Jose Gonzalez...

...with Mia Doi Todd
The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA
March 27th, 2008

So I went to see a pair of lovely folk singers last night. Apparently it was sorority / fraternity night at The Fillmore, or better yet; a football crowd showed up for the quiet, acoustic sounds of Mia Doi Todd & Jose Gonzalez. Must've been a lot of colleges' spring break week, because I've never seen this type of hootin' n hollerin' audience attend this type of concert. It was maybe one of the weirdest concert experiences in recent memory. Let's talk about the show and I'll go into detail further about all that...

Last night's opening act, Mia Doi Todd from L.A.- wow, what a beautiful voice! Think: stripped-down folk, bare bones acoustic neo-soul. In between songs she spoke a little about some things; she has this endearing awkwardness that totally drew me in, I'm magnetized by creative nerdy girls with guitars (Laura Veirs, St. Vincent, etc...).







Here's Mia doing her thing...












...she was joined by a percussionist, Andres Renteria.





Then onto Jose- he started out solo, working through a few songs before being joined by backing vocalists / percussionists.




























I was really impressed with the lights at The Fillmore, they seemed to match the mood of the songs. I'm a huge believer in the concept of sound as color, and I think the marriage of the two played quite well last night...

















setlist:
Deadweight On Velveteen
Hints
Fold
Instr
Heartbeats
Slow Moves
Stay In The Shade
In Our Nature
How Low
The Nest
Crosses
Lovestain
Remain
Down The Line
Killing For Love
Cycling Trivialities

Encore:
Abram
Broken Arrows
Time To Send Someone Away
Teardrop





























Okay, let me rant a moment about this crowd- when I last saw Jose (last October at The Great American Music Hall) you could hear a freaking pin drop during the songs, there were no woot's and people yelling out song requests, they just let Mr. Gonzalez do his thing. Here's my review of that show.

I should've figured the crowd would have been packed with jerks last night, during Mia's set there was a lot of ruckus from the bar alongside the left side of The Fillmore's lower level, as her set went on she had to fight her voice through the inattentive wankers.

I was able to get dead center, about 10 rows back from the stage, where the sound is usually best. But some popped-collar frat boy next to me decided he was going to serenade his ditzy blonde date. Luckily the douchebag only knew like 3 songs, saving himself from even more dirty looks from yours truly.

And to the Amazonian woman next to me, thanks for all the elbows! Seriously, if you're like 6-foot-2, stand in the back and let us 5-foot-8 people who actually want to be at the show stand up front.

To the screaming drunk girls behind me: you fucking broke my eardrums with your shrill screams and pleas of "I love you Jose!" Yeah, he knows- you forked over $35 bucks to see him, I think he knows that already. We all love him, that's why we went to his fucking concert.

As the show ended and people turned to the cattle-shoot they call an exit at The Fillmore, my show-mate Alison was like, "what a weird crowd for this type of music..." My sentiments exactly; I can't figure out what happened between October's show and last night. Is it because Jose's new album (In Our Nature) had a few videos attached to its release and MTVU or whatever brain-dead college kids watch these days picked them up and brought Jose's music to all the Dave Matthews-loving, Axe body spray-wearing, Xbox-playing "bros" and their female counterparts, the blonde-headed sorority sisters?

That's definitely a question I'll be pondering next time I see Ticketmaster's concert alerts; I think I'll sit out Jose's next visit to the Bay Area...

Mix Tapes, Inc...

I've been wanting to do something like this for a while now, and it doesn't necessarily fit into any category (or routine) I've been trying to follow on The Musicologists as of late. I guess it's just a self-indulgent thing, to make you a playlist of stuff I've been listening to recently. Call it "old and free mp3s mixed with some newer stuff and obscure facts and not-so new news" if you will, most of these songs are from the last few years, but this is what I've been rocking out to.

NEW LADYTRON TRACK!
(Black Cat, from Velocifero, due out in June)
It's on their MySpace page, here's the link.

These New Puritans - Numbers (aka Numerology)

	These New Puritans - Numerology (AKA Numbers)
	Found at skreemr.com

Bloc Party - Flux

	Bloc Party - Flux
	Found at skreemr.com

Les Savy Fav - Patty Lee

	Les Savy Fav - Patty Lee
	Found at skreemr.com

Simian Mobile Disco - Hustler

	Simian Mobile Disco - Hustler
	Found at skreemr.com

Bear Vs. Shark - Buses / No Buses

	Bear Vs Shark - Buses / No Buses
	Found at skreemr.com

Minus The Bear - Get Me Naked 2: Electric Boogaloo

	Minus The Bear - Get Me Naked 2: Electric Boogaloo
	Found at skreemr.com

Kings Of Convenience - I'd Rather Dance With You

	Kings Of Convenience - I'd Rather Dance With You
	Found at skreemr.com

Menomena - My My

	Menomena - My My
	Found at skreemr.com

Iron & Wine - Boy With A Coin

	Iron and Wine - Boy With a Coin
	Found at skreemr.com

Dengue Fever - Tiger Phone Card

	Dengue Fever - Tiger Phone Card
	Found at skreemr.com

The Kills - Cheap & Cheerful

	The Kills - Cheap and Cheerful
	Found at skreemr.com

Cassettes Won't Listen - Paper Float

	Cassettes Won't Listen - Paper Float
	Found at skreemr.com

...and I'm putting this up because I recently read that Miles Davis asked for this album (The Unforgettable Fire) to be played on his deathbed. Is that not both weird and awesome?

U2 - (Pride) In The Name Of Love

	U2 - Pride (In the Name of Love)
	Found at skreemr.com

So there's a mixtape for you all, enjoy; and thanks for reading (and listening)...

File Under: OMFG!

Holy fucking shit!
Okay, calm down. This is real. Really real.
I'm at a complete loss for words.

