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Fred and Marion are a real couple in their band, The Lovers. They're currently based out of Sheffield and play off French stereotypes, such as they all dress in French maid costumes and love their wine and sex.

Today, the latest installment in the Harry Potter film series was released. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the fifth film based on the popular book series by J.K. Rowling. So, it's only fitting that I post some Harry Potter related music.

The first Saint Etienne song I ever heard was 'He's On the Phone'-- I think it was on Rodney Bingenheimer's radio show. Prior to that I'd been curious about them because I kept seeing ads for their Too Young to Die compilation in magazines like Select and Vox, and I thought their name sounded cool (I was 16, okay?). I'm terrible when it comes to identifying genres but for me there's no other way to describe this song than: dance-pop. Pure, triumphant, sparkling, fabulous dance-pop. Every time I've seen them live this song turns the floor into a madhouse. Saint Etienne have loads of good songs but there's just something about this song. I like their final version the best but there are several different incarnations of this song.

Please note: that although these events are advertised as "Sold Out" on the venue's calendar listing, there will always be some reserve tickets available at the door. It's usually first come, first serve, so get there early if you truly want to get in the show.

By popular request... ok one person mentioned it in a comment to the MoneySavingExpert post, but what the hell... The Manics' Nat West - Barclays - Midlands - Lloyds. I don't know if you have them in the states, but they were four large banks around when the song was written. I think Midlands possibly got took over by HSBC... at least there's not many branches around anymore... oh why the hell am I writing this...

The song is not really about Mike Piazza, but more or less a love song. If you follow the lyrics, Stuart Murdoch, is reminiscencing about the time he shared his love of baseball and how they hung around the Giants' Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The lyrics are very colorful and descriptive.

Hey, this is Vu on the road. I have the following pre-written offline on my trusty laptop and I'm hoping to get an internet connection to upload the content before I leave for home (I won't be back until Tuesday).

Some openly gays, lesbians, and hetereosexuals will say that HG is really offensive, because, as you have probably guess, Sumitani is not gay. Personally, I think he's misunderstood, and that it is just a comedy act.

Milton Bradley commissioned Reuben Klamer to come up with an idea for their 100th anniversary, in 1959. Klamer invented "The Game of Life", inspired by a "Checkered Game of Life" game board he saw in the Milton Bradley archives.

Mark brought over his DVD, "The World's Funnyman" (2006), and we watched a little bit of this. The best special feature I've ever seen, hands down, is the "FBI Warning" (that's basically a 30 seconds on screen FBI Warning, it's lifted from a poor VHS quality).

Flight of Conchords are a duo from Wellington, New Zealand; Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie. They are, in their own words, "New Zealand's 4th most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo" or in simpler terms, "New Zealand's fourth most popular folk-parody duo". Most of their performances include acoustic guitars and humorous banter. They probably received the most recognition (in the US) from their appearance on HBO's comedy series One Night Stand in which they performed seven songs; the whole show can be viewed on Google Video. When I first saw them, I was wary of the whole comedians-with-musical-instruments routine, but these guys actually mix the instruments with their witty material really well. They recently signed a 12-episode deal with HBO for a self-titled series about them "trying to achieve success in New York City as a band" (Wiki).

I saw Jim Gaffigan last night (Oct 13th) at the Orpheum Theater. He's really popular here in Minneapolis and have sold out at least two shows, so he added a few more dates due to popular demand (four shows in total).

So, today's entry is on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Although they've used good music soundtracks, such as Echobelly, Curve, and Angie Hart (Frente), I'm going to just focus on their musical episode, "Once More, With Feeling". This episode showed up on the sixth season, it's probably one of the best-loved episode in the Buffyverse.

I've been friendly stalking* Veronica Belmont since 2005. You have to remember that back then, she didn't really participate in the Buzz Out Loud podcast, she was just a producer that sometimes laugh at the dialogue between Tom Merritt and Molly Wood.

The Christmas Songs

We are very excited to share with you some of our favorite Christmas music performed by the Sounds Familyre Famile: new interpretations of traditional Christmas carols as well as original songs! A new song each day for thirteen days. Baker’s dozen. So make sure to come back tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, and the day after that…

Renowned Soul and Funk maestros Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings jumpstart 2008 the only way they know how: with a series of blistering live shows. The 2008 tour--which supports their newest album, 100 Days, 100 Nights, on Daptone Records--promises to continue the sonic fireworks the band ignited last October at a sold-out Apollo Theater and maintained throughout the Northeast, Midwest and West Coast as 2007 drew to a close. The standing-room only concerts have thus only added to the burgeoning worldwide following Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings have hooked over the years.

You've heard of Daptone Records, even if you've never heard of their name. 2007 has been a major year for the label, with their artists being used all over albums like Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black", Jay Z's " Roc Boys" single and Mark Ronson's "Version". I love both Winehouse and Ronson albums and decided to check out more of the Daptone Sound when I got a chance to do this review.