Blog: Oh, Sweet Nothing

Would you expect anything different from these dudes?

Amazing.

Hey look! A major label being unreasonable with DMCA complaints, and the affected party being... reasonable in response . Who wants to bet money that the major label will take the high road and be reasonable in return? Anyone? [via Licensing Plate ] XXL waxes poetic about rappers' worst albums ever . They're wrong about Nas though, Nastradamus ftl. [XXL] M.I.A. vs. Sri Lanka continues ... [ Pitchfork ] Ripping apart U2's manager for his endorsement on France's new copyright protection laws. [...]

April: 11 - Acid Mothers Temple @ Empty Bottle 17 - Simian Mobile Disco @ Metro (afterparty at Smart Bar) 18 - Marissa Nadler @ Schubas 19 - Marissa Nadler @ Schubas 20 - Extra Golden @ Empty Bottle 22 - Wale @ Abbey Pub (w/Chicago's own BBU ) 29 - Optimo @ Sonotheque 30 - Greg Ashley @ Empty Bottle [...]

Via Stranger Dance . Another music video debuting waaay after the album's release. The title track from last year's underrated release.

I caught wind of this show (actually a birthday party for Julia…who I don't know but seemed to be a pleasant young lady) the night before it went down, and decided this was one opportunity I wasn't going to let pass by. I've been into Japanther for some time now but had never seen them live, and I hadn't been to Town Hall Pub since the days of Flosstradamus dance parties. I've always liked Town Hall Pub, or really any smaller venues (and Town Hall Pub is about as small as it can get without becoming "parents' basement). [...]

• Japanther - The Dirge

Via Pitchfork.tv . Man, waaaay late. But great video all the same.

A B-Side from the upcoming Art Brut v. Satan . Stream/Download "Weird Science " [courtesy of RCRD LBL ]

Fucking. Clown. Anyone know who the performing band is?

Its a rainy morning in San Francisco and I can't hear out of my left ear. Regardless, I stumbled upon this gem of an interview with the one and only: Whenever Bob Dylan speaks, the air thickens and the spirits [...]

Over the years, Rick Froberg has amassed an extremely loyal, passionate, zombie army of fans willing to purchase any product with his name attached to it without so much as a cursory listen beforehand. Considering that I'm part of said army, who would know this any better than me? Froberg has definitely earned this cult-legend status, as Drive Like Jehu is legendary and from a purely anecdotal perspective, Hot Snakes appear to be well on their way to legendary status as well. So when Froberg reared his head again with his new project, [...]

• Obits - Pine On

Never heard of these guys before, but they're on Chicago's Thrill Jockey and this is a hell of an introduction. Wonderfully awkward stoner/space jam.

When I first bought the legendary no-wave comp No New York , it took me a good year before I really felt like I understood and appreciated what the music was all about. I've been going through a bit of a no-wave renaissance these past few weeks, and as previously mentioned , The Contortions are my favorite band to rise out of the scene. Most no-wave bands seemed to focus on volume and dissonance, with rhythm achieved through sheer force and will. The Contortions had James Chance as their [...]

Monday!

Greetings blog readers, whoever you may be. I'm Rhonda, your new faceless, opinionated wannabe-pundit. Sir Rob has recruited me to contribute to this little slice of the internet and I'm just thrilled, gosh darnit! I'm living in Chicago at present, with a past in Atlanta and a future in who knows where?! Exploring and documenting are some of my favorite things to do, and I'll share my thoughts and findings with you here. To start off, I had a moderately rad, mostly music-based week of Chicagoland adventures. My buddy Silas invited me to [...]

NME's case against huge online sales "events." [ No Rock And Roll Fun ] A Spring album release schedule . [ Pitchfork ] Jimi Hendrix's childhood home just got demolished . [ Guardian ] Hey Canada, you just lost sooo much cred with this tomfoolery . [ NY Times ] Crime Pays now has a tracklist ...snap. [ Nah Right ] I just had to post this gem of a venture: Presenting "Bang a Blogger!" Thanks to Cream [...]

April: 4 - Numero's Eccentric Soul Revue @ Park West 11 - Acid Mothers Temple @ Empty Bottle 17 - Simian Mobile Disco @ Metro (afterparty at Smart Bar) 18 - Marissa Nadler @ Schubas 19 - Marissa Nadler @ Schubas 22 - Wale @ Abbey Pub (w/Chicago's own BBU ) May 5 - Leonard Cohen @ Chicago Theatre 6 - Crystal Antlers [...]

During a particularly brutal episode ( that is banned on US television…funny story, that ) of Aaron McGruder's Boondocks , Syl Johnson's "Is It Because I'm Black?" begins playing at the nadir of the episode (check around the 5:55 mark of the video below). As the scene played through, it served as a pointed reminder that the show's often hilarious racial humor is rooted in some very sad realities. Not including how often it has been sampled and covered, I've heard "Is It Because I'm Black?" several times before, but only [...]

• Syl Johnson - Is It Because I'm Black

This was a pretty cool email to find after a too-long Thursday. Apparently these guys at Grandcrew.com film entire concerts, then post them up to share with the world. Is there a Chicago version of this anyone? Here's the Black Lips @ Generiq Festival in Dijon (France?).

The Drones have been a band that I've been meaning to check out for ages, ever since the recommendation by an Australian poster in [insert music forum here]. With the increased attention they've been receiving lately, now would be a pretty good time to jump in for all of us. Well, RCRD LBL has given me the necessary prodding via this free download and I like what I hear. Their raucous, whiskey soaked, almost garage rock take on the blues can barely be contained by the acoustic guitars. And like an Australian Pogues, [...]