Really, really liking this new track from Cursive. Not to be confused with the classic Judd Nelson starring vehicle, of course.

Cursive, “From The Hips”

The track is from the band’s new album, Mama, I’m Swollen, which comes out on March 10th. Really looking forward to it.

Alright, so I thought about it a bit and decided there’s just no way I’m gonna be able to do 30 nights of shows in March. Between plans with friends, lack of money, and the need for an off-night every now and then, it’s just not happening.

BUT, I think I can do the 100 bands version of the challenge. It won’t be easy, but if I can push myself just a bit during SXSW, I think it’s doable. In fact, if you include the shows that I already think I’m likely to go to in March, plus add in around 55 bands for SXSW (possibly conservative), I’m already up to 82:

3/1: Jason Isbell, Deer Tick (2)
3/4: Whigs, Dead Confederate, Trances Arc (3)
3/7: Here We Go Magic, Callers, Typefighter (3)
3/11: Antlers, Nunchucks (2)
3/12: Airborne Toxic Event, Alberta Cross, Henry Clay People (3)
3/13: Bishop Allen, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, Singsing & Marmar (3)
3/14: The Feelies, Schrubs (2)
3/15: Crystal Stilts, Women, True Womanhood (3)
3/18: SXSW (≈10)
3/19: SXSW (≈15)
3/20: SXSW (≈15)
3/21: SXSW (≈15)
3/26: Glasvegas, Ida Maria (2)
3/28: Asobi Seksu, Tyvik (2)
3/29: From The Jam, Julie Ocean (2)

So assuming this all pans out, I’ll need to find another 18 bands to see this month. I may be able to eat into that number a little bit at SXSW if I’m aggressive. I can also knock out another 4 bands if I go to the Your 33 Black Angels show at the Red and Black on the 6th; 3 bands if I go to the Mumpsy show at the Red and Black on the 10th; 3 bands if I go to the Human Highway show at Black Cat on the 23rd; and 4 more bands if I go to the New Rock Church of Fire show at DC9 on the 25th.

It’s gonna be close. But I’m gonna try. After all, what else do I have to do this month?

A while ago, my friend Hunter from the band Julie Ocean proposed a challenge. He’d heard me talk about how I missed being in New York and having a ton of bands to choose from every night of the week, and how too many bands that I like tend to skip DC in favor of Baltimore (I’m looking at you, Earlimart) or simply just play New York and nowhere else (Mystery Jets, etc.).

Hunter’s proposal was simple — spend one month living in DC but pretending that I’m living in New York. In other words, go to one show per night for one full month. 30 shows in 30 days.

I always kinda laughed the suggestion off when it came up. Even with all the music options in New York, I’m fairly certain that I never went to 30 shows over 30 nights. At some point work makes it impossible, or you run out of money, or you simply can’t bear to miss another episode of The Big Bang Theory.

But I was looking at my concert calendar for March a few minutes ago, and it suddenly hit me — if there is any month that I could possibly do this (albeit by cheating in a few key ways), this is it. There are a TON of great shows going on in DC in March. Check it out. Shows in bold are shows that I already have tickets to, and shows in italics are shows I would go to if I weren’t already going to be in Austin.

