Unsigned Artist of the Week

This is Ingrid. Ingrid sings songs. Ingrid is very pretty. Ingrid is this week's Unsigned Artist. Listen to Ingrid.

If you are not familiar with Ingrid Michaelson, then this might be the best thing you've encountered in a very long time. Chances are you've heard her music and don't even know it. Her songs have appeared in episodes of Grey's Anatomy, One Tree Hill, and on a number of commercials. She's been on virtually every late night television show and has even appeared as a guest on the Today show. And she's really not signed to a major label? you ask. That's correct.

Straight out of New York, this indie-rock singer-songwriter has been on tour with a number of big-shots like Jason Mraz and Dave Matthews. With her strong but smooth voice and mature song writing, she clearly is someone to take note of.

In 2007 she released her second album, Girls and Boys, which topped out at number 63 on Billboard's Top 200. However, she climbed all the way to number 35 last year with her third album, Be Ok.

The strenght of her repertoire lies in "Die Alone," "Masochist," and "The Way I am" off of Girls and Boys. But make sure you listen to "Keep Breathing," which was not released on an album.

Here are some cool Ingrid links:

www.ingridmichaelson.com
www.myspace.com/ingridmichaelson
"The Way I Am" Music Video (directed by Autumn de Wilde)
"Be Ok" Music Video

The Return of the DJ

A few weeks have passed since our last update. That is because our show last week was pre-empted for a sports broadcast. Do not fear, though! The Fleshy Fresh will continue as scheduled this Monday at 4 p.m EST (www.wtburadio.org).

The show has undergone a slight change. Unfortunately, Jen Brown will no longer be a main DJ on the show because of other commitments. We will miss her but she will stop by from time to time, I'm sure. Rather than try to permanently replace her presence, each week we will be graced with the presence of a guest DJ from another of WTBU's excellent crop of shows.

So, without further ado, here is this Mondays' guest: Mike Carlos from the shows "No Eyebrows, No Mercy" and "Punkie Wunkies." Check out his blog here.

I'm working hard to get a musical guest each week. Any suggestions, let me know in the comments.

We'll see you soon.

Revenge of the Radio Star

Good news!

Spring programming has been set and The Fleshy Fresh will continue to air at the same time: Every Monday from 4-6 p.m. (EST). Tune in each week by going to www.wtburadio.org. Plan on this semester being as amazing, if not more so, than all semesters past. Here's to the culmination of three years on the air!

More to come.

In their defense...

woah woah woah...poor Panic At The Disco got quite the lashing in the last post and I gotta disagree Mr.Gerbs.

Unlike most bands, Panic At The Disco (formerly known as Panic! At The Disco) did not have the opportunity to experiment with their true sound via several albums because "I Write Sins Not Tragedy" thrusted the pop/dance/alternative band into the MTV/KISS FM spotlight (also thanks to Peaty-boy Wentz). Sure we loved that catchy, tap-your-foot, audio-crack known as A Fever You Can't Sweat Out but its a lose-lose for the band. Scorn if you do a carbon copy of the freshman album, scorn if you do something totally different. Personally, I'm glad Panic chose the latter. Pretty. Odd. should at least be given credit for their attempt to do something different. Brendan Urie and his amigos got a wisp of a Sargent Pepper vibe and they went with it. Sure not evey song on Pretty. Odd. is something to talk about but Nine In The Afternoon, She's A Handsome Woman, That Green Gentleman, When The Day Met The Night and Northern Downpour are definitely iPod worthy and make you say, "Wait..that's Panic???"

So in conclusion I gotta say, props Panic... not just for making your band name grammatically correct but for trying something new and odd.

Five WORST Albums of 2008

Welcome to the new year, ladies and gentlemen. I'd like to personally congratulate you on making it through a year full of terrible things. For starters, Katy Perry proved that, as a society, we are still too shallow to accept guy-on-guy homosexuality; but girl-on-girl is a-okay. Do you really think "I Kissed a Girl" would have been as popular as it was if it was actually, "I Kissed a Guy"? Cobra Starship thought it might, but that didn't get anywhere. Here are some other atrocities of the year we just barely survived:

Kanye West proved that he's an asshole.

George Bush tried to help Americans better afford life. EPIC FAIL.

Dr. Pepper tried to give everyone in the U.S. a free soda. As if that sounded like a plausible idea in the first place.

California passed Prop 8, pissing off a whole bunch of gay-rights advocates and starting a mini war between the gay community and the black community.

But let's get on with it, shall we? With no further ado, her are the five worst albums of 2008. (Please note: These aren't really the worst albums of the year...I'm sure some nobody in Tulsa, OK wrote a real piece of junk that nobody would be able to listen to without bleeding profusely from his ears. Simply put, this list is a collection of albums that essentialy failed to live up to their expectations. Keep that in mind).

