Trees Lounge

Gettin' Fit

rbosworth@gmail.com (Your (optional) podcast author name) — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 10:01:00 -0700

We have a new blog. Change your books. Update your RSS feeds. We're rehabbing ourselves. Aural Fitness

Maia Hirasawa -- A Great Video

rbosworth@gmail.com (Your (optional) podcast author name) — Thu, 8 Mar 2007 10:50:00 -0800

I'm not sure if I should call this girl the Female Ron Sexsmith or the Japanese Regina Spektor. Actually, I'm not going to call her either because she's Swedish and she sounds closer to Bjork sucking on a jawbreaker (the candy, not the band, fool.)

I love this video. I love the rat. The song is brilliant. Let it shine on you.

Your Action Required

rbosworth@gmail.com (Your (optional) podcast author name) — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 07:25:00 -0800

Hey kiddies -- I know that I haven't been the best about keeping ya'lls updated, but I've been too busy drinking from the bottle and watching the Anna Nicole Smith hearings. Enough about me... let's pretend that this site isn't a giant ode to my ego and instead for a moment that it's about you, the lonely forgotten and blog reader. Your input into my site is crucial because we are at a crossroads. At one time we had us some pretty nice digs to hang with here -- blogger was cool and new, ezarchive was content hosting some great music, I was excited to be writing about the united states and shooting my dirty musical wad on your collective faces. Ezarchive is worthless. Blogger is boring. New music mostly sucks. So those hallowed days are gone. Fly the flag at half mast, celebrate with some jazz and bury me out by the interstate. Then help me decide where we want to go. I like Trees Lounge. I like talking with you. I like writing about new music. Old Music. The United States. My dislike for cats. So I don't want this to completely end. I want this to begin.

Going forward I am considering purchasing myself -- ahem.... ourselves -- a server. A shiny one with lots of fans and plenty of space for my mp3s to squeeze through a tube and then trickle into your ears. A domain. Wordpress. We're talking about Terrabytes and gigaHURTZ, booya! Seeeexxxxxxxxxxxy. So here's where your input comes in -- domain names, site names, etc. I have a few different options:

Stay with the name Trees Lounge and get a Trees Lounge related domain:
trees-lounge.com (ok, but I hate dashes)
treeslounge.net (I equally hate .nets)

Stick with Trees Lounge and get a RELATED domain:
feelinglessandless.com (dig it, but it is awfully emo. Let's not kid ourselves -- it's a music blog -- it's emo. It's probably embarassing to refer to at the bar when others can hear me. Fawk.)
orderonemoreround.com (confusing? beautiful? insane?)
drinkingandbicycles.com (it's about passion. it's not that emo. ??)

Change the name of the site completely:
drinkingandbicycles.com (I like it but I'm not sure I'm ready to abandon Trees Lounge)
youmakeafistimmatakeanap.com (ok, this one isn't serious... but you should tell me in the comments what it should be instead.)

Ok... now all three of you be nice and leave me a comment with your opinion. Stu, Kris, and that mysterious Google.com guy.

edit: We're up to four regulars, now! Thanks, Kathy!

This Chick is Spaced, yo.

rbosworth@gmail.com (Your (optional) podcast author name) — Mon, 5 Feb 2007 18:02:00 -0800

Lisa Marie Nowak, Astronaut, drove all night from Houston to Orlando,. She wore diapers so she would not have to stop. Her plan was to kidnap her rival for the affections of another Astronaut. She was caught at Orlando International Airport wearing a trench coat and wig and had a knife, BB gun, rubber tubing and plastic bags. Once U.S. Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman arrived, Nowak followed her to the airport's Blue Lot for long-term parking, tried to get into Shipman's car and doused her with pepper spray.

Please read this story while humming America The Beautiful.

Link

From His Kitchen to Yours

rbosworth@gmail.com (Your (optional) podcast author name) — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 15:16:00 -0800

So there have been plenty of requests for new content, and old. I know that you kids are eagerly waiting for the 50-states project to resume -- and I'd love to resume it -- but I have no hosting. EZArchive is worthless and I can't find any other free or paid service that allows direct linking for the embedded player and unlimited downloads. If you know of one, let me know and I'll get right on throwing Mississippi up here for ya'lls.

