Pop Is Dead

Cultural Commentary: Argument For Piracy

2009-08-31T18:59:00.000-07:00

Well, I pirate a lot and I did a speech last year for a class I took at my university. I was going to make a big post with the speech because I interviewed a lot of artists for it, but never got around to it. Anyways, I have a lot of things bookmarked from it and I'm cleaning out my bookmarks. So instead of just deleting them, here they are! PS: This blog is pretty much dead. Keeping the domain for future reference to eventually live the dream of running a legit and consistent album review blog.

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/03/the-first-major/
http://channels.isp.netscape.com/celebrity/celebgossip.jsp?feature=ce_cel_12152005
http://torrentfreak.com/raiohead-to-testify-against-the-riaa-090404/
http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/07/itunes-store-now-infected-with-variable-pricing-amazon-still-0/
http://torrentfreak.com/disaster-no-one-pirates-or-downloads-our-music-for-free-090324/
http://torrentfreak.com/mininova-trial-due-in-two-months-090316/
http://torrentfreak.com/how-to-kill-the-music-industry-090227/
http://torrentfreak.com/biased-anti-piracy-laws-cause-problems-in-denmark-090410/
http://torrentfreak.com/leaked-acta-draft-more-power-to-the-riaa-090414/
http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/04/study-pirates-buy-tons-more-music-than-average-folks.ars

Anyways, some of these links have outdated information but most are pretty interesting. The basis of the speech is how piracy isn't killing the music industry at all. There are many factors that the music industry is doing to kill itself which the most important one are "Itunes Singles" that cut down the record company's ability to package crap songs into an overpriced CD. It reduces packaging costs they can charge people and other physical copy charges that they are losing money on. In reality, pirates do statistically buy more music because they try before they buy because they know what they are getting is good. Also, pirates are more likely to be audiophiles.

Movie Review: Hawk Jones

2009-08-01T11:29:00.000-07:00

Imagine a cop movie from the late 80s with an all child cast. Actually, scratch that. Stop imagining and just watch Hawk Jones directed by Richard Lowry. This "action packed" comedy is full of satirical one-liners and classic quotes. This movie is the epitome of low budget films while half of the time the white balance is off completely. You can tell that most of the scenes were filmed in the director's garage or something and the acting is terrible(What do you expect with child actors?). Nonetheless, all this simply adds to the humor of the movie and I enjoyed laughing at how ridiculous it all was.

Somebody editted it down to 3 minutes and if you watch this, you aren't missing much. You can get the entire thing for 20 dollars here.

Album Review: Tree Sounds- Naps

2009-07-22T23:11:00.001-07:00

Tree Sounds used to go by Molly Sunday but now she plays lo-fi ukulele under a new name. Since it's just one girl, it's a pretty simple sounding album, but nonetheless it's full of a lot of ukulele strumming, claps, and fun lyrics. The "band" name is kind of fitting, because it makes me want to go outside and go fishing and climb trees.

http://www.mediafire.com/?zn1zjjmdmtd

Cultural Commentary: Throbbing Gristle and the Birth of Industrial

2009-07-09T21:06:00.000-07:00

Seeing as how this is my first post on this blog, and the name of said blog is Whokilledpop, it seems fitting I should discuss Throbbing Gristle. For those unfamiliar with industrial, here is a brief rundown:

In the mid 70s, Throbbing Gristle came to be. Recording their first songs in '75, Throbbing Gristle was the formation of something new. Previous to Throbbing Gristle, the members had been in a performing arts group called COUM Transmissions (and if you were wondering, COUM is indeed pronounced cum. Throbbing Gristle is also London slang for an erection). Genisis P. Orridge, shown on far left, is the "main man" of the group and is an industrial figurehead, of sorts.

Throbbing Gristle is THE anti-band. Marilyn Manson had breasts digitally inserted onto himself for an album cover. Genesis P. Orridge has breast implants. Pop divas sing about raunchy sex topics. Cosey, the female, has actually been a porn star. Death metal artists try to thrash about in a hardcore manner on stage. TGs concerts were often bizarre and intense, with self-mutilation and occasionally even defication on stage. They didn't care about a scene, they did what the fuck they wanted to, on stage and in the studio.

TG's purpose was to create "Industrial Music for Industrial People", a way of saying they created dehumanized, mechanical music for like-minded people. The music was marked by dissonance, discordance, and general anti-musical sounds. Creating Industrial Records and the subsequential signing of bands such as Cabaret Voltaire, SPK, and Clock DVA lead to the spawning of the Industrial genre, and now here we are.

20 Jazz Funk Greats

20 Jazz Funk Greats. If there is an album to be considered the industrial album of the early years, this would be it. The story behind this album cover is that Genesis P-Orridges mother once asked him, "why haven't you ever done anything nice?" So he made this nice album cover, the band members all dressed up and posing nice for the camera. The scenery is on the beautiful Beachy Head, a very nice place in England, and also one of the #1 spots for people to go and commit suicide there. Also, if you ever buy the CD itself, on the back cover is a black & white idenctical version of the front cover, but with a dead body lying on the ground.

20JFG starts of simple. The title track is a strange but mellow intro to the album, and Beachy Head is an almost silent ambient peace. But when Still Walking starts, you see what they strived to create. It's not hardcore, but noisy enough to be almost frightening. Screeching metal sounds that could easily be mistaken for human screams fade in and out of the track.

Another key piece of Throbbing Gristle is displayed in 20 Jazz Funk Greats, too. Persuasion has Genisis P-Orridge rambling on, most likely stream-of-consciousness style, about persuading people to the sounds of a deep, slow synth line and the sounds of a woman in severe pain or fear. What A Day has him shouting "What a day, what a day, what a day OH!" many times, and Hot On The Heels Of Love has Cosey on vocals. The album closes with two different live manifestations of Discipline, one of their most "famous" songs. Both versions are much heavier in sound to the rest of the album, but perhaps slightly more bareable due to the more conventional song structure.

Now for the long-overdue conclusion. Throbbing Gristle is a band that really helped kill pop early on, and helped with the development of many good industrial and experimental bands. 20 Jazz Funk Greats is a great starting point for those unfamiliar with them, and I highly recommend it to those of us who are more musically adventerous than some others. The classics, man.

Album Review: The Sarcastic Dharma Society - Other People's Songs (Volume One)

2009-07-08T18:10:00.000-07:00

Posted on "I Found This Song In The Road" earlier this year, re-posting here for more promotion and because it's free and really good.

The Sarcastic Dharma Society or pretty much just Matthew J. Vuksinich for the most part shot me an email asking me to listen to his work and tell me what I think. This local artist from the thriving music scene of Portland, Oregon has some real talent. Whenever I get emails from people with music to listen to especially if it's their own, I never have high expectations.

WRONG! I was simply blown away when I opened up the files he gave me which consisted of covers of some of my favorite artists. These are the likes of Andrew Jackson Jihad, Why?, The Beatles, Bright Eyes, and Mt. Eerie which I just recently got into.

The album consists of 10 songs all being covers of artists that I love from the start. Some of my other favorite tracks are "Don't Let Me Down" by The Beatles and "Shit On My Heart" by a local Portland band known as Meyercord.

http://www.mediafire.com/?h2w3gzjhwnm

Album Review: Fishboy - Nom

2009-07-07T17:47:00.000-07:00

Fishboy of Denton, Texas has granted us a press release of their EP entitled Nom being released August 18th. I have been awaiting this album since it's announce months ago and managed to become a reputable press source.

The album will be released on 12" vinyl and some hand screened CD-rs. Fishboy did the vocals and then sent them to their goods friends the band The Om Nom Noms to do the instrumentals. The two compliment each other so well that you would never know that neither had any input on each other. The songs are rejects of their last rock opera the would confuse the story or just didn't flow. The album puts out some catchy indie fun into always amusing lyrics that you would have to be a fool to not smile at. In Nom, Fishboy proves their development from a basement solo project to a group of fun, creativity, and pure indie rock fun with a hint of twee. I have been a fan of Fishboy for quite a long time and I can not wait to own this on vinyl and CD. Happy Birthday To Me Records is putting this all out and you can get their last album and rock opera "Albatross: How We Failed To Save The Lone Star State With The Power Of Rock And Roll" along with their previous album "Little D" for just 10 dollars combined! They are also going to release a west coast tour to take place after their album release.

Here is a little description of the band, album, and such from Eric himself:
Originally the bedroom solo project of Eric Michener that began in 1998, Fishboy has taken on many forms. The past five years have seen the group transformed into a four-piece rock band that released 2007's Albatross: How We Failed to Save the Lone Star State with the Power of Rock and Roll, hailed by some as "The world's greatest twee rock opera" and by others as "The world's only twee rock opera." The band has repeatedly toured the nation, playing said rock opera to all who would listen. A great time was had by most. But let's back up. To fully understand the latest Fishboy EP, two nuggets of truth are needed:

Nugget #1: The writing process of Albatross was 95% linear, in that nearly every track was written in the order it appears on the album. After the first song was completed, some thought was put into where to take the storyline and the musical flow of the album. Oftentimes full songs were completed and then scrapped because one of these two things wasn't working out -- either the plot came to a dead end or the flow of the album didn't work. When it was time to start the follow up to Albatross, it became clear that any attempt to use these songs would result in a lyrically confused mess of an album. Not that the songs weren't good; they were just abandoned plot lines to an alternate rock opera reality. And so a plan was hatched.

Nugget #2: Instead of gathering the band together to spend precious writing and arranging hours on these songs, the decision was made to blindly put them in the hands of a group of musicians with nothing to lose. Michener decided to hand over all musical duties and decisions to a local Denton, TX group of super-producers known as the Om Nom Noms. Michener took one trip into the studio, recorded vocals and scratch guitar, the guitar was deleted, and the Noms reconstructed the songs however they saw fit. Some upbeat songs became ambient, some hushed finger picked songs became rockers, and anything was possible in between.

