All posts by Kevin

contests, general, sports

All-Time Quarterback / caption contest

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All our chatter on the Blogger Fantasy Football League got me thinking about the gridiron. Naturally, I turned first to All-Time Quarterback, also known as Ben Gibbard, who recorded these lo-fi tracks in 1999 as an aside to his duties in Death Cab For Cutie.

I’ve owned this album for quite some time but never really warmed up to it. Maybe I’m expecting something too similar to Death Cab. The tracks have a campy quality about them: sparse acoustic guitars strummed over inexpensive Casio keyboards. Rules Broken, which I do like quite a bit, uses one of those canned keyboard beats (“samba” or “waltz”) for the primary rhythm, which is clever and yet oh-so indie.

I have trouble telling whether this was all genuine or just some sort of vanity project, something the hip kids knew about long ago but will dismiss once the O.C. gang finds out about it. If you missed it last week, Fluxblog had a thoughtful take on Gibbard and his songwriting talents (or lack thereof?).

All-Time Quarterback | Rules Broken
All-Time Quarterback | Plans Get Complex
All-Time Quarterback | Sock Hop

CAPTION CONTEST

This picture (below) pretty much sums up the Bears’ luck for the past two seasons. Rex Grossman, incumbent starter, is out for three to four months because of a broken left ankle he suffered in a preseason game; last year, he at least made it until the third week of the season. Regardless, the Jeff Blake Era has begun.

For now, I’m challenging your creative wit for a clever caption of this most terrible photo. Leave it in the comment section. The winner, as judged by me, will receive a copy of sourceVictoria’s self-titled EP (and maybe even a T-shirt). You’ve heard about sourceVictoria recently on this site here and at Gorilla vs. Bear. Just thought I’d have some fun at the expense of the Bears’ fragile quarterbacking situation. Contest will run through the weekend.

remix, vinyl

Bloc Party remixes — going, going … GONE

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OK, I’ve left these Bloc Party remix tracks active because they were quite popular. However, they are now for sale on the iTunes music store as the Dimmakified! EP: four remixes for four bucks. Soooo, I’ll be taking down these tracks later tonight. That said, I’d highly recommend taking four bucks out of your weekly allowance and simply buying them. That’s chump change for some really cool remixes — even if Ryan says Bloc Party has sold out.

Uncategorized

LA record shopping

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… OK, I’m going to be in LA (west Hollywood, more specifically) this weekend. Anyone have record store recommendations — other than Amoeba, where I’ll be spending a good hour or four.

… For anyone going to Austin for the ACL festival: If you’re there on Thursday (Sept. 22), Thievery Corporation and DJ Z-Trip are playing Stubb’s. That would be the same Stubb’s where we’ll be seeing the Arcade Fire and Black Keys on Friday night.

… There’s a lot of blogger fantasy football trash talking going on out there. So let me just be the first to call it: The fantasy football champ resides right here on this little Web site.

… I know you already hit my favorite sites over there at the right. And there are two new ones to the list: Veritas Lux Mea (the truth is my light) keeps a tight mix on sports, news and music: What else do you need?

And be sure (especially if you’re an old-school hip-hop fan) to visit D-Nice’s blog. Yes, that D-Nice — formerly the deejay of Boogie Down Productions whose solo LP Call Me D-Nice is a downright classic. I can’t believe I never knew about his blog, but it’s the shite: loaded with words and pictures and a few downloads. Really, it’s crazy to see an artist I like so much doing the blog thing. Coolness.


This was — and always will be — THE joint:

D-Nice | Call Me D-Nice

general

The New Pornographers

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It’s funny, these blogs. Although I’m fairly new to this, I’ve noticed one pattern: a leaked track causes such a buzz a few months before an album’s release date that by the time the album is actually released, it seems like old news. I suppose that’s the nature of the cycle. Regardless, lest we forget, Twin Cinema, the new long player from The New Pornographers comes out next week.

The store at Matador Records is offering a pretty sweet deal: $10 for a preorder, which includes a limited edition (aren’t they all?) 7″ with an unreleased song. (While you’re there, preorder the “special edition” of Interpol’s Antics, which includes a bonus disc with five tracks. Only $10.) Or you can buy Twin Cinema at Amazon here and get instant access to an audio stream of the entire album. Really, you can’t go wrong either way.

Anyway, I’m a sucker for anything with Neko Case. So here’s to rekindling the buzz:

The New Pornographers | Use It (courtesy Matador)
The New Pornographers | Twin Cinema (courtesy Matador)
The New Pornographers | The Bones of an Idol (courtesy … um, me)

general

The Greenhornes

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The Greenhornes will be in Phoenix this week, opening for the White Stripes. I’ve only recently heard of the Greenhornes, but I’m really enjoying their new EP East Grand Blues (produced and recorded by Brendan Benson). For background: The Greenhornes, from Cincinnati, were the backing band on Loretta Lynn’s Van Lear Rose album, and bassist Jack Lawrence and drummer Patrick Keeler will serve as the rhythm section for the Raconteurs, the on-the-side collaboration of Jack White and Benson.

