If you are sick of your ipod...

Here are some artists I recommend checking out, downloading and changing up your music a bit. Give Pandora a rest and invest in some exploratory music time. You can listen to most of their songs for free on www.lala.com, a lot are also on www.pitchfork.com, or you can go to itunes - expensive house. Look to the playlist on the right for my favorite songs of these groups/artists.

Artist

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - These guys should make the next Wes Anderson soundtrack

Jack Peñate

Little Joy - side project of Fabrizio Moretti of The Strokes

Volcano Choir - side project of the guy from Bon Iver

Santigold

Islands - This whole album is pretty solid

The Temper Trap - so is this album

Wild Beasts - a very well respected music friend says this makes his top 5 albums of 2009

Mew - warm up to them, they are worth it

The Dutchess & The Duke - they sound a lot like The Kinks, so they can't go wrong in my book

Karen O and The Kids - whether you like the movie or not, this soundtrack is pretty sweet

Mayer Hawthorne - this guy is super hot in London right now so says my ex-pat friends

One Ring to Rule Them All...

Five months after buying the tickets I finally got to see Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring at Radio City Music Hall this past SAturday on October 10th. There was a live orchestra, two adult choirs and one child choir for a total of 300 people under an Imax screen showing the movie. We had 6th row seats because we bought them right when they went on sale in May - I know we are nerds but nerds have great ideas and follow through with them.

The entire movie they were spot on with the music, it was really impressive to see all those people work together and make it look effortlessly. At any part of the movie they had parts of the choir standing up, kids going to the microphones for solos, a lady in a satin prom dress singing the elfish songs, and the conductor looking at a small screen with the movie showing to ensure the orchestra's timing. You could opt to see the violinist's fingers move rapidly, look up and see Legolas (aka Orlando Bloom in the role that made him a heartthrob) fighting Orc, notice how patiently the children in the choir wait for their time to sing or back to see all of the people that had filled the performance hall; there was not a boring moment. The whole experience gave me a new appreciation for composers especially movie composers - they have the ability to heighten the drama and really make the moment and create the world for a movie. Well done Howard Shore.

It was worth it to get the $90 dollar seats. I am already on the e-mail list for the 2010 tickets to see The Two Towers. It was a total experience and I highly recommend it. For the record, we are not the biggest nerds on the planet, the people that are going to the concert of all popular video game theme songs with a live orchestra in a few weeks at Radio City win the prize.

Here are some pictures of the event.

PS - NEVER wear jeans to Radio City Music Hall. It is too beautiful, has too much of a history, and proves to everyone you are a tourist, took the train in, and support the slobification of America. OK, I am done being bitchy and will stick to music and musician outfits from now on.

Here are a few of my favorite movie scores:

- Braveheart - James Horner, also did Titanic

- Last of the Mohicans

- Star Wars - John Williams, the greatest

- E.T. - also John Williams (Jaws is his too)

- Gladiator

- The Lion King

- Sound of Music

- This is Spinal Tap

- Purple Rain

- Phantom of the Opera

- Anything Danny Elfman does - Most Tim Burton movies including Beetlejuice, he was the voice of the oompa-loompas in the 2005 version AND he was the lead singer of Oingo Boingo

Forrest Gump - not the soundtrack but the Forrest Gump Suite, the scene with the feather, so pretty

U2 & How to Snag a Better Seat

I keep a short list of bands I have yet to see and would be willing to pay their high price, do you?

- Red Hot Chili Peppers – I want to be part of their energy

- Rolling Stones – Even though Charlie Watts is the only one left that can hold it together

- U2 - I am Irish after all

- Madonna - To feel bad about my body

- Lady Gaga – Still pissed she rescheduled her NYC show for a weekend I was out of town

- R.E.M. – Not even a big fan but have heard of the magnetism Michael Stipe can yield

- Justin Timberlake - We all have our guilty pleasures

It was because of this list that I was pretty excited when the opportunity to see U2 with a group of friends came up. So I can now cross U2 off my list and you know what? It was an experience I now recommend to anyone, particularly if you like U2 and/or if you attend enough sports events or concerts where you can take the sheer volume of people you will see the concert with. There are downsides – it is an elitist environment with the VIP packages, the limos lined up, the stadium prices, the box seats, $9 dollar beer night hence the long line, etc. Also, as a person that is a tenured concert goer this was clearly a crowd that was not well versed on the rules of concerts. You get a very different crowd attending then a 300 person venue where the concert starts at 10pm on a Wednesday, etc.

