http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Wed, 29 Jun 2005 16:41:38 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding. Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/06/29/164138.php Alex PelanAlbum Review: Eastern Spirit- The Streamers: 4/5I discovered this band on, of all places, myspace. Although the Artist tag on the CD is Sean Yoxovic and the Streamers, they actually call themselves just "The Streamers." Sean is the guitarist and lead singer. He is from Serbia, and when rock was looked upon with disdain by the Serbian Government, he left, to go to NYC. These guys are an indie rock band, which is different from my normal listening, which is classic rock. However, when I saw that their influences included the Kinks, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones, I knew I couldn't pass this one up, and the record didn't disappoint. Overall, the tracks are very catchy, and you can definitely hear the influences - the Beatles-sounding Indian background music, the simple melodies of the Kinks. However, at the same time they make sure not to eclipse their own sound, and they still end up with a unique sound. Overall, I give it a 4/5 and would recommend checking it out. By track:1. Mr. Grey- this is my favorite song on the album. It takes a really simple lick at the beginning of five or so chords, and makes a great song from that. 5/5 2. Silver Birds in Yellow Sky- very Indian sounding, another good song. 4/5 3. This Is Not Material World- another great song, some good guitar work near the end. 5/5 4. Ghost- excellent gradual layering, another catchy song. 5/5 5. Again on the Road- another instance of them taking a very simple melody and making it a great song. Very kinks-esque. 5/5 6. Supper Piggy- Weird song, lots of psychadelia, good instrumentalism, but I don't dig that kind of thing myself. 3/5 7. Dream of Freedom- a quality song, but at this point in the album, the songs start blending together. 4/5 8. Basement - see above 4/5 9. King of Darkness -a different, more acoustic sounding song. 5/5 10. What's the Worth of Getting it All- Another song that just kind of blends in. 2/5 11. In the Park- awesome song, 5/5 12. Back to the Forrest- I don't really like instrumental, psychadelic songs - 3/5Overall, it is very good, but I feel that they need to add more variety. They have a good start, and as this record is three years old, they have developed as musicians even more. Definitely check them out if you are in the NYC area. Their Myspace Also Featured on Pelan's Blog Music31784@blogcritics.org Wed, 29 Jun 2005 16:41:38 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/06/24/144411.php Alex PelanThe other night, I went to Dodd Memorial Stadium, home of the Norwich Navigators, to see Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson. I'm not gonna lie- I mainly went to see Bob Dylan. A band called the Greencards opened up the show, and they were a really good acoustic-country rock band. They had this one guy who played the Ukelalae (sp?) who was insanely good. After they were done, Willie Nelson was on next. But first, a big man who was possibly Willie's manager came out to talk about Willie's newest products. The manager detailed Willie's four new albums for 2005, including one where he plays reggae. Yes, reggae. There was an audible laugh in the crowd after the manager said that. Later, the manager mentioned that Willie is going to be in Dukes of Hazzard the movie, which brought on yet another audible laugh. As the set opened, a gigantic Texas flag unfurled. I thought Willie's set was pretty good, and although I don't really appreciate the country music that much, I still appreciated his talent on the guitar.Afterwards came Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan is definitely an eccentric artist. He is not the kind of person who would pump out a "greatest hits" concert. He only played two songs I recognized. People didn't like this, and actually started leaving. I thought it was pretty good though, as Dylan went for a more rock feel than his folksy origins. Another thing about Dylan is that he rearranges all of his songs for concert. Thus, even the songs that were familiar were often hard to recognize. His voice is also pretty bad, and it is hard to understand what he is saying. As a result, I just focused on the music, and the band was incredible. Dylan spent most of the night on the keyboard, with some harmonica solos built in there. The best part of the night was at the end, where I got to go down on the floor, as people left. He played a really good song, then, in the most staged thing ever, essentially nodded to the audience and walked off. We cheered for about ten minutes, then they came back. The finale was "Like a Rolling Stone," and that was definitely the best part of the night. I give it an 8/10 overall, not bad for my first show. I thought Willie's segment was too long (1.5 hours) and Bob's was too short (1.5 hours). I think it's a great thing that two legends of music like Bob and Willie are doing a minor league baseball park tour. There were only a couple of thousand people there, and because it was a smaller venue, the sound was better preserved. In summary, the music was very good, even though the two men headlining weren't very big talkers. I would recommend this tour to anyone, and it should be coming soon to a minor league ballpark near you. Music31551@blogcritics.org Fri, 24 Jun 2005 14:44:11 EDT