October 2010 Mixtape: DO I HAVE TO WORK AT WALMART?

About two weeks ago I lost the job I've been doing for most of the last eight years. I knew trouble was brewing but I really didn't think I would be considered the responsible party for the events in question. Out of the blue I get a list of complaints with my name highlighted, although upon further inspection it turns out I'm not the main reason for the complaints, and when I am involved it's primarily one person who I didn't get along with and attempted to avoid in the first place. Overall, I'm thinking that if I talk to my boss, someone I've known and respected and considered a friend, that everything is going to be alright, but he doesn't talk to me, he just fires me. Through the grapevine I heard that this was just business and that he wanted to make things right, but when he finally calls he complains that my version of the events doesn't match what he's heard, and all I can say to that is do you want my story or not? He knows what happened, and he decided to remove me to save his company's position, which I fully understand, but he did it in the worst way possible. To make matters worse yet, when we finally met he told me in a rather roundabout way that he thought I was cheating him and he didn't care about me any longer. Almost eight years and this is the way it ends, after a fantastic history with practically no issues whatsoever, and when complaints come up and I'm not even the reason for the complaints I'm fired because my name appeared in close proximity. It makes one feel pretty faithless.

All of this said, I'm not out of faith and totally believe in myself, but I can't say that I'm fully over feeling upset. My girlfriend initially thought I must have royally screwed up and couldn't accept it, but after learning the facts she's fully on my side, although she really always was, as are the rest of my family and friends, so I've still got my support system. What's crazy is looking for a new job. I've filled out applications online but I'm surprised to see most businesses don't even accept paper copies any longer. It's taking a rough and soulless part of the process and making it worse. I've got management experience, great customer service abilities, I'm very good with technology and have worked in fields where I've handled merchandise and money safely and regularly without shrinkage, but trying to fill all of this into a cookie cutter digital application feels impossible. Data will get in, but will it be interpreted correctly? Will the minutiae of my experience be read for as dynamic as it really is? Will my unique and useful traits be visible to those who should see them? DO I HAVE A CHANCE?

So, last night, after much prodding from my girlfriend as well as some friends and family and filling out applications all over the place, I went online and applied to Walmart, assuming there is a good chance I could find employment there. I've been largely skeptical about applying to Walmart despite knowing they have a high hire rate, mostly because I doubt I'll be working in a position that I feel I'd be suited to (raging ego trip right there!) and everyone knows how "interesting" the Walmart clientele can be. Don't get me wrong, most average people shopping at Walmart are perfectly fine, but I'm sure you've all seen a few subhumans lurking the isles from time to time. If you stuck me in the entertainment and electronics section I'd shine but how likely would it be that I would be so lucky? In an organization that big I'm sure I'd end up stocking the freezers. I'd even be happy standing at the customer service desk and answering questions, no matter what they are, as I've basically been doing that in one way or another for years, but sincerely, what are my chances?

So far, the only nibbles I've gotten was an e-mail from AFLAC, offering what sounded like an office position, only to find out they wanted me to get my insurance license and sell their product on the road, and Family Video, with whom I had a great interview about a possible managerial position but there were no openings locally at the time, and having just moved I can't pack up and go to Alabama. I've had friends ask me why I can't write for a living and my answer is I honestly don't know how to get started in that field or whom I should talk to. My girlfriend said "if only I got paid for my website", to which I could only respond "if only". So the quest continues. Don't worry, just in case you might be, I'm sure I'll find a new position shortly and everything will be just fine, and more so, I don't want to sound hopeless, it's just hard to put an amazing spin on such a murky situation.

Anyway, for my own entertainment, I made this months mixtape a soundtrack to my dilemma. I hope you find it entertaining as there is some really good stuff on it, much of which really gets me moving. Thanks for letting me bitch and moan a little. Enjoy!


The Unheard Music - October 2010 Mixtape: DO I HAVE TO WORK AT WALMART?

01 David Bowie - Beauty and The Beast
The sound of a drunken Bowie getting it together. I always think of it as the theme to someone getting back on their feet.

02 The Bird and The Bee - Heard It On The Radio
Missing my job, for which all jobs are relationships. Also realizing it might not have been as good as I always thought is was.

03 Television - Little Johnny Jewel
Verlaine's guitar is so out there. This makes me think of punk rock as jazz. Abstract tunes always seem to lock my mind into place so I can get heavy thinking done.

04 No Age - Glitter (Long Version)
A few weeks ago I was driving around to this summer jam feeling like it would keep summer from ever ending. It kinda works. The extended feedback loops at the end are just dreamy.

05 Junior Senior - Shake Your Coconuts (DFA Remix)
This feels like it's mining the same area as No Age's Glitter. The cheesy nature of the original version is ditched for what is basically LCD Soundsystem making a bunch of noise and having a funky party in a loft somewhere in New York. Love the guitar feedback. It's like James Murphy, who I'm assuming is playing guitar here, doesn't even care about playing notes, just making some wild textures.

06 Astrud Gilberto - Once I Loved
Again, loss of job, loss of security, feeling of betrayal. Beautiful song from the beautiful Ms. Gilberto.

07 Lowell George - 20 Million Things
Sometimes it feels like I can do anything anyone needs, but other times I feel like I can't get anywhere myself. I guess that's what this song is kind of about, but it's what I get out of it.

08 Devo - S.I.B. (Swelling Itching Brain)
Who hasn't been here? Terror, paranoia, gloom and misery? This song sums up all those feelings perfectly. I don't feel this way often, but when I have this is the soundtrack.

09 Fripp & Eno - Later On
This is Eno's remix of Swastika Girls from he and Fripp's No Pussyfooting. It was only released as the b-side to Eno's Seven Deadly Finns single. The day I got fired I must have played No Pussyfooting three or four times. It totally kept me grounded and calm. Love that album and love this track.

10 Los Saicos - Demolición
Rom turned me on to these guys recently. Actually, he called while I was at my first interview with Family Video and my interviewer had to attend to some things so she told me I could return my call if I wanted to. He compared them to Iggy and The Stooges, which I don't really agree with, but they've got the punk attitude and garage rock rawness down perfect. These guys are from Peru and are something of a best kept secret. I might do a post about them in the near future but I believe their discography is now available legally here in the US so I won't be posting it for download if that's the case. Otherwise, this is fueling my engine.

11 Me'Shell Ndegéocello - If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)
Trust me, I CANNOT relate to this song, but I love the F@#K YOU attitude of it! When you get knocked down sometimes you need to do more than just get back up. You need to put a little swagger back in your step. This is overflowing with swagger and it's funky as hell, so it's been on my mind. And anyway, Me'Shell is seriously badass!

12 Jeff Simmons - I'm In The Music Business
While I've never done a porn shoot and am certain I never will, I understand the misery Mr. Simmons is conveying. That said, it's not like a song like this could really help the financial prospects of an ex-Mother Of Invention. Not saying it isn't a good song as it is, and I love the humor of it and everything from it's parent album, Lucille Has Messed Up My Mind, but one listen and you'll understand that there couldn't have been, or at least shouldn't have been, any illusions of a blockbuster hit record.

13 Adrian Belew - Naive Guitar
A beautiful, mournful melody. For the bummier moments, although I loved this piece before my current predicament was even a possibility.

14 Dizzy Gillespie - Manteca
How can you not get up and dance to this? How can you not be filled with exuberant joy when this comes on? Dizzy was/is the man! Afro Cuban jazz forever!

15 Brian Eno - King's Lead Hat
Just in case you didn't know, King's Lead Hat is an anagram for Talking Heads, the band Eno had just decided to produce when he wrote this song. Not really about anything, it's simply filled with frantic energy and makes me wanna move. Not dance, not party, but make things happen. LIKE GETTING A JOB.

16 Deftones - Rocket Skates (M83 Remix)
Rocket Skates? Really? Well, it's still a good Deftones song and a fine remix from M83. For some reason this was making me think of the Inception soundtrack last night.

17 Nine Inch Nails - Theme For Tetsuo The Bullet Man
Bold, heavy, noisy, all together maddening. This makes me wanna rip my skin off and use it like a weapon. Sounds like a sick video game, or a really sick Robbie Williams video.

18 Liz Phair - In Love With Yourself
One of Liz's Girly-Sound demos, this is an honest reminder not to kiss your own ass. Generally I'm very serious about not believing my own hype, but sometimes you've gotta remind yourself not to let your head get too big.


PS - The Prince post, which has been happening on Mondays for a while, will either be tomorrow or Wednesday. I've got a ton of really cool stuff ready to be shared that might get in the way of his purpleness, but don't worry, I won't forget.

PS2 - Hopefully no one working at Walmart will take offense to this post. Not trying to knock you guys. And to anyone that wants to complain that I shouldn't be working at Walmart, a job is a job guys. Would you rather not be able to pay your bills? Anyway, they have to hire me first, but I'd work there. That is unless someone wants to pay me 30k a year to write for their publication. I'd always take more than 30k but that would certainly pay my bills. So, who wants to hire me to write stuff for them? PLEASE?

PS3 - That part where I mentioned how if only I got paid for running this site, don't worry, I'm not going to start putting ads or anything up here. I don't believe in doing that and while I'd love to get paid for doing something I love, I don't run this place to get paid, I run it to share information, be it music, musical, historical, visual or what not. Though again, someone wanna pay me to do this thing I love?

kind, Tape-Toons, Will Sessions and other awesome stuff!

Before I get back to the MBV posts (of which there are two more) I wanted to share some info about some things coming up and some recent releases.



kind are going to be performing live on October 23rd at Akron's Musica with Full Wave Rectifier so make sure you go! It's gonna be Full Wave Rectifer's last show and I'm so bummed! I just found out about them and then they've gotta break up? WAHHHHH!!! Still though, they rock and I'm sure everyone will continue to rock in their own fashion. kind ain't going anywhere though, they're still working on new songs and getting them recorded. Hopefully there will be some new music soon from them! But in the meantime, get yourself to Musica so you can give a warm finale to Full Wave Rectifier and let them and kind rock your worlds!


I'm going to be posting a full review for a band that's local to me named Tape-Toons in the near future. They're from the Kent, Ohio area and just pressed up CDs of their debut album, Gravel Love, and it's really, REALLY good! Because I'm going to be doing a full review of their CD and talking with them for a post I'm not gonna say much here, but you can check out their song, Mice In The Walls, via the link below. They'll have a video for it online soon which is being done by my buddy, Bobby Makar, who did the logo for us here at The Unheard Music. In regards to their sound, it's bluesy but noisy and a little out there. Very cool guys and very cool music! You can check out their MySpace and Facebook pages for more details..

Tape-Toons - Mice In The Walls



I just got to hear the new Will Sessions EP, Kindred, the other day and it's damn smooth. Will Sessions is the brainchild of Sam Beaubien who plays trumpet and keyboards and does arrangements. The new EP is a tribute to the pioneers of jazz fusion (actually the EP's proper title is Kindred: A Tribute To The Pioneers Of Jazz Fusion) and it does it's job really well. The pieces on the EP are full compositions so don't expect Will Sessions to get wild like mid-seventies Miles Davis but the record is so full of soul and the performances lively. Sam's trumpet really reminds me of Miles' seventies space funk and if that gets your interest you'll love the record. It's coming out on The Few Records and being distributed by Community Projects, a subsidiary of Carl Craig's Planet E Records. I've got a track below for you to check out from the record and it's hot! Make sure you get the EP when it drops and I'll have more info as to where you can get it ASAP.

Will Sessions - Polyester People



There have been a lot of really high profile releases this week and I wanted to remind folks of a few of them.



Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' score for The Social Network is out digitally as of yesterday and you can pre-order physical copies right now via Trent's Null Corporation label. As of right now you can get the album as high quality MP3s for $2.99 from Amazon but you can get lossless formats as of tomorrow from the Null Corp. site. On top of that, if you order the physical release you'll get an immediate download of the album in lossless, MP3 or a variety of formats. The soundtrack is excellent and it makes me think Trent should have done the new Tron movie instead of Daft Punk. He and Atticus clearly have a Wendy Carlos influence in their sound. Going to see the movie on Friday too. Hope it's great!



Schematic's StiLL iLL is now available via Amazon digital and iTunes! GET IT NOW!


If you pre-ordered the new Sufjan Stevens before, I believe last Friday, you should have received a free download in lossless, MP3 or just about any other format you could want of the full album, The Age Of Adz, and man is it incredible! Electronics play a more significant role throughout the album and might be a little surprising for those not expecting that sound, but the songs are as wonderful as ever and everyone should be pleased. The album will receive a normal physical and digital release on October 12th. You can still pre-order it but you'll have to wait until then for your download. If you can't wait though, you can stream the whole album over at NPR.



Neil Young's Le Noise is out and it's awesome! Get it on iTunes, Amazon digital, or at your favorite shop where you buy CDs. This is definitely his best album in years!



And just in case you missed it, No Age's Everything In Between came out last Tuesday. It's awesome and you can get it digitally or physically via your favorite shops. The vinyl version comes with a huge booklet of photos, lyrics and other imagery. It's a really beautiful release and totally worth it if you wanna spend a few extra dollars.



And on a few other notes...



Got my copy of The State's Comedy For Gracious Living yesterday, and it has the most absurd CD packaging I've ever seen. The liner notes fold out so you can compare your height with that of the individual members of The State. Totally insane! I don't know how many copies are left, but I heard that about two thousand were made available so you should head on over to Rhino Handmade quick if you want to purchase one. It's totally worth it!



Soctt Pilgrim vs. The World gets a DVD/Blu-Ray release on November 7th! I hate to say it but I may end up buying a Blu-Ray player for all the incredible bonus features. It's gonna be so SWEET!!!!!



On a side note, Cee-Lo Green's new album, The Lady Killer, got moved up for release also on November 7th! That album is gonna be sweet!




I'll be back tomorrow with my second My Bloody Valentine post, and yes, I will include We Have All The Time In The World in that or the third post. Also, I'm planning my Christmas/holiday/whateveryouwannacallit gift and was wondering if anyone out there might want to assist me. The big thing at this point is I'd like some help with the art. If you are an artist and might like to help me with a reinterpretation of something, please drop me a line and we can chat about it. I'll be asking for some more assistance as we get closer to December, but it's mostly going to be so I can have some help distributing it.

Take care everyone and see you all tomorrow!




PS - This was the most difficult post I've done in forever. Way too difficult to get all these images to work right! Hell, The State pic is frickin' sideways! WTF?

No Age - Glitter

Summer is winding down even though the weather is still pretty nice. All in all, there has been a lot of cool stuff so far this year and I'm finally getting back into the groove after keeping things a little slower than usual this August. With that said, I'll get back to a more regular habit of posting in September. August isn't done yet though, and I will do that small Fripp post Monday or Tuesday. Today though...

I went out to my boss's house to help with a tech thing only to return home two or three hours later and find that a DVD screener of a movie I wanted to see leaked in that time and another one the night before (of course my two favorite movies from this summer haven't leaked yet though. Why can't I get DVD screeners of Scott Pilgrim and Inception? C'mon! I promise not to share them! SERIOUSLY!!!), but the new No Age album, Everything In Between, also leaked! There are a few albums on my want list that I am eagerly awaiting but the No Age album has been at the top of that list since it was announced a few months ago. Now, if you've been reading my site for a while I'm sure you know that I don't share albums that have an impending release and I don't want to see money taken from folks who put their hearts into what they do, so while I downloaded the album I'm not gonna share it and I'm going to pick it up upon it's release. If you download it and like it I hope you do the same, but even though No Age are becoming quite the popular band in some circles, I realize that not everyone is familiar with them so I wanted to share a little info about them and give you an idea what they sound like.

No Age are the duo of Randy Randall and Dean Allen Spunt. They were initially part of the hardcore punk group Wives, but after that group dissolved they decided to continue on as a duo with in different direction. It's probably easiest to describe No Age's sound as dreamy, shoegazer punk with a joyous edge to it. They use noisy guitar loops for texture and trade off on instruments regularly making for a great live show. Lyrically they're more stream of consciousness than anything really deep, but those lyrics and vocals are like another instrument, further adding to the texture of the band's sound. I'm being lazy saying this, but the first thing I think of is a punk version of My Bloody Valentine's Loveless. I feel like a hack saying that, but that doesn't make the description inaccurate.

For me, if I was 18 or 19, going to college and djing at a college radio station, I would be playing this all the time. No Age is not an overtly commercial band, no matter how catchy some of their songs may be, and I don't ever expect to hear them on popular radio, but that's popular radio's loss. Their new record and it's first single, Glitter, sound a little more polished, but that doesn't hurt anything and they don't sound like anyone else out right now.

