Going to a concert whilst wearing a suit is an interesting experience, especially after previously being at a do at the Polish Embassy (yes, really). Ignoring the puzzled glances from my fellow gig-goers at the Shepherds Bush Empire, I settled into the capacity crowd, sadly not at the front. What, you think I'm going to get creases in these trousers? Mew, in case you didn't already know, are one of the most adventurous rock bands around these days. Their songs blend heartstoppingly brilliant bits with slightly more tedious bits. Their best songs blend heartstoppingly brilliant bits [...]
It's our very first Local Lixx Austin episode and we couldn't be happier. Each week, we'll be bringing you 30 minutes of tunes from Austin area bands big and small. This week's episode features a couple of tracks from up-and-coming Austin bands like Beautiful Supermachines and Follow That Bird, but we also give you some familiarity with and old Okkervil River song and Brazos. Enjoy! Zookeeper "Mama Jean" International Waters "Salt and Sea" Brazos "Tell" Follow That Bird "I Want You To Know" Beautiful [...]

More new local music continues to churn out this week with a track from Chris Sampson and his band Zookeeper . This new track "Mary of the Morning" will appear on an upcoming album due out in 2010. Thanks to Austin Sound for the heads up on this. Download: Zookeeper - Mary of the Morning [MP3]
Mew stopped by the Interface yesterday to play a few songs, one of my favorites being "Life isn't easy" (and one of the best Mew songs ever). it's still amazing to me how he sounds live just like the album, a great unique voice. For the parts where the children sing, they have a projection on the back screent o go along with the samples, works really well, and was wondering how they would be doing that live. They also played "Hawaii" and "Special/Zookeeper's Boy". the rest after [...]
Here's a little Mew for you. I always enjoyed this band, but had to be in the mood to listen to an album the whole way through. Today, for whatever reason, was one of those days I was really in the mood to listen to some Mew. They recently played on AOL's Interface, and it was even better than I thought it'd be. So, without further adiou, here's some live Mew for you (cheesy I know). Special/Zookeeper's Boy Hawaii Sometimes Life Isn't Easy Interview [...]
Weirdo Danish prog-rockers Mew recently dropped in on Spinner's huge empty room (known as "The Interface") to perform a variety of cuts from their recently released No More Stories... (and one from their last album, And the Glass Handed Kites ). Mew are the first band I can remember on Interface to come ready with their own backing video, as above is video for an coterie of handclappers and kid chorus-assisted version of "Sometimes Life Isn't Easy." Below is a performance of "Hawaii," followed by "Special/Zookeeper's Son." [ Spinner [...]
Their recent set included: Sometimes Life Isn't Easy Hawaii Special Zookeeper's Boy Watch the full playback here. Last month, Mew debuted a clip for 'Repeater Beater'. No More Stories is out now. MP3: Mew - Repeater Beater

Here ends our journey of the top 50 albums of the past decade. 10. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots The Flaming Lips created and perfected Art Rock. This album has tons of electronic influence but also delves into the creative side of rock with witty lyrics and the use of pop as enhancement, not necessarily as a genre. Interesting concept, I know. 1. Fight Test 2. One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-21 3. Yoshimi [...]

So at this time, there is no news to put out there. That doesn't mean there won't be any later. But what are you going to do till then? You have to have something to fill the gap. Well with that said, I have made a mixtape of stuff I have been listening to over the last six months. Some of the music is new and some of it is old. But what a great day to spend the day. The Features - The Temporary Blues.mp3 [...]
Every media blowhard has a past. Bill O'Reily hosted Inside Edition , Keith Olbermann was a sportscaster, Lou Dobbs ran a ballet studio (kidding). But how many of you knew that Fox News' Glenn Beck was a morning radio Zookeeper in the '80s? That's right, the staunch conservative once helmed a morning-drive show on Y95 in Phoenix with Tim Hattrick, where, according to Salon.com, he partied quite a bit . This commercial features Beck, Hattrick and Zippy The Chimp. Oh, the hilarity. Beck: "We told our bosses right upfront, 'We don't need [...]

Mew Special premieres exclusively on Babelgum web and mobile Babelgum is pleased to announce the exclusive première and hosting of a film special from Danish experimental dream-pop trio, Mew , from Friday 18th September, 2009. The film features live concert footage from the bands triumphant ICA show earlier this year, behind the scenes footage from supporting NIN at the O2 and an interview about their current, critically acclaimed album 'No more stories Are told today I'm sorry They washed [...]
by chuck bell Many great bands have died without finding any kind of mainstream success. There are countless reasons why these bands do not blow up: their sound is too abstract for radio play, they split for personal reasons before they can be discovered, they do not have the means to tour enough to get their name out, etc. However, it is extremely rare for a band to actively reject their one shot at widespread popularity. Such was the case for Mineral , the Austin, TX band [...]

Here continues our journey through the top 150 songs of the past decade: 2000-2009. 50. 99 Problems - Jay-Z Jay-Z is above women. Duh. Actually, this song is all pop. It's Jay-Z telling us how much better he is than us but how he actually wants a woman to love. But he's still a G. 49. Galang - M.I.A. M.I.A. began here. Before Slumdog Millionare, before Paper [...]

Frank Yang Grey skies, cold winds, threatening clouds... was there any doubt that Trent was coming to town? It was a foregone conclusion that day two of Virgin Festival would end in a blinding and deafening display of aggression and angst courtesy of Nine Inch Nails , so I rather liked that the day would begin with the gentle piano-pop of Coeur De Pirate . Ms Beatrice Martin utterly beguiled at her Toronto debut during NXNE , and to anyone who complained about booking an act with such buzz behind [...]
![Show Recap: Nine Inch Nails + Mew [Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, 8/29/09]](http://cache.elbo.ws/posts/1956724_lg.jpg)
This past Saturday night at the Aragon Ballroom, Nine Inch Nails officially said goodbye to Chicago. On their final 10-date tour, dubbed the "Wave Goodbye" tour, the band has been playing multiple nights in small venues from New York to Chicago to Toronto to Los Angeles. Being fortunate enough to have secured a ticket to the band's final Chicago date, seeing NIN for the last time was something I was intensely looking forward to, not only because my history with the band has been so long and generally wonderful, but because Trent Reznor is above all else a consumate performer [...]

[photo courtesy of franklin64 - many more here ] Although we were not previously familiar with the music of Danish band Mew prior to their set opening for NIN at Terminal 5 on Wednesday, like much of the crowd by the end of the epic "Comforting Sounds" we were duly impressed with the band's excellent mix of prog, 80s synth and Euro-style pop. The musical proficiency was obvious and the song structures were imaginative. Mew took advantage of the crowd's unfamiliarity with the material to perform five [...]
As promised , my third and final Nine Inch Nails live experience was a more carefully calculated and a more rewarding experience. Forced to watch most of the previous night's performance via television screen, I made a point to secure solid spots this time 'round, sitting underneath the tables and dangling my feet over the edge for the duration of the evening. This proved to be a perfect, safe, and cool vantage point to watch the entire show with ease, a nice change from duking it out in the pit for both previous shows. I was definitely looking [...]

Apparently it's been 4 years since Mew released their last album "And the Glass Handed Kites," and it really feels like every minute of that time has dragged on since. That is to say it genuinely feels like an eternity since that last record came out, and it's been far too long. After all, they put out "And the Glass Handed Kites" a mere 2 years after their also-great "Frengers". But that last album also bought Mew a whole bunch of success, if not hype, and they spent quite a bit of time touring around that album. So I suppose [...]

Mew showed up to Daytrotter yesterday for some low key versions of a few songs new and old. They first play a nice rendition of "New Terrain", the opening track from No More Stories, although in this version it doesn't sound like he is singing backwards. They then go into "Zookeeper's Boy" and "Special" just proving how great his voice just sounds naturally. MEW "New Terrain/ Zookeeper's Boy" Related: No Related Post
by steve vasko I was impressed by the Music Hall of Williamsburg last night. A chip off the Bowery Ballroom, its system is first rate and the two bar areas are well done. The NYC band Violens opened the show and did a strong short set. I wasn't familiar with them before the show but I really liked their sound. To me, they come across as a slightly sinister and more aggressive version of The Shins. I will definitely check them out again. [...]