Blogcritics Author: Lono

Music Review: Guns and Roses - Chinese Democracy

Lono — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:12:20 EDT

After waiting 15 years, Lono has gone out and found Chinese Democracy. After two years of chewing on tracks, he is ready to report back.
Like you, I am bored with waiting for Axl Rose’s Chinese Democracy. Fifteen years, and well over fifteen million dollars, say I am waiting no more. I have most of the tracks, if not all of them, in various stages of completion. What comes now is a track by track reckoning of the new album. Some would say it isn’t fair to review an...

Live Nation Dumps Ticketmaster

Lono — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 08:13:54 EST

The nation's biggest concert promoter, Live Nation, has just announced they are dropping Ticketmaster.
If you are a reader here, you know my vehemence towards Ticketmaster. It's nothing newsworthy, everyone hates them. The good news is that Ticketmaster hasn't just been screwing you and your hot wife, they have been angering the vendors as well. Last year, universities starting turning away from Ticketmaster because of the exorbitant...

Why Polling Doesn't Work

Lono — Wed, 9 Jan 2008 02:48:38 EST

Lono takes a look at why pollsters may have it all wrong
Thoughts on New HampshireOk, it is 8:27 MST. We are still waiting to see how this shakes out on the Dem side. Here is what I want to talk about - polling. You know that Obama was polling at double digits in New Hampshire. The pundits are freaked out, and how did this happen? I will tell you my perspective.The first thing is that people lie to...

Earworms - Those Songs That Get Stuck in Your Head

Lono — Sun, 6 Jan 2008 09:32:55 EST

I explain how songs get stuck in your head, and how to get them out!
Do you know what an earworm is? You do, but the phrase may be new to you. An 'earworm' is a song that gets stuck in your head and drives you crazy. As a life long sufferer, it has gotten really bad lately. So bad, in fact, that I was able to diagnose and cure it. I genuinely think I know the reason these songs get stuck in your head to play...

Will There Be A Led Zeppelin Reunion Tour?

Lono — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 23:43:38 EST

Will the mighty Led Zeppelin reform and tour? Yes, and no.
OK.I guess no one wants to say it out loud, so I will. There will be no Led Zeppelin tour in 2008. I do not believe it is possible to move the biggest band in the world around the globe in three months when it hasn't left the garage for 30 years. Also, vocalist Robert Plant has plans for most of 2008 with Alison Kraus. Besides, you can't book...

McClellan Leak Implicates the President

Lono — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 04:05:03 EST

White House press secretary Scott McClellan's new memoir pointedly claims Bush, Rove, & Co covered up the Plame scandal.
Okay.We have some more work to do on the Plame scandal. I know you thought we were over it. Now, y'all knew Bush and Cheney were behind it. I don't think anyone would be surprised that this went all the way to the top. Libby took a digger for the team, hence Bush commuting the entire sentence. No surprises, not to me anyway.The scandalous...

The NAFTA Superhighway: Fact or Fiction?

Lono — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 02:33:59 EST

Lono looks at the big story behind the supposed NAFTA Superhighway connecting Mexico to Canada.
Have you heard about the Superhighway? It is this super highway that is being built between Texas and Canada. It is also known as the ‘NAFA Superhighway’, the Trans-Texas Corridor, the SPP highway. It has many names, and will be four football fields wide. It is a means of getting goods and services expeditiously through the United...

Schadenfreude Capitalism

Lono — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 07:43:24 EDT

What kind of business succeeds only when you fail?
I was reading earlier today about how swell the new Blockbuster-by-mail DVD service is. The dude compared it to Netflix, but thought maybe Blockbuster's was better. The reason? You can go into a Blockbuster store and return your DVDs and immediately pick a new one from the in-store stock (even though you are a mail customer). Truly, that is...

Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, 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.

