Moving On - New artists
No problems. I’m used to it. This feeling of just about getting there and then letting it all go is familiar to all Philadelphia sports fan. I am an optimist and I look at this playoff run as just the beginning for a team that has a great future ahead.
In more positive Philly news, the Flyers beat one of the premier teams in the NHL, Calgary Flames, in their opener. They lost last night to the Oilers but they’re another tough team so I’m currently intrigued by this new line up and look forward to catching a game or two.
Now on to music.
Like most bloggers, I usually open up my email after the weekend to find a plethora of messages from random artists pushing their latest masterpiece. And every now and then something does catch your ear. I got lucky and two caught my ear today. Ezra Furman & The Harpoons, a band from Chicago / Boston and the other artist is a producer / mixer from Sweden, Mojib.
Ezra and The Harpoons hail from Chicago but some, if not all of the members, went to Tufts University here in Somerville, MA. If you’re a fan of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah or Violent Femmes, you’ll most likely enjoy this outfit. I need more time with their album before a full critique goes up but their label, Minty Fresh, offered up an MP3 for your listening pleasure so grab it below:
MP3: “My Soul Has Escaped My Body”
Ezra and The Harpoons play October 12th at Tommy Doyle’s in Cambridge at 8pm. They’re celebrating their album, Banging Down The Doors, which is being released this Fall on Minty Fresh.
Staffan Ulmert, a.k.a Mojib, is a producer and mixer from Sweden who has an album coming out soon off of the Canadian label, NXR (Non-Existent Recordings). He sent me a track from the album, Whimsical Lifetstyle, called “Answering Machine at Night”. It starts off with what sounds like an message on an answering machine and then Staffan mixes a Kings of Convenience guitar part with the vocals of a Jayhawks tune (anyone want to stab at the names of both those songs?). He also sent me a remix of some Avalanche stuff. I enjoy all three of those artists so Staffan definitely deserves more a listen.
MP3: “Answer Machine at Night”
MP3: “Mojib vs. The Avalanches”
Playoffs so far
Well, my Fighten Phils don’t look like they’re putting up much of a fight. Besides some offensive sparks from J Roll, Rowand and Howard, the rest of the team looks to be shell shocked. It was a gamble going in to the post season with the pitching staff that we have. I was hoping that the bullpens end of the season successes would carry over but it looks like the bullpen of old is back on track. Perfect timing fellas.
It is a five game series and 3 games in a row is not entirely unrealistic. I expect the Phils to shake of their nerves as they move away from the pressures of their home town. For some it may seem that playing at home would be to your advantage but in a town like Philly where we’re craving a trophy after hitting an all time high of 24 years without a single championship from any of the major sport teams, then you might be tooting a different whistle. I’m predicting that Moyer keeps us in the game until the sixth inning. He’ll let two guys on base with two outs and they’ll bring in J.C. Romero who will get us out of the jam. Our offense will come alive and Alfonseca and Meyer will pull off a save for the first win of the series.
As for the other series, the Indians looked dominant last night. Of course, their ace was on the mound so we’ll how things shape up as the Brooklyn bats will most certainly come alive in the next game. Poor Cubies, poor poor Cubies. And while the Sox won 3-0, they’re going to need some more offense to stay on track. While I don’t doubt their pitching can single handedly win the games for them, i.e. Beckett in game 1, it’s unrealistic to think they’ll keep the Angles bats quiet for all the games. And 3 runs may not be enough insurance. I predict a Sox - Cleveland ALCS. As for the NLCS, you know I can’t count my boys out no matter how much their down by so I say Phils - D-backs.
So off to a nice long weekend.
You didn’t think I would leave you be without a song to sing. The Electric Six have a song for you from their upcoming album, I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me From Being The Master (Releases on October 9th). The Song is called, “Down at McDonnelzz”. Hilarious titles. Sure beats their last album…Switzerland? Boring. Download this track below and go to Metropolis-records.com to pre-order album and to pick up another mp3.
Download “Down at McDonnelzz”
