Watch it in full here.
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
LOOK AT THEM GO! LOOK AT THEM GO!
[i had to take down the animation :(]
Go to iTunes and buy the Arcade Fire's "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" and watch the animation above while listening to it. They go together really well. I'm not stoned right now... but I am on my 3rd sugar free redbull and could really use some more salt in my diet today. I'm attempting a $20 budget today, but redbulls cost $2.50, and we haven't gotten a new shipment at work, and so I spent $7.50 already. Such bullcrap. How expensive is taurine anyway?
This weekend was so much fun. The Vicar and I went to brunch with Brian & Co., whom returned for the weekend for Grant's show that was sadly cancelled at the last minute, and I think the poor Vicar was semi scarred by my friends' sex tales. I believe the phrase "the only way i could top any of them is if i had an orgy with 3 girls, a dog, and a goat... and then maybe, maybe, i'll have topped them."
After lunch we headed to Garden State Mall. Yes, Garden State Mall in Paramus, NJ. Our drive there started out a bit sour cause we were both still a bit sick, but then Vicar popped this cd by Apoptygma Berzerk, which is this Norwegian industrial goth band that he loves. I kept on thinking of this goth dance that he does as a joke to the song "Starsign" that involves capes and shit and laughed the rest of the drive.
I don't think I've head so much fun on a saturday afternoon in ages. I'm sort of obsessed with Hot Topic. If I'm in a mall and there's a HT, i manage to spend about 2 hours there, no matter the size of it. There's just something I love about the store -- the way it smells, the music they play (on this visit it was a mix of tbs, the killers, yyys, and dashboard), and the people who shop there. I combed through every last rack, and after 2 hours, there was still more to explore, but it was getting late and there was an entire mall to sniff through. Naturally, our next stop was Spencer's gifts. We spent another hour in there.
I think I'm gonna try to make it out to the mall at least once a month. If anyone wants to go, let me know and I'll make a carpool using my mom or dad's car.
After walking around the mall for a few hours we picked up Brother Lawrence and drove him to the Bat Cave for his friend's goth show. He was really pissed off at me cause my phone died and he couldn't reach me the whole day and was trying to hitch a ride back into the city. Thankfully, Vicar was in the car and so Brother Larry held back on yelling at me.
Vicar and I went to Misshapes and got to look at Brian's balls. They looked huge to me, probably cause I haven't seen them in ages. It's funny, sometimes you miss the simple things in life, and in this instance, I missed the simple fact that brian will whip his balls out in a moment's notice for no reason at all.
We all stayed at MisShapes until 5:30, sung happy birthday to the gorgeous Geordan, and went home.
Now here are some links for you:
Triumph being political.
Eminem being political.
The secret origin of the Cocteau Twins.
Check out microchips having sex.
Ben Chappel getting political with Errol Morris on Gothamist.
Two hour open bar this wednesday
[i had to take down the animation :(]
Go to iTunes and buy the Arcade Fire's "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" and watch the animation above while listening to it. They go together really well. I'm not stoned right now... but I am on my 3rd sugar free redbull and could really use some more salt in my diet today. I'm attempting a $20 budget today, but redbulls cost $2.50, and we haven't gotten a new shipment at work, and so I spent $7.50 already. Such bullcrap. How expensive is taurine anyway?
This weekend was so much fun. The Vicar and I went to brunch with Brian & Co., whom returned for the weekend for Grant's show that was sadly cancelled at the last minute, and I think the poor Vicar was semi scarred by my friends' sex tales. I believe the phrase "the only way i could top any of them is if i had an orgy with 3 girls, a dog, and a goat... and then maybe, maybe, i'll have topped them."
After lunch we headed to Garden State Mall. Yes, Garden State Mall in Paramus, NJ. Our drive there started out a bit sour cause we were both still a bit sick, but then Vicar popped this cd by Apoptygma Berzerk, which is this Norwegian industrial goth band that he loves. I kept on thinking of this goth dance that he does as a joke to the song "Starsign" that involves capes and shit and laughed the rest of the drive.
I don't think I've head so much fun on a saturday afternoon in ages. I'm sort of obsessed with Hot Topic. If I'm in a mall and there's a HT, i manage to spend about 2 hours there, no matter the size of it. There's just something I love about the store -- the way it smells, the music they play (on this visit it was a mix of tbs, the killers, yyys, and dashboard), and the people who shop there. I combed through every last rack, and after 2 hours, there was still more to explore, but it was getting late and there was an entire mall to sniff through. Naturally, our next stop was Spencer's gifts. We spent another hour in there.
I think I'm gonna try to make it out to the mall at least once a month. If anyone wants to go, let me know and I'll make a carpool using my mom or dad's car.
After walking around the mall for a few hours we picked up Brother Lawrence and drove him to the Bat Cave for his friend's goth show. He was really pissed off at me cause my phone died and he couldn't reach me the whole day and was trying to hitch a ride back into the city. Thankfully, Vicar was in the car and so Brother Larry held back on yelling at me.
Vicar and I went to Misshapes and got to look at Brian's balls. They looked huge to me, probably cause I haven't seen them in ages. It's funny, sometimes you miss the simple things in life, and in this instance, I missed the simple fact that brian will whip his balls out in a moment's notice for no reason at all.
We all stayed at MisShapes until 5:30, sung happy birthday to the gorgeous Geordan, and went home.
Now here are some links for you:
Triumph being political.
Eminem being political.
The secret origin of the Cocteau Twins.
Check out microchips having sex.
Ben Chappel getting political with Errol Morris on Gothamist.
Two hour open bar this wednesday
Monday, October 25, 2004
EACH NIGHT I BURY MY LOVE AROUND YOU
That was pretty interesting to watch on Saturday night. It made me late for dancing... you know, watching her dance the gig.
People make fun of Paul Banks' lyrics... I love them. I think he's a genius poet, and a terribly underrated wordsmith. But that's just me. I mean, I want my gravestone to say "Say Hello To the Angels" for goodness sakes.
That was pretty interesting to watch on Saturday night. It made me late for dancing... you know, watching her dance the gig.
People make fun of Paul Banks' lyrics... I love them. I think he's a genius poet, and a terribly underrated wordsmith. But that's just me. I mean, I want my gravestone to say "Say Hello To the Angels" for goodness sakes.
Saturday, October 23, 2004
Friday, October 22, 2004
THE SEEDS OF LOVE
It's been an exhausting week for me. Between spending every free second getting the Louis XIV cds out, going to work, and DJ at night to make cash so i can afford things, I've hardly had time to sleep, and as a result, i've gotten a bit sick.
I've got all the vitamin C shit on my desk and have been gobbling it up so I can stop coughing and losing my voice and so my throat wont feel like i've swallowed a pine cone. It's not really working too well, which sucks since I'm not only DJing tonight, but also tomorrow night as well. Vicar has a similar problem and informed me that i'll most likely be bedridden for about 2 days.
Tonight The Tarts are DJing at Red & Black in Brooklyn on North 5th, btw bedford and berry. If you're coming from the city, you might want to cab it.
Tomorrow night I'm DJing the Fiasco show at Rothko, which will be a fucking party if I ever saw one. Fiasco is Grant singing (you might know him from Brian's site), and Fatty (also, from Brian's site), and Amanda from Soviet. Their single sounds like David Bowie fronting the BeeGees. The NSFW video is awesome. [THIS SHOW HAS BEEN CANCELLED CAUSE THERE'S A PROBLEM WITH ROTHKO]
I've really been working hard on cutting back on my drinking. For about two weeks a little while ago I went totally dry, thanks to the accidental influence of the Vicar. But eventually my demons got to me and I've gone back to the bottle. It's really awful, but I think that I tend to do that when there's uncertainty in my life. It's probably true for most people with a "drinking problem."
