abstract busyness

"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." --MLK

2011-01-10T11:29:00.000-08:00

Just fired this off to my boss, Harvey Levin. I sincerely hope that if you feel half as strongly as I do, you'll make your opinions known, as nothing could be more harmful to our country right now than silence.

(I've also sent a similar, slightly longer letter via snail mail to Sarah Palin's Alaska producer Mark Burnett, politely and rationally requesting he halt production immediately.)

From the Heart & Mind of a 3-Year Tucson Resident, Regarding Saturday January 8

Harvey—

No doubt you spent a portion of your weekend painfully aware of the massacre in Tucson. I know this is a little verbose, but I can't tell you how much I appreciate you taking the time to read it.

Having attended the University of Arizona (which, sure, has put me at friendly odds with Charles & Evan from time to time), I've long known Tucson as a beautiful, diverse city—one incredibly close to my heart. It's the only place other than Los Angeles I've ever called home, and needless to say, waking up to the news on Saturday was sickening. I've shopped in that Safeway and lived a literal stone's throw from Pima Community College, where the suspect currently in custody had been enrolled. Ironically, I spent the previous night with several of my college roommates from my junior year; the fourth, who has lived in Tucson his whole life, initially feared he'd lost a longtime family friend—whom thankfully like Rep. Giffords, miraculously survived a point blank gunshot wound to the head.

As I'm also sure you're aware, it comes as horrifyingly little surprise that Sarah Palin put crosshairs over Giffords and 19 other House Democrats on her site last year, in addition to carelessly spouting "innocently" murderous rhetoric toward her liberal competition at rallies. Although I somehow doubt (I say this rather gingerly) she had anything to do with the tragic events that transpired Saturday morning, it boggles the mind to think that even one sick, sad, downright depraved person in this country of ours has considered her influence as bettering to their person or their country. It is undeniable, however, that her "rogue," "Mama Bear," name-your-own-synonym-for-vigilante political stylings have spread at a cancerous rate. As far as I'm concerned, the blood of these victims dries beneath Mrs. Palin's manicured nails as I type this.

While I know this instance falls outside [TMZ's] typical arena, I'm writing you this because I feel it is the right thing to do. I know that ultimately, decisions on the content we provide our audience with is hardly my business, but I'm pleading with you to at the very least take a moment (if you haven't already) and consider the way we tout Mrs. Palin and her family as celebrities. For the last two years, she has all but constantly revealed herself to be not only willfully ignorant, but a legitimate threat to the very integrity of the United States and its citizens. As hokey and "everywoman" as she may seem, it's quite clear she isn't; she knows exactly what she's doing, and it terrifies me to think that people are still being duped into buying the whole small-town hockey mom charm. Rather than draw crosshairs over a map over Alaska or encourage my peers to "re-load" and "hunt her down," I feel that verbally conveying my concerns to you is the high road to take—and if even one person can benefit from it, I'm satisfied.

Obviously, the hostile political climate America finds itself mired in today has been deteriorating steadily for the last decade, and this is far a bigger issue than Sarah Palin, George W. Bush, the Tea Party or even bipartisanship. While I'll be the first to admit that my politics are "casual leftist"—I've been a lifelong Democrat, a Jewish son of a Vietnam veteran and a lesbian English teacher-turned-psychologist—I do know more than enough to realize that we aren't headed down a road to trouble, we're already there—and digging ourselves deeper and deeper into a hole. Saturday's shooting spree was the direct result of a government that brazenly misplaces its resources at the cost of education and health care: a mentally unstable, miseducated 22-year-old with no one to turn to and in his own twisted mind, only one way to cope. I am in no way condoning this individual's actions, but merely attempting to illuminate just how avoidable this tragedy was. We knew this from Jonesboro, we knew this from Columbine, and we knew this from Virginia Tech. What frightens me most is the veritable certainty that this will not be the last incident of this nature.

As an aspiring comedy writer, I find this situation particularly confounding. It's no secret that Mrs. Palin has been nothing short of a blessing for my craft since surfacing in 2008—but despite putting great energy into countless jokes to elicit laughter from friends and family since then, I've arrived at a crossroads and concluded that I can no longer do so with this knowledge on my conscience. Given the age-old expression "bad publicity is better than no publicity," I'm afraid I'd only be devoting attention to a villain who has risen to prominence by virtue of that very device. That being said, I only feel it is our responsibility to minimize the attention we devote to such a dangerous presence.

For immediate validation, look no further than hers and John McCain's reactions in the wake of Saturday. Although I'd end up voting for Obama in 2008, I developed a great amount of respect for the McCain during my time in Arizona. Reading his passionate, heartfelt and obviously personal condolences both touched and paralyzed me on certain levels, but this impact was only magnified when compared to Mrs. Palin's: a callous cliché, likely written by an aide and hardly exceeding the 140-character limit of a tweet.

While I get the feeling your political sensibilities may place you in my vicinity, I want you to know I have no intention of ruffling any feathers or instigating ideological contempt within our office—I simply felt the need to express my opinion to you directly. I take great comfort in knowing you'll respect my point of view, as I've respected yours on a daily basis for the past year as part of your staff. After all, this intellectual freedom is one of increasingly few things I feel we have left to be proud of as Americans, and certainly one to be cherished. It breaks my heart to see the state I called home for three years gain a reputation as a mecca of American blindness and bigotry, but I do have hope for Arizona—thanks largely to rational, humane individuals like Gabrielle Giffords.

Again, thank you for taking the time to read this.

Sincerely,
Mike White
University of Arizona, Class of 2006

Everybody Knows 2010 is a Mothaf***in' Monster

2011-01-01T09:38:00.000-08:00

My first resolution for 2011 was to actually finish my favorite albums list for 2010. Taking a cue from Twitter and my relentless schedule as of late, I've kept reviews under 140 characters apiece. (On that note, had I not discovered Stefon's feed today, this would've been up a few hours earlier.)

Honorable Mentions:
The Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild Hunt
Belle and Sebastian - Write About Love

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Let It Sway
Miles Kurosky - The Desert of Shallow Effects
Broken Bells - S/T

20. Local Natives - Gorilla Manor

I devote entirely too much thought to the mere imagery elicited by an album title. Monkey butlers, you say?

19. April Smith and the Great Picture Show - Songs for a Sinking Ship
New musical crush. Saw 'em open for Langhorne Slim @ McCabe's, predicted on spot they'd blow up. Now they're in Weeds promos, Colgate spots.

18. Surfer Blood - Astro Coast

"Whiskey shakes for 10 whole days"?! These kids look 14; were they even alive when obvious muse Pinkerton came out?!

17. Wild Nothing - Gemini

Always wondered what it must've been like to be high during the '80s...

16. Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
The girl earns high marks for liking 'em well before they were selling out back-to-back LA shows. Very Noah & the Whale-ish, which is great.

15. The Dustbowl Revival - You Can't Go Back to the Garden of Eden

à la Princeton last year, my "friends' bias band." Daniel, Zach, Alia: you guys make some truly gorgeous (and toe-tappingly catchy) tunes.

14. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening

Best album title of the decade? It's up there; Ricky Bobby couldn't name it better. Then again, I don't see him among the typical LCD set.

13. Vampire Weekend - Contra

Another prediction: VW will never as much as touch their first attempt. (No, that's a fact.) But if you think they're popular now...

12. The Morning Benders - Big Echo

This one's been wooing me for quite some time now, yet it continues to turn on the charm. You devil, you.

11. Best Coast - Crazy For You

Visceral female vocals, instantly hummable surf rock? No shocker, brah.

10. Beach House - Teen Dream

More soothing than a pillowcase of Klonopin and marshmallows.

9. The Black Keys - Brothers

Hardly a hidden gem anymore, it should come as little surprise that Hung producers have a raging music boner for this dirty, sexy rock.

8. Girl Talk - All Day

When you can make cultural miscreants like Miley sound good, you're damn good at what you do. Title about sums it up.

7. Titus Andronicus - The Monitor

Still not sure what draws me to this one; Civil War reference, perhaps. Ideal morning commute soundtrack, when all I want is to punch shit.

6. Woods - Echo Lake

Late gainer. Andrew played this for me driving home through the barren Central Valley after Thanksgiving. Warm, comfy, groovy.

5. Delta Spirit - History From Below

The dreaded sophomore attempt, turned on its ear. Slightly less folky than their swagger-laden debut, little more Helio Sequence. It's good.

4. Dr. Dog - Shame, Shame

I've seen these Phillies more than any band over the last 5 years; they can do no wrong by me. Wiltern show in Nov: hands down best of 2010.

3. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
First listen, I practically fell asleep in traffic. Must've been bad coffee that morning; favorite hip-hop LP in years.

*Side note: think #3 might've ripped off #4? Longtime SaMoan Adam Kurland directed the former's video, and the latter blogged about it back then. Both videos kick ass, but whether you consider Yeezy a genius, douchebag, visionary, or gay fish (he's all four, and then some), this is the guy who rhymes Coldplay with Coldplay.

2. The National - High Violet

Like Okkervil's Stand Ins followed Stage Names, HV followed monster Boxer with a sublime respect for its predecessor. Love at first listen.

1. The Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

At first reluctant to love, I figured it couldn't hold a candle to Funeral or Neon Bible. In time, the charismatic, spooky Win wins again.

**In addition to breaking all kinds of ground with their "be your own interactive stalker" video for "We Used to Wait," the Montreal outfit even show up in my favorite tweets of the year (courtesy of Family Guy writer/Sarah Silverman servicer Alec Sulkin).

Rather than rank individual songs, this year I've decided to string my favorite songs from the aforementioned LPs together (and a couple bonus goodies) into a more cohesive mix. Hope you guys enjoy it half as much as I did compiling it. (Sadly, download has been removed per DMCA, so contact me if you'd like your own copy!)

1. Vampire Weekend - White Sky

2. The Morning Benders - Excuses

3. Woods - Blood Dries Darker

4. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Made to Last

5. Local Natives - World News

6. The Dustbowl Revival - Dan's Jam

7. April Smith and the Great Picture Show - Can't Say No

8. Miles Kurosky - An Apple for an Apple

9. Mumford & Sons - Winter Winds

10. The Tallest Man on Earth - King of Spain

11. Delta Spirit - Devil Knows You're Dead

12. Dr. Dog - Where'd All the Time Go?

13. Titus Andronicus - Richard III

14. The Arcade Fire - We Used to Wait

15. The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio

16. Belle and Sebastian - Write About Love (feat. Carey Mulligan)

17. The Black Keys - Tighten Up

18. Broken Bells - The Ghost Inside

19. Beach House - Walk in the Park

20. Janelle Monáe - Tightrope (feat. Big Boi)

21. Girl Talk - Let It Out

22. Kanye West - Monster (feat. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, Bon Iver)

23. LCD Soundsystem - You Wanted a Hit

24. Wild Nothing - Chinatown

25. Surfer Blood - Catholic Pagans

26. Best Coast - When I'm With You

27. Lissie - Wedding Bells

28. Beck/Record Club - Never Tear Us Apart (INXS cover; feat. St. Vincent, Liars, Os Mutantes)

• • • •

Special thanks to fellow Arizona alum Anna Deem (Pop Apocalypse), Jody "An American in Lodon" Orsborn (When You Awake), and Danielle "Musical Twin" Sills (No Mistake In Mixtape) for your contributions not only to my library and ticket stub collection, but to the way I ingest and perceive music as a whole. You've each got your own remarkable taste, and I'm glad you're so determined to share that with the rest of us.

Re: HEY GUYYYYYS!

2010-05-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

in a state of reckless delirium this morning, i cracked open a can of campbell's chunky beef w/ country vegetable soup at 10:30 AM in hope of eliminating what was sure to be a debilitating hangover (much to my pleasant surprise and after getting over the fact that i was heating up soup at 10:30 AM on a saturday when i wasn't sick, it's proven quite effective; thank YOU, donovan mcnabb's mom!). while watching the soup slowly but surely bubble in the microwave, it dawned on me that a friend of mine has a birthday coming up and i wanted to send him/her something for his/her upcoming birthday, so i started writing him/her email that read, "hey, what's your mailing address?"

a few minutes later, i fired this baby out to 29 others. rather than comb through names, i'd like to offer this up to the rest of you.

you're welcome.

and no, andrea-- i'm not getting married.

Subj: HEY GUYYYYYS!

i'm coming off a bit of a hazy evening of unhealthy consumption and unwarranted self-destruction, so i'm doing everything i can to ride the last waves of residual stimulants charging through my veins like a stampede of buffalo being ridden by mark ruffalo by doing a little organizational work. that being said, i am kindly requesting your phone number and mailing address. i know what you're all probably thinking, so let me go ahead and address this now:

1) it's not so i can come hunt you down; while fun, this would cost me a lot of money, especially in the case of those of you who are across the country (and the planet). given the current economic climate, it wouldn't necessarily be the most fiscally responsible course of action for me to spend a bunch of money on plane tickets, night-vision goggles, chloroform and burlap sacks. now that you know i have no plans of kidnapping you or any realistic sense of what it would take to carry out such a mission, please reply with said information.

2) although i'm sure you're flattered, and stalking IS the most sincere form of flattery, i'm simply too exhausted to come hunt you down today. don't take it personally, it's just that my mouth tastes like i drank gasoline last night, and since i have no empirical evidence to prove that i DIDN'T drink gasoline last night, i have to move forward in life with the assumption that i did in fact drink gasoline last night. so, no fire eating for me today.

3) this is easier than filling out the census form, takes less time, and is considerably more fun. plus, you never know what you might receive from me... you might even get MY census form! (but if you do, please fill it out. i don't want to go to jail.) i'll also accept favorite animals, proverbs, and sports betting advice.

whether i've seen you in the past 24 hours (if i have, there's a pretty good chance i don't remember, but if i did something to offend or rub you the wrong way last night, please accept this letter as a heartfelt apology, and when i say heartfelt, i mean indie romance montage with obscure b-sides, not one of those "mom made me apologize to my little brother after i pushed him down the stairs when we were kids, but i pretty much--no, completely phoned it in, tell him to stay the fuck out of my baseball cards" apologies) or we haven't spoken in years, i'm hoping that this email provides me with a steady stream of responses in which i will catch up with each and every one of you in a uniquely positive and constructive manner that benefits both of us. i've even taken the liberty of BCCing everyone, because i know a few of you are probably the type who'd start replying to all and writing "poo" or "boobies" or "eating macaroni," and while i certainly appreciate that on a deepest of levels, i simply don't trust your collective maturity. and besides, that's my job. shit sandwich.

bless all your little hearts, and i hope we get to see each other soon, ideally not under conditions involving hostage negotiation, but instead holding hands along a very tall mountain ridge, singing songs of hope and maybe the entirety of the kink's village green preservation society LP.

kisses and tacos,
mike

p.s.: this isn't a threat, but if you don't reply to this email, i will not have your address... but what I will have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a reasonably young career. skills that make me a minor nuisance for people like you. if you give me your address, that'll be the end of it. i will not look for you, i will not pursue you. but if you don't, i will look for you, i will find you, and i will get you to tell me your address.

p.s. #2: josh, obviously i have your address. i just wanted you to see what how i'm occupying myself while you're off on your 'smoking weed across europe 2010 tour'. come home, america needs you more than ever.

He's Just Not That Into Phoenix

2009-12-31T16:00:00.000-08:00

Last year when I recounted my favorite albums of the year, I lamented, "it's clear that 2008 was no 2007." I have since bitten my tongue. While 2009 did in fact birth an abundance of highlights, fewer than usual left me swooning. If for some reason you haven't heard some (or any) of these, see to it that you do--you can thank me later.

20. Bishop Allen - Grrr...
--As far as bands I've been turned onto this year go, Bishop Allen is among my favorites. They're hopefully dorky and unquestionably infectious. Serving quite well as my introduction, Grrr... epitomizes catchiness with adorable boy-girl harmonies, candy-sweet strings and a veritable grab bag of percussions, but it doesn't hold a candle to 2007's The Broken String. If these guys roll through your town any time soon, however, make the effort to catch them; they were hands down one of the best live acts I caught this year.
>>LISTEN: Oklahoma; The Ancient Commonsense of Things; True or False.

19. Islands - Vapours
--I've never expected much from Islands. Their first album had bright spots, as did their second, but neither had much impact as a whole. Even singles like 'Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby' and 'Creeper' have been relegated to the back shelves of my memory bank by now. A year after collaborating with Nick Guthrie last year as Human Highway, however, Nick Thorburn reignited my steadily dwindling interest. To say Vapours is Islands' best goes without saying; but in borrowing sparingly from influences like Talking Heads and Pixies on a handful of impressive tracks and finally making a listenable record from front to back, the third time really is the charm.
>>LISTEN: Vapours; Tender Torture; Disarming the Car Bomb.

18. Princeton - Cocoon of Love
--I'm thrilled to incorporate a little school pride into this year's list: twin vocalists Jesse & Matt Kivel and keyboardist Ben Usen are all Santa Moncia High School alumni; Usen, whom I got to know on the golf team at Samo, is also a fellow Arizona Wildcat. Affiliations have little to do with the merit of this much-anticipated debut LP, however; after amassing a solid resumé of EPs (highlighted by 2008's 'Bloomsbury'), these Santa Monica natives have put together a delightful scrapbook of breezy chamber pop. Rife with literary references on par with Vampire Weekend, and a sound somewhere in the neighborhood of a Jens Lekman/Camera Obscura lovechild, it's hard not to want to wrap yourself up in Cocoon.
>>LISTEN: Show Some Love, When Your Man Gets Home; Sylvie; Shout It Out.

