Slider Army

- Yeah, It's another compilation.
- The artwork is an Animal Crossing reference (ask Old Dog).
- Y'all are gonna have to get this one from me directly, or beg like hell. Postage is expensive.Liner Notes:
1) KISS - Do You Remember Rock & Roll Radio?
from the 2003 album 'We're a Happy Family (a Tribute to the Ramones)'
I wanted a KISS song to go with the artwork - I settled on KISS covering the Ramones.

2) Teenage Bottlerocket - Bigger than KISS
from the 2009 album 'They Came From the Shadows'
I put on this one to balance out the previous selection.

3) The Yum Yums - I Lied
from the 2008 album 'Whatever Rhymes With Baby'
You like Swedish pop-punk? Ja!

4) The Manges - Another Day
from the 2006 album 'Go Down'
You like Italian pop-punk? Sì!

5) The Riverdales - Gemini Man
from the 2009 album 'Invasion USA'
You like Chicago pop-punk? Yea!

6) Akaikane - Fighting Spirits
from the 2006 album 'Kasumisou'
You like Japanese pop-punk? Hai!

7) Shoukichi Kina - Jing Jing
from the 1980 album 'Blood Line'
I've been trying to fit in this track on various comps for years. It sorta fits here.

8) Polysics - Hot Stuff
from the 2001 album 'Hey! Bob! My Friend!'
These guys are known as the Japanese Devo. You decide if that's a good thing or not.

9) Bad Livers - Death Trip
from the 2000 album 'Blood and Mood'
This song was played during the closing credits of an episode of True Blood last season. The Girl demanded it be include once she found out I had the album in my collection,

10) Gob Iron - Nicotine Blues
from the 2006 album 'Death Songs for the Living'
Jay Farrar redeems himself, now that Son Volt has devolved into some sorta weird hippie jambaroo band.

11) Tim Barry - Avoiding Catatonic Surrender
from the 2006 album 'Rivanna Junction'
I fucking LOVE this song. The lead singer of Avail flies the roots flag for several solo albums.

12) Against Me! - Holy Shit!
from the 2005 album ' Searching for a Former Clarity'
Damn! Check! Out! All! Of! The! Exclamation! Points! Up! There!

13) The Roman Line - Dawn After The Wreck
from the 2009 promotional EP '100% Bullshit Free - Album Preview'
I saw these guys open up for a Methadones side-project over at Ronny's last year. I really like them a lot. Can't wait for them to come back through, so I can pick up the full-length.

14) Lucero - Nobody's Darlings
from the 2005 album ' Nobody's Darlings'
No maybe Dena will shut the hell up on the topic of the lack of Lucero on my comps. Probably not.

15) Armchair Martian - Statler #3
from the 2000 album 'Hang on Ted'
Because every single compilation I make has to have at least one Armchair Martian/Drag the River track on it.

16) Two Cow Garage - Not Your Friends
from the 2008 album 'Speaking in Cursive'
Good band - Stupid fucking name.

17) Kepi - Down We Go
from the 2008 album 'American Gothic'
The Groovie Ghoulies are defunct (for now), but Mr. Kepi's last few solo projects have been much better than anything the Ghoolies have done in quite awhile.

18) The Raveonettes - Sad Transmission
from the 2008 album 'Lust Lust Lust'
Zombie kid likes turtles -I like the Raveonettes.

19) Electric Six - We Were Witchy Witchy White Women
from the 2008 album 'Flashy'
E6 keeps on rocking their way right up in you.

20) Future of the Left - Wrigley Scott
from the 2007 album 'Curses'
Remember McLusky? Same guys (more or less), new band.

21) Dillinger Four - Shiny Things is Good
from the 2000 album 'Versus God'
And they is.

22) Murder City Devils - Dear Hearts
from the 1998 albim 'Empty Bottles, Broken Hearts'
One of my all-time favorites.

23) The Dictators - Stay with Me
from the 1978 album 'Bloodbrothers'
Another of my all-time favorites. I put the Hudson Falcons cover of this song on one of my early comps -Here's the original

24) The Jags - Back of My Hand (I've Got Your Number)
from the 1980 album 'Evening Standards'
I've been listening to a bunch of late-70's early-80's power-pop lately. Good stuff.

25) Ben Weasel - Got My Number
from the 2007 album 'These Ones are Bitter'
I dig this song, but the reason it's here is because I really like the way it plays with the previous track.

The Travoltas - One for the Road
from the 2002 album 'Endless Summer'
Here's some more Nord-Punk for your sound-holes.

Lollapaloser

I'm going to be at Loallapalooza all this weekend, and was wondering if anyone else was going to be there?

I couldn't be less excited now that the Beastie Boys canceled (way to be a total dick, cancer - ruining my weekend), but I bought the fucking 3-day pass, so I'm stuck.

Anyone?

Ron Ashton - 1948-2009

One of the all-time great guitarists, Ron Asheton, was found dead today in his Ann Arbor home. He (along with Fred "Sonic Smith" of MC5 --also dead--) created the signature "punk guitar sound" back in the 1960's. There wasn't another living guitarist that had as significant of an impact on the modern music scene as Ashton.
I was lucky enough to catch him play a couple of shows out on the east coast - One with J. Mascis & Mike Watt, and one of the Stooges reunion shows. Both were amazing.
He'll be missed.

What I'm Listening To - Summer 2008The End of an Error

This is it kids; This is the final WILT. After three years and 11 previous WILTs, I'm deciding to kill-off the WILT and go back to doing random comps. I'll be making some of those mixes available up here on L&E, but the quarterly schedule and liner notes are gone.
Sorry, WILT; we had some really great times together, but now everything has changed and I think it's time that it would be best if I started making other mix-CDs. It was totally awesome while it lasted, and I'll always remember you when I'm flipping past the old WILT CDs in my Jeep looking for the newer hot-assed compilation.
Well then, look at the time, I really should be going. I'll see you around... Bye.Liner Notes:
1) The Travoltas - Pray for Sun
from the 2000 album Teenbeat
There's no better way to kick off summer than with a mouthful of Scandinavian bubblegum-pop. Here it is.

