My private life is an inside joke

I really must get back into this blogging thing if I'm going to be ready for SXSW. In fact, I leave for Austin exactly two months from tomorrow! I have a lot of homework to do, like figuring out which of the 2,000 bands I want to see. I'm thinking of picking of at least one band solely based on their name. A Norwegian band called, Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson is an early front runner in that category.

But I still have a couple months to discover obscure bands. What I'm excited about right now are new songs from a couple of old favorites. Bright Eyes (who is also playing at SXSW!) has a new album coming out February 15th and if the first song from the album is any indication it's gonna be pretty good. You can listen to it over there in my music player on the right or go here and download an mp3 of your own.

Alas, The Decemberists aren't coming to SXSW this year, but I only have to wait until Tuesday to get their new album (or you can listen to it all right now at NPR Music). When I heard it the other day it gave me the warm fuzzies and a little tingle down my spine that I don't get too often these days. It sounds like a great new R.E.M. album that we'll never get from R.E.M.

Speaking of R.E.M., they have a new album coming out soon too and their new song "Discoverer" (it's over there on my music player again) is getting everyone excited and ready to say the band is finally back to its old form. I've been down this road before, people, and I'm not about to be fooled again. Their last album, Accelerate, was supposed to be their big comeback. While it was definitely better than anything they've done in the past decade, it was not as awesome as we all wanted it to be. I won't hold my breath for this new album either.

So that's all for now. Coming soon: Why I quit emusic, more SXSW planning and my addiction to Parks and Recreation

And I say your uncle was a crooked French Canadian and he was gut-shot running gin

First off, the internets are no help in trying to find out if gut-shot is hyphenated or not. What about French Canadian? What say my copy editing peeps? Maybe I just should have picked a different quote.

Now that we have that out of the way, let me tell you what Madison is all abuzz about today. The entire city is in a collective swoon from last night's Decemberists concert. Colin Meloy and his buds played their album, The Hazards Of Love, straight through then came back and played some more. But why let me tell you when you can read Josh's review here.

Josh also got a photo pass to take some pictures at the show. Since I was coming along, however, I snagged the pass and showed him how the professionals do it (or people who used to be

professionals and didn't get paid for the photos they took). There's a small photo gallery attached to his review, but I've added some extra pics exclusively here at Sad & British. Let's marvel together at Colin Meloy who was dressed (as Kelly said) "like an Amish kid on Rumspringa."

The one band NPR really wants me to love

There are many ways to fill your days when you're unemployed. One way that's sort of a tradition in my family is to go for a long walk. It's a good way to eat up an hour or two and it gets you out of the house for free. So every day I go for a long walk in the Arizona sun and listen to podcasts. There's something about hearing stories about other people's lives that keeps your mind off yours. 

Two of my favorite podcasts are music related, naturally. Sound Opinions and All Songs Considered provide music news, album reviews and enough constant SXSW updates to fill me with jealousy.

Most of the time, these two podcasts don't agree on much. Sound Opinions, which features two newspaper writers, takes more of a populist stance while All Songs Considered encompasses more of that liberal media elite snobbery that we're so accustomed to on NPR. Both podcasts find common ground on one topic, though. I should be listening to Ponytail.

What's Ponytail, you ask? Well, technically they're an art punk band from Baltimore, but to really understand what they're like, you need to think about Yoko Ono imitating a tiger while people play random instruments in the background. Mostly, it makes me think, "THIS is what you agree on?"

I'm sorry NPR gods, but I can't get behind this band. I'm a lyrics freak and there's a noticeable lack of lyrics in Ponytail's work (unless you count the odd Japanese schoolgirl yelp). I want to be hip, too, but this is where I put my foot down. I'm sure their show at SXSW was killer and it's great that the lead singer is this tiny ball of energy, but I am not going to listen to this music. I'm just not. Does this mean I'm kicked out of the NPR cool kids club?

I think they both agree on the new Decemberists album, too. I can get behind that. Maybe that will keep me in the club.

You were just some silly girl taking in the sights of your empire's colony

Just in time for election season The Decemberists bring us what we've always wanted - a love song to an exposed spy. The band has a series of singles coming out over the next few months and the first one was released Tuesday featuring the song "Valerie Plame." Yes, the song is about that Valerie Plame. The press release calls it a song from, "the point-of-view of one of Plame's inside contacts upon discovering her true identity, the song is an amorous tribute to the onetime CIA operative." Check it out:

Found it!

Here's the commercial I was talking about a few days ago. You know, the one featuring "The Crane Wife 3" by The Decemberists.

All under the boughs unbowed

I've watched a TON of Olympics coverage this weekend. Seriously, I've seen swimming, water polo, boxing, fencing, beach volleyball, diving, weightlifting, rowing and gymnastics. It's been a nice way to spend the weekend actually, and I finally got around to cleaning my apartment some, too.

I've also liked some of the new commercials that have debuted during the coverage. I will admit to being a huge sucker for the new Nike commercial featuring The Killers' song "All These Things That I've Done." In case you missed it, here it is:



There's an AT&T commercial that's been bugging me all weekend. I can't find it on YouTube, but it showed different fans watching the Olympics on TV and reacting. It had been driving me crazy all weekend because the song on it sounded so familiar. Finally, with a lot of Googling and a guess that it was The Decemberists, I was able to figure out that the song on the commercial is "The Crane Wife 3" by the aforementioned band. I can't tell you how relieved I am to get to the bottom of this. Not being able to place a song is almost as annoying to me as having a song stuck in my head. I'll finally be able to sleep tonight! OK, it's not that bad, but I do feel better.

In which I fall in love with Colin Meloy . . .

Gahh! What a week, people, what a week. This time last Friday I was making my way to Louisville despite having spent the previous two days with an ice pack over my eyes due to some nasty swelling and a mysterious rash (mangoes may be the culprit).

I wasn't going to let a little swelling stop me, though, because I had a date with The Decemberists. Due to a fluke (or possible computer malfunction) I had second row seats to their show at the Brown Theater. At some point, I had wrangled Jeff into going with me and we made it into town just in time to grab a beer and then our seats.

I've been uncertain about the Decemberists in the past. You may remember that I once called their album, "music for theater geeks" and "pirate rock" so I wasn't surprised when they took the stage in three piece suits and lacy sundresses. What did surprise me was their humor.

Colin Meloy was really warm and made it seem perfectly normal to sing Southern Gothic songs about dead Civil War husbands. The rest of the band seemed to truly be enjoying themselves, too. I guess it was the dramatic nature of their songs that made me think the might be annoyingly self-serious, but I was pleased to be wrong.

Jeff had a good time, too, as we both "screamed like we were being swallowed by a whale" (as instructed) during "The Mariner's Revenge Song." It was a night for everyone to unleash their inner drama geek.

The rest of the week? It was all work, sleep, work, sleep, etc. Let's just say I managed to survive - barely.