Am I Wry? No

OK, I know it's been a while. But... uh... the best is yet to come. Well, not reallly, but I need to come up w/ something to excuse my ass for being lame and inconsistent. So, lets get started. In the last two months, I've switched positions at work, yet am still doing my old job as they've yet to hire my replacement. And no, I'm not getting the pay of both jobs, just the stress of the two. Fun times ladies and gentlemen, fun times. Let's move along. There's nothing to watch here, keep moving.

So, in that time, I've been to this many shows: 24. Here are some of the highlights, with a slight description, if I can remember. A good chunk of it was during CMJ, and well, there were a few late nights, and lots of drinks had.

9/19 - Klaxons/Holy Hail @ Midway
Sadly, I didn't even get to see the Klaxons. The wonderful people throwing this party decided to have Holy Hail play at 12am, half hour after they should have been off stage. So thanks guys! You killed this night. All I know is some chicks w/ angular haircuts and cheesy outfits got on stage, sang some god-awful songs and made me leave. Somehow, there was a long, long line of people wanting to get into this show and they sadly waited and were subjected to this. Sad, very, very sad. It's like a Sunday evening when you're all ready to watch the Simpson's go on at 8:00 pm on Fox, only to still have some lame episode of Futurama on, making up for the lost time that a Jets/Bills game pre-empted everything for. Fun times, guys.

10/02 - Fields @ Mercury Lounge
First off, let me start by saying, this band spammed me on Myspace. Yet, they've been one of the best bands to ever politely say, "hey, thought you might like to check this out". One listen to the band's debut EP, 7 From the Village, is more than enough to justify the hype surrounding them. They are now on everyone's radar. But, to many nay-sayer's dismay, they actually hold their own. Sweet melodies, propulsive choruses and wonderful harmonizing, make this band quite a treat to listen to. Live, they add the extra oomph that makes them great live, yet makes other studio bands who lack that, out of place on a stage.

10/11 - Basment Jaxx @ Webster Hall
I didn't see this coming. But I don't think I've ever seen this many sweaty people dancing at Webster Hall. Then again, I've never been to the male-revue night. Basment Jaxx brought it, and then made everyone in the place shake it. It's like mardi-gras on stage. Big black women, lavish costume changes, surprise guests, surrounded by men in kilts, and dancing. I'm not sure, but I think I even saw beads strewn amongst the crowd. The place went nuts when they kicked into "Where's Your Head At".

10/31 - Amiina @ Joe's Pub 11:45
Better knows as the string section during Sigur Ros's live show these lovely ladies were so incredibly charming live. Dressed in their individualized colors, one red, one blue, one green, and one black with white flowers, they played an array of instruments, bells, electronic blips, wine glasses and traditional strings. It was beautiful and dreamy, but also had it's quirks. One of the finest shows I've seen in forever. And at Joe's Pub to boot, which only holds an intimate 150 people or so. Also, came across this.

American tour is FREE thanks to Iceland Naturally (27.Oct.06)

Amiina announced today on their MySpace page that the American tour will be free!

This is thanks to the kind sponsorship of Iceland Naturally.
Is it no wonder that other countries are more cultured and sophisticated than America. Their governments care about the arts and provide them with grants to let them create it. Meanwhile, those funds are always amongst the first to be cut in the US. And, lets not even get into education budgets. http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182

11/01 - The Knife @ Webster Hall
So, was I really watching the Knife. Or could we have been watching anyone in their costumes? Did they lypsynch? Did they even play their intstruments? I have no clue. The visuals were pretty cool early on, but got kinda whack as the night went on. I thought they were OK, but I really wanted a bit more depth to the live show. I feel like it was all some sort of elaborate hoax.

11/02 - Stephen Brodsky Experience/Panthers @ Sin-e
Remember that guy from Cave-In? The band with soooooo much potential. Did they break up? Well, this was, uh.... weird, to say the least. I thought I'd be in store for some spacey floydesque jams w/ whimisical lyrics about falling in love in space or something. Nope, it's like these guys crawled out of some bar in the South End of Boston and showed up at CMJ and said, "Hey, we're hear to play. Can we get payed in beer?" WTF!?!?!?!

11/03 - Loney Dear @ 205 Bar
Definitely the best band no one has heard of yet. Beautiful, inventive, inspiring melodies, deep textures. Glad I got to see them live. Apparently the Swedish indie popsters have just signed to Sub Pop. Good for them.

11/03 - Mew/Fields @ Bowery Ballroom
Mew are awesome. They combine ethereal vocals with proggy Euro space jams, lavish touches of keyboards, soaring choruses and monstrous riffage. The played a good amount of selections from their most recent album, The Glass Handed Kite, but also played a good amount of songs from their debut full length, Frengers. However, as much as I enjoyed this, I could not help myself from being reminded of Europe. Yeah, the "Final Countdown" Europe. I think it was the posing, long haired European thing they had going on. But when they busted into the chorus of "Apocalypso". I was like holy snikes. "The Final Countdown!" And I am not the only person that thought this. I swear. Whatever though, I still love these guys.

11/07 - Placebo @ Nokia Theater
Who doesn't love these androginistic fools. They killed at the Nokia. Though, lets just for a moment ask, "Brian, what is up with that shaved head look?" Who didn't love his peasant boy locks? I think we can blame that on male pattern baldness. He used to look like a cross dresser, now he just looks like a kiddie toucher or something. Starting off with five straight songs from their recent disc, Meds, they played a rocking set. Going through classics, "Special K" , "Every You, Every Me", "Sleeping With Ghosts", "Taste In Men", and the rarely played, "Without You I'm Nothing", they were relentless. The encore left fans with more to be desired, but they did play the Kate Bush cover, "Running Up That Hill." They were a treat. It's been about 5 or 6 years since I've seen them(I missed them on the Sleeping With Ghost tour). It's been way too long my freaky Euro friends.

CMJ, came and went. It was fun, though I have to say, I was a bit disappointed with the lack of quality bands. Aside from Mew, Fields, The Knife,TapesnTapes, and Amiina, it was pretty slim pickens.