Prizzy Prizzy Please, Please!

...and thank you!!! Man, my old friends from Bloomington opened for Spoon! I was, like, their #1 fan when I lived there! Dude! Bob, the bass player, used to be in our very shitty bar band and he (wisely) made the move to PPP...dude's got chops (literally, he's a karate expert). Humble Midwestern beginnings, super-duper instrument skills, multi-octave-bespectacled frontman, backing band for Guinness World Book Most T-Shirts Worn at the Same Time Record, recent show with Beach House, opened for Spoon...enough parenthesis...PPP are on their way to superstardom!

http://myoldkyhome.blogspot.com/2008/04/photo-recap-spoon-prizzy-prizzy-please.html

http://www.myspace.com/prizzyprizzyplease

Like a migrating baby sea turtle...

...I also have a magnet in my head that guides me. Here's the current north pole wiggling my mind-compass needle.

Sister Songs

here's two ukelele songs for your mind. one is over one year old and is just now seeing the light of day. the other i wrote last summer! While it appears to not apply to houses or bodies (at least in my case), spring cleaning is all about music. that stuff is dusty! *hack* *cough*

IC The Dodos Review

for some reason, anytime i referred to the band as "they," an editor changed the pronoun to "it." the article sounds like i'm talking about the artistic choices of a genderless, singular entity called, confusingly, the dodos. there ought to be a show about a big house populated by extinct animals.
Dodos not going extinct anytime soon - Arts & Life

Been feeling totally roughed up by downtown?

...Then let MANKINDNESS remind you of the good old craze.

Hey, if they did it..

...then why can't I??? Well, see for yourself

In case you just swallowed poison...

...this will save your life.


Lou Reed at The Levi's®/FADER Fort from The FADER on Vimeo.

IC El Guincho review

I didn't come up with headline.

El Guincho debut is a circus of fresh fun - Arts & Life

Long break, i guess

I went on a great two week bender there and stopped doing almost anything of any sort. It's time to clean up my act though and part of that, i suppose, is going back to half-heartedly adding blog entries. I'd really like to just feature my friends' music, local music and my own music, rather than stuff i pull off of the internet...but until then here's something i like:

Whiling away winter hours

Here's a new song that I etched onto a grain of rice. The winter here is in the deep freeze stage. When the wind blows, my garage/house shakes...like my confidence, daily. Making music in the afternoon up in my bedroom. I need to get up and wash my face. Can you guess where the sample came from? Yes. Yes you can.

AdairStar(ting Something)

Taking literal song-titling to its figurative highest, ADAIRSTAR (caps added) has followed up his initial four-song EP Pairs with his most ambitious single yet. About Three Very Different People begins with Adairstar revisiting the disorienting piano riff-age of his early work for the theater. While our narrator detachedly observes the facial features of what can only be assumed is the first of the three very different people, the creeping melody robotically warbles over glitchy electronic drums. "This is the last place I should be," he sings as though ready to escape and, lo, the gothic Philip Glass piano gives way to warm synths, blissed-out strings and driving kick drum. Like a sickly, detuned version of the soundtrack to a film about a championship long-distance runner, the second section of the About Three Very Different People is half triumphant Sufjan Stevens piano and half Penderecki string-and-horn madness. The vocals are a little lost amongst the busy, complicated overlapping of chords, forever obscuring the details of the final two people (not to be confused with the first, nor the second with third). It hardly matters as the music speaks volumes. As much as the listener might want the track to settle, for the tonality to pick major or minor, for the song decide: happy? sad? About Three Very Different People refuses to admit anything that clearly. Adairstar keeps everything in flux, ebbing and flowing amongst degrees of emotions, not all of them pleasant. Regardless, its worth staying with the track through the tough spots because when everything comes together, it all feels worthwhile. Huh. Sort of like relationships.

