White Riot

My favorite Clash song of all time is also arguably their first ever hit. It's called "White Riot" and was written after Joe Strummer and Paul Simonen had taken part in the 1976 version of the Notting Hill race riots in which black youths had come to the defense of a detained pickpocket. Though some idiots probably think the song is about white power, it's actually Strummer's call for young white people to act out against oppressive government through protest just as the blacks had been doing.

The song appears on both the UK and US versions of the Clash's self-titled debut LP, though one is a little rougher than the other. My personal favorite version of the song is actually the demo that appeared exclusively on the 2007 dvd about Strummer's life called The Future is Unwritten which I highly recommend.

Hear that version below:

Lionshead

Wikipedia says "Lionshead is typically known for its cheap price and popularity among college students," but I think it's more known for its bottle caps, each of which displays a rebus like the one you see above. I am not at all above buying a nice local (Wilkes-Barre, PA) beer just because of how cool the bottle cap is.

Also available in Lionshead Light.

Marc Summers' Mystery Magic Tour

When I was a kid I knew I could start getting excited about Halloween when Nickelodeon started re-running its 1986 production of "Marc Summers' Mystery Magical Tour."

Though the 30 minute "special" was always on during October, its connection with Halloween was decidedly loose. Hence the title, I guess. The plot involves Marc Summers (no doubt cashing in on his new Double Dare fame) and his three "friends" who were all young children apparently playing themselves, including Jonathon Brandis. As they drive home from a movie their car breaks down and the group is forced to enter a spooky house on a stormy night to seek help. Magic, mystery, pratfalls, unexplained plot twists, and Lance Burton ensue. No word on why Marc Summers was hanging out with a couple of kids.

You can watch the whole thing HERE.

Or just read a much better and hilarious account of it HERE.

In other news, who knew Jonathon Brandis killed himself?

USFL Documentary

I happened to catch part of ESPN's new documentary, Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL when it aired last week, and I was impressed.

It's not that it's necessarily great film making, though it was produced by the guy who made The Bronx is Burning. It's just that the film manages to make interesting this football league, the USFL, that I never knew existed despite some of the big names associates with it and despite how relative recent it all took place (early to mid 80s). For the first twenty minutes I swore I was watching a mockumentary with really good CGI for historical footage. But no, it's all real. So real, in fact, that Steve Young, Doug Flutie, Jim Kelly, Herschel Walker, and other future NFL stars all glowingly reminisce about their time spent in the league. Burt Reynolds owned a team!

Anyway, it's worth checking out. Quick spoiler alert, though, the answer is apparently Donald Trump.

Pay for Hulu?

Rumor has it Hulu may soon charge an undetermined type of subscription fees to access it's content.

These days I have little time during the week to catch my favorite shows. Without DVR or Tivo I've come to rely on Hulu to catch up with them all. I've even come to appreciate the convenience of all those short commercials in between segments. However, there are very few business models that Hulu can employ that would ever make me want to pay for it. I'll just as soon go back underground for my content.

How about you?

Weird Al at the Valley Forge Music Fair

Speaking of my first concert ever, it was "Weird Al's" fifth stop of the 125+ show "Bad Hair Day Tour." His single "Amish Paradise" was pretty big at the time, enjoying a regular rotation of plays on The Box, and his "hits" from the 80s were making a comeback as a result. So it stands to reason that his concert was something I wanted to see, rather than something I was being forced into, and from what I can remember it was a decent entry point into the world of live music. I remember Yankovic making multiple costume changes throughout the performance, including a less involved version of the "Fat" Suit he wore for his parody of Michael Jackson's "Bad." Luckily I didn't carry with me the irrational expectation that all concerts should include costume changes. I also remember really wanting to hear his parody of the Kinks' "Lola," called "Yoda" but having to wait until the last song to hear it. My first encore! Aside from that, I remember what the venue looked like. It seemed huge to me at the time, and comfortable since there were seats. Seats! A luxury I wouldn't again have at a concert until just two weeks ago at the Dead Man's Bones show at the Church. Unfortunately I never saw a show there again (because it closed not long after) and I had completely forgotten (or not cared) where it even was.

