Daily Loaf

Sport has its array of thrilling moments. Major League Baseball has its game-saving catches and walk-off home runs. The NFL has its big hits and its hail maries. But there’s something about an NBA slam dunk that lifts fans out of their seats.

Right now, the Association boasts a number of athletes that can jump clear out of the gym. So for those of you who don’t have the good fortune of watching basketball highlights with Sportschump-like regularity, I’d like to present three dunkalicious reasons to love this game.

Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby give you Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and 5’11” Ty Lawson rudely introducing themselves to Paul Milsap, Anderson Varejao and DJ Mbenga: Read the rest of this entry »

You people out there give us
something more than just record sales.
You give us something to hate.
And we hate you,
you brainless mutants.

So begins Dethklok’s traditional closer “Fansong.” I suppose when you’re (fictionally) the world’s seventh largest economy you can take your fans for granted. After all, Dethklok represents creator Brendon Small’s metal nerd wet dreams. He creates the Metalocalypse cartoon series following the end of Home Movies‘ five-year run. He takes his cartoon metal band on increasingly successful tours with the use of touring musicians and a giant video screen. He made death metal history with the release of The Dethalbum, which temporarily became the biggest-selling debut in the genre until The Dethalbum II came along.

In reality, Dethklok exists because of its fans — socially awkward, maladjusted metalheads ignored and derided by most until Metalocalypse came along. The silly plots, vulgar characters and heavy metal parody lured not only metalheads but the rest of the weirdos that find Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim lineup funny. Dethklok also attracts an increasingly improving pedigree of support bands for its tours. This time around they bring stoner-metallers High On Fire, metalcore veterans Converge, and the incomparable Mastodon. (Setlists and videos for Mastodon and Dethklok after the jump!). Read the rest of this entry »

Before judging their latest album The Resistance too harshly, I wanted to hear how Muse’s poppiest, most ambitious album to date would sound live. The Devon, England quartet (lately touring with a fourth member so frontman Matt Bellamy can focus on guitar and vocals, and not worry about keyboards anymore) wasted no time launching into the bass-driven protest anthem and current single, “Uprising.” (Video after the jump.)

Whenever I like the opening band more than the headliner, I worry about several factors. How long will they play? Will the sound be mixed right? If it’s an arena or stadium show, will there be video screens? In Muse’s case, I wondered if U2 would share their high-tech toys with the other children. In this respect, U2 and their the 360 Tour management deserve lots of credit. Muse sounded home stereo-clear and made liberal use of the giant videoscreen attached to U2’s “spaceship.” In fact, Muse sounded even better than U2 because Bono’s vocals were distorted throughout the entire evening.

The only other time Muse hit Tampa, they played eight songs over 45 minutes in an opening slot, never hitting any material written before their U.S. breakthrough, Absolution. U2 alotted Muse the same timeframe and Muse drew from their past three albums evenly, again eschewing their first two records. Read the rest of this entry »

Hip-hop artist/producer Q-Tip has premiered a new video on YouTube for “Life Is Better,” a smooth, funky-jazz duet featuring Norah Jones. The song, from Q-Tip’s 2008 critically-acclaimed album, The Renaissance, celebrates the history of hip-hop starting with Kool Herc all the way through to current chart toppers like Jay-Z and Kanye. The video is animated with a cool effect that makes the two artists look like drawings (still shot at right). Check out the video after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Some fab, A-grade videos out right now that were released online over the past few months. Enjoy!

Dan Deacon, “Paddling Ghost”
Type of music: Freak-out noisetronica by the solo Baltimore electro artist
Album: Bromst, out March 24 on Carpark.
Description: Stuffed animals and craft art characters make up the cast of this story, which follows a one-eyed pirate/ghost as he travels through various settings in search of … well, I don’t think you ever really know what the little guy is looking for. But boy is he adorable. The low-cost production matches the music’s whimsical childish feel. Directed by Natalie van den Dungen.
Rating: A+, for making me giggle alot.
Read the rest of this entry »

Many of us are so used to using social networking sites daily that we forget that there is a big world out there. I admit, I have also become accustomed to living life at 140 characters or less. The allure of being able to network in my underwear has become all too tempting. Finally, having enough of staring at status updates about someone’s lunch, I put some pants on and attended the Tech/Social Media conference BarCamp Tampa Bay 2009 on Sunday, September 27th at USF.

The local social media driven event was running two consecutive days, Saturday was focused on Tech/Development and Sunday was geared towards the Social Media/Marketing crowd. Each day is filled with attendee driven panels and discussions, making BarCamp a unique experience. Unlike most conferences, every guest at Barcamp has a chance to sign up for a panel spot to speak their minds about the hottest tech/social media topics. Best of all, it’s free!

