I'M GOING ON TOUR!

Tomorrow afternoon I will be leaving town with the lovely, gorgeous and amazing Melanie Fiona. Her album comes out iTunes on Tuesday and we're going to be going on Anthony Bourdain-style adventures.

If you live in any of the areas below and want to show us around when we're in town, hit me up via email: SarahLewitinn@gmail.com

Wanna take us to a cool restaurant? A party? A strip club? Sightseeing? Want Melanie to perform a free show at your house party? Want me to DJ for free at your house party? Want to invite us over for family dinner? EMAIL ME!!!

Monday, October 19th
Philadelphia, PA / Cherry Hill, NJ
Temple University visit

Tuesday, October 20th
Baltimore, MD
7PM-10PM Melanie Fiona Digital Release Party & Performance with EarCandy at Teavolve

Wednesday, October 21st
New York, NY

Thursday, October 22nd
Bowie, MD
Washington, DC Hotel: WESTIN WASHINGTON

Friday, October 23rd
(Friday morning I will be doing a CMJ panel in NYC)
Washington, DC
1:30PM-4PM Yardfest Performance Howard Homecoming

Saturday, October 24th
New York, NY
5PM NY Expo Performance at Jacob Javitz Center

Sunday, October 25th
TBA

Monday, October 26th
Richmond, VA
6PM -7PM Meet & Greet with VCU students and VCU radio

Tuesday, October 27th
Hampton/Norfolk, VA

Monday, November 2nd
Atlanta, GA

Tuesday, November 3rd
Soul Train Awards /Atlanta, GA

Wednesday, November 4th
Atlanta, GA

Friday, November 6th
New York, NY

WHY MAKE YOUR OWN HOOKS?

When you can use others.

Heidi Montag uses Yaz' "Move Out" for her song "Body Language"


Aubrey O'Day uses New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle"



Lady Sov used the Cure's "Close to Me" for "So Human" (which I may or may not be semi-responsible for):



and hopefully you remember when Rihanna used "Blue Monday" on "Shut Up and Drive":


Which song from the 80s or 90s would you sample if you were a pop artist?

Here are my picks from the 80s (which are probably obvious):
Joy Division - "Love Will Tear Us Apart"


The Smiths' "William It Really Was Nothing"


Plastic Bertrand's "Ca Plane Pour Moi"


From the 90s:
Spin Doctors - "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong"

Sponge - "Plowed"

Seriously? That guitar riff is pretty great.

as is this guitar riff from Bush's "Machine Head"


of course James' "Laid"


and Harvey Danger's "Flagpole Sitta"


Pulp's "Common People"


and lastly, i think: Elastica's "Connection"


can i be in elastica now?

Life's a Zoo

I'm running on about 4 hours sleep today, which is making me somewhat zombie-fied. A little over a week ago I was laying in bed, sick as a dog, unable to answer emails, talk to anyone, have any sort of conversation... it sucked. But at least I'm not sleeping because I've been running all over town, taking advantage of a gorgeous Friday -- and one of the last of the Summer.

One of my favorite things in life are animals. Not only are they delicious, but they're adorable as well. I try to make it to the Central Park Zoo at least once a year, if I can, to just walk around and check out what they've got. It's not much, but it satiates my appetite enough to make me feel somewhat OK with the fact that I haven't been to the Bronx Zoo in about 18 years. I went through a phase where I hated zoos and found them to be evil and cruel for taking animals out of their habitat and plucking them down in the middle of a pen for everyone to see -- but my opinion has since changed. The wild is dangerous with poachers, over expansion, and pollution. At least in these pens, these animals are somewhat safe. My biggest concern is their boredom, as I'm sure looking at people all day is not as exciting for them as it is for me. If anyone has any opinion on the subject of animals in Zoos, I'm open to hear and potentially learn, from your opinion.

Anyways... photos from yesterday:

My boyfriend and I at the Zoo:

Here are the penguins. My boyfriend says I walk like a penguin and he's not entirely wrong:
After the zoo we went to the BMW dealership to check out some bikes and then had an amazing Indian food dinner at this spot called Indigo Bistro in midtown east. I think it's going to be our new regular spot since the service was AMAZING and the food was delicious. They brought us free vegetable fritters, me a free mango lassi, and made a special dish for my boyfriend who couldn't decide what he should get! Happy Indian indepedance Day, by the way!

Apres dinner I hopped over to Art Bar to meet up with my friend John Dirschel for his birthday and was delighted to see his twin brother Brian as well! In high school I was soooo in love with John Dirschel, as were all my friends. He was so cute and looked like Kurt Cobain with long blonde hair and blue eyes. I was a tomboyish runt in high school and everyone just saw me as one of the boys. I had mostly guy friends who considered me their best friend/little sister, and John was one of those guys. I was his lil' sis that he'd wrestle and mess around with... and meanwhile I would dream of a day that he would see me as more than a friend and ask me out. But he was 2 years older than me and left for college when I was a sophomore and soon he joined the Coast Guard, cut of all his hair, and toured the world. I remember seeing him in 2006 when he was on break and he was jacked up. I couldn't believe my scrawny Kurt-esque high school crush was now a real-life man.

He's since left the Coast Guard (or leave of absences? whatever it's called when you don't have to go on tour anymore) and getting his Masters degree in LA and is now way smaller but super toned from doing exercizes that make him secretly strong. When he lifts me up in the air, I basically float. It's so wonderful to be able to see him from time to time and catch up on our lives. We live such different lives but are still insanely connected with many of the same intersts. Anyway, it was really great seeing him this time around since the last time I was with him was when Brandon called me to tell me that our friend Vinny had passed. John was a wonderful shoulder to cry on at that moment, but for whatever reason, it left me nervous to see him again.

Here's a photo of me with the Dirschel boys. Brian is on the left and John is on the right. They're identical and two of the sweetest boys you'll ever meet in your life:
At about 2 or 3 am we left Art Bar and went to Electric Lady Land studios to visit Courtney Love who is there recording. Hole's songs are turning out amazing and really right up there in the realm of Live Through This (my favorite Hole album... according to my boyfriend it's because I was an angry teenager when it came out, and it's a tortured and angry record) and Celebrity Skin. They were recording a cover song -- I can't say which one just yet cos it might be a secret -- and the boys and I were there to be a peanut gallery and talk about quantum physics. I saw a ghost recently and Micko Larkin, the Hole guitarist, heard one sing into the mic at the studio lastnight... so we exchanged real-life ghost stories. I don't think I've gone crazy, but there's a jury out on that.

Anyway, the bathroom at Electric Lady Land is super cool, so Courtney and I took pics of each other. I think this will be my album artwork one day in my fantasy life:


And here's Courtney:
At about 5:30am, Brian and I called it a night and he came over to mine to crash and provided a wonderful dose of entertainment in the morning as Gurj was packing to move out of the legendary 3A apartment.

It's the end of another era.

LOTS OF PEOPLE LOVE THIRD EYE BLIND

The response to my post asking what's the deal with this Third Eye Blind resurgence has gotten a lot of attention. On my blog, there's over 100 posts from people letting me know I'm a fucking idiot for not giving 3EB a chance, and on Absolutepunk.net there's over 500 posts telling me I'm a fucking idiot for... not giving 3EB a chance. They all called me out for dismissing them for being on the radio (when I actually said that it had nothing to do with them being on the radio... specifically since some of my favorite bands were radio bands), and for being an elitist musical snob as well, which is laughable. Oh well. Over the weekend I will be compiling some of the best quotes from the tl;dr postings.

Here's one to give you an idea of the extent to how wrong we (magazine editors) were on this whole "voice of the generation" thing:

"Also, I never looked at Nirvana as a true 90s band. I know they were popular in the nineties, but they were from a whole other genre so comparing Nirvana to third eye blind is kind of ridiculous."

The thing is, I gave them a chance. And it's not that I don't like them, I really have no problem with Third Eye Blind, it's just that I never thought they'd be the band that would become the most influential band of the 90s. As someone from another blog pointed out: from a decade that gave us genres like grunge, britpop, and rave/electronica -- it's some what surprising that this is going on. I bet you Jenkins and company are surprised as well. I grew up in this time. I was there when they were on the radio and I am not being a snob or elitist by saying that there's no way I ever thought they'd be the band that reached the youth in the way they have. This is not a diss to them, it's just an honest acessement. I get that SJ's lyrics are about drugs, relationships, issues, ect... but it still doesn't keep this whole thing from being somewhat surprising.

Let's fast forward ten years and put you in my shoes. Let's pretend you discover that Boys Like Girls are the BIGGEST MOST IMPORTANT BAND of the generation just below you. You're sitting there being like "Wait... seriously? what about My Chemical Romance?" Even if you don't like My Chem, you sort of realize that they had some sort of cultural impact that Boys Like Girls just didn't have.

AN INTRODUCTION TO QUANTUM SHIT

A lot of people have been noticing and commenting on how much science I've been twittering about lately. I've always had a very hungry appetite for science, but I was really just someone who subscribed to RSS feeds from news aggregates like Yahoo! and Google, or emailed a rocket scientist friend of mine when new space discoveries were made. But recently and randomly, a friend of mine turned me onto quantum physics. As something I sort of thought was either way over my head or tldr;, when my mind was opened up to the world of Quantum Physics it was like I was a new person... particularly, since I've been really trying to face what being a Jew means to me and how G-d is defined/undefinable. I was actually thinking that diving into the sciences and learning as much as I can about the facts could make an atheist, but it's oddly had an opposite effect. Everything about it is just so incredibly fascinating that when I'm not reading about it, I'm thinking about it. I love it. I love the fact that we're all really, scientifically, connected, and how time is just an abstract notion. I love the idea of other dimensions. And most of all, I love wondering what all this really means.

As an introduction to quantum physics, i suggest you check out these short youtube clips. Yes, they're cartoons, but animation is really the best way to understand how these things work since there's no physical way to show them, really. Tonight, I'm diving into String Theory and fasting for Tisha B'Av. Talk about juxtaposition.

Enjoy!


Double Slit Experiment:


Flatland:

THIRD EYE BLIND EXPLAINED

For the record: I am not comparing Third Eye Blind to the Smiths, per se. I am comparing their importance to kids in their early 20s/late teens, to when I was in my teens/20s. It is 100% baffling to me.

Here's evidence so yo know I'm not lying:
Threads about Third Eye Blind on AbsolutePunk.net.

