Sun 29 Nov – The Mountain Goats, Final Fantasy

Got there in time to see most of Final Fantasy's set. It was very good. My friend Kraig had observed that their (his) stuff is a lot like Andrew Bird's, which is definitely true - it's mostly one guy playing the violin and creating complicated and interesting loops. He was a bit more discordant/experimental/downbeat than Andrew Bird, and I'm not sure I could be a big fan, but it was definitely fun to see.

Then the Mountain Goats. Here's the set list (thanks to tragos on the mountain…

Fri 19 Jun – Metric, Smile Smile, Sebastian Granger

We got to this show pretty late (after dinner at Nanzhou Noodle House - awesome hand drawn noodles), so I only saw a little of the second opener, and don't have much to report on that front.

The show was good. Metric played all but one or two of the songs on Fantasies. A number of the tracks that I'm not a huge fan of on the album (notably Twilight Galaxy and Gold Guns Girls) really benefited from a live performance. Emily Haines and Jimmy Shaw are lots of…

Tue 17 Feb – Metric

I wasn't sure what to expect going in with this show. I knew Metric was not on tour and that they had a new album coming out in April, but I hadn't heard any of the bootlegs. I also had observed that they didn't announced the show on their web page. When my friend mgreenbe and I got seated downstairs the stage had only a piano and an acoustic guitar on it, and I started to get pretty excited.

The show was only Emily Haines and Jimmy Shaw, and they played an entirely acoustic set.…

Sat 9 Aug – The New Pornographers & Andrew Bird

Andrew Bird is extremely fun to watch live. He opened with a solo bit (I forget which song) which showed off his whistling and crazy violin playing and general awesomeness - it was great. Unfortunately, the rest of his set was plagued with technical difficulties, everything from a buzzing/crackling mic they couldn't seem to track down to cables falling out of guitars in the middle of songs.

On the bright side, he did his live version of Dr. Strings which segued into Fake Palindromes and it was nothing short of…

Thu 5 Jun – Rilo Kiley, Benji Hughes, Get Down Stay Down

Got to the Electric Factory in time to catch most of Benji Hughes. He sounds a lot like Stephin Merritt, with the very deep, detached voice. Most of his set was a little boring - I couldn't understand the lyrics and the songs were pretty unexciting. Towards the end he played some quicker stuff and I think that served him a lot better. I'll probably try to find some of his music.

Hughes' excessive hair make him look a bit like a middle aged Jerry Garcia,…

Thu 20 Mar – The Mountain Goats, The Moaners

Openers The Moaners were very good. The band consists of just two women - my friend Adam was very impressed by the drummer, but thought the guitar work was lacking (I guess 50% isn't bad?). Lyrically, they seemed to be a good match for the mountain goats, but musically their more straightforward blues-influenced indie rock was a bit of a surprise. The largely angsty-highschooler crowd did not appear amused. When I remarked that they were good, the girl standing in front of me replied snarkily, "Yeah, if you like rock".…

Two great albums drop Tuesday:

First is Heretic Pride, by The Mountain Goats. This album has been available for some time by alternative means, and is excellent. Way better than Get Lonely, which was mostly too slow and boring (though Woke Up New is superlative, and has a great video).

I also can't wait for Mike Doughty's new album, Golden Delicious. This album has apparently managed to avoid pre-release pirating, an impressive feat. You can listen to all the tracks on Doughty's myspace page though. I've only listened once or twice, but it sounds…

One thing I like about the end of a year is the inevitable flurry of "best of" lists. From music journalists to libertarians, everyone wants to tell you which albums they enjoyed most. Many lists demonstrate bad taste or only mention music you already know about, but reading several is bound to remind you about a few releases you missed or didn't pay enough attention to the first time around (especially in a year with as many good albums as 2007).

So, a few days ago I headed down to the record store and picked up a couple albums I…

Fri 19 Oct – Spoon, The Ponys

The Ponys couldn't make it, which is too bad, because I was kind of looking forward to hearing them after listening to the free tracks on their artist page, but whatever.

Annoyingly Spoon still didn't go on until like 9:30, so we had to wait around for quite a while. I had read reviews from other shows on this tour that suggested they were going to play songs back to A Series of Sneaks and do it in chronological order. I was kind of looking forward to it, but they didn't do that.…

Thu 11 Oct – of Montreal, Grand Buffet, MGMT

I showed up late and missed MGMT's act, so I don't have much to say about them. Except that one of them came back on stage later because he is featured in a new of Montreal song, and he appeared to be wearing a pair of panties, which were very tight, and even from quite far back I could easily make out his Business, which was unfortunate.

Grand Buffet was great. I've never heard them before, and their music (basically, rap with a mostly comical theme) isn't exactly my style,…