Before I find something else to waste my life on this evening, I'd like to post the most epic, saddest song I've probably ever heard, because tonight I'm feeling devastatingly pensive and I just fucking feel like it..
It turns out that Chris Bell's unfinished I Am The Cosmos full length has just been re-issued, and both sides of the "I Am The Cosmos" single (along with the nearly-as-brilliant b-side "You And Your Sister") now both appear on Big Star's new boxed set which I can't afford to buy, which was just released a few weeks ago.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
NEW NEWS: Weezer & Weezy = Together At Last
RE: http://pitchfork.com/news/36636-lil-wayne-raps-on-new-weezer-album/
Something about starting this new blog all fresh only a month ago.. I feel as though I almost need to re-introduce myself to anyone who may actually stumble across this dump at some point.. On the old Taste My Kids, one topic that was discussed at great lengths was the second coming of Weezer, which eventually grew into discussion regarding how insane their career has gotten ever since the turn of the decade.
I've always loved their first 5 singles ever since their initial release in the 90's. I have vivid memories of my first time hearing "Undone - The Sweater Song" played on New Haven's KC101 (a top 40 station which likely was also spinning Boyz II Men at some point that afternoon) while my dad was driving me home on a Sunday afternoon in August 1994. I immediately recognized it as something new, different and fucking awesome. However, I had this weird brain malfunction at the time which caused me to be unsure about purchasing new music on CD (plus the fact that I was 14 and had no money), so I didn't end up buying The Blue Album until September 1998 during my first semester at college. Much later, I was brainfucked after my first listen through Pinkerton which I copied from one of my college roommates and kept in my car's tapedeck for the majority of March 1999.
Discovering Radiohead, Ween and Weezer, and re-discovering Nirvana around the same time, all within a 2-year period (97-99), at that age, was a musical rush I will likely never be able to experience a second time. I loved a thousand other bands around that time also, but these are the bands whose 90's output I grew to learn backwards.
So, it's needless to go further about it.. Weezer was very important to me. And their numerous WTF moments between The Green Album and Raditude have bewildered me to the point where I can't help but have so much to say about it.
For example, why the FUCK is Lil Wayne appearing on Weezer's new album?
"No matter what you think about Weezer in 2009, you have to admit: their new album, Raditude, has piqued your curiosity."
Actually, no. Not this time. I've been tricked by Weezer too many times to fall for this again.. I may as well just repeat what I had to say in the review of Weezer's Red Album single "Troublemaker" that appeared at #6 on the "Guilty pleasure singles of 2008" .. I always get pumped for every new Weezer album because there's always that thought in my head that thinks Rivers might be able to tap back into his old quirky methods of songcraft. And then you actually listen to the album and you get "We Are All On Drugs" or "Glorious Day." It's not worth psyching yourself into. Weezer is done. They are essentially Green Day, in that they are now a completely different band. There's no use in praying that Matt Sharp or the Moog synths will be returning. We're best off just putting our own bands together and trying to sound like old school Weezer. In fact, I might just do that right now.
Taste My Lethargy
As I mentioned earlier, the all new and improved Taste My Kids does not seem to actually be an improvement since I can't think of shit to write about as easily as I did several years ago.. I'm hoping it will all come back to me in a rush sometime soon. It will help more when there's actually new topics to discuss..
I'm thinking about posting mp3 mixes here.. I already made one, and I might post it later this week, and may continue posting them on a weekly basis.
And of course there's still the top 5 videos ever to look forward to, which I'll be posting as some point.. Seeing as how not a single person has mentioned anything about it to me, I'm guessing putting some kind of rush on finishing that list isn't really necessary.
I'm thinking about posting mp3 mixes here.. I already made one, and I might post it later this week, and may continue posting them on a weekly basis.
And of course there's still the top 5 videos ever to look forward to, which I'll be posting as some point.. Seeing as how not a single person has mentioned anything about it to me, I'm guessing putting some kind of rush on finishing that list isn't really necessary.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
20 Best Promo Videos Ever (Part Three)
The tabloids have been pestering us for weeks about what lies between #10 and #6 on the 20 greatest videos list. And now they have their answer.
