Parochial School

Over

2005-06-03T11:27:00.000-07:00

parochial school is on indefinite hiatus
here's links to old reviews and good articles:

by me:
The Sound
Mark Kozelek
Faces
Ben Folds
Ashlee Simpson

By Tom
Velvet Revolver
Green Day
Interpol
Nirvana

Nirvana Unplugged in New York

2004-12-22T18:12:00.000-08:00

I have had this album now for many years, so i have decided to say what is on my mind. I almost always listen to this album whenever i get into my car, and would probably have to say that this is my favorite cd out of my extensive collection. first of all, nirvana is right up there with my top groups that i like listening to, and second, for some reason i always like the acoustic version of any song. so this cd pretty much has everything that i am looking for.
I just completed a biography on Kurt Cobain which i found very interesting, it was called Heavier Than Heaven, which was the name of a tour nirvana went on back in the day...

So after reading this book a have begun to pay much closer attention to the lyrics of the song rather than just picking out a few words here and there so i was able to sing along i guess, and in doing that some of the songs are very interesting, and on this album it is very easy to hear the actual words because it is only backed up by the drums and an acoustic guitar rather that the heavier electric that comes along with all the other albums.
This cd also has lori goldsmith backing up on cello which i found very unique and cool, much cooler than all those rock groups trying to pull off the full on orchestra in the background, i find that very stupid, but i think one simple cello adds a nice touch. He also has three other guys, not counting krist N. on guitar, two of the guys from the meatpuppets who kurt was always a big fan of and even played a few of there songs on this cd. Lastly, Krist even plays the xylephone on one of the track.
And sorry i dont know how to put up the same music yet so maybe if john has time to he might, but try hard to listen to it if you havnt, if you have, rock on
Now i feel like i should say a little bit about the book now that i mentioned it and even included a picture. I always have a hard time reading any book, esspecially most biographies. but with this, it is a completely different story. Cross did i nice job writing this book, it starts of talking about one of kurts several near death experiences due to an OD, which right away caught my attention. Then it goes on to explain his childhood, how he grew up going from house to house, never really having a set home, to how he formed the band, made it big, and then ended up giving it all away. It is a great book, it was very interesting and for the most part an easy read, so if you are looking for a casual read, i suggest it. Be careful tho, it is also very depressing at some points, but there is always the funny parts as well to lift your spirits. so go buy the album and while your at it find the book as well.
If you are interested in reading the first chapter of the book to kind of get a feel for it and see what you thing heres a link, enjoy

Heavier Than Heaven

A Good Idea

2004-12-20T23:30:00.000-08:00

Of what the 'graduating class' of 2004 will look like

The Sound, from the lions mouth

2004-12-18T21:28:00.000-08:00

"Lions Mouth could be the end of the line for me and 'rock' records- it's that good"
Steve Sutherland

My Dad had to send in his Linn Unidisk today so he set up one of his maybe 3 other cd players to the Hi Fi while I was watching 2 year old AND 1 tour mixtapes and trying to enjoy what would ultimately be a shitty day. I muted the tv so he could test out what a really good cd player sounded like as opposed to a really really good one. Regardless, he just got these 5 remastered cds from Renascent from a band called The Sound.

The Sound were an English Post Punk band who toured with The Comsat Angels and were going to Tour with U2. They are one of those really great bands that should have made it but never did. Of all moments in Rock history, I firmly beleive that the Post Punk era produced some of the greatest Rock music we will ever know. Bands like Mission of Burma, Echo & The Bunnymen and Joy Division made some of the best music I will ever here, and only a few bands and movements can claim as much genius as everything that happened in the late seventies and early eighties, and most of those bands who can were around for that movement (e.g The Cure, U2).

The opening Track is somewhat of a cult classic. Winning, with its opening bass lick and hopeful lyrics is a testament to how great bands of this era were. 'Emo' bands of today try to wear there hearts on their sleves while divulging the heartbreaks and agnst of teenage romance. Suffice it to say the winning isn't for pussies; it is a strong and commanding opening to a brilliantly scaled work. Its sounds corny, but by listening to winning and looking at the cover art of Briton Riviere's Daniel In The Lion's Den, one can really get a feel of the power Adrian Borland wanted to convey with his music,

although the whole album is emotionaly unstable and troubled, there is a discerning factor between the way that feeling was divugled by the post-punk era and how it is displayed now in the emo era, and that is factor is talent. There is a differnce between creating a driving, haunting, melodic song and whinning to power chords. The struggle being today adressed by bands like My Chemical Romance or Dashboard Confessionals, or your supposedly 'deeper' bands like Bleeding Through or any other aptly named band ultimately seem pathetic compared to the religous and pyschological overtones presented in songs like possesion and winning. It is unfortunate that the consitency of good music seen from bands in this movement doesn't exist too much anymore, simply because I wasn't able to be around the wealth of great bands in between about '72 and '85.

The Sound, Winning

The Sound, Possesion

The Christmas Sucks Mixtape

2004-12-16T17:48:00.000-08:00

I really used to like Christmas until I lost my innocence (whenever that was), I could never stand Christmas songs. It's like my friend Creighton says, the only reason people listen to them is because they feel obligated to.

here's a mix of totally un-related songs that have nothing to do with Christmas or eachother for that matter, but its what I'll be listening on the plane to MI.

as usual, tell me what you think

Franz Ferninand, Jacqueline
Young Gunz, Roc U
Charizma, Here's a Smirk
U.N.K.L.E, Invasion
Mark Kozelek, Bad Boy Boogie
Radiohead, Optimistic
Interpol, Take You on a Cruise
The Walkmen, We've Been Had
King Geedorah, I Wonder
Eastern Youth, Hazakura Namiki
Madvillain, Fancy Clown
Trail of Dead, Source Tags & Codes

Moving Units-Scars

2004-12-09T20:19:00.000-08:00

Tom posted a review of this awhile ago, songs will now accompany reviews.

listen

De la Soul and MF Doom on a shitty late night show

2004-12-04T23:30:00.000-08:00

i made sure i stayed up to see this, even though i can not stand carson daily or his fruity show, i made sure i saw, and now im making sure you see it,

Rock Ko.Cane.Flow on Last Call

I'd like another...

2004-11-20T22:56:00.000-08:00

Album like Whatever and Ever, Amen

Ben Fold's Five (and just Ben) are frequently called 'one hit wonders', and thats bullshit.

Im kind of confused on what to say or what thesis i want to construct so let me drop some history. My brother bought this album when it came out in '97, which was an awesome year. '97 was when i was finally fitting into living in a new state and it didn't hurt that my former abode's university won the national chamiponship and got a heisman. Brick was on heavy rotation on MTV (im surpirsed i watched that, i was like in 5th grade), and so eventually i got the knack of stealing this album from my brother CONSTANTLY, and he got pretty mad about that since i was his kid brother and pulled antic shit like a lot (he would most likely argue that i still do, and i most likely wouldn't be able to refute that). I attribute my music tastes to my Dad alot becuase, my dad has a lot of music and a lot of relative knowledge on it (but he's an old man and thinks Hip Hop culture has ruined Jazz...etc), but if my brother hadnt bought Whatever and Ever I would most likely never really had an enjoyment for good music becuase at the time i hated all that Coltrane and Beatles and really liked Stabbing Westward and Filter. Whatever and Ever, besides maybe Beck, was the first real album of great production and composistion i ever heard, and if my brother (who i emulated on most levels) didn't like it and own it, i would be at a Nickleback concert right about now. Pop is the root of all good music, I think i can safely say that. It's a bummer that i didnt contribute 100 hours of volunteer service to get a ticket to his (Ben Folds) 'volunteer people are awesome' concert or whatever it was here in the IC.

Whatever and Ever is a very well constructed album, and regardless of your political prefrence, exemplefies good song writing and has a knack of reaching out to several emotions and musical levels. Infact it's something i haven't seen in awhile from an album, maybe thats why people say they were one and done. I attribute it for now to saving me from sonic purgatory

Metaphorical high grain on the metaphorical curb

2004-11-14T19:48:00.000-08:00

It's frustrating to realize, but the hopes of another Wu-Tang Album are seriously hurt, if not forever incomplete otherwise. I was always the most put off by Dirt on most occasions, but there is no denying his presence and welcome unorthodox styling to the extremely talented Wu Tang Clan. I never got to feel the frustration of a canceled show or unwrapping the plastic to 18 plus tracks of insanity hot off the presses, and most likely never will, but hell if I wont play the shit out of it on my car or watch it 'live' in digital format and get a good ounce of the heaviness and honesty in possibly the greatest group forged in God's image.

