Tuesday, September 30, 2008

just because the headline's different, doesn't mean I'll let you down


we've got the Live Metallica code coming (don't you dare skip ahead), but there will lots of free reading this week.
first up is one of those long-form interviews online at the Voice, this time with Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier. and this one comes with a free mp3.
Stereolab is headlining the venue formerly known as Irving Plaza this Thursday, Friday and Saturday (though hopefully they won't start until about an hour after the Auburn-Vandy game ends).

and now, without further ado, tonight's code good for one free download of Metallica's December 20th show in Oakland, California (home of the recently certified insane Raiders owner Al Davis):

MTP081220518F8CEB15

Monday, September 29, 2008

free live metallica download codes (day four)


yes, it's time for day four of our mucho exciting free live Metallica download code promotion (is this a promotion? what are we promoting? stay tuned for an exciting pyramid scheme offer (just kidding)). and we've finally discovered the only entity uglier than Auburn's victories over Mississippi State and Tennessee (farewell, Phil Fulmer. we knew you much longer than we would've preferred): the stock market.

ouch,
ouch,
ouch,
ouch,
ouch.

directions for first-timers:
click on this Live Metallica link, register, and then enter the code.

if you're the first blog reader to copy and paste that day's code, then Metallica will send you a free download of the concert in question.

so here, without further ado, is today's code, good for one free download of Metallica's upcoming February 1st show (currently pegged as the end of the tour) at Newark's Prudential Center:

MTP090201173B277869

good luck.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

free live metallica download codes (day three)


despite, or maybe because of, a really terrible afternoon at Shea, another Raiders loss (I could go on and on) we're a little earlier tonight, but it's time, once again, for another free live Metallica download code.

directions for first-timers:
click on this Live Metallica link, register, and then enter the code.

if you're the first blog reader to copy and paste that day's code, then Metallica will send you a free download of the concert in question.

so here, without further ado, is today's code, good for one free download of Metallica's upcoming October 25th show (less than a month away) at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri:

MTP0810253E0647811F

Saturday, September 27, 2008

free live metallica download codes (day two)


once again, for the next week or so I will be posting codes for free downloads of upcoming Metallica shows.

this is how it works.
click on this Live Metallica link, register, and then enter the code.

if you're the first blog reader to copy and paste that day's code, then Metallica will send you a free download of the concert in question.

so here, without further ado, is today's code, good for one free download of Metallica's upcoming December 13th show at the Save Mart Center in Fresno:

MTP081213FD6C9BD0F3

Friday, September 26, 2008

free live metallica download codes


hey, this should be fun (or not).

for the next week or so I will be posting codes for free downloads of upcoming Metallica shows (my parole officer, a real metalhead, says this will qualify as community service).

this is how it works.
click on this Live Metallica link, register, and then enter the code.

if you're the first blog reader to copy and paste that day's code, then Metallica will send you a free download of the concert in question.
if you're not the first blog reader to copy and paste that day's code, then the site will tell you that the code has already been used and you'll have wasted close to three minutes of your valuable time.

nobody said life was fair, you know.
or if they did, they were lying to you.

so here, without further ado, is today's code, good for one free download of Metallica's upcoming January 31st show at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey:

MTP09013129206A7CE3

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

a mostly inside day

despite the beautifully crisp weather.

but I did manage to get a couple of outside errands done.

overheard conversations:

(a woman who appeared homeless talking to a man who appeared homeless (he was pushing a cart full of soda cans)) "you're going to f*&# me all night and THEN expect me to spend the night with you?" (homeless conversations don't always make sense)

(an elderly woman pushing a walker at the bank teller window) "I bet I spend a third of all my money on medicine. I have a terrible skin condition. have you ever heard of the hives? there's nothing worse in the world."

and you ask why I spend so much time in the apartment (plus McCain's "I'm too busy to debate and that ought to show I'm presidential" ploy has been pretty entertaining).

the Rivers interview is up at the Voice (I have the early interview - unpublished (used as reference for a much-reprinted feature back in the day) - which I may post later. as in around the weekend).
perceptive readers will notice that it's not quite half past ten, which means Weezer's probably 15-30 minutes into their MSG set.
and if I'm blogging here, then, well, you know . . .

I'm guessing the Garden isn't all the way full since Ticketmaster was running a $30 special (regular price: $54.50) this afternoon.
the band's headed south and west from here. Atlantic City Friday, followed by Camden (call it Philly), Auburn Hills (Detroit), blah blah before curling around to Duluth, Georgia (Atlanta) on October 25th.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

the 2009 MacArthur Fellowships were awarded


and I can continue to sleep untroubled by thoughts of what I would actually do (I don't know. Write?) with all that money.
for those of you out of the loop, the MacArthur "genius grants" bestows $500,000 ($100,000 a year for five years) on select recipients without application. according to the New York Times, recent local recipients include New Yorker music critic Alex Ross, saxophonist and composer Miguel Zenon, lighting designer Jennifer Tipton and violinist Leila Josefowicz (none of whom I know well enough to borrow money).

so I remain busy. busy enough to not really remember what's been keeping me busy.

although I do remember that on Friday I missed seeing Basia Bulat (though I had passes) and Randy Newman (I did not have passes). and on Sunday I missed Rachel Mason and Giant Sand and Bobby Bare Jr (I spent the evening - the entire evening - transcribing an interview with Jimmy Cobb, the sole surviving member of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue sessions (that piece will run in a little more than a week's time) with the Yankee game, the final contest at the Stadium, on).

but on Friday I did manage to interview Rivers Cuomo of Weezer (the band plays the night two of their North American tour tomorrow at the Garden and my interview should post at the Voice shortly after the sun rises). and yesterday I interviewed Craig Finn of the Hold Steady and Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers (touring together this fall) for a future Voice feature.
and after I talked to Craig and Patterson I met the Annuals in Central Park to film a Possibly 4th Street session that should run in about a month (their new album, Such Fun, comes out on October 7th).
then it was home for a short nap, not enough to eat (I was searching for food on Sixth Avenue about this time last night and finally settled for a couple of Papaya Dogs hot dogs which, I'm told by those nearest and dearest, cause some kind of smelly burps), before heading down to Washington Square to photograph night one of Steve Earle's five-night stand at Judson Memorial (the link will take you to one of those photographs, as well as Mr. Harvilla's summation of the evening. that's a bonus pic above).
also yesterday, my long-form interview with Kings of Leon frontman Caleb Followill posted at the Voice online. their new album, Only by the Night, came out today and this afternoon they taped Letterman and tonight they played a sold-out (with tickets going for right around six times face value) record release party at Webster Hall (yep, I missed out on that, too).

but busy ain't genius, baby. busy ain't genius.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

exclusive, original, bonus cut with Giant Sand's Howe Gelb

Did I catch you in the middle of a bite?

(laughs) Yeah. A bagel.

Should I give you a few minutes and call back?

No, I’m good. Let me just plug in this headphone thing so I won’t die of radiation. It’s some weird plastic thing that actually looks like an old phone that plugs into your cell phone.

Tell me something that you’ve never ever done before in your life.

Aerial photography.

Tell me something that you’ve done once and one time only.

I got clamps in my head. I only did that once. I only had that happen once. Does that count?

Did you say 'clamps'?

Yeah, when you crack your head open and they can’t stitch it.

Wow. How long ago was that?

I was about 8 or 9 so early ‘60s.

Tell me the name of a book that you’ve read at least twice.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Or Call of the Wild. Jack London.

Tell me the name of a movie that you’ve seen at least three times.

The Tenant by Roman Polanski.

And who’s your favorite Beatle?

Oh, George.
Did you go with Murakami or did you go with Jack London? Which one did you use for the book? Call of the Wild or Wind-Up Bird?

Whichever one you want.

Maybe we should go with Painted Bird.

By Kosinski?

Yeah. That was so unbelievable I had to go through it again. That was wicked.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

okay, fine. so you don't want a free copy of Metallica's Death Magnetic. I understand.

rather overwhelmed by increasing work, impending financial collapse and deteriorating health here, but the Voice popped my interview with Howe Gelb of Giant Sand this morning (the new album, proVisions, dropped last week and the band plays New York this coming Sunday).

and tomorrow my first baseball writing (kind of) since The Shortstop will show up in print (thanks to the eleven former Mets/Yankees who took the time to speak with me).

last book I ever read: Patti Smith's Horses (33 1/3) by Philip Shaw

recent iPod listenings: Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus, Burial's Untrue, Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend, Ra Ra Riot's The Rhumb Line, R.E.M.'s Lifes Rich Pageant, Stand! by Sly & the Family Stone, Richard & Linda Thompson's Pour Down Like Silver and Shoot Out the Lights, Miles Davis' Kind of Blue: 50th Anniversary Edition and Kings of Leon's Aha Shake Heartbreak

Friday, September 12, 2008

seriously now

NO ONE wants a free copy of the new Metallica album?
color me surprised (the offer still stands, by the way: comment with your name and e-mail address and I'll send you the code).

I've already received two copies (the rest of Warner Brothers may not be in good shape, but the shipping department's certainly doing their job).

today's reading: my interview with Randy Newman (I probably could've done a better job, but this conversation was just last Friday (the busy, three interview day) and I could hardly hear him over the coast-to-coast, conference me in connection, which rather limits the normal back and forth. and I'd probably been off the phone with him ten minutes (trying to get ready to talk to Caleb Followill of Kings of Leon) when I remembered the one question that I absolutely had to ask (and we'd already been in the neighborhood); still, getting the opportunity to ask Randy Newman about songwriting is one of the reasons I do what I do, starve like I starve. etc. i.e., I'm very happy I got to do this).

here's hoping I get the chance to hear him play "A Wedding in Cherokee County" at Carnegie Hall next Friday.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

would you like a free copy of the new Metallica CD?

wait a minute. you don't even know me and you're asking for free music?
or maybe you do (know me). and that might be worse.

in any case, I've bought some Metallica tickets and each of the presales comes with a free copy of their new disc, Death Magnetic, which drops on Friday (if you want to pay for it, you can do so here). and I really don't need more than one.

but first, our Possibly 4th Street session (#19 for those of you keeping score at home) with Basia Bulat just posted, and it's a good one.
Basia's very talented and a friendly, engaging sport. and it's possible that she could not sound less like Metallica if she tried. but hey, there's room for everybody. if not in the Republican Party, then at least on this blog.

so check out the Basia piece (also free), then if you still want the free Metallica CD then leave your name and e-mail address as a comment and I'll get the code right out to you.
you'll receive a hard copy of the disc by early next week, so while you won't be the first on your block to own DM), no one in your neighborhood will get a better deal.

act now, etc., because supplies are, of course, limited.

Monday, September 8, 2008

my broken toe at the US Open

it appears as if quite a few people who attend the US Open are on vacation. or maybe that's how they live all the time, like they're on vacation (kind of like me).

in any case, one of the Flushing Meadows activities (besides walking up to, say, Row L, often with hot dogs and/or beer or champagne in a plastic flute in hand, before looking up to see if you're even in the right section, then looking confused, while remaining standing, even if the match if going on, in order to block the view of those seated higher than the spot where you realize you don't know where the hell you're going) on everyone's to-do list (at least those of us in the Upper Promenade) is to enlist one of the party to walk down a few steps while the other party remains seated (or possibly encroaching into the aisle) with camera at the ready. then the party of the first part poses like they're at the lip of the Grand Canyon (which, actually, is a pretty good simile for the concrete bowl which is Arthur Ashe Stadium).
voila!

and far be it from me to swim upstream, fight the power (fight the power) or go against the consensus.

so here's the sum total of my vacation photos from this evening's Men's Final (won, for the fifth year in a row, by Roger Federer).

yep. like Tom Brady and Billy Wagner, I'm out for the season.

Friday, September 5, 2008

a busy day of interviews, interrupted

yeah, this has got to be quick.

I interviewed Lindsey Buckingham at noon, then Kings of Leon changed rehearsal times so I'll be speaking with Caleb Followill at 4, and Randy Newman (originally scheduled for 2:50 (how's that for a time?)) is running late so I'm expecting that call in about five minutes (wow, better hurry).

but we've got another Possibly 4th Street post, this one episode 18, recorded all the back last November, with IAMX. our first one ever to be shut down (and deservedly so, as we didn't realize there was an elementary school a block away with windows open (no a/c)) by the NYPD who were admirable in the performance of their duties.

special thanks to their manager, Reza (definitely one of my favorite management types of the past few years), who stepped up to deal with the public servants, all while dragging his feet, feigning confusion so the band could, as the story goes, play on.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

amy ray of the indigo girls, live in central park


back to the Open today, though for games of significantly lesser quality (the women's doubles quarterfinals, Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual over the home team of Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears was a particular stinker in the third and final set), so we let early. but not before noting that the UK's Andy Murray (a winner today over Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina) shares a resemblance with Eb from Green Acres (next stop? Hooterville!).

but the biggest news is that sometime just before the start of Dinara Safina's straight set steamroll of Flavia Pennetta, the Voice posted episode 17 of Possibly 4th Street with Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls. and it looks good (if I say so myself). almost like we knew what we were doing this time.
the session consists of two performances by Amy ("Cold Shoulder" and "Stand and Deliver" from her new Didn't It Feel Kinder CD) in the northern reaches of Central Park, as well as as some footage of my interview with her in the Park's Conservatory Garden. and a few splayed words regarding the aforementioned.

hey look, I took a day off

after a long week of interviews (Kurt Wagner of Lambchop, Jonathan Segel of Camper Van Beethoven and over a half dozen former Mets and Yankees), transcribing (primarily interviews with the Indigo Girls' Amy Ray and Giant Sand's Howe Gelb), and writing (Amy Ray, Howe Gelb and baseball, baseball, baseball), I took a day off to see most of the last set of Elena Dementieva's two-set victory over Patty Schnyder, followed by two exceptional, stunning (that it took them so long) five-set wins by Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer (over Robredo and Andreev, respectively).
and we were there til the end.
I'd be surprised if this wasn't the longest, non-weather-related overrun by afternoon matches in the Open's recent history. as in, a whole bunch of people were still perched outside the gates of Ashe at 8:30 waiting to get in for matches that were supposed to start at 7. and that was after they'd already started the Jankovic-Bammer match over on Armstrong (meaning that some folks paid a whole bunch of money to wait outside for an hour and a half only to see Andy Roddick steamroll Fernando Gonzalez).
but I've got nothing to complain about on my end (except for a couple spots of sunburn that are my own damn fault).

R.I.P. Jerry Reed and Killer Kowalski.

(Djokovic photo from the New York Times)