HEY! You’ll never guess where my next add comes from. Oh, you guessed it already? You guessed it would be from Seattle? Weird that you would guess that, it’s not like every single artist I’m working with right now comes from the same place. Okay it’s not a coincidence: I love Seattle (you’re shocked). But you know what else I love? The music of Shenandoah Davis. It’s totally beautiful and idiosyncratic and her voice is kind of like Joanna Newsom’s or Regina Spektor’s – particularly in that it ranges from warbly/weirdy to the more classically agreed-upon idea of ‘lovely’ – in fact she, like another artist I’ve worked with, is a trained opera singer! But I would not describe her music as ‘operatic’ in any sense except that it is poetic, deeply emotional, and beautiful. Daytrotter agrees! Also she is about to head out on an insanely massive national tour so stay tuned! More below!

SHENANDOAH DAVIS

THE COMPANY WE KEEP

Self-Released

Immersed in classical music since the fragile age of three, Shenandoah Davis grew up at the bench of her parents’ piano. Continuing her musical studies through college, music at some point became more an occupation than a passion. After finishing a bachelor’s degree in opera performance that she was already certain she would never use, Shenandoah moved from her long-time home of Boulder, Colorado to Seattle, Washington, got a job as a barista and slowly began making her way back to the world of music – this time with her own compositions. In the three years since Shenandoah Davis released her full-length debut We; Camera (2008), she’s toured the US, Japan, and Western Europe, and performed at some of North America’s largest music and arts festivals (SXSW, Bumbershoot, Sasquatch). She’s been featured on KEXP, collaborated with the Seattle Rock Orchestra and Portland Cello Project, recorded and toured as keyboardist for Seattle-based buzz band Grand Hallway, and held a musical residency at the Art Monastery in Umbria, Italy.

Fan-funded through Kickstarter and recorded by Alex Kostelnik in Seattle (with additional recording in Denver and New York), The Company We Keep is fiercely poetic and emotionally artful assertion of her craft. Musically, it’s a natural progression from We; Camera – pulling from her intuitive sonic landscape, with elements of indie pop, classical, ragtime, and American roots music. Her piano continues to leap between rhythms and time signatures, as if it’s following the lyrics down a winding forest trail. At the helm of it all is her classically trained voice – equal parts warbly and powerfully direct – the breeze which tickles tree leaves before billowing into sails.

Thematically, though, it’s much more nuanced and complex. Driven, she says, by “the idea that no one person will ever know the exact same version of you as anyone else, because we are all defined by our experiences,” The Company We Keep presents snapshots of intensely personal moments between two people. From the Saratoga, NY, racetrack and park where she spent her teen years (“The Loudest”) to the home she once shared with a lover (“Separate Houses”), the songs on The Company We Keep tie together the experiences which have brought Davis – and her music – this far. The question the album seems to raise comes in “Throne,” where she sings, “Do you keep track of where all your seeds have been sown?” Underscoring the record’s impressive cohesion, she answers for herself in the final track. When its refrain (“Don’t go anywhere without me now”) repeats, the lesson becomes clear. Such a thing would be impossible – for Davis, at least, it would seem the “seeds” are never left behind.

RIYL: Joanna Newsom, Regina Spektor, St. Vincent, Grand Hallway, Parenthetical Girls

Start With: 8, 5, 9, 10 FCC CLEAN

Contact me for a download link!

ALSO, check out this totally awesome thing: Shenandoah recently recorded a Daytrotter session, which was just posed this past Wednesday! And it is perfect!!! This girl is going places. CHECK IT OUT!

http://shenandoahdavis.bandcamp.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shenandoah-Davis/162458635794

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=206190846092893 (tour dates)

http://shenandoahdavis.com/

http://www.daytrotter.com/dt/shenandoah-davis-concert/20054899-3738459.html

Oh MAN!!! I can’t believe this time has finally come. I’ve basically been waiting to do this for the last three years. Yes: before The Band Mom was even officially a radio promotion company, I was waiting to promote the next Terrordactyls record. Here are some reasons why the Terrordactyls are so special to me: in March 2008 they let me join them on their tour, which was one of the best things I’ve ever done. Tyrel designed my Band Mom logo (check it out at the top of the page!) and the guys were the first to call me their “band mom” when I made them a tour book that had a different quote from The Adventures of Pete & Pete on every page. Also Tyrel totally just helped me out with my website redesign…poke around, looks pretty snazzy doesn’t it? Yes it does. The Terrordactyls are high on the lists both of my best friends and my favorite bands, and I can’t believe they continue to allow me to be in their lives.

Anyway. I can’t WAIT for the whole world to hear this Terrordactyls album. You should read the bio below, because it is basically a list of facts that don’t seem like they could possibly all be true, but they are, every word, I’ve seen most of it happen with my own two eyes.

THE TERRORDACTYLS

RAGE MOUNTAIN

Self-Released

The Terrordactyls are Tyrel Stendahl and Michael Cadiz. They met in high school in 1999 and formed the band in 2001, with a lineup that once also included members who would go on to become The Pharmacy. They’ve released albums, 7″s and EPs on Seattle’s Don’t Stop Believin’ and Austria’s Seayou Records; they’ve toured the US and Europe, made a stop-motion animation video for a duet they recorded with Kimya Dawson (Moldy Peaches, Juno soundtrack) that got over 200,000 views on Youtube, landed a sponsorship with Kazoobie Kazoos, and had songs featured in the MTV show My Life As Liz.

Rage Mountain was recorded beginning in 2009 in a cabin by a creek and in a practice studio above the record store where Tyrel worked on Vashon Island, Washington. All of the guitar solos were recorded on a Squire Strat that’s owned by Tyrel’s boss at the music store and which was signed by K.D. Lang. Tyrel’s boss doesn’t know this. Vashon is a small island in the Puget Sound. You have to take a ferry to get there and it’s full of magic and pine trees. Sometimes there are even orca whales. To complete the Seattleite stereotype, besides being in a band, wearing plaid and listening to Nirvana, these days Tyrel works for an internet company and Michael is a barista.

There are already two music videos for the track “Overlapping Circles”. One is about burning Christmas trees on a summer day; the other one is by friend Will Janowitz, an actor. He’s been on The Sopranos and also Mad Men. Plus there’s the “Stars” video, which was made by Kori Valz, an animator who has worked on the preschool-age TV show The Wonder Pets, and it is full of penises.

Besides tales of pain and insecurity disguised as sweet melancholic folk ballads, and stories about cats orchestrated with kazoos and toy pianos, Rage Mountain features a cover of the Nine Inch Nails song “Down In It”. Michael was a huge NIN fan in middle school, and both Terrordactyls contend that Pretty Hate Machine is an AMAZING album.

Following the recording of this album, Kellen Rack, a bicycle and fantasy novel enthusiast, became the band’s full-time drummer. The now-trio is already hard at work recording Rage Mountain II: Return to Rage Mountain.

RIYL: Kimya Dawson, Paul Baribeau, Jeffrey Lewis, pwrfl power, Casiotone For The Painfully Alone

Start With: 4, 8, 15, 6, 12, 10 FCC: 2, 3, 14 [CLEAN EDITS AVAILABLE], 9 [NO CLEAN EDIT]

Track 9 happens to be my favorite on the whole disc, the only one with swears that doesn’t have an edit, so if you happen to have the kind of radio situation where it doesn’t matter what words are in the tracks you play, spin the s**t out of that thing!!!

Contact me for a download link! Downloads available both of the full album and of the clean edits! I’ve also got a secret extra download of a couple clean edits with completely ridiculous sounds instead of just blanks for the swears, if you’re into that sort of stuff.

The world is a magical place!!! The Terrordactyls help. ADD THIS RECORD!!!

http://terrordactyls.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/the-terrordactyls/27184283711

http://terrordactyls.bandcamp.com/

My third add of 2011 is here!

For longtime Band Mom loyalists, these guys will already be familiar to you: their first full-length was my second Band Mom project ever back in 2009. It did really well, including getting tons of play on WOXY (RIP WOXY :( ) – and now it’s two years later and the band’s lineup has gone through some serious changes, and their lyrical themes have gotten a little darker, but their music is still totally recognizable from that first album. As I pointed out in 2009, they make a really interesting combination of music that fuses catchy indie pop with their DC post-punk heritage. You haven’t heard much like it before. Plus their name is an allusion to TS Eliot’s The Waste Land…the English major in me rejoices!

This is a 3-song EP that is NOT a leading up to a full-length anytime soon, so don’t wait: play this today! Radio stations, my hard copies were VERY limited, but if you didn’t get one then check your email or contact me for a download link! It’s worth it!!

TEREU TEREU

NW EP

Self-Released

They began in Fredericksburg, VA in 2006 as a noisy two-piece. Over time, the band expanded in scope and adopted the moniker Tereu Tereu; in 2007, they released a split with The Light Footwork, and in 2009 they released their debut album, All That Keeps Us Together. The band toured up and down the mid-Atlantic and played with bands like The Dismemberment Plan, Ra Ra Riot, Foals, Jukebox the Ghost, Georgie James, Birdmonster, Maritime, The Good Life, and Pomegranates.

