Cheap Thrills

Emotional memory, going through the paces, what my heart is used to telling me to do - the highs I've reached before come easy. Cheap thrills

We've All Been There

smelling of the night you so desparately try and lose yourself into, you try and escape into it, now your bed sheets are in on it, the smell, that smell, smelling like that smell that you dont wanna smell. the memories are laced with nicotine and tar, jack daniels and lager, jogging your memory harder and harder, and when you close your heads and lie on your bed, the best part of your night comes, the dream less sleep. and in this sleep of an ebony blanket we find peace through questionable means, illicit materials craft things more beautiful and pure than we ever 'thought' possible. 

the sweetest part is the dreamless sleep. shot after shot, drink after drink that push you towards the bathroom sink, hands on the porcelain, shaky foundation, questioning life and all its creations, the thoughts, the patterns, why were in the situation were in, then back out the doors, lumbering to indulge our next greatest sin. You're moving is slowed, your mind gets off the gas, and stops you from recounting that painful past - everyone's hardships go out the door and the easiest solution is to pour some more.

- spoken like an alcoholic, man

Braintoy - Sheep

(I'm having a hard time uploading pictures, sorry for the poor quality)

Braintoy, the progressive rock four piece, released their debut LP in April of this year. They also released this bomb cover of Pink Floyd's epic prog jam, Sheep (which is free to download in high quality mp3/mp4 format from this page). 

Let me just say that there's no bigger turn off with a band then watching them suck the big one in a live setting. I remember watching Mudvayne (in my defense, L.D. 50 had it's moments ok?) play live on the Conan O'Brien show. I turned it off 1 minute into their performance of 'Happy?' and have not touched a Mudvayne CD since. You want to know the musicians can actually play their instruments (or at least I do), otherwise, what's the point? Maybe its just a personal gripe I have, but its soured me on Mudvayne, probably unfairly, and probably for the rest of my life. 

Such is not the case with this tasty vid, recorded live in the Braintoy jam space. The moment Devin Gasteiger comes in with the ethereal keys, you know that its ON! These guys definitely have chops and other live videos are testament to this. Covering Pink Floyd is no easy task, with all the staunch purists of prog to wow, but with Tristans voice, sometimes haunting, always beautiful at the forefront of this more intense remake, its easy to convert even the most devout Floyd fan. Christian Anderson manipulates the sounds coming out of his guitar to great effect, creating an eery atmosphere to the piece, and doubling up on the bass lines, all the while pounding David Gilmour's original riff (and solo) in your face with added zeal and flair. And let's not forget the fancy skin work (provided by Riley O'Connor) that helps this rocking rendition barrel along. 

Check it: Braintoy - Sheep

Banner Pilot

If you guys know me, you'd laugh at the thought of me doing Jiu-Jistu. Even I think its ridiculous, especially when I'm deep in someone's guillotine choke hold, gasping for air, futilely trying to squirm my way out of my attackers rock hard death grip. That's usually what I think, when I'm 5 seconds away from black out or a hyper extended elbow, 'This is ridiculous! (substituted with ridonkulous, depending on how saucy I am feeling that day).' It truly is, considering I've got the killer instinct of a buddhist monk in deep meditation. 

....My long winded point, and there is one, is that normally, that's what runs through the anti-fighter's head (yours truly) bout after bout, submission after submission. But tonight was different. Hours before, after stumbling upon (because I am never graceful) Banner Pilot's 2008 release 'Resignation Day', all I could think about was getting back and listening to it some more. It was clearly all I talked about pre fight, and instead of picking up tips from my more experienced younger brother, I got lost in recapturing that feeling I first felt when hearing Banner Pilot. 

I was met with an in your face pop punk record that would not escape my head, just like I couldn't escape my brother's guard position. Infectious melodies and driving bass lines, hit hard (like a knee to the stomach) and coupled with the gruff vocals which make you wonder if the vocalist has any vocal chords left (or what they are made of) that we all know and love from our Minneapolis punk bands. Seriously, do all people sound like this in Minneapolis? The women would be intimidating to say the least (I probably would tap to them too)

I can't imagine how fun it would be to see a Banner Pilot show - the songs just make you want to get up and dance like only a white person could, grabbing unsuspecting neighbors who join in  with your uncoordinated 'dance', doing your best Jackson Pollock impression (inadvertently), the venue floor in a sticky coat of over priced beer. Ah...if only. Way better than getting your ass handed to you in Jiu-Jitsu! By your kid brother no less!

Banner Pilot myspace