March 29, 2002

 
Oh my... this is just awful. It's a website showcasing hideous, cartoonish, gaudy paintings inspired by U2 lyrics. Say what you will about U2, but I think we can all agree that they don't deserve having this sort of thing done to their songs....right?

 
I am heartbroken.

The two Wilco shows at the Bowery Ballroom have sold out, and I don't have a ticket for either.

I am very upset about this.

Anyway, I'm fairly certain my blog posting frequency will be very low the next week or so, since Flyboy will be in NYC, and I will be playing host. I might be able to get a few updates up here and there, but in the meantime you should probably keep your eye on Jim Treacher, Videodrome, Wolk and Suds for high quality bloggage - not to mention the other links I have off to the side.

March 28, 2002

 
I've been listening to The Best of Both Worlds all day... I am really happy with this record, it's far better than I would have ever expected, especially considering my bias against R. Kelly. After all, I wasn't too eager to listen to the guy who is responsible for "I Believe I Can Fly", which has got to be one of the worst hit songs in pop history. I wasn't at all skeptical about Jay-Z...the man has been on fire lately, and that fire continues to blaze on with this record.

The record isn't perfect - there's a few songs which veer off too far into obnoxious standard R. Kelly territory, but even those are pretty tolerable. The songs that work, REALLY WORK. I'm talking about some sleek, state-of-the-art sexy funk with R. Kelly crooning solid hooks and Jay-Z rhyming just as great if not better than on The Blueprint. The stand-out songs on this record aren't far off from "I Just Want 2 Love U" from Roc-La-Familia... "Honey" sounds like it was seperated at birth from that song in the best possible way, and "Take You Home With Me aka Body" even shares a verse with that song, though it's sung by R. Kelly instead of rapped by Jay-Z. The track with Lil Kim is another keeper ("Shake Your Body"), as is the closer "Pussy", which is far more clever than that Amazon.com review I linked to gives it credit for.

March 27, 2002

 
Lately, I've really fallen in love with the band Imperial Teen, but I find that it would be really hard for me to describe what I like about them without inadvertantly making them sound boring or ordinary. They are a pop rock band, nearly all of the songs have two or more members of the band singing... most of their songs just knock me over, they are so well-written and well-executed. I especially love when their lyrics take on a more sinister tone, or when they play up their queerness (all of the band members are gay or of ambiguous sexuality, and the band is two men, two women).

Their new record, On improves on their previous two records greatly...more subtlety, more harmonizing, more pianos and keyboards. The songs "Our Time", "Sugar", "Baby", "Teacher's Pet" and "Ivanka" are particularly wonderful, right up there with the best from their previous two records - "The Beginning", "Yoo Hoo", "Lipstick", "Open Season", "You're One", "Imperial Teen" and "Waterboy".

I just want to listen to "Sugar" all day long and think of one particular person...

March 26, 2002

 
It is a cold, dark, rainy day here in New York - I've been listening to one of my custom-made Sonic Youth cds, which to me is the ideal soundtrack to days like this. It feels perfect... this is the tracklisting, for those who may be curious.

Teenage Riot/ Bull in the Heather/ 100%/ Eric's Trip/ Dirty Boots/ Shadow of a Doubt/ Kotton Krown/ I Dreamed I Dream/ Brother James/ The Burning Spear/ Schizophrenia/ French Tickler/ Saucer-Like/ Candle/ Free City Rhymes/ White Kross/ Expressway To Yr Skull

In other news: The New Barbelith is here. Bask in the soft white glow...

March 24, 2002

 
"Cabbage Alley" by The Meters Soul funk euphoria. Happy good times. Happy glowy. Just a bunch of killer sunshine hooks, lyrics be damned (and fuck full sentences, too). One of the best piano riffs in the whole wide world. Grin from ear to ear.

"Number One" by Playgroup Sexy disco. "I'm the kind of cat who always gets his bird". Super simple bassline, like the Pixies gone all funky. When you dance to this song, you put yr hands up over yr head.

"Young Scene" by Keith Mansfield You can only do the most silly dances to this song - like, you know that one where you pretend you are a submarine? That would be perfect for this. Instrumental orchestral funk. Just over a minute long. Yes!

