WHERE SHARP TEETH GROW

Photos of recent shows in Brooklyn: White Mice, Liturgy, The Death Set, Team Robespierre, Mannequin Men, and Greg Oblivion and the Tennessee Tearjerkers.

Great show coming up this week in Brooklyn: BAM's Sounds Like Brooklyn Festival at Station 171.
- Thursday featuring Japanther, The Death Set, Cerebral Ballzy, Boogie Boarder and Leaders.
- Friday dance party with Roofeo (of The Death Set), Mr. Andersonic, Murdertronics, DJ Morsy and James Stacher.

My friend over at Article is trying to raise funds on Kickstarter for two great projects:
- Cerebral Ballzy's first 7".
- Chris Weingarten's music review "book," 1000 Times Yes.

Chris explains the state of journalism in the internet age and why music critics matter:

Christopher R. Weingarten (@1000TimesYes) - Music Writer, RollingStone.com and Village Voice

MP3:

You might remember that I was running a contest this week for my new favorite song. Well we have a tie. There was stiff competition (although a couple submissions were disqualified because they were songs I had previously posted on here), and now we've got it down to two. So I'm leaving it up to you to vote for the winner, email your vote to sucka [at] suckapants [dot] com (one vote per person). Winner gets the LRG & STS9 prize package.

• Crooked Fingers - Sinisteria

• Tune Yards - Hatari

One band's place at last.
Another band's place at last.

GONE FERAL

Photos from the Upper and Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans.

It's rare that I run contests on here, but I figure why not give people free stuff if given the chance? I've been given the opportunity to offer one lucky reader the chance to win a complete outfit from LRG as well as a copy of STS9's new album Ad Explorata. Details below:

- The winner of this contest will be selected based on who sends me my new favorite song. Actual MP3 files and links to downloadable files are fine. Send your submissions to sucka [at] suckapants [dot] com with STS9 in the subject. Please include your name and location as well.
- The contest will be open for a week from the date of this post.
- The prize pack will include: One full outfit from LGR (shirt, hoodie/jacket, jeans) and the STS9 album Ad Explorata. Upon completion, LRG will mail the winner the gear based on proper sizing info.
- This contest is open to US residents only, no purchase necessary (oooo, official-sounding).
- Courtesy of:




MP3:

• Tender Forever - My Love

A band's place at last.

YOU'RE JUST MY NEXT MISTAKE

New Years in New Orleans and the days that followed:

- It's unseasonably cold while we are down there, so a lot of backyard campfires are sought out.
- Naked group hot-tubbing on New Year's Day at the Country Club.
- Several Sissy Bounce performances by Vockah Redu and his dancers as well as Big Freedia at the closing party for New Orleans Airlift group exhibition.
- Trying to visit Plan B and Rubarb (Rusted Up Beyond All Recognition Bikes), both closed for the holidays.
- Exploring some abandoned buildings (photos of that to come).



MP3:

• BlakRoc - Ain't Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo) (feat. Jim Jones & Mos Def)

A band's place at last.

RUNNIN' WITH THE JACKALS

New Orleans for New Years:

- Ridin' Dirty Three: The Shocker hosted by Black Label Bicycle Club



MP3:

• Three Inches Of Blood - Battles And Brotherhood

A band's place at last.

COLD WEIGHT + HOT SKIN

Hunker down for the cold weight of winter in Brooklyn, and remember why you keep coming back:

- Ninjasonik show on Tellie's birthday.
- Basement oil wrestling in Harlem. . . as a fundraiser.
- Secret last-minute Japanther + The Death Set + Cerebral Ballzy show in Bushwick.
- Roving parade of costumed characters invades the bar scene in Williamsburg, for the hell of it.



MP3:

This one didn't make it on to the Xmas Mix '09, but it is kind of holiday-themed in the lyrics.

• The So So Glos - 99 Degrees (Ninjasonik Remix)

A band's place at last.

WANT NOTHING

Keeping up the annual tradition, I'm offering up a new Xmas music mix for 2009. The sixth year in a row, but still holding strong (I think). The Yeah Yeah Yeahs win for best holiday song on this one. If you want any of the previous five years let me know and I will upload them.

