Monthly Archive

Tam and I went along to the Melkweg the other night to see The Fratellis, and as usual, were dreading the Dutch support act. I feel a little rude saying that, but almost every single local band that we’ve seen has been very dull, usually what I like to call boredom rock (you know, those bands that aren’t nearly as exciting as Coldplay - no insult intended to Coldplay - and somehow don’t manage to be any specific type of music at all). They’re almost always the same, like no one dares do anything even slightly different. And as much as I like to be supportive of new bands, just the thought of one of those type of Dutch bands bums me out. (As a disclaimer, I should point out that there have been a few exceptions - Hospital Bombers and De Nieuwe Vrolijkheid, for example - that we really enjoyed.)

So you can imagine our surprise when About took the stage and they turned out to be one skinny guy with a computer (and some badass moves) and a chick with a guitar, playing some very awesome electronic-dance-pop-punk-indie. Tam and I were very excited indeed. They’re loud and chaotic, a mix of just about everything under the sun, but most definitely have enough of a pop sensibility to be fun and danceable as well as fresh and original. I couldn’t wait to get home and look them up (despite my prediction that a band named About would be hard to Google, which turned out to be very true) and knew they would be this week’s New Band.

I don’t know much about them, but I see that the myspace page refers to only one member and they’ve (he’s?) already been noticed by Pitchfork and Q magazine. There’s also mention of a debut album, Bongo, so I’ll have to look into how to get hold of that later. For now, listen and/or download some tracks from About’s myspace page.

After all the chaos over at Blogger, we finally jumped ship and moved over here. So far, we like it here much better. Why didn’t I know how amazing WordPress is before now?!

Anyway, we’ll leave the old 100b on Blogger until they go ahead and delete it or do whatever they do with abandoned blogs, but all new posts will happen over here. We’ve moved all our old stuff over and I’m working on making it look all pretty. It’ll take me a little while, but I’ve made sure it’s at least readable for the time being. I’m very, very excited about our new home!

Because Blogger has been making me so crazy recently, and because I just don’t have the courage to deal with it today, I’m going to take a page from Badminton Stamps‘ book and do here what they call “The Pony Track”. Some might call that stealing, but I’m going to call it a sign of respect, since we love them so much. Plus, this is an act of desperation, not thievery.

So here’s one of my all-time favorite Poptastic songs which is so obviously Poptastic, you don’t need me to explain a thing.

   Sonny & Cher - I Got You Babe

(I originally tried to post this over at Blogger, but it wouldn’t let me publish it. So I’m sticking in and changing the timestamp to when it was meant to be posted, so it doesn’t mess with the order of things too much.)

Like I said the other day, this week has been Music Week for me - an attempt to catch up on all the goings-on that I’ve missed by being all busy and stuff. Here’s a few great things I found this week, just in case you haven’t already seen them.

1. This is old news, but I’m still bummed that I can’t get Willy Mason to play a show in my house. I have all those things he needs, except for the house in the UK. You know, Willy once cancelled a show on us, so long ago I can’t even remember when, here in Amsterdam. I’m still a little hurt about that, but he can totally make it up to me by playing just a wee little gig in my living room. Just a few songs, I don’t expect a Grateful Dead show or anything.

2. Jesus has a fantastic post about what Tapes n Tapes might be singing about. Jesus totally likes Tapes n Tapes, as do I, but I listened to the song and read along with his lyrics and I think He’s definitely got a point.

3. Speaking of Jesus, He also has also developed a Shins Album Review Drinking Game, which was inspired by The Pitchfork Media Drinking Game. And who doesn’t love to make fun of pompous reviews and/or Pitchfork?

4. The new Bloc Party single (out this week!). Awesome. People seem to be really divided over this one, but I’m definitely pro-”The Prayer”. Just listen to that stomp in the beginning - damn! If you’re not sure or haven’t heard it yet, you can listen to it on their myspace page or download it from emusic.

5. The new Arcade Fire single. Also awesome. I might be the only person on earth who hasn’t already heard this or blogged about it. Better late than never. Listen on their myspace page.

6. The beautiful combination of Modest Mouse and Johnny Marr. I’ve been reading about this for ages but hadn’t actually heard any results until I came across “Dashboard” this week. I nearly peed my pants. I’ve (of course) accidentally deleted the blog link I had been saving to put here, but if you search The Hype Machine for Modest Mouse or “Dashboard”, you should be able to find plenty of stuff to listen to.

It seems things are just falling apart here at 100b. Poor Tam has found herself suddenly internet-less, so aDawgg and I were taking over her posts until she got that all sorted out. But when I tried to post my Soundtrack Day post yesterday, Blogger freaked out on me. It just refuses to post what I wrote. We seem to be having a problem posting anything over a paragraph long, which is infuriating, especially since the problem (which has been described by several other people on the Blogger Help thingy) isn’t getting much attention from the Powers That Be. 100b may be a little chaotic for a while, but we’re doing what we can to sort it out. I’ll get Soundtrack Day posted on Monday, when someone can help me out. In the meantime, here’s an awesome song just because it’s awesome.

   Interpol - Evil

For me, this week is Music Week. With Christmas and all that craziness, I’ve gotten way behind on my all my music geekery. So I’m spending this week going through all the blogs and other music sites I love, just a little bit each day to keep my brain from exploding.

Before this morning, I had absolutely nothing to share for New Band Day. But I read about Shout Magic over at Badminton Stamps and, well, I liked their name enough to check them out. Yes, sometimes even we judge a book by its band name. So I hopped over to their myspace page and listened to what they’ve got going on there. To tell you the truth, I’m not sure exactly what to make of them and I’m not completely sure I like them yet. But they’re interesting enough to listen to some more and besides, it’s New Band Day, not Already Established As Awesome Band Day. They remind me a bit of Tapes N Tapes - not in their sound exactly but in their oddness - but a little more laid-back.

Go along and check them out at that myspace thing. If you like them (or are undecided like me), you can download their EP from the “Audio” section of their official site (both links above) for further listening - which is what I’ll be doing about 5 minutes from now.

UPDATE: 100b just received a lovely comment from Mike, Shout Magician, on one of our more recent posts, which reminded me to add an update to this here post. I downloaded the Shout Magic EP, just like I said I was going to, and I’ve given it a more careful listen. I feel bad that I was so lukewarm in this post, I hadn’t intended to - Shout Magic deserved a better write-up, especially since I’ve ended up liking their EP so very much. Now that I’ve listened to it a bit more, I’m kind of surprised that it didn’t grab me right away when I originally wrote this post. I’m especially liking “Ben Franklin Forever” and “Branch Dividians” right now, they’re absolutely fantastic. Almost pretty, but still quite funky and there’s some great old-school sounds in these songs that makes me smile. There, I just wanted to make that clear. Oh, and Mike also says that they’ll be putting some more songs up on their site soon, we’ll be looking forward to it!

We do not train to be merciful here. Mercy is for the weak. Here, in the streets, in competition. A man confronts you he is the enemy. An enemy deserves no mercy.
— John Kreese (Cobra Kai Sensei)

Anything involving Karate Kid Poptastic. How I know? Simple. Use science from high school. Here equation:

Music² + Multiple Karate Kid References² = Poptastic²

Poptastic with small number two very poptastic. See, not difficult. Understand? This science only good when use original Karate Kid. Not sequel. If you not believe, check out excellent poptastic song from No More Kings called “Sweep The Leg”. Many good references to original Karate Kid. Watch closely or you miss many thing. Video directed by Johnny Lawrence (actor William Zabka) from Karate Kid. This give you hint of what to expect.

I not vouch for anything else from No More Kings. Only poptastic video you watch on YouTube. Beware. Full video 7:44 long. But worth it if you enjoy Karate Kid when young!

The No More Kings official site

I’m going to have to keep this short because, well, blogger won’t let me write anything long. I’ve been having serious problems getting posts published recently and Tam’s just been having internet trouble in general. We’re sorry we missed New Band Day this week - we’re looking into how to solve these problems.

So, we’ve all noticed that the sister put lime in the coconut, which made her sick, so the doctor told her to put the lime in the coconut to make her feel better. That’s just some crazy medical advice. But I only just noticed that the brother paid a dime for his coconut, but the sister paid a lime for hers. Or at least, that’s what I think that means. That’s weird - does she just carry limes around with her? And who accepts limes as currency?

Anyways, here’s a demo version of a classic that I’ve had stuck in my head on and off for the last three days. The demo version somehow makes the song even weirder.

