Ugly Rumors

Ugly Rumors

[	another place to go:	\|	My None-Too-Bad MySpace	]
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Don’t take a phone company to tell you life’s pay as you go

[Aug. 7th, 2008|11:13 pm]

[	Tags	\|	project 365, xpn, y-rock	]
[	Current Location	\|	My Room (Schumanland)	]
[	I'm Hooked On A Feeling	\|	bouncy	]
[	On The Radio	\|	Southern Culture On The Skids - Wig-Out	]

I'm on good terms with technology...heck, you remember my stint at the Help Desk at Temple Ambler's computer lab (where I did more blogging than anything else, really)...not that I rush out to get new gadgets as soon as the come out, but once I get something new I generally figure it out pretty easily...perhaps I was just so accustomed to my old cell phone, but I'm having difficulty getting used to the new phone I got on Tuesday...

Day 357 - August 5th, 2008

Dad has the same phone, but I haven't used his enough to find everything...now that I have my own, I'm slowly figuring out how to do things...it's not totally my fault, though, since AT&T recently upgraded their whole system and many of the companies that make the phones have discontinued many of their non-compatible models...

I also got my hair cut and colored on Tuesday, and I'm happy to say that I'm not having any trouble with that...

On Wednesday I was the only Y-Rocker in the building the whole day, and I got a good amount of work done (including ripping remastered tracks from reissues of My Aim Is True and This Year's Model...at least I ~~like~~ love those two albums)...

Speaking of music I recently re-ripped into XPN's system, I got a spam comment on my last full post that mentioned a certain Northern Irish singer best known for his unintelligible singing style (that I can't stand) and writing a song that Patti Smith made much better years later...the comment thanked me for plugging the recent reissues of his albums and helping to spread the word to my readers...are these spammers trained to just skim through blog posts looking for key words that interest them?...if so, then they have truly harnessed the habits of the average blog reader, are using them for evil, and must be stopped!...remember, if you get a spammer, do as SB does: DELETE THAT CRAP!!...

On a completely different note, Mom brought back a new kind of one of my favorite cereals from Atlantic City...

Day 358 - August 6th, 2008

As much as I like sugary cereals ("Quazy Energy" ones most of all), I have always been a fan of Oat Squares (as they used to be called)...the maple flavor makes them taste somewhat of pancakes, but mostly just of goodness...if only The Empty Bowl was still around, I'd link to that, but it's hard out there for a foodstuff review site...

Today, after buying tickets to the now-sold out show with Sonic Youth at the TLA on the 29th (woooo!), I went to Target with Dad to get some last-minute amenities for our trip to California...once we got home, we gathered up our clothes and packed up the luggage, which is in the whole much lighter than past years since we don't have to bring any special clothes/goodies for Bats Day (as we'll be there three months before Bats Day happens)...

Day 359 - August 7th, 2008

I think I got the greenish bag for my Bar Mitzvah...it's one of the L.L. Bean bags that has my initials embroidered on it (just like everyone I went to camp with had)...as a matter of fact, I think it may still have some theater paint smudges on it from being next to my Blue Man Group 'signed' spin art for the trip back from Boston in 2003...

Right now, one of my least favorite episodes of 'M*A*S*H' is on ("Dreams" from 1980)...interestingly enough, Alan Alda has cited it as being one of his favorite episodes...

Tomorrow I'm back at XPN, and then coming home to about 20 minutes of sleep before leaving for the airport...

E.

Lyric of the Time:
I'd like to know completely
What others so discreetly
Talk about when they leave me
Not that I notice when they're gone

Link

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Y-Rock On XPN playlist for 8.4.08!!

[Aug. 6th, 2008|11:00 pm]

[	Tags	\|	music, playlists, radio, y-rock	]
[	Current Location	\|	My Room (Schumanland)	]
[	I'm Hooked On A Feeling	\|	complacent	]
[	On The Radio	\|	Bodies Of Water - Darling, Be Here	]

artist - title - album

4 pm

The Cure - Sleep When I'm Dead

Television - Elevation - Marquee Moon

Kings Of Leon - Sex On Fire - Only By The Night

Beck - Sexxlaws - Midnite Vultures

The Rapture - No Sex For Ben - The Music Of Grand Theft Auto IV

Modest Mouse - Fire It Up - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank

The New Pornographers - Mutiny, I Promise You - Challengers

A.C. Newman - Drink To Me, Babe, Then - The Slow Wonder

Neko Case - That Teenage Feeling - Fox Confessor Brings The Flood

Destroyer - Foam Hands - Trouble In Dreams

Andrew Bird - Simple X - Armchair Apocrypha

The White Stripes - Conquest - Icky Thump

Cold War Kids - Something Is Not Right With Me - Loyalty To Loyalty

of Montreal - Id Engager - Skeletal Lampings

The Jam - In The City - In The City

5 pm

The Breeders - Divine Hammer - Last Splash

Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes - Santogold

Conor Oberst - Eagle On A Pole - Conor Oberst

Franz Ferdinand - Darts Of Pleasure - Franz Ferdinand

The Black Keys - Strange Times - Attack & Release

Ladytron - Ghosts - Velocifero

Tilly And The Wall - Dust Me Off - O

Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon - Ocean Rain

The Ting Tings - Fruit Machine - We Started Nothing

The Swimmers - St. Cecilia - Fighting Trees

Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal - Fleet Foxes

Minutemen - History Lesson - Part II - Double Nickels On The Dime

Cracker - This Is Cracker Soul - Cracker

Fujiya & Miyagi - Dishwasher - Lightbulbs

Mates Of State - The Re-Arranger - Re-Arrange Us

Man Man - Engwish Bwudd - Six Demon Bag

6 pm

Death Cab For Cutie - Cath… - Narrow Stairs

Carbon/Silicon - The News - The Last Post

James - Waterfall - Hey Ma

The Replacements - Androgynous - Let It Be

Los Campesinos! - You! Me! Dancing! - Hold On Now, Youngster…

The Dandy Warhols - The Legend Of The Last Of The Outlaw Truckers AKA The Ballad Of Sheriff Shorty - …Earth To Dandy Warhols...

The Last Shadow Puppets - Standing Next To Me - The Age Of The Understatement

The Stone Roses - I Wanna Be Adored - The Stone Roses

Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You - Partie Traumatic

LCD Soundsystem - Tribulations - LCD Soundsystem

Primal Scream - Can't Go Back - Beautiful Future

Gang Of Four - At Home He's A Tourist - Return The Gift

Spoon - The Way We Get By - Kill The Moonlight

Dr. Dog - The Old Days - Fate

Brighton Port Authority - Toe Jam (featuring David Byrne & Dizzee Rascal)

The Ramones - Judy Is A Punk - Ramones

Join me again Friday from 11:00am - 3:00pm (eastern, of course), only on Y-Rock On XPN!!

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Blue skies are gonna clear up

[Aug. 6th, 2008|10:51 pm]

[	Tags	\|	music, reviews, y-rock	]
[	Current Location	\|	My Room (Schumanland)	]
[	I'm Hooked On A Feeling	\|	chilly	]
[	On The Radio	\|	New Order - All Day Long	]

Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst (Merge)

For a while now, there has been a trend of giving band-like names to one-member musical projects. Perhaps it is to blur the line between the frontman and the band itself, or to simply challenge the traditional notions of what makes up a band, but "groups" like Nine Inch Nails and Iron & Wine continue to baffle audiences expecting to see more than just one performer. One of these groups that has evolved from being a one-man project into a full-fledged band is Conor Oberst's Bright Eyes. To be fair, the Bright Eyes sound has just as much to do with producer/multi-instrumentalist Mike Mogis and keyboardist Nate Walcott as it does with Oberst. It could be due to the absence of Mogis and Walcott that Oberst’s new album under his own name (literally; the disc is also self-titled) lacks the lush fullness of last year's Bright Eyes release, Cassadaga. My first exposure to Bright Eyes was back in 2005 with the release of I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning. That album, along with 2002's Lifted… were mostly low-key affairs that hinted at more grown-up sounds a few years later. Cassadaga was such a leap forward in musical maturity that Oberst sounds like he's back-pedaling a bit on this new album. Conor Oberst stars with "Cape Canaveral," a strummy acoustic number that features some tape noises low in the mix as if to remind the listener that Oberst is more than just a kid with a lucky streak of successful albums. The biblical references in "Lenders In The Temple" and "Moab" and the flourishes of Spanish in "Eagle On A Pole" show off Oberst's literacy in a more subtle manner. It's almost expected of Oberst to title the best and most upbeat song on an album "I Don't Wanna Die (In The Hospital)." That tune is one of too few rave-ups that could have made Conor Oberst (the album) as impressive as some of Conor Oberst's (the singer) past work. I'm hoping that Oberst will keep his ear to the ground and return to the bigger sound of Cassadaga soon. You can catch Oberst with his new backing group, The Mystic Valley Band, at the Trocadero on August 11th.

Review by Eric Schuman

Click Here To Buy from Amazon.com and help support Y-Rock On XPN.

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A Crossover with Joe Strummer

[Aug. 4th, 2008|10:40 pm]

[	Tags	\|	project 365, xpn, y-rock	]
[	Current Location	\|	My Room (Schumanland)	]
[	I'm Hooked On A Feeling	\|	zzzz'd	]
[	On The Radio	\|	New York Dolls - Lone Star Queen	]

I was going to take a picture of the really cool posters for the upcoming movie version of ~~"Sin City 2"~~ "Will Eisner's The Spirit" that were all over 30th Street Station last week, but they were all mysteriously replaced with ads for an upcoming soapbox derby in Manayunk that's sponsored by Red Bull...if you're familiar with their annual "Flugtag", where people build flying machines to launch off a pier, the soapbox derby is similar in that people make outrageous vehicles to race, in this case, down the Manayunk Wall...some of the custom vehicles have been on display at 30th Street...

Day 353 - August 1st, 2008

As a testament to how our fair city follows orders, the egg's "yolk" has been bashed in as of Sunday night...thanks for being so predictable, Philadelphia...

On Saturday, Y-Rock was broadcasting from the Center formerly known as Tweeter for the Download Festival...just like the R.E.M. show a few months ago, they weren't broadcasting the performance itself, just the DJ breaks in between sets of music (along with some pre-recorded interviews later on in the evening)...naturally, I was called upon to sit at the board back at the station for the last several hours of the broadcast...it was a rather uneventful time, though I did have to come on and do a break myself when the feed from the remote setup was interrupted...

After the broadcast was done, I went upstairs to World Cafe Live, where my cousin and her main man were seeing Charlie Hunter and his ensemble...Hunter plays an 8-string guitar, which has 3 strings of a bass and 5 strings of a guitar...when he plays, he's playing basslines and guitar lines at the same time, which is pretty impressive...whenever he would solo on bass or guitar and keep the rhythm part going, it was almost like the rhythm lines were coming out of nowhere because of how fast his hands were moving...

Day 354 - August 2nd, 2008

He was pretty neat to see live...not sure how well it would translate to a record, since there's a good amount of showmanship involved...

My parents spent the weekend in Atlantic City, which left me to go about my various activities by myself for the better part of the weekend (the parts where I was home, that is)...it was weird coming home to an empty house two days in a row, but I'm looking forward to coming "home" to a hotel room across the street from Disneyland!!

