HD-ivo will turn me into a cheeseball...


I watched American Dreams on Sunday night and LOVED it. Very cute show...I've never met anybody who's watched it before, but I guess it's something for Middle America who doesn't get HBO and likes to watch TV as a family. Anyway...perfectly nice TV. It'll be recorded regularly...and watched by myself. When JJ comes home from Vietnam and sees Beth and their child for the first time, I don't want anybody to see me cry...

Anyway...Saturday night I saw an unbelievably blistering set by The Fiery Furnaces. Really one of the tightest live shows I've seen in a very long time. It was a non-stop medley of a ton of their songs that seamlessly flowed in and out of each other without a break or a breath. Here's the the Breastest review of the show you'll read.

Sunday evening I saw Rachael Yamagata rock NoHo at Joe's pub. She was awesome, as expected. She's got these Mona Lisa eyes that always look like she's singing directly to you...pretty damn impressive. I still am convinced she's the sexiest girl in the world who's not actually that attractive...but she works it, dude. Lots of tucked in shirts and blackberries at her shows, but still not to be missed when she plays these club sets. Catch her next time she's in town, but get tickets early, cause she always sells out mad quick.

Somehow, Brooklyn Vegan beat me to this. Slunt, a band fronted by my very own cousin, Abby Gennet, is shooting a video at Continental Wednesday afternoon and they are looking for people to come out and be extras in the crowd...BV's got the details...

Props to Mike and Jimmy of Junk Science, an offshoot of Nuclear Family, for winning the Scion: Next Up Emcee contest. They won a car, a professionally produced video and some other cool jawn. These boys are disturbingly talented, and I'm happy to see them get some recognition.

Morning Theft is hitting the Central Village! They'll be playing Plaid on October 22nd to celebrate their album release. Mark your calendars.

The Kleptones "A Night at the Hip Hopera" is one of the coolest albums I've heard this year. I know everyone is sick of mashups by now, but these guys are the masters. Their first LP was "Yoshimi Battles The Hip Hop Robots" which, obviously, was rap put to The Flaming Lips most recent album...It works very well. "Hip Hopera" is a much more produced effort, with rap songs put to some of Queen's greatest hits. Sounds corny perhaps, but give it a shot and you'll be hooked. It’s really fun and well done. The highlights for me are Beastie Boys Medley "Break->Listen", and the ODB meets Under Pressure mashup, "Live". You can download both of their albums, as well as some other interesting stuff. Check it out..It’s free.

Tomorrow there's a whole lot of new buyable stuff in the stores. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which is I think my favorite movie of the year so far, comes out. Interpol's Antics, of course finally drops tomorrow as well, as does Mark Knopfler's newest album, Shangri La, which is an early frontrunner for the top 20 of 5765..."Boom, Like That" gives me chills.

Talib Kweli's amazing new album, The Beautiful Struggle, is coming out tomorrow as well...He'll be doing an in store performance tomorrow at the Megastore at 8:00 PM. Should be worth it if you can make it.

This weeks starts off a sick run of shows in New York...Talib tomorrow, Keane and the French Kicks Wednesday, Bloc Party Thursday, Pearl Jam/Death Cab Friday in Reading, PA. From now through CMJ, there's a worthwhile show almost every night.

Finally, the Top 20 of 5764 is complete. Here's the complete list below:
#20 The Magnetic Fields - I
#19 Hope of the States - The Lost Riots
#18 The Rapture - Echoes
#17 The Arcade Fire - Funeral
#16 The Strokes - Room on Fire
#15 The Fiery Furnaces - Blueberry Boat
#14 The Futureheads - The Futureheads
#13 Dogs Die in Hot Cars - Please Describe Yourself
#12 Feist - Let it Die
#11 The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
#10 Murs - Murs 3:16
#9 Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
#8 Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism
#7 Scissor Sisters - Scissor Sisters
#6 The Killers - Hot Fuss
#5 RJD2 - Since Last We Spoke
#4 The Libertines - The Libertines
#3 Muse - Absolution
#2 Blonde Redhead - Misery is a Butterfly
#1 Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous

Thats all for now.