The Department of Forgotten Songs

Baby's First Podcast

2010-09-08T13:31:00.001-04:00

Our Newest Contributor: Texts from Last Night!

2009-08-26T13:24:00.004-04:00

(419): The new Black Eyed Peas song is the stupidest shit I've heard since the last Black Eyed Peas song.

Dear Random Person from Toledo, OH,

Thank you. I couldn't agree more.

Love,
Jim

The evidence: the new single.

And the old single:

I kinda miss BEP pre-Fergie. Truth is, they actually used to not be terrible. Proof?

Just saying, Fergie's the devil.

On Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr.

2009-08-21T11:44:00.004-04:00

When I was 16, I went on a service trip with a bunch of kids from my high school. We didn't really know each other all that well in the beginning, and so, in the very beginning, there were a few awkward silences. However, without fail, every time they happened, my friend Bill Houston would always look around and say, "Shhhh, Weezy, baby! By the end of the trip, it became the unofficial punchline to just about every joke that was told (that, or yelling the last name of one of the kids on the trip, Jim Shields, as loudly as possible).

We were not brilliant kids.

Anyway, it's been about fourteen months since the release of Tha Carter III, the last album from cough syrup connoisseur Lil Wayne. Since it came out (on my 19th birthday, no less), it's been almost unanimously praised by just about everyone, topping a bunch of best-of lists at the end of 2008. It also won four Grammys, and in a time where album sales are down across the board, it's still managed to sell over three million copies in America alone. Meanwhile, as I've watched this all going on, the only thing that I could ask was, "Well, why?"

The song that I had heard most before was the uber-annoying radio single "Lollipop," which probably wasn't fair, but every time I heard it, I strongly considered punting a baby out a window. After all, it sounded like the song was filtered through a bottle of Robitussin, as opposed to the all-too-popular Autotuner. However, there's no way that literally everyone could have been wrong about this, so eventually, way, way, way later, within the last month or so, I finally downloaded Weezy's last two albums, Tha Carters II and III.

(Note: I know, I didn't get the first one, and that without any "background," I could have been completely lost. I took my chances.)

So, here's the thing: like most hip-hop albums today, both of these are too long (both albums are over 76 minutes long), and though I'll give Weezy some credit for keeping skits to a minimum, both still have ridiculous moments where he just sort of, uhh, goes off on ridiculous tangents. Tha Carter III ends with this ridiculous thing where Weezy just makes fun of Al Sharpton for a while.

But that's nitpicking, I guess I shouldn't hold a grudge against him for something that a lot of rappers do. And after all, there's a lot of good in there. Weezy gets great producers to give great beats, and even though the dude has some ridiculous kind of stream-of-consciousness/ADD/something (he references Stuart Scott, Beetlejuice, Stevie Wonder, Randy Savage, Dennis Rodman, Orville Redenbacher, and the movie Bad Boys in the first three tracks of Carter III), it somehow works for him. The guy is really clever when he isn't sippin' on some sizzurp, or, you know, when he cares at all.

The major problem is that he doesn't always care, and so you get some downright awful stuff sometimes. Ready? "He's a beast, he's a dog, he's a muthafuckin' problem/OK, you're a goon, but what's a goon to a goblin?" I have no idea what it means either.

There's also a track (not on either of these albums) where he rhymes "head and tail" with "head and tail..." about five different times. It's actually kind of embarrassing, so if I can find it, I'll post it. (EDIT: Got it, starting at 1:45. A downright awful verse.) And his delivery, well, is pretty awful overall (short of one brief moment at 2:19 of the aforementioned YouTube clip).

So that, in a nutshell, is Weezy. He's definitely ridiculous (and what in the hell is up with his kind of creepy relationship with that other guy from the Cash Money Millionaires?), but the guy is clever, to be sure, one of the better rappers around now. More often than not, his punchlines are great. The problem is, it's pretty tough to deliver them when you're lounging or out swimming in Purple Drank Pond (located, of course, in Promethazine Park).

Also, I think that Weezy should probably go out an make an album like The Blueprint before he starts referring to himself as the "Mr. Carter." Just saying.

Consume at your own risk. Anyway, enclosed are some Weezy tracks.

Love,
Jim

No Age/Dan Deacon/Deerhunter (No Deachunter? Dan Agehunter? Deer! No, Deacon!)

2009-08-20T18:48:00.000-04:00

The above T-shirt design (yes, with all three bands in the womb) was sold at all of these shows. It was designed by one of the lunatics in CSS, and it honestly freaks me out a bit. Moving on!

Upon hearing the announcement of the No Age/Deerhunter/Dan Deacon "Round Robin/Pitchfork Wet Dream" Tour and the corresponding dates, I wasn't really sure how to react: the tour is only a week long, and other than Brooklyn, there wasn't a single place that made much sense to me (Newport, KY?). One of the dates was about twenty minutes from my house, but I couldn't make it because I'm in New York for the summer. The next-best option, in Brooklyn, was another that I couldn't make because of All Points West, so I thought I was kind of out of luck.

Then, well, unforeseen circumstances brought me to Millvale, Pennsylvania. This is a place you never want to visit on your own. I promise. Really, the whole Pittsburgh area is a place that you don't want to visit voluntarily. In October, a movie called The Road will be released, and the trailer basically paints a bleak picture of the apocalypse. In a move that can only be described as genius, the movie studio elected to film in Pittsburgh because it already looks like the apocalypse happened there. I'm serious. They didn't have to change all that much.

But I digress.

The show itself was a bit of a strange experience. All three acts came out at first and played a Deerhunter track to start, and then things settled down, with each act playing one song at a time. About halfway in, each band started playing their songs in pairs, and eventually, they all closed the set out together again. For a while, I was totally fine with this. After all, the first 12 songs or so were so high-energy, you could barely tell the difference.

The point that the energy started to drop was when Deerhunter came out and played "Microcastle." From then on, the transitions were a bit slower, and a bit awkward. With none of the bands blitzing into their songs anymore, coupled with no band ever getting a chance to play more than like three tracks in a row, you could start to see the lack of cohesiveness affecting the show.

But overall, it was solid. All of the bands were great, especially No Age, but I just wish Dan Deacon would stop it with the random stupid party games during his songs. Check this out:

Granted, with each band switching on and off, it would have been tough for the show to flow perfectly, but this obviously doesn't help, does it? Dan Deacon: 27 year old man-baby.

Anyway, here are some videos from each. Sadly, there aren't good Deerhunter or No Age videos from this show, but you get the idea.

Deerhunter:

No Age:

Dan Manbaby and a screeching cat:

And finally, one of the opening acts, Ed Schrader. A little background on this guy: he apparently hosts a radio show in Baltimore entitled "The Ed Schrader Show." Go figure. Also, I think he lost his mind a while back. He came out on stage singing something from the musical "Man of La Mancha," and everyone assumed he was just a sound check guy. Twenty minutes later, everyone was really, really confused.

Just try and get through all of this from the Baltimore show (he played it in Millvale too):

Yup. It was all like this. Just him and his drum, but way less cute than the little drummer boy.

He looks like a fucking mad scientist, does he not?

On that, I'm off. Tomorrow: Weezy.

Love,
Jim

Apologies (to the Queen Mary. I couldn't resist.)

2009-08-19T09:03:00.004-04:00

Dear Readers (mainly, Dear Kevin Nihill),

I apologize for not updating this. I wish I could say it was 100% because I was busy, but I think we all know that that isn't the case. I also apologize for making lots of promises about future updates and then failing to deliver on those. Frankly, I'm pretty ashamed of my performance.

But, I promise, I'm gonna make it up to you guys (guy?). Starting tomorrow, there will be updates, probably about one a day, for at least the next three days, and likely more. I can safely say this because there's a ton of stuff to write about. The "No Deachunter tour" entry is all but finished. I still want to write about finally sitting down and listening to Lil' Wayne. (The devil in print form/purveyors of the hipster bible) Pitchfork is putting out their 500 best songs of the decade through the week, and I have a lot to say about it, so, the only thing will be forcing myself to actually write stuff down. However, though promises I make on this blog don't really mean much, I'm making another one.

However, there's one thing I ask of you guys. I made a couple of small changes to the layout, most notably the "interesting/not interesting" boxes at the bottom of the entry. I realize that a lot of the people who read this don't comment, but just as proof to me that you're even looking, I humbly request you at least check one of those boxes at the end of each post.

With that said, I leave you with this picture, sent to me by my friend Marie.

Obviously, we at TDoFS make a lot of jokes at Nickelback's expense, but I'm genuinely having a hard time trying to come up with a band that's had so much hatred directed at them (Milli Vanilli?). Granted, it isn't everyone (evidently their last five albums have gone platinum in the U.S., and i have a hard time thinking that everyone is setting those CDs on fire), but their critical disapproval is overwhelming, almost unanimous. Really, the suggested search results say it all.

In a related story, I'd really like for Google to sponsor this blog. I think that they get us, you know?

So on that note, farewell for now, but not for long, readers. I'll be back tomorrow.

Love,
Jim

We Dance to the Sounds of Sirens.

2009-07-24T03:54:00.007-04:00

I spent the entirety of last Saturday in Coney Island at the Siren Music Festival. This, I admit, is overdue by about five days, but I still feel like I should write about it. The festival's been a mainstay in Coney Island over the last decade, with two free stages, a good amount of bands that are on the brink of making it big in indie circles, and a couple of big names every year since 2001.

Since there was a lot of overlap, I didn't get to see all of the bands, but I'll recap the ones that I did catch:

Tiny Masters of Today: They were the first band I saw all day, and I'm kind of glad that things got better from here. The band is made up of this brother and sister, and I think the oldest one is like 15? As such, they were (kind of expectedly) really, really awkward on stage. While watching them, all I could really say is, "Aww, that girl's adorable! What is she, 9?"

They'll probably figure it out in a few years.

Bear Hands: I honestly had no idea who these guys were, but my friend Alex recommended them to me. Now, I get it. They were super, super high energy, they commanded the stage, they interacted well with the crowd, and they looked really comfortable, which led to a great performance. They kind of sounded like Electric Six meets Eagles of Death Metal, for anyone who knows either of those bands. If you don't? Well, just check them out. Their music is catchy, and that's all it needs to be. Also, this video is apparently taken from the top of one of their amplifiers, so it looks a bit like Cloverfield:

Miccachu and the Shapes: I hadn't heard of these guys beforehand, but after watching them, they seemed like a really strange choice for a festival lineup. Here's what I mean:

Also, Mica herself spent half of the set playing a guitar that I could've sworn was a toy. Seriously.

Japandroids: Oh, yeah, ohhhhhhhhh yeahhhhhhhhhhh. This is what we came to see. The two guys in Japandroids seemed really overwhelmed by the size of the crowd (seriously, it was all they kept saying in between songs), but you'd never know it by their performance. Awesome. Loud, punky singalongs are exactly what the crowd needed, and everyone seemed into it. Apologies for the crappy sound quality on this one:

Frightened Rabbit: I think I was most excited for Frightened Rabbit of any of the bands on the schedule, because they put out one of my favorite albums of last year, The Midnight Organ Fight. Sadly, they were a little bit disappointing. I dunno what it was. I guess they kind of thrive off of studio polish. You be the judge:

Future of the Left: We only saw the last couple of songs of this set after walking over from Frightened Rabbit, but I regret not seeing the whole thing. When we arrived, the band had everyone chanting and singing, and by the end of the set, the bassist ended up really deep into the crowd. Also, SWEET BURNS in the first fifteen seconds:

Spastic doesn't do this set justice, and what I saw of it was great.

A Place to Bury Strangers: When I saw APTBS at NYU in the winter, it was at a really small venue, where we just got punished by a wall of sound. This time around, it was in an enormous space, with a ton of people and less awesome acoustics. Moral: if you get a chance to see them, the tinier the room, the better.

Also, literally everything that I said about them in this post held true. Even when he broke the strings on his guitar, swung it around by said strings, tried to put them back, then grabbed a new guitar and finished the last song. That's a fifteen-minute spectacle that's only worth seeing once.

Built to Spill: I love Built to Spill, but we got buried so far in the back for this, it didn't seem worth staying, so we left in the middle of their set. This isn't to say they weren't good or anything (in fact, I was enjoying their setlist a lot; we left right after "Strange" from Ancient Melodies of the Future), but we were just too far back to enjoy it. But enjoy "Strange!"

Spank Rock: After the Built to Spill fiasco, we just left and headed for the subway to beat the crowds, so we didn't get to see Spank Rock... BUT there is one interesting tidbit about this. When we got into the subway and were sitting in the car, waiting for it to pull away, we could still very easily hear the bass coming from Spank Rock's set, well across the street, pretty far away. They probably killed it, and by "it," I mean "someone."

And that's that. Later today, I'll probably write about the Paul McCartney concert I stumbled my way into, and sometime this week, my misadventures with Lil Wayne.

Love,

Jim

I Can't Breathe Underwater Like I Used To.

2009-07-17T08:35:00.006-04:00

I'm gonna rave about this, but first, watch this video of "Zebra," a relatively tame moment from the Man Man concert. If you'll notice, you'll see yours truly at the bottom left, DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE STAGE. Honus Honus spit water on me and grabbed my boob at some point during the show, friends. Raise your hand if anyone in a band has gone to second with you (and Mickey Avalon shows do NOT count).

Also, when he knocked his water over at some point during the show, I tried to be nice and pick it up. He then smirked at me and immediately knocked it over again. It was perfect.

Some concerts are special because while you're there, you realize that you're watching an incredible moment of technical precision. The band is on and playing tight, they have unbelievable control of their instruments, and the crowd is almost reverent because they know that they're witnessing serious mastery. When Beirut played at NYU, watching all of those guys play together was kind of like that.

This was not one of those concerts. I mean, that isn't to say that Man Man can't play; on the contrary, they're all actually really good. What I'm saying is, precision wasn't the order of the day (a couple times, Honus actually sat on his piano), and that was fine. Man Man is prided on their crazy live show, and they didn't disappoint. I have bruises from getting pushed into the stage, I got kicked in the back of the head, and in one of the funniest moments in the show, a kid next to me got SMOKED in the face with a tambourine.

This doesn't even include the sandstorm that got kicked up when everyone started moshing about during the set. This concert was unbelievable.

Anyone who's seen them knows what I'm talking about, and anyone who hasn't really should. That's all I can say about this without just gushing over and over again, and so I'm going to leave it at that.

Oh, and go buy some Man Man albums. Immediately.

Siren Festival is tomorrow. It's gonna have a hard time living up to last night.

Love,
Jim

On CARAVAN '09/The Headphone Disasterpiece/Free Shows.

2009-07-16T16:32:00.005-04:00

1) To you: my only loyal reader: I'm sorry, and I'll apologize for Kristina too. We suck at this. Looking at the calendar on this, it's been nearly three weeks since either of us posted, and I'm sorry to say, we absolute haven't been hard at work gathering something epic for you. Mea maxima culpa. With that said, I'm back.

2) I didn't go to any concerts since my last post... at least, nothing truly publicized. However, I did attend a really special event, and one that I can safely say will go down as my favorite music festival of the year:

This is a picture of the stage at CARAVAN 2009, our own little homemade Woodstock. I don't know exactly how this came about, but what I do know is that the end result found us driving eight hours to Belgrade, Maine. Essentially, it was like your average music festival, with less well-known (but still really good) bands and with much cheaper food. Also, a lake. Oh man, the lake.

At any rate, special thanks go to Matt Manser (and his dad, who was astonishingly cool about the whole thing) for the land, to all of the bands, and to anyone who had any kind of hand in organizing this. If it happens again, I am personally inviting anyone who reads this to CARAVAN 2010.

3)

You guys remember "The Seed (2.0)" by the Roots? In case you don't:

The guy singing the awesome hook is Cody ChestnuTT (no, that isn't a mistake, those Ts are capitalized). Why he would choose to end his name with the help of Caps Lock is beyond me, but there's a lot of strange things about Cody. I'll get to that in one second.

This is The Headphone Masterpiece, Cody's debut (and from what I can tell, his only album). It's a double album, and, well, as a lot of you probably know, I think that within every double album, there's a far better single album that should've been released instead. In addition, it's one of the most confusing albums that I've ever heard in my life. Why?

Well, listen to that hook. It's actually lifted straight from a track from the album, "The Seed." If the whole album were like this, it would probably have been great. Instead, Cody jam-packed it with stuff like this:

That isn't a fluke, either. There are about a disc's worth of crap like this. I almost get the feeling that Cody recorded a real album, and then spent a couple days in the studio dicking around with his friends. Then, when it came time to actually make decisions, he just decided to keep literally EVERY SECOND of studio recording. And so, any time I listen to anything from the album, I expect it all to be great, but then I run into stuff like "Brother With an Ego." (ACTUAL LYRICS: "Sexy bitches that I fuck with my big black penis/ Thinks that I'm a motherfuckin' musi-cal genius.")

Don't couplets like that warm your heart?

And so, I can't recommend this album for you... but I kind of can't tell you to stay away from it either. It's a bit of an experience. His audacity to release something so undeniably pompous as a debut is kind of bold. As for whether it pays off? Well, listen to "Bitch, I'm Broke" again.

4)I'll be posting again really soon! In the next four days, there are four free concerts in New York City, and I plan on going to at least two of them: Man Man tonight (which i'm leaving for in about half an hour), Superchunk tomorrow (eh), the Siren Festival all day Saturday (ABSOLUTELY), and the Dirty Projectors on Sunday (another maybe). So, there will be concert reviews, I promise.

Enclosed is an actually good Cody trsck, as well as some Man Man and some of the Siren acts.

Love,
Jim

On Michael Jackson.

2009-06-26T20:11:00.002-04:00

As i'm sure literally all of you guys know by now last Thursday, Michael Jackson was rushed to the hospital, where he was declared dead at 2:25 PST. Though the actual cause of death is unknown, the general consensus is that he suffered a heart attack. The news pretty much came out of nowhere, right on the heels of Farrah Fawcett's death earlier in the day. Michael was only 50.

I'll be honest: I'm a late convert to Michael's music. I grew up during the controversial era of Michael's life; I was born two years after his last universally-acclaimed album, Bad, and Michael was generally more well-known among my generation for the accusations of child abuse than for his music. Then I heard Thriller.

Honestly, I don't think much more has to be said about his music, because his first two decades of work are met with universal acclaim. I will say that it's nice to see that in his death, the artist is being remembered more than the personal life.

And so, in tribute, a terrible clip from Rush Hour 2:

Rest in peace, Michael.

Make Out, Fall Out, Make Up

2009-06-24T12:16:00.005-04:00

"What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?" - High Fidelity

I'll get to Rob's quote in a bit.

I went back home this weekend. It was really nice, but as I was getting back on a train to NYC, I realized that I had forgotten my iPod (lovingly named Patrick Carbrey Dunseith).

This is huge. I don't have any of my music on my computer at this point to save space, Instead, it's all on that glorious little piece of machinery. In an effort to save space, I also got rid of the vast majority of the music on my phone, and so, when I put in my headphones for my walk to work, all I had was this, for some reason:

This is Album of the Year by the band The Good Life. It's a concept album of a relationship; beginning when the guy and girl meet, going through the highs of the relationship, moving through to rockier times, accusations, the breakup, the fallout, the girl moving on, and ending two years after the last time the pair spoke. It's really interesting to listen to, and it's a great album, but there's one catch:

This is really the only album I have to listen to until I get that iPod back, and it is fucking exhausting to go through the trials and tribulations of Tim Kasher's relationship every day, especially "Inmates," the nine minute track that includes the breakup itself. The album's 53 minutes long; I get through the vast majority of it each day if I don't finish.

So in this case, Rob? I think pop music is making me miserable. I've heard about the guy's flaws enough that I'm starting to wonder if I'm at fault for the dissolution of their relationship. I absolutely would recommend this album to anyone and everyone, but, well, in moderation. Listen to it too often, and you might get depressed.

Come back, Patrick Carbrey Dunseith. In the meantime, included in the playlist are a couple of tracks from the album.

Love,
Jim

Why are all of my blog posts embarrassing?

2009-06-18T22:13:00.002-04:00

So, I was scrolling through my iTunes today and I realized that I have a lot of music that managed to end up in there without actually getting a listen. Some of the albums I haven't really listened to are REALLY SHAMEFUL. So, I made myself a playlist called "MUST LISTEN!" and proceeded to add almost 800 songs worth of albums that I need to familiarize myself with in order to be a better person. Or, some of you may argue, a person at all. Now, just because something is on this list doesn't mean I've NEVER listened to it, or that I've NEVER listened to the artist... it just means that I didn't give this particular album a fair listen, or I don't remember it at all. So I'm going to work my way through this list and report back to you periodically with my likes and dislikes and such.

Why? - Alopecia
Primus - Antipop
Autour de Lucie - Autour De Lucie
Ween - Axis: Bold As Boognish
My Brightest Diamond - Bring Me the Workhorse
City And Colour - Bring Me Your Love
The New Pornographers - Challengers
Mogwai - Come On Die Young
Ween - Craters of the Sac
Black Moth Super Rainbow - Dandelion Gum
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies
Okkervil River - Down the River of Golden Dreams
Band Of Horses - Everything All The Time
Animal Collective - Feels
Bright Eyes - Fevers And Mirrors
Elliott Smith - Figure 8
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
The Bees - Free The Bees
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
The Magnetic Fields - Get Lost
Dinosaur Jr - Green Mind
Beastie Boys - Hello Nasty
The Honeydrips - Here Comes The Future
Love Is All - A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night
Wye Oak - If Children
Wooden Wand - James & The Quiet
Liz Phair - Liz Phair
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Weezer - Maladroit
Man Man - The Man in a Blue Turban with a Face
Martha Wainwright - Martha Wainwright
Sigur Ros - Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust
Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness-Dawn To Dusk
The Kills - Midnight Boom
Tomahawk - Mit Gas
Wale - The Mixtape About Nothing
Beck - Modern Guilt
Gogol Bordello - Multi Kontra Culti Vs Irony
Margot & The Nuclear So & So's - Not Animal
Iron & Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days
Noah & The Whale - Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down
Steve Aoki - Pillowface And His Airplane Chronicles
TV On the Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain
Stars - Set Yourself on Fire
The Knife - Silent Shout
Man Man - Six Demon Bag
Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted
Tender Forever - The Soft and the Hardcore
Dan Deacon - Spiderman of the Rings
Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
Camper Van Beethoven - Telephone Free Landslide Victory
My Morning Jacket - The Tennessee Fire
Two Gallants - The Throes
Girl Talk - Unstoppable
Threatmantics - Upbeat Love
Wild Sweet Orange - We Have Cause To Be Uneasy
I'm From Barcelona - Who killed Harry Houdini?
Pavement - Wowee Zowee
Juliette & The Licks - You're Speaking My Language
Justice - †

So anyway, as you can see, it's kind of awful that I haven't listened to some of these... I'm particularly shy about admitting that I haven't really experienced Figure 8 or Daydream Nation. But, who knows? Perhaps my oversights are yours, and once I say "HEY BLOG, THIS ALBUM IS REALLY GOOD!" You'll listen too! And then everybody wins. Get excited!

