The best way to start a Saturday is.... with a classy ho!

This afternoon Kelly and I are starting our day with a Classy Ho. If you have never had a classy ho before it is just 1 part grapefruit juice + 2 parts of prosecco. There is not any particular prosecco we would recommend but today we are having Lunetta. Here is a nice article from a few years ago about prosecco in The New York Times. There early afternoon is just the tip of the iceberg for a day that is sure to be filled with more.

The lay of land for today looks like this : we are heading over to Ohio City this early evening to attend a session with several other couples @ The Glass Bubble Project (we are going to try our hand at glass blowing...should prove very interesting), from there we are heading to dinner @ Bar Cento (mmm , pommes frites) then we might have a pint or two @ Bier Markt ,and from there were are heading to Touch Supper Club for the monthly "I Got Five On It" . You may ask what is the reason for all of this? The reason is my awesome (not enough adjectives available to describe her) future wife has planned all this to observe the fact that I will be turning 30 tomorrow (beh).

If you are going see you tonight and if not enjoy these jams and raise a glass for me!


5. (mp3) The Pharmacy - Adieu, Adieu this Seattle based duo are coming to our fair state next week on May 3rd in C-bus and May 4th in Cleveland(well actually Lakewood). They play energetic,

4. (mp3) Islands - The Arm These Canucks were in town last week playing with Saul Williams @ The Grog, this is from their new album by the same title as this song.

3. (mp3) El Perro Del Mar - Glory To The World , She is currently on tour here in the states with Lykke Li (sigh...Chicago is the closest date and it is a weekday damn work getting in the way of shows)

2. (mp3) My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges , this song comes from the album of the same album due out this June. I have to say that offhand the falsetto vocals make me think of Beck's album Midnite Vultures and of course Prince too. Jim James continues to astound us with his ability to draw from such a wide rang on influences by taking their sound and making it his own.

1. (mp3) Santogold - Lights Out We are both agreement that this track not feels like it was influenced by The Cars but is sounds just like Ric Ocasek produced it himself with his signature synth + chuga chuga new wave guitar combination. Of course is that much better because of the vocals of Santogold instead of his.

Feist's Cleveland Appearance*

Last night, after happy hour at Wonder Bar and a lovely dinner at Lola, my sister (Erin) and I had the pleasure of seeing Miss Leslie Feist :) Although I had seen her perform a couple times prior to this particular Cleveland appearance, there was something that just felt special about her presence at the historic Palace Theatre (in Cleveland's Playhouse Square).

Overall, we were pleased with her set list (however, felt the order perhaps should be rearranged to better suit the crowd's energy) and especially enjoyed the back projection screen where, what some were referring to as "The Puppet Master," created interesting visuals that coincided with each song's melodies and lyrics.

Below are a selection of pictures Erin took, plus a short little video she filmed with the intention of not getting too hyper when the chorus broke. . .

[vid] Feist - Feel It All

Who'd have ever thought... Santogold + Budweiser

I know it should not come as any surprise but I was just watching Sportscenter (killing time before The Cavs get ready to take on The Wizards in game 3 of their series) and they just had two commercials in the last 3 minutes that were for Bud Light Lime (which looks like it is has been rolled out to compete with Miller Chill which debuted last summer) and the song they were using was none other than Santogold! This comes as a shock to me at least due to the fact that her debut is scheduled to come out next week and as far as we know she has not that well known by the general public but she is known and thought of very highly by hipsters due to her ties to Spank Rock, MIA, and Diplo and residing in Brooklyn.

Kelly and I had the pleasure to see Ms. Santi White (a.k.a. Santogold) last fall @ The Osheaga Festival in Montreal (speaking of Osheaga, it's scheduled to be August 3rd and 4th this year). And, at Osheaga, we saw her play on the same stage as MIA, basically opening for her, and she more than held her own. If you want to see what all the fuss is about then you can see her tomorrow @ this year's Coachella Festival and then on the 28th on Conan and throughout Europe this spring/summer.

Here is the the commercial so you can listen for yourself:


(mp3) Santogold - Creator The aforementioned song featured in The Bud Light Lime Commerical

Top 5 Songs Of The Week (Happy Record Store Day Edition!)

Good weather, lack of time leads to lack of posts hence why it's been a week since our last. First off as far as the show last week, Okkervil River were awesome and The New Pornographers were up to the task of equaling them. We felt blessed that Neko Case was performing with them when we saw them because we have heard she is not performing with them on all the dates of this tour. We have been jonesing for some more Neko ever since having witnessed her memorable and dynamic talent in person last April @ The Beachland. Speaking of The Beachland just down the street @ Music Saves they are participating in "Record Store Day" today along with hundreds of independent record stores throughout North America. Today @ Music Saves there will be performances (starting @7pm) from Bears, The Helper T-Cells, and Marie Corbo, prizes, special sales, a coloring contest, and lots of other fun going down on Waterloo.

And this week's selections are....


5. (mp3) Elika - The Whip This duo from Brooklyn make 80's influenced synth/ guitar compositions tinged with a spacey atmosphere and a little bit of angst. The vocals reminds us of Madonna of Pat Benatar. They will sneak up on you with their catchiness.

4. (mp3) Young Knives - Terra Firma We are late to the party on this one but glad we made it. This trio from England were nominated for The Mercury Prize last year and with post punk pop songs like this we can see why.

3. (mp3) Nik Freitas - Sun Down this is a solo effort for the former drum of For Stars (does anyone remember them? Jose does but that is because he is old) and photographer for the skate board mag Thrasher. He makes singer song writer music that reminds us of Sondre Lerche. He is opening for Rilo Kiley on their upcoming to tour which comes to town on 5/26 @ The HOB

2. (mp3) Frightened Rabbit - My Backwards Walk This quartet are from Glasgow, Scotland (We love bands with thick Scottish accents like this). This a great song about anguish and heartbreak that you will want to listen to on repeat and just let it sink in. They are opening for The French Kicks on their current tour which comes to The Grog on 5/28 (can't wait!)

1. (mp3) Immuzikation - I Can't Go For That edit (Hall and Oates vs De La Soul) This guy has been sending us a lot of his mashes lately so we gotta show him so love. Not alone are they unique like mashing Boyz II Men with Justice or Jay-Z with Postal Service or The Skatalites with The Chi Lites but they are quite good.

We Like Pittsburgh, just not The Steelers

This evening we are headed to that city that many in Cleveland area refer to with a four letter word like $h*t or f@ck in front of it... Pittsburgh. We too share those sentiments when it comes to The Steelers but besides that we actually really like Pittsburgh a lot. So much in fact that when it came time to buy tickets for The New Pornographers/Okkervil River tour we chose to see this show in Pittsburgh instead of Cleveland but that was somewhat swayed by the fact that the Cleveland show was not on a Saturday as the Pittsburgh show is and neither of us like when The Beachland is so packed you can't move or breathe (Jose never was the same after the Sufjan show @ The Beachland a few years back). With that being said off to Pittsburgh we go!

[mp3] Okkervil River - John Allyn Smith Sails

[mp3] The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema

Stuff White People Like*

It is not often that we like another blog enough where we feel inspired to actually post about it -- well, this is one of those rare occasions. . .

So, there happens to be this blog just started in January, Stuff White People Like, that's already garnered a book deal as a result of its genius and popularity. The blog has a very simple strategy, taking (seemingly) random topics like: Indie Music, Arts Degrees, Dogs, Sarah Silverman, Having Gay Friends, Hating Your Parents, Wes Anderson, The Sunday New York Times, Wine, Film Festivals, etc. etc., while humorously describing how these particular things are *completely* adored by white people, ultimately suggesting how one should approach each beloved topic when speaking to a white person.

Importantly, Stuff White People Like candidly pin points some serious stereotypes that are more accurate than a lot of (ahem, white) people are willing to admit are true (even us). We can honestly say that while reading this blog over dinner we laughed harder than in quite some time (probably since the first time we watched Borat).

ps - special thanks to Todd and Erin for sharing this blog with us ;)

Today it was warm enough to wear. . .flip flops!!

First, although we didn't do a top 5 last week we wanted to let it be known that this song has hands down been our favorite for the last couple of weeks:

{mp3} Lykke Li - Everybody But Me (Remix by Rocca's Christoffer)

Catchy as hell!

********

So, today was the first time we felt 2008 gave us real hope that winter is finally on it's way out. We went so far as rolling out our patio furniture, while wearing flip flops, and ultimately enjoying our dinner alfresco (which we haven't had the pleasure of doing since this past October).

We have been super busy lately, actually leaving our hibernation cave, and having a great time going out on the town. . .

Thursday, we went to see Explosions In The Sky @ The Beachland. The Beachland was full and Explosions In The Sky assaulted us and then lulled us into haze of willing submission. While at the Beachland, we had some tasty tall ones from the Brooklyn and Red Hook Breweries.

Explosions In The Sky @ The Beachland

Check out more pics from the Explosions in the Sky show here. . .we didn't take any ourselves because *someone* had an accident with Kelly's camera in Puerto Rico :(

On Friday, we went to see Marjane Satrapi speak @ CWRU. She was awesome -- very funny, thought provoking, and inspiring. Afterwards we went to Coventry with the intention of going to The Fleet Foxes show at The Grog but got distracted and went to The Winking Lizard, La Cave Du Vin and Panini's where we enjoyed several pints.

On Saturday, we finally made it to The Tremont Tap House where we (AGAIN) had quite a few tasty pints. . .among which were from Bear Republic, Dogfish Head, Brewery Omegang. . .along with some delicious grub (including their tasty pretzels) while we listening to some great indie rock and watching Kansas destroy UNC.

Today : Marjane Satrapi

Who: Marjane Satrapi


What: She is giving a lecture


Where: The Amasa Stone Chapel on the campus of CWRU


When: Today @ 4:30pm


Why: She is a best selling author, who's work has been nominated for an Oscar and won the Prix Du Jury award @ the 2007 Cannes Film Festival


Bonus: After the lecture @ 7:30pm they were will be showing of Persepolis @ The Cinematheque

Tonight: Explosion in the Sky!!

Who: Explosions in the Sky

What: Entrancing, experimental shoegaze that evokes pure emotion

Where: The Beachland Ballroom

When: Tonight! Doors Open at 8pm

Why: Because they "f*cking destroy" - American Analog Set

[Mp3] Explosions in the Sky - Look Into The Air

ps - Don't forget to check out a DJ set featuring Charlie from Bears and Tom from Afternoon Naps in the Tavern*

We Have Returned from Puerto Rico!!!

In case you were wondering. . .we are not dead nor is our blog ;) It just so happened that we didn't have the opportunity to post leading up to our trip. And, since having returned we have just been keeping it on the chill tip. Last week, while Cleveland was having lots of crappy weather, and while we were just in the rum, sun and fun mode -- we didn't forget that we missed a lot of good shows (Beach House, British Sea Power, Tilly and The Wall, etc) but this week we are going to hit up The Explosions In Sky @ The Beachland (which is sold out! and features a DJ set during and after the show of Charlie from Bears and Tom The Afternoon Naps) Thursday evening and The Fleet Foxes show @ The Grog Shop Friday.

In case you are interested we wanted to share some of [the pics] from our trip with y'all as well as a couple lovely tunes:

{mp3} Explosions In The Sky - Your Hand In Mine (Friday Night Lights Demo)

{mp3} Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal