The Bravery and Incubus Concert

The Bravery and Incubus – West Palm Beach, FL : 8/29/2007
Sound Advice Amphitheater

The Bravery has been branded a Cure cover band; with some critics discrediting their relevance in bitter prose. I think this is dismissive of a band that exhibits real talent through energetic synth-punk songs and an invigorating stage presence. The band played forcefully in the Florida amphitheater with a performance grace that legitimizes their rampant popularity. They are an easy listen, and their sounds are familiar but that is not necessarily enough reason to write them off. This night they showed me they could really rock by mixing confessional heartache and youthful angst in a electric mixer of synth and guitar backed by banging drums. Lead singer Sam Endicott does have the same tortured wail of Robert Smith which makes the lyrics so gripping; a strength not a fault as far as I am concerned. The upbeat dance song “Honest Mistake” gave the audience a reason to move their butts and the forlorn “Time Won’t Let me Go” brimmed with honesty and emotion.

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO

I hadn’t seen Incubus for nearly four years. I have been a fan since Fungus Amongus. The first time I saw Brandon Boyd he had dreads down to his ass and he was playing a local club in Boston. Once the world got a taste of Boyd’s sweet vocals and confessional lyrics buoyed by the prodigious talents of his band mates his popularity soared. Since then Incubus have released four more albums and continued to produce great music. This was the third time I’ve seen them and again I was amazed by the bands ability to rock. Boyd’s voice never fails to amaze me. The nakedness of a stage performance strips out the tricks of the studio and sometimes this means a disappointment; the expectation of vocal or instrumental prowess dashed by the reality of the live show. But with Incubus this is never a problem. His vocals are strong and his expressive, meandering inflections are not lost on the stage. In reality his voice is even more powerful with the added dimension of his actual presence adding a drama to his heartfelt proclamations.The good vibes and smooth sounds caressed the crowded amphitheater. A quick glance around the audience revealed the emotional sing-alongs of his many fans. The crowd was hypnotized; enamored by Boyd’s sweet vocal melodies.

Talib’s New Joints

Watch “Hot Thing” and “In The Mood” video clips from the new Talib Kweli album Eardrum.

Oodles of Bands – Oodle.com BandTracker

I think everyone has been through this scenario: get wrapped in your busy life, forget to check for area shows or concerts and then miss one of your favorite bands when they make it to your city. Damn. That has happened to me more often than I would care to mention. The problem is the information is never in one place. It’s all scattered in area newspapers, club and band websites, and on flyers that you unfortunately see the night of some other later show and kick yourself in retrospect. Okay, so hindsight is 20/20 but it still so totally sucks.

Thank the Gods I stumbled on a new and very clever service called BandTracker by Oodle.com. Oodle is a Meta classifieds site meaning it pulls in millions of classifieds listings from thousands of sites on the Internet and offers them in one location. It’s kind of like a search engine for classifieds. The BandTracker product is really just a small departure, at least technologically, in that it is already what they are doing i.e. collecting vast amounts of data and putting it in one place. But instead of mining classified listings they crawl the Internet for concert information (actually a combination of crawling and data feeds), organize the information, and then present it on their site: http://www.oodle.com/bandtracker.

The site is simple and easy to use and features a huge database of bands: 335,400 at the time of this post. You can search by band and view a comprehensive list of upcoming show locations and venues. The shows are listed out with a link over to the tickets for sale on the Oodle classified section. If you register you can choose to track a band by signing up for email alerts for that band in your area. Add as many bands as you’d like to this weekly email. So never again will you miss your favorite bands when they come to your city. The site also offers some cool widgets including a “Band Promoter” widget that lets a fan track a band from any website and a “My Band Tracker” widget that displays your tracked bands and allows you to share the shows you plan on attending with your friends.

A function I would like to see that is absent is the ability to search by zip code on the site. I would like to get a list view of shows based on a city or zip criteria. The other service that would make good sense would be to offer the site’s features via a mobile device or cell phone. If they had these two upgrades I think this would be an all around rocking service. In it’s current form it definitely is a valuable tool. Use BandTracker and never lose track again.

By Shaun Flagg

Date With A Porn Star – Shay Jordan

Date With A Porn Star – Shay Jordan
By: Stoli Razz

What you are about to read has been banned from Skope Magazine. It is an interview with Shay Jordan the sexy adult movie star. She took the time out of her day to chat with Skope. Due to the fact that we cannot run the piece in print, we decided to run it on the Skope Blog. I hope that you enjoy the piece and the pictures are nice too!

