I believe I found a use for Twitter.  Most of you have also found a use for Twitter, but yours mostly involves copying and pasting your status from Facebook and re-sharing it there.  I have a better idea…

I’m going to make an attempt to share a record every day.  I’m not sure how long the links will be valid, or if there will be enough room within 140 characters to post the link and some biography clips… but we’ll just wing it for a minute and see if anyone really cares.  You don’t, I already know.  Thanks.

Below is a link to follow me on Twitter… I think it will work.  I really have no idea what I’m doing, per usual.  We’ll start with links to records, we will upgrade soon to what I’m doing every single minute of every single day.  You’ll have to settle for the new Why? record for now, though.

Saturday was a Comerica Park to El Comal to The Belmont to Small’s kind of day. So yeah, I just woke up. All foreseeable meals will consist of aspirin and antacids. Also Red Bull.

We heard last minute that The Belmont is now running on an earlier schedule due to noise complaints. Not the old noise complaints or those other noise complaints, but new noise complaints. I guess there’s still one guy living near the bar who doesn’t realize why he’s only paying $87 a month for rent. And considering it’s Hamtramck, the dude probably came from a country where he was able to sleep through terrorist attacks, but can’t handle hearing a set from SSM across an alley through two walls. Awesome.

So The Belmont is now running sets at 9, 10 and 11. That’s in Real Life Time, not Bar Time or Band Time or MySpace Time. We figured we could pop in, pick up the new Mick Bassett and The Marthas 7″, check out some Anna Ash, some Nice Device, then head over to Small’s for Office, back to Belmont for Mick and then finish at Small’s with Pop Project and Johnny Headband. That kind of worked but not really. We ended up missing Office and Mick. Two-thirds of two shows isn’t bad, I guess.

Mick Bassett and The Marthas was the first of the new music I ended up with that night. They’ve got a new 7″ out on Sleek Speek with “In The Morning I Will Find You” and “Got Me Wrong”. The first 100 copies have center labels that are hand-lettered or hand-drawn or hand-scribbled, depending on the band member. Whichever member has the penmanship of a seven year-old seems to have done mine. You can hear both tracks on their MySpace, but I’d hurry and grab one of those first pressings if I were you. There’s a myth that if Mick Bassett records sit around in large quantities for too long, they spontaneously combust and start house fires.

Small’s was PACKED. Both rooms. It’s been a while since I’ve been to a show at Small’s that was so rammed with people. (No, I don’t get to Small’s very often these days.) And it’s been a while since I’ve been to a show anywhere where people were so excited. Johnny Headband is a great fucking time. I don’t need to explain that. I got a chat pop-up earlier today that said “I wish everything could be as fun as Johnny Headband. JH shows are just fun, and everyone was in a good mood. and you feel good afterwards.” And I know not everyone feels this way, but it’s always enough people to turn any room they play into a party. And usually enough so that the people who don’t feel that way get laughed and pointed at.

JHB did their thing. The addition of Pan!c freed up everyone just enough that they didn’t have to juggle so many parts, which eventually leads to more dancing and more jazz hands. They played two new songs — well, one new song. One was a re-worked version of “Wastin’ Time,” which they played at least twice before their vanishing act, and the other was a new one called “Death Of A Disco Beat”. I think. Don’t quote me. They might both be on an upcoming EP, but I may be making that up as well.

After all of this awesome, I got into my car and sat on whatever was in my back pocket. A Zoos of Berlin CD? How did this happen? I think these are being sold this coming Friday when 15 bands play Phonotropic’s Wicked Awesome Barbequed Musical Safari at The Crofoot. Right now, you can get it through eTunes or iMusic or any of those weird electronic stores.

Here’s the thing — I know there’s that one guy who reads this site who hates Zoos of Berlin, but I think most people will agree they’re one of the tightest, most professional sounding, most talented groups of musicians in the city. This isn’t just a band that music fans love, this is a band that musicians nerd-out over — musically, they are probably unmatched for their style (and I know my saying that is going to make other people automatically not like them, but whatever). So when I say this new album is exactly what you’d expect from a band that fits that description, it means it’s really fucking good. Like, for really real. Them’s journalism words. Best believe, man. Best believe.

