Catching Up

Hey everyone-

First off, my apologies for the long drought of posts. It's been a hectic couple weeks, between moving out of Chicago and preparing for my move to Japan this coming Sunday. As such, I may not update this blog again for quite awhile, as my internet access will probably be sporadic for the next few weeks. So I'll try and give you all some goods now, while I still can.

First on my list are the 3 Butts tracks our band (the Butts, for anyone who missed that jump there) has put together thus far. Anyone who checked out our last show last Friday probably already has a copy for themselves by now, but for anyone who sadly didn't get one (I can think of 2 off the top of my head - sorry Nathan and Spike!) you can get the tracks right here. WAV format, so you'll have to let 'em load for awhile, but I promise, it'll be worth it.

The Butts - I Still Hate You
The Butts - Party Song
The Butts - Doom Generation

And for anyone still crying over our untimely demise (though I don't think I saw a single tear, not even from Miranda, who promised crying!), take solace in the fact that we have some more recordings on the way! I'll let the cat outta the bag right now give away the track list:

Do You Wanna Listen to the Beach Boys?
Steel Drivin' Man
I Talk to Myself (Cuz I Wanna)
2 Good 4 U
Butts Theme

as well as recordings of TWO new songs, our cover of Eric & the Happy Thoughts' "Never Gonna Do It" (so if you're one of the few who, sadly, missed our live rendition, you'll be able to hear it!) and a brand new song, "Penetrate My Heart." Get excited, and by the time we get 'em all mastered and ready for you, maybe I'll be back in America and we can get back together and tour to support them! Eh? Eh?

Yeah, that sounds pretty unlikely. Slightly more probable is the likelihood of the new Kurt Vile LP being pretty awesome, as two of the songs off the album, "Hunchback" and "Overnite Religion," are pretty awesome. "Hunchback" is the better of the two, a great low-end slow-burner that's cousin to Thee Oh Sees' "Enemy Destruct" and certain Shellac and Wooden Shjips songs I've heard a million times but don't know the names of off-hand. Repetitive and woozy and great. And I hear if you preorder the LP, you can get a free 7" with it! Thinking of doing it myself, though I don't like his other stuff quite so much as I like this one - and for those who've written him off, check this out, way more rockin' than most of his stuff (and for those who like him enough already, the other track is more in that vein, and still good).

Kurt Vile - Hunchback
Kurt Vile - Overnite Religion

That's about it for now - gotta run, but I'll try and get something else up before I take off this weekend. Until then, enjoy!

Harmony

Been listening to the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid OST lately (great movie, great score), and I've been struck by the level of harmonies that just seemed par for the course back then, but seems so...I don't know if it's lacking now, but it's different. I've also been listening to Tommy James and the Shondells, and they seemed like, a perfect representation of the gap being bridged between rock n roll in the '50s and early '60s and the very popular doo-wop and other vocal groups of the time. It's just weird to think how harmonies were sort of the main draw of music, and only later did that shift to the music itself, to the point where, many times today, vocals take a complete backseat entirely. How many terrible lyrics or nearly inaudible vocals get a pass today because the music sounds cool? It's weird, and I don't necessarily think it's a change for the better...

Anyway, this song has such a great vocal showcase - no words, just voices (and yes, music). But the vocals here are the spotlight. You'll hear what I mean. Enjoy!

Burt Bacharach - South American Getaway

P.S. Yesterday was the last edition of Readyplay Radio on WHPK. Dear radio, I will miss thee! But life will live on on the internet. So stay tuned!

The Weekend is the Time to Dance

Sorry I've missed a couple days. I've thought about posting! But there is much to be done at the moment, so I've been very busy, haven't even been able to exercise in days. Minus extensive bicycling done yesterday in an attempt to catch up with the Critical Mass contingent. We were a little bit late...then went a little bit the wrong way trying to find them...then hopelessly chased them for what was probably close to the whole route, but without luck. But I did get to check out the Skylark!

