Pick Your Poison: Wednesday 4-24-13

I wonder how many people were really truly aware of all the things that actor Steve Buscemi did before his most recent spotlight role on Boardwalk Empire. He plays such a serious, button-down gangster, that it can be easy to forget the many goofball parts he’s played over the years. Actually, seeing him vamping it up again in this spring’s The Incredible Burt Wonderstone was something of a treat, even if the movie itself wasn’t that great. But when he wasn’t playing a serial killer in Fargo or even the straight man in a trio of crazies in The Big Lebowski, you could often catch him playing bit parts in Adam Sandler comedies (almost all of them) or adding some comedy to a big blockbuster action drama like Armageddon. The reason I bring this up is because Steve Buscemi is now set to direct a live webcast of a Vampire Weekend show in New York this upcoming Sunday night at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT. It’s part of the American Express Unstaged series, which you may recall also featured legendary thespian Gary Oldman directing a Jack White show last year. Unlike that and some of the other Unstaged shows, they’ve put together some pretty smart and inspired promos for this Vampire Weekend one that I think are worth watching even if you’re not a fan of the band. I don’t know about you, but Steve Buscemi doesn’t quite seem like the sort of guy you’d call a fan of the band either, which is why the promos for this have been so amusing. In the first episode, he meets the band for the first time and things get awkward. In the second episode he goes with the band on a train and to a bowling alley to promote the show, but things get awkward there too. The third episode is just Buscemi on the street harassing people walking around and driving by about the show. They’re all pretty good, along with a couple of extra vignettes involving a double decker tour bus and New York politician Bill De Blasio. If you’d like to watch them all, here’s a link where you can do that. It’s also the place where you can tune in to the live show on Sunday night. I have a feeling that’s not going to be as hilarious, but it’ll still be a good time. Okay, let’s get to today’s Pick Your Poison. I’m pleased to recommend tracks from The Belle Sounds, Demon Queen, Gracie, Lovelife, SWIMM, Work Drugs and Xenia Dunford (who coincidentally has a new record out this week). In the Soundcloud section after the jump, you can stream songs from The Appleseed Cast, Baths, Jens Lekman, Wild Nothing, and remixes of Animal Collective and Generationals songs.