think locally

FISHBONE at Crazy Donkey, Farmingdale. September 27. Fishbone is significant to me for a variety of reasons. 1- I had their self-titled record from 1985, on cassette. In art class in 7th grade, this kid grabbed the tape from me and put it in the classroom's player. And played the end of "Lyin Ass Bitch." Listen to it if you don't know what I'm talking about. We got in trouble. 2- Fishbone (with Primus) was the show where I first crowd-surfed. Damn what a rush. And it was during their heyday. (side note- going to shows in the early 90s was a fantastic era for crowd-surfing, it's not the same anymore). 3- I interviewed bassist Norwood via phone live on my radio show and he said "c*ck." 4- All of that happened without Fishbone ever being one of my favorite bands.
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on September 30, Kenyon is DJing with a ton of other people in Brooklyn at some big 4-room all-night show/party. the main attraction is EBM group Covenant. more details to come.

industry.

Blogs vs mainstream critics and some other mumbo jumbo in this guy's article.
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myspace may or may not get its own magazine. this may or may not be news. first sentence in article is stupid. and, what's a magazine?
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MTV facing competition. boo hoo.

girl you know it's new.

Lemonheads- "No Backbone" . no kidding. record out September 26 on Vagrant. It's Evan Dando and...let's not think about it. It sounds like the Lemonheads, that's all that matters.

Trainwreck Riders- "Christmas Time Blues". record out August 22. Christmas in the summer rules. folk-country-indie.
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Zero 7- "Futures" (Rub n Tug Remix). released in June. now on tour. electronic-ambient-pop.
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satisfactory line-up saturday nite at the SMT. missed the first and last bands, my bad. Deck of Jack features Jim Shearer, VJ on MTV2. He was wearing an Arctic Monkeys shirt. I was surprised he remembered me from when Deck of Jack played on Long Island like 2 years ago. And I could not forget them. It was Christmas time and they were rapping. They still rap, but they do more rocking now. Milagro--ex-members of local screamo Aescyhlus (sp?)--played its third show and tore sh*t up without a drummer.





Mr. Shearer abusing guitar.


press the buttons!


sick shot, except needs cropping on right.

quick fix.

LEN: "Steal My Sunshine" (1999)
After the first time I heard this confectionary infectious piece of hip-hop-pop, it was obvious this would be a defining summertime hit. The song and group, however, had something about it that immediately suggested a one hit wonder. LEN was real quiet ever since, although they did release something in 2005. So I've read.

It ain't like that anymore.

Alice in Chains full US tour begins late September. dates in New York early November. No Layne Staley=waste of time. Mo Money- two CD, 28-track collection out September 5.
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Depeche Mode: Touring the Angel- Live in Milan. Double DVD and CD set, out September 26. This is something I want, Mr and Ms. Publicist.
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Secret Machines fall US tour will be an in-the-round set-up. bloppity-blop-blop. And I thought only U2 could do this. Secret Machines rule.

girl you know it's new. we've never heard of these people. so clicky on magic words.

Simon Dawes: song one, song two from Carnivore (Record Collection) September 12. A band, not one guy. on tour with Band of Horsies.
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Annuals: songage from Be He Me (Ace Fu) autumn. touring with Art Brut, Tapes N Tapes. features crickets and strings and things just before they rock it.
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Page France: happy soft song with xylophone from Hello Dear Wing (Suicide Squeeze) September 12
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Cities: mix by Ladytron from EP (Yep Roc) October 3.
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Kasabian's entire sophomore record, out September 12, can be heard at their myspace page. They must be huge in the UK--they have over 22,000 friends. This album isn't as blatant about ripping off the original Madchester bands, though you can certainly here some Happy Mondays in there as well as some Chemical Brothers meets Oasis.
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Jeff Hanson wowed me with his first record, while his second record, as good as he is, was missing some sparks. His next one on Kill Rock Stars, due in early 2007, will have more people comparing him to an angelic Elliott Smith while I will be looking for that initial wowness. He's on tour in September, which includes September 11 in New York.
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As if Stereolab doesn't have enough releases already, Rhino is putting out a Stereolab anthology, Serene Velocity, August 29. although it seems skimpy with only 16 tracks. includes songs released as seven-inch singles and songs recorded between 1993 and 2004 that were on Stereolab's seven (!) Elektra studio albums. Stereolab ring tones! because i don't even have a cell phone! Text Stereo to 74466*

Over the Atlantic: Junica (Carpark)
release: September 2006
styles: Sweet Indie Electronic
similar: Postal Service, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Brittle Stars
rating: ***1/2

After listening to "History Never Repeats" from Split Enz 100 times, it's time to move on to another, more contemporary band from New Zealand. Over the Atlantic are duo Bevan Smith and Nik Brinkman, who have put together a breezy debut of innocent, harmonizing vocals, soft little Casio-style percussion and when needed, guitar. It's very indie electronic, but with a song titled "Kevin Shields," we'll guess that Over the Atlantic felt a small influence from My Bloody Valentine. "Honest Words" is a big winner on Junica, in which the cute vocals jump around ringing guitar and happy synth. The best thing I've heard from New Zealand since, you know, Split Enz. -Kenyon

girl you know it's new. via webby sites.

Killers 10.03.06

Ima Robot 9.12.06

Girl you know it's new. click on the magic words.

