We Interrupt You NYE Celebrations...

... Because former Birthday Party guitarist Rowland S. Howard died.

(Why couldn't it be Rush Limbaugh, why?!?!?!)

I am so sorry for the world, what we have lost will never be replaced. One of my favorite guitarists of all time, I have been a fan of his since he was in Nick Cave's pre-Birthday Party project, Boys Next Door. Through the years I've followed his work closely and knowing that no more greatness will come from this man makes me very sad.

Why have so many people died this year? Ugh, cannot wait for it to be over! Less than twelve hours to go, thank goodness.

(Rowland S. Howard and Lydia Lunch on the cover of the 'Some Velvet Morning' single).

Wikipedia

Rest in Peace, Mr. Howard.


----------------
Now playing: Crime & the City Solution - Motherless Child
via FoxyTunes

It's that time of the year again...

Yep, the end of the year is coming and it's that time again when you hear me rant about the best (and perhaps also the worst) albums of the year. So brace yourselves cause here I go.

Personally, I think this year brought along a lot of good music but also a lot of shit. I mean a lot. Bands you wouldn't believe came up with crappy albums. Like, I thought the Decemberists' The Hazards of Love was a little too much. Well, not that they were mind-blowing before, but they just seemed to be going too far with the whole 'progressive folk' thing. As if that'd make them as good as Tool or something. Or that AnCo album... hell, wait up, I'll talk about that later.

So, here are my picks for best albums of '09 (in no particular order cause I suck at ranking shit):

Soulsavers - Broken
Um, this album featured Mark Lanegan (duh), Mike Patton, Will Oldham, Gibby Haynes and Jason Pierce. Need I say more? Don't think so.
Recommended track: Unbalanced Pieces

The Cinematics - Love and Terror
And here I was, thinking British indie had been rendered outdated. Well, technically it has. We still gotta give it to them Brits -- no one does post punk revival like them. Well, maybe Interpol does.
Recommended track: Love and Terror

Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions - Through the Devil Softly
This woman's voice is like a soft caress kissing every part of your body and sending chills up and down your spine. Ever see those toilet paper ads talking about how soft and fluffy the product is? Well, that's how I feel about Hope Sandoval's voice. Don't think that was a very good example, though. Very ethereal and minimalistic, relying mainly on Sandoval's TP-esque vocals. Heh.
Recommended track: Blanchard

Florence + the Machine - Lungs
Another female vocalist's ethereal-ish album, only this voice isn't ethereal and frail but strong and Black-gospel-singer-like (with a British accent, lol). Love how she mixes just the right amount of blues, pop sensibility and melodrama, and can still make me smile.
Recommended track: Cosmic Love

Ramona Falls - Intuit
I don't really know why I liked this. It's not even that good. This sounds very much like Menomena, RF frontman and sole official member Brent Knopf's day job, and I'm not a Menomena fan. So why do I like it? Because for indie rock, it sounds a little bit exotic, and that's enough for me. I'm so easy to make happy.
Recommended track: Melectric

Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
Indie at its best, this represents all that is right about music. Dark and melancholic, electronic and simple... I love Natasha Khan. You should love her too.
Recommended track: Daniel (heh, commercial, I know, but I have my reasons...)

A Place to Bury Strangers - Exploding Head
Well, this one was a given. I honestly could give two shits whether this album is any good or not, cause they're still APTBS and they're fucking face-meltingly AWESOMEEE!!! Helps that the album really is good. Best Jesus and Mary Chain ripoff band that will ever exist, period.
Recommended track: I Lived My Life to Stand in the Shadow of Your Heart

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
There's nothing I can say that hasn't been said already about this album. Yep, Edward Droste is a genius, he's Jesus, he's gonna cure cancer. Yep. So I'll just shut up. The album's worth a shot anyway.
Recommended track: While You Wait for the Others

HEALTH - Get Color
They did get color. Seriously. Their brutal, insane, minimal, drumbeat-driven trademark sound seems to still be there, but layered with colors, melodies, less noise and sugar. Nice.
Recommended track: Nice Girls

Fever Ray - Fever Ray
It's Karin Dreijer Andersson, of course it's fucking brilliant! Eerie, bleak and somewhat mysterious, but sensibilized by Dreijer's quirky voice and cryptic lyrics. Damn, I miss The Knife.
Recommended track: Keep the Street Empty for Me

The Horrors - Primary Colors
I am somewhat glad these dudes shed their horror punk outfit and put on something more approachable but still interesting enough to keep my attention. Instead of the exhausted, run-of-the-mill British post punk revival, they made something really gripping: garage rock with a little more depth but not too deep.
Recommended track: Primary Colours

Telefon Tel Aviv - Immolate Yourself
Ah, when did electro get so goth? This is so dark it scares me! Love these guys, always have, and I'm really happy their ambient shit got so cool.
Recommended track: M

Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse - Dark Night of the Soul
Not exactly what I'd expect from Sparklehorse, but since he teamed up with batshit crazy guy Danger Mouse (from New York, suckasss), this is a completely different, way more pleasant sonic experience than anything I'd heard from him. I'm not even gonna type the list of guest artists that contributed to this album, cause I really wanna go to bed, but all I'm gonna say is David fucking Lynch. Yessss.
Recommended track: Jaykub (featuring Jason Lytle from Grandaddy)

The Twilight Sad - Forget the Night Ahead
I know I said I wouldn't rank the albums, but I gotta say, this is my favorite album of '09. More mature than their debut, wall-of-sound-laden, lyrically despairing and terribly depressing, this album is nothing short of moving and amazing. Yanks a tear out of me every now and then.
Recommended track: (All of them, especially...) Made to Disappear


Of course, like last year, I am also going to include some honorable mentions that didn't quite make the very-best-of-the-year list, but are worth mentioning:

Julian Plenti - Julian Plenti Is... Skyscraper
Heh, I so had no faith in this album whatsoever. Somehow I thought it'd be as big a FAIL as Julian Casablancas' solo album. Guess this just goes out to prove me wrong, yet again, and to reassure me that Interpol are fucking great. Two thumbs up to you, Paul Banks.
Recommended track: (Won't mention Games for Days, won't mention Games for Days, won't mention...) Only if You Run

The Big Pink - A Brief History of Love
Remember how I said APTBS will always be the best JaMC ripoff band to ever exist? I wasn't kidding. These dudes try, they sure do, but good JaMC ripping off can only be done properly in Brooklyn. I still like them.
Recommended track: Velvet

A.A. Bondy - When the Devil's Loose
Fleet Foxes meets Devendra Banhart, plus a much bigger country feel. Result: Much more pleasant than it might seem.
Recommended track: A Slow Parade

Clint Mansell - Moon (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture)
Yes, Clint Mansell did it again, with his glitchy genius soundscapes. Who would have thought that funky guy from PWEI could be so... er, deep?
Recommended track: Sacrifice

PJ Harvey and John Parish - A Woman a Man Walked By
Three words: PJ fucking Harvey. Twelve more words: Talent and elegance converging in a creative and powerful cannonball of poetry. Cause it's PJ Harvey.