Just keep reading, I gotta take a knee and try to breathe it out...

The First Annual San Francisco Outside Lands Festival
Golden Gate Park
August 22nd, 23rd and 24th

Tentative Line-up
Radiohead
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Jack Johnson
Beck
Wilco
Manu Chao
Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals
Widespread Panic
Primus
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Steve Winwood
Café Tacvba
Broken Social Scene
Regina Spektor
Devendra Banhart
Cold War Kids
Galactic’s Crescent City Soul Krewe
Lyrics Born
Andrew Bird
Steel Pulse
Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings
M. Ward
Drive-By Truckers
ALO
Matt Nathanson
The Cool Kids
Two Gallants
Dredg
Little Brother
Grace Potter & the Nocturnals
Donavon Frankenreiter
The Mother Hips
Black Mountain
Sidestepper
Nellie McKay
The Coup
Goapele
Bon Iver
Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk
Sean Hayes
The Felice Brothers
Rupa & the April Fishes
Back Door Slam
K’NAAN

3-day passes are $225 and go on sale March 30th (that's this Sunday for all you math majors...) at 10 am Pacific (that's 1 pm Eastern, again; math!).

PS- I need to see the actual day-by-day line-ups to figure out which ones I'll be doing, I don't want to get stuck seeing Jack Johnson or Widespread Panic or any other bands that suck. The Musicologists' approved bands are highlighted in blue. I hope Stevie Winwood doesn't play solo- if he brought back a Traffic reunion I'd add him to the blue list, and I'd probably cry during Dear Mr. Fantasy...

PSS- Man, I hate hippies. Anyway, if you're one of my peeps back east, and you want to go, holler at me and I'll put you up at my place (offer good for the first 4 people). Thank god there's no camping, there's enough people living in the Haight that do that anywhere they want...

30 Second Reviews...

Here at The Musicologists we're ringing in spring with that overwhelming sense of way too many albums, and way too little time. And as ambitious as we wanna be, some albums are going to get passed over or completely missed in the michigoss of all that. So, as not to give you what you're not paying for, I'm "glossing" over the following reviews.

So I'm billing these as thirty second reviews, trying to get you the whole gist of the record, point out the bright spots, inform you as best I can with around 100 words each.

Does that work for you? Works for me...

The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust (Vice Records, released February 19th, 2008)
Danish noise pop duo known for their brand of drony, shoegazer textures; mix in that beach blanket bingo thing and you've got yourself a nice little sound. Lovely two-part harmonies and sparse instrumentation, there's some really good songs on here. Dead Sound and You Want The Candy are highlights as is Aly, Walk With Me. They play back-and-forth between darker explorations and lighter, dare I say happier tunes. Because of the production qualities (or lack thereof, although it's supposed to sound a bit fuzzy) the album has a repetitive feel to it, but Sharin and Sune's nice vocal interplay saves it from boring.

Born Ruffians - Red Yellow & Blue (Warp Records, released March 4th, 2008)
Three-piece power-pop that's both danceable (Barnacle Goose and Hummingbird) and laid-back (Little Garcon), all thanks to the subtle and airy mix of funky, jazz-laden guitar work and the excellent rhythm section, locked into a tight little groove. And they're Canadian, so you know it can't suck, because the Great White North has been killing it lately. Lead singer Luke Lalonde's vocal stylings are reminiscent of a latter-day David Byrne, as the band resembles an accidental homage to the (77 and Fear Of Music era) Talking Heads.

These New Puritans - Beat Pyramid (Domino Records, released March 18th, 2008)
Dance-punk isn't going away any time soon, which is a good thing in the rarest of cases, because there's a ton of crap out there. Allowing bands like this to bubble up to the top of the murky froth of that genre is why the label of dance-punk can be a saving grace. TNP's odd, angular guitar riffs, pounding basses and synth-ed out excursions over stellar drum patterns sets them apart from other bands they share a common ancestry with, leading them all back to one band in particular; Gang Of Four. Which is a great starting point, but TNP add their own little touches to update a sound borrowed from their influences. Numerology (aka Numbers) is as fine a song I've heard this year, and both En Papier and Elvis are great tracks. Not a concept album per se, but there is an on-going theme of self-reference and conceptual continuity.

Destroyer - Trouble In Dreams (Merge Records, released March 18th, 2008)
Playing it calm, collected and serene but rocking it out a bit, Dan Bejar of The New Pornographers' solo project Destroyer defies a genre labeling by doing pretty much everything; acoustic piano balladry (Blue Flower/Blue Flame) mixed in with straight up bangers (Dark Leaves From A Thread), at times a harried nervousness (The State) and other times a slow-burning build-up with the songs My Favorite Year and Shooting Rockets (From The Desk Of Night's Ape), Bejar has himself another gem of a record. The string arrangement and lyrical composition on Introducing Angels is quite stirring, if I might add...

Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward (Ecstatic Peace Records, released March 18th, 2008)
I recently read that Universal, the parent company of Be Your Own Pet's Ecstatic Peace label was taking three songs off of this album for its stateside release, due to "concerns over violence-inciting" lyrics; which are three of the better tracks here- Blow Yr Mind, Becky and Black Hole. This is the same label home to such "soft" artists as Eminem, 50 Cent and Marilyn Manson. How's that for irony? Or could it be just a publicity stunt to sell this band? At any rate, the review of the album (instead of a review of the music industry's bone-headed practices) is as follows: fifteen blasts of testosterone-backed pop-punk from an estrogen-challenged tough front-woman, clocking in at an average of two-and-a-half minutes per track. The pure, raw energy of this record makes up for the trite and cliched song titles.

Some full-length reviews, free songs, another concert review and music news in the next few days to follow, so stay tuned. And as always- thanks for reading!

And don't be afraid to comment below, as much as I like getting responses over AIM, MySpace and e-mail for my writing, I can't gauge an accurate count of who else is reading this site, and I'm not about to put a counter on this page, that's just whack...

Vampire Weekend...

...at The Independent, San Francisco, CA, March 22nd, 2008 (with opening band Yacht).

Conventional wisdom says: Vampire Weekend is a "flash-in-the-pan, not-enough-heart, johnny-come-lately, you-won't-hear-from-these-guys-in-year, the-album-doesn't-hold-up-after-repeated-listens" type of band.

The Musicologists' take: shut up, conventional wisdom. Yes, I've read every media outlet's review of this band, and it seems to me you either love 'em or hate 'em. Yes, this album stands up after repeated listens, yes, their live show is amazing, and yes (most importantly) they're already writing new songs for another album.

So, they'll still be here in a year. And the next, and the next after that, and...

Anyway, I could care less about the haters. Actually, that's a bold-faced lie; I do care, I eat this shit up like bored housewives eat up Entertainment Tonight. Bad press is in fact good press because any press is good press, especially if you're in a fresh, new and exciting young band- the whole blogosphere is going to choose sides. I can imagine VW takes this all in stride. Just add some fuel to their fire, all you nay-sayers.

For the actual show review, let's get into that now.

The opener, Yacht, from Portland- I got there for their last three songs. Actually, it's just one guy (Jona Bechtolt) and one girl, Claire L. Evans, with their musical backdrop being supplied by a lap-top/groove-box. They didn't suck, the crowd was really into it and their brand of electro-clash was both poppy and funky.




































On to the main event. After an all-too-long break between bands, VW took the stage to an explosive applause.




































Lead singer Ezra Koening, who doesn't look a day over sixteen, thanked the audience for their patience and started right into Mansard Roof. A lot of bands open their shows with the album's opener, and it works most of the time. I would've probably started things up with A-Punk, but they saved that for the "special" encore. More on that in a moment.

There was a lot of playful banter after songs between band and crowd; people calling out requests (I didn't hear a single "Freebird" for once...) and an overwhelming feeling that this would be the last time VW would play a "cozy" venue, next time they come 'round these parts I see a headline at The Fillmore, but that's only because they're outgrowing their hype. And that appearance on SNL a few weeks ago didn't hurt. My mom probably knows who they are now...













































setlist:
Mansard Roof
I Stand Corrected
Bryn
Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
Ladies Of Cambridge
new song
One (Blake's Got A New Face)
Campus

Encore:
A-Punk*
M79*
Walcott*
Oxford Comma

* - with strings!

Okay, let me explain this setlist a minute. They basically took a mid-set/encore break to bring out this string quartet. This is the only time they're going to do anything like this on the tour, so we should feel special. It was pretty amazing, it gave the songs that added "oomph" that the recorded songs have and anytime there's a couple violins in the room, I get a bit moist. Interpret that anyway you want.
































In summation: a high energy show with a special-guest string quartet (Ezra said this was the most special show of the tour because this was the only time they'd be joined by anyone on-stage), an attentive and fun crowd, the great sound system at The Independent (as always), a lax photography policy (see how many pics I got? And yes, I know they suck- I'm still figuring things out as I go...), the accessibility of the performers afterward (I ran into Claire from Yacht in the coat check/merch line and got to tell her "nice show", without fanning out on her, of course...) and the fact that this show was 21+ (because I hate most teenagers).

Explosions In The Sky...

...at the Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA, March 21st, 2008
It's okay to cry at a concert, right? If you've been so moved by the music spilled forth from the PA system, and your emotions become so entangled up in with the music, I'm going to say it's okay.

Now I wasn't bawling or anything, it was a barely visible tear that rolled out of the corner of my eye, but it did register its presence on my cheek during The Only Moment We Were Alone, during the encore last night. It's been a long time since I've been hit with a tears-of-joy moment, and I have no shame disclosing this fact. Seems as if Explosions and Sigur Ros are the only bands who can do this to me.

And it's been a good five years since I've eaten ecstasy, but I experienced more than enough moments last night that brought me that old feeling of absolute soul-warming, the pins and needles up my spine, hairs on end, uncontrollable smiles and that general sense of well-being produced by MDMA.

But music was my drug last night, and Austin, Texas' Explosions In The Sky were the dealer...

setlist:
First Breath After Coma
Six Days At The Bottom Of The Ocean
The Birth And Death Of The Day
Greet Death
Memorial
Your Hand In Mine
The Only Moment We Were Alone

Seven songs, all perfectly segued into the next, all in about an hour-and-a-half. This was one of the most amazing concert experiences of my life, and conservative estimates put that total somewhere in the neighborhood of about 300.

I wish I knew the exact number of shows I've attended, but I'm going on the formula of 20 concerts a year for the last fifteen, so give or take a few here and there I'm saying I've been to about 300 shows. I may have a problem...

Anyway, my relationship with Explosions' music has been one of a highly spiritual nature, an on-going religious experience of sorts, if you will allow that term to enter into your consciousness. I wake up to them, fall asleep to them, read to them, watch the sun set to them, etc. I don't necessarily follow any one religion, I take the best parts of the ones I like and make them my own. So in that regard, I tend to place a high value on music because of the places it's taken me.

Like life, there's a certain degree of tension, terror, beauty, quietude, and both strength and power in Explosions In The Sky's music. There's a lot to be said of a band that can squeeze more raw emotion out of their art without using words to express these sentiments.

Slow building crescendos coupled with pure moments of release, soft and beautiful arpeggiated passages into quiet with a sudden burst of static, if you've never listened to these guys, do yourself a favor and watch this (it's nine-and-a-half minutes, so go get a soda or something):
The Only Moment We Were Alone


Thank you, Explosions In The Sky. And thank you, readers of The Musicologists...

I apologize for the pictures, my entire roll got messed up somehow, so I have two for ya and they're psychedelic as all hell, thanks Photobucket.

This Just In...

News-worthy items for Thursday, March 20th:

The War On Drugs...
No, not Nancy Reagan's war on drugs, the Philadelphia-based indie rock band The War On Drugs have just signed to Secretly Canadian Records (home to Musicologists-approved favorites Jens Lekman, I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness and Damien Jurado). Funny story about this band; before I moved to Berkeley, I was a staff writer for The Compendium Magazine. I went to interview band member Kurt Vile and catch his solo act at The Khyber, I'll just say that he's one of the more eccentric characters in the Philly music scene. Anyway, he was pretty incoherent and I ended up with very little content, so the article was nixed. Anyway, he reappeared on-stage later, joining The War On Drugs, who I was also supposed to do a piece on. And once again, that never happened... Anyway, congratulations- and here's a link to download their EP Barrel Of Batteries. For free!

All you can eat iTunes? I freakin' wish...
There's been some talk lately of Apple offering a subscription service, basically a monthly fee for unlimited downloads. Hmmm, is this enough to get me to stop stealing music? Probably not... [read the article on Silicon Alley Insider]

Shameless self-promotion...
Okay, so the website I've been writing for (besides this one) is going public March 31st. We're called JamsBio, and our content is obviously music-based, meaning that I'm actually being paid to write about my own musical memories. Is that not freaking sweet or what? I write about songs that have affected me deeply (or not) in some way and they send me checks. I'm actually going to write my next memory about something that happened a few weeks ago, which was; coming home from work and opening the mailbox to find my first check sitting in there waiting for me. You'll have to wait to read it, I'm not going to tell you what song I was listening to on my iPod. But that song and I are now linked in this weird way forever. Life is funny, just like that. But life is hilarious, just like someone giving me money for my writing...

Bad move, Interscope Records...
Dear Jimmy Iovine, CEO of Interscope:
You are a god-damned retard for dropping Simian Mobile Disco from your crappy label today. You make $2.4 million a year and you don't have enough sense to know talent when you hear it. "Oh, but I discovered Eminem" Yes you did, but he sucks and I wouldn't brag about that. How the fuck is you gonna drop SMD, they're one of the few listenable dance artists out today, everything else in that genre pretty much sucks. Way to go, asshole. I hope your ears are plugged up with piles of steaming dog crap. Oh wait, they already are...
Sincerely,
The Musicologists

Two-minute warning: Jack White and Friends' harried rush for the end-zone...
The Raconteurs' new album Consolers Of The Lonely was leaked onto the interwebs a few weeks ago, and in response (although they say that has nothing to do with this) they've moved the release date forward to next Tuesday, March 25th and that it's going to be available in all formats simultaneously (vinyl, CD, digital, Victrola, microfiche, etc...) [read the entire article on Yahoo! News]

...And this just may get The Musicologists shut down...
Okay, you like free music? Here's two links to songs that haven't been released yet (or have been released overseas):
Death Cab For Cutie - I Will Possess Your Heart (from the forthcoming Narrow Stairs LP)
Vampire Weekend - Arrows (from the Japanese version of Vampire Weekend)

That's about all the items worthy of "news" in my little corner of the world...

That Being Said... (Three Quick Ones)

Yo.

Here's Lee's reviews of three new albums: The Black Crowes' Warpaint, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks' Real Emotional Trash and Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago. Enjoy!

The Black Crowes' newest: I'm a fan from way back, having grown up in Atlanta and gone to high school with their cousin (and, later on, I was their father, Stan Robinson's longtime bartender at Spice, the very same restaurant where I met my wife). That being said, I'm pretty cool to their new record. I, in fact, haven't really gotten into any of their stuff since 1994's Amorica. Well, Three Snakes & One Charm had its moments. But anyway the actual music is pretty good, but Chris Robinson has left the poetry of his first three records behind in favor of "too-hippie-for-me-smile-on-your-brothers" type fare.
6 out of 10

The new Stephen Malkmus record: I've always been 70/30 on Pavement, you know? Fundamentally I have problems with people who don't seem to be taking what they're doing seriously, though I know that at heart Malkmus is just as ambitious (read: careerist) as the next guy. That being said, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain and Wowee Zowee are pretty fucking awesome albums and everybody's been telling me that this one is just as good.

...ish? I've listened to it and I can't say that. I like it, but you know how you can always tell it's the Dead because of Garcia's guitar tone (and also how boring it is)? And you can always tell it's, like, AC/DC because of (for lack of a better explanation) the attitude in the guitar playing? Malkmus is like that for me. I can always tell it's him. And I don't know whether that's a good thing or not.
7 out of 10

Bon Iver, "For Emma, Forever Ago": I really like this record. If you like Iron & Wine (or even Jack Johnson), you'll totally dig this.
9 out of 10. Oh, and that being said...

...and that's all the news that's fit to print. Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars.

~lee.

Now, I'm going to review the album covers.

Okay, Black Crowes, what the fuck is this? Who's the hippie on the left? Jesus? I do love the Jews, so I'm not going to say too much there. But then you've got Neil Armstrong taking his first steps on a horse, or is that supposed to be an MTV award? Or John Wayne in a spacesuit? Then an Indian (whatever, Native American) next to, who's that? Skeletor? I wish He-Man was here to bash his gay skull wide open. Moving on, we have Paul Revere swinging a mic like an emo singer, this is fucking terrible. I'm not even going to talk about Tommy Chong on the far right, that's just retarded. One of the worst album covers I've ever seen. I haven't even heard one song on here and I know that it's terrible, just like the editors of Maxim said. I'm not so pissed about that whole fiasco anymore, this cover is fiasco-delic. I tried to swallow the waves of puke repeatedly coming up, even pinched my nose to keep it in, but it shot right out of my ears anyway.
I'm giving this a zero out of a billion

This album cover is shitty, also. I really like Malkmus, I like this album more than Lee, and Pavement's one of the best bands of the 90s. I'm pretty much 100/0 on that. Not one bad song on 5 full-length releases, but that's just my opinion. What the shit is that creature on here? If it's a bird, it looks like its wings have been shredded by a food processor, but a bad one like the one I got at Target for $12.99. The spiral is way stupid, it would've been cooler if it was like a fluorescent pink and maybe a neon purple would've worked, or better yet: glow in the dark. That shit would rule. This album is aptly titled, because it looks like real trash and it's making me emotional, like stab my eyes out emotional. The music contained within this record is pretty fucking good, so I'm going to disagree with Lee (that rhymes, sweet!).
2 out of 10

Lee's right as rain, this album is definitely a 9 out of 10. I'm somewhat indifferent about the cover, however; it looks like a still from an old Truffaut movie, maybe from Jules et Jim or possibly a Jean-Luc Godard flick. Either way, it looks both French and existential. On closer inspection, I think this is a picture I took with my Polaroid sx70 without having the neutral density filter on, so it got a little over-exposed. Then, since I smoke cigarettes in my bedroom as I type you this garbage, I frequently spray Febreze around. So, this is what Febreze will do to your Polaroids.
7 out of 10, for reminding me not to spray Febreze on my Polaroids anymore.

Thank you for reading, check back every day or I'll cry...

In The News for Monday, March 17th...

Sorry for the lack of updates recently, I've been writing like mad for my paid gig over at JamsBio (we go public on March 31st, I'm pretty hyped on that. Plus, the checks keep showing up which is more incentive to keep writing).

If I can quote the illustrious KRS-One for a minute to give you an idea of what my life's been like, let me do so with a quick couplet from Essays On BDP-ism; "You see, I like to study, I like money. I like eatin' wheat bread with honey..."

Anyhow, here's the only news to me since I stopped watching the nightly news:

Spoon - You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb

Uh oh, an early favorite for video of the year? Let's wait and see. Loving the art-school cut-out montages though...

Minus The Bear - Throwing Shapes

Hilarious and sad. What's that emotion called?

Simian Mobile Disco - Clock

	Simian Mobile Disco - Clock
	Found at skreemr.com

SMD never stops working...

Radiohead - Down Is The New Up

	Radiohead - Down Is The New Up
	Found at skreemr.com

This is from disc 2 of In Rainbows, also being released as a b-side next week on the Nude 7" single (along with 4 Minute Warning).

Peter Moren - Social Competence

	Peter Moren - Social Competence
	Found at skreemr.com

Yes, this is from the "Peter" of Peter Bjorn and John.

Man Man - Top Drawer

	Man Man - Top Drawer
	Found at skreemr.com

...and they're from Philly, so this is extra special for me to give to you!

Tapes 'n Tapes - Hang Them All

	Tapes 'n Tapes - Hang Them All (PROMO)
	Found at skreemr.com

Tapes 'n Tapes pretty much rock. Listen for yourself.

Duffy - Mercy

	Duffy - Mercy
	Found at skreemr.com

"Cuz I'm begging you for mercy, mercy..." So very nice!

That's about it for today. Tomorrow, check back for three short reviews from Lee.

Heads Up!

Just writing this to let you all know that there's a ton of new stuff available on the (somewhat legal) download services out there.

Don't trip out, we'll do full-length reviews on all of these. I could drop some names, but I'll make you a list, with "official" release dates in parentheses, but who waits for those anymore?:

Destroyer - Trouble In Dreams (next Tuesday)
Dan Behar of The New Pornographers, recording under his solo moniker of Destroyer, comes back after the stellar '06 release of Destroyer's Rubies with another solid offering of his brand of neo-folk.

She & Him - Volume 1 (next Tuesday)
Actress Zooey Deschanel writes and sings, too! Recording with producer M. Ward, this album is another early-'08 favorite of mine, as her debut sparkles with songs of love and loss. I can already say that this album will be near the top of my year-end list...

R.E.M. - Accelerate (April 1st)
Michael Stipe doesn't have to do all that much to get attention, he's a lot like Madonna in that respect. Reinventing themselves again, their approach here is not unlike the old R.E.M.

Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple (due April 8th)
Picking up where they left off, there's some excellent songs on here, like Run and Who's Gonna Save My Soul, which you've probably already heard. It's a much more confident approach, they sound really sure of themselves on here. In a nutshell; less introspective, more mature.

The Breeders - Mountain Battles (April 8th)
I love you, Kim Deal. You got me through high school with your first two albums, plus your output with the Pixies. This affair is right on par with what they do best, which is laid-back and shoegazey.

Man Man - Rabbit Habits (April 8th)
Yes! Man Man, you complete me. Keeping their trademark cabaret-meets-folk-meets-gutter punk sound, call-and-response but adding a conciseness in song forms, it's a tightening back of the patented "odd" sounds all over their last albums.

Tapes n Tapes - Walk It Off (April 8th)
Their last release, The Loon, sounded a lot like the school of Pavement disciples they are, which is probably why I loved it. But here on Walk It Off, they're coming into their own.

Portishead - Third (due out April 28th)
Wow. And I say that in a "this is really different" kind of wow. It's more like singer Beth Gibbons' stuff with Rustin Man. Less trip-hoppy, more acoustic, more worldly. Eleven years in-between records will do that to a band's sound...

Duffy - Rockferry (due May 13th)
I can't stop listening to this. She's soulful as all hell and she's Welsh (that place is so hot right now). Think of her as a Motown-esque throwback, like Dusty In Memphis. In response to all the comparisons, I think she has a better voice than Amy Winehouse, and she's way cuter.

These are all just preliminary reviews, except for Duffy and Destroyer I've only gotten through each of these albums once. Unlike Maxim Magazine, I'm not going to semi-review and rate anything until it's gotten a proper amount of listens...

Still no sign of:
Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward (next Tuesday)
Spoon - Don't You Evah EP (April 8th)
Colin Meloy - Colin Meloy Sings Live! (April 8th)
M83 - Saturdays=Youth (April 15th)
Islands - Arm's Way (April 21st)
Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs (May 13th)
Ladytron - Velocifero (June 3rd)
My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges (June 10th)

That's news to me...

Ticket To Insanity...

I just shelled out $91.00 for two tickets to two different shows, both sold out affairs. I dropped 51 bucks for the Vampire Weekend show at The Independent and another 40 samoleans on the Explosions In The Sky show at The Great American Music Hall. I'm okay with the forty beans for EITS, and Vampire Weekend's already been named band of the year by Spin Magazine, and everyone knows their finger is right on the pulse nowadays*.

Anyway, I could've gotten up early on those Saturday mornings and bought them both at face value, but I'm not the greatest sleeper in the world, so I take what I can get. Plus I have an exorbitant amount of money from stealing music rather than paying for it. I'll save that rant for another blog, but the whole gist of it is simple: the music industry sucks. Kudos to both Radiohead and Trent Reznor for giving their last records away for free, I hope Metallica is paying attention...

Okay now, I'm reeling. Reason being; do you have any idea what some scalping agencies are charging for tickets nowadays? TicketBastard's service charges are bad enough, but if you're so inclined to use any of these services like I just had to, take a look at what they're charging for some selected shows coming up:

Jay-Z & Mary J. Blige
The Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, PA, March 30th
section 1, row 15
$8,658.00

Are you completely fucking serious? Almost nine grand for HOVA and MJB? That's so crazy I can't properly even make fun of it because I'm caught so off-guard, it has to be a joke. Does the average hip-hop fan have $17,000 to take their date to see this? dfhjfvbjdfsjhfdskhjdslkhjdf See what you made me do, I can't even type anymore because my jaw just hit the keyboard.

By the way, these prices are in US dollars, not Tanzanian shillings or the Laotian kip.

Radiohead
Lakewood Amphitheatre, Atlanta, GA, May 8th
section 102, row M
$3,447.00

Again, for serious? I swear that this money could be used to feed at least 50 families in the above two countries I just mentioned. If Thom Yorke saw this, I bet he'd write a song about it, and I bet it would be awesome. And it would be FREE!

Brad Paisley
Reliant Stadium, Houston, TX, March 15th
section 118, row E
$801.00

I don't even know who Brad Paisley is, but he must be really, unbelievably good, because eight-hundred dollars is a lot of money for a redneck to be paying to see this guy, not to mention shelling out nine dollars a beer and... Forget it, too easy. Making fun of hillbillies is like shooting fish in a barrel.

Avril Lavigne
Allstate Arena, Rosemont, IL, March 21st
section 103, row R
$2,344.00

If you own a set of balls between your legs and you're paying 2300 bucks for Avril Fucking Lavigne tickets, so help me God I will come to your house and rip them off and feed them to you. I will drive all the way from Berkeley and kill you, I'm serious.

Panic! At The Disco
The Warfield, San Francisco, CA, April 10th
general admission, floor
$381.00

If you pay more than 20 bucks to see these guys, you're gay. If you pay anything at all to see these guys, you're still gay. Totally gay. Unless you're a girl, then you better be under 14.

The Police
Amway Arena, Miami, FL, May 16th
section 122, row V
$2,618.00

For some reason, I find this completely acceptable, because it's The Police.

Def Leppard
The Borgata, Atlantic City, NJ, April 4th
section 300, row 26
$3,345.00

I find this to be completely and hilariously ironic. Facts: this is in a casino in AC. The drummer has one arm. Slot machines are called one-armed bandits. You do the math...

Rush
Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto, ON, July 9th
section 101, row N
$1,807.00

Since it's in Canada, does the exchange rate apply? In that case, these are only worth $1,785.95 there...

Cher
Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas, NV, May 6th
section 5 FRONT ORCH, row EE
$1,712.00

This is the worst gamble in all of Vegas. If given the option, I'd rather step up to the Russian Roulette table. The one with two bullets in the cylinder.

Okay, I've had enough. I threw up in my own mouth not once, but twice. Strangely, I do feel better about being a fan of bands that no one's really heard of, because if I had to pay $1,500 bucks to see Bon Iver or Menomena or Jens Lekman, I'd definitely go insane.

* - what I really meant to say is that Spin has had their fingers jammed straight up their assholes since they went mainstream at the turn of the century. Read this...

Where's The Buzz At?

So I spend a lot of my waking hours searching the internet for buzzworthy music items, long after you've gone to sleep. Consider this post a cross between Free Fridays and In The News, with a mix of mp3s and current trends. It's a veritable Punnet square of blogginess, a douchebag full of hipster shit that you probably couldn't live without.

Music to me is like air, but way better because sometimes you get a face-full of bus exhaust, and the musical equivalent to that would be shitty FM radio.

So, you wanna be cool like me? Fat frickin' chance. You may be wondering "What should I listen to when I'm at the coffee shop, on my laptop, working j-pegs with Photoshop? I'm checkin' e-mails, drinking five-dollar dirty soy chai lattes and making sure people see my brand new limited edition Nikes."

Yes, you. I'm talking to you. You need some direction, and I'm a road sign to the future, so strap yourself in and feel the G's...

So here's the hottest shit out right now:

Santogold - L.E.S. Artists

	Santogold - L.E.S Artistes
	Found at skreemr.com

I've had my eye on this lady for a few weeks now, and she's slowly creeping up my most-played list. You may be thinking, "Holy fucking shit, bitch! I need this as my ringtone now!" Well, you better have gotten it yesterday or by this weekend, you won't be cool any more...

Vampire Weekend - Walcott (Insane Mix #2)

	Vampire Weekend - Walcott (Insane Mix #2)
	Found at skreemr.com

I know, Vampire Weekend is soooo mid-January, which in hipster time is like three years. But everyone and his mother who owns ProTools and FruityLoops is remixing the shit out of them, so this will extend their shelf life another three weeks. At least...

Yeah, I'm using a new font. I hear all the cool kids are like, "Trebuchet is the new Arial." And it's named after a medieval catapult-like device, so you know everyone's blog in Williamsburg is decked to the tits in Trebuchet, because the middle ages are the new seventies. Yes, I know it's a fancy-pants font, like those overpriced day-glo screen printed t-shirts from Urban Outfitters, selling you faux "cool" fashions since whatever.

Justice - D.A.N.C.E. (MSTRKRFT Remix)

	Justice - D.A.N.C.E (mstrkrft REMIX)
	Found at skreemr.com

So me and my bitches are going dancing this weekend, and if I don't hear this song at least six times, I want my fucking cover back. I'm not paying ten bucks to hear this only once, I need that money for coke.

Foals - Balloons

	FOALS - Balloons
	Found at skreemr.com

These guys are so the new Minus The Bear, and they're British, so there's like no way they can suck.

Tokyo Police Club - Your English Is Good

	Tokyo Police Club - Your English Is Good
	Found at skreemr.com

So when people ask you, "What song should I upload to my MySpace profile? I really need people to know that I'm cool, but I don't want too many people to bite my style." Don't you dare tell them that you have this song, because they'll usurp your cool and never give you any credit that, in fact, you told them about this song.

Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor (Soulwax Dub)

	Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor (Soulwax Dub)
	Found at skreemr.com

It's become really fashionable to use Brit-slang nowadays, I can't walk out of an American Apparel without hearing the employees say that something's either a) wonky b) dodgy or c) brilliant. Usually if they forget, I'll get the ball rolling by saying, "Bloody 'ell, I'm not droppin' 42 quid for a sodding zip-up hoody."

LCD Soundsystem - Big Ideas

	LCD Soundsystem - Big Ideas
	Found at skreemr.com

James Murphy hasn't slept since 2004...

And the song of the week...
Michael Jackson - Billie Jean 2008 (Kanye West Remix)
(Sorry, you have to outlink to it. But if you don't click on it, you're a dumb-ass because this song is a jam and a half. And does anyone else think Kanye is the new Puffy?)

This is the only news that matters to me... ever.

Los Campesinos! Hold On Now, Youngster...

Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster (released February 26th, 2008; Wichita/Arts&Crafts Records)

You know, sometimes... sometimes I just wanna dance. Like "get crazy, flailing about the room, ninja kicking, knocking shit over, contorted face, where'd my t-shirt go?" type of dancing.

There. Whew, I admitted it.

Now I can freely review this record and not feel the least bit ashamed about not having to be a serious music writer, at least not all the time. Thank god for Los Campesinos! injecting some fun into the world of indie rock. It gets kind of boring keeping up with the Interpols and the Arcade Fires of this world, and as much as I love those bands they can bring me to my knees, because self-examination is fucking exhausting.

So, with that being said, are you ready for a fun music review? Let's go across the sea to the United Kingdom. Wales, in fact; to the lovely little city of Cardiff for an imaginary interview, since that seems to be the mode I've been in lately...

Jimmy Mac: So, all your last names are Campesinos!?
Los Campesinos! (all together): It's You! It's Me! And we're Dancing!

JM: Okay. That's a great song, by the way. Can you introduce yourselves to our readers?
LC! (one at a time now): Aleksandra! Ellen! Gareth! Harriet! Neil! Ollie! Tom!

JM: Thank you very much, that's some serious excitement you have going on, and it's nice to see that it made its way onto the album. Gareth and Aleksandra, you two seem to be the loudest, is that because you share lead singing duties?
Alek & Gareth: Oi!

JM: Now I can completely understand why there's an exclamation point in your band's name. Moving on to your style of music, tell me about the "international tweecore underground". Would you say you stand alone as the leaders in the art of tweecore?
Gareth: What's all this palaver about us bein' wanky loners in twee? We're not sayin' we invented it, we're just representatives of a certain sound. We isn't tryin' to naff off our mums now.

JM: So who do you take musical direction from? Your main influences?
Neil: We quite likes the Pavement, Broken Social Scene, Yo La Tengo...
Ollie: ...oh, and Deerhoof, Sleater-Kinney, Arab Strap...
Harriet: ...what about The Fiery Furnaces, Architecture In Helsinki...
Ellen: ...Beat Happening, Destroyer, The Unicorns and Islands...
Tom: ...um, my mate Thurston Moore, Wolf Parade, Beulah...

JM: That's a pretty wide area of influences and they can be seen all over the record. Was it hard to record Hold On Now, Youngster with all the hype surrounding last year's stellar EP, Sticking Fingers Into Sockets?
Gareth: Well 2007, The Year Punk Broke (My Heart), we had to turf it out ourselves, being "the second most punk-rock band in Britain". It was me, in your back garden/ with my Walkman tucked inside my forearm/ and I'm waiting, waiting for C90. In the summer of 2007/ the summer that punk rock broke my heart...

JM: Do you feel as though it's been a time of change in the world, or in the United Kingdom in particular?
Gareth: Oh, everywhere, because this is how you spell "Ha Ha Ha, I've destroyed the hopes and the dreams of a generation of faux-romantics, and I'm pleased. I'm pleased". And you know, everyone is against us all the time, shouting Death To Los Campesinos!

JM: I was wondering how you arrived at the titles of your songs, are they engineered slogans or do they just grow from the excitement of writing songs?
Ellen: It's a mish-mash of ideas, like watching Soccer Saturday on the telly, hanging in pubs, playing shows, inside jokes, sorting out life.

JM: So Ellen, you and Alek are the two main writers of the blog on your website. Tell me about touring with Broken Social Scene, please.
Aleks: Aye, they were great! And all these new memories from touring the US, like in San Francisco, that seemed to be where the crazies liked to hang out and generally talk to themselves. While we were having cocktails I witnessed a man continuously lifting a plastic
bag up and down for an hour at what we thought was a bus stop. It turned out to a lamp post. He wasn’t waiting for a bus, he was just slightly eccentric.

JM: Oh yes, we have a lot of them out here. What was it like mixing the album in Canada?
Ellen: We got to mix the album in a very interesting area of Toronto which was a hang out for drivers with a penchant for loud bass-heavy music. Each evening they would crank up the volume and stand stationary around their cars just kinda looking at each other, it seemed fun and often I wanted to join in. This was balanced out by charity workers who would do team building exercises each morning which involved group singing, clapping and generally dancing around like idiots. One of them enquired as to whether Alek and myself wanted a job. It was tempting.

JM: Sounds like a lot of fun. Can I join your band?
Gareth: Pluses, mate. But We Are All Accelerated Readers... so, if you can manage to give your life to literature, we'd 'ave a go with ya. Just don't read Jane Eyre!
Neil: Aye, but we're trying to up our estrogen levels... (laughter from band)

JM: Are you gentlemen in the band protective of the ladies?
Tom: Oh, it's quite the opposite...

JM: Harriet, you've been quiet during the interview. Any memorable experiences during the recording or last year's tour?
Harriet: Oi, I celebrated my birthday in a lovely little place in the outskirts of Toronto, and Tom made a lovely little tiramisu which somehow ended up on Gareth's face. (band laughs)

JM: And how old are we now?
Harriet: (blushing) Twenty-two!

JM: So what does the future hold for Los Campesinos!?
Gareth: It would be well good to remind those of you that 'aven't 'eard our tunes that we're bent upon unleashing a massive attack on your eardrums. (band exhales deeply and rolls eyes in unison...)

JM: Well, you've been absolutely lovely to interview, I wish I could take you home with me. Ollie, you've also been a bit quiet, any parting shots you wish to bestow on us here at The Musicologists?
Ollie: Los Campesinos! are the sound of musical excess; of too many glorious melodies at once; of harmonious gluttony; of a mellifluous cacophony... Not really! We just threw a few chords together... (band laughs)

Why the red text?
"There's red stains all over the place..."
Oh, yeah. The album cover?












And there you have it...

The Mountain Goats...

...at Bimbo's 365 Club, San Francisco, 2/29/08 with Jeffrey Lewis & The Jitters and Okay.

I'm going to be completely honest. Usually when attending a concert, I try to get there as close to when I think the headliner is playing. I don't want to sit through a shitty band, or possibly two. Last night was no exception. I'm looking at the tickets, and I'm like, "hmmmm, doors at 7, show at 8, we should get there about 8:45 or so..." Again, I don't want to sit through shitty music for one minute.

So we timed it pretty good, getting there at 8:45, but alas, how dare an opening band still be playing? *gasp* Not realizing there was another band on before the supporting band, I was shocked after a few minutes to learn that they didn't suck. They were actually Okay, from right here in the East Bay.

Then, all my dreams of making fun of the supporting band were dashed as they took the stage. They were fucking great, Jeffrey Lewis & The Jitters from some place called Brooklyn. Jeff Lewis is a master storyteller, starting their set with an ode to Ramen noodles. Yes, we've all had times in our lives when we subsisted on nothing but the rectangular packages of shrimp-flavored non-nutritional noodles, as Lewis reminded us that all the "artistes" in the Lower East Side do. Or maybe there was a time in my life when I did too, but having a few extra quarters to also get some day-old bagels.

Their set was excellent, and as it went on I realized that I'd heard them before. He's they guy who wrote the Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror, if you've never heard it, do yourself a favor and click the link on his name and listen to that now. It's pretty fucking hilarious. Lewis' set was also punctuated with his story books, as he told stories while flipping pages to his drawings to tell his stories. "The Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane" was funny as shit, as I also haven't eaten acid in a long time and can no longer relate to Grateful Dead or Phish fans, having traded my tie-dyes and sandals in for regular clothes. I now dress like an ordinary guy, too.

I was glad we got to see both opening bands, I'm pretty sure Jeffrey Lewis is my new favorite artist.

Jeffrey Lewis & The Jitters,
rocking the crowd...







Then The Mountain Goats took the stage about 10:30. John came out, all smiles, and all the women swooned as Peter took up his bass. I swear it got warmer in there by about 10 degrees. John was wearing a death metal band T-shirt, apparently all he listens to is death metal and reggae. Imagine that, being something of an indie icon and not even listening to indie rock at all. That's why he rules.

Acoustic-based folk metal ditties
by John Darnielle...




















In full swing now...









Here's a look at the setlist. They played almost the whole new album, and of course some old favorites. Not playing The Best-Ever Death Metal Band or No Children, two songs I really wanted to hear, are forgiven when you have like 456,743 songs, it's tough to play them all. And they're playing two more shows this weekend, so I'm sure the crowd at The Independent or the Bottom Of The Hill will get those jams...

Michael Myers Resplendent
Heretic Pride
You Or Your Memory
Peacocks
How To Embrace A Swamp Creature
Sinaloan Milk Snake
Marduk T-Shirt Men's Room Incident
Going To Georgia
So Desperate
Waving At You
November Love Song
In The Craters On The Moon
Sept. 15th 1983
San Bernardino
Lovecraft In Brooklyn

Encore
Dance Music
This Year
Houseguest*

Second Encore
California Song

John loving the crowd. "You guys are my favorite, and I'm not just saying that. Go on archive.org
for all the live shows on there and I'll prove it to you..."



























If you aren't yet a Mountain Goats fan, seriously, what's wrong with you?