Hello Miss Lady!

Completely NSFW (language).

Paul Weller Hitting 9:30 Club

Just saw this over at Brooklyn Vegan:

Paul Weller is playing the 9:30 Club here in DC on Saturday, September 13th.

There's no indication on Tickets.com yet as to when tickets go on sale. I'm definitely not missing this one after giving away a ticket to the first night of last year's Irving Plaza shows.

For a full listing of Paul's shows (including 2 NYC shows at Nokia and Highline), head to BV.

Tonight

Another reminder about tonight's Frightened Rabbit, Takka Takka and Oxford Collapse show at the Black Cat.

Frightened Rabbit, "Head Rolls Off"


Oxford Collapse, "Please Visit Your National Parks"


Takka Takka, "We Feel Safer At Night" (live)

First Half Albums

Since we're coming up on the halfway point of 2008, I thought it might be interesting to take stock of the music I've been listening to so far this year. This isn't an official "Best Of" list, but more of an informal listing of my favorite music so far.

*Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago
Chris Mills, Living in the Aftermath
Dead Confederate, Dead Confederate EP
#Earlimart, Hymn and Her
Frightened Rabbit, The Midnight Organ Fight
Grand Archives, The Grand Archives
#The Hold Steady, Stay Positive
The Jet Age, What Did You Do During the War, Daddy?
Julie Ocean, Long Gone and Nearly There
*Lightspeed Champion, Falling Off the Lavender Bridge
+Mystery Jets, Twenty One
Shearwater, Rook
The Whigs, Mission Control

* = originally released in 2007, released widely 2008
+ = U.K. release only (so far)
# = not officially released yet

Oh, and here are a few of the albums coming out later this year that I'm looking forward to most:

Birdmonster, From the Mountain to the Sea (8/5)
The Broken West, Now or Heaven (9/9)
Matthew Sweet, Sunshine Lies (8/26)
Okkervil River, The Stand Ins (9/9)
Robert Pollard's Boston Spaceships, Brown Submarine (9/9)
Shannon Mcardle (of The Mendoza Line), Summer of the Whore (8/5)
Takka Takka, Migration (7/29)
Wheat, Untitled LP #5 (tba)

Edited to add: OK, so I finally got the No Age album (Nouns) last night, and I may have to seriously think about adding it to this list. It kicks all kinds of ass.

New Matthew Sweet!

Matthew Sweet is set to release his first album in four years without Susanna Hoffs, Pete Droge or Shawn Mullins, and the world is a much better place for it.

Sunshine Lies comes out on August 26th via the increasingly-relevant Shout! Factory record label. You can hear three songs from the album at Matthew's MySpace page.

On first listen, my favorite of the three songs is easily "Byrdgirl", which may be one of the best things he's written in the last decade. The other two songs, "Flying" and "Room to Rock", aren't great, but are interesting to the extent that they emphasize a louder, more punk-oriented side than I'm used to hearing from Sweet.

The Thermals Take-Away Show

I just discovered Blogotheque and their fantastic Take-Away Show series. Not sure how I hadn't heard about this before.

Stereogum posted Blogotheque's excellent Bon Iver performance the other day.

And then I noticed today that they had a couple acoustic performances by The Thermals' Hutch and Kathy. Good stuff. Check out the videos below, and read about the session here.

"That's Inertia"

Hutch And Kathy (from The Thermals) - That's Inertia
by lablogotheque

"I Know It's Too Late"

Hutch And Kathy (from The Thermals) - I Know It’s Too Late
by lablogotheque

Two Reminders for Monday

In case I forget to mention them over the weekend, I wanted to remind everyone about two big DC-related music events on Monday.

First up is The Jet Age's live in-studio performance on KEXP. They're scheduled for 3pm EDT, and you can stream the performance here. If you haven't seen the band perform live before - or even if you have - you won't want to miss this.

(Note: KEXP is also streaming performances by Shallow and Love Battery (!!) from the Sub Pop Anniversary Show this weekend. More info here.

Second is the big Oxford Collapse / Frightened Rabbit / Takka Takka show at the Black Cat on Monday night. Despite the fact that there are about 300 bands with the word "Rabbit" in their name these days, I've pretty much fallen in love with Frightened Rabbit over the last couple of months. Same with Takka Takka's new album, Migration. I'm still getting introduced to Oxford Collapse, but I like what I've heard. Tickets are only $10 and are available here.

Some Live Wussy

If you weren't able to catch Wussy when they toured the East Coast earlier this year, do yourself a favor and check out these videos from their show at the Mad Hatter in Covington, KY the other day.

I'm actually kinda pissed at myself. I was hoping to time my annual Summer visit to see family in Ohio with this show, but completely forgot about it. Instead I'm going in two weeks. Oh well. I may be able to catch The Bloodsugars at The Comet, though, which would be cool.

"Death By Misadventure"


"Soak It Up"

Times New Viking, Titus Andronicus @ Rock and Roll Hotel, DC [6/25/08]

So, um, yeah.

I'm even more at a loss for words than usual when it comes trying to discuss last night's Times New Viking show.

I'll probably take some heat from this from various people, but I gotta be honest. I hated Times New Viking.

It's not a huge surprise, I guess. I like a few TNV songs, but not many, and have rarely gone back to listen to their albums after I first got them. But I'd heard good things about their live show, and I was hopeful that seeing them live would change my view of them, as it has with countless bands in the past.

It didn't. To be fair, other people I talked to at the show seemed to like it a lot. Guess TNV just isn't my thing.

And, as for Titus Andronicus, who opened the show along with True Womanhood, I really want to see them in about 12-18 months. I think they've got a ton of talent, and a lot of energy on stage, but as of now they're more potential than anything. Too many of their songs aren't that interesting, and they tend to wear their influences on their sleeves a bit too much. But they definitely have their moments, and hopefully those moments will get longer and longer as time goes on.

Some pics...

Times New Viking


Titus Andronicus

DC Show Update

Starting early because of a huge list of new Black Cat dates that came out today. (Thanks to David for the heads up!)

Updates throughout the week will be in italics, and my picks are in bold.

9:30 Club
Tue., 8/5: Gnarls Barkley
Wed., 8/13: Margot and the Nuclear So & So's
Sun., 8/17: Rehab
Tue., 8/19: Good Charlotte
Wed., 8/20: Aesop Rock
Mon., 9/8: The Kooks
Sat., 10/1: Cold War Kids

9:30 Club shows go on sale via Tickets.com on Thursday (6/26) at 10am Eastern, except for the Kooks show, which goes on sale on Saturday (6/28) at 10am Eastern. (Although there seems to be some confusion as to whether Cold War Kids goes on sale on Thursday or Friday.)

