FIRED UP

Listen to FIRED UP by Moe Tucker.

I don't know what it emans when you get confused about days of the week. Should I be happy that I was thinking it was Tuesday instead of Wednesday? Does that mean I'm a day closer to the weekend (yippee!) or that I wasted a few hours operating under the assumption that the entire work week laid in front of me (boo!)

I wish I was fired up, pissed off, instead of just vaguely confused. Maybe the song will help?

Anyway, one of my oldest friends from junior high, Meredith Meyer, went to L.A. and became a famous singer, and she's in New York next week for a few shows. I'll probably bug some of you directly about going out Sunday night (the 25th) for her CD release party (if I haven't bugged you already). Click here for more info.

Hi dere

I hope you've been enjoying my sabbatical week as much as I have!

I've mostly stayed away from music all week, giving my ears a rest before I focus on our annual holiday mix. The only thing I've really been listening to is this album by Bran Nu Classix. I feel like I'd like to shill for them a little bit, even though I guess it's not shilling since I paid retail for the album! They are two degrees of separation from me since my friend Freddie went to school with them way back when, and he's working on a documentary for them too. But that's all I know. Anyway, this is fresh & easy hip hop for any of you craving that.

I also had one more listen to Andrew Vladeck's new EP. I don't think I ever did a review of his release party concert, and won't do one now, except to remark at how tough he's gotten his banjo to sound lately. I mean, the set was pretty much just him and his banjo, and he was acting like he was rockin out the Mercury Lounge. And he was! I don't really know how much he's been touring lately but he seemed on the top of his game. Anyway, go pay retail for his EP or even just go download it.

THANK YOU...

Listen to THANK YOU... by Sveti.

No prizes for the theme of the songs this week. First off is an offering from Sveti's release "Where I Come From," which we mentioned earlier this year. Our friend Marko is rightfully proud of this record and has been touring it hard all year. A couple of us caught him Saturday night in the neighborhood and the band sounded great, and Marko was as gonzo as ever.

It was a long day Saturday. First, drinking out of grief, then out of celebration, and finally because the Blue Note requires it. As a result I took a short nap just before Sveti's last song, then nearly got lost on the five minute walk home....



Photo: New York detail (1).

THE 21st CENTURY

Listen to THE 21st CENTURY by Andrew Vladeck.

We interrupt our usual weekend break to bring you some great news. Andrew Vladeck is rolling out some product, and it sounds great!

First Andrew has an EP, called "The Magnet," out now on End Up Records. As Andrew and Amy and I go way back, I've gotten to hear quite a few versions of these recordings (not to mention the songs themselves), and I can tell you that he's put a hell of a lot of work into the mixes. The fear when you pour so much into something is that the finished product sounds tight, overworked, and lifeless. (This was the specific fear I had for this record, in fact.) But Andrew's got good taste and he got good people to help him put it together. It sounds superb: fun, loose, confident, open... just as it should be.

The only one I hadn't heard before is the one I'm sharing with you now, an acoustic version of The 21st Century, which once upon a time was a huge, over-the-top, set closing sort of song. This version is just Andrew & his banjo.

If you want to hear more, you can download a couple more at the End Up Records site, and the blogs will be digging into it. Most importantly, Andrew's throwing a release party in a couple of weeks at Mercury Lounge. November 25, to be exact. You can RSVP on Facebook.

I'll leave this up a little bit before getting back to the usual guff sometime Monday afternoon.

Photo: Welcome to Vladeck Houses. (By the way, I'm trying out something new that I think I'll keep, by loading up these photos on to Flickr instead of my own server. That should take some pressure off the latter plus if you click through the photo you can go to its own Flickr page and all that stuff.)

Tuesday night sketches

So last night I stopped by and saw Ólöf Arnalds, recently seen/heard on this blog when Stu hosted (there's been a lot of press for Brian Wilson's latest project, but whenever I hear about it, I get Ólöf's really lovely version stuck in my head). Credit to her, she packed the house--quite an achievement for a relatively unknown artist on a Tuesday night. Credit also to Stu who pretty much single-handedly organized the show, and got a shout out to boot.

After I got home, Amy asked me with some genuine concern, "What's wrong? Are you depressed?" I said, "What in the world do you mean, I'm fine!" She said, "Why so much Elliott Smith on the blog this week then?" This is a strange thing about liking Elliott Smith's music, and I don't think Amy's concern was unusual at all. His tunes are so majestic, his technique is really masterful, yet he sounded pretty miserable on almost every song he did. I mean, if you can be accused of being depressed just for listening to him, I can only imagine what it must have been like to be him, where everyone just assumes you're a miserable bastard. I tried to pull interesting bits out of these interviews, but the tone of so many of them were oppressive: "Why are you so sad?" "When are you going to start writing happy songs?" "Does being depressed help you write?" "Is the new album going to be as lonely sounding as the last one?" Over and over.

WORDLESS CHORUS @ Radio City Music Hall

A little video we made at the My Morning Jacket Show a couple of weeks ago. We're way in the cheap seats, but the sound is pleasingly passable.

Beach House at Bowery Ballroom

The less said about today's match, the better, so instead I'll report that Amy and I attended the Beach House concert at the Bowery Ballroom this week. This was kind of a superfluous act of devotion, since they play the songs pretty straight live relative to what's on record. Also, Amy pointed out that hearing them live you start to notice that their main trick is a slow-building crescendo of Victoria's voice and organ, but I don't mind that. As I've said before, I think the album is excellent and you all should buy it.

The Rivals at Union Hall

Corbett is too modest to post this directly, so I'll put it up for him:

Dear gentle people,

Our group (The Rivals) are playing Union Hall, the coolest venue in Brooklyn, this Friday at 9:00. We will be followed by a wonderful band from Brooklyn called the Great Lakes.

Union Hall is in Park Slope at the corner of Fifth Ave. & Union St. and is a really fun place, with a bocce court and other diversions (e.g., drinks). We're really going to throw in the kitchen sink for this performance--we'll be featuring duelling trumpets, Hawaiian lap steel, accordion and (hopefully) Mellotron.

It should be a shambolic good time. Hope to see you there!.

The way old friends do

I've done my very best to stay away while the fellas have been running the blog but I can't take it any more, I'm back for good. Or for a week or two at least!

We have a few friends in the music business, or something like that, and it might be nice to share what they're up to.

As you know, Stu is working his radio show on East Village Radio every Saturday. He's also been working his Icelandic connections, and hopefully our blog will be benefiting from that sooner rather than later.

Our friend Andrew Vladeck is, has been, and always will be putting the finishing touches on his next album. I've heard some mixes of it and it sounds really quality, but he's still playing with it. While we wait, he's doing a little Monday night residency thing at Pete's Candy Store in Williamsburg. This Monday he's appearing with Caithlin De Marrais from Rainer Maria.

Last year our buddy Marko Djordjevic released an album that I never got a chance to blog because it was right in the run-up to the wedding. I liked it, but there's nothing like watching Marko play, because he's so technically good but attacks the drums like a maniac. Anyway, I was cruising around our blogroll and I noticed that Marko has recorded a few videos in support of his album. I have one up top here, but definitely watch them all. He's playing a gig on March 15 at the National Underground, E. 159 Houston St.

The Rivals are playing their biggest show yet next Friday (as long as Laura doesn't pop first!). We'll have something more next week as a reminder, but no harm in passing it along now: Friday, 8 PM, Union Hall in Brooklyn.

I have resisted the temptation to do any Arsenal blogging (the world really doesn't need it), but I'm still basking in the 2-0 in the San Siro. Today we've already seen Man United blow the FA Cup in hilarious circumstances, and I've got a song ready just in case Liverpool can't keep up their late title charge. Have a good weekend!

Listen to the music

Just a quick reminder that we'll be at Magnetic Field (Brooklyn Heights, 97 Atlantic Ave., between Henry & Hicks) tomorrow night to see The Rivals. All of you have a good weekend!

The Rivals in Brooklyn

I just got a heads up that The Rivals are playing a show in Brooklyn this Saturday:

Hi everyone,

I wanted to invite you to my band's (The Rivals) gig this Saturday evening (1/12) at the Magnetic Field in Brooklyn Heights (97 Atlantic Ave., between Henry & Hicks). We'll kick off around 8:30. It's a really fun place and easily accessible from the 2/3, 4/5, M/R or F/A/C lines.

We're now featuring our new multi-instumentalist Keith Sigel in the group, and he's excited to show off his banjo skills to all of you.

So, if you need a little reminder of warmer climes and desert skies, come on out to hear the Folk-Rock explosion that is The Rivals! We'd love to see you (and anyone else who digs Phil & Don-style harmonies) there!

Please see http://www.magneticbrooklyn.com/index.php and http://www.therivals.org for more details.

We'll be there!

The Rivals:This Friday at the Annex

Quick programming note. Guestblogger extraordinaire Corbett leads his band of Rivals to the Annex (152 Orchard St.) this Friday at 8. Everybody's saying their music is lovely. Go see!

Maybe I know that

Just checking in. We're still waiting for a moisture meter something-or-other on the ceiling. It's getting annoying. Philip and I went to see a couple of shows the last two days. First we saw Andrew Vladeck play a little folk showcase. Mainly so we could congratulate him on finally finishing his album. But it turns out he's not finished! Give it a year or two... (Having said that, I listened to the mixes he does have and they sound fantastic. The last round I heard in June I thought were good, but these are even better. So Andrew, if you're reading this, you done good!)

Last night we went out to Williamsburg to see Alana Amram's CD release party. She was just as good as expected, but the real surprise was this band called Puddin' Tang. Very Nuggets-y, but very tight. You never think openers will be any good (especially with such a bad name, frankly), but we both thought they were brilliant.

The other day I was looking through old blog posts trying to get this year's Christmas CD started, and I came across my friend Chris's blog on building a prefab home in West Virginia. If that sounds even remotely interesting, definitely go check it out. He's a very good blogger, and the house looks like a dream already, You can only imagine all the work that's gone into it--Actually not true, because he's told you all the work that's gone into it. Add it to your RSS feed, or your bookmarks, or whatever you do.

CMJ Posts for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday

I still can't get them on the group blog, but I can get them on my personal page. I'm pleased enough with them, so go visit ova heeya. Still playing Ghostland Observatory in my head, and was thinking of doing a best of CMJ next week, but I'm a little burned out with all the "new music" so we'll keep up with the old music here.

Barren Saturday

I'm down in the canyons of Wall Street this afternoon, putting my time in, and deciding when and where to go later on for the last day of CMJ. I was think of dropping by a couple of houses, and then seeing if I can get into Justice at the new Terminal 5. Amy and I (and Philip and Meredith (of Girl Robot fame) and John and lots of others) saw Ghostland Observatory at Webster Hall. I loved it. I have a write up ready (at least in my head!), but I can't post anything at the imeem site at the moment for reasons that are unclear to me. I did manage to put up some photos, and if the technical stuff sorts itself out, I'll have two nights of reports to file. I might just post them here, who knows. (You can at least see my photos here.)

In other news, Boring Liverpool were gifted a win at Everton, and Boring Bolton were gifted a loss at Arsenal. (Roll on next weekend, but I'll be watching on tape delay.) And Oklahoma is in the fourth quarter trying to beat the vaunted Iowa State Cyclones.

Mr. Rogers at Iceland Airwaves 2007

You all know Stu. He'd be here covering CMJ himself, if he weren't in Iceland covering the Iceland Airwaves festival for the second year running. This year they've really gone mega, and Stu is the official video podcast presenter for the festival. You can see and hear him here. And if you're in Iceland this weekend, you can see and hear him in person--he's scored a Saturday night DJ set!

Family ties

My Tuesday CMJ post is up now. It ain't much, basically me seeing one band plus a random song or two from about four others, then bailing out and going home. Imeem's embedding music is still pretty cool, I'm wondering if I can use it on here...

...Family names noted without further comment.

More CMJ blogging

Here. I had a lot more to say about the music, especially the two Alabama bands, but I was really boring myself, so I left it out.

Here comes CMJ07

Every year CMJ takes over NYC for a week.

This year, it's taking the blog over too. Here's the deal: I've gotten a press badge to take in as many shows as I can over the five nights next week, and I'll be blogging it over at imeem's CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival Group. I'll probably cross-post everything here too, so that will make up for my laziness in writing about concerts lately.

I just spent a few minutes unsuccessfully googling this, but I think my first CMJ experience was seeing Elliott Smith in 1998. This year I can see just about any band in the world (for real, the roster is pretty daunting), so I've been spending hours trying to narrow down the options. If you have any suggestions, don't hesitate to send them along.

I'd like to say thanks to imeem for hooking me up. I'm on there as the fairly ominous-sounding "H. L. I. T." It's pretty fun though. And, my very first friend is Justice! [their webmaster, says Amy the spoilsport.] Which gives me an excuse to post this great youtube of D.A.N.C.E. Check it out, and check back tomorrow for Friday's tune.

COULDN'T I JUST TELL YOU

COULDN'T I JUST TELL YOU by Todd Rundgren.

(Prelude: We had an eventful weekend here--Friday night Amy and Windy and Sabina and Martin played DDR all night while I was off with Ned and John and Alex listening to the Walkmen try out some new tunes in Williamsburg. Saturday morning was the most enjoyable football match in a long, long time. No analysis here, but I scared Sabina a lot by screaming at Abou Diaby through the TV, then doing three silly jigs in quick succession. Then Saturday afternoon Amy and I went out to an Oktoberfest party hosted by the Piepers. We were in full (fake) Bavarian gear and had a blast. Yesterday we recovered.)

Anyway, back to the tunes. I sat down for a bit this morning and tried to decide what to play. I've stumbled into a lot of great new stuff the last week or so and nearly put that up. The new Jens Lekman, in particular, is a pleasure. But for today I decided to put up a classic. Something/Anything?, is a super album, and unlike "Greetings From L.A.," it's an album my Dad managed to share around back in the old days. Couldn't I Just Tell You? is possibly the best cut there, at least the best song you might not have heard a million times. Archetypal power pop.

LISTEN.

Photo: Vandam Street.