Bill Baird from {{Sunset}}

In 2006 I happily told anyone who would listen to me that Sound Team put out the best album of the year. I dragged friends to their shows. I made them listen to "Movie Monster" over and over. I forwarded their hilarious YouTube clip to everyone after Pitchfork gave them a measly 3.7 (.7!!!) out of 10, and vowed to never pay attention to them (Pitchfork) again. I'm a bombastic music fan and a big bully, what can I say? Sadly the band broke up last year, but the people I managed to convert still ask me if I know what happened to them... Well, folks, I do. Some of the band members re-convened to form {{Sunset}} and I'm thrilled to report that I have a new band to browbeat my friends with. If you're looking for something to do this weekend, go see them at Piano's on Sunday, or at Trash Bar in Williamsburg on Monday...they're also recording a show for NYU's radio station on Sunday afternoon.

 

Last night I stayed up way past my bedtime to go to a show at Arlene's Grocery, a club that hasn't booked anything I've wanted to see in at least 7 years. I'm an old curmudgeon-- more often than not I'll opt for bed rather than to put myself out -- so last night was unusual. For the right band, I'll make the effort, even if they're playing after midnight at a terrible venue. I had a nice dinner with a friend in the neighborhood (thanks for keeping me company, Catonia!), and a few drinks at the bar at the Living Room (thanks, Karen!), and finally I'd killed enough time to head over to the dreaded Arlene's. Unfortunately, my timing was off, and the band playing just before {{Sunset}} were no where near finished playing the worst kind of Bleecker street bar band music. I went outside to chain smoke and wait... Pretty soon, a group of guys with lots of gear, boxes of gadgets and lots of keyboards, cut a path through the boisterous Long Island crowd streaming out of Arlene's in satin shirts and Kenny G hair and a veritable forest of soul patches, and I thought, "AHA!"

Not your average Arlene's rockers, they wear glasses for goodness sake!

{{Sunset}} don't really sound anything like Sound Team, and yet at the same time they do. In a way, it's like the music was written by the way cooler older cousins of Sound Team...in 1979. Fronted by the energetic Bill Baird, the band produce a strange mix of psychedelic folk, mixed with Brian Eno getting high with the Beach Boys and curating a collection of found sounds. There's a lot of minimalist white noise from 3 organs with an underlying, rollicking drumline in some songs, and mysterious twinkly percussion in others. The vocals range from droning baritone to a reedy tenor, with nearly everyone in the 6-piece band adding a voice at some point...melodies that switch back and forth between sweet and pretty and completely tuneless.

It looks like you can teach an old dog new tricks. Look at Radiohead, Coldplay and Nine Inch Nails, who’ve come up with creative ways of enticing fans by giving away parts (or even all) of their albums. And now it looks like platinum seller Beck, who’s tapped Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton to produce his still untitled 10-song album (his first release since the single “Timebomb.”), might have something up his sleeve. While Beck’s peeps report “the album's ten tracks vacillate between economy and experimentation, hybrid and pop classicism, while consistently manifesting Beck and Danger Mouse's shared interest in psych-rock, folk, electronic minimalism and orchestration,” the kicker is that Beck’s label, Interscope, has offered a vague release date of “this summer.” Could Beck be planning a stealth release? Maybe.

In the meantime, Mr. Hansen is readying to play his biggest hometown headline show on September 20 at the Hollywood Bowl (tickets go on-sale on May 10) and is prepping for a headlining U.S. tour. Like the release date of his forthcoming album, those tour dates remain a mystery as well.

At 67, music icon Neil Diamond (ask your parents) shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, the guitar man/balladeer known for classics like “Sweet Caroline” released his brand new album, Home Before Dark, on Tuesday. Even if you aren’t familiar with his music, take a step back and consider the magnitude of his career: 125 million records sold worldwide, 36 Top 40 hits, a Grammy, a Golden Globe, thousands of sold-out shows all over the globe. Who wouldn’t kill for numbers like these?

In order to promote his new release (his second collaboration with famed producer Rick Rubin), Diamond (aka The Jewish Elvis, The Jazz Singer) has been making the rounds on TV shows like American Idol. Tonight he will perform a special free MySpace Secret Show tonight at The Bitter End on Bleeker Street. While Diamond’s NYC show isn’t so secret, his new songs are indeed worth checking out. Not only does Diamond’s voice sound as strong as ever, his new songs (which feature guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benchmont Tench, bassist/guitarist Smokey Hormel and axeman Matt Sweeney) also has a great duet with Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines, “Another Day (That Time Forgot)." What’s next for the songman? A 37-city North American tour, which kicks off on July 19 in St. Paul, Minnesota, of course.

With Republican and Democratic conventions just a few months away, you can bet all of the candidate’s strategy teams have short-listed Diamond’s patriotic anthem “Coming to America” as their campaign theme song.

Who listens to Snoop Dogg these days? I’m not interested in his recent albums or staged reality show, and his music hasn’t been interesting since his brilliant collabo with Dr. Dre on the title track to 1992’s Deep Cover (one eight seven on an undercover cop…yeah, and you don’t stop) soundtrack. But like fellow MC Flavor Flav, Dogg’s somehow been able to embed himself in mainstream America’s psyche, no doubt thanks to his Dogg-speak (fo’ shizzle, my nizzle) which is part of our country’s vernacular.

Snoop continues his life as a marginal caricature by making appearances on One Life to Live this week, when he drops in on the bachlorette party for character Adriana Lord. In addition to engaging in banter with cast (see griping photos) on May 8 and 9, he’ll also perform his latest single, “Sensual Seduction,” and “Life of Da Party” from his ninth album, Ego Trippin’.

Apparently Snoop (who put his own spin on the One Life to Live theme song on the two episodes in which he will appear) is one of many musicians—including Mary J. Blige, Timbaland with Keri Hilson and One Republic, Nelly Furtado, Lifehouse, Simply Red and Erykah Badu—who’ve appeared on the show.

Confusing press gush from Mr. Dee Oh Double Gee: "I've been a fan of One Life to Live since I was a baby. My momma always had it on the tube in the crib growing up. The opportunity to change up the theme song and give it some of my flavor will make the show the Life of the Party."

Famed artist Keith Haring, a fixture on New York City’s art scene in the ‘80s—would’ve turned 50 on Sunday. Known for his graffiti and drawings in the subways, as well as painting murals around the city and the world, his artistic style continues to influence and remain synonymous of a bygone era.

Since his death due to AIDS in 1990, the Keith Haring Foundation has supported various children’s organizations and has done a lot of good work. In a nice way of remembering Haring, his gallery (the Deitch Project) and foundation hired a group of artists to recreate one of the master’s Day-Glo mural on Houston Street and the Bowery. The artists will use photographs of the original and paint samples recovered from the site to resurrect the work.

Legendary NYC DJs Louie Vega and Junior Vasquez will remember Haring on Sunday night at Pacha when the two old school turntable maestros team up for a benefit party. Advance tickets are $20 and it’s $30 at the door. All door proceeds will benefit AIDS Walk New York. If you possibly need one more reason to attend, then you should know there will be an open bar from 9-10pm.

Thanks to the Limewire crew for the invitation to join the merry band of bloggers here. I'm a girl with a camera, and I'm not afraid to use it.

I've lived in New York for close to 20 years, and in all that time, and all the countless gigs in strange and not so strange places (more on that in another post), I had never ever been inside the Beacon Theater. I'm not really a big show kinda gal, I prefer grittier, dirtier, smaller, etc etc, but given the opportunity I'll pretty much go anywhere. So last night, I had the opportunity, and I busted my Beacon cherry for Goldfrapp, fresh off the boat from Coachella. I'm a total sucker for old fashioned theater theaters, they really give you a sense of occasion when you're out. You totally feel like you should be wearing ribbons in your hair with white tights, a velvet dress and Mary Jane's when you look up and see this:

Nope, that's not Kenny's Castaways, kids.

Back to the music...

Alison Goldfrapp is a drama queen, and I mean that in the best possible way. My gawd, the woman can belt...with this setting and her voice, for a second I thought I was in that crazy scene in "The Fifth Element" when the blue, rubbery opera singer is giving it her all right before the weird, pig creatures bust in shooting, and Bruce Willis digs "the stones" out of her torso. You know, you know what I mean.

And members of her band were dressed up like Dryad Princess Leias on their way to celebrate the solstice.

And they projected a liquidy, lava lamp light show on rattan screens on the stage. Eye candy!

But one of my favorite parts of the show, aside from the setting, the belting, the lighting and the like, was the fans...

Goodnight, Goldfrapp!

It seems like stunts designed to garner maximum amounts of publicity have become an integral part of every major band’s marketing scheme these days. However, that might not be a bad thing for music fans. Coldplay has announced that they will play a free show on June 23 at Madison Square Garden and will giveaway their new single, “Violet Hill,” for one week. The catch? You’ll have to visit the band’s website tomorrow after 7:15 EST to get details about the free MSG gig and snag the single. Coldplay will also play a free show at Brixton Academy in London on June 16. All of these shenanigans are designed to promote the release of the UK outfit’s forthcoming Viva La Vida (which was produced by Brian Eno and Markus Dravs), the follow-up to 2005’s X&Y which sold 10 million copies worldwide. Attention vinyl collectors: A seven-inch version of “Violet Hill” will be given away on the cover of the May 10 edition of NME.

People are still bitching about the closure of CBGB’s in November 2006, and it’s unfortunate that the demise of so many other important clubs over the years has met with little fanfare (or even a brouhaha). Nobody is protesting outside of the deli that used to be home to the Mudd Club, and NYU students sleep soundly at night in their dorm that housed the Palladium a few years ago.

Wetlands Preserve was located in Tribeca just south of the Holland Tunnel and hosted everyone from unknown acts to full-fledge rock gods from 1989 until 2001. The club’s décor was very Woodstock circa 1967 (see picture) and didn’t have many frills; the sound was often hit or miss. However, Wetlands hosted ground-breaking bands like Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, Oasis, Travis, Sublime and a litany of cool bands before they broke big, and they were an integral part of the development of the jam band scene. More important to its legacy was that it was the first activist rock club, which encouraged its patrons to organize for grassroots change.

Fortunately, many of the club’s best moments were captured on video. Wetlands Preserved: The Story of An Activist Rock Club (which was released on DVD this week) tells the story of the venue and shows the inner workings of the club’s social and environmental advocacy groups.

The DVD includes over an hour of unreleased interviews and footage including: P Diddy's confrontation with The Roots' Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson backstage at Wetlands, Larry Bloch's conflict with Oasis and the Dylan family, behind the scenes with Sublime, more from the Dave Matthews Band, "The House of Booze" April Fool's Day gag in the Village Voice and much more. There’s also a bevy of live clips and interviews with too many people to mention. Though the club was known as a hippie enclave, the musical diversity on this DVD will certainly prove a lot of naysayers wrong.

English music weekly NME held its first US awards ceremony last night in Los Angeles, and the Killers walked away with two awards, winning Best Band and Best Track for “Tranquilize,” their collaboration with Lou Reed.

Don’t shoot the messenger—the awards were voted on by the public.

Jane’s Addiction reunited after 17 years for a one-time performance just for the gala and a big-time jam session featuring Alice Cooper, Kimberly Stewart, Sienna Miller, Kelly Osbourne and Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz closed the night. Mick Jones from The Clash/Big Audio Dynamite/Carbon Silicon received the mag’s Inspiration Awarrd, while The Lemonheads’ It’s A Shame About Ray was named as this year’s Classic LP.

The full list of winners (in bold) appears under the cut. Discuss amongst yourselves.