Black Cat
Sat., 7/5: Metropolitan, Wye Oak, Bellflur, Face Accidents
Wed., 7/9: Alona, Girl Loves Distortion (backstage)
Thu., 7/10: Bottle Up & Go, The Shackletons (backstage)
Fri., 7/11: Platinum Pied Pipers, W. Ellington Felton, Blu $
Thu., 7/17: Love as Laughter
Fri., 8/8: DC Comedy Fest - Super Alt ft. TJ Miller
Sat., 8/9: DC Comedy Fest - The Weird Show ft. Reggie Watts
Wed., 8/27: Imperial Chiuna, Caverns, True Womanhood (backstage)
Wed., 9/10: Silver Jews
Wed., 9/17: Balkan Beatbox
Wed., 9/17: Death Vessel, Micah Blue Smaldone (backstage)
Tue., 9/30: Dressy Bessy
Wed., 10/1: Pinback (no on sale date yet)
Sat., 10/11: The Wedding Present
Sun., 10/19: Lykke Li
Wed., 10/22: Octopus Project, Jeans Team
Fri., 10/31: DJ Rekha (Basement Bhangra NYC)

Black Cat shows go on sale via Ticketmaster on Friday (6/27) at 5pm Eastern.

Iota
Fri., 8/8: The Apparitions, These United States, The Cotton Jones Basket Ride
Sat., 8/9: The Apparitions, These United States, Bellman Barker

Tickets for Iota are typically sold at the door only.

The two Apparitions shows are Second Anniversary shows for the excellent Instrumental Analyis blog. If you don't know them, the Apparitions are Mark Charles Heidinger's (Vandaveer) other band, based out of Louisville.

Another Phish Reunion Rumor

Billboard is reporting that Phish may be on the verge of reuniting to record an album with Steve Lillywhite (who is currently in Dublin recording with U2).

I honestly don't know if I care about this or not. From 1992 to 1998-ish, I saw Phish somewhere in the region of 40 times. However, the last time I saw them - at Keyspan Park in Coney Island - they were flat-out terrible. And at this point, I can't even remember the last time I listened to a song of theirs. It's probably been at least 2 years.

So would I go to a Phish show? Maybe. But at 32 years of age, patchouli has really come to scare me. And there's not a chance in hell that I could ever hippy-dance again.

Trail of Dead Seek to Get "More Anthemic"

According to Billboard, ...And You Will Know Us by The Trail Of Dead is launching its own label, Richter Scale Records, and will be releasing a new album in January 2009.

And the album will be... wait for it... "more anthemic."

Is that even possible? Hasn't that been the problem with the last few TOD albums - all anthem and little substance? What happened to the texture and noisescapes of Source Tags & Codes? Or the rawness of Madonna?

Guess we'll just have to wait and see exactly what "more anthemic" means, but I'm just a tad skeptical.

Afternoon Listening

If you're looking for something to listen to this afternoon, let me suggest that you head over to one of my favorite blogs - Bradley's Almanac - and listen to two recent live shows from REM and Grand Archives.

The REM show is here.
The Grand Archives show is here.

Enjoy...

Two New WOXY Discoveries

If you're not listening to WOXY.com, you're missing out on a ton of great new music.

In just the last 30 minutes, I've discovered a couple of really interesting new bands - The Bloodsugars (who I've heard of before, but never heard) and Seabird, who just finished a great Lounge Act (which I'll link to when it's posted).

Check 'em out below. I'll be adding more info about each band as I find it.

The Bloodsugars, "Cinderella" (from BQEP)
Seabird, "Let Me Go On" (Remix) (from the Let Me Go On EP)

You can stream the Bloodsugars song here, but for the Seabird song please be sure to click through the song title instead of trying the "play" button, since the song is being hosted over at Each Note Secure.

The Bloodsugars on MySpace
Seabird on MySpace

A Pearl Jam Picture

So only one of the half-dozen or so pictures that I took with my phone at Sunday's Pearl Jam show was even halfway decent. And by halfway, I mean not at all. But here it is anyway.

And, yes, I was sitting behind the stage. I kinda forgot that tickets were going on sale, and by the time we managed to log in, that's all that was left. It was surprisingly OK.

(I'm) Stranded

I've listened to this song about 20 times since seeing Ted Leo play it last night. I'm amazed it didn't get me a speeding ticket today.

New Earlimart, "Song For"

As you may or may not recall, Earlimart's excellent Mentor Tormentor was my 4th favorite album of 2007.

Amazingly, in an extremely fast turnaround (for them, at least), the band is back with a new album called Hymn and Her. The album comes out next Tuesday, July 1st, and you can pre-order it here for $11.98.

I just got a copy today, and it's fantastic. It'll take some time for me to decide whether it lives up to (or exceeds) Mentor Tormentor, but that's time I'm more than happy to spend.

Here's the lead track from the album:

Earlimart, "Song For"

The band heads out on a month-long tour in a few weeks. No DC date, unfortunately, but I may actually drive up to Baltimore for this one. I posted the dates a couple of weeks back, but I'll list them again.

Earlimart Tour Dates
Thu., 7/17: San Diego, CA Casbah
Fri., 7/18: Los Angeles, CA Spaceland
Sat., 7/19: San Francisco, CA Cafe Du Nord
Sun., 7/20: Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge
Tue., 7/22: Seattle, WA Chop Suey
Fri., 7/25: Minneapolis, MN Triple Rock Social Club
Sat., 7/26: Chicago, IL The Hideout
Wed., 7/30: Cambridge, MA Middle East
Thu., 7/31: Brooklyn, NY Masonic Temple
Fri., 8/1: Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda's
Sat., 8/2: Baltimore, MD Ottobar
Tue., 8/5: Austin, TX The Mohawk
Sat., 8/9: Costa Mesa, CA Detroit Bar

New Two Cow Garage

Excellent news - Ohio's criminally-underlooked Two Cow Garage is releasing its fourth album, Speaking in Cursive, on September 30th.

You can hear three songs from the album - "Swingset Assassin", "Funeral Drag" and "The Heart and The Crown" - at the band's MySpace page.

The songs are excellent. Here's hoping the album helps get them some of the attention they deserve.

New Mason Proper

Michiganders Mason Proper are set to release their second album, Olly Oxen Free, on Dovecote Records on September 23rd.

But you can start listening to the album right now. The band has posted two songs from the album on their iLike page, and will be posting two more new songs every two weeks.

The first songs are called "Safe for the Time Being" and "Lock and Key", and they're pretty solid. Check 'em out.

Live Portastatic!

This is from the band's set at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens in Durham, NC last night (6/22/08).

"Sour Shores"


"Drill Me"

New Dirty Pretty Things, "Tired of England"

I'm a few weeks late on this, but Dirty Pretty Things have a video for "Tired of England", the lead single from their forthcoming second album, Romance at Short Notice (out in the US as an import on 6/31).

It's not as raucous as the songs from the first album, but it's got a lot more going on, and actually sounds - to me, at least - quantifiably different than anything that The Libertines would have written. That's a good thing. While I loved the Libertines, it's good to see Carl stretching his wings a bit and expanding his songwriting.



BTW, I'm downloading the new album as I write this, so expect some additional thoughts before too long.

New Broken West, "Perfect Games"!!!

Head over to The Broken West's MySpace page to hear a brand new track from the band called "Perfect Games".

The song comes from the band's forthcoming album, Now or Heaven, which comes out on Merge Records on September 9th.

It's pretty different than anything on the first album (in fact, I can't even tell if that's Ross singing), but it's still a damn catchy, fun song, and shows a good deal of maturity over the last year or so. Highly recommended.

Edited to add: I actually found an MP3 floating around the web. Check it out:

The Broken West, "Perfect Games".

Pearl Jam @ Verizon Center, DC [6/21/08]

Believe it or not, but I'd never seen Pearl Jam live before tonight.

I had a ticket to see them opening for Red Hot Chili Peppers and Smashing Pumpkins in Cincinnati in 1992 but had to skip it because of a family commitment. Then I had a spot in the front of the line to buy tickets to see them in Ann Arbor in 1994, but had to bail out on the line with less than 30 minutes to go because I needed to catch a ride out of town. Then, for some reason I can't recall, I turned down a chance to see them on Randall's Island in NYC in 1996. And that's about when I just gave up on the idea of ever seeing them.

So, what did I think after waiting 17 years?

They were good. Not great, but good.

The show had its moments ("Given to Fly", "Last Kiss", "Corduroy"), but overall there just wasn't a whole lot that was particularly compelling to me. Maybe it just comes down to the fact that, to my ears at least, aside from a handful of excellent songs, the majority of the songs the band has written throughout its career just aren't anything special. They're not bad, by any means, but I don't think there's ever once been a time that I've thought to myself, "You know, I'm really in the mood to hear Binaural." Or Riot Act. Or even Vs., which has always been my least favorite PJ album.

All that said, if I have a chance to see them again - without paying $80 - I'd definitely take it. They bring a ton of energy to their show and, after nearly 20 years together, look like they still love what they're doing. And it's pretty cool to see Mike McCready, at 42 years of age, doing big scissor kicks while playing guitar.

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists played a solid opening set, including 5 (or 6?) new songs, and a killer cover of The Saints' "(I'm) Stranded." Can't say they're really suited to an arena, but I'll take whatever Ted I can get.

Oh, and no pics from the show (other than a couple crappy phone camera pictures) because I took the "no cameras" on the ticket literally. However, it apparently only meant "no professional camera equipment." Now I know.

Yankee Stadium (Old and New)

Unless I move back in September, this was probably my last ever trip to the current Yankee Stadium. Glad the timing worked out that I could see my Cincinnati Reds on their first trip to the Bronx since 1976.

BTW, the new stadium looks awesome.

REM @ MSG, NYC [6/19/08]

Once again, Bob, lots of "oldies", and a fantastic show.

Setlist (Via)
Living Well Is The Best Revenge / These Days / What's The Frequency, Kenneth? / Bad Day / Drive / Hollow Man / Ignoreland / Man-Sized Wreath / Leaving New York / Disturbance At The Heron House / Houston / Electrolite / (Don't Go Back To) Rockville / Driver 8 / Harborcoat / The One I Love / Until The Day Is Done / Let Me In / Horse To Water / Pretty Persuasion / Orange Crush / I'm Gonna DJ // encore: Supernatural Superserious / Losing My Religion / Begin The Begin / Fall On Me / Man On The Moon

The National @ Madison Square Garden, NYC [6/19/08]

I've said it many times before, and I'll say it again... The National are one of the best rock bands on Earth right now.

Hell, I'm even considering skipping seeing Pearl Jam and Ted Leo in DC tomorrow night to drive down and try to catch the The National in Richmond, VA. Probably won't happen, but I sure am tempted. That's how good they are.





BTW, the blonde in the last photo is Matt Berninger's mom. I saw her at the band's show in Cincinnati last summer, and she was, once again, let's call it "enthusiastic" about the band's set. Can't blame her.

Margot and the Nuclear So & Sos Hitting DC

I'm still in New York and am borrowing a friend's computer, so I haven't had a chance to upload my pictures from last night's REM and National show (I sat near the bar for the entirety of Modest Mouse's set, and it's the best thing I've done in years). Fantastic sets by both bands.

But I just noticed some interesting news about Margot and the Nuclear So & Sos over on the Paste website.

First, as the title of this post suggests, the band is playing the 9:30 Club (seriously?) on August 13th. They also have a bunch of other dates throughout August, which are listed below.

Second, and even better, is news that the band is releasing two albums on October 7th. As I've mentioned before, the band worked on songs for the new album, Animal!, over the course of more than a year. Then, when they finally finished the album, their new label, Epic, wasn't particularly happy with the tracklist the band had chosen.

Rather than fight it out, the band and Epic came to a compromise - they're releasing two albums, one called Animal! and one called Not Animal. Both albums will feature 12 songs, but only 5 songs will be found on both albums (meaning, of course, there are a total of 17 songs). Animal!, which I'm guessing is the band's preferred version of the album, will be a vinyl-only release. Not Animal, which I'm guessing is the label's preferred version, will be available in digital format and on CD. Both albums come out on 10/7.

Oh, and the band also has a Daytrotter session coming out on July 29th. Awesome.

MATNS&S August Tour Dates
2 - Chicago, Ill. @ Lollapalooza
6 - Toronto, Ontario, Can. @ Horseshoe Tavern
7 - Montreal, Quebec, Can. @ La Sala Rosa
9 - Boston, Mass. @ Middle East Downstairs
10 - Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
12 - Philadelphia, Pa. @ First Unitarian Church
13 - Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 club
15 - Chapel Hill, N.C. @ Local 506
16 - Gainesville, Fla. @ Common Grounds
17 - Tampa, Fla. @ Crobar
18 - Orlando, Fla. @ The Social
19 - Atlanta, Ga. @ Drunken Unicorn
20 - Birmingham, Ala. @ BottleTree
21 - Nashville, Tenn. @ The Exit/Inn
22 - Cincinnati, Ohio @ Southgate House

Why I Can't Take Lefsetz Seriously

I only tend to read Bob Lefsetz's blog once or twice a month these days. I used to get a kick out of him, but somewhere along the way I just got tired of his schtick; tired of his endless tirades; tired of his posts which were 50% or more IN CAPS SO YOU COULD TELL HE WAS REALLY, REALLY SERIOUS AND ANGRY; tired of him endlessly bitching about how there's no good new music, and that the only good music was apparently made in the 60's.

Anyway, I scrolled through my RSS reader today and noticed he had a post about R.E.M., who I'm seeing tomorrow night at the Garden in New York. So I checked it out. And, sadly, he convinced me all over again to stop reading his blog. Bob's got his facts completely wrong, yet still talks like he knows everything about everything.

Here's a few nuggets of Bob's wisdom:

Now a bunch of the band’s fans are bitching that R.E.M. isn’t playing enough oldies on this tour. I’m with them.

Umm, Bob, who exactly are these "fans" you've been talking to?

If you were to do a quick Google search, you'd find this site listing all of R.E.M.'s setlists over the years, including this year's shows. Taking a look at the band's show in your neck of the woods (Hollywood Bowl), the band played the followings songs, among others:

"Circus Envy" (from 1994's Monster)
"Drive" (from 1992's Automatic for the People)
"Electrolite" (from 1996's New Adventures in Hi-Fi)
"Fall on Me" (from 1986's Life's Rich Pageant)
"Ignoreland" (from Automatic)
"Let Me In" (from Monster)
"Losing My Religion" (from 1991's Out of Time)
"Man on the Moon" (from Automatic)
"Pretty Persuasion" (from 1984's Reckoning)
"Sitting Still" (from 1983's Murmur)
"The One I Love" (from 1987's Document)
"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" (from Monster)

That's nearly half of the show from 1996 or earlier (12 of 25 songs; I'm not counting "Happy Birthday"), with the majority of the rest being from Accelerate, which they are, after all, touring to support.

Then, if you look at the the band's other shows on this tour, it becomes even clearer that you don't have a clue what you're talking about. Other shows have included:

"7 Chinese Bros." (from Reckoning)
"Auctioneer (Another Engine)" (from 1985's Fables of the Reconstruction)
"Begin the Begin" (from Life's Rich Pageant)
"Cuyahoga" (from Life's Rich Pageant)
"Disturbance At The Heron House" (from Document)
"(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" (from Reckoning)
"Driver 8" (from Fables)
"Finest Worksong" (from Document)
"Harborcoat" (from Reckoning)
"Little America" (from Reckoning)
"Maps And Legends" (from Fables)
"Orange Crush" (from 1988's Green)
"Second Guessing" (from Reckoning)
"Shaking Through" (from Murmur)
"So. Central Rain" (from Reckoning)
"These Days" (from Life's Rich Pageant)
"Welcome To The Occupation" (from Document)
"West of the Fields" (from Murmur)
"Wolves, Lower" (from 1982's Chronic Town EP)

Now I'm no R.E.M. expert - I had to look just about all of these up on Wikipedia to double-check the albums - but I'm fairly confident saying that that's a shit-load of "oldies", Bob.

Here's another Bob quote:

Play all of "Out Of Time" or "Automatic For The People" and I’m there (I know, you want to hear "Document", but this isn’t a test of my hipness…) But I don’t want to pay an exorbitant price to sit through your new album so you can try to convince me you’re not a has-been, that you still matter. I’LL make that decision…

Well, Bob, you just contradicted yourself. First you condemned the band because they were angering certain unnamed, likely non-existent "fans" because they're not playing enough "oldies". Then you turn around and say that you don't care about the "oldies", but only want to hear songs from the band's two best-selling albums. Which one is it?

Also, I hate to break it to you, but the band released a greatest hits album in 2003, and their tour in support of that release featured a ton of songs throughout the band's career, including Automatic. (Admittedly, the band didn't play much off of Out of Time.)

And one more:

I really don’t get it, why these bands are still living in the nineties. They’re like bookstore owners, convinced electronic readers will never conquer print. Acts hole themselves up in studios for six months or a year, polish these turds, and think we want complete albums. WE DON’T! Certainly not R.E.M.’s overhyped new collection. They appeared everywhere, even SXSW, and they’ve only sold 275,000 copies… That’s piss poor. I think they were swinging for the fences so Warner Brothers would write them another big check, but that was a fallacious concept. Don’t they realize, money is now made on the ROAD?

Yes, Bob, you're right - 275,000 copies is nowhere near what R.E.M. sold in their peak years. But as you yourself constantly point out, almost no one is selling a big number of records these days.

And what exactly is your point, anyway? The band made an album that has garnered almost universal good reviews. Plus, as you've said, they've been tireless in support of the album. So why exactly is it R.E.M.'s fault if they have a good album which they work their asses off to support, but only sell 275,000 albums? What would you prefer them to have done? Continue releasing uninspired albums that even 2/3 of the band admit to not liking? Simply walk away?

I just don't see what your point is here, Bob. In fact, it seems pretty clear that all you care about is bitching, moaning and putting down artists solely for the purpose of making yourself feel important. You've done it before (see the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah situation from a couple years back), and I'm sure you'll keep on doing it.

Thankfully, though, I'm done reading it.

Effective New McCain Ads

DC Show Update

Starting early this week because the 9:30 Club email seems to have gone out a day earlier than usual. Plus I won't be around on Thursday or Friday, as I'm headed up to NYC to see REM and The National.

9:30 Club
Thu., 7/31: Southern Culture on the Skids
Sat., 8/2: Aimee Mann
Mon., 9/22: Dandy Warhols

I'm assuming the SCOTS and Aimee Mann shows go on sale on Thursday. The Dandy Warhols show goes on sale on Saturday (6/21) at 10am via Tickets.com.

Black Cat
Thu., 7/24: The Effigies, Band of Holy Joy (backstage)
Tue., 7/29: Bottles/Cans, Hello Society, The Ivorys (backstage)
Wed., 8/13: The Ex, Getatchew Mekuria (main stage)
Fri., 9/26: Black Kids, The Virgins (main stage)
Sat., 9/27: Robert Pollard's Boston Spaceships, The High Strung (main stage)

Black Cat tickets go on sale Friday 6/20 at 5pm Eastern via Ticketmaster.

Finally! Something Good About D.C.

Just as I enter what may be the home-stretch of my stay in the D.C. area, DCist is reporting that one of my favorite "fast food"-type restaurants may be coming to D.C. - Wagamama.

As someone who spent a big chunk of 2005 living in Japan, I'll be the first to admit that Wagamama is not exactly authentic. But they do offer pretty solid (for the U.S.) gyoza, ramen noodle soup and yaki soba. I have yet to find a single place in DC with a decent version of any of these things, so this is good news.

Bob Pollard is Back on the Road

After swearing off touring a couple of years ago, Bob Pollard is returning to the road this fall with his brand new band, Boston Spaceships.

The band, featuring Chris Slusarenko, John Moen of the Decemberists, the immortal Tommy Keene, and Jason Narducy, will be touring in support of its debut album, Brown Submarine, which comes out on September 9th.

They're streaming the first song from the album, and I gotta say... it's damn good. Check it out:

Boston Spaceships, "Go For The Exit"

And, in other, unsurprising news, Bob's project The Takeovers also has a new EP called "Little Green Onion Man", which seems to be available now.

Looks like I'm gonna have to buy tickets to both the DC and NYC shows...

Boston Spaceships Tour Dates
09-25 Cincinnati, OH - Midpoint Music Festival *
09-26 Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop *
09-27 Washington, DC - Black Cat *
09-29 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's *
09-30 Boston, MA - Paradise #
10-01 New York, NY - Highline Ballroom *
10-03 Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig *
10-04 Dayton, OH - Dayton Music Festival
10-06 Chicago, IL - Double Door *
10-07 St. Paul, MN - Turf Club *
10-09 Champaign, IL - Higher Ground *
10-10 St. Louis, MO - Bluebird *
10-11 Memphis, TN - Hi-Tone *
10-14 Austin, TX - The Parish *
10-15 Dallas, TX - The Loft *
10-17 Atlanta, GA - The Earl *
10-18 Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge *

(Thanks to Matt for the head's up!)

Catch The Jet Age on Tour!

One of my favorite DC-area bands (The Jet Age), who've put out one of my favorite albums of the year so far (What Did You Do During the War, Daddy?), is heading out on the road next week for a two-week tour.

If you're in or around any of these cities, I urge you to get out and catch them. And bring earplugs.

The Jet Age Tour
6/25: Columbus, OH (Carabar)
6/27: Des Moines, IA (Vaudeville Mews -Early Show!)
6/28: Denver, CO (Old Curtis St. Bar)
6/30: KEXP On-Air Preformance (12pm PDT/3pm EDT)
6/30: Seattle, WA (The High Dive)
7/1: Portland, OR (The Towne Lounge)
7/2: San Francisco, CA (The Hemlock Tavern)
7/3: Los Angeles (The Troubadour - w/ Constantines (!!) and Ladyhawk)
7/5: Austin, TX (Mohawk)
7/7: Atlanta, GA (Lenny's Bar)

You can stream What Did You Do During the War, Daddy? here, and you can buy it here. You'll be glad you did.

DC Buzz Show of the Week

I've been seeing the name The Muslims around the blogs for a few months now, but for some reason never got around to checking the band out until yesterday.

It's about frickin' time I did. Holy Velvet Underground.

Check out the songs on their MySpace page, and then join me in catching the band at DC9 tomorrow night with The Browns.

Stereogum also posted a couple of other songs from the band back in April. Wish I'd listened to them then. Better late than never, I suppose.

MGMT Playing 9:30 Club

Not sure how I missed this last week. Maybe it was a last-minute add?

Mon., 7/28: MGMT @ 9:30 Club
On sale now

When did these guys get big enough for the 9:30 Club? I like them, but this seems a tad ambitious.

Shearwater @ Black Cat, DC [6/15/08]

Shearwater were friggin' awesome tonight. Just absolutely killed it.

Going in, I wasn't sure if I made the right choice to see them instead of Grand Archives at the Rock and Roll Hotel. After their set, there's pretty much no question.

I wish there were a way for me to catch them in Brooklyn on Thursday, but I'll be seeing REM and The National at the Garden. Oh well.

I'll add more discussion tomorrow. Probably. Until then, you can listen to the set over at NPR.

Wrens Videos

How is it possible that I've never seen any of these videos?

And where is the supposed new album we were promised?

And why after five years and thousands of listens does "Everyone Chooses Sides" still make me want to run around and break shit?

"Everyone Chooses Sides"


"Boys, You Won't"


"Happy"


"Faster Gun"


"Per Second Second"

Eef Barzelay's "Lose Big" is Out on Tuesday

And here's a video to prepare you for it...

DC Show Update

Starting early this week because Black Cat starting updating its schedule early. Will update throughout the week. Also, my post last week mistakenly listed the wrong on-sale date for a couple of Black Cat shows. My bad.

New additions in italics. My picks in bold.

9:30 Club
Tue., 7/29: The Old 97's (on sale now)
Wed., 7/30: Boy George
Wed., 9/17: Mogwai

Tickets for 9:30 Club shows, other than the Old 97's show, go on sale tomorrow (Thu., 6/12) via Tickets.com.

Black Cat
Tue., 7/1: Sawhorse, Ecstatic Sunshine (backstage)
Tue., 7/15: City Riots, The Dig, The City Veins (backstage)
Sun., 7/20: Pygmy Lush, Stymphalian Birds, Starve (backstage)
Wed., 7/23: Pomegranates, Tereu Tereu, ¡Carlos I'm Pregnant! (backstage)
Thu., 8/14: Thao Nguyen w/ the Get Down Stay Down, David Schultz & the Skyline (mainstage)
Thu., 8/14: Jana Hunter, Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez (backstage)
Sun., 8/17: Bodies of Water, Port O'Brien (backstage)
Thu., 8/21: Nebula, Totimoshi, The Coke Dares (backstage)

Tickets for Black Cat shows are on sale via Ticketmaster.

DC9
Wed., 8/13: Crystal Stilts, Vivian Girls

Looks like tickets for the Crystal Stilts/Vivian Girls show will be sold at the door only.

Jury Tells R. Kelly Prosecutor to Piss Off

Yep, R. Kelly has been acquitted on all counts.

That's a party I want to be at tonight.

Edited to add:

Tim Russert Dies at 58

This absolutely sucks.

Steve Earle Playing Judson Memorial Church in NYC

You may remember the Judson Memorial Church from when Arcade Fire played there last year.

Well, now Steve Earle is getting into the "intimate church show" act as well with four shows at Judson Memorial in September -- specifically Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 9/22-23 and 9/25-26. There's a pre-sale going on now.

I've got tickets for My Bloody Valentine at Roseland on that Tuesday and for Built to Spill/Dinosaur Jr./Meat Puppets at Terminal 5 on that Thursday. It would have been really convenient if Steve had scheduled a Wednesday show, but alas...