But now, every day when I go to work I travel roads that remind me of that concert. The problem is that I've never been sure of whether or not they actually are those same roads we took to get there way back when because as a 5th grader I would have had no idea where I was. I just see certain landmarks. An overpass, an intersection, a parking lot, all somehow reminding me of that Weird Al concert. They look different yet at the same time similar to the vague memories I still have. It turns out that my suspicions have been correct, but nowadays what once was the spot of the Music Fair is now a Giant supermarket. Kind of sad, really. From the history I've read it seemed to be the perfect west suburban Philadelphia concert venue.

Rock Shows

A few friends and I were discussing earlier today the first ever concerts we'd been to. It's probably a topic that reveals a lot about a person, no? For me, the first real show that I saw with friends was at the Electric Factory on May 13, 2001. I saw my all-time sentimental favorite band MxPx headline a rare daytime (2pm) show with Good Charlotte and Ultimate Fakebook supporting. It was a double date, which was weird, but I remember it seeming at the time like there could be no better show ever. Well, that thought has since changed, but I still count it among the top 5 favorites if just for the context of my being there and the age (16) I was. Life is awesome at 16. To this day I've never seen another daytime show, and I suspect that the 2pm start was the main reason I was able to justify going in the first place. It was also the first and only time I've seen a band randomly allow a fan to come up on stage to play one of their instruments during a song. It was the bass part of the song "Chick Magnet" which, as you can hear below (in a live version), is an important part of the song.

But that wasn't my real first concert. I proudly tell everyone that my real first concert was "Weird Al" Yankovic on May 29, 1996. I leave the date out when I tell people this, of course. I just looked that up today because I wanted to know which venue I had seen him at. Apparently it was a place called Valley Forge Music Fair.

Henry Hill and the Phils

This has been posted on literally every website based out of Philadelphia in the past week. So, for archiving's sake, what's one more?

I hereby present Henry Hill's reaction to a Jimmy Rollins NLCS walkoff double.

Show Review

Dead Man's Bones - A+

Though there were some delays in actually getting inside the First Unitarian Church (apparently the band was late) on the cold and misty night that it was, once inside Ashley and I found this show to be one of the most unique and fun events we'd ever been to.

The event was emceed by a guy in a white sheet with a ghost mask and white cowboy hat who kept up a constant Peter Lorre impression. Though he eventually sang one song with the band, his act was mostly employed to announce the various talent show participants. Among them was New Jersey's own "Great Scott" the magician who was funny if not the most original, also a guy who fit himself through a wire hanger, some interpretive and tribal dance/stomp artists, and a group of three little kids dancing to a Sponge Bob song. Though some of these were rather awkward, I appreciated the Philadelphia audience's ability to keep it together and not boo or laugh anybody off stage.

Dead Man's Bones began their set by having St.Peter's children's (ages 7-15 probably) choir silently approach the pulpit from the two aisles of the church. Their faces were painted and they wore white robes. I thought it looked really cool. The set was basically every song from the album with the addition of a child-sung cover of Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang." Though I'm sure a few girls stayed after the show to gravitate towards Ryan Gosling in his infinite celebrity glory, I was actually impressed with his ability to keep the show about his band, the music, and especially St.Pete's choir who had apparently also rushed on a bus to New York to fill in for a NY choir the night before. He seemed like an awkward dude anyway.

The only downside to the whole night was that t-shirts were priced at $25.00 which was exactly $12.00 more than the tickets themselves.


Up next: We see Dan Andriano (of Alkaline Trio) perform acoustically as his solo pseudonym The Emergency Room tonight at the Troc.

Here's Dan singing "Maybe I'll Catch Fire" accoustically on AK3's latest album:

Great Albums: Squeeze

Look, I'm not normally in the business of deeming a greatest hits album an all-time "great album." Normally that distinction has to go to a natural LP. Unfortunately I can't listen to every good album that was made before I was born. So, for artists whose body of work was mostly completed before I was born I usually get a Greatest Hits album before deciding how far into their catalog I want to go. I've decided that for Squeeze I'm going to stop at Singles: 45s and Under which was released in 1982, because I can't imagine a better collection of pop songs. As far as I'm concerned these 12 tracks were meant to be played back to back.

The best part about these Squeeze hits is that most if not all of them don't sound overly 70s or 80s era aside from obvious electric drum use and some of the keyboard stuff. Aside from those things, Squeeze could probably re-release some of these songs and they would be just as popular and not at all out of place today.

One song that I think expemplifies this theory is "Is That Love:"
That was a hit in 1981? Yeah right.

Eddie Riggs

Speaking of Brütal Legend, it seems Jack Black has been making the media rounds dressed (and acting) as his video game alter ego, Eddie Riggs. Or a shorter, fatter version of him anyway.

HERE are a whole bunch of videos proving it.

NLCS Game 4

Get some, heavy B.

Photo compliments of Drunk Athlete

Brütal Legend

Brütal Legend is a video game based on writer/creator Tim Schafer's love of metal music. It's a third person adventure about a legendary roadie called Eddie Riggs who is backstage at a show when things go horribly awry and he ends up in some alternative metal-esque universe full of demons and monsters. It contains voice acting work from Jack Black (as Riggs), Tim Curry (of course as the bad guy), comedian Brian Posehn and metal icons like Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Halford, Lemmy, and Lita Ford.

Just goes to show that more and more games are taking on movie qualities. I think this one sounds pretty unique for a video game.

The Cribs

The Cribs are a band I regard as one of Britain's best kept indie rock secrets. They play a sort of lo-fi guitar pop with more than enough snarky lyrical bitterness to keep things lively. More interesting, they draw some Oasis comparisons for consisting of three brothers, including a set of twins, who happen to fight each other drunk and on stage. Though they started out a trio, the grown up Cribs have recently officially added ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr to their lineup.

Some other notes from Wikipedia:

In 2008, Q magazine described the band as "The biggest cult band in the UK".

Their song Hey Scenesters! was listed in NME's "50 Greatest Indie Anthems Of All Time". The band were one of only a few contemporary bands included in the list.

Here's a track called "Martel" from 2005's The New Fellas.

The Jeff Dunham Show

I'm sorry I haven't been updating the blog very often recently. It's just that nothing seems worth it anymore since I found out they gave Jeff Dunham his own show on Comedy Central.

People like ventriloquism that much? Count me out.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

I was disappointed when I first heard that Wes Anderson's next film would be an animated adaptaption of The Fantastic Mr.Fox. Then I saw the trailer and realized that although it's animated it's still voiced by all the same actors and the art direction looks to be somewhere between The Royal Tenenbaums and Rushmore. So really, there's still a lot to like here. Plus you get George Clooney as the lead and the fact that anything goes in animation and it adds up to something I think I'll go see.

Check out the trailer HERE. It's pretty funny.

Room for Two

Well, folks, I've done it. I've searched to the end of the internets and googled all that I could google but have yet to find any article or reference to the actor Jesse Eisenberg (above, left) that doesn't in some way compare him to Michael Cera or attempt to spark debate as to who is the better actor. It makes sense, I suppose, since their act is the same. They both play the role of nerdy, neurotic teenager well. But since Cera's been doing it since Arrested Development, Eiseneberg is tagged as the "poor man's Cera" or the "Jewish Cera." As a loyalist to all things Arrested Development even I have found myself choosing sides without proper basis. But now that I've seen Adventureland and Zombieland (two unrelated "land-based" films, I promise) I can say with conviction: let's just appreciate them both.

The key to their act is that it seems authentic, as if they are actually that neurotic in real life, which they probably are. So until either one of them decides to mistakenly take on roles which require range, I say the award for "Best Michael Cera" stays split.

HERE is the trailer for Adventureland if you've never even heard of this Eisenberg guy. Or maybe you already saw it and thought it was Michael Cera.

A Rift Between the Beatles

Today's as good a day as any to remember the "Beatles in India" scene from Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story . Regardless of how you felt amount the movie, you'll agree this was a...memorable scene.

And yes, that is Jack Black doing an awful Paul McCartney. You also have Paul Rudd as John Lennon, Jason Schwarzman as Ringo, and Justin Long (from the mac ads) as George Harrison.

See it HERE.

Dead Man's Tour

It's official, I have secured 2 tickets to see Ryan Gosling's band Dead Man's Bones at the First Unitarian Church on October 16th. I first thought about going just to get out of the house and see something new. The girlfriend would get to see Ryan Gosling in person and I would get to listen to some live music and see a show at the church where some of my punk heroes cut their teeth and a place I've still managed to never see a concert. Then some things happened that made me purchase the tickets almost 2 weeks in advance for fear it would somehow even sell out and be something I regretted missing.

1. The entire album became available for pre-retail release listening on the band's myspace page, and it's good. I mean purchase good. Ashley and I are both pretty stunned by how much we like the music from top to bottom. Not that I absolutely feel the need to hand money over to two Hollywood actors, but I'll buy it hoping the Silverlake Children's Choir who perform on every track on the album will see a piece of the action or something.

2. The review(s) are in, and the consensus? Not your ordinary actor trying to be a musician. Gosling and his best friend Zach Shields seem to avoid actor-band doom by embracing their pasts and actually incorporating their acting chops and behind the camera skills to not only the musical direction but also any of the media used to promote the band. I mean the whole thing is a little surreal and yet it also feels sincere. Though they benefit enormously by Gosling's fame, the project seems less pretentious than say...30 Seconds to Mars, where Jard Leto seems to be constantly acting a part that will sell rather than something he really identifies with.

3. Lastly, but most importantly, I'm pretty sure I stumbled upon the coolest thing ever by getting tickets to this thing. From pitchfork:

When Ryan Gosling and Zach Shields bring their Dead Man's Bones project to your town, they aren't coming alone. Oh no. On their very first tour, scheduled for this October, the actor/musician duo will bring the songs of their debut album to life with the help of a local choir in each of the twelve spots they're hitting. As Gosling and Shields explained to us, their self-titled debut (out October 6 on Anti-) was recorded with the Silverlake Conservatory Children's Choir. But they can't bring all those kids on the road with them. Hence, a new group in every city.

To make the experience even cooler, the opening act for the shows will be a talent show, organized by the band and featuring local talent in each city. Wow.

And who wouldn't want to see that?

Genius Mixes

In addition to home sharing, another great iTunes 9.0 addition has been the "genius mix" function, which can be used straight from your iTunes library or taken on the road via an iPod.

What Apple has done with this function is collect data from 27 million users and their over 50 billion individual songs to determine as best they could which songs sound best with which other songs. So in my library that is very limited in 60s and 70s era british rock music it is very likely that choosing a song based on the Beatles will follow immediately with The Who since those are really the two bands whose catalogs I own that even remotely resemble one another. Here's a real life example I just tried: I wanted to create a mix based solely on the Beatles' "Maxwell Silver Hammer" which resulted in the following songs:

The Who - Pinball Wizard
CCR - Fortunate Sun
Monkees - I'm A Believer
Squeeze - Tempted
Beach Boys - Sloop John B

There's also an OK Go and Tenacious D song thrown in there, maybe to modern it up a little bit, but you get the idea.

Likewise, here are the first 5 songs on a mix based on the song "Prison Bound" by Social Distortion:

Rancid - Olympia, WA
NOFX - Bob
AFI - Totalimmortal
Clash - Death or Flory
Clash - Career Opportunities

As a fan of making my own mixes, I was skeptical at first, but Genius Mixes are usually so spot on in playing what I want to hear based on my mood that I've yet to need my own mixes since iTunes 9.0 landed.