Do I know what a hot machete is? Nope. Do I love this song? Yep. Will it make you want to dance? If you have at least one rhythmic bone in your body, then yes.
For those of you who think dancing is immoral, you might want to close your eyes and just listen to the music. Oh, just kidding, they also sing about dancing. I guess you’ll have to close your ears too! 
For the first week that I had Jonezetta’s debut album Popularity, I could not stop listening to it. Honestly, I listened to this album to the exclusion of all other music. It’s hard to pinpoint one thing that makes this album so addicting. Popularity combines 11 brilliant indie rock songs that leave you with an overwhelming urge to dance. The underlying factors that drive this album along are the catchy beats of the drums and the rhythmic bass lines, which have the aesthetic appeal of a well-written melody line. The beautiful thing is that this album manages to really showcase these instruments without making them overwhelming to the listener. Kyle Howe’s guitar lines expertly complement lead singer Robert Chisolm’s vocals to create some of the catchiest hooks in any album I’ve heard this year. Beside all of this excellent musicianship, an undertone of electric vibes runs throughout the album, making it all the more fun. I have to admit that the vocals get slightly screamy at times, but this seems appropriate in songs like “Man in a 3K Suit” and “Backstabber”, which have pretty angry themes. Mellower songs like “The City We Live In” really showcase the fact that Chisolm has a great voice with a very unique tone.
Now, I’ve read reviews of Popularity that say its lyrics lack depth. All I can say is that a statement like that shows sheer mindlessness on the part of the reviewer. Jonezetta manages to avoid cliche phrases about the meaning of life in order to delve into more honest, intelligent lyrics that really explore various facets of what it means to be human, including painful and joyful relationships, arrogance, loneliness, and, that’s right… popularity. Some songs, like “Get Ready (Hot Machete)” are just fun, but who ever said you weren’t allowed to have fun sometimes? I really appreciate the honesty and the depth of Popularity’s lyrics; they show a maturity that is not often apparent in fairly young rock bands. Overall, I highly recommend that you check Jonezetta out. You can listen to a few of their songs on purevolume or MySpace, or you can buy the album on iTunes. This album is full of great songs, but here are a few highlight tracks: “Welcome Home”, “Get Ready (Hot Machete)”, “Popularity”, “Imagination”. Enjoy!
So I’ve been trying to use WordPress to set up my new website for my podcast, but I am so confused. All I want to do is be able to edit my template. Is that really so much to ask? No, but no matter what I do, they continue to tell me that my template is “uneditable”. Surely there is someone out there who knows how to manipulate WordPress. If that is you, please help me before I rip all my hair out! Leave me a comment or email me at jillmdblog@gmail.com. Thankyou in advance (I already thanked you, so I guess you have to help me now!). Bye.
Frustratedly yours,
Jill
Note: This audio file is no longer available, because rabid donkeys ate it. Sorry.
Tune in for a short show this week as we talk about podcasting and hear music from Telecast and Derek Webb. Enjoy!
Links to things discussed in the show:
Listen to Telecast on purevolume
Buy Telecast’s EP The Documenter
My upcoming podcast: Ears to Hear
Download Mockingbird at FreeDerekWebb.com!
Derek Webb’s Podcast
Contact Me:
Email: jillmdblog@gmail.com
Call: 203-437-4531
MySpace: myspace.com/jillmdblog
Hey folks. Welcome to the word of the week! Please remember to use this week’s word as much as is humanly possible in your everyday conversations. Without further ado, here’s our word:
-depredicate (dē-prĕd’ĭ-kāt) v.t. –> to publish, proclaim, announce
Ex: The woman loudly depredicated her decision to quit her job due to her dislike of leaving the house in the frigid weather.
And now, for this week’s random fact/quote, which is in honor of our turkey-eating tradition:
Two years after the bald eagle became the official bird of the United States, Benjamin Franklin wrote this to his daughter: “I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen as the Representative of our Country; he is a Bird of bad moral Character; like those among Men who live by Sharping and Robbing, he is generally poor, and often very lousy. The Turkey is a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America. He is (though a little vain and silly, it is true, but not the worst emblem for that) a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his farmyard with a red coat on.”
