Two of my favorite things

Skating and MUSIC. Having free time to do things like surf my favorite websites and blogs is always a beauuuutiful thing. Especially when I find something as kick-a** as this. Seriously. Love it. Skaaaaattting is so much sicker than silly football! (I recently got in an argument on the subway today about this. Feel free to weigh in. Who deserves more money as an athlete: Football Players or X Games Athletes/Amazing-Extraordinary-Death Defying-Super Human Beings?)

Heaven (Fully Flared Intro Video Remix)
Uploaded by UNKLE_UK

Unkle-Heaven.mp3

I didn't want to wake you up, but I really want to show you something....

One of the many aspects that made my parents amazing parents growing up was how much they fed my sisters' brilliant writing and my wreckless imagination without us even knowing it. There is nothing more powerful than having someone you love read you a story. Each night before I went to bed from before I could remember until I was about nine or ten, my father read to me. This book is an everlasting tale of love, hope, family, friendship and goodness. The movie embraces each one of those qualities with brilliant creativity. I cannot wait:

For more information and to visit the official website: Where The Wild Things Are.
*And a bit of music news as well: Jonze on who's scoring the flick: "Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. She did some of the score and is doing some of the score. Her and Carter Burwell are sort of doing it together."

Spring...where the heck are you?!

Arriving back in my beloved city tonight I was not a happy little girl. First, what the heck weather gods?! What the heck. It is almost April. It has been freezing since November. Give a girl a break already. Now normally I try not to huff and puff about the seasons because I choose to live where I do and one of the reasons for loving New York is because we have seasons. Each shade of Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall in all of their glorious colors and textures. However this year I have had my fill of winter. Sorry my beloved hiver, but I have. I fell four times this year total during snowstorms. I have had my heat a blastin since before Turkey holidays. I forget what it is like to be in the sunshine. When I go out doors my eyes sting and cause tears to run down my cheeks. I have never before been wishing for Spring like I am right now. Only a few short weeks away I know in my heart of hearts I am being a bit of a brat about it all. However, when missing warmth and days of dancing on the beach I turn to my music. And New Zealand again has all the answers I could possibly need and want. Surf City are kind on the ears for anyone who loves the collective of animals. They are youthful, boysterious, anxious and full of joy.

Their various influences are, "footloose and groundhog day. pavement, sonic youth, the clean, velvet undergound, the jesus and mary chain, the beach boys, the zombies and various other reissues." I cannot chose a favorite out of their songs because they are each delightful and happily at home on even the greyest of March days. I am hoping that everyone starts loving them as much as I do-for New Zealand is very far away...so get on it you music loving folks! Let's get them over here STAT. I think we all could use a lil bit o sunshine.
Surf City-Mt. Kill.mp3
Surf City-Free The City.mp3

I found you one day with a mouth full of attitude and you stole me away, you stole me away

Oh Modular records. You've done it again. Ladyhawke is loverly. She is not exactly anything we have not heard before but she does it with equal amounts of sass and class and hailing from New Zealand sets her apart from our local hometown tarts that float around the States pop charts. She is in town this week during the post SXSW fallout that happens each year. She is one of the only artists that I would want to catch before she leaps back across the great divide. Her songs are like crack. Magic is by far my favorite and although the blogs have been pushing Paris is Burning as well I would recommend just sitting down with the record and listening to how she planned for it to flow. Manipulating Woman is equally as fetching and full of spitfire. My Delirium could possibly be the sneak-attack-sleeper hit of the album. The beat will completely transport you back to the 80's with scenes from films like Heathers or Fast Times flashing through your mind. Couldn't you totally see Winona rocking out to this around her bedroom before Christian sneaks into her bedroom to try and kill her? Heck yes! In a completely good way of course:
Catch Ladyhawke tomorrow night at Bowery Ballroom if you are around or Thursday night at Studio B. I recommend the Studio B show...this lady's music is MADE for dancing!
Ladyhawke-Magic.mp3
Ladyhawke-Back Of The Van.mp3

After all of this is all said and done, who would you rather be?

One day last week I was walking to work loving Neko Cases' latest album and had the realisation that thus far 2009 is so the year of the vicious lady-singer. Sorry boys, but it totally is. Think about it. We have new music from all of the following vixens who could toss and trounce you in about two seconds flat: Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Karen O), Ladyhawke, Lily Allen, Neko Case, Bat for Lashes, Lady Sovereign, Emmy the Great and my personal favorite: Metric. Now Metric has a little spitfire as a vocalist that you might happen to recognize the name of, Emily Haines. She only was part of the one and only great, Broken Social Scene that broke off into super group after super group. Maybe that is where Emily gained her superhero powers. This latest Metric album could be the soundtrack for any girl who is going through anything that is even the slightest bit frustrating or disheartening. Plug a little Emily Haines into your Ipod and everything you come across will be a little bit easier to deal with. Which is a feat it it's own right. If you watch the video posted below of Emily touring Argentina she is simultaneously frighteningly fragile yet strong as steel. Admitting to her fears and her deepest desires for her art which she holds closer than a second skin we realize what it is that draws us to her as both a front woman and as a feminine presence. She is the girlfriend you would go to for advice but also hold in your arms if she needed them. Listening to her talk to you just know she is destined for great things. Beyond what she and her bands have already done. Emily Haines is a lady for the history books. You follow her wistful gaze as she looks over Buenos Aries and you feel it in your heart. She has wisdom beyond her years and though she might not feel it strength to last the ages. This new Metric album is stellar. Catchy and spewing with pop it is also classy and brazen. The album will be released on April 7th by the band itself and will be available for digital download on March 31st. If you visit the bands website you will also see a ton of pre-released packages and free gifts for ordering early. Keep an eye out for tour dates sometime late spring and into the summer.

Metric-Collect Call.mp3

I won't drag my feet in whatever dirt you track in

I am incredibly superstitious. Always have been. I loathed that story about stepping on cracks and breaking my mother's back when I was little. It terrified me. I never pick up pennies that are tails-side down on the pavement. I avoid walking under ladders (for two reasons...that is just not safe!). I throw salt over my shoulder when it spills on the table. For as long as I can remember when my mom left for work in the morning I would wave goodbye from the window until I couldn't see her car, otherwise I would worry she wouldn't make it home. When my dad traveled on trips the last thing I always made sure I said was I love you. I don't write about boys when I have crushes in my journal...whenever I do and I am happy things head straight to the trash bin. Once when I was walking home while living in Avignon a black cat crossed my path and I literally gasped out loud causing my french family to give me the hairy eyeball. I can't help it. I am beginning to think March is my unlucky month. Just like Cesar bad things befall me during this transition from winter to spring. Last year my boss at the time called me in for a meeting and told me he didn't like my taste in music or my attitude. At the time I was supposed to be at SXSW but had passed up the opportunity to go because I did not want to miss work and spending time with that lovely boss of mine. I remember sitting at my desk listening to Justin Vernon crooning live Bon Iver songs over the airways and straight into my heart and had to bite my lip as hard as possible to stop me from getting up and throwing a chair at my presiding officer due to his lack of intelligence and TASTE. "Where is Bon Iver now", is a something I would love to ask him if we ever crossed paths. Maybe I am his black cat. Things work in this way, especially in New York City. People have different ways of understanding the music business and I have come to understand that it is because no matter why you entered into the arena you end up making it by on your instincts. Music is an instinctual behavior. You either like something and the way it sounds to your own ears, or you don't. You can learn to appreciate an artist, yes. But like them and choose to listen to them on your own time...now that takes a little bit of work and love. But I digress. Again this year I was supposed to go to SXSW and I didn't...for the same reasons as last. Friday I walked into work and was released from my job. My music venue could not afford me anymore and will be booking through outside promoters only now. I did not cry. I cursed March.

And so today I am back talking to my computer and drinking my green tea from the comforts of my little apartment. I can do things like jump around to the Clash and play the latest Silversun Pickups songs as loud as I want to. I don't have to answer to anyone for the moment and until next week I won't be full on freaking out about the R word I don't like to mention. For now I am continent. Which makes it the absolute perfect time to share the latest songbird to soothe my nerves, Alela Diane. She has been floating around the scene for a bit now and was recently signed to Rough Trade records and will remind you a bit of her label mates Basia Bulat and Emilaina Torrini. Her LP To Be Still was released in February and she has recorded a session with Daytrotter that is stunning. To Be Still is the first song by Alela that grabbed my ear immediately. Her lyrics are honest and intense. Although she is a beautiful feminine creature she does not hide behind the pain of loss or loneliness. Instead she steps over the boundaries of fear and fragility and tells you, her listener, exactly how it is going to be.

No I won't drag my feet in whatever dirt you track in
Will you look at me when your face shows the lines of years
While you've been away
I have needed your strong hands

Alela Diane-To Be Still.mp3
Alela Diane-White As Diamonds.mp3

If you are lucky enough to be down in Austin please visit her and support her live:

Mars-19~2:30 PM-SXSW-French Legation Museum-Austin, Texas
4:45 PM-SXSW-Lamberts-Austin, Texas

Mars-20~3:30 PM-SXSW-The Mowhawk-Austin, Texas
10:00 PM-SXSW-Garden Hotel, Black Cab Showcase-Austin, Texas

Mars-21~3:45 PM-SXSW-The Mean Eayed Cat-Mojo BBQ-Austin, Texas

Hungry Villagers

I have been trying to read J.D. Salingers' Franny and Zoey since New Years. This statement is a sorry fact to make for it is an incredibly skinny novel and Mr. Salinger is considered one of our countries most brilliant writers. I however have no warm feelings for the fella. His stories are messy patch-worked versions of self-indulgent characters that remind me of the sort of lot I spent four years of college avoiding except for two hands worth of friends that I would not trade for anything. However, one quote within its pages rang so blisteringly true that I have stuck with it and decided to give Mr. S. another shot.

" And the old horror of being a professional writer, and the usual stench of words that goes with it, is beginning to drive me out of my seat. It seems terribly important to try, though."

The same spirit has brought me back to at least trying to write again and the perfect band to start with on a list of many are the Hungry Villagers. With everyone getting ready to head down to Austin for this years' SXSW if there was one band I would be tapping my feet in anticipation to it would be this foursome from Houston. They only have one show and hopefully someone will see their live show and add them to more. Their lush and foreboding sound captured my heart and quickened my pulse immediately. A combination of so many sounds I hold dear in a year of music that has not really found its pace yet-they stand out as a shining beacon of beautiful creations occurring despite the recession, friends and family losing jobs, chaos abroad and a winter that ceases to release us from its' grasp. Listening to the Hungry Villagers is to release a burst of hope and fresh spring air. Abraham Houck, Jacob Houck, David Houck, Ferrik Hallaron IV are the players involved. They have a key element that always makes me giddy with delight--the family connection. Abe and Jacob are brothers from South Africa, drummer Ferrick is used to be a member of the band Midnight Pilots. Their catchy single, Little Fingers is available digitally and on glossy vinyl March 17th with a version of Tree Full of Ghosts as a b-side. My personal favorite is Sleeping With My Milk, a stirring and muffled lullaby/lovesick poem/brutially honest letter:

My voice drowns in your laughter, take these tears you're after

As is the lesson with most things worth learning more than one listen is worth your time and you will be thankful.
Hungry Villagers-Tree Full Of Ghosts.mp3

