Out Of A Forest Short Film

Worth checking out...

Out Of A Forest from Tobias Gundorff Boesen on Vimeo.

Music: The National - "Slow Show"
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The National will be performing on Jimmy Fallon tonight. Looking forward to hearing a new tune.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Tour

I love Tom Petty and for whatever reason, I've never seen him live. I really need to remedy that this summer. He's back with a new album and is hitting the road. As if you need another reason to love Tom Petty, look at his openers...Drive-By Truckers and My Morning Jacket (as well as vets Joe Cocker, Crosby, Stills & Nash, and ZZ Top). Find me two better modern-day rock bands who would be a better fit for that gig. I can't come up with any.

You can also stream the first single, "Good Enough," from Mojo on his site right now (his first album in almost ten years). It's a straight up rocker and is actually quite good.

http://www.tompetty.com/tour

Them Crooked Vultures @ Roseland, 2/8/10

"File that under holy shit." Josh Homme made that remark after a guitar solo from unlikely fourth member Alain Johannes but it summed up the entire show for me. I didn't think Josh Homme was ever happy about anything but he had a smile on his face the entire night and who can blame him. What other lead singer can join a band with one of the greatest drummers of our generation and a living legend and still somehow make it about him? Regardless, I spent the majority of the show gazing at JPJ and watching in disbelief as Grohl bashed away at the drums for an hour and forty-five minutes with a level of fierceness I've never seen before. They played all 13 songs from the album and one unrecorded song called "Highway One" which, frankly, wasn't as good as any of the songs on the album. The show was everything it was supposed to be and more.

Drive-By Truckers Spring Tour Dates

I'm already signed up to travel down to Charlottesville (home) to see their February show but April 1 is a no brainer.

The first single can be found here and true to their word, it rocks. The Big To-Do is out 3/16.

Thu Mar 04 Wilmington NC Rox Nightclub
Sat Mar 06 Augusta GA Sky City
Fri Mar 12 Atlanta GA Variety Playhouse
Sat Mar 13 Atlanta GA Variety Playhouse
Thu Mar 18 Austin TX SXSW
Fri Mar 19 New Orleans LA Tipitinas
Sat Mar 20 New Orleans LA Tipitinas
Thu Apr 01 New York NY Webster Hall
Fri Apr 02 Boston MA House of Blues
Sat Apr 03 Philadelphia PA Electric Factory
Tue Apr 06 Toronto Canada Lee's Palace
Wed Apr 07 Toronto Canada Lee's Palace
Thu Apr 08 Detroit MI St. Andrews Hall
Fri Apr 09 Chicago IL The Vic Theatre
Sat Apr 10 Lexington KY Buster's Billiards and Backroom
Sun Apr 11 Cleveland OH Beachland Ballroom and Tavern
Wed Apr 14 Towson MD Recher Theatre
Thu Apr 15 Norfolk VA The Norva
Fri Apr 16 Asheville NC The Orange Peel
Sat Apr 17 Asheville NC The Orange Peel
Fri Apr 30 Nashville TN Cannery Ballroom
Fri May 07 Los Angeles CA Avalon
Sat May 08 San Fran CA The Fillmore Auditorium

Trailer: The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights

Looks awesome:

JK's Best of 2009

2009 was the hardest year of work, not surprisingly, that I've ever had. That's not necessarily a bad thing at all, I've been very fortunate, it's just an adjustment. Unfortunately, it's also meant that I haven't been able to keep up with this blog very often and I suppose that's unlikely to change either. Despite it all, I still managed to listen to a lot of music this year and the result was very promising. I can't say the same about live shows this year, aside from standouts such as Band of Horses/Arbouretum at Carnegie Hall and Dark Was the Night at Radio City, I witnessed a lot of good shows but few great ones. Hope lies ahead in 2010 with Yeasayer in January, home to Charlottesville to catch Drive-By Truckers with my dad, and Muse/Silversun Pickups at the Garden in March. Here were my favorites from '09:

Albums
20. Julian Plenti - Julian Plenti is...Skyscraper
19. Brakes - Touchdown
18. Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
17. Fanfarlo - Reservoir
16. Various Artists - Dark Was The Night
15. ...Trail of Dead - The Century of Self
14. Harlem Shakes - Technicolor Health
13. Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand
12. Drummer - Feel Good Together
11. The Maccabees - Wall of Arms
10. The Antlers - Hospice
09. The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
08. Them Crooked Vultures - s/t
07. Doves - Kingdom of Rust
06. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns
05. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
04. Dinosaur Jr. - Farm
03. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
02. Mastodon - Crack the Skye
01. Grizzly Bear - Veckatamist

Songs
21. Suckers - It Gets Your Body Moving
20. The xx - Crystalised
19. Editors - Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool
18. The Maccabees - No Kind Words
17. Monsters of Folk - Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.)
16. Franz Ferdinand - Lucid Dreams
15. Arctic Monkeys - The Jeweller's Hands
14. Clues - Ledmonton
13. Them Crooked Vultures - No One Loves Me & Neither Do I
12. The Rural Alberta Advantage - The Ballad of the RAA
11. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll
10. Phoenix - 1901
09. White Rabbit - Percussion Gun
08. Grizzly Bear - While You Wait for the Others
07. Arbouretum - False Spring
06. Phoenix - Lisztomania
05. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Hysteric
04. The Flaming Lips - Worm Mountain
03. Passion Pit - Moth's Wings
02. Drummer - Mature Fantasy
01. Bon Iver - Brackett, WI

Update: I forgot one of my favorites so I'm making a last minute adjustment and adding Arbouretum...

EPs:
03. Suckers - Suckers EP
02. Blitzen Trapper - Black River Killer
01. Puscifer - "C" Is for (Please Insert Sophomoric Genitalia Reference Here) EP

AV Club's Best Films of the '00s

I'm a sucker for these lists, especially when they come from sites that I have a lot of respect for. AV Club presents their list of the best films of the '00s, something that seems too overwhelming for me to attempt. Memento is my definitive favorite so it's nice to see that one come in at number 5. One thing that is clear is that I have not seen nearly enough of the films in the top 50.

Top 10:
10. Children Of Men (2006)
09. The New World (2005)
08. Capturing The Friedmans (2003)
07. Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003)
06. Spirited Away (2001)
05. Memento (2000)
04. No Country For Old Men (2007)
03. There Will Be Blood (2007)
02. 25th Hour (2002)
01. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004)