OK, it's not my fault, I was in southern California for 8 days, OK?!?
It was supposed to be a vacation, but... I was with my sister and brother-in-law and their 3 kids. So NOT a vacation!!! I love those kids, but damn... there's a reason why I don't have any of my own. Incidentally, if you want the most effective birth control
ever... spend 8 days and 7 nights with other people's kids. Trust me.
Anyhoo, I'm back in town and feeling quite out of the loop. I haven't posted in a while, and am just catching up on all the news. So here are some blurbs that are of interest to me, if nobody else.
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Prince played the Superbowl halftime show on Sunday. Kick ass... except that I was watching the game with a bunch of NON Prince appreciators. Prince is a God. Sadly I had to resort to youtube the day after to get the full effect of his performance. He still kicks ass on that guitar. Especially in the pouring rain, oh yeah. Of course, NOW the FCC "broadcast decency" watchdogs are accusing Prince of using his guitar as an "inappropriate phallic symbol". [sarcasm]
Prince? Nooooo.... [/sarcasm]. As for me, I'd much rather see Prince's penis guitar than Janet Jackson's nipple. Am I right?
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Will Sheff and
Josh Ritter scheduled a handful of west coast dates for later this winter. Unfortunately, however, Will Sheff lost his voice and consequently had to cancel the tour. Too bad, except that they weren't coming to Colorado, so fuck 'em. BUT...
Okkervil River is heading to the studio and will hopefully release an album this year. Happy, happy!
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Band Of Horses will be back in the studio/on a little tour of the southeast come March:
03-10 St. Augustine, FL - Cafe Eleven *
03-11 Sunrise, FL - Langerado Festival
03-12 Orlando, FL - The Social *
03-13 Gainesville, FL - Common Grounds *
03-14 Atlanta, GA - The Earl *
03-15 Knoxville, TN - Blue Cats *
05-18-20 Minehead, England - ATP vs. the Fans Festival
* with Cary Ann Hearst and the Gun Street Girls
I
so cannot wait for the new album...
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We've got a tracklist for the new
Bright Eyes album,
Cassadega, which will be released on April 10 (Saddle Creek):
01 Clairaudients (Kill or Be Killed)
02 Four Winds
03 If the Brakeman Turns My Way
04 Hot Knives
05 Make a Plan to Love Me
06 Soul Singer in a Session Band
07 Classic Cars
08 Middleman
09 Cleanse Song
10 No One Would Riot for Less
11 Coat Check Dream Song
12 I Must Belong Somewhere
13 Lime Tree
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Arctic Monkeys revealed some album details:
Favourite Worst Nightmare will be released on April 23rd in the UK, very next day in the US (Domino). Tracklist:
01 Brianstorm
02 Teddy Picker
03 D Is for Dangerous
04 Balaclava
05 Fluorescent Adolescent
06 Only Ones Who Know
07 Do Me a Favour
08 This House Is a Circus
09 If You Were There, Beware
10 The Bad Thing
11 Old Yellow Bricks
12 505
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More album news, you say? I've got some!
Maximo Park have announced April 2 as the release date for their sophomore effort,
Our Earthly Pleasures. I'm not sure if there's a definite US release date as of yet.
Tracklist:
01 Girls Who Play Guitars
02 Our Velocity
03 Books From Boxes
04 Russian Literature
05 Karaoke Plays
06 Your Urge
07 The Unshockable
08 By the Monument
09 Nosebleed
10 A Fortnight's Time
11 Sandblasted and Set Free
12 Parisian Skies
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Chin Up, Chin Up and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin are touring together this month:
02-15 Grand Rapids, MI - Division Avenue Arts Cooperative
02-16 Toronto, Ontario - Sneaky Dee's
02-17 Montreal, Quebec - Casa del Popolo
02-18 Allston, MA - Great Scott
02-19 Brooklyn, NY - Union Hall
02-20 Medford, MD - Tufts University
02-21 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
02-22 Washington, DC - Black Cat
No Colorado... bummer. But SSLYBY will be stopping by in April:
02-08 Springfield, MO - Jefferson Starship *
02-11 Springfield, MO - Borders (instore performance)
03-09 London, Ontario - Salt #
03-10 Montreal, Quebec - Club Soda #
03-11 Boston, MA - Axis #
03-13 New York, NY - Gramercy Theatre #
03-14 Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts #
03-15 Austin, TX - SXSW
03-16 Austin, TX - SXSW
03-17 Norfolk, VA - NorVA #
03-19 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club #
03-20 Winston Salem, NC - Ziggy's #
03-22 Charlotte, NC - Neighborhood Theatre #
03-23 Knoxville, TN - Bijou Theatre #
03-24 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse #
03-25 Asheville, NC - Orange Peel #
03-27 Cincinnati, OH - 20th Century Theater #
03-28 Chicago, IL - House of Blues #
03-29 Cleveland, OH - House of Blues #
03-30 Detroit, MI - St. Andrews Hall #
03-31 Grand Rapids, MI - Intersection #
04-01 Urbana, IL - Canopy Club #
04-03 Milwaukee, WI - Rave #
04-05 Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line #
04-06 Omaha, NE - Rock #
04-10 St. Louis, MO - Gargoyle Club #
04-12 Lawrence, KS - Granada #
04-13 Little Rock, AR - Revolution Room #
04-14 Norman, OK - Union Court at University of Oklahoma #
04-16 Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre #
04-18 Boise, ID - Venue #
04-20 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards #
04-21 Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater #
04-22 Seattle, WA - Neumos #
04-24 San Francisco, CA - Slim's #
04-25 Los Angeles, CA - House of Blues #
04-26 San Diego, CA - House of Blues #
04-29 Phoenix, AZ - Clubhouse #
05-01 Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater #
05-03 Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa #
05-04 Dallas, TX - Gypsy Ballroom #
05-06 Houston, TX - Meridian #
05-07 New Orleans, LA - House of Blues #
* with Drew Danburry, BIGBIGcar, Andy Zipf, Them Damn Kids, Nathanial Carroll
# with Mute Math, the Cinematics
Of course they have to come to the Fox the same night that Sunset Rubdown is at the Hi-Dive. Probably won't make it to this one...
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Deerhunter will be touring come March in support of their fantastic new album Cryptograms:
03-02 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn *
03-03 Charleston, SC - Music Farm +
03-04 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse +
03-14 Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon (Gas Food Lodging Music Festival)
03-15 Austin, TX - Soho Lounge (SXSW)
03-16 Austin, TX - Emo's Jr. (SXSW; Pitchfork party) #%
03-18 Houston, TX - Mink ^%
03-31 Jackson, MS - George Street Grocery
04-04 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle $
04-06 Kansas City, MO - Record Bar %
04-07 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge %
04-10 Seattle, WA - Neumos %
04-11 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards %
04-12 Portland, OR - Dante's %
04-13 San Francisco, CA - 12 Galaxies %
04-14 Los Angeles, CA - Echo %
04-23 Toronto, Ontario - Legendary Horseshoe Tavern
04-25 Cambridge, MA - Middle East Upstairs
04-26 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
04-28 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
04-29 Washington, DC - Rock & Roll Hotel
* with Grizzly Bear, the Papercuts
+ with Sparklehorse, Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter
# with Girl Talk, Menomena, RJD2, the Pipettes, Do Make Say Think, Simian Mobile Disco, Fujiya & Miyagi, Beach House, Marnie Stern, Crystal Castles
^ with the Black Lips
% with the Ponys
$ with Nudge
Holy crap, SXSW is going to be amazing this year.
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Alright, that's it. I'm all newsed out. Here are some albums that I've been enjoying lately:
In case you're wondering, they are: Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha; The Broken West - I Can't Go On, I'll Go On; Roddy Woomble - My Secret Is My Silence; Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Some Loud Thunder; The Shins - Wincing The Night Away; The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible; Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?; Alkaline Trio - Remains; Deerhunter - Cryptograms; Jamie T - Panic Prevention; The Hold Steady - Boys And Girls In America; M. Ward - Post-War; Menomena - Friend & Foe; Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity; Bright Eyes - Four Winds EP; Oxford Collapse - Remember The Night Parties; Richmond Fontaine - Thirteen Cities; Okkervil River - Overboard & Down EP. Good, good stuff.