IC TNV interview

Ok, I swear this is my last Columbus, OH-related post for a while. I guess I was just sort of hot-iron-striking, there. The nice thing about typing out an interview, as opposed to the actual audio, is that I can delete all of the awkward stuttering and aimless rambling...from the interviewer, I mean.

Down and dirty with 'no-fi' - Arts & Life

Psychedelic Horseshit

This is another Columbus, OH band. Good friends with Times New Viking, Psychedelic Horseshit have a similar love for pop, hooks, noise and mess. I'm not sure why I posted this silly fan video in lieu of just the track itself, but...hey, what the hell, right? If it does a better job of delivering a few minutes of entertainment, why not? Their debut album is out on Times New Viking's old label, Siltbreeze. If you're lucky enough to be going to SXSW, you can see both bands at the Siltbreeze showcase. Also, keep your eyes peeled for an interview in the Independent Collegian with Times New Viking.

Bowerbirds.

All I know about this band is that they're on the same label as the band whose ex-bassist is one post down. Purely coincidental, honest injun! Very nice, though. Coming to Bloomington, IN soon (...ah, memories) and NYC even sooner...it's all right here.

We don't get many references in song...

Here's the bassist (ex-bassist, or something) from the Dirty Projectors, Nat Baldwin. His upcoming album will be produced by Chris Taylor from Grizzly Bear (the blonde multi-instrumentalist guy). If that doesn't garner an awesome roar of Internet indie buzz...I'll walk out my door, down to the shore and drink a galloon of water from the lake that gave this song its title and more!

Sweden is the country where pop lives

Here's a tune from Lykke Li. Like all of my favorite pop music, they're from Sweden AND fronted by a woman! talk about a match made in heaven! (see Taken By Trees review)

The Mae Shi

i'm in winter park, CO right now. the only thing thinner than the air is the women...they flock instinctively like the salmon of Capistrano and, yes, this is also more or less the place where the beer flows like wine. if you can tell me the movie, i'll send you a can of Coors. here's a tune.

Tickley Feather

This is Annie Sachs from Philadelphia, a.k.a. Tickley Feather a.k.a the newest artist on Animal Collective's Paw Tracks label. more here later.

Cat Power on Jools Holland 200th Episode Party

I've never actually seen an entire episode of Jools' show. If you've spent any time looking desperately for every clip of your favorite musician playing live then you've certainly stumbled across his show and the great live performances he hosts (and way before getting desperate enough to watch the cell phone snippets, too).
For the 200th episode, he had...like...EVERYONE on the show. Radiohead, Feist, Mary J. Blige and, yep, Cat Power (everyone?)
I'm so in love with her it's stupid. Since the first few clips came out of her nervously playing through the material on "The Greatest," she has toured extensively, been hired by Karl Lagerfield, contributed a track to the "I'm Not There" OST (see my review in the archives) and just recently released her second covers album "Jukebox." The point is: she's done a bit and it shows on this clip! She looks completely at ease and sounds as good as i've ever heard her.

DNA in Me Cover Project Fever

Not wanting to miss out on the back-rubbing circle-jerk that is this snowballing cover project (the traditional meaning of snowballing, mind you), ADAIRSTAR (caps added) has submitted his version entitled: 3 Glasses of Chocolate Milk (the DNA in Me). If "smoking all the cigarettes you bring" was chalked up to genetic fatalism in the original, Adairstar's jonesing is of a considerably more kindergarten kind. However, in true Adairstar form, this version of the song is dark, glamorous and sleazy combination of spoken dialogue, children cheering, pounding 808 drum machines and plenty of the eyebrow-raising production techniques that many of us have come to love. If a scant 3 glasses of chocolate milk had anything to do with his mind-state during the creation of this song, then we had better reevaluate our elementary school diet guidelines...the kids are almost certainly not all right.

Times New Viking IC Review

In lieu of the silly post further down about them, here's my newspaper review of Times New Viking. Which is also silly, but just in a different and more complicated way.

