Astrojanitor

The Found is amazing. Like too good to stay in Buffalo amazing. They are really plugging into something I love. Patrons of Sweet should have made the list as well. Killer straight forward indie rock. But the, for my money, the best bands Buffalo ever produced (Knife Crazy and Exit Strategy) never got any love from that paper. So no huge surprises here for me

right on, three cheers for Buddhism

Fun fact: Patterson Hood's father is David Hood, bass player for the Muscle Shoals Sound. They were the back up band for all those soul and blues albums Dickinson and Wexler were producing back in the day. When you grow up with the cat that lays rhythm behind Aretha, you grow up with respect. I also love the dimension Shonna Tucker brings, but it's a drag the divorce drove Jason Isbell out of the band. He offered a gorgeous sense of melancholy that offered a brilliant couterpoint to Patterson and Cooley's "I will rock in spite of you" lyric narratives. Plus that softer vulnerable voice wears thin over the span of his solo albums, but kills it for one or two tracks in the middle of an overlong DBT opus. They're one of those bands I've been lucky enough to watch grow up. Back in the day they couldn't even function on stage if they were sober. I saw one gig where they were begging people to buy them alcohol because they were too broke to get drunk enough to rock proper. Those early jams were these intense character studies. The more they get their act together they songs are not just about people's actions, but where the people live and the influences on their actions. They keep taking in more and more of the picture, which I find even more touching. There's a lyric on the new album on the song Birthday Boy that kills me. Not verbatim, but something like: pretty girls in small towns are remembered like scars and floods. The actual lyric is a lot better; but still, man what a beautiful and perceptive line. compare that to the faux deep drivel of the modern rock gibberish that's choking the airwaves.

such a killer record. Nine Bullets, Box of Spiders and One of These Days...some of my favorite songs ever. the night GG Allin came to Town? Perfectly nails what it's like overhearing people talk about GG Allin. There's a great eye for detail in that song. Always reminded me of Elenor Rigby in that way--more of a short story than a song.

you want to get weird? you want to see something truly different? Some films you will either love or hate...but one of those feelings will happen intensely Careful Jandek on Corwood Psyched by the 4D Witch Blast of Silence Death Bed: the Bed that Eats (don't be fooled by the stupid title--wild wild film) Performance Lady Snowblood Master of the Flying Guillotine Two Lane Blacktop Over the Edge Pierrot Le Fou

that's funny--the exact same thing happened with me. The band that was playing before us were clearly going to blow us off the stage. I got ridiculously hammered...figured I'd do something wacky to make our set memorable. I felt I was both hilarious and on fire (figuratively). The day after the other dudes politely explained to me that I was both not Iggy Pop and really wasn't even all that great when I was in control of my faculties. That whole legend of Roky erickson playing after 10 hits of acid thing? That's not something I could pull off. unless by "transcendent musical performance" you really mean "wet myself on stage."

this is not where I thought the subject line was heading....

only one episode and I'm already a little obsessed with Treme. I am a huge David Simon--for my money Homicide and Wire are the two best shows man have yet made. Treme is killing me in how honest it feels. Even though I am fully aware of the actors, I never once feel like I'm watching steve zahn or john goodman. Really amazing stuff

YES! Son Volt gets kind of lost in the shuffle. But I'll tell you what, I find Son Volt consistently exciting and interesting, but Wilco in a massive downward spiral since 1998. First 3 records are killer, but now is just bland sub-Eagles to me. People are getting more and more excited about Wilco, but I just don't hear it anymore. if you dig the alt-country I've been loving Felice Brothers recently (one member is a professional traveling dice player--beat that!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDKTZJRsKEM

oh christ man, that's awful. I'm sorry dude

shoot, I wouldn't hire you

I know man, unfortunately I can't get off work. Same with the Syracuse gig last night. Luckily they tour like nobody's business--they'll be back probably 2 more times this year

mushrooms are amazing. i'm able to handle life for a good 2-3 months afterwards. and man, I got that high octane lose your insurance type depression.