In late 2009, Tereu Tereu moved to DC, shifted members and shifted sounds. Now a three-piece, they play disjointed pop music, mixing elements of DC post-punk with melodies influenced by Taureg desert music. They run ear-pleasing hooks through oddball time signatures and punctuate their songs with feedback-laden freak outs. The continuing evolution of the band has brought more focus and darker undercurrents to the music, lyrically grappling with queer suicides and friends lost to cancer. It’s a heavier moment for a pop-centric trio, but it’s their most ambitious to date.

This 3-track EP serves as a re-introduction for this newest incarnation of Tereu Tereu; it is a standalone release rather than a lead-in to a full-length, and its official release comes in a limited-edition hand-stenciled package.

“both powerful and slightly unnerving”– My Old Kentucky Blog

RIYL: Dismemberment Plan, Phoenix, Q and Not U, Ra Ra Riot, Spoon

Start With: 1, 2 FCC 3 (radio edit available!!)

Contact me for a download link!

yes!!!

http://www.myspace.com/tereutereu

http://tereutereu.com/

http://twitter.com/tereutereu

http://tereutereu.bandcamp.com/

It’s here!! Sunshine, free booze, great friends & great bands all in one place for one glorious week!! Here’s where you can catch The Band Mom’s artists at SXSW 2011 – and make sure to try to meet up with me if you’re coming to any of these!! I’d love to see EVERYBODY.

BAND MOM ARTISTS @ SXSW 2011:

JOSEPH KECKLER:

Weds 3.16 – The Hideout (617 Congress) – 10pm

-Official Showcase: link here

DC PIERSON
will be in town, writing for the MTVU Woody Awards which DONALD GLOVER is hosting. Not sure if this is a thing that can be attended or not but here and here is some info. I bet he’d let you interview him in person if you wanted to.

MERMAIDS:

Thurs 3-17 – ATL gets WEIRD – CLIVE BAR 3:45
Fri 3-18 – Favorite Gentleman Showcase/ATL YEAH! – RED FEZ 6:15-645
Sat 3-19 – Go Big or Go Back to ATL – CHEERS – 8:45 -915

TEREU TEREU:

Tues 3/15 – Art Disaster @ Beauty Bar
Weds 3/16 – DC Does TX @ Lovejoy’s
Fri 3/18 – My Old Kentucky Blog Presents the Smush Room @ Peckerheads

SEAN WALSH & THE NATIONAL RESERVE:

Fri 3/18 – 4:45pm Hole in the wall
Fri 3/18 – 9:45pm Cheers (on a rooftop)

And here are a few other BAND MOM FRIENDS/FUTURE BAND MOM BANDS‘s shows/parties you should also come out to:

TYPEFIGHTER:

Weds 3/16 “DC Does Texas” at Lovejoys – 1:45pm
Thurs 3/17 at Dominican Joe’s Coffee Shop – 6pm (may be acoustic)
Sat 3/19 at Cherrywood Coffee – 1:30pm

THE LOOM:

List of SXSW shows here, or in this convenient graphic:

TURF WAR:

Thurs 3.17 – ATL Gets Weird! Day party @ Clive’s Bar, 609 Davis Street. – 215 pm

-free show, free booze, and free gift bags.

Thurs 3.17 – Speed Sets curated by The Black Lips @ Gear Alley Expo in the Austin Convention Center – 5:15 pm.

Fri 3.18 – ATL YEAH! Day Party @ Red Fez, 209 B West 5th Street. – 530-6 pm

-download the free comp: http://favoritegentlemen.com/atlyeah/

Sat 3.19 – 40 Watt Showcase/ Athens In Austin @ The Side Bar – 4-430 pm (Outside Stage)

Sat 3.19 – Sailor Jerry Showcase @ Shangril La, 1016 E. 6th Street – 1245 pm

Sat 3.19 – Go Big or Go Back to ATL @ Cheers Shot Bar, 416 East 6th Street – 930-10pm

DC DOES TX DAY PARTY:

Weds 3.16 12-6pm

Lovejoys (604 Neches St.)

12-12:35pm: Carol Bui
12:50-1:30pm: Tereu Tereu
1:45-2:25pm: Typefighter
2:40-3:20pm: Deleted Scenes
3:35-4:05: True Womanhood
4:20-5pm: The Caribbean
5:15-6pm: These United States

Free//free Dogfish Head beer while it lasts!

http://www.dcdoestexas.com/

PRETTY AMBITIOUS/ATL DAY PARTY:

Thurs 3.17 12-6pm

Clive Bar (609 Davis Street)

5:20pm- Light Pollution
4:30pm- Abby gogo
3:45pm- Mermaids
3:00pm- The Back Pockets
2:15pm- Turf War
1:35pm- Sealions
12:55pm- Little Tybee

Free Show! Free Booze! Free gift bags!
*** SXSW 2011 Sampler! Listen to the bands before you come and download their music here: http://prettyambitiousrecords.com/redeem/sxsw-2011-sampler/ ***

PHEW!!! SEE YOU THERE!!!!

HEY, you guys!! Do you remember around this time last year, when I had this crazy add that was a compilation of songs inspired by a novel written by author/comedian/actor/filmmaker/professional punsmith/overall incredible dude DC Pierson? Well HOLD ONTO YOUR PANTS, because it’s not over! There’s a volume two!!

You should definitely read through my superlong post from last year with an insane amount of information about the inception of this project, and then come back here. You could also start with this short bio:

DC Pierson is the author of the ALEX-award-winning novel “The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep And Never Had To,” which is published by Anchor/Vintage.  He’s also a member of the popular Internet comedy group DERRICK Comedy, whose sketch videos have been viewed over 150 million times online.  Their first feature film “Mystery Team” premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and is available on DVD from Lionsgate.  He’s commemorating the first anniversary of his book’s release with the second volume of “Songs For ‘The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep And Never Had To,'” a free mix of original songs by amazing artists.  The first volume of the mix is available at DC’s website.

DC Pierson is available for interviews on the phone, or in person in the Los Angeles area!

This version of the mixtape includes artists Good Luck (a perfect band from Bloomington, Indiana fronted by Matty Pop Chart), Alicia Jo Rabins of the continually-inspiring Band Mom band Girls In Trouble, my honeys The Terrordactyls, USF (formerly Universal Studios Florida and also formerly including the music director from Rainy Dawg Radio in Seattle, a super legit chillwave band that Pitchfork seems to have a thing for and of whom The Seattle Times also recently published a mind-blowing photo and some nice words), Portland band Granada, and Melissa Lusk who you might also recognize from her really great song on the first mixtape. Yes!!

This one is a download only, and you can find that download here in a post with some more info on DC’s site, or here zipped up with other info from me like a press onesheet, a tracklist and a photo for all your radioing needs.

Add it now!! For CMJ purposes, this is Various Artists – Songs for “The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep…” Vol. 2. And the record label is Fifty People’s Favorite Thing, which is a made-up label invented by DC. No booklegging.

Feel free to contact me to set up an interview with DC or to tell me how great you think this whole thing is!!

<3

Yes! Time to get 2011 going, right?!? Like for real, it’s a new year. Has been for a while actually, but like, let’s get serious about it. I have a new Band Mom add!!

I first met Joseph Keckler about three years ago, as a part of my ongoing quest to befriend his entire family (his cousins are Michael Cadiz of The Terrordactyls and also Melaena Cadiz!!). That family is so awesome at everything. Joseph, the newest addition to the Band Mom stable, is a classically trained operatic vocalist and wild performance artist. I’m pretty excited about his work across a lot of media, and I know that you guys who are a little more adventurous in taste, ie not afraid to try new things, are going to FREAK OUT about this!!! READ ON!

JOSEPH KECKLER

FEATURED CREATURES

Self-Released

An iguana, a hustler, a woodland creature on a quest to recover his severed tail, and a kamikaze on a mission from hell: these are the featured creatures in the world Joseph Keckler creates on his debut EP. Combining eerie ballads with theatrical torch songs, blues and opera with synth pop, this music will resonate in your soul and Keckler’s powerful voice will thrill you like a rollercoaster on a ride through the underworld.

Joseph is an operatically trained singer, musician, writer and performance artist, well known in NYC for his stream of consciousness soliloquies and personality-shifting spectacles. His work explores the gap between theater and life and establishes unexpected connections between art, identity, and contemporary alienation. Joseph is currently working on a collection of his stories, new videos, and a performance that will premiere at NYC’s PS122 in the spring. He can be seen at the SXSW Music Festival in March.

“Keckler commands the stage with erotic bravado, launches into dramatic monologues and embodies so many different personae that you can’t help but wonder whether he’s possessed by spirits or if his body cannot help but channel all of the voices in his head. Sensual, cathartic, overwrought and deeply philosophical, his psychotic twists and turns can bring his audience either to tears (from laughter) or to a numbed silence.” -New York Press

“Think: David Sedaris meets Diamanda Galas” -The Village Voice

RIYL: Antony & The Johnsons, Bryan Scary, David Bowie, Queen, Patrick Wolf, Nick Cave

Start With: 5, 6, 2 FCC CLEAN

Contact me for a download link!

He’s going for CMJ adds NOW (Jan 31/Feb 1) – let’s do this!!!!

http://www.josephkeckler.com

http://twitter.com/josephkeckler

now that we’ve all gotten used to writing 2011 on our checks and everything, i’ve finally compiled my list of top stuff from 2010. i’m really good at making these so ludicrously long that no one ever has the time or the interest to read through them. but maybe your thing’s on it! i like taking til the end of january to make these lists, since it affords me some time to look back on the year from some distance, and also to catch up on a few things i might have missed out on. i realize it costs me some relevance, but since this list isn’t really for anyone else, it doesn’t matter much. as always, i never claim stuff on this list is the ‘best’ of the year. art is impossible to grade on an objective scale, and it’s insulting and ugly to posture as though one could do so (btw, did i tell you i started writing for PopMatters this year?). anyway, these are just my favorites.

top 20 albums of 2010:

1. pomegranates – one of us

   

2. the extra lens – undercard
3. xiu xiu – dear god i hate myself
4. childish gambino – culdesac
5. matthew dear – black city
6. the brunettes – paper dolls
7. tunng – …and then we saw land
8. electric president – the violent blue
9. fred thomas – night times
10. hot chip – one life stand
11. sufjan stevens – the age of adz
12. shrag – life! death! prizes!
13. the wailing wall – the low hanging fruit
14. ted leo and the pharmacists – the brutalist bricks
15. lcd soundsystem – this is happening
16. eux autres – broken bow
17. wolf parade – expo 86
18. the pharmacy – weekend
19. tobacco – maniac meat
20. the national – high violet

honorable mentions (in alphabetical order):

beach house – teen dream; best coast – crazy for you; brian eno – small craft on a milk sea; belle and sebastian – write about love; candy claws – hidden laws; .colour revolt – the cradle; drake – thank me later; dungen – skit i allt; frightened rabbit – the winter of mixed drinks; his name is alive – the eclipse; jonsi – go; the knife – tomorrow, in a year; les savy fav – root for ruin; the light footwork – national historic landmarks; lightspeed champion – life is sweet! nice to meet you; los campesinos! – romance is boring; matt & kim – sidewalks; mc chris – mc chris goes to hell; mt st helens vietnam band – where the messengers meet; ok go – of the blue colour of the sky; owen pallett – heartland; peter peter hughes – fangia; the ruby suns – fight softly; sacred spirits – some stay; the seven fields of aphelion – periphery; shapes and sizes – candle to your eye; shout out louds – work; sleigh bells – treats; someone still loves you boris yeltsin – let it sway; stars – the five ghosts; title tracks – it was easy; vampire weekend – contra; warpaint – the fool; wild moccasins – skin collision past

top eps/comps (non-album releases):

michael cadiz – i saw u
oh! pears – e.p.
childish gambino – i am just a rapper 1 & 2
good luck – demonstration 2010
grouper/roy montgomery – split
parenthetical girls – privilege pts 1 & 2
peter peter hughes – fangio 7″
white sea – this frontier
electricity & lust cover songs

as always, band mom/LIFT releases were ineligible for these lists. but hey, dc pierson, night driving in small towns, melaena cadiz, and mermaids: i love you.

top 15 shows (concerts):

1. jason anderson @ silent barn (brooklyn ny, may)

   

2. andrew wk @ sxsw purevolume tent (austin tx, march)
3. the extra lens @ cmj mercury lounge (manhattan ny, october)
4. pavement @ central park (manhattan ny, september)
5. pomegranates, oh no! oh my!, eux autres @ sunset tavern (seattle wa, november)
6. childish gambino @ the creek and the cave (queens ny, june)
7. fatty dearest @ redwood bar (los angeles ca, november)
8. melaena cadiz, matt bauer @ pete’s candy store (brooklyn ny, august)
9. the mural and the mint @ ‘here’ (manhattan ny, december)
10. (the) tony castles, dale earnhardt jr jr, bear hands @ bowery ballroom (manhattan ny, december)
11. sonic youth @ prospect park (brooklyn ny, july)
12. mermaids, christmas, darlings @ union pool (brooklyn ny, september)
13. girls in trouble @ pete’s candy store (brooklyn ny, december)
14. oh! pears @ littlefield (brooklyn ny, december)
15. malaikat dan singa @ the northern (olympia wa, november)

top 50 movies:

1. inception

   

