Hey, Hipster...It's a Buzz Band Alert!

I guess tonight is the night I find out if all the hype has been worth it for the band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. I got the CD sent to me for my radio show, and it's pretty good. But the over-the-top praise being laid on this band is a bit much.

Essentially, they sound like the Talking Heads. That's not a band thing at all. Talking Heads are among my favorite bands. CYHSY's singer is a dead ringer for David Byrne. But I can only really get into a couple of songs on the new CD.

Tonight the new "buzz band of the moment" will be playing at Sokol Underground. The show is sold out, and has been for a few weeks. This is almost unheard of for Underground shows.

NPR has a Clap Your Hands Say Yeah concert available for streaming on its website if you haven't heard anything by the band. I'll let you know about the show after it's over.


Tag: Indie

Ice T Hits The Big O This Saturday

Former gangsta rapper and current star of Law & Order: SVU, Ice T, will be coming to Omaha! He's not picking up the mic and freestyling, unfortunately. Ice will be giving a speech at the re-opening of the Charles B. Washington branch of the Omaha Public Library this Saturday, April 1. The library is located at 2868 Ames Ave in North Omaha.

The re-opening will be attended by Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey. The event is happening from 10 am to 1 pm, and admission is your library card. For more information go to Omaha Public Library's website.

Ice is currently helping with teen literacy campaigns and has been speaking at libraries across the country.

Ice T was the shit in the 80s and early 90s. No one could touch him. His rap career was derailed by all the controversy over the song "Cop Killer" that he did with his rock band Body Count.

In case you only know Ice T from being on Law & Order, I am posting an mp3 of the title track to Ice's classic album, O.G. Original Gangsta.

Ice T - O.G. Original Gangsta (mp3)

Tag: Ice T

Replacements Reunion? Don't Believe the Hype

This would be cooler if there was actually a reunion taking place. But former Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson has been a member of Guns N Roses for seven years, and they are about to embark on a tour. So, he's out. Drummer Chris Mars has abandoned music and is a successful full-time artist. He's out. While it is cool that the guys were photographed together and worked on two new songs for a best-of (which are essentially Westerberg solo songs), don't believe the hype on a potential reunion.
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(Billboard) by Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.
As tipped yesterday (March 28) on Billboard's Jaded Insider blog, Replacements members Paul Westerberg, Tommy Stinson and Chris Mars have reunited to record two new songs for an upcoming retrospective, "Don't You Know Who I Think I Was?: The Best of the Replacements." Due June 13 via Rhino, the set will feature "Message to the Boys" and "Pool & Dive," the band's first new recordings in 16 years.

Session drummer Josh Freese was behind the kit for the new recordings, while Mars, who in recent years has foregone music for an art career, contributed backing vocals. The songs were written by Westerberg and were recorded at producer Ed Ackerson's Flowers studio in Minneapolis. At deadline, it is unclear if any further activity is brewing within the Replacements' camp.

Westerberg told Billboard.com in 2005 that he still reflects fondly on the Replacements' early days, especially "when we were riding in the van and we ripped the seats out and would just listen to tapes and listen to Black Flag. [We would] sort of slam dance and stuff around in the back of the van and be drinking hard liquor at noon and it was just, you know, carefree times. We didn't give a damn."

Westerberg also said he tried to reunite the Replacements for an October 2004 benefit concert for Soul Asylum's Karl Mueller, who later died of cancer. "I didn't call the guys myself," he admitted. "One of our old roadie pals came over who owns a bar now and runs a club and was asking if I would do a benefit for Karl and I said, 'See if the boys want to play.' And he kind of went around and got various answers and it didn't come back real strong like, 'Hey let's do it.' And I felt like that was the opportunity, that was the chance and we just missed it.

"Now I say, there's probably no chance we'll get back together again," he said, without pinpointing which of his former colleagues were not interested. "It bothered me for like an afternoon," he laughed. "But, it did bother me for that long because I was secretly excited and some of them weren't."

Meanwhile, sources say the long-awaited Replacements boxed set is still in the planning stages and will not be out until 2007 at the earliest. Rhino is also working on expanded editions of the Replacements' albums, but no release date has yet been announced for those packages either.

