Not on the Guest List

Winter is the New Summer Week 6 Podcast

We've reached week 6 of Winter is the New Summer's page-filling-photo glory and to celebrate I've crafted another podcast! After Arya Imig and local dance delight Jeffrey Jerusalem made exclusive podcasts and mixes the past few weeks for the site, I've stepped back up to the pitch with this:

"Ambling Alp" - Yeasayer

"Janeiro" - Naive New Beaters

"Home" - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

"What You Say is What you Are" - Bobby Birdman

"Daily Routine (Phaseone Remix)" - Animal Collective

"La Ritournelle (Metronomy Mix)" - Sebastien Tellier

"Candy Castle" - Glass Candy

"Satellite" - TV on the Radio

"Warm Leatherette" - Normal

"En Papier" - These New Puritans

"Life Magazine" - Cold Cave

Download Winter is the New Summer Week 6

Ever rad Charlie of Panther is our Poster Boy this week, timely for the fact that it's Panther's last show ever occurs this Sunday at Ron Toms. I will so be in attendance! It got me thinking on back to the first time I ever met Charlie was shooting him live at Holocene for Skyscraper and how I did a Willamette Week profile on him back when I could actually turn assignments in on deadline for the paper. My how times have changed ahahaha. Anyways, Charlie is moving onto other exciting musical pastures such as a project with Marius aka Copy. Psyched on that. Look out for a WITNS house show with the project in about a month. Whoo!!

Anndddddd, lastly, Winter is the New Summer has got two cools nods since the last time I posted. Cary Clarke wrote up an article for the Mercury AND my one true love --> Wieden+Kennedy's blog featured the site on their blog. Gasp! Shock! Whoo! I seriously love that blog - it's how I found out about the typography book Hand Job which is my present inspiration for all things zines, illustration and type.

_{Anywaysss, head over to ^{WinteristheNewSummer for the lame joke of the week (click on his mouth), an intimate Charlie moment (his middle finger), two awesome and local MP3s (search his face to find!), a weirdo Coolio video that is hands down awesome and more!}}

Canadians Do It Better

 

Finally! It's taken long enough! How long have I been sweating Thunderheist? So long that they're practically passe in terms of my listening tastes, but to finally have a chance to see them live? I'll take that offer up and welcome 2007 back with open arms. Now let's run throughout the rundown shall we? 

Arya and I arrived at 11, greeted by the talents of DJ Lifepartner who I featured a bit back in an installment of Hang the DJ on LocalCut. He really nailed in, playing some DJ Mujava, the Aeroplane/Au Revoir Simone remix/cover of Friendly Fires' "Paris," (MP3) as well as an A-Trak remix of Sebastian Tellier's "Kilometer." An excellent La Roux remix even cropped up that made the duo bearable. Shortly after our arrival, openers Winter Gloves took to the stage. I'd thought we'd arrived in time to solely catch headliners Thunderheist and I'm so glad we didn't. Having ignored invites in my inbox to check out Winter Gloves for no reason other than laziness and wanting to stay in, but as they say "Winter is the New Summer," so I got out there and their set was definitely something to catch and crow about. So much energy!

All the band members, from the frontman to the drummer had flare, personality and were oh so playful throughout their whole extremely danceable set. The audience began clapping along, unprompted from the first song! And the Montreal based quartet was pretty much exactly what Passion Pit should be like live. Granted I haven't caught Passion Pit since when they opened for Yelle back in October 2008, but I was thoroughly disappointed as they tried as a band to replicate all that Michael Angelakos had produced solo. They came off as a bad college band in my opinion, much of the electronic hallmarks lost amid their jam-band-y presentation. And Mr. Angelakos was seated and confined behind his keyboard/organ thing the whole time! The point of having an accompanying live band should have been to free him up to be a proper frontman, moving about the stage, reflecting the emotions of the lyrics through exaggerated body movements, but no… not in Passion Pit's case. The band is back on December 7th, I hope it's evolved. Back to Winter Gloves - that was decidedly not the case. Frontman Charles F began the set standing behind his gear - gaining them their first point. He then went from standing on the red carpet of Rotture's stage to his stool and galavanted between the two for the rest of the set, taking a seat a time or two, but staying on his toes the whole time and in turn keeping us on ours. 

It is hard to communicate how truly dance able the entire set was, complete with beats that faked the audience out, but always had us swirling around. EVERY SONG. Because sometimes even if you go to see a dance-y band, there will be a tune or two with a slower tempo. Tank you Winter Gloves for not going that route and staying on track, the dance track the whole set.

Towards the end, drummer Pat Sayers noted into the mic how their booking agent had told them Portland was a goth town. An audience member shouted it we as rock town, which elicited a response in the form of more dancing :D It also must be stated the group's resemblance to other Canadian musicians. Guitarist Jean-Michel Pigeon looked like the long-lost brother of fellow Montreal dwellers Wolf Parade's drummer due to his hat, beard and hair length. And I kept thinking of Death From Above's/MSTRKRFT's Jesse F. Keeler. Even if you throw out those two comparisons, there are a number of Portland people they each looked like. Trippy.

