This Saturday - THIS is where you should be.

Read my interview with the bands over at the Metro Times Music Blahg. I'm really proud to be a part of this - not in a bragging way. Ok, kind of in a bragging way. I think that's acceptable.

Standing at the door of self discovery...

I have a feeling I will not like this movie seeing as the whole "white-guy-midlife-crisis-poignant-comedy-with-life-lessons" genre makes me want to punch a white person. However, I WAS excited to hear Detroit's High Strung playing as I wondered if Laura Dern was wearing a wig in this preview. "Standing At The Door Of Self Discovery" is a fitting song for the subject matter of this movie film, yes? For the inclusion of a good Detroit band, I'll even consider going to see this. If somebody buys me popcorn. And prozac.

Have you reached the bottom yet? I hope not.

Mr. John Nelson was in one of my very favorite Detroit bands - the very recently defunct New Grenada. He currently plays with Copper Thieves and Destroy This Place. He has a brand new solo project. Check it out here.

The Hounds Below - "Cumberland's Crumblin"

Ok, this is kind of the best video ever...



If you're one of those SXSW people, word is these guys are a "2011 Showcasing Artist" or some such. Go see them. They're everything the new Arcade Fire album should have been.

Toby the soy nugget nabber

Ryan Allen's got some new solo stuff coming out, as this video below indicates. In fact, you can download a free EP right this very moment with a few songs from the upcoming new record. The video below will show you details, as well as Mr. Allen himself in a slew of fancy poses. The best poses though, are those that include Toby. That dog once stole a soy nugget right out of my hand. Keep your eye on 'em...

Behold! My favorite records of 2010

I won't waste your time with a whole long "Whoo, boy - what a year, right?" intro paragraph. But would you like to know what records I liked best in 2010? Yes? Ok, here goes...

1. Rae Spoon - Love Is A Hunter

It never occurred to me in a million years that an unsolicited promo from a PR company would make it to my year end list, let alone be my favorite album. But that’s exactly what happened here. If you haven’t heard this, please go check him out. And don’t get all caught up on the gender business. Just accept he’s my man of the year.

2. The Thermals - Personal Life

I’ve heard from a lot of Thermals fans that they feel lukewarm about this record. “It’s not bad, it just isn’t The Body, The Blood, The Machine...” Nope. But why would you want them to make that record again? I do not know! Here’s one thing I do know: If for instance, the record Personal Life mirrored your personal life completely this year, it would also be one of your favorite records of 2010. So there.

3. Perfume Genius - Learning

Simple, haunting, addictive. Remember how, still to this day, people go insane for Neutral Milk Hotel? This record has that same kind of mysterious, off kilter, highly personal allure, but more stripped down - mostly just piano and vocals. Yes I did just compare this kid to Jeff Mangum. Yes I am serious.

4. Beach House - Teen Dream

There’s nothing I can really say that has not been said about this record. Yes. It really is that good. So many records were over-hyped this year (shut up, Sleigh Bells), but Beach House deserves every positive word said or written about them. This is one of the few records of 2010 that is destined to become a classic.

5. The National - High Violet

I still don’t understand how this band got so huge. Maybe I underestimate people? But I can’t complain because they are amazing and in a perfect world, when people hear amazing music they say, “Wow, this is amazing, I like it.” But that hardly ever happens. Because this isn’t a perfect world. And people are very complicated creatures. The National is very good at reminding me of this.

6. The Divine Comedy - Bang Goes The Knighthood

I have loved Neil Hannon for years. Since 1997 or so in fact. I thought ours was a love affair that could and never would end. But in 2006, after never letting me down, he managed to release a record that I felt lukewarm about. Obviously this caused me to reevaluate our whole relationship. We took a break. I saw other people. I tried to forget. Then, all these years later, he releases Bang Goes the Knighthood. And it’s “I want to have Neil Hannon’s babies” all over again.

7. Copper Thieves - II

If you can make me like something this much that sounds like it could be played on the classic rock station, you’re obviously impressive. The key is the blend of Tony Rochon’s perfect 70’s rock style, John Nelson’s 90’s indie sensibilities and Christian Doble’s insane ear for melody. The record just came out this past weekend and I can’t stop listening to it. Next thing you know I’ll be buying Thin Lizzy reissues and getting a WCSX tattoo (please do not let me ever get a WCSX tattoo).

