Hi-Fi Junkies2008-12-05T09:55:14ZJoplin Globewebadmin@joplinglobe.comCopyright 2008, Joplin GlobeSPHPBLOGi am a nerd.
It was inevitably bound to happen. Here are my favorite ten albums of 2008- right now, this very minute. It is always a tough decision to legitimately say what my top picks are, but I feel it completing to prioritize and complement the albums that have affected me the most recently. I truly feel all of these albums have that “something extra” that gives them a real classical appeal and natural longevity. These records are in no personal or alphabetical order, as of now, and all of them have links to songs and videos for you to enjoy.
Atlas Sound - Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel [Kranky; 2008]
To be fair to myself, I couldn't leave out these two EPS I’ve been listening to daily since they were released. I would also consider these as "best new music" of 2008.
Animal Collective - Water Curses EP [Domino; 2008]
And of course, there’s still half the year left and a lot of good albums coming out by talented artists. Ya know, artists like: Ne-Yo, Jonas Brothers, Nelly, Slipknot, New Kids on the Block, Gym Class Heroes, Brian "Head" Welch, Jessica Simpson, Metallica, Plain White T's, T-Pain, & Pink.
So my top ten will more than likely be different come January for Best albums of the year. Please, feel free to write me with your own personal lists- I‘d love to hear what you‘ve been jamming to.
Oh yeah… go see Pineapple Express!
This lackluster information was conveniently flung out by:
]]>http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/znewsblog/dudes/index.php?entry=entry080805-2335372008-08-06T00:00:00Z2008-08-06T00:00:00ZGirl Talk Fed My Animal
In this day in age, everyone can be a DJ with MP3s and play-list functions so readily available, but nobody quite does it like Pittsburgh laptop mashup extraordinaire Greg Gillis (aka Girl Talk). I got the opportunity to see him perform at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa a few weeks ago. He’s on tour right now in support of his new album Feed The Animals.
Girl Talk’s music is universally beloved songs from over 40 years of music played through his laptop. He then filters the best parts of the song through his brain, searching for loops, lyrics, and sounds that he coalesce into new sample-based compositions. In his new song Play Your Part (Part 2), he blends Lil’ Wayne, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soulja Boy, AC/DC, Yung Berg, Huey, George Harrison, and Journey in under four minutes. It’s an experience in a song.
I got to the show a little early and to my surprises the place was only half full. Half full of indie teenagers, college kids, and chic hipsters. It made me feel old. So, I just kick back at the bar and watch the opening acts and was never really impressed. After a couple of hours and a ton of vodka tonics, Girl Talk finally took the stage with only a table and his computer.
I immediately pushed and shoved my way to the front of the mob, but by this time there was no line between the stage and the floor. People jumped on stage and enclosed him in a giant dance circle. The bass was thumping and the booties were shaking. It was like being at a high-school kegger with the coolest soundtrack of your life playing. He wasn’t just playing for us, he was part of the audience too.
He would often just play a hint of a riff or the recognizable beat from a song, get the crowd going on that, and then unexpectedly switch to the next riff and beat. His posture is hunched over and his head banging. Even though there were sweaty screaming kids bumping up against him, he was never distracted. He had a great rhythm going and was just feeding off the energy of the crowd. I was amazed at how he simultaneously chugged beers and kept the songs going without pause. Articles of his clothing kept coming off.
After over two hours of being packed in like a can of sardines, dancing my ass off, he played his last song Play Your Part (Part 2). The song ends with Journey’s hit song “Faithfully” and the whole audience was waving their arms and lighters in the air like it was a 1983 concert. Gillis then stood on his table, only wearing boxers and a sweat band, and did a massive stage dive landing directly on top of me. It was a great way, I guess, to end the show. My shirt was soaked with sweat and there was a pond of beer on the floor. Overall, it was one of the best concert experiences I’ve ever had. If you ever get a chance to see him live- do yourself a favor and get your inner animal fed.
If you want a copy of his new album, it’s on illegal-art.net and you can pay whatever you want for it. There is a stipulation to the downloading process though. “Whatever you want to pay” gets you the full album in 320 kbps MP3. Paying $5 or more will get you the album in a lossless FLAC file, plus access to a single file containing the whole disc. Pay $10 and you get everything above, plus a physical CD copy when it's released September 23 for a $3 shipping fee. The vinyl will follow sometime this fall. I got my copy for one American dollar and I jam out to it all of the time- it is the perfect summer album.
Stream Songs = http://www.myspace.com/girltalkmusic ]]>http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/znewsblog/dudes/index.php?entry=entry080731-1745572008-07-31T00:00:00Z2008-07-31T00:00:00ZTHERE WILL BE MUSIC By Joshua Trimmell
As some of you might know, Neal and I are no longer playing tunes at the Blackthorn Pizza & Pub anymore. It’s sad to say, but the “dream” is already over. You can say it ended for a bunch of various reasons and that would be absolutely fair to say. I think it was a difference of opinion’s between several different people that killed our musically inimitable night. Whatever the cause, I want to tell you my point of view and I speak for no one else.
Scene 1 (first impressions):
When we were first asked to do this, I was told we could play WHATEVER we wanted to and were encouraged to play non-mainstream stuff. Within reason- no smoke machines, pornography, bongs- do whatever we wanted to on their tiny stage. For weeks, it was totally awesome and things got better every week. We got free beer and pizza, plus I got to play the music I was listening to anyways. Boys and Girls would come up and ask us about bands and songs and actually get turned on to new music. Not everyone was digging our chili, but there were a few who were really down with what we’re doing. It felt great to pass on that energy to those people every week and witness how songs affected them. The whole thing was kind of what I had pictured in my head before I started.