2. four lions
3. cyrus
4. blue valentine
5. scott pilgrim vs the world
6. black swan
7. the fighter
8. toy story 3
9. animal kingdom
10. it’s kind of a funny story
11. the social network
12. the illusionist
13. dogtooth
14. mother
15. meek’s cutoff
16. winter’s bone
17. greenberg
18. the extra man
19. life during wartime
20. best worst movie
21. the kids are all right
22. another year
23. rosencrantz and guildenstern are undead
24. wild grass
25. the living wake
26. 127 hours
27. cherry
28. holy rollers
29. the secret of kells
30. i am love
31. tiny furniture
32. please give
33. youth in revolt
34. never let me go
35. fish tank
36. the thorn in the heart
37. jean-michel basquiat: the radiant child
38. barry munday
39. revolucion
40. the girl with the dragon tattoo
41. true grit
42. shutter island
43. exit through the gift shop
44. micmacs
45. enter the void
46. biutiful
47. a film with me in it
48. the secret in their eyes
49. red riding trilogy: part 1: 1974
50. my son, my son, what have ye done

honorable mentions (roughly in order):

a prophet; until the light takes us; all my friends are funeral singers; a mother’s courage: talking back to autism; let me in; strange powers; mesrine (parts 1 & 2); temple grandin; the man next door/el hombre del lado; the king’s speech; how to train yr dragon; despicable me; stone; howl; the life of the world to come; restrepo; going the distance; jack goes boating; get him to the greek; alamar; solo quiero caminar; the town; leaves of grass; joan rivers: a piece of work; the trotsky; chronicles of narnia: voyage of the dawn treader; how do you know; hereafter; the sorcerer’s apprentice; somewhere; all good things; easy a; the other guys; i’m still here; spork

some notes on movies: i saw 117 movies that came out in 2010 (62 in a theater; i paid to see both inception and black swan twice) (saw 315 movies total over the year, counting older releases but trying not to count second viewings). not every movie i saw made this list…i know it is a long list. as for movies with questionable release dates, i guess the rule i made up is basically that if i saw it in a festival in 2010, even if it didn’t get even limited release otherwise, it counts for my list, but if i did not see it in a festival before 2010 and its first limited release (any usa release that’s not a specific festival, even if it showed in fests pre-2010) was this year, then it counts. in other words it’s pretty subjective to my perspective, but it had to have its (limited or wide) release begin in 2010 OR be seen by me in a festival (i saw movies at SXSW, tribeca, BAM cinema fest, NYFF and a few assorted micro fests) in 2010.

here’s what 1.23 trips to the movie theater a week (plus a few extraneous otherwise tix) looks like, btw:

i’m gonna beat it in 2011.

there are very few movies that i intended to see and didn’t catch last year, and even fewer that would realistically have had the potential to break my top 50 anyway (i really loved a lot of movies last year!), but i am looking forward to catching up on monsters, louis ck’s hilarious, blue beard, waiting for superman, carlos, mars, uncle boonmee who can recall his past lives, the taqwacores, the tempest, undertow, catfish, today’s special, megamind, you will meet a tall dark stranger, and last train home sometime soon.

shorts:

‘night and day’ by pixar
‘your lucky day’ with rider strong, sean nelson and lynne shelton
‘marcel the shell with shoes on’ by jenny slate & dean fleischer-camp
david lynch’s ‘lady blue shanghai’ dior thing
spike jonze’s ‘i’m here’ absolut thing

saw filmmakers/actors in person promoting:

the thorn in the heart (michel gondry)
spork (director jb ghuman jr, producer chris racster)
the trotsky (director jacob tierney, emily hampshire)
all my friends are funeral singers (tim rutili, angela bettis, kevin ford; califone played live soundtrack)
strange powers (claudia gonson, gail o’hara, kerthy fix)
the living wake (mike o’connell, director sol tryon, producer peter kline)
it is fine. everything is fine! and what is it? (crispin glover)
cyrus (jay and mark duplass, john c. reilly, marisa tomei)
the social network (david fincher, aaron sorkin)
meek’s cutoff (kelly reichardt, paul dano, tommy nelson, neal huff)
revolucion (gael garcia bernal, diego luna, exec producer pablo cruz, mariana chenillo, fernando eimbcke, patricia riggen)
it’s kind of a funny story (anna boden, ryan fleck)
cherry (jeffrey and matthew fine, elk city, music supervisor lauren ross)

coolest soundtracks/scores (not in order; music docs don’t count):

greenberg – james murphy
scott pilgrim vs the world – beck, anamanaguchi
blue valentine – grizzly bear
all my friends are funeral singers – califone
cherry – curated by lauren ross
the trotsky – malajube
the social network – trent reznor and atticus ross
somewhere – phoenix

also as an aside, best sound design: BLACK SWAN DUH, come on, oscars.

movies/tv shows I saw for the first time in 2010 that came out earlier, but have since become some of my favorites (some were 2009 films that just missed the cutoff last year; others are just Important Classics i’d somehow thus far missed out on):

imaginarium of doctor parnassus; assassination of a high school president; crazy heart; the hurt locker; the craft; jennifer’s body; the white ribbon; the vicious kind; dazed and confused; the carter; the guatemalan handshake; old joy; ponyo; breakfast club; hard eight/sydney; gummo; chinatown; new york i love you; the informant!; chop shop; police, adjective; jcvd; the education of charlie banks; disgrace; criminal; let the right one in; blue velvet; primer; glengarry glen ross; after hours; ten canoes; crispin glover’s ‘what is it?’ and ‘it is fine. everything is fine’; the apartment; sunset blvd; kinsey; the foot fist way; american graffiti; the panic in needle park; kill bill 1 & 2; willow; mary and max; butch cassidy and the sundance kid; the holy mountain; la jetee; sneakers; princess mononoke; flight of the red balloon; la haine; network; the beach; an american werewolf in london; sleepers; mr. mom; in the realms of the unreal; inland empire; and the shows 21 jump street, wonderfalls, look around you, and spaced.

favorite new tv shows:

louie

adventure time with finn & jake
archer
the increasingly poor decisions of todd margaret
running wilde
(i bet boardwalk empire and treme too, but i’m late to the party on those)

my 20 favorite comedy shows I saw (in chronological order):

-dave hill’s big in japan @ ucb 1/6

-benefit for haiti @ sweet (the slipper room) featuring abby elliot, donald glover, colin quinn, zach galifianakis 1/19

-valentine’s day double-header: the rejection show featuring gabes liedman and delahaye, max silvestri, edith zimmerman, sara schaefer, adam wade, katina carrao @ the bell house AND donald glover and dc pierson @ the creek and the cave

-jenny slate’s dead millionaire @ ucb 4/5

-tearing the veil of maya featuring john mulaney (his best set I’ve ever seen), murderfist (they got naked), hannibal buress, eugene mirman @ union hall 4/4 (easter)

-radio happy hour featuring jesse eisenberg, max silvestri, david bazan @ le poisson rouge 5/8

-look at this f’ing hipster book release show featuring joe mande and noah garfinkel, wyatt cenac, leo allen (and beans) @ ucb 3/31

-whiplash featuring donald glover, mike o’connell, wyatt cenac, greg barris @ ucb 5/10

-tell your friends: the concert movie taping featuring liam mceneany, rob paravonian, a brief view of the hudson, christian finnegan, kurt braunohler and kristen schaal @ the bell house 6/22

-charlyne yi’s one-woman show @ ucb 7/14

-‘ny mets monoscene spectacular’ DCM @ ucb 7/31

-doug benson’s i love movies featuring matt besser, matt walsh, amy schumer, and seth morris DCM @ ucb 7/31

-tearing the veil of maya’s 4 year anniversary show featuring eugene mirman, ad miles, leo allen, wyatt cenac, gibby haynes from the butthole surfers, kristen schaal, todd barry @ the bell house 8/1

-whiplash featuring leo allen, marina franklin, tom shillue, hannibal buress, tj miller, sean patton @ ucb 8/23

-videogum’s back to school show featuring gabes delahaye and liedman, max silvestri, jon glaser, jenny slate, joe mande, judah friedlander @ the bell house 9/9

-whiplash featuring donald glover, hannibal buress, louis katz, seth herzog, jessi klein, louis ck @ ucb 10/4

-joe mande’s overton window @ ucb 11/1

-shitty jobs @ ucb la 11/21

-comedy death-ray featuring baron vaughn, moshe kasher, chelsea peretti, randy and jason sklar, patton oswalt @ ucb la 11/23

-big terrific featuring gabe liedman, andy haynes, max silvestri, pete holmes, todd barry @ cameo gallery 12/29

and lastly, a couple stray cool things i did in 2010 that didn’t fit into any of the above categories:

david byrne lecture at the bell house (a warm-up for his ted talk)

watched the oscars w/commentary by gabe liedman & jenny slate at the bell house

videogum 2 year anniversary party at brooklyn bowl with ?uestlove djing

‘acted’ as an extra in ted leo’s music video for ‘bottled in cork’

(originally posted on 10/12/2010. sorry, not sure where that went, but it’s back!)

Guess who was featured in this Sunday’s NEW YORK TIMES?? My add this week, that’s who!!! Check it out here: their picture’s to the left and the bit about them is at the bottom.

We all already know Mermaids by now, thanks to that totally sweet 7″ I’ve been working on since the end of August. Now it’s time for the full-length, and it is equally-to-even-more incredible! As the NYT says, they play “jangly surf and garage-influenced music with a sharp sense of melody” and that “the band’s idea of beach-pop is flexible and occasionally subversive.” AKA it TOTALLY RULES.

