Lady Sovereign is coming to the Crocodile in May and I am really excited about this show. Hollywood Holt is opening and though it's unconfirmed right now, Chester French might be on this bill as well. Lady Sovereign's (or as she calls herself sometimes, SOV or the Biggest Midget in the Game) I Got You Dancing, is so great and catchy. The lyrics are hilarious too: You want a drink, I bet you do/ Just get me two.

Chester French has these talented songs and I never know where they're going with them. I like that. I like to be surprised when listening to music after all. They're two young guys, D.A. Wallach & Maxwell Drummey, from Massachusetts and bless them for making these super sounds. Guitarist Drummey came out in what was a first for me: a Marie Antoinette-inspired wig. Just awesome.


D.A. Wallach


Maxwell Drummey


D.A. Wallach & Maxwell Drummey

See more photos here.


She Loves Everybody - Chester French

Germany's Cinema Bizarre, also known to me as one of the hottest bands ever, opened for Lady GaGa the other night. I actually enjoy their music too - honestly I heard them before I saw them. I will have an interview I did with them ready very soon. In the meantime please drool over these photos for, with me.


Kiro & Shin

Strify

Shin

Yu

I couldn't get any shots of their keyboardist, Romeo. Sorry Romeo. Check out the entire gallery here.

Plus I have full galleries ready of Lady GaGa:

Lady GaGa, page 1 & Lady GaGa, page 2

Lady GaGa took over the Showbox last night. I've got tons of photos of on their way. Here's a couple:

I love eclectic bills and putting Pop Levi in-between Project Jenny, Project Jan and Fujiya & Miyagi definitely falls in that category. Pop Levi’s an amazing guitarist and his set pumped along like blood in the veins. It’s not every night you see a guy really look like he’s mating with his guitar and his Sugar Assault Me Now is still an awesome track.

Project Jenny, Project Jan played songs such as Zoobar and Negative accompanied by a very entertaining choice of videos they’ve created. Negative, a song about losing a particular kind of photos taken of a girlfriend, has enough humor in it to make it fun but these are good songs too. Singer Jeremy Haines is officially now one of my favorite dancers.

Fujiya & Miyagi headlined in a droolworthy way. They’ve just released their second album, Lightbulbs, and their songs are so intense, so danceable and evocative. The way singers Steve Lewis and David Best balance their vocals is beautiful. Note to bassist Matt Hainsby: you are a super bassist. F&M have a wacky fan base judging by the pack of women and men clutching the speakers of the stage and screaming Fujiya Miyagi Fujiya Miyagi over and over again. Show included the sexy, sexy Uh, In One Ear & Out the Other and Knickerbocker – plus a performance of Pins & Needles with Project Jenny, Project Jan.


David Best of Fujiya & Miyagi


Matt Hainsby of Fujiya & Miyagi


Steve Lewis and David Best of Fujiya & Miyagi


Jeremy Haines of Project Jenny, Project Jan


Sammy Rubin of Project Jenny, Project Jan


Jeremy Haines of Project Jenny, Project Jan


Pop Levi


Pop Levi

And as always, full galleries on their way of these bands.

The Blakes are always worth seeing live because their live performance is not only exciting but the music sounds different from their CDs. They’re anything but lazy performers. I don’t think I quite forgot how great a song Pistol Grip is - but Friday’s show proved again just how great and dirty it is.


Garnet


Bob


Snow

I'll have more photos soon!

That's right, The Von Bondies are back tomorrow to play a show at Neumos. It's been five years since Pawn Shoppe Heart came out (with an EP in-between) and it's really cool they're out supporting their new CD Love, Hate and Then There's You. Local band the Lonely Forest is one of the openers. I was just at Neumos tonight and I think they have a new lighting system there.

This cover is purposefully unsettling.

I like this poster. Why do I like it? First that burger looks delicious. Second I like the lightbulbs as they refer to the new F&M CD Lightbulbs. Nice one.

Fujiya & Miyagi and Project Jenny, Project Jan are playing Neumos tomorrow night, March 7th. I missed them in 2007 so I plan to make up for that.

Bonus: Here's a video for PJPJ's song Negative. Probably NSFW since it features a scantily clad woman dancing around in leg warmers.

The Blakes are playing at Chop Suey this Friday, March 6th. $10. $12 if you buy at the door. Not a bad deal at all. I recommend this show - I haven't seen them since Bumbershoot (gasp! that was in September!). They always put on a great show. I have seen them numerous times (here's some evidence of photos I took over the years) and I am always entertained by this band. Plus their new music sounds fantastic. I would elaborate on the new music but I am under a serious promise of secrecy, for real.


Photo Credit: Brian Brown

Also Garnet and Snow of the Blakes have completed their first CD as Beads. This sounds awesome. Listen to Evil here.

Franz Ferdinand’s third CD, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, is glossy. It’s physically shiny, the liner notes and cover are silky to the touch and the cover photo is a dramatic and distinctive black-and-white shot from the magical Danish photographer Søren Solkær Starbird. You’ve probably seen his work on the Raveonettes’ Chain Gang of Love and Whip It On CDs.



So how does it sound? When I first heard Ulysses, the first single, I didn’t know what to think. I don’t know if it’s because I love this band so much that I was extra-critical and I have high expectations of them. Then I listened to Ulysses again and again and then some more. It grew on me. The CD's got great 70s-inspired rock and glam guitar riffs, it’s got disco beats and some really unusual yet appealing tempo changes. Maybe I wasn’t paying close enough attention the first time around on their prior releases, but I am struck by the sweet drumming of Paul Thomson – he’s top. There is more synth on this CD. That’s obvious and it’s cool. There’s quite a bit of complex bass work by Bob Hardy too – listen to Live Alone and Can’t Stop Feeling and isn’t that something of a gorgeous accomplishment? I like the skipping nature of this music. It’s choppy and still it’s shiny. Lucid Dreams eventually breaks down into a funky instrumental of strange elegance. It’s a risky song and probably my favorite track. Or maybe my favorite is the spooky Twilight Omens, a very classic swirling tune.

Though it’s got a lot of fast disco tunes it’s also got a ballad, Katherine Kiss Me and Alex Kapranos has a nice purr in No You Girls especially. The vocals of Nick McCarthy and Kapranos always gel and jar where they should. This CD is worth the wait since 2005’s You Could Have It So Much Better.
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Listen to Ulysses and watch the video for Ulysses here.