"Problemmes D'amour" by Alexander Robotnick His name is Alexander fucking ROBOTNICK!. It's electro disco, it has lots of shouted French lyrics, girls cooing along, and lots and lots of synth squiggles... and his name is Alexander ROBOTNICK!

"Let's Go Swimming (version 3)" by Arthur Russell It was written to be a "futuristic summer record" back in the early 80s, and it really does feel like it's from the future... It sounds like the song is simulating what swimming and being underwater is like, while remaining danceable. It's maybe a bit like dancing on the ocean floor...

March 23, 2002

 
Rizla has an in-depth report about his All Tomorrow's Parties LA adventure here on Barbelith. Lucky bastard. At least I can think "well, at least he missed The Jicks while he was there"...that's slightly comforting.

March 22, 2002

 
Oh yes, I do love that feeling, the one that comes when I hear a song for the first time and know immediately that I love it deeply - that I can't imagine how I ever went without it. I got this feeling listening to "Launderette" by Vivien Goldman today. I think it's still to soon for me to try to explain why I love this so much - it's not quite like anything else I've ever heard, but has echoes of many, many songs that I love...there's certainly a lot of The Slits in this song... It's got one of the best basslines that I've ever heard. No question about that... the lyrics, the vocal delivery, the guitars and light percussion - this song is ideal!

Anyone out there who would like to recommend similar songs, please do tell me about them in the guestbook...

March 21, 2002

 
In my travels today, I went to Other Music, and saw the new Disco Not Disco Volume 2 compilation from Strut... I just don't have the cash at the moment to buy a copy. It's painful. I want it so badly.

I wrote down the titles...I'm downloading a few tracks from it on Audiogalaxy but over half of it is unavailable, which is good, because I really do want to get a real copy. The original Disco Not Disco compilation is probably one of the finest compilation releases that I've ever heard. It changed my life. For real.

March 20, 2002

 
In today's Pitchfork: Jicks hit the studio. Obviously, I'm really quite excited about this.... "Crimson Alligator" and "Memory Pulls" are already two of my favorite Malk songs ever at this point, just in the unfinished live-version form that I know them... The silly Pitchfork journalist didn't consult his fact checking cuz, apparently..."The Oyster" and "Crimson Alligator" are the same song!

 
I've been listening to "One Mic" by Nas on repeat for a while now. I'm amazed by the song - I certainly didn't expect anything off of the new Nas record to be any good, much less as powerful as this. Like most everyone else, I'd counted him out; and was maybe a bit overeager to let Jay-Z's assessment in "Takeover" be etched in stone.

Anyway, the song burns with this slow, quiet intensity, with a few bursts of drama as the narrative takes off... Nas never sounds angry in these parts of the song - he sounds strident. He sounds passionate, realistically so. If he's faking it, then he's a fabulous and understated actor. The music feels so perfect, so wee-hours-quiet, the dog and sirens sound effects aren't cheesy, they work just right. It's a very early 90's east coast sound - and obviously, along with the Wu and Biggie, Nas defined that sound. I imagine some people could see him as reverting to formula, but I think it's more like an artist recognizing his own strengths.

This song is probably the most subtle single I've heard on the radio or seen on MTV in ages.

March 19, 2002

 
For all the NXM geeks: Frank Quitely.com is up and running.

March 18, 2002

 
I've been watching a lot of music videos on Sputnik7 lately, there's a number of good videos in their archives. I was immediately drawn to the Clinic video for "Distortions" - I'm very impressed by how it is made out of electronically distorted images, is mostly abstract, but does reflect some of the lyrics quite literally. Very nice. They also have "Walking With Thee" and "The Second Line", both of which I'd already seen.

Other videos of note include Yo La Tengo's classic clips for "From A Hotel 6" and the hilarious "Sugar Cube" video featuring Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, the incredibly cute video for "You're No Rock N Roll Fun" by Sleater-Kinney, the Michel Gondry-directed video for "Fell In Love With A Girl" by The White Stripes, and the new video for "Cocoon" by Bjork.

Also, they've got "Spit On A Stranger", "Cut Yr Hair", and "Shady Lane" by the Pavemen. Too bad they don't have "Carrot Rope" or "Gold Soundz", though...

