i like to cuddle

so where have i been and what have i been doing? oh so much to tell. while i don't have as active a nightlife as the misshapes crew (congrats on the paper mag award), i can say that i've been enjoying my nights a lot. cuddle weather is coming. i'm ready and willing. and relishing! now if only i had a bearskin rug and a fireplace. just kidding.

on friday night, i met up with jay and mike, and we headed on over to snacky's in williamsburg. you've probably already read about this on good times roll, but i have to elaborate a little bit. that place always has a special place in my heart for its delicious selection of sake and yummy korean/chinese appetizers. and yes, i ate a kimchee dog while i was there. that pretty much put me out of commission for my other two choices -- the peanut chili wontons and the scallion pancakes. oh my. i had a whole carafe of sake to myself, and got quite tipsy. then i had the boys come over to my place and we met up with my roommate susan. i had some sparks in the fridge so i passed them around. then we all piled into a car and headed to mercury lounge, in time to catch the say hi to your mom set.

eric's band has progressed so much, and you could see the growth throughout the set. starting with some old favorites and ending with some amazing new jams, say hi to your mom came back to mercury lounge with a bang. eric told me some stories of their tour with nada surf, and i was completely jealous. what an amazing bill.

i was also excited to see dios malos, but i found out there was a band in between shtym and dios malos called swords. i hoped swords would be good... but they were sort of not good enough to keep me in the room. i started getting fidgety and impatient. it was quite painful. but soon enough they finished and dios took the stage. let me tell you, it was fucking well worth the wait. dios malos totally rocked it, so much greater than their recorded stuff! they did some remixed tropical versions of "starting five" and "you got me all wrong" which made me swoon completely.

towards the end of their set, i got a phone call... it was tom grubbs! he was like, "where are you?" and i was like, "i'm at mercury lounge." he was like, "i'm outside!" so i went out to say hello. he told me he was cruising by and saw the bill on the chalkboard and thought, "jinners has to be inside." his jinnerdar went off the roof. lo and behold, my rock schedules is pretty predictable. we got caught up, and it was nice to hear his life was going really well. i went back inside to try and catch the end of dios malos, but they were done.

the next day i spent some time in the recording studio and also getting to know our engineer scott and his black labrador mazzy. eric from shtym dropped by to hang for a little bit. you can see photos from the studio on dirty on purpose's flickr account.

then mike and i headed over to see levy and trick and the heartstrings. i had seen levy once before at a vicious showcase or something, and wasn't impressed with them. but i decided to try them again. i always like giving bands like 3 or 4 chances before i totally rule them out. usually over time, bands get better and better -- and they can surprise you with their progress. levy were definitely better this time, but their performance lacked a certain intensity that i think is lingering within the music. let it out, dude. just let it out. i also just got the cd, and i think i like it... it's like a softer version of the strokes, which i'm sure is a comparison that levy would personally hate (sorry, dudes) but it's just a little too obvious not to mention.

trick and the heartstrings were once again great, though i think their music has more power in smaller venues like pianos. the glory of a trick show is that moment they break out into coordinated dances, usually to a surprised audience who subsequently whoops and hollers in delight. it's a visual thing, as much as it's an audio thing. my favorite trick song went from being "i've got sex on me" to another song that i don't remember the title of... oh well.

i spent all of sunday at the studio, spending some QT with the band, scott and mazzy. we have all the drum and bass tracks done. some of the scratch guitar tracks are keepers too. we're on fire! the album is really starting to come together and feel like a whole era of our lives. i just can't wait until it's done!