yesterday i was fully intent on writing Something Important here but of course, within a block of saying goodbye to my friend whom i walked home with, The Idea was erased from my memory. you wouldnt think that i’d forget something which has incensed me so much in the past few days – the “scandal” over sonic youth playing penn’s spring fling – but oh, i did.

in the year 2005, sonic youth should not be polarizing band. while the youth of today aren’t frolicking in the screaming fields of sonic love, and MTV no longer covers their every exploit, the band hasnt dropped completely off the radar. sonic nurse was one of the musical highlights from 2004 and their collaborations / support for newer fun trick noisemakers like gang gang dance has kept them relevant to people of a certain age.

kids arent rejecting their sound, its what they stand for – that’s whats really interesting here. while we balk at the objection, i think we forget that kids at penn are quite conservative. [much like most of america, of course.] sonic youth are emblematic of a generation that they’re rebelling against. talk about anything in a liberal sense in front of these kids, and we might as well be part of lollapalooza’s traveling sideshow of yesteryear. these are the kids that treat any talk of sex, as a dirty, shocking act.

when the kids comment on the DP website about how bush is a more relevant / influential artist, im not sure whether the kids are referencing the band or el presidente – a pretty chilling thought to mull over in this spring weather.

» robert creeley has passed away and now im hearing a crazy rumor about mitch hedberg being dead too?

» the face analyzer: codified facism or just a good laugh? some people got up in arms about this but really, whats the problem? its not like youre submitting your photograph and then being thrown in a gas chamber. geez. take issue with the fact that it has something called “the gay factor” you politically correct punkasses.

» im loving the new lucksmiths ep. cant wait for it to come out and you to love it too. i dont crush on boys in rock bands [not my style!] but when i booked them a couple years ago, i thought they were all dreamy in that “im an australian and in a pop band” kind of way.

» so i saw the ice princess over the weekend. alone. when im not trying to decide if that makes me a creepy old pedophile, im still trying to figure out if i actually liked this movie or not.

for those who dont know [and since many of you are first time readers thanks to philebrity - hi!], before i was Captain Indie Rock Coolie-Cool, i was a competitive figure skater. yep. from the age of 3 to 13 [and then again when i was 15-16], i spent my free time trying to land jumps called salchows and toe loops. yes, i wore sparkly outfits containing lycra.

if its hard to wrap your mind around it, its even harder for me. in a lot of ways i still carry a lot of emotional baggage from the sport, so watching the ice princess is odd for me. the film is about “being who you are” instead of delving into all the good, psychological stuff that plagues the sport and no one ever talks about. from my perspective, the nancy kerrigan / tonya harding is barely scratching the surface. still, its a whole lot better than ice castles.

» when i wasnt being the lone creepy person in the theatre, i was at home watching reruns of the ashlee simpson show. yes, this is my life.

» caught the following bands on friday night: casual viking, goodmorning valentine & rarebirds. good clean fun.

» date my friend josh alvarez! he’s super nice and was like one of the few people who kept me sane when we worked at stupid & crazy. not only that, he was the last person i hung out with before my infamous bike mugging. this is what he has to say:

hey ladies! being that myself and my special ladyfriend have decided to part ways, i now find myself alone in the wilds of the dating miasma! that being said, the prize of winning a date with joshua is being auctioned off as we speak. just remember, when you’re in two bands, it means that you have twice the mojo! marvel at my capacity for alcoholic consumption! be amazed by my vast knowledge of shitty music! be moved by my strange fascination with the movies of johnny depp! think that you’re woman enough for the challenge? if you’re thinking of applying, please note the following prerequisites:

1. as the spice girls once said (and i quote) “if you wanna be my lover, then you gotta get with my friends”. and by “get with my friends”, i simply mean, “not find them totally repulsive”.

2. all candidates must be able to find the humor in the fact that i am the possesor of the world’s ugliest tattoos. thanks, ray!

3. all candidates must be able to appreciate both the works of public enemy (preferably the ‘it takes a nation of millions to hold us back’ era) as well as the torches to rome lp on ebullition. extra points for a working knowledge of early nineties emo and late nineties youth crew from new jersey.

4. as a potential ladyfriend, you must come out to all shows featuring either hey angel or belegost. further, you must bring both vegan and non-vegan delights out to every performance for my band mates.

5. beer, too.

6. it is imperative that a deeply seeded respect for morrissey and the smiths be maintained at all times. also know that, should morrissey sequester my love, our relationship will thusly end and i willl be moving to california.

