but here it is. 

The one BIG release for this week belongs to Vampire Weekend who, due to production of physical albums, had to delay their new album's release by a week. I'd say it was worth it, especially judging from the songs below. Modern  Vampires of the City is finally out!

Check out Vampire Weekend's performance of this song HERE!

Pretty notable reissues out today, as well...

R.E.M.'s Green

This album is now 25! The reissue features extra music AND live stuff. Of course, it features this song.

Another significant reissue out today is The Breeder's Last Splash, but this edition has 46 bonus tracks! Holy moley. Why yes, it DOES include "Cannonball." This one, too! Here's a clip of them on Late Night with Conan O'Brien

Huey Lewis and the News' Sports is officially 30! I can't believe this album is the same age as me.

Saturday Night Live did good with both bringing back Kristin Wiig to host and by giving Vampire Weekend the musical slot this weekend. Check out their perfomance of "Diane Young" below!

I’m sure this isn’t surprising, but I’ve been a giant dork since I was a kid. Having an older brother always meant that I had a partner in crime. Maaaan, back in the day I did a lot of things that more than likely triggered an interest in radio. One of those things was making a TON of mix tapes/cds. So, the other night while searching through my cds, I noticed that the majority were mixes. I mean, I own a lot of music…so realizing I had all of these mix cds without track listings was intriguing. I figured I should rediscover the music on these cds and share with you. Because why not? Don’t answer that.

So, the first thing I will share with you is a disc my brother put together for me titled, “Music That Will Inspire You to Punch Mr. T.: Rocky Goodness.” Automatically, I know that it’s a bunch of Rocky stuff, but WHAT Rocky stuff? And in WHAT order?

Track 1: James Brown-Living in America

The song that contributed to Apollo Creed’s death. James Brown took no responsibility. I can’t wait to play this for Fourth of July!


Track 2: Survivor-Burning Heart
I appreciate his putting Rocky IV music on this thing first.

Track 3: Survivor- Eye of the Tiger


Track 4: Robert Tepper- No Easy Way Out

Track 5: John Cafferty- Hearts on Fire
Pretty sure this is the clip that determines that Rocky IV is just one long music video.


Track 6: Bill Conti- Fanfare for Rocky
I wish this had been my high school graduation song.

Track 7: Vince DeCola- War

Track 8: Vince DeCola- Training Montage

The FACT that the song is titled “Training Montage” should be enough of an explanation of what kind of movie Rocky IV is. Answer: awesome.

Track 9: I seriously can’t figure out which Rocky movie it is from and it’s frustrating.

Track 10: Lion- Transformers

Yes, I know this isn’t from Rocky. It’s from the Transformers soundtrack…the animated film from the 80s. I’d like to think my brother threw this on to make it an even number, but I actually know it’s because he wanted an excuse to put this song on a cd.

Leave it to to the internet to bring me irrational anger about reader's polls. It's all opinion, of course, which everyone is free to feel. Do I agree with some of these? Hell yeah. Do I disagree? Oh, definitely. That's the magic of internet polls! You're always going to get angry and think someone is being pretentious about their tastes! By the way, I'd never make a list like this. 

10. Dave Matthews Band: Aww, am I really the only person who actually enjoyed them?

9.  Ace of Base: When I was in sixth grade, our class had a reading book called "I Touched the Sun." Of course, being the idiot that I am, I decided to change the lyrics of "I Saw the Sign" to fit the name of the book. That is when I realized that I wanted to act like a moron for a career.

8. Spin Doctors: I feel bad that they're on this list! There really wasn't a band worse than this?

7. Bush: Again, I feel bad. Unfortunately, Gavin Rossdale will always be best known as Mr. Stefani.

6. Hootie and the Blowfish: Look, I can see how people would get tired of hearing them in some Adult Contemporary form. It doesn't mean that they're terrible. 

5. Nirvana: I'm just going to put Rolling Stone's comments here...

What the f*** happened here? Did the members of Warrant, Mötley Crüe, Poison and Bang Tango come together to stuff the ballot boxes? Who hates Nirvana? Sure, the crazy success of Nevermind meant that many Eighties superstars seemed like premature has-beens, but that was inevitable. Country Joe and the Fish didn't seem very cool in 1971, either. Times change. Fans move on. You're often only as big as your last hit. But Nirvana were a great band. Their three albums are nearly perfect, and they are guaranteed to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next year. We're sorry, but everyone who voted for them in this poll is wrong. 

Overrated? Yes. Bad? No. Don't crap on Nirvana just to "be different." 

4. Hanson: Is it because they didn't have enormous hits for many years, or is it because it possibly spawned the likes of the Jonas Brothers, One Direction, etc.?

3: Limp Bizkit: No comment.

2. Nickelback: Oh, whatever. You saw this coming, even if you like the band.

1. Creed: If you were one of the bajillion humans who bought their albums, I am pretty sure that this is still not a surprise to you. 

Oh, just shenangians in Japan...and Australia. Weezer Webisodes are still happening! This is a joy to know! 

In preparation for what I shall now call Concertpaloozathon, I thought it would be nice to share some things going on in town THIS weekend.

The Bakersfield Jazz Festival returns to CSUB on Friday! I’ll be my mom’s date this weekend, mainly so she can check this guy out:

Get more on the Bakersfield Jazz Festival at www.bakersfieldjazz.com 

Over at NX Arthouse on North Baker, make sure to check out Penciled Ones and Zeroes, The Art of Troy Brown. The artist gives a digital twist to more typical forms of art. After the reception for the show, NX will be holding their Speakeasy Open Mic event! Everything will kick off around 7, so make sure to swing by 2995 North Baker Street tomorrow night!

By the way, if you are downtown this weekend, make sure to stop by The Foundry! Their gallery will be open at 11 on Saturday- so if you missed out on David Cook’s “Beyond Perception” on First Friday, you still have a chance to catch it! Get more info at  www.bakersfieldfoundry.com  

Over at The Empty Space this weekend, it’s Mother Knows Best, sketch comedy dealing with the crazy crap moms put up with. Kids are nuts, so why not check things out from a mom’s funny perspective? Admission is $5, plus drinks for those of age. Get more info at www.esonline.org

Therese and the Sweetness will be at On the Rocks on Friday with special guests Woodrow. The show will start at 9 and you can find On the Rocks at 1517 18th street downtown! Get more information HERE!
If you’ve never heard Therese’s lovely voice before, be sure to have a listen down below. And please enjoy watching a grown man’s interpretive dance.


Double the local badassery Friday at B Ryders! Five bucks to see both Meditated Assault and The Aviators! Get more info on the event HERE! The Aviators will then be playing a Make a Wish Foundation show in Taft on the 11th! More info on that event can be found here!

Meanwhile, please enjoy more music from The Aviators and Meditated Assault below:

I think the best part of this video is clearly the child in the bottom right corner. Unless...I'm imagining things again.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs' album Mosquito is out now!

Along with premiering a clip along with their new song "I Appear Missing"-which you can check out HERE - here are more new songs (performed live) from Queens of the Stone Age's upcoming album ...Like Clockwork!  What do you think of the new stuff so far?

Via Consequence of Sound: