Comments which don't warrant a thread.

[Mik 0]

The Vampire Weekend anti-hype kind of bothers me. It's pretty much exemplifies "indie kids" to a tee. Band coming out with a lot of hype behind them and a lot of people hate them without even listening to it because there's "too much hype". I don't understand the mindset at all.

 

I get it a little bit with Black Kids because at least in that case they are being kinda rushed into the spotlight while still kind of sucking and having no clue how to play a live show but whatever. I'll still be trying to get my hands on Partie Tramatic as soon as possible. But Vampire Weekend is at least talented (while obviously not being everyone's cup of tea).

 

Anyway - I know they aren't a Smartmarks favorite but did anyone get the new Coldplay? People are gushing and I'm hoping it's much better then the dreck that was their last album.

[Nighthawk 0]

Coldplay just got hella boring. They just sound like... U2 or something. (Not that I'm a big fan of either group, and that's only from hearing snippets of songs).\

 

 

So anyway, does Slipknot have any redeeming qualities? I was thinking about it because I may see them at that Rockstar show, and also we were talking about juggalos, and that's pretty much what happened with Slipknot, I said fuck em because of their fans.

But, at least on the surface, they seem like a band that might or might not be ok. Are they good at what they do at least? [The Slipknot song in Guitar Hero 3 isn't too bad, but that's playing it yourself which isn't the same]. So yeah, just seeing if I should bother listening to them at all.

[jwest27 0]

I think their drummer is supposed to be good. I don't know. I will admit that "Wait and Bleed" was an early high school favorite of mine. That's pretty much as far as my Slipknot experience goes.

 

That GH3 song is a bitch and a half to play on expert, btw, but then I am pretty bad at quickly switching between chords which is like 80% of that song. I'm getting hand cramps just thinking about it.

[Ravenbomb 0]

I'm torn on Slipknot. I mostly liked them in my angsty teen years and kind of grew out of them. But I can't just up and call them a shit band like I can with Linkin Park. Whoever writes the songs can write catchy and anthemic hooks well enough, the lead singer is competent enough, most of the individual aspects of the band aren't bad. But anything good about the band is done a lot better elsewhere.

 

 

Also, I like the new Coldplay song. It's better than the stuff U2 has been putting out as of late.

[luke-o 0]

I'm the same as Ravenbomb, I was 14 when Slipknot released Wait and Bleed so I'm allowed to like them. And to this day I still like a lot of their stuff. I wouldn't say they we're awesome (I'm not 14 anymore), but I like some stuff. Iowa for the most part is good and Vol. 3 has some great tracks on it.

 

I'll be seeing them live for the 3rd time this year at Reading Festival.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Kells beats the rap.

[Ripper 0]

This should be now called "Piss on children day" since apparently video of a fucking pedphile pissing on a 13 year old girl isn't enough to get his ass sent to jail.

 

Apparently the Jury wanted the same proof that Dave Chapplle did.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Slipknot is extreme metal lite. It's a way for little kids to get into heavier music, and Joey Jordison (the drummer) is pretty fucking solid. Mick's a really solid guitarist, and Corey Taylor is decent enough on vocals (even if Stone Sour is the drizzling shits). But there's something missing, and that something is discernible songs that don't sound poppy. That's what makes them lame once their fanbase moves on to heavier shit: they're really just a pop/rock group pretending to be big-time death metal/hardcore icons.

 

...and it doesn't help that Corey Taylor is a douche who not only helped ruin Apocalyptica (they did most of it on their own, though) but also used to be so full of himself that he'd rant on KoRn and even Gwar (I wish I could find the Brockie rebuttal, because it was spot-on in how Slipknot are really a pop group).

 

That all said, IOWA has a few really tight songs ("Heretic Song," "People = Shit," and "My Plague," primarily), the first 5 actual songs on the s/t are good ("[sic]," "Eyeless," "Wait and Bleed," "Surfacing," and "Spit It Out"), but Volume 3 was awful, and I don't care what anybody says. The only thing that really separates it from generic radio-rock is Corey's screams and double-kick.

[Gary Floyd 0]

Vampire Weekend-They aren't great, but they aren't horrible either. They are listenable at best.

 

Everytime I think of R. Kelly, I think if Forest Whitaker saying "This guy is just pissing all over us!"

 

As for Slipknot-they suck, but I'd say it's less sad than liking Insane Clown Posse or Hinder.

[Nighthawk 0]

When I heard the R Kelly news, I responded with [Murderface:] "It's pee pee time!"

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

This should be now called "Piss on children day" since apparently video of a fucking pedphile pissing on a 13 year old girl isn't enough to get his ass sent to jail.

 

They just weighed the evidence against the fact that he made the greatest song in the history of everything and decided that he was far too valuable to society to lock away forever. I think they made the right choice.

[Nighthawk 0]

R. Kelly is, against all odds, one of my favorite artists.

[ant_7000 0]

All the prosecutors have to do is to listen some of his Lyrics on songs. He tried to tell us on that Raheem DeVaughn "Customer" remix. I was LMAO when I heard this:

 

It's chef boy R. Kellz, remix, I'm the writer...

