Let's skip the small talk and get right to the goods...


Marked as a must-buy: The first-ever Silver Jews tour comes to the Middle East Downstairs on Sunday, March 19th, and tickets go on sale tomorrow morning, Dec. 22nd, via ticketmaster and at the Middle East box office. Joos Main main DC Berman has promises "A fiery oratorical performance, as Bob Nastanovich reads his challenge 'Address To the Men of This Town', 'Professional style' multimedia stageshow, Country Comedy by Kevin Guthrie and Corny Crow, Show co-hosted by the lovely Cassie Berman". Well, whatever the hell it is, I'll be there.


The four gentlemen who make up the newly-christened Undertow Orchestra will be hitting Boston's Museum of Fine Arts for a special Valentine's Day show (February 14th, duh). Tickets are now available here, with special (and therefore slightly more pricey) 'Front of House' tickets available here. And who are these musical men? Namely David Bazan (Pedro the Lion), Mark Eitzel (American Music Club), Will Johnson (Centro-Matic), and Mr. Vic Chesnutt. They'll be performing 'in the round', alternating songs and collaborating on either others' work, I'd imagine. Promises to be a magical night, indeed. Nearly 20 other dates are scheduled, although it looks like Canada and the West Coast are missing out. Shame, that.


Speaking of Pedro the Lion, looks like there's a bit of a shake-up in PtL-land. While it's always been David Bazan's baby, singer/songwriter TW Walsh has become an integral part of the 'band' in recent years. According to this thread, their collaboration has come to an end, and so has the band name 'Pedro The Lion'. TW decided that being a touring musician isn't for him, what with family and all, and without TW involved, Bazan no longer wants to release songs under the Pedro name. Here's a bit of the post from Bob at the Undertow board:

"Dave will be making music, touring, and releasing records under his own name. He'll still be writing and singing the songs. Just not under the name Pedro The Lion. The short term plan is for Dave to do the Undertow Orchestra tour in February (see that other post) and then do some solo touring and maybe some Headphones touring in the spring and summer.

We'll probably have some sort of web and show only CD ready by Feb or March. It'll be Dave doing stripped down versions of Pedro songs and maybe a new song or two. We don't know exactly what songs yet.

Then Dave will work on a proper studio album in the spring and summer that will be released by Jade Tree in early 2007.

There will most likely be a new Headphones recorded by the end of 2006 for release by Suicide Squeeze sometime after the solo album.

TW decided that being a full-time musician and being away from his family 100+ days a year was not the best thing for him now. Dave does not want to call what he does Pedro The Lion without TW's involvement. There are no hard feelings, no weirdness, or anything dramatic to worry about. TW did not break up Pedro The Lion. Dave has been thinking about dropping the band name for a long time. They are still good friends. TW will continue to work on The Soft Drugs recordings and i'm sure will be playing shows in and around Seattle whenever he can.

This is not to say that the Pedro The Lion name will never be used again. But for as far as we are planning ahead, there will be no new releases or touring using the band name Pedro The Lion."

So there ya go. TW Walsh also shares his thoughts on the matter right over here.


My already-ample appreciation and respect for Kristin Hersh and the crew over at Throwing Music grows larger with the release of the new 50 Foot Wave 5-song 'Free Music EP', released under a spiffy Creative Commons License, and shared over at the TM website. Great stuff, released in a refreshing way. Go grab it, and help spread the word.


Thanks to Torr (as always) for reminding me of the WOXY Lounge Acts archive. Downloadable sessions from Rogue Wave, Low, Aberdeen City, The Wedding Present, & bunches more.


Indie Interviews is a weekly podcast, and if you can't figure out the content from the title, you probably still don't know what a podcast is. Recent guests include Andrew Kenny from American Analog Set, the Rogue Wave guys, and John from the Long Winters. Many more to be had, so take a look at the list.


For those of you who dug the Mark Gardener live set I shared up a couple weeks back, be sure to check out his recent on-air appearance over at KCRW.


One of the main reasons I encourage people to leave feedback in my 'Nac posts (aside from boosting my fragile ego) is that I get to occasionally discover new and quickly-bookmarked music blogs from commentators, like The Oh So Quiet Show, fr'instance. Great site, go 'n look.


C-Ryan has been sharing some great live music through his MySpace page. Take a look.


Yes, I still TiVo Saturday Night Live. And yes, I too was blown away by the 'Lazy Sunday' rap short they aired this past weekend. It was like a breath of fresh comedic air, and I only hope it's the start of funnier things to come. Hiring the Lonely Island guys was one of the smartest moves SNL has made in a very long time. Want the audio only? Here ya go.

(note: only on the internet can writing about something that aired just over 3 days ago feel 'ancient')


I would be remiss if I didn't at least mention the fact that Office-Extras-man Ricky Gervais has a new podcast over at the Guardian Unlimited. And by 'new', I mean it started two weeks ago. Pay attention!


So the new DVD set of 24 Season 4 included a special 10-minute 'prequel' for upcoming Season 5. Suppose you don't collect the box sets, but are still kinda curious? Well, go here. Jack rocks a hoodie, Strider-style.


On a recent episode of Veronica Mars, a couple of GMail addresses appeared on screen, one used by Logan while trying to track down some missing videotapes, and one used by a police force employee. Naturally, Amie and I were geeky enough to send a message to each of 'em. The replies...

from gottapes@gmail.com:

"I already have the tapes and destroyed them. If you want to hound someone, why don't you hound Veronica Mars. She can be reached at http://www.upn.com/shows/veronica_mars/

-Logan

and from inga.olofson@gmail.com:

"Dear Sir or Madame, If you are inquiring about the missing Aaron Echolls tapes, I do not have them and would never sell them. I appreciate my job too much. Please direct any further requests to Ms. Mars. She can be reached at: http://www.upn.com/shows/veronica_mars/

Sincerely,
Inga Olofson
Clerk, Balboa County Sheriff's Department

Aces.


I've been on a serious stand-up comedy kick lately, thanks in no small part to the full-length Comedians of Comedy documentary on Showtime, and the subsequent series on Comedy Central. Weekly laughs from Patton Oswalt, Zach Galifianakis, Brian Posehn, & Maria Bamford. I'm loving Oswalt & Posehn's unrestrained comic-book nerdery, on full display when the comedy tour arrives in a particular city on a Wednesday (new comic day!). The latest episode had the duo hitting Newbury Comics before their August gig at the Paradise (too bad someone didn't direct them to Comicopia... they woulda had plenty of backing boards for Brian).

I've been a Patton fan for a long time, but the show has prompted me to dig deeper into the work of the other three, especially Galifianakis. I fortunately picked up the self-released "Look Who It Isn't" DVD from his site just before it sold out completely, and it looks like it's gone for good. That's a shame, as it has some truly excellent stuff on it, including some brilliant bits from his short-lived VH1 talk show, Late World (which I'm guilty of ignoring, along with the rest of the world, sadly). There are also some great stand-up clips, including a show where the cringe-worthy ex-Survivor freak Johnny 'Fairplay' shows up in the crowd, and Zach has at him ("I'm casting a new reality show... it's called Awkwardness."). There are also appearances from Sarah Silverman & Adam Goldberg, but the best surprise was at the very end of the DVD: The Shins performing "Know Your Onion" on 'Late World'.

Here's what Zach G. had to say in the DVD liner notes:


There'll be another disc sometime next year, so join his mailing list for news.

Another episode of CoC had Oswalt & Bamford appearing on a radio show, recommending other comics they think are doing great work. Having faith in their opinions, I wrote 'em down and did some surfing. They include: Louie CK, Andy Kindler, Melissa Paull, Jen Kirkman, Morgan Murphy, Howard Kremer, Eddie Pepitone, Jackie Kashian, & Dan Mintz. Lots to look and listen for.


I've got a few more posts in progress that I'll hopefully crank out very soon as my holidays-off draw near. Some random live mp3s, a post of holiday songs, and some audio from the Jewcy party I checked out when I was in NYC. Until then...