The Unexpected Openers
In September I went to the Atmosphere show “god loves ugly tour.” It was quite a surprise to me that both the bands that were opening were a mystery for me. I had never heard of either one. Needless to say, I didnt give a FUCK, I was ready for a show. Work sucked, probation was a bitch, life in general was sucking. I was ready to completely disconnect and get into some good fuckin music!
The first band to open was “Attracted To Gods.” A rock/blues/country band that has a “White Stripes” set up. One drummer, one guitarist. Now this was kind of surprising, considering the fact that this was going to be a hip hop show. Of course, Nate Collins would later prove himself to be useful by playing guitar for both bands, including “Guarantees” by Atmosphere. Nate Collins is a wicked guitar player! It’s like “The Black Keys,” but better!
The second band that night, was a band that I INSTANTLY fell in love with. A sick DJ and amazing lyricist that made me close my eyes, and ride along this magnificent world that he was depicting. The band “Eyedea & Abilities” is made of of two: Michael Larson(Eyedea) and Gregory Keltgen(DJ Abilities). First known as Sixth Sence, later came out with “First Born” album under the name “Eyedea And Abilities.” Then in 2004, they arrived with my all time favorite album “E&A.” You never expect this scrony white dude, to have these wicked ass rhythms. Sometimes he delivers with such ferociousness, that you will just sit back in awe. And DJ Abilities, in my opinion, is quite appropriately named. The man has some of the most wicked skills I have seen! Can wax spin like that? Then they came out with the album “By The Throat” in 2009. I still favor “E&A”, but “By The Throat” delivers extremely well thought out lyrics.
ALL IN ALL AN AMAZING SHOW!!!!!
Smile
On By The Throat
“A prince can practice moans for the attention that he wants,
But most this town won’t even dignify his ignorance with a response,
Left to a crowded foster home by a fifteen year old mom,
Never been held in any one’s arms,
When you’ve never been moved, it’s really hard to move on, A young saleswoman sets up shop on the sunset,
She’ll make your wildest dreams come true at a price you won’t forget,
But sadly Mary’d setup alibis,
no harm no regret,
Hoping they’d meet an angel in bed that could wrestle the devil right out of their heads,
The city burns fast, no one has time to sit with themselves,
Time to look into our pain or see the same despair in everyone else, It’s here, it’s there, it’s everywhere – tears soak each card the dealer’s dealt,
Time taught me how to see every second as heaven even though they’re perfectly disguised as hell”
Songs That Blow Me Away
Once in a while, we will sometimes hear songs that totally blow us away. So, I am going to make it a weekly installment. I don’t know if it’s a weekly thing, but it does happen quite a bit nowadays. Thanks to the Internet, music is not what it use to be. It’s kind of like an explosion of music, and its awesome for the artist and for the fans, but for the music snob it kind of sucks, because we can no longer know it all. Anyway, now that I got that out of the way, I am now going to talk about a song that I first heard in the film “A guide On Recognizing Your Saints.” The song is titled “Trouble” by Cat Stevens on the album “Mona Bone Jakon”. Obviously Cat Stevens is a far cry from being new music, and I am sure that all of you have heard of him. I avoided Cat Stevens, because of the whole “I had a tragic illness, so I will now be Muslim” thing. But the song “Trouble” had me hooked. I just cannot stop listening to it, It’s the deep seeded connection I feel when I think about my past, and how fucked up it was. Cat Stevens wrote the song while he had been in convalescence for over a year, battling tuberculosis. I could only imagine him writing all these songs with a collapsed lung. The first time I heard this song, It honestly made my cry. Its this kind of art that I am eternally grateful. Give it a spin.
If Brad Nowell and Joe Strummer made a baby!
I have known about “The Dead 60’s” for quite a while. Unfortunately none of my friends have, even the ones that are super music snobs. I find this very hard to believe. The dead 60’s were formed in 2003, they opened for such bands as Morrissey, Kasabian, The Thrills, The Music, The Coral, The Zutons, The Bees and Supergrass. They currently have two albums, “The Dead 60’s(self titled),” and “Time To Take Sides.” And like a reoccurring thing, the second album is
not all that great. For some reason alot of bands hire a producer for sophomore records, and in doing so make the second album crap. But the self titled album rocks! Its almost as if Brad Nowell from Sublime, and Joe Strummer from The Clash, made a baby. A baby, who loved “The Specials.” Unfortunately the band split up, according to a myspace post, just for the simple reason that the band had run its natural course.
“Well, some of you may have heard the news by now…..The Dead 60s are no more. We decided to call it a day just after Christmas. There’s no big story, no falling out between us. We just felt like the band had run its course, time for us all to branch out & try other things.”
Discovering something new, that isnt.
Sometimes, but rarely, it sucks being someone with an eclectic taste in music. Alot of the times I refuse to listen to something that is mainstream. And, in the process of doing so, I avoid ALOT of garbage, but sometimes there are rare jems in between the trash. I missed a very cool artist named “Kid Cudi.” I first heard the track “Day n’ Night,” and needless to say, it was stuck in my head in constant replay! Then I heard the rest of the album. It is not all solid gold but, some tracks stand out. Like the track “Down And Out.” Starts out with a gut wrenching guitar riff, then it goes into a rhythmic roller coaster, lyrics that will take you along for the ride:
For even in hell, I still have faith
To one day be free with my father at the gates
But make no mistakes, I’ll show you what time takes
To be a success on earth, mixed with all the hate
I stand on my pivot, my life you could not live it
For the things that I’ve seen have been too damn explicit
But soon you will get it on a CD with some credits
I provide my grind, mixed with no edits
Im lovin some mainstream and I DONT CARE!!!
