You Know You Want It: Win 2 Tickets To Forward Russia

It's not quite two tickets to paradise, but it's damn close. I've got two tickets to see Forward Russia this Monday at The Grog Shop. We're going to keep the contest simple. Just send an email to irockcleveland@gmail.com with Forward Russia in the subject line. I'll draw one winner at random to receive two tickets to the show Monday at the Grog Shop as well as an autographed copy of their latest cd, Give Me A Wall. The contest will stay open until midnight this Saturday. Please only enter if you are in the area and can make it to the show on Monday. Now, for a little teaser of what you can expect Monday night, get your ears around these tracks: "Four" the b-side to "Twelve", and The Napoleon III remix of "Nine." Forward Russia - Four.mp3 Forward Russia - Nine (Napoleon III Remix).mp3 Forward Russia photo courtesy of Bob Taylor

Mmm...Muggabears

As you probably know by now, I have this special affinity for mid-nineties noise rock and slacker rock: Sonic Youth, Pavement, Chavez, Eric's Trip, and the list goes on. If you're a band and you play it loose and loud, you'll get a few spins from me. In come The Muggabears, a three piece from NYC via Texas who incorporate ideas from some of the past's greatest noise merchants. Singer/guitarist Travis Johnson has a bit of Malkmus in his voice and a good deal of Sonic Youth in his six string. This magnificent noise is rounded out by Emily Ambruso on bass and Kevin Murphy on drums. They've just released the Teenage Cop ep. Check out "Sister Now." Turn that volume up as loud as your ears can handle. Then turn it up a couple notches more and lose yourself in that aural assault of feedback, reverb, and distortion. Muggabears - Sister Now.mp3 Muggabears photo courtesy of Lauren Andrews

All Ones and Zeros

It's been a while since I've been so blown away by a song that I'm reduced to a ramble of four letter words, but damn, I can't help it in this case. When I get a piece of rock that exudes both awesomeness and rockingness, the f-bombs are bound to fly, and f*ck, "All Ones And Zeros" by The Early Years just does it for me. "All Ones and Zeros" starts of innocent enough with this little guitar line and a chugging drum beat. Eventually, there's a little burst of distortion here, some ambient noise there, and you slowly come to the realization that all of this is building you up for something much greater. Then it hits. All of those competing influences: psychedelica, kraut rock, and space rock, come to a crescendo and that crunching noise you hear is everything that was once to brilliant and delicate being sucked into a black hole of distortion. F*ck yeah. That's it. The Early Years - All Ones and Zeros.mp3 The self titled debut is out now in the UK and will be available in the states on January 30th. You can be certain that I'll have more to say on this one once we get closer to the release date. Well, I'll have more to say if I can ever get past that first single. The Early Years

I'm So Divided

Or, One Bloggers Rapidly Deteriorating Relationship with Trail of Dead During the course of their last three albums, ...And You Know Us By The Trail of Dead (or Trail of Dead for short) have fallen from critical darlings to critical misfits. Universally praised for Source Tags and Codes, Trail of Dead have had a much harder time pleasing the critics with both Worlds Apart and So Divided. The reviews for the latter two have ranged from average to horrendous. Once considered the equivalent of a shot and a beer, and a kick in the teeth, their music abruptly shifted its focus away from raw power to grand production. My initial impressions of So Divided were mostly positive. In fact, I was all prepared to publish a review on the Rockometer in the 7 to 8 range. Then, before I had the chance to finish my thoughts, the first sign of trouble emerged, as Conrad Keely gave a lengthy interview to Pitchfork. The majority of the interview, whether by design or not, focussed on the financial status of Trail of Dead. Throw in some comments that were less than enthusiastic about touring and a statement on making music for the purpose of liscensing, and I felt as if I was reading an interview of a musician whose heart was no longer in the right place. Conrad's ambivalence became my ambivalence, and consequently, my copy of So Divided went from the top of the stack to the bottom. I was bothered by listeneing to an album when I had these serious doubts whether or not The Trail of Dead even believed in themselves anymore. My disinterest with The Trail of Dead went on until last night as I decided that I was all ready to give So Divided another listen. I gave it a couple more spins and listened a bit more critically. There were portions where I wished that they didn't employ the more is more production technique, but there were obvious highlights, too. The first two tracks, "Stand in Silence" and "Wasted State of Mind" still killed in my book, and I'm simply smitten with the GBV cover, "Gold Heart Mountain Top Queen." A second time, I was ready to put So Divided up against the Rockometer. This time they were looking at the 6 to 7 range, until it happened. Trail of Dead made another interesting appearance in the pages of Pitchfork. There was a bust up between band members at their show in St Pete. Guitarist Kevin Allen was either inebriated, incapacitated, or both, and Conrad Keely decided to finish him off with a shove into an amp. Needless to say, the show didn't go on. This all leaves me so divided. I would love to say I'm still a fan of Trail of Dead. It's just not that simple any more. Sure, they're not the first band to give uninspiring interviews and publically brawl on stage, but when these two events are put together it's hard to imagine much of a future for this band. Tension between bandmants, critical reviews spiraling downward, and a frontman's malaise usually mean one thing: an imminent break up. I no longer look at So Divided as art or music, rather, I tend to consider it as another piece of evidence that a once mighty band is mighty no more.

"Find What You Get" by Bang Gang

Bardi Johannsson is the man behind the cleverly/tragically named Icelandic fuzz pop band Bang Gang. You're reading this right now, and let me tell you, you don't know how hard it is not to type "Gang Bang" each time I go to type Bang Gang. It's near impossible, and it's not like I go around tossing those types of phrases about in my daily speech. Sure, I drop many an f-bomb, but "Gang Bang?" That goes way beyond my level of vulgarity. I've digressed (again). What I really want to talk about is this tune, "Find What You Get." It has a certain retro feel to it as the low end is fuzzy, the guitars a little jittery, and the vocals have that certain ethereal quality to them. "Find What You Get" moves along nicely until it gets to that feedback freakout at the end and I'm sold. Bang Gang - Find What You Get.mp3 A full length should by Bang Gang should be out next year. In the meantime, The Find What You Get ep is out now on From Nowhere Recoreds. Bang Gang From Nowhere Records

Better Than Prozac, Valium, and Xanax

I just had one of those days at work. You know, the one where you swear you accidentally wrote "A**HOLE" across your forehead when you should have been washing your face in the morning? That's the one. Well, driving home, I had one thing on my mind that I knew would make me feel better: the video "We're From Barcelona" by I'm From Barcelona. I had watched it a couple months back when it was first shown on Pitchfork, and it took today to remind me what 29 happy Swedes can do to cure a sh*t day. It's better than Prozac, Valium, and Xanax all in one pill. I suggest you do whatever you can to get a copy of this video and keep it around for your own A**HOLE written on the forehead days. Trust me. It works. I'm From Barcelona have been all over the internet this year. Largely due to this happy, happy vid. Their debut album is due out in the states on March 6th on Mute. I'm From Barcelona

I Rock Cleveland's Miscellany

Evan Dando is keeping a Lemonheads tour journal over at AOL's Spinner. The Editors are working on a new album that may be ready as soon as next Spring. It's been a while since I've said anything about The Cleveland Browns... and I think it's for the best if we don't talk Browns football. If you haven't noticed, Catfish Haven have been added to The Hold Steady concert at The Cleveland Grog Shop on December 11th.

Axl Being Axl

From Product Shop NYC: It looks as if The Eagles of Death Metal are off the GNR tour. Once the headliner calls your band Pigeons of Sh*t Metal, you have to figure that your days are numbered. Now, I kinda regret missing that GNR show. Axl & Co. are quickly becoming the Mike Tyson of the rock world. You don't go to a GNR show for the music, just as no one in their right mind pays to see Mike Tyson box. You pay to see the bizarre, surreal, and/or downright ugly.

