don't cha wished that the original song is as good as this cover?

Here’s another freakout cover by Xiu Xiu. This time, the song is "Don't Cha" by The Pussycat Dolls... yes, that group of girls with absolutely no talent what-so-ever, enjoy.

Xiu Xiu - Don't Cha (Pussycat Dolls cover)
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snails see the benefits: the beauty in every inch

So, which records did you pick up yesterday? I hope it was Dog Problems by The Format. What!?!?! You didn’t pick that up... come on people... it is my favorite record of the year so far!!!! And if that’s not enough to get you to buy the record, buy it for the artwork and package... it is absolutely gorgeous!!!!

Ps, I have received requests to re-post the old Conor Oberst stuffs as well as the new Cursive album… I am crazy busy right now, but I’ll try to put those up as soon as possible.

i pray you die slowly, so i can be the last thing you see

I don’t know what’s in the air, but I’ve been listening to lots of pop punk lately. Ryan’s Hope, Valencia, and now Hit the Lights. This is A Stick Up... Don't Make it A Murder is a very simple record. There’s nothing complex or innovation about the music, you don’t have to think about the lyrics, it is a straight forward fun pop album. I think we all need to listen to something like This is A Stick Up... Don't Make it A Murder to relieve our heads from all the pretentious craps out there.

The Call Out (You Are the Dishes)
Bodybag
Save Your Breath
It's All the Rage
Speakers Blown
Make a Run for It [there’s a hidden track at 8:42... this cheesy acoustic pop song is my favorite song on the album!]
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buy This is A Stick Up... Don't Make it A Murder here

the work is done and the record pressed, now you're doing battle with the fickle press

The Magic Position is done!

they'll sit in cars and wait for mom to drive them out of this boring neighborhood

Defiance, Ohio is a kick-ass band: first, because their new release The Great Depression is an energetic folk-punk album. Second, because you can download the entire thing here. Who said downloading/sharing music is bad for the industry?!?! I have never heard of Defiance, Ohio before, but because of the band’s decision to share their songs, I am now a fan and will most likely buy The Great Depression vinyl from No Idea. If you like The Pogues or folk-punk music, you will definitely dig The Great Depression by Defiance, Ohio!!

download The Great Depression here
buy The Great Depression here

i am going to be so broke by the end of tonight!

Holy shit, I don’t remember the last time so many good records came out on the same day:

The Early November: The Mother, The Mechanic, And The Path A three disc release: the first two are alright... the third disc, The Path is absolutely unique and innovative, a must have!
[review] [myspace] [website]

The Format: Dog Problems
Like I said before, Dog Problems is my favorite record of 2006 so far.
[review] [myspace] [website]

Thom Yorke: The Eraser
I don’t need to say much here... read my post yesterday.
[review] [website]

Cursive: Dorothy At Forty [Single]
Amazing single, but mediocre b-sides.
[Dorothy At Forty downloads] [Happy Hollow review] [myspace] [website]

Peaches: Impeach My Bush
Peaches is always fun, although I wouldn’t rate this record as a must have.
[myspace] [website]

Sufjan Stevens: The Avalanche
This is a collection of outtakes and extras from last year’s stunning Illinoise.
[website]

random youtube goodies...

Björk in StreetFighter!!:


Real Life Simpsons Intro:

dreamers never live, only dream of it

Cursive’s single "Dorothy At Forty" comes out tomorrow. It features two b-sides: "The Bitter End" and "The Censor".

Dorothy At Dorty [wicked-cool song]
The Bitter End
The Censor
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by Dorothy At Dorty CD single here
by the 7" here

are you only being nice because you want something?

Pitchfork has dissed another record I love!!! This time: Thom Yorke’s new disc The Eraser. One of the negative things the reviewer said was that "tracks 3-5 falling particularly flat". How? I don’t think so! Track 3, "The Clock": Yorke’s vocal melody is perfect. His mono, yet dynamically smooth vocal sings some of the most memorable lines on The Eraser: "But you just move your hands upon the clock, Throw coins in the wishing well… For us…" Further, the music is interesting as it features this beatbox-ish sound in the background. The next track, "Black Swan" is easily one of the best songs on The Eraser solely because of the very catchy lines "this is fucked up, fucked up…" or "you are fucked up, fucked up…" In addition, it features clever lyrics like: "People get crushed like biscuit crumbs", "You have tried your best to please everyone, but it just isn't happening", and "You cannot kickstart a dead horse". Then, there’s "Skip Divided". How can anyone not like this track!?!? The music features some great complex beats; it is yet another great display of Yorke’s melodic vocal: there is so much emotion in this song that I actually thought Yorke was going to scream at the top of his lungs! The ending lyrics are again extremely memorable: "When you walk in a room everything disappears, When you walk in a room it's a terrible mess, When you walk in a room I start to melt, When you walk in a room I follow you around, Like a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a lapdog, I'm your lapdog, yeah."

What gets me is the end of the review:

The word 'gray' will be used to describe The Eraser, and with good reason-- unless you're predisposed to loving everything Yorke sets his voice against, you mind fight this an oppressively dreary affair. My totally catty suggestion: Don't bother with this unless you've already worn out the grooves on Jonny Greenwood's much less-heralded but completely brilliant Bodysong soundtrack. Or maybe, if you're really jonseing, set up two stereos and play both solo records at once, Zaireeka-style. I wouldn't be surprised at all if that worked.

WTF, how pretentious, unresourceful, and meaningless is that!!!

The Eraser [wicked-cool song]
The Clock [wicked-cool song]
Black Swan [wicked-cool song]
Skip Divided [wicked-cool song]
And It Rained All Night [wicked-cool song]
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buy The Eraser tomorrow!!!
Canadian shoppers, you can pick up The Eraser at Futureshop for only $9.99!!!

head automatica/angels & airwaves/taking back sunday live @ the molson amphitheatre july 5, 2006... because mics are for singing not swinging

edit: "i'm sorry it took me so long, i'm sorry it took me so long..."
edit no.2: Sorry for the quality of the pictures… I didn’t have my real camera with me, so I had to use my camera-phone.

This is a long post on what I loved and hated at the Head Automatica/Angels & Airwaves/Taking Back Sunday show I went to the other night at the Molson Amphitheatre. You have been warned, stop reading now if you don’t care about those bands! The best part about the show was that I had general admission floor tickets... which mean that I was right in front of the incredibly huge stage. The first band was The Subways, but I am not going to talk about them because I don’t know or care for them.

The second band was Head Automatica; led by God himself, Daryl Palumbo. For me, I think the theme of the show was nostalgia. I first saw Daryl Palumbo performed with the best band ever about four years (I think) ago. That concert was probably my favorite concert of all time, and GlassJaw was a huge part of my life during my second year at U of T. As a result, seeing Daryl Palumbo performed again gave me the chills! He was so different on Wednesday night: he’s all dressed up in a suit and tie rather than just a white t-shirt/topless... nevertheless, he’s entertaining as usual and the thing that really triggered the excitements in me was when he did the whole screaming style vocal thing... granted, he only did that like twice, but it brought me back to the good old GlassJaw days!! Seriously, fuck Head Automatica, stop that shit Mr. Daryl Palumbo, and bring back the best band of all time!


Here’s half the video of "Graduation Day"... it’s only half because security stopped me from videotaping in the middle of it.

On to the first co-headliner: Angels & Airwaves. First, I just have to say that Tom DeLonge has absolutely lost his mind!!! He thinks that he’s God or some powerful special being. It was really annoying that before each song, he would give some sort of cliché moral speech about the track: how it’s going to change lives, how it’s going to strengthen you as a human being... all types of shits like that... WTF... where’s the funny DeLonge??? Actually, there were moments where he couldn’t resist and said a sex joke once or twice (that was what Blink shows were all about, oh how I missed them!) He’s trying way too hard to be this weird motivational speaker/musician. In fact, to top off this shit, the backdrop at the end of their set was huge letters that spelled LOVE, how fucking gay is that?!!! To me, he sounded like a jackass, but I guess it worked for all the innocent little teenagers at the show. With that said, Angels & Airwaves sounded great, Tom’s vocal as well as the instruments all sounded flawless, their set would’ve been amazing if Tom didn’t go all melodramatic on our asses.

As the sun set, the siren music from Kill Bill introduced Taking Back Sunday... I thought that was neat. Perhaps the nostalgic theme was strongest during TBS’s set. As GlassJaw was a big part of my life in second year of university, TBS’s first record, Tell All Your Friends, has been a big part of my life ever since first year at U of T. I think it is safe for me to say that Tell All Your Friends is one of my favorite records off all time... it belongs somewhere in my top three records of all time! Sadly though, I do not enjoy or support anything post John Nolan and Shaun Cooper. Oh shit... I have to stop my TBS rant and focus on the concert. So, Adam Lazzara has officially perfected his mic swinging skills: he can now actually sing and do his crazy mic tricks all at the same time. Musically, I thought they were great, no doubt a huge improvement from pervious TBS shows I attended. In addition, they actually played a handful of songs from TAYF: "Bike Scene", "Cute Without The 'E' (Cut From The Team)", "Timberwolves At New Jersey", and "You're So Last Summer". And I, as well as many old TBS fans went crazy for them... that was extremely cool.

Now ladies and gentlemen, if you are not exhausted from reading this overly long post, you can see more pictures from the show here.