CC: Describe to us the Vivian Girls story. How did you come together as a group and what spurred you on to create this type of music?

Cassie: Vivian Girls began when me and Frankie (our old drummer) were eating brunch at a Mexican restaurant and decided to start a band. We had a few practices and still needed a bass player, so I asked Katy (one of my best friends from high school) if she wanted to join. Our original goal was to be a fast yet melodic punk band. At one of our early shows someone said we sounded like Black Tambourine – so we checked ‘em out and thought they were sweet. That’s when we added the reverb.

More of the interview printed at the end of this post. Give a listen to a song off the Vivian Girls’ self-titled debut below.

Vivian Girls – “Where Do You Run To”
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VIVIAN GIRLS VIDEOS
We’ve only recently come up the Vivian Girls’ blog but it’s the number one source for VG news and videos. Speaking of which, here are two fantastic videos from the blog, reposted here for your viewing pleasure. Check it!

Vivian Girls – “Damaged”

Vivian Girls – Full Set at Death By Audio

vivian girls live at death by audio (brooklyn) from acid marshmallow on Vimeo.

Rad stuff girls!
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RINGO DEATHSTARR REVEAL NEW TUNES
One of our favorite local acts Ringo Deathstarr have recently stuck two new tunes (”In Love” and “Summer Time”) up on their Myspace and if they’re any indication of the upcoming material that the shoegazing quartet has in store for us, than this might just be the Austin band of the millennium. Seriously, the riffs on “In Love” are phenomenal and the dream-like quality of “Summer Time” reminds of a fuzz-filled musical heyday. Definitely go over and check them out. They play this Saturday at Emo’s, so don’t miss it!

Ringo Deathstarr – “Down On You”
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VIVIAN GIRLS INTERVIEW CONT’D
Here’s the rest of our interview with NYC’s Vivian Girls. Enjoy!

CC: How would you describe your sound? Lots of terms are thrown around, from ‘ramshackle punk’ to ’shoegaze’, from ‘lo-fi’ to ‘girl-group’ and everything in-between. Do people have a hard time pinning you down? How would you categorize your music?

Cassie: I think of our music as a big mashup of everything we’re into – which includes every genre you mentioned above. It seems like people can apply our music to whatever kinda stuff they’re into, cause we’ve been called everything from “street rock” to “singalong twee” (barf) to “short songs that tread into psych and drone.” We’ve also been compared to every band with a female singer ever. On our Myspace we list ourselves as Punk / Shoegaze / Surf and that’s how I’d like to describe our sound.

Cassie: Our songs are usually written in one of two ways. Either I’ll write a song by myself and then the rest of a band will fill it out, or someone else writes a bassline and then we all work together on making it a song.

Cassie: It’s definitely a little bit of both. We try to pay a lot of attention to the levels of our reverb and amps and stuff, but none of us are pro musicians. Our live show is sometimes really chaotic because reverb and PA’s don’t get along, but whatever, we always have fun! Katy: We are still working on our live sound. Due to the reverb, sometimes the vocals are too soft.

Katy: I think our success was pretty random. I can’t attribute it to any one thing that we did. We are just really into what we’re doing, and I think other people can pick up on that. Cassie: I think it’s mostly just being at the right place at the right time kinda thing. We never really wanted all this attention but we’re stoked. I don’t think my life has ever been any better. Whenever we read a positive review of ourselves we high five and then go sit in the park and watch dogs. It rules.

Cassie: Our favorite current bands are Yellow Fever, Cause Co-Motion, Titus Andronicus, Woods, and Abe Vigoda, to name a few. Our biggest influences are definitely Burt Bacharach and the Wipers and Nirvana and like every good pop song from the 60’s and 70’s. ELO’s “Turn to Stone” and Stevie Wonder’s “My Cherie Amour” are two songs I’ve been listening to a lot lately. “Tell The World” and “Never See Me Again” are probably my favorite Vivian Girls songs. Katy: I also love all of those bands. My current favorite songs are “Saturday Night” by the Bay City Rollers and “Make it easy on yourself” by Burt Bacharach. My favorite VG songs are “Surfin’ Away” and “Going Insane”. We only wrote “Surfin’ Away” a month ago.

