He Predicted A Riot.

I caught the Kaiser Chiefs last night at the Bowery Ballroom. Fantastic show, with a set chock full of great songs. These guys remind me so much of Black Sea/English Settlement era XTC, it's not funny. There's quite a bit of Parklife Blur in there as well.



Singer Ricky Wilson (easily the best Ricky Wilson in rock since the late B-52's guitarist...) walked onto the stage limping his aircast-ed foot (injured in a bad landing on one of his patented mid-song scissor-kick leaps in Seattle last week) and using a cane, but half a song into the set he was leaping about as if there was Flubber in the cast.



The set was short, but appropriately so for a band with only one album out, and only a few days old for that matter here in the States. The crowd danced/pogoed/bopped through most of the set, and it's great to see Manhattan crowds continue to loosen up.

NYC's own Morningwood played a hot and tight set before the Chiefs, showcasing a great bunch of really fun and rockin' songs and a tremendously charismatic frontwoman in Chantal Claret. Brassy, funny, and confident, Chantal convinced a pretty young thing to jump on stage and dance/partially strip during their song "Take Off Your Clothes" (one of my personal fave iPod tracks of last year).

They've just recorded an album for Capitol in London under the production of Gil Norton (Pixies, Catherine Wheel, Belly, Foo Fighters), and based on the set they played tonight, the record is probably gonna be a good one.

Here's Chantal in full Robert Plant pose:



Morningwood's next show in the city is at Mercury Lounge on 27 April with The Raveonettes .

As far as the Kaiser Chiefs are concerned, they play Maxwell's in Hoboken Tuesday night. If you can get a ticket to that show, go, because that most likely will be the last show they ever play in a club that small, anywhere in the world, ever again.

You Couldn't Tell Pat O'Brien Was A Skeeve Before?...Really?

This is really funny stuff:

"I'm Stuck In Rehab With Pat O'Brien"

here's a sample from one of the entries of this blog:
"After dinner we hung around the common room and sang songs. Pat O'Brien had his mandolin. He actually wasn't that bad. He sang "Eve of Destruction" and "To Sir, With Love." I just wish he hadn't taken his shirt off. Nobody wanted to see that."

And in case you haven't heard the tapes yet, here they are.

The Best Rock Guitarist.

It's a debate that's been going on ever since "rock" music was invented...who is the best rock guitarist? I have the answer for you...

It's Bob Clapcich.

You see, Clapton, The Edge, Vai, Van Halen, Satriani...they are fantastic players. Mind blowing. But can they do root canals? Can they whiten coffee-stained choppers? Can they freestyle some enamel around a molar jaggedly broken on a cherry Jolly Rancher? And play a sweet acoustic Jeff Buckley cover? The answer is simple. No. They can't do what Dr. Bob Clapcich, my dentist, can. And that's what makes him the best rock guitarist.

See Dr. Bob at The Back Fence on Bleeker @ Thompson this Thursday night, at 8:30 and 11:30. If you are lucky, you'll catch a guitar pick. If you are unlucky, you'll catch one of those teeth cleaning picks, and that could hurt.

Previous Dr. Bob post is here.

I Have A Feeling That's Gonna Be A Bit Sore In The Morning...

I talked to One Kidney Kelly tonight, and she sounds great. Well, great for having a major organ snatched within the last few hours...she did give props to her "morphine drip button", which I'm anxiously awaiting over-the couter status for. I still can't believe how brave and cool she is for going through with it all. Wow.



Also, I'm pleased to announce that if you search the phrase "Federline Stink Yo Not Much" on Technorati, as someone did today, extrawack! is the #1 result. Try it here and see!

The Extrawack Hero of The Week, Kelly Stout.

My friend Kelly, who lives in Denver, will give a kidney to a co-worker tomorrow morning.

How insanely selfless and noble is that? Most of my friends have a tough enough time buying me a beer when we are out...I can't imagine any of them tossing me one of their kidneys any time soon.

This is Kelly (on the right) with the girl who's gonna get the kidney, and her brother Marc (a Denver sportscaster and morning guy on hard-rocker KBPI):

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If you've got a second to send prayers, good vibes, positive thoughts, and the like to these girls tonite, please do.

K-Fed...Is There Anything He Can't Do?

Saturday Night Live really hasn't meant much to me in the past few years, save for any sketch that features Horatio Sanz and a fake mustache, but last night's show with The Kutcher had a couple great moments; namely a faux commercial for Federline Underwear ("I look like I might stink, yo..."),


and a performance by Gwen Stefani, Eve, and 4 Harajuku dancers that looked like something out of a really good pervy dream of mine.



Speaking of Gwen, I can't believe how under-appreciated her album is. I can understand how some people are turned off by how cartoony she kinda is, but that record is chock full of really great pop songs and beats. Anyone I've played cuts from that record for ends up surprised how good it is.

Free-own-a Apple

Wonder what all the fuss is about regarding the unreleased Fiona Apple album? Make yourself a copy and decide for yourself...you can download the entire thing here.

Personally? Although I'm a fan of her rolling around in her drawers in the "Criminal" video, and her version of "Across The Universe" is one of my favorite covers ever, even for free I don't think I'll be spending too much time listening to this one.

