inflatable ferret volume ii, issue 2

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INSIDE:Spotlight on Mo

dern Radio

Interview with David Amram

Reviews: Shutter Island and mo

re

80 Minutes of Music for March Ma

dness

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02 Inflatable Ferret

Editor-in-ChiefJames Passarelli

Executive EditorHans Larsen

President of Managerial OperationsTom Kutilek

LayoutKathryn Freund

Featured WritersJames EmersonKathryn FreundBryant KitchingHans LarsenMatt ManuszakJames Passarelli

Editorial ContributionsPat Passarelli

PhotographyRachel LubaSharyn MorrowCarl Wedoff

Cover Photos Provided ByJesse Kwakenat and STNNNG

Publication & Web DesignGreg ErvanianRob Schellenberg

Interview TapingRachel Luba

Copyright 2010 Inflatable Ferret

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VOLUMEIINo.2

inflatable ferret

CONTENTS

03Inflatable Ferret

04 We Are The WorldWhy Lionel and Quincy shouldve called it quits after 85

06 ReviewsRead reviews for new albums

by Hot Chip, Joanna New-som, and Local Natives, and Scorseses latest film Shutter Island

10 InterviewIF talks life and music with multi-instrumentalist and composer David Amram

18 Modern RadioA look at Minneapolis most confident, fun-loving, and du-rable independent label

22 80 MinutesHeres 80 minutes of music to prepare you for March Madness

18

10

WHEN I SAT DOWN to watch the We Are the World 25 for Hai-ti video for the first time, I didnt really know what to expect. An un-abashed fan of the original 1985 version, I had serious doubts about anyone remaking it. That video, which was created to earn money for the United Society of Artists for Africa foundation, was both a criti-cal and financial success. With the Internets ubiquity, a new video wasnt necessary, was it? Unfor-tunately, against all sense and sen-sibility, the project was undergone, and Im here to survey the results of its entire screechy splendor.

The original We are the World was inspired by Bob Gedo-lfs Band Aid project in Great Brit-ain and was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie in early 1985; the final track was laid down on January 28, 1985, during an all-night recording session. Music mega-stars of all kinds stepped into the A&M Recording Studios in Hollywood that night, instructed by a small, handwritten sign pinned at the entrance: Please check your

egos at the door. The song was a simple, catchy tune featuring an incredible array of talent that man-aged to accomplish multiple no-table achievements. It raised $63 million dollars in purchases, mer-chandise, and other donations. Musically the track captured not only the musical and cultural es-sence of the 1980s, but its also resonated well with audiences for twenty-five years with its intriguing duets, clear message, and quality talent.

What most strikes me most the 1985 version of the song is its endurance, attributable to the tunes quality as much as to its big name contributors. With the tracks simple and clean chord progressions, the song is emi-nently catchy and memorable. Perhaps the ultimate testimonial comes from Harry Belafonte, the famed King of Calypso and both a producer and background singer for the song, who remarked on the 20th anniversary in 2005, any-one old enough to remember can still hum it.

Yes, the tune was great, but what about those vocalists? The 45 artists came from everywhere from Fleetwood Mac frontman Lindsey Buckingham, Waylon Jen-nings, and Paul Simon to Diana Ross, Hall & Oates, and the Point-er Sisters. Quincy Jones made a distinct effort to gather not only the worlds most famous musi-cal stars, but its most disparate as well. Notable duets include Di-onne Warwick and Willie Nelson, Billy Joel and Tina Turner, and an absolutely epic Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder segment that still gives me chills. This was Bruce just after 1984s Born in the USA, every inch of The Boss positively oozing star power, paired with Ste-vie Wonder, the always smiling Mo-town poster child, fresh off the re-lease of I Just Called to Say I Love You and singing his heart out: just two artists at the height of their careers, matching their voices in-credibly well. Though pretty much every artist in the song could sing, there was a clear hierarchy: the most popular got the most lines.

23 Inflatable Ferret04 Inflatable Ferret

WE ARE THE WORLD

GETS RUINED

WORDS: MATT MANUSZAK

Recording session of We Are the WorldPhoto by Usatoday

That meant Springsteen and Won-der got the key verse, Jackson got the first chorus, Richie the open-ing lines, and Bob Dylan and Ray Charles were introduced later on as effective old-timers. The vid-eo screams 1980s. Michael is wearing a rather ridiculous black jumpsuit with rococo gold trim and white sequined gloves, both Steve Perrys and Cyndi Laupers respec-tive voices and hair are as big as ever, and everyone looks to be hav-ing a good old time. Now, it would be poor journalism for me to not note that there were criticisms of the song. The lyrics were ripped for being self-aggrandizing and the project was parodied for its passiv-ity. To be fair, the songs purpose was to be uplifting, and it did raise $63 million, so it accomplished its humanitarian goal. But We are the World spawned an evil that all but overshadows its grand ac-complishments: a bastard son 25 years later that throws musical de-cency out the door in a misguided attempt to raise money for the Haiti earthquake relief.

We are the World 25 for Hai-ti was also recorded in one night in Hollywood, was overseen by Richie and Jones, and it also featured a multitude of notable singers: the similarities end there. The original version featured 21 soloists and 24 choristers, 45 altogether. 25 for Haiti? 35 soloists and 57 cho-risters creating a 92-person cata-clysm ofnoise. This included not only current musical artists but also actors like Jeff Bridges, who looked like he casually stumbled into the studio off the street after smoking a bowl.

One of the new wrinkles was the inclusion of such teen idols

as Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, and the Jonas Brothers: that state-ment by itself is a joke. The pre-sumed message: to empower our youth and send a message to kids that they too can make a differ-ence. The result: a God-awful dis-play of the musical ineptitude of a generation of teen stars thats re-vealed the horror of the American dream. Yes, truly anyone can gain (not earn) fame and fortune. Their confusing looks of mock-anguish during the video apparently indi-cate either horrible over-singing (likely) or severe irritable bowel syndrome (not as likely). Many of the other notable artists in the mix seem to me to be there more for a bump in their Q-rating than to help Haiti: from Nicole Scherzinger and Busta Rhymes to Dancing with the Stars Julianne Hough, these musi-cal selections just boggle my mind.

