About that Singles post...

...yeah life got in the way, and I'm only getting around to it now. What with the show opening I've been listening to a bunch of different stuff, some of it to get me pumped (or "amped" as Ernie liked to put it), other stuff just because it sounds good. Let's get started.

Kanye West - Stronger
This one is just a given. It played on the radio once in the dressing room, leading me to start rapping along since I knew every word to the track (having heard it a million times by now). After that it just got played every single pre-show after that. My love for this track is well documented on this blog.

Black Sabbath - War Pigs
A favorite of my castmate and friend Ernie. Before "Stronger" rolled around, this song was the song to which we all danced, moshed, and air-guitarred prior to curtain. I'm not a huge fan of Black Sabbath or even metal for that matter, but this song did what it had to do.

Finger Eleven - Paralyzer
Another dance around the dressing room favorite. Very sad to hear this song somehow got snubbed on the Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock setlist. Awesome riff, the beat is simple, but unforgettable, and its just a great song by a band that most people wrote off.

Speaking of which, what should a band do when its core fans abandon them for having "sold out" for getting a radio friendly hit? Do what Finger Eleven did and get a new fanbase. I bought Them vs. You vs. Me the other day, and their new brand of bouncy hard rock is positively amazing. It'd be easy to assume "Paralyzer" is just another one-hit wonder track, but in reality its matched by the likes of "Falling On", "Change the World", and "I'll Keep Your Memory Vague". It's not earth-shattering, but dammit if isn't better than the by-the-numbers angst rock we've become so used to. I hope you're taking notes, Seether.
Ruling on the Field: 7.5/10

Rihanna - Umbrella (Cinderella remix feat. Chris Brown)
I know I'm way behind the times on this "Umbrella" remix, but it got played on Alex, Helen, and Amanda's show and I fell in love with it. The more I listen to Top 40 R&B, the less I find myself hating it. I ruckused Good Girl Gone Bad to see what I was missing, and it wasn't nearly as bad as I was thinking it would be (and nowhere near as sickeningly sugarpoppy as the new Backstreet Boys album). While I'm at it, Shut Up and Drive is equally good at getting the adrenaline flowing.

Dropkick Murphys - I'm Shipping Up To Boston
Anyone who saw The Departed will know this song, and it's textbook DKM with it's throat wrenching vocals, pulsing drums and sick guitars. Another fun song to get yourself worked up to.

The Crash Motive - Not Giving Up
Yeah, I know I posted this last time, but it's still just as appropriate. Every time I hear this song, I feel like I need to get up and fight someone. The drums sound like they belong on a rap album, and you can't not bounce along in your chair to the chorus. I'm playing through their debut album, and can't stop raving about these guys. If you don't have this song, you really have no excuse.

All these tracks and others can be found on the iMix I just threw together, aptly titled "GET AMPED". Go check it out on iTunes (I posted it as an entry for a contest The Crash Motive is holding right now). I'll link to the mix tomorrow after the updates I made to it take hold.

Back later with other stuff.

==TJ==

Too Many Albums, Too Little Time...

I've listened to a lot of stuff over the last week or two, some of it leaks of stuff and other random songs, and now I'd like to offer up some of that to you lovely people.

-Just for the hell of it I snagged a leak of Say Anything's concept album In Defense of the Genre. I generally tend to sneer at concept albums (these days they're overdone, and only My Chemical Romance and Nine Inch Nails have done them REALLY well). But with the help of a laundry list of guest acts (Gerard Way, Chris Carrabba, Adam Lazzarra, among others), Say Anything puts together a fun, meaningful group of songs that may not be immediately memorable, but you can't help but want to keep listening to see what happens next. I'm only a couple tracks into the second disc, but it's a really strong set from a band I never really took seriously before
Ruling on the Field: 8/10
Highlight Reel: The Church Channel

A few weeks ago iTunes offered up a free song called "Pictures of You" by a band called The Last Goodnight. The track was amazing, and after they dropped the album price down to $5.99, I decided to give it a shot. I still haven't played the whole CD yet, but comparisons to a young, slightly more diverse Maroon 5 are accurate. That said, it doesn't appear to be that exciting either. Still giving it a shot though, so a rating is pending. In the meantime, I offer you "Pictures of You"
The Last Goodnight - Pictures of You

I meant to post this awhile ago (like back in July), but forgot till now. After 3 years of releasing singles to whet the appetite of fans and a change in moniker, the band formerly known as Omnisoul released their debut album under their new name, The Crash Motive. The album, entitled Consequence, was released on October 9th and somehow managed to sneak under my radar and the collective radar of the rest of the industry. The album contains the three songs already released under the old name ("Waiting (Save Your Life)", "Not Giving Up", and "When You Go") along with 10 other tracks. Haven't gotten to hear the new material, but very excited to pick this up.
The Crash Motive (formerly Omnisoul) - Not Giving Up

I think that'll do it for now...expect a singles entry tomorrow. Just to give a peek, popular tracks on my iPod right now include a remix of "Umbrella", Snow Patrol, Sufjian Stevens, and a whole mess o' stuff. Also expect early reaction to the leaked Backstreet Boys album.

==TJ==

Covering the Bases...

After seeing Pretty Much Amazing put up a positively stellar covers post, I decided to follow suit. I present you with 20 of my favorite covers. Original artists in parenthesis.

30 Seconds to Mars - Stronger (Kanye West)
AFI - Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie)
Alanis Morrissette - My Humps (Black Eyed Peas)
Ben Folds - Lost in the Supermarket (The Clash)
Chris Cornell - Billie Jean (Michael Jackson)
Dashboard Confessional - In A Big Country (Big Country)
Dashboard Confessional - El Scorcho (Weezer)
Dashboard Confessional - Better (Regina Spektor)
Foo Fighters - Born on the Bayou (CCR)
The Fray - Have You Ever Seen the Rain? (CCR)
Jack's Mannequin - American Girl (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers)
The Killers - Shadowplay (Joy Division)
Korn - Another Brick in the Wall (Pink Floyd)
Lostprophets - Cry Me A River (Justin Timberlake)
Michelle Branch - Heart-Shaped Box (Nirvana)
Panic! At The Disco - Maneater (Nelly Furtado)
Pearl Jam - Baba O'Riley (The Who)
Ryan Adams - Wonderwall (Oasis)
Snow Patrol - Crazy In Love (Beyonce)
Stone Temple Pilots - Revolution (The Beatles)

And even though this isn't a cover per se, I came across this while perusing the blogs, and it's just too awesome to let slip away:

The Police vs Snow Patrol - Every Car You Chase

OK, that's all for now. Back later today/tomorrow with some other goodies

==TJ==

New Song from The Killers, Maroon 5 tries to be Sting

OK, so couple of bits coming out today:

-The Killers' have officially released their cover of Joy Division's "Shadowplay", which will appear on the soundtrack to the upcoming Joy Division biopic as well as The Killers' rarities and B-Sides album Sawdust. The track is available on iTunes and Ruckus, I will make it available here ASAP.

-Yesterday Maroon 5 debuted the video for their third single off It Won't Be Soon Before Long, "Won't Go Home Without You". It's one of the better songs off the rather overwhelmingly average album, though it definitely reeks of "She Will Be Loved". Two things come to mind as I hear the song/video:

1. Does any other band have a member that looks more out of place than the guitarist (guy on the far right in the video) from Maroon 5? He looks like a cross between Kurt Cobain and Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters' drummer), whereas Adam Levine looks like a perpetually angry Justin Timberlake.

2. After watching the video, I realized how not-so-nice the song is. Could this song be this decade's answer to "Every Breath You Take"? Watch the video and you'll see what I mean.



-The Fray put the Reason EP on iTunes today. Reason was a set of 7 songs (including "Vienna" which eventually made it onto How To Save A Life) written and recorded before their debut album was released. Most fans of The Fray have already gotten this EP through illicit means, but at least now the band is trying to capitalize off it.

-I know this has been out for awhile, but I only just heard it a few days ago:

Paramore - My Hero (Foo Fighters cover)

I've been looking to hear some of Paramore's music, but hadn't found a way in til this track. Awesome cover, definitely worth the listen.

Listen for all this stuff and more on the radio show today at 4.

Maroon 5 - Won't Go Home Without You
The Fray - Without Reason

==TJ==

Does this make Radiohead and NIN the Tom Glavine and Mariano Rivera of Music?