Cassie: Riot grrrl, I think was a really important movement at the time and something that needed to happen. At the time the scene was a lot more aggro and male dominated. But from my personal experience of being in an all-female band today, we’ve actually found it surprisingly easy. Even though most of the bands we play with are mostly guys, we’ve encountered little to no sexism at our shows and dealing with people. The only instances in which people like to hate on the fact that we’re women is on certain blogs and message boards, but whatever, we don’t care. That’s why we have an appreciation for the original riot grrrl movement but new riot grrrl bands starting today just seem kinda dated.

Cassie: I have no idea if we’ve made it or not. I guess by now I’ve achieved a lot of my dreams, which were pretty small to begin with: just stuff like going on tour and putting out a record and having people be into a band I’m in. Things like having our record go on eBay for $100 and openning for Sonic Youth are just cool bonuses. So yeah, I guess I feel like we’ve “made it” but there are a lot of people who view “making it” as having a million dollars and a tour bus and the best gear. I also think that the “fame” we have is a really crazy combination of hard work and luck. Like me and Katy both almost failed our last semester of college cause we were so busy doing Vivian Girls stuff all the time. And we’re really lucky to have so many awesome friends who wanted to put out our records and book sweet shows for us. Katy: “Making it” is definitely a relative term. In my eyes, “making it” as a band is having the ability to do things you want to do. For example, we are starting up a project of recording and releasing our own 7″. This is something that I’ve always wanted to do, and I feel like because there are a number of people out there who are interested in our music, we can finally go ahead and do it without losing tons of money.

Cassie: Best part about touring, is obviously getting to go everywhere – but not only do you get to travel, you also have automatic friends in every city who know where all the cool stuff is, and you’re at a fun show every night. We are like touring machines. We love it. My least favorite part is sometimes you end up staying at houses with less than desirable sleeping situations, like houses with fleas or houses with only one couch and everyone else has to sleep on a hardwood floor. Katy: I really like that point on tour when you don’t know what day of the week it is anymore, because every night is saturday night.

Cassie: Our fanbase is made up primarily of record collectors and hot dudes. Seriously, it rules. It’s hard to say about the crowds at shows because we play so many different kinds of shows. Generally, the shows are the same as always, our friends are always there and it’s awesome. When we open for Sonic Youth we’re just gonna try to slay on our axes as hard as possible. Ya know? Katy: We just played a show this past week, and I noticed that the crowd there was more diverse than usual. It wasn’t just the one group of friends that we are used to, it was a lot of people who didn’t seem to know each other very well. I like bringing people together who might have never met otherwise. Also, I refuse to sleep until I know of at least one couple who met at one of our shows.

Comments?

“this just in…we have been working on new material lately….we are going to start playing it at shows starting now. we also just finished tracking a couple of new tunes that are now in the process of being mixed. thanks to the band JET, mixing has been delayed as computer boy has been kidnapped by them and is being held at the bubble(the recording studio) but i hear they are treating him well. we are trying to get these 2 songs that we have done to be released on 7” vinyl for your pleasure…but in the mean time, we will release them on cassette and CD-R and make them available at shows only until something is worked out. SVC records of course will make these tracks available digitally when the time is right. we have been getting lots of e-mails from our faithful fans that want us to play in their city,, and trust me we want to as well,but due to gas prices and not being on a record label that has lots of money to pay for a tour, we are doing our best to get the hell out of texas. thanks to a deal that southwest airlines had going, we are flying to the east coast for a few days and taking the china town bus to our shows. we are awaiting confirmation on a couple of shows but hopefully we will see yo there! we also finally just filmed a video for sweet girl which will be released sometime next week. we are soon going to film a video for one of the new songs “summertime” (featuring alex on lead vocals).we will egin recording a full length or something very soon as well.“

The band’s next show is August 30th at Emo’s, so you know we’ll be there with bells on. Check out this rad video for the band’s upcoming EP, sounds stellar!
Summer Mini Tour