So, yes: Thunderheist finally made their first Portland appearance! Conrad has been trying to book them for 3 years. Holocene had them scheduled for a a mid-July show back in 2007, but the duo never made it. I heard a rumbling a week or two before that show that they'd canceled, checked in with Holocene and then shortly after the listing was removed from their calendar page. Boo. And it's taken until for their raucous show to finally grace a Rose City stage.

How did it begin? With super-skinny firecracker Isis doling out booze straight from a bottle into the open mouths of audience members gathered around the stage. Could it have started any other way? No. Arya made a comment to the affect, "is that even legal?," smiling as he asked. No. The Canadian duo trotted out to the beat of a souped up, disco-fied version of "Sweet 16" that had everyone rowdy in an instant and singing along.

The floor was just going crazy the whole time. At some point in the night a posse of 80's skantified ladies had made their way in and they were burning it up along with every drunkard in the building which was pretty much everyone at that point except Arya and I who amazingly played it sober.

If Isis wasn't rapping the hits or singing odes to coke, she was asking for a lot of technical things in terms of the monitors. It seemed her requests split equal time with the amount of singing, but it really didn't take anything away.

So the major bummer is that I debated the whole time, "is this going to be a bus night, or cab night?" and after flip-flopping enough and actually getting turned-off by the amount of inescapable of trashy sexuality happening on the dancefloor and realizing that I am more a 2007 fan than 2009 fan of Thunderheist no matter how excellent their stage presence turned out to be, I decided I wasn't gonna pay $20 for a cab back how and skipped out at 12:20. I walked across the Burnside bridge and just as I got to 4th Avenue, my bus rounded the corner on 5th. So it ended up being a cab night anyway! I left early for nothing, other than to miss out on more entertaining antics which Arya luckily communicated to me the next day.

At one point there was a mic malfunction which Isis jokingly blamed on being black and began bringing up how "Obama is President. Kunta Kinte won!" as reasoning why such an issue should now be burdening her. 

I can't believe I missed "Jerk It" live, but I guess somethings are meant to be missed and held out as a carrot for seeing them again. But not in 2010. They're on hiatus for the year ahead working on their respective solo projects. I got an email just the other day about a "airy bass rub" remix Grahmzilla did for a duo by the name of Bonjay...

PS - a bathroom stall bore this awesome quote which I thought was worth an appearance:

Winter Gloves myspazz

Thunderheist Myspazz

"Red Whine" - Thunderheist MP3

Winter is the New Summer Site and Podcast

So the pretty lil event site Winter is the New Summer that Devin and I have been working on has officially launched in full! Whoo! Let's have a 750ml salute to that! We did a soft launch in October, then last week we introduced the poster concept and from this week on until the end of winter we will have a different member of the Portland scene acting as a Poster Boy or Poster Girl, holding up our event picks of the week, this week being Rocky formerly of the Hush and currently of Wampire and Union Jacks. Scroll around on the page and you'll find hidden easter eggs like exclusive podcasts, youtube clips of bad jokes, brand new MP3s from Portland bands and a host more of goodies. Outside of the site, we will be offering free clothes check weekly at certain parties so that you can safely strip off all your layers and party in your summertime clothes all winter long! Shall be a fun winter! Or shall I say summer? Anyways, we update the site every Wednesday. I made a podcast for this week which you can find below. 

Tracklist:

"Stillness Is the Move" - Dirty Projectors

"What You Say is What You Are" - Bobby Birdman

"Party in the USA" - Miley Cyrus

"My Moon My Man (Boys Noize Remix)" - Feist

"40 Day Dream" - Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros

"Tik Tok (P Diddy)" - Ke$ha

"Electric Feel" - MGMT

"1901" - Phoenix

"You're a Jerk" - New Boyz

"Swing Tree" - Discovery

"Boy Toy" Starfucker/Pyramiddd

"Heartbeats" - The Knife

"Best I Ever Had" - Drake

"Love Will Tear Us Apart" - Joy Division

"Milk and Honey" - The Red River

"Tiny Dancer" - Elton John

Download Winter is the New Summer Podcast MP3

"Stillness Is the Move" - Dirty Projectors

Everyone's going apeshit over Solange's cover of Dirty Projectors' "Stillness is the Move," which made me happy for the reason that it brought the original song back to the forefront of mind. I woke up many a day to the sound of this track blasting from the record player this summer which I have to say is a pretty pleasant way to wake no matter the volume. 

I was first introduced to the track a little before the album dropped, Erik of Hot Victory, Guidance Counselor and my most beloved late night food cart Potato Champion gleefully exclaimed how they went all Mariah on the track and then promptly pumped it from the fry cart's stereo. This was before the cart had to let go of their proper outdoor sound system due to neighbor complaints. Ahhh, summer and open windows...

Anyways, I must add my favorite Solange offering has to be her debut single with rapper N.O.R.E. I recommend perusing it on Youtube. Also, check her twitter. I am still a mighty vocal opponent of joining twitter, but damn I do love her tweets which often concern tours, her son and things aimed at the names we all know like A-Trak, KidSister and Jeremy Scott.

"What You Say is What You Are" - Bobby Birdman

I first heard this Bobby Birdman track when he played Rotture this summer and it was easy to so instantly sing along with which I loved loved loved. The same amore is extended to the lyrics as well. Late int he summer I stopped by E*Rock's to pick up a cord for my lights that I'd left after doing a shoot with him a few weeks prior. Eric was busy assembling New Moods CDs for press mail-outs, so I snagged myself a copy then and have been spinning it ever since.

"Party in the USA" - Miley Cyrus

When I saw this was number 1 on itunes back on the first of September, I knew I must check it out. Miley's pretty hit or miss. Ranging from the fantastic "See You Again" (so good Health and I geeked out about it in the interview I did with them for Pitchfork) to the 'good, but not my thing' "The Climb." This. This is cheesy. This is perfection. PERFECTION! She is able to hit every demographic in the course of three minutes and 23 seconds. By mentioning Jay-Z she (or rather the song's producer Dr. Luke) checks the rap/hip-hop box align with her faux-rap deliver that check the adult contemporary box by sounding quite a bit like Barenaked Ladies. Seriously, just relisten to their song "Pinch Me." She retains a country twang in her voice (especially on the stilettos line) and the song is just pure pop. Even the bridge makes me salivate (and that's where a lot of pop songs can lose me).

"40 Day Dream" - Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros

Thank you Marisa for giving me a ride home. Thank you for playing this fabulous song along the way. My mom is convinced that if you combine three songs on the Beatles' White Album, you will get this song. She says she's going to prove it. My breath isn't bated, it's lost -- from dancing and singing along to this beautiful, sassy ballad. They're coming to Portland on December 9th at the Doug Fir. I have grand visions of draping them in a blanket, sprinkling them with confetti that will never wash out and decorating the immediate area with white felt haphazardly-sewn cloud pillows. For a photo. Not just because. I swear.

"My Moon My Man (Boys Noize Remix)" - Feist

Classic. So good. Track number 2 - "Falcon Jab" on Ratatat's LP3 reminds me a bit of it.

"Tik Tok (P Diddy)" - Ke$ha

You know what they say, while the cat's away, the mice will play. While Uffie is off having her baby, the door has been opened for Kesha to take the stage, half rapping trashy lyrics (that are a little bit more skanktified than typical Top 40, but not as "Rated-X" as Uffie goes) with pretty much the exact same delivery method as the Parisian dweller. But you know what, I don't think it's only Uffie becoming a mama that set the stage for Kesha to steal her thunder on a more mainstream level, no, I think it's that much delayed Uffie Lp that still hasn't seen the light of day, despite initially being slated for release in 2007. And if anyone's gonna be raking in the dough, I'd prefer it to be the original instead of the rip-off. Come back Lil' Uff, come back. God to think - when Uffie next does it will actually, literally be a come back. I mean that's the only way to truly classify it since she has gone away on maternity leave. Who would've thought back in 2006 that Uffie would be primed for a comeback? That a situation would present itself that you would be mentioning [read: typing] "Uffie" and "comeback" in the same sentence?

Without Flo Rida, Ke$ha wouldn't be primed for launch. Can someone give Uffie a hook la M.I.A. on "Swagger Like Us?" Say, for that comeback. Gah! M.I.A. and Uffie both mamas. My head is exploding. Let's us move on…

"Electric Feel" - MGMT

I resisted for so long. So long! But I finally gave into the ways of MGMT. Our relationship first began on itunes, precisely them being a free single. Then evolved to me deleting "Time to Pretend," skipping them when they played Holocene with Yeasayer and skipping them at the Playboy party during SXSW 2008. But then a little concert by the likes Cut Off Your Hands at the Doug Fir was saved!, SAVED! I tell you by the sound guy playing this song overhead and forcing me to finally give into MGMT irresistible pop ways.

"1901" - Phoenix

Thank you for coming back Phoenix. I've missed you since catching at the Wonder all those years ago in 2006. Sincerely. Thank you for coming back with an album that has soundtracked many a fun thing. Riding around in a van with US Royalty in New York this summer, my 24th birthday this year. I just saw the car commercial last night that uses them. Congrats on getting some licensing money! The album is so good that I'm having a dance party on Monday Dcember 14th, the night you skip Portland that consists of us just playing your album from start to finish. It's at the Green House. You're welcome to come, everyone is. Then you're free to go to your Seattle show on the 15th. I might.

"You're a Jerk" - New Boyz

I have a theory. New Boyz and Portland band Congratulations are engaged in a lyric battle over who can be more repetitive. Take a listen to this track and then try to find anyone of theirs. Can you here the competition?

Anyways, this song i not complete with out the dance moves. Sporting perhaps the weakest lyrics since Soulja Boy's "Crank Dat," comes yet another single prettily packaged with it's own craze inspiring dance. Do you know how to jerk? Do the reject? The dip? The UFO? I highly recommend watching the "Teach Me How to Jerk" instructional video on Youtube. I also recommend skipping ahead to 6:11 and seeing a five year named Christ Twice do the dance, if only for his name alone.

"Swing Tree" - Discovery

The sum of two parts is greater than those parts alone, especially in the case of Discovery. I don't particularly care for Vampire Weekend nor Ra Ra Riot, from which the lads of Discovery hail from, but hey, I gave into MGMT, anything is possible.

On a cursed road-trip from Seattle to Portland with Chona for MFNW this year, this came on from an i-pod. Really good. A couple of people had told me it was a sucky side-project. I would have to disagree, at least in the case of this song. It is soooo good! Not all that complex, but so many layers that would sway you into thinking it is. It's a victory in pop for a song to be both simple and complex, not to mention infection and this synthy jam is all of those things.

"Boy Toy" Starfucker/Pyramiddd

Oh Starfucker! I mean Pyramiddd! Do I have to call you that?

You can feel the blood pumping, the air pumping through those lungs that are so beautifully sang about within this ditty. I wish this would become a playas anthem. Like get sampled in some hit rap song - the part "just love for the game." I can almost here "I'm not a player I just crush a lot" following it. Will someone make that mashup? Then orchestrate a video that would include Josh dressed up with gold chains around his neck? And maybe a blue flag hanging out his backside, but only on his left side, yeah that's his Cripps side…

"Heartbeats" - The Knife

This song will never cease to bring me joy. That is all. Actually, I remember playing it at a houseshow last summer on request of one of the bands (Princeton from LA) and the drummer from another band on the bill promptly came and harassed me for playing such a dated song. It's damn good Andy Parker, no matter the date. Now that's all.

"Best I Ever Had" - Drake

Devin likes rap. A lot. He likes Drake. A lot. First jewel case CD he's bought in quite some time and I'm oh so happy about that purchase because it enabled my introduction to Drake. A week after first hearing this song I was perusing the Billboard Hot 100 charts and was amazed that an artist by the name of Drake had managed to snag four spots in the top 20 and without me even knowing who they are as that much of a chart coup would signify a cultural phenomenon. Where had I been to miss such a thing? (Well in the woods teaching science for 7 week straight, but…) And then I thought back. "I know this person!" and all was restored to well-being in the world. Yes, it was that big of an event.

And to add, I'm so glad I got the unfiltered introduction, rather than first hearing it by way of the clean radio version. The word "fucking" in the chorus is kinda what make the song worth it.

"Love Will Tear Us Apart" - Joy Division

Whenever I hear Joy Division or New Order my mind travels back to the days of yore i.e. this past summer. So dumb, so epic, so summer. Pretty much every night we'd hop the fence at Creston and do a bit of night swimming. Not just us, but lots of other groups too. On any given night there could be four different groups of people that had descended on that pool for revelry, bringing along booze and pool toys. Turn on the water slide (which you could and at 3am you found yourself in a very packed, very surreal moment. Well pretty much every Wednesday the cops would bust it. Like clockwork. And one night we pulled up to find Alley (next week's poster holder for Winter is the New Summer) and friends dancing atop her car to "Temptation" by New Order (MP3), without a care for the houses they were parked next too. We mage it to the pool, over the fence and got a bottle of champagne champagne (so nice, you have to say it twice) cracked before two officers joined into our mix.

So sonic. So nostalgic. So essential.

"Milk and Honey" - The Red River

Ummm… well pretty much all of my interactions with the southern California crew that is the Red River have been of the obnoxious sort, most recently walking into a room where the dudes of the band were passing around an etch-a-sketch of a penis they'd drawn. Commendable… Not. But! - this song is! Their songs have never really reached me until now. It came across as frat folk, informed by nature, but the kind of perspective gained from assigned reading. However, this… This is… it. As simply put as that. It's a simple song, except not. It's charming, honest and warm. Well much more that those words too, but I don't want my description to turn into a term paper.

"Tiny Dancer" - Elton John

Oh, Papa Elton. Be still my beating heart. This takes me back to summer drives. Takes me back onstage with Gregg Gillis during his MFNW 2009 set, takes me to a lot of things. Especially the scene, well not so much scene, but all of Almost Famous with Kate Hudson dancing whimsically around to the tune pre-A-Rod. Oh damn redhead boys. Patrick Fugit, you will be my forever crush! Anywaysss, this song gives me ideas for next summer, but hey! Winter is the new summer, so maybe you'll find me dancing in a tutu at houseshows and proper venues in the very near future. Actually you will. I just bought a load of pink tulle at Mill's End with a 30% off coupon.

Bon Voyage Starfucker, Hello New Name

So I wrote this for LocalCut. But it won't be posted there:
Isn't it strange how surprised you can be when things that you've heard rumblings about actually come true? Like hearing that Starfucker might change its name and then seeing - via a Facebook status-update and a MySpace bulletin - that the rumbling is indeed true. Yes, at 12:46pm today, Starfucker announced that the quartet is changing it's name:

<blockquote>Hey Friends--
Everyone knows our name sucks...so here is your chance to give us a new one.
The best thing about this new-name game is that we want YOU to help us come up with it.

There are two ways to vote for Starfucker's new name.

*Email your idea to:
newnameideas@gmail.com

OR

*Vote in person at the merch table at any show on our upcoming tour

This will be our last tour as Starfucker!
Come out and help us usher in a whole new era of.....awesome-band-name-yet-to-be-determined.
One vote per fan please.
And of course there are fabulous prizes! If your name is selected, you will get tons of cool shit!!!
Deadline for ideas is October 1st.
</blockquote>

Let's address this concrete info upfront: Send your suggestions in by October 1st.

Let's face it, a name change isn't entirely unwarranted given that the group is no longer the solo project of Josh Hodges. This past weekend's Microfest was a great indication of such. Last time the one-day festival was held is was just Josh Hodges and the wall of sound he created from behind his drum kit with a guitar, keyboard and plenty of feedback, still relegated to sweaty basements. Now two and a half years on the band has expanded into a quartet, is currently in the midst of a national headlining tour, recently appeared in Spin and has licensed songs to IBM, Target and Weeds - all of which are indicators that the name isn't holding them back as much as one would initially expect a name like Starfucker would.

