TONIGHT

This evening we will be supporting our friend, Ken, by attending a Benefit for his father at the former speakeasy, Pat's in the Flats. Unfortunately, his dad was a victim of a robbery and mugging at his place of work (Schneider's Bike Shop) where he was left hospitalized. Thankfully, he is on the road to recovery and steadily improving. In the meantime, Ken has admirably stepped up to the plate and is assuming full responsibility of running the shop.

Befriend Schneider's Bike Shop on MySpace here and if you have time this evening, stop by:


[Support Schneider]

Recent Flicks

Within the past couple weeks we have seen some excellent movies, here are some we especially feel are worth mentioning:


Lonesome Jim

First film in awhile that Steve Buscemi has directed, featuring many actors you're all familiar with (ie - Liv Tyler, Casey Affleck, Kevin Corrigan, Seymour Castle). Jose could empathize with Jim's character, not having the sunniest outlook on life yet finding someone who forces you to change that.

[Trailer]



Hard Candy

Kelly viewed this film at SoHo's famed Angelika Theater while in NYC last weekend. While undeniably disturbing, its characters and graphic scenes left a very lasting impression. Warning: please don't see this movie on a date!



[Trailer]



Thank You For Smoking

Based on the best-selling novel of the same name. Overall, a strong cast (where Aaron Eckhart and Rob Lowe give especially memorable performances) working from a witty script. Examines the underbelly of Big Tobacco and the hypocrisy across the board in major corporations.


[Trailer]




My Date With Drew

An endearing documentary-esque film that made us both laugh and cringe through its entirety. One man, virtually penniless in Hollywood, on an epic quest to obtain a date with his lifelong crush, Drew Barrymore.



[Trailer]




Preview: Duck Season

We will be seeing this Mexican film tomorrow evening to take advantage of Cleveland Cinema's $5 showings on Mondays.





[Trailer]

Pinot Noir and Marie Antoinette

Friday evening was spent downtown with the Feliciano's at the Union Club for their Cherry Hill Wine Pairing dinner. Jose and I always look forward to the various tastings held by the Union Club, especially since we've had such a great time at their past events (if interested, read about our Belgian Beer and Scotch experiences). This particular tasting focused on Oregon Pinot Noir's produced by the Cherry Hill Winery located in the Willamette Valley, which seems to be a very up and coming wine growing region. Gaining comparisons to Napa Valley in the 1970's, we were surprised to learn that the Willamette Valley has more than 300 wineries in 100 miles.

Below is the delicious trout we enjoyed:

Check out the rest of the impressive menu and respective notes below:

We also learned a very interesting "anecdote" that led to Cherry Hill's decision to name one of their wines (2004 Papillon Estate Pinot Noir) after their dog, Daisy who is a Papillon. Apparently Marie Antoinette also had a Papillon who she adored so much that she even held it during her beheading, pressing her thumb against her dog's forehead to protect it from the blood, thus creating an imprint. This imprint, which if you look close enough, resembles a wine glass. See for yourself in the wine's label below:

Bonus:

Given the context of the post, we were reminded of Sofia Coppola's much anticipated new film, Marie Antoinette.

[Marie Antoinette Trailer]

Great song from the Trailer:

[Mp3] New Order - Age of Consent

Show Tonight + Top 5 Songs

This evening we are heading over to the Grog Shop to see The Books where we will meet up with Trish and hopefully Ryan (check out his blog where he's doing a great job representing C-town). There are four bands in the show's lineup, where one particular band of note is Akron's The Guide to Plants & Animals who have a ambient electronic-pop feel.

On a completely unrelated note, we cannot neglect to mention The Cavs thrilling victory over the Washington Wizards last night. Lebron never ceases to amaze us...

Last but not least, here are the Week's Top 5 Songs:

5. [Stream] Director - Reconnect Thanks to Torr we can't get it out of our heads, unfortunately no Mp3 :(
4. [Mp3] Snow Patrol - Open Your Eyes A standout from their new album
3. [Mp3] The Whitest Boy Alive - Inflation Erlend Oye's newest project
2. [Mp3] The Eames Era - A Scandal in Bohemia Check out this power pop band, currently getting some love from woxy
1. [Mp3] El Perro del Mar - God Knows A Kate Bush-esque gem

Happy Birthday, you!

Today is Jose's Birthday -- take a quick guess at how old he is. . .

Here is an appropriate song, in his honor:

[Mp3] Youth Group - Forever Young

I still heart you, New York

Before I head out with Jose (and company) to the Tribe game, I wanted to give a special thanks to my friends Jackie and Fares for showing me a fabulous time in New York City this past weekend. For now, I will be looking forward to recapping the Nouvelle Vague show with pictures and writing a review of the crazy film, Hard Candy within the next day or so. Until then, Go Tribe :)

[Mp3] Frank Sinatra - Theme from New York, New York

Top Four Songs of the Week!

5. (mp3) The Submarines -Peace & Hate Like mates of states if they were more lush

4. (mp3) Tokyo Police Club - Be Good These cats are from Toronto are starting to get ink

3. (mp3) Cars Can be Blue - Motorboat Twee pop with a dark sense of humor

2.Lily Elen - LDN - go here, this brit chick is just fun

Sorry the list it shorter this week but I am going to the Cavs game this afternoon. GO CAVS!

Weekend in The Big Apple

Kelly has flown the coup again went to NYC to visit her friend Jackée. The girls will be seeing a French group who provide "a sexy take on cool classics". If you have not heard of them they are called Nouvelle Vague and last year they shot to fame with a brilliant album full of new wave covers by the likes of the Joy Division,The Clash,Modern English and others all done on the lounge/bossa nova tip. Tonight the Nouvelle Vague show will be @ Irving Plaza their performance is part of the green apple festival . The green apple festival started yesterday and runs thru Sunday April 23rd it is inconjunction with Earth Day. There are 30 different venues that are participating and such varied acts as Toots and the Maytals,Avail, The Philadelphia Orchestra and Ghost Face Killah are all peforming.

(mp3) Nouvelle Vague - Guns of Brixton (a memorable cover)

going deaf from morningwood

Last night we attended The Sounds/Morningwood/Action Action show. We missed Action, Action because we took our good time getting to the show @ the HOB. Down the street The Cavs were playing their last home game of the season. The Cavs won the game which marked their 50th victory of the season. The victory came @ the expense of the hapless Atlanta Hawks as Larry Hughes and Lebron James enjoyed the game from bench. But come Saturday they will be both be in the lineup @ 3pm est as they take on the Washington Wizards this marks the first cavs postseason game in 8 years, so congrats to them.

As far as the show, Morningwood were quite memorable.They were loud,and fun and far from boring. They had a short tight set and both of us were amused/amazed by the on stage antics of the lead singer. The only complaint we had was the screaming by Chantal the lead singer of morningwood she has some pipes but she has the ability to render you deaf. The headliner The Sounds did not disapoint they were right on point and very energetic. They were able to enduce kelly into dancing like a whirling dervish which was a sight to behold. It caused me to smile and I don't do that very often. The show overall was a nice way to break up the monotony of the work week.

here is some morningwood to make you smile!!

shows on the horizon

Last Friday, The 303's had their record release party. You may recall that we had a post about them a few weeks back. Now the band is giving you the opportunity to win a signed copy of their debut album "Lines of Parallel Minds" check out this exclusive interview for more details on the contest. In other 303's news, they are going to be doing a 2-week tour in the midwest, south and east coast throughout May/June (check out the dates here). They are going go be coming to c-town on June 3rd, where the venue is TBA.

