Rev Stan’s Neighbors

Potpourri

nobody@vox.com(W♥M) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:49:11 +0100

09/06/2008 18:42:42 ♥ written by vu ()

Here are a few non-indie rock album reviews for you. One of the nicest thing about W♥M is that we don't necessary serve a niche music genre, so we're often sent a huge variety of music genre. Below are some genre of music that I don't normally listen to - but all equally enjoyable: oldies, reggae, death metal, and Christian.

By the way, someone should do an article called "putting the pot in potpourri" and have a series of, er, grassy music.

OPM
opmden.com ♥ myspace.com

OPM - Family and Friends

California's OPM's Golden State of Mind was released in August, and features a diverse collaborations with Jim Perkins (acoustic folk), Pato Banton (reggae), Big B (rap/hip hop) and Jamie Allensworth (soul/funk).

This album is mostly chill reggae, but with a small splash of rap - mostly through collaboration with Big B & Dirtball. This is also radio-reggae, so if you're looking for reggae dubs, you might want to look elsewhere - however fans of reggae should really enjoy the mix of rock, rap, reggae (and even punk!).

This band first exploded on the reggae scene with their major label (Atlantic) debut 2000 album, Menace To Sobriety, mostly due to their popular skater song, "Heaven Is a Halfpipe".

They left Atlantic and have been with Suburban Noize Records since 2004.

The one clear song that I think is such a good song is "Family & Friends". There are two mixes on this album, the Saber mix seems to stress certain music riffs/beats, but the original mix I thought was just fine - if not better as is. I think mostly because you can hear the vocals more clearly on the original mix.

It looks like they've been touring all summer long, and continuing:

15 Sep 2008 CROSSROADS Fresno, California
16 Sep 2008 FAT CAT Modesto, California
17 Sep 2008 FISHLIPS BAR AND GRILL Bakersfield, California
18 Sep 2008 JILLIANS Las Vegas, Nevada
20 Sep 2008 THE ROCK Tucson, Arizona
22 Sep 2008 HAILEY’S Denton, Texas
23 Sep 2008 EMO’S Austin, Texas
24 Sep 2008 THE ROCK BOTTOM San Antonio, Texas
26 Sep 2008 MERCY LOUNGE Nashville, Tennessee
27 Sep 2008 THE FIVE SPOT Atlanta, Georgia
28 Sep 2008 THE PARISH ROOM@ HOB New Orleans, Louisiana
29 Sep 2008 MARKET STREET PUB Gainesville, Florida
1 Oct 2008 JANNUS LANDING St. Petersburg, Florida
2 Oct 2008 CULTURE ROOM Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
3 Oct 2008 THE SOCIAL (TWO NIGHTS!) Orlando, Florida
4 Oct 2008 THE SOCIAL (TWO NIGHTS!) Orlando, Florida
5 Oct 2008 FREEBIRD’S Jacksonville, Florida
7 Oct 2008 THE MUSIC FARM Charleston, South Carolina
8 Oct 2008 THE NORVA Norfolk, Virginia
9 Oct 2008 RECHER THEATER Towson, Maryland
10 Oct 2008 JC DOBBS Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
11 Oct 2008 HARPER’S FERRY Allston, Massachusetts
12 Oct 2008 WEBSTER UNDERGROUND Hartford, Connecticut
13 Oct 2008 HIGHLINE BALLROOM New York City, New York
15 Oct 2008 MOD CLUB Toronto, Ontario
16 Oct 2008 THE SHELTER (downstairs St. Andrews) Detroit, Michigan
17 Oct 2008 THE BASEMENT Columbus, Ohio
18 Oct 2008 REGGIE’S ROCK CLUB Chicago, Illinois
19 Oct 2008 PEABODY’S Cleveland, Ohio
21 Oct 2008 THE ANNEX Madison, Wisconsin
23 Oct 2008 STATION 4 Saint Paul, Minnesota
24 Oct 2008 RECORD BAR Kansas City, Missouri
25 Oct 2008 GOTHIC THEATER Denver, Colorado
26 Oct 2008 THE BELLY UP Aspen, Colorado
27 Oct 2008 AVALON THEATER Salt Lake City, Utah
28 Oct 2008 THE BIG EASY Boise, Idaho
29 Oct 2008 HAWTHORNE THEATER Portland, Oregon
30 Oct 2008 MEDIA CLUB Vancouver, British Columbia
1 Nov 2008 EL CORAZON Seattle, Washington
5 Nov 2008 THE HOUSE OF BLUES West Hollywood, California
6 Nov 2008 THE HOUSE OF BLUES San Diego, California
7 Nov 2008 THE PHOENIX THEATER Petaluma, California
8 Nov 2008 SENATOR THEATER Chico, California
9 Nov 2008 SLO VETS HALL San Lius Obispo, California

