In The Buzz

Follow me at www.terrence-obrien.com

2009-05-20T12:31:00.001-04:00

You should check out my new site at Terrence-OBrien.com

In Case You Were Wondering

2007-07-10T03:04:00.000-04:00

I simply didn't have the time to keep this up.
But I have now joined the ranks of professional writer (well blogger... but I just like the sound of writer better.)

I'm a contributing writer at Switched.com, the AOL tech and gadget blog, and I have a music blog sponsored by B5 Media clumsily called Big Apple Music Scene.

Check me out at both.

Happy Birthday VHS!

2006-10-11T12:59:00.000-04:00

30 years ago today JVC released the 1st VCR and the accompanying VHS format.
Enjoy!

You've gotta be kidding me right?

2006-09-19T12:35:00.000-04:00

Rolling Stone is reporting that The Knack are suing Run DMC for lifting the riff to "My Sharona" for use in "It's Tricky".

Now are The Knack really this broke? or have they been living under a rock for the last 20 years...

NMT

2006-09-05T15:11:00.000-04:00

Not too much to get excited about from the music world this week.

I'm From Barcelona release their critically aclaimed debut LP Let Me Introduce You to My Friends. I'm From Barcelona attempts to fill that void that may be left by not having enough cutesy irony laced indie pop in your diet... I however am afraid this may give me diabetes.

Beyonce's confusingly titled new album, B'day, comes out today. It's sure to be chock full of hot producers & Jigga guest spots, but is it going to be more "Crazy in Love" or more "Gift from Virgo".

90's rock stalwarts cum supergroup Audioslave drop their 3rd load entitled Revelations. It's been pretty unanimously agreed upon that this is better than their sophmore effort Out of Exile, but not quite as good as their self titled debut... which places it somewhere between 'quite awful' and 'tragedy on par with 9/11'.

Pinkback releases what is sure to be a fans only affair titled Nautical Antiques: Selection of B-Sides Outtakes. While I have nothing against Pinback, infact I quite enjoy them sometimes, the idea of a b-sides collection from a band whos albums are often inconsistent is a little bothersome.

Crocodile Hunter Dies

2006-09-04T03:26:00.000-04:00

Steve Irwin, also know as the Crocodile Hunter has died after suffering a stingray barb to the chest. A conservationist, pop culture icon, husband and father, Steve Irwin's death will certainly be felt by many. Lets just hope they don't try to turn this into a pay-per-view special.

Top 5 Songs to Flee from the Police to

2006-09-01T14:40:00.002-04:00

5.
Pearl Jam – Go

Sure it’s a little cheesy sounding. 'Go' is a muscle car anthem for Gen-X, but it’s an undeniable pulse raiser. The spiraling guitar lines and wailing solos are the perfect backdrop for a high speed car chase down urban roads. Ones preferably filled with unwitting pedestrians and plenty of other cars to hit.

buy it at insound!

4.
Rage Against the Machine – Know Your Enemy
Nowadays it's hard to believe that this once sounded different and daring, but I promise you it did. 'Know Your Enemy' is Rage at their most hard core punk inspired and their most aggressively defiant. The chugging riffs are alternately frantic feet on the pavement and punches in the face. Antiauthoritarianism at its rap-metal best.

buy it at insound!

3.
Miles Davis – Spanish Key
Now wait! I know what you’re thinking, “Miles Davis??? Has he lost his fucking mind?” I promise you, children, I have not. Go swiftly to your parent’s CD rack… or your cool uncle's… or perhaps iTunes… but go get Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew, and cue up 'Spanish Key' (bonus points if it’s on vinyl). Turn up the volume to an almost deafening level. That bass line? It's the sound of a racing heart and the horns are chaotic desperate gasps for breath. Between the 2:15 and 3:15 mark the song picks up a frantic claustrophobic pace. This song begs to be placed behind foot bound chase sequence.

buy it at insound!