Mew - No More Stories / Are Told Today / I'm Sorry / They Washed Away // No More Stories / The World Is Grey / I'm Tired / Let's Wash Away
Less dark than most Mew albums, it still has an element of nostalgia that grabs me and keeps me lulled for hours on end. Heh, love how their song structure and composition are rather special and unusual. Also, the title kinda kicks ass.
Recommended track: Repeaterbeater

Puscifer - "C" Is for (Please Insert Sophomoric Genitalia Reference HERE)
Puscifer is growing on me and I don't know if it's a good or bad thing. Probably good. Though miles away from the old, experimental, brilliant days of Tool, Maynard James Keenan has come up with a project that's both amusing and actually interesting so as to keep us distracted and make us forget about the fact that he promised new A Perfect Circle material for this year. Puscifer is hella funny, so I understand why he'd rather work on it than APC, since the latter is so dark and serious and Maynard is a happy fellow. Artwork is retarded but at least the music's good.
Recommended track: The Mission (feat. Milla Jovovich)

Warpaint - Warpaint
All-girl experimental/psychedelic band from Los Angeles whose debut EP was produced by John Frusciante, THE John Frusciante. What's not to like about them?
Recommended track: Elephants

Antony and the Johnsons - The Crying Light
Heart-breakingly exquisite.
Recommended track: Another World


There's more I'd like to put in the list but to keep it short and nice I won't. I'm just gonna cut to the shit, er... the underwhelming albums of '09:

Street Sweeper Social Club - Street Sweeper Social Club
They're much better live. I bet, had they included their cover of M.I.A.'s Paper Planes on the album, it would have been much better. Then again that would have been way too Rage Against the Machine, and that is so not what these guys are all about. Nope...

Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures
One of those albums I really wanted to like. Hell, when it comes to '09 supergroups, I even liked The Dead Weather's Horehound quite a bit, cause I was motivated enough to enjoy their music it just grew on me. Other than a couple tracks that caught my attention for a minute or two, the whole album bored me. Oh ya, probably cause I hate Josh Homme.

Depeche Mode - Sounds of the Universe
I admit, Wrong is catchy as hell. Sexy as hell too. What happened to the rest of the album? I'm sure, had they just filled the disc with remixes of Wrong, it would have been exponentially better than it was with all the other, "less commercial" tracks. Whatever.

Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
Hipster shit for dirty hipsters. This album, along with a certain other I'll mention later (I'll give you a hint, it sucks and it's called Merriweather Post Pavilion, heh) suffers from chronic Vampire Weekend syndrome.

Massive Attack - Splitting the Atom EP
Hell, this was probably the biggest disappointment of the year, and it was only four tracks long. Granted, it's not horrible. It could certainly be worse. I'm just so used to Massive Attack blowing my mind, after such a long time waiting for new material from them I was expecting fireworks and eargasms all the way and instead I just got a smile and a pat on the head. At least they got Martina Topley-Bird.

Tegan & Sara - Sainthood
This is the kind of crap they feed tweens nowadays and then people wonder why they're turning out so stupid. Uh, duh! Definitely aimed for poser emo teenagers, I really don't get how these women could get so famous and earn themselves a reputation for being deep and mature when they make music like this. Ugh.

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
Ahhh, I'm not even gonna talk about this. Why this album keeps popping up on every year-end list just boggles my mind. Why people keep falling for this kind of ridiculous shit just proves we humans are stupid.


All and all, this was a good year for music. Er, except for the fact that that this was the year that saw shemale mutant demon Lady GaGa ubiquitously infect the world with her poisonous, viral, gonorrhea-laden beats and tranny-on-crack-inspired outfits. She makes me wish the Mayans were right about the end of the world coming in 2012. Or even sooner, if possible. For those saying she is the new Manson, well here's the deal: at least Manson surrounded himself with the right people to make his music at least tolerable. Plus, believe it or not, he used to be a smart person. So take that, GagGag -- unlike you, he's not really a moron... it's just the drugs.

Oh... and let's not forget this little winner. Sorry in advance.

	Vampire Weekend - Horchata .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Ordinarily, this would be the end of my post. But not so fast! This year also saw the birth of my now-shamefully forgotten podcast, so what better chance to revive it than this! Hereeeeeehereee you'll find some of the tracks I've recommended above. If you check the older posts, you'll also find some nice tracks by some of the artists I've mentioned here. So give it a shot if you want. :)

So that's it. Your friend from the gutter is wishing you a happy new year full of love, smiles, puppies and rock & roll. Sayonara and we'll meet again in 2010. Here's hoping Lady GaGa will overdose on pig's blood before the year's over. One can only dream...


----------------
Now playing: The Zombies - Time of the Season
via FoxyTunes

Mandatory Post-Christmas Blog

I miss my music. I seriously do.

Oh wait, I don't think I've mentioned it here that I deleted all my music like a fucking retard a couple months ago!

Well yeah. Getting it back has been a bitch. I'm getting there. I've nearly cried of despair, lost my nerve and pulled off chunks of hair out of sheer utter fucking anger, but it's all worked out... sort of ok. For the most part.

What I mean is, sometimes I really feel hopeless and alone, like there's no one to help me and I'm gonna end up drinking bleach or something. Then out of nowhere the world sends some little ray of happiness upon me and everything seems slightly better. <Insert notorious Lisa Hannigan song I was obsessed with not too long ago>

Yeah, life ain't that bad, if you have the right people around you. Somehow they make the crap a little easier to bear.

So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.



----------------
Now playing: The Sisterhood - Jihad
via FoxyTunes

Christmas-y

I am sad. I will miss my girls. So much so I nearly cried today when I thought about it. I'm growing up. Thinking that we will separate sooner than I can count to 13567700 breaks my heart. I can't even write about it cause I am out of words to describe how utterly hopeless I feel that time will go by and the world would move round and round and one day I'll lose everything I have right now. It's happened before and it will happen again. It happens every single day. The weight of things forgotten and time consumed makes me nervous. I wanna be thirteen again.

Some seasonal nostalgia -- just what I needed. I guess I just hate the fact that my life is inevitably wasting away before my eyes and even though I am aware of it, I have not moved a finger to change it.

So merry Christmas. Gonna have my Christmas latte now.


----------------
Now playing: The Jesus Lizard - One Evening
via FoxyTunes

Long Overdue A Place to Bury Strangers/Dead Confederate/All the Saints Concert Review

Okay kids, here I go. Checking some of the last few blogs on here, I realize I never made any mention of my trip back to NYC (other than that last minute shame of a post hours before the trip), much less of the APTBS show I planned on attending. My bad. I did, though, see them on Oct. 29th. So, given that I'm obsessed with publicizing every minor aspect of my sad little existence --and this one counts as a big one-- I'll just blog about it.




I arrived at the Bowery a little too early, as I miscalculated and left about an hour before time -- show would supposedly start at 8. There was nobody outside, so I took a walk. Came back about thirty minutes later and three old dudes were waiting outside. Just three people. Three old dudes who spoke about me in Puerto Rican and didn't even stop to consider I could understand them. Dumb fucks. When they finally let us in, at about 7:45, the only people inside were the old dudes and I. For a moment there I didn't think anyone would show up. Then someone came through the door. Then someone else. All alt-looking people, NY hipsters -- the worst kind of hipster there is. People like this:


(Sorry it's so blurry, it's not like I asked the funniest looking, Einsturzende-Neubauten-t-shirt-wearing, emo-fringe-bearing, anorexic hipster to pose for a pic so I could make fun of him later on my stupid blog, ya know?)


Countless minutes later, at about 8:30, they let us upstairs. Still, there weren't more than 30 people in the whole place. I took my place on the front row and waited... and waited... and fucking waited. People slowly started to populate the rather small venue, either taking seats upstairs or sitting on the floor downstairs like I was. As we all hopelessly waited for the band(s) to take their positions onstage, and watched as technicians plugged shit in, rushed on and off the narrow stage carrying equipment and water bottles, it occurred to me that it was too late and I should be home. It really wasn't that late, it was about nine something, but damn, was I tired. I was tempted to leave, hop on the J and go back home, sleep off the backache and wake up fresh. Just then, I saw that drummer dude from All the Saints come out. So I had to stand...

I had heard very little about All the Saints before the show. I got their second album when I found out they were opening for APTBS, and I wasn't disappointed. Their set was pretty simple, a small drumkit, a mic on the left for the bassist and a mic on the right for the guitarist/vocalist. The whole thing reminded me of the cover of Philosophy of the World by The Shaggs, and I really wasn't sure what to expect from those dudes.



Heh, I didn't think that much noise could come from those instruments. I couldn't hear a damn word the dude sang, and I could hardly make up the songs they were playing, but they were energetic and played well enough to have me banging my head a couple times. Props to the drummer who despite his intense sweating managed to do a great job.



As soon as they left, a stampede of roadies stormed onstage and began setting up the place for Dead Confederate. I considered going home again, as my feet felt like they were being crushed between glass and a ton of bricks, and my back was no different. I dropped my bag and coat on the floor, feeling instant relief, and as soon as I looked back up, I found a familiar bearded figure standing by the stage door. I took a second look and realized it was Kyp Malone, from the seminal Brooklyn indie/hipster band Tv on the Radio. I glanced at the girl/boy/speed-taking person next to me, and he/she/they replied: "Yep, that's him." The moment I snapped out of it and attempted to take a picture, the dude went back inside, to never come out again. But I did see him and that's enough for me.

The stage was way more crowded for Dead Confederate. There were lots of mics, a bigger drum kit, like two keyboards, one on each end of the stage, and a whole lot of cords and cables and amplifiers. There were six funny-looking people onstage, and I had the feeling the lead singer hadn't washed his hair in weeks.



To be honest, these guys didn't impress me at first listen. I picked up their albums not so long ago but I didn't find anything particularly remarkable about them. I knew they'd be better live. I wasn't wrong. They killed!!! After the minimalistic show All the Saints put on, my expectations for Dead Confederate weren't high at all, but they bitchslapped me with their blinding strobelights and deafening guitar sound. I don't know how they managed to turn their simple, stale rock into such an amazing psychedelic experience live. I was blown away.



At this point, a mass of skinny-jeans-clad hipsters had taken over the small setting. Everyone was waiting for the headliners, who, in all actuality, didn't play any longer than the two previous bands. A blonde girl with her totebag full of beers swam through the crowd and took a place next to me, and a pair of Japanese dudes with funny haircuts soon joined her. She and the speed-taking-person next to me started drinking the beers and some cheap whiskey she had in a paper bag. Soon enough, the staple of all rock shows made its appearance, finally, after I wondered why it'd taken them so long to pull it out. That's right, pot. A Place to Bury Strangers came out and that's when the show got started.



At this point, I'd forgotten about my backache and exhaustion and was letting go, partially high off the pot smoke that was oozing around me. I was getting into it, really, until some fat kid no older than fifteen had the brilliant idea to start thrashing around to get some sort of indie/noise/alt-rock moshpit going. I, being as weak as grass, totally fell right in the arms of some dude who thankfully kept me from falling flat on my ass and making a complete idiot of myself. Then I tried taking a picture but my camera did something weird and stopped taking decent pics, and I remember thinking it was the pot that made my camera malfunction. I swear, that's the first thing I thought.



