Break Up Your Band

The Third Annual Summer Reading Project has begun, and this Summer is dedicated to Eric Bogosian. ...

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 21:15:00 -0400

The Third Annual Summer Reading Project has begun, and this Summer is dedicated to Eric Bogosian. The method used for choosing an author is usually random inspiration. In 2006 (the first annual SRP), a friend of mine gave me a stack of Ayn Rand books as a joke after a conversation we had about the Rand-related quote on the back of America, The Book, and last year I was deciding on an author when I’d happened upon the Bukowski documentary “Born Into This” on the IFC Network. This year I’d been puzzling over who to read when I went to see Bogosian read various solo pieces for a benefit at the Public Theatre, and I realized that I’ve wanted to read his stuff for years but had never gotten around to it.

So far, I’ve read Notes From Underground and Talk Radio (I try to read them in as close to chronological order as I can). It’s like reading the work of a man who’s drank fifteen cups of black coffee in a row, after you’ve also drank fifteen cups of coffee: it’s paranoid, it’s jittery, it’s morbidly dark and absurd in a way that makes total sense. He speaks of a New York we don’t talk about anymore, as a New Yorker we hide behind the windows of luxury apartments and behind the counters of bodegas at dawn. In fact, one of the best parts of Bogosian is that he continues to deepen his viewpoint despite a regular role on “Law and Order: CI.” After being exposed to just the tip of his work, watching him co-star on that show feels like a new dimension into the kind of bizarre world he’s spent his career exploring.

Cupcakes

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 00:04:19 -0400

Friday night at a quarter to midnight, eating cupcakes in Martha’s Country Bakery on Ditmars, I watch Ari gleefully discover that her cupcake has a cherry in the center of it and I realize that this is one of the little moments I’ll remember for the rest of my life, no matter what the future holds for our relationship. This memory will either float to my conciousness as we sit on a porch swing in some suburban neighborhood twenty years from now, or rise up out of nowhere to sting me and inject me with the poison of sadness and regret. Either way, these are the spontaneous joys that dot my life’s map.

Mailbag

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 17:11:16 -0400

tuneage:

Time for another mailbag post. Here’s a selection of the music suggestions that have been e-mailed to us or submitted recently.
King Crimson
Florence and the Machine
Sandro Perri
Netherfriends
Minilogue
Joan As Police Woman
YACHT
Tin Cup Prophette
The Frogs
As ever: Thanks to everyone that’s sent us music. We try to listen to everything we’re sent, so keep them coming!

You’re welcome for the Joan As Police Woman recommendation, Tuneage.

Julianna Hatfield Three — “Little...

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:13:00 -0400

Julianna Hatfield Three — “Little Pieces”

I’m starting to break out the music that always reminds me of Summer. This song is from Become What You Are, which as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago has been in constant rotation in my car since high school and it always reminds me of driving around Union, NJ in the sunny Summer months. Emotional disconnection sung in a voice that alternates between wounded and determined to be strong over a vaguely slugdy rock progression. It’s great.

The Jimmy Buffet songs are coming soon, I assure you. And not ironically.

Neil Cicierega - “Hyakugojyuuichi!!!”In 2001, when...

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:18:00 -0400

Neil Cicierega - “Hyakugojyuuichi!!!”

In 2001, when Flash animation and all the other internet things we take for granted today seemed like weird, wonderful applications that would redefine and then save our collective lives, this video absolutely mesmerized me and all my friends. We watched it several times a day, pouring over the barrage of mixed references and their possible larger significance. Oh, and we also laughed our asses off at it. Because it’s hilarious.

Kurt Cobain's Ashes Stolen

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:16:38 -0400

Kurt Cobain's Ashes Stolen:

An individual with heroic integrity had the wisdom and foresight to steal Kurt Cobain’s ashes from one-time capable songwriter and current unhinged fruitbat Courtney Love before she could sell them to be displayed on CSI and in video games. If Love wants them back so badly she should keep her eyes on ebay, where I imagine the thief will be selling nickel bags full of them shortly.

Or, maybe Indiana Jones took them to give to Lao Che in exchange for diamonds. “This Kurt Cobain’s a real small guy…”

Venetian Snares — “Kyokushin”Detrimentalist,...

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:34:00 -0400

Venetian Snares — “Kyokushin”

Detrimentalist, the new album from electronic musician/complete maniac Venetian Snares (aka Aaron Funk) comes out June 9th on Planet Mu Records. This is a preview of one of the tracks from the album, and if this and the other snippets on Mu’s website are any indication then Detrimentalist will be a continuation of Funk’s knack for bundling together an amusement park of jarring percussions, quirky samples, and insane time signatures underneath a vast, electrified atmosphere. I can’t put my finger on exactly what this type of sound does to my brain, but whatever it is I can’t get enough of it.

Condoleezza Rice Loves Kiss

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 09:19:00 -0400

Condoleezza Rice Loves Kiss:

Just in case you need another reason to hate KISS. If the fact that Gene Simmons’ money-hungry, merch-happy, letting-his-tiny-junk-be-videotaped-by-an-escort nonsense embodies everything that is wrong w/rock isn’t enough. If Ace Frehley being the only member of the band who earned his paychecks isn’t enough. If the fact that their biggest hit, “Rock and Roll All Night,” is a paper-thin, barely tolerable entry into the party anthem canon isn’t enough of a reason for you to talk about how fucking horrible KISS is, here you go.

“Strutter,” “Cold Gin,” and “Duece” are the only KISS songs worth listening to. Everything else is shit. Alright, alright, I’ll throw “Beth” in there too, only because I’m a sap.