check the shrimp for choice tracks

as my contribution is a shitty, edited live video for 'Shame on a Nigga'

One of the best written 'indie'(and i hate that term) songs around

2004-11-13T16:29:00.000-08:00

I think only Bob Dylan can claim the best all around, per capita, song writing skills.
but props to The Mountain Goats, who have put out just as many songs in the course of 6 or 7 years

one of these, which has struck somewhat of a cult sensation, is No Children, which in its morbid lyrics is layered quite a bit of black humor. I like the construction, the build up, and the vocals.

but don't take myyyy word for it!
du-nun DUN!

No Children

Addendum: yes mp3's

2004-11-11T20:05:00.000-08:00

i really logically should have posted this directly after my post on Mr. Kozelek himself but as i did not have the proper education or willpower, i was unable.

i also really logically shouldn't have posted that i wouldn't put up mp3's in here and then suggest that all visitors to this site are refuse from more proficient blogs and have no friends. oh, thats all been deleted and rehashed right in this paragraph

as much as i don't really promote posting a mp3 and acting like that's all it should be and certifies this sites awesomeness, i feel i should re-iterate my statements in song form, thus this post, and others like it to follow, are justified.

this is by Mark Kozelek's band Red House Painters, it isn't his best but its a good one, and its on my computer.

Red House Painters, Have You Forgotten

Velvet Revolver-- Contraband

2004-11-04T19:39:00.000-08:00

I first heard this band very late one night while i was up watching FUSE trying to find some new stuff to download. When Slither came on i was immediatly intrigued, i looked at the name of the group right away and i was not familiar "Hmmmm Velvet Revolver" i remember thinking to myself. Then as soon as you were able to see the people behind the music i was like whoa Scott Weiland, me being the big STP fan that i am. and then i remember seeing the man bustin out the ass kickin guitar solos and i was like shit whats Slash doing in there, and as soon as i was through with watching the music video, i rushed upstairs to do a little research on this new group. I found out that it was the old members of Guns n Roses with Scott and this other dude from the Electric Love Hogs and Wasted Youth or something like that, but i was still very pumped about this, i read things like this was a new "supergroup" and other comments, so of corse i had to buy the cd, since i listened to STP and I never had a problem with GNR.
Unfortunatly tho i was not able to purchase this album until about a week ago, long after it was realeased. But i definitly think that it was worth the way. The vocals in every the fact that Weiland is singing them is very apparent, he still brings back the STP memories that i am fond of, and it is nice to have his vocals backed up by such a great group as Slash, Duff, Matt, and Dave. I would definitly agree with the critic who title this group a rock supergroup. Its almost like the combination they call audioslave, a mix of soundgarden and rage against the machine which is also a very good band, but i would have to say that i like VR much better, the fact the i really like the vocals is a BIG plus for this group, Slash's outstanding guitar solos are still as awesome as they have ever been, then a solid group of drums and guitars to back these two up is just great, i really like this album, and i suggest all STP fans (especially all those who thought it was a tragedy when they broke up) to rush out and purchase this album, it really fills that gap that i thought only STP could fill. At least that i what i think, but who the hell i am i to say?

....ANNNDDDD Scene!

2004-10-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

Ok, now, for some time i thought it was funny, in fact i was most likely the happiest person on that certain saturday night when Ashlee Simpson was caught lypsnching, i shouted "thats right you baggy pants wearing pseudeo-pop-punk bitch, you take it milli-vineli style, hahaha! girl you know it's true!" but then I realized what we all must realize, that this was only a technical mistake the most likely could have happened and shamed the last 20 "bands" to be on SNL, honestly.

More than a few people, 'indie' types who deplore all forms (minus hip-hop) of popular teenage mainstream american music, are extremely hung up about it. but nothing is going to happen, it's still her shitty voice on that track, like it or not. She'll make another record and drop off the radar like the backstreet boys were never supposed to do, so will hillary duff, so will jojo.

Now I'm not going to be like several women delgates from Washington BC that think every celebrity has it hard and deserves being payed more than all painters/phillosphers/talented musicians ever. But there is still almost some slight minisucle exasperated sense of truth in what they say. So haters such as I and many other in the vast blogosphere, who have or will spend there time pouring over the poetic justice technology sometimes brings about, should heed the words of this young man: don't get hung up about it, i used to get hung about people having fake pogs. I was eight.

Calling a burning program Nero is a funny analogy

2004-10-23T17:02:00.000-07:00

I created my first successful (in my view) no-repeat mix, after several shitty experiments with genre or using 4 bands 12 times. I found the tracks led nicely into one-another for the most part, and its going to be in my car for quite awhile. I figured a good mix should constitute a few of the following rules

1. Songs you would want together (obvious, but I honestly haven't been doing that)
2. Songs that lead nicely into one-another

I realize that making a mix is an art, or at least was launched into said status publicly with the book 'High Fidelity', or just Nick Hornby in general. Someday I wish to perfect this skill

1. My Bloody Valentine.............only shallow
2. The Moving Units..................scars
3. m83 ........................................america
4. Eastern Youth..........................voices
5. Radiohead ...............................let down
6. Red House Painters................have you forgotten?
7. The French Kicks...................crying just for show
8. The Walkmen..........................little house of savages
9. Dismemberment Plan..............what do you want me to do?
10. Les Savy Fav.........................daily dares
11. The Black Keys.....................everywhere I go

tell me what you think

MOVING UNITS dangerous dreams

2004-10-18T20:01:00.000-07:00

I heard about this band, again, thru my good friend john. He handed me a sticker of the band and latest cd which i hung in my locker but i wasnt too sure about the band, i asked john how it was and he told me he hadnt heard it yet so i wasnt too hip on it. But then i decided to go ahead and give it a listen after i saw that samples were available on iTunes. After hearing little 30 second excerps of each song i thought that this band sounded really interesting and was worth downloading, so i went ahead and did so. After listening to the full version of each song i was very pleased with them.
in my opinion i thought that the vocals sounded a lot like david bowie but the instruments were somewhat unique, the begining of the very first song sounds very james bondish and the rest of the song continues that theme every once in a while. there are also points in the cd where i was reminded of the instruments in INTERPOL the song that sticks out the most for me is at the begining of SCARS for some reason listening to that makes me think of INTERPOL. There is also i point in the cd where you can catch a glimps of the band SWEET who sang BALLROOM BLITZ, im not sure what it is but listening to AVAILABLE that song came to my mind.
overall i liked the album, i thought it was very enjoyable and easy to just sit back and listen to.

Mark Kozelek: forever sleeping giant

2004-10-09T18:31:00.000-07:00

Mark Kozelek won't ever be immensely famous, it's true. There are more than a few factors that create his almost willful ability to stay out of the spotlight. But sometimes I wish the entire music media community and all true music fans could rejoice in the brilliance that is Mark Kozelek. Everything he touches is some of the most powerful, humbling music I will ever hear.

Do a search for Red House Painter's lyrics, or Sun Kil Moon lyrics, or even his own solo song lyrics. Choose anyone of them, any one of the hundreds of songs this man has written. It is impossible to find something more honest in today's music. Anyone of those songs can relate to childhood, frustration, relationships, depression, far more precisely then you can imagine. It is poetry in and of itself

listen to any one song by his bands, listen to anyone of his acoustic arrangements. Nothing builds in such precise time as this man's music. Each instrument awaits it's introduction and adds to a silent, methodical machine. His voice will chill you, and the effect is only intensified by the slow, wrenching piano, or guitar, or drum kit. It is an untapped expanse of perfection.

sometimes you hate it, you hate how it goes on, you hate how its lulling and dream-like, "to hell with this bullshit, with this self-deprecation, this boredom", you refuse to listen to it. You aren't listening to it. A long drive home in the dark in the summer with this music, you will wish that the road went on forever.

Sleep on Mark Kozelek, you are meant for the few, the rushing masses will never take a step back to appreciate what is so far beyond them. To you it is your music, it is simply what you do, it isn't any different to you than most anything else in your daily life, prophetic description isn't necessary for your work, it to simple for that, to concise. To me, it isn't. While it is sleeping, and at time simple, it is also undeniably layered and immense. A giant.

