Caverns

My love affair with Caverns began a few years ago when my Dale took me to see them play at some nondescript meat-head bar in DC. I feel bad saying it but i had pretty low expectations for the show. I mean, Dale was pretty stingy with the praises and the clientele at the bar were certainly not my crowd. I just remember hearing all kinds of conservative rhetoric bandied about while Dale was reiterating that they had just started playing and were getting better.
But goddamn did these dudes rock! When the lights went down, you forgot about the douchey DC guys all over the place and just heard well-trained musicians going off uncontrollably. To this day, I've never heard a band play with this instrumentation: solid rhythm section coupled with heavy metal guitar and of all things, a super clean jazz piano. Simply put: the guitar riffs and the piano meanders, occupying huge swaths of the track at hand. They take turns blasting the melody around and converge at just the right time. Build ups for short attention spans and monumental hooks that aren't over the top or annoyingly dramatic.
They just dropped a sick ep on FARC records that you should pick up ASAP. They're amazing live and the record definitely does a better job than most of capturing this energy on tape. It boils down the aforementioned formula into a perfectly distilled handful of tracks that manage to be approachable and intellectual. Hopefully, I'll be able to convince them to enter the Rape Valley fold and we'll get to hear more from them soon enough.
Since I don't wanna step on any one's toes, I'm only leaking tacks I've seen on other blogs. But don't get me wrong: "This Are Syntax" is one of my favorite Caverns tracks. So buy their records and holla holla at them when they're within a few hundred miles.

Caverns "This Are Syntax" mediafire

They're Rioting in Oakland and I'm Way Too Lazy to Do Anything But Download Full Albums: Featuring Nana Grizol and Titus Andronicus

OK...I was mad lazy over my recent Christmas break. I didn't update this page once and barely even read any blogs on my reader. However, my scheming cousin helped me pick up the slack and showed me where to download the best FULL-LENGTH albums. First of all, are you friggin kidding me? Full length albums? Just google the band's name and mediafire and you'll get a gang of entries...AKA: CHEATING!
Back in my day (last year), we had to go on a blog aggregater and get tracks one at a time. Nowadays, these lazy emo kids throw up whole albums and use my classic excuse "Ahh bro, I go see them live all the time and they get a much bigger cut from that money."
Whatever man, you're a real Robin Hood and shit.

Nana Grizol

Yeah, I'm hating...hating even though I must've downloaded 25 albums from the very same cheatin emo kids over break and I'll certainly be sharing them the old-fashioned way (one track at a time dammit!) when I decide on favorites.

But for now, I'm still lazy. I just hopped on here to bitch about excessive bloggers and join my homey 'Ron in giving the people of Oakland, CA some sincere props. Keep bringing the heat.

Titus Andronicus

Plus I've been shirking my djtomhanks.com mp3-bequeathing responsibilities: there will be plenty of one at a time track postings in the days to come. To get things rolling, here are tracks from Nana Grizol and Titus Andronicus that I DL-ed at the beginning of break and already listened to excessively. In typical Hanks-ian fashion, I'll keep my descriptions minimal: Nana features some of the dudes from Neutral Milk Hotel and they totally have an Elephant 6 circa 2009 feel. Outsider pop...yet waaaaaayy poppy. And Titus, according to said scheming cousin, sounds like "Springsteen meets Bright Eyes only way grungier." These albums come highly recommended by plenty of assholes with more popular blogs than me and if they're not the best tracks on Nana's Love It Love It or Titus's The Airing of Grievances, the albums are even better than I thought.

Titus Andronicus "Joset of Nazareth's Blues" mediafire

Nana Grizol "Circles 'Round the Moon" mediafire

Piel De Pueblo

I usually don't go in for rock music in different languages. Its not that I really care all that much what they are saying, it just sounds off. Spanish sounds frantic, french sounds off-beat...ya know? But this recent find off Chris is fire. I'm obviously not sure what he is saying, but I assume it is something along the lines of "when you're deep in the heart of rape valley, Tom Mahoney ain't never gonna save you. His black heart is infinitely black and stinks of fried plastic and tar love. Kindle your foie gras in the river of shameful bestiality. Mountain goats, in the heat flame, guide me to the domed terrace of sainthood."
Shit, that is what I would say if I was an Argentinian psych rocker in the 70s. Chris goes off yet again. Dig the GNR post a few below too for anyone who though Chris was a snobby cynic and hater. I never did...



Piel De Pueblo "Silencion Para Un Pueblo Dormido" Mediafire

This Is Why Some People Aren't SupposedTo Interact with Others in Polite Society

Dear Matthew,

Yesterday you published a blog on Myspace.com making
statements about our recent business together.

I find the statements untrue and unfair. In addition the blog contains
direct attacks on my character, which I believe are intended
to adversely reflect my fitness to conduct my trade as a professional
disk jockey.

You also made your intentions to defame my character
clear in a text to me containing the words, "I'm bad mouthing
your bitch ass all over net".

Furthermore you may or may not have made slanderous
comments about me on public radio station KXLU, the extent
of which will be determined once the transcript of the show
has been received from the radio station.

I believe your conduct outlined above to be legally defamatory
and I am meeting with a legal representative this week to assist
in the matter.

Please immediately remove the offending blog, and any other
potentially defamatory internet postings, and replace with an
apology for the defamatory remarks.

Your failure to correct erroneous and false statements and
their repetition after notice of their falsehood constitutes
further publication of libel. It also further confirms your
malicious intent to hinder profits of my disk jockey business.

You must cease and desist from tortious interference and making
false and malicious comments about me. You are advised to cease
contacting me with harassing phone calls and text messages.
Please govern yourself accordingly.

Please note complying with my request to remove the offending
article(s) and publish an apology does not constitute an offer
from myself to cease any legal proceeding against you.

Sincerely,
FUCKING LUNATIC WANNA-BE DJ WHO SPELLS "DISC" WRONG


Hit me up at my myspace and I'll add you so you can see this inflammatory blog. In case anyone else forgot, I'm STILL IN LAW SCHOOL!

We're Coming For You

That's right, we're out to getchoo!

http://www.mediafire.com/?zoniryrzdnn

KXLU with Bianca

Yo so I guess its kinda...or i guess way too late, but I am currently DJ-ing on KXLU with Bianca. Right this minute. Tune to 88.9 kxlu or hit up their website.

Model Ryan

Ok so I linked this in the last posting but I really want to ensure (or is it insure? man, i'm supposed to be a friggin dual major in english and writing. wow!) that everybody who comes through djtomhanks.com gets to behold the wonder that is...RYAN CURRY! AKA MODEL RYAN!



I don't think he could look like more of a sissy if he tried. Seriously. Well, I guess technically, he is trying to look this way but still: dude looks ridiculous. To be fair, this was a couple years ago. And it definitely seems like the 90s lasted until 2005 sometimes. Ya know? Curry looks mad 1999 in this shit. Just so I don't piss off my homey more than I care to, here's a look at Ryan and you.

A lesson in fairness:

In addition to having multiple fan clubs (one of which, I'm told, used to have real-life straight girls in it), Ryan Curry...


Knows more about baseball than you. Or anyone you know for that matter.
Banged Paris Hilton more times than you. Or...at all.
Explained the difference between Williamsburg, Brooklyn and Williamsburg, Virginia more than you can imagine.
Drove a souped-up Subaru down the Jersey turnpike at speeds you could only imagine. So basically, faster than you.
German Suplex-ed Tom Mahoney. Twice.
Passed out in his own Mohawk vomit on St. Marks once a week until he was 19.

So although you could probably beat the hell out of Model Ryan in Fantasy Football,
I'd say he earned the right to look like a complete and total pussy all over youtube. Not to mention runways all over the world. Holla Curry!

DJ Tom Hanks Takes a Break from Law School Finals for a Preview of..."Poundtown: The Mix" with MP3s from Parts & Labor, King Crimson, and More

Ok, I'm not going to spend more time than necessary blathering on and trying to sound pseudo about the new mix I'm working on for Footsie's. Here's the summary: Last week, I dropped off my mixes at a bar in northern Los Angeles called Footsie's. Although I don't hang there too often, I certainly make plans to do so often. Shit, the current and former door guys are homies of mine. But for some reason, I get sidetracked and end up eating Thai food or watching ESPN with Model Ryan. Much like I'm doing now...
So I dropped off the mixes and had a little convo with the manager about getting some Hanks action up in there. I told him "Listen man, I'm not gonna talk your ear off about some bullshit and wait til you're confused enough to book me. I'm gonna make this simple: You...Need...More...Hanks...in your life! Plain and simple. Now I'm gonna bounce because I have places to go and whatnot. But take these cds and I'll wait for your call. Oh, yeah...I know that all black one is kinda ravey but trust me: I am a punk rock kid and I'm gonna smack this crowd in the face with some good olde-timey-rocke-rolle. Trust me, you'll see. Hollatyaboy!"
And then I left. A few days later, me and my homey Camerin Kelly were talking about how awesome Jerusalem is and how weirdo rock from the 60s and 70s is next big ish in music snob lifestyles. Scenesters already beat the crap out of post-punk and now the cool guys need another easily-mastered genre that lets them get all knowledgeable in a matter of days. And then it dawned on me: not only does Footsie's need some more Hanks in their life, they need more psych rock too.



I told Camerin (from now on, exclusively referred to as the motherfucking one and only DJ 'RON!) and he goes "Shit, those dudes need more prog too man. Lots of it."
"Shit," I said. "You're right. Those motherfuckers need all that weird shit. You know, the shit that the cool kids were into when losers were into Zeppelin and the Who. Dude, we're doing it yo. We're doing a night at Footsie's where we play weirdo, obscure rock tunes from the 70s that no one has ever heard of but wishes they had."
"I'd go to that night."
"Fuck yeah man. I'd fuckin own that night. For real, we're gonna change lives and shit."
"Yeah...I think LA could get into this. I really do."
"Yo...fuck man! Seriously, we go off Ron. We go the fuck off! Hanks and Ron! For real, we're those motherfuckers that go off. People are gonna walk by us and start saying that shit: 'Ah damn, there go Hanks and Ron...they're those motherfuckers that go off.' For real dude. Fuck! I'm psyched. I'm psyched about psych. Lemme email this dude right now."
So I hit him up and he called me back the other day and now...well now we're making POUNDTOWN: THE MIX! Moth-er Fuck-er!

OK, so due to the strict Trademark laws in the High Sierra territories, one of these tracks is not on the mix...first person to get it right gets drink tickets on opening night! And obviously, look out for the finished mix in the next few days. Holla! (all files on mediafire then ysi)

Parts & Labor "Little Ones" mp3 mediafire
ysi

The Poppy Family "There's No Blood in Bone" mp3 mediafire
ysi

King Crimson "Easy Money" mp3 mediafire
ysi





BROUGHT TO YOU BY RAPE VALLEY RECORDS
I'm still on imeem and iLike if you guys get bored

In Case Anyone Forgot, the Phillies Won the Motherfucking World Series!

I don't think it ever really set it: we won the world series. My squad finally sealed the deal and won it all. I have a championship team. Chase and Cole and Ryan and Myers and Shane and the rest of the most likable team in baseball are the champions of the whole goddamn world. And I still don't think I know what it feels like to be on top of the world. I always thought I'd have this year long euphoria and feeling that everything is right in the world. But now that I think about it, the feeling is more like a general sense of completion. Like the satisfaction you get after crossing something off a checklist: content, but the feeling is temporary and fleeting.
Maybe this has to do with my horrible night of "celebration" (so annoyed by the choice of companions at Cam's house that I gave myself a rash) (I'm not kidding...the shit hasn't even completely gone away. I was that annoyed by those motherfuckers.) Or maybe I just haven't been around enough Philly fans. I know one thing: the whole 46 hr rain delay did not ruin my series. I know all the media d-bags get off on being able to pigeonhole this series for the whole rain delay incident and act like it somehow ruined our victory. Fuck that noise: if anything, it only made the victory sweeter. Even Bud Selig and his bullshit maneuvering ("ok, tie game...time for the rain delay" - ARE YOU KIDDING ME?) couldn't thwart our steamroller pummeling of the Rays.

We're the shit. Seriously, no one could touch us last year and I knew we had the series locked up since the first playoff game in Milwaukee. In 2007, I knew we weren't getting past the first round. And this year, I knew the series was ours the whole way. Even after the bullshit analysts and sports writers started acting like we would forget how to play ball for 2.3 games because someone tried to screw us. They obviously don't know about Philly: we thrive on getting screwed.


So I don't have mixed feelings about the victory for the city and team (longest drought of any city with all four franchises is officially over!) even though baseball may want me to. I just wish i could be reminded of how badass my team is all day every day. But for now, I'll just have to content myself on the simple fact that when I find time to watch a couple highlights, tears of joy start leaking out my eyes and I remember cutting class to watch the Phils give it to Joe Buck and the rest of the irrational Philly haters out there. And I'm certainly holding out hope that finally getting back east in a few weeks will cement this feeling for the next 10 months.