That said, the upsides were immense - they rocked out for 2 hours and 15 minutes, they have such a catalogue to choose from and did a great job of combining the new with the old, the unknown songs with the overplayed (even though it was still fun to sing them word for word). Plus their sound, voices, and stage presence is varsity all the way. They passed the crucial 10,000 hour practice point about 20 years ago so you can imagine how comfortable they are on stage.**

My favorite part of the night was when I pulled a grand caper with my friend Captain Fabulous (actual nickname). We snuck out of our section 404 seats on a mission to get as close as we could to the stage and stay there. We brilliantly made it to section 138, had plenty of room and watched the entire concert from our elitist seats. Here is how we did it and here is how you can too, I have proven this many times over the years:

- When you go to a stadium/arena show there are so many seats that go to season ticket holders, corporations, etc. and so many of them go unused even if the concert is sold out.

- Wait until after the opening act and then go down to the area you are shooting for and wait until just before the headlining act comes on. It is good to get a beer, food and go to the bathroom, it may be your last opportunity.

- Wait until 30 seconds into the first song that the headliner plays, you want to get caught up in the rush of people getting to their seats. Weekend concerts can throw a wrench in the plan because some people hang out in the parking lot until the headliner starts and then rush in after 2-3 songs.

- Power walk and get behind a group of more than two so they will crowd the ticket checker and this is key - quickly, looking straight ahead/stage, power walk to the side and down away from the group and ticket checker. Keep walking but start slowing down after you are in the clear and look for openings of more than 2 that you can get into.

- Only do this with two people, it gets tricky with more. Getting to the floor level is more difficult because they often make you get bracelets and the checkers are more strict. We tried to get to the floor for U2, played dumb about bracelets, acted like we were headed back to get them and spotted an opening of +6 seats two rows above general admission. We were above the floor crowd and had direct eyesight to the front of the stage. No one came to claim the seats and we were super nice to the people around us, acting like we belonged there. It was perfection and we giggled about it all night.

This isn't rocket scientist and don't try to do it every time but have the guts to give it a try when it is a band you really want to get close and experience, be part of the vibe.

**The 10,000 hours of practice is referencing a well-known theory that in addition to ability you must have dedication and a solid work ethic; citing that every top professional, regardless of their field, will not reach their peak before practicing for 10,000 hours. Malcolm Gladwell references this theory in his newest book Outliers. He uses The Beatles and how they obtained their crucial practice hours, check it out!

Why it is fun to pay $20 to sit in the back and bullshit with your friend

I went to see Owl City at the Bowery Ballroom on Tuesday, September 15th but I couldn't tell you the setlist, I don't have pictures or any video footage and I didn't really take stock of the crowd. However, I did have a really good time even if I spent $20 to have background music. I had a great time because one of my closest friends was visiting and since I already had the tickets I took him. He also happens to be one of my favorite music nerds, one of the first people I tell when I have a new musical discovery. We have grandiose conversations that turn into debates about our favorite songs and bands and have done so for years. While we don't always agree - he always needs a band to have a 'sense of urgency' and I can take a lot more singer/songwriter and experimental indie rock - we always have a great time. So this is why I did not pay attention to you Owl City, sorry. I don't think you cared that much because you were clearly thrilled to see Taylor Swift doing her gawky/baby giraffe arm waving dance to most of your songs up in the balcony with a few friends and a beefy bodyguard. Congratulations on the sold out show in the U.S., you are following in the footsteps of other Euro boy band acts like Aqua, you should be grateful. We also congratulate on providing a perfect first date scenario – dark, not too loud you can’t hear each other but don’t talk too much because the rest of the crowd is into it, and there is a fucking string section which always plays into your sentimental side. What I can tell you about Owl City is the hilarious comments both of us fired at each other from the back bar aka the bourbon soaked peanut gallery: - Owl City, aka ----, looks exactly like Todd, the creepy artist brother in Wedding Crashers. We called him Celebration the entire night. - After a few songs Owl City said ‘I have a bit of a cold so I want everyone to sing.’ To which we reply, ‘You pay us then.’ At this point we realized we should stop trying to focus on the concert and revert to the back bar to entertain ourselves and stop destroying date night for the people surrounding us. - A new addition to an ongoing joke we have – “Just a girl and her piano, just a boy and his laptop.” - Owl City would do a great job of playing the soundtrack to a Volvo commercial. “Conservative but fun loving, expensive but popular, safe for kids, recommend driving if you live in a college town.” Robin Williams always said a radical conservative was a Volvo with a gun rack, which reminded us both of our favorite Robin Williams jokes, which filled up at least 20 more minutes of chat time during the concert. - I say, pretty loudly in the direction of our Euro boy band leader “Hey, how do you put this dresser together.” Friend joins in, “I love the new Birchwood line.”