Sound on the Sound mentions in <a href="http://www.soundonthesound.com/2009/09/08/starfucker-looks-for-a-new-name-embarking-on-last-tour-as-starfucker/">it's post on the topic</a>:
<blockquote>
What does suck, we’re sure, is your name not being able to be said on the radio, all ages venues not booking you because of your name, loosing revenue and potential ads because of your name, and having parents not allow kids to attend your show thanks to your name.</blockquote>

All valid points, but Starfucker was never about potential revenue or ads, at least not in the beginning. Lifted from a friend's Chicago-based zine of the same name, Starfucker was about fun. An outlet where fun triumphed ambition. And by adopting the name Starfucker it pretty much guaranteed that fun would always be the project's reality and probably its only reality. The name would prevent the accession to pop radio and the shelves of Walmart.

And one must remember, there is another metal band named Starfucker. Portland's Starfucker has in the past put US in parenthesis after it's name to denote a difference. Could this have anything to do with that? I kinda hope so. It'd help buck any claims of selling-out that will undoubtedly be raised, even if only in the minds of some fans rather than typed out in ranty blog posts.

Or could it really be as simple as that the band name sucks?

There's also the fact that they're opening it up - not just announcing the name change ala the band featured in <a href="http://blogs.wweek.com/music/2009/09/08/congratulations-old-believers-structured-calisthenics-and-a-doormans-wisdom-seattle-wa/">the tour diary earlier today</a>. Eskimo and Sons' name switch didn't come with public input. It came with a farewell/retirement shabang followed up months later by the assembled musicians (minus original drummer Dylan Reed) playing low-key shows under the banner of Congratulations. Hey - that reminds me: the name Eskimo and Sons is free now, isn't it? Maybe Starfucker could just assume that - haha. Back to the case in point, if the name change has any corporate overtures, having an open submission system seems like the antithesis of that. Less suits, more "we the people."

So does the Starfucker's name change mean the game is changing?

>> I'm sure we'll know soon. Shawn will probably leave a comment on LocalCut. I never gave this rumor a second though because there's long been rumbling of a membership overhaul and other jazzy things that have never come to fruition. And truth be told, I don't think I want to know. That's why I've never asked Josh. That's why I won't. I don't want to believe that ideals have been compromised. And maybe that's not the case. But for the possibility that it is, ignorance is bliss and choosing ignorance can sometimes be wise.

Holy Hell It's Been A While

Whoa! My longest non-posting period. Hmmm...

So Graffiti Island are coming to Portland for two dates in three days next week. I'll be reveling it up on both occasions. I'm presently writing a listing on the trio for Willamette Week. Did a quick google search to reacquaint myself with the group and lo-and-behold the third result was the review I wrote after seeing them at a warehouse party in East London a year and a half ago. I clicked and found my way back to this here blog. A blog that seems like forever ago to me at this point.

I think about Not on the Guest List from time to time. I was going to post a recap of my Sasquatch experience this year, but the task seemed to daunting. Then I was in New York for half of July and wanted to write up my time spent there. Didn't happen though ahahaha. Also, July 9th was the three year anniversary of me starting the site and I was going to do a final ten posts and then shutter it for good. Was apparently too lazy. I think it might be because I don't like definite goodbyes. While I feel that I've now grown beyond this blog, it has been such a major point of growth in my life at large that I feel to completely close it is almost like showing callus disregard for it. My life has changed so much because of Not on the Guest List and I don't want to prematurely close the door on it while at the same time I feel as though this blog has run it's course.

I still have many musical adventures, but don't feel the compulsion or the duty to document it. I feel I've found other ways to share what I love in a more direct person to person way and that's what life's all about - the people. Music blogs also seemed to be like a consumption race too, more so and more so. And also the feeling of obligation turned me off posting. I've really become even more anti-obligation since this blog freed me of having a day-job two years ago.

But yeah, I don't know. Losing the momentum of the blog makes me a lil' sad. Or just the outlet and what role it has played in my life. Guess this post is really just to document the limbo I feel with Not on the Guest List. I often want to create a podcast and post it up. Or just recap a recent concert experience. I don't know. Who knows. My taste has changed drastically since I first started. Local Portland music, experimental music and the Jonas Brothers are my musical landscape now.

If I could come up with a new direction that still seems to stay true to the ethos, I would love to continue on that path. Otherwise I've got many others projects abrewin' that currently receive my attention ie Lost Gospel, a Jonas Brother tribute album with the likes of Dragging an Ox, White Rainbow, White Fang, Congratulations, Starfucker and hopefully Fist Fite and Nurses and working on a book about dead birds, amongst other pursuits. Maybe if Uffie finally releases a full length this will get back on pace hahaha. I miss her.

Anywaysssss, see you soon! Hope all is well! I've been going through a backlog of photos and it'd be nice to Post 'Em all.

Animal Collective NY Times Vocab

So the New York Times profiled our dearly beloved Animal Collective the other day. As I read through trying to picture the imagery writer Jon Caramanica was creating with his words such as "bee-swarm synths," I was also struck with the thought that he had a thesaurus by his side while composing it. That or had the Dictionary application open on his Mac. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't, but I sure did after reading it. While it's rather easy to deduce what the words represent without knowing the exact dictionary definition, I thought it'd still to be rad to seek a few of them out. It's something I try to do with all words if they're not already a part of my everyday vocabulary. The dictionary is my favorite book.

Four words I picked, their definition and their usage in Caramanica's album/show review:

obfuscated

• render obscure, unclear, or unintelligible: "Chaos has long been one of this band’s strengths, but “Merriweather Post Pavilion” is Animal Collective’s least obfuscated album..."

propulsive

• the action of driving or pushing forward: "It’s propulsive and balanced, tenderly written and almost unrelentingly optimistic."

onanistic

• masturbation or coitus interruptus: "The group churned through most of “Merriweather Post Pavilion” in overly dutiful, sometimes onanistic fashion..."

morass

• an area of muddy or boggy ground: "The group churned through most of “Merriweather Post Pavilion” ... as if wading waist-deep through some gluey morass."

How will you use them in a sentence?

The situation he describes in his review is a bit disheartening and totally different from when I saw them live at the Roseland in 2007. Could it because they're actually playing material from the album their supporting on this go around rather than a set disproportionately heavy on brand new stuff as is usually their pattern? I totally get they're "not in a new place right now" and don't want to be forced to jump ahead to material for their next album yet. I'm actually kinda looking forward to knowing that I'll get to hear my fave Merriweather cuts. Could it just be that particular show Caramanica caught? I do hope so. And actually, I think that's it, especially after reading Brooklyn Vegan's take on a show the following night, a show that officially turned BV into a convert.

My fave part of the article is when he draws comparisons to TV on the Radio's output and Dear Science in particular towards the end. He concludes that both acts are still "willfully difficult" which couldn't be more on the mark in my opinion. I'll never forget the assertion that "Animal Collective are never a band I listened to for lyrics" in the Pitchfork review of Strawberry Jam. Even as AC continue to adopt more traditional song structures and lyrics with more accessible themes whose inspiration easier to dissect - all on top of increasingly audible vocals, the fact remains the group is still a long way from the greater population's listening tastes and it suits them fine. The songs aren't created in a way to be easily digestible and pop radio isn't going to be a destination built on compromise. Wouldn't it be awesome if they got there though? Hands up if you play Jonas Brothers' "Burning Up" right before "Leaf House" because the transition is kinda perfect? Okay, just me...

Animal Collective are in Portland May 25th. If I'm in town, I'll be there. Am considering my animal costume now...

Animal Collective Myspazz
Jonas Brothers Myspazz

.

Blog Spotlight: Discoteca Océano

There are many reasons to recommend El Guincho's blog Discoteca Océano. Composed entirely in Spanish, obviously the best scenario is if Spanish is your native tongue, followed by if you've studied the language or if you're presently learning it as the blog's pretty cool and interesting material for retaining/practicing, eh? And it's still great if none of the above apply to you because that means you get to make best friends with Google Translator! You've got the occasional free remix MP3s, youtube clips, the tour diaries (including one on their Portland appearance), reggae-centric mixtapes, a cool list of links (including previously mentioned Awesome Tapes from Africa) and perhaps favorite of all - my personal favorite - it's pretty pic heavy; pretty pic heavy with pictures of pretty Spanish boys. Sometimes in their underwear. Yeah, I kinda forget to hit subscribe because I was too busy drooling over Pablo, Felix and Aleix...

One spaced out reggae remix example of said posted MP3s:

"Gabriela (El Guincho Remix)" - Joe Crepúsculo MP3

El Guincho Myspazz
Joe Crepúsculo Myspazz

Related post: Hello 2009!

Hello 2009!

Oh my my, we are mid-way through the first month of the new year! Excitement! While I felt that 2008 was both overwhelming and under-whelming, all signs are pointing towards good vibrations in 2009!... even if I'm already feeling sick and antisocial.

I'm happy to say I already have my favorite Portland band of 2009 already picked out. Explode Into colors FLOORED me at Holocene's NYE shindig and then again the other weekend at Dekum Manor (see post header pic).

Without further ado, let's have a little round up of my 2009 blog posts so far posted elsewhere on the internets:

How I spent my NYE:

 

At Holocene I FINALLY saw Explode Into Colors after everybody and their brother had been singing their praises to me for quite some time. What I don't mention in my review of that set was what happened afterward. DJs happened. Crowd atmosphere became weird weird weird - like a highschool dance/frat vibe about it. Like not the normal bump and grind that comes with a plethora of drunk people in one room, but shot-gunning and body glitter. Linger & Quiet scored major points by playing Mickey Moonlight's Sun Ra cover as part of their set and I did enjoy when Hot Mess segued from Lil Wayne's "A Milli" onto Purple Ribbon Allstars' "Kryptonite" and then into Outkast.

In between seeing Explode Into Colors and taking in the DJ action, I slipped away to Backspace.

 

Starfucker at Backspace was a blast and a half. Insane, ecstatic chaos!

Other LocalCut posts of mine in 2009:

Starfucker Dun Soldout: “Holly” In New IBM Commercial

I encourage you to check out the comments on the post and the particularly rad and insightful path they take.