XMAS MIX '09:

All I Want For Christmas - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight) - Asobi Seksu
Winter Wonderland - Cap'n Jazz
Oh Joseph - Burning Hank
Come On Santa - The Raveonettes
O Holy Night - Benji Cossa
Santa Clause - The Sonics
Christmas In Prison - Emmy The Great & Lightspeed Champion
I Wish It Was Christmas Today - Julian Casablancas
Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis - Neko Case
It's Christmas But Not For You - TIAC
Christmas Eve, Driving Home - Frontier Ruckus
Run Away With Me - Jens Lekman
Christmas Is For Losers - Mike Nicolai
Ain't No Chimneys - Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Oh Hanukah, Oh Hanukah - Sinai Mountain Boys
Last Christmas - Swearing at Motorists
Crazy Cool Christmas - Kermit Ruffins
Hanukkah - The Mountain Goats
X-Mas Eve (She Got up and Left Me) - Rancid
Xmas Eve - The Damnwells



MP3:

I even got a couple Hanukkah songs in there this year. . .

• XMAS MIX '09 - Download .zip file here

As requested I uploaded all the other mixes from past years. Get your yuletide overload here:

• XMAS MIX '08
• XMAS MIX '07
• XMAS MIX '06
• XMAS MIX '05
• XMAS MIX '04

EXISTING IN DIGESTIBLE FORM

Xmas Mix 2009 about to drop, in 3, 2, 1. . .



MP3:

Had to share this as soon as I heard it.

• Daedelus - Fair Weather Friends (Death Set Remix)

A band's place at last.

VESTIGES OF BETTER DAYS

Nothing fancy for now. I took some time off for Turkey Day.

Also, I'm going to try and put together the 6th installment of my annual Xmas mix to share. But after five previous years I'm pretty tapped out when it comes to good, non-traditional holiday songs. So if you have any ideas or suggestions, please send them my way.



MP3:

It's like Rage Against The Machine with an organ. And that's not a bad thing.

• The Dead Weather - Treat Me Like Your Mother

A band's place at last.

A BIT OF BLOOD EQUITY

I go back to move my mom from Ohio to Florida, and then return to NYC:

- Going to the MTVU music awards with friends from Cerebral Ballzy and Ninjasonik to support Matt & Kim (literally, when they were crowd surfing). We eventually work our way in to the VIP area, start doing keg stands, and Tellie interrupts an on-air interview with Matt Pinfield to espouse the greatness of Ninjasonik.
- The opening reception for Punkabbestia hosted by Anonymous Gallery at Collective Hardware. I am showing my series of portraits of the crew of the Swimming Cities of Serenissima. The show is up till January 1st.
- The Gotham Girls Rollerderby finals.
- Punk show featuring Dawn of Humans at Ding Dong Lounge. I get hit in the head with a mic stand and swinging chains, twice.
- I had forgotten how nice a nighttime ride through Central Park can be, but apparently it is against the law since the park closes at night, as was threateningly imparted by the cops with their spotlight in my eyes.



MP3:

• Chain And The Gang - Deathbed Confession

A band's place at last.

REAL LIVES OF TERTIARY CHARACTERS

From the road down to New Orleans:

- Stopping in Pittsburgh to visit friends, a movie set, an abandoned boat, and Transformazium in Braddock, PA.
- Borrowing a floating dock, with the intention of paddling up river to Braddock. It was discovered to be a flawed plan, so we left the dock where it was liberated from.
- Our friend we stayed with lived in a house that was purchased for $4000, and the vacant lots on each side were fetched for $200 each.
- Next was Nashville, where we went to an experimental music performance at a local dive bar, and then checked out some of the local resident's dwellings.
- Heading down to New Orleans, still without any solid leads on a place to stay. Semi-frantic calling/texting commences. We end up landing at Gnatalie's recently-moved-in-to place, and all is good.

Also, thanks to New York Magazine for giving me a spot in their article on Brooklyn Music Bloggers.



MP3:

Also really good to dance up a sweat to.

• March Fourth Marching Band - Crack Haus

• March Fourth Marching Band - Pilot Erect

A band's place at last.