More Andrew Bird

That last post inspired me to post this video of Andrew Bird performing "Spare-Ohs" while strolling the streets of Montmartre. Both the song and the setting are gorgeous.

New Andrew Bird Single- "Oh No"

I adored Andrew Bird's last album, Armchair Apocrypha. His whistling and violining makes me swoon, and he crafts some of the most gorgeous soundscapes. "Heretics" and "Plasticities" were fixtures on many of the mixtapes I made last year. His latest single, "Oh No" keeps with the trend, with some added sociopathy. You can stream it now here.

His next album, Noble Beast, is due out in January.

Girl Talk Tour Dates

I interviewed Gregg Gillis (Girl Talk) for my zine yesterday afternoon and it went really well. He's a really nice guy, and I had a lot of fun not only asking him questions but hearing his answers.

If you're not already a mash-up/Girl Talk fan, I recommend that you get his latest album, Feed the Animals, NOW!! It's got to be the one of the best pump-up, get happy, dance mixes ever. You can get a copy of that here.

Also, Girl Talk is embarking on tour next weekend. He's known for his insane live shows (people dancing on the stage, etc. He said in the interview yesterday that "all different forms of nudity and expression" have happened on stage) and I think you'll be sorry if you miss one.

Tour Dates
October 9 - Philadelphia PA @ Starlight Ballroom
October 10 - Washington DC @ 9:30 Club
October 11 - Baltimore MD @ Sonar
October 13 - Carrboro NC @ Cats Cradle
October 14 - Asheville NC @ Orange Peel
October 15 - Knoxville TN @ Valarium
October 16 - Atlanta GA @ Variety Playhouse
October 17 - New Orleans LA @ House of Blue
October 18 - Houston TX @ Warehouse Live
October 20 - Austin TX @ Emos
October 21 - Dallas TX @ Palladium Ballroom
October 23 - Tucson AZ @ Rialto Theater
October 24 - Los Angeles CA @ Henry Fonda Theater
October 25 - Los Angeles CA @ Henry Fonda Theater
October 27 - San Francisco CA @ The Fillmore Auditorium
October 28 - San Francisco CA @ The Fillmore Auditorium
October 30 - Salt Lake City UT @ In The Venue
October 31 - Denver CO @ Ogden Theater
November 1 - Lawrence KS @ The Granada Theatre
November 3 - Minneapolis MN @ First Avenue
November 4 - Milwaukee WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom
November 5 - Urbana IL @ Canopy Club
November 6 - Nashville TN @ Cannery Ballroom
November 7 - Louisville KY @ Headliners Music Hall
November 9 - Cincinnati OH @ Bogarts
November 10 - Cleveland OH @ Beachland Ballroom
November 11 - Pontiac MI @ Eagle Theatre
November 12 - Toronto ON @ Koolhaus
November 13 - Montreal PQ @ Club Soda
November 14 - Foxborough MA @ Showcase Live

Photo Credit: Photo Rod | Le-HibOO.com

blink-182 2.0

I don't care what you say, blink-182 was a great band. Their music was unpretentious, non-emo punk-pop with honest, funny lyrics and melodies embedded with earworms the size of highways. Now that blink-182 has disbanded and the members have gone on to form arena-rockers Angels & Airwaves and pop-punkers (+44), there is a void in the pop-punk universe.

However, I think Motion City Soundtrack is the band to fill that hollow spot. While often lumped in with the Fall Out Boys and Panic at the Discos of the music world, MCS belong in their own league. They have a knack for musicality, and their melodies are catchy without being kitschy or stale. But mostly, their lyrics pass over the emo pitfall and opt instead to be sincere while tongue-in-cheek- just as those of their predecessor, blink-182.

MCS just released an acoustic EP on iTunes that craftily transforms their hyper tunes into mellow, more focused songs. Highlights on the EP include "It Had To Be You" and "Fell In Love Without You." The latter becomes an entirely new creature on the EP; it goes from being a frenzied, danceable album-starter to an earnest reflection on heartache.

Motion City Soundtrack is not, by any means, a new band. With this new EP though, they could finally reach the fan base that blink-182 left behind.

Girl Talk Interview

I'm interviewing Gregg Gillis (aka Girl Talk) tomorrow for my zine (which, by the way, has switched names from Pop to Championship*). Got any ideas for questions?

If you want to read the interview, request a copy of Championship and I'll mail it to you for free! It will also have interviews with Los Campesinos! and Ted Leo, as well as records reviews and amazing artwork.

*Guess the reference!

On the Road

For AP English we have to read a book outside of school every quarter. I think this is a fantastic assignment. I love to read, but I've found that during the school year it's difficult to read as much as I'd like. During winter/spring/summer breaks I usually plow through books- not so during the school year.

Anyway, we had a list of books to choose from, and I chose Jack Kerouac's On the Road. I'm still only in the first part, but I love it. It's very inspiring and makes me want to have my own road trip. It glamorizes America in a gritty, realistic but fantastic way.

There is a beautiful quote in the first chapter:
"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes 'Awww!'"

Well this was sure disappointing...

I expected more out of you, Jackie Boy.

New Music Tuesday 9/30

For me, T.I. resides in the pantheon of fantastic rappers. This elite group counts Kanye, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Talib Kweli and The Roots among its members, and with this latest effort from T.I., he will hopefully find permanent housing among their ranks. After an explosive performance of "Whatever You Like" and "Live Your Life" (the former with a nameless model at his side, the latter with Rihanna at the chorus) this album should be a knockout. The fact that T.I. will be going to jail any day now for gun possession only adds intrigue to how that factors into his rhymes.


On his third full length solo album, Ben Folds seems to no more on the way to normal than before. Kicking off with the Elton-inspired "Hiroshima (B B B Benny Hit His Head)," Way To Normal is Folds letting loose and grinding out all the piano-funked weirdness he can- but of course in a lovable and oddly endearing way. The tunes seem to be more synthed out than those on his past two solo releases, but between his quirky attitude and lyrics, I'm sure he'll tie it all together.


I admit, I haven't read this book yet, but I am quite excited for the movie. It looks like one of those things where it'll be very cliche to love and be obsessed with the soundtrack, and it will spoil the joy of Devendra Banhart and Vampire Weekend for ol' indie folks the way Juno soured Kimya Dawson, but hey, I'm cool with that. With track from artists mentioned above as well as Bishop Allen, We Are Scientists, Rogue Wave and Shout Out Louds, this looks like, well, a pretty solid playlist.

Daytrotter Sessions

This may be extremely late blooming on my part, but I just discovered the site Daytrotter. It's a music blog that has not only reviews and artist profiles, but live sessions from basically every band they profile. I think that they basically record and write about 5 bands a week, and then all of the songs from the session are available for free download.

I went on a downloading spree once I found this. I recommend the Blitzen Trapper sessions and The National session.

http://www.daytrotter.com/