The nine-song EP was titled NOM, not only after its creators, but after the sound of something eating another. It arrives on August 18th and will be pressed on 12" vinyl with album sleeves that double as fold-out prints hand-screened by the band themselves, for sale on yofishboy.com and distributed to select stores via HHBTM Records. The first 100 orders will receive unique packaging and a lot of little extras to be announced in detail once the preorder site launches later this month.

Check them out at:

yofishboy.com

fishboy.muxtape.com

myspace.com/fishboy

farewellalbatross.com (last album)

Album Review: Broski - Jortch

2009-06-25T00:04:00.000-07:00

Out of Allentown, PA right near where I go to school, comes Broski, the sister of a blog reader named Emily. Broski is self described as "Music for driving away from your girlfriend's house" and it's pretty fitting. The four track EP is just a two-piece set of Mitch on guitar and Jordan on drums, but the simplicity isn't a bad thing. Mitch plays some choppy quick catchy rifts with a definite emo influence. They recently played with My Heart To Joy which is what I'm digging right now so that's a plus. I was going to try relate them to a Cap'n Jazz spin-off band, but they are like an upbeat version of all of them combined. My only critique which is kind of a major turn-off for me normally is the lack of vocals. I'm a big fan of music with something to say and a good voice to say it. Despite this, I enjoyed listening to Broski, and I look foward to seeing how they develop.

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/broskisounds
Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?nflhrmjd0kg

Review by: trollmaster

Album Review: The Joint Chiefs of Math - You Are Here

2009-06-22T21:17:00.000-07:00

Here's the second band I was asked to review, The Joint Chiefs of Math. The Joint Chiefs of Math are a duo consisting of two lads named Kevin and Marcus. Together, they have crafted a bizarre, messy, noisy, dissonant masterpiece. Marcus plays drums like a hyperactive seizure made coherent through conscious thought and Kevin covers all the strings in a wild blaze of sound, not as wild as a group like Lightning Bolt, but somewhat close. In fact, I'd venture to say that these guys are a coherent version of groups like Lightning Bolt, playing a safer, but very satisfying version of that intense sound (minus the screaming and the fact that Lightning Bolt uses only bass whilst these guys have a guitar). Check 'em out and you won't be disappointed.

http://www.myspace.com/thejointchiefsofmath
http://www.sendspace.com/file/oalxai

Review by: Stubb

Album Review: In Heaven And You - Vena Cava Parts I and II

2009-06-22T21:16:00.000-07:00

So five folks decided to send emails to this here blog askin' for reviews of their music, so I thought, "Hey, I'm an asshole who thinks he knows something about music, I could spare a few words for these guys," and so I did.
The first of the three bands I was asked to review was a project known as In Heaven and You lead by Alex Vallejo. The description in the email that was forwarded to me said, "...dark folk...", but if anything, this is acoustic prog with a small latin vibe (or at least the three tracks I was sent were). There's a virtuoso feel with each track, but without the lack of substance that virtuoso songs tends to have (see. every generic prog-metal band in existence. Planet X comes to mind).
The songs were primarily acoustic guitar and vocals with one little goody here and there. There's some rough patches, but overall this dude has tremendous potential and amazing talent. The musicianship is phenomenal and the songs have a great vibe that's begging for larger arrangements. Vocals are very heart-worn-on-sleeve-ish and have a bitter sweet hint of emotion, but could benefit from some vocal training. If you're in the mood for something dark, but light on the ears, pick this shit up now.

myspace.com/inheavenandyou
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?z4tqzqngyte

Review by: Stubb

Album Review: Mesita - Cherry Blossoms

2009-06-22T21:15:00.001-07:00

From the depths of Littleton, Colorado comes this one man band known as Mesita. Here at I found this song in the road, we have started to get artists requesting reviews and promotion, which is quite an honor is most cases. Mesita was put on the back burner for some time, and just recently was I assigned his album. My only regret about this album is that I didn't find it sooner. Every aspect of his music has its strong point which will cater to our blogs audience. The blend of guitars, harmonicas, accordions, mandolins, horns, and percussion is awaiting, and I am pleased to be serving it to you today.

http://www.mediafire.com/?jdmgetitmm0

Review by: IETF

Tours: Andrew Jackson Jihad

2009-06-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

Andrew Jackson Jihad, my favorite artist has a couple new splits out and I've been waiting for a while for them to go on tour. I sent them a myspace message asking them to do a cover of "Take On Me" and after Sean calling it a "Delicious idea", he told me that they'd be in Wilkes-Barre at Cafe Metro July 28th. The entire tour scheduele has been posted and I'm very excited that my tour date has been confirmed and I'll finally be able to see them live. I advise you to go see them wherever is closest to you and tell them to play "Take On Me" because that would make my life complete.

If you have no idea what artist I am talking about:
http://www.myspace.com/andrewjacksonjihad
http://andrewjacksonjihad.com

Copied from myspace:

Jun 24 2009

8:00P

Modified with Cryptacize

phoenix

Jun 26 2009

8:00P

Benefit for FNB and the Rusty Spoke at the Firehouse

Phoenix, Arizona

Jun 28 2009

8:00P

th Phix with Comadre

Phoenix

Jul 16 2009

8:00P

Trunk Space with Bomb the Music Industry and Partners in 818

Tour Kickoff!!, Arizona

Jul 19 2009

8:00P

Rhinoceropolis!!

Denver, Colorado

Jul 20 2009

8:00P

Ghost House

Lincoln, Nebraska

Jul 21 2009

8:00P

Triple Rock with Kevin Seconds and Kepi Ghoulie

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Jul 22 2009

8:00P

Colin’s House with Kevin Seconds and Kepi Ghoulie

Appleton, Wisconsin

Jul 23 2009

8:00P

Midwest Fest 2009!

Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Jul 24 2009

8:00P

The Beat Kitchen with Kevin, Kepi, and The Bomb!

Chicago, Illinois

Jul 26 2009

8:00P

222 Ormsby with Delay!

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Jul 28 2009

8:00P

Cafe Metropolis with Delay!

Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania

Jul 30 2009

8:00P

Asbury Lanes

Asbury Park, New Jersey

Aug 2 2009

1:00P

Middle East Upstairs MATINEE SHOW

Boston, Massachusetts

Aug 2 2009

8:00P

Chris’s House

Windsor, Connecticut

Aug 3 2009

8:00P

Charm City Art Space with Delay

Baltimore, Maryland

Aug 5 2009

8:00P

Nara Sushi with Delay!

Richmond, Virginia

Aug 6 2009

8:00P

Soapbox Laundrolounge

Wilmington, North Carolina

Aug 7 2009

8:00P

Broad Street Music

New Bern, North Carolina

Aug 10 2009

8:00P

Transistions Art Gallery with Vision of a Dying World, TransFM, Paper Cranes

Tampa, Florida

Aug 11 2009

8:00P

1982 with Vision of a Dying World

Gainesville, Florida

Aug 12 2009

8:00P

Wonderroot with Vision of a Dying World

Atlanta, Georgia

Aug 13 2009

8:00P

Chaosome with Vision of a Dying World

Lexington, Kentucky

Aug 14 2009

8:00P

Skull Alley with Vision of a Dying World

Louisville, Kentucky

Aug 15 2009

8:00P

Firebird with Vision of a Dying World

St. Louis, Missouri

Aug 17 2009

8:00P

Vino’s with Vision of a Dying World

Little Rock, Arkansas

Also, check out this awesome pillow cover with AJJ and beards and a lot of fun!
http://www.silversprocket.net/blog/?p=1757

We got a "Press Release" of Fishboy's album being released August 18th, so look for a review soon!

Festivals: Berea Fest

2009-06-13T18:37:00.000-07:00

I am looking for cool festivals to go to this summer. I am already planning on going to Siren Music Festival and last year went to All Points West. This year I am not willing to spend any major amount of money on tickets but I'm willing to travel.

I stumbled upon bereafest just outside Columbus, Ohio and I'm pretty pumped about it and really want to go. Too bad I live seven hours away. I'm considering going with a friend and staying in my car or something and going both days. If you live in the area, check it out.

Friday - 6PM

Saturday - 1PM

No Target Audience (Kent, OH)
Letters to the Moon (Columbus, OH)
Positive (Solon, OH)
Le Vansona (Zanesville, Columbus, OH)
The Read (Cincinnati, OH)
Pink Houses (Bloomington, IN)
Asinine (Lakewood, OH)
Super Bobby (Boston, MA)
Annabel (Kent, OH)
Bridge and Tunnel (New York, NY)
Underdogs of Nipomo (Olmsted Falls, OH)
The Max Levine Ensemble (Washington DC)
Lemuria (Buffalo, NY)

Reverse the Curse (Hiram, OH)
Ghost Town Trio (Oberlin, OH)
Saint Seneca (Columbus, OH)
Tin Armor (Columbus, OH)
Submarine Spaceship (Athens, OH)
Sack Lunch (St. Louis, MO)
Two Hand Fools (Cleveland, OH)
Ghost Mice (Bloomington, IN, Gainesville, FL)
Thousandaires (New York, NY)
Slingshot Dakota (Brooklyn, NY, Bethlehem, PA)
Mountain Asleep (Louisville, KY)
New Creases (Columbus, OH)
Halo Fauna (Brooklyn, NY, Bloomington, IN)
The Dopamines (Cincinnati, OH)
Spooktober (Athens, OH)
Amelia (Columbus, OH)
The Sidekicks (Lakewood, Columbus, OH)
Goodluck (Bloomington, IN)
Delay (Columbus, OH)

www.bereafest.org

If anybody has any other festivals on the east coast that they plan on going to or look interesting, comment!

Cultural Commentary: Garage Sales

2009-05-31T21:05:00.000-07:00

Went to like 6 garage sales today and a flea market.

In total, the count is:

1 DDR Mat
1 Record Player(Fisher MC-4560)
8 Vinyl Record
1 Polaroid Camera

All for 30 dollars. Now that I'm poor and on the way back my "Check Engine Light" flashed on and I'm still not sure what the problem is, and I'm riding the E on my gas, I can gladly say that I spent a day well buying other people's junk and making it my own. Garage sales rule.

Book Review: Jon Meacham: American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House

2009-05-29T10:59:00.000-07:00

Initially I heard about this book after watching it on the Colbert Report and got super excited because Andrew Jackson is my favorite president. Sure, he did some things that I don't agree with, well, most of it, but he lived in a time of great change and America was still young. He developed what the president's role is today and played a large role in how things are run now. This book pretty much just shows how bad ass Andrew Jackson was while actually providing factual information that is quite interesting. I recently picked it up from my local library, read the prologue and am already excited about it. It intimidating, but I know it'll be interesting and so far is an easy read.

Jon Meacham on the Colbert Report.

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Jon Meacham

colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Keyboard Cat

Cultural Commentary: Web Sheriff: Protecting Your Rights on the Internet

2009-05-18T14:42:00.000-07:00

WEB SHERIFF
Protecting Your Rights on the Internet
Tel 44-(0)208-323 8013
Fax 44-(0)208 323 8080
websheriff@websheriff.com
www.websheriff.com

Hi TrollMaster,

On behalf of Domino Records and the Dirty Projectors, we would kindly
ask you not to post copies of "Bitte Orca" on your site (or any
non-preview tracks from the artist's new album - street date 8th June).

We do appreciate that you are fans of / are promoting Dirty Projectors,
but the label and artist would greatly appreciate your co-operation in
removing your links to the pirate files in question.

Thank you for respecting the artist's and label's wishes ... .. and, if
you / your readers want good quality, non-pirated, preview tracks, then
"Stillness Is The Move" is available for a limited time at
www.dominorecordco.us/usa/news/09-04-09/dirty-projectors--free-track/
for fans and bloggers to link to / post / host etc ... .. for info on
"Bitte Orca" and the band's 2009 shows, check-out
www.myspace.com/dirtyprojectors ,
www.dominorecordco.com/artists/dirty-projectors/ and
http://westernvinyl.com/artists/dirty_projectors.html ... .. also, keep
an eye on these official sources for details of preview material and
pre-release promotions.

As you will appreciate, this e-mail is written on a without prejudice
basis and, as such, all of our clients' accumulated, worldwide rights
and remedies remain strictly reserved : please excuse this required
formality.

With Thanks & Regards,

WEB SHERIFF

I received this as a comment on my Dirty Projectors post for an album that I wasn't even aware was a leak. Web Sheriff? At first I thought this company was a joke, but upon reading the website, I'm pretty sure they are serious. Besides not agreeing with their views and not believing that they have legal right to sue me or anything, I'll take it down. Suggestion to them so people actually take them seriously would be to not have this as their theme song on their website.
http://www.websheriff.com/websheriff/music.swf

But also make their website not look more like a western version of Neopets. I see how you guys are going with the whole western theme, but seriously? Do you really expect me to want to take down your copyright work when you theme your entire company? Ninjas vs. Pirates? NO! Pirates vs. Cowboys!
Nice office. I can see you're totally a legit business because under your contact web page you can clearly see how legit your company is.

Also, web squatting is perfectly legal so your service to prevent it is a fraud.

Under their wikipedia page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_Sheriff

They have done some work with Prince and Domino Records so yeah, they are legit, but wow. Out of respect for Domino Records and Dirty Projectors, I am going to take down the post and link, but I will continue to laugh in Web Sheriff's face until they work on their company image and website.

Cool Stuff: Free Pulled Pork

2009-05-17T11:28:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Live near a White Castle? Like pulled pork? I live around 30 minutes from like three White Castles so the choice is just which run down neighborhood to speed to at 1 in the morning.

I have a gift. Print this out, hand it to the cashier, get free pulled pork. Enjoy. I am going this week to try it out, I'll take this post down if they refuse it, but this is from their website so I'll be pissed. The reason I say this is I'm skeptical of free food and stuff that's too good to be true.

More info here
http://www.whitecastle.com/pulledpork/

Edit: It works. I don't like BBQ Pulled Pork, but if you do, it tastes really good and holds up to other Pulled Pork that I've had. I wish I bought a drink and didn't spend money on onion rings, though.

Tours: Blink-182

2009-05-14T14:26:00.000-07:00

Cool Stuff: Velociraptors Are Amazing

2009-04-16T15:44:00.000-07:00

Up for auction is a full size replica of the Velociraptor from Jurassic Park. It measures 28 inches from the nose to base of the mount. It is made of high quality poly urethane resin that has been painted and sealed. The dinosaur is mounted to a wooden base that can be mounted to a wall like a trophy animal.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260382416035

This ebay auction which ended in March for 660$ is the most amazing thing I have ever seen. I am a large fan of Velociraptors and dinosaurs in general. Jurrasic Park, one of the greatest trilogys ever created, has taught me one thing. They can open doors. Velociraptors not only don't need teeth to eat you, they can smell your fear and travel in packs. Forget zombies, velociraptors are the scariest thing that man could face, especially since they were at one point real. Raptor zombies, anybody? I don't see why the gaming industry hasn't economized on the scariness of a raptor chargin towards you. It seems all they can think of as an enemy is a zombie or a foreign country. To be honest, the best game I've seen in a while is Nazi Zombies which combines the two.

In further news, this Saturday is a facebook event Velociraptor Awareness Day if you feel you need an excuse to post signs around your town warning about an incoming invasion.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/event.php?eid=57142076128

Also, I signed up for the class "Dinosaurs" at the University I attend and I have a feeling that nobody is going to be as excited about it as I am. I also feel that it's going to be a bummer especially since it's at 9 in the morning and doesn't even fit any of my graduation requirements. I meet with my advisor tomorrow.

Cool Stuff: Frank Zappa On Crossfire

2009-04-13T22:33:00.000-07:00

I really like the points they bring up and how Frank Zappa remains calm throughout the video. While being attacked, Frank Zappa shoots down pretty much every point they make. This is the reason you don't mess with Frank Zappa in music or with politics. I do agree. They are just words. The first amendment covers anything that a musician wants to say and the fact that people were trying to stop people from using the freedom of speech through music is ridiculous.

Cultural Commentary: Dumb Tattoos

2009-04-09T21:39:00.000-07:00

It has been recognized that the counterculture is the leader of producing some of the best and the worst tattoos. Most tattoos are ridiculously meaningless to anybody besides the beholder and are regretted ten years later. Now, I am not saying that you shouldn't get a tattoo by any means, I love tattoos. I think they are a wonderful form of expression and I even plan on getting one or two once I think of something that I want on my body for life. For the rest of you, I have created a list of things to avoid when getting freshly inked.

Be Sober

This is an easy on to do. Simply do not do any drugs before driving to the tattoo parlor(Even better, why are you driving intoxicated?). There are too many stories of people getting wasted on tequila in Mexico and waking up with an STD and a tattoo of a dragon on your back. I remember reading this a couple years back. Do you really want a logo of a flash animation website on your calf for the rest of your life?

Find a Nice Place

Sure you may not have a lot of money now and going to the discount tattoo parlor behind the pawn shop in downtown Newark may be a good idea at the time to save 50 bucks, but this is something you'll have for the rest of your life. Make sure that the needles used are safe and the artist knows what he's doing. Make sure you know what he's drawing on you before he starts so you don't end up with something that looks like a preschooler drew it.

Generic Tattoos

Don't go into a tattoo shop and ask to see the tattoo artist's previous work or things that he popularly does. A tattoo should be unique and something that not five hundred others in your area have. Flowers, sparkles, hearts, swirls, music notes, and smilies all fall in this category.

Band Tattoos

I decided not to group this with generic tattoos because this topic inspired me to write this blog post in the first place. Band tattoos not only lame, but force you to be grouped into a stereotype of others that listen to that band. I have seen almost ten Alkaline Trio tattoos in my lifetime all almost looking exactly the same. Another reason band tattoos are poor choices is that music tastes change all the time. Do you think you are going to be listening to Blink-182 when you are 80? I'm also going to group video game tattoos in with this. Sports team tattoos are borderline, yet frowned upon.

Straight Edge Tattoos

There are so many things wrong with this tattoo. First of all, nobody cares if you are straight edge or not nor do half of people understand what XXX means. Also, there is a slim chance that you will stay straight edge for your entire life and as Louis of the band Let me Run put it "You're going to have a hard time explaining how much you like Superbowl 30 to your bar friends to hide your embarrassment of what straight edge is."

Tramp Stamps

Finally, last but not least don't get a tramp stamp. Not only can you not get epidural injections when you have a baby, but it just looks hideous. It has been highly regarded among men that a tattoo on the lower back is just a complete turn-off. It could be the hottest girl in the world talking to me, but if I see a tramp stamp, I am going to run away. Ok, maybe I'd stay for the girls from Whispertown 2000.

Cool Stuff: How To Make A 7 Inch Single - BBC Video

2009-04-02T16:06:00.000-07:00

If you are interested in the whole “How It is Made” ordeal like I am, this is pretty interesting. Take a look at the lengthy process of how 7 inch vinyls are made.

