music induced euphoria: 2010-02-07

Saturday, February 13, 2010

The Soft Pack bring "Answer To Yourself" to Letterman

when did this happen?! last night, apparently. I was listening to their album when I was running yesterday. it gets me pumped XD

so solid.

book review: Ryan Adams - Hello Sunshine

Pain can be the best fuel for art. The sweet bitterness of being lonesome translates well into both poetry and music. Ryan Adams’ phenomenal discography and debut book of poetry (Infinity Blues) exemplify this well.

Call me a single cynic, but one of my biggest pet peeves is when people you are close to fall in love. The same friends who used to join you in deploring the ridiculousness of lovey dovey people turn their backs on you and join the others. The others.

Hello Sunshine is Ryan Adams’ second book, and it has neither the intensity nor the anguished honesty of Infinity Blues. It reads like a love letter to his wife. The contentment relayed in the pages is basically career suicide for his poet self. The sober Ryan Adams—the loving husband, the non-smoker, this Ryan Adams does not interest me.

The book has its moments. “Yes” is beautiful, “A colorful ending” is vivid and lucid, and “Fruit Rotting” strikes close to the poems found in Infinity Blues. I will admit that the poems are written with the unapologetic flourish that embodies so much of why I love Ryan Adam's work. The stream of consciousness which was definitely typed up once and not edited. The purity of form. But the substance is all wrong, and all in all, the book was a disappointment.

Adams self-mockingly writes “poets smoke/now/i am really screwed/i am not smoking/damnit”, but he ends the poem triumphantly, thinking that he can still craft good poetry in this state of newfound well-being. I beg to differ. Ryan, why have you forsaken me?

“quietly, I am happy now”?!

Give me recklessness. Give me youth. Don’t give me the precursor to your memoirs as a soccer dad.

I guess he’s forgotten his own wisdom, despite having taken copious notes thereof:
“note to self don't die for anyone. note to self, don't die. note to self, don’t change for anyone. note to self don't die.”

Ryan Adams - Note to Self: Don't Die [mp3]

Saturday Music Definitions: Bullet

Radiohead -Bullet Proof...I Wish I Was [mp3]

Editors - Bullets [mp3]

The Clash - Washington Bullets [mp3]

Ryan Adams & the Cardinals - Silver Bullets [mp3]

The Smashing Pumpkins - Bullet with Butterfly Wings [mp3]

The Strokes Post #356

I love this song:

lyrics in the sidebar.

Friday, February 12, 2010

The Strokes Post #355

I
am
drooling

Nick has a surprisingly good voice. my GOODNESS hearing those bits and pieces made me SO happy. they all look SO good. Albert looks great! his hair's coming in nicely. Nikolai looks fantastic. fan fucking tastic.

HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY.

PS I want that Daytrotter shirt Nikolai is wearing. I was browsing their online apparel store yesterday

PPS it looks like those summer festivals are the only shows the band will play before releasing the album. all the more reason to trek out to England.

Band of the week: Langhorne Slim

When I browse through record shops, I sometimes come across albums that make me stop, pick them up, and think “I should buy this”, even when I have no conceivable idea of what the music contained within the LP sounds like. Sometimes, a name will suffice, will ring a bell. “I’ve heard good things about this guy,” I tell myself.

This scenario has happened no less than 6 times with Be Set Free by Langhorne Slim. The album art has called out to me on so many occasions in so many different record stores. Every time, I put it back, favouring a big stack of records that my mind tells me has precedence over random LPs with inviting album covers.

Today, I finally listened to the album. And I have to say,
I have a new musical obsession.

This man. He can sing. He can wash away all of your troubles with his incredibly rich, soulful songs. Renew your spirit and reinstate your faith in folk music. Langhorne Slim effortlessly crafts Americana of the highest calibre. The kind of genuine music that would be the perfect soundtrack to a summer love story in North Carolina.

Note to self: always impulse by vinyl. Otherwise, I’m just prolonging my own exposure to intensely good music. Good heavens, this boy has something special.

Langhorne Slim – Say Yes [mp3, HIGHLY FUCKING RECOMMENDED!]
Langhorne Slim – Land of Dreams [mp3]
from Be Set Free (2009)

visit him on MYSPACE for more songs + non-West coast tour dates *wipes away tear*

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Phoenix announce more tour dates

THEY ARE PLAYING THE CATALYST?!
ahhhhhhhhhh I can't believe I am missing that. I am sacrificing so much for Coachella...
; )

April
17 Santa Cruz, CA - The Catalyst
18 Indio, CA - Coachella
20 Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
21 Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theatre
22 Louisville, KY - Louisville Palace
23 Nashville, TN - Vanderbilt
24 Atlanta, GA - The Tabernacle
26 Washington, DC - Constitution Hall
27 Norfolk, VA - The Norva
29 Austin, TX - Stubb's
30 Houston, TX - Verizon Wireless Theatre

June
11 Cary, NC - Koka Booth Amphitheatre
12 Charlotte, NC - The Uptown Amphitheatre at The Music Factory
13 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo

Phoenix - Napoleon Says [mp3]

new video: The Soft Pack - C'mon

you know you have it bad for a band when you can't hear a single without hearing the next track upon its final seconds

when this finished playing, my mind started singing "Down on Loving"

read what I had to say about the fantastic debut LP from this band HERE

must watch video: The Morning Benders "Excuses" on Yours Truly

I'll be damned if SF doesn't have the best damn local music scene EVER

Classic Track Thursday

Beastie Boys were revolutionaries.

here's a sampling from their amazing debut album

Beastie Boys - Fight for Your Right [mp3]
from Licensed to Ill (1986)

The Strokes Post #354

Nick Valensi has been working with Australian singer Sia on her new album. read more at NME

this is Sia:

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

The Strokes Post #353

as Julian announced some more US tour dates

the boys in NY got tired for waiting for him, so they replaced him with a tone deaf Asian man. Nikolai has taken up the post of "the sexy one in the group"

Fab tells all to Zane Lowe. including the late March release and his man-crush on the lead singer of Doves

[hahah I just turned a bunch of great Strokes news into bad journalism. how fun]

CONTEST WINNERS ANNOUNCED: Sweetheart CD

thanks to everyone who entered. the lucky winners are:

Nadia!
Mary Shea!
Dakota!
Mason!

send me an email with your mailing address and I'll send them out as soon as I can.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Frightened Rabbit: Poke

I couldn't sleep last night so I made a dash for my ipod...I listened to two albums in full: Contra and The Midnight Organ Fight. and then I was strongly reminded of why I love Vampire Weekend and Frightened Rabbit so much. they are on such polar opposite sides of the musical/happiness spectrum, but they are both SO GOOD. it's insane how two bands can manage to be so musically precise, and tug at all of the right strings in your body, but sound NOTHING alike.

anyways, I fell asleep to Frightened Rabbit and they haunted my dreams.

Frightened Rabbit - Poke [mp3]
it makes me want to move to Scotland and find myself a depressed busker to console.

The Strokes Post #352

I find this
incredibly amusing

Monday, February 8, 2010

Chris Hickey: Kerouac

this is quite lovely:

Chris Hickey - Kerouac [mp3]

there is something extraordinarily appealing about the simplicity of these arrangements. and I do love On The Road.

visit him on his WEBSITE

The Strokes Post #351

this picture is just too precious.

The Who @ Superbowl XLIV

like the Saints, the band started off slow but slowly gained momentum until POW, they hit you with an explosive force of awesome

this was one of my favourite Superbowls, ever. such a good game. such a solid performance from Townshend. too much good stuff.