Devin Davis released one of my favorite albums of 2005 with “Lonely People of the World, Unite!”
I can’t say how much I enjoy this album. Some of the high points include the badass squonky sax solo on “Iron Woman,” the sheer joy of glam-stomper “Moon Over Shark City,” the swagger of riff heavy “Transcendental Sports Anthem,” and the twisted tale of driving down the road with Willie Nelson in “Cannons at the Courthouse.” It’s hard to resist the charms of “Giant Spiders,” when the song shifts from the catchy chorus to screaming with reckless abandon “we’ll be fine if we can survive the giant spiders!” (You can hear the exclamation point in the singing.) With quirky lyrics, solid songwriting chops, and everything but the kitchen sink instrumentation, this album is just a lot of fun.
Iron Woman
Turtle and the Flightless Bird
No, it’s not a new album, but it’s still a heck of a lot of fun. Davis is in the midst of recording his follow-up for a 2007 release.
Buy Lonely People of the World, Unite!
Sixeyes: Devin Davis Interview

I’ve never heard anything from Ra Ra Riot, but Heart on a Stick posted the definitive bad review of the band: I Wouldn’t Like Death If Death Were Good, Not Even if Death Were Good: “Ra Ra Riot makes the sort of music that would cause entire villages in Africa to machete themselves to death.”

Jon Pareles rounds up CMJ in the Times: The CMJ Big Break? Not Such a Big Deal: “Bands aren’t waiting for their big break anymore. Or if they are, they’re keeping mighty busy in the meantime. That was the gist of this year’s CMJ Music Marathon, the showcase for independent music that expanded to five days this year, presenting music day and night from last Tuesday through Saturday.”
This is more of a broader overview of the trends and implications of the entire festival than the detailed micro-level reviews in the blogs.
Also in the Times today, The Bowery Presents is showing that they have a good PR person, with another article about their purchase of Northsix and the club’s impending transformation into the Williamsburg Music Hall: Polishing the Grunge: “Williamsburg is not losing a rock club, then, but gaining one that may be more suited to its current state of gentrification, to the 40-story condos being planned along the East River nearby. Where Northsix has distressed, paint-caked wood floors and rudimentary high-school-style risers, the Music Hall will have balconies and a big-city gloss.”

Goes Cube and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin at Union Hall

Goes Cube Photo #1

Goes Cube Photo #2
Goes Cube is loud, intense and dark. They have hooks amidst the sonic assault, so the takeaway is more than just distortion and double-bass pedal polyrhythms. Even though the songs are all titled “Goes Cube Song #X,” each has its own character.
Goes Cube is playing at Guero? on Thursday afternoon and at The Delancey Thursday night (11 pm).

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

Another person was taking a photo of a band with blog buzz? That’s a real shock. But at the exact same instant? Well, that is different. And yes, this probably would have been a good venue to experiment with flash photography for a change. Even at ISO 800, the F30 can’t get good photos with this little light sans flash.
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin is the best band name EVAR! No, seriously, it’s brilliant. It got me to get to this show early despite never having heard anything from this band. The closest point of reference is probably The Shins, with perhaps a bit more edge.
They’re in town for the week, playing tonight at Pianos, tomorrow afternoon at the CMJ daystage at Avery Fisher Hall, tomorrow night at Europa (in Greenpoint) and Saturday afternoon out at Asbury Lanes.

The NY Times looks at the state of the rock music club ecosystem in the city: Where the Beat Goes On: “For every Bottom Line or Fez or Continental that has shut down or quit live music in the last couple of years, a Rockwood Music Hall, Union Hall or Studio B has opened up — and maybe a Fontana’s or Club Midway as well. And in the next few months, at least five major spaces are set to open, giving the city’s rock infrastructure its most substantial expansion in years.”
The most interesting part of the article is the development of the “vertically integrated” booking chain and the competition between Live Nation (ClearChannel) and The Bowery Presents. The Bowery group did secure the lease on Northsix and will renovate it, add upstairs balconies, and convert it into the “Music Hall of Williamsburg.”
Further east, the Times reveals that Live Nation will have a hand in booking the new ~300 person capacity Luna Lounge. Live Nation is also adding Rebel (formerly Downtime on W.30th St, cap. 325) and the Gramercy Theater on 23rd St. (cap. 600) to its venue roster.
Are there enough acts able fill these medium/large rooms?
Previously: Williamsburg Mega-Venue Coming?

So, CMJ is next week. We’re not playing this year, and without some other source of a badge (“hi, I blog at a site that has a readership of, um, me”), I won’t hit all that many shows. But going through the schedule, here are a few that look promising, in no particular order:
Tuesday
(There are only a few names I recognize on the Tuesday schedule and even fewer that I’ve heard. This may be the night to just pick a venue at random):

• Medeski Martin and Wood (Hammerstein, 9:00)
• Golem (Mo Pitkins, 10:00)
• The Eames Era (Knitting Factory Tap Bar, 9:30)

Wednesday

• The Mugs (Magnetic Field, 9:00)
• Tigers and Monkeys (Fontanas, midnight)
• Man In Gray, The Unsacred Hearts, The Octagon, Kickstart, Dracula Zombie USA (Knitting Factory Old Office)
  A rare entire lineup that is NYC-centric (since it is the showcase for local label Serious Business)
• Laura Cantrell, Steve Earle and Allison Moorer (Southpaw)
  For the alt-country set
• Other Passengers, The Gritty Midi Gang (Union Pool)
  Other Passengers are loud. Very loud. In a good way.
• Dr. Dog, Cold War Kids, Tapes n’ Tapes (The Bowery Ballroom)
  It’s the blog-buzz show of the night. None of these bands are super-amazing, but they are what’s hot with the kids these days. It’s sold out, so does that mean that CMJ resurrected the bands the blogs killed?

Thursday

• John Medeski meets Kid Koala (Merkin Hall)
  This could be all kinds of awesome, or all kinds of awful– no middle ground
• The Wrens, The Walkmen (NYU)
• Charles Bissell (The Slipper Room)
  This is scheduled for the same time as The Wrens show at NYU? How is that possible?
• Goes Cube (The Delancey, 11:00)
  None of their songs have titles. All are simply “Goes Cube Song #X.” Playing songs by the number would confuse the crap out of me. Fortunately, they’ve saved the creativity for the music.
• Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin (Europa)
  I have no idea if they are any good, but they have the best band name ever
• Bling Kong (Fontanas, 11:30)
• Nicole Atkins and the Sea (Mercury Lounge, 8:00)
• Jonny Lives! (Crash Mansion, 10:00)
• Proton Proton (Trash, 8:00)

Friday

• The Decemberists (Hammerstein Ballroom)
• Longwave, Albert Hammond, Jr., Tokyo Police Club (Mercury Lounge)
• Thunderbirds Are Now! (Pianos, midnight)
• The Teeth (The Delancey, 11:30)
• George Clinton & the 420 Funk Mob (Crash Mansion, 11:30)
  Yes, THE George Clinton
• Goat Explosion (Fontanas, 9:00)
  Formerly Elkland. No idea if they’re any good, but it’s the best band name that doesn’t reference Boris Yeltsin

Saturday

• The Mooney Suzuki, The Dansettes (Rebel)
• Earl Greyhound (The Delancey, midnight)
• Logjam (Pussycat Lounge, 10:00)
• The Head Set (Trash, 8:00)

This doesn’t include any concurrent non-CMJ shows. Is there anything I’ve missed?

Tomorrow night, The Bamboo Kids are having a CD release show at Magnetic Field. The new album, “Feel Like Hell,” will be on Empty Records.
The Bamboo Kids are on the most consistently fun local acts. They’re just playing straightforward top quality garage rock with some edge.
Magnetic Field is one of my favorite venues. They don’t have live music every night, but when they do, it’s usually someone worthwhile seeing. And, it doesn’t hurt that it’s in the neighborhood.

Earl Greyhound may have the best combination of stage presence and performance of any band in NYC. Seriously, they’re that good. The power trio, with Matt Whyte (guitar/vocals), Kamara Thomas (bass/vocals) and Ricc Sheridan (drums) powers through their songs with vigor and volume in a throwback to bands like Zeppelin and T.Rex.
As much as I dug Earl Greyhound the first couple of times I saw them play this year (with the Walk Ons opening at Mercury in January and at a Deli show at Asterix in May), not many of their songs stood out. In both of those sets, the performances were notable, but I didn’t walk out humming any songs. Of course, the Asterix show was a veritable sonic assault from every angle.
But Saturday’s CD release show at The Annex was a revelation. While some of the EG catalog is still searching for a hook, the band played a couple of stand out songs (“All Better Now,” and “S.O.S.”) After listening to Soft Targets a few times, there are enough hooks and style variations. In particular, “It’s Over” and “Yeah I Love You” are lighter and poppier, but don’t forget how to rock.



But, Earl Greyhound are just such great performers that they could play a set of only “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and it would still rock.
Earl Greyhound S.O.S. [Some Records]
Earl Greyhound [Myspace]
Sasha Frere-Jones, The New Yorker, Off to the Races: “Whether or not Earl Greyhound are the Next Big Thing is irrelevant—watching them will convince you that they are.
Kevin O’Donnell, The Village Voice: Hard Targets: The rockneck-inducing splendor of Earl Greyhound.

More people are buying their music online, rather than on CD. According to the IFPI, “18 per cent of recorded music sales [are] now being made through digital channels. Digital music sales in the US increased by 84 per cent to US$ 513 million in the first six months of 2006.”

Thanks to La La, WOXY returns to the net today and is once again a free service. More details at the Digital Music Weblog: La La aquires WOXY, streaming radio gets kick in the pants. WOXY mk.III is set to become not just a streaming radio station, but to become more of a recommendation community. As WOXY already hosted a popular set of music discussion message boards, this could become very interesting.
At the very least, it is one more outlet that is devoted to introducing listeners to new music. Upcoming Lounge Acts will include Headlights (today!), The Purrs, Asobi Seksu and The Wrens.