Video: This Time Next Year, "Hearts and Arrows" (Live)

I was a little reluctant to hear a band called "This Time Next Year" because (not by coincidence) it's the title of The Movielife's best album. It would be like if Oasis decided to call themselves Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band or Rubber Soul. Still, my friends Ilene and Mike encouraged me to check them out and I'm glad I did. Their EP, "A Place For You," is easily one of the most enjoyable pop-punk records I've heard in quite some time and their last recording, "The Longest Way Home" features a really great cover of Kid Dynamite's "3 O'Clock." Recently, the band signed to Equal Vision Records which will hopefully get these kids the recognition they deserve.

Come Widdit: P.S. Eliot

I'm pretty indifferent about anything that has come out on K Records and anything that sounds like it would have the Calvin Johnson stamp of approval is immediately suspect to me. That being said, I found Alabama-based P.S. Eliot on ICouldDieTomorrow a little while back and the shit blew my mind.

I know that I get on my high horse and bash the fuck out of bands like VersaEmerge, Paramore and Hey Monday (probably), chiefly because women in "punk" (at least as we know it to be) are a minority, so why not have something to say? P.S. Eliot is a (mostly) female punk band and rips harder than any of the other bands that I just listed.

Their lo-fi demo, "The Bike Wreck Demo," reminds me of why I love recording on a 4-track so much. It's gritty, dirty as fuck, but most of all, the songs are really catchy and good. It has all the trappings of something that K would've put out 18 years ago, but I suppose looking at a band like P.S. Eliot now, they're everything I loved about DIY punk kids to begin with.

Fuck big budgets and get with P.S. Eliot.

P.S. Eliot -- MySpace

Breaking News: Jay-Z is Boring!

[Hat Eats Jay-Z; Sauce Money Releases Diss Track]

Jay-Z briefly woke up from his coma of being married to one of the most stunning women on the planet and counting his collection of Fabrege eggs to perform at President Obama's inaugriation ball last night and played a rather subdued, if not totally boring, performance.

I would like to say that he was playing up for the suits, but let's face it, Jay hasn't done very many good records as of late. His last listenable track, "Brooklyn Go Hard," was okay, but it's not on par with "Brooklyn's Finest" or "4 Alarm Blaze;" hell, even "Change Clothes" was pretty good.

I realize that at this point in his career, Jay-Z the rapper is secondary to Jay-Z the celebrity, but if you're famous for being a musician, you should at least practice your craft and try to sound interesting, it's how LL Cool J has managed to stay relevant (not to mention look eternally young) for so long.

Video: Bone Thugs N Harmony w/ Eazy-E, "Foe tha Love of $"

People all across the United States are going absolutely bananas with both glee (mostly) and disappointment. I'm sure I'm not alone that thinking that the latter part of that group are obviously out-of-touch, probably uneducated and, let's face it, probably fucking racist. Still, with so many people going out of their way to write new songs about how this new presidency will usher in change, the jaded and cynical part of me thinks of this song as one of the most accurate portrayals of what American values are truly built on.

Shameless Self-Promotion: Backed With

I know I've been terrible at updating it, but I posted a new record on Backed With yesterday. Check it out.

Fuck a Twitter

A few nights ago, Corey Ball and I went out and somehow in the conversation, Twitter was mentioned and thus spawned this post. Interesting, no?

I guess since most people (myself included) are so self-indulgent and feel the need to share every detail of their day, as if we're all interested in the fact that they had an apple bread panini for lunch, the concept of having a Twitter account is welcomed, if not slight novel.

I, on the other hand, am trying to break away from this Orwellian madness. That is, when I'm not writing in my many blogs. Snap.

The reality, at least for me, is that no one gives a shit about what I am doing because there's not much to tell. In terms of these blogs, I share whatever I feel like sharing and I can control it, which is why I rarely write about my romantic relationships and instead write about eight billion posts about how much I'm in love with french bread pizza and Jets to Brazil. Furthering my selection to a quick jaunt of minute-by-minute updates seems a little egomaniacal, even for me.

Just for posterity's sake, let me give you an example of what my stupid Twitter would look like on a Tuesday afternoon:

Working on a press release. 12:04 pm
Sent press release to client. 12:15 pm
Eating leftover spaghetti. This shit is wack. 12:45 pm
Working on a press release. 1 pm
@ my mom. Stop nagging me. I'll take out the trash whenever. 1:20 pm

My weekends wouldn't be very exciting either

Hanging out with the kid. 8 am
Hanging out with the kid. 8:30 am....

You get the point. I don't really have a problem with the concept of Twittering (as the kids say). The shit's just not for me, dig? It doesn't fit with my sweet lifestyle of talking like a newspaper reporter from the 1920's and the 1960's.

Video: Jets to Brazil, "Sweet Avenue"

There was this period between the latter half of 1999 and almost all of 2000 where I saw Jets to Brazil for what seemed about five billion times (though in reality it was probably thrice [not the band]). The other day I was thinking about how awesome this song is and it actually bummed me out a little that I'll never see them play again.