I am beaming about the ad. SO PROUD! This is arguably bigger than when the trio released its self-titled debut in the fall of last year. Seriously. And it's a vindication of what I've been saying all along: Starfucker's songs were meant for ads! I mean I mentioned the fact to Josh the first time I ever contacted him through MySpace back in 2007 and when I profiled Starfucker in URB magazine, I closed the piece with:

Sounds like: The next song to cross over from a commercial.

2009! 2009!

(PS - Don't you love magazines who ask you to submit tons of stuff (copy and photos) for free, but say they'll pay you for one piece and then a year later you still haven't been paid? Yeah. Urb rocks in that department)

Inside The Video: Dissecting Blitzen Trapper’s “Furr” With Director Jade Harris
I'm so into music videos right now. I really like the medium because it marries so much that I hold near and dear: story-telling, music and visual imagery. So open-ended too.

I proclaim White Fang's disc Pure Evil to be one of the best of 2008 in WWeek's 2008: Never Forget

I have this to say about Benoit Pioulard in LC's Even More Of The Year-End Roundup:

"It’s hard to hold a grudge against Benoît Pioulard mastermind Tom Meluch when he’s supplying my eardrums with such sincere, yet near indecipherable, lyrics that glide over richly textured sound collages created within the confines of his bedroom. The problem? Only his bedroom is getting the privilege of such performances since he doesn’t play out very often. If he were to reverse his stance and take up a residency—even for just for a single evening—in a local venue more than three times per annum (his 2008 tally) this coming year, not just my ears, but my eyes would know the pleasure of such a reclusive musician."

Hang the DJ: DJ Lifepartner

Other Pampelmoose blog posts so far:

El Guincho, Spot the Sample - All Revealed

So Mike from Reporter rocks. I have finally started frequenting his late-night fry cart on Hawthorne. Potato Champion is now my hands down favorite place in Portland. Hands down. More than the woods, more than select segments of train tracks in SE, more than the boardwalk near the police horse stables in NW. The cart is ALWAYS playing good music and one night a weke back it was playing El Guincho. I start dancing. Mike mentions this rad African mixtape blog that has the original song El Guincho samples in "Antillas" on it. We start talking about African music and it's prevalence of late. In return for the blog recommendation, I tell him about DJ Mujava's "Township Funk" which I initially heard in that trusty Mickey Moonlight podcast.

So do gravitate over to that post to hear the El Guincho song and the song "Pelina" by Oriango & Kipchamba that it samples. Chris from Gorilla vs. Bear got the comment thread going and it must be noted that he's taken an extra swoon-worthy polaroid of El Guincho in the past. Weigh in in the comments over there about whether Paul Simon or David Byrne is to blame for Vampire Weekend. A continuing discussion which gives me to the excuse to link Ladysmith Black Mambazo's Lifesavers ad from the 90s. Brilliance!

Guns N Bombs, Disco Night at the Big Horse

Holy shit! It's all disco! Authentic disco! Insanely easy to listen to. As I mention in the post, Mickey Moonlight's Ed Banger podcast was the be all and end all of mixes, so much so that I didn't listen to another for the entirety of 2008. His was just TOO good. So I missed this Guns N Bombs one when it first surfaced.

On the radio:

And last, but certainly not least, Monday of last week I appeared as a guest on Arya Imig's Sound Judgment radio program on KPSU. It was fun. For two hours and 15 minutes I played some of my favorite songs, plus rambled about being high on life. Wanna listen? The broadcast is available to download or stream in three parts:

10-11pm, 11-12am, and 12 until 1am though I sign off around 12:15am.

So 2009's theme? The year of the novel and the music video. Those will be my two areas of focus. And a move to New York for who knows what reason (interning at Partizan and auditioning for musicals).

Though 2008 felt like a non-event that I'm all to happy to leave behind, there were moments of amazingness and hard fought accomplishments. I met my goal of creating 10+ concert posters for local venues. I became a "DJ" for a brief second there. And photography really took off. I landed my first cover (Willamette Week's Best New Band issue) and had images appear in Rolling Stone and Blender and too many more. Plus my photos of Bon Iver served as his UK publicity shots and I really really wanted to do publicity shots in 2008. I'm also proud of putting together the series of outdoor concerts under the banner of Lost Gospel. It kinda all went to hell, but it was ultimately a positive experience. A trying and tiring positive experience. those last two sentences apply both to Lost Gospel and the year 2008 in general.

I didn't want to do a year-end post on here because I was soooooo ready to move on from 2008, but a couple other sites did including Rolling Stone and Pitchfork, both of which my photos appear in their round-ups.

Rolling Stone: The Year in Performances: 2008's Best Live Shots - 6 of my photos make it in

Pitchfork: The Year in Photos 2008 - 3 of my photos make it in

And here are my most listened to artists of 2008*:
1. Animal Collective
2. Metronomy
3. Bon Iver
4. Jesse McCartney
5. Ratatat
6. TV on the Radio
7. Starfucker
8. Britney Spears
9. Benoit Pioulard
10. Muscles
11. White Fang
12. Born Ruffians
13. Late of the Pier
14. Breakfast Mountain
15. School of Seven Bells

* according to last.fm which wasn't able to accurately record when you listened to a song on repeat until mid-way through 2008. Otherwise Born Ruffians woulda been higher.

