Coachella 2007

New Blog

2007-05-05T13:40:00.000-07:00

Now that Coachella 2007 is over, I've moved over to a new site. Please check it out and bookmark:

http://myheadphonesyall.blogspot.com

Thanks for reading our blog!

S-Yo.

Coachella Re-Hash Y'all

2007-05-05T13:07:00.000-07:00

Preface: I know this is really, really late. I meant to post earlier this week but I accidentally deleted a huge chunk of this entry and didn't have any time until now to re-write and re-upload the pics. Special thanks to Maureen for letting me use some of her pictures. Sorry for the delay. I hope you enjoy the read! S-Yo.

"Gotta get us to the show, California here we come..."

Thursday:
11:00 - Meet at Elissa's apt. We all get a car service to take us to Newark.

12:17 - Arrive at airport and proceed to goof off and get lunch.

1:20 - Catch our first flight, which brings us to Dallas. Have a tasty lunch at TGI Friday's. Notice that wait staff does not wear flair here. When did that happen? We also come across a machine that sells Nintendos, camcorders, CDs, etc. Pretty sick. We buy some video tapes for our camera.

4:30 - Catch our flight to Palm Springs. Everyone on the plane is either super old and rich or a young hipster. You can tell the old people hate this time of year. I spy a lot of hoodies and tapered jeans. We kill the New York Magazine crossword puzzle and make friends with our neighbors along the way.

7:00 - Arrive in Palm Springs! Get luggage, rental car. We opt for the PT Cruiser. Drive to our digs. Super nice. We are probably the only people under 60 in this neighborhood.

9:00 - Head out to the Filter Coachella party. Proceed to get very lost.

10:30 - Arrive at Filter party. It is awesome. Free booze with a great setting--looks like it could be a cheesey safari theme park. There's a huge lake surrounded by land connected by charming bamboo bridges and tiki torches. A lot of really beautiful, really dressed up people. We guess that the LA faction of the country is representin'. We talk to strangers and end up taking pictures with them at the free photo booth. Elissa and Sam play guitar hero and kick everyone's asses. We meet our friend DOUG, who we will continue to bump into throughout the festival.

This is our new friend DOUG (kneeling) with his Cali posse.

FRIDAY:

10:00 - Go to IHOP. Maureen and I are really jonesing for that delicious McDonald's bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit combo that comes with a rectangular hash brown and yummy orange juice. But damn, IHOP is just as good, if not better. I get some special that comes with 3 eggs, sausages, bacon, a donut/pancake/pastry-like thing that is a combination of all those things, bananas, and has browns for a mere $8.00. On top of that, we order a stack of choco-chip pancakes for the table.

11:30 - Go to Wal-Mart. We go nuts and get water guns and personal mini-fans that spray water, lots of sunscreen and $9 toothbrushes that play music when you brush (but ONLY when you brush). We also test our eyesight and play some of the games in the lobby. Oh, and buy classy jewelry and tattoos from the 25 cent toy machines.

4:55 Of Montreal. We bump into my officemate Samson. He is da bomb. He seems to know everyone at the festival and we see him about 15 times each day with a different manager, agent, etc. We catch a few songs of Of Montreal's and then opt to catch out Silversun Pickups since we just saw OM at Studio B doing Indie Rock Karaoke.

5:10 - 5:30 Silversun Pickups. The last time I saw them was at the Plug Awards at Irving Plaza. They sound about 1000 times better here and I think it may be due to the grossness of Irving (sorry, Fillmore). We are lucky enough to hear "Lazy Eye", "Common Reactor", and "Rusted Wheel". I think all the girls shared a collective moment of envy thinking: "Can I please be Nikki Monniger?"

6:25 - 7:15 Arctic Monkeys. They sound fantastic. In the middle of their set I bump into Sarah-Jane, my officemate and buddy who helps me get through the long days. She is the sole reason I got to go to Coachella and I love her to bits.

View of the Main Stage from the VIP section:

7:15 - 7:45 Rufus Wainwright. He sounds amazing. And he's not wearing pants. Can't wait for his new album. On our walk over, we run into the Megamite Army:

7:50 - 8:35 Jesus and the Mary Chain. They look angry the whole time. I wonder if the brothers are hating each other through the entire set. Scarlett comes out to sing. The rumors are true! I can't really hear her vocals and wonder why she is here in the first place. When is her album coming out?

8:35 - 9:30 We hang out in the VIP section and get some grub. I really want to catch Jarvis Cocker's set, but nobody I'm with has a particular liking for him. I definitely regret not making an effort to see him, but when you've been running around in the 102 degrees all day, it's easy to get tired. MY BAD. I also want to see Sonic Youth, but I reason to myself that they are NYC band and I can catch them again in the city. Good thing the McCarren Park show was just announced.

9:30 - 10:20 Interpol. Pioneer, awesome! We just lie in the grass and take it in.

10:45 Bjork. We decide to get up and go watch close to the stage, by the soundboard. As we're walking over, she slides into "Unravel" and I lose my shit. That song is probably in my top 3 favorite Bjork songs. I think Unravel is the highlight of the festival for me. Hearing it under the stars was priceless. She also sings "Army of Me" and closes out the set with "Declare Independence" off Volta.

SATURDAY:
10:30 - Wake up. Watch SNL Videos in bed.

11:13 - Eat Doritos

11:45 - Hit the pool. I pretend I can't swim and we re-enact David Hasseloff scenes from Baywatch.

1:00 - Leave the pool and get ready to go.

2:30 - Hit the road to make it time to catch Regina's set. I mean, we really should've gotten off our asses to see The Frames, Pop Levi, Fountains of Wayne, Fields, The Fratellis and Steve Aoki, but I just didn't have it in me...plus, when there's a ridiculous pool right in front of your driveway, it's hard to say no.

Scenery on the way in to Coachella grounds:

Goofing off in the car:

3:50 - 4:40 Regina Spektor. We grab pizza and lemonade and catch her set perched atop a picnic table in VIP. I'm in heaven. She goes balls out and plays all the hits. We've got some time to kill before the New Pornographers go up, so we get our water guns all set up.

With our buddy Steven, who we met on the plane! We kept bumping into him throughout the festival.

5:05 - 5:55 - New Pornographers. They were pitted against old-skool band Travis, who A.C. Newman acknowledges after a song. The NP's try to play and sing along to "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?" (as Travis is playing it) but can't remember the words. Hilarious. A.C. keeps talking about how fucking hot it is. As if we need a reminder. But he does remind us why we love them so much with a set list that reads like a greatest hits album they will put out once all us indie-rock kids are 40 and driving station wagons and carting our kids around. They opened up with "Sing Me Spanish Techno"--a song that encompasses probably one of the best written bridges of its time. We were also rewarded for choosing the NP's with "Use It", "The Bleeding Heart Show", "Twin Cinema", "Bones of an Idol" and "The Jessica Numbers".

6:15 - 7:05 Kings of Leon. Dude, whoever used to dog on them for giving shitty performances in the past can not say anything about their live show now. Perhaps you, like so many others, were not a fan of their early output. However, I think you'd be a total fucking nut to think their new album isn't awesome. And that is mostly what they played. They drenched the crowd with their swaggering, southern rock. Loved hearing "On Call" and "Charmer".

7:30 - 8:40 Arcade Fire. Although this is only my second time seeing them, I'm beginning to realize AF is a band that always delievers. Their energy was full-blown and there is nothing in this world like hearing "Rebellion", "No Cars Go", or "Neighborhood #3" under the stars. I think that everyone in the audience had a simultaneous, collective musical orgasm as they thought: "this set is the shit". On top of that, the security dudes were spraying water on all us and it felt fantastic. Lindsay Lohan tried to push us out of her way so she could make it to the front row. Good thing Elissa and Sam are hardasses and shut her down. Ok. I digress.

9:00 - 9:30 Girl Talk. We try to get backstage to see this show but apparently they are at capacity. Later on we learn that Paris Hilton is onstage dancing with the huge group of beautiful people. At time point I start to feel really fucking tired but I try my best to enjoy Girl Talk's set. I love Gregg's show and I know if I were in a better mood and not dehydrated, like if this were happening at Studio B or Bowery Ballroom, I'd be dancing my ass off. I can not wait to see him when he decides to descend upon NYC again.

The Geodesic Dome, which featured artists like Kraak & Smaak and Cut Chemist. I totally spaced and did not check out any sets in this space. My bad.

