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Album Review: Weezer – Raditude (DGC/Interscope)

weezer 12x12cs3.inddAfter listening to Raditude, I am convinced Rivers Cuomo is the cop (the FBI agent, the NSA spy, etc.) so deep undercover he can no longer tell the difference between the person he is and the person he is pretending to be. The line between perception and reality is distorted, and the point at which it was crossed is a distant memory.

Even though Make Believe was an exercise in banality and The Red Album was a weird-for-the-sake-of-being-weird album with horrible results, we still got occasional lyrical assurances that Rivers was the same singer who bared his geeky soul on The Blue Album and Pinkerton. On Raditude the music is more power pop than ever, with lyrics that cater to 15 year olds– the “cool” ones who wouldn’t know a 12-sided die if it hit them in the face.

It is here where we find our horn-rimmed hero and the rest of Weezer, the same guys who banged out geek rock anthems about crushing on unattainable girls and spending hours of solitude in the garage, singing about letting it all hang out “with my homies,” picking up girls on the dance floor and the inability to stop partying at the club.

Read the rest…

News: Virgin Mobile Fest 2009, free.

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MP3: Blink-182 – Boring

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MP3: Wale – Wonder Why feat. Mike Posner, Big Sean, & Kenn Starr

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MP3: The Bravery – Rocket (Smashing Pumpkins Cover)

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MP3: The National – The Geese of Beverly Road [Live]

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MP3: Franz Ferdinand – This Fire

I pretty much gave up news postings on this site early on; the big dogs have the monopoly on that one for everything but the most local of scene happenings.  But this is one huge tidbit of news that needs airing.

The rumors of the demise of Virgin Mobile Fest this year have been exaggerated, apparently a great deal.  Press release just dropped tonight letting everyone know the shindig this year will be FREE OF CHARGE:

Virgin Mobile USA, creator of one of the largest and most critically acclaimed music festivals in the U.S., announced today that it would host the 2009 Virgin Mobile Festival on Sunday, August 30, at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md., free of charge. All tickets will be given away, and previous Virgin Mobile Festival ticket buyers and Virgin Mobile customers will have the first crack at securing the 35,000 tickets.

Some more good feelings:

To respond to the sharp decrease in national social giving, Virgin Mobile FreeFest will also host a special VIP seating area for those who complete 13 hours of community service at designated homeless youth shelters around the country.

When are these miraculous free tickets being handed out, and how you may ask:

Tickets to the 2009 Virgin Mobile FreeFest will be available to the public at http://www.ticketmaster.com at 10 am EST on Saturday, June 27th. Virgin Mobile customers and previous Virgin Mobile Festival ticket buyers will be invited via email to a private “free-sale” (much like a pre-sale, except free) to be held Thursday, June 25th and Friday, June 26th.

Ticketmaster is waiving the convenience charge when fans pick up their FreeFest tickets at Merriweather or the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. Customers also have the option to pay Ticketmaster to deliver their tickets. For more details on the ticketing, including options for donating money to youth homelessness and buying limited edition FreeFest T-shirts, check out virginmobilefreefest.com.

The lineup is not bad at all, especially in light of the new pricing plan.  Performers include Weezer, the newly resurrected Blink-182Franz Ferdinand, Public Enemy, JetThe National, Girl TalkThe Bravery, The Hold Steady, St. Vincent, Wale, and Taking Back Sunday, HOLY F*CK, Pete Tong, Danny Howells and Lee Burridge.

So enjoy some flashback tracks above, and get ready to click for free/benefit causes.