Today was a good day.

All of these things came out today:

Arcade Fire - Funeral LP
Though I've had the cd for months and months now, I will have to own this because I am anal. The whole record is a picture disc, with an extension of the album art displayed on it.

Ian Brown - Solarized
I saw the video for "Keep What Ya Got" with Noel Gallagher the other night; it followed the video for "I Wanna Be Adored". It paled in comparison my friends, but I ask you, what wouldn't? Plus, Ian Brown is getting old and haggard; we need to take what we can get. Don't worry, he still has attitude.

Clem Snide - The End Of Love
Yeah, I love Clem Snide and despite all of my pirating efforts I have only heard "Fill Me With Your Light" and well, it sounds like Clem Snide alright.

Crooked Fingers - Dignity and Shame
I haven't listened to much Crooked Fingers but I'm starting slowly. "Islero" is cool; I'm waiting for the rest to grow on me. I'm digging the horns.

Enon - Lost Marbles & Exploded Evidence
I think Emily Venters likes this band, maybe we should all ask her about this. They play at Twiropa in a few weeks with Clem Snide so I suppose I'll have to listen to this before then.

Adam Green - Gemstones
He's a novelty artist. The song "Carolina" has the word vagina in it and Amberly said that his cover of the Beach Boys' "Kokomo" made her want to kill herself. It seems like that's all anyone would need to know.

Jeff Hanson - s/t
I just discovered this wonderful man a couple days ago. Dude sings like a lady but he does it so well! He's Elliott Smith and Sean Lennon with the voice of Hilarie Sidney (yep, Apples in Stereo and High Water Marks Hilarie). I swear!

Ida - Heart Like A River
Jenni once made me borrow an Ida cd from her. I was underwhelmed; I think I still am. The music is sooo soft and slow that you might as well just not be listening to anything.

Iron & Wine - Woman King EP
Sam Beam is a good and wonderful man who never ceases to make my life have meaning with every bit of music that he makes. In a word full of emo and rock 'n' roll that caters to the brokenhearted and unloved males he puts out an ep about women, "both archetypal and personal". I love.

Juliette & The Licks - Like a Bolt of Lightning EP
Err, I don't know but it only costs $6.98. Honestly, it doesn't sound all that good. Shocking, I know. Too bad she doesn't have PJ Harvey to write her songs like her character in Strange Days because I remember thinking she wasn't that bad then.

Kings Of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak
The beginning of the first song on this album sounds like early Shins, or rather Flake Music. It's rockin' 'n' rollin' but nothing too special. They're playing the House of Blues with my favorite Features in March so I'll see if they can stand the test of the live show. Probably those Features will steal the show away though no matter what.

Ben Lee - Awake Is The New Sleep
Claire Danes totally dumped him for Billy Crudup; the fact that he can accomplish anything after having to face that humiliation is commendable. Really though, it's typical Ben Lee. It's sweet and I like to listen to it but the sad truth is and always will be that he never should have recorded Grandpaw Would because nothing he does will ever be as good as that ever again.

Nedelle - From The Lion's Mouth
I also downloaded an mp3 of this fine lady when I was checking out the Jeff Hanson songs on the Kill Rock Stars website. God, go there and listen to it! Oh, the harmonizing! Her songs sound like they should have been featured in the movie Dead Poet's Society.

Robbers On High Street - Tree City
If you've misplaced all of your Spoon cds then this is the band to turn to. Otherwise, ehh.

Josh Rouse - Nashville
I like Josh Rouse; he makes nice music. This album is no exception. I also just read that he has contributed a cover of "It Don't Matter To Me" for a Bread tribute album (Cake does "The Guitar Man"!) and I think that is the greatest and funniest thing ever.

Thievery Corporation - Cosmic Game
I don't get this band but apparently they've "done it again!"

M Ward - Transistor Radio
I hate "Big Boat" but otherwise think that this is a pretty okay album.

And don't forget the I <3 Huckabees divid!
A 2 disc set jam packed with special features, a featurette, PSAs, 700 deleted scenes, music videos and blahdeblah. I say, "yay".

