Headlights – Live Review

If you’ve been following this blog, you probably know that one of my recent obsessions have been Champaign, IL’s own Headlights. So obviously I wasn’t going to miss the CD release show of their fantastic debut, Kill Me With Kindness in their hometown.

There were a couple local bands that played before Headlights went on. The first band was called The Living Blue and I was really impressed with them. They were a bluesy, garage rock kind of band, that probably get compared to The White Stripes but I won’t fall into that lazy rock journalism. Decibully was the next band, and I they were a bit hit and miss for me.

Headlights then proceed to fill the room with their brand of dreamy shoegaze indie pop and they started off with two of their best songs “Put Us Back Together” and “Lions”. The band managed to replicate all the complex sounds from their CD onto the stage and they were having a great time doing it. Erin had a bubbly stage prescence, her enthusiasm (and dancing) really connected with the audience. Meanwhile Tristan in-between singing vocals took a major role in producing the huge wall of sound with his guitar and a some really cool looking foot pedals.

“TV” was an absolute rush live, it’s such a short song that I almost wish they would play it twice. “Tokyo” was also a huge highlight. Other than some minor setlist tweaks (“Words Make Me Tired” is a really odd encore, should have been “Signs Point to Yes”) the band’s live show is just as dynamic as their album. They’re touring all over the place this fall and you’d be crazy to miss them. Check out their tour page for dates.

MP3 TV
MP3 Put Us Back Together

The Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" Review

As you see from the two lists below, what I consider to be the best music from 1966 comes from the Beach Boys (and I’m not just saying that because the reissued album came out yesterday). The Beach Boys Greatest Hits album was the first pop CD that I ever received at the ripe age of 12. From that point on, the Beach Boys were the greatest thing in the world to me. I remember watching countless documentaries and biopics on the band, learning to play the opening to “Good Vibrations” on the piano, phoning into oldies stations to play their music, and even serenading girls in my class with the song, “California Girls”.

I eventually outgrew the “surf sound” of the older Beach Boys material but I still found myself going back to two tracks on the Greatest Hits album over and over, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and “God Only Knows.” When I finally bought the whole Pet Sounds album, I was entranced by the record, and I think nearly every song on it has been my favorite at one point, I even warmed up to “Sloop John B” in time. Currently, I can’t get over the opening tympani and warm keyboard sounds in “I’m Waiting For The Day” that are mixed with lyrics of bittersweet optimism.

The ideas in the Pet Sounds are universal, honest, and heartfelt. From “You know it seems the more we talk about it / It only makes it worse to live without it” to “I could try to be big in the eyes of the world / what matters to me is what I could be to just one girl” to “God only knows what I’d be without you”, everyone who’s been in love knows those feelings. What makes them even more poignant though, is that they are put to melodies that hit you instantly and never leave your ear (like good pop songs should, right). Even listening to the album today, there’s something nostalgic and magical about it, even though I was born nearly 20 years after it was released. So hoist up the John B sails and let the Beach Boys take you home.

Buy the remastered, reissued 40th Anniversary Pet Sounds CD+DVD set. Seriously.

The Greatest Songs & Albums of 1966

It’s no exaggeration when I say that 1966 was the best year ever in the history of rock music. The three artists that dominated the sixties (Dylan, Beatles, Beach Boys) each made what is argubly their best album in 1966. Debuts from this year included The Monkees and If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears by The Mamas and The Papas. Many of the most memorable songs of Motown seem to fall around 1966. The Who and Simon and Garfunkle both put out second albums that improved on their firsts this year.

It was an emergence for experimentation, seen in “Tomorrow Never Knows” and the use of sitar in both Revolver and The Rolling Stone’s Aftermath. It was also a year for sun-drenched songs of summer like “California Dreamin'”, “Red Rubber Ball”, and “Good Lovin'”. It seems that every week a new single or album was released that is still remembered 40 years later. This was the year that saw last tour of The Beatles and transitioned Brian Wilson into becoming a studio-only artist. It was the first year that Bob Dylan jammed with The Band. 1966 was the year that music became alive. Yes, it’s no exaggeration to call this year the greatest for rock music.

I made a couple of lists (who doesn’t love lists) to attempt to rank my favorite music from 1966. For the first list I only allowed myslef two songs per artist. See also: Pitchfork’s 200 greatest songs of the 60’s.