#10 Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Y Control" (Spike Jonze, 2004)
"Maps" was the third single from Yeah Yeah Yeahs breakthrough 2003 LP Fever To Tell. It ultimately turned into one of those slow-burning classics that stayed in K-Rock's light rotation for nearly a year straight. However, the "we've arrived" moment was signified by its video, in which Karen O gives a heartfelt performance, shedding genuine tears, conjuring memories of Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U." Somebody at their label did something correctly, because the video actually received daytime MTV airplay (not just MTV2.. yeah, the actual MTV.. the one that never plays videos anymore). It was a quite a triumph for indie bands who actually had a shot of receiving Top 40 airplay. (Over the next year, Modest Mouse, The Killers and Franz Ferdinand would all crash the Top 40 party briefly, but were too cool to stick around for longer than a year.)
The thing about "Maps," however, was that it almost set the bar too high, and sadly overshadowed its follow-up single, "Y Control," which never really got farther than MTV2's late-night show Subterranean and received no commercial radio airplay. One can tell right from the start that YYY's wanted to be noticed and create something huge, so they wisely called upon Spike Jonze to direct one of his few rock-video masterpieces from the 2000's. Apparently influenced by Michael Jackson's "Beat It" and "Thriller" videos, it includes shots of children engaging in acts of dismemberment and bludgeoning chaos, in an manner that takes violence no further than cheesy 80's horror movies. Its explosive nature somehow alluded Pitchfork, who preferred the "Maps" video for their "best of the decade" special, most likely because people actually saw it. Regardless of popularity, "Y Control" slays every time.
#9 Beastie Boys "Sabotage" (Spike Jonze, 1994)
"Sabotage" influenced the opening sequence of Trainspotting. Almost immediately beloved by MTV viewers, it's become one of the most revered and acclaimed videos ever, to the extent that I can't think of anything new to say about it.
And so on that note, let's hear what Beavis has to say...
#8 Nirvana "In Bloom" (Kevin Kerslake, 1992)
Everyone always seems to forget that Nirvana were jokes n jokes n jokes... In other words, they were funny as shit. It's probably their most underrated quality, period. Look no further than the opening sequence of Live! Tonight! Sold Out! or their various antics in 1991: The Year Punk Broke, or other various weirdness such as the Michael Jackson impersonator accepting their "Best Alternative" award at the '92 VMA's.
If you've seen "In Bloom" anytime recently, their sense of humor should be obvious anyway. This "second version" is best of them all, which combines two videos into one. The first version, simply their deadpan faux-Ed Sullivan performance by itself, enters a whole new level of mindfuck during the video's second half, after shots were included from an unused edit, with the stage destruction in dresses. Thankfully, this is the version that made it to MTV.
#7 Pulp "This Is Hardcore" (Doug Nichol, 1998)
Pulp claimed nearly every director who were presenting concepts for this video were all relating "Hardcore" to its more obvious sexual overtones. Doug Nichol was the exception, who accompanied the song's darkness to fake outtakes from a fake movie from the 1950's, starring Pulp themselves along with a cast of hundreds. It's unsure whether this portrayal is of a film that was plagued by disaster, possibly a film that was never finished. A fight sequence starting around 3:40 accompanied by one cast member having a fake-real heart attack darkens this mystique even further, as well as the closing shots of the "cast members" staring into the camera, waiting for a possibly angry and fed-up director to make another decision.
#6 Sonic Youth "Sunday" (Harmony Korine, 1998)
So much to say of such a simple video.. Upon this video's unveiling midway through a summer 1998 episode of 120 Minutes, Macaulay Culkin had not acted for a film camera since 1994's Richie Rich. And suddenly there he was, staring through a mirror at late night MTV viewers. Harmony Korine's slow motion film effect was one he had also used to perfection in 1997's Gummo, particularly in one shot of Chloë Sevigny staring into the camera in a very similar manner... They're similar in that Gummo and "Sunday" seem to blur the lines between what might be reality and what might be scripted or planned. Elsewhere in the video are both slow motion and fast motion shots of a ballet class, Macaulay jamming out with Thurston Moore, and Macaulay once again with then-wife Rachel Miner in a real-life moment of marital bonding. "Sunday" conveys simplicity, innocence and freedom, in a manner rarely portrayed with such darkness and discomfort.