17. The Thermals - Now We Can See
--A guilty pleasure of sort, there isn't much to these 11 songs that doesn't meet the ear; they're certainly nothing we haven't heard before, and more than likely constitute the greatest number of "whoahs" on here. Pitfalls aside, sharp hooks and rabid crescendos on tracks like 'I Let It Go' will get your blood rushing and your feet moving, and this in turn makes for guaranteed repeat listens. For a period where so many of us questioned our direction and longed for the days of being "sick" in college, this little gem turned out to be a desperately needed breath of freshly recycled air.
>>LISTEN: I Let It Go; I Called Out Your Name; At the Bottom of the Sea.

16. Noah and the Whale - The First Days of Spring
--What a difference a year makes: one year removed from gleeful Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down, Charlie Fink breaks up with girlfriend/(former) bandmate Laura Marling, takes a step away from twee pop brilliance and bares his soul on a breakup album. Even within the confines of sorrow, however, N&TW's trademark optimism manages to seep through the cracks at every possible opportunity. On standout track 'Stranger,' Fink opens with the most uncharacteristic of lines: "Last night, I slept with a stranger for the first time since you've gone" (it's even more unsettling to hear him sing this in person), yet within 4 minutes, we're back in 'Give a Little Love' country with the victorious chorus "You know in a year, it's gonna be better/You know in a year, I'm gonna be happy." While I can't say the new material translates as well to the live stage (they killed with a quick set from their first LP at Coachella in April, but practically put us to sleep with this one in October), Fink's dark side doesn't end up begging too much for listener sympathy--and when the catharsis is through, he walks off into the sunset, pronounced chin held high.
>>LISTEN: Stranger; My Broken Heart; Blue Skies.

15. The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You
--It appears I started listening to the Avetts just in time; I'd stumbled across Four Thieves Gone a few months before their latest came out, and boy am I glad that happened. Plain and simple, the North Carolina bluegrass band offers up a handy helping of songs about love and life, sung with sincerity over some perfectly placed strings and keys. "Brooklyn, Brooklyn, take me in/Are you aware the state I'm in?" are certainly among my favorite lyrics from '09.
>>LISTEN: I and Love and You; Head Full of Doubt, Road Full of Promise; Slight Figure of Speech.

14. Decibully - World Travels Fast
--Hardly hot on the heels of 2005's Sing Out America, here comes another solid and beautifully haunting release from this ridiculously underrated Milwaukee band.
>>LISTEN: Prom Jam; Don't Believe the Hype; If I Don't Work.

13. Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - Up From Below

--Planning a trip through the desert anytime soon? Driving out to Arizona in the middle of the night couldn't have been a better occasion to first give these charmingly twangy, whiskey-soaked songs a listen. Kind of makes me want to invest in some boots and maybe a hat. (Jenna gets points for the introduction; she put 'Home' on a mix for me; it's one of my favorite songs this year from anyone.)

>>LISTEN: Home; Janglin; Carries On.

T/12-11. Girls - Album/Real Estate - S/T

--Ranking these two albums has been quite difficult. Hell, I can barely make a distinction at times. Given that I think of the two in such a similar light and that they share so much common aesthetic and feel at times, it's only appropriate to pair them together. Much like Real Estate, San Francisco's Girls have slapped together a remarkably simple, melancholy album of beachy compositions. Where Girls throw angsty Costello-esque vocals and sweeping synths over their surfy Pacific riffs, Real Estate offers a slightly more collected, cooler, crisper Atlantic angle with tastes similar to Yo La Tengo. While it's 50 degrees out and raining and I've never been surfing in my life, Girls have me convinced I should be packing a bowl and waxing my board. Real Estate, on the other hand, have me primed to sit on my imaginary porch with something stiff in my coffee and just watch the waves roll. Either way, looks like I win.

>>LISTEN: Lust for Life; Ghost Mouth; Darling.

>>LISTEN: Black Lake; Atlantic City; Snow Days.

10. Vetiver - Tight Knit

--Every now and then, you get sucked into a band or record that makes you want to drop everything, throw a few essentials in a knapsack and wander into the woods for a while. This, my friends, is that record. With everything from jaunty, toe-tapping beach folk to strutting funk to starry, atmospheric lullabies sure to enhance anyone's "go to sleep mix," Tight Knit pleasantly winds the listener along Pacific Coast Highway to California's central coast, the only problem being that when the trip is through, you won't want to leave.

>>LISTEN: Everyday; Another Reason to Go; More of This.

9. Coconut Records - Davy

--As much as I adore Jason Schwartzman and his cheeky little mannerisms, it's hard to deny--as my girlfriend points out nearly every time I mention him--he's kind of a dweeb. As his surprisingly funny at times yet generally boring HBO series Bored to Death demonstrated, he just can't carry the load as a leading man. Both on screen and in the recording studio, everyone's favorite Rushmore student is a bit of a remora; his presence is best when supporting something larger. Regardless of his musical ability--there's not much question there; Davy boasts a host of instantly memorable songs, several of which became B-sides providing one of the very few likable facets--the score--for Judd Apatow's Funny People--I'd never expect even the best Coconut Records LP (which this is, and deserves praise) to stack up against richer, more developed competition.

>>LISTEN: Any Fun; Saint Jerome; I Am Young

8. The Antlers - Hospice
While I might listen to a track here or there in the future, there's no guarantee I'll ever listen to Hospice from front to back again; the experience is just a little staggering. Intensely beautiful and overwhelming in every sense of the word, but staggering nonetheless.
>>LISTEN: The Bear; Two; Sylvia.

7. Bowerbirds - Upper Air

--Getting me hooked on a folksy boy-girl outfit isn't particularly difficult; throw in a crooning accordion and a cast of delicate, distinct strings, and I'm butter. Akin to Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago, Upper Air is a simple yet rare joy in today's vast sea of exorbitantly overproduced music: accessible, clean, and natural.

>>LISTEN: Northern Lights; Ghost Life; Teeth.

6. Foreign Born - Person to Person

--The Afropop resurgence just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it? Here's 40 minutes of endless summer from right here in Los Angeles, complete with colorful riffs and diligently layered percussion evoking everything from Venice drum circles to sizzling carne asada on Echo Park grills (or maybe in 2009's case, something savory from the Kogi truck). And who knows, with the upcoming Olympics in Vancouver, 'Winter Games' might make for fantastic montage material. NBC, get on that.

