And they are...
April
13 - Garfield Artworks in Pittsburg, PA
14 - Ohio University (yeah!!!!) Baker Theater in Athens, OH
22 - Glen Echo Park / Spanish Ballroom in Glen Echo, MD
27 - Union Hall in Brooklyn, NY
28 - The Annex in NYC
May
3 - The Black Cat in DC (*woots*, though I won't be in town)

Still no more information about labels (they're looking for one) and a release date for Hello. Too bad.
You can find a more detailed previous post here.

Labels: Dance Punk, DC, Georgie James, tour

This band has been sitting in my backpocket for a few months now, but somehow I forgot to post.
Think of it as the (year-old) Spanish counterpart to LCD Soundsystem's new album. Energetic, eclectic, and catchy electronic pop = me trying not to dance in public to music other people can't hear because I have headphones on, so I do a head bob instead.

The Pinker Tones - Karma Hunters

Buy The Million Colour Revolution @ eMusic
The Band's Website / Myspace

At the moment, their only upcoming tour dates at in Spain, London, and LA.



Matt of You Ain't No Picasso (THE Bishop Allen fan) saw Bishop Allen's concert last night and was kind enough to post some photos, among other things. See my post on Bishop Allen's Charlottesville concert the night before.

Labels: artist profile, Electronic, Latin, music video, pinker tones

......except an incredibly random not-news news round-up. This is not in order of importance, unfortunately.

• Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows cover released today!
• McCain's does a turn-a-round on gay marriage (not really, but I do love hackers)
• and the Senate backs a pull-out proposal on Iraq...making it conference / veto-or-not-to-veto time....... (Yeah!)

Tour notes

• Bands that are touring this spring but aren't coming to Ohio, DC, or VA and therefore get a big but temporary diss: Fujiya & Miyagi, !!!, Dinosaur Jr., Modest Mouse, & Grizzly Bear (who did come to DC, yes...apparently I was looking only at false dates, maybe only upcoming?)
  
• Bands coming to DC, Cleveland, and/or VA who get a *woot!* - Clientele + Beach House, Arctic Monkeys + Be Your Own Pet, The Go! Team, Antelope (ex-Supersystem), & El-P

(Don't hate me for getting info from Pitchfork, I hate their reviews as much as the next person)

Song of the Day: Loney, Dear - I Am John

Labels: gays, Harry Potter, Iraq, McCain, tour

I've been a Say Hi To Your Mom fan since I first heard them in 2002 with the track, "The Fritz," and admittedly, I haven't liked what I've heard of their new album, Impeccable Blahs (and its predecessor, Ferocious Mopes) as much as I liked Numbers and Mumbles. Sorry?

Seeing them live, I was expecting a certain amount of inherent nerdy-ness/awkwardness, and Eric Elbogen very clearly provided. After every number, he would mumble "Thank you" into the microphone, and his bobbing up and down during their oh-so-slightly more danceable numbers was entirely adorable. (Not that he was kind enough to name any of his tour-mates)
However, it was pretty clear from the room's reaction (we were congratulated for clustering in front of the stage?) that the number of people who knew the band's work was pretty low. As someone who kind of did, I came quickly to the realization that the reason I hadn't liked the band's more recent work as much was that it was based more on a stronger live sound, not separate from Elbogen's recorded sound. If that didn't make any sense, basically I just need to give Say Hi To Your Mom's new stuff a second listen. But to generalize, the band was somewhat mediocre live.
Final comment: Seriously, the Bio on the band's website is getting old.

Say Hi To Your Mom - Your Brains vs. My Tractorbeam
Say Hi To Your Mom - Snowcones and Puppies

Buy Impeccable Blahs
Say Hi To Your Mom's Website / Myspace

+/-, also known as Plus/Minus, was up next. For some reason (I guess it was their use of sampling in "Let's Build A Fire") I was expecting something a little more sophisticated than your standard guitar/vocals (2 guitars, to be precise) + bass + drums (+ synthesizer) line-up. Oh well. The band did a good job replicating its recorded sound while still getting people to dance. Though I have to say, I wasn't so impressed by the pretentious vibe. It didn't help that their (guest?) guitarist was chewing gum and blowing bubbles the entire show. I'm thinking +/- wasn't a particularly good choice to tour with Bishop Allen?

Plus/Minus - One Day You'll Be There

Buy Let's Build A Fire
Plus/Minus's Website/Myspace

Finally, Bishop Allen arrived on stage to begin setting up as I used my position at the left (audience's perspective) end of the stage to watch. After some discussion with the guy on soundboard, the show began, reaching out until the band appearance merely a joyful explosion of noise. Justin Rice was a great source of entertainment throughout the show, looking entirely serious as he used his guitar strap to hide his acoustic guitar behind his back as he sang, and once even doing an emo-band style jump in the air, all while sweating profusely. Christian Rudder was quite the contrast to Rice, smiling good-naturedly and pulling out his ukulele for two numbers (and he smiled at me!).

During "Flight 180" Justin began to slow-dance with the nameless fellow (touring) band mate (Update: Darbie) playing what I think was a metallophone. "Click Click Click Click" was introduced as a song about meeting new people, "The Same Fire" was turned into a rather intense dance number, and "Little Black Ache" became a sing-a-long, with the audience shouting, "What you got?" Somewhere in the middle of the show, I started to become embarrassed by my knowledge of all the lyrics....

After a quiet rendition of "Butterfly Nets," the band disappeared, apparently to decide what songs they would play last. My request of "Things Are What You Make Of Them" was granted (yes, I know they probably would have played it no matter what), along with another song which has now slipped my mind. The (guest?) guitarist and drummer from +/- came to join Bishop Allen with maracas. Eric Elbogen also spent most of the set on the left side of the stage doing a dance that most closely resembled jumping up and down. Again, adorable.

Bishop Allen - Click Click Click Click (July EP)
Bishop Allen - Things Are What You Make of Them (Charm School)
Bishop Allen - Like Castanets (September EP)
Bishop Allen - Little Black Ache(Charm School)
Bishop Allen - The Same Fire (June EP)

Bishop Allen's Website/Myspace
Buy Charm School / 2006 EP series

I don't have any photos of the concert, but if you do, please send me an e-mail and I'll be glad to post them!

Labels: +/-, Bishop Allen, concert, Say Hi To Your Mom

Amy Winehouse is touring in the US starting in April, and I'm seriously excited.

Tour Dates:

April
26 - San Francisco, Calif. @ Popscene
27 - Indio, Calif. @ Empire Polo Grounds
30 - Boulder, Colo. @ Fox Theatre

May
2 - Minneapolis, Minn. @ Varsity Theater
3 - Chicago, Ill. @ Schubas
6 - Philadelphia, Penn. @ Theatre Of The Living Arts
7 - Boston, Mass. @ Paradise Rock Club
8 - New York, N.Y. @ The Highline Ballroom
9 - New York, N.Y. @ The Highline Ballroom
12 - Toronto, Ontario @ Mod Club
13 - Toronto, Ontario @ Mod Club

No dates in Virginia, DC, or Ohio. Too bad.

Amy Winehouse - Me and Mr. Jones (from Back to Black)
Amy Winehouse - You Sent Me Flying (from Frank)
Buy Back to Black at Amazon.com

Her Website
Her Myspace

BONUS:
LCD Soundsystem - Watch the Tapes

And another note: I'm going to see Bishop Allen, +/-, Say Hi To Your Mom tomorrow night. Hopefully the review will be more timely this time.

Labels: Amy Winehouse, RandB

...so the chances of me posting again before Friday are slim.

Woody Guthrie - Talking Hard Work

Yes, I know everyone is in a post-St. Patrick's Day stupor.

A notable trend in today's Washington Post: Glorious, unhindered, & truthful Bush-administration bashing. Not that this is unusual, there just happened to be an exceptionally high concentration of featured editorials and articles on the theme today.

Bush...(in the Post)

• = King Lear? Nice.
  
• fails in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
• & his administration's odd relationship with statistics
• and Condoleezza didn't really mean what they said about democratic elections in Egypt

The Evens - All these governors

More news round-up...

• Experience not a prerequisite for the Presidency anymore? (NYT)
• More rights for Iranian women? (NPR)
  
• Don't forget about the prosecutors...this example has its moments (WP) NPR has further coverage.

Labels: Bush

Labels: Euromotion, music video

OK, time for an embarrassing story: sometime in middle school (yes, middle school) I went through a Seal obsession.
Here's another not-as-embarrassing story: sometime in high school I fell head over heels with Damien Rice's O.

What's the connection between these two disparate stories? Stuart Masters, the singer-songwriter who appeals to both of my old obsessions, while doing nothing to kill my hipster cred (unlike Seal).
It's Saturday, I do get to be a little silly. Back to the point.

With incredibly layered instrumentation for a up-and-coming solo artist and a voice that stretches to express its sincerity, Stuart Masters' work is seriously worth a look. (Also, he's British...us state-side girls know why this matters...)


Stuart Masters - Colour
(his myspace)

P.S. - There's some concert dates posted on his myspace, for those in the U.K.

Labels: artist profile, british kids, folk, Singer-songwriter, stuart masters

Yeah, I know it's a week later.
The night featured several hip-hop groups and rappers from New Orleans, who opened for the Coup, and they varied in their levels of excellence.

To keep it brief:

Truth Universal were by far the best non-Coup performers
(Their myspace)
GPC didn't impress me nearly as much, but they were also pretty good.
(Their myspace)
Soapbox was not the greatest....
(Their myspace)

Onto the Coup:

They began their set without note, and throughout the show Boots Riley was hesitant to speak beyond his rapping, something I hadn't expected. The room was packed and hot, and while the music ensured a connection between band and audience, Riley made little attempt to connect with the mostly white audience. Silk E, filling in for DJ Pam the Funkstress (not even a member of the Coup) was by far the most charismatic of the group, getting the crowd to laugh by mentioning her high heels. Her efforts made "ShoYoAss" and "Baby Let's Have A Baby Before Bush Do Somethin' Crazy" some of the highlights of the night. "My Favorite Mutiny" was a little sad, because on the verse where Boots Riley raps was performed. "We Are the Ones" was Boots Riley at his best, along with "Get that Monkey Off Your Back" and "5 Million Ways to Kill A CEO." In any case, the concert warranted several re-listenings of Pick A Bigger Weapon, which rivals St. Elsewhere as my favorite hip-hop album released last year.

The Coup - My Favorite Mutiny
The Coup - We Are The Ones
The Coup - Baby Let's Have A Baby Before Bush Do Somethin' Crazy

The Coup's website/myspace
Silk E's myspace
(Buy Pick A Bigger Weapon from Amazon and/or emusic)

Labels: concert, Hip-Hop, Oberlin, Rap, The Coup

So I still haven't posted on the Coup. Sorry? I had an incredibly hectic weekend, and I'll be getting to it soon...

I'm a little late on this one, because Soft Machine finally was released Wednesday. Teddybears is dance punk making headways into everything from indie pop to hip-hop, and the collision is incredibly natural and...dance-able.

Teddybears - Cobrastyle

BUY OR DIE: Soft Machine

Their website, where you can watch the video for "Punkrocker"
Their myspace

Meanwhile, I'm completely psyched to go see the Coup tonight! Expect a review tomorrow, if not before then.

Labels: Dance Punk, teddybears

Case in point #1: Fall Out Boy
I love their new single, so it's too bad that the rest of the album is somewhat mediocre.

Fall Out Boy - This ain't a scene, it's an arms race
Buy Infinity on High from Amazon
See the music video on YouTube

Case in point #2: LCD Soundsystem
This is nothing to be ashamed of, but I uploaded their new single from WOBC's new music shelf, and it's delicious.

LCD Soundsytem - North American Scum (removed by request)
(Hate Something Beautiful has 2 remixes)
Buy the single or
Pre-order Sound of Silver, which comes out next week on March 20th

Tour Dates:
3/30 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
3/31 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
4/28 Indio, CA Coachella
4/30 San Francisco, CA Mezzanine
5/02 Seattle, WA Showbox
5/03 Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom
5/06 Chicago, IL Metro
5/07 Detroit, MI Majestic Theatre
5/08 Toronto, ONT Phoenix Concert Theatre
5/09 Montreal, QC Spectrum de Montreal
5/11 Boston, MA Axis/Paradise
5/12 Brooklyn, NY Studio B
5/13 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
5/14 New York, NY Webster Hall

Case in point #3: Mika
Even he admits he sounds like Freddie Mercury....

Mika - Grace Kelly
Pre-order Life in Cartoon Motion from Amazon (to be released on March 27th)



Case in point #4: Feist
She's re-converted me with this track...

Feist - the limit to your love
...as far as I can tell, you can't pre-order the Reminder yet, but it'll be released on May 1 in the US & Canada.
Her Website

Labels: band dump, Fall Out Boy, Feist, LCD Soundsystem, Mika

I have a confession: I'm sick of being friended by bands on myspace.
Lately, however, one band made it all worth it. The name of the band was Brooklyn, and they're really just 4 kids from Paris (I say kids loosely). Beyond the obvious french appeal, their instrumentation is fairly straightfoward, with energetic drums and guitar, and a lead singer with a mysterious lack of an accent.

They have one track available for download on myspace, so give them a look....

Labels: artist profile, Dance Punk

Something that was once good is gone, and I'm a little sad. I really don't have much else to say.