The dudes started off with some stuff from the new album, which makes sense since they just released it and are playing shows to promote it. (duh) Keep Slipping Away, one of my favorite songs from Exploding Head, was like the third song they played, which really got the hipster kids next to me going, and the blond girl screaming "louder, louder, louder!" and banging her head like a maniac. They played some stuff from their self titled, which I was really pleased to see. Another Step Away was a standout, but I expected that anyway cause that's a kickass track. Their trademark wall-of-sound style, combined with the amazing lights show and the screens made for a delightfully insane experience. I felt dizzy for a while there, like I was in some sort of drug-addled nightmare, or like I was living in the world of madness from Pink Floyd's The Wall. It was crayzeeeee!!! But alas! Thanks to my fucking camera being a total pothead, I spent most of their set trying to get it fixed so I could take pictures of the greatness my eyes were witnessing. I do remember that the blond chick started hugging me at some point, and pushed my bad under the stage. That was pretty weird. Then bam! Out of nowhere, a guitar pick flew across the stage and fell on my hair.



I was able to take some normal pics towards the end, but I had already half-missed most of the show. What I didn't miss was when that Oliver Ackermann dude (lead singer) grabbed some poor guitar and ripped it to shreds before our eyes. It was all so surreal I felt as if I'd taken some speed from the individual next to me. I was in excruciating pain throughout the whole 10 min or so it took him to destroy that innocent guitar, but at the same time, I was enjoying it with the delight of a child in awe at the M&M store. When it was over, I was out of breath, about to bite off a piece of my lower lip. That was so punk rock. It was so beautiful, and it was over. In a way, I was happy it was over, cause I was honestly dying, but part of me wanted to stay and watch the dude destroy that guitar over and over again. Cause, fuck... wow...

Finally, I resisted the uncontrollable urge, that iron-strong arm pulling at my loins, to make a stop at the gyro place right by the Bowery door, and went right down inside the J train station once again. I got home at 2:30 and collapsed.

It was sooo worth it.

Hi

Hey, it's me. I'm sorry I totally forgot about this blog, I've been busy having a life that for the first time in years does not include Trent Reznor in any way. I'm pretty happy actually, just sitting back, having a cup of tea and typing up this thing on my TOTALLY AWESOME NEW COMPUTER!!! and reminiscing about my life before my 21st birthday.

That's right, I'm an adult now.

Of course, I'm back from NY, where I had an amazing time for a change, and am currently dealing with some godawful third-world shit that's driving me and my dog insane. Wish I could go back, but I'm hell-bound, locked in a grimy dungeon with a hippie dog humping my leg and no electricity.

Ok, so I'm tired and have other shit to deal with right now so I'm not gonna blog about how awesome these past couple of days have been. I'm just gonna post some pictures cause I'm such an attention whore. I'll elaborate eventually. Or maybe I won't.



Birthday woman w/carrot cake. Happy day.



Meeting my future employers @ the UN lol...



A Place to Bury Strangers. Fucking AWESOMEEE!!! (BTW, I should mention I saw Kyp Malone backstage during the All the Saints/Dead Confederate intermission... and I GOT A GUITAR PICK!!!)






Grandma.






Halloween.


(Heh, I haven't listened to any music in centuries. WTF?)

Shit, I forgot to mention...

I'm going to New York tomorrow.

That should be pretty fun.

kthnxbai.

Twenty Years

(From Wikipedia)

#	Title	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Head Like a Hole"	Trent Reznor, Flood	4:59
2.	"Terrible Lie"	Trent Reznor, Flood	4:38
3.	"Down in It"	Trent Reznor, Keith LeBlanc, Adrian Sherwood	3:46
4.	"Sanctified"	Trent Reznor, John Fryer	5:48
5.	"Something I Can Never Have"	Trent Reznor, John Fryer	5:54
6.	"Kinda I Want To"	Trent Reznor, John Fryer	4:33
7.	"Sin"	Trent Reznor, John Fryer, Keith LeBlanc	4:06
8.	"That's What I Get"	Keith LeBlanc, John Fryer	4:30
9.	"The Only Time"	Trent Reznor, John Fryer, Keith LeBlanc	4:47
10.	"Ringfinger"	Trent Reznor, John Fryer	5:40

Happy Birthday, Pretty Hate Machine. You spawned my all-time favorite song (Sin), and my all-time favorite guilty pleasure (That's What I Get) and even though you're twenty years old -- and I was one when you came out -- you still manage to sound fresh as new with every listen. Thank you, Trent Reznor, for making this album.


----------------
Now playing: Nine Inch Nails - Sanctified
via FoxyTunes

EXTRA! EXTRA!!!

(Yes, I know I'm breaking the Trent embargo. Won't happen again.)

So, Trent Reznor got married tonight. Big fucking deal.

I'm posting this to celebrate that TR has officially abandoned whatever was left of his sanity singlehood.

PRETTY HATE MACHINE
Initial favorite: Head Like a Hole
Actual favorite: Sin
Song I usually skip: Kinda I Want To
Song I disliked initially but it grew on me: Ringfinger

BROKEN
Initial favorite: Gave Up
Actual favorite: Happiness in Slavery, Physical
Song I usually skip: Pinion
Song I disliked initially but it grew on me: Wish

DOWNWARD SPIRAL
Initial favorite: Hurt
Actual favorite: Eraser
Song I usually skip: The Downward Spiral, I Do Not Want This
Song I disliked initially but it grew on me: Heresy

THE FRAGILE
Initial favorite: The Fragile
Actual favorite: Just Like You Imagined, Underneath it All
Song I usually skip: FUCKING NONE cause it's The Fragile. Not even Ripe (With Decay)
Song I disliked initially but it grew on me: Somewhat Damaged, La Mer

WITH TEETH
Initial favorite: The Hand that Feeds
Actual favorite: Sunspots, Beside You in Time
Song I usually skip: Don't skip them, but after listening to Every Day is Exactly the Same and Only so many times, I'm kinda bored by them now.
Song I disliked initially but it grew on me: All the Love in the World

YEAR ZERO
Initial favorite: Survivalism
Actual favorite: Hyperpower!
Song I usually skip: Zero Sum
Song I disliked initially but it grew on me: Capital G, Meet Your Master

GHOSTS I-IV
Initial favorite: 1 Ghosts I
Actual favorite: 4 Ghosts I
Song I usually skip: Uhhh, this sucks, but I skip most of the Ghosts.
Song I disliked initially but it grew on me: 19 Ghosts III

THE SLIP
Initial favorite: Letting You, Head Down
Actual favorite: 1,000,000
Song I usually skip: Ahh... Corona Radiata, 999,999, Demon Seed
Song I disliked initially but it grew on me: Echoplex

Congrats to the bride and groom. I give them three months.

