Colin Meloy Announces Solo Tour

It's been taking a little while, but slowly, the 2008 tour schedules are beginning to materialize before our eyes. Definitely the most exciting announcement I've heard came today with the word that Mr. Meloy, lead singer and front man of The Decemberists, is picking up the ol' acoustic gee'tar and is hitting the road by his lonesome.

Colin Meloy has a 20-city strong tour planned out, with the possibility of additional dates later. This isn't the first time, of course, that Meloy has taken a tour of the country by himself. In the vein of his two previous, Meloy will be releasing a new solo EP which will be unique to this tour. This time around, he'll be covering Sam Cooke, with the obligatory title Colin Meloy Sings Cooke.

You may not know, but I'm basically addicted to The Decemberists, not to mention Colin Meloy's other cover albums (featuring Morrisey and Shirley Colins). You know I'll be there when Colin drops by Granada Theater in Dallas. Tickets go on sale next Friday, Feb. 8th. But if you're on Colin's fanlist, you can grab your own tickets when they go for presale tomorrow.





4/7 - Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa
4/8 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
4/10 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
4/11 - Asheville, NC - Orange Peel
4/12 - Charlottesville, VA - The Satellite Ballroom
4/13 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
4/15 - Somerville, MA - Somerville Theatre
4/16 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall Of Williamsburg
4/17 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall Of Williamsburg
4/21 - Chicago, IL - Park West
4/22 - Milwaukee, WI - The Pabst Theater
4/23 - Madison, WI - Barrymore Theater
4/25 - Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall
4/26 - Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre
4/28 - Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre
4/29 - Santa Cruz, CA - The Rio Theatre
4/30 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
5/2 - Seattle, WA - Showbox
5/3 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom

"The Good Life" (Kanye West) - Cullen Rollins

It's good life when you get to perform good covers of Kanye West, which is exactly what singer-songwriter and newfound Voilà! writer Cullen Rollins has done. Paying respects to one of the best contemporary rappers to pick up a mic, Cullen breaks it down with a smooth, easy cover which is quite fun. Check it out on his Myspace, now-ish!

Spritz!!! Spritz!!! - Minus the Bear (Video)

What?! What?! Minus the Bear?!

Basically, when I went to see Minus the Bear a really long time ago, not only did I take quite a few pictures, but I also took a couple videos. One video was of "Dr. L'ling," where they put on a good show, but I didn't like the way it turned out. The other was of "Spritz!!! Spritz!!!," and I think it turned out quite alright, as far as "lame digital camera recordings of live concerts where there is intense bass and poor sound quality, when in fact, no cameras were allowed in the venue in the first place then to go.

Like I said, the bass is way too loud on my poor little camera's speakers, and that concert for some reason didn't put out a lot of sound from the main mic (at least not where I was standing). Then, the infamous YouTube screwed up the video quality (I swear it looked pretty before uploading). But it's a fun performance, needless to say. I might try uploading to Virb or imeem or something later though... this isn't cutting it.

Band of the Week: Casper & the Cookies

[January 28 - February 3rd]
Casper & the Cookies
Sounds Like: Indie-Pop
Drinking Buddies: Of Montreal, The Apples in Stereo, Oh No! Oh My!, Brown Recluse Sings
Synopsis: Arduously performed amiable indie-pop!
Makes You Want To...: Sing; Dance; Take a walk
[Myspace]




One week, one band. You know the drill.
This week, the featured artist is Casper & the Cookies


I (finally) finished The Amber Spyglass/His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman! It was very good, but had quite a few sad moments. I've moved onto You Don't Know Me by David Klass, very quirky and off-kilter. Since my music tends to match my mood and my predicaments, I need some more upbeat, quirky, and off-kilter tunes to fit the groove.

I need to turn no further than the interblag before I run into Casper & the Cookies. The indie music blogs have already had their run with Casper & the Cookies after their amazing song, "Kiss Me Beneath the Christmas Tree," which essentially completed ever single music lover's Christmas playlist (including mine).

Casper & the Cookies features ex-Of Montreal member Jason NeSmith, and with the help of the rest of the Cookies, this jovial jumble of musically eclectic entrepreneurs are playing a surreal, wild n' fun indie pop that only Georgia can seem to produce.

The Optimist's Club, C&tC's debut album, was released back in '06. Of course, they have a Myspace, which you should totally rush over to and say hello. And don't forget to check out their two (count 'em) two interviews on Daytrotter. In the meantime, I have a date with "Sid from Central Park" and a book, along with a cup of super-sweet ice tea. Have a nice week everyone.

"I Pretend To Be" - All About Max

Super short, because I'm late for work, but a few days ago, All About Max released his latest song, "I Pretend To Be," on his Myspace. Very lovely, very intriguing, but also a lot deeper than you might get an impression for on the first listen. Needless to say, very good. Definitely be sure to drop by his Myspace RIGHT NOW! Oh, and if you know any good record labels that might help him release his upcoming album [slash] would like his style of music [slash] would like to have him on their team of musical artists, be sure to name drop them to him, so he can see what sort of musical business deals he can whip up.

"Medicine Man" - The Hush Sound

The Hush Sound, after much teasing and taunting, has finally released their latest song, the unmastered version of "Medicine Man," from their new and upcoming album, Goodbye Blues.

The song is phenominal on all accounts. Greta sings lead, with the rest of the band in a chorus of "oh's" in the background. Greta's voice has thoroughly advanced and matured since Like Vines, and she is showing she has an even more immence prowess over it then she did before. The music is fast paced and bouncing. And Goodbye Blues indeed, for Medicine Man contains a huge underflowing current of blues in its sound, of course mixed with the jubilant pop-punk sounds.

I can not begin to express my excitement for Goodbye Blues! "Medicine Man" really shows that The Hush Sound is not only remaining thorough with their music, as well as versatile, but there is definitely infinite limits on their creativity, and they can stretch their muscles wide with this album. If Goodbye Blues is this quality throughout, we can only expect good things! Go check out The Hush Sound's latest song on their Myspace RIGHT NOW!

Band of the Week: Uzi & Ari

[January 21-27]
Uzi & Ari
Sounds Like: Experimental/Electronic
Drinking Buddies: The Album Leaf, The Postal Service, All About Max
Synopsis: A fused blend of experiments.
Makes You Want To...: View modern art; Read fiction
[Myspace]
[Website]




One week, one band. You know the drill.
This week, the featured artist is Uzi & Ari.


Geez! It's freakin' cold. If you're in the United States, and you've forgotten that it's winter, well something is seriously wrong with you. The wind chill in Dallas/Fort Worth, TX today was 20 degrees! And believe me, it was blowing. The weather has also been moody - a dreary gray of rain and chill sulking over everything.

The music I listen to any given day is directly affected by my mood, and of course, mood is affected by everything, including the weather. The first thing that caught my ears on this rainy day was Uzi & Ari.

Uzi & Ari hails from Salt Lake City, Utah, and plays a strange, blended, eccentric electronic music reminiscent of the way The Postal Service composed their songs. Borderline post-rock, with songs similar to Mogwai, Uzi & Ari adds introspective lyrics to their tricky, fickle songs to make an abstract whole of texture and sound. These folks make some great thinking music, as well as keeping their sound fresh and uninhibited.

To be frank, I picked up on Uzi & Ari in a completely non-musical way. It just so happens that their last album, It is Freezing Out, happens to feature the artwork of my favourite artist, Thrush Holmes. But let's focus here: Uzi & Ari also have a few previous recordings, namely their debut album, Don't Leave in Such a Hurry. You can order both of their albums on their website.

If you couldn't guess, Uzi & Ari also has a Myspace, where you can download some of their other works in mp3 format, if that's your persuasion. They have their song "Mountains/Molehills" up for free download on their Myspace as well. And finally, on the off chance someone out there in the interweb is reading from Japan, you can catch Uzi & Ari's music video for "Asleep in Armor" in regular play on MTV. I leave you all with this video; everyone have a very good week!