In Loving Memory Of QB Eagles

Sunday is TV theme song day here at Pop Zeus!

Well today's post technically is a tv theme song. I mean, I never seen anyone play Nintendo WIHOUT a TV right?



Writing about Tecmo bowl yesterday reminded me of the good old days. The days when Sam Graddy could lead the AFC in receiving yards. Or Wayne Haddix could pick off even the indominatable Phil Simms. I'm speaking of course about the greatest Nintendo game ever made, Super Tecmo Bowl.



I loved this game so much that when I first got it I woke up before school and played half a season. BEFORE I went to school. That's eight games, and that's ridiculous. So I present to you some of the moments from the game no one can ever forget. The sound effects and their correlating music. Remember that feeling you got when Marion Butts returned from injury, the nurses waving to him from atop the hospital? Well now you can relive that moment over and over again. Thanks to me. Hey man, don't worry about it, it's all good.

Coin Toss!
Field Goal Bad!
Field Goal Good!
FUMBLE!
Injury!
Interception!
Kickoff!
Pass Touchdown!
Return From Injury!
Run Touchdown!
Sack!
Safety!

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

Also enjoy this ridiculous play from two guys who apparently taped all their Nintendo games while they played them. It may seem like a dorky concept, but this video has given me hours of solid entertainment. By the way this is the Super Nintendo version, which i've never played, but the effect is the same.

Time Space Consortium

Consortium "Fifty Ways To Sunday"

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

Here at Pop Zeus! it's a well known fact that i'm a shill for any band containing a friend of mine. Well today's post is one of THOSE posts. But just because they're my friends doesn't mean they're no good. I wouldn't put it up here if it sucked, people. Well, maybe if it sucked so hard it became awesome. Like Romi Romi.

Consortium is the brainchild of one Tom Winters, brother of my good friend Pat, whose band General Election Engines I covered here months ago. Time for some new recordings, Pat! Of course I can't blame Pat for not spending his nights in the studio. He's been moonlighting as the bass player for Consortium.

Consortium's "Fifty Ways To Sunday" reminds me somehow of 1980s pop rock. Kind of like R.E.M. just as they were stepping into the national spotlight or John Cougar Mellencamp's 'Scarecrow'. This comes as no surprise because I remember the strains of 'Scarecrow' constantly streaming from the room of Tom back when Pat and i were wee lads, arguing over the virtues of Tecmo Super Bowl vs. John Elway's Quarterback. Tecmo obviouslty takes the prize, although in Elway's game you could do a double reverse and run circles around the football field.

Consortium @ Myspace

With Hoods Like Dracula I Walk In Back A Ya

Dr. Dooom (feat. Jacky Jasper) "Apartment 223"

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

I've stated time and time again here at Pop Zeus! that Kool Keith is hands down the greatest MC of all time. Well finally here's some concrete evidence of that statement. I present to you exhibit A: Dr. Dooom's 'First Come First Served', my favorite hip hop record of all time second only to Public Enemy's 'Fear Of A Black Planet (come on, you can't mess with the S-1Ws!).

Here Keith takes on the persona of Dr. Dooom, a sociopath who lives in a rat and corpse ridden apartment where he plays checkers in bloody polo shirts, looks off into the night painted like a Shaka Zulu and enjoys basketball contests between the Toronto Raptors and the Houston Rockets. Dr. Dooom also kills off Keith's most popular alias, Dr. Octagon, in the first track of the record. A cruder production is employed for this follow up to 'Dr. Octagynecologyst', courtesy of Kutmasta Kurt, who Keith would collaborate with on several more projects in the future.

The first time I ever heard Dr. Dooom was on the Santa Monica college radio station. The line that jumped out at me was "taking your ass in a rented van to venice beach/ in a carboard box/ beatin' yr knees down with a bag of master locks". I immediately tracked down this work of art and it continues to amaze me every time I hear it. I also quote lines from it on a daily basis.

So next time you see me on Sunset Blvd with a credit card, and I bust a left on Labrea listening to a tape by Slayer, make sure i'm not faking smoking cigs or i'll throw a rat with mayonnaise at yr headlights.

A Warrior On The Edge Of Time

Jonah "No Deposit No Return"

Jonah "Homewrecker"

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

God bless Myspace.

I mean where else would I ever come across a human being such as Jonah? Jonah is a real life comic book warrior who currently dwells in the dimension of Danville, New York. Men fear him, women... well they fear him as well. I mean have you SEEN the picture of him shirtless with a knife in his teeth?!?

I'm not going to begin to attempt to explain the story behind this adventurer turned rock and roller, but I will tell you that he's got a band called Jonah (aptly named, I mean if Wings Hauser started a band the band would have to be called the Wings Hauser band, right?). Jonah (the band) plays bluesy pub rock, with your favorite dragon slayer doing harmonica duties.

My hats off to Jonah, who now joins Lil Kulit on my Myspace all star team. Jonah is going to blow up in a big way, mark my words. I mean did you SEE the picture of him doing battle with a creature from another dimension in his backyard? You don't even KNOW!

Jonah's Myspace page

Metal Up Yr Motherfucking ASS!!!

Superjoint Ritual "4 Songs"

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

Do you like heavy metal? If the answer is no, then don't read this post. Just go visit another music blog today. Is there a blog for music from Disney cartoons? Cause if so that one might be more up your alley.

If you answered yes then you're in for a treat. Phil Anselmo, formerly of Pantera, has been involved with a metal supergroup of sorts for quite a while now. Superjoint Ritual consists of Phil, Hank Williams III (a fantastic performer in his own right), Jimmy Bauer, Kevin Bond and Joe Fazzio on drums. Don't recognize any of these names? Off to the Disney page with you. I hear they're doing a piece on the music of "Aladdin" today.

"Four Songs" is Superjoint magnus opus. Well okay, not really. It's just four bad ass songs that segue into one another. If you make it to "The Darkest Month" then you're a true fan of metal. I had the pleasure to work with these gentlemen on their first dvd and I can tell you that they are all lovely human beings. But when they start playing music together they become the most brutal animals to ever crawl out of the primordial ooze.

Superjoint Ritual Official Site

On A Label That's Unstable

Fat Lip "What's Up Fat Lip?"

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

The problem with hip hop these days is that there's not enough self conscious rappers. Sure Kanye refererred to it in "All Falls Down" (we all self conscious/i'm just the first to admit it), but he wasn't the first after all. Fat Lip, formerly of the Pharcyde, penned his ode to being a buster far before West ever alluded to it. Check out the great music video directed by Spike Jonze which is what turned me on to the song in the first place.



Jonze's excellent music video collection dvd, The Work Of Sike Jonze, contains a great piece on the making of Fat Lip's video as well as some insight on the lyrics of the song. Fat Lip is at confessional here, discussing his living at home with moms, failure to secure a recording contract, a one off homosexual experience and his pondering taking a job at Pizza Hut. Say what you will about other rappers' "realness", but Fat Lip truly is an open book.

But Can They Seriously Beat My Ass? The Answer Is No.

Yo La Tengo "Beanbag Chair"

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

This week's mp3 of the week comes piping hot, straight off the new release rack. Yo La Tengo's new record "I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass" (my favorite title of the year thus far) is a return to the way they used to be. Their last album ("Summer Sun) sucked in my opinion and i'm glad YLT is back to being noisy and quiet at the same time instead of writing silly surf songs.

However despite all the noisy feedback, every Yo La tengo record wields at least one pop gem. You may remember a previous mp3 of the week, "Stockholm Syndrome" from 'I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One'. "Beanbag Chair" is that selection from their current album. The track reeks of Beatle, in a good way. It also harkens to another of YLT's favorite songwriters, Mr. Burt Bacharach.

"Beanbag Chair" would be a good song to listen to on gigantic 1970s head phones. So if you've got a pair lying around, slap them on and groove to the feel-goodiness.

Yo La Tengo Official Site

How Did This Get On Here?!?

Sunday is TV Theme song day here at Pop Zeus!



"My Little Pony" theme song

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

I don't know how this got on here. I don't know anything about My Little Pony.


I don't!


SHUT UP!!

Ooh Look Out It's Mister Huckleberry!

Jimi Hendrix "Room Full Of Mirrors"

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

Okay all you Hendrix fanatics, this one's for you. This is simply the most scorching performance I've ever heard performed on an electric guitar. It's a version of "Room Full Of Mirrors" that I believe comes off Jimi's "Purple" box set, but I'm not sure. It doesn't matter where it's from. I put this song on when I want to ROCK. Rock in AWE. I call it "AU ROCK" (pronounced like "au gratin"). You call it what you want.

O'Doyle Rules

Braid "A Dozen Roses"

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

Braid was an emo prototype band that hailed from my home state of Illinois, by way of Champiagn-Urbana. I would gather from their location that they were probably students at the University of Illinois. Now there's a lot of torment and sadness in Braid's songs but I gotta tell you, every time I ever went down to U of I in college it was nothing but good times. No pain or turmoil in sight.