>>LISTEN: Winter Games; Early Warning; Lion's Share.

5. Deer Tick - Born on Flag Day
--One of countless bands I'm indebted to Jenna for introducing me to this year, we had the good fortune of watching John McCauley & co. storm the stage at the Joshua Tree Roots Music Festival in October. Given their frontman's pack-a-day rasp and gold-toothed desert swagger, you'd never guess these guys were from Rhode Island.
>>LISTEN: Smith Hill; Easy; Straight Into A Storm.

4. Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career

--For the last decade, Tracyanne Campbell and Camera Obscura have steadily carried the torch bestowed upon them by fellow Scots Belle & Sebastaian. Thus far, this might be their masterpiece; their If You're Feeling Sinister, if you will. On My Maudlin Career, Campbell, part hopeless romantic and part seething pessimist, lends her warm silky vocals and sardonic wit to golden orchestrations that masterfully evoke the ghosts of doo wop. After spending much of this past holiday season with A Christmas Gift For You, I can't help but hope Phil Spector got to hear this before he went to the slammer.

>>LISTEN: Swans; French Navy; The World is Full of Strangers.

3. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - S/T

--Some might argue the best publicity this buzz band received for their debut this year came from (what does he do? music? whatever) Jay Reatard, who oh-so cleverly tweeted about POBPAH, "The Pains of Being Boring at Heart." He's since carried on with a vendetta against half of Brooklyn's indie scene, had his own band members abandon him, and to the best of my knowledge, inspired thousands more who didn't give a shit about him to continue not giving a shit about him. Meanwhile, without RT-ing the situation to high hell and making cheeky "Reatarded" jokes (that's my job), POBPAH have already followed this acclaimed debut up with the similarly impressive 'Higher Than the Stars' EP. So while this album very well may be enshrined alongside a PBR tallboy and a pack of Parliaments in the scenester hall of fame in an a half-finished Williamsburg apartment, let's not ignore the fact that what we have here is a virtually flawless helping of trebly, unforgettable noise-pop that takes internet buzz bands into the next decade on a very high note.
>>LISTEN: Young Adult Friction; This Love is Fucking Right!; Gentle Sons.

2. A.A. Bondy - When the Devil's Loose

--Auguste Arthur strikes again! The only problem I'm having with the former Verbena frontman these days is trying to decide whether I treasure this LP or last year'sAmerican Hearts more. (Thankfully, I don't actually have to.) Bondy's sophomore album may lack some of the punch of his debut, but it allows him to pick up right where he left off--singing velvety ballads over watery guitars and sorrowful strings. In this installment, we find Bondy somehow even more at ease in his southern ether; and while individual tracks seem to stand out less here than last year's model, this gently rolling album is all the richer as a whole.

>>LISTEN: I Can See the Pines Are Dancing; A Slow Parade; On the Moon.

1. Andrew Bird - Noble Beast

--Every kid at some point dreams of spreading his or her wings and taking flight as a bird; Frankly, I'd be content enough to be Andrew Bird: handsome, a sharp dresser, and one of many things I know I'll never be: musically gifted. (In Bird's case, "gifted" is a gross understatement; aside from his ingenious songwriting, he's quite adroit with the violin, guitar, and piano. And then there's the whistling. I didn't learn to whistle (barely, at that) until I was in high school. While Noble Beast might not be his best offering to date (or maybe it is), it's another glorious contribution to a string of unmistakable opuses that have put him in a league of his own. As far as solo acts go this decade, I'm not too sure anybody did it better (or in a more fascinating fashion).

>>LISTEN: Effigy; The Privateers; Souverian.

Oh, and in case you missed 'em, here are my annual individual song picks. Happy '010, y'all.

with but a few hours left...

2009-12-31T13:45:00.001-08:00

...my 30 favorite songs of 2009:

30. m. ward - never had nobody like you (hold time)

29. bishop allen - the ancient commonsense of things (grrr...)
28. the thermals - i let it go (now we can see)

27. handsome furs - all we want, baby, is everything (face control)

26. metric - sick muse (fantasies)

25. the avett brothers - head full of doubt, road full of promise (i and love and you)

24. the antlers - bear (hospice)

23. bowerbirds - teeth (upper air)

22. wilco - you and i (wilco the album)

21. princeton - show some love, when your man gets home (cocoon of love)

20. phoenix - lizstomania (wolfgang amadeus phoenix)

19. islands - vapours (vapours)

18. n.a.s.a. - gifted (feat. kanye west, santigold & lykke li) (the spirit of apollo)

17. david byrne & dirty projectors - knotty pine (dark was the night)

16. noah and the whale - stranger (the first days of spring)

15. camera obscura - honey in the sun (my maudlin career)

14. vetiver - everyday (tight knit)

13. deer tick - smith hill (born on flag day)

12. andrew bird - effigy (noble beast)

11. girls - lust for life (album)

10. grizzly bear - two weeks (veckatimest)

9. foreign born - winter games (person to person)

8. throw me the statue - waving at the shore (creaturesque)
7. akron/family - river (set 'em wild, set 'em free)
6. coconut records - any fun (davy)
5. matt & kim - daylight (grand)

4. a.a. bondy - i can see the pines are dancing (when the devil's loose)
3. st. vincent & the national - sleep all summer (score! 20 years of merge records)
2. edward sharpe & the magnetic zeros - home (up from below)
1. the pains of being pure at heart - young adult friction (s/t)

>>DOWNLOAD:
[1-15]
[16-30]

...now, for the real work: albums.

You Betcha.

2009-07-03T16:17:00.000-07:00

10--wait, 11!--Possible Reasons Sarah Palin Resigned:

11. Fox News needs a weather girl.
10. Taking a little time off to work on her sports analogies.
9. Letterman offered her a job as a writer. (Actually, it was Jimmy Fallon; but that pit bull joke was just the tip of the iceberg, folks.)
8. Felt she needed more time to train for upcoming marathon against Barack when she realized he's "from Africa, which is where all the good marathon runners come from."
7. Troopers caught her trying to park a state-owned chopper in a drive-thru after shooting down wolves.
6. Russian coaches saw her shooting hoops from their house and they want her to play for the national mens' team.
5. Levi Johnston knocked her up.
4. Pressure from the "special needs" community, who felt they were being poorly represented.
3. Recently started listening to Michael Jackson; touched by the line "the doggone girl is mine," she really wants to meet the singer.
2. Todd took her on a walk without a leash last week; she defecated on former Sen. Ted Stevens' lawn and he called animal control.
1. Because it's summer, and that means 20 hours a day to drink hot blood from freshly slit deer necks!

Mother's Day

2009-05-10T13:04:00.000-07:00

My mom is coming to visit for the weekend.

It's been a long time coming; I've been away at college for just a shade under a year now, so it makes plenty of sense that she'd want to come and see where all that money my grandfather left me is going. Since the weekend coincidentally happens to include Mother's Day, she's bringing Andrew along; it's a hallmark opportunity to spend a weekend with both her boys.

Saturday morning, I somehow manage to pull myself out of bed at 8 to pick them up at the airport, still hung over and dressed accordingly. My mom asks if I brushed my teeth, which is completely pointless; we can both smell what's left of a long night with every word I say. I drive the two around town, showing off all Tucson has to offer. This takes us up until about 1 in the afternoon. We grab lunch at East Coast Super Subs, and excited just to have a free meal, I take advantage and go to town on 18 inches of pure bliss (meatballs, tomatoes, mozzarella... the real deal.)

Given that I strive to be the cooler older brother that does nothing more than drink and screw, I've promised Andrew a party of epic proportions, so I suggest we head back to my place and rest up a little after lunch, which we do.

While my description of our party as "epic" is questionable at best, we're at it by 6 and we've got enough moderately priced alcohol to take down an entire sorority (not that this is saying much--a 30-pack of bitch beer will usually do the trick). We've got a dozen kids on the back patio playing beer pong on our hand-crafted and aptly named "Beer Down" table (the University of Arizona's motto and fight song make use of the phrase “Bear Down,” which, after almost two full semesters, I still do not understand), another handful in our immaculately-clean-solely-for-the-purpose-of-family-visiting living room (foreshadowing, by the way), and a few more in the kitchen doing shots.

Seeing her hotel is right off the freeway, which in Tucson (and most anywhere else, I'd assume) equates to dirty and loud, I've volunteered my room to my mom. I hardly feel it courteous to subject her to that mess. Never much of a drinker (even in college), she calls it a night by 9 and shuts my door.

I take my eighteen-year-old protégé-for-the-evening outside for a pep talk of sorts, in which I explain in brief, broken English the rules of beer pong, placing the utmost emphasis on the consumption of alcohol and the ut-least emphasis on rules. What starts out as a few friendly rounds evolves into in a complete forgoing of the athletics on my behalf, as I take to sitting in a foldable nylon chair best suited for corpulent white trash ass at a golf tournament and drowning my insides in Keystone Light.

Over the next two-to-four hours (several years removed from these events, this is still open to interpretation), I shift from beer to other endeavors, namely amaretto bombs. These taste surprisingly similar to Dr. Pepper (even more so than Diet Dr. Pepper!), and they go down just as easy. Normally, this sort of thing wouldn't pose any problem whatsoever for me, and it doesn't tonight, which seems to be the problem in itself. As the night unfolds, I fail to notice that while my brother and my friends Oliver and Eric are each taking turns racing me, I'm motoring through one sweet bomb after another. Before long, I'm riding Eric's wheelchair (with him in it, coincidentally) down our barely-wide-enough hallway and into my own room, where my mother is shockingly still up and reading. She brushes this off with a motherly shrug and sends us on our merry way, so I wheel us over to the living room. After all, boys will be boys.

I get off Eric's chair (and his lap) and sit down to make incomprehensible small talk with our friend Sara, who is currently in the early stages of what will end up being a multiple-year stint as Josh's object of affection. Unfortunately for the sake of the story (yet I suppose fortunately for my drunk ass), Josh is back home in Santa Monica for the weekend and doesn't get bask in this glory.

[Interesting side note: roughly 15 months later while drinking my way through yet another game of "never have I ever" with both Josh and Sara, I'll learn for the first time that I've stuck my tongue in Sara's mouth, which, surely enough, took place on aforementioned evening. In addition to this being news to me, the same can be said for Josh (and mildly disturbing news, at that). This is easily one of the three most uncomfortable moments since we've known each other... and we've hooked up (with different people) in the same room.]

Some hours later, I'm passed out on the couch in the living room as the party lives on around me. In vintage collegiate fashion (whatever the fuck that means), Eric decides (and justifiably so) to have a laugh by writing on my leg with a Sharpie. [Another side note: I only say "justifiably so" because during the prior week and under similar circumstances, I had passed out, piss drunk, in my bedroom with the door open. An hour or two later, I woke up, still sauced, sauntered into the bathroom, and realized what must have been fifty percent of my visible skin was covered in cartoon genitals, signatures, and improvised Chinese characters. From what I've been told, I stormed into the living room, where people were still drinking, shouted "look what the fucking cats did to me!" and went back to sleep.]

As Eric starts to scribble his name and what later appears to be half a Star of David along my calf, I jerk awake, and before I even have the chance to determine whether or not this is in fact our cat, I turn my head and projectile vomit all over the place. Now I usually try to abstain from using such generalities as "all over the place," but this occasion merits my diction, as I upchuck what feels like a good gallon or two of the most radiant red (presumably an intestinal concoction of tomato, meatballs and amaretto) I've ever seen upon our living room floor, our coffee table, our couch, myself, my clothes, and I'm pretty sure there is some airborne mixture that reaches the wall. In addition to this being the first time in my life (I believe) I've thrown up from the excessive consumption of alcohol, I also learn that I'm "a yeller" in doing so, which means exactly what you think.

