Goin' Commerical: Bishop Allen Clicks with Sony

As readers probably already know, I am very fond of Bishop Allen and have really enjoyed seeing them get more attention recently. I'm of two minds about music being used in commercials these days, but when I saw a new Sony digital camera ad on TV last night featuring BA's Click Click Click Click I couldn't have been more chuffed.

I went to YouTube today to find the commercial to share with you all, but when I found their video for the song I had to share that instead. Because it's awesome. So, enjoy:

All Austen, All the Time!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Morland is extremely excited to find out that adaptations of all six Austen novels are being trotted out by PBS' upcoming 2008 Masterpiece Theatre schedule. Apparently four of the six adaptations are brand spankin' new, to which we can only say hooray! Northanger Abbey, in particular, is in dire need of a fresh take (and we're not just saying that because of not-so-obvious reasons). So, it would appear that I am officially booked on Sunday nights from January 13th until, say, about mid-May. Yay!

As the Light is Long: Elvis Perkins in Deerland @ the Bowery 12/7

Last Friday, HT and I checked out Elvis Perkins in Deerland at the Bowery and had quite the enjoyable evening. Their performance was very tight, which should be expected since they appear to have quite a heavy tour schedule, and I was very happy to hear them experiment with some of their material, which has been around for a while and could use some new additions (hint hint).

The meat (and bones) of the show is the music presented on EPD’s album, Ash Wednesday, which is very heavy on the religious and metaphysical overtones.* And a quick overview of Perkins’ oft-cited back-story perhaps gives some insight as to why he would be so concerned with such topics: his father, Anthony, died from complications of AIDS when Perkins was still a teen and his mother was on one of the planes that crashed in 9/11. Part of me feels bad bringing up his back-story in this context because I don’t think EPD can be understood, nor approached, only from that particular angle. In fact, to cite my own personal experience, I saw EPD open for the Pernice Brothers at the Merc nearly-to-the-day a year ago and bought their album on the spot. It wasn’t until a couple of months later that I was enlightened as to Perkins’ personal history and I had already fallen in love with the lyricism and imagery of Perkins' writing. I find his lyrics to be as full of meaning as most Dylan tunes (to again, sigh, offer an oft-cited influence on EPD) and they could be interpreted in a myriad of ways…it’s not even clear to me that the common interpretations given of his songs in light of his personal back-story are as definitive as they are made out to be. [That said, let me offer my own opinion that the album’s title track is (intentionally or not) the best song about 9/11 I’ve heard.]

All of which is to say, given the religious overtones of the album, it was fitting that EPD started their set on Friday night with the ghostly “Good Friday”, which opened up like a hymnal calling us to church. The rest of the set was smartly constructed with build-ups leading to aching minimalist songs that were even more striking once the listener had been warmed up by more raucous tunes. I loved the energy projected on stage by Deerland—they too provide the relief by which a more somber Perkins is enhanced. EPD are a great band and I was happy to see them stretching themselves a bit—I look forward to their future efforts.

HT and I also managed to get to the show early enough to catch Bon Iver open for EPD and I thought he was great. It definitely motivated me to look into him some more and perhaps I’ll post a Listening post about him at a later date. As a quick summary: think Anthony and the Johnsons gone folk (with a little bit of—don’t laugh—Kenny Loggins sentimentality thrown in…and I truly mean that as a compliment and I say it mainly for the benefit of Boo).

*A quick clarification: the album is a solo effort recorded under EP, before the formation of EPD. A quick judgment: EP benefits as EPD, although the album is very good.

**Thanks to HT for the awesome picture too!!

Amazon's new Kindle: I'm reading my xmas list folks

I don't think I've wanted anything this bad since the iPod came out. Unless you count the iPhone. But, as much as I love Apples I won't Sprint for one.


If this little thing can do for my reading what the iPod did for my music, I'll be a very happy camper. And to be honest, if given the choice between one of these for xmas and a non-Sprint iPhone...I'd have to go with the Kindle.

How Many Connections Do YOU Have?

Yesterday I found an invitation in my inbox to become a member of a friend’s “professional network” via the professional-networking site LinkedIn.com. The first thought to run through my mind? Oh. God.

I’ll admit that I was quick to jump on the Friendster bandwagon back in the day: I really enjoyed reconnecting with many of my college friends and even a couple people from my high-school era. Not to mention the never-ending satisfaction that came in creating and recreating your own personal dust-jacket. It was like launching your own marketing strategy complete with personal Hallmark addendums. After a while, though, the site became less about a place to reconnect and maintain friendships and more about how many “friendsters” or testimonials you had. It began to feel like middle-school, which is the only other forum I’d previously encountered where people’s cliques, tastes and popularity were so blatantly on display for others to judge and dissect.

So, when everyone subsequently jumped over to MySpace I only half-heartedly followed suit. I never really engaged with that site, though, mainly because I felt the tone delve deeper into middle-school territory with personal-page “comments” that read more like really bad jokes and chain emails. I’ve also managed to resist the pull of FaceBook for precisely the opposite reasons: nothing is quite as uncool as joining a social-networking site that my mother could very well be a member of. God forbid she proves to be more popular than I would! Ha!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against these kinds of sites. I still keep my profiles up on Friendster and MySpace. After all, the birthday reminders from the former are invaluable and the pictures posted by friends on the latter are great to have. And I have joined other kinds of sites since my Friendster-crack days as well: I have profiles up on Yelp and Shelfari, etc. Although, unlike Friendster and MySpace, I joined these other sites anonymously with the use of initials and nicknames (as I have also done with this blog). I like to share my opinions, but I also don’t necessarily want just anyone to know they are mine.

Which brings me back to LinkedIn. As a professional networking site, LinkedIn differs from the others in that it is supposed to be used for business networking and the like. For example, you might find out that your friend has a friend who manages a venture capital firm and because you have mutual connection that VC-friend might be willing to look at your new business plan. Not to mention that you could do a little preparatory research on the people who will be interviewing you at the firm you would like to join—perhaps you could warm them up with talk of your mutual love of gardening? You get the idea. [In fact, to see all the ways that LinkedIn can help you and your professional career, check out this nicely written and (careful now) very persuasive plug here.]

But therein lies the rub: any research you can do on them, they can clearly do on you as well. And do you really want your (current or future) co-workers and employers to have ready access to that information? I mean, granted, they could find out more “damaging” things about you from Friendster and MySpace than they might from LinkedIn but even still it sort of makes me cringe to think about. Some things are better left as skeletons in my closet…even when those skeletons in my closet might just be lazy co-workers that I’m “connected” to and thus (to the people that also know the co-worker in question) inadvertently projecting a similarly lazy persona. And saying “no” to a connection invite would probably disrupt office politics, so there may not be an easy way around that. (For more about this, and a generally funny article, you should check this out.)

That said, I'm sure I'll be joining up with LinkedIn in the next couple of days or so. Afterall, the Fortune 500 companies are doing it. And I found my boss on there too. Ha!

Listening: Eric Bachmann

My belated post below about the Josh Ritter show I went to a while back brings to mind the fact that I discovered Eric Bachmann there. He opened for Ritter that night and he totally blew my mind. While this will lose me some cred in the eyes of some people, I had no idea who he was but, thankfully, managed to catch his whole set that night because I misjudged the actual start-time of the show. Bachmann was the frontman of Archers of Loaf and currently fronts Crooked Fingers (hence the cred-losing thing: I've never really listened to either of those bands before even though I probably should have).

At any rate, he impressed me so much with his opening set that I bought his album the next day, To the Races (pictured above), and have been listening to it pretty much non-stop since then. Calling it merely acoustic folk seems a bit of a let-down even though that is precisely what is: it's stripped down folk at its best.

If for nothing else, this album should be explored for the opening song alone. Man o'War is lyrically dense and haunting in it's build-up (but those who know me well also know I'm a sucker for a slow-build). It incorporates so much imagery and room for interpretation, in fact, that I'm still unsure as to whether the song is about Man o'War (as the album title would suggest), a man o'war (as the opening line and the references to blue bottles suggests), or a Man of War (as the imagery of the ocean and sinking suggests). Perhaps them all? In my opinion, like similar-in-style Dylan lyrics, it doesn't really matter.

So, if you get a chance, check it out. And I'm talking to you, Boo.

You are the Northern Lights: Josh Ritter @ Webster Hall 11/9

So, about forever and a day ago I checked out Josh Ritter's show at Webster Hall. I was going to let this post slide (as I have other posts when I've been a little late on the draw in posting about a show) but I just had to mention this show. It was, without a doubt, the most fun I've ever had at a show in New York City. So please excuse my lateness and allow me to tell you that Mr. Ritter puts on one hell of a show.

The first great thing about this show was Ritter's obvious enjoyment in performing for us, which was coupled by the uber-enthusiasm emanating from the audience. The atmosphere was positively electric. It still brings chills to me. As for proof of his enjoyment, the grin you can see in this picture to the left rarely disappeared from his face the entire evening. Even in the quieter moments, a small smile would creep out as he was singing.

I have been a Ritter fan for more than a few years and mostly for a dumb reason: we both hail from Idaho. Not necessarily the greatest reason to check out a band, granted, but the reason that led me to him nonetheless. I find his lyrics to be clever and his country-by-way-of-Leonard-Cohen style is also definitely my cup of tea. So I was extremely excited to have the chance to finally see him live.

However, I'd been reading a few interviews that Ritter had been giving around town leading up to the show and was starting to get a little worried about what I was getting myself into. There was a lot of talk (by him) about his new album being less "auto-biographical" and more "rockin" than his previous albums and how he was getting tired of being fit to the mold of the confessional singer-songwriter type. Fair enough. But, while it's true that his new album does include references to pirates and Joan of Arc, I found it to be neither rockin (per se) or a huge departure from his other work. Different, yes, but more like a progression rather than a departure. So...with visions of Ryan Adam's attempt at be coming more of a "rock star" in my head, I was really worried that my first look at Ritter live was going to let me down.

And, let me tell you kids, Josh Ritter can rock! And it turns out his new album is rockin...or at least more so than I thought it was while listening to it over my head phones on the subway. Nothing like context to set one straight.

I had such fun that night. There was a lot of dancing in the crowd, a lot of chit-chat from Ritter, and a lot of interaction between the crowd and the guys on stage. As Josh Ritter said as he closed the show, the night was truly magical. It's too bad I can't go back again.

*Thanks to Kyle Dean Reinford on Flickr for the awesome shot. Please check out more of his shots from that night here.

Sucks to Be Me

I'm off to Mexico for 5 days. I'll be in the hotel above. I'll try to bring back stories, but I somehow doubt that laying around in the sun reading books and drinking cocktails will make for scintillating reading.

ps. happy birthday boo.

________UPDATE___________

ohhhh yeeaaahhh. awesome.

Wanderings

It's been a much-needed quiet week over here in Morland-land. I was going to do a write up of the Spoon show that I saw last Saturday night but I was feeling a bit under the weather and didn't get around to it and, since it's Wednesday, I've decided it's too late now. So. The Spoon show was awesome. Great.

So, by way of a post/update today I thought I'd just share with you some points of interest that I have found on the web recently.

• Salon's Broadsheet pointed me in the direction of this interesting blog, GIRLdrive. It chronicles the journey of two women on a road-trip across America to discover what today's women think of feminism. It makes for interesting reading, I have to say.
  

• Speaking of feminism today, Broadsheet also pointed me to this article in the NYT about a "chat" held last night with some of the wives of the current presidential candidates. Apparently it was "predictable" that they played down their roles in their respective husbands campaign. Too many strong women in the political foreground would be off-putting perhaps? Sigh.

• Check this list out from Blender of the 50 Worst Songs of All Time. I'd have to disagree with number 23 though (Sunglasses at Night!). I totally dug that song when I was a kid.

• I was puzzled as to why JK Rowling outted Dumbledore this week, and John Cloud of Time makes some interesting comments about it.

• I saw Michael Clayton the other night and thought it was awesome.

• And last, but not least, Forbes gives us a list of the wost jobs for the upcoming century. Travel agents? Buh-by!

CMJ report: Speck Mountain/LeLoup/Papercuts/Bowerbirds @ the Knitting Factory

If there was one common theme running through the acts at last night’s CMJ showcase at the Knitting Factory, it was the display of extremely talented, multi-instrumental musicians more interested in group collaboration and dynamics than fronting the typical 4-person band. There were French-horn-playing-keyboardists, accordion-drummers, banjos picked up willy-nilly, drumsticks on guitars and a violin thrown in for good measure. Overall, it was a solid show that made a statement that the bands coming up the pipeline are innovative, ambitious and interested in making music with anything they can get their hands on. Below are some thoughts on the four acts I caught last night.

Speck Mountain: This Chicago-based quartet was the first band up last night and I showed up just in time to catch the last three songs. I wanted to catch their entire set but I misjudged the actual start-time of the show and over-estimated the length of each set. (Unlike the Bowery showcase I saw earlier in the week, the KF showcase kept things moving at a fast clip with 30-minute sets for each band.) But I can say, as a first impression, that they have a sound I immediately associated with 1990’s shoegaze pop….think Mazzy Star. Speck Mountain was pretty good though…I might check them out again.

Le Loup: Okay. This is going to come across as a bold claim to some (and I don’t really mean it as such) but for those of you looking for the next Arcade Fire a convincing argument could be made that Le Loup is that band. This isn’t to say that they sound just like them, or are trying to emulate them, or whatever else sort of backhanded compliment could be meant by such a comparison. I only mean that Le Loup is similarly large in scale and scope and have a similar desire to push themselves by experimenting with an impressive variety of instruments, tempos and vocal styles. They don’t quite have the discipline of AF and their music (at least their live music) suffers for it: they get caught up in their own “progressiveness” sometimes and are at their best when the reign it in a little. The chaos seemed to be orchestrated by their exuberant lead-vocalist Sam Simkoff, who also displayed considerable talent on a variety of instruments. He was quite a force to witness onstage. However, I think, quietly, that the keyboardist/freak-French horn player was the best at straddling the line between structure and chaos that Le Loup was playing with: the rest of the band could use her example a little more to bring a sense of focus to their wanderings. My other gripe is the use of three guitars…it was unclear to me why they needed so many, especially since you couldn’t always distinguish them stylistically, and it only served to slog the music down in parts. All that aside, it was a fun set and a fun band and I look forward to seeing them progress. Perhaps, since they hail from D.C., they’ll be back to the City soon enough.

Papercuts: I was not impressed with this group. They are based out of California and they immediately reminded me of a band from California with a familiar surf-pop 60’s sound. The use of held-out, continuous chords on an electric organ was extremely heavy-handed for the first couple of songs. The balance was restored a bit when the lead-vocalist on the organ switched with the guitarist but the constant chords really got to me.

Bowerbirds: Of all the bands on the line-up last night, this was the one I had anticipated the most. Snippets I’d read here and there led me one day to their MySpace page and I decided I should check them out while they were in town. And, while the other bands didn’t disappoint, I was hoping that the BBs would hit it out of the park for me and they did just that. There are three of them, one on lead vocal and acoustic guitar, one on accordion and sometimes the bass drum, and the last on violin and also sometimes on the bass drum. The lead-vocal styling was familiar to me, although I couldn’t quite put my finger on it…Bright Eyes? Coco Rosie? Devendra Banhart? (While I eventually settled on the latter, it felt more like a mixture of them all at times.) But most stirring was when the other two chimed in as well. The three of them knew how to play off and with one another and their young professionalism and tightness was a welcome end to a generally chaotic musical adventure last night at the Knitting Factory.

*I should mention that His Name is Alive and St. Vincent actually closed out the showcase last night at the KF, but since I have to at least pretend to be cogent during my 9-to-5 today I bailed at 11.30pm.

Most Likely Lacking the Right Harmony of Parts

While I have never read Rand or Benjamin and my philosophical leanings tend more toward Hume, the folks over at Probably Awkward have declared me, yes, awkward enough to temporarily join in the fun. So catch me over there telling you how much in love I am with Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips.

While you are over there be sure to poke around to find out what's really tasty, rhapsodic-worthy, and otherwise awkwardly-of-note. Just don't get into the Turkey with HT.

Umu? Yes, please!

I was down in the DC area this past weekend visiting with my sister and a good friend of mine from college, JM. It was JM's birthday and she decided to host a Polynesian umu party, which consisted of cooking a variety of meats and tubers in an earthen pit in the ground. I have some pictures of the entire process of layering the hot bricks and the food below. As you will easily see, we roasted a pig. Other meats (which you can't see because they are wrapped in aluminum foil) included chicken, blue fish, mackerel and some other kind of fish I can't remember. Mmmmmmmmm.

Unfortunately, my camera died before I could capture the end result, so I apologize. But, for the record, everything came out tasting moist and delicious. I'd totally do it again if given the opportunity.

The Sound of Your Laugh Through the Wall: The National @ Terminal 5

I was excited about going to this show last night for a variety of reasons, the most obvious being that The National’s newest album has quickly become one of my go-to records to listen to while commuting to and from work. I was totally bummed to miss their free show at the Seaport earlier this summer so I pounced when they announced this show. And it’s a good thing: the show quickly sold out and the 2 shows they subsequently announced in Willyburg for tonight and tomorrow night sold out equally as fast. It was like the Arcade Fire concert-frenzy from the earlier half of the year all over again.

The show started on a strange note with St. Vincent as the opening act. She’s been getting a lot of good press recently and I was eager to hear her play: I’m always up for trying new female artists. For the first couple of songs I was vaguely puzzled with her fascination with her drum machine but I kept an open mind since it was clear that a musically-informed sense of experimentation was driving her. One thing you cannot say about St. Vincent is that she doesn’t know how to play or that she is making noise for the sake of making noise. I think her stuff is smart—it kept reminding me of a one-woman Sigur Ros, although I’m sure that characterization might crinkle some brows. But as she slowly made the transformation from experimental to more traditional pop with each song, I couldn’t really shake the gimmicks. By the time she announced her last song of the set I was very much over it. I’m seeing her again next week at CJM and will try and give her another shot but I think I’m not jumping on this particular bandwagon.