One such time I was riding the cambus after the bars closed with all the other drunks and inadvertently started a bus-wide chant of "O'Doyle Rules!". I guess every one on the bus though that I was actually "O'Doyle" as they all told me that I ruled as they got off the bus. Well I do rule, but i'm not O'Doyle. HE rules. No members of Braid were on the bus to my knowledge.

I Have No Idea What's Going On

Chris Ledoux "Amarillo By Morning"

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

I first heard "Amarillo By Morning" in some movie, I don't remember what it was. If anyone knows what movie it's from please let me know. I don't know much about Chris Ledoux except for the fact that based on the content of all of his songs he must have spent some time working as a real cowboy. Other than that I know nothing tangible about the man.

In fact, this song may or may not even exist. I think perhaps I dreamt it. There's no such song as "Amarillo By Morning"! Now i'm scared.

Bob Seger Is Rolling In His Grave

The Black Keys "Yearnin'"

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]


The Black Keys may sound like an old black blues singer you'd find in a nightclub, or perhaps like a 70s blues breakers style super group. They're actualy just two skinny little white guys from Youngstown, Ohio who sound much bigger than they are.

The first time I saw these guys perform live, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was as if this sound shouldn't have been coming out these bespectacled, bearded young men in ironic t-shirts. They may look like the rest of their scene but they certainly don't sound like them. The Black Keys play hard driving blues rock that's destined to be at the top of the charts in 1975.

These Memories Can't Wait

Sunday is TV theme song day here at Pop Zeus!



"The Wuzzles" theme song

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

Today's TV theme song is from a short lived saturday morning cartoon show based off a toy idea. Those never lasted very long.

I will always know what a Wuzzle is thanks to the California Achievement tests they would give us every year in elementary school. There was a section that tested your memory and it was the same every year. They would give you words you never heard of and their definitions and later on they would quiz you on what they were. I still remember some of them: A Wuzzle is a mix. A Younker is a young man. A Baloo is a bear. A dubloon is a coin. I guess it's a testament to my memory skills.

Later on in high school we were given a test to decide what profession we were best suited for. Seeing as the quicker you filled it out the sooner you could go home, I filled out 'A' for every answer and got the fizuck out of there. I already knew what I wanted to do in life: to write stupid audio blogs every day that no one will ever read. When the test results came back it said I was best suited to be a forest ranger. Hmmph.Go figure.



Anyway the Wuzzles were lame. Not so lame that they should be confused with the Popples however, who were very similar but at the same time oh so very different. Ironically most people who enjoyed the Popples cartoons and toys went on to become forest rangers. Hmmph. Go figure.

Ass Hauling Music

Cheap Trick "He's A Whore"

Cheap Trick "Oh Caroline"

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

No time for love today, Dr. Jones! Here's two classics from Cheap Trick to keep you hauling ass in yr El Camino. "He's A Whore" (as famously covered by Big Black on their 'Songs About Fucking' record) from their self titled debut and "Oh Caroline", a nugget that I just unearthed from "In Color".

Cheap Trick was the first rock group to master the art of having two good looking dudes and two ugly dudes to balance out their appearance. Because we all know what happens if you have too many good looking dudes. Just look at all those hair bands. -Wait. They all looked like hot chicks! Well, I think I've questioned my own heterosexuality for one day. Kinichiwa!

Cleepa.

Magic featuring Master P "Dirty Dee"

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

Time to turn up the bass. This Master P/No Limit produced slice of genius comes to us courtesy of Magic (or Mr. Magic, as he is known to alias by) by way of the Pootie Tang (aka Sine Your Pitty On The Runny Kine) soundtrack. The first time I heard this song it introduced an integral character in the film: Dirty Dee, a man who was so dirty he was constantly covered in filth and when they made him shower in prison he had people sneak in dirt to rub on himself.

But the hilarity of Pootie Tang aside (Kappa Chow?), this track simply just bumps. Play this song at full volume next time you go to the drive thru at Wendy's and I guarantee they'll hook you up with some free fries. Just make sure there's no finger in yr chili.

Baby Doll Murder Metal

The Jonbenet "Why We're Dead"

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

I haven't really paid much attention to the news lately, but i think Jon Benet Ramsey has been in the news again lately. Seriously can't we just let the littlest beauty queen rest in peace already? It's a disgusting enough concept that the country was infatuated with her story in the first place. There's one stoner metal band that apparently couldn't let it die either, that band is aptly named the Jonbenet.

The Jonbenet sounds like what will be playing in hell when that little girl's parents inevitably arrive there. Hailing from Houston, the band has a raw sound that will pound the fuck out the speakers in yr Toyota Tercel. Singer Michael Murland is definitely going to have some lung and throat problems when he gets older, since his singing style is that of the most gruesome alleycat fight you ever heard. Three cheers to a band that not only has a tasteless name, but also has put out a coveted record in Satan's eardrum arsenal.

