I'm all about the wristband.

Hey -- bands at SXSW don't get paid; all they get is a wristband (and one laminate to share amongst all the band members). If Corwood isn't going to get to play, it'd be nice if he could at least get "paid" for all the time he put into this.

Corwood isn't going to get to play, it'd be nice if he could at least get "paid" for all the time he put into this.

Totally agree.

and one laminate to share amongst all the band members

??!! WTF? Woe to the band member that loses the holy laminate.

Attention David Smay! -- This just in from John Petkovic:

COBRA VERDE STARS ON "THE OC" THIS THURSDAY!!!

Hey Hey Hey ...

How's it going? I could tell you about all the action on Planet Cobra Verde... The hot new album we're working on... Or how our drummer Mark is homeless because a flood consumed his house... Or how an airport terror squad accused us of being terrorists...

But ultimately it would come back to this OTHER thing:

At 9 p.m. Thursday, March 16, we -- Cobra Verde -- will make our prime-time acting debut on "THE OC." You know, the Fox drama about happy-go-lucky rich people in Orange County. The OC folks have been down with the CV action and have been trying to get us to come out to their sprawling Manhattan Beach studios -- which, by the way, is in Manhattan Beach, which is NOT in Orange County....

At first, we figured they'd have us give back rubs to "The Hot Moms" on the show or play stunt men or something. Nope. Last month, we flew out there to not only play, but also act. DUDE, we're like playing a FOREIGNER TRIBUTE BAND. I can't give away too much, but I am "authorized" to reveal this:

The main guy, Seth, asks us to play the 18th birthday party of his buddy, Ben, who really loves Journey. Seth prefers Foreigner, so he asks us to play Foreigner tunes, instead -- like "Waiting for a Girl Like You." (Coming up ANY DAY on iTUNES!)

The OC folks even made posters to hang out The Bait Shop -- the club where everyone parties on the show. You can see it --- and some other pics Tim and I took -- on cobraverde.com or our myspace site, [link]

The pics tell only part of "the story." For two days, we went through enough '80 clothes to stock an A-Ha (or Killers AND Yeah Yeah Yeahs) video, from mesh shirts to trench coats to those weird, floppy '80 boots. The overriding theme behind our "look" was, "Foreigner, Ramones, New Wave, Rock 'n' Roll -- it's all good." I guess it is when it comes to '80s nostalgia.

Tim wore a zebra-striped sleeveless shirt. Frank was breezy in his mesh shirt. Mark felt like a flasher in his trench coat. Ed looked like a fisherman-turned-safety-patrol-guard in his yellow vest. I had a hard time breathing in my red dog collar.

Like I said, check out the sites: www.myspace.com/cobraverdemusic and, of course, cobraverde.com. The tunes -- uh, I mean, that slow-dance anthem, "Waiting for a Girl Like You" -- is going up on iTunes any day, too.

Starting Thursday, we're also going to have a diary about about the whole experience, featuring stuff like:
1. Our worst bands and songs list;
2. True Hollywood Story behind-the-scenes gossip;
3. Reviews of the junk food buffet on the set.

Until then, hope you are all well and thanks again for being who you are, wherever you are....

Yr pals...
John, Mark, Tim, Frank, Ed

Now THIS is an album cover.

Now THIS is an album cover.

There's intentionally funny/horrifying, and then there's unintentionally funny/horrifying. The cover kept me from paying full price, but when I saw it on sale my love of Duane Allman snapped me out of my cover-induced paralysis and I bought it. I think it was Duane's last session before he died. He's particularly good on the bonus track, "Funky Nassau," and the title track, which popped up on my ipod just as I got to work this morning.

there's unintentionally funny/horrifying.

My eyes! My eyes!

The Capitol Records building in Hollywood is (probably) going condo: [link]

I ... I can't believe I'm about to ask this:

If I really really REALLY like My Chemical Romance (Oh, hush. Stop giving me that look.), what other bands would you recommend to me?

(They're so ca-yute! And tortured! And surprisingly, talented musicians who care deeply about their fans, so I don't know if I'd actually like any other bands in their genre, but I figured I'd ask.)

While I can't answer Jilli's question, I *can* post my frankenmix. You are warned: these are the Liner Notes of DOOM. Also, this is handily posted over at my livejournal for anyone who wants to see the liner notes + artwork + download link. And it's emailed to BR@gmail. Here we go:

LIKE THE GHOST OF A HAND

The Categories:

1. The first song you'd put on a mix tape for somebody you were attracted to

11. A song with a year in the title

RACHEL YAMAGATA - 1963

Well, 11 is pretty obvious. But I've like Rachel Yamagata since her album first came out; she did for me in junior year what Fiona Apple did for me in high school--that is, give me a voice to sing to and emote with. But when you listen to this song, wouldn't you send it to your crush? It embodies that light, happy feeling I associate with new love. I find it to be magical/I feel like I'm loving you in 1963/Flowers in my hair/Little bitty hearts upon my cheek