#10 Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Y Control" (Spike Jonze, 2004)
"Maps" was the third single from Yeah Yeah Yeahs breakthrough 2003 LP Fever To Tell. It ultimately turned into one of those slow-burning classics that stayed in K-Rock's light rotation for nearly a year straight. However, the "we've arrived" moment was signified by its video, in which Karen O gives a heartfelt performance, shedding genuine tears, conjuring memories of Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U." Somebody at their label did something correctly, because the video actually received daytime MTV airplay (not just MTV2.. yeah, the actual MTV.. the one that never plays videos anymore). It was a quite a triumph for indie bands who actually had a shot of receiving Top 40 airplay. (Over the next year, Modest Mouse, The Killers and Franz Ferdinand would all crash the Top 40 party briefly, but were too cool to stick around for longer than a year.)
The thing about "Maps," however, was that it almost set the bar too high, and sadly overshadowed its follow-up single, "Y Control," which never really got farther than MTV2's late-night show Subterranean and received no commercial radio airplay. One can tell right from the start that YYY's wanted to be noticed and create something huge, so they wisely called upon Spike Jonze to direct one of his few rock-video masterpieces from the 2000's. Apparently influenced by Michael Jackson's "Beat It" and "Thriller" videos, it includes shots of children engaging in acts of dismemberment and bludgeoning chaos, in an manner that takes violence no further than cheesy 80's horror movies. Its explosive nature somehow alluded Pitchfork, who preferred the "Maps" video for their "best of the decade" special, most likely because people actually saw it. Regardless of popularity, "Y Control" slays every time.
#9 Beastie Boys "Sabotage" (Spike Jonze, 1994)
"Sabotage" influenced the opening sequence of Trainspotting. Almost immediately beloved by MTV viewers, it's become one of the most revered and acclaimed videos ever, to the extent that I can't think of anything new to say about it.
And so on that note, let's hear what Beavis has to say...
#8 Nirvana "In Bloom" (Kevin Kerslake, 1992)
Everyone always seems to forget that Nirvana were jokes n jokes n jokes... In other words, they were funny as shit. It's probably their most underrated quality, period. Look no further than the opening sequence of Live! Tonight! Sold Out! or their various antics in 1991: The Year Punk Broke, or other various weirdness such as the Michael Jackson impersonator accepting their "Best Alternative" award at the '92 VMA's.
If you've seen "In Bloom" anytime recently, their sense of humor should be obvious anyway. This "second version" is best of them all, which combines two videos into one. The first version, simply their deadpan faux-Ed Sullivan performance by itself, enters a whole new level of mindfuck during the video's second half, after shots were included from an unused edit, with the stage destruction in dresses. Thankfully, this is the version that made it to MTV.
#7 Pulp "This Is Hardcore" (Doug Nichol, 1998)
Pulp claimed nearly every director who were presenting concepts for this video were all relating "Hardcore" to its more obvious sexual overtones. Doug Nichol was the exception, who accompanied the song's darkness to fake outtakes from a fake movie from the 1950's, starring Pulp themselves along with a cast of hundreds. It's unsure whether this portrayal is of a film that was plagued by disaster, possibly a film that was never finished. A fight sequence starting around 3:40 accompanied by one cast member having a fake-real heart attack darkens this mystique even further, as well as the closing shots of the "cast members" staring into the camera, waiting for a possibly angry and fed-up director to make another decision.
#6 Sonic Youth "Sunday" (Harmony Korine, 1998)
So much to say of such a simple video.. Upon this video's unveiling midway through a summer 1998 episode of 120 Minutes, Macaulay Culkin had not acted for a film camera since 1994's Richie Rich. And suddenly there he was, staring through a mirror at late night MTV viewers. Harmony Korine's slow motion film effect was one he had also used to perfection in 1997's Gummo, particularly in one shot of Chloë Sevigny staring into the camera in a very similar manner... They're similar in that Gummo and "Sunday" seem to blur the lines between what might be reality and what might be scripted or planned. Elsewhere in the video are both slow motion and fast motion shots of a ballet class, Macaulay jamming out with Thurston Moore, and Macaulay once again with then-wife Rachel Miner in a real-life moment of marital bonding. "Sunday" conveys simplicity, innocence and freedom, in a manner rarely portrayed with such darkness and discomfort.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Drugs
Today's video is one of the greatest scenes from any movie ever.. no introduction needed obviously.
They spent six years working on those remasters and somehow this was left out.. WTF?
They spent six years working on those remasters and somehow this was left out.. WTF?
Saturday, September 12, 2009
a case of anthrax: something i dont wanna catch
Today's video is from Nine Inch Nails second-to-last show where they were joined by Gary Numan and HEALTH covering "Anthrax" by Gang Of Four. I'm kinda sad that NIN is finished, but hopeful that Reznor may throw together some brilliance in the near future. (I always liked the idea that dudes like Reznor or Billy Corgan or even Courtney Love, should not continue releasing albums, but rather try out the Fountains Of Wayne route by writing and producing songs for fresh, new bands. Maybe Trent will be the next to realize its potential.)
yeah anyway.. here's some noise..
yeah anyway.. here's some noise..
Thursday, September 10, 2009
new links section, guys.. peep
Our friends at glitterpie were cool enough to throw a link to Taste My Kids on their blog.. I don't think I have any other friends who are currently blogging in any form about things other than themselves, so I'll just post the same link again...
glitterpie
It seems to be a compilation of visually intense internet media. I could get lost watching all the youtube links.. Yeah anyway, I also put a link to the new WXCI page in the links section because I needed more than 1 link or else it would look awkward.
For those not in the know, over the summer I relaunched a radio show on WXCI called "Late Night Noise" which is late Monday nights at 11:30. I actually had to resubmit my show proposal to the program directors last night. It sounds like they're into the idea...
glitterpie
It seems to be a compilation of visually intense internet media. I could get lost watching all the youtube links.. Yeah anyway, I also put a link to the new WXCI page in the links section because I needed more than 1 link or else it would look awkward.
For those not in the know, over the summer I relaunched a radio show on WXCI called "Late Night Noise" which is late Monday nights at 11:30. I actually had to resubmit my show proposal to the program directors last night. It sounds like they're into the idea...
-Late Night Noise-
Time: Monday nights from 11:30PM until 1AM (or later)
Genre/tone: Experimental, noise, chaotic, ambient, blackmetal, bizarre, drone, sludge
Proposal: Late Night Noise will be filling a void of more experimental radio on WXCI. The show's "late night" format encourages late night driving, or winding down the day, falling asleep to general weirdness. "Late night" also makes it less awkward for the playlist to become more adventurous, or more varied, and occasionally more annoying. One description often used on the show: "If the CD starts skipping mid-song, it would probably go unnoticed."
Bands: Black Dice, Liars, Wolf Eyes, early Animal Collective, Can, Sunn 0))), Electric Wizard, Acid Mothers Temple, Jonny Greenwood, Radiohead, Oneida, Ween, Boredoms, Butthole Surfers, Coil, Yoko Ono, Current 93, etc
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Happy 09.09.09!
On the east coast, there's only about 3 hours left of the 9th day of the 9th month in the 9th year of the 3rd millennium. It's a trippy situation.
Ten years ago was 09/09/99, an experience I have captured on VHS somewhere.. I went back and forth between camcorder funth and taping the VMA's from that night.. I'm pretty sure this was the night Lauryn Hill won Best Video with "Doo Wop (That Thing)" and Paul McCartney announced the winner as "some guy named Lawrence Hill."
The Beatles reissues and The Beatles Rock Band are released today. I already went nuts over the reissues and I have no desire to play Rock Band right now. That movie 9 was released which I saw this afternoon, which I would not recommend.. watch Wall-E or Coraline instead. I may close out the evening by finally getting around to seeing District 9 and listening to the newly remastered "Revolution 9." And yes, it's all because I'm an extremely dorky nerd. Thanks.
