A crazy motherfu*ker....

You wanna' know what it's like to see Ice Cube, Diamond Nights, and Priestess all in the same night?! Stay tuned... words and multi-media to come next post...

It was a good day,
- Steve

P.S. Ok, I'll give you one more sneak-peak picture:

False Alarm

Let's take a little break from the internet's most hyped bands for a second. Check out this tune, it's been on constant repeat for me lately:

mp3: KT Tunstall - False Alarm (highly recommended!)

Reminds me (this tune) a bit of Emily Haines from Metric... equally as good/great. Check out the rest of her album as KT is definitely very talented...

KT Tunstall Website
KT Tunstall MySpace
Amazon: KT Tunstall - Eye To The Telescope

Plus, she's cute! What more do you need!?

- Steve

Dirty Pretty Things - Waterloo To Anywhere

You know by now I love(d) The Libertines, right? Kind of shocking I didn't notice this until today...

You can stream Dirty Pretty Things' new album Waterloo To Anywhere in its entirety on NME. Registration is required, but if you'd rather not, can easily be bypassed by BugMeNot:

My NME Username: superextragrav
Password: superextragrav1

The album drops in the UK on May 8th. I've read conflicting reports regarding the US release date. From the couple of times I've listened to it, I "fucking love it". NME does too.

mp3: Dirty Pretty Things - Bang Bang You're Dead
mp3: Dirty Pretty Things - You Fucking Love It

Also, the French Blog Special things // Special Songs has a full Dirty Pretty Things concert bootleg in downloadable mp3s. See, you can even practice your high-school level French reading skills a bit today...

Dirty Pretty Things Website
Dirty Pretty Things MySpace
Amazon: Dirty Pretty Things - Waterloo To Anywhere

Enjoy,
Steve

Ladyflash

Missed the fantastic, booty shaking, Go! Team performance at Coachella Sunday night? I love YouTube:



Make sure you watch the whole video for some serious Ninja dancing action!

More 2006 Coachella performances here.

YouTube Related: Colbert Roast here.

- Steve

Briefly

I had a great weekend. Here are a couple of my favorite photos:


My sister Victoria visited from LA and stayed at my house. Her living quarters for the weekend were clearly marked... Miss ya' already Sis!


My little niece Rayna had her baptism yesterday. Sooo cute... Congratulations! Pictured here with Grandma.

Gotta' go... watching/streaming the end of Coachella at the moment... The Go! Team just kicked some serious booty!

More words and possibly even music content to come later. Have a geat Monday!

- Steve

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

Hey, whadup?

Ok, people, now that the Rock 'n' Roll star put me on his blog, an honor to be sure, I've got think of something to say, which is far more difficult than shooting one's mouth off on other blogs or websites, which I have been known to do. I think that the R'n'R Star urged me to start contributing here because foremost, we are close friends and have known each other for many years, but also because I think he is seeking the presence of a different point of view on his site. As he mentioned to me a few weeks ago, the indie-rock world can begin to sound like an echo chamber at times with many people saying the same things about the same bands and so on. Rest assured, that will not be a problem here. Rather, I hope to make a fresh and interesting contribution to this blog through the free exchange of ideas with you all, and hopefully learn something in the process. That's it for now. Have a nice evening.

Stay off the crack! Art Brut @ 7th Street Entry 3/28/06

All photos from the Art Brut gig here. Slideshow here.

For a change we have words, audio, and visual... the complete interweb package for you! And even better, I'm not the one reviewing the show. We have a guest reviewer, my great friend Ryan, aka Anglophiliac:

Hello all.

The Rock'n'roll Star has offered me the distinct honor of "guest reviewer" for Art Brut, 3/28, Minneapolis, MN, 7th St Entry.

Let me start by saying I came to Art Brut with several conflicting ideas in my head. I was an early AB adopter, being an NME.com zombie, but their CD didn't exactly put me over the moon. I actually liked the wacky art design and impossibly complex color-the-squares insert more than Eddie Argos' shout-sing lyrics. But their driving guitars and amusing subject matter were irresistable and eventually won me over.

The quick verdict on the show: Excellent. (On my personal scale, "excellent" falls below "outstanding" (Arctic Monkeys, 3/18/06; Walt Mink, 6/05) and above "good" (Electric Six, 3/24/06), while "average", "poor" and "Dandy Warhols live" complete the rest of the downward rankings.) They opened, appropriately enough, with "Formed A Band" which operated as a theme for the rest of the show as Eddie exhorted the members of the audience to form their own bands. Maybe I will, Eddie, maybe I won't . . . Can you have a band where the leader plays only the stereo? But I digress . . .

Their energy and enthusiasm were top-drawer. **Rule of a good show: At some point in time, every member of the band is smiling.** Ian with his hair-homage to The Cure was crisp and efficient, and Jasper with his new-wave skinny tie con turned-up collar made effective energetic bookends for Eddie's sock-footed antics. Standout tracks included "Moving To LA", the crowd interactive "Modern Art", and the tour-de-force of "Emily Kane" and "Bad Weekend". Even the obligatory b-side and new track were good. This is a band that knows what it's about. I wasn't annoyed like I would have been by virtually any other band that self-referenced in every song, nor was I wishing they would 'change it up' and offer us a longer track or acoustic number -- I liked every two-minute burst of energy as delivered. These guys and gal have obviously done their homework. They owe equal parts of their songwriting to the jangly Kinks of the mid-sixties "Good Weekend", and the self-indulgent, smirking of The Who, circa 1976, "Rusted Guns Of Milan" sprinkled with [insert your favorite punk band here] of the late 70's. While my musical universe wasn't expanded, my live show jones was well satisfied and my $10 was in no way wasted. Go see Art Brut (and, according to Eddie, form a band . . . ).

My thanks to Steve for the guest reviewer slot - especially since he was standing right next to me for the whole show and almost took an elbow to the nose for the team (from one of the pungent grungettas dancing in front of us). Look for more of my philosophical/musical ramblings as often as he'll let me contribute.

Regards

The Anglophiliac

Ryan, I mean Anglophiliac, love your review, thanks! I love my friends... Did we mention it was an AA gig and we couldn't even drink in there? Crazy...

Just a couple of other things I'd like to mention:

Solace it was nice to meet you! You rule! Brody... you can see your head well represented in the YouTube video.

'Twas a great show! The highlight for me was "Modern Art" when lead-singer-dude jumped in the crowd (see pictures). 2nd highlight was talking Deutsch to some of the band members after the show... classic; it scared some people around me...

mp3: Art Brut - Modern Art

And here's a video I filmed at the show "Emily Kane" (sorry about the sound quality)... Still pretty cool I think:



Anything to add? Let me know in the comments!

Prost!

Steve

P.S. "Dandy Warhols bad"... LOL Ryan! Classic...

P.P.S. Set-list below:

Adidas1

Soooo, not that my blog needs help or anything, I've recruited perhaps the most talented music phenom in the Twin Cities! His name is Brian, blogger name Adidas1. He's the guy responsible for getting me into Tom Waits, Frank Sinatra, Oasis, Blur, The Strokes, the Libertines, 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., just to name a few... In short, the good shit!

Luckily I didn't have to look to far, as Brian is my roommate. You thought I was into music? Multiply that times 10 for Brian; he's very active and outspoken on The Current Forum and MN Speak (yes Solace, he's my roommate).

He'll introduce himself. His music will be totally different from mine, namely NO indie-rock. He loves the Arctic Monkeys though (or the 2nd coming of Christ, as we call it).

I can't leave you without an Oasis quote:

"Nothing bothers me more than when groups like Pearl Jam and Nirvana whine and moan and complain about life and being famous. Let me tell you, being famous is great! The feeling when someone asks you for an autograph, unbelieveable! I just think Americans are tired of people telling them how crap their lives are. I think when people listen to our music, we tell them how good their lives could be. I guess I just can't understand the thoughts of Eddie Vedder or that whole bit... I mean, lad, if you hate your job so much, why don't you fuckin' go work at a car wash or McDonald's or something?"

-- Noel Gallagher

I couldn't agree more. To be fair... I posted this quote on C's blog comment section. Her blog is absolutely awesome, check it!

Skinny boy

Still trying to catch up with my blogroll since returning from Chicago... Here's some cool stuff I found this week:

> Arctic Monkeys' 3/27/06, live performance from DC will be broadcast live on NPR.

> NPR also has a feature on Spinto Band, who I saw open for Arctic Monkeys.

> More related Arctic Monkeys news... In case you missed my Chicago live review, it's here. Another local blogger, Brianna, was at the Chicago show as well, here's her recap. Check it out. Also, Jim Walsh claims there's an Art Brut/Arctic Monkeys feud. Hmmm, I wasn't aware of that one... He's right regarding the 'Monkeys though.

> What would happen if Triumph (The Comic Insult Dog) joined the Pogues? They'd be called Gogol Bordello (MySpace) of course! A Live performance (2 songs) from Jimmy Kimmel are here. Looking forward to catching them @ Fine Line soon...

