8 BlowUpRadio.com / Lazlo's Den Newsletter 2/21/12

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Newsletter 2-21-12

Hey Everyone,

Thanks to everyone who came out the BlowUpRadio.com Free Concert Series @ Buddie’s Tavern last Saturday. It was a great night of music from The Black 100s, Happy Joe, and No Use For Humans.

The next BlowUpRadio.com Free Concert Series @ Buddie’s Tavern is Saturday March 3rd and will feature sets from ERASE:REWIND ( J Orellana from the Tea & Whiskey), THE MONACCHIO’S, and O’NEILL & MARTIN

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Lazlo’s Corner

Over the weekend THE SIMPSONS celebrated its 500th episode. I’ve been a fan of the Simpsons since I first saw the shorts on the Tracey Ullman Show. I’ll agree with the naysayers that it is not as good as it once was, but I still laugh at it, and they do still have several downright brilliant episodes each year. Even at its worst, to me it is still more entertaining than most shows. So thank you to everyone who has been involved with the Simpsons over the course of the last 20 something years and made that family part of my extended family.
www.thesimpsons.com

Speaking of TV families, COUGAR TOWN is back! Terrible title for a show, but such a funny and entertaining show. If you haven’t watched it yet, give it a chance. I promise you it has nothing to do with cougars (animal or female…which I guess is an animal too).
www.abc.go.com/shows/cougar-town

In keeping with my cravings for music based documentaries I found, “SING YOUR SONG” on HBO this past week. This may be the most compelling documentary I’ve ever seen. The documentary is about Harry Belafonte, told through his own words. I have been a fan of Mr. Belafonte’s music since I was a child, and as I got older I learned of his involvement in civil and human rights movements both here and abroad. “Sing Your Song” discusses Belafonte’s music and acting career, but the bulk of the film is spent talking about his activist work in such a way that it is more historical lesson than about his ego or place in history. Recently I was talking to a friend of mine and we were discussing how because we were children of the early 70’s in the northeast, growing up it never occurred to us how segregation was only just coming to an end in the south, and how recent history it was. Martin Luther King’s famous “I have a dream” speech seemed like ancient history, but really had only been ten years before I was born. This film reminded me how I once wanted to change the world like Harry Belafonte has done by being a part of so many important movements. It has inspired me to try to do more to make the world a better place. Unfortunately this film is not on DVD yet, but there is a CD and book available now.
http://singyoursongthemovie.com

The film also reminded me of a struggle going on right here in NJ with Governor Christie vetoing the bill to legalize gay marriage. I just do not understand why anyone would be against gay people having the same right to marriage that straight people do. Connecticut based band Hostage Calm feels strongly about this too and has planned NJ Pro-Marriage Equality Rally at Stevens Institute of Technology this Saturday. H2O and Hostage Calm will both perform at the free rally. You can read more about it here:
http://blowupradio.tripod.com/news/news33.html

Finally got to catch up with the movie “WIN WIN”, on Cinemax. How did this film not get nominated for an Oscar? Absolutely wonderful dramedy from writer-director Thomas McCarthy (The Station Agent), starring Paul Giamati, Amy Ryan, and newcomer Alex Shaffer (whose performance deserved at least a nomination for best supporting actor). I’m not going to try to explain the storyline because I went in knowing very little, and while the film is not difficult to follow it is not easy to describe the plot in one sentence. You can find out more here:
www.foxsearchlight.com/winwin

Ever wonder what would happen if the forces behind NO USE FOR HUMANS and LIFEGUARD NIGHTS (Steve Honoshowsky and Vincent Brue, respectively), teamed up with guitarist Mike Biskup? Well now we know with BALLROOM, the new project from the trio. The 16 songs on their debut, “enter the ballroom” are short and direct, the longest song is 2 minutes and 33 seconds, and have an art punk sound to them. Check them out, it’s really good!
http://www.nachtrecords.com/fr_downloads.cfm

There’s something to be said for a band that can put a smile on my face and make me want to dance around like a rag doll (there’s a reason I never dance in public). LESS THAN JAKE’s new EP, “seasons greetings from Less Than Jake”, has little to do with the holidays outside of the first song being titled, “the new auld lang syne”, but it has everything to do with the ska punk rock that have made them famous for more than 20 years now. One of the five songs, “younger lungs”, was the only weak link in the batch, and was still not a bad song, leaving me to believe Less Than Jake’s motto is “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it”. Purchase the ep here:
http://lessthanjake.limitedpressing.com/products/16219

