Coolness Coming Up

Lots of cool things (mostly bands) are coming to D.C. Like, for example, Snow Patrol will be here Friday for $15. It appears that tickets are still available. No one really raved about them when I was looking for summer Rawk!, but they keep coming up in places I hear about good music. So, would you go? Next, the Green Festival will be in D.C. next weekend (Sept. 18-19) at the D.C. Convention Center. It costs $10 for lots of cool speakers (Amy Goodman! Jim Hightower! Greg Palast! Barbara Ehrenreich! Naomi Klein! William Greider! And more!). Or, they're still looking for volunteers to help out, and if you give them four hours of help, you get a free all-access pass for the weekend (plus a t-shirt!). Back to the music, The Killers, who nearly topped my summer Rawk! list, will play the 9:30 Club Sunday, October 3rd, for only $12. I'd love to see that, but Sunday!? And then, crazy joy of joys, who knew Camper van Beethoven was back? Apparently, they are, and their new album, "New Roman Times," will be out Oct. 12, which is also the night they're playing, you guessed it, the 9:30 Club. For $20, it's a pricey show, but how worth it! And how is it possible not to love this—according to lead singer David Lowery, the new album is a rock opera!

"We didn't want to make it an overt comment on the current political climate, so we made up a fictional North America in which there's many different countries that fight each other every once in a while, and Texas has gone neo-fascist and California has had a civil war. The main character is a soldier from the Fundamentalist Christian Republic of Texas, and the songs follow this solider and other people through the story. But it's not really that serious—there's space aliens, and we blow up the disco at the end."

I'm so there! If you can't wait for the album, the iTMS (iTunes Music Store) has an exclusive 3-song EP (that link will open in iTunes), which Lowery describes (iTunes link) as:

our very Camper-esque way of talking about the deep gulf between one America best represented by the right wing fundamentalist Christians of the south and interior, and the more urbane elements of the coasts ... we hope this record is an amusing distraction in the coming political season.

Gotta love it. (Note: No purchase necessary, void where prohibited, please see your local dealer for complete details. All plans, either express or implied, mentioned herein are subject to change w/out notice, depending on the exigencies of law school. Bleh.)

Posted 06:54 AM | Comments (3) | ai music life generally

OB-GYNs Practice Love?

Hey look, tort reform with a bizarre new twist:

U.S. President George W. Bush offered an unexpected reason on Monday for cracking down on frivolous medical lawsuits: "Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country."

But that's not all. Check out the video clip of the statement. Is it just me, or are Bush's hand gestures even more inappropriate than his choice of words?

Posted 06:40 AM | Comments (2) | election 2004