Thanks for the support. It really helps.

How is this even possible?

rbosworth@gmail.com (Your (optional) podcast author name) — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 09:39:00 -0800

So this new remix of Fat Joe's Make It Rain features R. Kelly and TI (sorry kids, couldn't find the mp3). And you know... it's alright... but it made me really curious about this disorder that I'm convinced I have. I consulted with a friend who is a psychiatry student and she couldn't come up with a name for my problem, but I'm certain that it does exist and that it must have a name -- since it doesn't effect my life that much I've never bothered to really focus on it. The problem is that sometimes I have problems distinguishing my dreams from my reality. Like -- 3 years ago I had this dream that R. Kelly was video taped pissing on a 13 year old girl and the video was released and the future of his career was seriously in jeopardy. The dream was pretty elaborate -- Dave Chappelle even made an appearance on a dream-based version of his show and had a joke about the incident where R. Kelly was singing a song called "Piss On You." For the last 3-years I've been convinced that this actually happened, but then today I start listening to this track and during the chorus I hear R. Kelly singing, "I make it rain/I make it rain/I make it rain on these hoes" and my reality snaps into focus and I realize that I'm so fucked up and this disorder has really gone too far. Yes, I have dreams about R. Kelly pissing on 13 year old girls and then believe that they are real. Fuck.

Also -- I hate the way Lil' Wayne talks out the side of his already crooked ass mouth.

Big Ups 2007 - Brother Ali Drrrrrrops

rbosworth@gmail.com (Your (optional) podcast author name) — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 09:06:00 -0800

Brother Ali's first release in 2003 was fah sure one of my favorite albino hip-hop releases of the last five years. The Brother straight up rocks the mic like I flow ridiculous blog entries. When Rhymesayers and the rest of the local outlets started hyping a 2007 Ali release my pants started to tighten. I couldn't wait. So today is the end of that wait.... new tracks... new album.... and it is everything I hoped for. From the curtains to the carpets the beats and the words inspired me to post a blog entry. These tracks are so fly that you need a swatter. (Damn I'm good.)

Also -- could one of you loyal readers that loves me oh-so-much buy me this?

Just for Stu

rbosworth@gmail.com (Your (optional) podcast author name) — Mon, 8 Jan 2007 13:29:00 -0800

I may only have one reader, but he is loyal. I receive comments from him on a regular basis and he usually chides me for my lack of updates. You see -- Stuart has nothing better to do with his time then try and beat me up over not keeping my blog regularly updated. Is it because of this that Stuart is a loser, or is the fact that he's a loser responsible for his comments?

Here is what we do know:

Stuart is very fond of Xtina, Nelly, Staind and Gwen Stefani. (Which would explain why he reads a music blog like this one... sheeesh.... ) Stuart is hung like a "long horse." Stuart is consistently irritating. Stuart is the only reason I even update this damn site.... well... and the chicks.

Fuel My Internet Addiction

rbosworth@gmail.com (Your (optional) podcast author name) — Mon, 4 Dec 2006 13:59:00 -0800

This is exactly the sort of reason I have an internet addiction. And this is almost exclusively for you, Stuart. Do not let anyone from the CONSPIRACY try and convince you that the Long Horse did not exist. Let us bow our heads for such a grandiose creature that fell victim to a cold, heartless, war-mongering, imperialistic and non-long-horse loving vector of modern stampedering.

Recontextualization vs. Reactionarians

rbosworth@gmail.com (Your (optional) podcast author name) — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 08:45:00 -0800

Ok so seriously... watch these two videos. Obviously a joke. How did David Cross get so fucking good? This just takes him to the next level in my mind. If I saw this on Saturday Night Live it would make me shit happiness for days. Oh and damn.... is that Johnny Marr on the accompaniment?

