If you haven't had a chance or didn't look, there's a live review of last Friday night's Ladyfinger show just below this entry. The band's CD officially hits the record stores tomorrow, yet there have been very few pre-release reviews of the disc. Aversion posted this one today that gives Heavy Hands 4 out of 5 stars. Not bad for a first review.

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Finally, after months of sitting dormant, serious work has begun again on the Slowdown compound. I was surprised to see steel beginning to go up last week from my office window and felt compelled to take a few snappies as I drove by the property yesterday afternoon (click to enlarge thumbnail). If the 24-Hour Fitness on 77th and Cass is any indication, once the steel arrives it's only a matter of weeks before the whole damn thing is framed and walls become enclosed, and before you know it, they'll be working on the interior. I'm hearing from various sources that one of the retail bays is now spoken for by a coffee shop, though the folks at Slowdown deny that any tenant has signed a lease. At first blush, a coffee shop seems like an ill fit for an indie music venue, offices and film house, until you realize that there will be a couple hotels right across the street (to the north, which I suspect at the rate they're going up, will be open for business before the first band takes the Slowdown stage). I'll continue to take pics as construction progresses.

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Tonight at Sokol Underground, Man Man, with Pit er Pat. Philly's Man Man plays an eclectic style of music that can sound as varied as Eastern European carnival hoedowns to standard Flaming Lips-flavored psych rock. $9, 9:30.

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