Please, do not be alarmed! I am only taking a break from it so I can get my on-air presentation of it on RadioYou (92.9 HD2) caught up with this blog. See, I am a few letters ahead on the blog and I am super-anal and I want them to match. It will only be a few days as tomorrow’s letter on my radio show is M. Thanks for caring, reading and listening.
A-Z, 1-2-3 : On Hiatus….
Posted: 9th December 2010 by ed in Blogs, EdTags: A-Z 1-2-3, Anal!, Ed, Lazy, RadioYou
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A-Z, 1-2-3: Reggie & The Full Effect
Posted: 8th December 2010 by ed in Blogs, EdTags: A-Z 1-2-3, Ed, Reggie & The Full Effect
How to describe Reggie & The Full Effect? Well, see, the band is pretty much one dude who was/is in The Get Up Kids. That dude is James Dewees. He was also in Coalesce if you care. One day James decided to write a few songs on his own and hand them out on cassettes at Coalesce shows. One person to get a tape was Matt Pryor of The Get Up Kids who convinced DeWees to make better quality versions. He also eventually got him to join his band…
Most of the Reggie tunes are about girls, love, love and girls, food and (post his divorce) loss of love. In addition to the Reggie tunes DeWees also has 2 alter egos who appear on Reggie releases. Fluxuation is his electro-pop act and Common Denominator is his Swedish Death Metal band. It is like 3 bands in 1!
One of the things that makes Reggie great is the complex and mysterious background story that DeWees created around all 3 bands. For more feel free to google it.
Something I’m Not – This track off of Promotional Copy has guest vocals from Sean Ingram of Coalesce. It is loud, angry, poppy and has a great breakdown. Makes me want to smash shit!
Girl, Why’d You Run Away? – A typical example of what Reggie does. Poppy, catchy and fun.
Apocalypse POW! – For some reason I like the tracks that Ingram shows up on. You might have heard a portion of this looped in Emogame 1.5.
If I have said it once I have said it a million times… I like my music fast, catchy and under 3:30. The Queers have that down to a science. They are made up of 3/4s The Ramone’s plus 1/4 Beach Boys so they might not break any new ground but they certainly write some catchy tunes.
After forming in New Hampshire back in the early 80s the band broke up in ’84. Joe Queer ended up reforming the band in 1990 with a new supporting cast. Joe has been the only constant member in the band that has seen more than 20 other people come and go. Original member Wimpy does show up to play at live shows every once in a while.
I Met Her At The Rat – How could this not be one of my favorite songs? While I never went to or even knew of The Rat before I moved here the song still held meaning for me. What link punk-boy wouldn’t want to meet his girl at his club?
Punk Rock Confidential – Another example of The Queers doing what they do best and that is write catchy songs about girls.
Don’t Back Down – Paying homage to an obvious influence The Queers cover of the Beach Boys classic.
I was watching the Pats violate the NY Jets with a proverbial rubber fist last night when I saw a commercial that answered the question,”When did we as Americans become such pigs that we allowed our economy to be run into the ditch my man Barack keeps talking about”? It was a Mercedes Benz commercial recommending you buy your wife (or husband, or side action) a fucking Mercedes for Christmas.
I remember when these commercials started running about 12 or 15 years ago…I think the first was a Lexus commercial. I thought then,”Imagine, there are enough viewers considering buying a loved one a luxury car for Christmas that these companies don’t balk at spending huge ad dollars on prime spot placement”!
When I was a kid the “wealthy” lifestyle seemed unrealistic for most. My parents and most of my friends parents both worked full-time jobs, had one car for the family…if two there was newer car for the mom while the dad got the 10 year old rattle trap. These were middle class to lower middle class neighborhoods. Cops, nurses, insurance agents…a trip to Disney world once a year. Hard workers raising families and pretty happy with what they had. Then, in the mid nineties, interest rates started falling and equity lines at low rates became easily accessible and we, the children of these hard working humble folk began leasing BMW’s and Audi’s. Maybe a sports car for Dad and a nice SUV for Mom…a Harley, a boat, 2 trips to a tropical resort or to Europe every year. Enough of us started suckling at the “cheap money” teat that it began making sense to gift 50 thousand dollar cars to our wives at Christmas.
I am shocked that after the last 3 years of a crumbling economy…unemployment at 9.8% (the true number of those not working much higher), astronomical national debt, municipal, State and Federal deficits out of control…there are still “Luxury Cars for Gifts” commercials running during Monday Night Football. The fact that these commercials seem like prudent marketing expenditures for Mercedes Benz and Lexus shows that a large segment of the population is doing pretty damn well…and they’re most likely doing damn well on the backs of those who aren’t. 9.8% unemployment…stock market over 11 thousand. Pay freezes across the board, manufacturing plants closing all over the country while corporations post record profits and executive bonuses are through the roof.
There’s something fucked up going on and as long as Corporations are treated as individuals under campaign finance laws…we’re going to keep taking the same rubber fist in our ass that the Pats stuck up the Jets ass last night.
Mr. Nancy Pants over to the left here couldn’t make it to the podcast last night because it was raining. Boo Hoo Babeasroo! What a pussy. Anyway, Ed Doug and Begley made it in to talk smokes, rings, relationships and food. Don’t worry, it somehow makes sense…
A-Z, 1-2-3: Poster Children
Posted: 2nd December 2010 by ed in Blogs, EdTags: A-Z 1-2-3, Ed, High School, Poster Children
Never heard of Poster Children? I am not surprised. Hell, I don’t even remember how or when I first heard them. As a teen my main partner in crime was my pal Larry. The two if us spent way too much time together and much of that time was centered around music. I figure he was the one to introduce to PC but I can’t say for sure. Either way I am just happy to share them with you now.
I got to see PC live once at the Capitol Ballroom in D.C. way back when (they opened for Better Than Ezra if that is any indication). It was a fun set but the on thing I took away from it was the PC were from Champaign IL. Why? Because they must have said it 35 times during their set.
One last note: PC were one of the first bands to jump on the tech-train using enhanced CDs to add extra content.
Junior Citizen – The title track from the first CD I bought from PC. At the time it sounded like a revolution anthem from the future.
Not Like You – A song about denials and realizations from the Just Like You EP.
Speed of Light – A great song of RTFM. If you don’t know what RTFM means you are probably hated by your IT guy.
A-Z, 1-2-3: Onelinedrawing
Posted: 30th November 2010 by ed in Blogs, EdTags: A-Z 1-2-3, Ed, Jonah Matranga, Onelinedrawing
Onelinedrawing is actually just Jonah Matranga. See, Jonah used to be in Far and recorded a few songs on his own that weren’t meant to be heard by anyone. He ended up releasing these songs on a few EPs and then went Far went on hiatus he focused on Onelinedrawing as a real project. In 2004 Jonah decided to stop using the Onelinedrawing name and just go with his name. In between there he also had the band Gratitude. Needless to say he is a busy guy.
I am not going to try to fool you into thinking I knew about Jonah before Far because I didn’t. I am pretty sure I got a New End Original disc in college and caught up from there.
Oh, Boys – A song about boys fucking up cars and lives. What’s not to love?
Over It – This song became a pretty good anthem for those moments of anger and frustration, when life was just a pain in the ass. It still works.
Always – A great song off of the split EP with Rival Schools.
The year was 1991 and I was finishing up my freshman year. Though I was impatient for the physical manifestations of puberty, checking in the mirror for armpit hair every time I exited the shower, the emotional changes had begun and I my taste in music was changing. Up to this point I was listening strictly to Top 40 and MTV hits. Then I found 120 Minutes, Alternative Nation and WHFS. Ned’s was one of the first bands that I became a fan of in my new-found musical maturity, based mostly on the video for “Grey Cell Green”. Can you guess what drew me to the band? Yup, the DOUBLE BASS attack!
You might think that you have never heard of Ned’s but I bet you know their version of the Bay City Rollers “Saturday Night” as it was on the soundtrack for So I Married An Axe Murder. Ring a bell?
Grey Cell Green – The song that started my love affair with Ned’s. Don’t ask me what the lyrics mean because I have no fuckin’ idea.