   Harry Nilsson - Coconut

Like every other year, Tam and I went to approximately one zillion concerts in 2006. To be honest, that’s the main thing we do when we go out together. And we saw some good stuff last year: Beck put on a puppet show, Ryan Adams walked off stage for some reason we still don’t know, Art Brut covered Metallica, The Datsuns covered The Misfits, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah got down with Dr. Dog, Maximo Park blew last year’s show away, Tapes N Tapes celebrated a birthday, and The Magic Numbers played a wee little show to a crowd that wouldn’t let them leave the stage. Good times indeed.

But we’re dorks and we like lists, so here’s our favorite shows of the year - the ones that we’ll still be reeling from years from now - in chronological order:

Tam already wrote about this show, and she described it perfectly. I’m still in awe of the Lips’ ability to make every single show an event. I’d read about their insanity but I still had no idea what what coming. It was like an explosion (literally) of music and glitter and balloons and dancing. If you haven’t seen them yet, get yourself some tickets and I’ll give you your money back personally if you don’t have a good time.

What can I say about The Decemberists? We’ve written about them several times and their The Crane Wife was my Number One album of 2006. I think this night was probably the beginning of my obsession with them - Tam asked me to go along with her and I agreed happily. I figured that if she liked them, they must be worth seeing. I went home that night and immediately downloaded everything else that emusic had of theirs. And we get to go see them again next month - I’m practically counting down the days.

Any night you get to hear Jack White play is better than … well, the nights you don’t get to hear him play. The Raconteurs are even better live than on record, and this was a wonderful concert experience in general. There weren’t any push-you-out-of-the-way-to-get-the-front types there, everyone just seemed to be having a really good time. Plus, The Raconteurs covered Nancy Sinatra and that tops just about everything.

We saw The Black Keys on their last tour and we thought they were absolutely amazing live. But this show was something else altogether. It felt a little like that old Maxell commercial where the guy gets literally blown away by the music.

Tam and I were just as excited to see Cold War Kids as Two Gallants, though I think we were two of the very few Cold War Kids fans there. They definitely won over the crowd though - at the end of “Hang Me Up To Dry”, when all the instruments gradually drop out and only Nathan Willett’s goosebump-inducing voice is left, there was this split second of stunned silence before the room absolutely erupted in applause. That silence, that may have been the most perfect moment of the entire year.

Needless to say, Two Gallants were even way more than we’d expected. I mean, c’mon - their shows have been known to incite riots. Seriously though, I did think they’d have a hard time following up Cold War Kids, but they got the job done. As I said in my Albums Of The Year post, I don’t think I really appreciated Two Gallants until we’d seen them live. Hearing an entire room full of people sing along to the chorus of “Las Cruces Jail” is another concert moment I won’t ever forget.

So now we just have to sit around and wait for the upcoming Fratellis, Elvis Perkins / Cold War Kids / Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Decemberists, and Brakes shows. I expect at least a couple of those will make the list next year.

•   15. The Long Blondes, Someone To Drive You Home
          essential tracks: “Giddy Stratospheres”, “Swallow Tattoo”

We’d all been waiting for The Long Blondes’ debut album for so long, it was beginning to feel like it would never get to us. But, even though we’d all heard a lot of the songs before, it’s as good as we all hoped it would be. Sassy and sultry, like a 50s movie come to life.

•   14. Beirut, Gulag Orkestar
          “Postcards From Italy”, “Bratislava”

Beirut is definitely one of the most original bands of 2006. I’ve never heard anything like this album before. Old world gypsy folk music, done up all indie. It’s beautiful and haunting. The only reason Gulag Orkestar isn’t higher on this list is that it’s not really an album that can be listened to at any time. It’s a specific mood album, but when you’re feeling a bit dark or sad, it’s perfect.

•   13. The Black Keys, Magic Potion
          “Your Touch”, “Modern Times”

The Black Keys just keep getting better and better. This album is a little moodier and harder than their previous releases - a bit more Jimi Hendrix than they’ve been in the past. Between Dan Auerbach’s amazing voice and Patrick Carney’s ass-busting drumming, they really get into your guts.

•   12. Dan Sartain, Join Dan Sartain
          “World Is Gonna Break Your Little Heart”, “Replacement Man”

I once read a description of Dan Sartain as a ‘one man hurricane’. Whoever said that wasn’t wrong. He charges through this album, leaving you wondering what just happened. It takes a few listens to realize that what you just heard really is as good as you thought it was.

•   11. The Magic Numbers, Those The Brokes
          “Most Of The Time”, “Undecided”

I love The Magic Numbers. I just love them.

•   10. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Show Your Bones
          “Honeybear”, “Cheated Hearts”

As good as Fever To Tell is, Show Your Bones might be even better. Yeah Yeah Yeahs have expanded their sound a little, and given us the chance to see Karen O’s enormous heart. Not that they’ve lost the edge that makes her a little bit scary, just that they’ve let us hear what else they can do.

•   9. Two Gallants, What The Toll Tells
          “Steady Rollin’”, “Long Summer Day”

Tam turned me on to Two Gallants but, as I’ve said before, I actually liked The Throes better than this album. That is, until we saw them live in November. Hearing the songs from What The Toll Tells live made me realize exactly how great they really are. Almost nothing beats the anger you feel listening to “Long Summer Day”, I reckon it’s the most emotionally powerful song of the year.

•   8. The Fratellis, Costello Music
          “Chelsea Dagger”, “Creepin’ Up The Backstairs”

I realize this one may be an unpopular choice, seeing as how The Fratellis aren’t ‘indie’ enough to be considered good by a lot of people. But those people are just silly. I triple dog dare them to find a better party album from 2006.

•   7. The Bicycles, The Good, The Bad, And The Cuddly
          “Luck Of Love”, “Paris Be Mine”

I didn’t expect to fall so in love with The Bicycles, I just thought theirs would be a fun, charming album. It is, but if you give it a chance, it’ll dig it’s sweet, fluffy little claws right into you and won’t let go. It’s one of those rare albums that makes you feel so good about the world, you just want to play it again the minute it ends.

•   6. Brakes, The Beatific Visions
          “If I Should Die Tonight”, “Spring Chicken”

Beatific Visions was my choice for Album Of The Month back in November, so you already know what I think about this one. They somehow manage to put everything you want from the world into one short album, it’s amazing.

•   5. Tapes n Tapes, The Loon
          “Cowbell”, “Omaha”

In theory, a band’s debut album really shouldn’t be this good and interesting. I honestly couldn’t even describe them if I wanted to. Like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah last year, Tapes n Tapes rocked the world of (nearly) every music dork around by sounding completely different. Which is pretty much the highest complement I can give a band.

•   4. Belle And Sebastian, The Life Pursuit
          “Sukie In The Graveyard”, “For The Price Of A Cup Of Tea”

I’ve quite liked Belle And Sebastian for a while now, but this is the album that made me really love them. They still sound like they always have, but hearing bits of glam and other funkiness creep into their sound made me very happy indeed.

•   3. The Raconteurs, Broken Boy Soldiers
          “Broken Boy Soldier”, “Intimate Secretary”, “Call It A Day”

I spent most of the year expecting Broken Boy Soldiers to be at the top of this list, it’s that good. I’m a huge fan of just about everything that Jack White touches and when he teamed up with the lovely Brendan Benson, we all knew it would be awesome. This is even better than I’d hoped it would be. They’ve got some Rubber Soul and Magical Mystery Tour all wrapped up in Brendan Benson’s buttery voice, which fits perfectly with Jack White’s howl. It sounds like everything good from pop music history all at once.

•   2. Cold War Kids, Robbers & Cowards
          “Hang Me Up To Dry”, “Saint John”, “Hospital Beds”

Cold War Kids’ Robbers & Cowards was the greatest surprise of the year. I was interested enough in them, based on the few mp3s I’d heard, to write about them for New Band Day back in May. But I have to admit I’d sort of forgotten about them until I saw their debut album was out. It immediately became the CD that never leaves my stereo - all funky, danceable gut-wrenching songs about drunks, death row, broken promises and loneliness.

•   1. The Decemberists, The Crane Wife

The truth is, I would’ve been happy to have those last three in any order. They all could’ve been my Number One. But The Decemberists ended up making their way to the top by default when I tried to pick the three ‘essential tracks’. With a bit of struggle, I could just about manage to narrow The Crane Wife down to maybe 7 tracks (out of 10). And I always say: if you’re physically unable to pick out essential tracks, that’s the Album Of The Year. I’m sure we’ll gush about them some more when we share our top concerts of 2006 with you, but for now just know that they are one of the most original bands I’ve ever heard and that every album they release is better than the last.

So there we have it. Another year of music come and gone. I’d be sad, but there’s new albums by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and The Shins out in a few weeks, so at least we have something to look forward to.

•   15. They Shoot Horses Don’t They?, Boo Hoo Hoo Boo

Crazy, chaotic playful pandemonium with a horn section.

•   14. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Show Your Bones

The dreaded second album and they came out on top again! Still sleazy, sexy and moving, but just a little bit older.

•   13. Beirut, Gulag Orkestar

Haunting vocals and lingering melodies will transport you to an older world shrouded with mystery and magic.

•   12. The Fratellis, Costello Music

Unapologetically big, bawdy, loud and glam. Love it.

•   11. The Bicycles, The Good, The Bad And The Cuddly

Cuter than Carebears, cooler than Fonzie. Fifties pop with a twist done to perfection.

•   10. Man Man, Six Demon Bag

With their silly voices and indescribable instruments Man Man redefines what I find beautiful in music every time I listen to them.

•   9. Hot Club De Paris, Drop It Till It Pops

They’re a bit kooky, but so good! Wonderful harmonies and surprising hooks.

•   8. Brakes, Beatific Visions

They were number two on my list last year, but this doesn’t mean I love them less, on the contrary, they just have some really tough competition. Beatific Vision is political at times, but never preachy. They sound more grown up now, but still excellent.

•   7. The Black Keys, Magic Potion

I had to move them up a couple of times, because of new bands that have surprised me this year, but damn Sam I love the bluesy garage sounds of The Black Keys. Those new bands put out some amazing albums last year, but The Black Keys will have a permanent spot on my all-time favorite bands list, the same goes for Two Gallants.

•   6. Two Gallants, What The Toll Tells

See The Black Keys. Passionate and reminiscent of the wild wild West, they always manage to pull at my heart strings. It looks like I’m their crazy fangirl for life.

•   5. Tapes n Tapes, The Loon

The Indie superstars of 2006 with good reason, The Loon is so beautiful. It sounds complicated, but accessible. I really hope the hype around them doesn’t hit that pivotal point where it’s way cooler to hate than to love them.

•   4. Cold War Kids, Robbers And Cowards

To be honest there’s very little difference between my love for the last four albums, but I had to put them in order. The Bean has introduced me to many of the lovely bands in this list, but these guys blew me away! I wanted to shake the whole world and make them listen to Robbers And Cowards when I first heard it. I would be their roadie just to figure out how on earth they’re doing this. If you ask me, this was definitely the most soulful album of 2006.

•   3. The Decemberists, The Crane Wife

I wrote about them before and it was pathetic, I just went on and on about how amazing and innovative and amazing they were, so I’m just not gonna do it. All I’m gonna say is that after four albums they still manage to give us unexpectedly glorious music and I hope it never ever stops.

•   2. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Broom

I’m not even kidding when I say that my heart skips a beat when I put on this CD. I can’t explain why, it’s just a feeling. It’s funny how easy it is to point out what you hate about a certain band or song, but when you find that special something there are no words. Well, they make me feel like talking about music is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever tried to do.

•   1. The Raconteurs, Broken Boy Soldier

Yeah boiii, The Raconteurs! I love them for putting a healthy dose of pop into familiar genres. To me Broken Boy Soldier is the perfect package. Individually the songs make excellent singles, but as a whole they’re elevated to great heights. Every song sounds better because of the one that comes before and after it. This album will always remind me of 2006.

Am I the only one who wakes up with really random songs stuck in their head? I’m talking about songs that I haven’t heard in months or years, it’s totally bizarre. Where do they come from? I sometimes wonder if my dreams have soundtracks, I can’t think of any other explanation.

So I woke up this morning, just like every other morning, and the first thing that ran through my head was the chorus from Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer”. I’ve been walking around the house humming it ever since. It’s oddly appropriate today though, because I’ve been having the same posting problem that aDawgg had not long ago, meaning I can’t get my Best of 2006 list to publish. I would explain the problem if it made any sense (it doesn’t), but it looks like I’ll have to re-type the whole thing. So I’m Halfway There: it’s written, just not actually on blogger. Expect it sometime today and enjoy this in meantime.

   Bon Jovi - Livin’ On A Prayer

The Bean and I recently had a superb back to back Wizard Of Oz / The Wiz fest. That’s about four hours of following and easing on down the yellow brick road! We learned that the original cowardly lion had a magic tail that seems to move on itself and that special effects hadn’t really improved much between 1939 and 1978. This song was one of our favorites from The Wiz. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard this scarecrow put so much soul into a song.

I don’t have a lot of time for a long post today, so it’s a good thing I wrote a note to myself (um, about two months ago) to look up The Goodbye Plot. To be fair, this isn’t the type of music I generally listen to - they’re compared to Doves and Badly Drawn Boy, neither of which I ever got into, on their Artist Log page. “Bruise” and “Hold On” are quite lovely songs, but I think the band’s potential is in “All Kinds Of Everything” and “Can’t Get Back There”, which are a little more interesting. Those four songs make up The Goodbye Plot’s recently released A Night’s Darkness And A Day’s Drive EP, which you can listen to on their myspace page.

It may seem a bit ridiculous now that little girls are singing about their humps, their humps, their lovely lady lumps, but the Lambada’s sensual moves caused quite a stir. Two years earlier Dirty Dancing came out and it gave our generation a fascination with forbidden dances, but the Lambada is a bit dirtier than any dance Johnny Castle ever taught. I think Baby would have happily stayed in her corner for this one.

The Lambada had boys and girls grinding away on the dance floor in the eighties. It became really Macarena-popular when the French band Kaoma - who sing in Portuguese - put out a song in 1989 of the same name, accompanied by a cheesy yet sizzling Romeo & Juliet type video. Now it is still one of the most popular accordion requests on metros all over the world.

Tam and I are hard at work on our Best Of 2006 lists, which set me to thinking about my list of 2005’s best releases. Looking over it now, there are a few things that were missing (most notably, The Decemberists’ Picaresque, which I didn’t start listening to until this year) and some albums probably should have been higher up (especially Maximo Park). I still love each and every one of them, but I was curious about which albums I still listen to regularly. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah somehow makes its way into my stereo pretty often. I’ll probably never go very long without listening to something by The White Stripes or Ryan Adams. Both of last year’s Bright Eyes albums are still up there with my favorites.

But the thing that surprised even me is that the 2005 album I probably listen to most often is The Magic Numbers. It’s no secret that I absolutely adore those guys, but there’s some really amazing albums on that there list. But nope, it’s not the Arcade Fire or Franz Ferdinand that I just keep loving more and more, it’s those lovely Magic Numbers. Here’s my favorite from their debut album.

   The Magic Numbers - I See You, You See Me

Author’s Note: I’ve been trying to get this posted to 100b for f*cking days. For some reason, I just haven’t been able to get this damned thing through a new wireless modem. Don’t ask me why. … Stupid Internets.

Well, it’s not really music day this time around. Holy Sh*t! It’s Music Day! was more like three weeks ago. But, I’ve had mental constipation with the inaugural edition. Now, I’m just going to get it over with to get the juices flowing.

So what is this Holy Sh*t! It’s Music Day! I speak of? Well, actually, it’s more like a weekend. (Holy Sh*t! It’s Music Day! just rolls off the tongue better than Holy Sh*t! It’s Music Weekend!) And Holy Sh*t! It’s Music Day! is a music purchasing extravaganza I allow myself once per month. Only once per month because I’d spend myself into bankruptcy if I bought music week after week.

What happens during this orgy of music spending?

First, it revolves around the monthly receipt of my CDs from The Album Club. The Album Club is personal shopping for music fans run by the Rough Trade shops. You fill out a profile based on your musical tastes and listening habits and, presto, they deliver to your door a wonderful selection of music each and every month! No, I’m not pimping The Album Club. Yes, it is a wee bit snobby and a touch expensive. But, I have to say, since I can squeeze it into my budget, membership is well worth the cost for the three hand-picked CDs and accompanying write-ups.

The second stream of joy on Holy Sh*t! It’s Music Day! is downloading from emusic. Again, not pimping. You just need to check out emusic for yourself and you’ll realize it’s simply awesome! I have a subscription for 65 DRM-free downloads a month and it costs relatively little for the variety and flexibility. The emusic catalogue leans toward music of the misunderstood, ignored or little-known variety. If it flies under the radar, you can probably find it or something related at emusic.

And, finally, to cap it all off, I allow myself to dive into iTunes for other albums I haven’t received from The Album Club or downloaded from emusic.

Do you see why I call this Holy Sh*t! It’s Music Day!? No? Then take a look at what I gobbled up on Holy Sh*t! It’s Music Day! a few weeks ago.

Before we go any further, I need to make a confession. When I indulge in this monthly music frenzy, I have to admit I don’t always get an immediate chance to listen to each and every album. They do go onto my iPod, but they don’t always get reviewed right away. As a result, I can’t always share detailed information about the album. I can, though, give snapshots of some of them.

From The Album Club I received Aluminium Aluminium, Aimee Mann One More Drifter In The Snow and Ryan McPhun and the Ruby Suns self-titled album. If you don’t already know, the Aluminium album contains classical (yes, classical) covers of White Strips tracks. Aimee Mann was timely as a haunting Christmas album. And, like I warned you, I haven’t had a chance to fully listen to Ryan McPhun and the Ruby Suns. With a name like that, though, it’s got to be interesting and a quick peak proved it was good. (I’ll post more if it makes me WOW!)

My monthly emusic downloads reaped C-Rayz Walz 1975: Return of the Beast (first impression: Redman meets Wu-Tang meets a hardened Mr. Lif), Tosca Chocolate Elvis Dubs (Continuous Mix) (not listened to yet; it’s just been sitting in my saved for later list for ages because, hey, it’s called Chocolate Elvis Dubs), Marley Marl In Control Volume 1 (a wide range of Golden Age leaning tracks from the likes of Biz Markie, Masta Ace, MC Shane, Roxanne Shante and Marl himself) and Kool G Rap and DJ Polo’s Road To The Riches (I’ve been looking for a good collection of Kool G Rap cuts and this one features a second disc of original 12″, extended, remixed and instrumental versions).

Of course, knowing what I know, I had to stop by iTunes and catch up on a few new hip-hop albums, too: The not-so-retired Jay-Z Kingdom Come, Snoop Dogg Tha Blue Carpet Treatment, The Clipse Hell Hath No Fury and NaS Hip Hop Is Dead. The Snoop Dee-Oh-Double-Gee album recalls 213 (which is a favorite). Jay-Z appears to have crafted another excellent production. Hell Hath No Fury is catchy, though I’m starting to wonder if the Neptunes and/or Pharrell need to find another sound as catchy as they admittedly are. Saving the best for last, what I have already listened to of the NaS album is simply superb! There was a time when I just didn’t like Jay-Z and NaS. That time passed long ago and they regularly prove themselves worthy of being among the best hip-hop has ever and continues to offer.

In future editions I’ll provide more information and samples of the albums. Until then …

See what I mean?

Holy Sh*t! It’s Music Day!

If you love the Raveonettes but always thought they could tone down the feedback, London based Havana Guns is your kind of band. Their second single “N.Y.C.S.” comes out next week and it’s definitely worth your pennies. It’s an uplifting poppy number with brains. The lead singer’s warm, almost lazy sounding voice cuts through the high energy rhythms while a tambourine chimes away. It’ll sound great on your way back from a long day of working at the plant or any other time you need to wind down.

Listen to it now from their official site.

Havana Guns - N.Y.C.S

As you may have noticed, 100b had a little vacation from our regularly scheduled programming for the holidays. We all had a lovely holiday season and hope you did, too. But we’re ready to get back to business now, and we’ll be doing some end-of-the-year lists and posts soon as well.

Anyway, I wanted to post something appropriate for New Year’s, but I had no idea what. A quick Google search gives me only three songs about New Year’s: two that I’ve never even heard by The Walkmen and Death Cab For Cutie, and U2’s “New Year’s Day”. I just couldn’t bring myself to post “New Year’s Day”. Not that I have a problem with it, it just seemed too obvious and besides, am I the only one that actually finds it a little depressing? So I decided to go for my very favorite party song - it is Poptastic Day after all. A little disco always brings the year in right.

   Michael Jackson - Blame It On The Boogie