Eli Stone Sucks

Got suckered into watching Eli Stone because I was too lazy to turn the TV off after Lost. I'll never do that again.

As a former practicing attorney, I gotta tell you -- the profession sucks, and not one of these shows on TV is remotely realistic. Do we really need another show to give us a new "up with people" message hidden in a lawsuit each week? And wasn't the goofy-off-the-wall lawyer thing already done on Single Female Lawyer Ally McBeal (and again now with the William Shatner show)?

Argh.

New Raveonettes Video, "Candy"

Great disc. Great song.

DC Show Update

Big week. BIG week. And I'm not even listing the biggest show, in an effort to get my money's-worth from a misguided pre-sale I took part in a year ago. Sorry. I'm sure you can find it elsewhere.

9:30 Club
3/13: Live (early)
3/13: Panic at the Disco (late - listed as "Surprise! At the Club!)
3/25: The Presidents of the United States of America
4/9: Joe Jackson (on sale 4/1 [?] at 10am)
4/13: Colin Meloy (no on sale yet)
4/18: Aaron Karo

With the exception of the Joe Jackson and Colin Meloy shows, tickets for 9:30 Club shows went on sale today.

Black Cat
2/22: Travis Morrison Hellfighters, Zulu Pearls, The Epochs
2/28: Statehood, The Big Sleep, Aerialist
3/2: Edie Sedgwick, The Points
3/5: Human Giant
3/9: Alice Smith
3/18: Mae, The Honorary Title, Between the Trees
3/20: Bodies of Water
4/14: The Dreaming
4/16: Dead Meadow
4/25: Destroyer, Andre Ethier

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

Rock and Roll Hotel
3/9: Red
3/15: Louis XIV, What Made Milwaukee Famous, Carolina Liar (on sale now)
3/27: Authority Zero, Whole Wheat Bread, Beat Union, Civet
4/19: Cloud Cult
4/24: French Kicks
4/27: Meat Beat Manifesto

With the exception of the Louis XIV show, tickets for Rock and Roll Hotel shows go on sale tomorrow at 10am.

Iota
2/4: Peter and the Wolf, Nat Baldwin
2/21: Evangelicals, Headlights, We Were Pirates
3/4: Jesse Malin and De Novo Dahl

Iota sells tickets only at the door.

Sixth and I Synagogue
3/5: Jose Gonzalez (on sale now)
3/29: Eels

Eels tickets go on sale via Ticketmaster on Saturday at 10am.

Ra Ra Riot and The Whigs on WOXY

I completely forgot that Ra Ra Riot was performing a special, extended Lounge Act for WOXY.com last night. Good thing WOXY makes MP3s available of all of its Lounge Acts. Head over to the Lounge Act archive to download the band's eight song set. I know what I'll be doing this afternoon.

In other Lounge Act news, The Whigs will be stopping by the WOXY studios for a session next Thursday, February 7th, at 4pm. Awesome.

Current WOXY Lounge Act Schedule
2/7: The Whigs (4pm)
2/18: Soft (12pm)
2/27: Say Hi (4pm)
2/29: Hotpipes (3pm)
3/20: Mussels (4pm)
4/28: Finest Dearest (1pm)

Catch the Antlers in NYC

I miss the days when both of these places were a short 10-minute subway ride away.

If you're in New York, I strongly recommend that you catch one (or both) of these shows.

Thurs., 1/31 @ The Knitting Factory
The Antlers, The Lisps, Spanish Prisoners

Fri., 2/8 @ Pianos
The Antlers, Square Wave Punch, Bridges and Powerlines

Oh, and the Antlers will be doing a 3-week residency at Club Midway in April. No dates or other details yet.

Posies Playing 20th Anniversary Shows

I hadn't heard anything about this... One of my all-time favorite bands, The Posies, is playing four shows in May to commemorate their twentieth anniversary.

Sadly, all four shows are about 3,000 miles from where I live. D'oh.

Posies 20th Anniversary Shows
May 14 The Posies 20th Anniversary Shows, @ Hell's Kitchen, Tacoma WA USA
May 15 The Posies 20th Anniversary Shows, @ Winterland, Bremerton WA USA
May 16 The Posies 20th Anniversary Shows, @ Dante's, Portland OR USA
May 17 The Posies 20th Anniversary Shows, @ Neumos, Seattle WA USA

Song of the Day

I am very quickly becoming obsessed with the new Lightspeed Champion album, Falling Off The Lavender Bridge. It's still too early to say what my favorite track on the album is, but an early contender is "Galaxy of the Lost."

I was going to post an MP3 of the song, but just discovered two things -- first, they (he?) have (has?) a video for the song, which I've embedded below; and second, you can stream the entire album at the band's MySpace page.

The band is touring extensively in Europe over the next few months, but is coming to the US and Canada for a short stint, including at least 4 SXSW gigs. I will be attending at least one of them. North American tour dates follow the video.



Lightspeed Champion North American Tour Dates
3/1: Chicago (Av Averia) - acoustic show
3/4: Toronto (Horseshoe Tavern) - acoustic show
3/5: New York (Mercury Lounge) - acoustic show
3/7: Philadelphia (World Cafe Live Upstairs) - acoustic show
3/8: Brooklyn (Union Pool) - acoustic show
3/12: SXSW (Antone's / Domino Records showcase) - acoustic show
3/13: SXSW (Urban Outfitters)
3/14: SXSW (Cedar St. Courtyard / Filter Party)
3/15: SXSW (TBA / Press Here Publicity party)

Edited to add: For kicks, I figured I'd also post a video from Dev's (singer/guitarist) earlier and much different band, Test Icicles. Enjoy:

Another Video I Missed

Steve Earle's video for "City of Immigrants" from his underrated Washington Square Serenade album.

If nothing else, it's worth watching just for the 'stache.

My Favorite New Whigs Tune

I think Sal said in the comments that "Right Hand On My Heart" is his favorite song on the new Whigs album.

While I love the song, I must disagree... This is easily my favorite song on the disc:

The Whigs, "Hot Bed"

Buy Mission Control at Lala.com!

New Apples In Stereo Vid, "Open Eyes"

How'd I miss this? It's apparently been up on YouTube for 2 weeks already. I'm slipping. I blame DC.

New Cody and Gillette, "Ruined"

Drop whatever you're doing and head over to Cody and Gillette's MySpace page to hear a brand new demo called "Ruined".

This is the fifth demo that Lawrence (umm, I guess it's not a secret given that he's got his real photo up, right?) has put up so far, and it's easily the most rock-oriented of the bunch. And, no surprise, it's great.

If you're new to Cody and Gillette, make sure you listen to the rest of the songs he has up on MySpace. And if that's still not enough for you, take a listen to a couple of his older songs here (click "listen").

Human Giant On Tour!

Wow, I had no idea this one was coming. Awesome, awesome, awesome. Full dates haven't been announced yet, but the Black Cat schedule has the DC date up -- Wednesday, March 5th. Tickets go on sale this Friday.

I am so there.



Edited to add... holy crap... Motherf*ckin' Omar joined the Illusionators. For real, yo.

New Vampire Weekend Video!

(And, yes, I do like the VW album. Not as great as some people make it out to be, but it's enjoyable and catchy.)

Edited to add: It's been years since I've seen this. Legendary performance, of course, but why in the world would people want to be at the very back of this crowd? Was it possible to actually hear anything?

Edited again: To be fair, here's Vampire Weekend's video for "A-Punk". Apparently these guys went to Columbia.

Whigs on Letterman

If you missed them last night, here's the video of The Whigs performing "Right Hand On My Heart" on Letterman. Not loud enough, but otherwise awesome.

Care for a Me.L.T.?

Holy shit. Yacht Rock is back!



Is this Jason Lee's way of cleansing himself after the gerbil movie?

A million thanks to Stereogum for the good news.

UPDATE: R.E.M., The National, Modest Mouse Tour

Edited to add the NYC date listed by R.E.M. HQ

Brooklyn Vegan has the specific details on the tour I mentioned the other day. Looks like all three bands are actually touring together simultaneously, begging the question... who's the opener?

May 23 - Vancouver, BC - Deer Lake Park
May 29 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl
May 31 - San Francisco, CA - Greek Theatre
June 03 - Denver, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre
June 06 - Chicago, IL - United Center
June 08 - Toronto, ON - Molson Amphitheatre
June 10 - Raleigh, NC - Walnut Creek Amphitheatre
June 11 - Columbia, MD - Merriweather Post Pavilion
June 13 - Boston, MA - Tweeter Center
June 14 - Long Island, NY - Jones Beach
June 18 - Philadelphia, PA - Mann Center
June 19 - New York City, NY - TBA
June 21 - Atlanta, GA - Lakewood Amphitheatre

No word yet as to on sale dates that I can see.

Uncle Tupelo Reunites in Mexico! (umm, sorta)

According to a poster over at the Via Chicago message boards, Jeff Tweedy told the crowd at his solo show in Chicago the other night that he and Jay Farrar had recently bumped into each other in Mexico. Board poster "Jesus Etc" recounts:

Tweedy takes his family to Mexico periodically and he was recently there with the fam in a secluded part of the Yucatan and two villas down was Farrar and his family. He said the encounter was awkward and consisted of a couple ofn "heys and whats ups" and that was it. Tweedy the said it was just like it was when they were in UT together. The vacationer who had the villa in between the two singers happened to be a big UT fan and, as you can imagine, was going bananas over his "good fortune."

I suppose the most pathetic part of the whole thing is how disappointed I am, fourteen years after the fact, that there's still no real prospect of an Uncle Tupelo reunion. I really gotta get over it.

(Thanks to Matt for another great tip.)

Whigs on Letterman Tonight!

Just a reminder to set your TiVos to record The Whigs on Letterman tonight. Plus, if you haven't heard their excellent new CD yet, you can still listen to it for free over at Rhapsody (though you need to install the Rhapsody player).

I still need to decide whether or not to drive up to Baltimore on Thursday to catch them with the Spinto Band and Plants and Animals at 8x10. I haven't made it up to a single Baltimore show since I've been in DC, so the odds aren't good... but then again, I suppose I'm due for a road trip.

Oh, and I'd be remiss if I didn't point this out -- you can buy the band's new album, Mission Control, for the unbelievably low price of $7.59 over at Lala.com.

More Frames Videos From NYE

"Star Star"


"Pavement Tune"


"Suspicious Minds" (Elvis Presley cover)


And even more...

"Don't You Want To Go"
"Skylarking" (Mic Christopher cover)
"Falling Slowly"
"Hollocaine" (partial)

The Frames @ Vicar Street, Dublin, IE [12/31/07]

So I guess I forgot to do a show report for The Frames' New Years Eve show in Dublin. Sorry about that. Completely skipped my mind. Probably has something to do with the number of pints I'd had to drink that night, and my own less-than-perfect memory of the show. What I do remember of the show was pretty great overall.

I find that, more than most bands, the quality of a Frames show is dependent on the surroundings. As I've said before, the magic of the Frames is how personal their music is -- even if you've never lived the experiences recounted in their songs, you instinctively understand the emotion behind them, and you rise and fall with the band as it plays on stage. Their shows can be absolutely revelatory in the right circumstances. Yet, when the venue isn't suited to the personal nature of their music, or when the crowd is filled people who aren't familiar with the band's music, it can be a very different experience.

The band's New Years show at Vicar Street regularly straddled this line between revelatory and routine (though, thankfully, revelatory won out overall). At times during the show, the band sounded as good as I've ever heard them, while at other times the band sounded like it was playing a song for the 1,000th time and couldn't wait to be done playing it. At times the crowd hung onto every note and often sang along to every word, while at other times people chattered among themselves too loudly as if they were simply in a bar rather than a concert.

I suppose that much of the incongruity was probably due to the fact that it was New Years Eve, and that this was a hometown show for the band -- while a large portion of the crowd was excited to see the band on a special night, just as many people treated it as a New Years celebration first and a concert second. And, honestly, I can't really complain too much. While I usually get upset when people talk through shows, it wasn't a consistent problem at this show, and you can't get too upset when people get drunk and talk-y on New Years Eve.

The best part of the night for me, as someone who'd traveled across an ocean to be there, were the few "rarities" that the band pulled out for the night, including "The Dancer"from the band's 1992 debut LP, Another Love Song. I may be wrong, but I'm fairly certain this was the first time I'd ever seen them play this in the close to 20 shows that I've seen.

At the end of the day, while the show definitely had its inconsistencies, I'm thrilled that I went. It was great to see the band surrounded by friends, family and longtime fans, and it was interesting to see the band play together at the end of what has been an incredible year for them (especially Glen). And, honestly, I'm always happy to be in Ireland, which may be my favorite place in the world.

Here's some video from the show that I just spotted on YouTube. If you watch both videos, I think you'll get a sense of the incongruities I was mentioning -- during the encore, the crowd is 100% into the music, singing and dancing along. However, during "New Partner", you can barely hear the band over the chatter of the crowd. Thankfully I was right up front so I didn't notice it quite as much as you do with the video. Some pictures I took at the show follow below the video clips.

Encore - "The Dancer" and "Where Is My Mind"


"New Partner" (Will Oldham cover)

The Worst Song In The World

Every once in a while I hear a song so bad, so vapid, so utterly lacking in musical or lyrical value, that it starts to eat away at my will to live.

The last such song that really stands out in my mind was "Cobrastyle" by Teddybears. Thankfully, I haven't heard that song in months, and the bile that used to rise in my throat every time I heard it has finally subsided.

Unfortunately, however, a new song has replaced it -- a nearly two-year old song that I had, mercifully, never heard until a couple of months ago. Then a fateful decision was made by Gold's Gym to add it to its daily (hourly?) list of songs that it plays over the PA in its gyms. I typically go to the gym five days a week. That means I hear this song five times a week. That means that five times a week I consider putting my head through the nearest sheet of glass, or hitting myself in the head repeatedly with a 25 pound dumbbell.

This song may be the most utterly valueless piece of trash I have ever heard. Somehow whoever wrote this thing managed to embody everything that's wrong with our society in the space of a three and a half minute song. I suppose there's something to be said for that achievement, but it doesn't make the song any more listenable.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you "It's All About Me", by Jzabehl:

The National and Modest Mouse Opening for REM?

If any of you were, like me, on the fence about whether to catch R.E.M. when they hit the road in support of their new album, Accelerate, later this year, this may make up your mind -- The National and Modest Mouse will reportedly each be opening for a portion of the tour.

According to Triple J Music News, The National's Matt Berninger let the cat out of the bag:

"I don't know if we're allowed to say but I think we might be doing some shows with them when their new record comes out. So that'll be unbelievable for us. I think Modest Mouse are also going to be part of those shows too."

If this is true, I sure hope The National opens in the Eastern U.S. and that Modest Mouse opens in the West. Modest Mouse is one band that I never need to see live again.

(Thanks to Matt for the heads up!)

Is It Possible...

... that I've never seen the video for this song before? Because I sure don't remember it if I did.

Possibly one of my ten (or so) favorite songs of all time.

Human Television... Still Exist!

Just got a MySpace notification from the kids in Human Television that they have two new demos. Given that their website hasn't been updated in a year, and that I haven't seen them play any shows in about as long, I was starting to wonder what their status is. Glad to know they're still around.

I haven't had a chance to listen to the demos yet, but will likely post some thoughts when I do.

DC Show Update

Newly-announced shows are updated in italics

Slow week this week... at least in terms of shows I'd like to see. Happy to see that Justice picked a DC venue smaller than 18,000 people. Not that I'm a fan, but still... what the hell were they thinking?

9:30 Club
Fri., 2/1: Olivia and the Housemates, The Ambitions, Cobra Collective
Fri., 2/29: Gavin DeGraw
Wed., 3/12: Justice
Sat., 3/29: Ghostland Observatory
Wed., 4/9: All Time Low, The Rocket Summer

9:30 Club tickets go on sale today at 10am via Ticket.com. For some reason the Joe Jackson show has been taken off the 9:30 calendar -- was it canceled? It was originally supposed to go on sale tomorrow (Fri. 1/25) at 10am.

Black Cat
Mon., 2/4: Thintap Woodsap, Grampall Jookabox
Fri., 2/8: Dan Melchior Und Das Menace, The Hall Monitors, The Breakups, Nunchucks
Thu., 2/28: Statehood, The Big Sleep, Aerialist
Fri., 2/29: Apes (CD Release), Kid Congo Powers, Food for Animals
Mon., 4/7: Dirty Projectors
Tue., 4/29: Tokyo Police Club

Black Cat tickets go on sale tomorrow at 5pm via Ticketmaster, except for the Statehood/Big Sleep show, which goes on sale next Friday, 2/1.

Rock and Roll Hotel
Wed., 2/13: Sounds Under Radio
Sat., 3/15: Louis XIV (on sale Sat. 1/26 at 10am)
Sun., 4/6: Aloha, Anathallo

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

Iota
3/18: X Levitation Cult feat. Joie Calio of Dada

Iota tickets are sold at the door only. I'm a Dada fan going back to 1993 or so, so I may try to check this out.

JAXX
Fri., 3/28: Skid Row
Sat., 3/29: Sanctuary - Iron Maiden Tribute

Jaxx tickets are sold via Ticketmaster, and Skid Row tix are on sale now. And there's some good news -- the JAXX folks have apparently received some legitimate offers for the club and are no longer asking for people to contact them to buy the venue. Hopefully something gets worked out soon, because I actually kinda wanna see the Iron Maiden tribute band. According to the venue site, the band will be "perform[ing] a full stage show with Eddie and more!" Awesome.

Jammin' Java
Sat., 3/8: Robbie Fulks

Jammin' Java tickets are available here.

Go Away

My apologies for veering off on a couple of political posts lately, but it's been a long time since any politician, of any party, has pissed me off this much.

Heath Ledger Dead

WTF?

Spinner Roundup

Another installment of "This Week in Spinner"... pretty good stuff this week.

Matt Costa, Unfamiliar Faces
Drive-By Truckers, Brighter Than Creation's Dark (excellent disc, but definitely a grower)
MGMT, Oracular Spectacular
The Whigs, Mission Control (fantastic as expected)
Steve Aoki, Pillowface & His Airplane Chronicles
Super Furry Animals, Hey Venus! (first half is great, second half boring)

In other news, I'm listening to the new Stephen Malkmus disc for the first time right now... it's better than Face the Truth, but that ain't sayin' much.

Edited to add: To be fair, "Gardenia" is a pretty solid track.

Edited to add further: That MGMT album is pretty damn good. Weird and experiment-y, but there's some solid songs in there. Check it out.

Rbally is Back (Again!)

One of my favorite music blogs of all time (i.e., the last 4 years or so) is the great rbally. Although the site disappeared for a little while (a year or so), I'm happy to say that it's back up and running again. And boy is it running... just check out some of the shows Jennings has had in the last few weeks:

Superchunk, 10/10/07 (Richmond, VA)
The Pixies, 6/12/89 (Vienna)
The Replacements, 10/12/94 (CBGB's)
Wilco, 8/22/07 (Oregon) - Part 1
Wilco, 8/22/07 (Oregon) - Part 2

I haven't heard it yet, but I've heard raves about the Wilco set. And I'm downloading the Superchunk set as I write this.

Glad to have ya back, rbally!

Compare and Contrast

Can the Clintons now be quiet over who has the right to invoke Martin Luther King, Jr.'s name and who can't?

Bill Clinton's Take on MLK, Jr. Day


Barack Obama's Take on MLK, Jr. Day

Witches Arise

So I've been ignoring the flood of new Ryan Adams home movies flooding YouTube lately. I wasted a lot of time on all of those 20-second rap, country and metal snippets he posted on his website last year, and haven't really had a whole lot of time to waste on the endeavor recently.

Well, I broke down today and started watching a few of them. They're nothing earth-shattering, of course, but as a long-time Ryan fan, they're definitely worth checking out. Especially his take on mid-80's metal, "Witches Arise". Enjoy.



Then there's also "Black Horses of Death":



I actually would have totally dug this in 1986.

More Important Tips For Living

Dirty On Purpose Videos

In my opinion, one of the most underrated bands going these days is Brooklyn's Dirty On Purpose. I still listen to their 2006 LP, Hallelujah Sirens, on a regular basis, and if I could re-do my 2006 album list, it would almost certainly be in my top 10 (and The Hold Steady would drop to about #8 or so).