The first chorus features archi-val footage and vocals of Michael Jackson spliced with an image of the disembodied head of his sis-ter, Janet, apparently lip-synching his lyrics in a creepy duet. At one point, I thought I heard the voice of Ray Charles and hoped that there was some more, albeit less creepy, footage from the original. Instead, it was just Jamie Foxx, looking a bit too pleased with himself and doing a needlessly silly Ray imper-sonation that starkly contrasted his rather self-righteous introduc-tion to the song, in which he melo-dramatically requests you to give anything you can, as we have. Im not sure to whom we refers here, but something tells me the $20 million Foxx makes per mov-ie isnt going straight to the Haiti fund. Another of the many low points is a vomit-inducing auto

tuned section featuring Lil Wayne, Akon, and T-Pain. Yes, auto-tune unfortunately defines modern pop, but it doesnt have to be featured so prominently: couldnt they just have not included it and hoped that future generations would forget, like Kobe Bryants rape charges or Shaqs acting career? Other lowlights include appearances by Pink and Celine Dione and an aw-ful rap verse by LL Cool J, Snoop Dogg, accompanied by random guys in the background throwing up peace signs. I half expect Lil John to start yelling Yeah! in the background (fortunately, he didnt make the cut)

Ultimately, this new song didnt fail because of a lack of available talent (though talent certainly wasnt its strength): it failed be-cause of terrible artist selection, poor stylistic choices, and tragic over-singing. Are these really the individuals who define todays mu-sic scene? Sadly, yes. But coul. While pop certainly isnt where it was 25 years ago, couldnt artists who are both viable and popular like Beyonce, Rivers Cuomo, or Jack White have been involved? Fortunately, artists like Shane Mac-Gowan are here to fight back. His antithesis to the aforementioned symphony, a cover of Screamin Jay Hawkins I Put a Spell on You features Johnny Depp, Nick Cave, and a slew of esteemed artists. So, head on over to MacGowans site, and if you havent seen 25 for Haiti yet, save yourself. Hope-fully this was detailed enough for youll never feel the urge to watch the abomination that is We are the World 25 for Haiti. IF

23Inflatable Ferret 05Inflatable Ferret

After downloading all 206 MB (three discs) of Joanna Newsoms lat-est album Have One on Me the most difficult problem I faced was how exact-ly to listen to the damn thing. You dont have to be an expert to be able to tell that Newsoms follow-up to 2006s am-bitious Ys is epic in every sense of the word. I chose to focus on one disc at a time. Even taking the album in chunks, I was overwhelmed by the intricacies and instrumentations often surpassing eight minutes in length. After a week or so of solid listening, Im still not sure if this is a testament to Newsoms gran-diose artistic vision realized or simple overkill. Everything about the album is grand in scale, even down to the cover, which shows Newsom seductively lying on a couch surrounded by various and innumerable trinkets and artifacts. On the surface one could paint Have One On Me as an overly ambitious, even pretentious attempt to create a clas-sic folk record, but I dont think this is the case. Newsom just sounds like a woman with a lot of ideas.

Have One On Me is the musical equivalent of being lost in a vast for-est; its beautiful, overwhelming, seem-ingly never-ending, and there are lots of animals. Newsoms approach to song crafting here is not all that stylisti-

cally different from Ys, but instead its the scale of her vision that has grown. Newsom spins yarns about horses, spiders and gardens, all with an unmis-takably nurturing vibe. Her unique voice still sounds as if it belonged to Mother Nature herself, but there is a distinctive impression of maturity and confidence on tracks like Good Intentions Paving Company. Good Intentions bounc-es and weaves like a Regina Spektor song on steroids, and is arguably the albums best track, and one of the few that immediately grabbed me. Other songs like the 11-minute title track are not as openly accessible, but ultimately more rewarding. Have One On Me tells the story of Lola Montez, the 19th Century Irish mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria. Ludwig was most famous for saying Whatever Lola wants, Lola Gets, making it all the more satisfying, even comical, when you hear Newsom sing the album/song title in the con-text of the track itself.

Baby Birch drifts along like a sweet lullaby until it builds up into a beautiful cacophony complete with an irregular drum pattern that threatens to unravel at any moment until the very end when the soft lullaby returns. This superb standout drips with themes of motherhood and fertility, as does 81, which, at 4 minutes, clocks in among the albums shortest tracks. It is likely that 81, with its references to the Garden of Eden, refer to Newsoms own conception (born in January of 1982). The track is another bright spot on the accessible, and strongest first disc. On Have One On Me, Newsom has perfected the art of the build up, and it is often the second half of tracks like Go Long and Kingfisher that dont necessarily make up for, but put into different contex and complement, their vastly different first halves. The album is a true roller coaster ride, as unpre-dictable as it is beautiful.

The tracks that I found most enjoy-able fall into two different categories at both ends of the spectrum: tracks that followed more traditional song

structures and lengths (81, On a Good Day, Soft as Chalk) and tracks where the epics of the album itself are most apparent and extravagant (Have One On Me, Baby Birch, Esme). The middle ground into which songs like You and Me, Bess and In California fall is where Have One On Me becomes difficult to listen to. I felt as though I was trudging through the songs rather than enjoying them. As would be ex-pected in an album of this length, there is a fair share of dull spots. For every Good Intentions Paving Company and Baby Birch there are tracks like No Provenance or Ribbon Bows, which struggle to hold the listeners atten-tion. When Have One On Me fails, its because it gets lost in its own maze. To fully appreciate just how intricate some of these songs are I would need a full year to digest them. Nonetheless in the short time Ive been acquainted with the album, I couldnt help feeling that it might be simply too big for its own good. Newsom hasnt created an album as much as shes opened a win-dow into literally every nook and cranny of her musical psyche.

Would Have One On Me been bet-ter as a single, or even a double al-bum? Probably. But even with its fair share of blemishes there is much to love. One cannot deny the beauty and impressiveness of what Newsom has created, but the pleasure of the album as a whole remains to be seen. I pre-dict that Have One On Me will change faces several times as future months and years go by. An album of this mag-nitude couldnt possibly maintain the same identity even on a day-to-day ba-sis. In the end, Have One On Me is easy to appreciate but hard to understand. Its magical once you finally get over the albums sheer size and get to know the songs themselves.

- Bryant Kitching


MUSIC REVIEWS


Joanna NewsomHave One On Me(Drag City)


Local Natives create the kind of feeling with a musicality so am-bitious and daring, but immediately satisfying that you can only at-tain if youre head over heels with the very thought of maximizing all thats in your heart.Thats what Daytrotter has to say about the Los Angeles band, and before you even scratch your head or try to conceive what that could possibly mean, just listen to how UK media powerhouse NME describes their debut Gorilla Manor: poetic songs, which billow, churn and explode into light. Explode into light? My mp3 player must not be working. Ever since releasing the album in November of 09 in the UK, Local Natives have garnered similar puz-zling praise from a slew of pubs and blogs, and theyve been compared to Vampire Weekend, Animal Col-lective, Fleet Foxes, The Arcade Fire, all with whom they share only slivers of similarity. That critics have scrambled so desperately to express the essence of Gorilla Man-or with muddled metaphors and hy-perbole says more about the music itself than the competence of those who write about it.

