BEIRUT and FINAL FANTASY @ Bowery Ballroom

A few hours after the YYY's debacle, I headed over to the Bowery Ballroom for night two of the BEIRUT/FINAL FANTASY extravaganza.

WOW! I can honestly say that this was one of the very best shows I've been to in quite some time. I was actually kinda thinking this would be a show leaning more towards the boring side. I couldn't have been more wrong.

The lovely Owen Pallett got things started under his moniker of FINAL FANTASY. Playing solo with his violin and occasionally on keyboard (though he was accompanied by a very entertaining live projectionist), Owen quickly had the crowd transfixed by his bizarre, yet completely engaging performance. Members of BEIRUT came out and joined Owen for the encore, teasing the audience with a taste of what was to follow.

Later, Zach Condon and his brass and strings entourage took to the stage for the opening number 'Postcards From Italy'. The BEIRUT show may have gotten off to a rather quiet start, but by mid-set they had the crowd worked into a sort of frenzy. Condon seemed visibly drunk, but his performance got better and better as he went. For the triumphant encore, the entire band (including members of ARCADE FIRE, who hot-tailed it downtown following their own headlining show) descended into the crowd, playing from the floor.

It has been a long time since a performance had me laughing out loud because I was having such a great time. I even threw my hands up in the air at one point, feeling the celebration that is BEIRUT flying out of me. I'm a geek for great music I guess.

Here's some photographic evidence of the great time that was had by all.

P.S. Many thanks to the folks at Urge for presenting an amazing night of music. Word is they are releasing an exclusive live EP of Beirut's Bowery Ballroom shows.

The YEAH YEAH YEAHS Free Show

Well, I spent 45 minutes standing against a brick wall down by the water in Williamsburg, listening to the YEAH YEAH YEAHS rehearse (through the wall), and all I got was a timid "Sold out! No more wristbands!" I was so disappointed. But really, I fucked up. I lined up on S. 2nd St. rather than the designated S. 1st St. option, wasting a good 15 minutes of line-up time. I really think it came down to that moment of stale-brain that seems to get me oh so many times.

Anyway, I got turned away (along with 200 or so other black-laden wannabe YYY riverside art gallery rockers) and ended up slamming Stellas at Broadway Diner with cohorts Emily and Jacob. Whatever. At least I got to hear them rehearse. But say that wasn't them rehearsing. I can't really be sure. There was no KAREN O on vocal. And I didn't really recognize the jams to be that of said YYY's. But why would anyone else be playing an obscure art gallery in Williamsburg at four-thirty in the afternoon?

It seems there is quite a controversy about the whole thing. But honestly, everyone needs to just chill!

New UNKLE Album on the Way

Billboard reports that UNKLE (James Lavelle minus DJ Shadow) will release its 3rd album "War Stories" on July 24. The roster of guests on the set include, among others, THE CULT's Ian Astbury, AUTOLUX and (yes, yes, yes!) THE DUKE SPIRIT!!! I love The Duke Spirit. This alone gets me pumped for this album's release!

The first single will be "Burn My Shadow", which features Ian Astbury on vocals.

UNKLE's 1998 debut 'Psyence Fiction' is one of the greatest fusions of rock and trip-hop ever made.

Here is the tracklist for "War Stories":

Intro
Chemistry
Hold My Hand
Restless (feat. Josh Homme)
Keys to the Kingdom (feat. Gavin Clark)
Price You Pay
Burn My Shadow (feat. Ian Astbury)
May Day (feat. the Duke Spirit)
Persons & Machinery (feat. Autolux)
Twilight (feat. 3D)
Morning Rage
Lawless
Broken (feat. Gavin Clark)
When Things Explode (feat. Ian Astbury)

What a week!

Clearly it's a huge week for music in NYC, with both THE ARCADE FIRE and BJORK in town for a cavalcade of sold-out shows. Also playing (mostly sold-out shows) this week are LCD SOUNDSYSTEM, YACHT, AIR, TV ON THE RADIO, AMY WINEHOUSE, SPANK ROCK, BLONDE REDHEAD, PATRICK WOLF, ALBERT HAMMOND JR. and THE POLYPHONIC SPREE! In addition, both THE BRAVERY and YEAH YEAH YEAHS are playing multiple free shows today.

The week got off to a rousing start last night at the BEIRUT/FINAL FANTASY show at The Bowery Ballroom when members of The Arcade Fire joined in on Beirut's encore. SUFJAN STEVENS and members of GRIZZLY BEAR and THE NATIONAL were in attendance as well. Too bad I'm going tonight - it will be hard to match last night's extravaganza. But who knows? Maybe BJORK and AMY WINEHOUSE will pop in for cameos. Or maybe not.

IN THE WORKS: A Round-Up of Bands Going Into the Studio - Metric, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Jesus and Mary Chain

According to a recent article in NME, JESUS & MARY CHAIN are finally making plans to head into the studio to record the long anticipated follow up their 1998 release "Munki". This is the best news I've heard...well, at least this week.

NME also reports that Emily Haines and her band METRIC have set up camp in Toronto, where they are already in the process of recording their next album. They apparently already have 15 songs written, which I find remarkable. Emily Haines has got to be one of the most prolific figures in music right now. Does she ever sleep?

You may already know by now that the YEAH YEAH YEAHS are doing two free shows Monday night at Glasslands Gallery in Williamsburg for a very special audience of 250. The whole idea sounds like wonderful chaos to me. But even more exciting, the YYY's have announced the release of a brand new EP! No further details can be found, but chances are it will be released very soon.

EDITORS - "An End Has A Start"

EDITORS are set to release their second full length "An End Has A Start" in Europe on June 25. No US date has been announced as of yet, but it will most likely follow shortly after. The first single 'Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors' finds the EDITORS in their finest state of gloom, continuing with their exploration of a genre paved many years prior by JOY DIVISION and not so many years prior by INTERPOL. Whatever...I still like it.

Stream the new single on Myspace.

NEW VIDEO FRIDAY

BUMBLEBEEZ - "Dr. Love"
from the album "Don't Sweat It"


MAPS - 'It Will Find You"
from the album "We Can Create"


BEIRUT - "Elephant Gun"
from the EP "Lon Gisland"


METRIC - "Empty"
from the album 'Live It Out"


Have a great weekend!

iPERO ANYWAYS! - DJ AS IF Tonight in Brooklyn

The Sky Report will also be on hand...no DJ set, just lots of play...

MIXTAPES & CELLMATES

One of my new favorite music blogs Swedes Please has recently been deepening my love of music coming from Sweden. They just opened my eyes to the super cute band MIXTAPES & CELLMATES. Their self-titled debut is available now on No Method. The first single 'Quiet' reminds me a bit of THE POSTAL SERVICE. See for yourself.

DOWNLOAD Mixtapes & Cellmates - Quiet

www.mixtapescellmates.com
MACM on Myspace

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - "All My Friends"

I'm having a rough day...computer problems of the most annoying kind. In the meantime, here's the new LCD SOUNDSYSTEM video. It made me feel better anyway.