Smith Westerns "Irukandji" 7" and the Temple of Whoomp! There it Is!

Anyone who knows me is already sick of me yammering about Smith Westerns. I'm sorry. Look, we finally have their first 7" on HoZac so I'm gonna wear it out almost as much as that Men Without Hats "Pop Goes The World" 7" in 1987. It's like shooting up chocolate milk. You might jump on your bed. Your dog probably won't like it. You most likely won't regret it in the morning. Look, a music video:

I was here...

Photos: Bonnie "Prince" Billy [Jeffersontown, KY; 07/26/08] | Pitchfork

It was quite a day, and thankfully I have a commemorative kazoo to show for it. The rock didn't stop though. Got home in time Sunday to walk to Wicker Park fest for Red Sparrowes and Isis, then kept walking to the Bottle for Witch Hats and Cococoma. I thought I would have been dead today, yet I somehow managed to make it back to the Bottle tonite for the Dials. I guess I will rest when I am dead. Or at least super legitimately exhausted.

Happy P4K Weekend!

Sorry dear readers, I did not disappear after my vacation as my lack of posting would indicate. My energy has been sapped by these dog days of summer, which means one thing: It is hot enough to listen to rock music in a park! As per tradition, I will avoid Lollapalooza and will probably only be in Union Park on Sunday. There are some super terrific OTHER shows this weekend if hanging out with hot sweaty people and eating meat on a stick is not your thing. Friday Night's Victim of Time Snooze Fest lineup at Beat Kitchen should be rad and weird. After work Saturday I am heading over to Bottom Lounge, of course, for what should be the SHOW! OF! THE! CENTURY!!!! with King Khan and the Shrines, Jay Reatard, Cheap Time, & A/V Murder (I so hope this doesn't suck. It can't suck, right?). If Sunday's weather doesn't suck I'll hang in the park a bit, but what about the metal at the Bottle that night? Boris, Torche, & Nachmystium! F Yeah! Drink lots of water and don't go too nuts on the Sparks!

Tuesday - Wednesday

Tuesday: The show at Martyrs was a sit-down-spectacular good time. The first openers were good, Jeff Parker trio was fantastic, and Nels Cline Singers made a lot of really great noise. Sadly, I didn't try to get a picture. It would have been all blurry. They even played something off my favorite Nels album which isn't a Singers albums: the Inkling.

Wednesday: Holy Cow, Jamie Lidell was AMAZING! It's going to be hard for any show to top it. The Abbey was packed with a sold out sweaty hot dancing crowd. He was great solo at Pitchfork fest a few years ago, but he had a band (including a sax player!) and the new songs were so totally rad live! Seriously, he is so GOOD. The album is great, but live, holy shit!! Besides Lollapalooza, I'm sure he'll be somewhere much bigger next time he comes.

Old 97s tonight! I still haven't heard the new album...

Saturday-Monday

Saturday: Started out at "Do Division" with Meg and Bob, mostly heard and sort of saw Mucca Pazza. Meg is fortunate enough to live in the middle of the fest, so we saved a lot of dough on beer. Bob and I made our way over to Metro, with a brief pitstop at the Gingerman, and got in right as the Breeders were starting, and we mainly heard them. They played the hits, the new weird stuff, it all sounded good. One more brief pitstop at Gingerman and then I made my way to Quenchers to catch the tail end of the Boogie Band, aka Baby Alright. Adam, LeRoy, myself and Wassup! magazine and who knows who else all crammed in the photobooth for posterity.

Sunday: Did Division with Sooz and Paul. We caught the opening set from Tullymonster, and there was totally a kid with a pet rooster. After lunch and hanging in Meg's hospitality suite we did make our way out for 1900s, Gil Mantera's Party Dream and Ted Leo and Pharmacists. I know it was a $5 street fest, but man the sound was terrible.

Monday: I actually went to possibly my least favorite venue (Logan Square Auditorium) for Islands. The sound wasn't too terrible, and despite being there COMPLETELY alone I had had a good time. I was amongst a bunch of loners, I guess I should have introduced myself.

Nels Cline Singers/Jeff Parker Trio tonight!

Going on Vacation (In Chicago)

I am taking a week of vacation starting Saturday to stay in Chicago and go to shows. Yes, there is actually a show I am going to every night (and some days) for one whole week. I get to go to almost all my favorite Chicago venues, and some that I really hate (i'm not naming names). However, there is some sort of fun tax being imposed upon me by the city of Chicago; I have to report for jury duty in Rolling Meadows at 9:00 am Friday, and work afterwards. As you can see, I am still awake per my normal sleep cycle at 3:33 am. I have to "wake up" in 3 hours.

I'm going to do my best to post about every show, the schedule looks something like this:

Saturday May 31: Do Division with Mucca Pazza, Breeders @ Metro
Sunday June 1: Do Division with Tully Monster, Ted Leo & More!, Johnny & the Limelites, the Spits @ Beat Kitchen
Monday June 2: Islands @ Logan Square, Baby Alright @ Sonotheque (looking for someone to come with me this evening!)
Tuesday June 3: Nels Cline Singers @ Martyrs
Wednesday June 4: Jamie Lidell @ Abbey Pub
Thursday June 5: Old 97s at Metro
Friday June 6: MAYBE R.E.M., Modest Mouse, the National @ United Center
Saturday June 7: Detholz!, Baby Teeth, Danny Black @ Hideout, with DJ Bobby Conn dance party to follow!
Sunday June 8: the M's, Centro-matic @ Schubas

Planet Earth Is Back!

Melissa and I will be womaning a table at the new Planet Earth at Subterranean this Saturday! I'm very excited since it had been a while since I went to Neo for the Thursday nights, but how can you lose with a Saturday night of dancing close to home?

Check it out! Buy tix in advance for $5!

Bonus video: (Is Simon LeBon wearing knickers?)

Andrew Bird and Dianogah played at Hideout tonight.

It was a benefit for Barack Obama. If I was going to make a donation to a political candidate I guess this was the incentive I needed. For as big a Jay Ryan art freak I am I had never seen his band before! Who knew there TWO bass players?! Everyone but me I suppose. They sounded super great and Andrew played some songs with them and it was like some slowcore shoegaze love ca. 1991!

Andrew's set was great. Oldies, recenties, THREE Handsome Family songs with Nora O'Connor, their beautiful version of Dylan's "O Sister" and new songs that didn't sound too bad! Dianogah joined him on a few of his songs and it really sounded beautiful. As not enthusiastic about his last collaboration this one made me very very happy.

5 Nights of Wilco

If you went to any of Wilco's five nights at the Riviera maybe you noticed the Laurie's Planet of Sound banner on the merch table (although it was pretty deep so maybe you didn't). Thanks to that arrangement I got to enjoy all the shows! Wilco played EVERY SONG ON A REAL ALBUM. That's pretty admirable! They sounded great, and even greater joined by Andrew Bird. I took a whole lot of pictures. A LOT of Pictures.

Baby Teeth The Simp

You know an album is good when you can invision a montage to a few of the songs. Anyone can write an anthem, but a good montage song is hard to come by. This is music for a summer camp underdog story, the geeks vs. the jocks, the stoners vs. the matheletes... Did I mention the disco strings? It's perfectly paced too, with a good cool-down period right in the middle, just when you think you might explode from all the joggin' in place. Oh! They are playing Schubas on Saturday July 28. I highly recommend the live show, but come in and buy the CD first!

Detholz! - Cast Out Devils

Detholz! are one of the best local bands happening right now. If You like Devo (back when they rocked a little bit more), charismatic front men, dancing and evangelicism then this is meant for you. It's a slightly creepy paranoid soul splunging dance party. Do yourself a favor and go see them live too. Freak Out! Jump in, jump out, freak out freak out FREAK OUT!