Corn Nation (Free subscription) | 11/24/2009
As you may or may not have noticed, the name "corn blight" no longer graces this site. Instead, he, it, "corn blight" has been replaced by my real name, Jon Johnston. I thought about doing this a while back but have kept putting it off until now. I owe you an explanation for the change, so here goes..... A lot has happened over the past couple of years. Countless newspapers have...
Line Out (Free subscription) | 11/20/2009
From Up & Coming : Built to Spill, Disco Doom, Finn Riggins (Showbox at the Market) Built to Spill's recent performances—whether revisiting the entirety of Perfect from Now On or structuring their set lists based on their fans' requests—have found the indie veterans dwelling on their back catalog. So if you've seen the band in the last 18 months, you've probably caught an uncharacteristically...
Line Out (Free subscription) | 11/19/2009
From Data Breaker : Plump DJs (Trinity) Plump DJs—England's Andy Gardner and Lee Rous—rank among the elite producer/DJs of nu skool breaks, a subgenre with deep roots in big beat—the mid-'90s movement that spawned Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, Headrillaz, Propellerheads, and other (mainly) British artists who fed wicked funk samples steroids and speed and proceeded to rock parties...
Husker Mike's Blasphemy (Free subscription) | 11/16/2009
In what seems to be becoming a regular occurance, I got ripped by BlogPoll Administrator Brian Cook for voting for Oklahoma. I'm sticking to my guns here; I still think Oklahoma is one of the better teams in the country. Yes, I know the reason why nobody else is ranking Oklahoma: 4 losses. But those four losses were by 12 points. Let's put that in comparison: USC lost by 34 points alone this week...
Ridiculous Upside (Free subscription) | 11/14/2009
Rockets Waive Pops Mensah-Bonsu Hey, so remember when I said that Pops Mensah-Bonsu was ahead of Joey Dorsey on the Rockets' depth chart? That is no longer a true fact. Deeks with his Bulls hat on does a good job of listing all of the things M-B can do (which is a fair amount). Brian Cook has to have one of the sweetest rides in the NBA, no? He never plays (nor should he, really) but his team can't...
Line Out (Free subscription) | 11/09/2009
From the preview Thirty-Plus Years in Yellow Boilersuits and Red Flowerpot Hats : Devo, Reggie Watts (Moore) I understand that Freedom of Choice was a big hit... That was kind of the reason for doing it in the U.S. But I was the guy who was pushing [to do] album two. Even as recently as this year, we were doing festivals and shows where we played a lot of material off of album two. Some of my favorite...
Line Out (Free subscription) | 11/05/2009
From Data Breaker : Mem1, Wyndel Hunt, Steven Barsotti, Tiflin (Rendezvous) My eyes and ears perk up when I see the names Jan Jelinek and Frank Bretschneider—even if it's in an e-mail from an unknown electronic outfit. Such was the case with San Francisco's Mem1 (Laura and Mark Cetilia on cello and electronics, respectively), who cold-contacted me about a show they're playing at the Rendezvous...
MVictors (Free subscription) | 11/03/2009
Whew! Local sports talk radio was quite a hoot today, as Rodriguez was thoroughly blasted by the folks that come out whenever Michigan loses, and they came strong today. For those out of town, here’s a snip of mgoblog’s Brian Cook on WTKA 1050AM this afternoon. He and co-host Mark Copeland fielded mostly angry [...]
Line Out (Free subscription) | 11/03/2009
As Brian Cook mentioned in Today's Music News , Elton John be all sick and shit, so in case you hadn't figured it out, this week's dates at Key Arena have been postponed . The press release: Seattle, WA - The Elton John / Billy Joel Face 2 Face concerts originally scheduled for Wednesday, November 4 and Saturday November 7 have both been postponed. Promoter Live Nation and the KeyArena were informed...
DawgSports (Free subscription) | 11/02/2009
I Feel Brian Cook's Pain Well, not his specific pain, of course. Given the metaphor he (aptly) chose to use, I should be quite clear upon that point. However, Brian Cook awoke on Saturday morning 100 per cent convinced that the right guy was leading his alma mater 's football program, proceeded to watch his team get thumped by an orange-and-blue-clad conference rival that had known the shame and ignominy...
Husker Mike's Blasphemy (Free subscription) | 11/02/2009
Last week, my ballot got some extra attention after winning the "Mr. Bold" award from Brian Cook, the CBSsports.com BlogPoll administrator. Unfortunately, people ignored my explanation of Oklahoma being a top ten team from the week before, so here's the Cliffs Note version. Three losses by five points is still pretty good, and frankly, against some pretty darn good teams. I'm dropping the...
Line Out (Free subscription) | 10/29/2009
From this week's muisc lead, Fright On for the Darkness : Diminished Men, Corespondents (Poggie Tavern) Diminished Men's new album, Shadow Instrumentals (Abduction Records), partially draws on the fantastical Italian horror-flick genre known as giallo for sonic inspiration. The band's jagged, hard-charging, reverbed riffing evokes images of slit jugulars and accelerated heart rates, all the while...
Get The Picture (Free subscription) | 10/28/2009
I have to admit it’s low hanging fruit, but I still enjoyed this bit from Brian Cook: Charest is a 6′4″ pro-style QB out of North Carolina who was a middling three star a couple years back. When Juice got pulled (again) against Purdue, Charest came in and did this: Charest made his debut Saturday, playing in [...]
Line Out (Free subscription) | 10/26/2009
From Up & Coming : Struck by Lightning, Death Raid, Street Walker, Griffin (Comet) The unfortunate catch-22 of metal is that it fetishizes destruction and thrives on perpetuating habits that are counterproductive to creative endeavors. True misanthropes wouldn't tolerate fans or even other band members. Matching the form to the content would require a degree of vehemence that would thoroughly...
Ridiculous Upside (Free subscription) | 10/26/2009
Nate Jawai is on the move once again. Maybe he'll enjoy Sioux Falls more than he did Boise. View full size photo uploaded October 26, 2009 So last week was a bloodbath. Today is the deadline for NBA teams to submit their regular season rosters, and most of them knew who they were keeping awhile ago. So did pretty much everyone, really. But you'll notice I'm not talking about guys who have been waived,...
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