the Suck Factor as it relates to weather

What a dismal, soggy day.

It's freakin halfway through May already, and we've had, what, 2 warm days this month? I guess it's no sweat (ha!) that I haven't gotten the rest of my summer clothes out of storage; it's been way too disgusting outside to wear all those light & flow-y clothes.

But anyway, back to the tunes.

I'm guessing a lot of you (who are you, anyway?) are like me, in that your mood can greatly influence your current playlists.

Let's take today, for example. It's gross outside, which- no matter how hard I try to avoid it- really makes me feel gross. On my way to the radio station, one of my recent purchases rolled up on my iPhone, and it actually made me feel better about a lot of things - purchasing the album, driving a beater, driving in the rain since 6am, the fact that it'll be crappy out all day (well, ok, nothing can make me feel better about that).

Them Crooked Vultures is drummer Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters, singer/guitarist Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, and Led Zeppelin bassist/effects-master John Bonham. Grohl and Homme have worked together previously, as have Grohl and Bonham. Reportedly, Grohl "set up" Bonham and Homme at his own birthday party; the rest, as they say, is musical hist'ry.

If you were to scope the band's Web site, you might get an idea of how they sound: "It sounds like the guy from Queens of the Stone Age singing and playing guitar with the bass player from Led Zeppelin and the drummer from Nirvana. Now that music is getting out there, this one is sort of unnecessary but still..." (from http://www.themcrookedvultures.com/us/biography)

And I'd have to say that's a pretty fair description.

I will say, though, that I first decided that I could clearly hear early, vintage Led Zep in a lot of these tunes. As I got through a few more tracks, I could swear I was listening to Queens of the Stone Age; I even heard a few things reminiscent of early Nirvana.

I will admit- it took me a long time to like this record. I don't feel like much of today's new music is very good (with recording and producing technology reaching incredible heights, any producer worth his salt can turn even a drunk girl talking into the Next Big Hit. I know, it's a travesty to the whole industry, but it's the truth); I keep finding myself horribly disappointed with every iTunes download, unless it's a record from the 1960s-1990s. Plus, I really only get to listen to my music in my Jeep, which doesn't exactly allow one to truly scrutinize a performance.

However, once I got past the external homogeneity of this record (and believe me, it's the first thing you'll hear), I was able to appreciate the subtleties of its tonal makeup.

Homme favors fuzz guitars throughout, though each just different enough to get your head bobbing; his vocals laced with indifference and grit, accurately reflecting the attitude of the generation.

Grohl's drums are solid, as always, and his backing vocals, though rare, add just enough oomph for appreciation.

What I can't really understand, though, is why- with John freaking Bonham as bassist- there isn't a stronger thump and thrum under all that fuzz distortion? Of course, I don't really have great audio equipment in my old Jeep, but I believe in a bassline, and I just don't hear it on this record.

If you're looking for some new rock music- that's actually real, authentic rock music- you will probably enjoy this record. It's a solid slow groove straight through, with no cheesy pop melodies or ballads to ruin the crunch and hum. It's not like anything out now- you won't hear any Nickelback or Puddle of Mudd whiney, hooky, adult-contemporary-friendly sounds (refreshing!), and there's no screaming, growling, howling "vocals" to make you cringe.

I'd give it 3.5 of 5 stars. Go get it, listen for yourself.

Free Music!

Part 2 of your guide on how to listen to all kinds of free music, as promised!

Today's lesson is this handy little program that my buddy told me about: SimplifyMedia. This downloadable program works in conjunction with iTunes (which is available for the Windows OS, so don't panic if you're a Microsoft fan!) to provide users access to a maximum of 30 different friends' libraries. That could mean potential terabytes of listening paradise! Pretty nifty, right? 

Here's how it works: go to http://www.simplifymedia.com and pick your operating system. SimplifyMedia is free free free if you are using it on a PC or Mac. You can even download it to your iPhone or iTouch, but it is no longer offered for free on either handheld- you must purchase it for USD $3.99 (a very small price to pay for remote, walk-around access to multiple libraries). 

Once you install the software, you will create a user account and name your computer (your friends will see your user name, real name, and computer name). You can decide what music to share, and who to invite to your friends list. Once your friends are invited, you can see each others' shared files in the iTunes sidebar, under "SHARED." You can chat with your added friends through SimplifyMedia, and view the tracks your friends are listening to from your library. 

SimplifyMedia is awesome if you have ripped your own CDs or downloaded your tracks through perhaps... less than legal... means. Unfortunately, I've noticed that you cannot share your purchased m4p files with someone using an iTouch or iPhone. I'm not sure whether the same goes for PC/Mac usage.

That's it for my info on SimplifyMedia. Expect more reports shortly!

I Miss Back When

(title from Tim McGraw - Back When - Live Like You Were Dying)

You know how everyone has one of those "you know you're getting old when" sayings?

I knew I was getting old when I could no longer name any one music genre as my favorite.

I maintain that if it doesn't have any solid guitar work, I'm not really interested, but I've expanded my taste from metal, punk, and rock & roll to country (oh, do I love country), bluegrass, jam bands, and all those moldy golden oldies our parents love to sing horribly in public to embarrass us. 

But then, there are a few artists whose work I get giddy over purely for the thump. I have a folder called "GOTS A BEAT" for them. I think it's right above "HIPPIE TUNES" in the tree. Really.

I think maybe it's the artists that grow up, too. Green Day, for example. I love the first few albums, but I'm more partial to the newer, older Green Day- the stuff after Dookie. I dunno, to me they just seem more orchestrated as the albums span- tighter, more focused- I'm a huge fan of American Idiot and I think that's the best example of their experience as a trio. 

And then you get into artists like Blink-182- I mean, Tom DeLonge? Holy cow, is that man a musical genius. You've got older Blink stuff that's loopy, fun, loud, and childish, but still pretty tight- I'll cite "Voyeur" and "A New Hope" from Dude Ranch, and you go search those lyrics- they're stupid, funny, immature, and yet the melodies and harmonies are pretty decent for a trio of punk rockers. But then you've got the stuff from their last album before the hiatus- the self-title- it totally blew me away, and even 5 years later, it still does. It's still on my iPod, it never came off, it never will. 

But it's DeLonge's most recent public project- Angels & Airwaves- that makes my heart do loop-the-loops. There's a postsecret.com postcard that says, "Angels & Airwaves makes me believe in love again," and I think that about summed up my feelings to a T. The "wall of sound" and synth-heavy background doesn't follow the lyrical melody, but complements it perfectly. DeLonge is clearly still influenced by the Cure (Robert Smith made an appearance on the self-title to sing lead vox for "All of This"), but the infusion of the 1980s-style synth and electronic drum does not feel outdated in either album. And that's what I love- this stuff is timeless, I can listen to it on my worst of days, and maybe two tracks later, all that ticked me off has floated away. That's important to me- that's what music should do.

phase shifting

Check. One, two, check check. Check.

Hey out there! How you all doin' tonight? Yeah!

I got a great show for you tonight! I'm gonna do some classics, some new stuff, and I'm gonna do some stuff ya never heard of, all right!

Grab a drink, grab your girl, your guy, and get your rock on!

In another life, that coulda been me. Rock star. Frontman. Leader of the band.

But right after school, I found myself broke, with a degree in English, and ZERO desire to teach. I wanted to write. Not just any writing, though. I wanted to write for Rolling Stone. 

See, I'm what you'd call "obsessed" with like maybe two things in my life - music, and my 1999 Jeep TJ (both totally cool things to be obsessed with, if you ask me).

I'm one of those people who walks around with a song in their head on a daily basis. I can pull lyrics out of thin air to describe nearly everything I'm feeling, or to reference anything anyone says. It's sick. My friends used to call me "the database." In high school, if you threw lyrics at me, I could give you the song title, artist, album name, track number, and year of release for probably 30% of popular or classic rock. That probably doesn't seem like much, but think of ALL the music out there, man. 

But I'm not that good anymore.

I got caught up in the corporate life- sort of. I've spent the last year of my life sitting at a desk- punching numbers, pushing papers, filing, stapling, corresponding, Web searching. Phone calls, faxes, E-mails. Contracts, long-term agreements, software, pricing, spreadsheets, busy work. Vacation days, snow days, sick days, personal days, holidays.

The time for that has changed. This is my time (again). Unemployed and still thinking about music 12/7 (that Jeep takes up the other 50% of my thoughts), I think it's time to get it out there. 

So thanks, big sister, for reopening my eyes to something I really should have started to see a long time ago...

Look for more installments soon. And if you have anything off-the-wall that you think I should hear, drop me a line and a link to find it.