Oh and one more thing: Fuck yeah we know how to riot! Seriously, I'd of been severely disappointed if we hadn't gone ape-shit on Broad Street like we did.

Phillies World Series Champion Riot Oct08 2008 -

P.S. Joe Buck can eat a fat dick.

Jay-Z and Santogold Video. DJ Tom Hanks Signs Up For Imeem and iLike.

Hey yo...check out my multi-tasking: Hanks, in the third person, signed up for iLike and Imeem during the studying (law school, right). And to celebrate how on-point and touching the whole affair is, I'm throwing up Imeem's "single of the second" without even watching it. I mean, how could you go wrong with Jigga and Santi rapping over a Kanye Beat?
And while I'm not sure what you might be able to ascertain from more pages of data about Hanks, here they are:

DJ Tom Hanks on imeem


DJ Tom Hanks on iLike


a jawn is?

NINJASONIK "Art School Girls" Video

just thought i'd show you that not all the songs are about ill-fitting pants. some are just about art school girls.
staybad motherfucker. 12/5 temporary spaces. ninjasonik/japanther

Ninjasonik/Japanther at Temp Spaces, 12/5: Finally, a Finished Flyer

NINJASONIK/JAPANTHER AT STAYBAD

STAYBAD. And STAY Tuned for more info! But see ya'll there!

Ninjasonik "Tights Pants" and "Negative Thinking About Tight Pants"

Jerusalem and Godflesh

Ok so my homey Camerin hipped me to the most amazing blog ever a few months ago: http://ChrisGoesRocks.blogspot.com. This saint of man in Sweden, apparently named Chris, took the time to upload thousands of amazing full-length albums by bands no one has ever heard of. I mean, I dig some obscure psych rock and prog and all that and I am ashamed of how little I know compared to this dude. So far, the standout track is by a band called Jerusalem. "Primitive Man" rips it so hard and I can't get the song away from my brain. All day, I hear a pretty much steady loop of that killer riff and vocal line...you know which one I'm walking about. Fire. Also, imagine the scene 30+ years ago: no one rocked properly, let alone with Big Black style production. Start bulking up on the psych, metal and folk now because I will beat yo over the head with it. I want to move in with Chris and be his apprentice.

Jerusalem- "Primitive Man" mediafire

And Tom hipped me to this one. Not much to say about Godflesh other than they are the template for all heavy music after 1990. It derives all its power from the gnarly rhythm section. And every band after them derives something from them. The Shape of Punk to come actually came out in 1989. Sorry Refused

Godflesh- "Sterile Prophet" mediafire

Rape Valley Records-Crimes Galore vs. BLL "Poundtown Cagefighting Anthem"

Despite the world's best efforts, Rape Valley Records will officially begin rolling out the hits this winter. We're all over the place and when it comes down to it, we're just the dudes who will put out the goofy shit; the eclectic shit; the shit that everyone is afraid to Trademark. We're bringing the thunder and we're doing it sans marketing professionals.

Here is the first track. And I'm leaking it. Business?

Crimes Galore vs. BLL - "Poundtown Cagefighting Anthem" zshare

Future Disco

From S.T.A.Y.B.A.D. Flyers and Party Photos

So we're not gonna be 100% evil tomorrow. It was a long weekend, what with us killing it at Mountain Bar and raging and all that. Plus I got finals coming up. Instead, we're getting disco. And a little worldly. And a little werepire...that's half werewolf and half vampire. Plus we got our boy Chad, AKA DJ High Speed Dub coming though to help turn it out. Future Disco: Its where the other weeknights go when they disco.

Friday Night: Mountain Bar

Hanks and Brap will burn down the Mountain Bar like the motherfucking warriors we've always been.




Weekenders Fearing. Scumbags massing. Unicorns Freaking. Metals Burning. Riffs.

Akasa and Trademark Records

Yo...I really dug the Akasa tracks more than usual last night. And the video is dishearteningly amazing.






Trademark Recordings will be rolling November 24. And don't sleep on Rape Valley Records.

J-E-T-S and Electrocution

Damn, I think I like the Jets more than the Eagles right now. Maybe its just because I don't take their bullshit personally. Friggin Pats.
Meanwhile, spring guns are illegal. Spring electrocution is still up for grabs in most jurisdictions. Frayed wires are my future.
Dig the headshot sample:

Just for Comparison

Here's the original video for "Manipulator":