Ünnecessary Ümlaut

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A surplus of geekery by :: Fred Abercrombie

MP3: Friday Five ‘Rock Out With Your Beard Out’

… or your sideburns, moustache, goatee, or peach fuzz.

Special hairy edition of the Friday Five to celebrate tomorrow’s Whiskerino & Crafterino festivities. Holding the coveted Golden Chicken trophy for Best Overall (two years running!) is Jack Passion, a World Beard Champion, standing with MC Bill Hammerman.

Hit play and peruse a few pics from the 2009 contest below. Enjoy thoroughly.

~ ~

Bud Light “Mr. Handlebar Moustache Wearer”
from Real Men of Genius, Vol. 2

The Coasters “Down In Mexico”
from OST Grind House: Death Proof

Warren Smith “Red Cadillac and a Black Moustache”
from The Legendary Sun Records Story

Norman Greenbaum “Petaluma” from Petaluma

Wilco “Bob Dylan’s 49th Beard” from YHF EP

See the rest »

MP3: Friday Five 10.01.10 The Drums, Twin Sister, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Cotton Jones, and The Lucksmiths

Yesterday, Richard Belzer’s Vampire Music Video hit the web and the very next day October hits. Spooky, no? Here’s the first Friday Five. Enjoy thoroughly.

The Drums “Let’s Go Surfing” from s/t

Twin Sister “All Around and Away We Go” from Color Your Life

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. “Simple Girl” from Horse Power EP

Cotton Jones “Glorylight and Christie” from Tall Hours in the Glowstream

The Lucksmiths “The Chapter in Your Life Entitled San Francisco”
from Warmer Corners

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Rock out with the Ümlaut every Friday. [Follow ÜÜ]

Whole Lotta Sabbath: Epic Led Zeppelin x Black Sabbath Mashup

Holy crap! This mashup’s a few years old but the video’s brand new. Together, they’re freakin’ epicly epic.

Mostly Black Sabbath‘s “War Pigs” and Led Zeppelin‘s “Whole Lotta Love”. With some bits of “Communication Breakdown” and “Black Dog” mixed in, too. Super talented work by Wax Audio. (Thanks, Furr!)

(left-click to download)

Black Zeppelin “Whole Lotta Sabbath”

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BONUS MASHUP “THUNDERBUSTERS”

Yup, AC/DC “Thunderstruck” x Ray Parker Jr “Ghostbusters”. See/hear more from the wizards at Wax Audio.

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BONUS #2: “ARE YOU GONNA BE MY BLITZKRIEG GIRL”

The Ramones “Blitzkrieg Bop” x Jet “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” by DJ FAROFF. (Thanks, Chris)

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RELATED:
MP3: Oh, The Humanity … Zeppelin’s Acoustic Black Dog
Mashup: The Matrix x The Big Lebowski
MP3: Elliott Smith Covers Led Zeppelin
Art Mashup: Wilma Lichtenstein Flintstone
Vid Remix: Smooth Jazz Metallica, Death Metal Louis Armstrong
Mashup: Tron 2 Trailer x Michael Jackson Beat It “tr2nit”
Soundtrack: International Beer Day 08.05.10

MP3: Friday Five 09.24.10 The Meligrove Band, SF’s The Fresh & Onlys, Karen Elson, Sharon Van Etten, and The Octopus Project

Enjoy thoroughly.

The Meligrove Band “Halflight” from Shimmering Lights [Follow]

The Fresh & Onlys “Waterfall” from Play It Strange [MySpace]

Karen Elson “The Ghost Who Walks” from The Ghost Who Walks [site]

Sharon Van Etten “Don’t Do It” from Epic [Follow]

The Octopus Project “Fuguefat” from Hexadecagon [Follow]

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Rock out with the Ümlaut every Friday. [Follow ÜÜ]

Soundtrack: Tonight’s Super Harvest Moon with Elliott Smith, The Drums, Kid Koala, …

The above was just a regular ‘ole moonrise over some Sonoma vineyards. Tonight’s gonna be a doozy. For the entire northern hemisphere.

This evening’s Autumn Equinox brings the first Super Harvest Moon in 20 years; a rare combo of Summer setting on a full moon. It’ll make nearby Jupiter the second-brightest object in the sky. Step out, crack open some pumpkin beers, and turn up the tunes. Fall’s a-comin’.

Here’s a super soundtrack:

Elliott Smith “Harvest Moon” (Neil Young)

The Kinks “Autumn Almanac”

Moonbabies “Crime O’ The Moon” from The Orange Billboard

Thin Lizzy “Dancing In The Moonlight” from Greatest Hits

Les Paul & Mary Ford “How High The Moon”

The King of France “Moon”

The Drums “Me and the Moon”

Yo La Tengo “Autumn Sweater” (Kevin Shield Remix)

Kid Koala “Moon River”

King Cresosote “Lavender Moon”
from Kenny And Beth’s Musakal Boat Rides

Modest Mouse “Autumn Beds” from Whale Song 7″

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Here’s times for the Super Harvest Moon on 9.22.10:

San Francisco 7:08 pm

Chicago 6:49 pm

New York 6:54 pm [more times]

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Here’s a fun fact to throw out, when the music’s over:

Q: What does “Sonoma” mean and what language is it from?

Vintage Sign: Sonoma Valley of the Moon

A: “Sonoma” means See the rest »

MP3: Friday Five 09.17.10 Superchunk, Tiger Choir, Lower Dens, The Radio Dept., Maximum Balloon with Karen O

Lots of killer albums out recently (and soon) to put on your shopping list. Some tastes below. Enjoy thoroughly.

Superchunk “My Gap Feels Weird” from Majesty Shredding [follow]

Tiger Choir “Young Loving” [myspace]

Lower Dens “I Get Nervous” from Twin-Hand Movement [follow]

The Radio Dept. “The New Improved Hypocrisy”
from The New Improved Hypocrisy [site]

Maximum Balloon “Communion” (feat. Karen O) from s/t [follow]

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Rock out with the Ümlaut every Friday. [Follow ÜÜ]

MP3: Friday Five 09.10.10 The Intelligence, Big Troubles, Young Empires, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros RAC Remix, and Belle & Sebastian Avalanches Remix

Enjoy thoroughly.

The Intelligence “Like Like Like Like Like Like Like”
from Males

Big Troubles “Freudian Slips” from Worry

Young Empires “White Doves” (Demo)

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros “Janglin” (RAC Remix)

Belle & Sebastian “I’m A Cuckoo” (Avalanches Remix)

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Rock out with the Ümlaut every Friday. [ÜÜ]

Sexual Healing: Sufjan Stevens “Too Much”

Sufjan Stevens let loose another, more electronic, track from his upcoming LP, The Age of Adz.

Sufjan Stevens “Too Much” [download]

Like it? Me, too. But now I’m gonna ruin it for you.

Doesn’t the chorus of ‘Too much, too much, too much …‘ remind you a little of Marvin Gaye‘s “Sexual Healing”? Especially where he sings ‘Wake up, wake up, wake up …’

Marvin Gaye “Sexual Healing”

No? You’re not listening hard enough. Here’s a bonus to cleanse your lobes.

Hot 8 Brass Band “Sexual Healing”

You’re welcome.

See the rest »

Shot on RED: Skate and Create “Laikairomania”

We know flames look good on the RED camera (watch Beer + Hot Lava Rocks), but this Spike Jonze executively-produced video for Lakai is scorchingly gorgeous.

Soundtrack:
Ima Robot “Ruthless”
from Another Man’s Treasure download

A fitting follow-up to their explosive Fully Flared video (below), this flaming “LAKAIROMANIA” vid was created for the annual Transworld contest, Skate and Create. Skate teams are paired up with an art director and video crew for a chance at winning a coveted spot on the mag’s cover.

Vote for it at Transworld Skate and Create »

Dir: Ty Evans DP: Mark Ritzema Ex-Prod: Spike Jonze 
Cam: RED MX, 5D & 7D

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BONUS VID: LAKAI “FULLY FLARED” INTRO

See the rest »

MP3: Friday Five 09.03.10 Twin Shadow, Computer Magic, Starfucker, Fops, Holly Miranda covers When In Rome

Hittin’ ya with a very 80s vibe for this 3-day weekend. Enjoy thoroughly.

Twin Shadow “Slow” from Forget

Computer Magic “Electronic Fences” from Demos

Starfucker “Julius” from Julius

Fops (ex-Thee More Shallows) “Solid Copper Huntress”
from Yeth Yeth Yeth

Holly Miranda “The Promise” (When In Rome)
from Choose To See EP

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Rock out with the Ümlaut every Friday. [ÜÜ]

MP3: Friday Five 08.27.10 Leg Sweeper, Gramercy Riffs, Cap’n Jazz, No Age, and Land Of Talk

It’s been a long, hot week. Here’s some new tunes to cool off with. Except for the Cap’n Jazz track (circa ’94) who I’m missing tonight in SF. Damnit.

Enjoy thoroughly.

Leg Sweeper “Sexy Weekend”

Gramercy Riffs “The Freezedown” from It’s Heartbreak

Cap’n Jazz “Oh Messy Life” from Burritos, Inspiration Point, Fork Balloon Sports, Cards In The Spokes, Automatic Biographies, Kites, Kung Fu, Trophies, Banana Peels We’ve Slipped On, And Egg Shells We’ve Tippy Toed Over

No Age “Glitter” from Everything In Between

Land of Talk “Quarry Hymns” from Cloak and Cipher

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Rock out with the Ümlaut every Friday. [ÜÜ]

MP3: Friday Five 08.20.10 Rock Make Edition

Rock Make Music & Art Fest
Sunday 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
The Mission, SF info

Along with the hot-ass jewelry from Blue Ribbon Salvage and rawkin’ journals from Vinyl Frontier (and a ton of other crafty types) you’ll also catch your next fav local bands. All thanks to The Bay Bridged.

Here’s five for starters:

A B & The Sea “Bonedry”
from Boys and Girls EP [ follow ]

Leopold and his Fiction “Golden Friends”
from Golden Friends [ follow ]

Sea of Bees “Marmalade”
from Songs for the Ravens [ follow ]

Sunbeam Rd. “House Boats”
from Turtles, Magents, Animals EP [ follow ]

Tartufi “Fear of Tall Giraffes, Fear of Some Birds”
from Nests of Waves and Wire [ follow ]

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Rock out with the Ümlaut every Friday.