At this point in my Nashville residency I really should stop being surprised by the lack of bands that come through here. However, when I read that Secret Machines would be touring with Autolux I got vaguely excited.. I mean, Secret Machines played here probably three times in 2004 and got a good reception every time. So, now, the full tour has been announced and ya know what? Nashville's nowhere to be found. I don't know if I should blame the booking agents in my city, the booking agents who ignore Nashville, or the residents of my city for not coming out in droves to any and every great show so the city isn't considered completely lame by the entire country.

Day 3 of the Christmas countdown.. here's what I have to offer. It's my Top Ten of 2004 - top ten CD's that is. I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm missing some obvious entry but I'm fairly happy with everything that I picked. I can't recommend Arcade Fire, Autolux, Menomena, or Detachment Kit enough. Actually, almost all of the top 10 is something that everyone should own - hence the reason that they are in the top ten.

In the midst of my strangely work laden day today I must remind everyone to listen to KEXP at 1pm (pacific time) for an Autolux in studio performance. Their debut album Future Perfect should be officially in stores today and since I've been pretty much grossly obsessed with them for awhile I highly suggest you go buy a copy (and maybe pick up the vinyl version too.. just for kicks).

Well, it's official.. I'm an Autolux whore. Saw them twice last week and they are playing both nights that I am in San Francisco.. now the real question is.. should I be the uber-whore and see them twice this weekend or just settle for the one time?

New York was incredible. I guess that goes without saying but I enamored with the diversity of architecture, the fact that anything you want exists there, the public transport, the ability to actually walk to a destination, the intense amount of beautiful ladies, the food, the venues, and just the overall vibe - it's super hectic but it wasn't scary or anything.

Bands Seen: The Features, Gratitude, Pidgeon, Rob Crow, Turing Machine, Detachment Kit, The Wrens, Morningwood, some random screamo bands at CBGB's, Rag City Dolls, Autolux, Vietnam, The Static Age, Death From Above, Nicolai Dunger, Sufjan Stevens, Tegan and Sara, Living Things, Autolux (yes, again), The Fever, DJ ZTrip.

Highlights: Autolux twice was certainly a treat but being able to hang out with Scott, Jeremy, Ryan, Malisa, Deuce, Lauren, and NYC Residents Chad, Bryan, Nick, and Rob certainly ranks highest on my list. Obviously there were some amazing record and clothing stores as well.. but the whole vibe of the city just blew me away (Guggenheim in real life?! what?!). The graffiti is intensely inspiring.

Low Points: Waiting for subway trains for over an hour.. that was horrible, being denied waffles when waffles were promised, not seeing all of the city.. it's just too damn big, and probably the technology convention we attended.

Free Schwag: waaay too much to mention but CMJ did me well. Lots of CD's worth checking out, lots worth throwing away or selling. The free Brian Wilson vinyl and random magazines were pretty nice but if anyone wants a lame MySpace button.. I've got two!

I'm sure some photo's will surface from all this but I only brought my Lomo with me, so I've got to get the pics developed and scanned before I can share anything.. though it is kind of a crapshoot.. b/c it is possible that none of the pics even came out.

Thanks again to Chad and Bryan for being such great (yet seperate) hosts.

Today was a great day for the all consuming media freak in me. I was able to pick up an early copy of the debut from The Whole Fantastic World (Chime!) and thanks to some connections I received the long awaited debut from Autolux. AND on top of all that, the Eternal Sunshine DVD comes out tomorrow, as well as the debut from Travis Morrison. What else? Oh yea, new Interpol, and possibly I'll pick up that God Lives Underwater disc that's been rumored to be coming out for long long time.

Don't expect much today in terms of posts, I'm busy running errands, working with Amir on some shirts, and getting some general tasks completed. For those of you who are Autolux fans, you might want to check your local retailer for the debut disc.. even though it's not officially due for several weeks some places (i.e. Best Buy) have put it out on the shelf early.

It's kind of amazing sometimes what publications choose to review what CD's. For instance, why is Autolux reviewed in Teen Vogue? And why couldn't the copy writer be more clever with their headline choice?

If the new Autolux comes out in two weeks shouldn't it be listed on some of the more popular e-commerce sites? Or even some smaller ones?

Seeing that I got several links yesterday from my inability to really browse.. here are some results.
seabread.com - portfolio of R. Kikuo Johnson. Illustration, comic styles.

Typo Generator - not what you'd think. Web application to generate posters created from images and letters that doesn't have any sense. Mixed results.

Pokia - whoever predicted the Zack Morris phone was coming back in style never saw this one coming.

Evolution - monkey walks on two legs after being really sick, gets better, goes back to all fours.

KITT for sale - Michael Knight must be strapped for cash.

Radioio rock is pretty much plagarizing my Silent Uproar review of the Autolux demo disc. Fortunately, my review was so poorly written that I can't be offended if someone wants to lift anything from it.

According to this thread on the Autolux.org message board regarding the release of Future Perfect. Basically, the parent company of their label (Columbia owns DMZ, Sony owns Columbia) signed the band based on T. Bone Burnett's recommendation but really hadn't heard them or knew what they were getting into. So now, the parent label has officially decided it will try and release the album - but that it needs another 3+ months to setup promotions and press. So possibly look for a July / August release date.

And if you're willing to brave the waters, there are some cool photos from the bands performance at the Getty Museum.

Apparently Steve from the Autolux board has a copy of the new album.. not a ton of tracks that haven't been heard on the demo (the first or second one), or from random bootlegs.. but I'm interested to hear the studio versions. Fortunately this means that the album may actually come out soon and for some reason that is exciting.

According to a reliable source, it appears that there may be some actual Autolux news. The band was unhappy with the first round of mixes and have gone back to the drawing board... this time with Dave Sardy (who has actually done lots of stuff I've heard.. I just didn't know it). The band is eyeing a late March / early April release.

Dear Autolux, Please post some news about your forthcoming debut album. The 5 song demo, 3 bonus tracks, and random bootlegs acquired over the past years are all great but I'd really love to hear (or see) the tiniest nugget of information regarding the full-length. If this is asking too much, that's cool... no pressure. Thanks in advance, Michael.

Still no word on an album release (let's hope it's in 2004) but Autolux have some new shirts for sale. The best part is that each shirt has the screen printed in a different spot, so no 2 shirts are alike.

Heads up New York - mark your calendars for Autolux - Nov. 18th, 19th, 20th opening for the White Stripes. Sucks when the opener is way cooler than the headliner I know.. but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Someone on the Autolux msg board suggested that Minus the Bear runs circles around Grandaddy... I'm not sure I agree that they run circles around them, but they are quite enjoyable from what I've heard so far. Grant says they are like a mix of Grandaddy and The Dismemberment Plan. Bryan agrees. So with that sort of endorsement.. shouldn't you be going to check them out, now.

Great, inspiring, article on the merits of D.I.Y. Strangely enough the people used as examples are Greg Edwards of Autolux and Ev from 12 Rods. Any of you people out there in bands should read it.. oh, and it also explains the concept behind floorshow which I can only imagine launches sometime "soon."

Jeez, never let it be said that the internet can't expose new bands. Year Of The Rabbit has played 3 shows - all of which can be downloaded here. Now where are the Autolux bootlegs?!

Good news - Autolux signed to The Cohen Brothers record label, DMZ Records (distributed by Columbia) and carla's new elbow is in working order to record the new album in October. Wonder if they'll have a simultaneous release with Year Of The Rabbit.. that'd be entertaining.