The Jonbenet @ Pluto Records

National Hero?!? Mental Zero!!!

"Romi Romi" from 'America The Beautiful': A Rock Opera Featuring Soundscape

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

Today's epic track comes courtesy of Mike of Record Robot Fame. I've been sitting on this beauty for quite a while now. I don't know where Mike found 'America The Beautiful - A Rock Opera Featuring Soundscape', but it truly is a work of outsider art.



From what I gathered in my attempt to listen to the entire work (it's a double disc set), the entire rock opera is an ode to an ex girlfriend by a very jilted and jealous man. As illustrated in "Romi Romi", his ex apparently left him for a baseball player, a MILLIONAIRE at that! Can you believe it? Soundscape (which I can only assume is what the artist prefers to be called) draws a parallel between his chick leaving him and the current state of America. Sorry, but that correlation went RIGHT between my legs Buckner style.



All of Soundscape's magnus opus is a jealous outcry. Seriously, EVERY SONG is about his ex girlfriend cheating on him. I mean we've all been there but sheesh, try to write a song about clouds or something once in a while dude. "Romi Romi" is quite easily the worst, most absurd song in my library and that's why I hold it so dear. So if you've ever heard me exclaiming " A baseball playah?!? KILLIONAIRE!!!!!" out of the blue, now you know where it comes from.

There's Always Room For Costello

Elvis Costello & The Attractions "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down" (Album Version)

Elvis Costello & The Attractions "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down" (Alternate Version)

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

It's been long enough since my last Elvis Costello post, right? I've been listening to the double disc re-issue of 'Get Happy' constantly lately. I guess it's just an album i whiffed on in the past because I only just got it recently. I suppose now I am compensating for the last twenty years of not having it, because I can't seem to turn it off.



One great gem from the second disc is the alternate version of "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down", a completely different take on the up tempo hit from the record. You forget how sad the lyrics are when they're presented in such a jumpy and fun way, but when you hear "I'm the living result/I'm a man who's been hurt a little too much/and I've tasted the bitterness of my own tears/sadness is all my lonely heart can feel" in the context of a slow stripped down version you understand how miserable this guy must be.

They Could Have Called Themselves Rat Fartz

Holy Fuck "Casio Bossa Nova"

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

Today's post wasn't meant to offend, but it's definitely one of the most uncreative band names I've heard in a while. Holy Fuck is a keyboard driven rock band. My guess is they thought up their band's name while watching that video on the internet where that guy gets hit by a horse, because that's exactly what I said when I saw it.



Even though "Casio Bossa Nova" is a keyboard driven tune, it's not like these guys just pressed the demo button on the Casio and rolled with it. It definitely grooves. With a name like Holy Fuck I totally expected these guys to be a heavy metal band of some sort. how wrong I was. If you're really into it, blow the dust of your old toy keyboard and play along!

Holy Fuck's Myspace

I Spend Most Of My Day Solving Complicated Equations

Sunday is TV theme song day here at Pop Zeus!



Bill Cosby & Quincy Jones "Hikky Burr"

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

This week's TV Theme was recommended by an avid reader of Pop Zeus, my brother Moik. The show is Bill Cosby's 'Hikky Burr' and the theme song is by Quincy Jones.

I personally had never heard of this show until it was brought to my attention, but apparently there was a great episode where Cosby was trying to figure out a complicated math equation. They just don't make 'em like they used to...

Put Your Boob In My 24 oz. Arrogant Bastard Ale

Bob Log III "Boob Scotch"

Bob Log III "I Want Your Shit On My Leg"

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

So last night I went to a show at the Knitting Factory here in Hollywood. On the bill was Punk Bunny, Bob Log III, and Blowfly. Now a lot can be said about all three of these acts, but today I'm just gonna focus on Bob Log III, who impressed me the most. I've got a lot of pictures and videos from this triple threat bill, but i'll wait until the Blowfly post to unleash them on you.

Bob Log III is a one man band who plays drums with his feet, guitar with his hands and sings into a telephone receiver rigged through a motorcycle helmet. Sound bizarre, and looks it as well, but Bob can play a mean guitar. He's also obviously infatuated with boobs (but i mean, who isn't?), with songs like "Clap Your Tits" and "Boob Scotch", the latter being about trying to get girls to dip their boob in your glass of scotch.

"Boob Scotch" music video



A good time was had, at least by me. I think that's obvious from last night's undocumented hammered drunk post. I did not however, get anyone's boob in my scotch. There's always next time.



Bob Log III's Myspace

UNDER PRESURE

Damian "Jr Gong" Marley "Move!"

