The Friday Fight (High & Dry)

Vs.

Canada, eh?

Filthy Hour

This is how we do studio time:

Or rather it's how Katie and I do studio time. 

She brought in a cheap but tasty Cab Sav.  Very Smokey and very potent. 

I brought the Pop Tarts.  The book is The First Man. Camus' final work.  I got it specifically for the down time at the studio so I'm too soon in to give any impressions yet.  A lot of exposition as I've come to expect.  So far so good. 

Band #2 is finishing up our Spring session today at Ampreon Recorder in Beautiful Downtown Youngstown and I couldn't be more delighted with how the songs are coming out.   The as yet titled album is going to be matured.  A little less irreverent then what we may have done in the past but not without it's brash moments.  Some very adult themes as well.

I won't be in the studio today, well not that studio, because I'll be filling in on the Jackson Purdue Filthy hour which you can listen to at Golden String Radio.org at 5PM EST.  Or tune in now if you like.  

They do excellent work over at Golden String with and for their adult clients with disabilities who spin their favorite tunes up until 3PM EST.  It's really a beautiful thing.
Check back because Practices In Alchemy will have it's official webcast there in the near future.  Check out my personal page (which is currently void of any information).

Maria Conchita Alonso

I've always had a deep seated hatred for  Michelle Rodriguez.  Even before she became the worst Lost character ever.  Perhaps it has something to do with her playing the same punky ass character in EVERY SINGLE ROLE.

She will never hold a candle to the original cheesy action movie latina staple of such films as Running Man and Predator 2: Maria Conchita Alonso.

Bow down.

My turn to talk about The King Of Limbs

 After my first listen-through of the newest Radiohead release I'd said that it Sounds like a collection of B-sides and remixes of songs that should have been on the album. I still stand by that but not with as much ill-intent behind those words.  After a couple weeks with it I still can't imagine myself listening to it as a cohesive album ever again.  Honestly most of the tracks will collect dust in my iTunes library.  It proves to be a very boring and indifferent listen all together.  Only one song- 'Feral' -caught me on the initial listen and for all intents and purposes, it's an instrumental.  Atop that, I liked it better in 1984 when it was called 'Moments In Love'.* 

 Two other songs managed to grow on me. The first being the opening track 'Bloom' which I'll now go on record touting a brilliant track.  Back during the Kid A/Amnesiac sessions they had a tune on their chalk board of potential songs called 'Fela Kuti' and I can't help but think that this trippy afro-beat groove is what's become of it.  This one made it onto my workout mix and I have to stop myself from singing along with lest the strangers on the ellipticals next to me think I've gone mad.  

 The other song that's grown on me is the single 'Lotus Flower'.  Still not sensational but one of the few multifaceted songs on the album. Thom's falsetto always gets to me and this is a case in which it's the saving grace on what otherwise would be an unremarkable track.  

The rest of the tracks range from bland to mediocre which is most unexpected from a band once described as the most important in rock and roll.  But as I've said, I believe Radiohead will go down like the Stones.  Their discography is going to reach into the dozens and people will debate the merits of each for decades to come.  Nothing can be taken away from them and that's the one thing everyone will agree upon.  The King of Limbs just happens to be the first real valley in a history that now contains BOTH highs and lows. 

5.5/10

*if you're unfamiliar with Art of Noise deduct 6 points from your credibility score and Grooveshark them immediately. 

Mortal Kombat (9)

For the first time in over a decade I'm really excited for a Mortal Kombat game.
The original MK was probably the game responsible for turning me from a casual gamer to an avid drooling fan boy. I remember walking home in junior high and hitting up my man D.Traylor who always had the Game Informers and Nintendo Power magazines and getting erections over any new info on the next MK installment.

needless to say, the jump to 3D really hurt the series and when compared to up-and-coming fighting titles like Tekken and Soul Caliber the MK formula just went stale. If the mechanics are as smooth as they look (can't be worse than the last 3 games) and it has all the gameplay options that it boasts then this may be the first game I put $60 bucks down for in quite a while.

Brazil

February, the most depressing of all months in my opinion, is now taking it's last shallow breaths and giving way to one of my favorites.  March isn't great by any means.  It still resembles much more of February than April and is littered with the blight of college basketball but it has a number of redeeming qualities.  Besides being my birth month, which does make me partial, it also has what may be my favorite holiday: St Patrick's.  The sun begins to become a more familiar staple during the day and daylight lasts well into the 7 O'clock hour here in Ohio, not to mention that since 2007 we now spring forward in March as opposed to April.

Personally I'm looking forward to getting back into the studio to record some really great music that Band #2 has been working on.  That may be (but not likely) followed by a St Patty's day in NYC.   My Spelling Bee at the Lemon Grove is finally taking place at the end of the month.  But most exciting is the fact that I've been hitting the gym pretty hardcore and hope that the high of this new membership doesn't wear off any time soon.  I've been going almost every other day since joining and I'm becoming quite the meat head.  Been mostly working on cardio so that I can be in peak condition for the frisbee league this spring but also started doing strength training because my arms have always been as weak as delicate little seedlings.
I plan on taking my shirt off a lot this Summer.