The confusion is especially sur-prising considering the way the al-bum seems to pander to current typical blogosphere tastes. Then again, it panders to radio play and parties alike, and couldnt that pos-sibly be the sign of a great album being perfect for any circum-stance? Well its certainly not the only sign of a great album, but its a large part of Gorilla Manors ap-peal. And the best part is you can take it in four-minute segments or as a whole. Not since Phoenixs Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix has such a single-worthy album been so cohesive. Any one of the songs could easily find itself in a trailer for a bad to mediocre romance film (like Phoenixs 1901 in the trailer for New York, I Love You) and while that may not always be a positive sign, it shows impressive accessi-bility from what you could consider art-rock.

My first inclination is to call their music dreamy, what with the background chanting and cloud-like guitars. But the tight composition and the occasional strong, sharp guitar strums hint at something more concrete. And dreamy doesnt account for the pained yells and straightforward steely rock on Sun Hands, the albums third track. And some of the same as-pects that make the album dream-like sometimes change to make it sound more realistic. Buoyant, weightless guitar suddenly changes pace into brief, aggressive strokes. And take the opening lines of the first two tracks. Wide Eyes opens the album with an eerily placid, but altogether surrealistic, warning: Oh some evil spirit, oh some evil this way comes/They told me how they fear it, now theyre placing it on their tongues. On Airplanes, however, the subject is a past lover, one that seems as real as anything:

The desk where you sit inside of a/frame made of wood/I keep those chopsticks you had from when/you taught abroad in Japan. The themes are subtly transformed throughout the 50-minute record. The music doesnt change direction, but the listener has a constantly changing impression of it.

These indie rookies build songs like veterans, and their confidence shines in every one of their compo-sitions. And they pay fine tribute to the Talking Heads with an impres-sive cover of Warning Sign, a song that works wonderfully with their hands. Despite the rambling, and often nonsensical, descriptions you may read, the five-pieces debut is certainly praiseworthy and without a definite dull spot. But I feel I would be doing you a disservice if I didnt attempt to explain the album in the fashion of our big-name counter-parts. So, here goes

Gorilla Manor oozes and palpi-tates with the erudite sense of its own submission, but it leaves us fluttering in a psychotropic vortex wrought with a steady hand and an even colder gaze. Copernicus re-futed Aristotle and said, the earth moves. Einstein refuted Newton and said, time is relative. Local Natives refuted all other musicians before them and said, this is mu-sic.

- James Passarelli

Local NativesGorilla Manor(Frenchkiss Records)


MUSIC REVIEWS


continued

Over and over and over and over and over/Like a monkey with a miniature cymbal/The joy of repetition really is in you. If one were to define an all-encompass-ing mantra for the great minds behind Hot Chip, Im pretty sure I cant say it better than they can themselves. (If youve ever listened to a Hot Chip song, then you know what I mean.) Over the years, Brit-ish electro dance-pop quintet Hot Chip have produced some of the most groovable, head nodding, toe tapping, dancing-in-your-chair-at-work songs of all time. From The Warnings Over and Over to Made in the Darks Ready for the Floor, Hot Chip has proved again and again that they are a pulsing, bass pumping force to be reck-oned with. Still, although their last two albums have produced a host of head bopping singles includ-ing Boy From School, Colours, Shake a Fist, and One Pure Thought, both The Warning and Made in the Dark lacked cohesive-ness.

Never ceasing to surprise us with their plethora of fresh ideas,

though, Hot Chip have grown into their fourth studio album One Life Stand its release coming this past month. Whereas their past al-bums have left us wanting just a lit-tle more, One Life Stand is a more refined, but still powerhook-filled record. In terms of substance, the album definitely focuses on themes of romance and reflec-tion atypical of the bands past tongue-in-cheek content. Although some disgruntled fans may dub it Hot Chips clichd grown-up album, One Life Stand still nods to their power-single past while highlighting a more quirkily sophis-ticated side (which they have had all along).

Although old-school Hot Chip fans may be hesitant upon first listen, One Life Stand is argu-ably Hot Chips best album thus far. Thoughtful and refined, the albums clear sense of focus flows throughout. Beginning with Thieves in the Night Hot Chip makes it clear this is a wearing-my-heart-on-my-sleeve kind of al-bum with lyrics like Baby ive lost you here in the crowd/Open your arms I want to be found. Even in its ballad-like lyrical quality, Thieves in the Night still makes you want dance as Alexis sings, Happiness is what we all want. Piano-pound-ing Hand Me Down Your Love keeps the pace of the album going, with a violin-heavy chorus that still manages to make your heart melt. Probably my favorite song on the album is I Feel Better. Although Im not not a fan of autotune, the heavy 80s-inspired heavy synth riffs in the songs intro make up for it, as does the pulsing rhythm that builds throughout. One Life Stand gets runner-up for best song on the album, really reiter-ating the albums romantic mo-

tif when Alexis announces, I only wanna be your one life stand/Tell me do you stand by your whole man. Although songs like Broth-ers and Alley Cats are on the slower-tempo side and take their time to build up, they fit well into the pace of the rest of the album well. Ending strong with synth-heavy dance-powered We Have Love, the album culminates with Take It In, another pulsing disco-inspired ballad. Laying it all out for all to see, Alexis asks, And oh, please take my heart and keep it close to you/Take it in, take it in.

Continuously growing into their own, Hot Chip have matured with this fourth album in the best way possible. Even while revealing a more sophisticated side of them-selves, Hot Chip still manages to make it impossible to sit still while listening to One Life Stand. Filled with heartfelt ballads that can still provide the soundtrack to your dance parties, Hot Chip have fi-nally honed in their talents and it has surely payed off.

- Kathryn Freund

Hot ChipOne Life Stand(Astralwerks)

Martin Scorsese has found his new favorite city, at least until his new favorite actor can pronounce his rs again: Boston and Leon-ardo DiCaprio return in the noir-drenched Shutter Island after their showings in 2006s The Departed. Sure, the locale and the actor are parts of another shifting Scorsese obsessiontemporarily holding a monomaniacal grip on his mind like the mob once did, or Robert De-Niro, or anything involving Daniel Day-Lewis and the nineteenth cen-turybut Shutter Island at large is evidence of a greater interest of the director, one that informs each of his movies: other movies. This is not to say its derivative or superfi-cially similar to other works: if Shut-ter Island invites comparison to a Hitchcock flick, its not because of rain pouring off fedora brims in an almost monochromatic setting, but because its a genuinely good thrill-er. And its not the 20th-century

classical soundtrack that evokes The Shining, its the tangible dread that you feel in the pit of your stom-ach as the action almost painfully unrolls. So Shutter Islands poten-tial place in the pantheon of hor-ror-suspense makes the contrived, overlong finale all the more disap-pointing.

DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo are U.S. Marshals investigating the dis-appearance of a patient from a hos-pital for the criminally insane. To keep the denizens of Boston safe and the movie sufficiently tense and creepy, the hospital is located on a remote island in a storm-rav-aged sea. A hurricane delays the marshals return to mainland and keeps them longer than expected.

The movie doesnt substitute frenetic cuts (a la the Bourne se-ries) for actual suspense, but uses a more legitimate repertoire to keep the audience in a strangle-hold. Take the soundtrack, for in-stance, composed mostly of mod-ern classical pieces: its first notes sound as soon as the Paramount logo appears and it doesnt let up until the credits. The songs, which range from the discordant (Root of an Unfocus by John Cage) to the grandly ominous (Krzysztof Pen-dereckis Symphony no. 3), might have been melodramatic overkill in another movie, but Shutter Island manages to accommodate them, making for a natural complement to the onscreen action.

That onscreen action is helped carried out by some veterans, in-cluding Max van Syndow, Ben King-sley (the head of the institution), and Ted Levine (a German psychia-trist withlike all German doctors of the 50sa potentially shady past) in a small but captivating role in which he discourses on the na-ture of violence. As for the lead: I

suppose I should get over Titanic (its been thirteen years, after all), but Im still surprised and amazed that little Leo DiCaprio has grown up to take on Serious, Adult roles. Mr. Scorsese has done well in pick-ing his new partner.

Also worth mention are the vi-suals. Like Scorsese and cinema-tographer Robert Richardson did in 1999s criminally underrated Bringing out the Dead, they superb-ly capture the inherent weirdness and surreality of dreamsquite an accomplishment when one consid-ers how subjective dreams are, a quality that doesnt easily lend itself to film. DiCaprios first nightmare in the movie is a riot of Technicolor and replete with strange dream-oc-currences. Looking for rich, inter-esting cinematography? 3D cam-eras need not apply.

The eerie, tense atmosphere of Shutter Island, so meticulously and skillfully constructed from its mu-sic, its cinematography, its actors, pervades even an ending that is not commensurate with it. Its a parody of mechanical denouement, with a professorial figure (bow tie and all) sitting behind a desk to neatly ex-plain each and every detail. Maybe thats indicative of where the true strength of the movie lies: in its style, its mood, its occasional gems of script (Levines speech, or the fi-nal line). Theres no reason to write obits for Scorseses talent: hes still got it.

- James Emerson

23Inflatable Ferret

MOVIE REVIEW

09Inflatable Ferret

Martin ScorseseShutter Island

Interview: James Passarelli

DAVID AMRAM

AN INTERVIEW WITH

David Amram is

a shameless se

lf-promoter,

and I mean tha

t in the most

complimentary

way.

It makes perf

ect sense,

doesnt it?

If you really

believe in

what youre p

romoting,

wheres the nee

d for shame?


I met him on a plane to New York a couple of years ago, and he gave me his card. Just a week later I found his Triple Concerto LP in the dollar bin of a record store, and since then I havent been able to escape his name. The mans worked with artistic geniuses of all kinds and generations, the never-ending list including Dizzy Gillespie, Jack Kerouac, Willie Nelson, Dustin Hoffman, Odetta, Leonard Ber-nstein, Charlie Parker, Woodie Guthrie, Charles Mingus, Thelo-nious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Sir James Gallaway, Pete Seeger, Hunter S. Thompson, Arthur Mill-er, Johnny Depp, Warren Zevon, and Townes Van Zandt. And hell gladly tell you about his ex-periences with any of them. But he doesnt name-drop for self-ish reasons he talks about his friends with genuine pride and gratitude.

Amram has written over a hundred pieces of chamber mu-sic and the scores for the award-winning films Splendor in the Grass and The Manchurian Can-didate. Hes an accomplished pianist, percussionist, and flutist, as well as a pioneer in improvisa-tional French horn playing. Hes written three books. And at 79 Amram has as much verve as any musician in his twenties. Hes constantly traveling, inhaling mu-sic and culture of countries all over the world (when I called him to set up the interview he was on his way to Abu Dhabi). Perhaps the New York Times James Oes-treich said it best when he wrote

in 1993, Amram was multicul-tural before multiculturalism ex-isted.

A renaissance man in every sense of the word, Amram puts every penny and pleasure he earns right back into the music and people who surround him. He was gracious enough to in-vite me to his home in Putnam Valley, New York where he sat down with me and talked my ear off. And the hardest part of the interview process was deciding what to cut. Heres the abbrevi-ated version of what he had to say.

AN INTERVIEW WITH DDD

David Amram is

a shameless se

lf-promoter,

and I mean tha

t in the most

complimentary

way.

It makes perf

ect sense,

doesnt it?

If you really

believe in

what youre p

romoting,

wheres the nee

d for shame?

Inflatable Ferret: Youve worked with everyone you can think of, and not just musicians. Youve worked with Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk, Jack Kerouac, you did the soundtrack for The Manchurian Candidate. How did your background in music start?

David Amram: Well, I grew up on a farm in Feasterville, Pennsylva-nia. Growing up on a farm during the Great Depression, everyones options were zero. So, with that good starting place, as they say in New York, (in New York accent) It can only get worse! So, things could only get better, and therefore to have the outrageous dream to someday do something with music was far-fetched. But since there werent many options at all, it wasnt as far-fetched as any other dream at that time. And when I was about ten years old, my father said to me, David, what do you think you want to do when you grow up. I said, Id like to be a full-time farmer. He said it was impossible in todays econo-my to be a small family farmer this is in 1942. So, he said, What else would you like to do? I said, Well, Id like to do something in music. He said, Thats worse! So, many years later, just before he passed away in early 1990, he came up and saw me working on my tractor after Id been able to work in music and bring up my kids to do what I had done. And I said, Does this remind you of me? He said, Yep! To the extent that I was able to fulfill some of my dreams, Im really grateful. But I nev-er even thought when I started Id be able to do it it was just something I wanted to do.