<3

Bonnarooooooo!

2009-06-15T13:04:00.002-04:00

Well, I'm back safely in Pittsburgh, no worse for the wear except for some sunburn and a smudged henna tattoo. And that means... time for me to BLOG about it instead of giving all of you faithful readers brief goofy twitter updates. I'm going to stick to the music, though there are lots of funny stories associated with the trip as a whole. To facilitate your reading, I'm going to bullet-point this, with a blurb about each of the artists I saw. Chronologically, yo.

White Rabbits
One of the acts I've seen before (At NYU's Strawberry Fest, check previous posts to see Jim's blog about it). I only stayed for about half of their set so I could get a good spot for Portugal. The Man. Not much really sticks out in my mind about this show... it was solid, but nothing spectacular, hence, my indifference at leaving early.

Portugal. The Man
As usual, Portugal. The Man's drums and guitar impressed the hell out of me, and the singer made me cringe a little bit. Aside from a personal aversion to the vocalist's style, I think they put on a hell of a show. Energetic and loud are two adjectives I love to use when describing shows I've attended.

Katzenjammer
Easily the biggest surprise of Bonnaroo. I only showed up to Katzenjammer and The Dirty Projectors to ensure a front-row spot to St. Vincent (they were all on the same stage), but I'm SO glad I did. This group of four women from Norway kicked a disgusting amount of ass. I was literally blown away by their energy and stage presence and sheer amount of talent. They all played all of the instruments... between each song they ran around switching, tossing ukuleles and THE sweetest bass guitar I've ever seen to each other. There was also a bizarre amount of growling and grinning at each other... it must be a Norwegian thing. The highlight was definitely "Hey Ho On the Devil's Back," I recommend iTunes-ing their album (Le Pop) IMMEDIATELY for a super duper boost of delicious happiness. This was definitely the second-best show of the weekend.

The Dirty Projectors
All the 'Roo-goers around me were super excited for The Dirty Projectors, and after having such a SWEET experience with Katzenjammer, I was pretty pumped too. However, for the majority of the set, I was less-than-impressed. Everyone but the drummer and two of the female vocalists was lacking a certain... vigor. In fact, I'm pretty sure the keyboardist was asleep half of the time. None of them smiled! It was such a stark contrast to the previous show, and it was far from exciting. The high point was when David Byrne came out on stage and sang with them for their last song. In general, a pretty mundane show.

St. Vincent
I hate to say it, but St. Vincent wasn't the best show I saw at Bonnaroo. Any of you regular readers know that I basically idolize Annie Clark, but I don't think she's that great of a fit for Bonnaroo... she needs to play in a small venue, not on a wide open stage in the middle of the day. That being said, she had some small amounts of technical difficulties that put me (and everyone else) on edge for the rest of the show. Her music is so complex, I'm always impressed when her backing band pulls it all off flawlessly. They even jazzed up a few songs... getting into the Bonnaroo spirit, I'm sure. I can't really comment on St. Vincent objectively, to be honest. I was smitten with the performance, but not blown away like I was with other shows.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs
So, I unfortunately didn't catch much of Yeah Yeah Yeah's set. I was way up front, ankle deep in mud, the sun blazing down on my face and my shoulders, and then... I almost fainted. Gosh darn lack of water/shade. I had to go fill up my water bottle immediately and get something to eat... so I was pretty far away for most of it. From what I could tell, though, they did a lot of stuff from It's Blitz... which I'm not yet too into, so I wasn't that upset about missing some of the set.

Ani DiFranco
Oh, Ani. This crowd was composed exclusively of 20-something women practically shitting their pants, and a few annoyed-looking boyfriends. Oh, and me. Ani has so much stage presence, and she knows she's idolized... she did some spoken word in the middle of her set, and everyone KNEW THE WORDS TO IT. My greatest-hits-Ani-fandom felt so inadequate, though I did enjoy 32 Flavors. Apparently, among hardcore Ani fans, it's not "cool" to really like 32 Flavors. ...oh well!

Beastie Boys
I could go two ways with this show. I could say that the majority of it was great, or the majority of it was fishy. Here's why: they closed their set (a lot of old stuff, a highlight was "Shake Your Rump") with "Sabotage." They started the song, and about 20 seconds into it, stopped, and said "Look at us! We're doing this shit without MP3's or any shit like that, this shit is live!" (I'm paraphrasing here, but that's the basic gist.) They proceeded to BLOW. Which makes me think... hey, Beastie Boys... was the rest of your set recorded? I mean... we won't blame you... you are getting pretty old... Anyway, at least Nas came out randomly for a song. That was pretty cool.

(LACK OF SHOWS)
So, I was SO excited for Public Enemy and Girl Talk after Beastie Boys... but I unfortunately fell asleep at like 12:30. Embarrassing, and upsetting... but what can you do? I was EXHAUSTED.

Jimmy Buffet
On Friday, there were ALL kinds of rumors that Jimmy Buffet was playing a show on Saturday at noon... so I made sure I got there to check it out. Sure enough, there he was, "Cheeseburger in Paradise"ing it up. The crowd was mostly 40+... I actually saw an 80-year-old woman dancing with her walker. It was perfect. I grew up on Jimmy Buffet, so this show was pretty cool. Buffet's a PERFECT fit for Bonnaroo.

Of Montreal
Why is Of Montreal SO hit-or-miss? Especially since Skeletal Lamping, which ranks up with Stadium Arcadium on my list of disappointments. They started the show strong, with lots of non-Skeletal Lamping stuff, but then brought out the weird costumes, and with the kitsch came the shitty should-be-B-Side stuff off of Lamping. I was in a state of despair until they ended their set with a delightful "The Past is a Grotesque Animal"... all 10+ minutes of it.

The Decemberists
They played right after Of Montreal, and my thought process was: "Hey, I'm going to push my way to the front of the stage to get a good spot for the Decemberists!" Yeah... that was 5000 other people's thought process as well. After more pushing, shoving, and swearing (even crying) than I have EVER SEEN at Bonnaroo, we were all situated, packed in, with me about 10 feet from the stage (score!). Much to EVERYONE'S delight (though not Pitchfork's, I guess, but screw them, am I right?), Mr. Meloy hauled out the big guns and played the entirety of The Hazards of Love, beginning to end. Easily the best show of Bonnaroo. The crowd was entranced... everyone knew the words, we were all shouting and cheering and even silent at appropriate moments. I think The Decemberists looked surprised at such an immensely positive response. "The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid" was EASILY the highlight of the show. I was covered in goosebumps, and the kid in front of me and I kept saying to each other, "Holy GOD IS THIS INCREDIBLE." After they played their new album, they played a few standards ("The Engine Driver," "July, July!", etc.). When their set was over, the crowd stayed about 15 minutes chanting "One more song! One more song!" Until it became apparent that there wouldn't be one more song. We all embraced each other (seriously, we did) and left the stage in a daze. I NEED to see The Decemberists when they come to Pittsburgh in August.

Nine Inch Nails
Not much to say. I was probably 1/2 mile away from the stage, so Trent Reznor's voice was nothing more than a vague angry buzzing growl. I had a hard time even recognizing the songs he was playing, though I'm FAIRLY certain I heard "Closer"? And that was good enough for me. Bedtime.

A. A. Bondy
Sunday was an extremely chill day... I heard lots of artists (High On Fire, Erykah Badu), but didn't actually "go" to any shows except for two. A. A. Bondy was adorable, and seemed genuinely surprised that so many people showed up for his noon slot. He's really talented, and punctuated his set and his excitement with "I'ma get DRUUUNK tonight! That's not such a profound statement for this place, is it?" Enough said.

Snoop Dogg
Oh, last show of Bonnaroo. I think Snoop kind of forgot where he was, to be honest. These are a bunch of hippies gearing up for a Phish show, not die-hard fans. He kept saying "Where all my sexy ladies at?" and I could almost feel the ladies in the crowd thinking, "Uh... I mean... I might be a sexy lady? But I'm just so.... dirty...." Consequently, when he sang "Gin and Juice" (was SO excited for that song), he only sang about half of the words, and NONE of the choruses. Was he expecting everyone to sing along? I mean, me and the lady next to me did, but there was awkward silence for the most part. "Laaaaiiiiiiid baaaack.... no? Uh.... guys?" Blahh, oh well. He was still Snoop, and Snoop is Snoop.

OVERALL. Bonnaroo was an excellent time... met lots of awesome people, did lots of awesome things, heard lots of awesome music... now, time for me to go nurse my sunburn and perhaps take another shower. Grosss. Don't forget to download Katzenjammer!

<3.

Quickly:

2009-06-12T14:15:00.003-04:00

So at that David Byrne show, my friend Val brought her flip camera and took some video. Behold, this quick highlight of some superb dancing.

From Val:

"After arriving haphazardly, sans food, jackets, or any compelling need to be able sit where we could see, my friends and I landed a spot on the grass in the amphitheater. From there we couldn’t see the band, we could, however, see the back of all the idiots standing in front of us so that they could see the band. And then it dawned on me, the fans of the Talking Heads really, really can’t dance."

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Love,
Jim

Sighs, Both Wistful and Disgusted. Also, Please Listen To The Song At The End of the Post and Tell Me I'm Not Losing My Mind.

2009-06-09T10:27:00.006-04:00

Yesterday afternoon, I found out about a free concert in Brooklyn being played by David Byrne (of Talking Heads fame, as well as a great solo artist). Logically, I had to make the trek. Obviously, about 10,000 other people had the same idea.

And so I went with my friend Val to Prospect Park to check it out. Thinking that we would get there early, we got to the park at 6 for what we thought was a 6:30 show. I can't even begin to tell you how wrong we were about this, which we realized immediately after we arrived.

It was packed. Of course it was packed. David Byrne has been making music for over 30 years, and he has an enormous fanbase. In addition, it was a free show, in a park, on a nice day. We really should have thought about these things even a little bit before we decided to arrive at 6.

And so, after hanging out in the park for something like two and a half hours in line, we got into the bandshell at 8:30... which is when they promptly started the concert. Apparently, only 6500 of the people in line got in, and the rest got to watch it outside. I can't speak for Val (or our other friends who showed up, wandered around lost in the park for about an hour, then met us in line with about 45 minutes to spare), but I feel like it was worth it.

That picture is from last September, but it was the same basic idea: Byrne, his backing band, his backup singers, and dancers, all in white. And look at that suit. If I spent my days walking around in a white suit, would people respect me more or less?

Anyway, Byrne played a lot of songs from his albums with Brian Eno, which was to be expected: After all, this was another stop on the "Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno Tour." Everything was pretty well-received, but he really brought the house down (I'm trying so hard not to make a "Burning Down the House" reference) when his band played some old Talking Heads songs, They sounded absolutely unbelievable, which is nice, because I feel like more often than not classic rock artists have some sort of falling off when they play shows thirty years later.

To put things into perspective, when I was in high school, I went to a "Battle of the Bands." the band that won did a rendition of a song that I later learned was "Crosseyed and Painless," and after hearing it, I went and got Remain in Light soon after. Yesterday, after actually hearing David Byrne play it, I wanted to go and actually get David Byrne. Not an album, not a discography, the person.

Anyway, the wistful sighs come from the show. The disgusted ones come from this, the song I mentioned in the title of this post.

Dear readers, I admit: I read Pitchfork. It's probably not the best thing, but I do read it daily. Generally, though it's admittedly pretentious, I tend to agree with them on a lot of things. This, however, is not one of them. There's nothing intelligent about this song. There's nothing good about it, short of a 30-second instrumental portion pretty early on. There's no statement that's being made. What makes that good and this (see below) bad?

Pitchfork trashed it, despite the fact that Scroobius Pip actually had something to say. I don't get it.

Unrelated news: I actually might eat lunch at a commmmmmmbination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. Not kidding. More on that at a later date.

In the meantime, I'm off. Be sure to follow Kristina's Twitter for stuff from Bonnaroo, and enclosed in the playlist are some Talking Heads jams.

Love,
Jim

HALLO THERE. Also, Bonnaroo.

2009-06-09T00:33:00.004-04:00

Hey, so. First and most importantly, I am THE WORST BLOGGER EVER and I apologize to Jim and all of you for never ever updating ever. But I FINALLY have something to write about, and that something is Bonnaroo! I'm leaving in a day and a half, and I was wondering how best to keep you lovely readers updated. My solution: I shall tweet Bonnaroo for you! You'll get to know how crazy NiN's show was, how drunk everyone was at Girl Talk, and if Bruce played just hits at his set, WAY BEFORE YOUR FRIENDS!

How excited are you?
The correct answer is: Really excited, Kristina!

So here's the deal. Instead of starting up a new twitter for this momentous occasion, I'm just going to use my existing twitter account, and from this point until post-Bonnaroo, only tweet about things Bonnaroo. If you'd like, you can follow me on twitter, or you can just check it out occasionally to get updated on all the fancy Bonnaroo happenings. I'll definitely be tweeting about the music, but also about funny things I see, cool people I meet, and other random goodness. So, without further ado, my twitter information:

www.twitter.com/kristinalustig

And here are the bands that I'm planning on seeing throughout the weekend:
White Rabbits
Portugal. The Man
Passion Pit
The Dirty Projectors
St Vincent
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Ani Difranco
Beastie Boys (Sorry, David Byrne)
Public Enemy
Girl Talk
Elvis Perkins in Dearland
Robin Hitchcock and the Venus 3
Bon Iver
Of Montreal
The Decemberists
Bruce Springsteen
Nine Inch Nails
MGMT (Perhaps the end of the set if I'm still alive)
A. A. Bondy
Ted Leo
Andrew Bird
Snoop Dogg (...SO EXCITED OMG)
Phish (Maybe if I feel like it... but y'all know how I feel about Phish)

So yep, provided everything goes well, I'll be seeing all of those bands. And tweeting about them for YOUR PERSONAL ENJOYMENT. Perhaps even twitpic'ing some stuff. Get excited.

See you later, internets!
<3

In Which a Previous Post Comes to Fruition (sorta.)

2009-06-06T14:34:00.006-04:00

This post, to be exact.

On October 1st, 2007, I was sitting at my desk in my dorm room, procrastinating on the Internet, when I came across the news that a new Radiohead album coming out.

I immediately fell out of my chair.

Then, when I finally composed myself enough to read the second half of the sentence, I found out that it would be out in ten days. I think I blacked out.

But most importantly, I finally got to the end of the announcement, and came to the most bizarre part: that fans would be able to pay whatever they wanted for the download of the album. My head promptly exploded.

I thought that this was one of the coolest things I had heard in a while. At the time, I wasn't thinking about the lasting repercussions of what would eventually become known as "the Radiohead model," I just wondered if anyone was actually going to put down money for it. Of course, it did: over a million people ordered the album by the time it had come out, and while not everyone paid, a good amount of people bought the $81 discbox. In addition, when the band finally released the album on CD, it went to #1 on the Billboard chart. Within the next year, other artists started releasing their music this way as well, most notably Girl Talk and Nine Inch Nails, and though nobody had the same success as Radiohead, sales were generally pretty good. Everybody wins, right?

Apparently not. Robert Smith, the frontman of The Cure, came out earlier this year against it, with this to say:

"The Radiohead experiment of paying what you want - I disagreed violently with that. You can't allow other people to put a price on what you do, otherwise you don't consider what you do to have any value at all and that's nonsense. If I put a value on my music and no one's prepared to pay that, then more fool me, but the idea that the value is created by the consumer is an idiot plan, it can't work."

Here's the thing: it... kind of did work. In fact, having your album reach #1 in sales in multiple countries months AFTER giving it away for free... I'd argue that it really couldn't have worked much better. I see what he's saying, and to an extent, I agree with him: overall, people should probably not be deciding what they should pay for all music. But, well, this worked. Smith responded with this (a little bitterly, if you ask me):

"In the way of our bright and brave new wired world, these idiot critics have tried very hard to turn my general point - a point I made using Radiohead’s ‘In Rainbows: pay what you want’ marketing ruse as it is the most widely known example - into a mock shockhorror: 'how dare anyone question the famously independent and anti-capitalist Radiohead, they sell more ‘product’ than The Cure so their strategy obviously ‘worked’ (huh?!!)…and anyway, Robert Smith is way too old to comment on contemporary culture moment…'
Any famous artist with a huge and devoted fan base (often arrived at with a little help from a wealthy and powerful ‘patron’ or two?) can afford to do what he, she, or it wants…"

At any rate, just recently, in a piece in The Guardian about Sonic Youth's new album, there was this:

"The band could, of course, have put out the album themselves, but chose not to because, as [Kim] Gordon says, 'there's a whole machinery you have to build up.' Radiohead did it, though, with In Rainbows, initially released online for whatever fans wanted to pay.

'I don't really think they did it by themselves,' Gordon counters. 'They did a marketing ploy by themselves and then got someone else to put it out. It seemed really community-oriented, but it wasn't catered towards their musician brothers and sisters, who don't sell as many records as them. It makes everyone else look bad for not offering their music for whatever. It was a good marketing ploy and I wish I'd thought of it! But we're not in that position either. We might not have been able to put out a record for another couple of years if we'd done it ourselves: it's a lot of work. And it takes away from the actual making music.'

This, I disagree with a bit. Regardless of who was responsible for the idea to self-release the album, whether the promotion took away from the music is kind of unproven. Even though there was a good amount of media coverage, it's not as if the music suffered as a result: In Rainbows and Feed the Animals are both good, regardless of how they were brought into the world (Ghosts I-IV and The Slip, the Nine Inch Nails albums, are both pretty hit-or-miss, but it's been that way since 1994 with them anyway).

I really don't think Gordon gave us, the people who buy music, enough credit. If anything, the idea brings the music to people who hadn't heard it before and were unwilling to pay because, let's be real, who wants to shell out $10 or more for an album they know nothing about? If people like what a band is doing enough, they'll shell out money to support them or see them one way or another. It probably bolstered sales for Radiohead (In Rainbows sold more before its physical release than Hail to the Thief made overall.) In my case, I paid $10 for the Radiohead CD, then paid to see them in concert; I didn't pay for Feed the Animals, but still bought tickets to a Girl Talk show.

But, I could just be more into Radiohead than I am into Sonic Youth.

On that, I'm out. But before I go, I'm trying to figure out what I should do the weekend of July 31st. Is it more worth it to go to the Newport Folk Festival or All Points West? APW has the better lineup, but, well, Newport is probably less than half the cost, even including getting to Rhode Island. Here are the lineups:

Newport:

SATURDAY, AUGUST 1 ~ 11:30 am - 7:00 pm

Pete Seeger, The Decemberists, Fleet Foxes, Gillian Welch, The Avett Brothers, Billy Bragg, Iron & Wine, Mavis Staples, Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Ben Kweller, The Low Anthem, Brett Dennen, Tift Merritt, Tao Rodriguez Seeger, Langhorne Slim

SUNDAY, AUGUST 2 ~ 11:30 am - 7:00 pm

Pete Seeger with Judy Collins, Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, Neko Case, The Campbell Brothers, Josh Ritter, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Tim Eriksen & Shape Note Singers, Del McCoury, Guy Clark, David Rawlings Machine, Deer Tick, Balfa Toujours, Dala Girls, Joe Pug

APW:

Thoughts?

Love,
Jim

This One's Optimistic! (This One Went To Market, This One Just Came Out of the Swamp...)

2009-06-04T10:16:00.002-04:00

Again, apologies for a lack of posting. I've just moved into a new place, and I won't even have the Internet until the 11th. I'm writing this in a coffee shop with my friend Amanda, who's updating her movie blog as we speak. Check it out.

Anyway, this is from Prefix Magazine:

Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest Hits the Top Ten

This week's number one album is no surprise; it's Eminem's Relapse for the second week in a row, as the set moved 211,000 copies, selling 819,000 copies in two weeks. But the Top Ten had a surprising inclusion: Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest hit number 8 with 33,000 copies sold. Granted, that's 1/7 of Em's sales, but it's pretty damn unlikely that a subtle album from a New York art-folk band would hit the Top Ten.

Under no circumstances do I want to fall into the cookie-cutter mold of the music blogger who falls all over himself praising Grizzly Bear; I'm trying to avoid that like I did with Fleet Foxes/TV on the Radio last year, and (a little bit less so) with the Animal Collective album in January. I think all of those records are very good, to be sure, and well worth your time, but gushing over them is a bit of time, as everyone who likes music these days seems to be doing it.

With that said, it's hard not to be really excited over this for a couple of reasons. In a time where music sales are plummeting, it's nice to see a so-called "indie" band making a serious dent in the sales chart. Take a look at the rest of the top 10:

1) Eminem, Relapse
2) Green Day, 21st Century Breakdown
3) Hannah Montana, Hannah Montana: The Movie
4) Marilyn Manson, The High Side of Low
5) Lady Gaga, The Fame
6) Kenny Chesney, Greatest Hits II
7) Wisin and Yandel, La Revolucion
8) Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest
9) Taylor Swift, Fearless I would like to add that this is inexplicably the highest-selling album in the United States this year, and one of only two to sell over a million copies. The other, even more inexplicably (less explicably?), is Hannah Montana.
10) Rascal Flatts, Unstoppable

I suppose disappointing follow-ups to former greatness are really "in" this year (see #1, #2, and #4, though I was never a huge fan of Manson to begin with).

Even more impressive about this Grizzly Bear top 10 debut is that Veckatimest leaked on the Internet something in the neighborhood of THREE MONTHS before its release last week (guilty, I think I got it in March). Hopefully, this kind of thing continues. Maybe we see the new Sunset Rubdown album at #1?

We won't see the new Sunset Rubdown album at #1.

I'm sorry for ever suggesting that the new Sunset Rubdown album would be #1.

Anyway, as Amanda just informed me that David Carradine (from Kung Fu, and more importantly, Bill from the Kill Bill movies) died today, enclosed in the playlist are a couple of favorites from the Kill Bill soundtrack. Rest in peace, Dave.

Love,
Jim

...

2009-05-30T17:20:00.002-04:00

Sorry for my Kristinaesque lack of posting... which is going to continue for a couple of days. But, I was driving around, listening to the radio in Philly for the first time in months. And, uh, well, here.

So, umm... what? Why? Was George Michael really clamoring to be covered?

With this, Seether joins the ranks of Kenny G, Brian McKnight, Barry Manilow, and countless other soft rock artists who have done versions of this song. Inexplicable. One unifying factor: all of them are pretty bad. Enjoy!

Post St. Vincent: In Which Philly Beats Pittsburgh Because We Actually Get Concerts.

2009-05-22T03:27:00.008-04:00

These two guys are what's left of the band Pattern is Movement. Apparently, they aren't related. Go figure. Also, contrary to the unbelievably burly and bearded impression that they leave, neither moonlights as a lumberjack. Finally, neither is related to Dan Deacon.

Anyway, this was my first time ever hearing them, and I've gotta be honest and say that I really, really enjoyed them. The lead singer has a great, great voice, a little reminiscent of Antony from Antony and the Johnsons; I guess the best comparison might be if Antony were lured into singing in a math-rock band.

For the record, it's near impossible to nod your head to the rhythm of a band that changes time signatures as frequently and as effectively as Pattern is Movement. Trust me, I tried.

Anyway, in the middle of their set, all of a sudden, their lead singer says something along the lines of "This next one is a cover song." And then, slowly but surely...

"Is that D'Angelo?"

And indeed it was. In the middle of the set, the two guys pictured above decided to cover this man:

...which was hilarious, until everyone seemed to realize at once: This is really, really good. Here's the video from a couple nights ago, at the show in NYC:

Somehow, I feel like I shouldn't expect anything less from a band whose members, according to Spin, "met at the ages of 13 and 14 while performing in a Christian hip-hop group, bonding over their sinful and secular love for Dr. Dre's seminal album, The Chronic." The point is, I highly recommend you guys listen to the chamber-pop stylings of Pattern is Movement. Besides their Philly lineage (and, of course, our city will take all the wins it can get), they're a really interesting band, a bit beyond description.

Oh, and with a few exceptions to the setlist (no "Paris is Burning?"), St. Vincent was great, but we say that all the time at this point, so hopefully, by now, you know. Enclosed are a couple of Pattern songs.

Love,
Jim

Bitter Bloggin'

2009-05-21T22:50:00.003-04:00

Dearest readers,

My apologies for not blogging in approximately seven years. Since I've been stuck in the armpit of the concert-going world (Pittsburgh), I haven't really had any shows to discuss. But let's get to the bitter part: co-blogger Jim is currently at a St. Vincent show in Philadelphia. And yours truly is ...listening to St. Vincent. Recorded. I thought I'd take my mind off of this incredible injustice by sharing some of my recent finds/thoughts on them. As usual, I will be using lots of youtubez.

First, I'd like to expound on the eternal struggle: to hipster, or not to hipster? Let me explain. Today, while trying to find out if Jens Lekman has a twitter (it would be the most adorable thing ever), I found a poor, abandoned twitter account that seemed to be him, but it only had one entry, with a link. Fate, I say. I clicked on it and was introduced to Dent May... and internal crisis. This next part requires the cooperation of you, dear reader. I need you to click this YouTube video, and then SHUT YOUR EYES. For the whole song, just shut your eyes and listen.

(INTERRUPTION: Jim just called me from the St. Vincent concert, and I am listening to a lovely live rendition of "The Bed" as I type.)

ANYWAY back to Dent May. Shut your eyes!

He sounds vaguely like Jens Lekman, his voice is beautiful, and this music is... kind of reminiscent of the Beach Boys? Anyway, I heard it and immediately loved it. But then... I watched the music video.

...watch it with your eyes open.

I think the epitome of what worries me is at about 1:15. This man is clearly... a hipster. That in itself mightn't be a problem, but I think it's pretty obvious that he doesn't take his music seriously. ...is it possible that his music career is based entirely on irony? Does he not even like his own music? This strikes me as a legitimate problem. I know it's fashionable to hate hipsters (www.latfh.com if you doubt me), but this goes beyond that... is one able to like music like this, where the artist doesn't even take his own music seriously? And I'm not talking about a Bloodhound Gang-esque situation, because they absolutely CANNOT take themselves seriously. I'm talking about, did this guy Dent May (Who was an NYU film student for a few years, which may or may not complicate my problem) just decide one day to start making beautiful ukulele music... for the lols? "Hey guys, wouldn't it be totally rad if I ...started making ukulele music that sounds like it's from the 1960s? Lolz, it'd be so funny."

Anyway, the moral of the story is, this album is REALLY good and I recommend it, but I don't think I could see him live, for the sake of my own sanity.

Now let's completely change courses and take a look at someone that's been explored on the blog before: that someone is Asher Roth. We all know that "I Love College" is a frat boy anthem, and that Asher Roth raps kind of scarily like Eminem. Imagine my joy when The Hood Internet (www.thehoodinternet.com) decided to attack this song in their usual way: by meshing it with an obscure indie song. To hilarious results.

I Love Friction (Asher Roth vs The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart) - The Hood Internet

The new driving beat behind "I Love College" takes a while to feel right, but when it does, the song loses its lazy Weezer influence and starts to (scarily) remind me of an un-classy Arcade Fire song. Which is glorious.

Anyway, I'm off to explore the internets more for goodness to bring to you, lovely reader. I'll leave you with a link to a playlist I made on youtube. It's absolutely perfect, and absolutely NSFW.
Yum yum.
Enjoy!

Love,
Kristina

In Which I Wonder Where to Procure a Nautical-Themed Pashmina Afghan.

2009-05-14T16:56:00.003-04:00

Sadly, I didn't get to that Thermals show, so I don't have much to update with. However, I really wanted to post this.

I realize that the Lonely Island is a bit of a joke, but as comedy albums go, I was actually really impressed with the production value on Incredibad. With that being said, this is actually a really, really good performance. Kudos to Black Thought on taking on T-Pain's responsibilities.

This is proof that the Roots make just about everything better.

In Which I Aspire to Be Lester Bangs By Not Writing Like Lester Bangs.

2009-05-10T20:00:00.004-04:00

So, I should be writing a final for my class in Journalistic Ethics. Instead, I'm listening to Dare! by the Human League. How did I get here?

The above picture is of Philip Seymour Hoffman, playing Lester Bangs in Almost Famous. That happens to be one of my favorite movies; a dream job, if time travel were not an object, would very closely mirror that of Patrick Fugit's character.

In addition, I may or may not have drunkenly cockblocked my roommate this past weekend when I overheard him talking to some girl about that movie and cut in really hard. Sorry, Jeremy.

Anyway, after watching that movie kind of recently, I started looking stuff up about Lester Bangs, and found this, compliments of Wiki:

"Bangs died in New York on April 30, 1982, overdosing (through drug interaction) after treating a cold with Darvon and Valium. According to the Jim Derogatis biography, Bangs was listening to The Human League's album Dare! at the time of his death."

And this, dear readers, is why I'm listening to fucking "Don't You Want Me?"

I have to assume that this couldn't have possibly been the way that Lester wanted to go out, unless this was a brilliant, artsy statement that us peasants weren't meant to get. This is a song that really couldn't have been recorded any time other than 1981; seriously, listening to this, I feel like I should be doing lines of blow and wearing a piano key necktie. Recorded by a band that consisted of an outlandish four synthesizer players and, umm... nothing else, this one's far from timeless.

Unless, of course, you work for Nabisco:

Sigh. And on that, back to ethics. Ideally, I'll be headed to the Thermals concert tomorrow night, and if so, I'll have an entry afterwards.

Love,
Jim.

Timeliness... you mean, like, last week?

2009-05-09T10:53:00.005-04:00

Here at TDoFS, we (and by "we" I mean "I") have embraced the concept of writing about entirely irrelevant things. Albums that came out years ago, YouTube videos that might not be as legitimately awesome as I think they are, etc. And when we (again, I) actually have something relevant to write about, we must wait at least a few days past when it's timely to write about it.

Therefore, time to write about St. Vincent's Virgin Megastore show on 5-5-09.

Both members of TDoFS were in attendance (though one of them kept threatening to go to the Electric Six show instead), and we had a perfect spot in the second row, about 10 feet from Annie Clark herself.

(EDIT: We were probably close enough to personally tell her that we downloaded her album a month before its release. Oops. Sorry, Annie. - Jim)

A few things need to be said about Annie Clark. She has a certain aura of perfection and class around her, and her frizzy halo of black hair makes her seem even more angelic. Even when she's rocking out hard, stomping her feet on the ground and bent over in concentration, she's like porcelain.

Actually, that description of Ms. Clark could also be a description of her second album, Actor: an album that, even though it rocks hard, at some points seems delicate enough to snap.

St. Vincent played songs exclusively from Actor, which was to be expected (though slightly disappointing), and I'd give you the setlist, but Jim's the one with the copy of it (jealous). We were both worried about the orchestration of the songs live... they're so complex and intricate, they couldn't possibly translate over onto the stage very well. On the contrary: apparently, every member of St. Vincent plays a ton of different instruments, and they play them well. Annie Clark was even doing her own backup vocals at one point.

Though it was a short show - which I guess is to be expected for an in-store album promotion - it was packed with my current favorites from Actor, like "Actor Out of Work" and "Marrow."

The only other relevant things to say about St. Vincent live is this: make EVERY attempt to see her on this tour... it will be wholly worth it.

Check out www.ilovestvincent.com for tour dates and such.

Update: Arcade Fire 1, Flaming Lips 0.

2009-05-05T14:31:00.003-04:00

From an Entertainment Weekly interview with Wayne Coyne, partially on "Do You Realize?" being named Oklahoma's state song:

Entertainment Weekly:Did the Arcade Fire send a congratulatory telegram?

Wayne Coyne: [Laughs] They didn’t. I wish that had never happened. I didn’t necessarily mean it about the people in the Arcade Fire. I meant it about the guys that were running their stages at a couple of festivals. I wish whatever had been said wouldn’t have been taken as such a defiant statement from the Flaming Lips, because it wasn’t. I just assumed [their response] was a joke.

EW:Really? He seemed pretty annoyed to me.

WC:I can totally see that now.

EW:Would you care to apologize to them now?

WC:I would. I really feel bad about it. I like enough of their music. The idea that I’m somehow against them… I’m not!

Sadly, I guess that's over, and an apology from the Flaming Lips technically means that the Arcade Fire won. In retrospect, I feel like I should've been rooting for Wayne though. I kind of wish that rockers would release "diss tracks" with the same frequency that rappers do. Especially if we had bands of this magnitude making them?

Put it this way: when Jay-Z and Nas were putting out great tracks against each other a decade or so ago, it was almost always worth listening to. By contrast, nobody really needs to hear Paul Wall quibble with Chamillionaire about which one of them is slightly more relevant.

So this is my plea for alt-rock diss tracks. Since the Flaming Lips already released a track called "Thank You, Jack White (For the Fiber-Optic Jesus That You Gave Me," it really isn't much of a stretch for them to take it a step further and put out something in the vein of "Putting the Fire Out (Dismembering Win, Limb by Limb)."

Think about it.

Enclosed in the playlist are the two best tracks from the Jay-Z/Nas feud, and "Thank You Jack White (For the Fiber-Optic Jesus That You Gave Me."

Love,
Jim

Dearest Clash Magazine, Cease and Desist. Love, Jim

2009-05-03T20:21:00.005-04:00

Clash Magazine is a music and fashion magazine based out of the United Kingdom. It started in 2004, and has gotten relatively popular in the UK, but hasn't found the same amount of success in the United States, despite having events at South by Southwest.

So why am I bringing them up? Starting at the very end of March, they started uncovering a countdown, as music magazines are often inclined to do. The countdown was of the 50 Greatest Albums of the Last 5 Years, and since the past five years have been the most formative years of my music-listening, I was pretty interested in hearing what they had to say.

The list finally finished at the end of April, and it's a little bit confusing. Here it is:

50) The Killers - Hot Fuss
49) Kasabian - Kasabian
48) Deerhunter - Microcastle
47) Bat For Lashes - Fur and Gold
46) Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
45) MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
44) Portishead - Third
43) Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
42) Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
41) Santigold - Santigold
40) Late Of The Pier - Fantasy Black Channel
39) Sigur Rós - Takk...
38) Efterklang - Parades
37) Liars - Drum's Not Dead
36) The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
35) Hot Chip - The Warning
34) Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
33) Benga - Diary Of An Afro Warrior
32) Feist - The Reminder
31) Broadcast - Tender Buttons
30) Battles - Mirrored
29) Klaxons - Myths Of The Near Future
28) Tunng - Mother's Daughter And Other Songs
27) The Libertines - The Libertines
26) Kanye West - The College Dropout
25) Apparat - Walls
24) Burial - Burial
23) Gallows - Orchestra Of Wolves
22) Caribou - The Milk Of Human Kindness
21) Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
20) Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
19) Soulwax - Nite Versions
18) The Bug - London Zoo
17) Brian Wilson - SMiLE
16) Isolée - We Are Monster
15) My Morning Jacket - Z
14) Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
13) Joanna Newsom - Ys
12) Modeselektor - Hello Mom!
11) Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
10) Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
09) J Dilla - Donuts
08) Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
07) M.I.A. - Arular
06) LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem
05) The Knife - Silent Shout
04) TV On The Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain
03) Kings Of Leon - Because Of The Times
02) Radiohead - In Rainbows
01) Arcade Fire - Funeral

I would put Clash's number one choice, undoubtedly, in my top two, which is why it's so baffling to me that my other pick is nowhere to be found on this list. Wolf Parade, just know that I'm unapologetic for loving Apologies so much.

At any rate, I may not necessarily be the most qualified person to be judging this list, as I haven't heard every single one of the albums listed above. In addition, I don't necessarily want to nitpick about individual artists on the list just because I have a varying opinion on the topic. Saying that I would put a different Animal Collective album on the list if I were going to put any on there at all doesn't really do anything.

With that said, the thing that I notice about this list is that it doesn't necessarily seem to be a list of the 50 greatest albums so much as a compilation of the 50 biggest buzz bands. The Killers, Vampire Weekend, MGMT, Santigold, Fleet Foxes, Franz Ferdinand, J Dilla, Arctic Monkeys? All of those albums are good, to be sure, but the thing unifying them more than anything else is that upon first release, they were gobbled up by seemingly everyone (with the notable exception of J Dilla, who found more acclaim after his death). The question is, are those albums on this list because they genuinely deserve to be there, or is it because of their canonization in trendy music libraries?

The most egregious example of this is the #3 album on Clash's list, Because of the Times by Kings of Leon. Between their second and third albums, the band changed their sound a bit, and suddenly got pretty big with this album, which was their first to go #1 in the UK. One thing that didn't change, however, was that Caleb Followhill's lyrics still rarely made sense. Ready? Here's "Charmer:"

"She's such a charmer, oh, no,
She's such a charmer, oh, no,
She's always looking at me
She's always looking at me
She's such a charmer, oh, no

She stole my karma, oh, no
Sold it to the farmer, oh, no
She's always looking at me
She's always looking at me
She's such a charmer, oh, no, oh, no

Born in West Virginia, oh, no
Married to the preacher, oh, no
She's always looking at me
She's always looking at me
She's such a charmer, oh, no, oh, no

She's always looking at me
She's always looking at me
She's such a charmer, oh, no, oh, no"

I actually typed that out. It was kind of frustrating. The point is, I question Clash's pick of this album (probably the Kings' third-best in the last five years, at least to me), and I think that they may have done it in order to justify putting the band on their cover... several times.

With that being said, have a Kings of Leon music video. While it isn't on the third-best album of the last five years, it kind of epitomizes what I liked about the band... and the video's well worth a watch.

Kings Of Leon - Four Kicks
Uploaded by strange-ghost

Love,

Jim

On the Band That Made Fort Nightly, Which Is About How Often I've Been Updating Recently

2009-05-02T16:43:00.009-04:00

The baffling picture above this was taken by my friend Lauren at NYU's Strawberry Fest. Instead of having some form of a spring weekend like a lot of schools, NYU instead holds an event every year that has us celebrating... well, umm, strawberries.

Maybe us hipsters should count our blessings. My friends at Penn State got a performance from Asher Roth. Coincidentally, my friends from Penn State generally enjoy college, drinking, women, and college. On second thought, it was a perfect fit.

Anyway, for the past 25 years or so, NYU has picked out a spring day, sectioned off a block or so, closed it off from traffic, and relentlessly force-fed unsuspecting students with several tons of strawberries. It's an experience, if only to check out/devour "NYC's Largest Strawberry Shortcake."

For the first time this year, however, they decided to have a concert with it, and booked five bands to play. Besides the obvious missed opportunity to call the performance Strawberry Jam and try to get Animal Collective, the idea was a great one. The headliner was a band called White Rabbits, and I was excited about it, but it certainly seemed like a lot of people either were upset about it, or simply didn't care at all.

On to the bands. I arrived in the middle of the fourth band's set, which is a shame, because apparently it was a surprisingly solid lineup. The other bands were Motel Motel, We Are The Arm, Golden Triangle, and Teengirl Fantasy. I don't really know much about any of them, and I could only find Teengirl Fantasy on Playlist (the song's not bad; it sounds a lot like recent Animal Collective without any kind of yelping vocals... or any vocals at all).

As for White Rabbits? I kind of feel bad for the five of them (and their more recent, kind-of superfluous sixth). The stage set up in the middle of Strawberry Fest seemed like an afterthought to the majority of people who were passing through, even though they (and apparently everyone else) put on a good show. They played a lot of songs promoting their soon-to be released It's Frightening, and a few from their first.

I'm a big fan of that first album, 2007's Fort Nightly. It got a lot of comparisons to Spoon, and probably rightfully so: They sound like Spoon (if Britt Daniel was less into smoking pot), they toured with Spoon, and the lead singer/piano player looks a little bit like the lead singer of Spoon if you squint. However, with their second album, they took what can only be described as a somewhat misguided attempt to try and distance themselves from Spoon... by hiring the lead singer of Spoon to produce.

Sorry for saying Spoon so many times, but it's coming a couple more.

Here's the crazy thing: it kind of worked. That second album sounds less like Spoon. Coincidentally, though it's good, it's not as good as a Spoon album.

In direct contradiction to any math you've ever been taught, this means: Spoon+Spoon < Spoon. Of course, I'm not a math major.

(Apologies. That last set was to be annoying.)

In unrelated news, this week should be interesting, and despite the fact that I have finals, I should probably be updating again. Monday at midnight, I'm finally going to be taking advantage of the fact that the Roots are stationed in New York City when I see them at their residency at the Highline Ballroom. Tuesday, TDoFS-favorite St. Vincent is doing a performance inside of the Virgin Megastore.

Aaaaanyway, here are some pictures, and below them, enclosed in the playlist are some White Rabbits songs from the old album, as well as one from the new one, the Teengirl Fantasy track I found, and the song "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane, which has no relation to the band, but is great nevertheless. Hopefully, you guys enjoy them, because I feel as though White Rabbits deserved better than to lose to fruit (albeit a delicious one).

The guy in the polo is the aforementioned super-superfluous sixth. He spent the majority of the show just drumming on one tom.

Britt from Spoon, vs...

Stephen from White Rabbits. You be the judge.

Finally, one of the many distractions going on during the set. Troublesome that people gravitated more to our mangy bobcat.

Love,
Jim

I Promise, I'll Update For Real Soon.

2009-04-22T23:44:00.002-04:00

AVC: You mentioned talking to Richard Linklater and Caveh Zahedi about your ideas on movie music. Can you summarize those ideas?

WO: Well, for a while, it seemed like you were always seeing movies where all the music was determined by the music supervisors and their special relationships with certain record labels. And I just felt like, “Wow, I’ll bet they spent months or years writing this screenplay, and I’ll bet they spent months shooting this, and I’ll bet they spent months editing this, and now they’re spending no time at all picking these completely inappropriate songs with lyrics to put under a scene that has dialogue.” How does that even work? How can you have a song with someone singing lyrics under spoken dialogue and consider that mood-music, or supportive of the storyline? As somebody who likes music, when that happens, I tend to listen to the lyrics, which have nothing to do with the movie. And then I’m lost in the storyline. Not only is that a crime, but it’s a crime not to give people who are good at making music for movies the work. It’s like saying, “We don’t need you, even though you’re so much better at it than I am as a music supervisor.” Like the cancer that is that Darjeeling guy… what’s his name?

AVC: Wes Anderson?

WO: Yeah. His completely cancerous approach to using music is basically, “Here’s my iPod on shuffle, and here’s my movie.” The two are just thrown together. People are constantly contacting me saying, “I’ve been editing my movie, and I’ve been using your song in the editing process. What would it take to license the song?” And for me it’s like, “Regardless of what you’ve been doing, my song doesn’t belong in your movie.” That’s where the conversation should end. Music should be made for movies, you know?

This is an excerpt from an interview that the Onion's AV Club did with Will Oldham, otherwise known as Bonnie "Prince" Billy. It's currently bothering the hell out of me.

Other than calling Wes Anderson a "cancer," which seems completely unnecessary (and is flat-out something I disagree with, as I love his movies pretty much unanimously, especially Rushmore), the thing that's bothering me the most about this is the derisive tone that he's taken towards using music in movies.

Let's go over this for a second. To me, it seems like Oldham is completely against the selection of already-created songs for movies, suggesting that all music included in films should be created expressly for that purpose. I guess I see the point that he's trying to make: if you listen exclusively to the lyrics of the song instead of trying to get the entire context of the given scene, everything may not match up.

With that being said though, music in film, whether used diagetically or not, has created unforgettable moments in thousands of movies over the years. Oldham really just comes off as an elitist, and again, I understand that he might not want his own music licensed for use in films, but it certainly sounds a lot like he thinks that he's better than licensing his work, and, well, he's not.

I've got a lot more to say about this, but I really feel like I might pass out from exhaustion, so maybe I'll update this one a bit later. In the meantime, even though I do like Will Oldham, here are some of my favorite uses of other people's music by Wes Anderson, all by artists that (more than likely) I like better than Will Oldham. Suck it, Will!

*Elliott Smith.

*Iggy Pop (aaaaaaaaaaaaamen!)

*The Who

*The Kinks (complete with obligatory Wes Anderson underwater shot)

Will any of you ever read this blog again?

2009-04-15T09:19:00.002-04:00

I have a confession to make.

...many confessions to make.

I've been up for 6 hours, and it's only 9 am. I spent my early morning listening to a lot of music, and realizing that sometimes, my music taste is incredibly embarrassing. And I feel like it's time to level with you, dearest blog readers. Sometimes, I listen to what might be known as shitty music. And I love it.

I'll start with this song, which I've listened to approximately 30 times this morning.

...yeah. Ginuwine - Pony. After Wikipediaing him, I was delighted to find that his real name is Elgin Baylor Lumpkin, thus almost winning the award for funniest real name (Yeshe Perl, aka Mickey Avalon, still holds the title). But anyway... I can't really explain why this song is so good. The only possible reason I can find is the beat. I can't really figure out what it is... is it someone going "Duuh... duhh duhh duhh... duhh duhh duhh..." or is it some weird synth thing? In any case, holy crap is it good. (Here marks my 3rd play of the song while writing this blog post.)

I guess this brings me to my disregard for actual legitimacy... as long as it has a funky beat, it's 100% amazing, in my book. (Jim and I discussed this at length and determined that beats I like aren't funky, they're skanky. Oh well.) SPEAKING OF SKANKY BEATS, here's embarrassing song I love numero dos (I'm pretty sure this one has almost gotten me kicked off the blog a few times). And gosh, I can't find an embeddable version, so I'll just have to tell you. It's Play. By David Banner. I... I have no explanation. Remember, this is like a confessional. Maybe I'll go say a few Hail Mary's or something. Or maybe this will help (oh god oh god acoustic covers oh god):

In any case, the edited version makes me laugh. "Run, girl, I'm try'na get your body wet." and then later, "Work them hips, run, girl." Amazing. At certain points, they give up trying to edit it and just delete things. "We can jump till the bed breaks." Really? I'm literally laughing out loud. Maybe I'll blog about explicit vs. radio edited songs next.

Continuing along. There's a lot of music I really like that I don't think falls into the embarrassing category, but apparently some people do. For example:

Now, I'm pretty sure that Jewel was amazing back in like, 1996. This is from the first CD I ever owned, and I still own it. Because it's awesome. And I listen to it fairly regularly. Just listen to that distinct 90's twang. GOD it's amazing.

I'll wrap up this particular entry (I'm sure there'll be more in the future) with another throwback that I really don't think I should even be embarrassed of. But again, apparently I should be.

I listen to this song all the time. Unironically. Speaking of, how does one listen to music ironically? That pisses me off. Hey hipsters, don't listen to Missy Elliot ironically... because she's really, really good.

Enjoy laughing at me,
Kristina.

P.S. Honorable mentions (not really embarrassing enough):
Longview - Green Day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c87TKWgRyCE
What Would You Do? - City High (alright, maybe this is way more embarrassing than any of the others)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uv2b8jo46w
The Call - Backstreet Boys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6GRKRDicTU

Post your embarrassing music taste in the comment box below :-)

I Have Seriously Got To Start Listening to More Funk Music.

2009-04-09T15:05:00.003-04:00

From the Wiki for the 1970 Funkadelic album Free Your Mind... And Your Ass Will Follow (which, in itself, is a great name for an album):

"The album and its title track, a feedback-drenched number taking a third of the album's length, introduces the subversion of Christian themes explored on later songs, describing a mystical approach to salvation in which 'the Kingdom of Heaven is within' and achievable through freeing one's mind, after which one's ass will follow."

Speechless. I can't stop laughing about this. More in a couple of days, when I actually sit down and listen to a lot of this.

Love,
Jim

Woah.

2009-04-07T00:59:00.002-04:00

Inspired by the post about Bright Eyes/the Killers from a couple of days ago (and also by this cover of a Fleet Foxes song, which my friend made me aware of, and strongly rivals the original), here's a smattering of some awesome cover songs. But first, here's that cover by some Swedish girls. Apparently they call themselves First Aid Kit. I'm really impressed by this.

Anyway, here are some favorites:

Yellowcard - "Everywhere": This is off the first Punk Goes Pop compilation, and while I'm not sure if it's actually a "good" cover, I'm a sucker for teen pop turned loud. Perfect for blaring in your car stereo and yelling along, especially at the end. Go for the note he hits, I promise, it'll be fun.

Cake - "I Will Survive": This is a mean cover. Seriously, may God bless Cake and keep them. John McCrea's voice is great, with this sarcastic drone, and yet somehow, I feel like he's not mocking the song or anything. Anyway, here's a live version:

Limp Bizkit: "Faith": Seriously, any chance I get to bring up Limp Bizkit, I'm going to. Especially cause the "GET THE FUCK UP!!!" at the end, while not particularly subtle, is worth the price of admission. Ignore the video, which is totally unrelated.

Anything by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes: A punk band made up of members of other bands, who exclusively plays covers. I guess some are better than others, but in general they're all highly entertaining. Also, they're all really, really faithful to the original versions. Have "Ain't No Sunshine," originally by Bill Withers.

Two songs done in the 60s!

Muse - "Feeling Good": Covered by everyone and their mother (including Michael Buble, whose version, I hate to admit, is awesome), I'm picking Muse just because I love Matthew Bellamy's voice.

Joe Cocker - "With a Little Help From My Friends": This is difficult. See, usually, covering the Beatles is a mistake, but everyone's made a good version of the song "Across the Universe." Ironically, the movie "Across the Universe" was filled with terrible versions of Beatles songs. I'm just going to post this and say that I loved The Wonder Years.

And finally, for now, the White Stripes - "Jolene": One of my favorite covers of all time, actually. At some point in the song, invariably every time, I actually get upset that Jack White's man is gonna get taken from him. This one makes me wanna see the White Stripes more and more every time.

That'll do it, cause, you know, I have a linguistics test in the morning.

Love,
Jim

This is probably not in any way objective.

2009-04-05T14:11:00.004-04:00

At about 4PM yesterday, I received an urgent phone call from Jim.

"Hey, Kristina," he whispers furtively.
"Hey Jim, what's up?"
"I'm calling from the computer lab and I'm trying to be quiet, but it leaked."
"What?"
"Get online, it leaked."
"OMG OKAY I'LL BE RIGHT ON OMG."

The fact that I knew what "it" was without even having to ask is pretty indicative of the fact that St. Vincent released one of the best first albums I've ever heard, Marry Me. And yesterday, her new album, Actor, began floating around the internet. And honestly, the only problem I might have with this album is that it's too similar to Marry Me. The question is, is that a problem?

Every time I think of something general to say about Actor, I listen to another song again and it refutes it. I was going to say that Actor is mellower than Annie Clark's previous album... less driving, perhaps... but then I listen to "The Strangers," which is an oddly orchestral opening with a nice constant beat under it that pushes it forward. "Actor Out of Work" is another song with a lovely driving beat, lots of "Oooh oooh ooohs," and some nice buzzy brass. It definitely makes me want to dance.

Arguably the best song on the album, and Jim might agree with me, is "The Neighbors." It's repetitive, but the repetition works. The song starts out kind of fugue-like, and moves into distorted guitars for a bit... then goes back to the fugue-ness. It feels kind of distracted, yet at the same time wholly pulled together.

Lyrically, my favorite is "The Bed."

"We're sleeping underneath the bed
To scare the monsters out
With our dear Daddy's Smith & Wesson
We've gotta teach them all a lesson...
Don't move
Don't scream
Or we will have to shoot."

I've never heard "Smith & Wesson" sung so beautifully. I get this amazing, adorable, yet kind of creepy image of two kids hiding under the bed with a gun, ready to face the monsters, but kind of nodding off to sleep. The clarinet trills and the moving violin lines add whimsy. Mostly because I really like the word whimsy.

I tend to build these huge mountains of expectation for albums released by my favorite artists, and sometimes I end up disappointed (coughcoughSTADIUMARCADIUMcoughcough). I am so very much not disappointed by Actor. It's gorgeous and catchy and I know that when Ms. Clark performs it live it'll get dance-y and even better. And if Pitchfork thinks it's a bad album, they will officially have no more credibility in my eyes. Just sayin'.

A Post Indirectly Dedicated to Kelly Fagan (the biggest Bright Eyes fan I know who reads this)

2009-04-04T17:32:00.002-04:00

It's usually pretty tough for me to defend Conor Oberst, especially because I've thought he was a raving lunatic since the opening minute of I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning. Seriously, just listen to the opening story of this video; it's about a minute and a half:

That being said, credit where it's due, because he's a really good songwriter. In addition, I very recently heard a (completely unnecessary) cover of the Bright Eyes' song "Four Winds" by The Killers. You be the judge.

Bright Eyes (also, I really enjoy this music video, and I wanna marry his drummer):

The Killers (no real video):

To be honest, I do like the Killers (or, at least I did; Hot Fuss is really good, but then they decided to change their sound a bit, and I haven't really liked them since). I think my major problems with the cover (while trying my hardest not to come off snobby) are these:

1) Absolutely unnecessary. Was anyone really calling for a cover of "Four Winds," a song that's still pretty recent (April 2007)? I can see the reason why they covered "Shadowplay" by Joy Division, because it's from the 1970s (and because they got paid to do it for a movie soundtrack), but a Bright Eyes song, from their latest album?

2) The best way that I've heard this described is this, from Stereogum:

"...the Killers make Bright Eyes sound like the Killers. For fans of the Killers. Not of Bright Eyes."

Absolutely perfect. It might just be me not liking the new Killers, but this kind of sounds like they took the Bright Eyes song and removed any kind of feeling or emotion from it in making it their own. Honestly, it sounds like Brandon Flowers doesn't give a shit as he's singing this. As an extension of that, "Four Winds" was not a song that you should want to dance to, but the Killers did their damnedest to try and wring a dance track out of it like they did with "Shadowplay."

I really just think the Killers should stop trying to cover other people's stuff, especially when they try to add "oohs" and "aahs" to a song that references suicide. Ian Curtis rolls over in his grave.

Then again, that's just me.

Underneath are the original Joy Division track and the Killers' version, which honestly isn't that bad, but still isn't as good as the original. Inevitably to follow soon: a list of some of my (maybe Kristina's) favorite covers.

Love,
Jim

What? You're still alive?

2009-04-03T13:53:00.004-04:00

I'd like to start by apologizing for being the biggest slacker in the history of the world. After copious hints from co-blogger Jim (and a few "Why don't we count the posts made in March, shall we?"s), I've decided to rear my metaphorical internet head once more and blog about something.

That something is logically going to be Bonnaroo. As most of you know, I'm disgustingly excited for Bonnaroo this year. For those of you who don't know, Bonnaroo is a 4-day dirty hippie non-sober jamfest-goodtime on a farm in Tennessee. And I have already purchased my ticket.

Now, I went to Bonnaroo a couple of years ago (the 07 lineup), and it was incredible. Mostly because of the Flaming Lips set, which genuinely may have changed my life:

This year, Bonnaroo, while devoid of the Lips, promises to be similarly amazing (partially because, instead of going with my mother, I'm going with my LIFE PARTNER* Helene). Check out the lineup, it'll make you a happy camper.

Uhhh, yehah. I'm going to see Snoop Dogg.

Kristina. Nerdy indie-music-loving... nerd.

Snoop Dogg.

This is all I have to say about him:

(I REALLY wanted to put Drop It Like It's Hot on here, but I couldn't find an embeddable one. So... Snnnnooooooooooo-ooooooooop!)

But really, the lineup is so great. I'm not exactly ecstatic for the headliners; rather, it's the underbilled bands that have my attention. Don't get me wrong, Beastie Boys and Nine Inch Nails will be really awesome, but...

St. Vincent. Of Montreal. The Decemberists. Ani DiFranco. Girl Talk. Animal Collective. YEAH YEAH mfing YEAHS. Public Enemy.

Imagine the kind of crowd that a festival with such a diverse lineup will draw. "An awesome one" is the answer to that question. Hopefully similar to the kind of people I saw in '07 (and this kid is the only important one):

And you know what? I'd like to end this post on that note. Because that green-mohawked Spiderman kid made my day.

I hope to see you all at Bonnaroo.

YOU TOO, JIM.

*She made me change it to reflect our actual relationship.

Deacon/APW

2009-04-02T12:59:00.006-04:00

For $6 a ticket, Dan Deacon is coming to the hipster confines of NYU, and I can't go because of my friend's birthday celebration. So why specifically do I want to punch her in the face for being born today?

Is it because I really like Dan Deacon? Not really, even though I do. After all, it's just a concert, and I did get a chance to see him last summer.

Is it because of his incredible live performance? Not at all, cause honestly, his set last year kind of... sucked. Essentially, it was him trying to play party games with his audience while his music was playing in the background... from a laptop.

No, I've heard that this concert is going to be accompanied by a live ensemble band, which has the potential to be really impressive, but that's not even the real reason for poor Sam receiving a broken face (uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, ooh!).

The real reason is a song called "Get Older."

This is the last track off of Dan's new album, Bromst, and I'm not really prone to hyperbole, but I'm fairly confident that this is my favorite song released so far this year.

It starts with something that vaguely sounds like some kind of machine backfiring. Unfortunately, as I've played this song many a time, and it's also been stuck in my head many a time, I semi-often find myself trying to replicate that noise with my mouth. It never, ever works.

Then come the drums. Then comes what I'm sure is a xylophone. Then comes a church organ. Then some more xylophone, and then the song gets bananas. Give it a listen.

Anyway, by the end of the song, as the best Dan Deacon songs often do, my head feels like it's about to explode. And right before it does, out of chaos comes order, and eventually, the track is bookended with that bizarre noise. Perfect.

To conclude that point, I'm going to hit Sam with a full-sized xylophone, as that seems like a fair punishment.

In an unrelated story, I think I again need to go to all three days of All Points West. Even though it took about an hour and a half to get back to a hotel that was maybe fifteen minutes away in real time each night last year, and even though there's no Radiohead-esque band headlining (cause I'm not really into the Beastie Boys), the lineup is still pretty impressive, and there looks like there's gonna be a comedy tent:

Again, I don't really think that there's one band that I love, but there are about fifteen or so that I really like, and a few others that would absolutely be worth seeing. Plus, any opportunity to see Gogol Bordello live is one that needs to be seized immediately.

Currently most excited for? Day 2, cause even though the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the National, and the Pharcyde promise to be great, I'm giving it to:

Gogol, Tool, Yelle, Crystal Castles, and St. Vincent all in one day?! And I get to yell Arctic Monkeys lyrics all day in an altered state?

Sold. See you guys there.

Love,
Jim

EDIT: The coolest thing that the lead singer of staind has ever, EVER done. Serious boost in my book:

The Kids at the Shows? They'll Have Kids of Their Own.

2009-03-31T21:23:00.004-04:00

The first time I saw the Hold Steady in concert, I was convinced that Craig Finn just didn't get it. Look at that guy. He's better suited to be doing people's taxes than to be in a band, much less fronting one.

To make things worse, he's not particularly cool at all on stage. I feel like he's got the rock star cliché of being drunk on stage down, but other than that, he barely plays his instrument, he can't really sing, he continuously sprays spit all over the place (which I suppose is expected, but somehow it seems more constant with Craig), and he's one of the worst dancers I've ever seen. He spends most of his time on stage singing his lines, and then making funny faces at the crowd. By most accounts, this guy is a loser.

In addition, their keyboardist, as my friend Jim pointed out, "looks like he just escaped from an insane asylum," or, like someone from vaudeville in the 1920s with that mustache:

And somehow, it works for them. Unbelievably well. The guys (I guess, minus Craig) are all really musically tight, but they're really just out there (cringe for another upcoming cliché) having a good, drunken time, and the crowd's right there with them.

This won't quite encompass the experience, but have a video from a different night:

Unironic songs about partying, but with a smart sense of humor, and a shocking amount of depth (seriously, Craig like made this whole universe of characters, and he's still referring to them four albums deep).

This is a band that people love. Obviously, that doesn't make them unique or anything, but what I was most impressed with was the fact that the crowd seemed to know every word to songs that are pretty difficult to memorize, and not even just choruses and "woahs" (seriously, tons of "woahs").

So, maybe Craig doesn't get it. Or, maybe it's me. Regardless, the Hold Steady are a great band with an even better stage presence, and I highly recommend seeing them if you get a chance.

In an unrelated story, it'd be wonderful if the St. Vincent album would leak. Just saying. Random, but I've had "Paris Is Burning"
stuck in my head all day.

"You're pretty good with words, but words won't save your life... and they didn't, so he died." - Thanks, Craig.

Love,
Jim

A shameless vehicle for me to overload a post with Youtube videos. Plus, Spike Jonze (and later on, Christopher Walken) have my heart.

2009-03-26T12:21:00.006-04:00

I want to shake this guy's hand. Not the guy on stage, the dude with the rocket arm in the crowd. I don't actually know what part of this is funniest, the fact that he got hit in the head with a rock, or the perfect silence after the question, "WE GOT ANY NICKELBACK FANS IN PORTUGAL?!"

Secondly, before I say anything, I'm gonna admit that the first part of this is really only tangentially related to music, it's just something that I can't stop watching... but I'm gonna try to relate it anyway.

So, yesterday, a video began circulating among my friends through the Internet. I think I ended up seeing it through my friend Marie's Facebook or whatever. Anyway, I'm fairly confident that it ruined my day, because I didn't do a single other thing after I saw it. Honestly, I might have watched it ten times, and I'm watching it again as I write this.

I think I remember reading a while back that the Arcade Fire weren't really into leasing their music out for TV shows and movies and stuff like that. That being said, they've now leased their songs to at least two movie trailers. The first was a Benjamin Button ad late last year (I think the song was "My Body Is a Cage," which was pretty appropriate for that movie).

EDIT: Found it. This was pretty awesome too, and short, unlike the movie itself. Give it a watch.

And now this, an absolutely unbelievable use of "Wake Up" for the first trailer of Where the Wild Things Are. It starts with an acoustic version of the song, but when the distortion kicks in...

Look at those wild things. LOOK AT THOSE FUCKING WILD THINGS.

But I digress. The guy responsible for this movie is Spike Jonze (for a while, I pronounced his name "Jones-y," which is embarrassing). Spike also made Being John Malkovich, but more importantly, he's done some great music videos, which I'll shamelessly link to now:

Weezer - "Buddy Holly"

Fatboy Slim - "Weapon of Choice" (how you can be involved with this, The Deer Hunter, Joe Dirt, and Kangaroo Jack is beyond me, but I love Christopher Walken for it)

Finally, a kind of disturbing one for "Y Control" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. In what can only be described as a flawless example of bringing this post back to that awesome trailer, apparently, Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is helping to score Where the Wild Things Are. Jim, that was perfect.

Sadly, the last time I got this excited for a movie based on a first trailer was only like eighteen months ago, when the first shots of the Statue of Liberty's head skidding down the street previewed Cloverfield... but I think this is different. Mainly, I think this movie will be longer than Cloverfield's approximately 25-minute length, and that it won't be quite as gimmicky (although, I really liked Cloverfield.

So yeah, that's about it. And, March Madness is still going on.

Remember when Kristina wrote for us?

Love,
Jim

Another Miscellaneous Post

2009-03-18T15:23:00.005-04:00

A couple of things, cause I feel like I should probably update before my annual attempt at March Madness-induced suicide:

1) I was driving back from a friend's house this morning and listening to Since I Left You by the Avalanches. This made me realize that:

*The Avalanches should come out with another album. Seriously, they only made one, it's almost been nine years, and they've apparently been working on this new one for something like five years. Why not?
*I should have insisted that this blog be named "Two Hearts in 3/4 Time." Such a good name. Missed opportunity.

For those of you who don't know, the Avalanches are (were?) this group from Australia who made their record by putting together a bunch of samples. I'm certainly not saying that this was a unique practice, but there are something in the neighborhood of 6.4 billion samples included.

EDIT: OK, so Wiki says it was only 3500, but it's still ridiculous, especially because they range from Madonna to showtunes to a John Waters movie.

Anyway, here's the video for one of the singles, "Frontier Psychiatrist." Honestly, it's one of the most bizarre songs I've ever heard, but I've always really liked it. Equal parts terrifying and hilarious... and the video is well worth a watch or twelve.

2) I kind of wish that the genre of "music about partying without even a trace of irony" caught on more. For every good example (the Hold Steady and Be Your Own Pet), where the bands might not be ironic but still have a sense of humor, there are far worse (but funnier) ones like Andrew W.K. and whatever this Asher Roth thing is:

Poignant quote: "I love college. I love drinking. I love women. I love college." - Asher Roth

Anyway, this song kind of unleashes Asher clumsily rapping about all the "craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazy partying" that he does over a beat that might sample/probably samples/was at least heavily influenced by "Say It Ain't So" by Weezer. I could nitpick about several little things (who's been to a party where people just pour you beer from the bottle that they were drinking out of as you walk around?), but really, it doesn't seem worth it.

Last December, hip-hop magazine XXL put Charles Hamilton (pretty good, and bonus points cause he's been known to drop references about Sonic the Hedgehog), B.o.B (not familiar), and Wale (responsible for the pretty well-produced, certainly far more clever than average, undeniably thoughtful Mixtape About Nothing, which I'll talk about in a bit) on their cover. Inevitably, it was probably something about the future of hip-hop. However, XXL made a huge mistake: they put Asher on the cover with those other guys. What in the hell is this clown doing with that kind of company?

I really wish that some part of this was a joke, but I really don't think it is. I'm not even gonna talk about the rhyme of "beer pong" with "Allen Iverson." Even worse, as bad as I personally think that this is, as my friend Kevin pointed out, it seems like it could easily become some kind of frat anthem. I've already seen it as a couple of my friend's away messages.

And this brings us back to the pioneer of unironic party music, the creative genius behind "Party Hard," "Party 'til You Puke," "It's Time to Party," (all from the same album) "Long Live the Party," and, of course, "Party, Party, Party," classically-trained pianist (not a joke) Andrew WK.

Apparently, all of that blood wasn't his:

"Initially, I had this little piece of a cinder block, like a brick. I was able to get bloody noses very easily when I was younger, so I wanted to give myself a bloody nose, and then take a picture of it. But my nose didn't bleed enough after I hit myself with the brick. I had to use this follow-up plan, which was [to take] this little water bottle full of pig's blood that I'd gotten from the butcher shop. I just ended up using that because there was not enough blood from my nose after I hit myself. So, it turned out good."

At any rate, included in the playlist will inevitably be a bunch of Andrew's party hits. I promise, those are five different songs, no matter how unbearably similar they sound. I really think the jokes write themselves about these.

3) Wale. I'm probably pretty late to the game on this one, but I've just gotten a chance to give The Mixtape About Nothing a real listen. Some backstory: it's kind of gimmicky, in that it's an homage to Seinfeld. All of the tracks are named like Seinfeld episodes (i.e. "The Kramer," "The Opening Title Sequence"), the first track actually samples the Seinfeld theme, there are jokes from episodes woven in, and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss (Elaine) actually makes a guest appearance.

Here's another thing: it's great. Like I said earlier, it's far more thoughtful than the average hip-hop record, as Wale kind of deals with everything from the Michael Richards tirade at that comedy club to not being signed to raising children and so on. Seriously, I recommend this to everyone, cause I've pretty much got it on repeat. I'll leave the full reviews on this page to Kristina.

And that's about it. More from me when I come out of my debilitating case of March Madness.

Love,
Jim

In which those stupid things that people get "tagged in" on Facebook win out (Jim's List):

2009-03-12T14:56:00.003-04:00

Kristina beat me to it by a couple days, but, here's my (hopefully not too embarrassing) first 20 song shuffle from my iPod. Here goes nothing:

1) "Mercury" by Bloc Party, off Intimacy
2) "Waiting for the End of the World" by Elvis Costello, off My Aim Is True
3) "Gentle Sons" by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, off of their self-titled
4) "Do or Die" by Super Furry Animals, off Guerrilla
5) "Green Jacket" by Deerhunter, off Microcastle
6) "I've Seen Enough" by Cold War Kids, off Loyalty to Loyalty
7) "Stop Dat" by Dizzee Rascal, off Boy in Da Corner
8) "Stars and Sons" by Broken Social Scene, off You Forgot It in People
9) "Dr. Strangelove" by Blonde Redhead, off 23
10) "Bigmouth Strikes Again" by the Smiths, off The Queen Is Dead
11) "Fuck You Tonight" by Notorious B.I.G., off Life After Death (featuring R. Kelly. This, in itself, is a victory.)
12) "Faster Than a Dead Horse" by Viva Voce, off Get Yr Blood Sucked Out
13) "Just a Toy" by Barenaked Ladies, off Born on a Pirate Ship
14) "Drain the Blood" by the Distillers, off Coral Fang
15) "Hang on to Yourself" by David Bowie, off The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust...
16) "I Just Wanna Get Along" by the Breeders, off Last Splash
17) "The Rip" by Portishead, off Third
18) "Nobody's Real" by Powerman 5000, off Tonight the Stars Revolt
19) "Healer" by Marnie Stern, off In Advance of the Broken Arm (thankfully, I won't have to type the name of the other album out.)
20) "Dry Your Eyes" by the Streets, off A Grand Don't Come for Free

SO CLOSE. That Powerman 5000's really gonna bring down the cool points on this, but other than that it looks pretty good. The Brits seem to be pretty well-represented, and I'm really happy about the Bowie and Marnie cause I've been listening to a lot of both recently.

Also, "Bigmouth Strikes Again" is great. I wonder if Morrissey would turn down stupid amounts of money (again) to reunite the Smiths at my wedding.

Anyway, on to that 20 albums thing that a lot of people I know have been doing. I'll let them explain it:

Think of 20 albums that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life or the way you looked at it. They sucked you in and took you over for days, weeks, months, years. These are the albums that you can use to identify time, places, people, emotions. These are the albums that no matter what they were thought of musically shaped your world.

Kind of a big task, but people who have known me for a bit aren't going to be too shocked at a few of these. I'm gonna try to do it without attempting to justify them, but I might have to. Also, there's no real order to these:

*Absolution by Muse
*Turn on the Bright Lights by Interpol
*Apologies to the Queen Mary by Wolf Parade
*Chutes Too Narrow by The Shins
*There Is Nothing Left to Lose by the Foo Fighters
*OK Computer by Radiohead
*Transatlanticism by Death Cab for Cutie
*Fashion Nugget by Cake
*The Blue Album by Weezer
*Revolver by the Beatles
*Pinkerton, also by Weezer
*Morning View by Incubus
*Odelay by Beck
*Elephant by the White Stripes
*Songs for the Deaf by Queens of the Stone Age
*In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel
*Hybrid Theory by Linkin Park
*The Electric Version by the New Pornographers
*Either/Or by Elliott Smith
*Whatever and Ever Amen by Ben Folds Five

There. What I'm realizing is that with the notable exception of Revolver, there isn't a single album released before 1994. I guess classic rock wasn't really super important to me for a really long stretch, which is kind of sad. Anyway, I'm fairly confident I could tell you where I was the first time that I heard all twenty of these albums.

Honorable mentions should probably go to Life is Peachy by Korn, cause my older cousin used to love it, and I kind of idolized him, so I loved it too, as well as Three Dollar Bill, Y'all and Significant Other by Limp Bizkit. Yes, Limp Bizkit. Yes, Fred Durst was speaking to me.

On second thought, I'm just gonna give an honorable mention to literally any song ever played on Y100, Philly's old rock radio station. The reason most of these albums were released so late is cause I didn't really care about entire albums through Y100's reign.

And that should about do it, mainly cause i have class pretty soon. Enclosed is a playlist with ten favorites from these. Enjoy!

Love,
Jim

Umm... Anvil.

2009-03-11T21:45:00.004-04:00

Amanda Baker gets a gold star for pointing this in my direction:

This is a trailer for the documentary Anvil, about a band named... Anvil. Anyway, they were apparently a metal band or something from the '80s who opened for a ton of big acts, but never really caught on themselves.

People seem to be comparing this to This Is Spinal Tap a lot though, and I really can't argue with that. It does kind of look like a band taking themselves too seriously and playing sad venues... except this one is real!

Anyway, have some Spinal Tap, because they're great:

And on that, I desperately need to be studying for a test tomorrow. Adios!

Love,
Jim

EDIT: ...ok, Stonehenge might be a little funnier.

Really? Papa Roach is still making music?

2009-03-10T14:40:00.013-04:00

A couple of things:

*I'm starting to wonder what bizarre game the concert venue by my dorm (Blender Theater by Gramercy) is trying to play. Last week, they had Marcy Playground playing there, and yesterday, I walk underneath their marquee to find:

"PAPA ROACH TUESDAY"

This was absolutely shocking, as I was convinced that every member of Papa Roach had long since passed away.

Anyway, you might remember Papa Roach from "Last Resort," from 2000's Infest. No? Have a live version!

"Last Resort" was one of those songs that people thought was badass in grade school. In addition, it was a song that made you a badass if you knew the words to it. Needless to say, I was the most badass 6th-grader in history.

More embarrassing: I'm pretty sure... scratch that, I know that at some point, I definitely saw Papa Roach in concert. After looking it up, I found out it was in 2002, with Incubus, System of a Down, Jimmy Eat World, Phantom Planet, The Roots, Dashboard Confessional, and a few others at the Y100 FEZtival, Perfect.

Anyway, the point is, I thought that they had fallen off of the earth for the past five years, but they're playing at Blender, touring behind a new album apparently.

Who knew?

*Secondly, I am in love with Marnie Stern. I liked her before, I love her now.

Double neck. Swoon.

She played here at school last Thursday night as part of the "NYU Chill" concert with Apache Beat, A Place to Bury Strangers, and Ra Ra Riot. NYU Program Board did a kind of nice job with the choices for this, taking a kind of bipolar route (Apache and APTBS were pretty gloomy straight through, and Marnie and Ra Ra Riot looked like they were having a blast on stage).

While all of the bands were at least pretty good (and I still might be deaf from APTBS), Marnie's set killed. Consider the following:

*Visibly intoxicated on stage. Not in the "sloppy, can't play my instrument well anymore" sense, but more in the "between song banter just got a whole lot more interesting" sense. In between songs, she and her bassist had a conversation about whether one would eat dog poo to keep the other from taking a bullet.
*Shreds. Has way more command over a guitar than a ton of other artists.
*Her drummer, Zach Hill. Probably went through about 25 drumsticks over the course of the set, and more often than not, would have to end songs standing cause he would have thrown his stool aside. He pulverizes them. Also, from Wiki:

Hill employs his characteristic double-stroke bass drum method throughout much of the song, leading many to believe he is using more than one foot to do so, when he is only using his right foot... Zach also utilizes complex time signatures into his drumming. Zach has developed these time signatures through playing, and goes by feeling a beat rather than figuring it out "traditionally".

Seriously, it's incredible to watch. If I ever find videos from this show, I'll put them up. In the meantime, have some incredible pictures that my friend Lauren took:

Zach.

Marry me, Marnie. Alliteration is great.

Finally, Oliver Ackermann of APTBS. He broke a string TWO SONGS into the set, which isn't easy to do. At this point, which was the middle of the last song, he was swinging it around by the two remaining strings. This was before he decided to get rid of it and go back to his first guitar to finish the song, which ran about fifteen minutes. Heart.

In addition to destroying guitars, he also builds his own effects pedals that are called things like "Supersonic Fuzz Gun" and "Total Sonic Annihilation." (Check it out: http://www.deathbyaudio.net) The names are perfect, cause I felt like I was hanging out on the inside of a jet engine for like an hour.

They were really, really impressive.

I leave you with this, the aftermath of Oliver's guitar. Enclosed is a playlist with a couple of songs from the NYU Chill roster, and tomorrow, I'll probably do the iTunes shuffle for a bit.

Love,
Jim

The Decemberists improved upon The Crane Wife in a ridiculous, amazing way.

2009-03-09T23:07:00.002-04:00

I will probably use the word "gorgeous" many times in this review. So, everyone really liked The Crane Wife, and yeah, it was a really good album. But I'm here to tell you that Hazards of Love is way better. It's advertised as a rock opera about a girl named Margaret. The fact that it's a rock opera as opposed to a set of unrelated songs contributes to its strength. It demands to be listened to as a whole, and it works gorgeously. (Colin Meloy has said that he's playing it from beginning to end on tour this summer... which makes me even more psyched that I'm seeing them at Bonnaroo.)

Each song on Hazards of Love is really strong, but there are a couple of highlights. One is definitely "The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid," which features an uplifting bass line below a lovely chorus of wispy female chanting voices... and segues into a White-Stripes-esque guitar riff; in fact, it almost gets bluesy. It's gorgeous. My other favorite is "The Queen's Rebuke/The Crossing." It moseys along with a steady bass beat and guest vocals by Becky Stark and Shara Warden. This is as intense as I've ever seen the Decemberists.

Even songs that don't seem AS great, like "Isn't It A Lovely Night?", still grow on you. The waltzy quality of that song kind of makes me think of The Magnetic Fields... except, instead of Stephen Merritt complaining about everything in his deep bass voice, it's one of the lovely aforementioned female vocalists lilting along with the accordion and acoustic guitar. And Colin Meloy jumps in too, of course.

Overall, Hazards of Love is really an incredible album, even after only 4 listens. I'd almost believed that I outgrew The Decemberists... Castaways and Cutouts and Picaresque were no longer on my daily shuffle. That's certainly changing: their new album has me all excited about them all over again. Go find yourself a copy and listen.

Are our iTunes shuffles embarrassing? Mine's not!

2009-03-08T20:26:00.002-04:00

So, Jim and I decided to let our iTunes shuffle for 20 songs (okay, so it was actually his idea) and then post them on the blog. With or without comments/disclaimers. So... here is mine. I don't think it's too embarrassing, and actually I found a couple songs I didn't know that I liked. So, overall, a successful experiment. And one I shall share with you.

Ya Leil – Sufjan Stevens
A Sun Came

Pennsylvania – Bloodhound Gang
Hefty Fine

Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 1) – The Beatles
Anthology

Clementine – Elliot Smith
Elliot Smith

Carry This Picture – Dashboard Confessional

Believing is Art – Spoon
Girls Can Tell

Slideshow at Free University – Le Tigre
Le Tigre

What Went Wrong – The Moldy Peaches
The Moldy Peaches

By The Way – The Red Hot Chili Peppers
By the Way

Peaches – The Presidents of the United States of America
Presidents of the United States of America

Take It Off – Tender Forever
The Soft and the Hardcore

Rank Strangers to Me – Bob Dylan
Down In The Groove

Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors – Radiohead
Amnesiac

In The Privacy Of Our Love – Hot Chip
Made In The Dark

Everything in Its Right Place – Radiohead
I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings

Dime – Cake
Pressure Chief

The Other – Isis
Oceanic

He Poos Clouds – Final Fantasy
He Poos Clouds

The Swimming Song – Vetiver
Thing Of The Past

Selon l'humeur
Autour De Lucie
Immobile

I guess the only embarrassing one here is the Dashboard Confessional song. Which reminds me... I should blog about embarrassing music that I used to like. I should also blog about the absurd amount of goofy one-hit-wonder 70s rock that Jim has on his iPod. We'll see. In the meantime, I'm off to listen to more music on shuffle.

Very Quickly:

2009-03-05T00:49:00.003-05:00

The Hood Internet Anthology

What are you looking at? 213 mashups by Aaron Brink and Steve Reidell, two guys from Chicago who put them out as The Hood Internet. There are a ton of people who do these, obviously, but I've really been enjoying these for about an hour, and here's why:

These are a little different. The formula is the same as the average mix-up, but while one song is generally a top 40 song or a rap song, the other is generally a hipster's dream. The combos are usually pretty good, and pretty funny too. Some highlights:

9) "Animals Collecting Money" (Paper Route Gangsters vs. Animal Collective)
25) "Deer Assault" (DJ Assault vs. Deerhunter (by far, my favorite))
26) "Single Foxes (Put a Wood On It)" (Beyonce vs. Fleet Foxes)
103) "Bomb Deprivation" (New Young Pony Club vs. Simian Mobile Disco)
114) "No Battles" (Trina vs. Battles)
EDIT: Second favorite: 130) "Drug Drug Kiss Kiss" (Chris Brown vs. A.C. Newman. Sorry, Rihanna.)
139) "The Next Collarbone" (Dr. Dre vs. Fujiya and Miyagi)
148) "Fa-Fa-Fayo Technology" (Datarock vs. 50 Cent)
151) "There's No MIMS In Threesome" (MIMS vs. Interpol)
200) "I'm a Flirt (Shoreline)" (R. Kelly vs. Broken Social Scene)

I mean, R. Kelly and Broken Social Scene? That's hilarious. But seriously, if you only pick one, listen to that Deerhunter mix. It's perfect. Way to go, Hood Internet. Enjoy, guys.

Love,
Jim

Decision Time:

2009-03-04T22:17:00.002-05:00

In my head, I have this vision that all of my favorite bands get along perfectly and hang out all the time. Unfortunately, this time around, I think I'm gonna have to take sides. From Pitchfork, via Stereogum:

I'm a fan of them on one level, but on another level I get really tired of their pompousness. We've played some shows with them and they really treat people like shit. Whenever I've been around them, I've found that they not only treated their crew like shit, they treated the audience like shit. They treated everybody in their vicinity like shit. I thought, "Who do they think they are?" I don't know why people put up with it. I wouldn't put up with it. I don't care if it's Arcade Fire or Brian Eno. If either of them walked into a room and treated people like shit I'd be like, "Fuck you, get outta here."

The "I" in that paragraph is Wayne Coyne, frontman for the Flaming Lips.

Perfect. The "they," however, is the Arcade Fire. Le sigh.

Coyne goes on to include the quote, "They have good tunes, but they're pricks, so fuck 'em." I, umm, don't really know what to say.

Here's the thing: I'd like to think that the Arcade Fire are nice people, but with the grandiose nature of their music, I'm somehow not surprised to hear that they might be kind of pompous and dickish. It seems fair that if you release an album like Funeral, you can be arrogant. Then again, if you make an album like Clouds Taste Metallic, you can be pretty arrogant too.

Kristina's gonna side with Coyne, I just know it. So, in order to make things interesting, I'm taking the Arcade Fire on this one, for a couple of reasons:

1) From the Pitchfork article: Talking to The Guardian about one-time tour mate Beck in 2003, he said, "When you hear his songs, you think he must really have some tender feelings, but then you find out it's a made-up thing."

Beck? Not my Beck. As far as I'm concerned, they should put Beck's face on Mount Rushmore.

2) In my humblest of opinions? Funeral > The Soft Bulletin by a nose. The Flaming Lips kind of obviously have a better discography, but I'd be hard-pressed to name any of those albums in my top five overall.

So, your call, faithful reader(s?): Wayne or Win and company?

EDIT: Win responds, and I feel justified in taking his side:

"The only time we have ever shared a stage with the Flaming Lips was our last show on the Funeral tour at a festival in Las Vegas (over 3 years ago)...we arrived the morning of the show from Brazil, slept all day and awoke into some kind of surreal Vegas jet-lag dream in which we were playing after the Flaming Lips...how strange...I was really excited to meet Wayne. Clouds Taste Metallic was a huge record for me, and growing up in the weirdness of Houston, I always imagined Oklahoma City to be in the same universe. I was really nervous to meet him and I felt a little weird that we were playing after them. We traded a little hello, but he was a hard guy to get a read on. Steven Drodz was super nice, and I felt good after talking to him...

...I am not sure Wayne is the best judge (based on seeing us play at a couple of festivals) if we are righteous, kind and goodhearted people like The Edge and Justin Timberlake (who I am sure he knows intimately as well). I can't imagine a reason why we would have been pompous towards The Flaming Lips, a band we have always loved, on that particular night, all those years ago. Unless I was way more jet-lagged then I remember, I hope I was less of a "prick" then telling Rollingstone that a bunch of people I don't know at all are really assholes.

As a closing note, the main point that I am offended by in this whole thing is for Wayne to say we treat our audience like shit...

At times like these I am comforted by knowing that even though Wayne slammed Beck all those years ago, he seems like a really nice guy to me. I guess everyone has a different idea of what being pompous means."

Thanks, Win. He was even cordial enough to title the post "i still like clouds taste metallic." Keep making good music, both sides.

Slaaaacker's post. Happy Songs... Part 4?

2009-03-03T23:30:00.002-05:00

Hey all-
Since Jim has made two very substantial posts recently, and I've been sitting here doing absolutely nothing, I figured I'd reach into the depths of my computer's hard drive and find the document containing some more happy songs for y'all. Trust me, these might even make you happier than the last batch. Wow. That's really happy. Also, this is the last batch. I'll probably think of some more interesting playlists to make for you guys.

Peaches - “Fuck the Pain Away”

Pixies - “I've Been Tired”

Primus - “My Name is Mud”

The Red Hot Chili Peppers - “Sir Psycho Sexy”
(Note: this playlist may actually be a hybrid of happy music and sexy music. Many times, these playlists coincide.)

Sondre Lerche - “Say It All”

The Steve Miller Band - “Wild Mountain Honey”
(Do NOT make fun of me. This song is SO good.)

Sufjan Stevens - “The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us!”

Tegan & Sara - “Living Room”

Third Eye Blind - “Semi-Charmed Life”

Ween - “Big Fat Fuck”
(I couldn't find this song, but I did find a live cover of "Space Oddity." So you're getting that.)

The White Stripes - “Fell In Love With a Girl”

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - “Black Tongue”

Yelle - “Je Veux Te Voir”

Check out the playlist for some happy music action.

Thanks, Pitchfork, for bringing this to my attention:

2009-03-03T12:58:00.004-05:00

This chart is the brainchild of Caltech grad student Virgil Griffith. He created this thing called the WikiScanner, which can trace any ridiculous edit that anyone makes to Wikipedia, despite the fact that they're kind of supposed to be anonymous. Pretty awesome, right?

Anyway, this chart is called "Music That Makes You Dumb." Virgil apparently took a ton of information from Facebook (the most scientific of all things) from people about their favorite music. Then, he compared that with the average SAT scores from the schools that they came from, and made this chart. He did it with books as well.

Take a look at this thing. Beethoven corresponds with the highest SAT scores, which isn't really a surprise to me. After those, we have Sufjan Stevens, the Counting Crows, Guster, Radiohead, U2, Ben Folds, and Bob Dylan before the chart starts to jumble up a bit. At the other end, with the lowest average SAT scores, we have *snicker* people who listen to Weezy.

I should probably feel vindicated in my musical taste by this chart's existence. After all, I'm really into Sufjan and Radiohead, and it's a real possibility to me that Nickelback (average SAT score under 1000) is the worst band that has ever existed. And yet, I can't help but think of how idiotic this chart is.

Easy proof lies in the book chart, where people who have "The Bible" listed apparently average a higher SAT than people who have "The Holy Bible" listed. Very obviously, these are the same book. Very obviously, how that book is listed should have no bearing on one's score on a test.

In addition, I don't know how many people even know what soca music is, but the chart suggests that only idiots listen to it. For that matter, it appears that only idiots limit themselves to genres, according to Virgil's master chart.

Also, I kind of like T.I. and Justin Timberlake, two people that are pretty low on the scale, and those aren't the only ones down there.

I go to NYU, whose student body would largely be made up of the higher end of this chart, SAT-score wise, and yet, I can't begin to count how many people I know here who know the dance from "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" by Beyonce. I also hesitate to think that this is an exception instead of the norm.

Obviously, there are plenty of people with low SAT scores who like Radiohead and U2, and plenty of people with incredible SATs that love Lil Wayne. Trust me, I go to school with half of them. Musical taste and actual intelligence are totally separate, and Virgil is kind of ridiculous.

That's about it, other than this completely unrelated tidbit: Marcy Playground is apparently playing a mere block from my dorm tonight. MARCY PLAYGROUND! SEX AND CANDY!

Quick, name another Marcy Playground song. I can't do it either. But, this concert can't be more than $4. I may go just to go.

Enclosed is Sex and Candy, as well as a Sufjan outtake and a Justin Timberlake song that's kind of awesome.

Love,
Jim

Live, Reporting from State College, PA

2009-03-01T22:34:00.008-05:00

State Patrick's Day was originally created in 2006 because St. Patrick's Day fell within Penn State's abnormally early Spring Break. As is tradition with college drinking holidays, it would be celebrated on the closest weekend: the final weekend of Spring Break this year, when students are still away. March 7 will also still be during Spring Break, so as per usual, State Patrick's Day is a week prior to Spring Break.

To very quickly recap: this "holiday" was made up by Penn State students so that they could drink all day through a Saturday despite not being able to drink all day through the actual day of St. Patrick's Day. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the reason I found myself in State College, PA this weekend.

It is currently 11PM. I'm putting off work, and I'm trying to piece together all of the events of yesterday. I do remember that at some point, I was totally all about trying to blog about the experiences of this weekend, but, as we're a music blog (sorta), it kind of has to be about the music, right? So, I'm going to try and recreate all of my thought processes through the past couple of days, loosely inspired by that one part of Klosterman IV where he spends 24 hours watching VH1 Classic:

7:30 PM, Friday: My friend Pat and I get picked up in Philadelphia by his little brother. At some point, he tries to creep both of us out by blaring "Hunter" by Björk. He's totally barking up the wrong tree: that song is freaking awesome. This will be the creative high-point of the weekend.

9:00 PM, Friday: Pat and I have now left his house and are speeding towards State College. These car rides are usually pretty interesting, because both of us love singing (occasionally screaming) along, but neither of us has a particularly awesome voice. We also have overlapping, occasionally really shitty taste. As a result, this car ride starts with a bit of Man Man, and devolves into us both yelling Limp Bizkit's cover of "Faith."

I'll be completely honest: I have no idea why anyone was really into Limp Bizkit. Fred Durst was a terrible lyricist (and judging from Kristina's video post from her last, not that awesome of a guitar player either), and the music was terrible rap-metal-grunge that all sounded literally exactly the same. In addition, I was hardly an angsty 11-year-old; in fact, I loved my life, and I'm sure most of the kids who bought their albums probably did too.

But, um, four platinum albums and 50 million copies worldwide can't be wrong, right? It would have been at least two (probably three) more, but, umm, my mommy wouldn't let me get CDs with Parental Advisory stickers, and if you've ever heard Limp Bizkit, you'd know that edited versions were far from worth it.

(Sidenote: I may write about bands with a lot of sales that confuse me for my next entry.)

Anyway, back to us.

We make it to State College by 11:15, and get into a friend's apartment to hear "Stronger" by Kanye West playing. This is far from the last time I'm going to hear this song this weekend.

12:20 AM, Saturday: At some food place in State College, an incredibly drunk girl starts yelling at her friend regarding the song playing over the loudspeaker. "NO, IDIOT, IT'S SGT. PEPPER! SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY CLUB BAND!" This isn't technically right, but the rate that the next 36 hours goes, I should have claimed this girl for marriage.

Pat has been sarcastically but excitedly talking about the amount of "bro-ing out" he's gonna get to see/do this weekend. He doesn't realize just how right he is.

10 AM, Saturday: People are starting to drink, and who am I to argue with progress? When in Rome, right? The unofficial drinking anthem of PSU, "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" by the Dropkick Murphys comes on, which is a shame, because the Dropkick Murphys are like the third-best Irish punk band I can think of at the moment. Even an old Against Me! song would be awesome.

Around 10:10 AM, Saturday Someone suggests one of those Lonely Island songs (i.e. "Dick in a Box," "Jizz in My Pants," the Natalie Portman rap from SNL). We then listen to all of them. This is a clear mistake, as they become a recurring soundtrack for the day, and seem to follow us around. I'm not gonna mention it again, but in all seriousness, I heard "Like a Boss" maybe 25 times. It's never a good sign when "IT'S PORTMAN, MUTHAFUCKA, I DRINK 'TIL I'M SICK!" becomes a battlecry.

