Popsicle Review: Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel

Well, I finally had a chance to fully listen and digest Bradford Cox's latest release under his solo moniker, Atlas Sound. I didn't have much solo-Bradford experience beyond a cover of Grizzly Bear's "Knife" (Which I didn't quite get) and a few singles here and there. To put it bluntly, I've never been very impressed. Which is why this record absolutely blew me away. Each song has its own unique charm as well as a very prsonal aspect. One song is about a girl who Cox proposed to (in 5th grade), another is about a death in his family that hit him hard, and there is even one inspired by bite marks left after a homosexual make out session. The only negative aspect of it was the dreamy, atmospheric texture seemed to shroud Cox's melodies. But when you step back and look at this album as a whole or peer into the minutae of synths and fuzzy guitar you will not be dissappointed.

Commercial Humor

I was going to lay off on commenting on Art Brut's latest break into Hollywood with their T Mobile commercial. But then I saw another troubling advertisement that also caught my eye. Two men, from different sectors of "show business", who I find humorous and entertaining have made the jump, or should I say plummet, into mainstream television advertisement. T Mobile fails to harness the humorous nature of the Art Brut front man Eddie Argos, and Denny's makes a mockery of Paulie "Walnuts" in their respective commercials. You have to head over to Idolator to check out the Argos ad but we have poor Tony Sirico's Denny's sell right here.

Popsicle Review: Heretic Pride

The hardest bands to review are those who have released wide discographies that span decades as well as those who have transformed over time making it nearly impossible to compare their early work with new releases. The Mountain Goats, however, posess both of these features. With nearly three-hundred songs under his belt and a career reaching back to his reggae days in college in the early nineties, as well as a stark contrast between the type and quality of music produced, any new release by John Darnielle is very hard to review and rate.

I like to break John down into two eras: the Panasonic Boombox era, and the studio era. Since Heretic Pride fits into the latter, its easiest to review it with albums like Tallahassee, The Sunset Tree, and Get Lonely in mind. The record opens with a Sax Rohmer #1 in which we see John pounding on the guitar and belting out his highly lyrical prose. After hearing this single I had such high hope for the new album that I actually knew I would be disappointed. And as I foretold I was, slightly.

The album begins to sound too predictable and because of how over-produced he is now it almost overshadows his lyrical genius. The record has no memorable lines, and something that Darnielle is great at doing is putting a phrase into our minds forever. It seems that John has completely shifted his focus onto his music rather than his lyrics which is very troubling for any true Mountain Goats fan. This album is far more listenable than the last release from Darnielle, Get Lonely, but The Sunset Tree still overpowers any of his other studio releases to this date. It seems that all Darnielle fans can hope for is his return to the old boombox recordings.

Rating: 5 Popsicles
[Since this is the first review I'll explain the rating system. The album will get from 1 to 10 popsicles, 10 being perfect and 1 being Icky Thump]

Happy Birthday J Dilla

On the 10th it will have been 2 years since J Dilla passed away. Dilla is one of my favorite producers of all time, and his music never seems to lose that spark it had when I first heard it. Today is Dilla's birthday, if you have never heard his work, give yourself a present and check some out.
Grab the Thank you Jay Dee Act 3 Podcast on itunes. Over an hour of Dilla classics.

Some standout dilla tracks...

A Tribe Called Quest-1nce again


This song changed how I thought about hip hop. 1996. I didn't even know what a producer was then. 10 years later I realized Dilla did the beat.

J Dilla - Nothing Like This

When I first heard this song I wasn't sure what to think. A bit different, but the video is great.

J Dilla - Won't Do

Classic Dilla style and swagger. Posthumous video featuring his brother.

Highlights from Donuts

10 Minutes of Donuts, if these don't get your head nodding I don't know what will.

Ghostface in Rehab!

Big Doe Rehab, that is. In the video from his first single off of "The Big Doe Rehab", we see Ghostface Killah in all his glory, discussing what he has been doing to fight his addiction. Ghost can't quite kick his old habits, and this hot nurse isn't helping.

Celebrate!

Lil' Wayne Still Loves Coke

After being arrested on yet another drug charge one would assume the high profile, yet inordinately relaxed rapper Lil' Wayne would probably lay low on the drug glamourization. But after viewing his new, live video, which was shot in San Diego, of his newest song "Gossip", it seems that he might have upped his drug reppin'. The crowd goes wild everytime Weezy snorts some "air coke". I'm sure his lawyers hope that he'll start "using his head" and keep the drug references to a minimum... well at least until his arraignment.