I'm still not sure where I'll be living in September. If I knew I were going to be back in NYC, I'd buy a Monday or Friday ticket. If I'm still in DC, it's a lot less likely that I'll be able to take yet another day off to spend in New York. I need some clarity.

My Morning Jacket Pre-sale

So there's a pre-sale for My Morning Jacket's September 3rd show at D.A.R. Constitution Hall, and it runs tomorrow (Thu., 6/12) from 10am to 10pm.

The password is "evilurges", and tickets will be available here.

If you miss the pre-sale, regular tickets go on sale via Ticketmaster on Saturday (6/14) at 10am.

Best Movie Ever?

Another winner from Videogum.

I remember watching the Undeclared DVD commentary when it came out in mid-2005 and thinking that Seth Rogen was one of the funniest people I'd ever heard. Just three years later, and the man is a phenomenon.

And thank god Jay Baruchel got away from that awful Don Johnson TV show.

More New Videos

Both via Stereogum.

Rogue Wave, "Chicago x 12"

Great tune, though you wouldn't know it from the video. I like videos with a sense of humor, and I love Bob Odenkirk, but there should be a music industry edict about videos that insert dialogue over long portions of the song.



Old 97's, "Dance With Me"

Keep forgetting to mention that the Old 97's are playing the 9:30 Club on Tuesday, July 29th. Tickets went on sale very quietly today. Get them here. Will this be my last 9:30 Club show as an area resident? Time will tell.

New Jukebox the Ghost Video, "Hold It In"

I really want to like Jukebox the Ghost. They seem like a good bunch of guys, they put on an entertaining live show, and they've got a handful of really good songs. And, on top of it all, they're one of DC-area's hottest young bands, and it's good to see local bands getting national recognition.

That said, I just can't really get into the band. While they have a few good songs, they also have a number of really bad ones. And the worst of them - to my ear, at least - is the one that they and their label have been pushing as their "hit". And now they have a video for it, so you can decide for yourself if it's good, bad, or something else.

Jukebox the Ghost, "Hold It In"

Jukebox the Ghost "Hold It In" from Guy Manly on Vimeo.

Live Nation Gets One - Just One - Right

Remember a year or so ago when Live Nation started changing the names of many of its clubs to "The Fillmore at ____"?

There's The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza, The Fillmore at TLA, The Fillmore Detroit (formerly the State Theatre), and The Fillmore at the Jackie Gleason Theatre. And there's also clubs in San Francisco and Denver which have borne the Fillmore name since before the change.

The idea was supposedly to create a national Fillmore brand which would exist in cities across the U.S., which would, among other things, guarantee concertgoers a "quality Fillmore experience" no matter which venue they visited. And a free apple. Or something like that.

Anyway, it looks like Live Nation may be coming to its senses in at least one instance. According to TicketNews.com, Live Nation has decided to revert the name of its Philadelphia club from The Fillmore at TLA back to The Theatre for Living Arts.

Hopefully they'll follow this up soon in New York, and go back to the simple and iconic Irving Plaza. And then maybe they can start getting good bands to play there again. I mean, seriously guys... Extreme and Kings X? Is this 1989?

Swervedriver @ 9:30 Club, Washington, DC [6/8/08]

Some so-so pictures from an excellent show...

Enough Already

This was Saturday:


This was today:

Yep, that's 108 degrees.

Listen to the New Hold Steady Album!

The Hold Steady's new album, Stay Positive, is streaming in its entirety at the band's MySpace page.

Just started listening to it. I'll withhold comment until I've had a chance to digest a bit.

Stay Positive comes out on July 15th via Vagrant Records.

(Thanks to Brooklyn Vegan for the heads up!)

New Broken West LP Due on September 9

Great news - one of my favorite young bands, The Broken West, have set a September 9th release date for their second LP, entitled Now or Heaven. The band's debut album, I Can't Go On I'll Go On was my #6 album of 2007.

According to the Merge Records newsletter, "Now or Heaven originates from home, the longing to get there and all that comes from being there." Umm, ok.

I like this part better - "but despite everything, each song on Now or Heaven is infused with an immediate burst of catchy familiarity and unquenchable charm."

Now that's what I'm looking for. Can't wait to hear the album, and see the boys back on the road.

Tracklisting for Now or Heaven
1. Gwen, Now and Then
2. Auctioneer
3. Elm City
4. Ambuscade
5. Perfect Games
6. House of Lies
7. The Smartest Man Alive
8. Got It Bad
9. Terror for Two
10. Embassy Row

(Thanks to Matt for the heads up!)

The Music Slut Turns 3

Yet another interesting NYC show that I have to miss because, well, I don't live in NYC. For the time being.

If you, on the other hand, DO live in NYC, or plan on being there this weekend, then you should head down to Pianos on Saturday night for The Music Slut's third anniversary party, featuring Mussels, Unicycle Loves You, The Physics of Meaning and Drink Up Buttercup.

And if you don't read the Music Slut regularly, well, you ought to fix that forthwith.

This Week In DC

Here are some of the more notable shows coming up in the DC-area this week. Shows in bold are shows I plan to attend.

Sunday
9:30 Club: Swervedriver, Longwave
DC9: The New Frontiers, Denison Whitmer, The Moderate

Monday
Rock and Roll Hotel: Mudhoney, The Cynics, The Points

Wednesday
9:30 Club: The Breeders, The Montana Boys
Rock and Roll Hotel: De Novo Dahl, Pash, Carolina Liar, Fever

Thursday
9:30 Club: Jamie Lidell
DC9: Parlor Mob, The Gray Kid, Oliver Future
State Theatre: Blackalicious

Saturday
9:30 Club: Battles
Red and the Black: Sonic Cheetahs of Death, Gary B and the Notions, Secret Pop Band, Squaaks

Lucero Summer Tour

Lucero is touring this summer. Shocking, I know. These guys take about 3 weeks off the road per year.

No DC show, sadly. Though they are hitting Ottobar in Baltimore.

Lucero Summer Dates

6/14: Jubilee Jam Jackson, Mississippi
7/10: The Bottletree (18+) Birmingham, Alabama
7/11: Cannery Ballroom (18+) Nashville, Tennessee
7/12: Downtown Corinth Corinth, Mississippi
7/18: Launchpad (All Ages) Albuquerque, New Mexico
7/19: The Clubhouse (All Ages) Tempe, Arizona
7/23: Spaceland (21+) Los Angeles, California
7/24: The Echo (All Ages) Los Angeles, California
7/26: Bottom of the Hill (All Ages) San Francisco, California
7/27: Bottom of the Hill (All Ages) San Francisco, California
7/30: Black Sheep (All Ages) Colorado Springs, Colorado
7/31: Fox Theatre (21+) Boulder, Colorado
8/8: New Boston Boat (All Ages) Boston, Massachusetts
8/10: Rocks Off Concert Cruise (18+) New York, New York
8/12: North Star Bar (21+) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
8/13: Ottobar (All Ages) Baltimore, Maryland
8/14: Local 506 (18+) Chapel Hill, North Carolina

New High Dials

This is what happens when I go a month without logging onto MySpace... I miss a ton of band bulletins.

Aside from the Antlers info I already posted about, the best news I came across in my unread bulletins was news of a new High Dials album. Yeah, I thought they'd broken up too. War of the Wakening Phantoms came out in June 2005. Sure, they put out a 4-song EP last year, but I don't think they ever toured behind it, and their website went without getting update for a loooong time.

Anyway, the album is called Moon Country, and comes out in Canada in August or September. Doesn't look like they have a deal in place in the U.S. yet, but if the four new songs they've posted on their MySpace page are any indication of how good the album is, they should hopefully have a deal of some sort before long. Oh, and they're apparently releasing it in two parts - "Side A" and "Side B' - yet they claim it's not a double album. I have no idea what that means.

The band has two shows on its schedule right now, including a NYC show on my birthday. If only I still lived in NYC.

High Dials Live Dates
6/14: Toronto (El Macombo)
7/25: New York (Rehab)

Free New Antlers EP!

It's almost getting ridiculous how much great, free music Peter Silberman has given us over the last year or so. By my count, we've gotten three EPs (Cold War, Uprooted and the February Tape), and one utterly incredible mini-LP (In The Attic Of The Universe).

Well, get ready, because the band is releasing a brand new free EP today called New York Hospitals. You can download it here.

Apparently Pat over at the excellent Pop Tarts Suck Toasted blog asked Peter to put together an EP for the upcoming After The Jump Fest in Brooklyn (6/21!), and New York Hospitals was the result. That's the power that blogs have these days, folks. :^)

You can also catch The Antlers live a few times over the next month or so if you're in New York. They're at Cake Shop on June 16th, then they play the aforementioned After The Jump Fest (which I hope to attend), and then Union Pool in Brooklyn on July 17th.

This may be your last chance to jump on board so you can say you knew them before they got huge, so act accordingly.

Rock Show Tonight

I meant to post about this show earlier, but completely blanked on it.

Anyway, if you're in the DC area tonight, I highly recommend heading to Iota in Clarendon for an evening of great rock and roll. It's a 3-way CD release party with Julie Ocean, Yell County and The City Veins.

If you've been reading the blog at all, you already know that I love me some Julie Ocean. But I've also had the chance over the last few weeks to listen to the new CD from Yell County, and it's a damn fine slice of Husker Du and Replacements-inspired American rock. And their one-sheet for the album made me laugh about as hard as I've laughed in a while. As for The City Veins, I'm not familiar with them at all, but I'm about to head over to their MySpace page to get a sense of what I can expect.

Julie Ocean, "My Revenge"
Yell County, "Buried Standing Up"

Waco Brothers, Chris Mills @ Rock and Roll Hotel, DC [6/5/08]

I know I still owe a writeup on the Lightspeed Champion show from the other night. I'm gonna do that one at the same time I write up last night's Waco Brothers and Chris Mills show at the Rock and Roll Hotel. In other words... later.

But here's some pics in the interim.

The Waco Brothers



Chris Mills

New Hiders, "Penny Harvest Field"

One of my favorite releases of 2006 was The Hiders' Valentine, an album of stark, post-Neil Young country-rock beauty.

Well, the Hiders are back with album #2, Penny Harvest Field. And now they're not only defined as "former member of the Ass Ponies" (Bill Alletzhauser), but also "former members of the Ass Ponies and the Afghan Whigs", as Whigs bassist Michael Horrigan has come on board as a full-time member of the band.

The album is available now via Shake It Records, and I just ordered myself a copy. What I've heard so far is excellent, and seems like a fuller, more varied and more upbeat sound than Valentine. Here's a couple tracks:

The Hiders, "I Still Do"
The Hiders, "You're Going"

The band only has a few Cincinnati-area shows scheduled right now, but hopefully we'll see them on the road before too long.

Hiders Tour Dates
Sat., 6/14: Northside Tavern (Cincinnati)
Fri., 6/20: Southgate House w/ Scout Niblett (Newport, KY)
Sat., 6/28: Northside Tavern w/ Samantha Crain & the Midnight Shivers (Cincinnati)
Fri., 8/22: Fountain Square Indy Summer w/ The Sweep (Cincinnati)

Earlimart Tour Dates

Just noticed over at Shout Factory that a bunch of dates have been announced for Earlimart's late summer tour in support of their new album, Hymn and Her (out July 1st). You can pre-order the album here.

Much to my dismay, they're once again bypassing D.C. for Baltimore. It's a Saturday show, though, so maybe I'll actually get off my ass and drive up for it. If gas isn't $5/gallon by then.

Earlimart Tour Dates
Thu., 7/13: San Diego, CA Casbah
Fri., 7/18: Los Angeles, CA Spaceland
Sat., 7/19: San Francisco, CA Cafe Du Nord
Sun., 7/20: Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge
Tue., 7/22: Seattle, WA Chop Suey
Fri., 7/25: Minneapolis, MN Triple Rock Social Club
Sat., 7/26: Chicago, IL The Hideout
Wed., 7/30: Cambridge, MA Middle East
Thu., 7/31: Brooklyn, NY Masonic Temple
Fri., 8/1: Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda's
Sat., 8/2: Baltimore, MD Ottobar
Tue., 8/5: Austin, TX The Mohawk
Sat., 8/9: Costa Mesa, CA Detroit Bar

Wings Win!

Man, I just about had a stroke at the end of that game. The Wings never, ever make things easy. But it's all moot now.

STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


(Photos via Detroit Free Press.)

Clell Tickle Joining Scrubs Cast

Just noticed this over at Brooklyn Vegan - Clell Tickle himself, Aziz Ansari, is joining the cast of Scrubs next season.

Not sure how this affects Human Giant, though I have to admit that I only made it through the first two episodes of Season 2. It just didn't do it for me this year. Not sure why. I've got the episodes on TiVo, so I'll give 'em a chance again when I'm in the mood.

As for Aziz's turn on Scrubs, one can only assume he's going to completely own that show. And hopefully he'll beat Zach Braff's ass. Somebody's got to.

DC Show Update

9:30 Club
Fri., 7/18: Andy C, MC GQ, DJ Dara
Sat., 7/19: George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic
Sun., 7/20: Yaz
Tue., 7/22: The Ting Tings

Tickets for listed 9:30 Club shows go on sale tomorrow (Thu., 6/5) at 10am Eastern via Tickets.com.

Black Cat
Thu., 7/3: Lorelei, Mahogany (backstage)
Wed., 7/23: Pomegranates, Tereu Tereu, ¡Carlos I'm Pregnant! (backstage)
Sun., 8/17: Bodies of Water, Port O'Brien (backstage)

Tickets for listed Black Cat shows go on sale Friday (6/6) at 5pm Eastern via Ticketmaster.

Rock and Roll Hotel
Wed., 7/9: The Watson Twins, Tim Fite
Sat., 8/23: Blue King Brown, Theresa Anderson

Tickets for listed Rock and Roll Hotel shows go on sale Friday (6/6) at 10am Eastern via Ticket Alternative.

Jammin' Java
Thu., 7/17: Jenny Owen Youngs, Laura Burhenn (of Georgie James), Justin Trawick
Sat., 8/9: Laura Cantrell
Fri., 10/3: The Bird and the Bee (ed.: oh how I hate them), Willoughby

Tickets for listed Jammin' Java shows, except the Bird and the Bee, are on sale now via PrestoCart. Haven't seen an on-sale date for the Bird and the Bee show.

JAXX
Sat., 7/19: L.A. Guns, Faster Pussycat, Bang Tango
Sat., 8/2: Lynch Mob, Bulletboys
Fri., 9/12: Kix

Tickets for listed JAXX shows are on sale now via Ticketmaster.

A Show You Need To Go To

It's starting to become clear to me how awesome the June 30th show at the Black Cat is going to be.

First up is Takka Takka. I've become a pretty big fan of the band over the last year or so, and am really enjoying what I've heard of their forthcoming album entitled Migration. I've also seen the new lineup play live several times, and they put on a hell of a show.

Second is Frightened Rabbit. WOXY has been playing them for a while now, but I didn't really start to appreciate them until I heard their SXSW Lounge Act. After hearing their set, I immediately downloaded The Midnight Organ Fight from eMusic, and it's been high on my playlist ever since.

Third is Oxford Collapse. This is another WOXY-approved band that for some reason I've either never heard or never really paid attention to. That is, until I heard their song "Amongst Friends" today, which sounds like it could have come out of Chapel Hill in 1993. On the strength of this song, I'm in the process of downloading their new The Hann-Byrd EP from eMusic as I write this.

Pretty great lineup, if you ask me. If you need convincing, here's a song from each of the bands (you can scroll through them in the browser). And here's the link to buy a ticket. It's the best $10 you'll spend this month.

Lightspeed Champion @ Black Cat, DC [6/3/08]

Fantastic show at the Black Cat tonight. One of the best shows I've seen this year.

Pics now, discussion tomorrow. Although I will say I was completely impressed with opener Flowers Forever, who I'd never even heard of before a few days ago.

Oh, and I left before Adam Green. I didn't need to hear about Jessica Simpson tonight.

Lightspeed Champion




Flowers Forever

Someone Didn't Sell Many Tickets

Just noticed this while I was checking the door time for tonight's Lightspeed Champion (and others) show at the Black Cat.

Tue June 3- At the band's request, tonight's show has been moved to the Backstage. ADAM GREEN, LIGHTSPEED CHAMPION, FLOWERS FOREVER $13 Adv/ $15 DOS Backstage 8:00

On one hand I'm kinda happy about this - I've still never been a show backstage, and I imagine that the smaller room will be better for Lightspeed Champion.

That said, I'm kind of surprised that Adam Green (the actual headliner) couldn't pull in a bigger crowd in light of the whole Juno thing. And I'm also disappointed that Lightspeed Champion hasn't made a significant enough impact to pull people out as well. They (he) do (does) have a few headlining shows in New York this week, but still...

New Albert Hammond, Jr.

Although I haven't really enjoyed anything The Strokes have done since Is This It, I immensely enjoyed guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr.'s 2006 solo album, Yours To Keep.

The album wasn't anything earth-shattering, but it was enjoyable precisely because it didn't try to be - it was breezy, catchy and completely likable. Pretty much the opposite of the last couple Strokes albums, which to my ear were a clear demonstration of style substituted for substance and a lack of new ideas.

So I was happy to see today that Albert has a second album, entitled ¿Como Te Llama?, coming out on July 8th on Black Seal Records. The first track from the album, "GfC", is supposed to be available for download here, but doesn't seem to be working right now. If you want to hear it, you can stream it over at Albert's iLike page.

The song isn't quite as catchy as the first album, and has a significantly darker edge to it, but I really like it.

Listen to Julie Ocean on WOXY!

Two of rock's unstoppable forces are banding together!

I just noticed over on WOXY that one of my favorite bands, DC's own Julie Ocean, has been added to the WOXY playlist, and will be getting some play starting with tomorrow's New Tunes Tuesday. Awesome.

Here's hoping this is the start of something big!

And if you're in the DC area, be sure to hit Iota for the band's record release party for Long Gone and Nearly There this Friday night. You'll be glad you did!



Edited to add: Check out the review over at Aquarium Drunkard. Excellent stuff.

This Week In DC

Sorry for the lack of posts the last few days. I was in Ohio for my youngest brother's high school graduation. Man do I feel old.

Some excellent shows coming up in DC this week (and the coming weeks). My picks are in bold, and I can't recommend them strongly enough.

Monday
Iota: Federal Reserve Collective... 1st Mondays

Tuesday
9:30 Club: Bell X1, Brooke Waggoner
Black Cat (main): Adam Green (ech), Lightspeed Champion (yay!), Flowers Forever (no idea)

Wednesday
Black Cat (back): The Jet Age, Alexander the Great, Petworth
Rock and Roll Hotel: The Field, Outputmessage, Lode Runner

Thursday
Black Cat (main): White Rabbits, Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Greenland
Rock and Roll Hotel: Waco Brothers, Chris Mills, The Starlingtons, The Highballers

Friday
9:30 Club: Rilo Kiley, Taho w/ the Get Down Stay Down, Benji Hughes
Black Cat (main): Hackensaw Boys, Mikal Evans Band, The Cotton Jones Basket Ride
Iota: Yell County, Julie Ocean, The City Veins (3-way CD release)

Saturday
Black Cat (main): M83, The Berg Sans Nipple