The seminal CBGB club, officially out of business for over a year has been sold to Good Charlotte gurus Joel and Benji Madden who plan to re-open it as GCGB and will feature performances from Good Charlotte, Sum-41, Avril Lavigne and other new-punk bands. Said Madden of the move, "Reopening it in my image will be a way for kids to find out about the next generation of punk music, spearheaded by my favorite groups."
Also included in the deal is a licensing deal with Hot Topic inc. to have exclusive rights to the T-shirts as well as the souls of the Ramones, Talking Heads and Patti Smith.
Joel Madden has also expressed interest in buying the back catalogue of the Clash and "remixing" the master recordings to better reflect the current generation. In addition, he is in talks with Oliver Stone to create a Sex Pistols movie, staring himself as Sid Vicious and Hillary Duff as Nancy Spungen.
-RS Wire Serivces.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Against Me! Vindicates Annoying Anarchists by Becoming Mediocre
Once-beloved, and once anarchist punk band Against Me! have taken a lot of flak over the years, from completely obnoxious “fans” who use the term “major label” like it’s a profanity and they’re suffering from Tourette’s. These pierced, squatting, unwashed masses cry like infants or put on the airs of royalty with a dead peasant stuck to each shoe, with each non-laundromat show that Against Me! plays. Despite bandleader Tom Gabel recently pointing out that he played a show in ONE laundromat like 12 years ago, you assholes, these people continue to self righteously slash the band’s tires and then sob over their copies of “Reinventing Axel Rose” each night, banging their heads against the walls and screaming “Why, Tom?! Why couldn't you make this album over and over and over again!?” to the heavens.
While all these principled sheep continued to bleat about how no good album was ever released on a label run by more than three people, Actual Music Fans pointed out that “As the Eternal Cowboy” is a very solid album, and if the lyrics in “Searching for a Former Clarity” were a little weak, the instrumentals were totally awesome, in spite of the shocking inclusion of drums that were not just plastic buckets and some spoons. They also pointed out that nobody with a life cares about labels, you fucking losers. So, when Against Me! announced that they were signing to SIRE, that branch of Warner Brothers which once had the Replacements and the Ramones, Actual Music Fans continued to assume that the good quality of the band would continue.
Sadly, the tattooed dudes and dreadlocked ladies were vindicated in September 2007, when Against Me! released a stunningly mediocre and overproduced album. What went wrong? Drummer Warren Oakes still has the world’s best beard, Tom Gabel still has an awesome, soulful voice …Their producer, Butch Vig, worked on “Nevermind” and other albums that were actually notable for being new and exciting. Yet, “New Wave” is pretty much Against Me! embracing the Nickelback spirit of smooth, bland rock within. The album is full of big, loud, generic rock songs, with hilariously verbose and pretentious lyrics. Maybe half a song is memorable. Tom Gabel’s duet with one of those lesbian Canadian twins (Tegan or possibly Sara) who are now famous thanks to “Gray’s Anatomy” is one of the most awkwardly notable songs, because it’s so…awkward. The rest of the album pretty much glides on by. I actually forget what most of the album sounds like.
MTV recently declared “New Wave” to be the greatest Album of the Year, and Rollingstone declared Against Me! an outstanding emo band. This would be hilarious things if the album wasn’t actually lame. We want it both ways; the annoying anarchists should be annoyed, and the sweet sounds of rock and roll should be ringing in the ears of Actual Music Fans.
The point is, do you really want to vindicate the people who steal your demos, slash your tires, and then try to ask where the love and community went? People who think that anything beyond Mountain Ghosts-level production values is going corporate? People who just won’t take off that Municipal Waste T-shirt, not matter how ripped and dirty, and smelling like a dumpster, it may be? You don’t, Against Me! Embrace your new major label status, sleep with some groupies, vote Republican, shake hands with Axel Rose, anything reprehensible to your former scene. Just please don’t make any more mediocre albums. Let the Actual Music Fans win.
