Mostly Certain

2010-10-05T10:35:00.005-05:00

INTERNET! I am too many places right now. Mostly I am at my unthemed blog and my semi-professional one. Semi-professional! What what what what. All signs point to Texas, Summer 2012, MFA or no MFA. I will be 25 years old then. What is that.

2010-08-16T22:08:00.002-05:00

Most folks find their way here via "twee bands". Funny how that worked out.

Pop songs your boyfriend's too stupid to know about, basically, is what I am into, of course, of course.

2010-07-01T19:23:00.003-05:00

I just remembered the time I saw Jarvis Cocker at Pitchfork with a friend from college. This blog is reeeedundant.

2010-05-07T22:10:00.007-05:00

Moving again. Packing up books. Thinking about things. Learned that nice isn't that nice, it is just boring when I think it's boring and if I ask, "What are you thinking?" and the answer was that, then that was that. Another attempt at being happy and not just content. Seeing the wide, wide expanse again. Trying to. Feeling productive (sort of, there is always, always more), feeling good, feeling antsy, feeling ill because of a cold and allergies and nerves. I'm excited for my commute to double. It's not by much, but it's a good thing.

2010-04-25T13:31:00.001-05:00

Cults - Go Outside

2010-03-27T20:49:00.004-05:00

To keep with theme, things are pretty. I may be coming down with a cold, again, but things are pretty. And nice. Nice is nice. Turned a wall in my living room into a calender. A stark reminder of things planned, things to come. So, life goals are no in a notebook in my bag and in my apartment. Nice, fine instead of flair, fizz. What a revelation.

I'm compiling my Summer Ready Jams. It's turning out to be a lot of gentle, snoozy, lay on the beach, find sand in bed stuff. Cults is on that list. You can download their 7" on the website.

2010-03-01T22:12:00.003-06:00

Pretttttty.

I am trying to figure out the best way to make bats. Not actual bats but bat puppets, I guess. I think I'm going to knit them, maybe. I'm really excited about it. It's not just for fun, though, it is in a way. I have this camera now and I need a tripod and some patience. I cross off goals on a calender. It's been working out, for the most part, but I'll slip in things like "PUNCH THROUGH TO THE NEXT DIMENSION WITH YOUR FISTS" and it's like, come on, Monica, cool out, listen to some new music and it'll work out. I might make bat cakes, though.

2010-02-10T19:20:00.003-06:00

My knowledge of terrible but wonderful music won us free beers last night. Last night, I drank more beers than I wanted to. I lost a glove in the snow. As I was taking off my boot, I realized this and went back outside to retrieve it because fuck me if I'm going to lose nice winter cycling gloves that I've only had for a few weeks. Maria had snacks. I like my life a lot, repeat that like some well-intentioned mantra. Instruction. Like your life. Repeat it enough and then it happens, as if by magic. Magic and work.

2010-01-22T19:06:00.003-06:00

I take living in Chicago for granted. Tonight, I had planned to go home, eat some crappy take out, watch a sappy movie populated by beautiful people, and go to bed early. Instead, I'm going to (probably) see Cap'n Jazz. Cap'n motherfucking Jazz.

I listened to them when I was a teenager and it's been some time since. It is the soundtrack of being 16 and reading Don Delillo and Salinger for the first time. It is being awkward and unsure of who I was, who I would become.

The other option tonight was the Chicago Metaphysical Circus's Psych Fest at the Hideout. Nostalgia won out. I am really, really excited. I can't begin to say. Some day. I am doing this for teenage me. It'll be great.

2010-01-08T18:45:00.002-06:00

New-ish Converge listened to finally.

It is so good. So, so good.

BEST BLOG

2009-12-20T17:12:00.000-06:00

http://www.imstartingaband.blogspot.com/
http://www.imstartingaband.blogspot.com/
http://www.imstartingaband.blogspot.com/
http://www.imstartingaband.blogspot.com/
http://www.imstartingaband.blogspot.com/

THAT'S ALL.

2009-11-30T15:07:00.004-06:00

JUST SAYING THAT'S WHAT'S UP.

"Life gets so good, sometimes I want to throw up."

2009-11-24T19:09:00.005-06:00

I am terrible with e-mails but phone calls are hard to avoid. Phone calls from great distances away are my favorite. I love putting my life down for an hour at a time, go for a walk, and tell stories to friends who are genuinely interested in the mild, mostly pleasant happenings of my life.

I was speaking to a pal recently about the everyday shit, the this and this and that and that how I really like a bunch of bands right now, I'm really stoked on music and seeing music live and dancing to good records with whoever happens to be there, and hell, I can sort of keep time now, that's nice. I learned how to play an easy Velvet Underground song on the ukulele but I can't sing for shit.

We, as always, talked a good deal about where I'll be after Chicago. We talked about surprises. A year, even four months ago I couldn't see myself finally in a place that I don't feel ashamed of or sad or always so angry. It seemed like I had gotten stuck. Started drinking too much (sorry, Mom) and being more reckless than usual. Than I moved into an apartment alone and my life just started to happen. Magically, it seems.

I have met a lot of really great people in the last few months. I have had old friends from what felt like a different lifetime be friends again, and it's great. I have been lucky to randomly meet some amazing people to ride bikes with, to cook dinner with, to listen to music with, to dance with, to be with, that I can say that I'm happy with. I am young and I am stupid and I just want to have fun for a while. It's simple. I still have my days but those days are so few and far between, it's kind of nuts. There are other things, besides this, the most important, the people. There are things like, um, a second job. A part-time gig. Don't ask me about it, I won't find out for sure until a while from now. I'm really excited and I think it's silly that someone's willing to hire me to build shit, but that's fine. I'm fine with that. I am so excited! To spend! Lots of time! Around things! That I! Actually! Want!

Guys, I'm so stoked. I want to call all of my friends all of the time now.

2009-11-16T11:05:00.001-06:00

Today I learned that Téléphone once opened up for Television.

Safe to say my life is getting brighter every day.

2009-11-06T10:44:00.002-06:00

Confession time? I don't like Wilco and I don't like the Bad Plus. Two perfectly likable bands with tremendously talented folks, but I don't know if I'm just not old enough or NPR enough or mature enough to LIKE them. Wilco reminds me that I'm not a native Chicagoan (oops?) and the Bad Plus reminds me of a friend who would put on one of their albums, lean back in his chair ever so slightly, and close his eyes. There would be an occasional smile flirting at the corners of his mouth and eyelids. It was great.

New Years Eve?

2009-11-05T20:58:00.001-06:00

There are a lot of bands playing in Chicago on New Years Eve. There's only one I want to see, really, but that's already sold out. Jens Lekman. So I can swoon and stuff? I don't know. But seeing a band on New Years Eve is sort of not my style at all.

VEXED, I am.

But I am seeing Melt-Banana soon.

STOKED, I am.

Crazy.

2009-10-20T22:11:00.003-05:00

Craziness has been going on. I've been keeping busier than normal and last night, one of the first relatively slow, quiet nights I've had in a long time, my friend got punched in the head when we were riding our bikes in the direction of my apartment. It was random and made me incredibly angry. I don't like getting heated because I always just end up being sad. No injuries or anything but still. Why the fuck would a dude just come up and punch someone in the head.

Kids, be safe. I love you. I forever want to bump into my friends at shows and bars, to say hello and dance awkwardly to terrible music, friends to ride bikes with, to learn ukulele with, to be friends with. Be safe.

"I can't even tell if it's actually 12-hours of sunlight."

2009-09-22T17:38:00.003-05:00

It's the first day of autumn but if you've been outside in Chicago, it's humid. And the sun came out! I'm pretty stoked, in general. Philly won't be closing its libraries. I'm hoping to dominate a Scrabble game tonight. Testing out a new bike soon. Buying records, because Times New Viking's new LP came out today. YESSSSSSSSS.

music's cool but books are, too.

2009-09-15T17:27:00.004-05:00

Philadelphia's planning to close all of its public libraries on October 2. I don't know why it's not a bigger deal in national media. I don't care about the latest Kanye West outburst or Lady Gaga stunt when, holy shit, guys, a whole city's public library system may no longer exist in a matter of weeks.

In the short eleven or so years I lived in the city, I frequented the South Philadelphia and formerly-named Southwark branches more often than my friends' homes. There was the time Kelly and I tried to borrow out the movie Splash, but you can't at 8 because god forbid we saw mermaid tits. One year, I went to maybe a day and a half of summer art camp there. My love for books wouldn't exist if these libraries weren't there.

I have been thinking a lot about where I stand on certain things, how gray it all is, how I've increasingly become someone who no longer worries about this or that, if maybe I'm just swapping out a short fuse for apathy. I haven't been able to react viscerally to anything in a long time. These library closing? This made my guts hurt for the first time in months.

old news

2009-09-07T16:42:00.002-05:00

US Open Quarter-final is a rematch of the Federer and Söderling French Open final. I know two other people who care.

Foals is a band I listen to when I get ready in the morning.

Duh.

2009-08-21T17:50:00.003-05:00

I like the new Pissed Jeans album.

naming pets after androids

2009-08-01T02:59:00.005-05:00

I've not been listening to much music. Partial to talky podcasts about boring stuff like fiction and science or streaming an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer while I bustle around the kitchen, baking up a storm.

I did put on the Margo Guryan LP the other day because one of my baby kits, Data, kept on pawing at my records that are still resting up against a wall in my living room. In a barely mild fit of "I'll show you"-ism, I took the reissue from her wee tiny paws and played the record. She was mesmerized! I giggled like an idiot for at least a solid 30-odd seconds because kittens make me laugh pretty much always.

