And Now Introducing...

A couple of fresh discoveries for you this morning. Maybe they're not discoveries to you, but they are to me, and, frankly, that's all that matters. :^)

The Whigs

Holy crap is this band good. I've been seeing their name popping around the web (and Rolling Stone's "bands to watch" list) for a few weeks, and being the diehard Afghan Whigs fan that I am, I wrote them off as unbelievable assholes for taking the name.

Then, yesterday I saw that they're playing with Jon Auer (of the legendary Posies) at the Mercury Lounge in May, and figured I should find out what they sound like. And holy schnikes am I glad I did. Head over to their website immediately and check out their "Hear Things" jukebox (bottom right of the page). I am currently falling head over heels in love with their song "Technology." Seriously. Unbelievable song. They also have a couple more songs at their myspace site.

Edited to add: They're at Pianos next Wednesday night. Tickets are $8. I just bought me one.

The Idaho Falls

Matt pointed me in the direction of The Idaho Falls this morning. He described them as "Great So Cal alt country with a big old dash of Byrds jangle thrown in." I don't think he could have described them any better. Good stuff. And apparently they now share members with both The Tyde and Mojave 3. Not shabby. Check 'em out:

"California Day"
"Jasmine"
"Country Song"

You can also hear what one of the band members' mom has to say about their last album. She was very favorably impressed.

The Least Necessary Cover. Ever.

In, err, celebration of their Greatest Hits album coming out next week, Poison has recorded a cover of Grand Funk Railroad's "We're an American Band", which begs the question: is this the least necessary cover of all time?

Believe me, I loved me some Poison in the late 80s, and my first ever concert was Poison with Tesla opening at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati in, let's say, 1988. But shit, this is awful. It's worse that that Jenny Lewis/Conor Oberst cover of the Traveling Wilburys' "Handle with Care". (Link via Villains Always Blink.)

It Could Be a Crackhead..

Ya'll Wanna Do Some Cocaine?

Channel 101 is the gift that keeps on giving. If you haven't seen it, it's new to you!

Check out The 'Bu.

God bless unemployed actors. And Sarah Chalke.

The Lord Giveth..

Just as I complain that the interweb has been bereft of top-notch linkage of late, this afternoon comes along and bitch-slaps me something fierce. So forget I ever said anything, and go listen to these..

Firstly, RBally has a kick-ass live Replacements show up. (Link via Ear Farm.) I'm not sure if this is the same show that I had video linked for last week...

Secondly, there's a bunch of bands I'm hearing for the first time and, generally, liking.

The Envelopes, "Sister in Love" (Link via The Catbird Seat.)

Man Man, "Feathers" and "Black Mission Goggles". Seriously, I tried to hate these guys because of the name, and the growing blog noise, but I seriously dig what I'm hearing. Dammit. (Link via Everything is Fire.)

The Shins, "The Gloating Sun". Of course I know the Shins, but I've never heard this song of theirs before. Pretty. Nice. Shinsy. (Link via Revolution in the Head.)

The Soft Lighties, "Black Skinheads in White Pants". (Link via Eardrums.)

Thirdly, more songs are leaking from the new Drive-By Truckers disc A Blessing and a Curse [Preorder it!]. Indie for Dummies links to two songs:

"Easy on Yourself"
"Goodbye"

And fourthly, in honor of this week's return of Yacht Rock, I bring you a little H&O, baby. Had I Known You Better Then. (Link via Adventures of a University Finalist.)

PS: I link to a photo of the White Power Twins for no reason other than that they amuse me.

Pure Nonsensical Hilarity

That's how I would describe the new Channel 101 show, Lunatic, which chronicles a day in the life of Larry, the next door psycho-killer. Someone needs to turn this into a movie called Tuesdays With Larry.

Slow News Day

And it's been a pretty slow week for new, interesting music around these parts. Here's a couple interesting things floating around right now:

EarFarm discovers a band called The Vorstand Circus, and provides two pretty interesting songs. I think their reference to early-REM is a pretty good one...

"All Truth Now"

"Black Hole"

Kingblind has two pretty cool links, including the entire remix of Bloc Party's Silent Alarm, as well as a live Jeff Mangum performance at Aquarius Records.

And, because I'm told his SXSW show was excellent, and that his girlfriend/drummer is hot, check out Steve Wynn live at the Double Door in Chicago on 3/21/06. (Link via Large Hearted Boy.)

Fame, Fortune, Fagina

Episode 8 of Yacht Rock is now rockin'. Hard to tell if this is a farewell or simply the beginning of a whole new storyline, but if it is the end, we'll always have John Oates' chest hair to look back on in loving memory.

R.I.P., Arrested Development, 2003-2006

Well, it looks like Hurwitz has decided not to continue despite a pretty nice offer on the table from Showtime.

Fuck.

BREAKING NEWS: The Beatings Will Kick Your Ass

Do yourself a favor and go check out The Beatings.

I heard a song from their new album, Holding on to Hand Grenades on WOXY a half hour ago, and immediately went online to see what else they have. What I found kicked my ass. Go listen. Now. Start with "Feel Good Ending."

And a Happy Saturday to You

Welcome to the weekend. If all goes according to plan, and if it's up to the folks I work for it likely won't, this weekend is going to be the kickoff of an amazing few weeks of live music here in NYC. Last night was Britain's Mystery Jets at the Mercury Lounge, followed by the Arctic Monkeys tonight, Ted Leo tomorrow, Minus 5 on Tuesday, then the Flaming Lips, Josh Rouse, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Alkaline Trio, Lucero, Bob Pollard and Wilco. I seriously have to start remembering to bring my camera to these things..

Anyway, before the aforementioned bands take over my life, I figured I'd share a few songs which have defined the last few weeks for me..

The Buzzcocks, "Wish I Never Loved You"

The Delays, "You and Me"

The Eames Era, "Go To Sleep"

The Light Footwork, "The Art of Everyday Communication Part 1"

Mystery Jets, "You Can't Fool Me Dennis"

As always, these are 7-day limited downloads. If you like what you hear, go buy something.

Son Volt Returns to NYC

You know, those words don't excite me as much as they would have in 1997. Too bad.

Anyway, Brooklyn Vegan points out that Son Volt will be playing at (or near) World Financial Center on Tuesday, June 20th. The Jay Farrar website confirms that this is part of the annual River to River series, and that the band will be going on at 7pm. It's free, of course. I can only assume that this means we can also expect an announcement of a Ted Leo Seaport show in the coming weeks, and that another natural disaster will strike. Can't wait.

Live National

Score one for Muzzle of Bees. They have links to an entire live set of The National from France last year. Check it out.

Pre-Weekend Therapy

I can't stop lovin' those Savage Chickens.

