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All of that is true. Also true: With the current expansive fawning over Grizzly Bear it could be easy to temporarily forget about Dan Rossen's Department Of Eagles. It gets more difficult, though, when In Ear Park's title track is soundtracking Soft Bank commercials featuring Brad Pitt and a sensitive sumo wrestler. It gets slightly easier again when you find out the commercial's only airing in Japan, but more people watch YouTube than television (unsubstantiated claim), so that's not a legit hurdle. Anyone care to interpret?

via RR

I have to see one of these before I leave.

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Zen: stumble into MGMT bringing it live(!) while walking the hound. Brooklyn has a great soundtrack. - Doug Moore

MGMT, Suckers, and Kuroma played a big Brooklyn show together last night in Prospect Park (7/1). I listened to most of it while hanging out in the grass from outside the black, heavily guarded, tall, not-see-through fence (which was behind a 2nd, smaller fence which had lots of security guards behind it (aka people between the two fences) (there were also a LOT of police around).

The highlight of the show for me was at the very end when MGMT (a band who I generally don't like... especially live... but last night I thought sounded ok... lots of people having fun also = good...) started playing "Kids" and, as the crowd could be heard erupting in cheer on the inside, a huge dance party broke out in the street behind the bandshell. Nobody could see what was going on inside, but that didn't stop everyone from getting down.

There were lots of people taking video of the people dancing. Please post it if you were one of them. More pictures from the inside, and some other videos, below...

Continue reading "MGMT, Kuroma & Suckers in Prospect Park - pics & video " at BrooklynVegan.com

Our special guest was debut author Hyatt Bass (pictured, via Sarah Shatz), who talked about her new novel, "The Embers." The show was hosted by GalleyCat editor Jason Boog and AgencySpy editor Matt Van Hoven. You can listen to all the past podcasts at Blog Talk Radio and call in at 646-929-0321.

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Cryptacize

"Cryptacize is former Kill Rock Stars artist, Nedelle Torrisi, plus Chris Cohen of The Curtains/ex-Deerhoof and Michael Carreira. Mythomania is their second album - out now on Asthmatic Kitty. Cryptacize deals in the unforgettable melody, the forsaken chord and the extravagant sentiment."

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone (aka Owen Ashworth) released two albums earlier this year -- a singles collection, Advance Base Battery Life, and his fifth LP, VS. Children, both on Tomlab. "Old Panda Days," from the former, and "Optimist vs. The Silent Alarm," from the latter, are posted above.

Ashworth is currently on a summer-long North American tour, which has been fleshed out with a full schedule, listed below. He'll be playing Friday, July 3rd at the Market Hotel with Katie Eastburn and tourmates Cryptacize.

Unlike his recent European tour, which featured CFTPA as a four-piece band, these Casiotone dates will be solo. Sets will include "selections from Vs. Children & Advance Base Battery Life plus reworked olden times CFTPA classics in solo formation."

Cryptacize's new album Mythomania was released on April 21st. Three tracks off that album, and one made "mini", are available for free above. Buy it HERE.

Ashworth (Casiotone) recently posted a Myspace note about his tour plans for the fall, with info on how you can get him to play your town. That's posted below, with all tour dates and a selection of videos from his June 27th tourstop in KY, and some Cryptacize videos, below...

Continue reading "Cryptacize & Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - 2009 Tour Dates (Market Hotel), MP3s, albums, videos, stuff" at BrooklynVegan.com

Ever since OS. 3.0, the latest operating system for the iPhone, launched on June 17, prices among the top 100 apps in the iTunes App Store have been fluctuating wildly as developers push out apps taking advantage of all the new features in the OS. Some of the new features we are starting to see in apps include push notifications, turn-by-turn navigation, cut-and-paste, embeddable maps, access to external accessories, search within apps, and subscriptions.

Mobile app distribution service Distimo just put out its June iPhone App store report As you can see from the charts above, the average pricing among the top 100 paid apps was pretty steady until the middle of the month, when developers started to test different price points. The most popular price for an app remained $0.99, but the month of June saw more top apps priced at $1.99, $4.99, and $9.99 (the green bars on the chart above).

Distimo also breaks down pricing by category (see charts below). Medical apps command the highest prices by far (on average, about $8), followed by business, navigation, productivity, and reference (all averaging around $4). The category which benefited the most from the new OS was navigation, thanks to the turn-by-turn directions feature. On June 17, the average price among the top 100 navigation apps spiked by about $1. So it looks like navigation apps have gained some pricing power thanks to a the new OS.

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

As arguably the biggest comedy director working in Hollywood today, Judd Apatow is a funny guy and almost as importantly, he’s been a longtime friend to the MTV Movies Blog, acting as one of our first guest contributors way back when “Knocked Up” was coming out. Well, the big guy is back. Apatow’s next project, of course, is “Funny People.” And lucky for us Judd’s re-joining the MTV Movies Blog gang with a series of exclusive columns hitting every single Thursday between now and the film’s release. So without further ado, here’s Judd…

Judd Apatow’s Answers to Questions You Haven’t Asked About “Funny People”

Will I like “Funny People” more than any other movie I see this summer including the kick ass Star Trek?

You definitely will. You will like it way more than every movie that comes out this summer, and it will be a tie with “Star Trek.”

What is the movie about?

It is about a world famous comedian who gets sick, then gets better and doesn’t know what to do with this second chance. It is also about his friendship with a young comedian, and his attempt to win back his old flame who is currently married and has two kids. And it is about fifty other things too. Just see it. I will ruin it if I try to explain it.

Is it a comedy or a drama?