Life's pretty cute. I wish my vacation would last a couple of days longer so I got to see folks instead of the pounds and pounds of frosting. I am learning a lot, though, about baking. Oh! I'm on vacation in Philadelphia, and I mention this because I always seem to mention this on the blog when it comes around, and by vacation, this time, I mean I spent the past week baking and frosting and decorating the biggest cake I have ever made. A wedding cake. Yikes. To be honest, I'm really curious what the music's going to be at the reception. I was sort of crossing my fingers for a Cambodian cover band. Maybe it'll be DJ playing top-40. I could always ask one of the planners but that'll ruin the surprise.

Desmond.

2009-07-03T19:36:00.001-05:00

Kind of obsessed lately.

who says bum? this bum.

2009-05-28T21:02:00.004-05:00

The dumbest things make me so sad. Like the internet. Sometimes, the internet just bums me out. All of these avenues of communication are available to me and it's great, really. This blog, all of the other social networking things, Skype, iChat, you know, all of it. It's great to see the faces of the people I miss most, to read everything my friends have to say, to actually talk and communicate and share. Sometimes, though, it illustrates the disconnect I have with so many of the people I have known, want to know. Bums me out.

Young Marble Giants - Radio Silents

Listening to music by myself is like the internet. It is awesome but sometimes, I can't even begin to describe how sad I get when I'm sitting on my floor, legs crossed underneath of me, and I am there but not there. Here but not here. I am not lost in the music or some other cliche. I am fully aware of my existence, of the record, or CD, or whatever doing its thing, and all of the sound, the sound of my own breathing, of a car driving by, of a neighbor opening and closing a door, and it all just feels alien.

I don't know. This is how I am feeling about my life right now. It will probably change tomorrow.

moving moving moving

2009-04-21T19:12:00.006-05:00

Bobby Birdman - Moving On/Up

I'm currently in the process of packing up three years of my apartment life to move five blocks away into a one bedroom sublet a lovely lady is letting me have for dirt cheap for the month of May. After that, I'm off to a two-bedroom in Humboldt Park all by my lonesome. My landlords are awesome. We've spoken of tomato plants. I am at the south end, across from the quiet part of a huuuuge park and you have no idea how often I'm going to be sitting outside on all of that grass. My fridge is in the pantry. I get a pantry! I'm really excited! Now I have space for all of the different flours I like to have on hand. Bonus: some of the best people I know live (near) there so it'll be nice to walk to potlucks with my cakes and ice creams instead of praying, i.e. hoping really hard, that no one bumps into me on the CTA and I trip over my own feet and disaster, disaster, disaster! Cake disaster.

Excited and scared and sad and happy and adult as whoa. I've never NOT had roommates. It's time. I feel like a grown-up, though I'm far from being one. Somebody buy me a couch! Peace out, Ukrainian Village! Well, sort of. :)

Insomnia

2009-04-01T02:06:00.002-05:00

Abe Vigoda - Endless Sleeper

Everyone likes this band, right? My favorite song off of the album is "Cranes" but who hasn't heard that already?

My body hates me and I can't sleep and you'd think I'd be writing more. I mean, yes, I am writing more! I am actually being productive with this no sleep business and I have been catching up with music after a couple of months of not really listening to anything at all that wasn't safe and easy and look, look, don't expect much from me. I'm exhausted. I am spiffying up my bicycle, though. I am learning and doing with my own hands with help from books and internet videos because I clearly do not like asking for help if I can learn on my own. You know? You know. My hands are all sorts of cut up. I own a glockenspiel since I've last seen you, blog. I am also a matter of weeks away from moving out of my apartment and probably just down the street. Exciting times! Now I wish I could sleep. This is getting boring.

I am a sucker for moments.

2009-02-18T12:41:00.004-06:00

Ok. Ok. This is the thing. I'm in my double-deuce year of being alive. I made it to this point and I have never felt more positive about my life and the people I choose to be around. These people? They're my friends and I love them for all of the positive shit they give me as well as all of the shitty shit. This isn't intended to be sappy or anything like that, but I am a sap.

Right now, right this moment, I'm listening to Godspeed You! Black Emperor. It's been about a year since the last time I've listened to them. This last time was in some boy's studio apartment and I was getting dressed to go, making a decision to leave and talk about epic, sweeping music for such a pivotal moment in my life, a moment where I did not yet but was beginning to realize that how I see the world, what I value as important, and just all of that ambiguous, hard, growing up type of business is so...different. I don't know how to explain or articulate this and I often wonder if perhaps I could build something, create a physical thing and present to the world as Here, Here Are My Thoughts and Feelings and How I Have Changed and How I Have Realized Now That Shit is Going to Hurt But Whatever Because I Am Doing This and I Am Owning Up to It All.

And Godspeed? Yeah, I honestly can't think of any other music right now that I should be listening to. It's a band that feels like that thing that was created to articulate these hard to put into words moments. It's like, man, I am so psyched on everything right now and I figuring out which moments were dips or pitfalls, ends and beginnings, and all of that and I feel lucky. Goodbye, 21. You've been gone for a few weeks now, but it's ok. I learned a lot and 22 is starting off on this note, an imperfect note, but the right note. There is all of this awesomeness and I see no walls. I see expanse, great, big wide expanse for happiness, for sustained awesomeness. I see it. Really, really see it. I needed that first heartbreak, those wordless moments, all of it, to see this right now. What is this? Optimism? I don't know. Whatever it is, this gumption to be AWESOMEEEEE is really fucking good. And new. Oh, how new this all feels.

maybe it's because i say "straight up" all of the time now

2009-01-25T11:09:00.003-06:00

I twittered this the moment it happened because Twitter is the most addicting social networking whatever thing in the world. Plus, it's really easy now with my Blackberry. My beautiful, beautiful Blackberry that lights up every single time I get an e-mail. It's great. Technology is suffocating me with awesomeness.

A friend and I were watching "Forever Your Girl" when he turned to me and said, "You remind me of a young Paula Abdul."

That's the best thing anyone's said to me in a long time. Never mind that I'm about half-a-foot taller than that dancing fairy of a woman and I am sometimes too uncoordinated to walk in snow let alone execute some sweet moves, I was tickled by that. As we all know, young Paula is the best Paula.

Saddest Song in the World

2009-01-20T07:51:00.002-06:00

If I were a wee bit more of a girl, I would cry every time I hear Patsy Cline's "She's Got You". Part of it is because Patsy dies soon after this song but mostly it's straight up sad.

The musical theme of the day at work was "The Most Depressing Songs Ever" when we came across this. It broke my god damned heart, that's what this song did. I came home and realized I didn't have any Patsy Cline but I did have an inferior cover by Cat Power. Inherently, covers would be inferior. I can't imagine this song without Patsy's voice.

2009-01-16T02:44:00.003-06:00

A friend showed this to me recently because his GF had this gem on vinyl (I like that 2k9 has turned into the year of records already). Initially, I was very much, "Well, isn't that cute." Then I woke up one morning with it stuck in my head. It may be better than Madonna's original. This is endearingly earnest. I require a vacation and a dance party.

Here's a link to the Wiki page to MC Miker G & DJ Sven. It's the most effort I can put into finding info right now because I am a bag of internet lazybones.

crowd following

2009-01-14T23:07:00.004-06:00

Everyone's psyched on the new Animal Collective record and I am, too. I am not a liar. I love this band. I have standard taste, mostly. Oh well. It's difficult to pick my favorite track so here's the one that stands out the most, especially if you're living in frosty Chicago, never mind all of the sappy stuff it reminds me of. The sappy stuff that was and the sappy stuff that will be. WHY AM I STILL HERE? Maybe time to dig up a new city but who knows. The summers here are too good to let go.

Animal Collective - Summertime Clothes

I miss this past summer. I miss not being able to fathom hoping that the temperature goes above 0°F. I miss sweat and bicycles and humidity and shorts. I miss seeing my friends more often because who spends summer alone, you know? My skin is dry like something fierce. I miss summer. But I do love winter, much as a gripe, except for when new frontiers of cold keep on happening.

Man, this was kind of an echo of a post.

First Day of Winter Jam

2008-12-21T12:21:00.006-06:00

麵包超人 (アンパンマン) "ANPANMAN" the Azuki-Bean-Jam Bun Superman thanks to Spitzgogo_CHEN

Chicago's all like, "Whoaaa, happy winter, suckers!" It's -4 degrees outside with a wind chill of something negative ridiculous and I don't know why I live here. I would very much like to wear my bathing suit around (totally ignoring my chubs, duh) and lie down on beaches and climb hills and ride bikes and stuff when I get trapped like this in my apartment.

Twice As Much & Vashti Bunyan - The Coldest Night of the Year

This is easily the coldest day of the year and I am glad I don't have to be outside. Happy winter, friends. I was saving this song until the first day of winter. Maybe I manifested this horrid weather. Guys, I'm sorry. Mostly, I'm sorry that I missed the Muppet Christmas Special. Bless you, internet.

Done

2008-12-14T01:14:00.003-06:00

College. For now.

What's up, post-collegiate life? It's been quiet.

I eff around on the drums at work on a semi-regular basis and let me tell you, I can't keep a beat to save my life, post-collegiate or otherwise, but it doesn't matter. Drum Kit is my new BFF.

Walking Music

2008-11-11T22:30:00.006-06:00

Tonight's weather was perfect for walking. That is, if one's partial to rain and spritz and dry and spritz and oh hey rain, again. A scarf wrapped around mouth, chin, neck. Hat all snug. Gloves! Yes. Gloves. Black ones, simple.

Nico - These Days

When I'm aware that what I'm listening to reflects my life in a specific moment, it startles me. Sometimes, I put on something different. Sometimes, I keep it up.

Nina Simone - The Laziest Gal in Town

I bought a bottle of wine. Honestly? I'm pretty sure this is my first legal self-purchased bottle o' alcoholic grapes. I'm not a wino. More like a beer-o. My roommate pointed out that I am always drinking expensive beer. Not true. I buy the prettiest label with brand recognition and style preference at $10 or less. What class. But I mean, I drank Mickey's for the first time in years recently.

Election Night

2008-11-04T18:58:00.002-06:00

I may be the only person I know in Chicago not at an election results party nor among the ridiculous masses downtown at Grant Park right now. I'm not partial to mass gatherings nor do I want to test the legalities of substance consumption in public (never mind that that's a shaky excuse to begin with given my track record with the booze and the sunshine and the outside...). It sure is a beaut of a night and let's hope for results that won't burn down Chicago.

Instead, I'm listening to Coltrane's Blue Train, drinking Bell's Oberon Ale, and reading Wallace Stevens out on my balcony, watching people wander in and out of the rec center turned polling place across the street. Every few Sundays, folks come for polka. It's incredibly charming. I really love my neighborhood. I mean, after a spontaneous bike ride to pick up some esoteric fruits and hot sesame oil in Uptown, and making a batch of scallion pancake, I wandered around the corner last night and got to see Tirra Lirra, Marnie Stern, and Gang Gang Dance, drink a couple of beers, and wander back to my apartment. I'm really excited for school to be over so I can follow these whims with more frequency.

Also, Marnie Stern is AMAZING. Look:

Things not to forget

2008-10-27T23:04:00.009-05:00

You know how sometimes you'll hear a song for the first time in a long while and it strikes a certain chord that you didn't expect? I have been itching, dying, yearning to feel something lately that didn't throttle me into pure nostalgia. Then I put it on, for the first time in maybe two years.

Fiery Furnaces - Tropical Ice-Land (from EP, although, really, I meant to upload the one from Gallowbird's Bark)

I'll admit it. I like being sad. I have functioned a lot of my life feeling bad because, duh, I'm a first generation Asian American and much as I loathe to fall in the stereotype, here I am, sad as fuck, reeling from the fall out of some war that I can't even fathom that killed aunts and uncles and cousins and great-whatevers I never had a chance to know. Plus, I cry and talk now when I get nervous. Isn't that gross?

But this isn't about that (although everything is, I suppose). I listened to "Tropical Ice-Land" and I remembered how much fun I have listening to music. Poorly playing music now. Talking about music. Letting music plug up whatever organ it is that I've got a hole in. It's a beautiful song. A nonsensical, rambling, heartbreaking song that makes me smile and want to walk around outside alone or hit huge church bells with proportionally large mallets.

I don't mind this feeling. I like it, actually. I don't know what it is. Maybe it is bits of things. It doesn't matter what it is.

Maybe I've written about this song before. It seems like the thing I'd do.

Crunch crunch crunch

2008-10-21T00:42:00.004-05:00

Hi, blog. Can't say that I've missed you, but I can say that I did see two excellent shows this weekend. Let me just say that Deerhoof is always, always good and Dead C surpassed my expectations, but you know what I thought both nights? Dang, I haven't had anything to say in that blog I neglect but if I did have something to say it would be how effing amazing music can be. Really. Truly. I love you, music. I love you, sometimes, blog.

Sweet jams.

2008-10-01T23:10:00.004-05:00

I have been listening to Ladyhawke, like everyone else. It's true. Please don't judge me. I'm excited for the show. Gotta dance it out. JUST DANCE IT OUT. My two favorite tunes happen to be singles. WHO KNEW?!:

Crush boners.

2008-09-20T14:48:00.002-05:00

Here's a pretty boy with an excellent song and the pretty intensifies when he hops out of his seat a little. Oh, you'll see. Gosh.

ILU, Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson.

Wherein I write too much about myself and not enough about Joanna Newsom and the CSO

2008-08-24T11:15:00.008-05:00

Relatively last minute, I was able to score amazing seats to see Joanna Newsom perform with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Roommate Tim and I sat on the main floor, center, second row after biking slowly (I was in a dress and shoes that clicked--yikes!) from the near-west side to downtown. I'd never seen the CSO nor I had ever been in the space and it's safe to assume that it was beautiful. The sound, the building, the hugeness of things. Everything was crisp and clear and I quickly drank a beer and sat down and had a throughly enjoyable time. Am I supposed to do anything other than gush? Her voice has gotten stronger and fuller and uuuhhhhh what else am I supposed to say other than it was so much better than I expected even though I expected total greatness? What does that become then? GREATNESS GREATNESS? Yes, let's settle on that.

The first half consisted of songs from Ys. And duh, of course it translated beautifully from record to stage because Van Dyke Parks is a genius and all of the musicians involved are terribly talented. Although there was no "danceploration" from the Drag City folks, it was particularly adorable when conductor Ryan Francesconi picked up an instrument part way through a song and kept his head bopping. Then intermission came, a break for fresh air, and more more more. I was and am still impressed by everyone. And have you seen Joanna Newsom live before? Talent. I mean, really, truly, even if you're not fond of her voice, it's a wonder that her hands move so and that she's still singing perfectly.

There was cute banter and overwhelming beautiful arrangements of songs that played a significant role in my life as Milk-Eyed Mender was one of the three most played albums during my stay in France (you know, one of those typical "coming-of-age" experiences because if I am anything at all, I am pretty normal).

My favorite song of the night? I don't know. I can't say. My favorite song from the second half? Maybe "Peach, Plum, Pear". Maybe not. Look, I can't choose! Here's a video from Brazil of a song that she also played on Friday night that's a contender for favorite:

If it's any indication to how the new album is shaping up, then gosh. Well, gosh. My goodness. I'm going to go melt somewhere now, thanks.

Lady parts.

2008-08-12T21:43:00.002-05:00

I have girl parts. It's true. I am, in fact, a girl and I identify myself as a girl. Female, rather. Girl. Woman. Freaks me out having to delineate between the two because one day, you really stop being a girl and become a woman. Really. You stop being, you know, young. Where am I in that weird spectrum? I don't know. Britney knows. Britney is wise:

(hahaha, oh man, as if no one else has pulled this joke on the internet before...)

But yes! Clit Fest Chicago is this weekend and I urge everyone to attend a free workshop or go see some bands. I'm psyched on Witch Hunt; last I saw them was in our shared hometown of Philadelphia and I had just decided to move, really do it. It was a fucking riot of a good time. I was 17. I'm definitely not 17 anymore but I can still appreciate amazing things when it comes around. At least I hope so.

Little girl with the dirty ankles

2008-08-07T17:18:00.008-05:00

Jonathan Richman - That Summer Feeling (from I, Jonathan)

This is my summer. Sorry for not writing; I meant, too. Of course, of course. I've done typical summer music Chicago things. Pitchfork Festival. Concerts in Grant and Millennium Parks. Shows at the Empty Bottle, Subterranean, The Hideout, sweaty basements, humid living rooms, and cluttered backyards. No Lollapalooza because I don't have, what, $240? to spend. This easily has been the best summer I've had in Chicago. It's been relatively quiet compared to most others--no foreign countries, no major trips, no life-shattering events, no cute boys--but it's been a beaut. The weather has been gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous here. General positivity is bizarre, never mind the occasional bouts of lameness.

Anyway, I just purchased tickets to see Joanna Newsom perform with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on August 22. I'm excited. That should go without saying. I've been meaning to see the Symphony, to dress up, to grab a nice dinner before and a drink after. I also have amazing, amazing seats: Main Floor, Row B, seats 101 and 102.

Though, no friend to come with yet. Chances are, I'll be scrambling last minute to find a warm body to squeeze into the seat next to me. Oh well. I've sort of settled at the idea that maybe I should start buying single tickets for this sort of thing but haven't put it into practice yet.

Start Playing Music

2008-07-01T17:58:00.003-05:00

You guys, I'm in love.

It's beautiful, isn't it? It's a Microkorg. But not just any Microkorg. It's the reverse key one. PRETTTTTYYYYY. Granted, I'm not really in a band (well...) and it's been some time since I've touched an instrument (that's what she said?) but look, I swear, if I had this beaut of a synth, my life would rule so hard. Now, if I had the heart to shell out a week's worth of pay to get my paws on one of 'em. Hmmm.

Chicago is not that far away.

2008-06-23T17:42:00.002-05:00

There are three very obvious songs that come to mind when "Philadelphia" is thrown into the mix: Bruce Springsteen's "Streets of Philadelphia", Elton John's "Philadelphia Freedom", and Neil Young's "Philadelphia". I love them all though I probably love the city much more than any song possible. Of the three, Neil Young's is my favorite.

Extremely Out of It

2008-06-21T07:51:00.002-05:00

Am I allowed to admit that I haven't been listening to music? To good music? To relevant music? Not too long ago, I religiously would check for new things to let pour through my headphones and speakers but now, now! Gosh. Did you know cilantro plants flower? Because mine are currently flowering and my tomatoes are coming in and who knew that it was at all possible to grow anything on a Chicago balcony in cheap terra cotta planters.

I've been listening to a lot of pop-punk from my youth. Embarrassing? I guess it should be, but it's not at all. Love it lots. I know all of the words to Saves the Day's "At Your Funeral".

Being preoccupied is okay. I shouldn't let this blog die, though, as I thoroughly enjoy writing in it. Well, here's to more posting. I leave for Philadelphia in a handful of hours; I'll be gone for a week and I have been floating quite a bit recently that I think this trip is muchly needed to ground me, to remind me that my life rules so hard instead of only occasionally ruling and being okay the rest of the time. I hope my tomatoes will be okay.

There Will Be A Picture of Scarlett Johansson Here When I Get Home

2008-05-21T16:58:00.002-05:00

Today, I listened to the Scarlett Johansson album. You know the one. Tom Waits cover album? Yeah, well, look, I think she's hot. I am jealous that she's two-years-and-some months older than me and she's probably living THE LIFE. THE LIFE that involves making an album 'cause you want to, on a whim, with awesome people so that dowdy, homely, mildly adorable bloggers can blog about it at work and think, "Jeez, this is pretty terrible but that's okay because, obviously, she's having fun and she's hot." Good Lord. I want THE LIFE.

difficulties

2008-05-04T14:34:00.003-05:00

It is not easy to update a blog without Internet access.

