drunkencomputing

Usually I’m not the one to go and seek out new music; I’m mostly a follower.  Buddah and Don, primarily, find out new music and share it with me, and I copy it when I like it.  So when I do “discover” something new, I like to share it with other people.  Granted, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club has been around for a while, but for people like me who live in a musically-deprived box, it’s new.  I had heard B.R.M.C before on a ski movie soundtrack, loved the song, but never gave much thought to check them out after word.  Then, I heard them a few weeks back on XM Radio.

The song was “Berlin,” off their new disc “Baby81.”  I was instantly hooked on the song (which doesn’t happen that often), so I digitally-borrowed the disc.  I copied the disc to my phone so I could listen to it in the car, and while driving to tacos this Monday, I fell in love.  I’ve been humming lyrics all week now at work.  I can’t get it out of my head.  I even chopped some clips of us skiing at Mount Bohemia (I’ve been sitting on them for over a month on my video recorder) and scored it to some B.R.M.C.  I also made a mix tape for Swendo so he can listen to them as well.  He has two ears and a heart, doesn’t he?

So if you hop in my car, don’t be surprised to hear B.R.M.C for a while, or see it pop up on artist select on the XM.  I’ll just listen to it until I burn myself out on it.  But I still have two more of their discs to buy and listen to, so that might not happen for a while.

Man, what a fucking good show last night at Luce. The Keepaways rocked, of course, as they always do. Unfortunately I might have been a little too drunk to fully appreciate their set. But when the Snakes came up, well, I sobered up quickly (until the Hardee’s Coca Cola with rum in it). I hadn’t been that close to the Snakes since the last time they played Luce…which was way the fuck whenever ago. When they played the Red Lion recently, it was too busy, I was too hungover, and I was terrified of the bouncing floor.

So I got to see the Black-Eyed Snakes again…easily my favorite “local” band. As usual, it was loud and noisy. But they seemed to have blown their load early in the show, playing the good old hits like “Rise Up,” “Chickenbone George,” and “Cornbread.” They played some other stuff I hadn’t heard before and sometimes it (d)evolved into a jam session. I fully expected them to cut back into “Cornbread” at the end of their set, but they didn’t. I just kind of ended.

But we weren’t going to let them get away with that. So we rallied and hooted and hollered and clapped. I was screaming some crap about all the maracas that were still being shook in the crowd and that it was rude to leave them hanging. So they came back and played two more songs, which I would call redemption, because they rocked.

When they ended the second time, people just kind of stopped rocking out and left. There were a few smiles on people’s faces–mostly the real fans–but everyone just kind of went back to being normal like nothing happened. It was both sad and cool that this happened: it was sad because it seemed as if these people didn’t know what they were experiencing. They just saw a great band, rocked out, and that was that. It was as if they didn’t appreciate the Snakes. But it was also cool because that means that this wee band made people rock really, really hard and have a good time. I mean, there was even a pit going there was so much rocking out. People were dancing and thrashing, and it was beautiful.

My ears are still ringing, too…so it must of been a good show. I don’t know how to end this post, so I’m just going end abruptly ala the Snakes first set.

I’m completely addicted to Facebook now. Ever since they opened up their API (nerd lingo, beware) people have really expounded upon a really cool–and relatively spam-free–social network. I’ve got it tied into this web site (see the “My Status” over there on the right), and when I post something here, it’s posted on my Facebook.

If you want to be my friend on Facebook, just click here. The funny part is when I click the link, it says “you cannot be friends with yourself.” I beg to differ.

I saw Wilco last night. It was a good show. I’ve only heard bits and pieces of Wilco before, so I didn’t really recognize many of their songs. I’ve tried to get into them more, but they never really have grabbed me…although last night, they played some songs were it was quite hard not to start rocking out. I’m sure they’ll make their way into rotation on my MP3 player.

The best part about the Wilco show was that it was outside at Bayfront park…right on the bay, with huge 1,000 foot ships sailing by. Quite a unique environment for quite a unique band. Everyone was having such a good time even though it was crummy out (windy and foggy). That really added to the environment. Plus, Wilco’s sound was absolutely solid, and they really entertained the crowd. Low, however, was meh. I was a little perturbed when the lead singer of Wilco referred to them as “the greatest rock band” of something or rather, “right here in our back yard.” Good, yes, but greatest rock band? That’s being a tad too nice.

I’d go back and see Wilco any day of the week. The price was right, the venue was great, and the music was good. It’s funny, because it seemed like just a few posts ago I talked about expanding my musical horizons. Unfortunately, Wilco just doesn’t make it all the way. Maybe I need to give it time, but I’m not about to add them to my “Music I like” on my Facebook. Not yet, anyway.

I forgot how much I enjoy music. After seen Queens of the Stone Age live (in DULUTH of all places) and getting to see Wilco in short order, I’m realizing how much time I actually spend listening to music…and how my musical selections has changed. The best judgment of how my musical taste has changed can be found on my XM radio. Before, some of the radio stations that were on my presets included 4 channels of rap, one channel called “20 on 20″ (a constant repeat of today’s top pop hits), one heavy-metal channel, and one or two alternative channels.

Now, my XM presets are a little more conservative. I’m down to two channels of rap–one of them produced by Snoop Dogg, which contains only old school hip-hop–no “20 on 20,” one station for the 90s, 3 channels of alternative, the heavy metal channel, and the rest are all indie rock stations (so at least 4). Now this may sound like a ringing endorsement for indie rock, but it’s not. As of right now, I’m experimenting…like what you did back in the first few years of college.

Even though my music taste seems to have becomemore eclectic, the below list would indicate otherwise. However, these are just the best discs I’ve been spinning in my car’s CD player (when not listening to XM), or on my MP3 player. 2007 isn’t over yet, either, and who knows how my foray into the less-popular side of music will turn out:

5. “Zeitgeist” – Smashing Pumpkins: I was never a SP fan back in the day, when they were hip and cool. I mean, everyone knows their songs and will bob their head to “Tonight, Tonight” when it comes on (except Rachael, who is terrified of Billy Corgan). But the first studio album by SP in years started off with an awesome song I heard on the XM: “Tarantula.” The song was great–rocking good–and I decided to give the album a spin. I wasn’t too disappointed. I expected the very odd Billy Corgan to get all weird and experimental with the album, but he doesn’t. Instead, it’s nothing too preachy or overzealous…just some decent alt-rock.

4. “T.I. vs T.I.P” – T.I.: I’ve loved T.I. since his first major album, “Urban Legend.” It was something different, more of underground rap, but still had a mainstream beat to it. And “Urban Legend” really brought back the ghetto flute. When “King” came out I noticed everyone was listening to it. I didn’t care, either. It was good music, so I wasn’t ashamed if I was part of the herd. However, when “T.I. vs T.I.P” came out, it seemed rushed (only a year between albums?), and I thought that T.I. had caved to the increasingly prominent trend in the rap industry of putting out as many albums as possible to increase your pocket book (see G-Unit). Additionally, T.I. was featuring a lot of other artists on his tracks–a move I view as an easy way to make more songs for more albums–so I was really turned off. So I was hesitant to get this album, but I checked it out anyway because of a lot of early praise online. Well, I wasn’t sad. While not nearly as good as “King” and very different than “Urban Legend,” many songs still caught me and soon I was singing along, such as “Da Dopeman” and “Hurt.” Not on very heavy rotation because Dave had my fucking CD, but now it’s a staple if he’s around.

3.”Carnavas” – Silversun Pickups: I first heard Silversun Pickups on XM radio (note to bands, record labels, etc: give your shit to XM radio and let them play whatever they want from the discs…the shows where they feature entire albums is absolutely priceless for getting new fans. Fuck singles. Let DJs pick what to play and you’ll soon reap the benefits [reference this post]). The song was “Lazy Eye” and I thought, “what a cool song.” It was Smashing Pumpkins-esque (even though I’m not a “fan” the sound had grown on me recently) but unique. It would be perfect in a ski movie. So I picked up the disc. For the first time in a while, a blind purchase turned out to be an instant hit. This will definately stay in my CD player through the winter, since so many songs are great cruising songs for those long trips to Mt. Bohemia in Michigan and up the North Shore to Lutsen for skiing.

2. “Year Zero” – Nine Inch Nails: Ahh, NiN. My favorite band. This was the first CD I’ve purchased in a long time. I bought it just because I love NiN, but the first single, “Survivalism” was bad ass. “Capital G” became my next favorite song until XM played the shit out of it. There isn’t a bad track on the disc. It’s more traditional than previous NiN discs, so I appreciate that. Now if they’d only fucking tour the U.S. soon.

1. “Era Vulgaris” – Queens of the Stone Age: It’s hard to believe I once “hated” QotSA. Of course, this was years ago, and I still can’t account for my rationale. But that was back then, and this is now. This is the most heavily listened-to CD/MP3s right now. Not only is it because I saw them live recently and now can waaay more appreciate the songs, but also–as Don has said–the disc sounds more like “Rated R” than any other (my favorite album from QotSA). But this disc replaces “Rated R” as my favorite QotSA album. It might be because I’ve listened to “Rated R” so many fucking times that it’s just gotten “old” to me, but I can’t help it. I love the rocking on “Misfit Love,” the nutty guitar on “Turning on the Screw,” and my absolute favorite song (that should totally be featured in a ski movie), “Make It Wit Chu.” There isn’t a bad song on the disc. It’s Sick, Sick, Sick. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist).

Stay tuned for more. I’ve been listening to Kaiser Chiefs (thanks, Swendo) and might even start liking Arcade Fire…?

Rock, rock, rock. That’s what it was Wednesday night. It took forever for me to finally post my excitement about this show because I’m 90% sure I gave myself some whiplash with all the thrashing. And my arms hurt from pumping my fist. A small price to pay for such a rocking good show.

Back in the day, I hated Queens of the Stone Age (hereto forth to be referred to as “QotSA” to save my fingers the typing). I didn’t have a reason to, really, except that I had heard one of their songs and thought it sucked. So as any narrow-minded person would do (hey, it was the 90s), I thought QotSA sucked as a whole.

WRONG.

I’m not sure when I got to liking QotSA, but I do know that I’ve said at least on more than one occasion to Jake and Don that I “can’t believe I hated these guys.” Now, they are nearly my favorite band (sorry, no matter what, NiN above all). Their music rocks and their shows are even better.

I had seen QotSA before, but always from a distance. Now, on their tour titled “The Duluth Tour”–yes, after the name of the city that I live right next to–they only play small towns (hence Duluth), and small venues. They also only sell a small amount of tickets. This turned out perfect for me. The venue they played in on Wednesday was huge, and the crowd was relatively small. This means everyone in attendance got a great view of the show. And of course this only amped up the energy level.

And then they played “Burn the Witch.” The place went nuts, along with Don, Jake, Swendo and I. They played “I think I Lost My Headache” too which was probably my favorite, until they closed with “Feel Good Hit of the Summer.” Fuck, it was awesome. They also played “Go With the Flow,” which was used excellently in a ski movie this past year.

We all rocked out hard, and it was worth the $30 ($23 if you don’t go online and get the Ticketmaster surcharge fist-fuck.).

Man, Queens of the Stone Age rock.