Follow Friday: 07/15/2011

 @oldmansearch

A man has told his 81-year old father that Twitter is Google, so this man sets about scouring the internet (somehow) via Twitter, for all sorts of goodies: thin divorcees, gyms with no teenagers indianapolis and a plethora of others, usually about twice a day. Equal parts hilarious and awful, @oldmansearch is definitely something you should be following.

 @robdelaney

As hilarious as he is vulgar, Mr. Delaney has made a name for himself as a stand-up comedian doing national tours, as well as creating a massive twitter presence. He writes, occasionally, for Vice Magazine, Huffington Post, and (depending on how thoroughly you vet your Google searches) plays for the Tampa Bay Stingrays. Terry and I had the opportunity to catch his live show in Chapel Hill and were blown away. I even found some video from the night's performance where he makes mention of an ongoing Twitter feud with the Counting Crows. You can follow him here: @robdelaney.

@RL_Stine

As you can see at the right, he thinks I'm funny. Or rather, that I made him laugh that one time. Regardless, @RL_Stine has a special place in my heart, as I believe he does all of the kids from my generation. I was a hair too old when Harry Potter came out, but I had spent the preceding years as a devout Goosebumps reader. I even got so good at the Choose Your Own, I didn't have to save the page I was on. Now RL (who's About Me: is "My job: to terrify kids") has a twitter, and whether you've got Goosebumps or not, I recommend following.

Hopscotch Announces Day Party Lineup

After announcing an incredible lineup, featuring headliners The Flaming Lips, Guided By Voices performing their final show, Lost in the Trees and about a hundred and fifty other equally remarkable acts (full list here), Raleigh, NC's Hopscotch Music Festival announced their equally incredible day party lineup.

The day partying starts on Thursday with a kickoff party at Sadlack's Heroes featuring Chip Robinson, Olympic Ass Kicking Team and others. On Friday, Tir Na Nog hosts Duo Sets, where performers pair off from Mandolin Orange, Birds and Arrows and others. Kings will also be rocking it on Friday with Transportations, Shit Horse, Americans in France and Wild Wild Geese. The Pour House will be hosting a Three Lobed Recordings party, featuring Year of the Pig, The Moaners and Monsonia.

In Brief: Hamell on Trial's Daytrotter Session

Hamell on Trial

The most aggressive music being played today comes not from the dark speed of Scandinavian Metal nor from the anger and volume of its American counterpart. It comes from a bald man, Ed Hamell, and his acoustic guitar. I've had the opportunity to see him live a handful of times and being eyewitness to a show that combines brutal honesty, subversive humor with heavily-amplified acoustic guitar is truly awe-inspiring. Covering topics as diverse as bumping in to John Lennon and Anne Coulter's pungent nethers, Hamell on Trial is a wrecking-ball with a punk rock attitude, a whip-smart sense of wit and far more intelligent than any one person should be. That's why when it came to my attention he'd recorded a Daytrotter session a few months ago, I waited with bated breath for the day it got posted. Lo and behold, the day is nigh and Hamell on Trial brings a ruckus to Rock Island, Ill. and to your computer. Replete with a couple of unreleased songs, the session also hits highlights, like the aforementioned John Lennon story, "7 Seas," the ode to his guitar (it's a love story), and "Inquiring Minds," dealing with the pains of untoward parental honesty. You can listen here, on Daytrotter's website.

Thursday Night: Louie

Louis CK making his Louis CK face.

Louie, FX, 10:30PM EST
Season 2, Episode 4 "Joan"

Joan Rivers guests stars on the nearly-always-funny Louie. After a hit and miss season, the show was renewed for a second and while the series premiere certainly left a lot to be desired, the other episodes have been hilariously, and brutally, honest. That, I suppose, is the allure of Louie. It's not like a Seinfeld, that makes light of being just-a-guy that does just-a-guy things. Louie is the gritty reboot of the main character-focused sitcom. If The New Adventures of Old Christine had an older, alcoholic brother that'd had a rough time, it would be Louie.

And while that all sounds terrible, there is a refreshing sympathy and occasional empathy that you feel while watching the show. Watching Louie do the things he does and say the things he says is an exercise in pure cathartic delight.

Thursday Night: Wilfred

Jason Gann and Elijah Wood star in Wilfred.

Wilfred, FX 10PM EST
Season 1, Episode 4, "Acceptance"

For the past three episodes, Wilfred has been the most consistently strange show on cable television that manages to retain its wit and also develop characters that a viewer will care about. This episode was the first swing-and-a-miss of the American series. When Ryan and Jenna sign Wilfred up for Daryl's (Ed Helms) doggie day care service, the plan goes horribly awry. It turns out that Daryl had actually been sexually abusing the dogs by dipping his testicles in peanut butter.

In Their Own Words: My Cousin, The Emperor

My Cousin, the Emperor
Danny Wolf, Terry Quire, Michael Feinberg, Jason Reischel

My Cousin, the Emperor, a Brooklyn-based band, have been getting a lot of press lately. After winning WNYC Radio's Battle of the Borough, Time Out NY and even NPR have taken notice of their unique mix of alt-country-folk and urban atmospheres. I, also, could not help but take notice after listening through (twice) to their latest efforts: a pair of EPs built around the New York City 20-minute subway ride. I managed to arrange an interview with Jason Reischel, an already established singer/songwriter who now fronts My Cousin, the Emperor.

Originally raised in Asheville, NC, Reischel had began to establish himself on the New York music scene back in 2003. He'd spend his nights hustling at five or six clubs a night when he hit the streets of Manhattan. Quickly building a name for himself, he released two of his own albums (2006's Brown Bridge & Green Bridge and 2007's Irony-Free Parlor Music) and embarked on three US tours behind them.

"We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves" by John Maus

Released June 28, 2011 on Upset The Rhythm

Let's clear the air a little first: this album is weird. There's no other way to put it, it's just weird. Then again, that probably should have been expected from John Maus given his repertoire; Maus has been a frequent collaborator with Animal Collective's Panda Bear and freak-folk legend Ariel Pink, so he's clearly no stranger to strange music. We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves is the third full-length solo effort from the Minnesota native, and plays like a well thought-out, polished tribute to 80s synth pop. Maus loads each song with familiar spacey sounds and does so with an authentic analog charm. The synth work is absolutely astonishing: rich and textured, catchy, and endlessly replayable. Songs range from upbeat radio pop to slow, eerie ballads, with the occasional 2-minute burst of a noise jam.