First Legos, now yarn. Design in Motion has an article on Michel Gondry’s next video, made for the group Steriogram’s “Walkie Talkie Man”.

“Poppy”, by TV on the Radio.

The Get Up Kids site is getting some content in anticipation of their upcoming release, Guilt Show. There’s an MP3 of a new song called “Martyr Me”, as well as a video that covers some of the making of the album, most of which was shot at their own Twin Peaks-inspired recording studio, Black Lodge (note the checkered floor in some parts of the video).

The GUK’s previous album, On A Wire, made my list of most disappointing releases of 2002, for, in my opinion, being rather flat. There wasn’t enough rocking.

Guilt Show is out March 2nd on Vagrant, and hopefully it will rock the fuck out like GUK’s earlier albums.

A group of [not-so-new] articles at The Austin Chronicle on Explosions In The Sky:

Born on the Fourth of July, where a history of EITS is given, as well as an explanation for my only complaint about their latest album (that “Six Days At The Bottom Of The Ocean” ends kind of abruptly);

Explosions in the Cinema, where EITS give props to every Bottle Rocket fan;

& The Classical Perspective, where Austin Symphony conductor Peter Bay hears EITS for the first time, and compares them to Philip “Just An Evening?” Glass. [via kerm.net]

The Dan Band — they played the wedding in Old School. They have a CD of the two songs they covered in the movie, plus one other (although at $7, the price is kind of steep). According to IMDb, the singer, Dan (if not the whole band), will do a Bat Mitzvah in Todd Phillips’ next film, Starsky & Hutch.

Maritime, featuring Davey von Bohlen and Dan Didier, formerly of Promise Ring, and Eric Axelson, formerly of Dismemberment Plan — I finally heard their Adios EP and it’s pretty good. It picks up exactly where PR’s Wood/Water left off.

If it’s possible to reach a conclusion based on only two of its releases, 2004 is shaping up to be a bad year in music. I’m not even sure if Liars’ They Were Wrong So We Drowned counts as “music”. There is a whole lot of chanting and some erratic beats, but it’s not listenable. (A shame, too, ’cause I really like They Threw Us All In A Trench And Stuck A Monument On Top.)

And Trans Am? Despite Thrill Jockey’s assurances, Trans Am’s upcoming Liberation is more synth bullshit. The album’s lead-off track, “Outmoder”, does a good job at fooling the listener into thinking it’s the Trans Am of old, but that illusion is over once track two starts (“Uninvited Guest”, featuring that recut GW Bush State of the Union with some synth underneath). I guess it’s not as bad as last year’s TA. “Outmoder” and “June” are keepers, and “Pretty Close to the Edge” is interesting (it reminds me of one of the TransChamps tracks). On the other hand, I would love for someone to explain to me what the fuck “White Rhino” is supposed to be. Or, describe to me a situation where one would intentionally listen to that song. I can’t think of any.

Update [Dec.08]: I’ve listened to Liberation a few more times, and it’s not as bad as I stated above. The guitar-to-synth ratio is higher than I first gathered, so that’s good. But I stand by what I said about “White Rhino” (and what I said about that Liars disc).

The Mars Volta show last night was the only show I’ve been to where the encore was the just the end of the fucking last song of the proper set. Thanks for coming back to finish, guys. And thanks, too, for the five fucking minutes of guitar tech while we waited for you all to come back on stage.