The Rise of the Blipster and the Controversy It Has Stirred

There is even a new word for black fans of indie rock: “blipster,” which was added to UrbanDictionary.com last summer, defined as “a person who is black and also can be stereotyped by appearance, musical taste, and/or social scene as a hipster.”

Since when should listeners of music be defined and categorized based upon their race? That is the burning controversy recently spawned by the above New York Times passage (in addition to many others) in this January 28th article. The article, as it turns out, focuses on the role race plays among listeners of indie rock. And to say the least, it has a whole bunch of other bloggers quite aggravated.

If anything, the article is a great read that takes an introspective look at what really is the collective identity of hipster music today. Read the whole thing here.

Happy Birthday Tae!

In honor of Tae's birthday, I've included an appropriate "gift." It's Altered Images' 'Happy Birthday:'

We're This Many! (Holds Up 2 Fingers)

Today marks the momentus 2nd anniversary of a little music blog affectionately known to us as The Lonely Note. It was January 24th of 2005 when Steve proclaimed our existence to the entire cyber universe. And in the two years since that first post, we've managed to publish well over 700 music-related articles and reviews.

I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of myself and the other contributors, to thank all of you who have been with us along the way. We've had the pleasure to hear from alot of great artists and great listeners. I hope you continue to check in with us as we continue to plow ahead into the future.

Thank you!

And in case you weren't here in the beginning, click HERE to check out where it all started.

Does Iggy like Bob Hope?

It's not uncommon for most musicians to have a concert rider of sorts for the many venues where the perform. Sometimes these riders can include needs that are simple and somewhat understandable (ham sandwiches, alcohol, condoms, etc.) and sometimes they can be a tad eccentric (a brandy glass full of brown M&Ms). Either way, it would seem that these requests reflect the personalities of the performers that we enjoy watching in concert.

Iggy Pop is one of those individuals you would expect to request items that he doesn't necessarily need. That's why I wasn't suprised to run across his hilarious concert rider the other day. Whether it is needing a couple homosexuals for rock n' roll interior decorating or huge floor fans to give the blowing-in-the-wind feel of Bon Jovi, Iggy and his crew know how to make one hell of a concert rider. It's kind of a long read, being 18 pages, but the stream of consciousness writing is entertaining for all. Enjoy!

Check it out here.

Rage Against the Machine to Reunite?

This article says so at least. The reunion will be for a single night in April at Coachella.

Read the details here.

A Brief Introduction to The Small Faces

Many folks know that Rod Stewart cut his rock teeth fronting a band known as Faces. But do many people outside of the sixties BBC era know that long before Faces came into existence, the very same band was fronted by future Humble Pie vocalist Steve Marriott, and referred to as The Small Faces? Indeed, it was when Marriott left the band in 1969 that the group recruited Stewart (as well as guitarist Ron Wood), dropped the "small" part of its name, and reinvented itself as, simply, Faces.

Unlike fellow mod rockers The Who, The Small Faces achieved limited success here in the States. However, in their native Britain, the group garnered widely received support, with Ogden's Nut Gone Flake reaching #1 in the island nation. In America, the only song to reach the Top 40 was 'Itchycoo Park (mp3),' a psychedelic, yet playful reflection of the collective drug experience of the time.

While 'Itchycoo Park' was anchored in spellbounding psychedelia ("We'll get hiiiigghhh!"), it was 'Tin Soldier' that effectively illustrated the typical R&B power of the band. Laden with bluesy guitars and organs, as well as accented with powerful vocal harmonies all throughout its Gospelesque chorus, 'Tin Soldier' was a prolific milestone, pushing the group's influence perhaps beyond even The Rolling Stones during the year of 1968.

For those of you interested, you can watch a live video of the band performing 'Itchycoo Park' below. Furthermore, you can sample the MP3 for 'Tin Soldier' here.

Frank Zappa on the Steve Allen Show

How about this for old school: A squeaky clean Frank Zappa on the Steve Allen Show playing a bicycle as an instrument. The year was 1963.

After you get finished watching Part One below, you can view the remainding segment here.

Jonezetta - 'Get Ready (Hot Machete)'

Although their name is borderline lame, Jonezetta has created a danceable hard rock single that has begun to slowly penetrate the national airwaves. You can listen to 'Get Ready (Hot Machete)' here.