The next morning, I wake up at 6. Piece by piece, I arrive at the following conclusions:

1) We need new blinds, because our current ones can't keep sunlight out for shit (otherwise, I might have been able to sleep past noon and ride out my pending hangover, which I've grown accustomed to on Sundays like football in the fall, or church, if I'd ever had to go).

2) I did puke last night; it's caked on our leather couch and I can taste it on the back of my teeth. Ain't that some shit.

3) Somehow, our living room is spotless, or at least close. Either way, no vomit, no beer cans, no liquor bottles. I immediately realize there was only one person sober enough (or at all, for that matter) last night to take care of it.

I struggle to sit up and rub my aching face. I've got four voicemails and a couple text messages, all of which will inevitably shed a little light or provide insight on a common subject that I can hardly remember. The first one is an excited and practically—no, shouting Josh: "Dude, Oliver just called! He said you th--" I hang up. My stomach starts to turn and I run to hug the toilet once more. (See? At least I cuddle the morning after.)

Some hours later we're celebrating Mother's Day in the equivalent of a less extravagant Coco's in a strip mall at the corner of Grant and Euclid. I can barely sit up in the booth, and there's a singing clown who's got to be damn near 70 working his way around the restaurant, making balloon animals. Andrew can't keep a straight face and my mom stares at me like we've never met. With what I can't tell is either disappointment or maternal affection, she reminds the both of us (me) how fortunate we are to have a mother who will clean up vomit. I silently note that of the 21 Mother's Days I've been a part of, this is by far the most memorable.

Love you, Mom.

(written in 2007.)

january 24: bohemian baglady visits the apple store's kids section

2009-01-24T23:55:00.000-08:00

after happily spending the morning (and an hour-and-a-half of the afternoon) in bed listening to the rain, i had no choice but to face the fact that i'm all but paralyzed when my devices aren't in working order. (unfortunately, every device i own that implements anything deemed remotely "technological"--phones, cameras, socks--seem to go haywire at (at least) one point during their tenure, despite the fact that i baby them all.

that being said, my iphone, despite all the loving attention with which i smother it, decided to take a break from functionality last night, so after nabbing the earliest possible appointment at the grove's apple store at 4:45 (really?! ain't it great to have to make a reservation to have your phone looked at?) and killing a couple hours over french toast in the farmers market, we showed up a few minutes early and waited around for my appointment.

nonetheless, this is why i'm crazy about this girl. anyone who checks their grown-upness at the door and poses in public with random grade-schoolers gets a gold star in my book.

• distance from my bed: 6.9 miles

january 14: helmets & drumsticks

2009-01-14T23:50:00.000-08:00

"laughing like two little kids
sitting in the back of class
only thing that’s on my mind
is how to make this moment last"

--her space holiday, 'the heartbreak moment'

• distance from my bed: 13 miles

january 13: smil-e

2009-01-13T18:24:00.000-08:00

when i woke up this morning, i stepped out onto the balcony (where else?) and it didn't take me long to come to the conclusion that it was simply too warm for a mid-january morning for me to spend the day in the apartment pretending to be productive.

how my train of logic led to the place it did is still a bit of a mystery to me, but i went up on the roof, scoured the horizon to see if there was still snow on the mountains, and figured that at this rate, there probably won't be snow around much longer, so i hopped in the shower at set off around noon. after all, the last time i played around in the snow was probably a good four years ago, when i drove up to mt. lemmon outside of tucson with katie and whitney. (come to think of it, i really miss mt. lemmon. and the pie. mmm.)

by 1:30, i was up at mt. baldy slipping around on the ice and making a silly excuse for snowman which, with a little imagination, vaguely resembles a combination of myself and wall-e. (well, that's what i was going for.) i've still yet to take into consideration the necessity of gloves for this type of activity, so my hands lacked any sensation for a few minutes shortly thereafter. nonetheless, it was so incredibly worth it. (not to mention the fact that i was back in time for the 3pm sportscenter.)

it's little excursions like this (and leo carrillo, and whatever absurd adventures i come up with next) that make me so glad i decided to stay in los angeles; sure, i had to drive through an hour of pure nothingness between the westside and the base of angeles national forest, but the moment i hit mt. baldy drive and curved my way up and into the mountains, i'd completely forgotten where i was.

• distance from my bed: 62 miles

january 11: reds and golds and greens and beams

2009-01-11T22:23:00.000-08:00

last night, jenna brought her friend jody with her to the bar, and before long, we'd waded into the warm and familiar waters of a beatle-themed conversation. shortly thereafter, i'd been invited to join them on an excursion this afternoon to a plot of land in the bel air foothills where george harrison (my favorite of the fab four) had once had a home.

after obsessively monitoring the sun's progress during a disastrous, 15-minutes-to-go-less-than-a-mile stretch along wilshire between federal and sepulveda (thank heavens i'd started listening to the musical 'leftovers' jenna had given me for my birthday), i eventually made my way up to jody's folks' house, which was immediately among my favorite homes i'd been in. i sat on a small chair that resembled a bear (aptly named "walter"), surrounded by homely antiques and imagery from another time and place, and chatted with jenna, jody and their friend colleen. when the final piece of our group (a tall, funny kid named alex) showed up, we set off, up into the hillside.

aside from the obvious namesake appeal of "operation george harrison," i learned we were trespassing as well (if that counts for anything; it does in my book). when we reached the entrance, we walked along the edge of a steep incline (littered with cactus at the bottom) until our feet had outlasted the span of the gate. we followed a narrow road (somewhat long, barely winding), which opened up into a clearing where the house once stood. (apparently, no one's sure what happened to it, but the ground is supposedly unstable, which is why, despite the land having several owners since, nothing's been built there. damn straight. the view up there was incredible; surrounded on all sides by autumnal trees and fuzzy white weeds, we watched the sun inch closer to the ridge to the west, with the shimmering stone canyon reservoir in the foreground. heading back, we joked about leaving guitar picks for any future visitors and concluded that the one brick and few cans up there probably didn't belong to george.