Bang Bang Eche---Warning HIGHLY ADDICTIVE

Don't you love when you let your Itunes do its' thing and it comes across some of your favorite songs and you realize you never blogged about--which is like never talking about it in the first place! I have been loving Bang Bang Eche since October. They are from New Zealand, they are incredibly young and they are the shit. If you like amazingly fierce drummers that while they play you can see them innocently counting out their beats in between beaming like a happy little clam, then this is the band for you. Their lyrics are stacked and solid as well. Supported by KEXP they performed an in studio performance during CMJ that I sadly missed as I was running my own shows at the time. After my friends in the audience recovered and their jaws returned to normal facial expression positions my mobile wouldn't stop flickering like a lightening bug captured in a jar. I knew they were going to be many a good thing within the first few seconds of seeing them. Ranging in age from 16-20 they are better than most of the bands being tossed and toted around NME as of late. (cough...glasvegas...what?!) I am hoping that this year brings big things for them. They are LOUD and lovable. Precious.

BANG BANG ECHE-Time Mismanagement.mp3
BANG BANG ECHE-(You & Me) Thick as Thieves.mp3

Rebirth

I managed to get my greedy paws on the upcoming Animal Collective release, Merriweather Post Pavilion before the New Years Holiday. I was patient about my first listen and had one person in particular I was holding out to share the experience with until the right moment. Unfortunately sometimes you just need to hear your Animal Collective and I cheated and went forth ahead on my own. I am absolutely confident in claiming that it is a complete masterpiece. About three years ago now I bought a ticket to check out their live show at Webster Hall with Metric. They sounded so awful and messy that I left during my favorite track of theirs at the time, two songs into the set. I had never walked out of a show until that moment. It took a lot for my eardrums to feel that assaulted by what I was hearing and make my way down the slippery marble stairs without feeling the urge to turn around and suck up the noise and see if by chance the performance was going to get any better. When I first read about the glowing reviews of their side project, Panda Bear and their debut release Person Pitch I was stubborn and didn't even give the album a listen until last January. It was one of those perfect days that you remember every single detail about where you went and the person you were with. It was cold and snowy and I have been deeply connected to Panda Bear ever since. This summer at the Pitchfork Music Festival I stood next to members of Fleet Foxes and watched Animal Collective as the sun set against the glowing Chicago sky. Hippies were dancing in a huge mud pit behind me and the `squish` `squish` `squish` of the water~sand~solution between their toes was as gentle and soothing as crickets after a rainstorm. I could not have been happier. Walking away from that show I happily admitted to my new Chicago friends that I was wrong and Animal Collective was and is an amazing live band. This is why I state with such passion and adoration that their latest record is a masterpiece in every sense of the word. From where the band began, swapping mixed tapes and experimental ideas to where they have come, releasing a completely fluid, lush, exotic, complex, emotional roller coaster of a mess that sounds so breathtakingly beautiful it makes my mouth water. It is exactly what was missing during 2008. A year of difficulty, frustration and pain that found me confused about where I belonged within this ridiculously infectious industry and eager for inspiration and strength. It is with much happiness and expectation that I look forward to this year in music. In the meantime, Frankie Knuckles has already given it a go with a remixed version of My Girls. I admit I definitely was grooving through sections of it, but the creepy breathing makes my insides squirm-and not in a good way. It is worth overlooking my girlie reaction to give it a listen.
Animal Collective vs Frankie Knuckles-Your Love My Girls.mp3
Animal Collective vs Vashti Bunyan-I Remember Learning How to Dive.mp3
Animal Collective-Water Curses.mp3
Animal Collective Tags
Panda Bear Tags

It's Friday Morning...the last Friday before it becomes winter

And while I am helping volunteer for KEXP John happened to pick Hyperballad by Bjork, my absolute favorite of all of her songs. Loveeeee it. Now bring on the snow Northeastern storm system, us New Yorkers are ready! :)

Poor Emma, we feel bad for you, 'YES WE DID' and other happenings of '08: TOP ALBUMS OF THE YEAR (for me and eric)

First and foremost every good music listener has someone that they share everything with because loving something as much as i love music is never truly complete unless you share it with those who are always there for you. Most of my past music education over the few years has stemmed from Eric's knowledge of The Grateful Dead, The Band, Antony and the Johnsons, Bonnie Prince Billy and many more and this year I was finally able to give a little bit back. Along with his top picks he listed his top 11 shows of the year as well. Since we spent most of the year collectively ohhhh'ing and ahhhhh'ing over Bon Iver we once mentioned in passing conversation how we felt bad for poor Emma. As the rest of the world was delighting over sickening love songs by Mr. Emma, she was out there knowing all of this was written about her. And so, Emma this is for you. Here's to a happy and healthy 2009!!!

