Roxor Blog

Back in the day Tamara watched the X-Files every week, I watched every once in a while. Now that she has the series on DVD I have come to appriciate them. Therefore, here is my list of the best 10 episodes of the X-Files.

Syzygy
Eric Forman’s slutty sister and another high school girl are born under a bad sign and terrorize a small town. Mulder almost gets laid by the hot local cop in the case of the horny beast. Hate him, wouldn’t want to date him.

Improbable
You gotta love any episode that features Burt Reynolds as god, and Anabeth Gish is smokin hot. The episode has a great rhythm and vibe.

Biogenesis
This episode starts the best 3 hours of the X-Files. If you put together the episodes that wrap up season 6 and start season 7 you will get a view of the X-Files at it’s best. Way better then the feature film.

D.P.O.
Phoebe’s brother kills Jack Black with Lightning. What more do you need to know?

Darkness Falls
This is my favorite from the first season. Mulder and Scully head up to the great Northwest to investigate the disappearance of loggers and Greenies.

X-Cops
This episode is shot like an episode of Cops, Mulder and Scully are followed around by a TV crew featuring the requisite handheld camera techniques.

Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose
You don’t get it do ya kid…two years from now, while driving down route 91 coming home to your wife and baby daughter, your going to be hit head on by a drunk driving a blue 87 mustang. You’ll end up looking worse than sixty feet of bad road your body slides across after flying out your windshield.

Jump The Shark
This is the Lone Gunmen Morris Fletcher episode, and it’s all good fun until Langley, Frohike, and Byers are killed.

Rain King
This is what happens when a weatherman with otherworldly metrological powers falls in love with Victoria Jackson.

Jose Chungs From Outer Space
You have got to love an X-Files that features Charles Nelson Reilly and Jesse Venture…

This is the fourth installment of Corporate Rocks Still Sucks buy JTk:

With the strong showing of the emusic service which features indie music and the recent success of indie artists like Los Lonely Boys and Franz Ferdinand we started thinking about the state of Indie music in general.

With the perpetual problem of getting heard marginalized by the �Net ( p2p, Mp3�s on artists sites, Amazon�s hear it before you buy it, alternative online radio stations, GarageBand.com etc. ) indie artists are playing on a much more level field then ever before. Just as importantly indie labels are starting to make real money.

Not major label money, but enough money to invest in bands that are good, interesting, have potential - and not �artists� that simply telegenic.

While the record labels have focused their efforts on selling 10 million units by finding the next media sensation ( which may or may not have anything to do with music ) indie labels are free to focus on producing music for people that like music and not pop stars.

While there are many great artists with major label deals they are not the focus of the labels. Unless you can sell 10 million copies ( Diamond ) then you are just not a priority for the majors.

It is just this focus on music that the big labels don�t get. As simple as it sounds, major music labels aren�t about music. They are about mainstream media, magazine covers for Britney, movies for Eminem, etc.

This also helps explain the conflicting sales numbers from the �music� industry. While there are less �artists� reaching the Diamond level, there are far more bands selling hundreds of thousands units then in the past.

Bands like Wilco, The Black Keys and Mofro have all found audiences that would have been all but impossible a decade ago. So while Cd sales are up, top selling �artists� are not selling multi-million units as often - which is a good thing for real music lovers.

Festivals like Bonnaroo and All Tomorrows Parties underscore the hunger that real music fans have for good music. Manchester, Tennessee is not the most accessible place on earth yet thousands upon thousands of music lovers descend on it to hear bands are diverse as Widespread Panic to Taj Mahal.

All in all the state of independent music is as strong as it has been in quite a while, and this, as much as anything else pisses off the majors. So do your part, head over to Sub-pop, Fat Possum, or head over to the Independent Online Distribution Alliance and help support independent music today.

Hey Now - here is a podcast that I did some time ago for this damn blog that is all about creative commons music - check it out:

This week we’re bringing you 5 great creative commons tracks that we downloaded from the CC Mixter site. See the blog post or the RSS Feed for the URLs where you can download these songs yourself.

All of these tracks are licenced under the Sampling Plus 1.0 license. If you download this podcast, please abide by the license.

Smitten Kitten
by Ashwan
This was the song that first opened my eyes to the potential of CCMixter music - This slow, downtempo track is as interesting as anything that you are going to hear anywhere.

StarLight flies
by Rhythm Beating Silence
StarLight flies is a 90’s style grunge influenced rock track with interesting low spoken vocals that builds into an expansive chorus.

Blood Ties
by Cezary Ostrowski
Based on the original track “Scared Of My Own Blood”, Blood Ties by Cezary Ostrowski highlights the abiltiy for a remix to be transformed into something completely new.

Clockwerk Girl
by sHORT fACED bEAR
And now for something completely different… This is the type of track that you are never gonna hear on traditional radio, but that if you did hear might just effect you.

Destination Non-Specific
by Colin Mutchler
Vocals and accoustic guitar with a few effects and a few other guitars quietly mixed in..

Thanks for tuning into this Creative Commons Music Podcast, feel free to let us know what you think.

Okay this one is for the ninja - in reponse to the worst cover songs available on the interweb he asked for the best covers of all time, so here ya go:

1. Janis Joplin - Me and Bobby McGee ( Kris Kristofferson )
2. All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix ( Bob Dylan )
3. Respect - Aretha Franklin ( Otis Redding )
4. Statesboro Blues - Allman Brothers ( Blind Willie McTell )
5. Hurt - Johnny Cash ( Nine Inch Nails )
6. Babe I’m Gonna Leave You - Led Zeppelin ( Joan Baez )
7. Backdoor Man - The Doors ( Howlin Wolf )
8. Love Hurts - Nazareth ( Roy Orbison )
9. Take Me To The River - Talking Heads ( Al Green )
10. Soft Cell - Tainted Love ( Gloria Jones )
11. Wonderwall - Ryan Adams ( Oasis )
12. Black Magic Woman - Santana ( Fleetwood Mac )
13. Feelin’ Alright - Joe Cocker ( Traffic )
14. Summertime Blues - The Who ( Eddir Cochran )
15. Green Manalishi - Judas Priest ( Fleetwood Mac )
16. Hard To Handle - Black Crowes ( Otis Redding )
17. Heard It Through The Grapevine - CCR ( Gladys Night & the Pips )
18. Kick Out The Jams - Rage Against The Machine ( MC5 )
19. Piece Of My Heart - Big Brother and the Holding Company ( Erma Franklin )
20. The First Cut is the Deepest - Rod Stewerat ( Cat Stevens )
21. I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself - The White Stripes ( Dusty Springfield )
22. Satisfaction - Devo ( The Rolling Stones )
23. Sweet Jane - Cowboy Junkies ( Velvet Underground )
24. Mr Tambourine Man - The Byrds ( Bob Dylan )
25. Superstar - Sonic Youth (The Carpenters)
26. After Midnight - Eric Clapton ( JJ cale )

Long lost artice - this was written some time ago, but never posted, so I am posting it now.

Call it roots rock, alt country, cowpunk, what have you, we all know that I am talking about the genre of music that has claimed Lucinda Williams as its poster woman ( and with good reason ). As excellent as Ms. Williams is, there are more out there, and most likely you are not going to hear them on the radio.

With that in mind I would like to introduce you to a couple of ladies that, if there were any justice, would be radio staples. They deserve a much larger audience then all of those “Nashville-New Country” chicks that look good on T.V. but can’t make a decent record.

Amy Rigby -

If there we any justice in the world Ms. Rigby would be huge. Her latest recording from KOCH Records - The Sugar Tree - is as funny, sexy, and enjoyable as any CD released this year. From the straight ahead rocking of “Balls” to the inspired, laugh out loud hilarious “Cynically Yours” she explores relationships in a unique style that is both introspective and at the same time universal.

Amy served a stint with Last Roundup and folk pop trio The Shams honing her clever writing style featured on her first solo album Diary Of A Mod Housewife. Housewife portends of the brilliance to follow with cuts like “That tone of Voice” and “Time for me to Come Down”. In between these to CD’s Amy released the underrated “Middlescence”.

If your tastes tend towards singer-songwriters and/or alt country, do yourself a favor and pick up all three of Amy Rigby’s releases. You won’t be disappointed.

Sue Foley -

More towards the blues side of the roots rock camp - singer, songwriter, and guitarist Sue Foley is, imho, one of the most underrated forces in contemporary roots music today.

“Where the action is” on Shanachie Records is unquestionably one of the best CD’s to come out this year. The title track is a celebration of the genre, and her cover of the Stones B-Side “Stupid Girl” is sublime.

