Potpourri: Holy Sh!t!

The last couple weeks have been loaded with exciting music news, and I thought I'd gather a bunch of it into one place for all you lovely people. I know, I truly am benevolent and wonderful. So, in roughly chronological order:

Coachella 2011: Yeah, great, but where the hell is Kyuss??

It's that time of year again.  Hipsters all across Southern California start getting antsy with antici..........pation, wondering just who will be playing at their favorite desert hangout, at least when they're not focused on getting as pampered and drugged up as possible.  Ok, perhaps that's a bit cynical; they also care about getting into the parties.  But what does the Coachella 2011 lineup mean for all the people who go exclusively for the music?  Very good things, in this humble blogger's opinion.

Give Me Back My Keys!

I've just spent the last couple days grousing and griping about bands I used to love changing for the worse, usually for apparently commercial reasons.  Of course, sometimes it's not about that at all; sometimes bands just evolve from something we care deeply about into something we don't, and vice versa.  As it turns out, there were two releases this year that fit this description pretty well, one vice and one versa.

The Kings of Leon Problem

Kings of Leon, why won't you just let me go?  In the past two years you've done everything you possibly can to alienate me, a former huge fan who wants so desperately to believe that you can be better than your current musical aspirations.  Still I cling to the memories of what you once were, despite your repeated demonstrations of mediocrity.  Well, this time we're really finished, and I'm going to share with everyone else how I managed to finally break away from your emotional abuse.

More Than Alright

On Monday, the music world suffered a loss that will be overlooked by far too many: Supergrass broke up.  I know they weren't especially well known over here, only coming out to tour every few years or so, but I've loved them for a long time, even going so far as to include their most recent (sigh, final) album on my best of the decade list.  Perhaps ignored because of their penchant for silliness, the band went from a mashup of influences such as the Kinks and Buzzcocks to a legitimate rock force with which to be reckoned.  When they released their debut, I Should Coco, in 1995, a friend of mine had heard about them from his older sister, and we would listen to "Caught by the Fuzz" and "I Don't Know" constantly.  I still remember staying up until midnight on Saturdays to catch MTV's 120 Minutes video show--since it was the only place to see cool stuff that was still under the radar--hoping to catch the video for "Caught by the Fuzz."  Wow, imagine MTV still being a source of interesting music!

Vertigo Your Own Way; or How I Learned to Stop Spinning and Love the Blog

Why, hello there.  As you could probably tell from the post below this, it's been over two months since I wrote anything on here, and for all of you who care, I apologize.  It's been nice to actually receive some complaints about my lack of output, but I assure you, I've had a good reason.  A full explanation for my absence and our first ever guest appearance coming after the jump.

Alive in the Superunknown

I had to take a break from all my listing to point out this exciting story I just read: Soundgarden is (probably) getting back together!  Apparently, all that I had to do to make this happen was briefly lament their demise in my Metallica review.  This is the most exciting reunion I could think of, personally, since Soundgarden was one of my first, favorite bands.  When my parents bought me my first CD player back in middle school, Superunknown was the first album I went out and bought personally, and I still listen to it fairly often.  And no kid of about my age could get through MTV or radio without seeing the amazingly creepy "Black Hole Sun" video, or hearing "Spoonman," "My Wave" or "Fell On Black Days" on KROQ (you know, back when KROQ was still good).  Lead singer Chris Cornell recently showed up at a Pearl Jam show, sounding as good as ever, and drummer Matt Cameron is still playing great, these days with Pearl Jam.  I can only assume that Kim Thayil (lead guitar) and Ben Shepherd (bass) still know what they're doing.  If this rumor pans out, I really hope they pop up at Coachella; it would be roughly infinity times more exciting than when the Pixies did it.

Been Around The Blok

As my radio silence unfortunately continues (hey, moving is time consuming), I wanted to point out that my review of Free Lions and Blok from a month ago ended up on Blok's MySpace blog. I'm excited that they would do that, especially since it wasn't a completely glowing review (though ultimately kind, as they say in the post). Thanks, Blok! And for the record, I've seen them again since that show and have come around even more. Just a really fun live act, and I suggest you see them when they play Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa on September 29th.

Also, Sons of Anarchy has its Season 2 premiere tonight, and I'm just counting down the hours until 10 PM. The show is about an outlaw biker gang in the fictional town of Redwood, CA, led by Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman) and his stepson, Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam). The first season had a vaguely Hamlet structure, with Jax as Hamlet and Clay as Claudius, but it evolved into a very gripping crime drama about the motorcycle club as a whole. Not quite up to Mad Men levels, but it's one of the best on TV right now. I may write about it from time to time, but who knows. In any case, do yourself a favor and watch.

I Love What You've Done With the Place

I wanted to quote the hilarious scene in that one Chris Farley movie--Which one you ask? You know, the one where he's fat, stupid and slovenly but goodhearted, and fails at generally everything while shouting too much. Wait, that's not specific enough, you say?--where David Spade comes back to their shared motel room and knocks on the door, saying, "Housekeeping, you want me come in, jerk you off?" But this is a respectable, family-oriented blog, and I just won't have that kind of tripe trashing up the joint.

Anyway, the point is that I'm slowly figuring out how to make this thing more user-friendly, and I've added a few items on the side that should make it easier to navigate and just generally more professional-looking. The first is a list of topics that you can click on, rather than just scroll down or go to the archive. Obviously that'll become more useful as I post more content, but it's there if you want it. The second one is a list of sites and blogs that I check most days that are relevant to the things I write about on here, or just recommended reading. And third is a list of friends' websites/blogs, so check those out. Anyone who has a website or blog they'd like me to include on there, let me know.

Thanks to everyone who's been reading and/or commenting, I really appreciate it. Stick around, hopefully it'll get better.

Step Right Up to the Soapbox

I know what you're thinking. Really, I do. "Oh, fabulous, it's another (insert pejorative here) with a blog." And you couldn't be more right, but ask yourself this: who's the bigger asshole, author or reader?

OK, now that I've attempted to insult any readers right off the bat, let's get to the point. Welcome to I Think It Has Something To Do With Oatmeal! From here on out I plan to fill this space with all that is inconsequential. Well, I suppose there will be the occasional political rant or human interest piece, but for the most part I'm here to opine about music, movies, television, sports, food and just about anything else pop culture-related. I find if you write about "important" things people get way too upset and hostile. With that said, I encourage hostility, especially since anyone slinging insults about bands and plot twists is probably crazy enough to be interesting.

I think that's enough for now, but I hope to be putting things up soon. Just know that this is absolutely for me and my desire for attention, but I'd love if you came along.