the collarbone's connected to the...

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

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

warhol on a sunday morning (night)

it's oh so quiet...

...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

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

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.