Blackmore’s Night – Shadow of the Moon
Release date: February 9, 2010
[amazon.com]

This cover is on the verge of being something really ludicrous, but there are a couple things saving it. One is that this was originally released over 10 years ago. How many things that far in our past do we regret? Secondly, Blackmore wrote one of the most memorable rock riffs of the last century in Smoke on the Water. That covers a multitude of artistic sins.

I get the feeling this Saturday Night Live skit is a lot more true-to-life than you might expect. I wonder how many dudes in suits get the itch to go rage with their old hardcore punk buddies from the early ’80s. You know, after the finish the back nine.

Those Strange Boys are smart. They developed a secret hat delivery system all on their own.

The Strange Boys – Heard You Wanna Beat Me Up

:: Allison Moorer, Crows (Rykodisc)

:: AM, Future Sons & Daughters (Filter)

:: Angelo Spencer, Et Les Hauts Sommets (K)

:: Animal Liberation Orchestra, Man of the World (Brushfire)

:: Annotations Of An Autopsy, The Reign Of Darkness (Nuclear Blast)

:: Arsis, Starve For The Devil (Nuclear Blast)

:: Beach Fossils, Daydream (Captured Tracks)

:: Ben+Vesper, LuvInIdleness (Sounds Familyre)

:: Bigga Haitian, Sak Pase (Walkup)

:: Blessure Grave, Judged By Twelve, Carried By Six (Alien8)

:: Bluebrain, Soft Power (Lujo)

:: Dark Fortress, Ylem (Century Media)

:: Daughters, N/A (Hydra Head)

:: Dessa, Badly Broken Code (101 Distribution)

:: Fair, Disappearing World (Tooth & Nail)

:: Fear Factory, Mechanize (Candlelight)

:: Fionn Regan, Shadow of An Empire (Phantom Sound & Vision)

:: Galactic, Ya-Ka-May (Anti-)

:: Georgia Anne Muldrow, King’s Ballad (Ubiquity)

:: Gil Scott-Heron, I’m New Here (XL)

:: Hanoi Janes, Summer of Panic (Captured Tracks)

:: HIM, Screamworks: Love In Theory And Practice (Reprise)

:: Hot Chip, One Life Stand (Astralwerks)

:: Hunx and His Punx, Gay Singles (True Panther)

:: Icarus Witch, Draw Down the Moon (Cleopatra)

:: Kath Bloom, Thin Thin Line (Caldo Verde)

:: Laura Gibson & Ethan Rose, Bridge Carols (Holocene Music)

:: Lionel Loueke, Mwaliko (Blue Note)

:: Look What I Did, Atlas Drugged (Modernist Movement)

:: Massive Attack, Heligoland (Virgin)

:: Meshuggah, Alive DVD (Nuclear Blast)

:: Orphaned Land, The Never Ending Way Of ORWarriOR (Century Media)

:: Overkill, Ironbound (E1)

:: Pantha du Prince, Black Noise (Rough Trade)

:: Phantogram, Eyelid Movies (Barsuk)

:: Rammstein, Ich Tu Dir Weh (Vagrant)

:: Redman, Reggie Noble 9 1/2 (Def Jam)

:: Sade, Soldier of Love (Sony)

:: Screaming Females, Singles (Don Giovanni)

:: The Watson Twins, Talking to You, Talking to Me (Vanguard)

:: Theodore, Hold You Like a Lover (Misra)

:: Title Tracks, It Was Easy (Ernest Jenning)

:: Undersea Poem, Undersea Poem (Six Degrees)

:: Yeasayer, Odd Blood (Secretly Canadian)

:: You Say Party We Say Die, XXXX (Paper Bag)

Did I miss anything important? I probably did. Post it in the comments.

:: I’ve thought for a while that Vampire Weekend can at times write decent songs, only to ruin them by performing said songs. Turns out, they’re pretty good at ruining other people’s music, too.

:: Michael Jackson’s doctor was officially charged with manslaughter. That will almost certainly absolve Jacko of any culpability in his own death for most folks. And that’s good, because we all know he was never guilty of anything strange or bad. Obviously.

:: Sounds like the real reason Noel said no thanks to Oasis was so he could fulfill his secret dream of being a soccer referee.

:: Proof of the impending apocalypse number 3,149: Pete Wentz and Craig Owens are joining forces for a band.

:: You’re hurting my heart here, Slash. Did you have to pick the Alter Bridge dude to front your band on tour? Then again, you could’ve done worse. At least he doesn’t have red cornrows and bad plastic surgery.

:: Random tracks that don’t suck:
Death – Politicians in My Eyes
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson – The Sound
My Morning Jacket – Heartbreakin’ Man

In addition to streaming and giving away the new album from Chandra and Leigh, better known as The Watson Twins, we talked to them about the new record, where they live and Sesame Street.

Talking to You, Talking to Me displays a bit of a departure from your last couple of records. Was it just something you stumbled into, or were you trying to find something in particular musically?

As musicians we are always pushing ourselves creatively… that being said we wanted to try and explore sounds that had always inspired us, but we had yet to dig in to on previous albums. Recording with Russell Pollard and J. Soda, long time producers and two of our best friends, helped to create a really comfortable environment that allowed us to have fun with the songs. A lot of the tracks were recorded with the band live in the studio, all of us playing in one room together, which also helped to create the vibe of the record and the sonic shifts.

Louisville and Los Angeles are very disparate locations. How did making that change of scenery affect your music?

We have always done a lot of traveling in our lives… from the time we were very young, we’d set off in the family van and spend many hours driving to some southern locale. That along with traveling in Europe and going to school in the U.K., we had already seen quite a bit of the world by the time we got to L.A., so moving to Los Angeles was just part of the adventure.

Folks online started buzzing about The Watson Twins after this last run you did with Jenny Lewis. Has that groundswell of chatter been palpable in terms of fan support?

Definitely, there are certainly fans who became aware of TWT through Jenny’s record Rabbit Fur Coat and then there are a whole slew of folks who come to our shows, that believe or not, don’t know that record at all. A lot of that has to do with the types of fans who come to our shows… we have the hardcore Indie Rock fans and then we have mainstream music listeners, 14-year-old girls, country music aficionados, etc., etc… our music, because it crosses a lot of genres, also creates a really diverse fan base.

What was the worst experience you ever had playing a show?

Hmmm… being sick and having to play is always the worst… whether it’s food poisoning, the flu, a cold, sore throat, laryngitis… it is no fun having to bumble through the set when you know there is no way possible to give your best performance. So “worst experience” is tough… there’s been quite a few rough ones over the last 5 years. ha!

What single album has had the most influence on your music?

Wow, really tough question. Don’t know if this is “the most influential” but there was a record called In Harmony (a Sesame Street LP) we used to listen to non-stop as kids… it was a children’s record that featured all the heavy hitters of the day: The Doobie Brothers, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Bette Midler, Linda Ronstadt, etc. We sang those songs from morning till night, and still to this day when we need a laugh will launch in to a verse of Blueberry Pie… music has always been a passion for us, and I think it started way back when we were just two little girls listening records and singing along.

To enter the contest, send an email to contest@buzzgrinder.com with TWINS in the subject line and NO if you don’t want to receive our newsletter. Deadline to enter is Feb. 13 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Open to U.S. residents only.

Even though the Super Bowl halftime show has been consumed with legacy acts the last few years, 2010’s broadcast did give ample airtime to music written after 1985. Granted, it was in ads — but since you have to drop a couple million to get on the air, it’s still meaningful. Then again, maybe it just means the down economy affords large corporations less money for licensing fees.

Either way, one of the few humorous commercials involved Tracy Morgan getting punched by Stevie Wonder — while Grizzly Bear’s Two Weeks plays in the background.

Additionally, that Arcade Fire song we wondered about was used on numerous NFL promos, but the only thing I could think was, “Wait, this isn’t Where the Wild Things Are.”

Because of some crazy/loud shenanigans during the Super Bowl party I attended, I missed the Foxy Shazam jam that was supposed to be used somewhere. Did anyone else catch it? Were there other bands that got some love last night?

• 1. Modern Man
• 2. Harpeth River
• 3. Forever Me
• 4. Midnight
• 5. Savin’ You
• 6. Brave One
• 7. Devil In You
• 8. Snow Canyons
• 9. Tell Me Why
• 10. Calling Out
• 11. Give Me A Chance
• 12. U-N-Me