While all these principled sheep continued to bleat about how no good album was ever released on a label run by more than three people, Actual Music Fans pointed out that “As the Eternal Cowboy” is a very solid album, and if the lyrics in “Searching for a Former Clarity” were a little weak, the instrumentals were totally awesome, in spite of the shocking inclusion of drums that were not just plastic buckets and some spoons. They also pointed out that nobody with a life cares about labels, you fucking losers. So, when Against Me! announced that they were signing to SIRE, that branch of Warner Brothers which once had the Replacements and the Ramones, Actual Music Fans continued to assume that the good quality of the band would continue.
Sadly, the tattooed dudes and dreadlocked ladies were vindicated in September 2007, when Against Me! released a stunningly mediocre and overproduced album. What went wrong? Drummer Warren Oakes still has the world’s best beard, Tom Gabel still has an awesome, soulful voice …Their producer, Butch Vig, worked on “Nevermind” and other albums that were actually notable for being new and exciting. Yet, “New Wave” is pretty much Against Me! embracing the Nickelback spirit of smooth, bland rock within. The album is full of big, loud, generic rock songs, with hilariously verbose and pretentious lyrics. Maybe half a song is memorable. Tom Gabel’s duet with one of those lesbian Canadian twins (Tegan or possibly Sara) who are now famous thanks to “Gray’s Anatomy” is one of the most awkwardly notable songs, because it’s so…awkward. The rest of the album pretty much glides on by. I actually forget what most of the album sounds like.
MTV recently declared “New Wave” to be the greatest Album of the Year, and Rollingstone declared Against Me! an outstanding emo band. This would be hilarious things if the album wasn’t actually lame. We want it both ways; the annoying anarchists should be annoyed, and the sweet sounds of rock and roll should be ringing in the ears of Actual Music Fans.
The point is, do you really want to vindicate the people who steal your demos, slash your tires, and then try to ask where the love and community went? People who think that anything beyond Mountain Ghosts-level production values is going corporate? People who just won’t take off that Municipal Waste T-shirt, not matter how ripped and dirty, and smelling like a dumpster, it may be? You don’t, Against Me! Embrace your new major label status, sleep with some groupies, vote Republican, shake hands with Axel Rose, anything reprehensible to your former scene. Just please don’t make any more mediocre albums. Let the Actual Music Fans win.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Rolling Scone: Reivew/Counter-Review
Our first Point.Counterpoint. Review is up,
Radiohead's In Rainbows reviewed by both Ryan Kramzer and Joseph Steigerwald.
In reponse Ryan Kramzer and Joseph Will each get another blog to counter the claims made by the other, just like an episode of crossfire, online, with blogs.
The In Rainbows review by Joe Steigerwald is then followed by Ryan Kramzer.
Radiohead's In Rainbows reviewed by both Ryan Kramzer and Joseph Steigerwald.
In reponse Ryan Kramzer and Joseph Will each get another blog to counter the claims made by the other, just like an episode of crossfire, online, with blogs.
The In Rainbows review by Joe Steigerwald is then followed by Ryan Kramzer.
In Rainbows, Counter-Review
With every album Radiohead falls further and further down my list of favorite bands. It’s not that I don’t like what they’ve been doing in the 21st century; it’s that I just don’t care about them anymore. Ever since Thom Yorke got tired of writing music that people really want to listen to it’s just been a drag being a Radiohead fan. That being said I had zero expectations for the new album. Hail to the thief had it’s moments of astonishing beauty, just like Amnesiac and Kid A, but all three are albums I don’t find myself listening to more than once a year.
In Rainbows can be purchased online for whatever price you feel the band deserves, in my case very little, and I don’t regret it either. To my dismay the album starts with that same damn twittering of electronic beats that can be found on songs like Hail to the Thief’s The Gloaming. Usually the sound precludes some very tiresome “Radiohead does electronica song.” Fortunately to my pleasant surprise the song turns into a moderately pretty little dirge full of the usual Yorke lyrics and the now usual Greenwood acoustic chord noodling. Unfortunately, it sounds pretty much like what you would expect off a 21st century Radiohead album, with a few of the OK Computer sound effects thrown in. Bodysnatchers, the second song on the album begins promisingly with a nice fuzz bass line and turns that into the best 4 minutes of the album. It almost sounds like a song a rock band would play. The rest of the album floats by without much reaction. I’m sure the lyrics are pretty, but there’s nothing interesting about the songs that makes me really want to pay attention. Every song on In Rainbows could be off either Thom Yorke’s last solo, or Hail, and to me that equals a disappointment. It may be that I just hold Radiohead to a higher standard than other bands. But dammit, if their early work doesn’t warrant it. In Rainbows sounds like a Thom Yorke power trip. Greenwood must be tearing his hair out trying to get in a guitar solo, or even a lead with a little overdrive in it.
In previous years Radiohead could be counted on to produce a life-changing, genre re-defining masterpiece. But there is nothing on In Rainbows that would sound all that foreign on Hail to the Thief, and that’s a disappointment. While I wasn’t expecting another OK Computer, at least Kid A, Amnesiac and Hail all had their standout singles. In Rainbows doesn’t, every song sounds damn near the same. It pains me to say this but I finally found a Radiohead album I don’t like.
Thom Yorke, what have you done?
IN RAINBOWS: B-
In Rainbows can be purchased online for whatever price you feel the band deserves, in my case very little, and I don’t regret it either. To my dismay the album starts with that same damn twittering of electronic beats that can be found on songs like Hail to the Thief’s The Gloaming. Usually the sound precludes some very tiresome “Radiohead does electronica song.” Fortunately to my pleasant surprise the song turns into a moderately pretty little dirge full of the usual Yorke lyrics and the now usual Greenwood acoustic chord noodling. Unfortunately, it sounds pretty much like what you would expect off a 21st century Radiohead album, with a few of the OK Computer sound effects thrown in. Bodysnatchers, the second song on the album begins promisingly with a nice fuzz bass line and turns that into the best 4 minutes of the album. It almost sounds like a song a rock band would play. The rest of the album floats by without much reaction. I’m sure the lyrics are pretty, but there’s nothing interesting about the songs that makes me really want to pay attention. Every song on In Rainbows could be off either Thom Yorke’s last solo, or Hail, and to me that equals a disappointment. It may be that I just hold Radiohead to a higher standard than other bands. But dammit, if their early work doesn’t warrant it. In Rainbows sounds like a Thom Yorke power trip. Greenwood must be tearing his hair out trying to get in a guitar solo, or even a lead with a little overdrive in it.
In previous years Radiohead could be counted on to produce a life-changing, genre re-defining masterpiece. But there is nothing on In Rainbows that would sound all that foreign on Hail to the Thief, and that’s a disappointment. While I wasn’t expecting another OK Computer, at least Kid A, Amnesiac and Hail all had their standout singles. In Rainbows doesn’t, every song sounds damn near the same. It pains me to say this but I finally found a Radiohead album I don’t like.
Thom Yorke, what have you done?
IN RAINBOWS: B-
In Rainbows, A Review
With all that has happened in the world of politics and liberty since their last release, one would think that spending four years on an album would result in a sort of nastier and more aggressive version of Hail to the Thief. However, this is not the case with In Rainbows. Like the title suggests, the album is a breath of fresh air wrapped in a lush web of poetic beauty; much like I would imagine it would feel like being inside of a rainbow.
Yorke's lyrics are more tamed and inhabit an intimate sort of romance to it that hasn't been as apparent since OK Computer, particularly in songs like All I Need and Arpeggi/Weird Fishes. And unlike the raw and charged swarm of punk like guitar clashed with operatic cries and driving percussion arrangements, the musicianship is more peaceful and spacial. However, the album does have its heavy moments, like the track Bodysnatchers, which follows the upbeat and very danceable, 15 step. A very nice feature of the album comes in the song Faust Arp, which seems to be the closest Thom has gotten to copying his favorite artist, Nick Drake.
Standing out in the album are the middle tracks including All I Need, Weird Fishes, and Reckoner. Elated at the the front of an underground hip hop beat are the delicate and simple chords of the piano in All I Need; a tune that doesn't even try to hide the fact that it is a love song. Meanwhile, Reckoner exists as a tremendous vocal performance on behalf of Thom, who never betrays his soothing falsetto. Weird Fishes is probably the best example of the genius of Radiohead's song writing as their individual pieces aren't layered throughout the rhythym, but rather interconnet as circles and create an array of sound while the lyrical melody glues the whole structure together. Plus, those lyrics are painfully touching. " Your eyes, they turn me. Turn me on to phantoms. I follow them to the edge of the earth...".
The great thing about the album is the approach to the songwriting. Their biggest criticism is that they have abandoned their old fashions of Pablo Honey and The Bends to the point where the first Radiohead fans no longer have anything to relate to. With In Rainbows, the average Radiohead fan finally has something that combines their original aura of music and the "stranger and more experimental" new stuff.
This album probably falls into third in my list of favorite Radiohead albums( behind Ok Computer and The Bends), and that's without the bonus cd. The only slight downfall of the album, which evidently killed its chances for an A+, lies in the final track Videotape. This was a very popular song even before the album came out; living strongly on its bootlegged live track. However, the album version is a bit different and too watered down. Don't get me wrong, the song still rules, just not as much as the live version hardcore fans have been accustomed to the past year.
Many people think that this could be their last album. I pray it isn't.
IN RAINBOWS: A
Yorke's lyrics are more tamed and inhabit an intimate sort of romance to it that hasn't been as apparent since OK Computer, particularly in songs like All I Need and Arpeggi/Weird Fishes. And unlike the raw and charged swarm of punk like guitar clashed with operatic cries and driving percussion arrangements, the musicianship is more peaceful and spacial. However, the album does have its heavy moments, like the track Bodysnatchers, which follows the upbeat and very danceable, 15 step. A very nice feature of the album comes in the song Faust Arp, which seems to be the closest Thom has gotten to copying his favorite artist, Nick Drake.
Standing out in the album are the middle tracks including All I Need, Weird Fishes, and Reckoner. Elated at the the front of an underground hip hop beat are the delicate and simple chords of the piano in All I Need; a tune that doesn't even try to hide the fact that it is a love song. Meanwhile, Reckoner exists as a tremendous vocal performance on behalf of Thom, who never betrays his soothing falsetto. Weird Fishes is probably the best example of the genius of Radiohead's song writing as their individual pieces aren't layered throughout the rhythym, but rather interconnet as circles and create an array of sound while the lyrical melody glues the whole structure together. Plus, those lyrics are painfully touching. " Your eyes, they turn me. Turn me on to phantoms. I follow them to the edge of the earth...".
The great thing about the album is the approach to the songwriting. Their biggest criticism is that they have abandoned their old fashions of Pablo Honey and The Bends to the point where the first Radiohead fans no longer have anything to relate to. With In Rainbows, the average Radiohead fan finally has something that combines their original aura of music and the "stranger and more experimental" new stuff.
This album probably falls into third in my list of favorite Radiohead albums( behind Ok Computer and The Bends), and that's without the bonus cd. The only slight downfall of the album, which evidently killed its chances for an A+, lies in the final track Videotape. This was a very popular song even before the album came out; living strongly on its bootlegged live track. However, the album version is a bit different and too watered down. Don't get me wrong, the song still rules, just not as much as the live version hardcore fans have been accustomed to the past year.
Many people think that this could be their last album. I pray it isn't.
IN RAINBOWS: A
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Paid Advertisement
The Following is a paid announcement furnished by the Iraqi Musicians Council, all views expressed are those of its parent company and not of Rollingscone.
