Peanut’s Playground: Forgotten Classics – 13. Mental Floss For The Globe by Urban Dance Squad

April 20, 2011

Peanut’s Playground is my bi-weekly verbal diarrhea. Every other Wednesday I plan to ramble about stuff I like (in my typically screwed up version of English) and hope you will like too. And in case you don’t… mweh.

Number 13 in my series of Forgotten Classics:

Mental Floss For The Globe by Urban Dance Squad (1989)

Hi guys. Sorry that I missed my slot two weeks ago. Life suddenly caught up with me and well, that’s just how things go sometimes. But rest assured, I’m making it up with a whopper of a classic today! One that you’ve probably never heard of before but hey, what else is new.

Forget about mainstream acts like Red Hot Chili Peppers or Rage Against The Machine. Urban Dance Squad were the true original crossover pioneers. The Utrecht (in the Netherlands) based group combined rock (guitars) with rap (vocals) and old-skool (scratching) and turned it into something completely new.

They actually had some moderate success too. Not over here in the Nether Regions, but in the States. Deeper Shade Of Soul from their debut album actually made it all the way to #57 in the Billboard Hot 100. Which to Dutch standards is really really fucking succesful.

Anyway, this band doesn’t do their thang no more (whatever the hell that means), so digging into their back catalogue is all that’s left now. And there’s no better place to start than here. Because if you don’t like this album, there is seriously something wrong with your hearing.

Download Mental Floss For The Globe here

1. Fast Lane

2. No Kid

3. Deeper Shade of Soul

4. Prayer For My Demo

5. Big Apple

6. Piece Of Rock

7. Brainstorm On The U.D.S.

8. The Devil

9. Famous When You’re Dead

10. Mental Floss For The Globe

11. Hitchhike H.D.

12. God Blasts The Queen

See you in two weeks!

- Martin

Link up with me here:

Peanut’s Playground: Forgotten Classics – 12. Neon Golden by The Notwist

March 9, 2011

By Martin

Number 12 in my series of Forgotten Classics:

Neon Golden by The Notwist (2002)

It was way back in 2002 that Neon Golden by the Germans of The Notwist was named Album Of The Year by the good people of the Dutch (aren’t I the multinational blogger) music magazine OOR. At the time I had no clue whatsoever what this album was all about and why in god’s name it should be crowned ‘King Of 2002′. After all, wasn’t this the same year that also saw the release of instant classics like (amongst others) Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Interpol’s Turn On The Bright Lights, The White Stripes’ White Blood Cells and Cody ChesnuTT’s The Headphone Masterpiece?

Being fashionably late it took me more than two years to finally discover why so many people liked this album. Because it’s fucking awesome, that’s why! Look here, even the acid pissing wankers of Pissfork listed it in their top 10:

Realizing that The Notwist started out as a (mediocre) post-hardcore outfit makes the musical journey that Neon Golden takes you on all the more amazing. Nothing on the band’s previous four full length releases could’ve hinted at the greatness they would achieve with their fifth album. The fluency in the fusion of (subtle) electronics and guitar-driven pop music is impressive to say the least. The closest comparison I can think of is what Radiohead achieved on Kid A, but with a lot less experimentation.

The focus on the songs make the album a lot more lovable at first listen than its experimental counterparts, and somehow without becoming boring after repeated listens. Even after almost 10 years. Hell, Consequence is still one the best songs of the 00s!

So if you happened to have missed out the first time around (like I did), make up for it now. Check out the sample songs and spend your cash on a great album. You will not regret it.

Download Neon Golden here

1. One Step Inside Doesn’t Mean You Understand

2. Pilot

3. Pick Up The Phone

4. Trashing Days

5. This Room

6. Solitaire

7. One With The Freaks

8. Neon Golden

9. Off The Rails

10. Consequence

11. Scoop

12. Propeller 9

13. Formiga

See you in two weeks!

- Martin

Link up with me here:

Peanut’s Playground: Forgotten Classics – 11. Sugar – File Under Easy Listening

February 18, 2011

By Martin

Photography by LittleFlair…

Hüsker Dü means nothing to me. Bob Mould means nothing to me either. That is to say, the music that the Dü and the Mould made/make isn’t really the music that I like the Bob to make. The music I love is this:

Sugar – File Under Easy Listening (1994)

1994 was a great year in music, and File Under Easy Listening (or F.U.E.L.) was one of its highlights.

Roaring guitars. Loud guitars. But also, beautiful melodies. A combination I’ve gotten to love, and few albums have gotten it better than F.U.E.L. Bob Mould’s voice has never been angelic or smooth or anything like that, but who knew how well it would fit melodic songs instead of just raging rockers. His gritty vocals over the infectious grooves and chords are exactly what keep this album interesting.

Every song is memorable. Memorable in such a way that even after listening to it only once it will have you singing along full force! The song structures are, without exception, simple and easy to grasp. But simple does not equal dull. It’s never dull! Better still, it keeps on surprising you, more than 16 years after its release.

All the traits of a timeless classic if I’ve ever heard one.

DOWNLOAD FILE UNDER EASY LISTENING HERE

1. Gift

2. Company Book

3. Your Favorite Thing

4. What You Want It To Be

5. Gee Angel

6. Panama City Motel

7. Can’t Help You Anymore

8. Granny Cool

9. Believe What You’re Saying

10. Explode And Make Up

Don’t forget to check out my other articles, in case you’ve missed them (which would be an absolute shame, because they’re great and shit).

Tudels,

Peanut

Link up with me here:

Peanut’s Playground: Forgotten Classics – 10. The Dears – Gang Of Losers

February 9, 2011

By Martin

Photography by shinelikestars00…

I was going to write about The Dears’ new album Degeneration Street but I opted to do a forgotten classic post instead. This is number 10 in my ongoing series honoring wonderful and often underrated albums:

The Dears – Gang Of Losers (2006)

The reason I’m not writing about the new album is because I really need to listen to it some more before judging. I already know it’s good but I still have to decide how good it really is. For Gang Of Losers I already made up my mind back in 2006.

