ProductShopNYC :: The Politics of Pop Culture

Arcade Fire & U2 | Love Will Tear Them Apart

Throughout U2's Vertigo Tour, the band has taken the stage to Arcade Fire's "Wake Up". Bono and the boys are obviously fans of the little Montreal band that could and even asked them to open up their entire European tour. Arcade declined that invite, but did agree to open up three show for the band, including one in Toronto and two in Montreal.

The crowds at all these shows was absolutely intense and both bands played brilliantly, in fact, for U2 this may have been their most energetic tour performances.

Product Shop NYC had a correspondent in Montreal last night who reports that Arcade Fire joined U2 onstage during their first encore for an incredible version of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart". Speechless. Bono dropped his voice a few octaves and nailed a near-perfect Ian Curtis impersonation. God damn was it amazing......

DOWNLOAD VIDEO: U2 & Arcade Fire - "Love Will Tear Them Apart"

Patti Smith | New Years @ Bowery Ballroom

Patti Smith and Her Band will once again rock rock the Bowery Ballroom on New Years Eve and December 30th. I believe this is her third straight year playing this venue and she usally ends up doing there or four nights. Tickets for both shows go onsale Friday, December 2nd.

Tonight (November 30th) and Tomorrow (December 1st), Patti Smith will take over the Brooklyn Academy of Music to celebrate the 30th annversary of her landmark debut album, Horses. She'll be joined by her usualy backing band that includes Lenny Kaye, Jay Dee Daugherty, and Tony Shanahan. Plus some special guest players including Red Hot Chili Pepper's Flea, Television's Tom Verlaine, and I've heard a rumor that R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe will be sitting in on a few songs.

BUY: Patti Smith: Horses 30th Anniversary Concert | November 30th | BAM | $20, $35, $40, $45

BUY: Patti Smith: Horses 30th Anniversary Concert | December 1st | BAM | $20, $35, $40, $45

President Bush | The Iraq War Rules!

This morning, President Bush was to give a major policy speech outlining his "Plan For Victory" in Iraq. Unfortunately and not surprisingly, it was more of his same tired rhetoric on how America needs to "Stay the course". The President and his cronies are either complete idiots, complete liars, or they are completely oblivious to the realities in Iraq. In a speech that is riddled with inaccuracies, outright lies, and propaganda, he said:

"The terrorists have made it clear that Iraq is the central front in their war against humanity. And so we must recognize Iraq as the central front in the war on terror.

Against this adversary there is only one effective response: We will never back down, we will never give in, and we will never accept anything less than complete victory.

On the security side, coalition and Iraqi security forces are on the offensive against the enemy, cleaning out areas controlled by the terrorists and Saddam loyalists, leaving Iraqi forces to hold territory taken from the enemy, and following up with targeted reconstruction to help Iraqis rebuild their lives.

As we fight the terrorists, we're working to build capable and effective Iraqi security forces, so they can take the lead in the fight and eventually take responsibility for the safety and security of their citizens without major foreign assistance.

Victory will come when the terrorists and Saddamists can no longer threaten Iraq's democracy, when the Iraqi security forces can provide for the safety of their own citizens, and when Iraq is not a safe haven for terrorists to plot new attacks on our nation."

Here is a partial transcript of President Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech from May 1, 2003:

"[M]y fellow Americans, major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.

Operation Iraqi Freedom was carried out with a combination of precision and speed and boldness the enemy did not expect and the world had not seen before.

You have shown the world the skill and the might of the American armed forces.

We thank all of the citizens of Iraq who welcomed our troops and joined in the liberation of their own country.

And tonight, I have a special word for Secretary Rumsfeld, for General Franks and for all the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States: America is grateful for a job well done.

When Iraqi civilians looked into the faces of our service men and women, they saw strength and kindness and good will. When I look at the members of the United States military, I see the best of our country and I am honored to be your commander in chief.

THE STROKES | Leaking Everywhere

I've already received a cease & desist letter from RCA and The Strokes management, so I'm going to honor their request and refrain from posting links to any more tracks from First Impressions Of Earth.

What I will tell you is that three tracks more tracks from the new album have found their way online. The tracks, "Ask Me Anything", "Heart In A Cage", and "Vision of Division", were first played on BBC Radio's Zane Show and quickly found their way online.

Good luck hunting....

PSNYC HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE | Under $50

Welcome to the first of many Product Shop NYC Official Holiday Gift Buying Guides!!! Here's where the staff at PSNYC will give you our suggestions for the best, and hopefully most reasonably priced, gifts that you're friends, parents, lovers, etc, might enjoy. Or you can feel free to purchase these goods for yourself. Go on and treat yourself. You deserve it.

If you have any suggestions, please let us know at productshopnyc at gmail dot com. Now on with the shopping!!!

Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run: 30th Anniversary Box Set | $25.98 | It's rare that I find myself in complete agreement with Pitchfork, but this set deserves a perfect ten. Born To Run is a classic album, which you really should own already, but this set is worth it for the two accompanying DVDs. The first is a stellar making of documentary and the second is an absolutely riveting live performance from London's Hammersmith in 1975. That was their first gig in England and it's absolutely amazing. Damn, Springsteen was so freakin' cool back in the day.

Undeclared DVD: The Complete Series | $39.99 | The perfect gift for anyone who loved Freaks & Geeks. Undeclared was created by and features many of the Freaks. A lost program that is just as entertaining as it's predecessor.

Family Guy: Volume 3 Box Set | $25.99 | Dude. It's Family Guy. The new episodes. It rules. You'll laugh your balls off.

Harry Potter Paperback Boxed Set (Books 1-5) (Paperback) | $27.03 | Your friend still doesn't believe you that this series is an amazing read. They refuse to buy the books. Fuck it then, buy it for them. They'll think you're a loser at first, but a month later they'll be talking to you about muggles and hippogriffs and quiditch.

Playboy Magazine Subscription (One Year) | $15.96 | Well, maybe not Playboy, but magazine subscriptions are an awesome gift. Everyone reads them and they're cheap as fuck. Not only are you saving 140% off the newsstand price, but they'll really appreciate getting something in the mail besides bills.

Guided By Voices - Suitcase 2: American Superdream Wow | $41.49 | Another box set by Mr. Pollard. This one has over a hundred unreleased songs and its surprising how many of them really kick ass. Not a starter gift, but an awesome one for GBV freaks.

Beck | New Tracks & Christian Dior

Beck Hanson has been a busy lil' scientologist. Not only is he gearing up to release Guerolito, but he's completely redone his official website.

Normally, I wouldn't publicize some artist homepage, but Beck has been kind enough to include four new exclusive tracks that you can only play on his website. The tracks, "Day For Night", "Sorrow", "Premonition", and the magnificent "Untitled Song 2" are, in my humble opinion, far superior to the majority of Guero. I guess this is promising for his future. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any of these songs online to link them for your listening benefit.

In related news, there's a Guerolito listening event at Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, IL on December 8th from 6-8PM.............

And have you ever heard of Beck's "Christian Dior Song"? Apparently, Beck wrote this 22 minute piece of music after he was commissioned by Christian Dior to use as the soundtrack to a fashion show in the summer of 2004. It's produced by Nigel Godrich and it's beautiful......

DOWNLOAD: Beck - Christian Dior Song (Right Click & Save)

Billy Joel | Back On The Bottle Road

How punk is Billy Joel? It's a question everyone has pondered at one time or another.

Q Magazine described has "the most unhip bad-boy in rock n' roll" for his excessive drinking, numerous car accidents, modelizing, and failed rehab ways.

Chuck Klosterman thinks he's a lovable and pathetic figure who has composed some of the greatest music ever written. Or at least he seems to think so in his now infamous New York Times Magazine profile of the piano man, which was expanded into a nice essay for Sex, Drugs, And Cocoa Puffs.

Face it, Billy Joel is required listening for anyone who grew up in the tri-state area. I don't care how fucking cool you think you are, you know the words to "All For Leyna". Oh god. Help us all. Anyway, the Long Island native is about to launch his first tour in something like six years and this is a good cahnce for all you aging hipsters to go to a show where you can feel young again......

BILLY JOEL | Madison Square Garden | January 23rd, January 26th, February 2nd, February 9th | $89.50 (SOLD OUT on the 23rd, 26th, and 2nd. 9th onsale next week)

Nuthin' But A Good Time | Bret Michaels Shot

Wow. Eminem may try and sell it. Johnny Cash sang about it. But it's Poison's frontman Bret "I'm A Cowboy" Michaels that was fired at this past week. That Gangster Michaels was just chillin with his homies in his supped up tour bus and some g goes and fired a single shot into the parked vehicle right outside the Rumble Seat Bar and Grill in Chicopee, Massachusetts, where homeboy was scheduled to perform.

Michaels was struck in the face by flying broken glass from the tourbus window, but avoided the bullet. He is expected to fully recover and will be borrowing one of 50 Cents bulletproof vests for the remainder of the tour.......

Separated at Birth | The Morning After's Halified

Some of you may remember The Morning After, a now defunct New York rock n' roll band that toured with Franz Ferdinand, Mastadon, Biohazzard, and Clay Aiken. Anyway, the band broke up about a year ago because their guitar player was a complete prick.

Meanwhile, their wild and crazy lead singer, Halified, vanished into his own private version of Mick Jagger's Performance. Well, I've just received this very old ad for "Teasing Hurts" and the posters star seems an exact doppelganger of The Morning After's Halified. What do you think? Is it him? Can it be?

Fiona Apple | First Extraodinary Performance

Fiona Apple made her live return this thanksgiving weekend in Portland, Oregon. Their was very little talking and no mental breakdowns by the faux-psychotic singer/pianist, but she managed to pull off an entertaining show.

This being her first official live show in five years, Team PSNYC will cut her some slack and say that it was a really good show. Fiona is a stiff and awkward performer. Her voice is a bit contrived. Her piano playing is just okay. When standing at the microphone, she was stiffer than Liam Gallagher.

Her full backing band was quite excellent though. They seemed to be playing along with her on almost all the piano parts. Hmmm. Anyway, she spent a majority of the show behind her piano and was very polite in thanking the jubilant crowd for coming out.

The songs off Extraordinary Machine were greeted like classics and the old songs sounded like oldies at this point. That's quite a testament to her staying power as a musician. It may have been five years since she last played, but Portland welcomed her like a homecoming queen.....

Fiona Apple | Roseland Theater | Portland, Oregon | November 25th
Get Him Back (Fiona at piano) / Better Version of Me (piano) / Shadowboxer (piano) / To Your Love (piano) / I Know (Fiona standing at microphone) / Sleep to Dream (standing) / Limp (standing) / Paper Bag (standing) / Tymps (standing) / Oh Well (piano) / On The Bound (piano) / Red, Red, Red (standing) / Not About Love (piano) / O'Sailor (piano) / Get Gone (piano) / Fast As You Can (standing) // Extraordinary Machine (standing) / Criminal (standing) / Parting Gift (at piano, alone on stage)