Not So Much Of A Review: City and Colour – Bring Me Your Love

I came across an artist the other day named Dallas Green who has a solo project he calls City and Colour.  The thing is, I have heard the voice before but could not pinpoint where…  After a minute of research I was amazed to find out that Dallas Green is also the lead vocalist for the post-hardcore act Alexisonfire.

Crazy.  I am so out of the loop.

I admit it.  I am not hip to everything so you can imagine how I felt considering I am a fan of Alexisonfire…a fan that does not necessarily know all the band members by name.

It seems that all of these punk rock / hardcore artists are doing solo albums lately and it appears it might be the new “in” thing to do, but before I continue I need to state that Dallas Green has been doing his solo project for a few years now.  Also “in” or not if an artist can pull off an amazing solo album, more power to them.

I have yet to check out the entire album called Bring Me Your Love as well as the rest of Dallas Green’s solo catalog.  Funny thing is that I have seen this CD before on the shelf but didn’t even give it a chance.  Looks like I was the one missing out.  If you like meaningful folk rock material you should check out this CD like I intend to do so…

Here is a really neat video.  Yes, I said neat.

The Girl

Rock + Melt = Awesome Friday

I woke up today knowing it was going to be a good day.  No I was not dreaming about being Ice Cube and yes I did not work today.  I woke up this morning with a full agenda in line planned for a busy fun day.

Previous in the week I spoke to my blog vinyl addict friend Matt about joining me and my wonderful amazing wife for an adveture at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Museum.  He was all about accompanying us to the house that rock built.  We decided that noon would be a good time to meet up.

With a few hours before we were to pick Matt up in Lakewood I decided it would be a good idea to walk my dogs to get some energy out of them while my wife went to the gym.  My dogs may be little but I am certain that they would be good sled dogs as they dragged me all over my neighborhood.  I did not fall once but had a ton of close calls.  Gotta love snow covered sidewalks!

Getting home before my wife did I thought it would be a good idea to add some music to the iTunes and delete some that I didn’t listen to any longer.  The only problem with this is that I forgot to charge my iPhone (more on that in a bit).

As soon as my wife came home we headed out to a couple of stores and then to Pulp for a healthy lunch.  Pulp rules. We shared a smoothie to die for and also a very healthy tuna wrap.  It was the perfect little snack.

With time flying we headed to Cleveland to pick up Matt and then cruise over to the Rock Hall.  I opted out on taking my camera with me since I know you can not take pictures inside the Rock Hall but I wish I would have reconsidered as Cleveland was very photogenic today.  I had my iPhone with me and was able to take a couple of pics but since I was so involved in iTunes in the morning and forgot to charge my iPhone I had a very low battery…  Craptastic.  I was able to take a couple of photos of our adventure but not nearly as many as I wanted to.

I love this pic (minus the poeple's random heads...)
I love this pic (minus the random heads...)

We entered the Rock Hall and took a few hours to admire all the memorabilia inside the unique building.  I was most pumped to see the 70’s/80’s punk rock as well as the 90’s grunge/rock collection gallery.  Seeing the marionettes from the Alice In Chains “I Stay Away” video was awesome as well as seeing rock art posters of some gigs I actually attended in the 90’s.  I can honestly say it was a blast from the past.

One exhibit we spent some time at was the WMMS 40th Anniversary Exhibit.  Having listened to the Cleveland rock and roll station WMMS while growing up I got a kick out of all the memorabilia that was featured as well as the very entertaining video full of footage of the DJs from the 80’s (anyone know if it is available for purchase?).  There were also abundances of fliers, t-shirts, ticket stubs, fan mail, and even a box of WMMS cereal.  Yes, there are people out there who hold on to cereal boxes, right Matt?

Now I have been privileged to have been to the Rock Hall a few times in my life and then some.  I mean after all I do live near Cleveland, it should be a place I hit up seeing I am a music fanatic right?  I also have the pleasure of befriending some great folk.  Without these friends I would never have been able to have done some of the things I have done at the Rock Hall.

Inside the Alan Freed Studio
Inside the Alan Freed Studio

I have visited the museum previously for the featured exhibits as well as had caught live shows the Rock Hall threw.  I had VIP access (thanks to a wonderful friend) to the 2002 Scene Awards and hung out with Lo Fidelity Allstars outside the service entrance afterwards on a picnic table.  I even caught a Q&A with Marky Ramone a few years back, that was amazing.  So what happened next was unexpected as I thought I had done everything possible at the Rock Hall.

