Today is the day — Blades of Glory is finally out in theaters! Check back over the weekend for my exclusive review.

DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW EXCITED I AM ABOUT THIS? And do you realize that High School Musical On Ice is coming to Philly?

Don’t forget! Her Jazz is back at WQHS today. 4-6PM EST.

In other news, I found out that I was accepted into one of the grad school programs I applied for. Here’s to keeping my fingers crossed for the others, and that they tell me soon. The suspense is killing me.

» Hurrah, my Narthex review is up! One reader loves it so much that it’s their favorite song on PTW. DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN

» There’s funny and not-so-funny. The lone comment on the latter post says it all:

As a Ph.D. candidate currently wading into the increasingly competitive job market, I find this kind of appointment reprehensible. What exactly are Kal Penn’s qualifications? If the argument is that he starred in teen films as well as films that examine Asian American issues, then maybe the math department should hire Russell Crowe for a semester.

» This fucking sucks too.

» You’ll love the book, but in the meantime, read Kara & Marissa’s blog, How Sassy Changed My Life.

» Bryan of Yah Mos Def’s launched a line of cute bags with TRKFLD — I particularly love how he’s named them all after his friends. Now where’s my damn refund?

» It Happened To Me: in lieu of SXSW this year, I gave a go at filling out an NCAA tournament bracket. Facebook says I was 55% accurate; I am sort of heartbroken that UNC (my pick to win it all) won’t be making it to the finals. What an upset!

» I use “BAAARF” to tag a lot of things these days, it seems:

“Both Ben Folds and Third Eye Blind were very popular on our Facebook searches and on our student-body survey, so we think that everybody will be really excited about them,” said Wharton senior and SPEC director Catey Mark.

Maybe it wasn’t being trapped in so-called “90’s rhetoric” that killed Plain Parade, we should have been soliciting data from Facebook! Give the people what they want – nay, spoonfeed it to them – even if it’s shitty, middling alt-rock. I guess.

» On the Veronica Mars front: As many of you may have heard, Rob Thomas is entertaining the possibility of “fast-forwarding” the series four years ahead, only for the sake of keeping the show on air. How is this a good idea… at all?

» That wasn’t my ears playing tricks on me last night, the Feelies’ “Let’s Go” was really in a Volvo commercial. This is exactly why I am for licensing: if I can watch Grey’s Anatomy and catch a bit of The Good Earth, just how bad can it be? Also, when will someone get smart and reissue the motherliving shit out of their records?!

» Oh yes, my preview for this Tuesday’s Blues Control gig is up at the City Paper. If you don’t trust me, then take Tom Lax’s word for it. Funny how two folks pegged as the authors of Cherry Coke have similar taste in music, isn’t it?

» Friday Night: WQHS is hosting a show at Haunted Cream Egg house (4207 Baltimore Ave) in West Philly, mere blocks from my bed. Relay, Grammar Debate, Kurt Vile and others are on tap. But it gets even better — over at the Green Line Café, The Impossible Shapes are playing. I believe this is the very definition of “Rock Block”, folks. Do it!

» FYI I’m back on WQHS beginning this Wednesday. 4-6PM EST, same old time. My fill-in slot at WPRB ended sooner than expected; alas, Jon and I did not perform the Princeton Record Exchange live on-air. Someday. Soon?

» Last, but not least: Saturday I had my pupils dilated at the doctor. This would have been all fine and dandy, had there not been a sunny sea of ice/snow waiting for me outside the doctor’s door. “Oh the agony!” only covers a fraction of what I felt on my walk home.

A Question: Why am I so excited to read advertisements and Public Service Announcements? I don’t quite understand why, but I love doing them! Maybe I have a future career in voice-over work? Who knows.

What a fun, fun, fun show. It felt more like an end-of-season playlist, which given that it was the last show of my subbing shift, it sort of was. Helium, Chavez, Unrest: that’s stuff you either bust out at the beginning or end of a season, because you know you can only play ‘em once or twice. That is, if you adhere to the “play everything once only” school of thought. I tend to be somewhere in the middle, mainly because in the end, the archives function like mixtapes for me. The familiar stuff winds up becoming a marker for when a show took place.