The Mats in 2006: Chris Mars, Tommy Stinson, Josh Freese, Paul Westerberg

Here is the track list for “Don't You Know Who I Think I Was?”:

"Takin a Ride"
"Shiftless When Idle"
"Kids Don't Follow"
"Color Me Impressed"
"Within Your Reach"
"I Will Dare"
"Answering Machine"
"Unsatisfied"
"Here Comes a Regular"
"Kiss Me on the Bus"
"Bastards of Young"
"Left of the Dial"
"Alex Chilton"
"Skyway"
"Can't Hardly Wait"
"Achin' To Be"
"I'll Be You"
"Merry Go Round"
"Message to the Boys"
"Pool & Dive"

Tag: The Replacements

Song of the Day: Jenny Lewis "The Charging Sky"

You know, it's funny. Ever since I created the "Dark Stuff Media Player" graphic, the mp3s I have been posting have been getting virtually no plays. Maybe you all thought it was some sort of new media player that had to be dowloaded? Well, it wasn't. It was just a jpeg. If you clicked it, then the mp3 would play -- through whatever your default player is.

So, obviously, I'm scrapping that graphic. For today's song, I'm doing Jenny Lewis again. Last time, I posted her single, "Rise Up With Fists!" That song has more of a gospel feel than the song I am posting today. This one has more of an old school country sound with somewhat "non-country" lyrics. Great song. It is available on her new solo album, Rabbit Fur Coat.

Jenny Lews with the Watson Twins - "The Charging Sky"(mp3)

Tag: Jenny Lewis

BRMC on 'Carson Daily'

Dark Stuff favorite Black Rebel Motorcycle Club will be performing live on Last Call with Carson Daily (NBC) this Monday, March 27. The band will not merely be performing one song, as is the case with most bands that appear on television. They will be doing what they describe as a "mini-set" for the show. Should be cool. If you live in LA, you can check here for how to get tickets to the performance.

Tag: Rock

New Sonic Youth -- June 13

The College Music Journal (CMJ) is reporting that the new Sonic Youth album will be called Rather Ripped, and is set to be released June 13 on Geffen Records. Sonic Youth has been with Geffen since 1990 when they shocked the indie music world by signing with a major label.

Sonic Youth's last album, Sonic Nurse, is among their best, so this bodes well for the new release.

Tag: Sonic Youth

My Concert-Going Debate

I'm having a tough time deciding if I am going to make it to the Two Gallants / Pink Mountaintops show tonight at Sokol. I like the Two Gallants a lot -- the new CD What The Toll Tells is excellent -- but I am feeling a little worn out from last night's Scout Niblett show.

Scout was excellent, by the way. Much less intoxicated than she was last time I saw her, but no less entertaining. Last night, she opened with The Cars' "Just What I Needed," and I swear the crowd did not recognize it! How fucking sad. I was standing with the promoters and Robb from Saddle Creek, and we were all amazed that the (very) young crowd didn't seem to realize she was playing a cover song. These young kids today -- no sense of musical history. A couple people recognized Scout's closing song -- "Sweet Leaf" by Black Sabbath -- but I think that many just thought it was another of her songs.

The crowd (about 80 people or so) was there mostly to see headliner Rainer Maria. I'm not a fan. I left the second Scout ended.
Like I said, I am still debating whether or not to go see Two Gallants. I saw them last year with Rogue Wave, and they were great. Decent guys. I partied a little bit with them after the show. Tickets for the show are $8, and it should be pretty crowded.

The fact that I am considering not going to the show means that I am truly getting old.

Tag: Indie Rock

Song of the Day: Burning Brides "Plank of Fire"

This song is not especially new. But last night, when it came up at random on my iPod, I played it at least five times in a row. The song just fucking rocks! That's all there is to it. The name of the band is Burning Brides.

Yes, it does sound a lot like Nirvana's Bleach album. But these guys (and gal) do it so flawlessly, that I am easily able to overlook the lack of originality. Besides, originality is overrated.

This tune comes from the band's first album (they are working on their third now), Fall of the Plastic Empire. I saw the band for the first time last year as the opening act for Mastodon. They were excellent live -- actually better than Mastodon. However, what was most memorable to me was that after the show bassist Melanie Campbell was strolling around the club asking anyone around if they had any coke for sale. Man, I wanted to help a hot female rocker like her out, but it has been quite a while since I carried around any coke. Anyway, turn up those tinny computer speakers and give a listen to this tune:

Tag: Punk Rock

Interpol Goes to Interscope

Just read that NYC's indie darlings (and quite an amazing band) Interpol have just signed to Interscope Records. Of all the major labels, Interscope is one of the top ones. They also have Beck, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio, and Wolfmother on their roster. I guess it could be an okay move for the band. But what will poor Matador Records do? Interpol was their only band that sold records.


Tag: Music

Get Off Your Ass and Get to Sokol Tonight

Since just about every good band in the world is down in Austin this weekend, there is not too much to see here in Omaha. But there is one show that will be more than worthy of your time. It's an amazing local double bill featuring Ladyfinger and Mr. 1986. Both bands are playing tonight (Sat. 3/18) at Sokol Underground. Tickets are available at the door for $7. Also on the bill is Reverso Benigni.

New Unreleased Eric Carr Material To Be Released This Year

(Blabbermouth) Newly discovered, unreleased material from late Eric "The Fox" Carr, who was the drummer for KISS between 1980 and 1991, will be released by his family later this year. The songs all are from the era 1984-1991. It's not known at this time whether the family will release an EP or if they will just make the tracks available for download through the official Eric Carr web site, www.ericcarr.com.

Most of these songs were performed by Carr, and some were co-written with KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons. One of the tracks is titled "Elephant Man" and was intended for KISS' 1992 album "Revenge", but Carr sadly passed away due to cancer in November of 1991 and was unable to see the song make its way to the CD. There's also a 1984 song written by Carr, which he presented to KISS for the album that became "Animalize". Entitled "Midnight Stranger", the track was written and performed by Carr. One of his favorite tunes, "Dial L For Love", which he co-wrote with Gene Simmons and Adam Mitchell, is also part of the newly discovered material. Other songs include a never-released demo of Eric's tune "Tiara" plus a complete song written and performed by Eric along with Mitch Weissman. Titled "The Troubles Inside You", this track features Carr on drums, guitars and background vocals, with Weissman on bass guitar and lead vocals.

And the Role of Horshack Will be Played by R. Kelly...

(Contact Music) Rapper-turned-actor ICE CUBE has signed up to play the lead role in a feature film adaptation of 1970s sitcom WELCOME BACK, KOTTER. The former NWA star, real name O'SHEA JACKSON, will star as wise-cracking teacher GABE KOTTER, who returns to his inner-city high school to teach a class of likeable tearaways. Hollywood star JOHN TRAVOLTA launched his career by playing VINNIE BARBARINO in the original ABC network sitcom, which ran from 1975 to 1979. The film is scheduled to start production this autumn (06), according to AllHipHop.com.

Isaac Hayes Leaves 'South Park' Over Scientology Episode

(Hollywood Reporter) Soul singer Isaac Hayes has parted ways with the Comedy Central series "South Park," citing the series' "inappropriate ridicule of religious communities."

Hayes, who has voiced the character Chef since the series began in 1997, released a statement through his spokesman Monday requesting a release from his contract because he "is disappointed with what he perceives as a growing insensitivity toward personal spiritual beliefs."

In a rejoinder issued later in the day by Comedy Central, "Park" co-creator Matt Stone described Hayes as a disgruntled Scientologist unhappy with a recent episode lampooning the organization's religious beliefs.

"In 10 years and over 150 episodes of 'South Park,' Isaac never had a problem with the show making fun of Christians, Muslims, Mormons and Jews," Stone said in a statement in which he agreed to release Hayes from his contract. "He got a sudden case of religious sensitivity when it was his religion featured on the show."

During the ninth season of "Park," an episode titled "Trapped in the Closet" poked fun at Scientology, including depictions of celebrities with known ties to the organization, including Tom Cruise and John Travolta.