Ear on TV: Week of 05.31.10: The Mountain Goats

As you've no doubt guessed by not receiving any mail today, it's a holiday week, so the talkies are in repeat mode. So we're venturing up the dial for this week's focus. First up: IFC's Dinner with the Band.

This week's guests are The Mountain Goats, who's latest release has them interpreting bible verses. But wait, don't go! The songs are equally moving, beautiful and dark and resemble nothing in all of Christian music (whew!). But best of all for DWTB: the members of the band are incredibly witty. Chef Sam Mason can seem a little dry when there's no one to bounce off of, and between singer/songwriter John Darnielle and (especially) drummer Jon Wurster, this should be a very fun episode. Besides being a world class drummer, Wurster is one half of the radio comedy team Scharpling & Wurster, but I don't think I've seen him on television doing anything but drumming, so watch out for that.

Elsewhere, Vampire Weekend get a lesson in truthiness as they visit The Colbert Report. Looking back, it's interesting to see how Colbert's lampooning of right-wing talk transformed itself to also became a showcase for music. Pretending to take actors, politicians and authors to task is one thing, but doing it to musicians has proven to be trickier. It will be interesting to see if Colbert chooses to seize upon the propped up class issues that have dogged Vampire Weekend since their beginnings. Nothing says elitist like a Columbia University diploma, right Colbert?

Playlist: Picks for the week
Monday, May 31
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Slayer (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Willie Nelson (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: The Raveonettes (REPEAT)
OVATION: The Search for Robert Johnson: Robert Johnson
OVATION: Elvis '56: Elvis Presley
VH1: Bret Michaels: Live as I Know It: Bret Michaels
Tuesday, June 1
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Stone Temple Pilots (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Band of Horses (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Willie Nelson (REPEAT)
DOCUMENTARY: Amy Cook: The Spaces in Between: Amy Cook
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Reflection Eternal (Talib Kweli, DJ Hi-Tek)
IFC: Dinner With the Band: The Mountain Goats
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Natalie Merchant (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: The Airborne Toxic Event (REPEAT)
OVATION: Lou Reed: Live at Montreux: Lou Reed
OVATION: Jimi Hendrix: American Landing: Jimi Hendrix
Wednesday, June 2
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Damian Marley and Nas
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Black Lips (REPEAT)
OVATION: Johnny Cash: Half Mile A Day: Johnny Cash
Thursday, June 3
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Miike Snow
COMEDY CENTRAL: The Colbert Report: Vampire Weekend
DOCUMENTARY: Born 2 oogie: T-Rex: T-Rex
DOCUMENTARY: Bob Marley: Prophecies and Messages: Bob Marley
FUEL: The Daily Habit: The Henry Clay People
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Snoop Dogg (REPEAT)
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Phish (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Keane (REPEAT)
OVATION: Last 48 Hours of Kurt Cobain: Nirvana
TBS: Lopez Tonight: Peter Frampton
Friday, June 4
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Deftones
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings (REPEAT)
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Damian Marley and Nas (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Doves (REPEAT)
SUNDANCE: Live From Abbey Road: Fleet Foxes, P.J Harvey & John Parish (REPEAT)
VH1: NWA: Dangerous Group: NWA, Ice Cube, Dr Dre, Eazy-E
Saturday, June 5
PBS: Austin City Limits:
Sunday, June 6
HBO: Treme: Various artists from New Orleans

Friday Night Lights "A Sort of Homecoming": Wingmen

It's a high praise to the writers of Friday Night Lights that even with a practical episode like "A Sort of Homecoming," which is meant to set up next week's tear-jearker ("The Son"), they still managed to make a vital episode in the show's canon.

Part of what makes "A Sort of Homecoming" work, in spite of its perfunctory purpose, is how a couple of interesting themes tie the episode together. First is the odd duck "wingman" theme, where one character is accompanied by another in a surprising way. The alpha-male pissing match carried over from last week ends with Luke joining Vince in a jail cell; Julie provides support for Devon at "a gay place"; and my favorite -- Riggins helps Becky pick out a pageant dress, like some Texas football-themed episode of Project Runway. There were even a couple of throwback wingmen -- Matt inviting himself to go hunting with Riggins (loved the #33 embroidered camouflage hat), and Buddy finally getting on board and joining Coach in creating the beginnings of an East Dillon booster club.

The other fancy bow tying the episodes together was repeats of "the shoe on the other foot" situations. Tami getting agitated while listening to talk radio bad-mouth her on air was an awful lot like the earful Coach would get at times. But while Coach takes his frustrations to the bar, Tami knows chocolate will suffice (someone's been reading too much Men are From Mars, Women are from Venus). Meanwhile, watching Julie fill out her college application forms seemed like a reversal of late last season, when Matt got accepted to The Art Institute of Chicago. Julie seems to have forgotten, though, as she's oblivious as to how her list of schools might make Matt feel. (At least throw in a school near Chicago, babe.) It's just another domino falling towards the impending Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford) exodus.

If Julie's thoughtlessness about their future wasn't enough, the final moments of the episode provide a glimpse of what could be the catalyst for Matt finally getting out, and what a moving scene it was. Backed by Jose Gonzalez' brilliant cover of "Teardrop," a song who's tension is famously used as the theme song to House (in it's original Massive Attack form). We don't get to hear Grandma Lorraine's cry, making the sight of her breaking down even harder to take. (There's more where that came from next week.)

Finally, the scenes with the East Dillon Lions alumni were great, not only for their poignancy at the pep rally (not that drawing "pride" from Lions hasn't been done before), but also for dealing with the racial tension inherent in having the Taylors step in like Phil Drummond in Diffrent Strokes (RIP Gary Coleman). Just like Vince and the $20 bill from "After the Fall," the show is letting us know it's not going to be that kind of story. There has to be participation from the community to make it work, not just the Taylors waving their white magic wand.

Time to bite the bullet points:

• Most will associate this week's title ("A Sort of Homecoming") with the similarly titled song by U2, but Bono himself borrowed the title from Jewish poet Paul Celan, who wrote: "Poetry is a sort of homecoming." The East Dillon Lions 'coming home' is similar to the song, where war refugees come back home and find their war-torn surroundings quite different than how they left it.
• We have our first Crucifictorious reference of the season! Shame on Jess for turning off our favorite Christian-Speed-Metal-turned-Indie-Rock band.
• Riggins reaction to Becky asking "Is that a portrait neckline?" is classic.
• "I've kind of been down that road before. A girl asks me to do something and I say 'yes' then all of a sudden people are calling me a word that I don't like to use." Is that word is 'murderer?' Oh, that's right ... season two never actually happened.
• Seeing Stan at the gay bar was right up there with the WTF reveal of Rawls in The Wire. At least here we get some follow up.

Playlist: Friday Night Lights - Episode 4.04
"Forgotten" - Windsor For The Derby [download]: Tami drives to work listening to talk radio bash her
"White Knuckles" - OK Go [download]: Practice
"Untitled Demo Song" - Crucifictorious! - Landry picks up Jess& friends
"Press It Up" - Sean Paul [download]: Jess switches Landry's stereo to radio; Jess brushes off Vince at party
"When The Devil's Loose" - A.A. Bondy [download]: Coach invites Buddy over for dinner with East Dillon alumni
"Powerful Love" - Chuck and Mac: Coach asks Virgil about hosting pep rally
"Lady Luck" - Richard Swift [download]: Taylors host alumni; Buddy shows up
"3" - Britney Spears [download]: Devon & Julie at 'a gay place.'
"Keep It Hid" - Dan Auerbach [download]: Matt's rifle is confiscated by Tim; Tami loses it after hearing more talk radio
"Teardrop" - Jose Gonzalez [download]: Landry plants on on Jess; Lorraine & Shelby receive some bad news; Matt finds out from Julie

Previously: "In the Skin of a Lion" (Episode 4.03)

Glee "Theatricality": Gaga Googoo

Musically, "Theatricality" was a lot of fun. Lady Gaga + KISS (+ Barbara Streisand?) = Win. (The arrangement here of "Poker Face" alone makes it worth it.) But any episode that leaves out Sue Sylvester had better make up for it with laughs somewhere, and I just wasn't feeling it. There haven't been many to go around since the hiatus return, instead the series has concentrated on making the show more about having fun with music.

That's helped turn the latest CD release, Glee: The Music, Volume 3 - Showstoppers, the number one album in its first week.

Ok, I guess there was a line from Finn that was funny: "...or some other city where people eat vegetables that aren't fried."

Glee - Episode 1.20
1. "Funny Girl" - Glee Cast with Idina Menzel [Barbara Streisand version]
2. "Bad Romance" - Glee Cast [Lady Gaga version]
3. "Shout it Out Loud" - Glee Cast [KISS version]
4. "Beth" - Glee Cast [KISS version]
5. "Poker Face" - Glee Cast with Idina Menzel [Lady Gaga version]

Chuck vs The Ring, Pt 2: Family Business

Season 3 of Chuck was weighed down by one thing that had weighed down by the overused plot construct to keep Chuck and Sarah (er, Sam) apart. This season's construct was the worst in the character Shaw. As anyone who's read this blog more than a few times knows, I'm not a 'shipper,' as in I don't have an abnormal personal investment in whether Chuck ends up with Sarah, but to throw an obstacle as uninspired and thinly framed as Shaw was is kind of an insult. So when it became apparent that Shaw was back from the dead (of course he's back, because that's how ridiculous this character is) I honestly kind of dreaded this finale.

Thankfully, Shaw wasn't that much of an annoyance and all the scenes involving the greater Bartkowski family were great, including the cliffhanger introducing us to Mama Bartkowksi (well, at least the back of her head). Family has always been a part of the show, but with this episode it really moved to the forefront. Ellie is now in the circle of trust, and so is Casey's daughter Alex (who we've barely even met). Just like last year's "Guys, I know karate" paradigm shift, there's a lot of potential for next season. Let's just hope that with Chuck and Sarah finally together, their hands are tied setting obstacles for their relationship.

Musically, I believe "Chuck vs The Ring, Pt 2" had more songs packed in it since the pilot, albeit, spread over two hours. As I posted last week, Band of Horses licensed three songs from their latest (and far from greatest) release (Infinite Arms) for the episode. I think my favorite moment, though, was hearing Roger Miller's "England Swings" during the Casey/Justin (the Ring agent) stand off at the diner. Menew's "Don't Give Up On Us Now" (the on-the-nose song of the week) is from an upcoming release, making it some sort of debut, right? Whatever. (Man, there's still a Lost-a-palooza hangover going on right here.)

Chuck - Episode 3.18-19
1. "The High Road" - 2. Broken Bells: Chuck & Sarah walk through farmer's market
2. "One More Try" - Timmy T: a depressed Awesome drinks with Jeffster
3. "England Swings" - Roger Miller: Casey at gunpoint at the diner
4. "Neighbor" - Band of Horses: Chuck talks his father into going back
5. "One October Song" Nico Stai
6. "Congratulations" - MGMT: Alex enters the Buymore store
7. "Don't Give Up On Us Now" - Menew: Chuck admits defeat
8. "On My Way Back Home" - Band of Horses: Ellie hugs Chuck, flashes back. Later used during toast of Papa Bartkowski
9. "Sundial" - Wolfmother: Sarah & Chuck go undercover as Russian delegates
10. "Blaze of Glory" (Young Guns 2) - Jeffster!: Chuck triggers the Jeffster DVD flashing in battle with Shaw
11. "Blue Beard" - Band of Horses: Sarah retrieves Chuck's watch
12. "Don't Hide Away" - Bishop Allen: Jeff offers to burn down the Buymore, Sarah & Chuck talk

Previously: Chuck vs the Living Dead

Ear on TV: Week of 05.24.10: The Black Keys

Akron, Ohio's The Black Keys have been playing their version of the blues for six albums now, but they've never sounded looser than on their latest, the excellent Brothers. Guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney took the stripped-down Zeppelin approach as far as they could for four albums and have been expanding their sound ever since. They called on Danger Mouse to produce their last album (Attack & Release, and seem to have taken what they learned and stretched things out even more (just check out the falsetto on the opener "Everlasting Love," for starters).

The Black Keys will be likely performing the combination of "Tighten Up" (the one Danger Mouse joint on the album) and "Next Girl" on The Late Show with David Letterman Tuesday and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Wednesday. And I don't think it's a stretch to think that The Roots will lend a hand to the duo in some fashion for the latter.

Meanwhile, I was all set to make a big deal about those 'MMMBop'pers Hanson being back, but then I looked into it some more and realized that they actually came back in 2007 with The Walk and it didn't take. It's three years (and some Tinted Windows) later and the brothers have another album coming, titled Shout it Out. I confess I don't care about this either, and they're playing The Tonight Show With Jay Leno on Wednesday night, which makes me care even less. Instead, let me I suggest checking out genuine songwriting legend John Prine performing on Letterman that same night, with the added bonus of having My Morning Jacket's Yim Yames with him. He performs in support of his latest release, In Person & On Stage, out tomorrow.

Finally, we sang the praises of Janelle Monae to you just last week, but after seeing her face-melting performance on Letterman (video below), we must push this unique artist on you once again. The tiny Atlanta native performs three times this week, so there's plenty of opportunity for you to catch her James Brown from another planet act. Monae will be shaking and singing on Ellen Wednesday, Lopez Tonight on Thursday night, and ending the week with an in concert look in on Last Call with Carson Daly.


Playlist: Picks for the week
Monday, May 24
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Damian Marley with Nas
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Mishka
COMEDY CENTRAL: The Colbert Report: The Hold Steady (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Sia, Holly Golightly (REPEAT)
SYNDICATION: Live With Regis and Kelly: Keane
TBS: Lopez Tonight: Paper Tongues
Tuesday, May 25
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Peter Frampton
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: The Black Keys
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Fang Island
IFC: Dinner With the Band: Kid Sister & Flosstradamus (REPEAT)
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: John Butler Trio
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Frightened Rabbit
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: OK Go
Wednesday, May 26
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Stone Temple Pilots
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: John Prine with Yim Yames
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Hanson
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: The Black Keys
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: City and Colour
SYNDICATION: The Ellen DeGeneres Show: Janelle Monae
Thursday, May 27
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Stone Temple Pilots
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: OK Go (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Band of Horses
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Far
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Allison Moorer
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Reflection Eternal
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Damian Marley with Nas
TBS: Lopez Tonight: Janelle Monae
VH1: Behind the Music: Bret Michaels (REPEAT)
Friday, May 28
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: The National
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Stars
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Janelle Monae
SUNDANCE: Live From Abbey Road: Seal, Imelda May, Sugarland (REPEAT)
VH1: Friday Night Alright/London Live: Kanye West (REPEAT)
Saturday, May 28
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Ke$ha (REPEAT)
HBO: Treme: Various New Orleans Artists

Lost "The End": Jack's Ladder

"I have a bad feeling about this." Hurley

I'm not sure yet how I feel about this season of Lost turning out to be like a long communal remake of Jacob's Ladder, but having the characters end the way they did went a long way towards satisfaction-- with a huge debt to Michael Giacchino's score. (And shame on them for leaning on Vincent once again to tug at my tear ducts.)

I'm late with my weekly ear on tv/music on tv this week post, so I'll just leave some bullet points.

