Ear on TV: Week of 04.06.09: Yeah Yeah Yeahs

If the schedule below smells like déjà vu, it's because the talkies are on vacation this week and are giving us a full slate of reruns. At least there's another Saturday Night Live this week, which this year has usually meant a quality music choice, thanks to Hal Wilner, who hasn't been this adventurous since his days booking Night Music. After Phoenix's amazing performance the other night (three songs!) Wilner and SNL follow that this week with New York's own Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Compared to Phoenix, it's a slightly less daring choice, to be sure, but it continues the trend of great and gutzy musical guests chosen for the program (Fleet Foxes, TV on the Radio, Ray Lamontagne). YYY's latest, It's Blitz, saw it's release last week to rave reviews and finds the band incorporating some eighties dancefloor sounds into their punk attack. Singer Karen O's brash attitude should serve as the yang to the yin of this week's host Zac Efron.

Elsewhere, you have to dig deep, but Sundance has been broadcasting great music films every Friday night, and this week it's the recent Pixies tour film, loudQUIETloud (2006,) on the docket. The film follows the dysfunctional indie band through their much ballyhooed reunion and tour in 2004. In it we find that despite them sounding great on stage, off stage Kim Deal still has a beef with Black Francis, and the rest of the band has gotten paunch and bald. Some things change, while others remain the same... we're still waiting on that new album, by the way.

Playlist: Picks for the week
Monday, April 6
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Motley Crue (REPEAT)
FUEL: The Daily Habit: The Bronx
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (REPEAT)
Tuesday, April 7
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: MSTRKRFT (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Cursive (REPEAT)
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Prince (REPEAT)
Wednesday, April 8
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Bell X1 (REPEAT)
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Millencolin
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Prince (REPEAT)
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: The Virgins (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: N.A.S.A. (REPEAT)
Thursday, April 9
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Les Claypool (REPEAT)
FUEL: The Daily Habit: The Ringers
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Naturally 7 (REPEAT)
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Gabriella Cilmi (REPEAT)
Friday, April 10
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: U2 (REPEAT)
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Less Than Jake
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: PJ Harvey & John Parish (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: M83 (REPEAT)
SUNDANCE: loudQUIETloud a film about the Pixies: Pixies
Saturday, April 11
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
PBS: Austin City Limits: Femi Kuti (REPEAT)