Video below the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Soul pop diva/former Bobby Brown punching bag Whitney Houston has been making a slow but steady comeback this year, re-building her tattered cracked-out image with the seeming normalcy of getting her life and career back on track, earning self-respect one sexy dress and public appearance at a time, and keeping us interested with the occasional single to prove her vox is still strong. Houston has just debuted her latest new video, “Million Dollar Bill,” a fluffy bumpin’ R&B number that’s good enough, if you can get past the high school lyricism and rah-rah chorus. Houston’s looking mighty fine, in an airbrushed, tasteful plastic surgery sort of way, and it’s apparent that she’s begun to get her groove back. Check out the video after the break.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m only 28, but it makes me feel old to find out bands like Alice In Chains (below) and Sublime (right) – which enjoyed their heyday when I was a teenager – have reunited. Back then, I clearly remember not giving a shit when various pop-culture purveyors made a big deal about reconciliations of groups like  The Eagles, Page & Plant, and KISS. I was too young to have lost a favorite band to a nasty breakup. Since then I’ve witnessed bands I love (Iron Maiden and Pixies to name a few) reunite in the best possible way – with their core lineups and legacies mostly intact.

Alice In Chains and Sublime are among the biggest alt-rock bands to come out of the 1990s. Both sold millions of albums and lost a frontman to drugs (not necessarily in that order). Both bands have recently re-formed with new singers. Alice In Chains is even set to drop a new record at the end of the month.

These two bands have so much in common – including this very passionate debate: are their reunions bullshit? (Video after the jump) Read the rest of this entry »

The stickiest whistling of the 21st century was conceived in Sweden, nurtured in the collective musical subconscious of three Stockholm musicians, shaped by their distinct creative personalities and love of New Wave, alt rock and ’60s pop, and born several years later in a catchy, charming pop ditty, “Young Folks.”

By that time, Swedish trio Peter Bjorn and John — singer/guitarist Peter Morén, singer/bassist/keyboardist Bjorn Yttling and singer/drummer/percussionist John Eriksson — had enjoyed some minor fame, but still worked day jobs to support themselves. “Young Folks” was the first single off their third album, 2006’s Writer’s Block, and by mid-2007, the song seemed to be everywhere — sampled by Kanye West, covered by Pete Yorn, used in TV shows ranging from Grey’s Anatomy to Gossip Girl and in ads by Budweiser, Napster, American Eagle Outfitters and AT&T, among others.

“It changed everything,” de facto leader Peter Morén tells me from a hotel in Utah a few weeks ago in the midst of his band’s current gig opening for Depeche Mode. He says that up until that point, they did the band for fun. “But now we do the band for money and other stuff for fun… no, no, it’s still fun,” he laughs, adding, “It’s just not something that we really expected.” Read the rest of this entry »

On Sunday night, the much-anticipated 2009 Miss Universe pageant aired live for the entire world to see from the Bahamas. As with any other bigtime live event, there are always guest performances, some better than others. The Hills‘ reality show celebrity-turned-wannabe-singer Heidi Montag was among the worst, her sub-par performance such a disaster that most Americans likely felt secondhand embarrassment and found themselves wishing for Britney Spears’ return.

Heidi played “Body Language” (which samples Yazoo’s 1982 hit, “Situation”) from her debut album, Unleashed, launched in July along with her questionable music career. She was clad in a nude, sequined, unflattering two-piece that seemed to be an obvious knock-off of Britney’s performance wardrobe from the 2000 VMA’s.

But her dancing may have been even worse than her wardrobe selection. Heidi lacked rhythm and enthusiasm, and the choreography was very basic and had no truly memorable moments. Watching her trying to bust a move was like watching an infant trying to learn body coordination. The song itself was repetitive and with much distortion in a seeming attempt to mask Heidi’s atrocious singing abilities.

Check out the video after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

If my September wasn’t already booked up, there is no doubt I’d drive up to Atlanta for Goodie Mob’s Sept. 19 reunion show. Hopefully a new album will follow.

Eleanor Friedberger of the Fiery Furnaces; all photos by Phil Bardi.

To satisfy the ravenous music-consuming beast inside me, I end up making the 90-minute trek to Orlando rather frequently. Far too many bands don’t or won’t stop in Tampa for whatever reason and some of these bands I simply have to see.