Now watch this. Holy Bicycles! David Cross was just doing a cover! Now Bank of America is suing him and they might actually have a case! GOOD LORD NOW KILL ME>>>

HOLY TECHNOLOJESUS!

rbosworth@gmail.com (Your (optional) podcast author name) — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 19:54:00 -0800

Who's Your Indie Crush?

rbosworth@gmail.com (Your (optional) podcast author name) — Sun, 5 Nov 2006 17:49:00 -0800

I don't know about you guys, but I've been trying real hard to get myself an indie crush for years now. I know, I know: there has to be a better adjective than indie, right? But you know what I'm talking about. Yeah, yeah: Beyoncé's smoking hot; we get it. And Britney Spears did this photo shoot for the New York Times a few years ago that blew me away (there's a good pun in there somewhere). But I'm talking about the kind of crush that has cred.

And it's not that I haven't been looking. I tried Meg White for a while, but she's all knockers, no personality. And I tried Karen O, but she's just not a hottie. (Pictures of her were still scarce for a while after Albert Hammond, Jr. wore that pin on SNL, so for a long time I had a pretty intense aural crush with just a few face-covering photos to aid me.) And what are my other choices... M.I.A.? Lady Sov? Joanna Newsom? Yeah, Newsom's a maybe. And alright, alright, there's always Chan Marshall, but she's a model now (don't believe me?), so I feel like she's up there with the professional hotties. And Regina Spektor is really cute, but I'm pretty sure she's way too old for me. The girls from Fannypack? Uh-uh.

So here comes Uffie. I can't take her seriously, and I can't say that her rapping is any good. But the lyrics are certainly adorable and hilarious, and the electro beats complement their uh, sensuality. She's on Ed Banger records, for all you kids who keep track of that. (Maybe you know labelmates Justice.) Oh, and did I mention that she's a genuine, certified smoking hot girl? Have doubts? That's her up there in that photo. And some Italian magazine that seems really cool, but most of the content of which I can't read has a bad ass photo shoot of her. So go knock yourselves out (that good pun is just too obvious).

She doesn't have an album out, and there are just a handful of singles she's released, but she's my official indie crush. Who's yours? I think girls have a few more options than us fellas, but I'd be happy to get comments from both sexes.

And in addition! I'm going to post what I believe is Uffie's total output to date. If not total, it's certainly the vast majority. Voici:

Uffie - "Pop the Glock (Original Mix)"

Uffie - "Pop the Glock (Sebastian Remix)"

Uffie - "Ready to Uff (Mr. Oizo Mix)"

Uffie - "Ready to Uff (TV Track)"

Uffie - "Hot Chick"

Uffie - "In Charge"

The Farnsworth Parabox of Damien Rice

rbosworth@gmail.com (Your (optional) podcast author name) — Wed, 1 Nov 2006 13:17:00 -0800

I'm sure most of you are familiar with the theory of parrallel universes. The simple idea that if you were to rotate the earth 180 degrees on it's orbit (landing it directly behind the sun), you would find a planet equal to the earths dimensions but completely opposite in every way. It would serve to balance out the beauty, depravity, poverty, excess, and spirit of this world. It's an anti-earth. It's the idea that a very popular episode of Futurama is based on.

Well -- there was a slip-up here on our own earth and Damien Rice fell into a Farnsworth Parabox. He stumbled out and it was Universe # 10393 or something where the molasses-voiced Damien and his soundtrack ballads came out as Plan B. I call it Grind, but keep in mind that I'm an idiot. Other idiots will call it Eminem with an accoustic guitar and a british accent or Sage Francis covering Everlast. Still even more idiots will go drrrr.... drrr....... Regardless. I do like Plan B. Something tells me that he'll be on less soundtracks next year than the new Damien Rice material -- but maybe in an alternate universe somewhere, the opposite is true.

The first song is the controversial anti-censorship track, Sik 2 Def, and the second track is a live accoustic version of Who Needs Action, When You've Got Words that I've had stuck in my head for a couple of days.