3/1: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (9:30 Club)
3/2: First Monday w/ The Federal Reserve (Iota)
3/3: Illinois (DC9)
3/4: The Whigs, Dead Confederate (Black Cat)
3/5: Black Lips (Black Cat)
3/6: Your 33 Black Angels (Red and Black)
3/7: Here We Go Magic (Red and Black)
3/8: Lisa Hannigan, Low Anthem (9:30 Club)
3/9: Vandaveer (Black Cat)
3/10: Mumpsy (The Red and The Black)
3/11: The Antlers (Black Cat)
3/12: Henry Clay People, Airborne Toxic Event (Black Cat)
3/13: Bishop Allen (Black Cat)
3/14: The Feelies (9:30 Club)
3/15: Crystal Stilts, Women, True Womanhood (DC9)
3/16: The Aquarium, Aerialist (Galaxy Hut)
3/17: The Pogues, Ben Nichols (of Lucero) (9:30 Club)
3/18: SXSW // AC Newman, The Broken West (Black Cat)
3/19: SXSW // The Dig (Red and Black)
3/20: SXSW // no idea
3/21: SXSW // Butch Walker (9:30 Club)
3/22: [NONE - flying back from SXSW] // Mittenfields, Oh Captain My Captain (Galaxy Hut)
3/23: Human Highway (Black Cat)
3/24: OPEN
3/25: New Rock Church of Fire (DC9)
3/26: Glasvegas (Black Cat)
3/27: Primal Scream (9:30 Club)
3/28: Asobi Seksu (RnR Hotel)
3/29: From the Jam, Julie Ocean (State Theatre)
3/30: Brendon Small of Dethklock/Metalocalypse (9:30 Club)
3/31: Balkan Beat Box (9:30 Club)

There’s one date — 3/24 — that I simply can’t find ANYTHING to see in DC. Every other night has something I could at least be convinced to check out (though 3/30 and 3/31 are really tenuous).

So this seems like something I could do. But do I want to? And will I really want to go to so many shows right after getting back from SXSW? And what if I go to NYC for an interview? (Gonna try to see Hey Rosetta!, that’s what.) And what if I get a job?

So I’m not putting good odds on this, but I’m thinking about it. I’ve basically got until Monday to decide whether to give it a shot or not. We’ll see.

Edited to add: One alternative that has been proposed by a friend is, instead of one show per night, simply (ha!) trying to see 100 bands in March. While normally an absurd idea, it’s really not all that ridiculous considering I’m spending 4 days in Austin for SXSW. I tend to average about 15 bands per day (including some partial sets), so that would get me to 60. Then I’d have to see 40 bands the rest of the month. That’s doable, especially if I sit through a bunch of openers…

Not sure if I’ve seen this yet or not. It’s all starting to blur together for me now. Regardless… awesome show.

Pics tonight, discussion tomorrow (probably). Needless to say, TOD rocked me deaf.

If there’s any band that I’ve been digging as much (or more) than The Deep Vibration over the last few months, it’s Canada’s The Rural Alberta Advantage.

Thankfully, it looks like I’ll have a few chances to catch the RAA live a few times this Spring. No DC date announced as of yet, but hopefully that will change.

The April dates listed are all with The Spinto Band, so I’m gonna keep my eye on that band’s MySpace page to see if any other (DC) shows get announced.

Rural Alberta Advantage Tour Dates
Thu., 3/12: Toronto (The Gladstone)
Thu., 3/19: SXSW (eMusic Showcase @ Central Presbyterian Church)
Wed., 3/25: Peterborough, Ontario (Gordon Best Theatre)
Tue., 3/31: St. Louis (The Billiken Club)
Wed., 4/1: Chicago (Schuba’s)
Thu., 4/2: Newport, KY (Southgate House)
Sun., 4/5: Brooklyn, NY (Bell House)

And, unfortunately, it’s not quite as good as I was hoping.

The good news, though, is that the 2.5 bands I want to see (only kinda want to see Wavves) are (a) playing back-to-back, and (b) playing just late enough in the afternoon to let me get back downtown from our normal Friday jaunt out to The Salt Lick BBQ for lunch.

The show’s going down on Friday, 3/20 at Emo’s (603 Red River) on both the main stage and the connected Emo’s Jr. stage. That means you can listen to some music, grab yourself a tallboy of PBR and use the second nastiest rock and roll bathrooms ever (after CBGB, RIP).

Pitchfork Day Party Lineup
12:00 – Girls (Emo’s Jr.)
12:30 – The Mae Shi (Emo’s)
1:00 – Little Boots (Emo’s Jr.)
1:30 – Max Tundra (Emo’s)
2:00 – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (Emo’s Jr.)
2:30 – Woods (Emo’s)
3:00 – School of Seven Bells (Emo’s Jr.)
3:30 – Wavves (Emo’s)
4:00 – Dirty Projectors (Emo’s Jr.)
4:30 – King Khan & the Shrines (Emo’s)
5:00 – A-Trak/Major Lazer [ft. Diplo] (Emo’s Jr.)
5:30 – Department of Eagles (Emo’s)

I admit it… I’ve fallen head over heels for The Deep Vibration.

Maybe it’s because I’m suffering from Wilco withdrawal after a couple of years without an album. Maybe it’s because high quality “Americana” is so hard to come by these days. Or maybe it’s simply because the band’s music is fantastic. Or a combination of all three.

Either way, I’ve got a couple more links for you to help get you on board the bandwagon as well.

The first link (which I re-tweeted earlier today) is a video of the band performing their song “Third Day of July” live in the Paste Magazine studio. You can find it here.

The second is the band’s performance of the same song in the WOXY Lounge a couple of days ago, which I’ve clipped from the full-session audio and turned into a standalone MP3. You can find it streaming over at Babystew Radio.

I’d promise to stop posting about these guys, but that’s not really a promise I want to make right now.

My friend Matt just pointed this out to me. If I can swing it, I might just jump in my car and make the drive down to NC.

Superchunk
Wed., April 15
Cat’s Cradle
Carrboro, NC
Tickets on sale soon

I don’t normally do day-specific posts about music going on around town, but there are so many good shows going on in DC tonight that I thought it was only right to mention it. Rarely does DC have so many quality shows going on at once.

If you’re around, go see one of these shows. The Tokyo Police Club is sold out (and no tix on Craigslist, even!), but you can always try hanging out in front of the club and showing some skin.

Personally, I’ll be at Rock and Roll Hotel with my earplugs in hand. Err, in ear.

9:30 Club: Ben Kweller, The Watson Twins, Jones St. Station [$20]
Black Cat (main): Tokyo Police Club, Born Ruffians, Harlem Shakes (sold out)
DC9: Witch (ft. J Mascis), Earthless, Ostinato [$12]
Rock and Roll Hotel: Trail of Dead, Funeral Party, Midnight Masses [$18]
Velvet Lounge: Ragged Glory (Neil Young tribute) [$10]

Wow. This is one hell of a lot of shows. May’s gonna be brutal for them. Not sure how happy I am that Iota is the 2nd to last night of the tour. They’ll either be happy to almost be done, or, more likely, really freakin’ tired.

Edited to add: Forgot to mention, Newbury Comics is have a presale for Elvis’ new album, “Elvis Perkins In Dearland”, for only $11.99, which comes with a limited autographed CD booklet. I haven’t had much time to spend with the album yet, but I’ve liked what I’ve heard. The album comes out on March 10th.

Elvis Perkins Spring Tour
March 09 Seattle Easy Street Records in-store (7:30pm)
March 09 Seattle Tractor Tavern *
March 11 San Francisco Café du Nord *
March 12 Los Angeles Troubadour *
March 15 San Diego M-Theory in-store performance (4pm)
March 16 Tucson Club Congress (w/ Delta Spirit)
March 19 Austin TX Auditorium Shores Stage (6pm)
March 19 Austin TX Central Presbyterian Church
March 25 New York Bowery Ballroom
April 02 Paris, FR La Maroquinerie
April 03 Amsterdam, NL Paradiso
April 04 Brussels BE AB Club
April 06 London UK ICA
April 07 Madrid ES Sala Sol
April 23 Northampton Iron Horse Music Hall
April 24 Providence Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel
April 25 Burlington VT Higher Ground
April 27 Il Motore Montreal QC
April 29 Toronto ONT Horseshoe Tavern
April 30 Chicago IL Schubas Tavern
May 01 Madison WI Memorial Union Terrace
May 02 Minneapolis MN 400 Bar
May 03 Davenport IA The Redstone Room
May 05 Lawrence KS Jackpot Music Hall
May 06 Omaha NE The Waiting Room
May 08 Denver CO Hi-Dive
May 09 Boulder CO B Side Lounge
May 11 Austin TX The Parish
May 12 Dallas TX Pontiac Garage at HOB
May 13 Houston TX Walters on Washington
May 14 Hattiesburg, MS Thirsty Hippo
May 15 Birmingham AL Bottletree
May 19 Arlington VA IOTA Club & Cafe
May 20 Brooklyn NY Bell House
June 11-14 Bonnaroo

* w/ Tim Eriksen Shape-Note Extravaganza

Guess this would be a mid-sized college town tour? No NYC, DC, Chicago, LA, etc. etc. (Via Pitchfork)

Dinosaur Jr. Spring Tour
03-20 Austin, TX – Cedar St. Courtyard
04-01 Milford, CT – Daniel Street
04-02 Providence, RI – Club Hell
04-03 Portland, ME – The Station
04-04 South Burlington, VT – Higher Ground
04-06 Buffalo, NY – The Town Ballroom
04-07 State College, PA – Lulu’s
04-08 Akron, OH – Musica
04-09 East Lansing, MI – The Small Planet
04-10 Bloomington, IN – Bluebird Nightclub
04-11 Dekalb, IL – Otto’s Nightclub
04-13 Chattanooga, TN – Rhythm and Brews
04-14 Memphis, TN – Minglewood Hall
04-15 Baton Rouge, LA – The Varsity Theatre
04-16 Little Rock, AR – Revolution Music Room
04-17 Fayetteville, AR – George’s Majestic Lounge
04-18 Oxford, MS – Proud Larry’s
04-20 Athens, GA – 40 Watt Club
04-21 Augusta, GA – Sky City
04-22 Gainesville, FL – Common Grounds
04-23 Tallahassee, FL – The Moon
04-24 Jacksonville Beach, FL – Freebird Live
04-25 Charleston, SC – The Music Farm
04-26 Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel
04-27 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
04-29 Charlotte, NC – Neighborhood Theatre
04-30 Richmond, VA – Toad’s Place Richmond
05-01 Lancaster, PA – Chameleon Club
05-02 Baltimore, MD – Ottobar

Just noticed this over at Tickets.com — The National has added a late show on Sunday, May 24th, bringing its total number of scheduled DC shows to 3.

Specifically, the show is scheduled for 11:30pm on Sunday, May 24th, and tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10am (just like tickets for the 2nd TVOTR show).

I have a sneaking suspicion that there may still be a 4th National show announced. Both of the original shows have early door times for a typical 9:30 Club show — 7pm. And since they took advantage of the early show on Sunday to fit in a late show, don’t be surprised if they do the same on Monday (assuming the Sunday show sells well).

Around the time that WOXY went off the air for the first time back in 2004-ish (?), I invested in an online-only account to XM Radio. I discovered pretty quickly, though, that their indie/alternative stations weren’t really what I was looking for, and then WOXY came back, so I canceled my subscription.

As a result, I’ve never heard John Davis’ 1, 2, 3, 4 More More More show, which ran on XM throughout 2008.

If the name doesn’t ring a bell, John is currently the frontman for the excellent DC-based Title Tracks, and was formerly in Georgie James and Q and Not U. And the dude knows a ton about music.

Anyway, John’s show recently left XM Radio and is set to move to WOXY.com on a weekly basis starting this week. Shows will air originally on Saturdays at 2pm, and will then repeat on Tuesdays at 9pm. They’ll also be archived for on-demand listening on WOXY’s website.

Can’t wait to hear what John has in store for us.

Starting a new semi-regular feature here on the blog called Bands I Don’t Get. It should be pretty obvious what it is… a series of posts dedicated to bands that have managed to get popular in one or more circles, but that I simply have never understood why.

More than anything, it’s my way of being passive aggressive about my dislike for certain blog buzz bands.

Anyway, that brings us to the inaugural Band I Don’t Get. Never understood the attraction to these guys, and apparently never will. Yet you folks seem to love them. Guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree.

Animal Collective, “My Girls”