The Sticky

Last year, I went to see Aesop Rock at the Parish House with a couple friends, and despite our flouncing around the French Quarter for a good 40 minutes trying to find the place, we still managed to be super early to the show. So we're standing around, kind of stoned and in various stages of drunkenness, just kind of all wishing we were 21 so we could buy something to do, and who should come on the stage but Black Moth Super Rainbow.



They were quiet and even kind of shy (the girl seemed to be, anyways) and the only thing they said was "Hey, we're Black Moth Super Rainbow" and then they launched into the best show of my life.



It was loud, and weird, and I was undeniably fucked up, but all of a sudden I was on another planet. The bassist got so into it, he was bopping around on top of the speakers and everywhere else. The drummer had no face on account of his giant hoodie. The girl who plays the keyboard wasn't even facing the audience and she had a string of christmas lights to play by. The guy who does the mixing and the singing was just lying on a couch with his back turned to the audience. I didn't even know he was there until he decided to stand up halfway through the show. I danced (which I never do) and I managed to get some guy to buy me a vodka cranberry, and the only other thing I can pick out of the giant awesome blur that was that show is my friend Kelly eating a banana and screaming about how this music had made her understand Spinoza.



BMSR is preparing to release another spectacular sensation this spring called Eating Us, which will be their fourth album. It's wonderful, really, the entire thing. Not being much of a conventional band, I don't think they've released a single, which leaves me free to choose my favorites and make everybody I know listen to them without having to bitch and moan about how everybody likes the single but the true gem is underappreciated.



Twin of Myself is definitely one of my favorites. The third song on the album, it is twinkly and light, but the bass is right there to back it up without overtaking the melody. The vocals are less distressed on this album in general, but still not quite discernable. This song is a gentler, more soothing Black Moth, and I love it. All the elements combine perfectly, making me wish it was hot and sunny and I was lying in a park, watching birds and eating fruit.



Iron Lemonade is definitely one of the best songs on the album. The vocals are clear enough that if I was so inclined, I could actually sing along. The beat is driving, and it seems dark, almost ominous. The vocals float through, adding a happy-go-lucky if not dutch angled tone to the piece, and when the synth comes in toward the end, the song builds quickly to what seems like it must be a crashing end. But instead, it disappears, like it's flying off into the night. I like this song so much that I've set a goal to either trip face and listen to this song on repeat or have some really excellent stoned sex while it's playing.

If you like what you hear so far, here are some links to downloads:

Sun Lips, off their 2007 album Dandelion Gum.

Forever Heavy, also from Dandelion Gum.

I Think it is Beautiful That You Are 256 Colors Too from 2003's Falling Through a Field.

Spiracle, from the Octopus Project collaboration The House of Apples and Eyeballs.

Happy Melted City, off the Drippers Rarities EP.
Enjoy!

I Wish My House Looked Like This

Yes, with James Penfold on a ladder, please, if it can be arranged.






And I wish I was as cool as these two:

Meat and Cheese by Mike and Jen aka Duotard video by The Selby from the selby on Vimeo.

But That's In The Past Tense

Why was I not as cool as this kid when I was younger?

This week has been cold and rainy for the most part, which is disgusting.

On Saturday last week Lexi came over and we got stoned and drank and watched movies until we passed out. It was kind of like how we used to be, but not quite. There's just some kind of static between us that I can't seem to get around. It's like two magnets with the wrong ends pointed together. We just can't get as close as we used to be. But it was still fun and I'm glad I've been seeing her more.

Speaking of Lexi, I'm supposed to be going with her and Frank to a show in Binghamton this Saturday, but it turns out that I might not be able to go. Saturday morning I have to go to Bangs and take pictures for my Photojournalism final project, Saturday afternoon I'm supposed to go to Ink with Jason and present our proposal for a workshop. And Sunday the whole family is headed to the Seneca Army Depot to go on a tour to see the famous white deer.




They are not albino because they don't have pink eyes. They have brown ones. The military fenced off 24 miles of forest that a heard of regular white tailed deer lived in. One of them was a freak though, and had some kind of recessive gene for being white. Eventually some white deer were born, and the military decided to only hunt the brown ones. Now there's like 200 white deer in this old Army Depot in Seneca. There's a Lenape prophecy that says that when a male and female white deer are seen together, humans will either destroy or save everything.