The 20 Greatest songs of 1966.
20. The Supremes – You Keep Me Hanging On
19. The Cyrkle – Red Rubber Ball
18. Spencer Davis Group – Gimme Some Lovin’
17. ? and the Mysterians – 96 Tears MP3
16. Lovin’ Spoonful – Summer in the City
15. The Who – A Quick One While He’s Away
14. The Mamas and the Papas – California Dreamin’
13. The Monkees – Last Train To Clarksville
12. The Rascals – Good Lovin’
11. The Byrds – Eight Miles High
10. Bob Dylan – I Want You MP3
9. The Mamas and the Papas – Monday Monday
8. The Rolling Stones – Paint It Black
7. The Beatles – Tomorrow Never Knows
6. The Four Tops – Reach Out! I’ll Be There MP3
5. Bob Dylan – Stuck Inside of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
5. The Who – Substitute
4. The Beach Boys – Good Vibrations
3. Simon and Garfunkel – The 59th Street Bridge Song MP3
2. The Beatles – Eleanor Rigby
1. The Beach Boys – God Only Knows MP3

Top 5 Greatest Albums of 1966
5. The Mamas and the Papas – If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Your Ears
4. Simon and Garfunkel – Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme
3. Bob Dylan – Blonde on Blonde
2. The Beatles – Revolver
1. The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds

Agree? Disagree? Discuss your favorite ’66 albums and songs in the comments.

Eric Bachmann "To The Races" Review

I’m the kind of person that loves to listen to folk music in the morning. I have a specific playlist that I put on when my alarm clock rings full of Iron & Wine, Kings of Convenience, and early Bob Dylan. To The Races is the perfect fit for this playlist; it’s a fantastic morning album.

It’s also deceivingly simple album, most of the songs just include an acoustic guitar and a voice, but it’s underlined with a strong sense of melody and a songwriting talent that comes with years of experience. When Bachmann does add other instruments he does it with a sense of subtelity that fits perfectly into the songs. An example is the organ and harmonica in the song “Carrboro Woman” which add to the song without overpowering it. To The Races was released this week on Saddle Creek Records.

MP3 Carrboro Woman
MP3 Liars and Thieves

Myspace
Buy the album

The Like Young – Live Review / Early Retirement?

Last Saturday, I went to see The Like Young and a few other bands at the Courtyard Cafe in Urbana IL and it was easily the oddest show I’ve ever been too but also one of the most memorable. There were glaring sound problems from the very beginning, in fact before The Like Young started Joe got into a small feud with the sound guy over how loud he wanted to turn his guitar up (apparantly there’s sound limitations at this venue). The band started and I was really shocked at how aggressive and loud this seemingly cute couple were (whoever described them as “Mates of State with guitars” was way off). They tore through their setlist and created more sound than two people should ever have the right too.

The odd part was that we couldn’t hear the vocals at all. The crowd brought it up in between songs and the band got into another mini-feud with the sound guy which revealed that because the guitar was up so loud the sound guy couldn’t turn the vocals on. Any normal band would have turned their guitar down a few notches at this point but, The Like Young, I think actually turned their sound up and ripped through a few more songs, saying “I think it’s funny that we actually outrocked the Courtyard Cafe”. This really pissed off the sound guy and he told them they only had two more songs left. They argued for a went back and forth for a while on this and then Joe screamed, “We have three songs left and you’re going to have to f***’n shoot me to get me off stage.” On the last song they let loose on the set, kicking over cymbals, microphones, and amps and then walked off the stage. The audience was speechless after they finished, in awe of what took place in front of them.

The very next day, via their website, The Like Young announced their retirement from the music industry, stating the cold and cynical nature of the music industry as a reason. They obviously had been thinking about this for some time but did the sound guy incident finally push them over the edge? Who can tell, all I know is that The Like Young came to the Courtyard that night to rock, and no one was going to stop them.

MP3 For Money or Love
MP3 Dead Eyes

Myspace
See the band while you can

My One-Year-Aniversary-Post! Music For Kids Who Can't Read Good Supergroups Project

I started this blog on this week last year. I was a naive kid who had way too much time on his hands and had no idea what he was doing (read for yourself if you must). Eventually, Music For Kids Who Can’t Read Good grew into something that I felt proud of creating and I owe any success that I might or might not had to all you readers (unless you’re a damn troller in which case, I owe you my bandwith problems). Last May to celebrate my 100th post I did a Covers Project that linked Buddy Holly to Sufjan Stevens. I had so much fun with it that I’m deciding to do it again, except a little different.

The goal of the mix this time was to go from the ultimate classic rock supergroup to (what is in my opinion) the ultimate indie rock supergroup while hitting a bunch of other really awesome supergroups along the way. To do this, I had to link all the artists by various duet performances, assemblages, and collaborations with each other (If you’re wondering how they link up read the descriptions below the songs). All this, and still making a satisfying playlist. Sound confusing? Agreed, but I think you’ll get the hang of it. Why are you still reading, start downloading some music!