Freescha: Head Warlock Double Stare (out September 19 on Attacknine Records) experimental, avant-garde sci-fi fantasy disembodiness. Moby loves them. And they love Moby.
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Your Black Star: "Oh Jesus" (full record out October 17 on Wonka Vision)ex-Elliott (non-screamy on Revelation records). similar: Hum, Swervedriver.
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Sandi Thom: "I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker" (record out August 29 on RCA)i wish your lyrics weren't so obvious. someone at RCA liked her webcasts from her flat in London. blop. similar: Katherine McPhee, KT Tunstall.
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Oxygen Ponies: clips from s/t release out August 8. band name could be worse i guess. sim: Lambchop, East River Pipe, Ryan Adams. someone have a witty comment please?
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oh wow look how diverse i am! now i can make a profile on myspace and say "i listen to everything. except rap and country."

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girl you know it's new. two videos from peoples with funny names.

Kaki King - "Yellowcake" (record out August 8 on Velour) mystical. sim: Tegan and Sara, Joanna Newsom. Windows. Real. Quicktime.
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Landon Pigg - "Can't Let Go" (out July 25 on RCA) non-mystical. more like, look at me see how cute i am. ram. asx. mov.

The first hour of MTV. and second.

First, thanks a lot VH1 Classic for not doing it right. After about 20 minutes of build up with the Apollo rocket countdown, they aired the videos and only tiny clips of the VJs and no original commercials. Gotta pay the bills in 2006, not the ones in 1981 I guess. Instead of Nina Blackwood, Alan Hunter et al, we got a girl giving us tidbits and some comments from artists. Fortunately, there's a section at mtv.com that has the entire hour in its original form, divided up by segments. At the moment.

The videos: we finally found out that the second video aired was Pat Benatar "You Better Run". The third was Rod Stewart. Both of them ended up having another video in the SECOND hour, Rod Stewart had a third going into the third hour, and the Pretenders had THREE as well ("Brass in Pocket", "Tattooed Love Boys", "Message of Love"). Lucky for them, their second record came out just two weeks after MTV's debut. As MTV was so new, half the videos are taken from concerts. This I very much remember from the early days, which explains Bruce Springsteen's 10-minute "Rosalita". Many of the videos are from artists that were never to be heard from again. Robin Lane and the Chartbusters, anyone? cue chirping crickets. So, some of the songs actually sucked, as the station needed to fill time with whatever was available. One of the more enlightening videos was the last one of hour one: Split Enz "History Never Repeats". In addition to its title begging for a comment in relation to MTV, it proves that the band had another great song besides "I Got You." Now, to the video, which is hella more interesting than "I Got You". Sadly the picture quality is shitty.

Hello Stranger: s/t (Aeronaut Records/Four Square Death Match)
release: August 8, 2006
styles: Light-hearted pop/rock
similar: Nina Gordon, Garbage, Persephone's Bees
rating: **

I don't get this band. They're on this little label, yet sound as polished as Avril Lavigne. Their press photo suggests something adventurous and the album cover suggests something either glammy, mystical or electronic or a combination of those. And they toured with roots rockers Kings of Leon? What's going on!? It's poppy rock pop, and even though it's not horrible, it's making me think of Save Ferris or the Cranberries. I'm just saying. The synthesizer saves them from being a big turkey, that and the fact that they turned down major labels and didn't sell out. If not for those things, I'd have to say that Hello Stranger is as cliche as when its name is spoken in teen television dramas. You know what I mean, like when a character randomly runs into another somewhere and they're all like "hello stranger." For real though, Hello Stranger is a clever band name. -Kenyon

Update on Kenyon in a High School Story: Last week MTV (25 years blah blah blah) had new episodes of HSS scheduled for Tuesday nites. Now it's not on the schedule at all for nites, so that they may bring you Final Fu in which they seek the next Bruce Lee. There are 8 episodes of Final Fu on today, within a 24 hour period. F Final Fu in the face.

The Sails: s/t (Rainbow Quartz)
release: June 27, 2006
styles: Neo-Psychedelic Pop
similar: Essex Green, Telepathic Butterflies, High Dials
rating: ****

Few things in life make me giddy. The light-hearted sweetness of songs like "She’s a Rainbow" by the Stones and finding new Brit pop bands who actually deserve comparisons to the Beatles. Here we've got both. The Sails hail from London and perform painfully cute songs about love and candy! Their self-titled debut is a sugar high that never crashes, complete with charming harmonies and bittersweet symphonies. Some of the songs ("See Myself") are simple and catchy, while others like "Peter Shilton" dazzle with their depth. Regardless, all songs will stick in your head like cotton candy kisses. -Shannon

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Vlor: A Fire is Meant for Burning (Silber)
release: Summer 2006
styles: Ambient Acoustic
similar: most of the Silber roster
rating: **1/2

Thank goodness I just happen to wake up at 5am to listen this minimal, guitar-centered collaboration from some of Silber records' all-stars. As we all know, the early morning is the best time to listen to this kind of thing. On A Fire, main guy Brian John Mitchell has Jon DeRosa of Aarktica, Mike VanPortfleet of Lycia and others add reverbed acoustic guitar and more reverbed acoustic guitar, doing away with the need to rock. The better, more engaging tracks come when there's an airy vocal, bass or keyboard, which, as minimal as it is, adds depth and spookiness that the guitar can't achieve. Yeah, more of that, please. The guitar is way too lonely. -Kenyon

for real on craigs list:


"The BEATLES destroyed Western Civilization. After observing pop culture since 1960, I am fully convinced that the Beatles are responsible for causing the end of civilization AS IT HAD BEEN KNOWN. MTV, VH1, and any Phil Collins song, is a testament to this. Stupidity, ineptidude, a disrepect for law and reason, on all levels, and rampant greed rule the world as it exists today. You're too stupid to know this."
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"shark week. woohoo!! "
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