Foresighting The XX and Family of the Year as two bands that will get BIG

I am calling it now - The UK band The XX and LA/Silverlake band Family of the Year are going to be big and popular by the end of the year. Both don't have that much information out about them and are newcomers but the buzz has been hitting me wave after wave and I am continuing the trend. I will have official confirmation of how good both bands are when I see them back to back on October 20th and October 21st when they come to New York.

Right now The XX are killing all over Europe, playing some of the dates with Florence & The Machine, which is another band I have really been into. The band is comprised of two boys and two girls from South London, they are only twenty but have producing abilities well beyond their years. Their sound is kind of like Massive Attack, Thievery Corporation or Hot Chip but more lyrical and they have that distant, slightly creepy, spacey sound down perfectly. It is perfect music to play while you are chilling with friends, bumping around the house doing little tasks or while getting some action (which makes sense since the tracks are chockablock full of sexual references). Their influences clearly come from R&B; they garnered a wave of buzz from covering Aaliyah's Hot Like Fire. These are the influences they list on their MySpace page: Aaliyah to CocoRosie, Rihanna to The Cure, Missy Elliott to Chromatics, The Kills to Ginuwine, Pixies to Mariah Carey and Justin Timberlake to Tracy + the plastics. Check out The XX album in the playlist on the right side of the screen - Intro, Basic Space, and Heart Skipped a Beat are my favorites. Also, look them up on MySpace for more tracks and other cities they are playing in November and December - http://www.myspace.com/thexx.

Family of the Year is a brand new find. I was told about them by their manager that lives in New York this past week. They are about to self-release their EP Where's The Sun on September 22nd, which is pretty incredible given that they have had such a huge response to their music even though they don't have an official album out yet. Ben Folds just asked Family of the Year to open for him on a few upcoming dates. The band is comprised of four guys and two girls; they describe their sound as 'post-teen spirit' and claim such influences as Chumbawumba, Barenaked Ladies, and System of a Down. They aren't on itunes or lala.com yet but you can hear several tracks on their MySpace page - http://www.myspace.com/familyoftheyear. They only have a few gigs in New York and LA up on their page but stay tuned, it is about to be packed with appearances. You will all have your chance to see them in a small venue the first time around and I suggest you take it. We all have stories about liking a band and not seeing them the first time around and the next opportunity you have is a big venue full of more late to the party teeny boppers than you can stomach.

Check out these other newcomers to my rotation:

Fitz and The Tantrums - good old soul with a modern twist a la Amy Winehouse or Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears. Their album title is genius Songs for a Breakup Volume 1.

YACHT - like The XX but a bit more pop, get up and dance.

The Antlers - a darker Explosions in the Sky at some points, a dash of Radiohead and pinch of Yeasayer.

Ramona Falls - Menomena side project. Good, creepy rock.

Finn Can Live in My House

- I peed my pants a little when he looked directly at me while I was taking this picture.

Have you ever seen a concert by yourself? I have come close a few times, such is the life of the avid music fan that always buys two tickets first and then finds people to go with later. My friend Evan once saved me from having to see Cat Power by myself at the 9:30 Club in D.C. - a fellow music fan, he understood and allowed me to give him the extra ticket as his upcoming birthday present (which kind of makes me sound like a selfish asshole now that I think about it). Anyway, I officially went to my first concert alone on July 30th - The Veils at the Mercury Lounge. You want to know what? It didn't even fucking matter I was by myself, Finn Andrews (frontman, songwriter) and Company were that good. I do have friends and there was a plan - my friend Jenny unfortunately moved to Chicago before we could see the band she loves so much and can be credited with bringing me into and my replacement friend bailed last minute - I am talking while I was walking to the venue I got the 'I have to bail' text. RUDE! (I am channeling Bon Qui Qui from Mad TV - 'Seccurrrityy!', watch it on YouTube, it is some funny shit.)

However, I sold my extra ticket, used bourbon for a little confidence, and marched right up to the front to watch The Veils. I had my camera and pen and pad and looked the part of the music journalist - take notes if you plan to go to a concert solo, this was a good idea. I was only a few feet from the stage because I wanted to see what Finn was going to do, he has a reputation for being a bit erratic onstage, singing with possessed passion and sweating his ass off. Here is the set list I ripped off the stage at the end:

My personal favorite going into the concert was The House She Lived In, because it is so much fun to sing. However, Calliope, Sun Gangs, and The Tide that Left and Never Came Back were killer songs live and have been solidly stuck in my head since. Here is a video of Jenny's favorite song - Sit Down by the Fire. To provide a little context, the video starts out while Finn is explaining that couples always think it is a love song (just like they do with U2's One or The Police's Every Breath You Take - I think these are the same couples that wear matching outfits on a vacation to Disney World childless). He always tells them it is explaining the death of a relationship, when everything is burning there is nothing left to do but sit down and watch it, get a little warmth from it when it is cold all around you. Good story, great song, but maybe don't listen to it when you are in that early post-breakup phase, might be kind of brutal for you.

Finn Andrews was born in London but spent part of his life in New Zealand, making him a Property of the Monarchy (POM) through and through. He has a thing for Sylvia Plath, the band name is said to have taken their name from the Plath poem A Birthday Present and has a song called Death & Co. which another poem title. The band members have changed a few times, I think for the better because the bassist Sophia Burn is hot and brings a good sound to the band. I would get their most recent CD Sun Gangs and work your way back, or download the songs from the set list. Either way, take note that this is a band du jour of mine.

Stay tuned for my tales from seeing the Kings of Leon at Red Rocks on August 9th! Here is a hint - it was from the 6th row just left of center - closer to the bathroom and beer tent.

Music and The Scarlet Letter

Did I ever tell you my favorite story about music and education?

It has to do with Fiona Apple, Hester Prynne, A midterm test, A ponytailed teacher that was the product of a northeastern liberal arts college, and me getting a big, fat f***ing A. I didn't think so.

I was dropped kicked into the deep end of English literature like most sophomore high school students. It was painful at times, mostly because of the weight of the Norton Anthology of American Literature I had to carry around all year or maybe because I had a huge crush on a guy in my class at the same time I was battling a little acne, had to get glasses, and at 5'9 couldn't fit in anywhere. 

We spent the better part of the first semester reading through and dissecting Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter (1850). I loved the book and so did my teacher Mr. Cze...(I have never been able to spell his name correctly, it is not to protect his privacy, consider that a bonus for him). Now I will save you from my summary of the plot and characters and get to the music part of it . That said, here is a link to Sparknotes if you want to brush up - I am looking at you the entire back row of baseball players that only perked up when they heard Hester Prynne spelunked the minister - http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/scarlet

After that much time on the book everyone knew the bulk of the midterm, a few short essays and one long essay, was going to be about The Scarlet Letter. None of us were prepared for the actual question of the long essay.

The question, though a little muddled by my own hard living memory was:

Below are the lyrics to the modern song 'Criminal' by Fiona Apple. Argue how the lyrics do or do not explain the main plot in 'The Scarlett Letter'. Cite specific examples and character references.

Criminal 

by Fiona Apple 

I've been a bad bad girl I've been careless With a delicate man And it's a sad sad world When a girl will break a boy Just because she can Don't you tell me to deny it I've done wrong and I want to Suffer for my sins I've come to you 'Cause I need Guidance to be true And I just don't know Where I can begin

What I need is A good defense 'Cause I'm feelin' Like a criminal And I need To be redeemed To the one I've sinned against Because he's all I ever knew of love Heaven help me For the way I am Save me from These evil deeds Before I get them done I know tomorrow brings The consequence at hand But I keep livin' this day like The next will never come Oh help me but Don't tell me to deny it I've got to cleanse myself Of all these lies till I'm good enough for him I've got a lot to lose And I'm bettin' high So I'm beggin' you Before it ends Just tell me where to begin What I need Is a good defense 'Cause I'm feelin' Like a criminal And I need To be redeemed To the one I've sinned against Because he's all I ever knew of love Let me know the way Before there's hell to pay Give me room to lay The law and let me go I've got to make a play To make my lover stay So what would an angel say The devil wants to know...

Now I think part of the reason why I got so excited for this question and still reference it as one of my coolest stories while being edudimacated as well as the teacher that left a profound impression of me is that I knew the song by heart already - I wholly subscribed to the Fiona Apple vibe, it blended in nicely with the Sarah McLachlan and Tori Amos in my repertoire. Like I am always saying, OWN IT - own what you like.

I knew that song, I sang that song in a car both with friends and solo, the video of the song by Mark Romanek is still one of the coolest and was on MTV all the time (videos on MTV, the novelty). That said, I didn't ever combine my music tastes and pastime favorite as a source of true education, at least in the traditional sense I knew education to date. As a result of combining the two, I think Mr. Cze... not only got proof that I had read AND comprehended the book but how I could relate to it, he got me to be a little bit more personal with my formal private school writing. That was just the beginning of making music a key subject in life, a source of my continuous education.

P.S. - Fiona Apple IS Hester Prynne, only without the red meat, cream, potatoes, and seamstress abilities.

Lillian Gish as Hester Prynne

Fiona Apple in the 'Criminal' Video, Demi as Hester!

Note to self - it was fun writing that and you should NOT have put it off for over a month. Writing is fun, not work, at least for now.... Stay Tuned!

So Here is What I am Listening to...

Hey everyone,

At the request of many people I have built a new playlist and posted it on the right hand side of the page. You can listen to it for free on www.lala.com, I love this site and you should all check it out and start saving a lot of money because almost everything on the web site is free and you can buy an entire album for .80 cents or the actual mp3 files and move them to your itunes or wherever you keep your music.

I hope your summer is as rocking as mine. Next up, working behind the scenes for the Wanderlust Festival in Lake Tahoe July 24-26!

Here are the songs for you, check them out at will:

1. 'French Navy' by Camera Obscura

2. 'Dimestore Diamond' by Gossip

3. 'Eet' by Regina Spektor

4. 'Burial' by Miike Snow

5. 'Paradise Knife Fights' by Vampire Hands

6. 'Folding Chair' by Regina Spektor

7. 'Fools' by The Dodos

8. 'Ramona' by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

9. 'Four Letter Word' by Gossip

10. 'No Fun' by Vampire Hands

11. 'Always the Same' by The Legends

12. 'Quiet Little Voices' by We Were Promised Jetpacks

13. 'Dance Anthem of The 80's' by Regina Spektor

14. 'Cape Canaveral' by Conor Oberst

15. 'Lights & Music' by Cut Copy

16. 'Shout Me Out' by TV on The Radio

17. 'Baby I'm Just A Fool' by Spiritualized

18. 'Dog Days Are Over' by Florence & The Machine

19. 'Transliterator' by Devotchka

20. 'Mexico City' by Jolie Holland

21. 'You And I' by Wilco

22. 'Seven Wonders' by Fleetwood Mac

23. 'Good Times Roll Pt. 2' by RJD2

24. 'Howl' by Florence & The Machine

Concerts I have recently attended or will be attending in July/August:

As always, I highly recommend checking to see when these bands are playing in your area. I wouldn't steer you in the wrong direction:

- Dr. Dog

- Phosphorescent

- Matt & Kim

- Pains of Being Pure at Heart

- Kaki King

- Dirty Projectors

- Magnolia Electric

- The Veils

- Sons of Sons

- Animal Collective

- Friendly Fires

- Kings of Leon

There is Nothing Left to Say...

I am sorry for the few of you that are disappointed that I did not post about the death of Michael Jackson's death. Sorry, I was on vacation and more importantly I just can't - every single angle has been covered and I admit that I am already at the stage where I am more interested in the funny jokes I am hearing about Michael Jackson rather than absorbing every intimate detail of his final days or key elements of his biography.

However, I am happy to buy any of you a $3 signed MJ poster from the guys around Penn Station, a $10 airbrushed shirt of MJ during the Thriller days from the table at the 116th Street 1 stop outside of Columbia University or head up to Harlem and take a video of the people still mimicking MJ's moves outside of the Apollo Theatre for you. Also, given my proximity to Chinatown in NYC I could get any of the above at wholesale, just let me know.

R.I.P Michael Jackson

P.S. - Do one of you know when it is bedtime in Neverland?

P.S.S. - Go find the answer to that joke

Patriotic Songs - A Factual Tribute

Happy 4th of July! I hope everyone had a laid-back, food-filled, fireworks in the background, more sun than rain holiday. I hope Canada Day on July 1st was equally successful!

I am dedicating this brief entry to one of my best friends NS (for confidentiality). I pride myself on having friends that have wonderful and diverse quirks (obsessed with the number 3, afraid of birds, eats hummus everyday, avoids making left hand turns, loves face cakes - cakes with screened faces of the recipients, etc) and my favorite quirk of NS's is her love of patriotic songs. NS and I met at work, she sat right next to me and trained me. Within two days of working next to her I caught her humming You're a Grand Old Flag - at 9:00 am in the middle of August. As our friendship developed far beyond just work colleagues I realized she LOVES any and all patriotic songs year round. Therefore, even though the 4th of July has already come to pass, go ahead and whistle or hum any patriotic song you can remember.

Side note - I got the lyrics off of the Boy Scouts web site and they have almost all patriotic songs lyrics, so random: http://www.scoutsongs.com/categories/patriotic-songs.html

Facts about You're a Grand Old Flag:

- George M. Cohan wrote it in 1906 for his stage musical, George Washington, Jr.

- The song was first performed at Herald Square Theater in New York City

- It became the first song to sell over a million copies of sheet music - I am crediting this to middle school bands and the Boy Scouts

- Cohan originally named the tune You're a Grand Old Rag, a quote from a vet he encountered. However, so many people objected to referring to the U.S. flag as a 'rag' that Cohan changed it

You're a Grand Old Flag

by George M. Cohan

 

You're a grand old flag, You're a high flying flag And forever in peace may you wave. You're the emblem of The land I love. The home of the free and the brave. Ev'ry heart beats true 'neath the Red, White and Blue, Where there's never a boast or brag. Should auld acquaintance be forgot, Keep your eye on the grand old flag.

You're a grand old flag, You're a high flying flag And forever in peace may you wave. You're the emblem of The land I love. The home of the free and the brave. Ev'ry heart beats true 'neath the Red, White and Blue, Where there's never a boast or brag. Should auld acquaintance be forgot, Keep your eye on the grand old flag.

Phoenix! Phoenix!! Phoenix!!!

6.22.209 - Terminal 5 - New York, NY - Amazing Baby (pass!) and PHOENIX (Yes please!)

The French band Phoenix has really been causing headlines since debuting their newest album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. However, this has been a tour de force band for years, trust me (this is their fourth album + one live album). For those of you that really like the movie Lost in Translation, you have already been exposed to a Phoenix song - Too Young is on the movie's soundtrack. That is because lead singer Tommy Mars has been dating the director of the movie Sofia Coppola for several years; they have a daughter together and live in Paris. As if Sofia's life could get any worse, seriously, I feel bad for that Coppola.

I am settling for the ability to have seen an incredible show put on by Tommy and crew this past Friday. I ignored the four avenue walk to Terminal 5 which might as well be in the Hudson River; I bypassed the sold out crowd waiting in long lines for drinks and I battled the Francophones to get as close to the stage as I could; I had to concentrate hard but I blocked out an introduction to the evening by still bald DJ Matt Pinfield from WRXP 101.9 AND the mediocre opener, Brooklyn band Amazing Baby. I will admit that the guitarist for Amazing Baby was pretty damn good and entertaining, partly because he was a true hard rock hair band guy that didn't seem to know he was in an indie band where the lead singer and the drummer wore headbands. 

All the typical New York annoyances slipped away when Phoenix came on right at 9:45pm and pounded out three great songs in a row - Lisztomania, Long Distance Call (love this song), and Consolation Prizes. That got the crowd near Jonas Brothers decibel level and they stayed enthusiastic for Phoenix even through a few weird instrumental songs in the middle of the set, even Tommy Mars left the stage for a song. However, in their defense it was pretty cool electronic pop and it is what Europe loves them for, they are often compared to Jamiroquai,  but the U.S. only knows their lyric-friendly songs so it was a classic case of jumping on the band wagon. By the time Phoenix came back on the stage for the encore you could tell they were fucking loving controlling that big of a crowd in the U.S., so much so that they shed their too cool French air (think Robin Williams' impersonation "Here the baby is smoking. Does that piss you off"?!) and smiled and thanked the crowd and just let us scream for a bit. 

If you are new to the band here are a few little nuggets:

- They are from Versailles, the same place as Air and Daft Punk. In fact, they got their start as the backing band for a few Air songs. 

- Their first two singles came out in 2000 and are still two of my favorite songs of theirs - If I Ever Feel Better and Too Young.

