so I'm blasting girl group classics

Oh, are you now? I was planning on putting up a couple Girl Group mixes. One for Big Hits, and then another for Other Hits, then maybe a Lost Gems.

Ooh! I'll be your best friend!

eta: Now playing, "Band of Gold" by Freda Payne. I love this song.

eta: Now playing, "Band of Gold" by Freda Payne. I love this song.

IIRC, that's the Motown house band backing her on a freelance gig.

I can't pick a favorite GbV song - I love so many of them. Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes are pretty much perfect all the way through. My favorite right now would probably be Echoes Myron. Or maybe Motor Away. See???

It's good to live in NYC...

Let's Do This has the scoop on an impromptu Arcade Fire gig that took place down the street from Stereogum HQ late last night. (Via Brooklyn Vegan.)

We're walking up the stairs from the N,R at Union Square, bout 2a.m. Sat night. Couple street musicians are banging out some tune when we get up to the park.

Holy fucking shit.

It’s Arcade Fire.

Covering New Order. Win and Will on guitars. Regine on guitar-case-as-percussion. Why the fuck not?

From Slate, rock snobism simplified:

A vulgar snob—someone wearing Sergio Tachini and flashing his million-gig iPod—would prefer the Steely Dan version [of "Dr. Wu"]. A faux Rock Snob—someone ready in the instant to introduce you to what you don't know—would reflexively prefer the Minutemen [version]; but a true representative of the type Rock Snob would throw both versions on a mixed tape, along with Grenadine's "Steely Daniel" and a boot of the Mountain Goats performing "Doctor Wu" live. Now, that, my friends, is a Rock Snob.

Someone from Arcade Fire was on Soundcheck today. I had it on at work & wasn't paying much attention. Whoever is also in Bell Orchestre.

And a few blocks south of Union Square we find...

COME CELEBRATE THE 30th ANNIVERSARY OF HORSES WITH PATTI SMITH AND HER BAND!

Tuesday, November 8th @ 7:00 PM Tower Records Village 692 Broadway (at 4th Street) New York City

Arrive early space is limited. This exclusive event with Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye, Jay Dee Daugherty and Tony Shanahan will include a Q&A, spoken word and some acoustic songs. Following the performance, Patti and the band will be signing copies of Horses/Horses, the 2-CD 30th anniversary edition of the classic Horses album. Each purchase will also include a free, limited edition Horses/Horses poster.

I'm not a big fan of Horses so it would make a lot more sense to go to the free show than to the gig at BAM later in the month, but since I hate crowds and since Tom Verlaine (& Flea) will be playing the latter show I think I'll skip the free one & maybe go to the one at the anti-CBGB venue.

Speaking of BAM (or at least its cool-albeit-rundown satellite Harvey Theater), I just saw The Winter's Tale this weekend. It was excellent & will be in Berkeley this week and in DC next week. We had $60 seats because we waited until the last minute & that's what was left. I thought it was worth it, but I'm a big fan of the company. If any Bayistas go I think you'll be glad, but I'm not gonna try to talk you into spending $65/seat. (One price & it's $65 -- WTF?) On the other hand DC theater fans should not miss it for $25.

These aren't your mother's hot curlers. The less work-friendly version. I think I have to root for Poland. Or maybe Austria. There's curling in Spain?

It’s Arcade Fire.

After they played their Seattle show, they walked out of the Paramount (and by walked out I mean they went out the front door) with their instruments and started playing on the street corner.

On another subject entirely, why doesn't Seattle have a Virgin Mega Store? When I lived that year in the UK, I practically lived at the Reading location.

One thing that bothers me about Seattle is that the town is really lacking for a destination record store. And by destination I mean either a Megastore or the type of independent/used place where the serendipity keeps you coming back (even if the Championship Vinyl level customer service tries to drive you away).

I used to go down to the Tower Records on Mercer once a month with the intent of walking out with something and different. Now that it's moved and had its soul sucked out of it, though, NSM.

Mine, too, although I spell "favorite" differently.

Not differently, WROUNG!

I just saw The Winter's Tale this weekend. It was excellent & will be in Berkeley this week and in DC next week. We had $60 seats because we waited until the last minute & that's what was left. I thought it was worth it, but I'm a big fan of the company.

I came within a hairsbreadth of seeing that production at the Dublin Theatre Festival. A friend went and said it was the best thing she saw there.

Speaking of BAM (or at least its cool-albeit-rundown satellite Harvey Theater)

Pedant alert: The Harvey is not a satellite of BAM, it is a part of BAM, which considers the Gilman Opera House and the Harvey to be equal theaters, if for different-sized audiences. And there's no albeit about it -- the Harvey was intentionally renovated to look like that, for the run of Peter Brooks's adaptation of the Mahabharata.

I will say that every time I attend a performance and sit in the Harvey's legendarily uncomfortable seats, I am filled with a new awe and respect for those hardy Brooks fans who signed up for a nine hour avant-garde production there. They didn't know what they were in for, and they had to come back a second night. That's a commitment to the arts!