Central Village

Shawn of the Dead is not that funny

Don't get me wrong, it was a good movie. A very good movie, in fact. But it was not a straight spoof of the zombie genre. Thats what I expected. Especially since it was touted all weekend by one as being the 'funniest movie ever.' Sorta scared the piss out of me, actually.

It had funny moments. I did genuinely laugh out loud a few times, but the moments of actual terror (I yelped at least once) outweighed the cheery bits. Especially while being holed up in a dark house in the middle of nowhere in a torrential downpour. Not to mention the emotionally taxing parts that were just straight ROUGH. Not even a hint of humor, at times. Me gods, there was some serious shit going down here. Not what I expected in the slightest.

Sorry, but this week is all about killing zombies

Okay, that and putting in long hours at my day job. But mostly killing zombies. Dead Rising for Xbox which is serious. I haven't genuinely enjoyed playing a game like this in a really long time. The idea is you're a freelance reporter who gets a scoop that a town in Colorado is overrun by Zombies. You fly to the mall and try to figure out what's going on. So much fun.

So this and eating dinner have been what I've been doing with the 6 hours or so this week where I haven't been at work or sleeping. No shows, not much else going on. Just beating zombies with sledgehammers.

Lat Friday, however, my buddy Joey sent me this album he's been going crazy for. It's pretty swell. The band is called Peter Bjorn and John. They are Swedish. Obviously. Here is a quote from the brilliantly named section on their website called "Here's what we think are the best things right now:"

...ACCORDING TO PETER
The sun is hot these days in Stockholm, which is fab, since I’m the sunbathing kind of guy, who likes to be lazy on the cliffs with a good book or friend, a pleausure which doesn’t cost a penny.

Maybe the most delightful run-on sentence I've read in months! Also, an excellent visual description of what they sounds like. Think Hot Chip vs. The Knife doing Beatles remixes, for those who can't feel what a Swede reading in the sun sounds like. Here are two of their jams. Don't think they're coming to America anytime soon, but you never know...

Peter Bjorn and John - Amsterdam (mp3)
Peter Bjorn and John - Up Against the Wall (mp3)

UPDATE: Fluxblog coincidentally posted another song from them today as well.

Fathers will hear from their sons this week

Hey Dad,

I sometimes read this site called Pitchfork, which normally covers a lot of the music I listen to, but this week they're listing the best songs of the 60's. Thought you'd think it's cool.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/37886

Anyway, tell Mom I say hi. New York is great. I'll see you guys at Thanksgiving.

xoxo,
Your son

Swedish Kids with Great Band Names

I'm not the first to mention these guys, and I feel a bit cheap only doing so after Pitchfork gives a respectable review to one of their tracks, but that's just how it is. A name like Suburban Kids with Biblical Names sticks with you. You know if you've heard of them. There's very little middle ground. You don't sort of remember someone mentioning a band with a name that great. It's stuck in there.

Anyway. Swedes are on top of the world. Literally and musically. These guys are Jens meets the Kings of Convenience, but with even more Stephin Merrittness. There's not much room between those three, so you should have a good idea what to expect.

Here's the video for Rent a Wreck:

and the mp3:
Suburban Kids with Biblical Names - Rent a Wreck (mp3)

More on myspace...

Free Upgrade?

Laura posted that Cobra Starship is playing The Annex TONIGHT! It was a secret, not anymore I guess. All will be revealed! This is an actual band? Is that a picture of them above? They have more than one song? Will they, in fact, BRING IT? Cause, oh, I'm ready for it. So many questions...

Yes, I'm almost over SoaP as well (I'm pretty confident that all these airport terror alerts today are part of the viral marketing campaign). Go now and if you don't like it, you can avoid in a few months, having to see them open for a Rap group that may have written the most awful song of the year all time. Yes, possibly even edging out Say Anything's Oh, I Can Get Sexual, Too. I'm prepared to defend this. I'll get to that in a sec probably tomorrow...

