Dr. Horrible has a PhD in horribleness and an evil plan to rule the world.  He has vowed to join the evil league of evil and combine forces with “the thoroughbred of sin,” Bad Horse.  Fortunately, he’s got a sing-a-long blog so we can have a front row seat to all of this awsomeness.

This whole thing presents several pertinent questions….but I can’t for the life of me think what they are.  Your thoughts?

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Lost Boys.

Because you asked for it: (more…)

The 30th Anniversary was actually last year, but a new box set of the album is coming out this month.  The year was 1977: Reggie Jackson, Son of Sam, Elvis died.  This album took the world by storm.  What was it?

For the answer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SwrklEY2ZM&feature=user

OK. So you all heard that Axl Rose’s oft delayed and tweaked upon album was leaked last week via Bit Torrent. Purely as a reporter and so that I could offer a report to all of you I tracked down said leaked tracks and forced myself to listen to them. Could Axl redeem himself after a horribly embarrassing “comeback” on the MTV Video Awards in 2002? It was hard to say what was worse - an award show for a medium no one used on a network that didn’t even show them or an overweight Axl with shaved eyebrows gasping for breath and missing his cues. Fortunately Brittany Spears made a comeback attempt a few years later making everyone thankfully forget about Axl’s weirdness.

But I digress. So here’s the question. How’s the album?

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Dax Riggs is an interesting guy. He started out in a metal sludge band called Acid Bath that had a pretty dedicated (if small) following. When Acid Bath broke up he formed Agents of Oblivion, a band that managed to be both heavy and hauntingly beautiful, but definitely not sludgy. Agents of Oblivion also had a dedicated if small following. Then came a band called Deadboy & the Elephantmen, which is more roots-rock. Their first album had a full band, but their second only a drummer and Dax on vocals/guitar. He now records under his own name and when he performs live will also do Deadboy material.

I’ve never seen him before. Missed him plenty of times. He’s one of my favorite vocalists, though, so I have really wanted to catch him. And his voice is just as awesome live as it is on record.
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“Asses will be rocked.”

-Justin Pierre, Motion City Soundtrack

The Honda Civic Tour delivered on Justin’s promise at Salt Air  last Wednesday night (mostly through the valiant efforts of his own band), with a lineup that featured Phantom Planet, Panic at the Disco, Motion City Soundtrack and The Hush Sound.  (more…)

Lines from the Weezer song “Pork and Beans”:

Everyone likes to dance
To a happy song
(Hey, hey)
With a catchy chorus and beat
So they can sing along
(Hey, hey)
Timbaland knows the way
To reach the top of the charts
Maybe if I work with him
I can perfect the art

It’s Rivers Cuomo’s trademark sarcasm on display. But does it really make any sense at all to joke about Timbaland-produced songs on a Rick Rubin-produced album? Or has Cuomo finally reached the point of being so ironic that irony loses all of its meaning?

But hey, it is catchy. And the video is funny.

This past weekend, I went with my wife and two oldest daughters to see The Old 97’s perform at a hometown in-store performance at Good Records in Dallas. The band, half of whom have relocated to the West Coast, was in town playing the House of Blues at the front end of the tour in support of their new album, Blame it on Gravity. I picked up the new album at the store and have listened to it through a couple of times. It’s a good mix of Old 97’s twang and power-pop. I think fans will like it. I’ll post a few songs to the Radio.blog. If I have time, I might write a full review after I’ve had a chance to listen to it more carefully.
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For those familiar with them, you should check out these live acoustic performances. And for those who haven’t heard them before, you should check out these live acoustic performances.

I love how their voices work together.
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There’s some music that makes me want to gather it up in my arms and squeeze it so tight that it sinks into my body. I want to absorb into my bones, so I can carry the feeling it gives me around with me forever. Ladyhawk’s music is like that.
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DCFC blew into town Monday and played at Thanksgiving Point in a beautiful outdoor setting under skies that cleared just in time for the show. (more…)

I know there are like, maybe two metal fans out there? Who might be interested in this. I saw Megadeth’s Gigantour last night.
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My son is really into a handful of artists like RJD2, DJ Shadow, and his latest discovery (and therefore mine) is Quantic.

Quantic’s roots are in jazz, though, and allmusic.com lists them as something called broken beat. I’m afraid I know very little about electronica. But I know Quantic are really good.

See also here, here and here.

Two great releases this year.

They both happen to be bands that I’ll get stuck on one song by and have trouble listening to their entire albums. Right now, it’s “Lovecraft in Brooklyn” from the Moutain Goats Heretic Pride, and “I Don’t Always Know What You’re Saying” from Ladyhawk’s Shots.
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Now it’s your turn. What’s your One Song?  (and make sure you bring it home).

Watching old Rage Against the Machine videos on Youtube got me all nostalgic for my moshing days. Mosh-pit anarchy was a heady but dangerous intoxicant in my late teens — couple the adrenalin of the crowd-surf with a kick in the head by a stray Doc Marten. The surge of the pit could be terrifying at times — witness the tragedy at Roskilde — but there was simply no way I could go to a concert and not join the animals at the front, no matter how bad they stank. (more…)

Salt Lake City gave Augustana its usual adoring welcome last Friday at the Avalon, but this concert was markedly different from the others that have featured this great young band from Greenville, Illinois and San Diego, California.

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OK. New list. Albums that have been out for some time that you just now discovered and love.
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Who would you say?

First, some guidelines:
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 Last night was the Elbow/Air Traffic show at the Depot in SLC.  I can’t begin to tell you how incredibly amazing this show was (Oh, Ok, I’ll try).   (more…)

In this week’s AI post, MCQ said he doesn’t get my negativity towards David Cook. I decided to write a long, self-indulgent post to answer him rather than just reply in a comment. (And I’ll probably insult most everyone’s music tastes in the process. Bear with me. This should be fun.)

I don’t have anything against David Cook personally. Do I think he can sing? Yes. Does he have stage presence? Yes. Is he talented? For sure. He’s also an example everything that’s wrong with today’s rock music.

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I put an old mix cd on in my car and a live acoustic version of “Everlong” was on it. I really love some of the Foo Fighter’s songs, I think Dave Grohl is a really talented songwriter. He’s able to do that thing I love—make songs that are both energetic and melancholy at the same time.

But they’ve never been a band that I listen to very much. Besides one of their early albums that got a lot of play at an old workplace, I don’t think I’ve ever sat through an entire album. (That early one was really good, though.) I love certain songs, though—and although most of them got grossly overplayed, I’ve never gotten sick of them.

My very favorite is one that wasn’t a hit, I don’t think—”Stacked Actors.” It’s the angriest song I know by them. (If anyone knows of any other songs they have like this, please fill me in.) I’ll post it to the radio.blog.

You know, I go to a lot of shows, and I take videoclips at almost all of them. And I upload those clips to youtube. I have quite a collection going—over 150 live band clips. My camera somehow does really well with the ultra loud sound at shows. It doesn’t come out all distorted like a lot of live footage you see on youtube.

What’s funny is what my most viewed clips are.
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Your assignment, should you choose to accept it:

Make a mix “tape” at www.muxtape.com, then come back here and post it for the rest of us to listen to. You just upload 12 mp3s and you’re done. (You can rearrange the order if you want after you’ve uploaded them.) 12 songs, any 12 songs, and have fun!