Death To America along with We Raq U productions presents...
SADAAM HUSSEIN: All my greatest... and death to America. HIS GREATEST HITS
Tired of hearing music from the infidel country of America? Tired of unveiled women showing their bare arms and legs? Tired of dirty infidels being blasphemous to the great Allah? Then do we have an album for you! Death to America and We Raq U productions present Sadaam Hussein's Greatest Hits, featuring 10 Iraqi #1's like: Death To the Country of Infidel Dogs, Death To America, America Must Die, One Nation under My Secret Police, Buy This Song Or Be Whipped Like A Camel In Front Of Your Family, We Will Iraq You (America Will Die), Death to America Pt. 2, Gimme Gimme Gimme (All your Daughters), Death to America Pt. 3 and George Bush Is A Dirty Curr Who Can Suck It. This is Sadaam in all his magnificent glory, using the latest Iraqi breakthroughs in mono sound, it's like he's singing just to you! Sadaam is backed once again by - Yes that's right, we tracked them down, beat them, killed their families and brought them back to Iraq - the Death to America 4. As a special bonus we've recorded them playing live at the 3rd annual, Sadaam Hussein Commands You To Attend This Festival, Festival in Baghdad, playing their #1 Rock songs like: Rock and Roll Is A Creation of the Infidels, Anyone Caught Listening to Rock and Roll Will Be Stoned and Keep on Rocking In The Free World (However You Are Not In the Free World So You Will Not Rock or Roll). This is Sadaam at his America hating best, all hate, all the time! We also include favorites like: I Am Building An Illegal Weapons Program And You Probably Won't Be Able To Find It, Allah is OK But I am Better, Death To America Pt. 4 - 15 (a 2003 Overture), Bombs Over Washington D.C., George Bush Will Be Eternally Tortured In The Pits of Hell and Will Never Get 200 Virgins When He Dies and his first foray into Rap, Baghdad Love. You will never find a more complete collection from Iraq's #1 selling Artist of all time! Order now and we promise not to burn your hut to the ground! (Offer Void in Iraq).
Sadaam's Greatest Hits Collection
Death To America along with We Raq U productions presents...
SADAAM HUSSEIN: All my greatest... and death to America. HIS GREATEST HITS
Tired of hearing music from the infidel country of America? Tired of unveiled women showing their bare arms and legs? Tired of dirty infidels being blasphemous to the great Allah? Then do we have an album for you! Death to America and We Raq U productions present Sadaam Hussein's Greatest Hits, featuring 10 Iraqi #1's like: Death To the Country of Infidel Dogs, Death To America, America Must Die, One Nation under My Secret Police, Buy This Song Or Be Whipped Like A Camel In Front Of Your Family, We Will Iraq You (America Will Die), Death to America Pt. 2, Gimme Gimme Gimme (All your Daughters), Death to America Pt. 3 and George Bush Is A Dirty Curr Who Can Suck It. This is Sadaam in all his magnificent glory, using the latest Iraqi breakthroughs in mono sound, it's like he's singing just to you! Sadaam is backed once again by - Yes that's right, we tracked them down, beat them, killed their families and brought them back to Iraq - the Death to America 4. As a special bonus we've recorded them playing live at the 3rd annual, Sadaam Hussein Commands You To Attend This Festival, Festival in Baghdad, playing their #1 Rock songs like: Rock and Roll Is A Creation of the Infidels, Anyone Caught Listening to Rock and Roll Will Be Stoned and Keep on Rocking In The Free World (However You Are Not In the Free World So You Will Not Rock or Roll). This is Sadaam at his America hating best, all hate, all the time! We also include favorites like: I Am Building An Illegal Weapons Program And You Probably Won't Be Able To Find It, Allah is OK But I am Better, Death To America Pt. 4 - 15 (a 2003 Overture), Bombs Over Washington D.C., George Bush Will Be Eternally Tortured In The Pits of Hell and Will Never Get 200 Virgins When He Dies and his first foray into Rap, Baghdad Love. You will never find a more complete collection from Iraq's #1 selling Artist of all time! Order now and we promise not to burn your hut to the ground! (Offer Void in Iraq).
