Another year of perfection

3rd straight National Title
38-0 (102-0 over 3 seasons)

New Music

• White Stripes, "Let's Shake Hands" (not really new, but I think it's only available on the Japanese version of the Stripes' S/T album), The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights (March 16th), TwentyFourBit
• Broken Bells (Danger Mouse and the Shins' James Mercer), "The High Road," Broken Bells (March 9th), Drowned in Sound
• Mos Def, "24 Hours Karate School," no album information, The Smoking Section
  

This week's late night TV lineup

Conan

• Tuesday - Kid Cudi

Jimmy Fallon

• Friday - Snoop

Carson Daly

• Wednesday - The Black Lips
• Friday - Doves

Jimmy Kimmel

• Tuesday - Weezer
• Wednesday - Passion Pit
  
• Thursday - Wolfmother
• Friday -Band of Skulls

The Black Keys had themselves one hell of a decade

Listening to the Black Keys, it's hard to believe that they've only been around since 2002 (they actually met in 2001, but didn't release their first record until the next year). Their songs have the soul, rawness and feel of blues and rock music from the 70's. They've also racked up quite a discography in a relatively short period of time - 10 albums total, which include Dan Auerbach's solo album, Patrick Carney's side project, Drummer, and Blakroc, their collaborative rap/rock effort.

For unknown reasons, I hadn't heard of them until last year. Attack and Release was one of my favorites of 2008 and I remember being dumbfounded when I found out that all of that noise came from only two guys. At the beginning of this year, Dan Auerbach released Keep It Hid which I was a fan of, especially the first three songs. Patrick made constructive use of the Keys' downtime, picking up bass and starting Drummer. They released Feel Good Together in the fall and it's definitely one of my favorites of the year (if you haven't heard "Mature Fantasy" yet, do yourself a favor and have a listen on their MySpace page). And somehow during all of this, Auerbach and Carney were able to find 11 free days to scrounge up 11 rap and R&B artists and record 11 tracks that made up Blakroc's self-titled album (they also posted webisodes on their site chronicling the making of the album). These guys sure aren't lacking in the creativity department.

Word has it that the Black Keys will be releasing a new album in April... looks like they'll be picking up right where they left off in the 00's.

This week's late night TV lineup

SNL - Muse

Kimmel

• Monday - Wolfmother
• Tuesday - Michael McDonald

Conan

• Tuesday - Norah Jones

Carson Daly

• Thursday - Franz Ferdinand
• Friday - Snoop Dogg

Jimmy Fallon

• Wednesday - Raekwon

David Letterman

• Monday - Alicia Keys
• Thursday - Matisyahu
• Friday - Alicia Keys

The Low Anthem - 9:30 Club (12/1/09)

I don't think I've ever been to a concert where I've seen the opening band and didn't stay for the main act. But the ticket was free and the car ride seemed better than the walk to and then ride on the metro at 10pm. I did catch the first few songs of Josh Ritter's set (the headliner) and he's no slouch.

There was a decent crowd for the opening band, the Low Anthem. I think this is the third time they've been through the DC area in the past year and a half or so (unfortunately I missed them the first two times). Pretty full sound from a trio... I'd assume the fact that they are currently touring with 15 instruments might have something to do with that. And 1 of those 15 instruments didn't include the cell phone Knox Miller held up to the mic to create a few seconds of feedback at the end of one song. The Low Anthem impressed. And they got a few sentimental points when Jocie Adams broke out the clarinet (I had a crush on a clarinet player in 4th or 5th grade... bitch broke my heart).

NPR has their set from the 2009 Newport Folk Festival.

One-hit wonders of the decade

Best of the decade lists are in full effect - P-fork, Metro D, AV Club (movies), just to name a few. But sometimes you have to get your hands dirty... stick your hand in the bottom of the barrel, just to see what settled at the bottom. Billboard does just that with their one-hit wonders list. I guess I really don't listen to the radio much... I don't think I've ever heard about half of them.

10. He Loves U Not - Dream
9. Bo Bice - Inside Your Heaven
8. Hit 'em Up Style (Oops!) - Blu Cantrell
7. Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
6. You're Beautiful - James Blunt
5. Laffy Taffy - D4L
4. This Is Why I'm Hot - Mims
3. Butterfly - Crazy Town
2. Lean Back - Terror Squad
1. Bad Day - Daniel Powter

If you want more than that, you're gonna have to click a few more times.

This week's late night TV lineup

Conan

• Wed - Snoop Dogg

Jimmy Fallon

• Tues - Jawbox
• Thurs - Blakroc
• Fri - Snoop Dogg

Carson Daly

• Thurs - The xx

Letterman

• Tues - Blakroc
• Thurs - Tori Amos