Billz

Probably one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

2008-09-30T14:14:00.001-05:00

"WHY YOU SHOULDN'T SHOW OFF"

hahahahaha!!!

2008-08-29T16:51:00.001-05:00

so serious!
so sesame seed bun!

RATM PATRIOT CENTER '96 w/ Jesus Lizard...

2008-08-12T04:43:00.002-05:00

Welp, it's 6am , i haven't gone to sleep, and im stuck in you tube land. please bare with my fast typing i feel sleep coming on like nobodies biznasss

here we go:

Man... I really really really really wanted to go to this show...

I remember looking at the "weekend section" of the washington post, where i always looked for shows every friday morning, and begging my mom to let me go for weeks and weeks to this show. i still remember seeing "Rage Against The Machine with The Jesus Lizard at the Patriot Center Fairfax Virginia"

It's one of those "top 5 shows i wish i could travel back in time and go to" type of shows. Evil Empire had just come out... i wanted to see this band more than anything at that time in my life. I had the self titled album since the 3rd grade or something when my friend stole it from his older brother to give to me... but in my opinion, it was nothing compared to evil empire...

evil empire encompasses the most purely angry screams of any human i've ever heard in my entire life. I talk about this with Mr. Puciato all the time and we def agree that he was easily the angriest man in the world at one point. you can hear it at the end of "down rodeo" and at the end of "year of the boomerang".

still to this day one of the reasons why i feel i play music is that picture on the inside cover of evil empire when they are all in their practice room going off... that says so much. practicing with your friends and writing music you care about and putting your all into it. not really doing it for anybody but yourself.

Anyway, the summer of '96 was my 6th grade summer (going into 7th) and i was skateboarding ALLL the time. I was really pissed off for some reason and i don't really remember why haha (i've kind of put that stuff behind me). It probably had to do with sleeping on random floors and sharing floor spaces with my sister of whatever "whacked out rich guy" boyfriend my mom was seeing at that time but yea.. i was young and pissed off and I constantly listened to Evil Empire, not for political content obviously at that time but more as that "wow... i'm feeling something awesome" content.

I had a white Rage "ringer" shirt with the logo "type writer" font that just said "rage against the machine" on the front and the globe/cage thing with people on the back trapped/ trying to get out. I wore it everyday to the point where it was yellow and permanently stretched out neck holes from playing drums at my friends house and skating all day around bethesda or wherever i was at the time.

I knew that Jesus Lizard was opening and was very familiar with them. i had heard about them through seeing that they had opened for Nirvana on one of their tours... i think it had been on "live tonight sold out" nirvana tape... I'm not sure. anyway, i had asked for the jesus lizard album "shot" earlier that summer and actually got to go to the cd store and buy it i was so excited and not disappointed by any means... random but i really think that album "shot" had a huge influence on my drumming subconsciously.

anyway... i really really really really wanted to go to this show....

and I still ask people, who were there, about it all the time. good ol' mr. moffet went and said it was awesome, so did metal nick. and i just thought at the time that the jesus lizard opening for rage was such a perfect and weirdly awesome thing to happen even though i was in barely 7th grade. (like later when dillinger opened for mr. bungle @ 930club). i tend to like it when that happens.... (also like ISIS opening for tool etc...)

so yea... it's fucking august, it's gross and hot and i always think about this show during this month and the amount that this album got me through.

so fucking angry and raw and awesome...

it's so late/early (god that's depressing) and i'm going to sleep. this rules.

like I said... I really really really really really wanted to go to this show...

I get goose bumps at like 4:15 till that part ends still.

-sir james a lot

jazmine

2008-07-20T09:39:00.001-05:00

this girl can't sing at all.

