Phillip Bailey (feat. Phil Collins) - Easy Lover

Sade – No Ordinary Love

Chromeo – Don’t Turn the Lights On

Spandau Ballet – True

Everything But the Girl – Don’t Leave Me Behind

Coolrunnings are a pretty sweet band who i have to assume from their myspace are partially from Knoxville, Tenessee and maybe California? I really don’t know. Regardless where they’re from any band that’s willing to name itself after the John Candy film from the early 90s about the Jamaican Bobsled team is pretty chill in my book!

What I do know is their a pretty great lo-fi band who’s got two free EPs over on their Bandcamp that you should download along with a remix of Twin Sister’s “I Am You” which was recently featured on Pitchfork’s Forkcast. This is their brand new video for “Burnout” off their Buffalo EP. I have no clue what movie the footage is from but it’s not from Cool Runnings.

Coolrunnings will be in NY for three shows at the end of August. You should check one of them out… or all three if you want to accrue bonus scene points.

I’ve been wanting to post about this shadowy Brooklyn outfit for a couple of months now but I had very little information to go on. No video, news or anything with which to really make a post after I first saw them. But just a short time later that has all changed and Minks are set to be a breakout band for the coming year.

Minks sound can vary a bit from track to track (which is part of the appeal) but they tying it all together is their nose for making very doom and gloom drenched pop. The bands first single “Funeral Song” is as eerily upbeat as they get. It’s new wave jam that sounds to me like a long lost Cure demo with Richard Hell handling the vocals. It’s backed with “Drunk Punks” which has a more of psychedelic tinge.

I’m a sucker for this shit but really whats not to like? You can grab the 7″ for “Funeral Song” along with their just released  7″ “Ophelia” from Brooklyn’s Captured Tracks who are steadily becoming a force to be reckoned withs.

Hopefully that will be enough to hold you over until Minks releases their first full length later this Fall also on Captured Tracks.

In the meantime Minks has been busy playing around New York and I for one could not be happier. They’ve got two shows around NYC set for August. The first is on August 14th at the new Jelly NYC space called The Rock Yard. On August 28th they play what is basically a Captured Tracks showcase at Bowery Ballroom along with Wild Nothing, Cosmetics and Blank Dogs. Both shows are going to be great.

If after reading this you are hooked and just can’t seem to get your fill of Minks then head on over to their website I Am Witchcraft which is chock full of images that band draws inspiration from. It makes for a nice diversion when you’re bored at work.

American metal band Quiet Riot is perhaps best known for their 1983 smash hit “Cum On Feel the Noize” (the first heavy metal song to make the Top 5 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart) But did you ever wonder who was behind this seemingly one hit wonder sensation? Did you know the legendary Randy Rhoads was a founding member and part of their original line up? Probably not and that’s kind of the point of this post… If you can wring a documentary out of the story of Anvil, why not Quiet Riot?

Frankie Banali is a world renown drummer you probably remember from the 80′s band QUIET RIOT. He was in the band for 27 years and the last 13 he was also the band’s manager. His career took a major sideswipe when his singer Kevin Dubrow died three years ago. As a single soccer dad in the suburbs, his long hair and tattoos frighten the neighbors, but to other drummers he’s a hero. At a cross roads in his life he must forge ahead and make a new life for himself and his daughter. Lots of never before seen home movies from QUIET RIOT’s heyday, interviews with dozens of rock stars, deeply personal footage and a few surprise twists. The most real, raw rock and roll documentary of it’s time.

This film takes a real journey back through time to the decade of debauchery and decadence. Real home videos shot backstage, on the tour bus, in the recording studio, and in hotel rooms with one of the 80′s top platinum selling bands and most notorious bad boys. Never before seen footage from the milestones in Frankie’s long career in music and his personal life now. Funny, and deeply personal and poignant exploration of Frankie’s long time friendship with his bandmate Kevin Dubrow. The loss of his close friend and his career as he knew it, and his life after Kevin. Follow his journey at his current moment of truth and beyond.

