Dear Landlord owns. Enough said, watch this:
Dear Landlord – I Live In Hell – Live at The Fighting Cocks, Kingston, UK – 14/05/10 from Everything Sucks TV on Vimeo.
Category Archives: Music Video
Sage Francis – LI(F)E – CD Review
Hip-hop artist Sage Francis recently returned with LI(F)E, an all new album on ANTI- Records. This time around the lyrical genius has tried a different approach to his music by asking for assistance from various musicians who provided personal selections for him to work with. Skip the bass heavy beats and typical hip-hop soundtracks that have gone with many of his previous works, this time around LI(F)E proves to be Sage Francis’ most sundry work to date.
Having been a fan of Sage Francis since about the time Y2K seemed a threat, I have only gotten more thrilled in anticipation with each of his releases. I never listened to his albums as much as I studied them. The man always impressed me with his ability of taking words and formulating them into something intriguing all while accompanied with sometimes self-made hip-hop and even jazzy beats. This comes from the guy who bought a Sage Francis hoodie from Sage himself a couple years back at one of his shows and did not even realize it was him until mid-way though our conversation. Oops.
I had to admit I was stoked to see the album cover for LI(F)E was drawn up by contemporary street artist Shepard Fairey. A young Sage Francis graces the cover and I later found out that it was a dated photo of Sage Francis reminding him of the harder times in life when he slept on the floors at his friend’s houses and just lived day by day. Not getting down by this things have obviously changed for the better over the years.
“Little Houdini” opened up the album featuring music written by ex-Grandaddy turned solo artist Jason Lytle. The music, previously written as an instrumental by Lytle, originally had no lyrics to go along with. Once obtained Francis worked his magic and created a song focused around a fugitive who escaped custody to see his dying mother based from actual events. Francis had no problem putting his flair on top of the music and one would think both were written at the same time. The song was one of the better cuts on the entire album.
“Three Sheets To The Wind”, featuring music by Chris Walla of Death Cab For Cutie continued with a appealing track but it just did not match up to the opening track The questionable “I Was Zero” started out great until Sage just inserted a weak refrain repeating “when I came out my momma, I was zero”. For a seasoned hip hop artist that holds many wins on freestyle challenges in the past I felt more effort could have been put forth in this track lyrically. Perhaps my expectations were set high for Sage and I should include that some of the lines he flows out during the song contained amazing selections of words but the music provided perfect for a rap of sorts with a generic chorus killed it for me.
I enjoyed “Slow Man”, a slow folky track summing up the thoughts in many aging individuals, if not Sage himself. If Sage’s voice had more baritone in it on “Diamond’s & Pearls” I swear I would have been listening to Everlast. The impressive “The Baby Stays” was a profound story based around the results of a redundant establishment called life only to succumb to the new outlook at the result between an unlikely pair. The folk soundtrack, courtesy of Tim Rutili, aided Sage to the very ideal story about an unwanted life turning into the greatest thing ever.
Screaming children assist Sage in “London Bridge” a fun track full of random wonders and events in the world. The song was fun and I think that is all it was meant to be featuring Sage, a bunch of kids, and once again Chris Walla. Without looking too deep into it I left it at that and enjoyed it.
The late Mark Linkous (Sparklehorse) collaborated with Sage on “Love The Lie”, perhaps my favorite cut on the entire CD. It was chilling to hear this song knowing that Linkous ended his life for reasons that will never be known. The track was upbeat from start to finish and almost inspiring yet clearly full of sarcasm. This is the kind of song you had to actually listen to in order to understand how Sage works.
“The Best Of Times” was another track on LI(F)E that I admired over the others. The more spoken word track recalled personal stories of Sage making for a powerful close to an impressive release. As if sitting there listening to Sage was not great enough the musicthat accompanied Sage’s verbal memory was created by Yann Tiersen.
I loved how the album ended as strong as it began. Sure there were a couple head scratching tracks in there but overall LI(F)E was a pleasure to listen to. It’s not a hip-hop album by any means but more of a carefully premeditated project from a guy who happens to be good at rapping. It’s easy for anyone who is familiar with his older material to just not get it – it’s different. Taking written music in favor of generated beats this round, Sage has created a branch off of what he loves to do and I honestly admire his doing. Without sounding too cliché, give LI(F)E a chance.
Why so Frightened Rabbit?
Scottish indie rock five-some Frightened Rabbit is a band I should have heard about long ago. I should have all their albums in hand and I really should have checked out their show a couple weeks back when they graced Cleveland.
I should but I don’t and I did not.
The fact is until last week I had no interest in them. Why? I really do not know. Sometimes I just pass up bands even when friends and reviews try to point me towards something good. I can not say I have been in the indie rock mood recently either so I am sure that added to my neglect.
I admit, I missed out… Thankfully a friend played them for me last week rather than telling me how good he thought they were. I was intrigued and thanks to Kyle wanted some more.
I just finished checking out their latest release The Winter Of Mixed Drinks and I pretty much want to kick myself for turning my ear away from this amazing act. It was good and when I say good, I mean collected and start to finish good. Good as in the entire album could be on repeat for hours and during that recycled time not one song would become tiresome to listen to. That is how I felt after I finished listening to Frightened Rabbit’s latest release.
Where I am not familiar with their older material I have made plans to make sure that I change that in the near future. They may still be borderline underground at the moment but with a full US tour presently going on that will end at this year’s Lollapalooza it is probably safe to say that will not be lasting long.
I am sure most of you have already heard about them already but if you have not and you are looking for something new you should get your hands on a copy of The Winter Of Mixed Drinks. Why? Because it’s good.
Here is an older track…I dig this too!
New Racey Constellations Video Premiers On Playboy.com
Hey kids! There’s a new video by The Constellations‘ out there that I wish I could share on here. Due to a naked hottie in the video I can not post it on good ol’ BHP, but that does not mean you can not check it out for yourself!
It’s tasteful don’t worry…. but the video is explicit. You should be this tall to ride this ride. 18+ kiddos, not like anyone reads this blog but still… Check out the world premiere of the titilating (pun intended), uncensored video from The Constellations for “Perfect Day,” off their upcoming album Southern Gothic, out on June 22:
The Fermented & Flailing Tour Featuring NOFX, Teenage Bottlerocket, & Tony Sly – Madison Theater – Covington, KY – 04/30/2010 – Concert Review
Punk rockers of all shapes, sizes, and age filled up the Madison Theater last Friday night to see the Fermented & Flailing Tour in Covington, KY. The tour, featuring long time independent punkers NOFX with special guests Teenage Bottlerocket as well as Tony Sly of No Use For A Name (NUFAN), did not make it to Northern Ohio during this tour as much as I would have like it to have, but I did the next best thing and drove 4 hours to the tour and do not regret it one bit.
I was highly bummed out when I arrived to Covington in the afternoon as I found out first hand that another band that has been touring with them, The Menzingers, were cancelling their performance that night due to food poisoning. I was actually on the phone with Greg, the guitarist of the band, trying to set up an interview with them before the show when he informed me that they were behind in schedule and considering going to a hospital as their drummer, and friend, was not in good shape. As much as I wished I could have seen this amazing up and coming band I understood the situation and wish them luck. There is always a next time.
The Madison Theater was packed by the time I got there and after scoping out the area and seeing how inconvenient the photo area was I decided to forfeit the idea of getting up close and snapping some shots of the bands. As much as I wanted to it just was not a good idea. The stage overlapped the sectioned off area and there was hardly enough room for the bouncers to stand there and do their thing. Not to mention this venue did not have adequate isles or areas where people could move freely around the sides. I made my choice and was ok with it. I was still able to snap off a couple shots but more importantly I still was going to enjoy the show.
Locals Loudmouth opened the night with their impressive 90’s inspired pop punk / ska sounds. There were a ton of fans in the house that were very aware of who this act was who hail from the Cincinnati / Covington areas. Their lead singer admitted that he had “whiskey hawk” in between songs and pointed at the green mat of hair on his head promising that he tried to get it up over and over. The band clearly was stoked to be sharing the stage with members of the Fat Wreck Chords family and put forth a great set. I am kicking myself still as I missed their merch table after the show but I plan on looking into these guys some more very soon.
