Archive for the ‘supernovas’ Category
Frequency’s Grammy coverage
Monday, February 13th, 2012
What I’m listening to / prepping for “best of 2011″ / Patrick Stump
Monday, November 7th, 2011
I get more requests for album reviews, I think, than anything else.
I’d love to do them. I’d love to do a ton of them, both in print and here on Frequency. I’ve been wanting to do them since I took this job.
There have been a few different obstacles over the years, but right now, the main one is time. To review albums properly would take some time, and extra time is not something that I have available to me.
I say this to point out the “Frequent spins” section of the sidebar over there on the right. I just switched out the album covers this weekend, so it really reflects what I’m listening to a lot right now. Consider that an endorsement and go check ‘em out. (I am also going to try to keep that section more up to date going forward, FYI.)
All six of the covers over there are 2011 releases, and that’s because I’m deep into my process for determining my favorite albums of the year, so that’s about all I’m listening to. To that end, I’ll have actual thoughts and words on each of those albums in my “best of 2011″ coverage that’ll run in GO! Magazine at some point in the next several weeks. So keep an eye out for that. I’m tentatively planning something similar to previous years, which means the best albums of the year, best shows of the year, and a compilation of the year’s best songs available for free download on this here blog, dog.
I will say one thing, though: The biggest surprise of 2011, for me, is “Soul Punk,” the new solo album from former Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Stump. If you’re familiar with his previous band, put that stuff completely out of your head. There is no mall-punk emo to be found on this thing. Instead, it’s highly potent, punchy club-pop music that’s just exuberant and dynamic and lots of fun. Think Michael Jackson if he’d remained as awesome as he was in the early 1980s, but stuck around until 2011 and modernized a bit. That’s very high praise, and maybe it’s a tiny bit of an overstatement, but seriously, the MJ influence is strong here, and I can’t stop spinning this record. It’s terrific and will finish high on my 2011 list.
I don’t know how long this link will work, but for now, you can stream all of “Soul Punk” by clicking here.
Last but not least: I do tend to talk more about nationally released, non-local albums on Facebook and Twitter, so if you’re not already snuggling up to Frequency in the social media sphere, you should be.
Happy Birthday, “Nevermind” / [Video] Subliminal plays Nirvana at Grover’s Pub
Saturday, September 24th, 2011
Nirvana released “Nevermind” 20 years ago today.
Sept. 24, 1991. I was 15.
For some large percentage of the world’s population, this anniversary doesn’t mean much. And for some smaller, more cynical group of people, it means another chance to roll their eyes whenever someone begins to wax poetic about the album and what it meant/means in the context of punk rock/popular music/pop culture/fashion/the Northwest music scene/hero worship/conformity/nonconformity/whatever.
I understand that. Just as one might scoff at the notion that “Nevermind” changed a lot of lives (besides Kurt Cobain’s, Krist Novoselic’s and Dave Grohl’s), I will probably scoff one day when some young whippersnapper claims their life was changed by, say, Kanye West’s “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” or Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs.” (No slag intended. Both are fine albums; see #11 and #25 here.)
It’s the circle of life, or at least the circle of thinking your formative music is the most important music ever and subconsciously diminishing that which came before or after. Y’know … that circle.
But I’m here to tell you: “Nevermind” changed lives. It changed mine. I went from listening to Bobby Brown in 6th grade to Def Leppard and INXS in 8th grade to Nirvana in 10th grade to discovering the Pixies and Pavement and Teenage Fanclub and my weird local college radio station and on and on. From there, it was a deep, dark rabbit hole of music super-nerd-dom that I tumbled into, and that I still haven’t climbed out of. Thank goodness.
Peter Buck of R.E.M. is coming to Silver Moon
Friday, February 25th, 2011
That subject line is what we call “click bait” folks!
Per the Silver Moon Brewing website:
Besides the involvement of the guitarist for one of the world’s biggest rock bands, it should be noted that The Baseball Project, The Minus 5 and Steve Wynn are all terrific artists in their own right.
Kudos to Gabe Johnson, booking dude at Silver Moon (and his own company, Parallel 44 Presents), on a “home run!” (Gah. That was terrible. Sorry.)
Review: Brad Paisley in Lexington, Kentucky
Saturday, February 6th, 2010
My sister, Emily, and brother-in-law, Ryan, live in Lexington, Kentucky with their new puppy, which they’ve named Chesney. Yes, that Chesney. So they’re pretty big fans of country music.
They’re also, like most Kentuckians, lifelong fans of the University of Kentucky basketball team, which is currently 21-1 and ranked No. 3 or 4 in the country, depending on which poll you read. Just sayin’.
Anyway, on Jan. 21, they got to combine those two interests by taking in country superstar Brad Paisley’s “American Saturday Night” tour at UK’s home court, Rupp Arena in downtown Lexington. (Miranda Lambert opened the night, but is sadly absent from this review.)
As Frequency readers know, I believe Paisley and Lambert are the cream of the country crop right now, so I asked Emily and/or Ryan to write a short review of the show for me. Ryan came through; he was even nice enough to write a headline and sprinkle in several Dick Vitale-isms (they’re in quotes). Click below to see what he had to say, plus some video from the show:
Grammy recap
Monday, February 1st, 2010
I’ll have one in Friday’s GO! Magazine.
Sneak preview: This was the best moment of the night. Actually, this is pretty much all you need to know:
But come back on Friday and read my recap anyway.
(Thanks, goldenfiddle.)
Happy Birthday, Sam
Friday, January 22nd, 2010
The man with the greatest singing voice ever, Sam Cooke, would’ve been 79 today.
Classic new Kobe/LeBron Nike commercials with KRS-One, Lupe Fiasco
Thursday, December 24th, 2009
These Kobe/LeBron puppet commercials are generally pretty good, but there’s a new set out in which the guys accompany Santa Claus to a game of 3-on-3 against some reindeer. And they are AMAZING.
Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco voices Blitzen and hip-hop legend KRS-One handles Santa. The attention to detail in these productions (clearly inspired by this video) is pretty astounding, and the beats and rhymes aren’t too bad, either. Here are all three, in order. You should watch them all.
Photos of KISS last night in Seattle; they’re in Portland tomorrow
Monday, November 16th, 2009
I can’t stand KISS, really. Or rather, I can’t stand what they’ve become.
So I’m not heading up to Portland to see Paul, Gene and those other two guys at the Rose Garden in Portland on Tuesday night. If you are, though, send me an e-mail; I’d love to hear about it, and maybe we can post your review here on Frequency.
And whether you’re going or you’re not — or if you’re undecided — check out these terrific photos of the KISS show last night in Seattle, courtesy of Kristen Blush and The Stranger’s Line Out blog.
Huh. Maybe Kanye West was right …
Monday, November 16th, 2009
… maybe Gaga is Madonna.
This video is fascinating. Just try to take your eyes off of it.
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