There's also the Kidz Bop #7 that proudly features "Float On' by Modest Mouse alongside "Pieces of Me" by Ashlee Simpson and "She Will Be Loved" by Maroon 5! Vomit!

SQUiRT TV

Does anyone remember the mid-90's mtv gem SQUiRT TV? I know that I will never forget it. Jake Fogelnest and Frankie sent me into fits of laughter throughout many a lonely evening. Dude, I was like 14; I didn't have shit to do at night besides sit on my ass and watch mtv, okay? I imagine the fact that it aired at this point in my life, where everything was suddenly so cool and impressive and original to me has something to do with why I think back on it so nostalgically. But what don't I think back on nostalgically anymore?
Not to say that SQUiRT TV didn't have its moments. Wesley Willis headbutting Jake incessantly, him gifting a black Barbie doll to Janeane Garofalo. Oh, and how damn boring Joey Lauren Adams and Kevin Smith were as interviewees. Cibo Matto broke his bed while performing "Know Your Chicken!" The fact that Jake was resourceful and determined enough (maybe bored enough) to put his own public access show together at 14 is great. He was great at snarky social commentaries and pranking his grandmother of course. He pleaded with AOL to STOP SENDING HIM DISCS! Because he just doesn't have time to load all of their crap on his computer! Also, Frankie went cd shopping with Noise Addict once! Come on, that's totally awesome. And sooo mid-90's. Oh, and Jakey is friends with The State; that's all anyone really needs to win me over.
Clearly, I still have love for Jake Fogelnest, even after I found out he has a livejournal. He also has a radio show with fellow funner Paul Scheer on WXRK in NYC, 10pm - 2am, this Tuesday through Friday. I bet they're going to say lots and bunches of nearly offensive, witty things too. I'm glad to hear that Jake is still out there doing what he's gots to do to get by in this world.

Jake & Claire Danes singing the "Reading Rainbow" theme song.

The Awesome.

I was walking around uptown on Tuesday because it was so so nice outside. I was walking back to my car, which was parked in a neighborhood and went past this house with a car parked in the "driveway." This car looked like a classic, like 20 years old, all boxey, beat up, and unsightly and alongside it said "Le Car" like as the model. Someone was so disinterested in naming this model vehicle that they decided on "Car". Which I, for one, think is le awesome.

It looked exactly like the white car here, minus the camping gear. I don't think people do that stuff in New Orleans.

Happy V.D.!

Wow, and I thought Ana wrecked him.

So, apparently Daniel Johns from early 90's Silverchair fame is now totally muscley, tattooed, pierced and looks exactly like Kevin Federline. What the fuck happened to the little, 90 lb surfer boy with the blonde ratty hair that I knew and sorta loved?
I know; this doesn't seem possible but look it:

There are a slew more photos here. I just chose that one because it looks most like him; you can't deny that mouth considering how incessantly we were all staring at it while watching the "Tomorrow" video for the 500th time. Yes! That scary pig-man. I know I will never forget it.

hype vs. hype

It seems that the good old Arcade Fire got a shout out on the Gilmore Girls this evening. I hate those Gilmore Girls! They're so nauseating!
Although, I'm not sure if that show or The O.C. annoys me more. I suppose I will never truly understand myself until I figure out the answer to that question.
The O.C. is so the Garden State of television. Sucking and fooling everyone into thinking that it has substance. Vomit.

Brings all the indie rockers to the yard.

I really loathe mashups and generally have no interest in hearing them at all but I really couldn't resist hearing this. "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) by Arcade Fire looped with Kelis singing "Milkshake" acapella overtop of it. It's sacriligeous but also sort of hilarious.

Arcade Fire/Kelis mashup - Neighborhood #5 (Milkshake)

Need 'em just a little.

I was just thinking, where oh, where are my beloved Fruit Bats? I miss them so. It's been almost 2 whole years since Mouthfuls was released. And I haven't seen them since that magical evening when they opened up for Iron and Wine at The Dame. And that was during the cold so it's been about a year since then. Too long, I say. According to their website they have a new album coming out in June or so entitled Spelled In Bones. And there was an ep, Tragedy + Time, that sold out in days that I was unaware of. I'm sure it's lovely and with a little perseverance I daresay I will hear it soon! Hopefully I'll get to look at them soon as well.
Until then, I suppose this will have to due.

