OK, I've got the first couple of nights in March covered for ya...

Wednesday, it's Mike C's punk n' roll night Neat Neat Neat at Manitoba's:



Thursday it's to Lolita Bar for The All-England Club, where as their site says, "ALL music played must be British":





























And Friday is my birthday, so you tell me where I should go.

album review: Maxïmo Park - "Missing Songs"

How does such a young band come up with so much great music in so little time?

This past week, the mighty Maxïmo Park put out ANOTHER solid album full of the driving, catchy, new wavy goodness that made their A Certain Trigger album one of the best things about music last year.

Missing Songs is a compendium of B-sides, UK only releases, and three demos of songs from the first album. The songs show several different sides of the band, from their stiff and jagged cover of John Lennon's "Isolation" (originally found on a Q Magazine tribute CD), to their Oranges & Lemons-era XTC sounding "Trial And Error". As on their debut, Maxïmo Park are not afraid of tipping their hats to their influences here, but their sound nonetheless sounds remarkably original in this age of massive style and sound plagarism.

Bargain-priced, Missing Songs is a fantastic value. Maxïmo Park is state-of-the-art rock music, and your collection is not up to snuff if their music is not in it.

Maximo Park - "A19" mp3

Buy Missing Songs here.

And here's a photo of Maxïmo Park that I took at that XFM holiday concert in Brixton a couple months ago where they played the entire A Certain Trigger album in exact order!

book review: Rip It Up And Start Again-Postpunk 1978-1984...Postpunk Panel At Mo Pitkin's

I just finished reading RIP IT UP AND START AGAIN: Postpunk 1978-1984, a totally inclusive and insightful book examining that exciting era of music spanning from its inception with Public Image Ltd., and ending with what author Simon Reynolds calls "Punk's last blast", the rise and fall of Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

Broken into two main parts, "Postpunk" and "New Pop and New Rock", the book explores twenty-two distinct components of what made Postpunk what it was, analyzing the different (and differing) scenes and sub-genres that made that six-year period the last exciting and innovative time in musical evolution.

I've read virtually every book on this period of music, and happened to have experienced much of that period up-close and first-hand having come of legal age squarely in the middle of that time in NYC, according to Reynolds, one of the capitals of Postpunk (along with London, Leeds, Akron, San Francisco, Manchester, Los Angeles, Sheffield, and Coventry). This book not only allowed me to re-live much of the excitement of the times, but taught me a thing or two about some of the rest of the scenes that I'd either never known, forgotten, or blocked-out.

Particularly interesting to me were the chapters on New York's No Wave and Mutant Disco/Punk Funk scenes, the 2-Tone/Ska Resurrection, and the chapter called "Fun N' Frenzy: Postcard Records and The Sound Of Young Scotland", chronicaling the importance of Orange Juice and Josef K to the evolution of the music of that time.

This book is a fantastic study of a great musical period, and a must-read for anyone interested in taking a peek behind the beats and rhythms of those fun days when it was actually OK to dance to rock music.

------------------------------------------------------------

To help launch the book's release ("Rip It Up..." hits book stores on March 7), the following event is scheduled:

RIP IT UP AND START AGAIN: Postpunk 1978-1984
A panel discussion hosted by Simon Reynolds
2/28 @ Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction
34 Avenue A (between 2nd and 3rd streets)
7 PM, $8

Postpunk innovators James Chance (Contortions, James White & The Blacks), Steven Daly (Orange Juice), and Vivien Goldman (NME, Melody Maker)-with more guests TBA--discuss the wildly adventurous music and radical personalities chronicled in Simon Reynolds' RIP IT UP AND START AGAIN: Postpunk 1978-1984 (Penguin Original; on sale 3/7/06).

Focusing on New York City's downtown scene in the half decade following punk, discussion will range from the unique synergy between musicians, writers, and artists of the era; outside musical influences embraced by postpunk's creators; and the close relationship between the NYC and UK scenes at the end of the '70s.

Panelist Bios:

James Chance

Singer/saxophonist/leader of the legendary No Wave bands Contortions and James White & The Blacks, downtown stars for their frenzied jazz-punk/punk-funk sound, nihilistic lyrics and confrontational interaction with audiences. Chance still lives and performs in New York.