9:30 - 10:30 LCD Soundsystem. OK, this is my Coachella moment that I am most ashamed of. I fucking FELL ASLEEP outside in the grass during LCD Soundsystem, right when they started playing "All My Friends". I know. I know. I'm pretty embarrassed. In my exhausted state, I could tell it was a sick set, but I just couldnt' muster up the energy to go inside and do some kickass dancing. Right before I conked out, I got these pics:

10:20 The Rapture. So Maureen wakes me up at the end of LCD's set right when The Rapture is fixing to go onstage. We all head backstage and listen to from there. I am incredibly groggy and not fully awake at all. I also regret/am mega-ashamed of this moment. I must redeem myself when The Rapture plays again. Here's a pic of the tent at the end of their set:

SUNDAY:
The traffic on the way:

More goofing off in the car:

Shooting other people in cars with our water gun as we are stuck in traffic:

The traffic is the lightest it's been, but once we reach the security check-in, it's a whole nother story. The security woman is being a complete bitch and tells us that even though we have VIP passes, she still has to examine our bags and demands that I throw away my Camelbak. Fuck no! So we end up walking around the perimeter of the entire festival to the VIP entrance, where we have no problems. As soon as we get in, we bump into our friends. We get straight to business. And by business I mean downing a margarita before we're off and running to hear good music.

5:00 - 5:20 Soulwax Nite Versions. This tent is bumping! Great set. I don't know their stuff that well, but they are a lot of fun and the tent is packed with beautiful hipster girls and the non-shaven dudes that follow them around.

5:30 - Junior Boys. We catch the last 2 songs, one of which is "In The Morning". I piss my pants. I wake up to that song everyday. The final song is a bit boring and I can see why people say they are kind of a snoozefest live. Don't take that the wrong way, I really love their stuff, but I could see how standing through an entire set could get tiresome.

6:05 - Konono No. 1. Catch a sliver of a song. Really dig their sound and am stoked because they are opening for 2 of the 3 New York Bjork shows.

6:10 - 6:30 Kaiser Chiefs. Already heard them at Roseland, where they sounded great but the crowd and venue sucked. This time the crowd and venue were great, but Ricky Wilson's voice sounded like he'd had too much whiskey and cigs the night before.

6:30 - 7:20 Willie Nelson. He opens with "Whiskey River" and the crowd loved it. His 2 sons joined him on a few songs, playing drums and guitar. Awesome set. His guitar-playing son is really good. Make mental note to google him and check out his stuff when I get home.

7:30 - 8:25 After Willie's set we walk around for a bit and take some pics. I'm an idiot. I now realize maybe we should've caught the Klaxons, even if I did see them recently at Bowery. We buy merch and walk around the grounds to take pictures.

8:35 - 9:25 Air. They keep us waiting until about 9:15. Pretty fucked up. They make no explanation as to why they are so fucking late. The crowd is pissed (see below for angry faces). Maybe they sounded good, I'm not a fair judge. I was pretty annoyed so they sounded awful to me. Perhaps I let my emotions get in the way. It's just when there are a ton of other awesome artists playing the same slot and you chose one artist over the others, the artists should understand respect and honor your decision...AKA, go on close to the anticipated start time. While we were waiting, we could've seen other acts. ANYWAYS. After 3 songs, Maureen and I decide to go backstage and watch from there. Unfortunately, huge trucks were pulling in for load-out and the crew isn't allowing anyone backstage. UGH. Frustrated, we leave the Outdoor stage and head over to the Main Stage to check out Manu Chao.

9:25 - 10:15 Manu Chao. We listen from the VIP area. I decide to booze it up with redbull + vodka. Everyone is dancing and going crazy. Manu sounds awesome.

10:30 Rage Against the Machine. During Rage's set, things got a little crazy. They are da bomb. I especially dig the way they cut into the Bush administration. The crowd eats it up and everyone is jumping, dancing, singing along.

1:14 - On our way home...We try to meet our friends at BEERHUNTER, but it's closed. We think we see Amy Winehouse talking to our friend in the parking lot, but maybe that's just the booze talking. We turn up the stereo and sing some sick harmonies. Can't wait to do it all over again next year.

Coachella in NY TIMES

2007-05-02T08:42:00.000-07:00

Check out the New York Times' article on Coachella.

Woo!

My pics are coming soon, sorry for the lack of updates. It has been pretty crazy since I got back.

Coachella Day 3 Recap

2007-05-01T20:23:00.001-07:00

So we survived Coachella. Phew!

Sorry I'm a little late with this recap, but I've been in recovery mode. Still in it, actually, but I have some time on my hands right now.

Anyway, on Day 3 I started to get a little lazy. I didn't feel like stage hopping as much, but I still managed to catch some killer sets.

The Roots - They were burning. My favorite was their medley of covers, including "Just A Friend" by Biz Markie, "This Is Why I'm Hot" by Mims and "Push It" by Salt N Pepa. Sweet. They pulled out all the hits too. I was so amused by their dancing tuba player. Does he always do that?
Willie Nelson - The sound on the main stage was surprisingly really bad for 'ol Willie's set, but once we moved closer everything was much better. His sons are great on the drums and guitar, and I really enjoyed just sitting on the grass and listening to their set.
Air - They went on about 40 minutes late, which is a big deal at Coachella since everything was pretty much running on time. The crowd was getting really antsy; people to see, places to go. Anyway, they finally came on and I was really entranced by their set. However, I wanted to go backstage for a little, but after some lame problems there we finally decided to head over to Manu Chao.
Manu Chao - By this point, all I wanted to do was sit and get ready for Rage. But from what I did hear of Manu Chao, they sounded pretty good, so I'll definitely want to check them out at Prospect Park this summer.
Rage Against the Machine - Oh god, Rage were fucking insane. Everyone was completely losing their minds. In a good way, duh. It was amazing seeing "Killing In the Name" live. Rage was the best way to end the festival, I think. People were just so pumped and the atmosphere was magical/insane.

Willie Nelson

Crazy hippie tents

Fire sculpture

The train!

Anxious crowd waiting for Air

Air

Rage

The mass exodus

Coachella Day 2 Recap

2007-04-29T11:01:00.001-07:00

Ugh I'm almost dead right now, but last night was amazing. I could watch Arcade Fire every single night for the rest of my life and never get bored.

I was actually pretty true to my sched yesterday:

Regina Spektor - Flawless set. She played all the hits, including "Fidelity," "On The Radio," "Us," "Poor Little Rich Boy," "Samson," and "That Time." At first I thought she was just solo, but she did bring her band out for part of the set. She was such a great artist to see in the daytime in the hot sun.
New Pornographers - They played all the hits too! Nothing from the new album, which was ok by me. They sounded great, playing songs like "Jessica Numbers," "Sing Me Spanish Techno," "Use It," and "Bones of an Idol." Excellent.
Kings of Leon - They sound so f'ing rocking. I'm not as familiar with their song names, but they played equal amounts of Aha Shake Heartbreak and Because of the Times.
Arcade Fire - Oh Arcade Fire. What can I say? They were definitely the highlight of my night last night. Nothing could have compared to them. They closed their set with "Neighborhood #3," then "Rebellion (Lies)" and finally "No Cars Go." So much fun. "My Body Is A Cage" breaks my heart every time they play it.
Girl Talk - He kept flashing the audience with weird messages on the screen. He's really great, but I wasn't in the mood for him at that point. Not after seeing AF.
LCD Soundsystem and The Rapture both had pretty solid sets. Very fun to dance to. Yay.
[Some RHCP in between]
Day 2 = Amazing.

New Porns

The atmosphere

Kings of Leon

Arcade Fire

Girl Talk

And I'm off. Day 3 here we come.

Coachella Day 1 Recap

2007-04-28T10:21:00.000-07:00

Day 1 of Coachella is overrrrr! :(

Here's what I caught:

Of Montreal - Sounded great. Pretty much the same set I saw two weeks ago at Indie Rock Karaoke. So left early to catch SSPU.
Silversun Pickups - They're great live! The Brian Aubert is a good frontman and the band was just fun the watch overall.
Arctic Monkeys - Fun set. Saw them from far away, but they sound a lot better live than I thought they would.
Rufus Wainwright - Impeccable voice as always. Loved his outfit. See pictures below!
The Jesus & Mary Chain - Crowd was amazing during their set, which was rockin'. But you could tell that they hadn't been playing a lot (obvs, it was their reunion show). However, it was amazing just to be there.
Interpol - Solid set. Saw this from far away also.
Bjork - AMAZING. No words to describe this. Head to BrooklynVegan for set list, pics, etc...

Silversun Pickups

Coachella Main Stage

Rufus Wainwright

View from inside tent

Jesus & Mary Chain

Look at S-Yo's entry for more tales of our desert adventures.

Coachella Day #1

2007-04-28T10:16:00.000-07:00

View from the car

We had bfast at IHOP:

Then we went to Wal-Mart to pick up some Coachella essentials like waterguns and sunblock.

Coachella is BEAUTIFUL and slightly overwhelming for someone who's here for the first time. There are so many awesome bands pitted against each other schedule-wise and we had a really hard time deciding what to see.

stage during OF MONTREAL's set.

Pics from the Silversun Pickup's set. They were awesome.

Jesus and the Mary Chain's set below. Scartlett Johansson came out to sing.

HAAAAAAAAA, we caught some hipster trying to put on his tapered jeans. It was hysterical.

Coachella Day #2

2007-04-28T10:08:00.000-07:00

Today's line-up for us:

Fountains of Wayne
Regina Spektor
The New Pornographers
Kings of Leon
Arcade Fire
Girl Talk
LCD Soundsystem
The Rapture

OH MY GOD...so many good bands. Coachella is amazing. Yesterday's pics coming soon.

Coachella Day #1: Trains, Planes, and Automobiles

2007-04-27T08:32:00.000-07:00

Hey Y'all we left for Coachella yesterday around 1:30 PM from Newark. We rolled up to the Palm Springs airport and then headed straight to the Filter Coachella party. Super busy right now and will write about it all when we get back to NYC. For now, enjoy our pics...

3 days left...

2007-04-24T15:45:00.000-07:00

fuck yeah!!!!

too bad this scheduling pits all the bands i want to see against each other.

OY.

The Living Room

2007-04-18T19:18:00.000-07:00

Richard Julian if three-quarters through a month-long residency at The Living Room. He played and will continue to play every Tuesday night (at 10 PM) of this month. I know, late on the heads up! My bad. I kept meaning to go and post about it and kept forgetting. His album Slow New York was one of my favorite releases last year and I'd love to see him live.

The Rosewood Thieves are an awesome act that my friend Sheryl turned me on to at CMJ last year. They are playing a free set at The Living Room this Friday (9:30 PM). Highly recommended. They're about to explode. Sheryl just tipped me off that their single "Los Angeles" will be featured on Grey's Anatomy and Entourage. They will also open for Jesse Malin's show at Mercury Lounge this Saturday. Should be hot.

Download "Los Angeles" here.

Memphis

2007-04-18T18:19:00.000-07:00

Memphis is the duo of Chris Dumont and Torquil Campbell (Stars). They met in NYC prior to the formation of Stars and hung out with Campbell's old friends like Chris Seligman, James Shaw, and Adam Marvy. Together they played a bunch of gigs around the city but disbanded once Campell and Seligman founded Stars and Shaw became part of Metric. A few summers later, Campbell invited Dumont to Canada and Memphis was born.

This record has been around for a while, but I didn't really take note of it until I heard the strains of "Incredibly Drunk on Whiskey" on the radio one day. Really amazing track.

Fortunately for me, they gearing up for the road and headed for NYC:

Apr 29 - Chop Suey, Seattle, Washington *
Apr 30 - Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, Oregon *
May 2 - Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco, California *
May 3 - Troubadour, Los Angeles, California *
May 6 - Red Room Vancouver, British Columbia
May 8 - The Lucky Bar Victoria, British Columbia
May 9 - Habitat Kelowna, British Columbia
May 10 - Velvet Underground Edmonton, Alberta
May 11 - Canmore Hotel Canmore, Alberta
May 12 - The Hi Fi Club Calgary, Alberta
May 13 - Amigo's Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
May 14 - The Exchange Regina, Saskatchewan
May 15 - Collective Cabaret Winnipeg, Manitoba
May 30 - Joe's Pub New York, New York
May 31 - Union Hall Brooklyn, New York

* w/ Postmarks

I only wish Postmarks were supporting their NYC shows, that would be such a dream line-up!

You can download part of the Memphis album here, but I highly recommend you buy the album and support an excellent band.

vapid musicians and their love affairs.

2007-04-17T16:49:00.000-07:00

Check out this hilarious clip from SNL:

Internet radio is in trouble...

2007-04-17T15:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the Copyright Royalty Board announced its decision that Internet Radio stations must now pay royalties for each song it plays per person that listens to it. For instance, if KEXP plays Phoenix's "Lost & Found" once and there are 450 people listening, then WOXY must pay the royalty fee times 450. This is a huge change from the past in which royalties were based on a percentage of the station's income.

According to the Broadcast Law Blog, the new rates are as follows:

2006 - $.0008 per performance

2007 - $.0011 per performance

2008 - $.0014 per performance

2009 - $.0018 per performance

2010 - $.0019 per performance

I think I'm definitely going to become a member of KCRW, WOXY, and KEXP. I'm guessing these organizations will need all the help they can get. What a bullshit ruling.

New Music Tuesday

2007-04-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

The AOL Listening Party has some interesting things up for grabs this week, including Bucky Covington, Avril Lavigne, Nine Inch Nails, and The Noisettes.

Singai Shoniwa of the Noisettes.

For better offerings, check out the Spinner Listening Party where you can find Joseph Arthur, The Comas and The Hold Steady.

Some other releases that might do your ears some good:

Artic Monkeys - Brainstorm (single)

DJ Shadow - Bay Area EP

Cowboy Junkies - At the End of Paths Taken

Rock Plaza Central - Are We Not Horses?

His Version of the story...

2007-04-16T19:05:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Mark Ronson's album, Version, drops in the UK. I can not tell you how excited I am about this.

He is a trust-fund-baby and brother of Samantha (the DJ) and Charlotte (the fashion designer) Ronson as well as the awesome DJ that helped to produce the Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen albums. This collection of mashed-up songs brings a funky-fresh, fun flavah (say that five times fast) and I think Mr. Ronson has brought his A-game.

This is the video for "Stop Me".

Version's Track Listing:
God Put A Smile Upon Your Face feat. The Daptone Horns
Oh My God feat. Lily Allen
Stop Me feat. Daniel Merriweather
Toxic (Version Revisited) feat. Tiggers
Valerie (Version Revisted) feat. Amy Winehouse
Apply Some Pressure feat. Paul Smith
Inversion
Pretty Green feat. Santo Gold
Just feat. Phantom Planet
Amy feat. Kenna
The Only One I Know feat. Robbie Williams
Diversion
L.S.F. (Version Revisited) feat. Kasabian
Outversion

There have been bits and pieces of this album floating around the blogsophere since last autumn and I've gathered them here for your aural pleasure:

Valerie (Version Revisted) feat. Amy Winehouse

Pretty Green feat. Santo Gold

To download:

Lily Allen Kaiser Chiefs Oh My God Mark Ronson Revisit

These are also for download, but aren't on the Version:

Lily Allen Smile Mark Ronson Revisit Featuring Dujeous

Lily Allen Smile Mark Ronson Revisit

Hey Everybody! Of Montreal Did Karaoke Part 2

2007-04-16T14:17:00.001-07:00

Let's see. Where did S-Yo leave off? Oh yeah, Paul Rudd and David Wain sang "More Than A Feeling." Well, before that wondrous performance, Michael Showalter did INXS's "Need You Tonight." Here's a clip I got of it:

Shortly after that was "Dancing Queen," where a bunch of the previous singers got on stage, Kevin Barnes slid over to the keys and chaos ensued.

And here is the winner for best costume and most outlandish performance of the night: Aqua Man. He sang David Bowie's "Moonage Daydream" and he was INTO IT. He even had a trident.

Later, Michael Showalter came back on stage for the last song, "Hot Blooded."
And then the sound guy stole the mic from him. Kind of an anti-climatic finales, but still fun nonetheless.Afterwards, Flosstradamus got right on the 1s and 2s. His set was flowing with the best dance songs we haven't heard in 10 years, including "Motownphilly" by Boyz II Men and "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters. Amazing.

Young Galaxy played Mercury Lounge

2007-04-16T10:09:00.000-07:00

Young Galaxy played Mercury Lounge last night. The crowd was small, but I think that had something to do with the ridiculous amounts of rain.

I only have their EP, which includes 3 songs, so I didn't know the majority of their set. (Their self-titled album drops April 24. ) I was a bit bothered by the balance last night; it was really hard to hear the vocals over the instruments. And as much as I love this band, the performance was a bit dissappointing, but I think they were just having an off-night! They didn't seem as tight as other Arts & Crafts artists (isn't hard not to fall into the trap of comparing them to Stars and Broken Social Scene?) and singing was occassionally off-key. I still really love them and hope Young Galaxy is just working out some kinks. They have a lot of potential.

You must get "Swing Your Heartache" below:

Swing Your Heartache.mp3

It is one of the most gorgeous, emotionally-swollen tracks I've ever heard.

I didn't stay to hear Cloud Cult as I was feeling pretty sick. Definitely my loss. Any go? How was it?

The Eames Era

2007-04-16T00:22:00.000-07:00

I love listening to woxy.com and recently they've been playing a lot of The Eames Era.

After reading up on them, I realize I might be late in my discovery, as they've already been featured on Grey's Anatomy and the Abercrombie and Fitch (shudder) website. BUT...the Baton Rouge based band has a fun, poppy sound that I love. Their latest album, Heroes and Sheroes, is slated to drop this Tuesday, April 17. I'm stoked!

download tracks:
The Eames Era - The Year of The Waitress.mp3
The Eames Era - Go To Sleep.mp3
The Eames Era - Fake Do-Gooder.mp3
The Eames Era - Dear Gabby.mp3

PS -
Doesn't look like they are going on the road any time soon, sadly the only upcoming date I can find is in Louisiana:
04/18/2007 -- Baton Rouge, LA / front lawn of the Old State Capital, part of the Red Stick International Animation Festival; Eames Era @ 7:oo pm

1,2,3,4....Feist!

2007-04-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

Feist is in the New York Times!

I wanna dance like that!

I've had her new album, The Reminder, for weeks now and I love it. It's a far more personal work than Let It Die, in which we get to know a more intimate side of Leslie Feist. Most of the songs have a melancholy undercurrent...the kind of emotion that comes when the party's winding down and one is alone in the cabride home. My favorite tracks are "I Feel It All", "Brandy Alexander" and "This Is How My Heart Behaves", which you can download below:

02 I Feel It All.mp3

10 Brandy Alexander.mp3

13 How My Heart Behaves.mp3

Of Montreal - Indie Rock Karaoke!

2007-04-15T08:30:00.000-07:00

Saturday night, New York Magazine (probably one of our most favoritest publications in the universe--I've been reading it since I was 13) hosted an Indie Rock karaoke at one of Brooklyn's newer venues, Studio B. We'd never been there before until Saturday and found ourselves completely charmed with the place. Except for the fact that it's a long, sketchy walk from the L-train, this venue is a real winner. Michael Showalter from Wet, Hot American Summer hosted and was completely hilarious and random. LOVED his fake moustache.

Of Montreal played one set of their own songs, took a break, and then came back (what champs!) to play another set as a back-up karaoke band. We were pleasantly surprised with the dudes who sang "Surrender", "Cut Your Hair", "More Than a Feeling", the chick who totally rocked "Sweet Child of Mine", and of course Michael Showalter's take on "Need You Tonight". We were NOT impressed with the girls who sang "Blister in the Sun". Neither was the rest of the crowd and they let those girls know it! How do you forget the words?!? Paul Rudd of Clueless fame showed up and was mega-cute. I forgot what song he sang, but he rocked it out.

We scored a prime location on comfy seats directly stage right of the band and got some super sweet pics. Check it out for yourself.

This is the chick that kicked ass on "Sweet Child of Mine"

Michael Showalter singing the hell out of "Need You Tonight"

Paul Rudd rockin out to a Boston ballad.

Look at all those guitar pics on the mic stand! Awesome.

roseland: never, ever again.

2007-04-12T22:41:00.000-07:00

Roseland is kinda like the fuck buddy that you keep saying you'll never go back to...but somehow s/he manages to lure you back in with some kind of attractive asset. For Roseland last night, it was the sedcuctive line up of:

The Annuals
The Walkmen
Kaiser Chiefs

These are all really solid bands, but somehow Roseland found a way to fuck it up (there's a surprise). Uh, what was going on with the sound board dude? The acoustics and sound were really unacceptable. The drums were way too loud and it seemed as though the vocalists (of every band) felt the need to scream over the poorly-balanced instrumentation.

I got there just in time to catch The Annuals wrap up their set and heard my favorite song "Complete or Completing". They were super intense and I'm sure it'd be a real treat to see them in a smaller venue.

The Walkmen were up next and were great. I only wish they had a little more energy. Seemed like they were super tired. Even so, they nailed their set and I hope to see them sometime at a better venue. Not sure if you can tell from the pic above, but they brought in horns! Maureen was super excited about that and it added a really nice dimension to the songs.

Exhibit A: check out that hair!

Exhibit B: Check out that hair AND their non-stop chitter chatter.

The crowd last night blew. They seemed to not care that a show was happening before their very eyes. During The Walkmen, we got stuck behind a crowd of Jersey guidos who were talking on their cell phones and loudly with their other douchebag friends during the show(See Exhibit B). I got really irate. This kind of behavior is disrespectful to the bands as well as your fellow concert-goers. If you want to horse around and shoot the shit, please go to a god damn bar instead of taking up space and blocking the view of short girls all around you. I swear to you their hair probably added another 3 inches to their height (See Exhibit A). So I couldn't see The Walkmen because of guy's god damn hair!!!

Oh wait, can we talk about the rude venue staff? The bathroom nazi, anyone? The guy downstairs was screaming at people to stand in the girls' bathroom line in a particular way, then once you actually made it inside, Livenation had hired a mexican lady to sit there and ask you to hurry up with your personal business so other people could get in and pee before the show started. Yes, it's true! Maureen and I sat outside the bathrooms to check out text messages and the bathroom nazi came over to us and told us we had to go back upstairs. The man was on a rampage. He was scolding everyone who was lingering downstairs and had already fulfilled their mission of emptying a bladder. He made me feel like i was in high school again, like i was leaving class without a hall pass and was destined for lunch detention.

Exhibit C: Going in for another kiss. Awesome.

We also go to experience the 24/7 make-out couple. Y'all know who I'm talking about. Those couples that can't seem to physically separate their mouths during a show. We had one of those get up in our personal areas during one of the first Kaiser Chief songs. That was kind of the last straw for me. We heard four Kaiser Chief songs, including "Ruby", and then peaced out.

I will say that the Kaiser Chiefs sounded great. Well, as great as you can sound in Roseland. Their frontman was incredibly energetic and his voice sounded just like the album! I was impressed. Too bad the days are gone when they would play Mercury Lounge. I have a feeling that an intimate setting with all the right acoustics for the KC could lead to a pretty perfect evening. I do wish I hadn't gotten so pissed off about the non-musical aspects of the show and stuck it out to see their entire set.

I really love Maureen because she understands the importance of FOOD. To soothe our battered concert-going souls, we headed over to Kyotofu for some really delicious appetizers and deserts. The overall design of the food and space is magnificent. The flavors are full, unexpected, and pure bliss. The service is excellent. I was so happy, it almost made up for Roseland.

Sorry these pics suck. I'll fix them when I get back to my crib.

Now THAT'S What I Call Karaoke!

2007-04-11T15:09:00.001-07:00

Last night, Stereogum posted the karaoke list for this Saturday's New York by New York Indie Rock Karaoke event.

Of Montreal's Master Karaoke Playlist
ABBA - "Dancing Queen"
Big Star - "September Gurls"
Boston - "More Than A Feeling"
Buzzcocks - "Ever Fallen In Love"
Cheap Trick - "Surrender"
Clash - "Train in Vain"
David Bowie - "Moonage Daydream"
David Bowie - "Starman"
David Bowie - "Suffragette City"
David Bowie - "Hang On To Yourself"
Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers - "Islands In The Stream"
ELO - "Don't Bring Me Down"
Fleetwood Mac - "Little Lies"
Foreigner - "Hot Blooded"
Gnarls Barkley - "Crazy"
Guided by Voices - "Motor Away"
Guns N Roses - "Sweet Child O' Mine"
INXS - "Need You Tonight"
Journey - "Don't Stop Believin'" (performed by Griffin Walker)
Kinks - "All Day And All Of The Night"
Marvin Gaye - "Let's Get It On"
Pavement - "Cut Your Hair"
Pixies - "Here Comes Your Man"
Prince - "Raspberry Beret"
Spinal Tap - "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight"
Steve Miller - "The Joker"
Violent Femmes - "Blister In The Sun"
Rolling Stones - "Rocks Off"

Of Montreal Songs Folks Can Sing If They Don't Want To Do A Cover
"Party's Crashing Us"
"Requiem for O.M.M. 2"
"Rapture"
"Suffer For Fashion"
"Bunny Ain't No Kind Of Ryder"

Today, Pitchfork posted an interview they did with Of Montreal frontman Kevin Barnes, and he has this to say about karaoke:

At the time of our chat, Barnes was busy poring over the fakebooks in anticipation of a series of karaoke performances for which Of Montreal will serve as the backing band. "Because karaoke is always a bit campy, you know, and gives people a chance to sing their favorite Elton John song or whatever, it's not necessarily the coolest material, so we're trying to pick somewhat campier stuff, 'Islands in the Stream' and 'Let's Get It On', you know, funnier, somewhat comical stuff that you wouldn't really necessarily put on a mixtape."

He laughed, then diplomatically added, "Well, I don't know, I guess it all depends on what kind of person you are. It gets a bit weird doing like, 'Hot Blooded', or whatever, like, we're doing some Foreigner and Boston, and you realize, 'God, these songs are really... bad. Or just silly.' But at the same time, there's a reason why they're fun to sing, because they're kind of extreme."

Umm, I'm calling "More Than A Feeling." What would you guys wanna sing?

Coachella Launch Party

2007-04-11T12:08:00.000-07:00

We will be there. RSVP yo' ass!

You can sign-up by emailing rsvpCoachella@filtermmm.com
Just tell them:
-full name
-affiliation
-person who invited you and names of all guests (+1's)

See you there, y'all!

PARTY TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-04-11T11:50:00.000-07:00

I might be too banged up from last night's boozin' to go, but I am sure as hell gonna try...

eldar, shake shack, klaxons, sweet n vicious

2007-04-11T09:05:00.000-07:00

Eldar is a 20-year-old pianist from Kyrgyzstan. Last night he dazzled a roomful of industry folks with his quick-as-lightening fingers at The Cutting Room. DJ Logic and Eric Krasno from Soulive comprised his band, but they seemed a little pressed to keep up with Eldar's speed. For the most part, I couldn't really hear how DJ Logic fit into the compositions, but there were a few really sweet interactions between he and Eldar towards the end of the set. I'm curious to see where his career will lead.

Next stop: Shake Shack for dinner.

Doesn't it look magical? Well, it is.

After a yummy selection of cheese fries, shakes, and burgers, we headed over to Bowery Ballroom to catch The Klaxons.

Pre-show.

Lo and behold, we missed a fight outside Bowery Ballroom. When we rolled up, some dude had blood all over his neck and another mega-hipster was lying on the ground with a security guy standing over him. Oh no, not hipsters fighting with each other!! Maybe it started as a debate about whose jeans were more tapered.

SJ's phone died during the show, so she worked it out and plugged it up at the show. HA HA.

We got there kinda late and I was feeling mega-lazy, so I didn't get any good pics of the Klaxons. I think I need to get a new camera. Anyways, here are some key photos. The Klaxons sounded pretty good, but it was a boring show! I wanted them to be much more wild and crazy (maybe I'm screwed up in the head from seeing Iggy Pop the night before). They weren't bad, just not amazing. I guess hailing from the same town as Billy Shakespeare doesn't guarantee artistic genius. Am I being too hard on them?

After the show, we headed over to Sweet and Vicious to get our drink on. And shit, did we get our drink on. I'm not sure what inspired us to drink so much, but damn Gina...my head still hurts as I type this.

"I herd you are in Buffalo, but what I REALLY want are some Canadian wings!"

Oh god, the cabride home was pretty epic. I don't remember a lot of it, but I've got the pics:

last night i saw iggy pop's ass

2007-04-10T06:26:00.001-07:00

Last night, Sarah-Jane, Josh, and I made it up to the dazzling United Palace Theatre to catch Iggy and the Stooges.

Pre-show, SJ and I got some solid eats at a steakhouse across the street. HOLY CRAP it was good. SJ in a prime action shot, yo. Below are pics of the foyer. Pretty sick, huh?

Dude this is a water fountain! Fans in the balcony. Unfortunately we got there kinda late and couldn't find a good spot to get pics. It was like attack of the 6-ft-dude-night! Next time I go to a show, I'm bringing a damn ladder with me.

OK so Iggy was fucking insane. I am really surprised he didn't cut himself or eat a small animal onstage. He lost his shirt and his pants were struggling to stay on. I definitely caught the top half of his ass and Josh says his man-bits were on display a few times. Good thing SJ and I are shorties!

When we rolled up, Iggy decided to let everyone in the pit come onstage with him. IT WAS INSANE. I wish I had gotten there in time to get up there and represent.

Here are some pics courtesy of Lawrence L:

SJ showing us the beautiful wallpaper.

Post-show, we all headed uptown to pay our friend DT a little visit. He lives in Inwood so I'm pretty sure that visitors aren't too frequent. We had a little fun in the train station with some MTA workers who were blasting some sweet rhymes reminiscent of Jazzy Jeff in his heyday.

Check out that sick stereo.

The 207 Street station RULES. There is sparkly sign that says "AT LONG LAST".

Here we are with a random-ass dude who wanted to take a picture with us. Inwood represent!

The man, the myth, the legend: DT.

What could be classier than champage on Monday night with SJ?

And there he is....

Cheers to another solid night of music. As the brits would say: MATES OUT!

what a dirrrrrty weekend!

2007-04-08T20:32:00.000-07:00

From S-Yo:

Oh SHIT, WHERE do i begin with this weekend?

On Friday night, I had to settle the Martin Sexton show at the Nokia Theatre. No, I did not catch any of the show, sadly. I really do like him. M$ attended the show and said it was great.

Saturday night, all four of us Coachella 2007 Ladies were graced with the presence of Intern Caryn, made the trek from Penn Station to Nassau Coliseum in Long Island (er, Lon Gisland) to see Christina Aguilera. Don't laugh at us, S-Yo and E$ worked on Christina Aguilera from day one (our company promoted the tour). So it was only totally righteous that we see at least one show to know what kinda product we've been endorsing. It was definitely A SHOW. C-train pulled out all the stops: pyro, trapeze artists, multiple costume changes, and of course, her amazing pipes.

We knew it was the beginning of a sweet, solid evening of fun when we hailed a cabbie that boasted a blinged out mini-van with an automatic-closing sliding door and a hula-girl. oh, and reggae jams galore.

The guys on the road with production and finance hooked us up with catering tix backstage. So, we got a free, yummy dinner chockful of pan-seared tuna, delicious eggplant encased with crispy, golden phyllo-dough, ze best aspargus of my life (my pee also smelled so!), and deserts!!! not only that, but the spread included vitamins. Here we are, taking our Flinstones so we can stay strong and healthy. L to R: Caryn, Elissa, Maureen, and Sam.

The infamous Pussy Cat Dolls opened for Christina. So did Danity Kane, but we missed them because I was parked out at the desert table in catering and couldn't stop eating. After everyone physically pulled me away from my plate, we got out just in time to see the PCD.

UMMMMMMMM, i hesitate to use the word SLUTTAY to describe these girls, but let me tell you, as a woman, I felt extremely uncomfortable watching these ladies writhe around the stage in booty shorts and boots. Maybe it's because they make me realize I should drop 20 pounds or maybe it's because I knew there were TEN YEAR OLD girls taking all of this in and probably subconsciously absorbing the message that they need stripper poles installed in their bedrooms to become real women.

AAAAAAND HERE SHE IS!

Christina's grandiose entrance. Very Madonna-esque when she was pulling her Marilyn phase shit.

She chose to open with "Ain't No Other Man." Good decision.

The final song. Christina chose "Fighter." My favoritest of her catalog.

After-show is always ze best time! We chilled out in the production office for a bit, then partied with the venue management in their offices. The peeps at Nassau Coliseum were so hospitable and fun, Coachella 2007 LOVES YOU! They even ordered a LIMO to take us back to Manhattan from Long Island. Here is Jackie representin' Nassau Coliseum as she leads us to our sweet ride. HOLLA.

We took the limo down to Allen and Delancey to meet up with some of Sam's friends. Elissa and I danced the night away and fended off lots o' sketchballs. We all lied and said it was her 21st bday and got some free shots from dudes! WOO HOO!

Obviously, we are not afraid to post shitty pictures of ourselves. But this is why our friends love us! Until next time, that's the news for now.

M$:

Now from my camera...

On the train ride over to Hempstead, I offered an old TV from work to whoever won at thumb war. It was Sam vs. Caryn. Sam won the first round, Caryn won the second round, so it was all down to the third and final round. Stay tuned for the results! Video coming soon...

Here is our Hemp-mobile. Ghettooooooo.

The high-tech sliding door!

Food at the production office. Mmmm grass. What are these hard things?

The floor of our pimp limo. MARBLE TILES. what what.

Dancing at Lucky Jack's. Which, by the way, is at the North East corner of Delancey and Allen. In case you get lost like we did...

Hot mamas.

PS. Martin Sexton was alright. The crowd sucked; fulled of douchebags who could not keep quiet. And he didn't even sing "Glory Bound!" WTF.

POP QUIZ!

2007-04-04T12:16:00.000-07:00

How well do you know your guitar gods?

Find out here.

How about your hair-metal bands?

Find out here

The Long Winters @ Union Hall

2007-04-04T08:51:00.001-07:00

Last night [April 2nd], The Long Winters played Union Hall in Park Slope, Brooklyn. I've seen The Long Winters about 4 times since last August, and they've always played a solid set and I always have a good time. This is partly because when you go to a Long Winters show, you not only get to see the band, you get to hear John Roderick's stand-up routine. Well, not really...But it feels like that because John takes a break in between most songs to make a joke of some kind, to take requests, or his favorite, to "argue" with someone in the crowd. So I know that when I go see The Long Winters, I'm going to see good music and laugh my ass off at the same time. Good combination, no?

While they did play a good set last night, including songs from all three of their albums, there was something amiss with the sound. Everything sounded muffled, guitars were slightly out of tune, levels were unbalanced, mics were feeding back, etc...Throughout the entire set, John was trying to get the sound guy to fix things. Maybe they didn't have time for a good sound check? Or maybe the sound at Union Hall sucks? I don't know.

Suffice it to say, though, that during their acoustic portion of the set, things were going well. It was just John and Eric up there, playing acoustic guitar and bass respectively. They did 3 or 4 songs like this, including "Mimi," "Seven" and "Bride and Bridle." After their little acoustic number, the rest of the band came up and they finished the show with a few more songs, ending with "Stupid" (against John's will!). Other highlights during the set include "The Commander Thinks Aloud," "Rich Wife," "Pushover" (MP3 below), "Scared Straight" (<3 style organ) and "Shapes."

