Playlist for July 2011

Playlist for July 2011

7/9/11
Vanna - "The Search Party Never Came" EP

7/11/11

Job For A Cowboy – “Genesis”

7/12/11

Frenzal Rhomb – “A Man’s Not A Camel”

“Weird Al” Yankovic – “Alpocalypse”

The Coltranes – S/T EP

The Coltranes – “I’ve Got Heaven in My Smile”

Glass Candy – “Love Love Love”

Big Chocolate – “I’m Shot” EP

Oceano – “Depths”

The Coltranes – “I’ve Got Heaven in My Smile”

7/13/11

The Coltranes – “I’ve Got Heaven in My Smile”

Go Radio – “Lucky Street”

Melt Banana – “Cell-Scape”

7/14/11

Hypocrisy – “Obsculum Obscenum”

Hypocrisy – “Inferior Devoties” EP

Four Tet – “Rounds”

7/15/11

Judas Priest – “Screaming For Vengeance”

7/16/11

In The Midst Of Lions – “The Heart of Man”

Murder Death Kill – “Fuck With Us and Find Out”

Hundredth – “When Will We Surrender”

Thick As Blood – “Moment of Truth”

Evergreen Terrace – “Almost Home”

Bury Your Dead – S/T

7/17/11

The Who – “Tommy”

The Cure –  “Disintegration”

7/19/11

Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Freaky Styley”

(most of) Poison The Well – “Tear From the Red”

7/20/11

Shut Up And Deal – “This One’s For Me” EP

The Black Pacific – S/T

Emalkay – “Testing the Waters” EP

Shit Robot – “From the Cradle to the Rave”

August Burns Red – “Messengers”

Fleshgod Apocalypse – “Oracles”

Six Feet Under – “True Carnage”

7/21/11

Big K.R.I.T. – “Return of 4Eva” mixtape

Cannibal Corpse – “Tomb of the Mutilated”

Cannibal Corpse – “Bloodthirst”

Isis – “Oceanic”

Life Or Death – summer 2011 2-song promo CD-R

7/22/11

Souls Of Mischief – “93 ‘Til Infinity”

(most of) The Rolling Stones – “Aftermath”

7/25/11

Between The Buried And Me – “Colors”

7/27/11

The Menzingers – “Chamberlain Waits”

Swallow The Sun – “Hope”

7/28/11

R.E.M. – “Chronic Town” EP

Das Klown – “Rapid Fire”

7/29/11

Napalm Death – “Smear Campaign”

NOTES:

-          I can’t believe I went the first 8 days of July without listening to a single album
-          I love that first Vanna CD so much

-          Frenzal Rhomb was the shit

-          This new CD is Weird Al’s crappiest

-          The new Coltranes CD is the bee’s knees and the new EP they’re gonna drop on you in a few months is gonna kick your ass too

-          For some reason I thought Four Tet was going to be acoustic music but I like what it actually is much more

-          “Disintegration” is in my top 20 favorite albums, ever

-          Fleshgod Apocalypse is one of the coolest new death metal bands I’ve heard in a very long time

-          Six Feet Under might be the second-best-selling death metal bands in history but that doesn’t take away from the fact that they’re one of the shittiest bands the genre ever produced

-          Cannibal Corpse rules. So does Napalm Death. End of discussion.

-          Big K.R.I.T.’s mixtape is most enjoyable hip hop album I’ve heard so far this year

-          I can’t believe I’ve overlooked Souls Of Mischief for all this time

-          My Rolling Stones CD is allll scratched

I also saw Mouthful Of Snow, The North Americans, Tea Party Crashers, Dirty Filthy Mugs, The Coltranes, Thick As Blood, In The Midst Of Lions, and For The Fallen Dreams perform live this month. My group The Gravitys played our 3^rd show with those first 2 bands; I hurt my pinky finger during DFM’s cover of “Banned From The Pubs” and it's healing wrong; the cops came and shut down that last show before Evergreen Terrace and Bury Your Dead could play L.

What a crappy playlist.

Playlist for June 2011

This is a list of all the full-length music albums, EPs, and demos that I listened to in the month of June 2011. At the end is a list of the music performances I saw live during this time span.

6/1/11

Freelance Whales – “Weathervanes”

6/2/11

Alberta Cross – “Broken Side of Time”

The Drums – S/T”

Twin Shadow – “Forget”

The Walkmen – “Bows and Arrows”

Sleigh Bells – “Treats”

Pretty Lights – “Making Up Your Mind”

6/3/11

String Cheese Incident – “Born on the Wrong Planet”

6/5/11

Deer Tick – “War Elephant”

Between The Buried And Me – “Colors”

Widespread Panic – S/T

The Black Keys – “Brothers”

6/6/11

Florence and the Machine – “Lungs”

Mumford and Sons – “Sigh No More”

Bootsy Collins – “Back in the Day: Best Of”

The Decemberists – “The Crane Wife”

6/7/11

Buffalo Springfield – S/T

Primus – “The Antipop”

Widespread Panic – “’Til the Medicine Takes”

6/13/11

School Of Seven Bells – “Disconnect From Desire”

6/14/11

Deer Tick – “War Elephant”

6/15/11

Vital Remains – “Icons of Evil”

Screaming Trees – “Sweet Oblivion”

Nog Watt – “Fear” EP

The Cramps – “Stay Sick”

Animal Collective – “Strawberry Jam”

6/16/11

Veara – “What We Left Behind”

Dr. Acula – “Chillogy” EP

Duck Sauce – “Greatest Hits” EP

Lionize – “Space Pope and the Glass Machine”

Death From Above 1979 – “You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine”

Explosions In The Sky – “How Strange, Innocence”

Skrillex – “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” EP

Asking Alexandria – “Stand Up and Scream”

6/17/11

Jack Beats – “UFO” EP

Guided By Voices – “Isolation Drills”

6/18/11

Sleep – “Dopesmoker”

The Word Alive – “Deceiver”

Noisia – “Split the Atom”

Widespread Panic – S/T

6/21/11

Origin – S/T

6/22/11

Kalmah – “Swampsong”

Graves At Sea – “Documents of Grief”

West Indian Girl – S/T

Sinergy – “Suicide on My Side”

6/23/11

School Of Seven Bells – “Disconnect From Desire

6/26/11

Nine Inch Nails – “The Downward Spiral”

6/27/11

Bad Rabbits – “Stick Up Kids” EP

Busy P – “Rainbow Man” EP

Simian Mobile Disco – “Attack Decay Sustain Release”

The Daisycutters – demo CD

August Burns Red – “Thrill Seeker”

  

NOTES:

-          I saw many of the bands listed from the 14^th and earlier at Bonnaroo later in the month

-          The Dog Days Are Over!

-          School Of Seven Bells fucking owned my life for a week there I love them

-          Deer Tick is a really good band I identify with them

-          Dr. Acula is one of the shittiest bands in the world

-          Widespread Panic kicked my ass left and right all month, all I can say is “Walkin (For Your Love)”

-          Origin = BRUTALITY

-          Kalmah!!

-          After all these years, “The Downward Spiral” is still one of my alltime favorite albums

I also saw Freelance Whales, School Of Seven Bells, Sleigh Bells, Kylesa, The Sword, Atmosphere, Florence & the Machine, My Morning Jacket, Primus, The Arcade Fire, Bassnectar, Lil Wayne, Pretty Lights, The Low Anthem, Forro in the Dark, Deer Tick, Portugal. The Man, Mumford & Sons, The Black Keys, Buffalo Springfield, Eminem, Dr. John with the Original Meters and Allen Toussaint, The Head and The Heart, Smith Westerns, Fences, Neon Trees, Junip, Iron & Wine, The Strokes, and Widespread Panic perform live this month...at BONNAROOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Playlist for May 2011

I haven't been updating this like I should, I'm at least 5 events behind reviewing, and as you can see this month's listening list is considerably shorter than in months past. I'm just losing my shit I guess.

5/2/11

Violent Children – S/T EP

5/3/11

Holly & The Italians – “The Right to Be Italian”

S.N.O.T. – “Slaughterhouse” EP

5/4/11

Stellastar – “Hymns for the Haunted”

Disarray – S/T EP

5/6/11

(most of) Green Day – “Kerplunk!”

5/9/11

The Jesus and Mary Chain – “Psychocandy”

Black Flag – “The Process of Weeding Out”

5/10/11

The Patriots – “Land of the Free” EP

Peter, Paul, and Mary – “The Platinum Collection”

5/11/11

Digital Underground – “Sex Packets”

Lama – “Totuus Loytyykavrapuurosta” EP

Lama – “Nimeton” EP

It Dies Today – “The Caitliff Choir”

5/12/11

The English Beat – “Special Beat Service”

Zao – “Parade of Chaos”
Amebix – “Who’s the Enemy?” EP

Exodus – “Force of Habit”

Dissent – “Boy Eats Own Head” EP
Janky – S/T EP

5/18/11

Wolfgang Gartner – “Shapes” EP

Beastie Boys – “Some Old Bullshit”

(most of) Modest Mouse – “This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About”

5/27/11

Disgust – “Last Blast” EP

5/30/11

Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band – “Trout Mask Replica”

5/31/11

The Wretched – “In Nome del Loro Potere Tutto e Stato Fatto” EP

As I Lay Dying – “Shadows Are Security”

Notes:

-         - I listened the the demos from my various projects so many damn times that I didn’t even include them in the playlist because it was getting absurd how many times they were on there. But rest assured, I listened to The Gravitys, Melting Corpse, end of the summer, and Ground Up A LOT this month.

-          - Holly Vincent from Holly & The Italians lived next door to my mom when she was growing up…and goddamn that album is great

-          - All the bands today are still copying Jesus and Mary Chain

-          - I straight up listened to Peter, Paul, and Mary how you gonna front on that

-          - Digital Underground is the shit

-        -   The English Beat is one of my favorite bands

-          - Zao and Amebix are both a tad overrated in their respective scenes

-         -  “Trout Mask Replica” is fucking bizarre but its also a rare piece of true art in musical form

I also saw Dash Jacket (acoustic), Avi Zahner (acoustic), Native Americans, Mouthful Of Snow, and Rebirth Of Paradise perform live. I myself performed live acoustic as end of the summer and with my band The Gravitys.

June is gonna be awesome.

Playlist for April 2011

4/1/11

Red House Painters – “Songs for a Blue Guitar”

4/2/11

Red House Painters – “Songs for a Blue Guitar”

The Gravitys – demo CD

4/4/11

Junip – “Fields” disc 1

4/5/11

Portugal. The Man – “Under the Waves of the Brown Coat” EP

Kylesa – “Time Will Fuse Its Worth”

Unwritten Law – “The Oz Factor”

Miss May I – 2008 demo

Lil Wayne – “I Am Not a Human Being”
The Wonder Years – “Get Stoked On It!”

4/6/11

Phosphorescent – “Pride”

4/7/11

MC Lars – “The Graduate”

The Gravitys – demo CD

4/9/11

Hellogoodbye – “Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!”

4/10/11

Deerhunter – “Halcyon Digest”

The Low Anthem – “What the Crow Brings”

4/11/11

Gogol Bordello – “Super Taranta!”

We Came As Romans – “To Plant a Seed”

Junip – “Fields” disc 2

Eminem – “Infinite”

Miss May I – “Apologies Are For the Weak”

4/15/11

Them Savages – demo CD

4/16/11

Ground Up – demo CD

4/17/11

Propagandhi – “How to Clean Everything”

4/18/11

Uriah Heep – “The Best Of:
Reflex From Pain – “Black and White” EP

Throwdown – S/T EP

Nile – “Amongst the Catacombs of Nephran-Ka”

Converge – “No Heroes”

4/19/11

All That Remains – “This Darkened Heart”

Krisiun – “The Plague” demo

Static Thought – “The Motive for Movement”

Rhapsody – “Symphony of Enchanted Lands II: The Dark Secret”

4/24/11

School Of Seven Bells – “Disconnect From Desire”

4/26/11

John Coltrane – “Ascension”

4/27/11

Devendra Banhart – “Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon”

Moving Picture Show – “Frame By Frame”
The 4^th International – “Nichijou Sei No Hakai Wa Wareware No Gensou” EP

Pixies – “Surfer Rosa”

4/29/11

The Ramones – “Leave Home”

4/30/11

X-Ray Spex – “Germfree Adolescence”

Soulfly – S/T

NOTES:

-          I love School Of Seven Bells

-          R.I.P. Poly Styrene, thanks for everything

I also saw Blue Scholars, Parade of Lights, Peelander-Z, On Being Human, Them Savages, Mouthful Of Snow, and Andrew WK perform live this month.

SHOW REVIEW: Blue Scholars @ UC Irvine Aldrich Park, April 8 2011

I was beyond stoked when I heard the announcement that underground hip-hop duo Blue Scholars was gonna be playing a free set at UC Irvine; I had only recently learned about them within the 2 or 3 months before the show but they quickly became constant listening. I thoroughly enjoy hip hop music but it’s rare that I become as enthusiastic about a new hip hop artist as I did after listening to their album “Bayani,” and my friend Mark who introduced me to them is even more enamored. So it was a no-brainer that we would shoot up to Irvine this Friday night to check out their performance.

The show was held in UCI’s Aldrich Park on an outdoor stage as the final performance of a weeklong “Spirit Week” that had consisted mainly of student club performances. My friends and I arrived on campus around 4:30 and spent about an hour at the campus pub before heading out to the park to see what was going on. The layout was similar to the main area of UCI’s annual Wayzgoose festival, with club booths and vendor trucks lining the walkway of the top interior flat lawn of the park near the Natural Sciences and Engineering buildings.

The first thing I noticed was that there was absolutely no one at the area in front of the stage where the crowd should be. At once this made me excited that we would be close up and get an intimate performance; but as a former intern for the ASUCI concerts commission that would have been involved in organizing and promoting an event such as this, the sight of the empty crowd was also a bit disappointing. We found a guy from Hip Hop Congress and asked when Blue Scholars would be performing and I could tell that he was glad somebody had come out for the show but also that he was upset at the lack of campus enthusiasm for such a dope show. He explained to us that the Spirit Week had been chiefly organized by the Pre-Pharmacy Student Group or something like that and they had focused more on school spirit type stuff instead of promoting the headlining performance.

There was still a little over an hour before the performance was set to start so we walked around parts of the Computer Science and Engineering areas drinking down some vodka and blazing some bowls before noticing that small clusters of a crowd were beginning to form near the stage. We watched part of a dance crew, I think it was B-Boys Anonymous, that honestly were pretty sloppy with their breaking, before the main event took place.

As soon as the duo took the stage you could feel excitement in the still rather small crowd of your typical UCI Asians and fratboys. MC Geologic came out wearing like a ley or something around his neck indicative of his super laid back style, calmly confident and effortlessly smooth. His delivery was pretty damn near what it sounds like on record, which is cool because I have seen a number of cool MCs (like Lupe Fiasco a couple years ago again here at UCI) who sounded like completely different people when they performed live.

DJ Sabzi likewise held a confident swagger throughout the performance, sporting an almost preppy. Although there were turntables set up, he never really got into the 1-2’s; to my recollection I don’t remember seeing him use any vinyl at all, let alone lay down some scratches. He mainly stuck to invisible laptop work, which usually really bugs me and was a bit of a let-down, but his beats and live edits were so crucial that it didn’t get on my nerves too much. He mainly hung out in the background contributing back-up vocals to some of Geologic’s lines, but there were a few awesome moments where he laid down full-on verses of his own.

 

One of the first couple songs they played was “50 Thousand Deep,” which really blew the lid off early on for me. The song, which is about the 1999 anti-World Trade Organization protests in Seattle, is one of my all-time favorite hip hop tracks and has been on replay a lot lately during car trips with the homies because of its addictively smooth and catchy music and its deeply political lyrics that reach the kind of articulation and analysis that most MCs literally cannot comprehend. All day we had been speculating and hoping they would play this particular track, knowing that even if they didn’t it would be nothing but dopeness all the way through, but still wanting this one.

From there it was all gravy, and really good gravy at that. Geologic asked the crowd “Is it cool if we play some stuff from our first album?” which of course got a great reaction because for the next several tracks it was the songs we were all super familiar with and excited to see performed live. Amongst those was another favorite of mine “Still Got Love” and it’s classic line “not everybody lives, but everybody dies.” The crowd was bumping and the stage was electric, with both performers moving around with the cool conviction they’ve got down to a T.

Something I thought kind-of cheapened the performance was when partway through the student organizers of the event brought out a big box of lame Spirit Week T-shirts and wanted Geologic to help throwing them out. He obliged without any obvious sign of thinking this was lame, but I’m sure he thought that was lame. I mean, just let them play, your event is at an end no need to keep promoting it. That’s something I never completely understood about the way ASUCI planned events; it’s like they never get big announcements of artists and headliners etc out until right before the event, and then they don’t have any legit promotional material like shirts and stuff until the day of. I don’t know, it wasn’t that much of a hitch in the performance but still I thought it a bit unnecessary to barge in on their set like that.

Really the defining element of the performance came when it started raining. It had been sprinkling intermittently on our drive up to Orange County earlier in the day but by around 7 it seemed to have cleared up. Small drizzles began early in the performance but weren’t anything of a nuisance until a little bit past the halfway point when the rain really started picking up and started affecting the equipment onstage. At first Sabzi just put one of the promotional T-shirts over his laptop to cover it from the wet but it started really showering and the backstage people had to bring out tarps to cover up all the Dj equipment and speakers. Geologic joked that they’re from Seattle where it rains all the time and they came to Southern California expecting some nice beach weather but instead they brought Seattle with them!

Even when it started fucking hailing, however, the two performers went on like troopers, never missing a beat or appearing the least bit phased by the torrents that were coming down on us all. Likewise, pretty much the entire crowd that had been there from the start remained, waving our arms in approval and getting all buck nasty in the rain. Before both of their last 2 songs Geologic noted that the fire department is telling them to shut it down, but they’re gonna keep it going. From the way it was pouring I totally believe there was a legitimate risk for electrocution going on but they kept on going for us and I’m glad they did.

Although we all left soaking messes, I can honestly say that was the best hip-hop performance I’ve ever been a part of. From the intimate feeling of the crowd size to the awesome delivery of top-notch music to the unforgettable experience of a kick-ass storm party, this was really one for the books. It’s a shame the people involved in promotion didn’t get the word out to the UCI community better because a group as good as the Blue Scholars deserve more appreciation. They know that the heads who stayed through the hail got love, though.

“Not everybody lives, but everybody dies.”