7. please be able to enjoy movies by kitamura and turnatore with equal aplomb. if you don’t like horror movies, you will be disqualified. if you don’t like italian movies, you will be disqualified.

happy hunting and do your best!
love,
josh

The Yah Mos Def “Major Taylor Goes AWOL”

its almost too perfect that this start off with the phrase “yo, we’re talkin’ shit”, as half of yah mos def was responsible for hosting the trackstar records messageboard, which is the alpha and the omega of philadelphia’s internet hipster scene. [trackstar records was, for a while, an excellent local label that put out releases by the clocks, s process, bill ricchini and more.] that board was so much fun but inexplicably spawned other messageboards, places where bad attitudes and shit talking reigned supreme; the last thing America’s Most Depressed City needs and why we should be so happy the yah mos def is here, to remind us that we have a sense of humor and of kinder, gentler times — like when we made fanzines, ran distros [life before insound!], went to basement shows [and didnt complain about the PA] and believed in things like being straight edge and whatnot. i feel kind of bad for mentioning the messageboard association, especially since the yah mos def are such awesome people but failing to mention it is like talking about the revolutionary war and omitting the part about the boston tea party; whether they want to admit it or not, its just as much part of their history as their 7″ collection is. on “major taylor goes awol”, the lyrics switch between 90’s hardcore references faster than a crossfader and crafts beats from hardcore and screamo records [the band’s name is a combination of san diego punk’s the yah mos and hip hop artist mos def’s], this particular song a philly double-whammy, as it samples franklin [one of the best local punk bands, imho]. the end result is roughly hewn yet completely infectious, especially for what many might tag as being a gimmick. if you managed to snag a copy of their demo at recent shows, you’re a lucky one!

(Check out Yah Mos Def here)

its true — philadelphia depresses fuck out of me. and you too, apparently. when the captain announced that we would begin our final descent into newark right over center city on my return flight, the mere sight of the city brought the rainclouds back over my head.

when all people do in this town is bitch about this’n'that, escaping to sxsw is more of a mental health thing for those in the music business. granted, it might be a schmoozefest and a game of who’s got the more important job, but im sure deep down in our hearts and minds, there’s still something quite electric about being in a crowd of people who are completely jazzed about music. i often think that if philadelphia followed suit, we could finally begin get past the hating.

so with that, here are some things you can check out this weekend and get happy.

Friday

» “The road of women: voices of irish women political prisoners,” a documentary by melissa thompson. women include martina anderson and ella o’dwyer (who together spent 14 years in prison and successfully campaigned for major structural and human prison reforms in england), rosie mccorley (exprisoner support worker, coiste nan-Iarchimi), roseleen walsh (internee and writer), mary nelis (community activist and sinn fein representative), and bernadette devlin mcaliskey (legendary human rights activist). 3/25, 7:30pm @ the a-space (4722 baltimore avenue)

» 35th Anniversary of “The Black Woman”: Event celebrating the 35th anniversary of the publication of The Black Woman, an anthology edited by the late Toni Cade Bambara. Ms. Bambara’s works include the short-story collections Gorilla, My Love (1972) and the novels If Blessing Comes (1987) and The Salt Eaters (1981). A group of distinguished writers and friends of Toni Cade Bambara, including Sonia Sanchez and Lorene Carey, will read selections from the book at a reception. 3/25, 7:00 PM @ Scribe Video Center (4212 Chestnut Street)

» Rarebirds / Good Morning Valentine / Be Careful Little Hands / Oh, Okay: Here’s a pretty indie pop show for you. Oh, Okay are NOT the same Oh OK that featured Linda Stipe & Matthew Sweet. friday 3/25, 10pm @ the fire (4th and girard ave)

» The Swims / Okay Paddy / Casual Viking: indie rock kid dilemma alert — how do you pick between the above show and this? oh wait, you dont because they’re like, 3 blocks from each other. don’t be a lazy motherfucker, support them both. 3/25, 9:00 pm @ the manhattan room, 7$

» The Teeth: there’s nothing quite like a philly house party. 3/25, 9:30pm @ The Patriots’ Den (one block south of Snyder)

» crooked fingers: matt gentling is playing bass in the band — this is about as close as you’re gonna get to an archers of loaf reunion, kids. 3/25, 9:00 pm @ world cafe live, 15$

Saturday

» Swearing @ Motorists / Enon / A-Sides: the a-sides made the perfect lilys record [thanks for stealing my line, doug wallen!], except that it doesn’t blatantly ape them and now they’re celebrating its release. also on the bill are enon, who are now a philly band. i think this is awesome but ill bet five bucks someone in this city is going to ruin it for us. 3/26, 9:00pm @ the khyber

» listen to the new stephen malkmus record, “face the truth”, that you stole off some p2p network.

Sunday

» karaoke at the locust bar: yeah, it happens every sunday but let me tell you — we’re lucky bastards. not that many cities can boast a book like dj joe h’s. go sing annie’s “chewing gum” to a crowd of strangers.

[hut’s. commence drooling.]

After an utterly delish hamburger at Hut’s, R and I went across the street to Momo’s for the Chicago Pop Renaissance party. The outdoor deck was my favorite things as it provided me two things you really need during SXSW: A) a comfy place to sit and B) and excellent view of the stage. Oh, and free water. It’s so hot down here that you need fluid pretty much all the time.

Head of Femur, as much as I like them, had moments where their songs sounded like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, no thanks to all those horns. I even glanced around to room to see if there was a lot of plaid and any skanking going on. Luckily, there was not.

Manishevitz, a band I’ve heard much about but have never had the chance to sit down and actually listen to their records, impressed me the most out of this showcase. Their songs bounced back in between sounding like the Cars and the Fall accented by flute and saxophone, yet it didn’t seem like they were going for an obvious post-punk/new wave frame of reference.

What was most impressive though, was when they changed hats [figuratively, of course] to become Edith Frost’s backing band. I’ve seen her perform before, so I’m pretty aware that her songs become quite stripped down in a live setting. I honestly don’t think there’s any way she can replicate what happens on her records [especially Telescopic, which is like My Bloody Valentine taking an al-country turn] but that’s what I find so interesting about seeing a band versus merely hearing their record. [and of course, that’s what I find irritating about people who only choose to do one or the other – I mean, why bother? In order to understand any work of art fully, seeing it in all its contexts is necessary. But I digress.] Most of the material, save for 2 songs, was new and sounded quite good. And by good I mean, utterly depressing yet having the unique ability to be seething with rage and bitterness without all trappings of cliché angry girl rock. Edith’s unique knack for straightforwardness [yet, without naming names] is what sets her apart from the usual boozy, often whiny alt-country set. At the end of her set, the sky broke open with a Texas-sized thunderstorm, the kind that puts the fear of god in you. You never experience these kinds of storms on the east coast and after you see lightning in six different parts of the sky in Texas, everything else pales in comparison.

My friends and I took this as our cue to stay in for a bit at the hotel. Luckily the weather subsided and it became perfect all over again for the evening showcases.

Timonium (8pm, Blender Bar) rocked the “quiet is the new loud” thing but attacked the genre aggressively, like the way a bully beats up on a nerdy kid in grade school. The drummer hit so hard on his kit I was convinced it would break during their songs and when it didn’t, it honestly shocked the fuck out of me. The guitar was droney and blended nicely with the mellotron which was being used in place of a bass guitar.

As soon as it was done, I ran over to see Doug Gillard (9pm, Friends) perform. I’m so happy to see Doug as a solo performer instead of being Bob Pollard’s tunesmith. He’s got such a knack for power pop that was always buried underneath GBV’s incessant desire for anthemicism. Aside from a technical glitch with guitar pedals, it couldn’t have been better. With some extra time to spare, the band played “I Am A Tree” that was loose and wondorous and really, the best version I’ve ever heard of it, mainly because you-know-who wasn’t trying to turn it into yet another teenage symphony for the porcelain gods.

I ran back to Blender Bar to see Stars and I encountered my first line of the festival. Thankfully, it moved quickly. I should note that this was the only line I encountered during the festival. Then again, I didn’t try to get into the overly hyped bands [m.i.a., bloc party, etc etc] so it wasn’t a big deal. The band combined the livewire energy of broken social scene with the drunken demeanor of the pogues in the body of a solid indie pop band. Great!

After that was Austin’s I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness, a band name that probably best describes my romantic life. Enough about me, though – I had heard Britt Daniel of Spoon had produced their record, so I was curious. It was really going for the whole echoey joy division thing sent through an Interpol filter. They were good to watch but I couldn’t help but think they were Interpol-lite.

