Skiing/weekend stuff
February 12, 2010
Megan and I are headed for my hometown of Kingsport this weekend to take advantage of this last snowstorm that dumped about 10 inches in the southern Appalachians. We’re going skiing at either Beech or Sugar mountain. Skiing in the southern Apps can be tricky due to the fickle winter weather around here… yes the mountains are always colder than other areas, but they still have to make most of their snow with machines, and sometimes they’ll have a long period of daytime highs in the 40s and nighttime lows in 20s, which means some of the snow melts in the day, then re-freezes at night, causing icy spots that are a huge thorn in any skiers side. But with this last snowstorm, and the fact that temps there haven’t gotten above freezing for several days, and won’t until sometime next week, the slopes should be pretty nice & powdery this weekend.
That means I won’t be out & about seeing shows/partying/etc… this weekend, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be.
The big show tonight is Tortoise with Disappears at Exit/In. Also: Neil O’Neil and Max & the Wild Things at the 5 Spot.
Saturday- Oblio, Shoot the Mountain, Deleted Scenes, Steve LaBate at The Basement.
Also on Saturday, two things will be coming together that I honestly thought I’d never EVER say in the same sentence: Infinity Cat and Vanderbilt. Yes, according to Nashville’s Dead, Infinity Cat bands Natural Child and Daniel Pujol will be playing at Vandy’s McGill Hall (that’s a dorm), along with a band called Colossi. I have no idea if Colossi is associated with Infinity Cat. Pretty crazy huh? Although, being a Vandy employee, I do know that McGill Hall is definitely the extreme exception to the typical Vandy kid stereotype. It’s basically where most of the students who don’t fit into that Greek/trust-fund-kid stereotype live. So while Vanderbilt and Infinity Cat definitely have a bit of an oil & water vibe, McGill and Infinity Cat seem much more like peanut butter & jelly.
Have a great weekend!
Features afterpary @ La Paz/Majestico tracks
February 5, 2010
The big story today is also an act of shameless self-promotion. Tonight is the sold-out Features/Majestico/Cortney Tidwell show at Exit/In, and I’m DJing the official afterparty at La Paz along with Fan Fiction. La Paz is literally only 3 doors down Elliston from Exit/In, and given the fact that A) there’s NO COVER and B) well drinks/margaritas/wine are all $3 and PBR cans are $2, you’d be CRAZY not to come over after the show (if you’re going). Since the show sold out in one day due the rumor of Kings of Leon opening (which proved to be false), you may not have a ticket. In that case, I suggest simply coming straight to La Paz, because we kick things off around 9-10pm and you know the party will really get hoppin’ later on anyway. In case you hadn’t realized- this is the new incarnation of BFF. It’s simply whenever/wherever Fan Fiction and I DJ together. And trust me, we’re bringin’ the bangers. The resident La Paz DJ for whom we’re covering, Potamus, will be hitting the decks down in M’boro at SWAG, so if you’re in that neck of the woods and wanna dance, 527 Main St. is the place to be.
Speaking of Majestico, they’ve got 2 brand new tracks up on their bandcamp for free (unless you give your email address monetary value). Together they comprise the Bright White Lady single. What the hell are you waiting for? Go get them now. Oh, and there’s another great track called “I Like You” on there as well. These dudes might just be my favorite “new” Nashville band. (Via a star to sail her by, AKA the new blog from Andrew J. Smithson)
D. Patrick Rodgers of Nashville Cream did an interesting interveiw with Daniel Pujol as a part of this week’s Scene cover story “10 Artists to Watch in 2010.” Pujol’s answers are rather hilarious and quite cryptic at times, but that’s the main reason it’s a good read… You can also grab 2 free mp3s of Pujol’s solo work, which are hard to come by since most of his solo material has been released on cassette tape.
Other stuff this weekend:
Saturday is a major dilemma for sure:
Of Montreal/James Husband @ Cannery Ballroom vs. Girls/Magic Kids/Smith Westerns @ Exit/In…
Personally, I’ve seen Of Montreal 4 times and much prefer their mid-career material (Coquelicot through Sunlandic Twins). That, combined with my Scene photographic assignment will likely land me at Exit/In, because I haven’t seen any of those bands, and want to see all of them, especially Magic Kids.
On Sunday the party doesn’t stop, because Tristen will be at the 5 Spot, along with Murfreesboro’s The Only Sons, and Action!.
Have a great weekend!
Magic Kids get signed/Monotonix singer injured
January 29, 2010
At a party in Murfreesboro several weeks ago I ran into an old acquaintance from college- Alice Buchanan. She’s from Memphis and had been in a band called Scandaliz Vandalistz which may or may not still exist… but when I talked to her she told me of this new band she’s involved with called Magic Kids that had just formed and were already gearing up for a tour with Girls. I was astounded at the speed of their ascent to label-signed status. As gorilla vs bear, Nashville’s Dead, and the Matador Records blog all report, they just signed to True Panther. Their quick emergence is not unfounded, though, as it’s literally impossible to deny the warm-fuzzy-feel-goodness of “Hey Boy.” It’s very summery, fun, and has the ability to turn even the dreariest winter day into a breezy summer afternoon. The first two bands that come to mind when I hear these songs are the Beach Boys and I’m From Barcelona. Grab two mp3s at Nashville’s Dead. Then just try to keep from putting them on repeat. I dare you. They’ll be playing at the Exit/In on Feb. 6th with Girls, and also hitting up SXSW in March. I’m sure they’ll be on my “must-see” list.
Monotonix singer Ami Shalev’s luck finally ran out at a show in Florida Wed. night. Though Brooklyn Vegan’s headline says he broke his leg, the statement from the band doesn’t quite make it that clear. Seriously dude, you should’ve expected this to happen sooner or later. You just can’t do crazy shit like that at shows without getting hurt eventually. Hopefully they’ll be able to resume melting faces soon enough.
As for this weekend, I’ll be attempting to get to the super-exclusive Clipse show at Phatkaps, but the snow/ice-gasm 2k10 may prevent it. The roads should be clear by tomorrow night, though, for the Wax Fang/How I Became the Bomb/Non-Commissioned Officers show at Exit/In.
And, given my post yesterday about the Mars rover Spirit, I must share this adorable comic from xkcd:
Wes Anderson/weekend stuff
January 15, 2010
First, you must watch this delightful stop-motion award acceptance speech from Wes Anderson. It will improve your day drastically:
(Via Clusterflock)
Now, for what’s going down this weekend….
TONIGHT: I will be at the End taking pics of Jemina Pearl/The Ettes/Daniel Pujol. Also of interest- FREE Glam Rock cover night at Mercy Lounge, featuring members of Superdrag, the Shazam, Matt Friction, Dave Paulson, and more. Also- Natural Child cassette release show @ Springwater, with Diarrhea Planet, Daniel Pujol (guess he’s playing 2 shows tonight?), State Champion, and Giving Up.
SATURDAY: My So-Called Band, Guilty Pleasures, Long Players, Weekend Jimmy & the Easy Party @ Mercy Lounge, FREE. It’s the kickoff to Mercy’s 7-year anniversary bash, featuring 7 FREE shows. (But since the Glam rock night is free too… I guess they’re technically having 8 free shows in a row.) More on that in future posts.
Last but not least, two awesome local independent businesses, Halcyon Bike Shop and Grimey’s New & Preloved Music, have been nominated for the “To Love a Local Business” competition at Intuit, the company that markets QuickBooks. It’s a competition for a series of $5,000 grants and one $35,000 grant. I’d be more than happy to see either of these businesses get the grant(s). Vote for Halcyon or vote for Grimey’s. I don’t care which you vote for, just VOTE.
Weekend shows/New Mew/Zooey Deschanel
June 26, 2009
It’s been a while since I mentioned Zooey Deschanel on here. With her new movie 500 Days of Summer coming out July 17th, what better time than now? I was quite pleased to find a She & Him covers of The Smiths’ Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want on Stereogum this morning. Her beautiful voice is a perfect fit for the song and I honestly can’t stop listening to it. Go please your ears and stream it now. Also, at the bottom of that post is a video of ZD and Joseph Gordon-Levitt talking to each other about karaoke.
Also on Stereogum this morning was a brand spankin’ new Mew track, Repeaterbeater. And this one is downloadable! I’m definitely looking forward to the new Mew album, but I really don’t feel like typing out the album title because it’s a frickin’ poem.
The A.V. Club reports that Big Boi is promising a new Outkast album in the near future…. I’m not holding my breath though.
This kind of cracked me up, then made me sad… apparently a Bolivian TV station was fooled into airing scenes from LOST as footage from the French flight 447 crash in the Atlantic Ocean. Really? I have a hard time even pitying someone so gullible. Via Kottke.
Dave Paulson did a great write-up of Those Darlins in the Tennessean, as did Sean Maloney in the Scene. Speaking of Those Darlins, that’s where I’ll be saturday night taking pics, at their album release show at Mercy Lounge with the Black Lips.
Other weekend fun-to-be-had:
As I mentioned yesterday, I’ll be doing the photobooth at Happy Valley tonight at Aerial. Obviously the other big news for tonight is How I Became the Bomb+Kindercastle+string section covering ELO’s Out of the Blue in its entirety live at Mercy Lounge. You should probably be at one of these two places tonight. Or go to Mercy and then come to Happy Valley afterward… cuz that shit goes till 230 or 3am!
Oh, and R.I.P. King of Pop.
steve cross loves music and science 