My second set planned to feature some new Times New Viking, Ethiopiques and a slew of other stuff, but then some kid called up asking for LCD Soundsystem and there went that plan. I know a lot of DJ’s at the station aren’t keen on requests; personally I’m a “case-by-case basis” gal. I have a long spiel about requests (another time, perhaps), but this time around, I was feeling generous (for reasons unbeknownst to even myself). The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, which explains why our listeners had to sit through the Dee Dee Ramone rap 12″.

sloan - can’t you figure it out - never hear the end of it - N
——————-
defunkt - for the love of money - avoid the funk
leaders - darkheart - dream driving - N
rhys chatham - cadenza - factor x
m ward - to go home - to go home ep - N
unrest - bavarian mods - bavarian mods 7″
——————-
helium - in a little box - why do you think they call it pop? - C
chavez - laugh track - gone glimmering
lcd soundsystem - losing my edge - s/t - R
dee dee king - funky man - 12″
oliver wittchow - kristallo - 8-bit operators - N R
parts & labor - fractured skies - mapmaker
——————-
B52’s - hero worship - nude on the moon - C R
tralala - early tonight - is that the tralala - N
verbena - i say so - 7″
public record - look how dead the reeds get - s/t - N
gal costa - cultura e civilizaçao - s/t
——————-
narthex - noise in my pocket - twin cities - N
the monarchs - satellite - 7″
yung wu - eternal ice - shore leave
julie peel - divine hammer - divine candy 7″ - N
kitty wells - will your lawyer talk to god - the best of
jimmy yancey - eternal blues - the complete works in chronological order 1939-1950: vol 3
——————-
jesu - old year - conqueror - N

The real news today is that Veronica Mars will not be renewed for a fourth season, according to sources like E! Online and whatnot. Make your voice heard! Let the CW Network know their decision to throw away one of the best shows on TV right now fucking sucks. (Really, are there any good shows on that network these days?)

The Veronica Mars Livejournal community, Cloud Watchers, has some way you can contact the network and share your thoughts. I am totally making an “I Love Veronica Mars” fan video — and as an added bonus, will post it on my site.

HOLY MOTHER OF JESUS DOES THIS WEATHER SUCK. I wonder if this is payment for NOT attending SXSW this year?! My walk to work today managed to get my ipod soaked from inside my jacket and put me in a mood so foul, not even the cheery 70’s rock tropes of Sloan could bring me out from the depths.

» Review of the new Explosions in the Sky CD right here; the show is mucho sold out. I dig the record, even though my review comes off as critical. Oh wait, that’s my job.

» There’s also a really cool piece on Narthex in the CP, Dean’s pre-Dead Milkmen punk combo. I reviewed them for PaperThinWalls; not sure when that will be out.

» No word yet on my grad school applications, which is kinda-sorta wreaking havoc with my nerves. I just wanna know where I’ll end up: a place with more snow or a place with even more snow.

» England Belongs To Twee, Philadelphia’s premier twee and oi! punk night, throws down at the Khyber Saturday. I’ll be wearin’ my best Doc Martens.

Welcome to my 1,000th post on Her Jazz!

A fun show that contains the WPRB debut of the new Low album. That record… wow. It’s powerful stuff, sure to land in my top ten of the year. What’s fascinating about it is Low’s inability to separate church and state in their minds, resulting in a jarring mess that sounds much like Young Marble Giants in its more electronic tracks.

Jon Solomon and I may attempt to recreate the Princeton Record Exchange ad at some point in the future. We’re the voices of the recorded version, so it makes sense now that our shows are next to each other to try it live.

This was a very animal-friendly episode of Her Jazz. Milkbones all around!

lizzy mercier descloux - wawa - new york noise - C
——————–
low - murderer - drums and guns - N
trans am - climbing up the ladder (parts III & IV) - sex change - N
love of diagrams - pace or the patience - ep - N
the windbreakers - you never give up - any monkey with a typewriter
the jazz butcher - looking for lot 49 - fishcotheque
amy annelle - lion’s share - mile - C
——————–
ellen warshaw - sister morphine - wayfaring strangers: ladies from the canyon - C
santiago jimenez - viva seguin - morteno accordion part 2: san antonio in the 1940’s & 1950’s - C
roy milton - porter’s love song (to a chambermaid) - specialty profiles - N
dead meadow - indian bones - s/t - N
close lobsters - sewer pipe dream - foxheads stalk this land
prowler - uh huh yeah - communizzle - N
——————–
fucked up - invisible leader - crusades - N
knoxville girls - i feel good all over - s/t
the aquarium - good people - s/t - N
birdsongs of the mesozoic - somber reptiles - the arf arf contemporary music sampler vol 1 - C
lee ranaldo - drift 4 - melt - C
——————–
red heart the ticker - go-cart thrills - for the wicked
catherine howe - on a misty morning - what a beautiful place - N
sherwoods - (broken hearts are) cheaper by the dozen - philly soul girls - C
times new viking - lovers lane - 7″ - N
trockener kecks - souvenir - dutch rock alive and well 1989 - C
——————–
arcade fire - black mirror - single - N
vir - strika - drone records: a selection.. - N C

» Don’t forget (as if you really would): I’m on WPRB every Wednesday from 5-7PM EST from now on. I am the mid-season replacement, as they say in the TV biz.

» My new phone arrived and it feels like I’m talking into a TI-83. The name, E62, sounds like a hyphy artist. Couplandian propheicies fulfilled.

» Hell must be freezing over — I filled out a bracket for this year’s NCAA tournament.

» I enjoy the new Low album.

All Your Slopes Are Belong To Us: from last week’s skiing excursion.

The very definition of “first world problems”: I am stuck at home waiting for Fedex to ship my new cellphone because they won’t let me re-route the package to work, so the only thing I can do is finish up a bunch of freelance stuff, listen to records and post on my blog.

» My week was nicely bookended by two shows, The Nightingales/Victoria Lucas (Sunday) and Magik Markers (Friday) at JB’s. Even though I had to head out after checking out a song or two by the Nightingales, they were pretty fantastic. Ditto for the Victoria Lucas — I played their record quite a bit on WPRB last summer, but for some reason I never picked up on the similarities to Guv’ner until the other night. It’s a crying shame both of these bands wound up playing to eight folks. Of course, there was zero press or PR [to the best of my knowledge] about the gig. If only I had known sooner…

Friday night MM put every Philly noise band to shame in .0000009 seconds with their guitar assult — and this was probably the most straightforward gig I’ve ever seen them do. (Also, the first show I’ve seen with the new two-person setup.) I nearly detected structure [!] in their songs, which was actually kinda neat. Out of all the things I could potentially ask Elisa Ambrogio, the only thing I wanna know about is where she gets her shoes, ’cause she always has the best footwear. The other night was no different: purple suede heels with forest green buttons running up the side and a big bow, like something plucked from the 1890’s. Hotness. Unfortunately, not even her awesome shoes could keep the audience hooked; the crowd looked pretty sparse by the end of their set.

» BTW, I hope no one took my previous comments about the book on Sassy Magazine as derogatory; I was really nervous it wouldn’t live up to the hype I had in my head. Sassy played a huge role in my teenage life; I probably wouldn’t be who I am today without the encouragement of the magazine. Lord knows I have been rooting for this book since the moment I heard about it (when I met co-author Marisa Meltzer at the Teenbeat 25th Anniversary concert in DC a couple years ago).

What you need to know: the book is absolutely brilliant and well-deserving of all the accolades bound to come its way. How Sassy Changed My Life is thoroughly researched and examined, sharp, funny and at times even critical — which is unusual for a book calling itself “a love letter to the world’s greatest teen magazine”. In the closing chapters I caught myself reaching for the Kleenex at several points, not because it was sappy; reading about Sassy’s demise was as painful as experiencing it the first time around (I burned my copy of the crappy Petersen-published issue as protest). Did I mention it was brilliant? Let me do it again: BRILLIANT. Now go pre-order it.