A Moment For You and I (and Joe)

rbosworth@gmail.com (Your (optional) podcast author name) — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 14:09:00 -0800

So the blog has been infused with new life. I am posting again, Joe is posting quality material, and with any luck we will lure some readers back after I left them in lurch earlier in the summer. Why did i abandon you, dear reader? Well it was a combination of several thing.... first of all I am the epitome of lazy. Like seriously.... to even get out of bed in the morning is a task and I haven't figured out how to just THINK of a post and make it happen. Second is that EZArchive (the host for all of my mp3s) basically went TITS UP and left me without a good place to put all these grey-area-legal-wise mp3 files. Like, I couldn't upload -- I couldn't download -- I couldn't email them -- they were just POOF gone.

Today they are back.

So with that, and with Joe's help, Trees Lounge is back.

The good news is also the bad news though -- with the new EZArchive, the old links are all gone. That means everything older than about 4 days ago has now been flushed down the toilet. My dream to complete all 50 states and post them all up together may never happen. That being said, I'm going to continue where I left off in the next few days and jump back into the states project. The good news? We're back. We'll have even more BRILLIANT CONTENT that you can be assured to COUNT ON and we'll be offering a bi-geographical perspective on the music scene with my sorry ass being situated here (ahem... near) the twin-cites, and Joe being cozily tucked away in Irvine, CA. I'll be focusing on my normal themes of drinking too much and not being funny -- Joe will be focusing on his love for Lil' Wayne and all things from Jamaica. Or maybe I'll just let him let you know what he'll post about.

To Welcome myself back I am going to take this opportunity to reiterate something that I've been telling you for years now. This band: I still like them, and you still don't listen to them. The Baptist Generals.

Chris Flemmons plays/writes insanely beautiful melodies, has terrible recording equipment, a drinking problem, a tendency to smash his equipment in the middle of a track, and an ability to play the guitar like a FUCKING DRUM.

Edit: Also if there is any doubt as to whether or not Trees Lounge can be a two man show, can you please click the link below of Joe in the Panda suit. I mean -- he has boozed up eyes, an empty bottle of jack daniels, and he is wearing a god-damned panda costume. If anyone can outdrink that picture and then send me evidence of it glued to the top of a case of Jim Beam and then make quality posts about stolen mp3s -- WELL I'D DAMN WELL GIVE YOU A PASSWORD TO POST, TOO!

Best Song About File Sharing. Ever.

rbosworth@gmail.com (Your (optional) podcast author name) — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 09:52:00 -0800

So at some point this morning I realized that every post of mine thus far is really just a "Best Ever" post. I had the Best Song. Ever.

And I also had the Best Rock Song. Ever.

So in that vein, I want to add the Best Song About File Sharing. Ever.

The Tiny: "Everything is Free"

If you're not yet on the Tiny bandwagon, it's time to get on board. Despite it's diminutive size, there's still a lot of room left up here. As best as I can figure out, The Tiny are a three-piece from Stockholm. They're also great; Rob and I both have an avowed love for them.

But wait! There's more! Now for the Best Song by The Tiny. Ever.

The Tiny: "Closer"

Well that pretty much kicks off my newly-named series: Best Song... Ever.

(Also! One of Rob's favorite comedians, Ze Frank, does a great bit about Worst... Ever that I admit to cribbing a little for the name of my series. Enjoy it here! Err... how the hell do you imbed flash?)

EDIT: As per a comment, "Everything is Free" does look like it was originally a Gillian Welch song. If possible, avoid listening to that version because it may ruin The Tiny's, in so much as it totally blows, and you may not be able to get it out of your head. So kudos to Gillian Welch for writing a poignant song. But bigger ups to The Tiny for singing it and then totally making me cry.

Halloween Is So Last Weekend

rbosworth@gmail.com (Your (optional) podcast author name) — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 23:43:00 -0800

Halloween is Tonight? Well all my parties were last weekend. I don't know how yours went, but I broke a mirror I was wearing, climbed a balcony four times, played a lot of swords (hard to explain), and was an all-around jackass. In commemoration of the fact that I'm still damn tired, I'm posting a song that really gets at the essence of how I felt walking home alone at 4:00 in the morning.

In addition, it's arguably the greatest rock song ever recorded. Not even shitting you.