2.
The Walkmen – The Rat
If you have an inexhaustible reservoir of energy -- and the lungs of an Olympic runner -- then perhaps this is the song for your run from the police. If you can keep up with the constant, almost unsustainable tempo, it's guaranteed that no donut eating cop will ever catch you. However, if you’re not in shape, the Roadrunner pace of the song may cause your heart to explode.

buy it at insound!

1.
Beastie Boys – Sabotage
Perhaps it’s the Chips-esque video that really solidifies this as number one. You can’t hear it without picturing cop mustaches and muscle cars. It’s a classic, considered by many to be the best video ever, while others think it's only the second best video ever. But the song certainly deserves to be here on its own merits. The sprinting chorded bass line is the anchor for the high adrenaline of the choppily played punk guitar and screaming testosterone of the yell-rapped vocals. The defiant lyrics are really secondary to the packaging but they certainly only bolster my argument that you couldn’t do any better than this song for the soundtrack to you flight from the authorities.

buy it at insound!

Whoa... meta...

2006-08-31T12:53:00.000-04:00

Its obvious that we (as in the royal) here at In The Buzz really like lists. So with that in mind I couldn't let this go with out sharing it with you. Its a little old... and its not even that great... but a top 10 of top 10s is just way too meta to pass up.

New Music Tuesday (or NMT for those in the know)

2006-08-29T14:37:00.000-04:00

Tuesdays make me feel funny in my belly. Especially when Tuesday brings such glorious treats like Bob Dylan’s new CD Modern Times (buy it at insound!). Modern Times picks up where 2001’s brilliant Love and Theft left off. More meditations on life, death & the state of the world (you know… standard Dylan fare) laid over swampy tracks filled with melodies that sound like they’re crawling off of a barroom floor.

Game Theory from the legendary Roots crew also drops today. A decidedly darker affair than the disappointing The Tipping Point, this album leans in a less commercial direction and provides more room for ?uestlove & crew to breathe and work their magic.

Everyones favorite ditzy blonde lets loose A Public Affair today and is already proving to disappoint fans the world over… just look at the customer reviews on Amazon. A Public Affair finds Jessica trying to update her style a little bit and hop on some new trends such as 80’s fetishism… unfortunately she’s just a bit slow, and her cover of “You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)” just isn’t going to cut it.

Somewhere Beavis and Butthead are rocking out to Beyond Hell the latest from cartoon shock metal gods, Gwar. It doesn’t matter if you love Gwar or hate Gwar, the point of this band of art school pals was never to record great music but to provide the music world with its very own Tales from the Crypt. Sure its vicious and ultra violent, but its so cartoony that you could never take it seriously.

Sleater Kinney's Final Show

2006-08-29T10:25:00.000-04:00

RySpace has been kind enough to share his recordings of Sleater Kinney's final show at the Crystal Ballroom with the rest of the world, and for this I love him.
Check it out here and here

I wish I had been there...

Ted Leo & the South Street Seaport

2006-08-25T14:48:00.000-04:00

Gothamist posted a brief history of Ted Leo at the South Street Seaport... the torrential down pour that seems to be just over the horizon is only appropriate.

I was at the previous torrential down pour show, and traveled back home looking like I jumped in a lake. Thankfully I finally got to see him this summer at the Pitchfork Festival.

Top 5 songs about somebody elses girl

2006-08-23T14:24:00.000-04:00

Love, unrequited love, sex, revenge, crushes, fantasies... Girls are the number one topic for song writers. Sometimes the topic is specifically a girl that already belongs to someone else.

5.
Sublime - Santeria

The wounded male. A peculiar creature really, quick to threaten violence. Always belittling those around him... Apparently Sancho, stole his heina. This doesn't sit well with Bradley... who can blame him. I've heard people say that this is about the religious practice of Santeria, or about using the powers of Santeria to get his girl back, but outside of the opening line I just don't see it. What I do see is a pissed off boy who just had his girl stolen threatening to stick the barrel of his new .45 down some guys throat... bitches man...

buy it at insound!

4.
Derik & the Dominos - Layla

Famously written about Patti Boyd, the wife of Clapton's good friend George Harrison, Layla landmark tale of unrequited love. The title and refrain were inspired by The Story of Layla / Layla and Manjun (madman) by the Persian poet Nezami. Sure by now many of us disregard this song as sappy classic rock pap, but go back and listen to it again and try to forget all your preconcieved notions about it. It is impossible not to feel Claptons pain as he wails through the chorus, pleading with out sounding pathetic, and when the 2^nd movement comes it the wafting piano chords are the sound of accepting defeat.

buy it at insound!

3.
The Cars - My Best Friend's Girl

The Cars aren't much for beating around the bush. No vaguries, no metaphors, no name changes. Just a chugging little pop tune about being in love with your best friends girl friend... who used to be yours. This is classic Cars, chugging riffs, bouncy harmonies, high pitched synth melodies, you can't go wrong with Cars singles.

buy it at insound!

2.
Rick Springfield - Jessie's Girl

I know this is the 1^st song that popped in all of your heads when you saw this. Don't even try to deny it. Hell you may have even drawn a blank when trying to think of other songs about other peoples girls because this has become so ubiquitous. Sure its campy, sure its been played to death by every VH1 special under the sun, but theres reason for that; Its a perfect new wavey pop tune. Yet another song that completly casts aside any ideas of being anything but completely literal and direct. Rick Springfield claims this is based on a real situation, but has never revealed who "Jessie" or "Jessie's Girl" is.

5.
Elvis Costell0 - Alison

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalisooon... Oh creepy, creepy Elvis Costello. This is the ultimate unrequited love song... though possibly cause she doesn't know Costello loves her... or that he even knows who she is. Costello watches from a distance, imagines what her life must be like. It sounds sweet till you listen to the lyrics. The obssesive watching from the bushes quality is unshakable, and the ending mantra of "my aim is true" is just plain scary.

buy it at insound!

2006-08-22T14:00:00.000-04:00

Oh Tuesday, how I love thee… let me count the ways.

One 1000; Outkast. Idlewild. The soundtrack to their film of the same name that opens this Friday. Few artists are as consistently interesting as Outkast (Radiohead of the rap world). How many other musical acts could decide “hey I / we should make a film… a period piece! About the depression! And of course do an album of new material to accompany it!” that you would still take seriously afterwards? This could be their worst album ever and still be better than 99% of the music released this year.

buy it at insound!

Two 1000; Cursive, everybody’s 2^nd favorite Oberst associates, release Happy Hollow their first studio album since losing their cellist Gretta Cohn. Tim Kasher decided that rather than replace Gretta with a 2^nd rate wannabe Gretta they’d ditch the cello and play up the drunken horns.

buy it at insound!

Three 1000; Mountain Goats put out the highly anticipated follow up to The Sunset Tree, Get Lonely today. If you were hoping for rollicking drinking songs in the vain of “This Year” however prepare to be disappointed as Get Lonely finds the Mountain Goats playing more laid back tunes behind even more introspective tales penned by prolific song writer John Darnielle.

buy it at insound!

Four 1000; Former Dashboard confessional touring guitarist Mike Stroud and pal Evan Mast drop the wonderfully presumptuously titled Classics. Daft Punk + Hip Hop + Hair Metal Fetish = <3

buy it at insound!

Five 1000; Professional cum bucket Paris Hilton releases her self titled debut… Paris

Six 1000; Future Crayon the B-sides album from indie elctro darlings Broadcast.

buy it at insound!

Seven 1000; Legendary schizophrenics Primal Scream see the US release of Riot City Blues… I have no idea what it sounds like, nor do I want to guess since I’d probably be wrong.

Awesome new Rapture video

2006-08-22T00:43:00.000-04:00

Top 5 Late Night TV Musical Perfomances

2006-08-16T15:31:00.000-04:00

5. Fear on Saturday Night Live
_{I Don't Care About You, Beef Bologna, New York's Alright... If You Like Saxophones, Let's Have a War}

I was unable to find video of this performance. If anyone happens to have it I would greatly appreciate it if you could share it with my blog reading public. Thanks

What makes Fear's appearence so memorable is not what you see. It's what the producers pulled. John Belushi managed to convince Loren Michaels to book the unabashedly violent hardcore punks, and even convinved him to let them bring in dancers (including Belushi himself, and Ian McKaye) by volounteering to appear on the episode. Things started as just awkward as Lee Ving told everyone it was "great to be in New Jersey", and gave a spirited performance of their anti New York screed New York's Alright... If You Like Saxophones. But as the band launched into Let's Have A War the "dancers" got out of control and had themselves a mini riot, knocking over cameras and scaring the hell out of the audience.

4. Sinead O'Connor on Saturday Night Live
_{Am I Not Your Girl?, War}

It's O'Connor's 2^nd performance, an accapella cover of Bob Marley's War that made headlines. O'Connor quivers with what is, in hindsight, obvious nervousness. None the less she stands strong as she ends her emotional performance byb proclaiming "Fight the real enemy" and tearing up a photo of the Pope. The audience doesn't know what to do, not a sound is made. Even to this day its thrilling and shocking.

3. The White Stripes on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
_{Seven Nation Army, Jolene, The Hardest Button to Button, Let's Build a Home}

To my knowlege no band, or show has done anything like this. For a full week The White Stripes took up residence at the NBC studios and served as the musical guests on Conan O'Brien. Every night brought another fantastic performance from a band at their creative peak. This is my personal favorite (though the impromptu verse from John the Revelator during Let's Build a Home is also a highlight) from their week long engagement.

2. U2 on The Tomorrow Show
_{I Will Follow, Twilight}

The opening notes of I Will Follow announced the arrival of a new era... the U2 era. The ragged urgency of the Edges riff and the posturing of Bono were a perfect introduction to the arena rock by way of dancey post punk that U2 would embody and perfect in the beginning of their career. Even at this early stage Bono is obviously convinced of his rock'n'roll messiah role, and soon the rest of world would be too.

1. The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show
_{All My Loving, Till There Was You, She Loves You, I Want To Hold Your Hand}

Sure they were just a bunch of pretty British boys who played jangly pop tunes. Sure you can barely hear the performance above the screaming teenage girls. Regardless it is the watershed moment for American music and pop culture. Every other televised performance, every other cultural coming out is compared to this and pales in shear magnitude and importance. And whens the last time you heard teenage girls scream like that for... well anyone?

New Music... Sucksday! oh the wit! I kill me

2006-08-15T13:43:00.000-04:00

So I'm not really gonna bother talking too much about new music Tuesday... Its not cause I'm lazy... it's just cause I don't know what to say about any of the worthless albums out this week...

Christina Aguilera? Obie Trice? Snakes on a Plan OST?
crap. crap. crap.

not even crap worth mocking... just plain vanilla crap.

buy it at insound!

Sonic Youth & the Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ McCarren Park Pool Tomorrow

2006-08-11T11:19:00.000-04:00

I've got an extra ticket to the show tomorrow if anyone is interested, selling it for face value.

Top 5 Wind in Your Hair Driving Fast Songs

2006-08-10T16:45:00.000-04:00

Sorry, I know this is a day late, but you know job and all…

I’ve decided to buy a car… I can’t live on Staten Island and continue to not have one… stupid lack of decent public transportation…
So I’ve picked one out pretty much, gonna go down to the dealership today and take a test drive. This got me thinking, of course, about driving… driving fast… blasting music.
So for your reading pleasure, I give you my top 5 songs to blast while driving fast on a gorgeous summer afternoon.

5. U2 – Where the Streets Have No Name

It’s a journey to nowhere in song form.
Sling a bag over your back; grab the keys from the table next to the door… practically trip down the stairs as you run to the car. Keys in the ignition… pick up your girl/boy-friend. Windows down, stereo blasting.
U2 generally lends itself well to driving, the push of Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. and the histrionics of “the Edge” and Bono combine to create a soundtrack that makes you wish your car could take off into the air.

4.Cake – The Distance

The pulsating bass and chugging guitar that drive The Distance are the building blocks of many great driving songs of old (sic Radar Love by Golden Earing, Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf, Let’s Go by the Cars). Cake updates this formula with G-funk synths, pseudo hip-hop rhythms and wry spoke-sung lyrics. The chorus alone puts it on this list

“He’s going for distance! He’s going fooor speed.”

3.Spoon – The Way We Get By

I spent some time praying that this song would become huge, disgusting, this generations Smells Like Teen Spirit… it never happened. But it is still an undeniable pop classic. It’s a crowd pleaser that is perfect road fodder. The driving drums and hopping piano line, even the dynamics of the song are perfect for driving down the road… and occasionally flooring the gas pedal.

2.The Cardigans – My Favourite Game

From their often overlooked album Grand Turismo My Favorite Game is complete with high BPM processed drums that seemed to be a prerequisite for releasing a single in the mid/late 90’s… and it doesn’t hurt that the video was like a bad and dangerous driving highlight reel.

1.Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run

Topping off one of my lists for the second time (in case you can’t tell I sort of dig the guys tunes) the Boss has crafted the perfect driving song. Its epic. Its chugging. Its rhythms are pushing. Its immediately satisfying. This is the song where Springsteen perfected his formula of girls, cars, and music. The Springsteen mythology is in its best form right here.

There are so many honarable mentions but I just don't have the time... plus that would be cheating.

Technorati Tags: top 5, music, best, driving

Just another day...

2006-08-08T16:45:00.000-04:00

After taking last week off I’m back to my usual weekly duty of a “New Music Tuesday” post, and tomorrow a return of my weekly Top 5 (now with 15% less lazy!).
This week we have the 2 CD solo debut of Matthew Friedberger, Winter Women / Holy Ghost Language School. Most people don’t “debut” with double albums (unless of course you have an ego the size of Cody Chestnutt’s but Friedberger is not most people. He is arguably the more important half of The Fiery Furnaces who are inarguably the most consistently interesting act in modern music.
If you’re a feminist, possibly a militant lesbian, and you like Dave Mathews Band music but find it well… just a tad too masculine… well your in luck, cause Ani DiFranco is here to give you Reprieve (oh word play how I love thee).
Comets On Fire bring us Avatar.
I’m not going to say anything about this album… I’m just going to give you the quip from Amazon… few things have ever sounded less inviting.

The follow-up to "Blue Cathedral" is an earthy, more accessible, and downright beautiful album. "Avatar" veers from swinging, bluesy explorations to piano-laced, progressive power balladry to pure tribalism, evoking everyone from the Allmans to Quicksilver to Procol Harem to some insane Fela/Sun Ra/Crazy Horse hybrid, yet remains wholly Comets On Fire. Though they play cleaner and clearer, their firepower is evident and abundant.

Slayer’s original line up returns for the first time since Seasons in the Abyss to make an album of militant antireligious anthems entitled Christ Illusion
On the rap front Masta Killah and MOP drop new “joints” today, entitled Made in Brooklyn and Ghetto Warfare respectively. Ghetto Warfare is an album of b-sides and unreleased tracks and therefore is certainly “fans only” material.

Wierder than I thought

2006-08-07T12:10:00.000-04:00

This is old news, but I've never actually seen or heard the performance before so I wanted to share with you.
This is one of the most surreal moments in pop culture.
I give you Phish & Jay Z live, performing 99 Problems and Big Pimpin
ENJOY!

p.s.
I know I owe you Pitchfork Day 2 coverage... its coming... better late than never right?

Plagurism is fun

2006-08-04T12:13:00.000-04:00

I just stole this post from Pop Tarts Suck Toasted cause I'm really lazy, but I wanted to share with the 1 or 2 of you that might read my blog but not his.

