2006

Once a year, Grousing The Aisles comes out on the last work day of the week. And that day is today, which means it’s essentially a Friday right now.

Here’s my friendly advice to help you celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday weekend: Start downloading these shows now, so that when you get back from your holiday host you’ll have plenty of music to wash out all the Christmas music that will begin to surround you. And with a last name like Bernstein, I’d rather hear a mix of classic rock, funky soul and jambanditry, like this week’s fresh slate of downloads:

Heart — 08/03/76 SBD (FLAC)

This is one of the tastiest-sounding of all soundboards from Heart, which in 1976 was just starting its climb to rock infamy. Not only does this recording feature original hits such as Magic Man and Crazy On You, but the Wilson sisters tear their way through three hotter-than-fuck Led Zeppelin tunes: Lez Zeppelin has nothing on the original female Zeppelin. Cameron Crowe is a lucky man — his wife Nancy Wilson drops guitar solos that offer some serious face meltage. Since this show is a must own, we also offer up the 320kbps MP3 files from sendspace. And, c’mon, check out those sweet mullets. Read on for more great downloads…

Has anyone else seen the new supermarket-themed commercial that shows our protagonist playing songs on a hip Samsung/Cingular Sync cellular telephone as he strolls confidently through the aisles? I’ve only

It’s Tuesday again, that day when my employer feels compelled to tie me up with some of my ties, Ty. I mean, buddy, I’ve got a terrifically shitty music blog

Scott Metzger is a free agent again. And if the music world were as financially rewarding as professional sports, the 29-year-old guitarist would surely command a healthy contract above the market rate.

Metzger wisely de-Part-ed everyone’s favorite late-night technojamband in late July, ending the odd mismatch that saw him playing straight rock in a group that mostly fused together trance, boredom and epileptic seizures. Chalk it up to a learning experience or call it decent exposure, the end result is a reinvigorated songwriting guitarist with a narrower focus and a newfound determination.

I sat down with Metzger to see what lays in store for New York City’s rock scene and the rest of the country, and what follows is a Chris Farley-style “That’s awesome!” interview jumping from topic to topic and back to previous topics. But fans of Metzger, and those unfamiliar with him, will certainly come away impressed with his intellect, his honesty, and most of all, his love of having fun on stage.

My hard-hitting questions didn’t cause him to make the face above — it’s possible his underwear was as brown as his shirt in this Six Flags’ Great Adventure photo from the Nitro ride — but Metzger did open up about possible plans for a Bustle In Your Hedgerow tour, the long-awaited Danjaboots album, the status of RANA, a job offer from James Brown, his father’s methodone clinic, teaching kids to rock, and learning to play Metallica on a nylon-string acoustic guitar. Get on it…

It may be Monday, but we can take some solace in the fact that we have a short week in front of us. Remember, New Year’s is only five weeks