PS, I never found out what OPM stands for. Is it for "Other People's Money"?

STEPHANIE
iamstephanie.net ♥ myspace.com

Stephanie - The Rain

You probably don't know this, but I often get interested potential writers with interesting proposals for music angles. One of them included someone who wanted to write about Christian music, so I requested some of this genre of music from our PR people. When it came to actually producing reviews, that person was never heard from again.

I haven't gotten a Christian album in a while, but this one recently turned up: the self-titled album by the artist simply known as "Stephanie".

Surely she must know that she's not the only musician called Stephanie? I had a heck of a hard time looking up her myspace/website.

With the exception of the live recording of "Wake up Arise", all of these songs are studio-recorded and mixed. It sounds very clear and professional - including the live song.

The closest "rock" song is the ironically named "Back to the Rock", featuring pianos and Céline Dion-style singing and wooing. I did enjoy her songs when it had more than a few instrument arrangement, like "The Rain", "Through Christ" (electric guitar!), and "Back to the Rock", as they seem to bring more of a full-music experience for me - at least for this album.

I can understand the route to keep it simple (either with just pianos or acoustic guitar), because I felt they were trying to spotlight Stephanie's vocals. If you like vocals and minimal music, songs to check out are "Now I Know", "Bless Those Beside Me", and "Take Away".

The overall feel of this album is that it's Christian pop music, at times inspirational. If you enjoy other Christian pop acts like Amy Grant, this should fit right in. After a few listen, you forget that it's even Christian, despite the obvious religious overtones.

If you're in the Texas area and just generally like pop music, you should check her out:

14 Sep 2008 Word of Love Church Hurst, Texas
28 Sep 2008 Lighthouse Fellowship Church Ft.Worth, TX
24 Oct 2008 Seekers Coffee Shop Hurst, Texas

THE PONSONBY DC'S
myspace.com/ponsonbydcs

The Ponsonby DC's - Just Another Kick

This band doesn't have anything to do with death, sans for their gloomy "Death Doom and Destruction". This song is actually pretty good, sampling some speech from George Bush.

This band have been around since 1984 (WTF!) and currently based out of Canterbury, New Zealand, according to their myspace.

By 1986, this band was in top form with their self-titled album featured in Spin Magazine and all over the college radio airwaves.

Their sixth and latest album is called That's What All The Girls Say, released this year. Just look at their cover art, featuring what looks like a "serious" Cubism style - yet showing a pop-art style of a boat captain to the right. Maybe I'm over analyzing it, but this has a very serious and a not-so-serious tone to it.

This also reflects in their songs, some songs have modern social commentaries to them, like the "Death" song mentioned above to "Pluto's Not A Planet Anymore". Other songs ("Son of a Street Fighting Man", "Girls!") are just fun.

Other trends I notice from this band is that they have a late 50s "oldies but goodies" feel to them. Check out "Little Baby You're Mine" and "Ponsonby Waltz", both are well worth a look if you love classic oldies songs - done by a modern band.

PS, Gavin Buxton's NZ accent definitely shows up on "Just Another Kick" and "Son of a Street Fighting Man". I love it!