----------------
Now playing: Lullabye Arkestra - Ass Worship
via FoxyTunes

OH HELL NO!!!

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!!! Gvujbwduwgdbidhgwuasjnbwugdvwjhdbwuhgdxvwjd xbhusdvxihjwnd bhwegdojkw dkjhbwjknb2wieho2knwkqh hwqsnwjhdbsj2wndkhn!!!

FUCKKKK!!!!


*sigh* You're an idiot. Fuck you a thousand times.


----------------
Now playing: The Dresden Dolls - Coin-Operated Boy
via FoxyTunes

Heh, guess what?

So, I'm a total hipster and listen to 'cool' bloghouse bands cause in my head, that makes me cool and hip.

Tonight, I listened to the ultimate hipster manifesto: Merriweather Post Pavilion by Pitchfork's fave, Animal Collective.

I'd heard lots of praise for this album, but given my feelings for AnCo's previous albums (meh), and my reaction upon hearing they'd released a new pukefest... er, record earlier this year (meh), I didn't listen to it up until now. Reaction: Um... heh. Meh.

I don't know what the fuck everyone sees in these dudes. They're just a bunch of stoners taking drugs, fucking around with their instruments and synths after dropping acid or taking a bottle's worth of cough syrup. While, I admit, that trick worked for a lot of people, it doesn't for them. Cause it takes a whole lot of talent to be able to play anything that makes sense while stoned out of one's mind; the kind of talent these shaggy-haired dudes in gay skinny jeans and Atari t-shirts would only dream of having. I mean, they strike me as a bad, bad, bad Spiritualized ripoff, and that's the only reason those Pitchfork homos get a stiffy over this shit.

I wouldn't be surprised if this album makes number one on every major music site's end-of-year list, just like Vampire Weekend's s/t (don't even get me started on that one) did last year. The world is an ugly, unfair place.

Fuck indie. If any more Merriweather Post Pavilions get made, I'm going all metalhead on you guys.


----------------
Now playing: Animal Collective - Brother Sport
via FoxyTunes

La-di-da, la-di-da, la-la

Ever get the feeling humans shouldn't be allowed to speak? Or even communicate at all? We're supposed to be thinking beings, and this is one of the few distinct gifts that separate us from animals, but fuck, I'm thinking, even if we do know how to speak and express ourselves and communicate with one another, we're really not that different from animals anyway.

Well, at least I am. I don't make a habit of talking out of my ass. I don't use words as weapons to debase spirits and destroy the very fabric of human emotion, even when I'm angry. I never say XOXO...

Then WHY THE FUCK DO I HAVE TO COHABITATE WITH THE ANIMALS???

Right, because if we were all eloquent and proper when using language, we'd all be characters in Cinderella or some shit like that. In a perfect world, the ass would only be employed to perform its basic biological functions and not to speak, and the brain would be employed to analyze words and their meanings before spewing them out to the world. I bet if Cinderella had been real, she would have talked out of her ass as well.

Sometimes when I hear so much shit coming from someone's mouth, I either think of something else, or just roll my eyes out like a prize spoiled brat, or maybe, if I'm feeling daring enough, ask the individual generating the shit to please shut the hell up.

Some other times, I lose it. And then, of course, the outcome of this ridiculous diatribe, meaning the idiot's verbal diarrhea-laden retort and my agitated one and so on and so forth, whatever it be, becomes automatically my fault.

People are so stupid I feel sorry I belong to their same species. Then again, maybe I'm no better myself and don't know it yet.

Even Deeper

(from Wikipedia)

Left disc
#	Title	Length
1.	"Somewhat Damaged" (Reznor, Danny Lohner)	4:31
2.	"The Day the World Went Away"	4:33
3.	"The Frail"	1:54
4.	"The Wretched"	5:25
5.	"We're in This Together"	7:16
6.	"The Fragile"	4:35
7.	"Just Like You Imagined"	3:49
8.	"Even Deeper" (Reznor, Lohner)	5:48
9.	"Pilgrimage"	3:31
10.	"No, You Don't"	3:35
11.	"La Mer"	4:37
12.	"The Great Below"	5:17

Right disc
#	Title	Length
1.	"The Way Out Is Through" (Reznor, Keith Hillebrandt, Charlie Clouser)	4:17
2.	"Into the Void"	4:49
3.	"Where Is Everybody?"	5:40
4.	"The Mark Has Been Made" (A half-minute of "10 Miles High" is used as an outro.)	5:15
5.	"Please"	3:30
6.	"Starfuckers, Inc." (Reznor, Clouser)	5:00
7.	"Complication"	2:30
8.	"I'm Looking Forward to Joining You, Finally"	4:13
9.	"The Big Come Down"	4:12
10.	"Underneath It All"	2:46
11.	"Ripe (With Decay)"

Ten years ago today, The Fragile was released. Critics got their year-end list topper, Trent Reznor got his magnum opus and I got my all-time favorite album. Nothing will ever move me as much as this 104-minute piece of artistic integrity and damaged emotion did. Years after my discovery of The Fragile, it still feels as fresh and painful as it did eight years ago, when I first bought it. My heart still pounds whenever I hear Just Like You Imagined, We're in This Together still leaves me breathless, and I still can't help shutting my eyes during the guitar solo on The Fragile.
I'm out of words. Just... fuck, I love you, The Fragile. Happy 10-year anniversary.

Oh yeah, here:


We did it again, Nine Inch Nails makes the Twitter trending topics yet again. We're just an awesome fanbase. I don't know why Trent is such an asshole to us sometimes.



----------------
Now playing: Nine Inch Nails - Pilgrimage
via FoxyTunes

Photoshop Skills

Oh Grecia... why do I allow you to get anywhere near me?

Yeah, I'm posing like a whore. My top was originally brown. Jumby's was black.

***EDIT

OK, whatever shit I said about the above picture, I totally take it back.



I think we should all take Grecia's computer away from her.


----------------
Now playing: Primal Scream - Shoot Speed/Kill Light
via FoxyTunes

Memories...

Sara's going away party.


Mafer, Sara, Jumby and I. (don't fucking look at me, that's a very unflattering angle)


Julia!


Class of '10, '11, '12, '13 saying goodbye to Sara. Can anyone spot me? I can't.

I miss you already. So does Grecia.

----------------
Now playing: Catherine Wheel - Salt
via FoxyTunes

Eleven Songs that Marked My Youth

In no particular order:

Butthole Surfers - Who Was in My Room Last Night?
If it wasn't for the Butthole Surfers, I wouldn't have known about Ween, and without those two bands, I wouldn't have ever learned the meaning of comedy rock. Most of my friends don't know the Butthole Surfers, so every time they see their name on my iPod, they giggle. Butt jokes will never run out of style, eh?

The Jesus Lizard - Bloody Mary
Because The Jesus Lizard showed me what a genius Steve Albini is. Without Albini, Cobain would have been like the Conor Oberst of the nineties: an overly sensitive, bordering-on-emo indie douchebag. God, I love noise.

David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust
Obvious, I don't even know why I put that on here. Having Bowie on this type of list is like claiming the Earth is round.

The Clash - White Riot
I might have already talked about this song before. I don't care, though. There was a time when I was obsessed with the Clash, and I would be embarrassed of it, hadn't this been such a crucial moment in my musical education. Without The Clash, I wouldn't have become interested in punk, and I would have never been introduced to bands that, to this day, remain among my favorites -- Adam & the Ants, Siouxsie, The Buzzcocks, blah... Plus, it's The Clash! I mean, dude!

The Cure - How Beautiful You Are
My mother, in her extreme musical ignorance, would occasionally play The Cure. My earliest recollections of Cure date back to when I was eight/nine-ish. She would usually play Lovesong, though, so I wasn't blown away by them just yet. Until one day she got this album (Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me) and I found religion. I found the REAL Cure. I broke the album from listening to it too much. I still have a place in my heart for it, even though years have passed and I moved on from my Cure days.

Nine Inch Nails - We're in This Together
Back when I still listened to mainstream radio, I stumbled upon this. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was love at first listen. Turns out, this was made by the same dude who sang that profanity-laden MTV song, Closer. That's how it all happened. Eight years later, I'm still faithfully hooked on Reznor's pretty hate machine, and still making sweet love to this song.

Tool - Sober
Damn, was I obsessed with Tool. Having discovered them around the time I discovered the eye-opening magic of Nine Inch Nails, I felt like I was in music heaven. From Undertow, an album that scared me upon first listen. It was really, really dark! (come on, cut me some slack, I was 12!)

Portishead - Glory Box
One of the first songs that gave me chills and made every single hair in my body stand up. I've been obsessed with sad female voices ever since.

Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees
I cried. I cried hard to this song. That speaks for itself. It's fucking Radiohead, of course I had to cry!

Patti Smith - Because the Night
Bah, boring, I know. Well, it was an important song to me, I loved it. Mother, on the other hand, loved the 10,000 Maniacs cover. Even so early in the game, I knew that cover could never top the original. I was about 10.

U2 - New Year's Day
Another contribution from my mother to my musical upbringing. Old-school U2 wasn't so bad. I would listen to this song on repeat till I fell asleep every night (along with Unforgiven by Metallica lol, but that I won't mention here *blushes*) and would have dreams of debris and destruction and chaos. Now that was freaky. Maybe it was a premonition of the future of U2. Jesus, do they suck hard now!

Bonus!
Skinny Puppy - Dig It
There's a story behind this song, and this album (Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse), but I won't tell it today. I used to be a huge Skinny Puppy fan, now not so much, but this song... wow, I don't know why it stuck so much. Maybe it's cause it's like NIN's Down in It's daddy.

Heh. Notice how, except for NIN and a couple bands here and there, I don't really listen to any of these people anymore? Ok, maybe I do. Not as much as I used to, though.

Also, notice how I didn't curse ONCE in this entry? Wow, how did that happen? Ok, I said douchebag. Big fucking deal! Oops! *covers mouth* Shhhhhh!!!

***EDIT: I should have also put Sonic Youth on here.



----------------
Now playing: Pigface - Bushmaster Bushmaster Remix
via FoxyTunes

Wave, wave, wave, wave goodbye...

And so, the day has arrived. Thursday, September 10th, 2009. The unstoppable force of nature that is Nine Inch Nails as a live entity has officially ceased to exist as of today.

I am filled with mixed feelings right now, unable to display emotion, but keeping it all tightly inside my chest. On one hand, I'm cynical, believing this is a big fat lie and NIN will go back to the world of touring after an extended and well deserved break. I'm also hopeful, because if this is correct, that means eventually, I will get another chance to witness the sheer brilliance of my favorite band's show; as I never got my 'Downward Spiral album on its entirety' experience, or my 'special guests' experience, or any awe-inspiring NIN moment worth recalling, and even though I was able to watch all of these remarkable events from afar at least, I was green with envy to know so many people were there and I was not. I was, at some point, very apathetic towards this tour, and this band, and its mastermind -- a series of poor decisions and anger issues on his part sort of blew my bubble, so to speak, and made me lose interest in everything regarding him and his band. Yes, I have been feeling all sorts of things today. I woke up excited to see what surprises awaited us tonight. Logged on to Twitter to find all my Tweeple (people I'm Twitter friends with lol), who are mostly NIN fans too, walking down memory lane, remembering their favorite NIN moments, saying goodbye to a big part of their lives -- a collective farewell to the one thing that brought an entire community together. I felt nostalgic, like I had this huge hole in my stomach that wouldn't fucking close. I forgot about NIN for a while as I focused on my real life for a change. Then I came back home and the landslide of love and devotion towards the band was in full swing. I joined the cause, tweeted my ass off, and helped do this, which made me feel happy and giddy and proud:


All those tweets with the #NIN hashtag from NIN fans everywhere made the last #NIN show into a number one trending topic on Twitter. Fuck yes.


