http://whattheballs.com Science, engineering, music, sports. Okay, maybe not sports. Tue, 01 Jun 2010 20:58:10 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en UPDATE: I just discovered that double-middle-clicking a pinned tab (i.e. closing a "deactivated" pinned tab) will close it in the familiar manner. I hereby retract some percentage of Contention 2 and some amount of frustration expressed in Contention 5. I've decided that I care a lot about the "pin tabs" ... http://whattheballs.com/?p=325 The prevalence and popularity of reggae music is always something that has boggled my mind. I simply don't see the appeal of Bob Marley or Sublime, and when I stopped by Slightly Stoopid's ACL set in 2008, I felt even further vindicated in my disdain. State Radio don't buck the ... http://whattheballs.com/?p=321 Shame on me, I guess, for having no clue who The Soul Stirrers are. Evidently, they've been going strong (with varying lineups, of course) since 1926. Sam Cooke even headed them up for awhile and, although I really don't know much of anything about soul music, I've heard ... http://whattheballs.com/?p=319 Crack open a brew, sit back in your lawn chair, and cool off to the folk-rock groove of Alberta Cross. Meanwhile, I'll be checking out The Virgins, blissfully unaware of the middle-aged Texan-fest going on at the Barton Springs stage (oh, by the way, the schedule has been released!). ... http://whattheballs.com/?p=317 I've never really liked punk rock all that much (well, save for Me First and the Gimme Gimmes) and I have a hard time classifying The Henry Clay People as much else. At this point, I've listened through For Cheap or for Free and didn't care; then I listened ... http://whattheballs.com/?p=315 To set the record straight, I don't particularly like the Raconteurs. Broken Boy Soldiers is boring and, even though Consolers of the Lonely is much better, I just expected more as a big Brendan Benson/White Stripes fan. I was even surprised at how unenthralled I was at the ... http://whattheballs.com/?p=280 Emotionalism isn't the latest album by the Avett Brothers (see: I and Love and You) but since the "latest" one isn't out yet -- and nobody seems to have a preview copy -- the tracks I've actually heard include "Die Die Die", "Paranoia in B Major", "Will You Return". ... http://whattheballs.com/?p=276 Pretty standard country fare. Don Imus likes Jypsi and he'd know better than I would. Their tunes are catchy and they use a fiddle and they're all siblings -- like pretty much every other country act you've ever heard of. Not that I tried incredibly hard but I couldn't ... http://whattheballs.com/?p=274 I don't think I've ever really heard Kings of Leon (although: forthcoming!) but my prejudice has decided that Deer Tick sound just like them. Uh, for whatever that's worth. Take some old-timey rock-and-roll, add a country twang, pulse for thirty seconds, and you've got Born on Flag Day. And, ... http://whattheballs.com/?p=272 This kid (17 years old) has pretty much nailed the Johnny Cash sound. It only takes a couple of songs to realize that Vince Mira has real talent. There's a catch, though: it's so unbelievably clear that he's trying to emulate Cash that you really just want to ... http://whattheballs.com/?p=270