Video Of The Day: Feist (On Colbert)

Humpday Randomnimity

So first, let's break down the Bonnaroo line-up:



First, I think it's hilarious that NME and the AP totally got punked and reported that Led Zeppelin is headlining. Since they deleted their mistake, here it is immortalized:



The weirdest thing is that NME had announced earlier in the day that they would be announcing a "surprise headliner" at midnight, so the conspiracy theorists out there are going to believe there is a chance that they will add Led Zeppelin late after tickets go on sale (because LZ would instantly sell out the fest), to give the 'roo loyalists a easy shot at tickets first. Considering everyone denied Metallica was playing when that rumour broke earlier, it is certainly possible but doubtful.

So, Metallica. Hmmmm. I'm just going to say that i think they are being a little risky with some of their line-up choices for a rare fest with an almost completely non-violent history. It will be an interesting experiment to see how that crowd does, but I'm a bit pessimistic on that front. Although, there have only been a handful of 'roo headliners over the years that have been really awesome in my opinion, so it's not the worst thing to me (plus now i can get a nap Friday night between the day acts and the late-night acts). It's the smaller acts that I always like best anyways. Plus, Pearl Jam is really great live. Also, I'm just gonna say, Jack Johnson isn't necessarily bad, but I can think of like 100 better headliners off the top of my head, and he has to headline both Coachellas and Bonnaroo? Coooooooooooome ooooooon.

Regardless of all that junk at the top of the list, there is a lot to be excited about. Sigur Ros is probably the biggest for me since I love them and have yet to see them. The other names I'm going to be excited to see include Iron & Wine, Broken Social Scene, Mastodon (ATL represent!), !!!, The Fiery Furnaces, Jose Gonzalez, Minus The Bear, Battles, and The Sword. Things I've seen a million times that are still pretty cool to catch again: Phil Lesh, My Morning Jacket, The Allman Brothers, Death Cab For Cutie, Ben Folds, and Dark Star Orchestra. Others I'll probably check out if nothing great is going on include Kanye, Robert Plant, Willie Nelson, B.B. King, Talib Kweli, Gogol Bordello, Rilo Kiley, Tegan & Sara, Vampire Weekend, and Black Kids.

Overall, its decent but not their best line-up. I'm still going cuz I love this fest. A Mars Volta addition would really set it off though.

Speaking of The Mars Volta, Pitchfork finally reviewed The Bedlam in Goliath, and while they still gave it a terrible score, they finally back-tracked a tad bit from the absolute hate they have for this band and moved to a more "well we don't like them, but I can see why others do and they are awesome in certain ways we don't put much value in" position (I'm paraphrasing here). While I appreciate the sentiment, they still laid down some serious presumptuous elitism. Like when the 'fork makes claims that TMV championing prog-rock (or as i would put it, innovating a musical epistemology built on innovation) "couldn't be more averse to real progress in rock music", it just makes me realize how one-dimensional they are in their music taste and while they have been a huge driving force of this current music revolution going on, they are sometimes missing the point. In essence what is going on is about diversity, not about a singular idea or sound. When you value 3 LCD Soundsystem songs that are nice on the dancefloor surrounded by a ton of boringness and repetition over an album where they make every single second on it count, well, I'm just not gonna ever jump on that bandwagon.

Ok, now I am gonna get all pitchforky on you and serve up a glass of haterade. I bought the new The Selmanaires, Anna Kramer, and The Whigs albums a couple of weeks ago. I'm a cheerleader for the local acts as much as the next person, but while I think these are all fine albums in their own right and I know the rest of the Jo-Ja big dawgs are touting them endlessly, these are far from the best acts or albums that Georgia has to offer. They are all copycatting played out styles, and bringing nothing new to the table. There are sure to be plenty of people who will genuinely love these, but I like a bit of innovation, a touch of avant-garde, an artist who takes chances, I like something unique and different, and I hear none of that on these albums. The Selmanaires seem to be only one of these three that I believe have real potential to be something special, but I always find myself thinking about 25% of what they do is amazing, and the other 75% is totally uninteresting. I understand that they are like a library of styles and that they are making very deep musical references, but they don't bring a new perspective to their reference points except sometimes they water them down. They sound like a history book to me. I think they just lay too safe sometimes, and if they really went for it they could be great. Again, The Air Salesman is not a bad album, but if I were to compare it to other ATL albums I consider great, like, I don't know, an Untied States album (or the new Slushco EP that is getting absolutely no press except here), I don't think it stands up.

Ok, enough digression, here's some news:

Iron & Wine and Califone will be at the Variety Playhouse on April 14th.

The Breeders will be at The Loft on June 13th.