Belle and Sebastian - The Boy Done Wrong Again "All I wanted was to sing the saddest songs"
Jaymay - Corduroy
Thao Nguyen - Tallymarks

One thing I do have to say: I'm featured on the latest contrast podcast.

Labels: mixtape

....otherwise known as campaigning for the 2008 Presidental Election
Some of this week's fun:

OBAMA vs CLINTON

• Obama will be speaking at a commemoration of Bloody Sunday (1965)...earlier this week, he went on NPR to talk about it, and thoughtfully answered some tough questions about issues of race
• A Genealogist recently found records indicating that Obama had several ancestors who were slave owners...the article drives fear into my heart for Obama. In many ways, he is an antithesis of the things he represents. Only time will show whether American voters can see the man simply as himself.
  
• While Obama makes gains with black voters, Hillary finds herself lagging behind.
• Meanwhile, a sample of right-wing bloggers sees Hillary as the more threatening Democratic contender than Obama
• Obama might still be able to use public financing...(McCain too)
  

MCCAIN ON IRAQ
McCain announced his candidacy earlier this week, but what people didn't notice...



EDWARDS

• The only big thing in the news about him this week came from Ann Coulter

Labels: Anne Coulter, Edwards, Hillary, McCain, Obama

I reposted Napoleon's Hat, so the link should work again now (original post).

I'm actually posting to ask for a favor - any other bloggers, what sites do you recommend for file hosting? Free and not - what's cheap and works well? I've been using YouSendIt for the past year or so, but I'm thinking maybe I'd like to upgrade?

Thanks!

Ok, so here's the story: Q and Not U break up in September 2005 and every DC hipster's heart is broken. Looking for salvation, we are forced to turn to such bands as Ris Paul Ric and...(here it comes)
..................Georgie James
For those who don't know already, Georgie James = John Davis (of Q and Not U) + Laura Burhenn, and they've been making a healthy mix of soulful dance and indie pop music for the past year or so. After much waiting and hair pulling by me, they promised that by January we'd have some concrete information about when they're releasing an album and other such things, and it's finally here!

Their new album will be titled Hello but we don't know what label it will be coming out on yet, or when (*roars*). HOWEVER, you can now buy Demos at Dance Place (buy) or the new Need Your Needs EP (buy) from Dischord Records....

Georgie James - Grizzly Jive
repost: Georgie James - Need Your Needs

And here's a live video recording of "Cake Parade" (at the Black Cat), which is on the Need Your Needs EP and will be on the upcoming album....


For more information:
The band's website
They've got a blog!
The band's myspace

(remaining) Tour Dates:
3.11.07 - Wilmington, NC. - The Soapbox - w/The Mary Timony Band
3.12.07 - Atlanta, GA. - The Earl - w/The Mary Timony Band
3.13.07 - Baton Rouge, LA. - The Red Star - w/The Mary Timony Band

Labels: artist profile, DC, Georgie James

I'm mad obsessed with Avril's new music video for "Girlfriend" and I just can't deny it anymore. Though I'm not so crazy about the goth/punk girl wins, hipster/nerd loses message, because we all know what category I fall into...

Labels: Avril Lavigne, music video

We all know Conor Oberst is the supreme king of pretentious indie music, but I can't help loving him. The Four Winds EP continues along the lines of I'm wide awake, it's morning with folksy instrumentation and vaguely intelligible lyrics, to its benefit.

Bright Eyes - Four Winds
Bright Eyes - Reinvent the Wheel
(pre-order Cassadaga / buy the Four Winds single)

See "Four Winds" music video



Bonus: Bright Eyes - Napoleon's Hat
(buy Lagniappe: A Saddle Creek Benefit for Hurricane Katrina Relief)
Some issues I've been having with an overload of demand for this file and others have led me to consider using another file-hosting service...if you have any suggestions, please leave me a comment.

Tour Dates:
03/02 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
03/03 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
03/05 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club ***
03/07 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey
03/08 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey
03/09 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
03/10 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
03/11 - Seattle, WA – Showbox

Labels: Bright Eyes, tour

Feist - My Moon, My Man

So about the track: I don't like it. It sounds like she's trying to make some appeal to the idiots who decide what gets played on Adult Contemporary radio stations, which is why I've avoided posting on it. "Let It Die" was an incredibly intimate album, something your immensely talented best friend could have written. For the new song, I am forced to pull out the P-word to explain my unhappiness: Produced.
Feel free to tell me I'm wrong about this....

Labels: Feist