Shay works with the amazing adult film company Digital Playground. Check them out online at www.digitalplayground.com

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Stoli: You are a beautiful woman, how do you keep yourself always looking so good?
Shay: Thank you, I keep myself looking good by eating right, getting exercise and a lot of sleep. Plus good genes ;-).

Stoli: At what point in life did you know you wanted to do porn?
Shay: I guess I knew I wanted to become a porn-star when I realized that I was very fit for the job. I’m very sexual and business minded so it was perfect for me.

Stoli: What is the difference between being with a man or woman on camera and off?
Shay: The difference to me really isn’t the sex of my partner, it just really depends on the person. I can have the same orgasmic experience with a woman that i can with a man as long as the chemistry is right.

Stoli: If a man wants to take you on a date, what is a good way to get your attention?
Shay: A good way to get my attention would be to talk with his eyes. I find it hot when a guy catches my eye and we can pretty much have a full conversation by staring at each other. It’s worked wonders before.

Stoli: What kind of music do you like the most?
Shay: I love hip-hop & R&B.

Stoli: What is the best music to have playing when you are making love?
Shay: When I’m making love i love playing R&B because there’s a lot of sexual R&B songs.

Stoli: If you were to date one rock or rap star who would that lucky person be?
Shay: My answer to that question is always T.I. (Tip Harris).

Stoli: How many dates does it take before you would consider being with a guy sexually that you are dating?
Shay: I really don’t keep track of number of dates, if the timing is right and the chemistry is there than it will happen.

Stoli: What do you find most attractive in a guy? Income, looks, personality, all 3?
Shay: Definitely all three.

Stoli: Would you say that due to your sexual experience on camera and off, your lover has to be a real pro to please you?
Shay: No, not at all. Because of my line of work I can always teach those who need to be taught.

Stoli: Would you ever consider paying on the first date?
Shay: Yes I would, but I wouldn’t recommend it :-).

END

Kanye West – “Money Right” RMX

Kanye West is no doubt one of the most innovative & talented hip hop icons to come along. Since his first album you just cannot deny that he speaks the truth. He also sells records without anyone getting shot, stabbed, or worse. Peep this RMX that Kanye has blessed Skope with. Aight, holla then!

Kanye West – “Money Right” RMX
LISTEN

-Stoli Razz

Stoli Razz – The Brits Are Acting Up!

As a proud member of the music scene today I just had to rant about 3 British musicians that are really a disgrace to our fine music scene all over the world.

Lets face the facts here, people love to party. We love to have a good time and let loose. People have their own vices and that is fine if done in a responsible and moderate manner. In the entertainment business it is acceptable to party & get a little crazy every now & again.

We have three British musicians in our midst by the names of Amy Winehouse, Pete Doherty, and Lily Allen. These 3 talented people are all capable of producing great music and claiming their piece of the music scene. Instead of doing that though they choose to live life like a bunch of degenerates. They are constantly getting high on hard drugs, missing shows, disappointing fans and ruining their own lives.

Amy Winehouse is the biggest disappointment. Her album & single “Rehab” is a true testament to how great she can be. Instead she decides to fill her body with all sorts of drugs and let others dictate the correct way to ruin her career. She looks like a mix of Nicole Richie & a zombie. This dumb broad misses 2 shows to open for Mick Jagger & The Stones.

Lily Allen is a ditsy pop tart. I actually like her song “Smile” and think she could bang out a few hit singles before cashing out. Her crazy behavior has forced her to cancel tour dates in the US due to an arrest she had. She has a cute look to her as well but claims proudly that she is an alcoholic. That is simply pathetic.

Now we get to Pete Doherty. Who looks like someone you just want to beat up! This guy has not had one hit to claim as his own. He is simply known as the drug addicted rocker who dated Kate Moss. The sooner this guy disappears the better. I get mad when any media outlet actually covers this bum.

My point here is simple. We in America love to party just as much as you do in Europe. If you want to have a music career here please do it. But do not come here acting like we owe you anything. The US consumer will eat you & spit you out. There is no loyalty. We have a million other singers, bands, & musicians that can compete with you musically.

Every time you miss a show, get arrested, or mess up we move on to the next big thing. Do not take your music career for granted, there are many others that will take it in a second. If you cannot take the limelight, go work at the mall or the local pub.

You may not choose to be a role model but in the entertainment biz you have no choice, so deal with it!

Cry Me A River Okkervil

Here is another reason Austin is dubbed the music capital of the world. The band Okkervil River. Superb indie rockers with their banging drums, and plucky chords serving as background to lead singer Will Sheff’s anguished vocals. It’s cling-clang indie pop that epitomizes the forlorn teenage squalor of a John Hughes fillm. Listen and love.

Kweller and Fite at Culture Room

Hello

Last night was the Tim Fite and Ben Kweller show in Fort Lauderdale. It was some real good times. Unfortuntely we missed Fite’s set. Total bummer! We got there at 10 PM and he had gone on at 9. Dammit I do hate when that happens; with me it seems to able all too often.

As a consolation I had the chance to meet Tim Fite in person. He is a real low-key guy and was immediately approachable and willing to talk. We chatted a bit about his tour, his side project The Water Island with Rio en Medio which you definitely should check out, and of course we talked about music.

When Kweller went on around 10:30 the small Culture Room floor was bursting with excited fans; a crowd full of fresh, young faces. I had heard some rumors that his shows were fragile and weak displays. These rumors were being propogated by some of my good friends whose opinions on music I generally respect. A friend of mine who will remain anoymous said that Kweller was too soft. Bollocks! When Kweller came out on stage he came out strong and loud banishing all those nasty and illegimate slanders.

The energy was high on stage and the trio made of Kweller, his drummer, and his bassist absolutely rocked. This small band was able to create a big happy sound that put the whole crowd in a good mood. Highlights were songs “Run” and “Sundress”. The show reached its raucous end with “Penny On The Train Track” with the comic addition of some old women dancing on stage and voicing the lyrics. The last thing I thought I was going to see was Ben Kweller’s grandma dancing on stage. Well it is Florida and isn’t that where all the grandmas go anyway.

Here are some photos of the Kweller performance

Bat For Lashes

Natasha Khan from Bat For Lashes brings a lush voice to simple electronic backbeats and samples. The British songstress combines stories of heartbreak and fantastical imaginings into a brilliant emotive composition.

This video of “What’s a Girl To Do” was inspire by Donnie Darko. Animal heads on BMX bikers! How strange and how cool. Watch it.

Tim Fite Coming to South Florida

I am looking forward to seeing Ben Kweller and Tim Fite at the Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale on August 11. I got some media passes from my friends at Epitaph after I did the story on Fite last month for Skope Magazine. If you haven’t checked it out in print you’re in luck, I have this posted on my portfolio.

Here is a feature I wrote on Fite in the July/August Skope.

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Lyrical Justice

Tim Fite is thoughtful in his choice of words and precise in his message of social justice. This theme permeates his music in lyrics that deal directly with the imbalances and social injustices that exist today.

He grew up on the border of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, “in the woods”. In limbo between the surrounding metropolises, he started listening to hip-hop. It was music he could identify with, “It was mostly from a political perspective because I considered all other forms of music thieved, exploited, and turned to shit by racist America.” He eventually warmed up to other forms of music, especially certain flavors of country music. It was on his second album Gone Ain’t Gone that he successfully melded these two disparate sounds; hip-hop and blues-tinged country found a suitable and cathartic common ground on that album. Fite’s latest effort is more reliant on samples, beats, and a distinctly urban sound. Throughout his works, his conscious lyrics spill out in a twisted twang, a unique vocal delivery in stark contrast to his urban roots.

According to Fite, the imbalances of society effect music and creativity. His mission is to refute that system. He gave his last album away for free. It is available on his website for download with absolutely no strings attached. The theme of this album Over the Counter Culture is anti-consumerist. He takes his message seriously, so much so that in order to really bring this home he decided to sever the work’s connection to money. He relates his decision, “Money is the beginning of all problems. No money. If it’s free, it’s really free. If there’s one thing that’s shackling everybody at this point, it’s commerce. It’s our need to spend and to be spent.”

The album is full of overt sampling and that is part of his message: sampling other melodies gives the work a whole new life. He is not shy about stealing beats, parts of songs, or entire songs if it benefits his work, “I don’t feel the rules of the system with the way people are credited are fair. I don’t think they are right. I think that they’re put in place to keep some mutha fuckas getting rich and some mutha fuckas not and to limit our creativity.”

His goal is to stir things up, and encourage the break down of the current system that he views as misguided. “The more we steal and the more we cheat back at the system; some day change will occur and people will start wanting to give money directly back to the song makers for their songs.”

Hip-hop serves as a perfect example of the abuses of the music industry. Fite is passionately at odds with the current status quo. “The thing that is so upsetting about hip-hop is that it was the voice of the change and was the voice of social consciousness. Then it was commodified, bastardized, and turned into a mockery of itself for people that don’t give a shit about anything but making money.”

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I will post some photos and words on the show soon so look out for that.Peace
Shaun

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