DOWNLOAD: The Long Winters - "Pushover" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Long Winters - "Stupid" (MP3
Cross-posted at Skank Your Art.

+/- and Bishop Allen @ Mercury Lounge

2007-04-04T08:48:00.000-07:00

Friday's show [March 30th] at the Mercury Lounge was amazing. One of the best shows I've seen in a long time.

+/- rocked their set. The second song they played, "Fadeout," came off amazing live. There's a 4 minute buildup in the song, during which you are just waiting for the rest of the guitars and drums to kick in, and when they do it's so satisfying and worth the wait. Another highlight in their set was "One Day You'll Be There," which I imagine is really hard to pull off live with the weird syncopation, but it sounded so good. The band was really tight; but the drummer was the real star.

In between sets, they played snippets of stage banter in between songs at a KISS concert. Funny and amusing the first few times, but a little annoying towards the end. The only thing that was disappointing during their set was that the crowd didn't seem to be into it. Maybe they were all there to see Bishop Allen? Who knows, but I thought that +/- did a great job and I can't wait to see them again.

When Bishop Allen came on, the crowd was loving it. Everyone knew all the words and people were actually dancing, it was really fun. I saw Bishop Allen during their Pianos residency about a year ago, and I thought they were good, but not amazing. So I was curious as to what they sound like live now, what with all their additions and changes to the band, as well as signing a record deal with Dead Oceans. What a difference a year has made. They are a tight band now, and they have a full sound that comes off really well and fills the room. Their songs just came to life on Friday.

DOWNLOAD: Bishop Allen - "Click Click Click Click" (MP3)

I never considered myself a Bishop Allen fan, mostly because I didn't think I knew their catalog well enough. But at the show on Friday, I realized that I knew most of the songs they played, and not only that, but I really love those songs. Highlights for me included "The Monitor," "Corazon" (<3 style="font-style: italic;">Clementines due out later this Summer.

Cross-posted at Skank Your Art.

dead heart bloom

2007-04-03T07:50:00.000-07:00

dude, last night i was tooling around at work when i lost my motivation to be productive and stumbled upon a really, really fantastic band called dead heart bloom.

you can download both of their albums for free here. you should get it. you won't regret it. i can't stop listening to them and i am so pissed i missed the last show at rockwood.

new music this week

2007-04-02T07:55:00.000-07:00

dude the aol listening party has got some rad shit up for free listening this week.

you can check out jarvis cocker, sia, kings of leon, and fountains of wayne.

ROCK OUT!

LCD Soundsystem album sucks!??!

2007-03-28T00:39:00.000-07:00

Hey Y'all,

I just read an article on James Murphy in New York Magazine. They make him sound like an interesting dude, so you'd think that the newly-released, hyped-up album (titled Sound of Silver) from his band, LCD Soundsystem, should be good. Right?

I first listened to it about 2-3 weeks ago and was not impressed at all. The only songs that stood out were "When Someone Great is Gone" and "All My Friends". The rest of the album...kinda blew.

I talked to my buddy Sheryl today and she really likes the album, so I thought I'd give it another go. I listened to it 3 times. And still, I felt the same way I felt on my initial listen.

Am I wrong?

I love that Pitchfork gave it a super high rating. Just confirms what we all already know about Pitchfork: they don't know what the fuck they're talking about.

Is anyone else with me on this??

The Music Slut: Cassettes Won't Listen

2007-03-27T23:47:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Cassettes Won't Listen played The Music Slut's Spring Fling at The Delancey.

Man, do I have some mixed feelings about this performance. I REALLY WANT TO LOVE CWL. He's got some great and hilarious ideas. BUT....dude can't sing in tune and sometimes the delivery of his songs really, really falter. What Cassettes Won't Listen DOES do well is all his computer stuff and remixing. I concluded by the end of the night he should really just stick to re-mixing other artist's work. His realizations of The Postmarks' "Goodbye" and The Diggs' "Everyone's Starting Over" are awesome. And I love his original song "Lunch for Breakfast" but the outta key vox sometimes drive me nuts. You can listen to him here.

While the beginning of the show was pretty lukewarm, I got pretty worried about losing my faith altogether in CWL. He sorta redeemed himself with this:

CWL, unbeknownst to us, scattered his friends in the crowd and then asked people to come up and sing for him so that it appeared to be random people that he'd never met. At first we thought it was real and I was cracking up. By the time the second female vocalist came up, we realized it was a hoax--a fun one, but still a hoax. While this gimmicky trick didn't redeem the weak music, it saved what could've been a really, really weak performance.

Illinois in the Lower East Side

2007-03-27T15:10:00.000-07:00

Last night, banjo-rocking Illinois [from PA] played Cake Shop. They pretty much rocked the house. They are four tall, lanky similar-looking guys who put on an energetic and fun performance. Highlights include lead singer Chris Archibald singing through a telephone. It seemed like the crowd was full of their friends, so it was a fun environment to see them in.

Here's an MP3 from their latest EP What The Hell Do I Know?:
DOWNLOAD: Illinois - "Alone Again" (MP3)

Head to their myspace to see where they're heading next.

Odd Czar @ The Annex

2007-03-26T15:05:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

Come out to The Annex on Wednesday night [March 28th] to see Odd Czar.
They will melt your face off with their Rock.

Catch them at 10PM. Elemeno P [from New Zealand] goes on at 9PM and Bears Repeating go on at 11PM.

Jamie T @ Mercury Lounge

2007-03-22T10:06:00.000-07:00

Last night, Jamie T played a somewhat secret show at Mercury Lounge. It was one of those rare New York nights where the crowd was perfect and there was just a great vibe in the room. Jamie T played an acoustic bass and performed a short set of about 7 songs. It was great. He's so charismatic and so British, he charmed the pants off the crowd. And the Brits were totally representing last night, singing along to all the songs and even getting ahead of Jamie at times (hilarious!).

I'm not that well acquainted with his music, but I fell in love with him and his songs last night. He was a really great solo performer, and did songs like "Sheila" and "If You Got The Money" (which was great because everyone knew all the words). I'm looking forward to catching him the next time he's in town with his band.

DOWNLOAD: Jamie T - "If You Got The Money" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Jamie T - "On Holiday" (MP3)

Cross-posted @ Skank Your Art

OH WHAT A NIGHT: The New Violators, Dash Dogs, Jamie T.

2007-03-22T09:36:00.000-07:00

Last night, young British artist Jamie T. played Mercury Lounge and was spectacular. It's been a long time since I've seen a musician capable of truly owning the stage with simply their instrument and voice.

The crowd was really terrific and it was one of those New York nights that will forever be etched in my mind as "TOTALLY AWESOME, YO". The Brits showed up to support and sing along all the lyrics...which you think would be mega-annoying, but instead was very endearing and added to the whimsy and fun of the performance. I left with a huge grin on my face like the nerdbird that I am and the melody of Shelia stuck in my head. Check M$'s posting above to download Shelia.

One of the highlights of the evening was meeting the famous Johnny Beach. He was super nice. Makes my lovefest with The Bowery Presents even more intense.

M$ had the munchies, so we headed over to Dash Dogs to grab a bite to eat. Best hot dogs EVER. We made friends with the dudes workin there and even got a Polaroid taken (above) of us! They put it up on their WALL OF FAME. So....next time you're at Dash, look for us!

This is a hilarious pic we just couldn't stop laughing at from the WALL OF FAME.

Since we separated from our bud Josh, we went over to Pianos to reunite with him. For a while it was a bit slow and I was thinkin about peacing out, but boy, am I glad I didn't!!! The New Violators were playing, but of course Pianos was at capacity, so we just had to sit at the bar and try to catch snippets of the show. Josh took a while to come over, but once he did, we got the party started. DAMN.

The New Violators started drinking at the bar, so I thought we'd make friends with them. L to R: S-Yo, A New Violator, E$

Check out this Violator's fly white pants.

Gettin picked up by The White-Panted Violator and Josh.

Wearing the singer's glasses.

The hot-pink Members Only jacket that we all coveted the entire evening.

Man, what a night!

Modest Mouse on Tour!

2007-03-21T15:12:00.000-07:00

Modest Mouse has just announced they will play United Palace Theatre on Sunday, April 29th and Monday, April 30th.

Tix on sale this Saturday at noon. You can purchase them here

Other tour dates:

March 10 Mexico City @ Foro Sol GET TIX
March 14 Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom SOLD OUT
March 15 Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom SOLD OUT
March 16 Missoula, MT @ Missoula Univ Theater SOLD OUT
March 17 Bozeman, MT @ Gallatin County Fairgrounds SOLD OUT
March 18 Sioux Falls, SD @ Ramkota Exhibit Hall GET TIX
March 19 Fargo, ND @ Play Maker's Pavilion GET TIX
May 20 Somerset, UK @ ATP vs the Fans GET TIX
May 23 London, UK @ Royal Albert Hall GET TIX
June 1 Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound GET TIX

Stream the new album, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank, here.

new stuff

2007-03-20T08:20:00.000-07:00

Bic Runga and Jamie T play Mercury Lounge tonight! What a sweet, sweet line-up. No advance sales for Jamie, so get there early...

To get yourself psyched, listen here and here.

In other news, the boys at B.B. King's bring us the latest addition to the roster of NYC music venues: the Highline Ballroom on 16th Street between 9th and 10th.

The line-up so far includes:

Moe May 3-5
Amy Winehouse May 8-9
Mos Def May 26
Jonatha Brooke May 1
Spank Rock May 15

Check it all out and get your tix here.

I found out last week through my sources at Madison Square Garden (and forgot to post) that Morrissey is slated to play Madison Square Garden on June 30th. The on-sale is March 31 and I believe tix are $69 a pop. More on-sale info to come...

Some stuff I've been listening to:

I am loving the Winter Kids. Their album Memoirs if chockfull of fun, catchy, happy tunes.

Secretly Jesus and the Mary Chain, Sister Vanilla will be at Coachella this year. I've only listened to 3 or 4 tracks, but they are positively divine.

the collarbone's connected to the...

2007-03-20T01:13:00.000-07:00

Last night Fujiya & Miyagi played the MacIntosh Center at Barnard College. That's like, waaaaaaay too uptown. Unbeknownst to me, I was about to stumble upon a SECRET BILLYBURG where I witnessed more tapered jeans and flats than my latest trip on the L-train. And there was a loooooooot of American Apparel happening at this place. Who knew that hipsters had a secret colony on the Columbia University campus?

The opening band was a total disaster. Lots of scary attempts at harmonizing that resulted in shitty weird intervals and my bleeding eardrums. They sounded like the disco, wanna-be version of Ra-Ra Riot.

The capacity was about 200 people, but we guesstimated that perhaps only 100-150 showed up. Probably 100ish. And the people around us felt the need to talk about completely underelated things throughout the course of the evening. Dude, you can do that in a coffeehouse--please don't come to shows if you're going to tell us about your last date really, really loudly.

Anyways, enough bitching and bad attitude!!!

If you're not familiar with Fujiya & Miyagi's catalouge, listen here

Hokay...they were pretty awesome. I'm in love with the David Best's (the lead vocalist) voice. IT IS SEX ON A STICK. They really rocked out and right when I felt like they had warmed up to the audience, the set ended (probably about a 45 minutes long...). They don't have a drummer right now and are using a machine, but it was kinda cool. Wondering if they will get a drummer?

I'm really, really bummed I didn't get the chance to see them at Mercury Lounge Sunday night or tomorrow night, but that's what I get for snoozin' on the ticket quest.

I'd LOVE to see F & M play a P.S. 1 Party this summer or the rooftfop of The Delancey (but not the winter. only in the hot, hot heat).

Big Time Sensuality

2007-03-19T14:14:00.000-07:00

Bjork will grace New York City with 3 shows in May as she kicks off her next world tour.

May 2 - Radio City Music Hall

May 5 - United Palace Theatre

I snagged some pics of this fancy new uptown theatre in case you're wondering what the scenario is up in Harlem:

May 8 - The Apollo

Tix on-sale next Friday, March 23. Pre-sales are March 28-29 exclusively through here.

Oh, and unless you've been living under a rock, I'm sure those of you headin' out to Coachella already know she's the headliner on Friday's bill.

scooters, vacation, fall, bloated

2007-03-18T17:38:00.000-07:00

warhol on a sunday morning (night)

2007-03-18T17:36:00.000-07:00

it's oh so quiet...

2007-03-16T15:09:00.000-07:00

...while everyone is away at sxsw...

still, here are some things you should keep on your radar:

Maria Taylor plays Mercury Lounge tonight. She's awesome and Jaymay is supporting so it's bound to be a solid time.

If you get a chance, check out one of her shows coming near you:

New York City on Mar 16th details
Brooklyn on Mar 17th details
Cambridge on Mar 18th details
Toronto on Mar 21st details
Gambier on Mar 22nd details
Seattle on Mar 27th details
Portland on Mar 28th details
San Francisco on Mar 30th details
San Diego on Apr 1st details
Phoenix on Apr 3rd details

Pete Rock and Waajeed lead the party at Southpaw tonight in honor of J.Dilla's posthumous realize of his album Ruff Draft. The record drops next Tuesday. We're stoked!

If you're not familiar with this stuff, listen here.

The Fujiya & Miyagi show at Mercury Lounge this Sunday. I know tix are sold-out, so your best bet is to hit up the Monday night performance at Barnard. Tix are only sold at the door so make sure you beat out those ivy leaguers by showing up early.

And here's a track by Rich Boy that my officemate is totally stoked about. The lyrics are pretty hilarious.

Oh shit my office peeps are peacing. I promise to write more before the weekend ends. For those of you in NYC, stay dry!

karma karma karma

2007-03-13T11:07:00.000-07:00

So I've had a pretty busted up week trying to get into shows. I meant to see Cassettes Won't Listen at Sin-e (make sure you get to Sin-e before it closes for good on April 2!) on Saturday, but due to a series of unfortunate events, I didn't get down there in time. I was pissed because The Diggs were also on that bill and man what a dream billing...gotta love those guys. THEN I also missed The Roots at Nokia on Sunday. Monday, M$ and I were shut down at Union Hall for the Loney, Dear show. Tuesday I got the total smackdown for The Pipettes and Amy Winehouse show. I had a comp ticket from my job set up about a month ago and due to drama, I came in on Tuesday to find my ticket had been yanked out from under my nose. So I decided to stand by and see if my colleague could score an extra ticket for me. NO DICE. So... I got pretty drunk at a wine bar in Nolita.

My luck all took a turn for the better last night when I scored a free last-minute seat to The Shins at Theatre at MSG. Damn, were they good. Thumbs up to the soundboard dudes. The balance was pretty perfect. At the beginning there was a bit of feedback from the bass, but the rest of the night was smooth sailing. No matter how good the act, something about the sound at TMSG is really funky. It sounds like things are muffled, you know? Like the bands are playing with a pillow smushed over them. Is it just me?

They opened with Sleeping Lessons, Australia (I think? Can't remember.) and then the great single Phantom Limb (which I sing everyday when I'm walking to the train in the mornings. I love the oooooooooooooooooooo way ooooooooooooo, ooooooooooooooo ooooooooo part). Of course they delivered greatest hits like Kissing the Lipless, Young Pilgrims, and New Slang.

More pics soon to come. Sorry guys! I forgot to bring my camera so I'm awaitin for my friend's buddy to upload his pics. In the meantime, enjoy the view here.

I'm going to see Mana at MSG tonight and I don't know what to expect. Should be fun, I hope!

Got lots of new stuff. Been real lazy on the posting scene, but I hope that all changes today!

First off, this is probably old news for a lot of you, but I'm so excited about it that I must say something! The always amazing Stars are re-leasing their Set Yourself on Fire album with each track re-mixed by a different band. I've been able to get 3 singles off it and they are delicious!

Take a listen, I promise you won't regret it:

Ageless Beauty by Most Serene Republic.

Sleep Tonight by Junior Boys.

First Five Times by Russian Futurists. (This is my least favorite. I give the Russian Futurists mad props for re-realizing this track in a completely different tone, but I just don't think it works within the original premises of the song. But...maybe that's the point.)

The album's track listing is as follows:

your ex-lover is dead (final fantasy)
set yourself on fire (montag)
ageless beauty (the most serene republic)
reunion (jason collett)
the big fight (minotaur shock)
what i'm trying to say pt. 1 (the dears)
what i'm trying to say pt. 2 (the dears)
one more night (apostle of hustle)
sleep tonight (junior boys)
the first five times (the russian futurists)
he lied about death (metric)
celebration guns (camouflage nights with kevin drew)
soft revolution (the stills)
calendar girl (young galaxy)

Damn...it's gonna be so good.

My favorite Stars remix is done by Most Serene Republic, a band that's also signed to the Arts & Crafts label. Since their work on the Ageless Beauty single was so good, I decided to check out their album and have grown quite fond of it. This collection of songs no doubt takes a couple listens to get a good grasp on the material. My ears felt like a jumble of sound had descended into them, but after a few tries I've really grow to love them. I highly recommend. They remind me of the sound that's coming out of Chicago right now (Bound Stems, Chin Up Chin Up)

In other news, these are some bands I've been listening to:

Young Galaxy

I've only listened to 3 tracks off the EP, but they're fantastic. I have "Swing Your Heartache" on repeat. Man, another great band out of Canada. Must be something in the water, eh?

They'll be at Mercury Lounge on April 14th and 15th--get your tix now!

The Rosebuds

I'm probably a little late on this, but I just discovered this band from my hometown, Raleigh, NC! They are a showcasing artist at SXSW, so if you're in Austin go check 'em out!

The Bears

Really fun, poppy music. They make me smile. Their new EP is coming out April 3 and you can stream 2 of the new tracks here.

Totally diggin' on this Mark Ronson remix of Lily Allen's "Smile" that features Dujeous of Brooklyn (you can also check Dujeous out at South By this week).

Ok...I'm out of time for now as I have to run over and see some stupid show in since its doing previews right now. More to come!

Marissa Nadler, El Perro Del Mar played Bowery Ballroom

2007-03-04T21:27:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday night, Chris Garneau and Marissa Nadler opened for El Perro Del Mar at Bowery Ballroom.

The pics aren't fantastic as I got there sorta late and thus got a bad spot. Also, I'm short. We missed Chris' entire set, but caught most of Marissa. She's got a really fantastic, unique voice but she definitely needs to work on her stage presence. The crowd was being mega-rude and talked through the majority of her set (my biggest pet peeve). I wonder if this was the biggest venue she's played before. I would really like to see her at the Living Room or Joe's Pub. That said, her voice is amazing. Silvia gave me goosebumps.

El Perro Del Mar was charming and played a pretty terrific (but short) set. 3 swedish dudes (keys, bass, guitar) backed up her vox and guitar. Can't wait for her to come back, yo.

Chin Up, Boris Yeltsin!

2007-02-23T11:17:00.000-08:00

From M$:
Last night at Mercury Lounge, I saw Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin open up for Chin Up Chin Up.

SSLYBY:

Their set opened up with four great songs, starting with "Oregon Girl," which rocked. The lead singer told the crowd that he was sick, so we all forgave him for his out of tune vocals. "Pangea" was really one of the highlights, but before they played their fifth song, the band switched instruments: the bass player became the drummer, the lead singer/guitarist because the bass player and the drummer became the singer/guitarist. Somewhere during that switch the bass and guitar went out of tune, and the band didn't bother to fix it. Somewhere during that switch, the band kind of fell apart.

Their next few songs were messy and the band just didn't seem to get it together. But by the last two songs in their set, they had pulled it together again. They knew that it wasn't their best set ever, but they still tried to have fun with it, jumping all around stage. Overall, it could have been better, but I wouldn't completely write them off.

Chin Up Chin Up:

I really feel that Chin Up Chin Up played a solid set last night.

Set-list below:

Maybe it was because they didn't go on until almost 11PM, or maybe they were just tired, but I thought the only drawback last night was that the band lacked the energy that I expected. The guitarist was really amazing though, working a million pedals and just hitting everything on point. I couldn't hear the vocals very well from where I was standing, but the drumming was solid and so was the bass playing and the guy on the keys.

Chin Up Chin Up played a good set, and I have no doubt they that are good musicians so I would definitely see them again. And as for SSLYBY, the jury's still out on them...

From S-Yo:

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

Members:
Will – lead singer/guitar
Jonathan James – bass/drummer
John Robert Cardwell – singer/guitar
Philip Dickey – singer/drummer/guitar

The set opened up strong with four solid songs in a row, including

What’ll We Do
Oregon Girl
I Am Warm and Powerful
Pangea

The lead vocalist was sick and losing his voice, but that didn’t stop him from delivering some nicely tailored phrases and sweet melodic lines.

But…what happened next was catastrophic to their performance. The drummer switched to vocals/guitar and the bassist switched over to drums. I’m not sure what went down, but all of sudden the vocalists’ tuning really whacked out. I can’t remember it if was just one or both or what? But…something was definitely not right and not good and they couldn’t really capture the sounds they brought on earlier in the night.

In between songs they were very charismatic and obviously grateful to hit the road with Chin Up Chin Up; Phillip, their drummer/guitarist/vocalist, said: “We’re so happy to be here with Chin Up Chin Up, who are way more popular and better than we are. If they didn’t invite us along, we’d all be sitting in Will’s basement watching TV in Missouri.”

I still love this band, even if the tuning was an issue. They are young and have a lot of time, but obviously this is a problem they need to address ASAP! SSLYBY has everything working in their favor: good songwriting skills, tight ensemble playing, and a wonderful, captivating stage presence. Once they get the tuning kinks worked out, I think I will love them even more.

…
Chin Up Chin Up

Members:
Jeremy Bolen – lead vocals/guitar
Nathan Snydacker - guitar
Greg Sharp – keys
Chris Dye – drums
Jessee Woghim – bass

I was sad they didn’t really play many songs from the first album, We Should’ve Never Lived Like We Were Skyscrapers, which are the only works I know pretty well. (My fault for not getting This Harness Can’t Ride Anything beforehand) I couldn’t decipher if it was my fatigue or the band’s, but halfway through the performance lost a lot of energy; however, "Virginia, Don’t Drown" proved that when they are on, Chin Up Chin Up can truly deliver the high-energy, poppy sounds their albums promise. (Also, I should say I didn’t know most of the other songs. So perhaps it’s not really fair for me to comment on the delivery.)

I had difficulties hearing the vocals over the rich jungle of instrumentation; perhaps the balance was off-kilter or I was just standing too close to the house left speaker. I really wanted to hear Jeremy Bolen’s voice, which many critics describe as annoying at times, but I left not knowing for certain if I liked it or not (For now, I’m leaning towards the former).

That said, I really dig on this band. I’m not really sure what’s happening in Chicago, but I am loving the sound generated from this town. Chin Up Chin Up (and The Bound Stems) encompass a light, carefree attitude that permeates each song. Sometimes this serves as a foil for much darker lyrics and thus creates some very interesting songs.

I’d love to see CUCU again when I’m less sleepy and more well-versed in their catalogue. There’s so much potential for a truly amazing show.

this sunday night...

2007-02-16T13:32:00.000-08:00

...come to hip hop karaoke at the knitting factory!

s-yo

happy fridayyyyyyyyy

2007-02-16T13:10:00.000-08:00

No. 49, No. 50: Welcome to Arcade Fire

2007-02-15T11:05:00.000-08:00

50 tickets were sold at the door for Arcade Fire's second sold-out show at Judson Memorial Church last night.

We waited in line for two hours, envious of everyone that had been lucky enough to buy their tickets online or get on the guest list. The security guards kept going down the line and telling everyone to leave, that there was no chance of getting in beyond a certain point. Luckily we were always right before or behind that certain point, so no scare tactics were going to work on us. We were going to wait in that line until they let the last person in and closed those doors. And thank god we did, because we were one of the last people that they let in.

When we walked into the Church, it was clear that it was going to be an amazing show. They might have been at capacity, but there was so much room for everyone to stand and move and sway. I had always felt that I just didn't get Arcade Fire. I enjoyed Funeral and really like Neon Bible, but I didn't feel like I was in the Arcade Fire club. There was something that everyone else knew that I didn't, and I finally got to experience it for myself last night.

From the moment that they got on stage, I was mesmerized. They started off with "No Cars Go," then went on to play "Black Mirror," "Haiti" and "Keep the Car Running." One of the highlights for me was definitely "My Body Is A Cage," which Win dedicated to Regine (since it was Valetine's Day...Aw). That song was particularly amazing because of the slow build-up, each addition making the song more powerful until the whole band was playing and it seemed like the room was going to explode. They ended with "Rebellion" and "Intervention," which got the whole crowd going wild. Win kept telling the crowd to make more noise. "Scream something. Anything. Boo. Boo like it's Ashlee Simpson at the Rose Bowl. Scream Charlie. Whatever." So by the time the set ended, the entire audience was screaming . Which now reminds me that Win dedicated "(Antichrist Television Blues)" to Joe Simpson by saying "Joe Simpson, To you we pray..."

Anyway, Arcade Fire definitely earned themselves a new convert last night.

Listen to Neon Bible and go see them. It will be amazing.

Cross-posted at Skank Your Art.

2007-02-12T10:51:00.000-08:00

let the blogs begin!

2007-02-12T09:35:00.000-08:00

welcome to our blog.

we don't have much to report right now, but here's an update of the latest shows we've been to.

wednesday - justin timberlake at MSG. while i am kinda embarrassed about liking him, he is an amazing artist! sings in tune, plays his own instruments and dances like whoa! (in my best joey lawrence voice) AND...he sang dick in a box. i was a happy camper.

friday - i made the mistake of checking out boys like girls and cobra starship, they opened for cartel at nokia theatre times square. i don't really enjoy that genre of music. plus, i was the oldest person there.

saturday - plug awards at irving plaza. it was CRAZY. it was STUPID. it was HILARIOUS. my love for david cross will overcome all the shitty skits and contrived dialouge that comprised a good portion of this show. silversun pickups and stephen malkmus gave some solid performances. BUT...to whoever was operating the soundboard: SHAME ON YOU. the balance and mix were awful. highlight of the night: david cross interviewing stephen malkmus. i was pissing my pants.

and the evening confirmed that i am NOT a deerhoof fan. i know i should not distribute the hateraide since the lead vocalist is a fellow asian, but damn...i just DO NOT like their sound. and El-P was terrible! i don't understand why they are a buzz band. WTF. maybe they were having an off night.

-posted by S-Yo