Last week I got to attend an event to promote the 50th year anniversary of the iconic Dr. Martens boots and get the word out about the 10 cover songs covered by various artists they are releasing in honor of the big 5-0 b-day.

The British label asked ten artists to cover some of their favorite songs, all of which will be available for free download on the Dr. Martens site and which will be released with a companion video shot by some big name directors.

The first three offerings are:

Noisettes, “Ever Fallen In Love With Someone You Shouldn’t've” by the Buzzcocks

The Duke Spirit, “If The Kids Are United” by Sham 69

D?M-FunK, “Things That Dreams Are Made Of” by The Human League

The tunes go up on April 1, 50 years to the day that the first Dr. Marten shoe, the 1460, was produced. On top of that, the line is issuing a limited edition pebbled leather version of the original shoes the 1460 and 1461 models (1460 and 1461 respectively in both black and cherry red) which will be available at limited locations (Opening Ceremony and Trash & Vaudeville here in NYC)

Check out the video for the Noisettes, shot by Rankin & Chris:

More shots from the event…
Continue reading ‘Dr. Martens Turns 50 and Celebrates with Music’ »

Just catching up now on ze blogging. A few nights ago I had the pleasure of catching the Julian Casablancas show @ The Fillmore at Irving Plaza for the 101.9 RXP Second Anniversary show.

As you can probably tell from the lack of updates on this site, I haven’t been the *best* at keeping up with the shows, but I knew I would be disappointed with myself if I didn’t head to this show.

I’m happy to report that I was definitely not disappointed with my decision to head to the show. Julian seemed happy and at ease — even more so than the Terminal 5 show I saw him at in January.

He was sporting his latest style (as seen in the “Boombox” video) — with the blue and red stripes and the feather in his hair. The rest of the look included a white and black striped tank top, slim red pants, white Nike high tops and a studded leather jacket.

Julian and the band played a mix of songs off the album (“Ludlow Street”, “Glass” — probably one of my favorite songs off the album, “Out of the Blue”), B-sides (“30 Minute Boyfriend”, “I’ll Try Anything”), and even a new song (simply called “New One” for now), but it was the one-off tunes that really got the crowd going crazy.

For example, when the first few bars of “Hard to Explain” started up, everyone’s ears instantly perked up, and the crowd started cheering. By the time the chorus hit, folks were happily jumping up and down and I’m sure it brought back a lot of fond memories for some of the old-timers (like me) in the crowd. After the song was over, Julian jokingly announce that “that was a new one.”

Another surprise was during the encore when Julian explained that they were about to play a song that people seemed to really like — even though it was off season — breaking into his cover version of the SNL song “I Wish It Was Christmas Today.”

Julian even took it upon himself to do a stage dive or two into the crowd, proving that despite being older, sober, and a new father the guy still has what it takes to be a rock star. He made jokes about how things have changed, yet stayed the same — stating that he had seen so many shows at the venue — “Irving Plaza, or whatever this place is called.”
Continue reading ‘Julian Casablancas @ The Fillmore, March 24th’ »

Just got back from the awesome Julian Casablancas show at Irving Plaza for the 2nd Anniversary show for RXP. Check out the set list:

That’s right, “h2e” is “Hard to Explain“!!

VIDEO: Julian doing “Hard to Explain”:

Hey guys — the Crafts for a Cause auction I talked about last month has begun and lasts through March 27th at 6PM EST.

The fundraiser, organized by Binki Shapiro of Little Joy, will benefit the relief efforts in Haiti via Artists for Peace and Justice.

Artists who have donated one-of-a-kind items include Christina Aguilera, Drew Barrymore, Ed Droste from Grizzly Bear, Fran Healy from Travis, Kate & Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte, Liv Tyler, Shirley Manson, Tegan and Sara, among many many others.

A wallet designed and signed by the Strokes is currently at $182.00. Get on there and bid to move that needle!

Under Great White Northern Lights has been released. Got my box set in the mail today. What do y’all think? Worth the money?

Best Buy is also featuring a limited edition bundle of the film and live album, get it while supplies last.

Rejoice fellow Anglophiles — the fantastic Channel 4 series (shown here in the States on BBC America) Skins just got picked up for two more seasons.

As expected, it will be a completely new cast of characters. Open auditions will take place in London and Bristol next month.

I’ve only seen seasons 1/2 with the man-pretty Nicholas Hoult in it and I was totally blown away by the program. So much better than it’s North American counterparts Degrassi or Gossip Girl, Skins is a show for teenagers, starring teenagers, but with some serious problems and fantastic acting.

Still waiting to see seasons 3/4, which I heard aren’t as great as 1/2, but looking forward to following the character of Effy — who was utterly awesome in season 1/2.

If you follow me on Facebook / Twitter, you probably noticed how I totally freaked out last night when absentmindedly watching SNL with host Jude Law.

(This was after my earlier freak out in the evening when I saw actor (and celebrity blogger) Michael Kenneth Williams — aka “Omar Little” from The Wire — playing a would-be terrorist on Law & Order.)

The reason was Julian Casablancas induced — as soon as I heard the begining beats of “Boombox,” the song which Julian guested on for the Lonely Island album, Incredibad, I knew what was coming — hilarity and awesomeness.

Not only were all the scenes described in the song acted out, but Julian is sporting this hideously weird side rat tail hair with the multicolors — but staying on trend and totally making it work. I’m convinced, Julian Casablancas owns neo-80s style. But probably my favorite moment is at the end when Julian smashes a flower pot and declares that “a boombox is not a toy.” [UPDATE: Reader Melissa pointed out that there is actually a "Boombox" shirt being sold on the Lonely Island site. Rock it!]

So true.

Check out the video and you will not be disappointed:

Oh, and in other news, The Strokes will headline Lollapalooza.

RELATED: Julian Casablancas Gets His “Boombox” On with Lonely Island

We all know that Ryan Adams loves pizza, but one North Carolina pizzeria has brought it to the next level. The Sticks and Stones has taken it upon themselves to name all their menu items after Ryan Adams songs.

Expect to find items inspired by North Carolina’s native son such the Rescue Blues (rosemary garlic fries), the Easy, Tiger (soup of the day), the Heartbreaker (classic Caesar salad), New York, New York (tomato sauce, Giacomo’s sopressata, arugula, fresh mozzarella, pine nuts, fresh basil, parmesan).

Apparently bbs Ryan Adams fans have known about this place for a while.

SOURCE: Slice via NY Mag

Watching PBS right now and they have a marathon of the greatest performances from The Ed Sullivan Show.

Before there was MGMT there was Tommy James and the Shondells. This performance of “Crimson and Clover” is amazing:

Last night Chris Parnell and Andy Samberg did “Lazy Sunday” live on Jimmy Fallon. It was hizlarious: