I dont know who this kid is, but he’s onto something here.

» Looks like _Brothers of the Head_ will be weaving its way into your local movie theater soon. Check out the trailer here!

It’s true — I have made some pretty amazing animated gifs in my lifetime:

But then I spotted this on Pitchfork today and realized that I must relinquish the crown:

Cassettes Won’t Listen “Cut Your Hair” (Orig. Pavement)

Countless dudes spent the entire stretch of the 90’s impersonating the nasally, ironic distance/stance/dance of Stephen Malkmus, so this time around Indie Rock Nostalgia offers up a reedy Ben Gibbard whine with a stunted and slow phrasing of the lyrics, as if they’re teaching Indie Rock 101 to newcomers. The lyrical murkiness of the original remains the enduring legacy of “Cut Your Hair” (cf. “career/korea” argument); the band totally misses the boat on this one. It’s not an entirely lost cause, however. The thing is, the instrumental portion of the song is pretty awesome — I’m hesitant to throw around adjectives like “glitchy” and “twinkly” but its fun enough, so they will do — turning this into a cartoonish version of the band with keyboard flourishes here and there. A seemingly simple maneuver, but totally next-level and worth some points.

» let’s talk about this. hear me out — its a nice piece of work [one of my fave GBV albums!], but there’s no reason someone should spend FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS on a piece of work that’s cd size with no mention of how it’s been stored for nearly a decade.

if you really want to go the whole “art rock collector” route, you’re better off purchasing work from places like tiny showcase, pierogi 2000, flatstock or a student exhibition at any art school in the world — you’ll find the work to be of superior quality and fairly priced!

in this specific situation, its not the issue of authenticity that brings me great offense ’cause outsider art is awesome [finster, darger, toynbee tiles and the like]! the problem here is that he’s only doing this because he needs quick cash, much in the way that many of us sell our cds/lps to record stores; he knows some sucker out there will pay for it. [and if someone’s thinking about buying it, make sure you have it appraised, insured and framed immediately!]

» at last night’s sonic youth concert [more on that in a sec] somewhere at the end of the sweltering night i remarked, “man, i hope they pass the smoking ban.” looks like my wish is coming true! still, no clue on whether street will actually sign it, but we’re a step closer than we were a day ago. and that’s saying a whole lot in this town.

actual quote from my father, as told to me by my mother on the ride back to philly after yesterday’s show. i was feeling good about this show and now i have this guilt about having to include more tom jones, englebert humperdinck, niel diamond and a slew of italian male vocalists whose names im completely forgetting. everyone would like to hear this too, right?

yes, a much better show after last week’s disappointment. [no, it sounded fine in retrospect but you know, those feelings linger] an equally funny comment was offered up at the start of the show, when someone called to ask if i was playing joanna newsom, when i was playing the breeders. i know they have distinct voices but man, its pretty hard not to confuse them. JN sounds like lisa simpson, kim deal does not.

i think im going to start something new with requests — each time i go on air, i will pick a new letter of the alphabet and tell people im only taking requests from bands that start with the aforementioned letter. this is motivated by laziness and time constraints — there’s nothing worse than being unable to track down a very simple request [ie, new b&s, which is probably being cataloged; johnny cash, etc]

must explore that red crayola album a bit more. i liked what i heard!

the breeders - off you - title tk

airlines - point that thing somewhere else - cleaned out! 7″
yo - deadbeat sea - charm world
y pants - favorite sweater - New York Noise 2 - N
charles manson - cease to exist - charles manson sings - N
parenthetical girls - here’s to forgetting - (((GRRRLS))) - N
matmos - rose and teeth for ludwig wittgenstein - the rose and teeth in the mouth of a beast - N
tangerine - organic - do you believe in love?

broken social scene - swimmers - BSS/Windsurfing Nation
television - venus - marquee moon
zombi - legacy - surface to air - N
sleater-kinney - big big lights - free to fight! #1
king kong ding dong - missing tooth - s/t - N

incredible string band - a very cellular song - relics of the incredible string band
red house painters - new jersey - s/t - R
the subjects - hounds of war - s/t ep - R
oakley hall - house carpenter - gypsum strings - N

notekillers - airport - Airports/Ants - N
theyr - killer boogie - geyser
palace brothers - dont i look good today - louisville sluggers III
caterpillar - sitars tomorrow - a thousand million micronauts
scritti politti - the sweetest girl - 12″

eric bachmann - every word means no - songs for sixty five roses - N
butterglory - waiting on the guns - crumble
belle and sebastian - legal man - legal man ep - R
portastatic - older summers - who loves the sun o.s.t. - N
method + result - private eyes - song from the sixth borough
joseph ferocious - the living north - cherry spy - N

universal 2 - dancing heart - big apple rappin’ - N
sound directions - theme for ivory black - The Funky Side of Life
love of life orchestra - siberia - new music from antarctica vol 1
quasi - when the going gets dark - when the going gets dark - N
the caribbean - french radio - plastic explosives
flin flon - cardigan - dixie

the red crayola - the parable of arable land - the parable of arable land

» happy sonic youth week! or something like that. im seriously feelin’ like a kid on christmas eve. check out the crap point-counterpoint the PW’s got going on here. this kind of writing makes _hannity & colmes_ look like shakespearean theater. oh please, its not haterade when you want/expect your weeklies to have good music writing. all im saying is: less “whats on your ipod?” [last.fm not available in philly?] and more pieces from its talented staff.

