City & Colour at Black Cat 1/14/2009, was amazing.
MADONNA's sticky and sweet in new york was def a candy galore thanks to my THREE SISTAS who despite all obstacles managed to get their asses to the BIG apple for a BIG weekend. we arrived in the city on saturday and feri used his new york expertise to take us to all the ins and outs that you just cant find by browisng the internet. from a hidden burger joint in a fancy hotel, to cafeteria were the gals from sex & the city sat for an episode, to a banana pudding bakery that limits the quantity of each sold to a customer and finally the food network building we managed to squeeze as much in as possible before seeing the queen take the stage at Madison Square Garden on sun oct. 12. 
for the first time i was clueless as to what was going to happen and i think this approach def made the show more exciting. i had no idea she was going to do vogue. though some of the show sucked (ray of light, hung up) due to her madge's forceful guitar stuff, there were some really good parts still like vogue, like a prayer, and of course the willy wonka opener candy shop, making my 10th MADONNA SHOW a memorable one. it was awesome. ;)
Saw Adele with Jose last night. Ran into Mz. Court on the street in Chinatown and our barrel of laughs started then all the way through the entire show. The show was good. I only new "Hometown," but I liked everything I heard so I'm going to pick up her album. She did every song on it, plus some covers. Her voice was great. Laura Burhenn opened. Eh.
Radiohead's show at Nissan Pavilion sucked major ass. To be fair, the show was probably good, but having lawn and being soaking wet for three hours in cold weather and not being able to leave was something that I would not even do for Madonna. Horrible horrible show. I am NEVER doing lawn again, even if it's sunny.
Damien Dempsey was great last night. NYC-based Jess Klein opened and blew me away. She is now on my list of artists to "get into." Awesome show. Still thinking about DaMo.
the video for 4 mins is hottt: it's shiny & new, dark at times, twisted, freaky, hottt, dancy, i'm loving it. let's face it, even though confessions was an amazing album, the videos for it sucked. this is madonna's best music video since die another day. buy it on itunes. its worth the 2 bucks and much much mo.
An DiFranco's first live release, featuring a full band, since 2002's So Much Shouting... was well worth the wait. I'm loving "Live at Babeville." The bonus features, that include three songs in soundcheck is actually my favorite part. You get to see her beautiful family and even though you're like 'waaaa? why is Shy on here twice,' but the band version is much better.
Anthony voice: OVER IT!
Yes I know we're only four months into the new year, but City & Colour's Bring Me Your Love is on my list of my all time favorite albums ever, and sitting with Dallas in New York was the icing on the cake. If you don't own this record, get it! I'm writing a fancy smancy review which I will post on here too.
OK with the leaks of "Miles Away" and the final version of "Candy Shop," which do not have Madge playing the guest role, I can say that I'm officially hyped and craving some Hard Candy. If you're not, I suggest you do your homework!
The new Madonna song "4 Minutes," doesn't suck. But it's tired. So very 2006. And what sucks about it is that Madonna is so background. By the time you get past Timbaland's annoying intro repetition "I only got 4 minutes," which sends you into nausiem, the last thing you want to hear is the tired horn intro which then leads into Madonna & Justin's back and forth, of which Justin is clearly the one who gets more airplay. What I've liked about Madonna's records, even the ones critics hated like Erotica and American Life is her individualism. That's missing here. Hopefully there will be more on the record.
Courtney and I got to sit with Dallas Green of City & Colour, after sitting in sound check and hearing him do a band version of "the Girl," at the Knitting Factory in New York on Wednesday, March 19. He was so sweet and down to earth and gave a really good interview. He talked to us about his childhood, his fans, why he did not rip off a PJ Harvey's album cover and title, and why he doesn't have any guilty pleasures (he loves pop sometimes). The show was great. The audience was horrible. Dallas even asked some people to leave because they were so obnoxious (one guy screamed 'put your dick in it' about some girl who passed out or something). But still Dallas carried everyone through a great set and now we're all just waiting.... waiting for his return.
Have I mentioned how much I love Ani's new band? I've seen her 21 times now, and the addition is a breath of fresh air; during last night's show, at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, the new song "Emancipated" was probably one of the first newbies that I liked upon first hear. It's got a funky punky vibe, think old school "Shameless" meets Ike & Tina's "Nutbush City Limits." She was also min on the politics and max on the random comments about her doc's orders to drink more water for her vocals, always my fav kind of show.
Fans from all over the world sing the songs of the Cranberries on YouTube. "Are You Listening?" Chances are you are not. And with good reason: most of them suck. But among the gazillion posts from all around the globe, there are some, that even though lack musical talent, or vocals or guitar ability, are sincere and heartfelt. Here are three:
"Nolzen" covers "No Need to Argue," and while some things are missing vocally, there's a sincerity in his voice that is nice. I also like how he's learned how to play the song on guitar, considering the original is dubbed over a bass track with guitar strums in the background. He's also very sad and so it's real. It is unclear from his profile what country he is from.
"Maurindaa" from Brazil covers "Free to Decide." She doesn't know all the lyrics, and she might not be fluent in English, but there's something about her free spirit and just lax attitude that makes the song fun, healthy and inspiring.
Finally, "Vaniglio" from Italy, covers "Shattered." He has a ton of Cranberries tunes on his page, and even though his vocals are very femme and modeled a bit too much after Dolores' style, he's slowed the song down where the pace is just right. Like "Nolzen" there's also a sadness in his eyes that adds to the performance. And even if he's not so macho, the guy can clearly sing.
My love affair with cooked sushi (I like uncooked, but not too crazy for more), is a recent one, thanks to my twin sis, who slowly but surely got me addicted, but I've tasted it all over the city in recent months. My twin is also, among family and friends, the one who discovered Sushi Yama, the best sushi you can find in Metro D.C. area. I guarantee it. On a Friday night, Sushi Yama, located in boring ol' Vienna, Va., not at a hot spot or anything, was packed, and rightfully so. It was deeeelish! The service was just as good as the food. Our server felt so bad about the wait, she let us sit, order before we sat down, gave us drinks, and greeted us with smiles over and over again. Yama is located at 328 Maple Ave W, Vienna, Va. Call for reservations if you have more than two! 703-242-7703. Overall rating: A
While I am totally bummed about no more trips to Towers on a late night, discovering imports, remixes and a ton of other shit, I am glad to still find the digital version of those adventures on iTunes, including this week's booty shakin finds: remixes of Björk's singles from Volta and a remix EP of Tegan & Sara's "Back in Your Head."
New York, D.C., Philly and a sea of other dates are trickling in on the rumor mill for Madonna's new tour. Is it too good to be true? Or am I getting ready for the best August ever? Looks like we have to leave logic and reason to find out.
The part of my job that I really like is interviewing and discovering local musicians, queer and non-queer. Sometimes we do out-of-towners who are coming to the D.C. area. And while they are all special in their own right, every once in awhile I come across an artist that really stands out... Meet Nicole Reynolds. She's from Pittsburgh, and her music is stunning. I got to interview her on Monday, turns out we had actually crossed paths six and a half years ago when I was following Ani DiFranco's jam band in the summer of 2001. Nicole had swapped some bootlegs and pics with me, and I got to meet her at the 2001 Wolf Trap show. We are running her story on Thursday, in the meantime check out her MySpace page and listen to my personal favorite "Julianne."
