Wow, what a weekend -- Patrick Wolf, quality time with Shearwater and great sets from Xiu Xiu and Casiotone for the Painfully alone. More on all that later, though.

First, we're happy to have to have our very own exclusive content (does that mean we're really in the big leagues now? oh, I crack myself up...) -- an adorable video from the Voxtrot camp of the band's 2006 Fall tour, set to the strains of "Fast Asleep" off the Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives EP: Five boys in a minivan take on the West Coast!



And, the oft-posted -- and in our humble opinion, totally rad -- teaser for the band's self-titled album, out May 22. Yes, it's darker. Yes, it's not so user-friendly as the earlier stuff. We think that's totally okay -- better than okay, even! Totes perfect.

Voxtrot -- Kid Gloves

...the boys hit the road again soon with the similarly adorbable Au Revoir Simone. BOYS VS GIRLS! Be sure to bring mash notes and cupcakes and hugs, they'll need them -- they're sure to leave a string of broken hearts across America!

05-25 Austin, TX - Emo's
05-29 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey
05-30 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
06-01 Portland, OR - Doug Fir
06-02 Seattle, WA - Crocodile Cafe
06-05 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock
06-06 Grand Rapids, MI - Intersection
06-07 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
06-08 Toronto, Ontario - Sneaky Dee's
06-11 Cleveland, OH - Beachland
06-12 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
06-13 Washington, DC - Black Cat
06-14 Boston, MA - Middle East
06-15 New York, NY - Webster Hall
06-16 Philadelphia, PA - Pure

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In other news, I was at what was apparently the nicest of the Patrick Wolf shows around town this weekend -- at Studio B on Friday night. (And apparently, Kelefa Sanneh was there too, but I didn't spot him -- I also didn't see him at Shearwater's Bowery Ballroom set Sunday, but I assume he was there, too.) Anyway, it was an experience, to say the least: I took the bus alone at night! I walked a long way in heels! I waited in line for ages in the cold and put up with the obnoxious kids behind me erroneously discussing the completion of Mozart's Requiem, praising Rasputina and calling the show a "concert" in a most tedious fashion!

Luckily, once inside the venue, there wasn't a massive, disinterested crowd, as was apparently at the Hiro Ballroom on Thursday. (I tried to go to that show after a lovely dinner at Dimple with the lovely Meg, but promptly turned on my heel when I saw the swelling crowd of wannabe hipsters spilling into the street.) Nor was there drama over the passed out, accosted, and finally uh, unemployed drummer (sad, as he had REALLY NICE HAIR), as at Wolf & band's appearance at MisShapes at Don Hill's on Saturday. (Which also I almost attended as well, and then remembered that it would be more fun to stay home and be boring and give myself a manicure and watch Beauty Shop). However, much to everyone's chagrin, there was a party hostess who blathered like an airheaded dj at a radio remote appearance from hell. I mentioned this to the handsome, mustachioed gent next to me, and he agreed. We were also treated to the worst opening band of all time, Dreamburger. I mean really ladies, if you must get up and scream and play synths in front of people, could ya do it without the bad 80's manqués, and maybe practice a little first? Otherwise, do us a favor, and like, don't subject us to your cutesy/disgusting little-girl slumber party singing-into-a-hairbrush stage antics. OKTHX! (PS -- you might want to watch La Brune et Moi for pointers on how to do it right, yo.) Can I also mention that DJs-of-the-Moment Eamon Harkon and The Bangers' sets were underwhelming at best? Oh, I think I can. (That being said, they do generally book great bills, so uh, don't blackball me, or whatever okay, ya'll?)

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah -- really, for all my complaining, I had a great time. Wolf & band (when conscious) put on a hell of a show -- even if it was a mere 30 minutes long. He has about the most compelling stage presence I've seen in a long, long time -- in a completely organic and charming yet totally and completly affected way, he rocks the punk rock queer Puck role flawlessly, at that liminal point where New Romantic stage melodramatics, Rufus Wainwright, Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy), Antony, and well, yeah Rasputina and their ilk all collide. (No wonder he's such a hit with the LiveJournal set..!)

Much like Eddie Izzard as megalomaniac manager Jerry in Velvet Goldmine -- someone at Universal probably has dollar signs in their eyes right about now, given that the door girl was walking up and down the block outside the club, screaming to make sure no one in the plebian cash-only/will-call line was a guest-listed label VIP. And Wolf's giddy scream-inducing stage antics can't be hurt by that 8.3 review in Pitchfork, either. (Meanwhile, I was totally won over by his cover of Kelly Marie's "Feels Like I'm In Love" -- at least I think that's what it was..? Confirmations/corrections appreciated.)

The hype couldn't be more clearly deserved, IMHO.





Wolf-y selections from the archive:


Patrick Wolf -- Accident and Emergency
Annie -- Hopeless Fool For Love (Patrick Wolf Remix) [which I originally described as "the ABBA-from-another planet remix"]

[photo courtesty of Kathryn Yu]

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And later ... how I actually physically enabled Shearwater's Kim Burke in the signing of her contract with Matador on the downstairs bar the Bowery Ballroom -- by providing a pen! (Hahahahaha!) But seriously, y'all. Go buy the new version of Palo Santo tomorrow, okay? OKAY! It's sooooo pretty! You'll see! (Really, this necessitates a hard copy and not the iTunes version, all you packaging fetishists!)