The Underrated Blog

Tonight: Jukebox The Ghost's CD Release Show

Horrah! Jukebox The Ghost's debut album has finally come out. And let me tell you—it's pretty darn fantastic. (Read my semi-obsessive review/gush session here.) The boys will be celebrating in New York tonight (with copies of Let Live And Let Ghost in their hands) and I found it worthy of coming out of DJ retirement. Because not only is Jukebox The Ghost playing, but my good pals A Brief Smile are as well. Like I said, horrah!

Here are the details:

JUKEBOX THE GHOST CD RELEASE SHOW
Union Hall, 702 Union Street Brooklyn
8 PM: DJ Underrated On Decks!
9 PM: Hymns
10 PM: A Brief Smile 11 PM: Jukebox The Ghost
A Brief Smile (10),(8)
Doors at 8 (there a couple tickets left at the door so get there early!)

After The Jump's New Years Eve

After the Jump presents New Year's Eve 2007
New York City
taking over two levels of the
Knitting Factory
in support of
Education Through Music

with...
Dirty Projectors
Foreign Islands
Care Bears on Fire
Senryu
Poingly
after-party hosted by Cex, with special guests Ecstatic Sunshine, Alan Astor, Wzt Hearts

Tickets on sale now via ticketweb or ShopText through the Knitting Factory site

curated by the people behind:
themusicslut . batteringroom . disconap . earfarm . ryspace . irockiroll . musicsnobbery . merryswankster . softcommunication . theunderratedblog . sitdownstandup . watercoolergossip . bumpershine . themodernage . productshopnyc . yetidontdance . slapyouinpublic . subinev . punkphoto . poptartssucktoasted . stereoactivenyc . fingeronthepulse

for more information, please email:

booking: booking@afterthejumpfest.com
charity: charity@afterthejumpfest.com
sponsors: sponsors@afterthejumpfest.com
publicity: publicity@afterthejumpfest.com

Sing Happy Birthday To Pat On Friday!

So something awesome is going down on Friday night for someone equally awesome, and no I'm not biased....okay maybe a bit but I heard its true. My wonderful boyfriend's birthday is this weekend and since he was sweet enough to book the best party of my life in June, I had to return the favor (although I doubt I'll live up to it). It wouldn't be Pat's party unless it was in Staten Island, so get ready to take the ferry (it's free) for some great music (also free), lots of drinks (not free!), and fun times (always free!).

Here's the info. See you there!

Friday, November 23
Happy Birthday Pat!
with....
The Heavenly Tenants - 10 PM
Aeroplane Pageant - 11 PM
TIM FITE - 12 AM
at Martini Red
372 Van Duzer Blvd
Staten Island, New York
FREE!!!!!

Wednesday@Indaba Loft! Day Two!

Holy crazy crap. It's only day two and I'm already in need of a very long nap. Yesterday was amazing—we had such a weird slew of bands that it worked for everyone. Best moment? Lead singer of Cut Off Your Hands climbing on the ceiling pipes. Mmhmm. Nuts.

Day two is here and I'm so excited for Division Day to be back in New York City and an early evening set from my loves, the Undisputed Heavyweights. With those bookends and incredible acts in between, no nap will be allowed.

Indaba Loft is located at 268 Bowery, just below Houston. All shows are free, for all ages, and free beer for 21+. See you there!

Indaba / Underrated / This Side Up Presents...CMJ

I've been working really hard with the wonderful people at Indaba Music and This Side Up to put together an amazing roster of day shows and a Saturday night party for this year's CMJ. Every day during the festival, you are invited to the Indaba Loft on Bowery and Houston to grab a free drink, learn about Indaba and listen to some of my favorite acts from across the country. I'm so incredibly excited to see everyone, so start planning your schedules and make sure the Indaba Loft is a stop on the way! (Did I mention free beer?!?)

[click to enlarge]

Indaba Music / Underrated Magazine / This Side Up Sounds PRESENTS...

TUESDAY Oct 16
2 - KRYSTLE WARREN
website
3 - QUINTIS
website
4 - ARIZONA
website| Some Kind Of Chill [mp3]
5 - CUT OFF YOUR HANDS!
website | You And I [mp3]
6 - SOME VELVET MORNING
website
7 - MATT SINGER
website | Outrageous [mp3]

WEDNESDAY Oct 17
2 – DIVISION DAY
website| Tigers [mp3]
3 – MIDDLE DISTANCE RUNNER
website | The Sun & The Earth [mp3]
4 – SETH KALLEN AND THE REACTION
website | Shiver [mp3]
5 – NATALIE PRASS
website | Never Satisfied [mp3]
6 – BEAT RADIO
website | Mexico [mp3]
7 - THE UNDISPUTED HEAVYWEIGHTS
website | Roll Your Windows Down [mp3]

THURSDAY Oct 18
2 – A BRIEF SMILE
website | Big Sky [mp3]
3 – LET'S GO SAILING
website | Icicles [mp3]
4 – TIM WILLIAMS
website | Novel [mp3]
5 – MASON PROPER
website | My My (Bad Fruit) [mp3]
6 – THE JAGUAR CLUB
website | The Sirens [mp3]
7 - MANCINO
website | Five Blades [mp3]

FRIDAY Oct 19
2 - THE SISTER LOVERS
website
3 - THE LATE GREATS
website | He's Not It [mp3]
4 - PRINCETON
website | Blackbeard [mp3]
5 - PEASANT
website
6 - EAGLE*SEAGULL
website | Your Beauty Is A Knife I Turn On My Throat [mp3]
7 - WAKEY!WAKEY!
website | Fallin' Apart [mp3]

SATURDAY NIGHT Oct 20
7 – SURE JUROR
website | The Once-Great Gender Debate [mp3]
8 – THE DIGGS
website | Careen [mp3]
9 – NOUS NON PLUS
website | Allo Allo [mp3]
10 – JUKEBOX THE GHOST
website | Hold It In [mp3]
11 – TBA

See you there!

after the jump!

I'm back! And more busy than ever. Oy, it never ends, right? Well one of these days I'll say I'll blog every day and actually mean it, although with the way my life is going these days I'm not sure when that will happen. But, of course, I'll try my best to keep you posted.

London was wonderful and Pat survived the whole going to another country thingy. I always feel like I need a vacation after a vacation. It would be nice to have a couple days to do absolutely nothing. I didn't realize how much I missed my mom's cooking, so that was a definite plus. I wish I could get out there to see them more than I do, but again -- time is never on my side.

But of course, I cannot let another day go by without letting you know all the details about the After The Jump Festival that is going down this Saturday, August 25 at Studio B in Brooklyn. It's been a busy couple months for a group of 22 of New York's bloggers and it's all coming down to Saturday night. Underrated favorites and my good friends Jukebox The Ghost and Ra Ra Riot will be playing the FREE daytime show, along with a slew of other great bands, so come on down. And stay late for the dance party. It's totally worth your $12 (which all goes to a good cause.)

Set Times:
FREE Day Show Schedule

2:00 (MetroMix.com Stage) The Teenage Prayers
2:30 (CONCERT.TV Stage) Jukebox The Ghost
3:00 (MetroMix.com Stage) Locksley
3:30 (CONCERT.TV Stage) Bling Kong
4:00 (MetroMix.com Stage) Golem
4:30 (CONCERT.TV Stage) Goes Cube
5:00 (MetroMix.com Stage) Ra Ra Riot
5:30 (CONCERT.TV Stage) Apache Beat
6:00 (MetroMix.com Stage) Spectrum
------------------------------------------------

MetroMix.com Night Stage
Schedule:

10:00 The Virgins
11:00 Soulico
Midnight Free Blood
1:00 Riot In Belgium
--
Finger on the Pulse (DJ set)
David Bruno (DJ set)

Tickets:
Again, the day show is FREE.  Purchase tickets to the night portion
of the event HERE.


Raffle/Prizes:
Chris over at Music Snobbery is keeping a running tally of all the awesome prizes wehave to raffle off at After the Jump, including TWO passes to the CMJ Music Marathon worth nearly $500 each! We also have a ton of CD prize packs, signed posters, t-shirts, and much more - so come and donate for your chance to win!

Volunteer:
Interested in donating your time to this event?  Go HERE for more info.

A HUGE thanks goes out to our Sponsors:

- Cellfish Media
Cellfish Media creates digital content for mobile phones and is helping to revolutionize the blogging community.

-MetroMix.com.
MetroMix is your one-stop local entertainment guide on where to go and what to do, from the hottest restaurants and bars, to the latest in events, music, movies, and more.

- CONCERT.TV
CONCERT.TV is the first television channel dedicated to live music by offering both cutting edge shows and past favorites

- Indaba Music
- Indaba Music is an international community of musicians, music professionals, and fans exploring the creative possibilities of making music with people in different places.

- Imeem.
Imeem is an online community where artists, fans & friends can promote their content, share their tastes, and discover new blogs, photos, music and video. Visit After the Jump on Imeem

- CMJ
CMJ Network connects music fans and music industry professionals with the best in new music through
interactive media, live events and print.

-  Xanga.
Xanga is a community of online diaries and journals

- Colt 45.
For over 4 decades, Colt 45 Premium Malt Liquor has been the "class of all malt liquor brands". With its smooth and distinct flavor and historic affiliation with Billy Dee Williams, it has become an urban American icon.

Head on over to AfterTheJumpFest.com for interviews with the artists performing, and tons of more information. And see you on Saturday!!!

matt and kim...and eddie argos!

Greetings from London. In only two days, we've done quite a bit. Look! I even managed to run into my three best mates: Matt, Kim, and Eddie Argos from Art Brut.

xoxo
rachael

[edit: here's my recap of night over at the the cmj blog]

Jesse Lacey, Kevin Devine, Grace Read | Maxwells | 7.29.07

After a long and exhausting day of moving out of my apartment and into a storage space, leaving me homeless for the next month -- the last thing I wanted to do was trek to Jersey. But seeing that I have always been fond of Mr. Kevin Devine, and my dear friend Katie quite likes Jesse Lacey of the band Brand New. So the fact that they were touring together was basically our version of perfection.

The show was pretty stellar, with Kevin sounding top-notch as ever, and using his friend Jesse for harmonies. But seeing Jesse Lacey for the first time was a bit of a treat. I'm not too familiar with Brand New but apparently this show was a bit out of the ordinary for the usually recluse singer. He had an interesting Q&A session half-way through the set, urging bands not to sign with a label, for his CDs to be burned and shared, and what its like to have "old men" telling you about music.

After the set, I caught up with Kevin and was lucky enough to snap a photo of the three performers at the show. Apparently this is also unusual for Jesse as he rarely takes pictures, let alone smiles.

take a deep breath and hold it in

Holy moley. It's finally FRIDAY. I swear these weeks have been kicking my ass, as of late, and with a big move this weekend (to where? nowhere!) I've hardly had a chance to catch my breath. I've been overtly stressed, overtly anxious, and overtly tired and I'm pretty sure it's that much harder because I'm used to summers being relaxed. Not this year, of course.

But that's not to say I haven't had any fun, because I have. I'm at a very good place now in my life, and I couldn't be happier about how things are progressing. Plus, I'm off to London in a couple weeks for a much much needed vacation and to see the parentals (one of which, just met Prince Charles - crazy!) bringing along Pat who will be making his first trip overseas. Yipee!

But one of the biggest honors I've had as of late is being asked to write the liner notes to one of my favorite New York artists, Wakey!Wakey!. He will be releasing a live EP on Family Records, of that fabulous show back in April. I cant even begin to explain (or, okay, give away the liners) how great this guy is. Last night I was at Joe's Pub to see the Undisputed Heavyweights for the millionth time (and they are still as wonderful as always) and we were treated to having Wakey open. I was there with five other gals as a sort of goodbye party for my dear roommate (we will miss you!). All six of us girls were completely enamored with Mr. Wakey!Wakey!. And not just for the beard, I swear. His set was heartfelt and honest. He's quite a charming character, which always seems to invoke lots of chuckles and "aw goshs" but when heading into his last song -- the amazing "Car Crash" the laughs stopped, and Wakey shined. The song [listen here] is brutally raw and at times uncomfortable. But man, I would not have had it any other way.

Undisputed Heavyweights rule. You've heard me praise them enough. Go see them again when they play Joe's Pub for their last night of their summer residency August 24 (that's a Friday, right Wes?) Seth Kallen will be opening.

Speaking of Seth, you must check out his blog. He and Ben from Jukebox The Ghost have been galavanting around England for the past couple weeks, and it looks as though they are having a super time. They even include videos and MP3s (one of which I'll post below). But go check out the blog before they come back stateside and forget how much fun blogging is.

This weekend, I'm off to try and relax while moving everything out of the Lower East Side apartment. Once I get a free moment, I'm going to post an awesome mix that will try and sum up what it's like to live in that  part of town. It sure has been fun, but I think I'll enjoy the quieter atmosphere of Chelsea!

Toodles.

• Ben Thornewill & Seth Kallen - Hold It In

this is why i should not blog.

I used to tell funny stories about my tendencies to stalk (I mean, admire) pseudo rockstars, but when I started seeing these people more than once after exclaiming my love for them publicly on the Internet, it stopped. I have to be a professional a lot more these days, which yields the 13-year-old inside to hide more and more these days. But since I'm on this kick of not really caring what I write in here any more, I'll entertain you with a little anecdote of a usual Sunday afternoon.

So even after an exhausting day yesterday at Siren Fest, I couldn't miss this Sunday at McCarren pool because of its stellar lineup: Oxford Collapse, Annuals, and Band of Horses. But we'll get to them a little bit later. So I spent the morning nursing my sunburn and then made my way up to the L train. Now I was perfectly fine minding my own business, listening to the new Justice album on my iPod and reading this weeks Entertainment Weekly but I happened to walk in front of a certain lead singer who was sitting on the bench reading the newspapers. And it happened to be Keith Murray from We Are Scientists (I wont link to avoid any more embarrassment).

The "normal" thing in this situation would either be to totally ignore him completely, or get up the nerve to say hi, re-introduce yourself and laugh about that one time you interviewed them and it was totally awkward. But no, I never said I was normal. Instead, I decided to be covert and snap a picture of this guy on my sidekick, thinking I could get away with it.

But I didn't.

There's a flash.

Needless to say, any chance of me hiding in the background was completely shot to shit when the flash went off and he looked up. I immediately grabbed my magazine and pretended to be deep concentration reading about the new Simpsons movie. About 30 seconds later the train came, and Keith got up. Instead of walking straight ahead into the doors, and thus being in the same train as me, he sprinted down as far as he could.

And this, my friends, is why I should not blog.

But I'm never one to let a little embarrassment go to my head, so when Keith was at McCarren pool to perform with Oxford Collapse I pretending the whole situation never happened. I mean, it's not like I followed him there, of course. The rest of the day was nice and hot, with three bands I've written about here before many a times. It's very strange to say but I'm looking forward to getting back into the working week. These weekends have worn me out completely.

Oxford Collapse and friends:

Annuals:

Band Of Horses:

More pictures on flickr.