• "Well, there's always the chance that I could kill you." - Dr. Jack to Locke the patient
  "I'm going to kill you." New Jack to Smokey/Locke
• The eternal Richard, eternal no more. He needs his own fish-out-of-water spin-off series: Richard in the Real World
• With... Lapidus!
• Believing is important:
  "I believe in you, dude." - Hurley to New Jack
  "I don't believe in a lot of things, but I do believe in duct tape." - Miles
• "All of this matters." - Jack, reminding us that even though all of this action and mythology isn't the end game of the series, what happened still matters. So go buy the full box set on Blu-Ray when it comes out in August, brother.
• "If you unplug it and then you plug it back in again, the candy just drops right down." - Juliet to Sawyer, but kind of subconsciously to Island New Jack. Go plug that mysterious phallic symbol back in the Island's hoo-hoo!
• Hurley asking Ben to be his Richard Alpert was too precious. Maybe ABC will run with that sequel.

Previously: My preview of "The End," taking a stab at electromagnetism and its role in Lost mythology.

Lost: The End and Bio-Electromagneticism

As the hours count down to the end of Lost, some fans seem to be making mental lists of questions they want answered, while others cheer on for their desired final pairing for Kate ("Team Sawyer appears to have a slim lead over Team Jack heading into the final turn"). I'm just hoping there's at least a nod towards Dr. MacDougall's infamous weighing of the soul.

You see, the Island supposedly houses the source of everything (life? the universe? Douglas Adams readers can hardly wonder why the number sequence begins with 42). The pool of light we caught a glimpse of is electromagnetic energy, which actually is in each and every one of us -- bioelectromagneticism. When a human dies, thanks to laws of thermodynamics, a smattering of this energy escapes the body. Many believe this to be what some would call the soul, making it kind of the perfect marriage of science and faith. in 1907, Dr. Duncan MacDougall experimented with measuring a body immediately before and after death to see if he could measure the weight of the soul, and came up with an average of 21 grams (hey, that's a movie!). His work has never been considered solid science, but has lived on thanks to it's interesting premise. Thinking along the lines of MacDougall, though, the pool of light could be the Guf, where every human soul begins. In Jewish mysticism its believed that once the Guf is 'dry,' it signals the coming of the Messiah and, in turn, the end of days. Would Lost go there? Not implicitly, no, but it's at least something to watch for, methinks.

So between Smokey's electro sparks, the glowing pool, and our super-scot Desmond, this season has had electromagnetic energy at its core, but writers have mostly left it in the background.* How it plays out is still anyone's game, and it could be left completely unsaid, but I have a feeling we'll at least get some sort of electromagnetic-related clue, if not a small cameo for someone named cleverly named MacDougall.

What do you hope to see in these final hours of Lost?

*I suspect this has to do with wanting to leave some of the geek magic aside after last season's science class... that, and with no Faraday to pontificate on it, where would we get our exposition?
Where's Faraday when you need him?

Previously: "The Last Recruit" (6.14)

Friday Night Lights "In the Skin of a Lion": Losing My Religion

One of the things that Friday Night Lights does better than any series is show the uncomfortable moments between a married couple still very much in love. When Eric and Tami fight, as they did in last week's "After the Fall" and tonight's "In the Skin of a Lion," it's gut-wrenching because it's so real. And, thanks to the fine acting of Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton, we're very much invested in their relationship, so when the Taylors aren't clicking, it's all too easy to lose some faith in love and marriage.

And it's faith that's one of the themes throughout the episode. At first pass, the Julie side story (losing her faith in church and Tami's concern) seemed extraneous, but it kind of ties the subplots together. Buddy continues his crisis of faith with his beloved Panthers, Matt still has a hard time believing in pantsless Richard Sherman's "piece of crap" philosophy; while the players (particularly Luke and Vince) have serious doubts about Coach's motives. When Coach writes the personal check and lies to Tami about it, I think we all kind of lost some faith in Coach. Much like Don Draper in this past season of Mad Men, Coach's lack of sleep is making him a lot more cranky and less communicative. It's easy to be like big Tinker, and want to question him, but as Riggins tells Luke over and over, "Trust in Coach."

And trust we do, even when Landry is told to take over the punting job. Thanks to the short season, we have to do some of the work here to see that Coach knows Landry's smart, so not only should he be able to "figure it out," but he may also apply some physics and math skills to job making better use of his noggin than hitting people with it. Deleted scene I'm imagining: "And while you're at it, Lance, why don't you kick some field goals as well."

In the end, most of the characters experiencing a crisis of faith witness a small enough a victory to prompt at least some conversion. A sincere apology (to Tami), new uniforms (players), an artery bulging screaming to with attentive in-the-ear side bar (for Vince) and a broken play touchdown (Principal "you's the only one who didn't get the joke" Levi) begin to build some trust in Coach. Meanwhile, Matt sees Richard's "beautiful piece of crap" -- an angel, just to hammer in the religious undertones -- and appears to be converted. Unfortunately, this last one is contributing to a totally separate crisis of faith for Julie - faith in their relationship. Add the fact that Zach Gilford (Matt) is only around for a couple more episodes, and the odds of this relationship lasting are as slim as seeing Richard Sherman teach a course in manners.

The title of this week's episode, "In the Skin of a Lion" could be a reference to the 1987 Michael Ondaatje novel, which fittingly deals with outsiders toiling away without acknowledgement in a new environment (see Coach Taylor, Matt and Luke). Most likely, though, it's a reference to the wearing of a lion's skin as metaphor for empowerment via the clothes on your back, like the new uniforms the Lions are surprised with before the game. (Or, as Tim says to Becky, "Go with the pink [dress]. You're a winner with pink.")

And now we finish with a hail of bullet points:

• I know a lot of folks question how Landry would all of a sudden be the field goal kicker, but I have more of a problem with the opposing team. Why would you pass the ball with 30 seconds left when you're up 27-0. I'm sorry, but any team in that situation is either running the ball or taking a knee.
• Having Landry practice punting provided a handy shortcut for coloring in the characters of both Jess and her father Virgil (Steve Harris). His falling out with football is the ultimate crisis of faith and I imagine his 'conversion' to the religion of Coach Taylor will begun soon enough.
• When Becky offers to try on dresses for Tim, his days as a running back came in handy for that quick retreat.
• Everyone should have an Under Armor rep as nice as the one Sam Jaeger is playing here. You might recognize him as Joel from Parenthood (showrunner Jason Katim's other series on the peacock).

Playlist: Friday Night Lights - Episode 4.03
1. "I'll Be In The Sky" - B.o.B. [download]: Lions push car in fundraising event
2. "Rock Candy" - Montrose [download]: Matt talks to Richard in his studio
3. "Million Bucks" - Maino feat Swizz Beatz [download]: Practice
4. "Are The Good Times Really Over For Good" - John Doe and The Sadies [download]: At bar, Eric begs to Buddy to help round up boosters
5. "One Shot" - Rollins Band [download]: Eric sends Landry in to kick field goal, broken play score

Previously: "After the Fall" (Episode 4.02)

Now Downloading: New Releases 05.18.10

Another anticipated week for releases, and another delay thanks to Rhapsody's continued snail's pace on dropping in new releases. I may have to find a new system, because when you've got a week featuring the latest from LCD Soundsystem, Band of Horses, Janelle Monae and the Black Keys, things need to move forward at a quicker pace. Stay tuned...

Playlist: New Releases 05.11.10

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LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

If this is indeed the last album that LCD Soundsystem releases, and James Murphy has hinted as much, then this is the way to go. This is Happening, lyrically, is Murphy's most personal release, continuing the inward trend since LCD SS' impersonal beginnings with "Losing My Edge." With songs like "I Can Change," "Somebody's Calling Me," and even "You Wanted a Hit," Murphy's reeled that fish nearly all the way into the boat. It can flop around to "Drunk Girls," like the rest of us, and or just quietly appreciate Murphy's continued mastery of all things Bowie. It could happen. (Can't wait for their set at Sasquatch!.)

Free AOL album stream

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Band of Horses - Infinite Arms
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

Upon first listen, it seems Infinite Arms is Band of Horses cash grab, which is mostly expected given its their major label dabut. Phil Ek is still twiddling the knobs and adding vocal reverb, but something about the release just seems to fall short. Ben Bridwell is the only piece left from their surprising debut (Everything All the Time) and he's mentioned in interviews that this was the first release where he wasn't trying to control everything, letting the band function as a whole; and that Infinite Arms is the band's first release. Sure "Laredo" and "Compliments" are stunners that would slide in nicely on any BoH joint. But the rest of IA feels mostly like prime filler. Is it just me, or are BoH sounding more like a watered down version of Matt Brooke's post BoH act Grand Archives on some of these tracks? Just saying...

Free AOL album stream

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More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week:
The Black Keys - Brothers / Free AOL album stream
Janelle Monae - ArchAndroid / Streaming on MySpace
Harvey Milk - A Small Turn of Human Kindness
Great Lake Swimmers - The Legion Sessions
The Sadies - Darker Circles
Reggie Watts - Why S*** So Crazy? / Free AOL album stream
Rangda - False Flag / "Bull Lore" [mp3]
Pontiak - Living / Free AOL album stream / "Young" [mp3]
Tracy Thorn - Love & Its Opposite / Free AOL album stream / "Oh, The Divorces!" [mp3]
Glee Cast - Glee: The Music, Volume 3 Showstoppers
Wintersleep - New Inheritors / "Hallowed Ways" [mp3]
The Depreciation Guild - Spirit Youth
Woven Bones - In and Out and Back Again / "If It Feels Alright" [mp3]

REISSUES
The Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Stree (Bonus Tracks)
Rick James - Fire it Up
Rick James - Gsrden of Love
The Jayhawks - The Jayhawks
Duran Duran - Duran Duran
Duran Duran - Seven and the Ragged Tiger

tags: music, album review, the national, male bonding, dead weather, indie rock, new releases, rhapsody

The Good Guys "Pilot": Poncherello Called...

"I wish to look like Erik Estrada"

A suggested template for plastic surgery serves as a sort of meta statement on The Good Guys as a whole. Matt Nix (Burn Notice) is obviously inspired by 1980s Cop series, with Bradley Whitford (and his mustache) as the cop stuck in that decade. Two problems present themselves as a result. First is it's too hard to see Whitford, despite the impressive mustache, as a conservative out of time cop, given his previous roles. Second problem is that the cop series from the 80's weren't really that good. Fun to remember, though, which makes me think Nix might need to play up the cheese factor a bit more.

Playlist: The Good Guys - Episode 1.01
"I Fought the Law" - The Clash
"You Sexy Thing" - Hot Chocolate
Superstar - The Isley Brothers
"She Does" - Locksley
"20th Century Boy" - T. Rex
"The Stroke" - Billy Squire
"Thunderstruck" - AC/DC
"Black Betty" - Ram Jam (in version sent out to critics, but didn't make the broadcast preview version)

Glee "Dream On": Whedonesque

Neil Patrick Harris as Will foil! Joss Whedon directs! Ever notice that Glee is just like its character Rachel, so desperate for attention it demands exclamation points. (!)

Glee - Episode 1.19
"Daydream Believer" - Glee Cast with Neil Patrick Harris (The Monkeys)
"Dreamweaver" - Gary Wright
"Piano Man" - Billy Joel
"Big Spender" from Le Miserables
"Dream On" - Glee Cast with Neil Patrick Harris (Aerosmith)
"Safety Dance" - Glee Cast
"I Dreamed a Dream" - Glee Cast with Idina Menzel (from Les Miserables)
"Dream a Little Dream" - Glee Cast

Chuck vs the Living Dead: Early Edition

Going into the original season finale, about four episodes ago, I wouldn't have bothered to order a $5 footlong to save the show. But thanks to Scott Bakula reprising his role as Papa Bartkowski, I'm more than happy that Chuck got a fourth season renewal, if not as fervently as the end of last season.

Not sure if it was the threat of seeing Shaw and then not seeing him, or just having an episode with both Scott Bakula and Jeffster (hello "Chuck vs the Ring"), it all made the so-so Ellie subplot easier to swallow. Also: Seeing Scott Bakula start the episode with the newspaper crossed my wires a bit, making me think that the Quantum Leap-like series Early Edition was being referenced.

Chuck - Episode 3.17
"Love Hurts" - Jeffster (Nazareth)
"September"- Earth Wind & Fire
"I Am Your Skin" - The Bravery

Previously: Chuck vs the Role Models

Treme "Shallow Water, Oh Mama":

With all the crap that's been dumped on the characters of Treme, nearly every single one found a kernel of corn in this deep wood... a flower growing up through the cracks in the pavement.

Toni digs up evidence on the search for Daymo, Delmond finds himself joining in with his father's Mardi Gras Indians practice, Creighton's literary agent shows up with mostly good news, Antoine has a nice moment with his mentor, Antoine gets an opportunity to give back to his mentor and even Davis' election joke may have more than a punchline. All that's left is the Annie/Sonny unfortunate storyline and poor Janette's restaurant closing its doors. Things are at least beginning to point towards some kind of arc. And there's music, of course.

Treme - Episode 106
"Davis for Council" - Davis (Steve Zahn)
"La Danse de la Vie" - Beausoleil
"I Was a Little Too Lonely" - Nat King Cole
"Basin Street Blues" - Annie (Lucia Micarelli) & Sonny (Michiel Huisman) [Jack Teagarden version]
"Salee Dames" - Papa Don Vappie
"Down by the Riverside" - Michael White
"Over in the Gloryland" - Original Royal Players Brass Band [Preservation Hall Jazz Band]
"The Things That I Used to Do" - Guitar Slim
"Got to be More Careful" - Jon Cleary
"Iko Iko" - Delmond (Rob Brown) & Donald Harrison [The Wild Magnolias]
"St John's Eve" - Coco Robicheaux
"One Way or Another" - Walter "Wolfman" Washington
"Nuki Suki" - Little Richard
"Quantum Time" - Delmond (Rob Brown) & Donald Harrison
"12's It" - Ellis Marsalis
"Alle Parti Pour Voi Beau Jocque" - Beau Jocque & the Zydeco Hi-Rollers
"Just a Closer Walk with Thee" - Danny Nelson
"Intoit" - Stan Getz
"Fly Me to the Moon" - Jazz Band w/ Antoine (Wendell Pierce) [Tony Bennett]
"Shallow Water, Oh Mama" - Mardi Gras Indians [Golden Eagles version]
"Take the A Train" - Jazz Band w/ Antoine (Wendell Pierce) [Duke Ellington version]
"Horo" - Panorama Brass Band
"Stooges Party" - Stooges Brass Band
"Party Town" - Bobby Charles

Ear on TV: Week of 05.17.10: Band Of Horses

Indie Americana group Band of Horses are set to release their third album, Infinite Arms this week, and you can hear three songs from the album next week on the season finale for Chuck. The South Carolina-by-way-of-Seattle band licensed three songs from the album for the third season ender for the NBC show, a series which has featured the band a couple times in the past. Whether they coordinated their release date with the finale, nobody's confessing, but it's a pretty savvy move for their major label debut.

Last month, the band played three songs on Later with Jools Holland in the UK, and their first two albums instantly jumped into the UK Billboard's Top 200 for the first time. It'll be harder to pull that off when they play The Late Show with David Letterman on Thursday night, but between that appearance and the Chuck exposure, their major label debut has been given at least marginally better odds for success.

Meanwhile, I was sad to hear yesterday of the death of legendary heavy metal vocalist Ronnie James Dio (Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio, Heaven and Hell). The Revolver Golden Gods Awards, airing this Saturday on VH1 Classic, features the last public appearance by diminutive Dio (scroll down for video of interview), who lost his battle with stomach cancer. The heavy metal awards show also features appearances by other legendary frontmen of rock like Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Halford (Judas Priest), and Lemmy (Motorhead), along with help from Dave Grohl, Slash and hosted by Andrew "Party Hard" W.K. Just typing those names makes my neck sore.


Finally, gracing us with her presence on this planet this week is the one and only Janelle Monae, whose fascination with Fritz Lang's Metropolis has led to some crazy stage shows and a planned four-part conceptual suite. Her debut full length studio release, The ArchAndroid, continues the robot obsession and features two more Metropolis suite contributions along with guest appearances from Of Montreal, Saul Williams and Outkast's Big Boi. How locked into Sci-Fi is the Atlanta resident? She appeared as herself on Stargate Universe last year.

Playlist: Picks for the week
Monday, May 17
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Public Image Ltd.
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Shooter Jennings (REPEAT)
TBS: Lopez Tonight: Weezer
Tuesday, May 18
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Dirty Heads (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Janelle Monae
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Jakob Dylan
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Broken Social Scene
IFC: Dinner With the Band: YACHT (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: B.o.B. (REPEAT)
SYNDICATION: The Ellen DeGeneres Show: James Taylor & Carole King
Wednesday, May 19
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Reflection Eternal featuring Estelle
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Stone Temple Pilots
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Foxy Shazam
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Nas, Damian Marley
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Mumford & Sons
Thursday, May 20
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Slayer
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Band of Horses
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Vampire Weekend
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Between the Buried and Me
SYNDICATION: The Ellen DeGeneres Show: Weezer
Friday, May 21
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Massive Attack
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Robbie Dupree
SUNDANCE: Live From Abbey Road: Seal, Counting Crows - Celebration of 40th Anniversary of The Beatles' Abbey Road recording (REPEAT)
Saturday, May 22
BBCAMERICA: The Graham Norton Show: Andrew Lloyd Webber
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Just Bieber (REPEAT)
VH1 Classic: Revolver Golden Gods Awards: Andrew W.K., Rob Halford, Ozzy Osbourne, Ronnie James Dio. Slash, Dave Grohl, Lemmy
Sunday, May 23
HBO: Treme: Varous artists from New Orleans

Friday Night Lights "After the Fall": Swing Your Sword

If the season premiere of Friday Night Lights was about orienting us to the new digs, then last night's "After the Fall" set fire to all the furniture to start things from scratch.

The theme of starting over was kind of thrown at us from every angle, with the best coming last in the form of the Lions coming back together. Ceremoniously burning their game film and old jerseys to a battle cry of "Let's finish this!" induced a few goosebumps here and there. Elsewhere there were students starting over at a new school (Julie, Luke*, etc.); Matt's portfolio (and approach to art); and Tim changing addresses. Heck, even the Dillon Panthers were going to have to start over thanks to their first game retroactive forfeit.

*One of the casualties of a shortened 13 episode season is we're missing all the back-and-forth that likely went on with Luke and his parents in getting him transferred to East Dillon. Same goes for Julie, as I can't imagine she had the last word on the transfer in last week's episode.

Coach was spurred into action through two unexpected sources. First, oddly enough, featured a cameo from then Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach (since fired and currently locked in a legal battle with the school), who played the random guy at the gas station telling Eric to find his "inner pirate," an approach that Leach had preached to his kids many times before. His kitchen sink approach to the philosophy of coaching is likely at odds with Coach Taylor's no-nonsense approach, but all the talk of swinging his sword seemed to sink in.

The second surprise visit for Coach was Tim Riggins, which put a smile on both faces (note the swelling of Explosions in the Sky's "Inside It All Feels The Same," making for a nice callback to the first couple seasons when the Texas instrumental band was relied upon a lot). Upon hearing that Tim had dropped out of school, Coach barely batted an eyelash. There's lots of work to be done and it's not exactly an unexpected outcome for #33. Let's just hope the coaching gig works out better with Tim than it did with Jason.

If there was a complaint to the episode it's that it wavered a bit from the weight of all the heavy lifting it had to do juggling multiple storylines and introducing more characters into the mix. Like last year with Smash and Jason, in order to get a proper send off we're going to have to just tag along with Matt's journey, even though it feels like another series. Meanwhile, we get brief introductions to Jess Merriwether (M-E-R-R-I-W-E-T-H-E-R, played by the dimply Jurnee Smollett) and daddy Vernon (The Practice's Steve Harris), who both figure to play in racial tension in the series, as "Red" Landry appears to have a weakness for dimples.

Speaking of race relations, there's always a danger when Hollywood tries to tackle the issue by depicting a white knight, like the Taylors, coming in and "fixing" things. The scene with Vince and the $20 bill he throws back at Coach was a great way of telling us that there won't be that kind of story on FNL. If East Dillon and the poorer neighborhoods are going to come out for the better this season, it's going to involve work from all sides, not just Coach Taylor (and Buddy Garrity).

Everybody duck -- here come the bullet points:

• The title, "After the Fall," is probably a reference to the deeply personal Arthur Miller play, which in turn references the biblical story of Adam and Eve's exit from Eden -- both of which have a theme of starting over. Would that make another Dillon as Eden metaphor? And Elia Kazan directed the play, as well as last week's reference in film adaptation form, East of Eden.
• Love that Tami was worried that her actions involving Luke might look like a "Mrs. Coach move." Mrs. Coach struck again this week, though, getting one over on the villainous Joe McCoy.
• The Riggins Brothers get the laughs this week, especially Tim taunting his brother after his complaints about his wife's pregnancy: "Would you pass me that violin please? You're HOGGING it!"
• For reasons both comedic and foreshadow-y, you gotta love the last line of the episode, from Coach: "I just gotta find out a way to get us new uniforms."

Friday Night Lights - Episode 4.02 ("After The Fall")
1. "Freeze Frame" - Northern League [download]: East Dillon High, Vince greeted by white flag on locker
2. "Radio Milk How Can You Stand It" - White Denim [download]: Tim in tow truck
3. "Horizons" - An Horse [download]: Matt drives with Julie
4. "Everybody Plays The Fool" - The Main Ingredient [download]: Landry visits Jess while she's at work
5. "Inside It All Feels The Same" - Explosions In The Sky: Coach Taylor lays out the plan for the team, then looks over the field; Tim stops by to talk with him
6. "Walkin' Blue" - Sonic Youth [download]: Cheryl offers trailer for rent to Tim
7. "What You Hide" - AM [download]: Tim moves in, Eric & Tami talk

Previously: East of Dillon (Episode 4.01)

Now Downloading: New Releases 05.11.10

Still experiencing some technical difficulties (some in part due to Rhapsody's database overhaul), but it's another quality week for releases and so the show must go on. Highly anticipated releases from The National and Jack White's The Dead Weather grab the headlines, but the real find this week is the Sub Pop debut of UK's Male Bonding, which has some Best of 2010 potential all over it. Also of note this week are the latest releases from cocorosie, Phosphorescent, Holy Fuck, Sage Francis, Gayngs and the unexpected return of Australia's Hoodoo Gurus. Have at it.

Playlist: New Releases 05.11.10

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The National - High Violet
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

Going on five albums now, The National has masterfully delivered dark material in a manner similar to warm jets in a hot tub, and High Violet might just feel the most comfortable. There's nothing at all flashy about what they do, writing songs about white collar melancholy, but nobody does it better. Some have dubbed it "Dad Rock," which sounds a bit trite (coming from one Dad who's a fan of the band), but this time out, there's indeed a song about becoming a father ("Afraid of Everyone"), and it's great. Meanwhile, "Bloodbuzz Ohio" and "Anyone’s Ghost" are the accessible singles, uptempo (relative, of course, to the National's poetic plodding) and lyrically distilled enough to go down easy on the general public. It's not just for indie rock dads anymore.

Free AOL album stream
Download: "Bloodbuzz Ohio" [mp3]

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Male Bonding - Nothing Hurts
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

Listening to Male Bonding's debut Nothing Hurts for the past week has been an exhilarating experience. At times, the driving guitars reminds one of Nirvana, but then the shoegaze-y vocals come in and it's suddenly an over-caffeinated Ride in the headphones. The songs are all minimal bursts of salty-sweet joy, the place where punk and pure pop bliss meet. And they're over at just the right time, leaving you wanting more. "Nothing Remains" is the highlight here, but really, there's no filler here to be had and the band keeps the listener on his toes with just enough variety (including an acoustic-based closer, "Worse to Come," featuring the Vivian Girls on vocals). Sub Pop has scored another gem, and, if pressed right now, Nothing Hurts could just be my album of 2010.

Download: "Year's Not Long" / "Franklin" [mp3]

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More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week:
The Dead Weather - Cracked Love & Other Drugs / Free NPR Stream
Holy Fuck - Latin / "Latin America" [mp3]
Phosphorescent - Here's to Taking It Easy / Free AOL album stream / "Mermaid Parade" [mp3]
Cocorosie - Grey Oceans / Free album stream / "Mermaid Parade" [mp3]
Sage Francis - Nobody's Daughter
Gayngs - Relayted / "Faded High" [mp3]
Hoodoo Gurus - Purity of Essence / Free AOL album stream
Cool Million - The Tom Moulton Session
Salteen - Moths / "Hallowed Ways" [mp3]
Keane - Fever

REISSUES
Fela Kuti - Expensive Sh*t / He Miss Road (Bonus Tracks) / Free AOL album stream

tags: music, album review, the national, male bonding, dead weather, indie rock, new releases, rhapsody

Glee "Laryngitis": Buzzer Beater

Ok... this is how it went for me. Cringe. Really? No. Well... ok. Then Chris Colfer's Kurt sings "Rose's Turn" and suddenly everything is alright.

Glee - Episode 1.18
"Jessie's Girl" - Glee Cast (Rick Springfield version)
"Lady Is A Tramp" - Glee Cast (Sammy Davis, Jr. version)
"The Boy Is Mine" - Glee Cast (Brandy & Monica version)
"Rose's Turn" - Glee Cast (version from Gypsy)
"One" - Glee Cast (U2 version)

Previously: "Bad Reputation" (Episode 1.17)