Tony Sly, seasoned punk rocker and front man of NUFAN, took the stage with his acoustic guitar in hand and informed the crowd he wanted to play some songs. The response some of the crowd gave him was disrespectful as they booed him. Sly did not let that bother him and played songs off this new album such as “Keira” and “Already Won”. I know I was excited to hear “Toaster In The Bathtub” and “Soulmate”, a NUFAN cover that I could not help but sing along with.
I cannot say that everyone in house was rude to him but there were enough drunk fools around where I was that just went overboard making fun of him to make my blood boil. Perhaps an acoustic set was not what those concert goers were looking for that night but I think what pissed me off the most was that all the folk who were mocking and booing him literally had no idea who he was. This guy helped pave the punk rock road that these kids were standing on and they had no idea who he was – I guess I just wish those coming to early conclusions could have been a little more educated.
The brave Sly continued through his set and thanked everyone for listening to him. An intimate performance down the street at Molly Malone’s may have been more appropriate for his set but honestly I was not complaining and was thrilled to have finally seen him live on his own. Still I could not believe how many so-called punk rockers booed him…
Power pop punks Teenage Bottlerocket (TBR) delivered a killer set opening with “Skate Or Die” and pretty much did not break until their last song. Their punk rock thrash assault on the crowd had the tightly packed venue going insane with tracks like “Bigger Than Kiss”, “I Don’t Wanna Go” and of course brought more calamity when they announced they were going to play “30 Seconds Of Rad” and commanded all to a pogo throw-down. Their set was fun, fast, and just what was needed to get the fans ready for the headliner. Most folk there that night may have solely came to see NOFX but I am positive that they left glad they were there in time to see Teenage Bottlerocket do their thing.
The venue seemed much warmer once TBR left the stage and was filled with smoke from cigarettes and other substances. I decided to head up to the balcony area and I did so just in time as NOFX emerged on stage. The foursome clearly was pre-gaming it a bit before performing that night but did not hesitate to play for all who paid to see them. Greeting the crowd Fat Mike noticed a fan in a wheelchair and asked her to be brought onto stage. After words were exchanged between band and bouncer the girl finally emerged to the left of the stage and had the best seat in the house. The band said they had a song they were going to play her later as she reminded them of someone they once wrote a song for. Fans all over cheered in approval.
The rest of the night was just a blur of NOFX tracks from their lengthy catalog, insults from the band to the crowd, and just overall madness. At one brief moment Fat Mike hinted that the band was thinking about playing “The Decline” but a fan in the crowd told him that he played it last time they were in Covington so not wanting to repeat himself Fat Mike said never mind and then joked that the band was thinking of playing Heavy Petting Zoo in it’s entirety. Sadly that did not happen either and I was rather bummed out as I have always wanted to hear “The Decline” live.
Poking fun at the crowd, they yelled at fans for waving erratically at them and even pointed out a couple ICP Juggalos who apparently were not ashamed to show up in painted faces. The fans took the insults just fine and some chose to throw their drinks on stage soaking Fat Mike more than once.
The band did play tons of tracks including “Bob”, “Linoleum”, “Murder The Government” and even “Cokie The Clown” with Eric Melvin lending his pipes. At one moment El Hefe picked up his trumpet and started playing the opening notes to “Arming The Proletariant With Potato Guns” and I honestly felt privileged as this was the second time I had seen NOFX play the song in less than a year. They may have had a hard time getting through the jokes this time around but it was still hilarious.
Other tracks the band played included “Kill All The White Man”, “Franco Un-American”, the tear jerking “My Orphan Year”, “Bottles To The Ground”, and even “The Brews” which was the perfect sing along for a Friday night punk rock show. After a quick encore which included the highly anticipated “She’s Nubs” dedication to the girl who had been on stage all evening the band slowly left the stage while Eric Melvin serenaded the crowd with his accordion skills. Dodging their stagehand/keyboardist Melvin kept playing songs to everyone for what felt like ten minutes before finally giving up his instrument and calling it a night.
The band may have screwed up on a lot of their songs, were off key more than once, and did not look entirely thrilled to be playing that night but I would never expect anything else. It was NOFX, they can do whatever the hell they want to do during their show and I would leave satisfied. Having seen them tons of times in span of 15+ years I know what to expect from the foursome who just do what they want and don’t care what you think. I can admit that as long as they continue to tour I will be making my best effort to see them live because a NOFX show is just that damn entertaining.