New York Photos: Sculptures and Songs

Sculpture: Plaque in honor of Johann Sebastian Bach, outside of the The Cathedral of St. John the Divine at the Peace Fountain, which reads:

"The flying notes of Johann Sebastian Bach's 'Cantata' freed his spirit and took it to heaven."

Song: "Cantata No. 156, "Ich steh mit einem Fuss im Grabe," BWV 156: I. Sinfonia" from Bach: Cantatas, BWV 156 - 159 by Bach-Ensemble & Helmuth Rilling

Sculpture: Plaque in honor of Ray Charles, outside of the The Cathedral of St. John the Divine at the Peace Fountain, which reads:

"Ray Charles sang and played in the song 'We Are The World'. He helped the poor in Ethiopia. The man also manages to live in the world without the use of his eyes."

Song: "We Are the World" from We Are the World by U.S.A. for Africa

Sculpture: Plaque in honor of John Lennon, outside of the The Cathedral of St. John the Divine at the Peace Fountain, which reads:

"Some may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope some day you'll join us, and the world will live as one."

Song: "Imagine" from Imagine by John Lennon

Weekend Fun - EAR FARM / Stereoactive Holiday Party TONIGHT & Hot Rocks Holiday Party TOMORROW

TONIGHT: EAR FARM / StereoactiveNYC Holiday Party @ Pianos, 158 Ludlow Street

8pm - Super Volcano
9pm - Sure Juror
10pm - Man In Gray
11pm - Mancino

TOMORROW NIGHT: StereoactiveNYC / Hot Rocks Holiday Party @ The Delancey, 168 Delancey Street

9pm - Gold & Gunmetal
10pm - She Keeps Bees
11pm - Renminbi

w/ 1950s/60s party music DJed throughout the night
8pm to 9pm - 2 for 1 well drinks
12am to 1am - FREE BEER (PBR)!

8+

"Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd which clocks in at 9:07

"'Free Bird,' the mantra of the moron." - Bill Hicks

To write about a song such as "Free Bird" now, some 34 years after it was first released, at least 30 years after it became a mockery of itself, is a daunting prospect. There's nothing new, or interesting, left to say about the song. It's a redneck guitar rock masterpiece (on the level of "Stairway to Heaven" in the classic rock canon) that has devolved beyond recognition to the point where one can't speak of, or listen to, the song without conjuring some kind of association with public idiocy. I'm positive of that fact; it was blatantly obvious back when I first heard the song in 1988.


That's right, 1988. Somehow I'd escaped having "Free Bird" beaten into my brain for the first thirteen years of my life. In a musical sense at least. I guess half of the reason for this is because I was listening to pop radio up until I became a teenager. Classic rock radio (106.1 RDU at the time in Raleigh) didn't take hold of my life until sometime that year. However, I'd already come across the song at a very early age, without really even knowing it. My uncle Reggie used to yell those two syllables at any/every moment he felt slightly appropriate, or potentially "funny". I didn't even know what the heck it meant, except that it must be a song because his favorite time to yell "freebird!" was whenever he'd see my father at family gatherings.

"Freebird!!! Tim, you know how to play 'Free Bird' on guitar? Play us a little bit of the 'bird, eh? FREEBIRD! WOO!"

My dad plays guitar. Played in a garage band in the '60s and still plays recreationally today; however, "Free Bird" is not/was not/will never be "his jam". I knew this way back then, even though I'd not yet heard the actual song being requested. I assume that my uncle was aware of this too, but then again who knows. Because, see, I'm positive that he found it humorous each and every time he blurted it out - "frrrrreeebird! FREEBIRD" - like that time at Thanksgiving when my other uncle was carving the turkey. Actually, come to think of it, that one was pretty clever and ironic. Funny? Was uncle Reggie a latent comic genius, or was that simply an accidental intersection of one ridiculous habit with strangely perfect timing?

I'm pretty certain that our current President is the kind of guy who has yelled out "Free Bird!" at a variety of events, not including the carving of turkey at a family Thanksgiving. That could be considered accidentally funny, and he's not that lucky. However, I'm imagining him yelling it proudly at concerts, baseball games, his father's Presidential Inauguration, his daughters' baptisms... I bet he's even done it during his time in office. I could totally see it: speaking to some troops about their situation in Iraq, he gets flustered and starts mumbling a bit - needs a joke to save himself and - out pops "FREEBIRD!" along with his trademark snickering grin that says "damn I'm good". I think that's exactly what every single person who has ever uttered the words "free bird" in public thinks: "damn I'm good". What does it say about the United States that our President is one of those "Free Bird" guys? What does it say about me that I was once caught writing the lyrics to this song in a notebook in 9th grade Biology class? I'm a "Free Bird" guy?!

No. I'm not. Yet there I sat one day in 9th grade Biology class - before class - listening to "Free Bird" on my walkman and, for God knows what reason, jotting down the lyrics to the song as they were being sung. It's something I did, from time to time, usually with lyrics I found to be profound or amazing or interesting. I mean, I wrote poetry at the time (I know, we all did) so these things interested me. For example, the lyrics to the Rush song "The Trees" kind of blew my mind around that same time. I wrote those down too, but never got caught.

Here's what I mean by "got caught": as I sat there writing down the lyrical poetry of Lynyrd Skynyrd my girlfriend at the time watched me intently. I didn't think about it (because I was deep in the world of Van Zant), but we were in the same class and she sat directly in front of me. She knew I was a burgeoning poet and assumed I was working on a new poem. Before the first bell rang (to signify the start of class), I got up to sharpen a pencil (or talk to the teacher, or throw something out, or something) and she took that moment to read what I'd been writing. I didn't know it until I got back to my desk, class had already started.

I got a note passed to me: "did you write that? is that your poem?"

Hoping that she was impressed with the lyrics I'd written down, but not fully considering the obvious meaning tied to them, I lied and passed the note back: "yes, do you like it?"

She responded: "no, it's sad. is that how you feel?"

(just remember now, the words to the song - "if I stayed here with you girl...things just couldn't be the same" and "bye, bye, its been a sweet love" and "I'm as free as a bird now, and this bird you'll never change")

It hit me then that I'd messed up. But I still wanted her to think I was poetically amazing enough to have come up with those lyrics so I tried to play it off: "nooo, I was just writing things down. it's not about me or you or anything, I swear!"

After class we had a long talk during which I never once let it slide that those weren't actually words born out of my own mind, yet somehow I managed to get her to think that my "poem" wasn't an attempt to break up with her. For the time being I'd smoothed things over. But that didn't last for very long and she broke up with me a few short weeks later. Perhaps she finally heard "Free Bird" on RDU and was crushed by my lies? I doubt it. I tend to think she just wanted to get herself far far away from a moron who wrote such bloody awful poetry.

*above image of this year's pardoned turkey from HERE

Buy Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd on Amazon/on iTunes.

EAR FARM's 8+ is a weekly feature that showcases songs longer than 8 minutes. In the recent past these songs were featured on EF's 8+:
Ludwig van Beethoven - "Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 - Allegretto"
Gioachino Rossini - "La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie)"
The Fiery Furnaces - “Inspector Blancheflower”
Morrissey - "Moon River"
Miles Davis - "So What”
Tori Amos - "Yes, Anastasia"
Boduf Songs - “Bell for Harness”
8 Bold Souls - "Odyssey"

To see a full list of every song featured in EAR FARM's 8+ click HERE.

OPP

The Passion of the Weiss Guide to Hipster Haberdashery

Largehearted Boy: 2007 Year-End Online Music Lists (continually updated)

Stereogum lists some New Year's Eve concert options

Marathonpacks: Vampire Weekend "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"

Motel de Moka: Lily takes a trip - really seedy and sleazy music

Obsession Collection: Bright Eyes @ Radio City Music Hall

Muzzle of Bees: Best Concerts of 2007

Said the Gramophone: Siddhartha covers "Holiday" by Madonna and an Unreliable Narrator song

Brooklyn Vegan: NYC Area Music Venue Map

FIRST LISTEN: "Goes Cube Song 48" + an EF interview with David Obuchowski

Goes Cube is one of EAR FARM's favorite bands (click HERE to read more posts about them, if you didn't already know this) and as such, it's an honor to be able to premiere one of their new songs right here, right now. Below you can find a link to download, and listen to, "Goes Cube Song 48" - scroll to the bottom for the song and to find out where you can see the band next. You know, if you're in a hurry.