Rocket from the Tombs - "Ain't It Fun"

And as a BONUS!

What says Halloween more than Black No. 1?

Type O Negative: "Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All)"

Save a Tree; Write a Blog

rbosworth@gmail.com (Your (optional) podcast author name) — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 23:00:00 -0800

Rob needed to call in some reinforcements, so I’m gonna be helping him out a bit here and there so Trees Lounge doesn’t completely die. The States thing is his, and I’m leaving it to him to keep that up, but I’m adding a series of my own:

Cool Shit from Sometime Not Now

Cool Shit, if you’re into the whole brevity thing. It’ll be songs, albums, discographies… well… it’ll be a lot of things, and I’m not going to pigeonhole myself right now. I don't even know that it needs a name, but it's getting one anyway.

To start it off, I’ll post my favorite song:

Baal – Exuma

That’s right—like a teenage girl—I have a favorite song. Among the mounds of music I listen to, there is actually one song that stands out above the others. And I’m cool with that. In the future I’ll give more context to what I post, but for now, just take my word on this.

Do They Know it's Halloween?

rbosworth@gmail.com (Your (optional) podcast author name) — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 11:14:00 -0700

This post can only come from outer-space or underground, or some nonsensical place. I'm not sure where it comes from. I do know that it is a Halloween song produced by the North American Halloween Prevention Initiative. I do know that it was designed as some sort of fund-raiser. I do not know exactly what the funds were for or how they assembled such an incredible cast for such a seemingly bullshit project -- I do know that the song sounds like what would must exist on the other side of the sun.

The cast includes: Beck, Sum 41, Les Savy Fav, the Arcade Fire, Sonic Youth, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Joey Waronker, Sloan, Peaches, Feist, Devendra Banhart, Wolf Parade, Postal Service, Buck 65, Elvira, Malcolm McLaren, Gino Washington (for more on him, see "Gino vs. Geno" at Complicatedfun.com), Roky Erickson, Rilo Kiley, Sparks, Tagaq, and producer Steven McDonald of Redd Kross

North American Halloween Prevention Initiative - Do They Know It's Halloween?

Pitchfork Media Infinite Playlist RSS Feed

rbosworth@gmail.com (Your (optional) podcast author name) — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 10:44:00 -0700

Yesterday Pitchfork Media began a project called the infinite mix-tape. It's a great idea -- post new tracks in a mix-tape like format on a semi-regular basis. Except -- like most things Pitchfork does they nailed the idea and fumbled the execution. They provided a kickass way of seeing tracks, but a cumbersome, outdated, crappy one of downloading them. They needed a podcast!

I'm not taking credit for this work. I just jumped through some hoops to generate an RSS feed and then a few more hoops to generate the Podcast feed. Now you can add it to your iTunes or (like me) your J River Media Center.

Pitchfork Media - Infinite Mixtape Podcast

I'm not Dead!

rbosworth@gmail.com (Your (optional) podcast author name) — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 12:10:00 -0700

Hey fans -- i appreciate the comments I have recevied lately inquiring about my well-being, and what can I say? I'm well!

I have Mississippi ready to go for you and a handful of new bands ready to make your head spin. So where have I been? I've just been busy living life. The last month has brought full-on summer, drunkeness, heartbreak, redemption, tomfoolery, travel, lust, extravegance, hopelessness, and motorcycles.

So -- if I have these posts ready to go -- why is this here? Well, EZARCHIVE is just blowing goats for the last 10-12 days and I can't upload my files. I've tried everything to get the 90+ files it is going to take to properly toast Mississippi onto the server and I've only been met with rejection. I'll work on it, but I just want you to know that I love you and I appreciate your dedication.

You all make this giant blue rock seem much less lonely.

Also -- if you want some updates just go ahead and browse through the archives. Most of the files are still available, and I think I used to be waaaaaay funnier.

