The Rosebuds, “In The Backyard” (J Yu Remix)

While the Rosebuds are getting their next record ready, they were kind enough to give us fans a Halloween treat. This year they’re going as a New Order tribute band! That is, if New Order sang about something other than Ian Curtis and floppy disks, like, say Ouija boards. If the _Working Holiday_ series ever decided to ressurect itself from the dead, this should among the first things included on it.

Give the Rosebuds a good scare by checking out their website and buying a record or two. Don’t make me come back from the grave and haunt you, OK? I mean, if I was already dead.

You see Matt Sugg’s mouth? It’s freakin’ huge in this picture and if you don’t try to win these tickets to see his new band White Whale, who are playing at the Khyber on 11/5, he’s gonna eat ya.

So yeah, White Whale came out with this new record on Merge during the summer and it’s really good. But of course what can you expect from a guy whose track record is stone cold solid? From Butterglory on (I still contend that their _Rat-A-Tat-Tat_ is the best Feelies aping ever, a solid 3-4 years ahead of the revival curve), he’s won me over with his pop genius. Needless to say, he’s the highlight on this lazy Sunday show (unless you are an ex-hardcore cornball that still likes Hot Water Music).

So get your trusty dialing finger ready for Wednesday, 10AM - Noon and tune to WQHS!

Sunday 11/5
At the Khyber (56 S. 2nd Street)
8PM, 8$, 21+

White Whale, “The Admiral”

Try to contain your excitement, OK?

» I think I am in love with “classic era” GBV again, after driving ’round West Philly in a busted-up van blasting a worn out cassette of _Bee Thousand_. They really don’t make them as good as this anymore, do they? And how does it manage to sound better when the tape is so effed up?

» Saturday night I wound up at some party where the basement band du jour covered Delta 5’s “Mind Your Own Business”. How am I feeling about this? No clue. On the one hand, awesome! On the other, the overusage of double bass kick pedal right on the end made me woozy — and not in the good kind of way usually reserved for puppy dogs and crushes. I lose about 599,904,098,843,598,405 Cool Points™ for failing to remember the second set of lyrics in the heat of the moment. Actually, come to think of it, my HipsterCard© should be totally revoked for that one, since I designed the packaging! Ah, banned from Club Cool®… again.

» I busted out my copy of Les Savy Fav’s _Go Forth_ on the morning walk with my iPod today and I couldn’t help but realize how slow these songs are. I mean, yeah, they’re uptempo but they’re just not fast enough for my speed-driven contemporary needs. “I need a little pick me up / So I won’t stumble down tonight” from “Disco Drive” sounds incredibly hedonistic — the faint slur of Harrington’s vocals is like smelling the alcohol on his breath or the glint of powder on the corner of his nose. What an amazing, truly paranoid record.

The Baird Sisters (which features Meg from Espers) are playing this evening at the Kelly Writers House (I work here, yo) as part of our monthly program for WXPN, “Live at the Writers House”. Even though this show is *FREE*, you can’t roll into this gig after it starts because of the recording component, so make sure you show up on time at 7:00 PM. Also on the bill are readers from _Philadelphia Stories_, a local literary journal and as always, these tapings are a blast.

Home Blitz, “Apocalyptic Grades 2005 A.D.”

Home Blitz is what happens when college radio DJ/record store employee/rock critic Daniel DiMaggio forms a band based on his personal tastes (Styrenes, Electric Eels, the entire discography of Hyped2Death and other dudely musical creations). Within the span of a minute and a half, the song jumps between garagey romp and impenetrable wall of noise, like a kid running through a candy store. You’re either going to hate this because you’ll see it as an overwhelmingly long narcissistic gaze into the mirror of scuzzy punk nostalgia; or you’re gonna love it because it lacks any/all revelatory aspirations and goes straight for the jugular of intensely stupid fun. (That said, I think HB aims too hard for futility, especially on the _Live Outside_ 7″, where the band plays out on the street in a New Jersey suburb to no apparent crowd.) Granted all of this might sound like the punchline to some dreadful _High Fidelity_ joke waiting to happen, but make no mistake — this is some truly fantastic shit.

Like dudes with guitars gettin’ stupid all over the place? Stroll on over to Home Blitz’s lil’ corner of the world.

Title Credit: Maura

The copy is eye-stabbingly awful, the music is even worse but I don’t care. If loving this ice show is wrong, then I don’t wanna be right:

Country’s favorite “Red Neck Woman”, Gretchen Wilson, will sing twelve songs on a full stage accompanied by the performances of skating’s best — including Kurt Browning, Todd Eldredge, Irina Slutskya, Michael Weiss and more! The combination of Country’s hot-hot-hot CMA, CMT, and Grammy Winning artist, Gretchen Wilson, and the Olympic, World, and National Champion caliber skating performances guarantee that, much like Gretchen’s debut album, “Gretchen Wilson’s Country on Ice” is “Here For the Party”!

Someone out there has to know how I can get my hands on comp tickets. If I miss this apex of cultural sophistication my life might as well be over. Help a girl out, willya? I’m even opening up comments for this one.

Come on big money, no whammies…

I knew there was a reason I loathed Fall Break at work — after it’s all said and done, there’s a mountain-sized mountain of work sitting on my desk. I am slowly whittling it down. In the meantime:

» HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAIREAD! People, if you haven’t checked out this woman’s slice of the internet, do so now. She is definitely one of those people who make you forget what life was like before you met her (as in, things were a lot less interesting beforehand).

» Photos & reviews from the Richard Buckner & Portastatic shows forthcoming. I’m still reeling from how good both were, weeks later.

» The Constantines & Hold Steady are playing Philly in November. Get psyched, folks.

» I am loving the new albums by the Long Blondes, Evens and Finn’s Motel for reals. As for Demetri Martin’s new record, I couldn’t make it through. You know what’s truly disheartening? That somewhere in this country of ours, there are people who think this dude is funny. Please. Stop.

» As the weather grows colder and the holidays draw near, can I suggest that you make a donation to Girls Rock Philly? It’s tax deductible, but more importantly, it’s for a good cause.

CHRIST CUT ME SOME FUCKING SLACK. Somehow I magically wound up at the station with only 20 minutes to pull for my show (was the line at WaWa _that_ long???) and and and the nice folks from Prometheus were making our board fly right and and and there was a bunch of computer issues. When you’ve got two bodies besides your own hovering around the board, it makes for a little trouble cueing up things. You’ll probably hear some glitches here and there in that regard. Sigh.

the dears - ticket to immortality - gang of losers - N

nikki sudden - black tar - the truth doesnt matter - N
pavement - when robyn turns 26 - at home with the groovebox
jett rink - in pursuit of the modern - compulation
sparks - academy award performance - #1 in heaven
galactic - something’s wrong with this picture - ain’t no funk like N.O. funk
rhys chatham - drastic classicism - a rhys chatham sampler

black keys - goodbye babylon - magic potion - N
the phipps family - red jacket mine explosion - classic mountain songs
the long blondes - heaven help the new girl - someone to drive you home
moe tucker - hey mersh! - life in exile after abdication
cordalene - would it have killed you (to kiss me just once?) - blue EP
annuals - bleary eyed - be he me - N

versus - dumb fun - two cents plus tax
creeper lagoon - wonderful love - i become small and go
the cardigans - godspell - super extra gravity - N
hymn to the snake goddess - women’s songs from india
orange peel - faces that i used to know - s/t
os brazoes - volkswagen blue - s/t
alan licht - tone poem for nikki sixx million - calvin johnson has ruined rock for an entire generation 7″
neu! - fur immer - neu! 2

finn’s motel - concord village optimist club - escape velocity - N
the notwist - chemicals - shrink
silkworm - in the bleak midwinter - split 7″ w/ engine kid
the go betweens - poison the walls - bright yellow bright orange

lily allen - everything’s just wonderful - alright still

Listen to this week’s show »

Thanks to my pals at BadmintonStamps, I’ll be giving away a pair of tickets tomorrow to see Tokyo Police Club, The Harlem Shakes and Brown Recluse Sings at the Khyber on 11/4.

This is what I know: Tokyo Police Club are kind of a big deal, what with signing to Memphis Industries (home to the Go! Team and Pipettes). Or if they’re not a big deal, they’re certainly on right path. And what a better route to stardom than hitting the road with Art Brut for the fall? Granted, when AB played Philly last weekend, they weren’t on the bill (Oh the mysteries of booking!), but thats alright — this gig at the Khyber gives you some extra-special private time with the band. Anyway, if the music thing doesn’t work out for these dudes, I think a couple of them may have a future in another industry…

This is what I don’t know: a damn thing about the Harlem Shakes. Their mp3’s are chock-full of that angular guitar rock kids today love, and they recorded with “the same braintrust that brought us all Les Savy Fav.” (Nick Vernhes? Phil Ek? Who? I am dying to know.) Googling them only turns up fragments of info sandwiched between goofiness and snark, which just intrigues me more.

Also on the bill are locals, Brown Recluse Sings, a pop combo that you need to start listening to right now before they become superstars. So fresh! So new! They’re the kind of band that makes me want to keep Plain Parade alive.

Anyway, log on to WQHS from 10AM – 12PM tomorrow — who knows, it might be your lucky day!

Saturday 11/4
At the Khyber (56 S. Second Street)
10PM, 10$, 21+

Tokyo Police Club, “Nature of the Experiment”
Harlem Shakes, “A Night”
Brown Recluse Sings, “Lazy Bones”

Tim Westergren, the founder of Pandora, will be speaking at the Penn Bookstore on Thursday 11/2 at 7PM. From the man himself:

I’m coming to Philadelphia! The evening of Thursday, November 2nd I’ll be at the University of Pennsylvania Bookstore for an informal town hall meeting (open to the public). Hope you can make it. There are lots of Pandora listeners in the Philadelphia area, and I thought it would be great to have a chance to meet some of you.

I’ve been holding town hall meetings for the past few months (check out our road trip blog to see where I’ve been and where I’m going). They’ve been great opportunities to talk with folks who are using the service - not only to discuss Pandora, but also to talk about the evolution of the online music world in general. Figured it was high time I held one at the what is arguably the location of the original ‘town hall’!

Among the questions we hope to tackle:

How is technology changing the nature of radio?

How important are community and peers when it comes to discovering music online? What’s the best way to foster community?

Can services like Pandora help create a larger middle class of artists who aren’t superstars, but have enough of an audience to support themselves through their music? Do music lovers want more music discovery?

This free event will be a great opportunity for me to hear what’s on your mind. I’ll also have some cool Pandora stuff for everyone.

The details:

Thursday 11/2
At University of Pennsylvania Bookstore (3601 Walnut Street)
7:00PM, FREE
RSVP: tour@pandora.com