Friday, December 22, 2006
2006
I forgot to do this last year. Won't make the same mistake again.
Roughly:
Top Ten Albums......
1. The Flip Scoldjah - Nazgul Please!
Whew. Mind blown. Flip blew his awesome first record out of the water. What the hell is this? Prog-pop-rap? The recording quality and songwriting went through the stratosphere. The main instrument is... scratching!? Every time I listen to this I think the run of tracks 1-5 is utter perfection. But then I realize there's nothing wrong with track 6, or ANY of the other tracks. Awesome shit.
2. The Bats - At the National Grid (2005)
This might be in consideration for album of the year, but I can't let a 2005 record take that slot. I know this is supposed to be 2006, but I love this record too much and jammed it too hard this year not to include it. I first got into the Bats in when I was 14. I had a few of their late 80's albums and loved them, but then I kind of lost track. They never broke up, but this does feel like a reunion of sorts. After being together for over twenty years, they break out their best album yet. Holy shit. It completely captures the New Zealand ultra-catchy, maybe a little sloppy, totally endearing vibe that I'm a sucker for. They also brought some serious guitar jamming to the table this time around. I hope their next record's even better.
3. Elf Power - Back to the Web
Their best album, hands down. Elf Power goes lush and somehow more dark at the same time. The instrumentation and textures on this carry the record. Lots of psych droning and bits of Automatic For the People-organics. With this cohesive beast, it's no wonder Rykodisc picked them up.
4. Love Is All - Nine Times That Same Song
Pretty rad album title. Fast, rowdy, jubilant tunes. Groove to it.
5. Mahogany - Connectivity!
I'm really surprised this isn't getting the pitchfork jack-off treatment. Hmm. This is really hard to describe, but imagine a ultra fleshed-out Young Marble Giants who love to fiddle with heaps of old electronics and shoegazey guitars and cellos and melodicas and minimal drums on top of the drum machine. Or maybe a more experimental-sounding Stereolab crossed with Crispy Ambulance. I've followed this band for a long time and with this album they've finally honed all of their ARP-synth experimentation into pop music.
6. Peter Bjorn and John - Writer's Block
Three Swedes writing a batch of cool tunes and arranging the hell out of them to get maximum bang for their buck. Let's start a song with shaker/bass/drums and whistling. Alright, let's have some singing. Alright, let's have some female guest singing, but fade in some organ while that's happening. Chorus? Okay, add in some dramatic guitar chords and bongos. Hit song (see top ten songs list).
7. Konono No.1 - Congotronics (2005)
Dudes in Africa make their own electrified thumb pianos and send 'em through handmade amps. Percussion out of car parts. Singing into handmade microphones. Some of the hardest jamming ever. Listen to it.
8. Excalibrah - Excalibrah & the Poon-Tang Clan volume 1.9
Funniest thing I've heard all year. Most quoted thing amongst friends (only quoted thing?). Best party record since Tittania.
9. Human Television - Look At Who You're Talking To
A little dissapointing after their excellent debut ep, but this has some gems on it. Fast, light, 80's-era indie pop a la C86/Wedding Present/early REM.
10. Futureheads - News & Tributes
I don't know why I have this so low, because as a whole I like this better than their first album. On their first album every song sounded the same- fast and catchy as fuck with harmonies exploding off every inch of song. For this one they expanded their palette, slowed it down sometimes, and basically matured. I'm interested to see what they do next.
Honorable mentions:
Islands - Return to the Sea
Liars - Drum's Not Dead
Old Band I Really Got Into in 2006:
Steely Dan, duh
Top Ten Tunes of the Year:
1. Islands - Rough Gem
2. Futureheads - Skip To The End
3. Elf Power - Peel Back The Moon, Beware
4. Excalibrah - Things Brah Created To Keep The Earf Awesome
5. The Bats - Bells
6. Excalibrah - Have You Ever Been This Gangsta?
7. Peter Bjorn And John - Young Folks
8. The Flip Scoldjah - Welcome To My Opus
9. Human Television - In Front Of The House
10. Love Is All - Busy Doing Nothing
Top Concert
1. McDan - Shoreline Amphitheater, Mountain View, CA
1a. The Bats - The Rickshaw Stop, SF
That's it. Let's see some more.
I forgot to do this last year. Won't make the same mistake again.
Roughly:
Top Ten Albums......
1. The Flip Scoldjah - Nazgul Please!
Whew. Mind blown. Flip blew his awesome first record out of the water. What the hell is this? Prog-pop-rap? The recording quality and songwriting went through the stratosphere. The main instrument is... scratching!? Every time I listen to this I think the run of tracks 1-5 is utter perfection. But then I realize there's nothing wrong with track 6, or ANY of the other tracks. Awesome shit.
2. The Bats - At the National Grid (2005)
This might be in consideration for album of the year, but I can't let a 2005 record take that slot. I know this is supposed to be 2006, but I love this record too much and jammed it too hard this year not to include it. I first got into the Bats in when I was 14. I had a few of their late 80's albums and loved them, but then I kind of lost track. They never broke up, but this does feel like a reunion of sorts. After being together for over twenty years, they break out their best album yet. Holy shit. It completely captures the New Zealand ultra-catchy, maybe a little sloppy, totally endearing vibe that I'm a sucker for. They also brought some serious guitar jamming to the table this time around. I hope their next record's even better.
3. Elf Power - Back to the Web
Their best album, hands down. Elf Power goes lush and somehow more dark at the same time. The instrumentation and textures on this carry the record. Lots of psych droning and bits of Automatic For the People-organics. With this cohesive beast, it's no wonder Rykodisc picked them up.