Now I recommend you do the taste test baby.

If not that then you can try my buffet baby.

I'll be serving you up, overflowing your cup.

Put that roast in your oven, until you can't get enough.

Girl you'll be contagious and calling me Ronald.

Serve you up drive-thru style like McDonalds.Yaaaa, you'll be screaming yaaaa,

The service so good it, it feels like you wanna cryyyy...

Thirsty, I got some good, good lemonade,

12-play, 4th Quarters, gonna make you wanna scrape your plate.

 

His whole "Pied Piper" gimmick is a dead giveaway. This reminds of the Boondocks episode that came to life.

[Gary Floyd 0]

The song "The Zoo" is proof that R. Kelly is either insane or a genius-probably both.

[Annabelle 0]

rip mia career

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Totally weird. I know she canceled her European leg for exhaustion, but "last gig ever"? Pretty sudden.

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

Words fail me

 

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Words fail me

 

Never let it be said RZA isn't about at least trying something new. He's a weak emcee, but this is left-of-center enough to get a few spins before I relegate it to the "songs on my iTunes list I never listen to" category.

[Ripper 0]

So jurors in the R. Kelly trial say they believe that it was him on the tape, but they aren't sure that the girl was a 13 year old because her body was too developed. Are you FUCKING kidding me?

 

Yes, this story actually does piss me off.

 

 

...

 

 

But not enough for me to miss the humor in saying piss in my post without thinking about it.

 

 

But still. This was just some bullshit.

[Epic Reine 0]

Saw Iron Maiden again last night. This was my second time seeing them (Saw them before in Oct. '06) and they were more or less amazing. Between songs, Bruce brought out soccer balls and the band members kept playing with them. Fun stuff.

[Red Baron 0]

The new Metallica album will be entitled 'Death Magnetic'. It's due out in September.

I'm somewhat excited about it. I've checked out some of the Mission: Metallica shit they have on YouTube, and a couple of the demo snippets that play sound like pure Kill 'Em All-era shit. I'm looking forward to at least seeing if the songs are even, you know, decent rock as opposed to decent metal.

 

Yeah, I've been following those clips as well and I've been pleasantly surprised with it thus far. And according to some reviews from a listening party, the songs on the album are structured much like those on Justice.

 

 

So halfway decent then with no bass at all?

[Smartly Pretty 0]

You know what song I really like? The theme to the Nickelodeon show iCarly. It's catchy.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

The new Metallica album will be entitled 'Death Magnetic'. It's due out in September.

I'm somewhat excited about it. I've checked out some of the Mission: Metallica shit they have on YouTube, and a couple of the demo snippets that play sound like pure Kill 'Em All-era shit. I'm looking forward to at least seeing if the songs are even, you know, decent rock as opposed to decent metal.

 

Yeah, I've been following those clips as well and I've been pleasantly surprised with it thus far. And according to some reviews from a listening party, the songs on the album are structured much like those on Justice.

 

 

So halfway decent then with no bass at all?

You can hear the bass, it's just not as pronounced as on Kill 'Em All or even the Black Album (shut up, you can hear the bass on it, it's just a different tone). And I'd say the music itself, at parts, or very thrash-y, but that's just from quick snippets. If all you heard from St. Anger was the part of the title track where everybody kicks in, and bits of "Frantic," you could say the same thing, though, which slightly worries me. Oh well.

 

And yes: the iCarly theme is catchy as shit. I actually like the line "So wake up the members of my nation." Whoever Nickelodeon hired to write that line is smart, but in a weird way, considering the show itself can be taken as either children's entertainment (even if I stand by my view that most of the Nick and Disney live sitcoms are better than your average network sitcom, especially in Nick's case) or a satire of those with Web shows that just happens to take place in a middle school.

 

So, Rock And Shock announced the bands for this year.

FRIDAY: Children of Bodom, Obituary, and Between The Buried And Me

SATURDAY: GWAR and Mushroomhead

SUNDAY: Insane Clown Posse

 

Thus far, every post on the MySpace group thread about the announced bands has said to go Friday and Saturday and skip Sunday. That amuses me. Also, members of my band like just about every band announced so far, so this could be a big double-shot concert for Excyde if we all decided to split a hotel room and go (and/or try to get booked on either Friday or Saturday as an opener). The other guitarist LOVES Bodom, the bassist and drummer see Obituary every time they're in New England, the singer digs Mushroomhead more than somebody into old-school hardcore should, and my feelings for GWAR are known. Rock and Shock is gonna be fun this year. I just hope the guests announced are better than last year's, which was pretty much the Halloween remake's little kid who played young Michale Meyers and Shawnee Smith of the Saw franchise.

