No Sleep November

I've been thinking about my future occupation a lot recently and I've come to learn that I want to be a music journalist for many reasons, but none of them as much as my absolute love for live shows. Concerts are the greatest things in my life. I love the hype leading up to a show. I love the energy a good band projects through their sets. I love being a part of an audience that is fully engaged on what is being shown and played for them. They are some of the best times I have ever had in life.

Having thrown that out there, I AM GOING TO SOO MANY FRICKIN SHOWS IN NOVEMBER.

It all kicks off this weekend with Moogfest. What's Moogfest?Why, it's a smorgasbord of the finest the electronic music realm currently has to offer. If you read any of my Bonnaroo stuff, you know that I'm obsessed with scheduling the perfect track of shows so here's this one.

If all goes right, Friday I will see...

• Dan Deacon
• The Octopus Project/Kuroma
• Big Boi
• MGMT
• Van Dykes Parks/Papertiger
• Girl Talk

Saturday...

• Nosaj Thing/Mountain Man/Project Moog
• Caribou
• Jonsi
• Alex B
• Massive Attack
• Four Tet/Shpongle

Sunday...

• Shout Out Out Out
• Sleigh Bells
• Neon Indian
• Hot Chip
• Dam-Funk/Dark Party/Marty Party

I am going by myself, so be sure that I will be awkwardly dancing in the corner all nights long.

Later into the actual month i take a turn for the folk with Mumford and Sons and The Punch Brothers. I think this will be my 5th time seeing Chris Thile, and every single show has been just a bit better than the last. I don't see him topping his awesome show at 'Roo, but you never know. Usually the more whiskey on stage, the better he plays, so let's hope he feels like drinkin'.

Until then, UT is going to slowly chip away at my sanity. I'll let you know all about it when it's gone.

Here's some Thile to hold in all of your sure-fire excitement.

Cover of the Day - Big River

Remember the good old days when everyone would sit around the 10 inch black and white television and watch the Grand Ole' Opry? Me neither, but it sounds like it would be swell. There's a soft place in my heart for great country music by the likes of Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, and Waylon Jennings. Most importantly, I love Johnny Cash. His music never loses its bold country attitude, and some of the recordings he did at the end of his life are especially moving. Because Johnny's music is so universally loved, millions of people have covered him from the likes of U2 to local bands who played my high schools battle of the bands(I'm looking at you There Ain't No Such Thing As Free Lunch). And who would assist in one of the best Johnny Cash covers of ever? None other than Jack White Himself.

"Big River" finds Johnny Cash being Johnny Cash at his finest. That classic twangin' Martin, the steady chugging bass line, and Luther Perkins' astoundingly simple yet innovative guitar solo. Johnny tells depressing story of a man following his love up and down the south, by river, only to end up giving up on her in the end. It's really a pretty depressing song when the lyrics are separated from the tune, but when they merge, it emits this bad ass manly grit to his suffering that is exclusive the man himself. Watch him in his environment.




Today's cover comes from The Secret Sisters, a duo preserving the art of old time country singing through their creepy vocal precision and huge band of folk country friends. T-Bone Burnett produced their last album, following suit with his outstanding award winning O Brother, Where Art Though soundtrack. Jack White lends his signature electronic grit guitar between verses and absolutely rocks the house with it. It's like Big River in hell, all centering around the frightening doll-like voices nailing some of the tightest harmonies I've ever heard. The whole thing is a big pile of dirty bang recorded through Jack White's record company Third Man Records; and while you can buy the single on iTunes, it's worth it to pitch in the extra two dollars and get the vinyl, because honestly, this music is meant to be heard through the needle of a record player.

The Secret Sisters - Big River by the ruckus

Kings of Leon-Come Around Sundown

Hello world. It's been a long time. I've kind of been hibernating for a while. I know it sounds xrazy, but college IS difficult and time consuming. Fun, lot's of fun; But time consuming. But honestly, there's like a 98% chance you didn't know, and furthermore, didn't care that I haven't been keeping up here.

Oh well.

Who is the biggest rock act going right now? Think about it. I'll give you a hint; It's not Creed. King's of Leon has absolutely eclipsed the rock scene with, arguably, their worst album. The band has gone from playing small bars in Knoxville two or three times a year, to being the main reason for a huge percentage at both Bonnaroo and Glastonbury this last year. Interestingly enough, the band is pretty vocal about how they sold their soul to the devil, and how much they hate themselves for it. I love this clip of an interview in SPIN.
"We definitely got bigger than we wanted to be," Caleb tells SPIN. "You feel like you've done something wrong. That woman in mom jeans who'd never let me date her daughter? She likes my music. That's fucking not cool. You almost start doing damage control: When people ask you to do stuff, you're like, 'No, because I can already tell this record is going to get to a level where people will fucking hate us.'" Only By The Night wasn't a bad album by any stretch, but it was mostly just listenable, and for musicians, that's worse than bad. That means your creativity is blacking out. A lot of artists get to that point, and may rise in fame, gain more money, but the band dies.

I have seen a staggering amount of online "critics" refer to this as Kings Of Leon's sophomore album, which is a huge pet peeve of mine. If you are going to review a band or an album, have the respect to look up their f@(&*($ discography. Don't be ignorant. So, for all you looking to praise or bash, let me enlighten you with a history lesson.

First there was Youth and Young Manhood, and it was good. So I hear. I haven't heard a lick of this, but it's supposed to be pretty fun rock. Next came Aha Shake Heartbreak, which I can vouch for. The album is an incredible blend of rollicking bar-stompers and creative dark jingles. Next came Because Of The Times, which essentially honed in on the great parts of the previous album, and turned up a few notches. Then there was Only By The Night. The album lost the fun in the last three albums. It was catchy in places, but gone were the frenetic fuzzy bass lines, and craftily syncopated drum beats. The songs, both literally and figuratively tend to just wander around and try to sound emotional. Songs like "I Want You","17", and "Use Somebody" find the band an emotional wreck on the same bar-floor they were once raising hell on. I will say I do like "Closer" a lot, but it doesn't sound anything like the rest of the tracks. On the flip side, it is the highest selling album on the internet ever. The guys could retire and buy a pool of molten gold in each ones backyard. I guess there's the silver lining.

Before Come Around Sundown hit shelves, KoL pledged new ways. They don't want mediocrity, they want a mark in musical history. So does it take a turn to their creative past? To make it short, no. The band is still very much the band it was this time last years. Songs like "The Immortal", "Birthday", and "Pickup Truck" just fill out the album. There are very little redeeming qualities in their shallow "just get through it" licks. However, there are quite a few mostly successful attempts at rising back into it's earlier days. Take for instance, the hit single "Radioactive". It's a neat little microcosm of the whole album. It has a solid driving spacy bass throughout the whole song, but the guitar lick is incredible. It's terribly simple, but equally effective. The lyrics are so-so, but the song is pretty good, and if I'm going to hear a song every time I turn my radio on, I'd much rather it be this than Ke$ha.

"Back Down South" is the band's salute to the good ole' south, and features some very Springsteen-y lyrics. "Underneath the stars when we park the cars, ain't showin signs of stoppin'. Pretty little girls aching through their curls, ready to lay in a coffin." Paired with a subtle banjo, twangy steel guitar, and gradually growing fiddle, the song sounds like it would fit on CMT more than Pitchfork, but here that's a good thing. "Pony Up", the oldest sounding song on the album has the same hard bass line and odd percussion KoL fans have missed from Aha Shakes Heartbreak. The mysterious tale of arson "Pyro" is a good example of how the last album should have panned out. It is spacy and heart-breaking as any other hit, but it works. I can't explain how, but it is a really good depressing song.

My favorite song on the album, "Mary" could not have been better described than by Consequence of Sound Dan Caffrey, so I'm just going to quote him. "“Mary” hooks the listener with yearning doo wop vocal styling and woozy, muffled saxophone, painting a black and white photo of the band as the drunken house act for a 1950’s prom." I love that. And it might be because of my time as Danny Zuko last year, but I really love good 50's doo wop. My Pandora is either hipster never-heard ofs or 50's bubble gum pop. This song is both.

Come Around Sundown is certainly a turn for the better. They have ideas churning in their head again. They just don't see, to be able to completely flesh them out into amazing music. Right now, they're really good, and to be the face of rock music they're great. Down with Daughtry, Up with the Kings of Leon. The album's worth buying, if anything as the next chapter in the band's pretty interesting path between musicality and fame.