4. Love Is All - Nine Times That Same Song
Pretty rad album title. Fast, rowdy, jubilant tunes. Groove to it.
5. Mahogany - Connectivity!
I'm really surprised this isn't getting the pitchfork jack-off treatment. Hmm. This is really hard to describe, but imagine a ultra fleshed-out Young Marble Giants who love to fiddle with heaps of old electronics and shoegazey guitars and cellos and melodicas and minimal drums on top of the drum machine. Or maybe a more experimental-sounding Stereolab crossed with Crispy Ambulance. I've followed this band for a long time and with this album they've finally honed all of their ARP-synth experimentation into pop music.
6. Peter Bjorn and John - Writer's Block
Three Swedes writing a batch of cool tunes and arranging the hell out of them to get maximum bang for their buck. Let's start a song with shaker/bass/drums and whistling. Alright, let's have some singing. Alright, let's have some female guest singing, but fade in some organ while that's happening. Chorus? Okay, add in some dramatic guitar chords and bongos. Hit song (see top ten songs list).
7. Konono No.1 - Congotronics (2005)
Dudes in Africa make their own electrified thumb pianos and send 'em through handmade amps. Percussion out of car parts. Singing into handmade microphones. Some of the hardest jamming ever. Listen to it.
8. Excalibrah - Excalibrah & the Poon-Tang Clan volume 1.9
Funniest thing I've heard all year. Most quoted thing amongst friends (only quoted thing?). Best party record since Tittania.
9. Human Television - Look At Who You're Talking To
A little dissapointing after their excellent debut ep, but this has some gems on it. Fast, light, 80's-era indie pop a la C86/Wedding Present/early REM.
10. Futureheads - News & Tributes
I don't know why I have this so low, because as a whole I like this better than their first album. On their first album every song sounded the same- fast and catchy as fuck with harmonies exploding off every inch of song. For this one they expanded their palette, slowed it down sometimes, and basically matured. I'm interested to see what they do next.
Honorable mentions:
Islands - Return to the Sea
Liars - Drum's Not Dead
Old Band I Really Got Into in 2006:
Steely Dan, duh
Top Ten Tunes of the Year:
1. Islands - Rough Gem
2. Futureheads - Skip To The End
3. Elf Power - Peel Back The Moon, Beware
4. Excalibrah - Things Brah Created To Keep The Earf Awesome
5. The Bats - Bells
6. Excalibrah - Have You Ever Been This Gangsta?
7. Peter Bjorn And John - Young Folks
8. The Flip Scoldjah - Welcome To My Opus
9. Human Television - In Front Of The House
10. Love Is All - Busy Doing Nothing
Top Concert
1. McDan - Shoreline Amphitheater, Mountain View, CA
1a. The Bats - The Rickshaw Stop, SF
That's it. Let's see some more.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Best of '06 shiz...
Time to start getting those lists in folks. Over the next week or two all of us should be posting out best of the year lists. If any of you have already compiled them, we can use this thread to start making fun of all the crappy records we like. As Jeezy likes to say "Let's Get It"
Time to start getting those lists in folks. Over the next week or two all of us should be posting out best of the year lists. If any of you have already compiled them, we can use this thread to start making fun of all the crappy records we like. As Jeezy likes to say "Let's Get It"
Monday, December 18, 2006
Friday, December 15, 2006
The Jeeziest
Fucking great rap show...
Here are the highlights in fast action form because im busy as shit at work today.
- Get there at 6:15, 4 Lamborghini's parked out front in the celebrity stagin area. Weren't letting people in.
- Hop across the street for some tight ass APPS at Ted's. Beer and Beer battered onion rings.
- Ice meets up with us.
- Jam some brews then go get in line.
- Inside they are inforcing assigned seating, which sucks but when we get upstairs we realize every seat has a free Tshirt. Bombassbomb!
- On stage was a DJ warming the crowd up with 4 "dancerz" twerkin' it. I guessed they were from Strokers, I was right.
- We're jamming at this point b/c the dj is dropping some good tunes. We are all mesmerized by the dance moves. Other dudes start throwing like $50 in ones up on stage.
- Jeezy finally went on at 11. Yes we had been there for close to 4 hrs but we could give a fuck. Crowd went nutz.
- "AAAAATTTTTTLLLLLLL JEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH"
- Everyone is dancing like crazy...just seriously wylin out.
- 4th song in he plays "3 Oclock" WITH TIMBALAND, who comes creepin from backstage.
- Hits us with these straight in a row: Go Crazy / Soul Survivor / Go Getta
- He's lovin' it. Atl reppin hard. Full band behind him vibing.
- ENCORE: I LOVE IT. Nuff Said.
Setlist:
Young Jeezy
Tabernacle / ATL
12.13.06
Still On It
What U Talkin'
The Realist
3 Oclock
Go Crazy
Soul Survivor
Go Getta
Bury Me a G
Dreaming
Inspiration
Encore:
I Love It
GOOD PICTURES FROM THE AJC - HERE!!!
Fucking great rap show...
Here are the highlights in fast action form because im busy as shit at work today.
- Get there at 6:15, 4 Lamborghini's parked out front in the celebrity stagin area. Weren't letting people in.
- Hop across the street for some tight ass APPS at Ted's. Beer and Beer battered onion rings.
- Ice meets up with us.
- Jam some brews then go get in line.
- Inside they are inforcing assigned seating, which sucks but when we get upstairs we realize every seat has a free Tshirt. Bombassbomb!
- On stage was a DJ warming the crowd up with 4 "dancerz" twerkin' it. I guessed they were from Strokers, I was right.
- We're jamming at this point b/c the dj is dropping some good tunes. We are all mesmerized by the dance moves. Other dudes start throwing like $50 in ones up on stage.
- Jeezy finally went on at 11. Yes we had been there for close to 4 hrs but we could give a fuck. Crowd went nutz.
- "AAAAATTTTTTLLLLLLL JEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH"
- Everyone is dancing like crazy...just seriously wylin out.
- 4th song in he plays "3 Oclock" WITH TIMBALAND, who comes creepin from backstage.
- Hits us with these straight in a row: Go Crazy / Soul Survivor / Go Getta
- He's lovin' it. Atl reppin hard. Full band behind him vibing.
- ENCORE: I LOVE IT. Nuff Said.
Setlist:
Young Jeezy
Tabernacle / ATL
12.13.06
Still On It
What U Talkin'
The Realist
3 Oclock
Go Crazy
Soul Survivor
Go Getta
Bury Me a G
Dreaming
Inspiration
Encore:
I Love It
GOOD PICTURES FROM THE AJC - HERE!!!
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
last radio of the year
Mesmerization Eclipse, WZBC 90.3 FM, 3 to 5 pm.
Typical end-of-the-year best-of bullshit.
Mesmerization Eclipse, WZBC 90.3 FM, 3 to 5 pm.
Typical end-of-the-year best-of bullshit.
Sunday School christmas show...
Hey folks...Sunday the 24th I'm going to be doing a Christmas edition of Sunday School and I need your help with recomendations of dope ass songs for the holidays. For example today I found The Knife's "Christmas Reindeer"...perfect. Stuff like that. You can post sugesstions or email me at egarstin@gmail.com. If you've never had the chance to listen to the show you can check out some of the playlists here. Kinda in that vein. That means no Jandek 25 minute christmas epics (darkness i'm looking at you). Thank you in advance.
Holla,
Elliott
Hey folks...Sunday the 24th I'm going to be doing a Christmas edition of Sunday School and I need your help with recomendations of dope ass songs for the holidays. For example today I found The Knife's "Christmas Reindeer"...perfect. Stuff like that. You can post sugesstions or email me at egarstin@gmail.com. If you've never had the chance to listen to the show you can check out some of the playlists here. Kinda in that vein. That means no Jandek 25 minute christmas epics (darkness i'm looking at you). Thank you in advance.
Holla,
Elliott
Rippy almost met Jeezy last night...
In a quite surreal turn of events, I received a text message from Rippy in NYC last evening around 6:30. I had just finished some Christmas shopping in which I picked up the new Young Jeezy album. I popped it in my disc player on the ride home and in teh middle of the 2nd song - Rippy hits me up. "About to meet Jeezy". WTF?!
Turns out Jeezy was doing a record signing in an NYC Circuit City last night and Rippy was in line. Well, as it turns out Jeezy didn't show up. Those pesky rappers!
Either way...I was getting caught up on the story from RIP this morning and he informed me of this incredible exchange that happened in line...
"some thugs in line were like, 'WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT JEEZY' to me and i was like,
'I'M FROM ATL. WHAT YOU KNOW BOUT THAT?'"
Amazin!
IN OTHER NEWS ELLIE GOT US FREE ASS FREE TICKETS TO SEE JEEZY TONIGHT AT THE TABERNACLE!!!
In a quite surreal turn of events, I received a text message from Rippy in NYC last evening around 6:30. I had just finished some Christmas shopping in which I picked up the new Young Jeezy album. I popped it in my disc player on the ride home and in teh middle of the 2nd song - Rippy hits me up. "About to meet Jeezy". WTF?!
Turns out Jeezy was doing a record signing in an NYC Circuit City last night and Rippy was in line. Well, as it turns out Jeezy didn't show up. Those pesky rappers!
Either way...I was getting caught up on the story from RIP this morning and he informed me of this incredible exchange that happened in line...
"some thugs in line were like, 'WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT JEEZY' to me and i was like,
'I'M FROM ATL. WHAT YOU KNOW BOUT THAT?'"
Amazin!
IN OTHER NEWS ELLIE GOT US FREE ASS FREE TICKETS TO SEE JEEZY TONIGHT AT THE TABERNACLE!!!
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Why Makers Mark Really Is The Best...
Pep this years Christmas Gift from Makers Mark to their ambassadors...
A MM ice shaker, MM napkins and a drink recipe guide. Ok this may not tingle everyone's dingle, but it does mine!
FREE ASS FREE!!! So here is my last attempt to convert yall...
If you aren't familiar with the Makers ambassador program - essentially you just go to their website, sign up in 5 minutes and you get the following perks:
-You and 29 other people get your name etched into a Makers Mark barrel which is filled with burbon and stored for its 7 year distilling period. At the end of the 7 years you and the 29 other people are the first people to get bottles out of that barrel. You get to pick the wax color for the bottle.
-Every Christmas Makers Mark sends you a gift - this year's is above, however previous years have been: Engraved Cups, Coasters, MM Stirring Sticks, etc.
-Special Gift and treatment on the Makers Mark Distillery Tour in Loretto, KY
-Business Cards with your name on it
-Special Website Access
Blah blah blah....
Needless to say its worth your 4 minutes online signing up!!!
So, get it on...
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP TO BE A MAKERS MARK AMBASSADOR!!!
Pep this years Christmas Gift from Makers Mark to their ambassadors...
A MM ice shaker, MM napkins and a drink recipe guide. Ok this may not tingle everyone's dingle, but it does mine!
FREE ASS FREE!!! So here is my last attempt to convert yall...
If you aren't familiar with the Makers ambassador program - essentially you just go to their website, sign up in 5 minutes and you get the following perks:
-You and 29 other people get your name etched into a Makers Mark barrel which is filled with burbon and stored for its 7 year distilling period. At the end of the 7 years you and the 29 other people are the first people to get bottles out of that barrel. You get to pick the wax color for the bottle.
-Every Christmas Makers Mark sends you a gift - this year's is above, however previous years have been: Engraved Cups, Coasters, MM Stirring Sticks, etc.
-Special Gift and treatment on the Makers Mark Distillery Tour in Loretto, KY
-Business Cards with your name on it
-Special Website Access
Blah blah blah....
Needless to say its worth your 4 minutes online signing up!!!
So, get it on...
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP TO BE A MAKERS MARK AMBASSADOR!!!
Friday, December 08, 2006
Tenacious D Videos from the ATL show
The first one blows, but the rest from stage left are good!
Best ones...
Sax Jam
Master Exploder
Beezleboss
Papagenu (mushroom one!)
The first one blows, but the rest from stage left are good!
Best ones...
Sax Jam
Master Exploder
Beezleboss
Papagenu (mushroom one!)
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Rafael is cool but crude
So, yeah, an awesome trade. Shit, even if Soriano's arm explodes on the first day of spring training it would still look good, as Ramirez maybe would've been non-tendered anyway.
Speaking of non-tendering, they better not do that to Giles. I don't understand why they can't get something of value for him; despite his down year, he's pretty obviously a better player than any of the 2b free agents around, except maybe Mark Loretta.
ALSO: this trade proves that any rumors concerning the Braves should not be taken too seriously. The last two days all you heard was LaRoche to Pittsburgh or maybe Anaheim. I didn't read a word about a Ramirez-for-Soriano deal until it had already been agreed upon. There's already rampant speculation that the highly publicized LaRoche for Mike Gonzalez offer was never serious on Atlanta's part, and played up to the media primarily to coax Seattle into fasttracking the Soriano deal. This is why, if LaRoche, Giles, Hudson, or Andruw do get dealt this off-season, I'm sure it won't be in any of the deals that've been rumored about thus far.
Also, Chuck James for Rocco Baldelli would be a good trade, but not necessarily for the Braves as currently configured. Yeah, they need to improve left-field, but unless it precipitates an Andruw deal I'd think this trade would damage the rotation more than it would help the line-up. I have no idea why the Braves would do it unless it led directly to Andruw going elsewhere.
So, yeah, an awesome trade. Shit, even if Soriano's arm explodes on the first day of spring training it would still look good, as Ramirez maybe would've been non-tendered anyway.
Speaking of non-tendering, they better not do that to Giles. I don't understand why they can't get something of value for him; despite his down year, he's pretty obviously a better player than any of the 2b free agents around, except maybe Mark Loretta.
ALSO: this trade proves that any rumors concerning the Braves should not be taken too seriously. The last two days all you heard was LaRoche to Pittsburgh or maybe Anaheim. I didn't read a word about a Ramirez-for-Soriano deal until it had already been agreed upon. There's already rampant speculation that the highly publicized LaRoche for Mike Gonzalez offer was never serious on Atlanta's part, and played up to the media primarily to coax Seattle into fasttracking the Soriano deal. This is why, if LaRoche, Giles, Hudson, or Andruw do get dealt this off-season, I'm sure it won't be in any of the deals that've been rumored about thus far.
Also, Chuck James for Rocco Baldelli would be a good trade, but not necessarily for the Braves as currently configured. Yeah, they need to improve left-field, but unless it precipitates an Andruw deal I'd think this trade would damage the rotation more than it would help the line-up. I have no idea why the Braves would do it unless it led directly to Andruw going elsewhere.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Saxaboom - Tenacious D / Neil Hamburger
I know a lot of people think funny music is not legit at all and consider bands like Ween and the Frogs to be a complete waste of time. They are wrong. Tenacious D sit atop that heap of bands who write songs more for the joke than the actual musical proficiency. Well, that kinda changed for me last night. These dudes while making the entire Gwinnett Arena laugh their fucking ass off really turned in a fucking arena rock performance that was face melting. L and Elliott can back me up here. That shit was not only funny as fuck, but the music was gooooood!
We all know Neil Hamburger is a complete genius. He walks out in his standard tux carrying 4 vodka tonics under his arm, grabs the mic and clears his throat into the mic for the next 3-4 minutes before he tells his first joke. His first joke you ask? "Why does Jar Jar Binks smell like shit? Because he was playing a bad character in the movie." Amazing. That's pretty much the second the boos started. Seeing him in front of an arena of Frat dudes (i'll be the first to admit most of the D fans are complete ass wipes) who played right into his hand like a bunch of dumbshits, was truly an amazing site. Totally flew over their heads. People around us were screaming "get off the stage you cum guzzling faggot!" & "pussyfried geek"! He returned the favor a couple of choice times and had the crowd rolling as he was picking on some kid for shitting his diaper. Another one of his best jokes of the night - "Why did Paris Hilton not use the bathroom at Courtney Love's house? Because Courtney Love was already sitting on the toilet and had died of AIDS." Totally slayed.
The D came on at 9 and their set was decorated like Rage Kage's apartment. They were on the couch under a blanket and slowly woke up, picked up the acoustics and started in. They work so well together that the humor (which I imagine is the same throughout the tour) still seems fresh and spontaneous and has everyone rolling. A few hits in bounding through the side of the "front door of the apartment" comes Lee from the POD movie. Their next door neighbor. He smokes a bong with KG on stage as JB is getting pissed that KG didn't bow with him after the previous song. They go into a whole run of funny skits with him interplaying into the songs. The best out of this Lee stint was "Saxaboom" - where Lee walks in with an electronic saxaphone and Jack Black thrashes this fucking hilarious instrumental funk jam completely coming from the buttons on this sax.
At one point JB declares to KG that he has come up with a "fucking amazing idea, maybe my best fucking amazing idea ever - WE SHOULD GO ELECTRIC!" Kage denies it saying he has never played electric and doesn't even own one. Black says "No way, i bought one for you in Piedmont Park today" and goes behind the couch and pulls out this homemade guitar made out of a toilet seat and neon rubberband strings with a power chord coming out the side. JB convinces him to jam it and takes a knee to plug it into the outlet which he complains is sitting in a puddle of beer after Lee kicked over the beer bottles. He plugs it in and the arena goes dark with strobes going off like they are getting electrocuted. This is where shit got crazy. Video screen comes out. They play a video of JB and KG in hell which they decide is heaven after they see Jesus (dressed in a robe with a crown of thorns and a moustache) soloing by himself on a double neck guitar. They ask him if he is truly Jesus, he says no - his dad is Satan - he is the anti-christ. They go on throughout hell to find their other band mates - Col. Sanders on drums and Charlie Chapplan on bass!! WTF! Together they form "The Fellowship of the D". If you have heard the D records, they are recorded with a full band but live they have always just played as an acoustic duo.
The video screen falls and fuck if the entire stage is this elaborate stage set of skulls and stalagmites billowing smoke and a drum riser set way up high with 3 bass drums reading 666 - a gong with a pentagram on it - a bull skull. The Anti Christ, Col. Sanders, and Charlie all walk out pick up their instruments and the duo join them to fucking BLAST into the first song on their new record, Kickapoo. The place was going nuts, this was a fucking spectacle.
Full rage now and they are smoking through their hits full on style. Highlights of the electric set included "a lucifer milli-vanilli" of Master Exploder where they lip-synced the song as Jack paraded around the stage singing with no mic "I do not need, a microphone, because my voice is, FUCKING POWERFULLLLL!"
Later the stage guy brings JB a bag of mushrooms which he eats and immediately starts to hallucinate complete with voice effects to slow down his voice. Bounding out from the side of the stage is a gigantic mushroom man who does a cute dance on the stage for the full song.
There were about 20 best songs of the night, but a real candidate was "Beelzeboss" where the devil comes out and the D challenges him to a rock off. At this point I am realizing we are essentially watching a fucking musical. The entire show from front to end was not a show but a performance play. Completely stocked with mind scorchers. Awes.
The encore was equally as great and anticipated b/c they still had some uber hits left. Opened with "fuck her gently" which the entire crowd pretty much sang and ended with a Tommy medly tipping their cap to the Who. WHO they essentially fashioned this entire show after. If you get the chance, its worth it - the show is a total fucking blast, and you are laughing at the absurdity the entire fucking time.
Truly a MAMMA-JAM!
Setlist:
Acoustic Set (KG's bedroom set):
Kielbasa
History (of Tencaious D)
Flash Gordon > Wonderboy
Dio
New Song (Lee not recording skit)
The Government Totally Sucks (Lee joining harmony)
A Special Thing (featuring Lee)
Lee
Saxaboom
The Road > Skit about going electric…
Video: "Fellowship of the D" (introduces the backing band)
Electric Set (Hell set):
Kickapoo
Explosivo
Karate
Dude (I Totally Miss You)
Kyle Quit the Band
Friendship
Master Exploder
Break-In City (Storm the Gates)
Car Chase City
Papagenu (He's My Sassafrass)
The Metal
Beelzeboss
Double Team
Encore:
Fuck Her Gently
Tribute
Tommy Medley
I know a lot of people think funny music is not legit at all and consider bands like Ween and the Frogs to be a complete waste of time. They are wrong. Tenacious D sit atop that heap of bands who write songs more for the joke than the actual musical proficiency. Well, that kinda changed for me last night. These dudes while making the entire Gwinnett Arena laugh their fucking ass off really turned in a fucking arena rock performance that was face melting. L and Elliott can back me up here. That shit was not only funny as fuck, but the music was gooooood!We all know Neil Hamburger is a complete genius. He walks out in his standard tux carrying 4 vodka tonics under his arm, grabs the mic and clears his throat into the mic for the next 3-4 minutes before he tells his first joke. His first joke you ask? "Why does Jar Jar Binks smell like shit? Because he was playing a bad character in the movie." Amazing. That's pretty much the second the boos started. Seeing him in front of an arena of Frat dudes (i'll be the first to admit most of the D fans are complete ass wipes) who played right into his hand like a bunch of dumbshits, was truly an amazing site. Totally flew over their heads. People around us were screaming "get off the stage you cum guzzling faggot!" & "pussyfried geek"! He returned the favor a couple of choice times and had the crowd rolling as he was picking on some kid for shitting his diaper. Another one of his best jokes of the night - "Why did Paris Hilton not use the bathroom at Courtney Love's house? Because Courtney Love was already sitting on the toilet and had died of AIDS." Totally slayed.
The D came on at 9 and their set was decorated like Rage Kage's apartment. They were on the couch under a blanket and slowly woke up, picked up the acoustics and started in. They work so well together that the humor (which I imagine is the same throughout the tour) still seems fresh and spontaneous and has everyone rolling. A few hits in bounding through the side of the "front door of the apartment" comes Lee from the POD movie. Their next door neighbor. He smokes a bong with KG on stage as JB is getting pissed that KG didn't bow with him after the previous song. They go into a whole run of funny skits with him interplaying into the songs. The best out of this Lee stint was "Saxaboom" - where Lee walks in with an electronic saxaphone and Jack Black thrashes this fucking hilarious instrumental funk jam completely coming from the buttons on this sax.