Paul Simon, America's Greatest Living Composer

Lono — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 16:53:58 EDT

It's time to appreciate Paul Simon with everything I've got in my quiver. Really I shouldn't even need all those caveats up there. In fact, you could pull any one of those words out and still have the effect I am going for. I threw 'America' in there because Paul McCartney is so good that an argument could be made for him. In a songwriting death match between the two, I would still take Simon. Why? Paul Simon has been producing phenomenal music for over 40 years. 40 fuckin' years, man! Some might say his best music was done before I was born (1972), yet... look at Graceland. I was just watching a side by side DVD session today of Live in Central Park (1981) and Old Friends (2004). The set list is nearly the same, as you can imagine. Now, while Artie can no longer hit those highs, I swear to you Paul Simon sings better than he did in 1981. Also, remember that video for "Call me Al" he did with Chevy Chase? I submit that is the most clever and best use of video since "Thriller". His accomplishments are way too many to cover, but we should mention he bagged Princess Leia and did SNL with George Harrison. Then, that crafty old bastard stole away my teen crush Edie Brickell. Simon has my love and respect in spades.I can not think of a single individual more influential on the musical landscape, or my personal history, than Paul Simon. His music is thoughtful, catchy, enduring, and cheerfully morose. His lyrics, while beautiful upon a closer look are stifling sad. Somehow, he and Artie take that New York feel and make it America's music. It's not a cliche to say that Paul Simon's music is America's music. Let's not forget he brought us our first taste of African Music with Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you'll say Peter Gabriel did too. However, Simon made it good and that makes a difference. Growing up playing guitar, I learned my riffs from Jimmy Page and my rhythm from Paul Simon. God bless you, indeed, Mrs. Robinson. I'll leave you with one of my favorite verses, which only exists on the live version of "The Boxer". I think it says it all perfectly."Now the years are rolling by me, they are rocking evenlyand I am older than I once was, but younger than I'll that's not unusual Though it isn't strange, after changes upon changes we are more or less the same After changes, we are more or less the same."

Lono rambles on about everything at his home page I am Correct and more specifically about music here at the Phantom Blog . He lives in Colorado, and pretends he doesn't care what you think... but I think we both know he secretly does.

Music Review - Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist

Lono — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 09:47:25 EDT

I now begin my awaited Zeitgeist review. Why 'awaited'? Because I regard myself as the greatest Pumpkins fan. That being said, I am not impossibly pro-Billy and blind to criticism. If you don't believe that, read my just plain mean and terrible review of The Future Embrace. Two years later and I haven't touched that CD. I don't even know where it is... but it didn't make the cut on my 20 gig iPod... so that should be telling. So the Pumpkins are reunited. What does that mean, when only half the band came back? It means the only two who mattered are back. It has been long rumored and assumed that Billy Corgan did All the recording on the Pumpkins discs... bass and guitar. Iha and Darcy were just a touring band. So, if we have Jimmy Chamberlain and Billy Corgan then we have 99% of the Pumpkins songwriting and recording team. I should note the albums credits are slyly succinct. They read, verbatim: " Jimmy Chamberlain: Drums Billy Corgan: everything else." It was always suspected Billy did all the string work, now its official.The new record is very good, but I can't say great yet. If you are looking to hear 'Siamese Dream 2', this would not be the release for you. Of course, nothing would as Siamese Dream is the greatest modern rock record every made, only on par with Appetite for Destruction. Strong words, I know. The new record is so much a new feel of Billy Corgan, it actually sounds a lot closer to Zwan. In fact, you can really call this a Zwan re-union as well. Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlain were both in Zwan and obviously the driving forces musically in that band. The album does not fail to rock. In fact, this will sound stupid, but it rocks too hard. My favorite work of the Pumpkins is great introspective stuff like "Mayonnaise," "Snail," "Rhinoceros," "Soma." I won't go through track by track, because I would need 40 or 50 listens to do that well. However, currently I am most fond of "Tarantula." Problem is, I am not sure if that is because it is the best song or because they released it first so its jammed in my head (think Vertigo). Regardless, that song kicks major ass. If you are looking for Jimmy Chamberlain to 'bore holes in your skull', start with "United States."I have had the disc couple of weeks now (since release day). It has done quite well. It debuted at #2 on Billboard, and most of their shows have sold out. If you are a fan of the band, I definitely encourage you to pick it up. It isn't that simple, though. Annoyingly, there are five versions out there. There is the standard CD (12 songs), the standard CD with a great and strange booklet, and three versions with extra songs. Best Buy has one with an extra song, Target has another with a bonus song, as does iTunes. Problem is, each release is 'exclusive' and not on the other bonus tracks. This means to get each of the three extra tunes on the market, you need to buy $100 worth of the same CD. To me, that is evil bullshit marketing, but clever. It's not new, though. Zeppelin did it with the paper bag covered In Through the Out Door and Garth Brooks did it with his record breaking Wal Mart only live thingy. In addition, they also did a deal just for iTunes customers, pre-sale on concert tickets. I can't quite figure out if that is 'fan friendly' or just good marketing.Now that I do the math, maybe that is how the Pumpkins got to #2, it was just 12 or 14 super fans who bought every version. It's ok, the Pumpkins have brought me more joy than I can put a dollar to, and knowing that I will see them Red Rocks this fall freaks me out! As for the extra three bonus songs out there, I'll probably just nab them off Limewire. Dude already got my $23 for buying the 'limited edition book', and I ain't buying four more CDs. Thank you for the music, Billy, and thank you for reading. You may now summarily tear into me below.Talk amongst yourselves. First topic: the pic of Darcy's bass in a casket. Seems a bit overboard, don't you think? Also, why no similar mention of Iha in the photography?