Vivien Goldman

British music journalist who covered postpunk at the time for NME, Sounds and Melody Maker, with special focus on the intersection between reggae and postpunk groups like The Slits, The Pop Group, and Public Image Ltd. During studio downtime donated by PiL, Goldman recorded the single "Launderette," deemed a treasure of the era by postpunk cultists; she also wrote and sang songs for The Flying Lizards. These days Goldman lives in the East Village of New York and is the author of books like The Black Chord: Visions of the Groove and The Book of Exodus: The Making and Meaning of Bob Marley and the Wailers' Album of the Century, the latter due for publication later in 2006. Check out Pitchfork's review of her female postpunk compilation Grlz: Women Ahead of Their Time:

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/columns/interrobang/10-07-05.shtml

Steven Daly

Drummer and conceptualist in Orange Juice, the celebrated Scottish band whose blend of Chic and Velvet Underground bridged the gap between postpunk, New Pop and indie-rock. Now based in Manhattan, these days Daly is a journalist (he's a contributing editor at Vanity Fair) and author (The Rock Snob's Dictionary).

And...

Simon Reynolds, author of RIP IT UP AND START AGAIN

A London-born music journalist living in New York, Simon is the author of several books, including Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture, shortlisted for the 1999 Ralph J. Gleason Music Book Awards. His pop culture writings have appeared in The New York Times, The Village Voice, Rolling Stone, Details, The Washington Post, Melody Maker, Mojo and many others. A former editor for Spin, he remains a senior contributing writer for the magazine. For more information on Rip It Up, including a full discography and additional musician interviews, visit www.simonreynolds.net or check out Simon's music blog at www.blissblog.blogspot.com

--------------------------------------------------------

Buy Rip It Up And Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984 at Amazon.

If you could play the book, here's what a couple of the chapters might sound like:

Public Image Ltd - "This Is Not A Love Song" mp3 buy
Delta 5 - "Now That You've Gone" mp3 buy

Gratis Goldfrapp.

Goldfrapp's "Ooh La La" is the iTunes free download this week...get it here

Keepin' it cheap, free Goldfrapp wallpaper from Top Of The Pops here:

Official Goldfrapp site is here.

DEV2.0...Way Better Than Raffi.

I received a copy today of the new "DEVO-for-kids" CD/DVD package, DEV2.O...

It's a collection of 13 songs and 10 videos, all DEVO tracks, but sung by 5 kids. The musical tracks were re-recorded for the album by the actual members of DEVO, but allegedly the kids now have learned to sing and play their instruments well enough to perform the songs live themselves, and a tour is supposedly forthcoming.

Here's more info from a press release:

Founding DEVO member Gerald Casale recently explained to Billboard Online: "We were looking for kids that were as unlike the mainstream as Devo was in its day when it was part of mainstream, trendy culture. They're all really smart. They're by no means goodie-goodie, but they don't have any of the behavioral clichés of the mainstream. They're really kind of like little scientists and they love Devo music."

NICOLE:
Instrument: Lead singer
Favorite DEVO songs: "Big Mess" and "Whip It"
Musical influences: Gwen Stefani, Kelly Clarkson, Fergie from Black Eyed Peas
Interests: Dancing, swimming, soccer and playing with her dogs.
Cool fact:
Nicole was "excited and shocked" to find out that she was going to be the lead singer of DEVO 2.0. She wants to be a famous singer, but would also like to be a doctor.

NATHAN:
Instrument: Guitar
Favorite DEVO song: "Big Mess"
Musical influences: The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Carlos Santana, Coldplay
Interests: Online Scrabble
Cool fact:
Nathan is also a songwriter and says "DEVO has helped expand my knowledge of music." He wants kids everywhere to hear his songs, and hopes to use music to improve the world.

KANE:
Instrument: Drums
Favorite DEVO songs: "Girl You Want" and "Whip It"
Musical influences: Josh Freese, Gregg Bissonette, The Mars Volta
Interests: Drums, drums, drums
Cool fact:
Kane got his first drum set from his father, a touring musician, when he was two years old. Before that, he played on pots and pans. Kane wants to be an actor and a musician when he grows up.

JACKIE:
Instrument: Keyboard
Favorite DEVO songs: "Whip It" and "That's Good"
Musical influences: Chopin, Puccini's "Pagliacci," The Beatles, the Broadway musical "Wicked"
Interests: Musical theatre, singing, chocolate
Cool fact:
If she doesn't make it as a musician or actress, Jackie would like to be the first female professional baseball player.

