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Wednesday, February 28, 2007

I'll Be In A Hot Air Balloon At That Time

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Longmont Potion Castle "Rolo Candies"

Longmont Potion Castle "Y2K Survey"

Longmont Potion Castle "A Grover Loaf"

Longmont Potion Castle "I'm The One Asking The Questions"

Longmont Potion Castle "Wizard Of Wor"

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

Longmont Potion Castle hails from somewhere near Denver, and no, they're not the newest buzz band on the blogosphere. Its basically one very weird dude pulling prank phone calls. But its not that simple. Some of Mr. Castle's (I like to call him Frank) calls border on dadaist due to their bizarre nature. This doesn't mean they're not laugh so hard you accidentally cut a fart funny, because thats exactly what I did the first time I heard them.

The castle was built in the early nineties. II deduced this from one of the calls where a radio talk show is discussing the 2 Live Crew scandal. Oh, that Luther Campbell, will his name ever leave the headlines? They're also loosely affiliated with Hatebeak, sharing a 7 inch with them, and that's the sweetest feather in anyone's cap.

So here's what Longmont Potion Castle tastes like. If you like em you should go over to longmontpotioncastle.com and pick up some of their cds, because the well of comedy runs very, very deep up in Colorado.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Kinky Reggae

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Clancy Eccles "Open Up"

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

Reggae music is sexual by nature. Some artists took the sexiness of the genre to new levels that were, well, just plain filthy. Adventures into raunchiness can be found on compilations like the Adults Only series, put out by Trojan. Songs like "Punanny" and "Hold The Pussy" waste no time beating around the proverbial bush.

Clancy Eccles was a popular Kingston singer and producer in the 1960s. Although he was a socialist militant, it didn't mean he didn't like penning odes to nasty sex acts. "Open Up" may be the catchiest song about a sleazy date you'll ever hear. Play it for someone you love. Then don't be surprised when she smacks the shit out of you.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Man Ram vs. Man At Arms vs. PANZRAM

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Syd Lucid "Panzram"

Grut "Gay"

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

Soundclick.com is an amazing place. Not only are all of the mp3s free, but every now and then you can find something worth downloading. Sure you have to carve a swaff thru a field of god awful bullshit, but for every Dave Matthews or Matchbox 20 bar band, there's a Lil Kulit, or even a SYD LUCID.

I downloaded Syd Lucid's tracks solely based on the name. Their description also helped:

Your influences?
Pink Floyd, Black Flag, Social Distortion, Bjork, Elmore James.
Equipment used:
Hammers and spikes.

Syd Lucid's track entitled "Panzram" enticed me with its description: "Lock up your soul". That and the fact that its called fucking PANZRAM. This sounds like something I would write if given the opportunity. Equal parts Kyuss and Nirvana, its perfect for road trips to the molten center of the earth.

I also came across Grut, a garage punk band with catchy song tittles like "Sweaty Taint" and "Grippin' The Throttle". You can see how they jump right off the page and into your download queue. Grut play pretty basic punk rock riffage, but its catchy enough to be mentioned, and worth a spin or two on the old iTunes.

Monday, February 19, 2007

At The Festival Of Gas

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The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players "Look At Me"

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

I first saw the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players on an episode of the short lived MSNBC talk show McEnroe, starring the legendary complaining tennis pro John McEnroe. I still wonder how that show didn't last. I was about to change the channel over to the gadflies on VH1 until these people came on. Two aging hipsters with what looked like a nine year old girl on drums playing songs describing slide shows that they found at garage sales. What seemed like an absurd concept at first became absolutely brilliant by songs end.

Although I've only ever seen them perform the song "Look At Me" with slideshow accompaniment once I still enjot the song every time I hear it. This version was obviously performed in a room full of New York City scenesters, although the line "half of Kristin Hersh is cut in half" seems to be lost on them, as it didn't garner as many laughs as most of the other lines.

Sorry, no slides are enclosed. But please enjoy this complimentary picture of Captain Lou Albano, free of charge.

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Sunday, February 18, 2007

For Those About To Go Thru Puberty (We Salute You)

Sunday is TV theme song day here at Pop Zeus!

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Punky Brewster

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Blossom

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

For the past few weeks I've been forgoing the tv theme of the week because the Bears were, well, we all know what they were doing. I've come to realize that it might actually be the most popular feature around here.

So to appease the masses, I give you two songs today, Punky Brewster and Blossom, two girls who are radically different yet so similar at the same time. It really boggles the mind. I mean, will our emotional journey with them ever end? Methinks not.

I'm trying to remember anything in particular from these two shows and all I can think about is an episode of Punky Brewster when some girl got locked in an abandoned refridgerator. It taught me a valuable lesson. Never watch this stupid ass show again. I mean, what kind of stupid kid does that?

Saturday, February 17, 2007

LIVE TO WIN!

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Paul Stanley "Live To Win"

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

Hoo boy. Here's a little addendum to that whole "new release thing": Paul Stanley's first solo album since the KISS solo records (you know that deal where they all released solo albums at once, the ones that are all still stinking up dollar bins around the world), Live To Win. Yes, I bought this CD. Apparently nobody told Paul that music like this died around 1989. Even if they did it would probably still sound just like this.

See, nobody tells Paul Stanley how to write a song. HE writes the songs, get it? I'm sure yr very proud of any input you might have, but you can just save it, because Paul's not gonna listen to it.

Songs like "The Final Coundown" by Europe and "Eye Of The Tiger" by Survivor were big hits because they pumped people up and got them excited about life, dude. And the last hit KISS had was probably "Lick It Up" or "Heaven's On Fire", two songs that let the rockin' do the talkin'. So if you combine all of that plus a heaping helping of swagger, you get "Live To Win", a song that speaks volumes about the virtues of living, as well as winning.

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So save your emo posturing and your booty bass ganster rap for some other time, because Paul Stanley is about to rock your brains out, and leave a motivational message inside after he's done rocking it. LIVE TO WIN.

God I could write for hours about this song....

Friday, February 16, 2007

Thank God For Richard Moll

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Beirut "Elephant Gun"

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

Its the end of the line for "new release week" here at Pop Zeus, so I thought I'd finally put up something I liked. Beirut obviously got the title of their latest EP Lon Gisland from an episode of the television show Night Court. Let me explain how I know this. I remember a scene on the show where a hooker said something about a Lon Gisland Iced Tea with a thick Jersey accent to the honorable judge Harry Anderson, which prompted him to ask "Whats a Lon Gisland Iced Tea?", mimicing her ridiculous accent. Do not ask me why this is the one and only joke I remember from a show that hasn't even run in syndication since the 80s. Just don't ask.

Lon Gisland is a beautiful collection of songs recorded with passion by a collection of versatile musicians. The wide variety of instrumentation on this record incontrovertibly brings to mind Neutral Milk Hotel's In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, but don't get too excited. Its not THAT good. 99.9 percent of records aren't.

However Beirut has recorded an excellent record that will cause your mind to drift to other places as you hear it. Like to that moment when you were going to talk to that girl you liked but you leaned on the table she was sitting at and knocked it over, causing several pints of beer to spill on her lap. Not knowing what else to do, you bolted out of the pub and down the street as fast as you could, not knowing where you were headed but that you just had to get the fuck out of there.

Well, at least that's where I drifted off to, anyway. And said girl, if yr reading this: sorry.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Asleep At The Wheel

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Busdriver "Pompous Posies! Yr Party's No Fun"

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

Well we're almost through "New release week", and although its been disappointing I've been able to unearth a few gems out of the rough terrain. This one, however, was by far the biggest let down of what I've been calling "the latest batch" thus far: Busdriver's Roadkill Overcoat.

The first time Busdriver graced my ears, I was blown away. "I just wanna hold your hand when you die" was lodged in my proverbial mind piece for months after that, and I seeked out virtually everything he had recorded up to that point. It's obvious that I was looking forward to Roadkill Overcoat. It just sucks that it didn't live up to its own hype.

The record is full of what some might call "hooks" but none of them are very catchy. The lyrical content is just as clever and spell binding as any other Busdriver recording, but the delivery that makes him such a standout just isn't there. It left me empty handed, asking myself if that was all there was to it.

Now i'm not gonna completely shut out a guy whose musical canon i love so much. Busdriver gets out alive on the track "Pompus Posies! Your Party's No Fun", where he rails the glitterati and their Pavlovian sycophants. Its obvious Busdriver has spent some time in Los Angeles because he hits the nail directly on the head with an over sized carnival strongman hammer. Like I said, the content is solid.

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Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Haughty Eagles

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The Shins "Australia"

The Shins "A Comet Appears"

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

"New release week" continues with the latest from the Shins, Wincing The Night Away. I once read an article (I think it was the LA Weekly) that called this band "essentially the Beatles for the Oughties". First of all, is that what they call this decade? I've been waiting for a clear cut term for it. Does that mean in ten years VH1 will be airing I Heart the Oughties forty times a week? And will they look back on this Shins record and compare it to Revolver? Well I don't know about the Oughties thing, but I an tell you that those gadflys will have forgotten about this record by then.

Wincing The Night Away not without its shining moments. "Australia" is a standout (any song that has the line "android's conundrum" in it wins the battle for me) as is the first single "Phantom Limb", a song that took about three weeks for me to recognize its greatness. "A Comet Appears" will be included on the list of the Shins' most beautiful songs right there with "New Slang" and "When I Goosestep". But aside from those gems the rest is bland and uninspired, ripe for the picking of ad agencies to use in commercials for Saturns and Volkswagons.

I wanted to like this more than I do. I listened to it more than any of the rest of the "new batch" because I expect big things from the Shins. The record ended and I felt more like I had just listened to Ringo's All-Stars rather than the Oughty Beatles.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Said Yeah, Still Waiting To Clap Hands

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Clap Your Hands Say Yeah "Satan Said Dance"

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

After avoiding it for awhile because I felt it may have been over hyped, I ending up really liking the debut record by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. It had the energy of the early eighties fueling its fire. Rock songs that made you want to dance were plentiful, and despite its slight pretension it was very accessible to a non-scenester like me.

Now it is February of 2007, and the band's follow up Some Loud Thunder has just been released. I don't know what to say. I hate to be dishing out bad reviews all week but it left me very unimpressed. Like the Deerhoof record I found it to be boring and meandering. Lazy (although thoughtful) songs are not what I expected from Some Loud Thunder. In fact the only song I actually like is the first single, "Satan Said Dance", and even that doesn't hold up its own versus the songs from the first record.

I might take this opportunity to state that I don't normally like any records the first time I hear them, and it usually takes more than a few listens for me to get into it. I listened to this about three times in a short span of time, but I still don't see it grabbing me in the future. Maybe its just the dissapointment of buying a whole batch of records and not seeing the greatness in any of them. But there were a few good ones in the batch, as you'll see later in the week. For now, just enjoy the movie. It has Tom Berenger.

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Monday, February 12, 2007

Like The Bengals of Old

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Deerhoof "The Perfect Me"

Deerhoof "+81"

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

So I guess this may end up being a new release week of sorts, since I just dropped a bundle on a whole bunch of shit that just came out. It was as if Amoeba Records was calling my name, luring me with a smoky finger like the smell of a pie cooling on a window sill in a Looney Tunes cartoon. I floated towards it and once I'm in that place, I'm trapped.

I hate to say it but this slew of new releases has been somewhat dissapointing. To start, San Francisco's Deerhoof, whose praises I have sung in the past, just released Friend Opportunity. All I can say here is that it bored me. Gone are the the rockers like "Come See The Duck" and breezy streams of consciousness like "Running Thoughts". What we're left with are awkward dance beats and meandering soliloquies that go nowhere fast. A dull record to say the least.

The record started out good, though. The first two tracks, "The Perfect Me" and "+81" stood out immediately and I got excited. Then what seemed like decades later I realized I was STILL listening to Friend Opportunity. I had to turn it off and play some NECROPHAGIST to get my head right.

http://dusted21.blogspot.com/2006/05/toilet-metal.html

Saturday, February 10, 2007

The Man From UNKle

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Dj Unk "Walk It Out"

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

I happened to catch this one on Los Angeles' Power 106 hip hop station. I check it every now and then to see if they're not playing complete garbage. This track ended up kicking me square in the balls. Simplicity is obviously the key for DJ Unk, as the beats are straight forward enough to make yr 85 year old aunt want to get on the dance floor. Walk it out, homie.

Friday, February 09, 2007

I Had The Time Of My Lif

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Mr. Lif "Collapse"

Mr Lif. "Brothaz"

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

Mr. Lif is back with more lyrics to make you question your own societal standing. Okay its not brand new, but its new to me. I just can't keep up with you kids and yr blogs, so I'm just goin at my own pace.

Mo Mega is the latest offering from one of America's most talented MCs. Mr Lif's newest opus picks up right where he left off: lashing out at the government, attempting to make people think and speaking the truth no matter how scary it might be. Feed yr brain some real truthiness.

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Bad News, Bears

Yeah, i'm still alive. Just depressed about that Bears loss. Here's some music that might make us forget our woes.

Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel "Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)

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

A little, anyway.

Sunday, February 04, 2007

One Word: CHICAGO BEARS. Okay that's two words.

Today is Super Bowl Sunday.

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Thomas Jones touchdown in the 4th quarter of the NFC Championship game

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

Right now I am in steadfast preperation mode. I am strategically placing every scrap of Bears memorabilia I own in plain sight around my house. I am getting food catered from a Chicago restaurant in Los Angeles. I am playing a test run on Madden 07. I am praying to Jesus for the first time in a long time.

No song today. There's no time for that.

The Chicago Bears are playing in the Super Bowl.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

A 2006 Chicago Bears Retrospective

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Chicago Bears 2006 Season Megggggamixxxxxx!!!!!!

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

The Bears are playing in the Super Bowl tommorrow. Lets take an opportunity to look back at their amazing 2006 season with this little retrospective i put together. If you're a Bears fan, it should bring tears to your eyes. It did for me, and yes I am a grown ass man.

GO BEARS!!!!!

Friday, February 02, 2007

Even Though Yr A Smelly Drunk Old Man

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Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin "Oregon Girl"

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

Apparently Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin is a "blog favorite", at least thats what it said on their last.fm description. Well I may not be as up to speed as some of the other music blogs, and I might not have their razor sharp wit. I also might not have as many readers and I probably don't look as good in a wetsuit-tight ironic t-shirt. And sure, I might go off on a lot of crazy tangents instead of providing insight on song structure and the state of today's music industry and I certainly don't have indie rock bands overloading my mailbox with free records begging me to write them up on my site. And I probably spend too much time talking about now "uncool" artists like Guided By Voices and Kool Keith, BUT.....

I, uh......I -

hmph.

This song reminds me of this one time when I went to Indiana Beach with my friend Stas and we pulled up next to a car load of girls and he immediately took off his shirt, revealing his preposterously hairy chest. When the girls began to recoil in horror and disgust, he told them his name was "Chewbacca".

Oh yeah, and this band is good. Listen to them.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Raw, That Means Its Uncooked

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Jaylib "Raw Shit" ft. Talib Kweli

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

Jaylib is the brainchild collaboration between Madlib and the late J Dilla. The same way Robert Pollard and Tobin Sprout recorded the Airport 5 records, the two artists would send tapes back and forth to each other without actually working face to face. The result was 2003's Champion Sound, a wonderfully pure hip hop record that championed the best of the two artist's talents.

"Raw Shit" features Talib Kweli, who although may be a truly gifted lyricist in his own right seems to pop up on every hip hop record as a "featured guest" these days. Seriously. I was dicking around with my Garageband software the other night. I went to go to the bathroom and when I came back Talib Kweli had laid a vocal track on it. I furrowed my brow in a vain attempt to understand.