Oh my goodness, what have I been doing?

2008-04-14T19:23:00.009-05:00

Well! Not updating my blog, obviously. For someone who sits in front of a computer all day at work and, you know, "writes", I'm pretty terrible at this. One thing I'm currently doing is a SECRET, but it's awesome and taking up loads of my time right now. It is a mildly musical endeavor. Mildly.

I've been busy! Busy eating. Jamie invited me to Minnie's with Jenn and Angela. Miniature food and good company is delightful. I was strangely social that night and promised to meet up with folks later on so I had to bail early. Pfffft, should've totally spent the rest of the night with the fabulous blog girls instead.

This isn't a food blog but a music blog so I will spare you the deets of how I spent the rest of my weekend at Veggie Bite. Basically. All weekend. Nom nom nom.

I did go to the CHIRP Record Fair this weekend. Formerly the WLUW Record Fair, it now benefits the Chicago Independent Radio Project, a much-needed endeavor. I was there for a while shifting through a surprising amount of Madness and Melanie. I should've made a list of stuff I wanted but came away with Leonard Cohen's Recent Songs, Talking Heads' 77 and More Songs About Buildings & Food, the soundtrack to Valley of the Dolls, and Television's Adventure. Nothing too exciting. I almost bought Harmonicats' Dolls Dolls Dolls just for sheer kitsch factor but even I refuse to pay $6 for kitsch. I wish I had the $$$ to pick up some of the amazing girl group, soul, and doo-wop 45s that were organized really, really well, but jeez louise, they were a bit on the pricey side. I want to be that dude when I grow up.

So that's that. Hi. Hello. I'll be back again. I had the day off today so I caught up on watching Top Chef, reading for fun, and indexing twenty years worth of poetry. Fun fun fun.

alcoholics like music, too.

2008-04-05T01:05:00.004-05:00

Thanks, jasmined!

Smog - Drinking at the Dam

My favorite bar in Chicago is Danny's. This isn't groundbreaking or anything, potentially even embarrassing, but I've always had a good time and it's pretty close to my apartment. I particularly enjoy it for after-dinner drinks and conversation before it gets crowded and the music gets louder. I've kissed boys there and once, I swear, a DJ played The Clean.

how was your weekend?

2008-03-30T13:55:00.002-05:00

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

2008-03-28T20:51:00.005-05:00

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

2008-03-24T18:35:00.002-05:00

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

2008-03-18T00:03:00.003-05:00

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

2008-03-16T15:45:00.002-05:00

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

2008-03-08T01:49:00.004-06:00

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

2008-03-02T13:41:00.004-06:00

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?

I've got the fever.

2008-02-26T22:54:00.002-06:00

Literally. I've been sick more this season than I've ever been in a very long time.

Here's a Youtube video of a song that I love from a band that I love.

Dengue Fever was featured on both Fresh Air and All Songs Considered recently. The Fresh Air episode is super good and highly recommended.

god, i really hope someone actually reads this one

2008-02-22T20:28:00.012-06:00

I have a difficult time describing Dengue Fever to my friends partly because I understand what Chhom Nimol is singing and the style of music they're steeped in is what I grew up on. I can say something stupid like, "You know, it's psychedelic pop world music with an indie rock twist. Os Mutantes but Southeast-Asian and not overtly political and stuff. You probably won't like it." But that's bullshit.

Thanks, uh, Myspace!

I just can't remove myself from the music and approach it objectively to compare them to other bands in my limited knowledge. I don't want to try to yet. Plus, I would hope that my friends would love it, too.

For now, I can't articulate it other than this:

It is the sort of stuff that we had piles and piles of cassette tapes of in the car. This is sweat in the summer, and drinking neon green (because pink is lame) sugary, milky, watery drinks with ice cubes bobbing around in this genius piece of plastic wrapped around a straw and bound with a rubber band, and sticky rice, and papaya salads, and meat on sticks, and learning how to ride a bike that first time, and living in the city, and Catholic school. That's all kind of a mouthful and still doesn't approach what I mean. My (mostly middle class, white, suburban) friends grew up with the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, or whatever it is that their parents loved. What did I have? I had Khmer Rock. (Oh, hi. I'm Cambodian.)

"I'm Sixteen"

My parents came to America, as kids, basically, in the '80s with other refugees thanks to something called a genocide. I don't often acknowledge that I'm a first generation American and that I learned America as my parents were going about it, too. That's really fucking stupid. I'm only realizing now that it's kind of bad ass, Amy Tan-esque implications and all (don't worry, I'm not a Genius Who OMG Hates My Mom So Much Why Am I Not White So I Fail At Being Awesome By Whining For Eight Billion Pages In Thinly Veiled Fictions That Bore Monica To Tears But Make Oprah Squint In Awe--my mom rules harder than your mom and I'm pretty average in the grand scheme of things but I accomplish vast levels of awesomeness and have no aspirations to make anyone squint in awe other than cute boys, to be humble about the matter(anyway, I get Ms. Tan and her work and her impact and blah blah blah I just wish I found it dynamic and, you know, interesting)). Pardon that digression.

Anyway. Music. Yeah. My parents, well, they kind of rule and kind of suck and I'm glad that they're my parents and they've shaped me into the lump of flesh that I am and blah blah blah. I used to resent that I didn't have the WASP youth of my friends but fuck, my parents have passed down a ridiculous sense of cool to me, if I've gotten anything else good from them other than a fierce temper and a thick head of curly hair. Also, life. Living is pretty boss.

"Sleepwalking Through the Mekong"

My father spent his late youth in Oklahoma smoking weed and rolling down hills, listening to Black Sabbath. I found this out at 16 when I severed the end of my thumb in the process of chopping up chocolate for brownies and listening to old tapes I found in the basement. This is not a long story. I didn't know about this until way too late; by then, I'd already established my taste and no prodding or poking could make me feel good for never having actively listened to the Beach Boys until I was a junior in high school. For all I knew, he didn't listen to music. And still doesn't.

Moms (yes, I call her "Moms") gave birth to me in her youth in Philadelphia and she listened (and still listens) to Top 40 and everything Cambodian she could get her hands on. I blame her for the tapes, for Sinn Sisamouth and Preap Sovath in my life and all of the people whose names I don't know but music I remember so well.

"Sober Driver"

And Moms's brother (my uncle because that's how that works) and their parents, i.e. my maternal grandparents, need some credit, too, for having karaoke on 24-7 and VHS tapes of concerts in Cambodia on heavy rotation. I went to Cambodia when I was 15 and had the oppurtunity to pause for a moment just outside of one of those insane concerts where everyone is so polite and enamored--you really have to see it to understand or maybe I just need to explain it some other time, who knows. Anyway, I was on the back of my cousin's motorbike and I don't remember what I was thinking. I'd be lying if it were something deep and profound; it was probably something along the lines of, "Holy shit, there are a lot of people here just to listen to music."

Thanks, ericrichardson!

This is getting all stream-of-consciousness (but not really because I've reread/barely edited this about sixteen times before finally pressing "publish post") and rambling and stupid so, yeah, what I wanted to say? I just wanted to say that I'm really psyched on going to see Dengue Fever at the Empty Bottle on Wednesday. Really, really psyched. I have a plethora of anecdotes and memories stored in my fat head and I can't wait to add Wednesday night to the list.

I Miss Being 20

2008-02-11T19:38:00.000-06:00

The Smiths - Unhappy Birthday

Recently, I turned 21. I'm not one to cry but I've been crying like an idiot for the past few days and OMG, TMI. At the bar during my birthday celebration I heard some chick chirp, "Oh my god, TMI! TMI!"

Sufjan Stevens - Happy Birthday

I also read at my first proper public venue. It ruled. This happened on the night of my birthday.

Jens Lekman - Happy Birthday, Dear Friend Lisa

I share my birthday with Jens Lekman. What a QT, OMG, 4REAL. Whom am I kidding. Everyone is hideous and I feel like shit. I have a cold, too.

It soothes you, doesn't it, like a lick of ice cream

2008-02-04T17:34:00.001-06:00

Oh, hi! I'm back, again. I was gone, again. In NYC! I think I am moving in a year or two. Big If. Big Ifs. None of that end-of-the-year business because, goodness, it's FEBRUARY and I'm not going to be 20 anymore very soon. Yikes.

Photo from avaloncm.
Thao With the Get Down Stay Down - Bag of Hammers

The safest music in the world. Not really. Springtime on a friend's open lawn and the charcoal's a-goin' and the corn is grilling and everyone is nice and vegan and goes to a liberal arts school or an ivy but we are fucking cool, man. WHY IS EVERYONE ALWAYS SO NICE?

ETA: Yes, this is the song you're probably looking for if you've found this page via Google.

Unsolved Mysteries

2008-01-11T02:02:00.001-06:00

I don't mean to disappear but since I've been back in the Midwest, I've kicked up the productivity and alcohol-consumption levels and so have been bad with the updating of the blogs. Aside from conditioning my liver, I have a few random projects that are musically related but it's also time to refocus on writing as I graduate sooner rather than later (don't ask me for an exact day--I don't care to walk nor I do know exactly when The End is other than it is soon, May soon or August Soon or December soon but definitely 2008 soon...ought to figure that one out, huh?). Writing? Yup, that's what I do. Have to remember that. I'm going to the AWP conference at the end of the month and I have a couple of readings and other type things approaching that I'm not yet prepared for.

This is a music blog, right? Where's the music? Where's the beef? Why am I craving a burger? Shouldn't I have made lists of favorites and least favorites of 2k7? Why so many questions? Will I ever get around to writing consistently here?

(Belated 2007 blah blah blah coming soon. Really.)

East Coast Babies, Bye-bye.

2007-12-28T00:30:00.000-06:00

I was gone! But I'm back. Hi, I missed you.

Downtown Chicago from Pilsen, thanks to Tabitha Butler
The Fall - Chicago Now

Magnetic Fields Love Forever And Always

2007-12-16T01:41:00.000-06:00

AH! Somehow or another, I managed to listen to the upcoming Magnetic Fields album and it is serious love. I am in love! Of course I am. They could cheat on me and have someone else's baby but I'll keep on coming back. My two current favorite tracks are "Please Stop Driving" and "Too Drunk to Dream". Or maybe "I'll Dream Alone" and "Zombie Boy". Love!

They are coming through Chicago in March. Sold out. I don't have tickets. Do you know how bummed I am? So. Very. Bummed.

I have two other posts written up! They're coming soon.

Classics are totally like awesome for real.

2007-12-11T22:30:00.000-06:00

Still cold out, still finals week, still sick. Well, not as cold, half way through, and worse. Also, rain. So much rain.

We're oh-so-serious, today! Seriously behind on an essay for Political Philosophy that was assigned three weeks ago. Or four. Or five. What, I'm a bad student, you expect me to count how long I've been procrastinating?

Buzzcocks - Everybody's Happy Nowadays
Leonard Cohen - Famous Blue Raincoat

We Believe In Silent Sound; or, What's Up, Indie Rock?

2007-12-09T14:20:00.000-06:00

It's cold outside, it's finals week, and I'm sick. My throat hates me. My nose hates me. I hate me. Everyone hates me. Wah wah wah. Plus, I have to go outside to pick up some more yarn. Bah!

Earlimart - Cold Cold Heaven
Herman Düne - Sunny Sunny Cold Cold Day (I love the way he sings, "This one is prrrecious.")
Times New Viking - Common Cold (From the split with Psychedelic Horseshit--both of whom I'm psyched on right now.)

Better and more posts when I'm not dead or furiously knitting(!) and writing to meet deadlines. Actually, what do you care? Oh, you, the Nobody There!

English Twee Bands Everywhere

2007-12-02T21:20:00.001-06:00

Nope, not talking about the artsy drunk in this Hans Namuth photograph today.

I don't know much about Action Painting! other than what crops up on Google and I would assume that they've probably named themselves after, well, action painting. Blah blah blah stuff: they were from Brighton, had a few singles on legendary Sarah Records, Fierce Panda, and Damaged Goods, and they are somehow affiliated with something called Shampoo (I don't know why, but I keep on mixing up Shampoo with Squeeze in my mind). The following is the Damaged Goods release which seems to still be available and I urge you to buy it mostly because supporting indie record labels is good for everyone and the quality of the rips I made is not the best they could possibly be. It's also on pretty white vinyl and the single's not as twee as I am. Really. Not as jangly as you'd expect.

Action Painting! - Alice Power
Action Painting! - Laying the Lodger

ETA: So these links are dead. A few have contacted me about 'em. Feel free to send me an e-mail and I'll see what I can do!

"Could be worse...you could be the lead singer in The Fall."

2007-11-27T01:10:00.000-06:00

Have you seen Control, the Ian Curtis biopic yet? You should. It's really very good. We all know what happens in the end and you can figure out the stuff in the middle if there's any familiarity with the band's history and music. The film? Is a looker. A beaut. Surprisingly funny and wonderful to look at. And enjoyable to watch, too. The story moves at the appropriate pace and distance, complementing its subject. One of my faves from the past year. If you've ever seen band photos from the past two or so decades (and who hasn't?), you've probably encountered Anton Corbijn's work. This is such a solid first film for the renowned photographer. LOVE IT. I can write whole essays about this movie but it's late and I have poetry to reread for class tomorrow. Really need to see this movie again. So good!

Ladri di biciclette

2007-11-25T16:25:00.000-06:00

Someone stole my bike's back wheel. My bike's back wheel was stolen. Passive voice and all, I prefer the second sentence. Puts the emphasis on the important thing, the back wheel. Never mind the subject. I am all about objects.

C'est moi et ma bicyclette
It's incredible to have my primary mode of transportation fucked with. I found it amusing and disheartening that someone would even consider my bike as something of value, enough to steal--it's rusty and gross and there was an apparent dent in the back wheel where I had kicked it the night before out of sober frustration after deciding that, as a duo, we were over. No more of me and my blue Schwinn. Great timing, Universe. Truly great. A friend told me it looks like there's been a rash of wheel theft the past day or two in the Ukrainian Village/Humboldt Park area. So, if you live in Chicago and had your bikes in those 'hoods, watch out. It's a bummer.

I punched in "bike" and "bicycle" into Itunes and came up with amazing stuff. Here ya go:

Action Patrol - Bike Cop
Deerhoof - Midnight Bicycle Mystery
The Ergs - Bike Shoppe
Lightning Bolt - Bizarro Bike
Oh No! Oh My! - The Bike, Sir
Scholastic Deth - Trust Fund aka No Bike Messengers in Russia

Action Patrol, The Ergs, Lightning Bolt, and Scholastic Deth are bands that few if any of my current friends remotely enjoy. Acquired taste, maybe. They're perennially my favorite shit and I love these tracks a lot.

I also love Deerhoof. One of my Favorites of All Time Ever. I can always listen to Deerhoof.

I'm not big on Oh No! Oh My! but I don't mind this track. It's short, it's cute, it's total kitsch indie pop music and that's nice, too.

So, I'm retiring my bike. What's left of it. RIP Blue Bicycle. <3

Okie Dokie

2007-11-21T23:56:00.000-06:00

I dig this image very much. I dig the following song very much. Why would I ever put a song I didn't like on here? Many reasons. But tonight is not one of those nights.

Okay - Natural

It's so simple! So sweet. So plain. A perfect little gem in a lovely album that I have bets on will be HUGE. Maybe just big. With a title like Huggable Dust how could it not do well?

I like the song very much mostly because I am forever compiling hypothetical mixtapes for friends, future folk, past acquaintances, and my little sister. Little Sister is the best kid I know and the most receptive to music. I wish I had an older sibling with inconsistent but vast, sprawling taste in music to guide me in my ways. Heh. I'm such an asshole.

I would put "Natural" on the mixtape for the Love of my Apartment Life.

Say What You Will About Public Radio

2007-11-18T23:14:00.000-06:00

I love it! I love Ira Glass, too. And the pretty picture below from Scott Olson Photography.
Did you listen to This American Life this weekend? Well, you should've. Then you should've promptly gone to the website and checked out the winners for the Break-Up Song Contest that stemmed from the brilliant story by Starlee Kine on the aptly-named episode Break-Up.

The original song was fantastic and the remakes/remixes are all lovely and heartbreakingly sweet. I love me some cute music.

The Babelfish Babbled Bubbles

2007-11-17T22:33:00.000-06:00

Must I really share my thoughts on the new Jay-Z album that everyone seems to be gushing and gushing and gushing over? I guess I should, as I promised I would.

Look, I didn't like the Kanye West album. I, however, was listening to it out of context. I forgot that Mr. West is in the realm of the Top 40 and not the indie underground that I oh-so-very-much cherish because I am l337. After subjecting myself to both the new 50 Cent and the new Jay-Z, I have learned to appreciate him and his latest release. Sure, he's kind of a pompous dolt but he loved his Mom (what a bummer*) and his music is always catchy. I'm going to take back what I said: dude tries. Really, he does. He takes a stab at art.

I can't say the same about the Jay-Z album. It's like dude rolled out of bed, spat some gibberish and called it a Grammy. The album makes even less sense than I do.

Yes, I concede that "American Gangster" is a concept album but it's a hastily made, incredibly boring one. If you're going to make a concept album, MAKE IT. Make something worthwhile and doesn't sound so poorly cobbled together. It's over-rated and lacks that gut feeling of authenticity. Reeks of marketing ploys. And I'm totally not supporting any of my claims because, come on, just listen to the album. It's about as bad as the new Saul Williams. I have a huge freakin' crush on Saul Williams and his work but I'm honest enough to say that I thought Niggytardust is mediocre so...you get it. Right? Yeah, I'm sure you do.

*I think, however, that the biggest bummer is that Donda West's death out-shined, er, over-shadowed Norman Mailer's. NORMAN FUCKING MAILER DIED. Why is it that only Terry Gross cares?

What happened?

2007-11-15T01:51:00.000-06:00

Someone please explain to me what happened to all of the time.

I feel like I am always sitting in front of my computer doing something other than updating this blog: typing up journal entries for my Critical Reading and Writing class, looking up pictures of dead babies for my upcoming speech (in mere hours; I am sooo not ready and will be lucky to pull off a B) in Public Speaking, er, I mean Oral Expression and just SCHOOL SCHOOL (and in between, watching Heroes, Ugly Betty, Pushing Daisies, The Office, and Project Runway) SCHOOL WORK WORK WORK SCHOOL SCHOOL DEATH. Scholastic Deth! I love that band! See, music related stuff in a music blog!

I have even more stuff to write in here about. Once tomorrow (today, technically) is over, I'm going to clean my room really well and I'm going to post a bunch of stuff that I've been meaning to and some new stuff. So, this entry is a filler entry just to keep me on track. Things to expect in the next few days:

- My take on Jay-Z's "American Gangster" and why Kanye West is my fave and my least fave mainstream MC
- Vinyl rips! Yeah. For real. Out of print, C86-ish stuff. You'll love it because I love it.
- More vinyl rips! Remember all of those singles I mentioned I had before? Well, I have some on my 'puter now, and I love to share. Because sharing is caring. Yes. That's it.

Gosh. I really need to get some sleep. I have a ridiculously busy day tomorrow and a weekend of catching up on my internet life as well as my school life (who needs a social life?!). Let's hope I hear my alarm clock and don't sleep through the only conference I have this semester. Urgh.

*Not Well-Written

2007-11-11T22:06:00.000-06:00

I thought I had a lot more to say about the show I went to last week, but the cursor's been blinking in this empty field for so long, just blink blink blink and I couldn't come up with anything. There isn't much to say other than I grew up, I stopped listening to Sole, I stopped listening to music that "speaks" to me in a way that I no longer find appealing.

I still love a lot of the things I used to listen to. I used to really love everything associated with Anticon. Why? seems to have progressed in parallel with me by moving from weird whatever to pretty solid but still interesting indie rock territory. If you asked 15-year old me what I'd be listening to as a college senior, I never would've guessed it would largely be the CUTEST POP MUSIC IN THE WORLD--I'm looking at you, Belle and Sebastian. If you also happened to tell 15-year old me that I would go to art school to study writing, I probably would've puked up snot and intestines and laughed and laughed and laughed while wearing my science medals. I digress. What I meant to say is that I still like and listen to a lot of the stuff with the Anticon label slapped on it. Except for, well, Sole. Sole is not something that has aged well with me.

I went to the show partly because I wanted to satiate that younger, idealistic, pimply-er, fatter me who really loved dense music that reaffirmed whatever it was I believed in. Mostly, I went because I said I would as a friend was opening up. The show was good. I had fun. I got bored. I saw things and myself in a different light. However, because that experience touches on things that should be discussed with my BFFs and not a blog not meant for my post-teenage angst*, I think this is where I'll wrap up. At least I saw a cute boy.

Stutter and Stammer Around A Cherry Tree

2007-11-10T21:08:00.000-06:00

My friend Jamie has a super good blog that you should read: Oh! How Lovely!. A day or two ago, she asked her readers what their theme songs would be. It took a while but I finally decided on one for myself:

Beat Happening - Youth

I wanted to find a song with pizazz, with pop!, with jazz hands, with flashing lights and zing, but that's just not me. Give me fuzz. Give me simple. Give me skinned knees and Tokyo and songs that clock in under two minutes. Songs that I can play, that anyone can. I love this band. I didn't start listening to them until I first got to college all of those years ago (though not that many but a lot for my short life so far). An aside: I can't believe I can measure the time I've spent in college, in Chicago, in years. Actual years. When I was young, I couldn't pronounce Chicago. My tongue wouldn't bend the right way. Then it happened, suddenly, and here I am.

swiftly sweeping away swift from my titling vocabulary

2007-11-09T01:20:00.000-06:00

if you don't see me in the next few days, I've moved to Sweden and bought a horse and a cat. Blame NPR. Seriously. You can also blame the truly wonderful Bob Boilen's/NPR's All Songs Considered for my taste in music. Sometimes Pitchfork (yeah, I said it) but mostly ASC--go to their redesigned site and, most importantly, the new blog. It's great and where I came across the video.

Failing Swiftly

2007-11-08T20:45:00.000-06:00

I failed at NaBloPoMo in just a three-day period. Wow. That's okay, because I failed at NaNoWriMo in even less time than that. How embarassing. Oh well. Such is the life of a "busy" person. I JUST HAVEN'T BEEN ON THE INTERNET! Blasphemy, I know. And I broke my favorite pen but that's a different story for a different place if I ever get around to it. AND I've been sick. Look, I have a lot of excuses with varying degrees of legitimacy. Really, though, I have a sinus infection that feels like a squirrel living in my upper left jaw. I didn't know that was possible until it happened! No really. My jaw hurts and I have a sinus infection. Sick or not, I did do a lot of music related stuff since I went missing. I'll parcel those out in appropriate doses in the next few days.

Last Saturday, on the day that I did not post in this here blog, I went to the Sole headlining show at Abbey Pub. There's a lot to write and it deserves its own post. But I will leave you with the following--a Missed Connection for Mostly Certain:

sole (not the fish*) show @ abbey pub

You were by yourself, dark hair, scruffy-faced, glasses, a hoodie/vest? combo thing and a collared shirt? I can't remember. You grabbed a beer at the bar early on in the night and I almost approached you because I thought you were a friend of a friend; a friend of a friend I have yet to formally meet but have an e-crush on because I'm an idiot internet stalker fiend but this whole last bit is not relevant, is it? Anyway, I just wish you weren't into such didactic music. You were totally into it. How endearing.

*Fish pictures? You need fish pictures? You should go here.

A Swift Kick From 1995

2007-11-02T18:35:00.000-05:00

Sonic Youth - Little Trouble Girl (m4a, not mp3)

Seriously. Watch the video. Listen to the song. It is delicious. It's like the first time I watched Ghost World. A couple of us gals spent the night in a friend's attic bedroom in a drafty house. We curled into bed and watched the movie and I was completely floored. This is what being a girl is, neigh this is what being a teenage girl is (and even now I'd contend that this is how it is, though I'm not all that far-removed from teenage-hood). This is the isolation I feel. This is how my life and my perceptions are deflating. None of that is wrong, really, but it's just how it is. Recently, I tried to explain to someone why Ghost World is one of my favorite movies (and then one of my favorite comics) and I couldn't without resorting to, "You have to be a girl to understand. It perfectly portrays what growing up as a girl feels like." I really hated myself for saying that because it was inadequate.

But that's the way I would attempt to describe "Little Trouble Girl", too. I can't succinctly write about why this song encompasses and opens up everything ever about my gender as I've experienced it any better than how I attempted to explain why Ghost World is just so good. "Little Trouble Girl" may be a little bit more on the surface but it's the sing-songy repetition, the general malaise (fancy word alert) that really does it. Plus, Kim Deal! Kim Gordon! Perfection, those two.

The Decade-And-Some of Repetitious Band Names

2007-11-01T21:59:00.000-05:00

Gang Gang Dance like Die! Die! Die! and whatever, sixty-four more Something Something bands that are no where near being as good as those two and all of the stellar bands I know I'm not thinking of.

Dance Party Earthquake Riot Volcano. WHY HAVEN'T I BEEN LISTENING TO THIS BAND THE MOMENT I HEARD ABOUT THEM? Why must I dismiss everything because of a dumb band name and because it is "cool" when it actually is cool? Or hot. Hot like things that which are so cool that it defies all logic and simultaneously exists in both ends of the spectrum thus being HOT and COOL. Not smoking hot because I am asthmatic and that would be a bad scene, man. Really bad. Why must I be this way?

Je parle français, mais un peu

2007-10-31T02:11:00.000-05:00

I've never been to Paris in April. I've been there in October, November, December, January, June, July, and August. Once in the colder months, twice in the summer. Perhaps I should've stuck it out for April.

Charlie Parker - April In Paris

Parker's Paris is: catching the Metro just in time and carrying a black umbrella. Lunch dates with someone whose eyes wrinkle in the corners before he smiles. Swapping stories about "back home" with fellow ex-pats with only a glint of nostalgia and not that overwhelmingly thick coating. Dusk walks around the neighborhood in heeled shoes that click or tap or click-tap. Some other Paris that I may still find if I ever wind up back there.

I'll admit it. When I was in France, I listened to a lot of the same things. Feist and Dizzee Rascal videos aired a lot on M6 in the early morning hours and I was totally into it. It's not so much a secret, but I love marionettes and puppets. So grotesque and whimsical. "Dream" is a bit kitsch and kind of silly and a few years later, I'm not sure if I like Dizzee Rascal or if I just buy into critical hype.

...

I'm computer dumb so bear with me as I try to figure out how to use, er, build? a flash player. Maybe by the New Year, yeah? I bet it's all sorts of simple. For the time being, I'm using Bleep for flash since I'm not 1337 enough to listen to horribly obscure stuff.

I Am Not Hungry, I Just Think About Food and French A Lot

2007-10-21T23:13:00.000-05:00

Almost a year ago, I procured about a dozen (maybe more. What, you expect me to count?) Franco-Canadian 45s via an internet auction site everyone is familiar with. It was one of those late night, impulse bids. I'm totally into it.

This is my favorite of the set, thus one of my Favorite of All Time Ever.

Les Sinners - Les Disc-Jockeys.

...like I should be wearing better clothing and living in a city with far superior public transit and friends I see more often. Like I should be packing a picnic lunch and dancing at dance parties. Like I should mail out the letters I write and listen to the radio in the park.

Les Sinners - Ne reste pas sous la pluie

Cute, right? Don't stay under the rain is pretty solid advice, too. I like their garage-y stuff best but this is so nice. It makes me want to play with my hair, jump into puddles, and use the proper accents when writing en francais. I would like to get my hands on their earlier LPs but they are $$$ and I am spending too much $$$ as of late. This month should be good on the cash flow, though.

Both tracks from the same 7" put out by Jupiter Records. Apologies for the crap quality; it's the old vinyl, the mostly plastic record player, the cheap cables, the lack of editing. More of 'em to come. Maybe.

I obviously didn't flip the image because I am laaaazy (also, heeeey, that's part of my kitchen where culinary delights no longer occur on a nightly basis now that school and work and internship is in full swing). Did you know a flip, according to Barron's Food Lover's Companion (I finally bought a copy) is a "concoction of rum, beer, sweetener, and spices" that you mix together by "plunging a hot fireplace poker" into it? Sounds great! Except the whole putting a beaten egg in it part that the hip kids are doing now. In the words of the elf of over-zealous, pseudo-cooking who happens to be on my box of whole grain, wheat crackers, "YUMM-O!"

I have never been to Brazil nor have I ever seen the movie.

2007-10-21T01:54:00.000-05:00

Cansei De Ser Sexy - Poney Honey Money

I'm not sure what's going on in this song. I like it. The simplicity. The filtered twangy twinge. The contrast between this track as a closer for the Brazilian release and the dance-party-friendlier "This Month, Day 10" that closes the International release. Here is a word that had a similar effect and reaction when I looked it up:

Candid, as taken from Merriam-Webster.com:

can·did
Pronunciation: \ˈkan-dəd\
Function: adjective
Etymology: French & Latin; French candide, from Latin candidus bright, white, from candēre to shine, glow; akin to Welsh can white, Sanskrit candati it shines
Date: 1606
1: white <candid flames>
2: free from bias, prejudice, or malice : fair candid observer>
3 a: marked by honest sincere expression candid discussion> b: indicating or suggesting sincere honesty and absence of deception candid face> c: disposed to criticize severely : blunt <candid critics>
4: relating to or being photography of subjects acting naturally or spontaneously without being posed

synonyms see frank

— can·did·ly adverb

— can·did·ness noun

I Ought to Send One to Her

2007-10-02T22:19:00.000-05:00

Jens Lekman - A Postcard to Nina

In high school, I had friends. One of my best friends then was Nina. She was and is wonderfully intelligent and beautiful. I often wonder what she's up to now but I am not good at checking in.

I have a crush on Jens Lekman. Look at him. I mean, just LOOK at him. Also, the gorgeous pop music. Also, the simple, biting, and sweet lyrics. Also, he blogs. Also, we share a birthday. Be still, oh heart.

...

I have a new idea for this blog, one I like very, very much but it means a full revamp and actual time and dedication but jesus what am I, some kind of blogging machine? No. No, I am not. I am a student-worker-crazy-hours-keeper machine. I have little time for this but it's my favorite corner of the internet. If I can figure out how to budget my time better, this blog will be bangin'.

Steel and Whiskey.

2007-08-29T03:38:00.000-05:00

Lately, I've been taking long walks after work thinking about a lot of things that do not matter in the long run. It was a gorgeous day on Monday; not humid and sticky or filled with torrential rains. Pleasant. The weather was pleasant.

It was Iron and Wine's Carousel. If the sounds of that song existed as Environment (trees, sidewalk, grass, bikes, cars, houses, cars, more cars), it was splayed out on Monday, filtered through my government-issued glasses that refract the sunlight in a way that makes the artificially sharpened edges glow. Lens flares, all of the time, I see them with these glasses in such bright daylight. Out-of-reach orbs of light.

So pleasant and deceptively serious. The song, I mean.

Quick, Speedy, Fast

2007-08-12T23:49:00.001-05:00

Three Things:

1) Using my iPod's standard earphones is a pain. I bought headphones imported from Japan. I probably shouldn't've.
2) The past week or two, I listened to Cap 'n Jazz when I walked to and from work. Why?
3) I'm listening to Orchid right now. Yes! I played them a few times during my short venture into radio during high school. Weird. I was a lot happier in high school.

Night Windows

2007-08-01T00:12:00.001-05:00

I'm broke. Been buying too many CDs and records and junk. Not enough time to sit down and ramble about how much I still love the Colleen album that came out earlier this summer. Because I love it. I love Colleen. I love how I hope, really hope, that it becomes hip shit because I'm sort of maybe tired of irony. Irony is exhausting. I love Colleen and I don't want to like Clipse 'cause I don't and I wore hot pink and neon green leopard print sneakers today. Oi.

Today I found my copy of The Weakerthan's Left and Leaving. My taste in music during my teenage years was far superior than the mess it has been since. Next thing you know, I'll be listening to cLOUDDEAD again. Speaking of teenage taste, Daitro and Ampere (!!!) are coming through soon. Teenage!Me would've been all over it. YoungAdult!Me hasn't gone to a show since May, let alone one like the Ampere/Daitro show which will be filled with people who know each other. I don't know anyone. On a vaguely related note (that is, if you clicked the link), Times New Viking came through town last Friday and though I am now a Young Adult, I am not yet old enough to go to bars. I'm sure it was amazing because they were stunning in the sort of fuzzy way I love when I saw them. Anyway, about half a year until I get to fully realize the alcoholic that I am. Yessss.

This Is Not What I Want to Write About

2007-07-17T22:43:00.001-05:00

Kanye West, you are killing me. Serious. I am quite behind in the world of music (and blogs, too--months, maybe years) and recently heard the new Kanye West single, "Stronger". It's pretty much the Daft Punk track, "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger", with West rapping over it. Well no. Borrowing heavily from. Or samples. I mean samples, right? I feel like a sample shouldn't be so blatant but what should I know (there are, of course, exceptions, i.e. Girl Talk's spastic samples are earth-shatteringly obvious yet deceptive and brilliant that it's a work to behold). Anyway, I disliked it when Busta Rhymes sampled Daft Punk's "Technologic" for his single, "Touch It", last year. Same French duo, different song, different artist, and I still dislike it. The a cappella version floating around on the internet last year is more interesting than West's take. It feels more sincere. Dudes actually try and appear to care.

I'm not quite sure how I define sincerity, but I don't hear it often. Music or anything. It's the sort of thing one recognizes when it's there, and if it's not present, everything seems shallow and pointless. "For fun" is not a good enough excuse to make crap.

With that said, I find the track with West rapping over Peter, Bjorn, and John's "Young Folks" to be lackluster. No pop for a pop song. And let's not delve into the mess that is Lupe Fiasco, Pharrell (an aside: I have a cousin who is the spitting image of this dude), and West sampling Thom Yorke's "The Eraser". Ick. Granted, I find it the best of the three latest tunes. But that's not saying much, is it?

I really want to like Kanye West. Really, I do. I liked that first album that made him ridiculously famous. I even somewhat liked the one that came after--Jon Brion did work on it and Brion is a darling in my musically-illiterate universe. Hearing these recent tracks, however, I have a feeling that the drop out from my school is going to do like most Columbia (or any college) alums--he's going to get boring and coast.

...

I have a lot of posi stuff to write about. Swears! It's just taking some time to collect my thoughts. Or pretend to. I don't really collect anything.

An Office Job To Do

2007-07-11T19:34:00.000-05:00

I loved it when RJD2 decided to speak up, um, I mean sing in "Making Days Longer" off of Since We Last Spoke. Yeah, that's right. I didn't mind his sing-speak. I liked it. I loved it. If I were in a band, I would sing-speak. I also loved the idea of him departing from his norm and doing a more pop-oriented album (though, if this were a Serious blog, I would contend to say that everything he's done is Pop. Alas, I am not Serious nor is this blog and it's not like I thought that out before I started typing).

There's the problem: the idea is great. Full of promise. The actual manifestation of it is really not what I hoped he would accomplish. Accomplish is not the word. "Come up with". Listening to it straight-through the three times that I have so far in the past month or so, I feel like Rjd2 could've pushed and then pushed some more to get something not necessarily more polished, but something that's much more focused, more of what we all know he's capable of.

If the breeziness of "Making Days Longer" carried over into The Third Hand, I wouldn't've disliked the album so much. Yes, I disliked it and no one is surprised. Good job at trying, but it just didn't work out. If you're going to sing-speak, do it right. Make it the focus. Make the lyrics, the vocals punchier. Sure, stay restrained but let something peek out. Anything. I bought the album out of sheer curiosity. I listened because I wanted to hear him. But where did he go?

I wholeheartedly believe that one can be timid and present at the same time. He showed us with one breathtaking track and it's there, you know, inside of all of the crud, there's a breathtaking album. The Third Hand feels like a collection of afterthoughts or maybe a rough draft for something that Rjd2 is trying to develop. I'm not sure if the album is, in the grand scheme of his career, a step backward or forward. Maybe it's not a step at all. Maybe it's an extended jump straight up into the air but so far up that the world continued rotating and the poor guy just landed in the middle of the ocean.

...

No mp3 but the randomly found YouTube video is magnificent. Beautiful and minimal. Much like the song, I thought to myself, "I can't believe I actually like this." You could also watch the related videos where Rjd2 performs the song. With a band. And an acoustic guitar. I'm sorry. Really. I apologize. I just can't seem to dig that because I'm a close-minded asshat.

Grey, Gray Sky Is Still Raining

2007-07-10T18:26:00.000-05:00

It's dark but it's daytime still. I've just gotten out of the bath and I've dried off and dressed now, but I'm coiled up on my bed, my knees tucked in, my sheets pushed at the end of the bed. I'm listening to Lavender Diamond's "Garden Rose" (mp3 via yousendit) and it's not at all how I'm feeling, contrary to what's going on, to the lights having been turned off, to the heavily sad humidity.

I'm feeling more like "Here Comes One" (ditto); a continuation of something, a readjustment, another variation of an already existing deviation in the whole. Look, I'm gonna smile once in a while if I don't mean it. It happens, you know?

An aside: "Like An Arrow" on the same album as the two provided tracks, Imagine Our Love, reminds me of Heart. Yeah, that band. I don't know why.

Justin Long Is a Beautiful Man Who Shares My Last Name

2007-07-09T19:19:00.000-05:00

I have given tons of money to Apple. I have an iPod now. I held off for a long time when it came to purchasing one, but I decided to just do it, gosh darn it, just get on that bandwagon already when I bought my new laptop.

So now I'm the owner of an 80GB iPod. How sweet is that?

You know what would be even sweeter? If my external hard drive with the roughly 60GB of audio files worked. That would be sweeter than the season's ripest fruit. Mango. Berries. Compound fruits are awesome.

What's Your Favorite Record?

2007-07-01T20:10:00.001-05:00

This is me. Hi.

In greater detail, this is me with three days unwashed, straightened hair holding on to a copy of one of my Favorite of All Time Ever records in beautiful yellow vinyl with white and pink marbling. This copy of Beat Happening's You Turn Me On cost me a bit more than I would like to admit to having spent on a record seeing as I am not exactly in the financial state to be spending any money at all on anything other than rent and bills and possibly food and tampons, but I essentially am an irrational young adult whose priorities are mixed up. All said and done, this record cost me a pair of quarters shy of $25 and, let me tell you, it was worth it.

The record, physically and audibly, is simple and beautiful. The embellishments are subtle and fuzzy. I want to laze around the apartment with the love of my life (not just summer love, I mean apartment love, love love) while listening to this record. Maybe not lazing but doing an activity that isn't much of anything like, say, rearranging books.

You know Beat Happening. Everyone knows Beat Happening. It's that warm tingle in the bridge of your nose when you've met a cute somebody who has a skinned knee and squints a lot and just wants to walk quietly in a park with you, but you both end up on the beach instead, digging your toes into the sand, past that warm layer and deep into the more compact, water-cooled layer while your bikes are resting nearby somewhere and you don't even mind that it's getting late and there's sand in your trousers because that tingle* in your nose bridge is lasting for more than a moment. This is it. Everyone knows that, right? Some of us could pretend to and ache for it until it happens, oh god, if it ever happens, this deceptively simple kind of love, and really, Beat Happening is it. This band, this record, is one of the few that breaks and reassembles my feeble, little heart.

*Or it may only be allergies.

Rejoice. Oh Glory, Rejoice.

2007-07-01T00:08:00.000-05:00

I have a shiny MacBook Pro now. Lovin' it. Lovin' it real good. Lovin' it so much that I almost shed a tear when I plugged my external hard drive in and figured out what I knew all along: I have corrupted files. I'm working on it but haven't had the time to try and salvage the bulk of my digital music collection. There are two reasons for this:

One. The new-ish El-P record, I'll Sleep When You're Dead. It's so good. And different. And not disappointing. It's rather dark and not summertime music in the way that the usual indie-pop fare I gravitate towards to is what with the lack of sunshine of the over-exposed variety and hand-claps and vanilla ice cream and it being, well, not jangly pretty music. Dark but not angst-riddled. None of the malaise I often attribute dark things. Dark and pulsing. Dark and alive. Dark and Dark. Dark. Dark. Dark. But fun. I can listen to this album and hear something different each time. The truth is, I've spent the bulk of the past month holed up in my room trying very much to get writing done. What I have accomplished, however, is the fine art of reading in bed whilst listening to records in their entirety. This is one that I'm mostly certain will stick with me beyond summer. Oh, hey, I listen to something other than guitars and drums and all of things like that?

Two. I learned how to ride a bike. Sort of. I have no time for computers and music what with slimmed-hipped boys distracting me. I also bought a U Lock so no more lugging it up and down three flights in a very narrow stairway. Music. Pfft.

Reckless Lots

2007-06-26T14:24:00.000-05:00

I find record stores as uncomfortable as book stores. I love these places, but I am under-qualified to be there. I know nothing of music or books. I played the violin for a little while when I was younger but what kid didn't play the violin? Sure, I'm a writing student. That doesn't mean a thing if I can't focus to write what I need to write.

Record stores make my guts open up and let my heart dive into an acidic bath. I get so nervous. I bite my nails. I end up buying some album, any album. Please don't judge me, I think. Please be my friend and think that my selection means that I am an inviting and interesting person.

Admittedly, that's stupid. Pathetic. No one cares about what album I am buying, about what album I'm listening to, what song I'm obsessed with. No one really cares about much of anything, least of all some dippy girl who is clutching on to a Leonard Cohen album she already owns but will probably buy again anyway because she's forgotten her Ever-Growing List of Records That Should Be Bought. She's forgotten it because she's walked into a dim record store where everyone else knows everyone else and she's starting to bite her nails, really bite them, and goodness, that's the sound of a heart splashing and writhing inside of another organ, isn't it?

Cooling Effects of Summer Solstice Felt

2007-06-21T21:20:00.000-05:00

Though having lived on the same floor for a couple of semesters in college (which, by the way, I still have three semesters left to get my thrilling BA in Fiction Writing !), I don't know The Armchairs (Myspace) too well. Not much at all besides that they were directly across the hall, one-half of the duo hails from the same state I do, and there had been a passing hello once in a while between us. So when one morning I awoke and there was a Myspace friend request from their band, I hesitated before I listened. I knew, somewhat, their taste in music but had no ideas about their music-making abilities. It could've been crap but I enjoy their fledgling project. The influences are pointed out then explored and exploited to the point where I am, well, impressed by the (this is a phrase I loathe) pop sensibility (Mantra #1: "Whatever That Means"). I like the band name as I'm a sucker for plush single-seaters (good for "reading", i.e. passing out after being consumed and then spat out by the new Don Delillo and Haruki Murakami--summer reading is great!) and really, starts with a "The" and ends with two easy-on-the-tongue syllables. What a name!

It's nice. Vanilla ice cream nice. Single scoop in a cup with a wooden tongue-depressor type of spoon. You know what I'm talking about. I liked the strawberry syrup topped best but chocolate was the one I always chose. I would hazard to say the choice was made because it was standard and comfortable. When I was back in Pennsylvania earlier this month, I stopped by H Mart and bought nougat ice cream bars dipped in the thinnest coat of chocolate. New standard of comfort. It's how The Armchairs will taste like if they're still around to be stumbled upon in the next few years. Who knew they were across the way for all that time?

...

Melt Banana are playing tonight. I am stoked. But not enough to go to the ATM, get out cash, and make the (probably) hour-long trip on the CTA to see them. I need to learn how to ride a bike and carry cash.

Today, I went downtown and ordered my MacBook Pro. I'm frugal but when I spend money, I spend enough to get me to the other side of the world and back one-and-a-half times. Should be getting it within two weeks. Look forward to consistent updates and a better variety. Better is subjective. Aren't you psyched? Aren't all three(?) of you readers psyched? I am.

I Know I'm Not Wrong

2007-06-12T11:50:00.000-05:00

I didn't intend for an almost month-long hiatus from this blog. Not at all. I had listened to a fair amount of my digital music collection and made lists of what I thought would be interesting to put here so that I can show the great big wide world of the Internet that I do have taste, really, I do. Not particularly good taste or bad taste but taste still the same.

I didn't intend for my computer to die (shot motherboard). The death of a very important technological apparatus somehow sparked the idea in me that perhaps I can go a summer without a computer of my own. I can't. I'm going to purchase a MacBook (Pro?) by the end of the month.

I didn't intend to stop listening to music. I haven't stopped. I've listened to loads, actually. I've bought CDs and I'm going to suck it up and go to a record store and buy actual records soon. Record stores frighten me. I don't feel adequately interesting enough to patronise one.

I don't intend to keep this blog on the sickly sweet indie pop side of the musical spectrum, but here I am about to ramble on about a band from Brooklyn who make mildly folk-tinged pop songs with a spark of technology hovering over top (a big surprise, any of this?). I'm not going to tell you who's in the band (I have no idea) because you can find out on your own, but Mossyrock is pretty darn sweet in the way that my kid sister is sweet. So not sweet but another vague word: charming. Or maybe fresh. It's how my pores feel from a well-rested night of sleep and I wake up in the springtime. Full and content but not bloated. Whatever that means.

I like it best when no one sings, by the way. Reminds me too much of Shop Assistants when a warm voices creeps in to fill the gaps if Shop Assistants were more inclined toward Spring and not Autumn (and again, I have no idea what I'm talking about). You can hear a few tracks from Mossyrock on their Myspace (the first track, "I Know I'm Not Wrong", is great, singing and all). They're also currently on tour with James Apollo as part of the Big Art Show summer tour. Big Art Show is all sorts of fun. It'll be in Chicago tomorrow, June 13 at well-loved South Union Arts.

Picking Locks With Footprints From The Snow

2007-05-18T21:54:00.000-05:00

I wanted to find the perfect song to start off this blog. I wanted to mention how I had gone to see Screaming Yellow Zonkers, Times New Viking, and The Ponys all by myself at Subterrenean last weekend. I wanted to write about how guts react in an acidic goo of exhilaration and joy when a show is really good, standing around all awkward-like or not.

The problem, however, is that I couldn't find the right song to start off. I didn't fully enjoy the show simply because I felt so lonely in such a crowded place and gee, how representative of my life in Chicago. Anyway, the bands were all amazing and Times New Viking floored me, absolutely floored me, but that's not what this post is about. This is about a song.

"Libraries" by Seabear (mp3 via yousendit) is a good choice for just putting iTunes on shuffle and clicking play. I've only listened to it just now for the first time and really, it should've been sooner because, c'mon, I love libraries! So much so that I'm thinking of doing postgrad work in library sciences but that's a different subject altogether. Anyway, I enjoyed the self-released Singing-Arc EP that preceded this, back when Seabear was just some guy in Iceland and not an actual band. My roommate had purchased it and paid an exorbitant amount in shipping costs to get the handcrafted gem of a CDEP. It was what I would listen to on cold nights in a sterile room just having walked in from the blustery climate of a Chicago winter. The full-length, The Ghost That Carried Us Away, is brighter, warmer, and poppier than Singing-Arc. "Libraries", in particular, is fuller yet lighter than any of the other tracks I can remember from the EP. Have I mentioned that Seabear is a whole band now? It sure sounds like it. It's music that twinkles. This could be a problem but that aching feeling I was so familiar with from the EP flirts around the corners of the lovely little tune and the album as a whole. Lovely indeed.

No Need for an Introduction

2007-05-15T19:13:00.000-05:00

Thank vodka, a balcony in Chicago, and a couple of friends for the inception of yet another blog from me. This just isn't any blog, though. This is Mostly Certain. This is a music blog. It's pretty typical. Under Goodness are music blogs or review sites that I read off-and-on and whose opinions I may not agree with, but I trust anyway. It'll be a growing list.

So, how exactly am I going to go about this? I'm thinking of two basic types of review posts: individual songs and whole albums. I'll probably lean towards more single song reviews as those will most likely include an mp3 download. I learned pretty early on to share. Anyway, album reviews will come around once in a while. I'll maybe discuss somewhat relevant things (my newfound desire to be in a twee pop punk band) and perhaps not so relevant things (how about that A.M. Homes memoir?).

This may not last and I won't be surprised if it fails. However, this is the first good idea vodka gave me in a long time, perhaps ever.