Saying 'yes' to 'no-fi' - Arts & Life

new song "Allison" is not a cover! wow!

here's a song i wrote tonight for my friend allison. when i first met her i said "hey! elvis costello wrote a song about you!" ...and i said this as though no one had ever thought of it before...and she said "but that songs about a pregnant girl!" which i guess it is. so anyway, here's my new allison song. not about pregnancy at all. just about having fun. ...which according to me, apparently, automatically excludes being pregnant? thank you to eric for reminding me about the pixies song of the same name, as well. muchas gracias, mi amigo de puerto rico.

DNA in Me cover project takes on new twist!

Here's another cover of Magic Tricks' "DNA in Me"...this time by Sean Whittaker. while i went for a stripped down approach (by choice, i swear), sean did what he does best: he made a full-on, very professional arrangement which somehow captures and preserves the wackiness of the original in ways more subtle and more accurate than my ham-fisted, gorilla-dick version. i would strongly suggest you compare the original (via the link at the bottom of this page) with my version (Cover Project Tres, see below) and now you can listen to Sean's version right down there! or (if you have a life) don't. hurray!

IC music review: Vampire Weekend

It's worth sinking teeth into Vampire Weekend - Arts & Life

Dan Deacon Show, Detroit 01/27

Here's mike and i with mr. dan deacon. there was more sweating going on than you could imagine. i perfected my "bouncing in place" dance, also. which is nice. the show was just as fun as hell. we said "brainface" together exactly 45 times. wee! i can't decide if i look more like a miami coke dealer or a wacky gay friend on a sitcom...but either way i was pretty pleased with myself, from the look of things.

White Hinterland

this is a nice tune from a nice looking gal. like regina spektor crossed with shadows-and-light-era joni mitchell. i ate almost a full pound of pulled BBQ chicken for lunch. it all went straight into my biceps, which are now bulging out like the stomaches of two pot-bellied children sitting on my upper arms. ass, grass, or cash kids! no one rides for free!

white hinterland is a great name for a band/music project. white motherland is a good name for Europe. White Disneyland is a fair observation.

Cover Project Tres!!!

i'm really way too into these half-assed, nonsense covers of my friends' songs. This is a cover of Magic Tricks' "DNA in Me" ...however, i can remember waaaaay back when it was an eric rivera solo joint, then briefly part of a band-whose-name-i-can't-remember that he co-fronted in college. anyway, the point is that the song now resides comfortably in the nimble hands of Magic Tricks, whose music you can find via the link at the bottom of this page. this is a special (uh, useless) gift to them!

Cover project II

here's another remington cover. this time it's one of ross's songs: We're Gonna Make It After All...but i have cleverly retitled it! i decided to name it something else because i left out a certain part of the original song...can you discover which part i opted not to include?

Times New Viking

I'm not from Ohio, i just go to school there. still, for whatever reason, i find myself pleased to hear that any ohio band is doing well. Here's Times New Viking, from Columbus. Pitchfork said their new album is an 8 with a high tenth decimal degree. honestly, that rating system is so fucking clunky and vague!! it's 2008 guys!

I, Mountain Maid, give Times New Viking's album "Rip It Off" a 7.643535353535. yep, that's a repeating "35," i just couldn't figure out how to put the little line on top. and NO, this does not mean that you can just round my rating off to a dinky 7.6...or even a 7.644! P.S. i'll lay out my schema for evaluating music on a later blog, but let me just say...you won't be able to replicate the results with an old box of transistor tubes and a hand-cranked radiometer, you by-the-seat-of-your-leather-pants technologista! the only sufficient serial reconvalescent pathway is made-to-order in Russia!! HA!

Just tied up my horse, Resurrection, to the hitching post out front of your house, my dear my dear

here's another song i recorded right after that last one. if i wasn't an hour ago, i'm now certainly drunk. so, let's sally forth into this good night with a country song. about our lord. don't worry non-believer, it's a scant two minute ditty. no more, though likely much less. god bless.

