Stamen & Pistils tonight in DC
My good friends Stamen & Pistils asked me to accompany them with some live percussion tonight at their show at the Warehouse Next Door in Washington, D.C. In their own words, they sound like: present acoustic based pop, filled out with programmed beats and synths to form a sort of controlled chaos. Please stop by if you’re in the area.
Silver Jews Dates
The Silver Jews tour date have been announced, and you’ll be sure to see me at the Charlottesville and Baltimore shows — don’t miss out:
3-10 Athens, GA – 40 Watt
3-11 Atlanta, GA – The Earl
3-12 Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle Tavern & Music Hall
3-16 Charlottesville, VA – Satellite Ballroom
3-17 New York, NY – Webster Hall
3-19 Cambridge, MA – Middle East
3-21 Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church
3-22 Baltimore, MD – Ottobar
3-24 Columbus, OH – Little Brother’s
3-25 Ann Arbor, MI – Blind Pig
Liars “It Fit When I Was A Kid” EP
I hope I’m not alone when I state that I believe Liars were thoroughly robbed when their last release, “They Were Wrong, So We Drowned” was trashed by several media outlets. It seemed that numerous writers decided that Liars were going to become the ONE NYC-hyped band that was safe to bash on, while the YYYs/Strokes/Interpol fellating continued unabated.
The four quick tracks on their new EP, “It Fit When I Was A Kid,” still have that distinctive post-punk-art-rock sound; the drones and crashes and bashes are all there and sound better than ever. The fourth and final track, “Don’t Techno For An Answer,” is a crunchy remix of the very 1st track, and almost channels AFX before its slow wailing ending. Unfortunately most of these tunes are tad too short, but after getting this small taste I’m excited to see what they have to offer on the upcoming “Drum’s Not Dead.”
Tops of 2005
Top Albums Released:
Animal Collective – Feels (Fatcat)
Antony & the Johnsons – I Am A Bird Now (Secretly Canadian)
Danger Doom – The Mouse and the Mask (Epitaph)
Devendra Banhart – Cripple Crow (XL)
Dirty Three – Cinder (Touch and Go)
Edan – Beauty and the Beat (Lewis Recordings)
The Fall – Fall Heads Roll (Sanctuary)
Silver Jews – Tanglewood Numbers (Drag City)
Slim Thug – Already Platinum (Geffen)
Stephen Malkmus – Face the Truth (Matador)
Top Films:
Funny Ha Ha (Bujalski)
Happy Endings (Roos)
Hustle & Flow (Brewer)
Me and You and Everyone We Know (July)
Mysterious Skin (Araki)
Palindromes (Solondz)
Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic (Lynch)
Shopgirl (Tucker)
Sin City (Miller/Rodriguez)
The 40-Year-Old Virgin (Apatow)
Top Pop Singles Released:
Beck – E-Pro (Interscope)
LCD Soundsystem – Daft Punk is Playing at My House (DFA)
M.I.A. – Galang (XL)
Madonna – Hung Up (Warner)
Three Six Mafia – Stay Fly (Sony)
Top Shows Attended:
Angels of Light w/ Akron/Family, IOTA, Arlington, VA
Animal Collective, Black Cat, WDC
Ashlee Simpson, DAR Constitution Hall, WDC
Todd Barry, The Improv, WDC
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Satellite Ballroom, Charlottesville, VA
Dinosaur Jr w/ Bardo Pond & Majik Markers, 9:30 Club WDC
Keren Ann, IOTA, Arlington VA
Lansing-Dreiden, Mercury Lounge, New York City
Pixies, Charlottesville Pavilion, Charlottesville, VA
Quintron, Rocky’s Bar, Brooklyn NY
The Strokes “First Impressions of Earth”
So the brand new Strokes album has leaked and I’m can’t say any less underwhelmed than when I first heard the initial single, “Juicebox.” I must admit that their first two albums have been and probably always be guilty pleasures of mine, but this new outing sounds not only sounds tired but feels generally very stale overrall.
The mp3 I posted is the third track on the disc, “Razorblade,” which I like basically for its vocal melody alone, but not much else.
The production is the same, the “cabaret-style” vocals are the same, the dueling guitars are the same; obviously this won’t disappoint the “big” fans but I can really take it or leave it (no pun intended from their own song title). I understand that most popular bands don’t (and almost can’t) make very drastic changes in their sound over only the first three records, but until these guys decide to take any sort of risk I’ll be sitting this one out.
Silver Jews tour?
Rumors are swirling that the Silver Jews have booked two nights in March at Charlottesville, VA’s Satellite Ballroom (and you may or may not have heard it here first). This is definitely very big and joyous news for the many fans of the band since DCB has never actually formally toured since the incarnation of the project. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed.
No Fun Fest Lineup Announced
The annual No Fun Fest in Brooklyn usually showcases the best in noise and experimental acts, and there are some great ones on this years bill:
March 17,18,19 2006
at The Hook, Brooklyn, NY
3 day tickets go on sale January 5th (40 $) at www.nofunfest.com
Single Day Tickets go on sale February 15(15 $) at www.nofunfest.com
Poster and individual day schedule coming soon
So Far Confirmed:
Masonna
Smegma
Solmania
Wolf Eyes
Zbigniew Karkowski and Carlos Giffoni
Astromero
Emil Beaulieau
Jessica Rylan
Aaron Dilloway
James Twig Harper
O.P.C.
Leslie Keffer and Thurston Moore
White Rock
Zeena Parkins and Ikue Mori
John Wiese
Hive Mind
Zaimph
Daniel Menche
16 Bitch Pile Up
Fat Worm of Error
Bloodyminded
Prurient
No Neck Blues Band
SJ (Sutcliffe Jugend)
Downstairs:
Hospital Productions Night:
Landed, Sickness, Grunt, Deathpile, Air Conditioning +more
American Tapes/Gods of Thundra Night:
The Beast, Raven Strain, Sick Llama, Ex Cocaine,
Skaters, Burning Graveyards+Corsano/Flaherty
Dj Bruiser and The Kidd w Visulas by Hatred
Brutal SFX Night:
Sixes, Tarantism, Hans Guruesel’s Kranken Kabinet, Lemur Chronicles, Pod Blotz+more
Djing:
Roger & Nancy, Joel St Germaine, John Schoen +more tba