Let's Impeach the President

Neil Young's new album hit the internet today (in steaming format only), "Living With War". Recorded in about two weeks, starting at the end of March, and finally receiving a final mix a week or two ago.

That choir you hear on each track? 100 singers, recorded over 12 hours. And you might also hear some ELECTRIC guitar, which is always nice to hear from Mr. Young...

Available (I assume) on most Digital Music services this coming Tuesday (May 2), and in stores shortly thereafter... probably the following week or so.

Here's the tracklisting...

01: After the Garden
02: Living With War
03: the Restless Consumer
04: Shock and Awe
05: Families
06: Flags of Freedom
07: Let's Impeach the President
08: Lookin' for a Leader
09: Roger and Out
10: America the Beautiful

[STREAM] Neil Young Living With War

[LINK] Neil Young . com

Album Review: The Flaming Lips - At War With The Mystics

First let me start off by mentioning that I've never been a big Flaming Lips fan, most likely because I haven't given one of their previous albums a full listen. Sure I've heard a Lips song here and there from different commercials and movie soundtracks, but I've never really embraced their sound. At War With The Mystics, should it be a window into the music and style of the Flaming Lips, really shows me what I've been missing.

"Free Radicals" the second track on the album, has an all too eerie sense of Prince. Say whaaaat? I always thought the Lips were just a psych-rock band.. boy was I wrong. Diversity is a quality many bands do not embrace, the Flaming Lips on the other hand do just that on this album, embracing many different styles from funk to electronica. Tracks like "My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion" and especially "Vein of Stars" take you on a tranquil spacey trip, music you can get lost to. The album impresses me when it mixes between luscious soundscapes, electronic beats, funky guitar riffs, and some good ol' foot tappin music that just might make you want to get up and dance. From the outside looking in, I can't compare this with any of the other previous Flaming Lips releases, but this album alone had provoked me to dig deeper into their collection to find out what I've been missing all these years.

[MP3] Free Radicals
[MP3] Vein of Stars

45rpm Radio: ON HOLD

No new Podcast/Radio/Audioblog (whatever you want to call it!) today. It's my fault, really. But I have a good excuse though. I'm in the process of switching over from my old PC to a brand new iMac, and the process is taking a little bit of time.

This includes buying all new recording equiptment for the iMac. Before, I was using a Line6 GuitarPort, which I used for recording demos of me and my friends, and more recently, the 45rpm Podcast.

But, sadly, the GuitarPort doesn't work on Mac's. However, I do have a M-Audio Firewire Solo on it's way, which will sound even better than the GP. But it's not here yet.

HOPEFULLY... hopefully... I can get a Podcast up in the middle of the week, and then another one next Friday, just to make up for the lack of one today. This is all a good thing though, because it's going to sound even better with the new equiptment, so just hold tight!

Sorry for the delay, kids.

Under the Covers

Ahhh... the 60's. If there is any one time I could travel back to, this would be it. Everything was nicer, cleaner. The bands and music were better. It was quite the time to be alive... or, so I hear at least (as I was born in 1981, the year that MTV was launched, and ruined music forever)

Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs (singer / guitarist of the Bangles) want to take us back to those long past, but never forgotten, summer days of the 60's.

On their album Under the Covers: Vol 1 (using the fake band name, 'Sid & Susie') they cover such ground from the Beatles and the Beach Boys (surprise surprise!) to Neil Young (two tracks on the album), the Mamas & Papas, the Who, Bob Dylan and more. Some of the tracks are known, others are hidden gems.

For those of you who aren't in the 'know', or just didn't listen to alternative rock radio in the 90's, Matthew Sweet brought us 1991's "Girlfriend". Pop-Rock at it's best, kids.

[LINK] Sid & Susie on Myspace

LINKS REMOVED (Because I don't want to be ass-raped by uh... you know who... )

[MP3]SID & SUSIE CINNAMON GIRL (Neil Young)
[MP3]SID & SUSIE SUNDAY MORNING (the Velvet Underground)

Pumpkins-a-Go-Go

Straight from PITCHFORK (but can you trust them?)

"Smashing Pumpkins Reunion Is a Go"
Amy Phillips reports:
"It's official, the Smashing Pumpkins are currently writing songs for their upcoming album, their first since 2000. No release date has yet been set, but the band plans to begin recording this summer."

Well, there you have it-- the latest update on the Smashing Pumpkins reunion, taken straight from the band's official website. That's all. Nothing else to report, sorry!

No, we don't know who exactly is in the band now, although we assume it's some combination involving Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlain, since Billboard.com reported earlier this year that the pair signed a management deal under the Smashing Pumpkins name."

So there you have it. Most of that was already known, but hey, it's good to hear something.

I believe Melissa Auf der Maur also has stated that Billy was working ONLY with Jimmy on the 'new' Smashing Pumpkins. Which is okay with me, because that's really the heart and soul of the band anyhow...

[LINK] the Offical Smashing Pumpkins website (it's back!)

[MP3] the SMASHING PUMPKINS
"Machina II / the Friends and Enemies of Modern Music"

(the link takes you to a site where you can download all 25 tracks for free!)

ADVANCE WARNING: Pearl Jam

Let me first state that I might not be the best person to review the new record by Pearl Jam. The reason for that statement lies in the fact that I happen to love Pearl Jam. They're one of my all time favorite bands.

I went to middle school in the early 90's, so I grew up with the Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Soundgarden... and of course, Pearl Jam.

Some of my favorite memories revolve around music, and this is no exception for PJ.

I remember buying "Vitalogy", PJ's third album, and listening to "Better Man", and my Mom came in the room and asked, "What is he saying? 'Butter Man'? What does THAT mean?" Good times, trust me.

So, what does Pearl Jam have left to say after more than 15 years in business?

Quite a lot actually.

It seems that the four years it took them to write and record this album (the longest time between albums for them) and entering into a new recording contract has allowed the band to create their best album in years.

2002's "Riot Act" seemed to find the band at their most overtly political, with songs that blasted then (and still current) president Bush ("Bushleager", "Green Disease"), however, "Pearl Jam" (cleverly self-titled... perhaps a sign of a creative rebirth?) finds them JUST as political, if not more so, especially on "World Wide Suicide" and "Gone", where Vedder sings "When the gas in my tank feels like money in the tank", you know exactly whom he's targeting.

This album, for some reason, reminds me a lot of "Vitalogy", as most of the songs are heavily guitar-driven. It also feels like a lost classic album that they recorded years ago, but are just now putting out. It's exciting and familiar all at once. No song on this album is wasted, everything is in it's right place.

The aggressive songs are aggressive, and the slower songs are beautiful. Eddie Vedder and co. seem to be on some sort of a mission, as they sound refocused and re-energized. It's also refreshing to see a band that has maintained their integrity over the years, and have never once compromised or apologized for what they've done or stood for.

I don't think that this album will win them any new fans, but I really hope it will... hopefully some kid will pick this album up and find out that there's more to music than just screaming about hating your life and your parents and girlfriends.

But the longtime fans? This is what they've wanted for years.

LINKS REMOVED AT REQUEST OF RIAA
[MP3] PEARL JAM "Life Wasted"
[MP3] PEARL JAM "World Wide Suicide"
[MP3] PEARL JAM "Marker in the Sand"

45rpm: Now on the Air

The 45rpm Music Blog not enough for you? Need even MORE excitment? Well friend, you've come to the right place... welcome to the FIRST installment of the 45rpm Audioblog.

On this week's show, we have new Pearl Jam, the Raconteurs, the Format and many more.

This is a few days late, due to... uh... things (i.e, I went to Universal Studios yesterday)... but expect this to be uploaded EVERY Friday. Each week, we'll have new bands for you to sink your teeth into (or is that your ears?)... In any case, enjoy!

[MP3] 45rpm Audioblog / 04.23.06

This is the start of a beautiful friendship... or something

...or THE GRAND OPENING of the 45rpm Music Blog / Audioblog!



(That isn't actually us... we're much worse looking)

So yeah! Welcome. I suppose this is the part of the post where I try to sell you on what it is we're trying to do here, so I guess I'll do that...

First off, this started as something I kind of threw out there as an idea, but I didn't think it would actually work. Me and some of my friends from a message board (it's secret! but if you frequent atease, then you may know about it) wanted to actually write about the bands we love and the bands we're just finding out about and share them with a BIGGER circle of friends.

But we're also going to try to do it bigger and better. Music news, reviews, early warnings, leaks, whatever! Also, every week, we're going to have a Audioblog (or Podcast, whatever you want to call it), brought to you by yours truely, and hopefully, some of the guys here. poop

There may be up to 7 or 8 posts A DAY here, unlike the 1 or 2 you find on other blogs... we're going to keep you busy.

And we're also going to bring you mp3's of the bands we like and write about. Could it get us in trouble? Maybe. There's only one way to find out. Some of what we post you may love, some of it you may have, and some of it you may hate. But you're going to find SOMETHING here, I promise you that.

There's a ton of Music Blogs. However, we thought we could do it better... and if not, then we know we can do it much worse! We're shooting for the stars here, kids.

Also, as you can see, most of the cool stuff is still in the pipeline, coming your way in a matter of hours and days. I'm going to be working to get everything up to full speed very shortly. But hang in there with us... we'll get a RSS feed up and e-mail links and WHATEVER else we can think to throw at you.

Sit back and enjoy, it's going to be fun.