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Showing posts from December, 2004

When I'm in the crowd . . .

Song in my head: "In the Crowd" by the Jam Ever since I heard the Kinks' "Johnny Thunder," I've wondered if Paul Weller nicked the melody and lyrics of the pre-chorus for "In the Crowd." Listen to the part in both songs where it says "And everyone" and compare. I watched a little of "In the Crowd" last night on the live Paul Weller DVD I rented from Netflix. Really cool DVD. I did watch a lot of the DVD disc on Nirvana's With the Lights Out last night. The footage of them playing "Big Cheese" at an instore is incredibly loud, thick and tight. The version of "Immigrant Song" from Krist's mom's house is a very tasty cover. Kurt's staring at a wall while Chad is at the other end of the room. Still hit all the changes. The other night I picked up the Libertines' first record, Up the Bracket . Very cool record. It's sloppy and sleazy while it's also melodic and dynamic. I'

I woke up and it's yesterday . . .

Song in my head: "Guiding Light" by Television Yesterday morning I dreamed we were having a Double Dare theme party at our place. There was an elaborate obstacle course with slides and slime. On a long table was a display of all sorts of prizes (including a blue bike). We had plenty of snacks on the table and I started to eat some. Then I woke up but I could have sworn that my pillow case was not the usual dark green. I saw a picture of Snoopy dancing with his head up and fast-moving feet. About five seconds passed before the image faded away and it went back to dark green. The housemate suggests that I was dreaming while I was awake. Strange. Watched Napoleon Dynamite last night. I heard good things about it and thought it was very interesting. No, that's not code for "I hated it." I laughed hard at the opening shot's homage (don't know if it was deliberate or not) to Dawn of the Dead (as in, starting with a tight shot of red shag carpet). I li

The Rat

Song in my head: "The Rat" by the Walkmen Hope everybody is having a good holiday (whether it's weeks, week, day or days). Christmas weekend was good: Friday, I went to a party down the street at a church-turned-into-hippie-living-community. Twas interesting and the cider really hit the spot. Saw The Life Aquatic Saturday night. Great movie, but it's a Wes Anderson movie, so it's a given. Spent some time with the family on Sunday. The weather has been cooperating, so I have no complaints. If Christmas is not your fancy, there's always Festivus . MTV.com has this article on the Walkmen. I received Bows + Arrows for Christmas and I thoroughly enjoy it. The second track, "The Rat," is really awesome. It reminds me of GvsB's "One Dose of Truth" from the Series 7 soundtrack. When I saw this article's headline , I thought it was a reference to Arthur Lee's band, Love. Twas not after I read the subheadline. Here'

I always believed in futures . . .

Song in my head: "Futures" by Jimmy Eat World We had a mix of ice, sleet and snow last night and boy was it crazy. I didn't go home: I stayed at hotel down the street. Twas a good night of sleep but I'm ready to go home this morning. Bridges and overpasses are slow but that's about it. The sun's out but it's only 19 degrees outside with a wind chill bringing the temp down even further. Before the craziness occurred yesterday, I finished watching the director and writers commentary track on the ROTK: EE DVD. Yes, the film's running time is four hours and ten mintes san credits. I still want to hear the cast commentary track. Hmmm. Don't have anything to do during the middle of today . . .

So what becomes of you my dear . . .

Song in my head: "Night Drive" by Jimmy Eat World Tomorrow's high will be the lower 40s. Today's high is supposed to be in the lower 60s. I guess the first day of winter will have to wait one day. I accomplished my goal of Christmas shopping last night. No long lines or annoying shoppers to wade through. Still, I find irony with the pre-Christmas rush with the people that tell others all year long not to wait until the last minute are the ones that are guilty of waiting until the last minute. I finished watching the Office Christmas special yesterday. Fantastic ending to such a great series. For so many people that complain about shows "jumping the shark," I don't think you could make an argument with this show.

All those people that you know . . .

Song in my head: "Satin in a Coffin" by Modest Mouse So the three and and a half days I had off for an early Christmas were very well spent. Friday night I hung out with Matt and other fellow friends from high school. Had Mexican food at (the now-franchized-in-Houston-at-least) Rico's and then proceeded to Matt and Kim's for a screening of Ryko's DVD of Bill Hicks' stand-up . Very hilarious stuff and in a lot of ways, timeless. Saturday night was spent with the family for an early Christmas exchange of presents. After eating Rico's (this time at a location close to my sister and brother-in-law), we gave and received. I made out with CDs, DVDs, books, a calendar, a tie and a new jacket. Very cool things and I think I'll have to spend the next few weeks going through everything (gotta love bonus footage and interviews on DVDs). Christmas spirit is alive and well in me. I have a few more Christmas gifts to buy for various people. I think after my

Motorcycle Emptiness

Song in my head: "Motorcycle Emptiness" by Manic Street Preachers Shall be out of town starting this afternoon and all through Sunday to be with family and friends. It will be a very cool Christmas, as usual, barring any road construction or car troubles. Those are not in the game plan. Will be wrapping gifts later this morning. I plan on listening to Vandals' Oi to the World and the Electrical Ornaments compilation during the activities. I also need to hear the Ramones' "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)." While I've heard a lot of bad versions of Christmas songs this year, I truly cherish the ones I like (Darlene Love's and U2's version of "It's Christmas, Baby Please Come Home" comes to mind). March 2005 will be a very good month for UK bands: Doves, Coldplay and Idlewild release new albums while Ash's Meltdown will get an American release on March 8th. I already have two copies of Meltdown (o

Moaning like children . . .

Song in my head: "Boy Destroyers" by Hey Mercedes MTV reports of a couple in Maryland who are suing Wal-Mart for selling an Evanescence live record because there was no warning about the expletives contained in it. I guess now is the best time for me to file a lawsuit against the makers of Back to the Future and the anonymous person who wrote the "F" word on the tunnel I played on as a kid for teaching me curse words. Rolling Stone reports on the most recent inductees to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Congrats to U2, the Pretenders, the O'Jays, Percy Sledge and Seymour Stein, among others. Now I think it's a good time for Island to reissue U2's back catalog with digital remastering. DVD File has an incredibly thorough review of the Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King: Extended Edition . My mouth is a river. Pitchfork has a review of the recent reissue of the Cure's first album, Three Imaginary Boys . Reminds of somebody who

What a wonderful puddle

Song in my head: "What a Wonderful Puddle" by Braid NME reports that Queen is reforming with Paul Rodgers from Free and Bad Company on lead vocals. I don't know if the guys knew it or not, but April Fool's Day is not in December. So I read the side-chapter in Everything about how the Manics never made it in America. There are great arguments as to why this is however I find Price's sentiments about the size of the American-based fans a little misleading. I know quite a few people that know who they are and all of their records have been released in the US (though some were belatedly released after the rest of the world got them). But Price's feelings that this band that wanted to look like Duran Duran but sound like the Sex Pistols could never hit the top of the charts in America is pretty right-on. My Christmas shopping is done and I didn't have to endure any crises trying to find anything. I had to order a couple of things online but ev

Dance, dance, dance to the radio

Songs in my head: "You've Got a Friend" by Carole King "Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)" by the Arcade Fire "She's Lost Control" by Joy Division Watched A Charlie Brown Christmas last night and realized that I can relate to it more now than when I was younger. A timeless story along with a wonderfully loose and melodic score by Vince Guaraldi. Plus Snoopy is always a treat. My goal of being done with my holiday shopping was not met. Still have a few things to get for a certain family member but I have some time tonight to take care of this. So far the shopping has been very easy to take care of, but I think it's easier to be a customer in a retail store than a retail employee. NME has a lot of news: Ash is working on a new album while Meltdown is getting a US release sometime in 2005. Doves ' new single, "Black and White Town," and record, Some Cities , will be released in the UK in February. No word on an American r

Musical Favorites of 2004

Musical Favorites of 2004 Show that rocked my brains out even though I wasn’t too familiar with the band’s material : The Cooper Temple Clause at the Gypsy Tea Room (tea room) -Never have I seen a six-piece band fuse all sorts of styles into one cohesive style. It was heavy like a metal band but it wasn’t cheesy. It was melodic like mid-1990s Britpop, but it wasn’t filled with arrogance or self-consciousness. It was loose and chaotic like a punk show but it wasn’t sloppy. I must say thanks to Matt for suggesting we go to it. Show that rocked my brains out and I was familiar with the band’s material : . . . And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead at the Gypsy Tea Room (ballroom) -I think this new five-piece line-up is what the band has wanted to do for some time. Two drummers may sound like overkill for most bands but this made it even more powerful. They played some new songs from their forthcoming Worlds Apart and it showed that the band is making substantial growth as

Ladies and Gentlemen, We're Floating in Space

Song in my head: "No Authority" by face to face Brother Matt posted his Top 10 of 2004 on his blog . I think I'm inspired to write up my favorites of 2004 as soon as this morning. Watch this space. More neighbors down our street are putting up Christmas lights. Very cool lighting schemes. They give me some good ideas for decorating our place, but putting lights outside may not happen for us: there are no outdoor electrical outlets. No worries. I shall make the most of what I can do inside and maybe put a wreath on the front door. Just read this headline and laugh. I remember seeing these guys when they were known as PVK play at a punk festival at the Ridglea Theater. There is a a really nice article about them in the Fort Worth Weekly this week.

Urbana's Too Dark

Song in my head: "Urbana's Too Dark" by Braid It froze overnight and I still can't believe it. I let all the faucets run and thankfully I remembered to turn them off this morning. I got the dog a pillow/mattress for her to lay on instead of the cold hardwood floor. I think she really took a liking to it: she stayed on it for the entire night. Since I had some time to do it yesterday, I did my first round of Christmas shopping. It wasn't too crowded, so I was able to go in and out in about fifteen minutes. Idlewild recently spoke to NME about their 2005 plans. March will see the release of their new album, Warnings/Promises . It looks like March is the month for bands across the pond: Coldplay and Doves are also releasing material that month. NME also reports the name of Hot Hot Heat's new guitarist. A certain magazine that I subscribe to sent me an e-mail about choosing 'Best Act', 'Best Single', et al, for an upcoming issue.