Quantity Not Quality

Boom boom boom. No time for thinking. Two tied djs and songs under 2 minutes. Annnnnd...go!

Ex Models - You Got What I Need (Shake)
Henry's Dress - Sunshine Proves All Wrongness
Dead Milkmen - Laundromat Song
Andrew Bird - Untitled
They Might Be Giants - 32 Footsteps
Pixies - Crackity Jones
Operation Ivy - Smiling
Genesis - Aisle of Plenty

Beck - I Have Seen the Land Beyond
Flight Of The Conchords - If That's What You're Into
The Shins - The Celibate Life
Yo La Tengo - Yellow Sarong
Mogwai - O I Sleep
Napoleon Dynamite Soundtrack - Always and Forever
Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Raining In Darling

The Halo Benders - Sit On It
Blast Off Country Style - All She Wants to Do is Ride Her Bike
Boyracer - Passionflower
Bratmobile - Track 14
The Coctails - Mr. E Claffn
Smudge - Scary Cassettes
Slant 6 - Nights x 9
Man...Or Astroman? - You Can't Get Good Riblets in Space

Modest Mouse - A Wild Pack Of Family Dogs
Daniel Johnston - Silly Love
Butterglory - Trapped
Pavement - Brinx Job
The Starlight Mints - Submarine #3
Jonathan Richman - New Teller
Spoon - Dismember
Elvis Costello - Poison Moon

R. E. M - Walter's Theme
Tom Waits - That's the Way
Idyll Swords - Nile Monitor
Circulatory System - Forever
Monty Python - Accountancy Shanty
Frank Zappa - Lonely Little Girl
Devendra Banhart - My Ships
Eno - Another Green World
Low - Dark

The Clash - Koka Kola
The Jam - London Traffic
The Ramones - Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue
The Misfits - Skulls
Nirvana - Molly's Lips (John Peel Sessions)
Archers of Loaf - Bathroom
Fugazi - Greed
Neutral Milk Hotel - A Baby For Pree

Husker Du - Beyond the Threshold
XTC - Do What You Do
Talulah Gosh - My Boy Says
Lilys - Pookah
Frank Black - Thalassocracy
Big Star - I'm In Love With a Girl
Sebadoh - Gate to Hell
John Fahey - Bicycle Built For Two

Need New Body - Moondear
The White Stripes - You're Pretty Good Lookin' For A Girl
Scott Walker - 30th Century Man
Neko Case - A Widow's Toast
Broken Social Scene - Finish Your Collapse And Stay For Breakfast
The Unicorns - The Clap
Lilys - Nanny In Manhattan
Cat Power - Islands
Mississippi John Hurt - Salty Dog
Magnetic Fields - Absolutely Cuckoo
The Minders - Rocket 58
Silver Jews - Introduction II
The Waterboys - Dunford's Fancy

A Good iTunes Night

My friend Dustin recently watched "Tropic Thunder" and aside from thinking it was the best movie of 2008 so far, he told me that Tom Cruise's performance in the film completely redeems him after years of being a depressing punchline. That's what this Random Rules on The AV Club does for Lou Barlow. After years of tepid albums, bad haircuts and questionable cross country moves, he's back on top in my esteem. He's such a voracious record geek with a refreshingly endearing hyper, teenage love of music that I can't help but fall back in love with him. There's so many gems in this interview but I think this is my favorite:

"a well-recorded saxophone is just a fucking nightmare."

Amen, brother. Nice to see him still flying the lo-fi flag after all these years. I think it's time to dig out The Freed Weed.

Tickling the Ebonies & Ivories

Pianos and Pianists with not a Billy Joel in sight!

Wilco - Outta Site Otta Mind (alt. version)
Wrens - This Is Not What You Had Planned
Bonnie "Prince" Billy - A Minor Place

The Double - In the Fog
John Cale - Cordoba
Mountain Goats - No Children

Daniel Johnston - Love Will See You Through
Beck - MTV Makes Me Wanna Smoke Crack
Grandaddy - Underneath the Weeping Willow
Islands - Renaud

Mojave 3 - Sarah
Brian Eno - By This River
Cat Power - Maybe Not
Red House Painters - Mistress

Nick Drake - Saturday Sun
Archers Of Loaf - Chumming The Ocean
Broken Social Scene - Lover's Spit

Fugazi - I'm So Tired
The Gothic Archies - The Tiny Goat
Nate Ruth - Nothing Can Make Me Feel Better
Of Montreal - Old Familiar Way
They Might Be Giants - Dead

Need New Body - Make Gay Love Not War
The White Stripes - St. James Infirmary
The Kinks - Dead End Street
Spoon - My Mathematical Mind

Radiohead - Videotape
M83 - You, Appearing
Tom Waits - Georgia Lee

Concert Review - Zappa Plays Zappa 8/6/08

Last Wednesday, Jimbama and I were lucky enough to see the mighty Zappa Plays Zappa nearly one year to the day since last year's mindblowing performance. And somehow, they were even more impressive this time around. I figured nothing could top the 2007 show where they started with "Brown Shoes Don't Make It," my favorite Zappa song and probably one of the greatest pieces of music ever written after "Subdivisions." I was wrong.

