Blondes Not Bombs

Did you actually need another reason to pick up the Flight of the Conchords disc? No. You didn't. But just in case you've been dragging your heels, I feel its my duty to tell you that the disc packaging includes not only a pop-up illustration of Bret and Jemaine, but a mind-bending two-sided poster that you can slap on the coolerator or keep neatly folded up for decades to come.

If you've been sound asleep for the past 12 months: Flight of the Conchords is a half hour HBO comedy series about a pair of twenty-something New Zealanders trying to drive their band to the big time via Manhattan's Lower East Side. The duo have a pathetic but well-meaning New Zealander manager, one fan/stalker, and some songs that make you want to alternately shake 'em on down and piss yourself laughing.

The rest of the show, the characters, the situations all defy description. It's geek chic nirvana, and brilliant beyond words.

(Hardly Strictly) Dodger Dogs

Our small crew descended on Loge Box 150 at Dodgers Stadium yesterday armed with some unbelievable hand made bento box lunches (courtesy of my wife the blessed overachiever). You're looking at smoked salmon cut rolls, sauteed gobo root, mashed sweet potato, tamagoyaki, and bbq beef. Unfortunately once the Japanese-style lunch was finished, so was Hiroki Kuroda's Japanese-style no hitter. Held to zero hits throughout over 6 innings, the Astros came firing back for an 8-5 win over Dodger Blue.

A Rare Pilgrimage

I made an increasingly rare trip to Amoeba last weekend to make a couple of purchases. In my sights: Elvis Costello's new "Momofuku", and Hayden's "In Town & Country". The main motivator was that as of last weekend "Momofuku" was only available on vinyl. That's right baby, I took the bait.

Amoeba was pretty much the same as always, only noticeably much more breathing room for Saturday at noon. We had no trouble parking underneath the building and at no time did I have to step over someone's dog or baby stroller while checking out the bins. People still tell me that Amoeba is doing great!, but the slim Saturday attendance hints otherwise.

So on to the music. I'm starting to think about the new Elvis Costello record in this light: the songs I'm hearing are good, but I'm not hearing much that has the mark of real Costello genius. Momofuku comes on the heels of a few truly magnificent records: North, Delivery Man, and The River In Reverse. By comparison this one feels extremely undeveloped (or raw, if you're feeling generous). Don't get me wrong. It's not bad work. But would the world have noticed if Momofuku had never been released? Probably not. I felt the same way about "When I Was Cruel".

The Hayden record is simply the next in a line of spectacular and intimate works from a shamefully under-recognized Canadian. This is the record that will haunt your summer. Buy it. If you don't own his Elk Lake Serenade from 2004, buy that too.

The Return of the Rhinestone Cowboy

Glen Campbell is on the cusp of some big stuff. He has a new album "Meet Glen Campbell" (featuring covers of Tom Petty, Paul Westerberg, U2, etc) due in August, and all accounts seem to align that his show at last weekend's Stagecoach festival in Indio was stellar. I actually had the good fortune to be invited to the Thursday night rehearsal in Burbank before the Stagecoach show so I can say with some certainty that this is all worthy of anticipation.