My Music Video Holy Grail...

I love YouTube. I fell in love with it early, with the classics (All Your Base Are Belong To Us, Star Wars Kid, Numa Numa) But there has been one place where it has always let me down...that Holy Grail that just didn't seem to exist online. It was a barely remembered song with a kick-ass video that I remembered from my Sophomore year in college (my Mtv Year) Michael Penn's "Look What the Cat Drug In (Long Way Down)" I always thought the song was pretty good, but that VIDEO...

It's taken over 10 years, but tonight, for the first time, I found it on a random Google Video search. My holy grail. (Be warned, you will probably have to sit through a dumb commercial)



...crap. Not as cool as I remembered it. (Still pretty damn sweet, though!)

Any other holy grail videos out there? What can't you find?

Y'know...I DO feel better now!

I've spent tonight catching up on my Google Reader feeds, and the always entertaining GiantMonster has steered me right yet again. Point your browser of choice at The Fail Blog and feel better about your life.

Oh! And on a completely random note, I downloaded the album "The Great Unwanted" by Lucky Soul from eMusic this weekend, and it's my current can't-stop-listening-to-it album of the week! You can listen to the whole album on their website...check it out!

Orgy of Covers from YANP and Of Montreal!!!

I know that I've discussed the godsend that is the "You Ain't No Picasso" music blog before, but MAN, that site has just outdone itself!

Not one...not TWO...(or three or four or...) but FIFTY SEVEN covers, all performed by one of my new favorite bands, Of Montreal.

It's because of YANP that I discovered Of Montreal in the first place. They posted a link to their cover of Bowie's "Moonage Daydream" (don't worry, it's in the collection above) that just blew me away. I couldn't stop listening to it. So now, I've got about four albums worth of other songs to explore.

Do yourself a favor and get over there before they're taken down.

Butch Walker is a Rock Star...

Having been a fan of the fantastic Marvelous 3, I was really looking forward to seeing Butch Walker's new band, Butch Walker and the Let's Go Out Tonight's. Dear God, I wasn't disappointed.

I'm awful about recounting concerts. It generally gets distilled into something along the lines of "He rocked!" or "Eh..." But in this case, I'll give it a try, because I feel the need to encourage everyone to just try and catch his show. Just try.

For one thing, you can see that he's having the time of his life. I, for some reason, always feel very protective of my adopted hometown of Columbus, OH, and I always wonder what these New York rock stars think of playing for a crowd in the Midwest. I never had to wonder that while Butch was on stage. The man owned us from the moment he took the stage, running, jumping, sweating, singing his heart out. It's really a joy to behold. I found myself grinning from ear to ear, and jumping around like a fool by the end of the concert. Highlights included my favorite Marvelous 3 song, "Cigarette Lighter Love Song" and their rousing version of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run". I left that concert feeling tired, drunk and satisfied. It's been a long time since I had as much fun at a rock and roll show.

(Wow, I really didn't do this justice! Just go see him.)

The Local Record Shop and the Long Tail

A few weeks ago, one of our local weekly rags, The Other Paper, ran a story about how MP3's are killing the local record shop. I felt bad at first, I'm an adict when it comes to downloading music, and I haven't even browsed a record store in well over 5 years.

But no matter how badly I feel for Used Kids or Magnolia Thuderpussy, I'll never be able to look back from downloading. There is just so much OUT there...and online, you can actually FIND it. Record store gurus may know music, but they know THEIR music. I can count on one hand the number of times a record store employee actually pointed out a band I hadn't heard of before and that I enjoyed. (The most extreme example I can think of is the time I had a record store owner talk me into buying a John Tesh record. "I think you'll really like him. I mean, the guy is married to Connie Sellecca and had a walk on role on Star-Trek, The Last Generation!" Who can argue with logic like that?!)

So, screw you, record stores! I'm surfing the Long Tail! In the past 5 years, I've discovered and bought more music than I had in the rest of my music listening years combined. Here are three of my recent favorite spots to search...

- Last.fm asks you to install some of their software on your computer (I've had it on mine for almost a year now, with no ill effects) which will track all the music you listen to. While that may sound dull, I can't help but find it endlessly fascinating. The more data they collect on me, the more music I have had recommended, either through their on-line "radio stations" (individually built based upon the tracks I listen to most) or through my "neighbors" (other members with similar tastes to mine) It's become my site for music discovery and tracking. I'll either tag new artists I discover with something descriptive (usually "good recommendation", so I remember to check them out when I have the time) or I'll check out their sample tracks on their artist home page.

They even have fun widgets you can embed in your site. (The "Top Artists Last Week" chart on the right nav bar is supplied by Last.FM!)

- Next is the bizarrely titled but fantastic You Ain't No Picasso blog. Run by a music fan from Kentucky (Matt Jordan by name, apparently) it covers the gamut of fantastic bands and musicians. I've found hip hop, Girly Rock, Alternative weirdness and my current favorite group. Best of all, almost every post comes with a fantastic sample song! (Make sure and stay on top of the posts, though...some of the MP3's don't stay up for long!)


- And finally, there is eMusic. As soon as I ran across eMusic, I knew I must join. Pure MP3's. None of this M4P crap you get on iTunes. Absolutely no DRM...play your MP3's wherever, however you want. $9.99 for 30 songs a month (I actually upgraded to the 50 songs for $14.99) It has it's drawbacks...mainly that they only have rights to a limited amount of music...but I have yet to have any trouble downloading my 50 songs a month (usually, I'm chomping at the bit, waiting for next month to arrive so I can pick up more) I think it's the best deal on the net for music, and it's given me a legal outlet for my music fixation. (I'm finally clean! No more illegal downloads for me!)

As stated before, the amount of music online is enormous. The days of the local record store are over, and I can't imagine that the giant music labels can be too far behind. Local, passionate musicians have their outlet right here, online. These are the places I've been finding them.

And I'll never be fooled into buying a John Tesh album again.

Dan Beahm and the Invisible Three - Amplifier is OUT!

The brilliant Dan Beahm and his amazing band, the Invisible Three, have not only got their new disc together, they're giving them away FREE!

...

OK, not really giving the DISCS away. But you can hear the whole damn thing on his site. That's almost as good, isn't it?

Click your way over there, give it a listen, and support your talented local musicians! I guarantee you'll love it. (especially "Separate But Equal"...that song is amazing.)

Troglodyte!

Rock. The fuck. On.



Jimmy Castor rocks the house with Bertha Butt and the Butt Sisters.

"Right on! Hot pants!"

The history of cinema is about to be changed forever...

Give it up for K.G., give it up for....TENACIOUS D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





www.tenaciousdmovie.com/