Wednesday, November 29, 2006

tis the season

Ever wonder what it would be like to have your portrait painted by one of your favorite MC's?

Neither have I. For those of you who have, here's your chance to help
out a great, hard-working group of musicians who've already endured the tragic paralysis of a band member, and now have to deal with the nightmare of having a tour van robbed.

Subtle has had a rough year or so.

From Dose One's Myspace bulletin:
"i had a dream about doing a fund raiser, the day after
where people send in a donation, return address, and a photo...
and i do a portrait of them and send it back to them,
so thanks to astropitch, we are going to make this happen...."

Subtle - The Mercury Craze

There you have it. Help them out and have a portrait of yourself to give to your mom for Christmas. We all win. Buy For Hero: For Fool here.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

love 'em or hate 'em, they sure write a lot of songs about drinking.


Blogosphere darlings, and fervent Springsteen admirers, the Hold Steady's new album is peppered with anthemic, bar floor smelling ditties. Whomever claimed that the Killers new album hearkens back to the days of Asbury Park should be shot, because this LP screams Boss. Just drunker.

Lead singer Craig Finn's mono-baritone delivery is gruffy, yet emotional and for some reason oddly familiar. I've had Boys and Girls of America in my weekly rotation for a month now, and I'm convinced that songs like Party Pit and Stuck Between Stations are going to be the internal soundtracks to the (fond?) memories of high school parties past.

Some might find their subject matter sophomoric and silly, (the word drunk is uttered upwards of a million times and one song is about a girl on mushrooms) but no one can deny their authenticity. I get the feeling that these guys are writing about what they know, and what they know is, well, having a fucking blast.

I'm still trying to figure out the new and "improved" hosting service I've been at odds with, so I couldn't actually post MP3 files, but check out theirMySpace page.
The Hold Steady on MySpace.

Back Soon

I've recently settled my dispute with EZarchive (my hosting service, those bastards) and should be able to start posting some jams today or tomorrow. During the hiatus, I've amassed a collection of tunes so delicious, the extended absence will surely be erased from memory, and all ill-feelings harbored expunged.

I promise.