Caught On Tape: James Ingram & Michael McDonald - 'Yah Mo B There'

Though Paul Rudd's character in The 40 Year Old Virgin may have expressed his utter distaste for the 1983 Ingram & McDonald duet, 'Yah Mo B There,' I can't help but taste sweet ambrosia everytime I hear it. A melody like a feather tickling the follicles in my ear. Vocal harmonies lap at me like a slippery wet willy. The beat plays my ear drum like a timpani. This is a great song, I exclaim with resounding enthusiasm. And every great song deserves, in return, a great music video.

As a fan of the the one-and-only Michael McDonald (and similarly of the fantastic comedic series, Yacht Rock), this song strikes an instant chord for me. The track's title sounds phonetically like a tribal chant. Some have even claimed it to mean "God Will Be There," which is understandable given the uplifting, spiritual nature of the lyrics, and the use of the religious reference 'Yah.' Whether this dissection of the song is accurate is up for interpretation. Upon initial listens, one could easily hear the lyrics repeating "Yeah, I'm gon' be there." Or, as others have interpreted/misinterpreted the lyrics, "I'm a beaver" or "I'm a weiner."

While the lyrical message may be up for grabs among dissenting minds, the soulful music was able to overcome and gain a wide enough favoring to win a 1985 Grammy Award.

In the video, Ingram and McDonald portray a couple of fed up fry-cooks, who abandon their jobs and traverse the country in an Airstream RV. Along the way, the video jumps to a number of individuals who seem to be in trouble, and literally/theoretically drowning. Will they be hoisted from certain peril or left as chum for the sharks? You'll have to watch to find out.

While occasionally steering into the same confusing undertow that so many other videos did in the 80s, the overall cinematography is lush and vibrant, and is able to keep afloat nicely. Fortunately, Ingram and McDonald yah mo b there to throw it a life preserver.

As Promised, My Favorite Album of 2006: Broken Boy Soldiers

Jack White is scorned by some, but seen by many as a musical hero. As co-founder of the White Stripes, the sometimes scandal-laden lead singer has had many the top music critic pay awful close attention to any and all projects he has chosen to particpate in.

In 2006 Jack White released a new album with a group described as a "new band made up of old friends." Combining the punk sensibility of the Detroit scene with the enduring sounds of Rubber Soul, Mr. White created what I feel is a 21st century masterpiece.

Melodic, terse, and meaningful, Broken Boy Soldiers provides an assembly of songs that range from the simple to the complex, from the intellectual to the emotional. While the authority of track number two's 'Hands' lies in its powerful rythym, the album is equally balanced by the beautiful melody contained on 'Together,' a Lennon influenced ballad if there ever was one.

With that said, I find The Raconteurs' Broken Boy Soldiers to be my favorite album of 2006.

You can sample 'Together' here.

Tate Modern Hosts 'Tate Tracks'

While the pairing of art and music may not be a new concept, the Tate Modern museum in London has been putting a refreshing twist on the idea. This idea has come to be known as 'Tate Tracks.' Musicians were invited to wander through the gallery and pick out a piece of art that spoke to them, and then record a song specifically to accompany the piece. As worded on the museum's website, "It's about art inspiring art."

After the musician has recorded the track, it is featured in the gallery along with the original piece. For the first month of display, Tate Modern is the only place in the world where the song is available. At the end of the month, the song is also made available on the museum's website.

Currently, the gallery is hosting Andy Warhol's Brillo along with a song by The Landscapers, titled "VaVaVoom." The track is scheduled to be appear online after February 1st. Past musician-artist pair ups include The Chemical Brothers with Jacob Epstein and Graham Coxon with Franz Klein.

For more information on Tate Tracks and to check out some rare new tunes, head on over to the Tate Modern Official Website.

What other artist-musician pairings would you like to see?

Here's an easy one to get your brain churning: David Bowie, Lou Reed and John Cale together for Warhol's Marilyn Diptych.

Guitar Hero II Will Take Over Your Life

I've finally rocked out hard enough on Reverend Horton Heat's 'Psychobilly Freak Out' when I am relieved to see the crowd go mad and cheer for what seems like forever. They are ecstatic and are crying out for more. "Encore you want?" I proudly ask my fictitious mass, "Then an encore you will get." I crack my knuckles and quickly stretch out both arms as I prepare to give my audience another relentless riff. The song I am to feed to them for their final helping of succulent shred is none other than Rush's 'YYZ.' After a brief meditation I convince myself that I will in fact hit nearly every note in perfect sync and will not fail to please my fans. I am ready to shine.

It is 5:30 in the morning.

In case you've been wondering where I've been for the past week, the above vignette explains my whereabouts exactly. After gratefully receiving the video game sensation Guitar Hero II (fake plastic guitar controller and all) for Christmas, it has been my self-proclaimed duty of late to conquer every song in the game, no matter how long it takes. If only work and personal hygiene didn't have to get in the way, I'd surely have unlocked every string snapper by now (I keed!).

