Disco Vietnam has taken Manhattan on more than a few occasions. I tracked down the writer of my favorite song of all time “I’m So Blue” from my favorite film of all time, Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird. His name is Randy Sharp. Sharp is a country songwriter whose credits include Dolly Parton and […]

Douglas Martin is lo-fi power pop personified. Before those of you in the peanut gallery start throwing things in the name of nepotism, I must remind you that we here at Passion of the Weiss aren’t in the business of writing about bad music. Barry Schwartz — he of Disco Vietnam — just happens to […]

Disco Vietnam doesn’t advertise. Greetings from godless Los Angeles! Disco Vietnam reporting to you from the plush leather couch at Casa de Jeff Weiss on vacation for the Days of Atonement. So far I’ve managed to break his shower curtain, compromise several of his deadlines and cock-block him twice (That would make me the schlemiel […]

Despite popular mythologies that insist otherwise, great music doesn’t always rise to the top — at least not immediately. Depending on popular tastes, media whims, marketing ploys, and inherent marketability, exceptional songs can be overlooked. See also, Skipp Coon, Souvenir, Monkey Swallows the Universe, essentially any band that Stylus championed that were ignored so that […]

“Even in those times when I was considered to have done something so wrong, my motivation was from a good place. It’s very pure and from a good place.” – Kanye West “I have never questioned the motive of another member of the Congress or Senate with whom I’ve disagreed. I’ve questioned their judgment.” – […]

Barry Schwartz finds your anti-blunt rhetoric despicable.  I’m going to give this year’s Mr. Softee a stern talking to. He decided not to get the thing that makes Mr. Softee milkshakes the bomb and opted instead for a bullshit blender I could get at fucking Fortunoff. He’s cutting corners. That’s unacceptable. I should be drinking […]

The jab is the boxer’s way of saying “no bullshit.” It rarely produces a knock out, but if landed enough, the over-gelled ring announcer usually calls victory.  Consider this the Long Island-raised Prafit’s dedication to directness — there’s nothing fancy or groundbreaking about this song. Just a hard hail of punches, one after the other, […]

Douglas Martin is no stranger to totally awesome decisions.  With the road to  “hipness” in 2010 paved with scuzz, filth, and layers of distortion, somewhere along the line, it became slightly uncool to listen to power-pop. Whether it’s the squandered goodwill of post-Matt Sharp Weezer, the tragic car crash that shortened the lives of members […]

Disco Vietnam approves of pharmacists, street or otherwise.   If it ain’t raw it’s worthless. Ted Leo’s forthcoming album and first for Matador, The Brutalist Bricks, takes its title from the post-World War II architectural style known as brutalism, which incorporated raw concrete to construct buildings with “striking repetitive angular geometries.” If Leo and his […]

Disco Vietnam is a Twitter wunderkind. Writing from his New Yorker blog, Sasha Frere Jones recently offered his praise to Norwegian wunderkind Sondre Lerche’s latest album Heartbeat Radio, citing the songwriter’s use of “fancy chords” as what most readily distinguishes him musically from his peers. Forgive me if I find this a bit reductive. While […]