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Articles from Berkeley Place-A lil' bit of BK from VA

NEW ROBBERS ON HIGH STREET 2007-11-30 15:28:17 I’m working furiously on my Best of 2007 lists, which will begin in early December (tomorrow, possibly). I have a great plan for a month-long roll out celebration. But I’m not the only one bearing holiday gifts. Candidates for one of the best albums of the year, New York’s Robbers On High Street are giving you a free tune: “Seasons Greetings” ...

THE SILVER SEAS-High Society 2007-11-30 03:33:57 Back in the 1970s, rock was a simpler affair: Sweet love songs for all ages. The Silver Seas, “High Society” is an album of that same kind of irony-free piano-driven soft rock, a sound which I for one think we could all use a little more of these days. It’s a nice counterpoint to morose, self-indulgent indie rock and bling-bling crunk. The first track, “The Country Life” begins with a quick building drum rush and continues with a lilt and chorus that is unmistakably similar to one of the more underrated Van Morrison songs, “Jackie Wilson Says (I’m In Heaven When You Smile).” And that’s a great way to start a record. Daniel Tashian (lead singer/songwrier) has said that he wished “someone would hear one of my songs and pick it up for a sitcom theme.” It’s easy to imagine a song like “Broadway Lights” as the opener for a TV show about a single mom looking for love but finding only Schneider the Handyman, but they just don’t make shows like that anymore. ...

GIVING AWAY KILLER KILLERS RARITIES! 2007-11-29 18:03:19 The Killer’s B-sides and rarities record, “Sawdust,” has been released, and it’s got lots of stuff that circulated, in versions of lesser quality, various blogs throughout recent years. In addition to the new single, which you’ve surely heard, “Tranquilize,” with Lou Reed, it’s got the Joy Division cover, “Shadowplay,” really good B-Sides like “All The Pretty Faces,” “Under The Gun,” and “Who Let You Go?” (the best song not on their first album). And their classic cover of Kenny Rogers: “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town.” Want a free copy? E-mail me or drop me a comment telling me your favorite Killers lyric. Winner will be selected at random in about a week. CONTEST CLOSED ...

GHOSTFACE AND THE ROOTS–LIVE! 2007-11-29 03:33:05 Today, we capture that most elusive of prey: A high quality, well-played, and not synced to tape live rap show, featuring one of the top 5 rappers around today: Ghostface. I’ll be beginning my year-end wrap up in a few weeks, and I’m sad to say that Ghostface’s More Fish will not be on it. It was a good album, but nowhere near as good as Fishscale, and not better than 40 other albums that came out this year. So, I’m throwing this up as a consolation prize. GFK is truly one of the greatest in the game today. Backing him at this show is The Roots, the same folks who backed Jay-Z on his live acoustic album. A few tastes, and a zip. Enjoy. 01. Ice Cream (Originally with Raekwon, from the classic mixtape Cuban Linx) 02. Pass The Mic (Theodore Unit) 03. Greedy Bitches 04. Daytona 500 05. Fish 06. Set It Off (Big Daddy Kane cover). 07. Holla (Chorus) 08. Biscuits 09. Nutmeg> Apollo Kids 10. Shimmy Shimmy Ya (cover of Ol’ Dirty Bastard) 11. C.R.E.A.M. (Wu ...

10 REASONS I LOVE EELS COVERS AND RARITIES 2007-11-28 03:52:14 By request, some more eels stuff. If there’s interest in me doing more, I’ll keep this train a-runnin’. Drop me a comment if you want even more. 1. Rock Show (Peaches cover)-eels (live) 2. That’s Life (Sinatra)-eels (live) 3. Fucker-eels 4. I’m Only Sleeping (Beatles)-A Man Called E (live) 5. Fingertips III (Stevie Wonder)-eels (live). This is the rare example of E doing a cover and it going horribly, horribly wrong. 6. Jennifer Eccles-eels (b-side) 7. Everything’s Gonna Be Cool This Christmas-eels (live) 8. Open the Door (Magnapop cover)-eels (live) 9. Flyswatter (Polka remix)-eels 10. Manchester Girl-eels (b-side). A truly lovely song that for some reason I can’t understand was only released as a B-side. ...