It is 60 years since RCA record company released the first commercial seven-inch single, spinning at 45rpm. To celebrate the anniversary, BBC News has been given access to a factory that still makes singles. Bob Bailey is commercial manager at The Vinyl Factory and has worked at the record making plant for 35 years.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7973950.stm

Cool Stuff: A couple music videos

2009-03-28T23:06:00.000-07:00

Regina Spektor - US
Uploaded by reginaspektor

I love Regina Spektor and I love her music videos even more. I normally don't watch music videos, but with her I feel it actually adds to the imagery of the music which is rare nowadays. I always enjoy this song and the visuals are creatively done and fitting.

Tally Hall is known for making numerous internet videos even before fame and gaining popularity with the viral video spread of their hit "Banana Man". Not only was it a catchy single, but it gained them internet fame and showed the world that not only do they produce good and unique music, but they can create a wonderful video. The video "Good Day" was release in Febuary of 2008 which was also well done in my opinion.

Fishboy is my favorite artist in the entire world because not only are they catchy, full of love and happiness, but Eric the leader of the band also is a great comic drawer. He creates all his own flyers with giant cloud bubble letters and cartoonizes the other bands playing. Also, the band's website layout matches everything else in the cartoony comic-like way. The most amazing thing is the fact that he made a music video for one of their songs and made it turn out really good(Directed by Eliza Kinkz and Animated by Eliza Kinkz)

Cultural Commentary: Blink-182 Followup

2009-03-26T19:08:00.000-07:00

As America heard, Blink is back. What hype was once at maximum intensity is now fading rapidly. I for one will not dwindle with the rest of the faux Blink-182 follows and have been following what's going on since the big announcement. So since Blink-182 refused an interview or just didn't respond to my emails, read what the band has been saying.

http://altpress.com/features/325.htm

http://www.182online.com/2009/02/15/tom-modcam-updates

Some highlights:

Blink Is Back... yada yada yada

Right back from where they started, right before they turned into +44, Angels and Airwaves, and Box Car Racer. Remember their Self Titled 2003 album that is currently Blink-182's latest release? Still excited for them coming back from where they left off? Didn't think so.

Touring

I've heard every fanboy/girl screaming about how they are going to see Blink-182 in whatever city they live by no matter what. The truth is that the "Summer Tour" is going to be more of a small deal and they will be playing at a "Big Event" presumably Bamboozle or Warped Tour of some sort. There, you will be forced to see them for probably a half hour in the very back behind a pack of sweaty preteens while they boast about how amazing it is to be playing together again. I can imagine them playing around three songs, singing half the words, then calling it a day.

New Album

As said before, Blink-182 left off on a bad note with me. I still have the bad taste of 2003's Blink-182's Self Titled album on my palate and I did not get a new one when I listened to Angels and Airwaves or +44. Blink-182 is supposedly trying to stick to guitar, drum, bass but said that this album is open to whatever creativity they decide. This, they added, include electronics that their last album experimented with. When will they realize that they are only good because they epitomize youth and and immature simplicity. When Blink-182 strays from this simple formula, things fall apart.

Too Old?

Come on. Mark is 37, Tom is 33, and Travis lost mobility of his arms in a plane crash until a couple months before tour. Will Blink-182 be able to keep the youthful energy that they once had and what defined them or will they lose touch with the music industry or will they successfully capture their 90's early 2000 appeal? Who knows, all we can do is let time tell us, although statistics are against them.

Cool Stuff: 5 Music Tabs That Make You Look Cool(Guitar/Clarinet)

2009-03-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

I've been playing my guitar and clarinet a lot more frequently in recent weeks and have been mostly reading tabs and sheet music. This has led me to find some songs that I never thought about playing until I actually listened to them while playing my guitar or clarinet. I am a beginner at both having just recently picked up my guitar in the past couple months after buying it at age 16 and not playing my clarinet since 8th grade. So to all the people with low musical talent like me that feel like impressing your friends and lady friends, these are for you.

A-Ha - Take On Me (Intro)

This is a fun little intro that you can pick up that practically everybody remembers or picked up from family guy. If not, feel free to show them the music video to the song and they will react similarly to them being Rick Rolled. I mean this as in they will either laugh their heads off or not talk to you ever again.
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/a/a-ha/take_on_me_tab.htm

Weezer - Island In The Sun

A fun little relaxing song that you can sing to your girlfriend if you feel like not falling in the "Hey There Delilah" generic category. The intro is really fun to play and the chords are really pretty. Weezer's other songs are pretty much all power chords especially Pork and Beans.
http://www.heartwoodguitar.com/Guitar%20Music%20for%20Web/Weezer%20-%20Island%20in%20the%20Sun.htm

Violent Femmes - Blister In The Sun

Another song with the word "Sun" in it is easily recognizable even when played awfully by your amateur fingers. Easy and fun to play and sing along to.
http://www.guitaretab.com/v/violent-femmes/20383.html

Pirates of the Caribean - He's a Pirate

A great piano song that you can easily convert for clarinet. It is hard to find sheet music that is easy to play so I'm glad that I was able to find a link for this song.
http://members.tripod.com/jeanies_home_studio/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/pirates-of-the-caribean_hes-a-pirate_sheet-music.pdf

Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over the Sea

Neutral Milk Hotel has always been able to make great music using simple folk chords and write lyrics that can be sung in any way you'd like. The versatility of their music makes this a great song to play on any occasion.
http://www.guitaretab.com/n/neutral-milk-hotel/24633.html

Cultural Commentary: 7 Things I Hate About Miley Cyrus

2009-03-13T22:05:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have been following the incident at the Grammy Awards that slipped under the radar behind the scenes between Miley Cyrus and Radiohead. Radiohead has been known for not expressing interest in meeting other artists in the past already having snubbed the much more respectable, yet rapidly losing credibility artist Kanye West.

