I'll admit it: I'm a complete geek, and I like a lot of really stupid music. And no, I'm not saying this in that "ironic" hipster way like "oh my god, 'Come on Eileen' is SUCH a guilty pleasure!" Saying something like that is easy because a lot of the music that people reference when they talk about guilty pleasures is actually nothing to feel guilty about, and they know it. What I'm talking about is REALLY bad music, the kind that shows up on my radar because I'm a wimp with bad taste. I'm talking about songs and artists that I won't even list on here because I'm afraid I'd lose half my audience if I did.
Put simply, I like a lot of 70's, 80's and early 90's teenage girl music, and most of it is completely indefensible. Of course, I listen to as much Cash, Coltrane and Dylan as the next guy, but sometimes I just want to hear some Sheila E or a choice cut off of Rhythm Nation, and theres nothing I can do about it. Its this side of me that is happy about the birth of MOViN 107.5.
I first heard about MOViN 107.5 through a post by our friend Eric over at Theme Park Experience. His focus was on the loss of Oasis, the smooth jazz format that the MOViN format has replaced, and the loss of jobs that came as a result of the switch. I then read a post about MOViN by Sam M. over on his new blog, where he likened the format to "a new take on 106.1 for white teenagers trapped in the year 1993." I knew right away that I'd have to check it out.
Of course, I don't want to celebrate the fact that a bunch of people lost their jobs this week. I also don't want to sit here and tell you how "bad" smooth jazz is, because knowing that is like knowing that the Earth is round. What I do want to say is that I've spent a total of about two hours listening to MOViN, and for better or worse, I kinda like it. For the record, I'll admit that about 50% of the music I've heard on the station so far has been complete crap. Destiny's Child, UB40, that annoying Gnarls Barkley song that I've heard 8 million times (sorry yupsters), Will Smith, and on and on. Pretty frustrating. But I've also heard Warren G, Outkast, Pet Shop Boys, Janet Jackson, Chic, Cameo, Donna Summer, Prince, Of Montreal (Ok ok, it was that Outback commercial) "Lucky Star," and the aforementioned Sheila E. Almost all of it is music that you'd never defend in public, but its also stuff that you might play at a stupid dance party at your place, which would provide you with a really convenient excuse to blast the kind of disco that has nothing to do with the words "Mutant" or "Italo." The format certainly isn't hip, but for Christ's sake, this is DFW radio people! Sometimes I don't have a CD or ipod in my car, and when a commercial break starts on The Ticket or NPR discusses a great recipe for Pumpkin Pie, I need somewhere to turn for a few minutes of even slightly entertaining music. The pickins in the metroplex are slim, as all of you know, and MOViN might just be your best bet if you can't stomach another Edge Cock Fight or the phrase "Ridin' Dirty."
Maybe these songs aren't as bad as I'm making them out to be, and part of me knows that I can get away with mentioning them because even the coolest dude on the block likes some of this stuff. But I figure something has to be said for a radio station that makes you laugh, or as MOViN itself puts it, "Makes you feel good." And besides, this post could have been a lot worse. It could have been about that Toad the Wet Sprocket song I really like.
A couple of MP3s, for sampling purposes only of course (sorry, the file hosting site that I normally use is down right now. You have to scroll down and click a couple of times to download from these links, but they work)
Janet Jackson, "What Have you Done for Me Lately" Link Warren G, "Smokin' Me Out" Link Sheila E, "The Glamorous Life" Link
First, you can head over to Central Bookingto check out the latest edition of the En La Calle series, a group of 11 tracks that the trio has posted for your downloading enjoyment. Its simply a collection of tracks that the Central Booking people have been digging on lately, and they're almost always good. One is a Mariah Carey song too, so take that!
Also, since its happening early tomorrow and the Gypsy show is sold out, I'll just go ahead and tell the two people that don't already know that the Yeah Yeah Yeahsare playing a free instore at Good Records tomorrow at 530. Free beer too. If you want that beer, I would suggest getting there like really early.
For tonight, I haven't seen too many live shows that sound promising, so I'll just remind you of the usual Thursday night good stuff, including:
Zoo upstairs at the Cavern. These guys have really been picking up a good crowd in recent weeks, and the few times I've been in the past couple months have been a blast. Sometimes its just a few people sitting around watching really great videos, and other times its lots of drunk people jumping around and dancing their asses off to really good videos. Either way, you'll like it.
Also, DJ G is doing his 80's electro night at Haileys. In a town where the "new cool thing" changes from week to week and is usually never cool, the fact that G has been doing his Thursday night thing for so long should be more than enough evidence to get your ass up there.
And even if it isn't, you can hit up the late 80's/early 90's tip at the Slip Inn. This is another night that has been going on forever, and for good reason. Listening to some of the tracks off of Lupe Fiasco's latest reveals that the sounds of that era are making a relevance come back too, in addition to just being the sounds of the greatest time in the history of hip hop.