NETHERBIRD
netherbird.com ♥ myspace.com

Netherbird-Forever Mournful

Since we already mentioned the life-inspiration songs of Stephanie, I thought it would be fun to balance it with a little bit of the Dark Side. Usually I reserve this sort of music for Dr Soup, as this is a death (read: Satan) metal band from Sweden.

I was actually pretty impressed with the production on The Bone Collector, it doesn't sound too "cookie monster" but it's clear that their inspiration lies in death metal. Even though I think some of their songs sounds like operatic metal (especially on "Carcess Symphony").

I thought "Forever Mournful" was the stand-out track on this album - and I'll tell you why. You have Nephente's demonic/agonizing vocals (I'm not even sure what he's saying!!) with a counterpoint of a sweet, angelic voice (no idea who's singing as the promo copy I have doesn't have any liner notes). The song lends itself to an epic feel as its theme seem to flow right into "Adrift Towards Eternity" (with its sweet violins and thunderstorm soundclip).

Speaking of epic, check out "Boulevard Black" - the very first song that Netherbird recorded. This is a fourteen minute, utilizing lots of guitar, bird sounds (crows?), pianos, and includes a semi-cheesy voice over that seems to sound like an old 80s horror movie. Even the reprise song have a feel of Phantom of the Opera with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre!

The most surprising thing I found out is that Target.com is carrying their CD. Wow, right? Apparently there is a standard release and a collector's edition - as usual, I always suggest getting the deluxe version if you can swing it.

Links: www.weheartmusic.com news.weheartmusic.com wp.weheartmusic.com podcast.weheartmusic.com

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

New favorite documentary

nobody@vox.com(Ginger_sister) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 23:17:14 +0100

Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?

From the creator/subject of Supersize me comes by far the funniest and yet poignant documentary I've seen in a long time. Spurlock goes to Morocco, Egypt, Israel and Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan in the hunt for Bin Laden, and also learns some important things along the way. The impetus for this journey is the impending birth of his child, and the thoughts of fear about the world he's coming in to.
Plus there is humor. That always helps. Such as the 'Mortal Combat'-esque fight in the trailer park with Osama, and this scene (great predator reference) with the M.C. Hammer soundtrack:

Osama Break Dancing Music Video

Go watch this movie. I highly recommend adding it to your library.

It is also very timely considering the discourses from both candidates about "Gates of Hell" and finishing what should have been started. We'll see if they learn as much as Spurlock. I'd be interested to know what some of the rest of you think once you've seen the movie.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

The Navy SEAL Fitness Challenge

nobody@vox.com(Chris Vaughn) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:02:27 +0100

Today, I'm at the U.S. Navy SEAL Fitness Challenge in Chicago. SEAL, which stands for Sea, Air, and Land, are the navy's elite special ops unit. They have these fitness challenges through out the country, today's event was held right here in Chicago at the University of Illinois. The participants have to swim 500 yards, do a minimum of 42 push-ups, 42 sit-ups, and run 1.5 miles. All of these are timed events. I quess I should just admit that I'm NOT 21 anymore. Heck, when I was 21 I would have had a very tough time doing this stuff. When this is all over, I'm gonna drag myself to a drug store and get some Ben-Gay. Oh, I think I'll run to a KFC for a bucket of chicken, too.

The Navy SEAL Fitness Challenge

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

question:

nobody@vox.com(Ginger_sister) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 17:33:00 +0100

Can anyone tell me why some of my album artwork loads up and some doesn't? All the ones I'm adding have artwork attached to them in Itunes, but it doesn't seem to come through onto Vox. There are some I've uploaded before from Itunes, from the same album, and they come through with the artwork? I went to the help menu, and it was less than helpful. I'm just so sick of the standard pink 'artwork' and would like to upload my stuff with the original artwork. Any suggestions? Or even a way to use a different graphic than the standard?
Thanks

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

clothes shopping un-bliss

nobody@vox.com(Ginger_sister) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:00:51 +0100