Metallica Played A VERY Small Venue The Thursday Before Bonnarroo

2008-06-16T23:23:00.002-05:00

The venue is called The Basement, located in Nashville. It's probably barely over 100 capacity. Super small place.. maybe slightly bigger than Velvet Lounge's standing area. Anyway, Metallica played an unannounced show there the other night, I guess as a warm up for their Bonnaroo set (Bonnaroo is an hour south of here), for a crowd of 120 fan club members and 'in the know' people. My friend got in (he is one of the latter group-- apparently a few people got a phone call that was similar to "Come to The Basement right now.. I can't tell you why, but goddammit just come") and while he shares the "Metallica's old shit is sweet but their new shit is gay" attitude that we all probably could agree with, he said it was fucking awesome.. that they were super tight, loud as fuck.. and tore through a bunch of old stuff. Apparently there were like, 8 tour buses around perimeter, and the owner of The Basement, Mike Grimes (also owns Grimey's, the upstairs record store) was absolutely terrified all day that word was gonna get out, and that there'd be some metalhead riot outside his business. Anyway, I guess the show went on without any problems.. And I'm jealous as shit!

A picture of James & Lars with some of Nashville's Finest Riot Protectors

"Master of Puppets" from The Basement

Shugo Tokumaru - Parachute

2008-06-03T22:11:00.002-05:00

Cornelius-like, but with more of a range in regards to song-writing.

My First Post Is Basic

2008-05-21T22:23:00.002-05:00

HERE ARE SOME VIDEOS ENTERTAINING VIDEOS TO CHECK OUT...

JEFF BUCKLEY LIVE:

FRIGHTENED RABBIT (SERIOUSLY...WATCH THESE...THIS BAND IS CHANGING MY LIFE)

I <3 YOU ALL

Never trust robots.

2008-04-21T10:50:00.002-05:00

It's amazing how good bad music can be...and how bad good robots can be!!

I feel like I just misused this blog somehow.

Be prepared to have that song stuck in your head for days.

sorry. should of posted this one instead

2008-03-24T04:30:00.000-05:00

kenneth schalk... such an underrated powerhouse.

2008-03-24T04:19:00.003-05:00

this is genius... i'd even say "choice".

2008-03-24T03:31:00.000-05:00

2008-03-21T14:06:00.000-05:00

NY Movement

2008-03-06T21:57:00.001-06:00

One Drop

2008-03-04T22:21:00.000-06:00

Unconditional Love

2008-02-29T11:35:00.004-06:00

We played with This is My Condition in Lawrence, KS. Definitely the best band we played with on tour. One guy, a guitar, drum set, microphone, and loop pedal.

TED - Ray Kurzweil

2008-02-29T08:59:00.007-06:00

Scheffey was telling me about Raymond Kurzweil, the inventor who believes technology is increasing exponentially, and that he will live long enough to live forever. OK, it sounds really stupid when I say it, but not when he talks about it. Here he is discussing it at TED in 2005.

TED is an annual conference for geniuses. It's pretty awesome. TED 2008 is going on right now, so look out for new videos soon. For now, here's a link to their archives. If your brain is ever feeling dull, just watch a video from this page.

Mark Guiliana drum solo with Jason Lindner's NOW vs. NOW

2008-02-28T00:53:00.001-06:00

Brian and I watch this frequently.

Dan, Keep Posting

2008-02-27T14:50:00.002-06:00

I like this video:

in other words; Dan, keep posting.

Torture Playlist

2008-02-26T13:01:00.004-06:00

Dope will be proud to know that their immortal "Die MF Die" is being used to torture terrorists in Gitmo.

Update: Sorry about the autoplay. Here's a link to the playlist.

OMG, Fred Durst is hawt!

2008-02-22T15:00:00.003-06:00

I think we're going to look back on Limp Bizkit as the Sublime of its day.

Stuff White People Like

2008-02-21T10:29:00.004-06:00

Stuff White People Like is an outsider's guide to ourselves. Hilarious. Topics include "Being the Only White Person Around," "Not Owning a TV," and "Divorce." Here's part of "#13 Tea."

If you find yourself in a situation with a white person, acceptable things to say include “I’m really into tea right now,” or “my favorite thing is to get a nice cup of tea and curl up in a chair with a good book.” But do not remind them about the role of colonialism in tea, it will make them feel sad.

Stuff White People Like

ahSPAHGHET!

2008-02-13T22:36:00.002-06:00

Down w/ Bali

2008-02-13T07:26:00.004-06:00

You are getting me hooked TAHMMMMMMMMMMMM

Santogold
http://www.myspace.com/santogold

PS, this is what I was talking about @ Maf's

Pre-Afro

2008-02-08T00:38:00.000-06:00

kinda sweet when you realize who this is..

Go-Go of the day..

2008-02-07T00:11:00.000-06:00

the shit..

SPAGETT!

2008-02-05T07:36:00.001-06:00

ObZen + Factcheck

2008-01-31T23:42:00.000-06:00

ObZen.
Thoughts?
The cover is lame.
Diggin' it after one listen though.

Also, for those worried about the future of their country, this is a useful website:
http://www.factcheck.org/

This kicks ass!!!!!

2008-01-31T12:38:00.000-06:00

Ben Jacoby showed me this last night..

she's a playa!!!
it has to be set up.. but still fucking crazy that this shit is on tv.

The Meat Guzzler...I'm not even a vegetarian...WTF, my blog might be better than yours TOMMMMMMMM

2008-01-30T21:46:00.001-06:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/weekinreview/27bittman.html?_r=3&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

"the smoothest white music nerds ever"

2008-01-30T19:43:00.000-06:00

Following up on Tom's Steely Dan post, there's Yacht Rock. I have to think he was thinking of this series when he called Steely Dan the smoothest white music nerds ever.

DO IT

2008-01-30T17:33:00.000-06:00

...you know you want to.

Dennis Coles

2008-01-24T10:53:00.000-06:00

I felt compelled to list Ghostface Killah's various nick names:

Tony Starks
Ghostface
Pretty Toney
Ironman
Captain America
Faceless
The Wally Champ
Pretty Starks
Ghost Deini
Scott Kitner
Pretty Toney
P Tone
Paisley Fontaine
Theodore Deini
Talk of New York Tony
Captain America
Scott Kitner
Starkey Love
Wally Champ

he's still my boy though

Steely Damn

2008-01-21T15:04:00.001-06:00

I have been getting DEEP into some Steely Dan. What can I say about them... other than, they have 3 perfect qualities:

Great Songs. Donald Fagen and Walter Becker are great songwriters. I heard that they were actually professional song writers before they started Steely Dan for fun, more or less. But yeah, the songs are hooky, but remain interesting with cool changes and/or weird and surprising bridges, etc. I've not read too many lyrics yet, but from what I can gather so far, they're pretty good story tellers as well.
Great Players. They had a fucking field day with getting guys to play with them.. seriously the best of the best. Drumming is awesome.. Steve Gadd, Bernard Purdie, etc, etc, etc...
Great Production. This stuff sounds amazing. Everything sits exactly where it needs to be. Nothing is over the top. Everything is tasteful and perfectly complements the song. Oh, and when it is occasionally over the top, they pull it off because they're just badasses (or they were really high on something.. or both).

I was telling a friend about them.. i've concluded that they're the smoothest white music nerds ever. If you don't know about them, I would suggest getting Royal Scam or Aja. But really, I've only scratched the surface, so I can't offer up the best place to start. Find a comfortable couch, some type of drug, and good luck.

HEY!!!!!!! penny?

2008-01-13T13:37:00.000-06:00

I just saw the band Heypenny last night at the Basement. They are from Nashville. They were really fucking good. www.myspace.com/heypenny. Listen to "Parade". They might be my new favorite band in town.

Dope Ass, Psikkque Ass Podcazts

2007-12-13T23:47:00.001-06:00

I just would like to make the unaware aware of two of my most favorite podcasts..

