Institute of Sound, The Night Marchers, Marshall Barnes.

http://www.coachella.com/

Today is my birthday.  Yeah, entering my mid-twenties, such a bitch…my Goal of the Day (heretofore referred to as “G.O.D.”) is to not listen to one bad song all day.  Let’s see how it goes:

7:39AM    turn on the TV and see a commercial for “Dirty Dancing: The Musical”.  Hear the first few bars of the chorus to “I’ve Had The Time Of My Life”.  I immediately hit mute and request a mulligan on my goal, along with a corollary- commercial jingles, TV themes etc may be exempt to this musical exploration; however if I have the opportunity to turn them off or change the station I will do so.  Another corollary is that the traditional song “Happy Birthday” is also exempt.
8:20AM    listen to the second half of Bruce Springsteen’s Working On A Dream album, my G.O.D. is intact here.  A few thoughts on Bruce:

1. My prediction of Bruce’s setlist at the Super Bowl halftime show: “My Lucky Day”, “Prove It All Night”, “Glory Days”, “Working On A Dream”, “Born To Run”.
2. This new album is really good.  Rolling Stone gave it 5 stars which seems excessive.  I reserve the 5 star rating for maybe 3 albums a decade, and by giving this one 5 stars you’re putting it on par with Born To Run, Darkness and Born In The USA…come on.  That being said, the man is still reinventing himself and expanding the boundaries of his musical legacy.  Among his peers I can only also put Bob Dylan and Neil Young in that category, and Bruce continues to do it with much more consistency.
3. It is incomprehensible that “The Wrestler” wasn’t nominated for the best song Oscar.  I don’t recall them ever having only three nominees for the award, and you’re telling me that two songs from Slumdog and a Peter Gabriel track from WallE are better than this understated masterpiece!?  I can only think that the head of the academy is peeved because Bruce turned down the offer to perform at his kid’s bar mitzvah or something.
4. As I’m driving to work on my birthday morning, I hear the track “Surprise Surprise” off the new album, containing the following lyric that I shall use in my defense to get my restraining order from Bruce lifted: “Well today is your birthday, we traveled so far we two.  So let’s blow out the candles on your cake and we’ll raise a glass or two”.  Your honor, you don’t understand!  Mr Springsteen invited me over for cake and cocktails!!!  That is why I was on his lawn at 2AM screaming the lyrics to “Rosalita”!!

8:58AM  get to the office.  In order to avoid any crappy songs, I need to construct a playlist o’ the day, label it 01.28.09 and fill it with only the top quality material on my hard drive.  Don’t kid yourself, even in my own music collection there are hundreds of songs that would violate my G.O.D.  Start off with “Hell In A Bucket (Live @ The Knick)” by the Grateful Dead, seems appropriate.  May be going to hell in a bucket, baby, but at least I’m enjoying the ride.

TIME/SONG/LENGTH/ARTIST/ALBUM
9:33 AM  Hell In A Bucket (Live) 6:59  Grateful Dead Dozin’ At The Knick (Live) (Disc 1)
9:35 AM  Rise  2:36    Eddie Vedder    Into the Wild
9:44 AM  Touch Me I’m Going To Scream Pt. 2   8:12    My Morning Jacket    Evil Urges
9:49 AM  Ulysses   3:11    Franz Ferdinand    Tonight: Franz Ferdinand

9:49AM  I receive an ecard.  Funny how ecards are so old fashioned now.  I’ve received a bunch of birthday shout outs on my facebook page, some from people who actually called me on my birthday in years past, some from people who I haven’t spoken to in years.  Both are fine gestures.  The ecard is throwing my G.O.D. for a loop, however- how can I be sure it doesn’t stray away from the “Happy Birthday” song and uses “We Built This City” or “Love Shack” as it’s soundtrack?  I’m going to assume that music beyond fair use licensing is outside the business model of Blue Mountain but regardless I don’t click “play” on it just yet.

Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle        4:10    Nirvana    In Utero    1/28/09 9:53 AM
Losing Myself        4:30    Brazilian Girls    New York City    1/28/09 10:03 AM

10:12AM via Facebook: Steve simultaneously thanks y’all for your kind birthday wishes and wonders if he needs hip replacement surgery.

10:16 AM  The Next Messiah        8:45    Jenny Lewis    Acid Tongue
10:21 AM  Weird Fishes/Arpeggi        5:18    Radiohead    In Rainbows
10:23 AM  And Your Bird Can Sing        2:02    The Beatles    Revolver
10:29 AM  Tombstone Blues        6:01    Bob Dylan    Highway 61 Revisited
What other songwriter can get away with the following lyric:
The Commander-in-Chief answers him while chasing a fly
Saying, “Death to all those who would whimper and cry”
And dropping a bar bell he points to the sky
Saving, “The sun’s not yellow it’s chicken”

10:32 AM  Each Year        3:16    Ra Ra Riot    The Rhumb Line
10:35 AM  Modern Guilt        3:15    Beck    Modern Guilt
10:38 AM  Who’s Gonna Save My Soul        3:15    Gnarls Barkley    The Odd Couple
10:44 AM  Please Read The Letter        5:55    Robert Plant & Alison Krauss    Raising Sand
10:49 AM  My Body Is A Cage        4:47    The Arcade Fire    Neon Bible
Did you see the Benjamin Button trailer that used this song?  So cool and effective, I thought that trailer would do for this song what Pineapple Express did for Paper Planes but I guess the song is too intense/dark.

10:52 AM  Paper Planes        3:25    M.I.A.    Kala
10:56 AM  Until The Day Is Done        4:09    R.E.M.    Accelerate
11:02 AM  W.M.A.        5:59    Pearl Jam    Vs.
11:07 AM  Things Aint Like They Used To Be        4:36    The Black Keys    Attack & Release
11:10 AM  Keep Your Head        3:24    The Ting Tings    We Started Nothing

My horoscope, sweet.  Not that I really believe in this stuff: Today’s birthday (Jan. 28): There is no one like you, and this year you realize how rare your gifts really are. With your self-esteem on the rise you attract new friends, and people in your life treat you with more respect. The travel you do early in the year shows that you can shine wherever you are. There’s a windfall in April. Capricorn and Sagittarius adore you. Your lucky numbers are 7, 14, 43, 31 and 5.

11:14 AM  Night Flight        3:37    Led Zeppelin    Physical Graffiti (Disc 2)
11:16 AM  Mansford Roof        2:08    Vampire Weekend    Vampire Weekend
11:21 AM  One Fine Day        4:54    Brian Eno & David Byrne    Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
11:23 AM  Off Broadway        2:33    Ryan Adams    Easy Tiger
11:27 AM  Emergency 72        4:05    Turin Brakes    The Optimist LP
11:30 AM  Sex On Fire        3:26    Kings Of Leon    Only By The Night

11:31 AM  need to take a musical break.  Listen to yesterday’s Bill Simmons ESPN podcast.  I think the Cardinals have a legit shot on Sunday but for their benefit I will not be betting any cabbage on them.

12:31 PM  What Difference Does It Make [Peel Sessions Version]        3:14    The Smiths    The Sound Of The Smiths
12:42 PM  The ‘59 Sound (acoustic on AP)        4:17    The Gaslight Anthem    AP Acoustic Session

12:45 PM Viewed the ecard.  It started off with a blast of generic music and exclaimed “STEVE!”.  For the terms of the G.O.D. I had to close the tab immediately.

Another challenge with the G.O.D. is I spend a fair amount of my time during the day listening to bands that have been submitted to me to consider for coverage on VIMBY.  In all due respect to the industry folk who reach out to me, I would say their batting average of quality submissions is right around a hall of fame baseball player, that is to say maybe 1 in 3 are worth consideration.  The first one I listened to today was Iglu & Hartly http://www.myspace.com/igluandhartly.  I dig these guys.  Kind of has that MGMT vibe, albeit a bit poppier.  At the very least they don’t violate the G.O.D.

2:11 PM  back from lunch.  Reviewing a couple VIMBY-related items, the segment we recently produced at the Roxy with Idle Warship http://www.myspace.com/idlewarship, the new band created by Talib Kweli, Res and Graph Nobel.  Not violating the G.O.D. at all- these guys bring the goods, this is going to be a great addition to our Roxy series.  Then I checked out some music from the Gabriella Cilmi segment we are in the midst of working on.  17 year old honey from Australia who has already blown up huge down under and in the UK, she’s about to conquer the US…with the help of VIMBY.  Her track “Sweet About Me” is one of those perfect pop songs that gets into your head and won’t come out, like my dog Rigby when she gets her paws on a bone from Lawry’s and runs under the bed.

2:18 PM  Sweet About Me        3:51    Gabriella Cilmi    Vimby.com Session

2:30 PM  We were graced with the lovely and mucho talented Miranda Lee Richards http://www.myspace.com/mirandaleerichards here at the VIMBY HQ for the backyard sessions series we are putting together.  It was nice to get serenaded by her in such a serene setting, felt like we were transported back into the Laurel Canyon scene of the seventies but here we are in Sherman Oaks in the 00s.

3:52 PM  Catapult        3:57    R.E.M.    Murmur    1/28/09 3:52 PM

3:55 PM   Watched a rough cut of the Semi Precious Weapons video segment one of our preditors in Austin produced for us.  If Miranda Lee Richards felt like a return to the singer songwriter tradition of Joni Mitchell et all, watching SPW is like being a Stooges gig in 1969 with a dude wearing leather pants pissing on your leg.  Pure lunacy.

3:55 PM  Sweet And Dandy        3:00    The Maytals    The Harder They Come
3:58 PM  Up The Junction        3:08    Squeeze    Singles 45’s And Under
4:02 PM  Meg White        4:17    Ray LaMontagne    Gossip In The Grain
4:07 PM  Given To Fly        4:20    Pearl Jam    The Forum Los Angeles, CA 09July06
4:10 PM  Boogie With Stu        3:53    Led Zeppelin    Physical Graffiti (Disc 2)
4:13 PM  Dancing Choose        2:56    TV On The Radio    Dear Science

4:17 PM Took a break from my playlist briefly to make a dinner reservation.  Their hold music played Bowie’s “The Prettiest Star” and Elvis Costello’s version of “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” while I was waiting.  If they’re gonna waste my precious time by putting me on terminal hold at least they gave me some good tunes.

4:18 PM  Making Flippy Floppy        4:36    Talking Heads    Speaking in Tongues
4:23 PM  The Prettiest Star        3:31    David Bowie    Aladdin Sane
4:26 PM  Explain It To Me        3:12    Liz Phair    Exile in Guyville
4:29 PM  Creator        3:33    Santogold    Santogold
4:35 PM  Thorn In My Pride        6:04    The Black Crowes    The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion
4:41 PM  Summertime Rolls        6:20    Jane’s Addiction    Nothing’s Shocking
4:45 PM  Car Thief        3:40    The Beastie Boys    Paul’s Boutique
4:50 PM  Lively Up Yourself        5:11    Bob Marley & The Wailers    Natty Dread
4:55 PM  You Are My Face        4:39    Wilco    Sky Blue Sky
4:58 PM  Wrong ‘Em Boyo        3:13    The Clash    London Calling
5:02 PM  The Wanton Song        4:10    Led Zeppelin    Physical Graffiti (Disc 2)

5:05 PM  Campus        2:56    Vampire Weekend    Vampire Weekend
5:07 PM  When I’m Sixty-Four        2:38    The Beatles    Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Gotta roll.  Here’s to hoping I don’t hear any Starship or B52’s on the way home.

Rock on!
_S

I’m personally PSYCHED to have The Dears featured on VIMBY, one of the coolest most unique bands on the indie rock scene these days.  Check out the video here.  I caught up with the band’s Natalia Yanchak via email prior to posting the video.  Here’s how it went:

ME: Congratulations on the release of Missles.  I have been a fan for a while, ever since I saw a knockout performance at SXSW about 4-5 years ago.  This album feels like you have taken everything to another level. Was their a different approach to writing and recording this album compared to your previous releases?
NY: Every Dears album is it’s own beast, with its own needs and concerns. Making “Missiles” was a kind of therapy; written as the band was falling apart, recorded in the groups’ final days. We finished it and then everyone who played on it left. While the collapse of the band doesn’t correlate to the meaning or message of the songs, that sense of defeat, hope and uncertainty is still there.
ME: Describe the songwriting process- does Murray write the lyrics first and then the band contributes to the musical composition or how does that normally work?  How fleshed out are the songs when you enter the studio to record them?  Are they sketches or more fully formed?
NY: When a song come to Murray, it is pretty much complete. With string arrangements, synths, percussions, backing vocals, everything. It can be intimidating for someone to try and collaborate with such a whole vision of a song. But that’s something we tried with “Missiles”: Murray just put all his ideas down and then invited other musicians to add their own ideas. And that process worked with amazing results.

