sonic slang

The Hold Steady Digs Cooking

The Hold Steady shilling for Top Chef?  I mean, it's a cool show and all, but Craig Finn always struck me as more of a Hamburger Helper kind of guy.  [via Pitchfork]

Pearl Jam on The Tonight Show - "Get Some"

If you didn't stay up to watch Conan's debut on The Tonight Show, you missed out not only on the yucks.  Pearl Jam closed the show by debuting a track of this fall's new LP, Backspacer. 

Happily, "Get Some" hints that Eddie and co. haven't stepped back from the riff-heavy hard rock sound of their last self-titled LP.  In fact, the blistering tune would probably fit nicely on Vs., and the band sounded as hungry as ever.  Good stuff.

Beastie Boys/Roots - "So What'cha Want"

Other than a bizarrely awesome name, we still know very little about the upcoming Beastie Boys LP.  But I must admit that the band's appearance on Jimmy Fallon, complete with a Roots-backed performance of "So What'cha Want," has me pretty pumped to hear some new beats.  Hopefully Bonnaroo will give a sneak peek...

The Killers on SNL

The Killers' Brandon Flowers will tell you that Sam's Town was a huge success, but the critical thrashing some bloggers - especially those that drooled over Hot Fuss - gave the Springsteen-aping disc, had to take a toll.  In fact, last night's performance on Saturday Night Live, featuring new track "Human" and "Spaceman," showed us a band eagerly trading windswept guitar riffs for twitchy synth beats and Flowers doing the robot. 

My gut tells me that Day & Age (due 11.24) might be going too far into dance territory (Hot Fuss was more Duran Duran than Pet Shop Boys), but at least they've left the glockenspiel behind.

Listen to lead single "Human" at the band's official site, and check out the full Day & Age tracklist after the jump.

Marc Broussard Live on Conan

Hopefully ya'll got a chance to check out Marc Broussard's new album stream at AOL Music.  The Louisiana singer/songwriter swung by Conan on Monday night and put on a rousing rendition of "Keep Coming Back" that showcased his old-school Southern funk/blue-eyed soul vibe. Dig it.

New Obama Ad Featuring The National

Normally this isn't a forum for partisan politics, but after last night's shockingly smug speech by former "Mayor of America" Rudy Giuliani, I figured what the hell.  (And it just happens to be backed by an instrumental version of The National's "Fake Empire.").  Enjoy after the jump.

Chris Cornell on The Tonight Show

What the hell happened to Chris Cornell?  I mean, my god.  Granted, I never fell in love with Audioslave, but just between the years with Soundgarden (Superunkown should have made those guys as big as Pearl Jam), and his first solo disc Euphoria Morning, who could have ever expected the anemic arena riffs of Carry On?  What's worse, now that disc sounds like freakin' genius compared to "Long Gone," the lead single off the forthcoming Scream.

Check out the clip from The Tonight Show after the jump - Even Leno thinks he sucks.

Pitchfork.TV Partners with IFC

I didn't hold out a lot of hope for Pitchfork.tv when it first launched earlier this year, and up to now the site hasn't exactly blown up the internets.  (The video-focused spin-off reported only about 1/8 the traffic of its parent site in July, according to Compete.com.)  But with today's announced IFC partnership, things could get interesting.  Sure, hipsters are notoriously fickle about watching the boob tube, but since IFC's programming includes such fare as Wilfred the pot-smoking dog, and The Whitest Kids You Know, this might actually work out.

The Hold Steady on Letterman

Though i did catch the actually pretty funny skit where Andy Kindler interviews Craig Finn ("You look like me!"), I dozed off before The Hold Steady played "Sequestered in Memphis."  God bless you, Internet!  PS, watch till then end when Dave comes out for his obligatory handshakes - I think he's a fan, eh?

Check it out after the jump

Flight of the Conchords Grab Four Emmy Nods

Flight of the Conchords got shut out of the big categories in today's Emmy nominations, but did grab 4 nods in the categories they record earlier, show in an on-screen summary, or hand out to whoever makes it to the stage first. (Kidding - they're actually in writing, directing and music, but Jermaine's hilariously awkward "Best Actor" acceptance speech in my dreams will have to wait.)

"The Most Beautiful Girl (In The Room)" and "Inner City Pressure" both got deserved attention, but neither of them top "Hiphopopotamus Vs. Rhymenoceros" (for lyrical hilarity) and "Ladies of the World" (for being better than 99% of the sexed up R&B it's lampooning.)