I was going to post a couple tracks, but there are already four new ones on their MySpace player and I’m really lazy. “Black in the Sun Room” and “Water Town” are two of my favorites so listen to those and then pretend you have “Doctor Vine Passing” because that’s another one of my favs. Or just, you know, buy it.

Dead Weather / Screaming Females was a good time.  It was slightly odd that Screaming Females played (what at least seemed to be) as long as The Dead Weather, but the kids  enjoyed it, I guess.  I was/am a sucker for that 90’s girl guitar stuff so although I spent a considerable portion of the set thinking about those bands that they kind of sounded like, I really think there are far worse things a new band could be emulating so I didn’t really mind the association at all.  It is proof that you’re too old to be doing this garbage when you talk about seeing the flow, then the ebb, then the flow again.

The Dead Weather record is good, and the show had the big budget lights and the sound was good and the crowd was good and the Tigers had taken both games of a double-header so that was good…. so how come some people I knew left with a take it or leave it attitude?  I even saw the text “MEHd Weather” come through.  Here is my theory… when you’re expected to be good and you deliver goodness… that’s just not good enough.  This wasn’t the greatest show I’ve ever seen, but there really isn’t any way you left thinking it was below average.  Even the fucking dude from Jesus Chainsaw said it was good… come the fuck on.  BUT… did I hear a Van Morrison cover?  There was real journalist next to me who brough his Jack White diary out from under his pillow and out of the corner of my eye I kept seeing him writing in it during the show.  I’m sure it was highly informative things like AG+JW=4EVER, but perhaps he had time to dumb it down enough to jot down what song was covered.  Ask me next week.

FUCKING AWESOME FEST takes place August 13-16 and features 80 bands playing 7 stages throughout the Majestic Complex: 3 in the Magic Stick, 2 in the Garden Bowl, The Alley Deck and the brand new Cafe room.

On Saturday, there will be an all day BBQ with bands on the Alley Deck + the Rock ‘n’ Roll Garage Sale presented by Reware Vintage and on Sunday, teams will compete in The Detroit Scavenger Hunt.

++ THURSDAY, AUGUST 13 (LAUNCH PARTY) ++

MAGIC STICK
12:00 AM ART BRUT (MAIN STAGE)
11:10 PM TYVEK (SIDE STAGE 2)
10:45 PM FRIENDLY FOES (SIDE STAGE 1)
10:15 PM TBA
09:45 PM TROY GREGORY (SIDE STAGE 2)
09:10 PM HEROES & VILLAINS (SIDE STAGE 1)
08:45 PM TBA

THE CAFÉ
11:30 PM CHAPSTIK
10:30 PM WILDCATTING
09:30 PM THE JULIETS

GARDEN BOWL
11:30 PM CHARLIE SLICK (LANE STAGE)
11:00 PM FOUR HOUR FRIENDS (BAR)
10:30 PM ROGUE SATELLITES (LANE STAGE)
10:00 PM THE BEGGARS (BAR)
09:30 PM ALLAN JAMES & THE COLD WAVE (LANE STAGE)
09:00 PM FIDYRICH (BAR)

++ FRIDAY, AUGUST 14 ++

MAGIC STICK
01:00 AM THUNDERBIRDS ARE NOW! (MAIN STAGE)
12:15 AM JUICEBOXXX (SIDE STAGE 1)
11:30 PM TINY MASTERS OF TODAY (MAIN STAGE)
11:00 PM KIDDO (SIDE STAGE 2)
10:30 PM ESQUIRE (SIDE STAGE 1)
10:00 PM TBA
09:30 PM SMOKE (SIDE STAGE 2)
09:00 PM THE SUMMER PLEDGE (SIDE STAGE 1)

THE CAFÉ
12:10 AM LIGHTNING LOVE
11:10 PM REPLICAS
10:10 PM PIZAZZ
09:10 PM SPICK OF IT ALL

GARDEN BOWL
12:15 AM TBA (LANE STAGE)
11:45 PM POP PROJECT (BAR)
11:15 PM CROFF FAMILY BAND (LANE STAGE)
10:45 PM HUMAN REUNION
10:15 PM JAVELINS (LANE STAGE)
09:45 PM BAD MEDICINE AT THE CAMPFIRE (BAR)
09:15 PM THE MAHONIES (LANE STAGE)
08:45 PM THE DISPLAYS (BAR)

++ SATURDAY, AUGUST 15 ++

ALLEY DECK (DAY BBQ)
07:00 PM ARAN RUTH
06:20 PM MICK BASSETT & THE MARTHAS
05:40 PM MILLIONS OF BRAZILLIANS
05:00 PM SPITTING NICKELS
04:20 PM SIK SIK NATION
03:40 PM LEAF ERIKSON
03:00 PM DARLING IMPERIAL
02:20 PM SOLITARY STATES
01:40 PM TBA
01:00 PM SEX GHOST

MAGIC STICK
01:00 AM ADULT. (MAIN STAGE)
12:15 AM F’KE BLOOD (SIDE STAGE 1)
11:30 PM NINJASONIK (MAIN STAGE)
11:00 PM TBA (SIDE STAGE 2)
10:30 PM NEW GRENADA (SIDE STAGE 1)
10:00 PM TBA (MAIN STAGE)
09:30 PM I, CRIME (SIDE STAGE 2)
09:00 PM INVADER (SIDE STAGE 1)

THE CAFÉ
12:10 AM GOREVETTE
11:10 PM SILVERGHOST
10:10 PM OFFICE
09:10 PM LASERS AND FAST AND SHIT

GARDEN BOWL
12:15 AM BILL BONDSMEN (LANE STAGE)
11:45 PM TBA (BAR)
11:15 PM COPPER THIEVES (LANE STAGE)
10:45 PM DEVILFISH (BAR)
10:15 PM NOMAN (LANE STAGE)
09:45 PM DECIBILT (BAR)
09:15 PM PLAIN DEALERS (LANE STAGE)
08:45 PM JESUS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (BAR)

++ SUNDAY, AUGUST 16 ++

MAGIC STICK
12:00 AM DEASTRO (MAIN STAGE)
11:15 PM CITY CENTER (SIDE STAGE 2)
10:45 PM LEE MARVIN COMPUTER ARM (SIDE STAGE 1)
10:15 PM THE OCTOPUS (MAIN STAGE)
09:45 PM TBA (SIDE STAGE 2)
09:15 PM BEEKEEPERS (SIDE STAGE 1)
08:45 PM TBA

THE CAFÉ
11:30 PM WOLFBAIT
10:30 PM JUNK SOLO
09:30 PM JOHNNY ILL BAND

GARDEN BOWL
11:30 PM BIG MESS (LANE STAGE)
11:00 PM MAZINGA (BAR)
10:30 PM THE WORD PLAY
10:00 PM COMPUTER PERFECTION (BAR)
09:30 PM WOODMAN (LANE STAGE)
09:00 PM SH! THE OCTOPUS (BAR)

Let’s pretend you live in the same make believe metropolitan area that I do.  We’ll say it has two weekly alternative newspapers, and so you don’t get confused during this hypothetical discussion lets call one Really Delicious Waffles (RDW) and lets call the other one Magnificent Tiramisu  (MT).

I always thought MT was the bigger of the two, and probably generated more revenue, and probably had a higher readership.  I would have also guessed that the people they drew were a little older and they seem to take themselves a little more seriously (which there is nothing wrong with.)

RDW always seemed a little younger, with a little more focus on music that I seemed to care about more.  I’ve heard some pro-MT people make the argument that the writing wasn’t as polished, which never really mattered much to me (obviously?) because I don’t really need my entertainment news to flow like classic literature.

Where it became interesting to me is when someone asked me if I heard that MT was about to make a run to bring several RDW staff writers over to their paper.  I hadn’t heard it, and we all know how my sources are always wrong about everything and you won’t see a small batch of RDW folks doing some things for MT in the near future… but let’s just pretend you do.

Maybe it’s based on money, or maybe it’s based on having more readers, or maybe it’s based on both.  I mean, if you’re going to write anyway… why not do it for as much money as you can and also have it read by as many readers as you can?  I mean, as long as no one is asking you to change your style significantly to achieve those things. (Hey man, don’t you fucking write a GOSSIP column for RDW? Shut the fuck up.)  Still, if MT is looking for their up and coming talent at RDW, do any of the anti-RDW pro-MT folks have any valid arguments?

Truth be told I don’t really pick up either of them.  I will skim through online and check out a few music related articles in each one and then make the Gories mixtape Chris Handyside told me to. After doing a little of this “work”, I will tell you that I admire anyone who has to know by Friday what they are going to think on Wednesday.  It’s almost like magic.

UPDATE: Now with a photo!
If you weren’t at the LOUDFUCKINGLOUD first show at the Majestic’s new Kafay space, there’s some footage from that Datsuns show in this video and you can get a feel for what it looks like. The stage is against the wall that used to seperate the café from the theater. I think I was told the room is only like 25% completed or something, so hopefully the other 75% includes some sort of sound-absorbing material because right now, it’s a tunnel of brick and glass. The mix did sound good, though. Much better than their other two rooms. Just bring earplugs. No joke. It was like Dinosaur Jr. loud.

Detroit in 2005 was not a happy place. For me. I mean, the “Detroit” “music” “scene” of 2005 was not a happy time. For me. It was a lot of leftover garage music and derivative rock and bands who only played in hopes that NME was still lurking around the corner. There were still great acts, but there was a LOT of boring shit as well.

I don’t remember much of Tastefest 2005. I was young. I had not perfected the art of pacing oneself with hard liquor. I do remember that Electric Six played one night, and that they were going to play a secret after-show at The Belmont under the name The Warner Brothers. That never happened due to Tastefest contracts and weird legal stipulations. I do know that Johnny Headband played. It was my first JHB experience. And it was good.

In 2005 I had a blogspot site. I’m not here to talk about me, so let’s skip all of those awesome details.  I started writing about Johnny Headband because they were fun and they were different and because we’d go to every one of their shows. Even in Ann Arbor.

In 2005, bloggers who knew nothing about music, and bands with laptops who dance on stage were not a normal thing in Detroit. They weren’t a welcome thing in Detroit, either. What’s all this electronic shit? These homos are fags, right? Why is everyone having fun all of a sudden? The internet backlash was amazing. Blog trolls hated Johnny Headband and then hated me for liking Johnny Headband and writing about them. It was awesome and, of course, had no effect. Sound familiar?

Months passed and then more months. JHB was doing things. Making awesome internet videos. Filling venues. Playing as other bands. Changing lineups. Releasing CDs. Touring states. They went from playing in kitchens to filling the Magic Stick.

Johnny Headband has always been brothers Keith and Chad Thompson, but it’s always been evolving. JHB Phase 1.0 was a two-piece. Phase 1.5 was a five-piece with Carey Gustafson (ex-Outrageous Cherry, Serenity Court, etc.), Greg McIntosh (Great Lakes Myth Society, Drunken Barn Dance, etc.) and newcomer RGS. Phase 2.0 took them back down to a three-piece with RGS. Every so often they’d take a break from playing to re-invent themselves. But this last break lasted for fucking ever. Over a year. They paved the way for electronic acts and not-taking-yourself-so-goddamn-serious-all-the-time acts to work themselves into the Detroit rock scene, and then poof. Gone.

Well, not really gone. I’m sure they dealt with jobs or schools or real lifes or other things. Chad played in the last live configuration of Pas/Cal and Keith became the full-time bassist for Electric Six. But there were always plans for more Headband…

Welcome to JHB PHASE 3.0. This time it’s Chad, Keith, RGS and Pan!c (Pas/Cal). Nobody knows what the fuck they’re doing. Nobody knows what the fuck it sounds like. More Flaming Lips meets LCD Soundsystem? More Pet Shop Boys meets Hall & Oates? No one’s talking. And what about the stage show? More costumes, videos and choreography? I don’t know. Do you know?

This Saturday at Small’s. Johnny Headband. Who the fuck knows?

I wasn’t going to write anything about this because I’m convinced nobody really cares, but I’m tired of saying the same thing in e-mails and text messages, so real quickly here’s my Pitchfork run down for those of you who weren’t following along on Twitter.

FAIL
Blitzen Trapper, The Thermals

Meh
Yo La Tengo, Plants and Animals, Final Fantasy, Bowerbirds, Doom, Lindstrøm, DJ Rupture

Eh
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Fucked Up, Wavves, The Mae Shi, Dianogah, Women, Grizzly Bear, The Flaming Lips, Frightened Rabbit, Matt and Kim

Sweet
Jesus Lizard, Disappears, Cymblas Eat Guitars, The Dutchess and the Duke, The National, Michael Columbia, Killer Whales, The Walkmen, Japandroids, Mew

WIN
The Antlers, Ponytail, Yeasayer, Beirut, Pharoahe Monch, M83, The Very Best

Didn’t see
Tortoise, Built To Spill, The Black Lips, Vivian Girls

The sound at the beginning of both days was AWFUL. I guess the city made every stage start out low and were allowed to slowly rise the volume to certain decibels throughout the day — so it was quiet in the afternoon and only sounded like it really should at night. A lot of early sets suffered because of it.

I think the best set all weekend was probably M83, but The Very Best was my favorite experience. Since The Flaming Lips had drawn everyone to their spectacle, the amount of people there to see TVB headline the small stage could have fit into the Magic Stick. Everyone was packed up close and everyone was actually there to see the band — they weren’t just casual festival browsers. So when the band came out, the crowd erupted into something like a Girl Talk-dance party. More people eventually did wander over to see what all the fuss was about, but this turned out to be an intimate festival performance from a band who only had four US tour dates this year. They closed out with a Michael Jackson tribute — Esau Mwamwaya singing his vocals from the extended remix of “Will You Be There,” while Radioclit spun MJ’s part. That’s right, the small stage at Pitchfork Festival closed out with the Free Willy theme. Hipsters and their irony…

I think we’re all aware that the Eat This City community takes great pride in their Jack White jokes. The guy’s pretty much indestructible at this point, with a rabid fan base that will eat up kilts and cameras while defending that last Bond theme, and a press that gives legitimacy to his mythologies and credits him with inventing anything he does. And while I love to call bullshit on exclusive, unattainable merchandise and throw a realistic view into the Jack White Kool-Aid (forever putting me on the fabled White Stripes Mafia hit-list), I’ve never not liked an album he’s been associated with or seen anything less than an amazing live performance from him.*

The Dead Weather album is no different. The singles really didn’t strike me as anything that great when they began trickling out, but the album works quite well as a whole. It’s blues. It’s rock. It’s good. If you haven’t stolen it by now, you should at least give it a chance — it’s not like it costs anything. They played that secret Magic Stick show last month and I’ve yet to hear a bad thing about it. So why aren’t you going to see them this Friday at The Fillmore? Oh, you don’t have tickets? Well, allow me to help you out with that.

We’ve got a pair of tickets to see The Dead Weather dead weather it up on Friday. Do you want them? Awesome. Just leave a comment (fill out the e-mail field) listing something you’d like to see at their merch booth on Friday and we’ll randomly pick a winner from all the entries . Personally, I’d like either of the two exclusive, unattainable “Cut Like A Buffalo” vinyl releases (TMR-005 and TMR-006) on Third Man Records. They didn’t even get ten records out before pressing at least two that will cost you a million eBay dollars. Collect them all. I dare you.

*I didn’t see the first Raconteurs show that everyone hated because he fixed his hair in a mirror or something.

Back from vacation, scanning the torrent sites to see what I missed…and I find Muse’s new single. Fucking christ. Really?

Muse - United States of Eurasia

I will tell you that Showbiz and Origin of Symmetry are two of the greatest albums ever to have been recorded and that, for the first half of this decade, Muse was my favorite rock band on the planet. Ask me who the most distinct guitarists to come along in the time I’ve been paying attention to music and I’d say Tom Morello, Jack White and Muse’s Matthew Bellamy. By the time Muse caught on in the States, they’d already released three albums and Bellamy’s creativity/insanity seemed to have swung from inventing sounds with his guitar to…listening to too much Queen and writing rock operas about aliens and government conspiracies. Don’t you hate it when your favorite bands go off the deep end?

UPDATE: This is not the new single and this may not even be the full song. And it also may be a Queen impression on purpose. I dunno. Whatever.

UPDATE UPDATE: Here’s the full track. Not a single, but it’ll be on the album. Still not sure how tongue-in-cheek this is. Maybe they’re making Crank: The Album.
Muse - United States of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage)