Lil Wayne can do it all. Pleading guilty to guns charges. Dropping rhymes on a terribly conceived Weezer track. And now releasing the mixtape No Ceilings. Nah Right has all the info on the mixtape and a link to download the thing. All I can say is, in just experiencing the first couple of minutes … [Read more…]
Uncle! Can I give up? I’ve kept a pretty upbeat attitude when it comes to Weezer as of lately. I always hope for the best, and if I’m disappointed I’ll just say “maybe next year” and move on. But, “Can’t Stop Partying” is, well not quite the Weezer folks have eulogized over the years, nor … [Read more…]
Gothamist’s John Del Signore has a fantastic interview with Fugazi wailer and guitarist Guy Picciotto as he tours the country supporting Vic Chesnutt. In it, there’s a quote that some Fugazi diehards may put more emphasis on than a majority of the rest of the chat: The band may do something again; we don’t know. … [Read more…]
Chicago’s Lincoln Hall has been open for a bit, but that didn’t stop Ted Leo & The Pharmacists from bringing the club to life. On October 25, Leo et al played the slightly-belated Grand Opening as they do any other show: with a fistful of punk fun. The quartet seemed poised for action, with Leo … [Read more…]
Overlooked in the Aughts is an ongoing feature focusing on some of the best albums from the 2000s that haven’t quite received the attention they deserved. Today’s post: Beauty Pill’s The Unsustainable Lifestyle. Dischord in the Aughts was something many of the label’s ardent fans never saw coming. The beloved DIY label seemed to be going through … [Read more…]
You know what sums up a zeitgeist? A new album from the hottest act made of private school educated, upper-middle-class kids obsessed with escapism, entitled Congratulations. Amiright? Nothing’s quite as representative of the Great Recession as MGMT, a band so steeped in reality their callow songs about being famous for the sake of fame actually came … [Read more…]
Late Night Jamz is an ongoing feature dedicated to newly discovered tracks that are sure to get stuck in your head. Uncovered in the wee hours of the evening just before bed after a long day of work or play, these are the gems that make the adventures in finding music so enjoyable. Tonight’s track … [Read more…]
Kanye West is back, back to being an artiste of merit, back from the depths of hell he was cast in after a disastrous VMAs appearance, back from South Park cracks and autotune-haters’ smacks. Or something like that. MTV reported that the short-film collaboration between Where The Wild Things Are director Spike Jonze and West, … [Read more…]
Found this little clip in a Red Eye review of the Jack Black-themed/curated video game Brutal Legend: Hmm… Is it simply appropriate to say “no comment” at any point? ‘Cause when a description like “rap-metal-emo” pops up, it’s so blandly all-inclusive that it renders all terms rather useless. (I tend to overindulge in genre-name-dropping, but … [Read more…]
I’m happy to post a selection from the ongoing email interview I’m having with one Darren Walters, co-founder of Jade Tree Records. As a majority of my America Is Just A Word interviewees happen to be musicians, it’s great having Darren on board to give some perspective of the other goings on that helped transform … [Read more…]