Now, as the last show is happening in Los Angeles, miles, time zones, millions of people away from me, I can't help feeling this overwhelming wave of anger and sadness wash over me. Why the fuck would you quit now? Why the fuck would you do this to so many people? Oh, fuck! I am sad, because an era is officially ending tonight, and as someone who has been a part of it for well over 8 years, I don't want to see it go away. It would be like saying goodbye to my adolescence, all those years of singing Hurt with such fervor tears fell down involuntarily, all those nights screaming to Head Like a Hole emulating Reznor's emotion. All the 'fist fuck's, all the 'fuck you like an animal's, all the 'starfuckers'. If there's anything I can say Reznor has taught me well throughout all these years, is to feel, intensely and passionately. And to curse. Intensely and passionately as well. In LA, the show keeps going and feeling is coming back to me. Eyes shut tight, keeping tiny tears inside. *must.not.cry, for fuck's sake*

I am gonna break the Trent embargo that I claimed here only to say this:

Reznor, I know you're an asshole and regardless of how I feel about you in general right now, I cannot NOT thank you. Everything I am right now has been influenced one way or another by you and your fucked up shit. Who would have thought that your angst-ridden electro-noise would bring me so much joy and life. So now you're waving us goodbye and going away to do God-knows-what, and God knows I wholeheartedly disagree with whatever it is that you're about to do, but at least I had a chance to wave you goodbye like you asked us on that one post on nin.com. So thank you. I'm always awkward with thank you's, but since you're not reading this, I don't give a shit. I just had to get it out somehow, and now I did. I know this is not the end of NIN. You've said it a million times already, you're gonna keep working on music, blah blah blah. I also know there'll be a comeback, and I will be there, because I can't help it, I'm obsessed with your music. In fact, I now realize that I've only felt love for one thing in my life, and that is your evil, inappropriate-for-minors, industrial-lite music. Yeah, I have that many issues.

And with this, the Trent embargo becomes effective again.

My bootleg of the Henry Fonda show is almost over, and the most beautiful rendition of Hurt is playing. Tears are finally spilling and I am waving, waving, waving, waving goodbye to what was and will always be Nine Inch Nails. I can't believe I'm crying.

Now I move on. I have some serious growing up to do and I expect to start doing it as soon as the final show is over. In the meantime I will sit back and enjoy the show. Dave Navarro is onstage now. Will update this post with the official setlist tomorrow.

And that's all I have to say about that.


Oh wait!

Meathead also quit! Now that is pretty fucking sad. In fact, I think I'm crying right now cause there won't be any more Meathead Perspectives to obsessively look forward to. Fuck Reznor, I need Meathead! *cries*

***UPDATE!!!

Setlist here (from EchoingTheSound.com):

2009-09-10
Los Angeles, CA
Wiltern Theater

1. Home
2. Somewhat Damaged
3. The Collector
4. Discipline
5. March of The Pigs
6. Something I Can Never Have
7. The Frail
8. The Wretched
9. Ruiner
10. Head Down
11. Burn
12. Just Like You Imagined (w Mike Garson)
13. La Mer (w Mike Garson)
14. Eraser (w Mike Garson)
15. The Becoming (Still) (w Mike Garson)
16. Down In The Park (w Gary Numan & Mike Garson intro(?) )
17. Metal (w Gary Numan)
18. I Die: You Die (w Gary Numan)
19. 1,000,000
20. Letting You
21. Survivalism
22. Suck
23. Down In It
24. The Hand That Feeds
25. Head Like A Hole
26. Me, I'm Not (w Atticus Ross)
27. The Warning (w Atticus Ross & Dave Navarro)
28. Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now) (w Dave Navarro)
29. Gave Up (w Dave Navarro)
30. Mr. Self Destruct (w The Dillinger Escape Plan)
31. Wish (w The Dillinger Escape Plan)
32. Atmosphere (cover - Joy Division)
33. Dead Souls (cover - Joy Division)
34. The Good Soldier
35. The Day The World Went Away
36. Hurt
37. In This Twilight

Wow. This bootleg is gonna be one hell of a bitch to download. =/


----------------
Now playing: Nine Inch Nails - Dead Souls
via FoxyTunes

I hurt myself today...

... because there is no God up in the sky.

Otherwise, I would have been at the Henry Fonda theater in Los Angeles tonight watching the second to last-ever NIN show. Instead, I got to watch the action as it unfolded on Twitter, like all the other losers who couldn't make it to the show (I would have been on Access but my computer goes on a coma whenever I try to access Access, lol). How pathetic.

Highlights:

• Gary Numan (meh, boring) doing Down in the Park, Cars and Metal with the band.
• Former NIN bassist and Brad Pitt impersonator Danny Lohner joining the band for Heresy (dude said it already on Twitter a couple days ago, no big surprise there) and much more.
• That Greg Pusciato (sp?) dude from Dillinger Escape Plan doing vocals on (guess which song) Wish. And Mr. Self Destruct.
• Jane's Addiction bassist Eric Avery joining NIN and Numan onstage for a (as-of-yet-unknown...) Gang of Four cover (update: it was Anthrax).
• NIN covering Gang of Four!!! Fuck yes Trent Reznor did listen to my suggestion that one time!!! I know I have no evidence of this but I know in my heart that I did suggest they play Gang of Four on this tour when he asked for cover suggestions on Twitter, way back when.
• HEALTH joining onstage for who the fuck knows what.
  
• Trent actually showing emotion and smiling quite a lot throughout the show.
  
• Justin Meldal-Johnsen STAGEDIVING during The Hand that Feeds!!! (am I the only one who thinks this would have been SO much cooler if he still had the afro???)
• Atmosphere by Joy Division.
• Get Down, Make Love.
• Head Like a Hole opening the show.
• Mike Garson (as in Mike 'I don't know you but you're cool cause you've worked with Bowie' Garson) playing piano.
• Mike Garson playing piano on Just Like You Imagined. WAIT, WHAT??? Just Like You Imagined, motherfuckers.

I don't even wanna think of the awesomeness that will happen tomorrow on Thursday. The last ever NIN show. Oooohhhh!

Right now I'm fucking depressed and tired and can't find a proper setlist for tonight's show, which is bumming me out. Will update this post tomorrow when I have the official setlist. And the bootleg.