> Be The Boy posted awesome videos of The Replacements (1981 in the Entry) and Hüsker Dü on the Joan Rivers show. Via the Drunkard.

> MN Stories has video of The Strokes joined by Har Mar Superstar from SxSW.

> Since I did a pretty big post on all the local acts who played @ SxSW this year. Here's the Stribs review on how they fared in Austin.

> I love the new Amy Millan (lead singer of Stars) tune. You can download it legally here. On MySpace you can sample an additional tune as well.

> Towers of London are fucking crazy. They rock a bit too hard... Here's a review from last week in NYC. Ouch!

> The Current: "You damn kids with your drinking and your drugs..." made me laugh.

> Forget about Pete; at least until he gets out of jail and re-unites with Carl (or dies, unfortunately). Carl's new band, Dirty Pretty Things, absolutely rocks. Check it out on their site and on MySpace. Some other new tunes are also on the interweb...

> I think I'm going to close each post with an Oasis quote from now on:

On God:

"If a guy suddenly appears before me with a big beard and locks and all that caper and performed some f***ing miracle, and then said to me, 'Liam, I am God'I'd say, 'Fair enough, it's a fair cop. I didn't believe in you but fair play, you've got me.' But until that day comes he can f*** right off."

-- Liam Gallagher

Congrats!

Congratulations to my buddy Marty and wife Laura who had a healthy baby boy last Friday in Milwaukee!

Introducing Doak David, 7 lbs, 0 oz. Born March 17, 2006 7:53pm.

Doak will have an additional excuse to party it up every St. Patrick's Day!

Arctic Monkeys live @ Chicago Metro 3/18/06

All photos from the Arctic Monkeys gig here. Slideshow here.

Well, the big question was: Will they live up to the hype? The answer: Yes, they certainly did.. they absolutely fucking rocked! What a show... here's a brief recap for you.

I had traveled 400 miles for this gig; Minneapolis to Chicago. Last time I was in the windy city for a great gig, was Oasis in 1998. I had high expectations for the events to come Saturday... My friends and I had done some sight-seeing at Navy Pier in the afternoon. The Ferris Wheel was actually a bit scary. After a brief and early dinner we headed back to our hotel and prepared for the show by having a few drinks in the hotel lounge. Around 6:30pm we took a cab over to the Metro. Upon arriving, we checked out set-times: Spinto Band (the opening band) 7:15pm - 7:45pm, Arctic Monkeys 8:15pm - 9:15pm. Security @ Metro sucked... complete strip-search and absolutely no cameras allowed! Before heading in, I quickly sold me 2 extra tickets to a couple of cute girls, and tucked my camera into my sock (yes, sock!). Luckily they did not detect the camera (but me leg was in pain) and we were ready for the show...

A couple of observations about the Metro. Wow, it's really small! About 1/2 the size of First Avenue... Metro looks and feels like a really small theater (pretty good sight-lines and acoustics). When we walked in, Spinto Band had just started their set. They put on a pretty solid musical performance (I like their album quite a bit). Stage presence was another matter... They also had a couple of technical issues, mainly the bass player breaking a string which took a couple of songs to change. All in all though, a pretty decent warm-up band. Sorry I have no pictures of them, it was too risky, security was super-tight...

Punctually @ 8:15pm the lights went out, the following tune started pumping on the stereo, and the Arctic Monkeys walked out.

mp3: WarrenG - Regulate



Definitely a very funny and cool way to start the show. The bass was pumpin'! The band launched straight into "View From the Afternoon" and the crowd went absolutely ape-shit. I was getting doused in liquids from the balcony. Yep, that's rock 'n roll for you... Next tune "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" the energy didn't let up... Needless to say it stayed like that most of the gig. They tore through pretty much their whole album (they didn't play "Riot Van"). Highlights included "From The Ritz To The Rubble", "Perhaps Vampires...", "When The Sun Goes Down", "Mardy Bum", and "A Certain Romance" (which they closed with). The band even played a new non-album track "Leave Before The Lights Go On". This one didn't go as smoothly as they had to re-start the track as Alex's guitar went out of tune mid-song...

Stage presence-wise I had heard some not-so-good things about these guys. I was pleasantly surpised however. I thought they did great in that regard and looked very cool; they were moving all around the stage. Even chatting in between songs (sometimes with the crowd). Some of the small talk was a bit tough to understand though... (think Gallagher boys). And I'm pretty well versed in "Brit Speak"...

As mentioned above the Arctic Monkeys concluded the evening with "A Certain Romance". 60 minutes of pure rock 'n roll joy! No encores; none were needed in my opinion.

Minneapolis and many other cities were well represented at the gig. The lead singer even pointed out (and spoke about) some crazy people dancing from Minneapolis! Yep, of course some people I knew...

To summarize, great show. Well worth traveling 400 miles for.

The band looked and sounded almost exactly like this and this. From SxSW the night before...

Next live gig for me... I'll see you @ Art Brut in the 7th Street Entry 3/28/06!

Related Arctic Monkeys links:

Website
MySpace
Amazon: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not
Arctic Monkeys on SNL 3/11/06
Arctic Monkeys on YouTube

The rest of the Chicago pictures and stories to come tomorrow.

P.S. Meadow is all grown up. (NSFW)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I'm off to Chicago today! Here are a few tunes I hope to hear on Friday:

mp3: The Pogues - Turkish Song of the Damned
mp3: The Pogues - If I Should Fall from Grace With God
mp3: The Pogues - Fiesta
mp3: The Pogues - Fairytale of New York

I should go pack some stuff now. Be safe!

I miss Pussy!

Really only two things that are important this week:

1) A certain British band is on Saturday Night Live this Saturday.

2) Sopranos 6th season kicks off this Sunday.



Here are a few tunes I really like which have appeared on the show:

mp3: Alabama 3 - Woke Up This Morning (Chosen One Mix)
mp3: Andrea Bocelli - Con Te Partiro
mp3: Frank Sinatra - It Was A Very Good Year
mp3: Police & Henry Mancini - Every Breath You Take / Theme From Peter Gunn (Mr. Ruggerio's Remix)
mp3: Cake - Frank Sinatra
mp3: Cecilia Bartoli - Vivaldi - Sposa Son Disprezzata
mp3: Van Morrison - Gloria
mp3: R.L. Burnside - It's Bad You Know
mp3: Dominic Chianese - Core 'ngrato

Bonus track:

mp3: Sopranos - Dialogue

All are highly recommended!

Who will get whacked this season? Cast list here. Any predictions? I don't think Vito will make it too long...

Quote from one of my favorite episodes:

Episode 37: "Pine Barrens"
Paulie: Don’t make me pull rank on you kid.
Christopher: Fuck you, Paulie. Captain or no Captain, right now we are just two assholes lost in the woods.

Wow, I had forgotten how good the soundtracks were (it was extremely difficult to choose the tunes above)... Here are the Sopranos Soundtracks on Amazon:
The Sopranos: Music From The HBO Original Series
The Sopranos - Peppers and Eggs: Music from the HBO Series

Some other things of interest:

My assignment for you this week: Download and start using Skype. It'll blow your mind. Look me up, call me!

Sigur Ros Orpheum tickets go on sale this Saturday. The next Pink Floyd/Radiohead?! I think so...

mp3: Sigur Ros - Glosoli

Another Quote:
Episode 1: "The Sopranos"
Dr. Melfi: What kind of work are you in?
Tony: Waste management consultant.

More quotes here...

I may just go tonight... The Idle Hands @ Uptown Bar. I really like their tune "loaded" on MySpace.

Have a great weekend! I'll be dog-cat sitting for my Mom...

When the levee breaks

So it's been a while since I've updated. I could use the excuse that I'm going for quality not quantity... but, judging by my posts I don't think I can use that one...

Well, here's what's new (categorized for a change, coz' there's quite a bit):

PERSONAL

I'm getting quite excited for my Chicago trip to see the Arctic Monkeys 3/18/06 @ the Metro. I just finalized flight and lodging with my friends tonight. Looks like we'll be staying at the Swissotel right on Lake Michigan from Friday until Monday. 4 star hotel, should be a great time. Did I mention I have 1-2 extra tickets? Ha ha, I think I'll make some $$$ on these (just check ebay at the moment). Anybody else going?

After working on this for the past year... I finally finished my upstairs remodeling project! The "carpet people" just came in yesterday morning to measure, and new carpeting is set to go in next week (or so).

I forgot to tell you previously... I had a bit of bad luck with both of my last two electronic purchases. First I had to return my Ipod because the battery totally died. Luckily the exchange was no problem, and the new one works beautifully. After that I had to return my Dell notebook because it had some dead pixels on the screen... I had read a lot of bad things about Dell's customer service. However, I thought it was exceptional. They apologized to me profously and sent me a new system right away. They then picked up the old system for free via UPS and that was that... I highly recommend Dell to anyone (and this new notebook is awesome)!