The music — with its brooding low-end melodies — is eerily reminiscent of ’60s bands like the Animals and the Byrds; that’s not to say the Greenhornes are copycats. The influence is obvious, but there’s a bit of a modern garage rock update to it. For comparison’s sake, I’ve digitzed the Byrds’ Turn! Turn! Turn! and the Animals’ Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood from vinyl 45s. (I think if you listen to I’m Going Away and Turn! Turn! Turn! back to back, you’ll hear the influence.)

The Greenhornes | I’m Going Away
The Greenhornes | Shelter of Your Arms
The Byrds | Turn! Turn! Turn!
The Animals | Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood

sports

Mark Grace and the F-bomb

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The Cubs and Cardinals are on ESPN right now, so I’m in a baseball mood. For those of you that didn’t hear the news last week, Mark Grace, a Diamondbacks color analyst and one of my favorite former Cubs players, let the F-bomb slip on-air about four times during what he thought was a private conversation with a producer during a D-Backs/Marlins game. A faulty “talk-back” button was blamed for the, uh, malfunction.

Gracie basically takes a few shots at D-Backs catcher Chris Snyder, unknowingly airing it to regional Fox viewers. Can’t Stop the Bleeding, a fine sports blog, has an MP3, including play-by-play man Thom Brennaman’s apology. Hilarious. (So far, I’ve seen no comments from Snyder.)

Also, baseball fans should make Yard Work a daily read. I won’t do it justice trying to explain its contents. Just read it.

Uncategorized

Indie ringers on your cellphone

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… Have you checked out Bliptones? For $1.99 apiece, you can download a whole slew of indie songs for your cell phone: The Decemberists, Death Cab (“ba, baaaaa, this is the sound of settling”), Sleater-Kinney, My Morning Jacket and a bunch more. I went with a DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist ringer.

… Does anyone have thoughts/opinions on the Andy Milonakis Show on MTV? I’m ashamed to say I laughed when I sat down and watched it last week.

… Upcoming local shows:

And, oh yeah, 41 days until Austin.

Just a little weekend treat:

Jurassic 5 | Concrete Schoolyard (Funky Precedent edit)

general, radio rips

Brendan Benson on Sirius Left of Sessions

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OK, so I flaked on Flashback Friday. But South of Mainstream has you covered there.

Instead, I spent the morning recording and meticulously trimming (via Audio Hijack Pro and Audacity) Brendan Benson’s set on the Sirius satellite radio show Left of Sessions: Seven tracks, including a Gram Parsons cover of Strong Boy.

With Audio Hijack, I think the sound turned out decent; the Internet stream tends to sound a little tinny from Sirius. Any feedback on the sound is appreciated. (Songs are listed alphabetically, not in the order he played them.)

Brendan Benson | Alternative to Love
Brendan Benson | Between Us
Brendan Benson | Cold Hands (Warm Heart)
Brendan Benson | Get It Together
Brendan Benson | Spit It Out
Brendan Benson | Strong Boy (Gram Parsons cover)
Brendan Benson | What I’m Looking For

general

Radar Bros.

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So, I’m wholly convinced now that I will like just about anything put out on Merge Records. If one of my favorite artists, Richard Buckner, moving to that label wasn’t enough, I’ve fallen for the new album by the Radar Bros., The Fallen Leaf Pages.

I picked it up on whim — having not listened to any of their previous albums — and can’t stop playing it. It’s moody, open-ended, unassuming and always seems to creep close to these sonic crescendos before fading into this lilting guitar-piano-drum amazement. I like how the songs take their time — as if there’s no rush to find the end.

Buy it here.


Radar Bros. | Is That Blood (personal favorite)
Radar Bros. | The River Shade
Radar Bros. | Papillon

Uncategorized

Da Ali G Show — Booyakasha!

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Thought I’d take a break from music and change it up a little. Da Ali G Show could be one of the funniest shows on TV, in my opinion. Sasha Baron Cohen plays three roles in the show: Ali G, a wannabe British gangsta born “in da heart off da Staines ghetto”; Borat, a confused TV reporter from Kazakhstan; and Bruno, an Austrian fashion reporter.

This Slate article talks about how Cohen is able to dupe some pretty prominent Americans (Newt Gingrich, Buzz Aldrin, Sam Donaldson) into appearing on the show for “interviews” with Ali G. My favorite, though, is Borat, who attempts to explore American culture while practically offending everyone in his path.

Here’s a couple of clips from the first season. (Sound clips were transferred to MP3 using Audio Hijack Pro.)

Ali G asks Buzz Aldrin if man will ever walk on the sun.
Borat interviews at a dating agency.