Long Drive Home/Quarterly Round-Up

2010 is off to a bang, and my what a bang it is going to be when it's all said and done. In less than 90 days, I will be back in Tennessee with Boston in the rearview mirror. It's kind of sad, but not really. In truth, it's a relief and exciting to know that for the 1st time in 12 years I will be settled in one place with some permanence! For our cross country trek (Oregon Trail-style!), I couldn't think of a better soundtrack than what 2010 has already delivered. Can't wait to see what the rest of this year holds (IN EVERY ASPECT!).

Here are my favorite records for
the 1st Quarter of 2010:
(that I have PURCHASED)

Local Natives - Gorilla Manor
I've already spoken ad-nauseum about this one. It's great. Enough said. It's the follow up that Fleet Foxes still hasn't released.




Download: Local Natives - "Sun Hands"


Harlem - Hippies
This AZ band via Austin is keeping my love of garage/retro rock alive. Their major indie debut on Matador is step up from their last outing, Free Drugs. Matador Records a stalwart of American Independent Labels is under the Beggars Group that also owns stake in Rough Trade, XL, 4AD, and the now defunct Beggars Banquet. All those labels are putting out some of the best music available right now. Harlem is the latest addition to a long list of legends in independent music.

Download: Harlem - "Gay Human Bones"

Surfer Blood - Astro Coast
Is surf rock back? I think so. It is rising up along the same lines with the flower punk. Surfer Blood is NOT surf rock, though. It is something like a bastard child of the Pixies/Breeders with My Morning Jacket (don't attach too much to the MMJ reference - I say that only b/c the singer has vocals that are reverbed out the wazzoo - he is NO Jim James)
***THIS JUST IN*** - They are going on tour with Pains of Being Pure at Heart and will be coming to the Hi-Tone in Memphis and the Bottletree in the big, salty 'Ham. So you better get off your couch and check out what should be an amazing show. THERE!

Download: Surfer Blood - "Floating Vibes"

Spoon - Transference
One of my favorite bands is back for more with less. Scaling things back for a more raw/rough sound than 2007's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, Transference is more along the lines of Gimme Fiction without going fully minimalist like Kill the Moonlight. (I still like Ga and Girls Can Tell the best!)

Download: Spoon - "Mystery Zone"


Vampire Weekend - CONTRA
Saw the ol' VW last week at the Orpheum. I feel like I've seen it all. It felt like your umpteenth Dave Matthews Band concert in High School. I fear the next time I see them will be like the one DMB concert I saw in college (snore........). Regardless, the show was excellent and fun. Contra is of the vein of if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Little studio tricks are toyed with (autotune), but it is still Vampire Weekend plain and simple. Spring has arrived and I believe it is time to put on my boat shoes!

Download: Vampire Weekend - "Giving Up the Gun"

She & Him - Volume 2
Zooey and M are back to sugarcoat your brains out! These little ditties are sappy as all get out, but they are good in their own simplicity. So, channel Phil Spector producing a Judy Garland/Patsy Cline duet album, put on your retro clothes (girls grab your favorite thrift store skirt and flats), prepare for a deadpan delivery and get lost in what sounds like music for a 70's Disney cartoon (Robin Hood, I'm looking at you....).

Download: She & Him - "In the Sun"

Let me tell you what let me down so far:

Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
The Soft Pack
BOOO! You could do better!


There is plenty of awesome other music that came out that I really like but haven't gotten around to purchasing, yet:

The Morning Benders - Big Echo
Dum Dum Girls - I Will Be
Los Campensinos - Romance is Boring
Beach House - Teen Dream
Happy Birthday - Happy Birthday

and on and on........

There is also a lot coming out soon to be fired up about:

MGMT
New Pornographers
The National
Avi Buffalo

and more!

It's gonna be a great year for us and for music!

Bad Kids - Kids Like You and Me

Last week, I finally got to see the Black Lips in concert. They blew my socks off in 2007 with their live album from Tijuana and Good Bad Not Evil. They have come through Boston at least 4 times since we have been here - missed 'em every time... No more. I also finally graced the infamous Middle East in Cambridge. So many times I was gonna go to a show and.......nope. Done and done. Both were great! I was way late to the dance even in 2007. While I was in dental school in Memphis, R.A. Weinstock, the beatnik scenester in our class would always tell me to meet her and her crew at the Buccaneer in Midtown. King Khan and BBQ show were always playing there, and little did I know that the Black Lips were often in tow. I never made it - still bums me out, but I still have my King Khan/BBQ mix tape cassette that she gave me in the stereo to this day. It always warranted a trip to Goner Records in Cooper/Young. In the 00's, King Khan, the Black Lips, et al carried the torch the Brian Jonestown Massacre carried in the mid-90's. The flower punk, garage rock, drug scene, 60's soul revival is alive and well. It's basically like Sam the Sham being backed by the Shangri-La's. Watching these guys play, it feels like you have been transported to the sock hop diner on acid (really wouldn't know...).