First Wave Free

If you don't mind the drive to Central Jersey, Jack Daniels is sponsoring a free Secret Machines show at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville on April 3rd, a Sunday night. Guest list details here.

The Secret Machines play a really cool indie/prog hybrid that just kind of throbs at you, leaving you feeling like you're not sure if your body wants to meditate or dance. And free fits perfectly in my budget right now. I'm there.

I Guess This Is What Happens When You Make It Big...

You get South Park'd:


above from some new Bloc Party fansite.

I'm eagerly awaiting the Kaiser Chiefs version...

Sunday Night Wrap Up

Saw this little guy on First Street in Hoboken this morning:


Some interestng things I found this weekend:

Tsar returns! As reported on I Will Have The Penne All'arrabbiata and elsewhere, L.A.'s masters of perfect pop rock tunes have signed a deal with TVT Records, and will be playing a handful of shows in NYC:

TUESDAY, MARCH 22
SNITCH
59 W. 21ST ST.
NEW YORK, NY

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23
PIANO'S
158 LUDLOW
8 PM

THURSDAY, MARCH 24
THE DELANCEY
168 DELANCEY
NEW YORK, NY
10 PM

Like most bands signed to Hollywood Records, Tsar was totally hosed after creating an amazing debut record. Lets hope TVT does right by these guys this time.
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I'm totally smitten with Ireland's The Chalets. I was a big Bis fan, and they remind me a lot of them, except they have double the "cute girl in the band" factor.


Download an MP3 of their "Love Punch" at Drowned In Sound here.

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ChartAttack says the new Dandy Warhols album is slated for Spring release. Sweet.


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The always excellent Lost Bands Of The New Wave Era has an MP3 up this week of "Just The Other Day", from the (until recently) out of print Blue Angel album. If you were born after 1965, you are asking, "Who's Blue Angel?"...to which I'll answer, "a hot live band who played a lot around the NY/NJ/CT circuit around 1980, featuring a killer singer named Cyndi Lauper". They were great, and this track is a nice choice as an example of what they were about.

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New MetroStars signing Youri Djorkaeff has some kind of hamstring injury that's gonna keep him out 4 to 6 weeks, according to MetroFanatic.com. Here we go again...

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Click here for the creepiest blog on the Internet.

Not the bad Kevin Spacey movie...

Friday Night, a couple rum/rocks in me, and I'm mesmerised by this song by Shipping News, from their forthcoming album, Flies The Fields, out on Quarterstick in a couple weeks. I'm a sucker for slow building grooves.

Download the "Axons And Dendrites" MP3 here.

Lemmy Kilmister and The Holy Grail

Monday night we went to see Spamalot on Broadway, a gift from Kimberly for my birthday. I've never laughed so hard at a play before, and had a ball.

For the most part, I've come to really hate musicals. For the life of me, I can't understand the appeal of songs that are really just mundane conversation set to music:

"Are you going to the park?"
"I am going to the park!"
"He is going to the park! To the park! To the park!"

Ay yi yi.

However, Spamalot was much more witty and clever and fun than anything I've seen on stage before. Tim Curry is an awesome King, David Hyde Pierce was hilarious in a scene that paid homage to Fiddler On The Roof, and Hank Azaria was fantastic as several characters, including the my favorite carryover from the Monty Python and the Holy Grail movie, "The French Taunter". Any production that mocks both The French and Andrew Lloyd Webber is A-OK in my book.

The pre-sale on this show was pretty huge, and I'm sure once more people actually see it and the word gets out further, tickets will be even tougher to find. As they say on the West End, "book now".

On the other end of the sonic scale, last night I went with Ron and his pal Jose to see Motörhead, at the Starland Ballroom in fabulous Sayreville, New Jersey. Since the Birch Hill Night Club, the dive-iest Jersey rock dive ever closed in late 2003, the Starland has become HQ for Central Jersey's rockers. For this show, the place looked like a giant sociology project. As Sayreville (original home of Bon Jovi) is located smack dab in Kevin Smith land, the crowd looked like a giant casting call for the Clerks sequel (especially heavy on the Jay's, Silent Bob's, and Berserker's).



As always, Motörhead killed. Despite this being the first show on the tour, and drummer Mickey Dee's stomach ailment (which lent a Spinal Tap-ish feel to the show everytime he lept up from his kit to puke behind the Marshall cabinets), the set was great, loud, and tight. Jose, a metal fan from Spain so hardcore that he's planning a trip to Germany later this year to witness an Accept reunion show, claimed it was among his favorite shows ever. Ron, who last saw Motörhead play in the early Nineties at a tiny Comedy Central press party on Bleeker Street for the fledgling network's short-lived running of The Young Ones, told me his car radio was sounding distorted this morning, so he's still feeling the effects. I woke up feeling like a train hit me, but somehow it's a good feeling. As you can see by the pictures, we were plenty close to the action.




"Everything Louder Than Everything Else", indeed.

Running Uptown With The Biz.

This morning I somehow managed to launch myself out of a very comfortable bed to get uptown to run in the Coogan's Salsa, Blues & Shamrocks 5K, my first New York Road Runners race of the year, and despite the fact that it was 36F with a 9am start, I really enjoyed it.

I don't think I've run a total of 6 miles since my last road race, the NYRR Wall Street 5K at the end of September, where I took a tumble about a half mile from the finish, and goofed up my shoulder so bad that it still wakes me up when I roll over awkwardly on it while sleeping...and that includes the aptly named Westfield Hangover 5K that I ran on New Years Day in that freakishly warm weather. I decided that I absolutely had to run this one in order to get myself started running again, and I wouldn't beat myself up if my time sucked.

My buddy Chuck, who inspired me to run my first race last year, suggested this race because of it's relative "funness" compared to most road races. It started at the New Balance Track & Field Center on 168th Street and ran north on Fort Washington Ave into Tryon Park, then back down to the Armory. If you are familiar with Washington Heights, you'll know that that's one of the hilliest stretches in otherwise flat Manhattan. Since the Armory also houses the U.S. Track & Field Hall Of Fame, I spent a few minutes before the race wandering around the Hall getting inspired by the exhibits, the coolest of which was the actual baton Jesse Owens' USA team used in a relay in the 1936 Olympics.

I found Chuck outside by the starting line, and once the staring horn went off, I set off on my chugging way. Chuck booked off into "actual runner" mode while I paced myself to minimize the embarrassment of having to pull up lame (or tired, or all asthma'd up). The fun part kicked in about a quarter mile in when a Salsa band serenaded the runners passing. Further up on the run we ran past bagpipers, banjo players, Irish folksingers, solo guitar players, cheerleaders, and the Mother Cabrini High all-girl Marching Band.



There was even one runner who was just ahead of me, who pulled over to the side, somehow produced a trumpet, and played for the rest of the runners. He was still playing when I made my return trip back to the finish line.

The beauty of NYRR races is the sheer diversity of the runners. A lot of runners wear their national colors, and the recent trend of wearing the shirt of your favorite soccer team is fun to watch (for some reason, AC Milan was the most seen top today). About a mile into the course I passed a small group of people on the sidewalk around a baby in a stroller with a sign that said "My 2 Daddies Are Running This Race!". As I was stretching before the race inside the Armory, the coolest Japanese dude took some space next to me...he was dressed from head to toe in the flyest vintage adidas and Nike gear, including a pair of what were probably late 70's Nike Cortez wheels. This guy was awesome and his clothes probably had an eBay value of $1500.00. And don't get me started on these 50-year-old women who are built like Biz Markie that despite their girth and lack of running form manage to cross the finish ahead of me every time.

Needless to say, my finish time was terrible (yet still a bit better than that New Year's Day run), but there's something about just finishing a road race that feels amazing. It's so cool to know that I'm not the slug I thought I was gonna turn into when I got older, and it's such a treat to be able to run through the streets and parks in the greatest city on earth. If you live in or near NYC and haven't attempted one of these races, you are missing out on one of New York's greatest gifts.

Gang Of Radio 4

A full slate of Gang Of Four tourdates have been released:

Coachella Music and Arts Festival (May 1)
San Francisco Fillmore (2 & 3)
Portland Roseland (5)
Seattle Showbox (6)
Vancouver Commodore (7)
Minneapolis Quest (10)
Chicago Metro (11 & 12)
Toronto Phoenix (14)
Boston Avalon (16)
NYC Irving Plaza (17 & 18)
Washington DC 9:30 Club (20)

Coolfer says here that Brooklyn's excellent Radio 4 will open the tour, which couldn't make me happier.

Stream Radio 4's new single "Nation" (Lee "Scratch" Perry Vox Mix) here.

Kool Thing In Hoboken.

With no announcement or fanfare, Sonic Youth tickets for 2 shows in one night at Maxwells have gone on sale here.



I'd go, but I'll be worn out from The Undertones show there the night before.

Just In Time For Soccer Season!

If you forgot my birthday gift yesterday, here's your chance to make it up to me...it's a flask disguised as a cellphone.

Yeah, I know the MetroStars have picked up Youri, but based on all the previous seasons of misery, I'd feel better if I was packing a cellphone full of high-proof booze, preferably some of that absinthe that Sansone snuck in a few years ago that made me hallucinate all the way home.

I Wonder If Tito's Watching This.

As I write this, I'm watching what may be the freakiest thing I've ever seen on TV...the re-enactment of the day's court proceedings in the Michael Jackson case on the E! channel. What a bizarre collection of actors and bad wigs. It's as if someone said, "Hmmm, a very public molestation criminal trial of one of the world's most famous pop stars, a guy who is as strange as a three-pound note and who's nose-tip has been known to fall off at random moments...how can we make it weirder?"

The guy playing Jacko looks more like an ugly soccer-mom, and the actor playing Jackson's lead lawyer's wig keeps rotating itself to the left. Add a panel of four lawyers lending commentary, and the skeeve level shoots skyward.

The subject matter of this case is already mega-creepy, but this show makes me wanna take a shower. I have a feeling I'm already hooked.


Impersonator Edward Moss lightens his skin color with makeup.
photo courtesy New York Times