Sunday night's Folk Show was the annual Folk Festival preview show...along with two musical guests (the ever-adorable Tin Bird Choir and the inimitable Ben Arnold), Gene had some of the organizers of the Festival discussing this year's planned events...one of the head honchos at the Folksong Society, David Baskin, happens to be the husband of my high school Spanish teacher (who got me in touch with Gene in the first place which led me to landing the gig I have now)...Señora Baskin, as it turns out, recently retired from teaching and brought along a little clay calavera that I made for Day Of The Dead back in 11th grade...from the looks of it, I suspect that he used to have a sombrero that got lost to a closet at my high school, but it's quite cute just the same...Gene also got a rather large box in the mail that contained a CD and a little washboard that had his name on it...

Day 355 - August 3rd, 2008

For the fourth day in a row (not sure if that's a new record or not), I went to XPN today to take on an afternoon shift on Y-Rock and get some other assorted work done during the day...one of the things I did for most of the day was re-importing Van Morrison tracks that we recently got remasters of...now that I did that, there won't be that big a volume/mastering difference if an older Van Morrison song should be played alongside a newer, better mastered track...let me tell you, if I didn't care for Van Morrison before today, this would have done it for me...luckily I haven't cared for Van Morrison for many years...

There was an odd assortment of stuff on the Free Table, including some signed pictures from the Pittsburgh Pirates...rather, two of the same signed picture of the same Pittsburgh Pirate...I defy you to name anyone on that team (and no, you can't default to Jason Bay anymore)...however, if someone challenges you, you can now default to Adrian Brown...

Day 356 - August 4th, 2008

Yeah, whatever...go Phillies...

EDIT: Evidently, not only hasn't Adrian Brown played with the Pirates since 2002, he hasn't played baseball at all since 2006...thanks for nothing, Pittsburgh (except ketchup)...

Tomorrow I'm getting my hair cut, and I think I'm finally getting a new cell phone...woo...

E.

Lyric of the Time:
I don't have to sell my soul
He's already in me
I don't need to sell my soul
He's already in me
I wanna be adored

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Y-Rock On XPN playlists for 7.28.08 and 8.1.08!!

[Aug. 2nd, 2008|01:56 pm]

[	Tags	\|	music, playlists, radio, y-rock	]
[	Current Location	\|	My Room (Schumanland)	]
[	I'm Hooked On A Feeling	\|	bouncy	]
[	On The Radio	\|	The Stone Roses - Mersey Paradise	]

( 7.28.08 )

======================================
======================================

( 8.1.08 )

Join me again Monday from 4:00pm - 7:00pm and Friday from 11:00am - 3:00pm (eastern, of course), only on Y-Rock On XPN!!

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What's a girl to do?

[Aug. 1st, 2008|11:00 pm]

[	Tags	\|	music, reviews, y-rock	]
[	Current Location	\|	My Room (Schumanland)	]
[	I'm Hooked On A Feeling	\|	anxious	]
[	On The Radio	\|	New Order - Mesh	]

CSS - Donkey (Sub Pop)

After winning over scores of fans with their self-titled international debut in 2006, Brazil's CSS may have also grown tired of only making electronic music. While not totally abandoning the electroclash scene to which they are so closely associated, CSS mix up their arrangements on their new album, Donkey. Fear not, though, as Lovefoxxx's trademark vocals and drummer/musical director Adriano Cintra's songwriting are as strong as ever. After hearing lead single “Rat Is Dead (Rage)”, you might be led to think that CSS have sold their turntables and bought guitars, but the Tom Tom Club-invoking keyboard stabs on “Let's Reggae All Night” show that the band hasn't burned all of their bridges. Still, guitars are plentiful throughout the disc, and bang out riffs that often rock (“How I Became Paranoid”) and sometimes can't be distinguished from the keyboards (opener “Jager Yoga”). CSS still wear their influences on their brightly-colored sleeves, with “Left Behind” referencing Devo's jagged synths and the darker “Believe Achieve” not only echoing Depeche Mode, but contemporaries like Ladytron. Donkey is very much a picture of a band in transition. I salute CSS for not opting to make their debut all over again, but I anxiously await their next album to see what becomes of the changes in direction.

Review by Eric Schuman

Click Here To Buy from Amazon.com and help support Y-Rock On XPN.

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Friday 5 passes the mic!

[Aug. 1st, 2008|09:52 pm]

[	Tags	\|	friday 5, music	]
[	Current Location	\|	My Room (Schumanland)	]
[	I'm Hooked On A Feeling	\|	awake	]
[	On The Radio	\|	Richard Hell & The Voidoids - The Kid With The Replaceable Head	]

**Today on my Y-Rock show, I featured songs that are sung by someone in the band other than the lead singer...here are elaborations on five of them!..."

New Order - “Dreams Never End” from Movement

After the death of Ian Curtis, the band that would soon become New Order hadn’t yet settled on a lead singer…during the recording sessions for their first album, they traded vocals on songs like they did in their live performances until everything sounded right…though Bernard Sumner’s tenor eventually became the group’s distinctive voice, a few songs (like this one) sung by bassist Peter Hook hint at what could have been…

Pixies - “La La Love You” from Doolittle

Sure, Kim Deal sang more than a few Pixies tunes, but this song is unique in that it is sung by drummer David Lovering…I would say that it’s a very un-Pixies like song, but just like most of their songs, it was written by main man Black Francis…it’s neat when one songwriter can come up with everything from “Here Comes Your Man” to “Crackity Jones”, and on the same album no less!…

The Clash - “Ivan Meets G.I. Joe” from Sandinista!

Yet another drummer-sung song, this is the only song in The Clash’s catalogue that Topper Headon sings…of course, Sandinista! is notorious for its missteps, but this rather dance-y number showcases a little-heard voice…it’s hard to imagine The Clash’s music being led by anything but the voices of Joe, Mick or Paul, but there are a few other tunes that feature vocals from another (and most of them are also on Sandinista!)…

Squeeze - “Love Circles” from Frank.

