Fuzzy Lion

Wow. As if the London show for Live 8 wasn’t amazing enough already
(Coldplay, The Killers, Velvet Revolver, The Cure, Dido, Keane, Snow
Patrol, Annie Lennox, Madonna, Paul McCartney, Razorlight, Snoop Dogg,
Sting, U2, Joss Stone, Stereophonics, REM, Muse,), the biggest
announcement yet was made today when Pink Floyd said they will re-unite for the first time in 24 years! (Yes, with Roger Waters!)

Things
turned sour when Waters sued the band in the 80’s and lost over use of
the band name. David Gilmore and company released the bands last album,
The Division Bell in 1994 sans
Roger Waters, but the guys have put their differences aside in order to
do their part in ending poverty and increasing aid to Africa.

Live 8 will take place on July 2.

Daily Refill is hosting a new Arcade Fire song off the forthcoming Six Feet Under Volume 2 soundtrack called “Cold Wind.” The album, which is released on June 21st, will also feature exclusive tracks by Jem, Interpol, and a Caesars cover of “Don’t Fear the Reaper.”

TheFutureEmbrace will mark the first solo album from one of the most loved/hated musicians of the past decade, Billy Corgan.

Love
him or hate him, (and I adore him — no pun intended), Billy Corgan is
by far the most prolific songwriters to emerge from the “Alternative”
genre that he helped bring into the mainstream with the massive success
of The Smashing Pumpkins.

The following tracks were released as a promo EP and have been streamed at Billy’s MySpace
site on and off. In my opinion, there are much better songs on the
album (such as “The CameraEye,” “To Love Somebody (feat. Robert
Smith),” and “I’m Ready”), but these tracks hold up really well as an
overall presentation of what to expect.

You can pre-order the album at Amazon here.

Stream TheFutureEmbrace EP here.

Update: 6/14/05: Stream removed due to whole album being streamed at Billy’s MySpace site.

Vanilla Ice (who actually has a website!) was tonight’s winner on NBC’s “Hit Me Baby One More Time.” $20,000 will be donated to the charity of his choice: The Make a Wish Foundation.

For
his cover song, he chose Destiny Child’s “Survivor.” The whole cover
portion of the show is lame anyway and would be much better removed and
substituted with the artist playing a song from their catalog of their
choice. Am I alone here with my desire to see him bust out a 2005
version of “Ninja Rap?”

Next Episode’s Performers:

• Cameo
• Howard Jones
• Irene Cara
• Sophie B. Hawkins
• Wang Chung

Make sure you tune into “The Late Show With David Letterman” tonight (June 9th), as one of my favorite bands, Shout Out Louds, will be performing their song “Very Loud.”

So it appears that they X&Y cover mystery for Coldplay’s latest album has been decoded. Make Trade Fair? Come on, Chris!

A good friend of mine and I were discussing Coldplay over dinner last week. I personally have been a fan of the band since Parachutes,
and continue to preach the fact that they put on one of the best live
shows I’ve ever seen in my life. The only complaint that I have is that
their charity work feels very forced.

Honestly, does anyone
really care about "Make Trade Fair?" I’ll be the first to say that I
don’t know much about the charity at all, and what little research I’ve
done has led me to believe it’s a cause I don’t care enough about to
even add a bookmark for their site.

Personally, I like to donate
my money to charities that have impacted my life. My cousin died of
Cystic Fibrosis, so whenever an opportunity presents itself to do
something to help cure this awful disease, I’m first in line to do my
part. Same can be said for Cancer research, as it has been another
awful disease that has impacted my life.

Don’t get me wrong; I don’t have anything against picking charities to support that don’t directly
affect an individual. Thankfully, nobody I know has died of AIDS, but
AIDS research is something that’s very important and needs to be
addressed and hopefully cured.

From what I’ve seen of Chris
Martin, he seems like a genuinely nice guy. It’s just that his fight
for "Make Trade Fair" seems as if he’s trying just a little too hard to
have a cause, since that’s what all of the other "greatest rock bands
in the world" do. (Could you imagine "Amnesty International" without
U2?)

So in closing, to Chris Martin I say this: "It’s great that
you’re using your celebrity status to do good in this world, but isn’t
there something more, for lack of a better adjective, important
than ‘Make Trade Fair?’ Seriously, how have you and/or your family been
impacted because of unfair trade practices? Don’t you think that you
could do a lot more good for people if you wrote something about
helping house the homeless all over your hands and piano?"

I don’t know, maybe I’m just a prick!

Technology has always been complicated to me. For instance, the
parental units never allowed computers in our household until it became
a necessity when I went to college.
All throughout high school I
used a typewriter and Whiteout on all the papers I had to do. Let’s
just say I single-handedly supported Paper Mate.

Perhaps it’s
the way I was raised, but I’m always 10 years behind. I was one of the
last kids to get a CD player, a DVD player, a disc man; you name the
machine I rebelled against it. When I got my car in 1997, I requested
they remove the CD player and install a tape player (That cost $200
extra, so I kept the CD player).

So it’s come to the age where
the iPod is an obvious music necessity. Exclusive tracks, sneak peeks,
and don’t forget the fashionable earphone statement. I was just given a
free iPOD so how was I supposed to turn that down?

Now mind you
my other half loads and updates the iPod for me, removing the
technological aggravation from the equation. I thought it appropriate
to keep a diary of my first week with Mr. Pod.

DAY 1: INTRODUCTION
My
first meeting with Mr. Pod was overall positive. He was a good looking
machine, white shiny face and gleaming silver back. He was pretty easy
to operate and the directions were self explanatory. The menus were
simple and it did not take much technological savvy. Yet figuring out
how to operate the machine was enough for one day. I put POD to “sleep”
and called it a day.

DAY 2: DO THE SHUFFLE
Now
it was time to see what POD could add to my musical life and
experience. Scrolling through all the artists, I couldn’t figure out
what the hell I should listen to. Unlike CDS when you are looking at
the racks, you sort of hone in on something and your mind is made up,
you stick it in and you are done. Now I have hundreds of songs at my
fingertips…what am I gonna..? SHIT there’s a “Shuffle” button. I had no
choice but to shuffle and let the mysterious choices of POD decide my
musical direction for the day.

DAY 6: SHUFFALOHIC
I’m
a shuffalohic. I have not written in four days because I’m stuck in the
shuffle void. Mr. Pod is great in the way my CDs don’t get scratched
up, and he’s easily rechargeable. However I can never decide what to
listen to. There are way too many choices and it causes an onset of
dizziness just thinking about what to play. I have shuffled for five
days straight, skipping the songs that don’t fit my mood and repeating
ones I want to hear again. My feeling is that I’ll never get out of
shuffle. Not that it’s a bad thing, but I’m beginning to notice that
shuffle repeats the same songs. Maybe there’s a secret reason why, but
I have been skipping more than usual. However still in an overwhelmed
state, I have no other choice but to do the shuffle.

DAY 7: PEEK-A-POD
It
was a slow day in the office, and my co workers decided to play “What’s
on your POD?” Now I love talking about music as much as the next
person, but having someone looking at all that Mr. Pod has to offer? I
wasn’t too sure. However everyone was whipping out their machines, so I
felt the pressure to join in. I did preface the pod sharing session
with the fact that I just got it and it wasn’t fully loaded with all my
favorite musical goodies. Looking at my co workers pods though
definitely clued me in to what music they listen to, allowing me to
guess their overall music tastes after one full scroll through the
artist section. The experience reminds me of when you go over to a
person’s house the first time, and you take a peek around their CD
collections. Overall I’m neutral about peek-a-podding, but it does make
me wonder if I should refrain from adding Night Ranger’s “Sister
Christian” on there just in case of cred emergencies.

Overall,
after a week of hanging out with Mr. Pod, I’m sold. I may be forever in
a state of shuffle, but not having to buy AA batteries every 4 days is
a definite bonus. I also have upped my societal rankings joining the
iPOD culture. I fit in with my fancy white earphones and receive no
more bewildered stares as I did when I toted my disc man down the
street. I do have to say I’m still overwhelmed with what to listen and
can’t figure out what song to choose next, which perhaps will lead to
music ADD down the road. But for now, me and Mr. Pod, we are getting a
long just fine.

Here is June’s New York City show list, thanks to Jess.

6/8 Spoon, the Clientele – Webster hall (sold out)
6/8 M.I.A., Diplo – S.O.B.’s (sold out)
6/8 Troubled Hubble – North Six

6/9 Apes - Trash
6/9 Spoon, the Clientele – Webster hall (sold out)
6/9 Keren Ann – South Paw
6/9 Old 97’s, Bobby Bare Jr. – Irving Plaza
6/9 the Robot Ate Me – the Delancey
6/9 Mosquitos – Tonic
6/9 Troubled Hubble – Rothko
6/9 The Coral – Bowery

6/10 LCD Soundsystem – Webster Hall
6/10 the Go Betweens – Mercury Lounge
6/10 the Robot Ate Me – Tonic (8)
6/10 Maximo Park – Tonic (10)
6/10 Kimone - Pianos

6/11 the Raveonettes – Webster Hall
6/11 the Dears, the Shout Out Louds – Bowery
6/11 the Go Betweens – Southpaw
6/11 Maximo Park – Tonic
6/11 The Mobius Band, the Winter Pageant – Knitting Factory

6/12 Architecture in Helsinki, Head of Femur, The Lilys – Knitting Factory

6/13 Architecture in Helsinki, Head of Femur – North Six
6/13 Montag, Vitamins for You, Au Revoir Simone - Rothko

6/14 Pixies, Interpol, LCD Soundsystem – Jones Beach
6/14 Bloc Party – Webster Hall (sold out)
6/14 Kimya Dawson, Jason Anderson, Schwervon! – North Six
6/14 50 Food Wave – Mercury Lounge

6/15 Bloc Party – Webster hall (sold out)

6/16 Iron & Wine – Webster Hall
6/16 The National – Mercury Lounge
6/16 The Caesars – Bowery

6/17 Iron & Wine – Webster Hall
6/17 The National – Mercury Lounge
6/17 Jonathan Richman – North Six
6/17 Rogue Wave, the Helio Sequence – Bowery

6/18 Thurston Moore – Tonic
6/18 Bettie Serveert – Knitting Factor
6/18 Dirty On Purpose, Bishop Allen – Mercury Lounge
6/18 Jonathan Richman – North Six
6/18 Cut Copy – Rothko

6/19 Jonathan Richman – North Six

6/20 Modest Mouse, Camper Van Beethoven – Central Park Summerstage (sold out)

6/21 Sleepytime Gorilla Museum – North Six

6/22 Sleepytime Gorilla Museum – Tonic

6/23 Sleater-Kinney, Dead Meadow – Roseland
6/23 Comets on Fire – Bowery

6/25 New Pornographers, Stars – Prospect Park Bandshell
6/25 Feist - Bowery
6/25 Mary Timony – North Six
6/25 Hopewell – Mercury Lounge

6/26 Tegan & Sara – Central Park Summerstage
6/26 Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, Radio 4 – Irving Plaza
6/26 the Soundtrack of our Lives – Knitting Factory
6/26 The Blue Van, The Everyothers – Southpaw

6/28 Skeletons & the Girl-Faced Boys - Tonic
6/28 PS (Free Show) - Sin-e

6/29 David Byrne – Central Park Summerstage
6/29 Longwave, Benzos – Bowery
6/29 Benzos, Longwave – Bowery
6/29 J Live, Vast Aire, C-Rayz Walz

6/30 Apostle of Hustle – Mercury Lounge
6/30 My Favorite, Andrew Kenny (American Analog Set) - Rothko

A new function in ICHAT on MAC computers allows people to see what you
are listening to on your ITUNES. Very cool when you are blasting Judas
Priest, or Pete Rock…But one crank of OH Sherry! by Steve Perry or
Silly Love Songs by Paul McCartney…and you may lose your
friends…Fast…at the very best they are absolutely talking about you.

Now Playing: The Last Worthless Evening-Don Henley
No wonder i have no friends

Yawn. I’m not an alcoholic by any means, but perhaps I should have gone
to the Regina Spektor/Keane show intoxicated. However much to the
dismay of my bank account, I went sober. I had some nice seats close to
the stage. As I entered the show, the much buzzed about Regina Spektor
was clamoring away at the piano. I was quite excited to see her live;
emphasize was. Her voice was
amazing until she added senseless grunting paired with noises that
resembled moans you make while releasing a long run of constipation.
Perhaps she does this to set her apart from other singer/songwriters or
to stress her uniqueness, but the result was more annoying than ironic.
By the third song, I got the picture and started to think about French
fries and how I haven’t eaten since the smoothie at lunch time. Regina
then moved to the guitar, which she prefaced with a warning about her
not-very-good guitar playing skills…and she was right. At last the set
was coming to an end, where she decided to do a reincarnation of a
Billie Holiday song a cappella. Midway through the lyrics she toted
“Go-Away” which got a loud man in the audience to spout “Yes please go
away” which Regina then sung in retort “Fuck You.’ Ah, the entertaining
value of audience/artist banter.

Regina leaves the stage and the
audience starts trickling in for the headliner Keane. This allows time
for my favorite sport: crowd watching. Frat boys, teen girls, older
folk thinking they are cooler than their co-workers, and super Keane
fans with their fancy new Keane t-shirts all start to pile into their
seats. I’m just excited to see a show sitting down for a change! Now
I’m biased, I’ve seen Keane before at a special acoustic show, and had
no desire to see them again. But who am I to turn down a free ticket?
So here I am again, hoping they show me why in the hell they are
playing Radio City. The almighty Brits take stage with their piano/drum
only combo. The audience goes nuts..I mean nuts. No one is left sitting
down, and I think to myself..is Keane REALLY this popular?

I’m bored..I mean really bored. Keane is probably one of the MOST
boring bands I’ve ever witnessed. Are they bad? No. But they are sure
bland, with one song running into another running into another. The
lead singer Tom Chaplin engages the audience by announcing how shocked
they are they are playing Radio City..You know what? So am I.
What’s
more mind numbing is that the show is sold out! A whole slew of people
forked out 50 dollars to see one of the most non-unique bands around.
Well, the lucky fans were graced with three brand new Keane songs,
which sounded like all the other Keane songs, resulting in total
audience excitement. The crowd was dancing, playing air piano, waving
their hands in a common fan sway, the works. Mr Chaplin continued to
tell the audience how insane it was that Keane, yes Keane, was playing
such a legendary venue. Maybe Keane realizes the generic genre of music
they are producing, and themselves are in total awe that people are
actually buying into it.

Keane of course does the typical
encore, where Tom preps a new song as “This is the best song we’ve ever
written.” I’m on the edge of my seat!!! The piano man Tim prances away
at the keys, forming sounds that well sound like the last hour of Keane
songs. If that’s the best they’ve got, I’d rather eat French fries.