MERMAIDS

TROPSICLE

Pretty Ambitious

For more info on this insanely cool band from Atlanta, with ties to Black Lips and just about everyone else in the ATL music scene, start here, move on to their totally sweet label Pretty Ambitious Records, and then contact me for a download if your station didn’t already get a hard copy!

RIYL: Black Lips, The Beach Boys, The Barbaras, The Magic Kids, The Soft Pack, Best Coast, The Intelligence

Start With: 3, 4, 1, 11, 9 FCC CLEAN

Contact me for a download link!

yes!!!

http://www.myspace.com/mermaidsatl

http://prettyambitiousrecords.com/mermaids/

http://twitter.com/mmermaidss

http://www.facebook.com/mmermaidss

Time for my fourth 2010 Band Mom add!!

Mermaids are this insanely cool band from Atlanta, with ties to Black Lips and just about everyone else in the ATL music scene. They’ve got a full-length record  (and a bunch of CMJ shows) coming in October with Pretty Ambitious Records, but even before then, they’re gracing the world with an incredible 7” with the tracks “Holiday” b/w “Whirlpool”. If you’re at all into that garage, surfy, sorta tropical jangly pop stuff that the kids are so into these days, there is NO WAY you won’t go nuts for this.

MERMAIDS

HOLIDAY 7” [Single]

Pretty Ambitious

Already being deemed one of Atlanta’ s best up and coming bands by Creative Loafing, Mermaids was formed by friends Matt McCalvin (formerly of Gringo Star), Noah Adams, Jawsh Hughes and Sam Wagstaff.  After recruiting drummer Ryan Fetter (formerly of The Barberries), fresh off his stint as a character at Disneyland, the group branded their own mix of tropical-punk rock-doo-wop.  Since forming in January 2010, the guys have enjoyed local praise from press and radio, along with a successful week in Austin during SXSW 2010 where they graced the stage at several showcases and rooftop parties. 

While playing in many side projects, such as The Fixed Focus (with members of The Black Lips, Abby Gogo and The Electric Cycles) and Atlanta band The Clap, their first love remains Mermaids.  Having shared the stage with bands such as Carnivores, Selmanaires, Howlies, The Coathangers and Gentleman Jesse and His Men everywhere from house shows to bars to warehouses, Mermaids have firmly cemented their stake in Atlanta.  After the release of their debut 7” in August  and a short September tour,  their full-length LP is scheduled for release in conjunction with CMJ 2010.

RIYL: Black Lips, The Beach Boys, The Barbaras, The Magic Kids, The Soft Pack, Best Coast

Start With:  both tracks!  FCC CLEAN

Contact me for a download link!

ALSO, Mermaids are heading out on tour!! If you’re in any of these areas and are interested in interviews, instudios, or ticket giveaways, hit me up!!

Sep 3 – Discoteca – Chattanooga, TN

Sep 4 – Bottletree w/ Abby Go Go and The Grenadines – Birmingham, AL

Sep 6 – Springwater- Nashville, TN

Sep 7 – Mayday in Northside – Northside, OH

Sep 8 – Now Thats Class w/ UNO LADY – Cleveland, OH

Sep 9 – Goodbye Blue Monday – Brooklyn, NY

Sep 10 – Union Pool w/ Darlings and Christmas – Brooklyn, NY

Sep 11 – Don Pedro – Brooklyn, NY

Sep 13 – Fuse w/ Pinche Gringo – Chapel Hill, NC

yes!!!

http://www.myspace.com/mermaidsatl

http://prettyambitiousrecords.com/mermaids/

http://twitter.com/mmermaidss

http://www.facebook.com/mmermaidss

Hiya honeys!!

I’ve got some thrilling news this week. Melaena Cadiz is my FIRST #1 RECORD!!! WHAT! So incredible (but so deserved!) It’s on the Canadian-equivalent-of-CMJ-site Earshot‘s Folk/Roots/Blues chart from last week (July 13): check it out in all its glory right here! Or even easier, here is a lil’ screenshot for you!! This week was its debut on the chart: debut at NUMBER ONE!!!

OMG!!!

The record’s doing great elsewhere, too. On CMJ’s Top 200 chart, after tying for #12 Most Added three weeks ago and debuting at #155 two weeks ago, this last week it hit #100!! That is so good. Plus the good folks at Zink Magazine just wrote up this review of her, which I love for (aside from totally glowing about the record) including an adorable story about her as a child.

I think that’s about it for this update…just wanted to brag. More info about Melaena directly below this post (or here for the googlers)!

(another gem by Mikael Kennedy)

http://www.myspace.com/melaenacadiz

http://melaenacadiz.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Melaena-Cadiz/155220206289

YES!!!!!!