Friday, December 05, 2003

The Rocktober Gift Guide Is open for business! Filled to the brim with gift suggestions for the music obsessive in your life.

I'm delirious today with head cold and on-and-off fever, so I won't be posting. Much. I intended to do something on this year's Grammy nominations, but today I am just too sick to do it. Overall, I have to give 'em props for not screwing it up too much. More on Monday, if I am among the living.
posted by Randy on 3:58 PM | permanent link to this entry

Wednesday, December 03, 2003

Be sure to check out The Rocktober Gift Guide!

• DJ Quik Wanted For Allegedly Assaulting His Sister
  If caught and convicted, he could be sent away for 10 years. He allegedly broke into the home of his sister and assaulted her in fornt of witnesses.
  
  
  
• Another Beyonce Solo LP Due Before Destiny's Child Regroup
  It's still in the planning stages right now, but there was so much material leftover from Dangerously In Love that they're gonna slap it together into a seperate disc before the next Destiny's Child album comes out. A bit of unsolicited advice to Beyonce': Down overload the next album with Ballad like you did with Dangerously In Love. You need a better balance-- the least album started out strong and then just drrrraagggeedddddd on and on as you launched into ballad after ballad.
  
  
• Burning Down the House (Salon subscription or ad-supported day-pass required.)
  Interesting piece about the new Talking Heads Box Set-- actually, it is more about the dynamics of the band. The material on the set is sort of secondary. It istill is a good read.
  
  
• HP to turn on music service, flat-panel TVs
  Plans are still in flux, but look for a Hewlett-Packard downloadable music service to hit the market early next year. This market is getting more and more crowded every day. The shake out will be ugly.
  
  
  
• What Are OutKast Listening To?
  Best part:
  
  The Smiths, "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me"
  
  Andre 3000: I personally wish I would have written that Smiths' song "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me." Genius song. This girl named Hannah in Atlanta turned me on to them. 'Cause I was telling her that I loved The Hives and the Buzzcocks and she said, "Hey, you need to check these guys out." [On the song] it's this dude and he says, "Last night I dreamt that somebody loved me/ No hope, no harm, just another false alarm." So it's like he had a relationship and then he woke up and he was like, "Damn, it was just a dream."
  
  I have a dream: An OutKast/Morrissey tour. Can I get a what-what? Maybe more in the realm of possibility-- OutKast covering The Smiths. I'd be down with that.
  

posted by Randy on 1:46 PM | permanent link to this entry

Tuesday, December 02, 2003

Whoa, i haven't posted anything in a week. Sorry 'bout that. Holidays and what not.

It's the hoilday season, so it is time to once again plug the updated yet perpetually under construction Rocktober Gift Guide. I haven't done the Best of 2003 section yet, but there's still plenty to choose from

So, I bought a few CDs the other day. Here's what I think thus far:

• Get Born - Jet
  Over all it is good but it still is kind of disapointing. I like it a lot when they rock out but the ballads are too derivitive and boring.
  
• Echoes- The Rapture
  I love the white boy funk, what can I say. The whole album is like different version of "This Is A Radio Clash" or Gang of Four's "I Love A Man In Uniform." Who knows how long it will be until that vocalist grates on my nerves, but for the moment I am happy.
  
• This Is Not A Test! - Missy Elliott
  Not her greatest, but still better than 99% of what's out there now. Well worth picking up, but where are the crazy, genre-subverting beats Timbland hooked her up with on Under Construction.
  
• Under Construction Pt. II- Timbaland & Magoo
  Oh, here they are! Lots of arabic influences (perhaps a tad too many) accented with whirrs, buzzes, blips, boinks, zaps and hand claps. Missy will sell better, but the better beats are here.
  
• Speakerboxx/The Love Below- Outkast
  I'm so late to the party on this one -- at least I now own it. I haven't listend to it yet, though.
  

And now for the big, personal news:
I'm being trasferred to Santa Monica! I don't think I'm allowed to publicly say what I'm working on, but. . .wait, I just looked it up and there are public job listings for the project so I assume I am in the clear. I'll be working on Sony Connect, a soon-to-launch downloadable music service.

I'll be moving end of Dec./start of Jan. If any of my loyal L.A. area readers have a good lead on a bungalow/house/duplex/triplex/"Melrose Place"-esqe complex that is in the Santa Monica/Venice area, please let me know. Me n' my wife are looking for a place that has a bedroom, space for an office (be it a second bedroom or a den), will allow us to keep our dog (a yard would be groovy) and will let me set up my beloved DirecTV satellite dish. Oh yeah- air conditioning is a must. If there's a dishwasher and/or a washer and dryer, that would also be fantastic but not a deal breaker.

This Week's New Releases Of Note:

• The Diary of Alicia Keys [Limited Edition w/ Bonus DVD]- Alicia Keys
  
• Comin on Strong - Trace Adkins
  
• Good 2 Go - Elephant Man
  

Get Your Pre-Order On (Next Week's New Releases Of Note):

• Love Is Hell, Part 2 [EP] - Ryan Adams (If Part 1 was any indicator, you best believe you need to purchase part 2.)
  Tasty - Kelis (I know you love "Milkshake" and you know you love "Milkshake," you you can come off your high horse and admit it.)
  
• Terrorist Threats - Westside Connection (If you haven't yet heard the pounding Hammond organ work on "Gangsta Nation," do yourself a favor and track down a copy by hook or by crook. It's like "96 Teardrops" or "Louie Louie" gone gangsta.
  
• Soulful - Ruben Studdard
  
• Splinter - The Offspring
  
• Soulstar - Musiq
  
• Fefe Dobson - Fefe Dobson
  
• The Reason - Hoobastank
  
• Big Money Heavywight - Big Tymers
  
• Nick Cannon- Nick Cannon
  
• Crunk and Disorderly - Leaders of the New South (Winners of both The Rocktober.com Best Album Title Of the Week Award andThe Rocktober.com Best band Name Of The Week Award)
  

posted by Randy on 1:06 PM | permanent link to this entry