Yes, the Fiery Furnaces were headlining a show in Tampa on Saturday night. But they were also playing The Social in Orlando the Sunday after (August 23), and that particular bill featured the White Rabbits. I’m a big fan of both, so it seemed like a no brainer to set up review coverage for the O-town show. I made all the proper press arrangements with Thrill Jockey (the indie label that reps FF), jumped in a car with some like-minded friends, and set out to enjoy a night of great music and fun times.

Only, the night didn’t start out so fun. In fact, I had to deal with some authentic, grade-A machismo bullshit that has turned this concert review into a partial rant against the “Man In Charge” at The Social. Read the rest of this entry »

If you missed the premiere of Geri X’s new Michael McCourt-directed video at her release show this past Friday, never fear — the lovely songstress was kind enough to post it online this week for the consumption of the Geri X-loving public. Geri looks pretty phenomenal, a classy rockin’ chick with grit (great job, stylist!), and the video itself is dazzling, sumptuous eye candy. Check it out after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

In a summer full of big concerts coming to the Tampa Bay area, one of the biggest never happened.

Aerosmith postponed their July 11 date at the Ford Amphitheatre due to Steven Tyler’s ripped quadricep. Eager ticketholders kept their fingers crossed for almost a month — until blown equipment and some uncoordinated dancing sent Tyler falling off a stage and onto his head and shoulder. Aerosmith canceled the rest of their tour, urging ticketholders to seek refunds.

Days after the cancellation announcement, video footage hit the internet showing Steven Tyler, arm in a sling, making a purchase at a liquor store in Massachusetts.

Tyler’s drug and alcohol addiction is a matter of public record. He and guitarist Joe Perry were nicknamed the Toxic Twins for their legendary on- and off-stage exploits before cleaning up and resurrecting the band’s stature in the late 80’s.

Is Tyler off the wagon? And if so, does that have anything to do with his fall in South Dakota? (Video of Tyler’s fall and liquor store purchase after the jump!). Read the rest of this entry »

A weekly bulletin about who’s playing on late night TV; set your TIVOs or DVRs if you’ve got an early bedtime. See a day missing? No musical guest that night…

The Late Show with David Letterman, CBS
Tuesday, August 25: Jet
Wednesday, August 26: Care Bears on Fire
Thursday, August 27: Mutemath
Friday, August 28: Imogen Heap (pictured, photo by Michael Crook

The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, NBC
Monday, August 24: Kings of Leon
Tuesday, August 25: Smokey Robinson
Wednesday, August 26: Franz Ferdinand
Thursday, August 27: Matisyahu
Friday, August 28: Colbie Caillat

Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, CBS
Wednesday, August 26: Camera Obscura (rerun, June 15)
Thursday, August 27: Gavin DeGraw (June 16) Read the rest of this entry »

Electronica, ’80s pop, hip-hop, traditional Japanese music, jazz, salsa — Sweden’s Little Dragon draws from this mishmash of influences to create their own uniquely individual sound.

The foursome’s self-titled debut garnered them much praise and attention, and their follow-up, Machine Dreams (Peacefrog Records), is sure to extend their reach even further. A Japanese lead singer from Sweden singing in English? Can’t get much more globe-spanning than that.

Machine Dreams is a great model of how an album should be put together: an equal blend of upbeat and chill numbers that spotlight the band’s most worthy assets. In Little Dragon’s case, those assets are strange but memorable melodies and singer Yukimi Nagano’s soft yet arresting voice. She never sings far above a whisper, but it forces you stop what you’re doing and devote some attention to her music. Read the rest of this entry »

The Fiery Furnaces have been lauded for their ingenuity and ambitiousness, for breaking the indie rock mold and becoming true sonic adventurers. Conversely, they’ve have been criticized for being too prolific, for producing music too challenging or unfocused or overindulgent for a good sit-down-and-get-to-know-ya.

Darlings or misfits, one thing is certain: The Fiery Furnaces are crafty, inexhaustible artists who may be too inspired for their own good. The core members, brother and sister duo Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger (pictured), don’t seem to take any downtime — they’re either touring or creating music or brewing up new and better ways to play, present, record, arrange and engage their fans in their music.

“It’s something we take very seriously, but it’s something we would do anyway, so it makes us want to do it a lot,” Matthew told me by phone a few weeks before their August 22 Tampa stop. “Make records, write songs — you wanna do that as much as possible really, because that’s what you do for fun.” Read the rest of this entry »

A sepia-toned banner depicting a factory and smokestacks reading, “Welcome to the home of British Steel,” obscures the stage. The half-house configured St. Pete Times Forum makes the half-full crowd of not more than several thousand look less than impressive. People cheer loud enough as the lights dim and hammers strike steel over the PA. Twin guitars chug, the banner falls, and the metal god snarls, “Pounding the world/ like a battering ram.” So begins “Rapid Fire,” the opening track of British Steel – Judas Priest’s 1980 breakthrough album – set to be replayed sequentially on every stop of their current U.S. tour in order to commemorate its 30th anniversary. So what if the album’s only 29 years old? Nobody’s perfect! (Photo by Ross Halfin from Wembley Stadium, February 2009; courtesy of JudasPriest.com.)

Judas Priest wasn’t supposed to carry the metal load by themselves this summer. Prior to this past week, fellow English hard rockers Whitesnake capably warmed up crowds with their mix of pop rock success (”Here I Go Again”) and ’80’s hair-band anthems (”Still of the Night”). That was until frontman David Coverdale’s vocal chords could no longer handle the strain. I guess that’s why Coverdale isn’t the metal god, and Halford is. Hey… nobody’s perfect!

But isn’t the phrase ‘nobody’s perfect’ merely optimist-speak for ‘inherently flawed’? (Setlist and some decent fan-recorded video after the jump). Read the rest of this entry »

Faith No More announced their reunion earlier this year. Mike Patton? Check. Virtuoso guitarist Jim Martin? Afraid not. Turns out it’s the Album of the Year lineup. Adding to my disappointment, Faith No More has yet to play a single concert on American soil.

Rolling Stone caught up with former frontman Chuck Mosley as he promotes his debut solo LP – the awesomely-titled Will Rap Over Hard Rock For Food (out now). Mosley says he was actually invited to Europe to duet with Mike Patton, but passport trouble interfered. Mosley also not only laments Jim Martin’s absence, but thinks the band should have never fired Martin.

I thought [firing Martin] was as big if not bigger a mistake than getting rid of me – just because he had a lot of pull with the big part of their crowd at the time. And he was ‘the personality,’ y’know? There was something people could identify to. After Jim, they were going through a string of different guitar players, and I couldn’t name one of them. That Jagger/Richards, Plant/Page thing was gone.”

Video of Faith No More covering Peaches & Herb’s “Reunited”, plus more news after the jump! Read the rest of this entry »

Michael Franti believes music is the world’s greatest unifier. The 15-year frontman of Spearhead is so dedicated to it and so unwilling to disappoint his fans that he’ll continue to perform even if he’s experiencing debilitating pain.

But you can only play through the pain for so long — especially when said pain turns out to be a burst appendix.

The singer/guitarist faced this reality a dozen shows into his band’s co-tour with Counting Crows. Following one misdiagnosis after another, steadily increasing abdomen pain finally landed him in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center following the band’s July 22 gig in Temecula, Calif. By the time doctors discovered the untreated problem and performed an emergency appendectomy, an abscess had formed and infection was running rampant, the toxins working their way into his blood. The surgeon described it as one of the worst cases the hospital had ever seen.

“I went through a pretty close call and I’m just happy to be alive,” Franti tells me by phone less than two weeks later, still recovering from the ordeal. “I have a big four-inch incision inside of my body that needs to close itself up before I can really do anything.”

Franti kept fans up to date on his condition via a series of videos uploaded to his ongoing FrantiV tour diary. The videos are funny, heartwarming, and in one case, uncomfortably graphic (a clip showing his wound being cleaned by a nurse; check it out after the jump). Read the rest of this entry »

DC’s Thievery Corporation — made up of DJ duo Rob Garza, Eric Hilton (both pictured) and their vibrantly diverse ensemble of performers — produces a lounge-lush fusion of electronica, reggae, acid jazz, psychedelia and the world flavors of India and Brazil. They put on a pretty heady stage show and are bringing it to the Ritz Theater in Ybor City on Saturday, October 10; Ancient Astronauts provide support. Tickets go on sale this Saturday, August 15 ($38.50 GA/$60 VIP).

Here’s the press release/band bio/info about their latest album, Radio Retaliation (videos after the jump): Read the rest of this entry »

A weekly bulletin about who’s playing on late night TV; set your TIVOs or DVRs if you’ve got an early bedtime. See a day missing? No musical guest that night…

The Late Show with David Letterman, CBS
Tuesday, August 11: Elvis Costello (pictured) (rerun, June 4)
Wednesday, August 12: Rob Thomas (July 7)
Thursday, August 13: Paul McCartney (July 15)
Friday, August 14: MSTRKRFT with John Legend (June 23, performing “Heartbreaker”)

The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, NBC
Monday, August 10: Lyle Lovett
Tuesday, August 11: Cobra Starship feat. Estelle (REGINA SPEKTOR AFTER THE JUMP) Read the rest of this entry »