Central Village

So arty...

A while back I heard Alex English spin this stellar remix of Franz' Do You Want To at Movida. I meant to ask what it was, but forgot and let it go. Just was poking around pitchfork yesterday and saw their 5-star track review of Max Tundra's remix. It had to be it, right? I tracked it down and sure enough, it's the one and only. As brilliant as I remembered.

Franz Ferdinand - Do You Want To (Max Tundra remix)

Would normally post an OC song here, but I really wanted to track down that awful/amazing screemo song Caitlin Cooper (who...oh man...I can't even get into that right now)  was listening to on her iPod when Ryan came up to her at the trailer park. Couldn't find it tho. Any ideas? I wanna say it's Thrice, but I probably only make the association because Stereogum loves them too (kidding). A quick Google search reveals they're actually from the OC, so maybe my spec isn't so far off...

Weren't these guys over like 4 months ago anyway?

First off, check out the hott Forward Russia tee Mr. Editors is wearing in the pic above (via). I want one.

Second, I cannot pretend to be excited about the show this weekend. Super crowded like the Cali shows, friends on the list not getting in, etc, etc. The whole fake Hiro-switcheroo is gonna turn this into a total fucking nightmare.

Quite Lame

I'm not sure what it is exactly, but Bill Simmons has really fallen in the last few months. It started right around when he took an extended time off to do the book tour, only writing one column a week. When he got back to regular posting, the articles seemed especially shallow and not completely thought through. Almost as if somebody else was writing the columns trying to emulate the Simmons style. It's seemed really off the last couple weeks, in particular. He's a busy guy and writes a lot, so I'm not completely dismissing him just yet, but it seems we've hit a rough patch. His bitching about the Patriots is the worst. Absolute worst. Like a little baby. He was the one who wrote the rule stating the 5-year waiting period to bitch about a championship team. Now he goes out and calls the Pats loss to the Broncos "One of the toughest Boston losses ever" Good God man, are you for real? Have you become that spoiled that you honestly believe an overachieving Pats team, which won 3 of the last 4 goddamn Superbowls, losing to a team in the playoffs on the road was one of the toughest losses ever? I seriously doubt it. Get over yourself.

Sorry. That came out angrier than I meant it to. But it's really frustrating watching the guy who set the standard on how to rationally hate teams like the Yankees turn into something equally as bad. On the positive note, he managed to name drop a couple of bands in his last column as a recommendation to the NFL promo dept. as to what they should be using as "Cool music with a quick riff to get you fired up for the football game":

"Banquet" by Bloc Party
"Sweet Troubled Soul" by StellaStarr*
"Tribulations" by LCD Soundsystem
"This Isn't It" by Giant Drag
"Finding Out True Love is Blind" by Louis XIV

Well played, Mr. Simmons. Especially on the Giant Drag nod. Sounds like someone's been listening to indie 103 on their way to the Clippers game...and perhaps reading more of The ILB (who ranked Giant Drag #34 on the list.)

5 Sets

The last two nights I've seen Longcut, Hard-Fi, Nightmare of You, and Nine Black Alps...twice. And I took a lot of pictures. Nine Black Alps are so great. It's more or less the same set every time, but I'd go see them again tomorrow if I could. Their album gets a stateside release next month and they should be back in March. Make a note to check them out if you haven't yet. Longcut I wasn't super impressed with...had their moments, but the whole bit where the singer runs back behind the drum kit halfway through each song was sorta distracting. Interesting I suppose, but too strange to really work. Nightmare of You were fun. It's totally unoffensive music, which I know sounds like such a backhanded compliment, but I really do like them. It's just music that was made to be in the background of a 'Date My Mom' promo on MTV. I listen to their album every once in a while. It's grown on me quite a bit. Finally, Hard-Fi were solid, but didn't knock me out like they did at Mercury over the summer. I had some issues with them, as I explain over at Gothamist.

Lots of pictures after the jump...

The Proletariat

I meant to post about The Proles last month. Great name, first off. I heard this song on KEXP and just assumed it was some old band everybody loves that I had missed out on. It had such a classic sound to it. Like it had stood the test of time already. Turns out they're just a small time band out of Sacramento. Everything I've heard has been pretty good tho. Sounds kind of like Spoon.

Their new album is coming soon, but no dates outside of Sac-Town for the time being. Here's the song that got me interested...

The Proles - Good in Black and White (MP3)

Super busy today. Don't forget...Arctic Monkeys (3/25), Art Brut (4/4-5) and Voxtrot (4/10) tickets all go on sale tomorrow for Webster, Bowery and Mercury, respectively. Also noticed I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness is playing Northsix on March 31. Been forever since they've played New York.

Faster Gun

Every time I leave a Wrens show, The thought crosses my mind that maybe, just maybe I had  witnessed the best show I had ever been to. They are completely mindblowing live. While they were sans drummer this time, they played my absolute ideal setlist. Kisses, Choose Sides, Boys...Pretty much all of Medowlands plus my favorites from the rest. They also threw in some Eagles and Lynyrd Skynyrd teases.