September 9th my buddies Jan and Nina are getting married in Braunschweig, Germany. And I'm in the wedding as best man... Looking forward to traveling back to the home continent in September....

Have I been to any concerts/shows since BRMC? Nope... man, I've been quite the homebody. March will change all that...

My parents are in the middle of a divorce. Hang in there Mom and Dad! I probably shouldn't talk about that on here, so 'nuf on that...

My little niece Rayna is doing great at 3 weeks old. She's busy doing what babies do best. Eating, sleeping, crying, and dirtying diapers. Ahhhh, the life!

Things are also going great with my new roommate (and doggie roommate)... The dogs are definitely buddies in crime (but oh so cute).

For more personal news please consult Mr. G. W. Bush as he probably has a "surveilance" tape on me.

TV

I don't really watch a whole lot of TV. But, a few shows I like the past few weeks:

a) The Office. Just keeps on improving...
b) The Shield. A lot better already than last season.
c) Real Time With Bill Maher. Classic, every week.
d) Lost. I've only seen about 5 episodes, but I think I'm getting addicted. The series pilot last week really opened my eyes. Plus in another episode, they explained why the fat guy hasn't lost any weight... And the hot woman is actually the prisoner... That's about all I know so far. I guess I'll have to rent the DVDs to find out more.
e) Survivor. Coz' I love watching the guy who quit smoking 2 packs a day, cold-turkey. Plus, I think there's at least one hot girl on there right?
f) Most importantly, The Sopranos are back 3/12/06! Any bets on who will get whacked???

MUSIC

Here's what I've enjoyed listening to lately:

Youth Group - Skeleton Jar



I really love this album. Perhaps it's because it reminds me so much of James. Great power rock/pop! Did you know this is also an Australian side-project by the bassist in the Vines? Either way, I highly recommend checking them out.

mp3: Youth Group - Shadowland
mp3: Youth Group - Skeleton Jar
mp3: Youth Group - Drowned
mp3: Youth Group - See-Saw

Bonus: head over to the excellent Come Pick Me Up for the amazing cover tune of Youth Group doing "Forever Young" (as well as some other great songs).

Youth Group Website
Youth Group MySpace

Mylo - Destroy Rock & Roll



Perhaps the most fun electronic record since any of Daft Punk's albums. I think it's been pretty much covered by other bloggers... still, it's such a great record I absolutely had to mention it. I think pretty much anybody will enjoy this album, even you Sufjan and Ryan Adams fans...

mp3: Mylo - Muscle Cars
mp3: Mylo - Drop The Pressure
mp3: Mylo - Destroy Rock & Roll
mp3: Mylo - Need You Tonite

Mylo Website

Clearlake - Amber



In my mind this may be the next "big band" to come out of Britain. Very infectious Brit pop, heavily influenced by early Blur, as well as Pulp, Doves, and others. One tune even sounds a bit like Kasabian to me. Anyway, highly recommended, check it out.

mp3: Clearlake - No Kind Of Life
mp3: Clearlake - It's Getting Light Ouside
mp3: Clearlake - Good Clean Fun
mp3: Clearlake - Here To Learn

Clearlake Website
Clearlake MySpace

Sergio Mendes - Timeless



I'm lazy, therefore I'll let Amazon do the talking on this one:

"Timeless is the magnificent new album by the legendary Sergio Mendes. Produced by and featuring Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas, this album is a wholly original synthesis of music from the man who--40 years ago--brought Brazil 66 and "Mas Que Nada" to the world. Timeless beautifully blends the urban culture of Brazil, samba and bossa nova with the urban culture of America, hip hop and rap, the results of which are truly spectacular. "

Couldn't have said it better myself...

mp3: The Black Eyed Peas - Mas Que Nada (Mah-sh Keh Nah-da)
mp3: John Legend - Please Baby Don’t
mp3: India.Arie - Timeless
mp3: Black Thought of The Roots, Chali 2na of Jurassic 5, Debi Nova & will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas - Yes, Yes Y’All

Sergio Mendes Discography

VIDEO

My roommate's favorite video at the moment:



I'm out of time unfortunately...

Don't forget the World Baseball Classic, a.k.a. the "real" World Series has begun. Have a geat weekend and enjoy the Oscars!

P.S. Mark your calendars: Arctic Monkeys on SNL, 3/11/06.

P.P.S. Even JW wrote an inspiring story on the AMs.

P.P.P.S. This link is mandatory for all the guys (and girls who are into it). OK, I'm done now...