I have, however, unabashedly jumped on the National bandwagon. And I’ll admit that I was late coming to this particular party. I didn’t even listen to their acclaimed album, Alligator, until after I’d heard their newest, Boxer, which is really a shame. Not to mention the two albums preceding these! While I’m surely not the first to lump them together with Interpol, I do like them for nearly the same reasons and they do have a similar sound to me. Thus, I was a bit nervous about seeing them live since my recent experiences with Interpol in concert have been a bit on the disappointing side. I was worried that their layers would similarly get lost in the mix and/or they would sound like a cookie-cutter version of their studio album (which is not bad so much as boring). But it turns out that I really shouldn’t have worried: they seemed to revel in their live performance last night and, rather than plastically perform their allotted roles, each musician in the band let the music breathe without letting the band as a whole slip into unrecognizable jam-band-ness. Here’s an example: upon taking the stage and starting in on the first song, the lead singer and other members of the band had small smiles creeping over their faces as they were presented with the sold-out crowd pressed together on the floor and peering down at them from two levels of balconies. As a result, the typically slow and slightly morose song they opened with became the tiniest bit faster and much more upbeat with the influence of their obvious excitement. It was the same song, without being the same song. Performances like that is why I go to live shows in the first place—to see a new take on an old favorite and to feel your own effect on them as they, in turn, effect you. Awesome.

My other reason for anticipation about the show last night was the opportunity to check out Terminal 5, the new venue acquired by the Bowery Presents people who are also responsible for two of my favorite spaces in the city to see shows (the Merc and the Bowery Ballroom). And I was disappointed to discover that I hated the space, although the out-of-the-way location makes the disappointment matter a bit less to me. Like the Ballroom, it has great sightlines from the floor and balconies where you can perch and look down on the action from above (T5 has two levels of balconies to the BB’s one), which are both great points in its favor. However, the sound is easily distorted under and deep into the balconies (a pain when you are at the bars located on any of the floors and, generally, located anywhere in the space but directly in front of the stage or directly on the edge of the balconies) and the warehouse-like design and frigid temperature of the space made it hard for me to get comfortable. Although. If the National were playing there again, I'd so be there.

* The picture above has been supplied by mucow on flikr. You can see more shots of last nights show from this user here.

Feeling Blue?

For those that have been talking with me over the past, say, 2 years or so, you know that I've been at a loss for that "special place" I belong to in the quote-unquote real world. Through a roundabout link from my internet wanderings today (I won't divulge, as it would clearly demonstrate how painfully boring my morning has been) I discovered and completed the Career Quiz at The Princeton Review.

Apparently, both my Interest Color and my Usual Style is Blue. I'm not sure what the significance of their color coding system is but their assessment is as follows:

People with blue Interests like job responsibilities and occupations that involve creative, humanistic, thoughtful, and quiet types of activities. Blue Interests include abstracting, theorizing, designing, writing, reflecting, and originating, which often lead to work in editing, teaching, composing, inventing, mediating, clergy, and writing.

People with blue styles prefer to perform their job responsibilities in a manner that is supportive and helpful to others with a minimum of confrontation. They prefer to work where they have time to think things through before acting. People with blue style tend to be insightful, reflective, selectively sociable, creative, thoughtful, emotional, imaginative, and sensitive. Usually they thrive in a cutting edge, informally paced, future-oriented environment. You will want to choose a work environment or career path in which your style is welcomed and produces results.

And, given this assessment, one of their suggestions? Secretary. SIGH.

I do like that "selectively sociable" bit though. Ha!

A New Favorite: Albarino

I have a new wine I'm excited about. And I have to thank HT for the lovely introduction. Yum. We tried two different Albarinos last night and they were both very tasty. This was my favorite one:

Stabbing Yourself in the Neck: Interpol @ MSG on 9/14

Okay, so it's been awhile since I've posted about a show that I've been to and it's not because I haven't been to any shows recently. I failed to post about the Bishop Allen show I saw last month, Kevin Drew/Feist, NY City Opera, etc. It has, actually, been awhile since I've posted at all. [Insert generic disclaimers about busy work load, social life, and/or drama-rama here....apology apology, etc.]

But I did want to try and get back in the swing of things with my rundown of the Interpol show at the Garden last Friday night. To give you the general picture, I was correct in my earlier suspicion that I wouldn't really like Interpol at the Garden (see the Virgin Fest post) and this was due primarily to the same problem I could foresee last month from my experience at the outdoor venue: however else you want to describe them, it cannot be denied that Interpol is a band concerned with layers and timing. Thus, when they play in an open-air setting or (as was the case last week) a cavernous arena, a lot of what makes Interpol great gets lost in the mix.

Which is not to say that the show was bad: only to say that it could have been much better....had I been directly plugged in to the soundboard with headphones or something. Ha! Seriously, there is something to be said, moving beyond my main complaint, about being at a show in the Garden. It was my first show there, although not my first time there ever, and I have to say it was something! The energy there was electric for the majority of the performance and, considering that Interpol is the sort of band that doesn't do much while on-stage, that is quite a feat indeed. * The crowd was fun, the play list a great mix of new and old stuff, and the light show was pretty cool--it's been a long time since I've been seduced with Arena Rock lights, that's for sure.

Overall, I'm really glad that I went. But, to be honest, my good time was probably influenced by the company of my good friend JM and our lame attempts at seat-dancing more than anything else that night. And I have officially learned my lesson: Interpol is for the headphones and small venues. Since I don't anticipate ever being able to catch them again in the latter, I'll have to make do with the former.

Also, for a thoughtful run down of the show from a different perspective, you should check out Jon Pareles' review in the NYT. One interesting point he raises is the notion of Interpol-as-revival-front-runner. Hmmm.

* Case in point: Cat Power's opening set for this show. She also does not command much of a stage presence with respect to her movement around the stage. Unfortunately I found her performance (what I saw of it--oops!) to be a bit lack-luster: her voice was feeble at best and no match for the din of the people talking amongst themselves.

AND: Thanks to luhp on flikr for the awesome picture. I thought the elephant picture was one of the more awesome backdrops they had at the show on Friday. You can see some more Interpol pix from luhp here.

My Daemon: Laefe

Thanks to a tip from my sister, my daemon has been found. His name is Laefe and he's a chimp.

Since he's a male chimp, he'll weigh up to 70 pounds and I most likely won't be able to pick him up. Which is not to say that he's a bad fit as the physical manifestation of my soul. On the contrary, my strange fascination with all things chimp the last month or so makes this an extremely apt choice.

You can find your own daemon here.

Stay-cation 2007: Bronx Zoo

I heart the Bronx Zoo. I have been bugging the BF to go with me to check it out since I moved back to the city, and during my week off of work last week we finally went. I didn't take as many photos as I would have liked, but here are some of my favorites:

This Tradition Ends Now: the Virgin Festival

The BF and I, along with a couple friends of ours, headed down to Baltimore last weekend for the Virgin Music Festival. I won't even try to describe the whole thing in this post since it would be information overload. And I was generally overwhelmed so my photographic record is about nil and so I really have nothing to show you either. I went on to Flikr, but nothing really jumped out at me so you'll just have to let you imagination run wild. The general gist: Saturday was waaaaay too hot so the only thing to really occupy ourselves with were the frozen drinks being offered up at the SoCo tent. That's right, I said it: SoCo. So I'm sure that you can guess where that day went. Sunday was much better, both musically speaking and weather-wise (and, I might add, we stayed sober). All together, I had a wonderful time. But, as the BF agreed, I doubt I'd ever do it again: that tradition ended there.

Below are some brief thoughts on the music I saw in consecutive order:

Day One: the progressively blurry day

Amy Winehouse: she is a hot tamale, that's for sure. She put on a solid live performance and she looked great, but I'm lukewarm about her music in general. Although, I was impressed to see in the paper on my way to work this morning that she played the festival in Chicago on Sunday: Balto one day and Chicago the next...she must be a powerhouse of stamina that girl. [update: or maybe not so much]

Peter Bjorn and John: they were the dark horse of the festival for me. I had no idea who they were before I checked them out and I thought they were great. I'm going to hunt down some music and see if I like them well enough to see them at the Roseland in September.

LCD Soundsystem: Mr. F, I should have listened to you sooner: these guys were rockin. Hope you got my text.

Beastie Boys: These guys were pretty rad. The BF liked their set a lot. So much so that he picked a fight with a random dude and then, when said dude wacked me while swinging for him, things would have gotten totally out of hand had the crowd not stepped in and kept them apart. I'll say it again: So.Co.

The Police: Okay. At this point I'll admit it: I was too drunk to appreciate the Police. I'm a shithead, I know. But they were the last band after an entire day of drinking. SoCo. In the sun. What can I say? I remember enough to bring to mind Sting's tight shirt and even tighter smile and I also remember thinking that they sounded exactly like their records.

Day Two: the progressively better day

Regina Spektor: man this girl has pipes. She reminded the BF a little bit of an idiot savant with her stuffed snake, socks over shoes and random giggling, but the music could not be faulted.

Matisyahu: glad I saw him just to see him and grooved with some hippies.

Spoon: ohmygodi'mtotallycrushingonbrittdaniel. I have to say that I think Spoon doesn't translate well to an outdoor setting. I'm curious to see them in the fall in an enclosed and more intimate fashion.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs: yeah yeah yeah! (as if that joke hasn't been made before!!) Every person in this band knows how to put on a show. Sex and rock n' roll. Awesome. They were definitely a highlight of the festival.

Interpol: hrm. Yet another band that doesn't translate well to an open-air setting. They really put in the effort though and I did enjoy their set immensely. I guess I was spoiled when I saw them for the first time in a tiny room in I-Town. I'm seeing them at the Garden in a couple of weeks, but I have a feeling I'm going to feel the same way about that show too.