Dress you up in my love.

Sometimes I wish I could be in costume every day. I think back to some of the get-ups that Marci and I have worn in the past and how cool we are, and how we always seemed to get into even more mischief and have more fun when we were dressed like goons. And what about all the instances when we would tell our sonofabitch friends whatever we were dressing up as and they would assume confused looks, "Brides? I dont' get it." And the one year when one of our friends was so drunk she didn't even know who the Mad Hatter and the March Hare were. Jesus, we sure have gone through some jackasses over the years. But always, always, Marci and I run around like dickheads trying to get our costumes ready at the last minute and then all of a sudden we're at Busters dressed as motherfucking Axl & Slash and everyone is freaking out because we look so gd cool. Forever underestimated.
All the Halloweens, the Beaux Arts Balls, Prom at Nick Whitehouse's, drawing names and dressing and behaving as one another all night, Festivus, the Pseudo-Pretentious Cocktail Party, the "Beat It" party (which was bastardized into being just an 80's party), and even our impromptu Tin Foil Party. Marci and I sure know how to throw down.
So, you want evidence? Fine.

Axl & Slash/Marci & Sammy



Well, are we totally 80's or what?

Not once and not ever again.

Anyone remember this show? It was created by Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, the same mens that did My So-Called Life and Thirtysomething. It aired for three seasons from 1999-2002 and then it was abruptly cancelled. My mom was obsessed with the damn show; she just couldn't get enough of Sela Ward and Billy Campbell being all attractive and in love and overcoming all of the obstacles standing in the way of their love, the biggest of which is their combined four annoying, angsty, needy children. The most interesting thing that ever happened on that show occured in one of the last episodes, Evan Rachel Wood's character totally sorta makes out with her friend played by Mischa Barton. And yes, Mischa Barton's head was still freakishly large even back then, in case you were wondering. Because of my mother's aformentioned love for Once and Again I purchased the 1st Season of the show on divid for her for Christmas a couple years ago. (This is all just basically background, in order to explain why I have such easy access to this program. I don't want people to think I have episodes of Once and Again just lying about.)
So, I was checking up on the acting history of the indie rockers' favorite child actors, Blake Sennett and Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley, one day recently and noticed that they were both in an episode of Once and Again playing characters by their same names. Being morbidly curious, I just had to watch it. Turns out Eli, the oldest son of Billy Campbell's character, plays guitar and is thinking of starting a band. So, he and his friend Coop, played by Adam Brody (yes, annoying then too), are in the "guitar store" and run into Blake and Jenny, who graduated from their high school a year before. They awkwardly catch up for a minute and then Jenny invites the two underage boys to a show they're playing, they go, and the whole band is there. It was so bizarre, like Jenny even said, "Thanks, we're Rilo Kiley." They played "Always", "The Frug" and "Plane Crash In C" before leaving the stage and there was about to be some more interaction between Eli and the band but then it turned out his mother is there with her new youngish boyfriend and she had told Eli not to go into the city earlier. Blah blah blah. Basically, poor Eli was humiliated in front of the cool, older kids who are in a hip band. Then they left and no more excruciating Rilo Kiley scenes.
This was a classic case of the indie rock band tv drama appearance. There is no reason for them to ever take place, but it is a phenomena that apparently cannot be stopped. Anyone remember the Flaming Lips playing "She Don't Use Jelly" on Beverly Hills, 90210? Of course you do because they play the damn clip at every show they perform. Seriously Wayne, it's getting old. Or The Cardigans playing at Kelly Taylor's graduation party? They sang the song "Been It" and everytime Nina got to the part of the chorus that says "I've been your whore" the scene cut to a person talking or to an outside shot or something so that you couldn't hear the vile word. What about last season on Scrubs? Remember in one episode some guy was all sad because he couldn't play with his band due to whatever was ailing him? Then all of a sudden the Polyphonic Spree (+ a shit ton of balloons and streamers) were all there singing "Section 9 (Light & Day/Reach For The Sun)". And of course the soul-crushing episode of the Gilmore Girls in which The Shins appeared. Death Cab For Cutie on The O.C. No matter what show it is, no matter what band, I always come out of it feeling depressed. It doesn't matter how cutting edge the show is, you're going to look fucking cheesy and desperate either way. Don't do it! Don't anyone ever do it again, please. It's bad enough having to hear Interpol songs playing on CSI: Miami (ie shittiest popular show I've ever seen), I never ever want to have to see them on there.

These kids know.

Arcade Fire were on good old Conan O'Brien's show earlier this evening. Through the magic of the internet I have been able to witness this blessed event even though NBC refuses to come in on our cable-free television. Seriously, the only good thing about everyone and their mom knowing about the Arcade Fire is that I can download so much crap, and not all of it illegal either, thank you. Conan appearances, demos, concert recordings, unreleased songs, etc. The world of indie rock is at my fingertips. Thanks to the devoted fans (ie crazies) on the Us Kids Know Forums anyone can hear an mp3 or watch a video of this particular performace at their leisure.
So, onto the performance itself. I am wondering why they chose to play Neighborhood #3 (Laika). There was some talk on the Us Kids Know boards that the band may have chosen that one in particular because it is the shortest of all of the Funeral tracks and musical guests are generally asked to keep songs at a 4 minute maximum. This could be valid, as I know that Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) and now Rebellion (Lies) are the two tracks that have been marketed as singles. At the same time, Laika is, after all, the song in which Richard Parry dons his motorcycle helmet and pounds the shit out of everything in sight with his splintering drumsticks, which he does here. Don't you worry. And I think we all know that that makes for a damn fine performance. I'm pretty sure that they all agreed that they couldn't go wrong with that one. However, in doing this they opted out of any tracks that feature the simultaneous crooning of all of the band members, which is magical while watching them perform live. This time it was theatrics over the more subtle greatness that these band members possess when together. This time. I imagine that it was a wise decision. What better way to pique the interests of strangers than to have some dude in your band that just happens to look like Napoleon Dynamite slap on a motorcycle helmet and pound on high hats and a shoulder-slung drum and whatever else he can see while you're playing on national television for the first time? Try to think of one, I challenge you!
But anyway, always lovely to see the Arcade Fire perform. They got the stuff, even on the weird late night talk show platform.

Gimme anything, but quickly!

Spoon's 5th full length album, Gimme Fiction, is finally finished. It is set to be released on 5.10.05 on Merge.

tracklist:
1. The Beast and the Dragon, Adored
2. The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine
3. I Turn My Camera On
4. My Mathematical Mind
5. The Delicate Place
6. Sister Jack
7. I Summon You
8. The Infinite Pet
9. Was It You?
10. They Never Got You
11. Merchants Of Soul

So far, I have only heard tracks 6 and 7, Sister Jack & I Summon You respectively. They are both mid-tempo, fairly characteristic Spoon tracks. Perfect follow ups to 02's Kill The Moonlight. Amberly and I were feeling extra frisky one evening last December and went and saw Spoon at Tipitina's. It was a nice show. It didn't change my life or anything but it did make me happy and afterward I wondered how I could have forgotten how much I loved this band.

Spoon - Revenge! A track from Wired Magazine's compilation cd that was included with issue 12.11. All tracks were produced under the Creative Commons License which means that all songs are allowed to be used by anyone for any purpose other than as an advertisement. Right on.

Better than...

The Strokes: Royal City - Is This It
The Shins: Of Montreal - Know Your Onion!
Neutral Milk Hotel: Mountain Goats - Two-Headed Boy
Magnetic Fields: Arcade Fire - Born On A Train
OutKast: The Go - Hey Ya!

These covers aren't all actually better than the originals per se, but they are nice alternates. And I do always love the covers. Well, unless it's Mandy Moore and Michael Stipe teaming up to make The Beach Boys' God Only Knows all easy listening adult contemporary. Oh, so profane and wrong! I mean, it was for the movie Saved so I could maybe convince myself that's it's somewhat ironically amusing, but christ, I have to draw the line somewhere.