MSTRKRFT tnght n bstn

If you were at Estate last October for MSTRKRFT's Monday night electro assault (with LA Riots, Congorock and Felix Cartel zOMGz), then you probably already know the famed DJ/producer duo hits the Roxy tonight for one mega motherfucking dance party. Upbeat dance for the downtown trance. Not to be missed.

New Collisions at the pill June 19

Not to get too far ahead of myself, as we host a dance party this Friday complete with the summer calendar flyer launch, but the New Collisions just posted their pill flyer for June 19 and I figured I might as well post it here as well. Shit should be crazytown, one of the more anticipated pill shows this year. Believe the hype.

Trashcan Sinatras to hit the US (Boston: 08.16)

Not sure if this news has been out there, but I just noticed the Trashcan Sinatras are playing TTs on Aug. 16, the final date of a 14-date tour across the states. I've never seen them before, so I think this is a perfectly suitable way to spend a Monday in the summertime. Tickets are $15 and go on sale Monday. Full dates after le jump.

July 28: San Diego - Casbah
July 29: Los Angeles - Troubadour
July 31: San Francisco - Cafe du Nord
August 2: Portland - Aladdin Theater
August 3: Seattle - Triple Door
August 5: Salt Lake City - Club Vegas
August 6: Denver - Larimer Lounge
August 9: Chicago - Schuba's
August 10: Milwaukee - Shank Hall
August 11: Cleveland - Grog Shop
August 13: DC - Rock & Roll Hotel
August 14: Philadelphia - Tin Angel
August 15: New York City - Bowery Ballroom
August 16: Boston - T.T. the Bear's

Get drunk at the Brattle Theatre

Cambridge's Brattle Theatre is securing a beer and wine license, and wants YOU to help pick the flick to celebrate: Strange Brew, Animal House, Saddest Music In The World, Shaun of the Dead, Beerfest... or your write-in.

Amazing Baby album out today

So after eons of hype and endless blogjobs, that pesky lil Amazing Baby album is released today. "Rewild" is available on iTunes (complete with Nice Price sticker) for $5.99, and while I've only heard a handful of songs I'm pretty sure that's the deal of the year. Gonna snatch it up -- as well as the hype-less/publicity-less new Placebo album "Battle For The Sun" -- when I get out of solitary this afternoon. Exciting times.

Wasted Talent on full display tonight

Very excited for tonight's Wasted Talent / Mystery Roar / Secret Sea show tonight at the Mid-Easy. Here's how a previewed the shit on my Herald blogspace: There’s a good bit of local band evolution going down at the Middle East tonight as cheeky dance-hop duo Wasted Talent unleashes its debut CD on us poor lead-footed masses.

Wasted Talent is the new electro-rap project from 80’s jam master and overall man-about-town veteran Paul Foley – teaming up with Nabo Rawk — who recently hit the stage as big cheese of the Warm Bodies performance-art party team. But before they melt our faces off with songs like “Khed!” – think “kid” in a townie accent with shout-outs to the MBTA Orange Line, Malden and Timmy & Tammy — we also get to see some exciting new bands with familiar faces.

The vinyl-pressed dance-funk party train of Mystery Roar has risen from the ashes of synth-poppers Cassette (who became We Are Cassette, then became Fantasy Mirrors) and also features Tia Carioli of the Bon Savants. Expect these cats, who get busy like the Bodega Girls, to generate some buzz by the time school starts back up. Get their new track “Why Can’t I See You” on your beach-bound summer mix tape right now.

Show openers the Secret Sea is the new project from two-thirds of UV Protection, a DIY art-beat trio that never got the success it deserved a few years ago. Though they’ve been playing out for a while now, they seem to have kept a fairly low profile. As someone who loved UV Protection at their audio-visual heyday, it’s great to see Deborah Bernard and Karen Tsiakals pick up the darker side of synthesizer pop right where UV left off.

Before, between and after the bands, DJ Silent Partner keeps the beat alive. Doors open at 8 p.m., and it’s an instant party on a Tuesday night in Central Square, enough of a warm-up to get you jazzed for a Hearthrob nightcap down the street at Middlesex.

Jenny Lewis at the HoB tomw

So Rilo Kiley lady Jenny Lewis is playing the House of Blues tomorrow, and I hear she has a new album out this time sans the Watson Twins and this tour is sans the Kilo boys and beyond song-of-the-decade contender "Portions for Foxes" I really don't care either way but hot damn if she is not the sexiest woman on Earth I simply don't know shit about anything. Good lord, Jenny.

(Yes, this entry was just an excuse to post a photo of Jenny Lewis. I'm gonna go home and watch "The Wizard" tonight just to be even more creepy.)

New song from The Information online

From kinda-sorta outta-nowhere, there is a new song by the Information, called "Rhyme & Reason," posted on their MySpace. Got that sharp-edged Information fever-vibe going on, and its good to hear Max Fresen's voice again, even if I don't really care for the Ashley vocals on this track. Either way, we will most likely hear it live in a few weeks at this:

Free Ida Maria show Wednesday in Waltham

From a Hotline blog entry on my bill-paying day job over at Bostonherald.com: Ahh, little old Norway, finally proving to be more than pop sensation A-Ha, writer Henrik Ibsen and former NHLer Espen Knutsen. The semi-recent wave of bands and musicians — from Kings of Convenience to Royksopp to Annie to Sondre Lerche — is spreading this chilly Scandinavian dance floor across the globe, and its latest export, Ida Maria, might become the biggest of them all.

Ida Maria’s pop gem “Better When Your Naked” is Katy Perry without trying so hard and Metric with more universal appeal. It’s become an unlikely summer anthem as it burns up FNX Radio’s playlist, and the station is behind her “Rock the Suburbs” free show in Waltham on Wednesday at the Skellig (427 Moody St.)

Sign up at FNX Radio.com for a chance to get on the guest list, or listen in to win free tickets. The fine lads of the Sandbox Morning Show spin the hits before and after the show, and if Ida Maria’s teaser performance in March at the Paradise (opening for Glasvegas) was any indication, this show should be worth any hoops you got to jump through to get in. Rock those suburbs!

New pill calendar flyer for early summer

For the first time since I started shooting pill flyers in a rugged Somerville apartment a few years ago in a former life, I have allowed someone else to photograph the calendar image. I still designed the text, format and framing, but image credit here goes to former Perennials guitarist John Morabito, who shot Halley Jaye at a recent afterhours party.

It's weird to think people are shooting pictures and thinking "pill flyer," but even moreso than being weird it's pretty cool. This June-July flyer hypes three upcoming live shows: The New Collisions on June 19, Bodega Girls on July 10 and The Honors on July 24.