2008 NME Awards

Best Band	Best International Live Act
Kings of Leon	Arctic Monkeys
The Killers	Arcade Fire
My Chemical Romance	The Cribs
The White Stripes	Kaiser Chiefs
Foo Fighters	Muse
Best Solo Artist	Best International Album
Cat Power	Neon Bible - Arcade Fire
Ryan Adams	Favourite Worst Nightmare - Arctic Monkeys
Albert Hammond, Jr.	Shotter's Nation - Babyshambles
Andrew Bird	Myths of the Near Future - Klaxons
Beck	In Rainbows - Radiohead
Best Live Band	Best International Track
My Chemical Romance	"Intervention" - Arcade Fire
Kings of Leon	"Teddy Picker" - Arctic Monkeys
The Killers	"Flux" - Bloc Party
Queens of the Stone Age	"Foundations" - Kate Nash
Foo Fighters	"Golden Skans" - Klaxons
Best Album	Best New International Band
Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace - Foo Fighters	The Enemy
Sawdust - The Killers	Foals
Because of the Times - Kings of Leon	The Wombats
Girls and Boys of America - The Hold Steady	The Last Shadow Puppets
Icky Thump - The White Stripes	Klaxons
Best New Band	Best New International Solo Artist
Band of Horses	Duffy
Black Kids	Lily Allen
MGMT	Lightspeed Champion
Vampire Weekend	Kate Nash
Paramore	Jack Penate
Best New Solo Artist	Best New International Live Act
Sam Sparro	CSS
Santogold	Klaxons
Mark Ronson	The Wombats
Cass McCombs	Foals
Seasick Ste	Pigeon Detectives
Best New Live Act	Best Video
Band of Horses	"Fluorescent Adolescent" - Arctic Monkeys
Black Kids	"Long Road to Ruin" - Foo Fighters
Vampire Weekend	"D.A.N.C.E." - Justice
Santogold	"Tranquilize" - The Killers
MGMT	"Lord Don't Slow Me Down" - Oasis
Best International Band	Best TV Show
Arctic Monkeys	Grey's Anatomy
Arcade Fire	Heroes
Muse	Lost
Radiohead	The Mighty Boosh
Oasis	The Office: An American Workplace
Best International Solo Artist	Best Film
Feist	Control
MIA	Juno
Kate Nash	No Country for Old Men
Jamie T.	The Simpsons Movie
Amy Winehouse	There Will Be Blood
Best Track "The Pretender" - Foo Fighters "Tranquilize" - The Killers All My Friends" - LCD Soundsystem "Teenagers" - My Chemical Romance "Icky Thump" - White Stripes	Voted by NME Breakthrough Artist: Santogold Breakthrough Track: MGMT: "Time to Pretend" Classic LP: Lemonheads: It's a Shame About Ray Inspiration Award: Mick Jones (The Clash, B.A.D. and Carbon/Silicon)

 

Scarlett Johansson is widely known for her roles Lost In Translation and Match Point. After months of rumors about her upcoming artist album, Rhino has announced that it will release Johansson’s Anywhere I Lay My Head on May 20. The history of actors releasing albums is mostly dismal (yes, I’m looking you, William Shatner!), but there are five good reasons why Johansson’s full-length—which is billed as containing “distinctive vocal interpretations of ten songs by legendary singer-songwriter Tom Waits”—might not suck at all.

1. The album was recorded at Dockside Studio in Louisiana's Canjun country, so it’s gotta be spicy

2. The lone original track, “Song For Jo” (hmm, as in Johansson?), was co-written by TV on the Radio’s David Andrew Sitek, who produced and played on the album.

3. David Bowie lends backing vocals on two tracks, "Falling Down" and "Fannin’ Street." How cool is that?

4. Other guests include Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner and multi-instrumentalist Sean Antanaitis from Celebration

5. Anywhere I Lay My Head will be released on vinyl

We’d be remiss if we didn’t remind you about ScarJo singing The Pretenders’ “Brass in Pocket” in that famous karaoke scene in Lost in Translation.