There. The new The Blow video for "Parentheses." It's pretty terrible, I don't know what they were thinking.
So, okay. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Summer 2007. The video appeared on the internet, and I have to say, I'm pretty glad I don't have to sit through Happy Feet now, just because the Harry Potter trailer was going to be before it. I was really going to do that. Watch it here.
So is Gwen Stefani. Her new video (for the Sound of Music-sampling "Wind It Up") is silly, and, as Stereogum put it, is basically a commercial for her clothing line, L.A.M.B. And the word "Lamb" is in the title of this blog, so watch if you dare.
ALSO: While we're on the topic, the most blasphemous Gwen Stefani copy-catter of all time gets our pick of the blasphemous quote of the week:
I may not have the type of voice you like, but I can sing. You can’t take that away from me, ‘cause singing is a gift from God, and when people say I can’t sing, it’s kind of like insulting God.
And isn't that a nice picture of Devendra and Chan? Yes.
ALSO: We did it. We watched all six Star Wars films in chronological order, beginning to end, midnight on Friday to 2 in the afternoon on Saturday, 15 hours of lasers and wookies and friendly green aliens with grammar problems and the whole tragic rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker. But why did this mind-blowingly horrendous commercial have to exist?
Firstly, Daniel's father is very very ill and we had been debating for some time cutting the tour short so he could be with his family. But last night, the final straw happened, our Van was robbed and much of our gear and personal belongings were stolen while in Brussels.
It's with a very very very sad face that I have to announce we are cancelling our last 12 shows. We were really looking forward to them all so much. We will surely be back sometime in 2007, once we can replace all the stolen instruments and Daniel has had time to be with his father.
Now, this is a shame for a number of reasons. Firstly, this is the band that may have given us the 2006 album of the year with "Yellow House." Secondly, they are even more amazing live than they are on the record (which is hard to fathom, until they play in front of you, at which time you're thinking they're 100 times better live.) And thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, they're the nicest people ever. I had a compulsive urge to mash up their song "Knife" with "Heartbeats" by The Knife, so I e-mailed a simple request for a vocal track for their song to the info e-mail adress listed on their site, not thinking I would get a reply, and being okay with that. Two minutes later, I got a really excited e-mail back from lead singer Ed Droste, and for the next few days had an ongoing conversation with him while we tried to figure out how to get the tracks to me in between sound checks and gigs. This was all before the robbing, however, and I can only imagine how bummed they all are, so go out and buy "Yellow House," and support the band. Tell your friends. They'll be glad you did.
The Blow + Architecture In Helsinki (and other people), Irving Plaza 11/5/06
We meandered over to the brand new Puma store on Union Square just in time to catch the last half of Lazaro Casanova’s DJ set.
It was awkward, as are most “concerts” held in brightly-lit clothing stores in broad daylight. One finds that one must be much more aware of one’s actions, and, relative to the dark, sweaty black hole that is, say, Irving Plaza at midnight, we all may well have been naked. And that didn’t help us out much, because there was some very loud, very danceable music just a few feet away. A bunch of really, viciously cool people just stood around, tapping their feet, nodding their heads, pretending to look at sort of bland looking shoes, and pretending they didn’t see that short guy with the glasses and the hat in the middle of the room dancing like there was no tomorrow.
Everyone was leaving, but I was there for MSTRKRFT, the duo responsible for perhaps the greatest fake-house music ever to come out of the break up of a post-punk hardcore dance band. It was pretty amazing, but even watching two DJs is awkward in daylight; one is always twisting the knobs, and one is always looking through the CD or the records, or leaning over the other one to re-twist a knob, all making for a really awkward encounter. But it was really great, though.
And then we moved on. On this, the third day of CMJ, we were all a bit CMJ’d out, and when we saw the five-artist bill for the show at Irving that night that we were going to for The Blow, we sighed a deep sigh. For, you see, The Blow was not to go on until 10 but doors opened at 7:30 and CMJ only lets a certain amount of CMJ pass holders in the door and show was sold out but we only had three real tickets so Echo had to go early but we really couldn't pass up free Chinese food with my mom so we did that but she stayed there alone and she was probably really mad but eventually we showed up even though we couldn't find Alex (even though we went to his dorm and had some lady go up to his room to see if he was there), and if this isn't a run-on sentence, I don't know what is.
Poor Khaela, Jona wasn't there, so she was dancing around on a really big stage and singing along to her instrumentals. She often "put her arm around" Jona, who, as I mentioned, was not there, and ended every song as awkwardly as possible, with a little "um, yeah, so. yeah." But she's a fantastic dancer (see above video). During "What Tom Said About Girls," she had a huge monologue about how she was some dude, and just went on and on and on. I wish I had a transcript. I wish you were there to hear it.
Then Apples In Stereo played, and we sat that one out. Who knows why, not me. And then, just when we were getting really very tired, and just when the danger of never getting home was getting more and more dangerous, Architecture In Helsinki came on. To be absolutely truthful, I think they were a little too cute, and a little too Australian, and just not that great. They did play a bunch of really RNB sounding new songs, which was alright. I wasn't that impressed, maybe because we had to leave before "Do The Whirlwind."
Hot Chip + Gang Gang Dance + Someone Else, Webster Hall
As we all know, CMJ is back in New York City in full force this week. Every day is jam packed with events to attend, almost too many to handle, and as luck would have it working for the Sarah Lawrence College Radio Station has provided for me one highly coveted pass. Little did I know I would have to pick it up in the distant land that is the Upper West Side. So seemingly far away, that I was tempted not to get it at all, but alas, our good friend Lindsay needed accompaniment to a show on Thursday night, so I decided I should get it after all. Running into the city quickly after class one day, I hopped on the subway straight to Lincoln Center and picked up my badge (which came with a lot of other goodies too, I would highly recommend obtaining one for future CMJ Marathons) returning to school within two hours time. Now I was good to go, pass in hand, ready to conquer CMJ, or so I thought. It turns out that having a pass when you’re under 21 isn’t so handy seeing as most of the good shows are at trendy bars not catering to the younger set. Also, at each show they only permit a certain amount of badge holders so you have to get there excruciatingly early and are forced to watch the opening acts we so many times choose to skip. So, now you’ve been forewarned.
Fast forward to Thursday night, Lindsay and I arrived at Webster Hall around 6:30, in time to see the two opening acts. The first of which was a duo who shall remain nameless because they failed to tell us who they were. One guy was on drums and one was on keys. Their music was danceable, but nothing special, just one of those bands you struggle to talk through because they’re so loud. Next up after them was Gang Gang Dance, who I’d previously seen at Across the Narrows, an outdoor festival in Coney Island. Gang Gang Dance, outside, is not bad, inside however, is a different story. They were eardrum shatteringly loud to begin with, and their songs seemed incoherent and blended into each other giving the listen no time for a break. The music was full of drawn out effects and loud noises, something one has to be in the mood for, and unfortunately that night, I was not.
Finally after sitting through two opening acts, Hot Chip came to the stage. Having never seen a picture of them, I was blown away by the motley crew that they were. Alexis was donning huge green glow in the dark glasses, while the others wore everything from evening dress suits to what seemed to be a nurse’s smock. Their awkward shyness on stage mixed with their upbeat music was definitely a sight to behold. The only complaint I had about Hot Chip’s performance was that it lacked the song “The Warning”, but besides that, I had no qualms. They made the trek to get the CMJ pass and the sitting through two unenjoyable opening acts worthwhile.
Hot Chip @ Webster Hall
1. Out of the Pictures 2. Keep Fallin' 3. Shake a Fist 4. Hold On 5. Boy From School 6. Graceland 7. (Just Like We) Breakdown 8. Colours/ Laws of Salvation 9. Beach Party 10. Not Fit State
ENCORE
11. Careful / Temptation (New Order) 12. Over and Over
Trevor, Southport
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