- They were the soundtrack for a Dior Homme fashion show

- They have lyrics that are easy enough to pick up after a few listens, catchy and fun to sing. The lyrics are also smart enough to not be disappointed when you learn the lyrics enough to translate what the songs are actually about. For example, I absolutely love the Kings of Leon and my cousin and I both love their song Soft, but go learn the lyrics and then you can tell me what it is about and see if you keep singing the lyrics out loud.

So go see Phoenix. They are coming to almost every town near you (except for you Seattle, take it up with the band). New Yorkers they are coming back around in September to play Central Park with the too hot too handle for their first album, Passion Pit.

It was a great concert and a great night, even if it ended with me standing under a sign that said Western Beef. Don't ask, New York is weird man.

The first 90 seconds if Phoenix's setlist - the song is Lisztomania

Phoenix Setlist:

Lisztomania Long Distance Call Consolation Prizes Lasso Napolean Says Funky Square Dance Rally Girlfriend Armistice Love Like a Sunset Run Run Run  Too Young Sometimes in the Fall Rome

ENCORE:  If I Ever Feel Better 1901

David Byrne in Virginal White, in Public, with Interpretive Dancers

... this is how I spent my favorite Monday of 2009. On June 8th, David Byrne and Company (dance and music) played a free concert to kick off Celebrate Brooklyn, a summer concert series in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. He had everyone onstage wear white, play white instruments, and not only keep good rhythm but demonstrate rhythm via dancing. 3 dancers ran on and off the stage performing interpretive dance/ballet/acrobatics; at one point they danced while sitting on office chairs and David participated in the choreography. They were David's New Age sprites.

Mr. Byrne is currently on a year-long world tour performing the music he has created with Brian Eno throughout his career along with a few Talking Heads favorites like Once in a Lifetime (my favorite song in 8th grade) and Burning Down the House - phew because I am pretty sure 67% of the people would have said the show was only fair if he had not played that gem. Side note - does anyone really know the words to that song, really?

David greeted the very diverse, very Brooklyn crowd by saying, "I'll be your waiter tonight. My name is Dave and here are the specials." He then launched into Strange Overtones, one of my favorite songs from their recent album and tour title 'Everything that Happens will Happen Today.'

I read up on David Byrne and had no idea the versatility of this artist: Obviously the creative force of the Talking Heads; he directed and starred in the cult movie True Stories; partnered with Twyla Tharp for a Broadway show called The Catherine Wheel; he won an Oscar for best composition in the The Last Emperor and has been featured on multiple soundtracks; he is the founder of Luaka Bop which is a world music record label; he launched an internet radio station called Radio David Byrne; he is also a visual artist with several installations both to his name and anonymously, including designing bike racks in 2008 in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

AND he manages a web site where he frequently posts personal comments http://www.davidbyrne.com/. Permission to feel like a lazy schmuck granted.

Go see David Byrne because he is the coolest and most versatile 57 year old guy on the planet. He can still sing, dance, and entertain, and you will be surprised by how many of the songs you will know even if you don't think you know his Brian Eno collaborative work because it runs consistently through his career. So buckle up for a good summer ride. I am jealous of you Coloradans that have the luxury of seeing him at Red Rocks on June 20th.

My final note is a personal comment that David Byrne posted on his web site in July 2007. I think it sums up the current situation/dying of the traditional music business. My thoughts exactly:

"There was another piece in the Times today about yet another 20 percent drop in CD sales. (Are they running the same news piece every 4 months?) Jeez guys, the writing's on the wall. How long do the record execs think they'll have those offices and nice parking spaces? (Well, more than half of all record A&R and other execs are gone already, so there should be plenty of parking space). They, the big 4 or 5, should give the catalogues back to the artists or their heirs as a gesture before they close the office doors, as they sure don't know how to sell music anymore. (I have Talking Heads stuff on the shelf that I can't get Warner to release.) The "industry" had a nice 50-year ride, but it's time to move on. Luckily, music remains more or less unaffected — there is a lot of great music out there. A new model will emerge that includes rather than sues its own customers, that realizes that music is not a product in the sense of being a thing — it's closer to fashion, in that for music fans it tells them and their friends who they are, what they feel passionately about and to some extent what makes life fun and interesting. It's about a sense of community — a song ties a whole invisible disparate community together. It's not about selling the (often) shattered plastic case CDs used to come in." - David Byrne

Thanks to lala.com for bring the factual goods to the table this time around.