Love

Robert

An Owl Made Me Do It: Orillia Opry

rbosworth@gmail.com (Your (optional) podcast author name) — Mon, 22 May 2006 14:46:00 -0700

The theme of this last weekend was the theme of most of my weekends, ahem -- binge drinking. I had four fun-filled, wild nights, of boozin' it up, kicking ass, and taking names. The secondary theme of the weekend however, was "O RLY?" I saw an owl picture somewhere and underneath it was these words and it became permanently emblazened in my head. I kept saying the phrase and everyone around me grew sick of it. I did it in this adorable little voice that sounded like an owl had just learned how to hit the helium bong and endlessly tease message-board suckers. I cracked myself up.

Then I emailed the little owl to my lady friend and my roomate -- then they got in on the ORLY action. Then we all started doing it, much to the displeasure of everyone else around us. (My roomate doesn't have the voice down, my lady friend most certainly does.) Girls, take note, if you ever get into an argument with me -- cock your head to one side, open your eyes really wide and squawk "O RLLLLLY" and then I'll laugh and love you forever.

Monday morning appears cold and alone on my doorstep this morning, and I start browsing through my usual assortment of music sites and podcasts. Boring, more boring, more boring and most boring (uk indielectro is so daammmmn tired right now). Then Orillia Opry shows up. That's right..... ORILLLLLLIA! The music was good, the name was coooing in my head all weekend and I'd never even heard of them.

It was fate.

So now, dear readers, this fate comes your way. Spend this morning eating cheerios, listening to a fantastic new band, and browsing through Orly Owls. You will live longer for doing so.

Oh yeah... and if you want to hear what this music SOUNDS like, instead of what it has to do with me... check out Said the Gramaphones Write-Up. It involves CSI: Miami, Peter Lorre, parmesean pesto pasta, and the SATs.

Rhyme That With Orange, Hustlers

rbosworth@gmail.com (Your (optional) podcast author name) — Wed, 17 May 2006 12:42:00 -0700

Hey you ~~bastards~~ fans! I'm not going to have much of a post today, but I just wanted to let you know: yesterdays post KICKED ASS. I'm serious over here. I'm not one to toot my own horn constantly (oh wait..... fawk!) but it was seriously worth every mp3 blogsite in the world to shoot me some love for it. Not only did I drop a $1,000,000 word, but I also poached a killer video and put it on YouTube.

Now... scroll down and leave me a comment so that we can debate whether you think I made that word up or not (I promise I did not). Try as I might, however, I can not find any validation that it is actually a proper word. Someone please either give me the right word for a 29-piece ensemble or else this one is headed to those savages over at Meriam-Webster for inclusion in their next edition. How dare they leave it out?

Jets to Brazil - Orange Rhyming Dictionary

Todays Word: Icosikaienneatet

rbosworth@gmail.com (Your (optional) podcast author name) — Tue, 16 May 2006 10:15:00 -0700

Ok so get this -- the word, "icosikaienneatet" returns absolutely, positively, ZERO GOOGLE RESULTS. Yet, I'm confident that it is actually a word. I fully intend to make this page one of the biggest draws on the internet by single-handedly dominating this search term.

Ever heard of the game google-whacking? The object is to put two common words together into an uncommon phrase. You win when you type in a two-word phrase and only get one result. Try "calgarian voluptuary" as an example of how to win.

Well, I don't know what the game I just invented is called, but the goal of it is to put a single, undisputably correct word in your website and have it come up as the ONLY WEBSITE IN THE WORLD that has ever used that word. In fact, not only did I invent the game, but I'm also the first international champion at it, and will be the only international champion for a long, long time.

You see the prefix (ahem.... icosikaiennea) means "29" and the "tet" indicates a musical group (as in octet, quartet, sextet, nonet, etc). Thus, the complete word, Icosikaienneatet: A group of 29 musicians.

That brings us to I'm From Barcelona. An icosikaienneatet from (I'm assuming here) Barcelona. Why did I decide to post this video, dear reader?

Yesterday I received a comment from D. Valentine:

D Valentine said...
I love this group. Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou for posting this. Dude, I haven't run into a lame post from you yet. I'm moving you to the top of my MP3 bookmarks.

5:00 PM

I felt so flattered, that I was all, "well.. I can't let her/him down ... I better get right to it and post something LAME." Then I remembered what I had read on Jesus' page the other day and figured it would be a perfect lame-ass post to steal. (I mean, if you're going to steal a post... you might as well steal it from Jesus, rigggggghhhht?) So I You-Tube'd the video, google-owned a CHOICE word, typed up some garbage in this a-here little box, and BAM: You dear fans now have a lame, lame, lame post.

Of course, it's not that lame at all. I mean, the video is lame in this really cool way. The song is lame in this we-just-totally-one-upped the polyphonic spree sort of way. The fact I stole it from Jesus himself is... well actually... not lame at all. And finally my world-dominance of the word Icosikaienneatet is COMPLETELY LAME.

Ok... enough rambling... onto the video....

The Round-Up

rbosworth@gmail.com (Your (optional) podcast author name) — Mon, 15 May 2006 13:26:00 -0700

The Old Ceremony at Songs: Illinois : Wow. This band just plain kicks my ass. I wish I knew what genre to call this. He say's it's like Gogol Bordello, but I don't buy it. It's more "avant-garde, old-timey, whatever Andrew Bird used to do but then redone with a fresher style" type of music. Also, they copped their name from a Leonard Cohen record. Holy crap... did I just forget the word iconic? AN ICONIC LEONARD COHEN RECORD (is there any other kind?) Check it.

Beirut at 3Hive : I was going to do a Beirut post last week. Seeing the review pop up on Pitchfork sort of dissuaded me. I knew that someone else in this blog-biz would handle it better than I would be able to. At best you could have expected me to get drunk and make some sort of reference to how I like just about any sort of lo-fi slash indie with trumpets, clarinets, and a Neutral Milk Hotel connection. Oh wait... I guess Shan did the same thing except with waaay less alcohol than I would have. Go, go, go Coherency! (also... are all of 3Hives mp3s legal? DAMN that's cool.)

Beatles vs NIN Mashup at Work for It : I like me some mashups. This one makes me feel like the world is ending. God bless whoever made this. This song is proof that there is a God, that he made us, and that he gave us ears for exactly one purpose: this song.

Live at the Current: Atmosphere

rbosworth@gmail.com (Your (optional) podcast author name) — Mon, 15 May 2006 10:24:00 -0700

Continuing with my interpretation of Minnesota, comes some fresh joints straight out of the St. Paul Current Studios. (Oh, and by fresh I mean from last October.)

See ... I like Atmosphere. Always have. I used to see Sean spit rhymes out of a tattered notebook at The Artist Quarters open mic night. He was a stand-out performer at that time, and a down-to-earth seemingly good guy. Now he's seemingly a prick, but I guess that is just what comes with moderate amounts of locale-fame and success. He has taken his schtick on the road to fantastic amounts of underground success. He sold out something like 69 shows in 72 nights, ducked major-label interest, created a powerful underground record label (Rhyme Sayers Entertainment) and established the local hip-hop epicenter (Fifth Element Records.) These accomplishments together dropped a big red flag right in the middle of snowy minneapolis that said, "Hip Hop? Yeah, we got your hip hop right here. Ya sure, you betcha."

That sort of achievment really makes you think what Sean knew before any of it happened -- when he was rhyming over some busted-ass beats on Headshots 7 (ahem... 1997). He straight-up SAID that in two to three years he was going to put everything in Minneapolis on the map. He worked hard at it, and I would say that he is largely responsible for much of the Twin Cities music scene that has blown up in the last couple of years. Hip-Hop or not, there has been some serious buzz going on in this city -- and it's well known that Sean runs with the indie-crowd.

Unfortunately, I haven't liked the majority of stuff he's put out since Overcast dropped around '99 (oh, who really can remember?) I haven't liked one of his shows since they started selling out 7 nights in a row at first-avenue. I still, however, think he is incredibly talented and every time I can catch him live on the radio, or at a small venue, he blows me away. Even though I've seen him 20+ times over the years, I still get that heeeby-jeeeby feeling when I listen to these live tracks.

Enjoy, suckers. Feel those background vocals -- damn they're tight.