Ludacris - Battle Of The Sexes

So Battle Of The Sexes has been rumored to be dropping for some time now. Originally the record was going to be a split release with Shawnna, but when she bailed on DTP, the record morphed into a quasi-concept record with a gang of guests. Say what you want, but you can't dispute that Luda can rhyme his ass off. He also grinds seriously. He is everywhere, from commercials to movies to mix tapes. He's kind of like Heavy D was back in the day, in that he had skills, but was well-liked by serious rap heads and pop fans of all ages. I'm sure his radio background didn't hurt either.

So, the record. The first couple singles were pretty decent, especially My Chick Bad with Nicki Minaj. The tweaked vocals on How Low are pretty cool for a normally played-out concept and Hey Ho actually sounds pretty decent for having Lil Kim's Jocelyn Wildenstein looking ass on it. Check Hey Ho on Jimmy Fallon with ?uest on harmonized vocals. All this bodes well, especially as I can name on one hand hip hop records that actually have three solid tracks on them. I'd say that Battle Of The Sexes actually scores a lot higher than that. I'm not sure what they were thinking with that Sex Room song, but all in all this is a pretty solid record. For a commercial hip-hop release it's fucking exceptional. You might actually think that Def Jam has some life in them.

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Gone Fishing

Hey Kids:

I'm off to do some fishing in South America with my Pops, so things might be slow for the next week or so. Fret not. Be back in a bit.

R

Mutoid Men - Mutoid World

Regular readers are no doubt familiar with my love of Shorebirds and their It's Gonna Get Ugly record. The amalgam of Jawbreaker and Latterman really worked for me and I was pretty bummed to see them go the way of the Buffalo. Which is not to say that I'm not totally ga-ga for RVIVR or pretty stoked that Matt and Chris are playing together in Mutoid Men. I was pretty cool with the two M words that comprised their title, but when the most dreaded of M words, that being Moog, was bandied about in conjunction with the new project, a creeping sense of dread started to ooze itself into the back of my mind. Before the douchebags totally killed it for me, the first nail in the coffin of SXSW for me was the Analog Keyboard Holocaust of '98 when bands like Servotron and Brainiac bleeped and blorped their way through raping my ears. While there are some questionable burbles from where I'm sitting, the analog keys are rightfully relegated to the background for the most part and as such Mutoid World rocks hard enough that I can deal. Things shoot past in under 20 minutes, but don't think you're going to get Sore Throat. Some tracks are under a minute, but the average is a little over two, allowing for things to romp Pixies-like without overstaying their welcome. You can grab vinyl over at the Rumbletowne web presence and very probably at No Idea. I'd buy it, even if they do insist on calling it Scientific Rock.

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Leatherface - The Stormy Petrel

It's been a while since our dear Mr. Stubbs has seen fit to release a new Leatherface record. While the long-rumored Tiltwheel new record probably scores the Chinese Democracy prize for anticipation, outside of The Pill Cult only Leatherface can garner that obsessive a following in their downtime. The Stormy Petrel comes courtesy of Stubbs' own Big Ugly Fish Recordings and your friends at No Idea.

Our dear Mr. Stubbs maintains the sound equipment at Wembley Stadium when he isn't scarring his liver and vocal cords and the big sounds at work seem to have permeated the proceedings here. The Stormy Petrel really is one of the best in-your-face productions you'll hear in this day and age. It helps that there are great songs from stem to stern and Stubbs really is one hell of a great guitarist. That alone would carry the songs even if the lyrics were crap, but wonderfully enough, that's not the case either. There really isn't bad song here, plus I got to find out what a stoat is. Catch them on one of the last few dates (so far, I hope) on the current tour with Bridge and Tunnel and Yesterday's Ring and pick this up immediately from No Idea. Here's a link. Thank me later.

