Thank You Lays Ad

I really like this song, and this band. Their EP  Lets Fall Back In Love is pretty good. Very cute.

“Thinking, Drinking, Sinking Feeling” by Slow Club (<– click  for song)

I don’t mind when a commercial introduces me to new stuff, that’s the point right? There is no other reason for using a unknown or developing artist other than cheap licensing, and artist exposure, so I’m all for it.  In addition to being in a Lay’s commercial,  Slow Club was also in a Ritz Ad…  Those are two separate companies (Frito-Lay and Nabisco), coincidence I suppose unless the members of Slow Club are snack fetishists.  However the really pumped the hell out of that Santogold (excuse me she is now Santigold) record and no one is calling her a car enthusiast.

In case you’re curious, here are both commercials, when you’re done check out the full version of each song, they’re pretty good and both build nicely at the end:

Slow Club, “Thinking, Drinking, Sinking, Feeling” (Lays Ad)

Slow Club, “When I Go” (Ritz Ad) (<—click for song)

Springtime is here!

It is slightly warmish in NYC today, and I actually heard birds chirping on my way to the subway this morning. Finally! Is springtime finally here?  Thank God, becuase Winter ‘08-’09 was a piece of crap that I am kicking to the curb.  Even though our economy is in the pooper, I am feeling pretty darn good about what’s to come.  Good vibes y’all! Can’t wait for my hiking trip next weekend!!

I created a playlist to kinda express the sentiment that I am feeling today. It’s incredibly unusual, but I never claimed to be predictable or normal! So check it out, and most of all have fun. Enjoy!

March 27, 2009 (<—click me)

Living For The City Stevie Wonder I Got Mine Black Keys Magic Ladyhawke Lion In A Coma Animal Collective Lazy Eye Silversun Pickups Take Me Anywhere Tegan and Sara Sunshowers M.I.A. Springtime Annuals Manhattan Kings Of Leon

Awww sh*t!

Just for shits and giggles. This reminds me of high school…

Too bad this is the edited version.  It’s the only one with full video.

Remember when green hair, (colored hair) shiny clothing,  fly girl dancing (stick that booty OUT!),  Ma$e, Lil’ Kim,  bright ass colors, shoutin’ out designers,  baggy pants, and just being a straight up gansta ho was cool!?

Nice cameo by Alliyah!

Loveology

After trying to consume some of today’s releases I somehow ended up rummaging through Regina Spektor’s catalog.  It dawned on me that my favorite Regina Spektor song isn’t even released.  Since it (used to be)  hard to find, I am going to post it here just for shits and giggles. It’s such a beautiful song, and I absolutely adore her perky, quirky, cute sincerity.  Gah.

This song was performed at a concert about 4 and a half years ago, and all the fans love it. I ended up finding it once on some nameless file sharing site two years and a half years ago. Since then it’s kind of spread like wild fire over YouTube.   Why didn’t it end up on Begin To Hope? Hmmm…

Regina, as a huge fan of yours, I beg of you, please release this on your next album.

Btw I found this website today:

www.passiveaggressivenotes.com

laugh until you die babies!

Masha D’yans

I know today is a release day for the music industry but eh.  I need a break from all that jazz.  I am aware that I am about to lose my male audience on this one, but bear with me men!

I want to share with you an artist that I absolutely adore.  I bought her Christmas Cards at Target 2 years ago, and while I was browsing through Urban Oufitter’s Apartment section online I found some of her pillows.  Apparently, she is just a greeting card artist, but I really, really, love her style.  I wish she would sell prints of her work.

All art is by Masha D’yans and can be viewed at:

http://masha.com/

Check out her Christmas and holiday cards. They are so beautiful and funky!

I’ve been saying…

…that Neko Case is the shit.

Her album The Fox Confessor Brings The Flood is an awesome album, and now her new one  Middle Cyclone is no exception. Granted, you have to want a taste of country/folk in your pop.  In fact, Rhapsody refers to her as “Alt Country”.   Anyway,  I am not going to give it a full album review, but I will say that it’s pleasant, cool, and good for those days when you’re doing a sunny walk and ya know,… thinking things.  It’s upbeat, and her vocals are nice.  I do have to absorb it more, but so far I enjoy it. However, I get the feeling that Fox Confessor might be better but there seems to be just as many highly decent and pretty moments on this one too.

