Last night was the season finale of The West Wing, bringing to a close a surprisingly satisfying sixth season. I say surprising because season five, the first of the post-Sorkin era, was so disappointing, I had very low expectations for this one.

Last year, producer John Wells managed to strip all the life and energy out of the cast and characters and threatened to drown them in the sort of melodrama that might have worked on ER, but was horribly suited to The West Wing. Announcements in the off-season about the addition of Alan Alda and Jimmy Smits to the cast stank of desperate stunt casting and didn’t excite either. Even the start of this season was awkward, with their “season of change” necessitating head-scratching moves such as making CJ Chief Of Staff for no good reason (at least not over Toby or Josh).

However, once the business of shuffling the deck was over, things really picked up. The addition of Smits and Alda as presidential hopefuls really did liven things up as the show went on two parallel paths, one following the campaigners and one following the White House. The ennui and malaise and other French words that so afflicted season five were gone and replaced with vim and vigor – the cast actually got their sense of humour back and seemed interested again (except Toby, who was horribly under-used all year). I was actually eager to tune in every week again and frustrated that there were only 22 episodes in which to cram everything – they surely had enough material to fill another half-dozen, easy. Last night’s finale certainly managed to make the Democratic National Convention seem pretty damn exciting. I didn’t expect the selection of Leo as VP nominee, either. A nice touch, but did they forget he suffered a major heart attack earlier this year? Surely no one would really be so irresponsible as to nominate someone for the important office of vice-president with someone so at risk for cardiac arrest? Oh wait – never mind.

I’m quite happy the show’s been renewed for a seventh season, allowing them to follow through the conclusion of the Bartlet administration. Certainly not a sure thing in the past couple years, I consider that a triumph of good television over dreck. I don’t know if I’d necessarily want them to continue on with the new administration, it really wouldn’t be the same, but I do know that if they decide to go GOP and have Alda win the election, he’d better bring Gary Burghoff in as his Chief-Of-Staff.

Kathleen Edwards, playing a most-likely sold-out show at the Mod Club tonight, is this week’s NOW cover girl. JAM! also has an interview. I’ve had the new record for a little while now, it’s alright – not a big shift from Failer, maybe a little more with the rock. I will have to get around to seeing her live someday. Just not tonight.

Another day, another Decemberists interview. Today, Amazon talks to Colin Meloy about Picaresque. Also available in audio! And here’s part two of the Prefix interview.

NOW talks to Brendan Benson, in town Monday at Lee’s Palace and again on May 28 opening for Keane at Massey Hall.

Torr reports that the Stars’ Set Yourself On Fire has debuted at no. 34 on Billboard’s Top Heatseekers chart and no. 40 on the Top Independent Albums list. Is this high? I have no frame of reference for these positions. It sounds good, though.

Another sure sign of Spring – I broke my sunglasses. It seems every year, I either lose or break my sunglasses, necessitating the purchase of a new pair. A cheap pair, mind you, since I will invariably lose or break them. Now on one hand, this is good – it allows me to remain just out of fashion. On the other hand, it’s bad – as it keeps costing me money every year and sometimes I actually get attached to a pair. So the question is, do I buy a good, pricier (more durable) pair and take extra-special care of them or do I keep buying cheap ones like ZZ Top recommends? Do I listen to pop music because I’m miserable or am I miserable because I listen to pop music?

Of course, it’s overcast today, so it doesn’t really matter.

np – Ted Leo & The Pharmacists / Shake The Sheets

Whither Velocity Girl? Yes, smartasses, I know they broke up back in 1996, but that wasn’t the end of the story. Three of them, including the “Girl” in VG Sarah Shannon, regrouped as Starry Eyes for about three minutes (but long enough for me to get a copy of their self-titled EP), then split again. Shannon went on to release the very low profile Estheraho EP in 2001 and then a full self-titled album in 2002. That record’s adult-contemporary Bacharachian-influenced sophistication was a far cry from VG’s fuzzed out and scrappy power pop, but still quite decent and a fine showcase for Shannon’s vocals. As for the rest of the band, guitarist Archie Moore went on to play bass in The Saturday People and the rest of them… well I dunno.

