3/18/12 New Noize on 92.9 KJEE Santa Barbara's Modern Rock

3/18/12 New Noize on 92.9 KJEE Santa Barbara's Modern Rock
Hosted by Haaris Ahmed

I am a DJ at 92.9 KJEE Santa Barbara's Modern Rock and one of the cooler things I get to do is host my own hour called New Noize where I get to slice your ear drums with new sounds. Below you will see my playlist plus a hyperlink to the radio page where my playlist resides...I have also added any music videos (if available) via youtube plus if the music is free check for hyperlinks

http://www.kjee.com/MUSICt.html

1. Ben Kweller "Mean to Me" noise



2. The Wombats "Jump Into the Fog" bright antenna



3. The Mars Volta "The Making Jewel" wb



4. Anya Marina "Notice Me" chop shop



5. Cursive "The Sun & Moon" saddle-creek



6. Bear in Heaven "Kiss Me Crazy" Dead Oceans



7. Wild Belle "Keep You" sandhill



8. Father John Misty "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings" sub pop




9. Cults "Oh My God" playing @ Velvet Jones 3.24.12



10. Spoek Mathambo "Venison Fingers" sub pop


11. Santigold "Big Mouth"



12. Hodgy Beats (feat Flying Lotus) "Lamented"



13. awE naturalE "QueenS" sub pop



14. Gorillaz/James Murphy/Andre 3000 "DoYaThing"



15. Animal Kingdom "Strange Attractor" mom+pop

New Music Tuesdays - Bear in Heaven, Cursive, Claps

Bear in Heaven - I Love You, Its Cool

I have a pretty big bias when it comes to Bear in Heaven for the simple fact that they make excellent music. Deeply layered, catchy lyrics and the right amount of fuzz makes their newest album, I Love You, Its Cool, a must buy for any hipster and non-hipster. Not saying that this is for everyone, but if you want to venture out into a world of new audio then one definitely wants to run into Bear in Heaven. If you had to compare their sound they would be comparable to bands like Animal Collective and Radiohead.

I Love You, Its Cool is a great album. Stand out tracks like Cool Light and Idle Heart really captivates the entire feel of the disc. It sounds like the making of this album was a labor of love and you can hear the fun embedded in every track. If you have never heard of Bear in Heaven this new album is a great way to start. I haven't had the pleasure of checking these guys out yet, but this Brooklyn based band does have a show at the Echo (in LA) coming up in April, hmmmmm. While I ponder best be sure I am listening to Bear in Heaven's I Love You, Its Cool.

Cursive - I Am Gemini

As 2012 ends there are a couple of significant things that are happening, the aligning of the planets, a new installment of Sin City, and we as a civilization are moving from the house of Pisces to the astrological sign of Aquarius, apropos the 1969 hit Age of Aquarius by the 5th Dimension. What does this have to do with Cursive's newest album I am Gemini? Nothing really I just like talking about that song and 2012.

Cursive's newest album, I am Gemini is full of short songs. There is only 1 track that breaks the 5 minute mark. This is not a bad thing by any means, these shorts spurts of audio excellence has shaped I am Gemini to a tight, under 45 minute album that would make any drive on the 101 (or any road trip) that much more exciting. Cursive has a distinct sound, but has been able to play with their style making songs like Wowowow, The Cat and Mouse, and Drunken Birds. My prediction on I am Gemini in 2012 is: Any Cursive fan is going to love this new album and it should tear up the College charts.

Claps - Wreck

Elecro is fun. Elecrto is old. Electro is back. Does that make new Electro retro? Claps play Electo. Claps have a new album, Wreck and its Electo. Its new but feels retro. Minimalism through analog sounds plus synthesizers makes me smile. Thus I like Electo and like the new album from the Claps.

