Quick Hits.

* Great article and comment thread on John McClane at The Hater.

* BVegan has an interesting read and series of linkage that follows a brewing feud between Pitchfork, Cocorosie (not familiar) and John Darnielle (of Mountain Goats). One of the most interesting links in the post was one that sent me in the direction of the Pumpsta scene. It turned out to be one of the weirder experiences (artists writing Pitchfork, then posting their letters, the Pumpsta scene in general, etc.) that I've had over at the Vegan, but interesting nonetheless.

* Over at the AV Club, Scott Tobias asks Could Spider-Man 3 be the Heaven's Gate of the Blockbuster Era? This Heaven's Gate. Not this Heaven's Gate or this Heaven's Gate or this Heaven's Gate.

* Concert promoter Michael Cohl recently referred to Barbara Streisand as the "greatest female performer of all time". Hmmm. I don't know if she's in my Top Twenty. Fifty. Hundred. To each his/her own. She sold out the O2 Arena (formerly Millennium Dome) in 20 minutes.

* The last three posts over at KinoSport are fantastic.

Austin City Limits: Lineup Rumors

Via Austinist, via Brooklyn Vegan:

The White Stripes, The Decemberists, Peter, Bjorn, and John, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Robert Earl Keen, Joss Stone, Andrew Bird, Rose Hill Drive, Gotan Project, Indigo Girls, Heartless Bastards, Augustana, Beau Soleil, and Andy Palacio, Kings Of Leon, Raul Malo, Stephen Marley, Ben Kweller, Rev. Horton Heat, Asleep At The Wheel, The Little Ones, Charlie Musselwhite, The Jellydots, Sara Hickman, Blonde Redhead, Björk

More at, you guessed it, Ultra8201.

An Instant Classic Comment Thread

I ran across this while reading through the comments on Brooklyn Vegan yesterday and it's just too damn funny not to post.

The Post:
Brooklyn Vegan's SXSW show

The Comment from "Justin" (link contained in post - comment appeared 3 times followed by an apology post for multiple comments):

I don't think the sterns are playing this day, but im not sure. Maybe someone else could answer better. it looks like they're playing a couple dates before this one there. I'm excited about the cd too, what I've heard is amazing. I can't wait to see them when they're in New York.

Response of the year?:

Dear Justin,

next time you attempt to spam people's comments:

a) Learn to read - or at least learn to pretend read - it will make your story seem more convincing.

b) Don't link to your REAL MySpace page which talks about how you're working as an intern at a publicity company that happens to be the one that promotes the band you are pretending to like.

c) Don't then immediately come back and comment anonymously pretending to be someone else. Talking to yourself makes you look even dumber than your four previous comments already made you look.

Subsequent comments are also humorous. Love it.

PLUG Awards

Congratulations to BrooklynVegan. They are the shit and we visit daily. You should too. BV has the list with pics and links, but here is a quick rundown.

Amazon.com probably won best online music store because they actually ship shit in a timely manner. Amp Camp: where the fuck is my Boris w. Michio Kurihara CD? I ordered it three weeks ago. Insound: where the fuck is my Bloc Party pre-order with bonus 7"? The album dropped almost one week ago. I'm the dumbass that actually buys music. Shame on me. Guilty as charged.

Album of the Year: Band of Horses - Everything All The Time
New Artist of the Year: Arctic Monkeys
Female Artist of the Year: Neko Case
Male Artist of the Year: Sufjan Stevens
Indie Rock Album of the Year: Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid of You And I Will Beat Your Ass
Metal Album of the Year: The Melvins - (A) Senile Animal
Hip Hop Album: Spank Rock - Yoyoyoyoyo
Americana Album: Band of Horses - Everything All The Time
Punk Album of the Year: CSS - Cansei De Ser Sexy
Electronica/Dance Album of the Year: Thom Yorke - The Eraser
DJ Album: Girl Talk - Night Ripper
Avant Album of the Year: Xiu Xiu - The Air Force
Artist of the Year: J Dilla
Live Act of the Year: Broken Social Scene
Song of the Year: Band of Horses - "The Funeral"
Record Producer of the Year: J Dilla
Music Video of the Year: Wolf Parade - "I'll Believe in Anything"
Album Art: Hot Chip - The Warning
Record Label of the Year: Sub Pop
Live Music Venue of the Year: Bowery Ballroom
Music Festival of the Year: South by Southwest
Music Website of the Year: Pitchfork Media
Music Blog of the Year: Brooklyn Vegan
Magazine of the Year: Paste
College/Non-Comm Radio Station of the Year: KEXP, Seattle, WA
Record Store of the Year: Amoeba Music
Best Music DVD of the Year: The Pixies - loudQUIETloud
Zine of the Year: Wax Poetics
Speciality Show of the Year: Sirius Left of Center - Blog Radio
Podcast of the Year: WOXY.com Lounge Acts
Internet Radio Station of the Year: Woxy.com
Online Radio Station of the Year: KEXP
Online Record Store of the Year: Amazon.Com

Cosmo Baker, Take Us Into the Weekend

[Photo Credit: Is The Rub]

Found this number while I was hanging out at Brooklyn Vegan clicking on links. They post so much stuff over there that it is nearly impossible to keep up. Here's the abbreviated bio on Cosmo Baker, courtesy of his site, CosmoBaker.com:

Either
A: "I'm from the old school, I love P-Funk, But now rap music is all that they want, So when I'm in my car, I play Clinton, And when I'm on the stage I start pimping."

or

B: "Now I'm hiding in Honduras, I'm a desperate man, Send lawyers, guns and money, The shit has hit the fan..."

Gotta love the Warren Zevon reference, and the Bloc Party/Outkast mashup. More tracks, mixes and setlists here and here. Don't confuse this battle with their previous encounter.

DUNZO: Outkast v. Bloc Party - "She's Hearing Bombs"
MP3: Outkast v. Bloc Party - "She's Hearing Bombs"

Live Music Weekend Recap

With all the craziness around CMJ this week in New York, I did my best to partake in the events this weekend catching 8 different bands in a 24-hour period. It was exhausting, I felt like I spent a full day at Austin City Limits. Here are some thoughts on the various acts.

Friday, 11/3: The Black Angels, The Black Keys @ Nokia Theatre
I was looking forward to hearing the Black Angels, I haven't had a chance to listen to their album in full but I like most of their songs. They sounded great in what must have been the largest venue they've ever played (2100 which was full during their show). My lady actually felt bad that the band had to drag their own equipment off the stage after their set. I explained to her that not all bands have a crew the size of U2, her response: "Well, they're living the dream". True. The Black Keys were entertaining as always. I believe this is the 4th time I've seen them and this was by far the best set list, combining the best of Magic Potion with past greats. Patrick Carney, of course, did not disappoint on drums. A very nice reminder as to why he is one of the best on tour today.

Saturday, 11/4: Brooklyn Vegan Show @ The Annex
I can't thank BV enough for putting this show together. He literally managed to pull together all of my favorite new bands (White Whale, Tokyo Police Club, and SSPU) in one venue for a FREE show. Amazing. I missed Takka Takka who came on first at noon but here were the rest, in order:

White Whale: I've been waiting and waiting for these guys to come to NYC to promote their album. They haven't received much of the critical acclaim that I feel their album deserves but I thoroughly enjoyed their brief set. After many shows this week, Matt Suggs barely had his voice but the band was nothing short of awesome. They need to come back.

Annuals: Despite all of the buzz, I'm not really a huge fan of the album, Be He Me. The potential is there and some of the songs are great but the album just seems to fade in the latter half. That said, no band left me more impressed. Adam Baker's energy matches his age and although they only managed to get through 4 or 5 songs, I firmly believed that their future will be extremely bright. Random aside: why hasn't Pitchfork reviewed this album? No one built these guys up more after posting the mp3 to "Brother." Get the sense that maybe they felt the same way that I did about the album? A little disappointing to be sure - and yet no review. Hmmm...

Elvis Perkins: I didn't know his work beforehand and I didn't really hear anything that would give me cause to listen further. Sorry, just a bit too depressing for me.

Tokyo Police Club: My vote for best new band in 2006. They easily managed to cover the most ground in their allotted 30 minutes, getting through about 9 songs half of which were new material. Always entertaining, I can never get enough of these guys.

The Big Sleep: "Murder" is one of my favorite tracks this year and there is no question that the band can rock out with the best of them. Unfortunately, I need to hear some more vocals. I get the sense that if they followed in the footsteps of Broken Social Scene that they would also experience similar success.

Silversun Pickups: This is probably one of our most blogged about bands and deservedly so. Entertaining as always, Brian Aubert and Nikki Monninger seem to be more comfortable on stage with each show. I just wish they could have played a bit longer. "Lazy Eye" and "Kissing Families" are quickly becoming show staples. Solid.