I'm currently listening to Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie XX's 'We're New Here'.  A collection of remixes to Mr. Heron's first album after a 13 year hiatus.  I have to say I'm enjoying it.

Also, I've decided I'm going to live in Brazil before this life is over. 

The Friday Fight

VS.

Two of the funkiest white boys to ever do it.  St Louis soul Vs. Philly soul taking on the Prince of Soul, Marvelous Marvin's "I Want You".  Discuss.

Spelling Bee

PJ Harvey - 'Let England Shake'

I hear so much Kate Bush in this album.  I hear quite a bit of Bowie. Even perhaps a bit of Cyndi Lauper? But the one I was initially searching for, Ms. Polly Jean Harvey, I couldn't find.  Not the PJ Harvey that I've grown to know and love.  But she's in there.  Poured over this record, heart and soul, and saturated down to the marrow.
This is the follow-up to 'Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea' that I've been waiting for. 'Uh Huh Her' didn't really do much for me and 'White Chalk', even less.  I was a bit fearful that the avant-garde PJ that I'd loved had  moved on to a more safe and sedated place. This album, however, I've not been able to stay away from.  I'm very cautious of trying to not burn myself out on music that I enjoy so I'll stop listening to it even when I feel I'm not finished with it, that way letting it be a pleasant surprise when it comes up on my shuffle.  Every other day though I find myself queuing up this album in its entirety.

7.5/10

.

Valentine's

Happy Valentine's Day from the Bachelor Chicken-inspired Patty

I imagine there are only a handful of us, mostly male, that earnestly try their hardest to spend Valentine's Day, above all other days, avoiding the opposite sex.  But for all of you lovers out there I'm going to share one of my favorite new songs.  This is for you to make your love to.


Loney Dear - Loney Blues by edin2sun

RPA & The United Nations of Sound

RPA & The United Nations Of Sound

Richard Ashcroft & The United Nations of Sound's 'United Nations of Sound' is going to see a proper US release On March 29th under the moniker of simply Richard Ashcroft.  This, I believe, is a horrible idea and I'll tell you why:

The album is shit.

And I don't mean to say that with any malicious intent.  I've tried to force Richard Ashcroft's solo work onto everyone I know who's got a heavy head.  Most know him as the lead singer of the now thrice disbanded The Verve, but it's songs like 'I Get My Beat' 'XXYY' and 'Science of Silence' that he'd released as a soloist that placed him high among the numbers of my favorite artists.

There is very little of that man found in this latest project.  Richard's song writing and backing vocals seem completely phoned in.  The lyrics are rehashes of previous songs on prior albums.  Songs that were done better the first time.  And what the hell is with that awkward falsetto on 'Life Can Be So Beautiful'?  Why did no one tell him it was a bad idea?  Even still that turns out to be one of the catchier songs.  Granting these set backs Richard's voice is just as good as it's always been.  I don't fault him entirely for the shortcomings of this outing. Primarily I will blame that on the production done, surprisingly, by Chicago native and notable Hip Hop producer No I.D..  I remember No I.D. from back in the mid nineties when he was working with soon-to-be superstar COMMON and mentoring a young Kanye West.  I haven't really followed his career much after that, because I was never really blown away by him but it seems he's kept busy.  He's responsible for Jay Z's 'Death Of Auto-Tune'. So when I read that he'd worked on this album fond memories flooded back to mind.  Those were soon followed by massive apprehensions about how this collaboration would turn out.  All of those fears were confirmed once I got my hands on the album.
Every thing's played in really tight 4/4 arrangements.  Metronomic high hats.  Smooth ass bass lines.  With a couple exceptions, tracks that would seem more fitting for rap verses or spoken word.  I personally prefer the twangy slide guitar of his first album 'Alone With Everybody'.  I used to say the Brits make Country music far better than us Yanks.
Not to say that this is all bad, but it's a departure and that's fine.  My point is that it should be an off-shot side project as opposed to being included in the formal canon of Richard Ashcroft albums.  He's made some truly exceptional music and at moments that potential peaks it's head out on The United Nations of Sound but either it's short lived (i.e. the ending of She Brings me the music when the song just starts to be worth the 3 minute investment right before it abruptly ends) or it's stifled by the ill fitting instrumentation.

4.5 out of 10

Standout songs on The United Nations of Sound are:
Good Lovin'
She Brings Me The Music
Glory
Life Can Be So Beautiful

I'll let you look those up on your own time.  As for now I'll leave you with a few of the Richard Ashcroft songs that I've loved throughout the past decade.

The Gentleman Rules

Gentleman Rule #001

Discretion is key in all gentlemanly endeavors.  This may seem elementary but you'd be surprised how many break the first rule of the gentleman's code:

Don't talk about your conquests.

You don't go around talking about how much money you made last year or how much you dropped on your vacation.  Talking about your successes in the bedroom is  just as tacky.  Even more so because in this case there are other parties involved.  

The tight-lipped gentleman need not worry about his reputation.  Speculation alone will have people jumping to conclusions.  I'm not a ladies man in the least but I've heard my name tossed around with women whose hands I'd never even shaken. It is, of course, at that time that you set the record straight for posterity. But details; details never need be discussed.