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vomit launch
the new york times says that interns are the new hipsters. every young person in america has at one point or another heard that getting an internship is a valuable and necessary way to get ahead. it is all about the people you know and the hands-on experience you have. when i was in school, i certainly took that to heed and did a bunch of internships. looking back, i think that all meant horseshit. not to say that my times at some of those major magazines, non-profits and other miscellaneous organizations weren't valuable at all, but they just don't mean much anymore. i just think about them fondly as experiences i had a long time ago.
so how were they valuable? all of those experiences cannonballed and led me to my current aspirations as less a writer and more a behind the scenes type in the music industry. working at major magazines made me realize that i don't like writing about things that are huge and commercial. and i don't really care about fashion and beauty as much as i enjoy making fun of it. my enjoyment lies in the indie culture that is unfortunately fast becoming huge and commercial enough to be written about in the new york times.
that kind of commercialization makes me shy away from professing my love for bands like the strokes and pavement, and instead, professing my love for smaller, up-and-coming bands. i get a rush from trying to change and grow with my community. thinking of ways to improve the community that is soon in danger of imploding on itself. it's like how malkmus said in the slow century documentary on pavement when their videos started spinning on mtv and a wholly different group of kids started coming to their shows. the fans and the band started to diverge, making gigs less enjoyable. suddenly they were playing for kids at lollapalooza, getting booed and mud thrown at them. hopefully living in the new york indie community won't become less enjoyable with its recent commercialization. [link from tma]
top 500 albums, my ass
as soon as i saw rolling stone's cover story of the 500 greatest albums of all time, i sighed and said, "let me guess, the beatles are number one." lo and behold, i see this article online and the fucking beatles are number one! and number three! and number five! and number ten! and number 14!
phantom planet
ew, i feel really weird saying this (especially because i am losing my fanatical ways), but i like this phantom planet song "big brat." i feel like i want to shoot myself because up until now, i thought i absolutely loathed phantom planet and their teenage fan club of haughty middle schoolers. listen for yourself here: audio stream
in other news, i do NOT like the killers song "indie rock and roll." every time it spins in my cd player, i have to skip forward. and there are only four songs on this cd, so every 10 minutes it gets kind of annoying.
53 Things Eminem Uses To Wipe His Ass
check out the brilliant list on kittenpants, including MTV movie awards and Brittany Murphy's eyelids.
KaitO (UK)
 kitty magik interviews kaito.
Dave Lake, guitar/vocal: The name KaitO comes from the name of a cat that Nikki had Which brings me to ask a question! Why if your magazine is called Kitty Magik are there no questions for us about cats???? I have 8 and am only too willing to answer any questions you have about cats!!!!
KaitO - "Should I" mp3
visit this "top pop band"'s website: KaitO (UK) website
i fucking love margaret cho
 can i just say that i love margaret cho? and i love her blog. and i love that she just does whatever she wants and doesn't take shit from anyone. she's not out there trying to impress all the bling bling hotties at the vibe awards. she's just there, she's a comedian, she wears an outlandish outfit to get reactions and laughs from people. she's goofy. she's used to using her physical self into comedy routines. so fuck all the haters!!
as real as it gets
dennis of the realistics will be at sin-e on monday, doing his solo thang. shake ya ass on over to the LES and watch this talented man sing. i will crawl out of hibernation and see him. you should too. he steps on stage at 8 p.m. be there!
this weekend the L train was out of service. the whole fucking train!!??!! it's not breaking news that us williamsburgers get shafted with train service late nights and on weekends, but this is just getting completely ridiculous. not all was lost, however, as i stayed home for most of sunday watching bridget jones's diary with and without audio commentary. oh how i love mr. darcy. sigh.
oh, and i randomly found this interview with les savy fav's tim harrington. the interview refers to my steal this indie look on him! this reminds me that i have to update that section and another fun game i came up with last week. you are gonna love it!
the winter pageant
i said in a previous post that i missed seeing the winter pageant live. but at the last vicious i ran into mike, the guitarist from the band who graciously gave me the band's cd. it took me a couple days to work it into my crappy work computer rotation, but when i did i found songs as soft and pretty as gentle flurries during a pennsylvania snowfall. i will have to try and see them live when they play luna lounge on december 9. you should too.
franz ferdinand
darts of pleasure mp3
i'm going to try to see them at mercury lounge with the fiery furnaces. list action is hawt!
chi-town
might have to go to chicago for work in mid-december... in doing some research, look what i found: daisy knows rock. she has ypersound listed so maybe they know each other. what are the cool spots in chi-town, peeps? what are some good music sites? what are some good venues? please, give me the skinny.
tim harrington is getting married!
omigod from catherine's pita
Met: May 1999
Engaged: Jan. 26, 2003
Projected Wedding Date: July 3, 2004
When Tim Harrington’s future mother-in-law first saw him perform in his punk-rock band, Les Savy Fav, she had a most unmother-in-lawish reaction. "She was like, ‘He’s the Messiah!’" said his fiancée, Anna Schwebel.