MICHAEL:
Instrument: Bass
Favorite DEVO song: "Cyclops"
Interests: Martial arts
Cool fact:
Michael has been a DEVO fan since he was very young, and says, "DEVO's music was at least 20 years ahead of its time." He hopes to be a martial arts world champion someday.

Some of the lyrics have been changed a bit to better suit the younger ears of the target audience, and the ironic bite of "Beautiful World" has totally been neutered to make the song as sunny as its title...but the fact that there even exists a compact disc designed to get kids singing DEVO songs in the backseat of SUV's across America (marketed by Disney, no less!) seems like DEVO's most subversive project yet.

Oh yeah, don't miss the bonus footage on the DVD of Jerry Casale & Mark Mothersbaugh explaining the concepts of "De-volution" to a couple of the kids in the band. Thankfully the kids didn't ask "What was your inspiration for the song 'Sloppy'(I Saw My Baby Gettin')'".

Now I know what my nieces are getting in their Easter baskets from me this year.

DEV2.0 - "Freedom Of Choice" mp3

Pre-order DEV2.0 here.

album review: POLYSICS "Now Is The Time!"

Of all the albums I've listened to so far this year, there have been only a few that have really moved me. The new Arctic Monkeys is pretty amazing, and the forthcoming Flaming Lips record is really, really good (and I'm never been much of a fan of theirs...), but the one that has really rocked me most is the new one by Polysics, Now Is The Time!.

Polysics are a DEVO-worshipping foursome from Tokyo, specializing in the kind of guitar-and-synth-frenzy DEVO made back in their early days, but with a touch of XTC and Talking Heads pop-sensibility thrown in to keep it catchy, all the while sounding current and not nostalgic at all. Partly produced by Andy Gill of Gang Of Four, Now Is The Time! is excitingly frenetic but never repetitive, unlike most bands who fancy themselves torchcarriers of the Spudboys. Allegedly, their live shows are even more exciting than their records.

It's worth a trip to their website to read their tour journals, especially as they made their way around the USA last year, and particularly when they played in Akron, Ohio, the original home of DEVO, where each Polysics member posed in different Akron souvenir t-shirts (who knew you could find four different Akron shirts?) and where they played what had to be a fierce version of DEVO's own "Uncontrollable Urge" as an encore.

Polysics Tour Dates (which will be followed by a UK tour with Kaiser Chiefs):

March 02 - Portland, OR - Dante's
04 - San Francisco, CA - Cafe du Nord
06 - San Diego, CA - Casbah
07 - Los Angeles, CA - Knitting Factory
08 - Pomona, CA - Glass House
10 - Phoenix, AZ - Glass House
11 - Tucson, AZ - Congress Club
12 - Santa Fe, NM - Warehouse 21
14 - Dallas, TX - The Door (DL)
15 - Houston, TX - Super Happy FunLand
18 - San Antonio, TX - White Rabbit

Watch the video for Polysics' "I Me Mine" here.

Polysics - "Walky Talky" mp3
Buy Polysics' Now Is The Time! here.

Honduran Medical & Literacy Benefit With LEVY Tuesday Night @ Knitting Factory

Just got this email from LEVY...looks like a good time for a good cause:

this tuesday LEVY is taking part in a benefit show for a humanitarian trip to honduras. all of the bands are donating their proceeds from the show to a team of people who will be providing medical care to people in the small town of Juticulpa, Honduras and helping to design and implement a literacy program at a school there for children with special needs. The proceeds from the show will go towards supplies for the town (both medical and educational) as well as expenses for the trip. it looks to be a great show for a great cause so you should probably get everyone you know to come along and join the fun and feel good about yourselves for doing it.


LEVY
tues 21 feb 06
$8
the knitting factory 74 leonard st

The lineup is:
9 The Nightrats
10 LEVY
11 Herbs

buy tickets in advance here.

Right on.

Get a free download of LEVY's "Rector Street" here.

www.LEVYtheband.com
www.myspace.com/LEVY
www.indian.co.uk/levy

Sugababes Cover Arctic Monkeys' "Dancefloor"

Sugababes have covered Arctic Monkeys' "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" for the b-side of their upcoming "Red Dress" single:

"Without not much warning, Scott Mills played I Bet That You Look Good On The Dance Floor during his Radio 1 show yesterday - and the babes really have done a terrific job. A radio rip of the track is available to download below." (ohnotheydidnt)

Rapidshare mp3 radio rip here. Warning...the rip is a bit loud, but the version is not too shabby. Purists will shudder, but closet popfiends like myself will give it two "Kelly Clarkson's" up.

