best collaboration?

today it's The Field and !!!. This track is absolutely amazing.

holy shit...

the new Justice video for the song "Stress" off 2007's "cross" is insane. I haven't seen a video like this since The Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up."

i'm a sucker...

for crazy good vocal arrangements! The Dirty Projectors are the shit.

post-work, pre-sleep

A couple of times a year I go through my record collection and listen to the albums that meant a lot to me in the past. I do this because I feel that it is important to know how I've progressed as a fan and creator of music. So today I picked two albums that I feel have defined me in various ways.

The first album is Year of Meteors by Laura Veirs. I know there are going to be a lot of people that either think "really?" or have a general distaste for Miss Veirs, but I love this album. The main reason behind my adoration is that I didn't really like this album for the first year I owned it. I had read a lot about it, but after a few listens I decided that it wasn't my cup of tea and tucked it away at the bottom of the pile.

I don't know what drew me back to this record, but I think it has something to do with time and place. For some reason this album just seemed to echo a lot of the feelings I was having in 2006, and that's when I fell in love with it. Every track is superb, and the lyrics are absolutely breathtaking.

When I listen to YoM today I remember all the shit that was bringing me down. It's nostalgia, baby.



The other album is Novena on a Nocturn by The Good Life. I've been a huge Cursive fan since I bought Domestica way back when, and love Tim Kasher's voice and everything it touches.

I remember the summer when I first purchased this album. I had a job mowing a family friends lawn once a week, and would listen to this album exclusively. Thinking about it now is a little strange because it reminds me of how I used to be and, in some ways, still am. I would sit atop their riding mower wearing basketball shorts, a white undershirt, and a black vest with a broken zipper that housed my disc-man. It would take me almost three hours to cut the grass and in that time I was able to memorize every line of every song. I don't think I've ever been as happy as I was riding around that immense lawn. I still have that vest somewhere, and when I'm back home and my mother asks me to mow the lawn I'll throw it on because it just doesn't feel right to mow without it.

today i did...

this!



My mother was none to pleased about the invite I made (as a joke), so I made a real one.

with a drop of sunlight...

After record-breaking cold (bullshit) weather the sun has finally wiped the stardust from its eyes and reemerged. Spring is my favorite time of year (seasonal affective disorder is a killer) so I'm pretty happy that it has finally started.

I watched a documentary yesterday about the lead singer of the gypsy-punk band Gogol Bordello entitled "The Pied Piper of Hutzovina." It was pretty, pretty, pretty good. The only problem I had with it was the fact that director Pavla Fleischer, who is ridiculously beautiful and makes me want to date an eastern European, interjected her personal romantic feelings for Eugene Hutz a little too much. Other than that it was a really fun and oddly moving little film that you should all seek out. Here's Eugene playing "Lela Pala Tute"



In other news, the new Torche album, Meanderthal, is totally killer. It reminds me of what Kyuss was trying to do in the 90s, but heavier and, in my opinion, better. Here's a video.



I'm also really into the new No Age album, Nouns, which is due out on Sub Pop on May 6th. Again, video.

supergroup?

I recently found out that Julie Cafritz (Pussy Galore), Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth), and Yoshimi P-We (OOIOO/Boredoms) have formed a band called Free Kitten. I'm not gonna lie, that's a terrible name for anything (even an emancipated kitten) but the first track they released is killer so I'll play along.



Did I mention that I absolutely love OOIOO, Boredoms, and Sonic Youth? No? Well I do and you should too.

Radiohead on Conan

I thought this was funny/awesome.

that's right.

M83

I didn't really like the new M83 album (Saturdays = Youth) at first, but after a couple of weeks it's started to sink in and now I love it. It's pretty melodramatic, but that's part of its charm. Check it out. Also, here's the first video/single (Graveyard Girl) from the album.

a good day.

I passed my oral comprehensive test today which secures my degrees in Communications and Public Relations. Also, I found this video of my old band, Cagematch to the Death, on youtube.

it's that hot shit...so far.

so I thought it fitting to throw down a list of what I believe are the best releases so far this year (double aught 8).

El Guincho - Alegranza!
Man Man - Rabbit Habits
Neon Neon - Stainless Style
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
M83 - Saturdays = Youth
Hercules and Love Affair - S/T
Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
Dodos - Visiter
Plants and Animals - Parc Avenue
The Mae Shi - HLLLYH

so that's it...for now. some pretty good shit floating around in old 08. Do yourself a solid and grab any (or all) of these.

Peace.

Chromatics...

I'm totally into this 80's dark wave/synth pop revival that's going on. Chromatics are the shit. If you like this video/song check out Sally Shapiro and Glass Candy.

Peace.

Man Man

Philly quintet Man Man dropped their sophomore album rabbit habits yesterday. It's sort of like Tom Waits meets Zappa in the play Indians. Good Stuff.

beach house...

heart of chambers (from devotion)

top ten albums of 2007...

I know it's a little late but here it is.

1. The Field - From Here We Go Sublime
2. Justice - "cross"
3. M.I.A - Kala
4. No Age - Wierdo Rippers
5. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
6. Panda Bear - Person Pitch
7. Marissa Nadler - Songs III: Bird on the Water
8. Apparat - Walls
9. Joan as Police Woman - Real Life
10. Richard Hawley - Lady's Bridge

dude's got a daemon

Loney, Dear in store

"I am John" from Loney, Noir

recent writing

Ditherer
17 lines

Now you've slipped
the bonds of earth,
given in to discontent,
framed in ageless girth.

We wallow underneath
sucking sap from bulbous
belly folds. Fickle wraiths
lick the dew with careless
tongues.

Fingers fused together
to tug the hair and hover
over the ground while
the beasts imbue the skyline.

Drumming through cities
with the beat of each step
like wrecking balls leaving
a trail of ruins in our wake.

something kinda different

Squat
34 lines

Together we heave
open the primordial doors
bordering a grand and fetid
monstrosity of a house.

The smell of corroding
wood and roaches wafting
out and up our nostrils
as we descended into the belly.

The faint flicker of the pilot
light guiding us down the steps
and into the small allowance
that has been keeping
the carnivorous frost
away from my appendages.

I light a candle on the pilot
and a smoke on the candle.
She tries to run her finger
through her hair, but gives
up when the hair spray
begins to fight back.

The ceiling rasps and throbs
as feet trudge across the floor
above. A flush followed
by coursing water that greets
us through the holes in the pipes.

It slops a hello in her direction
and I watch as she sidesteps
into her other foot and falls
back, sinking the cot
with her cannon ball cheeks.

The vibrations shake the dust
off the walls and it stings my
eyes, letting an unfamiliar drop
tumble down and crater the floor.