This time around they concentrated on playing tracks from their last two albums, BLOOD PRESSURES and MIDNIGHT BOOM. This pair of recordings have a great rock sound/energy but with a very thumpin’ groove so I shouldn’t have been surprised to see all the hot girls dancing and grinding to the tunes (“Thank you, God”). They did open with “No Wow” but that was the only older track they played. As a long time fan I always wish they’d dig into their deeper, older cuts which were so raw and primal.

I’m rather laconic today so I’ll just say “go see The Kills and buy all their albums.”

Those two catchy songs you’ve heard are awesome, the others… not so much (but they show promise).

After a long wander and some dinner at Stubb’s, it was time to catch Geographer.

Due to severe technical issues, the set was cut very short. From what I heard, it could have been interesting. After missing a very cute Mexican (I think my schedule was wrong), I checked out the end of Allie Moss.

Before catching Sonos.

Wow, these kids sounded great. And that one brunette is super sexy. Actually, all three ladies were so hot they had me thinking dirty thoughts. I love a capella that makes me think dirty thoughts.

I then raced over to check out the awesomely cute K.Flay.

I think hip-hop is tough to do live and she was so close to being great, it just felt like she was holding back. She could have been ferocious.

Speaking of ferocious, The Kills tore the stage up.

You have got to see these guys live.

After that I caught some of Tristen.

I like that one song about drugs but her set wasn’t holding my interest.

I then ran over to check out Surfer Blood.

I wish I could undo seeing them live but catching a couple of tunes by TV on the Radio ended the night on a better note.

So, in honor of the bitches that rock, I give you three acts of the day. The first comes for a triple of hot babes (and 2 dudes) that make up Sonos

Next is the the hot rappin’ cutie, K.Flay

And the last come from the love of my life, VV (and The Kills)

And that’s a night (especially since I have an early morning).

First, a fun tune by Army Navy (friends have mentioned the band).

The second is a punky grrrrl offering by Colleen Green (let’s hope she doesn’t suck the way Best Coast did last year — yeah, I said it).

And the final offering comes from one of my favorite bands, The Kills.

And the next post will be from Austin.

Over and out.

Vacation? Bull! I worked my ass off this summer (and I managed to have some fun, too). What did I do this summer?

1. I wrote my first TV spec for the now canceled TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES.
2. I found an editor for my feature.
3. I shot a live-action/stop-motion spec for Amazon.
4. I went to my first Comic-Con.
5. I went to my first Tiki Oasis.
6. I shot the first material for my multi-medium project.
7. I directed scenes for an actor’s reel.
8. I saw The Kills, Neko Case, Death Cab for Cutie and Andrew Bird in concert.

I’d say that’s a pretty damn productive summer.

I caught them just the other week at The Music Box in Hollywood. Two bands opened: Magic Wands (uh) and The Horrors (a lot better live than on their album, IMHO).

How were The Kills? F**king awesome! I loved the three covers they played: “Crazy” by Patsy Cline, “I Put A Spell On You” originally by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and the darkest, goth-est version of “Baby Please Don’t Go” first made popular by Them featuring Van Morrison.

Speaking of that “Crazy” cover, want to hear it for free? Want to hear me request it? Then check out this episode of Coverville.

First, I don’t get MTV in my home. Second, RES magazine used to hook me up with a quarterly DVD of cool music videos but they went under a few years back. Third, I’ve had bad experiences in the music video world.

Without divulging names, I was hired to shoot a music video for a band. I pitched them a sweet idea but it was way out of their budget range. They suggested that we do a fast and cheap performance video, the kind rock bands churned out in the 80s (think “Paradise City” by Guns N’ Roses). I shot one of their shows, delivered a cut and the band asked for some time to come up with notes. They also asked for the original tapes, to review the material. I later learned that the lead singer cut a new video and took all the credit. While it was technically his cut, were you to see both versions you’d agree that my cut was a first draft for his version. Besides that, as I was doing the job pro bono with the hope of directing a second video (a job the lead singer scored based off the performance video he cut from my footage), I felt burned. That’s the last time I dipped my toes into the music video arena.

But I digress. Prior to this Pitchfork list, I had seen exactly two music videos. The first was sent to me by BrakesBrakesBrakes for their single “Beatific Visions”.

The second is for “U.R.A. Fever” by The Kills from their new album (scheduled for a March 2008 release).

I only knew about either of those because they’re both my “friends” on MySpace.

That said, I checked out a few videos on the list by artists I was familiar with and may I suggest you watch the following:

“Smithereens (Stop Crying)” by El-P – While it’s easy to write off El-P as “unlistenable” I find his work interesting and irresistible. I can see why The New York Times featured this video.

“1 2 3 4″ by Feist – Surely you’ve seen snippets of this video in the iPod ads. Check it out in its full glory and see if you don’t break out into a smile (and yes, I have a massive crush on her).

“Don’t You Evah” by Spoon – Need I say more than dancing robots