Continuing the sexiness: Bitter:Sweet

I feel like we have sex(y) theme going on this week on my site. So, let's continue that trend, won't we?

A band that I've been digging a lot since their KCRW performance is Bitter:Sweet. Thanks DJ Adiadas1 once again (did I mention I love my roomie!?)! They're a music duo from LA, composed of vocalist Shana Halligan, and music enthusiast Kiran Shahani (formerly of Supreme Beings of Leisure). I'm actually kind of surprised I haven't seen more of them around the blogosphere. They have a really ambient electronica sound mixed with so many other influcences; it's hard to describe, sort of like Brazilian Girls. A couple of quotes from their label (the two musicians met via CraigsList!):

"There is something mesmerizing and indisputable about things in life that come together by the mystery of fate - be it a personal relationship, an artistic endeavor, or a simple matter of being in the right place at the right time. When all three converge, the result is something that beyond any realm of possibily..."

"Fans of Portishead, Zero 7, Serge Gainsbourg, Everything But The Girl and Bjork will fall in love with the album's sound."

PopMatters didn't like their new album The Mating Game that much. AllMusic liked it a bit more. The again, I really don't care, because I really dig it... good for any occasion, and of course, mainly "very sexy"...

mp3: Bitter:Sweet - Don't Forget To Breathe
mp3: Bitter:Sweet - The Mating Game
mp3: Bitter:Sweet - Dirty Laundry

Website
MySpace
KCRW Performance (Video) highly recommended!

In other "sexy" news:

> Mr. Jim Walsh has a couple of great posts going. One on "Spring Fever Mix: This One's For The Fellas" and the other on "Spring Fever Mix II: This One's For The Ladies". Well worth checking out...

> Tapes 'n Tapes have signed a major record deal (for distribution outside of the US) as Ross and Chris report. Congrats to them, as they deserve it!

> A bit of controversy about the latest release from Rock 'n Roll Star's favorite boys, the Arctic Monkeys. Pitchfork didn't like it that much. I still do. Here's my favorite track from the EP (reminds me so much of what made the Libertines great):

mp3: The Arctic Monkeys - No Buses

> Meow, Rock for Pussy! Check it out this Saturday @ First Avenue...

> And you can't do a sexy post without Pulp:



mp3: Pulp - Underwear

mp3: Pulp - This Is Hardcore

"I wanna make a movie so let's star in it together. "

Have a great Thursday!

- Steve

You could have it so much better with Alex and Nick

So much has happened since the infamous Sounds (MySpace) picture I posted Saturday.

mp3: The Sounds - Song With A Mission

Some people (you know who you are) even emailed me and said "PLEASE update your site, I'm so sick of seing that picture every day". So ok, fine, time to move on...

I had a pretty nice weekend. Friday and Sunday were mainly filled by relaxing and catching up on my baseball viewing. This leaves last Saturday... You ever had one of those days where you thought you knew how it was going to turn out, but it turns out soooo different?! I'm sure you have. Here's the recap of that very day.

Saturday started nice and mellow. Slept in, did next to nothing. Posted The Sounds picture from Brody's review. Started thinking about the night's plans: Catch Ladytron (MySpace)/ The Presets (MySpace) @ First Avenue and then head over to watch Hockey Night (MySpace)/ The Plastic Constellations (MySpace) @ Triple Rock.

After a very healthy "crunchy fish-stixs" dinner I headed out and met some friends, including EngineerFred @ First Avenue. Surprisingly crowded, I thought. I arrived about half-way through Presets' set. In case you've never heard of the band, it's two guys. The lead singer on the keyboard / notebook pc and another one the drums. Honestly I was pretty underwhelmed... sounded like mediocre Killers mixed with the Faint.

Finally, it was time for Ladytron. I'm not really a huge Ladytron fan. I like their music, but don't really listen to it enough to be song-name-familiar with the band. Check out their official site, MySpace, and AllMusic for more info. They started out really well... liked it quite a bit. The band sounded and looked very cool. Unfortunately the stage lighting was extremely difficult to deal with (very weak red back lighting) so here's the only real good shot I got:



mp3: Ladytron - Destroy Everything You Touch (Video here)

It all sounded great for the first couple of tunes... however, then things went wrong. I guess a keyboard wasn't working and after numerous attempts by the roadies to fix the problem the band had to quit playing. They entertained the crowd with a couple of jokes for a few minutes; here's one: "A dyslexic guy walks into a bra". Funny enough, after that the band left the stage for about 20 minutes... This is when the real fun began.