ME: What was your favorite album of 2008?
NY: Al Green “Lay It Down”

ME: Do you have a favorite city to perform in?
NY: Mexico City, Mexico. Our last show there was the greatest most explosive reaction we’ve ever had. We are going back to play more shows in Mexico in February and I’m really looking forward to that.

ME: What do you like to do to pass time on the road?
NY: Hang out with Murray and our 3-year-old daughter, Neptune. You would not believe the number of kid-friendly museums out there.

ME: We are about to inaugurate Barak Obama as the first African-American president of the US.  As a Canadian band, what are your thoughts on Obama and this US milestone?  Were you active and engaged in the US election at all?
NY: We were actually on tour in the US during the election. On our tour schedule, on election day it just said: NO SHOW / PLEASE VOTE. So we sat in the tour bus in upstate Oregon with the front lounge TV on CNN and the back lounge TV on Fox News. When Barack Obama won it was really unbelieveable; I think I even got a little teary-eyed. Murray’s mom called him and they had a moment, too. It’s pretty huge, just a great thing for America…even though previous administrations left Obama with a really big, crappy situation to deal with. As Canadians, we share the continent and a lot of American media and pop culture. We definitely had a bigger frenzy for the US election than we did for any Canadian election. Obama is just such a real personality; a celebrity, a rock star. I think Canadians haven’t had that since Pierre Trudeau in the 70s. We’re generally pretty boring up here. Like the USA is Springfield and Canada is Shelbyville.

ME: Growing up, was there a defining artist/album/concert where the first time you heard it the lightbulb went off and you realized you wanted to be in a band?
NY: As a kid I listened to a lot of classic rock and “oldies”: I was big into The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and some other embarrassing stuff I’d rather not mention (Indigo Girls, anyone?). I remember in grade 6 my sister got Morrissey’s “Bona Drag” and I really, really loved that and got into him and The Smiths. I learned how to play “Death of a Disco Dancer” on acoustic guitar and used to sing it at the top of my lungs in my parent’s back yard. Our neighbours surely must have thought we were strange.

ME: What holds in store for The Dears in 2009?
NY: Touring, and hopefully working on some new songs. We just filmed a video with director Christopher Mills for “Disclaimer” which will be done in the spring and I kind of can’t wait to see it when that’s done.

The beauty of VIMBY is we think of cool stuff to do and we go do it. Don’t need to spend much time doing fancy things like “think” or “research”.  When we decided to do stripped down backyard sessions, Jason Reeves was the first artist to come through.  He was great, and as I sat on the chaise lounge, a lynchburg lemonade in one hand with a beautiful girl in a sundress in another, I realized how blessed I am to have this intimate opportunity to listen to great music performed for me. OK there was no chair, no beverage, no girlie- just good blessings…see for yourself.

I had a little email exchange with Jason on the eve of this posting, here’s what the man had to say:

ME: Thanks for your time, we at VIMBY enjoyed hanging with  you in our backyard.

JR: Thank you. I enjoyed it too! I loved that it was shot outside in such a cool (and real) backyard,  especially the moving shots through the trees..

ME: What  do you miss the most when you’re on the road?

JR: Home is the obvious answer but what makes it a bit more interesting for me is that I’ve accumulated a few homes now over the years of being a vagabond, so I’ve begun to miss a lot of different details. and I miss my friends and family the most.

ME: Your album of the year for 2008?

JR: I’ve gotta have two:  Brendan James-”The Day is Brave” and Brett Dennen-”Hope for the Hopeless”.

ME: What’s your favorite city to perform in?

JR: Every show is different in every city and they all have their unique vibe…Boston has always been amazing though, and most of the west coast..and Iowa City has been there since the beginning..If I kept going I’d list too many..

ME: What’s your take on the so-called “digital revolution”  of how music is consumed these days and the ability of artists to reach out to  fans directly?

JR: I think there are a great deal of good and bad things about the digital revolution in music.  It’s great to be able to reach so many people so quickly but at the same time it creates an over-saturation to an extent that gives listeners a unique and new form of a.d.d.  all in all too many to list, but one thing I don’t like is the disappearing of albums and the birth of the downloadable single age.

ME: What  is 2009 going to hold in store for you?

JR: I hope it holds peace.  I hope for me it holds life and love for it, I hope it gives the space for more songs to be drawn..

Jason Reeves’ The Magnificent Adventures of Heartache (and Other Frightening Tales) is out now.  Buy it here or here. Or send him a love note here.

Hey peeps in the place to be…we are featuring the one, the only HYPER CRUSH on our home page.  Check it out:http://www.vimby.com/video/music/us/all/detail/8973?anchor=postcomment

Their steez and sound speak for itself.  I think I have a little bit of a hyper crush on Holly. I was able to have some email banter with Donny the other day in anticipation of the clip, here’s what he had to say:

ME: Thanks for your time, we at VIMBY enjoyed hanging with you guys up in Seattle.  Any memories from that show?
DONNY:  Yeah we had fun too.  We just remember having fun.  To tell you the truth we did so many dates it kinda feels like a blur when we think about it.

ME: What do you miss the most when you’re on the road?
DONNY: I miss all my favorite food spots at home.  I guess all of us miss sleepin in our own beds.

ME: What was your album of the year for 2008?
DONNY: MGMT- Oracular Spectacular

ME: Obviously you are a mixed gender band- does that pose logistical issues when you’re on the road?  And does it create any “rules”?  For instance does Holly get her own dressing room, or do the guys have to cover their eyes when she’s getting dressed for the gig?!
DONNY: Well Holly is really cool when it comes to stuff like that.  She’s not one of those fussy chics.  But it does get kinda crazy sometimes.  Don’t tell holly but I think I seen her naked once or twice. haha

ME: What’s your best memory of 2008?
DONNY: Signing our record deal of course. It was a long time coming, well only two years as hyper crush.  We’ve all been doing music for years.

ME: What’s the best movie of all time?
DONNY: That’s a tough one.  We are huge movie buffs, our studio is also a theatre.  I think the best movie ever is “Heat” or “Sling Blade”.

ME: What’s your take on the so-called “digital revolution” of how music is consumed these days and the ability of artists to reach out to fans directly?
DONNY: I think its incredible.  It is so easy to make music and have it heard now that its crazy.  It really leaves it to fans to be able to empower groups that they really like not just a bunch of groups that labels are pushing.  That’s not to say there isn’t a bad side though.  Anyone with a laptop can make music and think they’re doin somethin so it saturates the game a lil more.

ME: Give us a crazy rock n’ roll story being on the road- groupies, farm animals etc?
DONNY: (no response…)

ME: Was there an album/tour/artist you saw when you were a kid that caused the proverbial light bulb to go off and you realized that you wanted to be in a band?
DONNY: For me it was probably Metallica.  But it really sunk into me when I heard Wu Tang.

ME: What’s the best lyric you’ve ever written or one that best describes you as an artist?
DONNY: “To not teach is to train the apprentice.  My art form is framed in the sentence”.  It wasn’t a hyper crush lyric but its one of my favorites. I probably spelled some of that wrong, i suk at spe llllinga

ME: What is 2009 going to hold in store for Hyper Crush?
DONNY: New video for our song “Robo Tech” and then our album should be dropping before summer.

Note to all music artists- appearing on VIMBY will make you a hero.  OK, one thing might not have anything to do with the other, but VIMBY fave Asher Roth was involved in detaining the man who just made a bomb threat on a flight from Atlanta to LAX.

Here’s the story on the LA Times website.

According to his publicist, Asher Roth was involved in detaining the knucklehad/psychopath who made the bomb threat on board. The above photo was taken by his bassist.

As a reference point, here’s Asher’s segment on VIMBY:

http://www.vimby.com/video/music/us/all/detail/8017

The moral of this story?!: MAKE MUSIC, NOT BOMBS, people.  Jeez.

I was going to post my year in music column in 4 chunky posts, but my disciples complained that they couldn’t find part one when I posted part two a day later, and I’m not good at doing anything consistently, so here goes: The Year In Music 2008 (cue “2001: A Space Odyssey” theme). This post might be the longest in the history of blogging and for that, I apologize, but here goes.

Odd year for music. I’m going to call it a “transition year”. Not to suggest that some excellent music wasn’t released, but the biggest song of the year was MIA’s “Paper Planes”, which, um, came out in 2007. The best new band, Vampire Weekend, lit up the blogs with their songs that were, um, posted in 2007. Some of the tracks in heavy rotation for me right now are from Bruce Springsteen’s album, scheduled to be released in, um, 2009. That being said, there was quality to be found this year.

