Okay, okay, okay. I didn’t die on this vacation either.
I understand that since last summer’s epic tale of my trek into the Caribbean and near death experience, those of you that remember who I am or that I even write for this site have been clamoring for my demise.
Sorry to disappoint you, but I am still here, even though Aaron Cameron is not. Man, I miss that guy. Maybe it was that he constantly patted me on the back for “bringing the funny.”
ajcameron13: just stay outta the water this summer…fewer poisonous sea creatures on land, y’know
BoredStork: no, there are urchins here in Queens
BoredStork: Street Urchins!
BoredStork: mwahahaha
ajcameron13: niiiice…although, most of ’em are frozen this time of night
BoredStork: nah
BoredStork: They wear Shrugs and have ski masks on
BoredStork: you know, with the mouths cut out
ajcameron13: sounds like that old wwf tag team, the conquistadors
BoredStork: With more oral pleasure
BoredStork: oh, btw, this would all fit under “subversive humor,” yes?
Jeff Fernandez is off this week. He has a life, damn it! This is the Weekly Music Pulse: SITASS Edition! Enjoy!
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Many weeks ago, a good personal friend of mine asked a favor of me and SITASS. GPFO’M (which is shorthand for Good Personal Friend O’ Mine) was signed to Wind-Up Records for a time with his band Seven Wiser, and experienced great success when his music was featured in several EA Sports Titles and also on the Punisher and Cursed soundtracks. Due to some sort of asinine mistake, the band was released whilst retaining the full rights to their material, which was good, but it left GPFO’M at a crossroads. Less than a year earlier, he had been opening for alterna-pop princess Avril Lavigne, which catapulted him onto tour with Shinedown who was hot-as-hell at the time with 45 burning up the alternative rock charts. Now, he was back on Long Island with no record deal, no more exposure, and, subsequently, no band, when several members went on to start other projects while GPFO’M analyzed his options.
It was during this period of time that I first met GPFO’M. Needless to say, the dude was bummed. Hell, he had his dream right there in his hands and it was unceremoniously yanked away right when things seemed to be picking up.
Granted, the label chose to push a single from the debut that sounded the least like the rest of the album, but these guys had Evanescence and Creed, so they MUST know what they’re doing!
Anyhow, since the lyrics and music were written by him and he also came up with the art and design for the album cover, the Seven Wiser logo is his intellectual property. That’s simple, right?
Release Date: Jun 8, 2004
Does anyone ELSE see the similarities in this cover by Sevendust?
Release Date: Oct 11, 2005
I included the release dates to show those that do TRULY believe that something is amiss. Seven Wiser’s album dropped in June 2004. An eerily similar logo from a mainstream artist appears over 16 months later, and where are the angry activists? The picketing hippies? The former lead singers of Creed that have a porno tape with Kid Rock? Strike that last one.
Somebody, help out a GPFO’M out: head over to Seven Wiser’s MySpace account and give ’em a listen. Only once GPFO’M is out and playing again will I feel like I have helped, in any small way, to right this wrong!
Lajon, Sevendust, you got some ‘splaining to do!
Tom D’Errico examines some New Classics.
Last Week’s Swindle
Oh Gloomchen
Karmic Retribution! Mike Eagle is *GASP* getting married?
Kyle David Paul is back and he brought his novel with him!
BoredStork: hey Mark Neeley
SuperMx123: Shawn M Smith. what’s up man?
BoredStork: nada, dude…working on the Weekly Music Pulse
BoredStork: Mark, been listening to anything new?
SuperMx123: Yes, I have, a band called Little Barrie, their debut album is titled We Are Little Barrie.
BoredStork: Tasty…
BoredStork: What’s it like?
SuperMx123: It’s a trio with a lot of groovy guitar riffs and solos, and also a jazzy folk and blues sound mixed with scratchy Robert Plant-esque vocals. Pretty interesting stuff.
BoredStork: Super Tasty!
SuperMx123: Stuff not “new” that I’ve been listening to lately: Pavement’s Crooked Rain Crooked Rain album and The Mars Volta.
SuperMx123: Well Volta is kind of new. I saw them live last year.
BoredStork: Have you heard The Sword? They’re a metal band from Austin, Texas and their album Age of Winters, is the shit!
SuperMx123: I’ve heard their song “Winter’s Wolves” I believe it was called.
BoredStork: the riffs are very early Black Sabbath with the guttural intensity of Biohazard
BoredStork: Track 4!
BoredStork: You should check out their website
BoredStork: I am working on a review for InsidePulse, and I can’t stop listening to it
BoredStork: As for the Mars Volta remark, I have been listening to some At the Drive-In, so I know what you mean
SuperMx123: Two totally different bands. The reason the two guys from Volta, Omar (guitar) and Cedric (vocals) left At the Drive-In was because they got sick of that “emo” style and created Mars, which is awesome instrumentals.
SuperMx123: Fun little fact: At the Drive-In did not allow moshing nor jumping at their concerts.
BoredStork: Moshing = dumb
SuperMx123: Yes, moshing is indeed dumb.
BoredStork: Yup and neither did Sparta when they opened for Pearl Jam in 2001, er, 2002
BoredStork: and that wasn’t an issue as they sucked :-)
SuperMx123: Yeah that band was/is horrible. You take Cedric and Omar out of that group and you’re left with the non-hispanics who can’t play much of anything.
BoredStork: Yes sir, but its nice to go back and see what could have been. Ced and Omes (we’re on a nickname basis, btw) made that group
SuperMx123: I personally don’t mind the rule of no moshing, as I find it as stupid.
BoredStork: Back to my topic, what did you think of The Sword?
SuperMx123: I liked that one song, but I’ll have to check out the whole album.
BoredStork: Great album; fun from start to finish
SuperMx123: And that is hard to find of a band these days.
BoredStork: They’re playing some shows here in the NYC area in a bit, and I am thinking of checking them out at in Brooklyn
BoredStork: There are two more songs there
SuperMx123: Another band I have been listening to lately, a guilty pleasure of mine, is Jars Of Clay, a Christian folk/rock group who plays some nice acoustic songs. I saw them live a while ago and got hooked. You may remember them for their huge mainstream hit in the mid-nineties entitled “Flood.”
BoredStork: You’re in St. Louis, right?
SuperMx123: No, I am in Ohio. Cincinnati.
BoredStork: I know, I was bagging on you. Cincinnati is too hard to type
BoredStork: C-Nati is what I am calling it from now on
SuperMx123: Misspellings are common. Hell, it took me a few years before I learned not to double any of the T’s and to double the N’s in the middle
BoredStork: How did you end up with your gig at IP?
SuperMx123: I used to write at an independent website called Champ Zone which went defunct in 04. I had still had some stuff collected up from there and sent it to Widro who hired me.
SuperMx123: I originally was doing show reviews, which is what I sent in, since that was what I was doing here at the beginning.
BoredStork: Very cool
BoredStork: Mark Neeley…anything that you want me to plug?
SuperMx123: Sure! Here is Jed and I’s latest joint column: The View From The Cheap Seats, here’s my latest weekly iMPACT Zone: The NeelDown iMPACT Zone, and here’s my LiveJournal: Mark’s Blog
BoredStork: Nice…thanks Mark Neeley!
BoredStork: Keep it real!
SuperMx123: Same to you Shawn M. Smith, and always remember to practice safe sex, everyone reading.
BoredStork: I prefer that you all “pull and pray” or “aim for the tramp stamp!”
SuperMx123: Did you know “A Man A Plan a Canal Panama” is a palindrome?
BoredStork: Yup
SuperMx123: oh…
BoredStork: Are you playing Kingdom of Loathing?
SuperMx123: never heard of it
brought to you by Strattera
Common, Sonic Youth Hit Bonnaroo
Common and Sonic Youth have been added to the lineup of the 2006 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. The bill already features Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Radiohead and Beck. Tickets are currently on sale through the festival’s Web site, where people are also encouraged to submit a Bonnaroo logo for the 2006 Design Contest for possible merchandise consideration. At least now my readers will know what that “dirty hippie smell” is outside Nashville in June 16th to the 18th. Any bill with Tom Petty and Common is definitely getting me to part with MY hard-earned money! End heavy sarcasm.