OH ASTRO-Champions of Wonder 2007-11-27 04:13:49 Oh Astro have already gotten blog love from luminaries like Stereogum and Pitchfork, so I don’t know what good a C-lister like myself can do for them, but I’m willing to throw down. “Champions of Wonder” is a another fun and semi-legal offering from Illegal Art, home of Girl Talk. My favorite track off the new record is the big single, “Hello Fuji Boy,” which mashes Lionel Richie’s “Hello” with Hot Chip’s “Boy From School,” as well as another, more obscure tune. The most fun thing about the record is trying to identify all the various sounds in each collage, and they’ve been kind enough to post an answer key. But I suggest you buy this before you look at the answers. Why spoil the fun? Snow Queen Hello Fuji Boy And taste some more from the sample-happy Illegal Art roster here! ...

THE TOP 20 COVERS OF THE CENTURY (so far) 2007-11-26 16:20:09 Remember when I asked for your votes? Well, the results are in! Unlike some of my previous reader polls, I didn’t quite receive 100 reponses to this one (only 87), but it’s a fair representation of at least what you, my readers (the most important people, natch!), believe are the best covers of this new Century so far . . . Also known as the past seven years. There were many selections I hadn’t heard of, and haven’t been able to find, either, like Beth Orton’s cover of Ooh Child; Grizzly Bear’s cover of Graceland; Self doing the Doobie Brothers’ What A Fool Believes; The Benjamin Gate’s take on Overkill (Men At Work); Viva Voce’s “Eye In The Sky (Alan Parsons Project);” and Phantom Planet’s version of She Must Be Somebody’s Baby. If anyone out there has one of these, PLEASE SHARE!! There were also many votes for various tunes by Petra Haden, Feist, Cobra Verde, Cat Power, KT Tunstall, and Nouvelle Vague, but they were so scattered between s ...

CENTRAL STANDARD-Uniforms 2007-11-26 03:49:13 I sincerely doubt that anything on Chicago’s Central Standard new EP, will come as a surprise. It’s almost literally wearing its punk and alt-rock influences on its sleeve, by calling itself “Uniforms,” the band instantly references a formal garb, common to many. But what makes Central Standard different is Frankie Ostello. As the lead vocalist, he brings a sense of range and power to the band that I can’t imagine it having without him. It’s not that the musicians aren’t talented–there’s plenty of fuzzy guitar solos and varying tempos to play with behind Mr. Ostello, but somehow it’s his vocals that put a stamp on the band. Kind of like the way Gavin Rossdale turned a good band, Bush, into a very good band, just by showing up and singing. Check ‘em out. Ruiner Heart of Chicago ...

10 REASONS TO DIG MY MAILBAG! 2007-11-24 15:36:49 10 items sent to me by artists, A&R folks, fans, and the like, which I’m tossing to y’all in one gonzo post because my bag is so full of things you might wanna know about, but I can’t do a full entry on every single one! 1. Am I crazy, or is this incredibly good? Courtesy of The Hip Hop Project, a free mixtape (follow link) that’s a cut way way above most free mixtapes, and even higher above most Femcees. I really wanna know what y’all think about it, so give it a good listen. I especially recommend “Cha Cha Cha” and “Dreams and Aspirations.” 2. Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings are getting lots of hype right now because of the band’s association with a certain drunken brit lady who has been the flavor of the month (and deservedly so) for about half a year now, but the The Kings are great with Sharon, too. Scion has released its 19th sampler, remixing Daptone Records stars on tunes mixed by Mark Ronson, Hank “Publ ...

10 REASONS TO LISTEN TO PETE DOHERTY RARITIES 2007-11-24 05:45:23 If Britney Spears is overrated as a singer and underrated as a public drunk, Pete Doherty is the opposite. I’ve never been a huge Libs fan, but much of Doherty’s quieter work is interesting, even sweet, kind of like old Kinks tunes. Check out these unreleased recordings. 1. Albion. This is the second take of a simple, acoustic ditty from The Baby Shambles Sessions; it’s still being roughed out, but that’s often where true genius shines through. You know, before it gets produced to death. 2. Don’t Look Back Into the Sun-The Libertines. 3. Janie Jones (Clash cover)-Babyshambles. The rare example of a Clash cover that is almost as good as the original. 4. Babyshambles-The Libertines. The theme song for his current band back when it was his future band. 5. What a Waster-Adam Green (Libs cover). I don’t dig his voice, but I like his take on the tune. 6. What Katie Did-The Libertines. I wish this song made sense, because I’m pretty sure I can figure out who it’s a ...

THE COLOR WHEELS 2007-11-23 16:55:04 Hailing from the far-off land of Poughkeepsie, where I once hurled in a Mickey D’s parking lot, The Color Wheels are a husband and wife due who make sweet and precise lo-fi power pop. They have a real “local band” sound, but in these days of global internet fame, we all get to join the party. Some of the lyrics are a little . . . Odd. Like this one, from the single, “Rock My World”: “When your mind wanders away, where do your hands go?/Take my love, give it a shove, into your heart hole.” Because they sing it straight, it’s hard to tell if this is a sincere emo line, or if they’re being sarcastic. But through it all, it’s clear they’re having fun. Their self-titled debut, on Viper Bite Records, was produced and engineered by Jacques Cohen; he’s also worked with Mercury Rev, The Brides, and Agit Pop, and the production has that kind of feel. Catch ‘em here: Green Means Go Rock My World Jon Sebastian (the husband of Color Wheels) cover of Andrew W.K.& ...

10 REASONS TO DIG THE INTERNET 2007-11-23 14:10:04 1. Philosophy! 2. Free shit! The great Kristen Hersh, of Throwing Muses and 50 Foot Wave, has a free music page with a tip jar. What a great idea! Go there toss her a couple bucks for the 50 Foot Wave EP–you can even get in FLAC format! 3. Cutting edge hip hop! Spine Magazine is hosting a few mp3s from Saigon’s new mixtape, the prequel to his album debut. Y’know Sai–the dude from Entourage. He spits fire. You NEED to check him out. Who Can Get Busy?-Saigon and Grand Puba Saigon Meets Just Blaze 4. More cool new hip hop! Da Art of Storytelling Part 4-OutKast 5. Interaction! The clock is ticking on your chances to pick some covers to be represented on our Greatest Covers of the Century list. 6. Retro covers! They Don’t Know About Us (Tracy Ullman)-Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie. 7. The chance to be heard! Go to this old post and leave comments about The New Hype Machine. They are watching, and reading, so tell them what you think! 8. ... Internet

Giveaway: STEVIE RAY VAUGHN-SOLOS, SESSIONS & ENCORES 2007-11-23 03:39:34 From Epic/Legacy, Stevie Ray’s Solos, Sessions, and Encores shows one of the world’s greatest guitarists teaming up with B.B. King, Albert King, Paul Butterfield, Johnny Copeland, and Albert Collins, on scorching rare cuts such as “On The Run,” “Texas Flood,” “You Can Have My Husband,” “Oreo Cookie Blues,” and many more. Even the David Bowie classic, “Let’s Dance”! Go here and enter your picks for the best covers of the Century to win! Live Stevie Ray (NOT from the Solo’s, Sessions & Encores release) from 10/14/84: Voodoo Child (Hendrix) I Get High Whiskey, Wine, and Gin Look At Little Sister Let’s Make Romance ... Amp

KANYE ADMITS HIS BEEF WITH 50 WAS BULLSH*T 2007-11-22 18:02:10 From PR Inside: KANYE WEST has revealed his chart battle with rap rival 50 CENT was a publicity stunt he dreamed up to sell records. The pair went head to head in September (07) when both their albums were released on the same day. West won after a frenzied media battle he now claims he created. The Stronger hitmaker comes clean to GQ, stating, “It was a complete publicity stunt. It was my idea. I knew it was going to take off as soon as we were going to come out on the same date. “Think about it - you got the two biggest s**t-talkers in rap history. There’s no-one in rap history for talking more s**t than me and 50. That’s something I will stand on.” He adds of 50 Cent’s vow to retire if he lost the battle: “Oh man, he sold so many more records by saying that. Man, 50 is really one of my favourite rappers, too. I almost feel bad (about beating him).” West hammered 50 with sales in the U.S. but 50 sold more albums worldwide than his rival ...

!!! RARE LIVE CUTS!!! 2007-11-22 05:33:13 Not much of a need for words here. I’m putting up some live cuts by !!!. Why? Maybe as a consolation prize. I’ve started working on my best of the year list, and I just don’t see this year’s !!! album making it. I like the record, but it’s just not gonna beat out the competition. So here we go. Shit Scheisse Merde (live)-!!! Hello? Is this Thing On?-!!! (live) Dear Can-!!! (live) Pardon My Freedom-!!! (live) ...