Get your torches and pitchforks ready . . .

Huey Lewis and The News are back from the dead and terrorizing a town near you in '08!

AM Gold loses a little glitter

Peoria native and soft rocker Dan Fogelberg died this weekend.

Bjork to the future...

Tech Video of the Week

As Bjork continues her world tour, many people have noted the very unusual instrument on stage that looks like a glass table with a number of glowing toys being pushed around.

It is, in fact, an amazing new instrument called the Reactable, that was developed by music engineers in Spain. Like Microsoft's Surface computer, it uses a table-top screen that reacts to touch. But it goes beyond that, turning the complex sound mixing board into an intuitive visual interface.
From Towleroad (Towleroad.com)

Chicago School of Rock builds, tears down, "The Wall"

Spent yesterday afternoon at Schuba's listening to the Chicago School of Rock perform Pink Floyd's "The Wall."

The kids are very talented, and are being molded into bonafied rock stars under the guidance of Ethan and staff. Here's bit of "Comfortably Numb" from yesterday.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

1979-2006: A HipHop Odyssey

800 classic HipHop tracks from 1979-2006 in a 48 minute mix. Courtesy of the BBC. Download it here. Pretty cool. You can take a look at the listing before you download it. It's probably not for everyone.

Lost Someone

God must be throwing one hell of a birthday party for baby Jeebus today, with a new main attraction.

God bless, Brother James.

At all of the nightclubs that I played records at, with all of the different styles of music played at each, there was one common favorite. James Brown clearly transcended all musical genres.

Yet Another Nonagon Show!

At The Note in Wicker Park. Saturday, Sept. 30th. Show starts around 9:30pm... we are the headliners! Read the extended entry for more info and a poster...

Continue reading "Yet Another Nonagon Show!" »

Hard To Handle

Graf: Do you think Firedog will hear some song we sing but change the lyrics to and think, "Hey, that's the ____ song!"

Me: I was thinking about that the other day, actually. I was listening to the Toots & The Maytals version of "Hard To Handle" and thought there's a lot of people who just think that's a Black Crowes song. Then I was thinking about what songs Firedog will be listening to when he's a teenager or something, and some new artist will cover some song from 20 years ago, and he'll think it's something totally new.

Graf: Yeah, and we'll have to say, "No! You've got to hear the ORIGINAL Givin' Up The Nappy Dugout. That's waaaaay better!"

Pazen is a Whiteboy

But, of course, we already knew that.

Continue reading "Pazen is a Whiteboy" »

Sellaband

Interesting concept. Pimp your favorite struggling local band, invest a little dough, and get a cut if they succeed.

Proudly Selling Out for Andrew

Here I am making good on a dare to wear Andrew's "Still Believing the Lies" shirt at a Nonagon gig. More documentation here.

Nonagon at The Note

Saturday, August 5TH 2006
9PM * 21+

FROM MONUMENT TO MASSES (from San Francisco, CA)
NONAGON (from Chicago, IL)
DRIFTLESS PONY CLUB (from Madison, WI)
1908 (from Waukegan, IL)

The Note
1565 N. Milwaukee, Chicago

Continue reading "Nonagon at The Note" »

Syd Barrett: Dead

Syd Barrett, one of the original members of legendary rock group Pink Floyd, has died at the age of 60 from complications arising from diabetes.

Some of his solo stuff is pretty tough to take, but man, like Pink Floyd, dude!

...where's my bong...?

700 West

Between 1972 and 1983 dozens of singles and albums were recorded at Moe Whittemore's New Palestine, Indiana-based 700 West Studios.

Today, many of these records sell amongst collectors for hundreds of dollars. You, however, may browse through the catalog and listen to some tracks here, for free!

Moooooo & Oink

If you're an Average Homeboy w/ a Casio SK-1...get in on this jingle contest for Chicago's very own, Moo & Oink!

(Yet Another) Shameless Plug

Nonagon live in Chicago on Friday night at the Reversible Eye Gallery.
Metromix | Poster and Details

Also we will be playing with Dianogah in Milwaukee on Saturday (more info).

Continue reading "(Yet Another) Shameless Plug" »

Michael Fuckin' Anthony

Is it bad that thru this entire thing I was thinking "break a string...break a string..." He's like a bass-playing plumber.

Thanks Chris, you bastard.

Heaven Knows I'm Miserabler (sic) Now

I am officially throwing in the towel... or maybe I should just throw a rotten tomato instead. unggggggh. Someone please tell me that this is mothersbaugh's subversive way of getting back at all the spuds who hated devo back in the day.

Looks like Booji Boy sold out to the mouse. De-Evolution? Try reductio ad absurdum...

Another form of copy protection

Things rarely typed into an online music-sharing forum^*

"Dude, you got that new CHUMBAWAMBA?"

^*I'm not even certain if such a thing exists, although I'd imagine it does.

You gotta choose one

Which would you rather have stuck in your head?

My Humps or Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer?

Merry Chrismahanawazadan everyone!

Free Live Music this Saturday...

Nonagon and Snaklab All-Tsars at Hotti Biscotti in Logan Square. No cover, cheap beer, free earplugs, and a screening of Peter Greenway's The Draughtman's Contract beforehand (8:30pm). Saturday, October 22nd. Music starts at 10:30pm. Read more to see the official flyer...

Continue reading "Free Live Music this Saturday..." »

Nonagon at the Empty Bottle...

My band, Nonagon, will be opening up for Dianogah and Archeology at the Empty Bottle (1035 N. Western Ave.) on Saturday, July 9th at 10pm. The door charge is $8.

Nine Inch Nails vs. GarageBand

Nine Inch Nails have released one of the songs, "The Hand That Feeds " from the forthcoming With Teeth CD in Apple GarageBand format so everyone can create their own remixes. The 70 meg file is available for download now.

http://www.nin.com/current/index.html

I'm downloading it now. :-)

We Stand As One

America, We Stand As One. As you watch this, you'll be wondering, "When is the ironic twist gonna happen that assures us that this is all a joke?" But, alas, 'tis not a joke.

Chemical Brothers get the DIY Remix treatment

Following the latest trend in the music world, a couple of guys decided to remix the entire new Chemical Brothers CD, Push The Button, and offer it up free to download.

Download individual tracks from their website
http://www.chemicalbrothersremixed.com/

Grab the BitTorrent file here to download the entire Flip The Switch remix album.

Now back our regularly scheduled idiocy:

http://www.pootah.com/

Lohan Freestyle

A flash music video tribute to Lindsay Lohan and her "big ass titties".

Worst Album Covers Ever

Check out these nuggets of... well, it aint gold. The best of the worst.

via Brian B.

Nonagon at the Bottom Lounge this Thursday

Well it looks like the swell folks at MP Productions and The Bottom Lounge liked us well enough to make us their Johnny-on-the-spot... no, not the portable toilet... Rather, a last minute addition to an AMAZING bill at The Bottom Lounge THIS WEEK!

The Bottom Lounge is located at 3206 N. Wilton (right underneath the Belmont Red/Brown line El Stop)

On Thursday, December 2^nd, the doors will open at 8PM. Shortly after that, we (Nonagon) will play a set similar to the one we played a couple of weeks ago (unless we can throw together a surprise or two). I think that Behold! The Living Corpse is up next, then Pines, a local instrumental combo, and finally Big Business featuring ex-Karp and Murder City Devils members!

Oh yeah! To the left should be a snapshot of the (can I say "kick-ass"?) poster that Jay Ryan designed and Mat Daly printed for us. If you haven’t yet been to The Bird Machine, you are missing out.

Jon Stewart For President?

Morrissey, yes that Morrissey, would like us all to consider "Jon Stewart for a future president of the USA. In the meantime, he would like us to all vote for John Kerry to "bring sanity and intelligence back to the United States".

Read the full Morrissey endorsement here

Sammy Salsa!

To celebrate Sammy Sosa's 2 HRs (including a grand slam) in the Cubs 13-5 win today - why not learn the Sammy Salsa line dance?

Shameless Self Promotion

Got any plans for this weekend? Howza 'bout rounding up the gang and heading down to Champaign/Urbana for some hot rock action! Come see Nonagon, Triple Whip and The Idle Hours for a measly 3 bucks at Boneyard Pottery in Champaign, IL (403 South Water Street) on Saturday, September 18th at 8pm.

Nonagon (pictured above) is Robert Gomez-Bass, Tony Aimone-Drums and John Hastie-Guitar,vox. This will be our second show. Our first show was a rousing success, at least with one of the four 11 year-olds in attendence that evening. We will most likely be playing first, so you might want to get there late so you can miss us and just groove on the other two bands.

Fight Songs

Welcome to the "LARGEST" College Football Fight Songs in the World almost all in MP3 format. There are over 575 MP3's and a few AU files.

QTip's

Jpeg, what's yer fight song sound like?

Can you give a brutha an AMEN!

You Have Bad Taste In Music

Yet another reason the terrorists hate us

I'm not sure how, but I'm certain we're responsible for this.

Thanks Ryan, I think.

Ray Charles is dead

He died at his home after problems with his liver. I wouldn't shed a single tear for Reagan, but I was sad to hear about Ray. Even with the ofay white chorus, his aching version of "You don't Know Me" is pretty tremendous.

He was 73.

You give your hand to me and then you say hello
And I can hardly speak, my heart is beating so
And anyone could tell, you think you know me well
But you don't know me

No you don't know the one who dreams of you at night
And longs to kiss your lips and longs to hold you tight
To you I'm just a friend, and that's all I've ever been
No, you don't know me

You give your hand to me and then you say good-bye
I watch you walk away beside the lucky guy
To never, never know the one who loves you so
No, you don't know me

Vinyl Preservation Project

In my never ending quest to own as many Hawaiian steel guitar records as humanly possible, I came across this absolutely in-freaking-credible site. Tons of complete records (of all types) available for streaming download, skips, scratches and all. Requires Real Player.

