All in all, a fun show on Saturday at the Mercury.
Mancino:
Mancino
Hymns:
Hymns
The Bosch:
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I was very impressed with Mancino, who go to great lengths to recreate the studio sound live, with all three members picking up extra instruments as the songs demand. Their new album, Manners Matter is out today.
We in The Bosch just finished recording for a new EP last week:

The recording journal recounts the process in detail.

Mancino is yet another band from Brooklyn. The three piece is set to release their new full-length, Manners Matter next week, preceded by a CD release party at the Mercury Lounge on Saturday, Jan. 27.
Here’s the fun and clever video for the catchy (if hard to spell) song “Hetchie Hutchie Footchie.”

The second half of season 3 of Battlestar Galactica began on Sunday night with Rapture. Despite some weaker standalone episodes in the middle of the first half run, the Eye of Jupiter/Rapture cliffhanger didn’t disappoint. Welcome home, Mr. President.
The show has already wrapped filming for season 3. The blooper reel has found its way on the the internets:

Luna Lounge is opening its new space in Williamsburg this weekend. As you probably know by now, the new space will be a larger venue than the Ludlow Street version. This venue will be larger than Mercury Lounge, but smaller than the Bowery Ballroom and close in size to Northsix The Williamsburg Music Hall. Luna will be open on weekends only for the first few weeks.
Sin-é is expected to close this spring. Oh well.

Speaking of Van Halen, it turns out that the New Year has done nothing to change the news that Michael Anthony is longer in the band, having been fired by Eddie Van Halen. And replaced by Eddie’s son. Seriously.
So, not only will both Sammy and Dave (presumably) be at the Rock Hall ceremony (perhaps Gary Cherone will scalp a ticket), but recently foisted Mike Anthony as well. How many songs before a fight breaks out? Or should that be measures?

Van Halen, the Ronettes, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, R.E.M. and Patti Smith will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year. The Times reports that both David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar will be inducted with the Halen, but that there will be no love for interim sub Gary Cherone: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Backs New Members.

I’ve been alerted that if I don’t post one of these before the end of the year, the music blogger community will shun me. Even more.
Eh, what the heck. Here are 7:

  • Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
    They’re not as good as the hype would make them out to be, but this album is still excellent. And it’s their debut album?
  • The Bamboo Kids – Feel Like Hell
    Is this a cheat? Most of these songs were released on “This Ain’t No Revolution” in Europe last year. Whatever. It’s still a lot of fun.
  • The Decemberists – The Crane Wife
    Prog-rock sea shanties. Put that way, it sounds really unappealing, but it’s actually all kinds of awesome
  • Gnarls Barkley – St. Elsewhere
    “Crazy” is this year’s “Hey Ya!” How can you not like it?
  • Earl Greyhound – Soft Targets
    Have I mentioned how Earl Greyhound is all kinds of awesome?
  • The Hold Steady – Boys and Girls in America
    They don’t sound alike, but thematically, this is the cool uncle to the Arctic Monkeys album
  • The Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldiers
    Straight-up straight-forward fun

And the “It was released last year, but I didn’t get it and listen obsessively until this year” album of the year is Devin Davis – Lonely People of the World, Unite!
Elsewhere; 2006 Music Bloggregate

The battle of words between The Decemberists and Stephen Colbert boiled over into the rock battle of the century was fought on The Colbert Report, with Stephen Colbert and The Decemberists’ Chris Funk battling in a guitar competition: Rock and Awe: Countdown to Guitarmageddon.
Eliot Spitzer, Henry Kissinger, Anthony DeCurtis, Jim Anderson (NYU), Peter Frampton, Morley Safer, Robert Schneider (Apples in Stereo) and Rick Nielsen (Cheap Trick) were on hand to make this the best final episode of the Report this year, and one of the best episodes of the series to date.
Henry Kissinger, are you ready to rock?
The Chicago Tribune’s Maureen Ryan recaps: ‘The Colbert Report’s’ guitar shredathon brings in the big guns

Agents of Good Roots, my favorite underappreciated band of the late 90’s, is playing a couple of their occassional reunion shows this week in DC and Richmond:
Thursday, 12/21/06
Iota Club
2832 Wilson Blvd
Arlington, VA 22201
Friday, 12/22/06
Alley Katz
10 Walnut Alley
Richmond, VA 23223