If you're not in Chicago this weekend, and you find yourself indoors trying to beat the heat you can check out the live Lollapalooza webcast on AT&T's Blue Room. Here's the schedule starting with today!

Friday August 4th Lineup*
12:30 PM Subways
01:30 PM Cursive
02:30 PM Panic! At the Disco
03:30 PM Editors
04:30 PM Umphrey's McGee
05:30 PM Secret Machines
06:30 PM The Raconteurs
07:30 PM Deadboy and the Elephantmen
08:00 PM Ryan Adams
09:00 PM Sleater-Kinney

Saturday August 5th, Lineup*
12:30 PM Living Things
01:30 PM Iron and Wine
02:30 PM Coheed and Cambria
03:30 PM Wolfmother
04:30 PM Nada Surf
05:30 PM The Smoking Popes
06:30 PM Common
07:30 PM Dresden Dolls
08:30 PM 5 Songs from Kanye West's Performance
09:00 PM Thievery Corporation

Sunday August 6th Lineup*
12:30 PM Sparta
01:30 PM Stars
02:00 PM Matt Costa
02:30 PM Ben Kweller
03:30 PM The Frames
04:30 PM The Redwalls
05:30 PM She Wants Revenge
06:30 PM Andrew Bird
07:30 PM Poi Dog Pondering
08:30 PM Wilco
09:30 PM Blues Traveler

Pitchfork Festival: Day 1

2006-08-03T01:08:00.000-04:00

Saturday at noon the Pitchfork Festival officially kicked off with a set from Hot Machines. I skipped both their set and Chin Up Chin Up’s. Instead I checked out the Graphic Noise: Art at 1000 dB’s exhibit of concert poster art and get some food from Ina’s a restaurant I discovered last year at Intonation and had to make the trip back to this time… twice.

The gallery was pretty dead, but definitely worth checking out. And its location is perfect, right outside the State and Lake stop on the red line on my short above ground walk to the green line to head to Union Park. Many of the artists appeared at Flatstock at the Pitchfork Festival, hocking their wares and signing posters.
After that it was on to Ina’s which due to the festival was a tad on the busy side. Ina’s has by far the best breakfast foods I’ve ever had. The Vanilla Bean Waffles with fresh seasonal fruit and absolutely amazing, and the baked French toast with apple compote will ruin all other French toast for you.
After rushing through my meal it was time to walk down the block to Union park to catch Man Man’s set at 2pm. In case you missed my previous post, Man Man was one of the acts I was most excited to see, and I was not disappointed. Man Man emerged clad in their trademark white outfits and face paint and proceeded to have themselves a Captain Beefheart style musical freakout. They skipped their quieter more contemplative songs in favor of all out craziness. Toy horns and pans played central role in some songs, and they even showered the audience in brightly colored feathers.

Band of Horses followed and I took a seat in the shade across the park. I’ll admit that I didn’t pay much attention but the set seemed enjoyable. I was trying to stay cool and was chatting with some friends. Mountain Goats followed, and while I’m a huge fan of The Sunset Treethe material simply didn’t come off live. Maybe if I had camped out in front of the stage and baked in the hot sun I could have gotten a decent spot and been more engaged, but half way through the set I took a seat on the ground towards the back of the crowd. Part of the problem may have been that I was simply unfamiliar with most of the material as John Darnielle barely touched upon The Sunset Tree.
Following The Mountain Goats is when the show really took off. Destroyer wowed me infusing their set with much more enthusiasm than I assumed Dan Bejar could muster for his theatrical prog-pop tunes. A good mix of Your Blues tracks and Destroyer’s Rubies song made up most of the set.

Art Brut followed and as usual was mind bogglingly fantastic. Eddie Argos ranted and raved and boasted, while the rest of the band played the best ‘so dumb its brilliant’ punk rock to come out in ages. The usual set of tracks off of Bang Bang Rock & Roll was augmented by a number of new songs including “Nag Nag Nag” and an as yet untitled song that was only half finished. If you’ve never seen Art Brut I suggest you do it ASAP, you won’t regret it.

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists were in a spot that no man would envy. Following Art Brut is no easy task, but Ted Leo and crew were more than up to the job. They played a nice cross section of material from their career and didn’t shy away from the crowd pleasers like “Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone” and “Timorous Me”. Pat over at Pop Tarts Suck Toasted referred to the Ted Leo set as the biggest surprise of the weekend, so there’s one more Ted Leo convert.
Next were The Walkmen who sounded good, but a bit too much like someone was simply blasting their CD over the PA. I sat back and listened from the distance recouped some energy from standing in the sun all day and staked out a spot for The Futureheads who were fantastic.

They plowed through their set with minimal filler and banter but maximum energy. The Futureheads also played to the crowd more than any other act on the 1^st day and even led the audience through a sing-along of their amazing Kate Bush cover Hounds of Love

The Silver Jews ended the night on a more mellow note, winding through their set at a deliberate pace. The rumored Pavement reunion didn’t surface, but to be honest I never seriously considered it a possibility. The intricacies of the The Silver Jews recordings were amazingly well preserved in a live setting.

All in all a fantastic first day for the festival and I couldn’t wait for more.
I’ll post my coverage of day two soon.

Sleater Kinney webcast on NPR.org

2006-08-02T15:27:00.000-04:00

NPR will be webcasting Sleater Kinney's sold out show in DC tomorrow (Thursday, August 3rd). You can view this as a wonderful oportunity to get a last taste of Sleater Kinney live, or just a viscious tease meant to bring you to bring of a jealousy fueled nervous breakdown...

Pitchfork Festival Opening night party @ Metro

2006-08-02T02:09:00.000-04:00

The festivities in Chicago started Friday night at Metro with the Pitchfork Festival Opening Night Party featuring The Joggers, a trifecta of underground comedy stars (Todd Barry, Eugene Mirman, and Aziz Ansari), Voxtrot, and Spencer Krug vehicle Sunset Rubdown.

The Joggers took the stage first and did their prog-rock via Les Savy Fav shtick. There were a number of memorable and enjoyable songs during their set, including a disturbingly straight cover of Yes’s Long Distance Run Around for those who doubted their prog-rock pedigree.

Following The Joggers was the comedy. Aziz was trapped in New York unfortunately, but Eugene Mirman, and Todd Barry, still killed. Mirman, and Barry know therir audience, and packed their sets with Pitchfork and MySpace jokes.

Voxtrot followed with their well written if a little dull set of pop tunes. At least this time around the sound was much better and Mothers, Sisters, Daughters and Wives actually sounded like it was being played by a band.
Voxtrot played a few new tunes from their forthcoming long player that’s as of yet untitled, and tentatively scheduled for release in early 2007.

After Voxtrot’s pretty selves were done wooing the young indie girls Sunset Rubdown took the stage. Spencer Krug gets more adventurous and shrugs off the shadow of Isaacc Brock that colors Wolf Parade’s Appologies to the Queen Mary with Sunset Rubdown.

The more erratic compositions of Sunset Rubdown are a more comfortable fit for Krug’s rambling phrasings and unpredictable melodies. Live the impact of the instrumentation is only amplified, the delicate melodies of the xylophone and cascades of piano are overtaken by the unexpected power of guitarist and drummer Jordan Robson Cramer and Michael Doerksen who act like steroids for Krug’s emotional outpourings.

Archaeological evidence suggests Jackson is immortal

2006-07-30T01:38:00.000-04:00

Evidence was discovered Friday, by a group of tourists wandering the Field Museum in Chicago, that suggests Michael Jackson may actually be an ancient Egyptian. Further investigation is being undertaken to confirm the theory, but striking features such as the cartoon like eyes, narrow lips, and lack of nose have led most to conclude beyond a doubt that this artifact is a burial carving intended to adorn Jackson's coffin. Museum officials declined to comment at this time.