No Street Cred

An on-going discussion blog by a couple of ex-record store clerks who now work real jobs. . . but still obsess about music, bands, film and culture. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-23062409-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();

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No Street Cred is waking from the dead

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New Van Halen = FUN

Dear Reader,

Prior to the release of Van Halen's new record, 'A Different Kind of Truth' , I want to go on record as saying I think this is going to be a big hit for them, and possibly a boon to rock 'n' roll today. I've heard the single, 'Tattoo' and two other clips from the album.  There's no agenda, or rock category they try to fit into... it's just FUN.  It's driving-down-the-highway-in-the-middle-of-the-summer-with-the-windows-down-and-the-radio-blaring, fun!

The world has seen it's share of defined rock and pop music in the last 20 years.  Alternative, grunge, indie, metal, experimental, (The sub-categories go on and on). And there's been some great music as a result of it.

However, maybe it's time for a new era of bands who's only mission is to play some rock songs, have fun and excel at both. This new Van Halen record may just be the catalyst. If that happens, save me a seat on the lawn.

Pnut

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NADA SURF - 'The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy'

Dear Power Pop fan,

You will love this.

Happy listening,

pnut

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REV UP YOUR DVRS - WEEK OF DEC. 12 - 16

  HIGHLIGHTS :

Kimmel surprises and take the crown this week for best musical guests with the Kooks on Monday, Death Cab For Cutie on Tuesday, and Lenny Kravitz on Thursday.  Well done, sir . . . well done indeed.

Conan’s got Noel Gallagher on Monday . . . for those of us who still care about and remember Oasis.

Wednesday is comedy night as Leno has Louis C.K., Ferguson has Patton Oswalt, and Carson Daly has Dave Attell.

Letterman gets hip on Tuesday with alt rock girl supergroup Wild Flag, and on Thursday with My Morning Jacket.

Enjoy!

Monday, December 12th David Letterman: Scarlett Johansson, Julie Chen, 2011 Heisman Trophy winner Conan O'Brien: Rob Lowe, Adam Pally, Noel Gallagher Jimmy Fallon: Robert Pattinson, Mike White, Hunter Hayes (R 11/10/11) Jay Leno: Charlize Theron, Kevin Hart, Foster the People Jimmy Kimmel: Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, Nicole Scherzinger, L.A. Reid, Anna Faris, the Kooks Craig Ferguson: Cat Cora Carson Daly: Wiz Khalifa, Izzy Paskowitz, Manchester Orchestra (R 11/2/11) Daily Show: Anne Burrell Colbert Report: Samuel L. Jackson Tuesday, December 13 David Letterman: Barbara Walters, Bill Hader, Wild Flag Conan O'Brien: Nick Frost, Nick Vatterott Jimmy Fallon: Tracy Morgan, Mario Batali, Pablo Francisco (R 11/1/11) Jay Leno: Dana Carvey, Jason Reitman, Lenny Kravitz Jimmy Kimmel: Josh Holloway, Molly Sims, Death Cab for Cutie Craig Ferguson: Ben Kingsley Carson Daly: Matt Kemp, Weezer, Cold War Kids (R 11/4/11) Daily Show: Lawrence Lessig Colbert Report: Mark Whitaker Wednesday, December 14 David Letterman: Robert Downey Jr., Lisa Lampanelli Conan O'Brien: Bob Costas, Mike Zohn & Evan Michelson Jimmy Fallon: Adam Sandler, Chris Martin, Beyonce (R 11/11/11) Jay Leno: Louis C.K., Common Jimmy Kimmel: Kathy Griffin, Jamie Bell, Young Jeezy Craig Ferguson: Patton Oswalt Carson Daly: Dave Attell, Resurrect Dead, the Decemberists (R 11/8/11) Daily Show: Melody Barnes Colbert Report: Gen. Raymond Odierno Thursday, December 15 David Letterman: Tom Hanks, My Morning Jacket Conan O'Brien: Dax Shepard, Kunal Nayyar, Dawes  Jimmy Fallon: Martin Short, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Michael Stipe (R 11/16/11) Jay Leno: Al Michaels & Cris Collinsworth, Elle Fanning, Robin Thicke Jimmy Kimmel: Robert Downey Jr., Lenny Kravitz Craig Ferguson: Sean Hayes, John Hodgman Carson Daly: Tim Armstrong, Girl in a Coma, Death Cab for Cutie (R 11/9/11) Daily Show: Matt Damon Colbert Report: Daniel Craig Friday, December 16 David Letterman: Jude Law, Bob Sarlatte, Gary Clark Jr. Jimmy Fallon: Maya Rudolph, Damian Lewis, Richard Blais (R 12/2/11) Jay Leno: Rep. Ron Paul, Chris Cornell Jimmy Kimmel: Peter Facinelli, Jamie Oliver, Vince Gill (R 11/17/11) Craig Ferguson: Mindy Kaling Carson Daly: Lupe Fiasco, Alma Har'el, Atmosphere (R 11/10/2011)

