Opening up a can of Awesome.

                Did you hear that?  Those were crickets chirping.  How about we drown out that sound by opening up a can of awesome?

                Yeah, it’s been a while and I’d like to take this time to apologize for my absence.  Between moving, getting back to the grind in Flint, and various other projects I just kind of let this beast slip through the cracks.  Fear not.  I’m raising the jolly roger once more.  I’ve decided to take the Bones off of hiatus and add a little more structure to it.  The blog will now be updating twice a week: Mondays and Thursdays.  As always, previous articles will be kept up here for your enjoyment and amusement, just click the tabs, or scroll down depending on what screen you’re viewing.

                Back to the grind!  What’s been up internet?  Summer’s in full swing right now, the birds are chirping, the sky is blue, and for once Michigan isn’t a total hoe-bag.  (Audible Squee!)  Of course the summer has brought with it quite a bit of new and interesting things both musically and otherwise.  The first of which has been chomping at me for several weeks now.  Have you guys heard this Adele chick?  I’d like to start this off by saying that modern popular music is generally something I avoid at all costs.  It’s financially driven rubbish for the most part and I just can’t bring myself to like something that was engineered to make money, but this…  I guess I feel dirty saying it, but I really enjoy this.  The girl is from Europe, but sings like she’s from the glorious south.  I don’t mean Hank Williams south, I mean John Lee Hooker south.  The big hit song right now is called Rollin in the Deep.  Very good.  To whoever came up with this: well done.  You have pleased me.  More importantly though, I really appreciate the public actually liking it.  It’s not every day that a song with such real bluesy feeling gets airtime here.  It’s even rarer that such a song is listened to during said airtime.  Well done.

                On to other news.  I heard through the rumor mill that the band Halestorm had broken up.  This was of course from the knowledgeable gentleman that works at a t-shirt booth.  After checking not only their facebook and myspace pages, but also their official band page, I have yet to see any real trouble lurking.  Of course, maybe t-shirt man knows something that the internet does not.  It’s happened before.

                I’d like to take this time to further expand my nerd-apeal.  I’ve been playing the new installment of American McGees Alice, which is quite the fine game, indeed.  I would like to take this moment to voice a bit of outrage, however.  When I press the A button, you’re supposed to jump.  When I tap it twice, you’re supposed to jump higher.  Here’s an idea:  Why don’t you do that?  Maybe then you wouldn’t have died eighty billion times and you could have saved both me AND you a good hour on that last level.  Beastly!

                 

                Well that’s our show today, thanks for reading.  As always I’d like to remind you that this blog is spread largely through word of mouth, and google.  Hey google readers.  What’s up?    I’d also like to point out the fact that the more followers that I have, the more validated I feel.  My life has meaning thanks to you lemmings.  You’re sweet hearts.  Really.  Click that follow button for me will ya? :)

                Toodles Folks.  See ya Thursday.

                                -Costello

Regicide Can be Great!

Welcome back once again to the Skull n Bones!  Where we have declared war on the mundane.  Damn you mundane and your bore-itude.

                NEWS IN HIPSTERDOM!

  Duct Tape From the Seventies has begun work on their first music video, they actually seem to have wrangled up a producer for it, holding high hopes right here, we’ll see what happens.  The Hangers On are gearing up for their first big Flint show of the season.  They’ll be opening for Blackstone Cherry when they come into town.  I’ll make sure to devote an entire post to this. 

                Anyway, today I’d like to introduce you all to a really cool pop-punk-rock-indy band called No More Kings.  I came across this music on Pandora one day and I instantly fell in love with it.  Believe it or not, I think they came up on my JoCo station, whom I will have to do a post about later on this week. 

                The best way to describe this music is Nerd-Rock and it’s just plain amazing!  Lyrically these guys are really with it.  They’re one of those bands that you can really connect with just because their lyrics are so hip.  They incorporate lots of pop culture into what they do.  One of their best songs Sweep The Leg is, as you might have guessed, about a certain eighties film so many of us enjoy.  Another song called Leaving Lilliput takes place in the world of Gulliver's Travels.  They have songs about zombies, superheroes, or at least people who think that they’re superheroes, and even video games.  They really personify the whole cool-geeky culture that’s blossomed in the late 2000s.  Having said that, I’ve read a few reviews of their albums and what generally gets swept under the rug is the guitar work.  There’s this REALLY awesome riff on Obey the Groove that gets stuck in my head all the time.

                It’s music that does what music is supposed to: put a smile on your face.  These guys just personify that feeling inside of you when you just want to jump up, start dancing, and pet puppies. (Insert happy face here)  If you’re just getting into them, they’ve got two albums.  The first one is GOLDEN, it’s just titled No More Kings and I highly recommend picking it up or downloading it, or whatever your thing is.  (At the very least check out the videos that I have posted at the end of this)  I’m going to be totally honest when I say that I actually haven’t heard enough about their most recent album  And the Flying Boom Box to say whether it’s any good or not.  I will say that I heard a track from it called Obey the Groove and it was swell.

