Beck Fucking Kills It at ACL!

I don't know if "killing it" usually is a bad thing. What I really mean is that Beck was stellar tonight at Austin City Limits, Day 2. I was excited to see him beforehand, having heard about how great he is live, and being a pretty big fan of most of his work.

I spent Friday lollygagging and getting a massive sunburn, missing David Byrne, one of the only artists I was really psyched about seeing this year. I was sleepy, I was tired, I felt damn near defeated. Saw M. Ward, Jenny Lewis, and a host of artists I would have been thrilled to see live a year ago. This year, the feeling was more of a "meh."

But being about five people from the front at the direct center of the stage as Beck played was amazing. Even if I did get kicked in the head a couple of times by the unruly crowd surfers, and the people around me smelled a little like ass.

Beck and his band (including that lady guitar player I'd totally go gay for) put on an incredible show, with a great setlist: started with a rather rousing, straight-forward version of mega-hit "Loser," and from there went through most of his catalog with his best songs -- "E-Pro," "Que Onda Guero," "Girl," "Devil's Haircut," "Lost Cause," among many, many others, and his new songs (which I hadn't given much of a listen to, but I'm about to go replay the shit out of "Gamma Ray").

Anyway, I feel like I've been pretty disenchanted by the whole "indie rock" scene as of late. It's all started to sound the same to me, which made it hard to sustain writing this blog regularly. But it's nice to be reminded of how truly great some of the canonical indie rock heroes really are.

People I'll be psyched about seeing tomorrow: Band of Horses (yeah, fuck you, haters: I believe their sound is pretty suited to this kind of outdoor venue, just like MMJ last year); the Raconteurs (though I'll probably miss it, given that it's all the way across the park); Against Me!; maybe even the Foo Fighters. And, my favorite band of Austinites, the Octopus Project.

To Whom It May Concern...

Hey Devoted Readers/Random Stumble-Upon-ers/Casual Skimmers:

Obviously, I haven't lived up to my word about getting this blog up and running again. There are a couple of reasons for this:

1) My job: Work as the editor of The Daily Nexus's Artsweek section means I have a lot of writing to do. In addition to my regular courseload. And my other job slinging espresso doesn't help. But, this means if you have a CD you're trying to promote, or a film, or what have you, I would totally love to include it in the paper. It's a daily circulation of 20,000 here at UC Santa Barbara, which is much ridiculously bigger than my average readership here at MLGF, at peak.

2) I've been listening to a lot of older stuff lately, moreso than new music. The last couple of months have been a delicious smorgasboard of Elvis Costello, Buzzcocks, Television Personalities, the JAMC, the Field Mice, blah blah blah.

3) Internet connection difficulties. GAH!!!

But anyway, I want to get this going again! It's been too, too long. In the meantime, feel free to keep sending me albums to review. If they don't end up posted here, they'll definitely be considered for review in the newspaper. And we're trying to get the Nexus website to be more interactive. Maybe get a blog running connected to that site, or something. Check back here soon. Something is stirring! E-mail me if you're interested in submitting stuff. I've got a new address. Or you can check the paper's mailing address by visiting the newspaper's website.

Thanks, guys!

-Ginny (AKA My Little Ghost Friend)

My Little Ghost Friend Rises Again!

Ghosts can't die -- once in awhile, though, they might dematerialize so they can go and attempt to get their lives/schoolwork in order. Thus has been the case around these parts, though spring has finally arrived, leaving the ghost with a considerably greater amount of time on her hands. And ears. If all goes as planned, this site will be up and running again soon.

Jakob Dylan To Release Solo Album in May

Apparently, that recent string of Wallflowers tour dates has been in preparation for Jakob Dylan's first solo record. The album, Seeing Things, will be available on May 13. I'm definitely looking forward to this, and I think it's about time, especially considering that the last original member of the Wallflowers, Rami Jaffee, left the band late last year. Dylan's one of America's most talented lyricists, in my opinion, though the band never got the attention it deserved, post-"One Headlight."

Yes, the album is co-sponsored by Starbucks and Columbia, but hopefully we can all get past that. His father, after all, released The Gaslight Tapes exclusively from the coffee chain.

Dylan will be playing at SXSW this spring, and a national tour is expected to follow.

TRACKLIST:
'Evil Is Alive And Well'
'Valley Of The Low Sun'
'All Day And All Night'
'Everybody Pays As They Go'
'Will It Grow'
'I Told You I Couldn't Stop'
'War Is Kind'
'Something Good This Way Comes'
'On Up The Mountain'
'This End Of The Telescope'

LINKS:
Jakob Dylan's MySpace
The Wallflowers website

New Pocketbooks Track: "Don't Stop"

Okay, the end is in sight for my midterms, so My Little Ghost Friend may rise from the dead once again... In the meantime, please enjoy this sparkling new track from the upcoming Pocketbooks EP, Waking Up. The song, "Don't Stop," is the perfect indiepop remedy for those mid-quarter/mid-semester blues that have been plaguing you (and I). Boy/girl harmonies, shimmering guitars, summery melody... what more could you ask for, mid-February?

The London-based band will release Waking Up on March 17th, but you can pre-order it now from Make Do and Make Mends Records.

LISTEN:
"Don't Stop" [MP3]

ON THE WEB:
Pocketbooks' website
Pocketbooks on MySpace

My Little Ghost Friend Takes a Nap

If you've been wondering why there's been absolutely nothing posted for the last two weeks, just know I've been busy with my real-world life, which includes Santa Barbara International Film Festival coverage as well as the thrilling little period of my life they like to call midterms. Which still aren't over. They certainly manage to drag things out. Check back in the next few days, because I have a ton of music I mean to write about, a couple playlists stored up and plenty of mid-winter pessimism to fill up a couple minutes of your daily web surfing procrastination stint.

If interested, you can click here to visit my film festival reviews.

Guillemots Single Premieres Tomorrow!

After releasing both a spectacular album (Through the Windowpane) and almost-album in 2006 (From the Cliffs EP), I knew Guillemots weren't going to be just a one-hit wonder or mega-blog-hype kinda band, but 2007 was a pretty quiet year from the band. Turns out Fyfe Dangerfield and co. were hard at work on Red, which has finally been completed. The record's out March 24th, but you can hear the first single, "Get Over It," on Radio 1 tomorrow (and probably in various horribly ripped formats elsewhere). Hopefully it's not an OK Go cover. In the meantime, rediscover your love for "Trains to Brazil." It really is that good.

LISTEN:
"Trains to Brazil" [MP3]

ON THE WEB:
Guillemots' website
Guillemots on MySpace