***UPDATE!

Setlist here (from nin.com):

2009-09-08
Los Angeles, CA
Henry Fonda Theater

1. Head like a Hole
2. Terrible Lie
3. Sin
4. March of the Pigs
5. Piggy
6. Echoplex
7. Reptile
8. I'm Afraid of Americans
9. Survivalism
10. Head Down
11. 1,000,000
12. Letting you
13. Burn
14. Gave Up
15. Eraser
16. Just like you Imagined (w/ Mike Garson)
17. The Becoming (w/ Mike Garson)
18. I do not Want This (w/ Mike Garson)
19. Down in the Park (w/ Mike Garson & Gary Numan)
20. Metal (w/ Mike Garson & Gary Numan)
21. Cars (w/ Mike Garson & Gary Numan & Eric Avery of Jane's Addiction)
22. Anthrax (w/ Gary Numan, Eric Avery of Jane's Addiction & the four members of HEALTH )
23. Heresy (w/ Danny Lohner)
24. Get Down, Make Love (w/ Danny Lohner)
25. Mr. Self Destruct (w/ Danny Lohner & Greg Pusciato of Dillinger Escape Plan)
26. Wish (w/ Danny Lohner & Greg Pusciato of Dillinger Escape Plan)
27. The Hand that Feeds
28. Atmosphere
29. Dead Souls
30. The Day the World Went Away
31. Hurt

I can't believe JLYI was played tonight.



----------------
Now playing: Tortoise - Almost Always Is Nearly Enough
via FoxyTunes

Repetitive Monotonous

I'm being haunted by yet another Nine Inch Nails song. I thought my obsessive NIN fangirl days were over, but old habits die hard, and this habit is like a fucking cockroach and it seems will survive the end of the fucking world. Personally, I wanted my next obsession to be either Happiness in Slavery (from Broken) or Sunspots (from a-With-a_Teeth-a) because heaven knows I would marry any of those songs (I would propose, even) any day. Nah, it's not either of those. Instead, it is this precious gem I can't stop humming:

Watching all the insects march along
Seem to know just right where they belong
Smears of face reflecting in the chrome
Hiding in the crowd I'm all alone
No one's heard a single word I've said
They don't sound as good outside my head
It looks as though the past is here to stay
I've become a million miles a...
Why do you get all the love in the world?
All the jagged edges disappear
Colors all look brighter when you're near
The stars are all afire in the sky
Sometimes I get so lonely I could...
Why do you get all the love in the world?
Why do you get all the love?

I swear to God, this song fucking follows me EVERYWHERE I go! Weird, considering I spent a good amount of time hating it, skipping it on iTunes and even denying its existence. Now, I will never understand why I hated it so, it's not such a bad song. I mean, it's not Deep or Kinda I Want To. Maybe it creeped me out cause after one hell of a fucking long wait for a NIN album, the first song I get is some sort of awkward Radiohead-meets-Fleetwood Mac sonic hybrid, and well... it was weird. All the Love in the World isn't horrible, not in the very least. I was just expecting something less... gospel-choir-y.

Well anyway, I'm scared. I've listened to ATLITW a grand total of 17 times just today. I'm not sure, but taking a wild guess, I'd say I listened to it about 45 times yesterday, and, I don't know, about 54765476800000000000 times during this past weekend. Talk about getting stuck in the sound.

I need a new obsession. I'm on a diet, working in the afternoon, which I never did before (usually had the ass-crack-of-dawn-shift) and quitting alcohol for good (or at least till NY... or maybe the trip I'm planning with Dani in October) so my entire system is screwed up. I mean, All the Love in the World??? What's next, Ringfinger??? (actually, I'm also slightly obsessed with Twist, the Purest Feeling version of Ringfinger. Oh, fuck!)

(I don't even know why I'm blogging about this, I'm in Computer Science class and this is boring me the FUCK out!)

PS, I think the bass on All the Love in the World is slightly reminiscent of that on Massive Attack's Angel. I don't know where I get these fucked up ideas.

Notorious(ly weird) Moment No. 3654456-7-8-9-...

Gross, rich-as-fuck, famous old dude followed me today at the mall. I was scared to death, so I ran and took the first cab I could find away from said old turd and his two minions. Told my friends about it and they all agreed that I should've let him follow me. Dude has a taste for young women and likes to pay a high price for his latest squeeze. I'm scared. I feel like the dude's watching me through my window and can't fucking sleep... so I'm blogging all about it.

Today Sara had her going away party and I had a frozen daiquiri that tasted like a fucking bloody mary. I also ate a fuck load but that didn't keep me from getting drunk on vodka and tequila shots. I'm fucking ashamed of myself, it's fucking Wednesday (ok, Thursday), for fuck's sake.

I literally just found out I'm gonna be a bridesmaid at my best friend's wedding. I don't have a fucking dress to wear, and I'm too fat to look good in it anyway.

***CONTENT CENSORED DUE TO SERIOUS LURKING (fuck trolls).

I miss NY. Can't wait to go back. With my luck, my next trip will be a total disaster, but at least I have something to look forward to that isn't a fucking NIN show until October. If I end up disappointed and broken-hearted, it's cause people are just fucking useless and idiotic and don't know an actual woman's worth.

Wanted to get sushi today for Lis and myself but dude at the sushi joint told me they didn't have any crab or shrimp to make sushi with. Total buzzkill. I mean, what kind of sushi joint runs out of crab and/or shrimp at 4 PM??? Fuckers.

Lost all my shit (literally) at school. Gotta run to the lost-and-found first thing tomorrow morning to see if they got my notebook and pencil case. Pencil case had my only good black kohl pencil and my stash of gum for the month, and notebook had all my crap written on it, including my pot-induced, track-by-track analysis of The Fragile and some tracks of Pretty Hate Machine (Ringfinger lol). I should totally publish my thoughts on Where Is Everybody? if I ever FIND MY FUCKING NOTEBOOK!!!

I'm having serious thoughts about something about someone that I can't tell for fear of getting outcast and shunned by an entire community. I know I'm right though. I'm not telling shit yet, I'll just let time have the last word on it.

GARY FUCKING NUMAN PERFORMED WITH NIN IN LA WHILE I WAS GETTING DRUNK TONIGHT! I mean, what the fuck is up with the world? First Peter fucking Murphy showed up hanging upside down vampire-style from the ceiling at Terminal 5 in NY (and screwed up Reptile) and now Gary Numan performed Cars (ew) and Metal??? What the fuck's next, Bowie doing I'm Afraid of Americans???

Don't fucking talk to me, I'm fucking irate right now.

And that's all.

***UPDATE!

FUCKKKKK! Mother's birthday is tomorrow. I guess I have to call her. Dang, can't believe I almost forgot. I can't believe I remembered just this moment. Wow...

(and why the fuck does this random folder keep opening? I'm sure as hell I'm not opening it myself. Fucking viruses).

kkk, that's all.

----------------
Now playing: The Fall - Industrial Estate
via FoxyTunes