Various

I'm in the middle of a very intense new obsession with Faith No More. Listened to the album "The Real Thing" for the first time ever just last week. It's blowing my mind. Where have I been all these years? Strange that I was a Mr. Bungle fan BEFORE being a fan of FNM.

And I still mean to write a lengthy post of KY eventually.

Blockage

This afternoon, as I was walking down the street, I had some sort of music epiphany. Oddly enough it happened while I was listening to Nine Inch Nail's "The Wretched". Everything formulated and clicked in my head, how certain chords, sounds, patterns and repetitions can come together to make the perfect song. I'm sure there's some kind of music theory behind this but I don't think it's something that can be readily explained. Maybe it's because since I started playing the guitar, you just pay more attention to notes and chords and beats than just what the singer is saying. (although that's crucial too) Right now I feel like Thom Yorke is channeling every sound/note/beat/rhythm I could possibly want to hear in this song:



I think I'm on my 100th listening or something. It's perfect. It's so perfect I can even excuse it for being on the soundtrack of the movie that will not be mentioned in my blog ever. I feel like everything Thom's worked on recently was made for my ears. It's almost scary.

That being said, I think I will update this thing more. Again.

Thom Yorke

He is the greatest man working in music right now, period.

HUSKER DU

So Bob Mould is performing songs from an unnamed Husker Du LP with No Age at the ATP Festival. It would cost me approximately $160 to watch what would probably be their hour long set - I don't care for the other bands that are playing on Sunday. I've been thinking about this long and hard now for the past 2 days.

PRO: Bob Mould singing a bunch of Husker Du songs!
CON: No Grant Hart, therefore it's not really like seeing Husker Du live.
(other con: pricey)

My dream is to see Husker Du live even though I know Hart and Mould hate each other. I constantly switch between 3 impossible fantasies in my daily life: seeing Husker Du live, seeing Fugazi live, seeing Radiohead live w/ front row center seats. Clearly I'm living on another planet.

Would Bob Mould really perform Grant Hart songs? How would I feel about that? How would Grant feel about that? For now, I'm thinking of writing Bob Mould and asking him to bring this closer to me because I'm selfish. He will probably hate me.

Grant Hart is coming out with a new album in October http://www.granthart.com/news.htm Looking forward to it!!!

Life and Times

About Bob Mould's new album...

I honestly wasn't expecting much. District Line was kind of a disappointment to me but considering I'm a loyal Bob Mould fan, I had to buy the new album.

It's his best work in a LONG LONG time. I used to wonder why so many more people were fans of Sugar (of which I only own the brilliant Copper Blue) rather than my fave Husker Du but this new album kind of explains why. It's very Sugar-esque, good old rock with just the right melodies the way Mould knows how to craft them. You can call it a form of Power-pop but his lyrics take the whole thing to another level. It's unguarded, like Workbook. I think one of my fave songs is Argos. Bad Blood Better going into another dimension of deep. Looking forward to any shows if he's coming my way!

I'm also listening to a ridiculous amount of Velvet Underground & Nico. Venus in Furs is on repeat as is the new Kristeen Young which I will eventually write about.

KRISTEENYOUNG

So I saw Kristeen Young live at Santo's Party House on April Fool's Day. I don't think I've ever heard her sound so amazing. Her new album has been playing on my headphones and stereo non-stop. Here's some video footage I took of Touch Tongues:

The Clown Inside You

My semi-favorite radio station 92.3 KROCK is no longer. Now it plays music for douchewads and jerkbags. I wondered what would be in my playlist if I were a DJ. I knew immediately that the first song that I played would HAVE to be Break by Fugazi. And that's about it. That's not even my favorite Fugazi song but I think it's such a great opener that it would be the first song I'd play on my radio hour called "The Clown Inside You" featuring DJ Shitty Name, Fuck You!

After some consideration I knew I had to add a pretty popular song to keep the audience listening. Hence the Faith No More. (I am assuming my audience has never left the '90s) Then I needed a song with BALLS, so that would be GnR's You Could Be Mine. Then I figured, what the hell, let's give 'em some Mr. Bungle. Carousel is a pretty catchy song. Although the ending might scare some people. And why not add an old fave of mine, some Husker Du? And then a 'new' song I rediscovered by Nirvana. After that, I decide I'm very bored and don't want a stinking audience anyway so I play Mr. Bungle's 10-minute opus that includes the repeated screaming of 'THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME' for several minutes followed by 2 whole minutes of silence as everyone tries to figure out what's wrong with the station. Mass mayhem ensues, akin to the post-War of the Worlds broadcast.

In case anyone is left listening, they are treated to my favorite Fugazi song "Bulldog Front".

Please note it actually took me about 5 minutes to come up with this playlist. Hire me, 101.9!

Joining the 21st Century

I've listened to 2 new songs made in the past decade. The Kings of Leon's "Sex on Fire" which has stupid lyrics but good music and then this: