Pitchfork Gives the Jet Age an 8.0!

So I just noticed that Pitchfork gave local D.C. heroes The Jet Age an 8.0 today for their stellar new album, What Did You Do During the War, Daddy?.

That's awesome. I can't tell you how proud I am of the boys. And I can't emphasize enough how much this album deserves this type of credit. So pick the damn thing up already, would'ja?

And here's hoping listening to the next Jet Age album is like witnessing the stillborn birth of a child while simultaneously having the opportunity to see her play in the afterlife on Imax.

Glen and Marketa on Spinner's Interface

From Spinner's interview with Glen:

"I love being in a band, I love rocking out, I love going on tour with the boys -- I love everything about it," Hansard tells Spinner. "But I guess right now I'm just really enjoying the simplicity with what's happened with the film and what's happened with Marketa."

Yeah, that makes me happy. So, new Frames album in, say, 2010? Arg.

"Falling Slowly"


"Once"


"When Your Mind's Made Up


Interview

Glen Cashes In

Forget Radio City... forget the Grammys... this is what's gonna buy Glen a big new house in Ballsbridge:

Warner Chappell Music has signed a worldwide publishing agreement with singer/songwriter duo Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, winners of this year's "Best Original Song" Oscar for "Falling Slowly" from the film "Once".

Under the agreement, Warner/Chappell Music will administer Hansard's and Irglova's catalog of work, including songs written by Hansard as a member of the band The Frames, music from Hansard's and Irglova's debut album, "The Swell Season" and songs from the "Once" soundtrack, as well as their future compositions.

Full story at Hypebot.

I'm saying this a lot lately, but congrats to Glen and Marketa. Sometimes decades of perseverance does pay off.

DC Concert Update

(This list will be updated regularly throughout the week. Updates will be in italics.)

Iota
Tue., 4/8: David Dondero
Tue., 4/29: American Music Club

Tickets for Iota shows are sold at the door.

Rock and Roll Hotel
Fri.3/28: The Redline Addiction, The Fif, Stea Mira, Sikamoor Rooney, Ainsley
Thu., 4/3: Robbers on High Street
Fri., 5/16: Local H
Mon., 6/9: MUDHONEY (!!!!!!!!!)

Tickets for Rock and Roll Hotel shows went on sale this morning via Ticket Alternative, except for MUDHONEY, which goes on sale next Friday at 10am.

9:30 Club
Fri., 3/21: Jah Works
Sat., 4/12: Nada Surf, Jack King
Wed., 4/16: Rogue Wave, Grand Ole Party
Tue., 4/29: Atmosphere
Thu., 5/8: El-P, Dizzy Rascal, Busdriver
Sat., 6/7: The Kooks

Tickets for 9:30 Club shows go on sale Thursday morning at 10am via Tickets.com, except for The Kooks show, which goes on sale on Monday, March 3rd at 10am.

Black Cat
Tue., 3/11: WZT Hearts, The Methamphetaines, Wealth
Wed., 3/19: The Cribs, Ra Ra Riot, Jeffrey Lewis & the Jitters (maybe not new, but I'd forgotten about RRR)
Wed., 3/26: Vandaveer, Laura Burhenn, Sean Walsh & The National Reserve
Tue., 4/1: Anousheh Khalili, The Feverfew, Sleep Station
Fri., 4/4: Les Savy Fav, The Big Sleep, The Dodos
Thu., 4/10: Yeasayer
Fri., 4/11: Pig Destroyer, Misery Index, The Wayward, Magrudergrind
Wed., 5/7: The Teenagers
Fri., 5/9: Polvo, Sir Arthur & His Royal Knights
Sat., 6/7: M83

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

Recher Theatre (Towson, MD)
Tue., 4/29: Josh Ritter

Tickets for the Josh Ritter show are supposed to go on sale tomorrow, but seem to be available already via Ticketmaster.

State Theatre (Falls Church, VA)
Thu., 5/1: Hanson (woo hoo)

Wilco Thoughts

So it's official -- I'm back on the Wilco bandwagon.

I guess I technically never really left it, but the truth is that I was starting to get worried over the last couple of years that the band was becoming much less of the rock band that I originally fell in love with. They have a ton of great musicians, and their live show is excellent, but it had been a long time since I got the type of thrill from seeing them that I did back in the '90s. And the fact that they were playing the same 25-35 songs over and over again for most of 2006 and 2007 didn't help either.

However, the band's decision to start digging into its older catalog seems to have done the trick for me. I love everything the band has done, but the fact remains that there are few songs they've written that I love as much as those on the first few albums. Knowing that I have just as much of a shot of hearing "Pieholden Suite" as I do "Heavy Metal Drummer" is a very, very good thing. (For those playing along at home, the former hasn't been played much in the past few years, while the latter has been played just about every time I've seen them since 2001.)

Notably, I thought the show started out a little slow last night -- neither the band nor the crowd seemed to have a ton of energy in the first hour of the show. So even while I was happy to hear "Pot Kettle Black" and "Nothingsevergonnastandinmyway(again)", both seemed a little subdued for my tastes. However, someone seemed to flip a switch right around 10pm, and the show became an absolute stunner. "Pieholden Suite" was utterly spectacular, and as I mentioned to some friends, the band's version of "Box Full of Letters" (first time I've seen that live in close to a decade) was as good as I've ever seen it. In fact, I thought BFOL was so good, and the band seemed to be so into it, that I simply can't understand why they haven't been playing it over the last few years. This lineup seems built for this tune.

Anyway, on a Wilco-adjusted scale [where a 3 is still a 6 or 7 for most other bands], I'd probably give the show a 6.5 or 7 out of 10. The first hour registered at about a 5, whereas the rest of the show came in at 8 or 8.5. I liked the show I saw in Chicago last week more, but only because it seemed like the energy was there from start to finish.

You can hear the show for yourself over at NPR. And here's the setlist via Via Chicago:

sunken treasure
remember the mountain bed
company in my back
you are my face
side with the seeds
she's a jar
shot in the arm (fixed)
nothingsevergonna
handshake drugs
pot kettle black
roses bloom again
impossible germany
it's just that simple (fixed)
someday soon
box full of letters
i'm always in love
pieholden suite
jesus etc
hate it here
walken
i'm the man who loves you
hummingbird
on and on

encore 1
via chicago
california stars

encore 2
casino queen
i'm a wheel
monday

Wilco @ 9:30 Club, Washington, DC [2/27/08]

Setlist and discussion tomorrow.

The Jet Age is Spin's Artist of the Day!

Check it out!

Jam Out With Your Clam Out

Very NSFW. Why am I just seeing this now?



The movie is out April 25th, by the way. Cannot wait.

What Would NPH Do?

Weekend Wrapup

So I guess I owe you some sort of writeup for this weekend's shows... I'll keep it short since it's getting late, and I'm not really in a writin' mood.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
I'd managed to miss Jason a couple of times over the last year and had absolutely no intention of missing him this time around. The stories of his show at the Rock and Roll Hotel here in DC last summer are near legendary. And while Friday's show at the 9:30 Club wasn't quite legendary, it was still excellent. They stuck primarily to Jason's solo debut, Sirens of the Ditch, but did cover a Patterson Hood (Drive By Truckers) tune as well as Van Morrison's "Into the Mystic".

Jason's touring partner, Will Hoge, actually got top billing for the night, but a big chunk of the crowd (myself included) left before Hoge finished his set. Someone described his music to me as "Springsteen-influenced bar rock", and that's pretty much right, except the Springsteen reference is purely aspirational.

The Secret Pop Band
I hadn't heard of these guys before finding out that they were opening for The Jet Age's CD Release party last night. I can guarantee you that I'll be listening to a lot more of them going forward.

The Secret Pop Band, "Come Back Now Baby (Your Data's Good)" [BUY]

The Secret Pop Band on MySpace
Another secret song

The Jet Age
There are only a handful of bands that I go out of my way to tell people they have to check out live. I'm gonna add The Jet Age to that list. These guys are great musicians playing music from what is easily one of my favorite albums of the year, What Did You Do During the War, Daddy?. And I don't say that because I know them - the album has been on repeat on my iTunes pretty much since I first heard it. Do yourself a favor and pick it up.

If you didn't make it to the show last night, be sure to catch what is sure to be one of the best shows in DC all year on Saturday, March 22nd when the band plays with the incredible Wussy and The Kyle Sowashes at The Red and The Black.

New These United States

One of the DC-area bands that I've been meaning to check out since I relocated down here last Fall is These United States. However, something has always seemed to come up when I've planned to see them, and they've remained one of those bands whose names I know without actually knowing their music.

Well, I can finally say that I've heard one of the band's songs.  And, I gotta say, it's pretty damn good.  Definitely a strong M. Ward vibe going on (with some beeps and boops mixed in), which is always cool with me.  Check it out:

These United States, "First Sight"

The song is from the band's new album, A Picture of the Three of Us at the Gate to the Garden of Eden, which comes out on March 4th.  The band will then be doing a nationwide tour, starting with a show at Iota in Arlington, VA on Monday and wrapping up back at the Black Cat on April 13th. Catch 'em if you can.

These United States tour dates
3/3 Arlington, VA: Iota
3/4 Richmond, VA: Gallery 5
3/5 Chapel Hill, NC: Nightlight
3/6 Asheville, NC: The Rocket
3/7 Athens, GA: Flicker
3/8 Birmingham, AL : J. Benton
3/10 Shreveport, LA: Minicine
3/11 Dallas, TX: Club DaDa
3/12 Austin, TX: SXSW - Force Field PR/Terrorbird Day Party @ Emo's Main Room
3/13 Austin, TX: SXSW - "DC Does Texas" Day Party @ Cream Vintage
3/14 Austin, TX: SXSW - AfterTheJumpFest Day Party
3/16 El Paso, TX: Ramblin Gallery
3/18 Tucson, AZ: Plush
3/19 Phoenix, AZ: Trunk Space
3/20 San Diego, CA: Epicentre
3/21 Los Angeles, CA: Echo Curio
3/22 Merced, CA: The Partisan
3/23 San Francisco, CA: Hotel Utah
3/25 Portland, OR: Mississippi Studios
3/26 Seattle, WA: Sunset Tavern
3/27 Boise, ID: This House On Fire
3/28 Salt Lake City, UT: Urban Lounge
3/29 Denver, CO: Hi-Dive
3/31 Minneapolis, MN: 400 Bar
4/1 Des Moines, IA: Vaudeville Mews
4/2 Iowa City, IA: Mission Creek Fest
4/3 Chicago, IL: The Hideout
4/4 Louisville, KY: The 930
4/5 Lexington, KY: The Dame
4/7 Providence, RI: AS220
4/8 Somerville, MA: P.A.’s Lounge
4/9 Portsmouth, NH: Studio Verte
4/10 New York, NY: Cake Shop
4/11 Brooklyn, NY: Union Hall
4/12 Baltimore, MD: Talking Head
4/13 Washington, DC: Black Cat

Edited to add: A couple of other things to note. Apparently every show of the 33-show tour will be a collaborative show with a different lineup every night. And if you throw in their 3 SXSW sets, that's 36 completely different lineups. Madness, I say.

And speaking of SXSW, I've added details of their 3 festival shows to the tour schedule above.

Sasquatch Lineup Announced

(Via Rock Daily)

This is the first time I've ever really wanted to go to Sasquatch. Great, great lineup. There's about 15-20 more that I'm not even listing.

The Sasquatch Festival takes placed from May 24 to May 26 at The Gorge in Washington.

R.E.M.
The Cure
The Flaming Lips U.F.O. Show
Death Cab For Cutie
Modest Mouse
M.I.A.
Flight Of The Conchords
Rodrigo Y Gabriela
Michael Franti & Spearhead
The Breeders
Built To Spill
The Hives
Tegan & Sara
The New Pornographers
Blue Scholars
The National
The Kooks
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
Cold War Kids
Beirut
Rogue Wave
Okkervil River
Fleet Foxes
Kinski
Mates of State
Crudo (featuring Mike Patton & Dan The Automator)
Destroyer
Pela
White Rabbits
David Bazan
The Little Ones
Dead Confederate
The Heavenly States
65daysofstatic

Human Giant @ Black Cat POSTPONED CANCELED

Just got a voicemail from the fine folks at Ticketmaster advising me that the March 5th Human Giant show at the Black Cat has been indefinitely postponed. If you have tickets to the show, you can either get a refund or hold onto your ticket for whenever the show is rescheduled. Since I plan on going whenever it is -- and I don't feel like forfeiting my Ticketmaster service fees -- I'm gonna hold onto my ticket.

I checked the Human Giant website and there's no mention of the postponement, the reason behind it, or whether it affects the rest of the tour or not. More info if and when I get it.

Edited to add: According to The Optimistic Curmudgeon, the reason is that Paul has a feature film role. And apparently they only plan to reschedule "some" dates. Arg. Maybe I will have to try to catch them at SXSW after all.

Edited again: Now Ticketmaster is saying that the entire tour has been canceled, and that refunds will be made automatically (less their fee, of course). This ain't cool, fellas.

MTV'S HUMAN GIANT TOUR was scheduled to take place on March 5th, 2008, unfortunately that event has been cancelled. You will receive an automatic credit back to your charge card minus the non-refundable processing fee of $1.00. All delivery fees are also non-refundable. If tickets were purchased at an Outlet or the box offices please contact them directly.

The Diceman Cometh

In 1989 I would have been all over this show. In 2008... I'm considering it.

ANDREW DICE CLAY
The Warner Theatre
Washington, DC
Date: Friday 4/4/2008
Time: 8:00 PM
Cost: $78-$28
On sale now

(Photo source.)

Edited to add: Crap, I'll be in Phoenix. I hope you realize what I'm giving up to come to your wedding, Joe.

Whigs on Conan O'Brien

I totally blanked on this one last week. Good thing we've got YouTube.

Reason #712 Why Eugene Mirman Rules

Via Brooklyn Vegan:

The Jet Age @ DC9, Washington, DC [2/24/08]

I'll have to do a post about the show (and the Jason Isbell show) tomorrow, as I'm about to pass out. But I figured I'd throw up a few photos of The Jet Age and their very good openers The Secret Pop Band while I'm at my computer.

The Jet Age




The Secret Pop Band

Glen and Marketa Win an Oscar

Wow. Just wow. It's amazing to think that it's been just over a year and a half since I saw Glen performing this song at Pianos in New York to a 100-person crowd and wondering if he would ever get the recognition he deserved.

Well, he's finally got the recognition now. And a friggin' orchestra to back it up.

Glen and Mar Winning an Oscar


Glen and Mar Performing "Falling Slowly" at the Oscars


I can bitch and moan all I want about having to deal with Glen and the Frames being more popular these days, but really, this is pretty awesome. Congrats, kids.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit @ 9:30 Club, Washington, DC [2/22/08]

Review later. Pictures now.

Hangover combined with sinus infection = not good at all.





Oh, and here's an older video of Jason performing the excellent "Dress Blues":

Another Great SXSW Day Show

I promise I'm not gonna do a post about every single SXSW day show (which would be next to impossible anyway), but Sal C just forwarded me this info and it excites the hell out of me.

KDHX/Twangfest SXSW Day Party
Jovita's (1619 South First St.)

Thursday, March 13
Inside:
12PM - Amy Lavere
1PM - Black Diamond Heavies
2PM - David Bazan (Pedro The Lion)
3PM - Ha Ha Tonka
4PM - Scott H. Biram
5PM - Legendary ShackShakers

Outside:
12:00 - Otis Gibbs
12:30-2:30 - This Is American Music Revue (featuring Grand Champeen, Two
Cow Garage, Glossary, & The Drams)
2:30 - Gentleman Auction House
3:30 - Pattern Is Movement
4:30 - So Many Dynamos
5:30 - Deer Tick

Saturday, March 15
Inside:
12PM - Kevin Gordon
1PM - The Redwalls
2PM - Chuck Prophet
3PM - Waco Brothers
4PM - Blue Mountain
5PM - Wussy

Outside:
12:00 - Steve Poltz
12:30 - The Whipsaws
1:30 - Tim Easton & The Whipsaws
1:40 - Tommy Womack
2:30 - TBA
3:30 - Jon Hardy and the Public
4:30 - Sarah Borges
5:30 - TBA

Reminder: Jet Age CD Release Party on Sunday!

Just a reminder that The Jet Age is set to play a CD release party this Sunday night at DC9. The show is in celebration of the band's incredible new album, What Did You Do During the War, Daddy?, which I strongly encourage you to buy here or here.

The Jet Age, "O, Calendar"

J. Forte and the Secret Pop Band are opening. I've heard good things, so be sure to get there early to catch 'em. According to DC9's website, showtime is 8:30pm.

Gary Louris Coming To DC-Area After All

Just noticed over at the State Theatre's website that Gary Louris and Vetiver are coming to town on Thursday, April 3rd. I'm not a huge fan of Gary's new album, but this is a great combination. No word on when tickets go on sale yet, but I'll post something when I find out.

I have an 8am flight to Phoenix the next morning, but I can't imagine either the State Theatre or Gary letting things go too late. At least I hope not.

DC Show Update (Revised)

Slower week than last week, but it would be hard to match the sheer number of shows that went on sale last week. As always, any additions will be added in italics.

State Theater
Thu., 4/3: Gary Louris, Vetiver

No word as to on-sale dale for tickets for the Gary Louris show yet. They'll eventually be available through the State Theater's own ticketing system.

9:30 Club
Sun., 3/15: Blowoff DJ set w/ Bob Mould and Richard Morel
Sun., 3/23: Del the Funky Homosapien
Thu., 4/3: The Boredoms
Fri., 4/4: Lifehouse (ha!)
Sat., 4/5: Mike Doughty's Band
Sun., 4/6: Carbon/Silicon, Matt Pond PA
Wed., 4/16: Rogue Wave
Wed., 4/23: Tapes n' Tapes

All 9:30 Club shows go on sale tomorrow (2/21) at 10am via Tickets.com, although the Tickets.com seems to incorrectly list the Carbon/Silicon show as going on sale on 3/21. BTW, Carbon Silicon is the "new" project from Mick Jones (The Clash) and Tony James (Generation X).

No word as to on-sale date for Rogue Wave yet. It's the same week as Colin Meloy and both New Pornographers shows - in fact, the shows are back-to-back Sunday through Wednesday - which means I'm sure I'll end up skipping one of them.

Black Cat
Tue., 3/11: WZT Hearts, The Methamphetamines, Wealth
Thu., 3/13: Two Dark Birds, The High Signs, Sad Crocodile
Sun., 3/23: Katastrophe, Athens Boys Choir
Tue., 4/1: Anousheh Khalili, The Feverfew, Sleep Station
Tue., 4/22: Peelander-Z, Pessimist Parade, Nihilitia
Fri., 5/9: Polvo, Sir Arthur & His Royal Knights
Sat., 6/7: M83

All Black Cat shows are sold via Ticketmaster. All shows go on sale Friday (2/22) at 5pm except for the Methamphetamines, Feverfew, Polvo and M83 shows, which go on sale on 2/29.

More WOXY SXSW News

In addition to the numerous in-studio sessions that they'll be doing during SXSW, as well as the Domino Records showcase, WOXY.com has announced that they will be co-sponsoring this year's Hot Freaks day shows along with many of the best music blogs around (You Ain't No Picasso, Gorilla vs. Bear, My Old Kentucky Blog, Chromewaves, An Aquarium Drunkard, Daytrotter, Largehearted Boy), Insound and Zazzle.

If the lineup of co-sponsors weren't impressive enough, check out some of the artists performing:

Evangelicals
Crystal Castles
Jens Lenkman
Blitzen Trapper
British Sea Power
Jason Collett
Lyrics Born
The Whigs
White Rabbits
Islands
David Bazan
and many more

The Hot Freaks party will take place on Friday 3/14 and 3/15 at The Mohawk and Club DeVille. You can find a full schedule here.

The shows are free, but if you want to go, you HAVE to RSVP.

Getting sooo excited for SXSW.

Big Swell Season Tour, No Frames?

Well, I guess I got myself all excited for nothing. Instead of a spring Frames tour, we're instead getting a spring Swell Season tour. Unless someone can promise me that the crowd isn't going to filled with 50-something Baby Boomer NPR-listening couples swooning over how "romantic" it is that Glen and Marketa are a couple, well, I'm gonna have to pass on this one.

Oh, and by the way... look at the size of these friggin' venues. Radio City? Tower Theatre? Wow.

Swell Season US Tour
4/23: phoenix, az, orpheum theatre
4/25: coachella festival, indio, ca
4/26: oakland, ca, paramount theatre
4/27: eugene, or, mcdonald theatre
4/28: portland, or, keller auditorium
4/30: seattle, wa, the moore
5/1: missoula, mt, the wilma
5/2: salt lake city, ut, the depot
5/3: denver, co, ellie caulkins opera house
5/5: lawrence, ks, liberty hall
5/6: st louis, mo, the pageant
5/7: minneapolis, mn, orpheum theater
5/8: milwaukee, wi, pabst theatre, w/ Nicolai Dunger
5/10: royal oak, mi, royal oak theatre
5/11: cleveland, oh, allen theatre at playhouse square
5/12: louisville, ky, brown theatre
5/13: atlanta, ga, the cobb
5/15: raleigh, nc, meymandi concert hall
5/16: richmond, va, toad’s place
5/17: baltimore, md,meyerhoff symphony hall
5/19: new york, ny, radio city music hall
5/20: upper darby pa, the tower theatre
6/12-14: bonnaroo festival, manchester, tn
6/22: telluride bluegrass festival, telluride, co

Thanks to the folks at Bumpershine for the heads up!

Meet The Night Marchers

So we finally have an idea what John Reis' (Rocket From The Crypt, Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes) new band sounds like. If I had to describe it in two words, I'd go with "pure awesome".









Can't wait to catch these guys at SXSW.

Thanks to Sal C for the heads up!

Edited to add: You can also hear three tunes over at the band's MySpace page.

Now Dale... Did That Hurt?

This has already made the rounds a bit, but I just finally got around to watching it. A preview of Season 2 of Human Giant:



Awesome.

Julie Ocean Are Preparing To Rock You

It's been a while since I mentioned one of my favorite DC-area bands, Julie Ocean. The band has been out of the spotlight for the past few months working on their debut album. I'm told that the album is now done, and should be out sometime in the Spring. World domination should follow in the weeks and months thereafter.

The band has scheduled a couple DC-area dates over the next couple of months to prepare themselves for their coming onslaught of rock. If you're around, I highly recommend that you check them out. Oh, and they've also made a couple of songs from the new album available for download on their MySpace page, including one of my favorite tracks from the album, "My Revenge".

Julie Ocean, "My Revenge"

Julie Ocean dates
Thu., 3/6: Velvet Lounge, DC (with Screen Vinyl Image, The Sky Drops)
Sat., 4/5: Rock and Roll Hotel, DC (with The Dirtbombs and Kelley Stoltz)

Son Volt Touring This Spring

Not wanting to be outdone by Wilco's 5-night homestand in Chicago, Son Volt has announced a month-long nationwide tour in April, including a show here in DC at the 9:30 Club on Friday, April 25th. These shows are in addition to the two-week solo trek that frontman Jay Farrar that was announced a while back.

Tickets for the Nashville, Atlanta, Tallahassee and Philly shows are on sale now. No word on the other shows yet, and the show isn't up on the 9:30 Club website as going on sale this week.

Son Volt Tour Dates
2/22* Maxwell’s Hoboken, NJ
2/23* Music Hall of Williamsburg Brooklyn, NY
2/25* Belly Up Tavern Solana Beach, CA
2/26* Troubadour Los Angeles, CA
2/27* Great American Music Hall San Francisco, CA
2/29* Tractor Tavern Seattle, WA
3/1* Aladdin Theatre Portland, OR
4/09 Headliners Louisville, KY
4/10 Exit/In Nashville, TN
4/11 Variety Playhouse Atlanta, GA
4/12 The Beta Bar Tallahassee, FL
4/13 WorkPlay Theatre Birmingham, AL
4/15 Tipitina’s New Orleans, LA
4/16 Continental Club Houston, TX
4/17 Antone’s Austin, TX
4/18 Gruene Hall New Braunfels, TX
4/19 Main Street Arts Fest Ft. Worth, TX
4/22 Bijou Theatre Knoxville, TN
4/23 Visulite Theatre Charlotte, NC
4/24 Lincoln Theatre Raleigh, NC
4/25 9:30 Club Washington, DC
4/26 Trocadero Philadelphia, PA
6/27 Lazy River Music & Arts Fest Elgin, IL

* = Jay Farrar solo

(Thanks to Matt for the heads up!)

AOL Roundup (Week of 2/18)

Completely forgot to do this yesterday. Good week. I'm a huge fan of the Raveonettes disc, though I still don't really care for the Louris album.

The Big Sleep, Sleep Forever
The Raveonettes, Lust Lust Lust
American Music Club, The Golden Age
The Epochs, The Epochs
Gary Louris, Vagabond
Headlights, Some Racing, Some Stopping

No Depression Magazine To Stop Publishing

This is unfortunate. Idolator is reporting that alt-country mainstay No Depression will cease publication following its May/June 2008 issue.

Granted, I haven't read No Depression in years (or many other print magazines for that matter), but it's still a loss. It's especially sad given that another of my old favorites, Punk Planet, also recently shut down its print edition as well. Those two magazines were just about the only reason I ever used to go to the old Tower Video and Books store on Lafayette and East 4th.

TVT Records Filing For Chapter 11 Protection

According to Kingblind, TVT Records has fired the majority of its employees and will be filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

While TVT's current roster doesn't do a whole lot for me (Polyphonic Spree, Lil Jon & The Eastside Boyz, etc.), in its salad days it was home to acts such as Guided by Voices, Nine Inch Nails, Autechre, Psychic TV. TVT actually started as as a compilations-only label (much like Razor & Tie Records -- e.g., the home of Jock Jams), with TVT standing for "Tee Vee Toons".

It'll be interesting to see what happens with TVT. Chapter 11 protection should give them some time to reorganize their business and figure out a new strategy. Of course, since no one really has a clear strategy in this industry right now, who really knows what they'll end up doing.

The Frames Coming Back to the US?

I just noticed that The Frames are scheduled to play the Telluride Bluegrass Festival taking place in Telluride, Colorado from June 19th through June 22nd. Glen's Swell Season side project is also performing, as are Ani DiFranco, the Del McCoury Band, Brett Dennen, and many others. (Exactly what connection the Frames or Swell Season have to bluegrass I'm not sure, but whatever.)

I haven't seen any evidence that the band will be playing any other shows while in the US, but I'd have to guess that they're not coming all the way over to just for this one show. I'll definitely be keeping my eyes open.

Interesting DC Show

I'm not a huge fan of Cloud Cult, but I just noticed that their April 19th show at the Rock and Roll Hotel has gotten a lot more interesting -- they've got New York's The Forms and excellent, underappreciated DC locals The Beanstalk Library opening up. I think I'm gonna have to go to this.

The Beanstalk Library, "Fog Over My Mind"
Cloud Cult, "Take Your Medicine" (via Spinner)
The Forms, "Knowledge In Hand"

New Music From Wheat!

After taking off a few years during the middle part of the decade, Wheat seems to be back with a vengeance. They released the excellent That's Exactly What I Wanted... Exactly That mini-album in late 2006, and the even better Everyday I Said A Prayer For Kathy And Made A One Inch Square LP in 2007. And while they didn't tour a whole lot behind those discs, the shows they did were excellent.

Now comes news that the band has two more releases on the way. First up is a brand new mini-album entitled Move=Move, featuring the radio single of the song "Move=Move" from Everyday I Said A Prayer... as well as four brand new tracks. Empyrean Records is selling a bonus edition of the mini-album which comes with a bonus CD of instrumental tracks and videos, as well as 18x24 screen printed original artwork, for just $20.

Here's the excellent title track from the mini-album:

Wheat, "Move=Move"

There's also word that the band has started working its 5th studio album, which will also come out on Empyrean. There's no release date yet, but it sounds like we shouldn't have to wait too long.

Listen to Live Wilco Webcast Tomorrow Night

If you can't make it to tomorrow night's Wilco show at the Riviera Theatre in Chicago -- specifically, the fourth night of the band's five-night homestand -- you can catch it streaming on 93 XRT starting at 7:30pm CST.

In addition, this guy has been Twittering the setlists of the last few shows live as they've been happening. As I write this, the band is about 8 songs into tonight's set. They're playing "We're Just Friends" right now. Would've liked to have seen that one... oh well.

Wilco Pix

Here's a tip -- if you can at all avoid it, don't stay at the Quality Inn at Detroit Metro Airport.







Full set of photos here.

Wilco @ Riviera Theatre, Chicago, IL [2/16/08]

So now is where I'd usually post some pictures from last night's Wilco show at the Riviera Theatre in Chicago, and give some details about the show, but I'm currently stranded in lovely Detroit because my connecting flight from Chicago was inexplicably canceled for "mechanical reasons". I'm at the wonderfully awful Quality Inn by the airport, so if any Detroit-area reader wants to swing by and party until my flight in the morning, bring it on.

Here's the setlist via Wilcobase. Needless to say, this was probably the best show I've seen from Wilco since at least their show at Stubb's during ACL Fest in 2004. Maybe longer. Just a great, great show. Made me almost feel like 1997 all over again. "I Got You" made me absolutely giddy.

1. Someone Else's Song
2. Hell Is Chrome
3. Handshake Drugs
4. Muzzle Of Bees
5. Via Chicago
6. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
7. Hotel Arizona
8. A Shot In The Arm
9. Impossible Germany
10. It's Just That Simple
11. When You Wake Up Feeling Old
12. Too Far Apart
13. Hate It Here
14. Jesus, Etc. (w/ Andrew Bird)
15. Forget The Flowers (w/ Andrew Bird)
16. Dash 7 (w/ Andrew Bird)
17. Christ For President (w/ Andrew Bird)
18. Walken
19. I'm The Man Who Loves You

Encore 1:
20. The Late Greats
21. Heavy Metal Drummer
22. Red-Eyed And Blue
23. I Got You (At The End Of The Century)
24. A Magazine Called Sunset
25. Monday
26. Casino Queen
27. Kingpin
28. Passenger Side (w/ Andrew Bird)
29. Dreamer In My Dreams (w/ Andrew Bird)
30. The Lonely 1 (w/ Andrew Bird)

Encore 2:
31. ELT
32. Hoodoo Voodoo

SXSW Wristbands

Are on sale here.

Hurry. Seriously.

That said, if you want to guarantee access to shows, get yourself a badge. We got shut out of a few things last year with our wristbands and decided to fork over the extra cash this year for a badge.

(Thanks to Matt for the heads up!)

New Indiana Jones Trailer

Spielberg... I beg of you... please don't kill this with CGI. The first three movies were just fine without it. The brief scene of CGI bad-guys in this trailer kinda scares me. Everything else looks awesome, though.

A Bathtub Full of Sweat

Axl Rose... Hero?

New Mystery Jets, "Young Love"

Great news... After a couple years of relative silence (at least here in the US), the Mystery Jets have a new single called "Young Love" coming out on March 7th, and their sophomore album, entitled Twenty One, should be right behind it.

By the looks of the video for "Young Love", it looks like they've got a serious budget these days, so expect a lot of buzz when the new album finally comes out.



(Thanks to Brooklyn Vegan for the heads up!)

DC Show Update

Updated due to lots of new stuff - updates are in italics

I'm posting this week's DC Show Update a little early this week in light of the absolutely huge week of on-sales at the Black Cat. I figured some folks might want a heads up that they're gonna be spending quite a bit of money on shows this week (although I do need to remind myself that DC folks don't tend to buy tickets on the day they go on sale like in New York).

I'll be updating with 9:30 Club and Rock and Roll Hotel shows when they're announced, and anything else that gets announced in the next couple of days, including the rumored Radiohead show at Nissan Pavilion on Mother's Day (tipped via the 9:30 Club forum). [See below -- it's confirmed]

Nissan Pavilion
Sun., 5/11: Radiohead

Pre-sale for the Radiohead show starts on Thursday via W.A.S.T.E. (not sure about time), and the public onsale is Saturday at 10am via Ticketmaster.

9:30 Club
Fri., 3/14: Cowboy Mouth
Fri., 3/28: Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
Mon., 3/31: Groove Armada
Wed., 4/2: The BoDeans
Mon., 4/14: New Pornographers, Okkervil River
Tue., 4/15: New Pornographers, Okkervil River
Thu., 4/17: Kate Nash
Sat., 6/28: Ladytron

Both New Pornographers shows are on sale now. All other shows go on sale on Thursday 2/14 at 10am, except for Kate Nash, whose show goes on sale on Monday, 2/18 at 10am.

Black Cat
Mon., 3/10: The Fairlane Parkway, Sean Mcardle
Fri., 3/28: Si Se, The Pimps of Joytime
Mon., 3/31: The LK, Meredith Bragg
Thu., 4/3: Kimya Dawson, Angelo Spencer
Wed., 4/9: Murder by Death, O'Death, Kiss Kiss
Sat., 4/26: Jay Reatard, Cheap Time
Fri., 5/2: The Kills, Telepathe
Mon., 5/5: The Electric Prunes
Thu., 5/8: British Sea Power, The Rosebuds
Thu., 5/15: Cut Copy, Black Kids
Sun., 5/18: Bishop Allen, The Teeth
Fri., 5/23: Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memoria Orchestra & Tra-la-la Band, Vic Chesnutt
Wed., 5/28: Clinic

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

DC9
Tue., 3/18: Rademacher (really, really good)

Tickets for DC9 are sold at the door.

Iota
Mon., 3/3: These United States (CD Release party)
Fri., 4/11: Jason Collett

Iota tickets are sold at the door.

The Red and the Black
Fri., 2/29: Vandaveer, The Lisps, Audrey Ryan
Mon., 3/3: The Muggabears, Sisters

Red and the Black tickets are sold at the door.

Rock and Roll Hotel
Sat., 3/29: New Rock Church of Fire
Sat., 4/12: The Dance Party
Fri., 4/18: Imperial China, Double Dagger, Zulu Pearls, Black & White Jacksons
Fri., 4/25: Telograph, The Red Romance, Bellman Barker, The A-Sides
Thu., 5/8: The Cave Singers
Sat., 5/17: The Long Blondes

Rock and Roll Hotel tickets are sold via Ticket Alternative. All shows go on sale this Friday at 10am, except for the Cave Singers and Long Blondes shows, which go on sale on Friday 2/22 at 10am.

And now I'm off to do my civic duty of voting.

Gary Louris Touring (No DC)

Gary Louris of The Jayhawks is going out on tour next month in support of his first solo album, Vagabonds. The album comes out on Rykodisc next Tuesday, February 19th.

I've had a chance to listen to the album a bit over the last week or so and... well... it's OK. Most of it is a bit NPR-ish and boring to me, which is surprising given that I've been a huge fan of just about everything Gary has done over the past 20 years. That's not to say the album is without its moments - "She Only Calls Me On Sundays" is a lovely near-hymnal, and "We'll Get By" may be one of the best songs Gary has written this decade. And, honestly, nothing on the album is bad. I just never thought I'd hear a Louris album where I regularly skipped half of the songs.

If you want to hear the album for yourself in its entirety, go to Gary's MySpace page and use his LaLa widget.

As per the title of this post, Gary is headed out on tour in support of Vagabonds next month. No DC date right now, but hopefully we'll get one added in before too long.

Gary Louris Solo Tour
3/16: Seattle (Showbox)
3/17: Vancouver (Richard's on Richards)
3/18: Portland, OR (Wonder Ballroom)
3/20: San Francisco (Fillmore)
3/21: Los Angeles (El Rey)
3/23: Denver (Bluebird Cafe)
3/25: Minneapolis (State Theatre)
3/27: Madison, WI (Barrymore Theatre)
3/28: Chicago (The Vic)
3/29: Pittsburgh (Mr. Small's)
3/30: Toronto (Mod Theatre)
4/1: Boston (Somerville Theatre)
4/2: New York (Town Hall) [Live Nation presale starts Thurs. at 10am, PW = music]
4/4: Chapel Hill (Cat's Cradle)
4/5: Atlanta (Variety Playhouse)

TWO New Pornos/Okkervil Shows in DC

I'd normally just add this to today's DC Show Update, but this is significant enough to merit its own post.

The New Pornographers and Okkervil River are doing two shows at the 9:30 Club in April, and not just the previously announced single show. The shows are scheduled for Monday, April 14th and Tuesday, April 15th, and are on sale now.

I've got a ticket to the Monday show, but now wish I'd known about the Tuesday show earlier, especially given that Colin Meloy is that Sunday night. D'oh.

Some Early SXSW Planning

If you're headed to SXSW next month, you may want to think about checking out Free Yr Radio's great SXSW Planner. They're keeping a list of all of the official and un-official SXSW shows, and give you the ability to build and itinerary and even map out every show you want to go to. Pretty freakin' cool. (Thanks to Done Waiting for the heads up!)

Some of the more interesting shows that they have listed, which are all new to me (except REM, where the times are new to me), include:

Wed. 3/12
8pm @ Austin Music Hall: Rory Erickson, Okkervil River
8pm @ Friends Bar: Misra Records Showcase - Southeast Engine, Michael Bracy's New Romance, Centromatic, others
8pm @ Stubb's: REM Showcase - Summerbirds in the Cellar (8pm), Jonathan Rice (9pm), Papercranes (10pm), Dead Confederate (11pm), REM (midnight)

Thu. 3/13
12pm @ La Luz: O'Death, Port O'Brien, Two Gallants, Slowtrain, Langhorne Slim
12pm @ Red Eyed Fly: Little Radio/Noise Pop party - Raveonettes, Black Angels, A Place to Bury Strangers, Two Gallants, The Little Ones, and many others
12pm @ Scoot Inn: Musebox party - Mason Proper, Darker My Love
12pm @ Yard Dog Gallery: Schuba's party - Blitzen Trapper
12pm @ Emo's: A.V. Canvas Saddle Crafts Club party - Tapes n' Tapes, Shout Out Louds, Tokyo Police Club, The Stills, Georgie James, Constantines, Los Camesinos!, Neva Dinova, Ra Ra Riot, Son, Ambulance, Most Serene Republic, Ladyfinger
12pm @ Urban Outfitters: Lightspeed Champion (2pm), Evangelicals (5pm), others
8pm @ Mohawk: Secretly Canadian Dead Oceans Jagjaguwar Showcase - Black Mountain, Jens Lenkman, Bon Iver, Evangelicals, Bodies of Water, Phosphorescent, Parts and Labor, others
8pm @ Continental Club: Yep Roc Showcase - TBA
8pm @ Austin Music Hall: Yo La Tengo, My Morning Jacket, The Whigs

Fri. 3/14
12pm @ Club Deville: Hot Freaks party (Day 1) - British Sea Power, Cadence Weapon
12pm @ Headhunters: Suburban Home Vinyl Collective party - Two Cow Garage, others
12pm @ Urban Outfitters: Port O'Brien (12pm), Le Loup (1pm), Bodies of Water (2pm), Two Gallants (3pm), MGMT (4pm)
12pm @ Dirty Dog: Yep Roc day party - The Sadies, Legendary Shack Shakers, others
1pm @ Trophy's: Whoopsy Magazine and Lions party - Young Heart Attack (they're back together!?!?)
8pm @ Friends: Ernest Jennings showcase - Takka Takka (10pm), O'Death (12am), others
8pm @ The Parish: Merge Records showcase - Shout Out Louds, She and Him, Radar Bros., Wye Oak
8pm @ Bourbon Rocks: Sub Pop showcase - Blitzen Trapper, Handsome Furs, Helio Sequence, No Age, Kelley Stoltz, others

Sat. 3/15
11am @ 7th St. and Red River: Free Yr Radio party - Cloud Cult, Raveonettes, Tokyo Police Club, Blitzen Trapper, Lightspeed Champion
12pm @ Waterloo Park: Mess With Texas - The Breeders, Human Giant, The Walkmen, others

Sun. 3/16
12pm @ Brush Square Park: SXSW Aussie BBQ - YOU AM I, Hoodoo Gurus, Panda Band, others

WHY IS THE AUSSIE PARTY ON SUNDAY AFTER EVERYONE HAS LEFT?!?!!?!? You Am I had better be playing another show during SXSW. And the Hoodoos too, dammit.

News Roundup

Some odds and ends for a Tuesday afternoon.

- Hot on the heels of their excellent Left For Dead LP, Wussy will be releasing a brand new EP via Shake It Records sometime this Spring. In addition, they've also added a second New York-area show to their March tour, this one on Thursday, March 27th at Maxwell's in Hoboken. Man, why the hell did I leave New York?

- The Replacements' first three albums and an EP are finally being remastered and reissued by Rhino Records Rhino in April. I hate buying the same albums multiple times, but this is one band I'll do it for. (Thanks to Sal C for the original heads up!)

- After weeks of rumors, it has been confirmed that the legendary infamous better-than-Velvet Revolver Stone Temple Pilots will be reuniting for the killer rockin' shitty Rock on the Range Festival in May featuring a bunch of great good other acts likes Kid Rock, Disturbed, 3 Doors Down, Staind, Papa Roach, Seether, Flyeaf, Shinedown, Serj Tankian, a reunited Filter (just. go. away.), Killswitch Engage and Finger Eleven. I've already started making plans to be out of the country that weekend.

- Rolling Stone gives Vampire Weekend only 3.5 stars. Doesn't Rolling Stone realize they went to Columbia?

- And, finally, David Lee Roth must've done a lot of coke back in the day. (Thanks to DC Rock Club for the heads up!)

WOXY at SXSW!

This is just being announced on WOXY.com as I write this...

The kind folks at WOXY are returning to Ear Studios in Austin this year for another 5 days (!) of live broadcasting from Tuesday through Saturday of SXSW. The lineup isn't 100% done yet, but it will include:

The Answering Machine (Manchester, UK)
Dead Confederate (Athens, GA) (awesome)
Frightened Rabbit (Scotland)
The Helio Sequence (Portland, OR)
The Kills (London)
Lightspeed Champion (UK)
Love Like Fire (San Francisco)
A Place To Bury Strangers (NYC)
Project Jenny, Project Jan (NYC)
The Raveonettes (Denmark)
The Shout Out Louds (Sweden)
Sons and Daughters (Glasgow, Scotland)
These New Puritans (Southend, UK)
The Whip (Manchester, UK)
Working For A Nuclear Free City (Manchester, UK)
Wye Oak (Baltimore)

What an awesome, awesome lineup. Fantastic job, fellas.

And there's more...

WOXY is presenting the Domino Records showcase at Antone's on Wednesday night, including The Kills, Sons and Daughters, Lightspeed Champion, These New Puritans, White Williams and Simiam Mobile Disco (DJ set).

And there's apparently one more big announcement still coming...

Bishop Allen Returning to DC!

Awesome news... Bishop Allen is coming back to DC.

Their last show in town was their excellent gig at the Rock and Roll Hotel. This time around they're graduating to the Black Cat. Good for them.

I'm assuming this is part of a wider tour, though as of now they're only listing a handful of other shows on their MySpace page.

Bishop Allen tour dates
5/15: Cambridge, MA (Middle East Downstairs)
5/16: Brooklyn, NY (Music Hall of Williamsburg)
5/17: Bennington, VT (Bennington Sunfest)
5/18: Washington, DC (Black Cat)

Tickets for the DC show go on sale this Friday. The Cambridge show is already on sale. No word on the other two shows yet.

NYCTaper Catches The Antlers Live

Awesome... one of my favorite blogs meets one of my favorite bands. Head over to NYCTaper for a review of The Antlers' show last week at Pianos. If you want a lossless copy of the show, drop NYCTaper an email here. And if you like what you hear, be sure to both:

(1) Pick up The Antlers' In The Attic of the Universe; and
(2) Make a donation to NYCTaper on his site to keep the great recordings coming!

Spinner Roundup (Week of Feb. 10th)

Solid lineup over at Spinner this week:

British Sea Power, Do You Like Rock Music?
Widespread Panic, Free Somehow
The Raveonettes, Lust Lust Lust [excellent disc]
Chris Joss, Teraphonic Overdubs
The Heavy Circles, The Heavy Circles
The Mountain Goats, Heretic Pride [haven't heard this yet, but looking forward to it]

Squirrel Does Not Taste Like Chicken

Who knew?

REM Doesn't Suck Anymore?

If their new song, entitled "Supernatural Superserious" is any indication, the new R.E.M. album, Accelerate, is gonna be pretty damn good.

You can pre-order it now from Warner Bros., but they're charging $18.98 for the regular edition before shipping and handling ($20.98 for the "Deluxe Edition"). So, as the French say, fuck them.

Barack Obama Declares, "Bitch Set Me Up"

Yep, Marion Barry is endorsing Obama.

In other news, Mayor Barry still believes that all laws are racist -- including the law of gravity.

DC Show Update

9:30 Club
Sat., 3/22: Amp Fiddler & Tortured Soul
Mon., 3/24: Morcheeba
Sun., 4/13: Colin Meloy

Tickets for all 9:30 Club shows except Colin Meloy went on sale via Tickets.com this morning. Colin Meloy tickets show go on sale on Saturday at 10am (also via Tickets.com).

Black Cat
Mon., 3/10: The Fairline Parkway, Sean Mcardle
Sat., 4/5: Georgie James

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

Rock and Roll Hotel
Fri., 3/21: New Model Army, Echoes and Shadows, Supreme Commander
Fri., 4/11: VHS or Beta
Thu., 4/17: Disfear
Sun., 4/27: Meat Beat Manifesto

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

Arlington Cinema n' Draft House
Fri., 2/29: Todd Barry
Sat., 3/1: Todd Barry

Tickets for both Todd Barry shows are on sale now.

File Under: Yeah, Sure You Will

So I just made my quarterly trip over to The Wrens' website to see if there were any updates as to the band's second LP of the decade.

While there's nothing yet, their most recent post from the beginning of January promised that: "when we come back online a little later this month we’ll have some new muzak news for you."

Given that it's now February, this is already moot, but at least it suggests that maybe possible perchance we'll get some new music from the band before Chinese Democracy comes out.

Edited to add: So it looks like I was wrong. Chinese Democracy has been completed. Now it's just a matter of money. Or something.

First Official SXSW Lineup Released

Head over to Brooklyn Vegan to see the whole list.

The artists I'll be making an extra effort to see next month (assuming the timing works out):

Asobi Seksu
Bad Veins
Blue Mountain
Care Bears on Fire (cannot believe they made it)
Centro-matic
Darker My Love
Dead Confederate
Delorean
Drug Rug
Earlimart
Fastball (not a fave of mine, but my friends love 'em)
Future Clouds and Radar
Georgie James
The Heavenly States
Mark Kozelek
The Lemonheads
Lightspeed Champion
The Little Ones
Los Campesinos!
Lucero
Eugene Mirman
David Moore (I'm assuming this is the David Moore from Chamberlain)
Thurston Moore
My Morning Jacket
The 1900's
No Age
Okkervil River
Anders Parker
Parts & Labor
Pink Nasty
Portastatic
Ra Ra Riot
The Raveonettes
Jay Reatard
John Reis
R.E.M.
Rogue Wave
The Sadies
Shout Out Louds
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
Times New Viking
Timothy Bracy's Collection Agency
Two Gallants
Vampire Weekend
The Whigs
Wussy
Yeasayer
Zookeeper

Reminder: Whigs on WOXY Today!

Don't forget, The Whigs are playing a Lounge Act over at WOXY.com this afternoon at 4pm. Don't miss it!

Edited to add: Their Lounge Act set was excellent, natch. Check this out:

More Political Numbers

[We deviate from our normal indie rock and pop culture schedule for a little politics. And, yes, I'm currently skipping Vampire Weekend at the Rock and Roll Hotel. Just not in the mood.]

I just did this math for myself since none of the major news organizations seem interested in doing it. While they've totaled up the popular vote for Super Tuesday, they haven't added up the entire popular vote throughout the primary season to date.

Leaving out Iowa and Nevada, which were caucuses and don't report real numbers, the popular vote looks like this (according to CNN.com info):

Clinton: 7,601,350
Obama: 7,694,714

Note, though, that this doesn't include Michigan or Florida, whose delegates aren't as of now being seated by the DNC and where neither Clinton nor Obama really spent much time campaigning (though Clinton clearly made both states a higher priority than Obama, for various reasons). Indeed, Obama wasn't even on the ballot in Michigan. If you do take those two states into account, the numbers look like this:

Clinton: 8,786,709
Obama: 8,263,755

What does any of this mean? No idea. I'll leave analysis to the real analysts. I've just been obsessed with the numbers lately, and this was one that I just couldn't find anywhere else.

And, yes, I'm supporting Obama, if my earlier posts haven't made that clear already.

No Surprise -- Emo Endorses Obama

First alt-country, then jam bands, now emo...

According to Kingblind, Conor Oberst and his Saddle Creek Records-owned Slowdown club have thrown their lot in with Barack Obama, and will be holding a benefit concert in Omaha on February 7th (i.e., tomorrow).

Set to perform are Bright Eyes, M. Ward, Jim Ward (Sparta, At The Drive-In) and Secret Life of Sparrows. If you don't have tickets already, you're probably out of luck.

Nebraska's Democratic Party holds its presidential caucus this Saturday, February 9th.

2008 Bonnaroo Festival Lineup Announced

Go to Rolling Stone's Rock Daily blog for the whole list.

Here are the artists seem interesting to me. Good, not great.

Pearl Jam
Metallica
Kanye West
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Phil Lesh & Friends
My Morning Jacket
The Allman Brothers Band
The Raconteurs
Willie Nelson
Death Cab for Cutie
Sigur Ros
Levon Helm and the Ramble on the Road
Iron & Wine
The Swell Season
Broken Social Scene
Rilo Kiley
Mastodon
Solomon Burke
Drive-By Truckers
Aimee Mann
Jose Gonzalez
Two Gallants
Vampire Weekend
Black Kids

Comedians:
David Cross
Janeane Garofalo
Zach Galifianakis
Jim Norton
Brian Posehn
Mike Birbiglia
John Mulaney
Michelle Buteau

Why Does Wolf Blitzer Keep Saying "Preject"?

Am I the only one who's bother by the fact that Wolf Blitzer keeps saying "preject" instead of "project"? He just "prejected" that McCain would win Arizona.

New Jet Age Album Out Today!

One of the best bands I've had the pleasure of discovering since moving to D.C. last fall is Silver Spring's The Jet Age. I've managed to catch the band live a few times and I've never once been disappointed.

The band is releasing its excellent second LP, entitled What Did You Do During the War, Daddy?, today via Sonic Boomerang Records. I managed to get an advance copy of the disc a few weeks back, and I gotta say -- it kicks ass. I can't recommend it highly enough.

If you want to hear the album for yourself, check out the band's eCard for the album, where you can listen to a stream of the whole album. I seriously can't pick a favorite song on the disc, but if you only have a couple of minutes, check out the opener "Ladies, Don't Cry Tonight", "O' Calendar" and "Maybe Love's a Transmission". Even better, just set aside some time and listen to the whole damn thing.

If you want to buy the album, and you should, you can buy it here. It should be up on eMusic and iTunes today too.

Oh, and if you're in the DC area, be sure to catch the band's CD Release show at DC9 on February 24th!

De Novo Dahl Hitting Velvet Lounge on 2/17

Dammit... I just saw over at the 9:30 Club message board that De Novo Dahl is playing the Velvet Lounge on Sunday, February 17th.

That's the night I fly back from seeing Wilco in Chicago. Crap. The one time I saw these guys (CMJ Festival in 2006) I really, really enjoyed them, and I'm looking forward to hearing music from their new album, Move Every Muscle, Make Every Sound (due out on 2/26 via Roadrunner).

And I was seriously looking forward to seeing her again too. I know she's married to the main dude in the band, but still... so pretty.

I think they're gonna be at SXSW, so that's good. They also have a few other dates scheduled:

2/8: Bowling Green, KY (Bread & Bagel)
2/9: St. Louis, MO (The Billiken Club)
2/15: Knoxville, TN (The Pilot Light)
2/16: Richmond, VA (Plan 9 Music - Free Instore)
2/17: Washington, DC (Velvet Lounge)
2/18: New York, NY (Pianos)
2/19: New York, NY (Pianos)
2/20: New York, NY (Pianos)
2/27: Lexington, KY (The Dame)
2/28: Chattanooga, TN (JJ's Bohemia)
2/29: Atlanta, GA (Drunken Unicorn)
3/1: Athens, GA (Tasty World)

Oh, and be sure to check out their recent WOXY Lounge Act. Good stuff.

Friends Don't Let Friends Plead Guilty!

Just saw this ad over on the L.A. Times website. Love it.

There's nothing quite as high class as an attorney who stakes his/her practice on convincing people it's somehow OK to drive drunk.

This isn't quite as good as the ad I saw in a bar bathroom in Austin during SXSW last year which essentially encouraged people to drive drunk (I'll try to take a picture during SXSW this year), but it's still pretty good,.

Human Giant Tour Dates Announced

Although we've known that Human Giant is going on tour for a while now, and that they'll be hitting D.C. on March 5th, most of the other dates have been a mystery... until now.

This morning the group officially announced the dates for its tour, beginning in just two weeks. It all leads up to the premiere of Season 2 on MTV on March 11th (several skits from which the group will be screening at the shows).

Human Giant Tour Dates
Feb 18 - Telluride Comedy Festival
Feb 22 - Los Angeles - UCB-LA
Feb 23 - Los Angeles - UCB-LA
Feb 28 - San Francisco - NoisePop Festival @ Mezzanine
Mar 1 - Seattle - The Triple Door
Mar 2 - Portland - Aladdin Theatre
Mar 5 - DC - The Black Cat
Mar 6 - Philadelphia - North Star
Mar 12 - Cambridge, MA - The Middle East
Mar 13 - Brooklyn - Music Hall of Williamsburg
Mar 14 - SXSW Comedy Showcase
Mar 15 - Mess with Texas 2

Whigs to Tour With Drive-By Truckers

As if they haven't been touring enough (they've been touring almost non-stop since October), The Whigs have announced that once their current tour ends at South By Southwest, they'll be joining up with the Drive-By Truckers for two weeks of shows.

Sadly, from my point of view, there's nothing in DC, but I'm actually supposed to be back in New York around that time (looking at apartments? perhaps). So maybe I'll make my inaugural visit to the universally-panned Terminal 5.

Whigs/Drive-By Truckers Tour
03-16-08: Newport, KY. - Southgate House
03-18-08: Millvale, PA. - Mr. Small's Theatre
03-19-08: Toronto, ON. - Opera House Concert Venue
03-20-08: Montreal, QC. - Cabaret Music Hall
03-21-08: Northampton, MA. - Pearl Street
03-22-08: Boston, MA. - Paradise Rock Club
03-25-08: New Haven, CT. - Toad's Place
03-26-08: New York, NY. - Terminal 5
03-27-08: Philadelphia, PA. - The Fillmore @ the TLA
03-28-08: Richmond, VA. - The National
03-29-08: Asheville, NC. - The Orange Peel

And You Thought I Was Kidding

While it's not exactly freak-folk, it's pretty damn close. In addition to yesterday's all-important alt-country endorsement, Barack Obama has now earned the humongous jam-band endorsement. According the Reuters Life! (their exclamation point, not mine):

The Grateful Dead, the San Francisco cult rock band that has played at political events since the 1960s, will reunite on Monday for the first time in four years to rally support for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, a spokesman said on Friday.

***

"They have agreed to reunite for this one-time-only event in order to lend support to Senator Obama leading into the crucial 'Super-Tuesday' series of primaries held on Tuesday, February 5th," the band said in a statement.

And STILL no word from Devendra Banhart or Joanna Newsom.

Golden Smog @ Target Center, Minneapolis [2/2/08]

While the mainstream media seem to have missed it, presidential candidate Barack Obama received the all-important alt-country endorsement today at a ceremony in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Alt-country legends Golden Smog made the endorsement official with a performance at an Obama rally at the Target Center. Sometime-member Jeff Tweedy was even in attendance, which should be no surprise given that his other band, Wilco, have already played at least one Obama event in the Chicago area.

Stew correspondent Joel Bergstrom was on hand for the event and even managed to take some slightly over-exposed snapshots of the big event. Our thanks to Joel for letting us post a few pics here. If you're in the Mpls area, please return the favor and vote for Joel the next chance you get.

On a related topic, rumors of an impending freak-folk endorsement of Obama are still unconfirmed.



By the way, that's Gary Louris of the Jayhawks, who has a new solo album coming out on February 19th via Rykodisc. Go listen to 2 tracks from the album at Gary's MySpace page.

New Pornographers, Okkervil River Touring in April

So the show that I didn't want to mention in my DC Show Update the other day is the April 14th New Pornographers and Okkervil River show at the 9:30 Club. Sorry for not being more forthcoming the other day, but I figured the information would be elsewhere around the web (and it was).

Anyway, if you want to go, head over to Ducat King to try to get in on the pre-sale action. No word as to public on-sale yet, but I'll let you know when I know something.

New Pornographers/Okkervil River Tour Dates

4/9 Toronto, Ontario - Phoenix Concert Theatre
4/10 Pontiac, MI - The Crofoot Ballroom
4/11 Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
4/12 Munhall, PA - Carnegie Music Hall in Homestead
4/13 Ithaca, NY - The State Theater of Ithaca
4/14 Washington, DC - 930 Club
4/16 Richmond, VA - Toad's Place
4/17 Athens, GA - Georgia Theatre
4/18 Nashville, TN - The Cannery
4/19 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
4/20 Chicago, IL - Riviera
04-21 Madison, WI - Orpheum
04-22 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom

Worst Songs Ever

So the fellas over at DC Rock Club are trying to put together a list of the worst songs of all time (by decade). They're currently on the 60's.

I can't say that anything from the 60's jumps out at me right away, though I can certainly come up with plenty of songs over the last 25 years or so. And while I doubt that this would be my absolute worst song on the 90's, it's gotta be close:



Go ninja go ninja go!