Next thing I knew EngineerFred grabbed me really hard by the shirt and told me to explore the balcony for some band-members I may know. Turns out it was Alex and Nick from Franz Ferdinand! Here are a couple of pictures:





...And that concludes the Ladytron review (HowWasTheShow review here). Most of the rest of the show I hung out with Alex and Nick, which was an absolute blast! You may/may not know that they played here last Thursday with Death Cab for Cutie (MySpace) and The Cribs (MySpace) (HowWasTheShow review here). Would you like to know what they did while they were here? I'll tell you...

> They watched Spank Rock (MySpace) in the "little room" (7th Street Entry) after their gig on 4/20/06. AND it was "brilliant!".

mp3: Spank Rock - Put That Pussy On Me (Diplo Tonite Remix)

> They went biking along the Mississippi. See, all the real rock 'n' roll people are into biking! Not just me...

> They went to Nye's Polonaise Room to catch the hottest polka band in the midwest (and of course the piano karaoke).

There's some other stuff we discussed; unfortunately I can't disclose that info...

mp3: Franz Ferdinand - Shopping For Blood

I watched the end of Ladytron and left for Triple Rock Social Club... On a related note, remind me sometime to tell you the time I pretended to be a freelance reporter for The Star Tribune and hung out with Franz Ferdinad and Sons and Daughters for a couple of hours in the FineLine's basement... That's a good one too...

Unfortunately after the big Ladytron / Franz Ferdinad experience it seemed I'd be on my own as most people went home. Never-the-less, I headed over to Triple Rock to check out one of my favorite bands, Hockey Night. Luckily some of my favorite friends (Matt, Paul, Trent, Kent, Mike) were already there! Which, leads us to Hockey Night and The Plastic Constellations:

Hockey Night


The Plastic Constellations


All photos here. Slideshow here.

Let's just say I really like Hockey Night. One of the most dynamic live groups you can watch. You want more proof? Check out who also really likes them:



I didn't really see a whole lot of The Plastic Constellations, but from what I could tell, these Hopkins boys rocked out! Here's some mp3s for you:

mp3: Hockey Night - For Guys Eyes Only
mp3: Hockey Night - This Peaceful Year
mp3: Hockey Night - Cooperation

mp3: The Plastic Constellations - Iron City Jungles
mp3: The Plastic Constellations - Sancho Panza

Here's the Hockey Night's setlist:



... And I think this is where we'll stop as this post is getting way too long...

I'll leave you with the music video by DJ Benny Benassi "Who's Your Daddy?", which was highly recommended to me by DJ Adidas1. It rocks; careful though, it may be NSFW:



And here's the uncensored version, DEFINITELY NSFW.

- Steve

P.S. Sorry for the hastened/poor writing in this post... my home internet has been giving me some serious problems the last few days... and that's putting it nicely.

P.P.S. Amazing... I never thought I could combine The Sounds, Ladytron, Presets, Franz Ferdinand, Spank Rock, Hockey Night, and the Plastic Constellations all into one post....

The Sounds

(Photo courtesy of Brody)

Judging from the photo above I should have gone to the Sounds (MySpace) last night @ FineLine. Damn.... Brody was there and has a brief recap.

Thanks Mary!

What a day. I'm pretty tired from last night's gig. And then this happens...

As kind of a joke I left the following comment on a MNSpeak thread this morning:

How has a music thread this long, gone without mentioning the Arctic Monkeys, the Strokes, or the Libertines?...

Here's what Mary Lucia played this afternoon on the Current:

5:09pm CST: Arctic Monkeys - When the Sun Goes Down
5:13pm CST: The Strokes - Automatic Stop
5:15pm CST: The Libertines - The Boy Looked At Johnny

Coincidence? I think not... Thanks Mary, you rock!

Tapes 'n Tapes (aka Elvis vs. Elvis) live @ Hexagon Bar 4/20/06

All photos from the Tapes 'n Tapes gig here. Slideshow here.

Video footage of "Insistor" from Hexagon here.