March 17, 2002

 
Langley Schools/outsider music, The Breeders, Mingus, The Jerry Springer Opera and fucking Moby are in this week's New York Times Magazine.

 
I guess tonight's SNL was okay... It seemed more "live" than usual, mostly due to Sir Ian McKellen radiating an enthusiasm that doesn't show in many other hosts. He was obviously quite excited about Kylie Minogue - even sitting on the side of the stage and bopping around during "Can't Get You Out of My Head".

McKellen also intentionally put his homosexuality on spotlight in references throughout the show, which was nice, but I suspect he might have also been trying to let the American audience know that he was gay at all. I honestly wasn't aware of that fact, and I suspect most of the country wasn't either...

The best bit - during Weekend Update, McKellen did an impression of Dame Maggie Smith. At the end of that portion of the sketch, he kissed Jimmy Fallon full on the lips. Pausing for a moment after the kiss, Jimmy smirks, and boyishly exclaims "Maggie Smith should shave!" Another pause, and..."Does this mean I've just been knighted? Or have I been queened? (giggles)". Jimmy Fallon is adorable. He just makes you want to pinch his cheeks and muss up his hair...

Also -

Frank Quitely : New X-Men as Will Ferrell : current season of SNL

March 16, 2002

 
Yo La Tengo's WFMU call-in covers set just ended - it's been really fun. A partial list of what they played - nearly everything is in here, save for the handful that I didn't know, and didn't catch the titles...

The Kinks "Johnny Thunder"
ESG "You're No Good"
Patti Smith "Dancing Barefoot"
The Ramones "Rockaway Beach"
T-Rex "20th Century Boy"
w/ DJ Hova - Rod Stewart "Do You Think I'm Sexy?"
Three Dog Night "Old Fashioned Love Song"
The Monkees "Pleasant Valley Sunday"
The Stooges "Search and Destroy"
"Meet The Mets"
The Rutles "Cheese and Onions"
Tiffany "I Think We're Alone Now"
w/ a little girl on vocals on the telephone - The Ramones "I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You"
Big Star "September Gurls"
Prince "When Doves Cry"
Four Tops "Build Me Up Buttercup" (excellent!)
Bacchmann Turner Overdrive "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" (also excellent!)
Cheap Trick "I Want You To Want Me"
a big medley including a big chunk of Sonic Youth "Schizophrenia"

If I had the enough spare cash to offer up the $60 it would take to get YLT to play a song for me, I think I would choose one of these four songs - I'd probably just pick my choice out of a hat :

Pavement "Rattled By La Rush"
Jandek "European Jewel (Incomplete)"
Destiny's Child "Bootylicious"
Michael Jackson "Man In The Mirror"

There's always next year...

 
A review of Peter Milligan and Michael Allred's X-Force is in today's New York Times...

The heroes, as drawn by Mike Allred and inked by Laura Allred in bright, primary colors, are stiffly posed with few facial expressions (frowning anger, teary woundedness) -- a parody of bad comic-book art whose ugliness becomes astute when combined with Milligan's merciless view of humanity.

Yikes! I wonder how much his opinion of the art would change if the writer knew that the art was not meant to be a parody...

Nevertheless, it's a very positive review, and will likely expose the comic to a lot of people who may really enjoy it and might not have otherwise know about it.

 
"Just because yr portly and balding and tend to offend people, that doesn't mean you have to sit around at home every night. Get out there, meet some drunks!"

A new Jim Treacher comic is online...

 
Preview pages from New X-Men #124 are online. "What is this world of liars?!?" Classic! I want that slogan on a t-shirt...

 
I've been waiting, ant-ic-ip-ating for a Pavement bootleg mix, and I finally get it in the form of "Fateful Pavement" by Dsico. It's "Silent Kid" with the vocals from "Bills, Bills, Bills" by Destiny's Child - it almost works. The audio mix is a bit off, the vocals need to be higher in the mix. There's a few sloppy transitions, and the ending is a bit rough; but the melody suits the riffs really well, even though it would be a lot better if they were sung live, a bit modified to match up more precisely. I'm happy - Beyonce harmonizing with SM!

The part with the lyric "you trifling, good for nothing type of brother/ oh silly me, why haven't I found another/ a baller" is just fucking magical, I think...