EDIT: The response that kids are having on AbsolutePunk.net about this blog.

When I was in my teens/20s, The Smiths were one of the most important bands of my life. Sure, they were from my older brothers' generation, but Moz spoke to me as I wanted my best friend to. There were only a handful of musicians that spoke to me the same way that Morrissey did/does, and those musicians were Courtney Love, Kurt Cobain, Thom Yorke, Beck (weird, i know), Ian Curtis (not til my early 20s), and Brian Molko. I basically didn't have that many friends because my parents were strict and didn't let me do social activities after school that weren't transcript/resume boosters (granted, I got so drunk once when I was 15 that I puked for 24 hours straight and so I was grounded for life) -- so those musicians were my friends when my friends were out doing fun shit.

On the radio during this time were bands like Third Eye Blind, Everclear, Matchbox20, Cake, Lit, Bush, Gin Blossoms, Deep Blue Something, etc. I didn't really care too much for those bands because they were radio bands that I felt had no substance. It wasn't so much that they were on the radio... I just felt like they didn't speak to me, were cheesy, and just on this whole different level of music that didn't penetrate the surface. How could you possibly compare the despair of isolation that Morrissey sang about to the ... whatever "do do do" that Stephen Jenkins sang about in 3EB? To me, and lots of other people of the same age group I was in, a band like 3EB et al were a joke. They were a band you expected to hear on the radio, but basically didn't give a fuck about beyond that. You wouldn't be caught dead at one of their shows, you wouldn't be caught dead with one of their cds, and you wouldn't even have to worry about any of that because it was all on a different plane.

Fast forward nearly 10 years and I've got a record label. One of my most favorite bands, the Oohlas, are signed to this label. They're moody and sophisticated and combine aspects of my favorite bands like the Pixies, Nirvana, and the Smiths all into one. I learn that one of the members used to be in Everclear and I find that to be odd and random and totally insignificant other than explaining how come he's got a nice house and studio and can play drums. Another band signed to the label, Permanent Me, were comprised of kids in their late teens. When they saw and recognized someone from the Oohlas as someone from Everclear they basically freaked out. They couldn't believe their absolute luck that they were signed to the same label as someone from Everclear and spent a good hour, if not more, telling me how great Everclear were. I was confused because Everclear was a whatever band to me ... but then, when I asked them what other bands they liked from the 90s, expecting them to wax rhapsodic about how important Nirvana is to them and influenced who they are today... i was BLOWN AWAY to hear them unanimously agree that Third Eye Blind was the best band from the 90s.

I didn't believe them. I asked them if they were joking. They weren't. I asked them if they were talking about the same band I was talking about -- the one with the "Semi-Charmed Life" song. They were. I asked them how many of their friends felt the same way. They said ALL OF THEM.

Now, yes, there are tons of kids in their late teens/early 20s that don't agree with them. But there are more kids than I ever, in my wildest dreams, thought possible, that love Third Eye Blind and consider them their favorite band EVER. I don't know how this happened. I really, really, really don't. But it did. I don't really understand how it could, and would love to be enlightened. But seriously, kids think Stephen Jenkins is a fucking hero genius, while lots of people over the age of 27 had absolutely no idea he was even relevant. While those of us over 27 had left him for dead, basically, Stephen Jenkins was being hailed by the kids as their biggest musical influence and inspiration. What. The. Fuck?

Well, now you know.

I was talking to one of my musical heroes recently and she asked me what the 90s revival was all about. When I told her "Well, I'm glad you're sitting down because when I tell you what i know, you might faint or cry: The 90s revival is all about Third Eye Blind. It's not about Nirvana, it's not about Hole, it's not about Pearl Jam, Green Day or Beck whose constant stream of musical input has lasted til now. It's not about any of the bands that Rolling Stone or SPIN hailed as the saviors of mankind... it's all about Third Eye Blind."

She didn't believe me and accused me of either lying or talking out of my ass. I told her I wish I wasn't truth-telling, but I was. And, after asking a couple other sources in their 20s, she realized I was right on the money.

How the fuck did Stephen Jenkins do it? Seriously.

EDIT: By the way, the reason i brought up the fact they're on the radio, and that having nothing to do with why i didn't like them, was because a lot of the bands I like were on the radio. Man, people kinda miss the point. shit. also, i don't dislike 3eb (in fact, I love "Wounded"), but i never thought they'd be the band that stood the test of time in such a major way, and I'm sure they're surprised as well. i'm just pointing this fact out to my peers who dont know. i just did all you 3eb fans a favor and brought your favorite band some attention from people who work in major media outlets and told them that they were relevant and missing something under their nose. You're welcome.

BE A MUSIC VIDEO EXTRA!

Tuesday July 21
Come be a video extra for a live Young Love performance at Webster Hall Studio.

They'll be filming our concert scenes between 6:30 and 9:30. Stop by for any or all of it!

Webster Hall Studio
125 East 11th Street
Entrance to "The Studio" is just to the right of the main entrance.

RSVP: Jane@vbnyc.com

MY NEW PARTY

Sunday School Matinee is the all-ages version of my infamous Stolen Transmission Party (5-Time Paper Magazine Nightlife Award Winning party, inspiration behind many songs, the subject of at least one book, the place where a few couples met and later wed, and thrown with her party partner KarenPlusOne/Karen Ruttner) -- which hosted performances by bands like Hot Chip, The Horrors,InnerPartySystem, Maximo Park, The Futureheads, Tokyo Police Club, and more.

Sunday School Matinee has been specifically created for under-21's in the NYC area that don't get to experience cool bands and DJs because almost all the venues in NYC are 21+.

Sunday School Matinee is doing something that's never been done in NYC before: It's a tastemaker-type party for all-ages with on-the-verge bands, celebrity DJs, dancing and TEENAGERS that come every week with the hope of seeing something new. It's a place where they might expect to see a secret show, a rare acoustic performace, or see someone from their favorite band playing a special DJ set.

There's only going to be a couple of these until school comes back in session in September (which is when we'll go back to being a weekly), so please be sure to come tomorrow.

Word is getting out that Sunday School Matinee is the place to be if you want to see some of the best up-and-coming bands in NYC or touring through this fine city. What's our evidence of this? Well, the President of Virgin/EMI was at Sunday School Matinee the other day. He dropped in to check out the bands and loved what he saw. Will he be back again? Probably.

As ohmyrockness suggested, last week's Sunday School Matinee was the hotly tipped show. Its guest performers: The Drums, Your Nature and A Million Years, blew everyone's expectations. Believe the hype about these bands.

This week wont be any different. We have Grieves, Reni Lane, and The Rochambros. A true variety of sounds ranging from Grieves' backpack hip hop/trip hop grooves, Reni Lane's hypnotic and ever so Coldplay-fronted-by-a-woman sound, to The Rochambros' highly Elvis Costello/Pixies influenced tunes.

PAUL AND THE PATIENTS

In case you haven't noticed, I haven't really updated this blog in a while. I basically just Twitter now, and that's all. But right now, just in case there are people who read this and not that... I am exploding with the need to talk about a band I am fucking obsessed with right now: Paul and the Patients

I share an office with these wonderful girls named Jennifer and Jessica and they're always playing Paul and the Patients and I'm always walking into their office and asking who it is... always assuming that it's either some new or unheard Longpigs song. In fact, I remember once when they were playing their song "Complaint 15" I turned to Joanna and said "I love the Longpigs!"

Unfortunately (or strategically), "Complaint 15" cuts off on their MySpace, but that's ok because it's on iTunes.

I also really loved the song "Blogspot" so I typed out the lyrics and stuck them on here since this is a blogspot.

"Blogspot"
you've done your very best
we're gonna put it to the test
and everyone
will tell everybody
got a very different sound
and the world will gather round
and everyone
will tell everybody
your singer's very tall
he seems to have it all
and everyone
can see his body
you got the very best guitars
your dressed by many stars
and you will sound
just like everybody

tell them all
tell them something, where to go, and what it's all about
tell them how to feel when they shout it out
tell everybody
tell them all
tell them something how to tip when they buy their drink
tell them how to trip when they try to think

it went just like it should
response was very good
and everyone
saw everybody
they've all been wearing shirts
which caused a trend alert
and everyone
saw everybody

tell them all
tell them something, where to go, and what it's all about
tell them how to feel when they shout it out
tell everybody
tell them all
tell them something how to tip when they buy their drink
tell them how to trip when they try to think
and everybody
tell everybody else
tell everybody else
and everyone
tell everybody else
tell everybody else
tell everybody else

the problem with this plan
it has a short lifespan
and everyone
knows everybody
so you should take your band
over to japan
you have some diehard fans
everybody

tell them all
tell them something, where to go, and what it's all about
tell them how to feel when they shout it out
tell everybody
tell them all
tell them something how to tip when they buy their drink
tell them how to trip when they try to think
and everybody
tell everybody else
tell everybody else
and everyone
tell everybody else
tell everybody else
tell everybody else

tell lots of people
but not too many

NewNowNext Awards 2009

More NNN Awards & Watch Gay Videos

DEAR MAYA, I LOVE YOU.

The new Sounds song for you: "Dorchester Hotel."
I hope you like it. Lemme know if you do please.
You can DJ it. Post it. Email it.

PHOENIX - LISZTOMANIA *BRAT PACK MASHUP*

Someone did this sick video mashup of all the Brat Pack movies from the 80s to a Phoenix song.

Two things I discovered when watching this:
1. The reason why these movies were so successful and good, was because the kids in the movie were always having more fun than you. They were having the fun you though you were supposed to be having in high school (or your late 20s for that matter).

2. Allie Sheedy's character in the Breakfast Club was clearly the inspiration behind Mary Kate Olsen's wardrobe.



video clip courtesy of my brother Lawrence via Jen Carlson.

OFFICIAL BAT FOR LASHES INTERACTIVE WIDGET!

I COULD WATCH THIS GIF ALL DAY LONG

NEW WEEKLY FEATURE: I A&R AMERICAN IDOL

Next week on American Idol, contestants are going to perform songs from iTunes' top 100 songs. I saw this article which had the writer's pick, and decided to do my own A&R challenge. Please reply in the comments (if anyone reads this blog) with your own suggestions? I take American Idol very seriously, and that's kind of pathetic, I know. Sorry. I think this will be a weekly column since I have a very strong opinion on the show.

Not that anybody cares, but here are my picks:

Matt Giraud: Kayne West's "Heartless"
I think this is a great opportunity to show the judges and America that he can be relevant and make a song his own. The charm of "Heartless", one might say, is that Kanye cant exactly sing. Matt Giraud can sing for the most part, and he's basically vanilla. This would be a great way to make Kanye's song the way Kanye hears it in his head. He'll probably give Coldplay's "Vida La Vida" another go with his piano, which might be a good idea as well.

Adam Lambert: Muse "Supermassive Black Hole"
Adam is the Rocky Horror Picture Show on American Idol and I love that. I know i'm in the minority of the hipsters in hipsterville for saying this, but I love him. I think that the only reason why Adam Lambert is on American Idol is so he can perform a Muse song. Will it be the best choice? Maybe not. Please don't do Journey's "Don't Stop Believing." I know you will, though :(.

Danny Gokey: Jason Mraz - "I'm Yours"
He will bore us to tears with the Jason Mraz song which will be dedicated to his dearly departed wife. I really feel bad for Danny, I do. I think his story is totally tragic & I'm glad that he was able to find something positive to come out of such a horrible experience, but I wish he would stop trying to excite us by changing his glasses & instead, try to excite us with his songs.

Kris Allen: Kings of Leon - "Sex On Fire"
I would LOVE to hear him do a Kings of Leon song. He is ADORABLE, but so far I feel like he's stayed on the show because he's cute and I'm sure Simon likes him cos he looks like Will Young and plays it pretty safe. But like Simon said, he needs swagger and confidence. I Can already see Paula Abdul doing a cougar dance at the judges table with her pelvis gyrating on Simon's arm like a pitbull in heat when he preforms it. If he does this song, he will probably win the whole American Idol. However, he'll probably compete with Scott in a coin toss over the Fray song and tell Scott that it was heads when it's really tails and fuck over wonderful, blind Scott.

Allison Iraheta: Katy Perry "Hot N Cold"
While she probably will do Carrie Underwood - "Home Sweet Home" or Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You" she would probably sing the roof off the Katy Perry song and make people forget that Perry ever sang it.

Lil Rounds: Beyonce - "Halo"
I'm not sure I have to give an explanation for this. It seems like if she doesn't perform this song, then it'd be the silliest thing for her to do, no?

Scott MacIntyre: The Fray "You Found Me"
Obvious Scott is most comfortable when he's at the piano, and last week he was a bit weak with his performance. However, this is the right kind of song for him to sing and perform that would bring a tear to anyone's eyes. A blind person singing about being found? Really? Couldn't you just weep thinking about it? By the way, hats off to Stevie Wonders' people for trying to cash in Motown week and his similar story to Scott MacIntyre and getting him on the show last week. Scott will have a career after Idol, and it will be exclusively to nice Christian-esque people and Moms.

Anoop Desai: A. R. Rahman - "Jai Ho"
Now before you think that I picked this song because he's brown and this is from a brown film featuring brown ppl, i will tell you: you're absolutely right. Why is he not milking this? The brown community must be dialing in full force whenever he's on (as they should, since he's genuinely quite good), unless they're all like my roommate Gurj and feel Brown Rivalry. However, since he likes R&B and playing up the sexy, he will probably do a fucking sick rendition of "Single Ladies" by Beyonce that will blow everyone's mind. Here are some references for him: The Fray's cover, & some other dude.

Megan Joy Corkery: Adele - "Chasing Pavements"
The judges have already marketed her as their own Duffy/Lily/Adele, so why not just run with it? She'll probably go with one of Katy Perry's 2 top 100 hits: "Hot N Cold" or "Thinking of You"... or if she's feeling feisty, which I really hope she is, she'll attempt the Lily Allen version of Britney Spears' "Womanizer".

ANVIL!!!

Those who know me, know that i'm sort of a little totally obsessed with ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL. The best rockumentary that ever was. It's like the real life This Is Spinal Tap. It's absolutely genius and a true testament to sticking by your dreams and never giving up... and wearing fanny packs.

Here's the Trailer:


If you're in NYC today, please come down to the SOHO Apple store because Lips, Robb, and director Sacha Gervasi will be doing a Q&A from 7-8pm!

YOU DON'T WAN TO MISS THAT. TRUST ME.

LIVING THINGS - "MERCEDES MARXIST"

Living Things are down in Texas right now for SXSW, and making waves as usual.

I'm offering their track "Mercedes Marxist" for free for you to download. I hope you enjoy it.

Living Things - "Mercedes Marxist"

I love them.

If you wanna buy their album Habeas Corpus click here

THIS CAT NEEDS A HOME URGENTLY

I got this email from my friend Elhaam. If you can help, please help!

Hello Foster Parents:

I will be sending out another email, hopefully by the end of the day today, but I wanted to send this around right away. This sweet kitty needs placement ASAP! She was on the table to be euthanized, because no rescues came forward for her, and she has a URI - the vet techs couldn't do it because she was SO sweet. This says a lot for vet techs that have the very sad and unfortunate task of euthanizing animals every day.

She's got another 24hrs - please let me know if you're willing to foster her, and feel free to send this email around to your friends if you know someone that wants to adopt. (Read more of a description below.)

Please let me know ASAP if you're willing to foster her. THANK YOU!

Maggie

Maggie R. O'Neill

Foster Coordinator

Animal Care & Control of New York City

Cell: 347-236-0339

www.nycacc.org/foster.htm

A797969

This is Cachitia. She is about nine years old and already spayed. She was given up by her old owner because of personal problems. She was scheduled for euth today because she is sick and we have no space in our sick ward. When the Vet tech opened Cachitia's cage she hopped out and started rubbing herself on everyone. She was just running around the table begging for love. She is such a great cat that the Vet Tech was practically in tears begging me to find her a home. They were describing her as the "perfect cat" because is just so loving. When she get over her cold in a few days she really be the perfect. Medically she is in good shape for her age. Please try to save this sweet kitty. She deserves all the effort you can put into her.

MOTHER!!!!!!!

I heard that Danzig is going to be taking over for Bret Michael's on Rock of Love. This gives me so much happiness.

PLEASE VOTE FOR TROUBLE ANDREW

TROUBLE ANDREW PARTY!

I LOVE RACHEL RAY

IT'S FRIDAY!!!

This weekend is packed for me. My friend Ben just arrived this morning and while he may or may not have plans for this evening -- I think I will be dragging him to various LES bars.

Tomorrow I'm going to Brad Walsh's so he can take lovely portraits of me for his portfolio in Christian's gowns. I'm VERY excited. I hope I can fit into them. Ack. Too much Chinese food this week.

After I do that photo shoot I'm going to DJ a birthday party in Tribeca for some bigwig somewhere who wants to hear lots of Madonna, Beyonce, and Mary J. Blige, so I'm really excited about that.

Sunday I am doing another photoshoot at mine with my buddy Siege for a series of portraits called "Long Portraits." And then that evening I'm going to see the Killers! Horay! I finally have something like a social life again.

What are your plans for this weekend?

HAIL TO THE: CHIEF (THE BAND)

If you wanna see a wonderful local band tonight, you absolutely can't miss this show.

Chief are on stage at 10.30 but there's a couple of cool supports you should check out starting with Wild Yaks at 8.30 and Joemca & The Poets at 9.30.

It's gonna be a special night and should prove a landmark show for the band.

OH FRANZ, I MISSED YOU

I am a bad girl. I downloaded the new Franz Ferdinand album. I love it. I am still getting into it completely but I think it's great and I just think they're so effortlessly cool.

I almost forgot to post about this until I read this Chromewaves posting about an old Gwen Stefani cover they did, but my friend Jordan Silver came over on saturday and showed me their new video for "Ulysses" and it's just SO SO SO cool. It's like Trainspotting meets Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas. I want to sit on my computer screen, it's that good.

I mean... yeah. it's good, dark, seedy, about a drug deal, about getting high, about being young:


i love the way alex sings "never" in the bridge. he kind of sounds like ian from echo and the bunnymen.

I AM SO PSYCHIC, IT'S SCARY

Those of you who know me personally know that I'm a psychic. No joke. No exaggeration. I have visions and dreams and can see things that are so random. If I didn't have a paper trail for these visions, I would be accused of making shit up like "omg, i totally called that!"

But the reality is that my visions are really messed up at times. I have emailed friends about dreams and said that they've kept me up at night... only to have them come true days later.

I guess I sort of had a slight vision over the weekend when I posted a JJ72 megapost only to have Karen text me to say that tonight is the last night of shows ever at the Astoria (so sad!) and one of the performers is Mark Greany of JJ72 acoustic! Also playing is the singer of Mansun with My Vitrol as his backing band.

Check out the NME's reporting on the event.

LIVING THINGS ON TOUR AND VIDEO!

One of my favorite bands, Living Things, are(is?) going on tour with Eagles of Death Metal in February AND they just came out with a new video directed by Floria Sigismondi:



Tour Dates:
Feb 3 2009 Belly Up Tavern - Solana Beach, California
Feb 4 2009 Henry Fonda Theater - HOLLYWOOD, California [buy tix]
Feb 5 2009 The Fillmore - San Francisco, California [buy tix]
Feb 7 2009 WASTED SPACE - LAS VEGAS, Nevada [buy tix]
Feb 9 2009 The Martini Ranch - SCOTTSDALE, Arizona
Feb 10 2009 The Rialto Theater- TUCSON, Arizona
Feb 12 2009 THE DIAMOND BALLROOM - OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma
Feb 13 2009 Radio Show – Kansas City, MO
Feb 14 2009 The Blue Note - COLUMBIA, Missouri [buy tix]
Feb 15 2009 The Eagles Club - MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin [buy tix]
Feb 16 2009 RADIO SHOW – Columbus, Ohio
Feb 17 2009              20th Century Theater - Cincinnatt, Ohio [buy tix]
Feb 18 2009 Agora Theater - Cleveland, Ohio [buy tix]
Feb 19 2009 Mr. Smalls Theater - Pittsburgh, PA [buy tix]
Feb 20 2009             Phoenix Concert Theater - TORONTO, Ontario [buy tix]

MR. ROGERS' 'HOOD

When I was about 4 or 5 years old, my dad used to take me and my family to New York City all the time to walk around the village. This was the most fun I had with my dad, ever. I remember going to one store and they let you make your own t-shirts using fabric paint and then you could either leave them there to dry and pick them up in a few hours or put them in a spin cycle and get them right then. I made this awesome shirt of a unicorn (i was a really good artist as a kid) and since we didn't have time to waste, we spun it out and I gave the shirt to my dad.