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Joey Cape & Jon Snodgrass - Liverbirds

Finally, we get the some recorded output of the delights we have enjoyed at the increasingly frequent duo shows with Mr. Joey Cape and Mr. Jon Snodgrass. Liverbirds has the two each doing songs from home teams Bad Astronaut and Lagwagon, plus a new chestnut from Herr Snodgrass. Joey is putting it out on his own label and has licensed it to Suburban Home. You can only get it on their dates together at this point, but SH is going to have it ready sometime in April.

Evidently Liverbirds shares its name with an Absolutely Fabulous-esque Brit-com featuring two besotted females. If you've seen any of these two jokers at shows and the Jager they consume thereat, you won't miss the allusion. Now, I'm the wrong person to ask if a Snodgrass release is a good one, but this shut in will argue that Liverbirds is even more awesome for the presence of Spiderman, Wolfman. The song sprung up extemporaneously at a New Haven show last Fall, was dabbled with the night after in NYC and is now canonized for your auditory pleasure. It also features a great version of Jessica's Suicide, although I think I prefer it with Cory Branan backing. That's no diss to Joey. I was never the hugest Lagwagon fan, but seeing the rampant adulation and volume of people traveling from as far as Germany to see his Cape-ness, I've kind of been bitten by the bug. I'm not sure I'd go see him solo, but I really like the tunes here. Head over to Suburban Home and get in on the pre-order here. Liverbirds comes highly recommended to anyone with a functioning set of ears.

Wrecktrospective review at PopMatters

Hey Boys and Girls:

Review of the Fat Wreck Wrecktrospective anniversary box is now up at PopMatters.

Check it out here.

Thanks to Vanessa at Fat and Sarah Zupko at PopMatters!

R

a whole lot of Drew @ The Creek And The Cave 3.6.10

So it's my boy Drew St. Aubin's 30th year. He's a good buddy and a hell of a musician, so I would give up my general hermitude anyway to celebrate one of his bands or his birthday. As I am not on the freakshow that is Facebook, I didn't realize that the evening was quite an ambitious endeavor featuring seven of his musical endeavors old and new. In a lot of ways I feel that ex-bandmates that aren't friends are much like ex-girlfriends in that you rarely need them around past your respective dalliances. As unlikable as I find him personally, it seems like it might be better to be in a band with the gent, as there was much musical love to be had for St. Aubin on the anniversary of his arrival. Here's a brief rundown:

I arrived just as Jim Of The Woods kicked things off. The ensemble marked another of the increasingly frequent Jim Wood solo band shows. This night featured the backing of his alden barton bandmates bassist Paul Bates on keys and the birthday boy on drums. It was the first time I heard any of his solo stuff, but within half a song it became obvious that Wood has talent as big as his beard, which is to say large. Keep an eye out for more solo shows soon.

Super Mirage were up next. A four, if I remember properly, piece that played the type of guitar driven indie rock I expected that (only band that didn't reunite, and the one with the most notoriety) Princeton Reverbs sounded like. A little Pavement, a lot of E6 Athensry. A good time. They were followed by more of the same with Mo' Matching Drapes, who I enjoyed until drinking with the birthday boy's lady took precedence.

Anger Management Seminar were next, and comprised the reason for the season for me musically this night. Drew had mentioned that they were the closest unit to my own little purveyors of blaaarrgh and my interest was definitely piqued. The gents dropped some angular Chicago meets DC rockage and featured a guitar presence whose hips were evidently possessed (very much to the positive) by Guy Picciotto. Good stuff, and obviously I'll be cadging the recorded material from Drew with some expediency.

By this point, Drew's voice was pretty much shot, and as I would be seeing the aldenbarton gents back 'headliner' Jason Anderson the following night, I eschewed both and rode my ass back to JS-NYC HQ. While I have seen aldenbarton many times, many other of you have not. You would do well to rectify that situation. Also know that the AB members are available for a myriad of musical projects and/or other proclivities, depending on the color of your cash. Seek them out at the aldenbarton web presence here.

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