8. Zola Jesus - Stridulum EP / Valusia EP

Zola Jesus is so tiny. Her voice is so not. Usually, because one of my favorite things is to impose stringent and unbreakable rules on myself, I do not allow EPs on my year end list. But I have to make an exception here, because holy shit. And I figure two EPs in one year an album makes, right? If you think Disintegration is the best album ever, but prefer Siouxsie Sioux to Robert Smith, you basically have no choice but to fall in love with Zola Jesus.

9. Damien Jurado - Saint Bartlett

I don’t think Damien Jurado has ever managed to put out even a mediocre record, but now he’s finally managed to release a near perfect one. Saint Bartlett exemplifies everything that is awesome about Mr. Jurado. He played at the Magic Stick with Shearwater recently, and it was just him and his guitar. I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest.

10. Superchunk - Majesty Shredding

I’ll admit I’m still high from seeing Superchunk play the Magic Stick recently - nothing could have prepared me for them opening the show with the Magnetic Fields’ “100,000 Fireflies.” I was very close to peeing my pants. Especially since I refuse to pee at the Magic Stick under virtually any circumstances. Majesty Shredding is just as great as anything they've ever done.

11. The Juliets - The Juliets

When this record came out earlier this year, it reminded me so much of what I loved about Neil Hannon. The whole record is smart, melodic chamber pop without even a second of filler. Perfect sounds in our own back yard! I love Detroit.

12. Child Bite - The Living Breathing Organ Summer

I suspect listening to The Living Breathing Organ Summer is a lot like taking a peek directly into Shawn Knight’s brain. Which makes me think it’s similar to how my brain operates when I’ve had a lot of cough medicine before bed. Except way more musically gifted and unhinged.

13. Bars Of Gold - Of Gold

I saw Bars Of Gold for the first time at Blowout at Small’s this past March, and their performance immediately brought to mind Jesus Lizard meets Fugazi. And that’s saying something. Also, “Heaven’s Got A Heater” is one of my favorite song titles ever.

14. Yeasayer - Odd Blood

This is another record I don’t think I have to say a lot about. Other than apparently hipsters get it right sometimes. Totally managed to take the uncool sounds of the 80’s that I unabashedly loved anyway and make me unabashedly love them all over again.

15. Twin Shadow - Forget

Despite my being fed up with “twin” bands (which includes both bands with the word “twin” in their name along with Tegan and fucking Sara), this record is too good to be denied. I can’t help but wonder if George Lewis Jr. listens to a strict diet of Morrissey, Xiu Xiu and OMD. If so, it’s working for him.

16. Robyn - Body Talk

I don’t know that the whole Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 and “oh, here’s like the partial combo of both of those and it’s just called Body Talk” deal was necessary (I do not like confusion!) but there is no denying the catchiness of these songs. It also helps that my nephew loves to shake it to Robyn.

17. Shearwater - The Golden Archipelago

If Talk Talk had an ornithology bend to it. When I was living in Charlotte, NC I drove myself to see them play even though I was in the middle of passing a kidney stone and had no business leaving the house, let alone to go see a concert. It was totally worth it. Jonathan Meiburg’s voice makes me swoon.

18. Male Bonding - Nothing Hurts

Considering how much punk rock I listened to this year, I’m somewhat surprised there’s not a few more noisy selections on my list. But these guys love Mudhoney, and they met while working at the same record store in London, so they’re obvious shoe-ins for my heart.

19. Stornoway - Beachcomber's Windowsill

People have been going gay for this Mumford & Sons band this year, but those guys don’t hold a candle to Stornoway. Plus they have a song called ‘Zorbing.” Which is like, when you roll around in a ball for fun. Take that, stupid Mumford & Sons.

20. Tim Kasher - The Game Of Monogamy

Tim Kasher is disillusioned with the modern relationship paradigm and he’s made a record about it! This record will be the perfect soundtrack to when you get around to tackling Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom over the holiday break.