-Stones Throw Records podcast
Stones Throw is a CA based hip hop label.. home to Madlib, MF Doom, sometimes J Dilla (r.i.p.), and not to mention a bunch of collaborative projects featuring various mc's/producers from within Stones Throw..like Madvillain (MF Doom + Madlib) and Jaylib (J Dilla + Madlib) just to name a couple. (I could go on about how extensive Madlib's career is.. this guy is one of the busiest and productive dudes in hip hop by FAR.. but thats another Blahggg). Anyway, I like to call Stones Throw futuristic, in the sense that, Yeah.. they're a hip hop label, but I believe that hip hop is some of the most futuristic music of today (not to mention constantly evolving and branching like no other genre).. and the hip hop that Stones Throw puts out is some of the most experimental, envelope pushing, and straight up musical shit around. Anyway, to finally hit the original point of this blaaggagagggg, Stones Throw's podcast is really great, and free, so go get it.

-Mad Decent World Wide Radio
Mad Decent, run by the Philly based dj/producer/all around badass Diplo (for another blooabggg), is an electronic/hip hop/dance/club/whateverthefuckyouwanttocallit label. I've only been signed up long enough to get a couple of these, but from what I can gather so far, the podcasts are kind of mixtape style... Like it will start out with an awesome Diplo beat, with a classic 80's hip hop verse plopped on top, to some baile funk stylings (for another blog V.II), to a more straight up clubby dancy type of tune. Very culturally melding, eclectic, and just good beat oriented music.. which is why I like Mad Decent. It's free. Get.

I'm not tryin ta hear that

2007-12-13T23:20:00.000-06:00

I knew I would eventually be posting this..

Positive K - I Got A Man ('93)
this shit is so awesome!!!!!!!

Tournelius

2007-12-13T11:21:00.000-06:00

Cornelius, one of my favorite artists ever, is touring the US right now.. which is a pretty rare thing. Cornelius (from Japan) is a multi instrumentalist-studio genius-visual/film mastermind who makes some of the best, most forward thinking and unique electronic (and otherwise) music today. While he is the sole creator behind his recordings, he has taken a band ("The Cornelius Group") out with him on this tour, which should be interesting to see them recreate these mostly electronic recordings in a more organic/live style. I would love to see these him at 9:30 Club in DC.. but I doubt it will happen. Here's a vid:

Go to Cornelius'ss''s myspace page to listen/watch more

Day One Dirtyness

2007-12-12T17:10:00.001-06:00

I become excited about new music that I find interesting. I sometimes want to share such findings with friends. Perhaps this will be an outlet to do such a thing. Perhaps no one will read it. Perhaps i'll get lazy about it in a week. Anywho..

Today I looked into Spank Rock's new EP "Bangers and Cash", which features a producer (who's new to me) named Benny Blanco. This shit is very, very dirty. Like as in, sexual, sweaty dirtyness. The beats are crunk as shit though. It's like a half hour sweaty ass dance party wrapped up in an EP. I'm coming to very much enjoy this brand of 80s/Crunk/Hip Hop-ified flavor of music, that seems to centralize mostly in Baltimore and Philly. Other artists of this style that I've come across are Blaqstarr, Food For Animals (awesome!), Rye Rye (on tour w/ MIA right now), and others. I bought the music using a fairly newer service called Lala.com. It allows you to download digital versions of the tracks, plus they send you a physical copy. I thought I'd be able to download these digitals into my iTunes, turns out that's not the case. They stay on my "online Lala music folder". Not so sure how i feel about that. Not sure if I'll ever use Lala again. Anyway, here's the video of "B.O.O.T.A.Y." off of Bangers and Cash. Supposedly there will be a video for each of the 5 songs on the EP. Anyone want to have a dance party soon...??

(check out www.myspace.com/spankrock for more videos. I actually like the one for "Pu$$y" a lot more.. very funny and awesome!)

There's also a video on the Spank Rock myspace featuring SR, Amanda Blank, and Benny Blanco counting down their top 10 picks of "songs to do it to".. which forced me to download "Roni" and "Rock Wit'cha" by Bobby Brown. Damn you 80's slow jams! You'll be the death of me!!

"Rock Wit'cha"