So it looks like Quiet Riot’s interesting story may be told after all. Frankie Banali their drummer is now trying to raise enough money through Kickstarter to make a documentary film chronicling their story. It is supposed to show the glamor and glitz of the 1980′s metal in it’s heyday.

The film will consist of never seen before footage from Banali’s home video vaults with interviews, tour bus debauchery, back stage footage and glimpses into his personal life. The rise and fall of the band and I’m sure even speak about the death of singer Kevin Dubrow a few years ago. Well, it will consist of all that stuff if people can raise enough money to get the film made. For what it’s worth, donating an easy $10 (or more) is a very small price to contribute to something as interesting as this.

I’d embed the trailer for the project, but Kickstarter’s site doesn’t really give you the option. So head over there now, watch the trailer and pitch in a few buck. They’re about 25% of the way to their goal of $20,000…  Bang your head!

Dead Luke - American Haircut (2010) [Floridas Dying] // Grade: A-

On Dead Luke’s MySpace, there are profiled pictures of modded toy synths, a theremin and a sitar. Locating each of these instruments on the nom de music of avid Wisconsin home-recorder Luke Gasper’s third long-player, American Haircut, is not such an easy task though. Most of these nine songs require multiple deep breathes and dives to the base of their murky bottom to come up with anything entirely separate from the album’s entire mix.

The third release under the Dead Luke name, Gasper (a Zola Jesus and Dead Hookers contributor and founder of cassette label Jerkwave Tapes), has succeeded in making one of the most candid and raw approaches to walled-in swirling psychedelia I’ve heard all year. Attempting at merely lobbing it as a form of ‘psychgaze,’ it’s vital to note that these nine tracks do a few key things over the course of the 37 minutes you’ll spend lost in its haze. Released on imprint Floridas Dying—following a pair of singles on Sacred Bones—Haircut switches through churning garage pop in its washed guitar flutters of the noodled 60s variety (“Luke is Not Dead”); sun-soaked, delicate cheer (“Trapped In Lust”) and heavy gulps of alienation played out like some deadening tale of a gloomy backroom drug trip (“Sunrise”).

American Haircut is a full-palette chameleon record, though its powers of reverb-soaked sonic shape-shifting are much more obscure and leisurely done than simple white-to-black shuffles. On first listen, you’d like to think this music is made by one skronky bedroom fiddler caught deep in Midwest boredom; the kind of guy that wouldn’t give a shit about buzz bands of the Pitchfork variety. After further listens you do start to notice just how accessible this record attempts at becoming. It’s this type of line walking that makes American Haircut so precious in it’s playing power. Hard to swallow at first, there are buried bridges along the way to guide you— guitar lines, drum sputters or vocal leads— and after you locate them, track by track this record starts to shine.

For those singing the praises of King of The Beach, Haircut’s “Dreaming pt. 3” could very well be the best Wavves-record interlude you’ve never heard, whereas the luminous, wonderfully titled sing-a-long, “God Bless The Midwest, God Roast The East” sits comfortably for those contemporary fans of something like The Black Lips or The Growlers. The following, Panda Bear-fueled “Acid Forest” is American Haircut’s most experimental in result accompanied by a cheap machined synth throb, choral harmonies and cymbal washes, while the aptly-named closer, “The Best Drug I’ve Ever Done,” is a flawless sonic companion for an under-the-covers trip down the rabbit hole with spiced hints of Anton’s BJM trippiness or Darker My Love’s rustic revivalism.

American Haircut is swelling, raw and hazy psychedelia and it’s limited to 500 copies, so quit thinking about it and go buy one of my favorite releases of the year already.

Manly P. Hall was a well celebrated critical thinker, social analyst and O.G. conspiracy theorist. In this lecture, he discusses how our obsession with the past can create a destructive pattern when we live exclusively within it. I’ve struggled with this sort of self sabotage my whole life and it’s something I have to constantly pull the reins in on.