In any case, I'll try to post more this week, and not let this tasty candy of a game interfere with my providing you readers with music, news, and reviews.

Or then again....we'll see.

The Candyskins - 'Submarine Song'

Every now and then you stumble across a catchy and powerful pop song that you somehow overlooked during the era it was actually released. 'Submarine Song,' by The Candyskins, is one such song. Released in 1991, the tune was well ahead of its time, putting forth the same sounds of power pop that made bands like Teenage Fanclub, The Refreshments, and Matthew Sweet briefly popular later on in the decade.

Sample the mp3 to 'Submarine Song' here.

Child Bite - Wild Feast

Yeah, punk rock is dead, but there are a handful of bands making chaos that refuse to believe this proclamation, and they're all the better for it. And maybe the punk rock zombie has just been reanimated into a new unholy beast, and if so, Child Bite are roaming the streets searching for brains to infect. Spazz-tastic, post-post-punk is the mission statement of Wild Feast, Child Bite's self-released molotov-cocktail of a record. ~from a recent Child Bite press release

You can stream this "spazz-tastic" new band's LP, Wild Feast, here. Or you can sample the mp3 to 'Brain/Sleep' here.

AOL Radio

For free CD quality radio on the net, the place to be is AOL Radio. They not only feature high quality niche stations such as British Invasion and an all-Pearl Jam channel, but they include several key XM Stations as well...all for free! All you need is a broadband connection and a free AOL/AIM account.

A Great Year-End List

Check out Neiles Life to to see what his picks for the Top 25 Albums of 2006 were.

What makes his list so great, you might ask? He includes at least two MP3s from each album on the list for sampling.

Time Congratulates "You"

Yesterday, Time Magazine named "You" as Person of the Year for 2006.
At first glance, this seems like a cop-out, a classic pandering to the very demographic that keeps that journalistic conglomerate in business. Obviously, "You" could mean anybody and everybody that has bought into the magazine, in one form or the other.

However, within the context of Facebook, YouTube, Digg, Myspace, and other user-generated sites, "You" comes to represent---well, You,--- and other readers of this blog and participators of activities on the Internet.

To explain further what Time means, I provide a quote directly from their writing staff:

But look at 2006 through a different lens and you'll see another story, one that isn't about conflict or great men. It's a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. It's about the cosmic compendium of knowledge Wikipedia and the million-channel people's network YouTube and the online metropolis MySpace. It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes.

The tool that makes this possible is the World Wide Web. Not the Web that Tim Berners-Lee hacked together (15 years ago, according to Wikipedia) as a way for scientists to share research. It's not even the overhyped dotcom Web of the late 1990s. The new Web is a very different thing. It's a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter. Silicon Valley consultants call it Web 2.0, as if it were a new version of some old software. But it's really a revolution.

With that said, congratulations to all of "You" for being a part of the revolution---for taking part in a medium that has the power to wrestle influence away from "Conflict" and "Great Men" and give it to those of us just large enough to matter. Thank-"You" for challenging the mainstream media and providing us with information that the three major networks were afraid to cover.

And as far as music is concerned, thank-you to all of "You" music bloggers and readers who affirmed that it wasn't the Big Five Record Companies who determined which bands deserved exposure or not. Thank-"You" for showing that radio exposure is so eighties---that "You" are only interested in listening to what "You" wanna listen to.

Give yourselves all a pat on the back: According to Time, "You" all deserve it.

'I'm From Rolling Stone' to Air in January

Rolling Stone joins forces with fellow pop culture exploiters MTV, to bring us I'm From Rolling Stone, a reality television show about interns at the world famous music magazine. Talk about overkill.

Read more here.

The Shins - 'Phantom Limb'

A radio single hasn't gotten me this pumped up for a forthcoming album in a long time. Wincing the Night Away will drop January 23. But until then, you can sample all the goodness of The Shins' latest single, 'Phantom Limb,' in MP3 format here.

Alternatively, you can listen to XM's Ethel, where you're bound to hear it at least twice in a two hour period ;)

Steely Dan - 'Dirty Work'

'Dirty Work (MP3)' disappeared from the Steely Dan repertoire after original lead singer David Palmer left the group in 1973. Compared to the rest of the band's catalog, 'Dirty Work' is largely anything-but the cynical jazz rock fusion that came to define the band's sound later on. More pop-oriented than sophisticated, 'Dirty Work' provides a tasty detour to listeners traversing the Steely Dan collection.