You Still Love Rock and Roll

The ten best US shows to watch online

Thu, 23 May 2013 06:28:00 -0400

Looking for a programme to stream online? Try one of these American series, including Breaking Bad, House of Cards and Arrested Development.

Check out this piece I wrote for Time Out, especially if you’re looking for something to do over the long Bank Holiday weekend!

wemakeourownmovies: Not their normal fare, but this Zuill...

Tue, 07 May 2013 20:06:14 -0400

wemakeourownmovies:

Not their normal fare, but this Zuill Bailey cello set is definitely one of my favourite Tiny Desk concerts

It Makes No Difference- My Morning Jacket with Brittany Howard...

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 06:48:35 -0400

It Makes No Difference- My Morning Jacket with Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes

On the one hand this is a fairly faithful cover of The Band’s late era (as far as ‘classic line-up’ Band albums go) classic.

Carl Broemel wrings an almost identical solo out of his Duesenberg as the one that Robbie Robertson coaxed from his Strat in one of the greatest scenes from The Last Waltz. Indeed it is fairly similar to the album-stealing version that MMJ did for Endless Highway five years ago.

However, in turning it into a duet with the impeccably voiced Brittany, they are able to transform it into quite a different animal, one of inevitable sadness and regret, but bittersweet acceptance.

While none can touch the original, this version brushes as close as the fingers on the Sistine Chapel

The Divine Comedy-Lucy The lyrics of this song come from three...

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 18:04:51 -0400

The Divine Comedy-Lucy

The lyrics of this song come from three Wordsworth poems. How cool is that?

Richard Manuel (April 3 1943- March 4 1986) Gone too...

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 08:42:00 -0400

Richard Manuel (April 3 1943- March 4 1986)

Gone too soon

wemakeourownmovies: Happy Birthday to Nick Lowe!!!

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 17:20:00 -0400

wemakeourownmovies:

Happy Birthday to Nick Lowe!!!

Vintage Trouble popped by Conan’s and played Nancy Lee...

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 12:00:34 -0500

Vintage Trouble popped by Conan’s and played Nancy Lee with the inimitable Booker T. It’s pretty special.

I made a playlist of fourteen of my favourite love songs for...

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 07:00:09 -0500

I made a playlist of fourteen of my favourite love songs for Valentine’s day. Enjoy!!

indierawk: The Postal Service - A Tattered Line of String. Hey,...

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 07:00:30 -0500

indierawk:

The Postal Service - A Tattered Line of String.

Hey, a new song!

The Postal Service have a new song. This is obviously important news and you should stop what you’re doing until you have listened to it. Thank you

The Avett Brothers get it done right.

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 16:23:47 -0500

The Avett Brothers get it done right.

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy- 2-15/New Partner

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 07:00:00 -0500

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy- 2-15/New Partner

Conor O’Brien covers The Big O’s Crying

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 07:00:18 -0500

Conor O’Brien covers The Big O’s Crying

Why not celebrate Frightened Rabbit’s new album by...

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 05:55:49 -0500

Why not celebrate Frightened Rabbit’s new album by listening to them in this session for KEXP

My heart's pounding like I'm watching 30 Rock's farewell season.

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 13:30:07 -0500

We first met Liz Lemon at a hotdog stand. She was buying ALL the hotdogs to prove a point to a business man who pushed in by creating his own line.

As first impressions go, it was almost perfect, combining Lemon’s deep seated belief in fairness, with her overriding love of all things food related.

And the hotdog is a pretty great metaphor for 30 Rock itself. One of the inherently funnier foods, it is stereotypically an indiscriminate mix of materials, both good and bad.

It was a show that could go from jokes about disgraced members of Nixon’s White House to Star Wars references in seconds and absurdly brilliant Janis Joplin gags without seeming dated or contrived. In more recent episodes they would reference Willy Wonka and Alfred Hitchcock in the same breath, knowing that its audience would get it. These weren’t played as in jokes, they were just jokes.

It was never afraid to bite the hand that fed it. NBC was endlessly portrayed as poorly managed, and it wasn’t afraid to parody itself either, with tongue in cheek jokes about forgotten characters, and one inspired piece of self parody where Margaret Cho played Kim Jong-Il playing Alec Baldwin. It was obtuse, but it always worked.

It also had some of the best guest stars, from Oprah to Conan, Alan Alda to Bryan Cranston, and unforgettable turns from Jon Hamm and John Slattery.

And they had Buzz Aldrin shout abuse at The Moon. What more could you want?

I first met 30 Rock by a checkout in a supermarket, where its seven pound first season called out to me as I unloaded my basket. It opened the door to NBC comedy, giving me Community and Parks and Recreation and Saturday Night Live and The Office. It made my life funnier, and it’s being given a chance to end on its own terms, a chance that so many comedies of its calibre never get.

So farewell 30 Rock, we’ll miss you. But in the words of Liz Lemon, “It ok, don’t be cry”

The new Local Natives album is currently streaming on iTunes

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 10:10:00 -0500

The new Local Natives album is currently streaming on iTunes:

Enjoy!

So, somebody made a shot for shot remake of Toy Story entirely...

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 13:39:00 -0500

So, somebody made a shot for shot remake of Toy Story entirely out of toys… It’s pretty incredible.

Safety Not Guaranteed (Dir. Colin Trevorrow, 2012)

Sat, 12 Jan 2013 08:23:13 -0500

In Safety Not Guaranteed there is a real dissatisfaction with the present. Darius (Aubrey Plaza) dreams of stopping her mother’s death, and claims her favourite song is Somewhere Over The Rainbow. Jake M. Johnson’s journalist Jeff (wow, unintentional alliteration) harkens back to his high-school summers overlooking the pacific. The scholarly Arnaud (Karan Soni) can’t see life after he finishes college.

Working at a magazine in Seattle they stumble across this small ad-

Wanted: Somebody to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. P.O. Box 91 Ocean View, WA 99393. You’ll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. Safety not guaranteed. I have only done this once before.

Intrigued, they journey to Ocean View to find the person behind it, Kenneth (Mark Duplass), a shelf stacker at a local supermarket.What happens next is an endearingly sweet tale of second chances.

At the centre of the film is the inherently beguiling promise of time travel. Everyone has regrets, events that play like short films in your head. For those with a tendency to over-think, there is always a feeling that if some tiny part of the story changed, it would make everything right.

For some the resolution to this might mean visiting your old stomping grounds, to find the one person who you truly felt at home with. Or it might mean breaking into a series of government buildings to steal lasers so you can build a time machine.

But let’s be honest, where is the risk in experimenting with nuclear physics when other characters are experimenting with old relationships?

Benjamin Gibbard’s video for Teardrop Windows may be one...

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:52:39 -0500

Benjamin Gibbard’s video for Teardrop Windows may be one of the greatest things ever!

mychibithoughts: Frightened Rabbit Secret Concert in San...

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 11:34:22 -0500

mychibithoughts:

Frightened Rabbit Secret Concert in San Francisco

Setlist:

Skip The Youth

Good Arms Vs. Bad Arms

I Feel Better

The Loneliness and the Scream

Be Less Rude

The Twist

Fast Blood

Nothing Like You

The Modern Leper

Old Old Fashioned

Fake Empire/Backwards Walk

Living in Colour

Poke

Keep Yourself Warm

Overs-Simon and Garfunkel One of the highlights from Bookends...

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 14:04:00 -0500

Overs-Simon and Garfunkel

One of the highlights from Bookends (in my opinion a far superior album to Bridge Over Troubled Water) Overs is an absolute masterpiece and features some of the best acoustic guitar playing there is. This rendition from the Smothers Brothers’ Show is almost worth watching just for Art’s moustache and their fantastic jumpers.