My uncle David was a seaman, and he took me to hear the Philadel-

phia Orchestra when I was a little boy, and he also took me to hear Duke Ellington. He explained to me that both kinds of music were great and heartfelt, that they both were enduring and came from cultural roots. He told me all kinds of stuff. I didnt know what he was talking about really. But he put it in my mind and that I should pay attention. My other uncle, who grew up in Las Ve-gas, New Mexico (not Nevada) and most of the people around him at the time were Indian. So, when he would visit the farm he would tell me about how it was growing up with In-

dian people and that I should pay at-tention to every living thing and try to understand and respect it. My other uncle had told me that as well, that when you travel around the world you can learn different languages, different food, different ways of mov-ing, feeling, talking, dancing, being and that each place he went to had something very special, and that even if you couldnt ever understand or learn all about it, you should pay attention and respect it. I was really fortunate to have that as part of my background.

So, I moved to Washington D.C. when my dad had to sell the farm in 1942, and we moved from a 160 acre farm to a little 16 foot wide house on Q Street in what they called a checkerboard neighbor-hood, which meant African-Amer-ican and Caucasian people were living in the same block in a segre-gated city. Our nations capital was officially segregated in 1942 up until I went to the Army in 1952. So, even though I hung out, played music, so-cialized with black people, techni-cally we werent even supposed to speak to each other. It seems al-most unbelievable that our nations capital could have been that way. The whole South was that way, and most of the rest of the country was pretty much that way, even though it wasnt officially the law. So, when I went to the Army in 1952 and went to Europe I was lucky instead of going to Korea, I was sent to Europe - I was ready to understand that as an American I came from a country with a lot of different people, but that we all came from that core of the American Indian ethos that there was a core that was here, and the rest of us, however we got here, were still trying to figure out how to get along, how to be together, and how to find our place and search in some way for our heritage. So, when I was in the Army I learned German, French, Spanish, Italian not only hung out with people, but also played music and tried to use every single experience as a field trip. And I still do that in 2009.

Every time I leave here and go anywhere Im always looking and lis-tening and trying to learn. And thats why Ive been able to do so many dif-


DAVID AMRAM


continued

When you travel around the

world you can learn different

languages, different food,

different ways of moving, feeling, talking, dancing,

being

ferent things and not be a dilettante or have a multiple personality dis-order. Its just, to me everything is important and an adventure. And almost everything you mentioned working with Dizzy Gillespie, working with John Frankenheimer, who di-rected The Manchurian Candidate, working with Elia Kazan when I did the music for Splendor in the Grass, being chosen by Leonard Bernstein as the first composer in residence with the New York Philharmonic, playing with Willie Nelson all of these things happen by bumping into somebody or doing something and having a good attitude, or be-ing around when someone says, Hey, would you like to do this? And very often, Come on and do this. Were not sure we can pay you, but you might find this interesting.Yeah!!! And it was interesting, even if it was with someone who wasnt famous. Thats how I started work-ing with Shakespeare in the Park in 1956. They were looking for some-one to write music for Shakespeare production on the Lower East Side, and the woman who was going to do it was a very good improvising pia-nist, but she couldnt write anything down. She said [to me], I cant do that. Youre at Manhattan School of Music. Why dont you do it? So, I met this guy Joe Papp, and then I began to write a lot of things for the theater. And six months from now

[May of 2010] in Baton Rouge, Loui-siana theyre televising, filming, and recording my opera Twelfth Night, which we began to think of writing back in 1958 with no money and no way to get it done. Joe Papp finally said, Okay, well do it. 1968 it finally got done, and now in 2010 it will be on DVD, and someone will look at that and say, Oh boy, thats nice. How did he get to do that? He must have had his chauffeur-career coun-selor-lawyer-manager-guru take him right to the top. When in reality, it came out of something that I would

have started doing 52 years prior to that.

The first jazz poetry readings that were done in New York with Jack Kerouac were the result of a bring-your-own-bottle party in 1956. He handed me a piece of paper [with poetry] and said, Hey, play some-thing. And I played, we enjoyed it, and we got to hang out and become friends before On the Road was pub-lished.

And there are a lot of things that I still do today. My kids Alanas 30, Adiras 28, and Adams 25 they


Amram plays a flute rendition of Amazing Grace

Every time I leave here

and go anywhere Im always looking and listening and trying to learn

all have their own bands, and I go sit in with their bands sometimes. Im going this evening to play at a place a block from where I moved in 1955, with a good friend of mine whos a wonderful singer, Morley Ka-men, whos terrific. And people say, What are you doing this for? This is something I enjoy and get a lot out of doing. And its a block from where I started in 1955, and I still get that same feeling. I dont think Im 24 years old anymore Im 79, and Ive got my drivers license to prove it. But all the things I do al-ways come from trying to do a good job and trying to do what Im guided to feel would be interesting, fun, and educational. And maybe even where I can make a contribution to somebody else. Its not a federal of-fense. Having too many mirrors in your house is a bad idea, even when youre young and good-looking. And its amazing when you do things that way how satisfying it is.

I THINK one of the things that were lacking today is the realiza-tion that part of our gig as the old speedometer moves along, is what Dizzie Gillespie advised me to do on his 70th birthday. He said, David, I met you in 1951 in Washington D.C. when you were a 20 year old kid in your basement apartment just like a hick! And now youve got gray hair. He said, Its time to put something back into the pot. So, thats part of what our job is as old-er people to put something back in. Its the principle of organic farm-ing. And I dont think that means just writing out a check, if youre lucky enough to have anything in your checking account. Thats good too. But the best thing of all is to remain in what I call the University of Hang-out-ology to be with other people and see if maybe you can put something into their life. Its not that hard to do. Its not about mon-ey or power or egomania or getting something. Its about giving some-

thing, sharing something, and what you get back from that is something that you cant buy. It even makes you feel goodAnd its legal! (laughs) And good for your health. It beats drugs, dope, drinking too much, or spending money on new age, fake spiritualists who blaspheme reli-gions they dont know about.

I used to always hang out with older musicians and older people, and some of them just had that niceness, that glow. I said, Boy, Id like to be like those guys some day. And Im still trying to be. But at least I knew that it was possible. So, I think thats one of the things the arts can teach everybody that its good to do better than is expect-ed, to do more than youre expected to do, not to whine and complain if someone else gets the chance to do something that you were more qualified for. And with most people who are sitting at home watch-ing network news programs and shaking their fists at the television


DAVID AMRAM continued

But the best thing of all

is to remain in what I call the University of Hang-out-ology to be with other people and see if maybe you can put something into their life.

Clockwise from left: Larry Rivers, Jack Kerouac, David Amram, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso (with back to camera)Photo by The Guardian

screen, it doesnt change world poli-tics. If you cant control American policy, you can control your own conduct.

I think we can realize what we can always do something, and work-ing in the arts can teach us that how to help out the scene, how to cover up someone elses mistakes so that the whole picture is still strong.

Inflatable Ferret: One of the great-est benefits of music I think goes along with what you said about other cultures. It gives you some in-sight into other cultures. Of course, you dont have to like everything, and there are going to be certain kinds of music you hate, but to be able to appreciate that is really special.

DA: Well, I think some will really touch your heart. Some music is like a language. Different kinds of music are like different languages. Theres some music where you can hear the blues foundation or the rhythmic foundation. You can hear gypsy influence if you like Brahms, because Brahms was inspired by gypsy music. Of course, the Hun-garian dances had a lot of gypsy influence in them. Conversely, you could get into gypsy music through [Brahms] work because theres enough of that in his music to tune you into where it came from. If you like any kind of Russian folk music you can appreciate Tchaikovsky. Then there are some kinds of mu-sic that are so far out in terms of Western music you have to think completely differently, like when you hear music from India. But then when you understand the structure of the ragas and how they put the

rhythm parts together and then go to India and see a concert where people are sitting there listening and knowing what it is, its a differ-ent feeling. And its not just being spaced out.

And there are worlds and worlds of music out there that are so deep, and they in some way can all touch your heart. Then theres other kinds of stuff that you hear sometimes at the supermarket or in an elevator thats controlled by what I call the penitentiary of bad taste Thats the prison were all assigned into and told that we belong in to sit there like convicts waiting to get that one stale sand-wich slipped through the little com-partment. And thats supposed to do it for your whole life. Its the idea that you are such a sick human this is all you deservenot that I want to sound judgmental or anything. (laughs) But thats what the whole global entertainment industry has done to two or three generations. Its extraordinary that anybodys lis-tening to anything, that anybodys writing songs and symphonies. Theres a bigger audience for Eu-ropean and American classical mu-sic, for jazz and what they now call world music than theres ever been before. And thats because the central nervous system of human beings doesnt change. The desire for nourishment doesnt change. And theres such a collapse of the industrial music industry that produces stuff thats so repelling, eventually people when they find out theres something else out there, they dont buy the other stuff. And the reason they stopped buying that was because there was something else that was available. And when


Theres a bigger audience for European

and American classical music, for jazz and what they now call world music than theres ever been before. And thats because the central nervous system of human beings doesnt change. The desire for nourishment doesnt change.

they tried to blame that on Nap-ster, they suddenly said, (in mock-ing voice) Were so concerned about the rights of the poor art-ists getting their royalties. Are they kidding? All you have to do to get any royalties is to be able to afford enough lawyers to get some of what you were cheated out of back generally speaking. There were people who were honorable, but they are among the few. The deal was, everybody ripped off everybody, and down the food chain were the artists who were supposed to get those royalties.Secondly, and most interesting of all, they found out that the preponderance of stuff that was downloaded were things that you could never buy in a record store. It wasnt part of that pay-off sys-tem of the record industry. No-body bribed or paid off Beethoven or Mozart or Shakespeare or Bach or Dizzie Gillespie or Charlie Parker or a whole army of people whove enriched the whole world. No one paid them off to make it more beautiful, so its not neces-sary to have that as the only op-erating system. So, suddenly this thing called the Internet made it possible to get a lot of stuff you couldnt get before. For 99% of all the musicians in the world, especially those with some sincere feeling of wanting to create some-thing beautiful and pay their rent, suddenly the doors wide open. For those who say, Oh, it levels out the playing field. Theres too many people and too much competition I always say, theres never too many sunsets. The fact that its an open door means for the first time in his-

tory almost everyone has a chance to do something and have one per-son in the world appreciate it. All you need is one person. Charles Mingus told me that in 1955 in the tiny Caf Bohemia where the own-er, if he didnt like your attitude, hed beat you up and throw you out. And Mingus said, Look man, I dont care how ratty the joint is. Every night with me is Carnegie Hall. He said,

Just find one person to play for, and play for them. All you need in your life is one person to play for. This was right before I turned 25, and he said, I know youre writing symphonies like me that no one even wants to look at and will prob-ably never get played. But all you need is one person to write it for. And I never forgot that. So, I played at Pete Seegers 90th birthday not


DAVID AMRAM continued

Amrams diverse drum collection in his Putnam Valley home

too long ago there were 20,000 people, and the next night where I played at the Cornelia Street Caf (where I play the first Monday of ev-ery month) there were 60 people.

Inflatable Ferret: You have all these necklaces. Do you wear them everywhere you go?

DA: When I met you on the plane I had these on, and since I saw you Ive been in Iceland and Abu Dhabi. This one I got when I conducted the Wichita Falls, Texas Symphony. The concertmaster came up and said, (in Texas drawl) Mr. Amram, we want to give ya our state bluebon-net, and we want you to know youre the first guest conductor Wichita Falls, Texas Symphony ever had that didnt act like a Nazi! (laughs) I said, I dont think I can use that on my brochure, but I certainly ap-preciate it.

Inflatable Ferret: What are you working on now?

DA: Well, Im starting a fourth book, since my big speedometer tells me November 17th, 2010 Im going to be 80. Its going to be called Da-vid Amram: The First 80 Years and Larry Kramer is doing a documen-tary about me of the same name. And Im starting a new classical piece I was going to write a mass with [author] Frank McCourt, but he was so busy that he never could

quite get all the material together, so whatever piece I write will be dedicated in his memory.

Inflatable Ferret: Obviously you have an appreciation for all kinds of music. Do you ever listen to any modern music or rap?

DA: Oh, sure. I did some scat, which is the foundation of rap, but it was a different rhythm.

(starts to freestyle) Here we are in Putnam Valley and Im being inter-viewed by two people who both go to Fordham U/And I hope what Ive said this afternoon has some kind of value, and I can honestly say that most of it is true/Now when we met on that airplane a long time ago I bet you never thought the afternoon would end up like this/But having you call up on (because I missed you last Sunday because I had to be somewhere else) is an experience I definitely wouldnt want to miss/Now people who rhyme compulsive-ly like this are usually taken away for being certifiably crazy/And I often do this before I introduce the song I wrote with Jack Kerouac, which we know today as the song from Pull My Daisy/Well since Shakespeare himself, the greatest rapper of all, said that brevitys the soul of wit/He wouldve freestyled all afternoon, but at the very end he wouldve said, Thats it!

That wouldnt get the Pulitzer

Prize for poetry, but that process is something I was familiar with be-fore the word rap came. Rapping is something thats part of an old cultural experience, and some of the rappers, especially some of the ones who arent part of the indus-trial rappers complex, are phenom-enal. Theres a group called the Flobots. Some of them were school teachers, one of them played the Denver symphony. When I was at the Denver Library they wanted me to do some poetry and include rap, so they asked if I could do something with the Flobots. So, I was freestyl-ing with one of the Flobots, and then I got him to do some scatting, and he said hed never done it before, but he was terrific. There I was, a guy older than their grandparents, doing something that started dur-ing the era of their grandparents, which they have further refined, and its constantly developing.Max Roach, the great drummer, said that eventually music is going to be added to what kids are doing. Theyre denied instruments in the schools and the education we had, so they have to create their own mu-sical art with no instruments. And thats slowly happening. I go to high schools and colleges, and theres a phenomenal level of all forms of the performing arts. Theres a huge number of gifted composers, song-writers, rappers, ballet dancers, ac-tors, rappers, and theyre not going to go away. IF


Well since Shakespeare himself, the greatest rapper of all, said that brevitys the soul of wit/

He wouldve freestyled all afternoon, but at the very end he wouldve said, Thats it!

HEADER TEXT

THETWIN CITY TORTOISE

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> > > How steady management& the love of rock

has kept minneapolisbest independent label

alive for ten years & countingwords: james passarelli

19Inflatable Ferret

IF YOU ARE OR WERE a mu-sic buff in the past few decades, theres a good chance you fanta-sized about starting your own re-cord label. It would feature qual-ity music by all your friends bands that you thought were awesome. It would put you and your citys inde-pendent music scene on the map. And above all, it would Not. Sell. Out.

That last one is a concept with which just about everyone has struggled at some point or anoth-er. The sell-out question accom-panies success in any field, but the nature of the music industry makes it especially pertinent to bands and record labels. For Tom Loftus, Modern Radio founder and co-own-er, its a simple answer.

Its a labor of love, claims Lof-tus. One that we end up spending a lot of our free time on, happily.

Founded by Loftus in Minneap-olis, Modern Radio was born as a result of Loftus heavy involvement in the Minneapolis punk scene and general distaste for garbage com-mercial radio. The label kicked off in the summer of 1999 with three releases by Minneapolis bands: The Misfires Dead End Expressway LP, and two split 7 records, one by The Hidden Chord, and the other featuring Brand New Unit and Kill-sadie. The records were hits, and the label quickly got the attention of a Minneapolis rock scene that would reach its prime in the few years following. All four of the la-bels founding bands would break up soon thereafter, but they laid the foundations for a new generation of artists to carry on their tradition of big-time innovation on a small-time scale.

Just a year after its incep-tion, the label released Minne-apolis indie legends The Plastic

Constellation debut full-length, as well as the chart-topping Motion City Soundtracks first CDEP. In 2005 Loftus friend Pete Mielech joined the ranks as Loftus part-ner and co-owner, and that Spring STNNNG, a Twin City punk band striving for the modest title of the ultimate basement party band, re-leased their first LP Dignified Sissy. Since then Modern Radio has put out over twenty-five more releases (fifty total releases altogether), all without writing a single contract.

Almost everything on the label has come from prior friendships, says Loftus. We want to be able to work with artists we trust and know.

The easiest way for the label to go about that has been working mainly with artists from the Min-neapolis-St. Paul area. In 2006 Minneapolis newspaper City Pages named Modern Radio Best Re-cord Label of the Twin Cities. To-day the label touts a number of ac-complished local bands, including punk outfits The Chambermaids, The Danforths, ft (The Shadow Gov-ernment), and STNNNG, as well as psychedelic four-piece Daughters of the Sun and genre-spanning Vampire Hands.

With Modern, your motive is being into what youre doing and

repping your city, says Pete Bi-asi, st (The Shadow Government) bassist and former member of The Misfires and another Modern band Signal to Trust. Twin City has something hot happening - weve got some great bands.

In some respects, Modern Radio is more a collective than a group of separate bands. With a number of side projects between members and constant musician sharing (most of the artists on the label play in at least one additional band with other musicians on the label), Modern Radio is based on a community. But that community is in no way limited to the Twin Cities. Theyve worked with and released albums by a number of out-of-state artists, including Portland-based indie-folk singer Mirah, experimen-tal San Franciscans Deerhoof, and Iowa bluesman William Elliot Whit-more.

It was never just a local scale. We always thought our bands were as good as anything else out there, Loftus explains.

In the age of the digital music explosion, Loftus and Mielech focus on the hard copy. Sure, they sell digital albums and songs through iTunes just like any other label, but their insistence on quality album artwork sets them apart from most of their contemporary modern mu-sic distributors. Artwork has al-ways been an important aspect for Modern, Biasi explains, whether its hand-screened stuff done by the band or using local artists. To iPod users, the method may sound outdated, but to Modern musicians artwork is a key element to the listening experience. And in the midst of major record label confu-sion, Loftus and Mielech have no worries about the future of their

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label. Or at least Loftus doesnt.Ill be the first to say that Im not

surprised we made it to ten years, he told The AV Club in a recent in-terview, and I wont be surprised when we make it to twenty.

With Mielech focusing more on numbers and Loftus on manage-ment, Modern Radio seems poised for success for as long as the two have the energy to put out material. Their dedication, their contempo-raries will tell you, is only matched by their ability to have fun.

With those guys it takes all of ten minutes hanging out with them to become friends, says STNNNG bassist Jesse Kwakenat. They arent tough to get to know.

Probably most impressive about Modern Radio is that its not even a fulltime business. Loftus has worked at various non-profit orga-nizations, and Mielech spent time in design before landing a service position at a local hospital, but for neither is the label a fulltime job.

I think its kind of nice that way, says Vampire Hands guitarist Chris Rose. That means theyre actually interested in it and not just trying to make money off of it.

The same holds true for most of the musicians. Kwakenat spends his wee days teaching, while Rose works a part-time office job. But dont let the part-time tag shape your thoughts about the members involvement. Whether touring, re-cording, or planning, everyone in-volved with the label puts his fair share of time and energy into each release. And Loftus and Mielech spend just as much time on the road as touring bands: Loftus has seen both Signal of a Trust and STNNNG play live over a hundred times.

[Modern Radio] is not some-thing thats that separated from my

daily life, says Neil Weird, founding member of The Chambermaids. We all run into each other on an almost nightly basis.

In its eleventh full year of exis-tence, Modern Radio is taking a tor-toise approach to a business often ruined by the hare mentality. The la-bel rarely presses over a thousand CD or vinyl copies, a large reason why theyve never suffered a signifi-cant loss.

I think thats the downfall of a lot of labels, Weir says, they over-exert themselves with the vague idea that somethings going to come of it and theyll somehow pay for their expenses. Tom is really good at not over-reaching, and hes very realistic about the relationship between what he puts into a record and what he expects to come out of it in terms of sales. Hes conserva-tive that way, which is a major con-tributing factor to the longevity of the label.

For Kwakenat, stable is the word that best defines Modern. Its really nice to have guys like Tom

and Pete who really understand the economics of it. You can count on them not to fuck it up when youre releasing a record. And thats su-per important with small labels.

Modern celebrated its tenth anniversary in January with a two-night event featuring all their power-houses, the second night including a reunion appearance by The Plastic Constellations and the labels new-est addition Skoal Kodiak. As for the future, Modern plans to release a six-track split 12 by Vampire Hands and Daughters of the Sun in April. STNNNG hopes to release their third LP The Smoke of My Will in the fall or summer, and Skoal Kodiak are working on their first record.

With a rapidly changing world musical climate and the disintegra-tion of top dog record labels, who knows who will still be standing in at the turn of the decade? But even if the rest of the musical world is in ru-ins, you can always take a trip up to Minneapolis and celebrate Modern Radios twentieth anniversary with them. IF

Co-owners Mielech and LoftusPhoto by Carl Wedoff


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MODERN RADIO


continued


WHERE: Minneapolis, MNWHO: Pete Mielech and Tom LoftusWEBSITE: www.modern-radio.comBANDS:The ChambermaidsThe DanforthsDaughters of the SunHis Mischief ft (The Shadow Government)Skoal KodiakSTNNNGTornavlancheVampire Hands

COMING THIS YEAR:Skoal Kodiak Debut Album (no name yet)

STNNNGThe Smoke ofMy Will

Vampire Hands/Daughtersof the SunSplit 12

MODERN RADIO | Quick Facts

Modern Radios merchandise table at their tenth anniversary showPhoto by Sharyn Morrow

Flyer for Minnesota Migration show, featuring Modern bands

Archie 4:37We ReadyAside from weekly mass where else will you hear someone say Break Bread?

Kurtis Blow 3:47BasketballWhat do you get when Charlie Murphys suave and Princes musical talents meet? Well, I wouldnt have any idea if Chappelles Show hadnt paid proper tribute to the living legend. But its impossible to exaggerated Blows ridiculousness. Only looking at his eyes in the music video will have you feeling as though youve stared at the sun for too long.

Nelly 4:35Heart of a ChampionIf anyones impression of this man came from The Longest Yard, I apologize. I heard

Adam Sandler is paying reparations for anyone who shows proof of a ticket stub (rumor). Anyway, kudos to Nelly for his rap game and to increasing Band-Aids sales by 36%.

Technotronic 3:45Pump Up the JamReleased in 1989. Not a more fitting way to enter the 90s.

Jim Jones 3:45 We Fly HighBallllllllllllllliiinnnn.

Lil Wayne 4:03CannonAny Weeeezzy fans out there? Dont answer. Its a rhetorical question. Whether or not you fancy Waynes voice, the instrumentals for this song will improve any Asians chance of getting above the rim.

Van Halen 5:06Right NowMay the gods of rock accept this song as homage for Nickelbacks sins.

Eiffel 65 4:16My ConsoleOkay, seriously, if anyone knows where the fuck these guys are or what theyre doing, Ill personally drop the cash for a reunion tour.

Eminem 4:57Till I Collapse Warning: Song may cause you to lose yourself.

Salt n-Pepa 4:10ShoopIn no way is this a pump up song nor does it share any correlation to basketball. But hey, Shoop is only one character away from Shoot, so back off.


80 MINUTES OF MUSIC FOR MARCH MADNESS

FOR MARCH MADNESSIF YOU THOUGHT Morpheus pill test was too much of a brainteaser then bracketology may not be for you. March is a month where converting trees to paper becomes a necessity for fueling NCAA basketball bracket-hungry fiends. Not to mention a time for fans to see the inauspicious Winthrops of the world be dismantled on a national stage. So just in case Obama hasnt stimulated your ass enough, perhaps our 80-minute playlist of pump-up music will get the job done. If not, move to Canada.


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Kurtis Blow (need we say more?)

23Inflatable Ferret

Jay-Z 4:05Brooklyn We Go HardThis song does seem to target a specific demographic. So if someone calls you out on it my advice is to just pretend youre from the city that never sleeps or quote Synecdoche, New York. Either way people will be impressed.

Naughty By Nature 4:31OPPYou down with OPP? Yeah You Know Me. x3Whos Down with OPP? Every Last Inflatable Ferret. x3 Quote slightly altered.

Metallica 5:40Enter SandmanNot a lot to joke about here. Many props to Kirk Hammett for being one of the sickest guitarists this past century. (This rating excludes any musicians from School of Rock, as well as Jack Black.)

House of Pain 3:37Jump AroundRanked #63 on VH1s Greatest One Hit Wonders, House of Pains Jump Around is

played at various sport complexes throughout the US. Lucky for them the luck hasnt stopped there. The song has been featured multiple times on the TV series My Name Is Earl. No wonder Tyler Parrys House of Payne is struggling in the ratings.

Chemical Brothers 5:02GalvanizeGalvanize: To shock or excite (someone), typically into taking action. Enjoy this classic, and try to keep your pulse down.

AC/DC 3:35TNTWhile listening to this song I tend to envision the historical triumphs are nation has faced. Pearl Harbor. Joey Chestnut defeating Kobayashis hot dog eating record. Miracle on Ice. Sarah Palin not becoming vice president. Even Wilmer Valderrama getting acting gigs.

Trick Daddy ft. Twista& Lil Jon 3:46Lets GoPerfect to add to your pump up playlist for a

few reasons. One, his website (Trickdaddy.com) throws viewers into the drivers seat of a car. Two, Lil Jon yells Lets Go! anywhere from twenty to sixty times during the song. Three, I cant think of anything else, but its a good jam so just check it out.

Fatboy Slim 6:53The Rockafeller SkankRight about now, the funk soul brother. A pre-game masterpiece by the Phat Boy himself.

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inflatable ferret volume ii, issue 2

Documents

more80 minutes of music

new albums

music megastars

new video wasnt necessary

joanna newsom

haiti video

david amramreviews

modern radiointerview