It's in the Gothenburg water

Evergreen Days, a name partially borrowed from a Felt Song is one Swedish woman Emelie Berg, an 8 track and her Cubase software.

Her songs somtime remind us of our old friends The Fairways if Brent were a girl.

Evergreen Days - Waiting
Evergreen Days - Hollywood Pictures

More songs at her Myspace page

Her music is available for purchase at My Secret Garden ( although I do believe everything is sold out)

Sit back and wait for prestige, fortune and fame!

Pretty Girls Make Graves "Make Our Video" contest

From the press release

YouTube is pleased to announce we've partnered with Matador Records to bring you the totally exclusive Pretty Girls Make Graves "Make Our Video" contest! Imagine the prestige and glory of winning the first-ever music video contest on YouTube and making a video for a band who has toured the world with Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand and Death Cab for Cutie.

Entering the Contest is Easy:

1. Download the MP3 'Nocturnal House' from the band's upcoming record 'Elan Vital'
2. Make your very own video to Nocturnal House
3. Upload Your Video to YouTube
4. Join the Pretty Girls Make Graves Group and add your video
5. Sit back and wait for prestige, fortune and fame!

more iPod gadgets I don't need but will buy

Apple today unveiled the new iPod Hi-Fi which is basically looks like a speaker, you can run it on D-cell batteries so you can take it on the 22 Fillmore bus and blast the new Sufjan.

Thank You For The Dove

Zonicweb has a list of what it considers to be 156 bad album covers and includes Deerhoof's MilkMan and fellow San Franciscans Xiu Xiu who claim the number 4 spot






Number 1 was The Scorpions













Two favorites

brad valente plays belle and sebastian

someone shot a short clip of themselves playing harmonica along with the B&S song I'm a Cuckoo. It's a quick laugh.

Blue Jays are still Blue

That was quick. Clips from Belle and Sebastian's performance Saturday night in Toronto



More clips here

Pink Panther Punk

I was over at the must-read Scarstuff Blog and came across the early 80's album "Pink Panther Punk".

"Pink Panther Punk can be noted by it's insistence on COMPLETELY missing the mark; the LP is a weird mix of between-song skits that lead into covers of somewhat contemporary songs by AOR faves Pink Floyd, Billy Joel & the Doobie Brothers (with Blondie's "Call Me" providing the sole Wave-O moment) alongside equally crummy originals like "Rock And Roll Panther. Despite top billing the pink one himself only sings a song or two, and though perpetually silent in the cartoons he's vocally imagined here as a charmless Tommy Chong-esque stoner."


What A Fool Believes

You can read the entire post and download the album here

The Nuge

VH1 has gone into business with a few heavy-metal American idols! . "SuperGroup," a reality show that casts Ted Nugent, Scott Ian, Sebastian Bach, Evan Seinfeld and Jason Bonham as members of a new band aimed at bringing metal back to the forefront of the music scene. The rockers from different bands will live together for two weeks in Las Vegas. They will endure boot camp-style training from iconic rock manager Doc McGhee in preparation for a concert at Sin City night spot Rain.

Fat Cats Are Trendy ...The Next Sudoku

A Northern Californian cat El Gordo tipped the scales at 32 pounds and that's after a diet. helped the tabby shed some 10 pounds over the last few months. But El Gordo's diet has been slow going lately because he keeps stealing food from the family's other pets

Aziz still funny

Stereogum has a new short from our favorite Aziz Ansari playing a record clerk at Other Music in New York
Indie Clerk Assholes

Previous Aziz Post
Aziz in da house

happy days

Watch this to laugh
Donny's a friend from the high school days, funny man, talented artist
.

Moeshaboom

There's a new Postal Servive song on iTunes, it's a remix of Feist's Mushaboom, it has Ben's voice and Jimmy's blip-blop-blips . It's good and you should go on iTunes and purchase it for 99 cents.

On the opposite end of the spectrum , here's Bright Eyes covering the same song, the perfect way to shit-tify a great song

The Same Conor Oberst who infamously said from stage "John Peel was a cokehead. I suppose that's why I like him; we have a lot in common" on The John Peel Stage! at the Glastonbury Festival, months after John Peel had died.

Love Will Tear Us Apart Will Scare Us Apart

Tuvan throat singer Albert Kuvezin covers Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart on the album "Re-Covers"

They also cover Exodus (Bob Marley), In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (Iron Butterfly), When The Levee Breaks (Led Zeppelin) and Ramblin’ Man (Hank Williams) among others.

Here's what Albert has to say about their choice of this cover:


"This band wasn¹t well known in Russia but some band made big name and good career during USSR time copying and imitating the likes of JD. I like the mood and guess our manager Jim likes them very much."

Available for purchase here

Such Great Heights Dance

Why are there so many videos online of people lip-synching and dancing to songs in their homes. Is this the next Sudoku and everyone's going to be going apeshit over it hosting lip-synch video shoot parties?

This one is pretty golden with some really inspired dancing, great props (crutches) and a finale with the guy getting beamed out of the room ala Star Trek style.

Pancho and Lefty

Willie Nelson's ode to the gay cowboy "Cowboys are Frequently Secretly (Fond of Each other)". Someone put a video together with scenes from the film. That Willie, he'll totally smoke you out, he's that cool

Mu Shu Fat Cat

A 33-pound cat in Qingdao, China, is being described as a "feline monster" because of its 31-inch waist and large size, according to a report.

The 9-year-old cat from the Shandong Province is so heavy it needs the help of its owner to get onto a bed. However, the cat is in surprisingly good health despite its weight, Local 6 News reported.The cat's owner said it has no interest in eating fish but prefers to eat six pounds of chicken and pork each day.This fat cat is not alone in his weight problem, according to the report. Obesity has become a serious problem for the modern cat, primarily due to a lack of exercise and a richer diet. Cats are susceptible to a range of illnesses including kidney trouble and diabetes, if they are allowed to remain overweight.

Psyched! Folk part II

The Imitation of Christ Fashion Midwinter Party

Tara Subkoff and Devendra Banhart









Psyched! Folk part I

The Pipettes

The Pipettes do the Motown/Girl Groups schtick very well, it's hard not to like them. A little kitsch for sure and it makes sense that The Go Team and them are touring and are label mates. I'm a little bit suspicious about them the same way I am about any attractive and well thought out group, I guess their looks are a curse that they'll and we will have to live with.

Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me
Dirty Mind
MP3's from blog The Rich Girls Are Weeping
The Video for Dirty Mind

Purchase mech from their website

Somebody's Heiney is crowning my icebox.

In the New York Times today

"There are so many difficulties to being a musician, and being a rock star...Here I can escape the pain of my profession."

Shortly after the (Weezer) tour ended on Dec. 22 with a sold-out show in Tokyo, the band's singer and songwriter, Rivers Cuomo, settled into a tiny, monastic dormitory room at Harvard, from which he will graduate this spring with a bachelor's degree in
English.He lives alone, in a modest 14-by-9-foot room with the standard-issue desk, bureau and bed, to which he has added only a map of the world, taped to the wall, and a small Oriental rug bought for less than $200 by Sarah Kim, his personal assistant. "Most people wouldn't expect a rock star to be happy living in a dorm room," said Ms. Kim, "but he is."

Oh Say Can You Sing

In honor of pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training, songs from Oh Say Can You Sing?, A CD showcasing Major League Baseball players singing, playing drums, banjo or guitar.

Ozzie Smith, Hall of Famer:
'Cupid'

Ben Broussard, Cleveland Indians First Baseman:
'With or Without You'

Matt Ginter, Detroit Tigers Pitcher:
'Dooley'


(Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith performs his version of "Cupid," made famous by Sam Cooke )

Shake your Rump

I found this on youtube.com

Footage shot by a crew member during a 2000 Modest Mouse tour with 764 Hero & The Shins , later edited together by someone as that persons video entry for a Beastie Boys/myspace.com contest... I think that's the story

A Serge , A Cat and A Mrs.White

Later this month the Serge Gainsbourg tribute album "Monsieur Gainsbourg revisited" will be released. Features collaborations between Jarvis Cocker and Kid Loco, Franz Ferdinand and Jane Birkin, & Cat Power and Karen Elson

Here's Cat Power and Karen Elson a.k.a Mrs.Jack White version of I Love You (Je t'aime...moi non plus) from Filles Sourrires Blog

iPod Jam

The success of the iPod has inspired toymakers to create instruments that let kids jam with their favorite tracks. Blue Box Toys' b2 division this week introduces the MiJam line, pitched to musicians ages 8 to 14. The drumsticks connect to an iPod and let kids add extra percussion to a song. The stringless guitar features a strumming pad and a bar for vibrato effects

Less Valentine, More Gene Wilder

Valentine's Day isn't over yet for Gene, send him an email Catsanova@hotornot.com

Less Valentine, More Whiskey

What A Fool Believes - Doobie Brothers
Anti-Human - Pinback
Cry - Godley & Creme
Damn Shame - Jolie Holland
September Song - Spain
I Left My Heart In San Francisco - Tony Bennett

All songs available at iTunes

Hustle and Flow Mang

This past Friday we saw and loved the film Hustle and Flow, the story of a Memphis pimp in a mid-life crisis who attempts to become a successful rapper.

Here's a short clip from the film, the scene in which they write their first song Whoop that Trick

The film's song It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp is up for an Oscar which should be quite a sight when it's performed live in front of a billion people.

We read Billboard Magazine cause you won't.

Cat Power's "The Greatest" debuted at 34 on the
The Billboard 200 album chart but debuting higher was Kenny Rogers at 24 with his record "21 Number Ones", Kenny had 21 number ones hits ? That's an actual photo from Kenny's website of him skydiving, hell yeah he had 21.

Did you know that Billboard has a weekly Hot Ringtones chart?

This week, Grillz by Nelly was #1, followed by My Humps at #2, not surprising right?

But how about The Super Mario Brothers Theme at #3, The Halloween Theme at #14 and The Pink Panther Theme at #15?

The Universe is in Australia

The lovely Gus Franklin from the band Architecture in Helsinki has himself another project with two others including his brother Lachlan. Called The Universe, they have an album entitled "The Outer Void Intrepid Sailor" available at MicroIndie Records. They've said this about themselves which hits the button..."With a nostalgic nod to ELO’s ‘Time,’ Bowie’s conceptual ghost and the ambience of Brian Eno"

Listen to songs at their myspace page

More of Fred the Undercover Kitty

Fred was an alley cat in Brooklyn before he went undercover with Carol Moran, an assistant district attorney. The case involved Burt, a terrier, and a sham veterinarian.

Cat Mops

For those of you that have been listening to the free Ricky Gervais Podcast shows you already know that Karl Pilkington is hysterical. Karl once said that "Some bacteria have better lives than Inuits" and he claims the Chinese who are at the forefront of invention, invented "Cat Mops" an invention where you put little mops on a cats feet "so they wander bout the house, clean up, wash the floor for you".

Wrong City Camera Obscura

My favorite people from Glasgow not coming to San Francisco

New York@ The Knitting Factory - March 22nd
Chapel Hill, N.C - March 20th
Austin, TX - SXSW

San Francisco song from the single 'Keep It Clean"

Kitten Goes Undercover in Vet Scam Probe

He came from the streets of Brooklyn, a cool customer on four legs, the perfect bait for a sting on a fake veterinarian. Meet Fred, undercover kitten.

Authorities on Wednesday introduced the 8-month-old former stray cat that posed as a would-be patient while police investigated a college student accused of treating pets without a license. At a news conference, Fred sported a tiny badge on his collar as he posed for photos with owner Carol Moran, a prosecutor."He's pretty easygoing, a real Brooklyn guy," Moran said.


Fred shared the spotlight with Burt the Boston terrier, an alleged victim of Steven Vassall, 28, who was arrested last week and released on $2,500 bail.Burt's owner, Raymond Reid, contacted authorities after the dog survived a botched operation. In hindsight, he said, he should have been suspicious of a veterinarian who only made house calls and treated animals at an undisclosed location.

Last week, an investigator posing as Fred's owner summoned Vassall to an apartment rigged with a hidden camera. Authorities played a videotape at the news conference showing the defendant saying the kitten could be neutered for $135.Vassall was arrested as he left the apartment carrying Fred in a box and cash for the operation.

Joyce Clemmons of the nonprofit Animal Care and Control, which rescued Fred, predicted the kitten had a future in law enforcement."He's going to be the detective for the animal world," she said.

Bonus Video of the press conference

grammys live blogging

lets do this blogsphere !!!!!

8:02 - dude, it's the itunes commercial song. it looks like run dmc are rapping. madonna took a wrong turn and missed the ballet class...what she wearing??? there'is a guitar hanging from an animated jock strap right now. where's damon alburn?

VIDEO

8:09 - Stevie Wonder, is he still blind? he just said alicia keys looks good. obligatory new orleans shout out! obligatory Coretta Scott King Shout out! Isn't "higher ground" a red hot chilli peppers song?

8:12 - first award, Gwen looks kinda fat... America Idol sweetheart Kelly Clarkson takes home the first prize. Let's give it up for reality tv! She just thanked her closet? She didn't thank Randy, Paula or Simon, what's up?

VIDEO

8:15 - Chris Martin's hair... looks like he got a perm before the awards... what's up with the tai chi on stage chris? what's up with running out into the audience and skipping back, he must be in good shape to do all that running, i'd be tired.

8:23 - The color went out on my tv. I've never heard this song before " ordinary people" by John Legend, what? isnt' that an Arrested Development song from the early 80's? The color fixed itself on my tv, John Legend's still black. Wow, this song's atrocious. Why's he dressed like Han Solo?

8:29 - Some white people are on stage singing country with bad sound tech problems, i think i just heard the police band radio over her singing... wow, electric mandolin, osama is laughing at america right now. Best Country Album....Boringgg, I need a cigarette break

8:42 - i got back in time to see Dharma from Greg and Dharma give U2 a standing ovation.

8:45 - who invited matt dillon to the grammys?

8:47 - who invited tom hanks to the grammys?

8:49 - best rap album? kanye west, he's wearing driving glasses and gloves... he thanked God , then Jon Brion, two white men first...kanye!! obligatory JayZ shout out! he better button up that shirt or he's going to catch a cold..

8:55 - who invited ben rothelisberger to the grammys?

8:56 -they showed footage from kelly clarkson talking from 2001...did someone have gastric bypass, cause she don't look so fat anymore. i thought i just saw a nose ring but it was only sweat, sorry. this song is depressing. i wonder if the bass player from death cab did anything different to his hair for tonight? maybe three curls instead of one? if they show arcade fire in their seats, that one guy better be wearing a motorcycle helmet...

9:00 - Gwen and Billy Joe presenting, Damn, she really did get a little fat. Best Rock Album.. The rolling stones have a new album? Neil Young had a new album? U2 won....Bono's talking about the circus right now... shouldn't you be in Zaire right now saving a child?

9:08 - my dvr better be recording Lost.

9:09 - That guy from Wings is up for best song. i wonder what ringo's doing right now?
too many shots of the sweaty bald large drummer singing back up.The Wings guy is playing Helter Skelter. George Harrison just rolled his eyes in his grave..Somewhere behind a veil Michael Jackson is smiling at the one dollar or so he's making off paul playing this song right now.

VIDEO

9:17 - Black Eye Peas in the hizzouse, Jennifer Love Hewitt looks disgusting. Fergie looks like a Kirstie Alley when she was a Vulcan in Star Trek.

9:19 - who invited Jennifer Love Hewitt to the Grammys?

9:28 - Mariah Carey , girl can sing. oh no, not a backup choir.

9:32 - Fiona Apple loses first award of the night to Kelly Clarkson.

9:51 - Ok , I'm done, watching that Keith Urban performance took too much out of me.

grammys live blog

i'm thinking about getting drunk and live-blogging during the grammys, i might end up stopping if the pain of watching it gets too much to endure and switch to live blogging Lost (Walt!) at 9 and Project Runway (Where's Andre?) at 10

Psyched! Folk

NYC Fashion Week Marc Jacob Party
Devendra Banhart and Helena Christensen.

Lightning AIDS Wolf Parade

I've been recently thinking about the Lightning Bolt 'Power of Salad' DVD that was released a few years ago and how good that fucker was. Pink and Brown interviewed about Lightning Bolt in full Pink and Brown costumes, priceless.

Today I stumbled across AIDS Wolf, a four piece femaled fronted band from Montreal which reminds me of the same orbit or a mini satellite of the bolt.

This song We Multiply was good when I listened to it drunk last night, but not as good hungover. Someone wrote 'Watching an AIDS Wolf show is like getting beaten up by your girlfriend in front of a large crowd"
Sure nerd.

Live footage of Lightning Bolt destroying you.
Destroy 1
Destroy 2

Love me till my heart stops, Love me till I'm dead

Video of David Byrne singing This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) with the Arcade Fire at Irving Plaza in New York, NY on February 2, 2005

The Golden Bears

Two-thirds of the band The Quails moved to Portland and made a record under the moniker The Golden Bears. Seth and Julianna have made the best record I've heard so far this year, I'm really, really impressed but not surprised at all. Take your pick between "With Linked Arms" or "You And All The Other Humans Like You" and you'll have a song that rival's Cat Power's "The Greatest" as the most beautiful of the year

Contact them here

With Linked Arms
You And All The Other Humans Like You
Wall to Wall

Hello, is it me you're looking for?

Nicole Richie keeping up the family tradition, a demo of her new song Dandelion

Warning, best lyric of the year "I thought he was a flower but I found out he's a weed"

A New Rocketship

It's been a long wait for a second pop album from Dustin and Rocketship,the classic "A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness" was released by Slumberland in 1996. Nine years later we have "Here Comes...Rocketship" released digitally via Nonstop Co-op, they are selling the album individually or as a package via suscription which also gets you music by Andrew Kaffer and Cynthia Nelson.

I've heard more than half the record and I have to say that nothing has diminshed Dustin's songwriting skills since 1996. If there is any justice this record and the Co-op itself will gain a wide audience.

They've posted two free songs
No More Tomorrows
Our New Track

Two songs from "A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness"
I'm Lost Without You Here
I Love You Like The Way I Used To Do

Super Bowl Sunday

If you're like me and you love to see little kittens going ape-shit on a miniature football field, watch this clip from the upcoming Bissell Kitty Half Time Show during Puppy Bowl II that airs on Animal Planet this Sunday at 3 pm EST.

I wish I could quit you

New York's The Public Theater celebrated its half-century on Monday night with a theatrical romp through five decades of its musical history. Natalie Portman and Zach Braff sang the LSD song "Initials" from "Hair"

Tony Blair to protect the freedom of cats from terrorists.

Pets are to be given five "freedoms" under new legislation before Parliament that aims to raise the standards of welfare by fining or jailing owners who neglect their animals. The freedoms include appropriate diet, suitable living conditions, companionship or solitude as appropriate, monitoring for abnormal behaviour and protection from pain, suffering, injury and disease. Owners could be fined up to £5,000 or given a prison sentence.

Once the Bill becomes law, secondary legislation could be introduced creating codes of conduct for different types of pet. An 18-page cat code has been drawn up as an example.

Please help me Dan Treacy

The end of this month Domino Records are releasing Television Personalites new record 'My Dark Places'

Here's the video for the first single All The Young Children On Crack

Why do you come here when you know it makes things hard for me...

Last week Rhino Records released Future Retro, a collection of '80s songs from the likes of Morrissey, New Order, etc... and according to label are "remixed by today's hottest club DJs and producers." Sparks?

Sparks breaks down Morrissey's Suedehead (from Silence is a Rhythm Too), I like it, it makes me laugh.

Here's what some die-hard fans thought of it...taken from the #1 Morrissey fansite Morrissey-Solo !!!!

• "Hey ! Not my kind of music... but it makes you realize how strange Morrisseys voice really was in those days. Now it's like silk dipped in honey, but it was a little froggy back in the day, no ?"
• "Sparks should be shot. Slowly.
• "that was truly awful."