One of the creators of the Daily Show, Minneapolis’ own Lizz Winstead, is putting together a new reality tv program called Ready 2 Rock. And she is looking for local talent to star in the show! Basically, she is looking for older, 40+ year old men and women who grew up idolizing the Ramones, Ratt, Metallica, Rush, possibly the Bangles, or any other superband of the era.
She is looking for folks who have always dreamed of being in a mega rock band, but for whatever reason took on more traditional jobs, wives, kids, etc., etc. Now’s your chance to live the dream!
If you are interested in learning more, please download this Word document or show up at the time and location noted below:
READY 2 ROCK – Twin Cities Participant Search
DATE: Wednesday, October 10, 2007
TIME: 5-10 PM
LOCATION:
Java Jack’s Coffee Cafe
818 W. 46th St.
Minneapolis, MN 55419-4841
Last night I saw Metric play the First Avenue Main Room, and, Dude, let me say that they can really bring it! After running through the first few songs of her set, lead singer, Emily Haines, said, “We’re going to rock your faces off!” And she proceeded to march her way through a napalm-blistering set that left us all scorched and in need of a hose down.
The band had one of the best light shows I had ever seen. The theme of the night was very much “Blue”, which served to subtly accent the band’s unique brand of rock-disco. The jumping and swaying of the crowd brought me back to the days of basement rock shows in college…the kind where everybody is sweaty and mashed into a small area and singing along with the melodies coming from the corner.
The musicianship of the band was quite impressive - something I did not expect. They broke down a few songs into extended jams, giving the audience a much-needed rest to concentrate on drinking their beers - But also proving that indie-pop-rockers can musically play off each other with the best of ‘em.
I was watching Conan the other night and Gogol Bordello was the musical guest. It’s hard to explain using words just what their music and image is, but what I can explain clearly is that I liked their circus-like sound. They describe their sound as “Gypsy Punk”, but I think it’s closer to Cirque de Gogol. Check ‘em out!
Posted by Charlie on Thursday, September 20th, 2007
Nigel Godrich is the super producer that worked his magic on the last 5 out of 7 Radiohead albums as well as Thom York’s first solo outing. Not to mention Pavements’ masterpiece and final record Terror Twilight, the Beck albums Mutations, Sea Change and the most recent record The Information, the groundbreaking U.K album The Man Who by Travis, and the deeply personal record Chaos and Creation in the backyard by Paul McCartney. He’s mixed records by my personal favorite The Beta Band and R.E.M.
This is why I was so surprised when I picked up a copy of Paul McCartney’s latest, Memory Almost Full, and found that the songwriting from Paul had not only stopped being lazy, but had actually gotten experimental. The only problem was that Nigel hadn’t produced it.
I had read that during the recording of Chaos and Creation, Nigel had pushed Paul to write better material, to actually get inside his songs and melodies and really develop the good points and bring them to the surface. He felt that some of the material was boring or just not a good enough effort for a Beatle. I can’t imagine the terrible (but necessary) emotions that must have been in the room during those days. The result was brilliant. It just wasn’t as good as his next album.
I can’t help but think that the boot in the butt that Nigel delivered to Paul jump started his brain and helped him to remember me. Yes, I wrote it, me. Me as in you as in me sitting in our rooms at 11 at night in seventh grade and getting teary eyes listening to You Have to Admit it’s Getting Better.
Memory Almost Full plays out like a great Wings album. Or, a great Paul McCartney record. Maybe it’s just a great record that my hero Nigel Godrich didn’t have a hand in. It showcases strings, unexpected chords noodling, tangling, and colliding into each other, harmonies, keyboards, loud guitars and Paul’s voice older, wiser, and finally honest. I can’t stop tapping my foot. These hooks! Who thinks this stuff up? Right, he’s a Beatle, but it’s about time he proved it again.
I thought I might start my first post at Lunch of Champions saluting my love for British music. If you read my posts in the future you will find that I am terribly addicted to almost any form of Brit-pop/Scot-pop, I use too many commas and I Capitalize words too often. May your love for music be personal, critical, and offensive.
I have been reading some of the articles about Britney Spears’ Video Music Awards performances, and they all recycle the same line - Britney Spears appeared to be “overweight and out of shape”. Look at this picture taken on Sunday at the VMA’s:
What is this world coming to when a woman with 2 kids who is as thin as this can be considered “overweight and out of shape”. Have any of these people even checked out American women??! Britney is probably in the top .00001% of the American population in terms of healthy-looking thinness. Seriously. My verdict is that the authors of these scathing articles are either asshole men or jealous women.
It’s easy to hate on Hollywood folk, which is why I’m taking the higher ground on this one. Let it never be argued that Britney Spears is an artist. I haven’t really paid attention to her much over the years, except when my celebrity-obsessed friend (you know who you are…) talks about Britney’s marital troubles and poor mothering skills. What all her publicly-devoured problems tell me is that Britney has the same problem that many of us have - figuring out our place in the world. And like many of us, she has chosen to ignore the fact that she is aging and gaining perspective in the world, and instead she is falling back on what she knows best - making an ass of herself and lip-syncing at a nationally-televised event.
Britney is in a unique position. On the one hand, she has power in Hollywood and presumably millions of dollars in the bank. On the other hand, she has never lived a normal life, she is tailed by the asshole news media everywhere she goes, her marital successes and troubles were displayed for all the world to see, and she continually gets flack for her mothering skills. Her mothering skills! It’s that last one that hurts me most.
No mother should ever have to endure ridicule for her mothering skills. Mothering is one of those things that are ingrained in our bodies by instinct. It doesn’t require any training or special skills, and it is practiced around the world by every people that has ever walked the Earth. To insult someone’s mothering skills, I presume, would be the ultimate put-down. A denial of someone’s humanness. Further, I would bet the bank that each and every person in this country has a mother who did things that, if played on Entertainment Tonight, would have been mocked by the general public. I mean, making mistakes is what parenting is all about, right?
So here’s the story. Yes, Britney totally sucks as a performer. Yes, she doesn’t possess many of the learned skills that allow someone to function normally in society. Yes, she has completely lost it. Yes, her music sucks (always has). But what the fuck?! Let her die a peaceful celebrity death of making shitty B-list reality television programs. Cut this girl some slack and view her as that crazy person down on Franklin Avenue who was abused as a child (which she was). Look at her as someone deserving of pity rather than ridicule. Find a good book to read, and stop looking to Britney for entertainment…it’s getting old.
