Thunderbirds Are Now!

Thunderbirds Are Now!
Originally uploaded by Nicolemc99.

I caught an early show with Thunderbirds Are Now! Friday night and caught a few pics for the photoblog. Beat Kitchen has become a pretty impressive venue- great sound and a very well-lit stage that makes it incredibly easy to take good pictures without flash! The only difficulty this time was getting the band to stand still long enough to snap a non-blurry photo- TAN! is about as high-energy as it gets. They played a lot of older favorites like "Eat This City" and "This World Is Made of Paper," as well as debuted some new tunes from their forthcoming album, Make History. A good time, as always.

This is odd- a fake Dr. Octagon record?

My goodness, Robert Pollard already has another solo album on the way. I was a modest GBV fan, but can anyone tell me that stuff he's writing now sounds in any way different from stuff he wrote 1, 2, 6 years ago?

Thunderbirds Are Now at Beat Kitchen this Friday! All ages early show- come hang out with me and the high school crowd :) .

Emily Haines and the Soft Skeletons: "Our Hell." Wow.

Are you an unsigned musician/band? Head over to Salon.com's music column, Audiofile, where they're conducting a search for the best song no one's heard yet. Send them an mp3 and celebrity judges (like Chris Walla) help choose the winner, who gets $5,000 (two second-place prizes of $1,000 are also awarded). Worth a shot!

Radio Free Chicago is having a party to celebrate the launch of a new website design, and I will be there partying it up with the crew. It's October 6 at the Kinetic Playground- more info here.

Indie music in commercials watch (courtesy of Dave P): Explosions in the Sky for Cadillac!

Good lineup tonight at Sonotheque if you're still looking for something to do tonight:

Deadelus @ Sonotheque

Telefon Tel Aviv present: "Histoire De Melodie" + XLR8R 100th Issue
Release Party

Special performances by:

DAEDELUS -Live- [Mush, Ninja Tune, Plug Research, Alpha Pup, Laboratory Instinct, Eastern Dev -- Los Angeles]

MILOSH -Live- [Plug Research -- Los Angeles]

TELEFON TEL AVIV -DJ tag team set- [HEFTY Records -- Chicago]

showtime: 9p-2a // ages: 21+ // $10 admission // RSVP list - FREE before
9:30pm, email ray@heftyrecords.com

Sponsored by XLR8R, Unscene, Meiotic Promotions, Abstract Science (WLUW/88.7
FM), Approaching Serpents

“Histoire De Melodie” is TTA’s event residency, showcasing only the best international musical talent mixed with classic film works. This month’s film spotlight is on filmmaker Jean Luc-Godard. We are also celebrating the
100th issue of XLR8R Magazine. XLR8R will be sharing in the celebration with free XLR8R clothing giveaways from Puma, along with free copies of the latest issue of XLR8R for those who arrive early.

Head over to the Apartment tomorrow and try out for the next Real World! OMG, I'M TOO OLD!!!

From the inbox this morning: a hilarious list made by freak-folkie Wooden Wand, of the extremely prolific Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice.


Top 10 Misconceptions and Things You Didn’t Know About Wooden Wand.

10. Wooden Wand’s move to Tennessee from New York was merely a lifestyle choice and had nothing to do with his work. It has had no bearing on his music what-so-ever, so please quit asking. People move - it's not a big deal.

09. He does not, at present time, practice any particular religion exclusively. He considers himself a Zen nihilist barbarian.

08. He listens to a lot more Steely Dan than Pink Floyd, and doesn't much care for Skip Spence's solo work at all.

07. He is an avid gun enthusiast, and is a life member of both the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America.

06. He is often criticized for releasing too much music, but certain bands have released many more 'official' releases in as much time without the critical scrutiny heaped upon our humble hero Wand. Besides, no one said you had to buy all the records. Wand believes that being a musician and writing and releasing a mere ten songs a year is like being a carpenter and taking a decade to erect a birdhouse. His words, not ours, so please don't hate us, Scott Walker or Kate Bush. Y’all are great.

05. He is happily married to the goddess Satya Sai of the Vanishing Voice, who, by the way, does 90% of the vocals in said band, despite what most reviews claim, and is, FYI, the 'girl' on the cover of Hush Arbors' recent “messterpiece” Landscape of Bone.

04. His extended family includes late actor Vincent Gardenia, Chicago Cubs general manager (and former Met) Ed Lynch, “Desperate Housewives”’ Andrea Bowen, and Type-O Negative's Peter Steele.

03. He shares little of the flawed utopian philosophies of his immediate contemporaries. He does not eat hummus and, on most days, he really doesn't much give a shit where you drill.

02. He's been considering writing a novel and has recently switched from bourbon to tequila for this upcoming tour.

01. Scott Ian of Anthrax once lectured a 12-year-old Wand that he was “too young to be smoking joints.” He was right. (They totally got high together anyway).

The White Stripes on the Simpsons

Haha, as expected, the Youtube videos I kept trying to post suddenly showed up all at once this morning. Here it is again!

I've been trying to post this video of White Stripes' appearance on the Simpsons directly to the blog all day, but it just doesn't seem to want to show up. Oh well, here it is in link form. It's so awesome, especially considering the Simpsons ceased to be funny years ago.

