R.I.P Jay Reatard

Bummer.
It has been confirmed that high energy Memphis garage rocker Jay Reatard died at the young age of 29 years old.

Reatard, (real name Jimmy Lee Lindsay Jr.) seemed to be having a pretty rough go as of late with the firing of his band, a stage attack by fans in Austin, and his tour van getting its tires slashed by punk band The Liquor Store.

In true Jay Reatard form he outwardly vented his anguish and anger by posting comments on the split up of his band and his tour van vandalism with some subtle words for all parties involved.

On the firing of his band:
"Fuck them! They are boring rich kids who can't play for ahit anyways ... Say hello to your ugly and boring wifes opps I mean lifes guys suck it."

On the slashed tire incident:
“Little bitches in Liquor Store just stab [sic] my tires! I will kill you.”

Oh Jay Reatard...you will be missed. I am glad I got to catch a live performance on his last tour through Toronto.

I saw a soon to be dead guy live.
I think it's a first.

The American Analog Set

First stop on my quest of writing my way through my ipod is Know By Heart, the 4th release from Texan Indie Rock/Drone Quartet, The American Analog Set.

In my opinion, It's the best of the two albums I have on my ipod (the other is The Golden Band) as it has a little more teeth then the other. It is also their first of two albums released on Tiger Style Records, a New York indie label that have released albums by other notable artists like The Appleseed Cast and The Album Leaf.

The first track of the album has one of the most deceiving titles I have come across in terms of title not marrying up with the sound. "Punk as Fuck", the first track of the album, is in my opinion anything but. This is far from a bad thing. It actually works in their favour. It sets you up to brace yourself for something that could be quick paced and abrasive and instead delivers Soft melodic vocals with almost rain-like acoustic guitars. It sets the feel for the album from the get go.

The album as a whole delivers 12 better than average tracks that run the gamut from acoustic tracks and instrumentals, to bass driven indie rock anthems. The album is a little front heavy with the strongest of the dozen occupying the first half of the release with Punk As Fuck, The Only One and The Postman (which features an appearance from Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie) but is not something you would want to turn off half way through. There are strong pieces on the latter part of the album as well. Making it work as a whole from beginning to end.

In total The American Analog Set has released 6 albums on three different labels including their latest album, 2005's Set Free on well known Toronto based label Arts & Crafts. Although I only have a third of their material, I stand behind Know By Heart and recommend it to anyone looking for something a little more authentic to ad their day to day listening.

Plus it will build street cred with your friends.

Take that shit to the bank.

Stand out tracks:
Punk as Fuck
The Only One

The Chixie Dicks

In an attempt to switch things up from the norm I am going to try to refrain from writing my typical "current music fixation" post format, and try to go with something a little different.

Recently, in an effort to get the most out of my ipod and music selection, I started to listen to each and every album on my ipod from front to back. This is in no way a huge undertaking as my ipod currently sits at a modest number of full length albums at 230. This is a huge contrast to my old ipod which had in the realm of 1,300 albums. Unfortunately for me (and Murphy who manually loaded each album) it was stolen from a Vodka bar in Leslieville a little over a year ago...but I digress.

Within each letter of the alphabet there will be selected artists/albums that I feel merit a paragraph or two about its importance, its greatness, or its shortcomings. The albums chosen are not a direct reflection of who I deem as a "favourite" or "best" album or artist. There are too many good albums on the ipod and I simply do not want to write about each one. I'm fat and lazy, what can I say.

So, with this being said, the next several entries will be an alphabetical tour of sorts of "some" of the albums I am currently getting through. Stay and read and learn something about an artist you may not have heard of or given a fair shake, or don't and go listen to whatever buzz band Spin or Blender Magazine force feeds you.

First up:
The American Analog Set - Know By Heart.