Are you SXSW-ing?

Alas, I will not be going to SXSW this year. Instead, I decided to save up and head to Indio, CA to sweat at Coachella. But that doesn't mean I'm not sad about missing all the SXSW craziness. I get very sad knowing that another SXSW will come and go, and I will still not have gone.

So for those of you who are going to Austin, TX in a couple weeks to eat BBQ in people's backyards, drink margaritas and see some rock, here are a few parties and shows that you might wanna check out:

ASCAP Sponsored Shows

Recommended:

-White Rabbits @ Dirty Dog on March 14th [Doesn't say anything about Badges]
-Bright Eyes, Badly Drawn Boy @ Cedar Street Courtyard on March 15th [Filter Showcase, see RSVP info below]
-Stars of Track and Field, Martha Wainwright, Land of Talk @ Music Day Stage Cafe (Upper Level of Convention Center) on March 15th [Badges required]
-Ra Ra Riot, Architecture in Helsinki, The Panda Band, Aqualung @ Cedar Street Courtyard on March 16th [Filter]
-The Pipettes, Mando Diao, Mew, The Fratellis @ Cedar Street Courtyard on March 17th [Filter]

For the Filter Showcases, SXSW Badges are welcome, but you can also RSVP to rsvp@filtermmm.com.

BMI Sponsored Shows

Recommended:

-Architecture in Helsinki, Stars of Track and Field, and Loney, Dear @ The Mohawk on March 14th [Open to the public]
-Public Enemy @ Town Lake Stage (Auditorium Shores) on March 16th [Open to the public]

The Insound Showcase


Recommended:

-Shout Out Out Out, The Black Lips @ Club Deville on March 16th [$3, No Badges necessary]

Also, check out...

GEN ART UNCOVER/DISCOVER DAY PARTY
Where: Beauty Bar (617 E. 7th Street)
When: Wednesday, March 14 ; 1pm-6pm

Featuring performances by:
1:30pm - Snowden
2:30pm - Suffrajet
3:30pm - DIRTY ON PURPOSE
4:30pm - Menomena

BBQ from Salt Lick. Complimentary beer and vodka. Must be 21+ to attend.

Invite Only. RSVP is mandatory. Space is limited.
Please RSVP to jinners@onthemoonmusic.com with the subject line:
"Dirty on Purpose."

Have fun everyone!

Don't do anything I wouldn't do...And report back here with your stories.

Ghostface Killah: Postal Service Wants YOU!

While Ben Gibbard has been parading around SPIN magazine covers and annoying the hell out of us with his omnipresence on crappy rock stations (::cough:: KROQ), he's also been working with Jimmy Tamborello on the new Postal Service album, according to an MTV article posted today. "Tamborello said that the duo have roughly six new PS songs completed, and they hope to have a new album out by the end of the year."

I guess with Death Cab's new mainstream emo celebrity status and Tamborello's new album slated to release on April 24, the duo has been taking their time with the new record.

What's this new album going to sound like? According to Tamborello, "a little bit harder... more raw." I think "raw" is an understatement. The article goes on to mention that Tamborello and Gibbard are both looking to work with Ghostface Killah.

"A long time ago, I heard that Ghostface Killah liked 'Such Great Heights,' and when we started this one, we were talking about figure out some way to get a hold of him," Tamborello laughed. "If there were some way to work him into the album, it would be excellent."

THAT WOULD BE FUCKING AWESOME.

The Postal Service will always have a special place in my heart. They were my first introduction to indie music and the album also always seems to conjure up the feelings (most of them cringe-worthy, I promise you that), the heartache (also cringe-worthy) and the joy of my college years. ::sigh:: wow... getting old is depressing.

For those of you living under a rock:
DOWNLOAD: Such Great Heights - Postal Service MP3

XM Radio's "Live From the Knitting Factory"

"Live From the Knitting Factory" premieres on March 2 on XMU with twee indie rockers, The Boy Least Likely To kicking things off. The program will feature performances from both the LA and NYC locations of the Knitting Factory.

NME also lists:

Art Brut (3/9)
Mazarin (3/16)
The Broken West (3/23)
Portastatic (3/30)

The program will air every Friday at 7pm PST.

Mates of State on the This American Life Tour

This American Life, a popular weekly radio show broadcasted on NPR, kicked off their tour last night with a show at Lincoln Center's Avery Fischer Hall. Hosted by Ira Glass, the show had four different acts, with the "house" band being indie rockers Mates of State. TAL is on tour to support their new television show which is set to premiere on March 22nd on Showtime.

The show opened with MoS singing a new song that seemed to be written for the theme of the show, which was "What I Learned from Television." After they performed, Ira Glass came onstage to introduce the show and explain a little bit about what this tour was all about. About a year ago, Showtime greenlighted 6 episodes of a show based on the TAL radio broadcast and two weeks ago, they wrapped up production on those episodes.

The first act of the night was a reading by Sarah Vowell on how sitcoms inaccurately display 17th century history in America, particularly the interaction between the Pilgrims and Indians. Which is to say, Sarah read about what we DIDN'T learn from television. After Sarah's reading, Jonathan Goldstein did a reading on what Barney Rubble must feel like being Fred Flintstone's friend. It was a modern tongue-in-cheek reinterpretation of an old TV show. Next up was Dan Savage, reading about what he learned from television while growing up, which was to not be the kind of gay man (or "swish," as he called it) that cruised in the park whilst walking his poodle. Although, he did admit that he currently has a poodle and does indeed walk it in a popular cruising park in Seattle.

After the first act, MoS performed a song that I can't remember. My memory is tainted by the fact that all I can remember is Kori Gardner's keyboard sounding fucked up, but she didn't have any time to fix it like she would in a normal show. That brings me to the fact that this was a weird setting for the band, but they did a good job at picking out an appropriate set for the type of audience the show had. They played mostly slow or mid-tempo songs, resulting in a more subdued Mates of State.

Other songs in their set were "Like You Crazy" (from their latest album Bring It Back), a short 59 second rendition of "Goods" (for the interlude section of the TAL broadcast), their cover of The OC theme song "California" (MP3 below), and their cover of Jackson Brown's "These Days."

Mates of States - California (MP3)





A highlight of the show was when Ira Glass was sitting at his desk, admitting to the audience that not only does he watch and like The OC, but he and his wife sing "California" at the top of their lungs every time they watch it. Aww.

Below is a trailer of the TAL show on Showtime.



As you can see, the cinematography is beautiful and they pretty much cover the same things they do on the radio show, just now with moving images. Watch it March 22nd on Showtime.

And catch the rest of the tour if you can:

Tuesday, February 27, 2007 - Boston, MA
Wednesday, February 28, 2007 - Minneapolis, MN
Thursday, March 1, 2007 - Chicago, IL
Wednesday, March 7, 2007 - Seattle, WA
Monday, March 12, 2007 - Los Angeles , CA

NY Mag Declares A Band On Fire

This week's issue of NY Magazine features a story on Arcade Fire, calling them "rock's most down-to-earth anthem makers."

It's a pretty short article, but it covers all the basics (i.e. P4k's 9.4 rating of Funeral, busking in Union Square, unveiling Neon Bible in a cafeteria, and of course their 5-night residency at Judson Memorial Church).

Here are the photographs that Joachim Ladefoged took as he followed them around during their stay here in NYC.












NY Mag is a little in love with Regine, no? But really, who can blame 'em.

Check out that pic with Drew Barrymore in an animated discussion with Win...

Pop Levi's Eclectic Morning

Former Ladytron bassist (and now RAD solo artist), Pop Levi will appear on Nic Harcourt's Morning Becomes Eclectic at 11:15am (PST?). Be sure to check it out!

He's also coming out to SF at Bottom of the Hill @ 8pm for $12 (with Macromantics, Tartufi, Hella). I'm so crossing my fingers for Pop and Tartufi to come out first so that I can run home and catch another so-called "mind-blowing" episode of Lost. Can we please go back to Desmond and time-traveling?

Myspace: Pop Levi

Melisa Etheridge: Oscar Winner!?

Ooooooooh. In a weird sort of Dreamgirls upset, Melissa Etheridge just won the Oscar award for Original Song.

"I Need to Wake Up" appeared in the movie An Inconvenient Truth, which also happened to win for Documentary Feature.



Zing!

P.S. I don't know why Beyonce insists that she can sing.

Arcade Fire on SNL = Rock Stars

A musical guest appearance on Saturday Night Live is a rite of passage for any fledging (understatement!) rock band.

Arcade Fire truly rocked 30 Rock last night. They performed two songs off Neon Bible, "Intervention" and "Keep the Car Running."

Their performance of "Intervention" was super intense, with a buildup that finally lead to Win smashing his guitar on stage (on which was written "Sak Vide Pa Kanipe").



During "Keep the Car Running," there are lots of close-ups of Regine playing...that instrument. Can anyone tell me what that instrument is? Inquiring minds wanna know.

New Peter, Bjorn & John Video -- "Objects of My Affection"

I'm a huge fan of Peter, Bjorn & John. "Young Folks" has made whistling the next hottest thing in American culture and the video is genius! Then they followed it up with an almost equally as brilliant video for "Let's Call It Off." There was a story line... there was mystery... and you felt for the characters. Really, it was enough to make me watch it again.

Well, PB&J is going to have to stop resting on their laurels for a moment because this new video for "Objects of My Affection" sucks. Yes yes yes... he falls, he hits a bunch of styrofoam balls and he falls some more. Snoozefest. And here's the video (if you really want to waste four minutes of your time):

Chin Up, Boris Yeltsin!

Last night at Mercury Lounge, I saw Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin open up for Chin Up Chin Up.

SSLYBY:

Their set opened up with four great songs, starting with "Oregon Girl," which rocked. The lead singer told the crowd that he was sick, so we all forgave him for his out of tune vocals. "Pangea" was really one of the highlights, but before they played their fifth song, the band switched instruments: the bass player became the drummer, the lead singer/guitarist because the bass player and the drummer became the singer/guitarist. Somewhere during that switch the bass and guitar went out of tune, and the band didn't bother to fix it. Somewhere during that switch, the band kind of fell apart.





Their next few songs were messy and the band just didn't seem to get it together. But by the last two songs in their set, they had pulled it together again. They knew that it wasn't their best set ever, but they still tried to have fun with it, jumping all around stage. Overall, it could have been better, but I wouldn't completely write them off.

Chin Up Chin Up:

I really feel that Chin Up Chin Up played a solid set last night.

Set-list below:



Maybe it was because they didn't go on until almost 11PM, or maybe they were just tired, but I thought the only drawback last night was that the band lacked the energy that I expected. The guitarist was really amazing though, working a million pedals and just hitting everything on point. I couldn't hear the vocals very well from where I was standing, but the drumming was solid and so was the bass playing and the guy on the keys.





Chin Up Chin Up played a good set, and I have no doubt they that are good musicians so I would definitely see them again. And as for SSLYBY, the jury's still out on them...

Elliott Smith to Release New Moon

Something to look forward to! It's been about 2.5 years since From a Basement on the Hill was released. Elliott Smith is at it again with another posthumous release, New Moon. According to the Kill Rock Stars press release:

On May 8, 2007, Kill Rock Stars will release a double CD of music by Elliott Smith entitled New Moon. The album contains 24 songs recorded 1995-1997.

The CD was compiled by Larry Crane, the archivist for the Elliott Smith estate and friend of the Smith family.

A portion of the proceeds from the album will go to Outside In, a Portland-based organization that provides services to homeless and low-income adults.

MP3 -- Elliott Smith:"Twilight"
MP3 -- Elliott Smith "Miss Misery"

And the tracklisting...

Disc 1
Angel In The Snow
Talking To Mary
High Times
New Monkey
Looking Over My Shoulder
Going Nowhere
Riot Coming
All Cleaned Out
First Timer
Go By
Miss Misery (early version)
Thirteen


Disc 2
Georgia Georgia
Whatever (folk song in c)
Big Decision
Placeholder
New Disaster
Seen How Things Are Hard
Fear City
Either/Or
Pretty Mary K (other version)
Almost Over
See You Later
Half Right

No. 49, No. 50: Welcome to Arcade Fire

50 tickets were sold at the door for Arcade Fire's second sold-out show at Judson Memorial Church last night.

We waited in line for two hours, envious of everyone that had been lucky enough to buy their tickets online or on the guest list. The security guards kept going down the line and telling everyone to leave, that there was no chance of getting in beyond a certain point. Luckily we were always right before or behind that certain point, so no scare tactics were going to work on us. We were going to wait in that line until they let the last person in and closed those doors. And thank god we did, because we were one of the last people that they let in.

When we walked into the Church, it was clear that it was going to be an amazing show. They might have been at capacity, but there was so much room for everyone to stand and move and sway. I had always felt that I just didn't get Arcade Fire. I enjoyed Funeral and really like Neon Bible, but I didn't feel like I was in the Arcade Fire club. There was something that everyone else knew that I didn't, and I finally got to experience it for myself last night.

From the moment that they got on stage, I was mesmerized. They started off with "No Cars Go," then went on to play "Black Mirror," "Haiti" and "Keep the Car Running." One of the highlights for me was definitely "My Body Is A Cage," which Win dedicated to Regine (since it was Valetine's Day...Aw). That song was particularly amazing because of the slow build-up, each addition making the song more powerful until the whole band was playing and it seemed like the room was going to explode. They ended with "Rebellion" and "Intervention," which got the whole crowd going wild. Win kept telling the crowd to make more noise. "Scream something. Anything. Boo. Boo like it's Ashlee Simpson at the Rose Bowl. Scream Charlie. Whatever." So by the time the set ended, the entire audience was screaming . Which now reminds me that Win dedicated "(Antichrist Television Blues)" to Joe Simpson by saying "Joe Simpson, To you we pray..."

Anyway, Arcade Fire definitely earned themselves a new convert last night.

Listen to Neon Bible and go see them. It will be amazing.

Cross-posted at coachella2007yall.