David Yow Stars In a New Video for OFF!

Hardcore supergroup OFF! (Keith Morris, Dimitri Coats, Mario Rubalcaba, and Steven Shane McDonald) have a new video for "Hypnotized." The clip stars David Yow of The Jesus Lizard and Scratch Acid as a crack smoking guy in a lousy costume that poses with tourists in Hollywood for cash. He has an altercation with a man dressed in the same superhero costume as him (played by Jack Grisham of T.S.O.L.) and it all goes downhill from there. This all happens while OFF! play in the background.

The new album from OFF!, Wasted Days, is due out April 8 on VICE. You can get some more information, including tour dates, at their official website. To find out what David Yow is up to, such as art and his solo album, head on over to his website.

Current Obsessions - Benjamin Booker

I know virtually nothing about Benjamin Booker. He was one of the first acts announced for this year's Newport Folk Festival, and he seems to have come out of nowhere. When he was announced, he had less than 500 "likes" on Facebook, and two videos on YouTube. I mean, what musician has only two videos on YouTube? Your 14 year old nephew's band has at least a dozen, and they haven't played a show yet. How does someone so virtually unknown get added to one of the most prestigious festivals in the country? By being amazing.

His influences range from Blind Willie Johnson to T. Rex. His sound is like early blues recordings mixed with MC5 and Death. It's one of the most raw and unique sounds I've heard in years while still being straight up rock n' roll. It fits completely into everything you already know and love but mixes it up in a way you've never heard before. At this point, I have no idea when his debut albums comes out, but I need it. Now.

Benjamin Booker is currently on tour with Hurray for the Riff Raff. You can see the tour dates below. Head on over to his page on the ATO Records website for more info, and watch a 3rd YouTube video that just dropped below.

Mar 06             Will's Pub        Orlando, FL

Mar 08            Curtis Hixon Park       Tampa, FL

Mar 12            The Chevrolet Courtyard at Cedar Street       Austin, TX

Apr 03            Mercury Lounge         New York, NY

Apr 05            The Sinclair     Cambridge, MA

Apr 08            World Cafe Live Philadelphia            Philadelphia, PA

Apr 10            Local 506        Chapel Hill, NC

First Listen: New Releases for March 4

After a whirlwind few weeks, it's kind of nice to get a shorter week of releases.

Ásgeir - In the Silence: I admit to having a significant bias toward any Icelandic music available, given my love of both early Bjork and early Sigur Ros. I don't know how I tripped up on Ásgeir, but this album is a gorgeous soundscape. It's really what you might expect a more folky Icelandic artist to sound like with your tinny American ear. It really strikes all the right notes and is definitely my favorite listen of this week. Absolutely worth your time.

Real Estate - Atlas: You know how, sometimes, you get weird associations of bands in your head? Like, you were exposed to a few bands at the same time, or they once had similar songs on the radio and you have just coupled them forever. Real Estate falls into that category with me along with Beach House and Best Coast. Not sure why, as Real Estate (especially Atlas) sounds a lot different than them. Atlas, in particular, has a tendency to sound a lot like the singer-songwritery alt-rock of years ago, and I enjoy that. This is a nice, pleasant, quiet listen for this week.

Drive-By Truckers - English Oceans: I hate to be that guy with this album, but, ultimately, it sounds exactly like what I'd expect from a Drive-By Truckers album today. It's very straightforward country rock, and it does the trick perfectly well. Worth a listen if you're a fan of the band or associated acts.




Also out this week:

* Holly Golightly - All Her Fault

Monday Morning Playlist: Dirty R&B

At some point late last week, I had landed on an article from Medium regarding "Dirty R&B", the lesser-known, somewhat more vulgar side of early-to-mid 1900s blues and jazz music. For as much as many of us grew up with the PMRC and the idea that hair metal or gangsta rap would be the thing to corrupt our impressionable minds, there was some really dirty stuff coming out decades before. Some of it is more veiled, but others don't even try to hide what they're getting at.

The article also shares an article from WFMU in 1997 that lists even more dirty blues and jazz songs, with a little more variety thrown in. Seeing as I enjoyed this (and, truth be told, the music as well) this weekend, I decided to throw together a playlist. You can subscribe to it here or listen to it embedded below:

Highlights from Amazon's March mp3 Sale

Every month, Amazon.com puts 100 albums on sale for $5. These are some of the highlights that may be of interest to readers:

* Arctic Monkeys - AM
* Hospitality - Trouble
* Damien Jurado - Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son
* Mogwai - Rave Tapes
* Passion Pit - Gossamer
* Amos Lee - Mission Bell
* Eddie Vedder - Ukulele Songs
* White Stripes - Icky Thump
* Hole - Live Through This
* Imogen Heap - Speak For Yourself
* The Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
* Lily Allen - Alright, Still
* Steve Martin - The Crow
* My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
* Bela Fleck - Live Art
* Tegan and Sara - So Jealous

Listen to MC Chris's Tribute to Harold Ramis

This week's death of Harold Ramis affects just about everyone. There isn't anyone between the ages of 20-60 that hasn't been touched by his work, from National Lampoon's Animal House to Groundhog Day. Nerdcore tapper and animator MC Chris has been working on a Ghostbuster's themed album for the past two years. As a tribute to Ramis, MC Chris posted his song about Ramis's Ghostbusters character, Egon Spengler, to Soundcloud. "58.9" was meant to be a silly song about a fictional character, but has now taken on a meaning that lyrics like "The opposite sex is perplexing but mold I can manage" were never intended do. 

