Whoah. Radiohead continues to surprise EVERYONE.

Whoah. Radiohead continues to surprise EVERYONE.

Their new album is out in 10 days. And you decide how much you want to pay for it. I bought it for ₤2 ₤1*, but you can pay more or less. Seriously.

This is huge. When the biggest band in the world pops up with an album no one was expecting until next year, sans label, and let's the fans dictate price, that is basically challenging everything about the industry.

I can't wait to see how this all turns out.

*Considering what a nightmare it was to actually order the album, and the hours it took to get through the myriad technical issues the site is having, I docked them a GBP for my time.

Wes Anderson and the free prologue.

Wes Anderson and the free prologue.

Consider this a PSA directed to folks that might not do a lot of hopping around the web. Wes Anderson has released a short movie, Hotel Chevalier, that acts as a prologue to the forthcoming The Darjeeling Limited. And he's released it for free through iTunes.

It's excellent, get it. And I'm not just saying that because Natalie Portman gets naked in it.

I woke up in a leather jacket.

I woke up in a leather jacket.

It's Rudy's. For some reason he had me try it on and then decided I needed to have it for a while. This actually is perfect timing since I'm going to see The Donnas tonight and a leather jacket is the perfect accessory for that kind of show.

The funny thing is that I wouldn't have even fit in that same jacket three months ago. But now I can, and that's awesome.

Now I am going to get my hair cut by the even more awesome Jenny Evil. As my Australian boss used to say, "Ta."

Feelin' o.k. about the new citizenship test.

Feelin' o.k. about the new citizenship test.

The Trib has a sampling of the new citizenship test questions in the form of a quiz. I got one wrong. For some reason while I knew the Declaration of Independence was written in 1776, I thought it wasn't adopted until 1777. Other than that I'm feeling pretty good about my grasp of my home country's politics and history.

I think Chicagoist will have its own take on the new test later today. We were asked to answer a few different -- and admittedly, harder -- questions for that piece, but I still think I did pretty well.

A pain in the rip.

A pain in the rip.

O.K., how do you rip hidden tracks off a CD that appear before the first track? I'm specifically thinking orf "Me White Noise" off Blur's Think Tank, but I've also run into it on a few other albums in the past.

Any suggestions from the peanut gallery?

At the risk of sounding like a lame bumper sticker, mean people DO suck.

At the risk of sounding like a lame bumper sticker, mean people DO suck.

Have you ever had one of those situations where someone you care about is having a hard time with something and there's nothing you can do about it? Usually I'm the kind of guy that will just inject myself into a given situation and do my best to defend the people close to me. But sometimes you can't do that. Instead you have to sit on the sidelines, offering advice you know won't be taken. And you'll be clenching and unclenching your fists, hoping against hope that someday you'll walk into your friend's antagonist in a dark alley, late, late at night.

Why do some people have to be such pricks? What does it actually do for them / get them? What's the point?

Cat vs. Penguins?

Cat vs. Penguins?

If you haven't been following Faz the Cat's adventures in the Antarctic, now is a good time to start.

I have no idea if Faz is really there, but I kind of hope he is.

Yes, I'm going to talk about my band again.

Yes, I'm going to talk about my band again.

I've been doing a lot of music and arts writing at Chicagoist lately, to help kick-off Margaret's tenure as our new editor-in-chief in an impressive fashion, so sorry if the music-related writing here is a little lower than usual. However, I can write about the one band I can't write about on Chicagoist here!

So we've been demoing America's #1 Sweetheart songs, but this morning was the first time I've heard our new version of one of their past classics. I'd actually had to stop listening to the original version, since I had changed some of the drums pretty significantly -- because I learned the song before hearing the original demo -- so it's pretty cool to have a rough version of the tune to listen to. It's still a little weird since the new incarnation of A#1S is grounded in the same pop sensibility that permeated the old line-up, but the songs have a different feel: at times they've gotten a little more aggressive, and at other times they don't sound like anything you would've expected Kip to come up with. For instance, I'm really digging this new tune, "Drunken Sweethearts," but it sounds kind of like a Pavement tune, which is really odd ... but super cool.

Our first show is November 3, and I think we'll be in really good shape for it. I would like to play out once or twice before then, unannounced, just jumping on a bill for a few songs here and there, to get the live jitters out. I'm actually more nervous about having to play in a costume in front of people* than I am about playing drums, but it'd still be nice to get the initial public exposure out of the way under an assumed name.

Overall though, I am really pleased with how we're sounding, we just keep getting tighter and tighter, and louder and louder.

*This is actually something that's causing me a bit of distress. I can be goofy, but i can also be incredibly self-conscious about stupid things. I thought I was okay with costume thing, but as the show gets closer I get more and more nervous about it. I actually woke up from a nightmare about it last night and had trouble getting back to sleep.

Waiting for the gas to push the bubbles upwards.

Waiting for the gas to push the bubbles upwards.

I've literally been sitting and staring at this blank screen for 10 minutes. The thing is, I've been so non-stop busy for the last week or so, I feel like I've finally run out of fuel. I feel like any original ideas I have lie at the bottom of the well, and I need to replenish the water level before they rise high enough for me to reach.

What is today? Wednesday? Lots of stuff going on this weekend, but nothin' tonight. I guess that's good. It'll give me a chance to relax with Photogal and the menagerie, and reload the mental aquifer.

So just how many metaphors did I mix up there?

Also, if ever you need a pick-me-up to help you get through the day, this usually works.

Because I can't be bothered to focus this A.M.

Because I can't be bothered to focus this A.M.

• I really wanted to like the new 1900s album, and that's why I asked to review it, but I was sadly let down by the hype and promise conveyed through other music writers' words. You, however, will have to wait until next month's ish of UR Chicago to see what I'm talking about.
• I had a lovely time celebrating Eric and Danielle's wedding last night, even if I was two inches from running screaming from the bride as she kept asking me when Photogal and I were getting hitched.
• What makes anyone think Photogal actually wants to marry me?!
• The Burlington is, hands down, the bar of 2007. The Continental carried that mantle last year, but now it's time for the new kid on the block to take over.
• I was sorry I missed The Chemical Brothers last night, until I ran into Ed and co., all of whom helpfully informed me that the volume was ear-splittingly -- and for once, not in a good way -- loud. I deal with the possible damage my own drumming does to my ears, I don't need the added worry.
• The (ex?-)owner of Cheetah Gym discovered my Chicagoist articles and responded with thousands of words defending himself. Unfortch, within that sea of text, he also released personal info about employees, as well as unproven accusations, so I had to delete them. After he posted the same thing 5 times I finally had to ban his IP address. I wish someone currently working at Cheetah would just email / call me and fill me in on what really happened. I feel uncomfortable asking that sort of thing right before I hit the elliptical y'know.
• Lucy the Dog is a lovebug.

And, just in case you're one of the three people that hasn't seen this; "Thriller" ... Manila-stylee.

Stop it, you're making me look bad!

Stop it, you're making me look bad!

While I am truly happy to see so many of my friends getting engaged / married in recent weeks, you've all got to cut it out because it's really starting to make me look bad!

Big news at Chicagoist!

Big news at Chicagoist!

I'm running a little late today, and really have to get out the door NOW, but you should be keeping an eye on Chicagoist today. I expand on why May Or May Not is a band to catch today, before the blow up, but that's not the big news. No, the BIG news is very, very exciting. You'll see.

Also, I'm supposed to see The Chemical Brothers tonight, but between a wedding, two band practices, three hour editors' meetings, and the jillion other things I did this weekend, I'm feeling a little worn out. Mebbe I'll be there, mebbe I won't !

Speaking of practice, the band is sounding good, and things are tightening up and getting louder.

Mebbe we should have taken that secret show next Friday ... I think we could've handled it!

UPDATE: Keep just wrote this, and I think it quite nicely sums up the parade of sticks I went through on Saturday:

Most surreal moment of the weekend.
Little flecks of saw dust, hickory floating everywhere, with each hit, beat.
I thought water was dripping from the ceiling.
It was kopeny. Beating up the drums. Poor drums.

Dig The Hood Internet? Dig May Or May Not!

Dig The Hood Internet? Dig May Or May Not!

STV SLV and ABX's band that plays actual instruments is releasing their second album in a week, and they've decided to post the whole thing online for a short period of time so everyone can check it out. I got it a few weeks ago and would say it's well worth buying, so you'd be a fool not to grab it for free RIGHT NOW.

UPDATE: Read the expanded review.

Things to do today.

Things to do today.

• Clean the house
• Work out
• Brunch with Dan, Aaron, and Photogal
• Practice with band
• DJ my friends' wedding
• Try not to play any bad songs
• Drink copious amounts of Maker's
• Stumble blindly around Chicago at 3am with both old college friends and other folk
• Find Photogal, go home, pass out on couch because I am "stinky"

The shark, it has jumped.

The shark, it has jumped.

LOLgod.

America's #1 Best Band.

America's #1 Best Band.

i don't know why I would have thought I could maintain a critical distance from a band I am in, but I can at least preface the following with the honest statement that I've been a fan for Kip's / Balls' / PeePee's / Brian's / Freud's work for many, man years. I long maintained they were an undiscovered Chicago gem, and now I get to play with them, and as I listen to old songs, new demos, and my own drumming on brand new tracks, I can't do anything but break out in a big ol' wide grin.

ACK!tober.

ACK!tober.

I'm no sports fan, but yesterday my little brother sent me the below excerpts from an online chat about baseball with Keith Law, one of ESPN's baseball columnists. My little brother knows me all too well.

Keith Law: So here's my question: Why would MLB create a postseason ad campaign called "actober" starring some comic I've never heard of when they could have made one called "ACK!tober" starring Bill the Cat? I'm sure he's available.

and later in the same chat . . .

Bob (Seattle): Didn't Bill the Cat get busted for using steroids previously? I know he was at least using the nose candy that Dave Parker and Keith Hernandez were in the 80s. Tuba Solo!!!

SportsNationKeith Law: I always enjoyed the fact that he would disappear from the strip for months, with the explanation that he was off on a bender or lying on the bathroom floor in a drug-induced coma or something.

and then this . . .

Michael (ATL): Looking at his early v. late pictures, Opus had to be on steroids, right?

SportsNationKeith Law: His nose was.

Hmmm ... you decide.

All OFFICE, all the time.

All OFFICE, all the time.

Man is OFFICE getting the love lately. Anne over at Transmission has a really nice piece on them today including a good interview with Scott. My only quibble? The band's been around since before 2005, since Scott was playing "Tankboy" shows under the OFFICE moniker years before that.

About those Mystery Jets.

About those Mystery Jets.

The other night Mystery Jets were terrific. Really, really great. Well worth the wait. The room started off pretty empty, with maybe 25 folks, but about three songs into the set the room started to fill in, and by the end there was a pretty decent crowd there for a Tuesday night. The band played a bunch of new songs, and I really like the direction they're going in, as well as a slew of old favorites. I also dug the fact that they've stripped down to a four-piece, although I did notice their old bass player -- the singer's dad -- was in attendance. (Maybe that wasn't him. They called out an older gentleman in the crowd who looked like Henry, but I didn't hear his name, so it seems I was mistaken. CLARIFICATION: It was actually James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco stopping by before his own set at Empty Bottle.) Very cute.

But I thought it was insanely cute that there was a trio of girls smushed up against the font of the stage -- even when the room was just about empty -- acting the role of superfans the whole way through. When they started shouting, "Zoo time! Zoo time! Zoo time! Zoo time! Zoo time!" as the band revved up the song by that title, a little shiver of happiness ran down my back.

If they're coming through your town, I can't t recommend them enough. This could be your chance to say, "I saw them back when."

Hey, We're Back!

Hey, We're Back!

If you enjoyed Dr. Katz Professional Therapist, and who didn't, it's time you check out Jonathan Katz's weekly podcast, Hey, We're back!, since it's full of the same deadpan humor that made his original series so enjoyable. Interviews with Aretha Franklin, constant sparring with directory assistance, and a self-contained tollbooth all pop up within these short (5-7 minute) episodes.

Kat's humor often causes the listener to explode after an unexpected joke, and he's very similar to Woody Allen (in Allen's written work) when it comes to taking his comedy on unexpected twists and fabulous turns. Kind of like Steve Martin's writing too, come to think of it.

Actually, maybe that why I enjoy Katz so much. Much of his humor has a writerly quality to it, but it's kept from stultifying by Katz's easy-going delivery and the naturalistic feeling that projects.