5. Weezer - Weezer (The Red Album). TinyMixTapes.com had this to say about the band's 2008 release: "It is a sad portrait of a band that has been totally destroyed by fame and the pressures that come along with it." But TinyMixTapes is completely wrong. The reason this album is number 5 on our list of the year's worst releases is simply becuase it is the worst recording the band has ever produced--but still a heck of a lot better than the albums that follow below. There are 3--and only 3--good songs on the entire album that, fortunately for Weezer, are good enough to prevent The Red Album from being catapulted to number one on this list. "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived" is an epic song--and ironically, one of my favorites of the year--that nobody could have pulled off quite like Rivers Cuomo. "Pork and Beans" isn't bad, and "Troublemaker" also has qualities unique to Weezer's style. But venture past track 5 and you move from mediocre alternative-rock to a sonic collection of crap not even worthy of placement on a b-sides album. Yeah, I said it.

4. Jack's Mannequin - The Glass Passenger. These are the songs that you should rip off of the internet so as to spare yourself from buying the entire album: "Miss California," "Bloodshot," "The Resolution." The rest of the collection feels unfocused and scattered. Outside of these three songs, the album is hard to get into and gives the listener nothing to hang onto; at least not as much as 2005's Everything In Transit. "What Gets You Off" just seems inappropriate and, honestly, it makes me uncomfortable. All in all, it feels like Andrew McMahon got lazy with his songwriting.

3. Panic! At The Disco - Pretty. Odd. When Panic! released A Fear You Can't Sweat Out in 2005 everyone was afraid that this band was nothing more than a synthetic piece of crap thrown into the spotlight by Pete Wentz's affection. But we tried not to think about it becuase, let's be honest, it was damn catchy. And I think that Brendan Urie and bandmates realized that they needed to prove themselves as real musicians. So they decided to strip it down, listen to the Beatles, and write some honest-to-god music. Here's the problem: the songs sucked. And everything we liked about the 2005 release is absent from Pretty. Odd. And what's more, the group of pre-pubescent, ought-to-be-nobodies is still hiding behind wild orchestral arrangements and synthetic production. You think you're so clever because you put a period between Pretty and Odd. Grow up. If you're gonna do anything, bring the catchy stuff back.

2. She and Him - Volume One. Writing this hurts me. It really does. I love Zooey Deschanel. Next to Michelle Nolan, I'd marry her in a heartbeat. So let me say this before I send her record to the shameful spot of #2 on the list: She's got the look and she's got the voice, but she lacks the hook. She did a smart thing when she paired up with M. Ward, but she needs to be smarter when she's arranging her songs because sometimes they just sound annoying. I commend her for breaking the actor-musician barrier and I look forward for a second attempt.






1. Guns and Roses - Chinese Democracy. If it takes you 17 year
s to write an album, you must be in over your head. Can it and start over. 'nough said.

2009: the Year of the Recorder

Out with the old, in with the new! The recorder is instrument of the new year, 2009. Since the release of of Andrew Kane's seminal EP Hot Cross Buns: 8 American Recorder Classics in December of '08, demand for the unique instrument has skyrocketed, with orders for recorder flutes increasing by a staggering 9,000%. That's right, the recorder isn't just for 3rd graders anymore!

Chrismahannakwanzikah EDIT

I've got one more song for our holiday picks:

The Maine - "Ho Ho Hopefully." Infectious is a word that is overused by people who talk about music. So instead of using that word, I'm going to say that this catchy song from the Tempe, AZ based band is contagious. They're virtually the same thing.

NY Times: The Music Revolution

This article was in the New York Times on Sunday. I found its discussion about the changing dynamics of the music industry very interesting, honest, and insightful. I suggest you read it.

More to come.

Chrismahannakwanzikah

Every year I ask for something ridiculous for Christmas. When I was 14 it was a bass guitar. When I was 15 it was an acoustic guitar. When I was 16 it was a keyboard. When I was 17 it was a new acoustic guitar. And when I was 18 I grew up...or something. Now that my hair has started receding from my head, as if my face just stunk up the bathroom and everyone is running out to get away from the smell, I'm asking for things like...socks...money...warm hats...coupons for free back massages...and other things that emphasize my submission to aging. But this year, I asked for something really ridiculous. Actually, I don't think it's that ridiculous; but the fact that I didn't get it suggests to me that maybe it is. What I wanted for Christmas was to hear some new Christmas songs. I'm sick of hearing that damn "Baby it's cold outside" crap. If it's cold outside put a jacket on. So, I'm forced to gift myself. Here are some holiday songs (but mostly Christmas songs--sorry Jewish/other friends) that you can tap into when the holiday cheer starts to make you nauseous.

1. Bright Eyes - "Blue Christmas." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGlZY7V3qlE
We get it. The holidays are supposed to be a time for baking cookies, drinking eggnog, lighting Christmas trees and/or menorahs and generally feeling holly and jolly. But for those of us who can't help but find ourselves alone, annoyed by the sudden appearance of unwanted family members, and on the verge of breaking into a full-on drunken brawl with Uncle Albert, we can count on Conor Oberst to remind us that we're not alone when we feel alone. So are we still alone?

2. The Used - "Alone This Holiday." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhdzVJGRErI
The Used released this song on their album Maybe Memories. For further explanation, read above.

3. Brighten - "Merry Christmas Baby." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJSGDphWX1M
I don't mean to make it sound like I'm anti-holidays. Or that I typically feel alone on Christmas. But sometimes, all you want is to be around the ones you love. This acoustic song from the band Brighten perfectly captures that precise desire.

4. Marilyn Manson - "Nightmare Before Christmas."
If you haven't heard this song then you aren't worthy of any explanation I might write here.

The "Twelve Days of Christmas" Collection:
(in order of actually cool to kind of ridiculous).

1. Straight No Chaser. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28GUU1YbP_E&feature=related
Indiana University produced a male acapella group that has recently released an album. They were even awarded with a television special in which they performed their version of this timeless classic. Many people try to throw in their own variations to this song, but this is, in my expert opinion, the best I've heard. Since their original performances at IU, they have changed the song, unfortunately for the worse. I haven't been unable to find the original version, but this is the best of the remix that I've found. If I can find the original I will throw it in here.

2. Taking Back Sunday. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=detV7_95jjg
Adam and ex-guitarist Fred sit up on stools for this AOL-produced "god-forsaken song," as Fred calls it. Fred does most of the singing while Adam throws in his commentary. Worth seeing once. Emphasis on once.


As a side note, what I really wanted for Christmas was The Dark Knight. And I didn't get it. So, if you want to send it to me feel free.

2008: Top 5 Albums

Hello to the fleshiest of the fleshiest. Here is my official recap of 2008--High Fidelity style. Check back for my thoughts on the 5 worst albums of 2008.


1. The Fashion - The Fashion. This band is single-handedly responsible for making my friends hate me. For, their ridiculously catchy, rough-edged indie rock has kept me addicted to songs "Like Knives" and "Take the Money and Run." I can't help but involuntarily shout, "You're so outta control, gotta be more in control" at random points of the day. My love for this record isn't really describable and can only be justified by the fact that iTunes has knighted this group of Denmark's songs as the most played tracks among my libary. I'm sure even iTunes hates me now.


2. Dr. Manhattan - Dr. Manhattan. This band may seem new, but they've been around since 2005 playing Warped Tour, Bamboozle and other big music festivals. This Vagrant signed band, which took their name from the Watchmen comic books, has produced a record that will make you cringe with satisfaction and revel in the days of the crunchy, rough power of Taking Back Sunday's Tell All Your Friends. Their sound is so unique that the "similar artists" Last.fm links to Dr. Manhattan are as similar as Flava Flav is to Mariah Carey.


3. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden have set the bar high for themselves. They've made Rolling Stone's Top 50 Albums of '08 and the synth-pop single, "Time to Pretend," which made it in the Movie 21, is #3 on their list of the year's best singles. But the stature Rolling Stone has given them is not reason enough to name this Brooklyn based band as the third best album of 2008. Other than "Time to Pretend," "Kids," "Pieces of What," and "Electric Eel," carry the weight of the record. Even though their voices are't up to par with Beyonce, their retro melodies over standard beats provide a fresh look at synth indie rock.


4. Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst. There's one thing wrong with this record: Conor Oberst is trying too hard to sound like Bob Dylan. However, he does a pretty good job at it and, for that reason, he makes it to number four with his self-titled solo record. The Bob Dylan remnance comes out in "Souled Out" and "I Don't Wanna Die (In the Hospital)," and reminders of Bright Eyes' I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning come out in "Milk Thistle" and "Lenders In the Temple." He does everything that Bright Eyes does to pull you in, but in a slightly more stripped down, mature way. Is the difference big enough for him to make it a solo album, though? Why not just make it another Bright Eyes record?

5. The Academy Is... - Fast Times at Barrington High. This record might not be the best work of this indie band out of Chicago. However, it was certainly one of the best of 2008 and most definitely a step forward from their 2007 sophomore album Santi which let a lot of followers down. Fans of Cobra Starship found comfort in the Fast Times track "Crowded Room" (especially because of Gabe Saporta's guest vocals) and lead singer William Beckett once again proves his ability to be both upbeat and stylish as well as sentimental and smooth in "After the Last Midtown Show." It's hard to find something wrong with this record. I'll admit, it doesn't offer quite the satisfaction that their 2005 debut Almost Here did, but it does prove that The Academy Is... have a knack for catching everyone's ears (and not just those of teenage girls and Fall Out Boy fans).

Honorable Mentions
Ben Folds - Way To Normal
Kings of Leon - Only By the Light
Jeremy Messersmith - The Silver City
Chad VanGaalen - Soft Airplane