Since it’s Fourth of July weekend around these parts, everybody needs to take a moment to remember how lucky Americans are that they have the freedom to wear skin-tight jeans and dye the tips of their hair pink while listening to mashups and double-fisting cans of PBR. Ah yes, only in America.
Only in America. Enjoy the fireworks, and the freedom.
All of the bad stuff that happens to the protagonist could have been avoided if he just would’ve stopped using Windows. If you don’t believe me, just watch around the 1:46 mark. It was the real source of all his torment.
Poor guy.
Delain - April Rain
Release date: June 30, 2009
[amazon.com
I feel for session musicians. They get second billing while some moderately-talented floozy flops on stage to relative glory. When I saw this, I thought it was cool that at least some of the band was silhouetted on the cover. Then I found out it was an actual band, and the one who started it is one of the detached shadows you see in the back. Something went wrong somewhere, but maybe that’s just how it is when your website is found at a .nl top-level domain.
You know what kills me? I’ll tell you what. When scene kids and trust-fund hipsters admit to enjoying a little classic country and western, it’s only for the kitsch value. Sure it’s fun when irony is involved, but really it’s just for rednecks and idiots.
So when you talk about putting someone like Johnny Cash or Townes Van Zandt in the same stratosphere as Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen — well, you get laughed at. Oh sure, they’ll appreciate it when it can be labeled folk, but they’ve got no love for the twang. Sometimes that’s even the case when you’re talking to somebody who the alt-country scene today. Sad, really.
I’m lucky enough to live in a city where the scene has an appreciation for it, and I know more than a few folks who I can geek out with while discussing The Flying Burrito Brothers and Buck Owens. But the afforementioned phenomenon is still far too prevalent here and around the country.
But enough with the ranting. I just want to know what classic country troubadours do it for you. Hank Williams? Chet Atkins? Bobby Bare? Louvin Brothers? Lefty Frizzell? Gram Parsons? Waylon Jennings? I need to know.
I almost gave up on this video for Strictly Game. I thought, “How can this Harlem Shakes video be so bad? There’s no way they thought they could get away with that whole posting a bunch of stupid pictures all the way through deal.”
Then I figured it out. Sorry for doubting you, Harlem Shakes. Egg on my face.
It’s hard for me to think about how it’s possible to see Andrew Bird and St. Vincent together and not leave smiling. It’s practically like watching a baby eat cupcakes while playing with a kitten and a puppy set to Fill Me Up Buttercup. So even a stick in the mud like myself isn’t immune.
Which is why I’ll be heading up to Bogarts for the Cincinnati date on their tour together. I’ll come out of there grinning ear to ear. Puppies.
I guess maybe Dolly Parton and Michael Jackson were friends because they had about the same amount of plastic surgery, but I’m not really sure why Parton felt the urge to vlog about him. Or why she expected anyone to care.
Then again, she did record Jolene before she got all cracked out from her addiction to botox and collagen — so that counts for something.
What I really want to know is this, though: Where are the Crystal Gale and Tanya Tucker vlog tributes to Billy Mays?
So Patterson Hood and Will Johnson both threw down at Headliners, and they were super nice dudes to boot. I also got to talk to my boys Jim James and Craig Pfunder about bluegrass, butts and Thomas Merton afterward. Needless to say, it was a lovely evening.
Patterson Hood - I Understand Now
Will Johnson - Just to Know What You’ve Been Dreaming
So Bruce Springsteen joined The Gaslight Anthem on stage to perform The 59 Sound during Glastonbury. What a shocking pairing. It’s like that time Joey Ramone did a set with The Huntingtons, only more obvious. Yes, more obvious.
