Sarah Silverman is the new...

This guy.

Luckily, there aren't anymore lewd conduct laws where you violate them by saying "cunt," "tits and ass" and "fuck."

I shall elaborate on the brilliance of Lenny Bruce in another entry, but I will say he has paved the way for so many comedians, and I think it shines mostly through Sarah Silverman. Maybe she's possessed by his ghost. Who knows. Point is, she's f'in amazing and I just hope she doesn't get the treatment that Dave Chappelle dealt with when people realized what he was doing was too great. As we've learned in the comedy world, once you're deemed great, you're Public Enemy No. 1 (or a close 2nd or 3rd or...yeah, you get my point).

Exhibit A of the world's hateration:

The View never fails when they bring on a female guest, especially if their "edgy." Instead of applauding Silverman for her balls (though she got some of that in a sideways manner from Joy Behar, who herself is a B or C comedian), Barbra Walters, Rosie and Elisabeth, all imbeciles, mind you, they kept asking how long would it be until the world got enough of her antics. Silverman handled it well.

Then there's Exhibit B:

Silverman points out that the interviewer is treating her like a show monkey after he asks her to re-tell that joke that got her in trouble on Conan O'Brien in 2001. He then says, "Yes, now will you tap?"

But despite it all, she continues to do her. Keep that up, girlfriend.

In Retrospect: The Coachmen, 1979

I stumbled across some early recordings of Thurston Moore back when he was in The Coachmen circa 1979, and I gotta say, my life got a little more complete.

Silver Jews' lead singer David Berman must have been listening to The Coachmen's Failure to Thrive when he created the band, because his vocals are a striking resemblance to Coachmen's lead vocalist JD King's. Kinda like how I felt when I was listening to Marc Bolan's early stuff with Tyrannosaurus Rex and how Devendra Banhart pretty much ripped Bolan's vocal chords from his throat. It's crazy.

You can enjoy the entire Failure to Thrive right here:
Thurston's Song
Girls Are Short
Household Word
Radical Lifestyle
Stay In My Room

Thanks, 24 Hour Party Pooper for these awesome mp3s.

Uncertainty in the air: Abe Vigoda

So the way my brain works when it comes to music recommendations from others: they tell me, I take heed to their recommendations, then I forget because I'm catching up with other shit I've been meaning to get into, and then a few months or years later, I remember the initial conversation dealing with the aforementioned recommendations.

This go-round, it's about "tropical punk" rockers Abe Vigoda, straight outta L.A. I asked my roomie back in July if he went to the Fiery Furnaces show, and he said he went to see Abe Vigoda instead, and I figured, if he's opting to skip out on one of the most electrifying live acts ever to see Abe Vigoda, then they must be good shit.

But my skeptical nature had me asking why the hell people added yet another genre (tropical punk--really?). At first, I immediately thought The Futureheads. Yipes.

Then I listen to some tracks, and although I'm still uncertain if I would own an Abe Vigoda's album(s), I'm liking some of the tracks I've heard.

You can enjoy the whole Hype Machine page here (big fan of "Secret City"), and their Myspace page here.

Color me impressed: Melt-Banana

I closed out my holiday weekend by catching these Japanese noise rockers in Nashville. Despite the young punks in the front moshing like it was still 1995, that show was pretty badass. I was amazed. They get an award for Best Stage Presence. They did something that most bands do not do: cover a song I originally despised until I hear their version, in which makes me do a 180.

Here's their cover of Blondie's "Heart of Glass"

I'm Not There: Do I really want to see this?

The premise is beyond interesting, especially having six of Hollywood's most versatile actors (seriously, casting Cate Blanchett as one of the Bob Dylan personae is pretty brilliant) to portray Bob Dylan.

Nevertheless, and I know this is gonna force me into a Joan of Arc-esque treatment, but Bob Dylan does nothing for me--his persona, his music, and, honestly, his lyrics really aren't that profound to me.

"Dast you! How can you even have a music blog when you say such blasphemous things about America's greatest poet/radical/poet/radical/poet/radical? How can you even consider yourself as a lover of music?"

I've heard such things, and frankly, there've been better arguments. I sit and listen to Dylan worshippers and I continue to listen until they're done, and after two hours of persuasion attempts, I still don't see it. I've tried, but, ahhhh...over it.

They can't always be winners.

Video of the Year Candidate: Talib Kweli

Kweli's Eardrum is a sleeper album, just like I said previously about Kevin Drew's album.

Well, don't do it, kids. Kweli's last album may not have been about shit, but he came back full force with this'n. I'm sorry, but when you team up with Pete Rock, Mr. Polka Dot himself Kwame, hot, new hip-hop sensation Sa-Ra, Kanye West (he actually wowed me with his productions on this album), and even will.i.a.m., his productions including the single "Hot Thing."

It's ridiculous. You got it, brother.

I am thankful for you, Black Mountain.

So the new release date to eyeball is Jan. 21, 2008. Remember when Black Mountain debuted with a self-titled album in 2004? It's safe to say that its upcoming album on said release date will be worth waiting three years to hear from 'em again.

Reason behind me babbling like a boob:
Black Mountain - Tyrants

Pitchfork rides Deerhunter like crazy.

The year 2007 was definitely the year for Deerhunter. I was riding their jocks since Summer 2006, and then some earlier this year.

But it got really dull once the hype went into excessive mode. It seemed like Pitchfork had a daily Deerhunter watch as they posted just about everything from the band's blog.

Then in August, guitarist Colin Mee decided to quit the band due to the ridiculous hype, saying the kids only did one album--certainly not enough to get all the hooplah.

Pretty exhausting for Deerhunter, I imagine. So exhausting, that they decided to go on hiatus.

And, of course, Pitchfork reacts as if they found out that electronic dance music has retired as a genre.

Ease up, Pitchfork. Sheesh.

Writer's strike is pretty serious, folks.

Being a writer myself, I'm all for the writer's strike. It's definitely deserved. I just hate that I'm so fucking enthralled with Ugly Betty that I'll actually be hurt when the lights go out too soon.

But can't say I don't feel their pain. I know I'm not the only one when I say that I didn't even think about writer's not receiving revenue for DVD and iTunes sales. Now that I think about it, that's pretty messed up for the TV industry to not even consider that shit. Don't they know that people don't even bother watching shows during its actual air time, that they just would rather wait to engorge in watching commercial- and interruption-free episodes of their favorite shows?

If anything, I hope the strike gets the writers what they want--and deserve.

More on the strike:
SHIFT: The technology driving the Hollywood writer's strike

Officially Categorized: Liars

Photo courtesy of Joe Dilworth

No need for words.

Liars own my soul. Whatever you do, I'll be right there waiting for you.*




*If I'm quoting Richard Marx, then it must be serious.