Ra Ra Riot | WOXY Lounge Act

Are you going to see Ra Ra Riot headline Bowery on March 7? I am so excited to see this band rule the stage, in what is bound to be a fantastic show debuting a number of new tunes off of their upcoming full-length. It may be sold out already, but I bet if you get there that night, you could get in. But don't quote me on that.

The band took over the wonderful WOXY a couple weeks ago, and their blog, The Futurist, has just posted a number of tracks, and another very cool video. Definitely worth checking out.

woxy.com presents Ra Ra Riot from Soft City Lights on Vimeo.

today was a rainy day

It's been a rather strange night. What started as somewhat a disaster, has turned into hope, thanks to a couple glasses of wine, some Motown, and a trip down memory lane. I'm at that point that most meet in their early 20's: where to go next. From the little (I think I'm going to move back to blogger) to the big (can I really do this?), every decision is made up of every thought we've had in our lives. I found myself reading old blog entries, and came across this article from February 2005, when Underrated celebrated it's first year. It was so surreal reading how idealistic I once was, and almost unfortunate how cynical I've become. Maybe that can change. Either way, it sort of helped me make some decisions tonight, looking to the younger me for some advice. It's so funny how much things have changed.



[the above picture was my room in my first New York City apartment. it was my "inspiration board" which kept me focused on Underrated. i found it tonight and sort of wished I had kept it]

Port O'Brien Q&A

Port O'Brien topped my 2007 Best Album List, and I must admit that I'm bit taken by this California-based band. Their upcoming self-released debut All We Could Do Was Sing will be out in May, and I've been literally emailing their publicist on a routine basis to get my ears on it. Luckily, she assuaged my obsession by offering up a chance to speak to the delightful Van and Cambria of the band, of which the results can be found here:

Port O'Brien: Sailing The Lo-Fi Seas

If you haven't checked out their "collection" The Wind And The Swell, buy it now. The first single off the new LP, "Stuck On A Boat" can be downloaded here.

I hear the band is quite the live show, so count me in for at least one of their two NYC-area performances. Full tour dates are below.

Tour Dates For Port O'Brien:
02/02 - San Francisco, CA - Swedish American Hall*
03/01 - San Francisco, CA - Cafe Du Nord**
03/06 - San Luis Obisbo, CA - Steynberg Gallery
03/07 - Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour***
03/08 - San Diego, CA - The Cashbah**
03/10 - Phoenix, AZ - Modified**
03/19 - St. Louis, MO - The Bluebird**
03/25 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool**
03/26 - New York, NY - Pianos**
03/27 - Washington, DC - DC9**
03/28 - Chapel Hill, DC - Local 506**
* with Nada Surf
** with Delta Spirit
*** with Delta Spirit, The Virgins

Tonight: Jukebox The Ghost's CD Release Show

Horrah! Jukebox The Ghost's debut album has finally come out. And let me tell you—it's pretty darn fantastic. (Read my semi-obsessive review/gush session here.) The boys will be celebrating in New York tonight (with copies of Let Live And Let Ghost in their hands) and I found it worthy of coming out of DJ retirement. Because not only is Jukebox The Ghost playing, but my good pals A Brief Smile are as well. Like I said, horrah!

Here are the details:

JUKEBOX THE GHOST CD RELEASE SHOW
Union Hall, 702 Union Street Brooklyn
8 PM: DJ Underrated On Decks!
9 PM: Hymns
10 PM: A Brief Smile
11 PM: Jukebox The Ghost
A Brief Smile (10),(8)
Doors at 8 (there a couple tickets left at the door so get there early!)

Lost 4.2 - "Confirmed Dead"

Where to begin? As I was watching "Confirmed Dead" I began to get restless. I wanted to know who these people that have arrived on our island are, and the flashbacks were not giving me enough. I wanted a showdown. I wanted to know how Hurley gets off the island. I wanted to know so much that I found myself at the edge of my sofa, unable to breathe. Welcome to Lost.

In what could easily be referred to as a filler episode, the more I thought about last night's expose on our four Freighters, the more I liked the pace that this show has now taken. With no one Lostie flashback, instead we were given snippets of who our so-called rescuers are: a physicist who cries, a con-man who talks to the dead, an archaeologist, and a drunken pilot. There was little bits of fun material—was that Eko in those pictures at the dead guy's house? Have you called the Oceanic hot line (I have)—the story was really propelled by their adventures into the jungle to find the beeping locations. That beep was enough to make me nervous (Hello, type in the numbers) and some snide comments from our dear Sawyer and the look on Locke/Ben's face when Hurley mentioned Jacob's cabin were priceless.

And the big revelation, of course is, as Jeremy Davis so perfectly delivered rescuing is not their primary objective. What is? Ben. My thought is that Abbadon is Hanso/Dharma-related, funded by the Windmore's, and these are the four that they chose to kill Ben for his mass execution on the Island. Kinda makes sense, so it must be wrong.

But that picture up above? What a hottie.

What is up with the polar bear in Tunisia? I'm really hoping this all doesn't come down to time travel or else I'll be confused. My thoughts are just that this Island adventure was not the only one Dharma initiated.

How did this helicopter land so nicely if Frank Lapidus landed so far away? (notice the numbers too!)

I'd put money that Ben's mole on the freighter is most definitely Michael. Thoughts, ideas, theories? Leave them in the comments below!

Lost 4.1 - "The Beginning Of The End"

First of all—thank god this show is back on television. Secondly—thank god there are still creative minds out there that realize that some television viewers are smarter than a 5th grader. In last night's season four premiere Lost proved its accolades, by giving viewers one hour of jam-packed drama: laughs, tears, fears, and all that good stuff. The implementation of a flash forward, in my opinion, is pure genius. With such a serialized show as Lost, it was easy for viewers to become frustrated and bored. Now, the entire game has changed. The flash-forwards are so seamlessly intertwined in this epic odyssey that we are no longer wondering: will they get off the island? We know want to know is: why? and how? and what!? And so much more.

I'm beginning to think this season (whatever we get to see of it) will rest heavily with the theme of ghosts. If season one was all about the survivors, and two was about the hatch, and three finding out about the others, this season we'll be visiting by all the ghosts of our favorite folk's past, and wonder how they fit into our magical island. Are they dead? Sure. But are they real? That we don't know. As with any sort of paranormal being, there's always a purpose. We're set to find out what that is.

My two major questions from last night:

Is Christian Shepard (Jack's father) Jacob? Is he what Jacob has taken form in? Has he done that with Mr. Eko's brother, Walt, etc? Screen shot:

Who's eye is this? My first thought was Locke, but some people are saying it was Charlie because there was a hoodie.

I loved having Charlie back, even if he is still dead. I know some people hate his character, but I think he's adorable. In case you didn't catch it, that was Charlie when Hurley was "hallucinating" while the police was questioning him. In fact, he had a message, "They Need You":

Man. I need to watch this episode again. Feel free to discuss in the comments.