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A CHRISTMAS ALBUM TOP FIVE, COURTESY OF PNUT & THE MAN

With the Yule-tide season upon us, No Street Cred's thoughts turn to the vast sea of Christmas recordings that inevitably flood our radios, iTunes top selling charts, and our general consciousness.  Love Christmas music or hate it, at this time of year it's virtually impossible to escape it. When PNUT and I were younger men and slinging CDs at the record store, the onset of Christmas was a double edged sword.  On the banal, soul-sucking side were the scores of shoppers would descend upon us every year to buy endless copies of schlocky Celine Dion and Mariah Carey Christmas albums, as well as the inevitable flood of requests for Elmo & Patsy's "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer".  Ugly business working music retail during Christmas in the early 90's, ugly business. . . But all was not lost, as the store we ran prided itself in having a huge selection of Christmas albums, stocking several copies of nearly every Christmas album that was in print at the time.  Those long hours of retail gave us the opportunity to take in masterpieces like James Brown's Santa's Got A Brand New Bag, The Beach Boys Christmas Album, and A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector.  Think Christmas music encompasses Bing Crosby and little else?  Think again . . . So in the spirit of the season, we here at No Street Cred humbly offer up a short list of what will be in heavy rotation on our iPods throughout December.  If you've not heard these gems before, check them out and add a little variety to your holiday listening. Best of the Season, PNUT & THE MAN MR. MAN'S SOUNDTRACKS FOR EGGNOGGIN'

1. Chris Isaak - Christmas  :  My number one for going on 8 years.  Isaak's got several things going for him on this disc, but the two biggest are his noteworthy efforts to non-ironically croon out several old holiday chestnuts, and his ability to bring a handful of topnotch original Christmas songs to the party.   On the classics side, don't miss Isaak's versions of "The Christmas Song", "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas", and  "White Christmas" . . . all gorgeous, and all highlighting his silvertoned voice.  On the originals side, Isaak hits a couple of homeruns with "Hey! Santa" and "Got To Be Good", and absolutely knocks it out of the park with "Christmas On TV", where he weaves in allusions to the holiday film classic It's a Wonderful Life.  "New" Christmas songs are normally terrible, exercises in listening endurance, but Isaak's actually come up with three new gems.  Perfection start to finish on this album.

2. Dean Martin - Making Spirits Bright : Dean's an American classic, and this collection makes me want to put on my best reindeer cardigan sweater, grab a tumbler of hot buttered bourbon, turn out all the lights save for the Christmas tree, and just revel in the season.  3. Starbucks Hi-Fidelity Holiday Collection - One of the many, many Christmas compilations that abound out there, this is one of my favorite.  Contains the loungy Combustible Edison version of "Sleighride", the Cocteau Twins take on "Winter Wonderland", and XTC's incognito classic "Thanks For Christmas" (released under the pseudonym "Three Wise Men").  Great stuff. . . 4. Los Straitjackets - 'Tis The Season For Los Straitjackets! : Now what says Christmas more that 4 guys in wrestling masks playing surf guitar versions of all your yule-tide favorites?  Quirky and different, yes, but surprisingly catchy and upbeat.  Hipster cool, all the way . . . 5. Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas : Mr. Man's tastes on Christmas music definitely swing towards jazz and big band, and Ella's treatments of the classics are a favorite.  The perfect soundtrack for your holiday party, or listening to in the car while scurrying around town doing your gift shopping.  BONUS Great Big Sea - "Seven Joys Of Mary" : A little known but fantastic rollicking number from Newfoundland's favorite sons.  Done in the style of a sea chanty, this one's like a cooler version of "The Twelve Days Of Christmas", only shorter and much more fun.  Perfect song for drinking spiked eggnog with your rough and tumble friends.  Available on the Redeye label's 2008 Holiday Sampler, or a few other places as well . . . HOW PNUT GOT HIS CHRISTMAS GROOVE BACK 1. White Christmas Soundtrack : A Great soundtrack to a great holiday movie.  Though not the original appearance of the song, (that would be Holiday Inn) the Irving Berlin classic never sounds better than here.  Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney lead the vocals in the film, however when the production team decided to release a soundtrack album the studio couldn’t get the rights to Rosemary Clooney’s vocals.  Peggy Lee stepped in to rerecord the tracks.  The result is a smoky, sultry companion to Crosby’s baritone ba ba ba bings.  I have a 45 record box set of the album, handed down from my grandparents that I break out every year.  This record and movie ARE Christmas in our house.

2. Vince Guaraldi – A Charlie Brown Christmas : Come on it’s Peanuts and the incredible Vince Guaraldi trio.  Quite possible there has never been music that so indelibly represented an ensemble of iconic characters.  (Star Wars included!  Nuthin’ but love, John Williams) 3. Elvis Presley - Elvis’ Christmas Album : I am an Elvis fan.  I will not insult you dear reader by trying to disguise my love of Elvis by acknowledging a holiday album as a passing appreciation of the man’s work only expressed during the holiday’s.  Don’t get me started on the Memphis Studio B sessions of the ‘60s.  Now that I’ve got that in the the clear, Elvis’s Christmas album is fantastic, a tet a tet of new pop songs (Blue Christmas, Santa Bring My Baby Back to me) and more traditional fare this is the blueprint of every holiday album released by a pop artist ever since. You don’t need to be an Elvis freak to enjoy really love this album (but it doesn’t hurt, neither does a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich, mama baby). 4. Prince – Another Lonely Christmas : The B side of Prince’s "I Would Die 4 U", this is Prince at the height of his powers.  For those of you who don’t remember, there was a brief time in the early ‘80’s when Pop royalty really was, Mr. Jackson the King of Pop and the appropriately named Prince.  You really couldn’t walk down the street without seeing a Purple Rain tour T-Shirt.  Prince wisely used this time of influence to throw stranger tracks into the public buying arena in the form of B-Sides.  "Let’s Go Crazy" had the slinky "Erotic City", "Purple Rain" had the downright bizarre "God" and "I Would Die 4 U" had "Another Lonely Christmas". In the song a forelorn Prince “drinks banana daquerri’s ‘til I’m blind” and laments the loss of a love who “died on the 25th day of December”.  He was so hot at that time I doubt his bed was ever cold.  Oh, and the music is friggin’ stellar.  5. Ultra Lounge Christmas Series : This is ipod shuffle fodder  of the best kind.  Traditional singers and standards classics.  Spike the eggnog and cuddle up by the 1080p fire.  Happy Holiday and happy listening all –  PNUT

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Grant Taylor Thrashers Skater of the Year SOTY This is some really bad ars skateboarding to go with a really bad ars soundtrack Valient Thorr "Double Crossed" -Detroit-D http://www.thrashermagazine.com/component/option,com_hwdvideoshare/Itemid,93/task,viewvideo/video_id,1379/

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STEP ASIDE BITCH, THE BOSS IS BACK . . .

click on any Boss to jump to the full story Bruce Springsteen has announced via his website that he and the surviving E Street Band members will be touring both Europe and America in 2012, and that a new album is in the works, to be hopefully released sometime in 2012. Very sure it won't be the same without The Big Man and Danny Federici, but it'll still be an opportunity to see one of the last great rock n roll showmen ever.

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DVR ALERT!! THE BLACK KEYS ON SNL - DEC 3.

click on any dappily attired Akron boy to jump to the full story

Get those DVRs warmed up, as Rolling Stone.com is reporting that bone-crushingly cool group The Black Keys will be the musical guest on Saturday Night Live in 2+ weeks on December the 3rd, with Steve Busciemi as host.  I'm sure the Keys will be unveiling some songs from their upcoming Dec 6th release El Camino, so make sure you don't miss it.

Mr. Man

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Detroit-D's Dubstep Friday

This week I'm highlighting the collaboration of Korn, Skrillex and Kill the Noise.

Korn 'Narcissistic Cannibal (feat Skrillex and Kill the Noise)' Enjoy!

Detroit-D

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FREE STREAM OF THE U2 'ACHTUNG BABY' TRIBUTE COVERS ALBUM

PLAGIARISM SUNDAY

Slicing Eyeballs has a post that connects you to a free stream of the long rumoured U2 Achtung Baby tribute covers album.  A must for true fans!! Click on the graphic below to jump to the article

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Detroit-D's Dubstep Friday

Put this in your favorites or download it for FREE and you got a Halloween track that will set your party into hyperdrive.

Halloween (Urban Assult Drumstep Mix) Enjoy - Detroit-D

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HEY MATTHEW SWEET, YOUR 'GIRLFRIEND' JUST TURNED 20. . .

click on matty-boy to jump to the full article . . . SPIN.com has a great interview piece on their site, looking back at Matthew Sweet's seminal album and single 'Girlfriend', on the occassion of it's twentieth anniversary.  That's right, I said twentieth [RESPECTFUL PAUSE WHILE YOU SHAKE YOUR HEAD AND SAY "TWENTY YEARS???"].  Among the more interesting things covered in the interview is the history behind the cover of the album and it's photo of Tuesday Weld, why the video for the song was anime based, and the challenges of playing 'Girlfriend' on acoustic guitar.  Definitely worth checking out. . .

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THE BLACK KEYS - LONELY BOY They're baaacckkkk. . . and thank God for it.  Yes, Akron's favorite sons have a new Danger Mouse produced album set to hit the street the first week in December, and the first single and video have been leaked to whet your appetite. Enjoy! Mr. Man

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Detroit-D's Dubstep Friday

Here is a great jam by Nero called "Crush" (remixed by Knife Party). uploaded by knifepartyinc via soundcould

Nero - Crush (Knife Party Remix) Enjoy! - Detroit - D

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HAPPY FRIDAY, TRUE BELIEVERS . . . The Stone Roses - I Am The Resurrection I've been on cloud nine all week over the news that the Stone Roses have somehow, against all odds, found their way back together.  While this news was greeted with celebrations and mania in their native Britian, the resounding sounds of crickets greeted the news Stateside (for the most part).  I'm sure most of the good ol' U.S. of A. could give a flip about the news, but I've been giddy as a school boy. You see, I came of age at the height of the hair metal movement in American pop music, growing up in small town midwest America.  I'm talking about Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Poison, Van Halen, and Bon Jovi.  Bravado and vapid lyrics about sex and women and cars, all delivered with spandex, mascara, hairspray and classical-esque guitar solos.  And don't mistake my meaning . . . I loved that music.  Still do, from time to time. But when I left for college, I knew my tastes would broaden and expand, and the Stone Roses were my first huge musical crush.  They came from a different country and culture from mine, and as far as I was concerned, they had cornered the market on the snarky, snotty British pop star personna.  Their music mixed 60's guitar sounds with rave culture beats and rhythms, their lead singer seemed to not really be able to sing, and they were just flat out cool.  They wore baggy jeans, had moppish haircuts, and seemed to embrace a trance-ish approach to their music.  Long, funky jams with plenty of guitar pedal wah-wah solos, anthemic lyrics about girls, wanting to be adored, and being the resurrection.  My late teenage mind never had a chance, and I was hooked immediately.  I listened to the Roses everywhere I went.  I drove to record stores an hour away to hunt for import singles, hoping to snag b-sides and remixes that had evaded me.  I followed their adventures and shenanigans through the British music press, reading NME and Melody Maker, hungry for any news of their activities.  I even started wearing a bucket hat like the drummer Reni, who always kept it pulled down so low that you never saw his eyes.  In a time when absence really did make the heart grow fonder, I had fallen head over heels for these guys. But nothing truly great lasts forever, and my beloved Roses would barely last past my graduation from college.  Drugs, bad business decisions, and an exploitive record deal all conspired to keep the band from capitalizing on their popularity, and the Roses starting fading into obscurity.  They'd issue a follow up to their universally acclaimed debut a few years later, but in the time that had passed, culture and tastes had shifted, and the fractures in the band only grew.  The follow up made a very minor splash, and was gone soon enough.  Shortly thereafter, internal strife lead to nearly 20 years of the band members not speaking, let alone making music. But miraculously, the Roses are back together and working on making new music together.  Will it be any good?  Who knows.  Since those days of zealot appreciation, I've grown and expanded my tastes several times.  They aren't early 20 somethings anymore, and neither am I.  Will be able to reclaim our old common ground, as band and fan?  My guess is that we'll find some connection, but it won't be as intense as those earlier, halcyon days.  But much like Paris, we'll always have their debut.  I still pull that record out a few times a year, put on my bucket hat, and groove and sing along with Ian Brown as he spouts his anthems of self. 

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ITS OFFICIAL - STONE ROSES REUNITE FOR NEW TOUR

click on any stone rose to jump to the band's new website. . .

Folks may have called it fool's gold, but what the world's been waiting for has finally come to pass . . . Manchester's Stone Roses have announced their reunion.  The band has been working and rehearsing in a studio space for several weeks now, going back over the old favorites and working up new songs, and will kick off their reunion tour with three dates in Manchester next summer. All four original members attended this mornings presser to announce the comeback, and all seemed eager for the upcoming shows.  Announcing the comeback a full 8 months in advance of the first shows should allow Rose-heads plenty of time to save up their pennies for reissues and sky high ticket prices. Here's hoping the boys can recapture some of their late 80's / early 90's magic, and get some of that adoration they always wanted..... Mr. Man

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Just in case . . . just in case . . . The Stone Roses - Waterfall  [live on The Other Side Of Midnight, circa 1989]