Ramones for Kids?!!!

My 2 1/2 year old nephew is the coolest kid in the world. Already he loves to play (hit might be a better description) the drums en guitars that are set up in my bedroom. He always wants me to put on this kids cd with classic children's songs on it. Needless to say, these kids songs have gotten way beyond old. Actually...they were already old to begin with.

As i just found out, Go Kart Records have found the perfect solution for dads, moms, uncles and aunts with good musical taste who want the kid to listen to something that is more enjoyable for both parties. What is this solution? Brats On The Beat: Ramones For Kids, to be released in november. 'We've taken Ramones classic songs and "kiddified" them. Combined with an all-star group of singers, Brats On The Beat is guaranteed to have kids and adults smiling and dancing the night away', Go Kart explains.

The following songs are featured on the album, of which some can be listened on the albums MySpace page:
Blitzkrieg Bop sung by Jim Lindberg (Pennywise)
Rock 'N' Roll High School sung by Matt Skiba (Alkaline Trio)
California Sun sung by Brett Anderson (The Donnas)
Do You Remember Rock 'N' Roll Radio? sung by Greg Attonito (Bouncing Souls)
Suzy Is A Headbanger sung by Nick Oliveri (Mondo Generator/Queens Of The Stone Age)
Rockaway Beach sung by Blag Dahlia (The Dwarves)
I Just Want To Have Something To Do sung by Emily Wynne-Hughes (Go Betty Go)
Spider-Man sung by Ash Guff (Guff)
We Want the Airwaves sung by Spooney (Gabba Gabba Heys)
Sheena Is A Punk Rocker sung by Josie Cotton
Cretin Hop sung by Tony Reflex (Adz and Adolescents)
Bop 'Til You Drop sung by Jack Grisham (TSOL)

I'm not really surprised they left out songs like 'Now I wanna Sniff Some Glue', 'Beat on the Brat (with a baseball bat') or 'Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment', but there are some songs left out who are just destined to become kids classics. What about: 'We're a happy family', 'Babysitter', 'Mama's Boy', 'I don't want to grow up' or 'It's not my place (in the 9 to 5 world)'? Well...maybe for the second installment? Who knows. I'm trying to come up with some other 'kiddifiable' bands. Can you think of some?

Finally Friday Video's Part V

Not much time this week...some classic video's from Twisted Sister!

The Pipettes@Rotown

Last night I went to the Pipettes show in a sold out Rotown. With the buzz that have been surrounding them for the past half year, I was quite curious to see if this retro/bubblegum/indie/popband lived up to the hype. I've enjoyed their debut album 'We Are The Pipettes' quite a bit, but I didn't know how I would feel about the choreographed dance moves and if the band would be a cool indiepopband or a lame-ass radio popband live. Thus, my expectations weren't that high.


Eventually, I guess it took me three songs to get it into it. From the moment they started "Your Kisses are Wasted on Me" throughout the end of the show, I had a smile on my face. I'd never expected them to be so much fun live. The three Pipettes were determined to give the crowd an enjoyable evening and they succeeded. The crowd went from headboppin' to handclaps to dancing. Well ok...only some people danced, but everyone seemed to have a great show.

Some other observations:
* the vocals were totally on key...these girls can really sing, great harmonies!
* the choreographed dancemoves were actually pretty awesome
* the backing band (the cassettes) stood anonymously behind the the three girls, but played flawless. The drummer's hairdo was actually even worse than mine.
* Rose Pipette might be the cutest girl in indiepop
* the Pipettes live are much more enjoyable than on album
* clap your hands if you want some more? We did!

So yeah...I had a pretty cool night in Rotterdam yesterday! There is only one problem...their songs have been stuck in my head all day now...



Fabchannel will broadcast tonight's Amsterdam show live. It will probably be archived, so check Fabchannel if you're curious.

The Pipettes on MySpace

(The Tragedy of) Exploding Hearts

Sometimes you discover a band years after their break up and you wonder...how did a band THIS GOOD stay under my radar for all those years?! Exploding Hearts is the latest addition in a long line of (not so fashionably) late discoveries. Their 2003 album 'Guitar Romantic' is filled with songs the Beatles could have written if they only were a punkband: perfect popsongs brought with a punk attitude and lots of distorted guitars. This is the kind of music that sounds good the first time you hear it...the kind of music which makes you go up to the dj to ask him which band he's playing, because it's so freakin' AWESOME! I've put two songs up for download...it doesn't really matter which songs I've chosen, because actually every song on Guitar Romantic would have been good. Definitely one of my favorite albums!!!
Tragedy. When I discover a band I like, I like to find out more about them. I had already read that the band broke up after their first album, so I was hoping to find the members of Exploding Hearts branched out in other bands. It was then when I found out the band actually ended and how sad this story is... On July 20th, 2003, the band returned from a show in San Fransisco, where they were offered a record deal by Lookout! Records (previous home of The Donnas and Green Day). It was early morning, when their van veered out of control an flipped over twice, supposedly because the driver fell asleep. Sadly, three out of four members (only in their early twenties) died in the accident.

