Good Weather For Airstrikes

Day four of CMJ yielded some significant disappointments, but some immensely pleasant surprises as well. Two of the week’s biggest shows took place on Thursday night, but I ws unfortunately shut out of both (see: “significant disappointments”). Sub Pop put on the biggest showcase of the week, bringing together the Thermals, CSS, The Elected and the Album Leaf in support of the Shins at the Bowery Ballroom. Considering that even without that stellar supporting cast the Shins alone could pack a venue of that size ten times over, I wasn’t holding my breath about getting a ticket, so I focused all my energy on gaining admittance to Hot Chip’s show at Webster Hall, also that night. Rya already had a ticket (jealous), but even my best efforts proved fruitless in this endeavor.

I’ve been on a serious Hot Chip kick lately, brought about by my realization that “Boy from School” just might be one of the ten best songs of this year. With the continued evolution of dance music and the HUGE year minimalist electronica is having (see: Thom Yorlee, Junior Boys, Trentemoller, The Knife, et. al), I’m more and more tempted to call “Boy From School” the most year-defining track of 2006 to this point. With that in mind, you can imagine my delight when I stumbled across this incredible acoustic version of the song, available below. What’s so impressive about it is that it actually feels more natural than the original version, not unlike Jose Gonzalez’s reinterpretation of the Knife’s “Heartbeats.” That’s not to say it’s better than the original, rather it’s simply a brilliant song for a more low-key occasion. Grab it below if you’re smart, along with another excellent Hot Chip b-side, the band’s cooler-than-cool (ice cold!) cover of “Sexual Healing.” I’ve also got this great Hot Chip remix of “Take Me Out” just chillin’ on my hard drive, and though I don’t know where exactly it came from (whether it was ever formally released or not), I figured I might throw that up here as well.

MP3s:
“And I Was A Boy From School” (Acoustic) - Hot Chip ((highly recommended))
“Sexual Healing” - Hot Chip
“Take Me Out” (Hot Chip Remix) - Franz Ferdinand

With my early evening left completely open, I hit up the Virgin Megastore for their vast selection of imports and CD/7” singles. I picked up a couple great 45’s and moved onto the imports where I stumbled across an assortment of import-only Guillemots releases (score one for “pleasant surprises”). Despite its status as my favorite album of 2006, import prices had prevented me from owning Through The Windowpane on CD (though I regularly spin the beautiful 12” vinyl edition on my record player), but I finally bit the bullet and coughed up the cash for it. Additionally, I grabbed the “Made Up Love Song” and “We’re Here” CD-singles, but best of all I discovered the Japanese import edition of the band’s early ’06 mini-LP From The Cliffs, which features two bonus tracks I didn’t even know existed, “Moonlight” and “Pa Moila”. I was really excited to post them here for you guys and everything, along with some other Guillemots hotness, but I’m home for Thanksgiving now and, er, left the CD back at UVA. My bad. Please except my penance in the form of these somewhat lesser-known gems, and I’ll be sure to get those two import tracks up as soon as I am reunited with my copy of the CD after break. “Never Went To Church” is a brilliant cover commissioned by the Streets himself for inclusion on the UK release of the Never Went To Church CD-single last summer (why they didn’t gun for Christmas #1 in the UK with that track I’ll never know), and “Who Left The Lights Off” is just one of my favorite Guillemots tracks period, even though it inexplicably did not make the cut for inclusion on Through The Windowpane.

MP3s:
“Who Left The Lights Off, Baby” - Guillemots ((highly recommended))
“Never Went To Church” - Guillemots

Upon leaving Virgin I received a text message from my former VICE boss, Chris, letting me know that Fucked Up, who were set to rock VICE Late Night in the 1 AM timeslot that night, were stuck in Canada and had been replaced at the last minute by none other than the fucking Cold War Kids. While it’s frustrating to hear that yet another VICE band were denied entrance to the country because of visa issues at the border (see: 120 Days I met up with Carrie and killed some time (er, watched The OC), before heading over to Cakeshop, where we arrived just as CWK were taking the stage.

COLD WAR KIDS @ CAKESHOP

Carrie and I saw the Kids last spring, opening for Figurines and Tapes ‘n Tapes at Bowery Ballroom and to put it bluntly, they blew me the fuck away. In their thirty minute opening set that night they outperformed every rock act I’d ever seen, and yes, I have seen the Arcade Fire live. Thus, you can imagine my excitement when I found out they’d replaced Fucked Up at Cakeshop that night. I managed to grab the best spot ever (sitting on the P.A. - which meant a) I was sitting and comfortable and b) My 6-foot-whatever frame wasn’t pissing anyone off by obstructing their view) directly in front of the band, and minutes later the band launched into the pounding opening notes of “We Used to Vacation.” “Vacation” was definitely the highlight, along with “St. John” and the ever-immaculate “Hospital Beds”, and the band put on a hell of a show, banging on bottles, wood crates, and anything they could get their hands on to add to their beautiful, beautiful cacophony. The set-up and sound wasn’t nearly as good as it was at Bowery and the show paled in comparison as a result, but the Kids are always amazing and it was great to see them in a small environment, considering that probably won’t be possible in about six months’ time.

The band will be making their UK debut next week, releasing “We Used To Vacation” as a four song EP-single, backed by new versions of previously-released EP tracks “Expensive Tastes”, “In Harmony In Silver” and “Quiet, Please!”. “Vacation” is one of the best tracks of the year and is available below with the best of the b-sides, “In Harmony In Silver,” which the band included in their Cakeshop set despite its relegation to b-side status.

MP3s:
“We Used To Vacation” - Cold War Kids ((highly recommended))
“In Harmony In Silver” - Cold War Kids

In other CWK news, Nate (vox, guitar) and Johnny (percussion) recently put on a six-song acoustic performance at Orange, California’s District Lounge as part of an annual benefit for breast cancer. The guys forwent their usual live staples for a six-song setlist comprised exclusively of covers, and it’s a great listen though the quality may be less than ideal. My favorite of the bunch is Nate’s take on Fiona Apple’s “Fast As You Can”, available for download below, and you can grab the whole set here.

UPDATE: Links are correct now. Sorry for those who were directed to a discussion of the cross-marketing of Blossom and The Fresh Prince upon clicking the link; it was a page I stumbled upon in my research to back up my theory that the success of Will Smith’s movies is built solely around the frequecy of emphatic statements within them, specifically the phrase “Oh helllll nooo” (for those keeping score at home - his least succesful movie = The Legend of Bagger Vance, which had a dearth of emphatic statements and a definite lack of “oh hellll nos”).

Acoustic At The District:
1. “Indoor Fireworks” (Elvis Costello)
2. “Fast As You Can” (Fiona Apple)
3. “Die Die Die” (Dr. Dog)
4. “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up” (Tom Waits)
5. “Tonight, You Belong To Me” (Lawrence Welk)
6. “The Littlest Birds” (The Be Good Tanyas)

Friday was by far my busiest day at CMJ, so check back later for the full rundown, which promises to be replete with fiery-hot mp3 goodness.

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