A while back there was rumor going around the music industry about a pop music fortune telling machine. Using computer analysis of things like tempo, chord structure and progression, this contraption could supposedly predict the success of any pop song. Apparently when the programmers played established hits (ex: "Girls Just Want To Have Fun," "Benny And The Jets," etc.) the computer ranked them as successes. When they played bombs (ex: anything by EMF after "Unbelievable") the computer gave out failing grades. Record producers all across LA were popping bottles of Dom and toasting this new sure thing. Personally, [...]
I once heard a crazy statistic about the difficulty of parking in San Francisco. It was something along the lines of there being five cars for every public parking space. In other words, parking is a huge bitch. Unless you have your own garage or can afford to pay $50 a day for parking, you'd better get your ass a Geo Metro or a Vespa or something else you can squeeze into that semi-legitimate half space between the bus stop and the loading zone. A few years ago an old lady t-boned me at a stop sign and [...]
At some point or another we've all seen an episode of the show "COPS." Back in the days before reality TV programming ruled the airwaves, "COPS" was one of the few places you could get a voyeuristic glimpse into the lurid lives of speed freaks, wife beaters, and petty thieves - all from the comfort of your couch. However, it usually was just a glimpse, because most of the time the cop car with the camera in it showed up after the perp had already been cuffed and dragged out of the house. The bulk of the show consisted of [...]
This is either the new hotness or old news, depending on where your head is at. White Flight is actually the work of one Justin Roelofs, who used to be in The Anniversary. His album came out a while ago and has already been reviewed by Pitchfork ("an overstuffed assortment of hip-hop beats, hippie poetry, and indie pop instrumentation."). White Flight was even featured on NPR at some point this year and he/they have a page on Wikipedia. Oh well. We can't always be the first to the feeding frenzy. Anyhoo...apparently Justin swore off living in [...]
It is often said that you should never judge a book by its cover. But you know what? That shit is just not true. If you see a book cover with an oil painting of a pale maiden in 18th century dress, with a lovelorn look on her face, staring out across the English countryside...we promise you, that book sucks. However, in the world of music a similar adage often proves to be true - namely that you should never judge the music by its maker. You can go to to Hot Topic and buy the "rock n roll look" [...]
The coolest thing about Texas is the city of Austin, and one of the coolest things coming out of Austin right now is the band Brazos . Ironically, the first track here was created in less than cool circumstances. According to our friend Larry at Future Sounds, "Mrs. Virginia" was crafted in a tiny bedroom with no air conditioning. In the dead of summer. In Texas. That's crazy because Texas is the hottest state in the union. Seriously, it's probably 100 degrees in Texas right now. If we lived in Texas we'd probably need air conditioning in our underwear [...]
Tough Customer // Wire
[LISTEN] Gotye (Passion Pit Remix)
Big Boi & Theophilus London (feat. TRE LUCE) - 'She Said OK'