Before we get started, I’d like to announce my Last DJ Award. This is awarded to the major artist who had the most disappointing release of the year (named after Tom Petty’s dreadful 2002 album The Last DJ): 2008’s Last DJ Award goes to The Red Album, by Weezer. My guess is Rivers Cuomo was a math/science kid in school, as opposed to an english/history kid. Most people are usually one or the other. I, for instance, can’t count to 21 without my pants down…I suggest this about Rivers because he seems to write music with a certain formula in mind, like a geometry problem. Just look at the album title and cover, it’s like he thought in his head “Blue Album was successful, Green Album was successful, ergo let’s name this one the Red Album.” Like the color red suggests, here’s to hoping he STOPS. Cramming a bunch of early 90s music references into “Heart Songs” is the most blatant songwriting gimmick since “We Didn’t Start The Fire”. The “Pork N’ Beans” video is pure genius, though.

The Fab 40:

40. Coldplay Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
After the disappointing previous album X&Y, being a fan of Coldplay was like rooting for the Counting Crows in the years after their first album- near classic debut album, huge hype to accompany it, making it hard for lead singer to get his ego-inflated head through any standard doorway. Viva la Vida simultaneously represents a band humbled as well as ambitiously trying to reclaim their place in the rock pantheon, somehow making it safe to be a fan again. Fave tracks: “Lost”, “Viva La Vida”, “Violet Hill”.

39. Kaiser Chiefs Off With Their Heads
The Chiefs feel to me like the modern version of the Kinks- really crafty band that knows its way around a hook but is probably too British sounding to gain the widespread adoration from the US that they probably deserve. Fave tracks: “Addicted to Drugs”, “Like It Too Much”, “You Want History”.

38. Rachael Yamagata Elephants… Teeth Sinking Into Heart
RY’s debut Happenstance showed promise for Rachel to be amongst the next new wave of female singer-songwriters in the mold of Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, etc. Then she disappeared. Elephants is an ambitious sort of two-CD set frontloaded with a bunch of dark ballads. Reminds me of (don’t laugh) Terence Trent D’Arby’s 1989 sophomore album Neither Fish Nor Flesh: A Soundtrack of Love, Faith, Hope & Destruction- bloated album title, odd sequencing, some excellent songs there if you have the patience to wade through the set. For Rachel, check out: “Elephants”, “Duet” and “Faster”. Great rainy day music.

37. Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip Angles
Another one of my favorite tracks of 07, Dan n’ Pip’s “Thou Shalt Always Kill”, re-emerges on their proper 2008 debut Angles. A fresh approach to hip-hop, mostly via mocking the genre’s clichés, more effective than most of the UK’s contributions to the genre. Fave tracks: “Thou Shalt Always Kill”, “Beat That My Heart Skipped”, and “Letter To God From Man” with its kick-ass Radiohead sample.

36. Liam Finn I’ll Be Lightning
Split Enz/Crowded House frontman Neil Finn’s son puts out a debut equal parts a reflection of his father’s pop songwriting prowess with an eye toward current sounds like Spoon and even Manu Chao. Fave tracks: “Better To Be”, “Second Chance”.

35. Kings Of Leon Only By The Night
One of the anomalies of modern rock- the Kings’ huge UK success while only having middle-of-the-pack success at home. I have found their previous albums frustratingly short on songwriting creativity, but this album feels like they’ve become less consumed with trying to be something their fans or record label want them to be and instead they just decided to rock. Fave tracks: “Crawl”, “Sex On Fire”, “Use Somebody”. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome (back).  Here’s the first part, read/digg this first:

http://www.vimby.com/blog/2008/12/23/the-year-in-music-volume-one/?category=4

Here are #s 30-21.  Eat and enjoy:

30. The Kills   Midnight Boom
This year a song would come up on shuffle and I would think “wow this is a really great track, who is this!?” and I would look at my ipod and inevitably it would be The Kills.  Fave tracks under those circumstances: “U.R.A. Fever”, “Cheap And Cheerful”, “Last Day Of Magic”.

29. Mike Doughty     Golden Delicious
On Golden Delicious, Doughty walks the line between quirky indie tunesmith and a more traditional singer-songwriter in the mold of Dave Matthews or David Gray with great success.  This album kept bubbling up in my rotation throughout the year.  Fave tracks: “More Bacon Than The Pan Can Handle”, “27 Jennifers”, “I Just Want The Girl In The Blue Dress To Keep On Dancin’”.

28. Lil Wayne Tha Carter III
A couple times a decade a great MC comes along and everyone takes notice.  Even if you don’t like hip hop you have to respect their skills.  Lil Wayne has been around for a bit but it feels like this year, because of this album (and the gabillion mixed tapes, guest spots etc), the mainstream stood up and took notice.  Last artist who seemed to have that impact was perhaps Eminem?  And all this time I thought the career of the mean mohawked mogwai from “Gremlins” was over.  Favorite tracks: “A Milli”, “Mr. Carter”.  “Don’tgetit” is his “Sadeyed Lady Of The Lowlands”.

27. Mudcrutch
Worst band name of all time?  Seriously, Tom, I know you were just a kid but how did you come up with that one?  Did you break your leg on a swampland boating trip in Florida??  The reunion album was a treat, however, and seeing the band perform a rollicking set at The Troubadour was one of my favorite concerts of the year.  Favorite tracks: “Scare Easy”, “Six Days On The Road”, “The Wrong Thing To Do”

26. Elvis Costello Momofuku
Most of Elvis’ finest work is with his main band the Attractions, but Momofuku serves as a nice installment to the Imposters trilogy (with King Of America and The Delivery Man).  Despite his new studio cable show, EC hasn’t gone too Hollywood.  Fave tracks: “No Hiding Place”, “American Gangster Time”.

25. Dr Dog Fate
One thing I have learned from reading magazines like Rolling Stone for over twenty years is that there is a critic to champion every artist/genre/movement.  If you take their recommendations too seriously you can a) end up buying albums from artists that have no real appeal to you, and b) in the case of reissues or albums that came out generations ago, get duped into buying albums that are past their expiration date.  My favorite example of this is the band Moby Grape.  Don’t get me wrong, David Fricke is a hero of mine.  But if you listen to him rave about Moby Grape as the great lost band of the 60’s, you’ll buy their eponymous debut with the enthusiasm of a lost Beatles album finally reaching the public.  I’m sure Moby’s debut, accompanied by a dovetail joint back in 1969, was a revelation, but to the current uninitiated ear it’s no wonder that they are not up on the Mount Rushmore of 60’s rock bands with the Beatles and Stones.  Why am I talking about this here?  Not sure, but Dr. Dog’s Fate could be that great lost 60’s nugget that slipped through the airwaves, except it came out this year, pretty much every track is a knockout, and you don’t get the feeling you’re listening to the audio equivalent of that Genoa Salami that was lost in the back of your fridge six months ago.  Fave tracks: “The Breeze”, “From”, “The Ark”.

24. The Raconteurs  Consolers Of The Lonely
It’s been said before by people more intuitive than me, but The Raconteurs may be the only side project band being more mainstream than the main band.  The Raconteurs were the first performance I saw at this year’s Bonnaroo, a nice memory.  Fave tracks: “Salute Your Solution”, “You Don’t Understand Me”, “Carolina Drama”.

23. Raveonettes Lust Lust Lust
The Raveonettes are the greatest thing to come out of Denmark since the Danish.  All of their songs sound like the bastard lovechild of Ronnie Spector and the Jesus & Mary Chain, and on Lust Lust Lust, everything finally came together resulting in a great album.  “Dead Sound” is one of those rare songs I can listen to over and over.  Highlight performance from this year’s SXSW.  Fave tracks: “Dead Sound”, “Aly, Walk With Me”.

22. MGMT Oracular Spectacular
“Time To Pretend” is my two year old son’s favorite song currently, he likes to sing the keyboard lick over and over and over again.  I don’t think he has picked up on the line about shooting heroin and screwing movie stars yet.  Fave tracks: AJ- “Time To Pretend”, “Weekend Wars”, “Kids”.

21. Ray Lamontagne  Gossip In The Grain
Ray seems to get a bum rap because he’s been co-opted by the Dave Matthews/David Gray/Jack Johnson set, not exactly a breeding ground for the hipster musical elite.  But if you listen to his music for what it is this guy is the truth.  Closest thing you’ll find to Van Morrison in modern music, even if you get tired of hearing it on line at Starbucks.  Fave tracks: “Let It Be Me”, “Meg White”, “Henry Nearly Killed Me”.

COMING SOON: #s 20-11.  Happy xmas.