Friday, July 29, 2005

Glamorous Life

sorry about the hiatus; with JFro back in town this week's been hectic
saw Shingo and Jacque's band on Thursday in a show reminiscent of the dingier rooms of Eclectic
it made me long for the high school hardcore past I never had

Stereogum has some awesome free (+ legal) mp3s you should check out. Engineers! Caribou! Oxford Collapse!

thank you, Manohla, for this little bit of brilliance to brighten my day:
"What makes "The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai" so unusual isn't the rape that turns into a seduction (a pink-movie trope), but the infusion of global politics amid all the panting. The plot hinges on a woman who, after a bullet becomes lodged in her brain, turns into a genius nymphomaniac implicated in a doomsday scenario featuring President Bush."

Monday, July 25, 2005

"Jandek's not pretentious, but only pretentious people like Jandek" - Kurt Cobain



JANDEK IS GOING ON TOUR

'Tour' for Jandek means playing 3 concerts, but considering that the first Jandek album came out in 1978, and Jandek has only played 3 times ever (all in the last year)... 3 gigs is a significant tour.

ONE IS IN NEW YORK

The dates:
Austin Show
August 28, 2005
Austin Scottish Rite Theatre / Doors 6 PM
Austin tix available soon here

New Orleans Show
September 2, 2005
Dixon Hall
Tulane University / Doors 7:00pm
info/tix here

New York Show
September 6, 2005
Anthology Film Archives
32 2nd Avenue
New York, NY 10003 USA
Telephone: (212) 505-5181
Fax: (212) 477-2714
Doors 7:00pm

Tickets to the Anthology show will go on sale August 8. They haven't decided how that sale will work yet. Seth Tisue reports the following: "Tickets will be released on sale August 8 and will be available in person at Anthology Film Archives and Other Music. There will be no phone or internet sales. Price: TBA."

whiteflagsummerbird

you can still download the Summer Bird EP on the His Name is Alive website. I think it's just OK, but I'm still hung up on HNiA's early output; "How Ghosts Affect Relationships" would probably make my top ten of the greatest songs ever.

I added a link to White Flag to the links section. Jesse Kudler/Mike Shiflet/Jason Zeh currently on tour. [No NYC dates at this time]. Kudler mp3 samples here. More info/links/etc on all 3 here. Don't expect rock and roll...

Friday, July 22, 2005

We will always be a light


This song is (currently) the greatest fucking song in the universe:

Stars - Ageless Beauty

I cannot stop listening to it again and again.
[Well, that and Ryan Adams' So Alive, but I've been singing that every day for like 2 years now, so no change there.]


Greg the Boyfriend is a genius:
a brilliant disaster-movie post as The Fall Guy
as well as his recent The poisoning of the mind.
further evidence of brilliance here

reading the GtBF archives is like getting a nice deep massage for my neuroses
It's nice to know that there are other overly serious (ex-?)scenesters who think about things like getting old and getting wasted and getting stupid and getting hurt and doing all of them at once in this weird world of NYC-hipsterdom.

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Same Old Scottish Gentry, New Album








download live + demo versions of songs from Franz Ferdinand's new album (they're not even sure which songs will make the cut yet) at FranzFerdinand.org
click on Features, go to Album 2


Whether you're planning on seeing The Island or not, this review is worth your time.

Last Days




So, with Last Days coming out soon I suppose now's a good time to post Pagoda mp3s... this is that demo I've been promising to post.

Death to Birth
Fetus
Sadartha
Song 1
I Do

For now they're up as yousendits, eventually they may get hosted somewhere permanently. [Mike, if you want them to come down let me know].

My thoughts on a Pagoda show from June (actually, just Mike solo) here.

The NYC premiere of the movie was last night (along with a Pianos afterparty), but I couldn't go. I'm currently being killed by this documentary that needs to be finished by Friday. Not sure if Gus was there but apparently Michael and Jamie were there, as were Thurston and Kim and Lukas Haas. I'd really have loved to meet Thurston and Kim, find out if Jamie has a band together yet, and what Michael's up to (musically and otherwise).

Last Days starts playing at the Sunshine (on Houston) on Friday.


The Alloy Orchestra, featuring Roger Miller (Mission of Burma) on keyboards, will perform Thurs. July 21 in Brooklyn, NY, at Prospect Park. They'll be accompanying a screening of the 1925 version of "The Phantom of the Opera", starring Lon Chaney. The show is FREE and starts at dark.

For more about the Alloy Orchestra, check out their website.

if you're in kansas city on saturday, Text of Light [Roger Miller / Lee Ranaldo / William Hooker / Alan Licht] will be improvising to Stan Brakhage films at The Ferenheit Gallery.

magic

Best. Website. Ever.
get on the email list

a close second
reload for new brilliance

Monday, July 18, 2005

(The) Juan Maclean Live




Juan Maclean has released numerous singles including "Give Me Every Little Thing", "By The Time I Get To Venus, and "My Time Is Running Out" on DFA. His full length debut album "Less Than Human" will be out on Astralwerks in August.