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Here are some upcoming shows that I would really like to attend, though I'll have to get a second job to pay for March's concerts alone...:
Feb 8 Camera Obscura @ The Bluebird
Feb 13 Glen Phillips @ Soiled Dove OR Grizzly Bear @ Larimer Lounge (which one???)
Feb 15 The Shins @ The Fillmore
Feb 17 Sparklehorse @ The Gothic OR The Roots/Lupe Fiasco @ The Fillmore (decisions, decisions...)
Feb 21 Alexi Murdoch @ Fox Theatre
Feb 24 The Autumn Defense @ Soiled Dove
Mar 2 Cold War Kids @ Hi-Dive
Mar 5 Clipse @ The Gothic
Mar 6 Snow Patrol/OK Go/Silversun Pickups @ The Fillmore
Mar 7 Dropkick Murphys @ The Fillmore
Mar 9 Malajube @ Larimer Lounge
Mar 10 Midlake @ Hi Dive
Mar 17 Sebadoh @ Fox Theatre
Mar 18 Badly Drawn Boy @ Fox Theatre
Mar 19 Viva Voce @ Hi-Dive
Mar 20 TV On The Radio @ The Ogden OR Dr. Dog @ Larimer Lounge (leaning toward Dr. Dog...)
Mar 22 The Hold Steady/The Thermals @ Hi Dive
Mar 30 Subtle @ Larimer Lounge
Apr 5 Neko Case @ The Gothic
Apr 7 Menomena @ Hi-Dive OR Deerhunter @ Larimer Lounge (damn it...)
Apr 10 The Long Winters @ The Bluebird
Apr 15 The Frames @ Boulder Theater
Apr 16 Sunset Rubdown @ Hi-Dive
Apr 22 Ted Leo + Pharmacists @ The Gothic
Apr 22 The Decemberists @ The Fillmore
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. I only now realized that I have tickets to both Ted Leo & The Decemberists... I gotta start writing this shit down. Why oh why do The Decemberists dates always clash with other shows I want to see?!? Anyone need a ticket for Ted Leo + Pharmacists?
Tonight at the Larimer Lounge was Maxïmo Park's first time in Denver (hence the minor history), and it was glorious. In fact, I had been wondering before the show if they'd ever been here, so it was a pleasure to know that I was there for the virginal CO experience. So, I'm an equal-opportunity attentive fan, you know? I like to take in the whole band, all the instruments, all the players, etc. Tonight, however, I found it exceptionally challenging to tear my eyes from the charismatic, expressive, magnetizing bundle of energy that is Paul Smith. In Colorado, we hear all the time about the difficulties of breathing in the high altitude, and I admit it can get old. Maxïmo Park didn't complain about the thin air, but I found myself wondering how Paul didn't just pass out. The guy is a total rock star, abounding in showmanship. The hour long set was a perfect mix of banter and expertly-executed music. If memory serves (not bloody likely), they played everything from Our Earthly Pleasures except for Russian Literature, Nosebleed, and Sandblasted And Set Free. From A Certain Trigger they played Apply Some Pressure, Graffiti, Postcard Of A Painting, Going Missing. There were probably a couple more - I was having too much fun to try and keep up with the setlist...
Opening up were first, The Oolahs from Los Angeles. The Oolahs came highly recommended from my friend Mark, but as I didn't anticipate an on-time start (I never get these things right...) I arrived in time only to catch their last 1 1/2 songs. I liked what I did see, though. After The Oolahs was Monsters Are Waiting also from CA (Echo Park?). I liked them a lot, their singer/keyboardist was very... theatrical - for lack of a better word. Lots of dancing and emoting and attitude. Their set ended quite oddly and abruptly though when they were faced with technical problems halfway through their last song. They couldn't get the guitar to work so the singer told a (really lame) joke and then rapped a little bit of Too $hort's Don't Fight The Feeling. She actually wasn't too bad... but she did get embarrassed and moved away from the mike for all the "bad" words... lol.