2. A song that makes you think of BTVS that was never used on the show

DAWN LANDES - SUSPICION

It's got that slightly off, dark quality to it; while I think it's probably too far from mainstream for the producers to ever have actually used it on the show, can't you just imagine Buffy, hiding and looking beyond a brick wall at Faith, or Angel, or Xander and Willow, and thinking, "why can't I just be there?" If you can't, I can. Hence this song. suspicion, suspicion/can make you weak/like running, you're running/trying to speak

3. Cross-genre cover song (such as a soul musician covering a country song)

THE CHAPIN SISTERS - TOXIC

Anyone who's known me in the last four years knows that I developed a sort of pathetic adoration of Certain Pop Stars, of which, I confess, B. Spears was one. I also have a healthy love of covers of pop songs. This is really just one in a pretty large library of pop-goes-alternative covers I have, but it's also one of my favorites, because it really showcases that pop songs aren't really that simplistic or vapid in comparison to less mainstream artists. I mean, I'm never going to say that Britney's lyricists are The Magnetic Fields or anything, but I listen to this and I end up being haunted. The Chapin Sisters do a lovely job of conveying the longing/wary mix evident in this song. With the taste of your lips/I'm on a ride/You're toxic I'm slippin' under

4. Quotes another song, either in the music or words – bonus points if by the same artist

BARENAKED LADIES - BRIAN WILSON

Okay, I cheated on this. I had no idea what songs quoted another--I mean, the absolutely only one I could think of was "Like I Love You" (Justin Timberlake) where he does a shout-out to Pharell halfway through, but since I used Jup later, I didn't want to do so here. So I googled. And it turned out that, in this utterly random ode BNL did to the Beach Boys singer, they quote the title of a BB song. Plus, well. I love BNL. And if you want to find me I'll be out in the sandbox,/wondering where the hell all the love has gone./Playing my guitar and building castles in the sun,/and singing "Fun, Fun, Fun."

5. Makes you want to get high, drunk, or, if it's your druthers, dizzy & giddy from spinning around in circles KANE - THE HOUSE RULES

Okay, ya'll. Due to Recent Events in Fandom, I have become re-obsessed with this band. I mean, I liked Christian Kane a lot during his time on Angel, and like every other AtS fangirl out there I squeed all the way through CK singing at Lorne's. And when a couple tracks of CK started floating around, well, I got into those too. But I never looked any further until this month, when Supernatural fandom exploded and suddenly CK was everywhere--and everyone was sharing the music of his band, KANE. It's really good. Really, really good. (Though I'm getting some serious, "SA, what the hell are you listening to?" looks from my friends.) This song in particular is my pick-me-up song, my alternate-life song, where if I was, you know, completely (continued...)

( continues...) different, I'd probably be the chick goin' out to the honky-tonks on a Saturday night in Podunk, Tennessee. It's fun as hell to sing, and makes me want to exploit my youth and go out, get fucked up, raise some hell and kick up some shit. Around eleven o'clock when the front door locks/and the boys start raisin' the bottle/and the girls do the thing with the mardi gras beads/yeah, you know they're gonna show 'em if they got 'em

6. Features a great bridge

12. A song about traveling

PATRICK PARK - SOMETHING PRETTY

This song has more or less been attatched permanently to Firefly fandom because it more or less exemplifies Mal; which is how I came across it. It's twangy and alt-country and, completely randomly, it was on "The OC Mix 2" soundtrack. Go figure. But I love it becuase it's so desolate and lonely, and the first rising movement just makes me swoon, a little. Or, in my room, alone, wave my arms around and go, "YES! Yes! That's it, man, that's it!" At the most I’m a glare,/I’m the hopeless son who’s hardly there./I’m the open sign that’s always busted./I’m the friend you need, but can’t be trusted.

7. A song released the year you turned 21 (you didn't have to know about it then)

SPOON - I TURN MY CAMERA ON

And here, I show my age. Yeah, this was released last year in '05, and if you're a Veronica Mars fan, you probably heard it on the promos. Or, if you're like me and adore Spoon, you heard it from their latest album. It's got a sort of head-bopping beat and their trademark weird-but-catchy vocals. I dig it. Great walking music. Whe n I turn my feelings on /I turn my feelings on inside/Feel like I'm gonna ignite /I saw them stars go off

8. A song dedicated to your nemesis (or who you imagine your nemesis to be)

9. A song about committing a crime

10. A song from a tribute or charity album

JOAQUIN PHOENIX AS JOHNNY CASH - FOLSOM PRISON BLUES

Ha, three in one. Yeah, the "Walk the Line" soundtrack isn't *technically* a tribute album, except in the way that it totally is. I think it might be just a little blasphemous that I like Joaquin-as-Johnny as much as I do Johnny himself, but ce la vie. This is just such a great cover. And what worse nemesis is there than isolation, lonliness, and dependance? Plus, best line about crime ever. When I was just a baby,/My Mama told me, "Son,/Always be a good boy,/Don't ever play with guns,"/But I shot a man in Reno,/Just to watch him die