Adds: 1 BEACH HOUSE Beach House Carpark 2 VARIOUS ARTISTS Peanut Butter Wolf Presents Chrome Children Stones Throw 3 PERNICE BROTHERS Live A Little Ashmont 4 PORTASTATIC Be Still Please Merge 5 CHIN UP CHIN UP This Harness Can't Ride Anything Suicide Squeeze
Charts: 1 TV ON THE RADIO Return To Cookie Mountain Interscope 2 MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos: Double Live Album ATO 3 FOUR TET Remixes Domino 4 GRIZZLY BEAR Yellow House Warp 5 BECK The Information Interscope 6 THE KNIFE Silent Shout Mute 7 BONNIE PRINCE BILLY The Letting Go Drag City 8 ALBUM LEAF Into The Blue Again Sub Pop 9 HELLA Acoustics 5RC 10 SPARKLEHORSE Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain Astralwerks 11 R.E.M. And I Feel Fine... The Best Of The I.R.S. Years 1982-1987 Capitol 12 LEMONHEADS The Lemonheads Vagrant 13 JUNIOR BOYS So This Is Goodbye Domino 14 LOW LOWS Fire On The Bright Sky Warm 15 YO LA TENGO I'm Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass Matador 16 SANDRO PERRI Plays Polmo Polpo 17 SLUMBER PARTY Musik Kill Rock Stars 18 BEN KWELLER Ben Kweller ATO 19 MOUNTAIN GOATS Get Lonely 4AD 20 CHANGES Today Is Tonight AAM 21 SIRENS SISTER Echoes From The Ocean Floor Control Group 22 MASTODON Blood Mountain Warner Bros. 23 OVER THE ATLANTIC Junica Carpark 24 DUPLOMACY All These Long Drives 2024 25 WHAT MADE MILWAUKEE FAMOUS Trying To Never Catch Up Barsuk 26 TORTOISE A Lazarus Taxon Thrill Jockey 27 WIRE 154 Pink Flag 28 XIU XIU The Air Force 5RC 29 AKRON/FAMILY Meek Warrior Young God 30 INSTRUMENTAL QUARTER Traffic Jam Southern
You know, the new Junior Boys album is really shaping up to be one of my favorites this year, and its actually quite surprising to me that they aren't a bigger band than they are. Not every song on the new album is a club banger or anything, but there are a few that sound as if they could be really big singles. The MP3 below is one such song. The album is called So This is Goodbye. Listen to it.
Also, here is a video for Wire's "Ahead," off their 1987 album The Ideal Copy. I must admit, I haven't heard much of that record, although what I have heard sounds quite a bit different from the earlier stuff with which I am more familiar. Really great song:
Hey, sorry bout it, but I don't have time to do a lot of writing for the list today. I've got, you know, a life to live, plus I'm working on a couple features that will be ready by tomorrow or Friday. So do these things tonight:
Of course, you can hit up The Party with Dj Nature at Rubber Gloves, or
Quick question for everyone: we've been trying to have the It Lists posted by no later 4pm, and we're going to try to have them by 3pm from now on. Would the earlier post times be more helpful to you? I know I'm setting myself up for some sarcastic comments, but people have sent us emails asking if we could post this stuff earlier, and I'm just trying to see if others agree.
Mastodon | The Bronx (Gypsy Tea Room) Remember kids, this is an all ages show, and the doors open at 630. If I had heard Mastodon for the first time when I was 12, I would have thought they were the coolest shit on the face of the earth, just below Megadeath and Black Flag. Although I don't exactly feel that way now, it has been a while since I've heard a straight up metal/hardcore record that I've liked as much as Mastodon's latest. Its smart, tight, and most of all, it completely rocks while managing to avoid the traps of hipster irony. In fact, one look at the video below confirms that these guys probably want to kick your ironic hipster ass. You can dismiss it as flavor of the month hype if you like, and you would be partially right. Saying that you're into metal is as trendy as can be these days, but if you give the record a listen and try your best to ignore some of the more annoying trend marketing behind it, I think you'll find that you like it quite a bit, especially if you started off your rock n roll journey with metal and hardcore, which I'm guessing a lot of you did. And don't worry about going early to see The Bronx. You can do without.
I have yet to hear anything from Wanz about tonight's Lost Generation at the Cavern, but I'm going to go ahead and guess that its still happening until I hear otherwise. You're likely to hear Krautrock, soul, psyche, no wave, new wave, and anything else he feels like throwing your way.
Hotel Uganda | Oveo (J&Js Denton- Free) Hotel Uganda is a huge improv project featuring members of Idi Aminand Hotel Hotel, and Oveo (or is the band called Dead Echoes, like the upcoming fest?) is an ambient drone project from the current performing members of You Are the Universe. This should be a great show, and I'm interested to see what these guys do with Austin's Hotel Hotel, a band we like quite a bit. These performances will be almost entirely new for the folks onstage, so you can expect the unexpected. I think it starts about 1030, which means that you can still catch this show after Mastodon if you live Denton way. And since its a free show at a great venue, why the hell not?
You like how its supposed to be 95 degrees outside every day for the rest of the week? The reason I bring this up? Well, its simply because there isn't much to talk about today. And it really sucks.
However, you can certainly go enjoy a night of jazz at the Amsterdam tonight. I believe it starts around ten, and goes on until at least one. Most of the time when we go, we find a small rotating cast of musicians playing trumpet, sax, bass, keyboards and drums, with a focus on bop standards. Won't blow your mind, but its quite a lot of fun most of the time.
1. The Polyphonic Spree - Wait 2. Sparklehorse - Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly of a Mountain 3. My Morning Jacket - Okonos 4. Red Monroe - Red Monroe 5. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - The Letting Go 6. Ghostland Observatory - Paparazzi Lightning 7. Darkel - Darkel 8. The Album Leaf - Into The Blue Again 9. Mars Volta - Amputechture 10. The Evangelicals - So Gone 11. Ratatat - Classics 12. My Brightest Diamond - Bring Me The Workhorse 13. Cat Power - The Greatest 14. Junior Boys - So This is Goodbye 15. Grizzly Bear - Yellow House 16. OOIOO - Taiga 17. Yo La Tengo - I am not afraid of you and I will beat your ass 18. The Whitest Boy Alive - Dreams 19. Wovenhand - Mosaic 20. Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther
