If you happen to be reading this in the U.K. you are probably saying to yourself, "what the fuck is this American talking about." Parklife, along with Oasis' Defiantly Maybe fueled the second wave of the British invasion in the mid 90's. However, Parklife maybe one of the definitive British albums of all time, yet here across the pond it only made a splash. Receiving the critical acclaim here in the U.S., it wasn’t until Blur's 1997 self titled effort and a little single called "Song 2," that made them household names. Parklife, 16 tracks of pure Brit-pop and rock, it takes aim at social issues, a disdain at the modern era and of course classic motifs of sex, drugs and rock and roll. It breached four singles in the U.K., but here Stateside the single "Boys and Girls," was played at every MTV Spring Break and 90's raves. Parklife drew many comparisons to other acts such as The Kinks, Pet Shop Boys and Duran Duran and solidified Blur as one of England's top acts. The impact Parklife had on music at the time helped fuel the tabloid driven feud between Oasis and Blur and having new bands take sides as to what band and sound they wanted to mimic. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery in the music world and the acts that Blur had inspired with this disc would prove it. Blur front man Damon Albarn even inspired himself with one of his later projects Gorillaz, and some of the new alt-wave bands of today such as The Editors, The Killers and Franz Ferdinand cannot argue that Parklife was not an inspiration. It maybe one of the greatest British achievements overlooked here in the U.S. I hope now we can go back over a decade later, pick this record up and start listening again...for the first time.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Underrated Classic - Blur "Parklife"
If you happen to be reading this in the U.K. you are probably saying to yourself, "what the fuck is this American talking about." Parklife, along with Oasis' Defiantly Maybe fueled the second wave of the British invasion in the mid 90's. However, Parklife maybe one of the definitive British albums of all time, yet here across the pond it only made a splash. Receiving the critical acclaim here in the U.S., it wasn’t until Blur's 1997 self titled effort and a little single called "Song 2," that made them household names. Parklife, 16 tracks of pure Brit-pop and rock, it takes aim at social issues, a disdain at the modern era and of course classic motifs of sex, drugs and rock and roll. It breached four singles in the U.K., but here Stateside the single "Boys and Girls," was played at every MTV Spring Break and 90's raves. Parklife drew many comparisons to other acts such as The Kinks, Pet Shop Boys and Duran Duran and solidified Blur as one of England's top acts. The impact Parklife had on music at the time helped fuel the tabloid driven feud between Oasis and Blur and having new bands take sides as to what band and sound they wanted to mimic. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery in the music world and the acts that Blur had inspired with this disc would prove it. Blur front man Damon Albarn even inspired himself with one of his later projects Gorillaz, and some of the new alt-wave bands of today such as The Editors, The Killers and Franz Ferdinand cannot argue that Parklife was not an inspiration. It maybe one of the greatest British achievements overlooked here in the U.S. I hope now we can go back over a decade later, pick this record up and start listening again...for the first time.
Quick News
Our Lady Peace front man Raine Maida is embarking on a solo venture this winter. He will be playing acoustic shows and performing solo songs as well as classic OLP tracks.
Oasis have left the U.K. for warmer pastures to finish their latest disc. According to the band's website, "Oasis have flown out to Los Angeles to finish recording their seventh studio album with Producer David Sardy. Once recordings are complete, they will stay in L.A. to mix the album." The record is due out sometime this year.
Tapes 'N Tapes has announced the release date to their sophomore record, Walk it Off. It is a follow up to 2006's critically acclaimed The Loon, the record hits stores April and the band has also released the cover work, and looks strikingly similar to their debut.
Oasis have left the U.K. for warmer pastures to finish their latest disc. According to the band's website, "Oasis have flown out to Los Angeles to finish recording their seventh studio album with Producer David Sardy. Once recordings are complete, they will stay in L.A. to mix the album." The record is due out sometime this year.
Tapes 'N Tapes has announced the release date to their sophomore record, Walk it Off. It is a follow up to 2006's critically acclaimed The Loon, the record hits stores April and the band has also released the cover work, and looks strikingly similar to their debut.
(Walk it off:TOP/ The Loon:BOTTOM)
Monday, February 4, 2008
Dropkick Murphy's Live on Letterman
Boston's finest Dropkick Murphy's performed on the Late Show with David Letterman a few weeks back. They had only aired the Murphy's playing "The State of Massachusetts," here is the internet only exclusive of "Shipping up to Boston," taped from the same performance.
Indy Watch
More and more photos of our Hatted Hero are begining to emerge. The latest is from MTV.com! It shows Indy in very familiar location (Hint: Think last scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark).
http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2008/02/01/exclusive-photo-indiana-jones-and-the-kingdom-of-the-crystal-skull/
http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2008/02/01/exclusive-photo-indiana-jones-and-the-kingdom-of-the-crystal-skull/
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Jonah Matranga Obama Video
Singer-songwriter and all around good guy, Jonah Matranga (onelinedrawing, Far, Gratitude) wrote a song about Presidential candidate Barack Obama. Check it out.
Glow in the Dark!
Posted on Kanye's official blog this morning...He disclosed his "Glow in the Dark" Tour, with the best line up of hip-hop acts since....well...since forever! No Dates have been set..just yet...stay tuned!
Indy Watch
One big article with so much info! The UK's Empire magazine has an interview with Indiana Jones Producer Frank Marshall in their upcoming issue. One of Marshall's many statements is "This picture is locked," Marshall told us of the current progress. "Steven's pretty much done editing. And we're going into the phase with John Williams where he starts scoring the movie. He's really writing now and then we'll start scoring in February". Fantastic news! This also seems to be the quickest Spielberg has taken to edit any of his films, normally Spielberg edits the picture at least 5 times before scoring (See January issue of Vanity Fair), the editing phase began back in November.
Marshall went on to also say that "I would say it's closest to the third one (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). It's all adults. I mean, you have the sidekick in Shia (LaBeouf), but you don't have a Short Round and I think the banter between the characters is as fun as it was in the third movie." I seriously cannot wait any longer.
Also in that issue you will find an exclusive picture of Harrison Ford holding a Bazooka with Shia LaBeouf and Karen Allen riding in a truck with our hatted adventurer. Check it out at http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=21881
Marshall went on to also say that "I would say it's closest to the third one (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). It's all adults. I mean, you have the sidekick in Shia (LaBeouf), but you don't have a Short Round and I think the banter between the characters is as fun as it was in the third movie." I seriously cannot wait any longer.
Also in that issue you will find an exclusive picture of Harrison Ford holding a Bazooka with Shia LaBeouf and Karen Allen riding in a truck with our hatted adventurer. Check it out at http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=21881
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Newsletter
Hope the New Year got off to a good start for you. I just wanted to take the time out to thank everyone for reading and supporting this site in all of 2007, I will continue to post and make it bigger and better for this year!
I wanted to let you know about some changes I have made to the site...From now on I will not be posting "Buy Now!" lists, instead if you look to the left of the page, right above the archived posts you will see what records I am currently jamming out to. I encourage you to listen to them as well. Also, in relation to that you will see a "Currently Watching" Section in the same neighborhood, they are films or shows that I believe are defiantly worth your time in theaters or on DVD.
Please also leave comments. I want to make this site as interactive as possible, if you have a Gmail or Blogger account please leave comments, if you do not have a Gmail or Blogger account you can get one for free. It is great to hear from my readers and welcome thoughts, subjective opinions and most of all see what you are into.
Also, I am currently enrolled in a contest from Edun. It is a contest curated by Bono and his Wife Ali, at the top left corner of the page you will see a little blurb about Edun. Please click on those links and they will send you to the Edun page. It is a great company to check out and it not only helps others but gives me a boost in this contest as well.
Lastly, my good friend Manny has created a blog himself. I may have inspired him, which is dope if I did, but defiantly check it out. It is the perfect companion to this site. Where as "With This I Think I'm Officially A Yuppie," centers mainly around music and touches on film. Manny's site "Everyone's A Critic," centers mainly around film and touches on music. Check it out its a great site http://everyoneacritic.blogspot.com/ .
I wanted to let you know about some changes I have made to the site...From now on I will not be posting "Buy Now!" lists, instead if you look to the left of the page, right above the archived posts you will see what records I am currently jamming out to. I encourage you to listen to them as well. Also, in relation to that you will see a "Currently Watching" Section in the same neighborhood, they are films or shows that I believe are defiantly worth your time in theaters or on DVD.
Please also leave comments. I want to make this site as interactive as possible, if you have a Gmail or Blogger account please leave comments, if you do not have a Gmail or Blogger account you can get one for free. It is great to hear from my readers and welcome thoughts, subjective opinions and most of all see what you are into.
Also, I am currently enrolled in a contest from Edun. It is a contest curated by Bono and his Wife Ali, at the top left corner of the page you will see a little blurb about Edun. Please click on those links and they will send you to the Edun page. It is a great company to check out and it not only helps others but gives me a boost in this contest as well.
Lastly, my good friend Manny has created a blog himself. I may have inspired him, which is dope if I did, but defiantly check it out. It is the perfect companion to this site. Where as "With This I Think I'm Officially A Yuppie," centers mainly around music and touches on film. Manny's site "Everyone's A Critic," centers mainly around film and touches on music. Check it out its a great site http://everyoneacritic.blogspot.com/ .
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Playlist
Here is a play list of tracks to check out! Enjoy!
Badly Drawn Boy - "Born in the U.K."
Feist - "The Water"
Bjork - "Declare Independence"
Beck - "The Golden Age"
Swell Season - "Falling Slowly"
The Hold Steady - "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?"
Eddie Vedder - "Long Hard Sun"
Edith Piaf - "Heaven Have Mercy"
MGMT - "Time to Pretend"
Muse - "Starlight"
Death Cab For Cutie - "I Will Follow You Into the Dark"
Badly Drawn Boy - "Born in the U.K."
Feist - "The Water"
Bjork - "Declare Independence"
Beck - "The Golden Age"
Swell Season - "Falling Slowly"
The Hold Steady - "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?"
Eddie Vedder - "Long Hard Sun"
Edith Piaf - "Heaven Have Mercy"
MGMT - "Time to Pretend"
Muse - "Starlight"
Death Cab For Cutie - "I Will Follow You Into the Dark"
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