From Wilburys to Pornographers: The Music For Kids Who Can’t Read Good Supergroups Project.

MP3 Travelin Wilbury’s – Handle With Care

Bob Dylan (credited as Lucky Wilbury) took part in this project that also included Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, and George Harrison. The band released two albums and “Handle With Care” was their most popular single.

MP3 Bob Dylan – Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)

Robbie Robertson peformed on Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde back when The Band was called The Hawks. He played Guitar and sang back-up vocals. Robertson also played guitar on some tracks on Eric Clapton’s Crossroads, which links him to the next supergroup.

MP3 Eric Clapton’s Rainbow Concert Band – Presence of the Lord

Pete Townsend put together this band to welcome Eric Clapton back from a two year break from music. It included both Clapton and Townsend as well as Steve Winwood and Ronnie Wood from The Rolling Stones.

MP3 Mick Jagger / David Bowie – Dancin’ In The Street

In 1985 as a part of the Live Aid concert, Mick Jagger teamed up with David Bowie to cover Martha & the Vandella’s “Dancing In The Street”.

MP3 The Arcade Fire feat. David Bowie – Wake Up

David Bowie has always been known to be hip to a younger crowd and it never showed any greater than when he sang lead on The Arcade Fire’s Wake Up on September 8th of last year at Fashion Rocks.

MP3 U2 feat. Arcade Fire – Love Will Tear Us Apart

Also in 2005, The Arcade Fire opened for U2 on the Canadien part of their tour. One night, the band joined U2 for a cover of the Joy Division classic “Love Will Tear Us Apart.”

MP3 U2 feat. Mary J. Blige – One

For Mary J. Blige’s 2005 album, The Breakthrough she recorded a cover of U2’s “One”. The band performed the song with her at the Hurricaine Katrina benefit as well as the 2006 Grammys.

MP3 The Game feat. Mary J. Blige – Hate it Or Love it ( Official Remix )

One of the great things about Hip Hop is that the artists are constantly collaborating with each other (even though, most of the time it’s probably just to sell more records). Mary J. Blige performed with The Game on a number of tracks on their album The Documentary.

MP3 Kayne West feat. The Game – Crack Music

Kayne West featured The Game on this song from his 2005 album, Late Registration.

MP3 Alicia Keys – If I Ain’t Got You (Kayne West Remix)

Kanye West produced The Diary of Alicia Keys and remixed a couple of songs on the album. He won two Grammys in 2005 for his contribution on the album.

MP3 Alicia Keys, Alison Krauss, Billie Joe Armstrong, Bono, Brian Wilson, Norah Jones, Steven Tyler, Stevie Wonder, Tim McGraw & Velvet Revolver – Across the Universe

Talking about the 2005 Grammy’s, this supergroup was formed to perform the classic Beatles tune and was used to raise money for the victims of the tsunami in Asia. Alicia Keys and Blillie Joe Armstrong performed.

MP3 Green Day – Hitchin’ A Ride

This song was in a little different direction for Green Day because it featured a fiddle solo by Petra Hadyn. It’s found on 2001’s Nimrod.

MP3 The Decemberists / Death Cab for Cutie – Go Your Own Way

Petra Hadyn is a touring member and constant contributor to The Decemberists. This Fleetwood Mac cover was performed at the Summerstage Festival.

MP3 Hot Hot Heat – Get In or Get Out

Chris Walla (guitarist of Death Cab) mixed and engineered Hot Hot Heat’s first two albums.

MP3 Wolf Parade – Shine A Light

Dante Decaro, a former member of Hot Hot Heat, is guitarist for the Wolf Parade.

MP3 Swan Lake – All Fires

Swan Lake is the most recent addition to this list, and it easily qualifies as a supergroup. It contains Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade), Casey Mercer (Frog Eyes), and Dan Bejar (Destroyer/New Pornographers)

MP3 New Pornographers – All For Swinging You Around

Finally, with help from Dan Bejar, we’ve made it to The New Pornographers. Hope you’ve enjoyed the ride.

Thanks for reading everyone, I’m looking forward to another year of doing whatever stuff I do. If you like the chain leave a comment!

Also, here’s a flow chart of the Supergroups Chain (back by popular demand).

George Clooney vs. The Ramones

As a blogger, one of the things you have to expect is to get alot of email requests asking for you to post various things. Well, one of the ones I get most often is for me to post a cover of “that song that George Clooney sang in O Brother, Where Art Thou.”