Juan will be performing live at Rothko, Thursday, July 21 w/MU

GO TO THAT SHOW. MU is AMAZING
Doors 9 PM, $15 Advanced Tix Available here.


also, Juan's playing for free on Saturday, July 23rd, 2005 at FIXED @ Studios at Tribeca Grand
(with resident Fixed DJs JDH & Dave P)
10pm-4am
FREE w/ rsvp to: getrad@igetrvng.com
Juan goes on at Midnight
*FREE PBR from 10-11, Drink specials all night
FOR MORE INFO: www.igetrvng.com

Monday, monday

film shoot went well

my screenplay progresses

A musical playing in London's West End is based on the music of the Smiths

now that JFro is back on the NYC scene for a while, I'll be working (even) less and stumbling drunk around the LES (even) more. places where you can maybe stalk me:
this Wednesday at Southpaw for CYHSY (with Saints and Lovers opening), the occassional Orchard Bar Friday or Luke + Leroy's Saturday; outdoor benches on the east end of Rivington (sunny sundays); and yes, sometimes in Brooklyn.

I've been promising multimedia content for a while now... I don't have any server space set up right now so it'll have to be pretty limited (if you have some server space you want to donate to my hosting email me). I'm hoping to remedy this soon.

Diplo's remix of "Maps", from his impossible-to-find Live in Montreal set, actually improves on the already-mindblowing original. enjoy.

Here's the Y£$ Mix of Annie's "Always Too Late"

Here's a (new) track from Kano, who seems poised to be the next Dizzee Rascal (i.e. the new face of grime): "We Have A Problem". This track's an online exclusive.

also, soon you'll get to hear that Pagoda demo I picked up when I saw Mike play solo at Pianos.

Saturday, July 16, 2005

Siren

go to Siren (it starts in just a few hours)
I'll go early but may be helping shoot a film that's supposed to shoot in Harlem at like 6, so I may not be there long. or maybe they'll never call me with a time and place. in which case I'm psyched for Dungen, Be Your Own Pet, Saul Williams, Q and Not U, The Dears, and Spoon. Everybody else I'm giving a chance to surprise me (Morningwood? Mates of State?). Last year I came home bright red from the sun. this year I'm expecting a good drenching and possibly another substantial sunburn. something to look forward to.

I'm sorry for the lackluster blogging of late. This documentary is taking up all of my time. Maybe I'll post something worthwhile this weekend. I'm sitting on some prime MP3s that you really need to hear. And maybe I'll finally finish that Jay Z remix I've been working on (no, really).

Update:
Call time on this movie was just moved up to 4. Which means I won't even get to see Be Your Own Pet. somebody tell Nick Zinner hi if you see him; I haven't seen him since Siren last year.

Thursday, July 14, 2005

I need a Hero

so it's 1:30 and I just got back from seeing the Five O'Clock Heroes and The Spinto Band and Nightmare of You.

The Five O'Clock Heroes are awesome. Like Strokes/Jam awesome. The guitarist (Elliott Thompson) is like some sort of mirror image of me in a universe where I grew up idolizing Paul Weller instead of Kubrick and Godard and Ian Curtis and Iggy Pop. His sense of style and stage presence totally blew me out of the water.

The Spinto Band is awesome. i was expecting a much poppier show based on their recordings, but they had a hefty dose of multilevel guitar noise shining over the top of their pop songs. I detected a bit of Television influence, but I think that might just be because when you know something so well you start to see it everywhere.

Nightmare of You is pretty good. I imaging I would've loved them in like '98, when I was really into that particular mode of songwriting. Their guitar parts a bit too poppy for me now, too full of major chords. There just wasn't enough darkness for me.

Oh, and I'm even more in love with sarah lewitinn than I was before. is that possible?

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

The Hiatus Continues

so
post-production on the doc is equally stressful
i hope soon to be back in action
my apartment seems to be going all domestic
watch this space for future multimedia content
see you tomorrow night at Rothko for the Stolen Transmission showcase:

Wed July 13 - Stolen Transmission Showcase
5 O'Clock Heroes 11 PM, Spinto Band 10 PM, Nightmare Of You 9 PM
Doors 8:30 PM, $5
Rothko 116 Suffolk St at Rivington LES NYC 10002

Sunday, July 03, 2005

Pause

There'll be a bit of a break from new posts for about a week, as I'll be working pretty intensively on a documentary we're shooting for work. I'll try to squeeze something in but my waking hours are well overbooked until, say, Saturday.

Friday, July 01, 2005

Ay, there's The Rub

Last night I skipped the Five O' Clock Heroes at Northsix AND the My Favorite show at Rothko in favor of an early trip to my bed.

Pitchfork reviewed one of those new post-Unicorns tracks (the band's called Islands). You can get them both from Simple Mission.

Tonight I'll likely end up at Dan Frantic's birthday party in the 'burg.

Speilberg tackles Israel's Munich '72 Retaliation

O'Connor steps down, sets Congressional Fuse for Supreme Court battle

Iranian President-Elect Former Embassy Hostage-Taker? (I told you he was sketchy)

Saul Williams Mixtape available from Catchdubs.

the-rub-turns-3

The Rub is having it's 3 year anniversary tomorrow, right here in the Slope. See kids, it's not all lesbian couples and strollers. And Ayres/11/CB know from remixes - think Diplo without the Sri Lankan girlfriend. Southpaw. 10pm.


I haven't been outside yet today. I'm gonna go work on that.