I went clothes shopping tonight.
At first I thought I was in heaven.
The colors were all mustard and pumpkin, chartreuse, sienna, olive, navy...The colors that make my hair sing.
The fashions were beautiful. Even for people 'traditionally built" (thank you Precious Ramotswe) women like me. All Katherine Hepburn trousers, Audrey Hepburn jackets and tops. Classic looks with a European flair.
For the first time in I don't know how long I actually am excited about buying clothes. I feel like I can dress with the style I have in me.
Then I start looking at sizes.
All the clothes on clearance have my size.
None of the new ones do.
I even asked.
They didn't receive any beyond two sizes smaller than I am.
Staff even said it was unusual, but they don't have anything to do with it.
I know I'm overweight, but that doesn't mean I can't look good.
So I'm classy, but still on the inside.
GRR.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Zombie Blondes

nobody@vox.com(Ginger_sister) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 02:49:04 +0100

Read it.
Kinda liked it.
Bit melodramatic.

Zombie Blondes

Brian James

And Juvenile.
But not bad.

The one issue I had?

Well the lawyer in me says it best "assumes facts not in evidence"
There were many times in the books where characters did things, or knew things that weren't shared/explained. It was fairly glaring, not easily overlooked. Drove me nuts.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Everything's smoothed over. Everything's great.

nobody@vox.com(Soup) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 01:13:38 +0100

Well, except for being one of what seems to be a dying breed of people who strives to see the world with clarity, but that's another story entirely.

Meat Extender is on the same page as itself. Expect new extensions of our meat whenever we get around to putting them on a computer. Our new song, "Stagnant" is pretty sick. Old-school hardcore breakdown, lyrics about boredom and doing something about it for yourself. I like to think it's kind of a return to the old-school hardcore we all know and love. Punk is dead and we're feasting on its rotting corpse. Up the fucking punx! Or something.

My acoustic guitar has 6 strings again. I'm also stoked on that.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Remote Control Frequencies

nobody@vox.com(W♥M) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:48:27 +0100

09/05/2008 18:44:22 ♥ written by appples ()

Remote Control Frequencies-Escape Plan

Remote Control Frequencies

Ok I'm just going to start off by saying this sort of noisy, ambient, sample ridden cluster fuck of sound is so up my alley it's actually IN my alley. And to quote a famous new wave band, I just can't get enough. Remote Control Frequencies latest album Tempus is about 45 minutes of some of the coolest stuff I've heard in a while. It's all fuzzy guitar, echoplex madness, swirling drones, manic organs and vocals that are just buried under all that sound. Throw in a healthy serving of what sound like samples from late night infomercials and you've got yourself one hell of a party. I would really be hard pressed to narrow this down to one genre so I'll go ahead and describe this best as ambient post shoe gaze hip-hop.

Remote Control Frequencies is a two man wrecking crew of awesomeness consisting of R-Rock handling the vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass, noise, digital signal treatments and other effects with long time collaborator LG handling the drums. there are a few guest appearances on the album by Player 1, PJ Sumroc, and Sharkula. Despite all the sonic madness there is still an underlying pop sensibility here that is very keen. The hushed vocals do a great job of not overpowering the true artistry of the music, and overall R-Rock and LG have done a splendid job of taking elements from a diverse selection of genres and creating an pastiche of musical styles. I would definitely suggest this album for fans of psychedelic music and pretty much everyone with an open mind about music.

You can find out more about Remote Control Frequencies by visiting their myspace page at www.myspace.com/rcf (although they claim to have lost the password so it might not be updated), or by going to their label's web site at www.tslos.com, and as always be sure to stay tuned to W♥M for the latest in independent music. Next week I'll be dusting off the old phonograph to bring you a few gems from my vinyl collection. Yay records!