You decide:

Neko Case : Middle Cyclone

Grizzly Bear In the Bathroom

I know this is oldie old, but I just discovered it on youtube today.  I think this sounds just as good (if not better) than the original.   Something about it just really beautiful and natural.  It’s the kinda thing you miss when you listen to a recording.  I like nothing more than to watch someone play an instrument, or sing in front of me.   This reminded me of that feeling.  Granted, it could show up on the list of Stuff White People Like, but hey… I’m white… What?

If you haven’t seen this already and are a Grizzly Bear fan, dig it…

No! Not the pizza!

Why does Coney Island always get it so bad?  We need to set up a safety dome over one of NYC’s most treasured and loved landmarks.  Seems like there are always some kind of plans to slice and dice this place up, or there is  some kind of fire or catastrophe.  This place is fragile and definitely needs to be preserved. Perhaps I should get in touch with the preservation society. (Is there one?)  I can kind of feel myself getting all sentimental and worked up about it.

Anyway, Totonnos is  legendary, and almost as well-known as Nathan’s.  What could be better than some Nathan’s fries, and a slice at Totonno’s?  Man this is making me hungry… Oh well, back to my salad.

Hope they can rebuild. It’s a shame that we already lost Astroland.  ( I am still upset about that, that was my very first amusement park.)   By the way,  is anyone game for going on the Cyclone this summer? At least we still have that.

Fire Shuts Totonno’s, Legendary Coney Island Pizzeria

It’s Blitz! Yeah Yeah Yeahs new album.

Digital Release: 3/10/09

Physical Release: 3/31/09

Effin hot.  This album kicks ass.  I would like to take a minute out to thank the YYY for being consistently awesome on every album.  So many artists score badly on their sophomore release, hit the slump, and then on the third release  put out a mediocre attempt at correcting the former.  Not the YYY. They did a solid job of  keeping it rockin’ on every album, and they make a point to do something different.  No one can argue that Fever To Tell (the raw and vocally explicit album that this blog is named after) is not some kind of art, punk, rock masterpiece.  When Show Your Bones came out in 2006, I believe that most of us were expecting more screaming and wailing from Ms. O, and more screeching guitar murder from Nick, but what we found was something more sophisticated and controlled,  but still as emotionally  biting as the first.  Now, with their third album they have incorporated a bit more of the synth sound that has become so popular in today’s indie/alt music scene.  While there is still a hard edge to some tracks, other tracks feature more of a softer sound with ethereal whimsy.

Tracks like  ” Zero”, “Heads Will Roll“, and “Dragon Queen”    are 80’s reminiscent, while tracks like  “Dull Life”,  “Hysteric”, and “Little Shadow”   harken back to the previous sound  (especially the track “Skeletons” which is like the film version of Titanic doing a rednition of “Maps”. You’ll see).  While everything else is kind of in between, and in a really neat new way,  it is this combination of old signature plus new influence that every band tries to achieve. Check out the track  “Shame and Fortune” to hear a bass line that echoes  Suicide’s “Ghostrider“. If you can imagine Suicide inviting Karen O to a disco party, then you pretty much got this album down pat.  Pepper in some pathos, and you have the full vision.  This album is so good, and such an accomplishment for a band that started as a basement art/punk outfit.  Originally, the band was using music as another medium to express their art.  They had no intentions of becoming a rock band.  What has come out of their organic union has no officially become the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and It’s Blitz! is a triumph of nature.

Favorite Tracks: “Dull Life”, “Hysteric”, and “Heads Will Roll”

Don’t Miss: “Zero”, “Shame and Fortune” and “Skeletons”

Check Out the Album. Click this link for It’s Blitz!

One guarantee I can make is that “Zero” will be in a commercial or film very soon.

McCain’s Daughter, Excellent.

Check this out… this is a nice, and overdue “F You” to Ann Coulter, but more importantly Megan McCain makes a really good point about revamping the Republican party with some fresh new blood, and veering from recruiting   the conservative sector that is here to stay and doesn’t need a stimulus.  Messages like this could really help reform the party into something that makes much more sense for a future America. Granted this is not the most intellectual conversation about the party, but it is a sign of things to come.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the years from now we attribute the Bush Era for some kind of (maybe not radical)  makeover of the Republican Party. By God the party needs it.  It’s ass is pretty flabby, and they really could use some botox.

I am actually pleased to hear something like this. Please try to refrain from chuckling at her “valley-esque” accent.  We all know what happened there. The interview is divided into 2 parts, so sit tight.   This will really speak to all of my liberal/moderate Republican friends… I am sure.