Editors & stellastarr* Team-Up On Tour

As we told you earlier this week, the impending full stellastarr* tour announcement was supposed to be special, and it is...they are going out with Editors for a month and a half, with both bands trading headlining spots back and forth as they make their way around the country with the final destination being Coachella. A third, yet to be named band will also join them on the following dates:

03.20.06 - Boston, MA (The Roxy)
03.21.06 - South Burlington, VT (Higher Ground)
03.22.06 - Montreal, QC (Cabaret du Musse Juste Pour Rire)
03.24.06 - Toronto, ON (Phoenix Concert Theater)
03.25.06 - Cleveland, OH (Agora Theater)
03.26.06 - New York, NY (Bowery Ballroom) STELLASTARR* ONLY
03.27.06 - New York, NY (Bowery Ballroom) STELLASTARR* ONLY
03.28.06 - Brooklyn, NY (Warsaw)
03.29.06 - Washington, DC (9:30 Club)
03.30.06 - New York, NY (Webster Hall) EDITORS ONLY
04.01.06 - Philadelphia, PA (Trocadero)
04.02.06 - Baltimore, MD (Sonar)
04.04.06 - Norfolk, VA (The Norva Theatre)
04.05.06 - Carrboro, NC (Cat's Cradle)
04.06.06 - Athens, GA (40 Watt Club)
04.07.06 - Orlando, FL (The Social)
04.08.06 - Miami, FL (Studio A)
04.09.06 - St. Petersburg, FL (State Theater)
04.11.06 - Nashville, TN (Exit/In)
04.12.06 - Columbus, OH (Newport Music Hall)
04.13.06 - Detroit, MI (Magic Stick)
04.14.06 - Covington, KY (The Mad Hatter)
04.15.06 - Columbia, MO (Blue Note)
04.16.06 - Chicago, IL (Metro)
04.18.06 - Minneapolis, MN (Fine Line Music Cafe)
04.19.06 - Lawrence, KS (Granada Theatre)
04.21.06 - Denver, CO (Bluebird Theatre)
04.22.06 - Salt Lake City, UT (TBD)
04.25.06 - Vancouver, BC (Richard's On Richards)
04.27.06 - Seattle, WA (Chop Suey)
04.28.06 - Portland, OR (Dante's)
04.29.06 - San Francisco, CA (Mezzanine)
04.30.06 - Indio, CA (Coachella)

Editors & stellastarr* on the same bill at Warsaw? Look for hipsters' heads exploding that night.

Songs For Sixty-Five Roses...North Carolina Covers For A Good Cause.

From the Raleigh News & Observer:

Coming in March is an intriguing compilation called "Songs For Sixty-Five Roses: Re-Working the North Carolina Jukebox" (www.songsforsixtyfiveroses.com). Producer John Plymale compiled the 18-track set, which has North Carolina acts covering songs by other North Carolina acts.
Some of the pairings are highly unlikely, such as local honky-tonk kings the Two Dollar Pistols covering "Driveway to Driveway" by Chapel Hill punk band Superchunk, or Greensboro pop band Athenaeum covering country singer Randy Travis' "Forever and Ever, Amen." Elsewhere, Caitlin Cary handles Goner's "Battleground Park"; Superchunk spinoff Portastatic covers "Oh My Sweet Carolina" by Cary's old Whiskeytown band mate, Ryan Adams; and Archers of Loaf/Crooked Fingers main man Eric Bachmann does the honors for Let's Active's "Every Word Means No."

Proceeds from "Songs For Sixty-Five Roses" are earmarked for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The album will be released March 21

http://www.myspace.com/songsforsixtyfiveroses

-------------------------------------------------------


I'll buy anything even remotely concerning Let's Active. And Southern Culture On The Skids, Chris Stamey of The dB's, and Portastatic? For a good cause? Hell, yeah.

A streaming jukebox of all songs on "Songs For Sixty-Five Roses" is here.

Pre-order "Songs For Sixty-Five Roses" here.

And for old time's sake,
Lets Active - "Fell" (mp3)

Buy Let's Active CD's here.

Go! Team, Snow Patrol Tickets On Sale Today, Morning After Girls Midnight Gig Added...

