Stone Coma (Sean Barry of MCR fame) has released the first track from an upcoming project of Breakcore-Glitch-Ambient stuff that you can listen to below. Honestly, I don’t know the difference between Breakcore and Breakfast, but I know both of these sound delicious right now. Make sure to subscribe to his soundcloud.

LoCal News is what happens when your 11 o’clock news program sustains a head injury and continues to drink without regard to a doctor’s advice. LoCal News is an interactive weekly newscast every 9pm -11 at UDetroit Cafe, and streamed on Ustream (the the geocities of the streaming video world). Join cast The Real Jeff Nolan, Steve Barman, and Mort Krimm Jr. as they tackle this weeks hawtest stories. So tonight instead of sitting around like a grandma and watching the State of the Union, come out and enjoy some bourbon.

The standard MCRTV show is on hiatus until we finally get those last episodes edited (or at least get them to the guy who edits them) and we settle into our new shooting location at Saucerwood Studios.

Here’s our pilot episode. We know the following aspects suck: There’s only 1 camera, it’s not podcast, there are no cuts, the ass in the control booth doesn’t play our videos. All of these shortcomings will be addressed, but the show is designed with a live audience (you, your butt in our seats) in mind.

http://localnews.dreamtroit.com

The man who once said “I want to be famous for falling in love,” comes into Pontiac hot.  Two albums in 2011 found McCombs at a prolific pace, expressing and exploring the many spaces songwriting can go.  His record Wit’s End added soulful, dark touches to his oeuvre.  He followed this with late-year release Humor

Photo by Sandy Kim

Risk, which his press packet claims is ”an attempt at laughter instead of confusion, chaos instead of morality, or, as fellow Northern Californian Jack London said, “I would rather be ashes than dust!”  Sure it is!

What you, reader, must know, is that McCombs is an artist that has continued to grow, to mature musically over the years.  Wit’s End breaks out with a dashing falsetto for Pete’s sake!  Layer beneath that a sense of lyricism clearly influenced by Pop music’s geniuses, from the emotional accuracy of Cohen to the witty beauty of David Berman, and a comfort for experimentation, and you’ll begin to approximate McCombs.  If you think I’m hyperbolizing, check out the lyric video for his outstanding track “I Went To the Hospital.” 

McCombs comes to Pontiac’s Pike Room January 28th.  Doors at 8, show is $10.

foto credit: Mememe

Kodak is on the ropes— a shock for a company that was previously a key player in the American conscious. We all recognize the reality of the situation though. Good ‘ol Kodak just can’t keep up anymore. Film is done. Nostalgia can’t keep you around forever.

The same argument holds true in the latest round of piracy allegations lobbed by the media conglomerates. In a genius move the powers that be tried to pare job creation with piracy elimination. After all, content theft costs U.S. workers $5.5 billion a year by hurting companies’ hiring abilities….according to the organization that is funded by Hollywood studios.

The real cost is ambiguous. The conglomerates are losing money. It is because of the Internet. It is not because of piracy. The Internet simply does what the conglomerates tried to do and it does it better. The conglomerates produce something people don’t particularly want. The studios churn out schlock. Why suffer through what they consider comedy when I can go to Funny or Die? Why listen to Clear Channel’s dreary morning talk when I can download a podcast? Newspaper? I’ve got A2politico.com.

Consumers have gotten hip. We’ve turned away from the traditional offerings. GE, Disney, News Corp, Time Warner, Viacom, and CBS are worried. They hoped political might would save the day. In the name of profits, they hoped to limit the public’s ability to speak freely. Essentially cripple the Internet with SOPA/PIPA and hope the public starts to shell out ten bucks to watch crap like Green Lantern.

The Recording Industry Association of America, who previously hoped they could sue Americans into buying garbage, has teamed with the Motion Picture Association of America to simply ensure their garbage is the only option. But they needed an enemy so they decided to create pirates (they thought about ninjas but there isn’t a website named Ninjabay).

With the story crafted, Washington lined up to take the contributions. Both Democrats and Republicans couldn’t wait to drink from the trough. The political landscape has become so incestuous that it’s tough to tell the private sector from the public. Most frightening? Those Senators with a spine who have come out against SOPA/PIPA are really only saying the bill needs to be refined. That is to say: the bill that allows the government to block what websites you go to; the bill that grants the Attorney General power to punish a foreign entity; the bill that arbitrarily punishes website owners…only needs to be tweaked?

To hear the talking points, virtually all creative material would disappear if piracy continues. Piracy deprives artists the profits of their creative exercise. The Big Six can’t create jobs because of piracy. Bogus. Since the dawn of industry the money has filtered right up to the top. Artists are consistently put in a position where they serve as serf to the feudal elites. Recording, film, and television deals are notoriously lopsided except for a few key players. The Internet has continuously shown that creative content will survive…it just won’t profit the “right people”.

The Big Six have crafted an argument around a red herring. Politicians crafted a bill around those whims for monetary gain and support (Al Franken once wrote a bill especially for me because I bought him six hamburgers and told him he was pretty…true story). It’s about power and money. It’s not about what is in the best interests of the public.

Objective research—not conducted by the industry—has found that most Americans do not illegally download. Particularly when they have a legal option (Hulu, iTunes, Netflix, etc…). The industry makes huge profits overseas, where piracy is worse. Copyright infringement is not rampant. It is not killing the industry. The industry is killing itself.

As the saying goes, there is nothing new under the sun. In the late 1800’s Western Union attempted to use political might and legal objections to crack the telephone. Companies hate to see their dominance fade. Maybe Kodak should lobby Congress to outlaw digital cameras. The logical decision though is to become relevant or move on.

The title track from Jeremy Porter and the Tucos’ new release “Night on the Town” sounds like a throwback to the mid-90′s before bands like Puddle of Mudd ruined music. The song opens with a distorted guitar, soon followed by a snare setting the tempo, and then an ascending 3 note vocal melody.  Competent musicianship underlies the vocalizations of Jeremy Porter, whose style is somewhere between speaking and singing.  Porter has a limited range and the lyrics don’t fit comfortably in the first verse, but the chorus adds some momentum to the song, which is able to maintain its stability for the duration.

The second track, “Ain’t My House Anymore”, is the most unique cut on the album, but not overtly so.  There is a very good soloist seemingly improvising above the rhythm for most of the song, showing skillful playing and a timbre somewhere between guitar and banjo.  The concept behind the song is at the same time kitschy and clever: a man seemingly missing his house more than the family inside it.  The tone of the music is charming so it seems strangely suited to the subject matter.  It’s almost as if the character in the song happened to pass this house after a night of drinking, and vaguely remembered once living there.  He quips about having once been involved with the people inside, but doesn’t seem too broken up about it.

If “Ain’t My House Anymore” is about a man missing his house, then “Galveston” (the bonus third track) is about a man missing his town.  Porter shows a little more vocal range on this song, belting out a high note around 1:30.  Once again the lead guitar stands out above the other elements, reminiscent of some slower Eagles tune, and fades with the song.

As an album “Night on the Town” is more function than form.  Jeremy Porter and the Tucos aren’t breaking any new ground within their genre, but they’ll do if you’re looking for music to play as you clean, read, or just want a pleasant listening experience.

Reviewed by Jason Revoir