The Decemberists at Terminal 5

Photo by QuietColor

I've been slacking off a bit with my blog and for that matter with my concert attendance, but on November 5th I celebrated the Obama victory with The Decemberists sold-out show at Terminal 5. The Chef got me tickets for our 1st Anniversary and even though he tends to prefer punk to prose I think he really enjoyed himself. We managed to navigate the crazy crowd and scored a spot on a balcony with a great view of the stage and the floor. Show highlights included the life-size cut-out of Obama that was paraded around the stage, the crowd chanting "Yes we did!" and my favorite was when towards the end of the set Colin jumped into the crowd and grabbed some random girls cell phone. He preceded to call someone (lucky bastard) and sang "Sons and Daughters" at the top of his lungs into the phone. Hilarious.  Here are some fun videos for your enjoyment. 

The Decemberists from Dan-ah Kim on Vimeo.

The Decemberists from Dan-ah Kim on Vimeo.

And here are two songs just for you. 

The Decemberists - Valerie Plame

The Decemberists - Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect

irish debauchery

i'm a bit late with this post, but i always figure that late is better than never. last saturday i went to see The Pogues sold-out show at the Roseland Ballroom. i have to admit that my utter lack of knowledge of irish punk music left me wondering what exactly i would be walking into. i bought tickets as a x-mas gift to "the boy" and he has been extremely excited ever since. i figured at the very least i could drink expensive bud-light out of a plastic cup and laugh at the hordes of drunken irish people trying to mosh to music that involves an accordion. i was more than pleasantly surprised to hear some really awesome music and have since been uploading to my ipod like a mad-woman. the infamous front-man shane mcgowan is renowned for his drunken poetry and he did not disappoint. for the record, any man in a black suit sporting a fedora and wandering on stage with a bottle of wine immediatly gets my attention and respect. the show was awesome and i spent most of it pushing the boy into the mosh pit while bouncing on the edges and avoiding the 350lb guys trying to stage dive. here is a little tid-bit for you to enjoy. one bouncy and one a little less so.

Streams of Whiskey - The Pogues

Misty Morning, Albert Bridge - The Pogues

apparently booze leads to good music

How does a "super-group" begin? In most cases, alcohol is involved, as it most definitely was in this one. Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody, chief instigator of this new ensemble, says the world has Lou Barlow to thank for the emergence of The Reindeer Section, for it was at a Barlow gig in Glasgow where Lightbody ran around drunkenly asking people if they would join his band The Reindeer Section. They all said yes, so after sobering up the next day, Lightbody got out the old acoustic guitar and wrote an album's worth of songs.

In case you were wondering what exactly is "super" about the group, here are a few of its 15 or so members: there's Lightbody, who sings and plays guitar, keyboards, and harmonica, his Snow Patrol bandmate Jonny Quinn (drums), Mogwai's John Cummings (guitar), all four members of Astrid, Eva's Jenny Reeve (occasional vocals and violin), Arab Strap's Aidan Moffat (lead vocals on one track), Belle and Sebastian's Richard Colburn (occasional percussion and pigeon noises) and Mick Cooke (trumpet and flugelhorn on one track), Mull Historical Society's makes an appearance, since the album's folky, lo-fi, downbeat flavor is to some extent indebted to his stylistic experiments. It's worth a listen, but just to be safe have a cocktail in your hand when you press play. I've linked one of my favorite songs as my song of the week.

New Tapes n' Tapes

Tapes n' Tapes has a new album out in the US on April 8th. Be one of the first people to hear Walk It Off with a free streaming of the entire album. Now off you go you trend-setter you.

if i had a wish...

this past year i ended my summer (granted it was october, but it was VERY warm out) with a bang at an all day show on Randall's Island featuring Arcade Fire as well as Les Savy Fav, Blonde Readhead, and LCD Soundsystem.

as far as i'm concerned the best way to top that this year is to go to at least one day of the 3-day awesomeness that will be All Points West Music & Arts Festival this August. seeing Radiohead play live might be the only way to get this city girl out to jersey...but dammit show me the nearest PATH train and i'm on it. if anyone is wondering what i want for my birthday...this would be it.