Of all albums released in the noughties only two have made my all-time top 20 list, and this is one of those two. And in contrast with how many of my favorite music has captured my attention, this time it was the lyrics that pulled me in.

Frontman Murray Lightburn sings about being homeless. Being discriminated. Being deemed a loser. But also about optimism. About the things that are good in the world. And what makes his stories all the more impressive, is the fact that he’s live through it all. He’s actually been there, living on the streets, getting shit dumped upon him. And somehow, someway, this man has managed to make a series of fantastic albums of which Gang Of Losers is (imo) by far the most impressive.

Every song here is memorable. Instantly. And while most of the time this is a bad sign; this time it’s not. I’ve revisited this album at average at least twice a month since its release. And even now, almost five years later songs like Death or Life We Want You and There Goes My Outfit still give me goosebumps, and this is the main sign of a classic if you ask me.

DOWNLOAD GANG OF LOSERS HERE

1. Sinthtro

2. Ticket to Immortality

3. Death or Life We Want You

4. Hate, Then Love

5. There Goes My Outfit

6. Bandwagoneers

7. Fear Made The World Go ‘Round

8. Gang of Losers

9. Whites Only Party

10. Ballad of Humankindness

11. I Fell Deep

12. Find Our Way To Freedom

Don’t forget to check out my other articles, in case you’ve missed them (which would be an absolute shame, because they’re great and shit).

Tudels,

Peanut

Link up with me here:

Peanut’s Playground: Sweep, Swoop, Swept And Mondo Amore By Nicole Atkins

February 2, 2011

By Martin

Photography by SimonSawSunlight…

If there’s one lady in music who has swept me of my feet it’s this one!

Nicole Atkins – Mondo Amore

Besides the fact that Nicole Atkins is one great chica (check out her twitter if you don’t believe me) she also makes some bloody fantastic music as well!

Her 2007′ album Neptune City is among the very few albums from my year-end-list of that year that I actually still listen to. Listen to a lot actually. The combination of grand orchestration, lush arrangements and huge but lovely vocals has proven to be seriously addictive. That she’s able to add really memorable melodies to that mix makes her even easier to love.

Where Neptune City was like the pop-music version of a Vaudeville show, Mondo Amore is Nicole dragging the whole shebang over to the Jersey shores and kicking the crap out of the can-can dancers! Sure there’s her trademark swooping ballads to be found here (Hotel Plaster, Heavy Boots amongst others) but the majority of this album kicks ass and promisses to be just as addictive as her earlier work.

Go check her out if you haven’t done so before, you know you want to!

Download Mondo Amore here

1. Vultures

2. Cry Cry Cry

3. Hotel Plaster

4. You Come To Me

5. My Baby Don’t Lie

6. This Is For Love

7. You Were The Devil

8. War Is Hell

9. Heavy Boots

10. The Tower

Don’t forget to check out my other articles, in case you’ve missed them (which would be an absolute shame, because they’re great and shit).

Tudels,

Peanut

Link up with me here:

Peanut’s Playground: Gimme Some By Peter Björn And John, Something To Love That Is!

January 29, 2011

By Martin

Photography by complejo…

Everyone that has read more than one of my articles over the past 5 years will already know that this Swedish three-man-band has been one of my faves ever since discovering them.

So there should be no surprise to learn that I was extremely excited about their new album:

Peter Björn And John – Gimme Some

If you happen to be unfamiliar with Peter Björn And John’s music (which wouldn’t be that surprising), then I suggest you hop over to their website asap to get some free sample mp3s and videos: PBJ.com and then return here to read on a bit.

Go on.

I’ll wait.

*dumdidumdidumdidum*

Oh hello! Welcome back!

I can only imagine that you’re just as amazed as I was when first hearing their music. If you aren’t, well frankly I think there’s something seriously wrong with you and you should stop reading this and every other future article I write.

Gimme Some is the band’s 6th album (5th proper one) since their start in 1999. Their first glimpse of fame came when their track Young Folks (the whistling song) from 2006′ Writer’s Block was picked up by a massive amount of websites and radiostations. To date they have yet to deliver a bad piece of music, although I will admit that their 2008′ instrumental release Seaside Rock was sub-par to say the least.

After the bit more adventurous Living Thing from 2009 for Gimme Some the band have returned to what their good great at. Making energetic guitar driven pop/rock with hooks that are all over the place. The album is filled with potential singles, the best one of which has just been released as just that. Second Chance is one of the best songs you’ll hear this year, trust me on that one, and the rest of the bunch ain’t too shabby either. Enjoy!

Visit the band’s website to stay updated

1. Tomorrow Has To Wait

2. Dig A Little Deeper

3. Second Chance

4. Eyes

5. Breaker Breaker

6. May Seem Macabre

7. (Don’t Let Them) Cool Off

8. Black Book

9. Down Like Me

10. Lies

11. I Know You Don’t Love Me

Don’t forget to check out my other articles, in case you’ve missed them (which would be an absolute shame, because they’re great and shit).

Tudels,

Peanut

Link up with me here:

Peanut’s Playground: Forgotten Classics – 9. Kyuss – Welcome To Sky Valley

January 26, 2011

By Martin

Photography by VexingART…

Everybody and his brother’s dog knows Queens Of The Stone Age. Well fuck Queens Of The Stone Age! There’s only band that Josh Homme should be known for and that’s:

Kyuss – Welcome To Sky Valley (1994)

There isn’t a band in history that has earned weirder tags than Kyuss. ‘Stoner rock’. Ehh what? Stones that rock? Sure. ‘Desert rock’. Last time I checked the desert it was quiet as fuck, so this makes no sense whatsoever. Oh wait, they had jam sessions in the desert you say? Well I sing in the toilet, so maybe that explains why I make shitty music…

1992′ Blues For The Red Sun might have gained the ‘classic’ label but this here Welcome To Sky Valley is truly the real deal when it comes to Kyuss. It hasn’t got anything close to something that could be considered a single candidate (although Demon Cleaner has appeared in the latest Guitar Hero game) but when it comes to fulfilling the potential that Kyuss had you need not look any further.

Sky Valley is split up in three ‘suits’, otherwise known as three Roman numerals on the back cover of the album. Seriously, there ain’t nothing more to it than that. And be glad for that! Most albums that work with ‘suits’ turn out to be pretentious and unlistenable pieces of crap, and this is not.

The sound is all over the place but at the same time it’s 100% Kyuss and unique in that way. Thrashing, laidback, psychedelic, rocking and thunderous. This has got it all. And all of this accompanied by the Southern wail of John Garcia and Josh Homme’s guitar played through a bass amp.

Welcome To Sky Valley is a unique and amazing album by a band that would’ve been completely relevant had they still existed today. In case you overlooked Kyuss back in the early 90′s, here’s your chance to redeem yourselves.

DOWNLOAD WELCOME TO SKY VALLEY HERE

1. Gardenia

2. Asteroid

3. Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoop

4. 100 Degrees

5. Space Cadet

6. Demon Cleaner

III

7. Odyssey

8. Conan Troutman

9. N.O.

10. Whitewater

Don’t forget to check out my other articles, in case you’ve missed them (which would be an absolute shame, because they’re great and shit).

Tudels,

Peanut

Link up with me here:

Peanut’s Playground: How Something New That Seemed To Be Shite Turned Out To Be Quite Good And Mine Is Yours By Cold War Kids

January 23, 2011

By Martin

Photography by iNeedChemicalX…

Now this is a release that I have been waiting for like fucking forever! Well actually the wait’s only been a little less than 3 years but it sure felt like forever to me, but finally FINALLY it’s here:

Cold War Kids – Mine Is Yours

And fuck what a disappointment this album was at first listen!

Wanna know why? Lemme tell you why.

I saw Cold War Kids play live at the Amsterdam Paradiso somewhere in 2006, and they were the most intense act I had ever witnessed on stage. These guys were nothing less than possessed! The drummer was pounding away. The singer ripped his lungs out and the guitars seared with emotion drenched in blood, sweat and tears. They were in one word, amazing!

This is the kind of amazing that I’m talking about:

Imagine my surprise when the first song from Mine Is Yours that actually draw my attention was this one:

Finally Begin

WTF??!! This can’t be the same band!

Don’t get me wrong here; I like this song. I actually like it a lot, but it sounds like something that George Michael could’ve released. And the sound of Ol’ Georgiakis Michaelopopopopoplis isn’t exactly what I had expected from these here guys.

Anyway the initial surprise eventually turned into utter disappointment. Disappointment made me stop listening to the album. Even more so, disappointment actually made me afraid to listen to the album any further. I was actually afraid of the fact that I might start to like this new direction that Cold War Kids had gone into.

In the end it was the sheer quality of Finally Begin managed to steer me to the dark light side and I decided to push on, and what I found surprised me.

Sure there were more songs in the same vein as Finally Begin (read: darn right cathcy/poppy) but not as much as one might expect. Four songs turned out to be ‘new style’. The other 7 could’ve fit in snugly with the band’s previous releases. Intense songs, firmly rooted in blue-collar American rock traditions. And I like ‘em!

All in all this turned out to be a wild ride for a devoted fan like me, but with a happy ending after all. I see this album spinning in my iTunes for quite some time to come. Go check it out!

Download Mine Is Yours Here

1. Mine Is Yours

2. Louder Than Ever

3. Royal Blue

4. Finally Begin

5. Out Of The Wilderness

6. Skip The Charades

7. Sensitive Kid

8. Bulldozer

9. Broken Open

10. Cold Toes On The Cold Floor

11. Flying Upside Down

Don’t forget to check out my other articles, in case you’ve missed them (which would be an absolute shame, because they’re great and shit).

Tudels,

Peanut

Link up with me here:

Peanut’s Playground: Where Love Comes From, Your Loss And Postcards From A Young Man By Manic Street Preachers

September 26, 2010

By Martin

Photography by vampire-zombie…

Today’s selection is a new release. Finally. And it’s a release that all you Yanks and Canucks probably won’t care less about. Your loss. It doesn’t make it any less of an essential release for 2010 whether you care or not.

I do happen to care about:

Manic Street Preachers – Postcards From A Young Man

My love affair with Manic Street Preachers started way back in 1991. I went to some kind of fair with my then girlfriend. On the way to the fair they played Motorcycle Emptiness on the radio and I fell in love with my date right there and then. Not just puppy love, but the head-over-heels-you-will-haunt-my-dreams-for-years-to-come kind of love. I thought about the girl for years after we separated.

Was she that special you might ask? Well…no, she wasn’t but it took me years to figure out that my mental image of her was scored by that one particular song…

So what’s there to say about Postcards From A Young Man, the band’s 10th studio album? Not much if you’re unfamiliar with their back-catalogue, and most of the readers of this website probably are. It boggles my mind that albums from a band as big as the Manic Street Preachers actually need to be specially imported to reach the North American shores. And all because these guys had the guts to be lefties and played a concert for Fidel. As stated above: your loss.

If you do decide to try it, a warning up front is in order. Postcards From A Young Man isn’t anything like last years opus magnum Journal For Plague Lovers. It’s just the album following that one. It’s not a follow-up to it of any kind. Far from it. Where Journal was dark, hard rocking and somewhat alienating (and brilliant!), Postcards is the band’s, and I quote, “last shot at mass communication.” There are lavish orchestral parts all over the place. The melodies are absolutely gorgeous. The ones that only reveal their beauty after several listens. Magical stuff.