New Noize 3/11/12

I am a DJ at 92.9 KJEE Santa Barbara's Modern Rock and one of the cooler things I get to do is host my own hour called New Noize where I get to slice your ear drums with new sounds. Below you will see my playlist plus a hyperlink to the radio page where my playlist resides...I have also added any music videos (if available) via youtube plus if the music is free check for hyperlinks

http://www.kjee.com/MUSICt.html

3/11/12 New Noize on 92.9 KJEE Santa Barbara's Modern Rock

Hosted by Haaris Ahmed

1. Claps "Across the Floor"

2. Bear in Heaven "Cool Light" Dead Oceans

3. Sleigh Bells "Never Say Die" mom+pop

4. The Magnetic Fields "God Wants Us to Wait" merge

5. The Mars Volta "The Making Jewel" wb

6. Cursive "Wowowow" saddle-creek

7. Ceremony "Repeating the Circle" matador

8. The Kills "Crazy" (Willie Nelson cover) domino

9. Oberhofer "Away Frm U" glassnote

10. Hodgy Beats (feat Flying Lotus) "Lament"

11. Gorillaz/James Murphy/Andre 3000 "DoYaThing"

12. Santigold "Desperate Youth"

13. Now Now "Thread" trans

14. Nite Jewel "One Second of Love" secretly canadian

15. Poor Man "Any Place" sub pop

16. Races "Big Broom" frenchkiss

17. Daniel Rossen "Silent Song" warp

Reflections of 32 years

32 years ago I was cut out C section style at Elizabeth General in New Jersey. Somehow I ended up in Southern California not knowing what tomorrow will bring. I have seen some amazing things, the Berlin wall fall, a black man become president, a deer carcass exploding on I-78 as BMW Z3 drove over it and the rise of the internet. Its crazy times we live in, I remember when Hip Hop was called a fad, Voltron lions was made out of lead paint (and was recalled), and graffiti artists went from public scourge (and private hero's) to legit artists (and pretentious tools).

Here are some things that I have experienced and learned in my 32 years of being on this planet. This isn't an official list or anything, just stuff I can remember of the top of my head.

Some of My Favorite Shows of All Time (in no particular order without dates)

Tool @ Hammerstein Ballroom (part of a secret 4 show tour pre Lateralus)

Dead Weather @ the Mayan

Daft Punk @ Coachella

Sonic Youth @ the Greek Theater for the Daydream Nation Tour (they did all of Daydream Nation cover to cover, then came back on and did 9 songs off of rather ripped, over 3 hours plus i talked to King B of the Melvin and Spick Jones)

Grinderman @ the Music Box (Henry Fonda)

NIN @ MSG for the Fragile Tour

M.I.A. @ the Echoplex

Pearl Jam & Ben Harper @ Randell's Island No Code Tour (first show with a friend who would become a brother)

Gorrillaz @ Electric Factory (Philadelphia, PA)

NIN & BORIS @ Schottenstein Center Columbus OH

Mars Volta @ Santa Barbara Bowl 2005 (post Frances the Mute Tour)

White Stripes @ Radio City Music Hall

Flight of the Conchords @ Santa Barbara Bowl

Boris @ the Casbah in San Diego

Autolux @ the LA Museum of Natural History

Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ the Mayan

Rage Against the Machine & Wu tang Clan @ Continental Airlines Arena 1997 (Zack broke his ankle midway thru the set, taped it up and finished the show and Atari Teenage Riot got boo'd off stage)

Foo Fighters @ Velvet Jones in Santa Barbara

Favorite Video Games Music/Soundtrack

Legend of Zelda (1st, Super Nintendo)
Streets of Rage
Guilty Gear (1 and 2)
PixelJunk Shooter 1&2
Sword and Sorcery
The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai
Final Fantasy III

Worst Video Game Music/Soundtracks

Marvel vs Capcom 2
Super Puzzle Fighter

Things That I Have Learned to be Absolute

Protect Ya Neck
Pistachio Ice Cream is the Best
She is ALWAYS right
Best pizza is located in the tri-state area
There is only 1 trilogy and that's Star Wars
Halloween is the best Holiday that isn't a federal holiday
My mom is my favorite chef
Tyler Stout is an amazing poster artist
Wu Tang Clan still and always will be Nothing to Fuck With

I can go on listing things for days, but that would be kinda narcissistic, well more narcissistic than this post already is so I'll stop. Big ups for reading, posting and supporting through out the years.

Live Report - GZA at Velvet Jones 3/7/12

Santa Barbara is know for many things but Hip Hop shows aren't one of them. On the off nights when this does happen, it usually ends up being a shit show of opening acts who have zero talent, followed by the main act who will come on way to late and cut out early so you can understand the skepticism of me going out on a Wednesday night to see a hip hop show, but its the GZA and as a loyal Wu fan I must show my support. (plus it doesn't hurt getting a text message from the owner of the club wishing you a happy early birthday and comping tickets, you the man Craig)

I took the trip down to the Velvet Jones (a primer spot in downtown SB to see awesome artists at a tiny 300 max venue) and got in around 10:30. GZA didn't go on until 11:35ish. It was during this period where I wondering if I had made the right decision. The show was all ages plus it was on a Wednesday night and to be perfectly honest I expected the club to be semi full at best. I was WRONG. Velvet was packed, in fact they sold out. There were kids running around in the club bobbing their heads to some seriously horrible music, if you can call that garbage sound music. I figured GZA was going to come out for 30 minutes tops and then call it a night. WRONG AGAIN.

GZA comes out and starts to tear through liquids swords doing all of his verses, then he got to Shadowboxin' where he started to spit Method Man's into verse, I lost my shit when that happened. Since he was only doing his verses in the traditional MC format of himself, his hypman and dj, they were able to play alot more content. I can not recite his set list by heart, but I can tell you what songs he did preform (in no particular order):

Duel of the Iron Mic
Labels
Cold World
4th Chamber
Liquid Swords
Rough Cut
Animal Planet <---first time I heard him do this live, it was a personal highlight
Fame
Knock Knock
Beneath the Surface
Crash Your Crew
All In 2gether
Breaker Breaker
Reunited
Triumph
Brooklyn Zoo (ODB cover)
Clan in da Front
7th Chamber
Protect Ya Neck

and more! I just cant remember. So yes I was relived that I stayed for the whole thing, if I hadn't I would have missed a killer GZA show.

He was having fun on stage, during his set he would grab peoples cell phones as they were recording right out their hands, flip the camera towards himself, get real personal and give it right back to the now super stoked Wu fan. He was also taking pulls of the local flavors in the crowd and hitting on a all the ladies. At one point he thew a girl a piece of paper, she got a pen and handed it right back to him after jotting something down. Like Raekwon said, "Damn right we fuck fans". One of my favorite moments was towards the end of his late night set, GZA got his comedy style on. At one point some kid jumps on stage and GZA lets him do a freestyle, watch what happens, its pretty embarrassing:



GZA ended up staying on stage until the club shut him down. He preformed literally until they turned on the lights and shut off his mic. I for one am glad that my almost 32 year old ass got up and went to this show, I would have been pissed if I was reading this and not have gone.

WU TANG

New Music Tuesdays - Ceremony, Grimes And Doulogue

Another Tuesday and another day of highlighting new music that is coming out or just came out. SxSW is just around the corner and due to devastatingly bad luck I will not be taking this holy pilgrimage to Austin TX. For all of you not attending the festivities I give you 3 pieces of audio that should hold you over.

Ceremony - Zoo

Coming out last month, Ceremony's 4th album Zoo is a bevy of garage rock fuzz filled notes, punk chords and all around rock melodies that take me back to a decade where rocking 3 different flannel's at the same time was socially acceptable. Even though Ceremony didn't emerge until after the 90's were over, this San Fransisco punk band has been making music like they were at the forefront of that sound that made all of us hate MTV for being the sole provider of music videos (when MTV played music videos). As quoted from my girlfriend "They kinda sound like Green Day" and shes right, they kinda do, only a lot more aggressive and not as clean(which in my humble opinion is a very good thing). Songs like "Quarantine," "Hysteria", and "Nosebleed" have me hitting back on my ipod so I can relive that musical experience. Will this band ever make it to regular rotations on Alternative Rock radio stations? Probably not but they should, Zoo has a universal quality that I think anyone can appreciate. Ceremony's album Zoo is out on Matador and I highly recommend it.

Grimes - Visions

Who likes mellow beats with a sweet lady voice that makes all the people nod their heads wherever they hear that magical sound? This guy does! Out on 4AD, this album according to the almighty wiki, only took 3 weeks to make in a Canadian apt. Getting a whole lotta buzz I wouldn't be surprised if you started to hear her music being used to advertise the newest economy sedan or ipod color. These are not knocks, far from it. In fact I hope she gets paid to make more music. I dare anyone to listen to any of the tracks on Visions and not be hypnotized by her catchy hooks and laid back DIY pop sounds. Hard to describe but easy to listen to Visions by Grimes should be an easy purchase to make.

Duologue - A-B EP

First off I thought that the name "Duologue" was a play on words, and surprise surprise its not. It is an actual word, (according to http://www.thefreedictionary.com/duologue) check it:

du·o·logue n.A dialogue or conversation between two persons: "a reasonably well-constructed duologue for two experienced performers" (Noel Coward).

Who knew? Anyways these London based sound innovators have an interesting EP out called A-B. I dig it, its only 4 songs long but its not about quantity, its about quality. Normally I would go onto describe the sound and tell you to "pick it up" but not this time. Go ahead an formulate your own opinion, check out their youtube channel and rate em for yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/user/duologuemusic

New Noize 3/4/12

I am a DJ at 92.9 KJEE Santa Barbara's Modern Rock and one of the cooler things I get to do is host my own hour called New Noize where I get to slice your ear drums with new sounds. Below you will see my playlist plus a hyperlink to the radio page where my playlist resides...I have also added any music videos (if available) via youtube plus if the music is free check for hyperlinks

http://www.kjee.com/MUSICt.html


3/4/12 New Noize on 92.9 KJEE Santa Barbara's Modern Rock
Hosted by Haaris Ahmed

1. Duologue "Crave" wild game

2. St Vincent "Cheerleader" 4AD



3. Sleigh Bells "Demon" mom+pop



4. TJ & the Past Haunts "Janice Haynes" no sleep



5. Ceremony "Quarantine" matador



6. Hodgy Beats (feat Flying Lotus) "Lamented"



Download for FREE here

7. Gorillaz/James Murphy/Andre 3000 "DoYaThing"



8. Abnormal Injustice Presents the Skateboarding Gay Style tape...Jen vs Tim Okazaki "Sushi Flavor"

Download for FREE here

9. Nite Jewel "One Second of Love" secretly canadian



10. The Mars Volta "The Making Jewel" wb




11. Oberhofer "Away Frm U" glassnote



12. Santigold "Desperate Youth"



13. Animal Kingdom "Strange Attractor" mom+pop



14. Micky Avalon "Girlfriend" banana beat



15. Wild Belle "Take Me Away" sandhill sound


16. Grimes (ft Doldrums) "Color of Moonlight"(Antiochus)

I Was a Judge

For a night that is. Last night, me and my fellow radio weekend DJ Ricky Biggs filled in as judges for UCSB Battle of the Bands, the winner would go on to preform (opening act to get all technical) at UCSB's free summer concert the Extravaganza. I don't like to judge music dispite the fact I am a huge music snob, I just don't think its right for someone to judge art, it just is. I digress and besides, this is all about fun so I was looking forward to seeing what undiscovered gems turn up. I might see the next moterhead or Arcade Fire on stage, you never know.

I am not gonna name any of the bands that lost just give you highlights. The rules are simple, each band has a 20 minute set, and at the end we 3 judges decide on who the best band is.

1st band up was appreatly pretty well know in according to the 3rd judge (she went to UCSB and is part of KCSB, UCSB's college radio station). They were actually good and were my front runners right off the bat. If they checked their levels better and the lead singer would just close his mouth while they play the have the potential (i said potential) of being a Mogwai/Russian Circles/Red Sparrows type band.

2nd band started off well, but as they played I started paying attention to what they were playing and one could hear how simplistic its was. Then there was a huge pause after their first song and brought up 2 college girls to sing with them, I wish they wouldn't have. These ladies were not on the same page, pulling flat notes and not harmonizing properly are only some of the reasons how these ladies college girls killed this bands opportunity of opening the Extravaganza.

The 3rd band, which at last count had 11 people on stage including 2 saxophone dudes and an actual bridge section, took the stage with costumes and were ready to go. They were tight and you could tell they practiced cause of how professional their 20 minute set was. The crowd was loving them, they covered MGMT's Electric Feel and somehow made their version alot more upbeat than the original (dont know how but they did). They knocked off the 1st band as the front runners, 2 more bands to go.

The 4th band came on and what a tragedy that was. Everything was sloppy and thier style was totally generic. They had the whole 311/sublime thing going, but it wasn't working at all. Like 311 says, you gotta come original. The worst part about it was that you could tell that their band was totally feeling on themselves thinking they were all good, funny how perspective works. If someone told me to check out this band and I actually took their advice that somebody and me would no longer be friends after this show.

5th band was a nice escape, they definitely had a different sound and overall appeal, but anything good I was about to say was quickly squashed as soon as the lead singer let his preteniuos feathers fly, taking off layers of clothings, talking smack and thinking his band rules. If his music was actually good or he was talented in any way I would let him get away with being pretentious, but hes not so I am gonna burn this guy. Between his Gavin Rossdale look, super tight jeans, bullshit stage banter and generic music these cats did not get my vote.

I believe me and my fellow judges made the right decision and the 3rd band (Fire Department) with the Saxophone men won.

Big ups to Cindy and the rest of the Staff at UCSB for letting this radio DJ judge, it was a fun experience. And thanks again for the Turkey Burger, it hit the spot.

Follow Ricky here

Opinion Action - Why Mario Party 9 Will Fail

Mario Party, what can I say, its one of my favorite games from back in the day. Having 2 younger brothers plus my crew (all of which are still gaming in their 30's) have fond memories of sitting in my parents NJ basement button mashing, star stealing and treaty signing as this hybrid virtual board game became one of our favorite video games; so much so it became a staple of our AM gaming ritual. I have been an avid Mario Party player when it debuted back in 98 on the N64, not by choice mind you, but I quickly grew to love the game. We were suckers for this series, anticipating our favorite mini games, dreading being paired up with inept partners, and making fun of anyone who won any of the button mashing contests; all of these were contributing factors that had our collective of playing/following the series onto the Gamecube and eventually the Wii. Something happened to our Utopian gaming sessions, I moved to California.

So now that I am in killer Cali online gaming has kept my relationships with my brothers and other brothers supremely strong. Between Boston, California, NJ and NYC my core constituents still get down, and our recent collective purchase of Twisted Metal has proven to keep my East Coast counterparts up way past their bed times.

Which brings me to the sadness which is Mario Party 9. Despite my Wii collecting dust I would purchase this game in a heartbeat IF IT WAS ONLINE. But its not, which makes my head hurt. Nintendo is focused on their handheld connectivity but when it comes to Wii its non-existent. Don't get me wrong, their are plenty of Wii games that are online, just not any that I am going to put down Twisted Metal for. Mario Party 9 looks amazing, but why is it not online Nintendo? Doesn't it make sense to be able to play this party game online? Wouldn't that be a selling point to consider when marketing this game? Was it too expensive to support the online functionality of this game? This is a huge fumble on Nintendo's part by not supporting online capabilities when it comes to the Mario Party series.

You might be saying, "Haaris, why not play locally the way the game was meant to played?" Simple really, my friends in southern California don't really game. The rare and I mean RARE time my girlfriend games with me its always Tetris (which is awesome cause she is DAMN good at making mad lines yo). I would have better luck of creating lead into cupcakes then to initiate a new game into the mix. Mario Party is not one of those "5 minute games" that you can play before you go out for the night to actually "Party" it takes time, like a monopoly board game time.

This opens the doors surprisingly to the ps3 and the new Vita. With the Vita being able to do remote play and connect to your friends I don't see myself purchasing Mario Party 9, which is a shame really cause the game looks so DAMN good. I would rather invest in a $250/$300 Vita then buy another Wii game that will stay closed most of its life.

Elvira Sighting

Mistress of the night is still doing her thing thing, still funny as all hell and still looking good. Check her out:



and to be fair this is up at a pretty rad site that reviews all kinds of tasty beverages, check em here: http://www.thirstydudes.com/user/cassandra-peterson-aka-elvira-mistress-of-the-dark

Free Hodgy Beats EP, Free S.mouse! and New Sleigh Bells

Since I dropped the ball this week, specifically New Music Tuesdays, I am gonna hook you up with some serious bangers.

Hodgy Beats Untitled EP


First up Odd Futures audio slicer Hodgy Beats is dropping new music goodness, only this time he's got a grip of talented producers including Flying Lotus, Alchemist and Juicy J (this dude won an Oscar). The ep may be short, but its packed with some of the greatest beats I have heard all year coupled with Hodgy's destructive lyrical style makes this Untitled ep a must buy. Since we are talking about Odd Future then we are talking FREE music. Odd Future has proven that you can make music FREE and still be able to maintain yourself as an artist. Not only is this EP free, its production value and content is of the highest caliber, its a win win for everyone.

Get the free ep here

Abnorml Injustice Presents- Songs for​.​.​.​.​or the S​.​mouse! Tape

Lets get down on some more free tunes for you cheap mofo's shall we. S.mouse! has been called the worst thing to happen to Hip Hop, a scouge of the rap game, a candy striper of the hood if you will. highlighted in Angry Boys on HBO we follow the explosion which is S.mouse! implode when the realities of the game overtake and destroy his carrier. From the ashes S.mouse! drops the "!"(much like his label dropped him) rises with some free beats. He takes audio clips from this past season of Angry Boys and lays them on some seriously funky beats. Still waiting on his solo independent project "The Real Me" that is apparently getting an independent release, in the interm get your S.mouse! on with these tunes straight from Abnormal Injustice, for FREE.

Check it here


Abnormal Injustice Presents The Skateboarding GayStyle Tape or the Jen vs Tim Okazaki Tape

For those tiger moms and gaystyle skaters here Abnormal Injustice Presents The Skateboarding GayStyle Tape or the Jen vs Tim Okazaki Tape. If your lucky you can catch Tim skating at the local spots right here in Santa Barbara or see his mom (Jen Okazaki, mastermind and creator of the GayStyle brand) pushing grocery carts around at the local Vons (cause she cant afford to shop at Whole Foods) or training Tim's little brother at the local mini golf spot.

get it here for FREE



Sleigh Bells - Reign of Terror

Originally signed to M.I.A. label for their debut album Treats Sleigh Bells is back and now on mom+pop with their sophomore record, Reign of Terror. How does it stack against Treats? Reign of Terror blows it out of the water. They are still producing a hyper aggressive sound on maxed out instruments, this time its a but more refined and structured. Its hard to imagine that its only 2 people in this band, even when they play live. Check out the new album and if you have a chance check em out live, they are fun to watch.