Phone Conversation with Stranger

"Hello?"
"Hi. Who is this?"
"Who is this?"
"I'm Jerry. I got your message saying my number was on your cell phone and you don't know who I am. I don't get how that happened."
"I was going through my contacts in my phone and had your number but I don't know who you are."
"Well... what's your name?'
"Sarah."
"Sarah... Oh... ok. Sarah W----?"
"Uh... no. Sarah S----"
"Hmmm. Well, I'm sorry but I have no clue what has happened."
"Oh." "Well is it true?"
"Excuse me?"
"Is it true?"
"Is what true?"
"The quick fuck."
"Huh?"
"The 'Quick Fuck.' Is it true?"
-Silence-
"Uhhhh, I gotta go."

Looks like my old roomie got me back for a prank I pulled on her last month. I put in "Quick Fuck" into her contacts and typed in the phone number for something harmless... like KEXP or something. She must have gotten a hold of this girl's phone, did the same thing, but put my number.

"Is it true."

What if I said yes?

May All Your Days Be Fri-days

It's safe to say that last night I partied with Ang and Tequila Red like it was Friday night. After dinner at Yaffa café, TR and I swung by the Cherry Tavern for a quick shot and beer before heading down to Happy Ending for the free Sparks. I’m like my coupon-cutting mom, except for booze. After three or so of those caffeinated treats, we went back to the heart of the LES for several more beers on Ludlow. I went to bed around 3:00 I think.

So, tonight might be another “Friday- nighter” with this:

DJ Anton Newcombe should be a mess. I hope they have a back up in case he explodes.

Also, on Thursday, there’s a 25% chance I might go to this:

And I’m definitely going to this before Rogue Wave on the “real” Friday of the week:


And then on Saturday, there’s a 85% chance I’ll go to this show at Pianos.

Guido, the Blind Pup

It seems my sister's boyfriend got one of his Vail Daily photos -where he's a photo journalist- on the AP wire, and was published across the nation, from the LA to the NY Times. I thought I'd share it, since I'm right up there with those two. I'm told he's received about 30 emails from as far away as Sweden.


A young blind pup named Guido from Boulder frolics through Vail Village, Colo., in snow for the first time Saturday, Nov. 26, 2005, during the beginning of a series of snowstorms.

What Holiday?

More happy news: My favoritest band in the world, the Wrens, are playing the Bowery Ballroom on Friday January 13th as part of the Onion Holiday Party.

My only question: what holiday is that again? January 13th?

I even checked Google. Their best guess is the Seattle Boat Show. If you try to narrow it to New York, Google's next answer is the MacWorld Expo...

...in San Francisco.

Whatever holiday, whatever city... tickets on sale tomorrow.

Editors to Tour the U.S.; NYC on Jan 20

Finally.
The Editors will play the Mercury Lounge on January 20th.

Here are all the dates:

15/1/06 San Diego Casbah
16/1/06 Silver Lake Spaceland
17/1/06 Los Angeles Cinespace
19/1/06 San Francisco Popscene
20/1/06 New York Mercury Lounge
22/1/06 Boston Allston Great Scott

8 Bit Christmas

This is just a reminder that our favorite ex-Cons, are part of a compilation Christmas album that is free for download at this page. It's also available here.

Interesting versions of Christmas classics.

Reviews: Gaskets, Devin Davis, Underrated Show, Cribs, Magic Numbers

11-11 The Gaskets @ Arlene’s Grocery
It’s hard to write a review of a show that’s already several weeks old, but they were so fucking killer it’s hard to just ignore it. In short, the Gaskets rule. They got me dancing –which despite my unfortunate blogname is easy to do- and had a small but devoted group up front equally as mobile. And that’s all it takes.
While the Gaskets are seriously talented and compose great dance tracks, live they become something else… a ridiculous parody in the vein of Ghostland Observatory. Whilst they don’t need to be so hilarious to be good, they have so many dance moves -neither play instruments- that I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. I hope their act doesn’t hold them down form becoming a serious force… but I also would hate to see them give it up because they have so much fun. They opened with The Easy Life, and closed with Eiffel Tower followed by a song so-called-inspired by the movie 8-mile. You can just imagine.
-Download a whole live show here. I’ve listened to it at least 5 times… which is unheard of, for a 45 minute track.
-(picture via Nora)
-Go to this post for 4 mp3s.

11-18 Devin Davis @ Mercury Lounge
Since I didn’t know what time W.A.S. was was-ing at Rare, I didn’t go (Jay and BV did though). Instead I went to see 2005 Male Artist of the Year (awarded by Yeti Don’t Dance, not PLUG) Devin Davis at the most opening-est slot at the Merc. He was solo, and the songs felt hollow, but not just because he was solo, rather it’s just that they didn’t carry any significant magic other than sounding like regular ol’ singer/songwriter fare. Ho-hum for the most part. He did his best with a loop machine to create choruses, but generally they were only a shell of his magnificent album. On top of that, his voice was shot and he couldn’t hit anything in his upper range. I’m not sure if he was sick or his voice was tired that night, but he tried his best to fight through it.

11-18 Jaymay, A Brief Smile, The Diggs @ Crash Mansion
After Davis, I strolled over to the Crash Mansion to find a line to get in. That’s right… A LINE! I guess word is out on Open Bar Fridays there. I got a few drinks while that lasted, and then proceeded to get buckets of beer which was shared with friends. The best part was when I asked a girl for a bucket, but it turned out she wasn't a waitress. Opps. It felt like I know a ton of people there between bloggers, coworkers, and friends from college. Jaymay was impressive, and played a really really long set. A really long set, as I recall. A Brief Smile took the reigns from there and impressed me also, far more than I expected from them. The Diggs followed by the best set I’ve seen them play yet. Oh so good. And I can’t forget DJ Nora, who tore it up in between sets despite being barely able to talk or walk straight. Don’t you ever doubt that that girl can party. I’m a celebrity over at her flickr account/. Notice that I did in fact get a haircut after the untameable coifure seen on Brooklyn Vegan.
Rachael, the hostess, has her own recap.

11-26 The Cribs @ Tribeca Grand Hotel
I flew in from Denver in the early morn, so I figured it’d be a stretch to last until the late show for FIXED. I did, but barely. At least the Cribs can rock. Inside it was nice and spacious –not the typical can of sardines that Tribeca Grand normally attracts. The Cribs throttled through their set and ended again with the jam to end all jams… Wrong Way to Be. The bloody singer –and when I say “bloody”, I don’t mean it in the English/Irish way (“we’ll have a bloody good time”), I mean, he actually bleeds from his mouth-…. well… he wasn’t so bloody Saturday night. Maybe his PR firm told him it’s creepy and he should stop.

11-27 The Magic Numbers @ Mercury Lounge
I’m not the biggest Magic Number fan, but it seems a lot of them were there last night. The crowd was singing and moving along, probably because much of them were British. Ahhhh lovely British. I’m consider a move to U.K. He’s considering a move to U.K. They played 9 out of 12 from their album, 2 new songs, one old song, and a cover. They ended their encore-less set very strong with Mornings Eleven – Some popular Top 40 cover – Forever Lost – and Excellent new song that was stretched very long. "Brilliant," as one might say.

Back with a Bruise; Old W.A.S. mp3s

I've returned from tearing up the slopes of Vail, Colorado and have learned many a valuable lesson. For one, Vail is for the rich. Lift passes alone are 85 bucks a day. Luckily I had some connections so I didn't have to pay a cent. I, unfortnately, am not rich.

Secondly, the theory of "the faster you crash on a snowboard, the less it hurts"... well... it's not true. My tailbone is still recovering and is being heavily medicated with Aleve.

Thirdly... my soundtrack all week was The Picture's debut album. I've talked about them a lot this past month, so I won't go too far. I'll just say it's superbly amazing and fantastically brilliant. Except for the first song, which I just skip over.

I gotta lotta shows to quote/unquote "review", from this weekend and from before the holiday. Hopefully I'll get to that later today.

Some good news is that We Are Scientists are headlining their own show on January 12th at Bowery Ballroom, nearly a year from when I first saw them at CBGB. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Here's two old songs from their first album, when they used to write about Science. No, I'm not kidding. They are good songs, and in hindsight are very informative of how they've progressed. A part of me even likes the simplicity of these better:

The Creeper
Ode To Star L23

While I'm away...

I'm not on vacation yet, but I'll be gone all week next week, skiing in Colorado. I hope they have snow dammit. If you are sticking around, here are a couple shows I'd hit up if I was staying... so you should be my reporter for me:

Devin Davis / Langhorne Slim @ Mo Pitkins, free Sat 11/19 afternoon.
Devin Davis put out one of the top albums this year. Luckily I can catch him tonight at the Mercury Lounge before I leave.

Sam Champion/ SOUND Team / Slowlands at Mercury Lounge, November 22
Here's a good chance to see the solid Sam Champion, the Sound Team in a venue more their size (other than Summerstage where they flopped), and to check out Slowlands. Slowlands? I don't know much about them, but their biography they sent is interesting:
"Slowlands is a young country. It was born in the cracks of a wooden table, under an electric fireplace in a Long Island basement. How do you describe the sound of an entire nation? Well not with words, but with widescreen pictures, comic book sound effects and xylophone rattles."
Download:
Slowlands - Eisenstien (mp3)

Beat Radio @ Trash, November 23
I've written a lot about these guys, and their live performance is solid, especially since they turn their demos into full-sounding songs. Here are some brand new demos (thanks Dustin for reminding me):
Beat Radio - Another Loveless Anthem (mp3)
Beat Radio - Everything is Temporary (mp3)

And here's a new studio version of Mexico:
Beat Radio - Mexico (mp3)

Making It Up... Then Backing It Up.

I was on AIM with my coworker, who sits across the room, and while I was making up words as I tend to do, she called me out on it:

Jerry Yeti: verbify?
Coworker: you made that up!
Jerry Yeti: nuh uh
Coworker: uh huh
(quick search on google)
Jerry Yeti: see!
Jerry Yeti: This is great.

Truthfully I didn't realize A) that verbify was a word and B) that you could conjugate it so thoroughly. This is just a small sample what you can do with it:

Arctic Monkeys at Bowery

The Arctic Monkeys opened up their super-hyped show with two songs that fell flat on an immobile crowd, just as the Brooklyn Vegan reported yesterday. After getting that "filler" out of the way, they launch into their "hit single" I Bet You Look Good On the Dance Floor, warming the crowd just a touch. I'm still puzzled why that's their first single*... it's not their best and it sure didn't make the crowd erupt as a hit single should. *I was just informed in my comments that this is incorrect. 'Fake Tales' was their first.

What finally did it, what caused me to find myself jumping around and being thrown about - that was Fake Tales of San Francisco. From that moment on, the largely English crowd, went nuts. Let all nay-sayers pipe down. It was some of the most energy I've seen at the Bowery Ballroom.

As excited as the blokes in "pit" got, it didn't resolve into violent pushing. During one song when I took a little rest, I looked back, and this girl smiled at me; then she gentley pushed me right back into the center. Everyone was having a blast.

Halfway through the set, I saw Nora in my vicinity, and asked her rhetorically "Isn't this amazing?" Well.... duh.

The other highlights of the night were -I guess, obviously- their best songs, and I found that I knew a lot more words that I would have thought... Scummy, Mardy... and they closed with A Certain Romance. While they will inevitably have backlash (I myself written them off as more-of-the-same a month ago), the truth is... no one cares. They are good and audiences go nuts.

I'm still in amazement that such a hyped band, with nary an album, can deliver so convincingly.

Surefire's Giveaway

I guess every blogger already has their ticket for tonight, since no one, not even Surefire's big fan Laura, mentioned this post on craigslist this afternoon:

5 FREE SUREFIRE/ARCTIC MONKEYS TICKETS! TONIGHT!
SUREFIRE is graciously giving away 5 FREE TICKETS to their show tonight with ARCTIC MONKEYS @ BOWERY BALLROOM.
The first 5 people to send an email to surefireband@aol.com with the last line of lyrics from their song "Love's On The Inside" will each get 1 ticket.
Tickets must be picked up prior to SUREFIRE's 8:30pm set.
www.surefireband.com
www.myspace.com/surefireband
Good Luck

I haven't heard Surefire, but how cool is that?

Also... Super thanks to the Brooklyn Vegan for the post revealing the Magic Numbers show at the Mercury Lounge November 27th. Get tickets while they last.

Arctic Monkey Mixes

As I said earlier, the Arctic Monkey song that convinced me they weren't shit was "A Certain Romance." Here are two remixes of that song:

Arctic Monkeys - A Certain Romance - Mellow Mix
Arctic Monkeys - A Certain Romance - Monkey Alan Mix

They are low quality at 64 kbps. If anyone has others, let me know. Update: These are now at 192 kbps, but from the same WAV source, so I'm not sure if they are any better.
Again, here is the original version:

A Certain Romance

Wednesday Morning Mailbag

Since I haven’t shared any Mp3’s in a while, I thought I’d reach into my mailbag and share some of the things that have been sent my way… and that I actually like:

Soft – Higher (mp3)
I hated Soft long before I ever listened to them. I reasoned that they must sound like Low or something. Low plays softly, therefore Soft plays lowly. It must suck, right? Fortunately they don’t sound like that all. They are pretty good actually.

Nest – Talking in Your Sleep
A breathy female vocalist, it’s hard not to draw comparisons to the genre-hogging Sarah Mclaughlin. Although Nest’s lyrics are often sub-par, and most of it could indeed be from the Lilith Fair, this song isn’t bad at all. Ayana’s voice is so gorgeous, I can almost overlook the overreaching clichés. I like this song… but being a guy, I’ll only listen to it in secret.

Group Sounds – Bellyup (mp3)
Group Sounds – Goodbye (mp3)
Every once in a while my coworkers will tell me what they like that I’ve put on our shared server. Oddly enough, their naiveté of Indie Rock is what made me realize that M.I.A. deserved of all the praise she got. Group Sounds are another that I didn’t give a second listen and that my coworkers like. Then today, when Bellyup came up on my random mix, I was pleasently surprised. The other song, “Goodbye”, is superb also. I’m glad this band is getting better and better.

Orange Park - One Day (mp3)
Once again, if you can overlook a few less-than-stunning lyrics, there's a well-crafted pop song here.

A Slow Week

Taking it easy after the seven-show marathon last week. Other than the Arctic Monkeys tonight, I'll also be going to this show on Friday -after catching the early Devin Davis show at the Mercury Lounge:

I still havent reviewed the Gaskets or the Joggers from last week. Maybe after I get home from Colorado.

In other news, I was severely pissed off at the genre of music called "Country" last night when CBS aired the CMAs instead of my favorite show, NCIS. I have a feeling the Republicans were behind this.

Tickets on Sale for The Picture w/Subways

Tickets are on sale for the December 6 Vicious show at Rothko. This is highly likely to sell out:

Deadboy & The Elephantmen 11:15 PM,
The Picture 10:30 PM,
The Subways 9:30 PM,
The 5 O'Clock Heroes 8:30 PM,
The Octagon 7:30 PM

Tix available here.

Deadboy and The Elephantmen also play the following day with Voxtrot at Mercury.... but who are they? (doing research riiiight now).

Zzzzzz - Low Tour - zzzzzz

I'm not posting this because I like them, but because someone will kill me if I don't keep her informed on her favorite band: Low will hit ... well, tap ... ok, not even... whisper... into Southpaw on Febuary 03, and Bowery Ballroom on Febuary 06. Other Tour dates here.

Unfortunately, I'll probably be sure to schedule something else that night.

Both of them.

Review: Okkervil River - Knitting Factory

If there was any show that had the makings of a disaster but was actually phenomenal, that show was Okkervil River at the Knitting Factory Saturday night Sunday morning. First off, I just came from a very exciting Gaskets show, which I’ll review once Nora posts her photos. Secondly, I thought it was going to be a late show… not a late late show. They took they stage at 2:00 to a sold out –and thus stuffy- room.

Like the rest of the critics, I really have an affection for Okkervil River’s latest album. Well, most of it, that is; a few places it makes me sleepy, and in my bones I had the feeling that Okkervil River was the type of band that would play their slow songs, denying its audience the ones that Rock. To that expectation, I say: Ha!

Indeed, they started with a softer song, a “prologue” in a way, and then continued to lay down song after song of some of the most intense and passionate songs I’ve seen performed this year. And boy was the crowd responsive! I brought my coworker along, and I told her earlier, after the Gaskets, “Now don’t expect the crowd to move much like we just saw, that’s not typical.” But is seems everyone out and about Saturday night was in the mood to MOVE.

It’s kind of what I imagined a Wolf Parade show should be like. He broke several strings, including his “A”. Now that’s some heavy strumming. Even the songs I didn't know rocked, and when they did have a quiet moment, it still held everyone's attention.

Oh, I hope they come back soon.

Art Brut - Tribeca Grand

I was much more sober when I caught Art Brut at the Tribeca Grand on Saturday night. The room was packed, and when they went on at 12:30, immediately it had a more diminished impact than two days prior. In the back we had our own little craziness, and apparently we were the few back there willing to sing along. After a few songs, some people up front -I guess- didn't take to them, left, and provided ample room to move forward. Up there, I realized that although it's nice to see the band, it's more important to be around people who are having fun. Or at least in a mohawk. Or...wait... was the mohawk dude even there?

They tore through another fantastic set, and I could actually hear what was being said this time.

"This next song has been #1 on the Pops in England for Three... and a Half... Years!"

"Jasper, try to keep up."

"Are you ready, Jasper?"

The Arctic Monkeys have chosen a terrible weak to debut in the U.S. Terrrrrible, I say.

Olympics to Get PowerPuff Girls

Chris just sent me this link. It appears that the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games have gotten the PowerPuff Girls for their mascot.

"In an elaborate, nationally televised gala at the arena to mark the 1,000-day countdown until the Games, senior Chinese leaders introduced the mascots - cartoon renditions of a panda, fish, Tibetan antelope, swallow and the Olympic flame, each one the color of one of the Olympic rings."

Maybe Vancouver 2010 will get the Power Rangers!

Who should London get?

Spam Filter

Somehow this escaped my spam filter on my email account:

Pair of crazy nymphets getting nailed one by one. hard

I enjoy how the filter thinks somehow this might be an email from a friend. Or my mom.

Yeah... this is a lame post, but just wait until all the hits I'll get from Google. My unique visitor count is going to soar.

The Gaskets will make a Dead Man Dance.

Excuse my use of hyperbole, but this demands it. Holmes mentioned the Gaskets over at Nora’s site, and luckily I took the time to listen. These guys fucking rule. I haven’t been this excited for something new in months. Think of every big band in last year, and these guys could be right up there with them. You are going to love them. You will see them live every time they come to New York. When they play two nights at Webster Hall, you’ll go to both.

They’re from Virginia, so if you are in NYC, you can’t just see them every week. Therefore, when they hit Arlene’s Grocery tonight, you will be there. I was supposed to go to the Knitting Factory at that time, but that’ll just have to wait.

Don’t ask questions, just download:

Eiffel Tower (mp3)
The Easy Life (mp3)
Earthquake (mp3)
Flight Attendizzle (mp3)

These are the ones available at myspace, where, if you weren’t psyched already, you can read the comments by others who have seen them live.
Ending hyperbole.... now.

Art Brut @ Mercury Lounge

(Picture from the Brooklyn Vegan. And that's me, without a haircut in many many months)

How was the show?
Awesome awesome awesome.

I'm still drunk this morning. Luckily one cannot drink too much for a Art Brut show. We went to Cherry Tavern beforehand and I have never left there sober. Never.

We rolled in right before Art Brut and although it was sold out, it wasn't packed. I even went to get a drink mid-set and got back real easy. They played all their hits and I went nuts.

Example:
Here's a shot of me from the Brooklyn Vegan. I've Photoshopped my humungous cowlick that I've had all my life and spark people to claim I'm balding. But do notice that other people have their hand raised to take a picture. Me? I'm just pumping my fist..

A Loaded December Sixth

New York, are you ready to make the rest of the country jealous? There's too much to do on December 6th, so pick your horse:

1. The Picture @ Rothko; also playing: The Subways and 5 O'clock heroes. (almost sounds like yet another Underrated show to me). Interestingly, The Picture's website says their LP will be out that day, but the official release party isn't until the following Tuesday.

2. Invite Them Up! w/Eugene Mirman & Co, record release @ Bowery

3. Islands (aka: we-will-always-be-called-the-ex-Unicorns) @ Knitting Factory

4. Pretty Girls Make Graves w/The Double @ Warsaw (they also play the day before though at the Knitting Factory)

5. Iron and Wine @ Webster Hall (one of three shows

Not Playing:
6. Aberdeen City, formerly listed to play Pianos, but since have been removed. The band will be on the left coast for the rest of year.

DCFC entire NPR Interview; MP3

Yesterday I only put up the Matthew Sweet cover. Since a couple people asked, here's the entire performance/interview. It's 25 minutes or so.

Death Cab For Cutie - NPR Interview

Test Icicles at Cake Shop

(Photo from Central Village)

When I arrived at the Cake Shop, it was rather empty considering I knew it would soon sell out. Mixel Pixel were a solid surprise, and I would have enjoyed them more except I was eager for the Test Icicles to start. Mixel Pixel played a pretty long set and glancing at the merch table it appears they have quite a few albums.


The T-I's went on at 11:05, and I made my way forward through the suddenly full room. After one deafening song right below the speaker, my ears could not stand it and I retreated to my previous location. They played Circle Square Triangle second, and I thought they were off to a great start.

Of the four songs I have, there's only one I really dislike. As I discovered, that's the one song that is most closely representative of their sound. Simply put: I can only take so much screaming into the mic. They are more like Melt Banana or perhaps Lightening Bolt (from what I'm told Lightening Bolt sounds like) than most of the other comparisons I've heard. Oh well. If that's your thing, then that's great. It's just not for me. Jeff has a very accurate take up on Gothamist. If I could have seen them going nuts, I probably would've appreciated it much more. Here's another good track:

Test Icicles - Pull The Lever


In other testicle news, I saw this guy run the Marathon Sunday. I love that the NYC Marathon is the Sunday after Halloween. One of these days they're just going to combine the parade and the marathon into one big event. (Pic from Delete Yourself, via wordsnrhymes.)

Broken Social Scene Presale

I doubt there will be any rush for tickets when they go on sale next Wednesday, but this is from the Other Music mailer:

Broken Social Scene returns to New York City on January 27 and 28th, performing at Webster Hall. While the tickets will go on sale next week at all the usual outlets, the Canadian super group has been kind enough to give our customers the first chance to purchase them through us. For the rest of this week Other Music will be selling them exclusively, so come into the shop and pick them up early, while they last.

Exclusive: Death Cab cover Matthew Sweet; MP3

A while ago, I searched high and low for this cover by Ben Gibbard and Chris Walla, but had no luck. Fortuntely someone else searched yesterday, prompting me to hunt again, and I found a stream on NPR. I recorded it, split it... and here you go:

Death Cab For Cutie - "Sick of Myself" (Matthew Sweet cover)

This song reminds me of riding the bus back from Ski-team practice in 9th grade, and having a crush on Erin Olson. *sigh*

Gibbard's version is softer (duh, it's acoustic), and a little slower. It's a great example how to respect a song, while adopting it.

If you want the whole 25 minute interview/performance, go here for the stream. If you want the mp3, let me know and I'll put it up (it's 35 MB)

Tuesday Calendar Additions

Every Tuesday is like a mini-Christmas when the new show listings start to appear. Here are some of the latest that you'll find online or in the Voice:

-Invite them Up w/Mirman, Martin, Benjamin & others (but no Todd Barry?) December 6 @ Bowery Ballroom

-Diamond Nights; December 13 @ Bowery Ballroom; Tix. Last time I really liked them.

-Underrated has arranged a nice local lineup for it's December 03 show at Pianos: Undisputed Heavyweights, Langhorn Slim, A Brief Smile, and Paula Valstein.

-Aberdeen City hits Pianos on December 06 (that's a busy night). Although I left a little early last time, I'm loving the songs I was able to find. I need to get me some more.

-Yo La Tengo's annual Chanukah shows are listed. Only Friday December 30th is on sale right now. (That's odd). Tix here.

-Also, not that anybody cares, but I hear Moby will be playing Bowery Ballroom on December 15th. The presale "sold out."

You're a what exactly?

If being a Mind Reader and a Mind Motivator weren't weird enough:

Odds and Ends

1. There's a debate over at Brooklyn Vegan about the new Nokia Theatre. A lot of people are saying the sound is amazing. Fluxblog even says, "I think anyone who hates on this place is just being snobby and elitist." Badmintonstamps counters, "someone could say you're snobby and elitist for liking a super clean place with only the best quality sound and no "monitor" interference."

To clarify my position: the only show I've seen there was H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E. I realize there are a lot of factors in sound engineering, and that generally the sound has been superb for other shows, but that night, at that show, it was the only time I've ever seen a concert and felt I deserved a refund.

I estimate the decibel level was maxed out around 65dB (while a normal concert is around 100dB).

2. I barely caught the Hold Steady last night since I watched Arrested Developement (I was rolling on the floor with laughter), and Prison Break beforehand. I found out on Sunday I had a spot on the list, so it's not like I feel too bad. I arrived with only three songs left in the set, and boy was Webster Hall e-m-p-t-y. Barely half-full. Or half-empty, depending on if your a Democrat or Republican... or a rich Republican running on the Liberal ticket.

3. I saw The Picture on Saturday night. Excellent, despite that Sin-e tends to make all bands sound over distorted and average. I was hoping to pick up their LP, but was told I'd have to wait two weeks. Mark my words: this band is the shit.

Tom Vek @ Knitting Factory

If doors were really at 11:30, then the Knitting Factory was exceptionally packed by midnight. After the Mobius Band finished, we were able to position ourselves and eventually got up front. Sold out at the Knitting Factory usually means I’m stuck by the bar behind that column, so this was a nice change. Since Angela had been drinking since 7:00, I was just waiting for her to come off her buzz and start falling asleep. She did, right as Vek took the stage. So, Ang, how was the show? Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

In contrast, I was full of energy… except, that the show didn’t respond as much I had hoped. The highlight was the last song (no encore), I Aint Saying My Goodbyes, which did get me fired up. Familiar faces in the crowd were Kristen, Prav, Rachael, Wes, and Jay -who I ran into on the street and was already well on his way to a infamous Goodtimes weekend.

One thing that made Vek great also acted against them: they sounded just like the album. Usually this would be negative, except that Vek recorded his album alone in his basement –at least that’s the Romantic’s version of the story- and to recreate that with a live band so precisely is itself a great achievement.

Also, what hasn’t bothered my on We Have Sound, but did a little on Friday, was how similar Tom Vek’s voice is like that of Mike Doughty -when he was with Soul Coughing. Whenever I make comparisons like this, people think I’m crazy. Here’s a remix of the Soul Coughing's “Circles.” Make your own thoughts on it. I'm not saying that the similarity is bad, just a little distracting for me.

Soul Coughing - Circles (Remix)

You know what Bloc Party really needs?

When I woke up this morning, I had this nagging feeling. I was thinking, "Man, Bloc Party really need to remix their songs some more." I mean it's been almost two whole months since they last had a remix album. Well it seems they silently released another EP entitled "Dimmakified", with remixes now available at eMusic. Two of the four can already be found on the Silent Alarm Remix LP.

In other BP news, a fan now makes Bloc Party comics. The second "issue" even has them in a tiff with the Kaiser Chiefs. The dialogue is so dumb, it's pretty funny shit. Click on picture above for the whole drama.

(Anyone have word on the "Holiday Radio" shows they are doing next month? I'm guessing it won't be KEXP at Southpaw.)

Peer Pressure. Caving In.

As you might recall, at first I didn't like the Arctic Monkeys. First off, I hate their name. But not for the reasons you might think. I hate it because I can never spell it right. I either spell it "Artic" or "Arctice". Don't ask me where that "E" came from. The "E", I always say, is stable.

Except, now I kinda like a couple of their songs. They aren't grrrreat like NME says. But they are, honest-to-goodness, good. Brooklyn Vegan reports that one of their shows moved to the Bowery Ballroom. Tix available while they last. All Gone!

This is the track that swayed me:
Arctic Monkeys - A Certain Romance (mp3)
-Go back to this post for more.

The Day the Music Dies.

My office is running out of Gigabytes. The Management has decided that the Music has to go. "The Music" I speak of, is the 43 GB that sits on our server. That's right. Forty-Three. 4-3. A new iPod holds 60GB. We don't have room for a fraction of that on our server in our office.

First off, there is something wrong with an office that has 10 employees and only 189 GB over all, especially when we are generating computer drawings all day. 189GB is just not much. It's nothing by today's standards. A single high-quality Photoshop file can be 200MB.

Even if we delete all the music (90% of it's mine, tee-hee-hee), that'll still mean we'll run out of space in 6 months. Then what? Cancel Christmas?

I am reminded of my favorite movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey. The scene where Hal gets his memory erased Gigabyte by Gigabyte.

Listen, if you can spare the megabyte: "Daisy" (mp3)
It's such a creepy and simultaneously sad clip.

Some Music, Some Comedy.

Stupid work. Don’t they know I have a blog that I have to nurture?

Wednesday night I saw Beat Radio again, and I was thinking before hand, “Do I really need to see them again so soon?” The answer came swiftly and with a resounding “yes.” They are so satisfying as performers that I shouldn’t question it. Since Brian comes from the folk/singer/songwriter background, he knows how to write quality songs that, while they may sound hollow solo, really rock in an ensemble. I can think of another guy that came from a folk background and with his band added a strong dimension to his material. However, unlike Alec Ounsworth, Beat Radio fulfills and excels live.

Last night I had a similar dilemma: “Do I really need to spend $15 to see Demetri Martin tell jokes?” I wrote an email to Kathryn for her opinion, and she convinced me beyond a doubt that I shouldn't miss it. So I met up with Staaaaaaan and went. I’m glad I listened to her, because last night Demetri absolutely slayed with his startlingly hilarious performance (“slayed” sounds better than “slew”, n'est pas?). If you aren’t doing anything tonight or tomorrow, check him out! These are his last two solo performances (before his next ones, of course, in the indfinite future). He's my new favorite.

Tom Vek Remix

Although I finally got the entire We have Sound album, I still haven't heard it straight through, but rather in pieces of when I acquired the tracks. Thank goodness for eMusic.

Tom will destroy the Knitting Factory on Friday. One of my Favorite tracks from that album, Nothing But Green Lights, has been remixed by Digitalism. Via Headphone Sex, who also has a remix of Franz Ferdinand's Do you Want To done by Erol Alkan.

Tom Vek - Nothing But Green Lights (Digitalism Remix)

Lick My Stream the Test Icicles

They don't just look a little like Bloc Party, they sometimes sound like them too. Last week they had a remix of their song Circle Square Triangle on Myspace that was pretty killer and could have easily been a BP tune. Unfortunately they've taken it down. Still the original is damn sweet. Amy Phillips says that "they are so your new favorite band. Trust me on this one."

NME has the stream of their album available. (free registration req)

Watch the Video for Circle Square Triangle (mov)

Central Village has an mp3 of CST.

They play the Cake Shop next Wednesday, November 9th; and with Art Brut at Northsix a couple days later.

A Benefit for Whom Exactly?

I saw this in the Voice today:

Saturday November 5
$15 Advance / $20 Day of Show
Benefit To Help Save CBGB & The Victims of Hurricane Katrina!

This brings up two questions: Why are they still trying to save the doomed venue, and why lump it with victims who actually need the help? You don't have to ask me what bullshit smells like. Anyone else think all those "benefit" concerts were more or less a scam?

Week Ahead:

Tonight, Wednesday November 2
-Beat Radio @ Scenic $7
I've seen 'em before and I'll go again. Six Mp3's available here
Another: Beat Radio - "Fearful (Demo)" (mp3)
And two from Brian's solo album:
Looking For You (mp3) and The Way It Shines (mp3)

-Moveable Hype 5.0 w/ Cloud Room, Bravo Silva, Snowden, Capitol Years @ Knitting Factory $10
I might go, I might not.

Thursday, November 3
Comedian Demetri Martin @ Village Theatre $15 (other shows on Friday and Saturday) I ran into him last week.

Friday, November 4
-Jaymay, Imogen Heap @ Living Room, Free
Jaymay will also play on November 18th at Crash Mansion

-Tom Vek @ Knitting Factory $10, Late show.

Saturday, November 5
-The Picture, (w/Bravo Silva) @ Sin-e $10
Two mp3s available here.
Here's another: The Picture - It's Alright (mp3)

"Hacking" the Hype Machine

Jeff Central Village brings us a post from the future, dated December 1, 2005. Since he's listed in the Hype Machine, it's going to be the Lone Post for another four weeks. So if your looking for that Test Icicles song, it'll be real easy to spot for a while. That is, unless other people start intentionally date-altering their posts.

You could also do the reverse, and Post-date something: "Oh yeah? Well... I discovered The Arcade Fire and wrote about them in 1998!"

Oh... I'm joking about actually date-altering. That would not be cool. Obviously CV's was unintentional.

Busy Bee Today.

I have a deadline this afternoon so I'll have to relate my Halloween adventures later. In the meantime...

In honor of the pending bird flu:
Mississippi John Hurt - Chicken
This is a really old song. It's only a minute long, so give listen. With a name like Mississippi John Hurt, what's not to love? It's a fun little song to throw in the middle of a mix you're creating for your crush.

My favorite off of the Jogger's latest:
The Joggers - Wicked Light Sleeper
I love the beginning of this song. By the middle, it's a different song, and at the end it changes again. It's great.