Quiet Riot's Kevin DuBrow dead at 52. Rock In Peace.
Some guy is auctioning off a band name. The bidding starts at $1.99 and is labeled as "Rock Band Name Sunset Rubdown Okkervil River." Is it ok if I think that's dumb?
This Friday, November 30, the 19th Annual Rock for Kids Charity Auction will take place at Chicago's Park West venue. Bjork, the Arcade Fire, among others will peform.
I know, it's been a few weeks since Radiohead released In Rainbows to the world. You don't want to hear about how awesome it was that I and many others paid next to nothing for the download, or that the band doesn't even have a label, or distribution; or that they're so darn innovative that it makes my teeth hurt. Maybe you wanna read the reviews though. Does all the press make sense? Is the album even worth the Euro I paid for it? I like it, but here's some more fleshed out reviews:
The fellows at CokeMachineGlow have reviewed the album twice. Here's the first, super positive one, and here's the second one—a little less positive.
It's not official until Pitchforkmedia chimes in, now is it?
I can't for the life of me find a negative review of this album, so here's another glowing one. This time, from Allmusic.com
Everyone knows you gotta plan early for New Year's Eve.
Patti Smith will be rocking out, like she has for the past few years. This time, she'll be at the Bowery Ballroom with Les Savy Fav going on after the ball drops.
Or, if you like James Brown and Chaka Kahn (and who doesn't), you could hang out at B.B. King's Blues Club to listen to some old favorites.
Or maybe you wanna stand in a sea of thousands of people. Maybe you like it when people you don't know rub up against you and try and kiss you when the year changes. This is the place for you.
Besides end-of-year lists, December also brings a bunch of people together for some sort of celebration with trees and lots of lights. There's usually happy music too.
Songs:Illinois (the blog, not the Sufjan Stevens album) present their own little mix for the holidays.
Not to be totally outdone, You Ain't No Picasso have posted the too-cool-for-school Casper and the Cookies doing their song "Kiss Me Beneath the Christmas Tree."
But my favorite Christmas comp so far has been put together by those older, more sophisticated music journalists at Allmusic.com
I'll keep you up to date as more holiday rockers are released.
It seems a bit ridiculous, but apparently it's the time of the year where critics everywhere ignore the new release calender for the next 5 weeks and publish their best of 2007 lists. Here are some interesting ones:
The Catbirdseat shows off its elitist leanings by presenting us with 5 albums we've never heard. Bully!
HARP Magazine has posted their top 50 albums, but you'll have to go to brooklynvegan to read the list. Hooray for Web 2.0!
Speaking of music mags that no one buys anymore, Paste has posted their 100 top albums of 2007. At least it's available on their website.
Unfortunately, Aloha, Daft Punk, Ghostface Killah, Rivers Cuomo (Weezer), and many other fine artists are all releasing records in the closing weeks of 2007; I guess they don't get to make any of those stupid lists.
