Moveable Hype 4.0

Now that the Vicious Birthday shows are over, the next NYC showcase, Moveable Hype 4.0, has been announced for Monday August 22 at the Knitting Factory.

Are you in a rock band that doesn't completely suck? Then send an email to Jen since they are considering the line-up.

I'm trying to think who I'd like to see on the bill. I wouldn't mind seeing Head Set, or even Bit Shifter, who would be awesome between sets or as an opener.

Bit Shifter plays tonight at the Knitting Factory Old Office. I highly recommend checking him out. Need proof? He has two new tracks up for download. Both are killer:

Particle Change (mp3) (my new favorite song)
Bad Surge (mp3)

More?:
March of the Nucleotides (mp3)
Science City Zero (mp3)

Last Minute Charles Bissell show Tonight

I got an email from Kathryn yesterday about Charles Bissell of the Wrens playing a solo show tonight at Maxwell’s. I’d love to go, but I can’t make it. Hopefully you can, and tell me all about it. Pictured: Charles Lindberg and Emily Bissell, not Charles Bissell... or else he'd be really really old.


NEW LONDON FIRE (Feat. Members of Sleep
Station)-12:00
THE VALLEY ARENA (on Astro Magnetics) - 11:00
THE FINALS - 10:15
THE VELOCET - 9:30
CHARLES BISSELL of THE WRENS (solo) - 9:00

Reviews: Ben Harper at Irving Plaza, Citizen Cope

Ben Harper played at Irving Plaza Wednesday night. I have a picture of the show on my phone, but it sucks. This one, crossing the bridge on the Q-train right before the show is better, but still completely washes out the colors of the sky. It was on FIRE.

Ok, Ben Harper: although he is not my favorite performer, I do like him and I figured I’d pay the highest concert ticket price of the year ($37) to see this guy play in one of the smallest venues he’ll ever play.

Tom Freund opened, and was a male version of Joanna Newsom, but on a string bass instead of harp. His songs had a ‘blues’ quality that worked well for the complex task of singing along to bass-lines. He actually sounded a lot like Mike Doughty (formerly of Soul Coughing). On bass he even had the complex rhythms that makes Doughty interesting. When Freund played guitar, he did not maintain the uniqueness of the bass compositions.

Harper came on with the Innocent Criminals and played great. I expected the crowd to be excited and express it through dancing. Instead, they stood still.

Now I know why: endurance. After a full set with the band, he played a full set solo. (That’s when I stared to wear down.) Then he played another full set with the band again.

All of the Innocent Criminals played like they were worth the higher ticket fee. So although the show itself didn't match buck for buck most Indie groups I see, seeing such talent made it worth the extra dough. Plus, they played over two and a half hours. No complaints, even though I was exhausted by the end.

I saw Citizen Cope play a couple weeks ago at Summerstage. I’ll just summarize: when he is good, he is oh so good, and when he’s not, well, he’s boring. I still like his album, but a lot of his songs just aren’t interesting as a live performance. This was highlighted by the fact that every time he played a good song and the crowd was really into it, he killed the energy by slow-ow-ow-ing it down. Although he was an opener for the Blind Boys of Alabama, he still played no less than three songs for an encore.

I guess my love affair with his music has officially ended.

Picture of Cope courtesy of Lifes Rich Pageant.

A Slice of Americana.

If you listen to one thing today, make it this: "Ralph and Donald" (mp3) “Ralph Tremonte and Donald Weiss, who spent their childhood together in a psychiatric hospital, are reunited after 40 years.”

Via StoryCorps, who have the great task of recording American Oral History.
Listen to it. It’s short. Trust me.

Bilingual at the ATM

I love a friendly ATM. They are so polite. “How may I serve you?” they say. “Have a nice day” they say. Occassionally, I find the interface quite intriguing. Such was the case recently when I stopped by a Citibank ATM.

As you all know, ATMs are like Popes: they speak many languages. Perhaps you have too have tried to use an ATM to brush up on your French. Unfortunately, just when you think you’ve used an ATM so many times that you can do it blindfolded, or bilingual, doubt creeps into your mind.

One time while using Russian, of which I proudly don’t know a single word, I got an error message of some kind. This made me panic, until I realized I had simlpy attempted to use an ATM in Russian. It thankfully wouldn’t let me.

An ATM in Italy once told me, in English, “Your receipt cannot be printed. Nevertheless this transaction has ended.” I was very impressed. They use “nevertheless” where I wouldn’t even THOUGHT of it.

So, it was as it is the other day at a local ATM, the one at Citibank (I should get $.05 every time I mention them), the ATM had several language options but were phrased, all in English, like this:
Press Here if you want to speak English
Press Here if you want to speak Spanish
Press Here if you want to speak French… on so on.

Needless to say, I pressed them all.

I am nevertheless now fluent several languages.*



*at least when I'm drunk.

Review: Alec Ounsworth, Head Set, Harlem Shakes

Although last night’s show was sold out, Pianos sold $5 tickets for the early half of the night so that people could see the first three acts. Alec Ounsworth -who sounds a lot like the guy from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah opened up, and while he may be able to sell out larger venues with his band, solo there were 15 at the beginning of his set and about 40 by the end. He didn’t play anything familiar, which did not surprise me, and went through several folk songs that I liked a lot. He mentioned making an album – I assume it would be a solo/folk type project; sorry Pitchfork.

I think I like his music so much because he does have that folk background. While my friends were listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers in High School and College, I was listening to Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. That’s why I had no friends. “C’mon guys let’s sing ‘Guantanamera!’”

I still get Seeger’s version of “Skip to My Lou” stuck in my head form time to time. Not cool.

After his set, I walked to the front where they had just put on the Clap Your Hands album. I went upstairs to see the last bit of Cross-Pollination which was a very entertaining interlude before the next act downstairs (it was like a mini-festival!). The drummer played a drum-set, but centered around a djembe, not a snare. Watching him pound on the cymbals with his bare hands was interesting. But two songs later, they were done.

Downstairs, this band called Head Set started. I’ve never heard them mentioned anywhere yet, and usually I’m last on the block to hear of someone. I’m not sure if it was because I was expecting a pretty crappy band, or they were in fact pretty awesome, but I was impressed. Very entertaining to watch, and very fun without knowing any of the music. I picked up their demo, but haven’t ripped it yet. If it’s worth sharing, I’ll post it. They have an album coming out eventually. They remind me of what I would think the Bravery would be if the Bravery didn’t suck.

The oddest thing about the show was the lack of indie-rock, hipsters, or other bloggers (I absolve myself of this scene because I dress like I just arrived from Michigan or something). The crowd was more diverse than I had seen in a while, and marked most notably by the number of girls, er… women… in the crowd. Guys, listen up. Remember Head Set, and get Set for some… eh, nevermind.

The Harlem Shakes were next. I’ve listened to them, and it was growing on me. Then , about two days ago, it got boring pretty fast, except for “A Night” which still rocks.

As live performers, they aren’t all that fantastic, with one notable exception: the Bass Player. That bass player somehow escaped from the Arcade Fire… or rather, maybe he rocked out too much for the AF and they had to drop him. Rarely have I seen a performer, especially on bass, rock so hard. Awesome awesome awesome. I almost have a man-crush on that kid. He rocked.

So, although I think the Harlem Shakes aren’t all that cracked up as I thought they’d be, no one told this fact to the crowd. What the FUCK was going on last night? The audience was insane! They were partly moshing, partly trying to launch themselves into outer space, and partly recreating the dream sequence from “Fiddler on the Roof”. I’m still a little stunned by it. Not that I mind them having a blast, but in comparison with other groups that may be better and the crowd stands comatose, I wondered why tonight and why them.

Why can’t those kids come to every show? They would definitely be on every guest-list if I was a promoter.

The band had a blast, the crowd had more of a blast, and I had a blast watching the whole thing.

'Androgynous' / Videos, But Not Androgynous Videos. Not Today.

If you type in “androgynous” into Google to define the first definition that they give states, and I quote, “having the antheridium and oogonium on the same hypha. cf. diclinous, monoclinous.”

Good. That’s exactly what I had.

In other news:
The MTV VMA nominees were announced. These weren’t among them:

1. The Eels “Hey Man (Now You’re Really Living)” (mov – 25.3 MB) I love this song, and this video is endearing. More Eels Videos here.

2. The Decemberists “16 Military Wives” (link) or (bittorrent) or (30sec HP commercial)

Videos previously featured on this site:

3. Jens Lekman “You are the Light” (a classic) (Mpg)

4. The Cribs “Mirror Kissers” Currently one of my favorite songs, and a good video to boot. (16 Mb) or (3.5 Mb)

5. Kidz Bop “Since U Been Gone” (mov)

Harlem Shakes will Play On.

According to the Harlem Shakes website, they will in fact be playing tonight at Pianos despite their guitarist having a Vespa crash last week. They’ll be playing with their former guitarist after rehearsing all week to bring him up to date. They say their previous shows were “sold-out”, but sometimes bands just say things like that (W.A.S. has a history of similar cute exaggerations).

There is no more mention on Alec Ounsworth playing tonight, although currently he is still listed on the Pianos calendar. Someone should ‘stick with the story’.

Download the Harlem Shakes new 4 song demo here (zip) (what I posted a few weeks ago)

Download their old 2 song demo here:
“Disco 5000” (zip)
“White Note” (zip)

Supercuts aren't all that Super. But they sure ARE cheap!

(I originally posted this two months ago at my defunct blog. Since I got another haircut, I thought I'd repost)

For those of you that do no have access to my web cam (link not suitable for work), or haven't watched Entertainment Tonight ever since John Tesh died, you may not have noticed I had a haircut.

So fucking what, Jer? That's not news to blog about. Well, when you are like me, lazy and apathetic, then this only happens a handful times a year, just like the Victoria Secret's Semi Annual Sale (always suitable for work). To be honest, my haircuts come about four times a year, indepedent of the fiscal earning reports of any corporation, I swear.

My most recent haircut went like this:
"How much do you want cut off?"
I panic. I know I'm an "architect" but when it comes to dimensions of follicles, I'm clueless. General Contractors barely follow feet and inches, let alone anything less. In addition, an inch of hair means nothing when you are a guy. I might as well say a foot. Luckily the hairdresser gives me an option. "Is this ok?"

I say yes. Why? Because she's a professional. If anyone knows anything, she would. She starts cutting. A few minutes later, she pauses, and asks, "Are you sure you don't want it shorter?" At this point I really don't know. But I'm not about to disagree with my hairdresser. They have licenses. Supercuts doesn't just let anyone cut hair.

So, I say, yes. Cut more. Cut more of my beautiful locks and sprinkle it at my feet and under my shirt. Well, she must have viewed this second approval as free domain to cut at-will. Everytime she "evened" it out, my hair got shorter and shorter. I closed my eyes, and pretended not to notice.

When it was done, I didn't look at the final result even though I had to pretend. And when she showed me the back, via the double mirror, I say "fine." Maybe I should be more enthusiastic if I'm happy. "Holy fuck I look good! You did that? WOW! Good job! Can I hug you?"
Except I'd probably be expected to tip more. If I appear just barely satisfied, which I was, I'm allowed to tip poorly. Just some free advice in case you are up for a trim soon.

If only this thing was a little bit cheaper.

Ticket Update: What's Selling Out.

I've always wanted to create some sort of index that would predict how fast concerts would sell out. I feel I have a pretty good instinct. Here are some recent figures to keep in mind when judging future shows:

Bloc Party sold out the 3500 capacity Roseland Ballroom in three days.

Sufjan Stevens took several weeks to sell out it's first show at Bowery Ballroom (capacity approx. 550), followed shortly by the second show. The third show sold out fastest in terms of when tickets when on sale (Sold out by Last Friday). (In contrast, the Shins third Webster Hall show in April was slowest of the three with tickets lasting all through the night). Aren't you glad S.S. is doing 3 smaller shows instead of one at Webster Hall (capacity over 1,000)?

The National was on sale for a bit, but eventually sold out Bowery Ballroom days after CYHSY was officially added. Warsaw tickets remain. The National also recently sold out two nights at the Mercury Lounge (capacity approx. 250).

The Decemberists will have a job selling out two nights at Webster Hall. I think the New Pornographers will be more successful at the same task that same month, especially since Twin Cinema is still yet to be officially released.

"Let me buy you a drink"

Random Monday Links

- Don’t like paying for drinks? Aren’t a hot blonde chick trying to screw over guys? Then try this: My Open Bar. Lists all the free drinking on New York that a liver can handle. This is the best thing anyone has every done on the internet. Ever.

- Ever listen to NPR? Me neither, although I pretend to be sophisticated. I hear good things about Ira Glass’s “This American Life”, but I’m too lazy to listen to it on the radio or find a stream off the web. So here are archived Podcasts of the program, dating back to 1995.

The Diggs: NYC's Newest Kept-Secret?

The Diggs, (picture via Jordan Hoffman from a different show)

Download:
The Diggs - Just like you Said (mp3) from “Parahora” (unavailble?)
The Diggs – Stagg (mp3)

Check out iTunes for 2 more tracks (both recommended)

Friday night was one of those nights when your higher-paid coworkers chose the bar, which just happens to be the roof-top of a mid-town hotel with a view of the Empire State Building two blocks away. Since I have moths in my pockets, I only had one beer while I watched the others grow increasingly talkative. I finally left when I could bear my sobriety no longer and met up Angela for some dinner. After a bottle of wine that we ‘shared’, I was much much happier. I can justify a $20 bottle of wine way faster than a $7 Corona.

Ang and I made our way to the Cake Shop, which is most notable for having a fantastic coffee aroma upstairs, and a nice basement set-up downstairs. Compared to other basement venues in NYC (Crash Mansion, Knitting Factory Old Office, Northsix), Cake Shop has them all beat; it’s not just intimate because it’s small, but also because it’s quite cozy. And there is no greater smell leaving a venue than that of roasted coffee. Mmmmmm.

The Diggs opened their set with “Trouble Everyday”, a great opener that begins kind-of atmospherically, builds in intensity as it progresses, and finally returns to it’s original diminished state. I hear resemblances of the Wrens in this song, but Angela, who has been a longer Wrens fan than I, disagreed. I still hear it.

They followed with a few songs unknown to me that didn’t come off nearly as strong –not because I didn’t know them, but because the vocals were lost in the arrangement, a characteristic of many amateurish bands. This wasn’t their fault, but actually our own, since we were stupid to think we could sit to the side of the stage and the balance would remain the same. When they played "Stagg" I knew for certain we had screwed ourselves, and so we moved to a different part of the room that had more vocals coming through; it corrected the problem.

The only reason I bring it up at all is to warn you that if you ever go to Cake Shop, don’t sit on the couch to the side of the stage no matter how comfortable it looks; it’s not worth the sacrifice in sound.

"Stagg" worked well, although of the three on their EP “Orange”, it is shadowed by the other two. They followed it with my favorite song “Just Like You Say”, and closed with another song I hadn’t heard.

I’ve been really really liking the Orange EP. It’s the type of music that didn’t make an immediate impression, but the more I listen to it, the more I feel like listening to it once again. The vocals are refreshingly not distractive from the songwriting. In fact, they aren’t overly distinctive at all, and it works great with their sound.

They are not quite the heirs of ‘emo’, since I find most emo quite static, but I could see them attracting the same crowd at their shows. I think I’ll stick with my assessment that they sound like the Wrens's “The House that Guilt Built” or “Happy”.

As a fairly new band, I think they might just be one of New York’s best-kept secrets*. With only a handful of songs at the moment, it’s too early to see what will happen, though, if an album can maintain what they achieve on their EP, they will do well.

Try to catch them at their residency at Sin-e, Thursdays from Aug. 18- Sept. 1, and Friday September 9th.

*We Are Scientists and CYHSY were formerly of this title, but the cat’s been let out of the bag for them, for the better of course.

New Design. Real Posts to come

I've been busy working out the bugs of this new design. I'll try to have a real post later today about the Diggs, the Juan Maclean and more.

In the meantime, Bloc Party announced that their remix CD will be released in the US on September 13th.

After grabbing these 4 mp3's from So Much Silence, I nearly have them all... I'm pretty remixed-out.

Treasure Trove of Music:

Holy Shit! Maybe you guys already know about this, but I just discovered it. If I'm late to the game, just call me Christopher Columbus. Look at this treasure trove of mp3s from this year’s SXSW artists (via Bored With Music). Hundreds of mp3s, and many you won’t find anywhere else. Sweet.

Happy Friday everyone!

The Wrens: new album or no?

A lot of hate towards Pitchfork is based on their way of making up “news.” I’m not sure if I agree, but they might just have a point. For instance, the headline today reads this: “Wrens Prep EP, New LP, Tour”
Yet, the article goes like this:
Pitchfork: How much new material do you have written for the next record?
Charles Bissell: [laughs] Ummm...none!

Oh, Pitchfork, don’t play with my hopes like that.

Wrens played last night at Maxwell’s, but there was no way that I was going to go to Jersey alone.

Good news: they play CMJ on 9/15 at the Mercury Lounge for the Absolutely Kosher Showcase.

Bad news: same night as the Arcade Fire. (Except the Arcade Fire might get over with early enough to see both).

How to spot a Terrorist:

The NYPD (believe it or not, one of those letters stands for ‘department’, as in “The Bon Ton is a department store.”) issued yesterday guidelines to spot terrorists on the subway. Soooo helpful.

Here is what they tell us:
1. “Someone who avoids eye contact.”
Conclusion: Everyone is a terrorist. Except for tourist, which rhymes with terrorist, but tourists look around, and wear bright clothing available only outside the city.

2. “Someone who glances to their right and left”
Conclusion: Tourists are terrorists too.

3.“Someone who is sweating profusely”
Conclusion: It’s July. It’s humid. It’s the subway. If you are sweating, you could be a terrorist.

4. “Someone with an unusual object protruding from his or her clothing, especially…wires.”
Conclusion: Ipod users could be terrorists.

5. “Someone who runs in a suspicious manner.”
Conclusion: I didn’t know what suspicious meant until I started looking around at the people who run in the city. Then I realized that anyone running in this city is pretty damn suspicious.

6. “Someone with a bomb protruding from his or her clothing.”
Conclusion: Okay, so maybe this wasn’t on the list. But it sure beats #4.

Everyone's Your Friend in New York City

A lot of people are thinking about skipping the latest visit to NYC by Bloc Party since it’s at Roseland. I figure that they aren’t going to get any smaller anytime soon. They pulled off a success at Webster Hall, so I think they’ll do it again. I haven't been to Roseland in over a year. And being on a Friday… whoaaaa; watch out! Save yourself ticket fees and go down to Irving Plaza around 12:30 today. Update: BP tickets at Irving Plaza Box Office will be available tomorrow at 1:00, "if there are any left." My bet is there will be.

Local NYC Up And Coming Band News:
-Sam Champion opens for the Hold Steady on August 6 (the night I’m already going).
-The Diggs have a residency at Sin-e every Thursday from August 18- Sept 1, and Friday Sept 9. (Bold is a corrected update).
-Group Sounds have a residency at Pianos: Every Wednesday from August 17-Sept 7th
-The Harlem Shakes are almost done with their residency at Pianos: last show on Tuesday July 26, that is, assuming the guitarist has healed from his crash. I hope he heals 100% either way.

Coming Clean:

I’ve tried and I’ve tried. I’ve even tried again after that. I’ve listened to Sufjan Stevens one day, and then try him a week later. I don’t know why, but I just can’t get through a single song on Illinois without skipping forward. I’m not saying that the album is bad, it’s just that I don’t get it. I really really wanted to like the album. I thought “Ok, ok, today, it’s going to happen. I’m going to put it on and I’ll all-of-a-sudden love it.” I’m actually a bit sad that I don’t like it, after reading how many people do.

I hope you do. I just don’t have it in me.

What I do like (top played songs I’ve added in the last month):
-Hard-Fi “Cash Machine”
-The Cribs “You Were Always the One”
-Harlem Shakes “A Night”
-Jens Lekman “You Are the Light”
-Diamond Nights “Destination Diamonds”
-The Diggs “Its Just Like You Say”
-Shout Out Louds “Very Loud”
-Alec Ounsworth “Cecil Stick With the Story”
-Okkervil River “For Real”
-Dirty On Purpose “To Forget”

Rock, and Rock, and RockandrockandRoll, HEY!

Whatever your opinion on Clap Your Hands may be, they have developed strong support online (understatement) as well as quite a few haters. The haters baffle me, not because one shouldn’t be allowed to dislike their music, but why would you waste your time disliking something instead of just liking something different.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah played damn good last night at Southpaw. It was their first major sold-out show-with more to come, and the first since people have been able to really devour the album. With so many more people checking them out for the first time, I expected that as soon as they started playing everyone would burst into singing along. I expected them to come out with something strong.

What did they do? They opened with something new.

I was caught off-guard. I was baffled. And then I realized: this is the same band that opened their album with that quirky carnival song. This band doesn’t do what I expect. I would say that they take ‘risks’, but I doubt they’d agree – they just do what works best for them, with little regard to what has worked for other groups. That’s why I have enormous respect for them. They aren’t following a formula. They aren’t in any rush to sign to a label. You could barely extract a “hit single” from the album without a scalpel and a steady hand.

That said, Clap Your Hands transitioned flawlessly from the new song into “This Is love” and then again, continuously into “The Skin on My Yellow Country Teeth.” To say they keep improving gets redundant, but they are. Every time they play live they get tighter, more comfortable, and by the time they get off the tour with the National, well, who knows.

They closed with “Tidal Wave” which got everyone singing, and played an encore of some Dylan song (my knowledge of Dylan songs is quite limited).

I'd love someday to see them play the carnival-like song "Clap Your Hands!" Several people last night even shouted "And awwaaaay we go!" Oh, that'd be fun.

Everyone cleared out after their set -well, at least 95% of the people. I stayed for some of Saints and Lovers, but was too moved from CYHSY, and too tired to listen objectively. Dirty on Purpose opened, and I just loved them. I tried to pick up their EP after the show, but they had none. Said they would hopefully have some when they play at SoundFix soon. And I won't even bother to comment on Dr. Dog.

Related:
Coke Machine Glow wrote one of the most interesting articles about the hype and the album: read here.
-See my Clap Your Hands sign I made when I was bored one morning here.

Jamaican Dancehall meets American Ultra Consonances.

According to Billboard, Steven Seagal won’t release his album “Songs from the Crystal Cave” until early 2006, which would make it ineligible for any Best Of 2005 Lists, unless you buy it as an import from France.

Billboard.com says: “The martial-arts master culls from a wide swath of musical influences on "Cave," including... Jamaican dancehall and traditional Indian music.”

Seagal’s own website says: “Ingredients: Steven Seagal delivers titles to the American ultra consonances but also of more directed songs world. Surrounded by prestigious guests, the actor adds a new cord to his arc!”

Amazon.com says: “Comes with a free poster.”

What I espcially love about his website, is that when you go to his “MP3 Page” there isn’t a single mp3 to be found…. rather, only RealPlayer streaming audio. Someone needs to sit down and explain to Steve what an mp3 is.

“I do. I do. I--” …. awww fuck. Forget it.

Fluxblog has the new Annie song “The Wedding” that she performed at the Tribeca Grand Hotel earlier this year. I didn’t like it then, and I don’t like it now. It’s just so dumb. I know that's her charm and everything, but I just can't take this one.

“I do I do I do.”??? C'mon. Sounds like she wrote it when she was 11 years old. You know, when girls plan every detail of their wedding?

Sorry I'm so negative today.

She is cute thought. Cute as a button.

Bust. Bust. Bust.

(Actual line for Mercury Lounge Guest List last night)

Went to McSorley’s straight from work and had 4 beers (they are more like half-beers there). Friends show up. After a few more rounds, we head to the Mercury Loungefor probably one of the most highly anticipated shows I’ve had in a long time (Nine Black Alps, Sam Champion, Hard-Fi, Cribs). Arrive to see...the line. Oh my, the line.

The line where you usually wait to get in was of normal length; but that was for Guest-List Only. The line for other people was on the other side, going around the block; the other side being a place where “we store those that no-way-in-hell are getting in, but we won’t tell them that.” (my own words). We waited in line for nearly an hour and the only progression forward was from people in line ahead of us leaving themselves. I was told the venue was bought out for a private event, but they decided to let a few of the public inside. We eventually gave up.
Bust.

Off to Rothko as the much lesser plan B, to check up on the Vicious show with the Harlem Shakes and PS. At the door, the guy told us that the Harlem Shakes cancelled. Manic Mess has the scoop on why. Although he let us in for free, we didn’t feel like standing around listening to these unknowns. So we left.
Bust.

K. chimed in, “Let’s head someplace quiet and just chill.” I answered, “The front half of Pianos would be chill on a Tuesday night.” So thus we marked our course for Pianos. Arrived and.... Closed! for Private Event for HBO.
Bust.

It’s now about 10:00 PM. I just want to go home and try again next year. I hear turning 25 is way more fun anyway. We go down the street to Iggys. Ohhhh Iggys. You get me drunk and never let me down. Have too much beer and shots of Jager.

Happy once again.

The best thing said all night (by Mike): "There's something wrong with your site. It just keeps buffering." I had a good laugh over that.

*I'm not criticizing the venue or the industry, I'm just a bit upset that I had looked forward to this show so much and it turned out to be feasibly impossible to get in.

Mercury Music Prize...

By now, you've read on other blogs the freshly announced Short List for the Mercury Music Prize in the U.K. You've also seen the odds for each band/album.
If you havent, go here, here, or here.

The Kaiser Chiefs are the odds' "favorite" which surprises many, including me. It is a good album, but based on the competition, it's hard to think it will win.

My favorite comment on Stereogum, was from "Josh": "If the Kaiser Chiefs win, I predict a riot."

"I Predict A Riot" made my top ten songs for the first half of 2005 (it definitely stands out from the whole album).

Hard-Fi, whom I'm seeing tonight, made the list. I've only heard the two songs that I've been posting, but I just love them so much.

AHHHHHHHHRG!!!!!

(My computer deciding to rebuffer the live stream of the Tour de France, in the final kilometer of the stage).

Shout Out Louds - Second Show and (Wet) T-shirt Contest!

A second Shout Out Louds / Redwalls show at the Mercury Lounge has been added in addition to the sold out show on Monday August 8, this one on August 7. Buy tickets here. I didn’t think the first show would sell out.

Shout Out Louds- Comeback Big Slippa Mix by Ratatat (mp3)

Also enter a Shout Out Louds contest to design their T-Shirt based on their Comeback video. First, Second AND Thirds place all win $750 cash, $250 gift certificates, and more. Watch video and enter contest here.

Slow Morning...

But it's my birthday. So... Yeah!

(I spent the morning on photoshop, playing with this image.)

Arcade Fire Sells Out... in Three Days.

I predicted it would take "a day or two" to sell out... well, it took three. I was much closer than the others who gambled it'll sell out in minutes and therefore sucked up a bunch of fees. Still available this morning, they are now "gone".

Bloc Party to Play Roseland

I mentioned last week that the tour dates were coming in. Now it's official. Bloc Party will play Clear Channel's Roseland Ballrooom on September 9th.
Tickets on sale this Friday, July 22 at noon.
Get Tickets here.
Tickets are $25. If they keep growing, what's next? Radio City would be a disaster.

The Juan Maclean - Free Show

I knew One Louder would be all over this, even though I think Rajeev is the bigger fan than Jason:
RSVP @ getrad@igetrvng.com
The Juan Maclean
This Saturday, July 23 @ Tribeca Grand Hotel.
@ Midnight (But they won't really go on before 1:00 AM)

My first listen of them were when they opened for LCD Soundsystem and I really liked them.

UPDATE: When I emailed Get Rad, they replied that the list was closed (after 2 minutes of being "open"), but then David P. wrote back that it wasn't. So if you get rejected, there may be a glitch. Or maybe the Internet really just doesn't like you after all.

The Week Ahead

Some great shows this week. The most talked about is the Vicious show on Wednesday with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, but to be honest, the best live show this week will be the Sam Champion, Hard-Fi, and the Cribs show on Tuesday at the Mercury Lounge –what a fun birthday I’ll have!

7/19 – Sam Champion 2 mp3’s via here.
- Hard-Fi 2 mp3’s here.
- The Cribs

7/20 – Southpaw show with: (download SAL and DOP mp3s via here)
- Saints and Lovers
- Dirty on Purpose
- Clap Your Hands Say Yeah… My interview here.

7/21 – I recommend (but can't go): the Wrens at Maxwell’s (sold out)

7/22 – The Diggs @ Cake Shop
- Alec Ounsworth @ Pete’s Candy Store mp3's via here.

7/23 – The Juan Maclean @ Tribeca Grand Hotel -no info on RSVP'ing yet.

Siren Recap

Siren Festival Recap:

Ahhhh how I love Coney Island. It’s such a wonderful and the Cyclone flanking the main stage was all too perfect, complete with screaming hipsters every 30 seconds. Unfortunately, the Mainstage was flanked just too closely on either side creating a claustrophobic tunnel; it made it nearly impossible to get up front.

I arrived for the end of the Dears, but they weren’t doing it for me, so I grabbed an icy icy beer, hot dog, and a quick spin on the Cyclone. My first time on the deathtrap, the Cyclone was ten times more fun than I thought it’d be.

I weaseled up to an acceptably close spot for Q and not U, of whom I was wholly unfamiliar, but I had heard great things. They were good, but not quite as good as the praise indicated. I left them to see some Diamond Nights, but of course by the time I got there they only had one song left. Bust.

Rather than trudge back to the compacting Main Stage for Dungen, I took a stroll on the beach, ran into the Haunted Pussy (what was that about?), and watched people play Shoot a Freak. Back to the Stillwell stage for Saul William’s last two songs, and then got up front for VHS or Beta.

Stayed for their entire set and was once again impressed. At one point the Incredible Hulk even made an appearance. The drunken kids to my right (when did they arrive?) pulled Hulk’s face off. How cruel. But they were having an absolute blast, and ohhh what I would give to have been with them –and/or drunk.

When VHS or Beta finished, I went back to the main stage for Spoon, but the crowd was already packed in tight like a…. a… hmmm… a Haunted Pussy!; so much so that I couldn’t see anything. Stayed for about 4 or 5 songs before deciding that it was pointless to stay. On the way out we had to battle the crowd even more… I guess we were only about halfway back.

So I actually didn’t get to see that much music Saturday. It just wasn’t meant to be. I saw twice as much actual music the night before at the Insound party, but I’ll write about that later.

Arcade Fire

Run down to Irving Plaza right now to pick up your Arcade Fire Tix for $30/piece. Or you can spend $42 and get them here. They are still available. My prediction is that they will take a day or two to sell out.

Nine Inch Nails go on sale for MSG tomorrow, but at $57-62/piece WITHOUT fees, I'll pass.

Bloc Party US Tour (Part 3? Part 4?)

I don’t want to make this a Bloc Party Fan site, nor jump the gun, but tickets go on sale very soon for the U.S. dates in September. No NYC date yet, but you can bet they’ll play around 9/8 (Boston) – 9/10 (Philadelphia).

You can buy Pre-Sale for San Fransico right now here. Password: Helicopter. $25 + 8 in fees.

Up and up and up they go.


Bloc Party with play a Peel Session on July 19 at (I believe) 3:00 PM EST:
Listen Live.

Party Party Party

Yay! I’ve changed my color scheme. I’ll probably be changing it often until I find something I like. I was just sick and tired of that boring and generic Blue and Green that is the standard for Blogger. I’d visit other sites and it’d look suspiciously like mine, without the fabulous content.

Not much content to post right now.

If you can’t go to the Insound Party tonight, there are two other great parties I’d go to if I were you.

1. The Deli Party at the Hook
2. Moving-In Party for Dirty on Purpose. (via Jinners)

Look at this image. Looks like it's moving, but it's not!

Sold Out: Tomorrow's Insound Party at Rothko.

Download:
Be Your Own Pet – Damn Damn Leash (mp3) (The song that generatin’ the buzz).
Rahim –One at a Time (mp3)

The place to be on Friday (tomorrow!) is Rothko. I’ll be sporting some shorts and white white legs. The key thing here is the free beer. Oh, yeah, and the great music for 5 bucks. I was just about to say that I wouldn’t sleep on getting advance tix to this, but it’s too late. Luckily I have mine.

I’ve already talked about the Ponys and Chin Up Chin Up on Monday, but haven’t mentioned the other two. I do know that Rahim is loved by Oh My Rockness and that they are playing with the Crimea at Mercury Lounge on July 26 and opening for Les Savy Fav and TAN! at Bowery Ballroom on August 26. The above track by them is alright, but the Be Your Own Pet track beats it up in a duel. Be Your Own Pet is playing the next day at Siren Festival.

Review: Scissor Sisters @ Mercury Lounge

Ok. Ok. This isn’t really a review. I’m really too tired to write a review of last night’s Scissor Sisters show. It was just so so so much fun. As much fun as the other show I’ve been at recently, Junior Senior. Yaaaaaay gay!

Central Village has way better pictures, and the blurriness of those shots demonstrates the night better than my cruddy camera-phone shot.

You just gotta love the Technicolor Dreamcoat Jake Shears was wearing!

Mega Mega Mega was there and has pictures too.

Want a download? How about their four-song promo for “Filthy Gorgeous” (a highlight last night) which includes a fun cover of “Take Me Out.” Get the Rapidshare RAR file here. Definitely worth the trouble.
Or if you can’t unRAR, here is a Rapidshare MP3 of just the single “Filthy Gorgeous.”

New Stellastarr and Thunderbirds Are Now! Downloads

Wednesday mp3s links:

-Be the first on your block to hear a new song by Stellastarr (I refuse to use the asterix). It’s called “Lost in Time” and it’s available from Pop Drivel.

-I'm not a big fan of the Thunderbirds are Now!, but that may be because I haven’t seen too many mp3’s floating around, and thus haven’t listened to them much. Funtime OK posts 4 tracks today (2 m4a + 2 mp3).

Bridget Jones Diarrhea Tix Still on Sale

For tonight. ,Get them while they last here.

NO MORE. Good luck next week.

Art Brut + "My Sherona" Mash-up

I bought Art Brut’s “Bang, Bang, and Rock & Roll” based off all the glowing reviews I’ve read. When I listened to it, I was so disappointed that I just shelved it. Maybe it’s time for a second listen, because I find this mash-up, from Spoiler Boy, absolutely and totally fucking hilarious.

“My Sherona Formed a Band” (mp3)

Stream Erol Alkan's Bloc Party Remix

"Jr" commented that that Erol Alkan Remix was 'dope', so I went out and found this version. It's from Erol's mix back in January. The whole mix is an hour and a half long, but with Real Player, you can fast forward to "She's Hearing Voices." It is dope.

Erol Alkan - Live @ Trash 25th Jan 2005 (RealPlayer)
"She's Hearing Voices" at the 1:02:40 mark.

Hard-Fi

Next week, the Cribs roll into town. I've really been digging the all the stuff I’ve found by them, and I don’t care how much they sound like the Strokes. Sam Champion is also on the bill. Performing between them, though, is a band called Hard-Fi. Instead of describing them, just give a listen yourself. I lik’it.

Hard-Fi - “Hard to Beat” (mp3)
Hard-Fi - "Cash Machine" (mp3)

One Louder mentioned the Cribs yesterday, and revealed a link to stream their album New Fellas.

Bloc Party's Silent Alarm Remix:

There is going to be a remix CD of Bloc Party's Silent Alarm coming out on August 29th (at least in the UK). What a great idea, except I already have 7 of the 14 tracks already. I hope eMusic will carry it like they did the original so I can pick up the 7 I don’t have. That's assuming Vice can and wants to release it here.

Here is the track list (songs in bold are the ones I have and have been floating around):

Like Eating Glass (Ladytron Remix)
Helicopter (Sheriff Whitey Remix)
Positive Tension (Pretty Girls Makes Graves Remix)
Banquet (Phones Disco Edit)
Blue Light (Engineers Remix)
She’s Hearing Voices (Erol Alkan’s Calling Your Dub)
This Modern Love (Dave Pianka Remix)
The Pioneers (M83 Remix)
Price Of Gasoline (Automato Remix)
So Here We Are (Fourtet Remix)
Luno (Death From Above 1979 Remix)
Plans (Mogwai Remix)
Compliments (Nick Zinner Remix)

-They’ve also recently recorded two new songs, “Hero” and “Two More Years.” Talk about prolific.

My Week Ahead:

UPDATE: No Alec Ounsworth Tuesday at Pianos. (but still planned for July 26)
Tuesday, July 12 @ Pianos: Harlem Shakes w/ Alec Ounsworth Free before 8:00.
-Download Harlem Shakes 4 song demo from this post.
-Download Alec Ounsworth mp3s via his site here.

Wednesday, July 13 @ Mercury Lounge “Bridget Jones Diarrhea” (Scissor Sisters) Sold Out

Friday, July 15 @ Rothko - Insound Pre-Siren Party with the Ponys, Chin Up Chin Up and others - $5.
-Download Chin Up Chin Up from this post.

Saturday, July 16 @ Coney Island - Siren Festival. Maybe the line-up will make for a less crowded afternoon.

Review: W.A.S. and Bishop Allen at Mercury Lounge

Listen: Bishop Allen - “Last Chance America – Rare Demo” (Rapidshare mp3) This is a Rapidshare file, that means it’ll expire, so download it while it’s available. This song will be coming soon on their album “Clementine”, but it will have changed a bit, given their version I heard Saturday night.

-Download 2 We Are Scientists mp3s: 1 2 (via their website)
-Download 4 Bishop Allen mp3s: 1 2 3 4 (via their website)

It seems from the crowd that came out on Saturday night that We Are Scientists are finally generating the attention that I have been anticipating; anticipating not without some anxiety. A quick look at the line outside made me wonder a) why didn’t Mercury Lounge sell advance tickets and b) why wasn’t the W.A.S. headlining? I love Bishop Allen, but W.A.S., or “the W.A.S“ -both are acceptable- have always been the stronger live performers.

They tore through their material in usual fashion and played a bunch of songs I hadn’t heard before; thus I didn‘t know their official moves, but I improvised. It wasn’t as remarkable of a show as their performance at the Tank last month -primarily because the crowd was crazy into it them there. I felt that Saturday night was filled with people who were not that familiar with their legacy… at least not yet. Overall though, We Are Scientists really cannot go wrong with the energy they put forth themselves on stage.

Bishop Allen took over from there, and what can I say? I have never seen them so tight and their sound so balanced. Songs flowed seamlessly from one to another, and Justin sang more polished that ever. Maybe it was the recording time and subsequent practice that has fine-tuned what were always well-crafted pop songs. I was so impressed, that I think Bishop Allen did in fact deserve to play after W.A.S. I heard “Last Chance America” (see above for demo) performed for the first time, as well as many others that will be on their forth coming sophomore album, which already seems like it will be an excellent follow-up.

We actually stayed for almost all of Rye Coalition, and then chatted at the bar with Chris from W.A.S. and his girlfriend Elizabeth. He had to wait for Rye to finish so he could grab his bass, which he left on stage. I think at that point the drinks had definitely hit me, and I’m sure I was quite the fool.

I picked up their latest E.P. for all of $3. It contains the single “Nobody Move Nobody Get Hurt” as well as 2 B-sides: “History Repeats” and “Mucho Mas.” But that’s not all; it also has a video for the single. Elizabeth said that they are making a video for every song off their album, due out on October. Should be interesting.

-You Aint No Picasso interviewed We Are Scientists last week.
-My review of them at the Diesel-U show
-My review of them at the Tank w/B.A.
-My review of them at CBGB w/B.A.

Sam Champion EP Released:

Picture via mpetesch.

Sam Champion has released their 3 song EP titled “Three Songs.” Download it at eMusic here. Or iTunes here.

And get two other different Mp3’s from my previous post .

Free Show and Downloads: Citizen Cope

Citizen Cope is playing a free show at Summerstage on Sunday afternoon, opening for Blind Boys of Alabama. I really really liked his album last year. His show in December at the Bowery Ballroom was a lot of fun, but solo at Maxwell’s in early January was a total let-down. I didn’t bother with his sold-out Irving Plaza show following that, but I guess that means he has his fans. This is a good way to go check him out: for free!

Download two tracks (just click ‘I agree’):
Bullet and a Target (mp3)
Son’s Gonna Rise (mp3)

Son’s Gonna Rise is a kick-ass fun song to play on guitar. It sounds awful on a Pontiac G6 commercial, but it’s still good regardless.

He’s also on the KEXP Live Compilation. Stream his KEXP performances here, here, or here.

Racial Glacier ( aka the Harlem Shakes )

The Harlem Shakes have a residency at Pianos every Tuesday this month. I can name one other band who had a residency there without a record label nor CD, but who also had 4 demo tracks you could download from their website. They also play at the first Vicious show on Tuesday, July 19 at Rothko, with PS (whom I liked live).

Download all four tracks of their demo here:
Harlem Shakes Demo (zip)

It’s surprisingly very good. I think the band name threw me off.

The Gothamist interviewed them back in January:
Let's get this out of the way, where did you band name originate? And if you had to what would you change your name to?
The Harlem Shake is our favorite dance move. And we'd change it to anything, any time, if given the chance. Ideally: Maritime Strife, Racial Glacier, Extreme ESPN Buttfuck Party, or The Strikes.

Alec Ounsworth also opens on July 12 ($8) as well as July 26 ($10). Can you guess which one of those I’m 25% more likely to go to?

UPDATE: The show on July 12 is Free before 8:00, and $5 with codeword "Shakes". As always, drinks are dirt cheap before 8:00 at Pianos.

Chin Up Chin Up

Some Chin Up Chin Up, because they are at Rothko on July 15:

For all those Tanning Salons in Texas (mp3)
We should have never lived like we were Skyscrapers (mp3)
Fuck You, Elton John (mp3)
Virginia Don’t Drown (mp3)

"Yeah, I got busted..."

If you've ever watched New York Noise, then you've probably seen this video for Jens Lekman. I don't really like videos, but this one cracks me up every single damn time. And the song got stuck in my head for two days only after the third time I ever heard it:
You Are the Light (mpeg).

Here are some MP3's:
You Are the Light
Black Cab
Rocky Dennis Farwellsong to the Blind Girl

I was previously wrong due to confusion on his website: he is not currently performing our on tour.

The Cribs are coming to town in a couple weeks to headline a Tuesday show on July 19 at the Mercury Lounge. Sam Champion opens.

Watch their fun video to the excellent song "Mirror Kissers" here:
16MB or 3.5 MB version.

They are also opening up for the Kaiser Chiefs a couple days later on July 21.

Week ahead and the week that was:

This week’s best bets, in my opinion:

Tuesday July 5 – The Diggs at Mercury Lounge (I might catch them at the Cake Shop on July 22 instead)
Thursday July 7 - Charles Bissell (Wrens) at Pete’s Candy Store.
Saturday July 9 – We Are Scientists w/ Bishop Allen @ Mercury Lounge. How lucky am I to live in NYC and get to see W.A.S. every couple weeks?
Sunday July 10- Cloud Cult @ Knitting Facotry. I’ll probably skip this, but a lot of people seem to love their latest album.


Show reviews in brief:
Nick Drake Tribute at Central Park, July 2: Ug. The woman singing vocals obviously had theatre training and as such, the songs unfortunately came off dopey. In a Broadway musical, even when the character is sad, it is still such a shallow shell of depression. It’s staged, and the audience accepts that. Drake’s music is far removed from being staged or feeling the least bit untrue. His songs on Saturday sounded as shallow as a high-school girl’s sigh. The only truly magical moment was when Teddy Thompson played a few songs- not just because he played the well-known song “Pink Moon”, but because he actually was the only one that day who played and sang. He performed “Which Will” and “From the Morning” as well, both fantastically. The guitarist whom accompanied the woman was very talented, but having female vocals was a questionable move. I had expected to see a solo guitarist/singer. That’s how Nick Drake wrote and –awkwardly- performed his songs. We left after Thompson and before the woman started to sing again. Nothing against her or her voice, but it clashed with Drake’s own style.

Stephen Malkmus/Yo La Tengo at Battery Park, July 4: I am growing to dislike free shows in New York. We got there early enough to listen to the last half of Laura C., but the line to get in was immense. It was a caricature of what a long line is. I made several attempts to find the end of it, but I am not sure that it existed. The security barrier was ridiculously over protected: behind the permenant ankle high fence, they had a guard posted. Ten feet behind him, the continuous barricade ran around the entire “venue”. Another guard was posted there, and beyond that for another eight feet, a second barricade with police tape. Beyond that, they posted guards every 20 yards. Minus barbed and snipers, it was insane.

We even tried to go to the water front, giving up on the music, but the police had barricaded that access as well.

The Statue of Liberty never looked so encaged.

Review: Eels at Town Hall June 30

Picture from GOPster, who was also at the show.

Last Thursday, the Eels, or more specifically Mark Oliver Everett known simply as “E.” came to Town Hall with one of the most interesting and dramatic performances I’ve seen all year. The evening started with an adorable stop-motion cartoon. “Cherbureshka” (or something equally hard to remember) was the name of some unidentifiable animal that had no friends and no one wanted for the reason that he was unidentifiable to everyone. He eventually made friends with a lonely Alligator. As you can see, the theme of loneliness seemed very appropriate for an Eels show.

Following that they exhibited a short video montage about the Eels which I guess will become a DVD. It actually got me very excited for the actual concert. When the montage finished, the large white drapery used to project the video on was dropped and the string quartet came out. As they tuned their instruments, the two auxiliary band members came out, everyone in formal gear. One of the guys had a mohawk that contrasted so starkly with the rest of the set-up that it served as a vestigial organ of what the Eels can be: Rock and Roll. Just not tonight.

Finally, in the darkness, you could see a glowing dot and a puff of smoke. The glow moved central and the dim light revealed E. smoking his trade-mark cigar -at least for this tour. Ambling on stage with that cigar, his full beard, and a shimmering came complimenting his grey suit, he immediately commanded the stage presence of an elder wise man, not to be doubted or crossed. As he sat down, the strings still tuning, he tapped his wand so sternly for them to cease that he forced a chuckle from the audience. The strings were under his full command.

Going through several songs from “Blinking Lights” I instantly felt that his latest album was designed for that precise performance at Town Hall that night. The song very soft, beautiful, distraught, and sad. He continued to smoke his cigar throughout the show, utilizing several wrought iron ashtrays placed around the stage. Even when he wasn’t playing, and just listening to the stringed arrangements, waiting for the song to come to the conclusion, or for the next verse to proceed, I just could not ignore him.

The songs from Blinking Lights were surprisingly my favorite. The few older songs he playing were fine, but I was just impressed how well BL came across in concert with strings. I should not forget to mention the two auxiliary musicians on stage. These guys were astounding, playing dozens upon dozens of instruments. When you are already a virtuoso at the guitar, slide/electric/acoutic, mandolin, piano, percussion, amoung others I cannot even begin to name, how do you decide that you need to add the Singing Saw to that repertoire? If any orchestra had a conductor that could wield such an array of musical talent and diversity of sounds, that was Everett.

To be honest, by the end, a few songs shy of the encore, I started to get very tired. I can’t even listen to the entire 90 minutes of Blinking Lights at one time without getting severely tired or depressed (E. joked “Suicide Life” one of his best songs to which to make out). So, about 110 minutes into the show, I had enough of sitting. They really should have had an intermission! It would have worked well with the very formal theme of the night. In total, they played three encores: three songs, two songs, one song (in their PJ‘s), and then… well… no songs.

Q&A with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

UPDATE: one more Alec Ounsworth track: Dee, Oh Dee (mp3), courtesy of Happy Home Recordings.

Alec was kind enough to answer a few of my stupid questions. Here are his answers (along with my questions):

Your self-released self-titled debut CD sold out incredibly fast. Did you guys make only six dozen units?
I think we started with 2000 copies.

How many are you pressing this time around? Do you get a deal if you make a hundred-thousand?
I think we're getting 5000 more in the mail.

I love the opening track “Clap Your Hands,” although some question the wisdom of such a strange song at the beginning. It caught me off guard on first listen, but now it works perfectly when you hear the whole album. How did that song come to be? Did you view it as a risk to start the album that way?
For the first song and "sunshine and clouds (and
everything proud)" I was tinkering around with some of
the instruments in the studio and asked the engineer
if he might record some of what I was doing. "Clap
Your Hands!" came from messing around on the organ.
Then I took the organ track home and arranged the
rest. I didn't find beginning the album with this song very
risky. I think it was the only place for it to go.

The song “Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth” credits the whole band for composition. Is this the only song you’ve written together as a group? How exactly did that collaborative process work, since Alec writes the majority of the songs?
"Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth" is the only song we've written as a group I think. I record the songs or ideas for songs, sometimes arranged and fleshed out (d.machine, synths, guitars, bass, etc.) to begin with and sometimes not, at home in philadelphia and bring them up to new york for practice. Some of the songs remain relatively unchanged and others undergo a bit of a transformation.

According to your website, you’ve only played about 25 gigs together. Have things tightened up with more live experience? Has the audience enthusiasm improved, or do we still suck?
I'm not sure. sometimes it's tight and sometimes we're still quite loose. I am constantly working on new material and so there are songs we try at shows which not everyone has such a handle on but i think it makes a show a bit more suspenseful. Audience enthusiasm has always been great. I can't imagine it being any better.

Any memorable gigs yet?
We played a show in a basement in park slope not too long ago. There were low ceilings, asbestos concerns, and some leaks here and there but we remained relatively dry and unscathed. It was a fun show.

I missed you when you were supposed to play at
Maxwell’s. Luckily I checked your website before heading to New Jersey and it said that you guys were in fact not playing there. Eventually,however, you did. What was the problem the first time around? Did you need a work permit to immigrate to New Jersey?
I think the problem the first time was having a show
somewhere else the same night or someone having a
conflict of some sort. I'm not sure.

You are playing with “Portion Control” at Mercury Lounge on July 27. There is speculation that this is not a real band, and that the Hanson brothers are putting on a few secret shows. Being July 27, that’s practically ‘Christmas in July’; Hanson has two (2) entire Christmas albums, one from 1997 and one they put out just last season. Any plans for your own Christmas album yet?
I think we might get into the studio again after touring with the National in September but i don't know how long it'll take. As far as Christmas albums are concerned . . . I don't think we'll release anything but Christmas albums.

If you released one Christmas album, would you feel the need to release a second?
I don't know if anyone could improve upon John Denver and the Muppets collaboration ("A Christmas Together"), so i'm not sure a Christmas-specific album will be coming very soon.

Last question: Who/what/where/when is Flashy Python and the Body-Snatchers?
Flashy Python and the Body-snatchers is a project I work on in Philadelphia. Flashy himself doesn't like to perform so we don't perform. we work on music that is a bit more inaccesible than some of my other projects. We may put something out eventually but I can't say I'm ever sure of what Flashy is thinking.

Buy the album from Insound here, once they make more copies. You already know I'm addicted to it.

Tickets are on sale for their July 20th show at Southpaw here.