Topping off the final night of showcases were the American Analog Set, who really summed up the whole experience for me and in a lot of ways, epitomized the spirit of this festival in that they were unsigned, local, gracious and most importantly, supportive. The songs slipped out of their instruments and lips and glided over the audience and wrapped the rundown blender bar in silk. Like the last few moments spent with a hot summer fling, the audience fell silent to soak everything in before we knew it would all be gone.

friday’s already a blur but if i recall, my first stop of the day was at the spin magazine party at stubb’s. the weather was splendid, which is why they threw a band like louis XIV on the stage. clearly the big blue perfect texas sky needed a dark cloud of suck. bands like this make me ashamed to admit that i am a fan of post-punk. at this point were only sticking around because we ran into our friend amy s. and the garnier fructisse tent was holding a raffle for prizes. oh, and i was kinda hoping i’d run into ultragrrrl.

we freed ourselves somehow, and went next door to red eyed fly to another party and checked out the apostle of hustle, another broken social scene related band. not too bad, but i wasnt there long enough to really make any sort of real judgement.

i found myself over at the levi’s / fader tent and caught the whigs, who hail from athens. i really liked these guys, who smartly traversed 60’s pop and indie rock terrain, kind of similar to the elephant 6 collective.

after some short stops at other parties to boring/short/etc to mention, i finally found myself over at the merge / KEXP / barsuk party at pok-e-jo’s bbq. tucked away from the downtown area, this party was pretty much the best thing ever. it was crowded without feeling like a mob scene — tons of folks splayed out on the ground or on picnic tables, listening to the music and drinking complimentary red stripe or sweet tea. [to clarify: the tea was not free.]

the radar brothers win my personal “most improved from sxsw 2004″ award. well, to be honest, i was too tired last year to appreciate them, but this year their graceful tunes perfectly complimented austin’s golden hours. maybe it was that i played kickball with the band at mergefest… i missed matthew caws of nada surf due to waiting in line for some sweet sweet BBQ. i think i spied ex-archer of loaf member matt gentling in line! [turned out to be right – matt played with crooked fingers earlier in the day]

in what was quite possibly one of the best performances of the festival m. ward played last to a hushed crowd, hanging on every note played. it was so fucking good, i cant even describe it to you. just had to be there. even if you’ve seen him play before, its never the same thing twice. m ward always throws me for a loop, in the best way possible.

after recharging my batteries at the hotel for a bit, i set out to see the double (parish, 8pm) at the matador showcase. i used to work with a member of this band, so i was super psyched to finally check them out. turns out they’re like interpol that discovered new weird america. make of this what you will.

i left there to check out zykos (blender bar, 9pm). i had seen them once before in philadelphia and really loved their strange, discreet takes on new wave. they didnt disappoint this time around either, this show being more energetic than the previous.

from there i wound up at the touch & go / jade tree showcase to see supersystem (red eyed fly, 11 pm). im loving their twist towards the mutant disco sound [i covered their new 12″ in the march issue of xlr8r magazine]. apparently, other people liked them enough to scale the walls of the club and unsuccessfully sneak in. i would have danced were it not for the oddly shaped floor of the club, which not only was made out of fieldstone, it was curved. one false move and i probably would have re-sprained my ankle, which was killing me by this point in the night.

i spent the rest of the night by the rockpile table, chatting it up with some friends with occaisional glances of enon [who are like, a philly band now – how weirdly awesome is that?] & pedro the lion, both who put on pleasing performances. there were plenty of late night parties, but i partook in none. sometimes, sleep is much better.

[jason faulkner with doug gillard @ emo’s]

philadelphia’s jai alai savant (emo’s annex, 8 pm) were the first band of the night but i only caught one song.

i made a quick dash over to the velvet spade to check out edie sedgwick, whom we’re doing a show for next month. edie is justin of supersystem in drag, ranting about celebrities. its pretty awesome.

up next were the nein, an excellent post-punk band from NC. lots of new material at this show which i was unfamiliar with, but it sounded great.

i tried to get into the merge showcase to see spoon but the line was around the block. it was so packed that even those with badges couldnt get in. so i wound up at the GBV hoot nite (emos, 11 - 2 am). hoot nites are an austin tradition, the guided by voices one falling on the night before the showcases. its usually the de facto sxsw warm-up party but it was moved to during the festival for its final time. essentially, a bunch of bands gather to perform works of a selected theme or band, each getting 10 minutes to perform. its really crazy and random and a lot of the songs are bad but its still really really fun.

the best performances: carrie clark [of the pretty please, singing along to a playskool tape recorder], robbers on high street, jon auer [yes, he did “gold star for robot boy”], jason faulkner [with doug gillard on bass! JF is also like, sooooo cute], sally crewe & the sudden moves [not only is she awesome, we share the same brain apparently because she covered “game of pricks”], calexico [full band doing “non-absorbing”! ben, apologies if you got a call super late, you just had to hear it], swearing @ motorists and of course, wonderful fivehead [who put this thing on].