Green Day.... American Idiot

2004-10-05T18:01:00.000-07:00

Well I had a gift certificate to Best Buy the other day and wasnt sure what i was going to spend it on. So one day while i was at an othodontist appointment and away from school i make i quick stop by Best Buy to take a gander at the selection of CDs. When i got there i remembered that i was possibly looking into the new GreenDay cd cause i have always been somewhat a fan of them. And it was on sale so i figured what the hell and bought it. On my way back to school i listened to the album and i thought that it was pretty decent. Again, GreenDay is a band that has a very distinct sound to them. But compared to all the albums that i have and that i have listened to this one is probably the most unique. The sound they produce with this album possesses some of the same qualities as the latest Blink 182 self titled album, more of the modern alternative punk rock sound but it is still very much the same Green Day we have all grown to know so well. The single off of the album is none other than that song American Idiot but i would not go as far as to say that that is the best song on there. Some of my favorites include "Are We The Waiting" "Holiday" and "Whatsername".

Another thing that strikes me as unique about this GreenDay cd compared to the rest is that there are two songs "Jesus Of Suburbia" and "Homecoming" that break up into five different little songs all within the one song it came from. I also admire these three guys for continuing to rock on despite the age they are now becoming.

Faces, Ooh La La

2004-10-04T19:57:00.000-07:00

Roots are important, I mean look at the TV show. Well, ok... Maybe not the TV show, but regardless, I've often found that many of the music of today is almost a carbon copy of yesteryear (minus today's bullshit but including new kids to backstreet), and that these proverbial roots are often more accomplished then latter clone. Now, I can't really pinpoint a particular band currently that sounds a lot like faces, infact I cant even guess, but upon listening to the first few traks of Ooh La La, I thought I was listening to a new band. I was ignorant to the clever hooks and reverb['d] vocals of such a band, and even more excited and feeling guilty when I was informed that Faces had even better.

Of course, one may ponder (as I did) how Rod-Stewart's-Band's-song-at-the-end-of-Rushmore-dealy could sound (ignorantly, again) 'new'. but the song 'my fault' just felt so..I don't know. It's hard for me to really even understand my position having just come over a Black Keys overdose. But with bands like that, you can really feel the hints of the hooks and melody schemes seen in 'my fault' in today's music, and for me it signaled another begining in my learnings as a music fan.

On a less exestential side, Faces is a pretty amazing band, ussualy i don't like band's with keyboards, and i never felt much for the solo Rod Stewart, but Faces is great. I now realize the brilliance of Rod's voice, and i still dont understand how i could hear so much of Rod Stewart and have such a benign understanding of his mainstay, and not know that it was the forking awesome song at the end of rusmore.

Downloaded Antics by Interpol

2004-09-30T17:27:00.000-07:00

Well the other day i got a new iPod for my birthday and was very eager to get some new music on it. So i dashed up to my computer, plugged it in and my excitment was soon deflated when i realized that my new toy needed a full night of charging and programming before i could put any music on it. But i knew that the first thing i wanted to put on it was the new Interpol cd called Antics which was released the day before my birthday and almost seemed meant to be. So the next day after school i came home and downloaded the cd onto my computer and then onto my iPod with much excitement. That night before i went to bed i put my earphones in and listened to my new list of songs. I was very pleased with what i was hearing, I was turned on to Interpol by the almighty JOHN SERVO and ever since i first heard them i loved their sound. So while listening to this cd i was very satisfied, i thought it sounded just great. Although the fact that it IS Interpol playing and singing is very aparent through their very unique sound and i could definitly hear similarities to their cd "Turn on the Bright Lights" but it is the kind of similarities you look forward to in purchasing a new cd from the same group, the anticipation of the similar sound only twisted and shaped into new words and lyrics and stories revealed. So i found this cd very pleasing and you should check it out, and by the way, im sure that JOHN SERVO will have much more of a thorough evaluation of this cd coming soon, so look for that one, i just think that it is a great cd and encourage you to listen to it, if your a fan of Interpol you will surely enjoy this, and if you have never listened to this group before i still think you should check it out they have a catchy sound that anyone could enjoy.

2004-09-16T20:33:00.000-07:00