[ant_7000 0]

Damn, 50 is wrong for recording this conversation with Young Buck, which pretty much is Buck crying and pretty much begging to getting back into G-Unit. Link

[FroGG_NeaL 0]

That shit is foul, son.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

This may be the worst musical writing I've ever read, appropriately about one of the shittiest bands ever:

 

The cornerstone of the Team Love roster and its first signing, Omaha's Tilly and the Wall are like the aural equivalent of their label's logo-- a pastel-hued cartoon of a bespectacled teenage girl wearing braids and pink headphones with a candy-colored rainbow emanating from her mouth. Over the course of two albums, this unselfconsciously cute and relentlessly earnest quintet has emitted rainbows of their own, delivering exuberant, glittery folk-pop that's bursting with childlike joy and a sincere appreciation for the sloppy, big-hearted wonder of youth. They are a warm-and-fuzzy respite from an indie rock world that's overburdened with too-serious bands trying to make self-important "art"-- this is, after all, a group with a tap-dancing percussionist-- though their whimsical songs are infused with raucous energy and real emotion. And while their third full-length (called O for the shape of the frame that holds the nameless album's cover artwork) features their most mature songwriting yet, these Peter Pans are still committed to an innately innocent sound that's free of pretense and full of spontaneity and ingenuity.

 

O expands upon Jamie Pressnall's arsenal of tap-shoe percussion, embracing group stomping, cymbals, and live drums to fill out the rhythm section while exploring new ways to manipulate and record their tried-and-true tap sound. With this newfound rhythmic depth, the Tillys' five songwriters can take chances on a few harder-edged tracks. On ode to schoolyard smack-talking "Pot Kettle Black", which was recorded in a local school's gym with a 10-person stomp group, the band matches its marching beats with a tough electric guitar melody that struts and stops abruptly, overshadowing its usually lighthearted, buzzy synths. Singer Kianna Alarid, who has always used her girlishly feisty voice to a cheerleader-y effect, unleashes her inner Karen O, wringing distortion from her mic with her acidic, kittenish tones to match the garage-rock assault of the music. And "Too Excited", the album's other "aggressive" (by Tilly's tender standards) guitar gem, opens with Pressnall's extended tapping intro and evolves into snotty, defiant cacophony that includes a group cheer of a chorus and the dropping of multiple f-bombs. But even on these tracks, amidst their rowdier rhythms and steelier guitars, the Tillys maintain the playful naïveté for which they are known.

 

Despite the evolution of their sound, Tilly and the Wall haven't forgotten about what made them appealing in the first place: bright co-ed harmonies, rousing choruses, and their overall open-hearted good nature. And so they lure you into this rich, multi-dimensional collection with opener "Tall Tall Grass", which wouldn't have sounded out of place on their debut. The soaring acoustic number starts out spare, but uses the dreamy interplay between Alarid and Neely Jenkins' sweetly sassy sopranos to take flight amidst a stately piano line and a surprisingly reverb-heavy guitar solo. And elsewhere the band gives in to their penchant for big, sing-along hooks and glorious, celebratory noise. Both "Jumbler", which is built on handclaps and off-kilter piano melodies and is studded with horn slides, and the aptly named "Cacophony", which makes the most of the band's wealth of vocal talent by layering tangy three-part harmonies over Pressnall's galloping rhythms and some revival tambourines, will remind listeners why they fell in love with this charming band: Because Tilly and the Wall aren't jaded or studiously cool or blasé. Because they know it feels good to stomp your feet and scream at the top of your lungs. Because they haven’t lost their connection to the emotional freedom of childhood-- that moment in time when you feel the rawness of your emotions, but haven't learned to be ashamed of them yet.

 

-Rebecca Raber, June 19, 2008

[Mik 0]

That's bad but I'm not sure if it's worse than their review for Vampire Weekend. I hadn't read the review on the site but I knew after the first 'graph that that was a pitchfork review... No doubt about it.

 

So about this new Coldplay... I know they have evoked a ton of discussion around here in the past. I don't have TV right now so maybe I'm not sick of the iTunes ad but I really like the single, Viva la vida. I also really like 42, Lost!, Strawberry Swing, and Death and All His Friends. This CD after one listen already blows X&Y out of the water and is right up there with Rush of Blood. Good stuff.

 

I also got the new Hold Steady and got through maybe 4 of the songs. They're decent. I always love the lyrics and arrangements but I just wish the singer had a (much) better voice. I'll never get why Stereogum praises the ground the band walks on but I have to admit that they're pretty decent.

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

The Kid A review is still the worst thing Pitchfork's ever published. I mean, holy shit

 

The experience and emotions tied to listening to Kid A are like witnessing the stillborn birth of a child while simultaneously having the opportunity to see her play in the afterlife on Imax.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Haha. Back in the day I submitted a few reviews to Pitchfork to see if I could pick up a contributing reviewer slot. I now see that I didn't unload nearly enough absurdity.

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

I also got the new Hold Steady and got through maybe 4 of the songs. They're decent. I always love the lyrics and arrangements but I just wish the singer had a (much) better voice. I'll never get why Stereogum praises the ground the band walks on but I have to admit that they're pretty decent.

 

I bought Boys & Girls in America because everyone and their brother was ridin' its dick like it was some kind of masterpiece and it was literally the most boring thing I'd ever heard. If I ever meet Craig Finn I'm going to punch him in the larynx.