The Canadian born Foley did the whole Austin Texas thing in the mid-nineties, and while you can here that influence she does not let it define her. Her vocal delivery, as well as her guitar playing, evoke a emotional response missing in so much of contemporary blues.

In addition to “Where the Action Is” I suggest you pick up “Love Comin’ Down” and “Ten Days In November “. While not quite as definitive as her newest release, definitely better then most of what else is out there.

Okay, just one more reason to love the interweb - I love cover songs especially when they are a little askew ( for example I just made a Mix CD of Prince covers- the Marshall Crenshaw cover of Take Me With U is especially good ). Not to mention that some of the best recordings of all times were covers ( think All Along the Watchtower, Babe I�m Gonna Leave You, Me and Bobby McGee, and Respect to name just a few ).

But now, thanks to the mother of all networks, you can find any number of really bad covers. Want proof - well click on over to The Metalizer and check out Angel of the Morning. Oy.

Not bad enough, how about this guy doing Smooth Criminal acoustically with a bad French accent. Want more? How about the Dokaka version of Teen Spirit?

Still reading this post? Still want some more bad covers? Okay here goes: What would it sound like if, some Lounge Lizzard decided to try and cover The Boss? Click to find out.  What about Aqualung done lounge lizard style? But of course.

 I’m thinkin’ Celine Dion never Shook anyone All Night Long

Then there is this cover of People are Strange by Edward Furlong, The Beatle’s Eleanor Rigby butchered by Panic, and many, many obscure people covering obscure songs.

There is even a 20 Covers Audio test where you try and name each artist and each song, not to mention a blog about nothing but cover songs.

What did we do before the Intertubes?

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! This SPD brings us Blood or Whiskey, Irish punk without the plastic paddy posing. Rough, rugged, heartfelt vocals over paddybeat/punk music complete with tin whistle, bouzouki, accordian and banjos.

Download: Blood or Whiskey - Bucharest

Just watched Layer Cake, a british crime drama where Daniel Craig ( The new James Bond ) plays a nameless West End coke dealer that is trying to get out of the business but is tasked by bossman Jimmy Price ( HBO’s Rome’s Pompey Magnus - Ken Cranham ) to take on a couple unconventional tasks.

Layer Cake was produced and directed by Matthew Vaughn of Lock Stock and Two Smokin Barrels fame ( also Guy Ritchie’s best man when he married Madonna ) and it features his trademark look, without the over the top flash of Lock Stock or Snatch, nor any of the fun of those films.

If Layer Cake is not gritty it does feature a more realistic atmosphere and more down to earth characters. It tries to take the standard plot twists to an extreme featuring double cross after double cross told from the point of view of the main character.

Overall, while this is not a great movie, it is enjoyable if you enjoy the genre and deserves a slot in your netfilx queue.

Acoustic or electric, solo or side project; Jerry Garcia was prolific during his breaks from the Grateful Dead. Between 1972 and 1982, Garcia recorded five historic studio albums and jammed with a revolving cast of musicians in the Jerry Garcia Band.

Rhino is releasing a new 2 disc set with the first-ever compilation spotlighting Garcia’s solo work.

While some of it like Run For The Roses highlights everything that could go wrong when Garcia went into the studio the vast majority of this 2 Disc Set shows what happened when Garcia was at top form creating a unique flavor of Americana.

Birdsong and The Wheel highlight was was amazing about the album of the same name, and “Rubin And Cherise and Cats Under The Stars gives an excellent account of the songs from that album of the same name. Let It Rock gives you his version of Chuck Berry Rock-n-roll and Russian Lullaby seems to me to be a foreshadowing of what is coming from Garcia in his later years.

As with his work with the Dead, the live disc is hard to evaluate because many of us have favorite versions of all these songs from other live discs ( or bootlegs for that matter ).

But hey listen for yourself here: Windows Media or Quicktime

Gran Bel Fisher went into the legendary Sunset Sound, where seminal bands like Led Zeppelin and the Doors recorded.

“One night I opened up this hidden room behind a wall where Jim Morrison did his vocals,” GBF explains. “It was very haunting.”

“Lyrically and musically this is the record I’ve always wanted to make,” GBF says. “The journey of making this album, even with some hard times and problems I ran into along the way, was really just a blessing in disguise.” And with one listen to Full Moon Cigarette, you’ll understand exactly what he means.

Download Crash and Burn from the new album here.