The new Joan As Police Woman album, To Survive, comes out on...

Sat, 31 May 2008 10:20:00 -0400

The new Joan As Police Woman album, To Survive, comes out on June 10th in the US. While you anxiously await the second LP of gorgeous, soulful melodies and sturdily-constructed songs, you can enjoy this video for “To Be Loved,” the first single. It’s a slow burner that features more of her distinctive voice and quirky approach that feels at once so familiar and so unlike anything else. Full disclosure: I love her.

Jaguar Love - “Bats Over the Pacific”Johnny Whitney...

Thu, 29 May 2008 10:41:00 -0400

Jaguar Love - “Bats Over the Pacific”

Johnny Whitney and Cody Votolato from now-defunct Blood Brothers and Jay Clark from simliarly-defunct Pretty Girls Make Graves make up this Matador Records band. This song is tighty-wound, two chord nervous breakdown rock that bursts into a chorus accented by a xylophone and sounding straight out of a fever dream.

The album, Take Me To The Sea, drops June 3rd. Don’t be the jerk who doesn’t buy it.

applearts: Star+Wars+Group+White.jpg (image) Hilarious.

Wed, 28 May 2008 13:31:11 -0400

applearts:

Star+Wars+Group+White.jpg (image)

Hilarious.

Epilogue — “Disrepair (Radio Edit)”A good mix...

Wed, 28 May 2008 13:29:00 -0400

Epilogue — “Disrepair (Radio Edit)”

A good mix of elements that usually make me love songs: squiggly low end synths, lingering chords, and lyrics processed through several different shades of vocoder. I imagine if I were a sophisticated person who drove through the city to or from parties at night, this would be the soundtrack I faux-pensively contemplated my playboy lifestyle to.

Josef Tuulse — “Astroboy”Tuneage is right:...

Tue, 27 May 2008 23:25:00 -0400

Josef Tuulse — “Astroboy”

Tuneage is right: thesixtyone.com is an awesome music site! I found this track and others by this guy on the site, and I am totally in love with the sweeping production landscape and twitchy beats he creates. Now tell me where can I buy this, thesixtyone!

(I realized recently that I really miss writing about music and discovering new stuff. FYI.)

Game of the Seraphs

Tue, 27 May 2008 17:37:09 -0400

Game of the Seraphs: I should go to Pinback’s website more often so I can find out about things like this hilarious game sooner.

A song from the 90s crypt: Dink’s “Green...

Sat, 24 May 2008 12:54:00 -0400

A song from the 90s crypt: Dink’s “Green Mind.”

At first, the samples in this song don’t seem to have much of a connection to the larger material, but if we listen there arises a theme within the song of being lost and retreating into a sort of mental isolation, an every-man-for-themselves feel that springs from an agreement that things are all pretty fucked up, which is what most industrial music is about (even the hyper-sexualized “Do What You Want To Do To Me” grand scheme of Lords of Acid reflects this to some degree). This song is like the bad-ass, cynical cousin to lame momma’s boy Jesus Jones’ whiny, over-optimistic “Right Here Right Now.”

New Play Wednesday

Thu, 22 May 2008 15:50:00 -0400

Last night I saw Eric Bogosian’s “Bitter Honey” at the Public Theater, which isn’t so much a play as it is a collection of “underperformed” monologues by Bogosian, done as part of a benefit for the P.T. Right after I bought my ticket I noticed that Julianna Hatfield was playing next door at Joe’s Pub, and I almost returned my ticket b/c Hatfield is the second most attractive singer/songwriter I’ve ever seen and a significant amount of my driving in high school and since has been done while Become What You Are blasted from my speakers. But I wanted to see Bogosian more than I wanted to resist the temptation to propose to J.H. right there in front of the Joe’s Pub audience, so in I went. I’d recommend that anyone in NY not doing anything tonight go see this show. His characters have such great, specific points of view and Bogosian finds ways to take them into really dark and absurd places without it being wacky or silly, which I love. Monologues are a form I need to play more with.

After the show ended I walked to the restroom, which you have to walk through a hallway by the stage entrance and dressing rooms for Joe’s Pub to get to. There, sitting in a chair near the foot of a staircase leading up to the men’s room, was Julianna Hatfield. I walked right past her. Our eyes met. My heart melted. I forgot to propose.

New Musie Tuesie

Tue, 13 May 2008 12:22:22 -0400

Tokyo Police Club - Elephant Shell

Ever since I heard TPC’s amazing EP, A Lesson In Crime, I’ve been super-psyched about hearing a full-length album’s worth of that manic, sawtooth sound. Look’s like I’m going to have to wait a little longer.

What is it with these bands, man?! Just give me more of what you gave me the first time I heard you! It’s like, “Yep, that sound we created is awesome and distinctive and totally engaging, we did it. Now let’s ease off on that a little and try to develop our songwriting.” Fuck your songwriting. Give me the urgency. If I was a fan of bands abandoning what’s awesome about them in favor of boring pretentious bullshit songcraft, I’d still be listening to Pearl Jam.

Here’s a great way to “decrease your global...

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:31:34 -0400

Here’s a great way to “decrease your global footprint” that people don’t talk about. Stop buying books. This way less trees will have to be cut down to make more copies of “Earth: The Sequel.”

Wedding Vegetables!!!

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 01:11:00 -0400

Wedding Vegetables!!!:

I just laughed for about five minutes over this term. This is hilarious and I have no idea why I’ve never heard this before.

For the record, I learned about this term from this Slate article.

Suspected Shark Attack In California.

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 16:12:08 -0400

Suspected Shark Attack In California.: This summer, I’ll be on the beach wearing my stylish diving bell.