þú hatta fjúka lætur í loft
þú regnhlíf snú á hvolf allt of oft
ó nei, ekki.
- Sigur Ros

Yeah.
- Me

My wonderful wife got me tickets to the sold out Sigur Ros concert last Thursday night. I followed that up with a weekend wedding and now it’s an exhausting Monday getting over yesterday’s cold.

This was the second time that I’ve seen a concert at the Orpheum in Minneapolis. It’s an interesting experience because they really have the theatre vibe going on, but at the same time, you’re seeing a rock band, so there’s conflicting things going on.

The first thing that struck me at this concert is that you can typically tell when a band is gearing up for its final song of the night. It’s the one that starts to jam as the tension increases. For Sigur Ros, that’s their M.O.

The four members make every sound you hear on the records by playing an assortment of instruments, from keyboards and xylophones to more typical instrument used in strange ways, like an electric guitar played with a cello bow. At one point they paused playing to ask the audience to sing along, first asking us to sing along in French before switching to English.

After a little over an hour, they played their final pre-encore song, Gobbledigook,  with the help of four bongo drums played by members of the opening band, Parachutes. The song closed by showering the audience with a cloud of confetti. Combine that with the confetti that floated back on the stage and all the dust from the smoke machines, and I’m sure the custodians loved it.

I thought I’d play Gobbledigook since it was the happiest song of the night and Erin really enjoys the song’s name.  Enjoy the album cover while you’re at it. In most record stores, there are stickers placed in all of the places you would expect them to be placed.

I’ve been battling a cold the past two days. I’ll try and get my post up later today sometime.

I’ve seen my pallete blown to monochrome.
- TV on the Radio

This post could either work out or could be interrupted and ended very quickly. As it stands, my totally awesome wife found us some tickets to tonight’s (Thursday) Sigur Ros concert. Combine that with being out of town for a wedding on Friday, and I’m attempting to write this in advance and in a small time frame.

So, without further adieu… the next wave of October/November concerts!

Saturday, October 25th – Of Montreal, First Avenue

First, let me say that First Avenue completely dominates this second set of shows. Next, I’ve heard that Of Montreal shows are a blast as long as you’re not too frightened by their lead singer. Personally, I’m a little frightened by him.

Sunday, October 26th – Electric Six, First Avenue

I apparently have a strange obsession with Electric Six. I only own one of their albums and yet I’m always talking about them when it’s time for them to play a show. There’s a strange “funny by being very weird kid in high school” aspect to not only their music, but their live shows that both entertains and infuriates me. Good description?

Wednesday, October 29th – Conor Oberst, First Avenue

Conor Oberst decided that it was time to drop his Bright Eyes moniker and put out a single album this year. Funny part is that Bright Eyes is essentially just him as well. That’s like me writing a blog as myself and then writing a second one using my middle name instead.

Sunday, November 2nd – Atmosphere, First Avenue

First, if First Ave didn’t already have shows on the next couple of nights, you could assume that Atmosphere was going to be playing multiple shows. I can’t remember how many consecutive shows he played a couple of years ago. I’m pretty sure it was at least four. Minneapolis loves this guy, for good reason.

Monday, November 3rd – Girl Talk, First Avenue

See what I said above? Girl Talk is the reason why Atmosphere can’t play multiple nights. Not that he wouldn’t mind sharing a stage for a night. I mean, hey, he invites about a hundred people up on his stage for his shows in general, so why not include Atmosphere?

Friday, November 14th – The Faint, First Avenue

Have I mentioned that First Avenue is completely dominating the late fall concert scene in Minneapolis? And to think that Prince had to save it from an early retirement years ago. I’ve never seen The Faint live, but based on their music, their show would either a) be a lot of fun, or b) be the opposite of tight.

Friday, November 14th – Matt & Kim, Triple Rock Social Club

Ever been to a Matt & Kim show? If not, you should find a place where you get treated like crap for the entire week and then head out to see Matt & Kim that Friday night. The number of thank you’s you receive from them will more than make up for your week… unless you chose the physical abuse choice over just the verbal abuse. Matt & Kim can’t heal physical bruises, only bruised egos.

Saturday, November 15th – The Hold Steady, First Avenue

You know what? Since you’re obviously having such a bad week (self-imposed or not) you should stay up in the cities on Friday night so that you can go see The Hold Steady at Firday Avenue on Saturday night. First Avenue? Where have I heard of that venue before…?

Tuesday, November 25th – Nine Inch Nails and Crystal Castles, Target Center

Piercings and dark clothing! Crystal Castles! If you feel like being screamed at for a night, this is the place to be. Think of it as a warm up to Thanksgiving with the family.

