July 31, 2005
From steveswebpage.com, and written in the rarely seen first-person plural:
why did you leave blue’s clues? where is the green-striped shirt?
we were the host of nickelodeon’s blue’s clues for 6 years, working with fantastic people. after the 100th episode, we felt it was time to move on. after we left, we made an album of music for grown-ups, fulfilling our long-held desire to become a rock godlet. helping toddlers rocked, and rocking rocks. we are a lucky man to have done both.
He’s really good at both too. Today’s MP3 is from Steve’s first album, Songs For Dustmites, which he recorded with Michael Ivins and Steven Drozd of the Flaming Lips - and Lips producer Dave Fridmann. It has a definite Flaming Lips feel to it…and no Blue’s Clues feel to it at all.
Click here to download.
July 30, 2005
One of the zillion or so great bands that have been hugely successful in the U.K., but are unknown in the United States.
Ash formed in Northern Ireland when its members were about 15 years old. They released their first single two years later and went on to chart a bunch of times in the United Kingdom. They’ve released five studio albums, all of which come highly recommended by the Jamootz!Rock staff, but they’ve never really had a hit on this side of the ocean.
That’s a complete travesty because today’s MP3, “Burn Baby Burn”, is better than anything you’re likely to hear on the radio on any given day.
I saw Ash in concert earlier this year. The review is here.
July 29, 2005
Not a lot to say about this one.
The Flaming Lips covering Queen. Wayne Coyne ain’t exactly Freddy Mercury when it comes to his vocals, but he makes it work in a semi-demented Flaming Lips kind of way.
Click here to download.
July 28, 2005
More Columbus rock.
I saw these guys open for The Flaming Lips a couple years back, and they were pretty terrific. They had just signed with Warner Brothers Records, and if I recall correctly hadn’t yet released their first EP. About two years later, they still haven’t released their first full-length album. That’s apparently coming out in September.
Today’s MP3, “Justice”, is from their most recent EP, Did Your Mother Tell You?. It’s got a very Dandy Warhols sound to it. Synthesizer-heavy and really catchy.
The Sun has a chance to be huge. They also have a chance to be Watershed. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.
July 27, 2005
The ‘gramme is a tough band to describe.
They can pull off quiet, introspective ballads. They can do bone-jarring metal. They can do electronic-tinged indie rock. A lot of the time, they do them all in one song. If you’re listening to an Aereogramme song and you don’t like it, stay tuned. It’s probably about to take a 90 degree turn at any moment. I guess maybe Mogwai is the best comparison I can come up with, band-wise, but Aereogramme is pretty unique.
Today’s MP3, Zionist Timing, is probably the best example of their versatility. It starts quiet, works its way through a grunge-ish verse or two, goes all screamy metal, then finally a minute or two of quiet fadeout.
Right now, Aereogramme is the one band I haven’t seen live that I’d most like to see. I suspect they’d put on one heck of a show.
July 26, 2005
For the second straight day, a track from a band I know almost nothing about.
Ashley mentioned in a comment a few days back that I should check out an Australian band called Laura. I’m happy I took his advice.
They play instrumental rock that’s kind of got a Pink Floyd feel to it. Somewhere between the Floyd and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, there’s Laura. And, based on what I’ve heard so far, I like ‘em. I like ‘em a lot.
Here’s the titular song from their most recent album, We Are Mapping Your Dreams.
Ash, care to enlighten us about these guys?
July 25, 2005
Everything I know about this band I learned from this link. That is to say, I know pretty much nothing about them.
I do know that when this song pops up on Radio Free Jamootz, I tend to get excited. And I know they have a great band name.
So download away.
July 24, 2005
One of the most surreal developments in the world of music over the last few years is the Kidz Bop series of CDs. If you’re not familiar with them, the basic concept is that they take popular songs and re-record them using children vocalists. It’s just downright bizarre.
I thought it would be tough for the Kidz Bop Kidz to top their version of Modest Mouse’s song “Float On”. That was before I heard their version of Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone”.
And then there’s today’s MP3, their version of “Take Me Out” by Franz Ferdinand.
Yessirree, there’s nothing quite like a children’s record that includes this verse:
So if you’re lonely
You know I’m here waiting for you
I’m just a crosshair
I’m just a shot away from you
And if you leave here
You leave me broken, shattered I lie
I’m just a crosshair
I’m just a shot then we can die
(Thanks to Stereogum and my associate Gianluigi for calling this to my attention.)
July 23, 2005
I went to Eastlake, Ohio yesterday to interview former major league pitcher Scott Radinsky, who’s now the pitching coach for the minor league Lake County Captains. He’s also the singer from the band Pulley.
I’m not sure really what I expected him to be like, but I was stunned by how soft-spoken and insightful he was. I had a great time talking to him.
Anyway, his band has released five albums on arguably the biggest and most successful independent punk rock label in the country, Epitaph Records. Not bad for a guy who says music is a hobby.
They’re pretty good, too. Click here to download “Insects Destroy” from their most recent record, Matters.
July 22, 2005
I’ve seen hundreds of bands in concert. When I was in college, I saw at least two shows a month for the better part of four and a half years. Point is, I have seen a lot of rock shows.
I was rendered completely speechless exactly once: Brainiac played a show in Cincinnati in 1995, and it completely changed the way I look at music. That’s not hyperbole at all. It was a stunning experience.
Brainiac combined new wave, punk, noise, and just plain chaos. The band’s guitarist once said he had so many effects pedals and sample triggers on stage, he never had any idea what would happen when he hit one of them. But the focus was always on the frontman, Tim Taylor, who was a ball of pure energy. I’d never seen anything like him. I still haven’t.
Anyway, for a good half-hour after the show, I couldn’t speak, other than to just say “wow” over and over.
About two years after that show, Brainiac was about to sign a big-money major label deal, they were in the studio recording their fourth album, and suddenly it all ended. The throttle on Tim’s new car stuck open and he slammed into a telephone pole. There was nothing he could do to stop the car, and he died instantly.
And that was the end of Brainiac.
Today’s MP3 is the last song on their last release, Electro-Shock For President. The song’s called “Mr. Fingers”, and before you listen to it, I will say in advance that Brainiac’s a band you either love or hate. There isn’t a whole lot of middle ground on these guys.
