What's The Point Of Even Seeing Vampire Weekend If You're Not Going To Blog About It?

Katelyn and I continued our uber-hetty Valentine's Day week concert series last Saturday. Amazingly, I got a Saturday off of work and we trekked out to the Museum Of Fine Arts to see Vampire Weekend, the buzziest buzz band in the history of buzz.

I had never seen a concert at the MFA before and it had been described to me as, "Like seeing a concert in a college lecture hall." I suppose that is pretty accurate but Vampire Weekend lead singer Ezra Koenig described it even better saying, "This is like that Fugees video in the movie theater."

Agreed.

We got there early enough to nab 7th row seats (first 4 rows were reserved), and we were actually sitting in front of the opening act's (Sam Rosen) grandparents and family. Though the Sam Buck Rosen band didn't do it for me (great guitar work, little emphasis on melodies), Sam Rosen himself seemed like a good, hilarious dude.

Vampire Weekend took the stage around 9 to the delight of a lecture hall full of hipsters (at least 7 Urban Outfitters must've been robbed due to under staffing that evening.) They were much better musically than I expected. The guitar and drums were particularly awesome. On CD (and on Letterman) they seem kinda simple and sterile, but in a real live music venue they were energetic and rhythmic.

They played every song on their current album (including 'Boston' from the leak) and one new song.

Koenig was hilarious and very good with the crowd, even explaining the confusion about their 'Masschusetts Song Trilogy' (Boston, Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, Walcott) and how everyone thinks they're from Massachusetts.

They're not, but they love our state and fair port city all the same.

Here are some YouTube snippets I took of Oxford Comma and Walcott.

All The News That's Fit To Say Holy Fucking Shit To Print

So, holy fucking shit. Angel, Brian and Steve were in the NY Times today in a profile about them and We Need Girlfriends.

Big shout out to Tino for spotting this first this AM!

Read it!!!

Thoughts On A Super Bowl

Fuck, the Pats sucked tonight and the G-men played out of their minds. Belichick had some questionable decisions aside from his attire (eschewing the FG, not challenge the fumble recovered by Pierre Woods,)

What's worse are the Jets fans coming out of the woodwork talking shit.

Enjoy the 3rd pick in the draft, douchenozzles.

Fuck. Guess I'll have to send my Pat-Fection tshirt to Africa.

Details Of My Awesomeness Have Been Greatly Exaggerated Are Completely Spot On

An awesome shout out must go out to my homie Dan who, despite being a card carrying Philadelphia Flyers fan, was awesome enough to nab me an autographed Vampire Weekend CD in New York City last night. They personalized it to me to avoid it being eBay-ed (despite their poison-Ivy League educations, the suckers have never heard of jeffBay [ka-ching]) and it'll be in my mailbox in some time. I'm stoked.

So stoked, in fact, that I will now pass along this description of the event from Dan's experience at the in-store trendathon.

I actually stood next to this über-nerdy music dork (like myself) and his girlfriend in line for an hour or two. They went to Fordham so we chatted about college and music downloads and vinyl and Vampire Weekend and stuff like that.

Sad thing is, Vampire Weekend has seemed to spawn this entirely different hipster creation... it's more of a mix between a Stanford-esque preppy kid (sweater/cardigan tied around shoulders, pink Brooks Brothers shirt, skin-tight jeans, and docksiders) and the 'Death Cab for Cutie'-Lovin' Williamsburg-spawned scum. and all of them were pretty young... but the band really put on a fun show and their music rules so i was able to ignore their emo aids for the most part.

Wow, sounds like Katelyn and I need to hit up a combination of the most expensive thrift store we can find, Urban Outfitters and the Polo Outlet before February 9ths show at the Museum Of Fine Arts (sounds like I should also get a monocle to round things out.) The good news is that I'm pretty sure I can find all those stores in the Natick Collection now.

Holy Shit: The Video Exists!

More than a year ago I brought you this post, transcribing my favorite Conan moment ever. Today, with thanks to Katelyn, the video has resurfaced on Sports Guy's blog.

Hallelujah.

The good stuff happens at the 4:00 minute mark.

Visual Proof That I'd Look Out Of Place In A Band


Video: Click Here

Blake Lively's One Mental Roadblock

Accepted was on HBO the other night so I watched it again. Despite the fact that Justin Long kinda creeps me out and it makes me remember the I originally saw the movie alone while waiting for people to get out of work, I like that flick.

I noticed, however, that Blake Lively refers to Bartelby (Long) as 'B'. What appeared to me as a mere nickname last year now revealed itself to be her weakness. In Gossip Girl she also refers to her best friend as 'B'.

Coincidence? Type casting? A bizzare form of Autism? WTF you watch Gossip Girl?

We may never know. Well, except for the last question. I totally watch that show.

Top 10 Albums of 2007: Blame Canada

There's something special brewing up in the Great White North. Some of the best music in the past few years comes from Canada. This year it was even more apparent while compiling my top 10 list. The best part, in my opinion, is that it's very familial. Everyone is in everyone else's band.

Check this out (names of bands who put out albums in '07 are bolded):

Lonesome American Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse signed Wolf Parade to their record deal. Wolf Parade’s lead singer Spencer Krug also fronts Sunset Rubdown and he’s in the band Swan Lake with Frog Eyes’ lead singer Cary Mercer. Dan Bejar is a member of both Swan Lake and Wolf Parade and, oh yeah, he’s also in a little band called The New Pornographers.

Then, on the other end of Canada, take the band Stars. Owen Pallet who wrote the Arcade Fire’s string movements for their first two albums, helped work on some Stars remixes. Three Stars members are also in Broken Social Scene, whose alumni include Kevin Drew and Leslie Feist (she of the catchy 1,2,3,4 ipod Nano song).

Pretty cool, eh? With limited amounts of adieu, here's my Top 10 of 2007.

#10 Frog Eyes - Tears Of The Valedictorian

There's a good chance I cannot pinpoint one specific lyric from this entire album. Such is Carey Mercer's vocal styling. But he sings in front of swirling, chaotic melodies that together make for some amazing songs.

Key Track: "Bushels". 9 Minutes of insanity that somehow mesh to create some beautiful chaos.

#9 Peter, Bjorn and John - Writer's Block

This album came out in their native Sweden last year, but since it didn't make it stateside (legally) until February of 2007, I'm putting it on the list. All hail technicalities! If you haven't heard anything from this album you probably don't make it out much. Actually, you probably do make it out much seeing as songs from this album get tons of play in countless ads and TV shows. You know that song with all the whistling? That's "Young Folks" by Peter Bjorn and John.

Key Track: 'Up Against The Wall". Alternately referred to as, that song in the Levis commercial.

#8 Vampire Weekend

This is one of those "widely circulated/not yet released" albums. Consider it like a rap mix tape minus Little Wayne. Vampire Weekend is made up of a few hyper literate dudes from Columbia University who play a style of music described as "Upper West Side Sowetto". I have no idea what this means, but I do know they play catchy little ditties, sing about Cape Cod and Boston and their album, when officially released, will probably be in the Top 10 of 2008.

Key Track: "Oxford Comma". I'm a sucker for songs about punctuation.

#7 Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover

A lot of the musical styling I mentioned in reference to Frog Eyes can be appropriated here, although Sunset Rubdown does it with much more flair. I would describe this album as if you were to head to the theater on acid. And, while I'm unfamiliar with both (going to the theater and doing acid) it sounds about right.

Key Track: "The Mending Of The Gown". Indescribable. Might be my favorite song of the year and is most definitely my favorite to sing. I need to find indie rock karaoke.

#6 Stars - In Our Bedroom After The War

Brilliant album, great for, uh, lazing about in your bedroom (wars not necessary). This placement on the list is in no way related to the fact that I know the brother-in-law of Stars' drummer and he has sent me free gear in the mail.

Key Track: "Window Bird". Hard to pick just one as the whole album has a magnificent flow.

#5 The White Stripes - Icky Thump

I'm still harboring ill feelings towards Meg White for canceling out on the Austin City Limits Music Festival. As if her acute anxiety wasn't bad enough, now she has to worry about an anonymous blogger from the intrawebs hating on her. Great album though. Really shocking.

Key Track: "Conquest". A duel between Jack White's guitar and a mariachi trumpeter?! Sign me up!

#4 Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare

Despite all the Canuck love I'm still a sucker for Brit rock. This album took awhile to grow on me, especially being in the shadow of their spectacular debut, but I really do love it. Alex Turner, despite being one of the tiniest men I have ever accidentally bumped into, is still the finest songwriter concerning songs about being in your early 20's.

Key Track: "Brianstorm". Biggest potential diss/compliment to anyone named Brian ever recorded. Also happens to be laden with fantastic riffs.

#3 Radiohead - In Rainbows

I was finally able to download this album at about 2am the night it came out. Suffice it to say, I was up until 4:30am with my headphones in, listening and re-listening to this majestic album. And, I'm stealing this quote from Rolling Stone, many people paid more for a gallon of gas this year than they did to buy this amazing album.

Key Track: "All I Need". Thom Yorke singing over a meandering synth crunch. So good.

#2 Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank

Critics of this album say it's too accessible. What?! Sounds like some upset fanboys, mad that their favorite band made catchier music. This album is heavily nautically themed and features one of the world's most unusual vocalists in Isaac Brock. I love it from start to finish and it's inspired me to listen to every Modest Mouse recording I can get my hands on.

Key Track: "Education". I picked this because it's my favorite demonstration of Brock's unique vocals, though really every track is a winner. "Dashboard" and "Missed The Boat" being two standouts.

#1 Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

Who's surprised? My favorite band, my favorite live act, my favorite album of the year. It all goes together so perfectly. One of the best albums ever recorded, in my opinion, featuring blistering group vocals and swooping orchestral movements. A masterpiece.

Key Track: A tie between "Intervention" and "Keep The Car Running"

Let me know what you think!

Would've Been A Sweeter Shirt If They Lost...




Ah the spoils of working in local media. The money's no good, but the t-shirts! Oh, the t-shirts!

Snow And The Subsequent Addition Of Our 4th Bathroom

Amidst the clusterfuckery of snow storm after snow storm in the Boston area (We've already topped all of '06-'07's snow totals and it only officially became winter yesterday), most every place of business decided to run out of rock salt and ice melt.

Backed into a corner that we had just shoveled out of, Paul and I were forced to resort to (our last resort?) kittie littering our entire fucking driveway, steps and walk.

Surprisingly, it worked better than anything ever had before, and BONUS: we can now shit in our driveway!

Unfortunately Getting Addicted To Making My Own LOLcats

I'm Sorry For Further Perpetuating The Myth That Hannukah Is An Extremely Religious Holiday

It seems every year I go through the same rigmarole of explaining to goys people that Hannukah really isn't a holiday of extreme religious importance.


This year I personally caused my movement a step backwards by going on vacation over the course of Hannukah. The following conversation ensued many a time:

-I'm off for the next 9 days
-Oh, for Hannukah, right?
-It's Hannukah?

Oh well, thems are the breaks.

Not Going On Isiah Thomas' Resume


Last night was absolutely ridiculous. It was one of those scenes were everyone in the stands was just laughing and giggling at the trainwreck that is the New York Knicks. Even the beer vendors were shocked at the Knicks suckery. They didn't believe me when I told them the Knicks score after the 1st quarter. To be fair, it was the 4th time I'd stopped by for Sam Adams, so I probably wouldnt believe me either.

Proof I Did Something Extracurricular In College

If you're a religious reader of this blog (aka my Mom or someone who's computer is inexplicably frozen on this website), you probably noticed my pimpage of the newly minted CBS property, "We Need Girlfriends". That of course, being that it was created by 3 of my best friends from Hofstra.

I'm sure you're wondering, 'Jeff, why didn't you get in on any of that sweet action? Were you too busy pursuing your dream of becoming a local newswriter?'

My answer to that question, being, 'Fuck you, insulting hypothetical.'

But I did do some majorly minor stuff with them, mostly casting, but Steve and I put our heads together to create this gem, Wuss Fight Club.

In our dreams we will one day create an entire Wuss _____ series. Like, Wuss Ocean's 11: "You're on parole, should you really be planning this?" or Wuss Old School: "Maybe I should spend some time with my new bride" or maybe even Wuss 10 Commandments: "Woah, those guys have whips!"

While you're thinking of new titles (it's addicting) check out the short film, "Wuss Fight Club"

It's the ultimate First Person Shooter


OMG. Heroin Hero exists!






(thanks to Justin)