Robert Levon Been of BRMC.

Saw BRMC last Tuesday. Not surprisingly their sound lends itself pretty well to a live setting, even given the slightly more reserved nature of their newest LP.

Last time I saw them they seemed a little sullen, but this time not so much. OK, so being in a band named Black Rebel Motorcycle Club rules out the possibility of friendly stage banter and non-black clothing, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves and were appreciative of the crowd's enthusiasm. Peter Taylor--sporting kind of a greaser look as opposed to his usual carefully-groomed disheveled look--came out and opened the set with a few of Howl's acoustic numbers before Robert Been and Nick Jago joined him on stage to plug in. They played a fair amount from all three albums, though less from Take Them On, On Your Own. Of my ten favorite songs, only "Heart + Soul," "Generation," and "Red Eyes and Tears" didn't make the cut, so I was cool with that.

And as I expected, the quasi-retarded girl who makes a habit of attending shows in Boston and ramming into people while dancing was also there. I wouldn't bring this up if the girl was actually retarded, nor would I simply make fun of an ugly girl just because she was ugly. But this girl is probably the most annoying recurring concert-goer I know of, in fact the only annoying recurring concert-goer I can think of. Dancing is fine, but continually jostling people as you constantly move from one part of the crowd to another isn't.

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As posted everywhere, another new Strokes song leaked:

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The Rapture have been really annoying...it's amazing how bands with decent followings allow themselves to go completely under the radar and leave their fans totally out of the loop. Seriously, just post something every six months on your fucking website. Sorry, I'm bitter. Anyway, here's some news finally.

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I've been anti-hybrid for a while, here's more reasons why.

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Thank you Rosa and Ken for helping me with my Damien Rice request.

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I often read Pitchfork's track reviews but there's one thing I don't get. Why review obscure songs by obscure artists which you give bad ratings to? I understand reviewing albums which aren't great, but it seems like the track reviews should be used to find lesser-known songs that are actually good.