I LOSE PENS

there are power lines, in our bloodlines

2008-11-19T09:38:00.000-08:00

OK so I would also like to shamelessly advertise the party that I am throwing with Nora at Public Assembly. Its the place right next to Music Hall of Williamsburg where Galapagos used to be. Its a really cool space (it still has the waterfall), and we have some awesome bands playing. Good Night States are on at 9, The Bloodsugars on at 10, and The Canon Logic headline at 11. These are all great bands and me and Nora will be DJing between the sets and after. It will be fun no matter what BUT IT WILL BE FUNNER IF YOU COME.

Plus Nora wrote a great show preview on her blog

Here is a flyer. All of the lineup info is wrong, but I just told you the line up....so use your imagination.

ALSO I would like to tell you that you should all come to Lit on Tuesday nights. I know the "cool" days are to come Wednesdays and Fridays BUT. My friend David is always Djing and sometimes I DJ with him, and the crowd is really cool and unpretentious and laid back (kind of like how I remember the crowd at Hanger Bar). Its always dead till about 1:45 and then it somehow gets crowded and people start dancing. Its fun. You should come. David won't let me create a facebook even for it so this is the best I can do.

Even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day.

2008-11-18T08:53:00.000-08:00

So, I went to see Russell Brand on Friday at the El Museo del Barrio Theatre in Harlem. It was awesome. I got there about a hour before doors with my friend Kacey. We froze our tushies off for about an hourand had to listen to this very tragic woman talk about her involvement in a viritual vampire community. She also explained what Facebook to her friend. Note to self: do not ever describe Facebook to anyone. You will sound foolish.
We took our seats and were treated to the soothing sounds of Russells choice opening tracks including Stone Roses, The Libertines, and Morrissey. It was lovely. The stage was draped in kind of rich bohemian/middle eastern cloth and couches with embroidered pillows. Russell took the stage to "Supersonic" by Oasis, fitting I think.
From start to finish I don't think I stopped laughing once. He could basically ramble on about anything and I would probably crack up. He talked about not being able to horseback ride or surf on the set of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, his improvised performance at the VMAs (he said the jokes he really wanted to say and they were a lot funnier that what he actually did. And of course, a lot about sex.
One thing that did put a damper on an otherwise lovely evening was this really misinformed girl who seemed to think that by shouting at Russell incessantly, it would make him love her or something. Instead she just annoyed not only him but everybody in the audience. He was very funny about it, but you could tell that he really wanted her to shut up. "I'm running out of ways to be funny about it darling," he said with a wink. I almost died from embarrasment for the poor girl. I think I have a higher than normal tendency to excessively empathize with awkward situations.
So then we went outside to and observed as a hoards of fans crowded around russell trying to get a picture or an autograph or a kiss or something. I was standing with my back up against the opposite building to his trailer, just taking it all in. After he took a picture with a fan he turned around, looked at me, and DEFINITELY eyefucked the shit out of me. No joke. I didn't imagine it. And then he went back in his trailer and then we waited for all the poeple to go away and for him to come back out, and I got my picutre with im, but I didn't have to jumo around and scream like a fool, which is nice. I will have that picture as soon as Kacey gets her freaking disposable camera developed.
All in all it was a lovely evening, and after the show we went to this new vegan dessert diner called Lula's Sweet Apothecary. Its all vegan and it like an old fashioned amercian soda fountain. The owners were very nice and I think I may have developed crushes on both of them. I highly recommend you check it out. I got peanut butter oreo and rocky road as my sundae flavors asnd they were both delicious.

FIN

you are the generation that bought more shoes and you get what you deserve.

2008-11-12T07:22:00.000-08:00

OK. can I just say, that this makes me sad, nauseous, and....upset. You all know that my beloved Hanger Bar, the upstanding establishment that was the site of hookups, makeups, breakups, and illegal activities of all sorts was closed a few months ago sadly. I guess I wasn't really thinking what would happen to it, but I could never imagine the monstrosity that was to come. Seriously NYC, I'm all for feeling safe when I walk the streets, but do you have to turn EVERY fucking bar (and we're talking Alphabet City here) into a sterilized retro-chic bore-fest with "specialty cocktails". Give me back my free bottle of Zygo and my flowered dixie cups! Oh, and to top it all off, this place is now called Elsa. I SWEAR TO GOD, if there is one more bar with a pseudo-old fashioned name (ahem...Beatrice...Ella..), heads will roll. Just LOOK at the before and after pics of the bathroom.

Epic Gloriousness
Wretched Wretchedness

WHY GOD WHY.

i will not hold it in

2008-11-08T12:16:00.000-08:00

hey.

ok. so i really and truly cannot restrain myself from listening to Jukebox the Ghost. They are this amazing DC band that I saw at Nora's CMJ show, and "Victoria" and "Hold It In" are on repeat loop in my head. Their new vid for "Victoria" just came out a couple of days ago.

ALSO, I dunno when the hell this Late of the Pier video for "Focker" came out, but it makes me dizzy....with happiness. AND guess what. Alicia, my pal from London, used to live with them in Camden. Are you serious. Running into them on the street? Coincidental mutual friends? Clearly our paths are inextricably linked.

I LIVE ON THE RIGHT SIDE, I SLEEP ON THE LEFT, THATS WHY EVERYTHINGS GOTTA BE LOVE OR DEATH

2008-11-03T21:12:00.000-08:00

HOKAY. lets finish it up.

FRIDAY: I awoke with a hangover and an empty tummy. I ran to Pomme Frites poste haste, only to the make the mistake of ordering my frites with the sauce on top instead of on the side, which makes the sauce-to-frite ratio far to high to be tolerable. So I was walking along with my too saucy frites and who should I spot doing a walking-down-the-street photo shoot but LATE OF THE PIER. I couldn't believe that I recognized them, but I suspect I have a semi photographic memory. They seemed delighted that someone knew who they were and were very curious about my frites and wanted to taste them. They concurred with the imbalance of sauce. The weird thing though was the the photographer kept snapping away while we chatted. SO look out for me in a Late of the Pier photo shoot in the near future. haha. maybe. We talked about their show the night before and I told them that I would do my best to wrangle a way into see them at Irving Plaza.
I proceeded to Nora's day show at Rehab which included not only a great lineup of bands, but also free Function Water and free Colt 45. Here is me sampling some of that barley malt goodness.
The first band I was there to see was Jukebox the Ghost who were incredible. I've been hearing about them forever but hadn't gotten around to listening to them. Wowzers. I love lead singers who play piano at the same time. Its kind of a weakness actually. And "Hold It In" just might be the catchiest pop song I've heard in a long while. The Noisettes were up next. Another band that I had been hearing about for years but hadn't seen yet and they were great as well. The girl lead singer had possibly the greatest outfit I'd ever seen on anyone ever. I don't have any pics of her but you can head on over to Nora's coverage of the event for full disclosure. Tally Hall was the last to play and, after hearing/seeing Nora's obsessive twitters about the band, I was glad to finally see them for myself. They were adorable in their matching vests and matching vocal stylings. I think my favorite was "Welcome to Tally Hall" which featured beatboxing. Clearly making it stand out among the rest. The rest of their set was really good too. Apparently they showcased some new material, but I didn't know. It was all new to me. Here is me hiding behind Nora's CD case

After the show me and Nora went to the Zune reception at Lolita. Which was kinda awkward, because we were like the only two females there. And the photographer made us pose with this random guy. Double awk. BUT it had free drinks and there was a really nice plate of grilled veggies. Which was a plus. We didn't stay long but I'm glad we went, because when we left, there was the most amazing sign I've ever seen in my life. Behold:

I know. What are festoons you might ask? I don't know, and neither does Nora, but you can expect them to be coming in the form of a party name to a club near you sometime in the future. Nora peaced out to read Twilight, and my phone was about to run out of battery so I skipped on over to my friend Kacey's house, who I was going to see White Lies with at Bowery Ballroom at 9. The moment I got up to her room I passed out on her couch and didn't wake back up until like 8. So I composed myself and scurried over to Bowery with Kacey in tow. We met up with Paul and let me tell you, White Lies were absolutely amazing. They were one of the only bands I REALLY wanted to see during CMJ and they did not disappoint. They were like, out-Killering The Killers, I think that is the best way to put it. Their music is like the album The Killers should have made as a Hot Fuss follow-up. Just listen to "Death" and you'll see what I mean (the Crystal Castles remix of it is awesome as well). After that, Paul assured us that he could somehow get us in to the Late of the Pier show at Irving Plaza (most people know that as the Pete Tong/Soulwax show, but I was really only there for LoTP). They were great once again. I've already raved about them so you know the story there. However, Brooklyn Vegan somehow took another awkward picture of me looking confused in the crowd (The first one happened at a Crystal Castles show last year). WHY do I always look so confused in the crowd? Maybe I'm just concentrating really hard on the music, but I am probably just irritated by the flash.
Anyways, the show was awesome. After that me and Kacey went to Veselka for some grub (vegetarian Borscht is da bomb yallz) and then I stopped by Lit for a beer with Paul before collapsing into bedfordshire.

SATURDAY:

Saturday was pretty light on the CMJ shows. The only set I saw was Chief's at Pianos. Who were awesome. Of course. Actually, thier performance got them a write-up in Tripwire, which you can find here .

After their gig, which was at 4, I had to run to Am Appy to find a costume for my porno chic party I was DJing with my friend J. I had no time to try on because I had to go to J's apartment to learn Serato, because I didn't even know how to use it. I grabbed a leotard, some sparkly tights, and hoped for the best. Luckily, both the outfit and the party went pretty well. Here are a few pics. You can see more at Josh Shots (Josh aka host of the party aka love of my life) and on Ithinkyoureswell (if Antwan EVER posts the pictures). I was kind of drunk for most of it, but it was kind of stressful, since I had never DJed with Serato or with J before, but everybody really seemed to like it. Although it wasn't as fun when we had to carry the 100 lb (and I really don't think I'm exaggerating) coffin down 4 flights of stairs while we were both drunk. Somehow I got home with all my shit, but I am not exactly sure how.

Me and J. The Macktown Kids.

There was vinyl on there like 5 mins later I swear

ANYWAYS, yep thats it, that was my CMJ week. yay. I PROMISE TO POST MORE ABOUT LIFE.

GET YOUR HANDS ON YOUR WAISTLINE AND MOVE YOUR BODY TO THE BASSLINE (CMJ PART ONE)

2008-11-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many of you were raised going to church, but you know the feeling where you haven't been to church for awhile, and you don't want to go back because you've been gone for too long? Or I guess the same analogy could be applied to the gym...Anyways, I know I haven't written in awhile BUT I WILL NOW. Prepare yourselves for this epic (CMJ) update. I was doing things before CMJ, but they sort of all blur together and I don't really remember that much of it, so maybe we'll save that fragmented memory post for later. And now brace yourselves for my six-day CMJ extravanganza.

TUESDAY:
It stared off with dinner and badge pick up (for her not me) with Nora
before heading over to the Tribeca Grand to see a short set from Lykke Li (whose name is pronounced, for the record LICK-ye LEE. jesus). There we ran into Nora's friend Cameron (i think?), who I think I gave the wrong set time for Hercules and Love Affair DJ set. Sorry man. Anyways, we crowded into the tiny performance space. She only played about songs. Which was plenty enough for me. She clearly wasn't used to the disaffected CMJ crowds, especially this early in the evening. She kept yelling at the crowd to "go buy a driiiiiink" in that annoying dutch accent or whatever the hell she is. Well sorry Lykke (or is it Li?) but DRINKS ARE LIKE $15 EACH. AND if we were actually to go to the bar, by the time we got back, you would be gone. SO if you want to buy us drinks, go right ahead. But in all honesty, I think her music is good, if a little overperformed (like a little too much "oajahaherrrr I'm being possessed by the devil of song!"). She twisted and twirled her little heart out and she really does have an oddly compelling voice. Plus her little backing duo of boys was really hot.

After Lykke finished we realized that it was WAY too crowded to stay for a minute longer, especially with the lack of free alcohol, so we escaped into the chilly night air, and set out to find the Redbull loft, which purportedly had free beer! We got there and lo, there was free redbull (duh) AND free beer. Called Spaten. which is a funny name. It was a little inconvenient to not be able to mix the redbull and beer together, but the bartender was really cute, (AND ended up sharing his secret vodka stash with us) so it was all good.

Cheeseburger was the first band we saw, and they were so hilarious, I think it was the hardest I've ever laughed at a gig. Cheeseburger is like the ultimate old school rock n' roll party band and I thought they were great. They are definitely kind of a novelty and they have songs like "Jellybean" and "Number One Party Song #1" (I don't know if the latter is actually a song name, or if they just say that before every song.

Next up were Vivian Girls who, despite their record being quite good, I did not enjoy at all. I think, on their album, their vocals have this reverby, ethereal quality to them that was totally lost live. They sounded like a middle school girl band trying to be punk and not getting their harmonies down very well. Which is sad, but I can't help it. We left before their set was over. Me, Nora, the boys of Cheeseburger, and their manager Jin, and went to hang out at like....a sound editing suite or some shit....I was drunk i don't really remember where we were. Anyways, we only stayed for a bit and then me and Nora headed over to Happy Ending, and place i had heard of many times but never been. It was lots of fun and really crazy. The kind of crazy that you really can't deal with unless you are a certain amount of wasted, which thankfully I was. The DJ was spinning some good choonz (although he wasn't doing anything that fancy really and certainly didn't need to be THAT protective of his serato equipment). Nora wanted to make out with the DJ so we had to "dance seductively" in front of him. I don't know how I get pulled into these things. But the DJ played Joy Division and New Order, which is all I can ask for really. I was talking pics with my disposable camera, but I haven't got it developed yet. Luckily Nicky got a couple shots.

WEDNESDAY:

I had to go to 9:30 class. I can't believe it, but I did it, and went to all three of my classes! I am so proud of myself. I just laid in bed for a few minutes when I woke up and I said, "Self? You are BIGGER than this hangover". And then I was fine! Meditation works people. After class I ran over to Sarah's to steal her CMJ badge for approx 24 hours. I ran back to NYU so I could go to one of the later panels. It was about full service management companies. It was really interesting. Then I came home. and I slept. For longer than I intended. I ran out the door to catch Friendly Fires at Annex, only for my ID to be REJECTED by the bouncers. I was like "AW HELLZ NO IM DJING HERE TOMORROW FOOLZ" and theyz was all like "THATS NICE LITTLE GIRL, GO HOME". I was pissed. I was supposed to be meeting Paul there too and he didnt answer his phone cuz he was already outside. So I sulked around outside for like 1/2 an hour, until Paul came out, where we proceeded to Pianos where my ID was rejected AGAIN. Wow. My night seemed to be going grandly. So I sulked outside Pianos for awhile, until the bouncer took a break and a I saw my thin window of opportunity and I jumped through it. I got in and the place was absolutely PACKED. They werent even letting anyone into the performance space. I hate hyped bands. Paul said they werent very good. I'll take his word for it. I waited for them to finish and I ran into Phil and Melissa from the office. Which was nice. Because, you know, I don't see them enough. Anyways, after Chairlift, I was whisked away to Music Hall with Paul to see Late of the Pier. WHO BLEW MY BRAINS OUT. Honestly. They were by far my favorite new band of CMJ. They are so young and so boundary defying its ridiculous. They are like Talking Heads meets Queen meets Klaxons. Basically my fantasy band. I cannot stop listening to Bathroom Gurgle. I just cannot. The lead singer is just electric, the whole band is really, they beat those disturbingly awesome sounds out of thier instruments with unabashed enthusiasm just makes me want to pee myself. I remember trying to DJ them last year and I think it was "The Bears are Coming" and people were like "this is not music, turn it off", which shoudl probably teach me not to play demos, but I knew I heard something special in that band! Thier new tracks are much more balanced and especially in thier live version, the wierd synth, 8-bit noises sound much more like accents rather than overpowering. It was a great set and I could believe how few people there were there! Considering Late of the Pier have been around for about a year now and the only other show they were playing costs millions of dollars to get into (ok only 55 but still...). I'd say there were only about 100 people there. Anyways, yes. check them out. They are amazing.

THURSDAY:
I got up early so I could make the most out of my badge before I had to return it to Sarah at 130. I went to an unconventional fund raising panel, which was forgettable, A "what's left of the major label's" panel, which was shocking and depressing (its unbelievable how major labels still havent recognized the versatility and value of alternative distribution), and then a little bit of a blogging panel which was interesting but stuff I mostly knew already. It also made me feel guilty for nt postng often enough.

Then I went over to Pianos where I met up with Sarah (no ID problems this time) and Jo to see The Muslims. This band comes from San Diego but they sound like they are from the UK (so of course I loved them) they kind of sound like The Libertines instrumentally with spiky/jangly guitars but with really deadpan punk vocals (kinf of like the guy singer in X). Bonusly, we saw a guy who had the greatest hair known to man. He looked like Bret Anderson mixed with Damon Albarn. Very cute. He turned out be the lead singer of the next band that was playing.

Then we ate (I had the BEST veggie burger ever. So. Good.), then Sarah and Jo had to go to a meeting so I stuck around to catch Friendly Fires. I am really glad I did, because they are awesome. Very energetic performance, almost like a harder rocking Coldplay, with no piano and more varied percussion (this is a very weird description but its the first one that came to mind. Sry.) After their set, I wandered over to the Fader Fort to see Johnny Foreigner who I THOUGHT was supposed to go on at 4:30 but really wasnt supposed to till 5:15. And I was on a tight schedule so I couldn't stay to see them. But I did manage to talk to a bunch of random people, snag a can of sparks and some deadly SoCo punch, and actually found an alumni of Sac State!!! omg I was so excited and we totally reminisced about midtown and the Florin Mall (which is really ghetto, to those who didn't know). But then I had to split to go to the Song's cocktail party at Happy Ending. It was fun, not too crowded, open bar, shot glasses and Peanut Butter and Co. sandwiches. yay. I could only stay for a bit though because I had to run over to Annex to DJ. I got there around 6. I left a little afte 2. Let me tell you what happened in between.

It was the most grueling DJ session I've ever had in my life, it was so tiring, but pretty fun. I DJed in between bands, and it was just so hot and crowded and loud I almost lost my mind. Chief went on first and they rocked it as ususal. There was a pretty big crowd there for the time they went on (6:30). After, Johnny Foreigner played and they were great as well. Kind of like a less annoying Black Kids. The Next bands blur together because I kept having to step outside because I felt so claustrophobic ESPECIALLY during Passion Pit. Omg, that was the worst. BUt good for Passion Pit I guess. The only band I remember well enough to write about was The Whip who were really amazing. I really can't give you too may details but I just remember being pulled out of my half drunk/stressed out stupor like cold water was splashed on my face. I actually started dancing to the songs! It was crazy, so they must have been good. Just listen to thier single, Trash, and you'll get what I'm saying. I started to leave after I helped JennyPenny count the moniez, bc the guys from The Rapture were supposed to take over after me. I went to 6th ward with Joady, the booker/head person of the night which was nice because she is the sweetest lady ever. I finally made my way home aroun 4. I'd say it was a successful day/night.

OK i cant write anymore or my brain will expode. so stay tuned for PART 2 of my cmj adventure.

I KNOW I LOVE YOU BUT IM FULL OF FEAR

2008-09-24T19:10:00.000-07:00

Check out this awesome video set to the Chief song, "Your Direction". One of thier friends just moved into a new place and I guess in the garage there was this unmarked cardboard box that had all of this undeveloped film. Turns out it was all of this incredible old home movie footage. Not only is the footage great, but it totally suits Chief's whole old time LA summer vibe. It makes you feel nostalgic. For a time when you weren't born.

YOU'RE DIRECTION IS NOWHERE BUT HERE

2008-09-11T15:50:00.000-07:00

Nowhere but where you might ask? To the Chief show next week! You've already heard me gush about them a million times so...yeah. just go.

Ignite documents and get warm from the Ink of the burning alphabet

2008-09-10T13:24:00.000-07:00

holla holla

OK so last week I went to see CHIEF. It was amazing as usual and they got an open invitation to come back and play @ Music Hall anytime! Which is exactly what they are doing on September 18 with The Stills and The Kiss Off. Will post deets as soon as we get a flyer going.

Anyways the concert was super fun with all my favorites in attendance (Sarah, Karen, Zani, the big PA) Also in attendance Mary Kate Olsen (!) who I can testify was dancing her pants off. But the best thing about the night is that I got hang out with Dananananaykroyd. Who is this band with a silly name you ask? Well, they are a six piece from Glasgow. They have two drummers, which play off each other amazingly and are just all around great pub laddish fuzzy rock that you just want to get wasted and jump around to. Anyways they were there having a "night out" with their label manager (and bffl of Paul Adams) Anthony Shaw while here recording their record. Even if they were shite (which they weren't) I would have loved them anyways, because they were so funny I almost died. Like I woke up the next morning and my abs hurt. Their lead singer wasn't there, so I can't attest to his character, but Laura is incredibly sweet (and married to Barry from the Futureheads! Lucky duck), John seriously had me in stitches the entire night, David commiserated with me about being ID-less, Paul made me giggle with his one liners, and Duncan and I bonded over Joy Division. I mean what more can you ask for in a group of musicians? Not much, I say.

I had only really heard of them when I met them, because of my soul sistah and new music expert Brianna but since I have been listening to them quite a bit and they have gotten me through some tough days I will say that. Here's a hype machine link to their single Some Dresses

Anyways, Duncan took some a couple of pics. Im only in two though, so those are the only ones I will show you. because I am vain.

John, Zani, Me, Paul, Someone's Arm

Paul, Me,Zani

sunday paper sits on the front porch, collecting dust with magazines of all the famous people that we never really wanted to be

2008-09-02T10:02:00.000-07:00

My first awesome weekend in a very long time!

Thursday: The day after I arrived in the city I was clearly on the verge of party withdrawal. So I went to Hiro Ballroom to see the band Sarah had been peeing her pants over recently US ROYALTY.I practically had to bribe the door people to let me in but it finally worked. I also brought my Mom and my cousin so I could show them how we do things in NYC. I couldnt tell if they were actually having fun or just trying to humor me. Anyways, the band turned out to be amazing. Not to mention extremely attractive. Their single "Summer Remix" is the total jam. Check it out on their MySpace. Their music is very versatile I feel like I could play it at the beach or in a bar or in my bedroom or in a tree. Anyways, after the band played we danced the night away with the band to CSS's DJ set and all in all had a jolly good time. See? look how happy we are!

Then on Friday I went to my the farewell to Hanger Bar Extravaganza. It was sad bc I have a lot of good memories there and its where I learned how to DJ. But I know that the Stolen Transmission Party will live on in some other form in the near future. It was loads of fun. Everyone I love and missed all summer long turned up and it was just one big love fest. And my friend Josh brought this Scottish band who i cant remember the name of that had the thickest accents I'd ever heard. I told them Trainspotting was one of my favorite movies. That really seemed to impress them. I DJed for awhile and it felt so great. I forgot how much I fucking love doing that shit. One song I played that every one lost their shit over was this new song by Ida Maria called "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked". I am sure it is now obvious why it went over so well. You can listen to it here.

I thought the night couldnt get any better, but then Brad Walsh, my favorite retired nightlife photog, made an exception for us and turned up (with his bf Christian!) to take pics in the famed private toilet. Which had gotten significantly shittier since I last saw it. But being the genius that Brad is with the camera, of course he managed to take an amazing photo. Here's mine and you can check out the rest of them on his website.

I also brought pretty much all of my friends to the party as well so there were a shit-ton of NYU kids there. But that's alright. Because it was only the cool ones that came.

SHE WAS WALKING THROUGH THE TABLES IN THE GLASS HOUSE

2008-08-26T12:59:00.000-07:00

I know their album came out 1,000 blog years ago (3.5 months in real time), but I am currently falling hard for The Last Shadow Puppets debut album The Age of The Understatement. I don't know why my love for this album didn't sink in until just now, because it seems like an album that would catch you by the collar and immediately win you over. Alex Turner and Miles Kane's voices melt together perfectly. They both have heavily accented vocals that I wouldn't really ever have thought could deal with such heavy harmonies but it works beautifully. The title track is currently my favorite. Turner has got to be one of the most talented lyricists today. Anyone can fit insight into slow acoustic jams, but it takes a lot of talent to put them into faster songs that need to rhyme, goddamnit. My current favorite, the title track, illustrates this perfectly. I love how it maintains that fast paced feeling of running while still managing to sound huge. So kind of like a stampede of elephants I guess :). It really reminds me a lot of the Reverend and the Makers album "The State of Things" (which got hardly ANY press here but I thought it was amazing) which combined the profound lyrics with the quick musical movements. The other track that I love "My Mistakes Were Made For You" sounds like it could have come out of an old movie. With wistful-sounding words and strings abound.

I am SO excited to see them when they play at Manhattan Center with a FULL BACKING ORCHESTRA. Which is why I now know the tix are running like 35 bucks :( but I just might have to spring for it. AND a little birdy told me that yours and my favorite band, CHIEF might be supporting them!!!! Yay! Anyways, here are some lovely Puppets tracks for you to download, courtesy of Hype.

Standing Next To Me
I Dont Like You Anymore

And PS: I am going to be back in NYC tomorrow so hopefully my posts will become more reflective of what Im doing aka going out and losing my shit...hopefully.xxxx

THE FIRST OF THE GANG TO DIE

2008-08-17T13:48:00.000-07:00

Gawker. We love it, we hate it, we scorn it, but if you can take the time to slog through all the inane "Gawker Stalkers" and "Snap Judgments" you can find some genuinely interesting and hilarious stories. Like this one I found about intern horror stories. As a former and current intern, I must admit I have never heard of anyone doing anything this outrageous, but maybe interning at Dunder-Mifflin wasn't the most exciting career choice I could have made. Just kidding. Interning at Dunder-Mifflin WOULD be the most exciting career choice I could make right now. The main story they tell though is just kind of weird. How do people get so involved with their bitches? See if you can figure it out

What Not To Do When Anna Wintour Falls On Her Face

TANGERINE AND LIME GREEN, THE SICKLY SWEET COLORS OF THE DEVIL IN MY DREAMS

2008-08-16T21:29:00.000-07:00

The big bands are rolling out new music left and right and giving us street urchins a chance to listen in. First up:

The new Franz Ferdinand track that is quote "not a single" is quite catchy. But not as out of the box as I would have hoped for. Its called Lucid Dreams and its only available to stream on their site for a "limited time".

This track, an unreleased song from the recording session of their debut album Hold On Now Youngster! called "How I Taught Myself to Scream". Its a kind of dark and rough. Just the way I like it. It reflects more the live nature of the band that I think was lost in overpolishing some of the LP tracks. Look for their sophomore album due out this year (fast I know!) We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed. Download or stream it on imeem

Lastly but not leastly, Oasis has a new song off their upcoming 35th album, Dig Out Your Soul and its called "Falling Down". Not a huge fan of Oasis' later work, but I am definitely a fan of this song. Very rhythmic and hooky, not all fuzzy and wandering. I only have a youtube non-video but here ya go.

----------------
Now playing: My Bloody Valentine - I Only Said
via FoxyTunes

I RUN FROM THE DUST AND GLOOM WITH ONLY MY SECRETS TO KEEP ME WARM

2008-08-12T21:59:00.000-07:00

Its been far too long since I've done a Libertines related post, so here are two lovely surprises to all you libz lovurz (which should be everyone on this good green earth if I had it my way). The first is an interview with Dirty Pretty Things from musicnews.com. Personally I love reading DPT interviews if only because I don't have to translate Carl's often unintelligible mumbling. The downside of course, is that I can't see his godlike visage. But you can't always get what you want. If you were wondering, yes Boyz is a gay lifestyle magazine. However all of the members claim to be straight (We all know, of course, that this is a gross fabrication).

The second goodie is a mix of Libs B-Sides and rarities. Now, usually B-sides are lo-fi and deemed too mediocre to be put on any actual album. The former could certainly be argued for these tracks but in no way are they mediocre. The sources for these tracks are the singles b-sides, an EP or 2, the unreleased demo album (Legs 11), the legendary Babyshambles sessions, and maybe 1 more I am forgetting. I especially recommend listening to the ones I have starred, because they reflect a very different sound than the romantic punk that everyone expects. It is romantic yes, but the sound is much more mod than punk, you'll have to hear it to really understand, but the Legs 11 album is something I listen to more often than their traditionally released ones. Yes, it is that good. And I don't feel too back about uploading these tracks, bc most of them were given away b the band anyways. Here are the tracks included (not necessarily in order). Enjoy! PS I can tell the above pic is an early one, because their leather jackets look all squeaky and new and Pete hasn't got electrical tape on his jeans.

Music When the Lights Go Out (Legs 11 version)
Half-Cocked Boy*
Hooray For the 21st Century
I Got Sweets
Never Never
Love on the Dole*
Bucket Shop*
Dilly Boys
Through the Looking Glass
Sister Sister*(with John Hassall on lead vocals!)
Skag and Bone Man
Anything But Love*
France (Legs 11 version)
Mayday
7 Deadly Sins (instrumental)
Lust of the Libertines*
The Delaney (THIS HAS THE BEST RIFF KNOWN TO MAN)
Back From the Dead
Death on the Stairs (Bernard Butler version)
Lazy Sunday Afternoon* (Small Faces Cover)
Who's Got the Crack (Moldy Peaches cover)
Breck Road Lover*
You're My Waterloo*

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=MYFD2RPF

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Now playing: The Cure - Just Say Yes
via FoxyTunes

I LIKE YOU SO MUCH BETTER WHEN YOU'RE NAKED

2008-08-05T18:06:00.000-07:00

HAI INTERNET. ITs me. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you my favorite new blog of the moment. HIPSTER RUNOFF or HRO for cool kids in the know. As HRO says, they are a blog worth blogging about, and that is certainly true. It truly a pioneer of a new frontier in blogging. Post-alt satire. HRO makes fun of "alt bro's and ho's". Which is basically anyone who thinks they are cool by shopping at American Apparel (or Mer Per and my semi alt friend Amanda like to call it) or Urban Outfitters. Or liking a band based on who's blogging about it. He spends mos of the time trying to classify the "alt" as a poser, an entry level alt, or some other classification he pulls from his brain he even makes diagrams like this one.

Not to say that I haven't been guilty of these transgressions from time to time, but sometimes you get the biggest laugh out of laughing at yourself and people you know. My two favorite article so far have been in two very separate arenas. The first has to do with clothing, the second with music. This shows you my versatility. The funny thing about this blog is that you can't quite tell the opinion of the author. Is he really just making fun of "alts" or is he such an "alt himself the only way he can authenticate and legitimize his status is by mocking all the other hipsters.

Here, HRO makes fun of the NME's "coolest USA bands of the moment. As much as I love the NME, I think I take HRO's side on this one. CHECK

And here he ponders what the world would be like if everyone who owned Sambas were required to register for an indoor soccer league. I play indoor soccer. But I don't own Sambas. What does that make me?

Lastly, I would like to introduce you to my favorite song o' da moment, "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked" by Ida Maria. Its fun. Its chanty. You get to shout "NAKED" when you dance to it. What's not to like? DL HERE (Mixtape Maestro) She looks like a feisty chickadee.

EVERYTHING'S IN ORDER IN A BLACK HOLE

2008-07-22T18:19:00.000-07:00

Oh Lord. I lol'd my head off when I saw this makeup lesson from Jezebel's Slut Machine. Its a day look with a twist. I can't figure out how to embed it but check it out here.

Speaking of...I finally got around to checking out the new Misshapes.com. It looks really cool. Of course the only legacy I've left there is this extremely flattering picture someone snapped of me at Ruff Club.

I look

1. On drugs (debatable)

2. Confused by the flash (true)

3. Really hot an sweaty (true)

I like the streamers. Nice touch, Samantha. Oh well. I guess I'll have to wait until my return to my redeem myself pictorially.

Lastly, something actually musically related. When I was in London, Paul played me the new Fischerspooner single "The Best Revenge". It is soooo awesome. I know thier last album wasn't the greatest but I think their new album is gonna make them big again. Its like a mix of Cut Copy and Crystal Castles...but better....and with horns. Listen to it here.

THE ADRENALINE IT BURNS A HOLE

2008-07-19T23:53:00.000-07:00

If I wrote a linear narrative (thanks punk cinema!) of my trip to London, this post would be a novel, so I'll give you bullet points of things I learned.

#1. THERE ARE NICE PEOPLE OUT THERE.
I flew off to London by the seat of my pants. I didnt really have a place to stay, but help came in the form of two lovely people sent from above. The first was Lee Laborde who is a promoter for LiveNation and helped Chief book a couple of their gigs. One of the nicest guys I've ever met and kindly offered the spare room of his house in Clapham to me and the rest of the band. He is the dashing chap on the right.

However London is very large and some people don't like to take night buses by themselves for fear of being stabbed(wow I sure am glad my Mom didnt read the world news), so luckily I met a friend of Paul's named Alicia who let me crash with her a few nights at her flat in Kentish Town. Here is one of the 10,000 pics i have of her. Elle mag online picked this outfit out of the crowd @ wireless for a festival style article.

She actually became probably the best friend I had in London! So fate worked out nicely in that way.

#2. TRY NOT TO GET DRUNK ON TWO HOURS OF SLEEP AND GO SEE THE NATIONAL
Otherwise, you will end up getting overexcited about a band you don't really care that much about and end up taking approx. ONE MILLION blurry pictures of the stage and make a general fool out of yourself. Exhibit A:

#3.ALL OF THE MAJOR RECORD COMPANIES ARE ON THE SAME STREET.
High Street Kensington to be exact. Well, Sony BMG wasnt there when I was but it will be by now. And I got to go visit all of them as Paul (my favorite Englishman as you all know....well of the ones I know personally) let me tag along to all of his business meetings. Thank you so much Paul!

#4. LAUGHING GAS IS REALLY FUN
Can we get it in the US? This is what you look like shortly after you take it. The other girl in the pic is the gorgeous Tijan who is very cool and hopefully visiting me in NYC!

#5. DOING GUESTLIST AT DURAN DURAN's BIGGEST SHOW IS VERY STRESSFULL
Seriously. It was fun, but NO ONE knows what list they are on and there are like 35 lists and six girls working at the same time, and people show up like 5 mins before the band are due on and expect you to find their tickets for them and then get upset that they don't have aftershow passes. On the plus side, I did get to hang out backstage, meet most of the band, and roam around basically wherever I wanted. Since guestlist took so long, I only got to catch the last 2/3rds of the band's show. I was specifically impressed at the band's cover of The Normal's "Warm Leatherette" which is an awesome sort of new/no wave/post punk hidden gem. Good job guys. Here is me @ the show, obviously stoked

#5 I REALLY FUCKING LOVE CHIEF.
This band is so developed and tight for a new band its scary. They nailed almost all of their shows. Their sound is not something I'd usually go for, but the style they have which is kind of Verve meets like Americana type Neil Young, is done flawlessly. They all sing vocals so there is that really full harmony element. Plus their lyrics are amazing. My current fav is "You Tell Me", which Danny wrote. Basically if you see them live, you become a fan of the band and thats pretty much it. The amount of industry people who showed up to their Hoxton gig was shocking, esp considering that it was raining and the place was damn near impossible to find. Drew and Adam from Babyshambles (!) and Joe Lean was also there with his Jing Jang Jong (Or as Paul would refer to them later in the night as the Jing Fooking Faggots. They got in a bit of a tiff.) Here is a photo that I love that Paul took of all of us outside the 100 Club, where they did their first London gig.

I was also especially proud of them when they played @ wireless on Sunday in front of like, 800 people, which is a huge amount considering their stage and time slot. Ben Harper was scheduled to do a secret early set right before them, so I think a part of the crowd turned up for that. But there was a miscommunication and Ben ended up not playing, and Chief took advantage of the gathered crowd. But then NOBODY left. It was so amazing. I was in front of the barricade filming the whole thing and I just got this overwhelming feeling of happiness for them. They sounded amazing. After they finished the crowd totally dissipated (sad for the next band coming on though). Keeping a festival crowd is a tough job, considering they are not captive, they (probably) didnt pay just to see you, and they could just as easily walk over and get a drink or a bite. This is an really cool pic that Paul or took over Evan's shoulder. Note the Denmark Loves You sign. They've already conquered Europe. Clearly.

I also must share this totally amazing random pic that Paul took. Its fate really.

SO if you havent checked them out yet GO DO IT RIGHT NOW.

#6. A LOT OF SEMI-FAMOUS PEOPLE HANG OUT/STAY AT THE K WEST
We went there on a night the band had off after we had seen Band of Horses at Shepard's Bush Empire. The people that I remember being there were Liam Fray and the rest of the Courteeners (i think, I only really know what Liam looks like), Basshunter, Damon Marley, and Paolo Nutini (I talked to him outside for like 5 minutes before I realized who he was). And this was just like, a random Tuesday night. The drinks were super expensive though. The trick was to get someone to buy them for you :). We took many photo here but these are my favorites.

#7. THE BEDS AT K WEST ARE VERY COMFORTABLE.
Hee hee. Just sayin.

#8. WHEN ON TOUR, BRING A SHITLOAD OF STUFF WITH YOU, OR GET USED TO WEARING THE SAME CLOTHES FOR DAYS.
UGH, this was a very valuable lesson I learned, for my clothes never seemed to be residing in the same place as me when I woke up in the mornings, and I guess I thought it a waste of time to go back to wherever they were. One thing that made it better though, was on Sunday of wireless I got an artist pass, which let me go backstage and have access to pretty much everything the artists did. Including the free Bed Head Salon, where you could book a haircut and style fo freeee. I got one, and it felt so good, I can;t even describe it to you. I felt 100% better. Then I thought I was a hair model. Decidedly untrue, but one can dream.

#9. I FOUND TWO NEW FAVORITE DRINKS.
The first was Gaymer's Pear Cider. It is delicious. Its like apple cider, but with alcohol. Like the original mike's hard. So you don't feel like such a pussy drinking it. The second was Jameson's on the rocks. It may sound a bit...alcoholic, but after waaaaay too much free beer/cider, sometimes all you want is a little concentrated liquid courage. And this was the perfect remedy.

#10. MINGE MEANS LADYBERRY AREA.
You learn something new everyday.

#11 I CAME THISCLOSE TO GETTING TO MEET PETE DOHERTY. THEN CRUEL FATE SHAT ON MY HEAD.
In the cab over to Wireless on Friday me, Paul, and some of Chief shared a cab with Matt Bates from Primark, a booking agency. After impressing everyone with my encyclopedic knowledge of The LIbertines, Matt told me that he was Pete's agent. Keeping my cool, I asked, "so when can I meet him?", Matt said I could accompany him to Pete's Royal Albert Hall gig, complete with box seats. This filled me with boundless joy, but unfortunately I was due to leave on the tenth and his gig was on the twelfth. whyyyyy oh whyyyyyy. its ok. it will happen someday. im sure of it. I told Matt I was coming back to London in January and maybe there would be some gigs then, to which Matt responded with a lighthearted laugh, "Oh, he'll be dead by then". Some people have no faith.

#12. I LOVE LONDON AND CAN'T WAIT TO GO BACK.
That needs no explanation.

GET DOWN ON IT

2008-06-14T00:16:00.000-07:00

Helllloooo. ok so I promise I wil get back to regular posting soon but in the meantime, if you find yourself free on Tuesday night...or if you have plans you can back out of without losing your job /spouse, you should come down to Bowery Ballroom to see CHIEF supporting the Futureheads (!). This is a show I am very sad to be missing and if you are in the NYC area shame on you if you dont seize this opportunity for a night of mind blowing music.

WE PUT THE SASS IN SASQUATCH DAY 1

2008-06-04T09:55:00.000-07:00

OK so I know its been like over a week since Sasquatch and probably no one is interested anymore, but I don't care. Here is a log of the adventures of Samantha and Caitlin, festival going virgins:

FRIDAY: Even though the festival had not yet officially begun, the partay definitely had. There were campers everywhere from all over the world (OK only really the US and Canada) who were really to kick of the weekend in...well style wouldn't really be the right word. Let's say enthusiasm. Caitlin and I dove right into the festivities and before we knew it, we were in VIP camping drinking Grey Goose out of some Canadian boy's trunk and...well I'll leave it there, but suffice it to say the night ended with me losing my bra and my phone. not fun. but fun.

SATURDAY

We kicked off the day with the FLEET FOXES, who were awesome. The way FF's songs sound is completely opposite to what you would expect because they are SO young. The songs sound like they came through a whisper in the trees of some ancient forest. "Oliver James" and "White Winter Hymnal" are definitely my favorites. (Photo credit: Brooklyn Vegan)

Then we made our way down to the pit so Caitlin could see her future husband aka the ever a-fucking-dorable Zach Condon of BEIRUT. I had seen them once before at NYU but this was a way different experience. I really just can't believe that all of these epic ballads come from this skinny 20 something american from New Mexico. The music just suited the beautiful, slightly overcast afternoon beautifully. And we noticed that Zach has french horn tattoos on both of his inner wrists. Hot. (Photo Credit: Caitlin Tormey)

After Beirut, we went back up to our little spot on the hill and snoozed through Ozamatli (sorry diana) and were planning to sleep through the National as well, when WHO should show up but none other than RAINN WILSON, aka Dwight K Schrute. OK, so he was there promoting his new movie, The Rocker, but he was SO funny. Me and Caitlin definitely both have an ugly crush on him. Anyways he told us that the National was ~~too arty and depressed to play~~ stuck somewhere in Canada because their bus broke down. So Fleet Foxes played again instead! Horay!

After Fleet Foxes part 2 we made our way down again to the pit to catch the end of the New Pornographers and get a good spot for MIA. But being the dumb inexperienced shits that we are, we didn't realize that we needed to stand really close to the metal gate to get into the inner pit area. So we were stuck where we were against the metal partition thing. Oh Well. I hadn't really heard too much of the New Pornographers stuff, but they were really awesome. And then they did a cover of ELO's "Don't Bring Me Down" which is one of my favorite old songs. I used to sing along to it all the time on the radio when I was five.

ANYWAYS. then MIA came on, and the place went....well, less wild than I would have expected. I don't know. I think maybe this wasn't exactly MIA's target market. Their were some technical problems too, and the performance just didn't seem to run very smoothly. Especially when she was like "Hey sound guy? We need to pretend this is Glastonbury 1993 and we are all on E and this is a rave!!!". I think about 25 people got the reference. But she sounded great when the sound was working. AND she was wearing a t-shirt with a giant picture of Ian Curtis with his name and birth/death day on the back. Which kind of gives her a million points in my book. And she invited people to come up on stage and dance with her. So I don't know. Maybe it evened out.

Sadly, as MIA was playing, I realized I was ill-equipped for the inclement weather ahead:

So after we trudged back up to our hill, we decided to smoke some smoke-ables. Where I proceeded to get high out of my mind. I do not like this feeling. I am upset it made me too incoherent to see Johnny Marr on the big screen thingy. It seriously felt like Modest Mouse played for 3 days. I was so confused. But everyone else seemed happy. So thats good. Then REM got up...and it started to rain. And all we had was one little blanket between four of us. I was not a happy camper. It could have been Michael Moore singing down there instead of Michael Stipe and I wouldn't have noticed. All I wanted to do was get back into my nice warm and dry sleeping bag and fall asleep. Luckily it started raining hard enough that everyone else wanted to leave too. And I did make it back. And I dove into my sleeping back and fell asleep in about three seconds

NO YOU DIDNT, AND NO YOU DONT

2008-05-21T11:24:00.000-07:00

OK. I love Liam Fray. I really do. But, seriously could he be ANY more of a Libertines worshipper/rip off-er? I mean we all know that his songs are just one after another glorified Don't Look Back Into the Suns. And now NME reports that the B-side to the Courteeners new single "No You Didn't and No You Don't" is going to be a cover of "Dream a LIttle Dream of Me". Which was a huge number in the Libertines live show in their early days and a crowd favorite at their reunion in 2007.

I mean we all know that Lam and a secret Pete and Carl shrine that he prays to every night, but I didn't think he would make it so obvious to the rest of the world. And by rest of the world, I mean Libertines fans.

Check out the REAL (feat. Carl on vocals) deal doing an awesome cover at their reunion show complete with tap dancing!

AAAND WE'RE BACK ON DRUGS

2008-05-16T17:08:00.001-07:00

God love the boy, but if he is going to go back to his crack-tastic ways, why oh WHY does he have to share his benders with the world. I mean I find them mildly fascinating. but thats only because I'm obsessed. Seriously. It really is funny that the two most fucked up people in London finally find each other. It seems they are just friends, especially because Amy uses a mouse to beg Blake not to divorce her, but seeing that Pete will probably have sex with just about anyone, I can't see it staying platonic for long.

"he looks like Johnny Borrell just come out of the bath" EPIC LULZ

I like redbullll I like adderalllll

2008-05-15T17:33:00.001-07:00

HEY

whilst sarah is studying communism in Cuba, I've taken over the Redbull and Adderall section of the Almack's Dance Hall blog for the rest of this week. Here is today's entry and be sure to check in every day for your daily dose o' stimulants.

more song chart memes

If you missed American Idol last night, you missed (and this is putting it mildly) one hell of a performance from former Idol contestant Fantasia Barrino. Too bad hers is the most exciting performance of the season thus far. Gawker has the vid.

Conor Oberst is realeasing a solo album, out on August 4th. I'm glad he's branching out, it'll be interesting to see how he fares now that he's escaped from under the shadow of....all those other influential people in Bright Eyes.

Oh la la. Looks like Lily Allen has been doing some all over tanning work in the south of France. And I mean all over.

So...a "fat girl" finally wins America's Next Top Model. Only Dlisted doesn't think the fight was quite fair. Rumor has it that winner Whitney didn't start out as the curvaceous babe she purports herself to be.

The latest installment of the addictive 3 1/3 Series that features in depth analysis of seminal albums in mini-book form is out with their latest installment (#56), Black Sabbath's Master of Reality. Author John Darnielle will be doing a reading at Housingworks Used Book Cafe on Saturday at 7pm. Get out your devil horns.

We all remember the times we laid on the floor of our bedrooms and stare at album covers all day long, but did you ever wonder what was going on outside the frame? Well, this guy did and came up with some pretty hilarious ideas.

Hot Chip are going on tour....again! I would say that I'm getting tired of them...but their just too damn catchy. They are coming to NYC in October to Terminal 5 (best venue ever!....NOT). You can get more info on Spin.com

(BOYS) DON'T CRY

2008-05-13T19:47:00.000-07:00

This is hi-ho-larious.

I showed this to my mom and she was like i dont get it. and I was like, "you know...friday im in love? THE CURE?!?" and my mom was like...."who is the cure?". Please kill me. Im living in a bubble of musical ignorance.

I'm going to play my first indoor soccer game tonight. shoot me. in the face.

I'M NOT LYING TO YOU

2008-05-12T12:45:00.001-07:00

If you are lucky enough to still (unlike me) me in the city this Wednesday, you better be getting yo ass down to Mercury Lounge to see Chief . They are gonna be big. Trust me on this one. Their songs are just totally perfect and timeless and amazing. Very polished for a band that hasn't even gotten signed yet. Go. see them. you will thank me later.

ARRESTING: TOKYO POLICE CLUB @ BOWERY APRIL 22

2008-05-10T17:30:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday evening, my encounter with Tokyo Police Club started far earlier than I had anticipated. I was supposed to go see Forgetting Sarah Marshall before the concert in Union Square, but apparently so was everyone else. And their Grandma. And their dog. We got there twenty minutes early and it was STILL sold out. I was pretty upset, especially because Russell Brand is pretty much my favorite comedian. I would gladly feed his sex addiction problem if given the opportunity. Anyways, I found myself wandering Virgin Megastore, killing time until I met up with my photographer friend, Annie, who was going to try to get a ticket despite them being sold out online. I heard a familiar sound coming from the cafe area and, sure enough, there was TPC playing an in-store. So I wandered over to watch them. They sounded pretty good but as I will tell anyone who will listen, I hate Virgin in-stores. Florescent lighting and live m
usic does not make a good combo for me.

So after wandering aimlessly for a while I went to meet my friend Annie and we walked down (in the insanely beautiful evening weather) to see if we couldn’t finagle a ticket. We got there and there weren’t too many people standing outside and we felt really sketch going up to people and asking for a ticket, and I think they thought we were sketch too. Finally I was like “Well, I guess you could go up to the bouncer and see if they have any extra tickets”, and she asked him and he was like “uh…yeah just go right downstairs”. So basically we embarrassed ourselves by looking like shady fools for no reason.

So we got there just as the second opening band, Smoosh, was about to go on, when they took the stage I literally thought I was seeing things. Were these children of the band members? Two young girls, one at keyboards and behind the drums just looking as cute as cherry lollipops. They launched into their first song and the whole audience (including myself) just sort of stood there with their mouths open. At the risk of sounding like a total tool, I can say without any underlying irony that these girls were rockin’. They just looked like they were having the time of their lives, smiling at each other the whole time, and the little drummers ponytail was whipping about at breakneck speed. Their sound was like indie synth pop, but not the boring kind. It had a fun punky bluesy edge. I thought they were kind of like the The White Stripes, firstly because they were a duo and they looked related, but also because the drummer looked like a little Meg White, drumming in that kind of crazed cavewoman style. In case you didn’t realize, I’m kind of obsessed with the drummer. I kind of want to be her. Turns out that she’s FOURTEEN. Yeah, and it gets better. At the beginning of their third song, their little sister comes on stage to play bass. Their ELEVEN year old sister. I just couldn’t believe my eyes. They were so great. The audience loved them too. Possibly more than they loved TPC, but we’ll get to that later.

So TPC takes the stage and launches into their first song, and the first thing I noticed was that they had a pretty sick stage setup. The stage was totally dark except for about six light rods that kept changing colors in time to the music. That was a bad description, but luckily Annie took amazing photos so you can see it in all its spectral glory. Sadly, this was possibly the only interesting part of their whole show. There seemed to be an invisible wall between the band and the crowd. People just weren’t into it. Except for about four songs (”You’re English is Good”, “Box”, “Cheer It On”, and “Cut Cut Paste”) people weren’t even really dancing. And I was in the front, where you would presume all the people who would want to dance would be. They had the audience clap along to songs several times in an attempt to make people, I dunno, do something, but it only sort of worked. It was really weird actually, because the band was actually pretty energetic. The guitarist was shr
edding the hell out of his guitar with these sick space age riff-solo things, the lead singer’s neck was straining with the Strokes-y vocal delivery, and the keyboardist was playing like his life depended on it, but the crowd just didn’t reciprocating the energy. It was kind of sad. And then there was this guy who kept yelling how shitty the audience was and everyone was getting really mad at him, but secretly I kind of agreed with him. I mean people were barely clapping for an encore. Maybe it was because this was like, their sixth show this week in NYC. In any case, it was a shame because I think that TPC has great songs, and sort of remind me of the first wave of indie “the” bands (like The Stokes), but with a strong dose of Arcade Fire-like synth melody. I just wish all of those good elements would translate into an infectious live performance. But then one interesting thing happened when the guy who was slagging off the crowd jumped up onstage and started dancing and the
n ran backstage. Which was mildly entertaining.

So, sadly, my mind was not blown by this performance, but I guess I have to accept that not every concert I go to will be life changing. Sigh, such is life.

While my mind may not have been blown by TPC, it certainly was by the AMAZING pics that my friend Annie took. Check it:

HIM AND HER AND: SHE AND HIM @ KIMMEL APRIL 23

2008-05-10T17:29:00.001-07:00

The thing I love about shows at NYU is that I can roll out of bed and walk 100 yards to the Kimmel Center and get to see some pretty cool bands. Not that I’m usually in bed at 9pm but the opportunity is there and thats what counts. What I didn’t realize about this show was that it was in Skirball Auditorium, which is a seated venue.

I have a love hate relationship with sit down concerts. My favorite thing to do at concerts is scream my lungs out and just totally lose myshit with reckless abandon, which is something that is pretty much impossible at a sit down show, unless you decide to stand up, which most people don’t. On the other hand, your feet don’t get tired. So it has its benefits. And I think She and Him are a good choice for sitting down because their music is pretty low key, and benefit from a closer listen that is easier when you aren’t trying to dodge the drunkard next to you spilling their beer on your back.

The concert started off with opener Thao wih the Get Down Stay Down, which was an alt country/folk pop four piece from LA. I actually think Iliked them better than I liked She and Him, and I’ll explain that later. You know the type of person that, whatever comes out of their mouth is just totally hilarious and you keep giggling about what they said long after you saw them? That was how the lead singer of this band was. From the beginning she just kept telling this extended joke about when they played at another college, they were mis-scheduled and ended up having to open for the Ying Yang Twins. If I had been drinking milk it would have come out my nose. Thankfully I wasn’t. Their music was sort of like a fuller sounding Kings of Leon but with a female vocalist who kind of reminded me of a mix between Regina Spektor and Bjork. The kind of voice where the singer deliberately seems to distort themselves and cut of in weird places, but it comes out sounding totally beautiful. That’s what Thao sounded like. Their songs all sounded great but pretty similar to me, but this is not a type of music I listen to very often. The one song I do remember standing out was one where Thao started beatboxing in the intro, which was pretty badass.

Then She and Him (She being actress Zooey Deschanel, and Him being singer-songwriter M. Ward) took the stage along with the rest of their backing band with great anticipation from the crowd. There was this moment right before they started their first song that was total silence, and everyone seemed to be holding their breath. I thought to myself “Well, that was awkward”. But it didn’t stop there! That same moment of silence happened between like every single song! Finally Zooey said something in this really annoying baby voice “um…hi,” and everyone just burst out laughing. The thing was, she totally wasn’t funny. And she kept saying unfunny shit and everyone kept laughing. I felt kind of embarrassed for the crowd. Maybe it was because there was no alcohol for sale or something, but I couldn’t figure out why there was this strange aura about everything. Finally I leaned over to my friend Cara and was like, “Why is everyone acting SO awkward, I don’t think I can take much more of this.” And she was like “I think its because there’s a lot of sexual tension in the room. I mean, all the guys want to have sex with Zooey and all the girls want to have sex with M. Ward.” Leave it to Cara to bring up sexual tension, but she was totally right. The show felt kind of like a bad first date, with the both sides sort of muttering things desperately to engage the other person, and then overcompensating. Itwas just a really weird vibe.

Other than THAT though, the show was great. Zooey has a gorgeous voice, if a little too forcedly southern sounding, and it was suited perfectly to their slow blues rock style. Her harmonies with M. Ward were rather heart melting and beautiful. The only complaint I would have is that I thought they should have had M. Ward sing on his own more often, because its amazing on its own. My favorite song they did was actually a cover of “You Really Got a Hold on Me,” which emphasized how well Zooey and M.Ward’s vocals complemented each other. When they came back onstage for their encore, they brought the members of Yo La Tengo on with them, which was a nice surprise for a lot of people in the audience, like me, who love Yo La Tengo. Sadly, they didn’t actually play any YLT songs, they just shook maracas and played piano.

So, I’d say all in all it was an OK show. I’m sorry that my last two reviews have been kind of cynical but hopefully my faith will be restored tonight when I go see Foals at Bowery, so stay tuned for that. Sadly, my photo friend cancelled at the last minute so I don’t have any photos for you, but I will next time!

ITS ALL THAT WE CAN DO: FOALS @ BOWERY APRIL 24

2008-05-10T17:20:00.000-07:00

Spring is in the air, which means its time for a Foals concert obviously. I had forgotten the simple pleasure of being able to walk to a concert without freezing your ass off. My friend Annie and I went to Cosmic Cantina before the concert and can I just say it was some of the freshest bestest mexican food ever? Its all organic and delicious and full of yum. It was the perfect complement to the perfect weather that I basically wanted to make love to, but it didn’t really prepare us for the sweaty pit of Foals madness.

We missed the first opening band, but I ran into my friend Keith from the awesome band A Million Years, and he said that they were called Telepathe and they were “really horrible and boring”. Since Keith and I have very similar music taste, I trust his opinion. I wish his band had been opening. Because they rule.

The second band we were there to see and they were called The Epochs and I really couldn’t decide if I liked them or not. They had moments where I kind of just sounded like they were making a lot of okay sounding noise and added some creepy vocals over the top, but then they would have these moments of total epic-ness where if sound could explode, I think it would have exploded. I used to think that I really didn’t like prog-ish rock very much but lately I’ve really been getting off on the jamming parts of shows so pretty soon you might find me learning Stairway to Heaven on my guitar and listening to The Wall.

When Foals took the stage was very excited because 1. Foals are from the UK and that puts them at an advantage already and 2. I found their music so catchy and addictive that I couldn’t go one night of DJing without playing one of their tracks. They played my very favorite song “Cassius” second which, for some reason always makes me want to do a Native American type jig while simultaneously windmilling my arms in opposite directions….yeah. The crowd shared my enthusiasm and before long I was swept up in a sweaty man filled mosh pit. Maybe its the heavily featured saxophone but I found this crowd to be kind of testosterone driven, with this group of guys behind us pretending they were English (yelling out “alright boys?” and chanting “England, England” etc.) it was pretty entertaining. Despite all the men around there was this group of girls who was getting super annoyed with them being rowdy. I would like to take this opportunity to vent against pissy girls. Dear bitches, maybe you don’t go to very many concerts or something, but there are two constants: beer and drunk people. When those factors are present combined with the fact that people are dancing and in close quarters there is a very high chance that drinks are going to get spilled. Its a way of life, so get over it. I got like three beers dumped on me and do you see me complaining? No. It cooled me off. It tasted good. Get over yourselves. Whew, OK end rant.

Foals’ music simultaneously makes me want to jump out my skin in ecstasy and listen really hard to what they are doing because their music is so complex with the guitars and the sax and the drums and they keyboards and everything its just insane. In any case I just wish that they had more material than one album because their set was just under an hour due to the fact that they “sort of ran out of songs to play ” for us. Which was sad, because all of their songs are awesome. If you want to know the setlist, just check out their debut album Antidotes, because its awesome.

So Annie and I skipped home high on music and life, and windmilled all the way home. The End

THIS IS MUSIC: THE VERVE @ MSG APRIL 28

2008-05-10T17:18:00.000-07:00

When I heard that The Verve were going to be playing a few months ago, I basically flipped. “Bittersweet Symphony” has been one of my favorite songs since I was about ten. I had only just gotten into the rest of their discography, so I was eager to hear live the songs I had recently grown to love.

My friend Bennett and I took a cab up to MSG because it was raining and we were both having bad days. But we both foresaw it turning around after this concert. We got some drinks to take the edge off, and settled down in our seats to wait for the show to start. Looking around observing the crowd, I realized that we were only a few other (barely) teenagers there besides us. I guess that makes sense, since the band hadn’t performed in New York for almost ten years. In about three minutes, we had both finished our drinks (we had REALLY bad days, ok?), and decided to go for round two. Its a good thing we did because I ran into my favorite Mancunian, Paul Adams! He had the sad misfortune of going with a friend who had not yet recovered from ankle surgery and was forced to sit near the back of the theatre, despite having a general admission pass. He offered to switch tickets with us so we could get closer down into the action (we were in the seated section), and we trekked down to
the side of the stage to try to explain to the guards that we wanted to switch tickets but since Bennett and I didn’t have GA wristbands, they wouldn’t let us switch. So we grudgingly slogged back to our seats.

As we were about to sit down, the band took to the stage (there were no openers), and we jumped right back up because OH MY GOD, there they were in all their legendary glory with the amazing Richard Ashcroft right in center stage. I forget what song they opened with because I was too in awe of how Ashcroft does not appear to have aged a day since I watched a video of him walking down the street for five minutes in fourth grade. By the time they started their second song “This is Music” I had come back to reality and started dancing my pants of, because this song and pretty much every other Verve song makes me feel like my feet could just lift right off the ground. I guess the rest of the crowd didn’t share my feelings, or maybe they were tired, because we were almost the only ones standing up in our section, and probably literally the only ones dancing. I felt kind of bad for the poor sod who had his view of obscured by my shakin’ booty, but not that bad. You paid good money
for these tickets, sir! Get up and dance!

Despite Ashcroft’s handsome appearance, after the first few songs I spent very little time looking at the stage. The sound they made (especially with the crap MSG acoustics) was phenomenal and I was lost in my own little eyes-closed-arms-waving-hair-flying universe. Even though I knew almost every song they played, it sounded new, and I think that is the mark of a legendary band. Their sound is just so all-encompassing and huge sounding that its hard not to get caught up and find yourself in distortion and reverb heaven. They stormed through most of the favorites (except Slide Away, which is an amazing song) including “Drugs Don’t Work”, “Sonnet”, and “Lucky Man”, “Life’s an Ocean” and “Weeping Willow”. As the songs progressed, Ashcroft’s zip-up shirt kept getting more and more unzipped, and I made a bet with Bennett that he would take his shirt off. Crushingly (for both my wallet and my heart) he did not. They also played the epic ten-minuter “Gravity Grave”. I am telling
you, I used to hate long songs passionately but lately they are just my favorite part of gigs! Its like you are going into an underwater tunnel and lose all concept of space and time when they song is going on, until it stops and you come up gasping for breath on the other side, realizing that you were only in a temporary reality. Sorry if that was a little metaphysical, but it was seriously a spiritual experience. It was THAT good.

They kicked their encore off with the heart-wrenching and gorgeous “History” which , in a very cliche way, sent a wave of shivers all over me. But this was no match for my reaction to “Bittersweet Symphony”, which basically consisted of me melting into a puddle. . It sounded a hundred times better live, which is incredible considering how great it sounds recorded. Finally the whole crowd was standing up and waving their hands in the air, huge smiles of ecstasy plastered on their faces. They just kept playing it for what seemed like forever, the sound just kept getting bigger and bigger and I thought I would just combust with happiness. Thankfully I survived. They played a new song for their closer, which I found kind of lame. I mean, the song was good, but it was sort of an anti-climax after “Symphony”. But that didn’t make me any less ecstatic as I made my way out into the drizzly night . Our night (and the weather) had improved so much we didn’t even mind taking the subway
home.

GOING TO THE CLINIC MAY 8TH @ MUSIC HALL

2008-05-10T16:41:00.000-07:00

I had never heard Clinic’s music up until last night. I had heard of them many times, in magazines, on blogs, on the street. But I had never heard a clear definition of their sound. Some people (ahem, ohmyrockness) says they sound like a “post-OK Computer Radiohead”. This means almost nothing to me mostly because Kid A and Hail to the Thief are not records I listen to very often (please don’t shoot me). Others (ahem Pitchfork) calls them “recombinant rock”….uh….okay. So I really didn’t know what to expect when I turned up at Music Hall (by myself because all of my friends are in the midst of finals….something I somehow miraculously avoided).

I got there just as the second band Violens was about to go on. I was eager to hear what they sounded like since I had read about them in the last L Magazine’s new band feature. I scuffled in the stage area like a bum and slid down on the side wall to the right of the stage. Did I mention that I was stoned? Oh yeah, I was. Really fucking high. Right after I sat down these two girls started talking to me and seemed to think I was really cool despite me looking like I had just rolled out of bed and was probably responding to all of their questions with only semi-decipherable word vomit. Maybe that’s the reason rock stars are so popular. Somehow within (what seemed like to me) about 5 minutes, one of the girls was talking about how we were gonna hang out or something and I seriously started to freak out. Had I given these girls my cell number? full name? social security? God help me. Just as I started to get really confused, the sound of the band coming onstage saved me.

The first thing I noticed was that the lead singer looks like that character Sawyer form Lost. Which is a plus for the band, they were really working from advantage form the beginning. They, like I would later discover with Clinic, had a sound that was like a water nymph of genres: totally impossible to pin down. Their intros sometimes sounded rhythmic and almost Libertines-ish, but then they would add in synths and kind of slow everything down. Then they would speed up again into an almost metal-like frenzy. And the vocals sounded like almost an American Morrissey. Really. This guy had a good set of pipes. But it was almost like Jekyll and Hyde. We’re hard rock! No wait, we’re mods! But I was nonetheless pretty captivated by their performance. Mostly because they couldn’t seem to keep one sound together for more than a few minutes.

After Violens were over, I went to the bathroom. When I came back the girls were gone. Probably to steal my identity with all of the information I had given them. I sat back down and tried to make myself be less high. It didn’t really work. Then the band came on and they were wearing surgical masks and Hawaiian shirts. I really thought I had lost my mind at this point. But I sort of forgot about all that as they started to play. Although they played very differently music then Violens, their style of encompassing just about every genre you can imagine into one song was very similar. When I asked the random girl I met what Clinic sounded like. She said “electro-folk”. That kind of describes them, but not really. They are like a word in a foreign language that isn’t directly translatable into English. No matter what words you use to describe them, it doesn’t quite cover all the bases. At times I heard what sounded like a native american chant over a synth melodies or really b
eautiful rocking vocals over marching drum and base lines.

The crowd was pretty thin, especially for a Thursday night, but I guess Clinic is not as big a band as some of the other headliners. Most of the people there were older hipster types. Ones that didn’t necessarily full deck themselves out in hipster garb but then again, are drinking PBRs on a Thursday in Williamsburg. Kind of hard to deny. They seemed to be enjoying the performance but you have to have x-po-mo-ray specs to tell because their enjoyment was hidden behind a veil of feigned apathy. But because it wasn’t too crowded I got to move around to all different locations to see the band. Which kept me entertained.

So after the band was finished I rushed out of the doors, unsure whether I had just witnessed the two most confused rock bands ever or the two most genius. I’m still not quite sure.

SHE'S NOT DEAD

2008-05-10T16:37:00.000-07:00

Yo bitches and hos

sorry I've been e-dead for the last little while. I have been out, you know. Living life etc. But I am going to do a little catch up posting the rest of my review's for Almack's and maybe a few other things. But I am going to be a lot more active around here. Mostly because I am going to be killing myself with boredom for the next few months as a go back home to Sacramento.

PICS FROM COLIN MELOY

2008-04-21T18:33:00.000-07:00

AN EVENING WITH COLIN MELOY

2008-04-18T14:51:00.001-07:00

I went to see Colin Meloy last night and it was great. Here is the show review that will be posted later at Almack's Dance Hall

Amazing pics coming soon courtesy of Elise Largesse!

I was a little weary when my friend Dorit asked me to go see Colin Meloy's solo show. Don't get me wrong, I love the Decemberists, but I didn't know if he was going to play just solo stuff, or Decemberists stuff or what, and I didn't really want to risk my $30. But I realized that I should go, because, let's face it, Colin Meloy is amazing, and I should be taking more chances in my life anyways.
We arrived at Music Hall in time to see the opener (shocking I know), Laura Gibson, who was a delightful surprise. She said she came from a tiny logging town outside of Portland, and from the top of her strawberry blond pony tail to the hem of her peter pan collar dress, she looked just the part. She had a refreshingly authentic demeanor that was really endearing, and by the end of her set I just wanted to put her in my pocket and take her home with me. She said the funniest things, but since she said everything in a quiet little girl voice, I'm not sure everyone heard her. Her voice was not overtly powerful but at the same time hypnotizing. She really won the crowd over when she sang a haunting rendition of traditional song "All The Pretty Horses", so much so that she got the crowd to sing along with her on the last song of her set "This is Not the End", although I think most people were warming their voices up for Colin.
It took the roadies a surprisingly long time to set up for AN ACOUSTIC show...as in only using a guitar, but I guess there needed to be three guitars on stage, a table with pictures on it and a bottle of Smart Water, and a chair with a record player on it. Whatever it takes Colin, just do your thang. Anyways, finally he comes on and the crowd goes nuts. I mean, these are like the die-hard fans of the Decemberists and boy were they excited to see their messiah saunter down the stairs carrying a two-thirds empty bottle of wine. This was a far more casual (and probably slightly more intoxicated) Colin than the one I saw dressed in a sharp pinstripe suit in San Francisco last year. Wearing jeans and a plain white t-shirt, he almost looks like a bro, save the quirky little newsboy cap he kept tipping to the audience. It is still a mystery to me how so many people (myself included) find Colin incredibly sexy, despite his incredibly average appearance. Must be his extensive knowledge of literary mythology.
From the first note of "Apology Song" he had the crowd hanging from his every word. Everyone had their heads tipped upward, just absorbing every note with the biggest smiles on their faces. I breathed out a sigh of relief knowing that this was going to be a set full of Decemberists songs. Huzzah! The second song (and my all-time favorite), "The Sporting Life", made my heart so happy. When he ended the song with a few lines of The Smiths "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now", my heart basically just fell out of my chest. Colin and Morrissey are just a deadly combination that my emotions can hardly take. Sadly, that was the last I was to hear of Morrissey for the rest of the night. After that he made his way through crowd favorites "O Valencia!" and "The Engine Driver". Somewhere in his set he told us a "really embarrassing story that shows how dumb I am" about how up until very recently he thought that Williamsburg, BK and Colonial Willaimsburg in Virginia were the same place. "I just thought these gentrifying hipsters were encroaching on this little circle that was being preserved for history". Needless to say, he had the crowd in stitches.
The thing that was so great about his performance was that it was like when you watch your favorite movie with the directors commentary on. He would pause in the middle songs to tell little anecdotes about how the song was written, or how it gets performed onstage. He introduced us to the characters sitting on his table, including Consuela the naked mermaid, Cornwallis the something-I-can't-remember, and a picture of a sock puppet who was soon to be named Alex after some dude in the audience who kept shouting out questions. I think Colin named the puppet after him to shut him up.
He proceeded to play through both new material (including a song about methodically killing children), an more Decemberists like "Leslie Anne Levine", "On The Bus Mall", and "Red Right Ankle". The closing number of his encore was "The Mariners Revenge Song", which is typically the most theatrical number of the Decemberists live show, so it was a surprise that he attempted it with a lone guitar, but the crowd was ecstatic. He had the crowd sing Jenny's high part to great success. He finished with a flourish, tipped his hat one last time, and left the crowd to soak in the epic-ness of their experience.

HERES ANOTHER

2008-03-27T22:57:00.000-07:00

Pic that I took at Crystal Castles that I realized was kind of amazing. you can like see the shadow of where Alice was a second before. Its pretty bomb:

sweet right? Ok Im going to Bedfordshire now zzzzz. But before I go....guess what?

CHRISTIAN SIRIANO IS HOSTING CLUB NME AT ANNEX NEXT THURSDAY!!!!

omg I fucking flipped when I heard this. I heart that boy. And Im gonna be spinnin your tunez. so make sure to head out to annex for a super fun time!!!

And lastly I want to dedicate this blog post to my gorgeous and wonderful friend Lynne Rey who celebrated her birthday yesterday and is seriously one of the most beautiful souls I have had the pleasure to know. I love you!

HELPING ALICE PRACTICE: CRYSTAL CASTLES @ STUDIO B

2008-03-26T19:58:00.000-07:00

I wasn't planning on going to see Crystal Castles last night. In my head I was telling myself that I had to work at 8 am, and I had school after that, and I had gotten 2 hours of sleep the night before. But being the NME slave that I am and being the NME darlings that they are, I just. couldn't. help it. I had only heard a few of their songs before, but their live show was supposed to be incredible, so I couldn't resist the urge to find out what the hype was all about.
They were playing at Studio B in Brooklyn so it was essential that I bring someone along to make sure I didn't get lost on the way home and end up sleeping in the subway. So when my lovely friend and music fiend Alex asked me if I wanted to go, I threw caution and responsibility to the wind and said yes. We didn't have tickets (natch) and advance tickets were sold out so we had to get there at 8 so we could be there when door tickets went on sale. When we got there the line was already super long. We were worried we might not get in, but we hunkered down anyways and waited. And waited. In the freezing cold. But after awhile the line started moving and we made it into the venue.
I would like to take this opportunity to tell the world just how much I love Studio B. True, its a little out of the way, and in an uninhabited area of buildings, but that kind of makes it more adventure like. The inside of this converted warehouse mixes just the right amount of comfort and industrial aesthetic. The floors are cement, and the accents are all chrome and metal, but if you go up the second floor candlelit lounge area, you can find the most comfortable couches known to man. Perfect for resting....or canoodling. Dual usage. Efficacy people, thats what Studio B is all about.
Anyways, we got in as the first band, Esque, was playing. They were kind of a Joy Division rip off. But with futuristic synth stuff added in. I thought they had the potential to be good, but they fell into a trap that I think a lot of bands without much experience fall into. They were all playing their separate instruments and there was no cohesion. But I think they have promise. They just need more practice.
While this band was playing my friend Alex and I met these two guys. One of them had one of those FREE PETE Pete Doherty t-shirts. And his name was Pete. Considering my near creepy obsession with P. Doh, we became fast friends. Before Health came on, the four of us went outside to smoke and talk about our love of Britpop, and we formed a little Studio B family.
We got back inside just as Health was starting their set. We were down on the floor but not quite into the dancing pit area. I don't know a single Health song. I only knew of them from their Crimewave collaboration with Crystal Castles. but I do know that they inspired a pretty crazy dance party with their insane beats and extreme energy onstage. It was a mix of noise rock and dance and they fit perfectly on the bill with Crystal Castles. They would start out with a shitstorm of random keys and drums and then it would sort of settle down and everyone thought the song was over. But then all of a sudden, it would start up again and catch you off guard, but in a good way.
As Crystal Castles took the stage, we were all standing together. But the minute they started playing, I was swept away in the sea of the sweltering crowd. I tried to put my arms up to dance, but I soon realized this was not a good idea. The second I did so I received several elbows on all parts of my torso, so I assumed a dancing position where I was sort of hugging myself and jumping around.
This band be crazy. This boy-girl duo operate with the guy in the back making all the out of this world noises that sound like they popped out of an 80s video game, and the girl in the front doing these whispery, growly type vocals. Their set was kind of like one long song. I'm sure they played Alice Practice, and I'm sure they played Air Wars, but the crowd was so chaotic that I could barely tell. Half of me was ecstatically enjoying the music, and the other half was fearing for my life. The crowd wasn't really violent per se, but it definitely felt dangerous. It was like this band was so amazing that everyone wanted to dance as fast and hard as they could, which resulted in a rather wild group of people. The lead singer girl was really something else. She was a maniac onstage. I seriously thought that her eyes were red at one point, and I had to go look up pictures of the show to make sure that they were, in fact, blue. Today I found out that she had just got into a car a
ccident and had broken ribs! Like what? Granted they have postponed most of their future dates so she can recoup, but she showed no signs of needing time off. Somehow, although I totally wasn't trying to, I got propelled to almost the very front. Despite what you'd think, it was a little safer in the front, because everyone is so squished against each other that there is no room to fall. Although I was without a camera (again) I got some kind of cool pics of the singer (who goes by Alice from what little info I can get on the duo) that I think captured the spirit of the night.

After the show it was already almost 1am, so I sprinted to the coat check and found Alex by miracle. Unfortunately we lost the other two guys we met, but such is life. We stumbled out onto the street and started our long trek back. As I woke up this morning at 8:23, feeling like I had fallen down a flight of stairs with three missed calls from my work wondering where I was, I thought to myself: that was SO worth it.

GO TO HANGER TONIGHT!

2008-03-21T16:03:00.000-07:00

Its gonna be insane. bring yo friends and lets make this another one of those "ridiculous nights at hanger". deal? deal.

HEY SCENESTERS, DON'T YOU WANNA BE RELEVANT? THE CRIBS AT MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG

2008-03-21T14:23:00.000-07:00

Here is my second review I wrote for the NYC live music blog Almack's Dance Hall

The Cribs hold a very special place in my heart. They were the first band I ever saw live way back when I was just a wee Catholic schoolgirl. They were opening for Franz Ferdinand and Death Cab For Cutie in May 2006. This was a period in my life when I had just recently started down the road to musical obsession and this concert was sort of like my induction to the British Indie Fan Club. To this day, they remain one of the only bands I have seen live and instantly fallen in love with without ever having heard any of their music. Last night when I saw them at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, it was like the experience I had two years ago, but like times a million.
I attended the concert with my friend Lauren who I met (non-creepily) on Facebook when we both realized that we lived close to each other and we were madly in love with the Libertines. So I knew that the concert was going to be a blast based solely on that factor. Sadly, our adventure was almost cut short when I rolled up to the box office window and asked for tickets, only to me met with a confused stare. “Uh, its sold out,” said the girl behind the glass. I calmly turned away from the window and contemplated how I was going to get myself out of this one. Luckily, good Samaritan #1 of the night came up to us and was like “Do you guys need tickets?” and we said, “UM YES PLZ” and he sold them to us for original price! Happy days.
When we made our way up to the venue area we found that we had already missed Drug Rug and the second act Jeffrey Lewis & The Jitters was already halfway through their set. At first I was kind of skeptical because it seemed as though they were trying to play punk music but with acoustic guitars and tambourines. But then Jeffrey Lewis sang an a cappella ode to ramen noodles and how they are essential to the culture of the poets and artists of the village. Then they sang a song while projecting a picture narration on the screen about how Jeffrey Lewis used to be a hippie, and now he’s just a regular looking guy. Then they did a ten minute spoken word/cover medley that followed the history of punk in NYC from 1954 through 1975 which included covers of The Velvet Underground and The Stooges. And then I wanted to explode with happiness. They had this air about them like they knew they were simultaneously effortlessly cool and trying really hard to please the crowd but secretly k
new the crowd was going to love them all along. After that lovely jam-fest, Lauren and I promptly began weaving our way through the crowd to get an optimal vantage point. As we got closer to the stage, we realized we had some rough competition. Apparently many girls want Ryan (or Gary, or Olly) in bed with them. These girls, who had clearly been waiting since like 7 and did not take kindly to us trying to nudge our way to the front. But seriously, its a concert people, and its every woman for herself so get over it. But being the fierce tranny messes that we are, we weren’t going to back down easily. Despite the extremely dirty looks we were getting, it didn’t seem like they were going to attack us with their claws (yet), so we settled into our spot about two feet from the stage and waited impatiently for what seemed an eternity. Then the boys came out in typical Cribs fashion, clothes on the verge of falling off and already slopping beer all over themselves. They started off
with “Don’t You Want To Be Relevant?”. This made me remember that I totally love the way Ryan Jarman does his vocals. I mean God knows I can’t decipher the words spewing out of his mouth, but he sings like a fan singing along with his favorite band, and that is something I just can’t get enough of. At the beginning of the next song “Our Bovine Public” someone threw a cup of beer from behind me and most of it landed on my head. That was the cue for things to take a turn for the crazier. First of all, the girl (who already had it in for me) had clearly never attended a real concert before. She seemed to think that there was an invisible force field around her that prevented her from having to bump shoulders with people. When the crowd heaved forward, which we all know is a common occurrence at concerts, she must have though it was me who was putting all of that force onto her back, which caused her repeatedly elbow me in the stomach. Which made me purposely ram into her from
behind, which resulted in her kicking me in the shins. Which made me feel like I was in fourth grade. But these trivial matters could not distract me from the epic figure of Ryan Jarman right in front of my eyes. He was wearing a tattered striped t-shirt and skinny jeans with no shoes on. Perhaps he didn’t wear shoes so the people in the front could see that his toenails were painted a lovely red hue. Reason #243 I love The Cribs. The show continued on at a manic pace, with Ryan and Gary slurring things that didn’t sound like English before launching into song after song. People were crowd surfing like crazy and one guy even made it up on stage. This might have been the craziest show crowd-wise that I’ve ever been to. Everyone was just screaming along to every wah-oh-oh like they were going to die tomorrow, and elbows and arms were flying with reckless abandon. They played my favorite song Mirror Kissers from their sophomore album The New Fellas which made my heart burst with
joy. I thought my vocal chords were going to rip I was screaming so loud. Near the end of the set, Ryan jumped into the crowd and his leg landed on my hand. Somehow the force of the crowd pulled me over onto the ground and I was certain I was going to die from be trampled by hipsters. Who are heavier than they look. But then good Samaritan #2 of the night threw his body over me and said that he was saving me. Which was a good thing. Because I didn’t want to die. After that fiasco, I resumed my fist pumping dance extravaganza. At the end of "Ancient History", Ryan started grating is guitar on the amp just like I remember him doing when I saw him two years ago. And something about seeing him do that again caused some kind of cosmic resonance that made my spirit tremble with epic-ness. As if this weren’t enough, fucking LEE RENALDO from Sonic Youth gets onstage to perform his featured part on “Be Safe” from The Cribs’ latest album. And just like that it was over. No encore, no
nothing. But that couldn’t damper our exhilarated spirits as we made our way over to the Annex for the after party where we proceeded to dance and DJ the night away. Sometimes I love my life. This was one of those nights.

Again I was having camera problems. Namely, I didn’t have one. So I had to use my phone. Here is a bad picture of Ryan:

And a good picture of the setlist:

SASQUATCH MUSIC FESTIVAL!

2008-03-20T09:01:00.000-07:00

omgzzz. OK. I have a very nasty confession to make. I have never been to a music festival. Not Coachella, not Bonnaroo, not SXSW, and certainly not Glastonbury or Carling Weekend. Why? well, they answer lies in the fact that 1. I didnt get into music till I was about 15. and 2. Because I'm never in close proximity to these places or have the funds to get there! Well this memorial day weekend is going to change all that.

I'm going to Sasquatch Music Festival in Valley Gorge Washington with my favorite groupie mate Caitlin from high school. Now I know it's not Coachella or Bonnaroo....ITS BETTER. No ridiculous headliners at this one. R.E.M., The Cure, Flaming Lips, M.I.A., Yeasayer, The Hives, FLIGHT OF THE FUCKING CONCHORDS (ommgzzzz i almost connipted when I heard that), and many more. And the best part is that it takes place in this beautiful gorge (aka not in the middle of a desert *cough coachella*). Looky!

SO ANYWAYS, I'm really stoked for this and if you are anywhere in the area I suggest buying your tix now bc this is when they are the cheapest! Check out all the info and the rest of the amazing lineup HERE

COME TO THE ANNEX TOMORROW!!!!

2008-03-12T15:50:00.000-07:00

THIER DIABOLIC SCHEME: THE HIVES @ TERMINAL 5

2008-03-08T12:46:00.000-08:00

So Sarah couldn't make it to the Hives concert she had to review for this new music blog Almack's Dance Hall , so she asked me if I could fill in for her. Of course I said yes! Go check out the site for more great gig reviews!

As I made my way through the soggy mess of rain to meet my friend and gig-mate Paul Adams I wondered if I had somehow wandered through some kind of time-space continuum and was transported back to 2002 when I was a mere middle schooler and The Hives and opening act The Donnas were one of the many hyped "The" bands of the beginning of the millennium. However as I made my way into the balcony area (having already missed The Donnas and with 5 minute to spare until The Hives took the stage) I saw a sea of excited audience member of all ages. Mostly teens and twenty-somethings, but there were quite a few giddy moms and dads in the audience as well.

On a side note, I also realized that I probably hated Terminal 5 more than any other venue I can possibly imagine. This redheaded stepchild of the Bowery Presents venues is just awful in every respect. The sound up in the balcony blows and there is basically only room for like 20 people to see while the rest of us poor sods either stand on our tip-toes and crane our necks or feel like total tools staring at the little flat screen TVs. And when I had FINALLY strategically positioned myself between these two mens' shoulders, some chick looking like she owned the place comes right in front of me and starts talking to them! The men I mean, not the shoulders. I gave her my meanest ice queen "oh no you di-int" look, but to no avail. She looked back at me a couple times but never moved. I later found out that this girl was the lead singer of The Donnas. I don't regret giving her bad looks.

ANYWAYS. Ok, so now I've moved positions to where I have a decent view of the stage and can actually start listening properly to the songs. Its the end of the second song, "Try It Again" and with that Howlin' Pelle Almqvist begins his antics with the audience. Simultaneously acting like your older sister's cool boyfriend who you are secretly in love with and a slightly insane ringleader of a monochrome circus, he toys with the audiences emotions until he has them totally mesmerized. One minute he strokes their ego telling them, in his ever so adorably lilting Swedish accent how much he "loooooves playing in New York City" and the next he is yelling at them "Shut up, shut up! No request". Regardless of the words spouting from his god-like visage, the audience hungrily takes in every word. By the opening chords of the third song, "Main Offender", the crowd would clearly jump off a cliff if Pelle told them to.

At or around this point I somehow was handed a backstage pass by Rachel, the assistant to the Hives booking agent and the person who got us on the guest list, and was led to this other balcony area which was much more spacious located right above the stage . This was a perfect vantage point because I could see the bands interaction with each other and the reaction of the crowd at the same time. The look on people's faces, especially near the front, were just rapturous. By the time The Hives broke out hit "Tick Tick Boom" the audience was just heaving towards the stage. Kids were crowd surfing like maniacs, and the security was constantly pulling kids over the barriers. Pelle and Cruel-Intentions-era Ryan Phillipe lookalike guitarist Nicholaus Arson couldn't help but join in the fun as well, entering the crowd several times and getting touched in every place possible, as though fans hoped a little Hives charisma would rub off on them. During "Diabolic Scheme" I started to wonder for a moment if The Hives had some kind of ulterior motive for world domination or something. I settled on the fact that it was probably just crowd domination when Pelle crowed out "From greatness to greatness is where I span, you have me for a moment, grab on while you can". And grab on they did.

After the last note rang out after the encore that included super-hit "Hate to Say I Told You So" and ended with "Return the Favour", I was a converted fan. The showmanship of the whole band but especially Pelle was just impeccable. They could not have said or done anything better. If the venue hadn't been so horrendous and if I had been down in the pit instead of up in the balcony I probably would have considered it one of my top gigs ever.

We (Rachel, Paul, and I) decided it would be faster if we just left through the back, which included the dressing room area. As we were trying to find a way out, we found Mr. Arson peeling off his sweaty garments and refusing to accept our praise of his especially energetic performance saying he "thought the gig was going to be terrible at first, but then it turned out pretty good". We couldn't tell from where we were standing. Then we continued down the corridor where we saw Pelle talking to someone about something he did to his leg onstage. And let me tell you ladies, up close that boy is rather dashing. After walking outside for about two seconds and deciding that the cab situation would take awhile to die down, we returned to the dressing room area, where there was a shirtless Pelle (ooer) and shirtless guitarist Vigilante Carlstroem (not so much ooer....). We waited around for awhile, until we thought it was safe to run out into the rain. When we finally collapsed into our hard earned cab, Rachel sighed and said, "You know, these are the nights when I realize my job really doesn't suck at all". Smiling to myself, I thought I couldn't agree more.

Here are some pics. Sorry my camera is total crap. I stole it from my little sister while I was at home for Christmas.

JOY DIVISION + MELISSA ETHERIDGE = ME NO LIKEY

2008-03-02T14:09:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I'm sitting in Gizzi's coffee shop, blasting Joy Division's Atmosphere aka the song I want to be played at my funeral aka one of the most beautiful songs ever. You know, "Don't walk awaaaaaay, in siiiiilence".

Anyways, so I'm surfing the net and I don't remember what site I was on, but suddenly, I hear this horrible abrasive screeching noise. And I take my headphones off thinking some wench has had a mental breakdown or something inside the coffee shop. But sadly no. I realize its coming from dumb AD for Melissa Etheridge's new album.

I guess its supposed to be some kind of advertising tactic to get people to buy this sad excuse for a song. But when it obtrusively interrupts my listening to the gospel of Ian Curtis, I can do nothing but wish horrible sales upon it, no matter what the repercussions are on the music industry.

Somehow this was a relevant statement.

FIRST TOUCH AND KISSY KISSY

2008-02-25T18:06:00.000-08:00

WEEK IN REVIEW:

WEDNESDAY: Let's not talk about it. It didn't happen

THURSDAY: THE BEST PARTY EVER. AKA CLUB NME. If you didn't come. WE noticed. Me (SAM FTW!) and mah girl Nicki (NJD) dropped some pretty sick beats. Some particular hits included Ready For the Floor (Hot Chip), Homecoming (The Teenagers), Boyz (MIA), Mr. Brightside (The Killers), Song2 (Blur), and Flux (Bloc Party).

I'm not going to lie to you, loyal blog reading population of five. It was pretty hopping. There were people dancing their hearts out, people making their hearts out, and a good time was had by all.

Here are a few pics of the festivities:

AND the lovely Brad Walsh was taking portraits of people upstairs. Check them out HERE

FRIDAY: I wasn't planning on going out but then I decided to go to Hanger Bar. Where there was free tequila shots, and much fun to be had. It involved a snowball fight, begging God for forgiveness and dancing suggestively to spice girls through the window. It was pretty great. AND i got to party with Aimee and her crew and Nicki and William! score.

SATURDAY: I stayed in and stole music.

SUNDAY: I went to see the Magnetic Fields. And didn't get a backstage pass. But then I made friends with security. And I got backstage without a pass. And there was free Stella. so that was cool.

SO ANYWAYS. Since NME went so well last week I am hosting it again this week! Huzzah. Here are two flyers made by the lovely CourtFace so pick your favorite.

RIRI AND KLAXYS

2008-02-21T07:43:00.000-08:00

So Klaxons played backing band and vocals for Rihanna's performance of "Umbrella" at the BRIT awards last night. Its ok I guess. I kind of expected this to be faster or something and Jamie and Simon's mics are turned so far down! Oh well, here it is for your viewing pleasure

SOMETIMES

2008-02-20T22:02:00.001-08:00

BOUNCERS SUCK

Sarah's New Book!

2008-02-20T07:54:00.000-08:00

yeehaw! Sarah has a new book coming out! It's called The Pocket Karaoke and for those of you who have read The Pocket DJ get ready for another dose of pocket-sized musical deliciousness. For those of you who haven't, get ready for oodles of playlists and tips and witty turns of phrase from the lovely Ultragrrrl. I feel obliged to promte the release of this book as it was The Pocket DJ I recieved for graduation that introduced me to Sarah when I was just a country bumpkin living in the sticks of Sacramento. Annnnyways, It comes out on March 3rd and Sarah is having a release party at Angels & Kings, so yallz should come if you can. There will be a karaoke contest (natch) so if you have a good voice to can win some sick prizes! If you need any more convincing, just watch this rather hilarious rendition of "Walk Like An Egyptian", performed by Sarah age 8 at mall karaoke:

giggles. In other news DONT FORGET TO COME PARTY WITH ME AT ANNEX ON THURSDAY! :)

sweeeeet flyers

2008-02-19T14:00:00.001-08:00

ok so czech out the sweeeet ass flyers nicki made. im kind of in love.

SWEET FLYERS! ANOTHER REASON TO COME TO ANNEX ON THURSDAY!

DINOSAUR RAP

2008-02-18T11:26:00.001-08:00

The first rap song about gettin high with dinosaurs....you're welcome.

OH and the Jarvis Cocker/Beth Ditto cover of Heaven 17's Temptation is now available for download from itunes....in the UK. so if you want it now, follow this link . After you watch this video, you won't be able to help yourself

THE BEST NME NIGHT EVER

2008-02-17T22:10:00.000-08:00

I better see yallz there. Oh and its $10 before 12pm ($5 with student ID!) and FREE afterwards!

EVENTZRAVAGANZA

2008-02-17T21:14:00.001-08:00

Hey betches

Week in Review

Tuesday: My roommate and my friend Nicki and her friend William went to see the Kooks concert at Music Hall of Williamsburg. It was pretty fun. Luke has a pretty amazing stage presence. I think he got quite a kick out of me and William panto-fucking the middle aged woman in front of us...ok maybe you had to be there. Anyways long story short we had to fairly swim through the icy slush back to the L train only to wait for the train that never came, gave up, and took a taxi home. We are wusses. Clearly.

Thursday: Valentines Day. aka Singes Awareness day. Went to a party a Columbia. It was aight. Their dorm rooms kind of rule. Nothing eventful to report

Friday: Took Cara and her friend from DC Betsy to Le Bar de Hanger for Stolen Transmission. It was kind of epic. The free vodka was flowing, and there were a fair abundance of foreign men there. Needless to say, I made up for the lack of lovin' of V-Day. I wouldn't call it slutty, I would call it being generous. Anywho. Sarah hijacked my phone and got a little narcissistic. understandable, considering she looked like the hottest librarian I've ever seen:

Then I found her and we took this little gem. Which is actually a huge feat because i was taking it and was maybe a little shwasted

violations not dead

2008-02-10T14:56:00.000-08:00

OK so I went to the Liars concert last night. The band was amazing live, Angus the lead singer is just an awesome onstage entertainer. He totally assumes another character during songs and then comes back to a friendly self-deprecating disposition in between. But seriously. It was one of the weirdest crowds I've ever seen. I like Liars but I wouldn't call them one of my favorite bands. I think possibly you have to be a little mentally unstable to really like them. The crowd was full of sexually frustrated young male nerdies who kept giving me and my friend Dorit looks that made us both kind of uncomfortable. OH well. such is life.

Then we went to Glamorama at the Charleston to retrieve my wayward CDs, but only stayed a minute because my tummy was being rebellious.

on a completely unrelated note. I went to Little Atlas today and got the BEST sandwich. It was vegan bacon avocado sprouts tomato and soy cheese on the delicious multigrain bread. It was so needed on my break working at the slave factory.

TINY MASTERS OF TODAY

2008-02-08T13:45:00.000-08:00

What? I had heard this bands name before but I thought it was just a meaningless band name like The Arctic Monkeys, who in fact are neither of those things. But this micro duo of Ivan and Ada, who are ELEVEN and THIRTEEN, are wowing everyone with their fun punk sound. I mean its not like they are revelatory lyrically or musically, but do you think Jarvis Cocker could churn this kind of stuff out at the age of 12? No...He was still crying about not getting to touch Deborah's breasts. Check out their video for Hologram World featuring the wonderful Karen O!

yaya.

and PS can i just say I am no longer a truster of guestlists (*cough* paddingtons *cough*).

ah well I still love you.

GIFT COMPLEX

2008-02-06T18:59:00.000-08:00

There is this band from Glasgow, Sons and Daughters who are really good. They sort of remind me of LA punk band X, whose album Los Angeles I have been listening to recently mixed with like this sort of tradition Scottish music vibe. They have a male female vocal duet that works really well. Their song Gift Complex kind of makes me want to have an impromptu viking disco inferno dance (major points for anyone who gets that reference). aaaan they are playing in March at Music Hall in Williamsburg. hooray!

Secondly. Can I just say that I am excited that love of my life and hero Pete Doherty is on the cover of recent issues of SPIN and NME? yay! AND the Libertines are on the cover of Q. Further confirming my belief that they are one of the seminal bands of our generation. Here is one of my favorite pics:

Thirdly, I just got an internship at Courduroy Magazine that I am really excited about. It's a quarterly journal that aims to be "timeless not timely", and profiles artists, musicians, fashion desigers, and actors. The design is gorgeous. Kind of like if Marc Jacobs had sex with himself and birthed a magazine. Jenna Malone was on the cover of the premiere issue looking gorgeous of course, and the photos inside are even more stunning. It's a little on the pricey side ($7) but they are sort of like mini coffee table books, ones you would want to keep on display.

Lastly the CLUB NME NIGHT AT ANNEX that I am hosting is now officially happening on February 14th, Valentines Day! So bring your friends, bring your boyfriend, bring your lover, bring whoever, just come! I promis you it will be fun. Even if I have to make out with you myself.

THE NIGHT OF TOO MANY CAMERAS, TEENAGERS, CURRY, AND OTHER WANDERINGS

2008-02-03T19:09:00.000-08:00

Hey kids,

So this weekend was pretty chock a bock full of good times. It kicked off with my friend, mentor, boss, whatever you want to call her aka Ultragrrrl aka Sarah Lewitinn's 85th (ok 28th) Birthday Bash at Hanger Bar! 'Twas a night enjoyed by all, and included liquor hats, stick-on jewels, Mr. Brightside insanity, free tequila, and general debauchery. Here are a few pics but for the full scoop check out Meik's blog HERE

Pic of the Birthday girl with me in the background being a farsighted spaz

Here is me being a rockstar with Lisa and Courtney

Here is me looking frantically about after realizing I'd sort of run out of music and was trying to decipher sarah's illegible handwriting

and LASTLY here is my splendiferous and serendipitous meeting with Josh from one fo my favorite bands The Paddingtons!

They are playing on Friday at Ruff Club but it's 21+ and seeing that Im still waiting on certain forms of identification, I am still working my way into going to see them.

OK so Saturday me and my lovely friend Cara went to go see the Teenagers and the Hot Chip DJ set at Studio B.

Firstly of all, the Teenagers were great. They were perfect for the venue. They were self-deprecating, funny, fast paced, and loud. Perfect for the drunken drugged up crowd before them. The place obviously rocked the most when they played their single Homecoming , which had hundreds of girls singing "I fucked my american cunt/ I loved my English romance". One of those girls was me. I don't care. Here is a bad picture of the singer.

Here is a much better picture of me and Cara in full hipster regalia

And then Hot Chip did a DJ set and it was so good my head almost exploded. The place was totally pumping. They're new CD "Made in the Dark" is out today and it is pretty killer. czech it out.

sigh. Well thats all I have for now! this post has been too long so I shall say farewell till next time!

Not So Good at This Blogging Thing

2008-02-01T13:35:00.000-08:00

OK so I've been telling myself that I'm going to post on this blog ever since....oh about a week ago. But I have muchos news. Firstly of all, I interviewed Liars for the Washington Square News. It was lovely despite some technical difficulties, and you should all go see them February 9th in Brooklyn! And you should also go read my ARTICLE (my first feature!).

SECONDLY, last Friday I DJed at the Stolen Transmission Party at Hanger Bar. I only got to do it for an hour but it was so much fun! I think I'm addicted :)

Here are some of the songs I played:
Atlantis to Interzone - Klaxons
Technodanceaphobia - The Enemy
Disco 2000 - Pulp
Cavorting - The Courteeners
Boyz - MIA
Let's Dance to Joy Division - Wombats
Transmission - Joy Division
What a Waster - The Libertines
Time to Pretend - MGMT
Heavyweight Champion of the World - Reverend and the Makers
Balaclava - Arctic Monkeys
That Boy That Girl - Hadouken!
Animal Nitrate - Suede
You and I - Cut Off Your Hands
Head Over Heels - Tears For Fears
The International Tweexcore Underground
Wasted Little DJs - The View

Aaaaaaand, I am going to be hosting a new and improved Club NME NYC night coming up in a few weeks!

It's 18+ so bring all of your friends! Stay Tuned for more details :)

Post the First

2008-01-25T18:51:00.000-08:00

Hello Interwebz!

I know that I want to start a blog because I have a lot of things that I experience, discover, and explore that I think to myself...I should post that in a blog or something.

The problem with this is that I have diverse interests: Veganism, Alternative/Indie music, New York City, Raw Foods, Rock Stars, Pop Culture, nightlife, film, and art to name a few.

So when it came time to think of a name for this blog I couldnt think of an all encompassing name. I didnt want to restrict my blog to something music related or vegan related. So I tried to think of what was always constant in my life. And all I could think of was that I never have any pens. I am constantly borrowing writing utensils from people. It's embarrasing. But unfortunately it's true. And people who know me just have to deal with it.

So there you go. Lame blog name, but hey all the good ones are taken. I couldnt name myself Manhattan Vegan could I? I would surely be shot.

So you can expect all of my interested discoveries and and experiences here in the city for you read (or not).

SO my first bit of new would be to check out the Washington Square News' Top 10 Albums of 2007 where I have a write up on LCD Soundsystem's Sound of Silver.

CHECK IT