MMJ Madness

Well people, the year was filled with so many ups and a few downs, but I ended up having a perfect last day of 2008.  The morning was filled with chilaxing and prettying myself up, and the evening started with an amazing home cooked meal, red wine, prosecco and other various party favors.  It was the perfect pre-party before heading to Madison Square Garden (thankfully away from Times Square) to see My Morning Jacket’s THREE AND A HALF HOUR totally rockin’, full of love, New Years Eve bash of a show.  Surrounded by seven of my favorite people in New York, sippy cups of beer (those are so dangerous), champagne, and MMJ lovers, the night was a bit hazy but enjoyed thoroughly nonetheless.  By some miracle I recently scored two great seats in the first section (thanks Matt), and the 10 or so other people I knew at the show sneaked in and were able to sit with us the entire show, with only one short security run-in.  I’d like to note that the very old security man was adorable.

Now to get to the band praises.  They played perfectly—no surprises there.  Apparently I missed the memo from Jim James asking everyone to dress black-tie, and the band themselves had about 2 (maybe 3?) slick suit changes and played 3 (maybe 4?) covers (Hall & Oates, James Brown, that “celebrate good times” song).  Which were great, but I would have rather heard their own songs!  They did play most of our favorites but all of them have been played at the other 3 shows I attended this year, and it would have been nice to hear a bit more variety (so the covers were appreciated).  When the show was over, it also felt like some songs were missing; but when I listed them off my friends assured me they played them.  I mean, what can you miss in three and a half hours?  A bit too much champagne for Eve I think!

I thought for sure they would be playing one of the encores at the stroke of midnight, but the countdown was displayed on a large screen and amidst tons of kisses and confetti, it lifted at midnight and revealed the band.   They continued on to play for an hour and I wish I could tell you the rest of the dazzling details. 

Remember to cherish every moment in the new year, be thankful for what you have and who you love, and get lost in the music whenever you can.

Holiday Gift Ideas--Eve's Picks of 2008

If you're stumped on what to get your loved ones for the holidays, go out and grab some CD's the old fashioned way. Or, just download songs from your source of choice and make your own CD's; even better, a "best of 2008" mix catered to the individual. I've tried my best to split the best of the year into music personality types (sorry, no country here). You've got loads to choose from folks! Oh yeah, and happy holidays.

For the kid that likes good pop:

Beyonce "I Am...Sasha Fierce"

Katy Perry "One of the Boys"

Keane "Perfect Symmetry"

Rihanna "Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded"

Jason Mraz "We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things"

Sia "Some People Have Real Problems"

Brett Dennen "Hope for the Hopeless"

Lykke Li "Youth Novels"

Vampire Weekend, self titled

Coldplay "Viva la Vida" and "Prospekt's March"

The Killers "Day & Age"

Ray LaMontagne "Gossip In the Grain"

Ting Tings "We Started Nothing"

The Kooks "Konk"

For the boys & girls that like to dance:

Cut Copy "In Ghost Colours"

Girl Talk "Night Ripper"

Santogold, self titled

MGMT "Oracular Spectacular"

Black Kids "Wizard of Ahhs"

Foals "Antidotes"

CSS "Donkey"

Does It Offend You, Yeah? "You Have No Idea What you're Getting Yourself into"

Those with an eclectic taste:

TV On the Radio "Dear Science"

Crystal Castles, self titled

Portishead "Third"

Of Montreal "Skeletal Lamping"

Radiohead "In Rainbows"

The Kills "Midnight Boom"

Weezer "The Green Album"

Calexico "Carried to Dust"

Ratatat "LP3"

Flight of the Conchords, self titled

The Breeders "Mountain Battles"

Sigur Ros "Med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust"

Indie/Alt Lovers:

Fleet Foxes, self titled

Ra Ra Riot "The Rhumb Line"

Jenny Lewis "Acid Tounge"

She & Him "Volume One"

Rachel Yamagata "Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart"

Beck "Modern Guilt"

Conor Oberst, self titled

Death Cab For Cutie "Narrow Stairs"

Raveonettes "Lust, Lust ,Lust"

City and Colour "Bring Me Your Love"

The Felice Brothers, self titled

Bon Iver "For Emma, Forever Ago"

The Virgins, self titled

Little Joy, self-titled

For the folks that want to Rock:

Kings of Leon "Only By The Night"

My Morning Jacket "Evil Urges"

Black Crowes "Warpaint"

The Smiths "The Sound of the Smiths"

No Age "Nouns"

Cold War Kids "Loyalty to Loyalty"

Delta Spirit "Ode to Sunshine"

The Raconteurs "Cosnolers of the Lonely"

Metallica "Death Magnetic"

The Black Keys "Attack & Release"

The Clash "Live at Shea Stadium"

The Duke Spirit "Neptune"

The Black Angels "Directons to See a Ghost"

AC/DC "Black Ice"

Hip-Hoppers:

Kanye West "808s & Heartbreak"

T.I. "Paper Trail"

Lil' Wayne "Tha Carter III"

The Knux " Remind Me In 3 Days..."

Your parents might like:

Raphael Saadiq "The Way I See It"

Bob Dylan "Bootleg Series, Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs-Rare & Unreleased 1989-2006"

David Byrne & Brian Eno "Everything That Happens Will Happen Today"

The Clash "Live at Shea Stadium"

Ray LaMontagne "Gossip in the Grain"

She & Him "Volume One"

Sia "Some People Have Real Problems"

Coldplay "Viva la Vida"

Death Cab For Cutie "Narrow Stairs"

The Felice Brothers, self titled

Bon Iver "For Emma, Forever Ago"

On Repeat: Rachael Yamagata- WOW!

If there was anything that could cheer me up last week it was seeing the great shows that I saw. Rachael Yamagata was out of this world. She is witty, beautiful, and has a perfect, crystal clear, intoxicatingly stunning voice. Even though her songs are emotional, sad, and mostly about heartbreak and getting back on her feet, she has the crowd wrapped around her fingers and entranced. The audience was cracking up when one of her band members stated "Lay off the sauce!"

There's nothing like dancing at a Ghostland Observatory show on a Friday night with friends. The show was at Terminal 5, a venue that needed a little more warmth and inclusiveness for the audience, but they still put on an awesome show and the light show was incredible, as always. It's a wonder to me how only two people can make so much noise and lovely music (such as the Black Keys), and more so have the amount of energy you see on stage. Aaron Behrens takes the cake on that aspect of the performance...I've never seen a male human dance quite like it. He is damn good. Damn good.

On Repeat: The Killers are Back

I was mesmerized and blown away by The Killers performance of two immediate hits, "Human" and "Spaceman" from their new album, Day & Age on Saturday Night Live. The sound of Day & Age is classic Killers and Brandon Flowers still evokes so much emotion with his innocent voice. "A Dustland Fairytale" and "Joy Ride" are familiar tunes, and "I Can't Stay" is one of my favorites.


I've been a Killers fan since day one, and not only did Brandon Flowers make me swoon (and still does), Hot Fuss, their first album, made me excited about music again and I was so pleased that there was something so different and fabulous out there. Hot Fuss is still one of my favorites and it's one of those albums that brings back fond memories of certain crushes, and two New York concerts with the girls full of screaming sing alongs and dancing like there's no one watching and there's no tomorrow. Hopefully Day & Age lives up to those expectations, and the Killers keep playing fun loving songs.


Check back tomorrow for Holiday gift ideas.

Goodbye MTV.

NY Shows You Should Buy Tickets For

Check out their myspace pages to see if they are touring in your area! A lot of these bands are also playing in DC.

Delta Spirit @ Bowery 12/6, Webster 12/7

Rachael Yamagata @ Bowery 12/10

Ghostland Observatory @ Webster 12/12

My Morning Jacket @ MSG 12/31

The Raveonettes @ Bowery 1/18

Tapes 'n Tapes @ Bowery 2/25, Music Hall of WB 2/26

Cut Copy @ Terminal 5 3/21

Be Me For A Few Minutes!

I've posted some footage from the Black Crowes and My Morning Jacket shows that you might enjoy. The quality is not top notch but hopefully you'll get the idea and be lost in the happiness of it all.

Woodies.

Last week was the annual mtvU Woodie awards at Roseland Ballroom.  I'm so glad I finally got to attend.  The crowd was full of tweens but thankfully I glided past them up to the VIP area stocked with free booze and food.  There's nothing like getting typsy the MTV way with close colleagues, execs and VJs.  Besides the surprise Blondie appearance and watching my promos air on all of the monitors in between performances and presenters, I was most excited for the Santi (formerly known as Santigold), Vampire Weekend, Chromeo and Lykke Li sets.  Lykke Li was definitely the stand out.  Not only was she wearing hot glittery pants, she was banging on instruments and killing it on the mike.  She is uber cool.  I was told another stand out was the Chromeo and Vampire Weekend joint performance, yet I was waiting about a half hour at the bar for a drink and totally missed it.  I was not happy about that.  Thankfully I caught the last of Vampire Wknd which ended the show and was off in a rickshaw to the VIP after party.  My favorite coworker and I literally got thrown from the rickshaw (those drivers are crazy and not cheap) into the crowd trying to get into the club and made quite the entrance.  It was nice to party with the folks that have worked so hard on the mtvU channel and it was great catching up and dancing the night away.  Check out more commentary, some music and pictures from the event here.

Somethin' For The Ladies

I think this video speaks for itself (thanks Lauren & Pam)!

Chris Brown - New Music - More Music Videos

ROCK 'N ROLL

I was lucky enough to hear the acoustic Black Crowes show on Monday night, a band I was not too familiar with for some reason, and I am officially in love. They are currently touring for their new album, Warpaint (their first in 7 years) and the new songs and the show were fantastic at Town Hall; a very small, intimate, sit-down venue. They are totally like Bob Dylan and Widespread Panic's love child! The guitarist Luther Dickinson from the North Mississippi All-Stars joined the line-up and "Oh Josephine" was a favorite. I hope they make the acoustic shows into an album...it would definitely be worth purchasing. And interestingly enough, they recorded Warpaint in the same studio where My Morning Jacket's Z was born. I thought I would post an old song that will make you remember everything that you loved about songs from the 90s. I forgot how absolutely amazing this song is! Can you believe they used to play this kind of stuff on MTV?

On Repeat: New & Noteworthy

I was lucky enough to catch TV On The Radio live in San Francisco, and they blew me away. It was the first time I had seen them, although interviewed once, and they had the most powerful energy and a very different, yet awesome sound with eclectic beats. Their new album is called Dear Science. I recently saw the movie Rachel Getting Married with the lead singer, Tunde Adebimpe. He was so sweet and endearing, and to me the music was the glue that tied the movie together.


Do you all remember Jenny Lewis? She was in such classic 80's movies as Troop Beverly Hills and The Wizard. Her new album, Acid Tounge is her second solo album after Rilo Kiley. I have to say I love everything she does--her style and her sound make a classic indie rock mix.

Ahead of the Curve

The work is complete, check it out!

You can view all of the promos, including such artists as CSS, Hot Chip, and Fleet Foxes here.

On Repeat: Rachael, Brett and More

This past weekend was filled with great music and great friends--to me a perfect combination. The Obama fundraiser introduced me to some music that I rarely see live; a line-up of Funk / Afro-beat including Budos Band and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. Their energy is rocking, inclusive of the congo drums, trumpets, saxophones and more. Sharon Jones is fierce and incredibly soulful. Charles Bradley, who made a grand entrance during the Budos set as their lead singer for only two songs, is like James Brown reincarnated. He made a great statement on stage in light of the Obama event:
"We are a world full of different colored roses. These roses need sunlight and love. We are killing our planet and need a change, and need to give love to the roses!"

Friday night was dedicated to the CMJ festival line-up at Mercury Lounge. Most notable was Mother, Mother, a Canadian band with great harmonies, Ambulance LTD, and Delta Spirit. Delta Spirit is a rock band that I stumbled upon at SXSW and was the highlight of the show. They are similar to the Black Keys, with rich piano beats and a lead singer with a raw, sexy voice.

There are two great albums out that I also wanted to mention. I am so excited that Rachael Yamagata just released Elephants...Teeth Singing into Heart, her second album since her EP Happenstance, which is one of my favorite albums. Yamagata's voice is hauntingly beautiful, and the video below captures her vibe perfectly:


Brett Dennen recently released Hope for the Hopeless, an album just as sweet and catchy as his past works. His video below is for his single "Make You Crazy" featuring Mandy Moore. At first I thought it was a bit cheesy, but it's growing on me! His unique sound is light and something to enjoy on the surface.

Barack Obama Fundraiser TONIGHT!

Daptone Family Fundraiser for Barack Obama

If you feel like venturing to Brooklyn tonight, there is a great show at Southpaw at 125 5th Avenue, Park Slope. There is a $20 minimum donation for the Obama/Biden campaign. Enjoy great tunes from Budos Band and Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens. Doors open at 8pm, and I recommend getting there before 9pm because this will for sure sell out!

NY Shows This Week!

There are TONS of shows this week due to the CMJ festival. Here are my suggestions.

Tuesday 10/21:
Lykke Li -- Bowery Ballroom
French Horn Rebellion -- Lit
The Cool Kids -- Gramercy Theatre
Sasha Dobson -- Rockwood

Wednesday 10/22:
Ki: Theory -- Music Hall of Williamsburg

Thursday 10/23:
Budos Band -- Barack Obama Fundraiser @ Southpaw in Park Slope
Crystal Castles / Fujiya & Miyagi -- Webster Hall

Friday 10/24:
The Virgins / Delta Spirt -- Mercury Lounge
The Black Lips -- Antics Warehouse
Broken Social Scene -- Brooklyn Masonic Temple
The Killers -- Hammerstein Ballroom

Sunday 10/26:
Cashed Fools -- Trash Bar (Free PBR from 8-9!)