Shane Mehling December 22nd, 2006
The Terminator
10. Star Crusader- This hand blown Indian glass bong just squeezed onto our list with a big bowl, tilted stem, and an exquisite glass spider near the mouthpiece. We weren’t wild about the color and the chamber was too shallow, but the weight and balance of the piece showed some impressive craftsmanship.
9. Alpine Blue- While it may look like it’s out of a Dr. Seuss story, this bong supplied us with one of the most comfortable mouthpieces we’ve found, giving great suction. The stem is a joy to look at, but the thinness of the body took away a bit of the “oomph” we were hoping for. You could argue that substance loses out to style with Alpine Blue, but we put this at number 9 as a testament to the beauty of its unique look.
Continue Reading »
Mary Mulholland December 21st, 2006
The Cape Buffalo: One of the most dangerous animals of 2006
Welcome USOUNDS highly anticipated Top-Ten-A-Thon for 2006. We will feature a top ten by a different staff writer every day until those fuckers run out. For the kick-off, here’s the top one viagra spam USOUNDS received this year (500+ times) which is particularly enjoyable because it’s subtle yet inspiring:
Hello Man, Don’t tell me why your meat is so small, I will better help you to make it really Bigger!
OK! Here’s our first staff top 10 brought to you by Mary Mulholland:
10. The Long Winters Putting The Days To Bed
I almost hate John Roderick for being such a perfect indie rock front man. Not only does he have the best stage banter I’ve ever heard, he’s also written a shockingly good album of impeccable indie anthems. Every one track on this album is fit to be a single.
Continue Reading »
J-Ship December 15th, 2006
USOUNDS is proud to present the second installment of J Ship’s A-Z with Jonathan Shipley. Miss out on A? Well, fucking check this out then.
”BANANA AND YAM SKANK”
No better song title I’ve seen. Thank you, King Tubby, thank you.
BANANA BOAT
Unquestionably the best Polish quintet singing traditional sea shanties today. There’s no doubt that Maciej Jedrzejko, Pawel Konieczny, Pawel Jedrzejku, Tomasz Czarny, and Michal Maniara can belt out nautical-themed tunes! They’ve toured extensively in Poland and the Czech Republic. Rumors abound that frontman Maciej Jedrzejko will be doing a duet with Masta Killa entitled “Szanty dla Pajacka Ho Money.”
Continue Reading »
J-Ship December 5th, 2006
AHHH! Zzz…No, don’t fall asleep. This is a new semi-regular column where I talk about music and all its wondrousness from A to Z. Perhaps I’ll discuss Digable Planets, Duran Duran and Claude Debussy for the Ds, or Pete Zorn, U2’s Zooropa album, and ZZ Top’s beards for the Zs. There’s a wonderful world of music out there. No better place to start than at the beginning…
A
Ace of Base
In 2000 they released a greatest hits album. Huh?! How many “great” hits did they have? Honestly, I don’t want to hear “The Sign” thirteen different times on one album. Sorry Jenny, Linn, and Jonas Berggren. Sorry Ulf Ekberg, Swede or no, you, Ace of Base collective, are not great. And, no, I’m not racist towards Swedes. I like many of them (Ingrid Bergman, Alfred Nobel, the one, the only Dag Hammarskjöld), and several pieces in my house are from IKEA. And meatballs. I like meatballs. And that Muppet who said, “Bork! Bork! Bork!” and threw kitchen implements around. The sound of that alone, the clatter of kitchen implements in a Swedish Muppet’s kitchen, I would rather hear than “The Sign.” Anything but “The Sign.”
Continue Reading »
