That's me babe. Britney.

Loved this.

Happy Sunday, everyone.

Triumph of a Heart Video

I know, I'm late to this. Watch first, judge later.

Spike Jonze has still got it, whatever it is.

Bootleg Album of the Year

That's right, I'm calling it, right now. It's the fantastically underrated Team9's Manchester Booted EP. Get it while you still can. No one has done to mashups what Team9 has, and music will never be the fucking same.

I wish I was kidding. (Except not really)

Loved This.

Your Books and Neighbors. [via MorningNews]

Sick

Sorry kids - it's been over a week, but don't fret; I have not abandoned you. I have, however, come down with the Norwalk (or Norwalk-like) virus, at least according to woman at 1-800-UnitedHealthCare. Today is the first day I have not dragged into work, and having run through my entire Office Collection, it seems the perfect time to update you on what you have inevitably missed from the past week:

1. Annie "Heartbeat" Video Leaked Released

You can find it at Annie's official website. And yes, it is awesome. And yes, I still maintain that the Pitchfork redesign blows.

2. Observer Continues Dapper Irrelevance

On the perils of NYC restaurant lighting:

"I have walked right out of restaurants because the lighting was so bad," Jennifer Loeber, a magazine photo editor in New York, told me last week. She decried fluorescent bulbs and bad ceiling spotlights that "can make you look half dead."

So true.

2. Google Video!

On the contining brilliance of Google, the company that could do no wrong:

The premise: there’s a lot of information on TV that’s just passing into the ether; Google, being in the biz of indexing (and commoditizing) all information in the world ever period, did something so simple and sensible we’re surprised it’s never been done before: set up a bunch of machines to capture and index all the closed captioning data on the line (and grab a few screen shots along the way for context). [Thanks Engadget!]

3. Album Leaks

The BitTorrent unvierse saw bootleg copies of new Doves, Beck and Daft Punk albums surface. Are any of them any good? Don't know; after the now-ancient Radiohead HTTT debackle, I've given up downloading pre-release albums. Here, however, are early reactions to NewDaftPunkAlbum from one well-conXed blogger:

And now that I've hedged a bit, I'll say that I think Human After All marries the aesthetics of Homework and Discovery well and I really like it a lot of it. The songs are mostly loop-based, though, and don't really go anywhere. That isn't necessarily a problem but it'll be interesting to see what I think once the excitement subsides. [Thanks OneLouder!]

So there you go.

In other news: Arcade Fire interviewed in Interview, angstidentprone gets a new look (don't ask me what it all means), Interpol get a new show added (tix go on sale Thursday at 10, with Blonde Redhead opening), and sledding is so much fun. Seriously.

Now it's time to sleep again. Wish we well folks.

Coolhunting

Unis sample sale. On. Now.UK band The Engineers. 80s derivative. Worth a listen.
Dropload. Nice name. Nice idea.

Three Recommended Shows

Jimmy Edgar at Rothko: Tomorrow.
Rogue Wave at Mercury Lounge: February 4.
Rainer Maria at Northsix: February 5.

Assorted Detritis

In tech news:

Apple's running low in iPod shuffles. The iPod (so far) can do no wrong.
The iMac Mini should be Apple's entryway to a media center. Interesting.
Someone needs to invent a new battery technology. Now. That will make so much money.

In music news:

Bloc Party to play Bowery Ballroom: April 8 (Thanks BrooklynVegan!)
(and also possibly Motherfucker party on February 20?)
Chin Up Chin Up to play Mercury Lounge: February 10 (Thanks CentralVillage!)

In advertising news:

I love Target. (Thanks OneLouder!)

In personal news:

I have seasonal affective disorder too. New York needs to stop being so damn cold all the time.

Fiery Furnaces EP

...is great. Pitchfork is right again. (As is Stylus). Blueberry Boat sucks balls (yes, yes it does), but this is good shit. Not break-down-and-cry great exactly; more I-just-keep-putting-it-on-repeat great. It's a grower, but it's some good shit.