Puppy dog eyes aren't cute if they aren't in a puppy head, dig?

Here's a song i just recorded this evening. Is this being productive? or just self-indulgent? there aren't words to express how little i care, really. I'm sitting in a friend's apartment, watching her dog for the weekend. i'm not sure why i didn't just bring the dog to my house...but i wasn't really thinking clearly all day, what with the truly toxic amount of alcohol in my blood. this song was inspire by yachts, vacations to europe, being able to tell the difference between feta cheese made with cow's milk vs. goat's milk and paying for a vitamin enhanced beverage at the gas station with a 50 dollar bill in front of the guy paying for gas with spare change.

Cover project

here's a cover i did this morning of remington's "alive now." i just sort of played it from my very hazy (hungover) recollection of how it goes. you can hear dad down in the garage power sawing some wood. i like that. son lazily awakens from night out at the bar to play with his computer while father works hard, carpentry. a man. an actual man. also, on the second track where i sing a little backup, mike walks in and starts talking about last night. so i left that in, also. fun times!

Speaker Bite Me and domination in the bedroom.

Here's a track from Denmark's Speaker Bite Me. Several blogs keep referencing the Knife in their descriptions of this band...which is fine. It wouldn't be out of place to throw the YYY's in there either, especially when Karen O is really belting it out (in lieu of going "rar" or yelling "hey"). "Teach Me Tiger" is a little more...well band-y than the Knife? There's definitely some synth here, and even the multi-octave vocals (hence the Knife comparisons), but the music comes off as played rather than made. It's also sexy. If Karen O is sexy like getting your hair pulled in the midst of love-making, this song is sexy like getting your hair pulled in the midst of love-making and getting a ball-gag stuffed in your mouth. Me entiendes? Which if i keep this weird simile going would mean that the Knife is full-on boot-licking...or even that crazy shit where guys pay thousands of dollars to vacuum a mistress's apartment while she walks around in fishnets eating oatmeal cookies and dropping crumbs everywhere. check some more of Speaker Bite Me at their Myspace page. check out some more of the simile here.

Remington (neither guns nor broads, but still good)

Here's a track from mike's band, Remington. One of these days I'm going to write a review of their EP (which you can find on iTunes, i might add). For now, you can check this tune out. It's a catchy and danceable reminder that you're, um, alive...like right now. It might be a little early yet for the effect of this stadium-sized (or at least really big club-sized), feel-good anthem to be felt completely during the band's live show, but rest assured...when the time comes, they'll be ready with "Alive Now." It's nice to meet you too, fellas.

Taken By Trees: Tell Me (live)

Victoria Bergsman, the singer/songwriter behind Taken By Trees bashfully whispers her way through "Tell Me" from her summer 07 release "Open Field." With over a decade of performing under her belt with her one-time band, The Concretes, we all know the nervous fidgeting is a put-on, but she still looks and sounds great.

Catty celebrity blogger Leningrad Redroof says: "What is that on her head? A bowl cut? The stylist must of used the same bowl I leave by the door for my kitty, Sparklzz, after I've served her a plate of poached eggs with a little TOO much Hollandaise SAUCE...because her hair looks like PUKE! Also, honey, maybe its the swedish meatballs or too many of those red gooey fish, but you aren't going to make it on Grey's unless you drop like...a fucking million pounds."

IC movie reviews

I've got two lil'uns on the third page...

In case you missed them ... - Arts & Life

IC review: I'm Not There OST

Dylan's not there - Arts & Life

IC review: White Denim

'Let's talk about' Denim - Arts & Life

IC review: Taken By Trees

'Trees' is worth hugging - Arts & Life

Test...test...

Mike and I couldn't agree on what to call our blog. Someone didn't like the name "Suck my kid's dick.blogspot.com" So now he has one and I have one. Blogs I mean.