I found this album to be extremely addictive, and played it over and over for days on end. That hasn’t happened very often these past years. There is always something new being released pushing older stuff out. But Postcards From A Young Man made it happen.

So yeah, I like it. I like it a lot. If you choose to ignore this band once more I couldn’t care less, but again, it will be your loss…

DOWNLOAD POSTCARDS FROM A YOUNG MAN HERE

1. (It’s Not War) Just The End Of Love

2. Postcards From A Young Man

3. Some Kind Of Nothingness

4. The Descent – (Pages 1 & 2)

5. Hazleton Avenue

6. Auto-Intoxication

7. Golden Platitudes

8. I Think I’ve Found It

9. A Billion Balconies Facing The Sun

10. All We Make Is Entertainment

11. The Future Has Been Here 4 Ever

12. Don’t Be Evil

Don’t forget to check out my other articles, in case you’ve missed them (which would be an absolute shame, because they’re great and shit).

Tudels,

Peanut

Link up with me here:

Let’s go to the beach, it’s Crazy For You by Best Coast!!!

July 12, 2010

By Tsuru

Photography by Franny Cullen…

Well, hello there! Everybody have a great weekend? I sure did… Fast, fun & rainy bike ride home on Friday evening (got SOAKED!) then a lovely weekend featuring lovely weather and lovely times with Baby and friends, including but not limited to, a night of drinkin’ debauchery and a morning of fast & fun bike riding! All in all, 4.5 out of 5 wheelies!

I think we’d hit 5 wheelies if we had had a 3 day weekend… Beggers can’t be choosers and other sayings!

Quick note! I will be out & in NY Tuesday & Wednesday! SOOOOO……. Not sure what will be of musical posts, but I’m thinking of re-sharing a New York trip inspired mixtape with you for all you who missed it the first time. Also, got two other mixtapes that should be up soon:

1. A new TsuruBride presents mixtape that is so sugary sweet, you’ll need to hit the dentist after listening…
2. A new mixtape & story inspired by my recent trials & tribulations dealing with Sprint, oh my.

Let’s see what we can get up this week & next! But until then, we have today & we have now and now we are listening to a pretty sweet little gem called Crazy For You by Best Coast!

WHEEE!

This is perfect for today. Fun, upbeat, get your butt a groovin’ retro style goodness! It’s got a bit of a Camera Obscura kinda thing going on but mixed in with a bunch of fuzzy lo-fi guitar goodness that only serves to enhance the warmth & sun & good vibes filling the air & stifling heat. Almost… ALMOST makes me wish I was back at the beach! Considering I’m from Florida and the number of times I was dragged to the beach as a kid to be burnt and blistered and covered in sand & salt, that’s saying a lot!

So… cheesy wrap up time! Grab your sun-screen and your biggest towel, get a cooler of pop, a sandwich or two, and yer old transistor radio, load ‘er up & enjoy!

01 Boyfriend
02 Crazy for You
03 The End
04 Goodbye
05 Summer Mood
06 Our Deal
07 I Want To
08 When the Sun Don’t Shine
09 Bratty B
10 Honey
11 Happy
12 Each and Everyday

And found this on Soundcloud? Sweet…

Best Coast by musicmule

Some Best Coast love! Myspace | Official | Label

Cheers,

Tsuru

Are You My Mother? by the singer who is not Neko Case… Kathryn Calder!!!

July 8, 2010

By Tsuru

Photography by DonaRita…

Thursdays seem to be my rough days, eh? Man… Well, started last night and continuing now while I eat my leftovers of cucumber & tomato gazpacho marinated chicken and sticky rice (Baby’s suggestion, delish!) is a wonderful little album by one of our favourite New Pornographer who, too often, gets over-shadowed by the power & weight of the other members of the “supergroup”, particularly & obviously, Ms. Neko Case. Yeah, I’m talking about Kathryn Calder.

Don’t feel too bad though, not only is she the softer female voice of the New Pornographers, but she’s also part of the Immaculate Machine, and now she’s got her own little album, Are You My Mother?, to add to her already busy resume!

There’s something sweet & tender about this album, I think a lot of that plays off Kathryn’s voice which is, well, sweet & tender. So, even when the music kicks it up a few notches into honky-tonk or rock land or what have you, it’s still inviting like a cup of tea & a nice blanket.

Now, I know, it’s a freakin’ heat wave outside, yeah yeah, but in our 90% air-conditioned world we live in, there’s plenty of space for Calder’s pop offering, at least in my ears!

Okay, time to get back to the grind, so load up the songs she’s got up on her website and enjoy!!!

1. “Slip Away”
2. “Low”
3. “Castor And Pollux”
4. “Arrow”
5. “If You Only Knew”
6. “Follow Me Into The Hills”
7. “Down The River”
8. “Day Long Past It’s Prime”
9. “So Easily”
10. “All It Is”

Some Calder love: Myspace | Official | Label

Cheers,

Tsuru

Sled Island Report! Hard Drugs!!! Because love is the hardest drug of them all…

July 7, 2010

By Tsuru

Photography by Me!

We got one more Sled Island report for ya! Our last full day in Calgary was filled with absolute laziness from a long and epic vacation, 2 days in Vancouver, 2 days on a train exploring western Canada, 2 days in Banff & Lake Louise, and now these few days venturing around checking out band after band, while still exploring Calgary (yay zoo & Recordland!) we were just done! We made it out for breakfast but instead of bands or the museum, it was back to the hotel for a bit more lazy morningness…. Mmmm….

Eventually we went to 17th ave, Calgary’s “Uptown”, for the sole purpose of catching a band tagged as a rock opera in Hard Drugs.

Oh my.

Oh my indeed! We cozied in the Local 511 or 512 or 5-something (really, just looked like a bar by any other account), got us a sweet spot and waited for “Hard Drugs” to begin!

First song kicked in, no drums, no bass, and the volume set to high-pitched tinniness filled with electric guitar, a harmonica set to dog-whistle pitch, and some country-fried vocals. I looked at Baby and wondered how much longer we’d stay. But, they recognized the volume was set to “wtf” in a place the size of my living room, turned it down a smidgen and settled in to what Baby & I both agreed was the best set the whole weekend!

NOTE TO BANDS: Don’t fall into the record label “loudness war” seen by the over compressed super-loud CDs/mp3s going on out there in your live sets. If you turn it down, just a smidgen, we’ll actually hear the subtle additions you work so hard to include in your set, you know, like that harmonica or that drum buddy… Just saying.

I grabbed a bit of vid, though the SLR didn’t get the best sound, you at least get a moment of Hard Drugs, eh?

Just wonderful rock music, the end! Baby & I kept looking at each other throughout the set, smiling, bobbing our heads, sharing through the wonderful sound a moment of joy for getting our asses up and over to this little section of town… After the set, I picked up the album:

Wow. Okay, where to start? It’s a concept album, so already my love-tendencies were super high. It’s the story of Lloyd, a drug dealer, and the love of this life, Aline, a prostitute. I’m not going to give the story away, you really need to let Hard Drugs tell it, but I’ll say Lloyd & Aline are tired of the life they are living, wanting to just be together, and conspire to kill Aline’s pimp Slim and escape Terminal City.

That’s all I’ll give you.

Sound-wise, it’s basically Cracker meets Rocky Horror Picture show! Roots rock, some theatrics (especially side 4), male/female vocals, and just brilliant!

Fun facts? Apparently Hard Drugs (really, how is it I never heard of these guys til now?) are built from members of East Vancouver’s Blood Meridian and the album includes collaborations with folks from Black Mountain, Lightning Dust, Pink Mountaintops, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, among a shit ton more! Seriously, I need an app or something that announces periodically announces potentially tsururific bands, because this “discovering” older bands is getting old!

Oh well & c’est la vie! Here we are and we have them now, so let’s rejoice in the tale of Lloyd & Aline, a tale of true love, the hardest drug of them all.

STREAM THE WHOLE ALBUM!

DOWNLOAD THE ALBUM!

1. Lloyd And Aline
2. Terminal City
3. Bad Ideas (Don’t Give Up)
4. The Proposal
5. No Choice
6. Every Step
7. Some Things
8. To Get Drunk And Picked Up By Cops
9. Happiness
10. When It’s Dark Out And It’s Raining
11. Footnote
12. Savlation Blues
13. Lloyd And Aline (Reprise)

Hardest Part by thewildhoneypie

Ah, and some video via their myspacers!

Cheers,

Tsuru

Another mini-vacation but we make up for it with TRIPLE THURSDAY! I See the Sign by Sam Amidon, We Kill Computers by The Pack A.D., & Shame, Shame by Dr. Dog!! Holy Shit!

March 25, 2010

By Tsuru

Photography by PaChOlls

Yep. You read the title right, your boy Tsuru needs to head out for the weekend, this time, to Arizona, Mesa to be specific. It’s going to be an amazing, though short, trip and I’m super excited.

No… c’mon now… shhh… don’t… don’t cry… shhh… I’ll be back on Monday! I’ll be a sleepy-bear (my flight home lands in the wee-hours) but I’ll be here, bags on my eyes & bells on my balls! And you know I’ll be all up on the Twitters & Facebookers all weekend long sharing any little adventures I may have! So, you know, don’t cry.

Then when I get back, we’ll be head deep in our last week before our SUPER-AWESOME NO-FRILLS BIKE RIDE for BREAST CANCER on APRIL 3RD at THE PARK OF ROSES in COLUMBUS, OHIO!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!!

Next week we’ll also have a better idea of the kinda weather we are looking at for the ride. If the good lard’s a-willin’, and the creeks don’t rise, we’ll have ourselves a beautiful Spring morning. If not, well, then you & I will need to put our HTFU faces on (HTFU = Harden The Fuck Up) and have a cold and/or wet blast anyway, eh?

Eh indeed.

Okay, before I go, I got you a little something to hold you over. Yep… 3, that’s THREE, albums, a Triple Thursday if you will! Just for you!!! Why? Because I love you, silly pants.

Can I get a hot diggity!

HOT DIGGITY!!!

That’s better! Can I get a woot woot?

WOOT WOOT!!!

Can I get a Tsuru, you be one sexy mofo!

FUCK YOU!

Well, two out of three ain’t bad! Okay, with a busy day of wrapping shit up and prepping shit up and printing shit up and charging shit up and etc shit up (and, most importantly, sneaking in a little extra snuggle time with Baby), we are going to have to keep this a little short. Short, but with heavy tongue action and lots of groping.

First up, I See The Sign by Ace Of Base Sam Amidon!

I think this guy usually gets the Psych Folk or Freak Folk or whatever label. I don’t know. To me, this is just folk taken to it’s logical progression, modern and ancient, i.e. timeless. At times sweet & tender, other times challenging but always layered with an element of beauty, aka wow.

01. How Come That Blood
02. Way Go Lily
03. You Better Mind
04. I See the Sign
05. Johanna the Row-di
06. Pretty Fair Damsel
07. Kedron
08. Rain and Snow
09. Climbing High Mountains
10. Relief
11. Red

Some Sam Amidon love: Myspace | Official

Number two, periodically showing up on my iPod this week when I just needed something to kick me in the balls — lots of ball obsessions today already? Oh my — is We Kill Computers by The Pack A.D.!

