I think Sacha Baron Cohen AKA the one and only ALI G is handsome

Check out this photo of the man himself and his girl.

Do you dig the new Strokes video?

It stars the band manager Ryan Gentiles as well as Eva Mendes and Mila Kunis.

High Bandwidth

Medium Bandwidth

Low Bandwith

I had a celebrity spotting on Saturday night

I was at the Mercury Lounge to see Gibby Haynes And His Problem. It was a fun show. Super packed. Small venue and even smaller bathroom. It was in the bathroom that I stood behind a glamorous and thin Renée Zellweger. She was there to cheer on her fellow Texan Gibby. I heard her say she knew him from the old days with his band The Butthole Surfers. Her hair was brown and she had a fancy Chanel bag hanging from her shoulder. No Jack White with her though. My friend was mad that I didn't ask her where Jack was. No way!

What happened to Le Tigre?????

Click on the link above to hear Le Tigre's cover of "I'm So Excited". Made famous in the '80s by The Pointer Sisters. I'm not sure I'm looking forward to hearing their new upcoming album. This cover is not quite cutting it for me.

HIP HOPPING!

I was at this launch party the other night for The Alchemist at S.O.B.'s. Check out the photos.

There is a reason they are my current FAVE band!

Check out the BRAND NEW video for FRANZ FERDINAND for "This Fire". The next US single. It's definitely ON FIRE!!!!!! Rock on.

For all you bored and jaded industry types, there's a new game in town.

Check out Pop Montreal - happening Sept 29th- Oct 3rd

Featuring: A performances by psych rock legend Michael Yonkers, an intimate loft show by The Dears, a screening of Jandek on Corewood, a Q and A with Ian Mackaye, lots of next level shit like Les Nonnes Flinguees, Malajube and Zombi.

There's also over 250 bands playing.

Here's a list of some of the confirmed artists:

The Weakerthans
Franz Ferdinand
The Unicorns
Mission of Burma
Matisyahu
Beans
Kool Keith
DJ Vadim
The Black Keys
Constantines
Jim Guthrie
Martina Sorbara
The Trews
Q and Not U
The Delays
Pit er Pat
Subtitle
Magnolia Electric Co.
Death from Above 1979
Money Money
Metric
Barcelona Pavillion
Genevieve et Mathieu
Les Georges Leningrad
The Hold Steady
Controller.Controller
An Albatross
Desormais
Mixel Pixel
The Unireverse
Les Angles Morts
The Russian Futurists
Tricky Woo
Jorane
Illuminati
Starvin Hungry
The Besnard Lakes

and lot's more

Check out my friend Dustin's rad website

This summer Dustin Rabin embarked on the 2004 Vans Warped Tour to document the biggest and best touring festival of its kind. He had the opportunity to ride along with The (International) Noise Conspiracy and photograph them onstage, as well as Billy Talent, Lars Frederiksen And The Bastards, Alexisonfire, and extreme athletes Rick Thorne and Steve Caballero! He’s compiled his favourite concert and candid photos in a Flash movie on his website. This photo gallery will be online for a limited time only.

UPPER NORTH SIDE

A great website for Canadian happenings in New York City. I'm going to check out Sam Roberts and The Tragically Hip on Wednesday. And there is another show I would like to check out that same night featuring two other wicked Canadian bands - Metric and Death From Above 1979 - at the Bowery Ballroom.

Where I was on Sunday night????

Got this from Gawker Stalker:

"Sunday evening, I saw Justin Theroux, from Six Feet Under (Brenda's last S&M boy), outside 7B (bar on...you guessed it...7th and Ave B). He looked skinnier in real life and was sporting a bit of a faux-hawk, but totally cut in a grungy/east village/could be a hot local bartender way."

Someday I will see him in the east village!

MUST DESTROY MUSIC

A chap I know named Ian Johnson runs a small indie label in the UK called Must Destroy Music. He signed The Darkness and released a single of theirs that debuted in the charts before they signed with Atlantic Records.

I just read in Music Week magazine that Must Destroy Music just signed a long-term label deal with Atlantic Records.

The first act signed under the new deal will be DO ME BAD THINGS. Be on the lookout for them. Rock on.

Now this is something.

I've eaten at this famous Jewish deli. Next time I'll be sure to say hello to the new host Al Goldstein formerly of Screw magazine

THE DONNAS ARE BACK

I was also at this party at Rothko on Monday night for The Donnas. They are back with a new album. Rock on ladies!

WISH I WAS IN LONDON LAST NIGHT!

Thom Yorke joined REM on stage last night at an intimate gig in London to promote the band's forthcoming album Around The Sun.

VICE MADNESS - pics from the VICE fashion show after party

I went to see Snow Patrol on Tuesday night at Irving Plaza. I got to hang with Matthew, Courtney, Colleen and Nils. The crowd was psyched and the band put on a really good show! Then my friend Beth lured me to the Vice fashion show after party at Happy Ending. I went since it was close to my place. Tommie Sunshine was killing it on the decks. I got to hang with Beth, Andy, Jim, Damon, Adam, Elliot and my roommate Mandana. It was fun. Just as I was leaving, a guy took a photo of me and Beth. If you scroll down to the 22 row of pix - the first shot on the left is myself and Beth. I could have used a tad more make-up...that's for sure...but it's still a good shot. Word.

THE NEW DATING TREND IN NEW YORK CITY! This article is SPOT ON!

FASHION ROCKS!

Last night I worked at a Conde Nast after-party for the FASHION ROCKS event at the Rainbow Room on the 65th floor of NBC studios. I checked in the following people:

Rod Stewart, Ron Wood, Keith Richards' daughters, Tyson Beckford, Fonzworth Bentley, Naomi Campbell, Steven Cojocaru, JC Chazez (formerly of N*SYNC), photographer Patick McMullen, and many more.

It was fun fun fun!

P Diddy says "Vote Or Die"...you don't have to be quite that extreme...

"Activate" is a guide to the politically oriented music, art, film, and events happening in this election season. Sign up for the weekly newsletter. It's over 30,000 people strong so far.

FRANZ FERDINAND RULES!!!!!!!!

Franz Ferdinand Scoop Mercury Prize:
Scottish art-rockers Franz Ferdinand tonight scooped the prestigious Mercury music prize with their debut album.

The Glasgow-based four-piece band were firm favourites with the bookies to win the honour and walked away with a £20,000 cheque.

Their debut album has sold over a million copies worldwide since its release in February this year and has also been heavily praised by the music critics.

Franz Ferdinand stormed the charts with a manifesto to make girls dance using guitar riffs last heard amid the death throes of punk.

When are reality shows going to end?????

Original castaway Bob Denver lashes out at plans to remake Gilligan's
Island as a reality TV show—complete with a real-life skipper, a
millionaire couple, a professor, a movie star, and an innocent farm girl.

SOME KIND WORDS FOR MR. DULLI & FRIENDS

Here are some reviews of the new Twilight Singers album 'She Loves You' for your reading pleasure.

(FYI - the first one is written by my good friend in Toronto Stuart Berman.)

THE TWILIGHT SINGERS 'She Loves You' One Little Indian

Eye magazine Toronto 4 out of 5
Greg Dulli's never been shy when it comes to exposing himself -- whether it's the darkest impulses in his bourbon-soaked heart, or just his record collection. Or, in the case of his latest Twilight Singers album, both at the same time. Just as his former band, The Afghan Whigs, could drop a Prince or Supremes cover with the flick of an ash, She Loves Youoffers 11 shots of hot-covered soul, ranging from Billie Holliday to Coltrane to Fleetwood Mac to Mary J. Blige,and unlike the Twilights' cover of "Hey Ya!" currently making the mp3-blog rounds, the exercise never feels like audience-baiting novelty. If anything, Dulli does an expert job of twisting this disparate songbook to suit his perpetual last-call world. Not every song is a perfect fit -- Mary J.'s "Real Love" is essentially reduced to adult-contemporary soft-rock. But on the best moments -- like a climactic, slow-surging take of Nina Simone's "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair" -- Dulli strikes that ingenious balance of showing utmost respect for his source material while hijacking it for his own devious ends. STUART BERMAN

Now magazine Toronto - 3 out of 5
Greg Dulli's curse is that back in 93 he was responsible for one of the top 10 albums of the decade and a sure contender for the top 100 pop albums of all time. On the Afghan Whigs' Gentlemen, his Catholic guilt and debonair shit-talking fused into the perfect soul music confessional, establishing him as the true heir to Otis Redding's Mr. Pitiful. With his strange brew of disturbingly exposed male emotion and apologetically selfish malice, Dulli became alt-rock's one and only soul man. Ever since, he's been struggling to get people to understand him in that R&B context. She Loves You hugs the soul tradition, laying down an album of standards both new and vintage. His versions of Björk's Hyperballad and Billy Holiday's Strange Fruit are quintessential Dulli. DYLAN YOUNG

From New York Magazine - here's an excellent article on the Twilight Singers album and the new Mark Lanegan solo album.

AND THIS JUST IN - next TWILIGHT SINGERS show is during CMJ in NYC!!

On the heels of a successful mini-tour through Europe, Greg Dulli's Twilight Singers will be performing select dates on the east coast.

10.13 Philadelphia, PA - North Star
10.14 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom (late show - 1 AM, CMJ. Limited badges honored)
10.15 Cambridge, MA - Middle East

I'm trying to decide if this is cheesy!

'Extra' takes spin with McGrath

Mark McGrath, lead singer of the rock band Sugar Ray, is joining "Extra" in the latest on-air change at syndicated entertainment newsmagazines. McGrath will join Dayna Devon as co-host of the show when its 11th season starts Sept. 13. Devon was the sole host of the show, but executives said that adding a male co-host was something the producers had been weighing for some time.

I was fortunate enough to get to meet The Cardigans the other night after their show at Webster Hall. And not only did I get to chat with all the members but I also met Minnie Driver (who has a recording deal and is now a singer) and James Iha (formerly of Smashing Pumpkins and A Perfect Circle) in their dressing room. Life is weird sometimes.

YOU MUST SEE THE MOVIE GARDEN STATE!

I absolutely loved it! You know that a movie touches you when you are in the shower the next day after seeing it and you think about certain scenes. It made me think about life, love, family, friends, music, etc. Very moving!

Zach Braff did an excellent job on it. He wrote, directed and starred in the film. I have to admit that I have never watched his show Scrubs so I am not that familiar with his acting abilities. But he should write and direct more movies. And the music used in the film is amazing and the soundtrack is fantastic! Here's a review from Amazon.com

Writer and director Zach Braff does a masterful job matching the charming, heartfelt tone of classic films like The Graduate and Rushmore in his motion picture debut, Garden State, so it only makes sense that the music he personally compiled for the soundtrack plays just as big a part here as it did in those films. Simon & Garfunkel's languorous "The Only Living Boy in New York" is an obvious thread, but aside from Nick Drake's "One of These Things First," Braff is able to carry the mood without getting tripped up in the past. Frou Frou's "Let Go" and Zero 7's "In the Waiting Line" supply soft techno touches, while Iron & Wine's "Such Great Heights" and former Men at Work singer Colin Hay's "I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You" offer understated angst. It's a pair of emotionally racked contributions from the Shins ("Caring is Creepy," "New Slang"), however, that really make this compilation a must-have.

Here's one of the things ZACH himself says about Garden State on the movie weblog:

"What Garden State's really about is how short life is. And how we get caught up in so many entanglements and insecurities and worries and obsessions and trivial arguments while life races right by us shaking it's head at how seriously we take ourselves. Keep in mind that the sun's gonna burn out in about a million years and truly nothing will have mattered."

You can read the blog for yourself if you'd like.