“Love Circles” was the only other A-side released by Squeeze that featured lead vocals by Chris Difford (the other being the classic “Cool For Cats”)…keyboardist Jools Holland took the mic a few times here and there as well, and it’s almost ironic that the band’s biggest hit wasn’t even sung by their own lead singer…then again, Paul Carrack had a history of joining bands, scoring a big hit, then leaving (see: The Pretenders, Roxy Music)…

The White Stripes - “In The Cold, Cold Night” from Elephant

When there’s only two people in a band, you would expect there to be a lot of trading off of vocals, but such is not the case with the most famous duo in music today…Meg White sings a few (very short) songs on a couple of Stripes albums, like “Passive Manipulation” from Get Behind Me Satan and Icky Thump’s short interlude “St. Andrew (This Battle Is In The Air)”…Meg did get her moment in the spotlight back in 2003 with this song which is quite similar to the Moe Tucker-led “After Hours” from The Velvet Underground…do all girl drummers have to sing with the same voice?…

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Matchless

[Jul. 31st, 2008|08:47 pm]

[	Tags	\|	concertgoing, music, project 365, xpn, y-rock	]
[	Current Location	\|	My Room (Schumanland)	]
[	I'm Hooked On A Feeling	\|	artistic	]
[	On The Radio	\|	Stereolab - Neon Beanbag	]

I'm not sure if there was one specific point that I lost respect for some of the formerly-respectable music press outlets, but as The Black Keys say, things ain't like they used to be...take, for example, the most recent issue of Rolling Stone:

Day 349 - July 28th, 2008

I know what you're thinking, but even as a Disney stockholder I'm disgusted...since when did Rolling Stone become freakin' Tiger Beat?...I've been embarrassed to read any recent music magazine outside of my own home, and internet-based music outlets aren't much better...I've never been one of the 'Pitchfork sucks because they suck' kind of people, but I'm slowly beginning to see their way...I'm pretty sure the "people" at Pitchfork assign their reviews to those most likely to hate a certain band or album...The Onion had it right...and you know what? the Jonas Brothers are just another cog in the Disney machine, and if they think that it's them, Disney won't hesitate to throw them out on their asses and let them try in vain prove that they're real artists (see: Hilary Duff, soon-to-be Miley Cyrus)...

On Tuesday, I DJ'ed at World Cafe Live once again...this time, though, I wasn't playing the traditional modern DJ mix of electronica, new wave and trip hop...instead, I played the music that I grew up with, namely big band and swing...for fidelity's sake, I stuck with recordings of newer swing bands rather than original era bands, though that might be good for another time...I played hep tunes from Stompy Jones, Cigar Store Indians, Bill Elliott and, of course, Lee Press-On & The Nails...I'm not sure if there was a band going on after me the previous week, but there was a group this past week, which may have been the reason for the larger crowd...everyone seemed to enjoy my picks, and I even saw some of the waitstaff moving around with a little dance in their step...

After I was done, Mom, Dad and I went to pick up Dad's car from the shop and went for water ice at Rita's...next to the Rita's was a curious little convenience shop with a likewise curious lone gas pump...

Day 350 - July 29th, 2008

Self Serve Island might be a good place to get banished, but Soft Serve Island is a much better place...

Yesterday was jam-packed with activity...I went in to XPN primarily to see the Old 97's perform a World Cafe session for Special Producers...Special Producer is a title given to those who become members of the station at a particular level, and are invited to a number of World Cafe tapings that are more akin to the Free At Noon concerts than the regular tapings in the recording studio...

The 97's were really good, and performed a few songs from their new album, Blame It On Gravity, such as "Dance With Me", "The Color Of A Broken Heart Is Blue" and "My Two Feet", as well as "Barrier Reef" from 1997's Too Far To Care by David Dye's special request...

Day 351 - July 30th, 2008

The session was over around 12:45, so I did some work in the office for the rest of the day...around 3:00, Josh T. asked me if I wanted to see Wolf Parade that night at the Electric Factory...while I'm not nearly the biggest fan of theirs, I rather like a few songs from their new album, At Mount Zoomer (which is a great name for a record)...I said yes and he gave me two tickets, one of which I gave to glitterglamgirl who would meet me at the show that night...the show was pretty good, and I'll post some pictures from it on my Concert Gallery (along with a few more pics of the Old 97's)...there was an interesting crowd at the show, and I felt like glitterglamgirl and I stood out as not being hipster enough...I did see my buddee, Ani, from school there, which was very nice...also, one of the guys from Wolf Parade is named Spencer Krug, or as I say, Spen-SAH!...

Almost ironically, by going to the Wolf Parade show, I missed the broadcast of my interview with MGMT that was aired on XPN Wednesday night...it's okay, since I was, um, there for the interview, but from what I heard, it (and the intro to the interview) sounded really good...I even got an e-mail from our program director congratulating me on the airing!...

Those of you who know me know that I don't chew gum...what you might not know is that I do chew some gum, but only the greatest gum in the world, Fruit Stripe...it's been a while since I've had it, but I came across some in CVS today...

Day 352 - July 31st, 2008

I mean, what could be better than gum that comes in a pack of 17?!...does anyone else remember a bubble-gum flavored Fruit Stripe that came in a pink, purple and yellow pack?...I feel like I used to see them all the time at Wawa in the 90s...

Tomorrow is my super feature on my Y-Rock show...Throughout the day, I'll be spotlighting songs that are sung by someone other than a band's lead singer (for now I'm limiting it to other members of the band, as I might feature guest singers another time)...if you have any suggestions, be sure to e-mail me...

E.

