Random: FREE TICKETS!!!

Well, today was the OUAB giveaway of free Will Ferrel tickets, and me and three of my friends stood tough through the cold weather for an hour and a half by the horseshoe and got ours. Well worth it I'd say, I'm guessing decent tickets will go for around 50 bones. And just to clarify its Will Ferrel, Dimitri Martin, Zach Galifinakas, and Nick Swardson, quite the lineup if you ask me. Sadly, I have a class that lasts till 9 on Wednesdays, with the show starting at 8, this could propose a problem, but I'll deal with that when the time comes, I just know I'm not missing this for a fact. Anyways, hats off to OUAB for this awesome event, and with Lupe Fiasco in the OUAB lineup for March, I'd say my 15$ activity fee has been well spent.

Take Care,
t0ny

News: NEWS!!!

Just a few quick things...

-Radiohead has announced a North American Tour as a result of In Rainbows hitting #1 on the charts. The list that was given out showed that they would stop in Cleveland. The band said that the tour will take place in two parts, being split by the European and UK stops.

-Here is a link to Radiohead's Scotch Mist film released on New Years. Highly recommend checking it out if you haven't already.

-Also, The Black Keys have released news of a new album and a new tour. The new album will be called Attack and Release. You can read more about it here, courtesy of pitchfork. I pray they come to Columbus, I saw them in Akron over winter break and they were amazing.

-Even more, Jack Johnson as you may know is putting out a new album called "Sleep Through the Static", and I'm pretty excited after hearing the single "If I Had Eyes". I'd totally host it if it weren't illegal, maybe if I get some type of login system eventually. Anyway, get it on itunes, totally worth the .99 imo, really diggin' the electric guitar.

That's about it for my 3am news revelation while searching the web. Stay Classy San Diego.

Random: News, Events, Thoughts...

Holla, classes are now in full swing and it seems as though there is no free time anymore. However, I have found a minute as I've been trying to update this more often. I've just started my PHP class and hopefully sometime this quarter I'll get around to a page revamp with all the jazz that I intended in the first place, but that's a way aways.

On a much different note, some new events have been listed (I think I'll be adding a events calendar sometime in the near future). Anyway, here are the Events for now...

Jan 19, 2008 - The Mars Volta at the Newport
Jan 22, 2008 - The Walkmen w/ White Rabbits at the Basement
Feb 6, 2008 - Will Ferrel, Zach Galifinakas, Nick Swardson, Dimitri Martin at the Shott
Feb 14, 2008 - Vampire Weekend at the Wex
Feb 15, 2008 - The Bravery at the Newport
March 1, 2008 - The Hives at the Newport
March 2, 2008 - Lupe Fiasco OSU event at the Newport
April 9, 2008 - Caribou at the Wex
April 29, 2008 - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

The only one I know for a fact I will be going to at the moment is the Mars Volta show, as I bought tickets the second they went on sale and almost wet my pants. Other than that, if I can get a free ticket to the Will Ferrel Stand Up thing then that's a for sure as well. I'd like to go to all these shows but a lot are either back to back and with so many shows, going broke becomes an issue, but I'll do my best. I'll also make sure to make a write-up/review after a show I attend.

And finally, thoughts, ha, wasn't actually gonna follow that title but it worked out. The speakers I mentioned a little ways back totally rock the dorm, ha, just hope people don't complain :P. And, I've been seriously considering buying a new mp3 player. I currently have the 3rd Gen Ipod Nano because I got it "fo free son" by signing up for a student checking account. It's only 4 gig and can hardly handle my music collection. I'm leaning towards the new 80gig Zune. I think it will be able to handle my tunes for quite some time and you gotta love the new re-design and giant screen. Anyway, you can check it out here. If anyone happens to have any thoughts about it or w/e don't hesitate to leave a comment.

Oh and yeah, yeah, the bucks got dismantled, but next year it looks as though we will have another shot.

Take it easy,
t0ny

Random: Nothing Really

Hey, just some cool things to inform you about, while searching around the blogosphere I found a cool website called RCRD LBL, a site that offers free downloads for featured artists. I came across this site via GorillavsBear, one of my favorite music blogs. They featured the artist White Denim, a band I've heard a lot about but haven't had the opportunity to explore. However, RCRD LBL featured them on their site and you can download a few songs and stream one here. Pretty neat stuff, and I've only heard good things. Some other bands I plan on listening to include: Yeasayer, American Analog Set and Jens Lekman. I'll let you know how that goes, thank God for last.fm, really enjoy new recommendations. Oh yeah, I now enjoy my tunes on a new set of Altec Lansing speakers, pretty psyched about that. Check 'em out, sweet deal, you should grab a set at that price. Welp, I'm callin' it a night, big day tomorrow with the national championship and all, hope you enjoyed the retro-brutus pic!

