SNEAKIN' AWAY ACROSS THE SNOW FIELDS

okay, i am out of here for the next two weeks. holidays with the family and then helping my lil' sis move back from australia to chicago. or maybe a road trip to montreal if she doesn't need me. . . who knows. posting will be sporadic if at all, and i apologize in advance for that. but ya gotta get outside and live life. . . well that and the fact that i won't be sitting at a computer everyday. so enjoy the holidays; eat, sleep, get drunk and make an ass of yourself. that's the stuff "memories" are made of.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MP3:

this track wins the 2004 best xmas song award. short and sweet, just how it should be.

• The Raveonettes - The Christmas Song


buy music, especially independent.

SLIPPIN' OUT OF THE SANTA SUIT

i can't believe how difficult shopping can be. i guess all those years of subsisting exclusively off of midwest thrift stores and hand-making xmas gifts doesn't prepare you for the intense decision-making (under stressful conditions) that "shopping" entails. no wonder online retail is booming. extra shipping costs seem like a small price to pay for the wear-and-tear it saves on your body and soul.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MP3:

here's a little xmasness from one of my old favorite bands. i actually was at the last show Morphine played in nyc, shortly before Mark Sandman's tragic on-stage heart attack in 1999 (ahhhh, those early college years). although i guess that's not really the sort of cheerful stuff that should usually accompany an xmas song. well, if nothing else, Morphine could define what "sexy" sounded like just as effortlessly as taking a breath. and this song is a pretty good example. . . use it as an antidote to the usual ultra-hyper, screechy, whiney tone of the holidays.

• Morphine - Sexy Christmas Baby Mine


buy music, especially independent.

BLEARY-EYED BORN-AGAIN

i hate weird weekends where you feel like you were trapped in some bad/strange movie and the whole time you can't really believe it's real. and then you get to work on monday and realize, yeah, it was real.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MP3:

a slightly different take on an xmas classic. not worksafe.

• Snoop Doggy Dog & Nate Dogg - Twas The Night Before Christmas


buy music, especially independent.

AWKWARDLY SILENT NIGHT

anyone have an extra ticket or two for either SMOG show in nyc this weekend??? i'm so pissed i didn't get one in time. strangely the idea that SMOG would probably do a great version of Wham's "Last Christmas" just popped into my head. no idea why. . . i guess consider it a suggestion, Mr. Callahan.
ticket??? anyone??? c'mon!!! damn. . .

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MP3:

holy crap The Ramones are amazing. a perfect blend of punk and "holiday cues" (ie. jingling bells, etc). all those millions of pop-punk bands dropping holiday compilations one after another should listen to this and take notes. it's not much of an xmas song if it sounds exactly like every other song you've every recorded. you have to at least TRY a little bit kids, add a lil' something special into the mix. just putting the right lyrics to yet another jangly cord just really isn't enough. if i have to check the cd case to see if i put in the xmas compilation or the last Blink 182 album, something's not working.
and one more time, (if you haven't yet) head over to More Cowbell and pick up his Indie Xmas Mix (bit torrent required).

• The Ramones - Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight)


buy music, especially independent.

SANTA'S SLEIGH IS A UPS TRUCK

is it depressing when you want an oil change for xmas?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MP3:

so i know that Run DMC's "Christmas In Hollis" is the standard go-to for xmas hip-hop fun. but i have to admit that i am a bit more partial to Mr. Blow's little holiday rendition "Christmas Rappin'." so check it out below, and if you are lacking the aforementioned DMC track, head over to More Cowbell and pick up his Indie Xmas Mix (bit torrent required). The Raveonettes track with the plinkly surf guitar is pure goodness.

• Kurtis Blow - Christmas Rappin'


buy music, especially independent.

IT'S COLD AND YOU'RE BLUE

had another shoot last night. down on the waterfront. at night. it was 24 degrees but felt like 15 (according to the radio). i lost feeling in my feet and was limping around in under thirty minutes. but poor Leon, he had to stand there in nothing but a sport coat and bandana (and yes, he had pants on). he was shaking pretty uncontrollably by the time we finished, over an hour later. what we do for art, or well more like publicity in this case. now i understand how Fletcher got bruised lungs from biking home in his underwear (careful making bets when its below freezing out there folks).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MP3:

a little more xmas for you kiddies. make sure to swing by More Cowbell and pick up his Indie Xmas Mix along with the rare Arcade Fire Xmas tracks (bit torrent required). i must admit i wasn't too psyched on the Arcade Fire xmas stuff, but since it seems like everyone is perpetually creaming their pants over this band no matter what they do. . . i'll just keep my trap shut.

• Bright Eyes - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen


buy music, especially independent.

WHATCHA WANT, KID?

many apologies for my absence. . . but life had been sliding a bit out of hand since my very inconvenient illness. i had to get back on top of things, and posting wasn't gonna help me there. i had a shoot for a magazine at The Carlyle yesterday. it was enjoyable because the photo editor is such a nice laid-back person (not what i was always told to expect). but it was just plain weird to be in a place where "the help" not only dresses far better than you do, but makes more money too.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MP3:

so i have been cruising the mp3 blogosphere looking for some choice holiday tunes, but with the exceptions of Copy, Right? and More Cowbell, it's been pretty dry. can't have that, now can we? and make sure to swing by More Cowbell and pick up his Indie Xmas Mix along with the rare Arcade Fire Xmas tracks (bit torrent required).

• The Darkness - Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End)


buy music, especially independent.

STATEN ISLAND SHOULD JUST SECEDE AND JOIN NJ

so yeah, staten island. long bike ride from one end of the island to the other (surreal and seems like we were suddenly all in ohio), crazy xmas decorations on every other lawn. 28 degrees, puddles are ice. climbing around an abandoned boat yard (and only had one person fall through the rotted docks). "locals" try to pick fights with us right off the boat (2 of you, 25 of us, gee i wonder who would win), others ride by hanging out an open car door screaming that they "can't wait to f*ck you! (up?)", or they are really friendly and invite us in to brown nose annies for a drink (of course that's also where the huge guys with iron crosses on their leather jackets are hanging out, so maybe it was good we didn't stay long). the american diner (see mural). watching porkchop do backbends on both third rails while waiting for subway that only came every hour or so. taking the 5 am ferry home, and then making the trek back to bushwick. . . just in time to see the sun come up.
and that was my friends birthday party last friday night, 10 hours start to finish. i think i could finally feel my feet again by sunday night.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MP3:

this one goes out to the fat man half falling out of the moving car (since he had to open the door to get a better angle) yelling threats at us on a quiet staten island street (see above). Avenue D is a two-some originally from miami. now they are surviving the implosion of the electroclash scene here in nyc. hot slutty lyrics (ie. SUPER not work-safe, and not really kids-under-18 safe either) combined with some booty-bass influenced electro beats make for a good time. unless you're really politically correct or easily offended by overt sexuality, then i suggest you skip this one. email me and i'll send you some Cat Stevens instead.

• Avenue D - Fuck Me (punk)


buy music, especially independent.

MOUSTACHE RIDES: 25 CENTS

oh man. the past weekend killed me. and i am not up for the full story yet. however, saturday night was the Moustache Riders party. it was fun, crazy-dance-party-in-a-basement fun. and that lame bar "fun house" on N. 4th is officially on the sucks list. although it was a bit satisfying to see that after we took the party to No Gallery, there were only two other patrons left in the huge warehouse space. . . and on a saturday night too. that place won't be around for long. and with such an asshole of an owner, it shouldn't be.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MP3:

man i feel like sh*t today. i'm gettin' sick. . . or well i guess i am already sick, rather. anyway, partially because i feel like i belong at home watching the rain fall from bleary eyes and suffering silently in my bedroom. . . and partially because Citizen Cope has been playing a slew of shows in nyc recently (with the next one being at the Bowery Ballroom on the 8th). . . therefore we're getting a little ditty from mr. dirt-and-grit himself.

• Citizen Cope - Sideways


buy music, especially independent.

WEAK FROM WEEKEND

one hell of a weekend. saw the sunrise two days in a row. . . and now it's monday and i feel like i have been kept in the attic in a plastic bag filled with styrofoam peanuts all year. details forthcoming.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MP3:

i just got some new stuff from another favorite east coast act of mine. The Apes are a truly infectious psyche-rock troupe out of DC. they seem to get press here and there (and they did just tour in europe, i think), but somehow no one i know seems to be clued in on this tip. regardless, when i saw them with The Liars, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Tunnel Of Love in an abandoned auto shop back years ago, i was blown away. if you can hold your own on a bill with those 3 other bands, that's gotta be something (although, it was the OLD Liars. . . so ya know). i played their new album for my hard-to-phase roommate and he was duly impressed (by the cover art, as well). this track isn't available on any of their albums, it was released on a compilation cd that came with Sound Collector (issue #7, with photo of the Microphones by me). it's still one of my favorite tracks, and may soon be one of yours.

• The Apes - The White Tower

Bonus:
more Apes mp3s here.


buy music, especially independent.

TAINT THE LADY

damn, work has been a deluge today. . . so i visited a friend last night at her new store (and i realize this is a bit of a narrow-audience-note here), and if you live near or ever find yourself around the Grand st./Havemeyer st. intersection in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. . . check out two hot little gems: Ghostown and Cinders (on Grand and Havemeyer, respectively). hit these hot spots of art/clothing/books/zines/good kids before they blow the f*ck up and you can't afford it. also in the area: grub = Foodswings (Vegan, fried stuff, milkshakes, damn good); drink = Tainted Lady (covered in paintings of naked ladies, see pic above) both on Grand st. have a good weekend, don't end up in jail or nothin'. . .
and remember, saturday = PARTY!

> RIDE IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT!

> presented by The Moustache Riders

> a benefit dance party to raise $ for the forthcoming Moustache Riders Calendar (yeah, it's gonna be hot, i know). DJs, booze, and girls that can move in ways that have been outlawed in 23 countries. preview projections of the photos from the calendar too.

> this saturday (10 pm)
> at Fun House (N. 4th between Bedford & Driggs)
> $5 (it is a benefit after all)

> Moustache Riders

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MP3:

so i kind of blew my load yesterday with the Tv On The Radio doing The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. . . and i really didn't think i could find something equally as stellar to follow it up with. ahhhh, but i even surprise myself occasionally. . . here are The Yeah Yeah Yeahs covering the lovely little miss Bjork's "Hyperballad". bon appetite.

• The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Hyperballad


buy music, especially independent.

LOVE COVERS LOVE

so my friend gave a lecture last night to AIGA, and although i will admit i am a bit of a partial party, she did a great job. it's really refreshing to hear someone effectively express interesting, coherent, and compelling ideas. i wish that had happened more in art school, or in the art world in general. this girl is gonna be big, and i get to be the crazy guy on the corner picking through the trash, smiling and mumbling to myself "i remember when she was just a kid and she did this one thing and. . ."
sweet, now i have something to look forward to.

damn. i just realized that the Moustache Riders party directly conflicts with the Vice Records Tour. . . why must life taunt me so? i must have been a petty mongolian warlord in a past life. . . figures.

> RIDE IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT!

> presented by The Moustache Riders

> a benefit dance party to raise $ for the forthcoming Moustache Riders Calendar (yeah, it's gonna be hot, i know). DJs, booze, and girls that can move in ways that have been outlawed in 23 countries. preview projections of the photos from the calendar too.

> this saturday (10 pm)
> at Fun House (N. 4th between Bedford & Driggs)
> $5 (it is a benefit after all)

> Moustache Riders

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MP3:

it's like christmas, really. here is one of my favorite bands covering one of my other favorite bands. it's kind of ridiculously good, like giggling-to-yourself-at-work good. not that i would ever do that or anything, but you know what i mean. it elicits the kind of joy that xmas morning used to bring back when i still wore my yellow footy pajamas with pride. it's on the forthcoming Tv On The Radio release, so be sure to tack it on the xmas list.

• TV On The Radio - Modern Romance


buy music, especially independent.

GET YER RIDE ON!

RIDE IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT!

presented by The Moustache Riders

a benefit dance party to raise $ for the forthcoming Moustache Riders Calendar (yeah, it's gonna be hot, i know). DJs, booze, and girls that can move in ways that have been outlawed in 23 countries. preview projections of the photos from the calendar too.

this saturday (10 pm)
at Fun House (N. 4th between Bedford & Driggs)
$5 (it is a benefit afterall)

Moustache Riders

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MP3:

so Japanther and i have a bit of a history. i met Ian (the singing-drumming half) soon after he came to nyc when he moved in as my roommate ('98?). i subsequently ended up becoming a rabid fan of Japanther when they started destroying things years later. the shows on brooklyn street corners are still some of my favorites. i went on a few tours and documented them, you can see most of it here. unfortunately, you just can't leave your friend stranded in arizona, no matter how bad a day/week/tour you've been having. so that was pretty much that. but they're first album "South Of Northport" is by far one of my favorites and pretty damn close to a "perfect album" (you know what i mean). they have been very prolific with their releases (if not a bit scattered), but i still hold that their first is by far their best. even if the cover art and title of "Dump The Body In Rikki Lake" is the best/most appropriate i have ever seen. ever. so yeah. hate 'em, love 'em, it's all the same. show me another dance-punk band that has songs asking parents not to get a divorce or lyrics like "close your eyes, close your eyes, go to sleep, you're all so boring!" and i might be interested. maybe.

• Japanther - Pleased To Meet You



buy music, especially independent.