“Tennessee” (Used 8 times)

Daniel Pujol writes energetic garage-punk anthems channeling the classic vibes of his hometown, Nashville TN aka Music City USA... but the venn diagram between the 25-year-old songwriter and the Grand Ole Opry doesn't stretch much further than a shared affinity for Telecaster guitars. Pujol cut his teeth on the other side of town, perhaps equally inspired by music from the other Athens of the South, working at Domino's while "Little Richard drives around in a stretch hummer and hands out books about Jesus" (that's a quote from our radio interview). All the while he's been cramming stream-of-consciousness lyrics like a contemporary philosopher into infectious hooks perfect for raisin' a fist to the air.

After playing in countless local bands (including Meemaw, Wizardz, and Denny & The Jets) Daniel Pujol's eponymous solo project has really taken flight this year -- or hit the road, rather -- with several van-powered tours through the NY/NJ area. I've seen 'em three times this year and they keep getting better. The lineup's shifted around a bit but seems to finally be gelling with Sean Thompson on guitar, Joey Scala on bass, and Adam Tanaka on drums. They were jamming on a kraut/boogie-rock riff during soundcheck, hinting at what the future might hold even beyond this incredible live session recorded which aired on my WFMU radio show:

I hope this session helps Pujol's music reach an audience beyond Nashville, where he's already the toast of the town. Local fans already include Nashville transplant Jack White, whose Third Man venue played host to a live Pujol gig that is now available on 12'' vinyl. Third Man also released a Pujol 7'' produced by the White Stripe himself. Pujol's discography already includes releases on Infinity Cat Recordings, the label run by local dudes Jeff The Brotherhood. And a new 7'' helped launch the Turbo Time imprint, run by Jonas Stein of Turbo Fruits and Be Your Own Pet.

Oh, and if you're wondering what these songs are about, check out the intros!

A few months before reclusive poet/songwriter David Berman decided to end the Silver Jews in the revelation his group was powerless against his father, corporate lobbyist Richard "Dr. Evil" Berman, they stopped by Benjamen Walker's show to deliver a terrific and career spanning set.

Hearing songs like "Sometimes a Pony Gets Depressed" performed right after the Joos' signature tune "Random Rules" offers a cool contrast for the band's range throughout its nearly two decade existence. With a revolving cast of indie-rock luminaries that included Will Oldham, Paz Lenchantin, Jesus Lizard's Duane Denison, Mike Fellows, and most notably Stephen Malkmus, Bob Nastanovich, and Steve West of Pavement, it was hard for some not to write the Silver Jews off as a side project to bigger, more "established" rock acts. But within this particular performance, Berman clearly shows that he was at the helm of the sound of the band, a sound which could be, like Donnie & Marie, a little bit country and a little bit rock'n'roll.

The musical aspect of the group was unfortunately lost to some reviewers who were completely taken aback by Berman's lyrics... abstract, poignant, and definitely compelling. The Silver Jews arguably have two of the best album-opening lines in rock history: The Natural Bridge begins with "No, I don't really wanna die / I only wanna die in your eyes," while American Water begins with the eternal "In 1984, I was hospitalized for approaching perfection." In this session, these two songs ("How To Rent A Room" and "Random Rules," respectively) are performed back-to-back, a classic one-two punch that's hard to forget.

The real gem here is "Horseleg Swastikas" from 2001's underrated Bright Flight, with visions of being "chased by a floating hatchet", acting "like a rabbit freezing on a star", and a desire to be "like water", because simply put, "water doesn't give a damn." This take of "Horseleg Swastikas" is paired with a sense of hope and regret, anger and sorrow, and all those other things that rock bands try to write about but can't because they don't have the tenacity of David Berman. Or maybe because they just aren't David Berman.

>> Silver Jews, Live at WFMU on Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything, September 8th 2008

I noticed -- well how couldn't I? -- the provocative cover of coolrunnings' Babes Forever EP posted on bloachas.org. Naturally, I wondered what kind of music could possibly go along with its X-rated (as-in NSFW) but also as in extreme sports) cover art.

Turns out Knoxville's COOLRUNNINGS has already released 2 free EPs and a series of individual songs [including Nick Lowe and Talking Heads covers] these past few months, all in anticipation of their forthcoming full-length. The Buffalo and Babes Forever EPs are both full of song titles that almost match the ridiculousness of the band's name (a movie whose soundtrack [pictured R] I happen to've listened to a lot when I was 8 years-old).

The music is a surprisingly earnest range of detailed-yet-unpolished drummachine-fueled guitar-pop sounds. "Better Things" reminds me of Okay's Low Road/High Road-style one-word anthems. From there the BF EP seems to get better with every song; the spacious "When I Got High With You" and angular dance-punk of "Trippin Balls At Dur Weinerschnitzel". Then the 7-song EP ends by morphing the '88new-wave X '02 dancepunk beginnings of "Slumberland" into an epic Arcade Firey lo-fi symphonic coda, with a choir repeating "you're going to die" over a warped hushed synth. I'm left very much looking forward to hearing where coolrunnings winds up at the end of the debut LP, and hoping they won't need naked skateboarders to help get their music heard this time around.

I'm reminded a bit of Joe McGasko's post from the other day, looking back at a time (1912) when the shocking directness of this cover would've been impossible to fathom. Coolrunnings the Band is very representative of this musical era; I'm surprised by how relevant Cool Runnings can seem.

Speaking of the blochalas blog, once upon a time they hosted all kindsa user-submitted reviews and illegal rips, but in the aftermath of #musicblogocide2k10 now bloachalas.org only features music that wants to be free 245 comments on the post marking their decision to only offer legal downloads, and Daily Swarm coverage of their switch

Eric W. Brown is RainbowDragonEyes to the chiptune world, drummer for Inferi and Destroy Destroy Destroy to the metal world, and elsewhere he can be found by the handle iheartdoublebass. From this twisted mind comes a new musical entity known as Magic Hammer. The debut album Most Extreme Ultimate Thunder melds rave-worthy happy hardcore with furious death-metal, in an explosive style they call "extreme dance music". The album morphs from rainbow candy-pop into epic metal riffs, often over the course of a single song or a series of fluid seconds, like an energy drink in musical form.

Not exactly what comes to mind when thinking of Nashville, home to the Grand Ole Opery, the Country Music Hall of Fame, karaoke bars and singer-songwriters. The "Athens of the South" is home to a thriving independent music scene, with top-notch garage/psych rock like Jeffrey Novak's Cheap Time, and Jeff the Brotherhood's Infinity Cat label (home to the prolific soft-punk Pujol and retro teens The Looking Glass). Some good stuff's a-brewing, but The Nashville Scene remains completely "befuddled" by Magic Hammer.

"I'm basically the antithesis of the current music scene in Nashville," Eric told me in a recent gchat. He seems to take pride in the fact and solace in the DIY ethos. Magic Hammer is his beast; he's the self-appointed CEO For Life, but he has managed to find an arsenal of likemindeds to bring Most Extreme Ultimate Thunder to life. You can catch Magic Hammer and RainbowDragonEyes live this Friday night, in a live stream from East Nashville 5spot, online at ragenotrave.com. RageNotRave is Eric's "company slash empire," and the free concert/stream is billed as a Nashville 8bit and explosion showcase (more info)

Two tracks from Magic Hammer's debut can be found here on the FMA, and Eric reports that a fresh batch of CDs is at-the-ready (the first were lost to Nashville's recent flooding disaster), available at magichammermusic.com/