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NP: Q-tip's "Barely In Love"

Pink Mountaintops' "Rock n Roll Fantasy"

Pink Mountaintops is songwriter Stephen McBean's project. This bearded fellow is also in Black Mountain. He plays guitar, sings, and writes songs for the psych-tinged maximal rock group... "Rock N Roll Fantasy" is everything sexy. It sounds like foreplay. If you're planning on doing ameteur night at a strip joint, I suggest you burn this song onto a disc and practice so you can make the big bucks. It's dark, intimate, a little dangerous, slow and is alluring. It's a genuine and unpolished, honest cousin to Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game." It presents all the things that Isaak didn't have the balls to feature. McBean sings "You're my rock n roll fantasy/You are my wet dream" and later "I came all over myself/Wish I came all over your blouse." Yes, I admit it's a bit to the point, and doesn't leave anything to the imagination - however, I appreciate the fact that McBean is going straight to the point where others decide to tip toe around. The song is about fantasy, after all. The dude might as well put it all out there, don't you think? Oh, and I should probably add that when sung, atop slow guitars, bass, female backing vocals and a minimal drum - it sounds more eloquent than something out of Penthouse Forum. I posted the links to the mp3s, so you can agree or dis.
At my little boyfriend's suggestion - I also posted another song off of the album, in case your folks won't let you listen to the track I'm talking about, you baby.

Rock N Roll Fantasy-mp3
Can You Do That Dance-mp3

They have a shitload of live dates, so many so that instead of posting, I decided to link it.

The Verve's "The Drugs Don't Work" + Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's "Shuffle Your Feet"

The Verve's song, a romantic little ballad - though Ashcroft might be crooning away to some sort of substance as opposed to a person - is hopeful and tender, singing that the drugs don't work, they just make you worse but he knows he'll see your face again. Reminds me of someone wallowing and choosing to linger in remembrance.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's ditty on the other hand is spirited, carefree, and up beat, giving you that i-don't-give-a-fuck-and-i'm-having-a-great-time vibe. Time won't save your soul, and who knows if I'll see you again. This one reminds me of someone moving on and getting over it.

There's a place for both of these songs, and we've all been in both these places before. One states "Who knows if I'll see you again" (BRMC), the other states "I know I'll see your face again" (The Verve). Relationships, romantic and friendly, are so concentrated on finality. I know a lot of people who treat others a certain way because of the frequency in which they see the other person. (I'm sure we're all guilty of this now that I think about it. Myself included.) They tell me that distance makes the heart grow fonder, but I tend to believe that that's a myth, or wishful thinking. That's what we want to believe. But realistically speaking, human nature has proven to me (at least) that this couldn't be further from the truth. If something isn't in your face, you forget about it. Reality vs. romance... The truth is that distance and time heals heartache.

Isn't that why companies spend millions of dollars (billions, even) on advertising and marketing to make sure that their brand/product stays in your memory? Aren't you glad that not everyone has that kind of money to spend just to stay important and vital to you? But is it important and vital? You can live without Coca-Cola can't you? Or can you? But do you?

Lords of Dogtown

I know I know, you're going to say, "This is so 2005!"

Actually, if you're going to go there with me - this is really so 1976-79. And yeah well, the documentary "Dogtown and the Z Boys" is better if you're going for actual history. But this movie was certainly entertaining. Like a serious version of Dazed & Confused without school, and with a different kind of paddling.
John Robinson is awesome (and cute, despite being 7 years my junior - I can't help it I like long hair!) as Stacy Peralta, a personal hero of my preteen years for starting Powell Peralta. (You know, the skate company?!) God, I miss the days when the boys wore Bones t-shirts. They just seemed a lot better then...

And!

Heath Ledger, pre-Brokeback and totally seeming to imitate Val Kilmer's Jim Morrison in The Doors. He's pretty hilarious. Peralta directed and wrote this flick, and yeah he fluffed it a bit, but I still love the guy.
Not exactly the Oscar-winner, but like I said - it will entertain + it's worth more your netflix dinero than it would be if you saw it in the theater. Skate or die, dude!





Sony Pictures' "Lords of Dogtown" site

so noTORIous

Yeah, so I like this show. Whatever man, it's funny! Finally, Tori spelling is prepared to admit that she really is as lame as we all knew she was since we were still anxiously awaiting Donna to get killed off of 90210 or David to open his eyes while having sex with Donna and run off and commit suicide, or you know... whatever. Bring Brenda back!




It's on Sundays on VH1... And though I'm not always home, I'm acutally thankful for my On Demand cable service because then I can laugh at Tori with her any time I please!



the show's home page
the show's myspace page - which has more to offer than the series' home page on vh1.

The After Party's "Sorry Satan"

Halleluiah, I like a new(ish) band! They're from San Diego, no less! How did this happen? Well, as you may or may not know, I have been traveling quite a bit - so I haven't had a chance to go through my inbox and listen to demos and CDs. Having a break at home in the longest period of time in 2006 yet... I finally got to it in the past couple days.
From track one ("Black Boots") on this disc on Rowboat Records (Disc is called "Dead Dance Ball"), I was like - 'humph, this is interesting...' and by this track "Sorry Satan" (it's #6) I was pretty happy with what I was hearing. By the end of the record (track 13, called "So Much Left To Do") I was sold. I even called their label person today, who didn't get back to me yet, to ask about the band. Anyway, if you're in San Diego, please see them and tell me how their live show is.
I'm afraid with their "top 8" on myspace and listed influences on the same page they're not exactly thinking they sound like the pAper chAse, or a bit like Television - but more like Bloc Party and those other dance punk bands...
Regardless, I'm stoked on them.

www.theafterparty.net
www.myspace.com/theafterpartysandiego

the cure's "pictures of you"

"I've been looking so long at these pictures of you
That I almost believe that they're real
I've been living so long with my pictures of you
That I almost believe that the pictures are
All I can feel..."

Spring is here or something. Everyone's love-sick it seems... I thought this Cure song would be... well, the cure to some of these "feelings" my friends are spreading around like the change-of-weather germs we exchange with hugs and handshakes. Spring makes us all little pussy(cat)s. How better to share the oogly googly sentiment - that a shift in pollen, new flowers and better weather cause - than Robert Smith's crooning about some lover he once had - with only pictures to preserve the memory?

"You were bigger and brighter and wider than snow
And screamed at the make-believe
Screamed at the sky..."

Nirvana's "Love Buzz"

FYI from Wikipedia:
* "Love Buzz" was the first single released by Nirvana in 1988 on Sub Pop Records. This single contained two songs from the debut album Bleach. It was a limited release of only 1000 hand numbered 7"s. Several different counterfeit pressings are also in circulation. The single contains "Love Buzz", a cover version with slightly different lyrics than the Shocking Blue original and "Big Cheese" on the B-side. The Bleach album version of Love Buzz was mixed differently and is missing a 10-second sound collage introduction put together by Kurt Cobain. "Love Buzz" was later released on the EP Blew.

* In 1989 a review by British music magazine Melody Maker described the Love Buzz single as "Limited edition of 1000; love songs for the psychotically disturbed".

* A "violent" performance of the song can be seen on the 1994 home video Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!. Earlier in the show (not seen on the video), Kurt, drunk, angry and high on cough syrup, smashed the PA system at the club with his guitar, frustrated that it had consistently malfunctioned. (Viewers can see a pallet covering the PA, which was added in case Cobain decided to take a second shot.) Unbeknownst to Cobain, the PA belonged to a friend of the bouncer, Turner Van Blarcum who, when Kurt dove into the crowd, decided to exact some revenge. Kurt responded by hitting the bouncer in the head with his guitar, drawing blood. A brief fight ensued but the bouncer was restrained by Novoselic.

* A rehearsal from 1988 and another live performance from 1990 can both be found on the DVD with the 2004 box set With the Lights Out.

* In 1995 'Love Buzz' was used in the film Mad Love.

Love Buzz's cover art probably features my favorite-era Nirvana. Perfect length on the hair, boys. Yeah, I don't expect to be groundbreaking on this one. I'm probably preaching to the converted, which seems to be the theme as of late... in any case, I was reminded of how fucking awesome this song is when it randomly started playing tonight. In turn, I just wanted to encourage you to dig it up and just give it a listen.
Turn it on,
dance a little
(just a little, please)
and get sexy.