La Musica Coolica #60 (STG)
Author: Jake
Don’t hate me for this one. I kind of consider Shiny Toy Guns as, kind of, the Jonas Brothers of electro-rock. It may seem like an oxymoron. But that is just my take. So I can totally understand if you just want to skip right past this one. However, I am really kind of digging their sound, and if you grew up listening to what I did, you might, also. I feel kind of bad coming off of a two week hiatus with these guys (especially since it is #60 [It would be nice to hit hard on the tens]). Just the same, here it is, and I’m standing behind it.
Oddly enough, the song that I’m sharing is actually a cover of one of my favorite new wave 80’s hits. It is new take of “Major Tom (Coming Home),” by Peter Schilling. Such a great song. And I feel like STG really does it justice. Check it out.
La Musica Coolica #59 (BT:WoT)
Author: Jake
I am no a metal expert. I have never really cared for GNR. I think that the opening riff to “Crazy Train” is one of the all time sickest riffs ever… no contests period. My wife and I danced down the aisle after being pronounced man and wife to “The Rhythm of Love.” I have never owned a Metallica t-shirt. One time I dated a girl who had a sister who had an ex-husband who had performed at The Whiskey once. Although I can name-drop many of the greats, I can only pick a few out of a listening line-up. I guess I could be called a dabbler at best.
The band I am thinking about has probably never even owned a cassette-recorder. I am sure that their demo tape was sent out digitally. I do know that they do have long hair, muscle tees and cutoff jean shorts. I also know that since my buddy Matt and I went on a 100+/- mile, 5 store, 2 burrito, and full afternoon search for the album after hearing the single, I was hooked. Behold… Black Tide… my current favorite metal fix. I typically enjoy them at about 5am on my way to work, or pretty much anytime I feel the need to get tough.
Sooo, the question now is what am I talking about? I am talking about what happens when you put together 4 teenagers, lots of hair, rock instruments, a lyric written using barely 35 different words, and record it all about for about 6 minutes… a song called “Warriors of Time.” That’s what.
Peter Breinholt is a guest contributor for La Musica Coolica, and Jake’s brother. All of Peter’s contributions can be found here | Peter’s personal blog can be found here.
La Musica Coolica #58 (LG)
Author: Jake
Ok ok ok ok ok. I’m pretty sure that LMC will most likely lose and sort of cred that it may have had, after this post. But here goes anyway. Except for those who have spent the last 18 months in a bomb shelter, or have recently awoken from a long coma, there is no avoiding the hype that surrounds Lady Gaga. Reagan and I have had countless discussions about her. Reagan is obsessed. I am repulsed. We do both agree that she is a very talented individual. There is also no denying that she gives the kids what they want.
So, I guess for me it comes down to whether or not she has a soul. In my mind there is no better embodiment of the once abstract idea of a “sell-out.” There have been a few occasions when I have seriously been blown away by her vocal abilities (namely when she is messing around/ad-libbing on SNL, etc..). Despite her obvious depth of skill, she continues to write and publish pure crap. The problem is that, the crap is catchy crap.
I can honestly say that I don’t care for the majority of the music that she has released. There are a few tracks, however, that I am now for the first time publicly admitting, have gotten under my skin. The song that I’m sharing today is probably the one that I like the most. It is from “The Fame Monster.” The song is called “Telephone.” Beyonce is also featured on this track. It is the story of ever clubber kid’s standard weekend. Check it.
FYI, if you are really bored, check out all of the tribute videos there are for this song on YouTube. Reagan and I wasted a good hour and 1/2 being amazed by them.
La Musica Coolica #57 (SC)
Author: Jake
“Stick Around for Joy” is one of the first cds that I ever owned. It was released in 1992, which was probably near the high point of popularity for the Sugarcubes, in the US. ‘92 was also the year that they broke up. It obviously didn’t slow Bjork down. In fact, in my opinion, she was getting rid of the dead weight. The music was good. But the male vocals were just a little too reminiscent of Fred Schneider of the B-52s (i.e. purely obnoxious). Nonetheless, in 1992, I had no notion of a solo Bjork, so I jammed to the Sugarcubes. I have always loved something about Bjork. I think that part of it, is that she is completely crazy. I also dig her little Icelandic accent. Plus, I think that it is cool that we are practically nieghb’s, now. That whole weird movie that she did a couple of years ago with her boyfriend was also mostly shot locally (in a big warehouse with green screens) Hahahaha. Anyway, here is a cool track from “Stick Around for Joy.” Try to ignore the Fred Schneider-guy and just pay attention Bjork’s cuteness. The track is called “Lucky Night.” Give it a spin.