Continue reading "Vinyl Preservation Project" »

Beatallica

Like Dread Zepplin or El Vez this band specializes in morphing songs together. Namely, the Beatles and Metallica. The singers got the Hetfield "eee yeAAah" down pat. Lots of MP3.

Some Song titles: Everybody's Got a Ticket to Ride Except for Me and My Lightning, ...And Justice For All My Loving and Blackened the USSR

Malpractice

Remember this diagnosis:

"I called the doctor on the telephone
Said Doctor, Doctor, please
I got this feeling
rocking and a'reeling
tell me, what can it be, is it some new disease?

They call it Boogie fever
You got to boogie down
Boogie fever, I think it's going around"

Well, apparently, it was really lung cancer.

Jay-Z Construction Set

The Jay-Z Construction Set is a toolkit with all of the necessary software and raw materials to create a new remix of Jay-Z's Black Album.

See, rather than fight this trend, I think Jay-Z should come out in support of it. It's like the next logical Information Wants To Be Free-esque step to the Tupac / B.I.G. phenomena of releasing more albums posthumously than they ever did while alive, only Jay-Z ain't dead! He still gets to be one rich mofo with a hot girlfriend!

Stop poking me!

Madonna's new song is called Love Profusion. (Video here.) Last night I slipped up and it described it as Love Protrusion. I like that title better. Sounds more like old-school, smutty Madonna.

A Little Kiss

If you like the band Kiss, or just think they are silly, you'll really dig this shit. Miniature Kiss rock out in LA.

Speakin' of the Beastie Boys...

What's up with the news lately using Beastie Boys instrumental tracks as background music?

(Beastie Boys cleared in sampling case.)

Audiopad

That's some crazy messed up Star Trek shit right there, boy...

via Coudal

Suicide Onstage?

"They'd rather have an assisted suicide, but because of the way the laws are written, they can't do it," [the singer] said in an interview Wednesday morning... "So, bringing dying with dignity to the forefront is really what it's all about."

"If it's a stunt, then they have very right to perform this stunt on stage," a city council member added. "If somebody loses their life, they will be prosecuted as conspirators."

Q sez they got an act, but it ain't G.G. Allin

Eye candy

What's Thursday without a little Gwar photo gallery browsing?

K-Luv, bringin' the smackdown from the RIAA

Everyone, duck and cover, and deny deny deny.

Karen has unleashed the Unholy RIAA Dogs of Hell upon herself by gettin' all uppity in one of dem mainstream weekly news publications.

Karen Keenan, 26, a copywriter in Chicago, downloads regularly from iTunes Ñ but also from free file sharer LimeWire. "I have the same moral problem with sharing digital music that I have with public libraries Ñ i.e., none," she says.

Hang on, someone's at the door...aaaaahhhh!!!!!

Johnny Cash: The Man Came Around

'Till armageddon no shalam no shalom Then the father-hen will call his chickens home The wise men will bow down before the throne And at his feet they'll cast their golden crowns When the Man comes around

_{Actor John Ritter Dies Too}

It's Apple vs. Apple in Court

Reportedly, Applecorps has filed a lawsuit in London against the computer firm over a 22-year-old agreement that Apple Computer use the Apple name only for computer products--not music-related enterprises.

Apparently Applecorp looks upon the digital music machinations--iPod and iTunes--of the Cupertino,Calif.-based computer firm none too kindly.

CD Price Drop From Universal

When CDs first were introduced we were always promised the price would eventually drop as the technology became cheaper. Well, nearly 25 years later Universal has finally annouced it is lowering the (wholesale) price of CDs to around $9.09, with the stated intension of eventually bringing the MSRP down to $10! Hopefully the other majors will soon follow suit. I dunno 'bout you guys, but I'd gladly plop down $10 for a CD rather than pay to download a bunch of warbly MP3s from iTunes. I'm no audiophile, but I have flexi-discs from the 70s that have better sound quality than even high bit-rate mp3.

Ef ets nae Scottish ets crrrraaaaappp!

Gospel originated in the Hebrides. Word is bond.

In unrelated Scots news, check out Sexy Kilt Boat Guy. WTF? Gotta get me a boat...

via one.point.zero

Radiohead - Go To Sleep video (Quicktime)

Cashing In, Cashing Out

OK, so I'm not il Postino the Music Guru, but here's some interesting stuff...

Johnny Cash has had about as interesting a life as any musician could hope to have, and while he's an acquired taste, there's probably something in his catalog for everyone.

Hobbled by a neurological disorder, his voice worn from years of (ab)use, and coming off the death of his wife this summer, Cash stands nominated for 6 VMA's for his video "Hurt". Strange as it might seem for Cash to be singing a Nine Inch Nails song, when paired with the video it's sort of moving. Check it out, it's pretty cool (it's also 9mb).

If it's celebrity dead pool you want to play, sadly my money's on Warren Zevon. Only a few of his songs got regular airplay, but the guy cracks me up. On his most recent tour Bob Dylan played one or two Zevon songs each night. Zevon included Dylan's "Knocking On Heaven's Door" on his last album; it ships tomorrow.

If all of this shite is too depressing, please watch this.