"I'm honestly trying. I act like I'm here. It's really hard to care. For there's a thin line between your wit, and your whining."

New Music Tuesday

Now, here's where I would tell you all about the sheer amazingness that is Aimee Allen's new album, A Little Happiness, which was released today after a slight delay. The key word there is would. As in, I would tell you had the workers at Best Buy #307 not been complete morons and had their bosses above them know how to run a store.

Suffice to say, their website said it would be at the store, their website still says that it's at the store, but, apparently, everybody in the Joliet metro area had rushed out to buy an album from an artist that, when brought up to every worker in the store, only I had heard about and I was out of luck. Though, they said they'll probably get more in, probably this week.

*Insert Jerk-off Hand Gesture Here*

Whatever guys. I'm an expert when it comes to working retail and I'm well versed in the get the hell away from me, I've got my own problems to deal with answers. I will get the CD by the end of the week though, it's the principle of the matter now.

So, in its stead, I bring you another great, albeit completely different, album, By the Throat by Eyedea & Abilities.

Purchase:
Fifth Element, iTunes, Amazon

This is rap, thrown down over crunching guitars, which are then taken to a turntable to be intricately scratched. It's a welcomed relief from auto-tune, excessive sampling, and anything else that one would consider main stream crap. It's also a welcomed, and slightly strange, divergence from their last album, E&A.

What once relied on home-made beats and traditional hip-hop instrumentation, is now experimenting with the piano, guitars, and an amount of distortion that could make Jack White orgasm. And, that's only half of what these guys do. The other half, the lyrics, are a dramatic departure as well.

When one would listen to E&A he could gather the belief that Eyedea knew exactly what he was better than everybody else in the whole wide world at and was left with the knowledge, not that he may be right, but that he was absolutely right about it. He made damn sure to let the world know that he was the best, but in a way that didn't make him seem cocky or douche-ish, but, instead, confident and refreshing.

On By the Throat, however, his lyrics have taken on a more personal and emotional touch, balancing the two in a way that will, now and forever, make every whiny new emo band sound impossibly more whiny. Now, he's less concerned with making everyone know what he does and more concerned with how he feels about topics ranging from heartbreak, to fame, to gun violence and, the most peculiar, doubt. One more refreshing departure from the shallow topics that have inundated mainstream rap for many years.

Because of the combination of both Eyedea and Abilities, the album doesn't ever seem to drag. When Eyedea stops rapping you become engrossed with what Abilities is going to with the turntables next and when he quiets it down, Eyedea picks right back up with a rhyme that you're going to need the lyrics sheets to follow, not because it's hard to understand, but because he throws a lot at you in a short amount of time. Which actually leads to the one minor detraction of this album; Some of the songs seem to end a little prematurely, and only slightly in the way that leaves you wanting more.

Below are some tracks that I must recommend for legally downloading if this sounds interesting to you, however I feel you'd only be cheating yourself if you didn't go out and get this album. It really works well when listened to as a whole.

Go Get:

Spin Cycle/Junk/Smile/By the Throat

For Free:

This Story

I can't keep doing this. I can't keep on believing that my head will, one day, finally break through this damn brick wall.

"Misogynistic, like a lean-back cholo, flipping switches."

The never ending search for free music that isn't wont to suck brings us (via time machine) to The Grammar Club and their album Bremelanotide.

We're sticking with the nerd theme with this nerd-core release and that basically means; White guys rapping nerd-centric lyrics over beats that are positively out of the realm of those actually creating them. And, while that may be true, what with a whole song centering around a professional wrestling career, these guys add a neat little twist to the mix, melody.

As in, Shael Riley can actually sing. (For proof, see Alternate Ending, the obligatory slow song of the album, but no less nerdy as it revolves around DVDs.) Though, at times, with the rapping, singing, beats, and riffs, the album can conjure up memories of Linkin Park (who?) and on such occasions it tends to send a shiver up my spine. Luckily, thanks to the complete lack of screaming and viciously somber emo(tive) lyrics, these moments are few and far between, and, if the drunken, collegiate memories of the rap-rock heydays cause you to wet your bed in a nightmare induced furor, rest easy my friend, for this album is nothing like that.

As stated above, the singer can sing, Beefy can rap, the beats are fantastic, and the rock aspect is used perfectly and only adds another great level to the songs. The best part (and the part the least like those rap-rockers) is the whole album is actually free. That's the part you all love to hear, because that usually means that no record companies are involved and you can finally lie to all your friends that you have a good, diverse taste in music.

You. Yeah, you. You're a liar.

Click here to download Bremelanotide

!Bonus! (More Free Music)

The Adventures of Beef Thompson: Private Dick

The Adventures of Beef Thompson: In Space

forkbomb - The Ballad of Stacy Pia (Hell Yeahs Cover)

forkbomb - Brownie Points

For more information: Internet search engines can point you to plenty of remixes involving these artists. Use them.

You tell me this and this and this, and you tell me to try, try, try and all I can do is stare, and wonder why all your words suddenly start with "T".

"Milky Way and Micro-Cosmic Paranoia"

... and we're back.

In photo news and due to my lack of posting, I bring you advertisements disguised as presents. It's a couple desktops, one blue, one red (I'm currently using the blue one), for you to download and use for yourself. It helps grow the brand in a way that makes your stuff look cooler, or, to put it another way, works just like a designer label... only I'm not charging an arm and leg for it. It's also my way of letting you know that my artwork is soon to be more prevalent on this site and it will be up for sale alongside my book as soon as I figure out the best way to go about it. So, until then, enjoy these:

To download simply click on the one you want and when the next page pops up, right click and select Save As... and remember where you stick it. They're both jpeg images, I know, they should be png but, screw that. They're supposed to be desktops and, for most people, that's the format they get switched to. Oh, and they're widescreen, so, 4:3 users, sorry.

In video news:

To those of you who've may have heard, my dad was half Scottish and half Italian, so, the running joke was that he looked like a mixture between Sean Connery and Super Mario (the mustache didn't help). On top of that, Italian jokes are all the rage nowadays and I hear them all the time because of him. That's why I immediately thought of him when I saw this video of the Italian Anti-Defamation League's protest of Super Mario Galaxy 2 at this years E3 expo. My heart beats full of pride.

See also: There Will be Brawl

In music news:

I bought a record. An actual 7" piece of vinyl, hand-cut down from a 10" which allows for edges full of fun, and by fun, I mean jagged slivers and by edges, I mean, edges. It's not round, it's square, but it still plays.

MySpace

Anyways, it's from a band called Farewell Continental and they're a side project from members of various Minneapolis bands, most importantly Justin Pierre of Motion City Soundtrack. It's a far slower production than that band is known for and it's a perfect outfit for his voice to shine, especially when it's competing against the equally beautiful, female voice of the other lead singer. It's probably not for everybody, but it's only a 4-song EP so it's not a huge financial commitment to legally download the album, in either standard or lossless editions, from the Paper + Plastick store.

Me? No. I'm not sure about anything. From a to z, wine and zombies, I'm not sure how I feel about any of it.

"I'm in trouble. I'm always in trouble."

Scratch that; I am trouble.

So, while I was being troublesome on the internets here, I came across a band that I've really grown to like in the 20 or so minutes that I've been listening to them. They call themselves I Fight Dragons and their EP is entitled Cool Is Just a Number.

Purchase: CD or iTunes

Or, instead of shelling out your hard-earned cash, you can, for a limited time, simply visit their myspace, join their mailing list, and magically a link to a free digital copy of the album shows up in your inbox. Therefore, even if they had happened to suck, at least they'd still be cool.

Fortunately, they don't suck, but their music leads me to believe that they might not actually be cool. It's pop and it's rock, it's got it's good times and it's bad times, it's got grooves and it's catchy as hell, what with it's loud drums, driving guitars, and numerous NES samples. Yes. Yes. My friends, it is Nerd Rock.

But, like I said, it's catchy as hell and that's more than enough to give this disc a chance. Once you get past the 14-second intro, the next three and three-quarter songs are similar to most anything you'd hear on rock/pop radio, except, you know, showcasing actual talent and musicianship. That leaves you at the end of track 5, No One Likes Superman Anymore, and it's complete 180, somber turn with the lyrics;

'Cause no one wants to know the man who stands for things we've outgrown
He's too noble and too blind

Yeah. Caught me off my guard too. It definitely made the disc a win for me and the last track, With You, is a very sweet ballad... with numerous NES samples. In the end, the music is quirky and a joy to listen to, but when you top it off with a singer who can actually carry a tune (And, not an auto-tune, Spirit) it makes for a package that is very easy to recommend.

See also: Motion City Soundtrack

Post brought to you with the help of Second Wave Music: Chicago's Best Unsigned and Independent Music. Highlights include:

Athens (Who put on a fantastic and incredibly deafening show at Chicago St. this past Saturday)

Calvin Marty and the Sunken Ship

Jessica Sonner

The Rikters

And a special mention for Triumph and Parade who are some former classmates whose current practice space is next door to my house.

Yeah. You wish you were me and you can be, I'm selling myself cheap these days.

When it gets like this, like this right here, the only sense I'll have is the sense of touch.

"I'm no devil, but it depends on who you ask."

Something simple before work here; Mark June 9th down as a date for opening your wallets. It's the official release date for Aimee Allen's new album, A Little Happiness.

For those of you unfamiliar with her, Aimee's been around the block, so to speak. Originally a solo artist with a punkish vibe, she was ready to drop her first album, I'd Start a Revolution if I Could Get Up in the Morning (Free Zip Download Here), with tracks produced by Mark Ronson, in 2003 on the Elektra label. She had a music video for the title track and was even doing a promotional tour of Universities for a music network (This is how I came across her, thank you Western Illinois University), if this were any other industry, things would have seemed to be starting off great.

Too bad she got into the music business.

Elektra goes bust, her album gets shelved, and she, for arguments sake, drops of the face of the earth (Actually, she was acting, scoring a part on MTV's Undressed), probably never to be heard from again. Thankfully, she found love.

That came in the form of Scott Russo of Unwritten Law fame, and their often turbulent love affair produced one of my favorite albums, Scott & Aimee's, Sitting in a Tree. Here we still see signs of Aimee's rock and rebellious side, sometimes even turned up a notch with the addition of Mr. Russo. But, some tracks showcase a mellow, more island feel to Aimee's repertoire, really letting her voice shine through and really adding to a much better album experience.

However, the album goes pretty much nowhere, but Aimee doesn't. Her song from her first album, Stripper Friends gets reworked by Tila Tequila for her God-awful dating show, and, on a brighter side, she gets a song, Cooties, on the soundtrack for the movie Hairspray.

And, then it gets worse.

While working on this new solo project, Aimee was assaulted in a random gang attack outside of an L.A. recording studio, putting what seemed like a permanent halt to the record. But, not for this girl.

She completely reevaluates her life completely changes her sound, producing an acoustic guitar driven, reggae inspired album that includes some old songs reworked, some brand new ones, and a fantastic cover of Sublime's Santeria. (Available for listen via her MySpace)

Regardless of the success of this album, the story behind it should be more than enough for people to stand up and take listen. So, you. Yeah. You. Take listen, you shouldn't be disappointed.

That's not a Cheez-It you're trying to pass.

Thank you, Engadget. Thank you for informing me that Western Digital will be releasing the 2TB Caviar Green external hard drive, for if you hadn't, I would not be wondering; Just how much porn would it take to fill that trucker up? It's a hypothetical question, as this is clearly built towards DVR's, but it doesn't malign the fact that, the second I saw this, was the second that I thought that I must have one.

Yes. Yes, I said, thought.

Because, then I saw... this. That's right. It's four of those truckers above forced into an arranged marriage, or what Western Digital calls a ShareSpace. (No. It's not their first one, they just keep making them better.) It also doubles as iTunes server, but I don't really care about what programs they decide to run with, I can't actually, I'm too busy salivating over the wide variety and nearly endless amount of music I could put on that thing.

Would it be a waste? Probably, music will always trump technology for me, but I see no reason why the two can't get along in the most orgasmic ways.

Happy 172nd birthday, Chicago.

Sorry, Bourbonnais. But, it smells funny near the Arby's.

My dog, Dryfus, is a prick.

Nothing new, but he's getting better at it. Today, he managed to find a box of nails to carry, only they were too heavy. So, being the prick that he is, he decided to drop them in the middle of the floor, in a spot where I'd step on them, but where I wouldn't see them.

Inevitably, that's exactly what happens, I slip on them and nearly break my damn neck, but, it's OK. See, since they were nails I was a stepping on, without shoes, I managed to give myself acupuncture at the same time. Apparently, God has a plan for even the most inane and boring times of our lives, well, that and he obviously hates me.

Which is why I prefer St. Patrick. Whose one day holiday is slowly starting to turn into one forgotten month. Which, thankfully, starts this weekend with the Manhattan Irish Fest, featuring acts like Brendan Loughrey and The Hatfield Sisters, it's a nice kick off to the season, one which I will definitely be attending this Saturday.

Oh, and I've been considering cutting the pony poo, yea or neigh?

And Now, Back to Our Regulary Scheduled Programming

First of all, let me apologize for the recent lack of postings, I intend to fix that. For those of you who know why the postings were so few, I'm done thinking and I 'tend to start doing, so don't ask.

Now, our programming. This is a site I found through Fazed (another great site, by the way) and it has got to be, quite possibly, the best example of a WYSIWYG website name on this whole wide series of tubes. I'm not going to write it aloud, as it is quite possibly NSFW, just if you need a laugh (and trust me, it works), then start to clicking here.

Twofer:

If you don't care about what NSFW means because your job entails putting letters up on store signs, but you still want to lose your job, then, by all means, go here and see how they roll in Polo, IL.

Threefer:

It was a great show and a great time put on by both Chicago Farmer and Ernie Hendrickson Friday night at Chicago St. Pub. Both musicians have Cd's out that you should seriously consider picking up if you like good, honest, acoustic guitar driven music.

Love in a Digital Age.

I don't know, maybe I'm getting old. The mall is becoming a more and more foreign place with each visit. Every time I return it seems I find something new pertaining to how I just don't fit in anymore. Like Hot Topic, I know it's not for me, and even when I had a Mohawk or blue hair, it probably wasn't for me, I know it's wall to wall douches, pricks, and people who look suicidal, but aren't, though they probably should be. I get all that, the problem I had with it today was, as I was walking by, I thought their music was too loud.

I know! However, and this is my saving grace here, the music did suck and, therefore, any volume would have most likely been too much. But, thanks to all of that, I've come to this conclusion:

Punk isn't dead, it has just learned how to cry about its problems.

The point of today, with it being Valentine's Day and all, is actually a young couple I saw on my trip. High Schoolers, probably not together for too long, and how those relationships are different now when compared to my time in High School, which wasn't too long ago. Now, I could go into a long essay and point out, with examples, the many differences, but I'm not going to do that. No, I'm just going to sum it up with a (terrible) drawing I did of these two because I did not have a camera handy.

This is, to the best of my knowledge, exactly what I saw.

Cellphones: Communication Nirvana

Yeah. They were six inches apart, talking on two different cellphones, to two different people, at the same time, each looking like the other one only exists to piss them off.

Would it still be irony if they weren't cheating on each other?

Happy Valentine's Day, everybody.

The Fix is In.

The American Kennel Club is a joke. Last year they finally had a different breed, a beagle, win best in show at its dog show and it turned out to be a huge media coup. Everyone loved that little dog, and even I must admit that it was pretty damn cute, and it ended up everywhere. So, these geniuses, they needed a way to keep this going, but how? How could they make this year's winner top last year's and still make it look real?

Easy, they picked the oldest winner in its 133 years, a 10-year-old Sussex Spaniel that not only didn't look like the best in show, group, or breed, but also looked like it was about to drop dead. The poor thing looked so tired and worn out from all the attention that I thought he needed a good nap, but instead, he'll get to spend the next year of his life traveling around the country to promote an organization that apparently picks their winners from a few select breeds, probably the ones they want to fuck.

Would explain why the Herding Group has only won once, well, that and it was created in 1983.

Back to music, I got my Maria Mena CD, Cause & Effect, today, and let me tell you, she apparently has mom issues. But, that's OK, because it's set against beautiful, stripped down to its barest form, pop music and even though the lyrical content can get uncomfortable at times, especially since you don't know this girl personally, it really lets you focus on the emotion and beauty of her voice. If you get the chance, you really must listen to All This Time (Pick Me Up Song).

Oh, and while you can, start listening to Deconstructing Jim because they're calling it quits soon. These local rock staples since 2002 only have three shows left, cumulating in a farewell show at, where else, Chicago St. Pub on March 27th and I know it'll be a blast.

Plan on being there, I know I am.

"I know they think I'm crazy, but everything I am is everything I was taught to be."

I've decided to be a smart ass and post a review of CD that I just love. I don't care what you think about it and, depending on how this turns out, I may just do this again. Today, I'm proudly presenting:

Album: White Turns Blue

Artist: Maria Mena
Released: July 20th, 2004

Two reasons I wanted to do this; One, I've been listening to it a lot, which has driven me to spend way more on a CD then I've ever wanted to in order to import her most recent release, Cause & Effect and I can't wait for it to arrive. Two, in my repeated playings, I've been hearing the story of young girl losing it and I know it's not there because this CD was put together from her first two albums specifically for U.S. audiences. So, I'm going to spell it out track by track to see if I can not only convince you, but myself as well.

Track 01: You're the Only One

The start of a new relationship. Everything is bright and cheerful, and our young girl is reminiscing of all the times with this special boy. Laughing about her insecurities and how he's the only one who can be everything for her, until it all accumulates in her admitting that there's a part of her that likes to bring him down because she fears that if he realizes how amazing he is, he would leave her.

Track 02: Fragile (Free)

Another conversation with herself, only this time it seems things have gone south for our girl. It sounds like the boy realized how amazing he was and he made pain into something she could touch. She's hurt in this song and her lyrics tell you this, however the music is something different, it's almost as if it's telling you that there's an air of hope to this depression, that the girl may be determined to be better because of it.

Track 03: Just a Little Bit

The music for this much self-loathing should really be more melancholy. Our girl is slowly starting to go as she lists her faults. Maybe she should be a little bit stronger, or a little bit less needy, or even a little bit pretty, if only she could get herself together, she thinks this stuff wouldn't affect her. Maybe, he would need her...

Track 04: Blame it On Me

... or not. It doesn't matter now, she's angry. This relationship is over and it's her and the person he thought she wanted him to be fault, not his, and she's fine with that. However, she says, don't blame it on love, love had nothing to do with this, and if he blames it, he'll end up regretting it.

Track 05: My Lullaby

Our first real ballad. The pain is starting to spread and the mistreatment from her mother is coming into play. She's opening her soul to her, why she cries, why she sings, and then asks her why she treats her this way, saying, it's not my fault they didn't show you any affection and that the only things left for her are to become bitter and to grow old. Our girl is now clearly hurt and taking it out on other people.

Track 06: Take You With Me

The anger keeps spreading as she decides to tell her boy all that he meant to her. Saying her life was a circus show and she was on a rope about to lose her grip when his hand reached out to her. It's sentimental and raw and in this context it sounds like her life is starting to return to that circus.

Track 07: What's Another Day

It sounds like the boy is ready to hear her out. She pours her heart out to him, telling him that he's the best thing for her, that he made her the person she is today. She tells him that she can't sleep when he's gone and these days without him have been the worse. The boy, seeing all the inspiration blossoming from this replies with, "Well. What's another day?", meaning, she's lived through these past ones without him, why wouldn't that continue.

Track 08: Lose Control

The title here is pretty self explanatory. She's tired of waiting for him to come around, tired of all of it, so she's going to go have a little fun, kind of. She's not really trying to spite him, but more to incite jealousy, and do just what it takes to make him hers. Sit back, relax, and enjoy her show.

Track 09: Shadow

The beginning of the end. It's all coming back and merging together, all the songs prior are hitting all at once. She's back to second guessing herself and realizing that if she's this messed up she'll never be able to win him back. Not like this, not as herself, and definitely not as that person she was trying to be in Lose Control, she realizes that she is lost in the dark and the only thing she needs is to see the sun, she's a shadow, both his and hers.

Track 10: Your Glasses

We're thrown a curve ball, there's another girl and ours doesn't handle this very well. She now can't figure out why he could have ever possibly loved her, she doesn't kiss as well as his new girl and besides, as thinks as she returns to self-loathing, she's the one who drove him to her. Well, her and her fear of intimacy, she deduces from her reflection in his glasses.

Track 11: Sorry

The building anger finally bursts in her and she breaks down. In this ballad, the best song on the album, you can hear all the sadness rushing out from that anger and you can tell that she has nothing left, that the only thing she needs is him. She whispers, in desperation, "Why can't you love me? I'll change for you, I'll play the part." To which he coldly replies, "I'm sorry, so sorry."

Track 12: A Few Small Bruises

It's the end, and she's contemplating ending it, until someone intervenes. A new boy has been listening to her story, he reaches his hand out and tells her he understands and makes her sound genius, makes her sound special so she'll come down. Bringing us to the conclusion, where she realizes that, "Except for a few small bruises, cuts, and scars, well, I'm fine. Thank you for asking."

Is it a stretch? I don't know. Probably. But, I can't help it, my taste in music has always been driven by vocals and lyrics, and this album seems to do both very well. Maria's voice is unique and in places, especially Sorry, it conveys so much raw emotion that you start to feel very bad for her, she really sounds like someone who has lost it all and, to me at least, that's the way music should be.

Lord, I'm only Human. I'm Tired and I Want to Go Home.

SAVE MY SOUL!

It's true. I am tired, but it's alright. It's a good kind of tired, one that comes from many nights working on a labor of love and that's really what this all is, a labor of love. I'm talking about my book of course and, on the eve of its arrival, I'm flipping through a copy, finding what little work is left to do and actually being quite pleased. It's really not bad, I think. Really, I was expecting it to be a whole lot worse, so I'm not ashamed about putting it out for sale.

It's nerve-wracking, sure, but it's all a part of exposing what you consider talent to the rest of the world. Some will love, some will hate, most will never care, but you should always be proud for trying, and for that I am.

So, by Friday, December 6, the book will be for sale and please purchase for whatever reason you want. Just purchase, remember, I'm a whore and I want you to buy my book. As incentive, I give you the mass market front cover. (There should be another cover exclusive to this site on the release date, so make sure you check back then and often.)


By the way, the title of this post comes from the song Hey Ho, On the Devil's Back by the band Katzenjammer. I highly recommend checking them out if you enjoy good, fun, infectious music from Europe. Their album, Le Pop, is only available via download for those of us in the good ol' U.S. of A.