 
On one hand, this site about defaced Britney Spears posters in the NYC subway system is really fabulous. On the other, I'm disappointed that the one that I contributed to (it was on the F line at 14th St) isn't represented/immortalized. I wrote something to the effect of "Did you know that her body is made of a space-age super-resin?" on her breasts. Sigh. Oh well.

 
Russell has an excellent write-up about the first Alien film on his blog. My favorite part:

It's harmonious, really, in a way that few mainstream films are now; no standout shots, no ridiculous music, nothing that has any aim but to immerse the viewer in that ship. I watched the new Star Wars trailer the morning before I saw Alien and the utter insignificance of Lucas' current output aside, the contrast between the two is striking. Why spend eighty million dollars on crap digital sets, leaving your actors (good actors, some of them) in the lurch and you with a bagful of uninspired performaces when you could spend a little more and build sets like those in Alien, where your actors couldn't help but act? If any of the cast of Alien ever forgot what they were supposed to be doing, all they have to do is look, and it's right there. Sad. Think of all the craftsmen that built sets for Scott that are getting less and less work now. On the Titus DVD, there's a behind-the-scenes bit where Julie Taymor talks about all the old Italian craftsmen who worked on her film, and the fact that no one is interested in learning those crafts anymore. These guys are masters - incredible artists, and they can't get new apprentices because people like Lucas are hiring computer monkeys. Look at the sets in the new Star Wars films and look at those in Titus. There's not an inch of goddamned comparison. It makes me so sad to think about it - doesn't anyone ever fucking learn? When those crafts are gone, they are GONE. Knowledge dies, and when it does it goes quietly, right out the back door so softly that you never sense it. The ability to produce sets like those in Alien is a craft that's dying; creating perfect little worlds out of wood and metal and plaster will be impossible at some point, and I just can't believe that no one seems to notice.

March 15, 2002

 
Yo La Tengo will be performing their annual call-in covers show on WFMU tomorrow.

The annual Yo La Tengo covers-fest happens on Saturday, March 16th from 5-7pm, with Hova and Gaylord Fields. Once again, Ira, Georgia, James and their pal Bruce support the freeform radio cause by playing live on WFMU's airwaves. Pledgers get to call in and put in their request for any cover song at all! Listen, pledge, view it on the webcam! (Not necessarilly in that order...)

March 13, 2002

 
Ooooh! A new Spoon LP is forthcoming. Sweet!

 
This bootleg mix of "Last Night A DJ Saved My Life" is wonderful. You really should listen to it.

 
As seen last night on Conan O'Brien: Inspirational Jesus sports statues. And more are coming soon.

Anyone who wants to get me a gift should forget about the wishlist, and consider buying me the Jesus basketball statue instead.

March 12, 2002

 
Ladies and gentlemen - the all-new, all-different Boom Selection...

 
Watching The Osbournes, I feel a bit like how I imagine beings in distant galaxies might while watching the television signals we've been sending them all these years...

"...but Kelly, she shits aliens!"

 
More news courtesy of Pitchfork: Unwound is breaking up.

 
S+E Tenth Anniversary Edition news!

Plus, a dodgy interview with Spiral Stairs:

Pitchfork: Tell us about the 10th anniversary edition of Slanted And Enchanted.

Scott Kannberg: There's been some talk about doing this. I can't confirm it though.

Pitchfork: Can you say anything about the previously unreleased material being considered for possible inclusion?

SK: We're not sure yet what tracks might be included. Gary's dad just passed away, so we're waiting for him to get back in town to scour the tapes.

Pitchfork: Is it unheard material or alternate versions of familiar Pavementia?

SK: From what I remember, I think there are some songs we mixed that never appeared on anything. Some are different mixes and some are new songs. All I have is a crappy cassette tape of the stuff, so it's hard to tell.

Pitchfork: Some of the most beloved and coveted Pavement nuggets were performed only for radio...what are the chances there will be a collection of Pavement's radio appearances on disc?

SK: We'll have to see about these. Not sure if we have the rights to them.

Pitchfork: Wasn't your first-ever show on the radio, in Davis?

SK: We did some stupid open mike night in Sacramento before that. The dude from Cake and Anton Barbeau were regulars. We fucked up their worlds. Or not.