Lyric of the Time:
Play me what I want to hear
Don't make me have to come down there
Forgot how to think and I don't wanna dance
I wanna hear few minutes, few minutes, few minutes, of silence

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66th & 6th

[Jul. 28th, 2008|12:05 am]

[	Tags	\|	concertgoing, music, project 365, school, xpn, y-rock	]
[	Current Location	\|	My Room (Schumanland)	]
[	I'm Hooked On A Feeling	\|	zonked	]
[	On The Radio	\|	The Monochrome Set - The Monochrome Set (I Presume)	]

You might remember "Pea Devendra" from back in March...I suppose he's off making videos with "Pea Natalie Portman" now, so in his stead, let us welcome a new member of the Silly Things Made Of Food crew...

Day 344 - July 23rd, 2008

I would put up a poll to have you vote on what indie rock personality he looks like, but I can't afford a poll-capable account...maybe he's "Pea James Mercer", "Pea Isaac Brock", or even "Pea Conor"?...you decide!...

Earlier on Wednesday, I watched as The Ting Tings recorded their World Cafe session...it was pretty enjoyable, but it went on rather long...still, I get a kick out of sessions that draw spectating staff into the control room...

Thursday, I began going through my closet and finding fallout from my last three years of high school...it's funny how things like my drawing-filled notebook, drafts of copy for the yearbook and my assignment books bring back better memories than my yearbook itself does...for whatever reason, yearbooks can never completely capture the day-to-day silliness that was a day in high school...I would say that it almost makes me want to get in touch with the people I shared that time with, but much like I would rather see the Nick Lowe of the 1970s in concert than the Nick Lowe of today, I don't think that meeting up with the 2008 versions of my classmates would quite do it for me...

Mom, Dad and I went to a new local Kosher restaurant called Max & David's (though their difficult-to-read logo might make you think otherwise)...we went there with my grandparents, who may or may not have been there before...we happen to be very good friends with the family that owns the place, and they are almost always there to mingle with the rest of the neighborhood that shows up...the food was eclectic, artsy and pretty good, but I said that if I wanted to interact with people the way everyone in there was, I would go to synagogue more often...my people...

Day 345 - July 24th, 2008

"Yeah, we got international cuisine, cookin'..."

On my Y-Rock shift on Friday, I asked for e-mail to help me out with a feature I'll be doing this coming Friday...I want to feature songs that are sung by someone other than the lead singer of a band...I'm not sure if I want to include guest vocalists (that is, someone who is not in the band at all), of if I want to save those for another time...if you think of any examples of microphone-trading in the indie/alternative world, be sure to e-mail me by Friday!...

And in case you were curious, here's what I pulled out of my closet on Thursday (I didn't have a chance to take a picture of them until I got home on Friday)...

Day 346 - July 25th, 2008

There's also some stuff from camp mixed in with the recycling...I'm so eco-friendly...

Saturday, Mom, Dad and I took a trip to New York City...it was the first time I had been up there in a few years, and the first time in longer than that since I spent a whole day there...we parked around 2nd and 9th and went to Toy Tokyo, Love Saves The Day and got Belgian fries at (where else?) Pommes Frites...we went to Trash & Vaudeville (more accurately, just Trash), where I got a PiL shirt and saw a poster for Black Kids (so it's not just us)...we took a cab uptown to Times Sqaure and went to the sprawling M&M's store and the surprisingly lame Hershey's store...what's rather cool is that the cabs have TV's along the back of the divider between the back seats and the front bench with a taxi network on them...such technology!...we then walked to the World Of Disney store, where we bought a lot of stuff for three people who are going to be in Disneyland in 2 weeks (!!!!)...

The main reason we went to New York was so Dad and I could see a performance by XRP...for a few years in the late '80s and early '90s, the four guys we saw were offically known as Rockapella...with tenor/professional Jew Sean Altman, high tenor Steve Keyes, baritone/scat singer Elliiott Kerman and the lowest of bass singers Barry Carl, XRP put on a show unlike anything you'd ever see from the group that calls themselves Rockapella these days...their set was comprised mostly of covers, as well as many songs that probably haven't been performed since this incarnation ended with Steve's departure in 1991...highlights included "Zombie Jamboree" (with Barry's "This next song is about an iiiiiiiisland" intro), "Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?" (of course), and "Flat Tire" (complete with choreography as seen in Spike Lee's 'Do It A Cappella')...

Day 347 - July 26th, 2008

After the show, Dad and I met up with Mom at the new location of 2nd Avenue Deli (no longer on 2nd avenue)...at "toity-toid and toid", the place looks like they've been there forever, but is still fresh, shiny and charming...our waiter even brought us shots of chocolate soda with our check!...

What I love most about New York is how, no matter what time it is, there is always something going on...we were eating around 10:00, and it could just as easily have been 2:00 in the afternoon...when we headed back to our car, there was not a single street that didn't have people in it...we made a final stop at Search & Destroy, where I got a really ugly vintage shirt for just $18...once I get it dry-cleaned, I'll wear it all the time because I can...

The three of us were so freakin' tired after coming home around 3:00 in the morning, yet we somehow made it to a little get-together for my aunt's birthday and I went to the Folk Show (which was thankfully low key as Gene was at Falcon Ridge this week and Chuck Elliot filled in for him)...

While I was waiting for the train, I was reading the Philadelphia Weekly's cover story, about a guy named Matt Davis and his musical project, Aerial Photograph...

Day 348 - July 27th, 2008

I saw Matt and Aerial Photograph open for the Paisley Haze Quintet back in the day, and remember them as being very boring...then again, I wasn't exactly expecting a live classic film score to open for a bunch of my jazz fusion-playing buddies...as it turns out, Davis now composes monthly pieces about Philadelphia and performs them at Tritone...I'd hate to see their fans get confused and show up on a night that Prowler is performing...on second thought, I'd love to see that...