Apparently they're coming to Bowery Ballroom on April 9. Tix not on sale yet. Might be worth checking out. People seem to have liked their last show here.

Check out 0wned to stream it on Rhapsody this month for the very reasonable price of $9.99.

New Arcade Fire MP3s

Resistance is futile. It's The Arcade Fire.

Born On a Train [Magnetic Fields Cover]
Intervention [New?]

And, while you're at it, check out the new Arcade Fire Fansite.

[From KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic. Thanks Stereogum!]

[Win tix if you don't have 'em already to the sold-out show at Webster Hall via OhMyRockness]

The New Yorker: Officially Back?

Surprising though it may be, The New Yorker has apparently decided to forego obfuscating simple premises and single-word replacements and has gone and published some quality articles as of late. Look out Harpers!

1. How rich post-colleageate boys live in Tribeca. [thanks Curbed!]

2. How the Bush administration has already decided to invade Iran, and other news. [thanks ProductShopNYC!]

For Muehlfeld & The Pod...

We are a very lucky pod indeed...

MIA in Blender Magazine

An MIA microbio finds itself into the latest issue of the illustrious Blender, which notes a high school dance performance of Run DMC's "Mary Mary" as a defining moment in her creative career. Who can argue with that?

Mashups

I'm late to this, I know. Sasha Frere-Jones may have the most self-mastubatory blog ever (thanks for the high school photography contest entries, SF/J! We'll let you know) but news breaks today as I discover the first bit of decent journalism the man has thrown into the fray in a long time: A Brief History of Mashups, if you will.

Now that you're all about that, check out Team9's mashups (which could take Jeremy Brown's ass anytime, but choose not to, because they are above that).

Love Songs and Compilations

Props to One Louder, my fav blog-of-the-moment, for bringing up *bucks' new compilation disc - aptly titled Sweetheart 2005 - Love Songs. It looks, surprisingly, very cool. Neko Case, Calexico and M. Ward are all contributors, which should make for a nicely eclectic collection. Ever since the Hear Music thing, *bucks has been pulling out all the stops and proving it can compete in a contracting market and put out some pretty decent shit. Word up to Valentine's Day buyers: this is so much more pimp than the chocolates/roses thing. You've done that. Tracklist:

My Funny Valentine (Rodgers and Hart-Ella Fitzgerald), RUFUS WAINWRIGHT
Let My Love Open The Door (Pete Townshend), M. WARD
Buckets of Rain (Bob Dylan), NEKO CASE
Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division), CALEXICO
She's Got Everything (The Kinks), OLD 97'S
How Can I Tell You (Cat Stevens), GARY JULES
Give Your Mama One Smile (Big Bill Broonzy), MADELEINE PEYROUX
The More I See You (Cole Porter-Chet Baker), SONDRE LERCHE
I Only Have Eyes For You (The Flamingos), MARTINA TOPLEY-BIRD
Use Me (Bill Withers), JIM WHITE
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (The Smiths), JOSEPH ARTHUR
Forever (Beach Boys), DEAN AND BRITTA
Your Sweet Voice (Matthew Sweet), MILTON MAPES
Inutil Pasagem (Jobim), VINICIUS CANTUARIA
Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square (The Manhattan Transfer), MINDY SMITH

And, in case you missed it, you can stream Golden Apples of the Sun (a folk-inflected hipster compilation curated by the delectable Devandra Banhart) which has my favorite track from the treach, but ultimately godly, Joanna Newsom album. Pitchfork likes it, so who can complain? (Thanks BrooklynVegan!)

MIA/Diplo at Knitting Factory

Diplo is back kids, and MIA is coming along for kicks. That's right, it's PFT live.

Is definitely of the best 'albums' of 2004 that I forgot to add to my list.

$2 of every ticket goes to the tsunami relief effort.

Get your tickets for LA or NY.

They. will. sell. out. fast.
Get. them. now.

Pitchfork review of Piracy Funds Terrorism.
Download Piracy Funds Terrorism. [thanks boomselection.info!]

Pitchfork Re-design

So with the anticipation reaching fever levels (just kidding), Pitchfork launches its much-hyped and oft-delayed relaunch today. My verdict: eh. It's blue and sparkly, which I guess is good (blue's my favorite color), but for a webzine prized for its indy roots - rightly or not - it feels like something's been lost with this latest glaze of stylesheet sheen. Hopefully this won't be allmusic.com redux, which switched from a slightly clunky but fast interface to one that, after relaunch, was so slow it made the site all but unusable.

I think it makes a lot of sense that Pitchfork wanted to do something a bit different visually; what I wonder is, with all the copycat zines [TMT, Stylus], with big media catching on to the indie scene [SPIN, mtvU] and with the blogs taking over, not to mention the bad press Pitchfork got with the leak of its ledger and the subsequent PR party, if it's all downhill. I hope not, because Matt LeMay is still one of my favorite music writers, and Pitchfork's introduced me to a lot of good shit over the years. Where we go from here is anyone's good guess.

Modest Mouse

I thought I could hold out, but I have (yet again) lost the battle. After being bombarded with Best of 2004 lists, countless MTV play, plentiful blog hype and even Pitchfork-approval and OC airtime, it seems that I have finally crumbled - I am now a fan, if a bit reluctantly, of Modest Mouse.

They always struck me as a bit mopey - and those affected vocals of Issac Brock never really did it for me. But there's a gorgeous, understated elegance to Float On, and the album seems to capture the zeitgeist of this year just right. Living in a city that's embraced optimism as a more adaptive alternative to utter despair, Modest Mouse fits right in - and if it's not quite as sweet as pure pop myopia, it's only because it's a bit more honest.

For more happy music with sadness lurking just beneath the surface, try the (also blog-hyped) Anniemal [Annie]. Not out in the states yet, but presently available at your favorite BitTorrent server. Excellent stuff.

New Apple Stuff

So let me be the first to say it, that new iPod shuffle (lowercase?) is hot. I disagree that it looks like a tampon/pregnancy test/whatever else the haters have been proffering. I think the "life is random" tag is actually fairly brilliant hype (nice job TBWA-LA), and I have a funny feeling Apple's gonna sell truckloads of these. At $99, now everyone can get in on the iPod action. And $149 for a gig is a good deal. My one complaint: the headphones blow. But you can't have everything.

Perhaps even bigger news is the launch of the Mac mini. Following in the footsteps of the iPod mini, Apple's paradigm shift for the industry - cut excess functionality, slash prices, then sell as a simpler product - will be the talk of the tech industry for the next decade. Of course, Apple's gorgeous form factors and hip brand status don't hurt either. The mini's shockingly aggressive price point - $499 - will draw in a lot of PC users who don't want to fork over $2000 for a new computer, but are ready to leave their spyware and virus-infested operating system hell.

It will be fun to see how these two products sell over the next few months. My prediction: balls-to-the-wall sales. Good luck Apple.

Sunday Wrap

About to head out to The Rambles, which is apparently the new non-hetero thing to do with your Sunday night. Initially, I was all about the Alien Hominid in my PS2 right now, or catching up on some Offices. But that's oh-so-suburban, isn't it? Gotta pretend this rent is worth it somehow.

In other, more intellectual news, bad-boy scenster mag n+1 recently published a sort-of eulogy for Susan Sontag. Note to Ben Kunkel - reading an author's books is generally a prereq for writing her euology. But to each their own. I think Ms. Sontag deserved better, and I'm only glad I got a chance to see her read at Where's My Democracy? last Spring. She was absolutely brilliant. We will miss you, Ms. Sontag. [See her final essay, Regarding the Torture of Others, via Southern Cross Review].

Can you believe someone is actually cashing this out? WTF? Best eBay post ever?

Alright, time to freeze.

The Constantines

Playing tonight. Mercury Lounge. 11:30 (expect them around midnight).

As the Canadian indie scene continues to explode, The Constantines were there all along, and they're still performing some of the most intelligent and patently political indie rock to come along in, well, a long time.

[Link to TMT review of Shine A Light, The Constantines]