A very brief update for you, given that my work PC is inexplicably refusing to allow me to cut and paste. So everything here is lovingly typed in by hand, which I must say is a pain in the ass.

Some non-suck Wheat. (Via Six Eyes.)

Aquarium Drunk has yet another killer set of unreleased tunes. Today's miracle of music is a bunch of outtakes and live songs from the Nashville Skyline-era collaboration between Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash.

Another good song from Shearwater, this one called "Red Sea". (Via Said the Gramophone.)

And I'll leave you with an oldie but a goodie which I haven't heard in years.. "A Different Man" by The Church. (Via Two and 1/2 Pounds of Bacon.)

Brits and Bts

This Thursday afternoon is brought to you by the letters B T and S... among others.

First up, check out another new Built to Spill song off of You In Reverse, "Mess With Time". (Via Kill Your Coworkers.)

Oh, and yes, I do now have the entire album. And no, I'm not posting it. I'm not as stupid as I look. Nor do I want to get disbarred. At least yet. :^)

Second, even more exciting, go check out the next big HUGE Brit band, Dirty Pretty Things. The View From Yoorp links to four new songs here. In case you've forgotten, this is the new band featuring the non-drug abusing half of the Libertines.

And, staying on the British tip, Torr links to two cool new British bands:

Les Incompetents
The Voom Blooms

Unreleased Tunage

Seriously, I have the biggest man-crush ever on An Aquarium Drunkard. Not because I've ever seen him, but because he consistently has the greatest links ever. His "Lost Album Series" is spectacular, and each entry is better than the last. Today's entry is the lost Black Crowes album "The Band." As a huge Crowes fan, I'm actually pretty upset with myself for not even knowing this existed. I vaguely remember that they'd done some recording after Three Snakes & One Charm which they'd ditched in favor of By Your Side, but it had never occurred to me that an entire album of stuff was out there. And it's awesome. Go and check it out yourself.

Xenu Will Enslave and Kill Us All

YouTube has the entire, uncut Scientology episode of South Park which Tom Cruise has tried to ban. It's excellent, so check it out if you haven't seen it. BE WARNED, however -- Xenu knows who you are and where you live. He also has some pretty cool model airplanes space planes which can fly him to your door in a matter of minutes.

Stop Whatever You're Doing and Watch This

I'll join with An Aquarium Drunkard in imploring you to stop what you're doing -- including reading this blog -- and heading over to Be The Boy to check out an awesome, awesome video of the Replacements performing live at 7th Street in Minneapolis from 1981. As Be The Boy points out, this stuff is the reason the internet exists. Well, that and porn. Wonderful porn.

Dykes on Bikes... and Other Damnable Offenses

This may be the greatest thing ever. (Via Need Coffee.)

Game... blouses

My friend Matt points out this article over at the Smoking Gun. Apparently The Artist Formerly Known as Illegible Symbol has gotten into a little legal skirmish with spawn of Satan Carlos Boozer. Symbol was renting an LA-area house from Spawn, and seems to have decided to paint the exterior of the house with "purple striping." This didn't go over too well with the Booze, though I imagine he likes it better than Carolina blue.

MARCH 20--Claiming that his $70,000-a-month tenant Prince undertook an extremely tacky makeover of his Los Angeles mansion, an NBA star recently sued the mercurial singer over the purple-hued alterations. In a January complaint, Carlos Boozer, a forward with the Utah Jazz, sued Prince/MPG Music over unauthorized work done on the 10-bedroom, 11-bath West Hollywood property, which is owned by the C Booz Multifamily I LLC. According to the lawsuit, Prince/MPG Music violated its eight-month lease by "painting the exterior of the [house] with purple striping, 'prince' symbol, and numbers 3121." Prince's new album, "3121," is scheduled for release tomorrow. Inside the home, among other renovations, a purple monogrammed carpet was installed in the master bedroom and plumbing and piping was added in the downstairs bedroom "for water transfer for beauty salon chairs." As part of a promotion, Prince is expected to hold a private concert at the Hollywood property--which recently was listed for sale at $11.9 million--for album purchasers who find a Wonkaesque "purple ticket" inside their CD cases. The Boozer corporation filed its lawsuit two months after hand-delivering a "three-day notice to cure or quit" to the Sierra Alta Way property (which can be seen in the aerial photo above). Responding to the lawsuit, Prince's counsel denied the owner's allegations, adding that rent was accepted for December and January "without objection." In mid-February, a month after the complaint was filed, an attorney for the Boozer company sought the suit's dismissal, a request the court approved. Since the dismissal was granted "without prejudice," the landlord has the ability to file another suit on the same claims. The Prince/MPG Music lease, which ends May 31, stipulates that all parties involved in the rental agree to sign a confidentiality agreement about the deal. It also states that the tenant may cancel the lease with 45 days notice "should the weather conditions of the Los Angeles rainy season...prohibit enjoyment of the property."

As a lawyer, I'm normally all for sticking it to people who violate a contract. But in this case, I gotta say I'm behind the pancake man.

Hear It, Buy It, Love It

I've got two very good friends who have worked at AOL now for about 5 years. They're not techies, they're business-side guys. During the time they've been there, I've done very little but make fun of them for working for what, to my eyes at least, appears to be the most half-assed company ever created. They're two very intelligent guys working for the dumbest company around. At every turn AOL has made the exact wrong decision, and it's completely thrown away the incredible position of power it had circa-1999.

I say this because, finally, I think AOL has gotten something right. I've been linking the last few weeks to several whole, new albums being streamed at AOL. They have rock, pop, rap, r&b, and other genres of stuff, and up to 25 albums at a time.

What does this mean? It means they're slowly, week by week and album by album, earning my trust and loyalty. Right now, if I like an album I hear at AOL, I go and buy it at Insound or Amazon. But give me a few more weeks -- and redesign their site a tad -- and I'm going to start buying through AOL. And if they add enough other interesting content, they may start getting a lot more of my traffic, and a good deal more of my money. (No, that does not mean I will be joining any $20/month service, thanks.)

Anyway, we'll see how long it takes for them to kill this thing before it really starts to take off. In the meantime, go and listen to these new albums in their entirety, and dream of a day when AOL won't be a dirty word:

Josh Rouse, Subtitulo

Sondre Lerche, The Duper Sessions

Appleseed Cast, Peregrine

Editors, The Back Room

Music to Live To

If you're reading this blog, odds are you're a music fan. Either that or you were hoping that this was Carl Weathers' blog. Sorry about that.

Personally, I consider myself something more than a music fan. To me, music is one of the most important things in my life. I wish I could make music better than I can -- and for proof of the fact that I can't, ask anyone who ever heard me play guitar -- but setting that aside, music is pretty much the one constant in my life. I spend most of my free money on it, spend most of my free time on it, and look forward to it more than just about anything else. It's a part of who I am.

I feel this way about so many artists, so many albums, so many songs. Yet there are a few artists, albums and songs that transcend the rest, and rise to a different level. I can't really describe how or why, but there is a class of music that, more than any other, makes me happy to be alive. This class is very small. I've mentioned the idea of a "pantheon" of favorite bands before. I'm not sure that every band in that "pantheon" would even fall into this very small class.

I mention this because I saw a concert tonight that made me happy to be alive. Glen Hansard, lead singer of the Frames, did a solo(ish) show tonight at Pianos in NYC. (That's a picture of Glen up there. It's not mine, because I forgot my camera as usual. It's from a solo gig he did in 2004.) I can't even describe how good it was. I think the only words are, as I mentioned, that it made me happy to be alive.

I've been to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of concerts, and the number of times I've walked away from a concert feeling like this is in the single digits. The others includes the two Teenage Fanclub shows at the Bowery last summer, Wilco at Irving Plaza in early 1997, the Afghan Whigs at the 9:30 Club in 1996, Ryan Adams at Irving Plaza a few weeks after 9-11, the Frames pretty much every time I've seen them, and several Guided by Voices shows I was too drunk to remember the dates of. There may be a couple more that I'm blanking on right now, but that's pretty much it.

Anyway, the point I wanted to make, really, is that I now owe another amazing evening to Glen Hansard. Whether he knows it or not, he's made my life just a little bit better tonight, and for that I am in his debt.

Wrapup of the Recent

Be warned, I am neither a journalist nor a music reviewer. What you are about to read is a lawyer's attempt to briefly bring you up to speed on his recent music purchases, and his impressions of those purchases. Feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments.

Buzzcocks, Flat-Pack Philosophy

You may say that Flat-Pack Philosophy is more of the same from the Buzzcocks. Yeah, it sounds pretty much exactly like what they were doing 20 years ago, but they rocked 20 years ago, and they still rock now. If I can rock this hard when I'm 50-ish, I'll be thrilled. Hell, I wish I could rock this hard now. You can't deny how fun, catchy and still-vital this album is. Good stuff.

Centro-Matic, Fort Recovery

As I've mentioned, this is a band I wish I'd listened to earlier. They just celebrated their 10th anniversary, and this is the first album of theirs that I've heard. It's fantastic. As I said, I'm no music reviewer, but the easiest comparison I can make to bands I like is to compare Centro-Matic favorably to Drive-By Truckers, Lucero and Sun Kil Moon. Considering how good those bands are, you should get a sense where I'm going here.

Graham Coxon, Love Travels at Illegal Speeds

Only listened to it 3-4 times, but can't say I like it anywhere near as much as his last album. The first single is catchy, but I have yet to really grasp onto anything on the album. I'll give it a few more listens before I write it off.

Delays, You See Colors

My impression now is the pretty much the same as when I first heard this streaming on NME.com. It's good. Not great. It's got a number of good to very good songs on it, but nothing reaches the brilliance of most of Faded Seaside Glamour. Opener "You and Me" comes closest. And "Valentine," which gets downright electro at times, is actually an excellent song. Unfortunately a good portion of the second half of the album is just so-so.

Morning Runner, Wilderness is Paradise Now

OK, I'll say it -- I was wrong. This isn't the great disc I thought it was going to be. It isn't awful, either, but it is a hell of a lot more Coldplay-ish than I initially thought. It rocks a bit harder than Coldplay, thank fucking God, but I can't say that the two bands are really that far removed. Let us never speak of this again.

Mystery Jets, Making Dens

Probably my favorite of this recent batch (although Centro-Matic is close). Not sure why, though. "You Can't Fool Me Dennis" is far and away the best song on the album, and is a contender for my non-existent "song of year" award. The rest of the album doesn't come close to being as catchy as "Dennis," and in fact veers off into some jammy, weird territory at times, but I still like it. You rarely get a sense that a band is truly having fun recording an album, but that's definitely the sense you get listening to Making Dens. Can't wait to see them at the Mercury Lounge this Friday.

Josh Rouse, Under Cold Blue Stars

I've loved the last two Josh Rouse discs, but for some reason haven't gotten around to filling out his back catalog. I finally picked up this disc a few weeks ago, right after seeing him play at Joe's Pub here in New York, and it's exactly what I expected -- more smart, catchy, pretty pop songs. Looking forward to hearing Subtitulo this week, and picking up the rest of his catalog at the same time.

PCs Suck My Balls

Seriously, I've had just about enough of this piece of crap. Between crashing, freezing, quitting out of Explorer, and inexplicably dropping my wireless connection every 30 seconds, it singe-handedly is the reason my posting has been down the last few days. I'm counting the freakin' minutes until my new computer gets here.

Anyway, to avoid this thing crapping out again, I'm gonna keep this short -- here's five live performances that KEXP has archived at its site. There's a lot more to be found there too, so check it out.

Clem Snide
The Decemberists
Sondre Lerche
The National
The Wrens

You Must Do This... Now!

Although I am an Apple man through and through, and although I am not a fan of the subscription-based model for music, I find myself becoming more and more interested in eMusic.

How does it work? Pretty easy. Pay a monthly fee, starting at $20 or so, and get a guaranteed number of MP3 download every month. You then OWN these songs forever. If you cancel eMusic, they're still yours. Think of it as along the lines (sorta) of the old Columbia House clubs.

If you like indie music, as I do, eMusic is great. They don't have everything, but they have a lot.

And, if you sign up for a free trial now, you get 100 FREE MP3's to keep forever. Just go here. Rumor is this deal is going away soon. I've already seen them advertising a 25 MP3 intro deal, so if you're thinking of doing it, do it NOW. You can even cancel in the first 30 days and keep your songs for free.

So, even though I like having physical CDs, I can't turn down this much free music. If you like free, check it out.

(I'm in no way affiliated with eMusic, and I get nothing out of you joining. Just trying to share the wealth of free music!)

Jews, Brits and Iraqis

Yet another band in the long line of bands I need to spend more time listening to -- Rawk Blog links to an entire set from David Berman and his Silver Jews. The set is split into two, with the first half here, and the second half here.

As I mentioned earlier, I got myself a nice little package from Amazon UK when I got home last night. Got the new Graham Coxon, Delays, Morning Runner and Mystery Jets. I like everything so far, but think I might like the Mystery Jets album the best of the bunch. And on second impression, the Delays album is pretty darn good too, if not as goo as Faded Seaside Glamour. Here's a song off the new Graham Coxon disc.

"Let Me Down", Graham Coxon (via Badminton Stamps)

And, on a completely different note, an absolutely vital article that everyone should read. Be warned, the photos in the article are from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and are, unfortunately, not for those with weak stomaches.

For Those Of Us Who Are Austin-Impaired

Song of the day: "All The Holes in the Walls" by Birdmonster. A name I've heard before, but I'll be finding out more soon. Great, great song. (Via My Old Kentucky Home.)

Another great little find, Six Eyes has two songs from the Welsh (?) band Pulco, each of which is excellent. "Paddle People" and "Love of the Ocean".

For those of you, like me, still in the process of discovering Centro-matic, An Aquarium Drunkard collects a ton of songs from all stages in the band's career. Check it out.

While he can't seem to put together a second album, Damien Rice sure is popping up all over the place on the net recently. Here he is covering Tracy Champan's "Talkin' About a Revolution". (Via Copy, Right?.)

And Copy, Right? also links to an incredibly awful cover version of Poison's "Talk Dirty to Me" by none other than Tiffany. Because you needed to know in 2006 what mall-rock sounds like performed by a mall-pop has-been. I know I did.

More later... got a great shipment of stuff from Amazon UK yesterday..

Aaaarrggg!

Frickin' Blogger ate a huge post I had ready to go last night. So no commentary for you. Just two quick links, with more to follow later in the day. And Blogger, you can bite my ass.

Two links from Prefix Blog: Neko Case on Leno, and the Arctic Monkeys on SNL.

Bows Plus Arrows links to a song off the new Josh Ritter album: "Lilian, Egypt".

I Am a Bad Fan...

... because I completely blanked on the fact that Bob Nanna has a new project and I totally missed the fact that he's put out an LP and at least one EP. Bad fan. Bad.

To the uninitiated, Bob Nanna was the lead singer and songwriter for Braid and Hey Mercedes, two incredible bands based out of various parts of Illinois.. Braid is another of those mid-late 90's emo bands I was referring to earlier -- i.e., back when "emo" could also be called post-punk, as opposed to now, when emo is referred to (when it's referred to at all) as diarrhea. Hey Mercedes was the slightly more straightforward rock version of Braid that came next. As I said, though, both bands rocked.

Anyway, Bob's got a new project called City on Film. Bad fan that I am, I don't know a whole lot about it, but I did just find a new song linked over at Six Eyes that I like a lot. And I poked around and found a few more on the official City on Film website. Check 'em out:

"Pony's Last Trick"

"Forgiveness"

"For Holly"

"Secret Santa Cruz" (Lifter Puller cover)

And keep Bob in your thoughts. Haven't read through his entire blog, but he appears to have some health-related stuff going on right now. Best of wishes, Bob!

Getting Busy

Things are picking up a bit with my coming trial at work, so my updates over the next couple of weeks might be a little slower than usual. That said, I enjoy the shit out of this thing, so I'll do my best to keep up..

Those of you lucky enough to be in Austin this week will both be able to eat some of the best food in the world and go see Austin locals Voxtrot. I'm a bit behind the rest of the blogosphere on these guys, but I'm starting to come around. Check out "Four Long Days" from their forthcoming Mothers Sisters Daughters Wives EP. (Via Hello Gina.)

Two and 1/2 Pounds of Bacon points the way toward one of my favorite emo songs ever, Mineral's "Parking Lot". Do yourself a favor and see what mid-90's emo was about before it polished itself up, put on eyeliner, and started whining about the pain of being a 15-year old. (Yeah, sure, mid-90's emo whined about the pain of being a 23-year old, but hey, that's 50% more better than 15).

At least one of you missed it when I did this a few weeks ago, so here again for your consideration are three songs from the biggest blog-backed band in the world since Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, Minneapolis' own Tapes n' Tapes:
"Insistor"
"Cowbell"
"Omaha"

An awesome article entitled "10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Grandaddy" from Harp Magazine. Also check of Jim DeRogatis' article on the effect of the internet and word of mouth on a band's success here.(Both links via Large Hearted Boy.)

Finally, check out one of my favorite new-ish bands, The Eames Era. Yet another band I've been introduced to by WOXY.com. Excellent stuff. Album comes out today.

I Should Be In Austin

Well, not for another day or two, but still.. arg. And I don't even get the consolation prize of watching Michigan in the NCAA Tournament because, as folks at MGoBlog like to point out, that team is a bunch of vaginas. That said, I might get to see the Turtleneck Monster himself if they make it to the semis of the NIT. Yip. pee.

Some music to ease the pain:

A few great songs from Eef Barzelay, the lead singer of the incredibly underrated (and virtually unknown) Clem Snide. Do yourself a favor and go pick up either his solo disc or a Clem Snide album. You won't be sorry.

False 45th links to a live cut of Belle and Sebastian performing "Another Sunny Day" off their new album.

A few notable albums are streaming around the web right now:

The new Essex Green album is streaming at Merge Records' site.

The new Guillemots and Hard Fi discs are streaming at AOL Music. (Link via Brooklyn Vegan.)

And, finally, a duet from Damien Rice and Christy Moore, "Lonely Soldier". (Link via Scatter o' Light.

SXSW ALERT

Reason #249532 I'm pissed I had to cancel my SXSW trip due to work:

Bottomless Pit, the new band from Andy Cohen and Tim Midgett of the wonderful Silkworm, is playing at Club DeVille on Friday, March 17th with the DBs, Antietam, Chris Brokaw Rock Band and the Sudden Moves.

You will recall that on July 14th, 2005, a very stupid, distraught girl who had decided to end her life decided that the best way to do so was to ram her car into a car filled with strangers. Those strangers included Michael Dahlquist, drummer for Silkworm, and two other Chicago-area musicians. All three died, while the suicidal idiot lived.

Missing the 90's

It was only a matter of time, but I've finally reached the point where I feel old at most concerts I go to. What strikes me most about this phenomenon isn't that I'm closer to death than most of these kids, but instead I'm struck by just how much great music these kids have missed out on.

Think about it. A kid who's getting into music will start with the new bands who are hot, the CYHSY's or the Tapes n' Tapes of the world. And when they decide to branch out a bit historically, they can easily jump onto iTunes and go buy all the old Pavement, Husker Du, Wire or Guided by Voices CDs. But what about all the lesser known bands who, while they never made it huge, put out some incredible music? Too many of those bands get relegated to the history books (and the music collections of a few folks like me who keep the rock alive).

So I'm going to start a new series here called Missing the 90's. It will focus on the first full decade that I really got into music, and will bring you some of the great songs of the 90's that you either may not have heard the first time around or might have forgotten about. Each and every one of these songs should have been a hit, and, if they'd come out today, still could be. Enjoy.

The Afghan Whigs - "Rebirth of the Cool"
The Catherine Wheel - "Show Me Mary"
Dada - "S.F. Bar '63"
Eugenius - "Bed In"
Pond - "Magnifier"
Sense Field - "Outlive the Man"

If you like any of these, do yourself a favor and pick up a CD or two.

The New Face of Evil

Weekend Links

Several cool links to hold you over for the rest of the weekend. Go Boston College! Fuck Duke!

Cool new song from the Essex Green. Never listened to them before, but I may have to look into them. Listen to "Don't Know Why" from Music For Robots.

Want to hear something cool? Go check out Petra Hayden's a capella versions of "Thriller" and "God Only Knows" at her website. She put out a great album last year which was all a capella versions of The Who's Sell Out album. Curious to see what she covers next. (Link via One Louder.)

The Music Slut points the direction towards a couple of leaked songs off the new Prince album: "Love" and "Get On the Boat".

New song from Sondre Lerche, "Track You Down". (Via My Bread.) His new album, Duper Sessions, is out Tuesday the 21st.

If you're in Austin for SXSW, try to check out the Cold War Kids. I completely forget how, but I ended up with a disc of theirs in the mail a few months ago. I never got around to listening to it, and now I have no idea where it is. But I found a song of theirs linked over at Rock Insider, and I likes. Listen to "Hospital Beds".

And I'll leave you with one more new song off Josh Rouse's new album, Subtitulo, due March 21st. This one's called "The Man Who". (Via Two and a Half Pounds of Bacon.)

Homemade Music

The more I play around with this blog thing, the more I'm learning about all of the modern ins and outs of the internet. My newest toy is YouSendIt. I now know how to post my own music for you all, rather than linking to other people's sites. Of course, I'll continue to do that, but now I can give you a little more Rogo flavor.

These are all limited downloads, and if you like anything you hear, GO BUY IT! I don't listen to many bonus-baby bands, so all of these folks need and deserve your money.

His Name Is Alive, "Send My Face". Saw these guys open for Low a few weeks back at Southpaw in Brooklyn. I've heard that a lot of their recorded work is very dancey-electro-whatever, which isn't my particular cup o' tea, but live they were fantastic, and their singer pwned. Hot as hell too. This was my favorite song they did, so I downloaded it. Will probably end up buying the whole album.

One of my new favorite bands is Lucero. I've gone back and purchased everything they've put out, and there's not a loser in the bunch. If you haven't heard them, and you probably haven't, seriously, do yourself a favor. These guys are everything that's good about alt-country, and their most recent disc, Nobody's Darlings, flat out kicks your ass.

"California" off the Nobody's Darlings album.
"Tonight Ain't Gonna Be Good" off the How Much Further West album.
"Ain't So Lonely" from the Tennessee album.

You probably haven't heard of Cincinnati's Ass Ponys. That's a shame. And it probably means you haven't heard of Wussy, which is the new project from the Ass Ponys' Chuck Cleaver (along with 3 other of Cincy's top musicians). This was one of my top 10 albums of the year last year, and I still listen to it regularly. Check out the best song on the album, "Motorcycle". While you're at it, check out the Ass Ponys' "No Dope No Cigarettes".

I told you earlier that I thought Cordalene could be huge. Another band that I think has a crapload of potential is a Louisville band named De Novo Dahl. First heard these guys do a live Lounge Act performance on WOXY last year, and I loved 'em. Immediately went and ordered their disc. And while it's a tad overlong (actually, it's two discs of 15+ songs each), there are some fantastic songs on there. My favorite is "All Over Town".

And, finally, one of the all-time great lost rock songs: "Coming Home". This is not an attempt at irony. This is a great fucking song, and I dare you to say otherwise.

Cordalene Are a Band - They Are Very Good

A year or two ago, you might have been forced to listen me talk up a band called Cordalene. I saw them completely by chance at the dearly-departed Luna Lounge a couple of years ago, and they blew me away. I bought two EPs at the show, and figured that this band was going to get huge. Well, it's several years later, and while they still haven't "hit," they have a new album coming out in late Spring. They have a few songs posted on their website and MySpace page, and I like them a lot. Check them out!

Some other links for your Friday afternoon:

A couple of cuts off the new Delays album (via Torr.)

"Valentine"

"Hide Away"

Two new blog-buzz bands:

Guillemots, "Trains to Brazil" (via Music for Robots.)

Page France, "Antarctica (My Beloved Home)" (via You Ain't No Picasso.)

And, finally, go listen to some Arctic Monkeys b-sides at Baby Borderline so you can continue trying to figure out what the big deal is.

Fire This Man!

Inexcusable.

18-10. Last two games were losses to Minnesota and Indiana. Tournament go bye-bye.

Concert Update

Couple of new shows announced this week. I just bought a Lucero ticket, even though that would mean I'm going to 4 shows that week (Alkaline Trio, Lucero, Bob Pollard and Wilco). Holding off on Two Gallants, mainly b/c I really, really don't like Sam Champion.

4/19 Lucero, Langhorne Slim @ Northsix (tickets available)
4/24 Two Gallants, Sam Champion @ Bowery Ballroom (tickets available)

The Anal Cunts Are Your New Favorite Band

So I raided My Old Kentucky Home for most of tonight's links. Be sure to check them out, it's a great site.

TV On The Radio: I'm one of the few people who never really got into the first TV On the Radio album. However, having heard a couple songs off the new album (due in June), something tells me I'm gonna to have to go give the old boy another chance. Check out: "Playhouses" and "Wolf Like Me". Well, let me restate that -- Playhouses is great. Wolf Like Me is pretty much what I didn't love the first time around. There's even a 6 second snippet in the middle of Wolf Like Me that reminds me of everything I hate about the musical Rent. Trust me, you'll know it when you hear it.

Decemberists: Along with the Frames and the National, the Decemberists are one of the few bands that have popped up in the last couple years and have shot to into my "pantheon" of favorite bands (to be elaborated on at a later date when I'm sure I'll be drunk). Anyway, here's a few live Decemberists/Colin Meloy live covers. For more, go here.

"Ballad of El Goodo" (Big Star).
"Ask" (The Smiths).
and my personal favorite, "Your Love" (The Outfield).

My Morning Jacket: A band that may someday be a pantheon band. Not there yet, but very promising. Best time I've seen them is still the 40 minute set they did at 2004 Austin City Limits fest. Check out their show from last October at the Fox Theatre in Boulder, CO.

And my absolute favorite song of the week..

The Anal Cunts: Awesome name. Awesome song. Three's Company theme song. (Via Copy, Right?)

You Don't Have to be High to Listen to These

WilcoWorld has finally posted the archive of the Jeff Tweedy/Nels Cline show from last week. I heard most of Tweedy's set, and it was excellent. Pretty much the same set I saw him do at Messiah College in Pennsylvania last November. Though he seemed in somewhat higher spirits this time around.

While you're at it, also check out the entire band doing Cars Can't Escape.

News From the Frames

Some insights from today's Frames newsletter:

New album in September

frames men plus a few extra musicians are still in france, beavering away on the next album. everyone is happy with progress thus far and i get to go and have a listen, pre mix, on paddys day when they finish tracking (any excuse for a trip to la belle france for some good music, fine wines and a lovely bit of grub!). pending final delivery - we are currently still shooting for a late sept release in europe at least...firmer release dates will be forthcoming when i have the finished thing in my hands and can schedule appropriately.

New Glen album with Marketa Irglova in April

glen has recorded a collaborative record with czech singer/pianist marketa irglova. it is titled 'the swell season' and is to be released on april 21st in ireland and later on in the summer on overcoat in america.

Live tracks from one of last month's Vicar Street shows in Dublin.

All Live All the Time

A bunch of live links for you this morning, starting with You Ain't No Picasso's excellent, excellent collection of Yo La Tengo live cuts off of WFMU last night. Given the number of songs and quality of the links, I'm gonna just send you straight to You Ain't No Picasso to check it all out. Absolutely love the cover of "Bertha."

Pearl Jam performing one of the songs that guarantees their everlasting relevance: "State of Love and Trust". And also performing "Elderly Woman". (Both from Scatterolight.)

The Arcade Fire covering Bowie's "Five Years". (From Music Slut.)

And, finally, Uncle Tupelo doing a live version of "Whiskey Bottle". I know this is on the re-released copy of No Depression, but I never got around to replacing my old copy. (From An Aquarium Drunkard.)

B.U.S.T.E.D.

Sometimes assholes do get what they deserve.

New Pornographers/Belle and Sebastian

NPR's archiving of last night's New Pornographers/Belle and Sebastian show from the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. is now up at NPR's website. I've only listened to parts of the NP's set, and the sound ain't too great. Hope I'm just picking the wrong spots.

It's Taco Tuesday!

So the early reviews I'm reading of the new Secret Machines album are not good. That's too bad. As I mentioned earlier, though, their recent track record hasn't been promising, so I'm not really surprised. That said, Six Eyes links to a song off the new album which is, in fact, quite good: "Lightning Blue Eyes"

Six Eyes also has a song off the new Two Gallants disc called "Some Slender Rest". I'm a huge fan of this album.

Plague of Angels has a link to a cool live Clap Your Hands Say Yeah song from the BBC: "Cigarettes"

I'm very, very, very surprised how much I like this Matisyahu song. Who knew my people could reggae? "Jerusalem". We certainly can't dance. Or cook. Although we are damn good at plotting world domination. Word.

And, while I know it's everywhere right now, I figured I'd add a link to the cute (though not essential) live action Simpsons intro.

WOXY Lives to Fight Another Day!

Great, great news from WOXY.com! Still, though, be sure to check it out and if you like it, join!

THANK YOU!

We’re off to a great start and still adding new members every day. All of us here would like to sincerely thank all of you who stepped up over the last month. By signing up, contributing a staggering amount and spreading the word by emailing everyone you know (and some you didn’t), your passion and dedication really has made a difference in the future of The Future of Rock and Roll. We may not have the biggest audience, but undoubtedly we have the loudest, most devoted, and best damn listeners anywhere.

We’re not out of the woods yet

Our investors are encouraged by our growth so far and have pledged to hang in there. We still have a ways to go, but with your continued support (make sure to renew your memberships!) and some innovation on our end, we’re going to be able to get to where we need to be. Maybe not next month, but we’ll get there.

Good stuff planned for the future

Keep an eye out for some exciting new features for members in the coming months. We can’t quite let the cat out of the bag yet, but should be able to share some more details on what we have in store toward the end of the month. You will also notice a change in our tone. More “you can’t say no to signing up because we’re going to give you all this sweet stuff,” rather than “please sign up, or we’re going away.” But even though the pitch will be changing slightly, signing up as a member is still more important than ever.

What would you like to see from WOXY.com?

Many of you have already let us know what you’d like to see as members. Obviously we can’t tackle everything at once, but we’d like to hear what’s in your head. Send them to ideas@woxy.com.

The past month has been tough—for you all as well as us. Rest assured that we’re going to do our damnedest to make sure that we stick around.

If you’re just showing up and wondering what we’re making a fuss about, find out what we’re doing and why.

Jesus Wants You To Listen to Indie Rock

If he didn't, why did he ever let Tammy Faye sing?

So do His will and check these out:

Video for the new Human Television tune, I Laughed. (Thanks WOXY!)

Big Static has an entire live set from Elliot Smith in Brooklyn, not too long before his unfortunate passing. Listen.

Aquarium Drunkard is currently hosting all of the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot demos from Wilco. Can't believe I haven't heard these before. Can't believe Nothing Up My Sleeve hasn't been put on an album yet. Can't believe anyone ever thought Leroy Bach deserved full member status. If his 'performance' in the Wilco documentary a few years ago is accurate, that dude's a prick. Part One and Part Two of AD's coverage.

If you're near a computer tonight, and not watching 24, NPR is simulcasting tonight's Belle and Sebastian / New Pornographers show from D.C.

And, finally, I think I may have finally found a new job. Wish me luck!

Odds and Ends

Have a ton of stuff for you today, but I'll start with just the stuff I found over at I Am Fuel, You Are Friends, yet another great MP3 blog.

(1) More new Pearl Jam. This one's a live version of Gone. Is it me, or does this sound like the closest to Ten since, well, Ten?

(2) Another song from the Matthew Sweet/Suzanna Hoffs album. This time they take on Neil Young's Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere.

(3) Stars covering the Boss' Hungry Heart.

(4) And, finally, yet another unreleased Ryan Adams song, Ghost. Just when I think I'm caught up on all his stuff, there's more..

Lots of Videos, No Gay Cowboys

I made a small mistake last week. I said that The National were the best band that you're not listening to. I'd like to restate that, and move them down just one spot. The actual best band that you're not listening to -- well, some of you are -- is an Irish band called The Frames. They are, hands down, the band I most enjoy seeing live in the world, and I see a lot of bands. Check them out for yourself: "Keepsake" (Live), and their video for "Fake".

More videos:

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, performing "Is This Love" on Letterman last week. (Via ProductShop.)

Sondre Lerche's new video, "Minor Detail". (Via The Modern Age.)

Another Letterman clip, this one from last year -- Ryan Adams and the Cardinals doing the slow boogie version of "Let It Ride".

Wilco performing "The Late Greats", also on Letterman.

And, finally, a very brief clip of Wilco at Stubb's in Austin, Texas, which I include for the sole reason that I was there, and it's still the best Wilco show I've seen since 1997.

EDITED TO ADD:
Umm, ok, Crash just won the Oscar for Best Picture. Wasn't that the movie where the big emotional scene was given away about 5 minutes into the movie, and they used that ridiculous plot device where the daughter gave only gave her father a gun with BLANKS, so neither the little kid nor her daddy dies and everybody's happy and realizes that no one should hate, we should all love, because hey, it's a lonely mixed up world we live in, and sometimes we're so lonely we intentionally smash our cars into other people? Same movie, right?

I'm sure Noriyuki "Pat" Morita is turning over in his grave right now.

More Music (The Incompetent President Edition)

Didn't see it, but I'm told Bill Kristol had this to say on Fox News Sunday this morning:

BILL KRISTOL: I think it's become in people's minds an emblem of the administration that just isn't as serious about the competent execution of the functions of government as it should be. And even -- I'm struck talking to conservatives and Republicans -- they agree with the president on basic political philosophy, the they agree with his basic policy agenda, but they are worried that they just don't seem to be able to execute as well as they should be.

Maybe, just maybe, it's because that "basic political philosophy" (i.e., attacking welfare, lowering taxes on the wealthy, promoting evangelical religion, and alienating the entire world) simply doesn't work? Call me crazy..

Moving from the world of politics and back to the primary field of this blog, music and pop culture, I present to you the Incompetent President Sunday Afternoon links:

(1) Am I serious going to have to start TiVo'ing SNL? I stopped watching that abomination over a decade ago. But things like this have me reconsidering my position. Check it out before YouTube pulls it! (Thanks for the heads up Stereogum!)

(2) A b-side from the band that put out my #1 album of 2005, Bloc Party, Storm and Stress.

(3) Something new from Mogwai: Folk Death. The album, Mr Death, comes out in the US on Tuesday.

(4) My final link to new Neko Case song, given that the album is also out Tuesday. Deep Red Bells. (Thanks There's Always Someone Cooler Than You!)

Neil Young Live in 1971

It's weird to imagine a time when Neil Young had to preface "Old Man" by saying "this is a new song." I guess it's just another reminder of time's neverending march. Kinda gives me hope that, maybe some day soon, Chris Martin will die a painful death.

Neil Young, Massey Hall, Toronto, Canada, January 19, 1971 (Thanks, Big O Zine!)

Saturday Afternoon Stoner Music

My brother Michael has started to develop a pretty good track record of introducing me to new bands. He put me on the path to find Okkervil River a year or so ago, and more recently he turned me onto Explosions In The Sky. I'd known who they were, but never took the time to listen. Do yourself a favor -- find a comfortable chair, roll a joint, and listen to EITS live at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC. (Via Bradley's Almanac)

First Breath After Coma

New Song

Six Days at the Bottom of the Ocean

Have You Passed Through the Night

Memorial

The Moon Is Down

Two More Years of The Worst People in the World

Yes, in some ways this does apply to these people, but more importantly I'm talking about these people.

Rumors are that a deal's been reached with Showtime. Two seasons, 13 episodes each.

My blog title remains relevant!

Bitch Better Have My Money

For reasons that will remain unspoken, this morning's links are dedicated to bad lawyers who like to make a lot of empty threats for no discernable reason other than to be a dick. To him I say this. All you kids out there, study hard so you too can be a lawyer some day. It's totally worth it!

New Grandaddy: "Elevate Myself". Also check out "Jeez Louise" and "Rear View Mirror" at their MySpace site. All from their forthcoming album The Fambly Tree, due out on May 9th. Enjoy it while it lasts, the "Grandaddy Go Bye-Bye" countdown has begun. (Be careful, the MySpace tracks don't always work.)

A track from the new Isobel Campbell/Mark Lenegan collaboration: Do You Wanna Come Walk With Me

And, finally, a nice little song from a nice little Canadian named Luke Doucet called Broken One. Saw him open for Josh Rouse a few weeks ago. Pretty good. Unfortunately, I don't care for the production of the album, and it detracts from the songs.. still, check it out.

I Gotta Take a Leak

Catcher In The Rye (gnr)

World Wide Suicide (pj)

We Can Make It Better(?) (tweedy live, soon-to-be-Wilco song)

"You've Got to Stop Beating Up Your Women Because You Can't Find a Job"

I have no idea how I'd never seen these before. In fact, the only reason I ended up hearing about them is because apparently Bill Cosby is now suing over them. Well done, Bill, well done.

House of Cosbys

Be sure to start with episode 1.

(Found these on Boing Boing)

I Suppose We Should All Be Happy About This..

..though the idea of not having to dodge people on the street who refuse to look up from their Blackberry while they're walking was a pleasant, pleasant thought.

BlackBerry Patent Battle Ends With $612.5 Million Settlement

NEW YORK (AP) -- Research In Motion Ltd., the maker of the BlackBerry e-mail device, Friday announced it has settled its long-running patent dispute with a small Virginia-based firm, averting a possible court-ordered shutdown of the BlackBerry system.

RIM has paid NTP $612.5 million in a "full and final settlement of all claims," the companies said.

The settlement ends a period of anxiety for BlackBerry users. At a hearing last week, NTP had asked a federal court in Richmond, Va., for an injunction blocking the continued use of key technologies underpinning BlackBerry's wireless e-mail service.

RIM, which is based in Waterloo, Ontario, had put away $450 million in escrow for a settlement. It will record the additional $162.5 million in its fourth-quarter results, it said.

If It's Friday, It's Time for Hookers and Blow

Completely unbeknownst to me, the iTunes store has the new Secret Machines disc, "Ten Silver Drops" available for $7.92. It doesn't come out in physical form in the U.S. until April 25th. I hadn't heard they were doing this. It's an interesting stab at breaking the mold of how album releases are done, and I wish them luck. That said, I'm hesitant to buy it, given that I didn't like a single song off their last EP, and I don't care much for the lead single, Alone Jealous and Stoned.

Also on iTunes, got get your grunge-lovin' ass a free download of Nirvana's, err Silverchair's, err Nine Black Alps' new song, "Cosmopolitan."

And, because I know you want 'em, here's four more songs off the new Calexico album, Garden Ruin, due out on April 11th. (All via OneLounder via Neileslife.)

Cruel
Yours And Mine
Bisbee Blue
Panic Open Spring

Set Your TIVO for the High Gear of Your Soul

If you're like me, you never have any idea when Austin City Limits is on, or who's playing, and you always seem to accidentally switch to it in the closing 30 seconds of a performance you really would liked to have seen. Well, between the magic of TIVO and the assistance of this here blog, you never have to miss Ozomatli again. All of these are repeats, by the way, and all dates represent only the week that the episode will be aired. Every PBS channel shows it on different days and different times.

March 4th: Polyphonic Spree and Ozomatli
March 11th: Wilco and Bright Eyes
March 18th: The most unexplainably popular band of the decade* and Guided by Voices
March 25th: Damien Rice and Patti Griffin
April 1st: Flaming Lips and The Shins
April 8th: Trey Anastasio
April 15th: Unlistenable garbage** and Rilo Kiley
April 22nd: Alison Krauss/Union Station and Kathleen Edwards
April 29th: Etta James
May 6th: Ben Folds and Ray LaMontagne
May 13th: The Killers and Spoon
May 20th: John Prine and Amos Lee
May 27th: It-Brits 2005*** and What Made Milwaukee Famous

* denotes Modest Mouse
** denotes Jack Johnson
*** denotes Franz Ferdinand

Thursday Tunes (The Margaret Thatcher Edition)

All Brit-rock, all the time.

I never really cared too much for Blur's music, but I'll be damned if I'm not a huge fan of Graham Coxon's solo stuff. Here's a video of "Standing On My Own Again" off his new album "Love Travels at Illegal Speeds," out in the UK on March 13th. No US release date yet. If it's anything like his last album, my suggestion is to pay the import price rather than waiting a year for it to come out here.

Video for "Boy Who Ran Away," from the current it-Brits, The Mystery Jets. Can't wait to see these guys at the Mercury in a few weeks.

Extremely impressed by Morning Runner. I've listened to 4 of the 6 songs on their site, and so far they kinda seem to me like a British version of the Frames -- i.e., a Coldplay or Travis that doesn't suck goat balls and make you want to die a long painful death. Be careful, their site has an automatic media player that pops on when you go to their site, so check your speakers aren't too loud.

Seriously, these guys sound like a potentially great find. Ask me again when I'm sober, but I think I really, really like them.

Morrissey's new video, "You Have Killed Me"

(Tonight's links are brought to you by Torr.org. Thanks!)

Edited to add: The reason many folks are disappointed by the new Delays disc? Because it's not as good as this.

5 Reasons to Support WOXY

If you haven't heard, www.WOXY.com is the best radio station around. It's the radio station that used to be 97X in Southern Ohio, which you may remember from Rain Man ("97X, bam! The future of rock and roll.") Anyway, WOXY is an internet-only station now, and it's having problems like everyone else on the internet figuring out how to make enough money to stay in business and pay all the necessary song royalties.

So in order to stick around, and to keep providing a great radio station, great music, and great DJs, WOXY is asking people to become a subscriber for $9.95 per month. They actually have 2 channels -- one playing the best new indie and modern rock, and one dedicated to the classic stuff like The Smiths, Depeche Mode, The Pixies and Nirvana. And for your $9.95, you get this in fantastic 128k streaming audio, which sounds just like you're listening to a CD.

Check it out for free on their 24k streams. If you like what you hear, please join up! If they can't get enough subscribers by next week, WOXY might be gone forever.

Here's five great reasons to support WOXY:

The National Live in the WOXY Lounge

Clap Your Hands Say Year Live in the WOXY Lounge

The Wrens Live in the WOXY Lounge

We Are Scientisits Live in the WOXY Lounge

The Hold Steady Live in the WOXY Lounge

The Tyde Returns!

The Tyde's new album "Three's Co." comes out in the UK next Monday on Rough Trade. Haven't seen a US release date yet. They're doing a couple SXSW shows, so perhaps those of you who don't have to cancel their SXSW trip like me will be able to pick up a copy at the show..

Check out their new song "Brock Landers" (great name) at their MySpace page.

The Best Band You're Not Listening To

Various videos from The National on YouTube:

Daughters of the Soho Riots

Abel (this one will kick you in your a**)

Baby We'll Be Fine

About Today

Rainy/Snowy/Crappy Day Music

Apologies to the Jayhawks for borrowing the title of their last album.
Some songs to soothe away your crappy Thursday blues.

"Blindspots" from the new Mudhoney disc due next week.

Duluth's finest, Low, doing their take on the Beatles' Nowhere Man

The first song off Neko's new album, entitled Star Witness

And up-and-comer's The Eames Era, with Double Dutch

(The last three via Insound.)

And, finally, for your viewing pleasure, the whitest man in America. (Via OneLouder.)

Armageddon Is Upon Us

James Blunt has the number one single in America with his craptastic You're Beautiful.

Pat Robertson was wrong when he said that America deserved 9-11. But, seriously, some sort of punishment is deserved for this abomination.

Where Can I Short This?

From today's Hollywood Reporter East:

"News Corp. is betting that people will pay $25-$30 to watch Fox films at home in high-definition quality via cable and satellite TV 60 days after their theatrical release."

Oh, really? The average American is going to shell out $30 to watch quality Fox movies in HD from home?

Listen, I'm not a particularly smart man, but even I know that this may be the stupidest thing anyone has ever said. Well, maybe not ever, but it's close.

Go Blue, part 2

Props to my favorite University of Michigan blogger out there, MGoBlog, for finding this:

The aforementioned Michigan football diss rap.

Them boys good. Yeah, good and terrible.

Not All Lawyers Are Scumsucking Pieces of Crap

A couple of the younger lawyers at my firm have a band, a site, some MP3s, and some talent. Check out Le Firm. I'll be forcing a few of you to join me at a future show of theirs.

Scott Stapp Loves You

And so do I, so here's some more Wednesday links.

The next "it" band? These Apparitions kids are growing on me. God Monkey Robot. Check out their MySpace page for more.

A great page containing all kinds of live songs, outtakes, and other bits and pieces from everyone's favorite crazy/hermit/possibly dangerous music genius (aside from this guy), Jeff Magnum (a/k/a Neutral Milk Hotel). (Thanks to Between Thought and Expression!)

Try before you (don't) buy: Rhett Miller's "The Believer" streaming at AOL.

And, finally, the new song from your favorite "it" band from the week of March 12th, 2003, The Stills. I actually liked the first disc a bit, so I'm curious how this second disc comes out.

EDITED TO ADD: One more Matt-a-rific link -- new Human Television. Check their MySpace for more. (Via the always wonderful Brooklyn Vegan.)

This One's For Matt

OneLouder points the way to no less than 68 shoegazer videos over at YouTube, including videos from Slowdive, Ride, Swervedriver, and My Bloody Valentine, among others.

Go get your 1990 on.