Wednesday night the tarts had our second stolen transmission party. There was that play off game that we had to play nice to, leaving DJ Vicar waiting patiently to he could play the Pixies and Bloc Party and other shit that Karen and I have been imposing on him for the past few weeks. After Vicar, DJ Jazzy James Iha took on the fine roll of getting kids to dance to discotheque. Ruling the airwaves like it was 1992, I was hoping he'd play some Ace of Base, but alas, that didnt happen.
Here are photos.
For the past week Karen has been playing momma goose to Idlewild, and it was so cute to watch them all follow behind her last night at Crobar when she came into the room. Like little duckies, all around the club until she sat them down. It was really nice to see them again. Roddy's been living in NYC for the past week or two, but the rest of the band came down to party and it was like a summer camp reunion.
Here are photos from that night.
Alright. I'm dont posting more. It took me all day to post this cause i'm distracted. There's a styrofoam cup of champagne sitting on my desk. I am gonna drink it.
This photo makes me happy. It's my friend Robbie from Sacremento. He's a totally gorgeous, and despite what most people at crobar thought last night, he and vicar are not life partners.
It's been an exhausting week for me. Between spending every free second getting the Louis XIV cds out, going to work, and DJ at night to make cash so i can afford things, I've hardly had time to sleep, and as a result, i've gotten a bit sick.
I've got all the vitamin C shit on my desk and have been gobbling it up so I can stop coughing and losing my voice and so my throat wont feel like i've swallowed a pine cone. It's not really working too well, which sucks since I'm not only DJing tonight, but also tomorrow night as well. Vicar has a similar problem and informed me that i'll most likely be bedridden for about 2 days.
Tonight The Tarts are DJing at Red & Black in Brooklyn on North 5th, btw bedford and berry. If you're coming from the city, you might want to cab it.
Tomorrow night I'm DJing the Fiasco show at Rothko, which will be a fucking party if I ever saw one. Fiasco is Grant singing (you might know him from Brian's site), and Fatty (also, from Brian's site), and Amanda from Soviet. Their single sounds like David Bowie fronting the BeeGees. The NSFW video is awesome. [THIS SHOW HAS BEEN CANCELLED CAUSE THERE'S A PROBLEM WITH ROTHKO]
I've really been working hard on cutting back on my drinking. For about two weeks a little while ago I went totally dry, thanks to the accidental influence of the Vicar. But eventually my demons got to me and I've gone back to the bottle. It's really awful, but I think that I tend to do that when there's uncertainty in my life. It's probably true for most people with a "drinking problem."
Wednesday night the tarts had our second stolen transmission party. There was that play off game that we had to play nice to, leaving DJ Vicar waiting patiently to he could play the Pixies and Bloc Party and other shit that Karen and I have been imposing on him for the past few weeks. After Vicar, DJ Jazzy James Iha took on the fine roll of getting kids to dance to discotheque. Ruling the airwaves like it was 1992, I was hoping he'd play some Ace of Base, but alas, that didnt happen.
Here are photos.
For the past week Karen has been playing momma goose to Idlewild, and it was so cute to watch them all follow behind her last night at Crobar when she came into the room. Like little duckies, all around the club until she sat them down. It was really nice to see them again. Roddy's been living in NYC for the past week or two, but the rest of the band came down to party and it was like a summer camp reunion.
Here are photos from that night.
Alright. I'm dont posting more. It took me all day to post this cause i'm distracted. There's a styrofoam cup of champagne sitting on my desk. I am gonna drink it.
This photo makes me happy. It's my friend Robbie from Sacremento. He's a totally gorgeous, and despite what most people at crobar thought last night, he and vicar are not life partners.
Thursday, October 21, 2004
MAY I TAKE YOUR ORDER?
Ok, the first batch of LouisXIV cds have gone out. Sorry for the delay, but with CMJ and stuff, it's been a bit hard to do everything. I can't wait to hear what you all think of it!
Also, if you're around tonight, go here. Tell the door guy you're there for Misshapes and you get in free... i'm the one listed as a guest did, but it's actually the Tarts of Pleasure (me and karen).
There's gonna be a top shelf alcohol open bar for a while.
Ok, the first batch of LouisXIV cds have gone out. Sorry for the delay, but with CMJ and stuff, it's been a bit hard to do everything. I can't wait to hear what you all think of it!
Also, if you're around tonight, go here. Tell the door guy you're there for Misshapes and you get in free... i'm the one listed as a guest did, but it's actually the Tarts of Pleasure (me and karen).
There's gonna be a top shelf alcohol open bar for a while.
Monday, October 18, 2004
TEMPTATION
Do you realize how awesome the soundtrack of Trainspotting is? It's awesome, and I'm not really saying anything new, but I was just reminded of it's awesomeness this morning when I was watching that "Alternative" show on VH1 that I DiVoed. They played Heaven 17's "Temptation" and James' "Laid" (which is my absolute favorite song to DJ). Who knew that the singer of James was so cute!?
I've been exhausted. For the past 3-4 weeks I've had someone staying in my room... for the last week, it's been 5 someone's as I couch surfed between my roommate niki's bed and Karen's futon and other forgiving friends who don't mind the fact that I like to stay up late sometimes. It's been awesome having all these people around, but totally tiring. After a while you forget why you pay tons of money to have a room all to yourself. It's so you can wake up in the morning, turn the tv on loud and prance around your room naked without scaring the beejesus out of anyone.
Wednesday night the Tarts are throwing another party since we're doing a weekly party... you know, so wednesday returns, and so does the party. It works nice that way. There is no list, no cover. So bring your pals. There's also A TWO HOUR OPEN BAR, so bring singles for tips.
This week we're having James Iha DJing. He was in the Smashing Pumpkins and now he's in A Perfect Circle and sometimes I tease him about being in a goth band since he likes to wear pink a lot. He's also Japanese and I like all things Jappy, including my upbringing.
Also joining him is DJ Special Zed, who is awesome and looks like that cute kid from Party of Five (you know, the one that dated jennifer love hewitt) and makes sure i get home safely on shabbat, and DJ Vicar -- the official #1 Tarts of Pleasure Groupie. He keeps us drunk, gives us clothes and carries our gear.
Here's the flyer:
I'm trying my best to remember the past two weeks. It's been as hard as the geometry class i failed twice in high school (well, once, but the second time around the summer school teacher didn't want to risk having me as a student again since I spent the entire time reading SPIN and talking to the black girls since there were no black girls in my school normally, but summer school got kids from all over the county... it was awesome).
Let's try from the beginning...
Oct 4:
Good Charlotte at Webster Hall. Ok, let's make something clear: I like music that most would consider shit. People think they're really making tons of fun of me when they're like "You like Good Charlotte!" when I'm like "Yeah, so? Did you happen to see me on that MTV show declaring my love for Linkin Park?" I have no shame in the bands I like that aren't considered cool, and yeah, GC is one of those bands. In all fairness, I didn't like them before. But a few months ago my office got to go to the GC management office and listen to demos of the album. I went in with open ears cause in fairness, the band wrote some pretty huge hit singles and I wanted to see if it was possible for them to do it again. I was pretty much shocked and wondered if they sold their souls to the devil. The album, to me, sounded like mall punk goodness closer to the Used than anything else. So a couple months later when I was told that I'd have to interview them for something, i popped the cd in my player and have listened to it more than i ever expected. Mind you, apart from the singles, I've never heard a GC album. What's cool is that I got to listen with more of an open mind, and so when I meet others that liked GC and find out that they dont anymore cause they think the new album is shit, i feel like i've been semi-validated in a way i cant figure out. Anyway, Karen and I got super drunk and inebriated at their show (since they dont drink, we figured we'd drink for them). At one point Joel name dropped an AOL chat room. I turned to karen and said "holy shit, did he just name drop an AOL chat room?" she laughed and said yes. I replied "That was ... keyword: awesome." We spent the rest of the show laughing at the random name dropping and looking into the audience of the old men who were scoping out little girls to molest. You can watch the show here.
