PWRFL Power at the Popped! Music Festival.

Do you ever have moments where you feel like you’re living someone else’s life? Ever since I got this new job that’s basically all I ever feel.

Case in point: last night I had to photograph Pearl Jam & Ted Leo at Madison Square Garden for Stereogum. No, that’s not the weird part (but, yeah, it is a total OppositeLand moment). Anyway, press photographers have to enter at a different entrance, and they are led through the concrete maze/bunker that is MSG. You ride up the same giant freight elevator they use for elephants in the circus, and they lead you through to the stage area, right past the VIP green rooms and all. You kind of feel like a rock star until someone hisses to another, “That’s the paparazzi,” and when you walk out the crowd boos you because you’re not the band. Did Robert Capa ever have to put up with this?

Last week I taped two interviews for Pop Recon — one with patternismovement that will air on Friday, another with Love Is All for a future episode. PIM were probably one of the best interviews I’ve taped. Dudes were funny, talkative and smart. More bands should follow their lead.

Those that know me well know I don’t like to dine out, but I recently went to the new Eric Ripert restaurant, 10 Arts. (I grew up in a restaurant, so the thought of having to pay someone to cook my food seems totally preposterous.) But if I’m going to dine, I will do it right — and 10 Arts is definitely a good way to go. The combination of local and upscale stuff was just right. I was amazed at the grand size of the portion; I typically don’t expect it at these kinds of places. I felt full after the wild boar prosciutto appetizer, and by the time my main course was done, I couldn’t do dessert at all. (I tried a bit of my friend’s, and the mini beignets were delish.) Moreover, and more importantly, the service was top-notch. We were seated promptly at our reservation time and our servers were totally attentive. If I have that sort of cash to drop again (hello early birthday present!), I’d totally do it again.

Alright, that’s it for this episode of Watch the Names Drop! I’ve been your host, Maria T.

I had a blast with this show. It flew by way too fast! I am happy to report that The Black Angels stopped fetishizing Vietnam in an embarrassing manner and are writing some pretty great space-rock-meets-Nuggets tunes.

06-19-2008 | WPRB 103.3 FM | 1800-2000
———————————–
chuck wilder - the clown - eccentric soul: the tragar & note labels - N
vivian girls - wild eyes - 7″ - N
spinanes - fame & fortune - sunday ep
robyn - bum like you - robyn - N
fink - blueberry pancakes - distance and time - N
gogogoairheart - hypnotized - 90 day men / gogogoairheart split ep
dos - heartbeat - numero do ep
holy rollers - in the here - cringer / holy rollers split 7″
the nervebreakers - my girlfriend is a rock - we want everything!
———————————–
ESG - dance - come away with…
solex - randy costanza - pick up
sons & daughters - johnny cash - love the cup
the black angels - deer-ree-shee - directions to see a ghost - N
helium - love $$$ - pirate prude
———————————–
tickley feather - fancy walking - tickley feather - N
crystal stilts - crippled croon - crystal stilts
spoon - believing is art - girls can tell
the lines - nerve pylon - memory span - N
durutti column - sketch for summer - valuable passages
blonde redhead - spring & summer by fall - 23 - R
les savy fav - bloom on demand - go forth - R
———————————–
the 3Ds - beautiful things - 7″
long blondes - the couples - couples - N R
kitty wells - your wild life’s gonna get you down - golden favorites
the white animals - seasons change - 7″
the replacements - kiss me on the bus - tim
avengers - american in me - the american in me
mingering mike - gotta get back to the real thing - super gold greatest hits - N

This morning, on the way to work, I spotted this lovely gem of a display in the window of a J Crew store. If I had a dick, it would probably shrivel merely thinking of this. In a previous life I would have spent plenty of time writing down all the reasons this is just so W-R-O-N-G.

Ahem, anyway. I was all down in the dumps until Mingering Mike’s Solid Gold Greatest Hits (eMusic) landed on my desk. I take forever when reviewing records for the station, but I’m pretty certain this is the album I reviewed the fastest. Seriously, an hour, tops. And now my life is all the better for hearing Mingering Mike. Yours will be too after you buy this. Or, you can just spend your day requesting this at WPRB.

This week’s show felt good. Flew by real fast.

flin flon - trafalgar - dixie
sloan - witch’s wand - parallel play - N
chris knox - citric acid - croaker
the modernettes - little girls - get it straight
crispy ambulance - lucifer rising - the powder blind dream
————————————
portishead - nylon smile - third - N
lida husik - strawberries are growing in my garden - joyride
santogold - i’m a lady - santogold - N
deee-lite - esp (yee yee radio mix) - 12″
no age - here should be home - nouns - N
lorelei - today’s shrug - everyone must touch the stove
the missing links - you’re driving me insane - nuggets II
————————————
dead milkmen - tiny town - death rides a pale cow
welfare mothers - long brown hair - 7″ - N
the toms - i wanna (be a teen again) - prefill
medicine - baby doll - buried life
galaxie 500 - parking lot - today - R
mexico 70 - drug is the love - wonderful life ep
love of diagrams - trouble - mosaic
some velvet sidewalk - curiosity - international pop underground convention
————————————
electrelane - i’m on fire - on parade
18th dye - glass house failure - tribute to a bus
the war on drugs - arms like boulders - wagonwheel blues - N
————————————
lung leg - anatomy of a dolly bird - hello sir
look blue go purple - safety in crosswords - bewitched
valet - my volcano - blood is clean - N

Oh my fucking god. While I am quite a bit on the air these days, it’s one thing to do your shifts but a completely different thing to do yours and those of the folks who never showed up to the station. Even in writing that last sentence, I feel a twinge of the insanity from last week.

I know, this is such a first world problem! “Waaah, I got to spend ~20 hours on one of the best independent stations around!” But see, when you are doing show after show after show after show after show, your ability to put together interesting playlists goes right out the window. Then you’re just reduced to playing Bo Diddley surf albums, and that can’t be good for anyone.

Whining aside, all this airtime caused me to strain my vocal cords. Last Friday, as I was wrapping up the Top Ten show, I felt a pulling in my throat. This wasn’t the scratchy pain brought on by colds or allergies, this was something else. It hurt in a bad way. There was only one thing I could do: put on the record that had been barely within my reach all week (Chatham’s Die Donnergotter) and get the heck outta Dodge.

I wound up “convalescing” at Sandy Hook, which is probably the best beach ever, and within minutes of my door. It was ridiculously hot but at Sandy Hook, it was difficult to tell with the perfect sea breeze. Screw “the shore,” all those corny notions of “boardwalks” and whatnot — this place makes you forget you’re in New Jersey. Because no self-respecting staycationer would actually want to be reminded of where they are, nahmean?
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