DELTRON 3030 RECOMMENDED: Julian Casablancas – Phrazes for the Young
Quite often you’ll hear a band’s sound described as producing a combined effect greater than the sum of its separate parts This is usually a very sound and valid statement. I believe the office buzz word you are looking for here is “synergy”. Guns and Roses are a great example of a band’s synergy. I loved the hell out of classic G-N-R but I never ever wanted to listen to Slash’s Snake Pit or Izzy Stradlin and the JuJu Hounds….and I wasn’t alone. There was deep seeded logic for my disdain for these solo projects as
1) they were not good.
2) I’d always wonder what group efforts I was missing because of someone’s misguided solo work.
It would always come down to the relationship you had with the band. You almost felt as if you were cheating if you put your time, effort, and money behind their solo work. As a kid I can recall being crippled with fear thinking “Oh no, What if CC Deville’s solo album goes triple platinum!? We’ll never see Poison get back together!”. Young Del didn’t want to live in a world where Poison didn’t exist. Lucky for him CC Deville never did release a solo album. Instead he did lots and lots of cocaine. As i grew older and learned about relationship dynamics I realized that people need their alone time to grow and explore new facets of themselves. In the end it benefits everyone. No one more so then the members of The Strokes. I’ll gladly sign off on the end of the Strokes if that means I get awesome solo albums like “Phrazes for the Young”, “Yours to Keep”, & “Little Joy”. Left to his own devices on “Phrazes for the Young” Casablancas trades in his signature monotone garage rock strokes crooning sound in for a new monotone dance groove.
Baby steps.
Highlights: Left & Right in the Dark, 11th Dimension
When Am I Ever Going to Grow Up?
I wrote the title for this and it made me giggle silently to myself. The problem with the title is that I’m a 33 year old, with three kids and am completely responsible with a home under my belt to prove it. I throw dinner parties, birthday parties, cook for all of my friends and I can even make a killer Martini. The issue is that I’m 33 years old and still think like I’m 17 about a lot of silly things. I’ll give you a few examples to explain, the most recent happening a few weeks ago.
The Pixies were in town. This is one of, if not my absolute favorite bands. Ok, it’s neck and neck with The Pixies, The Clash, Minor Threat and Black Flag – but you get the idea. Now the last few times The Pixies have been in town one of two things occurred. I got so excited that I drank too much and ended up far more drunk than I should have been and had to be babysat all night by an unhappy boyfriend and or I would get so excited that would literally not be able to stop jumping around and or would get annoyed with the people around me because I couldn’t figure out for the life of me why they were all standing there staring at the most amazing band and NOT jumping around?
So The Pixies announced their Doolittle Tour and then I found out it was at The Hollywood Palladium. The HOLLYWOOD FUCKING PALLADIUM – where I spent almost every month, in my youth, watching some of the most amazing shows of all time (for the 90’s that is). I was thrilled and very much beginning to revert to the 17 year old. I was listening to Doolittle over and over again. Counting down the days till the show! However, I was also promising myself that I wouldn’t drink too much so I could really enjoy the show. I wore a cute skirt, put on some pretty make-up, and showed up on time with a friend that I had convinced needed to see this band with me. Off we went. I had a cocktail before I left the house and thought – Perfect – this is going swimmingly! Then I show up at the show and someone I know hands me a water bottle and says, “Here drink this quick” (It didn’t have water in it – by the way). So I do. Now, I am entering The Palladium and ever more excited!!! Woo-Hoo – The Pixies!!!! Then I think I should grab a beer because I am not leaving the show for anything!!! (more…)
OUT TO SEE: The Pixies
The First No. Before tickets went on sale, I learned via Facebook that many of my friends were excited about heading to the Palladium to see The Pixies. A friend asked me if I wanted to go to one of the shows. I declined. I feared that I wouldn’t be able to go, because I had an important work deadline scheduled for the first week of November.
The Second No. With a couple days before the Palladium dates, another friend asked if I was going to see The Pixies. I responded in the negative. I stated that I just didn’t want to spend the money purchasing a ticket to an event I wasn’t sure I’d get to attend.
Maybe. Of course, with the date closing in, I was starting to feel this urge to just go. Perhaps if I just got ahead of my work, it would work out, I thought. Around this time frame, I sent an e-mail to a friend asking how Monday night at the El Rey went. She responded back by saying that she didn’t know why I was asking that question. I was a little bewildered as she had told me how excited she was to head out to the El Rey to see the White Rabbits. It dawned on her that she’d totally forgotten about the concert and demanded to know why I hadn’t reminded her about it. I was like, Is it my responsibility to remind you about a concert you were planning on attending? After our brief e-mail argument about who was responsible for remembering that Monday date, she asked if I wanted an extra ticket to see The Pixies.
The Answer is Yes. (more…)
DELTRON 3030′S TOP 10 OF 2009
Filter just released their top ten album list for 2009 and this is what it looks like
1. Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino)
2. Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Glassnote)
3. Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest (Warp)
4. Miike Snow, Miike Snow (Downtown)
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, It’s Blitz! (Interscope)
6. Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Elvis Perkins in Dearland (XL)
7. Cass McCombs, Catacombs (Domino)
8. Passion Pit, Manners (Frenchkiss)
9. The Antlers, Hospice (Frenchkiss)
10. White Rabbits, It’s Frightening (TBD)
While I agree with many of their selections I can’t get past two errors:
1) Not slotting The Antlers at number one. (OK it is official -They should go ahead and process that restraining order now.
2) Leaving off the XX.. The XX’s debut record is an amazing album that deserves a top ten slotting.
I don’t want to define this as a travesty against humanity because we should save that word for the abomination that is MTV’s Jersey Shore. Instead let us simply call this an oversight. Allow me to correct these mistakes now with my rushed top ten.
Del’s top ten of 2009
1 The Antlers – Hospice (more…)
DELTRON 3030 RECOMMENDED: Beach House – Teen Dream
“Dru Hill, Jimmy’s Chicken Shack, Dan Deacon, Animal Collective”
Those were my answers when someone last week asked me to name famous bands to have come from Baltimore. A pretty sad sampling that got even worse after I referenced Wikipedia and learned that everyone’s least favorite pop punk twins, The Madden Brothers of Good Charlotte, are Baltimorons too. An odd topic of conversation but I felt the need to share because I was surprised by the dearth of music that the city has produced. Murders, yes. Kick ass bands, not so much. Honestly if not for Dan Deacon and Animal Collective we’d be looking at Jimmy’s Chicken Shack as the city’s musical treasure. The question they raised on their brain rotting one hit wonder is a good one for Baltimore:
Clearly the answer isn’t “Churn out tons of respectable bands”
Baltimore your music scene* is for shit….and Cal Ripken was a selfish bastard, but at least you gave us the gritty streets of “The Wire”…and the woozy dream pop of “Beach House”. Yep, they’re from Baltimore too. Who knew!?
Beach House is the perfect name for this band as it accurately conveys the sound that they present. A cozy warmth washes over their music like a lazy weekend @ Long Beach Island….far far far away from the mooks of the real Jersey Shore. Beach House is a welcome addition to the softer side of the itunes library. ….I just wish they chose a different title for the album. Typing “Teen Dream” just feels immensely wrong…but not as wrong as when I did a Google image search for the “Teen Dream” album cover.
People, think before you search…or make sure you have the safe search toggled on.
Highlights: “Norway,” “Walk In The Park,”
*As it turns out Frank Zappa was also from Baltimore, but screw it I’m sticking to my guns . As great as “Joe’s Garage” is Frank Zappa gets canceled out for bringing Dweezil and Ahmed Zappa into the world.