After the show we, the Tarts, headed to Irving so we could dance around to the Killers. I love those boys. When we're together it's like long lost siblings reuniting, especially for me and Brandon. We stare at each other and I think in our heads we're thinking either: "damn, i make a good looking boy." or "damn, am i glad that i'm a boy instead of a funny looking girl." The Tarts threw an after party for the boys and all the fun indie bands came out and got wasted and Brandon and I introduced ourselves as brother and sister as Barry from Scotland made moves on Brandon... I think he was maybe mistaken. The highlight of the night was DJing C&C Music Factory. No, wait, it was when a couple of DJs gave us money and drugs in exchange for the chance to DJ. Neither Karen nor myself wanted to DJ anymore anyway, so we gladly took the drugs and money and tipped our nice bartender generously... by accident.
Oct 5: Tuesday provided for another Tarts Do Mall Music Adventure. We went to see the Good Charlotte instore at Tower so i could interview the band afterwards. They were super nice and dressed like they were in Interpol.
Speaking of Interpol, once that was done, Karen and I met up with Vicar and went back to Irving to see Gay Interpol. There was a rumor that David Bowie would be there so Brandon was giddy as fuck. As he was fashioning himself in the mirror i turned to him and said "Aw! I feel like a proud mom! You're like my son." And he pleaded "You mean i dont look like a rockstar?"
The second show was so much better than the first... infact, it was better than any other show i've seen them do. For one thing, they brought out the big guns for Bowie (who showed up... causing brandon to sing pretty much exclusively to the balcony... his excitement is endearing), that included sampling, new sounds, and a breakdown into a Pink Floyd number at end of one of their songs.
After the show we went to SNITCH for what appeared to be Los Angeles Rock Night. Total cheesy crowd. Huey from the Fun Loving Criminals didnt want me to DJ (even though it had been arranged that I would). I didn't want to piss off Huey cause he's huge. Eventually the Killers asked that I be put on the decks, and I dropped some Neil Diamond. The dude from Fuel who is part owner of the club walked by the booth and Vicar said that he gave me a look that would kill. He was pissed. I was having a good time. Buh buh buh buh. Good times never felt so good.
Oct 6:
About a month and a half ago I went to see Franz Ferdinand at Roseland. I love Franz a lot. But the best part of the show was when a woman came up to me and told me that her daughter Jordana was a huge fan of my column and blog. I said "Wow! That's so awesome! How old is she?" She told me that her daughter was in high school and I freaked out... "You gotta stop her from reading my blog! It's bad for her!" but she laughed and said that she also reads it (Hi Amy!). Anyway, I met her son Jonathan (hey dude!) who was adorable and her daughter and was just totally in love with her immediately. She reminded me of a really good friend of mine from high school and just seemed so sweet. So I gave her my email and told her that she's gotta keep in touch. Anyway, I got invited by her 11 year old brother to join the family for his birthday dinner. I immediately accepted the invite and on Oct 6 I joined the family for dinner. More families should be like this one. They're so friendly and sweet and open with each other and they made me feel totally comfortable. And Jordana is so fucking cool... I wanted to steal her iPod since mine is broken and hers had everything mine had and more. It even had the Oohlas, Morningtheft and the Madison Strays. How is she so cool?
Oct 9:
My date book says I didn't do anything until Oct 9th, and so I'm sticking with that. Imran was in town and so we went to Kates for lunch and he went yarn shopping with me so I could knit a scarf for a friend, meanwhile he was getting text messages from his hometown of London from friends talking about drug outings that just occurred. Yarn Shopping Vs. Doing Coke in a bathroom... which is more rock and roll, you tell me.
We met up with Miss Modernage in the park who was telling us about running into Ryan Adams and how she wanted to deck him or steal his bag or something. And then I went home so I could tidy up a bit before Apartment and their manager showed up the following day. Later that night we went to see Morrissey and I ended up coming about 3023 times in an hour. The man played as many Smiths songs as Morrissey ones... and they were all my favorite ones!
Then we went to Misshapes since that's what you do on a saturday night. Here are photos from that.
Oct 10: (I'm almost done with this update! Yay!)
Interpol played a secret show and Apartment showed up on my doorstep. I was exhausted and hungover and needed to finish up some art work so GregtheBoyfriend came and got them and took them out. In return I sold Greg the extra Interpol ticket I had. I danced like a spaz as the band played the songs that made me cry and the songs that saved my life... Then the Tarts went to DJ the show's afterparty. We're available for weddings and Bar/Bat Miztvahs too, you know, not just afterparties. And we bring a Vicar with us!
Oct 11: Went to see Napoleon Dynamite for the third time with Niki, Imran, and Apartment. Knitted.
Oct 12: DJed a show that Vicious put on that was called "A Concert for Change." I dont know what they wanted to be changed... so i changed my underwear just in case that was the change they were looking for. I knitted some more, while DJing, and by the time all that was done, I'd missed The Five O'Clock Heroes and went up to the Syndicate party to see Murder By Death instead. They're awesome, but I'm short and so I could only hear how awesome they were and see how awesome the tips of their heads were. This guy that I talk to on AIM came up and introduced himself to me. The next day he commented on my harem. I'm actually disappointed by how small it's been lately, so i'm taking applicant for more boys. After the show I went to the Darkroom with the Vicar, since that's what the hipsters do. I got to send off Antony of the Heroes since he was packing up to go to Europe for a month in hopes of meeting a sugar momma that would give him lots of money that he could use to shower me in gifts and lavish vacations and give me the wedding I want, but don't necessarily deserve.
Oct 13: THE TARTS OF PLEASURE PRESENTED... STOLEN TRANSMISSION.
Whoa. What a fucking night. We'd been stressing about this for quite a while, making sure we had all the gear needed and the the visas and all that shit. We were sure the whole thing would be a total disaster, but it actually went without a problem (save for Apartment's guitar pedals totally exploding or something). This was Aparment's first ever gig in NYC and besides the fact that they sounded wonderful and had the passion in them to put on a great show, but David, the singer, is really good looking. I know this cause the whole night straight dudes kept on coming up to me saying "Wow. That guy from Apartment is like, ridiculously good looking." The Madison Strays played second and while it wasn't their strongest ever show, it was still quite good and I'm impressed with them. The Bravery played last and they sort of remind me of INXS a bit more than the Killers now. The bassist is super hot with amazingly complicated eye make up. At one point during the show he got off stage and started dancing with me. Then he fell into my arms. We're gonna get married as soon as I can remember his name. So many weddings... so little time. Anyway, here are photos from the night... hopefully this will work. The photos suck cause i'm bad at taking crowd shots. Anyone wanna do that for us?
Oct 14:
I went home to eat dinner before going to see the Music and Hopes of the State, however, my roommate Niki found me asleep on the floor of my room at 1:30am. I had passed out.
Oct 15:
Went home for shabbat dinner and then headed back into the city with my mom's sweet ride. I picked up Elhaam and her friend and took them driving around Brooklyn so they could run errands and then picked up the Vicar and went to the Darkroom to meet up with Imran and Apartment and Karen. Then we went to the Jane Magazine Addvice party. Waited in line for a LONG time and eventually got let in only to get thrown out about 2 hours later when the cops raided the place. But it was open bar, so who can complain? Here are more photos.
Oct 16:
(my brain is nearly broken now) I spent all of Saturday playing "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" by the Arcade Fire over and over again while driving. I drove from Karen's house to Englewood, NJ for my dentist appointment in about 20 minutes and listened to nothing but this song. And then I drove from the dentist to target and played it on repeat some more. This song is perfect fast driving music. The roads fly by and it's fun to yell out "Jesus Christ i'm getting pissed!"