There you have it! As I have done since I think 2002, I will be making a mix CD with one song from each one of these records... And you can have a copy if you want. Just be patient with me.

"We're so brave, we're so brave, we're so brave..."

If you haven't seen the Metro Times Music Blahg interview I did with Copper Thieves, may I suggest you take time to read it? They're having a record release show tomorrow night at that narrow-yet-rad venue in Hamtramck. That would be the Belmont. The new record is awesome. For real. Hope to see you there...

Baby Jesus has a Santa suit

This event looks pretty rad. I've never gone and I'm thinking about changing that this year. But either way, if you're trying to show some out of town guests how rad Detroit is for music, you could do a lot worse than take them to the Magic Stick this Thursday. Like, for instance, you could punch them in the face and hand them a Kid Rock CD. Look at the pretty poster before you weigh those two options:

The God Jesus made it snow today because...

... Suburban Sprawl's 2010 Holiday Sampler is now up on the world wide web! Each year I say, "I hate Christmas music." Then I listen to this and think, "I forgot how much I love Christmas music." It's a holiday treasure trove of Detroit indie goodness. Go listen.

New Grenada Forever

New Grenada, one of my favorite indie rock bands not just in Detroit but ever, is playing their final show at PJ's Lager House tonight. Yes, I'm sad (final show and all), but mostly excited. Any good therapist will tell you that closure is a good thing, but it’s not something one typically gets with a band. This show is going to be the ultimate in musical closure - jam packed with the kind of special guests and surprises the world hasn't seen since The Brady Bunch Variety Hour. All the past members of the band including all one million drummers will take the stage at some point this evening. AND, so you can take home and cherish the memories - the first 100 people will get one of these:

The DVD is called New Grenada Forever. It's a documentary about the band. The DVD also has a bunch of live footage and stuff. It also comes with a CD of rarities- songs the band did for comps, 7"s, covers, etc. Hell yes. It may or may not also feature this very author making a total fool of herself for the love of John Nelson and New Grenada. You'll have to watch it yourself to find out.

The Cold Wave opens the show and Ryan Allen will be spinning records. I'd like to put in a request for "Shrine" by the Dambuilders now, please.

Maybe we're just tired of this vanilla existence

So Tim Kasher is playing the Blind Pig on Sunday, and I want to go despite the fact I hate the Blind Pig, and I didn't even know who Tim Kasher was until this past Saturday when my girlfriend played me his band The Good Life's record Album of the Year. This is also when I was informed that he is "the guy from Cursive." Now, I cannot for the life of me remember why, but years ago I decided I didn't like Cursive. Now after hearing The Good Life and Tim Kasher's brutally amazing new solo record The Game Of Monogamy, I think it is safe to say I potentially made a rush to judgment and have no choice but to launch a reinvestigation into this Cursive business. Sorry, Cursive. Sometimes I can be a bit impulsive.

In the meantime, I will keep listening to The Game Of Monogamy on repeat, and possibly going to Ann Arbor to hang out late on a Sunday night with college kids who have no idea how much Mr. Kasher's new record is literally telling the story of their future. Also, if you and your spouse are anything like the couple in this video, please kill yourselves:

You said it's my fault - I still don't believe you

SO excited to see Shearwater and Damien Jurado tonight at the Magic Stick. Both have released amazingly good new records this year, with Jurado's Saint Bartlett already a shoe-in for my best of 2010 list. I saw Shearwater by myself when I was living in Charlotte, NC. I was dealing with a painful and stubborn kidney stone, was heavily medicated and had no business driving myself anywhere, let alone to a show. It was totally worth it. I've wanted to see Damien Jurado for years. So this bill is pretty perfect. Check out Jurado's creepie video for "Arkansas" and then go to the show because how can you resist?

Tracing lines and breaking spines

Hey, are you like, "to hell with those flavor-of-the-month bands, I want to get totally into a band that hasn't put out a record since 2008 OR updated their Facebook page since then!" That is what I thought! I suggest checking out The D'Ubervilles in that case. Their lead singer John O'Regan just put out a record under the name Diamond Rings - and I admit it was the album cover that got my attention:
Hello glammy gay boy, what's up, right? Reviews of the record led me to the D'Ubervilles, and as much as I like O'Regan's Diamond Rings business, I'm kind of smitten with what I've heard so far from the dude's full band. Check out "The Receiver" via their out-of-date Facespace page. It reminds me a lot of the National meets a way-less-douche-like Interpol. Thank god I'm not already WAY behind on all these 2010 releases therefore giving me the luxury of spending time on something from 2008 (aka "olden times"). Oh, wait...

This is exactly how I dance in the lesbian bar...

Oh, Jonathan Richman, how I love you...

You won't be here tomorrow

And in case anybody was wondering, yes I am still listening to the Perfume Genius record on repeat.

Happy Halloween, creeps.

Violent Sensation Descends from Violens on Vimeo.

Take two, same loot; make something so new

Single Barrel Detroit's got a brand new installment up featuring Child Bite at the Theatre Bizarre grounds. They contacted me about tagging along and writing some stuff about it - an offer I gladly accepted. I escaped the whole "city of Detroit causes Theatre Bizarre to be cancelled/moved" drama this year by virtue of not attending. By the feedback I've seen and heard so far, the last-minute-move-to-the-Filmore seems like it was pretty successful. I am glad to hear it, though it's hard to imagine this, seeing as the best part about the event is the location itself. It would be like if the Renaissance Festival were moved from the grounds in Holly to the Rock Financial Showplace. Yes, you could have the event there, but it's just wrong. At any rate, I hope that the Theatre Bizarre people start wrangling with the city of Detroit now so that everything is in proper order for next year.

Here's a video from the Single Barrel Detroit show - check out the link above for two more videos and my little write up. And if you have not heard it yet, make sure you check out Child Bite's new record The Living Breathing Organ Summer - one of the best of 2010.

Paws Perilous from SINGLE . BARREL . DETROIT on Vimeo.

October spawned a monster

While a great deal of you will be doing something Halloween related this weekend such as traipsing around Theatre Bizarre or eating free Mexican zombie burritos at the Magic Stick, I will be in Mount Clemens. Why? Because of this: The Smiths United are a Smiths/Morrissey tribute band. And I've always wanted to see a Smiths/Morrissey tribute band. The closest I've ever come is seeing Prussia as the Smiths at the first Crofoot Creepy Cheapy Halloween show. And they were fantastic - they even did "Cemetry Gates." I don't even know if this Smiths United business will be any good. But I have to go. Why "Detroit's Premier Smiths/Morrissey Tribute Show" is having their first ever gig in Mount Clemens is still a mystery to me, but considering I'm likely to make a total fool of myself at this show, I guess I'm not terribly sad it is in a city far away that I would never otherwise go to. Because then there will be no proof.

"We need a black pope and she better be a woman"

A list of those who know better than to fuck with Robyn and/or Snoop Dogg:

The French
The Vatican
The Russians
The FBI
The CIA
The LAPD
The Prince of Darkness
The whole industry

A list of those who should know better than to fuck with Robyn and/or Snoop Dogg:

You

Please make a note of it.

120 Minutes Weekend

Do you remember 120 Minutes on MTV? Specifically the very early 90's when dreamy Brit Dave Kendall was the host? It was on really late on Sunday nights, and I would either stay up and watch or set the good ol' VCR to record it. It really shaped my musical tastes in a way that is still evident to this day. That's why I'm dubbing this weekend 120 Minutes Weekend!

Friday night at the Magic Stick, former Afghan Whigs frontman Greg Dulli is playing a solo show. The videos for "Turn On The Water" and "Conjure Me" - both tracks from Congregation (still my favorite Afghan Whigs record, sorry Gentlemen fans) were 120 Minute staples. Whether he plays AW songs or not, I don't care - I'm just excited to finally get a chance to see him live.

Saturday night Helmet is playing at Small's. Their video for "In The Meantime" was one of my favorites in heavy rotation on 120 Minutes. Because of that video, I bought their record Meantime and played it incessantly. Though I am aware that they have records other than Meantime, that's the only one I really know well. I expect my ears and my nostalgia to be pummeled plenty.

Now if only we could get Kitchens Of Distinction and the Boo Radleys to reform and play Detroit in a single weekend... Fingers crossed.