I’ve seen it ruin friends and family members to the point where the past is the only identity they have. It’s one of the saddest things to see someone who you love disappear into that abyss. If you find yourself dwelling on issues from your past to the point that it affects your present day, then break the cycle now before it dictates your future. Live NOW. There is no tomorrow.

Yesterday Sports Illustrated posted their 25 most hated sport teams of all time. No surprise, but the cover boys for the current issue of SI made the list before their first tip-off. The list is full of obvious selections like the ’88-’89 Pistons to head scratchers like the ’86 Mets (who the hell hates the ’86 Mets?). Jimmy Johnson also gets the distinction of coaching two of the most hated teams in sports… both in the top 5 nonetheless!

I’m pretty shocked that the only Yankee team on here is from the 70s, that there’s no Kobe Lakers and no LT era Giants team. It’s a pretty good piece of fluff that nothing else will rekindle some memories and open a few debates for those of us who grew up with some of these teams. You can leave your most hated teams of all time in the comments section if you’s like. Mine? The ’93-’94 Rangers and ’99-00 Flyers. Those pricks!

Over a month ago I introduced you to photographer Jason Shaltz and his ongoing photo project of photographing Juggalos all across America. Jason just recently updated his site with a grip of new photos from various stops on Twiztid’s Slaughetrhouse Tour. Not sure though which cities these new shots are from.

Jason’s also entered himself in a contest over at Brooklyn’s Third Ward. If you love Juggalos and I know you do, give Jason a vote! We’ll keep you updated whenever Jason adds new photos to his series. Woop! Woop!

Mahjongg - The Long Shadow of the Paper Tiger (2010) [K Records] // Grade: C+

Get ready for a musical experience that will get you dancing like a spaz because Mahjongg are back with their fourth album The Long Shadow of the Paper Tiger. The band’s self proclaimed “Chicagotronics” sound (stemming from regional bands using live drumming with electronic drumming) is hard to define because the band likes to keep things free form and play off a variety of influences. They don’t conform to any set rhythmic time in their music which could be a bit disorienting for some. Their live shows are supposed to be killer partly due to being able to create such complex music with a fairly simplistic set up, and that the band goes crazy for their own music, grooving out hard on stage.

The Long Shadow of the Paper Tiger is a different album for the group because it didn’t start out as being written for Mahjongg but rather Waterbabies, an entirely improvised side project of bassist Hunter Husar that is rooted in percussion, improvised noise and tribal-jams. Those tribal beats are most evident on track “Whoop” that mixes in this kind of funk bass back beat interjected with different layering of vocals by the various band members. “Wardance” seems to be inspired by Native drum circle beats but amps up the impact by turning it electric, infusing electro guitar strumming and keyboards with tantric vocals.

“Grooverider Free” is a really interesting track (hitting the 9min mark) mixing lyrical electronic vocals with hyper speed keyboards and an African tribal beat which shifts in the middle of the track into a more industrial sound with awesome uber fast drum & bass beats. While listening to this track it’s hard to believe that it is one singular song instead of being chopped into two (personally favouring the second have of the track). While I found the intermixed tracks “Devry”, “Miami Knights”, and “La Beat” to be rather lack luster, it’s the first song “Gooble” that really sold this album for me. The free flowing variation of beats (switching between tempos) mixes so well with their psyched out vocals (especially the raucous yeah yeah yeahing) and fluttering of improved noises (sax, keyboards). “Gooble” is the track that made me want to see them jam out live.

On the whole, I don’t find The Long Shadow of the Paper Tiger to be a stellar album but with enough tracks that grab you and the impressive way Mahjongg plays with their music, it’s definitely worth a solid listen.

Some icy wave music for you courtesy of Vancouver’s Cosmetics. “Soft Skin” is out now as a 7-inch on Captured Tracks. Look out for Cosmetics in late August as they come to NYC for a few shows.