Otherwise, if you have a moment to spare, David from Goes Cube sat down with me (via IM) to do an interview about the past, present, and future of New York's #1 aural assault: Goes Cube.

EF Matt
Yo, Dr. O, first of all tell me what Goes Cube has been up to lately - I know you've played CMJ, Halloween, and a brief stint with Planes Mistaken for Stars - how did those shows go?

GC David
Yeah, and we also just got back from tour with the Giraffes - it was all really good. A real honor to play with Planes on their farewell tour, we've been listening to that band for over a decade, and in two shows they made us feel like family.

EF Matt
And what of the tour with Giraffes, where'd you guys go on that tour?

GC David
Well, we went back out to Chicago, and then we did a bunch of dates in Ohio. We also did a show in Ypsilanti, which was sort of a philosophical conundrum in that you wonder, if you play a show and no one comes, will the show make a sound? The answer is yes. And also, amps will still break. But Cleveland was absolutely insane and totally made up for it. Packed house full of people who love Black Label beer and loud rock. It's funny how those "wildcard cities" go, as I'm sure you remember.

EF Matt
I do. And I'm wondering: is it tough for you guys to play to smaller-than-desired crowds, given how much you tend to feed off of the audience?

GC David
To be honest, it's not hard to do that in other cities. You might remember San Diego from the tour you rode with us on. Not too many people were there, but we LOVE playing to anyone. And as a result, we've gotten good press. People, I think, appreciate that you just love playing and have energy. It gets hard when you play in your hometown and the crowd is smaller than usual. I mean, once you play for a packed house in NYC, you want - and to some degree expect - that every house in NYC will be packed for you...and when it's not, it can take a few songs into your set before you fully let go of that disappointment. But in the end, even practicing is cathartic for us.

EF Matt
That makes sense. And having been to all manner of your shows and practices, I can say it's completely true. What Goes Cube does, as artists, obviously comes from a place deep within the three of you that simply NEEDS to create. And you haven't let up one bit since we returned from tour in April - tell me about the news songs you've written since then...

GC David
Well, again, not to keep going back to the "remember when?" thing, but.... You remember when we were on tour? That was over a month without writing a new song and we never go that long. During soundchecks (I seem to recall Memphis being a particular place where this occurred) we'd be drinking bloody marys and fucking around with a riff here and there, but we couldn't write a new song. Add to that the fact that we're in the van for a month, listening to the heaviest possible music.

EF Matt
Such as?

GC David
Mastodon, Botch, Isis, Neurosis, Slayer, At The Gates, older Pelican, etc - and cheesy as it sounds, we're not working, we're not worrying about day to day practical shit - we're just reflecting on things and watching the landscape go by. So when we got back we were not only ready to write new music, we had all these different inspirations and influences. We got home and just went on a writing tear, and actually haven't let up. Since then (April), we've written 12 new songs.

EF Matt
Yeah, I think that what you (we) were listening to, and experiencing, clearly has come across in the new songs - they're heavier, and at times a bit more abstract lyrically. Did you find this to be intentional, or just something that came up naturally as the songs were written?

GC David
You know, we never set out to write a "type" of song or have it sound like another band. And for a host of reasons, we couldn't even approximate another specific band/song if we tried (weird tunings, etc), but clearly all of that is there. I think since we've gotten back and have been writing we ask ourselves "Can we make this more intense?" "Can we make it heavier?" "Can we make it....bigger? More powerful?" - all those things. Lyrically, it's interesting you point that out because I kind of feel like I've maybe gotten more specific and have been a little more willing to write about topics I never wrote about in the past.

EF Matt
So, as you have opened up and gotten more specific, I've found it to be more abstract/applicable to my own interpretation... funny how that happens a lot with art. For example, "Goes Cube Song 49", for me, is completely about the tour and will forever make me think of riding in the van for 5 weeks. Is how your audience will react to your music/lyrics something you've taken into account when writing songs? Who would you say Goes Cube writes songs for more: yourselves, or the "listener"?

GC David
Well, first, yes: "Goes Cube Song 49," really means the same for me. I think the tour was an important experience for me and for us in ways that I am still learning. But in terms of who I am writing for, well, I mean to be totally honest: I am writing for my bandmates. There are no other people in the world who I respect more - especially on a musical level - and so if I can bring something - musically and/or lyrically - that makes them say "Wow, that's really fucking good!" then I feel like I've done something truly good. I guess from there, I feel like, well, we like it... Why wouldn't anyone else like it? There are times when I think I've got something and Matt or Kenny will be like, "mmmm, yeah not bad" and my immediate instinct is to scrap it. If they're not completely swept off their feet by it, I feel like it must not be good enough.

EF Matt
And then what generally happens in those moments? Does the riff get tossed, re-worked, or perhaps saved for later?

GC David
We're the type of people who say "Let's save that for later", but we have never once in the history of the band ever revisited something not good enough to do the first time around. Instead we sell them to lesser bands... like the Giraffes. (Just kidding.)

EF Matt
Ha! Are there any of your most recent songs that were particularly troublesome in terms of crafting them, or have they all had their own WOW moments early in the process?

GC David
I think better musicians and maybe more patient songwriters can deal with songs that are "troublesome" as you say. With us, we don't rush anything, but if it's giving us a hard time, we move on. Really, we don't have a shortage of ideas, and we never ever feel like, "We better make this work or we won't have a new good song." Last night, we wrote our latest song completely by accident. We had no intention of writing anything new. In fact, we just made plans to record, so we had JUST come out of a break where we decided "these are the songs we'll record..." and next thing you know we go into the room, open a beer, start playing, and a riff starts taking shape, and it's like "GODDAMNIT!" We have to write it there and then, or the moment will pass, and so we did. And now we have a new song, and now we'll fight over what to record.

EF Matt
Well then, what exactly are you planning to record? And, are you planning to pair these new sessions with the four (46-49) songs you guys cut earlier this year?

GC David
Good question. I think without a doubt, "Goes Cube Song 53" "Goes Cube Song 55" "Goes Cube Song 56." Very, very likely is "Goes Cube Song 50." The question is, can we do the latest, which is 57. And if we do, then does that mean we can't do the song that is sort of linked closely with 50 (which is 54). Basically, to be very frank about it, we're waiting for a label to be willing to take all of this material we already have and put something out. We'd love a full-length. All we want to do is to keep touring and keep writing. I see this new stuff going very well with 46 - 49. There are some songs off Beckon The Dagger God that would match up, but really this new stuff is getting quite heavy.

EF Matt
Such as this new song posted here, "Goes Cube Song 48"...

GC David
Yeah, 48. This song has a special place in my heart. Aside from the lyrical content, it's one of my favorite songs to perform. There's this real stripped down lull in the middle, and it leads to what is, in my opinion, probably the biggest ending we have in any song. Dean Baltulonis (our producer) really did a wonderful job recording this track. I think he really understood what it was that we were after. (We're going back to him this time around, too.)

EF Matt
Yeah, I have to say - when I first heard the song I immediately loved the beginning. It made me think of stepping up to the edge of a lake that you knew would be cold as shit, but then deciding to just say "fuck it" and dive right in regardless. The song really kicks then, for a good few minutes - with nice ups and downs, and some honestly outstanding production work - but what happens right around 2:58-3:10... the build and explosion to the finish of the song... it's really perfect. I mean, that whole moment makes it so that this one song captures the essence of Goes Cube better than perhaps any other Goes Cube song that I can think of - it's amazingly powerful, and satisfying.

GC David
That means so much. And I can tell you, we kind of feel like 48 is one of the best representations of who we are musically and even lyrically. We're really excited to be finally getting this out so people can hear it. Live, it's usually everyone's favorite.

EF Matt
Well, it's also a terrific showcase for what Dean brings to the table for you guys too; because, having heard the song in person before hearing this recording, I can tell you that this is EXACTLY what I would've wanted it to sound like on record.

GC David
That's all Dean. He's done such an amazing job for us. And I can't wait to hear what he does with the new songs.

EF Matt
I can't wait either. So - you've got twelve/thirteen new songs written, you're heading into the studio soon... a new song for everyone to download and love (right here, right now), a show tomorrow with some good friends... anything else on the upcoming schedule/calendar for Goes Cube? Plans, goals for 2008?

GC David
Well, recording is the big thing for the sliver of 2007 that's left. Looking ahead, we're wanting to go on tour in March again - do a similar thing that we did last March - tour to and back from SXSW. Truthfully, though, we need some really killer SXSW shows this year. We want to play a lot of shows, and we want them to be good ones. Any labels or magazines out there reading this - please book us for your party/showcase! After that, a big goal for us is that we want to make it over to Europe in 2008. It's a money thing though. Again, we just want to work hard and do it all the time.

EF Matt
Well that's great - great news for whichever cities are lucky enough to have you guys in 2008. Thanks for taking a moment to chat with EF and seriously, thanks for the amazing music. Very often it's the soundtrack to my life here in NY and I truly can't wait for proper studio versions of the most recent songs.

GC David
Thanks so much for all of your support, Matt. And can I say: You were sorely missed on the last tour. Then again, you might have dragged down our band bowling average, so... maybe it was for the best? Nah...

EF Matt
Might have dragged the average down?! I roll like a limbless infant.

GC David
You should have seen the Giraffes...

Listen:
"Goes Cube Song 48"

See Goes Cube Live:
29 November 07 - Brooklyn, NY @ Union Pool w/ Jones Street Boys and Michael Leviton

*above photo from HERE.

See EF pictures of Goes Cube HERE.

Visit Goes Cube on MySpace.

Pale Young Gentlemen

Up until yesterday, the forecast looked pretty clear to do a nice little writeup on Pale Young Gentlemen from an ideal perspective: the deliberately blissful position of not doing one's "homework". I'm talking about the intentional act of listening to a band's music with little to no awareness of what others have said or written about them, or even more ideally of what they've said or written about themselves. It's a self-discovery that makes you stop and actually grapple with the elements you personally respond to and recoil from, all the while lending credence to the grating cliche of "letting the music speak for itself."

I was all ready to do this...and then I read the Pitchfork review (note: as of the publishing of this post Pitchfork's site was down so beware the hyperlink. Note note: this also means much of the following is conjured from memory so beware).

Oops. Now, this isn't to suggest that I'm unable to formulate my own opinion about the Madison, WI seven-piece and their self-titled album but rather that the brittle bubble protecting me from outside chatter done got popped. This is especially unfortunate because I was roughly halfway through my virginal spin of the album when I came across the review, which should be noted was mostly thoughtful and well-written. Afterwards, I couldn't help but consider the various questions it posed and alternately wondered "is this album excellent or is it deceptively front-loaded?" and "does the fact that Michael Reisenauer's vocals sound a bit like Chris Martin please me or turn me off?" and perhaps unrelated "what does it matter that the drummer personally got in touch with me and other people in order to disseminate the album?" and even "why the need to include Sasha Frere-Jones and Black Kids references in the first sentence of the review?"

See what happens? One outside review skewed my perspective in that it forced me to consider these questions instead of raising my own based on a once-unblemished reaction to the music. So, in fairness to the Pale Young Gentlemen, I'll try to pick this up where I once left off. Firstly, to answer the questions raised above: 1) yes the album is excellent, 2) yes Reisenauer's vocals please me - they do recall Chris Martin but an even more immediate comparison could be made to Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos (both of whose voices I like) - though I can see how they may not be for everyone, 3) the fact about the drummer is completely irrelevant, and 4) I'm not really sure what to make of the SFJ and Black Kids references and I'm not really sure I care.

Now, for a refreshing change of pace, what about the music? Obvious references can be (and were) made to Beirut and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and such comparisons are definitely warranted and accurate. Their songwriting and arrangements also recall a more frenetic Die Romantik, and there's a charmingly ramshackle feel to these burlesque orchestral arrangements that are able to transcend their own playfulness by the weight and sense of urgency added by Reisenauer's dramatic crooning (again, I'm a big fan of his voice).

The band cites Randy Newman as a musical touchstone, but I would also invite Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney - particularly the awesomeness of the Ram era Macca - to the comparison party as well. And let's face it, you could do worse than drawing inspiration from those three.

So, the moral of the story is that you should forget everything you just read and check Pale Young Gentlemen out for yourself. You won't be disappointed....but forget I said that.

See Pale Young Gentlemen Live:
18 December 07 - Madison, WI @ Cafe Montmarte w/Marla Hansen
20 December 07 - Chicago, IL @ Cobra Lounge
25 January 08 - Minneapolis, MN @ Nomad World Pub

Listen:
"Single Days"

Visit Pale Young Gentlemen on MySpace.

Three for Free - Eluvium, Sleeping People, Miss Violetta Beauregarde

EAR FARM's Three for Free: three EF approved, free and legal MP3s posted each week. This week - three from Temporary Residence Limited. Click on the artist name to go to their site, click on the song name to listen to the song.

Listen:
Eluvium - "New Animals From The Air"

Sleeping People - "Yellow Guy / Pink Eye"

Miss Violetta Beauregarde - "The Unbearable Lightness Of A Farm Tractor"

Hangar 18: Bloggers vs. Rockers - Week 12

Week 12 of Hangar 18: the Bloggers v. Rockers Fantasy Football League and the Mancino squad (team name: Metric Ewing) lost another close one, this time to the very proprietor of EAR FARM - Mother Puncher. Psshhht, like he even needed the win, all sitting up in his ivory tower of fantasy conquest sneering at the rest of us trying to wiggle into the postseason. Unfortunately, this week's loss did little to help our cause and even temporarily knocked us out of the playoff picture. Fortunately, there is still ONE week remaining and TWO playoff spots to be claimed. Below are the current standings, the results from this past week, Week 13 matchups, our current rosters and the league's theme song.

Rockers vs. Bloggers Fantasy Football Current Standings:

1. Arizona (9-2-1)*
2. EAR FARM (9-2-1)*
3. The Muggabears (7-4-1)*
4. My Old Kentucky Blog (7-4-1)*
5. Margot & The Nuclear So & So's (6-6)
6. ninebullets (6-6)
7. Mancino (6-6)
8. Indie Interviews (5-6-1)
9. Tapes 'n Tapes (Josh) (5-7)
10. Gorilla vs. Bear (5-7)
11. I Guess I'm Floating (3-9)
12. Tapes 'n Tapes/Vicious Vicious (Erik) (1-10-1)

*clinched playoff spot

Rockers vs. Bloggers Fantasy Football Week 12 Results:

EAR FARM (68) defeated Mancino (64)
Arizona (146) defeated My Old Kentucky Blog (121)
The Muggabears (85) Gorilla vs. Bear (83)
TnT/Vicious Vicious (Erik) (100) defeated Indie Interviews (81)
ninebullets (94) defeated I Guess I'm Floating (92)
Tapes 'n Tapes (Josh) (101) defeated Margot (74)

Rockers vs. Bloggers Fantasy Football Week 13 Matchups:

I Guess I'm Floating (vs) Mancino
My Old Kentucky Blog (vs) EAR FARM
Arizona (vs) Gorilla vs. Bear
The Muggabears (vs) Tapes 'n Tapes/Vicious Vicious
Indie Interviews (vs) Tapes 'n Tapes (Josh)
Margot & The Nuclear So & So's (vs) ninebullets

Mancino's (team name Metric Ewing) current roster:

QB: Tom Brady (NE)
RB: Laurence Maroney (NE)
RB: Maurice Morris (Sea)
WR: Lee Evans (Buf)
WR: Donte' Stallworth (NE)
WR: Ronald Curry (Oak)
TE: Benjamin Watson (NE)
D: New England
K: Shayne Graham (Cin)
BN: LenDale White (RB - Ten)
BN: Kolby Smith (RB - KC)
BN: Justin Fargas (RB - OAK)

AND

EAR FARM's (team name Mother Puncher) current roster:

QB: Derek Anderson (Cle)
RB: Joseph Addai (Ind)
RB: Chester Taylor (Min)
WR: Dwayne Bowe (KC)
WR: Torry Holt (StL)
WR: Jerricho Cotchery (NYJ)
TE: Jeremy Shockey (NYG)
D: New York Giants
K: Jeff Reed (Pit)
BN: Deion Branch (WR - Sea)
BN: Amani Toomer (WR - NYG)
BN: Adrian Peterson (RB - Min)


Listen:
"Hangar 18" by Megadeth

Today's NEW releases

Hot! Fresh! Not much:

• Justin Timberlake - Futuresex/Lovesounds (Deluxe Edition)
• Various Artists - Through the Wilderness: A Tribute to Madonna

What else this week?

Hit-or-miss

Listen:
"Where There's a Will There's a Whalebone" by Islands from Return to the Sea

View:
Image search results for Where There's a Will There's a Whalebone - above image is from the fourth page of results (and was originally from HERE).
--
In the recent past these songs were featured in Hit-or-miss posts:
"Pretender" by Madonna
"Talk Dirty to Me" by Poison
"Bandits" by Midlake
"Girlfriend" by Bobby Brown
"Slow Action Is The Best Action" by Run Chico Run
"Half A Person" by The Smiths
"The Bones Of An Idol" by The New Pornographers
"Stay" by David Bowie

To see a full list of every song featured in EAR FARM's Hit-or-miss (and to find out just what this Hit-or-miss is) click HERE.

Don't Wanna Let You Go - In Memory of Kevin DuBrow

Kevin DuBrow, the lead singer of the 1980s heavy metal band Quiet Riot, has died at the age of 52.

For me personally, Quiet Riot was one of those milestone bands in my life. As I've mentioned elsewhere, Quiet Riot's Metal Health was the very first album I ever owned. My mother bought the record for me at a Wegmans grocery store in Syracuse, NY back in 1983 and I listened to it hundreds of times in my formative years. In fact, I still have that same copy of the album in my collection today. Thanks to outstanding vocals from DuBrow, an amazing original guitarist (one Randy Rhoads, pictured here alongside Kevin), and a couple of very smart cover songs, Quiet Riot's Metal Health laid the foundation for an entire generation's love of metal (myself included) by proving that the genre could find success on the charts in ways never before imagined (the album hit No. 1 in 1983).

From CNN:

DuBrow died at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to TMZ.com. The Clark County coroner's office was examining the body to determine the cause of death, according to TMZ.

"I'm at a loss for words. I've just lost my best friend," Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali told CNN. "Out of respect for both Kevin and his family, I won't comment further. There's going to be a lot of speculation out there, and I won't add to that. I love him too much."

Quiet Riot hit the top of the charts with its 1983 album, Metal Health, considered by some sources as the first heavy metal album to hit No. 1. The album was driven by the group's cover of Slade's "Cum on Feel the Noize," which hit the Top 40.

The band's other hits included "Bang Your Head (Metal Health)" and another Slade cover, "Mama Weer All Crazee Now."

The band formed in the mid-1970s behind DuBrow and guitarist Randy Rhoads, who later joined Ozzy Osbourne's band and died in a tour accident. After several years, during which time the band disbanded, regrouped and built an audience, everything came together for Metal Health, which put Quiet Riot in the vanguard of the Los Angeles heavy metal movement.

Listen:
"Metal Health (Bang Your Head)"
"Cum on Feel the Noize"
"Don't Wanna Let You Go"

Buy Metal Health on Amazon/on iTunes.

Goes Cube @ Mercury Lounge - 24 November 2007

Goes Cube rocked and awed a smaller-than-normal Thanksgiving weekend crowd at Mercury Lounge, where they unveiled a brand new song ("Song 56") and thoroughly blasted all ears brave enough to stand in front of the stage. You can hear/download one of their recent songs, and check out live videos of three songs from this show, below.

Listen:
"Song 46"

Watch:
"Song 56" live (from this show) on YouTube | download QT
"Song 55" live (from this show) on YouTube | download QT
"Song 46" live (from this show) on YouTube | download QT

See more pictures of Goes Cube (from this show and many others) HERE.

Visit Goes Cube on MySpace.

snip·pets

My Bloody Valentine Plans Digital Future

London Residency Among Morrissey Winter Dates

The Romantics Sue Activision Over 'Guitar Hero'

Janet Reno's 'Song of America'

Ian Astbury says The Cult Will Open for Led Zeppelin in Cincinnati Next Year

Led Zeppelin reworking classic tunes because Robert Plant can't hit the high notes anymore

NY Times: Hard to Be an Audiophile in an iPod World

World's first self-tuning guitar released

France unveils anti-piracy plan

Baltimore Sun: Audio gain in volume signals loss for listeners

Lily Allen to quit music in three years?

Jesus & Mary Chain Readying New Album

Department of Eagles - EAR FARM talks with Daniel Rossen

Department of Eagles is a collaborative effort between Daniel Rossen and Fred Nicolaus. Rossen, also a member of EF favorites Grizzly Bear, handles the singing and guitar while Nicolaus plays assorted instruments and also contributes to the songwriting. That much is clear. Ahh, now comes the difficult part. How to describe the duo? All over the goddamn map is the initial phrase that comes to mind.

Before I bought their 2003 album Whitey on the Moon UK - an album re-released this year and also found under the title The Cold Nose - I had a few reservations based on some prior disparate descriptions of DoE's sound. What's it gonna be music critics? Do they sound like Randy Newman or the Streets? Beck or Portishead? How can it be ALL of the above?

I'm admittedly more of a fan of cohesive statements by artists, or at the very least a cohesive sound, and so often times the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink mentality leaves me a bit cold (nose). And yes, Whitey on the Moon UK (or The Cold Nose) is very schizophrenic in its stylistic choices. Somehow, though, it's crafted in a very seamless way, perhaps due to the consistently casual and playful tone and hazy lo-fidelity production that meanders throughout the album.

Now its probably not fair to make a Grizzly Bear comparison seeing as Rossen and Nicolaus started this band before joining forces with Ed Droste & co., but one thing I couldn't help but notice was how similarly Department of Eagles succeeds in establishing its own mood and environment. Like Yellow House and Horn of Plenty, DoE exists in its own worn-in sonic world, a feat all the more remarkable given that the songs range from barely contained punk romps ("Romo-Goth") to beautiful melancholy love songs ("Sailing By Night") to a hilarious Streets parody ("Forty Dollar Rug").

Why take my word though? Rossen was kind enough to correspond with us and fill in some of the blanks in DoE's semi-cryptic history. I was curious about the band's origins and the rationale behind The Cold Nose.

"If you don't count all the down time we've been some kind of a band for about 7 years," Rossen wrote via email. "Fred and I were roommates our first year of college. The band started as a joke, which accounts for a lot of the trip-hop sounding stuff on Cold Nose. We didn't initially play any instruments or sing, we just made really lo-fi sample collages and 'beats.' It was a geeky parody of west coast abstract hip hop, I think, mostly a game of coming up with the most ridiculous track title or idiotic band persona."

"Oddly, a friend that was starting a label in the spiritual home of obnoxiously abstract hip-hop, Berkeley CA, offered to put out some of our things and get us some free studio time. The few songs that appear on Cold Nose are my first attempts at singing on a recording, or putting any kind of song together in a studio environment. It was a good experience for sure, and though I'm sometimes horrified by the thought of friends or blogs hearing that stuff, it's definitely a fun document of the early early days."

Even more encouraging, Department of Eagles have previewed a few new songs over the past year - including the sublime "No One Does it Like You" - which have gained considerable coverage and acclaim by some of the usual suspects. Does this mean a new album is forthcoming?

"A record will will be done in the next few months I hope, and it may include those songs if they fit in with the rest of it," Rossen said. "We are working on all sorts of new material, a lot of it with Chris from Grizzly Bear. Now that all the touring is done with Yellow House we are kind of branching out a little and relaxing our obligations. There aren't any firm details for release yet, we haven't really decided about that yet."

