What We Keep

Turkey day came and went, and then came the numerous ways to use up leftover turkey. Turkey chili, turkey sandwiches-- frankly, I'm all turkeyed out. The only thing I want to do now is take a nap. Oh, and catch up on my Weeds.

Last Monday was the season finale and everything is changing for my favorite drug-dealing soccer mom, Nancy Botwin. If you haven't seen the finale yet, or you like your TV on DVD, I won't spoil it for you. But I would like to add that a really great song called, "Keepsake" was played during this episode, and it's by State Radio, a band fronted by the former singer of Dispatch. I haven't heard the rest of this EP, but if Keepsake is any indication of what the rest of the album sounds like, then it shouldn't be missed.

State Radio- Keepsake (link expired)

(Buy the Peace Between Nations EP)

Get the first two seasons of Weeds on DVD here.

Richard Hawley, let's hug it out.

Just bought my ticket for the Richard Hawley show which is coming up fast.

Big plans to sway in sea of self-pity. I sense tissues will be needed. Liquor might be involved.

Hawley just gets me.

See you there, December 1st!

Mary Says She's "Just Fine"

So I like what I see when I'm lookin' at me when I'm walkin' pass the mirror.
Ain't worry about you and what you're going do, so my ladies, you gotta stay classy.

Mary J. is killing it. Oh my goodness-- I found my new motivational song. I just heard this tonight on the American Music Awards. I love all music- Top 40 included, and the highlights of the show included Alicia Keys' jamming reggae inspired performance of "No One," the return of Duran Duran, and Miss Blige sporting this short, early 90s looking haircut. I kind of love it. I was afraid her limitless optimism would tire out, but she reinvents herself once again on this track. I am inspired. Almost enough to put on everything in my closet and do her funky posing at the mirror.

Stay classy!

Malajube//Die Romantik//The Epochs at Bowery Ballroom, 11.15.07

Thursday evening was spent at the Malajube show. You all know I love my Canadian bands. Love 'em. This sounds weird, but the fact that there was a coat check made me a little sad. If you have a coat to check, then it must be cold outside. :( Autumn nearly over.

I feel for opening bands, because you have the hard core fans and then the people who need to be won over, and I tend to be on the edge most of the time. I'm harder to win over nowadays since I started wearing earplugs. Although I fully endorse not going prematurely deaf, earplugs are a nuisance... I mean, I wear them, but I just don't get the same sensory experience.
Still, they're quite smart if you go to a lot of shows, and find yourself yelling at your friends and family a lot. "WHAT?? NO, THIS IS MY NORMAL VOICE!!" Time to get earplugs, my friends.

The Epochs



I was particularly interested in hearing Die Romantik for the first time because there's a song on their myspace page I love called "One Thought is Flickering". They have a dark charm, like a group of marionettes climbing out of a toybox to play. But you know, less creepy, and way more entertaining. The elaborate lighting was a plus too. Kudos to their stagehands for working the lights.

Sorry for the poor angle. You can't tell from this photo, but the keyboardist is sitting on his amp. See, I don't know if this is a normal keyboardisty thing to do, but I thought it was cool.



I always get a kick out of seeing what Malajube's Julien Mineau will wear on the stage. While setting up he was wearing a sailor outfit, and then he changed into a "Where's Waldo?" hat and glasses. The fans looked like they were having a blast. Malajube brought the house down, even though the guys were a bit under the weather. Feel better!







Malajube: Casse-cou
(Buy Trompe-l'oeil)

Have Love, Will Travel

The Danes have it.

Maybe it’s the water, or the fresh air that cultivates sweet pop fashion and music in Denmark, but anyway this is the second Danish band I’m featuring here in the last few weeks.

Moi Caprice played SXSW this year, but in an interview with Erin Young, they revealed that although they hope to sell some more albums, they have no real desire to hit the big time.

We're not the kind of people who love to be in front of a lens or love to see ourselves go crazy in music videos. It sounds really slick, but we're really in this because we love to make music; everything else seems more or less like obligatory things we have to do. And we love to do as few of these things as possible, and I have an idea that you need to do these things to make it big in this business! Our goal at the moment is somewhat different; we hope to release the album in as many countries as possible and find our small audiences all around.

In the interview, they talked extensively about one of the major themes in their music—travel.

We're all quite well travelled, we've all backpacked our way through Europe, went to the US or Asia and we all travel quite often. I think we share that feeling of excitement whenever we set foot somewhere new, or at least relatively unknown. To me this feeling is probably one of the greatest sensations in life; some of the happiest moments in my life have been those endless walks in a new city where you get lost and love it.

What a well-spoken group of guys! I completely share their sentiment on travel. Read the rest of the interview here.

And watch the video for The Town and The City.

I wouldn't mind disappearing for a while too…

Moi Caprice- The Town and The City
(Buy Art of Kissing Properly)

The Night Starts Here

Music Videos for a lazy Friday:

Stars- Take Me To The Riot

This is my favorite song from the latest Stars album. The video does not do it justice. It's a bit boring really-- a kid makes small talk with a stranger on a bus for the first minute and then wanders around a city for a bit before playing foosball and making some friends. Hmm... don't get it. Amy Millan needs to take him to the riot! You can also watch the video for The Night Starts Here from Arts & Crafts .



Gliss- Kissing The Blvd

Drummer/Bassist Victoria Cecilia directed this one. Some of it takes place in a bathroom stall. Don't know what it means, but the whole thing just oozes DIY California coolness.



Chris Brown- Wall To Wall



This video takes a page from the B-list horror flicks of the 90s, but Chris Brown can pull it off. The Air-Jordan flying is a teesny bit over the top, but hey, he's Chris Brown! I won't even chide him for choosing Artemis Fowl font for his album cover.

You know he's starring in This Christmas right? I'm so dragging my friend Liv to that movie when she comes back for Thanksgiving. I think the movie was being promoted with a singing contest where contestants had to sing either "This Christmas" or "Silent Night." The winner was a woman named Antenica N. Smith. Congrats Antenica!

The Ka-push.

Erykah Badu's The Kabah is being pushed back once again to a release date for February 29th. Bummers...

The single "Honey" will still be released later this month on November 20th so we can look forward to that. Check out the cover art-- tres sweet. She's also guest starring on an episode of Girlfriends on Monday, November 12th. Check out the CW for a short preview.

"You baaad Badu! Nobody can do Badu like you do!"

Nicole Atkins: Maybe Tonight//Love Torn

Here are some nifty videos of Nicole Atkins performing acoustic versions of "Maybe Tonight" and "War Torn" at SXSW 07'.


Nicole Atkins - Maybe Tonight (MP3.com Live)


Nicole Atkins - War Torn (MP3.com Live)


She's opening for The Pipettes on November 12th at The Blender Theatre. If you haven't seen her perform live, she and "D" band are amazing.

Nicole Atkins- Maybe Tonight (SXSW acoustic)
(Buy Neptune City)

Stop You In Your Tracks- Music of New York

There's no surprise why Susan Cagle was popular in underground music scene. Literally underground, she was a fixture in some of the major New York subway stations, playing tracks from her Subway Recordings and genuionely stopping people in their tracks with her beautiful acoustic sound. Last night she played a show at Rockwood Music Hall to a packed house, one of several shows in accordance with her residency at the venue. She brought along her sister Caroline to support her on bass.



Afterwards, my friend and I came across the Stumblebum Brass Band, playing outside in the late autumn chill. They were pretty amazing as well. I would have loved to stick around and see them wow passerbys with their Louis Armstrong inspired power brass sounds, but the cold did not agree with us.

They are available for bachelorette parties and bar mitzvahs :)