10:25 AM, Saturday: Looking through the apartment's iPod, I make my first serious choice of the day: “Kids” by MGMT. It lasts 25 seconds before someone changes it. Bros, 1, hipsters, 0.

11:05 AM, Saturday: Shipping Up to Boston, #3. People can't really love this song. It's not like they relate to it, cause this is State College, PA. Alas, neither Flogging Molly, nor the remainder of The Departed comes on afterwards.

11:25 AM, Saturday: A huge victory: I find that when this group of friends gets together, we usually listen to the same couple of songs, but one of them of late has been "The W.A.N.D." by the Flaming Lips. I have a firm belief that I can listen to that song all day and not get tired of it (hence, it being my phone's ringtone). Apparently, we're gonna try to prove this hypothesis. The W.A.N.D., take one.

Around noon, Saturday: A disturbing trend: It appears that upon admission to Penn State University, everyone is given at least three Lil Wayne albums or mixtapes. This is absolutely everywhere, and I feel like I've heard at least three Weezy songs already. Even more distressing, due to the amount of this mystery punch, I think I'm starting to get it. A Milli, A Milli, A Milli, A Mill A Mill A Mill STOP IT.

12:45 PM, Saturday: Someone's turned on R. Kelly's "Ignition (Remix)." Who has the authority to say that that song is good, but "Real Talk" is ridiculous?

Did she say there were other guys there? Were there other guys there?

I stand corrected. "Real Talk" is ridiculous.

3:00 PM, Saturday: The W.A.N.D. is still golden. I'm still really intoxicated. Take four. I'm not kidding.

4:45 PM, Saturday: If I hear "Love Lockdown" one more time, I'm throwing this beer through the window.

5:35 PM, Saturday: My bluff is called. I realize I'm not in a state to throw anything other than my breakfast from my stomach, so I accept my 808s with an added sense of heartbreak at not being able to prevent this song.

Around 7:30 PM, Saturday: Our host is taking a nap. He is a genius. I think I'm listening to Kings of Leon in this place. With the exception of one album, I don't think I've ever felt more neutrally about a band in my life than I feel about Kings of Leon. I marvel at this while throwing a ping-pong ball into a red Solo cup.

9:00 PM or so, Saturday: A breakthrough! I finally get my iPod on, and try and play something good for parties, an album by the White Rabbits... and it seems to be working! This album has been on for like 20 minutes, and nothing's happened. Bros 12, hipsters 2.

Smaller breakthrough: I think that I'm sobering up?

Wrong. I have no real grasp of the Madden game that I'm watching on this TV.

Less than sixty seconds later: Someone in the apartment turns it off in favor of Eve 6. For like 35 minutes. Did Eve 6 have more than two songs? Or am I hearing the same thing over and over again?

9:45 PM, Saturday: The W.A.N.D. is the most perfect song ever written. This isn't right, and I know it, but still. You've got that This might be time number eight or nine. Unfortunately, we leave to find another party.

10:10 PM, Saturday: This party has to be sponsored by Lil' Jon. There's no other reason why he's been screaming in my ear for twenty minutes. Everyone loves this. I think it's made me lucid, and angry. I have to be done for the night, right?

11 PM, Saturday: Back to the Eve 6 apartment. Given the chance to prove myself again with my iPod, a Kanye West song from his first album comes on. Kanye used to be so good. *Sigh* Why did he start trying to sing? Who invented Auto-Tune, anyway? T-Pain owes that guy a car. Nodded approval from the Penn State crowd. Tread carefully, Jim.

The W.A.N.D., again. Jim's got the power now, motherfuckers, it's where it belongs. I've got that RIGHTRIGHTRIGHTRIGHTRIGHTRIGHT...

Sorry, but that song is still really great, even this late in the day.

After a Jay-Z song from The Blueprint, I give up with some semblance of dignity.

12:35 AM, Sunday: I've said before that in order to be tolerant of Lil Wayne, I'd need to be really messed up, or actually be Lil Wayne.

Epiphany: I might be Lil Wayne.

Around 1 AM, Sunday: ThistasteslikeKoolAid! There'snowaythere'salcoholinthis! I'mhavingwaywaymore!

Somebody's turned on Stadium Arcadium. This album isn't good. Double albums are pretty stupid. Why is this on? You couldn't find another Chili Peppers...

OH MY GOD, READYMADE. THIS SONG IS GREAT. NEVER TURN THIS OFF.

Obviously, there are lapses, but that's simply going to be chalked up to gaps in my memory. Enclosed are some of the songs mentioned (apologies for the edited version of the Kanye song), and, well, my favorite thing in the world, still:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVPCz0W7Rm0&feature=related

Love,
Jim

P.S. The people in the chatterbox are finding new and interesting ways to be gross. I definitely laughed for about five minutes at the "vagina walrus" comment. Keep up the incredible work.

Some youtube gems

2009-02-25T13:46:00.003-05:00

So, as you might be able to tell, Jim and I are semi-addicted to YouTube. At least I am. And by semi-addicted I mean wholly addicted. But anyway, I find it necessary, at this point, to share with you a few music-related YouTube gems that you would be remiss in not watching.

Let's start with what's good.

A friend of mine sent me a link to a song called "George Washington" that I hadn't heard about. Thus, I was skeptical. How can a song about the first U.S. President be awesome? Well apparently, George Washington is more badass than Chuck Norris, Harrison Ford, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse combined. Please, view this. And when you're done, view it again.

Yeah. You're on your 5th play, right? So amazing. "He'll kick you apart... he'll kick you apart, oooh!" You're welcome for having the most ridiculous song ever stuck in your head.

Let's continue with what's awesome.

A friend of mine picked up the ukulele recently and decided that he was going to be really really good at it, and he was. And then he decided he was going to combine ukuleles with video games (which in my opinion, is a winning combination). This is the result.

He spans many games in his song... including Zelda (a few times), Rampage, and Super Mario 64. And Pokemon. So basically, this might be the greatest song ever written.

Continuing on, let's go to what would be terrible if it weren't so clever and hilarious. This, like most everything on the blog, is inappropriate. And, okay, I'm apparently really late on this, because it has over 10 million views. But OH MY GOD this is the funniest song of my life.

If you're interested, there is a sequel. It's called Show Me Your Genitals 2: E=MC Vagina. Enough said.

Now, let's conclude with what's SO AWFUL that it's amazing.

Who told Fred Durst that he could play guitar? More importantly, who let him entertain this fantasy by attempting a guitar solo in front of thousands of people? MOST importantly... WHY DO THEY CHEER AFTERWARDS?

I will leave you, readers, with that mind-boggling question.
Have a lovely Wednesday.

Busta Rhymes, mad genius.

2009-02-23T12:28:00.007-05:00

Have you ever made a commitment and regretted making it a short time later, but were stuck with it? I promise this is relevant, and I'll get to it in a little bit. Just think about it as you're reading this. In the meantime, I present you with this:

It makes me sad that I'm seeing this picture for the first time almost twelve years after it actually happened, cause this one's a gem. One of the people in this picture is the antichrist. Scarily enough, it is not the person on the right.

The person on the left is (homemaking magnate/stock conspirator/actually the devil) Martha Stewart. Since this is a music blog, I guess I shouldn't say much about her, but I will leave this from Newsweek, and let you guys formulate your own opinions:

Wielding a big knife and a look of determination, Martha Stewart kept her head down while chopping cabbage on CBS's "The Early Show" last week. But even in her weekly cooking segment, Martha couldn't escape the insider-trading scandal that's tarnished her homemaking empire. CBS brass warned her beforehand that she had to address the growing controversy if she wanted to come on "The Early Show" to whip up her summer salads. Stewart, after consulting her lawyers, agreed to take questions, but only if she didn't have to leave her kitchen to sit for a separate interview. So with Martha whacking away at the chopping block, anchor Jane Clayson laid out the worsening crisis and attempted to get the domestic diva to explain herself. "This will all be resolved in the very near future and I will be exonerated of any ridiculousness," Martha said, rolling her eyes and resuming her cabbage shredding. But Clayson, usually Martha's kitchen helper, continued to grill her. Exasperated, Martha huffed: "I want to focus on my salad."

Contrastingly, the person on the right is (unbelievably fast rapper/actor/certifiably crazy person) Busta Rhymes. In this picture, he's wearing a prettier outfit than Martha. Busta was crazy before Lil' Wayne made it cool.

Ol' Busta has, on separate occasions, been arrested or informally charged with, amongst other things:

*Beating the shit out of a guy stupid enough to spit on his car.
*Beating the shit out of a driver stupid enough to believe that he should be paid for his work.
*And (my personal favorite), while being arraigned on other charges, a district attorney in Manhattan tried to add a weapons charge against him... because he had a MACHETE in his car.

More rappers need to be talking about wielding machetes. Nobody is going to be harder than the guy carrying a machete.

Anyway, here's where that commitment thing comes in: For the entirety of his music career, Busta Rhymes has been making music videos. This in itself isn't strange, but what is is that they are all, almost without exception, the exact same idea.

Yes, most hip-hop videos aren't really deep, I agree. But this is a little different in that it's not really always "Seriously, I'm rich. Look, I have money." That's there, but, umm, Busta's a little stranger than that. The idea is this:

*Put Busta in a ridiculous outfit.
*Let him move around like a crazy person.
*Repeat, sometimes ten or more times in a music video.

Doesn't sound all that substantial, right? But I'm serious. Take ingredients, add water and video hoochies, and stir. Check these out:

"Break Your Neck," 2001

"Light Your Ass on Fire," 2003

"Gimme Some More," 1998

His first single, "Woo Ha," 1996

And then the latest video, "Don't Touch Me (Throw Da Water on 'Em)," for an album coming out in March:

THERE IS NO GROWTH. Here's my theory: When he first started, I have a feeling that Busta wasn't expecting much success. As a result, maybe to a dejected friend or something, he said something along the lines of "Look, if I make it big, you can come up with all the ideas to my videos." Then, he did, and that incredibly uncreative guy called him out on it.

"Alright, in this one, you've got a crazy mustache! And you wave your arms like this!"
"Alright, in this one, you've got a crazy hat! And you wave your arms like this!"
"Alright, in this one, you're red! And you wave your arms like this!"
"Alright, in this one, you're like, umm, Elvis! But like a monkey too! And you..."

Of course, I could be wrong. The man had a machete in his car. He could absolutely be this crazy. But as long as he's this crazy, we'll keep getting videos like this, so, please, don't prescribe him anything. In the meantime, new Busta album in March, which apparently has a song called "Arab Money" on it. One can bet that it isn't gonna be brilliant social commentary.

But in all seriousness, I kind of adore Busta. Never ever leave us.

Love,
Jim

P.S. Completely unrelated, but the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs album leaked, and it's wonderful. Kristina and I both recommend.

Oscar Time!

2009-02-22T14:23:00.004-05:00

Tonight's the Oscars. Unfortunately, I guess I shouldn't really talk about them, just because, you know, movies aren't music (although I will say that Milk is probably the best of those five movies). But, as I'm pretty sure they do every year, there are probably gonna be performances of all of the "Best Original Song" nominees.

About three years ago, these performances became completely irrelevent, and haven't been worth watching since. Why?

The above performance happened on the Oscar stage for the song "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" by Three 6 Mafia. It was easily one of the funniest moments in history for several reasons:

1) Just, umm, look at the stage. What the hell is going on? It kind of looks to me like the set's a living room, or something, but there's a guy riding through it on a bicycle. It's like a musical gone wrong up there.

(I'm gonna interrupt here: one of the guys on stage is wearing Phillies gear, and that made me happy.)

2) The edited version of this song. "A whole lot of wenches jumpin' ship?" Did anyone really believe that this was the real lyric?

3) The 2:52 mark, the greatest Oscar moment EVER. This is the only time the word "PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMP!" would ever be yelled at the Oscar ceremony. Watch that part a couple times. It's absolutely amazing.

4) Queen Latifah's reaction immediately afterwards, where she can't stop laughing. My thoughts exactly.

5) Think about it. The Academy probably nominated this song because people felt like they had lost touch for nominating songs by Randy Newman so many times (although, I confess, I really do like "You've Got a Friend in Me"). THEN, they had to sit in their seats and squirm through this. Awesome.

But then, finally, 6)

IT WON. From that moment to this, when referring to DJ Paul and Juicy J, one now has to do it as "Oscar-winners DJ Paul and Juicy J." I can't find the acceptance speech anywhere, but it was absolutely perfect.

I've gotta say though, I feel like no rap boast is ever gonna beat winning an Oscar, especially since only three rappers can claim to have done it: the two in Three 6 Mafia and Eminem.

Worst Five Best Original Song Winners, in chronological order:

*1947's "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" from "Song of the South." It did beat a song called "Pass That Peace Pipe," which was probably really offensive... so I wish "Pass That Peace Pipe" had won. Honorable mention to "Chim Chim Cher-ee" from Mary Poppins as the two nominees with absolutely nonsensical lyrics.

*1983's "Flashdance... What a Feeling" from, umm, Flashdance. Yeah. Also, who is qualified to say that the Flashdance song is good enough to win... but the Footloose songs from the next year aren't?
EDIT (Kristina): I LOVE Flashdance.

*Consecutive years: 1986's "Take My Breath Away" from Top Gun and 1987's "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" from Dirty Dancing. These songs are so 1980s, it hurts.

Henceforth, I will never bring up Dirty Dancing again.

*1997's "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic. Possibly the worst song ever written, and it BEAT ELLIOTT SMITH. That has to be a joke.

Anyway, this year, the two nominees from Slumdog Millionaire will probably split the vote, and that song from Wall-E will probably take it. This is a shame, as the performance from a newly de-babied M.I.A. will probably go in vain.

Enclosed in the playlist are a few songs that either did win at some point (Shaft theme? Why not?), should have won ("The Bare Necessities" and Elliott are great), or are up tonight ("Down to Earth"). Enjoy!

The Pink Album makes me feel like I should actually listen to Jay-Z without any mashed in additions.

2009-02-20T09:13:00.003-05:00

So, I get all giddy and schoolgirlish when the topic turns to Bonnaroo, and I'll be honest... I'm a huge lurker over at Inforoo, the unofficial 'roo community. One day, I clicked on a link that said flaming lips + jay-z mashup and I clicked on it eagerly, because, of course, I'm disgustingly devoted to them. I'm surprised more people haven't listened to this gloriousness.

The masher-whose name is Cory Johnson-posted all of his songs to YouTube. He took instrumentals from The Flaming Lips (mostly from Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots but from other albums too) and combined them with vocals from Jay-Z's The Black Album. I'm always surprised by how smooth mashups can be, but these are just ridiculous. My favorite is embedded here:

Holy crap, right? This is a mashup of Jay-Z's "99 Problems" (you know, but a bitch ain't one) and The Flaming Lips' "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 2," which is an instrumental track anyway. How does this have only 321 views? Around 21 of those are mine, too. The rest of the album is mixed just as cleverly - highlights include "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" (with "In the Morning of the Magicians") and "What More Can I Say" (with "One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-21"). Go give them a listen; also, you can download the entire album via the message-board link I posted, with direct permission from the artist. Well, not Jay-Z/Wayne Coyne, but you get the idea. Enjoy your free delicious music.

Miscellaneous Update!

2009-02-19T14:15:00.005-05:00

So, we've been slacking, but I guess we both don't want to have entries for the sake of having entries.

Umm, until, of course, now. Meet the miscellaneous update! Lacking much in the way of direction, here's a collection of random stuff!

*In what will be the last M.I.A.-related piece of news from me for a while, apparently, that joke about her delivering her baby during the Grammys wasn't really far off. Apparently, she started having contractions right at the start of the Grammys, and was something like two hours into them when she got up and performed:

I freely admit, I'm not an expert on pregnancy (this may come as a shock to some of you out there). However, this seems like it would suck. A lot.

A lot, a lot, a lot.

Also, I understand that she really only had to sing one line (as instead of "Paper Planes," she was just singing the sample part for "Swagga Like Us"), but that poses the question:

Is it tough to remember that line when a human being is trying to escape from inside of you?

*Anyway, my computer has been acting unbelievably ungrateful to me for almost the past two weeks. To think, if it didn't want Gatorade, it didn't have to get so angry that it stopped working.

The major problem with this is that everything on that guy is completely unusable until I make the trek to the Apple Store, so until that day, anyone who wants to steal music from me (see "In which you, the reader..." 1/27) is going to have to wait. Sorry, guys. I really need to get on that.

*A couple songs that have been stuck in my head recently, many of which will be appearing on the corresponding playlist at the bottom of the post:

Animal Collective - "For Reverend Green" When I say "A song got stuck in my head," I more than likely mean, "There is one part of this song that is driving me absolutely insane." In this one, it's the intro, this heavily distorted organ that sounds like a soundtrack to a messed-up dream. Hence, I feel like I'm walking around in a messed-up dream.

This is not the feeling that you want when you have important stuff to do.

Ben Kweller "How It Should Be (Sha Sha)" My friend Kelly is next to me. She says hi. She's obsessed with Ben Kweller. I'm not, but I do love this song. Also, don't bother me while I'm watching Planet of the Apes on TV. That's right.

Doves - "Black and White Town." It's a really simple melody, but it just sounds kind of nice. I find that I only listen to the song every few months or so, but every time I do, it sticks around in my head for a while afterwards. Today was one of those days.

The Thermals - "Now We Can See" The album isn't out yet, but a few websites are streaming the song, and I promise you, if you listen to the whole thing, you will be walking down the street singing the hook. It's killing me.

Also, The Thermals are great. Alsoalso, they don't really make albums longer than like 35 minutes. So, music for people with short attention spans. Like me!

And, umm, that should about do it. Hopefully, I'll update for real soon. Kelly says bye.

Now, she's staring at the screen and wondering if she really wants to say bye.

Now, she said "Sha sha."

Sha sha,
Jim

List of songs to make you absurdly happy, part three, maybe.

2009-02-11T12:51:00.003-05:00

In what has become the most irregularly-updated series of blog entries in the history of blogging, I've managed to put together the next installment of music that will most likely make you quite joyful, or at least relaxed and content. And seriously, you all should put these on a playlist or something whenever you're feeling not relaxed or discontent. It will rectify the situation. Also, I have determined that I actually have nothing of interest to say regarding each individual song. I tend to ramble about nothingness. So I'm going to give you the list of songs. Plain and simple. A couple of them have comments added. You know, as necessary.

Gorillaz - “Clint Eastwood”

Hot Chip - “Over and Over”

Jens Lekman - “I'm Leaving You Because I Don't Love You”

Jens Lekman - “A Sweet Summer's Night On Hammer Hill”

Kate Nash - “Foundations”

Kimya Dawson - “5 Years”
(For some reason, I couldn't find this song on playlist.com, which is weird, because it's by far my favorite Kimya Dawson song.)

M.I.A. - “Lady Killer”
(Couldn't find this one either, so the playlist below has "Galang" on it, because a happy playlist is not complete without some M.I.A.)

Mickey Avalon - “Jane Fonda”

Missy Elliot - “Work It”
Yeah, Missy Elliot. This song is awesome, and I will not back down.

The Mountain Goats - “Going to Scotland”

Mr. Bungle - “Squeeze Me Macaroni”

Neutral Milk Hotel - “Holland 1945” (EDIT: Weird association: when attending a taping of "The Colbert Report," this song came on right before the actual taping, and Stephen lip-synced the entire thing. Now, every time I hear this, I think of him spinning around in his chair while singing "white roses in her eyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees." Also, this song is great. - Jim)

Of Montreal - “Fun Loving Nun”
(Couldn't find this one either, which is a shame because The Gay Parade is such a great album. I included "Miniature Philosopher" instead.)

ALSO. To make this post less lame and WAY more exciting, I'm going to include a "coming soon" list of things that I intend to blog about in the near-ish future. HOW EXCITED ARE YOU, DEAR READER?! I'll also leave it slightly cryptic in order to increase anticipation.
-"The Pink Album"
-Summer festival lineups
-The 5 creepiest songs I can think of
-Nothing even remotely relevant to real journalistic endeavors, I leave that to Jim.

Quick Update (Grammy Recap/In Which Jim Tries to Pick Up a Hipster)

2009-02-11T00:41:00.003-05:00

I could be doing homework right now.

Sadly, M.I.A. didn't have her baby on Grammy night, but from the looks of things, it was pretty close. Unfortunately, any video of the performance has been removed from Youtube, but anyone who saw it... well, it looked pretty interesting. if I find it, I'll put it up in the near future.

Also, sadly, Weezy wasn't all that insane, apart from when he appeared to slingshot from backstage to claim an award.

And in kind of a surprise, Coldplay didn't win all 281 awards they were nominated for! Instead, Album of the Year was given to Robert Plant and Allison Krauss for Raising Sand. It's kind of a recent trend: three of the last five years, they've given the biggest prize to an older artist, more than likely for their body of work than if the album nominated deserved to win or not. I haven't actually heard this one yet though, so I couldn't really say much about this, but, umm... cool. I have no problem with this practice. Keep up the good work.

Anyway, my roommate offered me a ticket to see The Submarines tomorrow night. A little background: the Submarines are one of those bands that got their break via Apple commercials. Specifically, this one:

They also have a song on the Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist soundtrack. They're a couple who dated for four years, broke up, wrote songs about each other, heard each other's songs, got back together, and are now married and still writing songs together (hold for collective "awwwwww.").

At any rate, their latest album is nice. It's pretty, light, and poppy, and that's all that it really needs to be. Also, the ticket is free. Here's the problem with this: this concert is more than likely going to be filled with hipsters. I have no real problem with the hipster, but I do worry about forging into their native habitat of Brooklyn for this concert.

What this means:

*Inevitably, 6'5" me will be hounded by 5'1" girls to move from whatever perch I take, or to put people on my shoulders. This happens to me at least once at any concert with general admission seating.
*I will be the only person in the crowd not to know the words to all of these songs.
*However, I will be the only person who will visibly appear to have fun.

Am I going to need to go to American Apparel for this? Is there any way I can bring a hipster back to keep? Can I, Mom? Pleaseeeeeeeee? I promise I'll take it outside every day for walks and cigarettes!

Love,
Jim

The Less-Substantial Grammy Post

2009-02-06T13:58:00.003-05:00

Hey, guys. So, as Jim just told you, the Grammys are this weekend. Which is somewhat of a surprise to me, but nevertheless, I'm prepared to go on about how ridiculous they are as well, but in a different vein.

Some categories and nominations are very legitimate. M.I.A. and Robert Plant & Allison Krause and even Radiohead were nominated for things. This is good.

HOWEVER. Since when does Slipknot get nominated for things? I don't mind the music itself; actually, it's pretty good. But the vocals make me want to gouge out my eardrums.

Slipknot isn't even what I'm upset about. Guys... Snoop Dogg got nominated... for a song called Sexual Eruption. Let's not kid ourselves, this song is NOT about an outpouring of romantic feeling. Let me quote some of this for you.
WARNING: EXPLICIT. Hah.

