Fake Century

May The Best Man Win...

2006-05-02T19:20:00.000-07:00

So, word is out: tickets for Radiohead's 'intimate venue' shows are gonna start going on sale this friday; and yes, they are gonna be harder to get a hold of than even those damn Wonka tickets. I'll be sure to give it the old college try come friday morning. But considering they sell out 2 nights at MSG in a matter of seconds, and this time around they're playing the Theater at MSG (a venue maybe 1/10th the capacity), I'm being realistic. (I know the venue doesn't get much blog love, but I saw Franz Ferdinand there last year and thought the place was much better than a lot of the other venues in the city).

If I don't get lucky with friday's ticket sale, there's always the Philly shows on sale the next morning. Hopefully it won't come to that though, cuz although it'd be cool to take a road trip and see them at a venue I haven't been to before, there's just too many other good shows going on around here that night, such as:

Super Furry Animals @ South Street Seaport: A great live band for frees! Can't beat that.

The Stills and Rogue Wave @ Maxwells: Just found out about this through BV. 2 bands I really like on the same bill. Should be a good show.

The Benson Interruption @ UCB Theater: Doug Benson is one of my favorite comedians, and he's finally bringing his L.A. show to NY, with some big guests. And it's at midnight, so if I end up in the city that night, I'll be able to make this and the SFA show.

Show, Shows and Shows

2006-04-24T19:41:00.000-07:00

For anyone who regularly checks out this blog, you may have noticed a little lapse in my posting. Starting a new job where I'm actually expected to work has put a bit of a damper on my already fragile relationship with blogga-sphere. I won't call this my official final post, but I will say I'll be posting with much less frequency.
What sucks is that I've been going to a lot of cool shows lately and have a lot to blog about. So maybe I'll catch up right now with some short recaps of some of the shows I've checked out in the past few months or so (this will be long, and I'm very tired right now, so it'll be full of gaffes and typos. Sorry):

Broin Out With Leo and Tony @ The UCB Theater: Just got back from this show tonight. Janeane Garofalo was the big guest. Eric Slovin also stopped by and showed the hysterical 'Family Film' he made with Leo Allen (I'd link to it, but it's super X-rated, and I don't want to corrupt anyone). Bobby Tisdale stole the show with his patented mad-cappery and tom-foolery.

Scissor Sisters @ Bowery Ballroom: I went to the sunday show (as well as Anderson Cooper, Karl Lagerfeld and Kyle Minogue, who were both hanging out together on the VIP balcony the whole time). The Sisters put on an incredible show as always. So much fun; and the new songs sounded great).

TV on the Radio @ Bowery Ballroom: Another Bowery show. This was my first time seeing them, (I was at the show they played with Franz Ferdinand at the Theater at MSG, but I got there too late for them; and I'm not counting their appearance at Siren because they were on the stage with awful sound) and they played a lot of new stuff, but opening band The Celebration had more energy in their set.

Neko Case and Martha Wainwright @ Webster Hall: Two great singer songwriters. Two very sassy ladies with sailor mouths. A great night. Neko played a lot of her down-tempo tunes, which I liked. And she had the great Kelly Hogan to back her up.

Wolf Parade @ Webster Hall: These guys rocked. I like their album, but I find it inconsistent. I prefer the keyboardist's songs to the guitarists (and nothing on the album comes close to matching the awesomness of I'll Believe in Anything), but live I thought all the songs hung together really well, even though they were played in a very ragged, sloppy way.

Trapped in the Closet @ UCB Theater: Aziz Ansari and Eric Appel hosting; Todd Barry, Rebecca Drysdale, and Nick Kroll on the panel; David Cross turning in a star performance as 'the Closet'. Yes, the levels of comedic quality in the room was through the roof. But no one was as funny as R. Kelly's eponymous 'hip-hopera', itself.

Franz Ferdinand's "Sound Check Party" @ Hammerstein Ballroom: Me and my girlfriend had Good Friday off work, so we checked out this secret, free Myspace show. (Yes, I opened a MySpace account just to go to this show. Who wants to be my friend?) The band played a lot of stuff they normally don't play and sounded really great.. And it felt very intimate being in a quarter full Hammerstein Ballroom.

The Stills @ Mercury Lounge: Once again, another band testing out new material at a venue much smaller than they normally play. A lot has already been written about the new Stills shows and their new lineup (just about all their new songs were sung by their former drummer and principle songwriter). I like the new stuff and I'm definitely gonna spend a lot time with their new album when it finally gets released. I especially liked the songs they did with the brass section from Antibalas. Very Broken Social Scene-y.

There's been other shows I've been to that I haven't blogged about (Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Bowery; Demetri Martin at UCB), but in blog time, they may as well have been a decade ago, so I'll refrain from recapping. Hopefully, I'll be able to post more in the future. A lot of good outdoor concerts coming up this summer that I'll be at (Belle & Sebastian at Battery Park, Broken Social Scene at Prospect Park, Fiona Apple at Summerstage), so I'll try to keep this thing going a little more...

Stella's Purim Karaoke Spectacular

2006-03-14T06:21:00.000-08:00

Purim is a Jewish holiday where the Jews of the world dress up in funny hats and costumes, eat triangular-shaped prune-danish cookies, and generally party down. In honor of Purim, HEEB Magazine and JDub Records hosted their annual 'American Schmidol' Karaoke contest at Bowery Ballroom last night.
I went to the show for the celebrity judges, Stella. Judging by the response from the audience, I'd say a lot of other people did as well. There also seemed to be a lot of people that were connected in one way or another to HEEB or JDub. In fact, though I consider myself Jewish (non-practicing), I felt like the least Jewish person in the room. The night had the vibe of a singles mixer for hip NYC Jews. I kept hearing my grandmother's voice in my head saying I should find a nice Jewish girl to marry.
The show kicked off with comedian/accordianist Corn Mo, who showed the crowd how it was done with a howling rendition of GnR's Paradise City. Stella had a lot of fun roasting him (Michael Ian Black called him Corn Row). To get up and sing you had to put your name and a song request in a hat that the host picked at 'random'. I put random in quotes because by the end of the night it was pretty clear that most of the contestants' performances were planned. A lot of them seemed to be either the event organizers or the girlfriends of the event organizers. It didn't really matter to me, because it was all in good fun and their were some really funny performances. And like I said, the night was really about watching Stella making fun of everyone. It's probably a good thing they didn't pick my name anyway. I chose Kings of Leon's The Bucket as my song, even though it's not what you think of when you think 'Karaoke song'. (I mostly chose it because it's a short, fun song that's easy to sing. In all my years of karaoke experience, I've learned the hard way which songs to avoid and which songs are relatively safe. Don't even attempt to sing anything by The Beach Boys or Queen, and remember: Oasis is your friend).

Some performance highlights: The first contestant did a really good rendition of Me and Bobby McGee. She sucked her thumb half way through the song, which confused the judges, until they learned it was an homage to David Wain's notorious 'about to orgasm thumbsucking' from the Turkey Hunting Stella Short.

A woman doing an awful version of Prince's Purple Rain started dosing the audience with bottled water, prompting a near audience riot. Michael Showalter remarked that it reminded him of Altamont. He thought there might be a murder.

A guy did a pretty mean rendition of All That Jazz.

All the Stella guys said a lot witty, funny stuff that was too much for me to remember.
Good times.

Belle & Sebastian's 'Secret Show' Revealed

2006-03-10T09:05:00.000-08:00

A lot of North American B&S fans have been anxious to find out what's the 'special show' they keep alluding to on their website. I was hoping it'd be a NYC show, maybe a festival-type concert like the ones that Stuart's been organizing in Scotland for a while (Bowlie Weekend, School's Out).

Today they revealed their plans. Sounds great, but wrong coast, guys:

Oh, to live in L.A.

Stella Go Bye Bye

2006-03-08T12:52:00.000-08:00

From the Stella website:

"The STELLA series was on Comedy Central last summer. The network has offcially decided not to renew it for a second season.

Thank you to all the fans for your lobbying and support. Perhaps Stella will return on TV in some other form in the future. In the meantime, Comedy Central occasionally repeats the episodes, and we are currently working on DVD which will have the whole season and lots of cool extras. The DVD release (and possible touring) will be this fall."

Looks like next monday's karaoke party will be a night of mourning. Maybe I'll serenade them with a rendition of Danny Boy or American Pie.

(photo from stellacomedy.com)

Belle & Sebastian and New Pornographers @ Nokia - 2nd night

2006-03-03T22:12:00.000-08:00

Friday night was night 2 of the New Pornographers/Belle & Sebastian show at Nokia Theater.
Both shows were great, but if I had to compare both nights, I'd say their were more audience interaction and surprises in the setlists thursday night, but both bands sounded better friday night.

But first, a few more things about the Nokia Theater. First of, they need more songs on their piped in music loop. After being there 2 nights in a row, I was ready to kill someone every time I had to hear that Ben Folds song and those 2 Blondie songs. Don't get me wrong, I like those songs, but 8 listens was enough. Also, the Nokia Theater needs to loosen up their alcohol policy. When I was at the bar, the bartender wouldn't serve a woman in her 50s because she didn't have a wristband.

The set times were the same for both shows. The New Pornographers came on at 8:30 and mixed up the setlist a bit from the night before, opening with Star Bodies. We also got Letter From an Occupant, Jackie Dressed in Cobras and Testament to Youth and Verse for the Bejar songs, The Body Says No instead of Slow Descent. (2 songs they played both nights that I forgot to mention: Jessica Numbers and July Jones).

The best part of the NPs set was when Carl Newman was complaining that playing the guitar was doing wrist curls, which led the drummer to start an impromptu cover of Eye of the Tiger. He sounded really good, too. I don't need to repeat how incredible their drummer is. He might be the most fun to watch on stage, and it was cool that they set up his drum set in front of the stage. Also, Carl Newman revealed that he lives in NYC now, which (unless he was joking) I was completely unaware of. When he was talking to the audience about what bar he might hang out in, he said the Brooklyn Social Club on Smith St (not far from where I live). I assume he must live near there, as it's not that well known a bar.

B&S's set was a bit shorter than thursday's. They opened with Expectations, which was a bit, er, unexpected. From then on, there weren't too many surprises. A lot of the Life Pursuit songs that weren't played the night before got played, like Blues Are Still Blue and Act of the Apostle. No Mornington Crescent, though. And I wasn't expecting to hear Song For Sunshine or We Are The Sleepyheads (they haven't been playing those live on this tour yet). Once again, Another Sunny Day and Sukie in the Graveyard left me wanting (too much acoustic guitar on Sukie; Bean's keyboards and Bobby's bass part needs to come through more), but White Collar Boy's proving to be a ripping live song, especially the backing vocals and the way Stuart was introducing the band over the extended intro vamp. They mixed up the rest of the set nicely, but still stuck mostly to Sinister tracks. I'm not complaining too much, since Get Me Away From Here I'm Dying and The Boy Done Wrong Again sounded really good. We did get a few songs from Fold Your Hands, and a nice version of Piazza, New York Catcher. Stevie's The Wrong Girl also sounded great. It's clearly an easier song for him to sing than Jonathan David, which seems to give him a little trouble. As for the encore, Stuart teased us by almost playing Simple Things, but he quickly realized he forgot how it went, so he gave up and launched into Dreams of Horses. Oh well.

Even though the band sounded better, they seemed a lot more mellow. At one point after Electric Renaissance Stuart crouched down in the front row rather intently and I was wondering if he was smoking a joint from an audience member. He did seem very hazy and chilled out afterwards, so that might explain it. But that's completely unconfirmed.

Setlist:

Expectations
Another Sunny Day
Woman's Realm
Blues Are Still Blue
The Boy Done Wrong Again
Funny Little Frog
Sukie in the Graveyard
Electric Renaissance
Piazza New York Catcher
White Collar Boy
To Be Myself Completely
Your Cover's Blown
Act of Apostle
The Wrong Girl
Like Dylan in the Movies
I'm A Cuckoo
Get Me Away From Here I'm Dying

Encore:
Simple Things (almost)
Judy and The Dream of Horses
You're Just a Baby

Also, here's Status Aint Hood's douche-baggy review of thursday's show. That same creepy stoner dude he's talking about came up to me at the show also, asking me if I had any 'nugget' and started getting aggressive when I tried to get rid of him. What a freak.

Update - 3/6: I didn't watch Subteranean sunday night, but Time Warner said the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were on, not B&S. Not sure what happened there. But there is a good interview with Stevie in Pitchfork today. Check it out.

Matter of Trust @ Nokia Theatre (with New Pornographers and Belle & Sebastian)

2006-03-02T21:41:00.000-08:00

Last night was the first of 2 Nokia Theatre shows featuring my ultimate dream bill: The New Pornographers and Belle & Sebastian, two bands that I've probably seen collectively close to 20 times in the past, sharing a stage together. This is what power pop dreams are made of. The night was filled with hours and hours of listening pleasure (and one nice comedic surprise), so on with the recapping.

First off, the venue. This was my first time at the Times Square, uber-corporate theatre, so I was curious. After taking a dark, black-lit elevator which felt like I was going on Space Mountain, you get to the lobby area, which was pretty nice, like a swank mall or a corporate office showroom. The theater itself was interesting. A floor with seating in the back, kind've like the Theater at MSG. I don't know why the floor was split-leveled, but the sound was good and cans of bud were 6 bucks; no more expensive than Webster Hall, so I didn't fell like I was being unpleasantly raped by the Heineken Corporation.

The New Pornographer took the stage at 8:30 on the dot. I knew Neko Case and Dan Bejar wouldn't be there, so we got the bar bones version. I didn't mind since they sounded really full. One of the best sound I heard from them. They played a great mix of songs from their 3 albums for about 50 minutes, and Carl Newman was being particularly funny and silly. Katherine Calder has gotten a lot more confident singing Neko's parts (but alas, she's still no Neko Case. Sorry to bring up that argument, but she just doesn't project like her). She sang Mass Romantic and The Laws Have Changed with a lot of energy. I won't give a full set list, but here's what I remembered them playing: Twin Cinema, Bleeding Heart Show, Blown Speakers, Bones of an Idol, Fake Headlines, Stacked Crooked, Execution Day (a nice surprise! When they do a Bejar song without them, don't they usually do Jackie or Testament to Youth and Verse?), It's Only Divine Right, Slow Descent into Alcoholism.

Then the first surprise of the night. After The NPs set, Carl started talking about how honored he was to be sharing the stage with his heroes. I assumed he was talking about B&S, but instead he brought out a little known German, one-song Billy Joel cover band called Matter of Trust. Of course, the 50 people in the audience that were at the Bowery Ballroom Invite Them Up Release Party knew who Matter of Trust really were: Comedians Jon Benjamin, Jon Glaser, Todd Barry, Tom Shillue, and James McNew from Yo La Tango. Actually, when you think of it, it wasn't too surprising. Wherever the New Pornographers are, comedians seem to follow (or vice versa) and even during their set, my friends and I were wondering if David 'I'm friends with the band' Cross or Eugene Mirman would show up on stage. In fact, Carl Newman made a sly, knowing reference to Matter of Trust during their set, which should've made it obvious to my friends and I that they'd show up. I actually saw Eugene after Matter of Trust's song and we had a nice, brief talk about how much the audience seemed to enjoy them, it being only their second time performing. He also said they weren't gonna play at tonight's show, and I asked him if maybe he'll take the stage instead. It seemed a possibility. (I also saw Todd Barry after the show and congratulated him, but he warned the audience not to blog about it).

As great as all that was, it was really just the cherry on top of the icing before the cake. By 10pm, B&S came out on stage and played a nearly 2 hour set of songs. Now, this is maybe my 8th time seeing the band, and as much of a fan as I am, I first have to say that yes, the band may not be the most exciting live band. In fact, their shows used to be a notorious, shambolic mess. But they've certainly tightened up in recent years and apart from the occasional false start and flubbed lyric, they have been a commanding live band at recent shows (especially their 2 Town Hall shows during the Dear Catastrophe tour). Last night's show was wonderful for the most part, but their were some moments of low energy, especially coming off The NPs strong set. For some reason Another Sunny Day and Sukie in the Graveyard, 2 of the stronger songs on the new album, didn't have the same impact live.

So, with that criticism out of the way, let me tell you what was great about their set last night: Namely, Your Cover's Blown. This was the song I was most excited to hear and it didn't disappoint. I loved how they stripped down the first chorus to just voice and bass, and best of all, Stuart Murdoch staged dived into the crowd during the middle eight 'I should've stayed home' part. Wow. That was incredible.

There were many other highlights. I love how Electric renaissance went from a song that they wouldn't touch live to a show staple almost overnight (I think this has a lot to do with keyboardist Chris 'Beans' Geddes' embrace of all techno and dj culture), and how Stevie busted out a kind've robotic werewolf dance move during that song's solo. The banter was really fun too between Stuart and Stevie: when Stevie was tuning his guitar, causing a false start on Century of Fakers (apparently this is the first tour they've played this song since Isobel left), Stuart warned the audience not to 'play with Stevie's knobs'. Another highlight was Stuart getting 6 girls in skirts from the audience on stage to can can with rifles to If You Find Yourself Caught in Love, and ordering them like a perverted drill sergeant "You're wearing jeans instead of a skirt! You'll have to take it off". Yes, it is somewhat disturbing watching Stuart transform from shy, sexually ambiguous wallflower to sexist horndog in recent years, but he's having so much fun that I can't bring myself to judge him. And besides, Caught in Love is such a great live song, nothing could ruin it for me.

There's probably a lot more to their set that I'm forgetting to mention. I wish I took some pics, but I stupidly checked my camera in my bag, and I was too far back from the stage to get any good shots anyway (I'm sure someone on line got great pics. Check out Chromewave's shots from their Toronto show. Simply amazing).

Here's what I remember from the setlist. This is in no way in order, and I might've missed a few tunes. Another criticism, if I could call it that, was the set was very Sinister heavy. It seemed they played more tracks off Sinister than off The Life Pursuit, and both songs in the encore were Sinister tracks. Nothing from Arab Strap or Fold Your Hands made it into the set. Hopefully, tonight they'll mix it up a bit. If I had to guess tonight's set, judging from what they didn't play, I'd say they'll open up with Act of The Apostle; they'll play Blues Are Still Blue and Mornington Crescent in lieu of Sukie and Dress Up in You; probably Slow Graffiti and maybe Le Pastie or Photo Jenny instead of Century of Fakers and Dog On Wheels; and maybe some more of Tigermilk to balance out the Sinister tracks from last night (You're Just a Baby or She's Losing It Perhaps).

Setlist:
Stars of Track and Field
Another Sunny Day
Funny Little Frog
Century of Fakers
Sukie in the Graveyard
Electric Renaissance
Loneliness of a Middle Distance Runner
To Be Myself Completely
Dress Up In You
Fox in the Snow
White Collar Boy
Mayfly
Your Cover's Blown
I'm a Cuckoo
Dog on Wheels
Jonathan David
If You Find Yourself Caught in Love
The State I'm In

Encore:
Judy and The Dream of Horses
Me and the Major

Showtime at The Apollo!

2006-03-01T10:55:00.000-08:00

Well, the 'lets-schedule-every-great-NYC-show-the-one-weekend-I'm-away parade' continues. BV announced Gorillaz are 5 nights of shows (April 2-6) at the Apollo with a crazy roster of guests (Ike Turner! but no Dennis Hopper?). Since I'll be gone from the 31st to the 4th and I just scored tickets for the April 5th Stills show at Mercury Lounge, I'm figuring I'll be too exhausted to even try to go to the last night's show. Oh well.

Tickets on sale the 10th.

B&S on Your TV and Other Random Music News

2006-03-01T08:17:00.000-08:00

As reported yesterday, Belle & Sebastian will have their official aftershow party in Williamsburg friday night. Since we're only one day away from the 2 most anticipated shows of the year (for me at least), I thought I'd remind everyone that B&S will be on Conan O'Brian tonight and will also be on Subterranean on MTV2 sunday night. So set your TiVos.

Anyone else getting super excited about their Nokia shows this week with the New Pornographers? I personally can't wait. Anyone happen to have an extra ticket for the friday show for my brother? Someone willing to sell a ticket for a reasonable price, unlike this douchebag?

Also, Brooklyn Vegan reported (via Pitchfork) that The Stills are playing 2 shows at Mercury Lounge April 4th and 5th. Wow. These guys are such a great band, so it'll be really cool to see them at such an intimate venue. I'll be back away in Las Vegas on the 4th, so hopefully I won't be too exhausted to see them.

Pitchfork also reported that Madonna is playing the dance tent at Coachella. That's Kerrraaazy.

Belle & Sebastian NYC After Party in the House

2006-02-28T07:35:00.000-08:00

From the Belle & Sebastian website:

NYC afterparty this Friday!

The official afterparty for Friday's sold out NYC show, will be at Williamsburg's The Royal Oak, N.11th and Richardson, Brooklyn. It costs $5 to get in, starts at 10:30, and Chris will be spinning some discs! Call 718.388.3884 for more details or check out the linhk above for a map.

Ah yeah!!!!!