Right from the start, they tore the place up. As I mentioned previously, the crowd at the Casino Ballroom is a rowdy one and they were ready to rock again this year. During each break, Dweezil would address the crowd and most of the time, Jim and I weren't able to hear a single word due to the constant murmuring, shouting and general cacophony going on all around us. Thankfully the music was loud enough to drown out the masses and when they launched into "Purple Lagoon" to start things off, the hoots and hollers morphed into astonishment as the group, and especially Dweezil, blinded us with a flurry of notes, all perfectly played at incredible speed. It was insane but it was only the beginning.

They had the same exact line up this year and I can't imagine a tighter unit. The skill each performer has is amazing and together they are unstoppable. They proved their technical perfection when they played the 10 1/2 minute monster that has been dubbed "The Trifecta." Three insanely complex instrumentals in a row, no stopping, each more baffling than the last. The Trifecta consists of Peaches En Regalia, Echidnas Arf and G-spot Tornado and it was a marvel. I was cackling in disbelief as they flawlessly raced through these songs wondering who could possibly be a better guitarist than Dweezil - Yngwie Malmsteen? Old Skool Eddie Van Halen? Bob Zabek? He's certainly better than Eric Crapton.

Out of 24 songs, they only repeated 5 from last year's show and even though I knew less this year, it was still a more mind boggling, wonderful experience. The crowd was ravenous as expected and singing and yelling along as warranted by the lunacy on stage. There was no projection screen with old footage of Frank this year but they did have a skit during "Fembot in a Wet T-Shirt" which evened things out.

If they're coming to your town, I would highly suggest going even if you are not heavily into Frank Zappa because it is truly a spectacle of grand proportions and they always put on a very dynamite show. Here's the setlist:

Set 1: Purple Lagoon, Imaginary Diseases, City Of Tiny Lights, How Could I Be Such A Fool, I Ain't Got No Heart, I'm Not Satisfied, Peaches En Regalia, Echidnas Arf, G-spot Tornado, Pygmy Twylyte, Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up, Flakes, Broken Hearts Are For Assholes, Bamboozled By Love, King Kong > Zomby Woof (Teases), Joe's Garage, Fembot In A Wet T-shirt > On The Bus > Outside Now > He Used To Cut The Grass, Cosmic Debris

E: I'm The Slime, Willie The Pimp

Hot Cheese in the City

DJs Fontina Fallujah and Poopypants Hurricane Banana stop in while Mothra is out of town and bring the cheese. Dig it!

Nick Guilder - Hot Child in the City
T Rex - Dreamy Lady
Oscar Meyer Theme Song

Kiss - Heaven's on Fire
Andrew W. K. - Take it Off

Weezer - Surf Wax America
The Go-Gos - Vacation
No Doubt - Making Out
Velveeta Shells & Cheese

Fountains of Wayne - Stacy's Mom
Len - Steal My Sunshine

Hanson - MmmmBop
Ramones - Rockaway Beach
The Darkness - Friday Night
Billy Idol - Hot in the City
Jordache Jeans

Ween - Voodoo Lady

Beck - Debra
Firefall - You Are the Woman
David Hasselhoff - Get Out of My Car

Pat Benatar - We Belong
Musical Youth - Pass the Dutchie
Cheez Whiz Zap a Pak

Duran Duran - Rio

Van Halen - Hot For Teacher
Queen - Fat Bottomed Girls
ZZ Top - Sleeping Bag
Fruity Pebbles

Britney Spears - Toxic
Mariah Carey - Fantasy

Eddie Murphy - Party All the Time
Journey - Any Way You Want It
David Lee Roth - Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Go Nobody

Mothra and his holding-down-the-fort anti-prowess

Yo La Tengo - Black Flowers
The National - Fake Empire
Les Savy Fav - What Wolves Would Do
Samamidon - Saro
Radiohead - Weird Fishes / Arpeggi

Eric Bachman - Manowar
Thurston Moore - Frozen Gtr
Grandaddy - Chartsengrafs

Pavement - Grave Architecture
Spoon - The Way We Get By
Elvis Costello - The Imposter
Nick Lowe - Marie Provost
Tom Robinson - 2-4-6-8 Motorway

Arcade Fire - Headlights Look Like Diamonds
TV On The Radio - A Method

Maserati - When The Third Wheel's A Brat
Mogwai - 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong
The Clash - Death Or Glory
The Cribs - Men's Needs

Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers - Astral Plane (Live)
Built To Spill - Out Of Sight
My Bloody Valentine - Sometimes
Fugazi - Recap Modotti

The Who - Tattoo
The Greenhornes - Gonna Get Me Someone
The Kinks - Where Have All The Good Times Gone
King Kahn And BBQ - Love You So

The Beatles - Run For Your Life

Palace Brothers - I Am A Cinematographer