The Vegas Window

This may be the absolute worst cover of The Final Countdown I have ever heard. Not the empty festival style yard and lone kid running by at the beginning…. classic.

I have posted four new Carlo demos on the MySpace.

1999… everything could have changed.

Heat Vision and Jack

I picked up a few new vinyl at The Shop downtown yesterday. A few of these I am very excited to have!

First off is Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s sophomore album, Liverpool. Last year, when I was working at Play It Again Records, my buddy Erick and I would spend all day going through old vinyl at the warehouse. I was treated to a first class lesson in music mainly spanning the years of 1975 - 1995. We would talk about all genres from Yes to Steve Miller. One band in particular that Erick turned me onto was Frankie. Of course, we have all heard their big hit Relax off their first album, Welcome To The Pleasure Dome. But Liverpool tops Pleasure Dome in my opinion, and it is a shame the band broke up after this album. Instead of opting for the dance approach the band took with their first release, Liverpool takes a rock approach with guitars increasingly present. This is one of the few albums that I can listen through continually and still find new nuances and layers. Every track on this album (with the exception of Maximum Joy, which I feel so-so about) is worth the 6 bucks you would most likely pay for in a second hand record shop.

Next up, the single releases for Daft Punk’s Robot Rock and Technologic. I have to admit I found the band’s third (and probably final) release to be a bit of a let down compared to Discovery, Homework, and even their side projects such as Le Knight Club… BUT these singles were worth the purchase. The Technologic single includes remixes by Vitalic, Basement Jaxx, and Peaches. The Vitalic remix is the best on the release with Peaches following close behind and Basement Jaxx bringing up the rear. I have never been a big Peaches fan, but she does a decent job with the song, giving it a warmer stripped down feeling. As far as Robot Rock goes… I would rather just listen to Breakwater’s Release The Beast, from which Robot Rock’s main sample comes. Although, the acapella on side-b makes it a worthwhile buy. I found the remixes to be a little too close to the original song and long winded. A lot could have been done with the rock elements the original track has and some serious shredding would have been a good order.

Also picked up quite a few Depeche Mode singles:

Walking In My Shoes 12″ Single
Personal Jesues 12″ Single
Get The Balance Right And Live Tracks
Never Let Me Down 12″ (with Tsangarides Mix)
Master And Servant (U.S. Black and Blue Version)
Behind The Wheel/Route 66 (Megamix)

I have been a casual Pet Shop Boys fan for awhile. I really fell in love in the band with a 45 I bought that included a track called Was That What It Was. This track has been a favorite of mine for a long time and I have even included in one of my mixes before. So, I finally picked up their album, Disco. This album includes some of that great 80s percussion and bass that defines the era for me. You know Dead Or Alive’s Spin Me Round? All those crazy claps, rim shots, and synth slap bass? Pet Shop Boys are all over that tip.

Also picked up was Kraftwerk’s The Man-Machine and New Order’s 1988. I have never been a big fan of the Blue Monday re-release in 1988. It sounds too over produced and I prefer the rough sounds of the original release. But New Order is New Order. You know?

My brother sent me this clip from a news cast in Mobile, Alabama. I have to admit this is my favorite shot from the broadcast. Look how happy this dude is.
Leprechaun’s in trees?!

Well I do about them. I just woke up from the one of the wildest dreams ever. It began with me running along this dark street with large ditches on each side. It was lit by orange street lights and had small bridges connecting the street to paths on each side. I was ahead of a pack of androids. They didn’t know I was ahead of them, but if they caught up with me I would surely be killed. I quickly jumped behind a small bridge as the androids ran by. I don’t know where they were headed but they had some type of futuristic assault rifles. I crawled along the ditch in darkness. Somebody passed in the water, but they did not notice me. Then a small android child was in front of me and was speaking some pretty grand words. I wasn’t sure if he saw me and I began to crawl backwards in the underbrush. But I backed right into to somebody’s legs. They inevitably saw me so I stood up. It was a woman dressed in black leather armor. We began a conversation and I guess I knew her and the kid, but it was soon interrupted by chase sequence between me and some really angry android. We were driving big rig trucks through mountain terrain. My truck stalled out on a hillside and the android began to circle me. But I worked it out so he would get stuck on an incline. He got out of his truck and had a pistol. I pulled a six shooter from my jacket and we began to have a battle. There was a large tree between us and that is really the only thing that saved me from losing. My best friend Dan suddenly showed up in a four door Cadillac sedan and was driving around us. He was an android too, but he was on my side. I began shouting for his help, but he really didn’t do much. Although I continually shot the angry android in the head, he wouldn’t die. Eventually I ran out of bullets and somehow the battle moved to my old house. I managed to get the android’s head stuck between a table and a ledge and I was hitting it with a microphone stand to knock it off. At the same time I was trying to access a computer and shut him off, but it wouldn’t work. Then Dan showed up! The android was no longer an android, but a really mad cup of hot chocolate in the microwave. Dan touched the microwave and reminded it of a David Bowie video in which I robot dies (I don’t even know if such a video exists). The microwave turned off and the android/hot chocolate was dead.

The End

Interview with The Heathens
http://www.myspace.com/weareheathens

Nick: You are Chris Rae, what do you play in the band Chris?

Chris: I play the bass guitar and sing a little backup.

N: Why the name The Heathens?

C: I don’t know, I think The Heathens kind of came up from bible belt and the south thing. It was going to be Matt and The Heathens, but Matt wanted to be a heathen too so we went with that.

N: In my research I came across another band called The Heathens. Their website had fuzzy dice and a diamond plating background, it looks pretty serious. Are you afraid of any kind of lawsuits?

C: I’m not too threatened by the fuzzy dice guys. I’ve checked them out. They are kind of older and not touring around too much. Hopefully we’ll have enough people backing us. Otherwise we’ll just do the whole Hot Water thing and become The Heathens Music Band.

N: Ok Chris, the banjo and the fiddle. Is this just a gimmick? Why such cheap parlor tricks?

C: (laughs) Well cheap parlor tricks would have been a barber shop quartet. Literally speaking.

N: I know, it just sounded cool when I wrote it down. (more…)

Check this great To The Five Boroughs era Japeanese interview with the Beastie Boys. They have a way like no other.

I have set up a new server with a lot more space. I will be able to host our films and maybe even start a podcast for all you lucky listeners out there. I have hundreds of crazy and wierd songs on vinyl that comes from years of buying records at thrift stores. I can’t wait to share it with all of you!

As you can see I am also running a new blogging program. It will take a few days to get everything working and in correct form. Until then…. cheers!

Transcribed from The Holiday Special Fan Site.Wookiee-ookies! Lumpy dives for a Wookiee-ookie

This is an actual official recipe for Wookie Cookies (or, as they’re called in the Holiday Special, “Wookie-ookies”), taken from “The Star Wars Cookbook: Wookiee Cookies and Other Galactic Recipes”:

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 375º

2. Put the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a mixing bowl. Stir with the wooden spoon until well mixed. Set aside.

3. Put the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in another mixing bowl. Using the electric mixer set on high speed, beat together until well blended and creamy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and stir with the wooden spoon until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips.

4. Scoop up a rounded tablespoonful of the dough and drop onto a baking sheet. Repeat until you have used up all the dough. Be sure to leave about 1 inch between the cookies because they spread as they bake.

5. Using pot holders, put the baking sheets in the oven. Bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes.

6. Again, using pot holders, remove the baking sheets from the oven. Lift the cookies from the baking sheets with a spatula, and place on cooling racks. Let cool completely.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Enjoy! But be sure to hide them from Lumpy…