Today, we are especially happy to bring you “People Got A Lotta Nerve,” the first single from Neko Case’s forthcoming album Middle Cyclone (out March 3), because for every blog that reposts the song and/or iLike user who adds it to their profile, Neko Caseand ANTI- will make a cash donation to Best Friends Animal Society.
rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was definitely an entertaining read. I really liked Junot Diaz’ style. The story develops from the perspective of multiple different characters, and the writing is in a mix of English and Spanish (which I simply inferred the meanings of) that pulls you a little further into the world of the Dominican main characters. The biggest surprise and maybe even the overall point of the book, though, is that the book serves as a bit of history lesson about the Dominican Republic. I can certainly say that none of the historical elements discussed in this book were ever taught in my History classes.
October 14th, 2008 | Comments Off | Filed in Music
Those of you who know me well enough to have discussed music fall into one of a few general categories: There’s the “You listen to weird music” group that doesn’t even bother to have music conversations with me anymore, the “Why do you have to be such a music snob?” group which wishes I was more willing to listen to Jack Johnson or go with them to Foo Fighters, Dave Matthews or Cheap Trick concerts, and the “You always listen to cool new bands, what are you listening to now?” group. This infrequent feature is for the last group.
A band I’m currently enjoying a lot is Ra Ra Riot.
Brief Bio
Ra Ra Riot hails from Syracuse, New York. They formed in 2006, appeared at the CMJ Music Marathon the same year. They have one full length album – The Rhumb Line — which they released on August 19th, 2008.
For Fans of (an attempt to describe their sound)
Other than the uber-generic “Indie Rock” description, I would describe Ra Ra Riot’s music as upbeat, dare I say “pop?” If you’re a fan of Vampire Weekend, I think you’ll like Ra Ra Riot just fine.
iTunes Genius Says…
Highlighting Ghost Under Rocks and launching iTunes Genius playlist function pulls in music from my collection by:
Okkervil River
Professor Murder
Rogue Wave
The National
Dr Dog
The Dandy Warhols
Asobi Seksu
Vampire Weekend (see!)
and more
Standout Track
Ghost Under Rocks
Each Year
Dying is Fine
Can You Tell
If you like those tracks, you’ll like the album.
On Tour
Ra Ra Riot was actually in Milwaukee for Summerfest this year, playing the US Cellular stage on July 6th. I didn’t see them (probably because I didn’t really discover them until August).
They are currently playing a few shows on the East Coast before heading to Europe to play several dates with Vampire Weekend.
They are definitely on my radar for their next show in Milwaukee — I’m thinking a show at the Pabst or Turner Hall is coming this winter…
Videos
Performing “Can You Tell” on Letterman on 10/13/2008
rating: 3 of 5 stars
I’ve always liked Fareed Zakaria’s columns in Newsweek a lot. He always offers a balanced look at America’s interaction with our globe-mates. I enjoyed this book a lot, especially the sections comparing America’s rise to power with Britain’s, and the entire chapters on both China and India. Some critics were down on this book because they say he doesn’t offer a solution to the Iraq issue. Well… if someone was able to come up with a nice easy fix there, don’t you think they’d already be a national superstar? Anyway, this book lays out the current status of our country’s place in the world nicely, and offers some definite insight into the things we can do to maintain our status as the global superpower, even during the “rise of the rest.”
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