Siriusly

Last night on BVR I got one hour of music to play. Most of which, it turns out, I had posted previously. Here's my playlist (with links to the mp3 containing posts, if not otherwise noted...):

Be Your Own Pet -Bunk Drunk Skunk
Thursday - Running from the Rain
The Joggers - White Maddam
---Break---
Slowlands - Listeners Dilemma
The Promise Ring - Pink Chimneys
The Upwelling - Murdered By a Big Bomb (myspace)
The Twilight Singers - Underneath the Waves
---Break---
Cloud Cult - Breakfast With My Shadow (mp3)
Muse - Map of the Problematique
Mew - The Zookeepers Boy
---Break---
The Dresden Dolls - Bad Habit (mp3)
The Academy Is... - Black Mamba (Teddybears Remix) (mp3)
Jens Leckman - Rocky Dennis Farewell Song
---Break---
Jets to Brazil - Chinatown
Bright Light Fever - Broken Hands (mp3)
Mineral - Gloria

I'll get that TAI/Teddybears one later...

Slowlands on KEXP in 30 minutes.

If you listened to BV Radio last night, you may have heard me go on and on way more than I expected to about Slowlands and 5thfloor and generally how big a fan I am of them, how great it is to work with them, etc. It was not my intention to plug the band so much on the show, but that's just how it came out. It IS my intention to plug them here right now, however. They will be doing an in-studio on KEXP in 30 minutes (12:30 Eastern, 9:30 Pacific) Go listen. Hopefully Josh will drop some ridiculous hood slang in the interview, as he is known to do...

CV on the Radio

I will be on Brooklyn Vegan Radio tonight on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 26 (Left of Center) at 10pm eastern. I have one hour of Jeff Music to play. Really excited for this.

The last time I was on the radio was in College, and wouldn't you know it, I ran into my ex-co host completely randomly last night for the first time in years at the Silversun Pickups show at Union Hall. The only thing I remember about it is playing is a bunch of PSA's about learning disabilities. I also assume I played what was, even at the time, an obscene amount of Dave Matthews Band. There will be no Dave Matthews Band played tonight.

Anyway...if you're not already a member, Sirius offers a 3-day trial offer to listen online. No credit card required, no commitment. Lemme know how I do. I'll post the playlist tomorrow.

Here's a song I won't be playing tonight. It's Jonah Matranga covering Billy Bragg's "A New England." Not bad, but I love the song and I love Jonah's voice, so I was hoping for something a bit more perfect. (Sidenote: Brooklyn Vegan long ago introduced me to Jonah's last band, Gratitude)

Jonah Matranga - A New England (mp3)

Here's a song about New England that's been stuck in my head for the last two weeks or so. This should make it into my set tonight.

The Promise Ring - Pink Chimneys (mp3)

Cheap Trick

I don't think Travis Pastrana is quite the household name that Tony Hawk was even before the video games came out, but it's pretty clear from this video and 2 minutes of web research that he's the top MotoX (dirtbike tricks) guy in the world right now. And seeing that a video of him pulling off a double-backflip in competition to win the gold at the X games showed up as 4 of the 10 most recent You-tube most viewed clips, I'm thinking this is a pretty big deal. Like when Hawk did the 720.

Anyway, this really isn't my thing. I bet if the X games were every 3 or 4 years like the Olympics, I'd get more excited about it, but with 2 a year (Summer and Winter), it's hard to know or care when it's on or who wins. I'm posting this video NOT because it's a pretty rad trick, but because of the twit in the white tanktop who stumbles up the dirt ramp during the celebration, snapping away with the Powershot. The money move is to get to the top, put your arm around the winner, take the shot of you two together, THEN STEP AWAY AND TAKE A LONG, HARD LOOK TO SEE HOW THE PICTURE CAME OUT. Way to live in the moment, brah. No-Fear photoblogging!

Bonus points to anyone who can find that guy's myspace page or whatever with that pic on it.

They changed the taste of Sparks

And honestly all seems wrong in the world. It now tastes like Sparks Plus. Awful.