Modest Mouse are working on an EP.

Go get the Atlas Sound Orange Ohms Glow EP from his blog. Damn, he just don't stop.

Tickley Feather, who opened for Animal Collective in Atlanta last year, has her debut album coming out April 29th.

Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords is about to star in a movie.

It seems the Stone Temple Pilots reunion is on like Donkey Kong.

Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks and John Vanderslice will be at The Variety Playhouse on March 26th.

Feist will be at The Tabernacle on March 18th.

Cloud Cult have a new album coming out soon.

Austin City Limits Fest, slated for September 26th-28th, already has tickets on sale way before they announce a line-up. Lookout Ticketmaster, the groundsquirrel is coming to get you:



Feist live:



Cat Power:



Caribou:



Les Savy Fav:



The Raveonettes:



A Place To Bury Strangers:

Humpnight Randomnimity

I just wanted to say thanks to Elevado, This Piano Plays Itself, Eric Guenther and Ben Wetzelberger of From Exile, and Missile Command for playing our One Year Anniversary party last weekend and thanks to all of you for coming out. It was truly an epic event. Here's some pics from the night:

Missile Command:



Elevado:



This Piano Plays Itself:





Biggie C video taped almost all of the sets, so expect videos posted soon. Just an extra note, in all of the madness of the DJ Douschebag set, I spilled beer on my laptop, so until I get a new one in a couple of weeks, I'm borrowing computers to blog, so I will be limited a tad bit in my posting.

Tomorrow night you can catch Missile Command at The Earl:



Portishead's new album, Third, is out in April.

Stars will be in Athens, Ga at the Georgia Theater on March 22nd, but is skipping Atlanta.

Tokyo Police Club have also forsaken Atlanta to play in Athens, Ga on April 7th at the 40 Watt. They also have their first full length album out called Elephant Shell.

Lil' Wayne got arrested for having drugs on his tour bus.

Passion Of Weiss had this Chris Rock video up today and I remembered how much I loved it when it came out back in the day:



Yeah Yeah Yeahs are working on a new album.

Liars' Angus Andrew suffered a back injury but it is unclear if this will affect their upcoming tour. Remember they are scheduled to play The Earl with No Age on Valentines Day.

Bradford Cox has posted demos and out-takes from their Fluorescent Grey EP on his blog.

Pine Magazine interviews Matthew Friedberger of The Fiery Furnaces. I can't wait to see them next week.

Blitzen Trapper will be at The Drunken Unicorn March 20th.

Be Your Own Pet have a new album, Get Awkward, out on March 18th.

The Coachella East fest will be called "All Points West Fest".

Scott Weiland is talking Stone Temple Pilots reunion.

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez of The Mars Volta has a new solo album out February 5th called Calibration. TMV's The Bedlam in Goliath comes out Tuesday. I'm about to freak out waiting to hear these.

Tapes 'N Tapes have their second album, Walk It Off, coming out on April 8th.

The Streets have a new album coming out in April.

The guys from Hot Chip have side projects.

Black Moth Super Rainbow will be at The Drunken Unicorn on March 10th.

Midlake are working on a new, "darker" album.

Pelican will be at The Drunken Unicorn on March 12th.

Mike Doughty will be at The Melting Point in Athens, Ga Sunday night.

You want to watch Amy Winehouse smoking crack? ok, sure:



Feist "I Feel It All":



Saul Williams "Sunday Bloody Sunday":



The Mars Volta "Wax Simulacra" on Letterman:

In the News

Hilly Kristal died yesterday from lung cancer complications. He was the founder of the CBGB in Manhattan, New York, which housed many acts from amazing artists since 1973. Interestingly, according to vh1.com his daughter plans to open up more CBGB clubs in the near future.




Also, last night:
Feist played on Letterman with a choir of members from Grizzly Bear, Broken Social Scene, New Pornographers, The National, Mates of State, and Nicole Atkins and the Sea. That's the whole crew pictured above.
Check out the video:

Bonnaroo Weekend In The ATL

If you aren't going to the 'roo this weekend, it is still a really great week for shows in Atlanta. Tonight you can see Rush at Hi-Fi Buys, The National at The Earl, or Les Claypool at Variety Playhouse. Thursday night there's a great show at The Earl I highly recommend with Maserati, The Liverhearts, and Good Friday Experiment. Friday night there is a ridiculous amount of great shows. First, Battles, who I've fallen in love with recently, will be at The Drunken Unicorn. That's my pick of the week. But there are three other great shows. Lenny's is hosting The Stills and Go Motion, who we saw and was amazed by earlier this year. The Earl is boasting my new ATL faves Snowden, plus All The Saints and The N.E.C. Then Feist and Grizzly Bear, who we heart, are at The Variety Playhouse. Seriously, if you are not going to Bonnaroo you are required to go to one of those four shows friday night or you will lose mega cool points.

Bonnaroo Update and Preview: Feist

In case you lost track, Bonnaroo is roughly a month away. VIP Tickets are sold out, but regular tickets are still available so if you don't have one yet, it is time to get on it. With Wakarusa and 10K Lakes fests announcing their schedules last week, it's about time for Bonnaroo to do it too. Supposedly there is even another artist addition. They just added some comedians:

Demetri Martin
Aziz Ansari
Finesse Mitchell
Lynne Koplitz
Dov Davidoff
Nick Kroll
John Bowman

If you have Comcast TV-ON DEMAND, they are spotlighting previous Bonnaroo performances and performances from artists playing this year.

Jambands.com is reporting that Medeski and Martin will be doing a late night set at Bonnaroo Friday night.

There's a really cool Bonnaroo blog that is profiling artists on the line-up you should check out.

For the next month leading up to Bonnaroo, we will be covering artsits on the line-up as much as possible. Here's some live tracks from Feist:

Feist - Live On KCRW 2007
Aired 5-10-2007
KCRW Radio FM Broadcast
Santa Monica, California.
Source: FM Broadcast
Live At Time Of Broadcast - In Studio Session

Lineage: FM> Harman Kardon AVR30 > Analog Out > Sony RCD-W500C >
Audio CDR.WAV > Pioneer DVR-RW DVD-108 > EAC > CD WAVE(Tracking-Flac.8)->

Canadian singer Feist brings a batch of new songs when she returns to Morning Becomes Eclectic

Setlist: (click to listen)

(=Intro=)
So Sorry
-morning becomes excedrin-
The Park
-no more jokes-
The Water
(=Interview=)
Feel It All
Safety Bricks
-i knew that-
Sea Lion
(=Outro=)

The Band:
Leslie Feist: Vox, Guitar
Dafydd Hughes: Piano, Syth, Voc
Afie Jurvanen: Guitar, Melodica, Voc
Jay Baird: Sax, Metalophone, Voc
Jesse Baird: Drums, Trumpet, Voc
Kevin Drew: Percussion, Guitar, Voc

Download Lossless Torrent Here

Humpday Random Tracks

Some international flavor for today. Listen to the track and then click on the photo for more info:

Feist (Toronto, Canada)



Feist : 1234


M.I.A. (Sri Lanka via the UK)



M.I.A. : Hit That


Handsome Furs (Montreal, Canada)


Handsome Furs : What We Had


Architecture In Helsinki (Melbourne, Australia)



Architecture In Helsinki : Heart it Races

Joanna, I Could Be Your Darling

Dear Ms. Newsom,

For as long as I can remember you have graced my dreams and more recently my CD player. Way before the Milk-Eyed Mender or even the extremely limited not-meant-to-be-sold-or-heard Walnut Whales you have been there, in my thoughts, plucking your harp amidst a circle of imaginary pastel colored bunny rabbits and pixies. Way before this whole New Weird America Freak Folk movement, way before Devendra Banhart could even grow a beard, your splendid voice caressed my soul.

I used to think that this beautiful fairy queen in my mind was no more than an amalgamation of Ferngully fairies and the classical music I once listened to before drifting off to sleep. Then I heard "Peach, Plum, Pear" and the now dwindling feelings for that mythological princess burned once again like a revitalized camp fire. Seeing you live for the first time boldly singing "Yarn and Glue" A cappella to a way too small crowd, I was sure it was you.

Now I know you're really into Bill Callahan (a.k.a. smog) and you guys are probably having a great time touring the country, accompanying him at his shows (I noticed he didn't return the favor), and discussing music. But it's not going to last darling. He's a player. You're just another notch in his $200 vintage leather belt. Cat Power, check, scenester groupies, check, You, check, before you know he'll be in a foursome with Feist, Eleanor Friedberger, and Kevin Barnes. You've learned all you can from him anyhow. Don’t let him hold you back in Baritone Boresville.

You and I will work perfectly together. I'll take care of all the art direction, photography, and music videos as well as tour managing and bodyguard duties. New album needs a classy cover containing magic dancing wisps? I'm on it. Need a press photo of you floating through a never-ending field of petunias? Done. Lame hipster guy won't leave you alone backstage. I'll release the hounds. Or the sharks. Or the hounds with mutated sharks on their backs who have grown opposable thumbs and now wield samurai swords. I'm SO ON it.

Think about it and get back to me.