Music

It is a sunny summer day, but Rdio doesn’t know it.

Fifteen years on, it still gets me every time. youtu.be/iAmWJ_Xclis

Listen, young bucks. You don’t have to join the football team to feel like a badass. Just learn to play Thin Lizzy’s “Emerald” on guitar.

Yep, yep, YEP: “Why Can’t You Ever Shut Up During a Concert?” gothamist.com/2014/07/10/do_…

The last of the original Ramones is gone. RIP Tommy Ramone. variety.com/2014/music/new…

After politely listening to one of my diatribes on the untapped potential of music metadata, Jeremy Keith introduced me to the work of Chloe Weil in the fall of 2012, specifically Sound of Summer, which dynamically collates the songs that soundtracked her summers dating back to 2001. I was fascinated by the project, but didn’t get around to actually meeting her until Jeremy introduced us in person a year later at Brooklyn Beta, and we… See more →

US Air Guitar first came to Philadelphia in 2008. It was my first air guitar competition and I approached it with the expectation that it would also be my last – it didn’t occur to me that this was something anyone did more than once. I was disabused of that notion by the many wonderful weirdos I met in the green room before the show, some of whom had been traveling up and down the… See more →

Fuck, you guys. White Lung.

Renewing my commitment to improving my guitar skills. Hopefully not to the extent that I turn out like this guy. youtu.be/Vi4-DY041Co

Man, this is great. Better produced and more melodic and varied than White Lung’s previous efforts, without sacrificing any of the band’s frantic aggression. The howling vocals, the intricate guitar lines, the four-on-the-floor stomp – this record kills.

Making a playlist: Triple Threat. Each song has the same name as its album and artist. Help me out, internet. rd.io/x/QFyuL9binA/

Spent the evening catching up with @mrclean, @magnetbox, and @ems, followed by some rock and/or roll from those Dead Milkmen. Summertime!

My new favorite black metal graffiti.

Reading the NYT’s superfluous Beyoncé deification for the sake of pop culture fluency didn’t convince me to care. tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/03/bey…

Cowboys from Hell. Vulgar Display of Power. The day is off to a good start.

I can’t decide if Tesco and the boys resurfacing the same week as #YesAllWomen is the worst timing ever or the best.

Having a morbid fascination with whacko conspiracy theorists, it stings when I see someone I admire among them. radio.com/2014/05/28/80s…

Advisory: I will be offline and on a cruise ship for the next week, because apparently that is now a thing I do. youtu.be/XoTolgUUgCQ

I once knew a guy who, while gazing up at a clear night sky with a young lady companion, pointed at the brightest star and softly declared, “That’s your star.” This album is thirty-seven saccharine minutes of that same eye-roll-inducing sentiment. Kip Berman has never been a particularly artful lyricist, but at least the band’s early recordings were able to musically express an understanding of romantic love more complicated than that of your average… See more →

You know, I didn’t expect much from this ukulele cover of Slayer’s “War Ensemble.” But I got much. youtu.be/VznAYy5yL2A

In its assessment of how a small town in Alabama came to be a recording destination for discerning musicians and a hotbed of hit singles, Muscle Shoals spends a little too much time indulging New Age mysticism and Native American fables about the region’s supernatural gifts. Thankfully, it spends considerably more time peeling back the layers of Fame Studios founder Rick Hall, whose vision and prodigious talent as a producer is the unquestionable nucleus of… See more →

Evolution of the reformed Swans in average song length per album since 2010: 05:33, 10:50, 13:28.

Another great album cover that led me to a great band. Foil stamping is a trick digital distribution can’t replicate.

Let’s see an album you picked up solely because of its cover, and the music turned out to be amazing.

Misfits merch has gotten pretty shameless, but I have to admit I kinda want the “Die, Die My Darling” shower curtain. noisey.vice.com/blog/the-worst…

Slint was a short-lived indie rock band from Louisville, KY whose second and final album, Spiderland, is one of underground music’s most revered recordings. The album’s cryptic, distinctively uneasy aura, coupled with the group’s decision to disband without promoting it or touring, has granted Slint a rare mythic quality. Breadcrumb Trail, a documentary named after Spiderland’s opening track, somehow manages to be an informative and compelling account of the band’s story without really demystifying… See more →

For you noise rock fans, here’s the trailer for The Color of Noise, a documentary about Amphetamine Reptile Records. youtu.be/_TOwDBFbG7w

Obligatory “I heard this ‘Let It Go’ song and my bored disdain for its utter banality affirms my cultural superiority” post.

Didn’t feel like taking care of business today but then I remembered I could listen to P-Funk at the same time and I was like let’s do this.

The video of the 2003 Station night club fire (the Great White concert) is one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen. youtu.be/xY59mR44TLs

Taking advantage of insomnia by catching up on Guitar Moves and lamenting my plateaued guitar skills. youtube.com/playlist?list=…

Portishead’s Beth Gibbons sings Black Sabbath’s Black Sabbath opener “Black Sabbath” atop Mario Bava’s Black Sabbath. youtu.be/n-mc7D6hs5U

Magazine, Caretaker of Long-Dead Status Quo, Gives Lifetime Achievement Award to ⅕ of Band That Made One Great Album rollingstone.com/music/news/gun…

“I always felt my own music should be available and affordable… I’ve almost never done limited edition anything.” fuse.tv/videos/2014/04…

Not sure how to avoid disappointing my cousin’s four-year-old, who thinks this will happen when I see her on Sunday. youtu.be/1wLeM6te__M

The first line of Ween’s “Bananas & Blow” has a certain self-contained narrative richness: “Sancho brought a message from the fat man…”

In case you haven’t heard the magnificent beast that is Trans Am’s “Television Eyes” lately (or ever): youtu.be/BoEV8G-yz1o

Tonight’s smart playlist formula: “90s Alternative.” Reaffirming the shuffle-friendly genius of @tmbg’s “Fingertips.”

In his review of Slint’s Spiderland box set, @stuberman does a great job of explaining what all the fuss is about. pitchfork.com/reviews/albums…

This is what happens when you let your “fear of missing out” guard down for a few days. stereogum.com/1675244/watch-v…

Thrash metal: So many bands have nailed the sound, but so few have written memorable songs. Maybe that’s why the “big four” bands dominated?

Energetic, catchy, fuzzy lo-fi with solid songwriting. On paper, I might not find that description enticing, but I think the monster rhythm section is what sells it for me. Great stuff.

“Nothing is sacred, everything is awful, let’s have fun.” invisibleoranges.com/2014/03/the-gr…

After having their records in steady rotation for several months, tonight I heard Whores the right way. Best live band I’ve seen in ages.

And now to confront the dreams that await the man who listens to ten GWAR albums in one day.