In the words of the random bum on high street, "Lets Go Bucks! LSU Sucks!", word up Mr. Bum.

Adios.

Random: Downloading Music...

YO! two times in one day, have I turned into a machine? No, something just really bugged me and I needed to warn everyone, or maybe the 2.5 people that read this. So before I left for school I found a walmart music downloading card,worth maybe 25 bucks? Who knows, unimportant...

Anyway, they have a terrible selection, and sure, I like some semi obscure bands that don't see radio airtime, but c'mon...from a place where you can expect to buy a lawnmower and a gallon of milk in the same aisle, you'd think they have a decent music selection. Well, maybe you wouldn't cause I thought it was a long shot too, but they should damnit (mainly because of the card I found). So, if you feel like docking your pirate ship and paying for music, for God's sake don't bother with Walmart, you'll be much happier with either Amazon or itunes. They didn't even include a lot of the album information, and two of the songs failed downloading, after I paid for them, plus it took forever on a pretty stellar connection.

Excuse the lesson in common sense, and props to inthesetimes for the image...cracked me up.

Word.

Random: Back to School!

Hey there all, I'm back on the grind yet again at ole OSU, which is pretty exciting with the new quarter and all. Also, the bucks are playing for the national championship on Monday which is nothing new around here, but after last years performance, I think we have something to prove. Pretty excited to order some Zaa and watch the game...

Anyway, last night I went to see Juno at the local AMC theatre (which are amazing by the way). Pretty good movie, recommended for sure. And in music news, I'm still obsessed with the new Band of Horses record, it's such a perfect record for just chillin' in your room when it's too cold outside. Oh yeah, and I got tickets for the mars volta show on jan. 19th, pretty pumped about that. Also, the walkmen and white rabbits are coming into town.

I'll be sure to let you know how they go.

take care,
t0ny

Weekly Picks: Top 20 Albums of 2007!

Hey there! First off, Happy New Years! I realize I have not updated this in a very long time, but I think today is an acceptable time to start. Normally the plan was to make a new recommendation every week, but due to the inactivity it's pretty obvious how that worked. So, to make up for the lack of activity, I have come up with my "Best of 2007" roundup.

Here Goes:

Top 20 Albums
1) Radiohead - In Rainbows
2) Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
3) Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
4) Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
5) The New Pornographers - Challengers
6) Menomena - Friend and Foe
7) Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
8) Blonde Redhead - 23
9) The National - Boxer
10) Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
11) Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
12) Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City
13) The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes are the Dark Horse
14) The White Stripes - Icky Thump
15) Fujiya & Miyagi - Transparent Things
16) Kanye West - Graduation
17) Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago...
18) Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover
19) The Good The Bad and The Queen - s/t
20) White Rabbits - Fort Nightly

Soak it in, lotta good stuff in there. I'd say it's a pretty wide variety that covers much of what's going on in today's new music. I'm not going to analyze each pick and bore you to death, but I'll go over a few keys

Big Surprise - I'd say the biggest surprise in my list would have to be the Bon Iver album, previous to this release I had never heard of the guy. I heard some buzz on Metacritic about the release and someone described his sound as a fusion between TV on the Radio and Iron and Wine. Immediately, I knew I had to give it a listen. A strange thing happened though, I wrote down they title of the album on some scrap paper to help me remember to listen to it when I got home. Later that week I began doodling on the paper and eventually came up with a design of a phased out tree, I think it turned out pretty nice, it was just neat how it said "For Emma, Forever Ago...", almost as like a dedication or something. Anyway, great album, and you can see my drawing here.

The Grower - One album that had to grow on me was the new Sunset Rubdown release. I've been a fan of Spencer Krug's work for a while now, but this one took me quite a few listens. Sunset Rubdown, if you have not listened to them, is not you're ordinary band. I can honestly describe some songs as weird, which isn't a bad thing, but I didn't see the beauty at first. This isn't the type of album you put on to impress a friend (at least in my case heh), but when you sit down with some decent headphones and actually listen, you can really see the true beauty of the album. And if not, go listen to some Wolf Parade, they rule too!

Late in the Game - This ones easy, I've had this album on loop all week it seems. Band of Horses - Cease to begin, it has been out for a while now, but I hadn't listened to it or its predecessor until recently. If I would have gotten a hold of this one earlier I think it would be higher in my list. Make sure you don't miss out on this one.

The Best - There were about three or so albums I considered for this spot, but Radioheads - In Rainbows took the cake. Not only did they come up with an admirable way of distributing the album, they came up with one hell of a record. Definatley worth the wait. There isn't a weak spot on the record, from start to finish I enjoyed it to the fullest.

Make sure you check out some of these if you have not already!

Hey 2007, Nice Ass!