NAD vs NDX=NSA – A crazy remix of “Not Sleeping Around” found on the 05.22 comp(also known as “Load of Balls). My pal Larry brought this comp to my attention while he was working in the CD department of Circuit City and I don’t think I ever thanked him.
Traffic – When Brainbloodvolume first came out I, along with most other Ned’s fans, was disappointed. But time and maturity gave me a new perspective on the disc and “Traffic” ran up my list of favorite songs.
The Black Eyed Peas: Why The Band You Love To Hate Matters.
Posted: 28th November 2010 by Begley in Begley, BlogsTags: begley, black eyed peas, lego, music
Yes, they are the monsters who have given us four of the most ridiculous human beings on the planet. With names like, will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo, and Fergie Ferg, the Black Eyed Peas have always toed the line of “Stop it” and “Original”. Keep in mind this is the four people who introduced the world to things like:
“Elephunk”
“Boom Boom Pow”
“Fergie’s Humps”
“hologram wil.i.am interviews (remember that on CNN with Anderson Cooper?! We have literally never seen it again)”
and most recently, the lock in favorite for most annoying phrase of the next 9 months…”Dirty Bit… Dirty Bit…”
And even after all of this, I have to confess I am still constantly, 100%, FASCINATED by The Black Eyed Peas. I mean, whether you love their music or want to jam legos in your ears while throwing four Molotov Cocktails at their extravagant tour bus when their songs come on, you have to admit they are completely off the rails nuts. I am the type of person who loves chaos and when people do things against the norm to confuse everyone. 
We need that in our existence. I would MUCH rather have the Black Eyed Peas being completely bonkers and making an attempt to be creatively different, than another bearded indie band wearing flannel, a cute pop star bombshell, or the next generic R&B singer who makes the ladies swoon. I don’t know about you, but I am willing to put up with the music of the Black Eyed Peas in order to have their shenanigans and constant raising of the creative craziness bar. And honestly, some of their songs really are great. I mean, I Gotta Feeling was a monster hit. While it might be annoying to you now after hearing it 49 million times, you can’t deny it took over the world by being what was probably the biggest universal hit of the past 10 years. And even the annoying songs, like “Boom Boom Pow” and “Imma Be” are still different enough from everything else on the radio to at least be somewhat interesting.
My point is, at least hey are trying to shake up the shit and be creatively different. That’s all I’m really asking for. As long as someone is trying to mix things up and make us all collectively say “WTF?!?!”, then I’m into it. I’m a fan.While you might find it annoying and hate it with a passion, at least this ridiculous group of four individuals who think its the year 3019 have got your attention at some point or another. Call me crazy, but in a world where the music landscape has become so over-saturated by cookie cutter “next big things” I find it refreshing to turn on the AMAs and see wil.i.am accepting an award in a Lego hat.
A-Z, 1-2-3:Muse
Posted: 24th November 2010 by ed in Blogs, EdTags: A-Z 1-2-3, Late to the Party, Muse
The letter M proved to be harder to whittle down to one than I thought. There were at least 3 other bands that might have made it here instead of Muse but upon reflection Muse won out. Often compared to Radiohead, for obvious reasons, Muse came into their own over the last few years as a marquee band capable of selling records and filling arenas. I have often said that Muse are the good Radiohead, meaning that they play guitar all the time rather than getting all weirdo. Call me simple but I like my guitar rock.
Don’t let the picture to the left fool you either, Matt and Dominic are super-tiny! They used camera tricks to make Chris look almost the same height as the other boys. Matt could fit in your jacket pocket.
New Born – I didn’t come across this song as an obsessed fan-boy listening to every record Muse recorded. Instead, I first heard it while watching High Tension, a French horror film that I hope you have seen. Once I heard it I tracked it down and listened to for weeks on end.
Stockholm Syndrome – This was the first song I heard from the band and I have loved them ever since. Go ahead, have at me since I didn’t really get into them with Showbiz.
Unnatural Selection – Can you believe it?! I picked a song off of the latest CD! No one with any shred of cred would do that! Well, I don’t care about cred. This song sounds like Muse hung out with Guns N’ Roses and then hit the studio. Me likey!
THANKSGIVING BONUS TRACK
Plug In Baby (Live) – A great rendition of a great song.