For The Music Lover In You

Out on them thar Internets, there's a lot of chatter about Pitchfork's review of the new Black Kids record. As you'll see below, the write-up consists solely of a LOL Dog picture:

Urinating all over the major label debut of a band (who, by the way, pretty much only scored that major label deal because Pitchfork overhyped them a few months ago) is mildly interesting, but that style of curt, succinct put-down does have some precedent. For example, take a look at their 2006 review of Jet's Shine On, which might be NSFW, depending on how your employer feels about you watching a video of a monkey peeing in his own mouth, seeing as how that's all it is.

It's easy to get worked up about a high-profile source of music criticism not taking its position seriously, but, frankly, I'd rather see a quick visual gag than invest the time to read a thousand condescending words by a dude who's looking at his subject down his nose and through his ironic mustache. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if they changed their editorial style to format all reviews like the Music LOLz in this I Love Music thread. People rarely read past the numerical score anyway unless Pitchfork posts a stunt review like this one.

-- Jeff Reguilon

Ringing up at about a penny per minute, the new album from former Replacements mouthpiece Paul Westerberg is a real bargain. 49:00 is an album-length single track available for a limited time for just $.49, exclusively at Amazon MP3 and Westerberg's own website. It's already hit the top of our charts!

P.S. It's really good

--Alan Wiley

Over on EW's Popwatch Blog, Michael Slezak opened the door for people to either brag or publicly shame themselves by posting the last five songs played on their iPods. Here are mine, which all piped through my earbuds as I walked home from a haircut this weekend:

1. Flight of the Conchords - "A Kiss is Not a Contract"
2. Sam Phillips - "Don't Do Anything"
3. Kanye West - "The Glory"
4. The Stills - "Lola Stars and Stripes"
5. Rhymefest - "Bullet"

Because I'm curious about the listening habits of you, our beloved Chordstrike readers, I'm extending you the same offer. Leave a comment with your five most recently shuffled cuts and what you were doing while you listened to them. No cheating!

-- Jeff Reguilon

A report in the upcoming October issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research by Nicolas Gueguen, a professor of behavioral sciences at the Université de Bretagne-Sud in France, suggests that loud music hastens and may even promote binge drinking: 

"The observations [of 40 male bar patrons]took place over three Saturday nights, with the consent of the bar owners who allowed the volume of the bar music -- primarily top 40 tunes -- to be adjusted randomly (from 72 dB, considered normal, up to 88 dB, considered high) throughout each night.

Finding that higher volumes appeared to egg the men on to drink more and faster, the researchers theorized that louder background sound might be stimulating higher arousal levels among the patrons. They also considered the possibility that louder music might simply make verbal communication less viable, leading to more drinking as a result of less opportunity to interact socially."

While this isn't exactly a groundbreaking finding, it lends new meaning to the adage, "if it's too loud, you're too old." Perhaps it should be, "if it's too loud, you are probably already blind drunk?"

Hopefully gone aren't the days of finding a great bar with a great jukebox where you can still converse with your drinkmates. Though I imagine every bar owner who's heard this widely reported story is right this minute figuring out how to crank it up... Let's hope we're not all destined for Quiet Parties, those silent affairs that feature a lot of note-writing, no talking, and absolutely no music. --Gabi Knight

With a career in Country Music spanning 25 years that includes 22 #1 hits, Randy Travis returns after an eight year hiatus from Country Music with a new album that has Country fans crooning. I had the pleasure of speaking with Randy on his tour bus before his stadium show at CMA Music Fest last month.

While discussing everything from his work ethic and years on the road, to his thoughts on the evolution of Country Music, Randy offered an intimate glimpse of his world and his steadfast love and devotion to Country Music music and its fans.

Check out his podcast interview mixed with music from his new album Around the Bend.