In today’s world of rock, it’s hard enough for musicians to get a good gig, no less shine in the sound department. Alexa Ray Joel, 21, is up for the challenge. Yes, she is the daughter of the one and only Billy Joel and super-model Christie Brinkley, but she’s far from living in her father’s shadow.
emonade might be an acquired taste for most because G. Love takes music that has been marginalized and meshes them together, but once you get used to the unique combinations you appreciate his method for integrating them.
If Shakedown Street is the sketchiest block in all the neighborhood, then Sesame Street is clearly the funkiest. The kids are pickin’ up what Stevie’s layin’ down… I’m not claiming
‘Twas the day after Christmas, when all through the city
Ace and Scotty thought a list would make them seem witty
But the pair quickly realized that they couldn’t hack it
Disliking most popular bands, save My Morning Jacket
The bloggers all posted their Best Ofs to dissect
While thoughts of The Hold Steady made them erect
But up on our high horse, as we saw it this year
My Chemical Romance gets pwned by Bob Weir
So here in our list, you won’t find Cat Power
We favor the folks that jam for an hour
Scroll down below for our highlights of 2006
Better than Pitchfork! Fuckin’ pretentious pricks…
We could probably continue the above poetic debacle for the remaining nine verses, but as it stands this thing’s already longer than black dong. As we plod ahead with all things Year End, piggybacking on The Four Questions and our Year in Mostly Crappy Photos, allow us to present a distorted look back at a truly fantastic year for being a smarmy douchebag ogling closely from the sidelines.
Read on for the the best of the best from the Year of Our Lord 2006…
As we mourn the loss of James Brown, who suddenly passed away on Christmas Day at 73, we remember Brown as more than just the Godfather of Soul. He was also: Soul Brother Number One, Mr. Dynamite, The Hardest-Working Man in Show Business, Minister of The New New Super Heavy Funk, Mr. Please Please Please and The Boss. We couldn’t help but share 20 of James Brown’s greatest quotes.
You know they gettin’ down in heaven or hell tonight. They makin’ it funky. You know, man, movin’ it, doin’ it. God of Our Souls, meet the Godfather of Soul.
The hardest working man in show business succumbed to heart failure early Monday morning, leaving behind a legacy as the funkiest bastard that ever lived, and the funkiest dude to throw a back-handed slap at someone with fallopian tubes. His transgressions off the stage aside, James Brown did more to till the cultural landscape of music than most who’d came before him. For that, he’s a national treasure.
The good people at Yahoo! have done my work for me, supplying youse with full coverage of the man in death as he was in life. So with my job done already, there’s only one thing left to say to the guy that made us all wish we’d been born with that kind of innate ability to move rhythmically through this world: May you get your young legs back now and do the splits for all eternity. Good god.
Related audio: If you’re feeling like today would be a fantastic day to stream some JB, check out The Godfather & The Dreamer, a solid collection of 27 tracks from 1966-68 that’ll remind you why he’s the greatest. (SugarMegs)
Related video: Just a quick search on YouTube can bring the greatness back to life: some old school sex machinin’, some gettin’ up offa that thing, some feelin’ good and a touch of superbadness. YouTube can also bring back the hijinx and hilarity: the TV interview that confused the world.
Sure it ain’t Passover, but we’ve got four questions for you anyway… 1. What was your single favorite musical experience of 2006? 2. What band are you most excited to
“As soon as a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from indie purgatory springs.” –J. Tetzel The Arcade Fire announced today it will play five nights in Greenwich Village’s
Let’s give thanks for three-day weekends. This Monday and next Monday are the only sniff of a vacation I’ll get, so I’m going to take full advantage. You should take
It’s the end of another year, another revolution. So far we’ve abstained from posting the usual Best Ham & Swiss Sandwiches of 2006 type of lists that most bloggers employ this time of the year, but that all changes today.
After checking out MSNBC’s Year in Pictures, I felt a pang of motivation to scramble through my own photo archive and pick out the 10 best shots I took this year. This exercise taught me that I’ve got an unsteady hand and I’m not a great photographer by any means, but I still think there’s a bumper crop for youse.
Let’s start with the best, and nothing tops the most inconceivable happenstance of a photo I’ve ever taken in my life. I figured my first trip to San Francisco would be a smashing success after bumping into the former keyboardist for the popular rock band Phish and a former geographically excitable presidential candidate: Page McConnell and Howard Dean, Chairman of the Boards and Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, standing there like tourists waiting to be photographed together like old chums. Dean likes Page’s new shirt:
You never know what you’re gonna find in Washington Square Park. Sometimes it’s the acrobatic and comedic black twins doing flips and jumps and jokes simultaneously, sometimes it’s the French juggling unicyclist in the unitard, and sometimes it’s the old hippies that all meet up to sing Teach Your Children Well and pine for the days where longhairs ruled the world. And sometimes, or maybe just one time, it’s former Spin Doctors frontman Chris Barron belting out Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong with Buzz Universe (click that link for a video):
Read on for the rest of My Year In Mostly Crappy Photos (w/ a few gems)…