Thanks to anyone who listened on Tuesday. It was sort of a disorganized show, seeings how I was training people in the midst of doing a show. A few mixups and glitches (sorry to anyone listening during the nasty feedback), and of course the ongoing technical issues were a pain, but hopefully by next week a large majority of that will be settled.

I also ended up sitting in on the Alex, Helen, and Amanda show after they had some trouble, and let's just say, if you aren't listening to their show...you should be. Even if you aren't a fan of Top 40 stuff, just listen in for the ridiculous antics. Alex, Helen, and Amanda are on Tuesdays from 7-9 at radio.arcadia.edu. I'm admittedly not a fan of all of their stuff, but just being in the studio with them is a trip in and of itself. MP3s of some stuff they play is below.

So after much publicity and blogging, Radiohead's In Rainbows made its way onto the hard drives of fans all over the world today. I'm listening through it as I type this, and it's more or less what I expected. Weird, borderline trippy music with schizophrenic (and sometimes nonexistent) melodies that ultimately makes for OK ambient noise. A final rating to come later, but even though I'm not thrilled with it after one listen, I know I'm gonna end up playing through it a few more times. Most of what I've read about it so far seems pretty split; longtime fans seem to love the album, casual fans and others are rather indifferent. I'll let you know where I stand later.

In other stick-it-to-the-man news, Nine Inch Nails posted a message on their website in which Trent Reznor joyfully declares himself a free agent in the music world:

"Hello everyone. I've waited a LONG time to be able to make the
following announcement: as of right now Nine Inch Nails is a totally
free agent, free of any recording contract with any label. I have
been under recording contracts for 18 years and have watched the
business radically mutate from one thing to something inherently very
different and it gives me great pleasure to be able to finally have a
direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate.
Look for some announcements in the near future regarding 2008.
Exciting times, indeed."

Before we all get ornery and get ready to mark the time of death of the record label as we know it, let's remember that Radiohead and NIN have never been known for being the darlings of the recording industry. Anyone else remember the conniption that the RIAA had prior to the release of Year Zero? When bands like Fall Out Boy or Kelly Clarkson go free agent, then I'll call it.

One more thing; Dashboard Confessional frontman Chris Carrabba has been passing the time on his solo tour by blogging about his experiences on the road. Blog topics range from stories of fans he meets (good to know I'm not the only over-18 male who loves Dashboard) to lists of things he loves and hates at the moment (apparently Chris is a fan of Heroes and Battlestar Galactica). The blog is on his myspace page, and will probably go for the length of his solo tour. On another note, I ruckused The Shade of Poison Trees and made it through The Wire Tapes, the covers album I mentioned earlier. I didn't know too many of the originals, but Dashboard redoes tracks like "El Scorcho" and Regina Spektor's "Better" incredibly well. More in-depth reviews later, and definitely expect this stuff to be on the radio show next week.

That's all for now. Enjoy the MP3s, and I'll be back soon.

Timbaland - The Way I Are (As heard on Alex, Helen, and Amanda)
Fall Out Boy - The Take Over, The Break's Over (As heard on Alex, Helen, and Amanda)
Kanye West- Stronger (As heard on Alex, Helen, and Amanda)
Nine Inch Nails - Capital G
Dashboard Confessional - Better (Regina Spektor cover)

Buying music may be good karma, but Thom Yorke and Trent Reznor don't care so much...the choice is yours.

==TJ==

Jimmy Eat World's New Album a Ray of Sunshine

Following up my last entry; I just put in my order for the download of Radiohead's In Rainbows. I ended up paying 2.95 pounds, which is about 6 bucks. The download becomes available on Wednesday, and I'll try to have an update on it by week's end.

As promised, I played through Jimmy Eat World's Chase This Light over the past few days. Each of the last two full length Jimmy albums have taken several spins before I truly appreciate them. On both Jimmy Eat World (also known to most fans as Bleed American) and Futures, I'd hear some tracks that caught my ear and made me bounce around as I heard them, but then other tracks that sounded too tired and mellow and didn't really fit. As for Chase This Light, I've only played through it twice and I'm already on my way to loving it.

Jim Adkins and company open fire with the fast-paced, anthemic first single "Big Casino". From there it's 10 more trakcs showcasing what Jimmy Eat World has done best for nearly 10 years. There's the bouncy punk rock of "Electable (Give it Up)", the smoother, acoustic musings on the standout title track, and the upbeat head-bobbers of "Feeling Lucky" and the memorable closer "Dizzy". The slightly pretentious attempts at being long-winded and moody are gone on this album, and in its place is a rapid-fire, enjoyable 40 minutes of that grey area where punk, rock, and alternative converge.

I've always felt that the term 'emo' was misused when describing Jimmy Eat World. There's nothing overly brooding or self-loathing on Chase This Light. Quite the opposite; from "Big Casino"'s stellar leadoff the album is a celebration of friends, love, and everything life has to offer. And in a time when alt. rock is riddled with moody, power-chord driven lunkheads (See: Three Days Grace, Seether), Chase This Light is a breath of fresh air, and at the risk of typing a horrendous pun, a Vegas-sized neon light worth getting your hands on.
Ruling on the Field: 8.5/10
Highlight Reel: Big Casino, Chase This Light

In a slightly less wordy review, I downloaded the soundtrack to the musical Spring Awakening. If you haven't heard of it, it's written by Duncan Sheik, the guy who did that song "Barely Breathing" many years ago. It's got some definite Broadway-esque leanings to it, moreso than Rent but it's more pop-oriented than Wicked and a hell of a lot of fun. Even if you aren't a huge musical fan, give this one a shot before the inevitable movie comes out.
Ruling on the Field: 8/10

That's it. Remember to tune into radio.arcadia.edu tomorrow at 4 for the premiere of the Viva La Mainstream radio broadcast (bear in mind that due to some technical difficulties, you will only hear music from one speaker).

==TJ==

Radiohead Sticks it to "The Man"; "The Man" Remains Clueless

In what might be the most shocking announcement to the record industry all year, Radiohead announced earlier this week that their seventh studio album, entitled In Rainbows, will be released in a DRM-free digital format on October 10th (yes, of this year. Yes. that means next Wednesday), with a special edition containing bonus vinyls and a hardcover book available for a staggering $80. But that's not the coolest part.

Radiohead is allowing fans to name their own price for the digital version of the album. Save for a nominal administration charge (just under a dollar), fans could choose to pay nothing, or the full price for a normal album. Here's hoping the rest of the music world is taking notes. Not that I think that every piece of music from here on out should be released on a "donations welcome" basis, but I think allowing fans to decide how much they want the music is a brilliant move.

Which leads me to a dilemma; being at best a casual Radiohead fan, how much do I want to pay for the album? To completely blow this off seems wrong and would discourage future artists to listen to what their fans say regarding the future of the industry. But at the same time, Radiohead has always struck me as being kind of trippy and out in left field...not exactly my ideal type of music. So what's a fair price for 15 mp3s of a band I'm not a huge fan of? 5 bucks? 8? 10? Any thoughts you have on this one are appreciated.

No official release date for a traditional CD has been revealed for In Rainbows; word of a Dec. 3 release date were denied by band reps earlier today.

That's enough for now. I'll be back later this week with other stuff, including a review of the leaked Jimmy Eat World album.

Radiohead official website
HMV Errs on Radiohead release date, label [Billboard.biz]

==TJ==

Cut Nickelback A Break...That's Right, I Said It.

So Billboard did a piece last week detailing the positively behemoth success of Nickelback's 2005 album All The Right Reasons. The album came out two years ago tomorrow, and has not left the Top 30 Chart since then, selling at least 25,000 copies every week for the 102 weeks it has been on the charts.

Here's where the shocking part comes in:
Nickelback's fifth album, released Oct. 4, 2005, has become a phenomenon that's not only eclipsed "Silver Side Up" but is arguably the biggest rock album of the century so far. It's been in the top 30 of The Billboard 200 for 102 consecutive weeks and is currently No. 7. The last artist in that rarefied position was fellow Canadian Shania Twain, whose 1997 release "Come On Over" spent its first 123 weeks in the top 30.

Is anyone else a little shocked/disturbed by this statement? Biggest rock album of the century? From Nickelback? Did I just see four horsemen fly past?

OK, don't get me wrong; as bands go, Nickelback really isn't THAT bad. They're not really any worse then Linkin Park or Daughtry or 30 Seconds to Mars. What kills them is the fact that they get so much exposure from the radio and the media. Admit it; you wouldn't be nearly as annoyed with Nickelback if you didn't hear one of their songs once every half hour on the radio, and in promo spots for a billion TV shows. Granted releasing 7 singles from an 11-track album doesn't help their case, you don't see Daughtry or even a radio-friendly band like Matchbox 20 getting the kind of nonstop, mind-numbing airplay that Chad Kroeger and company do. In my point of view, this kind of situation has only occurred once before, and gives way to my new music culture phenomenon:

American Idiot Syndrome: When a band releases an album that is by most initial accounts anywhere from 'decent' to 'classic', but then oversaturation by the radio, MTV, etc. results in a sudden shift in approval for that band/artist.

As indicated by the name, this kind of thing happened to Green Day after they released American Idiot. That CD was (and is) amazing on so many levels, and for the first month or two of its release, the masses agreed. Then "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" became huge and got played on the radio a bajillion times, followed closely by "Holiday" and "Wake Me Up When September Ends", and before long the general public turned its back on Green Day, calling them overrated and self-righteous. Half of that may be true; just listen to Billie Joe Armstrong preach on Bullet in A Bible. The same basic thing happened to Nickelback with All The Right Reasons. But it's not entirely a band's fault when they get overplayed. Besides, don't radio stations generally play songs that people request? So then in theory aren't the same people accusing a band of being overplayed or whatever amongst the same people who influence what the radio plays?

Either way, Nickelback has said they're done promoting All The Right Reasons and probably won't re-enter the studio until sometime in 2008, allowing everyone to take a breather and remember that somewhere deep down in their hearts, they know Nickelback isn't as bad as they'd like to believe.

Who knows? We might even come to *gasp* miss them for awhile.

Nickelback - Photograph
Savin' Me
Far Away
If Everyone Cared
Rockstar

Nickelback - A View From the Top [Billboard.com]

==TJ==

The Juggling Act Continues...

Sorry for the week-long absence. Between school and work and everything else, updating hasn't been happening as much as it should. Some quick random stuff that I've been sitting on for a little while.

-First things first, an announcement regarding the much-delayed Viva La Mainstream radio show. A series of technical glitches have kept us off the air until recently. As of right now, the projected launchdate is next Tuesday from 4-6. Tune in to radio.arcadia.edu at that time for VLM's first radio broadcast.

-For the past week at the bottom of the page there's been an eCard promoting Dashboard Confessional's new album The Shade of Poison Trees, which hit stores today. The album has also been streaming on their MySpace page. I played a few tracks from it, and its definitely a throwback to the earlier, The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most-era stuff. Holding off on hearing the whole thing until I buy the full album. In addition, earlier today I came across a collection of tracks called Wiretapes, Vol. 1. It's an 11-track covers album that Chris Carrabba is apparently making available while on his solo tour; the source from whence I got it suggested it might be the first in a series of covers albums. Haven't listened to the whole thing yet, but looking forward to hearing Chris Carrabba do Weezer's emo classic "El Scorcho".

-Last week My Chemical Romance announced that they would release two more singles from The Black Parade. For added fun the videos for both albums would be directed by frontman Gerard Way. No word on which tracks are to be released, but my votes are for "This is How I Disappear" and "Disenchanted". Way also announced that bassist/brother Mikey Way would be rejoining the band on its next tour this fall.

-Linkin Park recently shot a video for "Shadow of the Day", the third single from Minutes to Midnight. As usual, Joe Hahn is directing. You may remember "Shadow of the Day" as the track that at first listen was the spitting image of U2's "With or Without You". Why has no one put together this mashup yet?

-In the interest of balance, I ruckused 50 Cent's Curtis, just to see if maybe it had something to offer itself. With the exception of leadoff "My Gun Go Off" the Justin Timberlake-assisted "Ayo Technology", I didn't find anything terribly exciting about it. If it wasn't clear yet, Advantage: Kanye.
Ruling on the Field: 4/10

-I'm currently listening to Still Feels Good, the new album from country-pop outfit Rascal Flatts. I wouldn't call myself a huge country fan, but as country goes, this isn't nearly as offensive to my intelligence as some artists (looking at you, Jack Ingram). Still not getting the same amount of play that other stuff is seeing though.
Ruling on the Field: 5/10

-That's all for now. More tomorrow.

==TJ==