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Monthly Archives: March 2010

March madness: Blink-182 to round two

Remember the March Madness post? Blink-182 beat Angels & Airwaves and has now advanced to the Second Round. Blink-182 is now up against 30 Seconds To Mars.

I’m going to be honest: I didn’t expect this — any of this — to happen.

Last week, when I wrote my “Musical March Madness” column, I did it mostly because I love college basketball, gambling and superfluous list-making. I made my selections largely at random. I left out a whole bunch of bands I probably shouldn’t have (Linkin Park, Trent Reznor/Nine Inch Nails — two powerhouses inexplicably relegated to the NIT, sort of like North Carolina and UConn). I drew up a bracket by hand, for crying out loud.

I was not prepared for what happened next. Somehow, my sprawling, slightly stupid project became a fairly big deal, getting coverage on places like NPR and even The Ethiopian Review, and inspiring bands to rally their fanbases to help them advance. In the end, there were hundreds of thousands of votes being cast on the Newsroom blog, some genuine rage, and a whole lot of upsets in the first round of the tourney.

Needless to say, I’m pretty amazed by all the attention it got, not to mention all the brackets I received from readers: well thought-out, carefully crafted things with lengthy explanations of picks (“Petite-but-voluble Pete Wentz makes it to the Sweet 16 before being muscled out by Detroit’s own White Stripes, who go on to win the region over the very entertaining but predictable [read: West Virginia] Foo Fighters”) and everything. So before we get to the updated field, I want to tell those folks who sent in brackets that, yes, one of you will win something; I’m thinking that I’ll pick the bracket that’s closest to the actual results. The prize? An autograph from the band who wins the championship. I figure all your hard work (and insanity) should be rewarded. I just hope you picked a ton of upsets.

Read the whole article here and get started on voting for blink-182.

Angels & Airwaves review

A review of Angels & Airwaves’ LOVE album. From Ink 19.

Angels & Airwaves, the brainchild of Blink 182′s Tom DeLonge, has always been a little too big for its britches. From their very first release, 2006′s We Don’t Need to Whisper, they’ve been shooting for the moon with epic songs that reach for the galaxies dominated by the unmatchable likes of U2. That record, and the subsequent I-Empire, had a handful of rave-worthy tracks and a whole lot of ego. From the get-go they’ve been a band — filled in with Matt Wachter (formerly of 30 Seconds to Mars), Atom Willard (The Offspring), and David Kennnedy (Box Car Racer) — whose live performances far exceeded their recorded efforts.

Until now.

LOVE, self-released and distributed as a free download (or make a donation if you’re hungry for the bonus track, a remix by Blink 182′s Mark Hoppus) on the band’s website, captures not only the ambition of this band, but its spacious sound. Opening with the instrumental “Et Ducit Mundum Per Luce,” a cinematic tone is established with a quiet, gently expanding production that would not be out of place on the soundtrack to The Neverending Story or Legend. Without words, or DeLonge’s oftentimes whiny vocals that sometimes hinder an otherwise awesome song, they establish a feel that is otherworldly. This is not an accident. The band has been quietly working with director Will Eubank on a sci-fi film to be released as an extension of the album. Look for that sometime in May.

As a whole, the album is a strong soundtrack to a film we’ve yet to see. When broken down song by song, it’s a compilation of some of the best work the band has given us thus far. “The Flight of the Apollo,” “Young London,” and “Epic Holiday,” while still slightly held back by DeLonge’s tendency to draw out his “eeee’s,” are out-of-the-park hits. The guitar tones copy heavily from The Edge, but when tied together with all of the other elements, the songs sound uniquely their own.

Blink 182 may be back together, but I’m much more interested in what Angels & Airwaves has to offer.

March Madness – The epic battle

blink-182 against AVA. Who will take the first victory on the way to the big battle between two rock bands. James Montgomery at MTV have started a music battle, check it out here

Look, I love college. I love basketball. And I love gambling. So March Madness is sort of like Christmas, Thanksgiving and my 21st birthday all rolled into one. For one glorious month, I am overjoyed, overstuffed and frequently make bad decisions (like picking Baylor to go to the Final Four this year). And on Sunday, as I sat on my couch watching ESPN’s apoplectic coverage of the 2010 NCAA basketball tournament bracket, I had a thought: What if I combined my love of those things with my other true passion, music? (Oh, and making superfluous lists too.)

Inspired, I spent the next few days compiling a list of the top 65 rock bands in the business — a task that was considerably (and sadly) much tougher than I had previously imagined (because, well, I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but rock is sort of going through a rough patch at the moment). Frustrated, I checked the Billboard rock charts, listened to the radio and even read a blog or two, and finally, I had my field of 65. These are the bands that — in my best estimation — people actually care about, the ones who sell out arenas, lodge songs on the charts and manage to move units. Some of them I love, others I know nothing about, but they’re all here.

HMNIM: Thanks, New York

Mark wrote on his blog:

Had a great time out in New York. Good art, music, food, and people. But wow did the weather turn ugly! Almost wasn’t able to get out yesterday with all the wind and rain. Be safe back there! Now I’m in LA and into the grind this week. Studio. Lots of it.

Here’s a photo of the storm as it rolled through New York.

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