Some more insights into Cat Power via this New York Times article, including her alcoholism, hospital stay, and the fact that Matador actually INSURED her spring tour in case she freaked out again.

One more quick post for the morning: my Cat Power review is up now on Radio Free Chicago. Love the job Brad did linking to the photos throughout the article, and especially check out the link to the Slate article on the epidemic of Gnarls Barkley covers!

Had a few technical difficulties this morning, which no matter how long I do radio, I can't seem to get away from! So don't be too upset when Built to Spill cuts off early (the CD player just stopped out of nowhere, I swear!) and you hear a mash-up of Richard Buckner and Swan Lake. But they will be more than made up for by the utter fabulousness that was the new Rapture track I played, and the gorgeous Grizzly Bear remix of Of Montreal. Podcast up tonight!

Everything about this is funny.

Cat Power

Cat Power
Originally uploaded by Nicolemc99.

My pics from the Cat Power show are up now on the flickr photoblog. My full review will be up this week on Radio Free Chicago- I'll link to it then!

Indie songs in commercials watch: Just caught a track from Erlend Oye's DJ Kicks in a . . . GEICO commercial?

Looking to get into some new local music? Check out the Driftless Pony Club and May or May Not this Saturday at the Hideout, where they'll both be celebrating the release of new material- Cholera for DPC and an E.P. called Bike for MOMN. The Life During Wartime DJs will spin after the show.

Saw Cat Power last night at the Vic. Girl's CRAZY. A full review and pictures coming up, probably tomorrow.

What would you think if I said I wanted the new Justin Timberlake?

I think I'm glad festival season is over.

As promised, this morning's show is up for downloading. Taking the morning off after my show was the awesomest thing ever. I even got some Young and the Restless in. Can you believe Nick divorced Sharon and is now engaged to Phyllis, and Sharon is shacking up with Jack? OMG!

Meanwhile, every album ever is out today.

Touch and Go Festival

Touch and Go
Originally uploaded by Nicolemc99.

Well, I only really made it for two bands, Ted Leo and Calexico, but it was worth it. Ted Leo was spry and energetic, playing mostly new stuff that sounded a lot like the old stuff. "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone" was the definite highlight of the Ted Leo set. I'm bummed there wasn't any blood this time though.

Calexico closed out Sunday night and played a great set featuring every song I would have wanted to them to playing, including a jammed-out version of "Not Even Stevie Nicks," "Sunken Waltz," a passionate and awesome "All Systems Red," and perennial crowd favorite "Alone Again Or." Singer Joey Burns voice is so just smooth, could listen to it all day.

My pics of the event are pretty poor do to the fact it was dark and I was too lazy to try to get much closer. I hit up the Zero 7/Jose Gonzalez show Saturday night as well; pictures are up on the photoblog but limited as well for the same reasons as Touch and Go.

The weekend weather kept me away from some of my Touch and Go time, but I did see Ted Leo on Friday and Calexico on Saturday. Pictures and more will be up tonight.

I'm also taking the morning off from work tomorrow to go back to bed after my radio show for once- expect the show to be up earlier than usual!

The new Grizzly Bear album does, indeed, rule. Stream it in it's entirety here. Pay special attention to "The Knife"- it's a fantastic song.

It seems like all the best music comes out in the fall. I was just lamenting over how few albums I've really latched on to this year, and then suddenly great stuff comes pouring out in September- Junior Boys, TV on the Radio, Rapture, Grizzly Bear, M. Ward. My favorite albums of last year both came out late in the year, Wolf Parade and Animal Collective. There's plenty of time for this year to redeem itself!

Commericals-featuring-indie-music watch: Heard the National's "Secret Meeting" on a Saturn Hybrid SUV commercial.

In other news, I checked out the new Thermals album, The Body, the Blood, the Machine, in its entirety last night. I consider myself a Thermals fan, but admit their music has never had that much depth. This album is far more developed musically than the last, and I haven't taken the time to listen carefully to the political message of the songs. I'd definitely say it's their best album, but I'm still not sure it's got a whole lot of staying power- as in, will I still be listening to it five years from now?

Though not shocking by any means, Myspace is now getting into digital music sales. Myspace sort of scares me.

I saw Little Miss Sunshine this past weekend, and in addition to having a funnier dance scene than Napoleon Dynamite, I was also surprised by the indie soundtrack- not only did a couple of Sufjan songs make the movie ("Chicago," "No Man's Land"), but apparently the movie was scored by Devotchka. I've heard good things about Devotchka but have yet to check them out; after hearing their stuff in the movie I'm definitely going to have to.

Last night I dreamt that the Touch and Go Festival was held at my old high school. Pharrell and Shaq were there, and there was also a bouncy castle and a dunk tank. I think my mind confused the festival with my company picnic, which is also this weekend. My coverage of the festival will be limited to Ted Leo and !!! Friday night and a few bands Sunday night, as Saturday is already booked with the aforementioned picnic and the Zero 7/Jose Gonzalez show at Park West that night.

BTW, yesterday's show is up and podcast-able!

Here's a review from Salon.com about a book written by a neuroscientist/former record producer (!) that examines the how our love of music affects the brain (note: you may have to watch a 15-second commercial to read the article).

I'm back from my vacation, refreshed and ready to start back up the radio show tomorrow morning! Expect a two-hour set chock-full of brand new music and summer discoveries.