Pitchfork: Were there ever any serious studio stabs at songs like "Kentucky Cocktail," "Circa 1762," and such? You played 'em live enough.

SK: Not really. I wish.

Pitchfork: What's next for Preston School Of Industry?? I was at your first L.A. show at Silverlake Lounge (with the old band) and you guys had such enthusiasm.

SK: We still have 'such' enthusiasm. We just played two shows opening for the mighty Guided By Voices. One was at Disneyland and the other here in San Francisco. We are planning an Australian tour the beginning of May (with a tour single to coincide). After that, a US tour is in the works.

Pitchfork: PSoI seemed much tighter than the Jicks show I'd seen a few months earlier, but maybe that's just because you didn't have your wife singing backup vocals and doing jazzercise.

SK: My wife will be doing interpretive dance clad only in body paint.

Pitchfork: Do you have any side projects or collaborations on the horizon?

SK: My publisher wants me to record a version of "Don't Fear the Reaper" for Six Feet Under. Should I do it?

Pitchfork: Yes!

SK: Nothing else on the plate except for my label Amazing Grease. We just released the Ten Years of Noise Pop comp.



1. When the interviewer compliments Spiral for his band's 'tightness' while at the same time dissing The Jicks, he is just trying to impress him and get on his good side. I love you, Spiral, but yr band isn't nearly as tight as The Jicks. At least not when I saw the Preston School live...

2. I can't stand indie journalists who insist on calling Spiral "Scott Kannberg". It's totally unfair - I've never seen an interview with any given MC in which they are consistently referred to as "Clifford Smith" or something, this never happens to Bono and The Edge, on and on... Spiral Stairs is the only person I can think of that this happens to. He has the coolest name in rock and roll. Why people can't just respect this is beyond me.

March 11, 2002

 
For those of us who would like to indulge in elitist giggle-fits:

First, read the nominations for this year's Harvey Awards.

Then read the fanboy responses in this thread on Newsarama about Mark Waid declining his best writer nomination.

All due respect to Mr. Waid, but how he and Ron Marz even ended up in the best writer category along with Daniel Clowes, Chris Ware, and Alan Moore is baffling to me.

 
Ah, the new issue of America's Dreaming just arrived in the mail... it looks great, Sophie.

I've been listening to "Share The Dream" by Taylor Savvy over and over, and it's only starting to feel a bit unhealthy. It's essentially an early 80s roller-rink dance pop song, with the mantra "me and my dad share the same dream of still being in school (but it's a nightmare!)". That's it. It's that simple. I maintain that it is a work of pop genius. I am very jealous of the lucky Barbelith folks who got to see him play with Peaches this weekend in London. I really wish that I could have tagged along...

March 10, 2002

 
I've been reading a lot of old articles about Pavement... all a part of my cyclical obsession with them, a seasonal cycle that's been unbroken since 1994. For some reason, the spring = Pavementmania for me. I'm like a capistrano swallow...

I'm particularly fond of this one article from The New Yorker, circa Brighten The Corners. It (along with this article from BAM) seems to very eloquently explain a lot of my love for the band, particularly the lyrics of Stephen Malkmus...

choice bits:

The music burrowed through the dense, dissonant textures that were fashionable in eighties underground rock, then took flight in stately melodies that smacked of a sunbaked suburb and a refined pop-record collection. A flat-toned voice sang lyrics that sometimes touched on suburban discontent but more often drifted into unanalyzable abstraction. "Life is a forklift." "Now my mouth is a forklift. This I ask, that you serve as a forklift too." What did it mean? No one had any idea. That was the beauty of it. Pavement was credited to "SM, Spinal Stairs, and G. Young"; it looked to be some kind of dangerous Dadaist cult.


Malkmus aims at writing rock songs with history and poetry in them. He has a gift for coining phrases that sound like points in a missing manifesto or like slogans for a movement yet to be named: "the South takes what the North delivers"; "Between here and there is better than either here or there"; "Praise the grammar police." But no phrase really connects with the next, and Malkmus's little orations turn cryptic or comic.

A few moments later, the topic, so to speak has switched to the falsetto croon of the lead singer of Rush--"What about the voice of Geddy Lee? How did it get so high? I wonder if he speaks like an ordinary guy?" A band mate chimes in, "I know him, and he does!" Malkmus answers, "Well, you're my fact-checking cuz." The idea that such a song could have its own fact checking department in Pavement's best joke since the Jason Priestley hoax.