Ringo Deathstarr – “Down On You”
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TRYOUTS: FIGHT BITE’S EMERALD EYES
Considering that there are only two members present in the Denton, Texas based fuzz-filled experimental band Fight Bite, it’s astounding just how much depth and layers the songs seem to incorporate. From the waves of passion and synthesizers in instant classic “Swissex Lover” to the melodic keyboard, starry-eyed drum twinkles, and soaring vocals of “Strings”, Emerald Eyes begins and ends as a masterpiece of headphone-heavy, lilting pop music, bringing a delicate touch to a genre recently mired in loud-quiet-loud dynamics. The subtleties of Fight Bite are wistful and unique, as the band refuses to play to either shoegaze tenants or chamber-pop standards, instead electing to combine elements of both into an intimate mix of lonely teenager background tunes and the epic sweep of a hot wind over a cloud-covered field. Reminiscent of the the latest work of M83 in parts, Fight Bite dives deep into the realm of the dreamiest of pop standards and comes across on the other side of the universe with one of the best releases of the year. Definitely makes the team, though it’ll probably just sit in a corner and write in its diary during practice.

Fight Bite – “Spring Rain”
Fight Bite – “Strings”
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TRYOUTS: HIGH PLACES’ HIGH PLACES
Of all the bands one reads about online, there remains only a select few that eschew standard melodies and pop rhythms so completely as Brooklyn’s High Places, who with their self-titled debut have crafted an intimate realm of whirls, clicks, sounds, and noises that magically combine into, what else, but awe-inspiring music. Beginning with the bang of “The Storm” it becomes clear that High Places is lifting us far away from Kansas and having left our comfort zone the band refuses to let us settle in comfortably. Truly, the ingenuity of the instrumentality of this record is nothing short of astounding, with waterdrops taking the place of drumbeats, rainmakers dipping in and out of the dynamic mix, and light keyboard tapping remaining the only familiar instrument in the bunch. The vocals drift in and out of each verse with the carefree abandon of a flitting hummingbird, though it compliments the drumwork so completely that it seems the perfect marriage of voice and form. The strength of the band’s earlier work 03/07-09/07 lied partly in its penchant for constructing tiny vignettes with song ideas and never overstaying its welcome, and High Places manages to capture the same essence, each track dancing in and swimming out like a bee shooting between sunflowers. Overall, the record stands as a testament to the ingenuity of modern indie-rock, which could stand a facelift every once in a while, and what better way to shake things up than throw out everything we’ve ever known. Definitely makes the team and probably will come up with some wild new cheers that are probably illegal in competition.

High Places – “The Storm”
High Places – “From Stardust to Sentience”

Comments?

Ringo Deathstarr
Leading off the night were relative newcomers Ringo Deathstarr who nonetheless have managed to claim the throne as Austin’s best new band around seemingly overnight with this, one of their strongest performances yet. Starting with a slow churn that saw the band testing the waters with gorgeous guitarwork and echo-laden vocals, the foursome quickly whipped into crunchy numbers such as “Down on You”, to the crowd’s delight. All the while lead singer Elliot Frazier kept up his mysteriously aloof nature and threw guitars to the ground with such carefree effortlessness and reckless abandon as to suggest the shoegazers have finally become rockstars. We here at Cannibal Cheerleader believe that Ringo Deathstarr don’t have to prove it to us anymore; these guys are some of the finest rock musicians not just in Austin, but the whole country. Aligned like a firing squad, all four members in a line at the front of the stage, with the audience as their willing victims, Ringo Deathstarr brought their A-game as an opener and managed to set the bar sky-high for the following acts.
Ringo Deathstarr – “Down on You”

Belaire
No performance would’ve been harder to follow than Ringo Deathstarr’s guitar-throwing, confetti filled, wall-of-sound extravaganza, but Belaire managed to take the challenge in stride and delivered a performance both musically solid and creatively inventive, turning kitsch keyboard midi-tracks into genuine hip-shakers and delighting rockers and ravers alike. Having only just recently reformed with the addition of three new members, Belaire nonetheless proved they can still bring the goods by combining synth-experimentalism with rock aesthetics and dance grooves into a hypnotic combination that, while requiring some getting used to, ranks among some of the best damn music in Austin today. Not recommended for those into bland pop, Belaire tore through their bizarre cache of oldies and debuted tracks from their upcoming fall release, the details of which have yet to be released. Poised effortlessly behind a wall of keyboards set up at the front of the stage, this quintet proved guitars aren’t the only instruments that get the people moving in Austin.
Belaire – “You Really Got Me Goin’”

Tilly and the Wall
One can only imagine the anxiety of having two bands absolutely kill before your band has a chance to play, the crowd already in a frenzy before your arrival, and you knowing you have to give it your all or go home now. That was the attitude that Tilly and the Wall seemingly attacked the stage with last night, bursting forth with such fervor and energy as to claim this was the only show that ever did and ever will matter to the band. With a dazzling light show blazing behind them, a cornucopia of streamers and balloons cascading through the audience, and a Jamie Presnall tap dancing on a raised in the middle of it all, Tilly tore through a set of oldies such as “Nights of the Living Dead” and some new tracks off of their latest LP O such as “Pot Kettle Black”, all of which the audience connected with instantaneously. The band’s music combines infectious pop melodies with subversive indie-rock lyrics on love, loss, desperation, and the outsider experience, sounding like a twee band on steroids, with all the sarcastic and scathing humor of such acts with a degree of punk fury and inventiveness to boot. This of course was the case for last night’s show, as Tilly and the Wall left it all on the table, furiously playing through a brilliant set of blazing sing-a-long duets and guitar shrieks before calling an end to the night’s festivities. Exhausted and exhilarated all at once, all us crazy kids bid adieu to Emo’s in hopes that maybe next time we’d get a warning before another show with three acts as good as these guys caught us off guard.
Tilly and the Wall – “Pot Kettle Black”
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ALL GIRL SUMMER FUN BAND REVEAL THIRD LP
With a name that reads exactly how the group’s music sounds, All Girl Summer Fun Band have surprised us with the announcement of their third LP, entitled Looking Into It. Supposedly the tracks on this record, while still maintaining the bubblegum simplicity and wild energy of the earlier albums, will rock harder and louder than previous efforts. We’ll take it any way you give it to us ladies! Check out the Pitchfork article for more details. Here’s the tracklist:

01 Not the One for Me
02 Something New
03 Oh No
04 Trajectory
05 Lost
06 Everything I Need
07 The Only Ones
08 Rewind
09 Looking Into It
10 Plastic Toy Dream
11 This Will Never End

All Girl Summer Fun Band – “Samantha Secret Agent”
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RA RA RIOT POST SONG FROM UPCOMING DEBUT LP
Ra Ra Riot have posted on their Myspace a new version of “Dying is Fine”, a song originally on their self-titled EP, that will now be featured on The Rhumb Line, their debut LP on Barsuk. The band’s intricate instrumentation suits this higher-end production and this recording seems to capture much of the band’s raw live energy. Ra Ra Riot will be swinging back through Austin Oct. 3rd at Stubb’s, so don’t miss them!

Ra Ra Riot – “Dying is Fine”

Yeesh! Long post! Hope this will tide you over for the weekend people, I need to catch up in my work on the paper version of Cannibal Cheerleader. Until then, leave a comment or two and tell me what you think!

ZACH DE LA ROCHA SIDE PROJECT DEBUTS

BODIES OF WATER SAY ‘SORRY FOR SKIPPING TX’
Here’s the latest Myspace bulletin from our friends in Bodies of Water:

“hi guys, there is a lot going on these days. i feel the burn.

we put up a new song on our player called ‘water here’. its from our record that comes out on tuesday.

it’s real fun to put up these songs and have them out into the world and that you guys want to hear them.

thanks.

ALSO, los angeles friends….
we are playing a show tomorrow night at the echo to celebrate the release of this record.

and for our non-la friends, we’ll be touring around the country soon. all the dates are up on our page. im really sorry to texas. i so wish we could be going there this time around. its complicated… you’re right in the middle of the country, gas is so freaking expensive (we’re flying, not driving to the east-coast to do the loop), blah blah blah.

SPEAKING of texas, when we’re there in march for sxsw, we recorded these songs at DAYTROTTER”

507 E. 6TH MYSTERY DEEPENS
Reader ‘modern mel‘ posted a comment yesterday about the mysterious 507 E. 6th St. location that Of Montreal will be playing in August. She writes:

“yeah the club is the place formerly known as ‘bourbon rocks’. i wonder if emos got smart enough and bought that place out. that place is HUGE and has a lot of potential for sure. i know this show will definitely sell out.“

Sounds reasonable, but the Bourbon Rocks website is still running and says their address is 508 E. 6th. Also their online calendar says nothing about an Of Montreal show. Did Bourbon Rocks close without shutting down their website? Has Emo’s bought out this space? Some real investigation will have to take place this weekend, so stay tuned!
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M.I.A. REALLY CALLING IT QUITS?
Say it ain’t so M.I.A.! However, if her revamped website is any indication, perhaps the UK via Sri Lanka rapper will be devoting her time to an upcoming clothing line instead of making more tunes. Check it out here and tell us your take on the situation!

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TILLY/BELAIRE/RINGO ALL PLAY THURSDAY
An old Austin favorite (Belaire), a new Austin heavyweight (Ringo Deathstarr), and a traveling tapdancing troupe (who else but Tilly and the Wall), all on one stage tonight at Emo’s. Be there or be square!

Tilly and the Wall – “Tall Tall Glass”

Comments?

TOP TEN LOCAL ACTS

Balmorhea
The Faceless Werewolves
Prey For SleepThe Riverboat Gamblers
Cruiserweight
Ringo Deathstarr
Dynamite Boy
Alex Dupree and the Trapdoor Band
Pink NastyBexar Bexar
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TOP TEN FAVORITE NEW BANDS

The Action Design
High Places
Hercules And Love Affair
Heartsrevolution
Grand Ole Party
Treasure Mammal
Food For Animals
Charlotte Sometimes
Bell
Florence and the Machine
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TOP TEN SONGS OF THE YEAR

“Constructive Summer” – The Hold Steady
“The Twist” – Frightened Rabbit
“The Greatest Man That Ever Lived” – Weezer
“Run (I’m A Natural Disaster)” – Gnarls Barkley
“Metal Heart” – Cat Power
“Blue Jeans & White T-shirts” – The Gaslight Anthem
“Ghosts” – Ladytron
“Under the Pines” – Bodies of Water
“Sara the American Winter” – Sunfold
“Becky” – Be Your Own Pet
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TOP TEN CONCERTS

Converge @ Red 7
My Morning Jacket @ the Parish
Angels and Airwaves @ Stubb’s
Be Your Own Pet @ Stubb’s
Crystal Castles @ Emo’s
Yo La Tengo @ the Parish
The Riverboat Gamblers @ Red 7Ringo Deathstarr @ Emo’s
Prey for Sleep @ Stubb’s
Balmorhea @ Austin Ballet
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TOP TEN ALBUMS

My Morning Jacket – Evil Urges
Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles
Be Your Own Pet – Get Awkward
Nas & DJ Lantern – The Nigger Tape
Death Cab For Cutie – Narrow Stairs
The Mountain Goats – Heretic Pride
Beach House – DevotionCat Power – Jukebox
M83 – Saturdays = Youth
Times New Viking – Rip It Off

There you have it people! Any comments here? Any top ten lists of your own?

Giant Drag – “Swan Song” (live from France)

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PREY FOR SLEEP TOUR CANCELLED!


“Due to issues with our booking agent we’ve been forced to cancel our upcoming nationwide summer tour”, says lead singer Hunter Townsend of awesome Austin metal act Prey For Sleep. Apparently the booking agent was unable (or too lazy!) to secure spots for PFS and the band was forced to call it off due to monetary issues.
In the meantime though Hunter and the boys would like to know what Austinites or any of their fans want from the band now. Their latest Myspace bulletin reads:

“Here’s a thought.

What do you want from Prey for Sleep in the next few months?

T-Shirts? Lighters? Hoodies? DVDs? Lunch boxes?

Let us know what you need to spread the word.”

So there you have it, let Prey For Sleep know what you need from them by contacting them at their Myspace. A PFS lunchbox sounds pretty rad to me that’s for sure.

The band will be heading up to Cleveland in August to record an as of yet untitled EP, then plans to attempt a nationwide tour in January. Good luck guys!
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SUMMER SHOWS IN AUSTIN – CC CALENDAR

Here’s a rundown of some upcoming shows in Austin that Cannibal Cheerleader will definitely be attending:

5/29 – Faceless Werewolves at Emo’s

5/31 – Riverboat Gamblers at Red 7

6/3 – Ringo Deathstarr (w/ Swervedriver) at Emo’s

6/5 – Frightened Rabbit at Mohawk

6/6 – Ladytron at Stubb’s

6/7 – Alex Dupree and the Trapdoor Band (w/ Balmorhea) at Salvage Vanguard Theater

6/12 – Joan of Arc at Mohawk

6/15 – Grand Ole Party at Mohawk

6/16 – Rilo Kiley at Stubb’s

6/20 – Times New Viking at Emo’s

6/28 – Boris at Mohawk

6/29 – Treasure Mammal at the Opera House

7/2 – Balmorhea (w/ Fleet Foxes) at Mohawk

7/4 – Andrew WK at Emo’s

7/6 – King Khan and the Shrines at Mohawk

7/10 – Mewithoutyou at the Parish

7/17 – Tilly and the Wall at Emo’s

8/24 – My Morning Jacket at Stubb’s

10/11 – Cat Power (rescheduled) at Stubb’s!

What other acts swinging through Austin should I add to this list??
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CONVERGE ARTICLE ON WAFFLES.FM


Hey to all of the readers/users of Waffles.fm, the best replacement ever for Oink.cd in my opinion. Thanks for swinging by the blog and reading the ‘Converge’ piece posted on the front page of Waffles. If you don’t know what Waffles is you should read this article about file-sharing and see if the Oink/Waffles movement is right for you. Until next time, comment people!

Sorry about taking a break for Memorial Day guys, hope this monster post makes up for it! See you tomorrow!

SO, we have finally secured a rehearsal space to call our own. now we can get down to business. we are currently planning our next release, which as of the moment looks like it will be another e.p. released on vinyl and download. the release for this will be determined as soon as we are done recording it! i am also beginning pre- production on our next self made music video…im thinking sweet girl but i also fancy making one for down on you…maybe i should let you decide. We are playing our next show June 3rd at Emo’s with the great SWERVEDRIVER….so come get launched into outerspace with us! thanks for being our #1 fans!(we will play in your area this fall)
-elliott

Ringo Deathstarr and shoegaze greats Swervedriver sharing the same stage? Awesomeness! You’ll know we’ll be attending this June 3rd show and hopefully we’ll have a camera in tow!
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MY MORNING JACKET PERFORMED ON SNL


My Morning Jacket’s first Saturday Night Live appearance apparently happened over the weekend, much to my dismay as I had not planned to record it. More details will obviously be forthcoming (what songs, hopefully a video, etc) but until then, here’s a taste of some live action MMJ has done on TV shows in the past!

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SLOW WEEKEND – I ADDED ADSENSE


So yeah, slow weekend on the music news front but hey, let it be known I added AdSense so click on the ads a few times over there on the right margin. Also, look what Yahoo are apparently selling!

Cannibal
Huge selection of Cannibal items.
Yahoo.com

That’s right, if you’re looking to buy a Cannibal or cannibal related items, Yahoo is the place to go!

That said, this week I’ll start posting some longer reviews/articles I’ve done recently for the viewing public. Look for reviews (that I’ll actually be submitting to magazines and such) for My Morning Jacket, Death Cab for Cutie, Converge, and the Last Shadow Puppets (who do indeed rock). See everyone tomorrow!s

Also, word on the street is this album has leaked. Get to downloading kids.
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ARCADE FIRE THINK BARACK ROCKS, COVER BOWIE

I think I like the Arcade Fire a lot more now that they’re overtly political and overtly Barockers. Here’s a video of AF performing David Bowie’s “Heroes” at an Obama rally earlier this year. Clearly if you like your music awe-inspiring (and your politics the same way), there’s no better combo than Butler-Barack (’08!!).

Sorry again about the delay readers! I promise this is the last night of this bull – tomorrow I’ll go wait outside Starbuck’s if my internet refuses to work! Comments?