La Musica Coolica #56 (Specials)
Author: Jake
One day when I was about 10 years old or so, I asked my older brother, who had a pretty extensive collection of music, if I could borrow a couple CDs. I was looking for something besides my usual suspects: symphonic rock, the Phantom of the Opera, and the Chipmunks.
One of the CDs he gave me was The Specials: Specials.
The Specials original line-up had actually broken up the year before I was born, and to this date have not played together in their entirety, although many of the original members have formed and re-formed many times in many combinations over the last 30 years to put out an occasional album or play on tour here and there. I remember a concert for the Special Beat being advertised by KJQ. According to the house rules, I wasn’t old enough to go.
That is pretty much where it all started. Since the first time, The Specials have always been music that I could get down to. In San Diego, some of the local radio stations play “A Message to You, Rudy” a couple times a day. It is my all time favorite “on the way home from a 10 hour day in the work truck and stuck in traffic because it took us too long to get the job done” song. Sometimes during my shifts at Starbucks, I get to listen to some of my old time favorites: “Monkey Man,” “Nelson Mandela,” “Ghost Town,” and even their version of “Pressure Drop,” as they have made it onto official “hear music” play list.
However, none of the aforementioned songs were ones that I would listen to on repeat in my room for hours at a time while reading or playing videos games or whatever. “Doesn’t Make It Alright” was.
To my brother, I say: thanks for sharing.
To everybody else, I say: enjoy.
Click to Play———–> “Doesn’t Make It Alright”
Peter Breinholt is a guest contributor for La Musica Coolica, and Jake’s brother. All of Peter’s contributions can be found here | Peter’s personal blog can be found here.
La Musica Coolica #55 (Fischerspooner)
Author: Jake
Make no mistake, these guys are weird. But, they are also pretty awesome. This week, we are swinging back to the NYC Electronica scene. Fischerspooner was formed by New Yorkers Warren Fischer and Casey Spooner. They got their start performing in the Starbucks at Astor Place. So, you know the’re good. Hahahahah. For real, though, you have to respect an outfit that can make it from performing at Starbucks, to where they are now.
Over the years, Fischerspooner has grown from just the duo, to become a full-on theatre/music troupe (sort of). By this, I mean that they have put together some pretty elaborate stage antics to accompany their live performances, including more than 10 people on stage, at a time. Their sound consists generally of some Matt and Kim-style keyboard, with a technofab beat underlying a barrage of various Depeche Mode-esque samples. The vocals are reminiscent of the performance that Kip gave at the end of “Napoleon Dynamite,” or what it would have sounded like, if he had a clone of himself singing a duet. Despite the fact that I just made them sound totally lame, I’m really a pretty big fan. I currently have two of their tracks on my latest and greatest workout playlist.
Fischerspooner has released a few studio albums. I think that my favorite Fischerspooner album, track for track, is their 2005 release “Odyssey.” The particular track that I’m sharing, is called “Get Confused.” This song is awesome for many many reasons. The reason that I personally love it, is because it embodies an inside joke that Reagan and I have had forever. I always tease her about being confused and about getting too excited. She does this fake pant-breathing when she pretends like she is getting excited and when she is pretending to be confused. When I first came across this song, I felt like they were totally ripping off our joke. Ok, so there is that, pluuuuussssss, toward the end of the track, there is a flute solo not unlike something that Ron Burgundy could have composed on the fly, to woo a lady like Veronica Corningstone.
If you are feeling nerdy, don’t be shy about pressing play.
Cargo 2010
Author: Jake
Right now I’m covering the January Cargo Tradeshow in SoHo, for SoJones. I shot their July show last year, too. After the Sojones articles are published, I’ll put up more from the show.
I was hoping that it would be a nice break and lift my spirits, for a bit. And it did, for a bit.
Today there was also this photo that showed up in Gothamist. Thanks for using my stuff, Joe.
Guest Contributor
Author: Jake
Earlier this month, I received an email from my brother Peter about contributing to the La Musica Coolica feature of Jake’s New Blog. He told me that my commentary about music was getting tired, and needed to be refreshed. Hahahaha. He didn’t really tell me that. But he did offer to chime in with some track selections and commentary of his own. Of course I gladly accepted.
Doing some sort of online collab’ with my brothers is something that I have had a desire to do for quite a while. Back in the day, I registered jakensam.com, in the hopes that I could get my brother Sam to publish a flash cartoon with me, or something. As it turns out, Sam was more interested in WOW than in publishing marginally funny flash sketches. So, it never really materialized, and I let the registry lapse. Alas my excitement to collaborate in online debauchery with brothers has been renewed, with receipt of the email from Peter.
Pete, like myself is a bit of a music junkie. He will now be authoring LMC on the final Tuesdays of the month (possibly more), starting January 26, 2010.
By way of background, my brother Peter Breinholt, is not he balding musician from Salt Lake City. He is the apron wearing accident magnet from San Diego (for another week). Pete and his wife are in the process of moving from San Diego to Salt Lake, so that they can be near our other siblings with their new baby, while he finishes his undergraduate studies. He is a great guy, who isn’t afraid to get creative with his facial hair. He has a technical understanding of precision photography that I am extremely envious of. He is well read, and thoroughly versed in the various ways to turn java from a bean into a delicious beverage. He is no stranger to the ER, with more first-person accounts of possibly life-threatening pedestrian-auto accidents (always playing the role of pedestrian), than most stunt men. Also, his initials are PJB, the same as Piper. So, you know he’s cool. You can read more about his latest developments on his blog Idiotbook.
La Musica Coolica #54 (Luda)
Author: Jake
Ludacris! Yeah, man. It is about time that I threw some southern hip-hip into the mix. Whenever I hear southern rap, it reminds me of the good old days before Lil’ Jon came along and ruined it all-up with “Crunk.” I mean, we all thought that Crunk was going to be one of those timeless genres that our great-grandchildren could listen to, while they booty-pop at the school dance. Alas, it seems to have burned out as quickly as it originally came onto the scene. Rants aside southern hip-hop is hot.
Getting back to Luda: Reagan and I were actually having a discussion the other day, over sandwiches, about southern rap. It was about how when we hear albums like “Chicken-n-Beer” or Nelly’s “Country Grammar,” it just reminds us of simpler times. I also think that Luda was hilarious in “2 Fast 2 Furious.” Yes, I am admitting that I actually watched that movie (not that any females reading this didn’t watch it just to see Paul Walker and Tyrese looking hot and acting dumb). Ok, now for the real confession: I own that movie. Hahahaha. The image in this post is actually of Luda’s character from the movie.
I can’t say that I care for Lucacris’ entire body of work. For example “Move, get out the way” drove me absolutely insane. Some of his songs, on the other hand, fall among the ranks of my favorite hip-hop jams. It is one of those songs that I’m sharing today. “Get back,” is the name of the track. It is from the 2004 album “Red Light District.” It is the edited version. You definitely need a sub, or some headphones with at least 50mm drivers to do the low end justice, on this track. Click me to play.
La Musica Coolica #53 (LT)
Author: Jake
First of all, sorry in advance. It is that time of day where I feel like everything that I bang out on the keyboard it hilarious/awesome, even though in reality it is total crap and laden with typos. It’s like punch drunk mixed with invincibility.
Getting to the point: I mean, you have to love a band that is named after a song, right? Keeping with the electronica theme, this week, we are listening to Ladytron. I first discovered Ladytron, on snowboarding videos. Yes, snowboarding videos. I don’t remember which video, but I thing the song was “Flicking your Switch,” which is still probably my favorite Ladytron track. Since that day, I have grown to like Ladytron so much, that when I’m in the right mood, I find myself skipping every track not by them, on the Ladytron Pandora Station.
Their sound has changed a bit, over the last decade. Their first album “604″ was super raw, almost to the point of too-much Casio. They have since developed a much more refined sound. The single “Ghosts” from their latest album “Velocifero” almost has a Portishead feel to it. The stuff that I like the best, falls right in the middle. The track that I’m sharing is from “604.” The name of the track like the band’s name, also contains the word “lady.” It is entitled “Ladybird.” Check it.
As a side note: Last week I meant to link to this site Musicritics.com, which is a golden font of trance music, complete with commentary. I have gotten to know one of the authors, Andre, a little bit over the past few months. Anyway check it out, for some solid content.