a. lately i've been listening to The Soft Boys, The Silos, R.E.M.'s Murmur, Jay Reatard, Sonic Youth, and one night recently Brian Eno's Another Green World was played by me & a special someone over & over again throughout the night. but more than anything else, i've been WAY into PAVEMENT lately. especially Wowee Zowee, which was the only one of their albums i hadn't played a ton over the years. but i've made up for it in the past few weeks, as that album is on constant repeat.
here is their video for "Rattled by the Rush":
b. Elliott Smith is the only person who could make Big Star's "Thirteen," the most achingly beautiful song ever, even more beautiful.
this is from Lucky Three, a film E.S. was in:
c. the day after my birthday, the magnificent Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour came to NYC. it was quite a spectacle. the crowd was rabid & the place was completely packed. i had the great honor of watching most of the show from backstage, while i rubbed elbows with some of the biggest indie rock icons of the past 2 decades. they are some of the coolest, most creative, sweetest, most genuine and talented people anywhere in the world. it was the best birthday present ever.
i was also left with an old, hole-y, AMAZING e6 t-shirt at the end of that long night (that actually never ended, because we never went to sleep). a few days later i also got an old, AMAZING Athens, Ga t-shirt from my friend for my birthday. how 'bout that.
2. This past weekend was CMJ in the city & lots of crazy/drunken/amazingly fun things went on.
a. on Thursday night, i went to see Mission of Burma.
b. on Friday during the day, Jay Reatard came to the Matador offices & played a few songs as everyone in the office stopped what they were doing and huddled around to watch. it was like a mini-concert in the middle of the workday. pretty amazing. Jay's Matador Singles '08 is one of my favorite albums of the year.
here he & his band do an awesome cover of an old Go-Betweens (!!) tune:
c. on Friday night, E came in to town. we made gin & tonics and went to Gowanus. we wanted to see Crystal Stilts, but arrived too late because apparently in New York City shows actually start on time. SHEESH. so we saw Ladybug Transistor who the man at the door referred to as "Ladybirds." from there, we headed to Manhattan. along the way, we ran into my subway pal from my hometown as well as a busker on the subway who, despite his designer glasses that i complimented him on and his fancy 12-string guitar that he let me play, asked us for a "donation" after he played us 2 beatles tunes. i hate when people sing to me. but this dude was pretty hysterical. we parted ways with our new friend and went to the Matador afterparty in the Lower East Side. drank some free Stellas, had enthusiastic interactions with people who usually never talk to me at work, admired the Halloween decorations, and got out of there around 3 am.
d. on Saturday night, M came over to Greenpoint and he and E and i had some beers & maybe a shot of vodka or two.
it was rainy, so E & i took a cab to Williamsburg for that night's show. Women played first. they were a delightful surprise. really really good stuff. they are from Canada i think.
the venue was supercool and there were crazy Alice In Wonderland videos being played on the walls and we drank Colt 45's and just had a blast. after a few pretty dreadful acts, it was once again time for JAY REATARD. it was SUCH a fun show. superfast songs, high energy from the band and the crowd, singing along and going crazy, those luscious long flowing curls of his.
this way FAR OUT photo was taken by E:
e. oh, but towards the end of Jay's set, a few members of the crowd were getting a bit unruly, and some dude slammed into me and knocked me down, as i was stood at the front of the stage. now i've got a GIGANTIC black and blue bruise on my thigh & what i think is a broken finger:
i'm pretty badass, i guess.
3. i've fallen in love with Brooklyn lately.
a. the other night, after the Mission of Burma show, all by my lonesome, kind of late at night, i took the long way home. i walked 20 minutes down Bedford back to Greenpoint. it was just elating. it was a beautiful night, people were out but it was quiet, the park was on the right, old Polish churches all around.
b. i was also eating a slice of broccoli pizza from a pizzeria right by the Bedford L stop on this walk home. it was one of the best slices i've ever had. i got another after the Jay Reatard show, with E, before we made the late night walk home for our second night of going to bed at 6 am.
tasty:
4. ELECTION DAY, SCARY!
a. also on our walk home from Williamsburg after Jay Reatard, we saw THIS:
it was pretty amazing. it looked so beautiful. perhaps all those Colt 45's were making me overly emotional, but it was really inspiring, kinda got me all misty-eyed. well not really, but almost.
b. my dad pointed me to this hilarious/lovely essay written by the one & only Larry David.
read: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-david/waiting-for-nov-4th_b_137029.html
c. i've never been a big SNL fan, but i've been really enjoying all their election sketches. that Tina Fey sure is terrific. the dudes who play McCain and Obama are great too. they make me laugh out loud.
d. semi-related, i've also been reading The Onion a lot and it CRACKS ME UP. especially uproarious are news items entitled "First Openly Gay Racehorse To Compete Sunday" & "John McCain Accidentally Left On Campaign Bus Overnight" and "'I Am Under 18' Button Clicked For First Time In History of Internet." HI-LARIOUS!
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