Wilco Live Webcast - Saturday

Tune in at WilcoWorld.net (or the Wilco iPhone app for you up on technology) this Saturday, June 26th at 9pm EDT for the live webcast of Wilco's show at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, CA. Might have to have this on in the background while I'm filling up moving boxes...

Beck's Record Club

From beck.com:

We've been working on changes to the website for the last few months. We'll be adding new sections as they're ready. The first one to be added is called Record Club, an informal meeting of various people to record an album in a day. An album will be chosen to be reinterpreted and used as a framework. Nothing rehearsed or arranged ahead of time. A track will be uploaded once a week on beck.com as well as through the web sites of those involved with the project.

First up is Velvet Underground's The Velvet Underground & Nico. Check out the website for their cut on the opening track, "Sunday Morning." Give it to Beck for coming up with a pretty cool idea.

New music

• Yim Yames (aka MMJ's Jim James), "Behind That Locked Door," Tribute to (Geroge Harrison tribute out July 7th), MOKB
• Modest Mouse, "The Whale Song," Autumn Beds (limited edition 7" out now), The Tripwire

This week's late night TV lineup

Jimmy Kimmel

• Thursday - Eric Hutchinson
• Friday - Phoenix

Conan O'Brien

• Monday - Pete Yorn
• Tuesday - Elvis Costello
• Wednesday - Wilco
• Friday - Adele

Jimmy Fallon

• Monday - Sonic Youth
• Wednesday - The Roots
• Thursday - Dinosaur Jr.
• Friday - Grizzly Bear

David Letterman

• Tuesday - MSTRKRFT with John Legend
• Wednesday - St. Vincent

Craig Ferguson

• Friday - Chairlift

Band of Horses - Ram's Head Live! (6/12/09)

I'm not really sure what happened here. The conditions were set for a successful evening - the LOML made a rare appearance with me, we've been looking forward to see BoH for a few years and it was our maiden voyage to Ram's Head in B-more. The night even started off on a few positive notes - got rid of our extra pair of tickets without a hitch and had solid dinner/drinks at the newly established J.A. Murphy's. Once we got to Ram's Head, the night didn't go in the crapper, but it sure didn't continue to get better...


First, the venue. It doesn't seem like a bad place to see a concert, but we didn't help ourselves any by showing up to the sold-out show about 10 minutes before BoH came on stage. We chose to head to the second floor and had to bob and weave the whole night to catch glimpses of the band.

Which brings us to BoH. They kicked off their set with three or four slow songs in a row (their set list looked similar to their NY show)... if I could have laid down on the floor and taken a nap, I would have. I'm not sure what I expected from these guys, but they didn't live up to it. They sounded fine but their choice of songs and lack of movement on stage didn't really give the crowd a chance to get into it. It was almost like they didn't want us to get into it...

TV on the Radio - 9:30 Club (6/9/09)

It's been a long time coming for me seeing TVOTR in concert. I had a ticket to see them at the 9:30 in'07, but crapped out for some reason (I still have the unused ticket). When they announced their first go-around of the states in support of Dear Science, I was bummed to say the least... but they were kind enough to include DC as a stop on their 2nd leg. I was more than a little anxious to hear how all of their sounds came across in a live setting. Plus I wanted to see Kyp Malone's afro and beard in person.

Lead man Tunde Adebimpe has what seems like boundless energy. He bounces around the stage and sings every line like it could be his last. The sax player was definitely feeling the music as well. Other than those two though, there wasn't much movement by the rest of the band... but you could still tell that they were giving it their all.

I found myself doing the same thing last Tuesday that I did for the first few months I listened to Return to Cookie Mountain - trying to piece all of their "noises" together instead of taking it all in as one sound. And with all of the different "noises" TVOTR makes, taking them in individually quickly becomes overwhelming (and exhausting). I had to remind myself on a few occasions that night to step back and just enjoy the experience. And once I was able to do that, it just made me want to see them over and over and over again, until I got it just right.

This week's late night TV lineup

Carson

• Monday - Doves
• Tuesday - Diane Birch
• Wednesday - Zee Avi
• Friday - Peaches

Jimmy Kimmel

• Thursday - Ben Harper

David Letterman

• Tuesday - Ian McLagan & the Bump Band
• Thursday - Phoenix
• Friday - The Sounds

Conan O'Brien

• Wednesday - Incubus
• Thursday - Dead Weather

Jimmy Fallon

• Wednesday - Street Sweeper Social Club

This week's late night TV lineup

Dave Letterman

• Monday - Mos Def
• Wednesday - Sonic Youth
• Friday - PJ Harvey w/John Parish

Carson Daly

• Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday - Green Day
• Friday - Foxboro Hot Tubs

Jimmy Fallon

• Monday - Amoadou & Mariam
• Tuesday - Mos Def
• Wednesday - Manchester Orchestra

Conan O'Brien

• Thursday - Neko Case

Pearl Jam - "Backspacer"

PJ performed a new song from their upcoming album (TBD) on Conan's first night hosting The Tonight Show.

This week's late night TV lineup

Jimmy Kimmel

• Monday - No Doubt
• Thursday (primetime edition, 7PM EST) - Justin Timberlake and Eminem
• Friday - Asher Roth

Conan O'Brien

• Monday - Pearl Jam
• Tuesday - Green Day
• Thursday - The John Mayer Trio
• Friday - Chickenfoot

Jimmy Fallon

• Tuesday - Paul Simon
• Wednesday - Dave Matthews Band
• Thursday - Doves

Carson Daly

• Tuesday - Ben Harper & Relentless7
• Wednesday - Lissy Trullie
• Friday - Ida Maria

Craig Ferguson

• Monday - Tori Amos

Dave Letterman

• Thursday - Elvis Costello

The National - 9:30 Club (5/25/09)

It seems like the National has been touring for over three years without many breaks. While I’m loving it because it’s given me the opportunity to see them three times, it has to take its toll on the band. They were initially scheduled at the 9:30 for two shows over as many nights, but after both shows sold out in no time, they added a late show to the first night. I had a ticket to see them on the second night… would they have anything left in the tank by the time they got to their third show in two days?

Silly me for questioning these guys. Accompanied by a three-piece horns section and keyboardist, they ripped through all parts of their catalog for over an hour and a half. Lead singer, Matt Berninger was even more engaging with the crowd than I remembered. They even broke out a few new songs - "Vanderlylle," "Blood Buzz" and kicked the night off with "Runaway" (see below - thanks to I am Fuel). It's hard to describe the intensity and sincerity they bring to their shows... it's just something you have to experience.

This week's late night TV lineup

Craig Ferguson

• Wednesday - Amy Smart

Jay Leno

• Thursday - Prince
• Friday - James Taylor

Carson Daly

• Tuesday - The Virgins
• Wednesday - Doves
• Thursday - Methodman & Redman
• Friday - Wale

David Letterman

• Wedneday - The Dead
• Thursday - The Killers

This week's late night TV lineup

Jimmy Kimmel

• Monday - Franz Ferdinand
• Wednesday - No Doubt
• Thursday - Busta Rhymes

Dave Letterman

• Monday - White Rabbits
• Wednesday - Grizzly Bear
• Friday - Green Day

Craig Ferguson

• Friday - The Decemberists

Jay Leno

• Friday - Tori Amos

Jimmy Fallon

• Monday - Method Man & Redman
• Tuesday - Iron & Wine

Carson Daly

• Monday - Crystal Antlers
• Tuesday - Keane
• Thursday - The Kills
• Friday - Glasvegas

And some more new music

• Pearl Jam, "The Golden State" and "Santa Cruz," 2008 Christmas Single (just mailed out to PJ Ten Club members), I am Fuel
• Green Day, 21 Century Breakdown stream (May 15th) here, here and here.

New music

• Stream Wilco (the Album), out Jun 30th, Metro D
• White Rabbits, "Percussion Gun," It's Frightening (May 19th), I am Fuel
• The National, "England" and "Vanderlylle Cry Baby," from the Dark Was the Night Benefit Show via I am Fuel
• stellastar*, "Graffiti Eyes" and "Warchild," Civilized (July 7th), Ultra8201

This week's late night TV lineup

SNL - Green Day

David Letterman

• Monday - The Killers
• Friday - Mastodon

Craig Ferguson

• Tuesday - Jenny Lewis

Jay Leno

• Thursday - The Decemberists
• Friday - Kings of Leon

Carson Daly

• Monday - Ben Harper & Relentless7
• Tuesday - Cold War Kids
• Wednesday - Brett Dennen
• Friday - Friendly Fires

Jimmy Fallon

• Tuesday - The Lonely Island

This week's late night TV lineup

Jimmy Kimmel

• Monday - The Whips
• Friday - Scott Weiland

Craig Ferguson

• Tuesday - Jenny Lewis

David Letterman

• Tuesday - Franz Ferdinand
• Wednesday - Ben Harper and Relentless7
• Thursday - Animal Collective

Jay Leno

• Tuesday - Robert Randolph & The Clark Sisters

Jimmy Fallon

• Monday - Adele
• Wednesday - The National
• Thursday - Ben Harper and the Relentless 7

Carson Daly

• Monday - Lykke Li
• Thursday - Black Kids
• Friday - Ida Maria

One for One

This company was profiled on an AT&T commercial I saw this morning...

One for One is the mantra of TOMS Shoes. From their website:

TOMS Shoes was founded on a simple premise: For every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of shoes to a child in need. One for One. Using the purchasing power of individuals to benefit the greater good is what we're all about.

I have no idea how these shoes hold up, but they sure do look comfortable. And the fact that you're helping to put shoes on a kid's feet is pretty damn cool too.

A bad music day

I decided while walking to work this morning that new music was going to be the theme for the day. Okay, some of my selections were not-so-new but they were new to me. Problem was that they were terrible... all of them. I can't remember where I read/heard about any of these but I wrote them down for a reason. Maybe I made a list of albums to stay away from? I don't know what the hell I was reading or thinking, but I do know that there's now some extra space on my iPod (about five albums worth). These bad boys don't even get a second listen:

• Tinted Windows - Tinted Windows
• The Sounds - Dying to Say This to You
• Dungen - 4
• Mavado - Mr. Brooks... a Better Tomorrow
• The Dream - Love vs Money

This week's late night TV lineup

Jimmy Kimmel

• Monday - Franz Ferdinand

David Letterman

• Wednesday - Manchester Orchestra
• Friday - Bat for Lashes

Craig Ferguson

• Wednesday - Antony & The Johnsons

Jay Leno

• Thursday - Starsailor

Jimmy Fallon

• Monday - Morrissey
• Wednesday - Gomez
• Thursday - Santigold
• Friday - Cold War Kids

Carson Daly

• Tuesday - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
• Thursday - Adele
• Friday - The Duke Spirit