Quick Links for the Weekend

I'm heading out the door so you may not get another blog post from me for the rest of the day. It'll be hard to get by, I know. I'll be in New Haven tonight for the Spanish Prisoners, among other things. So I'll leave you with two great links I stumbled upon this morning.

I Was Morrissey's Roadie
The Time's did an amusing feature on Morrissey yesterday. One of their writers applied for the job as assistant road manager aka roadie for a Morrissey tour. He didn't last very long. Not much longer than a day actually, but his interactions with the artist and the outcome of the story makes for a good read. Everyone knows Morrissey is a douche, this is just another interesting example.

What You Hear Is Not a Test
Very rarely do I read Pitchfork for their columns. It's a good place to find new music, but other than that I just skip right by. Tom Ewing's column for some reason drew me in this morning. Maybe I was still in a sleepy haze or I just had a feeling it would be good, but it was a pleasant surprise. It looks at the test of time argument when discussing or writing about good music, which makes for a great mini-debate between M.I.A. and Panda Bear. However, it his analysis and then throwing it all out the window that makes this a piece worth reading.

Great New Release in 2 Days + Tour Dates in March

Glasgow-based Sons and Daughters have been putting out indie rock records since 2003, on the same label (Domino) no less. But their third album is approaching us! On the 28th of this month they will drop This Gift. Right now they are streaming three songs off the album on their MySpace. They also released a video for their second single, "Darling," which is below. From what I've heard this seems like a don't-miss album. For real.

I almost forgot. I promised tour dates and tour dates you will get.

March 24
Middle East Downstairs
Cambridge, Mass.
w/ Bodies of Water

Sons and Daughters will also be in New York and Philly for a couple dates before this one. So if you're in that area, check that out. As a quick side note, I'm looking at other Middle East Downstairs dates and wow: Tilly and the Wall, The Mountain Goats, Black Lips and Bishop Allen to name the notables. We'll keep you updated on those too.

Still Protest Even After a Tragedy

The Westboro Baptist church, which is infamous for its disturbances at the funerals of American soldiers, is planning on protesting the late Heath Ledger's memorial due to his role as a homosexual character in his 2005 movie Brokeback Mountain.

The church says that Ledger's role claimed that "God is a liar," however, GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, has come out in support of Ledger and his family and friends who are in the grieving process.

While this is something quick for now, full commentary can actually be found below. Mark decided to go on a little rant and it looks like we overlapped a bit.

Insane 'Church' Plans to Protest Ledger's Funeral

I can't even call the Phelps family a church because they are a complete joke. And I feel like I'm just adding to the fire by even blogging about this despite how few people this reaches compared to say a radio show or MSNBC, but I need to say something: Wow.

I say "wow" once in a while when there's some really great music coming out, but this is a whole new level of wow. This is a I'm completely shocked that such people in this world can actually exist wow. And I can blame myself a bit for giving them the time a day, but it is really the aforementioned media that need to stop kicking this should-be dead horse. We know they do not make sense to the sane. We know they are completely off the wall with their "God Hates Fags" and "righteous" bullshit. So why bother?

There's already a documentary floating around somewhere about these completely out-of-touch individuals, so do we really need to give them the limelight with this one? No, we do not. Because in all seriousness, I do not believe they would go away if we stopped giving them the attention they so desperately need, but they would no longer matter. If you do not make the news and you are not popping up in our Web browsers than you are unimportant.

So in case you have not heard or did not get it from the headline, the Westboro Baptist Church plans to protest Heath Ledger's memorial service, funeral and for some reason the Oscar's. I actually remember seeing them or at least people with similar idiotic viewpoints in L.A. at the Oscar's a couple years ago. It's getting old.

Shirley Phelps-Roper, one of the main, loud-mouth players for the 'church,' was interviewed yesterday on the Kane morning show on 99.5 in Washington, D.C. It is a rather upsetting interview, to be honest. The host tries to lighten it up and play Elton John music in the background while she tries to talk, but there's really too much bullshit coming out of her mouth to find any of it really funny. When the person who is being played doesn't get it, then it sort of misses the point. Either way, the podcast of the interview can be found here. They do try to call her out on her illegitimate child during the interview, which causes her to produce a loophole for herself that somehow gets her out of hell.

In short: the Phelps are far from sane, but the media needs to stop thinking they can have reasonable conversations with them and needs to get them out of the headlines. It's only giving them what they want.

Beach House in the Winter

I don't know what to think of this band's name, Beach House. Listening to it doesn't make me think of warm weather or water skiing. It does seem fitting that this band is releasing their second album, Devotion, on February 26 because this music would fit more properly in a cold, empty beach house. But what do I know.

Either way, the Baltimore-based band dabbles in a bit of shoegazing here. They currently have the song "Gila" on their MySpace, which is off Devotion. So check it out and let the anticipation begin.

The band also has some dates for the upcoming months.

March 31st
Middle East Upstairs
Cambridge, Mass.

April 1st
Wesleyan University
Middletown, Conn.

Both dates are with The Papercuts, who released Can't Go Back last year.

1/2 of Flosstradamus Selling Crap on eBay

Normally, this wouldn't be a story because who wants another dude's garbage, but if you're part of Flosstradamus your garbage is actually pretty amazing. J2K (1/2 of Flosstradamus and big brother to Kid Sister) has 15 listings up on eBay right now. They range from a one-night stay at the Trump Hotel in Chicago (king suite) to a futuristic LED watch from Japan. If this is shit you'd normally buy you'll probably find a deal here or if you're just really obsessed with Flosstradamus you can get some signed gear too.


The more important news, however, is that the DJ duo is now working on a full-length album that is expect to be released this summer. So far no label yet, but the contributions list is already looking good. Cool Kids, Kid Sister and Amanda Blank were the first contributions named by Pitchfork. I assume more will be announced as we get closer to the release date.

PS: In case you've missed this. Flosstradamus' MySpace (linked aboved) has two mixes for download. Both the 3 Peat and the mix for Vice Records are solid mixes to have, so grab them if you haven't yet.

My Next New Favorite Band? Seriously.

What a day for new music. I decided to check out our e-mail while I should have been doing some work, but it ended up being well worth it. Leo Maymind, front man of Spanish Prisoners, shot us an e-mail about his band and wowie. I guess he saw Melissa's post on Jack Penate, which the band opened for yesterday in Brooklyn, and decided to give us a heads up.

Spanish Prisoners have a second pressing of their eight-song album Songs to Forget scheduled for the spring, so look for that. Obviously the MySpace link above will give you a sample of that, but this will give you the full stream.

So now that you're in love with the band, what to do next? Um, go see them of course.

Tonight they will be in Providence, RI at Brown University's student radio station at 8 p.m.
Tomorrow they will be in Boston, Mass. with Tiger Saw at PA's Lounge.
Last, but definitely not least for me, would be Saturday night's performance at some apartment party in New Haven. No idea on the location, but Leo said shoot him an e-mail if you want to come.

My New Favorite Band?

Pin Me Down is Bloc Party guitarist Russell Lissack and Milena Mepris. This band already wins because it has Lissack in it, but one listen will make you fall in love with Mepris too. Her voice is great and the two songs they have streaming on their MySpace will remind you if female vocals were put over Bloc Party b-sides. Not to say these tracks are only b-side worthy - just an analogy people. A bit more pop involved though, in case you're wondering.

Pitchfork reported that they are creating the tunes mostly via e-mail, which may remind you of another band. Either way, let's hope this continues and we can get a full-length later this year or early next.

If you cannot wait that long their song "Cryptic" will be on a Kitsune compilation. I actually looked at his February 4 release not too long ago, but didn't pay any attention to Pin Me Down. Other notable artists on the compilation are M.I.A., Fischerspooner and The Teenagers.

The Mars Volta's Latest Now Streaming

I can't say I'm the least bit excited to listen to this album, even for free, but here it is in all it's glory. The quality (of the stream) sounds like shit, but maybe it's the album itself.
The good news about all this is that I've been hearing it's the best album they put out since their first one, De-Loused in the Comatorium. I don't think I could sit through another static prelude, interlude or whateverlude this band has made up since the last I've listened to them.

These guys are actually talented, which is a shame. Just write a song and stop trying to impress 17-year-old stoners. It's not that hard to do in the first place. The Bedlam in Goliath drops on the 29th of this month.

Shut Up and Jam, and also Play This Game

The Internet is a beautiful place. Without it we'd never have gems like "Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden." And a life without "Barkey, Shut Up..." is no life at all.

To cut to the chase, this game is real. The official trailer shows off the game and gives a bit of background to the storyline. As a big fan of old school video games and old school basketball this is a dream come true. I'm still only 68% done with the download of the game, but I cannot imagine this falling short of amazing.

For more info, more screens and links to downloads of the game, click here.

Edit: Just played a bit of it, seems as I expected: great.

Cloverfield Review: A Six-Foot Meh

Just got back from Cloverfield and I have to say it was a bit underwhelming. Of course the hype meter was slowly rising throughout the week as my friend Nick went and saw it three times (almost saw it a fourth with me tonight). It is awful to go into a movie with high expectations, but I did and I was a bit let down.

First of all the camera takes some getting used to. If you are susceptible to motion sickness either skip it, wait till it's on DVD or sit way in the back. I had to sit back as far as I could in my seat in order to bare it. I should note that the theater I went to actually had a sign warning viewers of this, so I'm not the only one. Eventually I got used to it, but during the non-chaos scenes (i.e. the first 15 minutes or so of the movie) why was it shaky? What 20-something can't hold a camera straight for over three seconds? I thought we (20-somethings) grew up in an age where handheld cameras were second nature to us. I could be inebriated on a unicycle and come up with steadier tape.

My other complaint is the lack of epic-ness. The most epic thing about Cloverfield was the music in the closing credits. How can you not have a thing attacking Manhattan and it not have some epic feeling to it? Some of this had to do with the length of the movie, which clocked in at 85 minutes. I feel for $10 and a promises of a thing (trying not to give it away) attacking the city should at least take a whole two hours, maybe more.

All in all, it was still fine. However, if you have a problem with the camera work it will ruin the film for you. There is no way around it. If I had to give it a letter grade I would give it a C+/B-. The positives are obviously the fun action and thrills along the way in any movie like this. There are definitely some tense parts that will have you holding your breath to see what is going to happen next. Extra points for the unique point of view. Despite it being a negative for some it actually serves a solid purpose and allows for more suspense since the viewer is not allowed to be all-seeing.

A quick side story: FOX 61 News completely spoiled the main selling point of the movie, which is "what the hell is that thing?" They actually told viewers during a news segment what the thing was. This was also on either a Saturday or Sunday, so only a couple days after the film came out. The Internet is pretty big on a thing called spoiler alerts, but I figured television caught onto this idea long ago. I guess that's what I get for watching FOX News.

Here's the Cloverfield trailer if you happened to somehow miss it over the last few months or need a refresher.

One last thing: There was a teaser trailer for another J.J. Abrams' (producer of Cloverfield) project, which is being filmed now -- a new Star Trek. The scheduled release date is for Christmas of this year. The teaser can be found here.

Health Ledger Found Dead In Manhattan Apartment

Well, I doubt you're hearing this for the first time today, but in case you missed the news - Heath Ledger, age 28, was found dead this afternoon. Right now they are assuming that it was an overdose, as pills were found near the body, but still do not know if it was an accident or not.