It is a comedy. I think it is as funny as “The Forty Year Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up.” It is more emotional than my other two films, but if you hate emotions you will still like it. And most people do hate emotions.

How many times should I see “Funny People”?

Three. Once for the laughs. The second time to notice the details you missed when you laughed. And the third time just to make sure we beat “Transformers” at the box office. We must not let robots rule the world.

Is it long?

Depends on your attention span. It is two minutes shorter than “Transformers 2,” but the extra fifteen minutes is free! No extra charge! Did I mention we do not have any robots? Is that a bad thing?

Who is in it?

Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Eric Bna, Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, Aziz Ansari, Aubrey Plaza, Rza.

Is Eminem in it?

No. Marshall Mathers is in it.

How did that happen?

I still don’t know.

How was it directing him?

I was scared to pitch jokes to him then I realized his songs are as nasty as anything that has ever been spoken. There is no way to offend him.

Did you used to live with Adam Sandler?

I did. When we were in our early twenties we lived in North Hollywood together. We both were doing stand up comedy at the time. It was before he was on SNL. It was clear back then that he would be a star and that I would be a guy who knew a big star. I lacked a key ingredient, charisma. And maybe talent. And possibly stage presence and definitely sex appeal.

How do you and Seth Rogen get along these days? Have things changed?

No. We only have one rift. I don’t know why he did not ask me to play the naked flasher in “Observe and Report.” That was the part I was born to play.

How did Eric Bana fit into your group?

It is always great when a handsome, sexy, world famous movie star has to hang out with a bunch of nerds because then he feels like the outsider. So we used that against him to dominate him. If I have to hang out with ten handsome world class superstars I would feel like an outsider, but that is why I never do that.

Why do you have two stars of “Parks and Recreation” in your film (Aziz Ansari and Aubrey Plaza)?

I am getting a kick back from NBC for this cross promotion. Some call it synergy. I call it an extra two hundred bucks in my wallet per week.

Is there a lot of cursing in this film?

Well, if there was a drinking game where one had to drink every time a character cursed then the player of that game would be dead in ten minutes. Seriously. Don’t play that game.

What is it like working with your wife, the gorgeous and hilarious Leslie Mann?

It is always fun. She is very committed to her craft. In order to prepare to perform a sex scene with Adam Sandler she had sex with him daily for two weeks before we shot the scene and for three months afterwards.

Why do you put your children in your films?

Six words—I get to keep the money. And also, if I hire them I don’t have to meet anyone else’s weird kids.

"Everyone was let go, but the people on The Blade know that they may come back if The Blade is coming back," said the executive, Matthew Bank, of HX Media, which was formed in 2005 by the merger of The Blade and HX Magazine...
"It doesn't have an issue scheduled until a week from Friday." Mr. Bank said. "There are a lot of things that can happen between now and then."

Right, so, it's folded, and if it happens to come back, then it will come back. We'll see. In the current advertising market, small weekly papers are in a rough position, no matter what they cover.

Bank also told the New York Press that HX magazine and its website—other gay publications he owned—have been sold as well, and that the July 10 issue "will be the last one produced by HX Media and its staff."
[NYT, NYPress]

News about the recording sessions was broken by Spinnerette frontwoman (and Homme's wife) Brody Dalle: "I’m not at liberty to talk about it," Dalle told Antiquiet, "but I think [the project] is pretty fucking amazing. Just beats and sounds like you’ve never heard before.”

The collaboration has been in the works since Grohl first mentioned it in a 2005 interview with MOJO: "The next project that I'm trying to initiate involves me on drums, Josh Homme on guitar, and John Paul Jones playing bass. That's the next album. That wouldn't suck."

If Grohl is indeed manning drum duties for the new supergroup, it would be his first time behind the kit on record since lending his talents to recent albums by the Prodigy and Juliette and the Licks. As you might recall, he also backed Paul McCartney at this year's Grammy Awards on the Beatles classic "I Saw Her Standing There" (which SPIN's Charles Aaron rated #14 in our Top 25 Grammy Performances list).

While Queens of the Stone Age have been on hiatus and Homme has been working with the Arctic Monkeys on their next release, and Led Zeppelin's much-discussed reunion plans have been scuttled, Grohl has been keeping himself quite busy. Since the Foos' last record, 2007's Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace he's been hard at work on his band's next album -- and he recently appeared as a guest judge on the TV cooking competition Top Chef.

Link | Posted 7/2/2009 by Rich Z

Sacha Baron Cohen | Larry Charles | Bruno | Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Sentimental pop wizards Grizzly Bear, laptop mash-up maestro Girl Talk, Bjork-collaborating up-and-comers Dirty Projectors, and rowdy Texan noisesmiths/SPIN office assaulters ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead are among the headliners for the fourth annual summer of Pool Parties, a string of free Sunday concerts in Brooklyn's East River State Park.

The Parties begin July 12 with seminal punk rockers Mission of Burma headlining. Confrontational Canadians Fucked Up, Baltimore-based shriek rockers Ponytail, and ex-Be Your Own Pet singer Jemina Pearl will support.

Free shows continue every Sunday through August 30, when Grizzly Bear performs at the series finale. Other Pool Party headliners include electro weirdo Dan Deacon (Aug. 2), British dancefloor fillers Simian Mobile Disco (Aug. 9), and rapper Del Tha Funky Homosapien (Aug. 16).

This will be the series' first summer away from its original home, McCarren Park Pool, a massive swimming complex that had been closed since 1984 until it began to host concerts in 2006 -- minus all the water, of course. Now, the pool will undergo renovations to actually become an aquatic facility once again.

For full lineup details, visit thepoolparties.com.