James Blunt Lands Teen Fox

If you watch James Blunt's latest video for his disposable single "Love, Love, Love," you may notice a familiar foxy face. Yes, Antonia, former drummer for the Teenagers gets behind a pastel drum kit in his latest clip, as shown about 30 seconds in. It opens with an introduction sequence much like that of Outkast's "Hey Ya" video, only Ryan Phillipe's hotness is absent. Never fear, foxy Antonia is here!

So do I just sit around watching James Blunt and waiting for his latest videos? Oh hells no. I sit around watching Kinga Burza's Partizan page. There's many things that keep me as a fangirl for her even when she's producing appealing visuals for James Blunt. I mean when you can use her as an excuse to love Katy Perry ("Huh? I'm not watching this video because I LOVE the song. No! I'm watching it because a distinguished director made it... yeah...), you can never turn your back.

And in relation to this girl crush broadcast, fuck that shit about Proposition 8 passing. "Fuck that shit, say fuck that shit."

My review of Holocene's election night shindig is up on LocalCut. I left all my drunkness out. It was so magical! I had too many favorite moments, but one notable one came when they announced Obama had won single women's vote and so many ladies screamed. My thoughts? That is the only time single women are going to scream merrily about being single. Yes, Obama brings about many firsts.

At this point I'm hoping the media will cool it with all this stuff about him being black - if we're moving beyond race, stop making a big deal about it. I mean yes it must be acknowledged, but now let's move beyond it. And if we must address his color, he isn't black. He's brown. His election is victory for EVERYONE, not just those of us who identify as RGB #ab5c00 and I feel that much of the media coverage is marginalizing that fact.

Can I Marry "Love Lockdown"?

Ever since it was announced that this song would be coming out this weekend, I've been on high alert. Thought I'd get first listen via a BBC rip, but alas - here it is live on the VMAs. Wow - no rap - at any time.

Hands down my favorite Kanye song already, even if it's a lil' repetative. And can you believe how un-over the top this was? I was sure with that lack of light that he'd go big any minute, but he saved the massive lighting until the end when it wouldn't distract from the tune's tone and kept it classy. Alexis can you hear him?

PS - Did you notice how hoarse Joe's voice was during the Jonas Brothers' performance? And why when he crowd surfed did the audience immediately return him to the stage? You should have floated him and Nick over to Portland. Seriously. It's been too long since their performance at the Schnitzer. Too long. I am now ready to pay $35 for a T-shirt. Babies come back. But Kevin can stay on the Hollywood lot.

Contest: Win Long Blondes Tickets!

(Photo by Stephen Burch)
Guess who is here this Saturday? Well, you shouldn't have to guess. You should have the hot pink poster firmly ingrained in your mind - the hot pink poster featuring a sliver of Miss Kate Jackson's face advertising the Long Blondes gig at Doug Fir. Yes, before Arctic Monkeys there was but one Sheffield band to sing the praising of and that is the Long Blondes. Wanna go to the show in Portland? Now is you chance (if you're 21 and over)! Yes - you can win a pair of tickets here! The entry is pretty simple. For the chance to receive a plus one, email over your name and the Long Blondes song title included in this previous DJ setlist/podcast: Party All the Time We Are Wolves DJ Set Podcast. The email address? Notontheguestlist (at) gmail.com! Whoo! Good luck! Entries due Friday, May 30th by one pm. So jump on over to that post and find out! It's my favorite song by the five-piece. A random entry will win!

So are you psyched for their US tour? I am, as I've never seen them live! Even while I lived in the UK. And not only will I be able to see them live on Saturday, they'll be behind the decks later in the evening at Dunes as apart of Brace Paine's Situations club night. Fingers crossed he spins some SSion and I'm curious to hear what they select. The Kills played "Club Action" just a couple weeks ago there which I can't say I was counting on int he least, so I wonder if the Long Blondes will go against type and hit us with the bangers.

What will Miss Jackson wear?

Enter now!

Sasquatch Day 2 - Late to the pitch

The Kooks are late onstage by a half hour so far. I just shot some polaroids of them. Luke is wearing a white turtleneck and they performed an acoustic Kid Harpoon cover for us on their bus. Pics to come. The drummer and I talked about their myspace secret show this upcoming Tuesday at Backspace. I think it's weirdly cool they're playing two all-ages show in a row in Portland. He didn't know what I was talking about haha GOD was he nice though... And authentically nice too! It's now been 35 mins since their billed start time and they're still not on. Beastie Boys are though-overhead.

Sasquatch Day 2 - Looking for hot girls

We're on the look out for hot girls right now to stand in the front for the Kooks because if you build it, they will come I.e. Luke will have reason to take his sleaze off the stage and make the fest's first "moment." A girl can dream. Chona and I just made our way back from the ice cream man truck where we got an ice cream sandwich and lime popcicle. We also got some viewing in of Death Cab's Chris Walla hanging with both Tegan and Sara who were super talkative during their mainstage set. We passed White Rabbits during the walk and they waved. It's enjoyable when a band can still recognize you after you've shot them. An instant sobriety test haha. While we wait for the Kooks to go on, the Wookie stage is playing Kid Rock. They've already played Korn and Sum 41. When will Limp Bizkit be heard?