Very promising. And for those who may have missed it the first time around, La Blogotheque even did a fantastic "Take Away Show" with the duo in Chinatown recently. It turns out that this was actually their first live performance.

"We've always been more about recording and never really played together like other bands do, if that makes sense. That takeaway show we did for Blogotheque is about the closest thing to a real live show we've ever done."

And also probably the closest live thing we'll get from them for now, though Rossen also mentioned to us that he'll be playing some live solo shows over the next year. He even hinted at some sort of Grizzly Bear/DoE joining of forces, stating that "maybe after this next record is done, there will be a great big Grizzly Bear Dept of Eagles orgy and we'll come up with some kind of a live band."

How awesome. Add that to your lists of things you forgot to give thanks for yesterday. In the meantime, enjoy the following goodness, as delicious as reheated stuffing and apple pie:

Video for "Romo-Goth"



La Blogotheque Chinatown "Take Away Show" Part 1




La Blogotheque Chinatown "Take Away" Show Part 2




Listen:
"No One Does it Like You"

Visit Department of Eagles on MySpace.

ARC Holiday Record & CD Sale

What is ARC? ARC is the ARChive of Contemporary Music, a not-for-profit archive and research center and the world's largest collection of popular music. Board members include David Bowie, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Lou Reed, Martin Scorsese, Keith Richards, Paul Simon, and Fred Schneider.
--
From Saturday December 8th through Sunday December 16th, ARC will be open to the general public from 11am to 6pm for a holiday sale. Their press release states the following:

WHAT TO EXPECT
Admission is free! New items daily. Over 20,000 items for sale

Rough Trade CDs, Reggae from Trojan + Sanctuary
CDs are NEW donations from record companies, NOT used, returns or defects!
Mostly pop and rock recordings. Collectible LPs are priced below book value.
Hundreds of CDs are priced at $1 to $5 each. cassettes $1.00 ea./ 12 for $10.
Just released NEW & HOT CDs are $5 - $10, MOST LPS $1 +
BEST DEAL = BOXES of 125 Pop, Soundtrack or Classical LPs = $5 a BOX

PLUS
CHRISTMAS Records, TONS of Film Soundtrack & Broadway LPs + CDs - MOST for a BUCK, Signed records * 100s of sealed/unopened LPs (Aretha, Troggs, Smiths), BEATLES and more BEATLES LPs, African & world-music * Classical LPs $1 or LESS each! Vintage punk, new wave & classic rock LPs * music books * videos * 7" singles + For the dis-en-vinyled our Astroturf Yardsale of 50s kitchen stuff and clothing!!!

Location: At our ground floor office: 54 White St. Three short blocks south of Canal, between Broadway & Church in Tribeca. Take the 1 train to Franklin, or any train to Canal.
--
Okay, back to me. Wow, that looks pretty awesome (I took the liberty of adding bold font to the part about the Beatles). The deal is that the ARC holds onto two copies of all recordings released in America and so all of these sale items will be the third copies of such recordings. Call it a large-scale cleaning of the closet, call it a Christmas miracle, call it what you want, but EAR FARM will definitely be checking this out. Will you?

8+

"Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 - "Pastoral": V. Hirtengesang. Frohe, dankbare Gefühle nach dem Sturm - Allegretto" by Ludwig van Beethoven (performed by the London Symphony Orchestra & Wyn Morris) which clocks in at 9:47

I am thankful for Beethoven. Oh come on, I am! I swear. I'll put it to you this way: if I had to pick only one piece of music to listen to for the rest of my life (consider this one for yourself sometime), it would be something penned by Ludwig van Beethoven. Not exactly this particular piece of music, but this one's not too bad in its own right. And hey, this one (the 5th movement of his 6th Symphony) is the one that touches on the "giving of thanks", so it's only natural for it to appear here today.

Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 (known as the Pastoral Symphony) is Beethoven's major attempt at program music. Program music is "a form of art music intended to evoke extra-musical ideas, images in the mind of the listener by musically representing a scene, image or mood". Here, we have Beethoven composing with a plot in mind, titling the movements of this particular symphony in a very deliberate manner and putting together instrumental depictions of bird calls, country dances, and - you guessed it - the giving of thanks after the passing of a storm. It's not one of his most overtly popular symphonies, but within certain circles it is often hailed as one of his most beautiful works. About the coda (posted here) Antony Hopkins (not the actor) once said it contained "arguably the finest music of the whole symphony". That's Hopkins giving thanks for the song posted above. Big fan of 8+s that guy.

Me? I'm thankful that my neighbors are out of town. All of them on my floor (I think). See, the people in the apartment directly next to mine recently moved out, and whoever owns that particular unit must have decided it was time for some major renovating. Perfectly normal, lots of noise and smelly men. You know the drill. What wasn't perfectly normal was my reaction to this work being done. I got curious. Like a cat, but worse. So curious was I (in wanting to see what the heck they had done to this apartment to make so much noise for two weeks) that I decided to boldly go where no Matt would normally go before: into the apartment.

It was obvious that the workers had left, if at least briefly. There was no noise whatsoever for a good while. Now, I wasn't actively thinking about this lack of noise and keeping track of how long it'd been since last I heard work, but it did occur to me (yesterday) as I passed by the apartment (to take some cardboard boxes out to be recycled) that perhaps there wasn't anybody in there. I could take a look? As I walked by the now vacant construction zone I smelled sawdust in the air. For whatever reason, I went with my impulse to try the door. If unlocked, I'd set my boxes down in the hall and go insi - UNLOCKED! I went inside.

What I saw in there is going to remain a secret, but let's just say that the apartment has all kinds of new woodworking, appliances, and built-ins. Cha-ching! Whoever moves in next is gonna be thankful for that stuff, better believe it. Yes sir.

I left quickly. And as I walked out the door it occurred to me that I just might run into the neighbors on the other side of this apartment. The only ones on my floor I've never even met before. Imagine that, I'd have to decide on the spot whether to tell them who I really am - their long-time neighbor just snooping around in this empty apartment - or go along with their likely assumption that I'm the new resident, who'd be moving in shortly, and never (ever) let them see where I really live. Again, thankfully, I didn't run into them. They're out of town, I think. I hope. I think I hope they stay out of town for good, it's so quiet lately. Ah, pie in the sky wishes...

I am thankful for pie. Thankful for many things, but pie is high on the list. Especially today, on this, the day of giving thanks and eating turkey and PIE and an assemblage of side dishes and rolls and wine and cranberries. And pie. Apple pie, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, mystery pie - I'd really rather eat any pie than have to mess around with that boring old 17th century buffet of dried out poultry and cooked breadcrumbs that we all eat year after year. Because, it's the pie I enjoy the most on days like today; on any day, but today mostly. Let's face it, the whole Thanksgiving Dinner thing isn't exactly my bag. But Thanksgiving Dessert - yes please! And really, if we're going to have a holiday centered around feasting, then shouldn't it be about eating FUN things like cookies and cake and pie! pie! pie!!?!?

Ask my cat and he'll tell you "no sir, HELLS naw I don't want no pie!" HE stays far away from pie (which, for obvious reasons, is fine by me) and sticks strictly to the turkey. And boy, he sure does love his turkey. He gobbles it up like it's... PIE, for crying out loud.

Which turkey? Any turkey. See, inevitably I purchase for him a can of Fancy Feast Turkey and Giblets Feast (pictured above) for his holiday enjoyment and, just as inevitably, he always manages to score some tasty bits of meat from the real deal. He watches me when I carve the turkey. Each slice of the knife is writing on the wall telling him "bird soon - REAL bird." For this is HIS special day. Taking into account the pies, it's a special day for both of us; however, for him this day rises above all others. I swear, judging by the dazed look on his happily stuffed face, that each year at the end of Thanksgiving day he's thinking something along the lines of "Ya'll see that big bird carcass over there? Yep, that's all me. Caught it, cleaned it, ate it. This MY day bitches! What am I thankful for? I'm so thankful for that turkey! BEOTCH!"

