The Ear Hole

"I don't mean to brag...

...I don't mean to boast, but I called the Rage opener on this here post."

Don't believe me? Here's one of many, many pieces of crappy YouTube evidence.

One reader predicted a "Take The Power Back" opener, which would have been really cool; especially since that song hadn't been in their rotation for years before they split. That said, the metaphor would have been a bit too cheesy for this band. I'm glad they went with "Testify" to kick it off. More of a statement, in my opinion. Looks like the place was as insane as expected. Any first-hand witnesses out there?

Well, I hope you've all enjoyed this little obsessive RATM run. We'll keep an eye on them. In the meantime, keep your finigers crossed for more dates and, eventually, studio time. Thanks for your feedback.

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I welcome you back to the rest of the music world with a little Gogol Bordello.

This band is hysterical, and I was surprised to see that this song was still a blogosphere virgin...

...until now. Pop!

Gogol Bordello—East Infection

Purchase Gogol Bordello

Live Rage Preview Pt. 6

Medical disclaimer for RATM fans: The below music may cause dizziness, diarrhea and a severe sense of worthlessness for not sacking up and buying that Coachella ticket. But mainly, diarrhea.

As several thousand lucky assbaskets will witness first-hand this evening, few bands command the stage like Rage Against The Machine. Tonight, they battle Los Angeles for the first time since 2000.

And while a few measly audio files can do their live sound no justice, here are some tracks that may just goosebump—if I may use that as a verb—those of us who have been fortunate enough to catch these savages in concert.

So without further ado, I give you a smattering of live tracks for Part Six of our six-part reunion countdown series. (Bear with the sound quality on some of these, especially the first two.)

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RATM—Hit The Deck

RATM—Clear The Lane

From Live At The Quad, believed to be RATM's first-ever live performance.

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RATM—Know Your Enemy (Live)

RATM—People Of The Sun (Early alt. version)/Bullet In The Head Medley (Live)

From Revolution, a 1993 bootleg.

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RATM—No Shelter (Live)

Woodstock '99 opener

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And to cap off the series, my personal favorite RATM studio cut:

RATM—New Millennium Homes

From The Battle Of Los Angeles

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The puck drops tonight at 10:40pm PST. Rage Against The Machine, 2007 style. I have a $20 bet with myself that YouTube has some footage up before I go to bed. Wish me luck. (Actually, several Coachella clips are already up on YouTube, including these from DJ Shadow and The Arctic Monkeys.)

My opener prediction: "Testify"

RATM Pt. 5

The work week is over, so not many will see this before Sunday's RATM show. I'll try to dig up my old bootlegs tomorrow and give you loyalists a hearty Part Six. In any case, here's Part Five of our five-to-seven-part Rage countdown series.

RATM—Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos (Public Enemy)

RATM—Take The Power Back (Live)

RATM Countdown Pt. 4

Part four of our four-to-seven-part series. These certainly are not "rare" Rage tunes, but they at least appear to be new to the blogosphere. Both are firmly in my RATM top ten.

RATM—Without A Face

I can think of several "rap-rock" bands who might want to give this a hard listen.

RATM—Maggie's Farm

Is there a cooler Bob Dylan cover out there? Probably not.

Stay tuned...the real goodies are still forthcoming.

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My second stab at a podcast is up. Clocks in at about 45 minutes. Dig it.

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"Planet Unicorn, Heyyy!"

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Oh, Carlos Mencia. I'm sorry for you, pal. Good luck with everything.

RATM Countdown Pt. 3

A quick Part Three of our four-to-seven-part series, Better Know An Unblogged Rage Against The Machine Song countdown. The reunion drops in four short days.

I was there. Oh, the warm, tart scent of Americana.

An underrated joint from 1999's The Battle Of Los Angeles:

RATM—Maria

Whatever You're Into

Thought you might enjoy this ad, written by my buddy and former co-worker, John Battle. Must have been a fun shoot.

Here's another from the same campaign.

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And now, time for part two of our four-to-seven-part series of rare/unblogged RATM tracks. This is a live track from '96.

RATM—People Of The Sun

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And how 'bout Brad May punching the christ out of Kim Johnsson...just for good measure.

Rad Against The Milk

What's with this upcoming Rad Girls show on Fuse? Quite a misogynistic trailer, no?. That milk thing is a bit unsettling; particularly Johnny Porno’s background commentary. Oh well...if it's as tactful as Pants-Off Dance-Off, I'm in.

The Rage reunion is less than a week away, friends. I'll do my best to post a couple rare—or at least unblogged—RATM tracks each day 'til Coachella. Wish I could be there.

Let's start with a couple early joints:

RATM—Darkness

RATM—The Narrows

Chantal Kreviazuk

So long as we're talking Canadian geese, Manitoba native Chantal Kreviazuk releases her fourth studio record, Ghost Stories, on May 1. Come to think of it, if you dig the aforementioned Serena Ryder, you should be down with Chantal. A little more poppy, yet somehow Aimee Mann-ish.

Lyrically, Kreviazuk is heart-felt, intelligent and at times politically scathing, though I can't seem to hone in on anything other than her grand piano.

By the way, I find Chantal to be pretty attractive.

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Chantal Kreviazuk—Ghosts Of You

Chantal Kreviazuk—So Cold

Purchase Ghost Stories

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I finally got around to experimenting with podcasts. I'm still pretty inept, though I think I did manage to successfully upload something. I tried to embed it below...just push play.

This one is basically a long, choppy mix, but the tunes are solid. Regular readers might recognize a lot of them from previous posts. The next installment should be a bit more smooth and concise.

Click the Subscribe Free link below to receive automatic updates through iTunes.

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Last night's Rangers game may have been the most enjoyable television viewing experience of my young life.

Serena Ryder

Feist wasn't the only buzzworthy Canadian songbird to migrate south last year. Serena Ryder, an Ontario native, made a splash at SXSW last month behind her outstanding 2006 collection of Canadian cover songs (plus three originals), If Your Memory Serves You Well, a line plucked from The Band's "This Wheel's On Fire".

Jazz-sprinkled folk and country abounds over a wide-reaching song selection that allows Ryder to flaunt her vocal versatility a little more than heard on 2004's Unlikely Emergency, on which she conjured inevitable comparisons to [gasp] Alanis Morissette. By contrast, Ryder's pipes on If Your Memory... are steeped more in the territory occupied by Feist, Jolie Holland and Joss Stone (before Joss Stone turned to oversinging and overproduction).

Anyway, several catchy tunes on this eclectic lesson in Canadian music history. Pick it up.

Serena Ryder—Boo Hoo

Serena Ryder—This Wheel's On Fire

Serena Ryder—It Doesn't Matter Anymore
(tight keys!)

Serena Ryder—You Were On My Mind

Purchase If Your Memory Serves You Well
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What Happened To TV?, the long awaited new disc from The Greyboy Allstars, drops today. In fact, I'm off to the Fetus to pick it up. Here's a taste:

The Greyboy Allstars—V Neck Sweater

Go Rangers.

...ing-Yea-ah!-BIRD

Andrew Bird's new record has probably been Mp3-blogged to death by now. If not, it should be.

I had prepared myself to be pretty patient with Armchair Apocrypha. We learned from the outstanding The Mysterious Production Of Eggs that Bird has a slippery way of reinventing his sound—favorably—with each new release. But infectious vocal and instrumental consistencies tend to ground Bird's ever-progressing compositional stylings, and thus the 12 tracks on Armchair ring true to a distinct, polished sound.

If it doesn't sit well the first time, take a step back. Make your ear unlearn Eggs, The Swimming Hour, et al., and let these songs find you.

Lots of great whistling on this disc, by the way. Minneapolis drummer Dosh also plays a huge part.

Andrew Bird—Spare-Ohs

Buy Armchair Apocrypha

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A small amendment to People And Things That Ought To Be Phased Out, as listed on the last post:

-Men drinking from straws.
-Pedestrians who cannot pedest (nope, not a real word) without their white ipod plugs. The world has many spectacular sounds to offer, my friends.

Contributing: Jess Thomas

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I'm passively watching The Da Vinci Code as I write this. I think it might be even worse than the book. Audrey Tautou is one splendid-looking human being, though.

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Bonus Track:

Sweet Charles—Yes It's You

Buy Sweet Charles