At one point JB declares to KG that he has come up with a "fucking amazing idea, maybe my best fucking amazing idea ever - WE SHOULD GO ELECTRIC!" Kage denies it saying he has never played electric and doesn't even own one. Black says "No way, i bought one for you in Piedmont Park today" and goes behind the couch and pulls out this homemade guitar made out of a toilet seat and neon rubberband strings with a power chord coming out the side. JB convinces him to jam it and takes a knee to plug it into the outlet which he complains is sitting in a puddle of beer after Lee kicked over the beer bottles. He plugs it in and the arena goes dark with strobes going off like they are getting electrocuted. This is where shit got crazy. Video screen comes out. They play a video of JB and KG in hell which they decide is heaven after they see Jesus (dressed in a robe with a crown of thorns and a moustache) soloing by himself on a double neck guitar. They ask him if he is truly Jesus, he says no - his dad is Satan - he is the anti-christ. They go on throughout hell to find their other band mates - Col. Sanders on drums and Charlie Chapplan on bass!! WTF! Together they form "The Fellowship of the D". If you have heard the D records, they are recorded with a full band but live they have always just played as an acoustic duo.
The video screen falls and fuck if the entire stage is this elaborate stage set of skulls and stalagmites billowing smoke and a drum riser set way up high with 3 bass drums reading 666 - a gong with a pentagram on it - a bull skull. The Anti Christ, Col. Sanders, and Charlie all walk out pick up their instruments and the duo join them to fucking BLAST into the first song on their new record, Kickapoo. The place was going nuts, this was a fucking spectacle. Full rage now and they are smoking through their hits full on style. Highlights of the electric set included "a lucifer milli-vanilli" of Master Exploder where they lip-synced the song as Jack paraded around the stage singing with no mic "I do not need, a microphone, because my voice is, FUCKING POWERFULLLLL!"
Later the stage guy brings JB a bag of mushrooms which he eats and immediately starts to hallucinate complete with voice effects to slow down his voice. Bounding out from the side of the stage is a gigantic mushroom man who does a cute dance on the stage for the full song. There were about 20 best songs of the night, but a real candidate was "Beelzeboss" where the devil comes out and the D challenges him to a rock off. At this point I am realizing we are essentially watching a fucking musical. The entire show from front to end was not a show but a performance play. Completely stocked with mind scorchers. Awes.
The encore was equally as great and anticipated b/c they still had some uber hits left. Opened with "fuck her gently" which the entire crowd pretty much sang and ended with a Tommy medly tipping their cap to the Who. WHO they essentially fashioned this entire show after. If you get the chance, its worth it - the show is a total fucking blast, and you are laughing at the absurdity the entire fucking time. Truly a MAMMA-JAM!
Setlist:
Acoustic Set (KG's bedroom set):
Kielbasa
History (of Tencaious D)
Flash Gordon > Wonderboy
Dio
New Song (Lee not recording skit)
The Government Totally Sucks (Lee joining harmony)
A Special Thing (featuring Lee)
Lee
Saxaboom
The Road > Skit about going electric…
Video: "Fellowship of the D" (introduces the backing band)
Electric Set (Hell set):
Kickapoo
Explosivo
Karate
Dude (I Totally Miss You)
Kyle Quit the Band
Friendship
Master Exploder
Break-In City (Storm the Gates)
Car Chase City
Papagenu (He's My Sassafrass)
The Metal
Beelzeboss
Double Team
Encore:
Fuck Her Gently
Tribute
Tommy Medley
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Talk About Monstrous Ass Blast...
Taco Bell gave some folks some serious shits! Now that's NEWS no one saw coming!!!
They found E. Coli in New Jersey Taco Bell's
“The E. coli strain appears to have passed through our system,” Tim Jerzyk, Yum’s vice president of investor relations.
All this being said their Chicken Crunch Wrap Supreme is delectable!!!
Taco Bell gave some folks some serious shits! Now that's NEWS no one saw coming!!!
They found E. Coli in New Jersey Taco Bell's
“The E. coli strain appears to have passed through our system,” Tim Jerzyk, Yum’s vice president of investor relations.
All this being said their Chicken Crunch Wrap Supreme is delectable!!!
winter meetings day the second
Talks supposedly continue between Baltimore and Atlanta. When the Hudson-to-Baltimore rumors started a couple of weeks ago, one of the first players I thought of was Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts. It's known that the Braves are looking for a prototypical lead-off hitter, and, with the almost certainty that Marcus Giles will be dealt, second base should be wide open. Roberts would fill both holes ably. Of course he's arbitration eligible the next two years, and should probably earn more than Giles in at least '07. The Baltimore Sun reports that the Braves have offered Giles and Adam LaRoche for Roberts and pitching prospect Hayden Penn. Penn's been well-regarded for a while, and looked good during a brief spell at Triple-A, but was absolutely awful in six starts for Baltimore last year. He's only 22, still has a ton of potential, and would be a welcome addition to the club. I wouldn't be thrilled about this deal, though. I find it unlikely that LaRoche will match or build on his seocnd half from last year, but that deal as constituted would basically be taking one step forward and two steps back. Sure, they'd find their lead-off hitter, and replace Giles with a proven second baseman, but they'd be losing a good amount of power without immediately improving their pitching, which should remain the focus. If they could get Roberts and Penn for Hudson and Giles, flip LaRoche over to Pittsburgh for a reliever or young starter, and then use the Hudson savings to sign or trade for another starter, first baseman, or reliever, then I'd be happy.
