What better way to celebrate the 4th than with part 1 of my brief history of British band Pitchshifter , right? I don’t know why I am obsessed with Pitchshifter again lately. I was thinking of this cool Tee I used to have (and eventually wore to death) and the fact that I have their “eye” logo tattooed on my left arm means that they’re never far from my mind. The good thing about them being on my brain is the […]
Blerd Appreciation
Somethin’ Stupid: An Appreciation of Ryan Dunn
The death of Jackass co-star Ryan Dunn may not have packed the kind of shock and grief that Clarence Clemons’ passing certainly did. But the news that Dunn, the guy best known for driving a golf cart into a pig statue in the first Jackass film, was killed earlier this morning after crashing his car in Pennsylvania is rather tragic. Dunn, a longtime associate of pro skater Bam Margera and a great presence on MTV’s Viva La Bam and the underrated Homewrecker, probably deserves a lot more credit […]
Blerd Appreciation: Clarence Clemons
I may not be as big a Bruce Springsteen fan as, say, my buddy Dave Lifton . But over the years, I’ve become as big a fan of The Boss as anyone else-it’s kinda hard to avoid if you grow up in the tri-state area. Even if I wasn’t a Springsteen fan, though, I think I’d understand why people are so devoted to The E Street Band. Even with bands that have been around for decades, you don’t always get the feeling […]
Hank & Cupcakes Return To Boston!
Ask anyone over at the Blerd, we love the soul. We love the old soul, we love the new soul. Hank & Cupcakes has both with some future soul thrown in. Brooklyn-based (By way of Melbourne, Tel Aviv, Cuba, and Jerusalem), H & C are a male/female duo unlike anyone out there today (I’m looking’ at you White Stripes and Ting Ting’s!). Hank plays the bass. Cupcakes sings and plays drums…just like Phil Collins…but she stands up…and she’s way prettier…and her name is […]
R.I.P. Gil Scott-Heron
Poet, singer, activist and proto-rapper Gil Scott-Heron passed away yesterday in New York City. He was 62. Best known for the track “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”, Scott-Heron’s booming, authoritative voice often decried the struggles of black people as we advanced through the Civil Rights movement in the Seventies and Eighties. His recitative style has been imitated by everyone from (name your person at a poetry slam here) to Kool Moe Dee, Chuck D and 2Pac. Also blessed with […]
Kenna Has Arrived…again.
Any announcement of new music from Kenna is a cause for celebration. End of story. Land 2 Air Chronicles I was originally slated to come out in March but I’ll take late Kenna over no Kenna any day. He’s a musical genius plain and simple. Listening to Kenna puts a smile on my face. Land 2 Air Chronicles I came out this week and it’s the first of 3 EP’s which will serve as a prelude for his 3rd full-length […]
Blerd Appreciation: Dennis Rodman
One of the five best defensive players in basketball history will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame this summer. While many of you hear the name “Dennis Rodman” and immediately think “cross-dressing train wreck”, those of us that followed basketball in the late Eighties and most of the Nineties (hopefully) feel differently. Rodman was, basically, a freak of nature. Drafted at age 25 out of Southeastern Oklahoma State University, he didn’t follow the typical trajectory of a basketball stud. […]
Support Good Music in 2011: Chapter 2 (UNKLE)
UNKLE has been one of my favorite “bands” for over 10 years now. The last of the dying breed of trip-hop (They wouldn’t be if Massive Attack and Portishead would put out an album once in a while), mastermind James Lavelle always manages to take a diverse line-up of artists and make compelling and cohesive albums. UNKLE released their debut, Psyence Fiction, in 1998 and became famous for being the latest project from DJ Shadow. It featured guests as varied as Mike D […]
Blerd Appreciation: Nate Dogg
Who was the go-to hook singer for just about anyone who made a rap record for about a decade starting in 1994? Nate Dogg. Born Nathaniel Hale, the monotone crooner with the most expressionless face in pop music history went from being a classmate and groupmate of Snoop Dogg and Warren G. in 213 to a man that was capable of challenging Mary J. Blige for most appearances singing the chorus of rap records. Starting with his first truly memorable […]
I read AP’s “100 Bands You Need To Know in 2011” so you don’t have to.
You’re welcome. I do not buy a lot of magazines anymore. All of my music news I can usually get from the interwebs and I’m totally fine with that. I was out and about the other day and saw the latest issue of AP which was the annual “100 bands you need to know in 2011” and like a sucker, I bought it. At the very least, this issue is good for laugh and I get to make myself feel […]