On Pitchfork this week, they are streaming the documentary, We Fun, that follows the music scene in Atlanta circa 2005-2008. The Black Lips are primary players along with Deerhunter, Mastodon, the Selmanaires, and many others. I love a good music doc. It is in the vein of DIG!, except no rivalries or sadness. It's just people hanging out at house parties, clubs and talking about the scene (and how hey have a severe distaste of the scene in Athens). Check it out HERE if you like music.

Black Lips New Years Eve at the end of We Fun

Greenberg

Noah Baumbach's latest venture comes out today. Greenberg appears to be simply the story about a man named Greenberg (played by a jaded Ben Stiller). He's a New Yorker who has moved to Los Angeles and dysfunction ensues. Probably a great casting with Stiller as no one plays the "guy who nothing goes right for" like him. Furthermore, comedians in serious roles almost always turn heads. The movie is almost as intriguing for the fact as the movie has a soundtrack/score by James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem. The preview below has "All My Friends" playing throughout - it is easily one of the best songs of the 00's.

I will most likely drag Whit to see this, and awkwardness will ensue. Have you watched Noah Baumbach movies? You worry about the guy's upbringing. His overly indie movies that usually feature 1 or 2 big names will usually have a couple of moments that will make you squirm in your seat (or make you unable to make eye contact with the person you are watching the movie with). Such I guess are the harsh realities of life? Too real for me sometimes. The Squid and the Whale, Margot at the Wedding, Kicking & Screaming.......awkward, awkward, awkward. I guess I can only stomach "watered down" Noah like The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (he wrote the screenplay). Check it out when it makes its way to your city, but don't say I didn't warn you....cringe.

Falling Stars

Well, the day started with horrible news, and it kept on coming. Alex Chilton, the lead singer of Big Star, died of an apparent heart attack right on the eve of SXSW. Who is Big Star? They're basically a British Invasion act from the '70's that was really from Memphis. They are part Who and part Kinks (the windmill/power chord of Townsend with the wink in the eye of Ray Davies). You say, "Big deal....never heard 'em?". Well, I bet you have and didn't know it. Go to some music streaming site (i.e. - Lala.com) and stream #1 Record or Radio City. Better yet, go buy the 1992 compilation of the two albums on Stax (oh, Memphis....). I guarantee you will recognize at least one of the songs and say, "Oh.....I have heard them...". They are great. Much like Moby Grape (one of my all time favorite bands), Big Star is a highly revered American rock band in musical circles that your parents probably missed....

Bet you know this one.....for all the wrong reasons :P

(Well, when it rains it pours - Jesse James cheated on Sandra Bullock..... Oh, and flippin' Vanderbilt lost in the 1st round of the Tourney to Murray St. - Please, Thursday just end already - FML)

Sorry About Your Boy

Well, as you know: He's friends with Merlin Olsen. The Hall of Fame lineman passed away today. Sorry, Ron.

I Wanna Dress You Up In My Love

I was just scouring the interweb looking at clothes. I frequently like to look at clothes and also mock-vaca's on Travelocity, but I never buy anything (b/c I'm broke as a joke)! Here are some of my favorite items from the past 6 months. And yes, I'm not a real man. J. Crew really stepped up their game in the past year. I made my pilgrimage in December to the J. Crew men's store in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan. It was a converted Liquor Store to men's shop (above). Speaking of NYC, I would kill to have something from Thom Browne's personal shop (below). On a more approachable level, Gant made shirts for our dads when we were little, but they still are making simple shirts that I love.

ANY Suit from Thom Browne

Gant Shirt from Barneys

Belstaff Roadmaster Jacket from Neiman Marcus and J. Crew
Thomas Mason Oxford Shirt from J. Crew
Classic Sperry TopSider Boat Shoe from ANYWHERE !!!
Asics Onitsuka Rooster/Tiger from ClassicSportsShoes
Prada Driving Loafer from Barneys
Ludlow Suit from J. Crew
Thom Browne Classic Tie from Barneys

I Just Threw Up In My Mouth

Well, this is what I woke up to this morning: the new video for She & Him's "In the Sun". My apologies in advance to my wife whose eyes are rolling into the back of her head as she reads this. You thought Zooey Deschanel's Cotton commercial ("the touch the feel of cotton........ the fabric of our lives....") was nauseating? Look out! This video ups the ante and goes all in. Zooey dances around a school like the indie version of "Hit me, Baby (One More Time)". People, there's even a hula-hoop scene..... You wanna know the sad part? It's almost adorable... and cute.... Then you vomit..... again. Guilty pleasure? She & Him? Yup. Queen Zooey and King M. Ward sit on the indie throne. What a cool duo? Volume 2 of She & Him is out this month on Merge (order here).

Best Album Cover of the Year?

new Black Keys in May - classic!

Local Natives, Too...

