MSTRKRFT @ The Forum 7 Oct 2006

We need more throwdowns like this.

When I Chirp Shawty Chirp Back

'Twas a lovely weekend- parties at the Sampson St. lofts, late night after DSC at the Mayor of Ponce's place, and the birthday of yours truly...but...if you haven't had enough crunkness yet, check this clip of TI live on Kimmel. The best part of these songs is Travis Barker on drums! I always thought that dude was a tool until I saw this video.

Halloween Music Calendar!

Well, hopefully you plan to drink booze and rock some sort of silly costume at some point next week. When you do, here's some shows to go to.

Oct 27th - the Decemberists - the Tabernacle
Oct 28th - Tapes 'n' Tapes -the Loft (or the Album Leaf at the EARL)
Oct 31st - Secret Machines - Center Stage aka Earthlink Live

Wouldn't it be easier to just write 'No Blacks Allowed Inside' on the flyer?

(or maybe 'Black Males OK for admission as long as you dress white?' The flyer states as part of it's dress code 'no jerseys, no sneakers, no striped polos, no Timberlands.)

Gotta Love The War on Drugs


(...the band, not the codified penalties of the United States that deal with the ingesting of chemicals)

Snuck up to Philly on Friday to attend the first night of the Philebrity Weekender rock shindig...and saw a most interesting little band. Here's a great video link of said band, provided by the Philebrity website. If you like Philly fuzz-monsters Dr. Dog, you'll probably dig these guys too. bon appetit.

Their myspace - download their EP here free. I've been bumpin' the hell out of it.

http://www.philebrity.com/2006/10/12/ladies-and-gentlemen-the-war-on-drugs/

I Just Peed in the Best Place in the Fucking World

...according to Ian Catskilkin of Art Brut.
Art Brut played their last Atlanta show at the place-saddled-with-a-corporate-brand-name in Midtown that used to simply be known as the Roxy. However, according to him, the place is a "shit heap!"

"I heard that they were going to tear the place down, and I thought 'Well hell! It'd be fine with me!" He went on to speak of the club's crappy sound, and how they were stuck playing a gig at the same time that Mika Miko and the Gossip played in another club across town. "And even crazier, we had to go up against the Raconteurs."

He had nothing but praise for MJQ, the place referred to positively in the headline of this story. "Seriously," he went on, "This place is the fucking best. Last time we played here, it was packed, and everybody rocked out." He broke it down for us even more by revealing what he thought was the most important part of a rock club: "that it's full of people who dance!" MJQ, he explained, had a great crowd "that loved [our show] and danced the whole time." Ian went on to complement the late night scene and Atlanta as a whole. "After our show, we went into that room [the adjoining MJQ] and partied all night! We even got invited back to an after-party...met a ton of people...it was great."

Compared to other cities, Ian even seemed to prefer Atlanta...which surprised even me! "Man, we've played some places in New York and big cities like that where people [in the audience] just sit there. That fucking sucks. You got a good thing going here, mate."

Travel Tips from Chris Cain of We Are Scientists


At the beginning of the song 'The Great Escape,' one first hears only one thing; manic, slinky-yet-abrasive sliding Telecaster chords played with just-enough gain and overdrive to allow for a bit of butter and abrasiveness in the tone. The song builds as hurried high-hats enter the party, followed by a beefed-up guitar tone and snare-and-tom hits that wouldn't be out of place in a Bloc Party or Gang of Four song. It is only in this instrumental blanket does the listener first hear frontman Keith Murray's voice. The best way to describe the sound of it is 'urgent.' It seems to plead with the listener with every syllable elongation and pitch change.

Wait a minute; 'plead' is too weak of a word to use: Keith compels the audience when he steps up to the mic, and he has both the lyrics and the machine-gun accompaniment of the band as his weapons.

I'm making my escape
making my escape
tell myself that everything's in shape
everything's in shape
BUT.
ME.

How long can this take
how long can this take
Tell myself that everything is great
everything is great
well how'm I doiiiinnn......

It works even better in the same framework during the second verse:

They're breaking both my hands
breaking both my hands
telling me to take it like a man
take it like a man well
FUCK.
THAT.

This 'dude, we have to do this RIGHT NOW' feeling extends to the overall economy of the songs; think about it like this; the Grateful Dead were said to be 'swirling' when they were at the top of their game as a live band. In that same vein, We Are Scientists must be a rubberband-tight and very efficient tornado. One of those little ones you might see on an A&E documentary that appears and disappears in a flash...but touches down long enough to pulverize the shit out of a house.

So I had to holler at Chris Cain, the man in charge of the lower end of things for the band, after their show at the Roxy. WAS has grown from a band that played L.A. house parties at the beginning of the millenium to a band that plays on Letterman and tours with bands like the Arctic Monkeys, so I had to ask Chris about some of the best spots around the globe to gig and hang out. The words below are his, not mine.

Los Angeles


We first got together out here, so all of us have lots of good people and lots of good times in L.A. In some ways the city kinda sucks; it's pretty much the embodiment of urban sprawl, and there are tons of people there who aren't to be characterized as 'good.' But there are a ton of really awesome people in L.A. as well; so many people miss that. There's just so much bad shit and funky shit going on out there that it's tough to find the good unless you're actually looking.

And we formed out here, so there's obviously all of the the 'firsts' as a band...you know, all of the early milestones for us...took place out here, so we can't not like it. L.A. and the whole area...especially when you include the areas around our schools and where whe all used to live...has a good bit going for it.

Barcelona


Damn, I love this place. It wins in the aesthetics category- all the art and all the people and simply the way the entire city looks is perfect. If you haven't been there go as soon as you can- if if just to sit outside and watch the place.

New York City

Well, New York..I mean Brooklyn...is where we live now, and I love it. All of it's dirtiness and crampedness and shine. It's so cool to be in a city that was made to be inhabited by people who don't use cars everyday. There's so much to be done and the whole community there of people doing interesting things just gets to you. It's my favorite place right now and my favorite spot in the U.S.

Sydney


Well, the coolest far-off spot just in terms of a cool audience and fun place to hang out would definitely be Sydney. The architecture of most of the buildings around there is kinda crazy; most of it is very Soviet-bloc 80s boxy Communist stuff- interesting but also kinda depressing. But the people there are amazing! Seriously, we played and hung out all around there and I think I didn't meet a single person who wasn't really friendly and awesome. The weather is nice too. Reminded me of California.

Weekend Planzzz

Friday- Girl Talk at Azul
or go to Athens and see Mother Jackson and Patterson Hood at Nuci's Space

Saturday- (watch Tennessee at UGA, then...)
Black Lips/Be Your Own Pet at Drunken Unicorn
or Hope For A Goldensummer/Packway Handle Band at 40 Watt (Athens)

Sunday- Recover and sleep! :)

I am jealous of all of you currently attending DJ Shadow.

I'm broke, and have to work early tommorrow.

LIFE IS SHORT. WHICH ONE ARE YOU?

Energy to burn on a Tuesday!

Chris from We Are Scientists was in awe of this man's skills---he told me that Brace "made him look really bad" as a bassist. This was before either of us knew he mainly played guitar.

Some nights there's nothing to do in Atlanta, while other times there's a bunch of shows you'd like to see going on at once. A couple Tuesdays ago the latter was taking place, with Art Brut/We Are Scientists/Spinto Band at the Roxy, Mika Miko/the Gossip/Swan Island at Drunken Unicorn, and the Raconteurs at the Tabernacle. I wrote off Jack an' Brendan and the boys due to the high ticket prices (and the fact that I just saw them at the Henry Fonda Theatre in LA a couple months ago)

...and proceeded to hit the other two shows and the after-party.

Yeah. That's how hard I work for you guys, the readers. It was grueling work.