Sometimes Malkmus is apparently seeking out words that can't have appeared together in rock songs before. In "Type Slowly" he sings the phrases "excruciatingly gray," "leather terrarium," and "lady, I'm no futurist." More often, his choices have musical logic behind them. He pins his lines to classic rhythms--for example, Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" pattern, with the "Goode" falling between beats two and three. Malkmus invents ever odder combinations of words to fire up this old syncopation. "Shady Lane," the catchiest song on the new album, has a gentle, hypnotic melody that keeps slipping off the beat and then falling back into line. Two Johnny B. Goode-like phrases that cause slippage are "emery board" and "worlds collide." In another song Malkmus sings, "I vent my spleen at the Lord/He is abstract and bored"; this has the same rhythmic contour as, say, Grand Funk Railroad's "We're an American band ." Even if the words don't cohere, meanings emerge.

 
In other news, I was very disappointed by Jon Stewart's guest-hosting appearance on Saturday Night Live last night. My expectations were very high - Stewart is normally one of my favorite comedians, but nearly every sketch last night was uninspired and mostly unfunny. It certainly wasn't all Stewart's fault - most of the cast seemed to be sleepwalking through this episode, and the writing was way below average in many skits. Please bear in mind this is SNL I'm talking about - below average can be really quite painful.

There were bits of quality - Tracy Morgan and Rachel Dratch were in a good skit playing themselves interviewing Jon Stewart, Tina Fey had a great one liner about not being a convincing Ashleigh Banfield in a sketch, and Stewart had a funny bit about coming off of the bench to fill in for Jimmy Fallon during Weekend Update - but that's about it. It was nice to see Chris Parnell back in the cast after being temporarily let go, even though he wasn't particularly funny in any of last night's skits. Will Ferrell wasn't in last night's show either; which was very unfortunate, and a bad sign for what will happen to the show once he finally leaves it in the near future. There are a number of solid comedians in the cast (namely Fey, Dratch, Fallon, Morgan, Amy Poehler), but somehow when Ferrell isn't around, it seems to falls apart.

 
My most sincere apologies to anyone who has been coming to this site in the past week hoping to find interesting content - for me, last week was characterized mainly by alternating between being rather busy and incredibly lazy.

Anyway, I've been listening to Woody Allen's Standup Comic record, which has been bringing me a great deal of pleasure. It's a shame Allen abandoned standup in 1968...he's certainly one of the best standup comedians that I've ever heard, a real master of the form. Picking up this record was mainly inspired by a chance viewing of Annie Hall on cable last weekend, and remembering how much I enjoy Woody's comedic work. It occured to me that an old friend of mine always spoke very highly of Woody's standup, so I splurged and bought a used cd...

I feel a great need to see more of the man's films, as I've only seen a small handful. Actually, I think that I need to see more films in general - I feel as though I've been neglected the cinema for far too long; like I should be a film buff by now, but I've been sidetracked. Anyone with good Woody Allen filmography advice, or film recommendation advice in general terms should be made aware of the fact that this blog now has a silly little guestbook in which you can feel free to leave me messages...

March 09, 2002

 
Hey, there's a new Banjo-V song on Song Fight right now - It's really spacey and strange, very dark and portentous. I like it.

March 05, 2002

 
From Boom Selection:

Freelance Hellraiser's set on XFM the other day is available on Audiogalaxy as one long MP3...

Here's the setlist:

The Strokes - "Hard To Explain" (Rough Trade)
Christina Aguilera - "Genie In A Bottle" (RCA)
Outkast - "So Fresh So Clean (Fatboy Slim Mix)" (Arista)
The Freelance Hellraiser - "Supersimon" (Strangelove)
Adam F + LL Cool J - "Greatest Of All Time" (EMI)
Deltron 3030 - "Positive Contact (Charlie Clouser Rmx Inst.)" (75 Ark)
Erick Sermon + Marvin Gaye - "Music" (NY.LA)
Ice T - "New Jack Hustler (David Morales Stress Mix)" (Warner)
Ol' Dirty Bastard + Kelis - "Got Your Money" (No Info)
The Jackson Sisters - "I Believe In Miracles" (Tiger Lily)
Giorgio Moroder - "The Chase" (Casablanca)
Kelis - "Young Fresh & New (Timo Maas Mix)" (No Info)
My Mate Svante - "Push It Around The World" (unreleased)
Badmarsh & Shri - "Get Up" (Outcaste)
Stereo MC's - "Deep Down & Dirty (Jon Carter Basement Mix)" (Island)
N'Sync - "Pop (Instrumental Mix)" (Jive)
Missy Elliot - "Lick Shots" (East West)
Depeche Mode - "Just Can't Get Enough" (Mute)
D12 - "Purple Pills" (Interscope)
Shirley Bassey - "I'd Like To Hate Myself In The Morning (And Raise A Little Hell)" (EMI)

I can't wait to hear this.

 
It's been a while since something from the Modern Humorist made me laugh, but this piece works really well...David Hockney reveals the tricks of Modern Art:

Salvador Dali
With the image of a drooping, melted pocket watch, the Surrealist movement was born. But perhaps Dali was simply painting what he saw. If you’ve ever been to Spain in the summertime, you know it’s bloody hot. Hot enough to melt a pocket watch? Sure, I guess so, why not?

Jackson Pollock
You can’t look at the throbbing, vibrant abstracts of this troubled artist and not think, "My kid brother could do that." Well, he did have a kid brother, Benjy Pollock. Is this proof he painted most of Jackson’s works? To my mind, yes. I am also investigating other artists’ kid brothers, including Skippy Kandinsky and Chu Chu Picasso.
.
David Hockney
I employ no tricks whatsoever. I merely paint pictures of swimming pools. And sell them to millionaires. Who own swimming pools.

March 04, 2002

 
Eddie Vedder has a mohawk now. He says he's keeping it "until we stop killing people abroad". Scary, unattractive, ill-advised.

 
Oh my - Atomix is knocking me out. I've been messing around with mixing and crossfading for the past few hours, and speed up the BPMs of several songs to wonderful effect. Oh yes.

Note: "Metronomic Underground" still isn't quite right.

 
Wishlist:

I'd like an MP3/cd copy of "Something We've Got" by The Minx. Apparently, this is nigh-on impossible to come by, and was only ever released as a 45... It was played on this past Friday's Downtown Soulville on WFMU, and it is pure brilliance - I absolutely must play this song when I DJ again. It's got this fantastic bassline, and all these girls chanting things like "what I've got/ I've got a lot/ I've got something thaaaat's redddddd hot!".

I'd also like a triple-time studio recording of Stereolab performing "Metronomic Underground". This probably doesn't exist, but it should.

March 03, 2002

 
Oh wow - I had so much fun last night. I'm very proud, I was able to keep a solid intense dancefloor for nearly four hours with only a small handful of errors/floor clearers. I went on last, there were two other DJs who did brief sets between 11 and 1:30 - they weren't very good, honestly. They played mostly downbeat stuff, but I guess that was okay cos people were just arriving. By the time I went on, there was a lot of people. And yes, I am so incredibly nerdy that I kept a running log of what I played. I'm a setlist junkie, and I knew that I'd want to refer back to it. Here it is:

Michael Jackson Vs. Q-Tip/ Crossover "Extensive Care"/ Le Tigre "Deceptacon"/ Lupine Howl "Vaporizor"/ George Michael Vs. Missy Elliott/ The Beatles Vs. DMX/ Nirvana Vs. Destiny's Child/ Gold Chains "Rock The Parti" (floor clearer - aborted halfway. I wanted to cry.)/ The Strokes Vs. Christina Aguilera/ D-12 Vs. Depeche Mode/ Peaches "Lovertits"/ Beasties Vs. Britney (Crazy/Body Movin)/ Prince Vs. Daft Punk/ Gorillaz "19-2000 (soulchild remix)"/ Michael Jackson "Smooth Criminal" vs. Kylie/ Grandmaster Flash Vs. Blackstreet/ Busta Rhymes Vs. Missy Vs. Ol Dirty Bastard/ Eminem Vs. Britney/ Cylob "Rewind (DMX Krew remix)"/ Madonna Vs. Young MC/ Missy Vs. O'Jays Vs. Happy Mondays/ Gonzales "Take Me To Broadway"/ Lynnfield Pioneers "Time To Get Dumb"/ Ol Dirty Bastard Vs. Will Smith/ Chicks On Speed "For All The Boys In The World" (aborted halfway)/ Wilbur Bascomb and the Zodiac "Just A Groove In G"/ ESG "My Love For You"/ Lee Rogers "I Want You To Have Everything"/ Sugar Pie Desanto "Go Go Power"/ Billy Hambric "She Said Goodbye"/ Spanky Wilson "The Sunshine Of Your Love"/ Eddie Bo "Check Your Bucket"/ Tobi Lark "Challenge My Love"/ Fun Company "Zambezi"/ Ike and Tina Turner "Bold Soul Sister"/ Johnny Williams "My Baby's Good"/ James Brown "There Was A Time"/ Stevie Wonder "I Was Made To Love Her"/ Syl Johnson "Dresses Too Short"/ Kim Weston "Rock Me A Little While"/ Otis Redding "Love Man"/ Gloria Jones "Tainted Love"/ The Supremes "Where Did Our Love Go?"/ The Vibrettes "Humpty Dump"/ Caesar Frazier "Funk It Up" The Esquires "Get On Up"/ Rufus Thomas "Can Your Monkey Do The Dog?"/ Mike Viner's Incredible Bongo Band "Apache"/ Ronn Feaster "Don't Laugh In My Face and Steal My Man"/ Jay-Z "I Just Want To Love You"/ Outkast "So Fresh, So Clean"/ Wu-Tang Clan "Gravel Pit"/ Beasties Vs. Britney (Intergalactic/One More Time)/ Loose Joints "Is It All Over My Face?"/ The Kingsmen "Louie Louie"/ Detroit Cobras "Village of Love"/ Tom Tom Club "Genius Of Love"/ The Slits "I Heard It Through The Grapevine"/ The B-52's "Rock Lobster"/ Clinic "The Equaliser"/ Primal Scream "Shoot Speed Kill Light"

I'd actually been daydreaming about ending a DJ set with "Shoot Speed Kill Light" all week, it was nice to get it out of my system. I feel great right now - it was such a satisfying night. I danced a bit too, which was great. I'll probably be doing another party like this within the next month or two, so I've got a lot of ideas on how to improve everything about this. Oh, and I had no idea that "Deceptacon" would cause the dancefloor explosion that it did... I was actually concerned that it could be a floor clearer - hm. I'm still a bit sad that Gold Chains went over so very poorly. That really let me down.

March 02, 2002

 
I shall be DJing a party tonight - I'm obviously very excited about this. I'm figuring out what MP3s I'll be bringing to DJ live computer-style... Lord knows there will a be a ton of bootleg mixes in my set tonight...and I shall be so bold to drop in "Rock The Parti" by Gold Chains. Oh yes.

March 01, 2002

 
I am listening to a cdr of 'greatest hits' by Pavement right now. When I made it, I was trying to make the best greatest hits compilation that could be made on one cd - all of the singles, popular tracks, and live favorites. It came out like this:

Box Elder/ Debris Slide/ Summer Babe/ Trigger Cut/ Here/ In The Mouth A Desert/ Frontwards/ Cut Yr Hair/ Gold Soundz/ Range Life/ Unfair/ Rattled By La Rush/ Father To A Sister of Thought/ Kennel District/ Grounded/ Give It A Day/ Painted Soldiers/ Stereo/ Shady Lane/ Date With IKEA/ Carrot Rope/ Spit On A Stranger/ Major Leagues/ The Hexx

Anyway, I stopped the flow of the cd and played "Unfair" several times in a row. I'm amazed by the fact that no matter how many times I hear this song, it still has that rush of sunny day excitement that it had for me the first time I ever heard it, when I was 14 years old... it just never gets old. From the verses about how "the south takes what the north delivers" to the chorus of "swinging nunchucks like you just don't care" to the bridge...ah, and then the screaming explosion of "Yr my neighbor! You don't need favors! Cos yr my neighbor! I don't need favors, you Bakersfield trash!" Yes. This is what it's all about, everyone. This is my rock and roll music.