Manchester Orchestra :: "I"ve Got Friends"

Just got back from the DR, which (thankfully or not) means we can retire the 32ft Down concept. I might bring it back in April or over the summer when I am 90% sure I am moving to Bahrain to pursue petroleum speculation as a full-time career. That is 95% a joke.

I walked in the door and in my mailbox was the new Manchester Orchestra record. I have loved this band since 2007 when, ostensibly to impress a VP at Virgin Records, I pulled some publicity contacts and got tickets to see them play the Knitting Factory on three hours notice. It was maybe the coolest thing I did that year. Although, in retrospect, maybe it was all a little overdone - the night held some real meaning at the time. Me, trying to impress my boss. Me, leveled and rebuilt by a band who, until 2pm that afternoon, were absolutely nothing to me.

Things to take away: 1) My boss was not suitably impressed by my contacts or the (in my opinion, pretty good) review I wrote the next morning while I was supposed to be servicing the new Interpol record to college radio. 2) Manchester Orchestra was the best band in the entire world that night.

The new record is good. Is it great? Let me listen to it eight more times and tell you next week. For right now, love the first single, "I've Got Friends" and understand that it's only the lacquer on the surface of a really deep, important wardrobe. I'll let you know how deep the rabbit hole goes but for now, Andy Hull and Manchester Orchestra are ready to lay you out like a Third World village in a tropical depression. I mean that, indisputably, as a compliment.

Listen :: Manchester Orchestra - "I've Got Friends"

Best and Worst :: Coldplay @ the Grammy's and TVOTR on SNL

It was a big weekend for music. It was allegedly music's "biggest night." Chris Martin was on "60 Minutes," the Grammy's had performances from everyone who sold 1,000,000 plus records this year, and TV on the Radio was on Saturday Night Live. Of course, some of these things played out well and some of them didn't. First, the worst.

Later scholars will debate if this was the worst moment of live music in human history. If you can last through the screeching, pitchy, disaster that is the chorus of "Golden Age," you deserve a medal. It approaches physical pain. Good song, good band, good album - just a bad night at the office. Luckily, NBC will kill this video in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ....

"Golden Age" [Live on SNL]


And then there was Coldplay. Like it or not, you're looking at U2 in real-time. I've gone back-and-forth on this but finally, this is one of the only legitimate arena-bands touring right now. Martin is equal parts skiddish, confident, twitchy and perfect. Just watch as he charges from the solo piano ending of "Lost" and onto the main stage to join the rest of the band as "Viva La Vida's" opening chords pulse in the background. Look at how he grabs the mic. Freeze that moment in your mind or pause it on YouTube. It's three minutes and 10 seconds in. Then play it forward as he skips toward the stage. This is self-actualization in real-time. This is greatness in motion. This is the sweetness that Michael Stipe told us would follow. Just enjoy.

"Lost" and "Viva La Vida" [Live on the Grammy's]