Soundtracking Wednesday Night: Bionic Birdhouse

Since there's not really a show that's consistently warrants special musical attention on Wednesday -- a night of primarily freshman series -- here's a grab-bag of what went down.

First, congratulations are in order for Pushing Daisies, who gets picked up for the full season. I guess congratulations are in order for television viewers as well, who have shown the good taste to make this quirky show a hit. Last night, for the second time this season, Olive (Kristin Chenoweth) breaks out into song, this time with Aunt Vivian (Ellen Greene) singing harmonies on They Might Be Giant's "Birdhouse in Your Soul" (see video). It was brief, but probably just the right amount of singing, as Olive's turn at "Hopelessly Devoted To You" dragged on a bit too long a couple episodes ago.

Hearing Chenoweth and Greene singing was kind of an anticipated event, given their musical history. Chenoweth most recently with her role as Glinda in Wicked and Greene with her memorable role as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors. Combine that with the precious pairing of They Might Be Giants with Pushing Daisies and my twee meter nearly burst.

Meanwhile, Bionic Woman made great strides with their fifth episode in, showing that fill-in showrunner Jason Katims (performing double-duty with his Friday Night Lights) might have the ship righted after the rocky start. Just in time, too, as another Jason (Cahill) is now stepping in to take the reigns -- for good, one hopes. Cahill comes on board with experience with a Sopranos pedigree, which is well respected these days, especially given the products that Sopranos vets Matthew Weiner (Mad Men) and Todd Kessler (Damages) recently put out. As far as music goes, you can't help but wonder if Katims had anything to do with the upgrade on that front as well, as songs from Ben Kweller, Rilo Kiley and Ani DiFranco spiced up the drama a bit this time out, much like FNL. Thankfully, Jason Cahill worked under David Chase, a man who understands the importance of music, and I'm guessing some of that rubbed off on him. Let's hope so, anyway.

Lastly, I'm just including some of the songs from ladies choice dramas Gossip Girl and Private Practice, because I either just skimmed through (GG) or didn't bother to watch (PP). Though, from what I could tell, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Nekta and Beck livened up an otherwise droll masquerade ball, but that's all I'm dishing on GG, JQP.

Playlist: Soundtracking Wednesday Night - 10.24.07
1. "Birdhouse In Your Soul" - They Might Be Giants - Pushing Daisies, Ep 104
2. "Nothing Happening" - Ben Kweller - Bionic Woman, Ep 105
3. "Silver Lining" - Rilo Kiley - Bionic Woman, Ep 105
4. "Recoil" - Ani DiFranco - Bionic Woman, Ep 105
5. "Kiss, Kiss" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Gossip Girl, Ep 106
6. "Guess Who" - Nekta - Gossip Girl, Ep 106
7. "Timebomb" - Beck - Gossip Girl, Ep 106
8. "Happy Ending" - Mika - Gossip Girl, Ep 106
9. "What I've Done" - Until June - Private Practice, Ep 105
10. "Mas Que Nada" - Sergio Mendes - Private Practice, Ep 105

tags: music, television, soundtrack, pushing daisies, bionic woman, gossip girl, they might be giants

Saturday night with 70s AM Rock

Saturday, my baby doll and I saw the double-bill of Ben Kweller and Sam Roberts at the Showbox. An interesting matchup of 70's rock appreciaters, with Kweller more in tune with 70's AM Pop and Roberts in line with Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones... where they both meet squarely, though, is in their love for The Beatles.



09.30.2006 @ Showbox, Seattle:
Ben Kweller - Best Guess Setlist
Sam Roberts - Best Guess Setlist

They both hooked up on their tour a couple weeks ago at the Austin City Limits festival, where Kweller had THE rock moment of 2006 when a runaway nose bleed cut his set short. Kweller bloodied his guitar and piano playing through the bleed until it was apparent that too much bood had been lost, and he was rushed to the hospital. (photo from project d.u.) Here's Kweller talking about the nosebleed:

1 hour in, a festival paramedic was pinching my nose while her walkie talkie was blaring with other medical emergencies like a snake bit girl and a passed out drunkard. The minutes were flying by and all of a sudden it was 2:30 - my scheduled time to hit the stage! Everybody wanted to put me in an ambulance and cancel my show. Fuck that! There's 20,000 people out there, I'm not gonna cancel a show because of a nose bleed. What kind of excuse is that? I'm certainly not gonna make up some bullshit Axl Rose excuse!

Meanwhile, back to Saturday night, Sam Roberts played a great set, even if they had to squeeze their fire into a shorter set. My fellow USA compatriots still don't seem to get Sam Roberts... I hope opening for Ben Kweller will give them the exposure they're looking for, but I'm not sure it will.

Previously:
Dwell on the swell Kweller feller (Ben Kweller preview)
A case for modern classic rock (Sam Roberts' Chemical City)

tags: playlist, music, sam roberts, ben kweller, live music, concert review, indie rock, nose bleed, seattle, classic rock, rhapsody

Dwell on the swell Kweller feller

Song: Ben Kweller - "Sundress"
Stream the S/T full album at Ben's MySpace page

Notoriously nice guy Ben Kweller releases his third album this coming Tuesday (9/19,) and while his single "Sundress" is already available, the rest of the album is being streamed for a limited time from Ben's MySpace page.

T and me have gotta babysitter set up for his show at the end of the month, but I have to confess... Sam Roberts is opening, and is the main reason we're going. T loves her Sam Roberts, but I predict the Austin MOT will make her a fan by the end of the night.

Here's the video for "Sundress."

tags: music, ben kweller, indie rock, sam roberts, video