Ticket giveaway: Ghostland Observatory at Mr. Small's

Edit: Winners have been notified. Thanks for entering!

One of our favorite bands, Austin electro-dance-rock duo Ghostland Observatory, is playing two all-ages shows this weekend at Mr. Small's with other local and national electronic acts and we have two tickets to give away.

You can win two passes to either Friday or Saturday night's show (whichever you prefer). Just email your full name and which night you want to attend to scoots2000@hotmail.com. The entry deadline is Thursday, December 9 at noon. One winner will be selected at random and notified by email.

Ghostland performs with a laser-light show that takes their hypnotic music to another level. We've been fortunate to see them several times before (Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza) but this is their first performance ever in Pittsburgh. They were the only band to place two songs on our Favorite Songs of the 2000s list.

On Friday, the band will be supported by Mux Mool with Cutups and Keeb$, while Saturday's additional acts will be Expensive Shit, Keeb$ and DJ Ra. An official after party takes place Saturday night at midnight at Brillobox.

Tickets for the Ghostland shows are available for purchase for $25 per night or $45 for both shows at www.opusoneproductions.com.

Here's a clip of Ghostland's laser show we took last year at the All Points West music festival. It's brief, but you get the idea.

My favorite 30 songs of the 2000s

Some of these are guilty pleasures. Some are bona fide classics. They are my favorite 30 songs of the past decade.

These may not necessarily be the best songs of the past 10 years – just the ones I enjoyed the most. Feel free to suggest your favorites.

Click the "YouTube" link after each blurb to see the music video in a new window.


Who needs love when you have music? Brazil's Cansei de Ser Sexy produced a classic with this ode to music itself. "Music is my boyfriend," singer Lovefoxxx screams. The song is too good for me to care that they sold it to an iPod ad. YouTube



AFI conveniently came along at a time when I started wearing a lot of black and going to goth night. "The Leaving Song Pt. II" is one of many fist-pumping anthems from this ever-evolving band. YouTube



"This song is not about John McCain," singer Matt Berninger made sure to point out when the National performed "Mr. November" at Lollapalooza 2008. Its real meaning is a bit cryptic - at songmeanings.net they suggest it's about conflict with the band's English record label. I enjoy the song because of the contrast between the mellow verses and the explosive, vulgar chorus. YouTube



Psych-pop band MGMT is the only act to place three songs in my top 30. And they only have one album to their credit. I can't wait to see what they come up with in the next decade. YouTube



"You liked me til you heard my shit on the radio," snaps Nelly Furtado on this underappreciated song from her debut album. She shares this blog's attitude that just because something is mainstream, that doesn't make it bad. I love the final fadeout chorus, where Nelly keeps repeating the part about staying true to herself. YouTube



While in college I went through a phase where I had just gotten high-speed internet access for the first time and I was just getting into techno, so I spent weeks downloading lots of music, most of which was forgettable. "One More Time" has stood the test of time. And you can't measure the cool factor of two French dudes in robot costumes. YouTube



Robert Smith and blink-182 are an unlikely pairing, but one that worked really well. This dark, depressing track was from blink's 2003 self-titled album, which was a shocking artistic step forward from their previous brand of music that was heavy on bathroom humor. Of course, they went and broke up shortly thereafter. YouTube



"First Day of my Life" is a love song that succeeds because of its simplicity. I love the lyric, "I'd rather be working for a paycheck than waiting to win the lottery." Great relationship advice! Stunning music video, as well.
YouTube



There's no better proof that music is the universal language than the success of Sigur Ros. Usually, they sing in Icelandic. Sometimes, they sing in complete gibberish. It's always emotional, beautiful, and powerful. My favorite Sigur Ros song changes by the day, but one of the songs that best exemplifies their sound is "Glosoli," which slowly builds until it reaches a massive crescendo. YouTube



Junior and Senior recently decided to part ways, a tragic development for anyone interested in shaking his or her coconuts, but they left us with this gem. The music video featuring low-fi Atari-style graphics is my second-favorite of all-time, behind Johnny Cash's "Hurt." Oh yeah! YouTube



Those peppy Canadian kids in Tokyo Police Club delivered two minutes of delicious punk energy on "Cheer it On." Bonus points for putting the name of their band in the lyrics. YouTube



Antony's unusual voice is jarring at first but once you get used to it, it's just another beautiful instrument. "You Are My Sister" was his most commercially successful song. Boy George took some time off from being a trainwreck to contribute a nice vocal. YouTube



"No One's Gonna Love You" is just an incredibly sweet song. It's the indie rock "You Light Up My Life!" YouTube



"Nineteen" is one of those songs that makes me want to become a drummer, because of the crazy drum shit going on during the verses. The lyrics are equally disjointed, telling the tale of an apparent infatuation and then an apparent breakup, but wait, it's not really a breakup because they were never together! You figure it out. YouTube



It's surprising that only one emo-pop song made this list, given that the genre is my guilty pleasure. Metro Station's self-titled release had several catchy songs ("Control" and "Kelsey" are also recommended), but the best was the addictive "Shake It." That's Billy Ray Cyrus's stepson whispering the verses. I bet Miley's jealous she didn't make the list. YouTube



Okkervil River singer Will Sheff puts together intricately detailed stories that just happen to be set to music. "Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe" was one of his best. Life may be a bummer, but it can still be fun. YouTube



The first time I saw Matt and Kim was at Lollapalooza 2007 when they subbed for CSS, who had canceled. I was so devastated at missing CSS I ran off without listening to any of Matt and Kim's performance, and I immediately hated them by association. Two years later, they're my favorite band. Who could stay mad at the cutest indie pop duo in the world? Big ups to Williamsburg! YouTube



"Fidelity" instructs that the way to find love is to stop resisting and just go for it, consequences be damned. Don't worry that it might end up breaking your ha-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-aart. YouTube



I was a latecomer to the Patrick Wolf bandwagon, first drawn in by “The Magic Position," but it was an earlier song, "A Boy Like Me," that I couldn't stop playing, thanks to its haunting electronic effects and ruminations on stereotypes of age and gender. YouTube



Sometimes the acoustic singer-songwriter thing bores me, but "Skinny Love" stands out because of the incredible passion of singer Justin Vernon. We can truly feel his pain. YouTube



No one could resist that Nintendo-ish keyboard. "Time to Pretend" is a cheeky song about living to excess and having fun. “Let’s make some music, make some money, find some models for wives,” Andrew VanWyngarden sings. “What else can we do – get jobs in offices and wake up for the morning commute?” The song made every poor sap stuck in a 9-to-5 job re-examine his life. (Or maybe it was just me.) YouTube



As you can probably tell by now, I’m a fan of silly pop music, and Architecture in Helsinki were one of the best bands of said genre. They released a bunch of cute songs - "Wishbone," "Maybe You Can Owe Me," "Heart it Races" - but "It'5" was the most pointless, the most silly, and the most fun. YouTube



The Dresden Dolls were my favorite band for much of the decade. "Delilah" isn’t as aggressive as most of their "Brechtian punk cabaret" songs - it’s a ballad about a troubled girl: "And you thought you could change the world by opening your legs/Well it isn't very hard/Try kicking them instead." Amanda Palmer’s words are gripping – someone should really name a blog after one of those lyrics. YouTube



This Austin duo has been accurately referred to as "part techno, part 70s glam rock, part futuristic meditational space odyssey." They placed two songs in my top 10, and they’re both so different. "Vibrate" is a dance song with weird electronic programming provided by cape-wearing drummer Thomas Ross Turner. Seeing the song performed live is quite an experience, thanks to the captivating dancing of Aaron Behrens. YouTube



How can you not love the Hold Steady? Craig Finn may be the most unlikely rock star ever. His lyrics are some of the most intelligent words you’ll ever hear in rock music, and his sing-speak delivery ensures we can understand every word. I love a bunch of Hold Steady songs, but "Massive Nights" is my favorite, as it reminds me of all the memorable nights I had going out on the South Side of Pittsburgh. YouTube



Ignore the haters and keep on getting your paper! I love Rihanna's soaring vocals, especially in the final bridge. T.I. does his part by providing several memorable lines: "Unhappy with the riches cause you're piss poor morally," "Whoever having problems with they record sales just holla to me," "Safe to say I paved the way for you cats to get paid today." The "Dragostea din tei" sample was an inspired touch that made the song epic. YouTube



One of the most unique tracks of the decade. The gunshots and cash registers never get old. It's one of those songs that makes you wonder, How did anyone even conceive of something like that? YouTube



It's hard to be patient in the iPod era. I often skip songs that don't excite me in the first 30 seconds. But "The Bleeding Heart Show" is a perfect case study for listening all the way through. It takes a long time to open up, and when it does, it reveals a glorious chorus and sweet "ooh ooh" and "hey la" harmonies that leave the listener wanting more. Somehow, this song ended up in commercials for the University of Phoenix, but that's cool - whatever gives the song more exposure is fine by me. YouTube



I don't know what it is about "Silver City," but from the moment I heard it I've been enchanted. If aliens want to take over the world, they should play this song and we'll be hypnotized and do whatever they ask. The spacey intro, the meandering keyboard bleeps and blips, the computerized vocals, the real vocals later on, and then more spacey-ness. This might be the one song I could listen to over and over and never get sick of it. YouTube



One critic described this song better than I could as “an irresistible slice of '70s disco porn groove overlaid with dreamy shimmering '80s panpipes synth notes.” Best moment: The anticipatory pauses just before each chorus, where you're waiting for the dramatic "Ooh girl!" "Electric Feel" is pretty much a perfect pop song. YouTube

Full-length CD reviews are for suckers

So here are our short takes on noteworthy discs from the past several weeks...

STAY POSITIVE The Hold Steady
Scott: "These sing-along songs will be our scriptures," yelps Craig Finn in his sing-speak manner, and he couldn't be more true. "Sequestered in Memphis" might be the best song of 2008 - if "Stay Positive" isn't. Both are vintage Hold Steady, with the detailed plotlines, riveting piano melodies and soaring choruses that makes us love them. Those were the first two tracks I heard off this record, and that led me to believe this was an early contender for Album of the Year. The rest of the album isn't quite that good (if only "One for the Cutters" was as awesome as its title...) but this is still a terrific effort.

WEEZER (RED ALBUM) Weezer

Deena: The predictableness of most Weezer albums has pleasantly lessened on their sixth record. Each band member sings lead on at least one track, which provides nice variety; some fun white-boy rapping shows up on a few songs; and several tracks meander away from the traditional 3-minute disposable pop song formula, with great success. Often the complaint about Weezer is that their lyrics haven't been as emotional or personal since Pinkerton, but the Red Album might actually deliver on that as well, particularly the deluxe edition, which contains some equally good tracks that didn't make the final cut.

Scott: My favorite here is "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived," Rivers Cuomo's most ambitious song ever. Rivers channels Kanye West's ego for a masterpiece that might be the band's best since "Only in Dreams." The spoken-word bragging is the high point, with Rivers claiming, "If you don't like it, you can shove it. But you don't like it - you love it."

MEð SUð í EYRUM VIð SPILUM ENDALAUST Sigur Ros
Scott: A brilliant disc. Gone (for the most part) are the plodding 9-minute epics; instead, more than half the songs clock in at 4:15 or less. They are also much more lively, starting with the opener "Gobbledigook", while the last two minutes of "Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur" are as perfect as pop music can get. Sigur Ros also throw in their first-ever English song, "All Alright," which ranks up there with "Heysatan" and "Samskeyti" as one of their most beautiful tracks.

PRETTY. ODD. Panic at the Disco
Scott: This is better than it has any right to be. Panic sets out to make a record that the Beatles would make if they recorded in the year 2008, and remarkably, they come close to succeeding. "She Had the World" and "Beyond the Sea" wouldn't be out of place on Sgt. Pepper. This is one of those records that's a major artistic step forward, even though it's not likely to match the commercial success of their debut.

Deena: Even though I bitched that Panic abandoned their original producer, Danny Elfman, on this album, I really can't complain about the end result. Like the new Weezer album, most of the band gets a shot at the mic, especially lyricist Ryan Ross, whose voice is a pleasant departure and yet a great complement to lead singer Brendon Urie.

NO, VIRGINIA Dresden Dolls
Scott: This collection contains most of the songs the Dolls have performed in concert over the years but never put to tape. "Lonesome Organist Rapes Page Turner" is an intense track that is so fun and upbeat you almost don't realize Amanda Palmer is literally singing about a lonesome organist raping his page turner. "Night Reconnaissance" is another standout, Palmer speaking for outcasts everywhere when she sings, "Nothing is crueler than children who come from good homes."

ROBOTIQUE MAJESTIQUE, Ghostland Observatory
Scott: GLO is a favorite of mine, but this one doesn't live up to their previous efforts. "Dancing on My Grave" is a quirky electronic pop tune that stands out from a batch of unremarkable songs. Singer/snakedancer Aaron Behrens has given up the guitar on this record, and while I didn't think that would be a bad thing, it ends up leading to a lack of variety on this disc.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION, Kathy Griffin
Scott: As a huge Kathy fan, I have to say this CD is a bit of a disappointment. Her stories aren't as compelling as usual. Instead of giving us behind-the-scenes stories from award shows, she talks about what she's seen lately on Oprah. Lame! Her stories about Marie Osmond and Stevie Wozniak aren't terribly exciting either, but there are still plenty of laughs, particularly when she talks about her 88-year-old mother randomly discovering new reality tv shows - "Kathy, I just don't want you to end up like those goddamn Kardashians!"

Ghostland Observatory at The Fonda

CONCERT REVIEW: Ghostland Observatory
The Music Box at the Fonda
Hollywood, CA
November 30, 2007



Seven minutes into Ghostland Observatory’s performance at The Music Box, they had already played their two most energetic and well-known songs. I braced myself for the inevitable letdown, but it never happened.

Singer Aaron Behrens captivated the crowd during the openers, "Vibrate" and "Sad Sad City," with his trademark, hard-to-believe dance moves, featuring plenty of strutting, snake dancing, and rock star posing, and the energy never dipped throughout the 90-minute performance.

When I saw Ghostland this summer at Lollapalooza, I got a little bored during the songs where Behrens played electric guitar – I remember thinking, Put the guitar down and start dancing again! But tonight, that was not the case. Some of the guitar songs were major highlights, including “Rich Man,” the second of three encores, and “Midnight Voyage,” the song that seemed to never end, as Behrens seemingly played the same riff over and over for 8+ minutes while cape-wearing drummer/electronic wizard Thomas Turner provided the electronic blips and bleeps.

Ghostland played four brand new songs, and while they all had decent enough hooks, none had that “wow” factor that several of the songs from Paparazzi Lightning possess. That does concern me a little – hopefully their next record isn’t going to signify a decline in quality or creativity.

The final high point of the evening was the first encore, “Silver City,” a brilliant older song which might be the band’s best. Its plodding synths create a powerful mood, making it one of Ghostland’s best live songs. Behrens’ mesmerizing girl-dancing rightfully gets a lot of attention, but this band needs to have substance beyond that in order to be successful, and tonight they showed they have it.



Check out the band at http://www.myspace.com/ghostlandobservatory

My 5 favorite bands, November 2007

It's been 6 months, so it's time again to run down my favorite bands, since they change fairly often. Except at the top, where for the past seven years my favorite band has either been Radiohead, the Dresden Dolls, or the Dave Matthews Band.

1 DRESDEN DOLLS
The Dolls were fairly quiet this year, releasing only one cheeky music video, "Shores of California," whose video featured the "Shoes" girl. But they've just announced a late December mini-tour, featuring a New Year's Eve show in New York City, and Amanda Palmer is busy recording her solo album in Nashville with Ben Folds, so that is likely to keep the Dolls in the top position throughout much of next year. Amanda's introspective songwriting has always been the cornerstone of the Dolls' success, and I can't wait to see how that translates to a solo record.
MP3: Dirty Business

2 RADIOHEAD
They returned to the radar this fall with their name-your-own-price In Rainbows CD, and although I'm not joining the host of critics who think it's their best release in years (I actually believe it's their weakest since their debut), it is still great to have the world's greatest rock band back on the scene. The two best concerts I've ever seen are both Radiohead shows. Let's hope they launch an extensive U.S. tour next year.
MP3: 15 Step

3 JUNIOR SENIOR
The wacky dance duo released their second album Hey Hey My My Yo Yo in 2005, but only in Japan (!) Back then, I downloaded a few tracks and waited patiently for it to see the light of day here, and finally this summer the disc came out. It was worth the wait. There are a ton of happy silly pop bands around these days, but none do it as well as Junior Senior.
MP3:Itch U Can't Skratch

4 ALISON KRAUSS
The more I listen to Alison, the more I adore her. Her angelic singing voice blends perfectly with her easy-on-the-ears bluegrass style. She's performed with an amazing list of people (James Taylor, Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello, Shania Twain, Sarah McLachlan), but she's just released her most shocking collaboration to date, an album with Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant. I can't stand him, but I owe it to Alison to give it a shot.
MP3: Crazy As Me

5 GHOSTLAND OBSERVATORY
I blogged about how amazed I was by Ghostland Observatory's performance at Lollapalooza 2007, and after that show I tracked down a bunch of songs from their recent release Paparazzi Lightning, which is still in heavy rotation on my laptop. Their live show is something to behold. Aaron Behrens' dancing is transfixing. Just released: A live DVD!
MP3: Vibrate

Other contenders for this list: Fiery Furnaces, Architecture in Helsinki, New Pornographers, Sigur Ros, Mickey Avalon, World/Inferno Friendship Society

Link: My 5 favorite bands, May 2007

Lollapalooza Day 1: Permanent hearing loss and dancing robots

A journal of all the acts I witnessed during Lollapalooza... all photos & video clips were taken by me with my crappy cam...

11:00
I’m standing outside the gates and they still haven’t let anybody in. Is there a bomb threat or something? The first band starts at 11:15, ferchrissakes! I showed up early to make sure I got in with plenty of time to spare, and I end up having to wait anyway. Standing in the blazing sun for 45 minutes while I waited did not put me in a good mood to kick things off.

11:30 The Switches

I made it inside and thankfully, this small stage is in the shade and there’s even a breeze! I enjoyed this U.K. band’s short set, it packed a lot of punch and included the one song of theirs I actually knew, “Snakes and Ladders.”

11:50 The Fratellis

This band has gotten a lot of hype on the blogs this year, but I didn’t see anything special. Unlike the Switches, who knew they had a limited amount of time and tore through their set, the Fratellis were way too deliberate and weren’t all that interesting. It’s hard to judge sometimes when you only catch half of a set, but that was my impression.

12:15 Illinois

I just caught the end of this band’s set and I wish I’d seen more – the four songs I witnessed were loud, full band jams, with a banjo prominently featured. Good musicians, I’ll have to check them out again.

12:30 Ghostland Observatory

The first band of the festival that caught me totally by surprise. I had no expectations, but this duo blew me away with their White Stripes-meets-Daft Punk blend of hard rock and electronica, combined with a pigtailed singer who snake dances around like Gwen Stefani and a cape-wearing drummer/keyboardist. I had only expected to stay for 15 minutes, but changed my mind because I was enthralled with the singer’s singing and dancing – it was impossible to take my eyes off her. It was only after I got home and did some research on the band that I found out the singer IS A DUDE. I’m in shock – I’ve never seen a guy dance like that, and oddly, I feel letdown. For some reason, I think if the singer was a girl, they would be more unique. But their set was still undeniably outstanding.

1:15 Chin Up Chin Up

After buying a $5 lemonade (the only purchase I regretted all weekend), I took in a couple of this band’s songs. Nothing to say, really – I don’t even remember them. Sorry guys.

1:40 Ted Leo & the Pharmacists

Many in the hipster crowd like Ted Leo, so I enjoyed my first chance to see him, and he was pretty good. Very plain, straightforward rock n roll like Bruce Springsteen, but engaging songs. I took note of a song where the chorus was “only you’d know what he’s done,” so that I could look it up later and mention it in my blog, but a lyrics search for that line comes up empty, so I have no idea what song it was.

2:30 Jack’s Mannequin

The blurb about this band in the program made it sound like they were kind of emo, so I wanted to catch a couple minutes of them before I headed to the opposite side of the park to see the Polyphonic Spree. Imagine The Fray, if the singer had a whiny emo voice, and you have this band. I left and went to grab a tasty vegan cookie dough waffle cone.

3:00 Polyphonic Spree

It’s cool when a band is as interesting visually as they are musically, and the Spree is incredible to witness – 24 people (including a midget) in matching outfits, playing instruments like the harp, violin, French horn, and anything else you can think of. I should’ve had the foresight to plan to see their entire set, instead of just the last 30 minutes, but what I saw was thrilling, including the first big moment of the festival – after a costume change that saw them go from military outfits to their trademark white robes, they played a cover of Nirvana’s “Lithium” that made the crowd go crazy.

Video clip: "Lithium"


3:40 Electric Six

Didn’t get to stay long but during the 15 minutes I was there they performed their big hit “Gay Bar.” “Let’s start a war/Start a nuclear war/At the gay bar/Gay bar/Gay bar” – I love that lyric, and the way he delivers it.

4:00 Against Me!
I arrived just before they played their current hit “White People for Peace.” They were loud and rocking just as I expected.

Video clip: "White People for Peace"


4:30 M.I.A.

I was psyched for this show and made my way right down front, only to be disappointed. Her show was boring… it was just her, another dancer, and a DJ. Her songs are great on record, but there’s not much she can do with them live.

5:20 The Rapture

Another performance that I could only drop by briefly, on my way somewhere else. The few songs I saw were decent. I would've stayed longer but I saw them in January, so I decided to check out some other bands I hadn't seen before instead...

5:40 Silversun Pickups

The male singer has a really whiny voice, one of those voices that you really have to hear several times before you get used to it, like Bob Dylan and Joanna Newsom. I liked the little bit I heard, and they played their excellent single “Lazy Eye” at the end.

6:10 Blonde Redhead

They get the award for most mismatched group - a young Asian singer with two old, graying, Latin-looking musicians. I like the song “23” but aside from that I haven’t figured out how this band is creating a buzz.

6:40 Matt Roan
I hadn’t intended to see this, but I arrived early for Mickey Avalon and this guy was DJing. I guess he does kind of a Girl Talk thing, playing a verse or two of a song and then mixing it with another. It was cool but I was preoccupied with waiting for Mickey…

7:00 Mickey Avalon

I'm sure this show gave me permanent hearing damage because I was about 4 feet in front of the giant speakers. My ears were still ringing the next morning. His live performance was good, not much different from the CD. His cohorts Andre Legacy and Dirt Nasty came along, leading to a show-capping performance of the comically offensive “My Dick.”

Video clip: "My Dick"


8:15 LCD Soundsystem
I used to like this band until I saw them not long ago on Letterman. I thought they were one of those mysterious European techno acts, but it turns out it’s just an ugly, portly fellow from Brooklyn. Should that make a difference? Probably not, but it does. The cool factor went straight to nothing when I saw that. I do like some of their songs, but the 15 minutes I saw didn’t do much for me. I thought they might close with “Daft Punk is Playing At My House” – that would’ve made for a seamless transition to the next mainstage band – but apparently they played it early in the set.

8:40 Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals

I gave him a chance and stayed for about 20 minutes. It was ok but the songs were too preachy for me. Why must every song be about saving the world?

9:10 Daft Punk

I arrived a half hour into Daft Punk’s show and was greeted with the robot-outfit-wearing DJs inside a massive pyramid, with a crazy light and video show. Not long after I got there, as I made my way to the front, they played “One More Time.” I was really amazed how the crowd was going crazy. Every single person was jumping up and down. People in Pittsburgh don’t dance like this. It’s really amazing to see how much fun a crowd can have when everyone lets loose. There was a quite a wow factor involved in seeing this band that almost never performs in the U.S. This was the best performance of the entire weekend in the eyes of many people including myself.

Video clip: "One More Time"


Bands seen today: 19

Best of today:
1 Daft Punk
2 Ghostland Observatory
3 Polyphonic Spree