booking bands

Coudal Partners had a "Booking Bands" contest for the readers of its website -- combine the names of bands with book titles (e.g. Courtney Love in the Time of Cholera). The results make for interesting reading. Some good ones:

The Sun Also RZA
Life, The Universe and Everything But the Girl
Green Eggs and M.C. Hammer
Charlie and the C&C Music Factory

And my personal favorite:

Qur'an Duran

They have plenty more, so you should really check them out. Also, the entire Coudal Partners site is really cool, particularly the Swap Meat (check it out to get the details). I'm not exactly sure what they do except for a variety of creative things, but it's all interesting. Enjoy!

the rosebuds

Went to see The Rosebuds show last night at Bowery Ballroom. If you haven't heard them, you can check out some songs here. The band, consisting of Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp, are from Raleigh, NC, once again proving that the Research Triangle area is hotbed of cool indie bands.

They put on a great live show -- playing a number of fun danceable songs. (Although the crowd wasn't really dancing...or really moving. They mostly just stood and stared, which I thought was weird. Maybe they were mesmerized by Kelly Crisp's platinum blonde hair. Sorry boys, she's taken.) They're touring to promote their new album, "Night of the Furies," which they released on April 10th. If they're coming to a town near you, you should definitely check them out.

arcade fire...in an elevator

This is random, but here is the Arcade Fire performing "Neon Bible" in an elevator. I don't know if it's because it's an acoustic version, or if it's the acoustics of the elevator, but I like this version a lot better than the album version. Okay, I'll stop with the Arcade Fire posts for now...

This was filmed by La Blogotheque for Take Away Shows. I encourage you to see the entire short film which follows the Arcade Fire backstage, through a freight elevator (where they play "Neon Bible"), to the middle of the crowd at a show where they play "Wake Up." You can see the entire film here.

dice

This video by Fujiya and Miyagi for "Ankle Injuries" obviously bears some resemblance to the White Stripes' iconic video for "Fell in Love with a Girl", but I thought it was cool. Who knew you could use dice this way.

waiting for the national's new album, boxer, out may 22nd

I meant to write about The National earlier, but I'm just getting around to it now. I saw them open for the Arcade Fire at Radio City Music Hall last week, and they were amazing. If you have a chance to see them play, don't miss it. Like the Arcade Fire, The National is a band that puts on an incredible live show.

They ended their set with an breathtaking version of "About Today," which starts off slowly before building to a crescendo of violins and guitars. I defy anyone to listen to the entire song and not fall in love with the band immediately. Here's a grainy video of their performance of "About Today" at Radio City Music Hall. (Sorry for the video quality, but the audio is decent.)



I just purchased their album Alligator and I can't stop listening to it. Their new album, Boxer, sounds even better and is out on May 22nd. You can preview the entire album here. "Fake Empire" and "Squalor Victoria" are personal favorites (I fell in love with both songs during their live show).

Here is another version of "About Today" that has better video and sound quality:



And here is a version of "Start a War," another great song off of Boxer.

i don't think the staff was too happy with the arcade fire last night...

I went to the Arcade Fire show last night at the United Palace Theatre. I assume the staff wasn't too happy when Win Butler invited folks up on stage for the final song of the night, a rousing rendition of "Wake Up." It looked like a couple hundred people rushed the stage. The staff tried to prevent it at first but eventually gave up. I'm still trying to figure out how the band played given that the stage was packed with people. I wasn't able to participate since I was in the "Upper Loge," but it looked like fun -- although (and I think betraying my age here), I also thought it was a lawsuit waiting to happen since some of the stage pieces looked like they were about to fall on the crowd of people. (Damn you law school!!!) But it worked out in the end and everyone on stage seemed to be having a great time.


As for the concert itself, it was absolutely terrific. Especially a beautiful version of "In the Backseat," a high energy "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" that lead into Rebellion (Lies)," and of course, the amazing "Wake Up," which ended the show. Their new stuff from Neon Bible was great as well, including "Keep the Car Running," "Antichrist Television Blues" (which sounded Springsteen-esque), "Ocean of Noise," and "The Well and the Lighthouse."

UPDATE: Here is the inevitable grainy video of "Wake Up" on YouTube:

communique

I first heard Communique, a Bay Area band, when they opened up for Tegan and Sara almost two years ago. I immediately bought their album, Poison Arrows. Haven't really caught up with them since then, but I just found out that they released a new EP, Walk Into The Light, about six months ago. From what I've heard, it sounds terrific. You can download some songs here and here.

songs for a lazy afternoon

Here is just a playlist of songs that I've been listening to over the past couple of weeks. I've blogged about some of the artists. I hope to blog about the others later. Let me know what you think...

modena vox

A friend told me to check out "Modena Vox," a band from Columbus, Ohio. They're pretty good. Check them out here.

busdriver

I randomly found Busdriver on YouTube. I had never listened to his stuff before, but I like what I hear.

"Imaginary Places":


"Avantcore":