Then I closed my eyes and let them breath.
Scene 2 (first impersonations):
Just as soon as the fun had started, the first minute financial loss from our set sucked it right out. On our last night at Blackthorn, there were a group of close-minded people who didn’t like our music and made it perfectly clear by taking their business elsewhere. They didn’t feel we were Philistine friendly enough and went and spent a chunk of change at the extremely chic bar Champs. Here’s the funny thing- the straw that broke the camel’s back, for them, was when we wouldn’t play any Kid Rock. I sh** you not, they were THAT cool. Anyways… because of the whole deal, we’re all supposed to sit down and work on a way to add any requests made by people during our set. This way no one could get mad at our “lack” of crappy music and spend their money at another bar. Needless to say, the meeting never happened over our “lack” of interest to resolve this matter and we never showed up. It wasn’t even worth it.
And that’s the short story of how the lights went out in Blackthornia.
Scene 3 (epilogue) :
I want to make it perfectly clear, I don’t hate Blackthorn or anyone working there in any way. I would recommend the bar to any Joplin patron and I think it’s one of the better bars in town. I also understand bars have got to make money and it’s hard to please everyone in the same place at the same time. No big deal.
The thing is- I am not a puppet, for uninspiring people, that will play monotonous crap you hear on FM radio. I have never been like that and getting a two dollar cover at the door won’t change me either. I just wanted to turn people on to new music and/or put a smile on their face hearing an exceptional song. That’s what it’s all about for me.
I want to put matter into my own hands, the best way I can, without compromising anyone’s integrity. Here is my new outlet. Starting today, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to:
J. Trimmell
410 W A ST.
Joplin, MO 64801
Mail with one blank CD and enough postage to send it back to you. In return, I’ll send you a brand new mix of sundry music to listen to. Seriously, do it as much as you like. Just give me a little time with each one please- I‘m only a one man machine with a 9 to 5. Each disc will be a little different and 100% unique to you. You never know, I might just add a little something extra. I would only ask of one thing from you… burn it for someone else and pass it on, thank you. F**k greed- THERE WILL BE MUSIC!
]]>http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/znewsblog/dudes/index.php?entry=entry080409-2037062008-04-10T00:00:00Z2008-04-10T00:00:00ZJUNKIAN THEORY By Joshua Trimmell
Music has a psychological effect on humans that helps to determine peoples actions, behavior, or way of thinking throughout their lifetime. Because you listened to Bowie and Springsteen as a kid, you have a predisposed liking for the Arcade Fire now in college. All those years, growing up, listening to your Grandpa’s old country has led to your love of 70’s punk rock as an adult. Everyone’s heard countless amount of people who have claimed to have been heavily influenced by an artist, concept, or sound revolving around music. Depending on ones taste at any given time in their life, it could lead to a million different paths further down the future. It’s like a “choose-your-own-adventure” book with your first album being page one. Where do you go next and what’s going to be on your play-list when you die? I fantasize about my death play-list starting out with “Frolic” (theme from Curb Your Enthusiasm) by Luciano Michelini and ending with The White Album. I would also like to think the combination of musical influence with musical lessons, could be a mathematical formula for creating a rock star or band. So check out this example of one of my favorite groups out now:
[Syd Barrett + Brian Eno] Mercury Rev + Flaming Lips +
Bug skull + Residents x Beach Boys = Animal Collective
Got it? Ok, here is my theory. If you take a newborn baby and only subject him to certain records at different, integral, points in his life growing up; plus art school and music lessons- you could create the next John Lennon or Bob Marley or, hell, even the next 2Pac. I wanted to put my theory to the ultimate test. So I called my friend Aurel, from Bad Soden, to get things done.
Aurel (summer '07)
He has a scientific laboratory under his Father’s day spa that is perfect for experimental testing. He mainly uses the lab to cultivate the devil’s lettuce, but I know it’ll work for our experiment too. The day after calling him, Aurel went and started the lengthy process of adopting a child. After months of waiting, I finally received the great news- Aurel had been accepted to adopt. The baby’s name is Julian and as soon as he was picked up, he began listening to classical music. My hypothesis has been put to the test now for a few weeks and everything has been running great. Now… I proudly present the very first picture of the soon-to-be-legendary rock star:
Julian Luddite (2 months old, '08)
Adorable huh? Well, get ready folks, because our kid’s kids are going to loose their virginities to Julian’s albums! What a beautiful world we live in. Please, give me suggestions on different albums Julian should listen to, at a certain age, that will change the course of his life. I will be sure to update everyone on his progress and musical ability as he get’s older.
*Check out influences through the technology of the Music Genome Project:http://www.pandora.com/ ]]>http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/znewsblog/dudes/index.php?entry=entry080303-1934582008-03-04T00:00:00Z2008-03-04T00:00:00ZFethers Fake Band Names Photo By Blair Fethers
As Clown- 'thy holy circus'
Total Joplin- s/t
Windy Jaggerz- 'telephone amnesty'
Horny Crisco- 'i'm drunker than a mouse in a litterbox'
Dynasty of Nasty- 'my wrinkles tell the stories'
Black Nice- 'you flint! you scan!'
O.J. Computer- 'rodeo nowhere'
Beard St. Hookers- 'another cigarette is not an answer'
Larvae Girlz- 'glitter witches, bitches'
Owl Radio- 'you just opened up a book of worms'
Looking Coolers- 'look now look away look back'
The Never Happens- 'pink lightning/white caves'
Great Cops- 'the right to remain violent'
Corpuscle Missiles- 'lunar reciprocity'
Thanks to Blair, Joseph, Katie, Chavez, Cole, and Bullet for inspiration.
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