And then he pours himself some Courvoisier, lights up a cigar, and listens to this song as he drifts off to sleep mumbling "tryptophan, take me away mothafucka..." He may talk like a thug, but in actuality I have a very sophisticated cat.

Buy Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 - "Pastoral" & Egmont Overture on Amazon/on iTunes.

EAR FARM's 8+ is a weekly feature that showcases songs longer than 8 minutes. In the recent past these songs were featured on EF's 8+:
Gioachino Rossini - "La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie)"
The Fiery Furnaces - “Inspector Blancheflower”
Morrissey - "Moon River"
Miles Davis - "So What”
Tori Amos - "Yes, Anastasia"
Boduf Songs - “Bell for Harness”
8 Bold Souls - "Odyssey"
Artanker Convoy - "Open Up"

***as a special treat for today only, I've re-uploaded "Alice's Restaurant Massacre" to last year's Thanksgiving day 8+, you can listen to it HERE***

To see a full list of every song featured in EAR FARM's 8+ click HERE.

OPP

(an early) HOLIDAY MP3 MIX (to you, from brooklynvegan)

Largehearted Boy: 2007 Year-End Online Music Lists (continually updated)

NYC Taper: Yo La Tengo November 16, 2007 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Lossless Download

MOKB Covers Project : Running Up That Hill

Nerd Litter on PJ Harvey’s White Chalk

Passion of the Weiss: The Beat Generation - Been Caught Stealing

Stereogum: Voting is now open for the 2007 Gummy Awards

Salon: Britain's No Music Day offers a welcome hush over a noisy world

The Guardian: 1,000 albums to hear before you die

EAR FARM's Thanksgiving Mix + Holiday Contest (win a personalized mix!)

In the U.S. tomorrow is Thanksgiving - a national holiday born out of a desire to give thanks for the things one has at the end of the harvest season. But that was a long time ago. Today, the holiday is most often celebrated as a time for Americans to get together with family and loved ones to communally take part in two very American activities: watching TV (most often this includes parades and football) and eating (staples of any good, proper, Thanksgiving feast include turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, green beans, bread rolls or biscuits, and various pies for dessert, particularly apple pie, mincemeat pie, pecan pie, and pumpkin pie).

As well, in the United States at least, the holiday of Thanksgiving is seen as the beginning of the holiday season - a time of shopping and celebration and joy and giving and, at least around these here parts, MORE MIXES!

That's right, EAR FARM has been on a roll lately with dishing out timely mixes (see the list below) and we figured we'd let the mix monster out again, one more time, for Thanksgiving.

So here's wishing each and every one of you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

As well, we've got a bit of a first here at EAR FARM. A very special holiday contest! In the spirit of giving, and giving thanks, we'd like to thank you loyal EAR FARM readers by offering up a special prize (a personalized mix made just for you) to THREE very lucky people. Details below.

EAR FARM's Thanksgiving Mix
1. "Turkey Mambo Momma" by Pulp
2. "Sweet Potato" by Imperial Teen
2. "A Good Sauce from the Gravy Bowl" by Cab Calloway and His Orchestra
4. "Mashed Potato Time" by Dee Dee Sharp
5. "String Bean Jean" by Belle & Sebastian
6. "Thanksgiving Waves" by Eef Barzelay
7. "Pecan Pie" by Golden Smog
8. "Roll Plymouth Rock" by Brian Wilson
9. "Strawberry Fields Forever" by The Beatles
10. "The Thanksgiving Song" by Adam Sandler

Holiday Contest
Here's the deal. I (me, Matt) adore making mixes. I always have. And I'd like to make one just for YOU. So, all you have to do is get in touch with me (earfarm at mac dot com) and tell me why I've included "Strawberry Fields Forever" in the above mix (it is quite a nerdy reason), and tell me the subject/theme for your personal mix. Tiny Mix Tapes style, except that you'll actually get to listen to this one. The first THREE people to do so correctly (and this contest is open to EVERYONE who is reading this - friends, bands, loved ones, strangers, even EF Mike) will be notified via email. If there aren't three of you out there who can guess this, then I'll be making mixes for the THREE most interesting suggestions for mix subject/theme. Good luck, and happy holidays!

Previous EAR FARM mixes
- EAR FARM's Dangerous Cities Mix
- EAR FARM's mix for Barry Bonds
- EAR FARM's Halloween Mix
- EAR FARM's Valentine's Day Mix 2: Easy Cheesier
- EAR FARM's "Easy Cheesy" Valentine's Day Mix

Three for Free - June Panic, Bodies of Water, Bobb Trimble

EAR FARM's Three for Free: three EF approved, free and legal MP3s posted each week. This week - three from Secretly Canadian. Click on the artist name to go to their site, click on the song name to listen to the song.

Listen:
June Panic - "Birthday Present"

Bodies of Water - "I Guess I'll Forget The Sound, I Guess, I Guess"

Bobb Trimble - "One Mile From Heaven"

Hangar 18: Bloggers vs. Rockers - Week 11

In Week 11 of Hangar 18: the Bloggers v. Rockers Fantasy Football League, the Mancino squad (team name: Metric Ewing) rallied behind the strong play of almost the entire New England Patriots offense to slay the (former) league leader Arizona. With that win, we move up to 6th place overall and back into playoff contention (the top 6 teams qualify), yeyah. There are now only TWO weeks remaining in the regular season before the playoffs begin. Congratulations to Arizona and my associate EAR FARM (team name: Mother Puncher) for clinching playoff spots early. For the rest of us, it's going to be a dog fight, one that won't let up this week as the two EAR FARMers battle head to head IN (drumroll please): Mother Puncher vs. Metric Ewing - Round 2. Take a look at our rosters below and tell us - who do you think will emerge victorious? Look at all the New York Giants on his team, grossssssss. Also below are the current standings, the results from this past week, Week 12 matchups and the league's theme song.

Rockers vs. Bloggers Fantasy Football Current Standings:

1. EAR FARM (8-2-1)*
2. Arizona (8-2-1)*
3. My Old Kentucky Blog (7-3-1)
4. The Muggabears (6-4-1)
5. Margot & The Nuclear So & So's (6-5)
6. Mancino (6-5)
7. Indie Interviews (5-5-1)
8. ninebullets (5-6)
9. Gorilla vs. Bear (5-6)
10. Tapes 'n Tapes (Josh) (4-7)
11. I Guess I'm Floating (3-8)
12. Tapes 'n Tapes/Vicious Vicious (Erik) (0-10-1)

*clinched playoff spot

Rockers vs. Bloggers Fantasy Football Week 11 Results:

Mancino (98) defeated Arizona (78)
EAR FARM (124) defeated I Guess I'm Floating (83)
The Muggabears (125) My Old Kentucky Blog (90)
Indie Interviews (79) defeated Gorilla vs. Bear (59)
Margot (102) defeated TnT/Vicious Vicious (Erik) (66)
Tapes 'n Tapes (Josh) (95) defeated ninebullets (59)

Rockers vs. Bloggers Fantasy Football Week 12 Matchups:

EAR FARM (vs) Mancino
Arizona (vs) My Old Kentucky Blog
The Muggabears (vs) Gorilla vs. Bear
Indie Interviews (vs) Tapes 'n Tapes/Vicious Vicious
I Guess I'm Floating (vs) ninebullets
Margot & The Nuclear So & So's (vs) Tapes 'n Tapes (Josh)

Mancino's (team name Metric Ewing) current roster:

QB: Tom Brady (NE)
RB: Laurence Maroney (NE)
RB: LenDale White (Ten)
WR: Lee Evans (Buf)
WR: Donte' Stallworth (NE)
WR: Kevin Curtis (Phi)
TE: Benjamin Watson (NE)
D: New England
K: Shayne Graham (Cin)
BN: Marc Bulger (QB - StL)
BN: Chris Chambers (WR - SD)
BN: Justin Fargas (RB - OAK)

VERSUS

EAR FARM's (team name Mother Puncher) current roster:

QB: Derek Anderson (Cle)
RB: Joseph Addai (Ind)
RB: Chester Taylor (Min)
WR: Dwayne Bowe (KC)
WR: Torry Holt (StL)
WR: Amani Toomer (NYG)
TE: Jeremy Shockey (NYG)
D: New York Giants
K: Jeff Reed (Pit)
BN: Deion Branch (WR - Sea)
BN: Jerricho Cotchery (WR - NYJ)
BN: Adrian Peterson (RB - Min)


Listen:
"Hangar 18" by Megadeth

Today's NEW releases

New new new:

• Amy Winehouse - Frank
• Bonnie Prince Billy - Ask Forgiveness
• British Sea Power - Krankenhaus? [EP]
• Gorillaz - D-Sides
• Nine Inch Nails - Y34RZ3R0R3MIX3D

What else this week?

Hit-or-miss

Listen:
"Pretender" by Madonna from Like A Virgin

View:
Image search results for Pretender - above image is from the fourth page of results (and was originally from HERE).
--
In the recent past these songs were featured in Hit-or-miss posts:
"Talk Dirty to Me" by Poison
"Bandits" by Midlake
"Girlfriend" by Bobby Brown
"Slow Action Is The Best Action" by Run Chico Run
"Half A Person" by The Smiths
"The Bones Of An Idol" by The New Pornographers
"Stay" by David Bowie
"I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You)" by Hank Williams

To see a full list of every song featured in EAR FARM's Hit-or-miss (and to find out just what this Hit-or-miss is) click HERE.

EAR FARM's Dangerous Cities Mix

Data: Hey any of you guys ever hear of Detroit?

Mikey: No.

Mouth: Sointenly! It's where Motown started. It's also got the highest murder rate in the country...

In another blow to the Motor City's tarnished image, Detroit pushed past St. Louis to become the nation's most dangerous city, according to a private research group's controversial analysis, released Sunday, of annual FBI crime statistics.

The study drew harsh criticism even before it came out. The American Society of Criminology launched a pre-emptive strike Friday, issuing a statement attacking it as "an irresponsible misuse" of crime data.

The 14th annual "City Crime Rankings: Crime in Metropolitan America" was published by CQ Press, a unit of Congressional Quarterly Inc. It is based on the FBI's Sept. 24 crime statistics report.

The report looked at 378 cities with at least 75,000 people based on per-capita rates for homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and auto theft. Each crime category was considered separately and weighted based on its seriousness, CQ Press said.

Last year's crime leader, St. Louis, fell to No. 2. Another Michigan city, Flint, ranked third, followed by Oakland Calif.; Camden, N.J.; Birmingham, Ala.; North Charleston, S.C.; Memphis, Tenn.; Richmond, Calif.; and Cleveland.

Never one to miss a chance to quote my favorite movie, and definitely not one to avoid making a mix for any/every occasion, I uh, well, have a listen - it just kind of speaks for itself. Innit?

EAR FARM's Dangerous Cities Mix
1. "Panic in Detroit" by David Bowie
2. "Meet Me in St. Louis" by Judy Garland
2. "Flint (For the Unemployed and Underpaid)" by Sufjan Stevens
4. "Oakland" by Too $hort
5. "Come Back To Camden" by Morrissey
6. "Birmingham" by Randy Newman
7. "Charleston" by Django Reinhardt
8. "Memphis Exorcism" by Squirrel Nut Zippers
9. "Rumpus in Richmond" by Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra
10. "Look Out Cleveland" by The Band

snip·pets

Prince, Tony Bennett Surprise With Stevie Wonder In NYC

Tapes N' Tapes Wraps Sophomore Album

My Bloody Valentine Reveals Reunion Shows

McCartney: Beatles Should Go Digital Next Year

Deerhoof, Milk Man Artist Team for Artsy Gig

Band of Horses Turn Down Wal-Mart Commercial

Jack White works on unfinished Hank Williams songs

'Idol' alums win 3 American Music Awards

MTV looks to conquer Middle East market

A death in O'Death's family forces them to cancel their European tour

EAR FARM: Heavy Rotation

EAR FARM's Last.fm tells only part of the story, so let's check in with the 10 albums getting the most attention at EF HQ at the moment. There's a song from each album posted below, and a link to purchase each on Amazon/iTunes (if available).
--
Mothership by Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin. First I fell in love with them in 7th grade, then again in high school, again in college, again a few years ago when How The West Was Won came out, and now once again as they've recently announced a reunion concert and FINALLY put all of their records up on iTunes. Greatest hits comps sometimes are a waste of time, but this remastered Mothership most definitely is not.

Listen: "The Song Remains the Same"

(purchase Mothership on Amazon/on iTunes)

In Rainbows by Radiohead - This record was playing on my iPod for most of my recent trip to Europe and is a perfect soundtrack for just about anything, if you're in that Radiohead kind of mood. I think it's their best album since Kid A - what do you think? Surely it was at least worth whatever you paid for it...

Listen: "Bodysnatchers"

(purchase In Rainbows HERE)

Isn't Anything by My Bloody Valentine - Announced reunions (see Zeppelin above and The Verve below) tend to get me re-listening to records by the reuniting bands. I realize that's the point (from the thirsty-for-money band's perspective) but hey - I'm a robot like that. Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, THIS is My Bloody Valentine's best album. It's better, and more influential, than Loveless. True.

Listen: "(When You Wake) You're Still in a Dream"

(purchase Isn't Anything on Amazon/on iTunes)

Spiderland by Slint - This is easily one of the ten most important albums of the last 20 years and was pretty much on constant repeat when I was in Amsterdam two weeks ago. A pure classic.

Listen: "Nosferatu Man"

(purchase Spiderland on Amazon)

Fort Nightly by White Rabbits - This is an irresistible record that makes my eardrums do a happy dance.

Listen: "Kid On My Shoulders"

(purchase Fort Nightly on eMusic/on iTunes)

I'll Sleep When You're Dead by El-P - Something about pumping this album at max volume on my iPod while riding the Paris Metro made me feel empowered, cool-as-shit, and as if I "get" hip hop much more than the French people surrounding me simply because I'm an American.

Listen: "Tasmanian Pain Coaster"

(purchase I'll Sleep When You're Dead on Amazon/on iTunes)

A Northern Soul by The Verve - Yes, so they're getting back together for a tour and a new album (awesome, hopefully) and that made me want to revisit what I consider to be their best album - A Northern Soul. If all you know of this band is "Bitter Sweet Symphony" then you owe it to yourself to dig a little deeper. Their first two albums (this is their second) are fantastic.

Listen: "On Your Own"

(purchase A Northern Soul on Amazon/on iTunes)

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath by Black Sabbath - I adore this band and have been thinking about, and listening to, them a lot lately thanks to my visit to Père-Lachaise and my reading of Klosterman's Killing Yourself To Live. Ozzy and I have a birthday coming up soon, you know... if you'd like some gift ideas for us, consider some black shirts, pants, jackets, and boots. We like those.

Listen: "Killing Yourself To Live"

(purchase Sabbath Bloody Sabbath on Amazon)

We Are Him by Angels Of Light - Darkness. Madness. Genius. Though it's definitely not for everyone, this is just exactly my kind of record and a top album of the year for me for sure.

Listen: "Black River Song"

(purchase We Are Him on Amazon/on iTunes)

Sings Morrissey by Colin Meloy - I could tell that Colin Meloy and I had extremely similar taste in music long before he released this EP in January, 2005. When Colin's version of "Sister I'm A Poet" came up on random recently, I just knew I had to revisit the entire EP. I think his choice of songs is nearly perfect and his versions of "Pregnant For The Last Time" and "Jack The Ripper" are downright amazing.

Listen: "Jack The Ripper"

(download Sings Morrissey for free HERE)

EAR FARM's mix for Barry Bonds

From ESPN:

Barry Bonds, baseball's home run king, was indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice Thursday and could go to prison instead of the Hall of Fame for telling a federal grand jury he did not knowingly use performance-enhancing drugs.

The indictment, culminating a four-year investigation into steroid use by elite athletes, charged Bonds with four counts of perjury and one of obstruction of justice. If convicted, he could be sentenced to a maximum of 30 years in prison.