» not to say this is much better. i could have been interested in christgau’s analysis of RR but the creepy sexist swipes at amy phillips turned me off, cold turkey. funny, when guys rant and rave about how music sucks, its never perceived as a “hissyfit”…

» i saw tapes’n'tapes this past thursday at the church. really, wtf? i dont mind the whole phenomenon of “blog rock” but this was disappointing beyond belief. the entirety of the nineties churned into one limpid rock concotion. writing this paragraph is testament to my generosity.

» funner than fun: the cordalene record release party, this past saturday at the spirit wind dance center. what a space! a large, impeccable brick shell with golden wood floors. beto from walker lundee built these huge paintings that stretched from ceiling to floor and a bunch of modern dancers writehed behind, all backlit and stuff. not your average presentation and i rather liked it. cordalene sounds like a lean, mean pop machine — check out their record!

» my jefferson airplane obsession, part 435378456873468: ryan gave me a copy of _volunteers_ and then i nailed “someone to love” at karaoke last night.

weird show yesterday. imagine, if you will, that you are skiing. your slope is nice and smooth, but with a blink of the eye, you’ve found yourself in a sea of moguls. thats kinds of how i felt yesterday. the first set was easy but then i just struggled through the rest of it. usually, i cue up 3 songs in advance; instead i found myself this close to dead air at several instances. maybe it was the weather?

on the plus side, i discovered how to hook my ipod into the board, which means all those crazy bands that are popular for a hot minute [thanks, bloggers] will get an extended 5 minutes of fame.

not to say that the set list was bad — i was really psyched to throw in some chandra [post punk made by a kid in 1980 with mems of scritti politti backing her up?!], samara lubelski, friday night lights OST, etc etc. ill have to listen to my archive of the show — maybe its not as awful as im making it out to be.

June 7, 2006

giant sand - valley of rain - valley of rain

apples in stereo - tidal wave - science faire
moondog - theme and variations - the viking of sixth avenue - N
jefferson airplane - today - surrealistic pillow
picastro - no contest - metal cares - N
xex - cops - group: xex

sonic youth - jams run free - rather ripped
sparks - perfume - hello young lovers - N
iran - pick up/stillborn - s/t
samara lubelski - onion - spectacular of passages - N
madder rose - car song - panic on
explosions in the sky - your hand in mine - friday night lights original motion picture soundtrack

caroline peyton - engram - wayfaring strangers: ladies from the canyon - N
blake babies - cesspool - earwig - R
the marvelettes - youre my remedy - greatest hits
husker du - celebrated summer - new day rising
big boys - heartbeat - the skinny elvis
wilderness - beautiful alarms - vessel states - N
the husbands - dirty mouth - introducing the sound of…
chandra - opposite - transportation ep
here’s 2 other tracks from the record. its absolutely phenomenal. who’s gonna reissue this?

superchunk - driveway to driveway - foolish
hot snakes - this mystic decade - audit in progress
run on - into the attic - on/off
creatures of the golden dawn - i cant find you - allentown auf spring - N
curtis mayfield - move on up - curtis

Ennio Morricone - corsa sui tetti - Crime & Dissonance - N
constantines - dont be denied - constantines / unintended split 12″
guided by voices - if we wait - sunfish holy breakfast - R
blood on the wall - stoner jam - awesomer
the kinks - victoria - arthur or…
bettie serveert - tomboy - tomboy ep

unrest - isabel (12″ version) - imperial ffrr (reissue)
the blow - hey boy - mp3
peter thomas sound orchestra - jumpin’ jack flash - the in kraut
nelly furtado - crazy (live) - mp3
swans - that guy belongs to me - philly soul girls - N
tartuffi - ashes - trouble ep - N

ben lee - pop queen - grandpa would

finally, oh finally, some actual responses to my EMP piece! im really loving the remarks about how “unresearched” it was. also quite killer is the remark from the person who goes on and on about how im fixated on class/gender issues but this person admits they don’t know anything about class/gender theory. that’s some next-level GWB logic there, yo.

looks like my contribution to one louder’s jukebox jury is up!

» yes, its true — paul kantner circa jefferson airplane’s heyday is totally cute. hello, check out the dude with the violin — totes ur-nerd rock. im telling my stylist to give me a grace slick ‘do, while im at it.

» in the realm of other utterly mindbending things: mary timony at the khyber saturday night. i know some of you dear readers enjoy the stoner rock, so do not dismiss ms charming melodee as a mere indie rock act. i dont think i’ve seen fingers move over a fretboard that much since the last time i caught the philadelphia orchestra. pretty much everyone after that set turned to each other and air guitared, a la bill and ted’s excellent adventure. the new material sounds good, can’t wait to hear it polished off for her KRS debut.

» i know there’s not much to this article, but its nice to read about kindred spirits. i know how it feels to get the evil eye from the bartender when you ask for water or some other non-alcoholic beverage. in fact, not too long ago i had to justify my existence to a bartender at the m-room. seriously, wtf? i might not get sloshed, i still tip, so shut the fuck up. if i ran my own club [a pipe dream, at best], i would provide a variety of wacky sodas and waters for the teetotalers in the crowd.

» who really cares about radiohead when you’ve got nelly furtado covering gnarls barkley? actually, i think this is the year of nelly, what with “maneater” being so downright genius. btw, her new record, “loose”, comes out 6/20.