Culture Greyhound

As the song would suggest, the boys (and Pearl) are back in town – Thrift Store Cowboys have a new website, a new tour, and a new album.  It’s been four years, but October 12 is right around the corner, when Light Fighter, the Lubbock-based crew’s fourth full-length will drop.

I was lucky enough to be sent an advance copy of the new effort, and, well, it sounds like Thrift Store Cowboys.  But I dare you to find a soul that thinks that’s a bad thing.  The group’s trademark sound is intact, but the result this time around is more professional, the songwriting more memorably melodic, and the lyrics more introspective leader Daniel Fluitt’s weary, yet hopeful core.  A band that has already wowed so many continues to grow, with a fresh batch of instant classics and a pristine polish – as if these folks couldn’t sound even more like the soundtrack to a post-modern spaghetti western.  The new album is sure to please old faithful followers and rally up new troops.

The band is giving away an MP3 in support – you can grab it below, and I recommend you do.  “One Gentle Inch to Nine Violent Miles” is a nice introductory single to the new era – the perfect mix of the tumbleweed cinematic Americana the Cowboys have mastered, as well as a new, punchy kick of classic rock, reminiscent of Kings of Leon with cajones. The “Thin Lizzy twin guitar” wailing solo from Colt Miller and Cory Ames best captures the spotlight midway through.

Also, here’s a pretty sweet little video for another album cut, “Morning Weekend,” filmed right here in the greater Austin area (Kyle, TX, to be exact, at the badass mansion/studio hybrid Studio 1916).

1) Go to TSC’s new site for more media, new and classic, then

2) check the tour dates – chances are they’re coming to your town, and finally

3) mark your calendars for October 12.  It’s goin’ down.

I’ve posted about Cloud Nothings before – the Cleveland-based crew is easily one of my favorite emerging groups of 2010, and their “Didn’t You/Even If It Worked Out” 7-inch has been on repeat on the turntable here at home (that’s the cover above).

A couple of my dear friends, the Brooklyn-based Nervous Room Service, have been churning out some pretty excellent, albeit trippy, fan-made music videos for their musical projects and Cloud Nothings.  Their latest is a rapid-fire spliced collage for “You Are Opening.”

Cloud Nothings // You Are Opening from NervousRoomService on Vimeo.

But by far my favorite is the video for the upbeat “Even If It Worked Out.”

Cloud Nothings // Even if it Worked Out from NervousRoomService on Vimeo.

Check out all of Nervous Room Service‘s videos and be on the lookout for Turning On, the full-length from Cloud Nothings, on October 12.

Overall, 2010 has been an amazing year in the world of music.  My year-end list is swamped, and we’re not even into fall yet, where the majority of hyped and acclaimed releases are dropped.  But alas, like every hit-filled year, there are some misses.  I’ve listened to a lot of albums in 2010, and I’ve heard some fascinating work, some boring duds, and a few completely atrocious, “what were they thinking?” moments.  Sometimes we know what we’re getting into, but it hurts the worst when a highly-anticipated album does not impress.  Here are a few examples of albums from groups that failed to deliver this time around.

Continue reading

For the most part, when browsing Pitchfork’s recently-posted Top 50 Music Videos of the 90’s, four names dominate: Chris Cunningham, Hype Williams, Michel Gondry, and Spike Jonze.  And all four of these men completely deserve their recognition – they all, in their own way, directed only the finest of what is considered to be the best decade for music videos.  MTV was still influential and watchable, and the medium of video promotion was still powerful in the music biz.

This burgeoning new phenomenon had transformed into a well-produced, highly-financed, ultra-creative artistic landscape that the 80’s products couldn’t touch.  By the time of the 2000’s, however, the luster was lost – the best videos were buried in the over-saturation of the Web, and the “music” cable channels ceased music programming.  Still, we have the 90’s – the golden age of the music video, and Pitchfork, more or less, covered the highlights.

There are many personal favorites of mine that didn’t make the cut – perhaps one day I will compile my own list of top videos from the 90’s.  While video lists usually lean towards either ranking in terms of influence or innovative spectacle, Pitchfork teeter-tottered between the two, leaning toward the latter.  With this in mind, it’s a decent list – like most lists, it has some glaring omissions, which are recognized after the jump.

Continue reading

25 Songs About Outdated Technology

Nine Things Arcade Fire Has Done Lately

Thirteen Paste Best of What’s Next Artists on Tour This Fall

Doom and Gloom: Pop Culture’s 13 Unluckiest Characters

The 50 Best Fictional Bands

We’ll Do It Live: The 10 Most Ridiculous News Clips

Four Songs Inspired by Double Rainbow

A Dozen of Literature’s Greatest Jerks

Top 10 Anti-Drug Rap Songs

1000 Awesome Things Blog

Andre 3000’s Comeback

Top 10 Courtroom Drama Movies

7 Most Outrageous Hotel Amenities

8 Food Words Rejected (For Now) By The Oxford English Dictionary

Think Before You Ink: A Gallery of Truly Awful Band Tattoos

The Most Unintentionally Homoerotic Vintage Ads

The 8 Most Insanely Obvious Signs In The World

Top Eight Bands That Sound Best When You’re Drunk

Reddit users have been posting their picks for the funniest things they’ve ever seen on the Web, and if anyone knows what’s funny on the Internet, it’s these people.  Huffington Post rounded up their favorites.  I urge you to spend hours upon hours of your life going through these links.  Because life is just too damn short.

Seven Years As a Freelance Writer Or How to Make Vitamin Soup

-Is this my future?

Austin: Live Music Capital of Cover Songs?

-Sure, we’ve all walked 6th Street and heard the live bar bands playing Journey endlessly, but the Spazmatics have taken it to a whole new, marketable, and sad level.  A great diatribe on the way bands ruin the great name of Austin.

Your Guide to the 11th Annual Gathering of the Juggalos

-Read and weep.

What’s It Like to Sing With Green Day?

-Surreal.

How Sports and Indie Rock Finally Fell In Love

-Inevitable.

It’s a few weeks old, but by no means is it irrelevant – the New York Times recently published a lengthy article regarding the ongoing debate and progression concerning what we forever leave in cyberspace and what will ultimately be deleted forever.  Keeping information around may be damaging to some, but informative for others.

On almost a weekly basis nowadays, we hear about someone who has been fired or denied a job or promotion because of their “online activities.”  Whether this be bad-mouthing their company or boss, complaining about being bored at work, or posting pictures of themselves at a keg party, the consequences of what we post and type are more serious than ever before, and the young and old are starting to care a lot about it.

Jeffrey Rosen’s piece is very informative, very well-written, and very long, so I would set aside a good half-hour to read the whole thing.  But read it – at some point in time, this subject will affect all of us.

Robyn – Hang With Me

source

Vampire Weekend – White Sky (Basement Jaxx remix) (Radio Rip)

source

No Age – Glitter

source

Coyote Cleanup – Downhill Express

source

PS I Love You – 2012

source

Today my sis is coming to visit me! I love my sis. More than my fleeting indie cred. So this post is for her.  These are a few of her favorite videos.

Continue reading