Good News!

ClearChannel Drops Their Surcharge at Amphitheatres!

This is fantastic news for music fans. I don't go to a lot of amphitheatre shows, but after this being such a bad summer for ticket sales overall, I think it's a step in the right direction.

Remember These Names...


Long-View - The Keane of 2005. These guys put on a very solid show last night at Pianos for their first ever American gig. The band, who is used to headlining shows at upwards of 2000 person clubs in England, called last night's set "the second most intimate thing they've ever done." I expect these guys to be all over the Adult Alternative stations next year...and I mean that in the best way possible. They have a very refined sound that should appeal to the masses. Although their sound is prolly better compared to a band like the Doves, given their success in England, I expect them to break out into the mainstream next year. They are playing Mercury Lounge tonight.


Bloc Party's 'Silent Alarm' - The Franz Ferdinand's 'Franz Ferdinand' of 2005. I hate to be the asshole gloating about how good an album is that isn't out yet, so this is the last you'll likely hear about it till it is released. I think these guys already have the Mercury Prize locked up. Their album is catchy and accessible, and I think if it is played right on American Radio, they will really catch on with the kids. The music is like a natural evolution from what is big right now. Takes the best parts of bands like The Killers and Franz Ferdinand and adds their own style and twinge to keep it unique. I'll be very surprised and a bit disappointed if this album doesn't completely blow up upon release.


Saints and Lovers - The Sons of Sound of 2005. They were forced to change their name due to an apparent copyright infringement, and settled on this new moniker. Equally fitting. These guys are probably the best band in New York that's officially still 'under the radar'. They made a lot of new fans at Movable Hype, and I see them really taking off in the coming year. Catch them smack in the middle of another incredible lineup at Mercury Lounge on Dec. 18th.

Coachella 2005


Could this be real?

After a bit of internet snooping, I found this list around a few different places...obviously nothing is confirmed yet, but it's a pretty exciting start. Take a look:

April 30

David Bowie
Nine Inch Nails
Pj Harvey
Interpol
The Faint
Franz Ferdinand
The Polyphonic Spree
Boards Of Canada
Tv On The Radio
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Squarepusher
Clinic
French Kicks
Secret Machines
Phoenix
Beep Beep
Dogs Die In Hot Cars
Death From Above 1979
The Helio Sequence

May 1st

R.E.M.
Tears For Fears
Wilco
Modest Mouse
Bright Eyes
Jimmy Eat World
Mos Def
Badly Drawn Boy
The Streets
Spoon
Cake
The Postal Service
The Shins
Sleater-Kinney
Rilo Kiley
Radio 4
Doves
Iron And Wine
The Arcade Fire
Moving Units

God I hate posting on Monday...

Nothing ever feels right.

Anyway.

There are a couple things I think are worth checking out this week...

If you're new in town, they're lighting the tree today at 5:30. Rockefeller Center. Just sayin in case...

Tonight at Pianos two fantastic bands are playing on the earlier side. The one not to miss is the UK's Long-View. They are about to release their debut album here in the States, and are already pretty big over there. They go on at 7:30. At 9:30, Elkland, who I've spoken about many times before, are playing. I know I've been saying this for a while now, but they won't be doing little spots like Pianos forever...Columbia Records will see to that. But anyway, both bands have very similar sounds, so if you already like one, I'm sure you'll dig the other. Long-View isn't playing NY every day...In fact I think it's their first time here...so catch them while you can.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to check out Buck 65 at Sin-E at 9:00. I caught them in London over the summer and was greatly entertained. It's best described at Canadian Country-Rap...so yeah, it's unique. But good I swear. They're playing a few shows here in the coming weeks, preparing for the US album release. Also, if you missed Long-View the night before, they're playing Mercury Lounge at 8:00.

Wednesday and Thursday is that mini megashow with Phoenix and Benzos and Inouk. It's kinda perfect, cause I don't think I'd go out of my way to see one of those bands, but all three might be worth checking out. If it's not sold out, I might head down there.

When I was in Ireland, everyone spoke very highly of a band called The Frames. It was consensus that they put on the best live show around, and everybody was raving about their performance from the year before on the Main Stage of the festival. Anyway, poking around MoreCowbell, I saw that they were coming to America next year, and would be hitting up NYC at the beginning of March. Then I noticed that they were playing Joe's Pub THIS WEDNESDAY! This is a band that sells out giant concert halls in Ireland, and they were playing the most intimate venue in New York this week? Impossible. But true. Needless to say, the two sets are both sold out, but I might wander over to see if I can try and get in. Everyone told me not to miss a chance to see these guys live, so I'll do what I can do.

Some other notes...

I loved coming back to read the Canadian Bloggers complaining about the lack of American posts over the last week. Sorry guys...you can take Boxing Day off.

I went down to the Apple store yesterday to buy a $30 iSkin protective case, and left with a $300 dollar Bose SoundDock...Tis the season I suppose. My first impressions of the speaker system are very very good. It sounds great in my living room, the remote works perfectly well, and, best of all, my iPod fits in the cradle with the iSkin on...not expected but extremely convenient.

I watched Gattaca for the first time in a long time last night on HBO2. I really liked it...more so than I had remembered. The story was good and all, but the costumes and the scenery and cinematography really make it stand out. Reccomended if you haven't seen it recently.

Finally, the Bloc Party album, 'Silent Alarm' is phenomenal. At first listen, it didn't really blow me away, and I thought these comments might be a bit of a stretch. But the more I listened the better everything sounded. The tracks pulled from the EP sound much better this time around (especially 'She's Hearing Voices'), but my favorite for the moment is a song called 'Blue Light', which sounds like a clean and sober Libertines tune. Needless to say's it's something special. Everyone should look forward to this album coming out. It's gonna be a winner.

Gobble Gobble...

Back from the break. Didn't go anywhere, but I stayed off a computer more or less for the last 4 days...which was nice I suppose.

My long weekend was surprisingly subdued. Went out to see Nukfam at Southpaw Wednesday night, which has become the big annual reunion for my high school. Fun times I guess...hard to remember. Did get to see a good handful of people I used to be much better friends with who have faded away for one reason or another. It was nice to catch up.

Thursday I went to Jean Georges with my Mom and Dad for a delicious, tho extremely expensive Thanksgiving dinner. Everything I ate was beyond superb, but out of all the restaurants this city has to offer, there are other places with equally splendid food at a significantly lower cost. Still, it's very hard to complain. I had the Wild Mushroom Soup, an incredible Lobster Somethinganother, a perfectly cooked piece of Steak with potato puree, and various chocolate desserts. The wine was white and the champagne was bubbly...You'd have to ask my parents for details on that.

Friday night I trekked out to the dreaded Hoboken with a good buddy of mine who was back in town from grad school to go see Britt Daniel play his solo show. Once we got over the whole 'splitting cabs with strangers' thing, we got to Maxwells, which appears to be a restaurant with a space in the back about the size of Mercury Lounge. It was completely sold out and sweaty as hell inside, but I threw my coat in the corner near the merch table, which was a bit of relief. Anyway, he put on a good show, tho I kinda wish I was a bigger Spoon fan, cause I only knew a small handful of the songs he played. What I recognized was excellent, and the crowd was hanging on his every note and word, so I have to imagine the rest was equally good for a more knowledgeable fan. I don't think I'd go out of my way to hit up Maxwells again, but it's a good option to maybe see a bigger band play a smaller stage.

So that was the long weekend more or less. Saturday was just another blurry night out. Today I did a bit of shopping. Tonight I had some people over for dinner and stayed in.

There's a lot of cool shit going on the next couple days. Especially if you're keen to early shows. I'll get into it more in the morning.

My first concert(s)

KEXP has been talking all morning about people's first concert they ever went to. I have a few...

My first actual rock concert (I'm not talking Raffi here) was Bob Dylan in Omaha, Nebraska a long long time ago. I can't remember the actual year, but I was little. I was at a family wedding, and was walking around downtown Omaha with my parents and some other very hip family members. We randomly go by this theatre, and my dad sees on the marquee that Bob Dylan was playing that night. He used to be a DJ in the 60s and 70s and is a very big fan, despite the fact that Dylan was basically at the bottom of his career at the time. We walked in, and the ticket guy said we could just go in and catch the rest of his set for like $10 a head (I'm sure it went right into his pocket). So we did. I remember very little of the actual show, but it makes for a good story.