Now, I know rockstars die too (they only human, right?). Some musicians even become legends by dying. If they don't kill themselves a planecrash will do the trick. There is however one big difference between the death of icons like Jimi Hendrix or Kurt Cobain and the death of Exploding Hearts. This band was only at a start of a very promising career...destined to become the next big thing. Some bands don't know when it's time to quit...Exploding hearts never even had that choice.

Dirtnap Records just announced that the label will release "'Shattered', a 16-song collection of Hearts demos, singles, unreleased material, and alternate takes from the GR sessions, in CD format" on Halloween (Oct. 31st). Watch this in memoriam below. It features their song 'I'm A Pretender'.


NOTE: you can find some articles about the accident here.

Exploding Hearts - Modern Kicks
Exploding Hearts - Throwaway style

Feel Good Music: Architecture in Helsinki

Australia's own pride and joy indiepopband Architecture in Helsinki consists of 8 members. That's right...8 members. I have a theory that the more members a band has, the more difficult it get to write songs...unless of course, there is one dictator in the band who makes all decisions. There are 8 different personalities with 8 different musical tastes. The songs of AIH however don't sound like a compromise. It's (indie)pop, rock, punk, electronica, dance...sometimes all at the same time. Some songs are cute, some songs are spasstic, some songs will make you want to dance, most songs will put a smile on your face and make you feel good. By the way, this is how they describe themselves: "A group of people with influences and tastes spanning the last 183 years of pop music, coupled with the isolation of Australia".

Curious? Check out the video's for "Do the Whirlwind" (one of the coolest animations I've seen in a video..you'll love this if you grew up playing videogames) and "It's 5" (a great bouncy track). I've also put the song "The Cemetary" up for download, because it's a great example of how diverse this band is!



Architecture in Helsinki - The Cemetary

Architecture in Helsinki on MySpace (currently there are some remixes of their songs featured here)
Buy Architecture in Helsinki records

Finally Friday Video's Part IV

If there was an award for most feminine hairmetal band, Poison probably would have won it. You only have to look at the cover of their 1986 debut album "Look What the Cat Dragged In" to see why. Poison is the kind of band you won't admit liking, although you can sing along to every song. Their bandname should have been 'Guilty Pleasure', cause that sums it all up. This is popmetal, with songs that are so sweet, it makes your teeth ache. Without hesitating I can name 10 reasons why this band sucked (or sucks, cause they're still around), but these reasons can't take away the fact that I still love playing their first two albums "Open Up and Say..Ahh!" and "Look What the Cat Dragged in". The band released so many singles, that it's hard to choose which video's to post here. I guess it doesn't really matter which one I post, because their video's all look pretty much the same. Pay attention to the drummer who's trying so hard to be cool, that it gets to the point where you can't decide whether you want to laugh or feel sorry for him. His motion behind the drumkit will at least raise an eyebrow here and then.

I've posted the video's to the songs "Talk Dirty to Me" and "Fallen Angel". If you want more (don't admit this to anyone!), there are a dozen more music video's of poison on youtube.

Sing me to Sleep, Joanna Newsom

There are styles of music that I mustn't play right before going to bed, because they activate my brain too much. It's at that time of the day that I play folk-ish, singer songwriter music (I am terrible in adding labels to an artist, just call it whatever you want). Johnny Cash and Sufjan Stevens are the most famous examples of good sleeping music at FTC HQ, but there are more and the best will probably will be discussed here eventually.

Recently, Joanna Newsom's new album Ys (scheduled for a release in november) has been a wonderful addition to my sleeping music playlist. The album has 5 songs on it..total playing time adds up to 55 minutes! I usually like my songs under 3 minutes, but Joanna's songs are like bedtime stories and her stories are so diverse, beautiful and creative that you're not even aware that the songs take 10 minutes or longer. The song I've posted (Emily) passes the 12 minute mark.

I could try and explain how the songs on Ys sound, but it's hard. Wikipedia actually has a pretty good description. "Her songwriting incorporates elements of indie pop, Appalachian music, avant-garde modernism, African harp rhythms and a sensibility that some listeners describe as quirky. Many are struck by Newsom's unusual voice, childish and weathered (at least one critic has compared it to Lisa Simpson's)."

I do believe she has a way of singing that you'll either love or hate. It's clear that I'm a lover, not a hater here. Did I mention she plays the harp? Oh my, don't let my punkrock/hardcore friends hear this!

Joanna Newsom - Emily