The band just released an excellent EP this week called Like Bees, which should hold us over until the band finishes up its 3rd album (reportedly later this year). Like Bees is available for $5.89 over at LaLa.com, or you can download it over at eMusic.

They've also released a video for the EP's first track, "Audience in the Room". Check it out, as well as a couple other of my favorite tracks from the band, below.

"Audience in the Room"


"Light Pollution"


"No Radio"

Shout Out Louds @ Joe's Pub on 3/5 (?)

OK. So I may be a little premature on this, given the fact that we're still in beta mode with Rogomo and all, but I'll say it anyway... I miss New York, and I plan on moving back as soon as humanly possible.

While there are a lot of reasons for this conclusion, one of them certainly is that the quality of the shows that come to New York are consistently so much better than anywhere else (especially DC).

I mean, who would expect that the Shout Out Louds would be playing two nights at Joe's Pub in March? Aren't they big enough to be doing two nights at the Bowery at this point?

Regardless, as the title of this post states, according to Joe's Pub's website, the Shout Out Louds are playing two shows at Joe's Pub on Wednesday, March 5th -- a 9:30pm show and an 11:30pm show. Notably, Tickets.Publictheater.org doesn't reflect these shows, nor are they listed on the band's website, but I find it unlikely that they'd be on the calendar and not be real. Maybe I'm wrong.

Right or wrong, though... I need to move back to New York.

DC Show Update

Forgot to do my weekly DC show update the other day due to illness. Since I can't remember exactly what was new this week, I'm posting just those shows that seem new (and interesting) to me.

9:30 Club
Mon., 3/3: Blind Melon
Fri., 3/7: Sia, Har Mar Superstar
Thu., 3/20: The Gutter Twins
Thu., 4/10: Joe Jackson (on sale 1/25 at 10am)
Mon., 5/12: The Black Keys
Tue., 5/13: The Black Keys

9:30 Club tickets can be purchased via Tickets.com.

Black Cat
Fri., 2/8: Dan Melchior Und Das Menace, The Hall Monitors, The Breakups, Nunchucks
Mon., 2/11: Lissy Rosemont, Rose, Stella Schindler
Fri., 2/29: Apes (CD Release), Kid Congo Powers, Food for Animals
Fri., 3/7: Men (JD and JO of Le Tigre), Hey Willpower, DJ Stereo Faith
Wed., 3/19: The Cribs, Ra Ra Riot, Jeffrey Lewis

Black Cat tickets can be purchased via Ticketmaster.

Rock and Roll Hotel
Sat., 1/25: The Roosevelt, Gary B & the Notions, Kitty Hawk, The Beanstalk Library, Alfonso Velez
Fri., 3/7: Longwave, The Modern Society
Fri., 3/14: Pela
Mon., 3/24: Nicole Atkins and the Sea, The Parlor Mob

Rock and Roll Hotel tickets can be purchased via Ticket Alternative.

Future Clouds and Radar at SXSW

While it should come as no surprise, given that they are an Austin-based band, I just saw over at their website that Future Clouds and Radar will be playing three sets at South By Southwest this year.

Not sure if it's 100% accurate, but the band's site says that they'll be playing on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of SXSW (3/13-15) at 10pm each night.

Given my recent obsession with the band's debut album, I'm pretty excited about this.

Shhhhhhhh

The best SXSW show of the year?

March 13th
Austin Music Hall
My Morning Jacket
Yo La Tengo
The Whigs

I may have to start lining up for this one next week.

Let's Buy JAXX

So, who wants to pool some money and buy JAXX?

It's been a lifelong (well, since 1989) dream of mine to own a club where both Skid Row and Rick Derringer are playing (Friday, March 28 and Saturday, April 26th, respectively). Even better is the list of TBA artists: Sebastian Bach, Bret Michaels and Jackyl.

Ya know, if we own the club, Jackyl just might let us use their chainsaw on stage.

Another Chance to See Tereu Tereu

I'm still upset that I wasn't able to get over to the Black Cat on Monday to catch Tereu Tereu. I'm just now starting to get over this sinus infection (knock on wood), which has caused me to miss them, Blonde Redhead, and tonight's Rosebuds/Drug Rug show (though, to be fair, I'm not sure I'd want to drive there in this weather).

Well, the good news is that I just saw over at the Rock and Roll Hotel's website that Tereu Tereu has been added to the March 8th Jukebox the Ghost show (as have the Modern Skirts). Doesn't look like tickets are on sale at this point, but you can count me in for this one.

Wussy East Coast Dates Finalized

So we finally have locations for all of Wussy's upcoming East Coast dates... I may just have to travel up for that Cake Shop show. It will certainly be better than the Lit Lounge show last year.

Newly announced venues are in italics.

Wussy East Coast Dates (Finalized)
3/13-16: SXSW (Austin) [not really East Coast, but still..]
3/21: Pittsburgh, PA (Bloomfield Bridge Tavern)
3/22: Washington, DC (The Red and The Black)
3/24: Baltimore, MD (Talking Head)
3/25: Philadelphia, PA (Grape Street)
3/26: New York, NY (Cake Shop)
3/28: Boston, MA (P.A.'s Lounge)
3/29: New Haven, CT (Cafe Nine)

If you don't have it yet, you really ought to pick up a copy of the band's new album, Left For Dead. It's only $10.99 here.

Meet The Russians

So I mentioned last week that The Figgs had added Scott Janovitz as the fourth member of the band for the recording of their next album. I also mentioned that Scott had previously been a member of Graham Parker's touring band (along with Mike Gent).

What I didn't mention, however -- because I didn't realize it at the time -- was that Scott is the brother of Buffalo Tom's Bill Janovitz. And Scott has his own band called The Russians, who recently self-released a fantastic 4-song EP. You can stream the entirety of the EP at The Russians' website. I highly recommend that you do so. And while you're at it, spend some time on the band's MySpace page as well. You'll be glad you did.

So now I'm kinda torn. As much as I want a new Figgs album (and tour), I also want to hear more from The Russians. I guess there are worse problems to have...

Edited to add: Here's a direct link to a song from the EP:

The Russians, "Your Only One"

This Warms My Heart

This could of course change, but still... Go Blue!

Edited to add: Final numbers held up. Awesome.

Washtenaw County, Michigan
100% reporting

Uncommitted - 47% (12,992)
Clinton - 44% (12,284)
Kucinich - 9% (2,455)
Dodd - 0% (125)
Gravel - 0% (96)

(Washtenaw County is the home of the University of Michigan, if you were unclear)

Vampire Weekend in DC - Sold Out

Had a feeling this would happen. According to the Rock and Roll Hotel's website, the February 6th Vampire Weekend show is SOLD OUT.

I Try to Get Away, But He Keeps Pulling Me Back In

It looks a hell of a lot like Anchorman and Blades of Glory, but man... I'm definitely gonna have to see it.

Jukebox the Ghost on WOXY Video

This is pretty awesome... WOXY.com and Kevin from Soft City Lights have partnered to produce a fantastic video of Jukebox the Ghost's recent WOXY Lounge Act. The sound is fantastic, the video is great and, as I said the other day, the band's performance was surprisingly (to me) excellent...

Check it out below. Hope there are many more of these down the road.


woxy.com presents Jukebox the Ghost from Soft City Lights on Vimeo.

DC Music Fans Unite!

So there's apparently a movement afoot to try to convince the folks at the Black Cat to move tomorrow night's sold-out Yeasayer/MGMT show from the backroom to the upstairs stage. Can't say I'm planning on going either way (although I did just find out that former Whig Hank Sullivant is touring with MGMT), but I'm all for bands getting the opportunity to play to more people.

Anyway, if you didn't manage to get tickets but think you'd go if the show were moved upstairs, head over to Brightest Young Things for an idea of how best to make your voice heard.

Edited to add: I've been skeptical of MGMT, but their recent performance on Letterman may have convinced me to give them another chance. See below.

April 15 = Taxes and The Little Ones

So there's finally an official U.S. release date for the The Little Ones' debut LP, entitled Morning Tide, and it's April 15th. So right after you click send on your tax return, you can click buy on iTunes. Or something like that.

In preparation for the big day, the band will be supporting Nada Surf for the last two weeks of April. Given that the first date of the tour is in Tempe on March 17th, one would think that there's a solid chance that they'll be in Austin a few days earlier. Hope so, at least.

Little Ones/Nada Surf Tour Dates
3/17 Tempe, AZ Clubhouse Music Venue
3/18 San Diego, CA HOB
3/19 Los Angeles, CA Henry Fonda
3/21 Pomona, CA Glass House
3/22 San Francisco, CA Fillmore
3/25 Sacramento, CA Harlows
3/26 Portland, OR Crystal Ballroom
3/28 Seattle, WA Showbox
3/29 Vancouver, BC Commodore

Oh, and while I've posted it before, here's the video for the band's first single from the album, "Ordinary Song":

Ordinary Song

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Reminder! Tereu Tereu Tonight @ Black Cat

Just a quick reminder that local(ish) boys Tereu Tereu are playing at the Black Cat tonight with Perfect Souvenir and The Bronze Episode. According to the Black Cat's site, show should start at 9pm.

In case you missed it last week, here's Tereu Tereu's brand new video for the song "Hoodwinked! (The Lion/Bear Song)":



Your friendly blogger will be in attendance. Actually, starting to suspect I'm developing a cold or flu or some sort of thing, so consider me iffy.

Spinner Roundup

Been a while since I've done one of these. Given that we're into the new year, the new releases should be picking up over the coming weeks, though, as should Spinner's weekly streams.

It's a short list this week, but a damn fine one if I do say so myself.

Dirty on Purpose, Like Bees EP
Ringo Starr, Liverpool 8
Magnetic Fields, Distortion
The Whigs, Mission Control

Technically the Whigs disc isn't due out until next week, but I'm glad they're putting it up early since my pre-order copy hasn't shown up yet.

New Bob Pollard, "Love Your Spaceman"

So apparently Bob Pollard has a new album entitled Superman Was a Rocker coming out on January 29th. I suppose I knew this, but had completely forgotten about it until I just saw that the lead track from the album is up on Bob's site. Check it out:

Bob Pollard, "Love Your Spaceman"

The song is... ok. And while the description of the album on the Rockathon website makes it sound interesting, we all remember how Bob's previous experiments with pasting vocals on top of instrumentation worked out.

From Rockathon:

Robert Pollard's Superman Was A Rocker is a return to old ways for Bob. This mini-album (13 songs, 30 minutes) finds Bob using recording methods that he hasn't engaged in since the old GBV days.

Bob recently poured through a bunch of old cassette tapes of his and found some great instrumentals that he either wrote or co-wrote, and never used. He decided to go into the studio and put vocals (and melodies!) over them. The music spans a 20+ year period

Due to the span of time and body of work from which the clips were accessed, many of the classic GBV alumni appear on this album; Tobin Sprout, Mitch Mitchell, Kevin Fennell, Doug Gillard, Nate Farley.

This is the most FUN Bob album in year.

Gutter Twins Coming to DC

Awesome, awesome news over at Brookyn Vegan -- The Gutter Twins are headed to DC.

If you're not familiar with the name, the Gutter Twins is the long-gestating project of Greg Dulli (Afghan Whigs, Twilight Singers) and Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees). There's been talk of an album for about five years now, though as far as I know the duo have only performed shows in Europe so far. That's about to change.

They'll be at the 9:30 Club on Thursday, March 20th, and tickets are on sale now.

For a full list of dates, head over to BV.

Figgs News

So maybe I would have known this earlier had I been able to make it up to New York a few weeks ago to see the band as planned, but The Figgs are apparently a 4-piece again. According to their website, Scott Janovitz has joined the band to play keyboards. If you caught Graham Parker on tour this past spring, you would have seen Scott then (along with Mike G. from the Figgs on drums).

The newly re-minted 4-piece will be playing two shows in Boston next month at Church on Friday, 2/29 and Saturday, 3/1. Tickets are on sale now via Ticketweb. They're also apparently working on a new album... awesome.

In other Figgs news, while trolling the Internet the other day I came upon a copy of the band's Christmas Shake 7-inch from way back in 1995. It's just under 8 minutes of rock and roll goodness, including a fantastic cover of The Kinks' "Father Christmas" (which they still play live on occasion).

The Figgs, "Father Christmas"

Oh, and here's the original video (with replacement audio) of the Kinks' version of the song:

Best T-Shirt Ever

Buy it here.

Birdmonster Playing SXSW!

If you had any doubts about whether you should be going to South by Southwest this year, those doubts should now be gone. According to the band's MySpace page, Birdmonster will be playing two sets at SXSW in March, on Wednesday, 3/12 and Saturday, 3/15. If I had to guess, there's probably a good chance they'll fit in one or two more sets while they're in town, but that's purely speculation on my part.

Oh, and if you happen to be in San Antonio on March 11th, you're obligated as a human being to catch Birdmonster play with The Whigs and The Spinto Band at Rockbottom.

I can't tell you how awesome it is that three of my favorite young bands - Birdmonster, The Broken West and The Whigs - keep finding ways to do shows together. Now if we could just get all three of them together for a show here in DC...

It's Like I'm Back in 4th Grade

Thanks to Popdose's Name That Tune game for reminding me of Scandal. These songs were on the radio (and MTV) constantly back in the day. And I still find myself digging them more than 20 years later.

Eugene Mirman is the Best Political Team on Television

Great video from comedian Eugene Mirman over at Brooklyn Vegan today. Eugene was in New Hampshire for the primaries this past week and shares his opinions on Mitt Romney, Chuck Norris and the Huckaburger.

Two More New DC Shows

I'd normally just add these to the weekly DC Show Update post, but both of them are interesting enough to merit though own post.

Sat., 3/8: Jukebox the Ghost, Modern Skirts (Rock and Roll Hotel)
Fri., 3/14: Pela (Rock and Roll Hotel)

Sadly, the Pela show falls during SXSW, so I'll miss it -- I also assume that it means the band will not be in Austin. Too bad.

As for the Jukebox the Ghost show, I'm not a particular fan of the band, and I in fact really dislike their single, "Good Day". However, their Lounge Act on WOXY yesterday was really good, and has me re-thinking my approach to the band. Hear the set for yourself here.

Oh, and speaking of WOXY Lounge Acts, there's some good ones coming up:

1/16: Mason Proper, 3pm
1/23: De Novo Dahl, 4:30pm
1/30: Ra Ra riot, 7:30pm
3/20: Mussels, 4pm

Video - The Clean at Other Music

Still pissed that I wasn't able to see any of the band's recent shows. Thanks to Matt for pointing out that this was up on the Other Music site:



Any chance of a SXSW show, fellas?

Parts & Labor at SXSW

This just made my night. According to the band's tour schedule listed over at Tiny Mix Tapes, Parts & Labor will be making an appearance at this year's South by Southwest festival.

Let the ass-kicking commence.

More Robert Harrison Goodness

I'm still spending about half of my time listening to Robert Harrison these days... both Cotton Mather and Future Clouds and Radar. So I was thrilled to see over at Stereogum that FCAR have a new video for the song "Dr. No". While it's not among my absolute favorites on the album, it's still a cool song, and an even cooler video. It's also a stark reminder that I simply have not done enough drugs in my life.

Two Great Upcoming DC Shows

Two shows that I keep meaning to post about. I can't recommend either one highly enough.

First up, the excellent Tereu Tereu is playing their first headlining show in DC this coming Monday at the Black Cat. Perfect Souvenir and Bronze Episode are opening. Check out their brand new video:



The second show is still more than a month away, but I just noticed that it made it onto the DC9 schedule -- The Jet Age is playing a CD Release Party at DC9 on Sunday, February 24th. J. Forte and the Secret Pop Band are opening. I hope to have an MP3 track from The Jet Age's excellent new album, What Did You Do During the War, Daddy?, soon...

The Figgs Own Green Bay Morning TV

The Figgs just played a series of shows in Green Bay. While they were there, they made an appearance on the local NBC affiliate's morning show and played a few songs. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, you can see all three performances on YouTube. (Thanks to Sal C for pointing this out!)

"Waiting for the Sun to Rise"


Sadly, the other two songs aren't embeddable, so check them out here:

"Follow Jean Through the Sea"
"Something's Wrong"

DC Show Update

9:30 Club
Fri., 4/11: Hot Chip, Free Blood

Hot Chip tickets go on sale this Saturday, 1/12 at 10am via Tickets.com. Tickets also went on sale this morning for both Wilco shows (2/26 and 2/27), The Hives with The Donnas (3/8), and night #2 of The Pogues (3/10).

Black Cat
Tue., 1/29: Knyfe Hyts
Sat., 2/2: Emily King & Franklin Bridge
Sun., 2/3: Dennis Kane, Georgio 'The Dove' Valentino, Cigarbox Planetarium
Wed., 2/6: Matthew Santos [n.b., Ticketmaster says 3/6]
Sun., 2/17: Death by Sexy, Fishnet Stalkers, Luxury Pushers
Tue., 2/19: Black & White Jacksons, Wild Fictions, Cannot be Stopped
Sat., 3/22: The Mountain Goats, The Moaners
Thu., 4/17: Autechre, Massonix, Rob Hall, DJ Parsons

Tickets for Black Cat shows are sold via Ticketmaster. All shows listed above go on sale this Friday, 1/11 at 5pm.

DC9
Thu., 1/31: Robbers on High Street

Tickets for the ROHS show are now on sale via eTix.

Iota
Sat., 1/26: J Roddy Walston and the Business, The Old Ceremony
Thu., 2/21: Headlights, Evangelicals

Iota tickets are sold at the door only.

The Red and The Black
Wed., 2/6: Mason Proper, Via Audio

Tickets for shows at The Red and The Black are sold at the door.

Rock and Roll Hotel
Mon., 3/24: Nicole Atkins and the Sea, The Parlor Mob
Sun., 3/30: Caribou, F*ck Buttons
Fri., 4/4: Beach House, Papercuts
Sat., 4/5: The Dirtbombs, Kelly Stoltz

Tickets for Rock and Roll Hotel shows are sold via Ticket Alternative. All shows above go on sale this Friday, 1/11 at 10am, except for the Nicole Atkins show, which goes on sale next Friday, 1/18 at 10am.

Sixth and I Historic Synagogue
Sat., 2/2: Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter

Tickets for the Ian Black/Showalter show are on sale now via Ticketmaster. I had no idea.

The State Theatre
Thu., 3/27: Roger Clyne and the Pacemakers (a favorite of Heather's)
Sun., 6/15: Dickey Betts and Great Southern

Tickets for State Theatre shows go on sale via the venue's website. There is no on sale date for the Dickey Betts show yet.

Random News

The new year seems to be bringing a decent amount of music news and new music. It's been a slow few months, so it's good to see 2008 getting off to a quick start. Here's a quick rundown of several recent news items that interest me.

- New York-based Insound.com has been acquired by the Alternative Distribution Alliance, an independent distributor owned by WMG. The site will continue to be run by founder Matt Wishnow, so hopefully it will remain the high-quality indie destination that it's been for the better part of the last decade.

- Merge Records has a busy Spring ahead of it with new releases from Destroyer as well as two recent signings, Wye Oak and Radar Bros. The label is streaming music from all three bands now:

Destroyer, "Foam Hands"
Radar Bros., "Warm Rising Sun" (you can stream the entire album at Merge's home page)
Wye Oak, "Warning"

- Another SXSW band -- The Black Crowes. Given the show I saw them put on in New Jersey last year, I think it's safe to say that I can skip this, and that this show (taking place at Stubb's) should help draw a bunch of people away from other shows going on simultaneously. Works for me.

Oh, and Product Shop points out that a new Crowes song called "Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution" is streaming at the band's website. It's actually pretty damn good.

- Rogue Wave are playing the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson tomorrow night (Tues., 1/8). They also have a new Daytrotter Session up for download. Also be sure to check out recent Daytrotter sessions from Papercuts and Oakley Hall.

- Finally, my friend Matt recently pointed out that The Broken West have a blog. It hasn't been updated in a few weeks, but it's well worth keeping an eye on.

More SXSW Confirmations

Today's update of artists that interest me, via Austinist:

The Black Keys
Daryl Hall (no Oates?)
Frightened Rabbit
Justin Townes Earle
My Morning Jacket (excellent)

New Speedo Demo!

As I mentioned a while ago, the legendary John Reis (Rocket From The Crypt, Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes, The Sultans) has a new band called Speedo. Well, thanks to one of the enterprising members of the 9:30 Club message boards, I finally have a link to listen to some music from the band. No idea what the song is called, but I like it. A lot.

Speedo, Unknown Demo

New (??) Silversun Pickups Video

For all I know, this video may have been released a while ago, but it's the first time I've seen it. Pretty unspectacular, but still a great song (from a great album).

Whigs Attack!

"Right Hand On My Heart" (from the forthcoming Mission Control)

No DC date. Fu**! Guess I'm drivin' to Batimore. (And that March scheduling sure suggests a SXSW appearance to me.)

Letterman!!

New Whigs Tour Dates

1/28: LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN
1/30: Local 506 w/ the Sammies and Bull City Chapel Hill, North Carolina
1/31: 8 x 10 w/ the Spinto Band & Plants and Animals Baltimore, Maryland
2/1: Music Hall of Williamsburg w/ Spinto Band & Plants and Animals Brooklyn, New York
2/2: Johnny Brenda’s with Spinto Band & Plants and Animals Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2/4: The Mohawk with Handsome Jack and Johnny Nobody Buffalo, New York
2/5: Horseshoe (small room) Toronto, Ontario
2/6: Crofoot (small room) Pontiac, Michigan
2/7: Madhatter Cincinnati, Ohio
2/8: Grog Shop Cleveland, Ohio
2/9: Schubas Chicago, Illinois
2/12: Varsity Minneapolis, Minnesota
2/13: The Majestic Madison, Wisconsin
2/14: Creepy Crawl w/ WAX FANG St. Louis, Missouri
2/15: Birdy’s w/ WAX FANG Indianapolis, Indiana
2/16: Rave Bar w/ WAX FANG Milwaukee, Wisconsin
2/22: Majestic Fayetteville, Arkansas
2/23: Mercy Lounge w/ Spinto Band Nashville, Tennessee
2/26: Grey Eagle w/ the Spinto Band & the Sammies Asheville, North Carolina
2/27: The Visulite w/ Spinto Band Charlotte, North Carolina
2/28: TBA w/ Spinto Band Charlottesville, Virginia
3/1: The Dame with Wax Fang & Spinto Band Lexington, Kentucky
3/4: Waiting Room w/ Spinto Band Omaha, Nebraska
3/6: Larimer Lounge w/ Spinto Band Denver, Colorado
3/7: TBA w/ Spinto Band Colorado Springs, Colorado
3/9: Launchpad w/ Spinto Band Albuquerque, New Mexico
3/11: TBA w/ Spinto Band San Antonio, Texas

Robert Harrison, Genius

How exactly did I manage to completely miss Cotton Mather in the 90's? I'm only discovering them now because their frontman, Robert Harrison, is also the brains behind Future Clouds and Radar, a band that I still can't stop talking about (or listening to).

Better late than never, I guess, but jeez... It makes me wonder what else I've missed over the last decade.

"Password"
"She's Only Cool"

Both songs are from Cotton Mather's incredible 1997 album Kon Tiki, which sadly appears to only be available on the secondary market.

The Wire Returns

Just a reminder -- television's best show (ever?), The Wire, returns this Sunday on HBO at 9pm. Even if you've never seen it before, I can't recommend strongly enough that you check it out. This is sadly the show's final season, and it's guaranteed that some serious shit's gonna go down.

Plus, if you were a Homicide fan like me, you'll be please to know that Clark Johnson (Det. Meldrick Lewis) has a prominent role this season.

More SXSW Announcements

Just checked out the list over at Done Waiting and Austinist and it looks like the SXSW lineup is slowly starting to fill out. In addition to the recent R.E.M. and Wussy confirmations, here's a few of the other artists that interest me:

A Place to Bury Strangers
Bon Iver
The Breeders
Dead Confederate
Mason Proper
The Raveonettes
Southeast Engine
Times New Viking
Vampire Weekend

I'm sure there will be many, many more in the coming weeks.

The Next Kevin Smith Movie

Back in the day I was a huuuuge Kevin Smith fan. These days, I still like his movies, but can't say he's done anything truly interesting since Chasing Amy. That said, I just noticed a write-up for his new movie over at IMDB and it sounds pretty good, especially in light of the cast:

Lifelong platonic friends Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) look to solve their respective cashflow problems by making an adult film together. As the cameras roll, however, the duo begin to sense that they may have more feelings for each other than they previously thought.

The movie also stars Jason Mewes, Jeff Anderson, and Jim Norton (although he's not confirmed yet). Filming starts next week. Sounds like a potential winner to me.

Less of a sure thing, though still interesting, is Smith's second project in development, Red State, which is described as "A horror film in which a group of misfits encounter fundamentalism gone to the extreme in Middle America." This one apparently will star Smith himself, Jason Mewes and Jeff Anderson.

Pre-Order The Whigs' Mission Control!

Just saw over at the band's website that you can pre-order the new Whigs album Mission Control. In fact, you have 2 options:

(1) you can preorder the CD for $9.99 from Insound. The CD comes with a 7" vinyl single of the song "Like a Vibration" and the non-album single "That's a Lot to Live Up To".

(2) you can order the LP for $12.99 from Insound. The LP comes with a free CD of the album as well (no case or art, though), as well as the 7" "Like a Vibration" single.

I haven't heard a bad song from the disc yet, and I can't wait to have this sucker in my hands.

REM Playing SXSW

Yay!

Confirmation via Brooklyn Vegan via Austin 360:

R.E.M. is confirmed for this year’s SXSW, playing one of only a handful of American dates before its 14th album, “Accelerate,” arrives on April 1 and the band launches a larger tour later in the year. Word has it that, per the album title, the record will be a return to faster songs.

The band last played Austin in 2003 as an Austin City Limits Music Festival headliner.

More Future Clouds and Radar

"Build Havana"


"Green Mountain Clover"


"Holy Janet Comes on Waves

Random Thoughts From Ireland

I drafted most of this while in Ireland a few days ago. I would have posted it then, but my hotel's Internet conveniently went down and I didn't feel like wasting valuable vacation time in an Internet cafe blogging. Call me crazy.

Various Random Thoughts From Ireland

Delta Airlines can suck it. I should have known I was going to have a problem with Delta as soon as I got on the plane. They had us on an older 767 without personal video screens at each seat (I flew coach), and we were forced to watch the tiny little screens they have hanging from the ceiling every ten feet or so. Even worse, Delta had chosen the absolute worst movies on the face of the earth. On the flight to Dublin, our movies included Stardust and Mr. Bean's Holiday. I didn't bother to watch either. On the way home, we got Hairspray (awful), No Reservations (everyone in this movie should be shot), and 80% of Transformers (surprisingly watchable, though perhaps only due to its company). And by 80% I mean that they for some reason decided to start a 2.5 hour movie with only 2 hours or so left in the flight. Smart.

And before you think that I'm telling Delta to "suck it" merely due to the movies -- which, frankly, would be justified -- they also managed to misplace my luggage and get it to me 2 and a half days into my 4 day trip. Thanks, Delta!

The National should be breathing a sigh of relief. While boycotting Delta's in-flight "entertainment" on the way to Dublin, I listened to Future Clouds and Radar's self-titled album three times. I've been listening to it off and on for a few weeks now, but this was the first time I've really connected with it. And, I gotta say, it's quickly become one of my favorite albums of 2007. It needs an editor, and several songs could easily be cut (those songs likely would keep the album from eclipsing Boxer, but it would still be close), but it's a spectacular album that has quickly become a "defining" album for me -- i.e., an album that I'll forever equate with my Dublin trip and, even more, with Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood which I was reading at the time (more below).

If you do nothing else over the next few days, you need to hear these songs: "Hurricane Judy", "Drugstore Bust", "Holy Janet Comes on Waves", "Our Time", "Green Mountain Clover", "Build Havana", "Back Seat Silver Jet Sighter", "The Great Escape", "Altitude", "Christmas Day 1923" and "Wake". There are 27 songs on the double disc overall, and 20+ of them are excellent, but these are the best (IMO).

"Drugstore Bust"
"Back Seat Silver Jet Sighter"

Buy the damn thing.

I'm weak-willed, and that's OK. Although I promised myself I would stop reading Haruki Murakami books for a while, I ended up reading two more over my trips -- Norwegian Wood and South of the Border, West of the Sun. Both books eschew Murakami's more meta-physical weirdness (which I love) in favor of slightly more conventional love stories. But conventional love stories they are not, especially Norwegian Wood -- if you're ever looking for a book that will absolutely rip out your heart and stomp on it, this is the one. And, as I said, the Future Clouds and Radar disc was an uncannily good accompaniment to the book (for more reasons than one).

I love Ireland. This was my second time in Ireland and I'm already looking forward to my third. The country is beautiful; Dublin is a great, exciting town; the people are amazingly friendly; and the Guinness tastes better there. If I could figure out a way to live there for a few months, I'd do it.The only downside? My favorite little bakery, Panem, was on two-week holiday. Dammit.

Everyone involved in No Reservations should be shot. Yeah, I know I said it already, but it deserves another mention. Just an awful, predictable, cloying, piece of crap.

Irish venues are even bigger liars than American venues. I have no complaints about Vicar Street as a music venue - in fact, it's pretty damn nice (if a little sterile). But how is it possible to list a show as 7:30 doors, 8:30 show, and not list an opener, and then tell people at the door that there's an opening band that will go on at 9:30 and the main act won't be on until 11:15? As a result, many people (myself included) ended up sitting around from 7:30-ish until 11:15 waiting for the Frames. There was plenty of Guinness, so it was actually ok, but still - a little more info up front would be appreciated.

Don't buy Euros at the Atlanta airport. Atlanta sold me Euros for $1.66 each. I didn't buy many. The currency shop across from my hotel in Dublin sold me Euros for $1.56 each. Another reason I like the Irish.

The Frames are awesome. But more about that later.

More Ra Ra Riot Tour Dates

Just saw over at Filter that Ra Ra Riot have scheduled a couple of weeks of shows at the end of the month and into February. I missed their show in D.C. last month, so I'm hoping that they either swing back through town (unlikely) or play SXSW in March (more likely).

The band's still-untitled debut LP, which was produced by Ryan Dadlock (Stephen Malkmus, Blonde Redhead), is due out sometime in the early part of the year.

Ra Ra Riot Tour Dates
1/24 New London, CT - The Oasis
1/25 Montreal, PQ - Casa Del Popolo
1/26 Toronto, ON - El Mocambo
1/27 Buffalo, NY - The Mohawk
1/28 Pontiac, MI - The Crofott
1/29 Toledo, OH - Frankie's
1/30 Cincinnati, OH - WOXY Studio
1/31 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
2/1 Chicago, IL - Schuba's
2/2 Madison, WI - Club 770
2/3 Rock Island, IL - Huckleberry's Pizza Parlor
2/5 Pittsburg, PA - Garfield Artworks

DC Show Update

Updates are in ITALICS

It's been a few weeks since I've done a proper update, so this week's post will list some shows which are already on sale and some which aren't. Shows that are already on sale are listed as such. As always, I've bolded shows that I find particularly interesting.

9:30 Club
Thu., 2/7: Marah, Adam and Dave's Bloodline (on sale)
Sun., 3/9: The Pogues (on sale)
Fri., 2/22: Will Hoge and Jason Isbell (on sale)
Fri., 3/28: Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
Sat., 4/12: Hot Chip

Tickets for 9:30 Club shows are available via Tickets.com. The only new show on the schedule is Hot Chip, which goes on sale next Thursday, 1/10, at 10am.

Thanks to Brooklyn Vegan for the Malkmus info. No word as to on-sale yet. Unless this new album is significantly better than the last 3, I'll be skipping this show.

The Black Cat
Tue., 1/15: Vandaveer, Bottle Up and Go
Tue., 1/29: Knyfe Hyts
Thu., 2/14: Problems, Partyline, Each Other's Mothers
Sun., 2/17: Death by Sexy, Fishnet Stalkers, Luxury Pushers
Sat., 2/23: Daniel Johnston (on sale)
Fri., 3/21: Le Loup, Bodies of Water
Sat., 3/22: The Mountain Goats, The Moaners
Tue., 3/25: Blitzen Trapper, Fleet Foxes (on sale)

Black Cat tickets are available via Ticketmaster. All new shows listed here go on sale on Friday, 1/11 at 5pm.

DC9
Wed., 3/19: The Most Serene Republic, Miracle Fortress, Liam Finn

Tickets for DC9 shows are sold at the door. I'll say this once, and probably several more times before 3/19 -- DON'T MISS MIRACLE FORTRESS.

Rock and Roll Hotel
Wed., 1/9: 1900's, The Positions (on sale)
Tue., 2/19: Black Mountain, Bon Iver
Wed., 3/19: Sons and Daughter, A Place to Bury Strangers (on sale)
Fri., 4/4: Beach House, Papercuts
Sat., 4/5: The Dirtbombs, Kelly Stoltz

Tickets for Rock and Roll Hotel shows are sold via Ticket Alternative. The Black Mountain/Bon Iver show goes on sale this Friday, while the other shows not already on sale are available on 1/11.

Back in Action

Just got back home a little while ago and should be up and blogging by tomorrow. Lots to talk about, including the fantastic new Jet Age album, What Did You Do During the War, Daddy?, which I just listened to for the first time.

Until then, a few pictures... and I'm gonna sleep.