I'm a big fan of Barsuk's Jim Noir. But, last night, I nearly shot eggnog through my oversized nostrils at the sound of him bastardizing his "My Patch," on a Target ad.

"Holidays are times of magic/We're counting down/We're counting down."

Such a cliché. Not you too, Jim!

I wonder if Target had to pay Noir more than Sir Mix-A-Lot?

I've been a lonely champion of Avril Lavigne ever since I first heard "Complicated" blast through my Buick's speakers, but lately I've soured a bit on the Canadian princess of proper enunciation. While her most recent album, The Best Damn Thing, features three or four righteous power ballads, it's easily the worst of the A-Train's career -- and maybe one of the worst albums of the year, period. Ironically, the A-Train has partnered with MSN to stream a recent live set taped at the Roxy in Hollywood (which includes capable covers of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" and Sarah McLachlan's "Adia"). It's renewed my faith in the A-Train, whose sophomore effort, Under My Skin, was nothing short of spectacular. On her next trip to the studio, she needs to recapture that magic, and lose the pink-blonde dye job in the process. The A-Train should also take a nod from Faith Hill and hire a songwriter; there's nothing noble about doing your own songwriting if the lyrics are crap.

A few years back, John Lomax, my music editor and former colleague at Houston Press, wrote an article grading Houston-area grocery stores by the music they play. He mentioned the smooth jazz musak drivel that dominates most stores, but highlighted those that really made shopping fun. I'll back Lomax on the store that scored highest, Montrose Fiesta. The store's bargain prices were alluring, but music was also big part of the reason I shopped there so much, where you could hear Neil Young in the produce section and Sam Cooke in the cereal aisle. My favorite has to be when "Paradise City" piped in while I was in the beer aisle. I decided to pass on the sixer of some expensive import and went with a twelve pack of Lone Star. Cheap thrills, ya know?

Last night at the Broadway QFC, while making more indulgent food purchases than my wallet and stomach can handle, I found myself humming along to Sade, and thought about Lomax's article. I wondered "What grocery store in Seattle plays the best music?" Considering that I typically only shop at the stores closest to wherever I am living, in the year that I've been here, I think Marketime Foods on Fremont Ave N. has Trader Joe's, QFC, and Fred Meyer totally beat. Even if Marketime's selection is smaller and more expensive than their competitors, I have yet to hear another grocery store play Nas' "Halftime" and Rolling Stones' "She's a Rainbow" in the span of ten minutes.

Know of someplace better? Light up the comments section highlighting the grocery store with the best music.

Don't forget! The Cops continue the celebration for the release of Free Electricity tonight at Easy Street Queen Anne! 8 p.m., all-ages and, as always, completely free. Hit up happy hour at Solo with the boys before the show. . .

Yesterday, I spent about two minutes on the phone with Rachel Flotard of Visqueen. It was a lightning-quick conversation, obviously, but goddamn she still managed to deliver non-stop one-liners. Girl needs her own talk show (Whaddya think, KEXP? Flotard Hour? Eh?)
Anyway, she also mentioned that she had posted 4 new Visqueen tracks up on their Myspace page a couple weeks ago. They sound pretty sweet, so go take a listen.
Incidentally, one of her old songs, "Vaxxine", happened to be chosen by Sound Magazine as one of Seattle's greatest songs, number 29, in fact.

Though recording and touring the world with Deftones has taken up nearly all of his time since the early '90s, singer Chino Moreno still has managed to nurture side project Team Sleep for the past decade-plus. Combining elements of shoegaze, trip-hop, and ambient electronica, Team Sleep ratchets up the atmospherics found in a lot of Deftones songs, but subtracts the skull-splitting riffs and screams. The quintet comes to El Corazon tomorrow night, the third date of a rare tour; I caught up with Chino shortly before they hit the road:

So these are the first dates you guys have done in a couple years, yeah?
Yeah, a few years. Since we’ve been around I’ve pretty much been busy obviously doin' deftones stuff. That's the priority. Team Sleep is fun stuff to play, and it’s not anything I look at, like, 'Oh, this is like my make or break thing.' It's more just a fun thing. If I'm not on tour, even if I'm at home I'm gonna be working on some kind of music whatever it be. That's what I do for fun.

In response to his recent roasting, Gene Simmons says," I had a new asshole drilled into me."

Wow.

Can't wait for the A&E broadcast, scheduled for sometime in April 2008.

If you're going to the Buck 65 show tonight at the Croc, I recommend getting there early to check out slam poet Bernard Dolan, who's opening. The Rhode Island native and friend/business partner of Sage Francis has a new album out called The Failure (eight years in the making), which is a blend of alt-hip-hop, spoken word, and glitchy electronics. Dolan was pretty fiery and intense when he performed here in Philly a couple weeks ago, donning a sorta Evel Knievel outfit and inhabiting his Bombzo the Clown alter-ego along the way. He didn't overstay his welcome, delivering a set only 15 minutes or so, but it left quite an impression. Slam poetry isn't everyone's bag, but if you're into it, you'll very likely dig Dolan's steez. Here's a few photos I shot:

In a text message sent out last night, now-former Crocodile booking agent Pete Greenberg announced that he's officially resigned from his post. More details to come.

Update: In a follow up text sent out minutes ago, Greenberg says: "Due to increasing difficulties and a lack of support from upper management/ownership I have quit the Crocodile effective immediately."

Who knows what this will mean for the club long-term, but in the interim, assistant booker Eli Anderson is stepping up to keep things running as well as they can, continuing to book dates and manage shows onsite at night. A tall order for a now one-man show.

Click here for a slideshow. All photos by Michael Alan Goldberg.

Buck 65
When: 8 p.m. tonight
Where: The Crocodile Cafe
Cost: $12

Michael Alan Goldberg, our Philadelphia correspondent, saw Buck 65 a couple weeks ago when he was on the East Coast. Here's what he had to say.

"I'm the greatest rapper alive," Buck stated repeatedly, his tongue so firmly in his cheek even the best surgeon would have trouble removing it. But when he rhymed, his tongue often twisted in such a way that made a case for him being one of the current greats — his dexterity was impressive as hell, and so was the tone of his voice, growly/raspy sometimes, smooth and punchy other times. Dude is hysterical, too.