Ledger last wrapped up filming of The Dark Knight, the sequel to the most recent Batman movie. Ed posted the trailer last month. He planned to go to Vancouver after his stay in New York to wrap up his latest movie, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

The actor is probably best known for his work in Brokeback Mountain and A Knight's Tale. I have personally only seen him in A Knight's Tale, but thought he looked like an absolutely fantastic Joker in the trailer for Dark Knight. Regardless of how little I knew his work or cared for him as an actor, it is certainly sad to hear of another young talent with a near limitless future have their life come crashing down. R.I.P. Mr. Ledger.

Thursday Turkey Trailer...A Few Days Early...Or Late

Hey everybody, we have a new set of trailers to talk about and believe me they are pretty entertaining. If you think we missed something in our discussion, feel free to drop a comment or a line at morelikeasixfootturkey@gmail.com. Enjoy.

Girl-Fronted Punk May Remind You Of 1995

While they definitely have a more indie/garage band rock feel to it than most straight-up punk bands, Be Your Own Pet will certainly draw comparisons to more well-known, girl-fronted punk acts from yesteryear.


Their self-titled debut from 2006 was positively received and right now they are streaming four songs off their newest full-length, Get Awkward, which will be out March 18th in the U.S. Check out the jams.

Three New Characters Confirmed for Super Smash Bros. Brawl

We don't post about video games enough on here, but I figured this big news was definitely worth it. Very recently Ness (of Earthbound fame), Jigglypuff (Pokemon) and Lucario (also Pokemon) have been confirmed for the Wii's version of Super Smash Bros.

A new trailer was released and the crafty people on the Internet found these three at the 4:20 mark. It took me a bit to track it down because it is literally for a split second, but you can see their faces/icons at the bottom right of the screen.

The trailer itself is just great to watch for those who haven't seen much of the game lately -- like myself. I did some Wikipedia research (somehow not a double-negative quite yet) and found a nice little section on the playable characters revealed so far. As I write this, the aforementioned three are not on the list, but it still gives you a nice little update.

My thoughts are that Lucario fits in nicely with the other Brawl characters and may be the character I'm most excited about. Oh yeah, and Pokemon is amazing. Super Smash Bros. Brawl should hopefully hit U.S. shores by March, but the release date is constantly changing it seems. It is supposed to be released in Japan at the end of the month.

HOLY SHIT!! Girl Talk in New Haven!

Wow. And you all thought I creamed myself when White Williams came to New Haven (by the way, that was a fantastic time). Mash-up extraordinaire Gregg Gillis aka Girl Talk aka... wow.

Let me catch my breath.

Okay, let's do this. Girl Talk will be at Toad's Place on April 25th and tickets go on sale this Friday at noon. GET THEM. In 2006 I proclaimed his album Night Ripper best of the year. Why you ask? Have you heard it lately? Honestly as I was thinking about how I did that before this post started second guessing myself, but I'm playing it as I write this and it completely deserves it. Don't take my word for it. Listen to some of it on his MySpace, buy it, whatever -- just listen to it.

Vampire Weekend's Hitting Both Coasts, In-Stores

Because we can't possibly tell you how much we love Vampire Weekend, here's one more post for now.

The band's got two sold-out shows in NYC on Jan. 29 and 30, but they've recently announced a mini-performance Monday Jan. 28 in the Virgin Megastore in Union Square starting at 11:30 p.m. according to Filter Magazine. There will also be an autograph signing around 12 a.m. that night.

Their self-titled album that drops in Jan. 29 will go on sale at 10:30 p.m. the night before at the Virgin Megastore and fans who show up early and buy their copy at that store will have priority entrance at the signing.

As for the West Coast, Vampire Weekend is scheduled for two in-store performances at Amoeba Music.



Feb. 1 - Amoeba Music (San Francisco) 7 p.m. performance with 7:30 p.m. signing

Feb. 4 - Amoeba Music (Los Angeles) 7 p.m. performance and 7:30 p.m. signing

Enjoy!