A Mighty Windup?

Spinal Tap annouced they will tour this Spring without theatrics or electrics.

Seriously? I'm suddenly not that disappointed to know they're skipping over Pittsburgh for freaking Columbus.

M. Ward on the smallscreen

Since M. Ward won’t be passing through Pittsburgh this spring, unless you’re making the trek to DC this weekend you’ll have to settle for a few small-screen appearances.

You can check him out tomorrow on the web when he performs at 7:00 pm EST at www.npr.org. The session will be followed by an interview (or a “chat” as Irish folks and, apparently, NPR like to call it).

And/or, set your Tivo, DVR, VCR, or whatever you need to do to catch him playing tomorrow night on Letterman (11:30 pm EST).

Album Review: It's Not Me, It's You

If half of all pop sounded half as good as Lily Allen, my dial wouldn’t move from B-94 (if B-94 is even still around). Lily’s new album, It’s Not Me, It’s You, is set to drop in exactly one week, but as per the recent norm she’s streaming it today on her MySpace, so that’s where I’m dialed in right now, and loving it.

Though the sound is no huge departure from Alright, Still (that’s a good thing), Not Me packs in some great, unexpected touches. My favorite might be the banjo interlude on “Not Fair,” an open break-up note born out of sexual frustration. Lyrically, Lily’s as pithy and funny as ever, and just slightly more introspective—charming to the max.

Only one disappointment on first listen: my favorite tracks (“The Fear,” “I Could Say,” and “Who’d Have Known”) are the same three that Lily put out months ago as demos. I love all three though, so that’s not really a complaint or critique.

Unfortunately, as with so many successful mid-size acts, the closest Lily will get to Pittsburgh on her brief U.S. spring tour will be D.C., a drive I’ve historically reserved for the likes of Wilco and M. Ward. Sorry, Lily. I could say I’ll be there for you but, to borrow a phrase, "that would be a lie, and quite a pointless thing to do."

SITKOT rating: 47 out of 57

Download:
Lily Allen – “The Fear” (demo, released as “I Don’t Know”) (Mediafire link)

Hold Tight

In my mind, some albums still merit the commitment of a trip down to the record store for an old-fashioned hard-copy purchase, and for my money anything in M. Ward’s catalog is deserving of that excursion. So when he put out “Post-War” way back in August of 2006, I purchased my copy as I set out on a California road trip the day after that album’s release. Regretfully, a good portion of it had already been leaked, and I will confess to having loved ten of its thirteen tracks well before sliding that CD into my rental car’s stereo, which made that moment somewhat less thrilling.

This year, as we prepare for “Hold Time” to drop on February 17, I have vowed to resist the urge. Rather than taste the tracks one or two at a time in the pitiful confines of my office, I plan to take it in all at once, on a solid sound-system and in the warmth of my home or a friend’s.

But people are making it hard for me, starting with the man himself.

I didn’t plan to listen to the title track last month. I just wanted to check the website, see if any new shows had been scheduled (coming soon will be my open letter to M. in which I plead for him to return to Pittsburgh), maybe check out some news updates. But instead I saw the video for “Hold Time” streaming on the little TV in the corner, and so, feebly, I dialed up the volume on my two-watt desktop speakers and listened. And I was not disappointed with the tune so much as I was with myself.

In truth, it's a beautiful song, evocative of the mellow title track off Ward's last record and, after taking it in and thinking it over, I decided that my exposure to one track won’t ruin my overall experience of “Hold Time.” But I also decided not to stray beyond that one, though I’ve been tempted.

The leaks are out there, especially this week, as NPR has begun to stream the record in its entirety (as they’ve also done with Andrew Bird’s forthcoming “Noble Beast”). I could sit down this weekend, pour a glass of port, wire up my laptop to my receiver and enjoy the album right off the web. But it might not be as satisfying, and I don’t rightly know if I want to take that risk this time around. So for now, I wait.