According to sources things went down with Kanye smooth as can be. Kanye approached Thom Yorke practically bowing before him "Hi, my name is Kanye. I’m a musician. I’m a fan of yours". Thom just casually walked away not saying a word which increases my love for Radiohead more and more. I'm surprised he didn't say "Kanye who?" before he stormed off into the distance. This, of course, being a reference to Kanye's twitter post "Who the fuck is Stephen Colbert?" after a great American hero succesfully humbled Kanye West.

However, Kanye West was not the only musician crushed by Radiohead's unwllingness to talk to them. Miley Cyrus shares a similar story with The Louis Vuitton Don also getting turned away when asking to hang out with the band. Later she would state that she would cry if she ever met Radiohead and would give them the biggest hug. It seems they messed up big time seeing that she is on a mission to ruin their career because we all know Miley Cyrus has the power to ruin anybody she wants. She appeared on the radio and openly lashed out against the entire band in an attempt to gain attention for herself.

The DJs immedietly take the 16 year old's side and one even claims to not know who Radiohead is sadly enough. To this Miley starts singing "Creep" which is the only song that any 16 year old girl who doesn't know anything about Radiohead ever listens to when they want to act like they are Radiohead's #1 fan.

I have been a long time fan of yours watching your show Hannah Montana when it is on and I'm near a television, listening to your album Breakout relentlessly, and even excitedly awaiting your movie. Even with all this true, you leave me no choice when you attack Radiohead but to attack back. So here's to you, Miley. I have turned your own song against you in a list of 7 things that I hate about you.

#1 Immaturity

I don't know if you've ever heard the song "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by The Rolling Stones, but maybe you should. Radiohead's publicist put out this statement as a response to the incident and it describes my feelings entirely.
"When Miley grows up, she'll learn not to have such a sense of entitlement"

#2 Overracting to Nothing

Thom York said this best in his actual and personal response to Miley Cyrus saying "If you still like us and you're not one of those people I have managed to offend by doing nothing, xx". Radiohead in itself did absolutely nothing wrong. A band does not have any obligations to meet other musicians, fans, or any of the above. I don't think Miley Cyrus is the type of person that Radiohead typically hangs out with so it's pretty egotistical that Miley took it so hard when Radiohead simply said "We don't do that".

#3 Miley Cyrus Does Not Write Her Own Music

Simply look at her wikipedia page for Breakout and you'll see she barely even co-wrote anything.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakout_(album)

#4 This Isn't Her First Time

Miley has been known for making the news media angry in the past causing drama with various other pop stars. Do you remember when she was dating Nick Jonas and Selena Gomez stole him from her? I remember watching those mocking video blogs she made ranting about tee shirts she wore and other petty nonsense.

#5 She's Quite The Slut

The world has seen enough of her bra, back, and boyfriends for quite a while. She seems to end up with more half-naked photos of her on the internet than the average teenager. I'm not saying anything, but she gets around.

#6 Her Audience Consists of Mindless Preteens

Miley is currently the most popular pop singer in the 7-12 age zone. She's ranked highly with The Jonas Brothers and the High School Musical Soundtrack which we all know is premium quality music that brings joy to our ears.

#7 She Messed With Radiohead

Radiohead is not a force to be dealing with. She seems to compare herself to their level and feels an obligation to be able to do whatever she wants.

I leave you with videos of the preformances of Taylor Swift's duet with Miley Cyrus and Thom York and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead preforming with the USC Marching Band. I'll let you decide who is a more accomplished musician and who has the upper end in this battle.

Taylor Swift & Miley Cyrus - Fithteen 51st Grammy Awards
by Alisvideo

Opening

2009-03-13T21:54:00.000-07:00

Hey, some of you may know me as the owner of the blog "I Found This Song In The Road". Well, I appreciate your support, but I feel it does not fulfill my entire blogging purpose. That is why I created this blog entitled "Pop Is Dead". The blog is named after the only Radiohead single that was never released on an actual album. The purpose of this side-project is to create a way of communication that brings my friends together all for the purpose of writing about what interests them. What you'll see here is mostly music news, album reviews, band interviews, music videos, hipster rants, cultural commentary, and artists that give music for free. I'm keeping this all seperate from my other blog because this will all be legal posting with freedom of speech.

The RIAA is not touching this. We are free.