"I whispered in her ear,
'Lil' mama, what you drink?'
I know that you a freak,
but you know I ain't gon' say shit
See, my game is outrageous
I got her to the crib and exchanged some fuck faces
But it wasn't no use for me to rush to bust one
Cause I wanted her to have an eruption."

And at one point in the song, he clarifies for you. "Orgasms." See for yourself.

Gorgeous. I like Gin & Juice as much as the next white girl (that is what it's called, right?), and I'm actually seeing Snoop this summer at Bonnaroo. (!!!!) But really, Grammys? Anyway, Jim and I will be writing more about their ridiculousness post-ceremony. Hopefully, we're able to witness the birth of M.I.A.'s beautiful child.

Grammy time!

2009-02-06T12:53:00.005-05:00

I swear, I did not make ANY of this up.

Sunday night is apparently the biggest night in music. It’s Grammy night. It’s always a pretty confusing night, because without fail, there’s always about ten songs/artists/albums that are nominated that are completely confounding.

This year is no exception: Kid Rock is nominated for two Grammys. That’s right, Bob “Bawitdaba” Ritchie has apparently found his way back into the good graces of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for the first time since his nomination in 2000 for “American Bad Ass.” I’m pretty sure the fact that Kid Rock is a five-time anything (trailer owner? hepatitis patient?) is enough to discount the entire ceremony… but I digress.

Kid's nominated against Coldplay, Kings of Leon, Metallica, and the Raconteurs. Yes, all of those bands are nominated in the same category: the vague umbrella of Best Rock Album. This, it can be said, is dumb. None of those bands are even remotely close in style. Having them nominated in the same category is dumb. It's like comparing apples to... people who decide to name their child Apple.

There’s a pretty good chance that Coldplay is going to take home the Record, Song, and Album of the Year for Viva la Vida (and it’s corresponding album). This is actually fine with me; even though I feel like M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” was a better nominee in Record of the Year, and I’m never gonna pick against Radiohead for anything, I’m just relieved that “Viva la Vida” doesn’t sound like “Speed of Sound,” which sounds a bit like a slowed-down “Clocks.” Besides, it’s a marked improvement over these songs, all of which have nominated in the past:

Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl" (to spell out fruit, is to be nominated for a Grammy)

Nickelback's "How You Remind Me" (apparently nominating Kid Rock in both 1999 and 2000 set a dangerous precedent) EDIT (Kristina): This, however, IS a sign of the apocalypse. See below.

Hanson's "MMMBop" (live on the Wayne Brady show! Yes! Anyway, mmmbop, ba ba du bop, du ba da ba du bop, da ba du, yeah, yeah. Record of the Year nominee. First sign of the apocalypse.) EDIT (Kristina): I still love Taylor Hanson, and have this song on my iPod. I disagree with this being a sign of the apocalypse.

Paula Cole's "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" (and, I confess, I guiltily like this song. A good amount, actually. But it seems absolutely ridiculous to try and nominate it for "Record of the Year." For the record, same year as "MMMBop.")

Bette Midler's "Wind Beneath My Wings" (really?)

I'm gonna cut this off: Wayne Brady is actually nominated for a Grammy this year too. I'm so far from kidding about this. Are they just giving away these things like candy? Where can I sign up?

James Gallagher, Grammy-nominated artist and blogger: great business card, or the GREATEST business card?

Katy Perry's opus to same-sex lip lock is also a Grammy nominee for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance," which is just, uhh, great. I'm sure most of you have heard "I Kissed a Girl," so I have absolutely no intention of posting it here, but, umm, she kind of took a liberal approach to the idea of pitch, didn't she?

And, like seemingly everybody else on the planet, the academy loved Lil Wayne. Eight nominations. Frankly, I don't really get it. I'm actually a big fan of rappers with distinct vocal stylings (you've heard both Kristina and I rave about Aesop Rock, and I'd also count Del the Funkee Homosapien, Busdriver, etc.), but in my humble opinion, his voice is cringe-worthy. Him being more talented than a good majority of current rappers is kind of irrelevant when he sounds like he's swimming in a bottle of cough syrup (which is completely possible).

And really, how much of an accolade is it to say that Lil Wayne is better than someone whose brilliant idea for a rap name was to take the word Florida and split it in half?

For the record, Flo Rida is also nominated for two Grammys. Sigh.

I will say this though: I'll probably be watching for a couple of reasons, one of them actually being Lil Wayne. With eight nominations, he's bound to win a couple of times. One sort-of well-known fact about Weezy is that he's crazy (not crazy as in he's incredible so much as crazy as in, he's mentally insane). If being in New York City for the past three semesters of college has taught me anything, it's that crazy people should always be given opportunities to speak.

Prepare for the best acceptance speech(es?) of your life.

In addition, the performances. The following quote is blatantly ripped from Pitchfork:

"Billboard reports (and the show's website confirms) that M.I.A. has been added to the already-jammed roster of performers at this Sunday's Grammy Awards telecast... But, uh, M.I.A. is nine months pregnant, and she reported in a MySpace blog post last year that her baby is actually due on Grammy night. This leaves a possibility that M.I.A. will give birth onstage."

CAN YOU IMAGINE?! Mid-performance of Paper Planes: All I wanna do is *gunshot* *gunshot* *gunshot* *water breaks*?! For the three people that are following this blog, if that happens, we retire. There will literally not be anything to write about EVER AGAIN.

Also, "Livin' la Vida Loca" was nominated for Record of the Year at the time of its release. But how relevant can an award ceremony named for a gramophone really be?

Love,
Jim

In which Scarlett Johansson does everything that she can to test my unconditional love for her.

2009-01-28T14:13:00.002-05:00

One thing that needs to be known about me: I will often refer to my (love of/delusional marriage to) Scarlett Johansson. Certainly not because of her acting talent (because I saw The Spirit and several other terrible others)... but because, I mean, look at her. She's Scarlett Johansson. This is a person who put a used tissue up for auction for charity and had it raise over $5000... and when I heard the news, the price sounded COMPLETELY REASONABLE to me. For her, I would put out a hit on Ryan Reynolds and any other possible suitor. She is Scarlett Johansson, she is unbelievably attractive, she seems like a reasonably intelligent person, and that's all she needs to be.

However, she has decided to follow down the path that so many actors and actresses before her have taken, deciding to develop her music career. Ill-advised? Probably. Check out this kareoke clip from Lost in Translation.

Sidenote: Bill Murray's backup vocals are great.

Anyway, somewhere in the decision-making process, somebody apparently told her that her voice wouldn't really be great for singing her own songs. However, before that person could finish, I feel like Scarlett cut them off, suggested that she do covers, and ran away to record before anyone could tell her otherwise. Hence, her album of covers of this guy:

That, dear reader(s), is Tom Waits. As you might be able to tell from the picture, he is responsible for some terrifying music. The man's voice sounds like a pack of cigarettes personified. Seriously (and feel free to skip to the song about 45 seconds in if you must, though I recommend watching it just to get a feel for all that crazy):

Now, it seems inexplicable to me that she would pick Tom Waits as a person whose songs she thought she could do justice. It baffles me more that she actually decided to pick THAT SONG that the above video is for. And worst of all, I'm still trying to get over why her team of producers turned it into the dance music trainwreck of the finished product. I put it in the playlist at the bottom of the entry, and everyone should go down and listen to it now, then come back.

Hey again. Horrendous, right? And what exactly is going on with the weird synthesizers? This sounds like a less lively Ace of Base B-side.

But, this came out almost a year ago. The reason that I'm writing this is for something that showed up yesterday, as apparently for the soundtrack of her new movie, He's Just Not That Into You, someone let her off of her leash and allowed her to do yet another cover, this time of Jeff Buckley.

Somewhat ironically, Jeff Buckley's most well-known song is also a cover (of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah"). However, the major difference is that Jeff didn't decide to cover a song by someone with an unbelievable voice. Jeff Buckley, in fact, had an unbelievable voice.

Scarlett Johansson does not have an unbelievable voice.

Or, you can be the judge. Enclosed in the playlist is Jeff Buckley's original (which I wouldn't really count as one of my favorite Buckley songs, but still) and right here's the link to Scarlett's cover. At least her version is a full two minutes shorter?

In addition, the playlist has my actual favorite Jeff Buckley song, the creepiest Tom Waits... uhh, thing (I hesitate to call it a song) that I've ever heard, and two Ace of Base songs, because I strongly doubt that Ace of Base has gotten any love outside of Sweden in over ten years.

In conclusion, I would still pay over $5000 for a Scarlett Johansson tissue.

Love,

Jim

In which you, the reader, are now free to take my music as you see fit.

2009-01-27T16:09:00.004-05:00

As Kristina mentioned last time, a major reason that we didn't post much over Christmas break was that we didn't have much procrastination fodder.

But, now I should be doing some Journalism homework. So, even though this isn't going to be a really substantial entry, hey!

Anyway, the real reason that I was writing was this:

Early on in the year, when I first got in to my dorm, I set my iTunes library to share within the twentysome-odd floors of Gramercy. I think the name I attached to it was something along the lines of "Jim from 1505 will burn you anything you want if you bring a blank cd to him."

Catchy. Probably a little bit of a grab for attention. Whatever.

Anyway, two days ago, somebody actually took me up on it, and, well, my roommate and I were pretty shocked to see that it had worked. So, inspired by this incident, and, again, grabbing for people to read the blog, I made a list of all the full albums on my computer through a couple of classes (some of which were a little embarrassing, but I'll still never apologize for them), and... well, here it is. Make a request in the comment section for this post (not the chatterbox, that's apparently reserved for some kind of unbelievably filthy dialogue between Kristina's friends), and I'll send whatever you want your way.

Oh, and read us. We like followers, too. I promise, there'll be an actual post from me pretty soon, possibly/probably on how irrelevant the Grammys are.

'til then,
Jim

EDIT: The list is now on the right-hand side of the page for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Blogging again! Also, Mickey Avalon might be a bigger fan of ladies' behinds than Sir Mix-A-Lot.

2009-01-21T13:27:00.007-05:00

Okay. So. It’s about time we start updating this blog again. Allow me to explain and apologize: when I have nothing to procrastinate, I can’t do anything. Thus, I spent all Winter Break sleeping. But, now that I have work I should be doing, I need procrastination fodder. And that’s where this blog comes in! Readers, you can be sure that we’ll start updating now that we have things that we should be doing. And I even have something that I’d like to write about.

Mickey Avalon’s new music video.

It came out in December, but being a slacker, I didn’t find it until a couple of days ago. As you can see, this blog isn’t particularly concerned with timeliness, so I’ll be writing about it like it just came out yesterday. Also, there's some vulgarity present. Just so you know.

Many of you are familiar with Mr. Avalon, even though you might not know it. If we’re friends, I’ve probably forced his delightfulness upon you, and if we’re not, you might’ve heard his most popular song, “My Dick,” on Youtube or in Harold and Kumar 2: Escape from Guantanamo Bay, which might be the most ridiculous movie that ever existed. In any case, he possesses an interesting and unique take on hip-hop/rap: he glams it up and defies gender roles, subverting the traditional heterosexual emphasis found in most entries in the genre. His new song, “Fuckin’ Em All,” continues in this vein. I found it on his myspace page, but you can check out the whole thing on Youtube in all its glory (embedded here):

It starts with a scene from the movie Colors, or so Jim tells me, where two policemen discuss what must be a famous proverb or something. You can judge for yourself. The first note of the song coincides with a shot of Mr. Avalon’s lower abs in all of their tattooed glory, and the classiness quickly deteriorates. Let me give you a sample of his lyrical genius:

“Riddle me this, little bitches:
The Av’s on the market for a mistress.
And I could give a shit ‘bout the riches,
As long as she suck dick and do dishes.”

Well… on one hand, he’s not a gold digger. Maybe I’ll leave it at that. Though there’s no semblance of legitimacy to this new song, it’s still enjoyable: random deep-voiced “Ohhh”s and girly laughs peppered throughout the song add a giggle-factor, and there’s a pretty kickass guitar solo at the end of the song. Also, it has a lot of danceability. All in all, though Mickey Avalon objectifies women for their behinds, and apparently has the ability to have intercourse with multiple ladies at the exact same time, it’s undeniable that he has lyrical and rhythmic talent, and his persona is incredibly unique. I, for one, am looking forward to his new album, which, as far as I can tell, has no set release date as of now.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-02T01:41:00.002-05:00

Hey, faithful reader, happy 2009. We promise we'll get back into the swing of things and start posting soon. In the meantime, I just had a quick update:

A good chunk of break has been spent trying to listen to all of the music on my iTunes that I hadn't heard before while driving around to see friends. The problem is that I don't seem to be making all that much of a dent.... and of course, that's because I just keep getting albums based on recommendations, and that's kind of my fault, but, you know, whatever. Anyway, some highlights, compliments of last.fm:

*A lot of classic rock. Right before break, I got a bunch of stuff from bands like the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and a few other bands that fit under that classic rock label. It made me realize that I not-so-secretly want to be The Dude from The Big Lebowski, driving around, getting involved in kidnapping capers, having sex with Julianne Moore, and listening to Creedence Clearwater Revival all day. It also made me realize that the day that bands like Coldplay are considered to be our "classic rock" will be a very sad day indeed. Le sigh.

*A few albums that leaked that are due for release in 2009. I have these visions of of the RIAA swat team bursting through my door as I write this, but there's no proof that I won't go out and buy them anyway afterwards, right?

...right?

Anyway, thanks to the leak of Merriweather Post PavilIion, I now understand that there was another reason why I didn't recognize half of Animal Collective's set during All Points West... you know, other than the fact that I found myself struggling to keep from passing out. Whoops. In a related story, I'm really into the song "Summertime Clothes" from this album.

*12/29/08: While on my way to meet up with friends in Philly, I decided to put on Ready to Die by the Notorious B.I.G., cause I hadn't heard it yet. About ten minutes in, it was suddenly 1994, and I realized that this was, indeed, the "blackest" moment I had ever had. I celebrated by immediately taking a hand off the steering wheel, slouching in my seat, robbing a ho, and beating up a second ho while having sex with a third. Oh, and I haven't smiled in a picture since. By the way, this moment will be rivaled when I finally get a chance to listen to The Chronic and Straight Outta Compton.

I now get why rap was so big in the '90s, and my belief that good mainstream rap is largely dead has been reaffirmed.

Anyway, back to 2009. I was at a party with my friends, and right after midnight, as is usually the custom, somebody put on "The New Year" by Death Cab for Cutie. Now, I actually like the song... but it'd be awesome if my friends could stop hearing it like it's especially poignant.

I guess I should count my blessings. It could be "Happy New Year" by ABBA. Yikes.

Anyway, as it's now 3 in the morning, I suppose I should head off to bed. But again, happy new year to all, and we here at TDoFS (is it rude to speak for Kristina in this case?) hope it's a great one.

Music to make you disgustingly happy, part TWO.

2008-12-25T03:12:00.002-05:00

Hey y'all, as a special Christmas present, I'm getting my ass in gear and actually writing something for the blog. So, here's part two (of four) of Music to make you disgustingly happy! Enjoy. And remember to listen to the songs on the playlist player at the bottom! You will be really really happy, just in time for your Christmas spirit to be irrevocably damaged by hearing your grandmother warbling “Angels We Have Heard On High” in her living room. Am I bitter? No, of course not.

Brian Eno - “Baby's On Fire”
I feel like Eno gets dismissed all too often. Everyone's heard of Bowie, but it's like people think that Eno is the Wal-Mart version of Bowie. Not so! “Baby's On Fire” is full of twangy-weird singing, offbeat lyrics (“look at her laughing, like a heifer to the slaughter”), and a kickass guitar solo. I feel the need to wear glittery platforms and a blue wig and neon make-up when I listen to this... but maybe I've seen Velvet Goldmine too many times. And anyway, I'm sure Jim looks better in gilttery heels and a wig than I do.

Cake - “Short Skirt/Long Jacket”
First of all, thank you Cake for the fashion advice. Even though, when I wear a short skirt and a long jacket, it looks like I'm not wearing pants and it gets all awkward. Anyway, the best part about this song is the huge pause. “And a long...

...jacket.” This is a driving song – it makes me happiest when I'm cruising down 22 in my mom's minivan, singing along.

David Bowie - “Suffragette City”
Honestly, I'm just going to quote what Jim said when I proposed using "Suffragette City" instead of "Changes."
Jim wrote: "Awwwwwwwwwww WHAM BAM THANK YOU MA'AM. Enough said."
(Or something to that effect, I can't remember exactly but that's basically the gist of it, anyway, it's a good song.)

The Decemberists - “July, July!”
Colin Meloy is melancholy. Hmmm... “choly”... “melan”... you think that sound similarity is coincidential? I don't. But “July, July!” kind of stands out starkly against the typical depressed music that is The Decemberists. I love the line about the “crooked French-Canadian” and pretty much everything else about this poppy upbeat song.

The Divinyls - “I Touch Myself”
So, um.... yeah. Who doesn't like this song? It's so blatant. Enough for this song to go on my only-listen-to-this-when-your-parents-aren't-around list. Though everyone knows it, I feel like people are reluctant to acknowledge the subject matter. Annnnddd... awkwardness = happy, right?
Right?

Final Fantasy - “This Is the Dream of Win and Regine”
When I first heard Owen Pallet's Has A Good Home, I straight-up didn't like it. I thought the songs were boring and the references were archaic and it just wasn't good. Now, granted, some people still think that, but I am not one of them, and that's mostly because of this song. For some reason, when Pallet shouts, it's exciting and happiness-inducing. His awesome violin playing certainly doesn't hurt, either.

Final Fantasy - “Horsetail Feathers”
Okay, so I'm not sure how fair it is for certain artists to get more than one song on this list, but I most certainly cannot help it when it comes to “Horsetail Feathers.” I was actually listening to this when I decided that I wanted to write about happy music. Yeah, that inspiring. It sounds like a musical at first, but then it progresses... and it still sounds like a musical. But not a shitty one! A really, really good one, with excellent instrumentation.

The Flaming Lips - “Race for the Prize [Remix]”
Words cannot describe. If one had to condense the essence of happy down into one song, it would be this. The first time I ever heard it (and actually, the first time I ever heard the Lips) I was riding home on the school bus in 11th grade, and I had just popped it into my CD player. The first little piano gliss is so ridiculously triumphant... when I saw them perform this last summer, I literally shed a tear I was so happy. A song cannot be happier than this one... even though the lyrics themselves aren't too happy.

EDIT: Can you tell that this is my favorite band?

The Flaming Lips - “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 2”
See, everyone loves Yoshimi. They're even making a Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots musical! But I feel like Part 2 is always overlooked. I mean, Part 1 is a delicious slice of upbeat goodness, but Part 2 is where the Lips really get into it. It's repetitive, but each repetition gets increasingly intense. The weird bunny-rabbit screams pump the listener up. Is that weird that the bunny-rabbit screams pump me up? Is it weird that I associate the screaming in the music with bunny-rabbits? I'll stop now.

Flight of the Conchords - “If You're Into It”
Oh, Flight of the Conchords. You always trick me into thinking you're going to be singing a nice song, and then it deteriorates into raunchy madness. And that's why I love you. Brett starts off with a sweet offer of hanging around... and then Jemaine decides to get involved, deep sexytime voice and all. But it's just so goofy, I'm totally okay with the fact that Brett is proposing kinky food-related adventures because Jemaine summarizes up each offer so nicely.

Girl Talk - “Once Again”
I think really all that can be said about this song is “Ohdamn.” Yeah, one word. Every time I listen to it, it gets better. And it has really nourished my repressed love for The Whisper Song. Oh, gosh, I'm going to have to listen to that now.

Gogol Bordello - “Sally”
After looking up the lyrics on songmeanings.net, I've realized that this song is kind of depressing and even indirectly mentions the Chernobyl incident. I feel like a dick for including it on my list, but it's a really upbeat song! Maybe that's Eugene Hutz's way of dealing with things. But enough of the psychoanalysis. Just listen to all of this music and be prepared to feel really happy. And then anxiously await the next installment.

...go! Listen!

Anxiously await! Go!

Spoiled Kid Problems! Yayyyyyyyyy!

2008-12-24T13:34:00.006-05:00

So, I got a big Christmas gift early: an iPhone! The thing is awesome, really. For the past 24 hours, I've just been poking at it to see where it takes me next.

However, I realized soon after I got it that there was no conceivable way that it would hold all of my music. It holds 16 GBs, and after formatting, that number goes down to a little bit over 14 gigs of space. Those of you math majors out there will realize that 42 is bigger than 14, and thus, I find myself with a lot of choices to make.

It was essentially like picking your favorite children, if you hated a good chunk of your children.

So, here are the results. Nothing is ever finalized, obviously, and there's still a tiny bit of room, but for now, here's what I came up with:

*First and foremost, anything that could be played at a hipster party is going to make the cut, in the event that everyone else forgets their iPods. I go to NYU, after all, so hipster cred is a must on this iPhone. As a result, congrats to Girl Talk (2 albums), LCD Soundsystem (2 albums), M.I.A. (2), Junior Senior (2), Crystal Castles, Dan Deacon, Justice, MGMT, Yelle, and Ratatat (one apiece).

This also extends to dance music that I like that I think could be background music at a party, but I guess I was decidedly less lenient in letting these in. Congrats to Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, and Simian Mobile Disco with an album apiece.

*Bands and artists that I consider to be my favorite (or most-played) are certainly going to have more representation. As a result, Beck, the Beatles, , The Shins, and Spoon have their entire discographies on there. That also goes for a few other bands, whose discographies I don't own, but still really, really like: The Decemberists (five albums including The Tain), The Hold Steady (four albums), Modest Mouse (four), The Hives (three), Interpol (three), Man Man (three), and the Pixies (three).

The actual top two on my last.fm (Radiohead and Elliott Smith) will be addressed later on.

*Any band that I really liked from age 12 gets the benefit of the doubt. What this means is that they get any album that I really liked at the time, plus one album past their prime. See: Weezer (later on in the entry), The Hives, The Foo Fighters.

Then came the decisions. Some of the results (complete with a ratings system based on how many albums of the artist that I own):

*Weezer owes me an apology for the Red Album. What happened? The album may have been so bad that I retroactively disliked them more, if that makes sense. As a result, the first three of their six albums make it. Sorry, Maladroit, three out of six scorchos.

*After seeing The National live, I liked them way, way more than I did before, resulting in me getting all four of their albums. Then, I realized... the gap in quality between their first album and their last three is ridiculous. The first album not only didn't make the cut, I actually deleted it off of my iTunes completely. Three out of four slow shows.

*The Flaming Lips. Eight albums? No way. Compilations are a no-no too. After an intense debate, Transmissions from the Satellite Heart, Clouds Taste Metallic, The Soft Bulletin, and Yoshimi make the cut. I don't have four iPhones that I can line up next to each other, so there's no way I could put Zaireeka on there. Four out of eight watermelon guns.

Slight consolation prize: for any Lips fans out there (Kristina), I'm trying to make "The W.A.N.D." my ringtone.

*How much terrifying Tom Waits does an iPhone need? There's no way I'd listen to his three hours of boxset without just bringing an iPod around. Rain Dogs wins, as does Bone Machine. Two out of four big black mariahs.

*As for Radiohead? I'll never listen to Pablo Honey on my iPhone anytime soon. I may never listen to Pablo Honey again. There's not even really a reason for Pablo Honey to exist. Six out of seven iron lungs.
Same goes for Roman Candle and From a Basement... for Elliott, and I can't think of a time that i'll listen to New Moon without having my iPod on me. Four out of seven ballads of big nothing.

This went on for a while. Bloc Party makes it with their debut and nothing else, Aesop Rock doesn't get all of his albums on, Blur manages to sneak one in while the others are left in the cold, etc. I eventually started to envision the bands trying to plead their cases.

"'Name?'
'Uh, we're Wolf Parade. We're on the list.'
'Oh yeah, there you are. Your first album is awesome! Your second album isn't great. Come on in, uhh, half of you.'
'Wait! We've all got other bands too! Sunset Rubdown, Handsome Furs, Swan Lake, Frog Eyes... can they come in?'
'...no. Not all of them. Dan, you and your wife can come, she's really cute and plays a mean drum machine. Spencer, you get your choice of one Sunset Rundown bandmate, not all of them. Your Frog Eyes guys are staying outside... and who the FUCK is Swan Lake?'"

I put way too much thought into this.

At any rate, I realized how spoiled I was and how stupid the selection process was a little while in, and as a result the picks got thrown in pretty haphazardly towards the end.

So to borrow from Burn After Reading:

CIA Superior: So what did we learn from this?
CIA Officer: Um... I don't know.
[pause]
CIA Superior: I don't fuckin' know either.

...Happy Holidays to all! Underneath is a playlist with a couple of songs (all eighteen minutes of The Tain, if you can get through it!) and hopefully a Christmas track or two if I can find them. As for me, I've gotta get into the holiday spirit by watching Ichii the Killer and A Christmas Story, back to back. Adios!

Epiphany (sort of, vol.2)

2008-12-21T03:38:00.001-05:00

I am baffled by Led Zeppelin.

Let me explain that a little bit better. Over the course of today, I listened to Led Zeppelin and Led Zeppelin IV. Listened isn’t really the most apt description; I blared Led Zeppelin and Led Zeppelin IV in my car today at a decibel level usually reserved for jet engines. “Deafening” is the only volume that Led Zeppelin should be listened at.

There’s a reason for this: Led Zeppelin is really badass. Sorry that I wasn’t more eloquent right there, but it’s true. In the conventional sense, they’re one of the stereotypically “coolest” bands in history, and people who enjoy rock music should listen to them at this optimal volume at least once in their lives.

ANYWAY, so, as I was listening to Zeppelin IV, I get to “Rock and Roll.” Some of you might be familiar with it intimately; others might know it from Cadillac commercials. It’s an unbelievable driving song, and I think that as it roared through my speakers, I was driving at 470 miles an hour. Again, very badass. And as I was listening to this magnum opus of rock and roll, all was right with the world.

And then it ended, and “Battle of Evermore” came on. Now, I understand that not every song is going to be an up-tempo romp, but this track is an acoustic song with mandolin, apparently rooted in Scottish folklore. Instead, the lyrics pretty much sound like they’ve been stolen from Dungeons and Dragons mythology. If “Rock and Roll” is the coolest kid in school, “Battle of Evermore” is the loser who gets stuffed in lockers. From a band that is often regarded as one of the most “coolest” in rock history, we get one of the flat-out nerdiest songs ever written.

“The Dark Lord rides in force tonight?” “The apples of the valley hold the seeds of happiness?!” “THE RINGWRAITHS RIDE IN BLACK?!?!” Come on, really? The only thing missing from this is a twelve-sided die.

Not that I’m saying the song is bad. Honestly, I like “Battle of Evermore,” I do. It’s just that it almost feels like an outtake when the other seven tracks are so cool. “Rock and Roll” is a song I want on in a chase sequence (hence Cadillac choosing it, I guess). “Four Sticks” is a song I’d put on and turn the bass up for having sex. “When the Levee Breaks” is the heaviest song ever written; the opening drums will flatten your house, and the harmonica sounds like a freight train.

And “Battle of Evermore” is great for… reading the Lord of the Rings really intensely? I’m not really interested in having Led Zeppelin providing the soundtrack for getting my lunch money stolen. It just doesn’t fit.

I probably wouldn’t have such a problem with this if the transition wasn’t so abrupt. At least “Stairway to Heaven” rocks kind of hard even though it has some goofy lyrics, and it comes right afterwards. Maybe “Stairway” and “Battle” could’ve been swapped as some kind of better transition to total dweebiness. I think it was Chuck Klosterman who said that Led Zeppelin “sounds like the way a cool guy acts.” I just think that that guy may have had a bit of closet dork in him.

I mean, I guess I should be grateful that this is all I can complain about with Zeppelin. It could be on the same level of the problem that I have with Ice Cube, the “gangsta rapper” who released several kids movies... then went back to trying to be a hardass.

ICE CUBE COULD NEVER BE CHILD-FRIENDLY. What is he gonna teach them, how to jack some fool? That a bitch will always be just a bitch (or sometimes, that a bitch can be a ho)? The fact that the man released a track called “Stop Snitchin’” (complete with lyrics like “I slap the Maybelline off Tammy Faye Baker”) in the year between Are We There Yet? and Are We Done Yet? is troubling for so many reasons, it may be impossible to list them all here.

At any rate, enclosed are some of the Zeppelin songs in question. Hopefully, you guys see what I'm talking about.

Best Albums That I Discovered in 2008 But Are Older

2008-12-19T16:43:00.003-05:00

So, since Jim is the only legitimate journalist posting on this blog, most of my entries will probably be random reminiscences that may excite you, anger you, enthrall you, or disappoint you. In any case, instead of doing a year-end Best-Of list, or even a year-end “This is what I liked that came out this year,” I'm doing a year-end “This is what I discovered this year.” I'll be chatting about albums that came out before 2008 that I didn't listen to until this year, but only the ones I really really liked. And here's where I find it important to assure you all that I do have good taste in music, and passing phases like the Bloodhound Gang are most likely only phases. Maybe. Anyway, here it goes...

5 55-Charlotte Gainsbourg
I saw Ms. Gainsbourg in a movie called The Cement Garden a couple of years ago, and let me tell you. She is an amazing actress. When I found out she had an album, I was reluctant. After all, Milla Jovovich, that sexy sexy Ukranian woman we all know and love, released an album in 1994. And, well... yeah. But Charlotte sings beautifully! Sometimes her lyrics are a little trite (see “Beauty Mark), but her voice is always breathy and sweet, and she has an accent. Bonus points. Songs like “The Operation,” by far the best on the album, even make me uncomfortable when I listen to them with other people, because they seem so personal.

Dear Catastrophe Waitress-Belle & Sebastian
I know, I know. This came out YEARS ago. And I didn't technically discover it this year... I've been listening to “Step Into My Office, Baby” for a while, but not until this year did I realize that the entire album is amazing. Lyrically, I admit that Belle & Sebastian can be a little pretentious, but most of the time it's good pretentiousness. My favorite is definitely “Piazza, New York Catcher;” it meanders along for just over three minutes and it's so simple that you can really concentrate on the lyrics. This album is almost Flaming Lips-quality cheeriness. Coming from me, that's a HUGE compliment. As you will all come to realize.

Hear It Is-The Flaming Lips
Oh, and look who it is! Yeah, I know. This is the Lips' first full-length album (it came out in 1986) and I've had it for a while, but was so stuck on The Soft Bulletin that I never listened to it. Lately, though, as I've been on my 87th Flaming Lips kick, I've been hungry for more of them, hence my finally sitting down to listen to Hear It Is. It's really really good, and that's not just my fanaticism talking. It seems like it's somehow ahead of its time... it kind of reminds me of the noise-rock-iness of Beck's Mellow Gold, except eights years earlier. Songs like “Charlie Manson Blues” and “Man from Pakistan” are just messes of mediocre guitar playing and Wayne Coyne attempting to sing well, but the riffs are so catchy and there's so much energy that it really works. And then on the other end of the spectrum, “With You” and “Godzilla Flick” are acoustic-y and hint at the glory that is “She Don't Use Jelly” on 1992's Transmissions from the Satellite Heart.

Hooray for Boobies-Bloodhound Gang
You all know and love “The Bad Touch,” commonly referred to as the “Discovery Channel Song.” Don't lie. If it came on your iTunes right now, you would most likely squeal with delight. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I have embraced that love and discovered the raunchy goodness that is Hooray for Boobies. Everything on this album caters specifically to the 8th grade boy crowd, including lyrics like “It's hard to rhyme-a/word like vagina/Calvin Klein-kind-of/North Carolina.” And honestly, Jimmy Pop is full of wise maxims. Like, in the timeless classic “Yummy Down On This,” when Mr. Pop orates, “Ouch/It won't reach my mouth/If I could do it myself/I'd probably never leave the house.” Genius. The fact that this album is insufferably trashy is what makes it so good... a quick check on my iTunes confirms that I have about 150 plays in the last two months on this album alone. Go listen. Now.

Kala-M.I.A.
I'm not someone who particularly cares for dancing. But when I hear just the first few bars of “Bird Flu” or “Lady Killer,” I can't help myself. Unless I'm in a public place, in which case I resign myself to mental butt-shaking. Every single song on Kala is catchy and fun. Plus, M.I.A. is really hot. And here at TDoFS we don't (or at least, I don't) shy away from saying when an artist has good looks going for him or her. But seriously, songs like “Bamboo Banga” aren't just good for dancing around my room when no one is watching, they're also amazing for walking down the street and feeling like a badass. And everyone needs to do that sometimes.

(EDIT: Kristina's right, I would never refrain from acknowledging somebody's good looks... and I'll preface her remarks on Emily Haines by mentioning that she's really cute too. - Jim)

Knives Don't Have Your Back-Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton
Emily Haines should stick to this project. Metric is pretty good, but Knives Don't Have Your Back is a maze of pure goodness. “The Maid Needs a Maid” is the standout track here... how can this woman with a sultry lovely voice start a song with the words “Bros before hos”? But she can. And she does. Drawing on her feminist outrage against men who expect women to do all their work, she crafts a song that manages not to sound angsty. All of the songs do that, actually. They're really angsty but not in an annoying, Dashboard Confessional kind of way. Emily Haines lets you relate to her, and relate we do.

Marry Me-St. Vincent
Easily my most surprising find. I went to this show to see the opener (Basia Bulat, a few entries down), and was blown away by Annie Clark. This is her first solo album, but you can tell she's not inexperienced. She was a member of the Polyphonic Spree, and Sufjan Stevens' touring band, so she has some pretty sweet music under her belt. Marry Me is so good, it confuses me that she opened for Death Cab and it wasn't the other way around. “Your Lips Are Red” is an example of Ms. Clark rocking out. And “Jesus Saves, I Spend” sounds like Christmas music at the beginning and progresses to... sounding even more like Christmas music. I think there are even sleigh bells. But an amazing nontraditional Christmas song that makes you really really like Christmas.

Mickey Avalon-Mickey Avalon
What can't I say about Mickey Avalon? I can't say he's classy... I can't say he's a stunning lyricist... but I CAN say that I've listened to “My Dick” approximately 40 times in the last eight or so months. Actually, I was surprised to find how amazing his self-titled debut is. According to him, he “busts flows that turn nuns to hos.” That's a pretty substantial claim, but he certainly has the music to back it up. “Jane Fonda” is such an anthemic song (actually, I got in a fight with a drunk girl at a Mickey Avalon show during “Jane Fonda,” but that's another story.). And he really does have good beats and lyrics, though critics might not consider him to be legitimate. He's really just tons of fun, even though he's slutty and dirty. You have to love him.

Night Ripper-Girl Talk
Girl Talk, I'm embarrassed to say, is a very recent acquisition. Like, within the last two months. But I'll be darned if Gregg Gillis doesn't manage to take all of the good aspects of songs that I don't actually like and mush them together in little bits of dance-y glory! And according to Wikipedia, he was going to be a tissue engineer. Which I think has to do with body tissue and not with Kleenex, but that's besides the point: if he'd done that, we wouldn't have amazing songs like “Once Again” or “Ask About Me.” I hate when people don't give him credit as an artist. Have you ever tried to put two songs together, let alone 30? I have. It's really really really hard. Take my word for it.

Oh, My Darling-Basia Bulat
Last but not least, dear sweet Canadian Basia Bulat. Basia is sort of folk, sort of country, and all beautiful. I listened to this album disgusting amounts last semester. Like, at least 40 times through. On her first full-length album, she showcases not only her gorgeous singing voice but her talent on the hammered dulcimer and autoharp. Yeah. The song “I Was a Daughter,” which I wrote about a few blog entries below, is one of my current favorite songs... handclaps and acoustic guitar and all. You really need to listen to understand, I think. So enormously underrated.

Honorable Mentions-Albums I found this year that I loved but didn't feel like writing about. Ten album limit, you know. You should still totally check them out.
Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever- Explosions in the Sky
I-The Magnetic Fields
Emotionalism-The Avett Brothers

And check this playlist! The best songs from each of these lovely, lovely albums! Except for The Flaming Lips, 'cause I just straight-up couldn't find a song from Hear It Is on the internets. Anywhere. You're welcome to e-mail me if you want to hear some of it, it really is excellent.

How excited are you? SO excited? I thought so.

Epiphany.

2008-12-18T02:16:00.003-05:00

After my roommate offered me discounted tickets, I found myself at an Oasis concert tonight. What I came to realize in the middle of the set was this:

Umm, I don't really love Oasis. Furthermore, if I listen to them for a second longer than the length of (What's the Story?) Morning Glory , I barely even like Oasis.

This became a problem.

Also, Wonderwall is a really overrated song.

Also also, Champagne Supernova is a really, really great song.

That is all.

Jim's Best-Of (sort of)

2008-12-16T23:22:00.001-05:00

The year is only two weeks from its end, and as such, it’s only logical that we’d have a best-of. Everybody’s doing it, right?

…right?

But honestly, as we don’t have any readers just yet, another ranked list from another random person would be kind of pointless, no? Besides, for anyone who reads music blogs, there are more than enough people out there who can tell you to listen to Fleet Foxes and Deerhunter (but both of which were really good, and both of which should be listened to by all. I couldn’t resist. TV on the Radio as well). So, while I will go so far as to say which album on this list is my favorite, the rest are all really enjoyable as well, and don’t really need any rankings.

Here are, in alphabetical order, quite simply ten albums (eleven, actually, counting both Los Campesinos! albums released) that I enjoyed this year, that aren’t all going to top various year-end lists.

*Be Your Own Pet – Get Awkward: It’s a shame that these guys (and girl) broke up after releasing this album, which was only their second. So, they sang songs about partying. We NEEDED songs about partying! It was nice that we had a couple of bands that were writing awesome songs about partying! Now, we can only look to the Hold Steady to pick up the slack.

(Note: everyone needs to listen to the Hold Steady album that came out this year too. Not that there aren’t enough people saying to listen to that either.)

*Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles: A friend of mine turned me on to this album earlier in the year, telling me that it sounded like “an army of pissed-off Game Boys.” I have yet to hear a more apt description of what’s going on.

Seriously, those are some pissed-off Game Boys, and, well, I enjoyed Game Boy back in the day. I’m sure you did too. A couple of angry Canadian misanthropes make loud music that’s fun to dance to. Isn’t that enough?

*Flight of the Conchords – Flight of the Conchords: Most of you probably know them. Most of you also think they’re as funny as I do. Surprisingly though, they actually have some musical chops. “New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo" can almost certainly expect a boost into the top three with this plug.

*Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight: Without a doubt, this is the album that I listened to most on this list. It’s filled with a lot of big ballads, but not in that “Coldplay-ballad-with-nothing-to-say” way.

(First shot at Coldplay! Swish!)

At any rate, this album just came so out of nowhere for me and got so much repetition that I would have to call it my favorite of the year, in a slight edge over Man Man. The major reason for that small victory wasn’t so much because of the music, but because I expected Man Man to continuously be great. By contrast, I’d never heard of Frightened Rabbit before I had this recommended to me. Highly recommended.

*Los Campesinos! – Hold on Now, Youngster/We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed: In general, I’ve always had a bias against double albums. For the most part, if you give me a double album, I could probably just cut off six to eight songs and give you a decidedly better single album. As if reading my mind, Los Campesinos decided to simply, umm, release two albums within eight months of each other.

A little bit of background on these guys: They’re a seven-piece band, and to make matters more confusing, they’ve all taken the surname “Campesinos!” (That’s right: Aleksandra, Ellen, Gareth, Harriet, Neil, Ollie, and Tom Campesinos) They’re from Wales (home of the… umm…), but their name is in Spanish. They have a song called “This Is How You Spell ‘Hahaha, We Destroyed the Hopes and Dreams of a Generation of Faux-Romantics.’” This all sounds ridiculous. And I’d pick one, but they both sound pretty close to me to justify only including it (slight edge to Youngster).

*Man Man – Rabbit Habits: As I mentioned earlier, this was right up there with Frightened Rabbit as my favorite. People have compared Man Man to Tom Waits and Captain Beefheart, which means that the album sounds like a carnival gone horribly, horribly wrong… or a carnival that’s gone horribly, horribly right. Plus, it certainly doesn’t hurt that they hail from my hometown (go Phillies).

Also, if you ever get a chance to see Man Man live, I highly advise that you do it. I’m pretty much guaranteeing a more-than-entertaining experience.

*Plants and Animals – Parc Avenue: Right before I left for college, I went to see Wolf Parade in Philadelphia. I wasn’t really excited about having to stand through opening bands, but I was pleasantly surprised by the second opener, Plants and Animals. In fact, they were so good that I promptly forgot about them for the next year! Nice. But anyway, this is an excellent (sometimes) folk record. I suppose that it isn’t fair to call it that, as it bounces all over the place, sometimes within the same song.

Interestingly enough, when asking for similar artists on Last.fm, the first one that came up was, surprise! Frightened Rabbit! Way to back up your choices, Jim. *pat on back*

*Sons and Daughters – This Gift: This is a really fun little record with a good amount of edge that I don’t think a lot of people heard. It’s also making me realize that there’s a fair amount of “grrrrrrl power” going on in this list. Maybe next time, we’ll do nothing but misogyny.

*Thao with the Get Down Stay Down – We Brave Bee Stings And All: This album came out in January, and so by the end of the year, it would have been all but forgotten about. Honestly, the first word that comes to mind as I listen to it is “nice.” That’s not for lack of trying, and it’s not intentionally vague, but it’s an album that’s really pleasing to the ears. It’s also only 32 minutes long, so it’s short and sweet, and over before you know it.

*Why? – Alopecia: I have this feeling that this is going to be the album where should people try to download it on my recommendation, they will no longer value our opinions because they’ll be mildly creeped out by what goes on inside Yoni Wolf’s head. I’ve heard it described as a rap album, but that isn’t really fair. All I can suggest is that you listen to it for yourself. Also, a word of warning: a couple of the tracks are kind of disturbing. Not the most jovial album I’ve ever heard in my life.

And there it is. There’s a playlist at the bottom with a track from each, as well as one from the Hold Steady and Nick Cave. Enjoy!

Music to make you disgustingly happy, part one

2008-12-16T22:52:00.002-05:00

So, story. The other day I was walking down a street in New York and it was rainy and cold and windy and generally miserable. BUT I had my iPod, and as I automatically navigated to the Bloodhound Gang, and then the Flaming Lips, I realized that I have a lot of songs that I listen to all the time that are HAPPY songs. And I thought, "Kristina, everyone should partake in happy sometimes!" Disclaimer: These make me happy in many different ways. There's nostalgic happy, joyful happy, relieved happy, holy shit! happy, and many other variations of happy. And this is only the first installment. Enjoy!

AC/DC - "You Shook Me All Night Long"
Because of nostalgia, and also because, like, AC/DC. Also, do you remember that SNL skit when Adam Sandler or Chris Farley or one of them recited this as a work of poetry? Lovely.
"She was a fast machine.
She kept her motor clean.
She was the best...
(dramatic poetic pause) ...damn... woman,
That I'd ever seen..."

Aesop Rock (feat. JOHN FUCKING DARNIELLE) - "Coffee"
When Mr. Darnielle comes in a bit after the three-minute mark, you kinda just go, "Damn!" Also, I often find myself walking down the street chanting "T-A-K-E-N-O-P-R-I-S-O-N-E-R-S." Suck it, Gwen Stefani.

Arcade Fire - "No Cars Go"
The way this song is so persistent is what makes it great. All kinds of instruments band together to form the lovely backing eighth-notes. And it's also super uplifting... I love the "Hey!"s.

The Avett Brothers - "Paranoia in Bb Major"
So this isn't that positive of a song, really, lyrically, but when you listen to it and get really into it and then it gets all triumphant at the end with the raw singing and the amazingness, it's just incredible.

Basia Bulat - "I Was a Daughter"
Actually, I can just repeat the previous comments. And still be accurate. Though this mellow blonde Canadian's voice can't be described as raw so much as deliciously sweet.

Be Your Own Pet - "Bunk Trunk Skunk"
So, any song that begins with "I'm an independent MOTHERFUCKER!" is a good song in my book. I used to drive to high school and blast this. It's kind of like aural coffee. In fact... hey, it's late. I'll listen to it right now.

Beck - "Sexx Laws"
First of all, he spells sex with two x's. Second of all, I think that injecting brass into any song automatically makes it a little happier... and we all remember which playlist this is, right? And how can you argue with lyrics like "Running buck-wild like a concubine/whose mother never held her hand"? Yeah. You can't.

Belle and Sebastian - "Stay Loose"
So the beginning of this song is disconcerting, like you've transported yourself to a beach vacation in the 1950s or something. When this comes on, I expect to see little hula girl dolls appear on my desk. And then it gets even MORE awesome. Really, Belle & Sebastian? Random electronic pings and beeps? Then guitar riffs? I cannot hula to this!

Black Sabbath - "Paranoid"
Must be listened to incredibly loudly.
Also, this is what came up when I google-imaged "Ozzy Osbourne Bat":

Blink-182 - "What's My Age Again?"
Whatever. So what if they're not cool? This song is funny and fun to listen to. And don't tell me that it doesn't put pep in your step. So to speak.

Bloodhound Gang - "Pennsylvania"
Hilarious. Everything they do is genius, and has great rhythm. Plus, this song is about my home state. "I'm in a state of P-fucking-A." Enough said. Though, to be fair, from the BETTER side of the state. (Ye-uh Pittsburgh!)

And they get another shout-out with...
Bloodhound Gang - "The Bad Touch"
Okay. You ALL loved this song back in '99 or whatever, when it was still really really scandalous. Now it's just really clever and funny and has an awesome porno beat. Is there anything better? Oh, and we've all done that thing with the X-Files, amirite?

To be continued.

Here, you can listen to everything, too!