Smashing Pumpkins: So, Billy Corgan is arrogant. I'll admit that. But then you'll have to admit that he's crazy talented and the Smashing Pumpkins will rock your face off. Ha! In all seriousness: I was a ridiculous SP fan in high-school and never had the opportunity to see them live so, perhaps, my opinion is a bit biased when it comes to the following claim: SP were the best act at the entire Virgin festival. In fact, they were the best act I've seen in a long time. They were tight, they had a great mix of new and old, and Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin are undeniably masters of their respective crafts. So what if Billy purposely hired a female bassist and an Asian looking guitarist to replace his other band mates (low-blow in my book, for the record)? So what if he made a somewhat presumptuous allusion to Jimi Hendrix in his first guitar solo of the evening? I'm willing to forgive arrogance in the face of sheer talent, it would seem. If they come out on a solo tour, I am definitely there.

Woody Allen: Manhattan

If you have the opportunity today (Thursday, August 2nd) you must go catch the screening of Manhattan at City Cinema Village East. Tonight is the last day that they are showing it as far as I can tell and you really ought to catch this beautiful film on the big screen. Although, to be fair, they are showing it on a rather small screen in an intimate theater. But still!

This movie is one of my favorites (and might even be my favorite Woody film) and it is absolutely stunning to watch (it was shot by Gordon Willis, the man perhaps most known for shooting the Godfather). The opening montage alone is worth the price of admission: I've seen it more times than I can remember, but to see it in a theater with the Gershwin score building around you is a special treat. Mariel Hemingway will make you ache. Diane and Woody are in top form together. And Meryl even makes a couple appearances. The writing (co-written by Woody and sometime-collaborator Marshall Brickman) is unbelievably good in this film and, even though the plot will devastate you in the end, you'll leave the theater satisfied and gorged on visual beauty and witty dialog. Cliche as it might sound, they really don't make movies like this anymore. So go. Today. See this film.

McCarren Park Pool: Sonic Youth

So, I've been a bit reluctant to write this post since I know I'm probably not in the majority on this one. But, last Saturday night I went with a group of friends to see Sonic Youth at McPP. I had initially planned to attend this show with the BF, since he's the one that is actually the Sonic Youth fan: once it was announced that they were playing their seminal album Daydream Nation front to back to celebrate 20 years since it's release, I rushed right out and scored some tix to surprise him. Unfortunately, it turned out that he was already booked that weekend to hang with his guys in the woods upstate somewhere. So I hitched my star to the gathering crowd of Itha-trons instead.

I saw Sonic Youth play last year at McPP (completely by accident, I must admit) so I wasn't entirely in the dark about what I was in for. However, since I'm in an admitting kind of mood, before I started fanatically listening to Daydream last week like a student cramming for an exam I wouldn't have been able to pick out a song from that record for the life of me. I'm not sure that I could now, either, as such is the case with cramming. Not to mention that the album has an overarching stamp on it that can make it difficult to tell one song from the other. Which is not necessarily a bad thing and, I should say, if you are going to have a stamp it might as well be this one. Overall I thought it was a great record and now I am probably inclined to agree with everyone (the BF included) that claims this album opened the gates to the contemporary independent music scene. Whatever that means, right? Ha.

At any rate, I had done my homework and was duly prepared (after I navigated the various lines of entry, beer tickets, and actual beer) to be awed at the feet of Sonic Youth. And, while I thought the music was great, I was not that impressed with my concert-going-experience as a whole. First: the sound at McPP could stand some improvement (although, really, outdoor venues are not that great anyway) and the beer distribution and selection could really be improved (two lines? really?). In the grand scheme of things, these might be mere flies to be swatted away but (Second) I bring up my point again about the overarching feel of the record and how one thing can bleed into another....I'll come out and admit it: there were moments of boredom mixed in with the great parts. And as long as I'm technically dissing the album I'm supposed to be lauding, let me also admit that I much preferred the newer material that Sonic Youth closed the show with than the entirety of the Daydream set. But hey, that's just me.

In short, I might see these guys again: I remember enjoying them last year and the newer stuff they played was really rockin' last Saturday. Perhaps they were caught up going through the motions by playing an entire album like that? Who knows. My bigger concern in this moment, is how I'm going to navigate the Pool for the upcoming Kevin Drew show I already have tix for...hrmm.

Heaven: literally

Luna Lounge: Ghosts I've Met

I've been meaning to check out the new Luna Lounge in Williamsburg since they opened, but haven't really felt the pull to go out there until this last Saturday night. With a dear out-of-town friend in tow, I headed out to check out the space and to see Ghosts I've Met.

To preface: I had never heard any music from this band, other than what was showcased on their MySpace, but had read an interesting article about them that made me want to check them out. My memory fails, per usual, about the exact place I read this article but since the show had been in my calendar for a couple of weeks it's safe say it was a while ago. At any rate, my true motivation for going was when HT recommended them to me as well.

The long and the short of it: the venue is not my favorite. It's pretty cavernous and the sound is way too loud and somewhat echo-y. I would go back if I knew the show is guaranteed to have more bodies there to absorb the sound (Saturday's show was an early one, so attendance was pretty low). But the music was nice: GIM is comprised of 4 very talented musicians who understand the slow-rock/alt-country territory very well. I picked up a CD and will give it a couple turns to see if it stands up.

We've Got A Lot to Be Glad For: Rock Plaza Central and Bishop Allen

Last Friday night I took my little lonesome down to the South Street Seaport to catch a couple bands that I am totally excited about: Rock Plaza Central and Bishop Allen.

My discovery of Rock Plaza was a bit inadvertent: I had read about them on Pitchfork (I think their recent album was included in Pitchfork's 50 Best of 2006 list, but I'm too lazy to check right now) and had thought " huh. they sound like a band that I would like to see". I even bookmarked their website to remind myself! Aaaannd....there they lingered for months: I totally forgot about them. But I was incredibly delighted to find out that this cool-sounding-band-that-I-totally-forgot-about was an opener one night I was at the Merc. And they were awesome that night. I'm sure they get this a lot, but there is a Neutral Milk Hotel association that comes to mind when I hear these guys, which might give you an idea of the level of energy these guys put in to a show and get in return from the crowd. They, at any rate, write songs about mechanical horses that were built by humans to battle Angels for dominance of the earth and who, after a time, begin to question the side that they are on.

I saw them once again at the Merc after that first show and was once again really impressed by their energy and force. The Seaport show, however, didn't really meet the levels of those two prior shows. I think that the setting, rather than the band, was at fault for this particular performance: the Seaport setting (especially in the early slot before the sun set) wasn't really the ideal setting for mechanical horse existential wanderings. So, while I think the music suffered for it, the enthusiasm of the band never waned throughout the performance. I will totally check them out next time they are back in town.

Bishop Allen is a band that I was introduced to a couple years back by a friend and I have always thought that they were fun. Witty songs that are also musically interesting seem to be their calling card. Last Friday, however, it dawned on me that BA might be making the move from an band I smile with to a band that I can full-on rock to. It was really exciting, and I can't wait to see them again next month at the Bowery. I"ll save more in-depth ruminations for a later post at that time.

Voldemort Can't Stop the Rock: Harry and the Potters

So last night I totally let my inner nerd out to play. Thanks to a tip from blogger EH, I made the voyage out the the Bohemian Beer Garden in Astoria, Queens, to see Harry and the Potters. Man was that fun! And I'm not kidding: the songs were uber-silly but rockin' (you can check out an example here), and you really can't beat the beer and food at the Bohemian.

However, while I hate to admit it to poor Harry, the show last night was totally stolen by Draco and the Malfoys. The insider references were spot on with these guys (the song Hippogriffs Deserve to Die was priceless) and the music was more than just a backdrop for the lryics. Speaking of, check this out! I'd totally see them again.

But the best part of last nights show wasn't even the music but the kids in the crowd: the unabashed coolness of being nerdy was really awe inspiring. I mean, I'm sure we've all been around (and perhaps been a part of) groups of hipsters that front themselves in that nerdy-cool sort of way. But last night was a completely different type of experience: these kids were genuine nerds and they were genuinely cool.

And speaking of genuinely cool, check out the Harry Potter Alliance. Their representative at the show, Andrew, is a kid that grew up with Harry Potter and is motivating fans and people of his generation to take the lessons of courage and love taught through the books out into the real world in the form of activism against genocide, poverty and environmental abuse. I only wish I was so cool as a kid.

Who doesn't need a blueberry casserole?

I want one. Really bad.

Decemberists: Summerstage

I heart the Decemberists. I think they are one of the few bands that can get a crowd of New Yorkers to act like an angry whale. Not to mention successfully encouraging them to sit down in the middle of a set and pretend they are asleep.

The show last night was great: they opened (appropriately) with July July and closed with an awesome version of The Mariner, which included humorous enactments from the band while the crowd bellowed like a whale. Awesome.

I was a little apprehensive about going to the show, I'll admit. The only other time I've seen them was in a tiny venue in I-Town and I was concerned that they wouldn't be able to pull off the same intensity at a larger venue. But I am pleased to admit that I was wrong: the band managed to be simultaneously energetic and intimate, despite the larger space. AND the surrounding trees of Central Park combined with the amazing weather were like icing on the cake.

**Many thanks to tixgirl on flickr for this great picture of last night's show: it is practically the exact view that I had of the stage myself. You can see more of her pictures here.