But that still doesn’t explain why I’m asking “where are they?” almost nine years after their initial split. Well some may remember going through Excellent Online’s Flirt compilation a couple years ago and doing a double take at seeing Velocity Girl in the tracklisting. After seven years, the band had quietly reunited and recorded a track for the compilation and was reportedly working on material for a new album. Much rejoicing ensued from those of us who are, whether we want to admit it or not, stuck in the 90s. And then… nothing. The only thing resembling a VG info site hasn’t been updated in some nine years and their old label SubPop still has their minisite for Gilded Stars And Zealous Hearts up. I know Archie is a member of the Indiepop mailing list, but there’s been nary a peep there, either. Perhaps someone in the Beltway chapter of my extensive network of international spies has some info? Um, Kyle, I’m talking about you… But if someone has heard bad news about this reunion, um, don’t tell me. Okay, tell me.

I’m probably one of the few who liked their later albums more than the earlier ones – the wall of guitars on Copacetic have their charm, but I like the tighter songcraft of Gilded Stars. Plus you get to hear Sarah’s voice more… For the record, Sarah Shannon was my #1 college rock crush for most of the 90s. She was like a more wholesome Liz Phair (and who could actually sing). I still have their cover issue of Alternative Press circa 1994, which had the most swoon-worthy pics. Ahem. But in the absence of news, I’ll just point you at this Spike Jonze-directed video for “I Can’t Stop Smiling” off of Simpatico and the ‘comeback’ single from the aforementioned Excellent compilation.

MP3: Velocity Girl – “It’s All Alright By Me”

And while not necessarily “missing in action”, Billboard reports on what former Belle & Sebastian cellist/singer Isobel Campbell is up to. And speaking of B&S, Gorilla Vs Bear points us at You Ain’t No Picasso, who are hosting a complete Peel session Christmas party by the band.

Zoilus says that Giant Sand’s Howe Gelb will play a solo show at the Horseshoe on April 21.

Sensitive piano-plinking Brits Keane will be at Massey Hall on May 28 with Motown popsters Brendan Benson in tow. Tickets $29.50 – $39.50.

Prefix has part one of a two-part interview with The Decemberists. Part two should be up before the week is out. New City Chicago also has an interview (via LHB). My copy of Picaresque is in the mail. Or will be shortly.

np – The Wrens / The Meadowlands

One of the most highly anticipated releases of the year has got to be Gimme Fiction, the fifth album from Austin, Texas’ Spoon, in stores May 10. Paste talks to Spoon-man Britt Daniel about the making of the new album, wherein he describes the reasoning for picking “I Turn My Camera On” as the first single.

“If you want to appeal to people who haven’t heard Spoon before, I think that’s the song. People really fall for a falsetto. It’s kind of the ‘Emotional Rescue’ of the record.”

Okay, that’s an interesting rationale. Judge for yourself (down a bit).

To further whet your appetite for the new record, I direct you to this treasure trove of audio and video goodness at 12XU, who put out a number of Spoon releases in Europe (from Largehearted Boy). Also, the band contributed a new/old/non-album track, “Revenge!”, to a Wired compilation released on the Creative Commons website last December.

MP3: Spoon – “I Turn My Camera On”

MP3: Spoon – “Revenge!”

Spoon are in Toronto at Lee’s Palace on June 5 with The Clientele.

For those of us who have been bypassed by the Slint reunion tour – namely CANADA (Dave Pajo hates us, remember?) – Bradley’s Almanac offers some solace with this live concert recording from a show in France last month.

Zoilus reports that Toronto will soon host a show by Robyn Hitchcock and His Sadies. May 28 at Lee’s Palace, tickets $26. That’s not cheap but you can be sure it’ll be a good one. Hitchcock provided guest vocals on “Why Would Anybody Live Here?” from the Sadies’ last album Favourite Colours. Update: Ticketmaster says that tickets for this show are a far more reasonable $17.50, on sale tomorrow.

The UK’s band of the moment The Kaiser Chiefs return to Toronto for a show at the Mod Club on May 29. The band gives Pitchfork a list of their favourite records and it’s so predictable, it’s a little frightening. For the record, I don’t mind the Kaiser Chiefs. I don’t especially like them and certainly don’t bet on them having anything that resembles a career, but they’re not offensive.

An unnamed Fountains Of Wayne has had its release date moved from April 5 to June 28. I’m assuming this is the b-sides compilation which was announced last year and has been pushed back so many times that I didn’t even know it was supposed to come out today.

I’m not even sure why I’m bothering to report this, she’s pretty much dead to me, but Liz Phair’s new untitled record has been given a September 27 release date.

Comic Book Resources asks Keith Giffen how he feels about DC using characters he ressuscitated during his run on Justice League International as cannon fodder for their Identity Crisis and Countdown mega-events. He is… polite.

Hooray for the Blue Jays winning their season opener yesterday against Tampa Bay. I like baseball, always have, even though it’s horribly unfashionable in this town and utterly futile as long as the Jays are in the same division as the Red Sox and Yankees. Back in 92/93, they gave me my first taste of what it was like to actually win – of course, they followed it up with a solid 11 years of losing after that, but still, it’s a better championship record than the Leafs or Raptors have put up in the past decade and a half.

24: So… the dude is in a billion-dollar stealth fighter, undetectable by any radar, and Marwan can call him on a cellphone? Hrmm. And hot-but-no-Mandy assasssin chick is certainly efficient with cleaning up a corpse. Surely some of the blood from a gaping chest wound would have soaked into the hardwood floor? But as good at Molly Maid as she was, she seemed to have forgotten that drywall is not bulletproof. As for the main event – fine dramatic execution, but I’m sorry, I’ve seen Air Force One. That thing’s got mad evasive skills. The notion that the President’s plane could be so easily hit is absurd. And escape pods? Hello?

np – Nada Surf / Let Go

Another week, another “man, this band I saw at SxSW” post. Today – Brooklyn’s Dirty On Purpose. I’ve mentioned how they impressed me at their showcase despite being plagued with dodgy sound and having picked up their EP Sleep Late For A Better Tomorrow, I was completely won over.

They manage to sound like almost every indie band you’ve ever loved, and yet completely new. There’s bits of shoegaze, twee, noise, electronica and rock all just mashed together, sugar sweet vocal harmonies (there’s at least three lead singers, maybe four?) paired with guitars that jangle and churn – it’s dream-pop with teeth. Every song on the five-track EP sounds different, from the slow, atmospheric boy-girl duet of “Cheat Death” to the record-closing freak-out of “Spider Eyes”, but all very definitely the same band. If what I heard live is any indication, however, the newer material is even better, pulling their wide range of influences into a more cohesive whole.

The EP is actually frustrating in its brevity, clocking in at just 20 minutes you immediately want to hit repeat several times, then drive down to New York to force the band to record a new album immediately. They’re hoping to put a full-length together this year, and it won’t be a minute too soon. There’s also some tenative plans to tour up Canada way at some point this Summer, but I don’t want to jinx that so I’ll say no more.

Wanna know more? Read interviews with the band in by The Deli, Gothamist and Crashin’ In. And since I didn’t get any pics of them at SxSW, check out Jinners’ – she’s the band’s manager, btw. For aural enjoyment, here’s a track from the EP:

MP3: Dirty On Purpose – “Mind Blindness”

And also a video of the band performing Gary Numan’s “Down In The Park” live:

MPG: Dirty On Purpose – “Down In The Park” (video)

Near as I can tell, the only place to get the EP online is from North Street Recrods. Get it, it’s worth it. Also check out Au Revoir Simone, a side project of keyboardist Erika Forster, and drummer Doug Marvin contributed a cover of Unrest’s “Imperial” to 517’s Teenbeat tribute album under the moniker of Pursesnatchers.

And I’m not nearly the first one to blog these guys – props to Torr, Mishie, TTIKTDA and Mystery & Misery (and probably countless others) for getting there before I did. But better late than never, right?

Crazy Talk has a podcast interview with Wilco’s Glenn Kotche.

Junkmedia catches up with Stars.

I’ve spent much of the weekend (finally) plugging away at my site redesign. I warn you, if you’re expecting a huge overhaul, you’re going to be disappointed. I’ve got a brand to protect now! What I’ve been doing is rearranging things, cleaning up horribly inefficient code that’s been bugging me for years, expanding to a 1024 resolution (those of you with tiny monitors now have an excuse to go out and buy new ones!), etc etc. I’m also eliminating popups (huzzah) and basically giving myself a much better foundation from which to expand things. I made much better progress than I expected, so I may roll things out in the next fortnight or so. Before my birthday, at any rate.

So I get up this morning and for whatever reason, my computer’s clock has decided to set itself forward another hour, making it an hour faster than my alarm clock, which I had adjusted yesterday, and two hours faster than my watch, which I hadn’t adjusted at all. It’s quite disconcerting to realize that you have no reliable timepieces at all.

np – The Delgados / Universal Audio

So Sin City. The first thing that needs to be said, and everyone is saying it, is that it is absolutely true to the comic. Moreso than any other comic-to-film adaptation of recent years, which usually at best can say that they capture the spirit of the source material, Sin City can say it IS the source material, just brought to life onscreen. This will certainly appease the purists, who are usually the most vocal critics of any adaptation, but does it necessarily make for a good film? I say yes – but with a caveat.

First and foremost, it’s important to remember that Sin City is genre fiction. It’s pulp. Film noir. Hard-boiled, gritty, violent, etc. It is definitely NOT campy. The women are femme fatales, the men either debased or in need of redemption. Sin City is not necessarily great literature, but it is great at what it is. To appreciate it, you have to be standing on the right side of the fourth wall – if you’re outside, you coud well think it’s depraved and hokey and you wouldn’t necessarily be wrong. But if you’re on the inside, it’s a helluva ride. It’s almost a shame that the film is being hyped to the degree that it is, because it’s really not a film for everyone.

Many of the highly-stylized visuals are almost shot-for-shot recreations of the comics (Filmrot has drawn up some exhibits using footage from the trailers) and the use of black-and-white with splashes of strategically placed super-saturated colur, like the comics, is even more striking on screen. But everyone and their mother-in-law has gone on about the technical wonder of the film, so I’ll just say that it looks freakin’ amazing and leave it at that.

Story-wise, it draws on the original Sin City story (aka “The Hard Goodbye”), “The Big Fat Kill” and “That Yellow Bastard” as well as a short story I’ve not read for the prologue (and epilogue?). Much of the dialogue and narration is also taken verbatim from the source material – the device does work better in print, but if, as I’ve said, you buy in, you don’t really mind. Rather than keep the three stories completely discrete, the film takes a half-hearted attempt to combine them and linear-ize the intersecting storylines. It doesn’t really work. Cutting up “That Yellow Bastard” might make sense chronologically, but it doesn’t really help the story any and timeline consistency isn’t maintained throughout anyway.

The three stories are sequenced in declining quality – “The Hard Goodbye” is far and away the best of the three. Mickey Rourke is amazing as Marv and it has the most energy, action and humour. “The Big Fat Kill” is pretty good though without the backstory of “A Dame To Kill For”, the relationship between Clive Owen’s Dwight and Rosario Dawson’s Gail looks hokier than it is. You also don’t appreciate the full menace of Michael Clarke Duncan’s Manute. Ending with “That Yellow Bastard” makes the most sense, seeing as how it’s got the most star power with Bruce Willis and Jessica Alba, but it doesn’t quite click. Maybe it’s due to audience exhaustion from the first two segments or maybe it’s just not that strong, but the pacing seemed rushed and Willis’ Hartigan just didn’t connect for me. He seemed too much like Bruce Willis.

I just read most of the Sin City comics last weekend so I didn’t necessarily need to follow the narrative to know what was going to happen next, I could just sit back and enjoy the execution and finished product. And enjoy it I did – some of the violence did make me cringe, but that was really the point. Hard boiled, man. Hard boiled.

For more Sin City, check out the last couple posts over at Achtung Baby. The plans for the DVD release are particularly interesting.

More comics to film – Empire gets an exclusive guided tour of the pre-production of Watchmen, courtesy of director Paul Greengrass. Still no hints on casting, though.

Being There eulogizes The Jayhawks, prompting Gary Louris to pipe up, “we’re not dead yet!”, not that anyone is listening.

The Chicago Tribune has an interesting piece on the growing influence of online music sites like Pitchfork and Fluxblog. Via Largehearted Boy.

So my little MySpace recruiting drive yesterday was quite successful, thank you, though I apologize that I really have no idea who most of you people are. But that’s okay. I will also admit that it was sort of a little demographics experiment on my part – I was wondering who was actually reading my site. Answer? Dudes. Lots of dudes. Many with bands. That’s okay, I guess, but geez. Sausage fest. It’s like university all over again.

“Spring forward” my ass.

np – Mojave 3 / Excuses For Travelers