In other local show news, the new wavers Blazer have been added to the Film School / Islands show @ the Grog Shop on May 17th. This should be a really great showing considering the diversity of the bands in the lineup. I never had the opportunity to see the The Unicorns (RIP) so I am looking foward to seeing The Islands instead. I have been hearing nothing but great things about them and their record "Return to the Sea." And I am especially excited to see Film School because I was soo disapointed when their show fell thru back in March. Their newest record (S/T) is one of my favorite records the year and I am sure it will end up on many others best of 2006 lists.

(mp3) The Islands - Abominable Snow (mixed) ( not on the album)

(mp3) Film School - Like You Know ( a fav from the new album)

Top Five Songs of the Week!

5. [Mp3] Daylight's for the Birds - For Now Featuring the girl from On!Air!Library!
4. [Mp3] Cansei De Ser Sexy - Let's Make Love & Listen to DFA Touring w/ Diplo
3. [Mp3] Mia Doi Todd - My Room is White (remix) Perfect pre-summer jam
2. [Mp3] Marching Band - Home Alone Jump on the band wagon early
1. [Mp3] Gnarls Barkley - Crazy Good luck not getting it stuck in your head!
Meanwhile, check out the *crazy* video below:

A Pleasant Surprise

I love a good cover song. I seem to find them especially enjoyable when an artist covers a pop song, hip hop jam, etc. and then goes and turns it into an acoustic ditty. Today I was doing some Friday afternoon bloggin' and I was visiting Jax over @ the rock insider and saw that she has the next cover everyone will be talking about. . .

She has a cover of the supremely talented Mr. Ray LaMontagne covering "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley. This cover gives the song a deep guttural soul and texture that the original does not have. It does not even feel like the same song and I think when an artist takes a cover, making it his or her own by putting their own personal stap on it -- that is the best. Ray LaMontagne has definitely done this with his cover much like Jose Gonzalez did with his beautiful cover of The Knife's "Heartbeats" last year. Gnarls Barkley themselves do a cover on their EP "St. Elsewhere" of the Violent Femmes song "Gone Daddy Gone." While their cover is really not much different from the original for the sure novelty factor, it is woth checking out.

(mp3) Ray LaMontagne - Crazy (Gnarls Barkley cover)

(mp3) Gnarls Barkley - Gone Daddy Gone (Violent Femmes cover)

Indie Rock + Sushi = Pooh

The cumulative effect of seeing three shows in three different cities in five days has finally taken its toll. . .hence the brief post:

Prior to the Editors/Stellastarr* show we hit up Bento Go Go and enjoyed fantastic sushi dinner at a rock bottom price where we happened to bump into the guys from the Editors themselves (Jose will recap in tomorrow's post).

We wanted to note that it is very unfortunate that Vincent from The Indie Connection is no longer going to be providing us with the gift of music from his blog. Him and his posts will be missed.

Lastly, we wanted to congratulate Winnie the Pooh on his achievement. But, where is the love for Eeyore??

All Sparks

Today I am actually in a great mood for several reasons. First of all, The Tribe is in first place thru the first seven games of the season. I know it is early, but the tribe is going to have a great year. The Indians currently sit @ 6-1 atop the central division standings tied with the Boston Red Sox for best record in baseball, who'd have thunk it? The last time the Tribe was in 1st place was April 18th, 2002 (I was still in college), it's been a long time. Second, The Cavs are on a roll not only are they going to the playoffs but they actually have locked up home court advantage for the first round of the playoffs. They are going to be a team no one wants to reckon with in the second round of the playoffs. Tonight they play The Pistons and it will be a good warm up for what is in store for the playoffs.


Lastly, this evening Kelly and I are going to head down to c-bus to see The Editors, Stellastarr* w/mobius band and South @ The Newport. I just saw this tour a few weeks ago sans South and it was great. At this particular show I had the opportunity to speak with Russell the bassist from The Editors and ask him whether they play their cover of the Stereolab's "French Disko" at any of their shows?. He told me that they do sometimes and I told him how I was going to be attending the show in c-bus so he said they would try and play it for me. I will keep you posted to see if he rememebered.

(mp3) Editors - Feel Good Inc (gorillaz cover) Another great cover

Mates of State/Maria Taylor @ The Beachland Ballroom

Some of these pictures aren't the best, however we wanted to share them with you anyhow:

Maria Taylor


Mates of State
Mates of State and Maria's band dancing on stage

D is for Detroit...or Detour

So, we eventually made it back safe and alive from our Detroit experience. . .special thanks to Jeni (pictured here with Kelly) for letting us crash at her place :) We had a good time overall, but basically Jose said it best with "I'd give this trip an A for Adventure." Although, we should have realized from our first sighting of a detour sign outside of Toledo that this was a "sign" of things to come. . .

Unfortunately, Asobi Seksu had a detour of their own to their intended destination and ended up stuck in Indianapolis due to their van breaking down. However, The Sights stepped in at the last minute and did an admirable job of pitch hitting (despite their level of obvious inebriation). Finally, Pas/Cal hit the stage -- their dork hipster quotient was something we found very similar to that of We Are Scientist's. We enjoyed their set and would be very willing to see them again if they came to Cleveland.

As for our experience with detours, we saw a lot more of Detroit than we intended -- which was not necessarily a bad thing but proved somewhat frustrating. . .all we can say is F&%$ I-696 !!

Now, before we go off to another show (hopefully detour-free) to see Mates of State and Maria Taylor here are selected tracks from the bands we saw last night:

[Mp3] The Sights - Suited Fine
[Mp3] Pas/Cal - The Bronze Beached Boys You may recognize from a commercial, does anybody remember which one it was??

Top Five Songs of the Week!

Before we head off to Detroit Rock City to see Pas/Cal and Asobi Seksu at the Magic Stick, we thought we'd leave you with our favorite songs of this past week:

5. [Mp3] The Slack Republic - Sweet Dreams Interesting take on this classic 80's track
4. [Mp3] Exit Clov - M.K. Ultra Girls with just the right amount of rock in them
3. [Mp3] The Essex Green - Don't Know Why (you stay) Nice energy, great driving song
2. [Mp3] Bravo Silva - I Can't Say Goodbye Jangly, infectious, and pretty
1. [Mp3] Oppenheimer - Breakfast in NYC So damn catchy!

Bonus: Check out the fun video below for Oppenheimer's Breakfast in NYC:

opening day!!

Today (actually in a few minutes) my beloved tribe will be taking on the Minnesota twins in our home opener here in c-town. The weather as usual is less than desireable (rainy, overcast 50 degrees), such is the norm for April baseball weather here in Cleveland. If you had not realized, we will not be attendance today. We will however be attending the game on the 26th of this month when they play the Boston Red Sox which will mark the return of Coco Crisp. I just wanted to get in my two cents and say since The Tribe are off to a good start this season I want to see them carry this positive momentum and keep on winning. GO TRIBE!!

On a completely unrelated note, here is a great unreleased song from Cassettes Won't Listen:

(mp3) Cassettes Won't Listen - Where Did Go

Rosie + Sufjan 4ever

I am still kind of in shock -- I mean, how did I not know that Rosie Thomas and Sufjan Stevens are an item? It makes sense, both being amazing musicians that toured together (read this UK Show Review) and they are each from the state of Michigan. And, I was super excited to learn that they have a yet to be released album they worked on together -- but apparently they have done more than make beautiful music together, ahem. . .

Yes, it is true: Rosie Thomas is pregnant with Sufjan's baby !!

****
Update: I was informed earlier (thanks, Ken) that this was all just a little practical joke that Miss Rosie Thomas decided to play on Pitchfork -- that sly minx. Today Pitchdork posted a new story where they got Sufjan's response from the prank, where he was targeted as well.

This is my favorite thing he said:
"...something you need to know about Rosie is that she's really weird and she's really funny. So it's no surprise that she could pull this off, this imaginary baby. But the fact is, Rosie is not carrying my baby. As far as I know, we spent quality time in the studio, not in bed. If Rosie's pregnant, it's not my baby. Maybe it's Denison [Witmer's] baby. Maybe it's an alien baby. I don't know. All I know is that the baby is probably going to grow up to be a clown, or a mime, or a bassoon player or something funny like that."

[Pitchfork: Full Story]
****

I am extremely happy for two of my favorite musicians. I never thought about it until now, but I actually started listening to Rosie and Sufjan's music around the same time a few years back -- and in a way, I associate each of them with that period of my life. Last fall I was fortunate to see each of them perform (separately) at the same venue within a week of the other. Both shows were excellent -- although, Rosie and Sufjan couldn't have a more opposite stage presence. . .I'm sure they compliment each other nicely (on and off stage)

[Mp3] Rosie Thomas - I Let Myself Fall

[Mp3] Sufjan Stevens - She Is (Tim Buckley cover)


Note: Pictures are courtesy of Rosie Thomas's official website

Bonus:
[Interview: Rosie Thomas]
[Wikipedia: Sufjan Stevens]

Domingo

This Sunday night @ The Beachland Ballroom we are going to go see Mates of State, with the fabulous Maria Taylor and local opener the HouseGuest. Check out this very cool video for the Mates of State single "Fraud in the 80's" from their great new album Bring it Back.

Coincidence or Genius?

Donnie Darko is one of our favorite movies. When we first started dating it was one of the things we quickly realized we had in common besides our love of Idlewild. If you have yet to visit the Donnie Darko website you should. It makes you think just like the way the movie does and is a great way to kill time while at work. Speaking of killing time at work, this afternoon I was viewing the Torture Garden, which is an excellent Irish music blog and found this awesome list: 88 reasons to watch Donnie Darko again. It really makes you wonder whether Donnie Darko's director, Richard Kelly, is a genius or whether it's all just a creepy coincidence. Regardless, I think the list will give you a reason to watch this great movie all over again. . .or for the very first time.

(mp3) The Church - Under The Milky Way (acoustic version)

(mp3) The Church - Under The Milky Way

Top Five Songs of the Week!

Random picture, but reminds Kelly of two years ago when she (as well as Megan and Jeni) were in Prague taking their tourist shots of "Fred and Ginger" themselves...

But for now, we just wanted to post our top 5 songs of the week:

5. [Mp3] Assembly Now - Out on 24's Jose likes their "emo breakdown"
4. [Mp3] Land of Talk - Sea Foam Steered to them by Central Village
3. [Mp3] Band of Horses - Our Swords Everyone likes them for a reason...
2. [Mp3] Let's French - Boys and Girls Will post about them soon
1. [Mp3] Bishop Allen - Monitor Can't get enough of this song, thanx YANP!

Enjoy :)

IT'S ON

Today I am super excited for two main reasons, the first one being The CAVS have already qualified for the playoffs for the first time in nearly 1o years and they are taking on the Miami Heat today @ 2pm EST. The second reason for my excitement is tommorow night THE TRIBE starts off their season against THE HATED DEFENDING WORLD CHAMPION WHITESOX @ 8:05pm on ESPN2. This game will mark the opening of the 2006 season for major league baseball and should be a great matchup. I have been waiting months for the season to start again. I know alot of you are worried about the indians pitching and I too am concerned but you just have to believe if we hit the way we can and the bullpen can hold it's own it is going to work out. We have too much talent to not make the playoffs again.

On a day like this being rather dreary but pretty much par for this time of year, I was trying to find something to listen to while I wrote this post and then settled on one of my favorite covers.

(mp3) Galaxie 500 - Ceremony (Joy Division cover)

(mp3) Joy Division - Ceremony