8 Track: Friday Night Fever

You can't stop looking up at the clock. The flourescence in the cubicle is burning you. Lunch divides the day. But then there's still another four hours until you can get the fuck out of Dodge. Three day weekend. Friday is taking too long. These fucking computer speakers suck. I just want to dance. Kick down the dividers in this shitty little office. Tell off the boss. Get to happy hour early. Leave late. And get this party started. Well, here's your mixtape. 5 o'clock will be here before you know it.


The perfect soundtrack to the decompression, shedding your Monday to Friday skin and getting ready for heavier beats and the grittier tracks that follow. That Hot Chip is so hot right now.
MP3: Hot Chip - "Just Like We (Breakdown)" [DFA Remix]


This is the B-side to "Munich" from the import CD-Single. I am still trying to figure out why they left this track off of The Back Room. Grabbed this little nugget when Tower Records fell. Gold. UPDATE: It's a Stereolab cover.
MP3: Editors - "French Disko"


I can't say much for the recording quality of this track, but if you turn the speakers up high enough it doesn't even matter. This is the "Processed Beats" B-side and has a much more aggressive feel than most of Kasabian's other stuff.
MP3: Kasabian - "The Nightworker's"


This is hands-down one of the best remixes I have heard all year (like a give a fuck that we're only 12 days into it). Of course, it doesn't hurt that these guys impressed the shit out of me in the live setting. If the head doesn't start bobbing, if you aren't inclined to turn the volume up, or if you don't feel the urge to dance then check your pulse.
MP3: Snowden - "Black Eyes" (Le Castle Vania Remix)


From the EP that started it all. Show me your (Karen) O(.) face.
MP3: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Art Star"


Spoon has been pretty busy since Gimme Fiction reinforced our beliefs in their greatness in 2005. They brought the heat to Webster Hall in NYC on New Year's Eve's Eve, frontman Britt Daniel teamed with Brian Reitzel to provide the score to Stranger Than Fiction and they are currently working on their 6th LP tentatively titled It's Frightening. This is one of the B-Sides to "Sister Jack". Another Tower Records special.
MP3: Spoon - "Monkey Feelings"


Ladytron was pitted against Sigur Ros at Coachella this past year and fresh off our initiation to Return to Cookie Mountain with Tunde & Company, we went with Sigur Ros. I heard nothing but good things about Ladytron's high voltage, electronic laced assault.
MP3: Ladytron - "Sugar"


A fucking classic.
MP3: Joy Division - "Love Will Tear Us Apart"

!Forward, Russia!, Snowden @ Black Cat, 12.16.06

!Forward, Russia!




Snowden









This past Saturday might have marked the last show of the Metro D calendar year. Snowden brought the melody and the beauty (Corinne Lee) while !Forward Russia! turned the energy up to 11 and never looked back.

Snowden had me at "Anti-Anti" (the first track I caught) and it wasn't because of the wire-tight melodies or Corinne Lee's show-stealing rock posture stage right. They just bring it. Great songs steeped in energy and conviction came to life throughout their set. Several songs took on new meaning for me and let's just say that JK wasn't lying when he said I would be digging the vibe. While I wasn't completely floored by the album on first listen months ago, they have definitely grown on me. The live performance brought some new perspective on previously avoided tracks and on repeat listens I am drawn into their fold, impressed and glad I made it out on Saturday. We were close to throwing in the towel after a stop at a Christmas party, but the effort proved fruitful. It didn't hurt that I slammed about five solo cups of holiday punch at aforementioned party. Delicious drink. Godforsaken hangover.

The danger with !Forward, Russia! lies in the comparisons they elicit. People start throwing bands like At the Drive-In and Bloc Party out there and it doesn't fit. Similar approach? Perhaps. Peers? Doubtful. While Tom Woodhead threatens to strangle himself with the mic cord throughout the set, I am never truly afraid of the possibility. Anyone who has seen Cedric Bixler-Zavala (of ATDI and The Mars Volta) live knows that anything is possible. If he ever wrapped a mic cord around his neck I would be afraid. Very, very afraid. His presence and stage activity is equal parts chaotic, disturbing and frightening. This isn't to say that !Forward Russia! doesn't bring the dance punk and bring it well. They do. The energy and furor they bring to each track is riveting and fun in its own right. But let's keep it in persective. None of the tracks echo Bloc Party's "Banquet" or even Franz Ferdinand's finest. But they do make you move and keep you wanting more. The matching t-shirts with the two lane highway of exclamation points is an added bonus, of course, as are the songs with actual names instead of numbers. At the end of the night, Snowden had stolen the show, but I left impressed and looking forward to a new album, which !Forward, Russia! gave us a taste of during their 50 minute set.

  

MP3: !Forward, Russia! - "Nine" (Moons of Neptune Remix)
MP3: Snowden - "Like Bullets"
MP3: Snowden - "Counterfeit Rules"

Snowden, ¡Forward, Russia! @ Bowery Ballroom, 11/28

Sadly, this could very well be my last show of 2006. The lineup of December shows in the city is severely unintersting and last night's show brought a good, not great, ending. Snowden far surpassed my expectations. I have only a handful of tracks from their album Anti-Anti but seeing them live brought their somewhat monotonous studio tracks to life. Their bass player really steals the show on stage and I should mention that she could very well give Stellastar*'s bassist a run for her money. I'll let InMyTree report back on that after their Black Cat show in December.

¡Forward, Russia! have received quite a bit of acclaim this year for their spastic live shows. I do love the album and their set last night was certainly entertaining but I can't say that it was necessarily jaw-dropping. The entertainment is completely based on the stage antics of lead singer Tom Woodhead (the drummer looked like she could have fallen asleep at any time) and there's no denying that he's a complete wild man on stage. I think he travels with an extra long mic chord to wrap around himself on stage. He also seems to have the mic toss and catch routine down which he also breaks out several times during a song. Strangely, in-between songs he turns into shy guy and barely says a word to the crowd. The bass player, Rob Canning does the talking. Now I could rattle off a bunch of numbers (Thirteen, Fifteen Pt. 1, Seven, Fifteen Pt. 2) that would consist of the song titles from their setlist but I'm not sure that would mean anything to most. They did play, for the first time in the States, a new song that breaks the trend of numbered titles, "Don't Be a Doctor" which actually sounded more like 8 songs rolled into 1. Overall, the setlist was short, as expected, and consisted of a one song encore.

Related:
AOL Spinner was there and they have a ton of pics from last night
NME was there too and they called it "triumphant"