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

This can officially be conisdered my FIRST totally hammered drunk post. I'm putting up "Move!" by Damian "Jr Gong" Marley solely because this song fucking ROCKS and i don't want any questions from anyone. okay?

Reason Not To End Yr Life Yet #008

Future Of The Left "The Fibre Provider"

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

Avid readers of Pop Zeus! may be aware of my respect for the band Mclusky, who unfortunately disbanded prematurely. Well Mclusky is back! In pog form!



Let me explain, ex-Mclusky singer Andy Falkous has started a new band called Future Of The Left, which includes ex-Mcluskyians Jack William Egglestone (drums) and Kelson Louis Tregurtha Mathias (bass/vocals). Future Of The Left is very Mclusky-ish, which is fantastic news for fans like me who cursed the fact they never got to see them perform live.

More songs can be found on Future Of The Left's Myspace page, where they describe the songs as "a little quiet, so y'know, turn the thing up". If this is what they consider quiet, I can't wait to hear them loud.

Black Uhuwho?

Michael Rose "The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll"

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

You may remember my post on the Trojan Beatles Box Set a ways back. Well, aside from the Easy Side All Stars' 'Dub Side Of The Moon', the only other reggae tribute record I own is 'Is It Rolling Bob? A Reggae Tribute To Bob Marley', and let me tell you, it comes nowhere NEAR the Beatles box.



However there's always one crown jewel to be found, even in the biggest piles of shit. The particular jewel to be found here is Michael Rose of Black Uhuru's version of Dylan's "The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll". Never mind the fact that it's one of my favorite Dylan songs to begin with, there are a lot of my other favorites on here too that have been butchered. Or as I like to call it, "Sean Paul-ized". But Roses' version of Dylan's tale of a wrongly murdered servant and the rich man who got off scott free is truly heart felt, and is a testament to the fact that any song can be remade into a thing of entirely different beauty.

Don't Fuck Up My Play Action

Knapsack "Decorate The Spine"

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

Knapsack was a band I think I found out about when I received a sampler for Alias Records called "The Wagon" in the late nineties. At the time I had no idea that this was basically what would be eventually termed as "emo rock" a genre I have absolutely no interest in for a bevy of reasons, the most important one being it ALL SOUNDS EXACTLY THE SAME.

Case in point, I just got the new Madden '07 and the game's soundtrack is chock full of these shitty whiny bands. It's a good thing I have the option to turn off all the songs I don't like. Now all I'm left with are the hip hop tracks, which is fine with me. Although every once in a while they'll sneak in a Dashboard Confessional song when I kick a field goal and it makes my blood boil.



*ahem* Anyway, Knapsack was a pretty good band. Yes they were a one trick pony and 'Day Three Of My New Life' was the only record I owned by them, but "Decorate The Spine" was the song on that sampler that peaked my interest enough to buy their record, so it's worth a listen. What they did or did not spawn however is not worth mentioning. Even though I just wasted at least two paragraphs on it.

Any Band Containing Kurt Rambis Is Fine By Me

TV On The Radio "Playhouses"

TV On The Radio "Wolf Like Me"

[right click to download, ctrl or option click if yr a mac!]

TV On The Radio is one of those over hyped flavor of the months that if you dig a little deeper than the SPIN magazine article, you'll find that they're actually creative and talented guys. The thing that can truly ruin a good band like this is the press and all the attention that they get. Look what overexposure did to Ben Affleck. Everyone hates that dude now. Although he WAS a douche to begin with.

TV On the Radio hail from New York, and it's all black dudes except for one stocky little white dude who looks like Kurt Rambis (he even wears the sports band glasses!). Guitar player/ vocalist Kyp Malone is a big hulking guy with a huge afro, but he sings with an angelic falsetto. It's not the voice you'd expect to come out of a guy like that. Also on the song "Blind" (off of 2003's 'Young Liars') he sings harmony with lead vocalist Tunde Adebimpe and together I swear to god they sound like Peter Gabriel.



Seeing them perform live is an interesting experience. They're very high energy, but their music is always just slightly off kilter. I think because they look at it in a different way than most of the mainstream. Their latest record, "Return To Cookie Mountain" (which apparently got its name from a Nintendo game, two points for that) features a guest appearance by David Bowie (ten points for that!) and is their "major" label debut.

We'll see how long it takes for the big evil conglomeration that is Interscope Records to exploit TV On The Radio and spit them back out to the curb, but for now let's enjoy the fact that a band as challenging this has a record available on the same Best Buy shelves as Sean Paul, Christina Aguilera and other brainless sure fire record company paydays.