These ladies from Vancouver kick ass, plain & simple. I’m sure comparisons will be made to The White Stripes, and it’s pretty fair, the bluesy garage rock of distorted guitar + drums thing is hard to ignore, but jumping jesus on a stick, shoved up a twinkie, batter-dipped, and deep-fried this is fucking bad ass.

There’s nothing else you can say.

1. Deer

2. Everyone Looks Like Everyone

3. Crazy

4. 1880

5. Math, the stars

6. Big Anvil

7. Cobra Matte

8. B.C. is on Fire

9. They Know Me

10. K Stomp

11. Catch

12. The Slow Down

13. The Last Martian

The Pack A.D. link love: Myspace | Official

And finally, Shame, Shame by Dr. Dog made it’s way to the intertubal info love highway yesterday! HOORAY!

Dr. Dog still brings the multiple sharing lead vocals, still brings some retro-inspired pop, and still fills my heart & ears with love and happiness, even if there is a darker tone to the words. Dr. Dog is a guarantee, a no-brainer, a good time and Shame, Shame proves no different. It feels a bit more mature (whatever the fuck that means), a bit more introspective, but also a bit more immediate. Wonderful!

01. Stranger
02. Shadow People
03. Station
04. Unbearable Why
05. Where’d All The Time Go?
06. Later
07. I Only Wear Blue
08. Someday
09. Mirror, Mirror
10. Jackie Wants A Black Eye
11. Shame, Shame

Some Dr. Dog sweet love: Myspace | Official

That’s it! BLAMO & Cheers! See you Monday! And until then… may all your winds be behind you.

Tsuru

It’s Friday Madness! tsuruloosies, Everyday Balloons by A Weather, AND Born And Thrown On A Hook by Drink Up Buttercup? Hot diggity dog!!!

March 19, 2010

By Tsuru

Photography by symrnna

Well, howdy howdy!!! It’s Friday and I got lots to share & discuss! Excited? Me too! First up, some local bits… This weekend in Columbus is Couchfire Collective’s A-HOLES!

That’s right Baby & the Crafty Cotillion, among many other artists & crafters, have built mini-putt-putt golf holes, some really fucked up awesome designs, that you drop a few bucks and try to play! I won’t give much away about the holes, but I will say 3 “words” in relation to the Cottillion’s hole: Cupcakes, PBR, and Vaginas.

‘Nuff said, right? I’ll see you there.

OKAY! On to the music! First up, our vaulted tsuruloosies! Where we take a gander around the intertubal super infohighway of love and see what’s hot & what’s hyped and get ourselves up-to-speed with all you “cool kids”! There’s a bunch out there I haven’t heard, so let’s get right to it…

Alright! Here we go! As always, we review tsuruloosies on a scale of 0 to 5 wheelies! No… not this kind.

This kind…

You know, the actual “cool kind”! This time via the bearded illustration of Mike Giant as I still have facial hair on my mind!

So, let’s pull up our front wheel and get our cat walk on!

Ariel Pinks Haunted Graffiti – Round and Round

Hmm…. kinda meh for me.

ARMS – Heat & Hot Water

Pretty cool, miss you Harlem Shakes, but if ARMS keeps this up, we’ll be okay.

Cults – Go Outside

Nice… nice…. I’m a sucker for a children’s chorus.

Dr. Dog – Stranger

Haven’t heard from these guys in a while, glad their back! Missed U! Song feels a little incomplete, but I get the feeling with the rest of the album around it, we’ll be allllright.

Holy Fuck – Latin America

Never “got” these guys…. still don’t. Oh well.

Kisses – Bermuda

*shrug*

MGMT – Flash Delirium

Heard around the interwebs that people haven’t been in love with this? I kinda like it! It’s not “Kids” or whatever, but who cares. If I wanted “Kids”, I’d listen to “Kids”, no?

Neon Indian – Sleep Paralysist

Ah, hot and hyped band indeed, part of that “chillwave” thing, right? I don’t know, sounds like I already lived through this “movement” 20 years ago or something. Meh, it’s all-ite.

Wye Oak – I Hope You Die

Love these guys, glad they are back… can’t wait to hear the rest!!!

WOOO!!! That was fun! And now that we are up to date on what’s hip & hyped, let’s move on to the two albums that have been competing for my love an attention the past few days! First up… Everyday Balloons by A Weather!

I really like this, and I think it’d be right up Baby’s alley as well. Sweet male/female vocals, maybe a Swell Season kinda feel to it, just hushed & smart folk/pop. Reflective, a bit introspective, but still fun, a nice balance. We’ve featured “Winded” in a mixtape, but check out the lead-off track and between the two, you get a pretty good feel of where we are going here….

1. Third Of Life
2. Winded
3. Ducks In A Row
4. Seven Blankets
5. Midday Moon
6. Newfallen
7. No Big Hope
8. Fond
9. Happiness
10. Giant Stairs
11. Lay Me Down

A Weather love: Myspace | Official | Label

Ooo! Even got a little viddy vid for ya…

Ah! But like the post title says, we are not done, my friends!! Because Born And Thrown On A Hook by Drink Up Buttercup has been all up in grill this week too, serving as quite the contrast to A Weather!

Really had no idea what to expect on this, saw words “indie” and “lo-fi” and whatnot, but what I got from it is a kinda-demented Sgt. Pepper thing! It’s all over the place, rhythmically speaking, it’s quirky sing-alongs, ala that circusy style, and really, if you can handle the vocals, I think you’ll have one hell of a good time!

WOOT!

1. Seasickness Pills
2. Animate The Hangtime
3. Young Ladies
4. Doggy Head
5. Even Think
6. Gods and Gentlemen
7. Lovers Play Dead
8. Who Spilled The Beaker
9. Heavy Hand
10. Pink Sunshine
12. Sosey and Dosey
13. Mr. Pie Eyes
14. Maestro Monsiour

Buttercup love: Mypace | Official | Label

That’s it! Have a WONDERFUL weekend, everyone! Keep an eye out for, hopefully, another Peanut’s Playground soon and maybe even a new column by our latest edition Dorice! AAAAAND (no promises), if I get a little time between bike rides & photoshoots & miniature golf, I’ll see if I can get a special vinyl-repost up in honour of a fallen icon.

Cheers everyone! May all your winds be tailwinds!

Tsuru

A bit of introspection & Down The Way by Angus & Julia Stone!

March 9, 2010

By Tsuru

Photography by Elene

Introspection is a good thing, no? Last night I was told that every 100 years there’s a fresh batch of people on the Earth. Now, except for the mind-boggling few smoking & whiskey-drinking folks who somehow make it to 120, that’s pretty much true. So a question was posed to me. Why? Why do we make a, 1st, conscience decision to have a relationship with someone, not just girlfriends, wives, husbands, whatever, but also parents, your kids, friends, everything. Why do we do it? And 2nd, why do we work to keep them?

The easy answer is the animalistic one, no? It’s about survival, whether it be through genetics or through memories or or the scars we leave behind (good & bad ones), we want to make or leave a mark behind, it’s a formal of, well, not immortality, but certainly stretches our own brief existence out a bit further.

The other, also kinda mechanical, is our sense of duty. We have kids, we feel like we are supposed to stay around and raise them. We have parents, we feel compelled to “honour” them. We have friends and when a history exists, even when it’s not necessarily a good friendship anymore, duty compels you to keep going or give it another try orbe there for him/her at a time of need.

That makes sense and all, but what about beyond our instincts & duty? Why do I, for example, chose to maintain a relationship with my mom, but not with my dad? It’s not ALL good times with my mom. It’s not ALL good times with anyone, that’s not reality. Is there a scale? When the bad times outweigh the good times, is that when you bail on a job or an acquaintance? When the bad times are 2x the good times, is that when you drop the girlfriend or buddy? When the bad times hit 3x the good times, is that when family (not your kids) get dropped, but with a lifeline for redemption and recovery? And then with kids the scale is broke and no matter how bad the bad times are, you never drop ‘em?

It’s interesting. I don’t know the answer why I keep the relationships I do. If I said for the love reciprocation, that wouldn’t be true as some relationships don’t give you the love you crave, but I don’t bail on ‘em. It’s not about “passing my legacy” on or anything. Maybe it’s as simple as companionship? But again, the kid thing isn’t about that is it? We don’t have kids because we want another person around, do we?

I also don’t know “when”.. Sure, some you are born with and others are born into it (that goes back more to the “why” question), but say with Baby, “when” did I decide I’m going to stick with her? Not really sure. Sure, the easy answer to when & why is because she is the perfect woman for me, understands me, makes me happy emotionally, mentally, physically, and sexy-awesome-good-timesly, but what if she couldn’t anymore, say, she was in a car wreck and not able to do any of that, I don’t leave then, do I? Why not?

Because I love her. Well, yeah! Of course! But, the digger you deep, what does THAT even mean?

I guess the answer for me then to the “why” & “when” is love. I love my daughters, I love Baby, I love my mom, my sis, I love my friends. There are different kinds of love, I love Baby different then I love my cycling buddy — otherwise, man, that’d make for some awwwwwkward bike rides, eh? — but when the switch is turn on, no matter the lighting type or the wattage or the room it’s in, I guess THAT’S when I’m in the thick of it.

Huh. That was interesting. Thanks for helping me figure that out! Nothing like a bit of introspective vomiting to clear the metaphorical stomach, eh? Speaking of introspective, the soundtrack for all that up there? Well, it’s none other than Down The Way by Angus & Julia Stone!

This time, we got ourselves an Aussie brother & sister duo creating, what can only be described, as lovely, chill-out, introspective folk/pop (of course). Yeah, this isn’t “happy music”, but that’s okay. It’s that kind of music that “gets you thinkin’” (obviously). I love the exchanging male-to-female vocals, the quietness, the downtempo, just hitting the spot on a heavy-thinking kinda-morning.

*happy sigh*

1. Hold On
2. Black Crow
3. For You
4. Big Jet Plane
5. Santa Monica Dream
6. Yellow Brick Road
7. And The Boys
8. On The Road
9. Walk It Off
10. Hush
11. Draw Your Swords
12. I’m Not Yours
13. The Devil’s Tears

Some Angus & Julia love: Myspace | Official | BUY!

Cheers,

Tsuru

Epic Weekends, epic rides, and Junior by Kaki King… EPIC!

March 8, 2010

By Tsuru

Photography by me! WHEEE!

Hey O! How was your weekend? Epic, I hope? I’m not sure of the full level of “epicness” of this past weekend but it was definitely an adventure! Photoshoots, arts & craft time, movies (ZOMBIELAND!!!), and, of course, a bike ride…. Or more specifically, an AMAZING bike ride!

Saturday, I pulled my long time cycling partner out of winter hibernation (I mean, it WAS going to be in the 40s!) and we tested out the 50 mile route of TSURURADIO’s SUPER AWESOME NO-FRILLS BIKE RIDE for BREAST CANCER on APRIL 3rd at PARK OF ROSES in COLUMBUS, OH!!!!

*phew* that’s a mouthful, eh?

It was amazing. The route is pretty, well, epic in it’s own way. It covers the gamut, it’s got a bike path start to get you all warmed up, a disgusting yet short climb into a subdivision, which we ride through for a bit then we head out to a main road up through Powell into Delaware (OH, not the state). It’s a long up and down straight stretch that will break down the minds of weaker men & women (the headwind heading north kept my legs working, hard).