Hardcore Rockers Trash Reality TV
Ted Nugent, Sebastian Bach, Anthrax’s Scott Ian, Biohazard’s Evan Seinfeld and the son of the late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, Jason Bonham, will star in VH1’s new series, SuperGroup. The reality show will team the five rockers in an effort to form the “heaviest supergroup.” The series, which begins airing May 18th, will follow the rockers over a two-week period that culminates with a concert in Las Vegas. Mathan has secured himself backstage access to the taping of the show, and will make a point to kill anyone who shows up for this concert. Arrested Development has to FIGHT to stay on the air, and someone greenlit this crap?
Springsteen’s Seeger Set Due in April
Bruce Springsteen releases his twenty-first album, We Shall Overcome: the Seeger Sessions, on April 25th. The record features the rocker’s own interpretations of thirteen folk songs but played with a “rock and country edge” that only that you can only get from the man that lovingly crafted “Old Time Rock & Roll.” Oh, that was BOB Seeger. This is a cover album of PETE Seeger tunes? Who the f*ck is that?!?!?
(credit: RollingStone.com)
First Acts Announced for 2006 Pitchfork Music Festival
It just turned March, so to anyone who’s suffered through the torturous winter months, know this: The worst is over, and summer is nigh!! Sure, it may still seem like months away– and alright, fine, it is– but here at Pitchfork’s Chicago headquarters, where our lungs seize up and crystalize the second we step off the Blue Line, we know that those glorious, sweaty, sunny summer days are getting ready to gang up on us. And when they do, we’ll be ready to wrangle. Ladies and gents, we are proud to finally announce THE 2006 PITCHFORK MUSIC FESTIVAL!
Landing in Chicago’s Union Park this July 29-30, the Pitchfork Music Festival lineup is set to feature thirty-six of the finest artists in independent music on three separate stages. Promising all the hospitality– and economical ticket prices– that’ve become a staple of our events, we’ll be unloading one-day passes for a mere $20, while fans planning to attend both days can scoop up two-day passes at the absurdly affordable rate of $30. Honestly: 83¢ per band. You can’t download a single song for that price– let alone two whole days of them, performed for you live in the afternoon sun.
But aren’t we getting ahead of ourselves? Who are these 36 artists, exactly? Well, we can’t tell you everything just yet, but we are at liberty to reveal six for you now, with more to follow in the coming weeks. And if you think these look good, wait till you see the rest:
“¢ Mission of Burma
“¢ Ted Leo/Pharmacists
“¢ Mountain Goats
“¢ The National
“¢ Jens Lekman
“¢ Hot Machines
“¢ PLUS 30 MORE!
With pretty much every summer blockbuster festival gouging their attendees out of absolutely obscene sums of money, and only booking about five bands you really want to see anyway, we thought it would be nice to do the right thing: That is, to create a summer music festival that provides an overwhelmingly positive experience for both the fans and musicians– and to do it for less than the cost of an evening with Celtic Frost.
Of course, this is about more than just amazing music: Our pals at Chicago-based independent community radio station WLUW will be setting up their notoriously gargantuan record fair on the premises, and local clothiers DEPART-ment will roll out a massive craft and clothing fair.
So let’s step back and see if we’ve got this right: 36 of the absolute best artists in independent music. Playing over the course of two of the most beautiful summer days. In Chicago. On three stages. For $30. We know, it sounds crazy, but we’re pretty sure it’ll be worth it.
Tickets go on sale Monday– that’s right, this Monday. Check back then for exact details. Just don’t screw around and be all surprised if you miss out. You never stop regretting these things. Man, Hall & Oates at Mystic Lake Casino, 1994, WHAT WAS I THINKING?
Celebrations kick off just after noon on Friday, March 17th at Emo’s Annex with Pitchfork’s free SXSW day-party, co-presented by the Windish Agency. Featuring DJ sets from Rjd2, Ladytron, and Matthew Dear as Audion, plus performances from Art Brut, Love Is All, Jose Gonzalez, Spank Rock, Hot Chip, Death Vessel, Cut Copy, and the Juan Maclean, the event officially jumpstarts Pitchfork Summer 2006 (really, why wait?), and is basically gonna rule. See y’all bitches in Austin.
(credit: Ryan Schreiber for PitchforkMedia.com)
Pearl Jammin’ Again!
Three-and-a-half years after the release of their last album — the longest stretch of time the band has waited between releasing albums — Pearl Jam will deliver its self-titled eighth studio album on May 2 via J Records.
Pearl Jam will be led by the single “World Wide Suicide” which will be available for a two-day free download via the band’s website, beginning at 6 A.M. EST on March 8. For the follow-up to 2002’s Riot Act, Pearl Jam reunited with that album’s producer, Adam Kasper.
“A couple of rock songs, a couple of ballads — it’s not rocket science,” says Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard about the new disc. But his hopes are high: “It feels like a new opportunity for us. We’re proud of the songs, and we think they have a chance to do a little better commercially.”
Pearl Jam is the band’s most collaborative effort yet: They produced the album together, each member will receive writing credits and for the first time ever guitarist Mike McCready contributes lyrics, to the album closer “Inside Job.” Gossard has also contributed two of his own songs, “Parachutes” and “Life Wasted.”
The first single, “World Wide Suicide,” penned by frontman Eddie Vedder, hits radio March 8th. On the same day, the song — which McCready has described as “very punky and Who-ish” — will be made available as a free download on the band’s Web site, PearlJam.com.
Pearl Jam, who have sold more than sixty millions albums since their 1991 inception, will launch a spring world tour in support of the album. Details will be announced later this month.
(credit: Spin.com, Rolling Stone.com)
I am very glad that Pearl Jam has finished that album, as I have been spoiled over the years by their tireless work ethic. The same four guys, with rotating drummers, have consistently put out material that Ssquared digs. Can I say that I am a fan of EVERY song? No, but I can still appreciate them all.
I have everything…this…band…has…ever…recorded. If you already knew I was a loser there’s some more proof for you!
Ssquared’s Weekly Music Pulse Hook-Up
Vivendi Universal Games (VU Games) has launched the “Scarface: The World Is Yours Video Game Soundtrack Talent Search,” a nationwide talent contest running on MySpace.com that will reward the best unsigned music talent in North America with the chance to make it big inclusion of a song in the upcoming hit Scarface video game and the opportunity to perform in front of music and video game industry leaders at a major concert event in Hollywood. The nomination process is now open at MySpace.
By nominating and voting for their favorite unsigned MySpace Music artist, MySpace users will choose a winner to be featured in Scarface: The World Is Yours, a major video game release due out this fall, alongside some of today¹s hottest music artists. In addition, the winner and two runner-ups will be flown to the music capital of the world Los Angeles to open for a major label headline act at a concert event during this year¹s video game tradeshow, the Electronic Entertainment Expo (“E3”). More than a thousand people will attend the concert including executives from Interscope/MySpace Records and VU Games, celebrities, tastemakers, fans and press.
“There is no question that music continues to play a pivotal role in video games and video games continue to play a pivotal role in promoting new artists to a wide audience,” said Cindy Cook, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer for VU Games. “Through this contest, we are giving musicians an unprecedented opportunity to be seen and heard by potentially millions of fans worldwide as well as the opportunity to be associated with this year¹s most anticipated video game and one of Hollywood¹s most iconic characters.”
To be considered for the contest, musicians must have a profile that includes musical tracks and artist information on MySpace Music.
The top 200 artists nominated by the MySpace community by March 7th will have their music heard by a panel of music and video game industry judges, who will determine 20 finalists. On March 20th, one track from each finalist will be posted on the Scarface MySpace profile for a final round of voting to determine the winner. The track with the most votes by March 28th will be featured in the Scarface: The World Is Yours video game.
Music acts, fans and MySpace users should visit the official MySpace.com contest page to participate in the nomination process currently running at MySpace.com/ScarfaceGame.
(credit: IGN.com)
So, if you have a dollar and a dream…er. That’s not right. Whatever.
So, you made it all the way to the end…so here’s Kelli Young’s boobies.[NSFW] Hopefully, you will let me know what you think, as I have a thing for Miss Kelli Young. My reason? I guess she reminds me of this girl I was dating a few years back, and while Tracy will remind me that I never saw that woman’s “bits and pieces,” this is the “situation” I always pictured.
Keep it real!
Ssquared