Tickets for a couple interesting shows go on sale today (Wednesday) at noon:

Monday, March 20 (8:00 PM doors)
The Go! Team
at The Bowery Ballroom, New York City
U.S.$15.00 (tickets for this show, and the March 22 show at Northsix here)

Tuesday, March 28 (8:00 PM doors)
Snow Patrol plus Republic Of Loose
at The Bowery Ballroom, New York City
U.S.$20.00 (tickets here)

*************************************************************
UPDATE: SNOW PATROL TICKETS NOW GO ON SALE FRIDAY THE 17TH...
*************************************************************

The Go! Team's live shows are really hit or miss in terms of quality, and how well the band keeps up with the backing tracks...but if Ninja's having a good night, they can be great.

Snow Patrol's really solid live...much better than their not-so-raucous on record sound would lead you to believe.

And while you are making plans, if you got shut out on Black Rebel Motorcycle Club tickets at Webster Hall this coming Saturday night, not to fret...perhaps the freshest part of that bill, The Morning After Girls, are playing a second set at Midnight around the corner at R&R (tickets here):

Lodon Calling.

Just got a note in the extrawack! MySpace mailbox from TVT Records touting their hot new banner to pimp the Towers Of London MySpace page, and asking for assistance to "HELP TO SPREAD THE CHAOS!"...duh. That's what we get for having a MySpace page.

Anyway, it looks like the "chaos" is getting a good start. Check out the spelling of the band's name in this piece of art:



Great band, bad spellers.

Matisyahu Has Mad Hoops Skillz.

Matisyahu recently took on FHM's Danny Spiegel in a game of one-on-one basketball. Spiegel's no Sprewell, but Matis really seems to have a nice touch from downtown. Video here.

Valentine's Gift Ideas...Belle & Sebastian or Flowers From The Gas N' Sip?

What do you get the most sensitive music hipster comic nerd you know for Valentine's Day?

A Belle & Sebastian Comic Book!



Scottish indie pop sensations Belle & Sebastian make their first foray into the four-color world in a very different approach to the comics anthology in Image Comics’ PUT THE BOOK BACK ON THE SHELF: A BELLE & SEBASTIAN ANTHOLOGY...

Now, the band’s colorful lyrics and gorgeous, full-bodied melodies have provided Image Comics with the inspiration for a new kind of comics anthology. With the full-color, 144-page PUT THE BOOK BACK ON THE SHELF, a stellar collection of independent comic creators and cartoonists put their own spins on a cross section of Belle and Sebastian’s songs, crafting stories inspired by the band’s music, drawn from the band’s entire catalog.


I'm personally most interested in the chapter, "Piazza, New York
Catcher"...if there is one.

Buy it here.

However, if you are too cheap to spring for that book, hook your sweetheart up with this combo of free stuff for her iPod from iTunes:

Click here for a free download of Zack Hexum's romantic "How Many Times". Hexum's brother is the singer for 311, but don't hold that against him...he's really good.

Click here for the free video from Flipsyde, the guys that do that "Someday" song that is musical bed to all those ads on NBC for the Winter Olympics in Torino. You may not know it because when you hear the words "Michelle Kwan" coming from the TV, it's your cue to hit the fridge to find that last chilly beer...but your girl will know the track as "that skating song".

Now take the two bucks I just saved you on downloads and go buy a big bag of those little candy hearts that say junk like "BE MINE" and "U R CUTE". They'll go over so much better than the roses from the gas station that you usually get her.

March...In Like A Catherine Wheel, Out Like Editors.

March looks like an amazing month in terms of shows...the combination of quality bands setting up shows in conjunction with SXSW and the slew on interesting new releases is making NYC look like it's got its own month-long festival happening. Here are some of our highlights:

The month kicks off with a solo show from Rob Dickinson of The Catherine Wheel at Mercury Lounge (tickets). Those who saw him come through a few months ago called it one of the best shows of the year. His new album is really solid, and I'm sure it's worth the price of admission just to hear his stripped-down version of "Black Metallic".

Asobi Seksu has been added to the bill of the Serena Maneesh show at Bowery on 6 March (tickets here). Surely they'll be playing songs from their forthcoming Citrus album. I haven't had a noise fix like that in many months...I'm gonna start learning sign language so I can stand up front for that show and forfeit all hearing for the following few weeks. By the way, Asobi Seksu music was heard in two different Sundance finalist films, including In Between Days, directed by So Yong Kim which was awarded the Independent Vision award.

stellastarr* has two nights scheduled at Bowery Ballroom on 26 and 27 March (tickets here). Word is that a full-blown tour that is a bit out of the ordinary will be announced shortly.

Stream stellastarr* music at their MySpace page.


I'm told there are just a few tickets are left for the Editors show at Webster Hall at the end of March. Give it a shot here.

As always, Oh My Rockness is the most inclusive source for show and ticket info. Tell 'em extrawack! sent you.

Gettin' All Fabulous With Living Things @ Angel Orensanz

Last night I caught a short but fierce set by Living Things as part of Jerry Tam's Form Fall/Winter 06 fashion show at the amazingly beautiful Angel Orensanz Foundation deconsecrated synagogue on Norfolk Street.

I've always loved that hall (which hosted Jenny Lewis last week, and also where I saw The Verve play their first and best NYC show about a zillion years ago), and the combination of a full blown runway-style fashion show (complete with goodie-bags and uppity door-people)and a straight-up rock show immediately following, all in an insanely cool gothic-styled building with great sound, was too hard to pass up.

As far as the fashions were concerned, I thought they were pretty hot...though my haute-couture knowledge is pretty much limited to whatever is in the comp subscription to W that shows up at my house, and rooting against whatever scary Santino comes up with every week on Project Runway.

Living Things scorched their way through seven or eight songs from the alter-end of the church, and frontman Lillian used the runway to great effect, at one point remarking "I feel like f*cking Bono walking out here...".

For all the tags put on styles and scenes in music these days, it's good to hear a band that really just fits squarely in the category of "ROCK". No nonsense, no gimmicks, just good catchy rock'n'roll. If NYC actually had a radio station that played new rock music, Living Things would/should be played once an hour.

Here's what it looked like from the floor amongst the buyers, models, fashion press, and poseurs like myself:













Upcoming Living Things tour dates:

Fri 02/10/06 Baltimore, MD Ottobar
Sun 02/12/06 Washington, DC Black Cat
Mon 02/13/06 Asbury Park, NJ The Saint
Wed 02/15/06 Philadelphia, PA The Khyber
Thu 02/16/06 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club / Lounge
Sat 02/18/06 Toronto, ON Lee's Palace
Mon 02/20/06 Waterloo, ON Starlight Social Club
Tue 02/21/06 Cleveland, OH Agora Theatre
Thu 02/23/06 Columbus, OH The Basement
Fri 02/24/06 Detroit, MI St. Andrews Hall
Sat 02/25/06 Montreal, QC Le Medley
Mon 02/27/06 Madison, WI The Annex
Tue 02/28/06 Minneapolis, MN Ascot Room @ Quest Club
Wed 03/01/06 Chicago, IL Schubas
Fri 03/03/06 Lawrence, KS The Bottleneck
Sat 03/04/06 Saint Louis, MO Mississippi Nights
Mon 03/06/06 Louisville, KY Uncle Pleasants
Tue 03/07/06 Nashville, TN Exit / In
Thu 03/09/06 Richmond, VA Alley Katz
Fri 03/10/06 Charlotte, NC The Casbah
Sat 03/11/06 Atlanta, GA Vinyl @ Earthlink Live
Mon 03/13/06 Birmingham, AL The Nick
Tue 03/14/06 Birmingham, AL The Nick
Tue 03/21/06 Dallas, TX Double Wide
Wed 03/22/06 Houston, TX Walter's On Washington
Sat 03/25/06 Tallahassee, FL Floyd's Music Store
Mon 03/27/06 Orlando, FL The Social
Tue 03/28/06 Saint Petersburg, FL State Theatre
Wed 03/29/06 Fort Lauderdale, FL Culture Room
Sat 04/29/06 Indio, CA Empire Polo Field (Coachella)

Download Living Things "Bombs Below" for free at FUSE's Daily Download.

This Is How South Carolina Airport Guys Get Their Drunk On At Work:

I found this note in my suitcase along with finding a can of my favorite cheap buzz missing after I got home from my trip Down South:



As if.

The Rakes & Towers Of London @ Bowery On Sale Today

The Rakes, Towers Of London, Boy Kill Boy, & Plan B are playing Bowery Ballroom on 21 March, as part of Creative London and UK Trade and Investment's Live From London event.



Towers Of London absolutely killed during CMJ last year, and I can't wait to see them again. The Rakes were one of the few bands I really wanted to see but missed last year, so I get a chance to make that right soon. Friends in London tell me Boy Kill Boy are kind of like The Smiths meet The Cribs...and that doesn't sound too shabby.

Tickets on sale today (Wednesday) at noon at TicketWeb here.

Good Weather For Air Strikes has an MP3 of The Rakes' "Retreat" (Phones Repeat Mix).

Stream four Towers Of London tracks at their MySpace page.

The Rakes photo courtesy of Andrew Kendall.

Bloc Party Winners, New U.S. Tour Dates, Gratuitous Oogie.

Here are the winners of the extrawack! Bloc Party Photo Remix Contest:

First Place, Sergio Delgado:


Second Place, "Stew":


Sergio got bonus points because we're suckers for Uncle Floyd's Oogie. "Stew" got the nod for his use of the curly 'stache/goatee combo, which is always appropriate.

Thanks for all the great entries...this one was so successful, I'm sure we'll do another contest soon.

And while we're on the subject...per Brooklyn Vegan, Bloc Party has scheduled a few more U.S. dates to go with their appearance at Coachella:
Tue Apr 25 '06 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL Revolution
Thu Apr 27 '06 - Tempe, AZ Marquee Theatre
Fri Apr 28 '06 - Las Vegas, NV The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino w/ The Go! Team
Sun Apr 30 '06 - Indio, CA Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival

Talk About One-Stop Shopping!

Gas AND fireworks? Sweet. If only they sold hard liquor as well, I'd try to buy a house next door.



Poor Paul's, I-85 North, Cowpens, North Carolina.

Why The Steelers Have A Leg Up This Year...

I'm travelling to Charlotte, NC this weekend to take in a Checkers hockey game, watch the Super Bowl with family, and eat all kinds of junk you can't get up here...so to make up for the lack of activity there'll be on this site, I'll leave you with the real reason for the Steelers' success this year...the prosthetic leg of a Pittsburgh fan from Louisville:



Full scoop is here:
'Lucky Leg'
Louisville fan's prosthetic limb boots Steelers to victories (Louisville Courier Journal)

And don't forget, you have until Tuesday to enter the extrawack! Bloc Party Photo Remix contest!

The Cult Is Back! (Fire Woman, You're To Blame...)

The Cult has (somewhat) reformed for a tour, with a date scheduled for 26 March at the Nokia Theatre. Is that a good thing?

I saw them a couple of times back in the day, and they were a fierce band live.

Since then Ian Astbury's played the Jim Morrison part in the Doors "reunion" that was most recently in the news when the only living Doors member with a sense of integrity, John Densmore, successfully sued the "reunited" band for a piece of their action as they used the name "The Doors"...forcing them now to tour under the name "Riders On The Storm", like so many other Doors cover bands before them.

They last played together in 2002 to support their surprisingly good "Beyond Good and Evil" album. Guitarist Billy Duffy is also signed on for the tour, but it's unclear if drummer Matt Sorum (currently in Velvet Revolver) will be involved at all.

Tickets for the Nokia gig have a presale Friday, 3 February from 10am-10pm (password: CULT) and will be available here.

As I type this, I remember just how much I really enjoyed them live, and how good their records have always been. I think I'll give this show a shot.

Here's the full list of The Cult's tour dates (courtesy Billboard):

March 1: San Francisco (Fillmore)
March 3: Las Vegas (the Joint)
March 4: San Diego (House of Blues)
March 5: Cabazon, Calif. (Key Club)
March 7: Los Angeles (Fonda Theatre)
March 8: Tempe, Ariz. (Marquee Theatre)
March 10: Dallas (Ridglea Theatre)
March 11: Houston (Warehouse)
March 12: Austin, Texas (La Zona Rosa)
March 14: Tulsa, Okla. (Cain's)
March 15: Minneapolis (First Avenue)
March 17: Chicago (Vic Theatre)
March 18: Cleveland (House of Blues)
March 19: Detroit (Emerald Theatre)
March 21: Buffalo, N.Y. (Town Ballroom)
March 22: Boston (Avalon)
March 24: Washington, D.C. (9:30 Club)
March 25: Atlantic City, N.J. (House of Blues)
March 26: New York (Nokia Theatre)

Pass graphic at top courtesy Zoro The Drummer.

Bite Me, Hipsters...Morningwood Is Awesome.

How can you not love Morningwood's sense of humor?



"Play" the Morningwood Nth Degree Wet-T-shirt Contest here.