Bono finally admits that he has been annoying the rest of U2 with his political speeches at shows.

Solid show last nite at Masonic Temple in Smithtown.




Nakatomi Plaza



Slingshot Dakota





Con Amore


Satellite Lost (when vegan Phil isn't being a goth club kid, he likes to be a ghost)


Dearly Departed

Best of 2005 according to Kenyon. not in exact order, but sorta close.


1. Warlocks: Surgery (Mute)
2. Mercury Rev: Secret Migration (V2)
3. The Bravery: s/t (Island)
4. Embrace: Out of Nothing (Atlantic)
5. My Morning Jacket: Z (RCA)
6. Sigur Ros: Takk (Geffen)
7. Go! Team: Thunder, Lightning, Strike (Columbia)
8. Cloud Room: s/t (Gigantic)
9. BRMC: Howl (RCA)
10. A Northern Chorus: Bitter Hands Resign (Sonic Unyon)
----------------------------------------------------------
11. Russian Futurists: Our Thickness (Upperclass)
12. Bloc Party: Silent Alarm (Vice)
13. Tender Forever: The Soft and the Hardcore (K)
14. Architecture in Helsinki: In Case We Die (Barnone)
15. Ladytron: Witching Hour (Ryko)
16. Elkland: Golden (Columbia)
17. Manual: Azure Vista (Darla)
18. British Sea Power: Open Season (Rough Trade)
19. Project Skyward: Strange Synchronicities (Nebula)
20. Maximo Park: A Certain Trigger (Warp)
21. Amusement Parks on Fire: s/t (Filter)
22. Outhud: Let Us Never Speak of this Again (Kranky)
23. Shout Out Louds: Howl Howl Gaff Gaff (Capitol)
24. The New Pornographers: Twin Cinema (Matador)
25. Saxon Shore: The Exquisite Death of Saxon Shore (Burnt Toast Vinyl)

Depeche Mode on FUSE tonite, 10pm (EST).

Measles Mumps Rubella: Fantastic Success (Doubling Cube)
release: February 21, 2006 (totally in the future, baby)
rating: ***
similar: Liars, Erase Errata, Public Image Ltd.

Okay, you wanna start getting some buzz going on this band or what. Cause, I mean, the record doesn't come out for two more months. Which is risky, because everyone might even HATE post-post-punk disco bands from New York by then! Check this out though: Measles Mumps Rubella worked with Ian MacKaye on some early songs (before they got their current vocalist) and toured with Le Tigre, Bratmobile and Trans Am. That's some serious street cred, dude. Oh, you think the name of the band is dumb (dude, what about that band Test Icicles? come on!). Yea, well, see, after a while you'll get used to it just like we did with a thousand other band names and then Measles Mumps Rubella will just sound very hip. We'll associate diseases with cool guitar effects, disco-dance punk and a yelpy vocalist. Totally. -Kenyon

Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice: The Flood (Troubleman Unlimited)
released: ?? ?? 2005
rating: *
similar: CocoRosie, Devendra Banhart

Wooden Wand (with or without the Vanishing Voice) has already issued several noteworthy works amongst a bombardment of recordings from the past two years. The Flood is not one of them. It doesn't help when the first two tracks are over 10 minutes. By the fourth track we at least get something that works and doesn't sound like they're trying too hard to be creative, even if it's just over two minutes. Sure, maybe if you just smoked some good weed, their experimental folk is "trance-like." Otherwise, there's a lot of straining vocals and guitars that are too unmelodic to be considered music or even interesting, making much of this as irritating as a Dunkin Donuts opening across the street from a 7-11. -Kenyon

let's have a black celebration. tonite.
martin on guitar, dave on vocals and andy doing, er, something. wait, i thought this was synthpop!

Depeche Mode/The Bravery @Madison Square Garden. December 7, 2005.

Set: Intro, A Pain That I'm Used To, John The Revelator, A Question Of Time, Policy Of Truth, Precious, Walking In My Shoes, Suffer Well, Damaged People, Home, I Want It All, The Sinner In Me, I Feel You, Behind The Wheel, World In My Eyes, Personal Jesus, Enjoy The Silence.

Encore 1: Somebody, Just Can't Get Enough, Everything Counts
Encore 2: Never Let Me Down Again, Goodnight Lovers

Hot shows on Long Island this Friday:

Pretty Girls Make Graves, The Double (Matador), Tangiers (Frenchkiss), Encrypt Manuscript (local) at Live Trax, 242 Pettit Avenue, Bellmore. 6pm, $12.


Electro-industrial Metropolis artists Negative Format and God Module at Metasin, 2715 Hempstead Turnpike, Levittown. (kenyon will be DJing at some point).

Music sounds better with video.

Mixel Pixel
"Body Automatic" and "Tell Tale Drum Machine"
Psychodelic animation which goes hand-in-hand with the NYC trio's lo-fi electronic weirdness. And of course they're still on tour too.

I Hope You Are All Happy Now
Photographs by Nicholas Zinner
(Evil Twin Publications/St. Martin's Press)

Nick (whoops, Nicholas) Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs has seen a million faces. And he's rocked them all. Now he's got a book of photos he took to prove it. Of course, pretty much anyone with a camera can be a photographer these days. But not everyone (ie, me) has been around the world on tour. What sets many of these shots apart is that instead of a photographer going to several concerts or someone following a band around, the person taking the photos is the rock star himself. And you just can't get any closer to the secret life of a rock star than that (ie photos of hotel beds, backstage, etc). Sometimes those shots of the crowds actually stand out, like the one from Coney Island with the Cyclone rollercoaster. Don't be mislead though. There's a lot more subjects in front of the camera from the past few years than just a large volume of crowds. Zinner has been hanging out with bands and musicians that you may or may not recognize (TV on the Radio, Zinner's bandmates, Liars, Bright Eyes). And stay with the book, cause there's some great shots of the YYYs, cityscapes, people laying on the floor, and more people laying on the floor. -Kenyon



nick and kenyon. december 2003 (not in book)