Video footage of "Cowbell" from Hexagon here.

Isn't it required as an mp3/music blogger to report on Tapes 'n Tapes? (I believe it's commandment #4)! Yeah, I thought so...

You may have heard about the recent shakeup in local band Tapes 'n Tapes. Turns out they played a "secret" gig last night @ Hexagon Bar under the name "Elvis vs. Elivs". I was there, of course.

They opened, Erik Applewick on bass, with "Just Drums" and breezed through most of the album The Loon, closing with "Jackov's Suite". It sounded really tight... From talking with Erik after the show it looks like he'll playing the upcoming tour with TnTs... cool guy...

Do check these guys out on tour soon.

And of course, here's the mandatory mp3s (just in case you live under a rock):

mp3: Tapes 'n Tapes - Insistor
mp3: Tapes 'n Tapes - Cowbell
mp3: Tapes 'n Tapes - Omaha

More mp3s on their website.



David, I really thought you were going to guest on the trombone during this gig!???


Get this video and more at MySpace.com

Stellastarr* / The Editors live @ Fine Line 4/18/06

All photos from Stellastarr* here. Slideshow here.



All photos from Editors here. Slideshow here.

Ryan aka Engineer Fred (Art Brut review here) decided to review yet another show. He's a musical genius, here's what he wrote:

Hello all. Engineer Fred here with a review of stellastarr*/The Editors, Fine Line Music Club, Minneapolis, 4/18/06

I have to start by saying: I don't get why Stellastarr (oops, pardon me, stellastarr*) isn't huge. Collectively they have more than the average number of requisite elements to make a power pop juggernaut: Outstanding -- I mean REALLY outstanding -- hooks/songwriting (always the rarest element of pop success), distinctive vocals, HOT HOT HOT bassist, 'tight as a Scotsman's ass' live set, good personalities, etc., . . . these qualities alone should be enough to make you fork over $15 for a ticket, but for some reason, I could walk around freely tonight 'mongst the Fine Line crowd. It could be that they spent a long time between records [label politics is the culprit according to their drummer, Arthur], and consequently a long time between Twin Cities appearances, but they were certainly ready to fill the unaccustomed 2nd slot of the evening's 3 band bill.

What can I say? Stellastarr* is a favorite band of mine, and I have particularly fond memories and memorabilia from seeing them at the 7th St Entry a couple of years ago [notably after skipping some random band named "The Killers" who were their openers . . . like THEY'LL ever be any good]. Particular highlights tonight included many tracks from their first record, among them: "No Weather" and "A Million Reasons". Their most recent release was less well covered in terms of numbers but equally visited in terms of quality, "Sweet Troubled Soul" stands out as a solid entry in their catalog. "Pulp Song" and "My Coco" thought are two of the most solid songs I've heard in the past 3 years, and deserve to be high on your ITunes rankings -- tonight they were played with gusto and abandon. I can give no higher complements. Well done stellastarr*, well done.

Amusingly, it's easy to see why this band was paired with an 80's themed opener last time they came around these parts; they have many an echo of the best of the non-synth, early 80's post New Wave sound -- think a rocking version of The Faint. But tonight, I note that they're now being paired with a late 70's, early 80's Joy Division/A Certain Ratio/Television outfit [The Editors] that manages to recycle the best of all three of those acts with a spastic (thank you Tiger) twist that I find endearing because it's so well done. Stellastarr* are, to a certain extent, chameleons on record but officially qualify as "sock removers" live. Go see them. Coco. Buy their cd's. Worship their bassist.

Until next time . . .

Steve here. Thanks Ryan! I don't have a whole lot to add, except that Editors were excellent live, and super-nice,; and Amanda and I are "crazy in love, Tom Cruise style" (sorry NYC band guy)!!!

mp3: Stellastarr* - In The Walls (Acoustic)

I'm ready to die:



Do check out the photos on Flickr... they're some of the best stuff I've ever taken, "restaurant quality" for you...

P.S. Sorry, no video... I chewed up my memory card with all the photos...

Amanda

Need I say more?

Elbow / The Idle Hands live @ Quest Ascot Room 4/15/06, etc...

Photos courtesy of friend Brody who catches every show front-row center. See more on his flickr page.

All (my) photos from the Elbow gig here. Slideshow here.

