Upcoming Pittsburgh Events

Tuesday February 23, 2010
New Wave 80s with DJ Ez Lou @ Jekyl & Hyde (140 S. 18th St.)
Open Mic Comedy @ Smiling Moose (1306 East Carson)
Thursday February 25, 2010
I <3 Techno with Shawn Rudiman & Jwan Allen @ Brillobox(4104 Penn Ave.)
Friday February 26, 2010
Voice In The Wire w/ None More Black, American Armada, & Allies @ Garfield Artworks(4931 Penn Ave.)
Saturday February 27, 2010
Blacklist Royals w/ German Shepherd and Red Team Blue Team @ Smiling Moose(1306 East Carson)
Thursday March 4, 2010
Lazercrunk w/ Lazersword(NYC) @ Brillobox(4104 Penn Ave.)
Gabriel Iglesias @ Byham Theatre(101 6th St.)
Friday March 5, 2010
Restless! Soul Night-6 Year Anniversary@ Smiling Moose (1306 East Carson)
Saturday March 6, 2010
Slim & George Cessna w/ The Inseams and The Whips @ Brillobox(4104 Penn Ave.)
The Tossers w/ Outernational @ Club Cafe(56 S. 12th St.)

Just a reminder. This show happens Friday. I'll be there and you should be there too. Be a part of Pittsburgh history.

The Blacklist Royals

(L to R: Jamie/guitar&vocals, Nat/vocals&guitar, Rob/drums&vocals, Eric/bass&vocals, Alex/keys&vocals)Photo by Joshua Black Wilkins

With so much nostalgia for the past these days, it's hard to separate the people who are doing things for the right reasons and the people who are just faking it. I can whole heartedly say that The Blacklist Royals are some of the realest dudes out there. They are a "punk 'n roll"  band from Nashville, TN who plays their own unique style of blue collar, southern tinged punk rock. This spring, the band will be releasing their debut long player for Paper  & Plastick Records entitled "Semper Liberi". 

On Saturday February 27, The Blacklist Royals will be playing The Smiling Moose(1306 East Carson Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203) here in Pittsburgh. If you're in town, check out this show. With hundreds of shows under their belts, these guys will not disappoint. 

And since they are coming to Pittsburgh, I sent Rob Rufus(drums) some Pittsburgh trivia so that he could seem like a real Burgher once they get here. See what he had to say, check out the correct answers and a couple videos after the jump. 

What Cheer? Brigade

This morning I had a newsletter in my inbox from the Anchor Brain website. Among other things, the newsletter was announcing the signing of a Providence, Rhode Island band named "What Cheer? Brigade". Here is Anchor Brain's description of the band. "The WHAT CHEER? BRIGADE is a rowdy 19-piece brass band that combines punk rock ethos with the mobility of a marching band. They play loud, fast music that reclaims public space and requires no electricity. Their sound incorporates elements of musical traditions found in Bollywood, Balkan, New Orleans Jazz, Samba, and Punk music; and that’s just the short list. " Does that peak your curiosity? It certainly peaked mine as it appeals to my love of brass marching bands and loud, fast music. Check out the videos below and decide if you are as excited as I am to have been introduced to this band.

Green Eyes from wcb on Vimeo.

Dum Maro Dum from wcb on Vimeo.

www.whatcheerbrigade.com

My undying love for cassettes

A couple of days ago, I posted a link on facebook to an article in the Pittsburgh City Paper which discussed the emergence of two new exclusively cassette labels in the Burgh. It got a lot of response. Some people are pro-tapes and some people are against them. I think any die hard music fan born between 1975 and 1985 probably gets that warm feeling when they reminisce about their cassette listening days. I certainly do. And my cassette listening days still aren't fully over. I still prefer making a mixtape over making a mix cd. Back in April of 2008, Aquarium Drunkard writer J. Neas wrote an excellent article in two parts entitled "A Cassette Valediction". Anyone who loves tapes should check it out to reaffirm why we love them. And anyone who thinks tapes are dumb or impractical or just a hipster thing, should read the article to find out why we love our tapes so much. Follow the links below to the article.

A Cassette Valediction Part 1

A Cassette Valediction Part 2

Fist Fight In The Parking Lot!!

This is probably one of the funniest things I've seen in quite some time. I'll leave it at that. Just watch the video.

Cold Cave show is cancelled. Boo.

Monday February 22, 2010 at Garfield Artworks(4931 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15224):

Cold Cave

Dark New Wave/ish Post Punk from Philadelphia, PA on Matador Records

Hair Police

Expirimental/Noise from Ypsilanti, MI/Lexington, KY

Lookbook

Indie Electronic Pop from Minneapolis, MN

I'm pretty stoked for this show. It should be a good one. If you're in the Pittsburgh area, treat your ears and come out.

Speaking of U2

Speaking of U2...Follow this link to the NPR All Songs Considered Blog. It is a really cool recurring series...

From the NPR blog:

"Note: This is a recurring series in which we ask our unimaginably young interns to review classic albums they've never heard before. Our current intern at All Songs Considered is Will Butler."

NPR intern Will Butler gives his take on U2's "The Joshua Tree" which he claims to have never heard before.

Read the article HERE.

An excerpt from "Eating The Dinosaur"

Here is another excerpt from Chuck Klosterman's "Eating The Dinosaur"...

"Sometimes it's hard to tell if things that happened in your life only happened to you or if they happened to everyone. Every formative incident feels normal to the child who expiriences it, so sometimes it takes twenty five or thirty years to realize a particular event was singularly bizzare. For example, it took me a long time recognize that being institutionally taught to dislike disco in my second grade social studies class was deeply weird-unless, of course, this was a totally normal thing that happened to everybody in America who was born in 1972 and attended a public elementary school. I still can't tell."

What is everyone's moment like this? I'm still thinking about what mine may be. I'll post it when I think of it. In the meantime, post yours in the comments section. 

Matt Skiba stops a fight.

And to make up for my previous long, rambling, boring post, here is a really cool video.