Stay classy internettes,
Appples

Links: myspace.com/rcf

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Leeone at Acadia Cafe, Minneapolis (09/04/08)

nobody@vox.com(W♥M) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:37:23 +0100

09/05/2008 08:29:50 ♥ written by vu ()

Tour Dates

09/10/08 Boston Music Festival - Ned Devine’s Boston, Massachusetts
09/20/08 Atlantis Music Festival @ Smith’s Olde Bar (Atlanta Room) Atlanta, Georgia
10/02/08 Spike Hill Brooklyn, New York
10/05/08 Rockwood Music Hall NYC

Discography

[2003] in this life, on this road.	[2004] Hail to the Queen	[2007] Imaginary Biographies, B-Sides (Digital Only)
[2007] Imaginary Biographies

Set List ♥ Arcadia, Minneapolis (09/04/08)

Leerone - To Fill the Void

Leerone

The Acadia sits across the 400 Bar, but you wouldn't know it was called the Acadia as the signage reads "RIVERSIDE". I've seen this place from the outside through its numerous large windows and looking in at the band on stage.

I don't know how often these "Diverse Emerging Music Organization" (DEMO) shows goes on, but they seem to operate on donations and benefits local artists. I caught the last few songs of Backstories, a full band and all nicely dressed. I don't really know the band's back stories (haha), I'll bet they get that a lot. They have some songs available for download on their myspace.

Eli Ratner said it was his first time playing (I thought he meant his first gig ever), but I guess he meant at the Acadia. He seems really comfortable on stage with his acoustic guitar. It would seem, according to his myspace, that he's normally a duo with Peter VonDeLinde.

It's clear that the real star is Leerone, who earlier in the day appeared in St Paul's Station 4. The report I got was that her keyboard "got messed up" and she ended up renting a full Yamaha keyboard.

Her set was understandably short, lasting no more than 45 minutes, and included a "made up" a cappella song that's not written on the set list.

Highlight of the show seems to be the announcer calling her "Leeroni" and "Leerona".

PS, more details later, including pictures and art.

Links: www.leerone.com myspace.com/mynameisleerone

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

A couple other things. Yeah, sorry, I'm not done.

nobody@vox.com(Soup) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:24:07 +0100

Meat Extender is not a joke band. I have no interest in playing with joke bands, at least, not as one of them. I have no interest in doing any overly jokey things with this band. Yes, it's mostly something we're all doing for fun, and, of course, it should be fun, and I realize almost everyone involved has too many obligations to take this thing too seriously. But I'm not going to let anyone involved treat it like some shitty novelty act, because it's not a shitty novelty act. I do want it to be a "real band." It can be a "real band." Here are some things I really want to say, and I figure I'm not going to be happy until they're said, so I'm posting this against my better judgement. I might as well just spit it out now:

No gimmicks, please. That shit is for novelty bands and novelty bands only. Let's not talk about promo pictures (in fact, fuck promo pictures; promo pics are for tools), or really, anything but music. In fact, let's not do anything but music. That's what a band is for.
Cut the shameless self-promotion. Keep it professional.
Ideally, I feel a punk band should play all-ages shows only. We have too much 21+ shit in this town as it is. It's the DIY all-ages places keeping Boise alive, keeping the kids interested in "the scene," keeping us all from just looking like an embarrassing old man circle jerk like the ones the metal and "indie rock" scenes here probably always were, while the kids lose interest, while we get old, while the scene dies out because no one younger than us actually gives a shit. I don't know if you've noticed, but a hell of a lot of the kids adding us on MySpace are under 21. What does it say to them if we're playing at bars with bands that play in bars? What does it say to them when they have to wait for us to play a show they can actually get into to see us? What good is a show where everyone is too afraid of spilling their $4 beer to actually have fun? Fuck that! We all know damn well that every show in a bar would be a thousand times more fun if it were at a house or something, or at least, being put on somewhere where anyone, regardless of their age or how much money they have or are willing to throw down, can come out. Besides, I can't even fucking breathe comfortably in a bar. How am I supposed to sing in one?
That said, I wouldn't be caught dead attending something as terminally lame as a burlesque show. I'm sure as shit not playing one. This should all go without saying. Don't even think about trying to get us booked on that show. That shit is for nu-metal bands exclusively.

Just some stuff I need to get off my chest. I'm sorry for not being tactful about a time and place to spit it out, but I needed to get this all out right now because it was driving me fucking crazy all bottled up. Please don't take it the wrong way.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend