Central Village

Throwing furniture off the roof

Okay, enough about Coachella for a fucking second. This is such a great idea. Bishop Allen, who released what some people called one of the best albums of 2003 with Charm School, is coming out with a new EP with completely new material every month until their full length, Clementine, comes out. Someone once described them to me as prep-school rock and I always liked that. The January album is out today and I think it's great. They're only pressing 1000 copies, so get one soon. It's only $5, including shipping. Here's the first track:

Bishop Allen - Corazon (MP3)

And here's my old favorite off Charm School:
Bishop Allen - Bishop Allen Drive (MP3)

More on their Myspace.

They're playing Pianos on Feb. 10th. I'm really excited to see them.

Coachella Lineup Preview...

UPDATE(12:00):Now KROQ in LA claims to have the confirmed lineups. A lot of the same bands as NME has (see jump), but on different spots on different days. Prolly best to just wait for the website to update, but this is the most recent rumored list, and is gonna end up being mostly right. I think they plan on adding more bands, which is why they haven't made the official post yet.

UPDATE 2(12:30): This list looks confirmed by the message board, with a note saying they are finishing up the poster, which will hopefully have a few additions...

DAY 1:
Depeche Mode, Franz Ferdinand, Sigur Ros, Common, Damian Marley, Atmosphere, Carl Cox, My Morning Jacket, Ladytron , Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Tosca, Cat Power, Animal Collective, HARD-fi, Derrick Carter, Devendra Banhart, She Wants Revenge, The Walkmen, The Juan Maclean, Audio Bullys, Lady Sovereign, Deerhoof, The Duke Spirit, Editors, stellastarr, Lyrics Born, Matt Costa, The New Amsterdams, The Zutons, Platinum Piped Pipers, White Rose Movement, Chris Liberator, Colette, Imogen Heap, Joey Beltram, Hybrid, Wolfmother, The Like, Living Things, Nine Black Alps, The Section Quartet, Infadels, Youth Group, Shy FX & T Power, Infusion.

DAY 2:
Tool, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bloc Party, Paul Oakenfold, Scissor Sisters, Matisyahu, TV on the Radio, Sleater-Kinne , Mogwai, Coheed and Cambria, Gnarls Barkley, Coldcut, Phoenix, Digable Planets, Amadou & Mariam, Little Louie Vega, Mylo (DJ Set), Seu Jorge, Wolf Parade, The Go! Team, Kaskade, Metric, Art Brut, Dungen, The Dears, Jamie Lidell, The Magic Numbers, Los Amigos Invisibles, Jazzanova, Michael Mayer, Mates of State, Gilles Peterson, Gabriel & Dresden, The Subways, Minus the Bear, Be Your Own Pet, Giant Drag, Kristina Sky, The Octopus Project.

Earlier rumors after the jump...

Almost There...

I really got my hopes up when I saw last night that www.coachella.com had the following message replacing the normal content...

"coachella.com is being updated and will be back online soon..."

I figured this could only mean one thing...lineup time! I was wrong. They did completely redesign the site, however. While I haven't had a chance to poke around the new digs, the lineup is most certainly not up. Yet. It's gotta only be a matter of days, now...

In other vacation news, SXSW is getting so overwhelming I'm not even gonna bother trying to make a plan. No badge, prolly not even wristband. Just gonna settle on the showcases and parties I know I can get into. Coming from New York, I think you gotta take the mindset that if the band you really wanna see hasn't already been through town, they'll be here sometime in the next month or two. I'll wait.

I heard somebody say...

Just got a text saying Devendra Banhart played a surprise midnight set at Trash last night. Did it happen? Anybody there? There was once a time where I thought the only way I'd go see DB is if he was playing an intimate set like this. After CMJ, I can hardly picture him scaling his show down anymore. Really curious how it went. It woulda been a trek for me out there for a rainy Sunday, but I'm sorry I missed it.

Spending warm Summer days indoors...

I didn't bother reviewing the Colin Meloy show on Gothamist. "We" (Jen) reviewed his show last winter at the Fez, then "We" (Me) wrote up the Summerstage show with Death Cab and Stars. Not to mention "We" (Jen again) interviewed Colin in August. I think that's enough coverage for one 12-month span. He was really great tho. Maybe not as memorable as last year's blizzard set, but equally charming and entertaining. Stereogum (EJ) and Brooklyn Vegan, perhaps the two biggest Colin fans I know, offer reviews as well.

Speaking of Gothamist, we've (I've) started this cute little band of the week spot. I think it's pretty self explanatory. Local bands only. E-mail me at [email protected] if you have any suggestions for bands to feature in future weeks.

Yippie yay hurrah! There's always stuff to do...

I <3 Events.

1/30/06: Stephin Merritt's (The Magnetic Fields) New Weekly DJ night @ Beauty Bar!
They claim "psychedelic bubblegum spins." Sounds delicious.

2/1/06: Shake Your Halo @ Fat Baby!
Nepo, Overnight, Bravo Silva, with DJ's Craig Wedren (Shudder to Think) and Michael Jurin (Stellastarr*)

Jen and Glenn throw a party! Blogger happy hour beforehand.

2/2/06: PLUG Awards @ Webster Hall! There's still time to vote... (tickets)
HUGE: BEANS w/ HOLY FUCK, CHAD VANGAALEN, CELEBRATION, CAGE, MR. LIF & AKROBATIK as the PERCEPTIONISTS, EMILIANA TORRINI, THE NATIONAL and AESOP ROCK. Hosted By Aziz Ansari

2/5/06: Superbowl!

2/8/06: Movable Hype 6.0 @ The Knitting Factory! (tickets)
Burnside Project, Slowlands and Metal Hearts (I LOVE these guys, btw...listen to their CD almost every day on repeat.)

2/14/06: Nouveau @ Fat Baby!
I honestly can't remember the last Valentines Day where I wasn't licking jello shots off a tranny go-go dancer...

Lemme know what I've left off...

Lift your heavy eyelids

I went to see the Coachella Movie last night with a couple of friends. It was pretty good, tho not perfect. The second half was far better than the first. Biggest gripe...the volume levels were too low! It wasn't in surround-sound and the immersion factor simply wasn't there. It's really hard to get into some of the more booming bands because of this.

Surprise surprise, the highlight was The Arcade Fire's performance of Rebellion (Lies). It was the greatest show I had ever seen them do, and was really excited to be able to experience part of it again. Somewhere out there the whole set is on tape. It should really be released on it's own. Other highlights were Bjork and Bright Eyes, particularly because the quiet songs worked better with the low theater volume. But there were a number of stunning performances, really, and only a few stinkers (The Zero-7 finale didn't fit and Oasis kind of bored me...tho Noel's backstage commentary was pretty priceless). All in all it was very well done, tho not without its faults.

I'm sure it's not a coincidence that Presale tickets go on sale today for the 2006 festival. The movie had an infomercial feel to it. Did a good job of selling the fest to people who have never been. Tickets can be bought here at 1:00pm NY time. The Password is seven. They've also stated the official lineup will finally be announced next week.

I may take TV too seriously...

I stayed home last night and  got all caught up on all my shows. L&O: Criminal Intent was OK, but the Mike Logan episodes just aren't as interesting as the Goren ones. 24 is as good as ever, but it's almost laughable how the same plot lines are being recycled from previous seasons. I just don't know how many horrific and complicated terror schemes can be piled up as merely smokescreens for bigger plots. Are we supposed to believe that the chain of events of the first 5 hours was all so that they could get their hands on those canisters?

And everyone seemed to get over real fast the fact that Jack Bauer is alive. I mean, shit, he was confirmed dead 18 months earlier! My grandmother died a couple years ago. If she showed up at Passover dinner next month with a tub of matzoh ball soup like the old days, I'd need more than the 12 seconds Curtis and Audrey took to fully comprehend what was going on. I dunno.

I do like Sean Astin's character, even tho "the guy from division taking over the operation" has now been used every single season without fail almost to a point of parody. I also enjoyed the twist with the CTU mole. So far I guess it's been one of the better "days", but I still remember back to the first season and can't see anything ever topping watching it for the first time.

The true star of last night was, as with most recent Monday nights, How I Met Your Mother. Maybe it wasn't the best episode, but it was the most heartfelt and genuine thing I've seen in an American sitcom maybe ever. And it's not just the acting and the jokes that make it, but the story structure of each episode is so perfectly executed and on point each week. Imagine Arrested Development's style mixed with Friends' personality. This episode kicked it up to a whole nother level. I'm talking 1st season OC good.

Interesting bit of info...and if you started watching the show after the pilot episode, you may not be aware. The Narrator stated in the first episode that Robin is not the mother. He specifically referred to her as Aunt Robin. The show's creators, interestingly, have said they have no intention of going back on this point. In this great article on NJ.com about the show, one of the creators compares the show to the White Stripes:

"Robin's not the mom," says co-creator Craig Thomas. "We're sticking by those guns."

"I feel like with great art, you have to create constraints for yourself," says (co-creator Carter) Bays. "You look at The White Stripes, they only want to have a guitar and drums, so they have to make all their music around guitar and drums. We have to make all our comedy around what the narrator says."

Very interesting. A lot of my favorite shows have shed the constraints that made them originally great...24 hardly keeps to the real-time thing anymore and The OC has had a revolving door of characters that keeps nobody bolted down for too long. Lost has always been completely open ended, but its most frustrating aspect is that nothing ever gets solved. There's no endgame. With HIMYMother, it's all locked in. It has taken the perspective from which the viewer follows the story and completely reinvented it. Best of all, it works perfectly. It's quite remarkable. I really hope they're able to keep it up.

Finally...
Pavement - Spit on a Stranger (MP3)
(Stereogum explains why...)

(pic above via PantryRaider)

Through Lens of a Camera...

The review is up on Gothamist now. Great great show. As my grandfather would say, I take back all the nasty things I've said about you, Editors. You've proved yourselves to me this weekend. May you find yourselves blowing out arenas not long from now.

They played the same setlist at Great Scott in Boston the next night, and Bradleys Almanac made a superb recording of it (via BV). Still not the same as being there, but helps get the point across. If the 3:45 point on that version of 'Camera' doesn't just drop your heart right into your stomach, there's something wrong with you.

More on the show at Modernage, Yeti, and surely many others.

Ediclusterfuck

The Editors show is moved to Rothko, according to the venue's website (screencap above). Go figure. Just got the following e-mail from +1 to confirm...

Due to unforeseen delays in construction on the Annex (which is a new club), tonight’s show (Saturday, January 21) has been moved to Rothko.
 
Rothko is located just around the corner at 116 Suffolk Street between Rivington and Delancey.  To get there from the Annex, walk South to Rivington then walk East 4 blocks to Suffolk street.  The club is just a 1/2 block south on Suffolk.
 
Rothko is a smaller club and capacity will be limited.  Doors are now at 9pm.  Due to the limited capacity, please arrive by 10pm in order for us to accommodate ticket-holders and will-call.
 
Sorry for any inconvenience.

Note that the e-mail says Doors are now at 9:00. Band should still be going on at 11. Hope people read blogs on the weekends.

Brooklyn Vegan went last night and his commenters said it was very good. UPDATE: They also say the fair thing to do is to turn away the guest list and only let ticketholders in, Which is what allegedly happened out in Cali last week. Being that the guest list is made up entirely of press, friends and label execs...well I just don't think that'd be a very good group of people to be pissing off at this point in their careers.