As we entered the final portion of the museum, the Marty Stuart collection (click HERE for pics courtesy of the Rock Hall) we passed the Alan Freed Studio, a Sirius Radio studio used by DJs for coast to coast broadcast.  I have peered into the windows of the studio before wishing I could be in there to get a better look.  While looking in the window I see out of the corner of my eye Matt waving at the DJ and the DJ waving back.

All I could think in my head was “WTF”?

Now Matt is what I like to call a very friendly guy unless it is 2am in Maryland and he is having trouble ordering a cheeseburger from Sheetz (I love you Matt, haha).  The DJ walks to the door to say hi to Matt and invites us in.  Looks like one of my wishes came true.  Turns out that unknowingly Matt happened to be good friends with the mystery DJ.

The DJ introduced herself to my wife and I as Dusty Street, the host of Sirius Radio’s Classic Vinyl radio program.  Having heard that channel many times I knew of her.  Now what I did not realize was that she is a pretty big deal in the radio world.  She was hilarious and made my day just hanging out with her while she did her thing.  I could not help but think to myself how many rock stars sat in the very same seats my wife and I sat in.  We said our goodbyes and continued our tour.

My wife and Matt
My wife and Matt's hind-sides...

After a successful visit to the Rock Hall we headed out to Lakewood to grab some good eats at Melt.  Have you ever been to Melt?  Well if you love bread and cheese (and beer for all you drinkers out there), Melt is one of the greatest little restaurants in the Cleveland area.  Think gourmet grilled cheese sandwich.  My wife ordered a grilled PB&J sandwich of sorts while I had a crab cake grilled cheese.  Matt had some meat sandwich of sorts.  He strives on trying something different each time.  The sandwiches were huge and delicious and mine is currently still lingering in my stomach…

Our pal who I now call RADam met up with us as he works down the street from Melt.  We paid our tab and ventured down the street to the sweet smelling, never crowded, Exchange (no we could not ever fire you the day after J-Day).  After finding nothing we headed next door to Phoenix Coffee where we wrapped up our evening with some hot beverages.  Our conversations were vulgar and classic at the same time.  The barista was extremely entertaining and the idea of four friends just hanging out laughing and having a good time was the best way to enjoy life.

It was good day, hell, it was a GREAT day.  No use for an A.K. and plenty of memories thanks to good times and great friends.  This was the perfect way to start out 2009.

As soon as I got home I could not help myself but to watch this video:

Year In Review: 2008

I suppose today is a good day to do this as we all say goodbye to 2008 tonight, so here is my best/worst of 2008.  Enjoy!


Best Live Show:

Without a doubt the best live show I saw this year was at the 3rd annual Virgin Mobile Festival.  The Foo Fighters put on one of the best live concerts I have ever seen.  Their stage presence was like none other as they shared the fun they had with the huge crowd that gathered to see them.

Runners up:

-Radiohead at Blossom
-Filter at the Hard Rock Cafe Cleveland
-NIN at the Virgin Mobile Festival
-Against Me! at the Warped Tour
-The Briggs at the Warped Tour

Worst Live Show:

I have to say the worst live show I saw (or didn’t see since we waited 45 minutes for him to take stage) was none other than Lil’ Wayne at the 3rd annual Virgin Mobile Tour.  As much as I wanted to see him perform live for years now, his neglect for other bands pissed me off.  After his entourage galloped across the stage for 45 minutes the young rap star took stage.  I already had enough and left, missing the performance.  The thing that ticked me off the most about Lil’ Wayne’s delay in performing was that he kept playing over his alotted time and took up some of the Black Key’s time, a band I really wanted to see more of.  The Black Keys had to end their show early all because Lil’ Wayne felt it necessary to disregard others.

Runners up:

-Any emo/scenester band that played the Warped Tour 2008

Best New Albums:

Tom Gabel – Heart Burns – The Against Me! lead singer’s first solo release is a hit to my ears.  This CD proves Tom Gabel has a long career in front of him to look forward to.

3OH!3 – Want – After seeing them live at the Warped Tour this summer I picked up the album and was immediately hooked with the crunk punk.

Tim Barry – Manchester – The lead man of Avail put forth an amazing release.  I loved the folksy personal rock he dishes out on his 3rd release.

Jenny Lewis – Acid Tongue – From start to finish, I am in love with this CD.

The Black Keys – Attack & Release – Blues rock at it’s finest thanks to a very important duo of musicians.

Ninja Gun – Restless Rubes – Folky punky goodness.  I love these guys.