Well, I've had a week with the Local Natives album, Gorilla Manor. It' s my favorite so far this year (even more than Spoon and VW). If you remotely like Fleet Foxes, you must bend an ear.

That's all -

The Inbetweeners

Do you ever watch BBC America? Maybe you did back when Ricky Gervais et al were attacking the states with The Office for the first time. Obviously, that popularity led to the US spin-off with Steve Carell and the rest of his crew. Subsequent to that, the inevitable conversation always arose with someone saying, "Oh? I used to watch the British version. It was loads better". Great. The original almost always is better (except in rare instances-Jeff Buckley trumping Leonard Cohen comes to mind...).Back in January, BBC America debuted another BAFTA award winning comedy from across the pond, The Inbetweeners. It aired in the UK 3 years ago, and the US version is already in the works. It is no Office, but it is funny/enjoyable if you are into sophomoric humor. I DVR it each Wednesday night and watch it when there is nothing better on to watch. It follows 4 teenage guys going to school in the suburbs of London (West Hampshire?). The main character, Will (see why I like it?), is new to the school and has found a niche with Simon, Jay and Neil. While certainly not lowest on the secondary school food chain, they are most definitely not the "in-crowd" (hence the inbetweeners...). I will say WARNING: it is crass beyond words. Unless you are comfortable watching South Park or Superbad without flinching, this may not be your cup of tea. It is definitely TV-MA for it's language. Check it out, guys (and girls if you can stomach it).

anyone have Fifa 2007? Recognize that song?

The episodes also have interludes with one of my favorite songs of 2007:
Jack Penate - "Second, Minute, or Hour"

Sunshine In Your Hands

I first heard this song last week. I'm sure I'm behind the curve, but I haven't been able to get it out of my head. Local Natives 2nd (or 3rd?) single off their debut album, Gorilla Manor (Buy It), is called "Sun Hands". The LA band is definitely channeling Fleet Foxes (big time!) with touches of Mando Diao (who has long been my favorite Swedish import). I've been waiting all week for my copy of their LP to come in the mail. I'll give some opinions when it finally arrives. You can download "Sun Hands" on iTunes or you can get it here:

On the Wings of Love....

Well, I've solved the mystery of Vienna on the Bachelor.

It's David from the last Bachelorette in disguise.

That or they were separated at birth - I always knew she looked familiar! Her nickname, Sausage, applies even more now! Jake! You Moron! Look out! Einhorn is Finkle! Finkle is Einhorn!

J.D. Salinger

JD Salinger died last week in NW New Hampshire away from the public eye - just like he liked it. Unable to cope with the limelight that came with the success of The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger all but disappeared from society. With the exception of a late 70's interview, the eccentric author was really never heard from again. In Salinger's mind, his writing was for his own personal enjoyment. Having to share these musings with the world was far to invasive for him. There is a line in Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park by Dr. Malcolm (that's Jeff Goldblum in the movie, kids...) that says, "What is so great about discovery? It is a violent, penetrative act that scars what it explores...". Salinger was most certainly scarred by his own discovery. Regardless, I'm sure he lived a very peaceful life out of sight.

Whether he wanted to or not, Salinger crafted one of the greatest literary characters of all time in Holden Caulfield. The insecure, foul-mouthed, prep school flunkie led readers through a vivid description of the span of 4-5 days that I may never fully comprehend. Considering it has been my favorite book from the moment I read it in 10th grade English, I wish I could sit around and talk about The Catcher in the Rye ad nauseum with others just to see what people pulled away from it. I read it about once every 3 or 4 years, and I'm back in it again as we speak still reaching for answers. It never fails to make me laugh, make me sad, and make me think. I feel like a leper holding the book on the subway each day as sadly, the book carries some negative connotation for me, too. The name Mark David Chapman may not register with everyone, but he was a troubled soul and obsessive to say the least. On December 8, 1980, Chapman made his way around Manhattan retracing the steps of Holden Caulfield and eventually ended his day at The Dakota apartment building. It was there that he gunned down John Lennon with his copy of The Catcher in the Rye at his side...
Nevertheless, this post is about Salinger. His writing was always vivid and his characters always numbing. Whether it was Caulfield, Seymour Glass, or Franny & Zooey, his lead characters knew how to hold your attention. Thanks to Seymour Glass, I am forever haunted/confused/disturbed by A Perfect Day For Bananafish (and Whitney is too after I gave her my thoughts on it.....). These characters may not have been your cup of tea, especially when it was required reading for school, but they deserve a second look. Like I said, I am plowing through The Catcher once again in Salinger's honor. Holden sure looks different to me at 30 than he did at 15, but I enjoy him just the same....

What really knocks me out is a book, when you're all done reading it, you wished the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it.

Holden Caulfield, The Catcher in the Rye

So it goes...

In your final week, I bid you adieu mon ami!

Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A - START!

Vampire Weekend's new album Contra is out today! (applause) Go get it!