                My only issue with these guys is that to my knowledge they’ve never made it out to Michigan to do a show.  I’ve heard that they’re actually very fun to see live.  Seems like California gets all the cool music sometimes.

                Now if you’ll excuse me, I have exam studying to procrastinate.

                                -Costello    

P.S.  That little button that says Follow?  It’s totes beckoning to you.

P.P.S.  OBEY THE BUTTON!

P.P.P.S  LINKS!  

                     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp6o5I99Idw

                            (Video for a great song by No More Kings called Jump In)

                    http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/nomorekingsmusic

                             (No More Kings Facebook Page)

LONG LIVE THE PARLOR MOB!

Hey all!  Welcome back to the bones where we attempt to inject a little badass into bloggery every day.  (Trust me, it’s difficult even for our leading scientists!)

A while back, probably about a year now, an awesome band from New Jersey managed to make their way to the Machine Shop.  The band was called The Parlor Mob and I haven’t heard about them since.  If you get the chance to see them, jump on it!  The band just echoes Led Zep, and unlike a lot of other bands, they do it well.  I’m not talking about cover songs or anything crazy like that, I mean that this band has some amazing vibes.  The lead singer actually sounds a lot like Robert Plant.  One of the best draws to this band, apart from the singer whom I could go on and on about, is actually their drummer.  Right?  A band with an impressive drummer?  How cool.  When I saw them they opened for Theory of a Deadman and these guys blew the pants off of the band that they were opening for.  Yeah, I’ve spoken to a lot of Theory fans and I know how tenacious they are, but I kid you not, had they been there even they would have admitted that The Parlor Mob put on a way better show than Theory this time around.  It’s a pleasure to watch this group and I’d love to see them around Michigan again!  Do yourselves a favor and give them a listen!

I’d also like to take a couple of seconds to thank all of you who messaged me about that annoying man on the CMU campus that I talked about yesterday.  Brought a smile to my face to know that I’m not the only one ranting about him.

                I’m Costello VonHumbolt III.

                                You stay classy, Internet.

Stick this in your earholes!

              Wow, already twenty followers.  How cool is this!  For those of you just joining, welcome to The Bones, where we still have chips on our shoulders about having Kurt Cobain taken from us.  Yes.  We hold grudges here. 

                Anyway, I wanted to take a little bit of time to say thanks to everyone who is already following, it’s awesome to know that people are actually reading what’s up here!  I’d also like to say, let’s not stop at twenty!  Spread this mother around like butter! 

                So today I thought that I would talk about something that everyone dreads:  The death of bands.  Whether it’s because a band member died, or just because there were differences that just couldn’t be solved, bands break up all the time.  It’s a crying shame but it’s true.  So c’mon down and we’ll take a look at a couple bands that just couldn’t quite last.  (At least their music did!)

                Band number one, a personal favorite of mine, The Fratellis.  Imagine if the Beatles stuck around long enough to get into punk rock and then listened to a little Chili Peppers.  I like to think that that’s what The Fratellis sound like.  These guys are a band out of Glasgow that just sound so marvelous.  I highly recommend you check them out.  Their music videos remind me a lot of something that the White Stripes would come up with.  In fact, in their video for Chelsea Dagger Jon Fratelli, their vocalist, actually looks strangely similar to Jack White.

                Speaking of The White Stripes, let’s throw them up here!  Great band.  It’s very hard to say anything bad about them.  Maybe some could complain about Megs drumming, but hell that sound works for them.  The White stripes lasted from the late nineties all the way up to 2011.  Their last albums, Get Behind Me Satan and Icky Thump, were phenomenal to say the least.  They really did go out with a bang.  Music doesn’t always have to be complicated to be awesome.  The White Stripes proved that.  Check them out.

                Seriously, stick these two into your ear holes.  You’ll be ever so happy!  In a world where many groups survive on about three hits that they belt out over and over again, it’s sometimes refreshing to look at the ones that decided to stop while they were ahead. 

                Keep on Rockin Me Baby,

                                -Costello

P.S.  See that button over there, that says follow?  Yeah.  Click that!

P.P.S .  See that URL up top?  Show it to people!

Kay Thanks Bye!

               

A Textbook Case of Musical Deuchery, Sir!

Welcome once again to the Bones!  Today I'm bringing up a phenomenon I like to call Musical Deuchery.  For more info, read further!

Have you ever heard that band?  The one that you love so much but you’ve only ever heard one song of?  Yeah.  We all do.  For me that’s Hootie and the Blowfish.  ONLY WANNA BE WITH YOUUUUUUUUUUU!  But the second you reference any other song that band has ever in the history of time created, I will give you a dumbstruck look. 

Alright.  I’m one of the few that actually admits this.  But we all have that friend that has heard that one track and is instantly the worlds biggest expert on the band.  Not in the fact that they know ANYTHING about it.  No sir, they probably don’t have the foggiest clue of even the name of the lead singer.  They just happen to have the “I know something you don’t know” mindset now. 

But how do I recognize such a dillweed, Costello?

I’m SO glad you asked. 

Listen to the little tribble talk.  Not for content, you’re not going to get anywhere doing that.  No, you have to listen for a specific line.  That one line that lets you know (ALARMS)  This is a scumbag talking to me! (ALARMS)  And that line that you’re seeking is “Yeah, the (Insert band no one has heard of).  YOU haven’t heard of them?”  Right there.  RIGHT THERE. 

Of course I haven’t heard of your little band that you’ve suddenly gone gaga over.  They have about a hundred listeners.  AND I’m willing to bet that you’ve only known these folks exist for about three hours.

I’m not above admitting that I have a plethora of bands that I am completely head over heels for.  Many of which have almost NO followers.  But I’m not going to belittle someone for never having heard of that little band from Hoboken.  Knowing a band that no one else does just doesn’t make you cool.  It makes you a music fan.  So good on you.  Props.  You know good music.  Now get off your high horse and come back down here with the rest of us.

But what about when it’s not good music?  Some bands have very few listeners FOR A REASON.  No, indie kids, I haven’t heard of the folks that you played on your myspace the other day because they play eight different chords out of tune in a single song and the only lyrics they had were the repetition of “Cash is black” over and over.

So my challenge to all of you is two fold:

Listen to a new band and then share it!  Let’s get rid of the deuchbaggery and start some real share time without being Ass-hats!

Power to the Violins, for without them, we would be utterly stringless.

  -Costello

P.S.  :D Follow and share as always!

Musical Wars and Pipes on the Floors

            Well would you look at that?  Three days of operation and still no core meltdowns.  I think there’s just one word that describes that:  WINNING! 

For those of you just joining The Bones, welcome to the best bastion of hippies, hipsters, groovy cats, and music lovers in the world.  Yeah.  I said in the world.  So there.

About a week ago, the lovely meat-bag that lives a few doors down began listening to a rather large amount of rap music.  How do I know this, when he lives so many doors down?  Why he thought it would be a wonderful idea to share!  “My goodness!”  Said he.  “What ever would happen if I turn the volume dial as far up as it can possibly go on my phonograph?”  Happily, his fingers decided to test out this experiment.  The entire hall was gifted with bass lines that could send Japan running for cover.  (Too soon?)  

This was a situation that I gleefully recognized as “sharing time.”  Swiftly as an eagle, I made a playlist consisting of the North Mississippi All Stars, Lyle Lovett and his Large Band, The Fratellis, and Gogol Bordello.  “Sharing time” quite obviously went swimmingly.  Sometimes dorm life can be fun.

So that was around mid afternoon.  Obviously, I didn’t have much homework that day so I basically had an entire night ahead of me of raiding old content in World of Warcraft.  Rather than do so, I decided to go hang out with my friend Jane.  Jane’s a pretty hip cat.  She actually gave me a voodoo doll once.  Anyone who does that is alright in my book.  Anyway, this was before she had turned twenty one, so rather than go to a bar, we decided to go to a hookah lounge around the Mount Pleasant area called Six. 

 

For those of you not from the Mount Pleasant area, Six is a big dark room filled with black leather couches, party lights, fish tanks, and of course, hookahs.  There’s generally a haze throughout the place and even if you’re not a smoker, like me, you’ll notice a really cool aroma through the place.  They have all sorts of televisions going with MTV or something trendy like that and all the while they’re blaring some sort of music.  It’s basically the polar opposite of Blue Midnight in the East Lansing area.  Loud, full of pre-drunk frat boys, and presently drunk sorority girls.   Great place to go to get psyched up for the Wayside and even better place to watch people make complete idiots out of themselves.

I think just about my favorite meathead at the place that night was a fine gentleman wearing a CMU hoodie who decided it would be completely brilliant to grab a lit coal from the top of his pipe.  From what I could tell it was a “HEY LOOK WHAT I CAN DO!” Moment.

Drunks are fun.  Their shenanigans, even more fun.

Long story short, cool place, don’t go there if loud top forty/rap really bugs you though.  They tend to play a lot of “popular music” at night.  Also, beware of prices.  I know the majority of you reading this are on loans, so be aware that this place charges per hose, per bowl, and even per person!

 

Last thing I wanted to say: If ever the cool barista from Kaya reads this, props to you on knowing who the North Mississippi All Stars are!  I salute you, sir!

Many Hugs and Many Kisses,

  -Costello

P.S.  As always, if you enjoy it, follow it!  (AIM, Yahoo, and all sorts of other services are able to follow it so don’t be shy!)

P.P.S. Share this with your friends!  Let’s bring them to the hip side of the tracks!