Sensory Overload

Michael Phelps will host the season premiere of Saturday Night Live on Sept. 13, with musical guest Lil Wayne.

T.I. set a new chart record with his fast-rising single "Whatever You Like."

The dude from Entourage and Liars are among the judges for a video contest being put on by obscure-ish indie band Rafter.

Neil Diamond offered a refund to Columbus concertgoers who sat through his raspy performance Monday night.

The blogger who leaked Chinese Democracy was arrested by the feds.

The German version of The Office is becoming a feature film.

And is Aaron Sorkin making a Facebook movie?

HBO is about to acquire a behind-the-scenes Barack Obama documentary.

Michael Jackson turns 50 tomorrow. Will he make an appearance at the upcoming VMAs?

More links and a new music video after the jump...

Continue reading "Lunch Break Links: Thursday, August 28, 2008" »

A Skylit Drive

I recently met some 18-year-old types who wear headbands, gauge their ears and comb their overgrown bangs to the side. They reminded me that there are vast regions in the musical landscape that I know little about. Screamo and "scene kid" music in general is one of those regions. But that's nothing that can't be fixed with a trip to The Basement, 391 Neil Ave., to see A Skylit Drive and Sky Eats Airplane. (Or, even better, a return trip to the club for this weekend's Loganpalooza.) I previewed tonight's show in last week's paper, so read that to decide whether you want to take the plunge tonight. Honestly, I am busy cramming stuff in before vacation, so I think I'll have to save my screamo baptism for a later date. If you end up going, you'll want to bring $14 to get in. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Oh, and Dayton's The Great American Beast will be there too.

Lots of question marks in the links today! First up: Wanna see the first five minutes of the Gossip Girl season premiere?

More EW top 25s? Yes! Today's it's the 25 most controversial movies ever. I forgot about Kids!

Why is Hulu yanking 30 Rock episodes?

Ryan Adams is publishing a book.

Dr. Dre's son died. R.I.P.

Remember Max Tundra? Well, whether you do or not, you should be psyched he has a new album coming out.

Today's hot leaked album is by New Kids on the Block?

Or is it actually the Jay-Z vs. Oasis mixtape?

Lots of new music out today! How about some fresh TV on the Radio or Land of Talk?

Pop Candy has a rundown of Labor Day TV marathons.

With the economy in the crapper, why are there so many rich people on TV?

AV Club busted out its fall TV preview.

Haley Joel Osment is now 20 years old and going to Broadway.

We conclude with a new video from Chad VanGaalen featuring some very stimulating and unusual artwork by the musician himself. And hell, why not My Bloody Valentine live in Japan and Radiohead covering Neil Young after the jump? But first, here we go, "Molten Light":

Continue reading "Lunch Break Links: Wednesday, August 27, 2008" »

Paste has a feature on Zach Galifianakis.

Pitchfork has a long interview with GZA.

A certain former Lost cast member will make a reappearance this season.

Speaking of Lost, its creator, J.J. Abrams, talked to TV Guide about his new show, Fringe and his upcoming Star Trek reboot.

And speaking of resurrected franchises, could we be seeing a dark, brooding, Batman-like Superman franchise reboot?

On that tip, USA Today has a story about the origin of the Man of Steel.

Slate goes inside the minds of swimsuit models.

Are these the songs of summer 2008?

This Merge Records box set (curated by David Byrne, Amy Poehler and others) looks good.

Oh, I totally let this one slip by last week, but it's worth bringing up: Toby Keith is an Obama-loving Democrat? Who would have predicted that?

Reggaeton star Daddy Yankee, on the other hand, is a McCain man.

And perhaps you've heard about Madonna vs. McCain?

Playboy did a PG-rated shoot with the cast of Mad Men.

The LA Times has a look at Ticketmaster and the ticketing business.

Whoa, whoa, whoa... TV Land is going to start airing Scrubs? Is that instant nostalgia or what?

Lastly, the author of 100 Things To Do Before You Die has died. R.I.P.

Best Friends Forever, not at Monster House

Monster House, 115 W. 10th Ave., is celebrating its one-year anniversary tonight with a splendid lineup of bands. The South Campus residence has become the national DIY circuit's go-to stop in Columbus and a fun place to see local bands from the local bar scene in a different setting. A full list of the bands who played the place in the past year can be found here.

Tonight's bill is topped by Best Friends Forever, a scrappy little twee pop band from Minneapolis that sounds like they'd be a lot of fun in a packed, sweaty living room. The rest of the many performers:
•Matt Horseshit (of Psychedelic Horseshit fame)
•I Woke Up, I Did the Same Thing (aka local dude Glenn Davis)
Bob Carlton of Wayne, PA
•Good Luck from Hoosier country
•More Columbus solo action from Vug (aka dude from TV Eye)
•New York's Eric Ayotte

Early start to this one to account for so many performers. To see everything, get there between 8 and 9 p.m. And if you don't want to be a total jerk, bring a donation of at least $5 for the touring folks.

I love when all the blogger-friendly rappers get together for a track like "Swagger Like Us," an M.I.A.-sampling collaboration between T.I., Jay-Z, Kanye West and Lil Wayne. Kanye calls it "RAP'S OLYMPIC TEAM!" Not sure how I feel about Yeezy's new vocoder fixation post-"Put On."

Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney are rumored to be performing at Yankee Stadium's closing ceremony.

McCartney is also playing a $4 million gig in Israel.

American Idol is adding a fourth judge.

Bjork has called out journalists for latent sexism, specifically in regard to who did what on 2001's Vespertine.

The New York Times wonders: Why don't TV stars watch TV?

AV Club counts down 26 evil, awful or just plain stupid educators in TV and film.

Spinner is streaming new albums from The Verve, Backyard Tire Fire, Lee "Scratch" Perry and more.

The OC's Benjamin McKenzie might be coming back to TV.

Pretty interesting what music people are ashamed to listen to.

EW's listy ways continue with the top 25 sports movies of the past 25 years.

The TV Addict has an interview with Lance Reddick of The Wire, Lost and Fox's new Fringe.

Pitchfork has an excerpt from staffer Amanda Petrusich's new book on Americana, It Still Moves.

And speaking of It Still Moves, the band that made the album by that title, My Morning Jacket, are in the video below. They bizarrely covered Erykah Badu's "Tyrone" at a concert in Dallas. Even more bizarrely, Badu joined them. Check it, then follow the jump for the new video from No Age.

Continue reading "Lunch Break Links: Monday, August 25, 2008" »

As you might have noticed, I didn't round up Lunch Break Links for the day. But according to tradition, here's an episode of a hilarious television program instead. Today's selection is a highlight of 30 Rock's second season.

As the mind behind Silver Jews, David Berman commands one of the most devoted cult followings in music. Paired with a gnarly drawl and charmingly shambolic music, Berman's sometimes obtuse, always poetic lyrics have made him into an indie rock luminary. Now that he's finally gotten over his aversion to touring, that luminosity is on display for public consumption. It almost never happened, though; half a decade ago, Berman's bout with substance abuse nearly took his life.

Now the poet-turned-rocker is happy and healthy, and he's going back on tour in support of his sixth full-length album, Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea. This latest Silver Jews jaunt kicks off next Thursday, August 28, when the band will be the inaugural act in BenCo Presents' series of concerts at Milo Arts, 617 E. Third Ave.

Berman's interviews are known to be as pithy and insightful as his lyrics, so I couldn't resist the chance to shoot him a few questions over e-mail. His unabridged responses are after the jump.

Continue reading "Interview: David Berman of Silver Jews" »

After taking off the past month and some change to adjust to their recent contraction from a quintet to a quartet, inimitable Band to Watch The Slide Machine returns to the stage tonight at Carabar, 115 Parsons Ave. They've got some fine pals joining them, including local Southern rock upstarts Deerhead, a scrappy bunch of pop-rockers from Indiana called Thunders and some mysterious act called Teeth on Teeth. 10 p.m. start, FREE FREE FREE.

Also free and beginning at 10 p.m. is an even younger, even newer band called Our Cat Philip, about whom you can expect to read in next week's paper when I preview their CD release show. They're super twee and not ashamed about it. I loved this description by hated arch enemy The Other Paper: "...the band employs the sort of simple, twee-folk melodies that make people bob their heads from side to side instead of front to back." All that side-to-side bobbing will be going down at Surly Girl Saloon, 1126 N. High St., where The Sad Bastards will also perform.

The Decemberists (pictured above with their presidential candidate of choice) have announced a new singles series.

Comic geek extraordinaire Kevin Smith saw Watchmen and thinks it deserves all the hype. Now hopefully it can be released on time, or at all!

Metallica will debut their new single "The Day That Never Comes" at 2 p.m. today on their website.

AV Club talked to British comedian Steve Coogan about Hamlet 2 and more.

Is Coldplay's next album already in the can?

The surprise new Bloc Party album is out now.

TV Guide has the latest on Office star Craig Robinson's drug arrest.

Are crossword puzzles and sudoku really threatening America?

Rapper Mr. Lif is releasing his politically charged new album one song at a time.

Flight of the Conchords' Jemaine Clement now has a wife. He's met her and everything!

Novelty rocker/sex criminal Gary Glitter has been released from Vietnamese jail, but he wiggled his way into Hong Kong instead of returning to the UK as scheduled. He's a slippery one, that Glitter!

Lastly, I hope this YouTube leak of the new Guns 'N Roses song "Shackler's Revenge" will last long enough for you readers to experience the track in all its glory (or lack thereof). Here goes...