Talks supposedly continue between Baltimore and Atlanta. When the Hudson-to-Baltimore rumors started a couple of weeks ago, one of the first players I thought of was Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts. It's known that the Braves are looking for a prototypical lead-off hitter, and, with the almost certainty that Marcus Giles will be dealt, second base should be wide open. Roberts would fill both holes ably. Of course he's arbitration eligible the next two years, and should probably earn more than Giles in at least '07. The Baltimore Sun reports that the Braves have offered Giles and Adam LaRoche for Roberts and pitching prospect Hayden Penn. Penn's been well-regarded for a while, and looked good during a brief spell at Triple-A, but was absolutely awful in six starts for Baltimore last year. He's only 22, still has a ton of potential, and would be a welcome addition to the club. I wouldn't be thrilled about this deal, though. I find it unlikely that LaRoche will match or build on his seocnd half from last year, but that deal as constituted would basically be taking one step forward and two steps back. Sure, they'd find their lead-off hitter, and replace Giles with a proven second baseman, but they'd be losing a good amount of power without immediately improving their pitching, which should remain the focus. If they could get Roberts and Penn for Hudson and Giles, flip LaRoche over to Pittsburgh for a reliever or young starter, and then use the Hudson savings to sign or trade for another starter, first baseman, or reliever, then I'd be happy.
Monday, December 04, 2006
winter meetings
Last Thursday I worked on a baseball post for about an hour, putting forth what I hoped John Schuerholz would do this off-season. I didn't post it because I wasn't quite done with it, and then Glavine's resigning with the Mets on Friday completely ruined the very foundation of my post. So yeah, screw you, too, buddy.
The winter meetings started this morning, and tons of sites are updating regularly throughout the day. There've been a few rumors concerning the Braves, but none of them are exciting. The Giles for Linebrink deal won't go away, of course, and if that ever happens we'd hopefully get more than just one fading reliever. Linebrink was excellent in '04 and '05, but he's reaching his mid-30's and had his worst season in years in '06. If that's the best Schuerholz can do I'd hang on to Giles and see what happens between spring training and the trade deadline.
Tim Hudson talks have seemingly gone south. I was strongly in favor of flipping Hudson for a solid reliever and a good prospect last week, and using the savings to resign Glavine; since that's not possible, I'd be less interested in dealing him. If the Braves could get a young player who could make an impact with the major league club next season, like say Adam Loewen or Chris Ray or Nick Markakis from Baltimore, then I'd be all for making the deal. But the main Hudson rumor today involves him going to Seattle for Richie Sexson, which makes very little sense for Atlanta. There seems to be a decent chance that Adam LaRoche will get dealt, which I'm fine with, but there's no reason that should lead to a Sexson acquisition. We don't need aging, oft-injured sluggers at both ends of the infield, and the money saved in such a deal would be insubstantial.
Speaking of Adam LaRoche, I think him replicating his second half performance from 2006 is about as likely as Chipper playing 162 games next year. Still, a 27-year-old first baseman coming off a 32-homer, .915 OPS season should fetch a nice return. Pittsburgh has supposedly inquired into LaRoche's availability, but balked at sending over their closer, Mike Gonzalez. I realize relief is at a premium right now, and that it happens to be the Braves' greatest need, but I'd hope Atlanta could pull more than just Gonzalez in exchange for LaRoche. Yeah, the closer had a nice season last year, but he missed all of September with shoulder problems, and doesn't have a substantial track record of success. Granted LaRoche doesn't either, but his gradual improvement the last three seasons, and the fact that he's entering his year-27 season, should make him, theoretically, a surer bet to maintain his production than Gonzalez. I say "theoretically" because, as noted above, I have little faith in the man.
Anyway, assume these rumors come true, and no other moves are made. That'd give them the following line-up:
C: Brian McCann
1B: Richie Sexson
2B: Willy Aybar / Martin Prado / Kelly Johnson
SS: Edgar Renteria
3B: Chipper Jones
LF: Ryan Langerhans / Mike Diaz / Kelly Johnson
CF: Andruw Jones
RF: Jeff Francoeur
I'd assume that Aybar would bat lead-off, if he gets the starting job. Johnson, with his high on-base percentage, could be a decent option. Follow that up with Renteria, Chipper, Andruw, Sexson, McCann, Francoeur, and Langerhans. I don't think this is really any weaker than their 2006 line-up.
Now, the rotation:
John Smoltz
Mike Hampton
Chuck James
Kyle Davies
Horacio Ramirez
They'll definitely upgrade here, somehow; this conjectured rotation is no better than last year's subpar group. There's no way they trade Hudson without getting another pitcher they can rely on more than Davies or Ramirez. They could also plug Lance Cormier or Oscar Villarreal in, if it comes to that.
And options for the bullpen:
Bob Wickman
Mike Gonzalez
Scott Linebrink
Chad Paronto
Macay McBride
Tyler Yates
Oscar Villarreal
Lance Cormier
Blaine Boyer
Tanyon Sturtze
Those last two are returning from injury, but could play a role at some point. This would be the one clear area in which the team would be improved. Gonzalez could ably fit in for Wickman if he gets hurt, and perhaps even make Wickman expendable in a July trade if the team's out of the race.
Anyway, let's hope this possible future never comes to pass.
Last Thursday I worked on a baseball post for about an hour, putting forth what I hoped John Schuerholz would do this off-season. I didn't post it because I wasn't quite done with it, and then Glavine's resigning with the Mets on Friday completely ruined the very foundation of my post. So yeah, screw you, too, buddy.
The winter meetings started this morning, and tons of sites are updating regularly throughout the day. There've been a few rumors concerning the Braves, but none of them are exciting. The Giles for Linebrink deal won't go away, of course, and if that ever happens we'd hopefully get more than just one fading reliever. Linebrink was excellent in '04 and '05, but he's reaching his mid-30's and had his worst season in years in '06. If that's the best Schuerholz can do I'd hang on to Giles and see what happens between spring training and the trade deadline.
Tim Hudson talks have seemingly gone south. I was strongly in favor of flipping Hudson for a solid reliever and a good prospect last week, and using the savings to resign Glavine; since that's not possible, I'd be less interested in dealing him. If the Braves could get a young player who could make an impact with the major league club next season, like say Adam Loewen or Chris Ray or Nick Markakis from Baltimore, then I'd be all for making the deal. But the main Hudson rumor today involves him going to Seattle for Richie Sexson, which makes very little sense for Atlanta. There seems to be a decent chance that Adam LaRoche will get dealt, which I'm fine with, but there's no reason that should lead to a Sexson acquisition. We don't need aging, oft-injured sluggers at both ends of the infield, and the money saved in such a deal would be insubstantial.
Speaking of Adam LaRoche, I think him replicating his second half performance from 2006 is about as likely as Chipper playing 162 games next year. Still, a 27-year-old first baseman coming off a 32-homer, .915 OPS season should fetch a nice return. Pittsburgh has supposedly inquired into LaRoche's availability, but balked at sending over their closer, Mike Gonzalez. I realize relief is at a premium right now, and that it happens to be the Braves' greatest need, but I'd hope Atlanta could pull more than just Gonzalez in exchange for LaRoche. Yeah, the closer had a nice season last year, but he missed all of September with shoulder problems, and doesn't have a substantial track record of success. Granted LaRoche doesn't either, but his gradual improvement the last three seasons, and the fact that he's entering his year-27 season, should make him, theoretically, a surer bet to maintain his production than Gonzalez. I say "theoretically" because, as noted above, I have little faith in the man.
Anyway, assume these rumors come true, and no other moves are made. That'd give them the following line-up:
C: Brian McCann
1B: Richie Sexson
2B: Willy Aybar / Martin Prado / Kelly Johnson
SS: Edgar Renteria
3B: Chipper Jones
LF: Ryan Langerhans / Mike Diaz / Kelly Johnson
CF: Andruw Jones
RF: Jeff Francoeur
I'd assume that Aybar would bat lead-off, if he gets the starting job. Johnson, with his high on-base percentage, could be a decent option. Follow that up with Renteria, Chipper, Andruw, Sexson, McCann, Francoeur, and Langerhans. I don't think this is really any weaker than their 2006 line-up.
Now, the rotation:
John Smoltz
Mike Hampton
Chuck James
Kyle Davies
Horacio Ramirez
They'll definitely upgrade here, somehow; this conjectured rotation is no better than last year's subpar group. There's no way they trade Hudson without getting another pitcher they can rely on more than Davies or Ramirez. They could also plug Lance Cormier or Oscar Villarreal in, if it comes to that.
And options for the bullpen:
Bob Wickman
Mike Gonzalez
Scott Linebrink
Chad Paronto
Macay McBride
Tyler Yates
Oscar Villarreal
Lance Cormier
Blaine Boyer
Tanyon Sturtze
Those last two are returning from injury, but could play a role at some point. This would be the one clear area in which the team would be improved. Gonzalez could ably fit in for Wickman if he gets hurt, and perhaps even make Wickman expendable in a July trade if the team's out of the race.
Anyway, let's hope this possible future never comes to pass.
Good things...
Some good shit...in no particular order:
- Lil Matrix blowing the fuck off the earf yesterday for 4 touchdowns! High fiving my brain. (Brah 3 game win streak!)
- L and I are under contract for our first house.
- Fried Lobster Tail at Dad's 60th bday jam.
- Afrikan Majik art coming along nicely.
- Washington Apples (shot) - Crown, Pucker, Peach Schnapps.
- Falcons win. Hopes still hanging by thread.
- Neil Hamburger is opening for Tenacious D tomorrow night.
- France back in the studio on Sunday
- UCLA (does this mean we have to root for FLA?!)
- si, claro.
- Jokes
- Christmas tree up.
- Nokahoma is doing another AMT tour single.
- This is on its way to me and should arrive any day.
Some good shit...in no particular order:
- Lil Matrix blowing the fuck off the earf yesterday for 4 touchdowns! High fiving my brain. (Brah 3 game win streak!)
- L and I are under contract for our first house.
- Fried Lobster Tail at Dad's 60th bday jam.
- Afrikan Majik art coming along nicely.
- Washington Apples (shot) - Crown, Pucker, Peach Schnapps.
- Falcons win. Hopes still hanging by thread.
- Neil Hamburger is opening for Tenacious D tomorrow night.
- France back in the studio on Sunday
- UCLA (does this mean we have to root for FLA?!)
- si, claro.
- Jokes
- Christmas tree up.
- Nokahoma is doing another AMT tour single.
- This is on its way to me and should arrive any day.
Friday, December 01, 2006
New Jeezasauri!!!
2 New Jams up at Young Jeezy's myspace page. Shit is GOOOOD.
THE INSPIRATION DROPS December 12th.
Thnx to rip for the heads up.
2 New Jams up at Young Jeezy's myspace page. Shit is GOOOOD.
THE INSPIRATION DROPS December 12th.
Thnx to rip for the heads up.
Pollard Quits.
Kinda saw it coming with the increased injuries.
Sucks about the FADING CAPTAIN SERIES too.
Kinda saw it coming with the increased injuries.
Sucks about the FADING CAPTAIN SERIES too.