I went to see Apartment at the Delancey and then the Vicar and I tried to see Tegan and Sara at the Bowery, but we missed them, so we went uptown to see Giant Drag at Plaid. Giant Drag is awesome and Annie, the singer, is not only hot but a total comedian as well. She's something totally different from anything else... and I can't stress enough: go see them if you can. Then we went to my friend Pauline's wedding so I could DJ it. I love DJing weddings. I shit you not. I love it. If my wedding DJ career ever takes off, I'm leaving my current job behind. Then we went to Misshapes and danced.
Oct 17:
I spent sunday night recovering as much as I can... which meant watching movies and kind of just staring into space and having acid flashbacks. Apartment totally cleaned my uh... apartment. They left it looking nicer than I left it for them. I love them and want them to come back as soon as possible. I then took Niki to see Giant Drag and she was in total awe cause they're awesome. We returned home and once again, i passed out prematurely, but this time on my couch. I think it was about 10pm when I did this.
OK, if you got this far, you should Watch This and read this.
Do you realize how awesome the soundtrack of Trainspotting is? It's awesome, and I'm not really saying anything new, but I was just reminded of it's awesomeness this morning when I was watching that "Alternative" show on VH1 that I DiVoed. They played Heaven 17's "Temptation" and James' "Laid" (which is my absolute favorite song to DJ). Who knew that the singer of James was so cute!?
I've been exhausted. For the past 3-4 weeks I've had someone staying in my room... for the last week, it's been 5 someone's as I couch surfed between my roommate niki's bed and Karen's futon and other forgiving friends who don't mind the fact that I like to stay up late sometimes. It's been awesome having all these people around, but totally tiring. After a while you forget why you pay tons of money to have a room all to yourself. It's so you can wake up in the morning, turn the tv on loud and prance around your room naked without scaring the beejesus out of anyone.
Wednesday night the Tarts are throwing another party since we're doing a weekly party... you know, so wednesday returns, and so does the party. It works nice that way. There is no list, no cover. So bring your pals. There's also A TWO HOUR OPEN BAR, so bring singles for tips.
This week we're having James Iha DJing. He was in the Smashing Pumpkins and now he's in A Perfect Circle and sometimes I tease him about being in a goth band since he likes to wear pink a lot. He's also Japanese and I like all things Jappy, including my upbringing.
Also joining him is DJ Special Zed, who is awesome and looks like that cute kid from Party of Five (you know, the one that dated jennifer love hewitt) and makes sure i get home safely on shabbat, and DJ Vicar -- the official #1 Tarts of Pleasure Groupie. He keeps us drunk, gives us clothes and carries our gear.
Here's the flyer:
I'm trying my best to remember the past two weeks. It's been as hard as the geometry class i failed twice in high school (well, once, but the second time around the summer school teacher didn't want to risk having me as a student again since I spent the entire time reading SPIN and talking to the black girls since there were no black girls in my school normally, but summer school got kids from all over the county... it was awesome).
Let's try from the beginning...
Oct 4:
Good Charlotte at Webster Hall. Ok, let's make something clear: I like music that most would consider shit. People think they're really making tons of fun of me when they're like "You like Good Charlotte!" when I'm like "Yeah, so? Did you happen to see me on that MTV show declaring my love for Linkin Park?" I have no shame in the bands I like that aren't considered cool, and yeah, GC is one of those bands. In all fairness, I didn't like them before. But a few months ago my office got to go to the GC management office and listen to demos of the album. I went in with open ears cause in fairness, the band wrote some pretty huge hit singles and I wanted to see if it was possible for them to do it again. I was pretty much shocked and wondered if they sold their souls to the devil. The album, to me, sounded like mall punk goodness closer to the Used than anything else. So a couple months later when I was told that I'd have to interview them for something, i popped the cd in my player and have listened to it more than i ever expected. Mind you, apart from the singles, I've never heard a GC album. What's cool is that I got to listen with more of an open mind, and so when I meet others that liked GC and find out that they dont anymore cause they think the new album is shit, i feel like i've been semi-validated in a way i cant figure out. Anyway, Karen and I got super drunk and inebriated at their show (since they dont drink, we figured we'd drink for them). At one point Joel name dropped an AOL chat room. I turned to karen and said "holy shit, did he just name drop an AOL chat room?" she laughed and said yes. I replied "That was ... keyword: awesome." We spent the rest of the show laughing at the random name dropping and looking into the audience of the old men who were scoping out little girls to molest. You can watch the show here.
After the show we, the Tarts, headed to Irving so we could dance around to the Killers. I love those boys. When we're together it's like long lost siblings reuniting, especially for me and Brandon. We stare at each other and I think in our heads we're thinking either: "damn, i make a good looking boy." or "damn, am i glad that i'm a boy instead of a funny looking girl." The Tarts threw an after party for the boys and all the fun indie bands came out and got wasted and Brandon and I introduced ourselves as brother and sister as Barry from Scotland made moves on Brandon... I think he was maybe mistaken. The highlight of the night was DJing C&C Music Factory. No, wait, it was when a couple of DJs gave us money and drugs in exchange for the chance to DJ. Neither Karen nor myself wanted to DJ anymore anyway, so we gladly took the drugs and money and tipped our nice bartender generously... by accident.
Oct 5: Tuesday provided for another Tarts Do Mall Music Adventure. We went to see the Good Charlotte instore at Tower so i could interview the band afterwards. They were super nice and dressed like they were in Interpol.
Speaking of Interpol, once that was done, Karen and I met up with Vicar and went back to Irving to see Gay Interpol. There was a rumor that David Bowie would be there so Brandon was giddy as fuck. As he was fashioning himself in the mirror i turned to him and said "Aw! I feel like a proud mom! You're like my son." And he pleaded "You mean i dont look like a rockstar?"
The second show was so much better than the first... infact, it was better than any other show i've seen them do. For one thing, they brought out the big guns for Bowie (who showed up... causing brandon to sing pretty much exclusively to the balcony... his excitement is endearing), that included sampling, new sounds, and a breakdown into a Pink Floyd number at end of one of their songs.
After the show we went to SNITCH for what appeared to be Los Angeles Rock Night. Total cheesy crowd. Huey from the Fun Loving Criminals didnt want me to DJ (even though it had been arranged that I would). I didn't want to piss off Huey cause he's huge. Eventually the Killers asked that I be put on the decks, and I dropped some Neil Diamond. The dude from Fuel who is part owner of the club walked by the booth and Vicar said that he gave me a look that would kill. He was pissed. I was having a good time. Buh buh buh buh. Good times never felt so good.
Oct 6:
About a month and a half ago I went to see Franz Ferdinand at Roseland. I love Franz a lot. But the best part of the show was when a woman came up to me and told me that her daughter Jordana was a huge fan of my column and blog. I said "Wow! That's so awesome! How old is she?" She told me that her daughter was in high school and I freaked out... "You gotta stop her from reading my blog! It's bad for her!" but she laughed and said that she also reads it (Hi Amy!). Anyway, I met her son Jonathan (hey dude!) who was adorable and her daughter and was just totally in love with her immediately. She reminded me of a really good friend of mine from high school and just seemed so sweet. So I gave her my email and told her that she's gotta keep in touch. Anyway, I got invited by her 11 year old brother to join the family for his birthday dinner. I immediately accepted the invite and on Oct 6 I joined the family for dinner. More families should be like this one. They're so friendly and sweet and open with each other and they made me feel totally comfortable. And Jordana is so fucking cool... I wanted to steal her iPod since mine is broken and hers had everything mine had and more. It even had the Oohlas, Morningtheft and the Madison Strays. How is she so cool?
Oct 9:
My date book says I didn't do anything until Oct 9th, and so I'm sticking with that. Imran was in town and so we went to Kates for lunch and he went yarn shopping with me so I could knit a scarf for a friend, meanwhile he was getting text messages from his hometown of London from friends talking about drug outings that just occurred. Yarn Shopping Vs. Doing Coke in a bathroom... which is more rock and roll, you tell me.
We met up with Miss Modernage in the park who was telling us about running into Ryan Adams and how she wanted to deck him or steal his bag or something. And then I went home so I could tidy up a bit before Apartment and their manager showed up the following day. Later that night we went to see Morrissey and I ended up coming about 3023 times in an hour. The man played as many Smiths songs as Morrissey ones... and they were all my favorite ones!
Then we went to Misshapes since that's what you do on a saturday night. Here are photos from that.
Oct 10: (I'm almost done with this update! Yay!)
Interpol played a secret show and Apartment showed up on my doorstep. I was exhausted and hungover and needed to finish up some art work so GregtheBoyfriend came and got them and took them out. In return I sold Greg the extra Interpol ticket I had. I danced like a spaz as the band played the songs that made me cry and the songs that saved my life... Then the Tarts went to DJ the show's afterparty. We're available for weddings and Bar/Bat Miztvahs too, you know, not just afterparties. And we bring a Vicar with us!
Oct 11: Went to see Napoleon Dynamite for the third time with Niki, Imran, and Apartment. Knitted.
Oct 12: DJed a show that Vicious put on that was called "A Concert for Change." I dont know what they wanted to be changed... so i changed my underwear just in case that was the change they were looking for. I knitted some more, while DJing, and by the time all that was done, I'd missed The Five O'Clock Heroes and went up to the Syndicate party to see Murder By Death instead. They're awesome, but I'm short and so I could only hear how awesome they were and see how awesome the tips of their heads were. This guy that I talk to on AIM came up and introduced himself to me. The next day he commented on my harem. I'm actually disappointed by how small it's been lately, so i'm taking applicant for more boys. After the show I went to the Darkroom with the Vicar, since that's what the hipsters do. I got to send off Antony of the Heroes since he was packing up to go to Europe for a month in hopes of meeting a sugar momma that would give him lots of money that he could use to shower me in gifts and lavish vacations and give me the wedding I want, but don't necessarily deserve.
Oct 13: THE TARTS OF PLEASURE PRESENTED... STOLEN TRANSMISSION.
Whoa. What a fucking night. We'd been stressing about this for quite a while, making sure we had all the gear needed and the the visas and all that shit. We were sure the whole thing would be a total disaster, but it actually went without a problem (save for Apartment's guitar pedals totally exploding or something). This was Aparment's first ever gig in NYC and besides the fact that they sounded wonderful and had the passion in them to put on a great show, but David, the singer, is really good looking. I know this cause the whole night straight dudes kept on coming up to me saying "Wow. That guy from Apartment is like, ridiculously good looking." The Madison Strays played second and while it wasn't their strongest ever show, it was still quite good and I'm impressed with them. The Bravery played last and they sort of remind me of INXS a bit more than the Killers now. The bassist is super hot with amazingly complicated eye make up. At one point during the show he got off stage and started dancing with me. Then he fell into my arms. We're gonna get married as soon as I can remember his name. So many weddings... so little time. Anyway, here are photos from the night... hopefully this will work. The photos suck cause i'm bad at taking crowd shots. Anyone wanna do that for us?
Oct 14:
I went home to eat dinner before going to see the Music and Hopes of the State, however, my roommate Niki found me asleep on the floor of my room at 1:30am. I had passed out.
Oct 15:
Went home for shabbat dinner and then headed back into the city with my mom's sweet ride. I picked up Elhaam and her friend and took them driving around Brooklyn so they could run errands and then picked up the Vicar and went to the Darkroom to meet up with Imran and Apartment and Karen. Then we went to the Jane Magazine Addvice party. Waited in line for a LONG time and eventually got let in only to get thrown out about 2 hours later when the cops raided the place. But it was open bar, so who can complain? Here are more photos.
Oct 16:
(my brain is nearly broken now) I spent all of Saturday playing "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" by the Arcade Fire over and over again while driving. I drove from Karen's house to Englewood, NJ for my dentist appointment in about 20 minutes and listened to nothing but this song. And then I drove from the dentist to target and played it on repeat some more. This song is perfect fast driving music. The roads fly by and it's fun to yell out "Jesus Christ i'm getting pissed!"
I went to see Apartment at the Delancey and then the Vicar and I tried to see Tegan and Sara at the Bowery, but we missed them, so we went uptown to see Giant Drag at Plaid. Giant Drag is awesome and Annie, the singer, is not only hot but a total comedian as well. She's something totally different from anything else... and I can't stress enough: go see them if you can. Then we went to my friend Pauline's wedding so I could DJ it. I love DJing weddings. I shit you not. I love it. If my wedding DJ career ever takes off, I'm leaving my current job behind. Then we went to Misshapes and danced.
Oct 17:
I spent sunday night recovering as much as I can... which meant watching movies and kind of just staring into space and having acid flashbacks. Apartment totally cleaned my uh... apartment. They left it looking nicer than I left it for them. I love them and want them to come back as soon as possible. I then took Niki to see Giant Drag and she was in total awe cause they're awesome. We returned home and once again, i passed out prematurely, but this time on my couch. I think it was about 10pm when I did this.
OK, if you got this far, you should Watch This and read this.
Friday, October 15, 2004
GET THE ARCADE FIRE ALBUM
... RIGHT NOW.
Seriously. This album is making my pants so happy at the moment. I'm a happy person, but at the moment, I couldn't be any happier and I'm pretty sure that it's thanks to their album Funeral. I couldn't even begin to tell you what they sound like cause my music knowledge isn't that diverse. But I guess maybe a bit of Talking Heads, Murder by Death, Clinic, Death Cab for Cutie, thrown into a morbid carnival.
UPDATE FORTHCOMING...
Until then, please enjoy these photos that probably caused God to pat himself on the back and say to himself "Well done, God. Well done."
I've been really busy, but hopefully I'll get to write about the last two weeks as best as I can. I saw Killers twice. Good Charlotte twice (this is the anthem, throw all your hands up). Had dinner in morning side heights with an awesome family. Saw Moz. Saw Interpol. Inherited about 30 british boys. Saw another show. Threw another party. And woke up at 1:30 am on the floor of my bedroom last night. Fun times!
Until then, please enjoy these photos that probably caused God to pat himself on the back and say to himself "Well done, God. Well done."
I've been really busy, but hopefully I'll get to write about the last two weeks as best as I can. I saw Killers twice. Good Charlotte twice (this is the anthem, throw all your hands up). Had dinner in morning side heights with an awesome family. Saw Moz. Saw Interpol. Inherited about 30 british boys. Saw another show. Threw another party. And woke up at 1:30 am on the floor of my bedroom last night. Fun times!
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
THE BOY WHO BLOCKED HIS OWN SHOT
I am still obsessed with the Brand New record that isn't quite brand new. I've been trying to get my friends to listen to them... and when I mention to my band friends how much I love the band they usually answer with "The record is amazing, but the band is not too nice." Not sure why. Not sure that I care to be honest.
The offices here are so hot and stuffy. I'm growing dizzier and more irritable by the minute. I wanted to write about my week, about my weekend. About seeing Morrissey on saturday and Interpol on sunday. About having Apartment staying in my apartment and finally lending that helping male hand that's been missing for so long.
But i'm about to pass out. Suffocate. I'll have to update later. Grrr. But before i do, I just want to wish a happy 21st birthday to Aaron Kaczander, my friend Jordan's best bud from back in detroit. Now he can drink and i can have the sex with him if i wanted to and not go to jail. I know the legal age is 18, but boys need to get drunk in order to get near me.
The Five O'Clock Heroes are playing tonight at 9:30 at Mercury Lounge.
I'm DJing a a benefit at Rothko tonight.
Tuesday October 12th, Melody Nelson presents...
CONCERTS FOR CHANGE
11:45 - The Vitamen [ http://www.angelfire.com/boybands/thevitamen/ ]
11:00 - Modernage [ http://www.modernagemusic.net ]
10:15 - The So and So's [ http://www.soandsos.com ]
9:30 - Ben Arthur [ http://www.benarthur.com ]
8:45 - Say Hi to Your Mom [ http://www.sayhitoyourmom.com ]
8:00 - MAGNET (from Norway!) [ http://www.homeofmagnet.com ]
Guest DJ: Ultragrrrl [ http://www.ultragrrrl.com ]
$8 Advance tickets: http://www.concertsforchange.com/kintera_show.php?id=47
$10 day of show :: 21+
Rothko :: 116 Suffolk St. between Rivington and Delancey.
I am still obsessed with the Brand New record that isn't quite brand new. I've been trying to get my friends to listen to them... and when I mention to my band friends how much I love the band they usually answer with "The record is amazing, but the band is not too nice." Not sure why. Not sure that I care to be honest.
The offices here are so hot and stuffy. I'm growing dizzier and more irritable by the minute. I wanted to write about my week, about my weekend. About seeing Morrissey on saturday and Interpol on sunday. About having Apartment staying in my apartment and finally lending that helping male hand that's been missing for so long.
But i'm about to pass out. Suffocate. I'll have to update later. Grrr. But before i do, I just want to wish a happy 21st birthday to Aaron Kaczander, my friend Jordan's best bud from back in detroit. Now he can drink and i can have the sex with him if i wanted to and not go to jail. I know the legal age is 18, but boys need to get drunk in order to get near me.
The Five O'Clock Heroes are playing tonight at 9:30 at Mercury Lounge.
I'm DJing a a benefit at Rothko tonight.
Tuesday October 12th, Melody Nelson presents...
CONCERTS FOR CHANGE
11:45 - The Vitamen [ http://www.angelfire.com/boybands/thevitamen/ ]
11:00 - Modernage [ http://www.modernagemusic.net ]
10:15 - The So and So's [ http://www.soandsos.com ]
9:30 - Ben Arthur [ http://www.benarthur.com ]
8:45 - Say Hi to Your Mom [ http://www.sayhitoyourmom.com ]
8:00 - MAGNET (from Norway!) [ http://www.homeofmagnet.com ]
Guest DJ: Ultragrrrl [ http://www.ultragrrrl.com ]
$8 Advance tickets: http://www.concertsforchange.com/kintera_show.php?id=47
$10 day of show :: 21+
Rothko :: 116 Suffolk St. between Rivington and Delancey.
AND BABY MAKES THREE!
HOLY MOLY. Jason and Debbie Roth welcomed their first born this morning at 1:23am! A beautiful baby boy named Jake William Roth, 7lbs 12oz.!
Debbie had been vying to name him Jake Ryan Roth... Looks like the Sixteen Candles dream got extinguished.
I wish the lovely new family well. And just so you know, I'm available to babysit any time. I promise to not curse (that much) in front of the baby, and to not drink or do drugs while handling him.
HOLY MOLY. Jason and Debbie Roth welcomed their first born this morning at 1:23am! A beautiful baby boy named Jake William Roth, 7lbs 12oz.!
Debbie had been vying to name him Jake Ryan Roth... Looks like the Sixteen Candles dream got extinguished.
I wish the lovely new family well. And just so you know, I'm available to babysit any time. I promise to not curse (that much) in front of the baby, and to not drink or do drugs while handling him.
Monday, October 11, 2004
EFF CMJ... THIS IS A STOLEN TRANSMISSION
Karen and I are throwing a non-cmj cmj party ON OCTOBER 13 at a new place called SNITCH on 21st street and 6th ave (on the east side of 21st). The party is called: the tarts of pleasure present... A stolen transmission. We're having some amazing bands play and its open to everyone... This includes the 1 hour open bar at 10pm.
11pm - Apartment. Weareapartment.com they like interpol meets jeff buckley in his darker moments. You shouldn't miss them... They're from london and its their first show in NYC.
12am - the Madison Strays. You probably know them by now... Think Psychedellic Furs. Awesome.
1 am - THE BRAVERY. I'm quite sure this is the smallest venue you'll see them in for another 5 years... Unless they play a secret show that you will try to get into.
Before and after and in between sets there will be the song selections by the tarts of pleasure.
$5 to get in... Free with a cmj badge.
Be kind to our doorman Thomas O. He's awesome.
Karen and I are throwing a non-cmj cmj party ON OCTOBER 13 at a new place called SNITCH on 21st street and 6th ave (on the east side of 21st). The party is called: the tarts of pleasure present... A stolen transmission. We're having some amazing bands play and its open to everyone... This includes the 1 hour open bar at 10pm.
11pm - Apartment. Weareapartment.com they like interpol meets jeff buckley in his darker moments. You shouldn't miss them... They're from london and its their first show in NYC.
12am - the Madison Strays. You probably know them by now... Think Psychedellic Furs. Awesome.
1 am - THE BRAVERY. I'm quite sure this is the smallest venue you'll see them in for another 5 years... Unless they play a secret show that you will try to get into.
Before and after and in between sets there will be the song selections by the tarts of pleasure.
$5 to get in... Free with a cmj badge.
Be kind to our doorman Thomas O. He's awesome.
Friday, October 8, 2004
STOLEN TRANSMISSION SHABBAT SPECIAL
I'm so excited and proud to announce the first release on my singles label, stolen transmission, by the incomprable San Diego band, Louis XIV. You can purchae it by clicking the button on the right. It's so simple and easy. Yay for paypal (which seems to be up and down every 3 minutes... be patient)!
A couple of weeks ago I was visiting a friend and he was like "You have to hear this..." and popped on the song "God Killed The Queen." When I stopped dancing around the room and thinking about the rails of coke that people would one day be enjoying to this song, I knew that it'd be a perfect first single to release on my little glorified art project.
Imagine Mark E. Smith from the Fall writing a song for the Rolling Stones and you've got the track "God Killed the Queen." Plus, every time I've dropped this song while DJing (and I have, a few times), people dance to it like they've heard it a thousand times over. The other songs on this single are "Hey Teacher (demo)" and "Finding Out True Love is Blind."
The numbered singles are displayed in hand made packaging that I slaved away the few hours I have each week making them and getting high off the spraypaint fumes. They're wrapped in bloody bandaging and look really cool (if I may say so myself!) The plus side is that I've done them all while sober, so I've been drinking a lot less. Horay!
I hope that everyone who buys them enjoys them, and then sells them on ebay one day.
Also, my singles, which will be released about once a month, will be sold on fridays. A Shabbat Special, and the price includes the shipping. Fun times!
Love,
Sarah Lewitinn
stolentransmission.
PS - If you want to submit a band for consideration for a future release, email: stolentransmission@gmail.com
thanks!
I'm so excited and proud to announce the first release on my singles label, stolen transmission, by the incomprable San Diego band, Louis XIV. You can purchae it by clicking the button on the right. It's so simple and easy. Yay for paypal (which seems to be up and down every 3 minutes... be patient)!
A couple of weeks ago I was visiting a friend and he was like "You have to hear this..." and popped on the song "God Killed The Queen." When I stopped dancing around the room and thinking about the rails of coke that people would one day be enjoying to this song, I knew that it'd be a perfect first single to release on my little glorified art project.