*****************Top Ten Albums of 2008 for Mr. Eric*****************

1.Bon Iver- For Emma, Forever Ago
2. The Felice Brothers-The Felice Brothers
3.Lykke Li-Youth Novels
4.Cat Power-Jukebox
5. The Black Keys-Attack and Release
6. The Tallest Man on Earth-Shallow Graves
7. Small Sur-We Live In Houses Made of Wood
8. The Rosewood Thieves-Rise and Shine
9. Horse Feathers-House With No Home
10. Bob Dylan-Tell Tale Signs

+1 Bonnie 'Prince' Billy–Lie Down in the Light

******Top Ten Concerts********

1.Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble, Levon Helm Studios, September 6, 2008
2.Bon Iver, Bowery Ballroom, July 29, 2008
3.Radiohead, All Points West Festival, August 8, 2008
4.The Felice Brothers / AA Bondy, The Bearsville Theatre, April 26, 2008
5.The Black Crowes (Acoustic), Town Hall, November 3
6.Horse Feathers / The Rosewood Thieves / Small Sur, Union Hall, November 21, 2008
7.Adele, Joe's Pub, March 17, 2008
8. Bob Dylan, The Prospect Park Bandshell, August 12, 2008
9.The Cave Singers, The Mercury Lounge, May 6, 2008
10.Rodriguez, Joe's Pub, September 3, 2008

+1 The Raconteurs, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, May 4, 2008

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


******2008, thank you, from shelves of vinyl*******

1. The Black Keys-Attack and Release
2. Dr. Dog-Fate
3. Bon Iver-For Emma, Forever Ago
4. Lykke Li-Youth Novel
5. Hercules and Love Affair-Hercules and Love Affair
6. Helio Sequence-Keep Your Eyes Ahead
7. Ra Ra Riot-Rhumb Line
8. Tobacco-Fucked Up Friends
9. Elliott Brood-Mountain Meadow
10.Fleet Foxes-Fleet Foxes

11. Friendly Fires-Friendly Fires
12. Crystal Castles-Crystal Castles
13. Tallest Man on Earth-Shallow Grave
14. El Guincho-Alegranza!
15. Starfucker-Starfucker
16. Moondoggies-Don't Be A Stranger
17. Noah and the Whale-Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down
18.School of Seven Bells-Alpinisms

School of Seven Bells-Half Asleep.mp3
Moondoggies-Long Time Coming.mp3
Dr. Dog-From.mp3
Fleet Foxes-Meadowlarks.mp3
El Guincho-Costa Paraiso.mp3
Friendly Fires- Jump In The Pool.mp3

Can You Tell...

Led Zepplin-Whole Lotta Love.mp3
Black Mountain-Stormy High.mp3
Fleetwood Mac-Doctor Brown.mp3
Waylon Jennings-Gold Dust Woman.mp3
Wanda Jackson-I Gotta Know.mp3
Those Darlins-Wild One.mp3
David Vandervelde-Someone Like You.mp3
Sera Cahoone-You Might As Well.mp3
Call Me-Jessica Lea Mayfield.mp3
Horsefeathers-Curs In The Weeds.mp3
Huck Notari-Long Road.mp3
Shearwater-Century Eyes.mp3
The Moondoggies-Black Shoe.mp3
Sam Cooke-A Change Is Gonna Come.mp3
Ra Ra Riot-Can You Tell.mp3