The picture above is of Charles singing into his cellphone, and the voice coming through the other guy's phone into his guitar pickups. Fantastic stuff.

A few more pics, as well as a couple of Matt and Ira from Nada Surf who played earlier in the day, after the jump...

I think it is a big deal...

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are playing two nights at Bowery Ballroom (and one at Maxwells)at the end of February (2/23-25). At least as exciting as The Rapture playing shows again, if not more so. UPDATE: jjjay sez tickets may go on sale today (1/13) at noon...

The 2nd Ave. Deli closed. It had recently become a shell of it's former self, serving lower quality food than we had come to expect over the years. I think like most dead Jews, we'll soon forget the difficult final years and remember only the good times. When I was little, getting a big bowl of Matzoh Ball soup brought home for me by one of my parents when I was out sick from school was second only to getting to watch The Price is Right at noon. I hadn't been there in a while, but it will surely be missed.

The Knicks have won 5 in a row against some really good teams. Oddly, they started winning as soon as Larry Brown settled on a starting 5 which includes David Lee, who I always start in NBA 2k6. Go fig.

Upon realizing My T-Mobile contract was up, I quickly started shopping for an upgrade to my Sidekick and settled on this guy. Got a great deal on ebay, paying about 1/3 of the regular retail price with free overnight shipping, activation and only a 50% chance my identity has been stolen.

Coachella rumors are starting to roll in. Presale tickets go on sale January 25th.

I'm going to New Haven to see Wu-Tang in February.

Oh, Come on...

Um...
1. Since when is Virgin Megastore is selling random shwag like this?
2. It's mocking an (albeit fictional) highschool student's drinking problem to make a cheap buck.
3. They changed the quote to be self-referential to the wearer: 'My Breath' instead of 'Your Breath', which is what Summer actually said last season...
4. and by doing so, the slogan implies the wearer is bragging that he's drunk, which is cool if you're like 14.
4. The people behind the OC are really okay licensing shit out like this?
5. The T-Shirt costs $27?!?!

Seriously...I would have worn a shirt that said "your breath smells like Marissa". Ok not really. But I would have found it amusing. This just seems creepy and wrong. I guess I don't have anything against kids drinking, but what type of degenerate parent would let their kid out in public wearing something like this? And what 21 year old, with the delicate tastes necessary to appreciate the OC, would even find this remotely amusing? I'm at a loss...

In related news, I went to see Ben Gibbard last night at Bowery with Jen, Scott, Eliza and a crowd of gabby killjoys . The songs all sounded great, but the place was packed way past capacity and everyone reeked of weed and wouldn't shut the fuck up. Ben looked like he was having fun tho and it was nice to hear the old stuff and Postal Service songs. That said, I may have been at the wrong indie staple's solo show. When was the last time Malkmus played Pavement songs???

Heavy Metal Hearts

I distinctly remember when I first listened to Modest Mouse's This is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About. My Junior year in college I took a class in London during winter break. I went to Tower Records to grab a bunch of CDs to listen to on the trip before I left. One of these was the aforementioned CD. Once in England, I had a roommate in the hotel we were staying at in Stratford-Upon-Avon who snored like nothing i had ever heard before. Room rattling. The first night he was so loud he woke me up from a dead, jetlaggy sleep. I put in my earphones and gave my new CD a shot. I just remember laying there in this half awake/half asleep trance while I watched the window curtains go from pitch dark to deep blue to early morning before my eyes. All the while this hypnotizing soundtrack kept me paralyzed, eyes wide open on the tiny twin bed. From Dramamine to Ohio to Pretty Sunset, it put me in another world. By the time it was over, the sun was bright enough that it seemed appropriate to wake. I had never listened to Modest Mouse before that night, but in the morning I woke up with a whole new perspective on music. I can pinpoint 5 moments over the last 7 or 8 years that helped mold me into the music fan that I am today. This is perhaps the most vivid.

So, I do not quite have the gall to say that discovering this Metal Hearts CD is anywhere in the same universe as the moment described above, but I can't deny it put me right back on that hard hotel bed at the first chords of the opening track Socialize. It's no Modest Mouse...much mellower and far less abrasive, but the mood it creates is frighteningly similar. I see myself falling asleep to this album a lot over the next several weeks.

Listen on Myspace. Buy the CD on Feb. 21. Go see them when they come to NYC on March 4th. As far as first impressions go, this is about as strong as it gets.

Metal Hearts - Midnight's Sun (mp3)

Brit Bits

There's a Sunshine Underground showcase on Lamacq Live this afternoon starting at 4:00 (NY time) These guys sound pretty great from the songs I've heard. Another catchy English band that (I believe) is coming to the states for SXSW and hopefully will get to NYC shortly after. Definitely worth tuning in this afternoon. Have a listen at their Myspace Page. Commercial Breakdown and Put You in Your Place are the hits.

Also, Billboard confirms what Karen rumored last month that Tom Vek is gonna be at the Bait shop in time for February sweeps. Only English bands with limited US touring experience play the club this year. Lucky kids.