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...
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...
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 [...]
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 [...]
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...
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,...
Dysrhythmia, Barefoot Barnacle, Lethe (Studio Seven) There will always be those band nerds in high school taking their craft very seriously. The bass players worship John Patitucci and Les Claypool. The guitarists know all their scales and modes. The drummers, even if they play in the most remedial rock bands, insist that their true calling is jazz. Those folks wind up in bands like Dysrhythmia—a...
While listening to Russian Circles’ latest album, Geneva (out today on Suicide Squeeze ), I couldn’t help but see some parallels between it and my current vodka of choice, Svedka . Its super distilled, has a clean, crisp taste and a smooth, confident finish. It does all this without the fuss, hype and expense of so many other ‘premium’ bottles (see: Grey Goose , Pelican )....
In Mother Russia, beard grows you!!! We were lucky enough to nab an interview with Brian Cook, bassist / noisist extraordinaire for Russian Circles , and he provides some interesting insights into thier latest release, Geneva . Geneva is a definite progression for Russian Circles. All the signature elements are there, only more concentrated, more developed. Was that a conscious effort for the three...
I've sung the praises of Cincinnati before, and the Brian Kelly Admiration Society counts Brian Cook as a member . But last night is a new high: What the Bearcats did in Tampa, in a perfect world, would vault them into legitimate consideration for the BCS title game. In beating USF 34-17 on the road, they earned just the sixth true road win in a game matching ranked teams this year. The other five...
Now that I've (mostly) recovered from the shock of seeing this in a context other than a sushi-and-Pernod-induced nightmare, I guess it's time to take a stab at gauging The State Of The Program. The estimable Senator Blutarsky -- who, coincidentally, joins me today in hoisting the "Tears of Unfathomable Sadness Award" in Brian Cook's This Week in Schadenfreude feature -- has already summed...