the bad ones were pretty forgettable but the ones that stuck out the most were: robert pollard, whoever backed up robert pollard, bloom and the band that forgot the words to “shocker in gloomtown”. i shouldnt criticize those who cant remember gbv lyrics because it is a proven fact that i can never remember them either.

doug gillard closed out the night with “larger massachussetts” and then told the audience to go fuck off. yay!

also entertaining: watching robert pollard hug stephen malkmus and malkmus recoiled in horror. OK, it was like, the best moment of the night. he was also being accosted by every corny indie rocker who wanted to tell him how much they love pavement.

on a personal note, it was nice running into a lot of old friends from the postal-blowfish mailing list.

R and i are early risers, so we took the opportunity to walk on down to whole foods and pick up some food to last us through the trip. i mean, we’ve got a kitchen, why not use it? also, while its very nice to eat out all the time, those dollars start growing wings and fly right out of your wallet.

after shopping, we headed down to south congress and checked out a few stores. [including yes, parts & labour. again.] then it was off to the church of the friendly ghost for the arthur magazine party. i guess the closest approximation for this space is C.O.D.E. space in philly. its 100% awesome. check out their wishlist. yeah, plain parade wishes for a crazy old person with money too.

pyschic ills started the party and i really liked them. very space rock… but i have to ask — why does like, every noise dude have to own a camouflage / tiger striped shirt and a scarf, which they wrap around their head?

the personal high point was jennifer gentle. i had really expected them to play a lot of the wonkier songs on valende but they went from playing their more pop-oriented stuff to full on drone by the end of their set.

i totally forgot that austin is located in the hill country and that the trees are out in full effect. without any allergy medication in sight, i sat there on the couch, incapacitated.
i wanted to stay longer for dead meadow but between my allergies [whoa, and their set being pushed back, R, R and i hightailed it back into town.

[my hotel. i wish!]

after settling into our hotel, my roomates and i head out to the showcases.

if i had to pick the most disappointing showcase of sxsw 2005, that special award would go to the watchers (Parish, 9:00 pm). despite loving their record, they had the worst stage presence, thanks to their singer. see, im all for that category of performers that fall under “antic rock” but there are some people who do it, and get it all wrong. this dude happened to be one of them – his moves just screamed hey look at me! im jumping into the audience and messing with you! you’re gonna think really deep thoughts about the third wall of performance now! oooh! plus, he had a move that looked like the funky chicken. im sorry, the funcky chicken will never be cool.

i was a little bit worried about the quality of the rest of the evening showcases, if that’s how things started out. all it took were two little girls to make things right in my world again. despite looking terrified, the members of smoosh (Maggie Mae’s, 10 pm) rocked as hard as two ten year olds could. i ran into my good friend amy phillips there and took a couple photographs that wound up here. i couldnt decide which was more disturbing – the group of creepy old dudes in the audience or the fact that smoosh were dead ringers for hanson. also hilarious: the club played r. kelly during their set-up. i hope this was intentional. please let it be intentional.

after that, i caught eugene mirman’s act (Emo’s, 11 pm). it was funny but you know, i have to wonder what the appeal of indie rock comedians are. is it like, they gave a microphone to that drunk guy at the bar? or is it that funny? perhaps i lack a funny bone. well, it wouldnt be the first time someone accused me of such a thing.

in the opposite end of the space, the thermals were performing. they sound like it on a note by note basis, but the thermals are the second coming of superchunk. [yes, im fully aware superchunk are a functioning band.] they’re thorny, mildly irritating and jump around on the stage as spazzy as their music. kathy foster is also doing a really good laura ballance imitation. after their set, i turned around, just to see how large the audience was and sleater-kinney were standing right behind me. normally id be shocked at this, but its sxsw and the city turns into an indie rocker’s wet dream, so you have to kind of get over these moments of being star struck.

i ran into a couple friends at the show and spent some time wandering the streets, figuring out what to do. aside from the sub pop showcase, billy idol was performing but the line was too long. at some point i hightailed it to see fivehead (Co-op, 1 am). i dont know if it was the waitress that was serving shots out of test tubes or the sharp pain in my ankle [i sprained it 2 weeks back], but i couldnt stick around long and headed home.

overall, not a bad day. the first night of sxsw is kind of dull, as people are still getting into town and dealing with jet leg. things would pick up on thursday.