Broken West Lounge Act

I completely forgot to mention that The Broken West was doing a Lounge Act on WOXY.com today. Sorry about that. Luckily, the band's performance is already available for download in podcast form.

The only problem? WOXY couldn't get the rights to include an excellent cover by the band of Tegan and Sara's "Back in Your Head", so that song wasn't included in the podcast. (I don't like T&S, but the Broken West's version of the song is excellent.) You still get two brand new songs from the band, though, so don't miss it.

New York 732 - D.C. 1

In the (over-before-it-began) battle for my soul, Washington D.C. has finally scored a point.

In 11+ years of living in New York, I never saw -- nor have I ever seen pictures of -- back-alley crack-pipe anal sex (sooooooo NSFW). And for those not familiar with DC, this took place in a pretty good neighborhood. Unbelievable.

I'm just surprised one of the participants wasn't this guy.

(Thanks to DCist for the heads up.)

Ryan Adams @ DAR Constitution Hall, DC [10/30/07]

I reserve the right to change my mind, but I think tonight's Ryan Adams show may be the last time I see him for a while. Or ever, for that matter.

I'll give Ryan and the band credit -- they were incredibly tight and played beautifully. Moreover, Ryan's voice is in as good a shape as I've ever heard.

But holy hell are they boring. Great musicianship alone is simply not enough -- you still need an element of soul, of emotion, of excitement. Any feeling will do. But the only emotion we got tonight was Ryan's childish anger when fans in the crowd called out song titles. In response, Ryan pulled out a megaphone and started yelling instructions to the crowd as to how to sit, and how to lean in our chairs. (A humorous idea, frankly, but it was clear Ryan wasn't trying to be funny, and was essentially telling the 3,000+ person crowd to "fuck off".)

Not to play amateur psychologist here or anything, but one gets the sense that Ryan really doesn't want to be playing shows. He barely spoke to the crowd throughout the show, whereas in the past there have been shows where he's talked too much. In addition, he has apparently installed a sound system that allows him to speak into a microphone at the back of the stage and have his voice transmitted directly into his bandmates' earpieces -- i.e., allowing him to talk with the band without being overheard, and without acknowledging the arena full of fans around him. He clearly doesn't want to deal with anyone but his band. And his use of the megaphone shows that he clearly doesn't want fans to make any noise other than to cheer.

He seems to love playing his music (although it's hard to tell if it's his music or Jerry Garcia's that he's playing these days), but hates the fact that he has to have an audience for it.

Well, Ryan, I'll help you out, and next time you play in town, I'll be one less person in the audience that you have to put up with.

Comedy Night in D.C.

No pictures from tonight's Comedians of Comedy show. I was too far from the stage and didn't feel like being the only person to use a flash. Oh well.

Anyway, the show was excellent as always. I discovered that the touring lineup is only about 1/2 the size of the lineup that plays the NYC shows -- it's just Oswalt, Posehn, Mirman and Bamford, whereas NYC both last year and this year got David Cross, Jon Glaser and Jon Benjamin. (NYC also got Aziz Ansari and John Mulaney this year, the latter of whom was supposedly excellent.)

Who knows, but if things fall into place, maybe I'll be back in New York for next year's edition (if there is one).

Since I don't have pictures for you, I figured I needed to get some sort of media for you lest you starve of sensory input. Here's a recent podcast that Daniel Kitson put up on his site. It's a recording of part of his 2005 Stories for the Wobbly Hearted show. Be sure to check it out.

I Deserve Fudge... and a D.C. Show

So let me get this straight -- they're playing Seattle (naturally), Chicago, New York/Brooklyn/Hoboken, and... Athens, GA?

New Antlers EP!

As if it wasn't enough that he's already released one of the best records of the year, Peter Silberman a/k/a The Antlers today released a free 3-song EP entitled Cold War. You can download it here. I'm downloading it as I type this.

In addition, as I mentioned a while ago, Fall Records is re-releasing the fantastic In the Attic of the Universe on November 20th. You can pre-order it here for $8 (and you'll even get it a couple of weeks early). And you can catch Peter and his new bandmates do a release show at Pianos in New York on Saturday (11/3).

AND, if that weren't enough, Peter's begun work on a new LP entitled Hospice, which he hopes to have completed by the end of the year. Can't wait.

The Whigs Are Thieves!

Compare the photo in the upper-right hand corner of this tour poster (sorry, I couldn't find it online so had to take a picture),



with this picture that I took at Mercury Lounge Maxwell's last year:



Hmm... methinks I see a similarity (less original bassist Hank Sullivant).

I'm actually pretty honored to have had one of my pictures used, so my use of the word "thieves" in entirely in jest. Plus, they actually managed to use what may be my favorite "action shot" picture that I've taken of the band, so at least we're on the same wavelength. (Although I do I have a tendency to get pictures of the band in less-than-ideal hair conditions.)

Next time, though, I expect mega-bucks, fellas.

Whigs/Broken West @ Rock and Roll Hotel, DC [10/27/07]

If you were reading this blog at all in 2006, you'd know that there were four young bands that I really fell for last year - Birdmonster, The Broken West, The Little Ones and The Whigs.

Amazingly, three of those four bands have actually made it to D.C. for shows this month. The Little Ones opened for Voxtrot at the Black Cat earlier this month, and The Broken West and The Whigs hit the Rock and Roll Hotel for a double headlining bill last night.

It had been a while since I'd seen either band, but I gotta say... both bands pretty much blew the roof off the place.

The Whigs gave us the same high energy, exciting show that I've come to expect from them (they haven't lost a beat with the new bassist). They tore through a bunch of songs off of their debut CD, Give 'Em All A Big Fat Lip, as well as 4 or 5 songs from their forthcoming album on ATO Records (coming out on 1/22/08). Most of the new songs they played last night were songs they'd been playing live last year, with two exceptions, both of which were excellent as well. Can't wait to hear the new record.




Whereas I expected a great show from The Whigs, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from The Broken West. It seems like every time I've seen them, they've been in venues that were either too big (Antone's in Austin) or had some other sound-related problems. However, there were no problems at all last night, and their set was without question the best that I've seen them do. They've really rounded out into a fantastic live band and, even better, their songwriting seems to be getting even better. The band played a couple of great new songs last night, including the set opener (whose name I don't know), which has the potential to be my favorite Broken West song yet.




The Whigs and The Broken West are touring together for a few more days. If you have a chance, be sure to catch one of these remaining shows:

10/30: Nashville (Exit/In)
10/31: Cincinnati (20th Century Theatre)
11/1: Indianapolis (Birdy's)
11/2: Chicago (Schuba's)
11/3: Minneapolis (7th Street Entry)

The Forms, "Knowledge in Hand"

The Forms, "Knowledge in Hand"

Every once in a while I'll hear a song on WOXY or elsewhere that I really like, but completely forget to find out who the artist is. The most recent example of this is the new song from The Forms, "Knowledge in Hand".

I've heard the song a bunch of times, but until I got an email from their promoter today, I had no idea that the song was theirs. In fact, all I really knew about the band was that they were from Brooklyn, and that they played at The National's rainy South Street Seaport show that I skipped in August.

I still don't know a whole lot about them, but after listening to a few more songs at their MySpace page, I do know that I'll be picking up their new self-titled (and Steve Albini-produced) LP soon. (It's available at Lala for $9.98.)

Unfortunately, they don't have any DC dates scheduled as of now, but they do have a bunch of other shows scheduled around the country. If you get a chance, check 'em out and let me know how they are.

Forms Tour Dates

10/30: New York (Cake Shop) -- Record Release Show w/ free CD and open bar
11/1: Pittsburgh (Lava Lounge)
11/2: Dayton, OH (Pearl Nightclub)
11/3: Chicago (Beat Kitchen)
11/4: Ypsilanti, MI (Elbow Room)
11/6: Minneapolis (First Avenue)
11/7: Kansas City, MO (Record Bar)
11/8: St. Louis (The Bluebird)
11/9: Champaign, IL (Cowboy Monkey)
11/10: Tulsa, OK (Mooch and Burn)
11/13: Long Beach, CA (Prospector)
11/14: Los Angeles (The Scene)
11/15: Hollywood (3 of Clubs)
11/16: Santa Cruz (Coasters)
11/17: Sacramento (Speakeasy)
11/19: Seattle (Fun House)
11/20: KEXP In-Studio
11/20: Portland, OR (Tonic Lounge)

Your 9 Day DC Forecast

No, I'm not trying to be the next Ira Joe Fisher (or, as one of my junior high school teachers used to refer to him, Ira Joe Fatso). I'm just trying to alert all you fine folks in the greater Washington D.C. (and Baltimore) areas of an amazing week and a half of entertainment coming up in the area.

To wit:

Fri., 10/26: The only halfway interesting show tonight is Boris and Damon & Naomi at the Black Cat. I'm passing.

Sat., 10/27: On Saturday you've got a choice between The New Pornographers and Emma Pollock (late of the Delgados) at the 9:30 Club or The Whigs and The Broken West at Rock and Roll Hotel. The latter is gonna be the rock and roll show of the Fall, so that's where I'll be.

Sun., 10/28: Sunday is pretty ridiculous. The Weakerthans have an early show at 5pm at the 9:30 Club. The Shout Out Louds have a late show at 9pm at the 9:30 Club. Annuals and Manchester Orchestra are playing the Rock and Roll Hotel. Or, you can join me at the Ram's Head in Baltimore to see Drive By Truckers, who put on one of my favorite shows of the year at Castle Clinton in New York this summer.

Mon., 10/29: Only one real option on Monday -- the Comedians of Comedy (Patton Oswalt, Eugene Mirman, etc.) at the Black Cat. I saw this show last year and it was great. Can't wait.

Tues., 10/30: Tuesday is another big night. Jimmy Eat World is playing an early show at the 9:30 Club. Go! Team is doing a late show at the 9:30 Club. Say Hi (To Your Mom), The Velvet Teen and The A-Sides are at the Black Cat. And I'll be seeing Ryan Adams is at D.A.R. Constitution Hall.

Wed., 10/31: Wednesday is when the we separate the boys from the men. First, if you've managed to go to shows five nights in a row, that's damn impressive. I'm not sure I'll make it or not. Second, if you get sidetracked into seeing The Bravery at the 9:30 Club, well, you're dead to me. Instead, you should be joining me to see Lucero at the Black Cat. No questions, just do it. (It would also be OK if you went to the Ram's Head in Baltimore to see Morrissey.)

Thu., 11/1: Even I'm not thinking of going to 6 nights of shows in a row, but if I were, I'd consider hitting the Black Cat to see David Bazan, Lavender Diamond and All Smiles.

Fri., 11/2: Nickel Creek is playing an early show at the 9:30 Club. Band of Horses is playing a late show at the 9:30 Club. Morrissey is at D.A.R. Constitution Hall. Probably another off-night for me, unless Morrissey starts selling $20 tickets here like he is in New York.

Sat., 11/3: Maria Taylor and Julie Ocean are at the Rock and Roll Hotel. I'm gonna try to catch Julie Ocean and then run over to the Black Cat for The Thermals.

Not bad at all. I almost feel like I'm back in NYC with all of the choices.

I said almost.

Why Are Boyz II Men Singing During the World Series?

Seriously. Someone explain this to me.

Mac Rules

No, not this guy. Or this guy.

This guy.

He testified before Congress yesterday about the current controversy about online Internet royalty rates at the Senate Commerce Committee's "Future of Radio" hearing. And here's what he said. Take a minute or two to read it. It's good stuff.

Mo' Better Metal

I've seriously watched that Twister Sister video like five times this afternoon. It got me thinking about a lot of the other "metal" bands (whether Twisted Sister should be considered "metal" or not is another issue for another day) I used to listen to as a teen. And it got me clicking around YouTube looking for some of my old favorites.

I was always taught to share as a child, so I figured I'd share some of the best with you. Enjoy. I know you will.

Anthrax, "Antisocial"


Iron Maiden, "Can I Play With Madness"


Megadeth, "Holy Wars"


Metallica, "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" (fan-video)


Nuclear Assault, "Brainwashed"


Pantera, "Cemetery Gates"


Suicidal Tendencies, "You Can't Bring Me Down"


Testament, "Souls of Black"

Get Twisted for Christmas

Just saw over at Brooklyn Vegan that Twisted Sister is playing shows in L.A. and New York for the holidays this year. I really need to see them at some point in my life, if only so I can say that I did. (Then again, how often do I go around telling people that my first concert was Poison and Tesla in 1987? Oh crap, guess I just did.)

Anyway, since I won't be able to catch either of the shows this year, I figured I'd repost the best music video from 2006. Enjoy.

Hot Water Music Reforms

This is a couple days old already, but I completely forgot to post about it... PunkNews.org is reporting that legendary hardcore band Hot Water Music is reforming.

You may recall that the band broke up in May of 2006, with three of the members going on to form The Draft, and fourth member (and co-lead vocalist) Chuck Ragan going solo. I was a big fan of the Draft's debut LP, In A Million Pieces (Epitaph), but still haven't had a chance to hear any of Chuck's solo material. And, since I'm missing Chuck's show at the Black Cat on Friday, November 30th (same night as Ra Ra Riot), I may not have a chance to for a while. And I'm just fine with that, if it means we get to see HWM.

Can I be the first to suggest a Hot Water Music / Nothington tour? Who's with me?

DC Show Update

I'm a day late this week... apologies. With one or two exceptions, though, there's not much too exciting. As always, my recommended shows in bold, and updates going forward are in italics.

Black Cat
Tues., 11/20: Julie Ocean, Gist
Wed., 11/28: Antelope, Thank You, The Andalusians
Tue., 12/11: Lorelei, The Antiques
Wed., 12/12: Mikal Evans Band, Argos

Also, Awesome Color and Dead Confederates have been added to the 11/27 Dinosaur Jr. show. I saw Awesome Color earlier this year, but I don't recall anything about them. Dead Confederates have been getting pretty good press lately, though, so that should be interesting.

Black Cat shows go on sale Friday at 5pm via Ticketmaster.

DC9
Wed., 11/21: Scotland Yard Gospel Choir
Sun/, 12/9: Fiction Plane (yep - Sting's son's band. I'll skip, thanks.)

I think tickets for both of these shows are doors-only, but you should double-check here if you truly must find out for yourself whether Joe Sumner can go all night like Dad.

Iota
Sun., 11/18: Vandaveer w/ John Bustine, Beatbeat Whisper
Sat., 11/24: The Cassettes w/ A Cat Called Cricket

All Iota shows are door-sales only.

9:30 Club
Mon., 11/19: Jonathan Davis (of Korn, bitches) with Godhead
Sun., 12/2: The Dan Band (you know 'em as the sassy, foul-mouthed band from Old School)
Wed., 3/5/08: Matt Costa

9:30 Club shows went on sale this morning via Tickets.com.

Rock and Roll Hotel
Fri., 12/14: Mobius Band, Middle Distance Runner, The Epochs

Rock and Roll Hotel tickets go on sale on Friday at 10am via Ticket Alternative.

Mobius Band

Not sure why, but I've always avoided listening to Mobius Band. I think it has something to do with the fact that every description of the band I've seen has the term "electro" included somewhere. As you may have picked up from this blog, I'm not a big fan of the boops, the beeps, the whoomps (or the whoots) or the wheets. However, give me a band with a Les Paul (or, in some cases, an SG), and I'm a happy boy.

So I've been pretty surprised to find myself nodding my head along with the new Mobius Band song when I hear it on WOXY lately. Sure, it's still got too many boops and wheets, but it's also got a pretty damn good song going on. Check it out:

Mobius Band, "Friends Like These"

You can hear (and download) more songs from the band's latest album, entitled Heaven, at the band's MySpace page. I might be going to guitar rock hell for saying this, but they're all pretty good.

Oh, and I just saw that the band has added a show in D.C. at the Rock and Roll Hotel on Friday, December 14th. Consider me a solid maybe.

Spoon @ 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C. [10/23/07]

So it finally happened... the much talked-about, and certainly much blogged-about Spoon D.C. show.

And it was excellent. The band sounded great and seemed in good spirits. While we were promised only an hour and fifteen minutes of music (7:45-9), the band actually played for about an hour and thirty-five minutes (8:05-9:40), including two encores. And surprisingly, the highlight of the show was "My Mathematical Mind", a song that I have always liked but not loved. The band tore into it tonight, though (especially the end of the song), and I doubt that I'll ever listen to the song the same way again.

Huge props to the band for finding a way to play this show. I know I (and others) had plenty to say about the situation when the band's 9:30 Club shows were first canceled, but the fact is that the band found a way to try to make good. And make good they did. Thanks, fellas.

Some pics (full set):





Three other quick notes. First, the show was broadcast by NPR, and you should be able to stream and/or download it here soon.

Second, the openers, The Ponys... I'd seen them at least once before (as SXSW this year), and I knew they were loud, but I had NO IDEA just how loud they'd be tonight. I'm not joking when I say that it seemed like the guitarist was trying to hurt people in the audience. I've seen thousands of bands over the years, and I have never, ever in my life seen a band so needlessly turn up the amps. It almost made me leave, that's how bad it was. And it has certainly convinced me to avoid seeing them ever again. I like (but don't love) their music, but seeing the band live just isn't worth having my ears assaulted like that. Wholly and completely unnecessary.

Third, I was supposed to catch Division Day at DC9 after Spoon, but when I got there at 9:45 the opener still hadn't gone on and no one could tell me for sure when the bands would start. So, in an effort to save my ears from further damage tonight, I decided to call it a night. Next time...

Swervedriver Reuniting!

Just saw the news over at Brooklyn Vegan - British shoegazers Swervedriver are reuniting for a worldwide tour next year.

Excellent news. I never saw them the first time around, and I keep missing Adam's solo shows, so you better believe I'll be at one or more of these shows.

If you want to hear Adam's latest album, Bolts of Melody, it's streaming here (another thanks to BV!)

More Southeast Engine

I briefly mentioned Southeast Engine a couple of weeks ago when I saw them during the DAM! Festival here in D.C. I was impressed by the young band's performance, and promised myself that I'd pick up their new album when it showed up on eMusic (yeah, I've gotten cheap in my unemployment).

Anyway, I discovered yesterday that the album, entitled A Wheel Within a Wheel [BUY], is up on eMusic, so I downloaded it. And it's pretty great. This may be my favorite song on the album:

"We Have You Surrounded"

At times the band reminds me of Moviola, Two Gallants and early-70's Americana-influenced Grateful Dead (well, the latter comes out more from their live show, which pushes up against, but doesn't quite push through, the jam-band barrier). I definitely recommend checking them out.

You can stream a bunch of other songs from the band at its website.

Vote Huckabee '08 - Or Chuck Norris Will Kill You

Actor, martial arts expert, motivational speaker and all-around greatest human to ever walk the Earth Chuck Norris has finally made his long-awaited endorsement for next year's presidential campaign. And it ain't Hillary.

Chuck has come out in favor of Arkansas Governor (and former Baptist minister) Mike Huckabee.

It all makes sense now. Chuck clearly round-house kicked Huckabee's 105 pounds off a few years ago. And now he's angling for a cabinet position as Secretary of Pain. Frankly, I'm too scared to think what Chuck would do to me if I didn't vote for Huckabee. Sorry, Obama.

No word yet on the eagerly anticipated Clarence "Oh my God, the quarterback is TOAST!" Gilyard Jr. presidential endorsement.

Wilco @ Charlottesville Pavilion, VA [10/20/07]

All that needs to be said about this show can be summed up by listing the songs played in the second encore:

"Red-Eyed and Blue"
"I Got You (At the End of the Century)"
"Casino Queen"
"Outtasite (Outta Mind)"
"Hoodoo Voodoo"

Oh, and at other points during the show we heard "It's Just That Simple", "Too Far Apart", "Sunken Treasure" and "Misunderstood".

I gotta say... I love Wilco, and I love their last few albums, but man -- these are the songs that made me fall for Wilco in the first place. I love Wilco the semi-experimental rock band, but I freaking worship Wilco the loose and limber rock and roll band. I'm beyond thrilled that we got a glimpse of the latter last night. I just hope it doesn't go into hiding again for another 5 years.

That said, the following songs can feel free to go into hiding for 5, or 10, or even 15 years:

"Heavy Metal Drummer"
"I'm The Man Who Loves You"
"A Shot In The Arm"

Retire these songs, fellas. Think of the children.

Why Is This Necessary?

So I just got home from seeing The Jet Age and Bellman Barker at the Quarry House (no pics, excellent show), and saw this utterly ridiculous article.

If you're too busy, lazy or apathetic to click through - my Google Analytics thanks you, by the way - it's a short article on Newsweek.com about an appearance that author J.K. Rowling did in New York a couple of days ago. Apparently while taking questions from fans, Rowling provided three pieces of "news" about the characters from the Harry Potter books:

(1) Dumbledore is (was?) gay, and had an affair with the dude who preceded him as headmaster
(2) Hagrid never did marry that giant chick
(3) Neville married Hannah Abbott

Um... ok... but WHO GIVES A RATS ASS?

We bought your books, lady, and you gave us your story. That's it. It's over. I don't need any more mindless, unnecessary information. I don't need to know if Mr. Weasley ever got another car. I don't need to know how many hours Hermione was in labor. I don't need to know if Lee Jordan ever picked up a scorching case of herpes. THEY'RE NOT REAL PEOPLE. There's simply no reason to keep making meaningless crap up about these characters' lives. It's over. Move on.

Rowling's need to keep adding unnecessary details kind of reminds me of one of my favorite Simpsons moments, when at the end of the "Das Bus" episode (the Lord of the Flies episode), they run out of time with the kids all still stranded on the island, and a voice-over narration (James Earl Jones, natch) comes in and very quickly and off-the-cuff wraps up the episode by expaining that: "So the children learned how to function as a society, and eventually they were rescued by, oh, let's say... Moe."

I can't wait until J.K. tells us what positions at the Ministry of Magic Harry's great-grandchildren held. It'll be riveting.

New Whigs, "Like a Vibration"

Head over to The Whigs' MySpace page to hear their excellent new song, "Like A Vibration". If you've seen the band live, you should recognize it. Needless to say, it kicks much ass.

As I mentioned a few days ago, the band's new still-untitled album will be out on January 22nd via ATO Records. In advance of the record's release, the band is touring pretty much non-stop, and has even added a few more dates in November and December with The Redwalls and Jonathan Rice, including a stop at the Knitting Factory in New York. Hmm....

BTW, I've said it before, but I feel compelled to say it again... See this band. You won't be sorry.

Tour Dates
10-19-07: Lexington, KY. - The Dame w/ Jason Isbell
10-20-07: Atlanta, GA. - The Variety Playhouse w/ Jason Isbell
10-23-07: Knoxville, TN. - World Grotto w/ The Broken West
10-24-07: Asheville, NC. - Grey Eagle Tavern w/ The Broken West
10-25-07: Chapel Hill, NC. - Local 506 w/ The Broken West
10-26-07: Philadelphia, PA. - Khyber w/ the Broken West
10-27-07: Washington DC. - Rock and Roll Hotel w/ The Broken West
10-30-07: Nashville, TN. - The Exit
10-31-07: Cincinnati, OH. - 20th Century Theatre w/ The Broken West
11-01-07: Indianapolis, IN.- Birdy’s w/ The Broken West
11-02-07: Chicago, Ill. - Schubas w/ The Broken West
11-03-07: Minneapolis, MN. - 7th Street Entry w/ The Broken West
11-04-07: Spearfish, SD – The Back Porch w/ Wild Sweet Orange
11-06-07: Boise, ID – The Bouquet w/ Wild Sweet Orange
11-07-07: Portland, OR – Roseland Grill w/ Wild Sweet Orange
11-08-07: Eugene, OR – John Henry’s w/ Wild Sweet Orange
11-09-07: Seattle, WA – University of Washington (KEXP Presents.....) w/ Wild Sweet Orange
11-12-07: San Francisco, CA – Café Du Nord w/ Wild Sweet Orange
11-13-07: Los Angeles, CA – Spaceland (Aquarium Drunkard Presents.....) w/ Wild Sweet Orange
11-15-07: Austin, TX – Stubb’s w/ Wild Sweet Orange
11-16-07: Dallas, TX – Club Dada w/ Wild Sweet Orange
11-17-07: Shreveport, LA – Sharpie’s w/ Wild Sweet Orange
11-29-07: Detroit, MI – The Crofoot w/ The Redwalls and Johnathan Rice
11-30-07: Toronto, ON – El Mocambo w/ The Redwalls and Johnathan Rice
12-01-07: Buffalo, NY – The Mohawk w/ The Redwalls and Johnathan Rice
12-03-07: Boston, MA – TT The Bears w/ The Redwalls and Johnathan Rice
12-04-07: New York, NY – Knitting Factory w/ The Redwalls and Johnathan Rice
12-06-07: Cleveland, OH – Beachland Tavern w/ The Redwalls and Johnathan Rice

Wussy Touring Far and Wide... Across Cincinnati

Still no national dates yet, but if you live in the greater Cincinnati area, odds are that Wussy will be playing near you soon. And they'll be in Cleveland too, for those of you unfortunate enough to live there. (I kid... I lived in Cleveland for 5 years or so and still have family there.)

Wussy Tour Dates
Tue., 10/9: Northside Tavern (Cincinnati) [Lisa solo]
Fri., 10/12: The Comet (Cincinnati)
Fri., 11/16: Beachland Tavern (Cleveland)
Wed., 11/21: Southgate House (Newport, KY) w/ Pearlene, Sundresses, Viva La Foxx

I'm not 100% sure yet, but I may head home to Cincinnati for Thanksgiving, and if I do, you can be sure I'll be hitting the Southgate House show.

Listen to CMJ on WOXY

I ought to have posted this a day or so ago, but it completely slipped my mind.

If you, like me, are unable to attend this year's CMJ Festival in person, you can at least be there in spirit. WOXY.com is broadcasting a total of more than thirty performances from the Gothamist House day parties at the White Rabbit bar.

They've already broadcast excellent performances from the likes of Charles Bissell (of The Wrens), O'Death and The Teeth. The remaining schedule is as follows:

Thursday, October 18th

5:15pm Bad Veins
6:00pm Dead Confederate
6:45pm Sam Champion
7:30pm iLiKETRAiNS

Friday, October 19th

2:15pm Illinois
3:00pm The Epochs
3:45pm Jukebox The Ghost
4:30pm Pattern Is Movement
5:15pm The Mugs
6:00pm White Denim
6:45pm The Deadly Syndrome
7:30pm Bound Stems

Saturday, October 20th

2:15pm Palomar
3:00pm The Subjects
3:45pm Andrew Dost
4:30pm Ford & Fitzroy
5:15pm Luke Temple
6:00pm The Spinto Band
6:45pm Eagle*Seagull
7:30pm The Narrator

You can find the live MP3 stream for the shows HERE.

DC (and Baltimore) Show Update

My picks in bold. Updates to list (if any) in italics.

8X10 (Baltimore)
Fri., 11/2: Nada Surf, Sea Wolf
Sat., 11/3: The Oranges Band

These shows aren't new, but I just discovered 8X10, so they're new to me. Tickets at Ticketmaster.

9:30 Club
Sat., 11/24: Hawthorne Heights (ewwww)
Mon., 11/26: Elliott Yamin (?)

Tickets for 9:30 Club shows available at Tickets.com on Thursday at 10am.

Black Cat
Sun., 11/4: The Black Hollies, The Break-Ups
Tue., 11/20: Gist, Julie Ocean
Wed. ,11/21: Statehood (CD release), The Aquarium, Gary B & the Notions
Mon., 12/10: Le Loup, Margot & the Nuclear So and Sos
Tue., 12/11: Lorelei, The Antiques

Tickets for Black Cat shows go on sale via Ticketmaster on Friday at 5pm.

Iota
Sat., 11/10: Chuck Prophet, Luke Temple
Sun., 11/11: Paul Sanchez (of Cowboy Mouth), Eric Bachmann, Luke Temple
Mon., 11/12: Jesse Harris
Fri., 11/16: My Brightest Diamond, Tim Fite

Tickets for Iota shows are sold at the door only.

Rock and Roll Hotel
Tue., 11/6: Action Action, Pink Spiders, you me & everyone we know, Paper Rival
Tue., 12/11: The Most Serene Republic

Tickets for Rock and Roll Hotel shows go on sale via Ticket Alternative on Friday at 10am.

D.C. Enters the 20th Century

1769: Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot builds the first self-propelled mechanical vehicle (disputed)
1885: Karl Benz builds his first automobile powered by a gasoline engine
1914: Henry Ford begins building cars on a fast-moving production line
1966: Hollywood Squares debuts
2007: Washington D.C. orders its taxicabs to switch to a time/distance meter system

My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over. In 15 months, this one will be too.

Sources:

Wikipedia entry for Automobile
Wikipedia entry for Hollywood Squares

The Old Time Rock and Roll

Songs Are Good

Four good songs I've been listening to a lot lately.

Babyshambles, "UnBiloTitled" (from Shotter's Nation)

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago how good the new Babyshambles album is. This might be my favorite song on the disc, though it's a very close call. The album comes out in the U.S. next Tuesday, October 23rd, via Astralwerks. It's sure to be on my year-end list.

Bishop Allen, "Little Black Ache" (from Charm School)

It only took two years of listening to them, but I finally picked up Bishop Allen's debut LP, Charm School, via eMusic a couple of weeks ago. Should've gotten it ages ago. This isn't my favorite song from the album, but it's the best song on the album that I'd never heard before.

De Novo Dahl, "Shout" (from Shout EP, available only at indie stores)

I thought the same thing about 2006, but I have a feeling that 2008 is going to be the year of De Novo Dahl. Nashville's second-best band (after Forget Cassettes) is one of the liveliest, most entertaining indie rock bands out there right now. Their debut, Cats and Kittens, was excellent (though entirely too long, and I'm not just talking about the second disc of remixes), and the songs I've heard from their recent EP suggest that album #2, whenever it comes, will be even better. Oh, and the band is somehow on Roadrunner Records. I think it's just them and King Diamond now. (I kid... they also have Cradle of Filth and Three Inches of Blood.)

Nothington, "Last Time" (from All In)

I got tipped to these guys by the excellent Can You See the Sunset From the Southside?, and haven't stopped listening to their debut LP, All In, since. This is the band that should be opening for Bad Religion, instead of The Briggs. Think a mixture of Social Distortion, Hot Water Music, Lucero and, at times, X. Another album sure to be on my year-end list.

The Ballad of Night Man / Day Man

Day Man
Fighter of the Night Man
Champion of the Sun
Master of Karate
and friendship for everyone.

Is a Reconsideration In Order?

I'm not a particular fan of the White Stripes, and I doubt that will ever change, but I just heard this song for the first time and I gotta admit... it's pretty great.

Doings on the Internets

Just noticed this over at Fred Wilson's blog. Apparently The Hype Machine is about to do a site re-launch, but won't actually pull the trigger until there are 10,000 people on the site at the same time. As I write, they're up to 882. Seems kinda silly, but I am interested to see what they have in store for us with the new site. So get over there now, and keep the window open in the background of your browser.

Oh, and while you're opening new browsers, point your browser here for a quick second (watch the URL line). Been meaning to this for a while. Now I just need to figure out the specifics of how I want to handle the transition, and whether I want to stick with Blogger, or move to Word Press or TypePad. Frankly, I've had nothing but headaches running my other blog on Word Press, but it is significantly more expandable than Blogger... we'll see.

More Internets announcements coming very soon.

Bad Religion @ 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C. [10/14/07]

Finally. After being a fan of Bad Religion for nearly 16 years, I finally caught the band live tonight at the 9:30 Club.

Thankfully, I'd seen the band's Live at the Palladium DVD last year, so I kinda knew what to expect - great songs, but a less than stellar live show. And that's pretty much what we got. The band sounded good, but if you spent more than a few seconds watching them, it was easy to think that they were just going through the motions.

However, if you turned away, and focused on enormous mosh pit that took over the floor of the 9:30 Club, it didn't really matter. All that mattered was the songs and the energy of the crowd. And what energy... I can't remember the last time I've been to a show with as many people jumping and pushing and shoving and falling around as tonight. Just a great, fun experience. I'll be sore tomorrow, but it's worth it.

Needless to say, given the pit and the number of people bumping into me at any given moment, I didn't get a whole lot of pictures, but here's the best of what I got:





As for the openers, well... First up was Gallows, who are British, and whose lead singer's between-song banter is miles better than the band's actual songs. Second was The Briggs, who I'd heard good things about, but ended up being pretty boring, and waaay too polished for a supposed up-and-coming punk band.

Upcoming Golden City Shows

Golden City is the new band from Eric Richter of Christie Front Drive, Antarctica and The 101.

Golden City, "Gray"

Golden City has three dates coming up in New York, including a CMJ set next week. I may actually be up in town for the first weekend of December, so maybe I can catch the show at Club Midway. We'll see.

Upcoming Golden City shows
Sunday, October 14th
The Annex
152 Orchard St.
w/ Of God and Science, Gullwing, Zero Bridge, Rock&Roll

Wednesday, October 17th
CMJ: Oh My Rockness & Oya Festival Present: Norway v.s. North America
The Knitting Factory (Tap Bar)
74 Leonard Street
w/ Monomen, Team Robespierre, Ida Maria, We Are Wolves

Friday, December 7th
Club Midway
25 Avenue B

Lean more about Golden City at their MySpace page.

Bob Mould Tour and Release Dates

From Tiny Mix Tapes comes news that Bob Mould has signed with Anti- Records for the release of his new album, entitled District Line. The album will be released on February 5, 2008... meaning a return trip to SXSW?

If you can't wait until February to get your Bob on, he's got a number of dates scheduled over the next month, as well as... wait for it... two DJ sets here in DC. We get a DJ set, but no rock show. Arg.

Tour Dates

10/12: Seattle, WA - Chop Suey
10/14: Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
10/16: San Francisco, CA - Herbst Theatre
10/17: Los Angeles, CA - The Roxy
10/20: Washington, DC (9:30 Club) -- DJ SET ONLY with Richard Morel
11/02: New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
11/05: Boston, MA - Paradise Lounge
11/08: Charlottesville, VA - Gravity Lounge
11/10: New Hope, PA - John & Peter’s
11/11: Philadelphia, PA - World Café Live
11/17: Washington, DC (9:30 Club) -- DJ SET ONLY with Richard Morel

Hot Rod Circuit Playing R&R Hotel on 12/7

Man, I honestly had no idea Hot Rod Circuit was still around. I was a pretty big fan of theirs in the early part of the decade, and still listen to If It's Cool With You It's Cool With Me pretty regularly (usually on the elliptical machine at the gym). They signed with Vagrant around 2002 (the same year they opened for the Get Up Kids / Superchunk tour) and put out a couple of albums that were supposed to be their big "breakthroughs" (Sorry About Tomorrow and Reality's Coming Through). That didn't exactly work out for 'em.

Anyway, the band apparently put out an album on Immortal Records earlier this year called The Underground is a Dying Breed, and from the songs I've heard on their MySpace page, it sounds excellent. I'll need to pick up the disc, and I'll definitely need to check them out when they're in town.

If you're a fan of late 90's emo (i.e., when guitars, and not eyeliner, made a band) - think Get Up Kids, Cadillac Blindside, early Jimmy Eat World, etc. - be sure to check them out.

Hot Rod Circuit Fall Tour

Dec. 4: Orlando, FL (The Social)
Dec. 5: Atlanta, GA (Vinyl)
Dec. 6: Carrboro, NC (Cats Cradle)
Dec. 7: Washington, DC (Rock and Roll Hotel)
Dec. 8: Philadelphia, PA (North Star Bar)
orlando, Florida
Dec. 9: New York, NY (Knitting Factory)
Dec. 11: Boston, MA (Middle East Upstairs)
Dec. 12: New Haven, CT (Toad's Place)

DAM! Fest Night 1

Gotta make this quick. Soy muy cansado.

Julie Ocean at The Red and The Black

Great start to the night. Third time I've seen them, and third time I've had a great time. Ten fast rock songs in about 32 minutes.

Julie Ocean, "Number One Song"



Southeast Engine at The Red and The Black

Never heard of 'em before tonight, but will definitely be keeping an eye on them going forward. Kind of an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink Americana blend. Part of me thinks that there's a jam band inside trying to get out too, but thankfully there were no 7 minute guitar noodle-a-thons. Oh, and nice hat.

Southeast Engine, "Ghost"



Vandaveer at The Red and The Black

Another great performance from Mark Charles and Rose. Last time we'll see them in these parts for a while as Mark Charles is headed off to Europe for a few weeks of dates with These United States (see bottom of this post). If you happen to be in Dick Cheney's favorite continent, be sure to catch them if you can.

Vandaveer, "However Many Takes It Takes"



The Big Sleep at Rock and Roll Hotel

After Vandaveer I ran over to the Rock and Roll Hotel to catch Dirty On Purpose's midnight set. Unfortunately, the venue was running close to an hour behind, so when I arrived I was treated to the sight of a 3-person band taking more time than most 6-person bands to set up their equipment on stage. When that seemingly herculean effort finally ended, the band unfortunately started playing. After about 4 songs of their Black Sabbath imitation, I couldn't stay any longer.

Sometimes loud just isn't enough, kids.

The Big Sleep, "Murder" (this song sounds much better than their live set did)



Guess I'll have to catch Dirty on Purpose next time.

Vandaveer European Tour (with These United States)

15 OCT - 93 Feet East - London, UK
16 OCT - The Hope - Brighton, UK
17 OCT - Head Of Steam - Newcastle, UK
18 OCT - The Social - Nottingham, UK
19 OCT - The Magnet - Liverpool, UK
20 OCT - The Beat Club - Glasgow, UK
21 OCT - Lazarette Festival @ The Thekla Social - Bristol, UK
22 OCT - ITC @ Sports Cafe - Manchester, UK
23 OCT - The Porter - Bath, UK
24 OCT - TBA - Paris, FR
25 OCT - Le Baron - Paris, FR
26 OCT - Winston Kingdom - Amsterdam, NE
27 OCT - Tonenburg - Hoxter-Albaxen, DE
28 OCT - Le Mécanisme Dubitatif - Lille, FR
29 OCT - Tommy's Bar - Cardiff, UK
30 OCT - Big Hands - Manchester, UK
31 OCT - The Love Apple - Bradford, UK
01 OCT - The Slaughtered Lamb - London, UK
02 OCT - The Folk House - Bristol, UK
03 OCT - The Gladstone - London, UK

Stream Josh Ritter at NPR

Josh Ritter's show from the 9:30 Club in D.C. from this past Tuesday night is now streaming at NPR. Addionally, you can also sign up for NPR's All Songs Considered podcast to get the entire show as a podcast.

Gotta say... I'm about 3 songs in right now, and I'm really starting to wish I'd gone to this show the other night. Anders Parker was good, but I'm pretty convinced that Ritter's latest album, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, is going to end up on my year-end Top 10 list, and it sounds like the show was great. Next time, I guess.

Err.. hold on a second, Professor. I just hit the 15-minute mark, and NPR's audio is all screwed up. The show essentially starts over again, makes you listen to more of Bob Boylan (who may be the most annoying, un-knowledgeable person to ever host a radio series), and then seems to jump around a few times over the next couple of minutes. I'm confused.

Margot & the Nuclear So and So's @ Black Cat on 12/10

Phew... I was starting to get worried that Margot & the Nuclear So and So's were going to skip D.C. The band put out one of my favorite albums of 2006, but I've still only managed to catch them live once.

Thankfully, they've seen fit to give us a show here in DC after all. Even better news? The show is with DC's own Le Loup, who I have yet to see live (or, admittedly, form much of an opinion on so far). Should be a good one.

Details (also added to the weekly list):

Monday, 12/10
Margot & the Nuclear So and So's with Le Loup
Black Cat
Washington, DC
$10

On sale next Friday 10/19.

Ho Hum

DC Show Update

Updates are in italics.

Not a whole lot of interest to me this week, aside from Maritime.

9:30 Club
Thu., 11/15: Reverend Horton Heat
Fri., 11/16: Ani DiFranco
Sat., 11/17: Cafe Tacuba (early)
Sat., 11/17: BLOWOFF (late)
Wed., 11/21: The Pietasters

All 9:30 Club tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10am.

Black Cat
Fri., 11/2: The Sketches The Alternate Routes, No Second Troy
Thu., 11/8: The Twats (last ever DC show)
Thu., 11/29: Soulsavers (feat. Mark Lanegan)
Sat., 12/1: Little Brother
Wed., 12/5: The Sword, Valient Thorr, Black Cobra
Mon., 12/10: Margot & the Nuclear So and So's and Le Loup (on sale 10/19)

Tickets for Black Cat shows go on sale Friday.

Rock and Roll Hotel
Mon., 11/19: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah w/ Malajube
Sat., 11/24: Maritime
Sat., 12/1: The Redwalls, Jonathan Rice
Fri., 12/7: Hot Rod Circuit, Mero Eros

Tickets for Rock and Roll Hotel shows go on sale Friday at 10am. Also, although tickets already went on sale last week, I noticed that Tally Hall and Bellman Barker have been added as openers to the 11/9 White Rabbits show.

Anders Parker @ Iota, Arlington, VA [10/9/07]

After planning for a couple of days to see Josh Ritter at the 9:30 Club last night, I changed my mind around 6pm and decided to join my friend Matt to check out Anders Parker at Iota instead.

I'm only slightly familiar with Anders' solo work (and only slightly more familiar with his work under the Varnaline name), but I've always liked what I've heard, including his recent album with Jay Farrar under the Gob Iron moniker.

I was really impressed by Anders' set last night. While it's certainly not always the most exciting thing in the world to watch a guy with a guitar play slow, sad songs, when the songs are as good as Anders', it's hard to get bored (for me, at least).

As proof, here are a couple of excellent songs that I found online. I'll definitely be picking up some of his discs soon.


SeeqPod Music beta - Playable Search

And one slightly blurry pic. It feels weird to take pictures with a flash in a club as small as Iota.

New R.E.M. Song Debuting Tonight... on CNN?

From CNN.com:

Rock group R.E.M. plans to debut a song from its upcoming album Wednesday on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360°" program.

The song "Until the Day Is Done" also will appear later this month in "Planet in Peril," a four-hour CNN documentary that looks at environmental crises around the world.

Umm, ok. When exactly is "Anderson Cooper 360" on? And what channel on DC-area Comcast is CNN? I've been here two months and I still keep trying to go to the Time Warner cable channels.

Catch The Jet Age Next Week

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had discovered The Jet Age in my early attempts to learn more about the D.C. music scene. Since then, I've really gotten into their last album Breathless, however I haven't yet had an opportunity to catch them live. That's about to change.

The band has just added a new show next Friday, October 19th, with Bellman Barker at the Quarry House in Silver Spring. I'd actually just recently started to notice Bellman Barker's name around, and I really like what I've heard over at their MySpace page (especially the Belle and Sebastian-esque "Molly Maroon".) So this should be a great excuse to catch two great DC-area bands at the same time.

If you can't make it, you can still catch The Jet Age opening for David Kilgour at DC9 on November 14th, and you can catch Bellman Barker at a bunch of upcoming dates. For my New York folks, be sure to catch the band at Pianos on October 22nd.

New Blind Melon

So a couple songs from the new Blind Melon album have started making the rounds, and guess what? They're pretty good. And considering the last 15 seconds or so of "For My Friends", my sense is that this new singer does just as many drugs as Shannon. Awesome.

Blind Melon, "For My Friends

No word on when the album is coming out, but the band is touring at this very moment. They're in Vermont tonight, and then play the Canal Room in New York tomorrow. Full dates here.

(Thanks to The Modern Music for the heads up.)

Spinner Roundup (October 9 releases)

A short list, but a pretty good one. If that's your thing, the album with the most "indie buzz" is the Cut Off Your Hands disc.

Deborah Harry, Necessary Evil
Band of Horses, Cease to Begin
Enon, Grass Geysers... Carbon Cloud
Cut Off Your Hands, Shaky Hands
Dead Kennedys, Milking the Sacred Cow
The Silver Seas, High Society
Jens Lenkman, Night Falls Over Kortedala

New Whigs Album on 1/22/08

Ya'll can get excited about the new Radiohead album all you want, but me, I'll stick with The Whigs, whose MySpace page is now announcing that the band will be releasing their second album on January 22nd, 2008. Kick ass.

The Whigs, "Technology" (from Give 'Em All A Big Fat Lip)

Bloc Party, "Flux"

This has been posted around a few other sites already, but I finally got around to watching it this morning. Bloc Party debuted a new song called "Flux" this week while in New York. I actually (accidentally) caught the band performing the show on Conan O'Brien and liked it. Listening to it again, I like it even more. It's got more of the driving rhythm that I loved from Silent Alarm and that was largely missing from A Weekend in the City (an album I haven't listen to since March or so).

Anyway, here's video of the band performing the song from the Theater at Madison Square Garden. I've never seen a show in the Theater, although we did have our law school graduation ceremony there, so it's kind of odd to think of rock bands in there.

Voxtrot, The Little Ones @ Black Cat, DC [10/6/07]

So what is it with lead singers getting sick just as they're set to play a show in D.C.? Last week it was Okkervil River's Will Sheff, who nevertheless gave us an excellent, powerful performance, right up until the point that his voice started to disintegrate during the last song of the night.

And last night it was Voxtrot's Ramesh Srivastava, who let us know early in the show that he had a fever and wasn't feeling well, but who nevertheless bounced, jumped and danced around the stage for an hour as if there was absolutely nothing wrong.

His voice, though... well, it didn't hold up for quite as long as Will's did last week. Thankfully, Voxtrot is a rock band with two guitars and a keyboard, because for most of the night Ramesh's failing voice wasn't that apparent (it also helped that it seemed like his vocals were turned down in the mix). But by the time the band's set ended after a short 50 minutes (I assume this is short for them?), and Ramesh came back on stage to try to ask the crowd's permission to skip the encore (the crowd did not abide), his voice was pretty much shot. Still, though, the rest of the band sounded excellent, and, voice or not, Ramesh still jumped around as if nothing was wrong.

Openers (co-headliners?) The Little Ones were excellent as always. I've seen the band a number of times now, and they always have the biggest smiles on their faces. It's rare to see a band truly enjoying every being on stage, but it's clear that the Little Ones love every minute. My only complaint from their set? The new songs leave a little to be desired. They're almost... ahem... Jimmy Buffett-like. I sure hope they sound better on record (the band's debut LP should be out in March).

The first band of the night was House & Parish. They were fine.

Voxtrot



The Little Ones

Secret Machines in DC this Wednesday!

Just got back from the Black Cat to find that the Rock and Roll Hotel's RSS show calendar feed had updated (more venues need to do this). The biggest news? The Secret Machines have scheduled a show for this Wednesday with Sleeping States and Junius opening.

I haven't seen the Secret Machines since they lost a member / supposedly "broke up" last year. In fact, I can't even remember how long it's been since I've seen them, though I know I saw them at least once. I want to go, but not sure if I can swing in, given the lineup of shows I'm hoping to see over the next week or so. To wit:

Sun., 10/7: Two Gallants
Tue., 10/9: Josh Ritter
Wed., 10/10: Secret Machines
Thu., 10/11: Julie Ocean, Vandaveer, Dirty on Purpose, The Big Sleep
Fri., 10/12: either Earlimart or DAM! Fest
Sat., 10/13: either Antlers or DAM! Fest
Sun., 10/14: Bad Religion
Mon. 10/15: The National, Little Ones, Pela (in NYC)

The odds of me making all of these shows are pretty much nil. If I were a gamblin' man, I'd put the over/under of shows I make from this list at 4.

Internet Radio Wrapup

Haven't done this in a while, and was reminded about it by today's Largehearted Boy post which links to The Current's CYHSY performance.

Here's the most interesting recent Internet radio performances (IMO) from my favorite radio stations:

The Current @ Minnesota Public Radio

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
The National
The Sea and Cake
Son Volt
Ulrich Schnauss
The Weakerthans

WOXY.com

Forget Cassettes (from Monolith Music Festival)
The National
Pash
Superdrag
The Teenage Prayers
White Rabbits (from Monolith Music Festival)

KEXP.org

KEXP hasn't been keeping their main performance page that up-to-date, but they have still been hosting a bunch of good stuff. The best way to keep up-to-date is to subscribe to their Live Performance podcast. The latest podcast includes live performances by The Twilight Sad and Beirut. Two other KEXP performances which I don't think I've linked before:

Shearwater
The Frames

KCRW/Morning Becomes Eclectic

Band of Horses
Earlimart
Lucinda Williams
Mocean Worker
The New Pornographers

Bob Pollard Tours! Err, Kinda

Just saw over at Tiny Mix Tapes that Bob Pollard has announced two shows later this year in support of his two new albums. Apparently, these will be the only shows of 2007. No word on Bob's plans for 2008.

Bob's backing band will feature one of the Ascended Masters (Jason Narducy) and three new names (to me, at least) - David Sucott (drums), Dag Juhlin (guitar) and Mitch Marlow (guitar).

Tour Dates

Fri. 11/30: Chicago, IL (Metro)
Sat., 12/1: Newport, KY (Southgate House)

Guess I'm gonna have to go visit family in Cincinnati that first weekend of December.

DAM! Festival 2007

Whereas CMJ continues to look less and less interesting to me this year, the Washington, D.C.-area DAM! Festival is starting to look like a very pleasant surprise.

Much like CMJ, the DAM! Festival (a/k/a/ The District's Awake! Music Festival) features local and national indie artists playing at a variety of venues across town. While DAM! is significantly smaller (about 35 bands at DAM! vs. hundreds at CMJ), they've still managed to put together a number of compelling shows. The full schedule can be found here, but these are the shows I'll be seeing:

Thurs., 10/11
Vandaveer and Julie Ocean at The Red & The Black, and if I can make it, I'll then run down the block to the Rock and Roll Hotel for The Big Sleep and Dirty on Purpose.

Fri., 10/12
The Beanstalk Library, The Teeth and Dragons of Zynth at the Rock and Roll Hotel.

Sat., 10/13
Pela and Stellastarr* at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, and if I can make it, I'll try to catch These United States at DC9.

Mon., 10/15
If I'm in DC, I may try to hit Cat Power. Otherwise, I'll be in NYC seeing The National, The Little Ones and Pela (again) at Highline Ballroom.

Oh, and if these shows weren't enough, it was announced this week that WOXY.com is sponsoring the DAM! Festival this year, so you know it's gonna be good.

CMJ Update

Product Shop NYC has been pretty invaluable this CMJ season. First, they tipped me to this incredible free show. Second, they're the first site I've seen to put together a close-to-complete list of CMJ festivities.

Gotta say, the lineup never really did round out into anything particularly interesting. I may try to come up for the Monday show mentioned above, and maybe a few Tuesday shows (Takka Takka, Lifetime, Most Serene Republic, etc...). Or maybe I'll just stay in DC and get ready for our launch of Rogomo.

October 22nd? Knock on wood.

spinART R.I.P.

This is pretty old news, actually, but in case you missed it, former Staten Island-based spinART label has closed up shop. In its heydey, the label released and/or distributed albums by Frank Black, Apples in Stereo, Clem Snide (and leader Eef Barzelay), You Am I, Apollo Sunshine and Birdmonster. It will be missed.

Interestingly, CMJ.com is reporting that the UK-based One Little Indian imprint has acquired the rights to a number of spinART titles, and will be re-releasing many of them through Caroline in the coming months. Guess that's a bright spot in an otherwise unfortunate story.

New Ryan Adams EP

Not sure if I've mentioned it here or not, but Ryan Adams has a new EP coming out on October 23rd called Follow the Lights.

Not sure how excited I am about it. Most of the EP is recycled material (live studio takes), and the two new songs are being used "prominently" in this Fall's episodes of October Road. You remember October Road, don't you? Kinda like Ed, where a New Yorker returns home to his small town, but instead of trying (and I do stress trying) to be a comedy, it instead is going for the Grey's Anatomy crowd with drama, emotion and "hip" indie-esque music. And it stars that chick from That 70's Show. No, not Mila Kunis. And not the mother. And not Jessica Simpson. Yeah, that one.

Tracklisting for Follow the Lights

1. Follow The Lights (new song)
2. My Love For You Is Real (new song)
3. Blue Hotel (first official release, recorded live in studio)
4. Dear John (live in studio)
5. This Is It (Cardinals version, live in studio)
6. Down In A Hole (Alice In Chains cover, live in studio)
7. If I Am A Stranger (live in studio)

Wanna Be On Human Giant?

Reason #1,212 why I miss NYC:

Would you want to be in Human Giant Season 2?

Human Giant is looking for people to help out on some shoots and be in the background. If you are interested, please email thehumangiant@gmail.com with the subject line AUDIENCE for more details.

Shooting begins next week, so email ASAP!

Thanks very much,

Aziz Ansari
Rob Huebel
Paul Scheer
Jason Woliner

Can't wait to see the new episodes. More blood rituals, please.

Third CYHSY Show Announced for DC

As I mentioned the other day, there was some confusion with the two Clap Your Hands Say Yeah shows scheduled for the Rock and Roll Hotel here in D.C. Both shows sold out quickly, and, in fact, sold more tickets than were actually available. As a result, about 100 people had their tickets canceled and refunded.

Thankfully, the folks at the Rock and Roll Hotel (and CYHSY) have come to the rescue by scheduling a third show for Monday, November 19th. Tickets go on sale to the public next Friday, October 12th at 10am, but apparently those people who had their tickets refunded will have a shot a tickets beforehand.

Oh, and Malajube will now be opening. They were originally scheduled to headline the Rock and Roll Hotel that night, but seemingly have accepted their fates as Canadians to always play second fiddle to Americans. (I'm only kidding, Canada. You know I love you. Molson Ice got me through a lot of long nights in college. Remember "ice" beers? Those were the best. Except for Bud Ice. That one sucked.)

Is DC Getting Skipped?

Just noticed three (err, technically five) really good shows happening in New York that, as far as I can tell, aren't coming to DC. Keeping my fingers crossed that this changes.

11/15: Spiritualized @ The Apollo
11/26: Sondre Lerche @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
11/27: Sondre Lerche @ Bowery Ballroom
11/29: Sondre Lerche @ Maxwell's (Hoboken)
12/13: Margot & the Nuclear So and So's @ Mercury Lounge

Sondre also has a bunch of other dates scheduled, including San Francisco, L.A., Minneapolis, Chicago, Boston and Toronto. But not DC.

If I had to pick one to come to DC, though, it'd be Margot.

DC Show Update

UPDATED WEDNESDAY 7:30PM

This week's new shows...

Black Cat

Sun., 10/21: ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
Thu., 11/8: The Twats (last DC show ever)
Fri., 11/30: Chuck Ragan (formerly of Hot Water Music)
Thu., 12/6: Madlib, Peanut Butter Wolf
Sat., 12/15: Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
Wed., 12/19: The Lemonheads

All Black Cat shows on sale this Friday (10/5) via Ticketmaster, except for Madlib (on sale Fri. 10/12).

9:30 Club

Thu., 11/13: Deborah Harry

On sale Friday, 10/12, via Tickets.com.

Rock and Roll Hotel

Fri., 11/9: White Rabbits
Tue., 11/13: Om, Grails, Jack Rose
Fri., 11/30: Ra Ra Riot

All Rock and Roll Hotel shows on sale this Friday (10/5) at 10am via Ticket Alternative.

Best News of 2007

Thanks to Matt for the heads up. Hulk Hogan finalizing deal to host NBC's American Gladiators remake.

Now all we need to do is dig up Morton Downey Jr. and give him his old show back. And someone needs to get Gary Hart back in the spotlight. And would someone please start airing Alf reruns again.

[/1990]

Good News/Bad News From Comedy Central

Someone please tell me, when will it stop??? Comedy Central has announced that it is renewing Mind of Mencia for a fourth season. The world truly has gone mad.

In much, much better news, however, Comedy Central is set to announce today the pickup of Important Things With Demetri Martin for the second half of 2008. The sketch comedy will be executive produced by Martin and Jon Stewart (the show is produced by Stewart's production company). Always good to see former NYU Law folks do good (especially if they were smart enough to drop out).

Public Service Announcements

The more you know, the more you grow.

PSA #1

If you own a Tivo and you move to a new town, check all of your season passes to make sure they're set to tape on the correct channel. For example, let's say you live in New York and your Tivo is set to tape The Office on WNBC. Tivo will not update this for you automatically if, say, you move to Washington D.C. Instead, you'll end up missing the first Office episode of the season. And the second episode of How I Met Your Mother. And the second episode of Heroes. And the latest episode of Hannah Montana. (I kid, I kid.)

So be sure to go back and delete your old season passes and sign up for new ones. Or else you'll have to download episodes off of the iTunes store or, yuck, unBox.

PSA #2

Never trust your off-shore development team to use their judgment when it comes to User Interface issues. You'd be amazed at what an Argentinian finds to be "intuitive."

PSA #3

Never get less than twelve hours sleep.

PSA #4

Never play cards with a guy who has the same first name as a city.

PSA #5

Never get involved with a woman with a tattoo of a dagger on her body.

That is all.

DC Goes A Bit Too Crazy for CYHSY

From DCist:

Okay, so we've already given Brooklyn's Clap Your Hands Say Yeah a less than stellar live review and sufficiently curbed our enthusiasm when they announced two November dates at the Rock and Roll Hotel. Fortunately for the band, our lukewarm opinions hardly affected their ticket sales, as both dates have been sold out for weeks.

Unfortunately for fans of the band (including some DCist staffers), the dates were so popular that both were actually oversold, forcing Rock and Roll Hotel to refund ticket buyers from both shows. Rock and Roll Hotel says that failure to count in ticket sales from the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah fan club is the reason for the oversell. An e-mail to the refunded ticket buyers states, "Please understand that Ticket Alternative is no way shape or form responsible for this error. We at the Rock and Roll Hotel take full responsibility...Rock and Roll Hotel asks that you please do not try to contact the band with this matter, as we hope that you understand that mistakes can be made even in the world of Rock and Roll."

Knocking on wood as I say this, but I haven't gotten the email. Think I'm OK, since I still follow the New York rule of buying tickets to every show immediately when they go on sale.

New Black Cat Shows

I usually do a post on Wednesday afternoons listing all of the new DC-area shows going on sale for the week, but just noticed two pretty exciting new shows at the Black Cat that I figured I'd highlight:

Fri., 11/30: Chuck Ragan (formerly of Hot Water Music) w/ Sundowner
Wed., 12/19: The Lemonheads

Both go on sale on Friday. Can't wait. Strangely, the Lemonheads show will be almost a year to the day from the last time I saw them.

Two New Bob Pollard Songs

As I mentioned last week, both of Bob Pollard's upcoming releases are now streaming for free over at the Merge Records website.

If you don't have time to listen to the full albums, however, you'll be glad to know that Uncle Bob has seen fit to make a couple of MP3s available on his website.

Check 'em out:

Robert Pollard, "Current Desperation (Angels Speak of Nothing)" (from Coast to Coast Carpet of Love)
Robert Pollard, "Pill Gone Girl" (from Standard Gargoyle Decisions)

You can preorder the discs here. You can buy them separately for $13 each or together for $23.

If you can only buy one, this might help you decide - according to the Merge site, Bob calls Coast to Coast Carpet of Love his id, and Standard Gargoyle Decisions his ego, and himself his Super Ego. So, depending on where you fall in the whole Freudian thing, you may prefer one disc over the other. Or not.

Or you could just go with Merge's description - Coast to Coast is Bob's poppier, "Beatles" side, and Gargoyle is his punkier, "Stones" side.

It all makes perfect sense now.

Radiohead In Rainbows Out on October 10th

Frankly, I'm a little confused, but according to Brooklyn Vegan, the new Radiohead album comes out on October 10th via download and sometime in December in hard copy. And you can apparently pick your price, or something.

Color me confused, but certainly somewhat excited. And I'm not even that big a fan.

Okkervil River @ Rock and Roll Hotel, DC [9/30/07]

I've seen several shows this year that I would classify as great, including shows by The Figgs, The Frames, The National, Wheat and Wilco. Tonight's show by Okkervil River may have topped them all.

Amazingly, this was actually my first time seeing the band live. I've had tickets to see them 2 or 3 times before, and also had opportunities to catch them for free during SXSW and New York's summer River to River concert series, but something has always come up (usually timing - the free shows were too early, and I think the band went on stage somewhere around 1:30am at their last show at the Knitting Factory).
I will never miss them again.

If you've listened to the band's albums, you know (or at least you should) that this is a great band. What you may not know, and I certainly didn't, is that they are a great, rollicking rock band. I wish I could see them again tomorrow. How long a drive is it from DC to Chapel Hill?

Okkervil River




As if Okkervil's performance wasn't enough, I was thrilled to discover when I showed up at the club that Jonathan Meiberg would be opening the show (along with Damian Jurado). In addition to being a member of Okkervil, you may also know Meiberg as the frontman for the Shearwater. We were treated to a number of Shearwater songs, including a new song, as well as an Alastair Roberts cover. Can't wait to get a new Shearwater album.

Damian Jurado also played an excellent set. He's one of those guys whose name I've heard for years but never gotten around to listening to. I'll have to remedy that.

Jonathan Meiberg


Damian Jurado


Keep your eyes on the All Songs Considered page for audio of tonight's show. I can't recommend strongly enough that you download it when you get the chance.