As many of you have noticed, Myspace™ is now home to legions of bands, teens, artists, children, predators searching for children, children posing as adults for the period of time it takes them to close their fingers around quiet places, adults posing as teens and pre-teens in order to fulfill a desire to be treated once again like a child or at least to not have to live up to the lofty standards of adulthood, and all the rest within the amorphous group that makes up the unwashed masses. For this brief moment, though, we will focus on the bands. What follows is a selection of music found on Myspace – some bands are new to me, others have been found only in passing, and yet others remain noteworthy simply because they are about zombies. Zombies that eat brains.
mp3 of the Day – Rob Crow
Rob Crow has been busy with Pinback, Goblin Cock, and harvesting a small child (Robertdale Crow III). His new solo album, Living Well, will be released on January 23rd on Temporary Residence. Here’s the mp3 for I Hate You, Rob Crow.
mp3 of the Day – The Broken West
It is obligatory to bury a dead body in the ground, so deep that its smell does not come out and the beasts of prey do not dig it out, and, if there is a danger of such beasts digging it out then the grave should be made solid with bricks, etc.
The Broken West’s new album, I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On, will be released January 23rd. Check out the mp3 for Down in the Valley and massive tour dates on Merge. Word is, Ross from the band has grown a tour moustache. Check back soon for a full album review!
J Ship’s A – Z (with Jonathan Shipley)
Davis, Miles
The best trumpet player, ever. That’s not in question. Kind of Blue? Perfection. Bitches Brew? Astounding. Birth of the Cool, Porgy and Bess, Sketches of Spain? Amazing. He worked with the greats – Charlie Parker, Cannonball Adderly, J.J. Johnson, Dizzie Gillespie, John Coletrane. He’s the greatest, Miles is. I wouldn’t have told him that though. He would have said, “Shut the fuck up, cracker,” and smashed a bottle on my head.
Deadboy and the Elephantmen
Wow, what a weird collection of musicians. For one thing, the leader of the group is dead (Deadboy)! And who knew that people with elephantiasis could carry a tune so well! Listen to their album, We Are the Night Sky, and be mesmerized by the fact that the musicians are either dead or inflicted with a disease that causes a thickening of the skin and underlying tissues, especially in the legs and genitals.
R.E.M. And I Feel Fine… The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982-1987 [Capitol/I.R.S.]
Unrated
Whoa. Dude. R.E.M. is back. It’s been the trend the last few albums to hark the return of the band as a creative unit at the height of their powers, only so they can be dismissed in a month or so, until the college kids in our flying-car breakfast-machine future deem “Up” and “Reveal” masterpieces once again. We needn’t wait to praise this one.
Prototypes Prototypes [Minty Fresh]
Rating: 6.5
Hipsters must be pissed. As the reigning monarchs of pretentiousness and low-fi credibility, these frumpy-haired legions of tight-asses wearing jeans three sizes too small are now in danger of losing their pride and joy to the mainstream. In the past three years, dance rock and indie-infused nobodies have rocketed into the public eye to usher in the era of Ipod and myspace. Album sales are no longer the benchmark of budding talent, no matter how stubbornly the RIAA refuses to think otherwise. The question is whether or not Indie will now be allowed to flourish more than it ever has before or become an even more enticing prize for faltering record companies. In any case, a hell of a lot more people now have access to musical styles that were once only the mainstays of college radio and snooty dorm rooms.
New Kaiser Chiefs Stream
After predicting an ‘accident,’ The Chiefs use an innocuous-looking tennis game as decoy for a few maimed dead bodies given the concrete bath treatment
The new Kaiser Chiefs album, Yours Truly, Angry Mob, will be released March 27th on Universal. Here’s the lead single from the album called “Ruby“.
Kaiser Chiefs on Myspace