I'm not going to continue rattling on endlessly about how great I think No Age are, rather I'm going to give you some evidence so you can make up your own mind. Below you'll find a stream from Sub Pop's SoundCloud page for Glitter, and here are links for Amazon and iTunes where you can purchase that single and hear samples of it's b-sides. On top of that, if you get yourself over to No Age's page at RCRD LBL you can download Glitter and three other songs there for free! How about them apples?

If you're feeling No Age, their new album, Everything In Between, will be released on September 28th, but you can also get the excellent Nouns and Weirdo Rippers now at your favorite indie record shop or digitally online. The CD issue of Nouns is particularly nice with a booklet filled with photos and artwork of the band on tour, doing art things and such. If you like these guys, please support them by buying their album, going to one of their shows or grabbing a t-shirt. They're a true indie duo and I know they'd love your support. Hope you enjoy!

No Age - Glitter by subpop


By the way, you can visit No Age's official website here.

more text about the death of video stores, porn rentals and No Age

Back in January I wrote about my joy in seeing Blockbuster Video's once-stranglehold on the video rental market finally eroding so significantly that their corporate structure was in jeopardy. Since then, I still find Blockbusters in one area or another, but they are mostly gone throughout my home state. Unfortunately, the failure of Blockbuster has led to another popular video chain losing it's foothold in the market, and this one is a shame because it was different.

The chain in question would be Movie Gallery as well as it's sister chain, Hollywood Video. The two chains weren't always related, but Hollywood Video found themselves purchased by Movie Gallery's parent company a few years ago and a great majority of their stores shut down. No great loss in regards to Hollywood Video, a chain of stores practically identical to Blockbuster with their large archive of popular movies and video games, but Movie Gallery is a different story. Their selection was never amazing, focusing primarily on newer video and game releases, but they did have one thing most major video rental chains would never dare to carry: PORN!

Unlike Blockbuster and Hollywood Video, most Movie Gallery's had a back room with porn videos for rental and purchase as well as current adult magazines. This never seemed to hurt their reputation, especially as in recent years I saw them expanding throughout my home state.

Now, it's not as though I view a lot of adult material, although I'm sure you're doubting that statement as you read this, but I do believe it's important that consenting individuals should be able to access the content they want to without the prudes of the nation deciding what they should be looking at. I suppose the availability of online pornography and mail-order rental ala Netflix (whom don't rent porn to the best of my knowledge, although several of their contemporaries do) make the accessibility of adult content at regular video rental shops far less necessary than it previously was, but it's still a shame as many consumers don't like to wait for their content, especially something as personal as adult content. On top of that, I'm sure those who frequent adult websites will agree that watching someone "schtuping" someone else on your computer screen isn't the preferred method of observing such details. Yes, one can convert those videos they've downloaded into a DVD or such format, but there goes the immediate element again.

With all of this said, I bid a sad farewell to Movie Gallery for the foreseeable future, although it wasn't the only show in town. Family Video is still around, a chain whose name I always thought was funny since it also rents adult videos, but hey, adults are part of the family too, right? And not all the Mom and Pop shops have shut down, although I'm certain they will never make a comeback to their status in the eighties.

As for those expecting music in today's post, this is something I saw on Pitchfork yesterday that I thought was worth posting here. If you're not familiar with No Age, they're a kind-of noise punk duo that use samples occasionally in their performances. I really like them and their records, and if you're not familiar with them I suggest you check out their excellent album Nouns which is available on Amazon, iTunes and in many retail stores as they are on Sub Pop Records which is part owned by Warner Brothers.

That said, No Age recently contributed the score to a short independent film, Aanteni, and now they've made a live recording of their performance available to download for free from their website. That recording is nice but it isn't the clearest way to hear the score, so keeping with the theme of so-called adult content, the film, which is often labeled NSFW (not suitable for work, just in case you're not familiar with the acronym), although this is due to some female nudity which, if I remember correctly, isn't terribly clear to begin with, is available for online viewing. There was nothing sexual I remember about the film so if you're not into that sort of thing but would like to check it out I'm certain your sensibilities won't be offended. Links to the specific sites are below. Enjoy!

No Age's website, with the score for download

Aanteni, at NOWNESS, for your viewing pleasure


If I may say, you should really check Aanteni out, especially if you like abstract film-making or have a soft spot for Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.