Death by Rain

After all the storming all weekend, we made a last-minute decision to head out to Littlefield yesterday to catch a pre-SXSW show of Scandinavian bands. I'd bought tickets beforehand but was ready to eat the cost if it was still pouring rain. Luckily it was not, so we headed out late to see Julie & Scott and to get face blasted by some Scandi-rock.






The Good The Bad came on - I'd never heard them before but their sound is awesome. They're like The Ventures on 'roids - all instrumental surfer rock. The lead guitarist kept clowning us, asking if we were going to dance and if they should just go home. Americans are lame, dude, sorry! We bought their LP, which is covered in naked chicks. Awesome!








I already love Casiokids but hearing them live was totally different - their sound is much bigger and they don't sound so cheap, given that their keyboards are basically children's toys. They kept switching up instruments throughout the performance - I'm pretty sure they each played every single instrument on stage, from the guitars to the drums to the keyboards. I loved how versatile they were - a really fun band to listen to and see.

They're each performing several shows at SXSW this year, including their official showcases. If you're lucky enough to be down there, I highly recommend both bands.

Tonight - live from Greenpoint

TED LEO DOES INDIE ROCK KARAOKEEEEE!

OUTFIELD - Your Love
PRINCE - Kiss
THE WHO - My Generation
KELLEY CLARKSON - Since You Been Gone
STOOGES - Search and Destroy
RAMONES - Blitzkrieg Bop
MISFITS - Where Eagles Dare
BILLY IDOL - Dancin' With Myself
AC/DC - Dirty Deeds
THE CURE - Just Like Heaven
THE CLASH - Rock the Casbah
BOWIE AND QUEEN - Under Pressure
JOY DIVISION - Transmission
YEAH YEAH YEAHS - Maps
SAINTS - Stranded
ARETHA FRANKLIN - Respect
BLONDIE - Dreaming
BRUCE SPRINGSTEIN - Dancin' in the Dark
BRUCE SPRINGSTEIN - Born in the USA
STIFF LITTLE FINGERS - Suspect Device
MINOR THREAT - Minor Threat
CREDENCE - Fortunate Son
AMERIE - One Thing
STEELY DAN - Reelin' in the Years
SANTOGOLD - LES Artistes
THE KINGSMEN - Louie Louie

I'm pretty sure the "indie rock" refers to Mr. Leo and not the song choices. Ryan and I are going and will have a Colombian or PR dinner beforehand. Excited excited excited.

Tickets are $20 plus service charge and include a one-year sub to NY Mag. This is going down tonight at Studio B in Greenpoint (that's Brooklyn to you Manhattan-anchored peeps).

Saturday in Pictures

A double whammy: Wintuk in the morning, the Jealous Girlfriends/Asobi Seksu at night. Brunch at Bar Milano in between.

I've loved Cirque du Soleil's productions since I was a child. My brother and I would watch them on VHS over and over again and I've always wanted to see them live. This was my first time and the magic is still there after all this time. I would love to see them in Vegas one day. From start to finish, magical and beautiful.

Bar Milano is owned by the same people as 'ino and inoteca, two of our favorite Italian spots. This is the higher end version, with an extensive wine list and refined food menu. Our waitress was very knowledgeable in wines and we had a nice relaxing brunch in a cozy booth looking out into drizzly New York.

The Jealous Girlfriends started off rocking the venue. Great band from Brooklyn.

This is my second time seeing Asobi Seksu live. To tell the truth, this is the way I prefer to hear them. Their recordings don't do them justice - they've been away from touring for a long time because of a new album (dropping early next year) but don't sleep on them next time. Here they are singing "Thursday," my favorite song of theirs:

This was June 2006 at Joe's Pub, which I went to with Ryan. I'd never really listened to them before which is always kind of a dodgy situation when going to a live show but their shimmering sound was too good. It was love at first tambourine shake.

Photos from The Mars Volta @ Hammerstein Ballroom

The music: I don't normally listen to them but Alex absolutely loves this band. I bought some earplugs beforehand and they made all the difference. They are awesome live - really tight, crazy and just on it. I can see myself rocking out to them. Mind you, Alex listens to them to fall asleep.

The crowd: A lot of younger people. Mostly guys. One self-proclaimed fan of "stoner rock." A bunch of people who went to or wanted to go to Prog Nation. A few heshers. And one old couple - the woman was headbanging with her eyes closed and at one point was banging her forehead into my arm with her hands waving in adoration. Neat.

Here's some MV for your listening/viewing pleasure:

Wika wika

Ill Insanity
Originally uploaded by lazysundae

Ill Insanity (Total Eclipse, Precision, Rob Swift) at the Knitting Factory. 3 1/2 hours of crazy turntablism including Roc Raida and Excess.

Shows I've seen at KFNY:
Smoosh
Damien Jurado
Jungle Brothers & Black Sheep
Hollertronix - New Year's 2004
Low End Theory

This entry was posted from Flickr's site, which I'm just learning to utilize for blogging so the usual format of my entries might be changing in the next few days. I'm not really digging the small size of the photo.

Events & things

Image from United Palace Theatre

Image from The Worker's Institute

* Last night, King Kong Radio Theater in the West Village. This awesome, original play ends July 8th. Basically it's the story of King Kong done Radio Theater style with sound effects and the players acting multiple roles. Harkens back to times when you actually had to use your imagination.

* Tonight: Richard Hell and Christopher Wool at the Strand. "Richard Hell is a musician known for his image and his facility with words; Christopher Wool is a painter who first became famous for his words. The two are friends and they have collaborated on the creation of a series of gorgeous word images. These provocative, funny pictures comprise the content of their beautifully designed and printed new book, Psychopts. Barry Schwabsky, a poet and a frequent writer on art for The Nation and co-editor of Artforum's international review section, will moderate a discussion with the artists."

* Just announced: Sigur Ros will do two more shows here in NYC in September at the beautiful United Palace Theatre. AKA angels sing beneath gilded lights. I'm going. Are you?

Miles away, just up ahead

Uploaded new songs to Muxtape - not a lot of people know Hayden so I uploaded some songs from his first two albums, Everything I Long For and Skyscraper National Park (I think it's named after the Vonnegut novel Slapstick). He's touring to promote his new album, In Field & Town. He'll be back at the Knitting Factory in June. And Feist? Feist will be performing at the Prospect Park Bandshell in July.

As always, a great live show. Hayden started out by asking people not to talk because the previous night, the din was so loud he couldn't hear himself sing. He opened with Dynamite Walls from the 2nd album and the majority of the songs (okay all but one more) were from the new album. His sound has gotten a little more upbeat - which is saying a lot because it's still pretty depressing. Slightly awkward but adorable, in that sad Eeyore kind of way - he surprised me by putting on a pretty good solo act.

Feist took forever to set up. This time was a little more theatrical than her show at Town Hall last year. Visuals on a projector behind her - collage, fingerpainting, a disco ball, a bit of a light show, Nikki McClure-like shadow cutouts. I can't stress enough how good her live shows are. If I could, I'd try to catch every show she does here - she is that good. I really wanted her to play "Lover's Spit" but it's a fairly old one, from her Broken Social Scene days. I uploaded it to Muxtape so be sure to have a listen. It's a mix of Feist, Hayden, BSS and another BSS spinoff, Jason Collett.

Enjoy!