The new Broken Social Scene album is coming 10/4/05, and the first single is available for free as a zip from Arts & Crafts. Btw, that's Leslie Feist handling vocal duties.

Broken Social Scene / "7/4 (Shoreline)" (.zip file)

The eponymously-titled album also features a song called "Handjobs for the Holidays," so you know it's gonna be good.

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Speaking of Broken Social Scene...sometimes-BSS vocalist Emily Haines and her band Metric are releasing their new album on the same day. None of these are new, but they're all eminently decent.

Metric / "Combat Baby" (Between Thought & Expression)
Metric / "Succexy" (buscate un novio)
Metric / "Grow Up and Blow Away" (MOKB)



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The new BRMC is streaming right here and sounding a little meh, but there are a few really good ones in there as well. Check out "Weight of the World," "Sympathetic Noose," and "The Line." As a whole the album is a lot chiller, bluesier, and throwbackish than previous efforts.

Singer/guitarist Peter Taylor was previously in BJM for a little while, and it's now beginning to sound like it. The two bands will also be touring the UK together this fall.

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What I'm DVRing:

"Lost" (ABC, Wednesdays@10)
I have been watching the show on re-runs to catch up and I have to say I'm quite a fan. I'm normally resistant to shows with so much hype (my musical tendencies boiling over), but it seemed like an interesting concept and it's executed exceptionally well. I never watched "Party of Five" (obviously) but my impression was that Matthew Fox was something of a pretty boy/lightweight actor...well, he's pretty damn good as the central character in "Lost." The best part of the show however is how they slowly unveil the backstories of each survivor, tying their past into the storylines on the island. Some of the plotlines are a little hokey, but it's a great show.

"Rescue Me" (FX, Tuedays&10)
Fox has a staggering ability to develop new and absolutely horrible shows. Take away the obvious brilliance of Arrested Development (the best show on TV according to everyone I know who has ever seen the show) and Family Guy and you've got a weekly barrage of downright awful television. And I mean awful. This is the network that brought us "Life on a Stick," "Stacked," and the forthcoming terrible, terrible Michael Rappaport vehicle "The War at Home." I have not seen this show nor will I ever, yet from the promos they've been running it's obvious this show is the television equivalent of having a grenade go off in your mouth.

And yet FX, Fox's basic cable cousin, just keeps cranking out quality. What's the deal? I've never had the time to get into "Nip/Tuck" or "The Shield," but I've seen every episode this season of Denis Leary's firehouse drama "Rescue Me." Leary can be pretty polarizing and I've never been a fan of his standup or...most everything else he's done, with the exception of his short-lived ABC Cop dramedy "The Job." But this show approaches a lot of serious topics--drug addiction, alzheimer's, homosexuality, fidelity, divorce, miscarriage, religion, sex abuse, et al--and wills them into a sharp yet somehow never too high-handed drama. Leary's continual bitterness and asshole sensibility defray the seriousness rather perfectly. I still haven't seen the first season, but it's the kind of show where I almost don't even want to bother--just keep showing me what happens next.

"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" (FX Thursdays@10:30)
This is a brand new show on FX which is written by three of the four main characters. Revolving around four friends (three guys and a girl) in their late-20s who own a bar in Philadelphia, it's a multi-camera, on location show which is quirky-funny. Only two episodes have been on so far, and while not a knockout, it looks very promising. Charlie Day and Rob MeElhenney are especially good.

"Starved" (FX, Thursdays@10)
Starved is a show created by star Eric Schaeffer, who is one of those "that guy" type actors--not attractive or talented enough to be a star, but he pops up in shows, movies, and commercials from time to time. "Starved" has generated its share of controversy due to its primary subject matter: eating disorders.

While it portrays four friends each dealing with various eating disorders, it's hardly an afer-school special and instead relates the everdayness of their problems. More specifically, we see how their obsessive approaches to eating and weight leak into the rest of their lives, and in that way the show is really about obsession, insecurity, and addiction in general. Given that eating disorders themselves are a rather taboo subject for comedy it's a pretty fresh concept. Each of the main characters has dealt with eating disorders of some sort, and it's valuable to see how such disorders stretch across age, gender, and body types.

"Reno 911" (Comedy Central, Tuesdays@10)
I won't go into too much detail here because I've loved this show since it started three seasons ago. I thought the second season was weaker than the first (with the exception of Trudy's love affair with dorky serial killer Craig), but the third season has been better and about as good as the first. Dangle is one of the best characters in comedy and Travis Junior is fast become one of my faves as well, and there's no better perp than Terry.

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I just spent $225 on an authentic Ben Sheets Brewers road jersey. This was a super-difficult purchase because I had to pick between Brewers' rookie phenom Rickie Weeks and my personal favorite player Sheets. I actually polled my friends/coworkers who follow baseball as well as the Bucks message board which I use for my basketball info. Everyone said Weeks, because his potential is absolutely frightening. But you gotta go with your favorite player I think. Also simplifying the decision was the fact that Sheets has pitched 9 innings in his last three starts while only allowing four runs. The man is a beast. That said, I'll probably buy a Weeks jersey next year, because the kid is that good. (edit: of course, Sheets got blown the fuck up last night in Colorado).



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I certainly wouldn't call myself a Jason Mraz fan...I don't listen to his music but I would say I also don't have an active disdain for him. Anyway, I thought his new album's title was pretty clever: Mr. A-Z Get it? Like his last name. Anyway, here's Rolling Stone's review of the album, which apparently does not live up to the supreme cleverness of the title.