We used to always see breakdancing groups down in the village, but I remember that the best break dance group was this one that was at the park that's between FAO Schwartz and the Ritz. These break dancers wore all red jumpsuits (i remember this really well) and did such incredible moves. After that, my dad used to make me and my best friend, Alexis Levy, laugh so hard by trying hard to imitate those breakdancers and their random guy who couldn't dance but would walk around the circle with his boombox collecting cash from onlookers.

This video of Mr. Rogers and a b-boy from GlideMagazine.com reminded me of this memory I had forgotten:

NOVEL'S COVER OF "MAD WORLD"

Incase you were wondering if there could be a more wonderfully depressing version of Tears for Fears' "Mad World," this artist that I work with called Novel did a cover of the song after he read about the Oscar Grant shooting on January 1. Novel gained like 10billion <3's from me because he was inspired to use that song after watching Donnie Darko, which is my favorite movie ever even though I hardly understand it -- which i guess is what makes the use of the song so fitting. Novel felt the shooting made no sense, and probably felt the same way about the movie. Ha.

Here. Have the song for free.

Novel - "Mad World"

here's a painfully detailed analysis of the music in Donnie Darko that I wrote in the summer of 2004.

here's how the song was used in the movie:


Weird fan video for the movie (and ps, thank God i can't get a tattoo because i would've totally have gotten that crazy tattoo that the dude has in this video):


Tears for Fears "Head Over Heels" scene from the movie:


Radiohead's "Exit Music" set to Donnie Darko:


Radiohead's "no surprises" set to donnie darko:


an albert hammond jr song set to donnie darko:

SUNDAY NIGHT WITH WOLFSHEIM, JJ72 AND BABY BIRD

In case you were wondering what I might be doing on this Sunday evening... it's going through my iTunes and listening to songs that make me feel really wonderfully european and gay, which is how i spent most of my life until I was about 25... and those were musically, the happiest days of my life.

On constant repeat is Wolfsheim's "Once In a Lifetime." They're from Germany and 92.7 WLIR used to play them all the time, super randomly, in the late 90s. I remember when I had a car and would drive into the city from NJ to my internships or college, I would just PRAY that they'd play this song and usually they did. It was impossible to find in stores, and I don't think I was able to figure out how to spell the name to buy it at amazon.com, or if they even had it at that point. Kids are so lucky to have iTunes. If you're hesitant to listen to it, I will say it sounds exactly like Ricky Gervais' new romantic band Seona Dancing.

Here's the amazingly horrible video:



I also uploaded the song:

Wolfsheim - "Once in a Lifetime"

Another band I've been listening to a lot this evening is JJ72. I may be the only JJ72 fan in NYC (still), but I listen to them A LOT. Like, as much as I did in 2000/2001 when they came out. They're a mix of Muse+Placebo with more of a Smashing Pumpkins lean in the influence than glam or Radiohead. I'm not totally sure why they didn't make it bigger, but fuck did I love them. I wanted to be the bassist because she was gorgeous and elegant and a feminine rocker... and I really loved how the bass sounded in their songs. Their drummer was GORGEOUS in my eyes -- like a broader Ian Curtis. And the singer had this amazing voice and way with the guitar that was the best parts of Billy Corgan without any of the annoying parts (to me at least). I think he's in a new band with my friend Gavin Fox... not sure tho. either way, the rhythm section was 100% joy division and the other parts were all pumpkins and so good.

Anyway, this is the first single "Formulea" off their second album I To Sky:




Not sure when this song, "Always And Forever," came out, but it's also from the second album. If i could come back as a 20-something male, I would want to look and be exactly like Mark Greaney (the singer) in this video. He just looks perfect. I love his teeth, I love his voice, i love the way the guitar swells, i love his hair. I also wonder why he didn't score the soundtrack and star in either Narnia or Lord of the Rings. For real:



Here's a video for "Snow," which i think was their first ever single from their first album... and I think this video was directed by Sophie Muller:


or maybe she directed "oxygen":


or maybe she did "october swimmer"... and maybe that was actually the first single they put out? I forget since it was so long ago and I found out about them cos someone (probably sean from Drownedinsound.com) was talking about them on some message board we met on 10+ years ago... and at the time i could only hear like 30 second clips from their website in WMA format and it took me 30 min to download:


Either way, I think they were done on the same day and the songs don't sound as good as the ones from I To Sky, but Mark looks awesome because just like the drummer, he fulfills some sort of Ian Curtis fetish I have.

Fuck... I'm watching all their videos now. I love this song "Long Way South" because it's like late Joy Division:


oh look! a video for their song "coming home" that was probably on their 3rd album that I dont have. this is when they got a new bassist that was also very incredibly hot. i wonder if mark and (hilary) the old bassist's twin sister broke up (omg, i can't believe i remembered that gossip), and she left. no matter, this new girl was great:


see, she had such great stage presence and sang backup in this live video for "serpent sky" which was also off i to sky, which i'm now finding to maybe be one of my all time favorite albums (???):


found mark and gavin's band together called Concerto for Constantine. according to this video, their style icon is mozart:


and mark covering pet shop boys' "it's a sin" ... which is one of my all time favorite songs:


you can hear the original, inexplicably set to footage of the killers:


[on a side note: last night i had a dream that i got to direct the killers video for "Joy Ride" and it consisted of them driving in an amazing car in the bad parts of NYC or Brooklyn and getting carjacked by a bunch of teen thugs who decide to take Brandon Flowers' expensive car for a joy ride, with the band in it... but oh, shit, the band is stoked and just fucking party in the back just like bowie or mick in the 80s would've. they're like drinking cocktails with umbrellas in them and pick up people along the way -- maybe even 80s era bowie in a white suit and cocaine bodytype -- and just love it up. it would be the opposite of this but exactly the same, and possibly inspired by hoodrat thangs].


Shit, i didn't mean for this to turn into a JJ72 fanpost, but dang, that happened.

Another song I listened to a few times tonight was Baby Bird's "You're Gorgeous":



And "She Said" by the Longpigs, which was such a fucking great song and band:


Even better than that is their song "Lost Myself" ... but unfortunately, I can't embed that video, so here is a link

and more that can't be ignored... my friend mikey and i were obsessed with rialto when we were 18. this song "monday morning 5:19" is sort of the most perfect brit pop song ever:


and "untouchable" is also fantastic:


Oh, and then I was also obsessed with Idlewild. Like, PAINFULLY, obsessed. I managed to somehow convince the band that i wasn't totally loco and we became friends. eventually, the singer, roddy, decided to move to nyc and asked me to help him find a place so i directed him to my best friend karen since she had a spare room in her apt. This was when i was hanging out with josh madden a lot and the four of us became inseperable... but we were all not so secretly obsessed with idlewild. i think roddy kind of enjoys that about his new york friends, to be honest. Here are some fantastic videos from them. idlewild basicaly fulfilled my scotland/trainspotting/REM obsession. i am still obsessed with scottish music.

"these wooden ideas," which is one of their best songs:


in 2005 i convinced ben brown to let me throw a party in his house in austin, tx for sxsw and idlewild played in his livingroom and it looked a lot like this, but it was way more awesome in person (ps, does anyone have an house in austin for me to throw another party in?). this is another one of their best songs... i remember hearing it when a boy broke my heart and i decided to spoon my boombox and listen to 100 broken windows over and over again:


i remember seeing this video for "i am a message" and thinking they were the coolest band and thinking i was really cool for thinking they were really cool:


the band still plays "when i argue i see shapes" live, even though it's one of their oldest songs, and it still sounds awesome:


and if you were't sure if you were in love with roddy as well, all you need to do is watch this video for "love steals us from loneliness" (which has the best line in a song, maybe ever: "my anger is a form of madness and so i'd rather have hope than sadness" actually the whole song has superior lyrics):


speaking of scottish bands, i love slowdancing at home to the Twilight Sad. i wish they had real music videos to share, but they dont. someone did post this video of bogart and bacall set to one of their songs:


and here is them live. the singer is my ideal man, i think:


and some would argue that the best band to ever come out of Scotland is Big Country -- a band i've been listening to A LOT lately, for reasons that only people close to me know.

you may know them from their song "big country":


Apparently they inspired REM and U2 a lot... and I think that the only black man in all of Scotland lived there because he was in Big Country.

I love this song from them as well called "Harvest Home":


and here's a live video of them performing "1000 stars" and looking so fucking rad. bands should dress like this, and right now the only person i know who does dress like this is jordan silver:


ok. bedtime for me. you joined me on my musical escapade of sunday night. thank you!

ADOPT A PET

If I had to do it again, I would've gotten my dog from a shelter. For those of you interested in getting a pet, please consider some of these pets in need of a home urgently:

BLACKWOOD/ NJ: many urgent dogs needing out of a very overcrowded shelter!!

CONTACT: Heather Speeks Rescue Coordinator Camden County Animal Shelter info@ccasnj.org

8564011300 (I am a volunteer so please leave a message with the office staff)

See some of the babies who are desperately in need of new homes here:

LOIS: http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=10548701

NORA (mastiff): http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=11571231

ADAM: http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=10828100

MANDY: http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=11983684

PEACH: http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=11483012

JAY JAY: http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=12303743

MONTCLAIR/ NJ: German shepherd hit by train! GORGEOUS SHEPHERD!!!.....to have survived being hit by train and then the possibility of being euthed???!!!! Please rescue him!!! The contact is for this poor soul is the ACO in Montclair Melissa Neiss at 9735094970.

TETERBORO/ NJ: So many cats on URGENT LIST. If you have room in your heart and home to adopt or foster a cat please step forward now. The shelter here is so overcrowded! please conatct Bergen County Animal Shelter Teterboro NJ shelter@co.bergen.nj.us; Alice Krieger AliceAKrieger@aol.com or

Doris Pupkit3@aol.com;

LYNDHURST/ NJ: Urgent foster needed for woman in trouble. Her two dogs and two cats need a safe place for two months. Please contact Jerzemochic@gmail.com if you can help.

CAMDEN/ NJ: Prince Mot Lee is an absolutely gorgeous pure CHOW CHOW well mannered 2 yr old impounded overlooked and URGENT. Link: http://www.lizardmarsh.net/2009/01/camdennjprincemotleeisabsolutely.html

GLASVEGAS AFTERPARTY -- I'M DJING!

Cone out to Lit tonight for the Glasvegas afterparty