Videos of the Day 2 FOR 1 (Refused 'New Noise' and At The Drive In 'Invalid Letter Dept.')

In honor of two of the better post hardcore bands of my youth (you know back when I could actually discover bands via TV) reuniting, I give you the following:



AND



I lived in these albums between the ages of 17 and 22, and I recently revisited both. Strangely, the Refused album still holds up as one of the greatest workout albums ever (along with Around the Fur by Deftones and the first System of a Down album). The loud quiet loud tenseness still kicks your ass almost 15 years later.

The At The Drive In album came along at just the right time, and gave us probably the strangest radio hit ever in 'One Armed Scissor'. And boy, to someone who was dabbling in more indie sounds but still intrenched in the Korn-Sevendust style bullshit that everyone was listening to, was this record a godsend! I remember nearly shatting myself when I got a tape of the 'Invalid Letter Dept." video on a mix of MTV2 videos from a buddy in high school (the other choice cut on the tape was the 'Gravel Pit' video by Wu-Tang). In the days before videos were available online, it was a real coup to score that.

Hopefully both Refused and At The Drive In will swing by MPLS instead of just playing festivals. God knows I will be rocking out like it is 2001 if they do.

Xmas Song of the Day - 'Wonderful Christmastime' by Sir Paul

Let's kick off the week of Christmas with some "cheer". By cheer I mean "the Christmas song I hate the fucking most". I have always loved the Beatles and have come to love Paul McCartney's songcraft as an adult. Wingspan maybe has been bumped more than any other greatest hits I own. Yet all that love cannot make up for this lovely little ditty that was dropped on us:



Thank god the only place I have heard this song this year was a liquor store. Being surrounded by all that sexy ass beer made me forget about what was aurally raping me for a minute.

I used to have a coworker at Starbucks who would sing this song in July just to piss me off. So even when I am getting a latte I now harken back to that random whaa-whaa noise in the song. Thanks Paul, first you ruined coffee with this:

http://stereogum.com/5532/why_isnt_starbucks_playing_paul_mccartney/video/

and then you got all up in my cup with your horseshit carol.

My only saving grace for years was that, according to Wikipedia back in the day, 'Wonderful Christmastime' caused tens of Japanese to kill themselves. Now suicide is a sad thing (and IS NOT a solution, no matter what Ozzy said) but the thought of people killing themselves because of this song gave me a sort of righteous feeling. "I was right! It is that bad," I told myself. But then it disappeared off the wiki page around 2007, and I was stuck with the cold reality that 'Wonderful Christmastime' was just a pax on my eardrums for two months a year. Nothing more, nothing less.

Song of the Day - 'Bad Boy' by Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine

I found this 45 for 50 cents (with the picture sleeve!) today. I don't know if there is a single 80s song that encapsulates the awesomeness of the pop music of that decade better...



Strangely this is not the version of the video I remember as a kid. I remember the Machine and Gloria (GLOR-IA!) partying on some beach in Miami, wearing very 80s bathing suits. You know, the ladies in bikinis that looked like a bow tie and the dudes in little Speedo joints. I sort of like the weird vibe of this one more though.

I think it's pretty damn tubular, or rad, or gnarly that Gloria is partying with the cast of Cats. You really can't get much more 80s than that can you?

Song of the Day - 'Don't Cry No Tears' by Neil Young

It's winter time, a time for seasonal depression, hot toddies (not the Usher and Jay-Z version) and more seasonal depression. So ladies and gents, I give you the best breakup song by old Uncle Neil to wallow in your winter blues:



Somehow it took me until October to buy the album "Zuma". Wow, was I missing out. I'm pretty sure this joint trumps about half of the other Neil Young albums I own (espcially "American Stars N Bars"). And 'Don't Cry No Tears' is the best opener on a Neil Young record. For the historical record, 'Cinnamon Girl' of "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere" is second.

Bonus points to this song for sounding like it was recorded in about 1994 by some really good Seattle band. It's true, Uncle Neil was the "Godfather of Grunge", even though that title is pretty icky. DOUBLE bonus points for the song 'Cortez the Killer' on this album birthing Built To Spill. Because I wouldn't be a complete human being if "There's Nothing Wrong With Love" didn't come into my life in college.

So thanks again, Neil Young. Your supernatural abilities to create well rounded emotional dainty weirdoes like me are greatly appreciated.