Yikes. This is a big deal. For Bonds, for baseball, and for all of professional athletics, really. As for how it impacts us, well, it doesn't - except that I'm crazy about making mixes. Therefore, this sounds like a perfect opportunity for a special EAR FARM mix for the occasion!

EAR FARM's mix for Barry Bonds
1. "American Idiot" by Green Day
2. "Cheated Hearts" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
2. "Terrible Lie" by Nine Inch Nails
4. "Everybody's Got Something To Hide (Except Me And My Monkey)" by Feelies
5. "Pretty Perjury" by Tiger! Tiger!
6. "Criminal" by Fiona Apple
7. "Dressing Up For The Indictment" by Rye Coalition
8. "In The Jailhouse Now" by Johnny Cash

8+

"La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie)" by Gioachino Rossini (performed by the St. Petersburg Orchestra of the State Hermitage Museum Camerata) which clocks in at 10:54

Approximately Exactly 4.5 people (truly, and I ain't about to round that up) have told me, over the past few years, that I should read Killing Yourself to Live by Chuck Klosterman. "Duuude, you should so read that," they said, "it's exactly the kind of book you'd enjoy." Wrong? I'd read Klosterman in Spin, and I wasn't so sure. But they insisted. They said that it was a book full of one man's love of metal, pop culture, women, sports, and death. Wow. That's, like, precisely my bag, innit? It is. And I knew it. I knew they were right all along, but being told that I should do something has never really made me want to do it. I call it "high school English class when they force you to read a classic novel but you don't want to, so instead you go and read your own selection - probably something like The Picture of Dorian Gray that wasn't on the syllabus but made you feel cool as shit and rebellious (in the most nerdy of ways) for reading it while everyone else was reading Ethan Frome - and then you just act like you read the book they were cramming down your throat and then intuitively find ways to discuss and analyze it in class, thus setting yourself up to feel like you've read it and therefore never in your life will you actually read it - aka, you ruined another classic for yourself" syndrome. Or, "spoiled ignorant weenie" syndrome for short. Bear with me, these designations are works in progress. But you get the point. I still do that, just like I still wear Nike Air Command Force sneakers. Pumpety-pump-pump, pumpety-pump-pump, look at Matty go. Some things never change.

But back to the book - Klosterman. Klosty the Snowman.

There must have been some magic in that poorly stocked, old JFK terminal airport bookstore I found; for, when I saw Killing Yourself to Live on the shelf I began to dance around. La la, la la la... One long line of clueless consumers later I was back in my seat at the gate waiting to fly away to Amsterdam and reading about Chuck Klosterman's fascination with dead musicians and ex-girlfriends. Weirdo.

As I read nearly half of the book on the flight to Amsterdam an idea hit me - perhaps I too could/should/would investigate my own life by visiting with death in a musical manner. And then I could tie it in to the three most important women in my life's relationship history and then create an imaginary conversation between the four of us and then that could become the true solar plexus of what had, up to this theoretical point, seemed to be an overly referential essay about music and tombs. Perhaps I too am weirdo!

I was already planning this (in fact) before I picked up An Idiot's Guide To Introspection. I figured I'd go back to my favorite Parisian cemetery and visit with the remains of some of my musical heroes, take a bunch of pictures, blow a lipstick kiss to old Oscar, bump and grind with Victor Noir's bronze man part, and write about the whole experience. All that would then separate this tale of mine from Chuck's would be a few missing sports references, a willingness to do drugs with Rhode Island rednecks in their pickup trucks, and a hot blonde boss. Thankfully, I think, for all of us, my mismanagement of time ensured the rapid decay/failure of my plan. I got to the cemetery much later than I wanted to and had to revise my course of action. There would be no visiting with the bones of the Lizard King or the Little Sparrow, and no humping of bronze statues - the sun was about to set and I had to get in and out of grave central before darkness fell across the land. I decided to head directly for the final resting place (NOT - come to find out, in 1887, Rossini's remains were moved to Florence) of Gioachino Rossini, composer of one of my most favorite pieces of music ever in the history of written music: the conveniently posted above "La gazza ladra".

There I was, sitting in semi-frightening near-darkness with the bones (again, NOT) of a true musical hero of mine. The skull that once contained the brain that birthed perfect crescendo after perfect crescendo lay in front of me in a crypt (NOT) and I could feel music creeping into my head. Not Rossini, but something else. It went: "Whatchoo gonna do..." duh duh - DUH DUH DUH DUH - Sabbath! It hit me like iron, man. There in front of me lie the bones (yawn, NOT) of the man who invented heavy metal. What? It's not too much of a stretch really. If Beethoven was the Led Zeppelin of the long long ago, then I'd put Rossini as yesteryear's Black Sabbath (and Wagner as Iron Maiden and Rachmaninoff as Metallica - I could go on and on) without pause. Perhaps that's why people who like classical music don't care for heavy metal - they've heard it all before. Rossini was the "Spiral Architect" of a formula of quiet-loud-quiet heavy orchestral/operatic music that presaged Paranoid by a good 150 years and set the course for all of the thunderous overtures that would follow in the century after his demise. Surely at least a good half of everything "heavy" that's come since he wrote his overture to the opera William Tell could be directly attributed to Gioachino Rossini. Bazookas, jet airplanes, the Third Reich, Atlas Shrugged, John Goodman - I was on to something in front of that tomb and I knew it.

Then, much like with Killing Yourself to Live, it was suddenly time to get out while the getting was still good. To skip the final third of the book and move on to Life of Pi.

No. It was getting dark is what I mean. So quickly the darkness fell over the cemetery that it was all I could do to make it to the gate before the dead souls started calling me. I raced to the front gate, trailed by an African man on a scooter telling me to hurry up. I wasn't afraid of him though, I feared the vicious insight of the dead souls. They'd rip on me and make fun of me for identifying with, yet hating myself for doing so, so much of the Klosterman book. "You think like this writer," they'd spit at me (except with a decidedly more French accent than what you've ascribed them), "you write about music and ex-girlfriends like him too - why you hate him then? Do you are is hating yourself too?? Hating yourself for to live, just like Chook has killen himself to live?"

Dead men tell no lies, or so I'm told, and apparently they do so in broken English with a thick French accent. But they're right. I AM confused about my feelings about the book, about life and death and music and ex-girlfriends and how the hell I could ever tie it all together in something anyone would want to read for longer than 160 pages. Maybe it can't be done. It's been attempted by one brave soul from North Dakota and he nearly succeeded. He had me for most of that book, but then it was (at times) so much like reading my own thoughts that I couldn't deal with it after a while and found myself wondering if I enjoyed Killing Yourself to Live solely for narcissistic reasons.

Shit, I'm not really sure where I stand on any of it. Maybe I'm wrong about the whole Rossini is/was Black Sabbath thing. Maybe John Goodman would be a bloated tank of a man even if there wasn't ever a William Tell Overture, perhaps Stanley Kubrick would've found something better than "The Thieving Magpie" to accompany the gang battle scene in A Clockwork Orange if there never was a Gioachino Rossini, and perhaps there's no need for me to write the way I think if Klosty the Snowman's already done it for me. Perhaps I AM hating myself for to live.

Nah, that's just the nonsensical words of some unnamed French ghost that I invented as a fictional device to move forward, and bring an eventual end to, this story. Heavy, isn't it? Meh, I liked it better when Klosterman did it.

*above image taken by me during a recent visit to Père-Lachaise

Buy Famous Overtures on iTunes.

EAR FARM's 8+ is a weekly feature that showcases songs longer than 8 minutes. In the recent past these songs were featured on EF's 8+:
The Fiery Furnaces - “Inspector Blancheflower”
Morrissey - "Moon River"
Miles Davis - "So What”
Tori Amos - "Yes, Anastasia"
Boduf Songs - “Bell for Harness”
8 Bold Souls - "Odyssey"
Artanker Convoy - "Open Up"
Dan Deacon - "Wham City"

To see a full list of every song featured in EAR FARM's 8+ click HERE.