I had a pretty nice weekend. Watched a lot of Twins/Yankees. Saturday I headed to Quest Ascot Room (arguably still the worst live concert venue in MN) to catch Elbow with local opening band The Idle Hands (MySpace). Unfortunately I missed TIHs, but from what people told me, they rocked; hard. Catch you guys next time! Elbow sounded excellent and delivered an outstanding set. Even the light-show (strobes) were impressive (perhaps a bit blinding though). Here's the set-list:



mp3: Elbow -Station Approach

In other news:

> I'm slacking... I missed YYY's Sunday gig @ First Avenue. Chris wrote a review for the Strib. I also missed South and Voxtrot (at different venues) last night. Perfect Porridge has a review of the Voxtrot gig, as well as an interesting post on ear-plugs and the live rock 'n' roll experience.

> HowWasTheShow posted their review of last week's Strokes show.

> Do check out Jack White's Coke commerical.

> If this seems like a hurried post, rest assured, it is!

Gotta' go, I should Coco. I'm off to catch Editors / Stellastarr* tonight... Wear your ear-plugs kids!

- Steve

The Living Blue live @ Turf Club 4/12/06, etc...

Whoops, wrong picture... That one is just for Lizzy!

Here's the picture I really wanted to post:



All photos from the The Living Blue gig here. Slideshow here.

What do you do the evening after seing The Strokes in front of thousands of crazed fans? You head to the Turf Club and watch an up-and-coming band called The Living Blue, of course!

I was really only vaguely familiar with the band until yesterday. I then heard them perform a live-in-studio set on The Current yesterday afternoon, which sounded really good, and was actually really funny. I wish it were up on The Current's website... After the interview I did a little research and found out they're on one of my favorite record labels of late, MintyFresh, from Chicago. I liked what I found... Champagne, Illinois' TLB reminds me quite a bit of The Hiss, which sounds like Southern-rock meets Oasis. That was enough for me...

Local blog PerfectPorridge already did a nice review of the gig. Just a couple of things to add...

Yes, he's absolutely right, the place was rather empty. 25 people might be an overstatement; that's what happens though, when Soul Asylum is debuting new material at The Fine Line for a sold-out gig the same night.

The band really rocked out! The volume @ Turf Club was unbelievably high. Even with ear-plugs my ears were ringing after the gig...

Best part of the show, and actually for the whole evening: These two really hot (and I mean HOT) lesbians were making out througout the whole show in a booth right by the stage! It was a beautiful sight... tough to keep my eyes on the band, actually. It kind of looked like this:



Except, of course, that they were dressed and not laying in bed...

Back to the band though. They were really good live and very nice guys. They'll be releasing a new album this summer, so stay tuned. Here's a couple of mp3s for you:

mp3: The Living Blue - Serrated Friend
mp3: The Living Blue - Tell Me Leza

Other Band Info:
Official site
MySpace
MintyFresh

In non-music news. Today was the first really warm and nice day in Minneapolis/St. Paul. I think we topped out around 80 degrees! You know what that means; yes, I'm starting my training for the Tour de France again... Just call me Lance from now on, actually... Seriously though, it was really nice to get out and do some biking this evening... I live right by Long Lake (one of the 10,000 lakes here in MN) with some really nice trails. Here's a picture I took tonight:



See, I can do non-rock 'n' roll photos as well... More nature images from tonight's biking trip on Flickr.

And when I think of spring/summer and nice weather, I think of this tune:

mp3: The Polyphonic Spree - It's The Sun

I'm done for a couple of days. I'm off to enjoy the nice weather and to watch some baseball (Yankees/Twins) starting tomorrow... Have a great weekend!

Keep it real,
Steve

P.S. Go check out Scatter o' Light! C sent me some blog love today. Her site is a daily read for me. The band below better "kill" at Roseland Ballroom or I'm toast ;)...



P.P.S. Ok, ok, ok... You want more pictures of girls making out? Here you go.

The Strokes / Eagles of Death Metal live @ Orpheum Theater 4/11/06

All photos from the Strokes gig here. Slideshow here. Video here.

Rock 'n' Roll month continues. Yesterday it was The Strokes and Eagles of Death Metal at the Orpheum Theater.

Brian and I loved the show! I could write a rather lenghty review of the gig. However, this Stereogum review with great pictures sums it up nicely and saves me a lot of work (and time).

The Strokes fucking rock.

The Set List:

Heart In a cage
Red light
Juicebox
The end has no end
12:51
You only live once
Ize of the world
Electricityscape
Soma
Alone together
Someday
Last nite
Hard to explain
Trying your luck
Barely legal
Ask me anything
Vision of division
Reptilia
============
The modern age (joined by Josh Homme)
NYC cops
Take it or leave it (joined by Jesse Hughes)

Update: Chris wrote a review for the Strib.

P.S. The gig was almost as good as last time I saw them @ First Avenue in 2004. Primarily because of the venue. Here's the Filter review of that show.

Strokes

Words and multi-media content to come next post. I have get some sleep...

Metric / The Elected live @ First Avenue 4/10/06

All photos from the Metric gig here. Slideshow here. Video here.

"Emily Haines is a goddess".

That is all. See you @ The Strokes Tuesday!

Arctic Monkeys / We Are Scientists tour

Tourdates here.

Most of these went on sale today, 4/10/06. Still no Minneapolis date in sight...

Update: Apparently only some of the shows are with We Are Scientists. Check ticketmaster for more info.

Start Wearing Purple! Gogol Bordello live @ Fine Line 4/7/06

All photos from the Gogol Bordello gig here. Slideshow here. Video here.

Is Gogol Bordello a band, or a cult?! After the events witnessed live @ Fine Line Music Cafe on Friday, I'd say they're a little bit of both.

I didn't see either of the opening bands. I arrived there pretty late (~11:00pm), actually being very lucky to still score a ticket... they had 5 (!) tickets left when I purchased mine. Fine Line was absolutely packed for this soon to be sold-out gig.

Gogol Bordello came on around 11:15pm and the crowd went absolutely ape-shit. Did I mention people in the audience brought their own instruments (tambourines, other percussion instruments)? Never seen that before...

The band soared through most of the selections from their excellent album Gypsy Punks Underdog World Strike. Gogol is definitely not just about the music... it's the whole live experience and stage presentation... Absolutely nuts, I should say. Band members AND audience members were crowd surfing, drinks were flying, people were dancing... now that's what I call rock 'n' roll!

"Insanity" is probably the best term to use to sum up the show. An "Ukranian wedding totally gone haywire" would be another... And I didn't even mind the really bad BO in the place.

They didn't say more than 3 words to the audience, but their message "Think Locally, Fuck Globally" came across loud and clear. DO check them out if they come to a town near you!

mp3: Gogol Bordello - Start Wearing Purple

Gogol Bordello Website
Gogol Bordello on MySpace
Gogol Bordello on YouTube

And all my writing above is really useless to sum up the show (as usual). Check out yet another really low-fi video I took at the show for the REAL live experience. I was getting bounced around pretty well while trying to film this... hard work, I tell you, just for you readers...



Did I mention, one of the girls in the band climbed a drum in the middle of the crowd during one of the encores? Check the pictures for more details. Absolutely crazy...

See you @ Metric Monday! Hopefully it won't be cancelled!???

Steve

Adidas1 Picture

I updated the DJ's profile picture, per his request. He's hoping this will lead to some action with Girl Friday!

BTW: Remind you of a certain album cover?

Cribs / Nine Black Alps / Giant Drag Cancelled!

Unfortunately tonight's Cribs / Nine Black Alps / Giant Drag gig @ 400 bar is cancelled!

I'm bummed, that's the 2nd time Cribs have cancelled on me...

The person who booked this gig might want to try to stay off the crack!? Turns out Nine Black Alps is playing in Colmbus, OH tonight!? The Cribs are playing in Camden, NJ. Giant Drag seems to be somewhere in the UK...

All I can say is WTF! I'm pretty pissed...

Contact 400 bar for more details.

Mates of State - live 4/5/06

I'm not really a big Mates of State fan, however, just came across this today...

Chuck over @ MNStories posted an amazing video of Mates of State performing "Goods" live @ Varsity Theatre 4/5/06. It features some pretty funny commentary as well as a really cute backup dancer. Check it out.

You can also stream Mates of State's Current live-in-studio appearance.

Mates of State on MySpace.