Friday, November 28th – Delta Spirit and Nada Surf, Fine Line Music Cafe

I’m debating whether or not I want to go to this show. If you’ve been paying attention to the blog, you’d know that I’m a big fan of Delta Spirit, and although I never got around to buying it, I hear that the new Nada Surf album is actually half decent. This one’s up in the air.

So there you have it. 24 concerts between Thursday and the day after Thanksgiving.

I could possibly pick a song from one of the above bands, but I got home at 12:45 last night and it’s now 7:45 am, so you’re getting the song I heard on 89.3 around 12:30 last night. Check out Mark Ronson’s version of Radiohead’s Just, featuring Phantom Planet. This seems to be one of their late-night favorites.

Once again, it’s a great time to be a music lover in the Minneapolis area in the fall. Over the next couple of months, if I had the money, the time, and the eardrums, I could go to multiple concerts a week. Last year, I had two posts with 7 concerts per post. This year, my first post contains 14 bands. On to the fun!

Thursday, September 25th – Sigur Ros, Orpheum Theatre

As I’ve said before, Sigur Ros is on my list of bands to see before I die. Unfortunately, I didn’t hear about this concert before it was sold out. Ouch. No Icelandic language freak outs for me, I guess.

Thursday, September 25th – Cloud Cult, Chambers Luxury Art Hotel

Sorry, Cloud Cult, but you’re not much of a replacement for Sigur Ros. For those of you who enjoy eclectic indie hippie dance rock combined with some good old fashioned fast painting and a green overtone, Cloud Cult is for you. (Good description!)

Saturday, September 27th – Bang Camaro, 7th Street Entry

Dudes and Dudettes, I’m so totally growing my hair long in time for this show on Saturday night. Gonna rock out to some 80’s hair metal. Wait, no I’m not. I’m going to a wedding. Maybe some day, Van Halen can come to town.

Thursday, October 2nd – My Morning Jacket, Orpheum Theatre

I’ve been told that some people actually like My Morning Jacket. Other than Seattle Sammy, I haven’t met anyone. Kind of like finding a young person who watches Law & Order. Sorry, fans of My Morning Jacket. Maybe next time they’ll think twice about stealing time from TV on the Radio.

Friday, October 3rd – Tokyo Police Club, Xcel Energy Center

Think that the Xcel Energy Center is a large venue for Tokyo Police Club? Well, it is. Technically, they’re opening for Angels And Airwaves and Weezer. So, if you want to see 30 minutes of Tokyo Police Club, this is the place for you!

Friday, October 10th – Cold War Kids, Fine Line Music Cafe

Hey, we’re Cold War Kids, and our sophomore album just came out yesterday. You should totally check it out. Ignore all of those mediocre reviews and just dive headfirst. Actually, I could see this being a pretty fun show. That, and I’ve still never been to the Fine Line.

Saturday, October 11th – Fleet Foxes, Cedar Cultural Center

Fleet Foxes and The Cedar are made for each other.  With Fleet Foxes being a very earthy rock band with many animal references and the Cedar Cultural Center feeling very much like a middle school gym… I don’t know. It makes sense in my head.

Saturday, October 11th – Tegan And Sara, State Theatre

Playing opposite Fleet Foxes is Tegan and Sara. I’ve never actually been to a Tegan and Sara show. I picture it filled to the brim with interesting looking people. The people watching alone would be well worth the admission.

Sunday, October 12th – Josh Rouse, Cedar Cultural Center

Wow, this is quite the back to back nights for the Cedar. Congrats to them for pulling this off. It’s always great to see such a small venue pulling in these names. Josh Rouse is on my list to see, but like most albums stuck on my amazon MP3 wishlist, it will probably take paths crossing for me to finally see him.

Monday, October 13th – Broken Social Scene, First Avenue

I am so going to this concert. While Broken Social Scene put on a fairly good show at lollapalooza, their real bread and butter is in an actual club show. They spread out pretty well on the gigantic lollapalooza stage this summer, but it will be interesting to see how they fare in a typical sized stage.

Monday, October 13th – Ben Kweller, Varsity Theatre

My brother saw Ben Kweller 6 or 7 years ago when he still looked like he does on the cover of Sha Sha. The story goes that this skinny kid came awkwardly walking on stage and proceeded to play his cover of Vanilla Ice’s Ice Ice Baby, completely winning over the crowd. You gotta admit – puberty was not kind to Ben Kweller.

Tuesday, October 14th – Death Cab for Cutie, Xcel Energy Center

Death Cab is opening for Neil Young at the Xcel Energy Center. Gotta say, Death Cab shows just don’t do it for me. Throw them in an arena, and I’m worried that they’d be rendered even more boring. Wow, I’m being negative in this post…

Thursday, October 16th – Ted Leo with Against Me!, First Avenue

I’ve never seen Ted Leo before. I missed out on him due to a longer than expected train ride to lolla two years ago. I’ve heard that he puts on a great show. I’ve also heard the same thing about Against Me! Even though I’ve never gotten into Against Me! this could be an interesting concert to check out.

Friday, October 17th - Ben Folds, Myth

Ben Folds, the man, the Myth. Yeah, I’m not a huge fan of the venue’s name, but they seem to get five to ten big acts each year. If you’ve never seen Ben Folds in concert, I’d recommend it. He’s got a keytar and what I like to call a keyboarder (combination of a keyboard and a recorder). He’s also got a new album next week.

Monday, October 20th – TV on the Radio, First Avenue

Wow, we’re finally at today’s last show. I expect to be at this show. TV on the Radio competed with The Hold Steady for best non-headliner at last year’s lolla and I’m very excited for this show. Just like I’m very excited that their new album came out yesterday.

Wait, TV on the Radio has a new album? Yeppers, it’s called Dear Science, (yes, the comma is part of the name) and I picked it up yesterday for you to take a listen. Here’s the first single off of the album, Dancing Choose.

Are you gonna start the sunshine?
Visualize Success.
- The New Pornographers

I found myself tapping along to the song in the new Audi commercial last night. I’m pretty sure it was by Sigur Ros. Speaking of Sigur Ros, they’re playing at The Orpheum in Minneapolis on Thursday. I couldn’t get tickets. Boo. Going to a Sigur Ros concert is part of my “concerts I need to see before I die or they break up” list.

I finally got around to downloading iTunes 8 this weekend to try and play around with their new Genius feature. For those of you unaware, Genius is a new feature brought to you by Apple that does one of two things:

1. Adds a sidebar to iTunes saying, “Hey, you should buy all of these tracks, too. You might like them. Seriously. Buy these tracks or our children will become orphans and not Genius Babies.”

2. While playing a track, you can click on the Genius button, which looks like an atom with electrons floating around. This will create a new Genius playlist of songs from your library that iTunes thinks you might go well with the track you’re currently listening to. You can make 25, 50, or 100 song playlists and save them as actual playlists if you like its creation enough to do so.

So, I decided to dig deep and do more research that I’ve ever done for NoEvilTwin and tested two songs from my library. Actually, I take that back. My exposé on Avril from the second week of existence (entitiled The Statistics of Avril) probably takes that distinction.

I decided to start with today’s song – Trashcan by Delta Spirit. Genius countered with 24 additional songs, one song from the same Delta Spirit album, and three songs by White Rabbits. Trashcan is a relatively middle of the road song as far as musical tastes go. I expect a lot of people to like it, and hoped that Genius would be able to perform admiraly on this one. My results?

Delta Spirit – Trashcan

Yay: 11

Nay: 9

Abstained: 4

Ok, we’ve got about 50% success rate. I should note that some of the nay’s were songs that I enjoyed, but didn’t think worked well with the original song.

For my second song, I decided to try something a little left of mainstream – Your Blood by Destroyer. Wow, that sounds like a really violent song, Nick. Yeah, not unless he’s poetically violent. Here’s the only Destroyer song that I have on the website so you can calm your fears that I post this wussy stuff on my website and go home to listen to death metal.

Anyway, what were the results from this one?

Destroyer – Your Blood

Yay: 5

Nay: 18

Abstained: 1

I really think that I confused the so-called Genius here. Of the 24 songs, 12 of them came from 6 albums. It really didn’t know what to think of Destroyer.

Overall, I like the feature. It’s not so great with the fringe material, but who of us is? I like the ability to save your playlists and will probably be doing that soon.

I mentioned above that today’s song is Trashcan by Delta Spirit. I’m really digging this album. Enjoy!

Since I left you,
I found the world so new.
- The Avalanches

I heard The Avalanches on the radio on Wednesday night. While I’ve previously written about them, I’ll give a quick refresher. The Avalanches first and only album, Since I Left You, came out in 2000. You know, the year of the post-y2k scare. What I’m trying to say is that it’s been a while since I’ve heard anything from The Avalanches.

That same night, I caught my first viewing of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, and I would like to say that NoEvilTwin fully supports this kind of venture. I even downloaded it from iTunes so I can listen to it at work on my iPod.

I kind of wish that it were an actual blog and not a 45 minute musical, but then again, I doubt that they could keep up the quality for very long, especially with busy schedules.

Yes, a single sentence can be a paragraph in the blogosphere.

I thought that I would play The Avalanches song that I heard on the radio today. Yes, I know it came out in 2000, but sometimes it’s not about when the music came out. Especially when I’m having a hard time finding new music. Check out Frontier Psychiatrist.

So this is the new year.
- Death Cab for Cutie

Somehow, I don’t think that Death Cab for Cutie was talking about today’s band, The New Year, but oh well. I’m pretty sure that they weren’t talking about this, either.

For those of you who can’t access YouTube for one reason or another, here’s a wikipedia page explaining what just happened to you. I like the phrase “internet meme.”

Today’s post is going to be short, while today’s song is going to be long. The New Year is a slowcore band originally created by brothers Matt and Bubba Kadane. For those of you unfamiliar with slowcore, you’re going to get a good taste of it in today’s song. I’d pay attention to how long it actually takes them to get to singing some vocals.

According to wikipedia (again), some other bands considered slowcore that I’ve played this year would include Bon Iver and Shearwater. I’m not sure if I agree with either of those assessments, but then again, I have a hard enough time assigning bands genres as it is.

Usually I’m a fan of slowcore bands for about a month, quickly tiring of their slowness. I’m pretty sure that will be the case with The New Year as well. It’s good stuff, but there’s definitely a time and a place, if you know what I mean.

Check out Folios.

Good things come to those who wait.
- Proverb

In an attempt to see if the above phrase had been used in any sort of lyrics, I found that the wikipedia entry for the above phrase does not actually explain where it came from – it only describes what advertisements that it has been a part of. Good to know.

I was hoping to fall back on talking about an album that’s coming out this week, but I couldn’t find anything that’s coming out this week that I’d actually want to write about. Meatloaf’s Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell is being re-released. That’s kind of exciting.

Wait, you’re TV on the Radio’s new album, Dear Science comes out next week, and both Ben Folds and Margot and the Nuclear So & So’s have albums coming out in two weeks? That’ll keep me happy.

I finally picked up the new album by The Notwist: The Devil You + Me. It had been sitting near the top of my “albums that aren’t on emusic, so I eventually need to get from amazon” list. Well, apparently I lucked out and it showed up on emusic last week. Hooray!

The Notwist are a band who has gone through many transformations. They started out as a post-hardcore band and followed that up by moving into abstract electronics. They finally settled on a heavy indie elctronic pop sound that worked for them with their last album, Neon Golden and followed that up by not releasing anything for six years.

I didn’t follow The Notwist through their transformations. Instead, I skipped to the end and was only familiar with Neon Golden. Overall, I like their sound, but was entranced by their song, One With the Freaks, which is on my top-10 list of all-time favorite songs.

I picked the title track from their album to play today. It’s not the most obvious choice on the album, but I think it’s the most accessible song. Check out The Devil You + Me.

I found an article called, How the Music Business Spent the Summer Killing Itself which coincides pretty well with my “Stop buying my single!” post from last Wednesday. It’s a quick read and actually uses an example as to why removing your album from iTunes to boost album sales is a pretty stupid idea.

One of the big reasons for loving the indie scene is that I can make choices for myself as to what I like and dislike. I don’t have the “machine” shoving albums down my throat. Now, if they want to coerce me into buying albums by sticking catchy music in advertising then they’ve got me, but it’s still my choice.

I understand that by writing this blog, I have technically become a sort of machine myself. But don’t worry. Just think of me as a friendly nanobot sent to massage your eardrums.

P.S. Some of you need to consider cleaning your ears more often.

If you were a verse,
I’d be your song,
If you were a king,
I’d be your kong.
-Nikki Costa

There are many ways to take the above lyrics. Three of them come to mind for me.

The first is, “Ha, that’s a good rhyme. I’m so entertained right now, I’m not sure I can control myself!”

This quickly turns into, “Wait, if I were a king, would I really want a kong around? If I remember correctly, the last time that somebody tried to use a large ape as entertainment for a city, it didn’t turn out so well.”

Which finally ends up at, “Could she possibly be referencing my dog’s chew toy? Maybe she thinks that the king is a dog, and so she’d be his entertaining kong. Nah, that can’t be it.”

Can you tell that I didn’t have much to talk about today? Nah, me either.

The above lyrics come from today’s song, which is by singer Nikki Costa. A quick blurb about her. When your father was a song arranger for many great artists, such as Sarah Vaughan, The Osmond Brothers, and Sammy Davis Jr. and you also happen to have Frank Sinatra as a godfather. Well, you’re probably going to get into music.

Nikki’s been putting out albums in Europe and South America since 1981, but didn’t actually release anything in the U.S. until 2001. Her new album, Pebble To A Pearl, comes out October 14th. Check out the first single from that album, Stuck To You.