BUT, prophetic deer aside, it's going to be 80 degrees on Saturday and Sunday! I am super excited to sweat the winter funk away and be tan and fresh and wear flip flops and shorts everyday. (by funk I mean the emotional type, not the type found in bellybuttons)

Also, I am really super digging this song:

Damn Those Sweet Memories!

I can't help myself.




But the problem is that there are so many weird things happening in this video/with Jesse McCartney. And I see all of them, but for some unfathomable reason, they don't bother me.

1. He has one weird eyebrow and one good eyebrow. And, he is always turning his face so you have to see the weird eyebrow, like it's his favorite one.

2. He has weird puffs in his cheeks. Sometimes you can see them, sometimes you can't, but it looks like he has cotton balls in his face.

3. Sometimes the car is driving on the wrong side of the road for no reason at all.

4. That blonde girl is trying to do some kind of strange dancing in her seat thing while he's in her car with her, but she doesn't do a good job of it and it looks kind of awkward instead of like J.Mac is a true mack.

5. Ludacris is in this song. And, he doesn't even get that much face time. Why doesn't he get his own car? Are they saying Luda is trying to ride Jesse McCartney's coattails to fame and fortune and glory and ladies? Isn't he more famous? Right?

6. The brunette is really really really strange and trashy looking. It doesn't help that her car is white and has some kind of stupid Wal-Mart t-shirt eagle graphic on the front. But she looks like she is straight up out of meth valley.

7. Why does his car stop? Is he out of gas? What happened to those girls with their cars and Luda and that partymobile? They won't give him a ride?

8. What, he can't walk on the road where he might get a ride to the next town? He's so cool that not only can he go on a road trip with nothing but the clothes on his back and some sepia'd picture of some Daughtry loving skank, but he also doesn't need to worry about if his badass car is going to get stolen or if he'll die in the desert because he has no water.

And yet, I still watched this video at least 3 times today. What is the matter with me!?

Living in a Rhythm Where the Minutes Working Overtime

Australian music is weird, which is probably because Australia is kind of a weird idea. Not only is it a continent, but it's a country too. And the people who live there have funny accents and they used to be British. Why do they speak so strangely, anyways? Americans used to be British, but we don't sound like Australians at all.

Empire of the Sun is Australian, and they're fucking weird:



EotS is just two dudes who used to be in different weird Australian bands but decided to make a new one. Lots of people have compared Empire of the Sun to MGMT, and while that might be a fair comparison for just the music, it's totally wrong about the people. MGMT is a couple of weirdos who set out to annoy everybody they possibly could (so they say) and Empire of the Sun is a couple of weirdos who are totally serious about their weirdness.

Luke Steele, the singer/songwriter of the duo, used to be in the band The Sleepy Jackson, which I kind of remember. His voice is kind of Billy Corgan-esque, but not so whiny and terrible. He's always got himself on some kind of reverb, and he mumbles just enough that I can't quite pick out all the lyrics.

The other guy, Nick Littlemore, used to be in a dance duo called Pnau. I have no idea how to say that or what it means, but they didn't get all their samples authorized and had to pull their album over copyright issues. Silly.

Anyways, in 2008 they released their first album, Walking on a Dream. The first single was, surprise, Walking on a Dream, which is a lovely song. Littlemore's history is pretty present, but in a really good catchy drum machine and two piano keys kind of way. And Steele's vocals pout and then float perfectly through the measures. The video was shot in Shanghai, a place I wish I was right now instead of on my couch in my living room.




Their second single, We Are The People has an even weirder video:




It doesn't really matter how weird they are, because in the end what matters is that I cannot stop listening to their music, and I don't mean in the way that I can't stop listening to Jesse McCartney, because it's totally different.

A Prizel

Hattie is so little fun that she won't even let me show this to anybody.

Still Night, Still Light

The Au Revoir Simone album is controlling my life right now, it's that good.

I've been sleeping and watching movies and eating all day and eventually I disintegrated into watching Friday Night Lights on nbc.com. I know it's terrible but I just can't help myself. All the actors are so pretty! Especially this one:



I mean, I don't usually like long hair but...he's just so damn surly. And I am a sucker for surly. Plus he's always wearing those plaid shirts. Oh Taylor Kitsch.




Oh! and Jesse is GONE!