The Wrong Way To Be

Did you know (imagine NBC promo), most bloggers are internet addicts!? Yes, when we're not busy posting stuff for readers, we're actually reading other people's blogs. Yes, I know, serious problem(s)...

Here's what's going on:

> As you may have noticed in my last post, I have a MySpace page now (yes, I've "whored out" completely). I'm not really sure what I'm doing on there yet... however, please visit, be my friend, be my enemy, drop me a comment, whatever...

> I updated my blog-roll on the right side... I really hate doing it, as it makes me feel like I'm at work. Any blogs / sites I should add? Let me know...

> Today, "rock 'n' roll month" really kicks off. Here's what I'm going to in the next few days:

Fri 4/7/06: Gogol Bordello
Sat 4/8/06: The Cribs / Nine Black Alps / Giant Drag
Sunday: -- Rest (recover from 2-day hangover)-- Watch "Sopranos"
Mon 4/10/06: Metric
Tue 4/11/06: The Strokes / Eagles of Death Metal

Look for lots of pictures and perhaps commentary and even video soon...

> You can also find me on the interweb @ Flickr, YouTube, Pandora, and Last.fm. It's getting out-of-hand trying to keep all these "profiles" under control...

> Check out the great local blog Perfect Porridge. It's great, and I'm sick of being the only guy commenting...

> Hmmm... almost forgot. Actually, I wasn't planning on going to see The Strokes next week. However, ebay presented me with an opportunity that was too good to turn down. 16th row, main floor, baby! Yes, Brian (Adidas1) & I are going. Anybody else (bloggers) going? Lemmeknow... we should meet up for a drink before-hand (or after)...

> To get you in the mood for the weekend. I think this tune does it right (and yes, feel free to dance like crazy):

mp3: The Cribs - The Wrong Way To Be

Think Locally Fuck Globally,
Steve

P.S. Check out Solace's updated concert calendar; just added (among others):

05/07: Brian Jonestown Massacre/ Tapes 'n Tapes
05/11: The Subways

You DiG!???

P.P.S. This is funny ESPN:

Happy Birthday Sis!

Just wanted to wish my sister Victoria, aka Queenvick, a very Happy Birthday! Yes, she loves chocolate...

Here's a video filmed last November (by Tommy), of my sister performing "99 Luftballons" karaoke-style with friend Veronika in a bar somewhere in LA. From the video (Victoria is on the right) you can see she's quite the poddy-mouth sometimes! Naughty, naughty, naughty...



Ha ha! Sorry the audio and video quality isn't better (it also seems to have some synching problems)... but you get the point. A couple of other people might just recognize themselves as well...

Sis, you didn't expect any less out of me, right!? Miss you, love you!

You can also wish her a Happy Birthday on her MySpace page.

Steve

Misc

A few interesting things I came across:

> One of my friends left me a message: "Where can I download the NPR Arctic Monkeys DC performance as mp3s"? That would be here.

> Speaking of NPR... You can download (or stream) the YYY's full 4/3/06 DC performance.

> m3 online has the new Futurheads tune "Skip To The End".

> Homeland security is really keeping an eye on our kids. Thanks!?

> Here's the Wikipedia entry on where I live.

> Related: Wikipedia entry on mp3 blogs.

> Gnarls Barkley is "Crazy" (good). MySpace here.

> Boobs should be ok.

> I'm going to order the book "The Zombie Survival Guide" from Amazon because I've often wondered about:

Top 10 Lessons for Surviving a Zombie Attack:

1. Organize before they rise!
2. They feel no fear, why should you?
3. Use your head: cut off theirs.
4. Blades don’t need reloading.
5. Ideal protection = tight clothes, short hair.
6. Get up the staircase, then destroy it.
7. Get out of the car, get onto the bike.
8. Keep moving, keep low, keep quiet, keep alert!
9. No place is safe, only safer.
10. The zombie may be gone, but the threat lives on.

> I love this tune:

mp3: Ghostface Killah - Shakey Dog

Peace my friends,
Steve

Help The Aged - Jarvis & Ali G / Kanye

Miss Valerie posted dis link on monday and it made my day. i ope it will make your weekend. cause' it's classic...



And you can't go wrong with this:



Don't play both videos at the same time...

Cheers!
"Evil ka" Steve