Tuesday night?

So, I have something to complain about. And it's COMPLETELY irrational.

Why do all the bands I want to see have to play during the week?

Frightened Rabbit is about to start touring to support their new album, The Winter of Mixed Drinks. And they'll be coming through DC and playing the Black Cat on April 27th. But it's going to be on a Tuesday. Now, I know that this is going to come off as very old-mannish, but that's kind of late to be out on a weeknight!

This isn't even an actual complaint because, if the price is right, I'll probably go anyway. But it still feels like "Ugh, and then I'll have to get up in the morning!"

UPDATE (2/2/10): Found out today that tickets are $15 and they go on sale on Friday, February 5th.

Anyone else planning on going?

Here's something from their last album. It's so good. You should go over to their myspace page and listen to "Swim Until You Can't See the Land" and "Nothing Like You" to see what the new stuff sounds like. And then listen to the rest!

Frightened Rabbit - Good Arms vs. Bad Arms from The Midnight Organ Fight

My favorite new VW song...

So the new Vampire Weekend CD showed up in my mailbox from Amazon. I put it on and at first I was a little put off by it. It felt like they had taken what they did on their debut and did it more thickly. But then today in the car, it all clicked into place. It's more complex, sure. And yeah, it takes a bunch some of the same musical influences as the debut, but it feels like they've hit the accelerator. Like in the debut, they were testing out a new car and easing it down the road, but wit this one they're on the highway. And this was the song that really did it for me. I also have really been enjoying California English, but this one is just kickass!

Vampire Weekend - White Sky from Contra

Love it.

Billy Corgan

So, I was watching my DVD of Smashing Pumpkins videos yesterday while I was cleaning my room and I was thinking about Billy Corgan's ego.

I have a very special place in my heart for the Smashing Pumpkins. They were the band that I wrote lyrics for on my notebook in school. And the thing that's always kind of bugged me has been all the stories about BC's control-freak, egotistical attitude.

And then I realized that I feel the exact same way about Kanye West. I think he is so talented, but his actions in the media always make me SO embarrassed.

And I guess the thing is that there can be a difference between an artist's personality and the music they make.

Which, I suppose is what I'm always saying about Michael Jackson. He made some really great music, regardless of what he was doing in his personal life. It doesn't excuse anything he did, but I feel like I can enjoy the songs....

Anyways, back to Billy and Kanye. I'm thinking that maybe I like music that comes from egotistical Chicagoans. Which brings me to my question: Is Jeff Tweedy egotistical? If he is, then I may need to get a hold of some Wilco, ASAP.

In other news, Billy Corgan (as Smashing Pumpkins) is going to release 44 songs for free as 11 4-song EP's. FOR FREE. And it starts around Halloween. Then I guess they're going to release the whole thing as a box set. The album is going to be called Teargarden by Kaleidyscope.

Which is SUCH a Billy Corgan title. :)

Silence!!!!; or The Return of My Desperately and Hysterically Laughing Until I Cry

So, "How I Met Your Mother" started again tonight. This season it's an hour earlier (Mondays at 8 on CBS), so we watched half of it live, having caught up to it on the DVR by skipping commercials. And it's just as good as ever. I love this freaking show and I would heartily recommend it to you. It is consistently original in how the episodes unfold and that is something I have loved from the very first episode.

We also watched the series premieres of Bored to Death (Sundays at 9:30 on HBO) and Accidentally on Purpose (Mondays at 8:30 on CBS).

Bored to Death could be a very hilarious and wonderful show. It was a very good premiere with lots of good lines and a compelling and almost believable plot. Jason Schwartzmann is really good as he usually tends to be. We'll see how it goes next week.

Accidentally on Purpose was only ok. This is kind of the caliber I expect from a Series Premiere. The jokes are ALMOST there, but not quite. The one complaint I had was with Ashley Jensen. She's a Scottish actress who should have been really funny, but her delivery was just awful. It was like "setup setup setup JOOOOOOOOKE" constantly. Every time she had a line. And so I'm ready to wish her off the show. But then I remember another actor who delivered his lines in a similar manner at the start of the series. Matthew Perry from Friends. And he went on to revolutionize, for me at least, the idea of how a joke could be delivered. So who knows? Maybe I'll pull for Ms. Jensen to get her act together (I was going to laugh at my own little joke, but then I realized that that's exactly what that phrase is ABOUT).

Phew!

In conclusion, really excited about TV starting this season! HIMYM is back! Woohoo!!!!

Hold on to your hats; or, 20 minutes of Distraction

Alright everyone. Here's my first go at a podcast. I'm not going to fuss with doing the whole iTunes thing yet, but I do have another episode in mind and I hope that you will send any suggestions about what I could improve upon, what you like, or what you'd like to hear in the future!



My First Podcast

Heard This on the Radio Tonight

Our Lady Peace - All You Did Was Save My Life

I thought it was pretty good!

Podcast

So, I have this microphone. And this software program named Audacity. Well, I suppose the program isn't NAMED Audacity. That's like saying my name is "Human".....

Anyways.

If I record my voice and have some songs in between stretches of me talking about things, and then I save it to a file sharing site and post it on here, is that a podcast?

How do you get it to show up on iTunes?

What are the legalities involved with playing songs on a podcast (What can I get away with?)

I think I would be interested in doing something like this, but I need more info...