Like many people, I have an addiction/hate relationship with MySpace. On one hand, there are thousands of crappy bands on there, and they all keep sending me friend requests. On the other hand, there are many great bands on there also, and sometimes they post MP3s you can't download anywhere else, like those Raveonettes songs I mentioned yesterday.
The Hard Tomorrows have posted "Dear Mary," a song off of their debut EP.
The Rinse have a new song called "Out of Her Mind," from their December demo.
Sweden's Afraid of Stairs have three songs, not available for download through their label Labrador.
Chrisafer suggests song titles for Sufjan Stevens' Maryland album. Funny even if you're not from Maryland (I am), and even if you don't like Sufjan Stevens (I don't).
Kyle and I are DJing at Cue Bar [1115 U St. NW] tonight, from 10-close, so stop by if you're in the neighborhood. I hear there are blue pool tables and a good selection of beer.
Thoughts on last night's episode of The O.C.? Is Johnny dead? If he is, or even if he isn't, how much longer can we stand Marissa's moping? Possible spoiler: IMDb doesn't list him as a guest in next week's episode.
Thursday, February 02, 2006 ::: WeirdCurves has been resurrected as a photo blog, and it's not even Easter.
The Raveonettes have posted two B-sides and a remix on their MySpace page, so get them while they're there. The B-sides are "Be My Sunshine" and the Buddy Holly cover "Everyday." The remix is the Funkstörung remix of "Love In a Trashcan." All three songs are must-haves for Raveonettes fans who don't already have them. I listened to "Everyday" over and over since downloading it yesterday. It doesn't sound like a Buddy Holly song, but was obviously done with a lot of love for the original. It's a lot slower and, of course, fuzzier, and comes in at almost five minutes. There are also charming little chimes. I love the chimes.
Ryan has been playing music for me over Google Talk (even better than Internet radio), and turned me on to a Minnesota band called White Light Riot. You can download a few songs over on their MySpace page. The song that got me hooked was "Out of Sight." Props to Ryan for getting linked from Salon.com's Audiofile for his immediate posting of the Coachella lineup.
Rock Kills Kid, who are coming to the Black Cat on February 18 with Electric Six and She Wants Revenge, will have a song featured on tonight's episode of The O.C. Here's a stream of that song, "Hideaway," and one more:
Rock Kills Kid - "Hideaway" (stream) Rock Kills Kid - "Paralyzed" (stream)
Do they mean rock as in rock paper scissors, or as in rock 'n' roll?
People In Planes' "If You Talk Too Much (My Head Will Explode)" doesn't do much for me, although I like the singer's voice. There's a weird little operatic intro, after which the song gets repetitive. Or maybe I just don't like the chorus. Aside from the chorus, the song has actually grown on me. In any case, I might not have made an effort to watch the video, had it not been directed by Golden Globe-winner and Oscar-nominee Joaquin Phoenix.
Check out the Phoenix-directed video here. A fact for 24 fans: this video was shot at the Ontario, California International Airport. Not a bad video, but it could have used more Jack Bauer. And is it just me, or is setting the video for a song with repeated use of the word "explode" in an airport is a bit strange, or even risqué, no?
Wednesday, February 01, 2006 :::
By special request, I've uploaded my Cedars photos. At no one's request, I uploaded my Nethers photos. No photos of Bicycle Thieves, because I was up in the balcony during their set.
Inspired by a Pitchfork feature called "The Smash That Wasn't," DCeiver writes that The Cloud Room's "Hey Now Now" is totally overrated. I don't agree. I think it's a fantastic pop song on an album full of unrealized potential. Last week, I re-visited the band's album after having put it away for many months. Many of the songs, like "Blackout!" and "Beautiful Mess," could have been bigger and catchier with more attention from the right producer. I like the album, but it makes me wish the songs were as good as I imagine they could have been. Check out the band's MySpace page to listen to "Hey Now Now" and three others, including a new one.
An aside, from the Pitchfork feature:
Soon, a secondary question arose: How to sell the band itself. The first photo shoot "looked like a GAP ad" and confirmed J's worst suspicions: The Cloud Room were about to be marketed as the next Franz Ferdinand. The band begged the label to take the photo off the CD, replacing it with a streaky digital shot.
And being marketed as the next "one of the most popular indie bands in recent memory" is bad how?
Monday, January 30, 2006 ::: Ambulance LTD are releasing the New English EP, which collects rare and unreleased material including some demos, a Pink Floyd cover, "Country Gentleman" and "Straight A's." The EP is coming out on February 28.
Another band releasing rarely-heard material is Maximo Park, whose Missing Songs album comes out on February 21. The album is made up of demos, B-sides and unreleased songs. Yay!
From Songs I wish I had written comes word that the Le Sport album is coming out sometime in March. A new Songs I wish artist is Gentle Touch, described by the label as "danceable but dreamy." Sounds somewhat like a more vulnerable Le Sport (and, of course, like New Order):
Friday night's "we don't need no stinkin' articles" show was absolutely great. Of the three bands, the only one I hadn't seen before, and was looking forward to the most, was Nethers. They were absolutely amazing. If they don't blow up on a national level, I don't know what's wrong with people. Gorgeous, female-fronted indie-folk/alt-country. You can listen to the entire album here. If they're coming to a town near you, go see them. I posted a few songs a couple of months ago, but having seen the band live, I'm recommending the downloads with even more enthusiasm.
I haven't uploaded my Nethers/Cedars/Bicycle Thieves photos into Flickr yet, but having seen Kyle's amazing shots, I'm a bit embarassed to upload my fuzzier ones. I'm thinking of getting a digital SLR to avoid further embarassment. Any recommendations?
Saturday night I made plans to meet Ms. gl*mrocker at Bliss, and was excited when Ms. Remain Fabulous decided to join us also. While they were off getting a drink at one point, I was suddently dancing with Chris and David. I danced pretty much non-stop for about four hours. It seemed that the amount of pop being played that night was unusual even for Will Eastman, but how could I complain about '80s covers performed by the Duff sisters? I did obnoxiously complain when Will played The Pussycat Dolls, but come on, those girls should have stuck to burlesque. So, ummm yeah, sorry about that, Will, but that one just took me completely off guard. One of the best Bliss dance nights ever.
As a result of all the great pop and the solid work of my favorite Black Cat bartenders, I ended up not having much of a Sunday because I managed to sleep until about 1 p.m. and then watching too much TV. I did manage to drag myself to the gym at some point, though. Yeah, my willpower would totally cardio kickbox your willpower's ass if they met in a dark alley.
A new bluestate contest is up and running. I know we haven't had one in a while, but I'm trying to resurrect them. So, while we work on setting up our next party, go win some free stuff.
The official Raconteurs site went live today, and it's totally fun, 1980s computer style. Check it out. While you're there, you can listen to two of their songs.
Since I listened to "Rock & Roll Queen" way too many times this weekend, I thought I'd post the live O.C. version: WM Hi, WM Lo. Also, check out the band pretending to play sans music feed: WM Hi, WM Lo.
01/05: Taint and Bliss present INFAMY, 9:30 Club
01/10: Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton, 9:30 Club
01/19: Benjy Ferree, Meredith Bragg and the Terminals, Greenland, Black Cat 01/24: Hej Hej, Cafe Saint-Ex