Goodness knows what is going on this week...

E.

Lyric of the Time:
I'm the changingman - built on shifting sands
I'm the changingman - waiting for the bang
As I light my bitter fuse

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Y-Rock On XPN playlist for 7.25.08!!

[Jul. 25th, 2008|08:46 pm]

[	Tags	\|	music, playlists, radio, y-rock	]
[	Current Location	\|	My Room (Schumanland)	]
[	I'm Hooked On A Feeling	\|	chipper	]
[	On The Radio	\|	Generation X - Ready Steady Go	]

artist - title - album

11 am

Beck - Orphans - Modern Guilt

The Velvet Underground - Pale Blue Eyes - The Velvet Underground

Mates Of State - The Re-Arranger - Re-Arrange Us

Mike Doughty - Fort Hood - Golden Delicious

Ben Kweller - Sundress - Ben Kweller

Albert Hammond, Jr. - GfC - ¿Cómo Te Llama?

The Last Shadow Puppets - Standing Next To Me - The Age Of The Understatement

The Stone Roses - Ten Storey Love Song - Second Coming

R.E.M. - Man-Sized Wreath - Accelerate

Brendan Canning - Hit The Wall - Something For All Of Us…

Wilco - What Light - Sky Blue Sky

Sex Pistols - No Feelings - Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols

Tilly And The Wall - Pot Kettle Black - O

CSS - Rat Is Dead - Donkey

Yeasayer - 2080 - All Hour Cymbals

12 pm: The Nooner

Sonic Youth - Teenage Riot - Daydream Nation

The Ramones - Teenage Lobotomy - Rocket To Russia

World Party - Ship Of Fools - Private Revolution

The Clash - Spanish Bombs - London Calling

Oasis - All Around The World - Be Here Now

Electronic - Getting Away With It - Electronic

Liz Phair - Divorce Song - Exile In Guyville

Crowded House - Something So Strong - Crowded House

The Jesus And Mary Chain - Just Like Honey - Psychocandy

Buzzcocks - I Believe - A Different Kind Of Tension

Pavement - Major Leagues - Terror Twilight

The Police - Truth Hits Everybody - Outlandos d'Amour

Pixies - Cactus - Surfer Rosa

David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars

1 pm

Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You - Partie Traumatic

Kaiser Chiefs - I Predict A Riot - Employment

James - Waterfall - Hey Ma

Vampire Weekend - Mansard Roof - Vampire Weekend

Mando Diao - Long Before Rock 'n' Roll - Ode To Ochrasy

Delta Spirit - Trashcan - Ode To Sunshine

Death Cab For Cutie - No Sunlight - Narrow Stairs

Hoodoo Gurus - I Want You Back. - Stoneage Romeos

The Fratellis - Mistress Mabel - Here We Stand

Fleet Foxes - Quiet Houses - Fleet Foxes

Primal Scream - Can't Go Back - Beautiful Future

Kula Shaker - Hey Dude - K

The Undertones - Jimmy Jimmy - The Undertones

The Dandy Warhols - The Legend Of The Last Of The Outlaw Truckers AKA The Ballad Of Sheriff Shorty - …Earth To Dandy Warhols…

Santogold, Julian Casablancas & N.E.R.D. - My Drive Thru

Elvis Costello &The Attractions - I Want You - Blood & Chocolate

2 pm

The Juliana Hatfield Three - My Sister - Become What You Are

The Cure - Sleep When I'm Dead

The Charlatans - Mis-Takes - You Cross My Path

Viva Voce - From The Devil Himself - Get Yr Blood Sucked Out

Cold War Kids - Something Is Not Right With Me - Loyalty To Loyalty

Wolf Parade - Fine Young Cannibals - At Mount Zoomer

Fine Young Cannibals - Suspicious Minds - Fine Young Cannibals

The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name - We Started Nothing

Carbon/Silicon - The News - The Last Post

The Rapture - No Sex For Ben - The Music Of Grand Theft Auto IV

Built To Spill - The Plan - Keep It Like A Secret

Dr. Dog - The Old Days - Fate

Brighton Port Authority - Toe Jam (featuring David Byrne & Dizzee Rascal)

Cake - Short Skirt/long Jacket - Comfort Eagle

Join me again Monday morning from 9:00am - 12:00noon and Friday from 11:00am - 3:00pm (eastern, of course), only on Y-Rock On XPN!!

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A Fun-tastic Friday 5!

[Jul. 25th, 2008|04:29 pm]

[	Tags	\|	friday 5, music	]
[	Current Location	\|	WXPN Office	]
[	I'm Hooked On A Feeling	\|	bouncy	]
[	On The Radio	\|	David Bowie - Sons Of The Silent Age	]

Saul Williams - “List Of Demands (Reparations)” from Saul Williams

I guess you could call him the Trent Reznor of the alternative hip hop world (which would be fairly accurate considering that he’s worked extensively with various members of the NIN party)…yeah, this song was in some Nike commercial, but it’s still an ear-catching, relentless tune that kinda sorta scares me…also check out Saul’s awesome take on “Sunday Bloody Sunday”…

Wolf Parade - “Language City” from At Mount Zoomer

What’s really funny about this song from the indie-favorites’ new album is that it features the same barreling piano that’s in so many other modern rock tunes…Transplants’ “Diamonds & Guns”, The Raconteurs’ “You Don’t Understand Me”, it seems that the piano is the new guitar…just don’t tell Keane, or else they may record another album…

Peter Gabriel - “On The Air” from Peter Gabriel II

I’m not exactly sure why, but I’ve been on a big Peter Gabriel kick as of late (possibly due to the recent release of the fantastic and long-delayed Big Blue Ball album)…With his first album, Gabriel went out of his way to make music that was unlike what Genesis was doing after his departure (as detailed in his debut single, “Solsbury Hill”)…his second record is slightly more rock-inflected, though Robert Fripp’s production maintains the experimentalist vision that is present in all of Gabriel’s work…

Mission Of Burma - “Peking Spring” from The Horrible Truth About Burma

One of the band’s best songs, and it’s not even on any studio recording…this song is also one of their earliest, and is frequently on their live setlists, but never made it to a proper studio release…then again, now that Mission Of Burma are back together, “Peking Spring” might get the full treatment it deserves sometime in the future…

The Last Shadow Puppets - “The Chamber” from The Age Of The Understatement

More than just Favourite Worst Nightmare with strings, The Age Of The Understatement is Arctic Monkeys leader Alex Turner’s answer to last year’s moody British masterpiece, The Good, The Bad & The Queen…this song is especially dissonant, a quality you’d never use to describe the music of the Arctic Monkeys…at least, not yet…

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Preserving the old ways from being abused

[Jul. 24th, 2008|09:23 pm]

[	Tags	\|	music, reviews, y-rock	]
[	Current Location	\|	My Room (Schumanland)	]
[	I'm Hooked On A Feeling	\|	chipper	]
[	On The Radio	\|	M83 - Kim & Jessie	]

Dr. Dog - Fate (Park The Van)

The lyrics of "The Breeze", the opening number of Dr. Dog's new album, Fate, could be read as very telling about the philosophy of the band. "Are you movin' much too fast?" and "Do you feel like your stuck in time?" are questions the quintet are likely to field when they are out promoting this album, released just over a year after the acclaimed We All Belong. The latter question has an easy answer; Dr. Dog have an uncanny knack for sifting classic pop songcraft through a lo-fi indie screen. Being "stuck in time" is the only reason I can think of why a ragtime piano breakdown ("The Old Days") and a multi-part "A Day In The Life"-esque suite ("My Friend") fit together on the same album. Even with its scattered upbeat moments, Fate doesn't wear its hooks on its sleeve as overtly as We All Belong, relying more on bluesy, heartfelt songs like "Army Of Ancients" and the stellar "From". As far as "moving much too fast", I don't feel like the boys of Dr. Dog see things that way. Since We All Belong, they have not only recorded this new disc, but released a compendium of old demos, presumably with more on the horizon. "The Breeze" might not be so autobiographical after all, more of a self-deprecating nod and wink, not unlike The Beatles' "Glass Onion". The Fab Four challenged the boundaries of pop music without fear, and Dr. Dog uphold that legacy, albeit with lots more "whoa-oh-oh"-ing.

Review by Eric Schuman

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Y-Rock On XPN playlists for 7.18.08 and 7.21.08!!

[Jul. 23rd, 2008|10:59 pm]

[	Tags	\|	music, playlists, radio, y-rock	]
[	Current Location	\|	My Room (Schumanland)	]
[	I'm Hooked On A Feeling	\|	calm	]
[	On The Radio	\|	Peter Gabriel - I Have The Touch	]

( 7.18.08 )

======================================
======================================

( 7.21.08 )

Join me again Friday from 11:00am - 3:00pm and Monday from 9:00am - 12:00noon (eastern, of course), only on Y-Rock On XPN!!

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Lookin' like a poor man's Arthur Baker

[Jul. 22nd, 2008|10:11 pm]

[	Tags	\|	concertgoing, music, project 365, school, videos, xpn, y-rock	]
[	Current Location	\|	My Room - Schumanland	]
[	I'm Hooked On A Feeling	\|	artistic	]
[	On The Radio	\|	Cheap Trick - Takin' Me Back	]

Perhaps when Project 365 is completed, and posts won't have to be so darn long, I will update more often...until then, here's another near-week in review...

On Thursday night, I saw the inimitable Robyn Hitchcock with

whatawaster ...it was indeed a lovely time...doors opened way long before Robyn actually took the stage, so

whatawaster and I exchanged countless stories of strange concert experiences, the world of music journalism and what we have on our respective iPods...I made her a 2-CD mix of (what I thought to be) mainly obscure new wave music, but I find now that she might already know many more songs than I could've anticipated (which is most excellent!)...she says that she can't remember setlists, but luckily I'm compulsive like that and remember a bunch of tunes that Robyn did between tales of how Bowie's David Live was recorded here in Philadelphia...the solo acoustic set featured a few songs from his most recent record, Olé! Tarantula, namely the title track and "Museum Of Sex", as well as some hits he had with The Egyptians, like "Oceanside", "One Long Pair Or Eyes" and "She Doesn't Exist", some oddball solo tunes, such as "DeChirico Street" and "Victorian Squid", and my favorite song of his, "Idonia" from 2003's Luxor...he also had some very curious merch for 'sale'...there was a sort of silent auction for three small green traffic cones that Robyn had turned into art (by drawing on them with a Sharpie)...

Day 338 - July 17th, 2008

There are evidently 23 cones in all, and, when all assembled together, tell a story called "Dawn Of The Green Cones"...

Friday was Robyn Hitchcock day continued, as he was the guest for the Free At Noon concert...of course I went to see him again, and he did a few of the same songs as the night before (even though he said that he wouldn't in case any people who were there Thursday night showed up on Friday!)...I brought my copy of Luxor to play "Idonia" on Y-Rock and got Robyn to sign it...he even remembered my name from the night before (but still wouldn't pose for a picture)...we sat rather far from the stage for the concert on Thursday, so my pictures weren't too good...luckily, I got a bunch more from alongside the stage on Friday...

Day 339 - July 18th, 2008

The irony is that I'll probably get a new and improved camera just in time to not take a picture everyday anymore...oh bother...

The rest of my shift went rather well, and I did a little salute to Paul Weller's career when I gave away tickets to his show in September (which I am very excited for)...

Saturday was an interesting sort of day...I was invited to a friend's house for her graduation party...I went to high school with her, and though she's only two or so years younger than I am, I felt really old when it hit me that she's only now graduating from high school...after all, it's only been two years since I graduated from high school myself, but I have been so far removed from that world for the whole of those two years...between college and work (and a big dose of not talking to anyone I went to high school with), I feel like I have not only burned my bridges, but did so rather quickly...the best part is, though, I don't feel that bad about it...if I felt like maintaining connections with the people I graduated with, I certainly would have...then again, the school I went to is now at a different location and operates under a different name...I guess I'm not the only one who's moved on...

On a lighter note, the people at Tastykake seriously need to calm down...there must be something in the water there; how else could you explain these new products coming out so close to each other?...

Day 340 - July 19th, 2008

...it's just pure madness I tell you!!...

After that silliness, I had a nice breezy evening on The Folk Show on Sunday night...Gene had been in Okemah, Oklahoma the week before (during our festival)...he was attending an annual gathering that celebrates the life and music of Woody Guthrie called 'WoodyFest' (which would also be a great name for a John Waters film festival)...Gene took with him a digital audio recorder to record little interviews and things with performers and organizers, and brought it in on Sunday night to have me figure out how to get those recordings onto a computer...

Day 341 - July 20th, 2008

...it really wasn't that tough to figure out...it's actually a neat little device and starts a new track when you hit 'record', so there's no way you can record over something you've done...neato!...

Yesterday is going to be tough to explain in writing...I came up after my Y-Rock shift ended at Noon to have lunch with Mandy$ (formerly of Philly Local, currently of the other side of the office) at World Cafe Live Upstairs...the special was 'breakfast for lunch' with strawberry pancakes and scrambled eggs...it was totally pancakes...

We start noticing that there are a bunch of groups of young girls milling around the building, mainly towards the World Cafe Live side...as it turns out, that night there was a show with a guy named Teddy Geiger, who was apparently involved with a few music-related TV shows back in 2006 that no one who wasn't a 14 year-old girl saw...his current tour has a tie-in with CoverGirl makeup (pretty hilarious), and there was evidently a 'contest' where the first however-many people to show up with a thing of official lip gloss would be admitted to sit in on Teddy's soundcheck and have a meet & greet with him...because of that, the building gradually filled up, and I feared that shopping malls in the Philadelphia area were becoming deserted...by 4:00, the lobby and staircase smelled like a giant Jolly Rancher, and the girls were sitting all across the stairs, making it difficult to navigate without stepping on a Prada backpack...don't they know how terribly boring soundchecks are?...sheesh...

Also, most of Dr. Dog were performing live on the air during the Leicht Lunch, and Helen was playing a bunch of songs from their terrific new album, Fate, which made for a great soundtrack to pancakes...

At any rate, Joey O. (of the Y-Rock) gave me a few buttons from an NBC campaign...literally!...

Day 342 - July 21st, 2008

I'm not sure what show the 'Lipstick is my pick' one is for, but it is rather pink...I'm going to give the 'Law & Order'-related ones to my grandparents, who not only collect political memorabilia, but pretty much watch nothing but 'Law & Order' all day and night...on a side note, Vince D'Onofrio looks great for a guy who blasted his brains out back in 1987...

Today was my big debut as a DJ...no, no, I mean as a live DJ...I spun for Happy Hour at World Cafe Live Upstairs...I didn't take notes on what I played, but it was everything from classics like Roxy Music, the Happy Mondays and Pigbag to brand new tracks from CSS, the Brighton Port Authority and The Rapture...it was a lot of fun, and a few people even commended me on my picks...

Day 343 - July 22nd, 2007

The music that they constantly play says nothing to me about my life

The music that they constantly play says nothing to me about my life

Join me again next Tuesday from 5-7 as I play more different songs (I might even mix it up and go with a one surf/one swing theme!)...

That should be all for now, but I'll leave you with a mighty cool video:

E.

Lyric of the Time:
Today on this program you will hear gospel,
And rhythm and blues, and jazz
All those are just labels
We know that music is music

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That's it for the Other One

[Jul. 20th, 2008|04:07 pm]

[	Tags	\|	music, reviews, y-rock	]
[	Current Location	\|	My Room (Schumanland)	]
[	I'm Hooked On A Feeling	\|	exanimate	]
[	On The Radio	\|	Desmond Dekker - Rude Boy Train	]

Albert Hammond, Jr. - ¿Cómo Te Llama? (RCA)

Considering that I was slow catching on to his band, The Strokes, I can't even begin to imagine how many times I've listened to guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr.'s debut solo album, Yours To Keep. Between the classic pop melodies and charming lyrics (plus toy pianos!), the songs from Yours To Keep are so ingrained in my head that I'm having a tough time becoming as attached to Hammond's new album, the poorly-conjugated ¿Cómo Te Llama?. Overall, I like ¿Cómo Te Llama?, but I'm not sure if I would consider it as solid as Yours To Keep. It certainly has Hammond branching out further than he ever could on a Strokes record. The processed beats on “Lisa” and “Rocket”, and the bullhorn-filtered vocals featured on most of the tracks might be a little gimmicky, but Hammond's musicianship (not to mention his production of the record) tie any loose ends together with a fairly strong knot. The centerpiece of ¿Cómo Te Llama? is the lilting seven-minute instrumental, “Spooky Couch”, which features Hammond's buddy and frequent collaborator Sean Lennon on plinking (non-toy) piano. It's probably my own fault for just not having enough room in my mind for 13 more Albert Hammond, Jr. songs, but I have a feeling that ¿Cómo Te Llama? will sink in eventually. Maybe by that point, I can remember enough from my three years of Spanish to figure out what Hammond was trying to say with the album's title.

Review by Eric Schuman

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