Flaming Lips Playing 2 Nights at Webster Hall

2006-02-28T06:40:00.000-08:00

This just announced from the Bowery Presents mailing list:

Two Very Special Nights With:
THE FLAMING LIPS
(with Pink Mountaintops)
March 31 (Fri) & April 1 (Sat) / 6:30pm doors
$35 advance - $40 day of show / 18+

Of course it turns out the weekend I'm going away to Vegas, one of my all-time favorite live bands are playing at the venue I love to hate. Excuse my french, but gosh darnnit!! They'll probably take advantage of the smaller venue (for them) to preview their new album which should finally be getting a release sometime soon. Oh well, even though I can't make either show, doesn't mean you have to sleep on it. Tickets on sale tomorrow at noon on ticketweb.
Also, Richard Ashcroft is playing the 29th.

"Cracka, Please"

2006-02-27T12:54:00.000-08:00

I don't think God wants me to see Mike Birbiglia perform live again.

I had seen him once a while back at a Crash Test show, and since then I've been really enjoying his stuff (his track on the Invite Them Up cd is one of my favorites). I missed his show at NYU a few weeks ago (I saw Supergrass at Webster Hall instead) and supposedly Jessi Klein, John Mulaney and I think Greg Giraldo also performed that night (not sure about Giraldo though), so I was really annoyed I missed that. Now, apparently* he's doing a set at Mo Pitkins on March 13th....the same night as the "Stella/not Stella" karaoke show at Bowery Ballroom. Oh well. I guess I'll be missing that one too.

Check out Mike's great cd just released on Comedy Central records. It really is excellent.

*I say apparently, because ticketweb has March 13th's 8:30 show listed as both Jon Friedman's and Michelle Collins 'Other Talent Show' and Andy Borowitz's show, so who the hell knows?

"Who Are Three People Who Have Never Been in My Kitchen?"

2006-02-27T09:42:00.000-08:00

A bit random, but did anyone catch the final Jeopardy question last friday? The category was 'Famous Americans' and the clue was something like (paraphrasing):

Growing up on a farm, Henry Ford was once quoted as saying "I never really cared for" these..."I never made much friends with them".

You just know the writer who came up with that clue was secretly hoping someone would answer "Who are Jews?"

(.....the answer was "What are horses?" BTW.)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Bowery Ballroom

2006-02-26T09:57:00.000-08:00

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs played Maxwells in Hoboken thursday night and Bowery Ballroom friday and saturday night as part of a small venue mini tour in anticipation of their sophmore release, due out in a couple of weeks (though a lot of it leaked already). I was at the friday Bowery show. Some people online seemed a bit disappointed with the shows (short set list; not enough songs from 'Fever To Tell'). Guessing from reactions, the show was probably more low-key than the usual YYY shows. I had a lot of fun, but to be honest, I'm not the biggest YYY fan, so I wasn't expecting too much. I mostly wanted to go because I never got the chance to see them when they were touring their first album, and I wanted to witness the live power of Karen O first hand (I had seen them play live on Letterman once and it was really incredible - I could only imagine Middle America collectively being freaked out as Karen O go went totally ape shit on national television).
The show was intimate and nothing too wild. Karen O came out in a crazy metallic jumpsuit type thing and really did give Bjork a run for her money in the Diva-from-another-planet department. She was amazing to watch. She had everyone sing happy birthday to her mother in the VIP balcony, dedicated 'Maps' to all the lovers, and closed with 'Modern Romance'. I hadn't heard any songs from the new album yet, so it was nice to get a first impression from the show. Some of it seemed to rock, but some of it seemed more mid tempo and sludgier than the first album. I'm still really curious to hear it though.

Side note: I was hoping to spot some serious hipster celebrities (at least a member of Interpol or TV on the Radio maybe). All I got was a John Norris sighting. He looked a lot younger than I'd expect. Hasn't he been on MTV since the 80s?

Yeti liked the saturday show.
Brooklyn Vegan has amazing pics (as usual).

Human Giant Launches

2006-02-24T07:49:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the 'Human Giant' screening at Mo Pitkins, hosted by comedian Aziz Ansari and director Jason Woliner, one half of The Human Giant collective (the other half is made up of comedians Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel).
At the screening, Aziz and Jason showed all the short films the production company's made so far: Shutterbugs, The Shittiest Mix Tape Boombox Blast, the video clips they made for the Aziz-hosted Plug Awards and their new magnum opus The Illusionators (a take on over-pretentious David Blaine-type street magicians). Aziz and Jason promised the new shorts will be online; not only did they keep their promise, they have launched a whole new site devoted to The Human Giant.
The Illusionators is their most ambitious, epic film yet, featuring great cameos by Rob Riggle and Jon Glaser, and Huebel in a duel role that gives Peter Sellers a run for his money. But the films I enjoyed most were the 2 Plug Award clips, especially the one with Aziz and Andy Blitz as Other Music employees (watching Aziz bitch slap a girl for not knowing what Pitchforkmedia = priceless). That clip is on the site via a link to Stereogum. The second one (which features cameos by AC Newman and TVOTR's afro-tastic Kyp Malone) should be up soon. So watch and enjoy.

Invite Them Up Recap

2006-02-23T06:42:00.000-08:00

I try to make it out to Invite Them Up at Rififi every couple of months, especially when I know it's going to be a good lineup. Last night's lineup was particularly strong. A lot of talent on the stage. Here's a brief recap:

Bobby Tisdale opened the show with an embarrassing story about flipping through an 'American Girl' catalogue on the subway and getting mistaken for a pedophile. He kept the party going all night with his usual antics and borderline retarded behavior: Lots of chanting, lots of singing, lots of cheering, lots of screaming. All the things that make us love Bobby.

He first brought out Andrea Rosen, who did a really solid set. She opened with a great bit on douching and did some funny material on The Container Store. Then came Bobby's roommate, Craig Baldo, who started his set making fun of Bobby for ordering 'Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants' on Time Warner cable. Like Andrea, I've seen Craig perform a bunch of times and he's always solid, but last night was one of the strongest sets I've seen from him. He closed with a great video bit involving an obviously gay actor playing 'the husband' in that Select Dental commercial that all New Yorkers have on NY1 or VH1.

The man I came to see, Tony Camin, was up next. I had seen him in The Marijuana-logues and at the Broin Out show at UCB, but I hadn't seen his standup, so I was looking forward to it. Before he came on stage, Bobby told a non sequitur involving a friend who tested negative on his AIDS test, and Tony made fun of Bobby for the bad intro. 'So AIDS... Ladies and gentleman, Tony Camin!'. He did another great joke about going to the eye doctor that I heard him tell at Broin Out, and closed with a literal bomb joke. It was a short set and he kind've fumbled through some of the jokes, so I was a bit disappointed, honestly. Or maybe I was expecting too much.

John Mulaney was the comedian up before the break. I don't need to mention this again since I've probably already said it plenty of times already, but this guy never fails to amaze me. Not to take anything away from the other comics, but since ITU is a place to try out new material, most comics just kind've run down their notebook of jokes. Nothing wrong with that. But Mulaney took the stage last night like he was performing a well rehearsed one-man play, and I don't mean that as some kind've an insult (I don't really like one-man plays). He has such a natural delivery and he's able tell these great, personal stories and make them so funny. If you haven't yet, go to his Thursday show he cohosts with Nick Kroll at Rififi.

After Tony and John, the second half of the show was icing. After a really funny '30 seconds of comedy' with Gabe Liedman and Jenny Slate (hosts of the monday show at Rififi), Eugene Mirman did his set. It mainly involved a Power Point slide show that unfortunately had technical difficulties setting up. He finally got it working, though, and it was worth the wait - a take on the Axe Body Spray ads that I suppose evolved from this.

Last up were surprise drop-ins Todd Barry and Jon Benjamin. After Todd told some jokes about being surprise guests ('not on the website, people'), they launched into a funny bit where they were reading from correspondences from each other out loud, as if they were in the 1880s. The letters started mundane - they were trying to make plans to meet in the East Village and were referencing Wholefoods and Starbucks, and eventually they evolved into a whole Henry Miller/Anais Nin love letter thing. Maybe a bit too conceptual for me to explain in a one paragraph recap. When it comes to Barry and Benjamin, it's really not about the material anyway, but more about the delivery. Those 2 guys (and Jon Glaser) seem to be in a competition over who has the driest delivery, and just hearing Jon Benjamin saying "I bought that new Dave Matthews Band cd you told me about. (long pause) It rocked" is enough to get me laughing.

So all in all, a pretty great night for comedy. A lot of laughs and a lot of surprises.

Tell Your Friends About Tell Your Friends

2006-02-22T07:19:00.000-08:00

Tell Your Friends is a free (with suggested donation) comedy show, put together by Liam McEneaney at Lolita Bar every monday night.
Lolita is a cool bar on the corner of Allen and Broome in LES that I've been to a few times. It's a great place to have drink before seeing a show at Bowery Ballroom, since it's always roomy and friendly and it doesn't have a scary frat party vibe like Pioneer. Last monday was the first time I've been to Tell Your Friends. I mostly went because the always fabulous Jessi Klein was headlining, and their were a lot of names on the bill that I haven't seen yet and was curious about (Kristen Schaal, Jon Friedman).
The show was in the downstairs of the bar, which was small and covered in wood paneling. I felt like I was about to smoke a bong in my friend's basement after school, or as Jessi Klein observed, like the weird dream bar in Twin Peaks where the backwards-talking midget was dancing around in. Maybe that added to the whole experimental, anything goes feel of the night. I don't know.
All the performers did well. Some of them seemed a bit awkward or self-conscious that some of their jokes weren't working out with the audience. Maybe because it was a cold monday night on President's Day and the whole energy of the night was low. Again, I don't know. Personally, I was enjoying the show, but I also was feeling under the weather and cranky, since I had to work that day.
The show started with the house band, A Brief View of the Hudson. They're billed as a folk duo and played some cool songs, though only one of them seemed really folkie to me (a fun little ditty about not having to like the President). Then came the MC, Baron Vaughn. He did a good job of hosting, and his energy level picked up after a slow start (he had a good joke about buying ethnic hair care products at a drugstore).
The first guest was Jon Friedman, host and producer of The Rejection Show, who made some wry, silly observations (I liked the one about how Fred Flinstone's not really driving his car, but rather lugging it around as he's running). He might've had my favorite set of the night - nothing revolutionary or anything, just funny, at ease and likable.
Then came Ann Carr, who came on as a character that could only be described as an inbred, trailer trash freak (she kept eating twinkies from a belt made out of a men's tie and getting it all over her face). I'll admit, I'm not a big fan of live sketch, and a character like this would normally make me change the channel if Molly Shannon or someone was doing on SNL, but I was really impressed with her commitment to the role, and I was laughing at the sheer awkwardness and randomness of it.
Liam McEneaney did his set next. This was the first time I've seen him and I guess he was having an off-night, or he seemed to think he was, since he kept apologizing for being tired and hung over (I guess he was partying after his Mo Pitkin's headlining show he did the night before). I didn't think it went too badly, and some of his jokes really worked well, especially one involving him and two sheep. Good stuff.
Then came Kristen Schaal, who I've been hearing good things about for a while and hadn't seen yet. She won the Andy Kaufman award at the NY Comedy Fest, which makes sense since she has a very Kaufman-esque style to her (she even sounds a bit like Latka). She did a very funny bit where she read from George Washington's diary, and she closed her set with a dance routine (set to R.E.M.'s New Orlean's Instrumental #1) that you should do in case of a nuclear attack. I think you had to be there.
Up last was headliner Jessi Klein, who I've seen a couple of times on thursdays at Rififi and who I'm developing an unhealthy fan crush on. She did some new material I hadn't heard yet, (one funny one involving inspirational messages on Starbucks coffee cups) and some bits she did on the Invite Them Up cd that I pretty much have memorized ("if you have an ipod, you don't have AIDS"). What else can I say about her? She's a superstar and deserves to be at least 'Amy Poehler-level' famous. She's going back to L.A. soon, so if she happens to performing again in the city before she leaves, please do yourself a favor and see her.
So all in all, it was a good show. Sure, there were rough patches. As Liam described it, it's a 'work out' room for comedians, not a polished show. But hey it's free, so it's definitely worth checking out if you get the chance.

Upcoming Tell Your Friends calendar

What They're Listening Too...

2006-02-21T20:03:00.000-08:00

David Cross, Eugene Mirman, Ben Gibard and others tell the Onion AV Club what they got on their ipods: Here.

Check it out: Eugene Mirman and Isaac Brock from Modest Mouse both had Belle and Sebastian come up on their ipods. (I'm going to assume that Brock's 'one-trick pony' line was bad sarcasm). I was at that Town Hall show Eugene's talking about also. The women who came up to sing 'Lazy Line Painter Jane' was indeed amazing. I'm still unsure whether it was fixed or not.

Barefoot in the Park

2006-02-19T10:48:00.000-08:00

Saturday night I took my lady to see Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park at the Cort Theater.
The play's about a straight laced lawyer (Patrick Wilson) and a free spirit (Amanda Peet) who spontaneously get married despite their total incompatibility and learn to adjust to their new life as newlyweds. Yes, I know what you're thinking. Uh, hello. Mr. Simon? Ever hear of a show called Dharma and Greg? Way to be original. Did he think the audience wouldn't notice the obvious similarities? Not only that, but apparently he has another show on Broadway about an 'odd couple' that sounds suspiciously similar to a certain Harold and Kumar. Whatever, hack.

Seriously, despite the less than stellar reviews ("Torturous!" says the New York Times!), I found the play entertaining. Maybe I'm not enough of a theatergoer to tell a good production from a bad one. I guess it could've had a bit more energy, but the audience certainly seemed to enjoy it, and Amanda Peet was in her (1960s period) underwear an awful lot, so it had that going for it too.

Stella Playing Bowery Ballroom March 13th

2006-02-14T16:33:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, Michael Showalter listed this on his upcoming shows page:

March 13th:
HEEB Magazine KaroakeNight (Judging Panel w/David Wain)
8:00pm at Bowery Ballroom
w/special guest DJ from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!

This is what's on the Bowery Ballroom website calendar now:

Stella
American Shmidol Karaoke Showdown
Special Guests

I love Stella. I love karaoke. I'm a heeb. I have one word for this:

Sweet.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow at noon.

UPDATE:

As I suspected,Michale Ian Black will not be at this show. 'Stella' has been taken off the Bowery calender, and this came up on their website:

Despite some reports to the contrary, there is NOT a STELLA show at Bowery Ballroom on March 13. The event is American Shmidol, a giant-screen karaoke showdown with prizes, hosted/judged by Michael Showalter and David Wain. Presented by JDub and Heeb.

Oh well, I still got tickets, so I hope it'll be fun none-the-less.

More Michael Showalter News and Other Random Crap

2006-02-10T12:00:00.000-08:00

Although this blog is already in danger of becoming a Michael Showalter fansite, I noticed he's djing every 3rd thursday of the month at his neighborhood bar Last Exit (as featured in The Baxter) on Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn. This makes me happy, since it's right down the street from me as well. It looks like he'll be playing some good stuff. Let's hope he drops his third verse of the Friendship Rap from Stella.

Also, Variety Shac put up their most recent and funniest short yet, featuring Fred Armisen and Andy Milonakis. Chelsea Peretti kills me.

Bookclub

And here's a pretty funny movie trailer mashup that might've been making the rounds already:

Brokeback To The Future

Supergrass at Webster Hall

2006-02-10T10:14:00.000-08:00

The last time I saw Supergrass was at the Bowery Ballroom last year, for their 'acoustic' tour. That show was divided up in 2 sets - the first being a sit down, chilled out affair; the second set more plugged in. Even though the show was billed as acoustic, some of the audience wasn't having it and were vocally pissed off. I enjoyed it, but didn't find it as exciting or energetic as their past shows.
Last night, they played Webster Hall. In spite of my lukewarm response to their new album (some good tunes on there, but it doesn't quite measure up to previous efforts) and my continuing hatred for that cursed venue (dealing with aggressive bouncers and waiting 30 minutes for a 7 dollar Bud Light is night my idea of a good time), I was there to represent.
The show itself was fun. We got there a little before 10 pm and the opening band was still playing. We just heard a couple of their songs, which didn't impress. Supergrass got on around 10:30. Like their acoustic show, it opened with just singer Gaz coming out and playing some acoustic solo stuff, followed by bass player Micky (St. Petersburg, Caught By The Fuzz, Sitting Up Straight). Thankfully, the band plugged soon after that before the crowd got restless. After a shaky version of Mary, and a keyboard-only version The Funniest Thing that made someone in the back boo for some reason, they kicked into gear with crowd pleasers like Sun Hits The Sky, Moving, Pumping on the Stereo, and Richard III. By the time they closed with Mansize Rooster, the audience seemed satisfied.

Interesting...

2006-02-09T08:46:00.000-08:00

Found This on Michael Showalter's (Underconstruction) Website:

March 13th:
HEEB Magazine KaroakeNight (Judging Panel w/David Wain)
8:00pm at Bowery Ballroom
special guest DJ from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!

Nothing about yet on the Bowery calender or HEEB event calender...

What'd I Miss?

2006-02-06T07:31:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm back from my 2 week vacation in India (which I hope to post about sometime this week), so I feel a bit out of the loop about what's been going on in the blogosphere, New York City, and the 'States' (that's we world travelers refer to the United States of America). Here's some stuff that's probably old to you and new to me:

Forget Betty Friedan, what's up with Chris Penn dying? That's a bummer.

Coachella lineup announced. It's not exciting me all that much. (Does anyone care/even remember Tool? Were they that Christian rock band that sucked?). I'll probably hold out for Bonnaroo or one of the Chicago Festivals. Maybe Radiohead will play Lollapalooza, since they'll be in the U.S. in the summer.

Wolf Parade's playing 2 shows at Webster Hall. I can't seem to escape this venue. I missed out them the last time they came around, so I'm all on this. Tickets on sale.

Some dumb redneck gave some speech on the State of the Union.

An anonymous commentor tipped me onto a show Mike Birbiglia's doing this thursday at NYU to celebrate the release of his new comedy cd. I'd be down, but I think I'm seeing Supergrass that night at Webster Hall (where else?).

Jerry Yeti's been giving some long overdue blog love to The Mugs. I know the guitarist, so I've seen these guys quite a bit and they always put on a good show. Check them out if you get the chance.

Eugene Mirman continues to bring the funny to the Village Voice.

I guess Dave Chappelle opened up to Oprah. Kerrazy.

Stella's first season looks like it's gonna get a dvd release. There's been talk of this on the stellafans message board, and it seems it's been confirmed. If the dvd sales have any impact in Comedy Central's renewing it for another season, then it is everyone's imperative duty to buy at least 6 copies each. (BTW, did anyone see David Wain's Sundance segment on Best Week Ever? Funny stuff).

Bedford Avenue seems to be overrun by 35 year old skateboarders these days. O.K, this something I noticed a while ago; the last time I was in Williamsburg (which might've been as long ago as last summer), but I thought I'd mention it now, for no reason.

Getting Away From New York

2006-01-22T16:17:00.000-08:00

For the past week or so, there's been a human statue 'performer' hanging around the Union Square subway station, and I don't know about anyone else, but I'm getting really sick of her and her pedestal.
Look, I'm all for supporting the arts and I know she's just expressing herself by slathering grease paint all over her face and pretending to be the Statue of Liberty or a windup ballerina or whatever, but it already takes me 10 minutes to get through the crowds between the R and 4 train without having to deal with a bunch of gawking tourists.
And it's a principle thing. This is New York City. We don't need our street performers to be too arty-farty. If we wanted mimes or medieval jugglers begging for our money, we'd go to Europe. We're perfectly fine with our 2-man Mariachi bands and our do-wop singing family of 6. You know, the old standbys.

(Was that guitar searched before he boarded the train?)

Hey, Improv Everywhere, here's your next mission: Have someone dress in a giant pigeon costume and throw poop at these people!

(Not the human statue at Union Square, but an amazing facsimile. Man, Donald Sutherland sure let himself go).

It's a good thing I'm leaving NYC for a 2 week vacation this week. I'm sounding like a bitter New Yorker. I'm turning into one of those crazoids that mutters to themselves on the subway, and I swore that wouldn't be me until I lived here for at least 20 years.

Da Vinci Code Courts Controversy?

2006-01-18T06:49:00.000-08:00

So by now, we've all seen previews for the new Da Vinci Code movie adaptation. And yes, there'll be religious controversaries in the news all over again to be timed to the release. But my big question is, are they really getting light-skinned thespian Paul Bettany to play the evil albino?

They couldn't get a real albino actor? Isn't that just asking for trouble from the albino community? Like having a really short actor play a famous midget or something?

Is Sony pictures just hoping it'll be really sunny out when the movie opens, and that'll drive the protesters away?

(thnks for the joke, Gabe, if you're reading this)

If I Were Live Blogging the Golden Globes

2006-01-17T11:30:00.000-08:00

So I stayed home last night and watched the Golden Globes. Yes, it was boring and felt like it went on an hour too long, but I enjoy watching the Globes because the free bar means it usually gets hijacked by a few drunk celebs (I'm looking at you, Ryan Philippe and Teri Hatcher). Anyway, I wasn't live blogging, but if I were, here's some random comments I'd post:

George Clooney wins Best Supporting Actor and does some Jack Abramoff material. Get this guy an HBO One Night Stand!

Is Adrian Brody preparing for a role as Thurston Howell III? What's with the dickie and ascot? Thankfully for him, Rachel Weisz won the award he was presenting and stole attention with her scary hair and makeup job (Is Rachel Weisz preparing for a role as a toothless crackhead?)

A braless Drew Barrymore came out to present a Best Picture nom and practically strangled the microphone to death with her mammaries. Seriously, is she nursing or something? I've never wanted to be a microphone stand more in my life (o.k, I threw in that last line because this whole post makes me question my sexuality).

Poor Melanie Griffith's daughter (this years 'Miss Golden Globes'). While Melanie carries herself like a spokesmodel at a car show, her daughter's awkward, slouchy posture just screamed 'But mom, I don't want to be here! I just want to stay home and listen to Death Cab for Cutie!'.

Anthony Hopkins stares blankly at a screen while watching a bunch of forgettable movies he was in (Seriously, Bad Company with Chris Rock? I'm sure Sir Anthony himself forgot he was in that one. Just show the Silence of The Lambs scene where he does the fava bean thing and move on).

Pam Anderson and Mariah Carey. Why?

Filling in for Jack Nicholson this year, Harrison Ford takes over the 'drunk, aging, serious actor' role, mistaking future costar Virginia Madson for a cocktail waitress. Come to think of it, Harrison's had a whiskey slur for the past 15 years, so maybe he wasn't drunk at all.

Looks like Jake Gyllanhaal is the Joseph Fiennes of Brokeback Mountain. Except him to not even get an invite to the Oscars and Heath calling the whole scandal a 'tragedy and a farce' while accepting his statue at the podium.

Felicity Huffman is the surprise winner for Best Actress in a Dramatic Movie. I wait for a drunk and obnoxious Teri Hatcher to crash the stage. "I am SO jealous of you! Kidding! We're family. We love and support each other. (vomits). I am SO winning this next year. That'll show you! Kidding! (burp. vomit).

Bizarre Love Triangle: After a drunken Ryan Philippe tries to steal attention away from winner Joaquin Phoenix, we see a shot of Reese Witherspoon with her back turned to the sloshed hubby. "I can't believe you're embarrassing me on my night! This night is about me! You weren't even nominated for Crash!

Has It Been That Long?

2006-01-17T08:27:00.000-08:00

O.K. I know it's been over 2 weeks since I posted. Call it a combination of being too busy at work and sheer laziness. I couldn't decide if my New Years resolution (yes, I know in Internet time, that was months ago) would be to focus more time and energy on blogging, or on actually, you know, doing work. See, I work the 'shoot the geek' booth at Coney Island, so it's sometimes hard for me to get to the internet at my job (and no, I am not the geek! thank you for asking). But if you noticed the color change on my blog template, then you know that means no fuckin' around anymore. I'm getting back into the blogosphere full force, so watchit.

(That said, I am going on a 2 week vacation next week, so I again will probably be posting less frequently.)

I don't really have much to catch up on anyway. I haven't been going to too many music shows lately. I've been going to a couple Rififi shows in the past few weeks - Invite Them Up, Thursdays With Nick Kroll and John Mulaney. I know it's too belated to do a full recap, so I'll just say that Jessi Klein is a superstar and that all praise heralded on John Mulaney is fully warranted. When I saw him host with Nick Kroll 2 weeks ago, they completely killed. They hosted the show entirely as 2 old Jewish men, and even though it sounds kind've hacky, believe me, it was hysterical. I've never seen Welcome to Our Week when it was Nick Kroll and Jessi Klein hosting, but I've seen Nick Kroll a couple of times before at various gigs, and I find him funnier and funnier the more I see him. Great character work. Check him out sometime. He's got a Bar Mitzvah Disco show coming up at Mo Pitkins.

Speaking of Mo Pitkins, I heard Michel Gondry was there last night. Was anyone else there?

And speaking of Michel Gondry, is anyone gonna check out Love Monkey tonight? It looks like it could be good - Ed meets, er, Pitchforkmedia.com...or something. (I know it doesn't have anything to do with Michel Gondry, but whatever, I need to work on my segues).

Finally....

2006-01-05T12:19:00.000-08:00

I've been waiting weeks for the announcement: The Belle and Sebastian and New Pornographers US Tour (via Belle and Sebastian's website):

It is with great joy and excitement that we bring you news of Belle & Sebastian's biggest ever US and Canada tour. 22 shows in 18 cities. We are going to be joined on amost all these dates by very special guests The New Pornographers. One exception is Vancouver. I can't remember why. The other exception is Austin, where we will be joined by Mogwai, Cat Power and Pretty Girls Make Graves. In fact, it's not really our show as such, it's a Matador SXSW show, and unfortunately that means very few of you are going to get in, as the vast majority of places are taken by SXSW pass holders. Sorry about that.

You'll notice that not all the ticket information there is quite complete. Keep checking back and it'll appear soon enough. Also, if I may save you the time and bother it'll take to write in and complain about booking fees. We know! But we can't do anything about it! Almost all the venues have deals with the big ticket agencies, so either we just swallow it or we play places so small that a) we don't fit and b) only 150 people get in. At least this way you get the choice of whether to buy a ticket or not. Clearly it's not the cheapest ticket on the market either, but it costs what it costs and I think the addition of The New Pornographers makes it pretty decent value for money. Rest assured that nobody is laughing all the way to the bank. Except the ticket agencies...

Anyway, the dates in full are below. Check www.belleandsebastian.com for details of where to get tickets (Most of the info will be there in a few hours, but football beckons).

Feb 25th Toronto - The Docks

Feb 26th Montreal - Metropolis

Feb 27th Boston - Avalon

Feb 28th Boston - Avalon

March 2nd NYC - Nokia Theatre

March 3rd NYC - Nokia Theatre

March 4th Philadelphia - Electric Factory

March 5th Washington - 9.30 Club

March 6th Washington - 9.30 Club

March 8th Nashville - Ryman Auditorium

March 9th Louisville - Brown Theatre

March 10th Chicago - Riviera

March 11th Milwaukee - Riverside Theatre

March 12th Minneapolis - Orpheum Theatre

March 14th Dallas - Granada Theatre

March 15th Austin - Stubbs (Matador SXSW Show)

March 18th LA - Wiltern

March 19th LA - Wiltern

March 21st SF - Concourse @ The SF Design Center

March 23rd Portland - Roseland Ballroom

March 24th Vancouver - Commodore

March 25th Seattle - Paramount

I'm excited the shows will be at the Nokia. I've heard mix things, but at least it's not at Webster Hall.

A Boomerang Loop, Followed by 2 Double-Helix Loops, then a Vertical Loop...of Fear!

2005-12-29T12:53:00.000-08:00

Has anyone seen ads for this "movie"?

Does the entire film take place on a rollie-coaster? And if so, how f'n retarded...AND super cool is that? When this movie rolls (rolls!) in theaters sometime in mid February or whenever, then the 2007 Oscar race will officially begin.

I'm In Pop Heaven...

2005-12-27T16:44:00.000-08:00

As Brooklyn Vegan mentioned yesterday, Matador Records has confirmed that Belle and Sebastian will be touring the states with their old (then new again) label mates, The New Pornographers. Yes, my favorite current band will be playing with with my second current favorite band. The sound you just heard is me having an orgasm.

The pairing makes perfect sense, since The Life Pursuit is B&S's poppiest album. Now the question is, where will they play? I was expecting B&S to play 2 shows at Town Hall, as they did on their last full tour of the States. But with the NPs touring with them, that just wouldn't be right. They need to play some place where people can move around and dance for baby jesus's sake (The last time they played Town Hall, no one got up from their seats...despite 'Dirty Dream Number 2' and 'Lazy Line Painter Jane' being played).

So let the speculating begin. The tour will probably start in March, so it'll be too early in the year for an outdoor show (though both bands have played Prospect Park, and could probably sell out Summerstage or Keyspan Park if they're playing together). My guess is they play Hammerstein (though I'm not fund of the place) or Roseland. Maybe the Theater at MSG, which would be cool, or the Nokia theater, which I'm curious about, having not been yet. Anywhere but Webster Hall would be fine with me (though they'll probably end up there, since that's where everyband I'm into ends up playing).

My Subway Adventure

2005-12-22T10:41:00.000-08:00

So for lunch today I decide to go for the tuna on 6 inch whole wheat instead of my usual sweet onion chicken teriyaki (yes, even though the tuna's not on the coveted 6 grams or less list). I figure it was time I mix things up a little. As some character from some recent Irvine Welsh book (I forget which one; one of the his recent, crappy ones) says: 'Variety is the spice of life."

So when it comes time for the dressing, I ask for a little mayo. A LITTLE mayo. What does the guy give me? 4 full lines of mayo! 4 gleaming, white lines of mayo that would make a coke fiend wet himself with excitement...if mayo was cocaine...or something.

What would I have gotten if I just said 'mayo' instead of 'a little mayo'? Besides a massive coronary? Shudder to think.

Stay tuned for next week's post: The transit strike is screwing up my weed delivery service!

Friendster Misses You!

2005-12-22T07:27:00.000-08:00

Remember when Friendster was really popular, and you'd get all these messages from annoying, desperate people you'd barely know, begging you to be their friends? Well, now Friendster has become that needy, pathetic person.

Isn't it ironic? Don't you think?

King Harvest Has Surely Come...

2005-12-20T12:07:00.000-08:00

Corn in the fields.
Listen to the rice when the wind blows ’cross the water,
King harvest has surely come.

I work for the union ’cause she’s so good to me;
And I’m bound to come out on top,
That’s where I should be.
I will hear ev’ry word the boss may say,
or he’s the one who hands me down my pay.
Looks like this time I’m gonna get to stay,
I’m a union man, now, all the way.

The smell of the leaves,
From the magnolia trees in the meadow,
King harvest has surely come.

Dry summer, then comes fall,
Which I depend on most of all.
Hey, rainmaker, can’t you hear my call?
Please let these crops grow tall.
Long enough I’ve been up on skid row
And it’s plain to see, I’ve nothin to show.
I’m glad to pay those union dues,
Just don’t judge me by my shoes.

Scarecrow and a yellow moon,
And pretty soon a carnival on the edge of town,
King harvest has surely come.

-The Band
Last year, this time, wasn’t no joke,
My whole barn went up in smoke.
My horse jethro, well he went mad
And I can’t remember things bein’ so bad.
Then there comes a man with a paper and a pen
Tellin’ us our hard times are about to end.
And then, if they don’t give us what we like
He said, men, that’s when you gotta go on strike.

Corn in the fields.
Listen to the rice when the wind blows ’cross the water,
King harvest has surely come.

My Top Ten Songs of 2005

2005-12-19T12:46:00.000-08:00

So, I posted my top ten albums of 2005 last week. Here's my top ten song list (some from my top ten albums, some from albums that didn't make the cut.

10. Gorillaz - D.A.R.E.
9. Eels - Trouble With Dreams
8. My Morning Jacket - Off The Record
7. Bloc Party - Pioneers
6. Final Fantasy - This Is the Dream of Win and Regine
5. Franz Ferdinand - The Fallen
4. Spoon - They Never Got You
3. Broken Social Scene - It's All Gonna Break
2. Doves - Black and White Town
1. Wolf Parade - I Believe in Anything

Runner Ups - Clientele - Since K Got Over Me, Fiona Apple - Oh Well, TV On the Radio - Dry Drunk Emperor, Rogue Wave - Publish My Love, Sufjan Stevens -Come On! Feel the Illinoise! White Stripes - My Doorbell

Here's some other album catagories I forgot to list from my other post:

Best Unreleased Bootleg download:
Elliott Smith - From Another Basement on a Hill

Best Live Album:
Wilco - Kicking Television

Best Music DVD:
George Harrison and Friends - Concert For Bangledesh

Best Resissue/Compilation
Orange Juice - The Glasgow School

2 Live Jews

2005-12-19T07:51:00.000-08:00

This weekend saw a slew of Comedy Central Presents tapings at the Hudson Theater on Broadway. Perhaps the biggest one was on friday: Andy Kindler and Todd Barry, 2 very funny, nice Jewish boys indeed.

I won't give too many spoilers, since hopefully we'll all be watching the specials soon. I will say they both killed. I preferred Barry's set, even though I've seen him so many times this year, that I ended up hearing probably 35 percent of it. I've never seen Kindler live before, and he was great, but some of his topics were a bit dated (Medieval Times Restaurant, Queer Eye For the Straight Guy). Still, Kindler's at his best when a joke doesn't work, like when he drops a reference he knows will go over the audience's heads (like Henny Youngman, or the movie Sleuth), and he gives a little snarky aside to cover up the uncomfortable silence. He's one of those comics that seems to thrive on tension from the crowd, and doing standup for as long as has, he knows what to do in those situations.

Todd Barry's set was the strongest I've seen from him. From his opening joke, he killed. Like I said, there were some bits I've heard before (shopping for ties at Old Navy), and some new stuff that was great. He even did a whole riff on anal sex that he knew wouldn't make it on air. Brilliant stuff.
Spotted: ubiquitous accordianist Corn Mo was hanging out on the VIP line before the show. And after the taping, comedian and Conan writer Andy Blitz was seen going into the theater for his 8pm taping with none other than Maria 'Tammi 'Coppertop' Littlenut' Thayer. Not to get all Us Weekly, but are they an item? If so, he's a lucky man. She's the bees knees.

It Really Does Come in Threes...

2005-12-18T09:17:00.000-08:00

R.I.P....

Wendie Jo.

Richard.

John.

Voxtrot at Magnetic Fields

2005-12-15T06:43:00.000-08:00

So thanks to Brooklyn Vegan and Yeti, I found out Voxtrot was playing at Magnetic Fields on Atlantic Avenue, after having to cancel their tour due to automotive problems. I don't know much the band, except for the few songs I heard online, which I liked, especially The Start of Something (yes, that song is probably the main reason they often get the Smiths/Belle & Sebastian comparisons). So since I missed them at Mercury Lounge recently, and Magnetic Fields is almost literally down the street from my apartment, I figured I'd check them out.

When I got to the bar a bit before 8, it was pretty empty and chill. Perhaps to drive the comparisons further, the bar was playing B&S's Dear Catastrophe Waitress on random. Voxtrot got on after 9:30, so maybe I was a bit too drunk by the time they go on, but I found the first half of their set to be nothing special. But it definitely picked up with their last few songs, which were a lot poppier and catchier. I really liked the song they did after The Start of Something that had this great 'Hello Goodbye-ish' ascending guitar line. They closed their set with Wrecking Force and Missing Pieces, which I liked as well.

My Top Ten Albums of 2005

2005-12-14T14:27:00.000-08:00

Here's my picks for my favorite albums of 2005:

10. Beck - Guero
Sure, you can look at this album as a patchwork of Beck's past work: The 'Dust Brother's kitchen sink sampling' of Odelay (Que Onda Guero), the white boy funk of Midnight Vultures (Hell Yes, Black Tambourine), the 'driving down the lonely highway after a painful breakup' of Sea Change (Broken Drum). But Beck was always about defying expectations with his Zelig-like style changes, so rather than coming off like a stale attempt at rehashing past glories, Guero comes off more like Beck's most personal album to date.

9. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and Matt Sweeney - Superwolf
At once funny, dark, dirty, rough,pretty, and haunting. Oldham and Sweeney's songs are steeped in a Gothic Americana that stays with the listener long after the cd ends.

8. M83- Before the Dawn Heals Us
I'm not sure if it's the Sofia Coppola-esque video for Don't Save of Us From the Flames, but the more I hear this album, the more I wish it was the soundtrack to Virgin Suicides.

7. Doves - Some Cities
Doves albums have always boasted strong songwriting, but on their first 2 albums, the ambient textures tended to overshadow the songs. Some Cities however, is their most direct album yet; there's still sonic textures on this album, yet the songs can speak for themselves, never more so than on the Style Council-inspired soul of Black and White Town.

6. Super Furry Animals - Love Kraft
Of all the bands that came out during the mid-90s britpop invasion, none have had the lasting power of SFA. 10 years into their career and they are still turning out great album after great album. Love Kraft has some of their best songs yet, thanks in large part to the sultry string arrangements of High Llama's Sean O'Hagan.

5. New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
AC Newman and company move away from the party weekend vibe of their first two releases and record their most measured, fully realized album yet.

4. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Enough about the hype. Anyone who's heard the album cannot deny the sheer songwriting quality of songs like This Home on Ice, and The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth.

3. Spoon - Gimme Fiction
Britt Daniel's voice is one of those perfect rock n roll voices. It can move from a John Lennon rasp to an Elvis Costello howl to a sultry Prince falsetto with ease. Thankfully, the songs on this album are just as strong.

2. Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
Broken Social Scenes songs are all about tension and release. Their songs fluctuate with tight rhythms that can explode any minute into a noisy yowl. On their follow up to their breakout album You Forget It In People, the Canadian collective purposely muddles the production, adding metallic echoes of yelps and screeches, brass sections that sounds as though being played underwater, and fuzzed out guitars that seem to coming from blown speakers, giving the whole album the feel of a monster being unleashed.

1. Decemberists - Picaresque
Sometimes an album comes along that's so good, it shines a light on the rest of the bands work. I had mostly dismissed The Decemberists earlier releases, finding most of it too cutesy, too, um, Little Mermaid-y. But Picaresque, at once a culmination of their earlier work's themes and styles, while also an expansion of their sound, puts the entire Decemberists catalogue into tighter focus. Colin Meloy's songs, alternating between short stories steeped in Dickensian detail (The Mariner's Revenge Song) and songs of pure pop joy (This Sporting Life), are the work of a true American artist.

Runner Ups:
Stars- Set Yourself on Fire - Though there's nothing on here quite as infectious as Elevator Love Letter, songs like Ageless Beauty comes pretty close.
Fiona Apple's Extraordinary Machine - Whether you prefer the released version or the Jon Brion version, Apple's comeback cd reminds you how gifted a singer songwriter she is.
Franz Ferdinand You Can Have it So Much Better - FF delivers more of the winning formula of their first album, with meatier, beatier, bigger and bouncier guitar riffs and some pretty ballads thrown in for good measure.
Bloc Party Silent Alarm
Hot Hot Heat Elevator - This was one of my guilty pleasures of 2005. Sure, they aren't as indie-credible as Wolf Parade, but their melodies are a heck of lot catchier.
Brights Eyes Digital Ash Sufjan Stevens Come on feel The Illiniose! - A great storyteller.

What Were They Thinking?

2005-12-12T06:35:00.000-08:00

There is a movie released in the late 70s that is often unanimously blamed for why today's movies are mostly big-budgeted, FX-driven, souless Hollywood blockbuster machines. Yes, George Lucas's space opera was such a success, it's influence on countless imitators is still felt today. But there was another film released around the same time that, despite being a big budget turkey, did more lasting damage in my opinion. In fact, you can trace just about everything wrong with today's films (not to mention music, theater and t.v). to Michael Shultz's 1978 masterpiece of bad cinema, Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

I don't know whether it was the 25th Anniversary of John Lennon's death that spurred this unfortunately timed programming, but the Sundance channel aired Sgt. Peppers late last friday night. And thank god I was just drunk and stoned enough to watch this nostalgic relic from my past as I was flipping around the channels. You see, this was one of those awful films I remember watching a bunch of times as a kid (like Xanadu and Heartbeeps), that although I knew was bad even at the tender age of 5, still transfixed and fascinated me with the power of it's awfulness. I had gotten into the Beatles at an early age and, as I'm sure most people born in the mid 70s would reluctantly admit, this movie played a part in shaping who I thought the Beatles were (was Sgt. Pepper's a real band? Were the Bee Gees the Beatles? These were serious questions for a five year old to ask.)

For those who haven't seen the movie, let me explain. Sgt. Peppers was a film based on the blasphemous concept of a movie musical strung togeher from Beatles songs performed by a host of 70s pop acts and unnecessary 'guest stars', primarily Peter Frampton and The Bee Gees as the title band. By trying to create a linear storyline out of Lennon and McCartney's psychedelic wordplays (sometimes laughably literally: during 'Carry That Weight', the band is carrying a heavy coffin. How clever!), the film forecasted, 20 years before the fact, the embarrassing 'jukebox musicals' that have infested Broadway (Abba, Beach Boys); AND by having such acts as disparate as Aerosmith, and Earth, Wind and Fire covering songs from the same songbook, the movie can also be blamed for the glut of award show and Super Bowl half time mashups that are now commonplace.

A lot of big stars are on hand to embarrass themselves for big paycheck and the chance to sing these classic songs; the participation of Alice Cooper, Donald Pleasence, Steve Martin and George Burns gives the film a Muppet Movie feel (you half expect Rip Taylor to show up with a handful of confetti, singing 'Lovely Rita'). That no one realized how wrong the whole idea was and stopped this movie from being made is a mystery, but I suppose the involvement of 'kinda' 5th Beatles George Martin and Billy Preston went a long way to giving the movie some credit.

That the idea for the movie is so offensive in the first place makes the question of whether the film can stand on its own almost irrelevant. Yes, the film as a whole, is mostly unwatchable, and yet that fact is almost besides the point. The plot is incomprehensible, but it basically involves the title band, a group of musicians from Small Town Heartland, USA looking for some stolen instruments while learning the hard way about the dangers of selling out to a major L.A. recording label and getting sucked in by the vices that go with fame and fortune. That the film itself is the very definition of selling out and cashing in is an irony lost on the filmmakers...(po-mo alert!) or is it? None of this really makes any sense, and the film is full of gaping, nonsensical plot holes (at one point, a couple of female robots sing 'She's Leaving Home') and the tone shifts drastically from one scene to the next, so we get Steve Martin doing a high camp version of 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer', followed by Alice Cooper doing a scary, psychedelic nightmare version of 'Because'. Whether the shooting script made any sense, or the film got chopped to bits in the editing room is hard to tell, but the employment of silent film-esque intertitles ("The chase is on!") and a voice over narration by Burns, giving the film a Pootie Tang vibe, makes me think it was the latter (my guess is the Burns narration was used to try to hide the non-acting of Frampton and the Gees, whose roles end up silent, barring the singing).

The film is better judged not as a whole, but as a series of music videos(which might be what the filmmakers had in mind to begin with). And there are some musical performances that aren't embarrassing. Ingenue Sandy Farina does a nice job covering 'Here Comes the Sun' and 'Strawberry Fields Forever', but those are 2 songs that are hard to mess up. And Aerosmith, as the Future Villian Band, seem so strung out on heroin for their cover of 'Come Together' that it adds a certain danger to the scene that the rest of the film lacks.

So if you haven't checked out this awesomely bad movie, than please do. But don't say I didn't warn you.

Invite Them Up Release Party Recap

2005-12-07T06:15:00.000-08:00

Last night was the record release party for the Invite Them Up cd/dvd at Bowery Ballroom. A lot of great comedians showed up to support hosts Bobby Tisdale and Eugene Mirman. There were a lot of hilarious moments. Some disappointments and criticisms as well. Here's a recap:

The show started around 9 when Eugene and Bobby introduced the opening musical act, a country-bluegrass band called The Lonesome Trio, featuring Daily Show correspondent Ed Helms on the guitar. The played about 4 songs, most of them originals. Then Bobby came out to start the show. After running around the stage for a bit, excited that it was so big compared to the normal stage at Rififi, he did a fun bit where he brought out Patrick Borelli, playing a Sprint representative, and got the audience to record his outgoing voice mail message. Then he closed his set with one of his patented silly plays in which he played 'Bobby T', the arch nemesis of Craig Baldo's Kenny G, (or 'Kenneth G'), that involved a 5 foot soprano saxophone, a 6 foot flute, and a hack saw. It wasn't quite as phallic as I just made it out to be.

Leo Allen was the first guest, who did a funny, if perhaps too conceptual standup bit in which he performed as a standup comic with a beard of bees, preparing for his Leno debut. The jokes started as run of the mill standup bits (relationships, a large dinner party always being short when the dinner bill comes), but they eventually became more 'beard of bees'-centric ("My mom says 'what's that? A beard of wasps?' A beard of wasps? My mom's crazy").

The guys showed a video next, which featured past Invite Them Up guests (Aziz Ansari, God's Pottery, Chelsea Peretti, Andrea Rosen) talking about the show. Kind've a mockumentary thing, but really just an excuse for some inspired silliness.

Then Michael Showalter came out. Now, I've seen him perform a bunch of times, with and without Stella, and with and without Zak Orth (who performs with Showlater on the cd), and usually I find him a bit hit or miss on his own. Well, last night he completely killed. He brought out an unintentionally hilarious poem he wrote in high school and laughed about how pretentious it was for a high school kid from suburban Princeton New Jersey writing a beat-inspired poem about whores and heroin addiction. It was a very personal and funny piece.

Next was Chelsea Peretti, who apparently missed her own Variety Shac show to be there. After a few standup jokes, she launched into a very funny roast in which she implied that Eugene was
a drunk and Bobby was stupid and gay (weekend trips with Eric Slovin to Woodstock?)...and a drunk.

Then Eugene and Bobby introduced Jon Glaser, who "couldn't make it the show" so he brought a six foot sub sandwich and a letter for Eugene to read in his place. The letter instructed Eugene to do some of Glaser's 'zingers' and crowd work staples: "Find a guy in the audience who looks either Jewish or like an asshole. Say to him 'hey check out this Jewish guy. What an asshole.' This should get a big laugh" I'm not doing this bit justice, but it was the funniest part of the show for me.

After the intermission, Bobby brought out fellow red-head A.D. Miles for 30 seconds of stand up. Then it was Eugene's turn for his set. He did a lot of new material I hadn't heard before. I enjoyed his letters to random things: "Dear Israel and Palestine, stop fighting! Just go home! Oh, wait. Never mind. Keep it up." He also showed a video I hadn't seen before of him as a knight. And he too took advantage of the large stage by bringing out a life size cutout of a car for an absurd sketch involving an inner monologue during his drive home from the show.

After Eugene's set, it was almost 11 and here's where the show kind've lost steam and started crumbling a bit for me. The crowd was thinning out, and maybe I was just getting tired and drunk myself, but I felt like the audience was getting a bit restless. While the surprise music act was setting up, Bobby and Eugene brought up people from the audience to whack at a pinata. The musical guest turned out to be a Billy Joel cover band from Long Island, made up of Jon Benjamin on lead vocals, Jon Glaser on bass, Todd Barry on drums, and A.D. Miles and Tom Shilue on backing vocals (not sure who the guitarist was. sorry). They played 'A Matter of Trust', and were surprisingly competent (who knew Todd Barry could hit the skins?), but the song lasted too long, and there was only a few minutes of improvising before they unnecessarily launched into the same song again (this time with Chelsea providing some go go dancing). By this point, the night was starting to drag, so I didn't see the point in this encore, and I wished Todd and Benjamin and Glaser did more than just play the song. It was a bit of a waste.

Demetri Martin closed the night, and even though I was pretty exhausted by this point, it was probably the most interesting part of the night. After doing some jokes, he brought a young dopppleganger in the audience (same sweater, same Beatles haircut) on stage and he liked the kid so much, he kept him up there the whole time and let him full around on his guitar while he Demetri told jokes. It was a bit overindulgent, but the kid have a certain dorky charm (he reminded me a bit of the great Shia LaBaouf) and it was very spontaneous and fun. Sometimes, Demetri can be unfocused or distracted, like last night, but I think it adds to the experience of his act. You can see his thought process at work and see how he comes up with his material. It's interesting.

So that was the show. It was fun, silly, maybe a half hour too long, and had everything you love about Invite Them Up. I haven't listening to the cd yet. But it's got tons of material on it (3 cds and a dvd), so it seems well worth the 20 bucks. Check it out.
Spotted at the show: Inside Joke host Carl Arnheiter was hanging out downstairs before the show. And after the show, Variety Shac-er Andrea Rosen was hanging out near the bar. I wonder who made it to the after show party at Rififi. Anyone?

Update: According to the Apiary, the guitarist was Yo La Tango member James McNew, and apparently Eric Slovin and Michael Ian Black were both in the audience. How did I miss that? Check out The Apiary for some cool pics.

Reminder - Invite Them Up Release Party Tonight

2005-12-06T09:46:00.000-08:00

Just a reminder for all the other comedy nerds out there: Tonight's the big release party for the Invite Them Up cd/dvd at Bowery Ballroom. In case you haven't noticed, it's a pretty crazy lineup; pretty much every major comedian on the 'alt' scene will reprezent: Benjamin and Glaser, Leo Allen, Demetri Martin, Michael Showalter, Todd Barry, Chelsea Peretti (not sure how she'll perform at the Bowery and at the Variety Shac show at Galapagos simultaneously...perhaps she'll be live via satellite? Or maybe she has access to a cloning device?), and of course, Mr. Mirman and B-Tiz.
I'm expecting some serious special guests to drop by too. Mr. David Cross is a strong possible rumor. Perhaps Mr. Allen will bring up Slovin (I haven't seen them perform together in a while)? Maybe Showalter will bring up Mssr. David Wain or Zak Orth? And I'm sure there'll be a comedy friendly music guest as well, it being the Bowery (Yo La Tango? Los Savy Fav? John Wesley Harding? Who knows).

Anyway, it'll sure to be a good show either way. Tickets are no longer available on ticketweb, but I'm sure they'll be plenty at the door. And if you can't make it to the show, you can always buy the cd on amazon.

In other comedy news, as I'm sure it's been mentioned before on other blogs, Comedy Central is taping a new batch of standup specials in the city starting next week. Schedule and ticket requests here. The big show is of course the Todd Barry/Andy Kindler double bill. You really can't go wrong with those two outstanding standups. Not to be missed. Mike Birbiglia, Nick Swardson, and Greg Fitzsimmons are also highly recommended.

Catching Up

2005-12-01T06:41:00.000-08:00

"Hello. My name is Matt and it's been over a week since my last post."
"Hi Matt."

Between the holidays and being really busy with work, I haven't been posting much lately, so I thought I'd just catch up a bit with a quick post.

Last weekend me and my girlfriend was away in L.A. for the long weekend. A very relaxing break. We didn't do much but drive around and shop. We went to the LACMA and saw the Cezanne/Pissarro exhibit, which was nice. I was disappointed that the club Largo was closed for the holidays, because I was really looking forward to checking out Jon Brion there. They also have great comedy there too.

We did go to a comedy show Sunday night at the Room 5 Lounge that had a great lineup of some of my favorites: Patton Oswalt, Maria Banford, Doug Benson. Paul F. Tompkins was suppose to be there, but he couldn't make it, which bummed us out since he was the person we were most looking forward to seeing (We've seen Patton, Maria and Doug fairly recently, and we've only seen Paul once before, at the Holiday Tinkle show, which he totally tore it up). However, Paul was replaced by a comedian I hadn't heard of, Howard Kremer, who was hilarious, so that eased our pain a bit. He probably had the best line of the night: "I think we should let Mexicans into our Borders. But not our Barnes and Nobles." We were quoting that line the whole rest of the trip.

In other news, the new Belle and Sebastian has leaked (I found the yousendit file via That Girl Needs Therapy via Dreams of Horses). I was gonna see if I'd able to wait till February, when it's officially released (being the fan I am, I feel I owe them that respect), but I'm so crazy at work right now, and my boss is putting me in such a bad mood with her psychotic behavior, that I couldn't hold out; I'll still buy the cd when it's released, but I needed to be cheered up, and B&S is the one band to do it. I'm listening to it right now for the first time, and my first impression is that it's pretty great. A lot of fun, dancy tracks. They're continuing a bit with the funky vibe of Stay Loose and Your Cover's Blown. The Blues are Still Blue is the most glammed up thing they've done yet. Total Bowie meets T Rex. And Sukie in the Graveyard has a great fretless bass line. I'm already falling in love with this album.

Belle and Sebastian to Release 'Surprise' Download-only Live Album

2005-11-18T08:26:00.000-08:00

From the Belle and Sebastian newsletter:

The time for teasing is over.

"The "surprise" album, alluded to in our previous mail, is "If You're Feeling Sinister: Live At The Barbican". This download-only album, which pisses all over any bit torrents you may have heard, will be available exclusively from iTunes on December 6th. As a further incentive to follow the path of righteousness, all proceeds will be donated to the DEC's Asia Quake Appeal.

We are fairly sure it's going to be available in all the International iTunes shops from the above date, BUT it's not absolutely certain, and it's kind of outwith our control, so no promises in that department. Bear with us though, because it will happen, and it's worth it, as anyone who was at the show could testify." (Belle and Sebastian)

So it's good to see the B&S guys are keeping themselves busy. I thought the surprise album they were alluding to was the Peel Sessions release, but I guess we'll be waiting a bit for that. They are also apparently releaseing a Late Night Tales Comp in the near future (curated mostly by keyboardist Chris 'Beans' Geddes, I believe).

The live album is a nice surprise. It's definitely a big trend these days. I just picked up both the live Wilco and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy cds a few days ago, and I'm debating getting the live Bright Eyes cd as well. Good stuff.

Kick Ass Cast for New Comedy Central Show

2005-11-17T14:21:00.000-08:00

From the Hollywood Reporter, via the UCB theater website:

November 16, 2005, 1:26 pm

Comedy series 'Lives' gets second life
Tue Nov 15, 2005 9:22 PM ET

By Andrew Wallenstein

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - NBC's loss is Comedy Central's gain: The cable channel has picked up a series from DreamWorks Television that the broadcaster passed on last season.

Comedy Central has ordered 10 episodes of "American Lives," which blends scripted and unscripted material, from executive producer Dan Mazer, creator of HBO's "Da Ali G Show." The series will premiere in the summer.

In keeping with the "Ali G" format, the cast of "Lives" will mine laughs by having fictional characters interact with real people under the guise of being local news reporters. But unlike "Ali G," "Lives" moves beyond skits to take its characters into a full-blown narrative that follows their chaotic lives even when they're not messing with random strangers.

"I think I set out to do something deliberately different than 'Ali G,"' Mazer said. "This show will really distinguish itself from the typical network sitcom."

Comedy Central will keep the cast originally attached to the project, including Zach Galifianakis ("Tru Calling"), A.D. Miles ("Stella"), Andrea Savage ("Significant Others") and Matt Walsh ("Upright Citizens Brigade"). All actors with background in improv, they play the staff of a fictional Spokane, Washington-based newscast.

"Lives" was developed at NBC for the 2004-05 season, but the network ultimately passed on it. When Lauren Corrao, executive vp original programming and development at Comedy Central, heard the project was available, she felt it had the right fit for the cable channel.

"Most projects that are developed for broadcast networks are not appropriate for Comedy Central in the sense (that) they're much too traditional and not for our audience," Corrao said. "But once in a while, you find something that works."

This isn't the first time Corrao has turned a busted broadcast pilot into Comedy Central gold: Primetime series "Reno 911!" sat on the shelf at Fox Broadcasting Co. for two years before the cable channel reactivated it.

The Law of Exponential Integral Numbers

2005-11-17T07:43:00.000-08:00

Has everyone seen the ad for this new Rene Russo/Dennis Quaid "comedy" in which they play a newly married couple with 18 kids between them?

I could just hear the studio execs' line of reasoning when they came up with this one:
"Well, The Brady Bunch Movie had 6 kids in it, and it did really well. And Cheaper By The Dozen had twice as many kids in it, and it did even better business, so know all we need to do is a movie with even more kids! It's simple math!"

If this movie does well at the box office, expect to see these films coming to a theater near you:

What happens when a wacky mishap at a fertility clinic gives mother-to-be Goldie Hawn a magical uterus? Why it's:

He's a grizzled, hard-bitten bounty hunter who suddenly gains custody of 38 precocious, multi-ethnic tykes who teach him to love, not kill. It's:

What do you get when a washed-up baseball player who's dropped his baby batter in every town on the minor league circuit falls for a Catholic prostitute with a heart of gold and a moral objection to birth control? You get:

New Belle and Sebastian Album Details

2005-11-15T13:10:00.000-08:00

It's been a little over a month since I've posted any Belle and Sebastian news, so I thought it was due (there's probably other stuff I should be posting, but I actually have work to do this week, so I don't really have the time).

From the B&S website:

"'The Life Pursuit', released in the UK/Europe on Feb 6th by Rough Trade Records. Released a day later in the US by our old muckers at Matador Records. Spunk will be fulfilling Australasian duties as usual, with Trama covering Brazil and Toshiba in Japan.

The album tracklisting goes a little something like this:

Act Of The Apostle Part 1
Another Sunny Day
White Collar Boy
The Blues Are Still Blue
Dress Up In You
Sukie In The Graveyard
We Are The Sleepyheads
Song For Sunshine
Funny Little Frog
To Be Myself Completely
Act Of The Apostle Part 2
For The Price Of A Cup Of A Tea
Mornington Crescent

The album will be preceded by a single, "Funny Little Frog", on January 16th. Will it be released in a multitude of bizarre formats? Who knows?"

And from the Q&A section:

"From: justin
Q.So I'm looking at the tracklist for "The Life Pursuit" and I don't see the song "The Life Pursuit" anywhere... Did you rename it or did it not make the album? It was a good one (heard it on a bootleg of the June gig in Glasgow)!

A. Yes, rather like Tigermilk, the title song never got put on the album. I was heartbroken, as it was my favourite of all the songs. Let's not go into it... I don't think I've got over the disappointment yet.

Sarah - 15/11/05"

A few weeks ago, Pichfork reported that the album was 18 tracks, so I'm guessing a few of the tracks (including the title track) which didn't make the cut will find it's way onto the eps. Anyway, it's great to see them back on Matador for the US release.

I accidently deleted the e-mail from the newsletter, but it also mentioned another B&S release in the next few weeks. I figure they mean the Peel Sessions cd that's been in the works. I'm looking forward to finally hearing the Christmas tunes they recorded. I'll post those details when I hear about them. The newsletter also said they'll release the dates for the upcoming US tour really soon. I probably won't be posting those details, as I get very greedy when it comes to B&S shows and I don't want to share any info until I get my tickets first. So there.

Opening Movie Night

2005-11-11T09:34:00.000-08:00

Doug Benson (he who loves movies) had a great bit at the UCB Theater last night about the movie Derailed. That's one of a few movies opening today; even though, being the comedy nerd that I am, I'll probably see Jesus is Magic tonight, or maybe the Comedians of Comedy doc at Cinema Village (the movie will premiere on Showtime in a week and the reality series debuts tonight on Comedy Central), this Derailed thing doesn't look like a total piece of crap. Maybe I'm just interested in it because of my morbid fascination with this crazy Peter Braunstein case.

Another movie coming out is 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Trying. I have absolutely no interest in seeing this, but look at who directed it: None other than Jim Sheridan! Wha? I'll admit I haven't seen a film of his since In The Name of the Father, but if I knew he was this hard up for cash, I might've paid 3 bucks to rent In America on dvd. He must've really taken the title of the film to heart. Or who knows, maybe he really responded to the material (common man fighting the establishment, maybe?). I don't know, but learning that Jim Sheridan directed the new 50 Cent movie is like finding out that Lars Von Trier's next film project is the big screen remake of Gilligan's Island starring Will Farrell and Lindsay Lohan, or that Mike Leigh is responsble for this monstrosity.

Best Week Ever Live at UCB Theater

2005-11-11T07:23:00.000-08:00

Last night I saw comedians Paul Scheer, Christian Finnegan, Doug Benson & Danielle Schneider for the Best Week Ever Live show at the UCB Theater. It was a rehearsal show for their big show at the Vegas Comedy Festival coming up.
Paul Scheer was the host and introduced each comedian, who then came out and did a few minutes of stand-up. I'm pretty busy at work, so I won't give a full recap. I'll just say that all the comedians were equally strong and I got big laughs from all of them. If I had to single anyone out, though, it would be Mr. Doug Benson. If you've ever seen him live or on tv, you know how his style can be very disarming. He's got a half baked delivery that kind've lowers your expectations. You think you're gonna get a bunch of dumb jokes about pot and sex, but you actually get a bunch of smart and funny jokes about pot and sex. His McGriddle bit is a classic. Christian Finnegan had some great jokes too, especially his ipod bit.
After the standup part, they all sat down and riffed on various pop culture topics. They touched on the basics: Brittney and K-Fed, Ashley Simpson, Paris Hilton. Now, I tivo BWE religiously, so a lot of the comedian's lines I've heard before, but there were a lot of improvised riffing too, and I'd say each comic came up with some great stuff.
The best riffs were of course saved for R Kelly's Trapped in a Closet. This operatic opus is the gift that keeps on giving. I liked Christians joke that this was just evidence R. Kelly's building for his inevitable insanity plea. They could've talked about it for hours, and in fact some funny people will be doing just that tonight.

Oh my God! Computers Can Think!

2005-11-09T11:04:00.000-08:00

This is something I've been meaning to post a few weeks ago:

Do you ever wonder about those eye tests you need to take when ordering tickets on ticketmaster? They'll be a random word that you need to be able to read and type in, just in case your not some scalper with a computer program that can buy huge blocks of tickets. Sometimes, they're not even a real word, but some made up, 'almost' words, like slungy, or jorting. How random is the word selection?

A few weeks back, I was trying to get tickets for the sold out Fiona Apple show at the Nokia Theater (though judging from reviews of the new venue from No Yeti and others, it's probably good I saved my 40 bucks + fees). But what was interesting was the word that popped up after I typed in how many tickets I wanted:

Just some computer programmed randomness? Or something else?

Super Furry Animals at Webster Hall

2005-11-06T14:53:00.000-08:00

"You must've been the NYC Marathon...cuz you've been running through my mind for 26.2 miles through all five boroughs all day."

That was my little pick up line in honor of the marathon yesterday. This weekend was also the weekend Super Furry Animals rocked Webster Hall with their brand of Welsh, stoner craziness.

SFA is one of my all-time favorite bands. I saw them at their first US shows at Mercury Lounge nearly 10 years ago, and I don't think I missed one of their NYC shows since. So even though I'm pretty familiar with how their shows will play out, there's still always some nice surprises in any SFA set, and saturday night was no exception.

One surprise was the opening and closing videotaped bit that framed the show. It was a fun piece of Conan-esque humor that showed the band riding a golf cart to the venue in matching hooded electric green velour track suits (think Rocky meets Tron), which they came out on stage in, and wore the whole time (which meant no yeti costumes).

The set itself was a nice mix of old and new. After opening with Radiator's International Language of Screaming, and Phantom Power's Hello Sunshine, they played the first 4 songs from their new album Love Kraft in order. The new songs sounded great, and I liked how they were more of a group effort: other band members were singing lead and the songs were less sample driven in general. They dipped into Rings Around the World a bit, and pulled some nice surprises from their strong back catalogue, particularly Ice Hockey Hair (one of my favorites) and Something 4 the Weekend (usually, when we're treated to something from Fuzzy Logic, it's God! Show Me Magic or Bad Behaviour).

Now, as for the things that were expected: Every song had a cool video playing in the background, my favorite being the Peter Fowler-animated Receptacle for the Respectable (but no where was the animated one for Hello Sunshine?); They closed with The Man Don't give a Fuck (great as always); Gruff brought out the helmet for Slow Life; he said 'thank you very much' after every song in his thick Welsh accent and said some other wacky, yet unintelligible things (I think he tried to come up with a new name for the collective audience at one point and eventually christened us 'Jesus', although I couldn't really understand a word of the whole exchange).

Here's the set list (as I remember it) with some further comments:

International Language of Screaming
Hello Sunshine (guitarist Bunf didn't play pedal steel on this one, but he did on Run Christain Run)
Zoom
Atomik Lust
The Horn
Ohio Heat
Run Christian Run
Frequency
Cloudberries
Ice Hockey Hair
Receptacle for the Respectable (Gruff chomped on some stalks of celery and threw it out to the audience in reference to Paul McCartney's Smile-esque album cameo)

Encore:
Slow Life
Juxtopozed With U
Lazer Beam
Rings Around the World
Do or Die
Something 4 the Weekend (the slower single version, not the album version)
Calimaro (Normally they sing 'I Feel Like Chicken Tonight' during the rideout, but they changed the words to 'I Fear No Chicken Tonight' in honor of the Avian Bird Flu scare)
The Man Don't Give a Fuck

Also: Just to mention that on friday we stopped in for a drink at Hi-Fi and spotted Rob 'Soul Man' Corddry having drinks with friends. The last time I spotted him was at the SFA/Grandaddy show at Irving Plaza a few years back, and while at Hi-Fi he was singing along to Grandaddy's Now Its On on the bar's excellent jukebox. Did he play the song himself, or was it just serendipity?

Opening Night Indecision

2005-11-04T10:43:00.000-08:00

So friday night is usually opening movie night for my girlfriend and me, but which movie do we see tonight: Chicken Little or Jarhead? I think at the box office I'm just gonna say "2 tickets for Chickenhead" and see which movie we get.

"So you're in her kitchen. You're eating her crumb cake..."

2005-11-03T08:49:00.000-08:00

Did anyone catch Mike Wallace on The Daily Show last night? Jon Stewart asked him about his Kadafi interview just for a joke setup, but Mike, in all his half-senile splendor, completely missed the sarcasm and launched into this wild, semi-delusional, kind've pathetic soliloquy about the glory days interview. Jon totally got schooled. Didn't Wallace reminding you of someone else the whole time:

"Was I thinking my arm is tired? No. All I was thinking was, 'I did it'. Just like the old days. Like I was taught..."

"...Like you taught me. Great story, Machine."

All Hallows Eve Hijinks

2005-11-01T06:52:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a happy Halloween. I didn't go out the parade last night, but I'm sure with the nice weather, it was fun (and crowded).
My girlfriend and I did go to a Halloween party on saturday. We went as Tom Delay and Harriet Miers:

We won the best costume prize: A scary squirrel-shaped candle from Target. It looked like a demonically possessed, voodoo squirrel, or one of the decoys Bill Murray carved to trap the gopher in Caddyshack. Spooky.

Before the party we stopped at the new Rocketship Comic Shop/Art Gallery on Smith St. where comics writer, artist and all around sick puppy Bob Fingerman was having an art opening reception of his work. If you haven't read out any of his stuff, check out Beg the Question, a compilation of his Minimum Wage books, or the recent You Deserved It. Both are great reads.

I think he was really scared (or just disgusted) by my mask:

Seeds of Peace Pics

2005-10-28T12:17:00.000-07:00

A very blurry David Wain:

David reads the names of raffle Prize winners: "Jonathan Goldberg..stein...berger."

Dave Attell:

Susie Essman:

Triumph Makes a Friend...

...and gets his groove on:

Seeds of Peace Comedy Benefit

2005-10-28T06:52:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to the Seeds of Peace Comedy Benefit at the so-new-its-not-even-open-yet Gotham Comedy Club. It was hosted by the incomparable David Wain and featured some truly talented stand-up comics. I won't have time to give a full report, so I'll just run down my thoughts and highlights (I had some pics to uplaod, but blogger won't seem to let me. I'll try again later):

Highlight: Mercilessly, Caroline Rhea was replaced by Dave Attell.

Lowlight: Although Colin Quinn was listed on the program, he was nowhere to be found.

The crowd: Since this was a benefit show and the tickets were 30 bucks each, the audience seemed to have been made up mostly of people who works for or gives money to SoP; in other words, a very uptown crowd that didn't seem to go to too many comedy shows. Add the setting of Gotham (an actual comedy club with tables and dim lighting and two drink minimums) and it was a far cry from the vibe of a Pianos or Rififi or UCB show. I wondered how the crowd would react to 'alternative' comedians like Demetri Martin and Aziz Ansari and most of all, comic genius David Wain (yeah, I said it).
Well, Wain didn't get much respect from the audience. A lot of people used his time on stage to talk to their friends, which was somewhat expected since he was the host and most people in the crowd probably just thought he was some guy brought in to read the raffle winners, and not the comedic genius that he is. My guess is that if you mention Stella to anyone in the crowd, they'd think you were talking about the beer, or their Grandma. And Wain would probably be the first to admit that he's not really a stand-up comedian. But I was still laughing at his patented brand of perverted one-line non sequiters ("I just watched this movie 'Betty Gets Banged in the Back Door"...first off, it's a total porn).
What was surprising was how much Aziz and Demetri killed. I mean, seriously killed. They were getting bigger laughs than some of the heavyweights. I've heard most of their sets before, but Aziz did a great bit about Cold Stone Creamery which, although a bit too close to Patton Oswalt's Black Angus routine, still had me rolling.

The space: Very strange layout. A lot of the comedians remarked how wide it was. Demetri Martin compared it to a boat. And someone joked that it'll soon turn into a Starbucks, which was funny cuz it kinda looked like a really large Starbucks.

The Performances: Aside from Aziz and Demetri, there was Susie Essman who did her cursing Jewish woman shtick that she does well. I wished Dave Attell did a longer set, as I've never seen him live before and he's one of my favorite stand-ups. Dean Obeidella had some funny bits about being an Arab-Italian-American. Then there was Catie Lazarus, who sad to say, kinda bombed. There's no real nice way of saying it. Maybe she doesn't project well or something, but no one was really laughing, except this one really drunk guy who was laughing too loudly and not even during the jokes, which made it more awkward. I was surprised by her cold reception since she organized the whole event and was apparently the one comic who did the most for S0P, so I figured the crowd would be mostly her friends. The show ended with Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, who, for his piece de resistance, butt fucked Ernie.

The raffle: All the great prizes were auction prizes where the bidding started at 100 bucks. The raffle prizes were mostly dvds and they were 5 bucks a ticket. I didn't bother (although it would've been cool to get David Cross to do my voice mail message. Other tidbits: When Wain was talking about one of the prizes being dvds of Comedy Central shows, he made a reference to certain shows that are ' left in limbo after one season'. Someone at CC renew Stella now!!

Completely unrelated: All last night I was wondering out loud why I kept smelling maple syrup. I was thinking back that day and trying to remember if I had pancakes for breakfast and spilled syrup all over me. My girlfriend thought I was crazy. Turns out, I wasn't the only one.

Jon 'MG*' Brion at Canal Room

2005-10-26T07:28:00.000-07:00

(* Musical Genius)

From here on Jon Brion will be referred to by me as Jon 'Musical Genius' Brion. He played 2 shows last night at Canal Room. I was lucky enough to be at the early show. It was probably the coolest live show I've seen this year.

I don't throw the words 'Musical Genius' around too much. Maybe a few people qualify for that honor in my opinion. Brian Wilson, Stevie Wonder. Jon Brion is one of them. He has a perfect ear, and he can play the drums, guitars and piano with equally prodigious skill. It's no wonder that he is the most sought after producer/session musician in L.A. Looking like the love child of Jeff Tweedy and Bjork (especially in the eyes), and sometimes channeling the cross-eyed kid from Spellbound during a particularly intense Hendrix-esque guitar solo, he had the whole audience, er, spellbound.

I've never been to one of his weekly Largo shows in L.A. but from what I've heard, they're something that has to be experienced. He surrounds himself with instruments and plays a sort of improvised jazz session, taking requests from the audience. He didn't have any vintage keyboards with him last night. Just a baby grand piano, some guitars, and a drum set, but it was incredible none the less.

Jon Brion is known to take a lot of requests for covers from the audience. But he never does a straight cover version. I have an mp3 of a Largo performance where he mixed Being for The Benefit of Mr. Kite, We Can Work It Out, and You know My Name Look Up the Number all in one medley. Last night, Jon played Sexy Sadie in the style of Thelonius Monk, and The Police's Roxanne as a Baroque piano piece. He also did a beautiful rendition of The Kink's Waterloo Sunset, which was funny because I was shouting out for him to do something from the Kinks right before that, but not loud enough for him to hear (I was hoping for something from 'Village Green', like Johnny Thunder or Do You Remember Walter?).

On three songs, Jon did live overdubs with drums, piano and guitar. He'd play and loop a drum beat, then move to the piano and loop a piano part, then move to the guitar. I've seen people play live with a loop pedal, and usually it's an 8 bar figure they'd loop, nothing too complicated, but Jon loops whole verses and choruses, even knowing exactly where to put in the drum break for the piano part he hadn't played yet. Very cool.

At the Largo shows, Jon usually brings guest musicians and singers he's worked with. Fiona Apple, E from Eels, Elliott Smith. I was wondering what native New Yorker might show up last night. Maybe Rufus Wainwright? (I would've loved to hear them do April's Fools together). It was Rhett Miller from Old 97s. I'm not familiar with his stuff, but the songs they did together were really fun. They also dueted on a cover of I'll Cry Instead.

As a tribute to Les Paul, who he played with last saturday at Roseland, he closed with a Les Paul version of Prince's Purple Rain.

Comic Celebrities Love Jon Brion!! NYC comedians came out in full force to see Jon do his thing. Before the show, I saw funny accordianist (and not Weird Al) Corn Mo, who told me about a show he's playing this friday at his place. Also, Aziz Ansari, who I'll be seeing tomorrow night at Gotham Comedy Club was hanging outside the club after the show.

Eugene Mirman Blogs about his Across the Narrows Gig

2005-10-24T09:13:00.000-07:00

Eugene Mirman's Village Voice blog this week is a very funny retelling of his hosting gig for the Staten Island Across the Narrows show. I was at the sunday Coney Island show, where Demetri Martin was hosting, and it was funny to watch Eugene on the (not quite live) simulcast screens introducing the SI bands in between the sets. He would introduce Doves as 'The motherfucking Doves!' with such mock-enthusiastic, borderline-disdain in his voice. Very funny.
Like I said before, even if the audience didn't quite get, or even know who Demetri and Eugene were, I was very impressed that a music event put together by Clear Channel and sponsored by Playstation 2 would even hire these two dry, understated, urbane wits in the first place.

Eugene is performing at Pianos tonight for the 2nd night of his Subpop album taping. Todd Barry is opening. Tickets are no longer available on ticketweb. Someone on A Special Thing has a little recap from last night's performance.

The Splog Shot

2005-10-21T13:35:00.000-07:00

I for one am so tired of blog spam, or splog, as the NYTimes has recently dubbed it (good one, Times..Sounds like slang for ejaculating). And being an HTML idiot, I have no idea how to get rid of it. So the next time I receive a comment telling me how I can order the new Book of Revelations for Dummies audio tapes, or about all the pills I can take to make my pee pee bigger, I'm gonna start hitting them back with spamof my own. Like this:

Hi! Great blog! Just thought I'd tell you about a little blog I have. It's an online shopping site called Dildos and Don'ts. A little mom and pop operation that carries the best in vibrating, double headed, and triple headed anal penetrators. Check out our new line of 20 inch "backdoor barnstormers" that we've dubbed "The Hemorrhoid Inflamer". Our selections are guaranteed not disappoint!

826 NYC Super Hero Fashion Show

2005-10-21T06:55:00.000-07:00

Last night at Symphony Space, 826NYC hosted a fashion show for their Spring 06 Superhero line. Cute tykes and Daily Show correspondents alike modeled capes and masks designed by Rebecca Taylor, Marc Jacobs, and more. The night was hosted by writer and former Proffesional Literary Agent John Hodgman and also featured Sarah Vowell, Le Tigre's Kathleen Hannah and Amy Sedaris and a short film from Patton Oswalt.

Overall, the evening was fun, if a little strange. For example, A marching band provided runway music, instead of the de rigour rock band or club dj. But what would you expect from the minds of McSweeneys and the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co? My one (not so minor) gripe would be that I found the evening disappointingly short on comedy (Ed Helms, Samantha Bee and Amy Sedaris did a collective 2 minutes of comic improving) and long on Jerry Lewis-style telethoning (Not to sound uncharitable, but I thought the collection plate was slightly tacky).

Here are the comedy highlights:
Rob Corrdry read a very funny and poignant short story by Canuck writer Jonathan Goldstein about a man dating Lois Lane. This was my favorite part of the night, partly because the story was so great and partly because Rob was so funny and surprisingly heartfelt telling it.
Patton Oswalt reveals that Lex Luthor buys his suits at Men's Wearhouse in a funny film that I would've found even funnier if I was as much of a comic book uber-nerd as Patton.
Captain Guess Your Weight (a masked and mustached Leo Allen...or was it?) and his sidekick Robyn with a 'Y' (Eugene Mirman) will be at the Lincoln Square Barnes and Nobles on November 12th to face off against arch nemesis the Penguin in a Guess Your Weight challenge.

Here's a few pics:

A very preggers Samantha Bee is so commited to recycling, she's 'recycling her own DNA'

When Rob Corrdry has a few drinks in him, he becomes Soul Man...

...and hits on Sarah Vowell

Amy Sedaris is heard, but not seen.

Ed Helms as The Butcher, with The Lambchopper, who will 'kill you with cuteness'

Patton Oswalt's Puppy Linked to Abu Ghraib Scandal

2005-10-20T15:08:00.000-07:00

After a short hiatus, Patton Oswalt's has updated his blog, giving us some scandalous pics of his new bulldog puppy, Grumpus, as well as air times for both the Comedians of Comedy doc on Showtime and the Comedians of Comedy miniseries on Comedy Central, which will both air within a week of each other. I know, my head hurts too.

And speaking of Patton, I just learned that the Super Hero Fashion show I will be attending in mere hours at Symphony Space will feature a new short film from Patton Oswalt. Sweet.

David Wain and Michael Showalter in Monty Pythonesque Madcappery

2005-10-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

David Wain posted this little bit of Pythonesque lunacy on his website. I defy anyone to listen to this and not literally die laughing.
The first 2 voices are recognizably David Wain and Michael Showalter, but who's doing the other voices (Kerri Kenney maybe)? And where did this come from? Was this recorded recently, or was this something dug out of the vaults (David's been posting a lot of his old elementary school poetry lately)? Perhaps from the abandoned State comedy album?
And while you're on David's website, listen to the 'Bagel' song and 'One Day More' in the Quicktime Clips section. Musical genius.

Oh, How I Wish I Lived In Glasgow

2005-10-18T11:36:00.000-07:00

Just received this from the Belle and Sebastian website:

Hello all,

A little message from Stuart ...

“We require a TV audience for filming for a BBC program which will feature the group performing a bunch of songs from the new album. The studio audience has to dress kind of 70s but NOT glamorous 70's, I'm thinking mid-70's Oxbridge/Scumbag College students, corduroy and suede, elbow patches, shades of brown and fawn, unkempt/long hair, perhaps some heavy eye make-up for the girls, black rimmed specs and stripy scarves. Please NO trainers, NO printed t-shirts/logos/anything. How about the odd cloak? You will be like extras rather than just audience in this program because the band will be filming the songs a couple of times each and you may need to be in shot and moved round a bit."

The filming will be this Sunday October 23rd at the BBC studios, Queen Margaret Drive in Glasgow. You will need to be available from roughly 7.00pm til 10.00pm. If you're available and would like to considered for the audience, please email webcontact@banchory.net with your name, contact telephone number/s and an image of yourself, by Friday midday. If you can take the picture with your mobile phone and make it less then 200kb, that would be even better!

Thanks and best of luck.

Cheers,
Belle and Sebastian.

Well That Was Easy: Franz Ferdinand At The MSG Theater

2005-10-18T06:36:00.000-07:00

Last night we saw Franz Ferdinand at the Theater at MSG. It was the first time I saw a show at this theater, and I have to say, I was impressed with the venue. We had floor tickets and even though we stood in the back and to the side so we'd have room to dance around, we were still as close to the stage as we needed to be. Because the floor isn't too big and the stage is high enough, and it wasn't packed to capacity, you could probably stand anywhere and still have a great experience. (We were, however, standing right in front of one of the speakers, so my ears still feel like it's underwater). But the whole theater is so well put together (not too big and kind've intimate), that even if we were in the back row, we'd still probably have a great time (although I think that has a lot to do with the band, too).

"I thought you were gonna wear red pants and black shirt and I was gonna wear black pants and red shirt!"

What was disappointing was how early the bands came on. I was looking forward to seeing TV On the Radio just as much as Franz Ferdinand, since I've already seen FF at Bowery Ballroom, Webster Hall and Roseland, and I've only seen TVOTR at last years Siren Festival (which hardly counts since it was on the overcrowded/bad sound stage). Since another band was playing before TVOTR and the doors opened at 7:30, I assumed that if we got there before 9 we'd have plenty of time to see them. Well, we got there a little after 8:30 just as they were playing Ambulance, which turned out to be there last song! I should've looked up the set times beforehand. Bummer.

FF played a great set, mixing up songs from the first and new second album, You Could Have It So Much Better. Their new album is still growing on me, so it helped to hear these songs live, particularly I'm Your Villain and You're The Reason I'm Leaving. They didn't touch on any of the ballads (no Eleanor or Fade Together) and Alex only broke out the acoustic guitar once, for Walk Away.

We were standing the closest to bassist Bob Hardy, who actually smiled occasionally! Seems he's gone from looking like someone having root canal on stage, according to Entertainment Weekly, to someone waiting in line for the DMV while thinking of a funny joke to himself, according to my girlfriend. The whole band was in great spirits, and Alex seemed to have added a few new moves to his 'side point' repertoire. There was a lot of jumping from the drum set and arm raising. And as always, guitarist/keyboardist Nick McCarthy couldn't stop smiling the whole time.

They encored with This Boy, The Outsiders and This Fire.

Other highlights: The '50s bad boy boogie of Evil And A Heathen. Johnny Depp should've sang that song in Cry Baby.
Also: Alex changing the lyrics at the end of Walk Away from 'Stalin smiles, Hitler laughs' to 'Hardy smiles, McCarthy laughs'.
And: Alex taking a swig of whisky before This Fire to get that Dean Martin-esque whisky slur for the verse vocals.
Oh And: Every minute of The Fallen. Just a great song.

House of Jealous Hipsters

2005-10-17T12:15:00.000-07:00

So my girlfriend and I thought we'd check out The Rapture's free show at the Tribeca Grand Hotel saturday night so we could get our swerve on. They were due to go on at midnight, so we figured we'd get there around 10:30 and maybe wait on a half hour line. We we wrong.

We didn't make it to the hotel till 11pm and by then the line was halfway down the block. We should've just chucked the idea right there, but we decided to wait and see if the line would move fast. Cut to 12:30 pm: The band was already on and playing for half an hour, and we were still waiting on the damn line. We finally got somewhat close to the front of the line when they announced they weren't letting anyone else in for the show. Oh well. It wouldn't have been so bad if we didn't happen to be standing in front of the most obnoxious, drunken hipsters from hell the entire time.

Still, it was a nice night to be out in the city, and after hitting the McDonalds on Canal St. for some much needed nourishment, we ended up wandering towards the LES and got some drinks at the cheesy-but-fun Boss Tweeds bar, it being the one bar where we knew we wouldn't be hit by a hipster overload.

The rest of our weekend was fun. We saw Goodnight, And Good Luck and The Squid and the Whale. Both excellent films.

Leo Allen takes over Bro'in Out Duties from Seth Morris

2005-10-14T12:33:00.000-07:00

Now that comedian Seth Morris has moved to L.A, it seems Leo Allen has taken over hosting duties for UCB's live chat show, Broin' Out With (now) Leo and Tony. Sidekick Tony Camin and bartender Johnny Conroy will still be on hand to serve laughter and drinks. For his first show on Monday, October 24th, Leo will welcome John Hodgman, Shonali Bhowmik (Variety Shaq and Tigers and Monkeys), and the now ubiquitous Demetri Martin. The show starts at 9:30. Reserve tickets here.

New Pornographers/Destroyer at Webster Hall

2005-10-13T21:19:00.000-07:00

Even though I saw The New Pornographers over the summer at Prospect Park and Maxwell's, I wouldn't really consider those true New Pornographers shows (no Neko Case = no NPs).

Last night was 2nd New Pornos show at Webster Hall with their full lineup of Carl Newman, Neko Case, drummer Kurt Dahle, guitarist Todd Fancey, keyboardist Blaine Thurier, bassist John Collins, Newman's niece Kathryn Calder, and Destroyer Dan Bejar (wasn't their also a full time saxophonist at one time?). This was a true New Pornos show, and just to hear Carl, Neko, Dan, Kathryn and Kurt singing together on the 'bells ring' rideout of Testament to Youth and Verse was enough to make it the best NP show I've seen.

We got to the venue at 9:30, just in time to see Destroyer (thnx Kathryn for the settimes), who I was almost as excited to see as much as NP. I've read a lot of people online complaining about what a drag Destroyer is live, and I'll admit that he does have a kind've Tim Burton-on-heroin vibe. But I'm guessing they didn't see his set last spring at the Mercury Lounge with noise band Frog Eyes backing him up. That band managed to turn every Bejar pop gem into a sludgy, slow tempo downer. Compared to that, last night's Destroyer set was really upbeat and fun. It helped that he had NPs Kurt and John backing him up. It didn't even matter that Bejar didn't even touch any songs from the excellent Your Blues or This Night albums and that I only recognized 3 songs (Streethawk I, Sublimation Hour, and The Very Modern Dance).

Then it was the New Porno's set. They played a lot from Twin Cinema, and it was great to finally hear Neko sing her new songs, especially These Are the Fables. Dan wasn't out on stage with them for most of the set, but every 4th song or so, they'd bring him out to do one of his, which was very funny to watch. Everytime he came out he'd have a beer in his hand, and the band would joke about how chill he was, saying he's coming out next time in his robe. I'm guessing that every night they' would play basically the same three Dan songs (Testament, Jackie Dressed in Cobras, Streets of Fire in the encore), while mixing up the rotation on the 4th song pick. Last night they did Execution Day, which is a fine song, but I was hoping for either Chump Change or Ballad of the Comeback Kid (which they did wednesday, apparently). But I was just being greedy; this being the first time I saw Bejar with the NPs, I wanted them to do all of his songs. And I know he's been getting a lot of praise lately, but I have to mention drummer Kurt Dahle, who is so amazing and fun to watch. He is the master of the drum stick twirl. Considering that the beautiful Neko Case was on stage and I was still watching him much of the time says something about his talent. Although it was hard not to watch Neko, especially with her awesome sequined black white trash party blouse (apparently, it was Kathryn's turn to dress like Stevie Nicks).

Here's what (I think) they played last night (in no particular order):

Twin Cinema
Use It
Jackie Dressed in Cobras
These Are the Fables
The Bleeding Heart Show
Mass Romantic
The Laws Have Changed
Three Or Four
Testament to Youth And Verse
Stacked Crooked
It's Only Divine Right
Sing Me Spanish Techno
The Body Says No
Fake Headlines
All For Swinging You Around

1st Encore:
Streets of Fire
Slow Descent into Alcoholism
Electric Version

2nd Encore:
Execution Day
Letter to An Occupant

Gay Cowboys Eating Pudding

2005-10-12T12:57:00.000-07:00

What's the deal with this movie? Isn't it the same film that Kyle and Stan had to sit through when Robert Redford brought Sundance to South Park? Is Mr. Hanky: The Movie starring a dying Tom Hanks and a monkey around the corner?

My 'Colbert Report' Report

2005-10-12T08:32:00.000-07:00

Being the huge Stephen Colbert fan that I am, I requested tickets for a taping of his new Daily Show spinoff, The Colbert Report as soon as they were made available. That eagle-like diligence paid off. Last night was the first taping of the show, and I was one of the people in attendance for the historic occasion.

Now, I know what you're saying: "Hey, Fake Century, I thought Stephen Colbert's show doesn't premiere till next Monday. How topical can it be if it's taped a week in advance? What's going on here? Have I entered some temporally displaced alternative dimension where time doesn't matter?". The answer to that question is yes...and no. The taping I was at last night was apparently a 'test' taping, which I suppose means that some of what we watched might not make it to air at all. There were funny segments about Harriet Miers, Katie Holmes' pregnancy, and Rosh Hashanah, so whether any of that will be relevant by next week will have to be seen.

To be honest, it's probably a good thing it was a test run, since the show had a few kinks that needs to be ironed out. But since it was the first taping, I wasn't expecting things to run perfectly smooth. For example, it was suppose to start around 8, but didn't get underway till past 8:30. (I was getting hungry and cranky by the time the warmup comic came out). Just as the audience was about to revolt, Jon Stewart (or John Stuart, as Steve Carrell spells it) surprised everyone by coming out and introducing Colbert. During the actual taping, there was a teleprompter issue and a couple of screen graphic glitches. Colbert himself was great, (aside from a missed camera cue and some flubbed lines), and while I have no doubt that he can carry his own show, it may take him a bit to find his footing.

As for the show itself, it's basically what you'd expect from a Daily Show spinoff: a sharply written satire of Bill O'Reilly/Tucker Carlson cult-of-personality type shows. Unlike the Daily Show, which relies on fake correspondents and news segments, The Colbert Report is much more built around Colbert's on air personality, that of the smug, pompous blowhard. One funny segment involved him comparing a caramel apple to the heartland of America. Another segment had him sexistly chastising Katie Holmes' unwed pregnancy while high-fiving Tom Cruise for the same reason (in the very funny Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger segment).

Sometimes it's hard for Colbert to pull off this character, only because he seems like suck a likeable guy. Even he cracked a smile sometimes when he said something particularly off-color, to let the audience know he's joking.

Surprisingly, Colbert's personality came across best during the interview segment, which is the weakest part of the Daily Show, in my opinion. Colbert had on CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Tubin as the guest, and the whole interview had a 'aren't you honored to be interviewed by me?' smugness to it. And even though Tubin was completely in on the joke, it never felt scripted.

So there's my report Colbert Report, or as Colbert calls it, The Colbert Repore. Hopefully the kinks will be worked out by airtime, but if you're a fan of This Week in God or any of the segments Colbert did on the Daily Show, then there's no reason not to tune in.

Comedy Powerhouse to Perform Seeds of Peace Benefit

2005-10-12T06:51:00.000-07:00

Some of NYC's best comics will be performing standup for the Seeds of Peace 2nd Annual Comedy Benefit at the new Gotham Comedy Club on thursday, October 27th. Here's your chance to see heavy hitters like Greg Giraldo, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, Demetri Martin, and Susie Essman alongside other less funny comedians, like Caroline Rhea (I keed, I keed...actually, I don't). And the whole damn thing is going to be hosted by comic genius David Wain. Tickets are 30 dollars in advance, 40 at the door, but that's all good cause money (there's still that pesky 2 drink minimum, however. God, I hate comedy clubs). Purchase tickets at the Seeds of Peace website here. Full lineup and info:

Stand-Up for Peace: Seeds of Peace 2nd Annual Comedy Benefit

Thursday, October 27th, 2005
Gotham Comedy Club (its new venue)
208 W. 23rd Street, b/t 7th and 8th, New York City

Starring:
Susie Essman (HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, Comedy Central)
Greg Giraldo (Comedy Central, Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn)
Triumph the Insult Comic Dog (Late Night with Conan O'Brien)
Demetri Martin (Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central, Perrier winner)
Caroline Rhea (The Caroline Rhea Show)
Dean Obedeillah (CNN, Air America's Morning Sedition)
Aziz Ansari (Premium Blend, ECNY- Best Male Stand Up)
Catie Lazarus (AMC, ECNY- Best Comedy Writer)

with host David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer, Stella, Comedy Central)

Tickets:
$30 in ADVANCE*
$40 at the door if available*
*2 drink minimum

In other Demetri Martin news, the witty comic will be performing his biggest NY shows at the Village Theatre from October 13 to the 29th. Tickets are available on ticketweb. Here's the dealio:

DEMETRI MARTIN : THESE ARE JOKES
8 PERFORMANCES ONLY!
OCTOBER 13 - 29
THE VILLAGE THEATRE
(158 BLEECKER STREET)

These Are Jokes is a show.
Demetri Martin is the person in this show.
From the stage, he will tell some of his jokes.
He will show some of his drawings.
And he will play some of his musical instruments.
It is all designed to be very good.

Catch Demetri Martin in his biggest NY show to date, These Are Jokes, set for 8 PERFORMANCES ONLY from October 13 Â 29 at The Village Theatre (158 Bleecker Street).

October 13 Â 29
The Village Theatre
158 Bleecker St. (bet. Sullivan and Thompson)
Thurs-Sat @ 10pm
$15 Adult/$10 Student

My St. Thomas Weekend

2005-10-11T07:34:00.000-07:00

Here's my 2 word pitch for the producers of the inevitable Wedding Crashers sequel: Destination Wedding. This time, Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn would hit some Caribbean Island for the wedding crash to end all wedding crashes. It'll be like the original film, only with exotic locales. Owen's love interest could be the beautiful island princess who's about to marry into an arranged marriage to the wrong guy. Think Saved By The Bell in Hawaii, only intentionally funny.
This weekend, we went to St. Thomas for my friend's wedding. Even though we didn't get too much sun down there, it was a great trip and the wedding was a lot of fun. About 60 wedding guests made it down for the trip and just about all of us were staying on the same resort. Much rum was consumed.

St. Thomas is like Wild Animal Kingdom. There were huge iguanas hanging out by the pool, vultures circling over the beaches, and after the wedding saturday night while we were having a midnight pool party, we were nearly attacked by a bat. Admittedly, it was dark and we were pretty stoned in the pool at the time (we shared a good laugh over 'this joint is gonna get wet' 'that's what she said'), so it's possible that we just thought it was a bat, but we were pretty certain. Later that night we caught some of Jurassic Park on Bravo back at the hotel and it seemed an eerily appropriate programming choice.

Fiona Apple's Extraordinary Machine

2005-10-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

So I've spent all day listening to both versions of Fiona Apple's new album, Extraordinary Machine. I won't weigh in too much in the debate over which version I like more, but I'm always partial to anything Jon Brion does (If only he produced Aimee Mann's last 2 albums which both left me cold). Both versions stand on their own and much of the songs don't differ too drastically in my opinion; overall, the songs don't quite match the power of When the Pawn...but there's still some great stuff on there and I'll be spending a lot of time with both albums, I think.
In more important news, thanks to a tip from Brooklyn Vegan, I picked up tickets to see Jon Brion play NYC, which I'm very excited about. I never got to see him at Largo the few times I've visited L.A. and I missed him at Tonic because I had Stars tickets, so this is a big deal for me. I've heard great things about his live shows.

Jew Year Doldrums

2005-10-05T11:35:00.000-07:00

Man, being home for 2 days while everyone else is working is boring. There's only so much E! Channel programming you can watch in a day.
Yesterday I entertained myself by seeing Mirrormask at the Sunshine Theater. It's a family fantasy film written by comic writer and novelist Neil Gaiman, and directed and 'designed' by artist/illustrator Dave McKean about a young girl who awakens in a fantastic dream world. The plot is basically a retreat of every other Alice in Wonderland-type movie already made (think labyrinth/Wizard of Oz/Neverending Story/Monkeybone). But if you're fan of McKean's artwork, then definitely check it out. Every shot in the film was like one of his works come to life.
Some truly stunning visuals.
After that I headed over to Webster Hall with some friends for the Sons and Daughters/Decemberists show. The Decemberists put on an amazing show as always, but god, do I hate Webster Hall. The sound is one big Phil-Spector-wall-of-sound-from-hell echo chamber; the crowd was heavy with 17 year old O.C'ers that must've followed them from their Death Cab Summerstage show; and the beer there was 7 dollars...7 dollars for a bud light! It's gonna be tough for me to see 2 of my favorite live bands in the next few weeks.
But besides the problems I have with the venue, the show was still great. They played an almost 2 hour set and Colin Meloy seemed to be in a particular mischievous mood, teasing an audience member for being at every show of theirs in the last 3 years, and making fun of the 'music industry' folk in the v.i.p. balcony for not screaming loud enough for 'A Mariner's Revenge Song'. Other highlights:

Jenny Conlee singing a song for her boyfriend in the encore (I saw them together at the bar before the show and I was too embarrassed to tell her how much I love her).
The brilliant John Wesley Harding coming out for 2 songs (which I unfortunately missed most of because I was in the bathroom after drinking too much 7 dollar beers. Oh yeah, did I mention that beer is 7 dollars at Webster Hall? And they won't give you tap water. You have to pay 5 bucks for a 12 ounce bottle of water.)
Finally seeing the giant whale prop Chris Funk brought out for 'Mariner's Revenge' that I missed at Austin City Limits because I left their set early to catch Franz Ferdinand. (pics via Dreams of Horses)
'We Both Go Down Together', which may have usurped 'This Sporting Life' as my favorite Picaresque track.
Running into Dave and Adele from Sons and Daughters and having a nice (drunken) conversation with them about their ACL set.
'The Engine Driver', 'On The Bus Mall' and 'Los Angeles I'm Yours' and 'A Cautionary Song' live.

Reading is Fundamental and Shit

2005-10-04T10:40:00.000-07:00

So I've been off work today and yesterday (YAY for Jewish-owned companies!!), and after resisting the urge to live blog Win A Date With Tad Hamilton on HBO-Latino (man, does daytime t.v. suck?), I thought I'd post about some of the books I've read over the past couple of months or so:

Assasination Vacation by Sarah Vowell: This is the first Sarah Vowell book I've read, after seeing her on The Daily Show and speaking live. The book was informative, and I enjoyed it despite the fact that I'm not much of an American history buff. But her voice is too cutesy for me and she just came off too much like the annoyingly chipper girl you see at every museum tour you had to endure in high school...I know that's her appeal, but it wasn't really for me.

A History of Violence by John Wagner and Vince Locke: An entertaining graphic novel. It starts off really gripping, but the 2nd half veers off into a somewhat unoriginal mafia story that feels like a rejected episode of The Sopranos. Still, the ending packs a real punch, and the writer and artist have a great flair for fight scenes. The movie was really interesting too. Very different from the book, so it's worth comparing the two.

Belle and Sebastian: Just A Modern Rock Story by Paul Whitelaw: If you're a fan of the band, this is definitely worth a read. There's nothing terribly enlightening, but the author does a good job of putting the band in some context. It tends to get a bit gossipy at parts: The writer really seems to try to get to the bottom of Stuart and Isobel's relationship and subsequent brakeup, without much success; Stuart's never one to say anything too direct. Isobel comes off looking pretty bad and seems to be the cause of a lot of tension with the band. There's also a nice reference section in the back with lists of unreleased songs and live covers, etc.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling: This one is not nearly as action packed or dark as Order of the Phoenix, but it's got a truly knockout ending that stays with you for awhile, and thankfully Harry Potter isn't nearly as angsty and obnoxious as he was in the last one.

Incendiary by Chris Cleave: This is another very interesting book. It's set in modern day London and it imagines a 9-11 scenario in London, and the fact that the book was released on the day of the London bombings must've been a publicity nightmare (or jackpot, depending on how you look at it). The book is written from the voice of an East London working class mother who looses her husband and son in a terrorist attack at Arsenal Football Stadium, and being a very British book, the theme of class plays a big part. The book gets heavy at times, but the mother's voice is so funny and unique, that it's a very zippy read.

Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis: This is required reading for any Bret Easton Ellis fan. The book starts off much like the meta-mindfuck of Ellis's last book, the underrated Glamarama, in which the reader follows the drug fueled adventures of a 'character' named Bret Easton Ellis, an exaggerated version of the author himself. But by the third chapter the book settles into a well told ghost story; a sort-of homage to Stephen King's The Shining. (Check out Stephen King's backhanded endorsement of the book in his Entertainment Weekly column). It is the least flashy and most mature book Ellis has written so far.

Epileptic by David B.: A graphic novel memoir about the the author's childhood growing up with a brother who suffers from epileptic seizures and his parent's constant quest for a cure. This book was pretty heavy, and it helps if you know a bit about modern French history to get everything (I don't). The writer/artist uses a lot of visual mythological and animal symbols to represent abstract feelings and ideas, and there's a surreal magical realism to take in on every panel.

Across The Narrows Festival@ Coney Island

2005-10-02T20:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was the inaugural Across the Narrows Festival simultaneously held at Coney Island’s Keyspan Stadium and Staten Islands’s Richmond Park Stadium. I was at Sunday’s Coney Island show, mainly for 1 reason: Belle and Sebastian.

We got to the stadium a little after 4 pm in order to catch the Raveonettes. The first thng that struck me was how small the crowd was. I know it was early, but the stadium was practically empty. I don't know how the rest of the shows sold, but apparently the festival didn’t sell too many tickets since the stage was set up on the pitcher’s mound, cutting the field in half (the last time I was at the stadium was for the Bjork 4th of July show, which was maximum capacity). The stadium filled up a bit throughout the night, but even during Beck’s headlining set, the night felt very intimate for an arena show.

A cool setup for the festival was the big screens next to the stage that was showing performances from the Staten Island shows in between the sets. A really nice surprise for the evening was discovering that comedian Demetri Martin was hosting the Coney Island show while fellow comedian Eugene Mirman was at the Staten Island shows. I’m glad to see that even though the festival was sponsored by Playstation and MTV2 and was presented by Ron Delsener, which is a part of evil, evil Clear Channel, theytapped 2 relatively unknown cult comedians to host the shows, and not Gideon Yago or that douche from Subteranean to do the hosting. Of course, no one in the audience probably knew who Dememtri Martin was, and by the end of the night, no one cared what he was saying and were throwing plastic beer bottles at him to get him off the stage. A shame really. I’ve seen what happens when comedians try to open for music acts and it's not pretty. There’s always a palpable level of hostility towards even the funniest comics at rock shows. So, my hats off to Demetri and Eugene for their bravery.

The Raveoneattes came on a little after 4:30 and put on a good, yet subdued set. They were the one band of the evening I hadn’t seen before and I really enjoyed there set. My highlight was ‘The Great Love Sound'. The cover of 'My Boyfriend’s Back' was fun too, but perhaps a bit too much backing vocal tracks.

Then came Polyphonic Spree, who I just love. I know it became very uncool to dig these guys after a while and their whole ‘are they being serious with this hippy-dippy shit or just being seriously po-mo?’ live shows can turn a lot of people off. But come on? Whoever can watch 30 people in robes with Charlie Brown stripes going crazy on their instruments while playing the catchiest pop tunes since The Beach Boys without at least cracking a smile must be a robot of some kind. The theremin player and the chick guitarist were particularly fun to watch. And they did some cool new songs from the Thumbsucker soundtrack.

Polyphonic Spree were great, but the band I was wating for came next. I don’t know if you could tell from the title of this blog, but Belle and Sebastian is my all time favorite band playing right now, or at least one of them. And I loved that they came all the way over to New York just to play this festival (I’m sure the fact that it was at a baseball stadium in Coney Island appealed greatly to Mets and Warriors fan Stuart Murdoch).
I was dreaming all day of what they’re set list would be (would they do Your Cover’s Blown, even though they haven’t attempted it live yet?), upsetting myself about the fact that they’d only have an hour or so to play, wondering if the short set time would allow them time to do a setting-approipriate cover song (maybe Franz Ferdinand’s 'Eleanor Put Your Boots Back On’? Or Joe Walsh’s 'In The City' from The Warriors?)
Now before I go on with B&S set, let me first say that I’ve seen them 7 times before, so I know they can be very uneven live. Even though they’ve supposedly improved a lot since their notorious earlier shows, where they’d take forever to tune up in between shows, they can still be frustratingly erratic on stage. Yes, Stuart will stop songs half way through if he's having sound problems. Yes, he will forget his lyrics a lot. Yes, they can play the wrong notes and play out of tune. But that’s just something you have to expect from a B&S show. That’s just part of getting the whole experience, the highs and the lows, from a Belle and Sebastian live show.
After a few false announcements from Demetri Martin, B&S came out on stage, Stuart in a Mets t-shirt swinging a baseball bat. They launched into ‘Stars of Track and Field and the sound was off, with half the instruments inaudible. This must’ve thrown off Stuart, as he instantly forgot the 2nd verse lyrics, which worried me since they just played If You’re Feeling Sinister in it’s entirety for the All Tomorrow's Parties Don’t Look Back Series, and you’d think it’d be fresh in his mind. And poor Mick Cooke, who couldn’t hear his trumpet in his monitor, which was understandably pissing him off since he missed some really good solos for the next few songs (his trumpet solo on 'The Wrong Girl' had to be quickly replaced by Stevie Jackson singing the part).
It took a couple of songs for the band to find their footing after the rocky start, and Stuart and Stevie were both singing a bit off key for the next few songs few songs. But then they played two songs from their upcoming new album, 'Another Sunny Day' and 'White Colllar Boy', which both sounded great and things really perked up.
But the big highlight came about 6 songs in when Beans keyboard sounds started playing the familiar opening of a song I thought I'd never hear live, 'Electronic Renaissance'. Every time I've seen B&S play live, someone in the audience is always yelling for this song and the band usually laugh it off; but maybe now that Beans has gotten so into the techno thing, they decided to give it a go, and it sounded incredible. It was so fun to watch Richard and Mick banging on the drums to the drum machine and Stevie coming in on the toy mouth organ (?) thing on the end. Amazzing.
After that, the set went great. They played 'Lonliness of a Middle Distance Runner', one of my all time favorites. Here was the funny dialogue before that song:
Stuart: 'O.K. we're gonna be like 7 little Fonzies on this song'.
Richard:' What's Fonzie like?'
Stuart: 'Fonzie's cool!'.
I love Pulp Fiction references.