Imagine Mark E. Smith from the Fall writing a song for the Rolling Stones and you've got the track "God Killed the Queen." Plus, every time I've dropped this song while DJing (and I have, a few times), people dance to it like they've heard it a thousand times over. The other songs on this single are "Hey Teacher (demo)" and "Finding Out True Love is Blind."
The numbered singles are displayed in hand made packaging that I slaved away the few hours I have each week making them and getting high off the spraypaint fumes. They're wrapped in bloody bandaging and look really cool (if I may say so myself!) The plus side is that I've done them all while sober, so I've been drinking a lot less. Horay!
I hope that everyone who buys them enjoys them, and then sells them on ebay one day.
Also, my singles, which will be released about once a month, will be sold on fridays. A Shabbat Special, and the price includes the shipping. Fun times!
Love,
Sarah Lewitinn
stolentransmission.
PS - If you want to submit a band for consideration for a future release, email: stolentransmission@gmail.com
thanks!
Thursday, October 7, 2004
REGISTER TO VOTE
reader: tomorrow is the last day for ny state residents to register to vote
reader: it needs to be post marked
reader: maybe you can post a link
Ultragrrrl: yeah. for sure.
reader: http://www.vote.nyc.ny.us/register.jsp
reader: it's really easy all they have to do is print it out and mail it
reader: tomorrow is the last day for ny state residents to register to vote
reader: it needs to be post marked
reader: maybe you can post a link
Ultragrrrl: yeah. for sure.
reader: http://www.vote.nyc.ny.us/register.jsp
reader: it's really easy all they have to do is print it out and mail it
GREAT! DOES THIS MEAN I CAN RAISE HER RENT?
Just kidding, Lindsay! Congratulations for getting recognized by ze Village Voice... now can you please take out the trash, cause it's starting to pile up.
Just kidding, Lindsay! Congratulations for getting recognized by ze Village Voice... now can you please take out the trash, cause it's starting to pile up.
Wednesday, October 6, 2004
CUE OLD LADY IN GIANT SUNGLASSES BLOWING BUBBLES
You kind of have to see this to believe it.
Link from thighswide, naturally.
You kind of have to see this to believe it.
Link from thighswide, naturally.
IT'S TIME FOR SOMETHING BIBLICAL
I just got this email from a reader...
Hey Sarah,
From one huge Muse fan to another...if you don't already know they are playing at Webster Hall on November 9th! Tickets are only $22 which is awesome! They are on sale at ticketweb.com. See you there!
Jaclyn =)
I just got this email from a reader...
Hey Sarah,
From one huge Muse fan to another...if you don't already know they are playing at Webster Hall on November 9th! Tickets are only $22 which is awesome! They are on sale at ticketweb.com. See you there!
Jaclyn =)
SECRET INTERPOL SHOWS
Hopefully I wont be too late to annouce this -- was in a meeting -- there is a secret Interpol show on sunday at Bowery Ballroom. Go Here to get tickets. The password is Cruise.
Hopefully I wont be too late to annouce this -- was in a meeting -- there is a secret Interpol show on sunday at Bowery Ballroom. Go Here to get tickets. The password is Cruise.
Tuesday, October 5, 2004
THIS IS A STOLEN TRANSMISSION
Every week i get a ton of emails from people in bands who are looking for advice. I'm young, but I've been kicking around this industry for a while working in various facets and meeting a lot of nice people that I enjoy working with. So whenever I get a chance to help out a band that I think has that something special, I try to. Whether it's posting a link to their songs on this blog, sending their demos to A&R friends and lawyers, or even just offering them a place to stay when they're in town.
Now a lot of these bands are in the early stages of their career. I can't write about them because they don't have material out and they don't have material out cause nobody's heard of them. It's sort of a double edged sword in ways, and I just couldn't figure out what to do.
So I thought it'd be fun to make a sort of glorified art project. I approached a couple of bands, asked them if i could borrow their songs, make special artwork for their songs, and sell the cds on my blog. Apart from the handmade inventory that I paid for out of my own pocket, I wont have any ownership of anything. Whatever I sell on the blog would be used to cover my expenses, and the profits will be split with the band. Really, I just wanted to do something fun for bands that I think are really great and think you, the reader, might love too. I wanted to make something that maybe would be nice to have in a couple of years down the road. Nothing more.
For each 3-song CD release there will be a 250 pressing... unless that sells out in 6 months, then i'll do another 250. That's hardly making anyone enough money to have a nice dinner at Sushi Samba, but that's really not the point. The point is that I wanted to do something fun. The cds will cost $4, including shipping, and all be made by hand. I'm releasing this on a label i made up called stolen transmission... since i love the concept of something being stolen, and i like the idea of a sound transmission, a wave transmission... a car transmission.
So basically, i guess it's a singles label. And my first release will be by a band called Louis XIV from San Diego. I think it'll go on sale this week (once i figure out the pay pal stuff) and their CD release party will be at SNITCH next wednesday, october 13 for a party that the Tarts of Pleasure are presenting.
If you've got a band to recommend, please do so! No signed bands. Thanks!
Every week i get a ton of emails from people in bands who are looking for advice. I'm young, but I've been kicking around this industry for a while working in various facets and meeting a lot of nice people that I enjoy working with. So whenever I get a chance to help out a band that I think has that something special, I try to. Whether it's posting a link to their songs on this blog, sending their demos to A&R friends and lawyers, or even just offering them a place to stay when they're in town.
Now a lot of these bands are in the early stages of their career. I can't write about them because they don't have material out and they don't have material out cause nobody's heard of them. It's sort of a double edged sword in ways, and I just couldn't figure out what to do.
So I thought it'd be fun to make a sort of glorified art project. I approached a couple of bands, asked them if i could borrow their songs, make special artwork for their songs, and sell the cds on my blog. Apart from the handmade inventory that I paid for out of my own pocket, I wont have any ownership of anything. Whatever I sell on the blog would be used to cover my expenses, and the profits will be split with the band. Really, I just wanted to do something fun for bands that I think are really great and think you, the reader, might love too. I wanted to make something that maybe would be nice to have in a couple of years down the road. Nothing more.
For each 3-song CD release there will be a 250 pressing... unless that sells out in 6 months, then i'll do another 250. That's hardly making anyone enough money to have a nice dinner at Sushi Samba, but that's really not the point. The point is that I wanted to do something fun. The cds will cost $4, including shipping, and all be made by hand. I'm releasing this on a label i made up called stolen transmission... since i love the concept of something being stolen, and i like the idea of a sound transmission, a wave transmission... a car transmission.
So basically, i guess it's a singles label. And my first release will be by a band called Louis XIV from San Diego. I think it'll go on sale this week (once i figure out the pay pal stuff) and their CD release party will be at SNITCH next wednesday, october 13 for a party that the Tarts of Pleasure are presenting.
If you've got a band to recommend, please do so! No signed bands. Thanks!
Monday, October 4, 2004
PASS THE SPARKS
You know how after parties go. You hate them. You loathe them. You attend them anyway. Well, the Tarts are throwing the Killers an afterparty at the Darkroom (located on Ludlow between Houston and Stanton. Did you read that correctly? HOUSTON BETWEEN LUDLOW AND STANTON... you know in case you've never been there, or heard of it before since it's only been open FOR A MONTH). Some of the Killers will be DJing. There wont be a guest list. There wont be a VIP room. There wont be anything but music, drinks, and a bunch of people outside smoking cigarettes and complaining about something or another. So please come and try to have a good time.
Friday night was one of the rare occasion Friday nights where I skipped out on Jewdy (Jewish Duty) to shabbat at the Slipper Room for Marc's birthday party. Since I'm poor -- very poor -- i like to offer my lack of proper DJ skills in exchange for birthday gifts whenever possible. The party was at the Slipper Room and a normal friday night there typically consists mainly of the following: Burlesque Dancers. I don't care for the burlesque business at all. I find the whole thing to be pretentious and an over intellectualizing of stripping done in a very uncomfortable smartypants way that makes me feel dirty and wrong. I'm secretly a prude, i guess, but maybe not since I don't mind strip clubs at all. I like to see my strippers unironic in all their father hate glory, tanned skin, and dancing around to shitty music. I was told that there wouldn't be naked ladies shaking their titties while I DJed (or even a burlesque show at all), but there were, and I'm sure they disliked me as much as I disliked them. In fact, they complained about it as Marc's friends danced around to the hip hop the Tarts' #1 DJ assistant, Vicar, provided. About 4 years ago when I went to the Slipper Room for the first time i noticed how much it resembled a dream I had as a 4 year old of hell. The same decor. The same burlesque dancers. This resemblance intrigued me totally so i kept on going (mostly cause it was Marc's regular haunt and i like the people who own it and work there), and threw a party with Gideon there... but now I rarely go. I just can't handle naked ladies.
Saturday night I went to check see Supergrass at Webster Hall. God bless them in all their monkey faced glory. Last year I was knee deep in my Supergrass obsession and saw them 4 times until I was like "I've had enough!" But really, I hadn't. And apparently neither had Adam, who jumped up on stage and sang along like the damn dirty ape that he is.
After 'Grass I went over to the Tribeca Grand Hotel to see the Bloc Party show. Thursday night the Tarts and Vicar went to see them at the Knitting Factory and were blown away. I've been really into the band since hearing "She's Hearing Voices" a back in february/march and was thrilled to see that they were actually as good live as on record -- if not better. Kelle is an amazing singer/frontman and the chemistry of the band was electrifying. Ironically, not as gay as the chemistry as Franz Ferdinand, but totally similar and Vicar thinks that it'll be the last time we ever get to see them at a place so small... and I guess he was right since the Tribeca Grand show was a total mad house. Since I'm short I couldn't see anything but the backs of the people infront of me and occasionally Kelle's head, so after 10 minutes of trying to balance myself in the right spot, i gave up, ordered a champagne and sat on a couch with Karen and Brigid and listened as if I were a blind shih-tzu, or a really short, slightly chubby, jewish girl.
Afterwards I went over to Misshapes to meet up with Evan Erlebacher and Vicar (ps, check out photos from last week when Kill Hannah DJed and made me feel like i was walking on sunshine w/their cute faces and good tunes). It was the Prosiacs record release party and the tunes were totally industrial goth, it was like I was at the Batcave and a true testament to how great guest DJs can be. You know, you go, you meet up with friends, and hear something different. Maybe i was happy since I was drunk again after abstaining for a week.
Last night was the Franz show. You know I love that band more than i love myself, but I was so exhausted from the weekend that I didn't go. Plus, their show at Roseland left me a bit lukewarm, and I want nothing but the fondest of memories for that band. I can't believe that it was a year ago that I was checking them out at Pianos and thinking they sounded like APB. My how far they've come. Mazel tov to them since i totally believe that if something is good that it should be as big as possible. If it's possible for them to "sell out", i hope they do. I want to hear them in car commercials, movie trailers, and if there was a way to expose them more, i would do it. I wish the same for all the bands I love since that means that they're getting paid what they deserve. I'm sick of seeing bands that are great go broke cause they're scared of what pretentious fuckers will say.
Here is a cute photo paid for by the cute animals and babies association:
You know how after parties go. You hate them. You loathe them. You attend them anyway. Well, the Tarts are throwing the Killers an afterparty at the Darkroom (located on Ludlow between Houston and Stanton. Did you read that correctly? HOUSTON BETWEEN LUDLOW AND STANTON... you know in case you've never been there, or heard of it before since it's only been open FOR A MONTH). Some of the Killers will be DJing. There wont be a guest list. There wont be a VIP room. There wont be anything but music, drinks, and a bunch of people outside smoking cigarettes and complaining about something or another. So please come and try to have a good time.
Friday night was one of the rare occasion Friday nights where I skipped out on Jewdy (Jewish Duty) to shabbat at the Slipper Room for Marc's birthday party. Since I'm poor -- very poor -- i like to offer my lack of proper DJ skills in exchange for birthday gifts whenever possible. The party was at the Slipper Room and a normal friday night there typically consists mainly of the following: Burlesque Dancers. I don't care for the burlesque business at all. I find the whole thing to be pretentious and an over intellectualizing of stripping done in a very uncomfortable smartypants way that makes me feel dirty and wrong. I'm secretly a prude, i guess, but maybe not since I don't mind strip clubs at all. I like to see my strippers unironic in all their father hate glory, tanned skin, and dancing around to shitty music. I was told that there wouldn't be naked ladies shaking their titties while I DJed (or even a burlesque show at all), but there were, and I'm sure they disliked me as much as I disliked them. In fact, they complained about it as Marc's friends danced around to the hip hop the Tarts' #1 DJ assistant, Vicar, provided. About 4 years ago when I went to the Slipper Room for the first time i noticed how much it resembled a dream I had as a 4 year old of hell. The same decor. The same burlesque dancers. This resemblance intrigued me totally so i kept on going (mostly cause it was Marc's regular haunt and i like the people who own it and work there), and threw a party with Gideon there... but now I rarely go. I just can't handle naked ladies.
Saturday night I went to check see Supergrass at Webster Hall. God bless them in all their monkey faced glory. Last year I was knee deep in my Supergrass obsession and saw them 4 times until I was like "I've had enough!" But really, I hadn't. And apparently neither had Adam, who jumped up on stage and sang along like the damn dirty ape that he is.
After 'Grass I went over to the Tribeca Grand Hotel to see the Bloc Party show. Thursday night the Tarts and Vicar went to see them at the Knitting Factory and were blown away. I've been really into the band since hearing "She's Hearing Voices" a back in february/march and was thrilled to see that they were actually as good live as on record -- if not better. Kelle is an amazing singer/frontman and the chemistry of the band was electrifying. Ironically, not as gay as the chemistry as Franz Ferdinand, but totally similar and Vicar thinks that it'll be the last time we ever get to see them at a place so small... and I guess he was right since the Tribeca Grand show was a total mad house. Since I'm short I couldn't see anything but the backs of the people infront of me and occasionally Kelle's head, so after 10 minutes of trying to balance myself in the right spot, i gave up, ordered a champagne and sat on a couch with Karen and Brigid and listened as if I were a blind shih-tzu, or a really short, slightly chubby, jewish girl.
Afterwards I went over to Misshapes to meet up with Evan Erlebacher and Vicar (ps, check out photos from last week when Kill Hannah DJed and made me feel like i was walking on sunshine w/their cute faces and good tunes). It was the Prosiacs record release party and the tunes were totally industrial goth, it was like I was at the Batcave and a true testament to how great guest DJs can be. You know, you go, you meet up with friends, and hear something different. Maybe i was happy since I was drunk again after abstaining for a week.
Last night was the Franz show. You know I love that band more than i love myself, but I was so exhausted from the weekend that I didn't go. Plus, their show at Roseland left me a bit lukewarm, and I want nothing but the fondest of memories for that band. I can't believe that it was a year ago that I was checking them out at Pianos and thinking they sounded like APB. My how far they've come. Mazel tov to them since i totally believe that if something is good that it should be as big as possible. If it's possible for them to "sell out", i hope they do. I want to hear them in car commercials, movie trailers, and if there was a way to expose them more, i would do it. I wish the same for all the bands I love since that means that they're getting paid what they deserve. I'm sick of seeing bands that are great go broke cause they're scared of what pretentious fuckers will say.
Here is a cute photo paid for by the cute animals and babies association:
Saturday, October 2, 2004
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