I’ve been holding off as long as I possibly can, but I’m finally giving in and I’ll post the cover. It’s by band called Osaka Popstar & The American Legends of Punk which includes members of the Ramones, Black Flag, and the Misfits. Now stop it with the emails!

MP3 Osaka Popstar & The American Legends of Punk – Man of Constant Sorrow

So who does it better? George Clooney or a band with a guy from the Ramones… or Joan Baez if you don’t like either of them?
Note: Sorry for the small, sort-of crappy post today. I’m still working on something awesome for tomorrow. Trust me, it’s worth the wait.

Kill Them with Get Lonely Classics and Bring Me The Anti-Anti Happy Hollow, Idlewild.

Wow, today’s a good day for music. One for the history books, and yes I did make a full sentence out of some of today’s album releases (bonus points if you can name every band who’s album is up there). A couple of these albums I’ve already given my full review and stamp of approval on, and I’m going to do the same with a couple more of them right now.

The Mountain Goats – Get Lonely (Buy)

It almost feels wrong writing a review for Get Lonely, because I’ve only had the full album for a couple days and I’m still getting over my awe of the record. This is one that could take a month to fully digest, and after that occurs it will probably be nearing the top of my 2006 list. It doesn’t have upbeat tracks like “Dance Music” or “This Year”, but instead John Darnielle goes fully into emotional aloneness to produce songs that are beautiful in their solemnity.

MP3 Woke Up New (left-click for download)
MP3 Get Lonely

Cursive -Happy Hollow (Buy)

I never really understood Cursive. I always thought their was music was good and extremely creative, but it was always too dissonate for me. The other factor is that I love The Good Life and probably would just like to think of Tim Casher as the depressed drunk that creates acoustic greatness. I’m really warming up to this latest album of Cursive though. It seems as though they’ve kept the chaotic nature of their last albums while being catchy enough to keep me interested for a 14 songs.

MP3 Dorothy At Forty
MP3 At Conception

Read my reviews of Snowden and Headlights‘ latest offerings.

Clawjob – Studying the effects of anti-gravity on snack foods.

When I first opened up the CD Space Crackers by Clawjob I thought it was a joke. The band name sounds like a really bad metal band, the cover is a fish on a bicycle (?), and the album came with a handwritten letter detailing how the album was a rock opera about the end of the world. Also on the letter was a drawing of a half-elephant half-batman that the band made for me (actually that was pretty awesome). So, I was actually surprised when the album was not only listenable it was actually at times really enjoyable.

The story itself would be enough to peak some people’s interests (quoted from Stylus) – “Julian, Madeleine and Greg, are involved in high-level research into the subatomic structure of crackers. So, basically, they soak up a whole lot of time and funding in order to study biscuits. In space.” And the music is about what you’d expect, being as epic as possible with huge guitar solos, layered vocals, power chords, and monster ballads. The only modern comparision I can think of to this music is possibly a combination of The Darkness and Man Man’s “Hot Bat”. No one is really filling that rock opera nitch right now (unless Meatloaf makes a comeback) and if that and 80’s guitar rock are your sort of thing, then this could be the perfect band for you.

MP3 Welcome to Space School
MP3 Zero Gravity

Buy Space Crackers
Myspace

Sleeping At Last – Live in Peoria

Today is my first day at class at Illinois State University and I have two job interviews so I apologize in advance if this concert review lacks in quality. This is the fourth time I’ve seen Sleeping At Last and they’ve gotten better each time. Their new CD is much more expansive and that was represented in their live show. In a very Andrew Bird-esque matter the band used with loop pedals to incorporate overlaying guitar and piano parts as well as back-tracks for the strings. Sleeping At Last played songs mostly off their new album, but included a few older songs that the crowd responded really well too (“Currents” / “Ghosts).

The highlights though, were the newer songs which took much more rigor from the band to perform. For example, “Dreamlife” had Ryan playing the piano and singing and then switching to electric guitar mid song while Dan played Bass and two sets of keyboards. The result was a wall of sound and emotion portrayed through the band. “Careful Hands”, “Envelopes”, and “Umbrellas” all had similar effect. I talked to the band for a while and it’s amazing how much they’ve overcome, especially from their crappy record deal with Interscope, to make Keep No Score (which they self-released). If I could get you to listen to one band this year, I’d say Sleeping At Last is the forerunner. Here’s some of their best tracks for download.

MP3 Envelopes
MP3 Night Must End
MP3 Careful Hands

They say it’s our birthday:
This is Music For Kids Who Can’t Read Good’s one year anniversary week(!) We’ll have a big celebratory post later on this week (once my schedule slows down a little). I’ve had this idea for this post in the back of my mind for a while and I’m pretty excited for it.