Enter Shikari – Take To The Skies – I was drawn to this CD from the uniqueness of the techno meets hardcore genre bash.

She & Him – Volume One – Very classic album featuring the very beautiful sounding (and looking) actress Zooey Deschanel.

Gaslight Anthem – The 59′ Sound – Great New Jersey band that imitates what Bruce Springsteen might sound like if he were younger these days.  I can listen to this CD over and over and not grow tired of it.

Albums I Was Not As Impressed With As I Thought I Would Be:

Metallica – Death Magnetic

Guns N Roses – Chinese Democracy

Portishead – Third

Gnarls Barkley – The Odd Couple

Still Scratching My Head At:

Vampire Weekend – S/T – Still not sure if I like these guys…

Worst New Album:

Gavin Rossdale – WANDERlust

Best Movie:

The Dark Knight (enough said)

Runners up:

-Pineapple Express
-Son Of Rambow

-Wall-E

Worst Movie:

Strange Wilderness – Honestly from a Happy Madison film I expected more.  I think I laughed once.

Runners Up:

-The Love Guru (can you say Austin Powers w/ a beard? Justin Timberlake was humorous though…)
-Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (I expected more from this movie, way more)

Memorable Events Of 2008:

I hit up the 3rd annual Virgin Mobile tour once again with my pals Matt and Adam.  I am proud to say it was my third time being there, and both my friend’s second.  This year we stayed in a pimp hotel with free breakfast and free internet (no ghetto hotels for us this year).  Adding to the three of us was T.J. of Viva La Mainstream.  We all had a great time spite my GPS taking us for a tour in the projects of Baltimore.  You can read about my adventures of that event HERE.

My friends Sam & Ryann tired the knot which lead to a wedding reception full of friends.  It was nice to get to see some folk who I have not seen in a while.

I met Derek Hess, a Cleveland artist, twice as he was promoting his book with Kent Smith called Please God Save Us.  I have been a huge fan of Derek Hess since I was a kid and was psyched to finally meet him.  I owe the opportunity to Matt over at Addicted To Vinyl.

Even if the Browns sucked this year I was at that Monday night game where they spanked the Giants.  I went with my brother and I must say that was a game I was glad I witnessed.  The energy that night from all the fans added to the excitement of the Browns kicking ass.

I got to explore NYC with my wife and good friends Morgan, Molly, and Megan.  We need to go back to explore more but I must say I will never forget that trip.  I even have an Ol’ Dirty Bastard Cupcake tattoo as a permanent souvenir.

While in the midst of the NYC trip my wife and I decided to put down the bottle.  Since the end of March my wife and I have been alcohol free.  We feel great and are happy with our decision.

In October my wife and I met up again with the wonderful Morgan for an incredible adventure in her hometown of Austin and then to San Francisco.  Great times in both cities with memories that will last a lifetime.  I met new friends too in both cities all who shared some pretty awesome moments with.

And of course, I started this site!  Thank you to all who drop by to read what I post.  It means a lot to me to hear all the positive feedback.  Starting this site has introduced me to some really cool bloggers out there as well.

Saying Goodbye In 2008:

RIP Grandpa Paul – A wonderful person who will be missed dearly passed just before J-Day.  Thank you all for your kind words during that difficult time.

Saying Hello In 2008:

We adopted Zeus, an abused Boston Terrier in April.  He is the newest and most loving member of our family.  Don’t worry, Sweet Lou is still the coolest dog in the world, but Zeus is a close 2nd!

Looking Forward To In 2009:

The Watchman

9 (Tim Burton movie)

The Cleveland Browns 2009 Season (I am a die-hard fan for life you know…)

The 4th Annual Virgin Mobile Festival

The 2009 Van’s Warped Tour

I was looking forward to the Musink Festival featuring Social Distortion and Motorhead w/ tattoo artist superstar Kat Von D but recently learned that it was canceled due to the crap economy…  That would have been a sick show.

New Releases In 2009 I Look Forward To:

Rancid

Lil’ John (no, I am not kidding, it may be one of the more entertaining releases of 2009)

Third Eye Blind

Avett Brothers

The Postal Service

Nate Ruess (from the Format)

Andrew Bird


Well that about sums it up for me.  I am sure I have missed a lot but I did this without much thought and very quickly.  If there is someone or something I missed let me know!

I would love to hear about your best/worst of 2008.  Maybe you agree with me or disagree.  Perhaps you know of an album I should have checked out and missed.

Happy New Years to you all!  Have a safe evening and I will see you in 2009!!!