Song of the Day - 'Nightcrusing' by the Bar-Kays

Work has beat me like Ike on Tina lately, so tonight I was coolin' in my mansion bumping Motown Christmas and hating Diana Ross (due to what Nas said she did at Florence Ballard's funeral). For some reason Christmas music makes me sad and happy at the same time, so after that record I threw on this 50 cent cutout bin jam:



Oh damn, is this one some early 80s monster funk. God how I love the whining synths of this era. I never tire of the blend of synthetic and natural that makes early 80s soul so unique. It was baby making music made by a robot/loverman hybrid, and it totally gets me going.

Just for shits, I will throw another track from this album into the mix:



Now THIS is the truth! "I'm your Freaky Behavior/Your funky New Waver". All of us in the know know that New Wavers were fon-kay, especially the black ones that previously recorded 'Soul Finger'. Gotta give it up to these cuts, they don't make ANYTHING that sounds like this anymore (like I said, a robot/loverman mated with a Pac Man machine). And that truly is a damn shame.

Song of the Day - 'Tulsa Time' by Don Williams

Oh boy does this song rock hard for a country song. I had heard the Eric Clapton cover before but the Don Williams version is the Gangsta Shit with a capital "G" and "S". Plus, Don Williams looks pretty badass (even though I think his nickname was "The Gentle Giant").

Songs like this and 'Guitar Town' by Steve Earle make me want to be a shit kicking country troubadour, living out of a beat up bag and banging Lot Lizards. There is a certain sense of freedom in being alone on the road, nothing but you and the next exit and the song on the radio. Unfortunately, I will probably still just work tirelessly at a desk, not knowing what it is like to live on Tulsa Time (or any exotic time for that matter).

Song of the Day - "Make It With You" by Bread

This one goes out to the Saint Louis Cardinals, champions of the National League. Why, you ask? Because the Cardinals are much like this song. Technically proficient, very popular in the Midwest, and sort of boring. And also, I watch the Cards absent minded. Much like I listen to this song.

Maybe I am becoming MOR (much like Bread, who were the kings of Middle of the Road)? Tonight I ate sausages and beans with apple pie and watched sitcoms on CBS. Granted, one I was watching because it is awesome (How I Met Your Mother) and the other I was watching because I was transfixed by the tremenjousness of Kat Dennings ample, ample bosom (Two Broke Girls, I think). The first one makes me feel sad and warm at the same time in a very good way, and the other one featured a "wad in the face joke" and two reasons to tune in every week.

To stave off this MOR, middle age, wearing PJs at 8PM vibe, I think I need to listen to some Wire or Mission of Burma or something. But I'll probably just continue to Wikipedia food and defunct newspapers with SportsCenter on in the background for the next three hours and drift off to bed.

Song of the Day - "Hey Hey What Can I Do" by Led Zeppelin

So this is what constituted a B-Side in 1970? Jesus Fuck, what a jam! I found this 45 for a quarter the other day, and it totally blows 'Immigrant Song' (the A-Side) out of the water. And previously I thought nothing could blow that out of anything, because it was all about vikings and pillaging and probably also had references to the fine ass 15 year olds Jimmy Page was nailing back then.

But 'Hey Hey' comes with some hot fire about a mean woman who can ball all day, and who won't be true. That's not usually a good combo for a life partner, but I think the boys from the LZ weren't really looking for wifeys. The part where Mister Plant wails about going to church still confuses the fuck out of me though.

From doing a little research, I learned that this nugget was supposed to be on Led Zeppelin III. I am pretty sure it would have been a better song than 'Hats Off (To Roy Harper)' but there ain't no way it's fucking with the pastoral majesty of 'Tangerine'. All in all though, it makes me long for the time that bands were so badass that they could put something like 'Hey Hey' on a B-Side because they were just that damn good.

Song of the Day - 'Destination Unknown' by Missing Persons

This has always been one of the quintessential New Wave songs for me. I found the parent record "Spring Session M" today for 50 cents and I've been bumping it this evening. It's surprisingly pretty strong, and surprisingly sounds sort of contemporary (methinks the overwhelming trend of Turbo Pop on pop top 40 and dance rock on alt rock may have something to do with it). "Spring Session M" also has the awesome (and New Wave as fuck) 'Walking in L.A' and 'Words' on it.

It all makes me want to put on some leg warmers and hit up an abandoned factory to dance Footloose style.

