CJSW's Newest Friend Opportunity

Have you heard the latest release from Deerhoof? The delectable Friend Opportunity? Pitchfork gave it an astonishing review of 8.9/10. Local pop publicists, Beatroute, showered it with praise as well. In the spirit of media one-upmanship, CJSW has lined up an interview with the San Francisco-based power-prog-indie sensation. Here's a recent photo taken from the Kill Rock Stars showcase during the CMJ Music Marathon last November. Yes, CJSW was (sorta) there.


The outfit is currently on a pan-galactic tour which includes a stop in rainy Vangroover this Friday, February 2, 2007. A contingent of Calgarian hipsters and trend-setters will make the pilgrimage, but due to the short notice it might be difficult to come up with gripping interview questions. As such, we'd like to openly invite our blog readers to submit their zingers for Deerhoof by clicking the comments link below. To ensure your question is reviewed in a timely fashion, please submit by Thursday afternoon.

Desert Buffet

Tickets go on sale tomorrow for the massive Coachella festival in Indio, CA. A few dedicated CJSWers will be making the journey by air, by car, and by biodiesel fuelled microbus (presumably), to catch some of our favourite live acts (har hars go out to the prankforkmedia people). In all seriousness though, the list of nifty names is mind-boggling. Personally, I'm pretty excited about the prospect of seeing Of Montreal:



Some Canadians artists that are congregating there, provided they've worked out their U.S. Customs/Immigration paperwork well in advance, include:

The Arcade Fire
Tokyo Police Club
Peaches
The New Pornographers
MSTRKRFT

Hipsters Unite! Hopefully, our respective carbon footprints do not give Al Gore a night terror.

Guitar Heroes pt II

While we're on the subject of guitar heroes, I thought i'd hip you to even more youtube guitar solo videos. Via Wired.com, Guitar World has complied a list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Solos". Over the last few days the Howard Stern Show has been playing clips from the list. We've found listening to these great classics a very moving experience, so we took it a step further and dug up a video link for each of the top 20!"

Guitar Heroes

So, a few thrash-o-philes at the station are seriously addicted to the latest video game craze: Guitar Hero II. As a result, I'm sure many have been checked out for Carpal Tunnel issues. Hey, it can happen to the best of us. Take a look at the New York Daily News:

[...], Many were compelled to their feet by a more primal force: the need to rock. Guitar Hero II simulated the feel (and feeling) of playing guitar in a rock band, with a guitar-like controller that not only encourages physical movement but lets players mimic the motions of a real ax-grinder. But the game isn't good for everyone, apparently - Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Joel Zumaya sat out three games in the American League Championship Series reportedly due to a Guitar Hero-induced wrist injury.

As you can imagine, the game worships metal gods, like Danzig. Ever wonder what Danzig sounds like in person? We were notified of an interview he did for The Onion. Seriously, his philosophical musings will blow your mind. For example:

AVC: Do you listen to any happy positive music?

GD: Anything that makes you feel good is happy and positive. It takes two negatives to make a positive. [Laughs.] I've always been the person who likes to take negatives and turn them into positives. And if they stay negatives, that's ok, too.

After all that deep stuff, it's time to take a pause to rock out. Stand in awe of the intense noodling of Herman Li and Dragonforce:



Need more metal mayhem? We found some more epic youtubed solos:

CJSW does dabble in the hard stuff. Check out the RAGE CAGE, Megawatt Mayhem, DNA, and many other dark programs. Oh, and check out Nat Kaos' Top 13 for 2006. It rocks hard.

TV doesn't rot your brain

Wow, we never thought that talking about TV and movies would feel so enlightening. Yesterday and today, the CJSW crew was at a seminar hosted by Randy Pearlstein (see previous post). Damn, it was fun reading scripts, writing the basic outline for an action thriller, and watching hilarious film clips. It felt like four years of film school condensed into ten hours. Kudos to the Asparagus Green team.

God Bless Your Soul, Brother No. 1

It's been a while since the CJSW blog-o-sphere has been updated. Our apologies! A lot can happen in month - and a lot did happen.

Arguably, the biggest news to come our way over the break was that the world got a little less funky on Christmas. Here's a video to commemorate the passing of James Brown, The Hardest Working Man In Show Business, on December 25, 2006:



Thanks to everyone who sent us their condolences. We all admired The Godfather of Soul. HOT PANTS! YEEEEOW! TAKE IT TO THE BRIDGE! CAN I COUNT IT OFF!?! Thanks also to the CJSW soulsters: Rob, Sid, Alice in addition to many others, for their stirring tributes. If you need a quick groove-laden fix, look no further than our Programming Guide. Shows that should help you get up offa that thing include: Electric Company, Musiquarium, and naturally, the Fat Beat Diet.

Before someone in Hollywood beats you to the punch, it's probably time to send the Mr. Dynamite biographical docudrama manuscript that you've been working on to your nearest agent. Oscar season is right around the corner. If you've got the idea, the drive, and the dedication, but don't know where to start, CJSW is sponsoring a seminar on screenplay writing with Randy Pearlstein (writer for the legendary Chappelle's Show, among other accolades).

Remember, February is Black History Month. CJSW will be lining up tons of special programming about important historical figures including, but certainly not limited to, JB.