The Clash Still Are The Only Band That Matters

It hit me last night. Sixteen years after first hearing The Clash, I'm still chasing that feeling. Like an addict scrounging for that next big high, with every cd I put in my stereo, every mp3 I play on my computer, I'm hoping to recapture the feeling of being 15 and listening to that borrowed cassette tape of The Story Of The Clash on my $50 boombox for the first time. The Story of The Clash was my introduction to punk rock. It was also my introduction to progressive politics. It was my personal enlightenment: a new world of sounds and ideas was overtaking my soul. My life was no longer white bread suburbia. I had more kinship with the boys fruitlessly seeking a fair job in "Career Opportunities" than I did with my neighbors and their well-manacured lawns. I heard the words "London's burning with boredom now," and saw that same complacency prevalent in Parma, Ohio. If there's a moment on The Story of The Clash that sticks with me to this day, it's the interview before "Capital Radio One." Beneath the sound of the rickety train car and behind the thick English accents I got the message: It doesn't matter how well you play in a technical sense and it doesn't matter what others may think of you, instead the important thing is to have passion and believe in your music and your message. It's precisely that attitude that allowed The Clash to be progressive both in their words and their sound. It would have been much easier for the band to crank out 1-2-3-4 anthems than for them to produce a dub heavy triple album named after the Sandinista movement in Latin America. I would take the words of The Clash to heart. They started me on a life long journey of seeking out alternative sounds. It didn't matter that the boys in the locker room listened to Rush, Guns N Roses, or Metallica. It was now ok for me to go home and listen to The Clash, The Smiths, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails and The Ramones. When Nirvana's Nevermind hit my high school and all the kids were ditching Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, and Poision, I was left wondering what took you guys so long? Didn't you ever hear rapid fire rock of "Tommy Gun" or the ragged reggae of "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais?" There's this band from 77, they're called The Clash, and they didn't wear spandex or tease their hair, and they changed everything way before Nirvana. I still wonder to this day if my friend Mark knew what he was doing when he handed me that tape. Did he know that once I listened to The Clash that nothing would ever be the same? Did he know that the next morning when I looked at my cd collection that I would realize everything I listened to before The Clash was garabage? Oh, I think he knew exactly what he was doing. He was the dealer and The Clash were the gateway drug. He was well aware that once I listened to The Clash that I would be hooked for good. It's so cliche these days to say a band will change your life, but let's get one thing straight: The Shins won't change your life. The Clash will. No band that I've heard since the Clash has had the same impact on my life. I've listened to thousands of bands since that day I first listened to The Clash, and I will surely listen to thousands more, and I will never find that feeling again.

Who Do You Love by The Drones

The Drones have been on heavy rotation at I Rock Cleveland World Headquarters for the past couple weeks now. I can't get enough of their gritty, rough and tumble, approach to rock and roll. They're sitting at number one of my top 11 album chart right now, and I don't see them getting unseated any day soon. Today, as I was going through the b-sides and live cuts posted on The Drones website I came across this rowdy cover of the blues standard "Who Do You Love?" Maybe rowdy isn't the right adjective. What's one step past rowdy, manic, maybe? Ok, let's say it's a manic cover a blues standard. Sh*t, you're gonna hate me, but I'm not sure that manic is a strong enough word to convey the energy put forth by The Drones in this one. Oh, f*ck it. Let's just say that this one is required rock and roll for your sound system. The Drones - Who Do You Love.mp3 The Drones

GNR At The Quickie Tonight

Guns N Roses will be playing Quicken Loans arena tonight. I won't be there. I am tempted to go. Axl Rose is still a spectacle if not a great performer. I just can't convince myself to give Axl my hard earned cash money. Now, if you're keeping track at home, the perpetually almost completed Chinese Democracy still isn't out. The latest promise was that it would be out by the end of 06. As of 11:56 this morning, GNR still have 37 1/2 days left to finish Chinese Democracy this year. My magic 8-ball tells me that it doesn't look promising.

Preorder Sloan From Yeproc and Get Some Goodness

I was cruisin' around the Yeproc website and I noticed the preorder is up for Sloan's Never Hear The End Of It due out this January. I'll say it again, cause I've said it before. I've heard bits of this new disc, and I am stoked. Yep Roc has a cool promo going on where the first 100 preorders get a signed copy of the cd and all preorders are entered in a contest where you can win a sloan dvd (sweet), signed vinyl (even sweeter), or get ready for this, a sloan belt buckle(really f'n sweet). Yep Roc Sloan

Preview The Quiet Trial By Cassettes Won't Listen

What's that catchy phrase they have in the business? Try it before you but it? That's it. Cassettes Won't Listen has been one busy man this year. He's dropped remixes for some of the indie worlds buzziest bands like Midlake, Asobi Seksu, and The Diggs and next Tuesday, Cassettes Won't Listen will be releasing the instrumental album, The Quiet Trial. I've had the pleasure to give it a few spins and have found it, well, quite pleasurable. The mix of rock and hip hop on The Quiet Trial will likely bring to mind such eclectic samplers and producers like Beck and Dj Shadow. Before we get to the full preview, I've got one for the download. I can't quite explain my attraction to "Sidewalk Cruise." I assume it's supposed to bring a vibe like walking the streets in NYC. I pick up a totally different vibe. I can't help but think of Lara Croft, snakes, and play station video games. The strange thing is, I don't care for snakes or video games (Lara Croft played by Angelina -- what's not to like) but that vibe, whatever it's supposed to be, sucks me right in. Cassettes Won't Listen - Sidewalk Cruise.mp3 Once The Quiet Trial drops, the man we know as CWL isn't going to stop working. There's a second album getting readied for the Spring of next year. For a full preview of The Quiet Trial, head over to imeem. For a minute, I had it embedded in here, but then I remembered how annoyed I get when music starts up on a website and I don't won't music to start on its own. Trust me, this is music you'll want to hear, but I'm sure you'll agree with me that it's better when it starts and stops on your own convenience. Cassettes Won't Listen Dope Lotus Records

Here's Your Future

The Thermals are one band whose name continuously comes up whenever I'm discussing the state of rock and roll music in 2006. Whether it's a conversation amongst bloggers lamenting the loss of indie with an edge, or if it's a conversation amongst friends where we wonder what ever happened to that punk rock sound of our youth, there's The Thermals. They're smart enough for the indie crowd and they have that fire, energy, and politics of punk rock. And why do they keep turning up? Well, if you don't know by know, they unleashed one hell of a rock album on the listening public earlier this year, The Body, The Blodd, The Machine. "Here's Your Future" is the lead track by The Thermals on The Blody, The Blood, The Machine, and the second single released by Subpop. Man, if I could travel in time (and take this disc with me, and travel back to a reality that only exists in the movies), I would go back to that discussion in High Fidelity about the best side one track ones ever, and add "Here's Your Future" to that list. It's perfect in setting the tone for what's to follow -- loud buzzsaw guitars, pounding drums, and rallying cries against modern hypocrisy. The Thermals - Here's Your Future.mp3 The Thermals on Subpop

Graham Coxon's Love Travels At Illegal Speeds

After dealing with post-rock played on a harp the last couple days, I needed something to cleanse the palate. Something to remove that aftertaste left by overly ambitious and outwardly artsy music. In steps Graham Coxon. The former Blur guitarist released his sixth solo album, Love Travels At Illegal Speeds, across the old pond earlier this year, and it has finally made its way state side. Thank god. I got my huge dose of guitars and songs about girls right in time. Don't get me wrong. This isn't some anti-art movement on my part. Rather, it's a reaffirmation that while artistic ambition is a critical component in modern music, things such as melody and memorable songs (and guitars) shouldn't be forsaken. I look at it this way. The best releases can combine artistic ambition and tunefulness, but if I was put in the position to choose one or the other, I'd choose tunefulness every single time. With that little diversion out of the way, let's get back to the music at hand. Whether Graham Coxon is taking on Brit-pop, early British punk rock, or good old fashioned power pop, he's hitting all the right notes. The guitars are loud, rough, and right in the middle of the mix, and his voice still has a cocky/snotty edge when he needs it. There's plenty to love on this disc, but the one that sticks in my head is that revved up Brit pop of "What's He Got." It's a bit of a throwback to the off-kilter pop of the Blur days with a pronounced early new wave feel to it. Oh, and what about the guitars you say, well, my friend there's a fine breakdown in the middle of the track just for you to get your rock out. Graham Coxon - What's He Got.mp3 Graham Coxon

No Time To Splain. Let Me Sum Up. Joanna Newsom, Swan Lake,

Joanna Newsom Ys First things first. If you're gonna like Ys by Joanna Newsom you have to like post-rock played by a classically trained harpist. I don't mean that you find post-rock harp interesting. I mean you really have to like post-rock harp. It's not the type of album that you're going to sit down, listen to, and be in love with on the first listen. I've been trying to listen to this one for a week straight now with mixed results. The talent and the artistic ambition are unquestionable, but I find it seriously lacking in things like melody and memorable songs. Words like wandering and meandering invetably come to mind when you have five songs that clock in at over 50 minutes. Let's just say that Ys is one to grow on and leave it at that. Ys by Joanna Newsom is a 5 out of 10 on The Rockometer Swan Lake Beast Moans If you totally dig Dan Bejar's Detroyer and New Pornographers, and if you totally dig Spencer Krug's Wolf Parade and Sunset Rubdown, and if you totally dig Casey Mercer's Frog Eyes, then no doubt you're going to be in love with Beast Moans the new one by Canadian supergroup Swan Lake. Personally, I'm a New Pornographers fan, but not so much a fan of Destroyer. I'm a Wolf Parade fan, but, again, I'm not so big on Sunset Rubdown. Oh, and I've never listened to Frog Eyes. Inconceivable, I know. At first I had a hard time deciding how I felt about Swan Lake, and what it came down to was that I had spent way too much time trying to come up with a good way to critically dissect this disc. Do I treat Swan Lake as a new band that I've never heard of? Do I hold Swan Lake to a higher standard since I know the unquestioned talent of its members? Or, do I acknowledge the musical lineage of all three members, yet listen to Swan Lake without any prejudice? In the end I've decided to turn my mind off and sit back, listen, and let all of the music sink its way into my mind. This method has been by far the most rewarding. Two of my favorite numbers are the quieter ones. Spencer's "All Fires" and Dan Bejar's "The Freedom." At first both of these songs may seem underwhelming for a supergroup. However, with additional listens, the layers of sound, and the competing background melodies emerge, and instead of being simple, they're simply stunning. "Nubile Days" has the feel of a Wolf Parade tune. It has that controlled chaos led by the manic mind of Spencer Krug and still underneath all that madness is a memorable melody. The Spencer Krug led, "City Calls" has this strange St Petersburg ballet vs Wolf Parade vibe going on that I find so fascinating. Perhaps, "Are You Swimming In Her Pools" is the best example on Beast Moans of the combined talents of Bejar, Krug, and Mercer. At it's heart, it's a pop gem that would sound sweet and gentle if played by The Pornographers. Instead, in Swan Lake, Spencer brings the weird to the party, and the result is something pleasingly delicate, strange, and stunning. Beast Moans by Swan Lake is an 8 out of 10 on The Rockometer Swan Lake - The Freedom.mp3 Swan Lake on Jagjaguwar

We're All Such Beautiful Targets

Hopewell released the six song ep, Notbirds, last week, and damn, this one has been stuck in my sound system ever since. It's not earth shattering, it's not ear splitting, it's simply a fine listen. There's one song on this ep in particular that I can't escape, and that's "Beautiful Targets." It was recorded in one day with the help of Mercury Rev. It has this easy country-fried psychelic feel accompanied by some well placed atmospherics and memorable lines like "We are such beautiful targets/We are such endless heartaches." I can listen to this one over and over and over again. And I do. Hopewell - Beautiful Targets.mp3 The Notbirds ep is out now on eMusic, iTunes and you can order it directly from the band. Just follow that Hopewell link below. Hopewell photo courtesy of Scott Irvine

Orphans by Tom Waits in Stores This Week

I know to some of you out there in I Rock Cleveland land, Orphans, the new three cd set by Tom Waits, due out on Tuesday, is a very, very big deal. Well, this past weekend, John Soeder of the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote a rather lengthy interview with the legendary songwriter. It's a must read for all you Tom Waits fanatics. Also, in other Orphans related news, beginning today you can stream the entire three cd set over at AOL Music.

Black Keys, Black Angels, and Houseguest. Cleveand Agora. 11.18.06

Last night was the homecoming show for Akron's Black Keys as their neverending tour that covered both coasts, as well as Europe, and has seen them share stages with Pearl Jam and Radiohead, finally brought them back to Northeast Ohio. A large crowd of friends, family, and rockers was there ready to lend their enthusiastic support. The Black Keys, are arguably the biggest band to come from these parts since Nine Inch Nails, and at first it may seem a little odd that so many people would turn out for a stripped down blues rock duo. However, once they hit that stage, and Pat Carney starts pounding the drums like rock and roll will be the death of him, and Dan Auerbach starts channeling those ghosts of blues legends gone by, it's no longer surprising why Cleveland loves their Keys. It's impossible not to be moved by their performance. There's so much genuine love and passion for the music. After signing to Nonesuch, they had the opportunity and the money to take their music in a new direction, they could have expanded their sound, but they choose to stay true to their roots. I think they made the right call. Their set drew evenly from all of their releases and included such Black Keys Classics like "Stack Shot Betty", "Have Love Will Travel", and "Set You Free," as well as some of the fine rockers from their newest effort, Magic Potion, like "Strange Desire" and Your Touch." The Black Angels set the stage for The Black Keys, and they did such a damn good job of it that for a moment I was left wondering how the Keys would ever follow them. I had seen The Black Angels earlier in the year when they headlined the Beachland Tavern and was looking forward to seeing them on a big stage with a big soundsystem. I had a hunch (a very well educated one) that their psychedelic wall of sound would be perfect for The Agora. From the first notes of "Young Men Dead" until they closed their set with "All Tomorrow's Parties" their sound was so large on the floor that it covered every inch of your body. It may have been the hummus I ate earlier in the day, or it may have been The Black Angels, but I swear they came closer than anyone to finding that oft-rumored brown note. After hearing the marauding "Black Grease", the evil tribal pounding of "The First Vietnamese War", and the slow droning madness of "Ronette's Jam" it was clear that they had found the perfect home for their sound. This is music that demands the volume and accoustics that only a large hall can offer. Akron's power pop rock masterpiece, Houseguest, were first to take the stage. Not taking themselves too seriously (do they ever) and not being intimidated by the larger venue, they were in fine form as they treated the crowd to such soon to be classics as "Dive Deep" and "Muted Mesa" from their Audio Eagle debut, High Strangeness. I've seen Houseguest at least five times in the past year, and they never disappoint.

The I Rock Cleveland Radness Guarantee

I'm not one to make guarantees, but I'm going to make one today. The Black Keys and Black Angels show, Saturday night at The Cleveland Agora will be rad. In fact, it's going to be so rad that I'm willing to give it the official I Rock Cleveland Radness Guarantee. This, my dear readers, is an unprecedented move, on my part. This is the first concert that has ever been given this much sought after designation. I may have guaranteed cool, awesome, or excellent, or rockin in the past, but never, ever rad. Should you attend this show Saturday night and can honestly tell me that it wasn't rad, well, then I'm not sure there's hope. Your rock and roll soul may indeed be lost for all eternity. Now, as if you need any help getting stoked for this one, NPR has posted The Black Keys and Black Angels live from the 9:30 club in Washington DC from earlier this month, and you know what? It's rad. The Black Keys - Live at the 9:30 Club.mp3 The Black Angels - Live at the 9:30 Club.mp3 The Black Keys and Black Angels Live From the 9:30 Club (via NPR) The Black Keys The Black Angels

Hello Zune. It's me, Bill from I Rock Cleveland

I knew a lot about Zune before our first meeting. I was already familiar with the tech specs and had seen plenty of pictures. Unfortunately, not all of the pre-release coverage had been positive. The design had already been labeled as large, clunky, and uninspiring. Stories had started appearing on the internet that the software was nearly impossible to load. I was worried. I'm using an old clunker of a laptop that doesn't have a working cd-rom drive, a working usb port, or a working sound card. I have a pci card with two usb ports. One port is for a cd-rom drive and the other for a sound card. I had tried to install IE 7 two weeks prior to no avail. Not even the microsoft recommended registry hacks could get IE 7 to load. If the reports were reports were to believed that the zune software couldn't be installed on a near virgin pc, what hope was there for me? Our First Meeting Maybe the internet adds 15 ounces to your weight. How else could one explain Zune's uninspring glamour shots? Out of the box, I was surprised that it's design had been routinely panned. Even though Zune is larger than a comparable iPod, I didn't find it too heavy or unwieldly. The black finish of my zune had a nice, soft feel to it. The interface is simple with one circular multidirectional button underneath the 3" LCD screen, and one additional button on either side of it. Loading the zune software was simple. I pressed next a few times, my machine needed one reboot, and I was up and running. Since I have a sizable music library, roughly 25 Gb on my hard drive, it did take a bit for it to load once I was at that part of the installation process. It would take two days for me to realize that not all of my library had loaded. I probably found 2 or 3 discs worth of mp3s that didn't make it in on the first try. The initial view of the Zune music library is an album view with album artwork. The artwork load wasn't too successful. Roughly 1 out of 4 albums that did have artwork mistakenly had Houseguest artwork. I always thought Houseguest deserved more attention. Quality Time I'm a man. I only refer to instructions when they are absolutely necessary. That being said, I refused to read one piece of documentation on either the player or the software before using it. I followed the on-screen instructions to set up the zune player and should be able to unplug from my laptop and use it, right? The Zune player start up screen loads with a menu for music, video, and pictures. I was smart enough to figure out the up and down navigation using the multidirectional button, and either by chance, or experiment, I found the select button in the middle it. The play button is situated on the right, and again by chance or experiment, I figured out that the left button served as a back button. I wanted to see what this baby could do, so I went straight for the pre-loaded Hot Chip video, and damn. I was impressed. The Zune switches to a landscape view when in video mode. The display is sharp and fills the entire screen and the movement is very fluid. The sound quality using the pre-packaged earbuds is good. The tone is very clear and there is a fair degree of separation. It improved drastically after I plugged in a pair of $20 Sony headphones. Splurge for some high-end headphones and prepare yourself to be blown away. After watching the pre-loaded content, I wanted to add some of my tunes and a couple more videos. Remember, I didn't read any instructions, and yet, I was able to easily find the synch icon in the Zune software. Synching up my Zune was simple. The synch icon activates a load area on the right side of the software. Items can be dragged and dropped from your music library, your desktop, or any explorer window. A long list of mp3s will load rather quickly, while videos will take a considerably longer time to load. While waiting for two Black Angles videos to load, I had plenty of time to search the internet for nude photos, umm...I mean new photos for my zune. One aspect of Zune that I was unable to test was its wi-fi capabilities. As of right now, zune's firmware only allows for wireless zune to zune sharing and then songs shared via zune have a three play/three day limitation. From what I understand, there is a lot more functionality to be used here, but the firmware would need to be upgraded before zune can fully take advantage of wi-fi. Now that being said, I would still like to try this out, so if you're in Cleveland, and you'd like to zune me, drop me an email, and we can set up some play time. And The Verdict The more time I've spent with Zune the more I enjoy it. While Zune may not be the sexiest mp3 player out there, it more than makes up for its high quality playback. I consider myself an audiophile, and I can find no faults with the sound. In fact, I would say that it sounds awesome. Couple this with its high quality video playback, and it exceeds the basic needs of an mp3 player. Is Zune a threat to Apple? It's hard to say. With all of Microsoft's marketing might and their huge market share in operating systems, Microsoft shouldn't have a difficult time becoming the number two in the mp3 player market. Overtaking Apple, and their 75% market share in mp3 players is a totally different task. There is a huge cult of apple out there. Go to any message board, and you can find plenty of people dismissing Zune with little or no basis for their spite. Microsoft needs to convince a nation of Coke drinkers that they should be drinking Pepsi, and that isn't going to happen overnight.

The Six Part Seven's MP3EP

A couple weeks back, I was fortunate enough to catch Kent's instrumental post-rock magicians, The Six Parts Seven, as they opened up a show for Beaten Awake and Califone at the Beachland Tavern. Their set that night drew heavily from their forthcoming disc, Casually Smashed To Pieces. Though not due out until January 27th, the fine folks at Suicide Squeeze, have put up an mp3 ep from The Six Parts Seven that includes two tracks from Casually Smashed To Pieces (including "Stolen Moments"), as well as two tracks from each of their other three full lengths. If you're not familiar with The Six Parts Seven, then think of post-rock like Mogwai, but more concerned with melody and subtle dynamics, than with the brute force approach of tension and release. The Six Parts Seven - Stolen Moments.mp3 The Six Parts Seven MP3EP (via Suicide Squeeze) The Six Parts Seven Suicide Squeeze

Awesome, Awesome, and Definitely Not Awesome

Awesome Four Tet has remixed the Archie Bronson Outfit's "Dead Funny," and the results, well, they're awesome. Where the original thrives on marching tension and stuttering guitar lines, the Four Tet Remix, retains that tension amidst these other-worldly beeps. Archie Bronson Outfit - Dead Funny (Four Tet Remix).mp3 Awesome Thanks to some friends of mine, we have the fresh version of "Loser Crew" by Pablo complete with the "F Bomb" at the end of the song. Oh, can I tell you the frustration when I would see this band featured here and there, and they have this great lead single, and every download was cleaned of it's lone "F Bomb." Pablo - Loser Crew (Complete With F Bomb).mp3 Definitely Not Awesome Reading Spin.com the other day, I came across this article for the French songstress, Emilie Simon. I read a bunch of words, she sounded sweet enough, and at the end of the article was a cover of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" by Iggy Pop. Sadly, if you had the misfortune of listening to this track (like I did) you wasted three minutes with one of the worst covers ever. Instead of the growling and howling, "I Wanna Be Your Dog" of old, we're offered, "Gee, wouldln't it be sweet, if like I could be your dog for a day. I would be really nice. We can pretend to be dirty and rock and roll. Please honey."

I Didn't Do It, But...

A coworker passed this link along to me today: OJ To Discuss Killings This is really too much. OJ basically says in the interview, "I didn't do it, but if I did do it, let me tell you how I would have done it."

Le Music of Le Firm Is Perfect For A Grey Day

It's November in Cleveland and that can only mean one thing: the onset of the grey season. Today's a rather grey day, and, as usual there will be plenty more grey days in our future until next Spring. Going through my tunes this afternoon, I came across this track by Le Firm, "Catching Up With Something Gone." I gave it a couple spins, looked out the window of the Solon Caribou Coffee, and said, "This song is today." The hushed accoustic guitar played in a loop, the sparse beats, and the intermitent sad, sad horns, all say, grey day, as they convey that inevitable fall feeling that our better days are behind us. Le Firm - Catching Up With Something Gone.mp3 Le Firm recently released their debut ep, Flugsport. It's available now on iTunes and eMusic. Le Firm

"The Fatalist" by Robbers On High Street

Sitting somewhere between later era Spoon, and early era Strokes, is "The Fatalist" by Robbers on High Street. It's smart, bouncy, and jangly. The bassline makes this tune, moving the song along at a clip perfect for toe tapping and head bopping, while the keys guitars chime in at all the right moments. This song practically stinks of cool -- ideal for hipsters, wanna be hipsters, or people simply looking to increase their cool quotient a bit. Robbers on High Street - The Fatalist.mp3 The Fatalist is available now on the electronic ep, The Fatalist and Friends. Coming this Spring, The Robbers will be dropping their next full length, Grand Animals. Also of note, Robbers On High Street will