Sadaam's Greatest Hits Collection
24 cows for the CD or 18 for Tape or Eight Track
103 Sadaam Lane Baghdad, Iraq 14330
Rush Delivery Available, Sorry No C.O.D's
Justin Guarini named McDonalds Employee of The Week
Justin Guarini, the runner up on the 1st installment of the hit show American Idol has been named McDonalds Employee Of The Week in only his first week on the job. Recently Dropped from his label, Justin has begun to explore other career possibilities. McDonalds Manager Jim Delbusio had this to say about his new star employee. "Oh he's a worker alright, I've never seen the grease traps sparkle as much as they did when he closed. If he keeps this up in a few years he could be the next Assistant Manager." Guarini's positive attitude and big smile has already earned him the respect of the local customers. "He's a nice boy." said Kathryn Stevens, a 71 year old who comes in for coffee every morning. "He has a bright future ahead of him." A bright future indeed.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Radiohead releases new album, ejaculation and economic debates ensue
On Septemeber 30, 2007, music nerds worldwide enjoyed a collective sexual release as Radiohead announced that their new album, In Rainbows, was coming out in only ten days. Even more surprising than the short time span between official announcement and album release, the band chose to not release the album through a record label, but instead released the album as a download on the internet. The price? Whatever you are willing to pay. WHAT THE HELL, MAN? These guys are breaking the laws of economics, because people are actually paying MONEY for something they could get for free. It's probably because Americans don't understand what the British pound symbol and think that it is the British Xanga equivalent of eProps, which, by the way, you can only give away in denominations of two for fear of being seen like a huge jerk.
The album itself sounds a lot like Radiohead. Around the office, people are saying things like:
"The first track seems to have some stuff that sounds like clapping on it!"
"God, the website looks like a fucking acid trip."
"In Rainbows is too cheerful a title for something that sounds like this...or anything else by Radiohead."
"HAHAHAHA THEY HAVE A SONG CALLED NUDE LOLZ!!!!1"
Upon the release of the new album, the members of Radiohead have been reported to be "looking somber and/or pensive" while swimming through "surprisingly large piles" of money.
The album itself sounds a lot like Radiohead. Around the office, people are saying things like:
"The first track seems to have some stuff that sounds like clapping on it!"
"God, the website looks like a fucking acid trip."
"In Rainbows is too cheerful a title for something that sounds like this...or anything else by Radiohead."
"HAHAHAHA THEY HAVE A SONG CALLED NUDE LOLZ!!!!1"
Upon the release of the new album, the members of Radiohead have been reported to be "looking somber and/or pensive" while swimming through "surprisingly large piles" of money.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
aFRAYd not
CD LOOKOUT!
For all of you die hard FRAY fans, the band with one song ,fifteen times, will be releasing an EP called The Reason. The reason for this is because so many people loved the band's 2005 release, How to Save a Life. Now you can hear the band's old stuff. Back when they were cool. Before they were big. For the Fraynatics. I for one won't be wasting my time. I'm not sure why a band like The Fray is putting out a stripped down, b-side styled album of loosely recorded old stuff when their whole thing is clean cut college companion music. Don't get it. Don't care. Good first post. I hate The Fray.
For all of you die hard FRAY fans, the band with one song ,fifteen times, will be releasing an EP called The Reason. The reason for this is because so many people loved the band's 2005 release, How to Save a Life. Now you can hear the band's old stuff. Back when they were cool. Before they were big. For the Fraynatics. I for one won't be wasting my time. I'm not sure why a band like The Fray is putting out a stripped down, b-side styled album of loosely recorded old stuff when their whole thing is clean cut college companion music. Don't get it. Don't care. Good first post. I hate The Fray.
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