Two Songs for Dad: Kenny Rogers, The Gambler and Frank Sinatra, My Way
These are two songs my father loved, and passed on to me: First, The Gambler, by Kenny Rogers, from the record of the same name. We had a tape which I think we about wore out listening to in the car, and he was still quoting the lyrics as advice last month. And … Read more
Video: Klassik, Forever Whatever
Klassik is from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and his music is a delicate fusion of jazz and hip-hop. His latest video features a great tune, some truly trippy special effects, awesome dancing, and inexplicable destruction of an innocent piano. Check it: DON’T FORGET TO FILL OUT THE NTSIB READER SURVEY! 10 questions that should not … Read more
Big Lonely: Short Stories with Recurring Characters
Big Lonely are from Burlington, Ontario, Canada, and Stories With Recurring Characters is their first EP. They start out with a sweet indie pop-rock groove and then go careering off the rails in the best way possible right in the middle of a song, and it only gets better from there. Here is the video … Read more
Video: The Rest, Who Knows
Here is the video for Who Knows from, SEESAW, by The Rest. The third in their ongoing series, it features science, the world’s most maddening Rorschach test cards, some super-freaky drawings, 3-D printing, birds, and explosions, roughly in that order. If you watch it with the sound off it still makes perfect sense as a … Read more
Video: Jonathan Coulton, First of May
One of my favorite Jonathan Coulton songs. Still not safe for work, but now with bonus ASL translation! The signs are provided by Stephen Torrence and friends; if you’d like a closer look at the signs, you can have that here: DON’T FORGET TO FILL OUT THE NTSIB READER SURVEY! … Read more
Salt Petal: Sea Monster
Salt Petal are: Autumn Harrison (Vocals/Accordeon), Rodrigo Gonzalez (Guitar), Hiroo Nakano (Drums), Jesse Herrera (Bass), and Dayna Richards (Trumpet). They are currently from Los Angeles, but have roots in Argentina. Their music is an effervescent combination of languages – English, Spanish and Portuguese – and styles, including Argentinian folk, Brazilian tropicalia, Cumbia (big brass … Read more
Video: Rob Zombie, Dead City Radio and the New Gods of Supertown
There’s a lot going on here – hippie!Zombie, zombie!Zombie, breakdancing skeleton, various kinds of freaky ballerinas – and it is ALL AWESOME. The song is Dead City Radio and the New Gods of Supertown, from his new record Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor due out at the end of the month. Metal Hammer has a tracklist … Read more
Video: TimLee3, Devil’s Rope
Watch out, baby girl, preacher man is coming for you and it isn’t loving he has on his mind: There is more where that came from; Devil ‘s Rope is the title track of TimLee3‘s new record, which is some A++ swampy, bluesy rock and roll. Devil’s Rope has been stuck in my … Read more
Video: The Almighty Rhombus, She Didn’t Want Me
Some thoughts while watching the video for She Didn’t Want Me, from the new self-titled EP by The Almighty Rhombus: 1. How awesome is “The Almighty Rhombus” just as a band name? SUPER AWESOME. A++ use of geometry in band-naming. 2. These dudes and ladies are SERIOUSLY committed to grilling out. (They are my kind … Read more
Gary Lightbody and The Assembly, This Is All That I Ask of You
Long ago in a galaxy not THAT far away – i.e. 1999-2000 – I worked in tech PR1 and pitched people as speakers for TED talks2. That was when TED talks were only given in one place! Now they are everywhere! This is an excerpt from a TED talk given by Gary Lightbody of Snow … Read more