For Those Who Tried To Rock is a blog about the bands that never went anywhere, for example. Urbicide, The Tribulations and Only One. The band photos are usually accompanied by mp3s and short testimonies, such as this one about Soft Option: "Flock of Seagulls owned Liverpool when we came together but we were really Depeche Mode fans. Trouble was, we only had one Synth – the Roland pictured above – so on the more complicated songs we covered like Everything Counts (see cassette below) I had to play parts on a Melodica – the small keyboard you blow into. It was my Mother's idea. We went to an all boys school, so the gigs were boys only, which meant we did not get laid but the nights we played were some of the greatest of my adolescence." [via Carrie Brownstein's Monitor Mix]
posted on Jun 5, 2008 - View this thread

Paulo in London asks musicians to write him a story on an index card.
posted on Apr 15, 2008 - View this thread

Matthew Ingram at Stylus pontificates various band logos, revealing some secret origins and offering some perspectives on consistency and cultural signifiers built into them.
posted on Sep 24, 2007 - View this thread

If you missed Elvis Perkins on Late Night with David Letterman making their national television debut, at least now you can say you knew about these guys before they really hit the big time (check out "Acoustic Slip Away"). I first heard about them on Lex and Terry. Warning, may be NSFW, youtube and audio links. Click at your own risk.
posted on Jun 14, 2007 - View this thread

Moptops in suits. Not necessarily the ones you were thinking of.
posted on May 9, 2007 - View this thread

The major label machine sucks in and churns out young bands all the time, leaving plenty of good music unheard by the public. Boston's trip-hoppy Splashdown were one of the acts brought low by this process, disbanding two years after Capitol decided not to release their major label debut LP. The late 90's were a commercially bad time for female-fronted electro-pop, of course, but the band found an outlet for their material by releasing it for free online -- their whole catalog, including three LP's, two EP's and some double-secret-unreleased tracks, is available with the band's blessing. Members have since joined other bands -- Freezepop, Universal Hall Pass -- which hopefully will avoid the trouble Splashdown had.
posted on Feb 24, 2007 - View this thread

Yardbirds documentary part 1, part 2, and part 3. Bonus: Jimmy Page, age 14.
posted on Dec 27, 2006 - View this thread

Tourfilter: Track your favorite bands. See who else is tracking them. Never miss another show! [Boston, Chicago, New York for now - other cities on the way.]
posted on Jul 5, 2006 - View this thread

The Essential Foghat Timeline. Is it any wonder that Foghat is so hard to keep track of? (Found here). There were two versions of Foghat touring from 1990 to 1993. Roger Earl was touring with his version of Foghat (originally called the Kneetremblers) from 1986 to 1993 and Dave toured with Lonesome Dave's Foghat from 1990 to 1993...
posted on Aug 28, 2004 - View this thread

Pour Some Sugar On Me, as reinvisioned by Townsend, a boy band. Some would say it's the worst thing they'd ever seen, but I'd hazard a guess that it may actually be the worst thing ever filmed. The song is enhanced with a rap section, and the video is enhanced with the addition of the jackass from Smashmouth, for some bizarre reason. NSFNSAVI (not safe for the non sight & vision impaired)
posted on Aug 26, 2004 - View this thread

According to Scientific Proof magazine your favorite band stinks. If you like Justin and Christina, Staind, Linkin Park or a host of others then it is a scientific fact that you have bad taste in music. Fortunately, there is a cure.
posted on Aug 9, 2004 - View this thread

B2B. Band to Band links. 6 degrees for music.
posted on Jul 27, 2004 - View this thread

The Greatest Week in Rock History (Salon link) - 34 years ago today, Billboard Charts had a outstanding album lineup - perhaps not the best albums ever, but for a single point in time, arguably unmatched for quality, originality, and longevity. Take a look back at the roster: the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Tom Jones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Stones, Santana, the Temptations, Blood Sweat & Tears, Crosby Stills & Nash, and Easy Rider.
posted on Dec 20, 2003 - View this thread

Roadies. They've got their own lingo, rules, and even recipes. Obviously, they've also got their own website, which has much more to be explored.
posted on Nov 10, 2003 - View this thread

"The Band uses unique instrumentation: the music is performed using obsolete computer equipment for instruments. Currently they are using a 1977 Atari 2600 game console, a 1986 portable 286 PC, a 1983 Commodore 64 computer, and a 1985 Epson dot matrix printer."
posted on Oct 28, 2003 - View this thread

I've never heard of TAB (Tommy Aguilar Band) who apparently became quite popular in the mid-90's, but Off The Record is nonetheless a fascinating read, offering great insight into what it's really like to be in a band. Michelle Rubin, the bass player, offers a journal describing one of their first disastrous tours. Tommy has a write-up that is also well worth reading. The book gets rave reviews.
posted on Aug 21, 2003 - View this thread

Want to serve your country, but you're not exactly up for being a marine? If you know an instrument well, then not to worry...join "The President's Own", the official USMC band! Unlike other USMC bands that are put together from Marine Corps regulars, musicians in the President's Own are enlisted specifically for playing in the band (MOS 9811). You have all the rank, privileges, pay, and snappy uniforms as a Staff Sergeant upon entry, and you can even work yourself up to colonel! You get all the benefits, like seeing the world and free haircuts, provided you meet height and weight requirements, and can meet certain physical criteria (try marching for 10 hours a day)....and NO BOOT CAMP...that's right...they're the only unit in the Armed Forces that doesn't require any military training before joining. And of course, one the coolest things about the Marine Corps band, is that you follow in the footsteps of John Philip Sousa, who enlisted when he was friggin 13.
posted on Jun 26, 2003 - View this thread

Electric 6 is the new rock sensation in Europe... Their first video, 'Danger' (High Voltage) was tastless but undeniably funny... But with their new one, 'Gay bar', nobody will dare to say Rock music isn't political anymore... After George Michael's Shoot the dog video (which has been discussed here if memory serves me right), this one is just another way to admit that yes, political "leaders" do inspire artists...
posted on Jun 16, 2003 - View this thread

Radiohead TV: Welcome To The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth Of All Time! Yes, fans and detractors - it's that time of the year again. But look before you hear, mind! My favourite band The world's most lyrically evolved band Radiohead is about to unleash, after the wonder that is There, There [Full videoclip here] a new long-playing record and with it, on May 26th, a new television channel [Please scroll down a bit for details]. They're going: "I haven't had this much fun in years". Well, indeed! I wonder how many fans get the dark, gallows humour of Radiohead. And what beautiful songs! I put it to you Thom Yorke is the new Leonard Cohen, another much-funnier-than-he-sounds songwriter and performer.[Windows Media req. Quicktime version of TV channel here; Real version of "There, There" video here. Please go to the website for other details and lower res alternatives..]
posted on May 13, 2003 - View this thread

The Mu Major Chord Outstanding guitar themed Steely Dan fan site. Learn the secret Steely Dan chord substitution!
posted on May 8, 2003 - View this thread

Throwing Muses are among the most sadly unsung bands of the alt.rock era. Though beloved by critics (particularly the British press) and adored by a small army of devoted fans, they disbanded in 1997 for financial reasons. After releasing a killer new album, the band (featuring prodigal Muse and Belly founder Tanya Donnelly) are back for what may be the last time. (more inside)
posted on Apr 25, 2003 - View this thread

The White Stripes will be appearing on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, for the entire week, starting tonight. The band is promoting their new album called Elephant.
posted on Apr 22, 2003 - View this thread

All that's cat, all that's hep? Huh? I am utterly mystified by not quite sure about the website, which seems to be Italian, but the pictures are cute and the music snippets that you get when you click on the covers sure are strange and funny and sweet...and I wish I understood what it's in aid of! Can anyone here tell me what these Old Woogie guys are up to? Are they evil? Are they devious? Or are they just tragically enthusiastic?
posted on Apr 16, 2003 - View this thread

British band The The is alive, well, and pissed off. The March 21st "issue" of their website This is The The Day is a brash, one-stop-shopping WarLinkapalooza to (among other things) Micah Wright and his war poster satires, Tom Tomorrow, Get Your War On, Robert Fisk's Baghdad dispatches and . . . Alan Watts? (Oh, yeah--Pt 6 of the Johnny Marr/Matt Johnson interview is there too.) Are other bands taking a stand against (or for) the war? Googling this results in only a certain spyplane, while Bono has no comment (for a change). Please do not turn this into a pro/anti-war flamefest. We're flamefested out by now : ) Peace.
posted on Mar 21, 2003 - View this thread

Meanwhile, Back in Communist Russia... BBC Radio1 clowns/idiots Mark and Lard have an ongoing quest to find the worst band name ever. Personally I think some of the bands in the poll have the best names. What makes a crap band name? Something unimaginative like The Michael Schenker Group? Something crass like Speculum Fight or Alien Porno Midgets? What, for that matter, makes a good name? Do tell.
posted on Jan 22, 2003 - View this thread

Phish ends Hiatus. The band will play four shows beginning with a New Year's show at MSG. Dirty neo-hippies everywhere rejoice.
posted on Aug 14, 2002 - View this thread

Tonight, I saw (for the 4th time) one of the greatest live bands on the planet: Sweep The Leg Johnny. They played to a half-empty room in Toronto. Recently, the band put out their fourth CD. Sadly, they're calling it quits after this tour. What are some of the bands you've told folks to Go see now!, but no one seems to listen?
posted on Jul 11, 2002 - View this thread

They Might Be Giants have a new album for kids and I can't wait to foist it on mine.
posted on Jun 18, 2002 - View this thread

The odd phenomenon of tribute bands. Heartfelt homage and harmless fun? Creepy obsession and pale imitation? Whatever you see it as, their numbers are swelling. Some that you'd expect, a few that'll surprise you, at least one that vaguely frightens me and one to which I say 'it's about time!'. Sincerest form of flattery or mild insanity? Your call.
posted on Jun 1, 2002 - View this thread

It's the music *you* love but everyone you know hates it... It's the band you love. You've played them to all your friends. All your friends hate them (don't they see? haven't they got ears? can't they hear?) You've tried the old "no - really just *listen* to them...honestly they *are* great - can't you even see yet?" ploy... But you can't make anyone understand and everyone you know still hates them. This is my one. (mp3's available) What's yours? (nb. i know most of you are going to hate this band, so it would be pointless to post replies of the "this band are sh*t nature)
posted on Jan 14, 2002 - View this thread

The Ramones named #2 band of all time by Spin magazine, following the Beatles at #1. I think we all can agree to disagree about the vailidity of the yearly Grammy nominations, but when given a little more time, you'd think that the editors of Spin could come up with something better than placing The Smiths at #21, or Fugazi at #31. In other news, Bruce Springsteen was left off the list.
posted on Jan 10, 2002 - View this thread

Band names are out; blog names are in. All of us musical inepts who spent more time thinking up band names than actually learning to play an instrument now have a purpose for our great list of names that rock your world, dude! Here's a really brief list of blog names grabbed from Linkwatcher, any one of which could have been a band name: Virulent Memes, Grouse, The Dome of the Sky, Underduck, Sixth Dev, Ten Reasons Why, Industrial Technology and Witchcraft, Phester, Hopeless Romantics, Next Generation Degeneration, Being Terran, Hit or Miss, Entropy, Wee David, Kitty Kitty, Inexplicable Fancy Trash, etc etc. On the flip side, you could use random band name generators to come up with blog names, too. Some people compile lists of band names. Of course, some sites take band names seriously. What's your best band/blog name ever?
posted on Dec 30, 2001 - View this thread

The Rocklopedia Fakebandica is an exhaustive compendium of non-existent musical acts from television and film. Need to know the complete lineup of Evar Orbus and His Galactic Jizz-Wailers? It's here (via Grouse!).
posted on Dec 21, 2001 - View this thread

Tool played in Philly last night, and I was lucky enough to go. Always wanted to see them, but for certain reasons, never have till now. Any bands out there you've been wanting to see live, or wanted to see live before a split-up ruined your chances?
posted on Sep 28, 2001 - View this thread

Pages about the band Hot Snakes eventually led me to the site of record label Vagrant. I'm really impressed by the clean design and quality content. What other stand out record label sites are out there?
posted on Sep 10, 2001 - View this thread

"Ten years ago, Kurt Cobain saved us from the horrific pap that was popular music. We sure could use another Kurt Cobain today." Are we really being duped these days? There's still good music in my opinion - maybe it's hard to find, but it's there.
posted on Jan 11, 2001 - View this thread

Look at the silly boys with their cute little grindcore band names. Oooh! I'm threatened! I'm quivering! I'm shocked and saddened, saddened and shocked! So scary.
posted on May 21, 2000 - View this thread