Anyway, this first song I'm posting is pretty well-known, but it's been stuck in my head lately, so I'ma post it anyway. Or at least post the link to the video.

The other song I share with you is another song that's randomly inserted itself into my head lately - it's got a sweet Caribbean feel. Feel those steel drums!

John Gibbs - Trinidad

That's all for now. And to Elise and Sophia - have wonderful trips!

-Sean out-

The Daily Ramble

Love Love. The night before graduation this past June, I laid in bed listening to Forever Changes and waiting for the alarm clock to go off. For a variety of reasons, I couldn't sleep. (Speaking of which - anyone else the "police theory" of MJ's last night? I'm surprised he didn't die sooner!) Anyway, it was a wonderful time, and I went back and listened to Love again today for the first time in awhile - perhaps since that night, though I chose Da Capo today instead. Inspired by hearing the Stones' "She's A Rainbow" last night, which was supposedly influenced by Love's "She Comes in Colors." I can hear a bit of similarity - but don't take my word, check it out for yourself:

Love - She Comes in Colors
Rolling Stones - She's A Rainbow

On the subject of similarity, I've also recently noticed how similar the Yolks sound to 2000's favorite garage rock revival band, the Strokes. Even the names are practically the same! Granted, they're mining different eras, so the music is pretty different, but Nathan, I gotta say, your vocals sound more than a little like Julian Casablancas's. Again, hear for yourself:

The Yolks - Hey Child
The Strokes - Barely Legal

Also, on my little road trip back from Cape Cod, I listened to Cat Stevens's "Father and Son" for I'm embarrassed to say the first time, and was blown away by how similar it sounded to the Flaming Lips' "Fight Test." So ridiculously similar, in fact, that he sued them and now I hear receives half the royalties from sales of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. Crazy! Although, as you can hear below, it was a pretty blatant rip-off:

Flaming Lips - Fight Test
Cat Stevens - Father and Son

And speaking of the Flaming Lips, here's a new one from their forthcoming album, Embryonic. Enjoy!

Flaming Lips - See the Leaves

Audiophobia

So, I bought a used record player off Craigslist about a month ago. I want to bring it with me when I move to Japan next month. I wanted to stock up on needles/cartridges before I went, so I didn't have to worry about finding some while over there (considering I barely can speak the language). I couldn't manage to slide the cartridge out though. So I tried looking up manuals online today, to find out how to do it. No luck - though I did find a lot of negative reviews of the product I bought. Now, I think it's fine - sounds good to me, and for the price I paid, I figure it's worth it either way, even if it does crap out in a year or whatever. But I did come across something I'd never considered: tonearm weight. Apparently, heavy tonearms can just wear right through your records, and should be avoided. Unfortunately, I'd never considered this, and there's no way to tell if I have a heavy tonearm or not. I guess I shouldn't care...after all, I'm buying used records for cheap, which have been played on who-knows-what players already. I could buy a top of the line player and still end up playing ruined records in no time. But then again, what is "ruined"? What does a "worn out" record sound like? Does the needle just not follow the grooves anymore? Does the sound quality just steadily deteriorate?

I'm not much of an audiophile, but I feel my head starting to spin. I guess, in any case, there's always the internet...

Anyway, I should provide some music, so here's one of my favorite tracks from the new Yolks LP, which I enjoy more and more on every listen. Listens that'll probably be done more via mp3 than from the nice blue vinyl copy I've got, now that I've got all these fears of ruined records in my head, natch...

The Yolks - Jane

Readyplay Radio is proud to present...the CCCP!

The Cape Cod Cassette Playlist, that is. We drove from New Jersey to Cape Cod and back, with only a cassette player to tide us over - so my girlfriend and I bought a bunch of cassettes to prepare, and this is what we nabbed.

Cheap Trick - s/t debut
Devo - Freedom of Choice
Doobie Brothers - Best of the Doobies Vols. 1 and 2
Nuggets Vol. 10: Folk Rock

And our friend Dugan lent us...

Pillars and Tongues - My Joys Are Greater Than Ever They Have Been
Buendias (a side project of his)
Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

And while in Cape Cod we picked up...

Prince - Sign o the Times
Gin Blossoms - New Miserable Experience
Jane's Addiction - Ritual de lo Habitual (with "Jane Says" and another song manually added to the end of side one!)

And Caroline's sister picked up...

The Cranberries - Everybody Else is Doing It, So Why Can't We?

And then we stopped back at my house on the way home and borrowed from my parents...

Cat Stevens - Greatest Hits
The Doors - Weird Scenes Inside the Gold Mine (cassette 2)
Bob Dylan - Biograph (cassette 2)
and some Willie Nelson album I don't remember and we never got around to listening to

As you can see, there was much music being played from all over the spectrum, and all of them were albums that I had never heard (some I'd heard in part, but not all the way through). The cream of the crop in my biased opinion were definitely the Nuggets comp (particularly Scott McKenzie's "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)"), the Cheap Trick, the Dylan, the Doobies Greatest Hits (Vol. 1), and Prince. I will also say the Gin Blossoms album was surprisingly consistent, and The Dirty Projectors and Pillars and Tongues albums were also great (thanks again Dugan!)

Since these are all on cassette, I can't post any best-of tracks at the moment, but I will try and procure some in mp3 form soon. I also picked up some classic LPs at a flea market while up there, including:

The Byrds - Turn! Turn! Turn!
The Byrds - Younger Than Yesterday
Patti Smith - Horses
Tommy James & the Shondells - Greatest Hits

It's been a very musical week. And I will bring the best of that music to you as soon as I can. So keep reading, and keep an ear out - more tunes are on the way!

Ok I lied

So, remember how I said I wouldn't have internet access for a week? That's not totally true. I have it today, and will probably have it sporadically throughout the week - whether for enough time to continue posting though, I can't be sure. And either way, I don't have my music with me, so I can't post any songs, which kind of defeats the purpose. Unless there's some interesting news to develop on. Like, for instance, last night's Nofunny Fauxbunny show at the Bottom Lounge. The night started out well enough - good sets from hometown favorites the Yolks, the Rock n Roll Adventure Kids, and Thee Makeout Party (though my friend noted the latter's "alternative" sound, which, combined with, again, Girls performance with the Smith Westerns last week, makes me wonder if there really is an alt-90s revival going on...) Anyway, we were all psyched to see Justin Nobunny. What we got instead was Nathan Nobunny, in one of the most bizarre shows I've ever seen. Prefaced with "Nobunny is sick tonight and so he'll only be playing a few songs," Nathan (from the Yolks) then proceeded to come out with a makeshift magazine paper bunny mask and a pair of green underwear with a wig stuffed in the front, pretending to be Nobunny. To many, it didn't seem to make a difference: the crowd went wild during every song, and even people who were definitely in the know got into it. And, to be honest, it was entertaining; the backup band was good, Nathan (though very clearly not Nobunny) did a bangup job, despite forgetting the words occasionally and having to ask which song would be next every time. But still, the most captivating part of the performance was seeing if they'd get through it without a hitch - if the scam would be revealed, and, if so, if it would even matter. At some point somebody yelled into the mic "You're not Nobunny motherfucker!" and Nate continually kept telling the front row to shut the fuck up, but the audience by and large didn't seem fazed. And I found it very entertaining. Granted, I didn't pay for the show, and I was disappointed not to see the real Nobunny (especially since I probably won't get another chance to before leaving for Japan in a month), but when's the next time anyone will see Nate pretending to be Nobunny, or anyone this side of DOOM sending out imposters? (I'm still not sure his Pitchfork set was really him, btw). Oh, the hidden pitfalls of masked musicians. In the meantime, Justin, if you really are sick, I hope you feel better soon.