My Park Slope neighbor and Turkey Trot adversary Ben has been posting detailed insights on local tippling over at beer, new york for a little while now. While I haven’t submitted any reports on my gluten-free beer consumption yet, look out for a guest blog about my quest to taste Celia Framboise. Near as I can tell, this Great American Beer Festival Gold Medalist is only available at its source, the Alchemist Pub and Brewery in Waterbury, Vt. Celiac road trip, anyone?

Incidentally, streams crossed (narrative-wise) last night when I invited Ben to join me to see Brooklyn ruckus-bringers the Wild Yaks at Europa, a Greenpoint nightclub that has plenty of reflective surfaces outside of the bathrooms. And he had this to say about the show:

The lead singer, a bearded guy with a hedge-o-matic hair cut, flailed around on stage, losing his glasses (twice) and dropping his guitar (once), all the while looking as if he were swatting away an imaginary horde of angry bees circling his head.

Lots more at the source. Ben generously omits details of the night’s disappointing headliner, Kurt Vile. Childish Prodigy remains one of my favorite bedroom rock albums in recent memory, but his acoustic fretwork and Jagger-Westerberg affectations when performed came out flat. It hurt a little to have to head for the G Train before hearing “Freak Train,” but we were dead on our feet. Lesson: no one should ever play after the Wild Yaks.

Due to upcoming Facebook changes, my Music data (?) is at risk. Is Taylor Swift responsible for this?

White, Nerdy and Fabulous: Weird Al helps us better know the Auto-Tune meme with a cameo by the I Am T-Pain iPhone App.

Best Coast’s “When I’m With You” video co-opts a dizzying dance number from Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (thx, MBV). Look out, lovey dovey mixtapes!

Micachu & the Shapes’ “Turn Me Well” video reminds me of this Beastie Boys clip.

Warpaint, who just inked a deal with Rough Trade, were among my CMJ faves. Just to keep my streak of value-added postings alive, the Los Angeles psychedelic songstresses’ “Stars” video is above.

For anyone who didn’t find their way to my CMJ coverage at Paste’s site with my regular nudges, read my thoughts on day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4-5.

Video: Tegan and Sara - “Hell”

I can’t stop listening to the new Tegan and Sara album. Sainthood is a sophisticated collection of pop songs that can set the duo up a lifetime of co-writing with the likes of Kelly Clarkson, Katy Perry and Pink. Believe.

You can bet I’ll be looking for videographer savant Ray Concepcioñ during CMJ this week.

During an action-packed evening of chasing bats out of my RSS belfry, I stumbled across a video featuring recent footage of Micachu & the Shapes (thx, MBV) performing at Littlefield, a new venue near the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. I attended that show, and can attest to its wildly satisfactory and interpretive takes on Jewellry and newer(?) material. On or near the stage during the night was a frenzied man donning a pilot’s cap straight from the Red Baron’s wardrobe punishing his video camera more severely than even a member of the Heene family deserves.

Now I know I was watching none other than Ray Concepcioñ, and we all can see the results of his violent hand-strobing techniques above. Judging by past subjects such as the Walkmen, Kurt Vile, No Age and so many more, Mr. Concepcioñ’s got a pair of ears just as impressive as his set of eyes.

* As always, headphones are recommended for this video.

Where were you the night T-Pain finally laid Autotune and his Big Ass Chain® to rest?

Blur joining LEGO Rock Band provides yet another painful reminder that I was on vacation the one time they visited Minneapolis during my concert-going adolescence there. Needless to say, they didn’t make it to Upstate New York or Mid-Missouri in the years to follow. Gorillaz and all of Damon’s other projects are nice, but Blur is one band that I would gladly compromise my financial well-being to see. If things get really bad, I can always buy LEGO Rock Band at 3 a.m. at my local Best Buy.