"She’s European," Mr. Harrington explained—specifically, Swedish. A Web designer by day, he makes an impressive sight onstage, jumping around half-naked with his bushy golden beard and bristling eyebrows to match. "I like to examine space," he said.
Ms. Schwebel, 28, an abstract painter who works under her mother’s maiden name, Killander, first saw him perform at Tramps (a pal of hers was dating the band’s scruffy drummer). "I was just like, ‘Yeah, he’s a kooky guy. Whatever,’" she said. But Mr. Harrington, 29, was quickly smitten by the cherubic, ponytailed blonde, a Columbia grad. "I thought she was stone-cold fox," he said.
They became friendly, and when Mr. Harrington had an empty spot in a five-person share in Williamsburg, Ms. Schwebel moved in. Ah, la vie bohème …. Mr. Harrington, simmering with desire, would sing Bad Company’s guttural "Feel Like Making Love" around the apartment, hoping she’d take the hint. But she remained oblivious until this woman Ivy began calling the house for him. Turned out Ivy was every New York woman’s nightmare: a gorgeous Rockette. "I got really jealous," Ms. Schwebel said. "I hadn’t understood how great he was, but then one day I woke up and was like, ‘Oh! Oh my God, I’m in love with Tim!’"
They began sharing a loft bed, eventually moving to a private apartment in a Williamsburg townhouse, and it sounds like they’re having a wild time behind closed doors. "He’s really good at pretending to be animals. Really good," Ms. Schwebel said. "Like Gorillas and tigers. And lions, too!" Grrrrr.
Mr. Harrington consulted his female kinfolk for advice on how to propose. "They gave me all these cockamamie ideas—straight from the WB," he said. "And I did them all."
But the chunky diamond ring he ordered was all wrong. "It was like it belonged to the Bride of Frankenstein," he said.
And the week before they jetted off on a surprise trip to Paris, Ms. Schwebel broke her wrist snowboarding.
Dying to get the damn thing over with, Mr. Harrington dropped to one knee in the middle of the night at a Rive Gauche hotel when she slipped out of bed for some water, offering up the ugly ring and promising he’d replace it with a nicer one later. Ms. Schwebel responded by erupting in giggles.
They’ll be married at an inn near her family’s country house in Vermont. The bride will wear a Reem Acra gown she got from a sample sale and a new rose-gold ring with 10 small diamonds. The groom is writing a love song for the reception—something along the lines of "We’ll Make a Lover Out of You," Les Savy Fav’s only existing love song. "It’s about how we have enough love," he said, "so that everyone else can get some of it, too." Groovy, man.
there's no place like texas
i found out today that i will be heading to sxsw next year. of course, i will be working a lot of that time, but i will also have the opportunity to party a lot and see lots of great shows for free. the more i think about it, the more i'm getting excited about it. hopefully, dirty on purpose will join me. the band is getting ready to record some more songs this month, and we're all as excited as can be! everything seems to be moving smoothly, and everyone's working very hard.
vicious night
 dop's performance at vicious was good. i was nervous before they went on stage, but after the music began, all of my nerves melted. their songs washed over the crowded room like a blissful breeze of pretty atmospheric notes that shimmered. the set list was really exciting. they debuted a new song called "mind blindness," and then they followed it with a kick-ass version of "monument." i feel like they get stronger and stronger every time i see them. they probably won't have another show lined up until mid to late january, so to tie you over, buy a dop cd from truthflies.com.
i was also impressed by scout's performance. they had catchy songs that build nicely into poppy rock songs. i liked ashen keilyn's husky vocals and her tomboyish vibe won me over. i still have their song "before you" in my head. it's on their website if you want to listen to it! oh yeah, and boy could that guitarist do high kicks!
 ps were also quite good, though their set felt really long. i really liked their one song that had the lyrics, "i used to think you had a sense of humor." don't know the title of that one... that sensitive song stood out the most to me, but overall ps gave off a thom yorke-ian vibe that was less technical and full, but still really cool and heartfelt. i heard they used to have a cellist, and perhaps the music would have sounded more full with some strings.
 aerial love feed also performed with their strobe lights and sunglasses intact. they definitely have a placebo vibe, complete with rock star poses and haircuts. their music throbs and bounces off the walls, but it's not really the kind of thing i'm into, though i think technically they're a good band. sometimes i don't know why i am attracted to some bands more than others. music is mysterious in that way. there's something inside of us all that draws us to different chords, different lyrics, different intonations. and that's why being in a band is such a gamble these days. who knows what will work and what won't?
 however, the rocks, a highly charged band from london, apparently is fairly confident that rockin' out, jumping on bars and falling off the stage is what they want to do. though i wouldn't say their music was overwhelmingly brill, their performance was quite outstanding and fun to watch. it certainly made me whoop and holler. it also seemed like most of their cohorts (including the lovely miss vivian from mommy and daddy) were in the audience supporting their english buddies. also the girl in the band had these phosphorescent yellow heels paired with royal blue stockings -- all with a dress that had the poofiest sleeves ever. joe, dj, erika, jenna, jason and i had dinner at the pink pony with the band's bassist who was very nice and charming. dj lent him some bass stuff (i know, very specific, eh?) and joe lent their guitarist some guitar stuff, and the band was quite happy to play with dop's equipment. i didn't mean that in a dirty way. haha. anyways, the bassist was leaving back for england the next day and couldn't play with the rocks at plaid, so vivian was subbing on bass for them. the drummer also couldn't play at plaid and kevin from on!air!library! had to sub on bass for them. anyone go to that show?
 throughout the night dennis realistic played the best list of songs ever. he played the ronettes with the raveonettes and the realistics with old school kylie minogue. and the best new strokes song - "the end has no end." so good! dennis is always full of energy and is the biggest sweetheart always. he also donned a tres cool fedora. love that boy. Labels: dirty on purpose
from the darkness to enlightenment
 seems like these days, everyone likes the darkness. me? i'm not sure. i'm too busy trying to understand why all of a sudden everyone thinks bands that sound like those hair bands that my heavy metal boyfriend listens to are suddenly considered the next big thing after the death of electroclash and the slowdown of post-no-new-wave. granted, i do dig the justin hawkins' falsetto, wavering voice, and i do like "i believe in a thing called love" and "love is only a feeling." jesus, am i starting to like the same bands as my boyfriend??? this is freaking me out.
on a different note altogether, someone sent me this scary link.
british sea power
an underwelming interview with british sea power. hopefully, they've got more to say when they're not about to step on stage and be all crazy... but here's a good joggers review. [earlash]
meow
vicious was good last night, but now i'm so friggin' tired. i didn't get home until 3! will elaborate later, peeps, but it was good to see all of you. mwah!
kurt cobain comic book
 The book combines biographical fact with a bit of fiction (perhaps it'll give readers a nice version of Courtney Love?), and chronicles everything from Cobain's childhood and Nirvana's rise to fame to the tortured frontman's suicide in 1994. The cover features a beefier-looking Cobain with angel wings, which should incite curiosity as to what his Nirvana bandmates Dave Grohl and Krist Novaselic's cartoon alter-egos look like (one can only hope that they'll be clad in skin-baring leather loincloths). [ filter]
get vicious tonight!
photo: jenyk.com
well kids, it's about that time again. vicious is again upon us at sin-e with a super kick-ass lineup featuring:
aerial love feed
ps
dirty on purpose
scout
@ sin-e (148-150 attorney st)
8 p.m. // $9
Labels: dirty on purpose
the strokes of art
i actually found myself reading the liner notes and fine print on the strokes CD. i was curious to find lyrics in the cover (d'oh, you'd think i'd look for those first), and yes, in fact, julian casablancas again wrote the words and music of all the songs, save one -- "automatic stop" -- which apparently everyone's favorite curly-haired guitarist albert hammond helped pen.
i was looking for the cover art credit -- and i was surprised to find that one of the inside artworks was by german artist anselm kiefer. go figure! i remember going to the met to see a kiefer exhibit in connection to my german film class. beautiful dream-like images that were endearing in the seeming gentle glide of each stroke.
bishop allen are looking for a new female singer!
 have you got a sweet voice? do you love bishop allen and would love to join their band? you're in luck. these cool kids are looking for a new female singer to be part of the bishop allen family. yes, yes, bonnie is sadly leaving the nest -- but this is your opportunity to join a kick-ass, witty, smart, funny band! email christian to audition for the band now!
happy birthday, ropstyle!!
congrats, miss modernage! this is her good news: Our limey-savvy friends have informed us that our formerly cool site appears in this year's NME Big Book as the number 2 best site on the Internet. What's number one? The now technically retarded Friendster. This only goes to show you, if you want to be number one, you've got to sleep with more high-level editors. We'll try harder next year.
saw ben lee at the bowery ballroom tonight. he is one fine AUSSIE (sorry). he sang covers of christina aguilera's "beautiful" -- quite beautiful, in fact -- and began one of his songs with an acoustic version of outkast's "hey ya." now that's FUN. finally met dani. she's such a sweetheart!
oh geez, stereogum, why do i like that britney "toxic" song? it sounds like it came out of outkast's big ol' butt. thanks a lot. good seeing you last night.
tonight i head to the ben lee show to meet up with the infamous dani. good times! but i have to say, i don't really like phantom planet. there are going to be too many screaming 16-year-olds up in this joint.
winter makes me numb
i'm not sure if it's this winter weather or the fact that i go out every night that makes me so tired. are you feeling like that too? i am finding it very hard to kick myself out of bed in the morning, but once i am up, i am ok. it's just those few seconds when my alarm beckons that i am ferociously exhausted.
anyhoo, i stopped by product shop nyc's first dead hookers social reading club last night, and it was a really great lineup. i was there to see dan kennedy, who i think is one talented, funny mofo. he was funnier last time i saw him read, but not less talented. before him, there was a newbie reader named randy stulberg, who i found out is a friend of scott. she wasn't bad for her first reading, but stumbled here and there. she definitely has the potential to grow as she becomes more confident. i wanted to stay to hear marc spitz and jonathan ames, but had to head over to some other commitments...
then jenna and i jettisoned over to mercury lounge to see aeon spoke, a band i think is from california, play. they were very atmospheric and moody, but i felt that they were a little too spiritual or over-the-top emotional -- if that makes any sense. however, the crowd there loved it. jasper will be sad he missed their very pretty girl bassist! be on the lookout, jasp. the band was like radiohead but with more whispery vocals.
later i finally met alexander (not andrew) laurence. he was really nice and knows a lot about music so it was fun to go back and forth with him for a little bit. he was heading over to tonic, and i was hungry so we parted ways. chatted a little with yannick and bill jr at sin-e. i actually missed talking to them. they're such nice peeps! afterwards, i walked jenna to sidewalk cafe where she was going to see ian thomas. i headed for home and ran into daniel from circle and square (i run into him everywhere!). we talked for a bit, and he told me C&S would be performing at the knitting factory soon. later closer to my subway i ran into steven mertens, who had been on tour with adam green. he was leaving agan to tour with another band that i can't remember the name of... (a.m. something?). anyhoo, it's good to see all my peeps so busy and making music and touring and being so happy!
cover me
yesterday was the night of covers in the basement of north six. it was dingy down there, and someone was sucking on tea tree oil toothpicks (mmm, minty fresh!) and some band was practicing very loudly in the rehearsal space. plus, the sound in the basement was terrible, but we were all there to support and have some fun...
first the debutantes, a gothy raveonettes in stereo, sang the go-gos "our lips are sealed." their own songs were cute and spunky. the lead singer definitely had a belinda carlisle-esque voice that was nice to listen to. they had two guitars and drums and were rocking out. some of their songs kind of sounded the same, but i think this band is still evolving nicely...
then kudzu wish, a les savy fav-ish group from athens, ga, sang "web in front" by archers of loaf. god how i love that song. "all i ever wanted was to be your spine!" the lead singer hung by his feet from the rafters (very tim harrington, eh?). then he fell off and landed on his head!! that has gotta hurt. yow. also this band used a cowbell in one of their songs!
'64 World's Fair, composed of annie and sung bin with doug dop sitting in on drums, covered the pixies' "gigantic." because the sound was so bad, i couldn't hear the vocals too well but i know they sang songs about how beer is better than soda and thomas the tank engine. yeah!! i was so tired and didn't stay for the last band, the winter pageant, but i hear they are good. will catch them next time!
detroit rock city
went to detroit unexpectedly last week for work, but i was siked to go and check out detroit rock city. i had never been before, and i found it kind of dirty, but dirty isn’t necessarily bad. unfortunately, i don’t think i got the proper tour of the city, and as a result, my impression of the area lacked. i was staying at a hotel in downtown detroit, where there were hardly any restaurants, though we eventually found a german biergarten that had decent burgers.
i was helping with a sold-out (free) showcase sponsored by ascap and heineken at detroit’s independent rock venue, the magic stick, featuring some of detroit’s up-and-coming bands: the detroit cobras, the paybacks, the detroit city council (members of the dirtbombs), and even the odd.
the detroit cobras had a singer who had a stevie nicks vibe going on from her streams of long hair to her throaty voice. the band could do down and dirty rock ‘n roll to soulful gospel. the paybacks had a singer with andy warhol hair and a massively wild personality to go along with it. the crowd ate her up. her band was quite good drawing from all-over-the-place 70s stoner rock ‘n roll, but i didn’t really dig the singer’s voice (though it wasn’t bad, just not my thang). i kept thinking that if the paybacks’ band teamed up with the singer of the detroit cobras, they would be amazing. something to think about.
the detroit city council had a total bluesy, motown feel to their music – something you’d expect from a band composed of members of the dirtbombs. one of the guys in the band (can’t remember his name) was responsible for founding kid rock and eminem. the lead singer had this chubby bono thing going on, and he kept shuffling around the stage like james brown. quite entertaining. even the odd were a harder band with screaming vocals and more deafening music. again, not really my thing, but they weren’t terrible. while this was going on in the main part of the magic stick, there was hardcore slam dancing going on downstairs!
the band room was gross with lude graffiti all over the walls. it stank of vomit and cigarettes. but there was a stellastarr* sticker in the midst of all the ugliness. how funny! at one point, i was in the room, and it was full of groupies. i was rolling up one of the banners, and one of the groupies threw her beer bottle across the room at me. it shattered against the wall (damn the free heinekens!), and i didn't react at all. i just finished rolling up my banner and left. the room was silent. i think they were amazed that i didn't react at all. c'mon, kiddie, flying beer bottles don't faze us new york rockers. plus, i don't have to sleep with a band to be their friend! haha!
the magic stick, i think, is like the mercury lounge or bowery ballroom of detroit. the space fits about 800 people, and has pool tables, bowling lanes, food and video games to occupy you in case you don’t like the music on stage. the night before our showcase the rapture played. i looked on the schedule and in the near future the shins and james chance will be passing through…
overall, i think that detroit really wasn’t my scene, though i adore pas/cal who are from detroit. tried to get in touch with caz while i was in town but wasn’t able to reach him. it’s not meant to be! maybe next time i’ll get a proper tour of detroit through the eyes of pas/cal. is it hipper than i think it is?
the stills on tour with ryan adams:
Dec 4 - NEW YORK CITY - Webster Hall
Dec 6 - PHILADELPHIA - Electric Factory
Dec 7 - WASHINGTON DC - 9:30 Club
Dec 9 - ITHICA, NY - Cornell University
Dec 10 - TORONTO - Opera House
Dec 11 - ANN ARBOR - Michigan Theatre
Dec 13 - CHICAGO - Riviera
Dec 14 - MINNEAPOLIS - First Avenue
i'm off to detroit rock city!
see ya when i get back!
Apparently, The Walkmen have changed the tracklisting for their upcoming album, Bows and Arrows (this is different than what i posted before so check it):
What’s In It For Me
The Rat
No Christmas While I’m Talking
Little House of Savages
My Old Man
138th Street
The North Pole
Hang on, Siobhan
New Year’s Eve
Thinking of A Dream I Had
Bows & Arrows
three time's a charm
i saw the walkmen three times on saturday night. so much fun in so little time. thank you, ham, paul, pete, matt, walt. you rock.
le sigh.
i have a review of the night written up for PopMatters. i'll post the link once it is live. so yeah, now i've started to write concert reviews for PopMatters. now i actually have a "real" reason to go to lots and lots of shows and cover all those bands that NEVER get covered. however, please don't ask me to review your band. i only want to write reviews when i feel compelled to write one.
by the way, i love how british sea power (aka that band that sounds like david bowie) start "fear of drowning" -- "jesus fucking christ, oh god no" -- that is the best lyrical start to a song to date and i can't stop playing it on repeat repeat repeat. it perfectly reflects my mood lately.
in case you were wondering, YES, i will be at the knitting factory tonight. all night. reviewing the bizarre walkmen experiment of three shows in one night with the roger sisters at the same venue .... for some music site. anyone care to join me?
the day of the dead mixtape in my head:
british sea power - fear of drowning
the shins - gone for good
the strokes - the end has no end
dirty on purpose - air show disaster
folksongs for the afterlife - reunion
the decemberists - here i dreamt i was an architect
pela - latitudes
dresden dolls - coin operated boy
the shins - those to come
saintface - hudson & day
the walkmen - french vacation
french kicks - destro
brendan benson - life in the d Labels: dirty on purpose
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