My first concert I actually got tickets for was the Simon and Garfunkel reunion at the Paramount (now the Theatre at Madison Square Garden). I was in 8th grade. With my parents. It was a great show...I loved them back then. They opened with 'The Boxer' and Art Garfunkel screwed up the lyrics to 'Bridge Over Troubled Waters.' Was a really fun show, especially growing up on 'Graceland', and having just gotten into their older stuff.

But both of those were bands from my parents’ generation that they were probably just as excited to go see as I was. The first show I went to that was MY music was Green Day at Nassau Coliseum...also in 8th Grade. My mom actually liked Green Day cause she got the Woodstock '94 Pay-Per-View feed and enjoyed their mud-slinging set. I stayed home from school the whole week cause I was sick, but somehow found the energy to make it to the show that Friday night. I went with my parents and a friend of mine from school (who, as a side note, is now apparently in training to be an officer in the Marines. He was always the token Republican friend from grade school.) I remember all the teenagers storming the pit from the seats near us, and being embarrassed that Billy Joe had this 'Fuck You' call and response going on while standing next to Mom and Dad. I think my Dad even leaned over and told me it was OK if I wanted to participate, but I don't remember if I did or not.

Finally, and I'm having trouble remembering this one for sure, but the first show I went to WITHOUT my parents I think was U2's Popmart tour in high school. I could be wrong about this tho. Me and a group of friends sat in the top row of Giants Stadium and watched the spectacle unfold, with the giant lemon and whatnot. I still think of this as the benchmark for megatours...if you're gonna be playing 70,000 seat stadiums, you gotta make it BIG...and U2 did just that.
Good times looking back.

Tate the Triathlete

My roommate is big into the New York Roadrunners, and she once told me that she was stretching right next to Jimmy Cooper at some charity event. Was pretty cool at the time, but I had no idea he was this hardcore. Here's ten questions with my favorite actor from my favorite show.

Living the Good Life on 'The OC'

Also, don't forget, The Killers will be performing on the show a week from tomorrow. Apparently, "Ryan and Seth go on an awkward double date...with unexpected results."

Perhaps they find out that Brandon Flowers is a Mormon? I think that qualifies as awkward and unexpected. We'll have to wait and see tho...

This dude is a grade-A lunatic...


In case anybody isn't sick of this damn thing yet...here is the reaction from the triumvirate of relevant pundits.

Bill Simmons
Uncle Grambo
Chauncey Billups

I swear this is the last you'll hear from me on the subject.

...But yo, how bout David Harrison cold-clocking some old man on his way off the court??? Did you see that shit?????

Sorry.
No more.

If I had unlimited money...

and unlimited shelf space...


The Complete Criterion Collection...from Amazon.com

Only $4,999!

(via witz.org)

Other things to buy...

Oh, tis the season for obsessive consumers...

Lets see...The new U2 CD came out today...So did Gwen Stefani's solo jawn. I'm listening to that now on Rhapsody, so I'll have some impressions by the time I finish writing this.

I can tell you NOT to buy Ron Artest's album...I listened to the track off his website last night and can tell you that it's the WORST RAP SONG I'VE EVER HEARD. I mean I've never heard anything so worthless. Remember when Dirk Diggler and Reed Rothchild try to record 'The Touch'? Or you know that rapper from the Geico commercial? ("Don't use bad words 'cause this ain't no puppet show/Always use good manners when you're eating a Sloppy Joe") It's equally that bad. Coolfer says it's better than Allen Iverson's or Walt Williams(?!) rhymes, but I honestly find that hard to believe. The flow is nonexistent and the beat sounds like a prefab setting on a Casio keyboard. So bad. You can listen to it at his label's website.

...Um, actually you can't anymore...looks like Ronny-boy's burned up all his bandwidth for the month. I sure wouldn’t wanna be Ron Artest's Webmaster right about now...

Lets see, what else...Is it OK if I kind of wanna get one of these?


I need a case for my new iPod...can't let it get all beat up like my last one. Maybe if I could pick my own colors...I don't need like a bright green sock. Blue, grey, and pink would do the trick for me.

That's all for now...expect me to babble on about a lot more shit to buy as the season develops. Oprah has a list of stuff she likes too. Check it out.

Not feeling Gwen's album, by the way. Sounds pretty ordinary for the most part so far. Oh well.

Things to buy and do this week...


Well, The Nirvana Box-set is the big one. I considered going out last night and picking it up at midnight, but got wrapped up in something toally random and forgot till it was too late. Will stop by the Megastore on my way home to grab it. It's three discs of unreleased material and a DVD...even a casual fan should wanna check this out.

Tonight, one of my favourite English bands is playing their biggest American show yet at The Bowery Ballroom. Dogs Die in Hot Cars are headlining tonight, with Pitty Sing and Apollo Sunshine opening. I've already seen them a couple times this year, so I'm likely gonna pass, but they're a good live band that plays fun music. Strongly recommended.

Also tonight, Stereogum and Fluxblog are DJing at APT. It's one of the nicer clubs over there, and these guys should bring out a much more tolerable crowd. There's no cover and some sort of unspecified drink special. Should be fun. These guys, via their blogs, are responsible for introducing me to some of my favorite bands right now. Respect.

Wednesday night is NukFam's Third Annual pre turkey day extravaganza at Southpaw. Also known as my high school thuggery reunion. For those who don't know...you've got one of Brooklyn's finest underground/indie hip hop troupes doing their thing at my favorite music club in NYC. Call them the Wu-Tang of Park Slope. If you like hip-hop in the slightest, you owe it to yourselves to check these guys out. They make unbelievable music and ALWAYS put on a helluva show.

Friday, Britt Daniel from Spoon (and the master behind Interpol's stellar 'Slow Hands' remix) is playing a solo show at Maxwells in Hoboken. I've got my reservations about going to New Jersey EVER, but I hear it's a nice place to see a band, and the travel isn't much worse than it is to goto Brooklyn, so what the hells. Spoon isn't coming up here agin anytime soon it looks like, so catch Brett while he's near town. On a side note...the video for 'Everything Hits at Once' is one of my favorites of all time.

TV takes a week off for the holiday, so no Lost or OC this week. Is there really anything else on weekdays anymore?

As for the actual so-called Turkey Day (so last month, btw), my parents and I will be at Jean Georges on Central Park South celebrating peacefully in our own way, without any dishes or cooking or company or leftovers. I'm sure we, and the table of wealthy Japanese tourists next to us, will have a lovely holiday.

Arcade Fire in Rolling Stone


Doesn't say anything groundbreaking for those who have been following them of late, but it's always nice to see one of your favorite bands get some good press.

Also, Apple FINALLY replaced my broken iPod after over a month of writing, calling, and mailing back and forth. Quite an annoying ordeal, but it beats having to buy a new one.

Weekend Post Roundup

Official league suspensions re: The Riot at Auburn Hills
Artest: Rest of the Season
S. Jackson: 30 Games
J. O'Neil: 25 Games
Ben Wallace: 6 Games
Anthony Peeler: 5 Games

I think they are all too tough, except Stephen Jackson, who should be out of the league. O’Neil for throwing one punch at a fan ON THE COURT? Come on. And what did Peeler do?

Here's a video of the whole thing (via janelle)

And, speaking of stories I'm sick to death of already...

U2 is officially playing in DUMBO today...Washington Square Park never came through, tho it apparently was their first choice. You don't need tickets anymore, so just show up. Should be quite an event. (via U2log)

U2 in New York for a long weekend...


So yeah, I'm late at this...but it's Sunday...

Tomorrow, SOMEBODY claiming to be the biggest band in the world, is playing a 2:30 surprise show at UTB, aka THE downtown Brooklyn private school party spot of the 90's, aka the cobblestone area directly below the Brooklyn Bridge on the Brooklyn side. This is absolutely confirmed, and you can get tickets from 1iota.

Strangely, this Irish band called U2 (pictured above), who some also call the biggest band in the world, were heavily rumored to be playing a surprise show in Washington Square Park tomorrow afternoon around 1:00. Hmmm.

I think I'm gonna take the ticket bait and goto UTB. Will even take off from my beloved job in the afternoon to go see what all the (hot) fuss is about.

My guess...since this is gonna be an MTV special...is that at 1:00 the band is gonna walk from Washington Square, filmed the whole way, down to city hall, across the Brooklyn Bridge, to UTB, where they'll play a brief concert. This fits into the "we're going to stop traffic" quote being bandied about of late. Oh, and I'm sure they'll make a touching pass by the WTC site on the way. Maybe while playing that stupid song from Gangs of New York.

Make sense? I think so. I'll try and remember to take a quick swing by Washington Square Park tomorrow morning and see if there's any action.

(Most of the factual information in this post via BrooklynVegan)

&*@$&%@#^$*&!!!!!!


Here’s what I think…

Stephen Jackson should never play another game in the NBA. I blame him for the incident escalating to where it ended up. He was out to pick a fight with anyone who would react. Player or fan. Completely uncalled for.

Ron Artest should not get it too bad from the NBA. He acted very professionally, and only went into the stands when he was first assaulted. Trouble, yes...but if he gets hit harder by the league than SJ, I'll be very upset. His preexisting rep should not come into play.

Jermaine O'Neil landed the best punch I've seen since the first time Roy Jones went down. Anybody who comes onto the court starting shit with NBA players deserves to be taken out. Plain and Simple. Watch:


Ben Wallace doesn't get off easy. He's gotta pay for punching Artest after only a marginally hard foul. That initial scuffle should be viewed as a separate incident, however.

The fans who were involved should be identified and arrested.

Keep in mind Ben Wallace is my favorite NBA player, and I think Ron Artest is a bipolar maniac. I had no problem with Stephen Jackson before tonight. But it is what it is.

This'll be one of the all time great sports debates. There are so many different ways look at it.

All eyes will (or should be) on Chauncey Billups, Bill Simmons and Uncle Grambo (obvs) for their forthcoming reactions.

UPDATE: ESPN's Tim Legler, IMO, pretty much nails it on the head with this article.
UPDATE II: Here's the gif of punk-ass Stephen Jackson throwing the first punch at a fan...

Friday notes...

Tonight Morning Theft is playing Lit around 10:00 9:30 (thanks Rob). Check it out. Afterwards, Rothko is celebrating their reopening by offering some free late-night boozing. Red Stripe from 1-4am, and well drinks from 3-4am. Yeouch!

Also, I’ve been told Morning Theft's fellow Lunch Records labelmates, Dear Leader, will be playing an early showcase at Mercury Lounge a week from Monday, Dec. 6th, at 7:30. These guys are real good, so if you got time to make it down, they’re definitely worth a check.

Craig Nicholls, lead singer of The Vines, has apparently been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, a neurological disease that's kind of like a more functional autism. Some may remember the CLASSIC Law and Order: CI episode guest starring Mark Lynn 'Cousin Larry' Baker who played a Asperger's suffering murderer. Couldn’t care less about The Vines, but I love L&O: CI, so I'll use any excuse to mention it.

Pitchfork finally gets around to reporting about that supershow out in LA next month. Would have been nice to hear about it before it went on sale and sold out in 3 minutes, but what can you expect. The blog-to-pitchfork delay seems to be holding steady at about 2 days.

I'm heading out to LA that weekend for a bit of vacation. Barring an unfortunate turn of events, I'll be at the show..

And also speaking of Cali...The OC is getting better, but it's not quite back. I like the Seth/Marissa angle...and while Ryan isn't acting any better, his character is much more interesting. The new girl is totally cliché, but she works. The parents this year just have far better storylines. Maybe (doubtfully) it's a sign of my maturity. Also, I think Jimmy Cooper is my favorite television character on air right now. Every scene he's in makes me smile.

Looks like Ultragrrrl's finally dropped the comments from her blog. Too bad, but I sure as hell don't blame her. There are a lot of sick haters out there...

Are U2 Coming to the Central Village? Rumors abound regarding a secret show in Washington Square Park this coming Monday...

That's it...after a busy 2 weeks, this weekend should be pretty laid back. Easy.

I should have forgotten you long ago...
But you're in every song I know.


So how's this for a perfect setup to an evening filled with slow and beautiful love songs...

I have one ticket. I'm going alone. With my coat on, about to walk out the door, I get an IM from a girl I had a bit of a fling with a little while back. Literally haven't heard from her in over a year. We only chatted for a minute or so, but it was enough to bring back a whole bunch of memories and whatnot I hadn't really thought about in a while. So awesome...off to The Magnetic Fields!

Took the slow train to Carnegie Hall, checked my coat, got a glass of champagne at the bar while I read the program and waited for the doors to open. The funny thing was, once the music started, I forgot all about my post-teen angst and worry. I was completely wrapped up in these songs. Simply brilliant. Sometimes sad and lonely, but often pretty optimistic and always lighthearted. No song is taken too seriously. They did not play my favorite, 'Busby Berkeley Dreams', but I left with two new ones...'Papa was a Rodeo' and 'All the Umbrellas in London'. I came very close to dropping 30 bones on the 69 love songs box set off iTunes when I got home, but I've restrained myself...for now. Sad music has never made me so happy.

Go Buzz...

I have a very specific memory of going on a class trip way back in like 5th grade. I have no idea where or what or even when, but we ended up in a theatre, and the last thing this guy giving the tour did was show us his laptop and say...

"In the future every band will have one of these on stage with them."

And with a click of a button, he played the intro for Michael Jackson's "The Way you Make Me Feel." And that was cool.

Well last night I guess the future was here. Laptop rock at it's finest. I hopped down to Mercury Lounge to catch the second night of the Morr Music tour's stop in NY. The place just reeked of Europe. The shampoo, the cologne, the accents...everything. Great little show they put together too. The Go Find was such a treat to see. Give the CD, 'Miami' to any current Postal Service fan, and they will be converted instantly. I swear.

Styrofoam went on next. Their sound is a lot more complicated than The Go Find, but it’s the same idea. In fact, it was the same people on stage. The only difference is that TGF is Dieter Sermeus' masterwork, while Styrofoam is created and (mostly) sung by Arne van Petegem. Similar styles, but both had their own thing going on. I guess all of the music was created on their own, then the others come out to help on stage. It works.

BTW, to all you xenophobe's out there...these guys all look very young and hip...not your father's Dieter and Arne in the slightest. They sing in English also. Very well and very eloquently.

Anyway, after them was the headliner, Lali Puna, who are more of a full band than the first two sets. (Basically they have a laptop AND a drummer...) They were solid, but near the end of the set my back was stiff from all the standing and I was getting kinda antsy, so I bounced...Great show overall, no doubt.

Tonight I'm heading back out, but I'll have a seat this time, thank god, for The Magnetic Fields at Carnegie Hall's Zenkel Hall. Looking forward to it.

(pic above via The Wicked)

Videogames!


I don't know anything about this game coming out, but it most likely is gonna be pretty bad. Most games are, and with a stupid name like Stubbs the Zombie, it's gonna be banking for the bargain bin. Anyway, they've put together a bizarre lineup of some fantastic bands to cover oldies standards. Interesting idea.

I still remember the first time I ever heard Snow Patrol or Stellastarr* (or Good Charlotte, for that matter) were all from videogame soundtracks. The thing is, you hear these songs over and over and over again without even thinking about it. Then you hear the song somewhere else (like a record store) make a connection, and buy the CD. It's a great system...really works on a subconscious level at impressionable teens and other likeminded gameheads. However, the catch is if the game itself blows, nobody'll play it and the music will go unnoticed. I will be interested in hearing these songs. Not so much about playing Stubbs itself tho...

Ben Kweller – Lollipop
The Raveonettes – My Boyfriend’s Back
Death Cab for Cutie – Earth Angel
Rogue Wave – Everyday
Cake – Strangers in the Night
The Walkmen – There Goes My Baby
The Dandy Warhols – All I Have to Do Is Dream
Oranger – Mr. Sandman
The Flaming Lips – If I Only Had a Brain
Clem Snide – Tears on My Pillow
Rose Hill Drive – Shakin’ All Over
Milton Mapes – Lonesome Town
Phantom Planet – The Living Dead (original song)

(via Coolfer)

My New Favorite Artist


Ya know, you're always told that stuff like this is supposed to happen in New York...

Coming home from work, there's a guy selling his stuff right outside the Union Square subway station. I went over to check him out and instantly fell in love with his style. It was amazing. I wanted to buy everything he had. I felt like I was at a great restaurant where everything on the menu looks good...and I could only get one thing. I talked to this guy for a solid 20 minutes, about comparisons of his work and my two favorite artists, Red Grooms and Edward Hopper. He says some of his work was directly inspired Hopper in particular. Anyway, The signed, editioned and framed prints were $10 for a small, $20 for a medium and $30 for the large. Great price. I left with 2 smalls and a medium. I love all three.

This man's name is Aleksandar Milenkovic and his website is at www.Alex-Star.com He says he is normally at Union Square selling his prints on Saturdays, but will not be there this week cause he has to work. Keep your eyes open and check out his other stuff on the website. Here are the other two prints that I bought...

New Furniture!

A rare glimpse of The Palace at CentralVillage.

I got new furniture today! Long story...But my Mom came over to move it in while I was at work and sent me a picture from her phone. Looks good! I dunno about the rug tho...might have to do something about that. Overall, a big improvement over the ratty-ass shit I had in there this morning.

Accumulated notes...

Productshop claims knowledge of a major secret show this Sunday, tho will not yet reveal the band or place till it is 100% confirmed. A commenter has speculated he was referring to the KRock listening party WITH U2 in attendance, which was just announced this morning on the radio. A quick scan of the venues in NY showed nothing suspicious, tho Southpaw has a couple bands Sunday with a "with special guests" tag. I have a feeling U2 will be playing a club show at or after the listening party, since I can't really think of anyone major who's around...

Actually...what are The Strokes up to these days? I think they're due for a little impromptu shindig sooner or later...but my money's still on U2.

Movable Hype was a ton of fun. I caught the last 3 bands, all of which I'd go out of my way to see again. Sons of Sound were so unbelievably good. They sound radio-ready...or at least OC-ready. Asobi Seksu and Snowden were both great as well, but I made a point to see SoS and they were as wonderful as can be. I just kept thinking how much his voice sounds like Bono, and how tight and together they were. Fun night overall...and yes...there were a lot of bloggers there...

I've been listening to The Go! Team's debut album pretty much on repeat non-stop since I got it. I'm doing my best to cut back on calling everything I like 'the best ever', but this is my favorite album right now. By far. It's available on iTunes in America, and you can listen to some of the songs off their website. Enjoy! I promise everyone will love these guys!

Keane is playing Hammerstein Ballroom on Feb. 2nd. According to BrooklynVegan, Presale goes on at 5 this afternoon, and the password is 'somewhere'. Man, did these guys blow up quick or what?? How long ago was it that they were playing the main room at The Knitting Factory? Three months? I'll let you in on a little secret...they're a pretty average band to see live. I'm saving my money.

Finally, I got an e-mail saying that Stephin Merritt...the genius lyricist and vocalist for The Magnetic Fields...Will be throwing a regular Monday night party this winter at The Clubhouse on 9th and C. As far as I can tell, this is not a gay bar, but who the hell knows anymore. Should be fun times.

Oh, come on guys...It's only ONE plague


Locusts, schmousts...tho I kinda wish I knew which side God was on this time...

Weird, cause I've barely heard anything about this...


Can't vouch for The Fresh (I'm sure he's good), but be sure to make it for the Sons of Sound. They should go on around 9:15ish. See ya there!

...And if you wanna be different, go check out The King of France with The Robbers on High Street at Sin-E...or if you live in Brooklyn and the L is broken, Little Wings is playing Pete's Candy Store.

Pitchfork is obsolete...


I couldn't believe it clicking over to Pitchfork this morning...supposedly the future of music magazines online...to see that the top, bolded headline today was Death Cab Sign to Atlantic. Whoh.

To explain, Coolfer was the first person I saw mention this...Sunday morning. By the time I got around to putting up another post here on CentralVillage, it was Monday afternoon, and I figured the news to be so old it was not even worth mentioning. Now, a full day after a completely uninformed outsider to the music industry (me) deemed this story old news, the cutting edge Zine that was to usurp Rolling Stone into the digital millennium was finally breaking with the scoop. Weak.

So have blogs totally made daily publications obsolete? Of course not...but I think before Pitchfork takes over the world, a very professional, fact checked, and organized blog will become the news standard. Likely it will be affiliated to an existing magazine such as Rolling Stone or Spin. Or maybe Denton will add a new music blog to his already gigantic empire and take over another area of internet. Who knows, but I am sure Pitchfork is already losing readers to the Productshops and the Coolfers out there, and it's only a matter of time till the zine will either shift blogwards, or completely fall off the relevancy map.

Can you tell I wanna get out of the city?

I've been playing around with the idea of spending a month in Europe during the off-season with a friend of mine after we both quit our jobs. It hasn't gotten past the drunken promises stage quite yet, but if we go, we'll make a point to catch this tour:

SHOCKWAVES NME AWARDS TOUR 2005.

THE KILLERS
THE FUTUREHEADS
BLOC PARTY
and KAISER CHIEFS

Running from January 19th to February 9 across various cities in England. It's a starting point...

Also, congrats to TV on the Radio for picking up this year's Shortlist Award!

Sidekick II & T-Mobile, and the current state of our government...


Does anybody have one? I'd really like to pick one up, but I'm scared about T-Mobile's coverage. I've heard mixed things...especially about service in Manhattan. If it works well here tho, I want one. You can get it for free from Amazon through Friday...

Couple random notes/thoughts...

How on earth does Condi Rice get a promotion? Wasn't she in charge of National Security during the greatest and most devastating National Security lapse in the history of the country? I dunno man. Looks like Ridge is out too...Who's gonna take that useless and redundant job...Rudy?

Someone just said on Productshop's comment thread that he's heard rumors Ashcroft resigned because he believes Bush will nominate him to the Supreme Court. Never has a completely unsubstantiated rumor made me feel this physically ill so early in the morning. I think the Democrats should avoid filibustering everything that comes down the path, so that the major stuff gets more attention...this is something we should fight tooth and nail against. Completely unacceptable.

Holy Crap.

My buddy Steve from LA just called me about this show he heard about on the radio. It sold out in three minutes this morning.

KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas 2004
Universal Amphitheatre, Universal City, CA
Sat, Dec 11, 2004 04:00 PM

Franz Ferdinand
Interpol
Jimmy Eat World
Keane
Killers
Modest Mouse
Muse
Shins
Snow Patrol
Taking Back Sunday
& The Music...

If we can score tickets (craigslist, connections, or otherwise), I'm on the first flight to LA...if anyone happens to be reading this and has some sort of hookup out there, Holla at me ASAP...need 2 together anywhere in the building...flexible on price.

How on earth can we not get anything close to this in awesomeness here in NYC??? Granted, I've seem half those bands multiple times already this year...but come on...what a party that would be...

Feels like a bad day...

I dunno what it is...but I was so relieved to get a bunch of work out of the way yesterday, then I come in today and it's already piled all the way back up. Spent the whole morning thinking about when it would be the best time to quit, and how far ahead of time to announce. Ideally, I guess I'd want to have another job lined up afterwards, but I know realistically I won't seriously start looking till I set a deadline. Right now, I'm thinking Either Christmas Eve or New Years Eve, tho I have a feeling I'll be here much longer than that. It's hard to walk away from a good paying job with people you like...but sooner or later, enough becomes enough. Hopefully a laid back Thanksgiving week next week will ease me out a bit.

Last week I seriously spent about five hours total in my Apartment not sleeping. I've been working till 8 or 9 every night, going home real quick to change, then heading back out to a bar to chill or to a club to see some music. No rest for the weary...especially when Muse, Arcade Fire, and Interpol are all in town the same week. It's been busy, but whatever. This week will be a lot more of the same...except probably not as intense.

Tomorrow night is the superfantastic Movable Hype Show...The Fresh, Sons of Sound, Snowden, and Asobi Seksu at The Knitting Factory. Should be fun...Gonna do my best to get there before SoS, who I always seem to regrettably miss.

Wednesday I'm gonna go see Lali Puma with The Go Find at Mercury Lounge. Dreamy electroindie-pop...aka "Postal Service-esque". Loverly.

Thursday I got a ticket to The Magnetic Fields at Carnegie Hall. Also very chill...looking forward to having a seat for this one.

Finally, Friday night, Morning Theft is playing at Lit lounge. It's been a while...I really hope I can make it. They've been recording some new shit recently, and what I've heard is really good. This right here is a kickass tune:

Morning Theft - Living With Your Ghost

Here's another MP3 I came across this weekend.

Ben Gibbard - Complicated (Avril Cover) via Jeddeth

Also, here's a complete Arcade Fire Bootleg from Boston, recorded by Bradley's Almanac. (via Daily Refill)
(p.s. I thought NH #3 was the weakest song they played at Bowery last week. The one here sounds much better!)

Ok, one last consumer note...What are the odds that the two most influential forces of the early 90's are both releasing box sets on the exact same day? Nirvana and Seinfeld both drop on November 23rd...a week from tomorrow. The Nirvana Box looks amazing...Jerry's still on re-runs too often to make it worth the dough, but it's still impressive.

I love Interpol

They're like a friend you take for granted. I talk a lot about so many bands...say lots of great things about them...best show, best album, whatever. But when it's all said and done, Interpol is my favorite band in the world, and few bands are better live. Such a great time.

Two notes from last night...

I ran into a friend of mine with his girlfriend who works at Rolling Stone. She told me there's gonna be an article on, who else, but The Arcade Fire in the next issue. Unlike these guys, I have no intention of backing off from following this band's ascension into the mainstream.

David Bowie was in attendance last night for his second sold-out indie show in two days. He was sitting in the floor level box to the right of the stage. In addition to the mustache he debuted on Thursday, he was sporting some round eyeglasses and a killer pair of turquoise Chuck Taylor high-tops.

I didn't have my camera on me, but below is kind of what he looked like:

Everybody Dance Now...


Just a friendly neighborhood reminder that Webster Hall has not let the likes of Sonic Youth, The Libertines or Muse change ANYTHING about their general ambitions to overcharge nostalgic men from Queens looking for some hot, young, Boriqua ass on a Saturday night...

What the hell is going on here?

Someone might wanna take another look at that new Google ads algorithm...

These is what came up on my Kinja digest...which completely contains Music and Society blogs...

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Gross.

Is Humping the Hot-Dog Cart the new Jumping the Shark?

No. Of course not...I have not given up on the OC. Not even close. But I'm very curious about the current direction of the show. It's too early to tell if Schwartz is playing into the clichés purposely or if he's sort of run out of ideas. I mean...the Lawn Boy secret romance? Come on.

This Summer and Seth bullshit should not extend into December...But I fear it'll be the same every episode and wear out its welcome. Summer's acting has been really inconstant as well. Half the time she's brooding about missing Seth, half the time she looks like she's totally over him...not working for me, but maybe that's all on purpose.

Also, McKenzie seems way over his head this year. When I was in a play in 8th grade, my drama teacher always scolded us for throwing lines away...meaning taking a line you're not confident with and just kind of mumbling it off rather than speak it in character. Ever since then, I notice when actors do it all the time and it bugs the shit out of me. Anyway, Ryan throws away every punchline or snarky comment he gets this season. Last year he had that wide-eyed, half smirk, in-your-face face that worked fine...now he just turns his head and says them under his breath. I know Ryan is supposed to be a mumbler anyway, but it still doesn’t work.

I guess it's way too early to tell. I'm just not feeling the same magic as last year. Everything feels super predictable and inevitable so far...and that's no fun. I will be hopefully be happily proven wrong as the season goes on...but so far I gotta rate this season a solid 'Eh'.

Hype!

pic via BrooklynVegan

There are gonna be tons of reviews for this show up this morning, so I'm gonna keep this quick. The two biggest hyped shows for me this year were Muse in Ireland, and The Arcade Fire last night. And it's hard to live up to the hype. It's Hard Work, as the President says. But with both gigs, they unequivocally exceeded all expectations I had going in. They were probably the two best shows I've seen all year.

So what is there else to say? These guys are a knockout band. Complete silence between songs at a 600 person venue (which I should add, was more crowded last night than ANY sold out show I've seen at Bowery) should be taken as the ultimate courtesy. The kids couldn't wait to hear what was gonna come next. Every song was better than the last, and by the end, nobody wanted to see them stop. Absolutely incredible. It says something that these guys could get the likes of Davie Bowie, David Byrne, and Eric Clapton out of their highfalutin penthouses and down to the Ballroom. They're that good. Or at least the hype was that big, and it's safe to say they didn't let anybody down.

Afterwards, my friend Julia and I went over to The Delancey cause she's in love with Paul Banks, and wanted to get a chance to gawk. Gawked we did as the band milled in and out and around the bar, with throngs of ladies (and gents) following their every step up to the VIP door. Quite a scene...never pegged these guys to be the balls-out rockstars they've become. Gonna see them tonight at Hammerstein, with Calla opening. Can't wait.

Anyway, after a few drinks we left, and walked back up past Bowery, where the band was loading all their instruments into a U-Haul. I spoke to Win Butler for a minute and he told me once they are done touring out west (Steve, find a way to go!) they'll be back in town around February. I predict they'll fill two shows at Irving. For all you slackers out there who missed out this time, pay better attention and get your tickets early!

Slow day...getting better by the minute



Great news! For me, at least. I stumbled across somebody on Craigslist with an extra Magnetic Fields ticket for next Thursday! I'm very excited...Had pretty much given up on this show. I say this'll be one of the best of the year. Can't wait!

In sadder news...The Libertines look like they're about to officially break up. Somehow I don't think Pete will respond to this ultimatum.

Arcade Fire tickets have broken the $100 barrier. People...don't you see? Just goto the damn place, stand outside for a few hours, and sooner or later somebody will come by with an extra, or the bouncer will just let your shivering ass in for free. That's how it works...

There are till tickets available for the show at Gabe's in Iowa...All you filthy rich superfans with no foresight aughta just rent a van and drive out there. Sheesh.

And what's going on with Bright Eyes? How does something like this happen? I'm still convinced it's some sort of system glitch.

And speaking of whom...Little birdies tell me that Conor Oberst may be getting into some acting. Like movies and stuff. We'll see where this goes....

I'll check all you rich or lucky suckers tonight at the show! We'll see if The Delancey is in the cards for afterwards. Do they still charge $10 to get on the roof deck when it's like 20 degrees outside?

OOPS!

Here's a tip...Don't fuck with your template while drunk. I hope everything looks ok now.

Last night met a friend at Snitch for an open bar on an empty stomach. I think we made tentative plans to fly to Milan for Interpol and Bloc Party later this month...hmmm.

Plug in Baby!



Oh dear...Muse was great again...I realized this time how umcredible Chris the bass player is...really holds those guys together. The Zutons were very good as well...Very original, but still not a huge fan. They sound really old-fashioned. Enjoyed, but didn't love. Felt kinda bad they thought they weren't getting anything from the crowd...people seemed to like them from what I heard.

Didn't goto The Delancey after, but I heard it was a clusterfuck...I've never been to that place, but I always hear the worst things.

So I came home last night to a flooded kitchen and a freaked out roommate. There was a leak upstairs and it was seeping through the ceiling. Bad news. It's better now, but the whole place smells like wet plaster. Apparently during the day there was a massive flood throughout the whole apartment line down all the way into the lobby. Totally not my fault tho I swear...

Watched Dig! last night late night while I did some work I had to bring home. So good. I've recommended it to like everyone I talked to today...It's the kind of movie that makes me want to go out and make a movie myself. I listened to every BJM song at work today. 'Thank God for Mental Illness' is a fantastic album.

Tomorrow's the infamous Arcade Fire at Bowery. Can't wait. I may end up with an extra ticket, so if anyone still is looking for one, email me. Interpol afterparty at The Delancey supposedly...But we'll see about that one.

That’s about it for me...My new officemate apparently got fired today...so I got the place to myself for the next few weeks. He seemed like a pretty together guy...wonder what went wrong. I'm gonna make a killer 'alone in my office' mix tho...

Quick Notes


Got plenty to say about last night a bit later when I get a minute, but for now here's some upcoming concert shizz...

Mission of Burma are playing At Bowery Ballroom January 14th...As far as I can tell this is the first major show scheduled for the new year so far. Tickets are on sale.

Lots of Sin-E shows coming up...

Buck 65 is playing what can only be described as a residency at the club for 3 Tuesdays in a row...11/30, 12/7 and 12/14. I urge y'all to go check these guys out at one of these dates. They're Canadian, which is the buzz country of the minute, and on top of it are really really good. Smart and funny country-esque rap...sounds weird and it is, but it's fun anyway.

The King of France are also playing there with the Robbers on High Street Nov. 16th, tho it's the same night as the Gothamist Movable Hype show. Be sure to remember the name...they'll be around...Just starting to break out. The singer's got a great voice.

Also, The Sons of Sound are playing Sin-E on Dec. 10th...The kids love these guys.

Finally, Radio 4 will be playing Southpaw on Dec 10...rescheduled from the show they were gonna play (I think) there tonight. Not only is Southpaw more or less my favorite venue in NYC, but they are getting sleeper bands to play there that normally play much larger venues like Bowery and Irving. It's worth the trip, I swear.

UPDATE: Something else maybe worth the trip...

Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
San Francisco, CA
Live 105's Not So Silent Night featuring...

Modest Mouse
Franz Ferdinand
MUSE
Interpol
Taking Back Sunday
The Killers

Not gonna go, but what a fucking lineup!

Worth Mentioning...


Since the all the newspapers and internets have already reported it, I may as well mention the whole Freedom Tower lawsuit jauntis that's the NY real estate buzz of the minute. Now, I know this doesn't take place in the Central Village, and there’s no clear indie-rock relevance...but I do happen to have a somewhat personal stake in this thing. Not to mention it is eerily similar to a very well done L&O: CI episode from a few years back...

Dig!


The blogger favorite documentary, Dig!, is playing on the Sundance Channel again tonight at 8. Won't be on for a while after this, so set your Tivo's and Divo's and whatnot and make sure not to miss it. It's still playing at Sunshine Cinemas as well, if I'm not mistaken, so either way make sure to go check it out. It's a classic.

It gives me Mandate...

I heard on the Fox News this morning something about a Bush Mandate, so I went on the internets to see what that meant and...

OhmygodOhmygodOhmygodOhmygodOhmygod

Does supporting the idea of a Bush Mandate mean you're gay??? Probably!

But seriously...Can we get that boy a Cabinet position? Maybe head of the FDA? I think he knows a good, healthy piece of meat when he sees it...

via Atrios

Japan-emo! and more


Music everybody should check out...

*Asian Kung-Fu Generation - I don't know what this song is called...but it comes up as four squares on iTunes...so that's what I'm calling it.

Asian Kung-Fu Generation - (four squares)

*Red Door Exchange - This song is off the Lunch Records 4x4 CD, which also features local sweethearts Morning Theft. Two great songs on there from these guys...I picked one.

Red Door Exchange - Givin Up

*Dear Leader - Missed their album release party last weekend up in Boston, even tho it was like 2 blocks away from my friends place...But they're got a stellar CD out right now...Lots of great songs on there (Billion Served and Corroded Anchor are my favs), but this is the single off their website.

Dear Leader - Raging Red(right-click, save)

*Calla - Opening for Interpol Friday...OhMyRockness gives their set at Tonic the night before a coveted star.

Calla - Stranger(right-click, save)

*Taxpayer - Also off Lunch's 4x4 Comp. Great CD. Morning Theft keeps good company.

Taxpayer - Dial Zero for Assistance

*Chin Up Chin Up - BrooklynVegan darlings...Playing this week, but opposite Muse...tough break.

CUCU - We Should Have Never Lived Like We Were Skyscrapers

Enjoy!

Strong Week

Tomorrow: MUSE and The Zutons...also Elkland and Chin Up Chin Up at The Delancey. If you don't have tickets to the first, hit up the second for sure...And a little band called Modest Mouse will be prolly playing to a half full Radio City.

Wednesday: Who Knows?? CUCU was supposed to play Rothko, but who knows if that'll happen...Clinic/Midnight Movies/Sons and Daughters has been canceled...prolly due to low ticket sales since they NEVER PUT THE DAMN THINGS ON SALE IN THE FIRST PLACE. Pedro the Lion are lovely...if you're itching for some music, that's the safest bet. I gotta work late that night cause the day after is...

Thursday: Arcade Motherfucking Fire Bitches! I had the foresight to craigslist my Thursday Interpol tickets for a Friday night pair...then snagged these up before the wave crashed down. Despite all the previous hype, I bet it shouldn't be hard to snag an extra ticket outside the Ballroom.

Friday: Interpol...Love um. How often do you get to see your 2 favorite bands in the same week? Well, twice this year for me, but usually not very often. Very psyched to hear Calla open for them.

By the way...when I get home tonight, I'm gonna throw up some new MP3's, including Dear Leader, Calla, Red Door Exchange, Asian Kung-Fu Generation and more... People get ready.

The Best


Great weekend. Got to hang out with an old buddy of mine from school who lives up there. Loafed around the city, hit up a handful of skanky bars, bought some highly recommended local music at Newbury Comics (more on that later). The highlight of the trip tho was getting to see Muse again. So amazing.

Got into Boston around 6. The opening band (supposed to be The Secret Machines but instead was some band called The Exit) was set to come on at 7, but we opted to skip them as not to rush back out.

So we took the T to a club called the Avalon, which is literally in the shadows of the Green Monster behind Fenway Park. I assume it’s the same Avalon as the ex-Limelight...same logo, etc. Place was nice...hard to compare to a NY club...but I guess it was the size of Irving Plaza...may have been smaller, couldn’t really tell. The stage seemed a little low, but other than that, it was a nice place.

Muse lived up to my expectations...which was to basically be the best show ever. The first time I saw them I was so blown away I couldn't focus on the specifics, just the overall energy. At Curiosa they were hindered by a short set and a lousy stage. They got a pass there. This time I got to really take in every detail of their show. I was more familiar with all of their songs, and I could listen for the changes better. Everything was just easier to follow. And they hit everything perfectly.

The big standout that night, however, was Bellamy’s voice. It’s amazing…great range, loud and powerful. To do what he does musically, PLUS to be able to sing that well simultaneously seems inhuman. Such a great set. Tomorrow should be a trip as well...assuming I get out of work on time. Interested to see the Zutons again too...they probably deserve another shot from me.

One other highlight of Boston: Fire and Ice for lunch on Saturday. $8 all you can eat Mongolian BBQ...you pick the raw food, buffet style, then they grill it up on this humungous round grill in the middle of the restaurant. And it tastes real good. Why there's nothing like this in NYC I have no idea. It was de-lish.

I stayed up there with a buddy of mine who burned me a bunch of MP3s of shit he listens to. I gotta check them out. He's got great taste in music. One band he gave me is fucking stellar, but they deserve their own post. Later.

Muse in Boston

More in the morning...

Quick Tech notes...

Before I go, two things...

There are 5 new HD channels on Time Warner...ESPN-HD and four HD only content channels. I just watched part of a Yellowcard concert on INHD-2...proving I'll watch anything in Hi-Def. I hate to say things like this in today's bigoted America, but they are the gayest band I've ever seen.

Also, via Torr, you can get a FREE SIDEKICK II off Amazon if you sign up for a new plan. Think of it as them paying off your existing contract to get the new thing. I'm doing this next week fer sure.

Going to Boston with Canada on my mind...


If I see John Kerry, I'll buy him a beer.

I ended up going to see Elefant and missing The Futureheads Wednesday night. They were Elefantastic! Really good show...humble (for DG standards), intimate. They seemed happy and appreciative to be playing such a small joint with some devoted fans. Place wasn't even totally full. Prolly the most comfortable set I've ever seen there. They sounded great too. I'll tell ya tho, I've never seen so many doe eyed, swooning ladies at a show. Diego had them in a trance. Pretty wild. I had to go into work early the next day, so I called it a night after them.

If I wasn't going out of town, there’s a lot of out of boro action going on this weekend. I strongly recommend checking out Buck 65 at Southpaw tonight. I saw them play after Leslie Feist in London, and they ruled. Funny guys, interesting music. It's a good show. They kinda do this Country-Rap thing...hard to explain. They're Canadian tho! They'll give y'all another taste of the tunes up north.

Also in Brooklyn tonight are the Apostle of Hustle, which is a side project of Broken Social Scene. I assume these guys are Canadian as well. They are playing at The Hook, which I've always wanted an excuse to go check out. Should be good.

Tomorrow night The Futureheads and everybody's favorite mixed reaction, Pitty Sing is rocking out over the other river at Maxwell’s. If you're up for the trip, this should be a great show. I'd go if I was here.

Finally Sunday, a band I've been looking forward to see for a while now is playing Northsix. I don't know when I'm getting home, but shooting back out to Brooklyn right away prolly isn't in the cards. But anyway, The Advantage is here. They are an 8-bit Nintendo cover band who fucking rule. Definitely worth a check if you're up for a Sunday show. They will be playing the Knitting Factory the night before, too. I'm sorry I'll most likely have to miss them. You know how much I love gimmicks...

So I'm on a bus in a couple hours heading north, iPodless, thanks to Crapple's inept customer support. Looks like another bus trip with the ol' Discman. Can't wait for Muse tonight!

EZ-Share

I found a free and easy file hosting server called ez-share. They give you 15 megs per file, and you don't need to sign up or anything. Pretty good deal. Only catch is you can't link directly to the file, so they take you to an opening page with ads (no popups) where you can then click on the file to download. It's real easy, just has an extra step casue its free. This should allow me to update the "Listening Party" section to the right much more often without having to rely on bands hosting their own songs. Enjoy!

And of course, if anybody has a legal objection to a song being up, please let me know and I'll take it down immediately.

Tho I'm leaning towards London...


Here's another option.
(via Paige)

Seriously...barring another terrorist attack, I think Lower Manhattan should be a pretty tolerable place to live over the next few years. It's just embarrassing and shameful to be nationally associated with the "Moral" majority of this country :(

I feel sick

I woke up this morning in a daze. The TV blaring ABC World News Now (Ch. 730), which is BY FAR the best development of Election night. Looks like it's based in an off campus apartment at some tier II school. Their correspondents were all at bars talking to drunk partisans, but the best part was they were using WEBCAMS to do this...Like blurry, pixilated webcams...Remember the cameras in Iraq? Except they weren't on a tank halfway around the world...they were at a club in Dayton. All the people in the studio kept joking about how they were bored and wanted to go home...at one point, a "newscaster" interrupted an "analyst" to ask if some computer guy in the background was SLEEPING! And he was! I bet their annual budget couldn't pay Peter Jennings dry-cleaning bill. It was some much needed unintentional humor to cap off a pretty depressing night.

Kerry just conceded. I feel sick and hungover...Yet somehow the world still goes on.

Slim to no chance I'll be able to make it to Elefant tonight, but I will be at The Futureheads later on. Maybe a night of heavy drinking will get rid of my massive headache and crippling nausea.

A song for the weary...

"Ohio" by Modest Mouse

Took a bus straight to baltimore
On the way he took a nap
Dropped off a note that said I’m giving this note back
Ps- there’s a lot going on underneath
There’s roots there’s pipes, there’s drainage leaks
You’re on, you’re wrong, ohio
Truly sorry, I see clearly
Calmly crashing, I pace faster than anyone
Hinges rusting, they swing louder than anything
Truly lonely this place is flatter than it seems
I’m upset and I leave the doors wide open
Our hearts are used up, cracked and dry
Pulled the scabs off of regrets
We haven’t learned to eat our conscience yet
Truly sorry, I see clearly
Hardy hoping, I spend it all on game machines
Calmly crashing, I pace and I figure out again
One hand clapping, awake but napping
Rows of lights to illuminate lines
Why don’t they turn them off and let us see night
Drove crazed grooming my lies
You can’t look in on one way eyes, ohio

It's not over yet. Confidence, Kerry...Confidence.

Eh...

(7:35PM): I'm not gonna sit here and type all night I dont think. If I hear something everyone else isn't already saying, I'll post...but there's too much going on everyobdy can see on TV. Today was fun...Would have gone crazy today if I didn't keep up like that. Thanks for bearing with me.

(8:01PM): FUCK THAT...shit..I'm never getting off this...Jersey Bitches! A GREAT sign of things to come.

(9:08PM): You see the guy with the "FUCK THIS SHIRT" shirt in the crowd behind CNN wearing a T-Shirt...classy. Gotta admit we're getting nervous again...Prolly cause the networks are dragging this out. Florida looks bad, PA and Ohio look good still...other states look scary too. Can't we get some flaky exit polls out again to reinstill some confidence???

(9:31PM):
Ah, refreshing...Kerry is up 4 points in the Ohio exit polls…Florida is much closer. PA, MI, and MINN are towards Kerry. But If Bush's numbers hold, it means these exit polls may be biased towards our guy. Developing… :(

(9:36PM):New Info from Wonkette...Pretty good news.

9:10 p.m.

The birdies report, early returns:

PA and Ohio margins widening for Kerry
FL 50/50
WI 49/49

This is the stuff I need...The TV is driving me crazy.

(9:38PM): UGH. From Wonkette again...

9:35 p.m.

Hoarse birdies say:

Not 50/50 in Florida. White House very confident.

(11:12PM): Oy...

Forget Ohio, Forget Florida...This is gonna come down to Wisconsin...You heard it here first. Ohio is gonna go Kerry. Florida's gonna go Bush. Wisconsin is tied, and that cant go to Bush, or else we're finished. Kos reports:

"MSNBC exit poll indicates that the youth did not vote. The 18-29 bracket voted the same this year as in 2000, while 30-44 group was down."

This is when we start thinking that old "...what more could I have done" mantra. They didn't come out, and that's our fault. Very disappointing.

Just read Kevin Drum also agrees Wisconsin is gonna be the big one. The rest should go the same as 2000...except Ohio which I'm confident Kerry will pull it out.

(1:25AM):Fox calls Ohio for Bush. I hate Fox, but they're right. Carville conceded it. It's over. We are in a bad place right now.

Let me be the first to say that I do not blame John Kerry for losing this. He was a good candidate and he ran a good campaign. Hate to say this too, but Novak’s right...this is a Conservative Country. The Democratic party needs to shift even more to the right to win? Is that going to be ok? I don't think so. Can we bring it back? I don't see how. Is it even safe to live here anymore? Especially in New York? Now that we confirmed we accept this administration? Prolly, but I don't know. I don't know. This is very upsetting. Where do we go from here? Here?

(2:04AM): In 2000, I was strangely drawn to MSNBC and Chris Matthews. This year it was Wonkette. Thanks, sweetheart, for building me up before breaking my heart. She leaves us with this final note:

"Oh, we're going to start drinking in earnest in about five minutes, and after the bar closes we will empty the contents of our mini-bar into a pillowcase and suck on it until we fall into a dreamless sleep. This is pretty much the opposite of partying."

I know it's not over yet. There's a lot of mess left to settle. Dems are refusing to give up, which is risky in the long run. I respect the devotion to the cause. I don't know if we can deal with any more false hope tho. We're in worse shape now than we were in 2000. I've lost confidence, but I have not given up. They say if the Red Sox can come back from 3 down...We'll see.

These were the longest 12 hours of my life. Thanks for following along with me. Goodnight.

At First Light...

Will update till there's a winner.

(2:10PM):Via Wonkette:

K/B

AZ 45-55
CO 48-51
LA 42-57
MI 51-48
WI 52-48
PA 60-40
OH 52-48
FL 51-48
MICH 51-47
NM 50-48
MINN 58-40
WISC 52-43
IOWA 49-49
NH 57-41

I will update as I see more numbers come in...unofficial or official.

(2:26PM): Wonkette adds a disclaimer:

"I have been asked to clarify: The little birdie is not Joe Trippi nor anyone he works with.

In fact, the little birdie is really skittish and not exactly trustworthy in all cases. Please vote, even if you live in PA. These could be total forgeries, designed to keep you from voting. As a friend put it, "The Yankees always figure out a way to win.""

(2:45PM): Numbers track back to www.mydd.com...They claim to be, in fact, the exit poll results so far, but we'll never know if they're actually officially real.

(3:10PM): Just read this on John Zogby's website:

John Zogby: "Watch Colorado, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. There may be some big surprises!" 11:43 AM - 11-02-04

He will have his final poll numbers today at 5:30...one half hour before the first poll closes.

(3:33):
I don't know where I got these numbers. I have faith in them, however. More faith than the other numbers.

Kerry up 4 in OH
up one in FL
up 16 in NH
up 18 in PA
up 17 in MN
up 1.8 in NM
up 0.1 in IA
up 4.7 in WI

And from the bible, electoral-vote.com, here are Zogby's final Aproval/Disaproval ratings in some select swing states...

Colorado 46%/54%
Florida 46%/53%
Iowa 45%/55%
Minnesota 43%/56%
New Mexico 47%/53%
Nevada 49%/51%
Ohio 43%/49%
Pennsylvania 45%/55%
Wisconsin 45%/55%

(3:48PM):
More from Wonkette:

K/B

USA: 50-49
FL: 50-49
OH: 50-49
Colorado: 48-50
NM: 50-48 (these numbers could change)

Note: No data for PA, WI, IA, MI, etc. etc. etc.

My father tells me Slate is planing on publishing exit polls at 5:00PM. No more updates till then...unless something BIG comes in.

(4:14PM): Slate posted their numbers. Still looking good, but much closer.

K/B

Florida 50/49
Ohio 50/49
Pennsylvania54/45
Wisconsin 51/46
Michigan 51/47
Minnesota58/40
Nevada 48/50
New Mexico 50/48
North Carolina 49/51
Colorado 46/53

(4:31PM):
Apparently from CNN, via Kos:

Ohio - African American precincts are performing at 106% what we expected, based on historical numbers. Hispanic precincts are at 144% what we expected. Precincts that went for Gore are turning out 8% higher then those that went Bush in 2000. Democratic base precincts are performing 15% higher than GOP base precincts.

Florida - Dem base precincts are performing 14% better than Bush base precincts. In precincts that went for Gore, they are doing 6% better than those that went for Bush. African American precincts at 109%, Hispanic precincts at 106%.

Pennsylvania - African American precincts at 102% of expectations, Hispanics at 136% of expectations. The Gore precincts are doing 4 percent better than bush precincts.

Michigan - Democratic base precincts are 8% better than GOP base states. Gore precincts are 5% better than Bush.

(5:09PM):
Zogby knew songthing was up with Virginia...

Via Wonkette, once again...

Virginia? Fucking Virginia? Am I taking crazy pills?

Kerry = + numbers
FL +4
OH +5
MI +4
PA +16
IA +2
WI +5
MN +15
NV Bush up 1
NM tied at 49
CO Bush up 1
VA Bush up 1
NC Bush up 5

ALSO

AR: 45/54 - BUSH
ME: 55/44 - KERRY

and via Kevin Drum's Washington Monthly Blog

Hispanic FL vote in 2000: 35% for Gore, 65% for Bush
Hispanic FL vote in 2004: 46% for Kerry, 53% for Bush

5:40PM:

This is the best news I've heard all day... (via Wonkette)

And finally...Pollmaster Zogby sez (via Atrios):
"311-213, with Nevada and Colorado too close to call...."

OK! Looking Good! That's it for my running pre-return speculation special. I'm gonna get some work done here then head home for the actual results. I'll continue this in a new post then. As for all y’all looking for Bravery MP3's and Arcade Fire Tickets and whatnot, I'll be back with the irreverence tomorrow fer sure...

Alone, Together


Four Years ago, 50,999,897 people voted for Al Gore. There's something about the realization that number, which will be on official record for hundreds of years, would be different had I not voted. I know it's sentimental and corny, but whatever. We all have the last vote. Living in New York, I'm well aware my vote doesn't really matter as to who wins the election, but I still like the fact that, when it's all said and done, I had a very specific impact on the history of the world, and the history of something that will be in American history books for hundreds of years. We can look at that number and say it would not be the same without each of us.

Lets hope there are enough votes today to elect John Kerry President.

I'm so nervous I can barely eat

I'm really nervous about tomorrow. Confident, yes, but nervous nonetheless. More on this in the morning when it will totally take over my mind.

BIG NEWS: Interpol tickets at Hammerstein for both nights are still available! They must have released some more last minute. If you're itching to go, scoop them up quick! Anyone know who's opening for them the second night?

I got the New Kings of Leon album today...It's very good. Much much better than their last one, which I didn't really like at all. 'Milk' is my favorite song of the year. By far. I had heard it twice...once in Ireland back in June, and once a few weeks back at Bowery. It stuck to me like nothing else I had ever heard. Been dying to listen again. Breaks my heart every time I hear it. It'll be the theme song for this election I guess. Win or lose.

UPDATE:Here it is. Won't last long, so get it while you can. I love this song.

Kings of Leon - Milk (Right-Click, Save)

You don’t want the terrorists to win, do you?

This week, 50 participating restaurants from the Wall St. and Battery Park areas are holding a mini restaurant week called Downtown for Dinner. The $20.04 pre-fixe is for a three course dinner. Great bargain. This area, and restaurants down there specifically, have suffered greatly because of the attacks of 9/11. This week is a great chance to go check out a new spot...Cause, ya know, If New Yorkers stop eating extravagant meals at fancy restaurants, the terrorists will have truly won.

Wilco/Flaming Lips NYE

Tickets are $57.50, not $35 as previously reported, and the presale is already sold out. I did not get tickets...but I have a feeling there are gonna be a lot of extras floating around craigslist as we creep up to New Years if I decide to go. Too early to make that kind of commitment. Will play it by ear.

Also, a reminder that Broken Social Scene tickets ARE on sale for Bowery Ballroom, despite the BB website not having a link up. These tickets should go fast, so if you're planning on going, get them soon. Aside from Muse next week at Webster Hall, there is no other show coming up I'm anticipating more.

Speaking of Dub-Hall, did anyone go see The Walkmen play Friday? I heard some really negative impressions from my friends who went. Too bad. I was told they put on a stellar show.

Billmon is back!

"For if we don't find
the next Whiskey Bar,
I tell you we must die"

I just read via 1115.org that The Whiskey Bar is open once again. It's the best written political commentary you'll find out there...Web or in Print. Welcome Back.

It's November, and I thought about sleeping with the A/C on last night...

Nobody's really talking about the weather these days, but this is about as warm as I can ever remember for November. I wore shorts out on Saturday night and was perfectly comfortable. This is nuts, y'all...enjoy it while it's here, cause all of a sudden it's gonna be 35 and windy and you'll wonder where the autumn went.

Halloween was fun...despite a rocky start, ended up coming together. Was supposed to meet some heads at a bar in the 20s and Park, but wasn't told about the $30 cover...so I passed. Grabbed a slice of pizza nearby (alone and in full costume, mind you) and ended up catching a ride back downtown with another friend who happened to be in the same hood. After hitting up a party at this chick's loft in the West Village for a minute, we ended up at my all time favorite scene, Misshapes. After about half a dozen cigarette burns (one to the face) I headed home and called it a night.

Played some more San Andreas and watched the first several episodes of 21 Jump Street over the course of the weekend as well. Gave out candy to the kiddies in the building last night (Cute!), then watched The Warriors later on with a friend who came over. Good Halloween flick for people who don't like scary movies. Didn't make it to Sam Champion...Anyone there know what they played? Very curious.

Some fun stuff going on this week...Tuesday is election night. I'm nervous as hell, but confident. I think I've made it clear that I'm voting for John Kerry, and I urge you to do the same.

Wednesday if I get out of work on time, Gonna head down to The Merc to catch Elefant, then later on check out the Canal Room for the not to be missed Futureheads. Thursday I'm gonna hop over to the Lee Quinones opening/release party, live and direct from the Central Village at everyone's favorite Tennis Center/Club, Pressure. "Open Bar provided by Miller High Life" was the kicker. More on this thing as it comes up. The OC also is back Thursday night. Get ready.

Friday I'm heading up to Boston to hang out with some friends from college and go see Muse...If anybody knows any good parties/bars up there, I'm open to suggestions.