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