I've been saying Asobi Seksu are better live than on album for about as long as I've listened to them. Citrus is a wonderful record because it does a great job of capturing their live show, but their Joe's Pub gig last night made it clear that this band still needs to be seen to be truly appreciated. (And, for a local band, I feel they are totally underappreciated.)

It's amazing to see how much force Asobi add to every song whereever possible. James Hanna coaxes a tremendous volume of dense sound out of his guitar, creating all sorts of textures and overtones that bleed off the edges of the melodies and contrast nicely with the rest of the band, who roar through the songs with precision. The band embraces dissonance but they use it strategically, and at moments like the end of "New Years" or middle of "Pink Cloud Tracing Paper," it can be overwhelming in the best of ways. "Thursday," "Strings," and "Red Sea" are my favorite songs on Citrus and were my favorite songs last night. "Red Sea" segued into a cover of the Crystals' "Then He Kissed Me," an old Phil Spector tune that ended the night on a nice note. Asobi Seksu will be playing NYC again on June 22 at the Mercury Lounge, and PAS/CAL will also be on the bill. You should be there!

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In other, equally exciting, news - P.S. 1 has released the schedule for Warm Up 2006! These parties happen every Saturday from July 1 to Septmber 2 at P.S. 1 in Queens from 3 PM to 9 PM, and they never fail to be a blast. My only complaint is that the courtyard can get too crowded, and I suspect this year will be as packed as ever as they've done a stellar job with the booking - the 2006 schedule is the best I can remember. Who does the booking for this, and can they open a year-round club? Please?

July 8, July 15, July 22, July 29, August 26, and September 2 especially stand out to me, but you can't go wrong with any of the dates. Here's who's playing:

July 1: Danny Krivit, Francois K, Joe Claussell (Body & Soul Ten Year Reunion)
July 8: The Idjut Boys, Phil South
July 15: Todd Terje, Kudu (live), Citizen Kane
July 22: A Guy Called Gerald (live), San Serac (live), Derek Plaslaiko
July 29: The Juan Maclean (live), Adam X (live), Jeffrey Sfire
August 5: Agnes B. Presents...
August 12: Rub-n-Tug, Escort (live)
August 19: Mathew Johnson (live), Beppe Loda, Lee Douglas, Jeremy Campbell
August 26: The Glimmers + a special guest
September 2: Carl Craig, Gamal Awad, special guest

It should be a fun summer!