with cheese, please

Miguel of Catfish Haven!

Thumbs Up: I booked/promoted a show (with lots of help) at Emo’s the night before SXSW08…the jammy and retro-infused Catfish Haven played. Although I’m not sure I need them, they were much better than I expected. Fine human beings, as well. Whew!

Peelander Z!

Thumbs Up: These guys are fantastic. If you’ve yet to see Peelander Z in concert, put that on yr ‘things to do’ list. I’ve seen them a handful of times, and I don’t regret a one of ‘em. Hell, I even made it into their video for “Mad Tiger.” I may never forget that moment when they pulled me on stage to display the “medium rare” text my friend Tad had committed to my tummy hours before. The video is below - look for me at the 1:57 mark. I look fantastic!

Zach & Ava Rener!

Thumbs Up: These are two of my favorite people on the entire planet….no lying. I owe more than you can imagine to Zach (who co-produced the Stubbs the Zombie soundtrack with me). and Ava? C’mon! Who wouldn’t love and hope for the best for that beautiful child? She has great DNA from her mother and father, trust me.

Brandon Crowe of Oh, Beast!

Thumbs Up: Though their live sets are rare these days, this Austin trio never fail to entertain the crap out of me. Oh, Beast! are whack-tacular!!

Bonus Thumbs Up: Karl Rove (Captain Evil) was subpoenaed by the House Judiciary Committee to testify about the White House’s underhanded influence on the Justice Department. It’s about time.

Electric Eel Shock!

Monahans

Thumbs Up: You in the mood for some low-pining, bleak-landscape music? Wait…the songs are really good too. Check out ye’ Monahans.

Warm Milk

Thumbs Up: This is one of my favorite videos. It is weird, scary and definitely hits hard. It is off of Some Girls’ Heaven’s Pregnant Teens album, which was my very favorite favorite record of ‘06. Alas, the band is no longer active - but they’ve certainly left some scars. (And yes, the same guy puking/spitting up milk at the end of this vid is the same dude peeing in the Locust video from yesterday’s WCP post) Enjoy!

Bonus Thumbs UP: if you’ve got an extra 15 minutes to kill, this performance/interview with Some Girls is kinda fun. Enjoy!

Otis

Thumbs Up: Dogs. If I had to give up either music or dogs, it might just be music. That’s right, “man’s best friend” seems to be a part of the evolutionary process, and Otis is my boy. Hells yeah!

Ian Moore

Thumbs Up: I saw Ian for the first time in a LONG time tonight at Antone’s, and boy! Whooo! I really enjoyed this… Although I’ve been ‘pals’ with Ian for several years, It had been a long time since I’d seen him perform with an electric guitar. It was fantastic stuff, from the Costello-Get Happy- opener to the orchestral “April” and the dreamy bundle of closing tunes. I’ve been gettin’ plastered on Pig Destroyer and such as of late, tonight’s show was a reminder that melody and guitar solos do occasionally have a proper place in the rock and roll. Especially sweet was seeing my dear pal Matt Harris (bassist for the Posies, Oranger, Preston School of Industry and big Star Wars’ fan) rockin’ the bass and background vox. Sweet!

Matt and Ian both gave a shout out to this very blog during the show…I blushed!