Song of the Day - "Perfect Strangers Theme"

I have had a goal for the last ten years or so to turn this show into a Broadway musical. Since everything seems to be a fucking musical these days, I think my plan needs to come to fruition finally.

The setup is perfect. Vaguely Greek fish out of water/gay dude from Beverly Hills Cop, high flying Peter Pan pitchman. Lots of chicks with (presumably) feathered hair and pastels. The whitest description of Chicago ever portrayed in entertainment. And doesn't the tune make you want to take the world by the short hairs? "My life, my dreams, NOTHING'S GONNA STOP ME NOW!" How could it fail?

I'm going to Chi City next week for work. I may have to start doing some preliminary research while I'm there for my $10 million idea...

Winnipeg Day 2 & 3

Okay, so it's been a busy week since I returned from Winnipeg. I figure that I should at least finish what I started with a day two rundown of the trip, you know.

Most of day two in Winnipeg was spent dodging drunken Indian folk waiting at bus stops (again) and acquiring Canadian stuff. I bought a "Canada" Starbucks mug, a shit ton of Canadian goodies that you can't find here (Ketchup and All Dressed chips, a Cadbury Halloween assortment, Aero Bars) and ate some Boston's. Yes, I broke my trip rule and ate at a chain restaurant we have in the U.S. But at least I ordered a Molson "M"...which was like a boozier, skunkier version of Canadian. It was wonderful.

The whole draw of the trip was seeing Pearl Jam. And holy shit, they did not dissapoint. We ended up sitting 4th row, and at one point I was like ten feet from Eddie Vedder. I've been close at concerts to artists before, but never someone of the magnitude of Mister Vedder. I have a weird quirk where I don't really view celebrities or musicians as real people, they kind of exist as a cross between a demigod and a robot in my odd mind. So being that close to one of my favorite artists of all time blew my cranium up in ways I can't really put into words other than "fucking rad".

The set list was nowhere near as mind blowing as the two nights in Alpine Valley, but it was solid. I never much cared for the song 'Present Tense' but PJ was on some chhhuuuuuuch shit doing it live. It was my second favorite live moment by the band (numero uno was 'In My Tree' live at the PJ20 shows). And they closed with 'Indifference', which meant over the course of two weeks I pretty much got to see all of Ten and .vs done live.

Checkout time from the shit hole known as the Marlborough Hotel was probably the biggest buzzkill I have ever experienced. My friends driver side window was smashed in (probably by the awesomely named Winnipeg gang "Money Over Bitches"). Since the city is closed on Sundays, we had to drive 7 hours home with an open window. Not even the awesomeness of Tim Horton's could save the return.

Overall, the trip to the great white north was pretty so-so. Canada has it's own social problems (that I didn't ever expect to and never have come across up there) but at least Pearl Jam rocked. Maybe if they play Toronto or Thunder Bay or something next time, I'd be more pumped. Winnipeg is going to be on the "do not visit" list for the forseeable future though.

Song of the Day - 'Redemption' by Frank Turner

This song comes on like a transmission from some other time, when songwriters (well, besides maybe Craig Finn) could be vunreable, could be a fucked up mess. This is about as far away from pop music as you can get today, and that's a very good thing. Leave the party to clowns like LMFAO, let's hear some goddamn real talk for once.

Is the grass always greener on the other side when you are in a meandering relationship? Can we make our lives better than our parents? We all may think that it's better with someone new, that a college degree or a better car than mom and dad is a win. Usually that's not the case, and you want back with that old flame or you respect what your elders had that you don't.

The whole "England Keep My Bones" album is fantastic, but this is the cut that you will keep coming back to.

Song of the Day - R.E.M. - Leaving New York

R.E.M. was around so damn long it seemed people forgot about just how awesome they were. This makes my top five R.E.M songs list, and is one that most people slept on. I could have as easily have gone with 'At My Most Beautiful' or 'Bang and Blame' or 'Mine Smell Like Honey' as another great overlooked single.

Cheers to 31 years, for inventing (along with The Replacements, Husker Du, The Minutemen, et al) Alt Rock Nation. And for providing me with the cassingle for 'Shiny Happy People' when I was 10...

Winnipeg Day 1

The Great White North is riddled with homeless Indian punks...or that is what I took away from my first night in Winnipeg.

I left MPLS at 8 yesterday to head up to Winnipeg for a Pearl Jam show. The drive only took about seven hours, bit felt much longer because I was driving through the barren wasteland that in North Dakota. The only Ndak highlight was stopping at a gas station called Superpumper (which I will call the first porn I direct). At about 4PM we rolled into the land that 1989 forgot...Winnipeg.

Everything here looks like a suburb circa 1989. Tons of neon signage for gas stations, grocery stores and fast food places. Lots of sweatpants. It's sort of comforting in it's time warpedness. As we were about to go out and enjoy some Poutine for the evening, I got harassed for 35 cents by a homeless Indian in a Winnipeg Blue Bombers hat (the script kind that Rappers used to wear in the late 80s). I also watched a bunch of Indian punks in Tupac and Kimbo Slice hoodies loiter at a bus stop. It was sort of surreal. In MPLS, you can go a lifetime without seeing an Indian hip hop punk. Here, I saw 10 in five minutes.

Anyways, the Poutine was delicious. There were three news stories in thirty minutes about the Jets coming back, my credit card stopped working due to it crossing an international border, and I passed out after three beers at 11pm ( only to be awakened mid sleep by my neighbors headboard slamming on the wall). Very odd evening and I hope day 2 turns out a tad less odd.

Song of the Day - 'Here You Come Again' by Dolly Parton

This sounds like sunshine. It is like bouncing down a sidewalk on a summer day, bomb pop in hand, on the way to 7-Eleven to buy some baseball cards.

I would like to dedicate it to Tom Brady, because your supreme masculinity, flowing hair, dime piece wifey and football godhood make me fall for you. Like Debbie Gibson, I get lost. Lost in your eyes.

1994 MTV Rock N Jock Basketball

I cannot describe how giddy I was to find this on YouTube today.

You've got Rapaport, you've got Queen Latifah ballin' out of control. Shawn Kemp treating this game like it's the fucking actual All-Star game. The legendary Bellamy-Cortese rivalry. Kareem coaching. Mad buttcuts on the white dudes. The 25 point shot!Did I mention Rapaport?

I would kill for this to be released on DVD. This is the visual equivalent of Prozac, it's guaranteed to break you out of a funk.

Two Grown Ass Men Chat About "Thunder Island"

The song "Thunder Island" by Jay Ferguson is one of the most hot fire, bodacious, awesome songs of the 70s. Sung about some sort of tryst with a girl who's hair was "the color of an Indian Summer", the song reached #9 in 1978. As a child, I always had assumed that Ferguson and that fine ass little lass got stranded on Thunder Island in some sort of Blue Lagoon type thang and just banged like rabbits. Well, the other day at work, my co-hort Jeff Hill disagreed with these findings. The following transcript is what followed (Please Note: Vampiro is Vampire Weekend):

From: Hill, Jeffrey
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 2:05 PM
To: Jacob Eickholt
Subject: RE:

And you call yourself a music fan. That’s child’s play.

From: Jacob Eickholt
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 2:06 PM
To: Hill, Jeffrey
Subject: RE:

Kids are the ones who don’t hold the infamous Vampiro in high regard…

From: Hill, Jeffrey
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 2:09 PM
To: Jacob Eickholt
Subject: RE:

Adolescent minds are the ones who put Vampiro up on a pedestal. I put some effort in and gave them a listen with an open mind. I just didn’t feel them except for 1 track.

From: Jacob Eickholt
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 2:10 PM
To: Hill, Jeffrey
Subject: RE:

And their cover of ‘I’m Going Down’.

I can’t believe you don’t like ‘Eye In The Sky’ by the Alan Parsons Project btw…

From: Hill, Jeffrey
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 2:14 PM
To: Jacob Eickholt
Subject: RE:

My bad, they have two good songs. That was a good cover.

It’s an epic journey that I want no part of. The most epic journey I can be a part of is with my man Jay Ferguson out on Thunder Island.From: Jacob Eickholt

Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 2:15 PM
To: Hill, Jeffrey
Subject: RE:

They also have a killer cover of “Everywhere” by Fleetwood Mac as well…as well as most of their songs.

That is a very epic journey. As a kid I always felt like he was accidentally stranded there, and that it was a very similar situation to Brooke Shields on Blue Lagoon.

From: Hill, Jeffrey
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 2:18 PM
To: Jacob Eickholt
Subject: RE:

I wouldn’t know about that cover.

Oh he wanted to be out on that beach. I look at it like Leo getting a secret map to go out on a beautiful paradise where only the beautiful ones are welcome like in the hit film ‘The Beach’.

From: Jacob Eickholt
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 2:22 PM
To: Hill, Jeffrey
Subject: RE:

You should.

Are you sure? I like that theory but were there other people on that beach too? I feel it was just them and they passed the hours without number, then escaped and had to say goodbye to the island.

From: Hill, Jeffrey
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 2:28 PM
To: Jacob Eickholt
Subject: RE:

It was just him and his boo out on that island. The severe weather brought them closer together and their relationship grew stronger after leaving Thunder Island.

From: Jacob Eickholt
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 2:30 PM
To: Hill, Jeffrey
Subject: RE:

Who are you, a romance novel writer? It was a dude and some chick brought together by circumstance, and all they did was discover each others company and never talk again after leaving that magical island.

From: Hill, Jeffrey
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 2:45 PM
To: Jacob Eickholt
Subject: RE:

Jay Ferguson was a gentleman sir! I will not sit here and allow you to drag his good name through the mud.

From: Jacob Eickholt
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 3:47 PM
To: Hill, Jeffrey
Subject: RE:

He was no such thing. An amazing tunesmith, yes he was. He was similar to my styles…

From: Hill, Jeffrey
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 4:02 PM
To: Jacob Eickholt
Subject: RE:

He may have been running around before but that island changed him. After the storm he realized just how sacred life is. He realized that if he could conquer everything that Thunder Island threw at him, he could conquer anything else in life. That island made him a better person.

From: Jacob Eickholt
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 4:05 PM
To: Hill, Jeffrey
Subject: RE:

You need help. PS I am going to publish this as a transcript on my blog.

And life is not sacred…

From: Hill, Jeffrey
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 4:10 PM
To: Jacob Eickholt
Subject: RE:

If Jay Ferguson still tours and if he ever comes to Minneapolis, we are so getting front row tix.

An Ode To A Sammich

I had just gone record shopping
I bought some Cheap Trick and some Icehouse, maybe some fiddy cent a-ha
Denny's beckoned, I needed you inside me
I sat alone, ordered a Diet Coke and You
You were more carbs than even this seasoned eater could take
Glistening with cheddar, mayo, more cheddar, and gravy
Like a poorer man's Poutine
One time was enough, but I will never forget our nooner
Denny's Midwestern Meat and Potatoes Sandwich

Old School Video of the Day "----------" by ________

I can't name this post or mention the artist for certain reasons beyond my control...but I can speak in codes about them.

Today ended a four day week where I almost put in 40 hours. I was all amped up for a night of drinking, but I got a migraine. Plus, the Twins are getting spanked hard. Then I went on YouTube, and I saw this:



Holy shit, watching this is like slamming a Full Throttle and snorting a pixy stick. Look at that energy! And it's on the Grammys, and this artist was killing it. One of the top five ever to get in the music game, at the top of their powers, proving the title of the song more than apt. And even the drummer gets some.

If you don't find this amazing, I can't fathom how we could be friends. I also can't fathom how you could like music, the color purple, entertainment, humanity or life itself.

Old School Video of the Day "In These Arms" by Bon Jovi

MTV turned 30 today. Think about that for a second...

Today's video is by a band that probably wouldn't have been huge without MTV. Sure, some of Bon Jovi's singles may have cracked radio in the pre-video days, but MTV made the group mega stars. I mean, Dokken rocked harder and had better singles (well, pre "Slippery When Wet") but no one remembers "Breaking The Chains" the same way they remember comparable Bon Jovi fare like "In and Out of Love" and "Runaway".



And guess what? Yep, it's a concert video. I honestly cannot remember a Bon Jovi video that is non-concert. Well, maybe that "Livin On A Prayer" remake they did called "It's My Life" but I think they may have even been on stage in that. Also, please note that this is from the JBJ era where he thought he was going to be an ACTORRRR and trimmed his Aqua Net perfect mane for a quasi-lesbian joint. (Maybe that is why this only cracked the top 30?).

Anyways, this song is probably my favorite work by the group that isn't called "Bad Medicine" or came off of "Slippery When Wet". I recently found the 45 for this one in a stack I hadn't gone through in a while and I have been bumping it on the reg. Brings back warm childhood memories of Ghost in the Graveyard and watching Studs.