For more information and to preorder MC Chris Foreverrr, go to MC Chris's website. 
Also, go read Harold Ramis's IMDb page and marvel at the movies the man was involved with.
 

First Listen: New Releases for February 25

Some highly anticipated stuff coming out this week. But is it any good...

Beck - Morning Phase: Ken got to listen to an early stream of this, and his thoughts mirror mine: "The last album was a retread. And this is a sequel to Sea Change, like Hangover 2 was a sequel. But at least that movie changed locations." This feels more like the Wake Up, Ron Burgundy! to a proper Anchorman, as it feels like a lot of dull b-sides to an album I didn't care for to start, but the jarring thing for me is that I haven't enjoyed a Beck album in at least 8 years and it just gets more and more tenuous for me. A number of people loved Sea Change, and if you liked that, you might like this too. As for me, this is arguably the most disappointing listen in ages.

St. Vincent - St. Vincent: On the flip-side of things is St. Vincent. Her first album was an instant favorite for me, weird without being inaccessible. Her other efforts left me wanting a lot more - a few good singles here and there, but it never really reached the heights of what I wanted. The David Byrne project was great for reasons I chalked up to Byrne's involvement, but St. Vincent's new release is great. A lot of common musical themes from the Byrne collaboration, for sure, but it ultimately feels like Annie Clark has figured out the right balance that has been lost at times for me with her music. This is a rock-solid album, certainly her best since the debut, and perhaps better than anything she's done on her own so far.

Schoolboy Q - Oxymoron: Schoolboy Q is back with his first album since Habits & Contradictions, a rap album I thoroughly enjoyed. Oxymoron is no Habits, falling into a lot of tropes that his previous work didn't. The best songs are ones like "Collard Greens" and "What They Want," which rely more on the contributions of the guest stars than Schoolboy Q himself. Ultimately a disappointment, but it's something that has a chance to grow on me in the long run.

Neneh Cherry - Blank Project: If you only know Neneh Cherry via "Buffalo Stance," you may be surprised by this, which is actually a lot more like her 1994 collaboration with Youssou N'Dour. It's a somewhat low-key affair where the better songs are toward the end of the album. I was hoping for a little more upbeat, but it's not bad. Will definitely be getting more time.

ceo - Wonderland: I don't know much of anything about ceo except that I heard the lead track from this a while ago, "Whorehouse," and it's been stuck in my head for a while. It's slightly different electronic music, has a bit of a twist to it, so it remains interesting in ways that, say, last week's Phantogram didn't. Really enjoying this one.

Yellow Ostrich - Cosmos: Yellow Ostrich surprised me with the great The Mistress, a good, current indie rock piece. Cosmos doesn't do a great job on building what they've done over the last few years, but it's still a solid listen that is unlike a lot of music surrounding it. They're on Barsuk, which is probably why there's some comparison to Death Cab to be made, but overall, it's worth a try if you're looking for something off the beaten path.

Death Vessel - Island Interval: I'll be honest: the only reason I looked this up is because Jonsi of Sigur Ros guests on a song. What I didn't expect was that the album would actually give me good memories of Sigur Ros's early work. It's a pleasant, often quiet affair that completely flew under my radar and I hope to keep from flying under your radar as well. You'd be smart to give this a shot even if this sort of deliberative indie rock.

This Is a Thing That Exists: Miley Cyrus Brings The Flaming Lips Onstage to Sing "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots"

... I don't even... I mean... 

Does this mean Miley Cyrus is cool or The Flaming Lips are lame now?

I guess I shouldn't complain. Maybe this will help spark a new found revival for good music. I have heard stories that Miley Cyrus actually does have good taste in music and was never really into that Disney fluff she used to do. This could lead to a bunch of teenage/college age girls running out and listening to the Flaming Lips and then discovering Butthole Surfers and Melvins. 

Probably not, but an old man can dream. 

Go Home Spotify, You're Drunk

I still think there's something bizarre going on with Spotify's music recommendation system...

The Lemonheads Have a New Video for "Ever!"

To help celebrate/promote the reissues of their first three albums, the Lemonheads are releasing videos for individual songs featuring archival footage of the band. The latest is for "Ever," my personal favorite of Ben Deily's Lemonheads material. Originally released on Lick, the video features footage of their very first gig at The Rat in Boston back in August 1986. There is also footage of one of Deily's final shows with the band in 1989, along with some down time at quarries in IN. I love this approach of new videos with old footage and can't wait for more.

To get your own copies of the long awaited reissues of Hate Your Friends, Lick, and Creator, head over to the Fire Records website. For the Lemonheads and Evan Dando news, head over to the Lemonheads website. If you're in the Boston area, you can see Ben Deily's current band, Varsity Drag, at TT the Bear's in Cambridge on 3/19. 

Lemonheads, "Ever" (Official) 2014, w/re-mastered audio from Benjamin Deily on Vimeo.