Mrshafrir.com

SportsCenter anchor Neil Everett drops 5 or 6 references to Moe. in this clip.

Moe.rons only need apply...

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 11:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The new Rilo Kiley album Under the Blacklight is, um, tasty.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 05:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One of the odd side-effects (among many) of my study abroad program in Prague was my resulting love of a band called Dispatch. This was my junior year in college, back in the spring of 2001.

Dispatch came and went, finally breaking up in 2004 (a moment immortalized in this awesome DVD). They were, as I've written before, a band fueled by the New England college, prep, and private school scene. They never signed to a label and were never really on the radio.

Like all good breakups, though, this one has a happy ending (or something like that). Dispatch announced a series of reunion concerts (to benefit Zimbabwe) next weekend at Madison Square Garden. All 3 shows sold out in about ten minutes. No unsigned band had ever sold out Madison Square Garden even once. Their song "Here We Go" is now the background music on a new HBO promo spot. Heady stuff.

What's the point of this post? Not the Dispatch back story.

They are also playing a charity show tomorrow night at Webster Hall, and like any good groupie fan, I'll be there. There's a Facebook page for the event as well so I took at look at who said they were going. Looks like the crowd is full of college freshman and high schoolers.

Well, you know what they say about Dispatch fans..."I keep getting older, they just stay the same age."

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 02:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Oh, Internet. A blessing and a curse.

For one thing, without you, I wouldn't have my job.

On the other hand, without you, there would be no Myspace. And with no Myspace I'd have no idea that Ben Kweller is playing 3 nights this summer at the Southpaw in Brooklyn. And with no information about these concerts (where he's playing each of his albums, one each night) I never would've just dropped $120 on 2 tickets to each night.

Considering that each of his albums is about 40 minutes long, I'm guessing I'll spend more time getting out to and back from Brooklyn each night then I will at the concerts.

Whatever, it should be a good warmup for the Virgin Music Festival the following weekend!

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 11:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Dear God of Tickets,

If you know where to find two tickets to the moe. concert on 12/30 at Irving Plaza, please strike me with lightning or something.

Thanks!

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Two concerts in two days. Luckily for me they were more the mellow acoustic type than the Rolling Stones.

First was Badly Drawn Boy at the Hiro Ballroom at the Maritime Hotel.

Usually when I go to Maritime (in New York's Meatpacking District), the conversation goes like this:

Doorman: You think I'm going to let 6 guys in at once?
Me: (crickets)

But this time, armed with a ticket, we had no problem getting in. Turns out the Hiro ballroom is a very cool place to see a show. It's reminded me of the Paradise in Boston, where it's small enough that no matter where you stand, you are close to the stage.

The show itself was good, although I've realized now that whenever you go to a pre-new-album-release concert, you're going to hear 7 or 8 songs you've never heard before. But like they say in hell, a day with snow is better than no snow at all. Or something like that.

Last night was Jenny Lewis and The Watson Twins at Town Hall, another great venue, although this one had seats.

The music reminded me of Ryan Adams (probably my favorite singer-songwriter type ever) but it was being sung by a hot vixen of a woman with an amazing voice. Her set was a short and sweet hour which ended with a great cover of the Travelling Wilbury's "Handle With Care".

Here's Jenny now:

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As Shap Deez points out in the comments, Jenny Lewis wasn't in Adventures in Babysitting.

Like I always say, if you sound convincing, the actual content (or the truthfulness of that content) is secondary.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 02:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This morning on the subway Booton pointed to a story in AM New York about a Badly Drawn Boy concert TONIGHT at the Hiro Ballroom at the Maritime Hotel.

I thought two things:

1) Hmmmm, why didn't I know about this?
2) Hmmmm, I wonder if tickets are still available.

Answers:

1) No idea. I usually know everything.
2) Yes sir! And we'll see you tonight at the Badly Drawn Boy concert!

Part two:

Tomorrow night is the Jenny Lewis and The Watson twins concert at The Town Hall. Jenny Lewis was in "Adventures in Babysitting" many moons ago. Now she's a really hot songstress who plays both solo and with her band Rilo Kiley. Good times. To celebrate, I even put an ad up on Craigslist for my boy CMike because he needed a date. If you're ever feeling bad about yourself, throw an ad up on Craigslist offering a free ticket to a concert in exchange for some company. The responses should cheer you up and remind you that things ain't so bad.

And this weekend...ahhh, too much at once. Let's just say it involves 12 guys, fantasy basketball, an auction, Michigan - Penn State at night, and probably the end of someone's life/sanity.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 01:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Big shout-out to CMike for coming up with a free ticket AND a ride to tomorrow night's Kanye West/Rolling Stones show at The Meadowlands.

I've never seen the Stones, but rumor has it they're a decent live band :-)...

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 04:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

See, this is what you get when you buy tickets in April for an outdoor concert tonight.

Ben Harper, let's get your act together and get this thing moved to Roseland or Hammerstein, where they have cool things...like a roof.

According to Pollstar, both are open...

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 09:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

God I love YouTube.

Apparently, I was the last to know about this guy (at this point, if you're finding out about Internet phenomena from the New York Times, you are, well, the last to know.

Check out this video of a 23-year-old guy from Korea just going NUTS on Pachelbel's Canon in D (an overplayed but GREAT wedding song). For my (supposed) wedding, I'm hiring Slash to just shred this as I walk down the aisle.

And Fred Wilson is dead on in his post about Social Widgets. Part of what makes YouTube great is that in addition to being able to mindlessly entertain yourself for hours, you have the ability to easily embed videos on things like this here blog.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 09:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As regular a reader of MrShafrir.com, you know of my love for a certain Mariah Carey.

So after watching a repeat of her episode of MTV Cribs episode tonight, where she showed off her 11,000 sq. ft., Tribeca TRIPLEX (approx. cost -- about 5 gazillion dollars), I thought I'd reminisce about her, well, meltdown on TRL a few years ago.

Thanks to YouTube, we can all share in this moment.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 09:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I just got Ben Kweller tickets. That's right, I did. Uh huh, I did.

Oct. 21 at Webster Hall, right near my apartment.

Oh yeah.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 06:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

3AM, Saturday night.
+
A few cocktails in the blood.
+
A credit card and my computer.
=
A 14-day free trial to Rhapsody.

Taking it for a test drive with Paris Hilton's new single -- that's what stuff like Rhapsody, a streaming music service (no downloads to iTunes), was made for. And you know what? Her song is, well, it's OK.

In my defense, I was looking for the Zombies song -- This Will Be Our Year -- from the Tiger Woods and his Dad commercial.

See where learning math got me?

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 10:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Ryan Adams is playing a secret show at Bowery Ballroom Friday night (early Saturday morning) that I can't go to. I'll be in Washington, DC getting ready for a trade show/conference. That stinks.

On the other hand, Tom Petty was an A++++++++++++ (like a really good ebay seller/buyer).

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 10:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I leave in an hour for the Tom Petty concert at Madison Square Garden.

Also on the bill -- Trey Anastasio (of Phish fame) and Stevie Nicks (of Fleetwood Mac and solo fame). Notice how I didn't say that Trey is famous for his solo work, because, well, it's just OK.

I've seen Phish a bunch of times (15 or 20 I'd say), and Trey with various incarnations of a band probably another 10. I really liked him with Oysterhead (his band with Les Claypool and Stewart Copeland, which, incidentally, reunited this past weekend at Bonnaroo). He was also pretty good with the first version of the Trey Anastasio Band who I saw back in either 2001 or 2002 (the memory is, ahem, hazy). The last time I saw him at Hammerstein Ballroom last May was underwhelming. I'm not too excited to see him tonight, especially not in an opening slot. The sad truth is that Trey is not Phish.

But oh Tom Petty! The excitement! I recently heard him described as "the guy whose songs you know all the lyrics to but you don't know you know them until you hear the song". Or something like that.

He put out a fantastic live album -- Pack Up The Plantation -- back in 1986, which had Stevie Nicks performing on a bunch of songs (including a fantastic ballad "Insider"). I've read that they are dueting on Nicks' "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" this tour which I am excited to see.

I've seen Petty a few times before. There are just so many songs that are real anthems -- "Free Falling", "Last Dance With Mary Jane", "You Don't Know How It Feels" and "Breakdown" to name just a tiny sample -- that play so well in an arena setting. He's one of the few artists that has put out multiple albums where I can listen to the entire thing straight through without skipping songs, and yes, know every word to every song. Albums like "Full Moon Fever", "Into The Great Wide Open", "Wildflowers" are just classics from beginning to end.

So yes, I'm excited.

Oh, and Guster's new album came out today. Good times...

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 05:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For as long as I can remember (like 7th grade or so), I've been a Mariah Carey fan. So much so, that my mom, to this day, refers to her as "my girlfriend". I even owned her self-titled debut on tape.

I've stood by Mariah through thick and thin, including her divorce from Tommy Mottola, her infamous meltdown on TRL a few years ago, and her disaster of a movie, Glitter. Her episode of Cribs is a personal life highlight of mine.

And yes, I know that tickets for the Emancipation of Mimi tour went onsale this morning. And yes, I sat long and hard at my computer thinking about buying a pair. But alas, I passed this time. Mariah, we will meet someday soon, Emancipation of Mimi tour or no Emancipation of Mimi tour.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

My experience began on an August morning in Foxboro (nee Foxborough), standing in the rain, waiting to get a bracelet for my spot at American Idol tryouts.

For Katharine McPhee and Taylor Hicks, it ends tonight.

And I suppose that if I were a freelancer working on a story for Rolling Stone, that's how I'd begin my story. But I'm not, so here we go with my recap:

Last night was the competition part of the American Idol finals (with tonight being a two-hour reunion show/exhibition). Each singer -- McPhee and Taylor-- sang two songs they had sung previously and a new song (that was different for each). The new song is slated to become their first single, assuming neither has a cocaine trafficking conviction between now and then.

Anyhow, McPhee chose one terrible song (a mid-tempo song with something to do with bananas), did one really great repeat performance of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow", and butchered the last song (the new Idol single) to the point that she was practically crying at the end.

Taylor, in the meantime, came out very strong to Stevie Wonder's "Living For The City", bored me through another rendition of "Levon", and, in American Idol parlance, "made it his own" with his new single (which, if I recall, had something to do with saying sorry. Or maybe not). I should also note that both Idol songs were accompanied by a fullscale gospel choir. The choir added about as much Deadspin adds to employee productivity.

It was a pretty average end, on both McPhee and Taylor's part, to a season that was probably had the most talent top-to-bottom of any other Idol season. In their defense, both songs that they were forced to sing sounded like something you'd hear at a High School talent show where the only rule is "must be original material".

So who do I think takes down the crown? Not me. But we already knew that. I'm not sure that McPhee had enough consistently great performances to push her to the top. I also don't sense that America has really gotten behind McPhee with the truly rock-solid support she needs to win.

Taylor Hicks it is, by a small margin.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 11:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Marc points to this amazing YouTube video of the Grateful Dead in a 1969 appearance of Hugh Hefner's "Playboy After Dark" show.

Hmmm, Grateful Dead? Playboy mansion? Trippy visual effects?

How come I never get invited to shit like this?

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 01:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

As far as rock stars go, Rivers Cuomo -- frontman for Weezer -- is a weird one.

There was an article a few years ago in Rolling Stone that detailed his life in a one-room LA apartment with nothing but a mini fridge and a mattress on the floor. We're not talking normal here.

But whaddayaknow? He's graduating this spring from Harvard.

Hope he has a few Bartley's Burgers before he leaves.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 01:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

You know, it would just be easier if you reunited instead of doing stuff like this:

Trey Anastasio has confirmed that he will tour with the Benevento/Russo Duo featuring Mike Gordon this summer. The former Phish guitarist has recently recorded four songs with Gordon and the Duo in Brooklyn for his next album, Bar 17, including an orchestra-bolstered version of “Goodbye Head.” In addition, Anastasio’s solo album will include contributions from Cyro Baptista and selections from the Barn sessions recorded before Shine. “I’m kind of getting back to the record I was working on before Shine,” Anastasio told Sirius Jam_On this afternoon. “It’s more in line with what people would expect from me.” Anastasio, Gordon, Russo and Benevento will embark on a three-week tour with Phil Lesh this summer. In addition to Gordon, who has toured with the Duo on several occasions, Page McConnell and Jon Fishman have both recently jammed with the organ and drums combo. The Benevento/Russo Duo will issue its next studio album, Play, Pause, Stop, later this summer.

Cause, you know, that way we wouldn't actually have to go see you at this show in hopes that Phish would reappear. We could just buy a ticket to a Phish concert. That makes sense.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 06:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The best part of last night's American Idol was the pained look on the David Foster's face as he worked with some of the contestants. Just priceless.

And now, an open letter to Kellie Pickler...

Dear Kellie,

PACK IT IN!

TIME TO GO!

YOU IRRITATE ME!

YOUR MAKEUP IS TERRIBLE!

YOUR HAIR IS WORSE!

YOUR ACT IS TIRESOME!

YOU CAN'T SING!

Love,

MrShafrir

And now, a song for you:

Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day

A few random thoughts about last night:

- Katherine Mcphee looked great. Plus she had a wardrobe "malfunction" when a button on her dress popped open, revealing a lot more leg than she probably intended. I didn't agree, at all, with the judges criticism of her. It could be that Whitney's "I Have Nothing" is one of my favorite songs of all-time, but I thought she did a pretty good job. It certainly wasn't the hack job the judges made it out to be.

- Paula Abdul crying over Elliot Yamin. I don't have anything to say about that. Stunned silence, really.

- I thought the double-barreled guitar attack with Chris Daughtry was a little heavy handed, especially with both of them plucking along Mariachi-style, but overall his performance was solid (as usual).

- The bottom 3? I'm going with Pickler, Paris, and, in a surprise, Taylor. Of course, it's probably going to be Mcphee, but I refuse to contribute to her demise by placing her in the MrShafrir.com bottom 3. Pickler, whooooaaaaaa SEE YA!

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

You could say I was mildly excited for Rod Stewart night on American Idol, but you'd be lying.

I was very excited.

So imagine my disappointment when they announced they'd be singing from his recent records of Standards, rather than classic Stewart hits. We're talking Vito-Spatafore's-wife-finds-out-her-husband-is-gay-after-many-years-of-marriage-and-two-kids level disappointment.

Slight exaggeration, but close.

There would be no "Stay With Me" or "Having a Party". "Do You Think I'm Sexy" was out. So was "Broken Arrow" and "First Cut Is The Deepest".

Instead, we were treated to some good/great performances of BORING songs. During Taylor Hicks' tune, I was flipping through the Radio Shack circular from the Sunday New York Times.

What was made abundantly clear is that Just like the cream rose to the top with 12 contestants, there is a clear seperation between the top-4 and the bottom-3.

Elliot Yamin, Kellie Pickler, and Ace Young are in trouble. In Ace's case, he's just not as talented as the others. Although he did slick his hair back tonight which at least meant he washed it. Kellie's "I'm cute, stupid, and innocent" act is wearing really thin. Not to mention, she was TERRIBLE tonight. Just atrocious. Off-tune and singing ahead of the music. Elliot actually has top-4 talent, but there's something about him that just doesn't click. When I watch him perform, I don't think I'm watching the next American Idol.

My prediction for tomorrow's kick-off: Ace, Pickler, Elliot, bottom 3, with Elliot getting the boot in a slight upset.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So American Idol was back to their "this is going to cost you some money" ways, as I downloaded some Queen tunes this morning.

One note about the bio of Queen from the beginning of the show. For those of you who don't know, or, like millions of younger viewers out there who had probably never heard of Queen, Freddie Mercury died of AIDS (or complications from AIDS I suppose). I can only imagine the meeting Fox had to decide whether or not to mention that.

Sr. Exec: "So, uhhh, that montage was great. What do we do about the whole Freddie Mercury AIDS thing?"

Jr. Associate Assistant Producer: "What's AIDS?"

Sr. Exec: "OK, that settles it. We'll just go with 'tragic death'".

I guess what I'm saying is that AIDS used to be a HUGE deal -- Rock Hudson, Freddie Mercury, Magic Johnson -- and now it gets lumped in to the same cause of death as something like "massive drug overdose".

On to the show:

I came in excited about Queen night -- great rock tunes and a varied enough catalog that their should've been something for everyone.

The highlight of the night came early when Ace suggested to Queen that they try "We Will Rock You", which is probably a top-ten rock anthem and one of Queen's greatest songs, with a different arrangement. Queen guitarist Brian May looks him right in the eye and says "we're not going to play our song that way". When Seacrest asked Ace about it later, Ace ignored him and answered a totally different question.

He then proceeded to give an embarrassingly over- the-top performance which should seal his fate tonight. Can't say I'll miss him. In all honesty, he should've done David Bowie's vocal part from "Under Pressure" because at least that has some his trademark falsetto. On a good note, the next time I'm involved in a Wild West style shootout, I'll be sure to give my opponent the "Ace Young staredown".

Quick question: Does Kellie Pickler take down a few shots of Wild Turkey and then decide on an outfit or is that a sober consultation between her and her stylist? And where do I get a black leather jacket with a rhinestone crucifix on the back, because that would really round out my wardrobe.

Quick question 2: If I look for photos on Flckr tagged with "Dominatrix" does Paris Bennett show up? Or would "Hooker" get me better results?

Kathrine McPhee gave a great performance last night, but when you go with a Queen song from the 1986 soundtrack of Highlander, and a boring ballad at that, you automatically don't get my vote. Take a risk McPhee, we know you got the vocals. On a side note, this is amazing.

Finally, Chris Daughtry, the fact that you didn't do "Another One Bites The Dust" was really, really, really, disappointing, and I agree with Simon that you are singing self-serving songs (not to mention songs that NO ONE knows). Plus you were wearing eye-liner last night.

Prediction for tonight: Bucky, it's time to go. Other bottom two possibilities: Ace, McPhee, Elliot Yamin.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 02:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Outgoing Boston Globe rock critic Steve Morse pens an engrossing retrospective here.

Engrossing, I suppose, to people like me who watched Almost Famous and said "Damn, if only I had grown up in 1970, I could've done that". Unfortunately, I grew up in the 80's and 90's, and my parents pushed me towards typical suburban activities like Little League, swim team, and Hebrew school. On a side note, when I told them I wanted to play golf, they both wondered where they had gone wrong raising me, so in some twisted way, playing golf turned into a mild act of rebellion. Or something like that.

Anyway, Steve Morse followed his dream and thousands of concerts later, Bono showed up at his retirement party. I always liked how Morse seemed to go to every concert that came to Boston. There wasn't a band out there that he wouldn't see. He saw bands like Coldplay on their first US tour play the Paradise, a venue of about 500 people. He saw U2 every single time they played Boston. He went to both Woodstock '94 and '99. And once or twice a month he'd throw a review out there for a band you'd never heard of and would never hear from again. In other words, if there was music being played, there was a good chance he was there.

I think his greatest strength was that while he wasn't necessarily a fan of all the music he covered, he was a music fan. That allowed him to look critically at bands like Phish -- bands that were typically panned by "mainstream" media -- and judge them with an unbiased eye. Did they put on a good show? Yes. Were people into it? Yes. Were they his favorite band? Didn't matter.

You hear all the time about people who love their jobs. I don't really believe it, for the most part. I really like my job, sure. But there are times it feels like work. You know what I'm talking about.

Does this sound like work though?

I also fell hard for reggae, going to Jamaica a couple of times and interviewing reggae patriarch Bob Marley at the Essex House hotel in Manhattan. That was a chaotic experience. I arrived at 11 a.m. and couldn't find his room. I asked a cleaning attendant, and she said with a smile, "Just follow your nose." The scent of marijuana led me to a room where several members of Marley's entourage were sharing two king-size joints while kicking a soccer ball and bumping into a picture window overlooking Central Park. Marley sat on a couch, reading aloud from the Bible's Book of Revelation (with its "lion of the tribe of Judah" reference so important to Marley's Rastafarian religion). He ignored me and kept reading for about 10 minutes, until I finally dared to say, "Bob, I appreciate the reading, but the Globe sent me down to talk about your music." Suddenly, the soccer playing stopped. Everyone looked at me as though I had interrupted God himself. But after a moment, Marley said, "You're right, mon. Come over and let's talk." He closed the Bible and gave me his attention as we discussed his theme of world brotherhood. As soon as the interview was finished, the soccer playing resumed, the Bible was reopened, and I was ushered out the door.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 11:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I've updated the music on the right-hand side of the blog. Go for it. You know you want to.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 11:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

...but this guy can.

And he can synchronize his routine to parts of The Beatles "White Album" "Abbey Road".

Very cool! (Requires sound)...Thanks to Machi for the tip.

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

You'll notice a new "Music of the Moment" feature down the right hand side of this blog.

I "borrowed" the HTML code from another blog and don't have time to update the actual albums on there, so for the moment, amuse me and pretend that these CD's are what I'm actually listening to.

I also could've taken a "Books of the Moment" piece as well, but, well, books just aren't my flavor.

Thanks!

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 03:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I've listened to Cat Power's "Willie" about ten times today. Just a fantastic tune.

It has the same breezy feel as Iron and Wine's "The Trapeze Singer", but it's more bluesy, and just plain better.

An early contender for Mr. Shafrir Song of the Year.

Stevie Wonder's "Part Time Lover" is currently leading the "Oldies but Goodies" category with "Let it Be" by The Beatles a close contender in the Place spot.

I also bought two versions of Daniel Powter's "Bad Day" -- the single and the acoustic version -- after hearing it on an American Idol show a few weeks back. I then saw a short feature of him on MTV so I figured I'd check it out.

The Verdict: A catchy song that I could listen to a few more times before it shows up this May on "The Hills".

iTunes Balance: $11.00.

Finally, last night I was coaxed into some 3AM karaoke at Planet Rose. Don't worry all you fans: I warmed them up with "Dead or Alive" before I kicked ass and took names with "Maybe I'm Amazed".

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 06:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I know all of you are just gripped with excitement for the next installment of "How to spend $50 on iTunes", so here it is:

Recent purchases include:

Enya, "Only Time" and "Anywhere Is"

How did I end up with these two? Not so sure. "Anywhere Is" gets played in any montage on The Real World or Laguna Beach that deals with a coming of age or the end of an era theme. It's a fantastic song, especially when you turn your speakers all the way up and listen to it lying down in your bed like I did on Saturday. If you have to ask...

Remaining balance: $16.11

Neutral Milk Hotel, "In an Aeroplane Over the Sea"

Until last week, I thought this song was a Matt Pond PA, original. Turns out my hipster sensibilities are only moderately evolved, as this one who was originally done by Neutral Milk Hotel who are apparently huge in places like Bushwick.

We'll let Spidergirl explain:

neutral milk hotel did it first. there's no connection per se between the bands, but nmh is one of the indie rock bands with the most mystique/legend status. it was headed up by this weird, reclusive guy named jeff mangum, who basically retreated from the world after aeroplane over the sea (the album) came out. it consistently goes on indie rock best-of-all-time type lists, and people cover their shit all the time. there was even a concert last year at the khyber where a bunch of different philly musicians got together and played a concert of the entire album.

for a good summary of the whole thing (and a 10.0 rating), go here:

In an Aeroplane Over the Sea.

Just an amazing song either way, by either band.

Remaining Balance: $15.10

Bloc Party, "Banquet" and "Like Eating Glass"

A little bit like Franz Ferdinand, and little bit like Dogs Die in Hot Cars, a whole lot like the songs you walk out of the bar saying "I liked that song, I just have no idea who sings it, so I'm about to go make some drunk iTunes purchases!". Two solid tunes here to take me down to $13.08.

What's next?? Stay tuned for more!

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 05:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

The rumors are true: I tried out for American Idol.

The details are probably worthy of their own post, but suffice it to say I'm here, they are there, and that's that.

To answer your most pressing questions:

1) Did you make it? Surprsingly, this is the most common question I get asked. Actually, second only to this one...

2) Did you meet the judges? No.

3) What did I sing? Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch. No, I'm not kidding. Yes, I realize there are better songs out there. Josh Groban "You Raise Me Up" for one, Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing" for another.

Anyway, I'm more than just a casual fan of American Idol, so, without further delay, here are my thoughts on the remaining competitors. I'll focus on the guys; I haven't felt a connection to any of the girls yet so I find myself only casually observing their side of the competition.

Taylor: I find him enormously creepy. The guy, for one thing, has a full head of gray hair. There's nothing wrong necessarily with gray hair, but the words "American Idol" and "gray hair" are as about as likely to appear together this lifetime as "Jerry Fallwell" and "Guess who loved Brokeback Mountain?" I also find his violent twitching whenever he gets a compliment to be trite, contrived, and, frankly, outrageously irritating at this point. I'm not at all surprised that he's my roommate's favorite. One more clunker like last week's "Easy" and he's headed back home.

Final point about Taylor -- on his American Idol home page, he's asked "How has this changed your life" and he answers "N/A". Is that "N/A" as in Not Applicable? Did he miss this one on the questionnaire so the producers filled it in for him? Because the last I checked, the number times I had heard about Taylor with the gray hair from Birmingham before American Idol was a whopping 0. Why couldn't he have said "You know, before this I was living with my parents working as a substitute teacher. How the hell do you think has changed my life?" Instead he thought "Hmmm, I think N/A is the way to go here".

Will: He's got the Bobby Brady thing going for him, which I suppose is good if the Idol's key demographic (15-24 year old girls) knew of Bobby Brady as a cute kid as opposed to the guy who is all over VH1's "Where are they now?" shows. He's done soon.

Another point about Will: I consider myself a good judge of character. It doesn't take me long to figure people out, and I had this guy pegged as a loser even while he was trying to pull the tall-gangly-guy-who-has-a-nice-smile-but -an-average-voice routine. Then on last week's show, he served it up on a silver platter. In his pre-show fluff piece about his experience so far on Idol, he excitedly described meeting Justin Guarini as (and I'm paraphrasing here) "one of the coolest moments of my life". I then put my head through the TV.

Elliot: He's actually got a pretty incredible voice. He did Stevie Wonder's "Moody's Mood For Love" last week which was a risky play. Rule #1 of American Idol is that you just don't do Stevie Wonder songs. You can end up sounding like I did at my Bar Mitzvah -- one verse in the voice of an 13-year-old boy, then sounding like an 18-year-old man who has to shave twice a day. But Elliot pulled it off pretty well. He's safe at least until the final 6.

Ace: The women in the office love him, which I suppose is a good thing. I can't get over how the hair on the top of his head looks so unwashed though. Plus, he's doing the whole "maybe if I try and sound seductive people will ignore the fact that I don't have much range in my voice" thing. He also lists his favorite Male Artist as "Mel Torme". The choices these people list are just unreal sometimes. Why can't someone write something like Eddie Vedder or Mick Jagger. Do you have to sit at home listening to your parents old records to even have a shot?

Bucky: Does half of Bucky's money go right to Bo Bice (who, by the way, has an awful profile shot of himself on his homepage)? Seriously, without Bo paving the way, a Southern rocker like Bucky would've had no shot this year. He does get props though for saying that Eminem is his favorite male artist. I suspect Bucky could play well in the Nashville scene -- although my country music stylings begin and end with Rascal Flatts -- but his shelf life on Idol is limited.

Gedeon: Is it me or does this guy look like he's 27? Major props for his performance of "Shout" -- with so much made of song choice it was an out-of-left-field choice that really worked. He's a hell of a snappy dresser, so maybe he'd do well on Project Runway if this whole Idol thing falls through. The thing I don't get is this: how does someone with so many over-the-top features -- the afro, the pearly whites, the huge smile, the eyebrows -- not come off as cartoonish? He hasn't done much memorable, and while clothes may make the man, they don't make the American Idol.

Kevin: Ah, Kevin, where do I begin? Is it the unassuming manner in which you carry yourself? Is it the lisp? Is it the fact that you were jazzed last week about getting fan mail from 12-13 year old girls? Honestly, I really like this guy. First off, he absolutely killed it in his Boston audition with "You Raise Me Up". And he's clearly likeable. If he plays the Anthony Federov angle from last year's show, he's got a shot. His voice will only carry him so far, though, until the underdog meets the true heavy hitters.

Speaking of which:

Chris: The competition is his to lose. Last week when he nailed "Hemmorhage (In My Hands)", the other male contestants looked like a Little League pitcher on the mound with Barry Bon..., er, Sammy Sos..., er, well, you know, a major league hitter digging in against him. He's got the "good guy" angle covered, what with all the stories about how he's become the adoptive father of the two kids his wife brought to their relationship. Random fact: His favorite female artist is Kelly Clarkson (mine too!).

Some other random observations from this season:

What did you do to Carrie Underwood? She came out last week and sang a song called "Jesus Take the Wheel". Look, I've got nothing against JC, but even Amy Grant tried to go mainstream before she retreated back to the Country world. Why not at least give it a shot?

Ayla Brown looks like a giraffe. When she wears high heels, she looks like a giraffe trying to wear high heels. The comedy is off the charts.

There a thin line between cute and too cute, and Paris Bennett, unfortunately, crosses that line. It's too bad too, because she happens to be talented.

Everybody's got their style, David Radford included. But don't you think that if you made it as far as he did, you might try something a little different from week to week? I mean, if this were the "Harry Connick Jr. Idol" competition, he'd have been amazing. But it's not, and he's already gone. I just don't get that.

Brenna Gathers, you only got 13 minutes of fame. I'll leak a sex tape of you to the internet if you'd like the other 2.

That's all for now. And if you're wondering if I'm blogging at work, in the interest of full disclosure, the answer is yes. But I wrote 95% of this at home last night. Hi Marc!

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 10:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I got a $50 iTunes gift certificate today and tried to spend it all in one shot today. You know how I roll.

Let's go to the scorecard to see how I did:

1) Matisyahu: "Live at Stubb's". I probably could've just gone with "King Without a Crown", the single getting a ton of airplay (not that I've heard it), but with $50 in the kitty, I dove right in. Money left: $40.01.

2) Cat Power: "The Greatest". I've got a soft-spot for women singer-songwriters (Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple), etc., that come with strong recommendations from Rolling Stone. Add in the possibility of a catastrophic on-stage meltdown, and you've got yourself a winner. Money left: $30.02.

3) Whiskeytown: "Faithless Street". Call me crazy, but I love Ryan Adams. Yes, in a man-crush kind of way. I've bought (and lost, along with my iPod) another Whiskeytown album, "Pneumonia", so I went in a new direction for this purchase. Whiskeytown channels Adams' alt-country roots, while his most recent albums like "29" represent his new "I'm going to pump out as many albums as possible because my fans will buy a record of me taking a piss in the morning" direction. Bonus points to Adams for the recent rumors linking him to Lindsay Lohan. This one, inexplicably, set me back $11.99. Money left: $18.03.

Now I'm stuck. I've already got The Arctic Monkeys, and there's nothing out there that really excites me. Any suggestions, lovable readers?

Posted by Michael Shafrir at 10:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)