After the first break at a Speedway (glamorous, eh), we soon start heading west. It’s a bit of traffic, but stick to the right and you’ll be fine. It pays off, as soon we start heading south and it was just beautiful. Country-style roads wide open until you get to Butts (which, though we didn’t HAVE to take it, we totally HAD to take it) and that takes you to Riverside which is exactly that, a beautiful stretch along Olentangy River, soon it’s back to work east and finally back South until, eventually, you get back to the subdivision, down the steep hill and back onto the bike path.

The only issue I see is if you are not used to riding near cars, you may be a little nervous, and we may need to cut the 25 mile down to 20 because a 25 mile route is become convoluted to get those extra 5 in…

Epic…

I like it. Alot. I know Tuck liked it. You can tell when at, say, mile 40 or so, you look over and he’s huffin’ & puffin’, kickin’ his own ass (which, in turn, results in me kickin’ MY ass to keep up), but there’s a ridiculous grin on his face! I had one on too. I’m sure we looked rather dorktastic! ha!

All-in-all, with the ride up to Tuck’s, and the ride to Park of Roses, then the actual ride-ride, then the ride back? 62 beautiful miles aka a Canadian Century (100 kilometers). Spring has sprung, my friends, even if it snows again, doesn’t matter, Spring has mother-fuckin’ SPRUNG! So happy, I could do a wheelie!

Source

We’ll be putting the official routes on the main ride page & on the Facebook Event page soon, so keep an eye!!!

Okay… Speaking of epic, my new favourite word, I was genuinely surprised and amazed at the pure epicness of Junior by Kaki King!

Holy crap!

Apparently this is Kaki’s 5th studio album?? Meaning I’ve been living in the dark! Ugh, what the fuck? Oh well, I guess it means there are 4 other albums I need to go check out, stat! but first, Junior. I don’t know if this her usual sound or now, I don’t know if this is some kind of evolution or return to roots or blah blah blah, but what I got is an amazing album that seems to blend that over-arching post-rock thing thing with female-led smart-pop/rock/folk.

It’s like Laura Veirs teamed up with Do Make Say Think or something?? Seriously. Her voice is reminiscent of Veirs as well, only compounding on to the analogy or metaphor or comparison or whatever the hell I wrote up there.

Whatever you call it, only one word can describe it… C’mon, say it with me now. On the count of 3. One… Twoooo….. Three!

EPIC!

1. The Betrayer
2. Spit It Back in My Mouth
3. Everything Has an End, Even Sadness
4. Falling Day
5. The Hoopers of Hudspeth
6. My Nerves that Committed Suicide
7. Communist Friends
8. Hallucinations from My Poisonous German Streets
9. Death Head
10. Sloan Shore
11. Sunnyside

Some Kaki King lovins: Official | Myspace | Label

Cheers,

Tsuru

Twofer Friday!!! Rat A Tat Tat by Jason Collett & Travelers In Space And Time by Apples In Stereo!!!

March 5, 2010

By Tsuru

Photography by la valina

Busy morning broken up by a 20 mile lunchtime bike ride and holy shit am I in a good mood!!! Had me a light tail wind for the first half and just flew, then on the way back, turned around, just sat up and relaxed. Why? Why didn’t I attack the headwind with the force of a thousand suns??? Because tomorrow Tuck & I are doing about 50 – 60 miles doing final testing of the routes for TSURURADIO’s SUPER AWESOME NO-FRILLS BIKE RIDE for BREAST CANCER on APRIL 3rd at the PARK OF ROSES, COLUMBUS, OH!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!

I’ll say it again… WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!!! Hey! Want to help out with the ride, even if you can’t ride???? Spread the word man! Here’s what you do. The following are the links to the ride page, the facebook page, and a large jpg to print out and pass to your friends.

LINKS TO SHARE:

Main Page -> http://bit.ly/TSURURIDE

Facebook Event Page -> http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=365775912497

LARGE FLYER TO PRINT:

http://www.tsururadio.com/tsururadiobikeride-UPDATED.jpg

Let’s get the word out, let’s show everyone you don’t need an association or a Lance Armstrong to ride for charity, if I can get some people together, each throwing a few bucks in a pot, then go for a bike ride, then certainly we all can!!!

HOORAY!

Okay… Like I said, a lunch time ride got me in one HELL of a good mood, so let’s just get right to the twofer, eh??? First up is Rat A Tat Tat by Broken Social Scenester Jason Collett!

The clown is how I look when blowing snot rockets on chilly rides! ha! Anyways… this one’s pretty sweet. Starts off a bit on the alt-country side (at first to my chagrin) but then picks up into this retro-Beatles-y-kinda-sorta vibe. For the most part, it stays in that realm and I’m quite happy. Just wonderful retro rock, check, done!

01 Rave On Sad Songs
02 Lake Superior
03 Love Is A Dirty Word
04 Bitch City
05 High Summer
06 Cold Blue Halo
07 Love Is A Chain
08 Long May You Love
09 The Slowest Dance
10 Winnipeg Winds
11 Vanderpool Vanderpool

Collett love: Myspace | Official | Label

#2! New Apples In Stereo Travelers In Space & Time!

Robots & humans, singing together metallic pop/soul in the future??? Well, yeah, of COURSE Apples In Stereo went there, or were they always there? I don’t know, don’t care, but I love it. It’s got a healthy dose of crappy sci-fi cheese, which appeals directly to my geeky-heart-strings, but then it’s all Apples In Stereo through & through, and that’s always a good thing!

01 The Code
02 Dream About the Future
03 Hey Elevator
04 Strange Solar System
05 Dance Floor
06 C.P.U.
07 No One in the World
08 Dignified Dignitary
09 No Vacation
10 Told You Once
11 It’s All Right
12 Next Year at About the Same Time
13 Floating in Space
14 Nobody But You
15 Wings Away
16 Time Pilot