The Starlite Desperation - posterage.

I made the sketches for this poster for that art show at Circus of Books on Santa Monica (West Hollywood, CA) that I'm in - along with a WHOLE BUNCH of great folks like Ernest E. Gibson III & Taylor Jacobsen. This show runs until March something (early March...) Go stop by and let me know what you think if you're in the 'hood.

Thanks to my good friend/artiste/curator/horrible speller extroirdinaire John Knuth for recommending me for the show.

It is not band approved, but my flatmate Jeff who is el drummer boy for the band has seen it. He didn't say he liked it or anything but he gave me a nod.

They're playing The Smell in downtown L.A. this Saturday and The Viper Room on Monday, so you can ask them what they thought of it there.

[m4a] The Starlite Desperation - We Don't Do Time [/m4a]

More Than Words

Extreme's original:


Frankie J's cover:


Do you remember that scene in the movie Clueless where Alicia Silverstone stands up in debate class? The following is meant to be read like her character is reading this:)

...How in the world did no one send this to me until today? Until right now? This Frankie J video was uploaded last Valentines Day. WTF. Just thinking about some kid being mislead into thinking that Frankie J wrote this sugar-sweet song kind of makes me want to barf and throw punches at the same time. This is so typical. Some polished suit dude stealing prose and poetry (well you know what I mean) from some sensitive heshers and calling it his own. Hoo!

The song is far more convincing coming from Nuno and Gary, especially given their prior "hard-edge"*. Watching your "tough dudes"* break it down all softie like and risk their "masculinity"* to give a little romance to their lady friends... that's so much more meaningful.

I mean, what does Frankie J have to lose? We already knew he was a mangina at first glance. PLUS - hello (!) ... Frankie J not only rips the original video off (the song wasn't enough holmes?!) but adds images that doesn't even make sense: Model lady friend is at a photo shoot, then she's done with the photo shoot. (HOW DOES THAT PROPEL HIM INTO SINGING "MORE THAN WORDS"? What?! He can't hang tight while his model girlfriend does HER JOB? Freakshow! Talk about co-dependence.)

The simplicity of Extreme's version of two dudes in black and white gives us the impression of a real rift between the dudes and their ladies. The women being absent shows that there is a real miscommunication here, and the dudes are working to try and make it through to their women. Extreme's video pummels poetry compared to Frankie J's dummy version.

End rant.

*slight tounge-in-cheeky

Soft's "You Make Me Want To Die"

It's kind of weird that this New York band hasn't recieved more blogging praise and shared mp3 goodness. If you're into The Stone Roses, Ride and etc you should love that this band is churning out new hits. Especially since I can't think of another band today tugging on the same rock 'n roll lines that Soft are strumming... Someone give them a million dollars and sign this damn band already. I need a full length.

They're playing DC tomorrow:
SOFT plays DC tomorrow night!!!
Body: January, 20 2007 at DC9
1940 9th St NW, Washington, Washington DC 20001
Cost : $8
8:30 PM
w/ The Films and the Dreggs
http://www.dcnine.com/

Soft of myspace (they have a new song up there): http://www.myspace.com/soft
Soft's official site: http://www.thebandsoft.com/

Buy the ep: InSound

*You can also download their 3rd single "Higher" off their official site.

[mp3] Soft - You Make Me Wanna Die [/mp3]
Download available for first 100 only.

Phillip Glass' Satyagraha (Act 3, Conclusion)

Another late night... or actually right now it's not as late as it usually is for me. But it's another late hour of another late-night-to-be. I've had such a long string of late nights these days that this hour of night seems terribly late, when usually I know to "hit the hay" when I am experiencing a hint of a sunrise - like a vampire avoiding getting dusted. (Omigoth!)

My exhaustion is only dramatized when it is accompanied with this Glass song. An old friend sent it to me the other day, he noticed that it was named after a philosophy that Ghandi coined, Ghandi is one of my heroes - so of course he sent it along. *Warm fuzzies.* It sounds like how it feels when you are sleepy and your eyes are crossing even though you are struggling to keep them open because there are so many exciting things to do and prepare for. A friend's visit, an art opening, baking more molten lava little cupcakes for friends to indulge in...


Satyagraha is the philosophy of nonviolent resistance most famously employed by Mohandas Gandhi in forcing an end to the British Raj in India and also during his struggles in South Africa. The concept of Satyagraha was also adopted by Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.

Satya is Sanskrit for "truth", and agraha can be rendered as "effort/endeavor". Satyagraha, as defined by Gandhi, can mean "an effort to discover, discern, obtain or apply the Truth". The term was popularized during the Indian Independence Movement, and is used in many Indian languages including Hindi.


An ode to your nonviolent resistance to sleep:

[mp3] Philip Glass - Satyagraha (Act 3, Conclusion) [/mp3]
*mp3 available for 100 downloads only.

Heather Duby's "Would Have Liked You (I'm Pretty Sure)"

I just got off the phone with Elana, who is just starting her bartending shift at Bar in Brooklyn. I really miss her, even though she was prying for information and goings ons that don't currently exist in my life. And because fate is funny - this song came on right after I put the phone down, and I was inspired to dedicate this song to her. It's a bit of a personal joke. Or personal realism but if she wants you to know about it, she'll comment here.
Or you can ask her via this medium of modern communication. (She's a pretty rad person, so it can't hurt to drop her a lil' note.)

Just to make a small world smaller - I posted about Askeleton earlier this month and his brother played drums on this album. In fact I think Erin was telling me about it when he was recording with Heather... Viva le Taters!

About Heather Duby from her label's site: "Heather Duby is back with her 3rd full-length release, Heather Duby. Heather, a Portland singer-songwriter, moved to Seattle in 1994, and after several years of fronting her own band, released the Sub Pop LP Post to Wire. Come Across the River (2003) was Heather's first record on Sonic Boom and received rave reviews. Heather Duby was once again co-produced by Steve Fisk, and features Erin Tate (Minus the Bear) on drums."

Heather Duby - My Space
Heather Duby - Sonic Boom
Heather Duby - Sub Pop

[mp3] Heather Duby - Would Have Liked You (I'm Pretty Sure) [/mp3]

Buy this record at Amazon or iTunes

The Rosewood Thieves' "Los Angeles"

It's too bad sucks that V2 is rumored to halt the releasing of new records because I actually trusted the label's roster... Case in point: The Rosewood Thieves. (And because I'm a sucker for any song about/named after/hints towards a city that I have lived in)...

Their biography off of V2's website:
The small valley town of Deposit, NY lies along the West Branch of the Delaware River, and is nestled between the bustling metropolitan areas of Albany and Syracuse. Deposit is also host to the Decker House, an All-American rickety white farmhouse that is more ghostly than quaint. Local socialite Bonnie Decker lived and died in that house. Within a month of her passing, the Rosewood Thieves left New York City, looking to reclaim a peace of mind while finding their rock & roll heart at the Decker house. In the process, they found themselves surrounded by the mystery of her memory and haunted by Deposit’s peculiar existence, thus the story of the From the Decker House EP was written.
Spearheaded by singer/songwriter Erick Jordan, From the Decker House is a collection of songs that harks back to the classicality of acts such as the Band and Bob Dylan. These six picturesque songs are entwined with the stripped-down fundamentals of rock & roll and the sensuality of R&B. Country music’s bleeding heart is the final straw that completes the Rosewood Thieves honest-to-goodness presentation. Jordan’s raspy vocal delivery is earnest and charming like a young John Lennon, but convincingly more impressive than his twenty years of age.
There was no television, no internet, and no phone at the Decker house. Their five-acre landscape had a cattle farm on one side and trailer homes on another. When they weren’t retiling the kitchen or clearing out old deer carcasses from the barn, the Rosewood Thieves would gather in the living room each evening for six weeks to write and rehearse. Jordan says leaving behind the hustle and flow of New York City was exactly what they needed. He didn’t seem to mind that the heat wasn’t on most of the time and that the pipes were freezing nearly every other day. “The living room space was the best spot—it had wood floors and a fireplace,” Jordan says. “We started playing music around seven o’clock and things would go until three in the morning.”
From the Decker House captures cityscapes like New York City and Los Angeles. Jordan reflects upon the world around him. It’s as simple as that. Other tracks tap into a broken heart, but not in that familiar kind of way. “I like to write about people and places and develop story-oriented songs. They’re not all true obviously, but they’re all based on pretty prominent things.”
Jaunty number “Back Home to Harlem” is a nice example. Featuring Vetiver’s Andy Cabic on bass, fiery acoustic guitars tango with a sinister backdrop of percussion and organ. Jordan’s aching vocals scowl “Oh my love, you said you wanted somebody else. Well you got him.” “Los Angeles” is a bit more nostalgic with its lush piano arrangements and Jordan’s daydreamy performance. “Doctor” is a freewheeling footstomper with a many country flavors. Nitty gritty “Lonesome Road” is an album standout. Piano legend Bob Dorough, who is best known for composing the Schoolhouse Rock childhood favorite “Conjunction Junction” (as well as critically acclaimed jazz recordings from the mid-‘50s to the present) appears here, rounding out the Rosewood Thieves’ earnest introduction.
“He’s a legend,” Jordan says. “His whole lingo is from another planet. When I originally met him a few years back, I went to shake his hand. I didn’t know that you’re not supposed to shake a piano player’s hand. That’s their thing; you can’t fuck up their hands. When he came in to record, he was playing so intensely that he shook the glass behind the control room. He did about three takes and that was it. He just nailed it.”
On From the Decker House, Jordan is talented enough to carry out a solid record without being too cheerful about his heroes—Dylan, John Lennon, Solomon Burke—and succeeds in carving out something new for his generation of music fans. He may be young, but he has the chops and guts to make it because he gets what music is about.
From the Decker House also includes performances by drummer Otto Hauser (Devendra Banhart, Vetiver), pedal steel guitarist Mike Daly (Whiskeytown), and vocalist Blake Hazard.
The Rosewood Thieves are: Erick Jordan (voice, guitar), Mackenzie Vernacchio (organ, Wurlitzer), Will Frish (guitar, backing vocals), Richard Ray (bass), and Mark Bordenet (drums).

Official Site
MySpace

[m4a] The Rosewood Thieves - Los Angeles [/m4a]
*Download available for first 100 peeps.

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HEY! Does anyone know of a free site that can host mp3s or m4as with a direct link to the mp3 instead of yousendit (since you can't just download direct from their site, meaning you must click on the link, then click on the download link on yousendit in order to get the file?) Any recommendations welcome... Thanks!

Who needs a hug?

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Photo_011407_001.jpg
Originally uploaded by Celestronica

The view from my porch.