Ten years ago was 09/09/99, an experience I have captured on VHS somewhere.. I went back and forth between camcorder funth and taping the VMA's from that night.. I'm pretty sure this was the night Lauryn Hill won Best Video with "Doo Wop (That Thing)" and Paul McCartney announced the winner as "some guy named Lawrence Hill."
The Beatles reissues and The Beatles Rock Band are released today. I already went nuts over the reissues and I have no desire to play Rock Band right now. That movie 9 was released which I saw this afternoon, which I would not recommend.. watch Wall-E or Coraline instead. I may close out the evening by finally getting around to seeing District 9 and listening to the newly remastered "Revolution 9." And yes, it's all because I'm an extremely dorky nerd. Thanks.
BEATLES REISSUES LOL?!?!
Up until yesterday, I assumed reissuing The Beatles albums wouldn't be an especially thrilling experience, but this all changed last night.. and surprisingly what ended up catching my attention the most was Pitchfork themselves, the very website I criticized 2 weeks ago for their less-than-outstanding take on music videos released during the past decade. This actually makes sense, however, since Pitchfork normally does a great job of discussing music from the 60's, 70's, 80's, and 90's.
Their reviews of The Beatles reissues are probably the most quality music writing I've ever read on their website, and I will proudly link to the first of their series here..
Pitchfork: Album Reviews: The Beatles: Please Please Me
Starting from there and working through all the album reviews one by one is an experience in itself. On a message board post, I read someone refer to Pitchfork's take on The Beatles' albums as the start of a "new generation" getting their chance at approaching this music in a way that people like myself can understand a lot better, without attempts to attract baby-boomers with elements of 60's nostalgia, such as that normally found within Rolling Stone (who at this point, rarely have anything new to say about ANY music, let alone on the pages of yet another issue of their magazine with a picture of The Beatles thrown on the cover for probably the 40th time in 40 years).
Their reviews of The Beatles reissues are probably the most quality music writing I've ever read on their website, and I will proudly link to the first of their series here..
Pitchfork: Album Reviews: The Beatles: Please Please Me
Starting from there and working through all the album reviews one by one is an experience in itself. On a message board post, I read someone refer to Pitchfork's take on The Beatles' albums as the start of a "new generation" getting their chance at approaching this music in a way that people like myself can understand a lot better, without attempts to attract baby-boomers with elements of 60's nostalgia, such as that normally found within Rolling Stone (who at this point, rarely have anything new to say about ANY music, let alone on the pages of yet another issue of their magazine with a picture of The Beatles thrown on the cover for probably the 40th time in 40 years).
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
new order singles blog
22 years since the release of Substance and New Order still does not have a proper digital reissue of all their singles. It's possible that New Order don't want their singles on anything but vinyl.. However, a recent fan site has come to the rescue, very quickly moving through ripping their entire singles catalog. The site only launched in August, and just this past weekend they already posted their 13th New Order single.
Recycle: Joy Division & New Order - The Factory Years
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
A good video list...
Parts 3 and 4 of the Taste My Kids "20 Best Promo Videos Ever" is coming soon.. possibly later tonight or tomorrow..
In the meantime, here's a Hungarian list where they voted on the top 100 videos of the 2000's... Nagyon érdekes medencés parti! Az évtized 20 legjobb klipje I'm gonna guess in Hungarian this means "Top 100 videos of the 2000's" or somethin like that.
And yes, this is lightyears better than Pitchfork's predictably shitty P2K yawnfest.. (A lot of the same videos are in both of these, but about 10-20 choices really makes all the difference..)
In the meantime, here's a Hungarian list where they voted on the top 100 videos of the 2000's... Nagyon érdekes medencés parti! Az évtized 20 legjobb klipje I'm gonna guess in Hungarian this means "Top 100 videos of the 2000's" or somethin like that.
And yes, this is lightyears better than Pitchfork's predictably shitty P2K yawnfest.. (A lot of the same videos are in both of these, but about 10-20 choices really makes all the difference..)
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