The other highlight was after 'The Boy With the Arab Strap'. As Stuart was singing the outro bit, Stevie put his guitar down and Stuart told him to wait and started singing that it was Bean's 30th birthday, so they all sang Happy Birthday to him. Very cool.
Then they played two Dear Catastrophe Waitresssongs, 'I'm A Cuckoo' and 'If You Find Yourself Caught in Love' and these probably sounded the best of all the songs played. They're both just such fantastic songs and if it wasn't so crowded, I would've been doing some serious dancing to them. They closed with 'Judy and the Dream of Horses', the closing track of Sinister, a fitting end since they opened with 'Track and Field'.
All in all a great show. Sure, it was a bit uneven and it took them a while to get into it. Sure there was no Warriors Song, but Stuart did make a funny Warriors reference, as I figured he would. Sure, no 'Your Covers Blown' or 'Stay Loose', my other favorite. But for a shortened festival set, they played a lot of tunes (when I saw them at Coachella it seemed they only played maybe 5 songs), and them doing Electronic Renaissance was enough to put this high on my list of B&S shows.

(Unfortunately, the stage got real dark during B&S's set, so I couldn't get any good pics. Here's a bad one of Mick and Bobby though).

Belle and Sebastian setlist (maybe out of order and missing stuff):

Stars of Track and Field: I figured after the Don't Look Back Series, they'd
Women's Realm
Another Sunny Day
The Wrong Girl
White Collar Boy
Electronic Renaissance
Lonliness of a Middle Distance Runner
Me and the Major
The Boy With the Arab Strap
I'm a Cuckoo
If You Find Yourself Caught in Love
Judy and the Dream of Horses

After B&S we hung back from the stage for Beck, who was also great. I was excited about seeing him since I missed him at Hiro and I've been really loving his new album. I've seen him a few times and I feel he can be erratic as well. Sometime's I'm very bored at his shows and sometimes I'm loving it. Last night he put on amazing show, playing songs from all his major albums, while sticking mostly with the Guero, Odelay, and Midnight Vultures.

My favorite part of Beck's set, apart from the awesome dancing white dude of course, was the acoustic section of the show, where Beck plays some acoustic numbers while the rest of the band eats dinner on stage. By the time he gets to 'Golden Age', the band starts adding percussive touches by hitting wine glasses with their utensils. It was pretty incredible.
Also, his solo playing of 'Lonesome Tears' on the pump organ was amazing.

So that was Across the Narrows for me. Hopefully the poor ticket sales won't stop them from doing it again next year. It's pretty hard to put on a good festival show in New York, (I won't even mention Field Day), so it'd be nice if this became an annual thing.

Aziz Ansari IS a Fucking Badass

2005-09-30T08:43:00.000-07:00

If you've recently checked out Aziz Ansari's blog, Aziz is Bored, then you've probably already peeped this site that he's linked to, but I'd thought I'd post about it too, since it serious brings the funny. I don't know who this Prince Fontaine guy is, but I have my suspicions that it might secretly be Eric Blevins. (Remember, Patton Oswalt was at Bumbershoot also, so maybe Eric was there stalking him).

ACL Pics: Day 2 and 3

2005-09-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

"You had the Frankie Goes To Hollywood album before anyone's ever heard of them...and you were the first to realize they were shite." Couldn't resist a Commitments quote. The Frames:

"You got a nerve to be asking for a ride to the festival." The Walkmen:

Ambulance LTD:

Arcade Fire (Richard 'Napoolean Dynamite' Parry jokingly teased an audience member who wouldn't open a water bottle the band passed out to her to drink it, saying that 'she won't get any money off ebay for it'):

I loves me some French techno-rock. M83:

The Decemberists:

ACL Pics: Day 1

2005-09-28T11:42:00.000-07:00

Here's some pics from day 1 of Austin City Limits. As I said before, I didn't get too close for a lot of the shows and a lot of my pics aren't worth posting. Most of these pics will be of the bands that played the smaller stages so they're only a small sampling of some of the bands we saw. For better pics check out the ACL website or Dreams of Horses, Gorilla v Bear or My Old Kentucky blog (which has great backstage pics):

Started the day with a little Kasabian:

Mates of State came out onstage holding hands. How sweet:

Nic Armstrong and the Thieves. Their drummer is out of control:

Sound Team:

Spoon drew a big crowd:

Keane gets the coveted 'as the sun sets' spot:

Here's how dirty my feet were after the first day:

My ACL Recap: Day 3

2005-09-28T07:54:00.000-07:00

Sunday: Sunday morning was tough. It was easily the hottest day of the festival, and it was the day with the most bands that me and most of the festival wanted to check out. I must've bought at least 5 bottles of water by the time the 2nd band played and I was seriously almost gonna pass out at certain times of the day.
I really wanted to catch Ambulance LTD, as I've been recently listening to their debut album religiously, but they were on 12:00, which was a lot earlier than we normally have been getting to the park. Plus, there was the 'little-known secret' of the Barton Springs Pool, which is this natural spring pool that's right outside the festival that only costs 3 dollars to get into (imagine how much a natural spring pool would cost in NYC?). We managed to get to the park at 12:30 and Colin stayed back at the pool while I made my way to the AMD stage just as Ambulance launched into 'Primitive'. I got to hear 'Sugar Pill' and they closed their set with 'Yoga Means Union'.
After that I walked around a bit and caught some of Eisley, who I liken to a Texas version of The Corrs. They sounded pretty good and they drew a good size crowd, but it wasn't my kind of music. Then it was M83, who were incredible. I've been listening to 'When The Dawn Heals Us' pretty regularly ever since I saw that incredible video for 'Save Us From the Flames', and I had tickets to see them at Bowery Ballroom, but I couldn't make it, so I was excited to see them and was really interested to see what they're live show would be like. It was basically the band playing drums and guitars and singing over prerecorded synths and backing vocals. They pretty much stuck to the more rocking tracks live. I was seriously digging it.
Next were Doves, who I've already seen 3 times this summer, so there weren't too many surprises there. I was curious to see what they'd wear as I don't think I've ever seen Jimi Goodwin in short sleeves and it was well over 100 degrees at this point. Sure enough, he came out in a long sleeve denim shirt, and like all the other British bands playing, he joked about how they're not used to the heat.
After Doves, I wandered a bit and caught some of Kaiser Chiefs and The Bravery. I didn't stay too long because I wanted to get back early to the Cingular Stage to get a good spot for Arcade Fire. Even though we saw them on Friday and I had just seen them in the city the week before, I still wanted to get up close. As always, they simply amazed. During 'Laika' I couldn't even tell if the fight between Owen 'Fantasy' and the french horn player was real or fake. It looked pretty real from where I was standing. And little brother Will was just going apeshit during 'Power Out/Lies'. His strangulation fetish continues unabated.
I quickly made my way over to the AMD stage for The Decemberists. Like Arcade Fire, they came out in suits and dresses in 100 degree weather. Man, that is impressive. They opened with 'California One', which was a cool choice. They also did 'Myla Goldberg' and there was a funny moment when Colin Meloy was trying to get everyone to squat down for 'Chimbley Sweep' and this one frat dude wouldn't do it. 'We Both Go Down Together' sounded great live as always. I had to leave after '16 Military Wives' to meet Colin before Franz Ferdinand took the SBC Stage.
I couldn't find Colin and I wasn't close enough to the stage to really get into Franz, so after twenty minutes, I decided I'd enjoy Wilco's set more at the Cingular Stage. And I was right. I got over there just as they were kicking into 'At Least That's What You Said' and the stage was much better than the SBC Stage; I got a good view of Jeff Tweedy and they put on a great show. 'Muzzle of Bees' was great; 'Hummingbird', 'I'm the Man Who Loves You', 'Shot in the Arm'. I almost forgot how great this band is. And Nels Cline was just amazing to watch. I almost regretted not trying to see them at Stubbs the night before.
After Wilco, the sun went down and a thick dusk settled on the park. That's when the air got so dusty you could barely see 3 feet in front of you. I felt like I was in a John Steinbeck novel, or that desert car race scene in 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'. Colin was way up close for Coldplay, so I didn't even attempt to make my way through the hordes of people in the darkness, so I settled back, bought a few beers and checked out most of The Black Keys set. If you've never seen these guys live, do it. They are wild. They ripped through a cover of 'She Said, She Said' that left me breathless.
I found a spot far back for Coldplay. I just saw them at MSG a few weeks ago, so I didn't need to get up too close. It was pretty fun, although Chris Martin was really stretching out the songs for the the huge crowd. It seemed every slow song from the first two albums ended in a call and response singalong. So that was kinda getting on my nerves. And he took every chance he could get to talk about how great Arcade Fire are. Seems he's having a bit of a pissing contest over bragging rights with David Bowie.
After Coldplay I met up with Colin and we headed to town for a couple of drinks and went back to the hotel. Every bar and car stereo we passed seemed to be playing a Coldplay song. The town was truly gripped with ACL fever.
Monday: Monday me and Colin flew back to NYC. While waiting to get on the flight from Austin to Dallas I noticed a band member from Ambulance LTD was on our flight and at Dallas he met up with 2 other guys from the band. I talked to one of the guys, Matt, while we were both waiting to board. We had a nice conversation about the festival and the bands we saw, and he was a really cool guy to talk to.
All in all. It was an amazing weekend. My legs still hurt from all the walking, but it was well worth it, and if the lineup is half as good next year, I'll definitely try to go back.
I'm planning on downloading my pictures sometime today or tomorrow and I'll post any good ones I find. And I'll also post a bit about last night's Supergrass show at the Bowery Ballroom.

My ACL Recap: Day 2

2005-09-27T10:07:00.000-07:00

Saturday: We started off Saturday turning on the news and looking out the window. The sky was clear blue. We were amazed that we missed the hurricane completely, but we kinda wished we got some rain since we knew the ground would be so dirty and we'd almost rather deal with the mud than the dust.
We didn't want to repeat Friday morning's futile search for breakfast, so we decided on the IHOP next to our hotel, but that was packed with Rita evacuees, so we went back and had a good but slightly overpriced breakfast at the hotel restaurant. When we asked for a cab at the front desk, the employee said there was a van parked outside going to the festival and maybe we could get a ride with them. We got outside the hotel and I asked the driver if we can get a lift. Here's the exchange that followed:
Van Driver: Are you with The Walkmen?
Me: (stupidly) Um, no. But we're fans.
Van Driver: (genuinely nice about it): Sorry. I can't really do it.
Sure enough, when we were waiting for our cab, 2 members of the Walkmen came out to the van, waiting for their lead singer, who was fashionably late. I was tempted to ask them for a ride while we were waiting; "We're from NYC too. We love 'The Rat'", something like that. But our cab came and I didn't want to bother them. Oh well.
We got to the festival around 1pm and checked out Aqualung. Again, like Keane, I'm not too into his music. But it was pleasant and he did a nice cover of Queen's 'Somebody to Love'.
We walked around and checked out a bit of Built to Spill's set. While we were at the food court, waiting for The Frames, we noticed that Sons and Daughters were playing the Austin Ventures Stage, apparently filling in for a cancelled Missy Higgins. I knew they were in town opening up for the Decemberists, but they weren't listed in the festival guide. We caught the end of their set before checking out The Frames, who's lead singer (Outspan from the Commitments!) just made it to the stage after apparently driving straight from Dallas in 2 hours. That is commitment. He was very charming and his stage banter was very fun. He also dropped a little of Johnny Cash's 'Ring of Fire' during a song. Perhaps a nod to Coldplay?
After The Frames, we made our way to the very crowded Cingular Stage for Death Cab for Cutie. Like at Summerstage, I was underwhelmed by them and I probably should've checked out Robert Randolph, who was playing the SBC Stage and seems to be a great live performer. They didn't even do 'Transatlanticism'.
The 5:30 time slot was tricky. It was between Fiery Furnaces and The Walkmen. I went with The Walkmen since I saw Fiery Furnaces open for Wilco last year and I hadn't seen The Walkmen since they toured their first album. It was a good decision. They totally rocked. They played a bunch of new songs which, although none matched the energy and sheer excitement of 'The Rat', rocked out none the less. I mostly just watched their drummer who is amazing.
We checked out a few songs from Jet, who bored us senseless, then staked out a good spot for Bloc Party. I was probably most excited to see them this weekend since I've had the chance to see them at least three times in the city but couldn't make it for various reasons and man, did they deliver. First let me say that they seemed genuinely freaked out about the size of the crowd that gathered to see them. You could tell they wanted to play a memorable set. They said it was one of the largest crowds they played too and I wouldn't be surprised if it was as big as some of the British festivals they played this summer. I'll admit that I wasn't too into their album when I first listened to it. It was a disappointment compared to the e.p. (nothing on it as good as 'The Answer') and the songs were a bit too samey. But live, the songs sounded bigger and better. They only had a 45 minute set and by 8:15 they still hadn't played 'Pioneers', which I've been obsessing over. But they squeezed it in at the end. Definitely a highlight of the weekend.
After Bloc Party, we went to the Cingular Stage for Oasis. I was considering leaving early to try and repeat my luck at Stubbs for the sold out Wilco show, but it was too hot and crowded to go to far, so we stayed.
I have to tell you, Oasis were hilarious! I've never seen them live before and they cracked me up. It was like watching a bad reality show. First, they didn't come out onstage for 15 minutes (I'm guessing because they got pissed that Bloc Party, who Liam recently slagged off in NME, played for 5 minutes too long) and after playing a couple of their mindnumbingly mediocre songs from their new album, Liam kept storming off the stage, sometime in mid song. It seemed like Noel was quite used to this and would just sing Liam's songs instead and joke with the audience in his unintelligble accent. When Liam did return to sing, his voice was so hoarse and off key that you wished he stayed backstage. The whole thing reminded me of when Spinal tap played Springfield on The Simpsons. Maybe it was just because we were so far back from the stage and not near any hardcore fans, but everyone around us were just laughing at how uninterested and unprofessional the band were.
But finally after a painful 45 minutes, they made with the early stuff and everyone had a nice sing along. It's hard not to sing along to songs like 'Live Forever' and 'Don't Look Back in Anger'. There's a reason everyone knows the lyrics to these songs. They're just great melodies and the chords are so easy that half the crowd have probably picked these songs off the guitar at some point in their lives. They closed with a cover of The Who's 'My Generation' which was probably the most rocking thing they played all night. I'm not sure if this was something they've been playing throughout their tour, or a nod to the fact that a half the crowd at ACL were probably over 30, but it was a fitting end to the night.
We ended up walking back to town from the festival since it would've been a 2 hour wait for the buses. After a few drinks downtown we staggered once again to the hotel. Still one more day to go and Sunday was the best lineup, so we tried to get as much rest as we could.

Tonight is Supergrass at Bowery Ballroom, so I'll try to post my recap of Day 3 of ACL as soon as I can.

My ACL Recap: Day 1

2005-09-27T06:54:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back from the Austin City Limits Festivals. Yes, it was scorching hot; yes, me and my friend Colin were the only two idiots who didn't put on sun screen the first day so we got burnt pretty bad (he's British, so he got it worse than me), but it could've been a lot worse: Not only did we not get severely hit by Hurricane Rita, we didn't see one drop of rain. The weather gods must be big Arcade Fire fans.
I'll try to be as thorough as I can with my recap, but the festival was so huge and so many bands played that I probably won't be able to cover every band I saw or remember everything. Plus I unfortunately have this pesky full time job that'll keep me busy the next few days. I'll post a few of my pictures later in the week, but if you've seen the pics from my earlier posts, you'll see my digital camera isn't the best at getting good up-close photos; plus I'm not the kinda fan who has to get up to the front of the stage, so most of the pics will be of the back of cowboy hats anyway (so many cowboy hats in Austin). The ACL website will have much better pics. Check them out here. Plus, I'm sure blogs like Dreams of Horses and Gorilla vs Bear will have good pics to check out.
Thursday: Me and Colin flew into Austin thursday afternoon and after checking into the hotel, we decided to walk over to the festival grounds and exchange our 3-day ticket for a festival wristband. We also wanted to see how long it took us to get to the park from our hotel. It was about an hour walk in the 100 degree heat. Yowzers. The thing I learned about Austin this weekend was that although the city looks small on a map, it still Texas, where everything is super sized. We did a lot of walking in the hot sun.
Let me also say now how great the city of Austin is. It was strange and wonderful to be in a town that was a total hippie, leftist, college enclave in the middle of Dubya country. We met so many friendly Austin people and the whole town really gets behind the festival. Even 50 year old Widespread Panic fans were talking to us about Coldplay and The Arcade Fire and all the other ACL festivals they were at in the past. Just super friendly.
After getting our wristbands we managed to hail a cab that we shared with someone from L.A. and went downtown to check out the bars on 6th Street. After playing some pool at this bar called The Library, we ate some bar-b-que at Stubbs. Then we got a drink in the Warehouse District, which is this area that wants to have a Williamsburg Brooklyn-type vibe, but is really just a few blocks with some really cheesy neon clubs with names like 'Spank' and 'Hotraxx'. Actually it wasn't that bad, but we did get a drink at that Fado Irish pub chain that's kind of like a Disneyworld version of an authentic Irish pub. After walking around a bit, we went back to 6th Street to the Parish, where we saw local band The Real Heroes and Nic Armstrong and the Thieves. The place was pretty empty, which surprised me a bit, because by that point 6th street was starting to look like Mardis Gras outside. I later found out that Nic Armstrong's been playing in Austin for the past 2 months, so maybe everyone in Austin's seen him already. We left early cuz we were nice and drunk and stumbled back to the hotel.
Friday: We started the day looking for a diner to eat breakfast. This proved difficult. After walking around downtown for an hour, we finally found a Mexican cafe called Las Manitas Avenue Cafe that turned out to be the hip place to have breakfast (probably because it was the only place). It was very cool eating there and the food was great, plus there was the added novelty of walking through the kitchen to get to the backyard eating area.
Then we walked up to the shuttle bus area to get the fest. Again, a lot of walking in Austin and the festival hadn't even started yet. I knew it was gonna be a tough weekend with the heat and we tried to pace ourselves. We got to the park in time to check out Kasabian. I've only heard "Club Foot" and there new single, which I like, but the rest of their set didn't grab me too much. Still, it was early.
After that we walked around a bit and checked out the festival grounds. I've been to Coachella last year, but that didn't prepare me for how big ACL is. The grounds seemed twice the size of the Coachella Polo Fields, so I knew it would be a exhausting just getting from one stage to the next. The plan friday was try to take it easy and not run around too much. We watched most of Mates of State's set, which was fun. I'm not too big on this band, and I missed them at Siren. The most I can say about them was they're cute. Not sure if that's a compliment or not, but they were enjoyable.
We went over to the food court after Mates of State and chowed down on more bbq. The food court was cool too. A lot of local food vendors and although the prices were high, they weren't Woodstock 99 high (not that I've been, but I've heard stories). While eating, we watched most of Nic Armstrong's set at the Austin Ventures stage (which was conveniently near the food court) and stayed after to listen to the first few songs from Sound Team before going over to hear Spoon, who were fantastic. After that we walked around a bit more, got a few beers, caught some of John Prine, who sounded really good, then headed to the AMD stage to watch Keane. I'm not a big fan at all; their songs are way too mushy and wimpy. But they know how to put on a show and the lead singer has just the right mixture of humbleness/egotism to command an arena-size audience, although he can get pretty over-the-top. And I was surprised at how many songs I knew of theirs.
We didn't stay for The Black Crows. Instead we waited on the shuttle bus line to go back into town, hoping we can score tickets for the sold out Arcade Fire show at Stubbs BBQ. I knew it was risky going over there without tickets. I've never been to Austin before, so I didn't know how crazy these shows get. For all I knew, Stubbs could've been a mad house with thousands of people trying to get in and people scalping tickets for 100$ a piece. But we figured it was worth a try.
Stubbs is an outside venue and when we got there we could hear the Black Keys playing from the street. After almost buying tickets for $35 each from the first scalper we ran into, we decided to try our luck with someone else. Lucky for us, some people from Austin had extra comp tickets and gave them to us for free! We gladly bought them drinks once inside and had a nice conversation with them. They didn't seem too worried about the hurricane that was possibly gonna hit us the next day. 'It'll get a little windy is all' was what one of them said. And his confidence in this statement reassured me.
(Before I talk about the show, let me just say a word about Stubbs and what a cool venue it is. Stubbs is quite literally an outdoor backyard barbeque party. It's just a nice sized stage in the back of the restaurant and I was surprised that it wasn't huge since it appears to be the place where all the big name bands play when they go through Austin. They serve food from the restaurant outside and it just has such a loose, casual vibe to it. Such a far cry from NYC.)
The show got really packed by the time AF came on. Win opened with an solo rendition of Dylan's "Hard Rain is Gonna Fall". I guess the band was more worried about the hurricane than the people already in Austin, maybe because they've probably been waylaid at airports with nothing but CNN to keep them busy. After the Dylan cover, they launched right into "Wake Up" which meant no Bowie at the encore, not that I was expecting him to travel down with them. The rest of the set was great. It was pretty much the same as their Summerstage set but it was incredible to see them in that setting. I couldn't have been happier.
We stopped at Emo's afterwards and considered checking out M83. Tickets were 20 bucks at the door, but the guy there told us we could get in for 10 since we missed the openers. But we were too tired and figured we'll see them sunday at the fest anyway. We walked back to the hotel satisfied yet completely exhausted, drunk and sunburned...and this was only the first day.

(Not So) Lovely Rita

2005-09-21T11:45:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm flying off to Austin tomorrow morning for the ACL festival. I thought my biggest worry for the weekend would be 'do I see Wilco or Franz Ferdinand on sunday?' and 'how lax will security be when checking bags at the festival?', I was not thinking about the possibilty of being in the middle of a Category 4 hurricane.
If any meteorologists happen to read this and live in the Austin area and going to ACL, what's the general mood over there? Are they saying it looks really bad? Is saturday gonna be a complete washout, or are we just gonna see some scattered T-storms? Will someone please predict the weather forecast for the next 5 days for me now?

Paul McCartney Falls Through Hole on Stage

2005-09-20T07:37:00.000-07:00

Insert 'Fixing A Hole' joke here.

Carl Arnheiter Blows Smoke Up Franken And Davis' Ass

2005-09-20T06:45:00.000-07:00

Last night I was witness to something pretty special; Al Franken and Tom Davis sharing a stage together for the first time in 16 years.
There's a lot of history between Franken and Davis, and there's probably a fair share of negative tension and bitterness between two guys who've been a writing and performing team since high school, but both were extremely amiable and very open and willing to reminisce about the good times. If you've seen Inside Joke before, you know Carl's interviewing style: no fawning, no James Lipton-style ass kissing (the post title was a reference to a joke Davis made on stage); just a chill, laid back conversation. Save for a few awkward pauses, he's good at laying back and letting the guests speak; and if you've heard Franken's radio show, you know that Franken likes to speak.

My Movie Marathon Weekend

2005-09-20T06:23:00.000-07:00

I didn't have a CMJ badge, so I spent most of the weekend seeing movies. Here's what I saw:

The Constant Gardener: Very good conspiracy thriller made even better by energetic directing, a cool disjointed narrative style, and excellent acting by Ralph Fiennes.

Thumbsucker: Wow. I was amazed by this movie. Except for a few false notes towards the end, this film held me in a spell throughout (thanks in large part to the soundtrack made up of Elliott Smith and Polyphonic Spree songs). The story concerns an adolescent dealing with his parents and ritalin. Think Rushmore meets Virgin Suicides meets Freaks and Geeks. The whole cast was universally great, particularly Vince Vaughn and Keanu Reeves (yes, Keanu Reeves!) as a flaky orthodontist. See this movie.

Corpse Bride: You know, for kids.
Videos That Rock (at Resfest): This was a screening of mostly animated music videos, some of which I've seen already (Interpol's Evil and Arcade Fire's Power Out for example), some cool stuff I haven't seen yet (Bloc Party's Pioneers and the Shin's Pink Bullets), and some even cooler videos from bands I've never heard of (Mad Action's Smile and M's Ma Melodie were big standouts). If any of these videos are on the web, they're worth chasing down.

Carl Newman Interview in Pitchfork

2005-09-19T06:56:00.000-07:00

I missed the full lineup of The New Pornographers play Bowery Ballroom last thursday. I was unsure of whether Dan Bejar would be joining them for the CMJ show, but looking at the pics on Central Village it seems he did and performed a few Destroyer tracks as well. But I'll be seeing them at Webster Hall in October and I'm really excited to see Carl, Neko and Dan all onstage together, harmonizing on "Testament to Youth and Verse".

There's a Pitchfork interview with Carl today where he discusses touring with Dan, among other interesting topics. He also gave a little peak at which Dan songs they'll be playing, mostly stuff from the first and (obviously) third album; sadly no "Chump Change" or "Ballad of the Comeback Kid", my 2 favorites.

Arcade Fire (and Bowie) at Summerstage

2005-09-16T06:26:00.000-07:00

What is it about Arcade Fire that makes their live shows so amazing (besides the songs of course)? Is it just that there's so much going on onstage? So much to look at? Regine's Bjork-bot dance moves? Will Butler and Napolean Dynamite's onstage Greco-Roman wrestling matches (no helmet-wearing last night, but it seems little brother Will's developed a bit of an asphyxiation fetish)? Even just watching Owen 'Fantasy' shredding it on the violin (that's right, I used 'shredding' and 'violin' in the same sentence) is exciting?
There's so much to take in at an Arcade Fire show, so much swirling chaos; and yet it never gets sloppy or falls apart because, well, they're really good musicians for one thing, and then you have Win Butler in the middle of it all, keeping everything together with his voice and his songs.
The band mixed up the set a bit. A few quieter Funeral-songs were bypassed in favor tracks from the recently re-released (and Grandaddy-ish) EP, like Headlights Look Like Diamonds and I'm Sleeping in a Submarine. But it was the rocking anthems that really got the crowd going, particularly the one-two punch of Power Out and Rebellion (Lies).
And then there was the encore and 'surprise' guest David Bowie, who joined them onstage for Wake Up and Bowie's Queen Bitch. Wow. The Thin White Duke came out dressed like a dapper, drug cartel movie villian with white suit and panama hat. He had the biggest smile on his face the whole time. You can just tell he was really happy to be onstage singing these songs. And his voice. Oh my god. His verses on Wake Up sounded good, the song felt like it could've been written for him. He added depth and poignancy to the lyrics that I didn't know was there (Now that I'm older). I want him to sing this song with them at every Arcade Fire from now on. I had chills.

Doves At Warsaw

2005-09-15T13:41:00.000-07:00

Saw Doves at Warsaw last night. Their set wasn't much different than the 2 shows I saw at Bowery and Webster Hall this year, but they did add a few curveballs in the encore (Some Cities, M62 Song). I like Sea Song and Here It Comes and all, but how about some other stuff from Lost Souls? I'm still waiting for Catch The Sun or The Man Who Told Everything, but at this point I'll even settle for Melody Calls. Oh well. Still a great show. They also did a song I wasn't familiar with about 'deep waters'. Not sure if it was an appropriate b-side or cover, or something new written for New Orleans, but I was cheering when they sang the line about 'not letting the fuckers get you down'.

And is it me or is Jimi Goodwin looking more and more like Badly Drawn Boy? I think he needs to lay off the keilbasa.

Setlist and better pictures here (from Chris).

Weiner Pulls Out

2005-09-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

I love awful double entendres.

I also wanted an excuse to post this funny pic of Weiner voting that was popping up all week. Dude thinks he's a superhero coming out of a phonebooth...

My Tentative ACL Festival

2005-09-13T18:55:00.000-07:00

While everyone else in the NYC is gearing up for CMJ, I'm thinking ahead to next week's Austin City Limits Festival. As I've posted earlier, friday's lineup leaves me a bit wanting, so we'll probably use that day to explore the city a bit. But saturday and sunday is chock full of good bands. Of course, this schedule depends completely on my 3 friends who I'm going with; and since most of the bands I'm excited about I've seen at least once already, I'm gonna be pretty flexible and just go with the vibe of the fest. Here it is:

Friday Sept. 22nd

1:30-2:30: Kasabian - Not sure how much these guys will rawk at 1:30 in the afternoon, but I'll probably check them out
3:30-4:30: Mates of State or 4:00 - 4:45: Nic Armstrong - this is a tough one to choose. I'll probably check out a bit of Mates of States, then mosey on over to hear some of Nic Armstrong
5:30-6:30: Spoon - It's between them and Thievery Corporation, and although I've just seen Spoon at Siren 2005, I'll still most likely check out their hometown set
7:30-8:15: Keane - I really have little interest in seeing these boring Coldplay clones, but it's either them or Blues Traveler

There's a lot of gaps between those times, but they're all taken up by bands like Gov't Mule and the Allman Brothers Band. I'll be using that time to check out the merch tables or something.

After Keane, it's either Black Crows or Lyle Lovett, but I'll probably be wandering around Austin's clubs during their sets, possibly checking out some of the very cool aftershows.

Saturday Sept. 23rd

11:45-12:30: Tegan and Sara - This depends on how early I'll feel like getting up on saturday
1:30-2:30: Aqualung
2:30-3:30: Built to Spill
4:30-5:30: Death Cab For Cutie - Even though I just saw them at Summerstage
5:30-630: The Walkmen - This will be tough to choose between them and the Fiery Furnaces, but I'm leaning towards The Walkmen, since I haven't seen them tour their last album and I've yet to hear The Rat live
6:30-7:30: Jet
7:30-8:15: Bloc Party - I still haven't seen these guys live yet, so this is the one band I'm most excited for. But why does everyone else during this time get an hour for their set, and they only get 45 minutes?
8:15-9:35: Oasis - Why not? It's either them or Widespread Panic

Sunday Sept. 24th

12:00-12:45: Ambulance LTD
1:45-2:30: M83 - I had tickets for their Bowery Ballroom show, but missed it, so I'm really looking forward to this one
2:30-3:30: Doves - Even though I've seen them twice already this year, and I'm seeing them again tomorrow, I'll still check out their set. Rilo Kiley's also playing at this time and they put on a good show too
3:30-4:30: Kaiser Chiefs - I predict a riot during their set
4:30-5:30: Arcade Fire - No brainer
5:30-6:30: Decemberists - see Arcade Fire
6:30-7:45: Wilco (or Franz Ferdinand) - This is another tough choice. I've seen Wilco twice last year, but they put on a such a great show I'll regret missing them. But I am liking a lot of the new Franz tracks and I'd love to hear how they sound live
7:45-8:30: The Black Keys - They put on a great show, but I might be more in the mood for Tortoise who's also playing at this time
8:30-10:00: Coldplay - ACL didn't even bother scheduling another performance during their set. I hope they bring their LCD screen with them

For a more detailed Austin City Limits preview check out Out the Other.

Crash Test Benefit Show Recap

2005-09-13T07:41:00.000-07:00

Aziz Ansari is a fucking badass. There. Hope that made Aziz's 'google' day.

Last night's Crash Test Benefit show delivered with perhaps it's most heavy hitting lineup of comedians yet. One big name comedian after another came out to help Aziz raise money for MercyCorps and it's relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina.

Aziz came out first and did his opening monologue, talking a bit about his contributions to nudie magazines and his wall punching escapades.

Then he was joined by co-host Leo Allen, one half of comedy superduo Slovin and Allen. They came out as 2 young republicans and gave the audience just what we came for: some pointed humor about the disaster and this administration's ensuing lack of competence or desire to do anything about it. ("If Condaleeza Rice can't see Spamalot in NYC during the Hurricane, then the weather has already won"). Let the healing begin.

The first act was 'surprise' guest Mike Birbiglia. I've never seen him live, but I've heard good things. He was perhaps the funniest of the night, particularly when talking about his many sleepwalking adventures.

Then Andy Blitz (Conan O'Brian writer) took the stage. I've seen him perform bits on Conan once in a while, and he has a very dry, almost monotone delivery, which isn't as boring as I just made it out to be. He read a funny letter he wrote to George Bush in which he commended him on his wordplays in the face of tragedy.

Andy Blitz was followed by Christian Finnegan, who I've always enjoyed on Best Week Ever and the Chapelle Show. Maybe it was the shirt he was wearing, but Finnegan seemed the most mainstream of the night's performers, if that makes sense. He has a very amiable delivery and mostly sticks to a basic 'setup-punchline' approach. This isn't a complaint, just an observation. He's a great performer and his take on Williamsburg denizens were particularly clever.

After the intermission, Ansari and Allen did a funny bit about their upcoming benefits ("BBQ Benefit For KKK Members With AIDS" for example). Then they introduced Eugene Mirman. It's been a while since I've seen him perform since he's been touring a lot this year, and I almost forgot how much he kills on stage. His 'teen magazine bible' bit was great and just his facial expressions and clever asides ("thank you, racist bible") were enough to get me laughing.

The show closed with Demitri Martin, who was perhaps the one disappointment of the night for me. He seemed distracted and unfocused during his whole set. I know these small UCB shows are for comedians to try out new material and maybe improvise a few good bits to put in their acts, but I felt Martin could've used his time better onstage. Maybe he's better off with his guitar.

But I really shouldn't complain. It was a great 2 hours of comedy and the money went to a good cause, so why should I quibble?

Franken and Davis Reunite for Inside Joke

2005-09-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

Al Franken and Tom Davis. Together on stage for the first time in 16 years. Enough Said.

Tickets here.

(Photo courtesy of www.syntheory.com)

Ted Leo and Ryan Adams to Play Hurricane Benefit Concert

2005-09-09T20:21:00.000-07:00

According to Ted Leo's website, he will be playing a benefit concert for Hurricane Relief at Irving Plaza on September 18th. Also playing will be Jesse Malin and Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, who I'm guessing will be headlining since they're the only ones listed on the ticketmaster site. Tickets are $35 and all proceeds go to Americares. They go on sale tomorrow at 1pm.

Patton Oswalt Takes a Break from Spewing

2005-09-09T08:05:00.000-07:00

Patton Oswalt's announced he's taking a month long hiatus from his blog (not that his posts were all that regular to begin with). He left his loyal readers with recommendations for some under-the-radar horror writers and a tip off to his Q&A thread on the A Special Thing message board, where he sometimes drunk-posts about Alan Moore and answers questions.

War Child Album Almost Ready For Download

2005-09-09T07:06:00.000-07:00

The 10th Anniversary Warchild album is almost ready for download. NME has the tracklisting (with a last minute addition from Coldplay) and Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian discusses their band's contribution, The Eighth Station of the Cross Kebab House, which chronicles his recent trip to Isreal/Palestine with keyboardist Chris Geddes, in his latest diary entry.

The Stills Play Musical Chairs

2005-09-09T06:45:00.000-07:00

I've been recently wondering out loud what's been going on with The Stills, since it seems like years since they recorded their excellent debut album, Logic Will Break your Heart. Pitchfork gives us the low-down on the down-low (I could've done without the bad Ontario puns, though):

The Stills Shuffle Roster for Forthcoming Vice Release

Timothy Najmolhoda reports:
You know, for a band called the Stills, these guys sure can't stay in one place. Case in point: Guitarist Greg Paquet has amicably left the group. As a result, drummer Dave Hamelin (the band's primary songwriter) is pulling a Phil Collins and stepping out from behind the kit and will be playing guitar and splitting vocal duties with Tim Fletcher. Ex-Sea Ray member Collin Brooks will handle the drumming for this tour. And if that's not enough of a shake-up for you, Liam O'Neill, the band's touring keyboardist, has been upgraded to a full-time member. SomeOntarioe call the Nobel committee-- we're rocking some chaos theory!

Naturally, this butterfly hasn't just been flapping its wings for the hell of it. The line-up change comes in preperation for the band's new, still-untitled album due out early next year on Vice Records. Word Ontario the street is that the record is nearly complete and a huge departure for the group. But you don't have to take our word for it (assuming you're Canadian); they'll be testing the new stuff out on their upcoming tour. The Stills will be joined on the road by some of their pals over at Arts & Crafts like Jason Collett, Apostle of Hustle, and Most Serene Republic. They've also found some time to play a few shows with fellow Canadians Sloan:

09-08 Quebec City, Quebec - Envol et Macadam Festival #
09-14 Waterloo, Ontario - Starlight #
09-15 Peterborough, Ontario - The Trasheteria #
09-16 Hamilton, Ontario - Underground (with Wintersleep)
09-17 Ottawa, Ontario - Capital (with Most Serene Republic)
09-20 Moncton, New Brunswick - University of MOntarioctOntario *
09-21 Antigonish, Nova Scotia - STFX University *
09-22 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island - UPEI *
09-23 Halifax, Nova Scotia - Dalhousie University *
09-24 Fredericton, New Brunswick - University of New Brunswick *
09-25 Trois Rivieres, Quebec - Nord Ouest
09-27 Guelph, Ontario - Peter Clarke Hall *
09-28 Kingston, Ontario - AJ'S (with the High Dials)
09-30 Brantford, Ontario - The Ford Plant (with the High Dials)
10-01 London, Ontario - The Office (with Magnetta Lane)

* with Sloan
# with Jason Collett

Is Everyone O.K.?

2005-09-08T06:55:00.000-07:00

What can I say about Coldplay that hasn't been said already? Sure, their songs can be overblown and bombastic, their lyrics incredibly mushy and corny. But so what? Their 2nd show at Madison Square Garden last night proved that they are truly deserving of selling out 2 nights at the city's largest arena.

Yes, it's easy to be cynical about Coldplay, but why bother? Even the fact that I find their new album, X & Y so boring that even the slow songs sound the same as the fast ones to me didn't matter. For 2 hours I was in arena rock heaven. I'm still a bit amazed at how 4 instruments and one voice was able to create such a full sound on stage. And the LCD screen graphics behind them were some of the coolest shit I've seen at a concert.

Our original seats were the nosebleed sections behind the stage, but after much navigating through craigslist, we upgraded to floor seats. The 200% mark up was worth it. Check out how close we were to Chris Martin when he came out to the audience during the encore of In My Place:

Crash Test Monday Sept 12

2005-09-07T12:58:00.000-07:00

I've always been meaning to go to Aziz Ansari's weekly standup showcase, Crash Test. But since it's at 11pm on mondays and I'm a old man, I can never quite make it (I have a similar problem with Bowlmor's Monday night all-you-can-bowl).
Well, as The Apiary noted earlier in the week, the UCB Theater will host a special early edition of Crash Test next monday at 9:30 as part of their Hurricane Katrina Benefit shows. The usually free show will cost 10 dollars a ticket and all proceeds will go to Mercy Corps. And as usual, Aziz has put together a truly phenomenal lineup of NYC comedic talent: Demetri Martin, Christian Finnegan, Eugene Mirman, Andy Blitz, and some possible special guests. You can reserve seats here:

My Weekend at Lake George

2005-09-06T18:28:00.000-07:00

We went to Lake George for the long weekend to get away from the city, chill out on the lake, hit some cheap bowling, and rock some Six Flags action.
The cabin we stayed at was nice and quiet, but there was one thing weird about it. Everything in the cabin that wasn't bolted down was shrink wrapped; bath towels, silverware, pots and pans, EVERYTHING. I don't know if the owners were serious germaphobes or maybe they just got a new shrinkwrap machine that they couldn't wait to try out, but either way it was pretty odd. Not sure if you can tell from the pictures but check it out:

I'm sure they would've tried to shrink wrap the t.v. and lamps if it would fit.

We did a lot of other touristy things on the lake, like mini-golf and a drive-in movie theater. That was fun. One place we didn't visit was the Log Jam Restaurant, but maybe we should've. Check out these glowing 'raves' from customers I found in a Lake George guide:

Seriously, were these customers on crack when they made these statements? Here's a few other things customers are saying about the Log Jam Restaurant in Lake George that didn't make it into the guide:

"Not only does the Log Jam Restaurant have front doors, but they also have tables where you can sit down and enjoy your dinner...Fancy!"

"Vacationing in Lake George and not eating at the Log Jam...is like going to Miami and not doing a gram of coke while playing Russian Roulette with a Cuban drug lord!"

"The food was log jam-rific, the waitstaff was log jam-tastic, the ambience was log jam-ificant, and the maitre'd seemed like he had a log jam up his ass!"

"They say that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. They also say the Log Jam has great curly fries!"

"When I got to the restaurant, I was expecting a log jam of bad service and overpriced food...but instead I was treated to a log jam of good times and pleasant atmosphere!"

"If restaurants were skank hos...then the Log Jam would be a contestant on 'The Bachelor'!"

Eugene Mirman Joins the Village Voice Blog Family

2005-09-01T11:44:00.000-07:00

Invite Them Up host, Russian ex-pat, and friend of Stella Eugene Mirman can now add Village Voice blogger to his ever-growing list of achievements. He starts of his blog this week with a very funny telephone conversation with cheaptickets.com. Link and laugh.