Sometimes rather than dancing like a rag doll, I like to gently sway to Jamaican reggae grooves. A sampler from the new four disc box set, NINEY THE OBSERVER: DEEP ROOTS OBSERVER STYLE, had me dreaming of sitting on a Jamaican beach enjoying the warmth glowing down on me. Admittedly, I knew nothing of Niney The Observer going into listening to this sampler, but doing a little research I found that he is the producer behind a lot of Jamaican reggae music of the 70’s & 80’s. Among the artists he has produced are Dennis Brown, I-Roy, The Heptones, and Page One & The Observers, each of whom get a disc of their tunes on this box set. If you like reggae, what I’ve heard on the sampler leads me to believe this should be part of your collection.
http://www.amazon.com/Roots-Observer-Style-Niney-Presents/dp/B006QJ1CM4

Then there is undeniably sunny, happy sounding music that makes me want to sing along and have fun. Such are the songs on BELLE HISTOIRE’s new ep, “I can tell”. The choruses on the first two songs (“stay awhile” & “be alright”), are two of the most infectious songs I have heard so far this year. Following that are two ballads, “misguided” & “ sailing ships“, that are nothing like the former’s namesake and are powerful without being overly melodramatic. “sailing ships” even reminded me a little of the Swell Season. While I preferred the upbeat songs to the ballads, this is overall a solid start for this band from Ohio based band.
http://www.bellehistoiremusic.com

I love vinyl. CDs are of course more portable, as are MP3s, but neither sound as good as vinyl. That’s why I am glad indie labels like OOPS BABY RECORDS, release vinyl 45’s. PERSONAL & THE PIZZAS latest actually comes on a pizza colored piece of vinyl, kinda-sorta at least, which is cool. Even cooler are the three songs on it. The title track, “diet, crime and delinquency” and “brain damage“ remind me of early Misfits meets current Bobby Steele, while the flipside features “bored out of my brains” which is like the Ramones meets the Beach Boys. Good stuff indeed.
http://www.facebook.com/personalandthepizzas

I leave you this week with live video of Chris Cornell covering the Dolly Parton/Whitney Houston song, “I will always love you”.
http://blowupradio.tripod.com/videos/cornell1.html

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Latest Updates on BlowUpRadio.com & LazlosDen.com


LIVE VIDEO: Chris Cornell - "I will always love you" (Dolly Parton/Whiteny Houston cover)

MUSIC NEWS: MC5 bassist Michael Davis dies aged 68

ALBUM PROFILE: San Cisco - "awkward"

MUSIC NEWS: Former The Runaways Singer Reconnects With Lita Ford After More Than 30 Years

MUSIC NEWS: Jay Farrar and Jim James Discover Woody Guthrie's California in New Album

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This week on Lazlo's Den Presents New Music we have new music from:

ARTIST - ALBUM
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Wayne Baker Brooks - tricks up my sleeve

Dan London - happy to see me

Personal & The Pizzas - diet, crime and delinquency

Little Barrie - king of the waves

Khalid Quesada - Khalid Quesada

Electric Sun - the gilded sun

Ballroom - enter the ballroom

Less Than Jake - seasons greetings from Less Than Jake

Belle Histoire - I can tell

Rainbow Fresh - Rainbow Fresh

Kitty Clementine - Kitty Clementine

Tom Jones feat. Jack White - evil



Full playlist with links to all the bands is at www.LazlosDen.com. Support Good Music!

Lazlo's Den Presents New Music airs on BlowUpRadio.com Tues @ 8pm, Wed @ noon & 10pm, Thurs @ 3am & midnight, Fri @ 9am & 3pm, and Sun @ 8pm (all times are eastern time zone)



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Our on air schedule at BlowUpRadio.com is

Here’s the BlowUpRadio.com programming schedule for this week:

Lazlo’s Den - Monday thru Friday at 8pm ET

BlowUpRadio.com Live – Sat @ 11pm, Sun @ 9pm, Mon @ 10pm, Tues @ noon

The Bumpskey Show – Tuesday @ 9pm ET

Lazlo’s Den presents New Music - Tues @ 8pm ET, Wed @ noon & 10pm, Thurs @ 3am & midnight, Fri @ 9am & 3pm, Sun @ 8pm

‘Rock N Roll Gas Station’ hosted by Jim Testa - Thursday @ 10pm ET, Sun @ 7pm, & Mon @ 6pm

‘The Weekend Mix-Up!’ hosted by Mick Hale - Friday @ 9pm ET, Sat @ 9pm, Sun @ 1pm & 6pm



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That's all for this week folks.

Peace,
Lazlo
www.BlowUpRadio.com
www.LazlosDen.com