Andrew W.K.

Andrew W.K. is crazy.  Mind-bendingly, acid-tripping, drunken-binge insane.  But his music is great. 

He began as a classically trained pianist (and is still amazing at it) but decided to radically change his music styles.  He recorded I Get Wet in 2001 as a party album, and it never fails to disappoint.  Simple riffs, basic chords and loud voices: very different from the musical styling of Tchaikovsky.  He currently tours giving motivational speeches, produces and hosts his show on Cartoon Network, Destroy Build Destroy (which is exactly what you think it is), creates Japanese cover albums and owns and operates a the most inclusive club in New York, Santos Party House.

First, listen to the title track on I Get Wet.


Andrew W.K. - I Get Wet

Then watch his Tiny Desk Concert thanks to NPR

Then follow his Twitter Page.  A sample tweet:  

PARTY TIP: Today, I want you to go up to someone and say, "PARTY HARD!" Best if it's a stranger or a grandparent.

Enjoy, and Party Hard.

Live at Slane Castle

My roommate has had the DVD of this concert since the start of the school year, bt tonight was the first time that I watched the whole thing.  And being such a fan of RHCP, this was a long wait to see this show.  I've seen them live once before at VirginFest in Baltimore a few years back, and that was the greatest concert of my life (which included being front row for the Who).

However, if I could have been at this show, it would've topped that festival even if The Strokes made a guest appearance at VirginFest.  The enormity of this show is what amazed me at first.  The first frame pans over the crowd, and the sea of Irish people grows and grows.  You can see Slane Castle appear in the background towering over the people amassed below.

As for the music, every song was impeccably perfect.  Every mini jam sessions seemed tight, every impossible to hit lick was in time and every crazy knee-popping kick seemed higher than the last.  I can't believe how Flea and John Frusciante can still play while dancing like madmen on acid. 

And thanks to the power of the internet, here is the show in its entirety.  But, as always, if you like what they did, go out and buy it.

John Mayer

I wasn't expecting much from John Mayer's new album, "Battle Studies," but it was underwhelming.  The whole thing fell flat on its face, except for Who Says and that was released a few weeks before the album was.  Mayer is a split artist, releasing poppy music for the money and blues because, well, because it sounds great.

The album sounds dreary, and it sounds as if he tries to combine his poppy guitar progressions with bluesy lyrics.  Combined, the two styles fall flat on its face.

The only track worth listening to is Who Says.  The sound of his guitar is much lighter than any other track and he sounds like he's having a good time.  The lyrics of the other tracks make him depressed about Jeniffer Aniston.  This is the track where he gets over it all and relaxes.

Slate provides some good commentary on the new John Mayer single, and I actually agree unlike most of their other Brow Beat stuff.  The music video is his rap video done acoustic. It's got the girls, the booze and lack of clothes by a pool (no fly cars though).  Once again, this music video proves that he can produce a good song by stopping to deal with everything. Unfortunately, the rest of the album fails to follow the single's lead.


Who Says - John Mayer

And wtf is with the album art?  Does anyone else think he's trying to look like James Dean and failing miserably?

President Morty Schapiro

So the new President of Northwestern University, Morty Schapiro, has some quirky music tastes.  I'm a fan, especially since he introduced me to this crazy medley/rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow and What a Woderful World by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole.  He's a Hawai'ian ukulele player with a big voice and a big body.

On the day of his death, the state of Hawaii flew its flag at half mast in honor of him.  Enjoy...

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole - Somewhere over the rainbow / What a wonderful world

And a treat, because I like this version just as much.  It's a live boot, so the quality may not be great, but his voice is still clear.

Rufus Wainwright - Somewhere over the rainbow

for the concert i missed

Because I missed his three day stand at the one venue that I really want to go to in Chicago, the Aragon, I give you a quiet Bob Dylan track that I never knew existed.

And a story behind this: I read that Northwestern University's library opened up their CD collection, so I began searching for CDs that I didn't have. I didn't have much time so I decided to check out whatever Dylan CDs they had that I didn't. The three were Self Portrait, MTV Unplugged and New Morning. I also found a cover CD by the Jamie Saft Trio. It's not that great really.

Bob Dylan - All the Pretty Horses

PS - the New Morning album has 'The Man in Me' that was in The Big Lebowski. Since this is my first post, I'll throw that one in too.

Bob Dylan - The Man in Me