Alrighty folks, I hope you have an amazing week. Please be sure to participate in our music contest, where you can win a $10 gift certificate or a CD! It’s insanely fun, I’m not even kidding. OK, I will write to you all in the very near future. Au revoir!
Your favorite physician,
Dr. J
Here is the band OK Go dancing to their song “Here it Goes Again” on treadmills. Crazy. Full of talent. Very entertaining. Thanks to Laura for letting me know about this video. Enjoy!
Hello everyone! Here’s the deal: I review a lot of music on my blog, and I am passionate about this music. I want you all to listen to it, so I have devised this music contest as a ploy to get you to do just that.
Here’s how it works: I am posting a couple lines of lyrics below from 6 different songs by 6 different artists. All you need to do is tell me the name of the song and the artist that these lyrics come from. All the songs are available to listen to (full-length) for free on websites that I have linked to on my blog. The posts with these links are available here, here, here, here, here, or here (these posts can all be found in the “music reviews” category of my blog). So this is really easy. You don’t have to do any searching for music or anything. The only thing that will take a little time is that you’ll have to listen to quite a few songs to find the right ones. If you don’t want to or don’t have time to find all 6, feel free to only do a couple. If nobody gets all 6 by Christmas, the person with the most right will win the prize!
Here’s what you can win: So I’m sure you’re thinking, “Why on earth would I do this?” Well, if you are the first person to send me the names and artists of all six songs, you will win either a $10 gift certificate to the online retailer of your choice (eg. Amazon.com, iTunes, Barnes and Noble) or one of the CDs that the songs in the contest come from. I’ll even throw in a little bonus: if you win, you can do a post on my blog on whatever topic you want (text, audio, video… anything!) Super-exciting, I know. Alright, here are the lyrics:
You may not like every single song that you listen to, but there’s a good chance that you’ll find something you like if you listen to all the music. When you get your answers, whether it’s all 6 or just 2 or 3, email them to me at jillmdblog@gmail.com. And tell anyone who might be interested about the contest… this could be fun! Feel free to post a comment or email me if you have any questions. If you get really stuck on some song, let me know, and maybe I’ll give you a hint. Alright, go to it and have fun!
Your prize-giving, blogging friend,
Jill
Note: This audio file is no longer available, because MySpace is the spawn of Satan. Seriously.
Tune in this week as we talk about the evil and the good of MySpace, discuss a contest on my blog where you can win money, and hear music from The Classic Crime and Brent Cashell.
See my Gabcast page (where you can download the episode)
Subscribe on iTunes using Gcast!
Links to things discussed in the show:
The Classic Crime
Listen to The Classic Crime on purevolume
Download “The Coldest Heart” from Tooth & Nail Records
My MySpace Page
Brent Cashell on MySpace
Contact Me:
-Leave a comment here!
-Email me: jillmdblog@gmail.com
-Call my voicemail: 203-437-4531
-Be my friend on MySpace: myspace.com/jillmdblog
Hello everybody, and welcome to the word of the week! This week’s word has three definitions that are all slightly unrelated. In other words, we have a very versatile word this week, so you should be able to use it often in everyday conversation. Here it is:
-cellidh (kā’lē) noun –>
1. a visit
2. a private conversation
3. an evening’s musical entertainment
Ex: Our cellidh was interrupted by a cellidh from a musician who was part of the cellidh. (Got all that?)
And now, for a random fact:
The lowly glowworm has been called the most efficient producer of light known to man. It gives the coldest light of any in the world - only about one percent of its energy is lost as heat.
Alrighty, folks. There won’t be a lot of posts on my blog this week, but the ones we will have are worth checking out. Come back tomorrow to hear a psuedo-podcast with some fantastic music, on Wednesday to learn about our music contest where you can win a $10 gift certificate or a CD, and on Saturday to see an extremely funny video. Alrighty, folks, have a great week!
Fondest regards,
Dr. J
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Conversations heard in my house today:
Liz (aka Mommy): Keith, where are we going tomorrow?
Keith (age 2): KMart!
L: [laughs] No, not KMart. Where are we going?
K: Gramma’s house!
L: No. Where are we going with all the people? Where everyone sings?
K: Jesus’ house!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Luke (age 6.5 months): Gaa! [followed by incomprehensible dinosaur noises]