2) Dillinger Four - Maximum Piss & Vinegar
from the 2000 album Versus God
I'm all about D4 right now. I've been listening to their stuff on an unending loop. This here's a good one.

3) Grinderman - No Pussy Blues
from the 2007 Self-Titled album
Best. Song. Ever. This track is from last year's Nick Cave side-project - It is so good, it's scary. Plus, the video is pretty nifty - Check it out HERE.

4) The Network - Right Hand-A-Rama
from the 2003 album Money Money 2020
How could I not follow up "No Pussy Blues" with a song about masturbation? I really couldn't. Here's the boys from Green Day's dance-punk side-project - It gets extra summer points for a lifting a riff from Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues".

5) El-P - Up All Night
from the 2007 album I'll Sleep When You're Dead
Those kids sure do love the NYC hip-hop. Get your ass up off of that computer chair and out onto the dance floor.

6) Shiina Ringo - Torikoshi Gurou
from the 2004 album Karuki Zamen Kuri No Hana
I'd been saying for years that there was a surprising lack of Jew's harp in modern Japanese avant-garde jazz pop. Well, someone listened - Thank you Shiina Ringo.

7) The Raveonettes - You Want the Candy
from the 2008 album Lust Lust Lust
If songs could give you cavities, this one would be the Pixie-Stick wearing away your enamel and worming it's way down to the raw nerve.

8) The Jesus and Mary Chain - Between Planets
from the 1989 album Automatic
Here's a blast from the past that sounds just like all of the new hipster crap coming out right now. It was either this or Joy Division, but JAMC wins the award this cycle.

9) The Tim Version - Swinging Doors
from the 2003 album Prohibition Starts Tomorrow
I really dig these guys; they seem to be, musically, somewhere between Drag the River and Dillinger Four. Last comp got a D4esque song, this one gets a DtResque track.

10) Drag the River - Tobacco Fields
from the 2008 album You Can't Live This Way
Speaking of DtR, Here's a track from their last album.
Remember kids, your tobacco fields must be planted no closer than 15 feet from the entrance of any public building. Leave it to the fucking goody-goodies to ruin the last true American industry. Fucking twats.

11) Tiger Army - Where the Moss Slowly Grows
from the 2007 album Music From Regions Beyond
Moss can be grown within 15 feet of any public building... unless it happens to be exciting in any way - If so; that's a paddlin'.

12) Flatfoot 56 - This Town
from the 2006 album Knuckles Up
This song reminds me of a mix of Dropkick Murphys and Turbonegro, which is kinda funny when you consider that Faltfoot 56 is a South-Side Christian band. It takes all kinds, I guess.

13) Gogol Bordello - Ultimate
from the 2007 album Super Taranta!
I really need to find a place to see these guys where I'm allowed to smoke and drink frightening quantities of booze...
Dear Milwaukee-Fest,
Please consider Gogol Bordello for your festival this year. Please, please, please, please, please?
Love,
Liar

14) Fuckemos - Amputeen
from the 2001 album Airshow 2000
And they say that no one writes great love songs anymore? Piffle.

15) Bad Religion - Before You Die
from the 2007 album New Maps of Hell
Before I die, I really want to find a cure for suburban white kids that think that they're hard-core Englewood street thugs. Okay, one that doesn't involve .454 Casull hollow-points.

16) Turbonegro - Hot and Filthy
from the 2007 album Retox
You've gotta love those hot & filthy summer nights. If not, you're doing it wrong.

17) The KKK Took My Baby Away - Cool Millions
from the 2002 Ramones tribute The Song Ramones the Same
Yet another Dwarves side-project. Why the alias? I have no freaking idea -This is the only song that they've ever recorded under this moniker, and they've never bothered to clarify. It's awesome nonetheless.

18) Dr. Who on Holiday - Dean Gray
from the 2005 mash-up project American Edit
OMG; It's one of those super-scary mash-ups that are killing the music industry. Everybody panic!

19) The Queers - Punk Rock Girls
from the 1996 album Don't Back Down
See #16 and substitute 'punk rock girls' for 'summer nights' and 'them' for 'it'.

20) Teenage Bottlerocket - Wasting Time
from the 2008 album Warning Device
So far, "Warning Device" is by-far my favorite record of '08. Get yourselves some up in your ear-holes.

21) The Methadones - Getting Older/Losing Touch
from the 2007 album This Won't Hurt...
Quick question: Did you have to be 'in touch' before in order to 'lose touch'? Okay, I'm out.

22) Armchair Martian - Crestfallen
from the 2007 compilation Good Guys, Bad Band
Now that Drag the River is tits-up, I'm really hoping for a new Armchair Martin CD, ASAP. I've been saying that for the last 5 WILTs, and will continue to do so until the new record drops.

23) Bad Astronaut - Megan
from the 2003 Smoking Popes Tribute compilation
Here's a Bad Astronaut cover of a Smoking Popes tune. You probably already figured that out considering that I'm just rewriting information that was clearly stated above. Too bad, that's all I got.

24) Beasts of Bourbon - Evil Ruby
from the (out-of-print) 1984 album Axeman's Jazz
I've been listening to these guys again due to EdP's passing interest on the message boards. I'm a sucker like that. Wikipedophile says: "The Beasts of Bourbon's music has often been compared to that of a rougher Rolling Stones (whose 'Cocksucker Blues' they covered), The Gun Club (who they played with and who some Beasts filled in for) and The Birthday Party... Their music is a tough amalgam of country music, blues, rock and roll and punk parsed through the garage sound of The Stooges and the drunken mayhem of Australian pub rock. It often touches on themes of depravity, morbidity, despair, drug abuse and violence."
I'm not gonna argue.

25) Jason Webley - Train Tracks
from the 2002 album Counterpoint
This is my favorite track off of this WILT (with the possible exception of "No Pussy Blues"). I really want to grab a bunch of folks, sit out by a campfire drinking whiskey straight from the bottle, and listen to this track on repeat until the bottle's dry. Then we'll open another bottle and discuss the possibility of listening to another song. Sounds fucking great to me.

26) Ben Weasel - Summer's Always Gone too Soon
from the 2007 album These Ones are Bitter
Too true, Mr. Weasel, too true. And this comp is done now... and the WILT experiment... and these stupid fucking "liner notes"... all gone... bye-bye.

--END--

Here's the deal:
1) It's FREE
2) I'm only doing forty more of these (the first 10 went out at the bar last Saturday)
3) Shoot your mailing address to dclies(at)gmail(dot)com and I'll mail you out a copy

Awesomeness, Thy Name Is Nick Cave

Check out this video for the title track from the brand new Nick Cave album Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!. I'm digging it (and the new look) - Swank.

What I'm Listening To - Spring 2008

Here it is... finally.
I'm half-assing the liner notes and letting the music speak for itself. Liner Notes:
1) Teenage Bottlerocket - Gave You My Heart
from the 2008 album Warning Device
Here's a habenero up the pooper to kick off the new WILT from the brand new Teenage Bottlerocket record. These guys are going to be playing Reggie's on the 29th of March and I'm damned sure that I'll be there.

2) The Queers - Another Girl
from the 1996 album Don't Back Down
That bubblegum pop is mighty sweet. I can't get enough

3) Ben Weasel - First Day of Spring
from the 2007 album These Ones are Bitter
It's Ben Weasel. You're either gonna love it or hate it. I, for one, love it.

4) The Travoltas - Alright
from the 2000 album Teenbeat
Marky Ramone (who produced the previous Travoltas album) called this band "Pure Americana". They're from Holland. Stupid foreign bands coming from overseas and stealing all of our Americana. Hell, they do it so well, I'm about ready to outsource all of our pop music.

5) Tim Armstrong - Into Action
from the 2007 album A Poet's Life
Let me introduce you to your official theme-song for every Friday night after you hear this song. This is it.

6) Tōkyō Jihen - Burakuautto
from the 2006 album Adult Pour Femme
This is Shiina Ringo's new project with Seiji Kameda. For a sample of her solo work skip to track #22

7) The Network - Roshambo
from the 2003 album Money Money 2020
Yup, It's yet another Green Day side project - This time it's synth-pop dance rock. Trust me, it's awesome.

8) El-P - Flyentology
from the 2007 album I'll Sleep When You're Dead
I'll be the first to admit that the one aspect of my music collection that is sorely lacking is the rap/hip-hop genres. Then again, most hip-hop albums don't feature members from the Mars Volta and Cat Power. I picked this one up after reading a rave review in Wired magazine, and I'm digging it. This track is a collaboration with Trent Reznor.

9) The Raveonettes - Dead Sound
from the 2008 album Lust Lust Lust
This is the track that I'd been waiting on to get this WILT out. It was so worth it.

10) Armchair Martian - Son of Jeff
from the 2007 compilation Good Guys, Bad Band
Now that Drag the River is dead, I can't wait for some new Armchair Martian. Until then, here's a track that was originally on their 2000 release, Hang On Ted.

11) Foetus - Mon Agonie Douce (JG Thirlwell remix)
from the 2008 album Vein
I've been loading up the last few mixes with a load of Thirlwell tracks (Foetus, Wiseblood, Manorexia, Steroid Maximus, etc.), Lucky you. This is a great remix of a track off of the Love album. Crank it up and roll down that window.

12) Gogol Bordello - Tribal Connection
from the 2007 album Super Taranta!
I'm digging these guys so hard right now. I'm just enjoying 'em until the band implodes - The lead singer is starring in Madonna's directorial debut. That can't be a good sign.

13) Tiger Army - Spring Forward
from the 2007 album Music From Regions Beyond
Rockabilly and Spring go together like crucified Jesus and chocolate bunnies.

14) The Tim Version - March 22nd is National "Quit Your Job Day"
from the 2003 album Prohibition Starts Tomorrow
This album is one of the best surprises I've tripped across lately. It goes from D4esque punk to alt-country and right back again. I'm looking to pick up some of their other albums, and hope that they're half as good as this one.

15) The Replacements - God Damn Job
from the 1982 EP Stink
I need a god damned job - That just about sums it all up.

16) Turbonegro - Do You Do You Dig Destruction?
from the 2007 album Retox
More death-punk from everyone's favorite King Diamond meets Tom's of Finland looking motherfuckers. It's a good thing.

17) Bad Religion - Prodigal Son
from the 2007 album New Maps of Hell
This track has gotten pushed from the previous two WILTS and landed here. Actually, this almost got bumped off of this one for a track from the new Flogging Molly album, but was given a last-minute reprieve. It's a good track and deserves better than that.

18) The Arrivals - Failure
from the 2006 compilation Protect
I really have to pick up the new Arrivals record. In my defense, I wasn't sure if they released anything after that turd of a second album, but upon a quick Google search it looks like they got a new one out last year. Look for something off of that record in future comps if I pick it up and if it's good. Wow, that's a lot of 'ifs' - For now enjoy this comp track.

19) The Methadones - Already Gone
from the 2007 album This Won't Hurt...
All-you-all better be out for the Methadones show at Otto's this Friday. Seriously.

20) Against Me! - Borne On the FM Waves of the Heart
from the 2007 album New Wave
This track gets the full "Butch Vig" treatment from their new producer. I really like this track, but it's amazing that this is the same band that released Against Me! Is Reinventing Axl Rose. It's a slippery slope, but for now they're dancing on the edge.

21) Wolf Parade - You Are a Runner and I Am My Father's Son
from the 2005 album Apologies to the Queen Mary
"I was a hero early in the morning - I ain't no hero in the night"

22) Shiina Ringo - Meisai
from the 2004 album Karuki Zamen Kuri No Hana
The literal translation for this album title is "Lime, Semen, Chestnut Blossoms".
No, really.

23) Flatfoot 56 - Same Ol' Story
from the 2007 album Jungle of the Midwest Sea
Spiritual Celtic punk from the South side of Chicago? Sign me up - It's good stuff. No shit.

24) Drag the River - Death of the Life of the Party
from the 2008 album You Can't Live This Way
This song is essentially the self-eulogy for Drag the River from their final record.

--end--

Here's the deal:
1) It's FREE
2) I'm only doing fifty (50) of these
3) Shoot your mailing address to dclies(at)gmail(dot)com and I'll mail you out a copy
4) The first batch is going out to anyone at the Effigies/Methadones/M.OT.O. show at Otto's on Friday. The second batch should go out sometime the following week.

Heads Up

This concert is gonna be freakin' awesome.
Be there.

Almost an Asian Arert

Lately, I've been all about the music of Shiina Ringo. Plus, she has some of the coolest fucking videos - hands down.

Check 'em out:










She totally gets an L&E Walrus of Approval:

What I'm Doing for New Year's Eve

Riot Fest 2007 Wrap

Friday, November 16th - Cobra Lounge:
Shot Baker - Pretty damned good Chicago punk band. I really need to pick up some of their records.
Zero to Sixty - Ex-88 Fingers Louie band. Good band/Not quite my cup of tea.
The Methadones - I freakin' love these guys, but... For this set, Dan got too wasted and kept screaming into the mic with the levels maxed - clipping ensues. Entertaining set, but Vapid blew out his pipes for the rest of the weekend.
The Effigies - Wow! I really wanted to see this band play live for the last 20 years. Problem is, they broke-up back in 1990. I had no idea that they were playing this (unannounced) show - Huge fucking suprise. They were awesome - Worth the trip from DC for this band alone.
The Queers - I've seen these guys play a bunch of times, but what really impressed me is how these guys have evolved as a band. The first time I saw 'em (back in '93) they were a freaking mess, but now they're air-tight. Impressive.

Saturday, November 17 - Congress Theater:
The Copyrights - Good band (saw 'em in Baltimore), Missed 'em in Chicago
The Heart Attacks - Missed 'em
Shot Baker - Missed most of this set
Magnafux - Essentially, Sludgeworth sans Dan Schafer. Not bad/Not good.
Lower Class Brats - Old GMM band. I like 'em and they put on a decent live set.
The Methadones - Dan sobered up a bit from his Friday set, but his vocals were shot from the night before - I still loved it.
The Queers - They came out 15 minutes early just so they could play a few extra songs - I don't recall a band ever doing that before at a show I've been to. I thought it was a classy move. Man, this band is fucking tight. It's much more noticeable when you're sober - They're getting into Ramones territory here. Incredible live band.
Nekromantix - I like the psychobilly, but really am not the biggest fan of this Danish import.
7 Seconds - The original punk-rock cover band. Yawn. If they keep touring for another 20 years, they might actually pick a decent song to cover. Plus, if I hear "unity" one more time, I'm gonna barf.
Stiff Little Fingers - One of my all-time favorites. They always put on a great live show.
Naked Raygun - I have a fucking NR tattooed on my left wrist, so it shouldn't be a huge surprise that I really like this band. Not one of their better sets, but I enjoyed it, nonetheless.

Saturday Late Show - Cobra Lounge:
Skipped it for some cheap drinkin' at Kathy's.

Sunday, November 18 - Congress Theater:
The Frantic - Missed 'em
Deal's Gone Bad - Love these guys, but only caught about half of their set.
Flatfoot 56 - South Side band in the mold of Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys, Tossers. Pretty damned good.
Zero to Sixty - Went next door to get a taco.
The Bollweevils - Still eatin' tacos de lengua and sipping horchata across the street. Sorry guys.
Dillinger Four - Possibly the best set of the entire festival. If you ever get a chance to see these guys live; Go!
Youth Brigade - These guys grew up just down the street (literally) from where I'm living now. Still not their biggest fan, but they weren't bad.
The Casualties - Their hair looked very,very,very punk rock. If they spent half as much time on writing music...
Sludgeworth - This is the band that I most wanted to see. I hadn't see 'em play live since late '93/early '93, and are one of my all-time favorites. There was a perfect storm of annoyances during this set. Vapid's vox were still scratchy from his Friday shenanigans, the band seemed a little rusty, half the crowd was out in the lobby after the Casualties set, and there was some stupid drama going on with my friends that was distracting me from the band. Nonetheless, I would drive 750 miles again just for this 50 minute set.
Bad Brains - There's a reason that HR got kicked outta the band back in the day. He was so fucking high that you couldn't make out a damned word he said. The crowd evaporated during this set, and by the end people were actually booing - Interesting.
I think that one of Kathy's friends put it best:
"It's like when you're approached by some very friendly homeless guy, and he keeps talking, but you can't really get away, and this keeps going on for way-too-long, and you know that he's just gonna ask you for money, but you can't slip away without looking like a total dick. Well, that's this set in a nutshell."

Riot Fest 2007

There's a good chance that I'll be back in Chicago next month to haul back the first load of my crap from DC & to catch Riot Fest 2007 @ the Congress Theater.
Check out this fucking line-up:

Saturday, November 17:
Naked Raygun, Stiff Little Fingers, 7 Seconds, Nekromantix, The Queers, Lower Class Brats, The Methadones, Shot Baker, Magnafux, The Heart Attacks, The Copyrights

Sunday, November 18:
Bad Brains, Sludgeworth, The Casualties, Dillinger Four, The Bollweevils, Youth Brigade, Zero to Sixty (ex-88 Fingers Louie), Flatfoot 56, Deal's Gone Bad, The Frantic

Fucking Sludgeworth!?! I'm so there.

P.S. Someone please pick me up a ticket for the Friday Pre-Bash show at Double Door. Thanx.

Deal of the Day

Suburban Home Records is having a kick-ass sale - 50 CDs for $50.
You don't get to pick the titles, but they are all new sealed CDs.
I decided to give it a try and was really pleased with my box of discs. I got discs by Drag the River, The Queers, Swingin' Utters, The Travoltas, Moral Crux, The Falcon, Enemy You, F.Y.P., Horace Pinker, (International) Noise Conspiracy, Kill Your Idols, a Smoking Popes Tribute, and a bunch of other shit. The break-down was about 30 full-length albums, about 10 EPs, and about 10 compilations. I'm not into all of the shit that they sent, but the good stuff was more than worth it.
All y'all should scrape together fiddy bucks and take advantage of this offer before it goes away - It's a really good way to get some new music into your collections for practically nothing.

Word of advice: Make sure to have some spare CD cases handy - A lot of the discs had cracked cases and/or "toothless" trays.

November RIAA'n

DULUTH, Minnesota -- Jammie Thomas, a single mother of two, was found liable Thursday for copyright infringement in the nation's first file-sharing case to go before a jury.

Twelve jurors here said the Minnesota woman must pay $9,250 for each of 24 shared songs that were the subject of the lawsuit, amounting to $222,000 in penalties. LINK

Here's that $222,000 playlist:
*Guns N Roses "Welcome to the Jungle" and "November Rain."
*Vanessa Williams "Save the Best for Last."
*Janet Jackson "Let's What Awhile."
*Gloria Estefan "Here We Are," "Coming Out of the Heart" and "Rhythm is Gonna Get You."
*Goo Goo Dolls "Iris."
*Journey "Faithfully" and "Don't Stop Believing."
*Sara McLachlan "Possession" and "Building a Mystery."
*Aerosmith "Cryin' "
*Linkin Park "One Step Closer."
*Def Leppard "Pour Some Sugar on Me."
*Reba McEntire "One Honest Heart."
*Bryan Adams "Somebody."
*No Doubt "Bathwater," "Hella Good" and "Different People."
*Sheryl Crow "Run Baby Run."
*Richard Marx "Now and Forever."
*Destiny's Child "Bills, Bills, Bills."
*Green Day "Basket Case."

She coulda just gone to Wal-Mart and picked up "WOW: This Is Really Shitty Music, Volume 386" for $8.95 - I'm pretty sure all of those tracks are on that compilation.
I propose that everyone chips in to pay her settlement on the expressed condition that the RIAA promises that we will never have to hear any of those aforementioned songs ever again.
It would so be worth it.

The Present Future of Music

I was intrigued by an article that ChrisB linked to yesterday regarding Trent Reznor and downloading. I'll get back to Reznor later in this post, but it made me think of some of the interesting means that artists are using to sell media in the iTunes era.

BEN WEASEL
The new Ben Weasel album These Ones Are Bitter is available by download only. Go over to the Weasel Blog, and there's a bunch of posts explaining his motivations for this.
I have never (and probably will never) purchase a song from iTunes. I refuse. I won't even install the software - Not a chance.
I had to butter up The Girl to download this for me to her account and then burn me a CD format copy of the album, which I then burned into MP3 format for my computer. I wish that Mr. Weasel would have just cut out the middle man and made the album available as a CD download directly (or better yet, done a limited-run 'hard copy' release). Where he gets huge points is that he made available printable CD artwork (including liner notes) available on his site. Here's what the disc looks like once assembled:My photos are out-of-focus, but you get the point. The artwork looks just as good as any store-bought disc.
Oh, and the album is really fucking good.

NINE INCH NAILS
My interest having been piqued by Mr.Chris, I clicked on another Boing Boing link to an Australian interview with Trent Reznor. His observations on the current state of major-label recording labels is dead-on, and his vision of how to distribute the work is flawless.
Reznor: "I've have one record left that I owe a major label, then I will never be seen in a situation like this again. If I could do what I want right now, I would put out my next album, you could download it from my site at as high a bit-rate as you want, pay $4 through PayPal. Come see the show and buy a T-shirt if you like it. I would put out a nicely packaged merchandise piece, if you want to own a physical thing. And it would come out the day that it's done in the studio, not this "Let's wait three months" bullshit."
He fucking nailed it. Sorry.
I used to be a pretty big NIN fan back in the mid-90's, I grew up in the whole 'Chicago/Wax Trax Industrial revolution' of the late 80's and early 90's and it was good to see an industrial band selling out arenas. After awhile, I just lost interest - Simple as that. Still, I always respected NIN for completely re-inventing their sound with each consecutive album. It took guts.
Recently, I've been picking up some of the newer stuff that has been remastered in 5.1 surround sound. I think that it's great that some artists are releasing high-def surround-sound recordings in the iPod age. They're totally worth it.
In the interview Reznor seems pissed that the new album isn't selling as well as he had hoped. For the record, I'll buy a copy as soon as a 5.1 surround version is released.

EXTRAS
I'm a huge fan of "free" shit. I can't tell you how many turkeys I've bought back in the day just because they came packaged with some free tchotsky (usually a t-shirt). Me in 1991: "Great, Mindfunk sucks and now I have a CD and a t-shirt from a suck-ass band. Way to go, super-consumer."
Now the rule of thumb is that if there's a band that I like, and it comes with bonus shit pick it up ASAP. Here's a list of some recent albums I picked up with notable extras:
Shellac - Excellent Itallian Greyhound LP - CD included in packaging (so that you can rip the album without burning directly from vinyl). Nice.
Against Me - New Wave - DVD from a recent live show included in the 'deluxe edition' for a few dollars more.
Tim Armstrong - A Poet's Life - I'm not the biggest Rancid fan, but I figured that $10 for a CD and DVD with videos for all the songs on the album was too good to pass up.
McLusky - Mcluskyism - The first-pressing of this greatest-hits comp came out with two (2!) bonus discs of unreleased material. I picked this up last year, and a lot of the tracks were crap, but damn...

Video WILT #1

Since the YouTube Posts I've thrown up over the last week have met with great enthusiasm (with an overwhelming cumulative comment tally of "zero"), I figured that I should give you all what you obviously want - A mega-post of you-tube clips.
I spent all weekend picking some of my favorite video clips off of YouTube as a tease for the new (completely different) Summer 2007 WILT coming at the beginning of July.

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Video Wilt #1
NOTE: You may want to hit "refresh" (F5) after each video, or everything starts to bog down and g-o ----- r--e--a--l ----- s---l---o---w.

Shellac – Prayer to God
Fan video for the awesome track off of 1000 Hurts.


Dwarves - Drugstore
Old Dwarves video from 1990.


Drag the River - Portland
Replacements cover from the DtR boys that keeps getting bumped off of the regular WILTs – Jon (Armchair Martian) sings on this one.


Johnny Cash – God's Gonna Cut You Down
Great video for a song I included on the Fall ’06 WILT


Against Me! – White People For Peace
I really like this video (and song) – A lot. It’s off of their brand-new major-label debut.


Bad Religion - Sorrow
Really cool video for a song that I had on the pre-WILT comp “Paradigm Lost”.


Methadones – Say Goodbye To Your Generation
If you read this blog – First off, sorry - Secondly, you should know all about this band by now. Essentially, Sludgeworth for the late ‘90’s to the present.


Naked Raygun – Someday (Live)
Speaking of Sludgeworth – Here’s a clip of Dan Vapid singing the SW anthem “Someday” with Raygun at the Minneapolis show immediately following the HoB Chicago shows. This is hands-down my favorite song of all-time (not the best version, but…).
I’ve been putting this song on mix-tapes for going on 15 years. It was on some WILT awhile back.


MOTO - Dance Dance Dance Dance Dance to the Radio
Oh shit, the MOTO boys are loose on the internets. They are gonna totally clog up all those tubes. Someone call an interweb plumber – Quick!
Video for a track originally on my pre-WILT comp “Old Hipster-Douche Soundtrack (for Homos)”.


McLusky – She Will Only Bring You Happiness
I had this song on the Summer 2006 WILT.


Riverdales – Blood On The Ice
If you got the pre-WILT comp “It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time...”, you know this one. If not, It’s about Hockey.
Great cheap-ass Fan Video. Nintendo 8-bit hockey Rulz!!!


Hanson Brothers - The Hockey Song
The guys from No Means No channeling the Ramones. I fucking love this!
Another one from the pre-WILT comp “It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time...”, but this time it’s AFTER “Blood on the Ice”, not before.


The Zambonis – Hockey Monkey
More hockey goodness – Huge thanx to Ed (and Alex) for turning me on to this.


Two Man Advantage – Hockey Night In Canada
The capper to the hockey-themed songs. Look for my buddy, Mr. Mark Linskey, in a cameo @ the 2 minute mark.


Mark Linskey – The Rat Is Dead (Live)
I saw Mark in the preceding video and decided to see if he had any videos up on the You Tubes. I found this track from a show I set up for him out here in DC with Two Man Advantage opening (much to my surprise). This song was originally done by his full band, The Hudson Falcons. If you listen real hard you can hear my loud drunk ass braying in the background.


Foetus – Time Marches On
Uber-swank video for this song off of “Love”.


Turbonegro – Get It On
Everyone’s favorite Nordic death-punk band gives us this one.
The hardest part of throwing together this comp was trying to decide which Turbonegro video to include. I chose this one (not quite sure why).


The Division of Laura Lee - Need To Get Some
A track from the Fall '05 WILT comp. This has to be one of my favorite videos of all-time.


Electric Six – I Buy The Drugs
AKA: that one E6 video set in a frat-house. Hilarity ensues.


Me First and the Gimme Gimmes – I Believe I Can Fly
Karaoke iz da bomb. For some reason they couldn't get Karaoke master Old Dog to participate in this video, so they had to load it up with other lip-syncing celebs - look for everyone’s favorite jailbird, Ms. Paris Hilton, @ 1:09.


Jason Webley –Hey Ya (Live)
This is a cover of that Outkast song from the show here in DC that I couldn't get anyone to go with me to.


Tommy Heavenly 6 – Heavy Starry Chain
Viva La J-Pop! This one’s for The Girl.


Dillinger Four – Maximum Piss and Vinegar
Totally great fan video tribute to Najica anime girls that uses the D4 track for some (totally) unknown reason. Animated pantie shots galore.


Screeching Weasel – Cool Kids
Another great home-brew fan video. And yet song from the pre-WILT comp “It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time...”.


Nerf Herder – Van Halen
More dork-rock. From their first self-titled album.


Rancid – Knowledge (Live)
The guys from Rancid “covering” a track from their original band, Operation Ivy.


Jawbreaker – Jet Black
Great video for a great song off of one of my top-10 albums of all-time.


Barry McGuire – Eve Of Destruction
This is a 1965 cover of the P.F. Sloan song with modern imagery. It has bible verses in the video and ends with an image of the bible, so I consider watching this video as “church”. This could be used to free up some valuable Sunday time for you religious types.
I’m just saying…
I’ve been infatuated with this song for over a year now, and have about 10 different versions of it. I plan on doing an all EoD comp once I track down 6 or 7 other versions (thank Ed for planting that idea).


That’s it.
Now comment, you fuckers.

Pandora's Boombox

The Girl sent me a link for Pandora Radio. It's a streaming radio station fueled by the Music Genome Project and it totally fucking rocks. It is hands-down one of the best web-based applications I've ever stumbled across.

To test it out, they have you enter the name of a band. I chose Naked Raygun. Here are the first 5 songs that were played in the stream:
Naked Raygun - No Sex
Supersuckers - Ron's Got the Cocaine
Screeching Weasel - Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue
Social Distortion - It's the Law
Dag Nasty - We Went Wrong

How fucking great is that? I own every single CD that those songs come from. I created a few more stations for Screeching Weasel, Foetus, and Big Black - all with unbelievably awesome results.
If you LastFMers are looking for a new alternative you should definitely check it out.
For more info, click HERE.

The Methadones 5/19/07 @ The Ottobar, Baltimore

Caught Chicago's own Methadones in Baltimore yesterday. I was really jazzed about seeing this one, since I was lucky enough to catch Dan's super-secret guest spot at the Naked Raygun show a couple of weeks ago back in IL. Since then, I'd really been looking forward to seeing a full set of Vapid.

The show was supposed to start at 3PM, but the band got caught in traffic (stupid Preakness) - The first band played for about a half-hour at 4:30, but The Copyrights were sharing equipment with The Methadones so they didn't even get started until almost 45 minutes after the first band had finished. Baltimore still has smoking in the clubs and cheap beer, so I really didn't mind all that much.

While The Copyrights were setting up and playing, I got a chance to catch up with the guys in the band (I set up a show for them in DC a couple of years ago and let 'em crash out at my place, plus we have a few mutual friends back in IL). They remembered that I was a huge NR fan and gave me a kick-ass poster from a show that they played with Raygun and Dillinger Four in Minneapolis earlier this month. They also offered to try and get me a pass to the sold-out Insubordination Fest that they're playing in Baltimore this July.
They really are all great fucking guys - I really can't say anything even sorta bad about any single one of 'em.

The Copyrights played a great set. I'd never heard them before, but was really impressed. I'd heard good things about them, and I'm glad I got a chance to see 'em. I made sure to pick up a couple of their records before I left, so watch for their stuff on upcoming WILTs.

Methadones ripped through a really tight set and played a load of my favorites. The set seemed kinda short, but I could watch those guys play for days-on-end, so I'm biased. For my money, they're one of the top 3 bands playing out today - If you get a chance, you really should go out and see 'em*.

The show was over by 7:15 and I got home before 8PM with just enough time to head out to a friend's B-Day party at the bar - gotta love the early shows.
Perfect fucking rock-day.
---

*ACHTUNG: The Methadones and Copyrights are playing fucking Otto's THIS FRIDAY (5/25/07) and Beat Kitchen on Saturday. All of you Illinoisans really should go check 'em out, or I'll be secretly ashamed of all of ya.

Be sure to tell the Methadones boys that DC Josh sez "Hi".

Naked Raygun - April 27th, 2007 @ House of Blues, Chicago

Okay, I'm a slack-ass. It took me two full weeks to get this review up here. Right after the show (and drinking until daylight) I wanted to find a computer to get up a review, but that didn't happen so I've been pushing it aside for 14 days.

I was fortunate enough to get to see a handful of Naked Raygun shows back in the day. Along with Sludgeworth, Screeching Weasel, The Vindictives, Big Black, and all the other beloved late 80's/early 90's Chicago punk bands Raygun provided a full-throttle soundtrack to my teenage years. When I heard that they were playing (yet) another reunion show I secured a ticket (thanx Nate) and quickly booked a flight back to the middle of west. I'm still kicking myself for missing Riotfest, and couldn't live with myself for missing this one.

I was amazed that there were still tickets available (for the late show) at the door. Ms. Dena tagged along in hopes of scoring a ticket from a scalper, but just walked up to the ticket booth 15 minutes before show time and scored one. She didn't even have to pay the damned Ticketmaster service fee - I guess it pays to procrastinate.
First off, House of Blues sucks ass. I'm used to non-smoking venues, but all of them out here in DC allow you to go outside for a cigarette - not HoB. Granted, after my 4th $5 can of Bud I discovered the super-secret smoking lounge - The men's room. Everyfuckingbody was smoking in there. Once I saw two of the security staff guys smoking among the crowd, I figured that it was fair game and grabbed one quick Winston before heading back out for the rock.
I have no idea why the show wasn't held at The Riv or some other larger "classic" Chicago venue. HoB just seemed like an extraordinarily odd place to hold an olde-tyme Chi-Punk show. Go figger.

Onto the show - The Bollweevils started off the show. I've seen these guys a bunch of times, and got to know Darryl and Ken from the 7DA days (Ken was in Callaghan, one of the bands on my record label). They're great guys, but I never really have been the biggest Bollweevils fan. It was good to see them again, but I was only half there.
The Dillinger Four were up next (members of Billingsgate, Cleveland Bound Death Sentence, and Scooby Don't) . I've found that you either love D4 or HATE them (I'm way over on the "love" side), and the crowd was a pretty even mix of the two factions. It doesn't help that Pat is one of the biggest loud-mouths ever to stand behind a microphone - His stage banter is hilarious, but only if you're on his side. I've haven't seen so many projectiles hurled at a band since the Elgin Turners shows back in the day. D4 was fairly sauced by the time they took the stage, but put on one hell of a great set. I could have happily watched them play for another hour or more.
The Special Guest turned out not to be a band. I had heard rumors of every damned old Chicago band being the "special guest". Pegboy, Ben Weasel, Vindictives, Smoking Popes, Shellac, Out of Order, and a shit load of other bands were mentioned as the possible "mystery guest", but none of them played - More on this later.
Naked Raygun took the stage, to the surprise of the crowd that was expecting another band before Raygun. As the first few chords were played I realized that this was totally worth the 750 mile commute and all of the HoB bullshit. There isn't anywhere else I would have rather been at that moment. Raygun busted out an incredible set - the lineup was exactly as it was on the 1990 "Raygun, Naked Raygun" album (Pezzati, Kedzy, Spicer, & Stephens).
About 45 minutes into the set, out walked Jake Burns, the lead singer of Stiff Little Fingers (a '70s era Irish punk band). Raygun had covered one of their songs (Suspect Device) on Jettison. Jake took over the mic and sang Suspect Device and another SLF song, Alternative Ulster. It was FUCKING AWESOME. Apparently, Jake moved to Chicago a few years back and has been hanging out with the NR boys. Story is that he's extremely grateful that Raygun covered Suspect Device and turned a bunch of their fans into SLF fans (worked for me) - Now they're all buddies.
Raygun finished up the set and took a break before the encore - Just enough time for a piss and a smoke in the men's room. When they came back out they played a couple more songs and then...

Fucking Dan Schafer (aka: Dan Vapid - Screeching Weasel, Sludgeworth, Riverdales, Queers, Mopes, & Methadones) came out and launched into my favorite song of all-time, the Sludgeworth anthem "Someday". I saw Sludgeworth open up for Raygun at the Riv back in '91 or '92, but I never would have imagined that Raygun would play that song with Vapid at the helm. It's like a rock-geek jerk-off fantasy come true - Okay, I'm at a Raygun reunion show and then everything stops and then out comes Dan Vapid and he starts singing "Someday" with Raygun on back-up and then all the beer becomes free and then all of the Suicide Girls show up and start making out with me and then... It's fucking ridiculous - but it actually happened (sans the free booze and Suicide Girls). I was in full-on drooling fanboy mode.

Here's photographic proof that I wasn't hallucinating the whole damned thing.

Raygun played a couple more songs and wrapped everything up. It was one of the best shows I've been to - Period.

Afterwards I was so jazzed-up that Dena and I met Kathy up at the Continental (a late-night bar) - We closed that fucker down. Then I got to ride a Vespa back to Kathy's through the deserted streets of West-side Chicago. We didn't want to wake up her man, so we drank on her porch until the bright morning Sun chased me inside to the guest bed.
End night.

It was on hell of a fucking night. Y'all shoulda been there. But you weren't (unless you were), so you can eat it.

Iggy and the Stooges 4/5/07 @ 9:30 Club, DC

Okay, Here's the Deal:
I'm going to preface this with stating that The Stooges are one of the 5 greatest bands off all time, and that they pretty much co-founded the Punk movement back in the 60's (along with The MC5). The Ramones got together because they were all Stooges fans - 'nuff said.
These guys are fucking legends. Even the 'replacement' bassist, Mike Watt (Minutemen, fIREHOSE), is a fucking legend in his own right.

Which is why it's a total mystery that they managed to score two of the shittiest opening bands I've ever had the displeasure of sitting through. I would wager that almost any punk or indie-rock band out there would fucking KILL for that opening spot. They could have gotten a big act like Rancid to open for christ's sake. For my money, an old UK 'reunion' band like Stiff Little Fingers, The Business, or The Buzzcocks would have been the perfect fit. Instead we get some tone-deaf girl band and some crappy glam-upstart NY Dolls rip-off. Fuck, They probably could have gotten the actual New York Dolls to open if they asked nice. Whatever.

The Stooges took the stage at midnight and TORE IT UP. Totally impressive set.
Since I'm a little bitch, I'm just going to nag on the one thing that annoyed the hell out of me. They didn't play 'Search and Destroy' or a few of my other favorites, but they played 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' twice. What the fuck? Reprise my ass.

For as awesome as the band was, the crowd seriously sucked. Any sold-out show is gonna test my nerve, but there were a few instances where I was damn-near going into 'bloodbath' mode. Here's a little tip: If you're a 5'5" frat-boy-lookin' mother-fucker, quit trying to push the pissed off looking 6'1" heavily-tattooed guy out of the way. You will get tossed - Again. Then you will get beat.
The Girl and I spent the show with our backs planted firmly against a pillar half-way along the side of the venue. Partway into the set some patchouli-soaked hippie and his lard-assed girlfriend managed to wedge themselves into the foot-wide gap between us and the crowd in front of us. That dirty cocksucker kept backing up until his ass was literally pressed against my crotch. I did the only thing I could think of - next time he tried to scoot further back into me I jammed my thumb straight up into his ass. He jumped around and I gave him the 'move or die' look - we never saw 'em again. A little later, some really tall drunk girl started to grind into me from the other side. That I didn't mind so much.
Fucking people.

All I want is to go out and see a show where I don't end up with a load of pilfered dirt, or my thumb up some hippie's ass. Is that too much to ask?

Sebadoh @ 9:30 Club, DC 4/3/07

Headed out to to the Sebadoh show last night. That was exactly what I needed - A great fucking rock show to get the blood a-flowin'. The couple of shows I've been to this year have been okay, but nothing that has gotten me all riled up.
The Bent Moustache, an indie-noise band from the Netherlands, opened and were pretty damned good.
Sebadoh flat-out ROCKED it. They played a load of stuff off of their early Sub-Pop releases, and really got back to the 'wall of noise' sound. I heard a bunch of tracks that I never would have expected to hear live, and they split the vocal duties pretty evenly between Lou, Jason, and Eric.
They missed a few of my favorites, but the set was truly impressive. I'm so glad I decided to head out to see these guys again.

I'm markedly less glad regarding my decisions following the show.
I ran into a bunch of drinkin' buddies at the show, and we decided to head down to Black Cat for a good old drinking grudge match. Shots were plentiful.
Everything is real fucking hazy after that. I (sorta) remember puking into a urinal after a shot of Jameson's and falling into the bathtub once I got home. Classy.
I woke up this morning sprawled out on the couch with my pants around my ankles. Also, (somehow) I ended up with a big fucking bag of ill-gotten potting soil out on my front porch.
All hail Drinky Josh, dirt-bandit extraordinaire.