how was your weekend?

Last night I went to the Empty Bottle (convenient, as it's spitting distance from my apartment) to see Magical, Beautiful; Brilliant Pebbles; and Black Moth Super Rainbow, and I don't really have much to say about it other than keep an eye out for Magical, Beautiful. Yeah, will you? Please do.



They sounded dreamy but not glazed-eyed dreamy. Full dreamy. Distinct dreamy. Maybe dreamy is not the right word. As for the sound in general at the Bottle? Muddy, maybe.

indie hip hop pop twee irony shut up

Have you heard of Yoome? Probably not. I found the above image on their Myspace page. Also, there's music there (what's up, music blog). It's really very good pop music--a tinge of melancholy and tongues situated firmly in cheek but with a sheen of (take a moment, wait for the word I'm going to choose next...) sincerity (bam! you thought I was going to say irony, right? Me too.) in these reality-inspired fictions and awkward but familiar sentiments that should make someone with a good ear and sense of humor laugh a small, self-contained chuckle. And I'm not saying this because I like everyone in the band. I actually listen to this project. "Whiskey and Peppermints" is my favorite.

I am fond of

Jonathan Richman - The Mixer (Men and Women Together)

Men-shaped men and not waif-men, I mean men who are broad-shouldered and will get wider in the gut when they age, men who are taller than me by miles, with thick swaths of grainy arm hair and salaried jobs. Overwhelming men.

Sonic Youth - Brave Men Run (In My Family)

But then not really. It's not always the case. The everything-else-shaped men, the ones that make my guts turn pleasantly with the quality of their thereness, I'm always too intimidated by them. I have to be smart and on-point and someone I like.

Liars - Grown Men Don't Fall In The River, Just Like That (from Fins to Make Us More Fish-like)

What I'm saying is that I never figured myself for the type of girl dudes and, well, men like, you know?

I swear, I will buy a new digital camera when I'm not broke

Thanks, Frangrit!

Beach Boys - Vega-tables

I made a delicious dinner that could've been enhanced with arugula. Alas, I don't know what happened to the baby arugula I had. Maybe I ate it. I made a penne pasta "salad" with shredded pomegranate-vanilla marinated chicken thighs, roasted garlic, sauteed mushrooms, and strawberries. I grated parmesan cheese on top and tossed in some cubed avocado because it was lying around and I will eat almost anything. Really good. Would've been better with arugula.

Geling Yan's The Sent Down Girl

I went to see Xiu Xiu last night at Reggie's. It was crowded. I was alone. I've been feeling pretty bad. I had a nice time. I drank a Strongbow, a High Life, and a PBR. Gross. Geling Yan received her MFA at the college I attend. She wrote a book. The book became a movie. The movie's name is pretty easy to figure out.

Here's the video for "I Do What I Want, When I Want".



During this song and all of the songs, I stood next to a boy who ended up in the same el car with me. He drank a something-and-coke or something boyish like that.

growing up is for babies

Blog, I’m having a hard time. I’m having a hard time embracing you and giving you the sweet, sweet loving that you need. I’m preoccupied with school, with projects that are actually happening, with filling up notebooks with story ideas and story bits and just stories, with a lot of “personal growth” type stuff and re-figuring out the person I am and what I want out of life and whom I want to be there for it (this was an extremely awkward sentence). Now more than ever, I’m listening to music, really listening to it and realizing that how I listen to music is almost as important as what it is I’m listening to, that the way I listen to an album with one person is drastically different than with someone else, and just a lot of bullshit that won’t matter when I’m dead.

Blood On the Wall - Lightning Song

The new Blood On the Wall is so good. SO GOOD. There are a lot of good things in the world.

young marble pants

Thanks inkswamp!
I have a thing for things twee and kitsch. It pains me to admit it but it's true. Tea cups. Books. Furniture. Give me the sweetest jangly indie pop in the world and though I may initially turn my nose away from it, I will secretly listen to it on a warm, sunny day (like Sunday!) and smile a lot like an idiot. Do things like buy a coffee table.

Never mind that Pants Yell! is a band name that rubs me the wrong way, the latest LP title is fantastic--Alison Statton. As in Young Marble Giants' Alison Statton. Colossal Youth. That's a brilliant band name and a great album. Other than !!! and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, I can't think of any other bands that deserve the audacity of having "!" in their name. Maybe some day I will be okay with frivolous punctuation marks.

Pants Yell! - Reject, Reject

What I love about this song is where it drops off for a bit at exactly the two-minute mark and then comes back in with a whiny twist. That's lovely. I also love all of their lyrics. Simple. Tongue-in-cheek. Reminds me of The Smiths and Belle and Sebastian and Beulah and you know, all of those bands that Pants Yell! sounds like, i.e. all of the stuff I listened to in my first year or two of college. What was I thinking?