Hope everyone's havin' a good holiday...

So the holidays have been good for me so far...busy, but good. I've been out of town until today, which is why there have been no new posts for a bit. I did see Sigur Rós' film "Heima" in the theater (HD and 5.1 surround...the ONLY way to see this BTW), which was really beautiful, but I will say that the editing was really shoddy. It could have been SO much better if some better editorial decisions had been made, but oh well. ICTH will be returning to it's normal posting schedule after the New Year, until then I will be posting intermittently. Hope everyone has a great holiday!!!

Meanwhile, here are some Atlanta shows to look forward to:

Mon. 12/31/07 - Black Lips (New Year's Eve show!!!) @ The Drunken Unicorn
Mon. 1/07/08 - Dan Deacon @ Eyedrum
Sat. 1/12/08 - Yo La Tengo (Acoustic show), Kurt Wagner (from Lambchop) @ The Variety Playhouse
Fri. 1/18/08 - Yeasayer, MGMT @ The Earl
Sat. 1/19/08 - The Jupiter Watts, Luigi, Drug Rug @ The Earl
Sat. 1/19/08 - Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings @ The Variety Playhouse
Sat. 1/19/08 - Black Lips, Gentlemen Jesse & His Men, Baby Shakes, Coffin Bound (WHIRLYBALL SHOW) @ Whirlyball
Tue. 1/29/08 - Ween @ The Tabernacle
Wed. 1/30/08 - Fiery Furnaces, Super Furry Animals, Holy Fuck @ The Variety Playhouse
Thu. 2/14/08 - Liars, No Age @ The Earl
Sat. 3/01/08 - Beach House, Papercuts @ The Earl
Wed. 3/12/08 - Pelican, Black Cobra, Unearthly Trance @ The Drunken Unicorn
Wed. 3/12/08 - Built To Spill @ The Variety Playhouse
Mon. 3/17/08 - A Place To Bury Strangers, Holy Fuck @ The Drunken Unicorn
Sun. 4/13/08 - Explosions in the Sky @ The Variety Playhouse

A Place To Bury Strangers: TOUR DATES

One of my favorite new bands this year, A Place To Bury Strangers, have announced their 2008 tour dates which includes a date here in Atlanta with Holy Fuck! HOLY FUCK! I've heard about how fucking loud this band is live, I guess that means I'll have to pick up a pair of these before the show.


Tour Dates:
12/21 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
12/29 - Toronto, ON - The Drake
02/14 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Bar
02/15 - Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
02/16 - Indianapolis, IN - Locals Only
02/17 - Chicago, IL - Schuba's*
02/18 - Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock*
02/20 - Winnipeg, MB - Parkway Theatre*
02/21 - Regina, SK - The Exchange*
02/22 - Edmonton, AB - Velvet*
02/23 - Calgary, AB - The Hifi Club*
02/25 - Vancouver, BC - Richards On Richards*
02/26 - Seattle, WA - TBA
02/27 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir
02/29 - San Francisco, CA - Bottom Of The Hill*
03/01 - Los Angeles, CA - Spaceland
03/03 - San Diego, CA - Casbah
03/04 - Tucson, AZ - Plush
03/06 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge*
03/07 - Denver, CO - Larimer*
03/08 - Kansas City, MO - Record Bar*
03/09 - Omaha, NE - The Waiting Room*
03/10 - St. Louis, MO - Bluebird*
03/11 - Oklahoma City, OK - Conservatory*
03/16 - New Orleans LA - One Eyed Jacks
03/17 - Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn*
03/18 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
03/19 - Washington, DC - Rock 'N Roll Hotel
03/20 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
03/21 - Boston, MA - Middle East (Upstairs)
03/22 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall Of Williamsburg
* with Holy Fuck

Blargh...sick...blarghh.

I'm sick. Standing out in the cold for 40 mins. on Sunday afternoon waiting to get backstage at the Gwinnett Center Arena (horribly huge place BTW) to interview Silverchair was the culprit. I thought I would be going through the front of the building for this, so I left my jacket in the car, because carrying that thing around inside for hours usually sucks. I didn't realize that I would have to walk all the way around the building (a horribly huge place, like I said) and then wait 40 mins. for their tour manager to meet up with me (not his fault) and let me in (it was 30 degrees outside, also not his fault). By the time I got inside, I was feelin' pretty crappy. On top of all that, I didn't get the photo pass I was told I'd get. All in all, doing press for bands that play venues of that size kinda sucks. It's all too convoluted and painfully complicated. Oh well, back to the sick part. I'm gonna try and do some posts tonight, but no promises. I feel fucking crappy.

ICTH's Top Videos of 2007

[VIDEO] Pinback "From Nothing To Nowhere (Breakfast Club version)"


[VIDEO] Justice "D.A.N.C.E."



[VIDEO] Bat for Lashes "What's a Girl to Do?"



[VIDEO] Fionn Regan "Be Good or Be Gone"



[VIDEO] Panda Bear "Comfy in Nautica"



[VIDEO] Of Montreal "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse"



[VIDEO] Arcade Fire "My Body Is a Cage" (fan video)



[VIDEO] Radiohead "All I Need" (fan video)



[VIDEO] Menomena "Evil Bee"


[VIDEO] Liars "Plaster Casts of Everything"



[VIDEO] Grizzly Bear "Knife"



[VIDEO] Feist "1, 2, 3, 4"


[VIDEO] Blonde Redhead "Top Ranking"


[VIDEO] Björk "Earth Intruders"


[VIDEO] Animal Collective "Peacebone"



[VIDEO] Beirut "Elephant Gun"


[VIDEO] YACHT "See a Penny (Pick It Up) - Retread Session"



[VIDEO] Menomena "Wet and Rusting (Live for La Blogotheque)"

#62.3 - Menomena - Wet and Rusting
Uploaded by lablogotheque

[VIDEO] Battles "Atlas"



[VIDEO] múm "Rhubarbidoo"


[VIDEO] Tullycraft “Georgette Plays A Goth”


[VIDEO] Dan Deacon “The Crystal Cat”

Sigur Rós' "Heima" gets limited theatrical screenings

Sigur Ros' beautiful new DVD of intimate live performances around their native Iceland, will be screened theatrically in a few cities starting 12/18. I haven't seen it yet, so maybe I'll wait to see it on the big screen (which I'm pretty sure is better than my setup at home ;-) ).

"Sigur Ros have confirmed a number of theatrical screenings of their new documentary film Heima, which was released on DVD Nov 20. All the screenings will be in high-definition with 5.1 surround sound audio, so audiences can fully appreciate the splendor of this remarkable film."

12/18, 7:30pm - San Francisco CA - Embarcadero Center Cinema
12/18, 7:30pm - Denver CO - Chez Artiste
12/19, 8pm - Boston MA - Kendall Square Cinema
12/19, 8pm - Atlanta GA - Midtown Art Cinema
12/20, 8pm - Austin TX - Dobie Theatre
12/20, 8pm - Seattle WA - Metro Cinemas

Midtown Art Cinema - website

ICTH's Top Songs of 2007

So here are the top songs for me this year, as with the top albums list, there were quite a lot so I narrowed it down to these 30 songs. They are in order of how often they were played in my iPod/iTunes. 2007...what a great year for music!! (I only provided MP3s of songs that might be hard to find...the rest are easily available somewhere online.)

01) Caribou "Melody Day"
02) Radiohead "Reckoner"
03) Grizzly Bear "Blackcurrent Jam"
04) Sunset Rubdown "The Taming of the Hands That Came Back to Life"
05) Panda Bear "Bros"
06) Yeasayer "2080"
07) Les Savy Fav "Raging in the Plague Age"
08) Justice "D.A.N.C.E. (MSTRKRFT remix)"
09) Black Kids "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You"
10) Pinback "Barnes"
11) Beirut "The Flying Club Cup"
12) Animal Collective "Chores"
13) The Besnard Lakes "And You Lied To Me"
14) Division Day "Hurricane"
15) Deerhunter "Spring Hall Convert"
16) Fionn Regan "Put a Penny in the Slot"
17) A Place To Bury Strangers "My Weakness"
18) Slaraffenland "Watch Out" [MP3]
19) Jupiter Watts "Travel Without a Sound" [MP3]
20) Burial "Archangel"
21) PJ Harvey "The Devil"
22) The National "Mistaken For Strangers"
23) Iron & Wine "Carousel"
24) Spoon "Black Like Me"
25) Menomena "Evil Bee"
26) Low "Hatchet"
27) The New Pornographers "Myriad Harbour"
28) The Frames "The Cost"
29) The Ginger Envelope "Caretaker" [MP3]
30) Feist "I Feel It All"

Kindercore Records releasing XMas 3: The War On Christmas!

Kindercore is back hardcore! Not only are they releasing the new King of Prussia album (which is spectacular BTW) they will also be releasing their new 19 track Christmas comp "XMas 3: The War On Christmas!". This is no ordinary Christmas comp: it not only features a 19 track CD featuring Kindercore bands and others, but it comes packed in a "color comic with a mix of holiday-themed mayhem and sweetness"! OMG! The CD/comic is limited to 100 copies, which will only be available via Kindercore's website for $10. The music and comics will also be available from the iTunes store in a few days, but this is the only place to pick up the limited edition physical version.

"100% percent of the profits from this release (both the physical and digital versions) will be donated to Oxfam to help out unfortunate folks around the world - geek out for charity this XMAS! Let the War begin!"

Track List:
01. Rump Posse - Carol of the Manbarks
02. Folklore - Christmas Ape Goes to The Moon
03. The Observatory - Xmastime (is Xmastime)
04. Fabulous Bird - Everybody Knows It’s Christmas Time Again
05. King of Prussia - Christmas on The Other Side
06. The 63 Crayons - Holiday
07. Ruby Isle - Jack’s Obsession
08. The Buddy System - Xmas on TV
09. Blak Thor - Noel (I’m Giving Love For Christmas)
10. Murder Beach - All Around
11. Mumbletron 2k12 - Outta Bed
12. Je Suis France - Baby, Please Don’t Get Stoned (It’s Christmas)
13. Bunnygrunt - The Blues for Xmas
14. Koncak - It’s Christmas Time
15. Headlights - Kicker of Elves
16. The Show is The Rainbow - Silent Night
17. The Snowsuit Sound - The Ballad of Black Piet
18. Venice is Sinking - The Grey Line
19. The Jersey Barrier - Grey Skies

Comics by:
Jesse Lockwood, Nethie Lockwood, Ryan Lewis, Mat Lewis, Maya Livio, Lauren Gregg, Craig Sheldon, Rama Hughes and Travis Fox


Kindercore - website | Oxfam - website

FRIENDLY REMINDER: 99X Mistletoe Jam 2007

Just a reminder that this year's more indie-friendly 99X Mistletoe Jam featuring Modest Mouse, The Shins, Silverchair and Silversun Pickups is going on this Sunday, Dec. 16th over at the Gwinnett Center Arena. Tickets start at just $10! Doors open at 5pm. Find out more info here.

99X Mistletoe Jam 2007:
Silversun Pickups 5:30-6:15pm
The Shins 6:40-7:25pm
Silverchair 7:45pm-8:45pm
Modest Mouse 9:15-10:30pm

I'll be interviewing Silverchair at this show, so expect to see that up soon after.

DETHKLOK (Adult Swim) playing FREE SHOW(!) this Thursday (12/13)

The real incarnation of the Adult Swim cartoon metal band, Dethklok, will be playing a FREE show this Thursday (12/13) at Center Stage in Atlanta. Only the first 450 people in line will be guaranteed admission! Doors open at 9pm.

I would love to go to this, but I'm pretty sure that all those no-job-having kids with nothing better to do than stand in line all day will ruin those plans. That's OK though, because I'm sure that all those 21+ over shows I get to go to are way better anyway. Take that you under-age Dethklok-ruining kids!!

Center Stage - website | Dethklok - Myspace

VIDEO: Iron & Wine "Boy With a Coin"

ICTH's 40 Best Albums of 2007

2007 saw an overwhelming amount of great albums, and unfortunately I just didn't quite have room enough for them all (I had a list of over 70+ albums).

VIDEO: Girl Talk "Bounce That"