Wednesday, May 13, 2009

This actually hurts to read...


Not to be outdone by Brian Williams, CNN stoops to a new low and delivers a fluffy-serious interview with signs-of-the-end-times hypeballs Chester French. Now, there's a lot of reasons to dislike, most rational, some largely irrational. There's the hokey image, the dilletantism, and the excruciatingly painful music. And yet, they're here to show that "If you have whack taste and you work hard, your shit will suck, unavoidably probably" doesn't hold any water when you've got the less-talented half of the Neptunes giving you a piggy back ride.

I don't want to seem bitter, though. I'll let the self-clowning stand for itself:

CNN: What has been the most surprising aspect of the music business so far?

Wallach: I think the biggest surprise has been that people don't really know a hundred percent what they're doing. Everyone is trying to figure out how the music business is going to look in 10 years.

And as a new artist there's not a blueprint. I figured you'd get signed and you're instantly on billboards. And the reality of it is that we find ourselves in a situation where all we can focus on is building our audience one person at a time. And it's just a brick-and-mortar, nose-to-the-grindstone process.

Acumen, insight, and a whole lot of black cookware.

CNN: Why do you think there's been all this interest from hip-hop producers?

Drummey: We're the hottest rappers out.

Wallach: I'm from Milwaukee, he's from Boston. They're both very diverse cities and we grew up with friends and all different kinds of music around us. So the records we make are inspired by a lot of different places.

Failed that joke like he failed at wedlock. At least we've got Milwaukee-Boston corridor o' eclecticism keepin' it real.

CNN: How does it feel to be called the next big thing?

D.A. Wallach: You know what, we actually haven't been called that in those words too often. But if we did, that would be very flattering.

Well, we can at least agree on that.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Lode/Load: May 10, 2009



Happy Mother's Day, y'all.

LP's:

Bird, Andrew | Armchair Apocrypha | Fat Possum | Black
Bird, Andrew | Noble Beast | Fat Possum | Black
Eleanoora Rosenholm | Ala Kyay Kuolleilta, He Sanoivat | Fonal | Black
Eleanoora Rosenholm | Vainajan Muotokuva | Fonal | Black
Ganglians | S/T | Woodsist | Black
Harvey Milk | Life...The Best Game in Town | Hydra Head | White and Purple Haze 2xLP
Joy Division | Closer | Factory | Black
Joy Division | Unknown Pleasures | Factory | Black
Papercuts | You Can Have What You Want | Gnomonsong | Translucent Blue
Psychedelic Horseshit | Golden Oldies | Wasted Vinyl | Black
Psychedelic Horseshit | Shitgaze Anthems | Woodsist | Black
Salvation | Of Unforgiving Wind | Youth Attack! | White | Mail Order Edition, /100
St. Vincent | Actor | 4AD | Black
Tyvek | S/T | Siltbreeze | Black
Vaselines | Enter the Vaselines | Sub Pop | Black 3xLP
Vee Dee | Public Mental Health System | Criminal IQ | Black 2xLP

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Lode/Load: May 3, 2009



EP's:

Fresh & Onlys | Imaginary Friends EP | Chuffed | Black
V/A | World's Lousy With Ideas Vol. 7 | Almost Ready | Black

78's:

Mount Eerie | Pts. 6 & 7 | P.W. Elverum & Sun | Picture Disc & Book

LP's:

Audacity | Power Drowning | Burger | White
Canadian Rifle | Visibility Zero | Residue/Squirrel Heart | Trash Vinyl
Crocodiles | Summer of Hate | Fat Possum | Black
Eluvium | Life Through Bombardment | Temporary Residence Ltd. | Black 7xLP | Limited Edition Boxset, No. 694
Flight of the Conchords | S/T | Sub Pop | Black
Fresh & Onlys | S/T | Castle Face | Black
Japandroids | Post-Nothing | Unfamiliar | Black
Jawbreaker | Dear You | Blackball | Black 2xLP
Mountain Goats & John Vanderslice | Moon Colony Bloodbath | Cadmean Dawn | Black
Nadler, Marissa | Ballads of Living and Dying | Mexican Summer | Black | 257/1000
Nadler, Marissa | Little Hells | Kemado | Black
Vile, Kurt | God is Saying This to You | Mexican Summer | Black | 79/500
V/A | World's Lousy With Ideas Vol. 8 | Almost Ready | Black