btw; new album on May 18

i went to film school in pittsburgh with dan auerbach, he disappeared after a semester. like two yrs later he shows up with black keys and everyone just assumed he was ripping off Modey Lemon, who were an amazing 2 man blues punk band out of PGH. All the obnoxious hispter losers (me included) kind of took it personally. I actually used to hide the fact I loved the first two Black keys albums because I didn't feel like dealing with the hassle. now I don't care, but then it was a big deal. I haven't been enjoying the more recent albums too much, but those first two records are monsters

I first encountered DBT opening up for Jon Langford in 1998...been a pretty rabid fan ever since. Their early, self released, records were kind of frustrating in that they fluctuated wildly between some of the greatest rock and roll penned to some of the worst nonsense ever (see: the president's penis is missing off of Pizza Deliverance. or better, don't). One of the rare bands that seems to never peak. The new album is pretty dope--although not their best. However Cooley brings it this time. Birthday Boy? Killer killer tune. If a fan do check out The Hold Steady and Titus Andronicus. Super literate bar rock. here, I'll make it easy on you:

oh man, drag. Jerk ruined the New York Dolls--but he redeemed himself with all kinds of genius moves. Awesome dude, he will be missed

yeah that's true (about the esoteric and Beatles...side note: dig the Replacements? get a copy of the Red Red Meat album Bunny Gets Paid--thank me later) Beatles have that odd history that makes it hard to keep track of the, for lack of a better word, purpose of a good deal of their songs. British and US albums may not have the same tracks, but all those songs showed up somewhere on the proper albums. My favorite thing about b sides is how they are the ignored amazing songs--flip sides that never appear again. I think that's why I don't really attribute B side status to the Beatles. But then I also realize that's as much my rock snobbishness as anything

In defense of Yoko: Her art stuff with the Fluxus group is kind of confounding. I've tried to figure out Fluxus for ten years and straight up don't get it. Performance art tends to be more obnoxious than interesting. I'm not even going to couch that as my opinion, performance art is annoying. Fact.

nope, all b sides A side is the single B side is the song that rarely shows up on the album the single is from. Back in the day you'd get covers or something as a B. Or if the label says they want one song to be the single and the band feels differently, that jam pops up as the B in hopes of the DJ flipping the single over. You do get double A sides...jukebox singles are always double A singles, for example. Beatles or Stones or beach Boys singles are probably all double a since they don't really have obscure no album cuts sitting around the vault.

The other great thing about vinyl is the insane resell value. You buy a record for $15 and don't dig it? You can unload it on ebay for probably $10-12. You buy a crappy $15 cd? You're fortunate to get a buck. Leads to safety in experimentation...always a good thing. plus they're cooler and smell great. Seriously, go smell a record. I want to live in that smell. Top five B-Sides (off the top of my head): The Misfits "She" (flip of Cough/Cool) Muler "Slowpoke" (flip of On the Rug) Toiling Midgets "Mr. Fosters Shoes" (flip of Golden Frog) Red Red Meat "Gauze" (flip of Idiot Son) Fresh & Onlys "Horrible Door" (flip of Laughter is Contagious)

vinyl sales are actually up. a lot. A great deal of people are rejecting this whole mp3 thing (seriously, who pays for a consumer good you cant hold?). The labels are smart--you buy a record on vinyl and it almost always comes with a download code or cd. the indies are dropping singles like nobody's business. I just pre-ordered a Boston Spaceships 45 that ended up selling through its entire run in 2 days. The b-side will leave popular consciousness, but luckily there are enough nerds like me kicking around to keep the concept alive.

wow, sandra bullock is into the dirty sanchez....there's information I never expected to have

man, I am getting real tired of the Bills doing absolutely nothing this offseason. They are not trying to bulk up the team at all...plus Lynch being MIA? What do we really have here, Gailey takes the tvs out of the weight room? I'm holding out some hope for the draft; but, this is shaping up to me another lost year. this may open up the Jason Campbell discussion again. could be an option.

there were friendly fire casualties in the very first episode. Remember the two or three guys got up to pee in the middle of the night and were lit up on their way back to camp? It was the first sequence of the series involving gun fire