we followed hike #1 with hike #2, up to another hidden gem, this one a circular labyrinth lined with stones, which sat beneath a giant tree. on the way down the hill again, we stopped off for a little mini-hike (let's call it #2.5) from the road, up a steep, grassy set of stairs which led to nothing more than a flat 15x10 cement platform. (i figured this was probably ringo's hangout.)

when we got back to jody's, her mom made us the best meal i've eaten all year-- homemade chili, cornbread, garlic bread, salad with avocado and almonds, the works. home food. home food makes me smile. (i believe i told her i was "overcome with an overwhelming sense of happiness"... and that was before we ate.)

after dinner, we circled the living room table and played a laughter-filled, loosely officiated half-game of trivial pursuit (anyone ever notice how everyone and their mom has the genus edition from the 70s or 80s? i mean, i'm pretty sure i've never played with a trivial pursuit set that isn't the genus edition from the 70s or 80s.) thankfully, i had a few chances to clarify that i'm still a total dork (i knew without hesitation that austria was the only country at the time whose currency was the schilling).

after we said our goodbyes over coffee and cookies, i got in the car and started jenna's cd up again. as i wound my way down beverly glen, neutral milk hotel's 'in the aeroplane over the sea' came on; and once again, i was overcome with an overwhelming sense of happiness. as we all know, all things must pass... but it's days like today which i really wish didn't have to.

• distance from my bed: 6.4 miles

january 5: jackson pollock study from the balcony

2009-01-05T16:37:00.000-08:00

after a blurry night of all-you-can-eat brazilian meat and veggies, magnums of cab, and a series of high stakes pool involving shots of absolut los angeles as punishment for scratching (we still have zero clue how this vile bottle came into our possession), i wrote the following on alex's facebook wall this morning:

"so. i got hammered drunk last night. surprising, i know. pretty certain i'm still incapable of operating heavy machinery. i'm sure justin can fill you in with sufficient play-by-play.

anyway, when i woke up this morning, i didn't remember shit, but i was pretty convinced i'd puked. upon checking our bathrooms and kitchen and my laundry, however, i couldn't find any evidence; and seeing my mouth tasted surprisingly fine, i just shrugged it off and figured i'd dreamt the whole thing up.

just now, i stepped out on my balcony to have a cig, looked down at the alley, and found more than enough purple evidence."

disgusting, yes. and yes, our alley neighbors were probably less than thrilled to be treated a veritable aria of bodily sounds (i'm a "yeller") somewhere around midnight. frankly, i'm deeply apologetic toward anyone who even read any of that.

i suppose what troubles me most--aside from the fact that i'm apparently 26 going on 21 and throwing up from my second floor balcony--is how, in this time of crisis, i opted for the balcony over my bathroom. given, the former is attached to my room and closer to the side of my bed i sleep on... but we're talking a difference of maybe six steps here (four or five, if i'm hurrying, which i'd imagine i was).

clearly, all the quality time i've spent out there these last couple weeks is starting to rub off on me.

• distance from my bed: 10 feet

january 1: salutations

2009-01-01T19:17:00.000-08:00

shortly after returning from a week of substance-induced, photographic bliss in new york last year, i decided to try my hand at taking a new shot every day for as long as i could, my ultimate goal being a year.

given, the project turned out some memorable work and i fell back in love with the art of taking (and in some cases, making) photographs, but i only made it 84 days. (after returning from the middle east immensely satisfied yet completely drained, my focus had turned to other things and i suppose i found my surroundings here in los angeles less than inspiring.)

that being said, this is round two. here's to making it to 2010!

(woohoo, no leap year.)

• inspired by noah's 'man bites world' approach, i'll be including the distance i traveled from my bed to take each photo... so... 10 feet. go get 'em.

9 resolutions for '09:

1. find my muse.
2. (over)think less; do more.
3. learn more about my faith.
4. appreciate everything and everyone around me more.
5. get my act together and find a little direction.
6. finish what i start.
7. get back into the shape i was in two months ago.
8. treat my lungs with a little more respect.
9. visit a new country.

oh, and get new curtains.

8 years bonus time and counting...

lights and music are on my mind

2008-12-23T20:37:00.000-08:00

it's clear that 2008 was no 2007, but that's no reason to discredit a flurry of bright spots. while picking number one was just as daunting, coming up with 20+ albums i genuinely liked this year required a couple extra weeks of recovery-enabled cramming. so without further ado, my favorite albums of the past 365-minus-a-week-or-so:

(quite) honorable mentions:

lil wayne - tha carter iii

coldplay - viva la vida or death and all his friends

beach house - devotion

annuals - such fun
tokyo police club - elephant shell

20. the dodos - visiter

>>LISTEN: winter, fools, undeclared

19. the helio sequence - keep your eyes ahead

>>LISTEN: hallelujah, broken afternoon, lately

18. oxford collapse - bits

>>LISTEN: young love delivers, featherbeds, children's crusade

17. the magnetic fields - distortion

--for a fair chunk of the last decade, stephen merritt and the magnetic fields resided near the top of the increasingly long list of "obviously decent bands i somehow hadn't gotten into"; and with the exception of one track ('if there's such a thing as love,' off 2004's i), i hadn't. ah, what a difference a day of forced binge listening in the jury pool can make.

>>LISTEN: california girls, the nun's litany, courtesans

16. perhapst - s/t

--with the decemberists taking the year off (and still nearly finding their way onto my individual tracks list with a darling little cover of the velvet underground's 'i'm sticking with you'), leave it to drummer john moen to craft one of the real highlights of this past summer. staying true to its cover art, perhapst drips from open to close with catchy, melodic twang. with a voice far more accessible (and depending on who you ask, likable) than bandmate colin meloy's, moen has turned out a warm, fuzzy collection of songs that is by no means "just another solo effort."

>>LISTEN: blue year, harbour, cruel whisk

15. the rosebuds - life like

--gentle, gloomy and downright scenic at times, life like almost comes off as a slightly poppier take on shoegaze. in doing so, however, ivan howard and kelly crisp throw a handful of catchier optimism into the mix, channeling the likes of the new pornographers and camera obscura. in the end, it all falls together seamlessly, the only drawback being their collective length (or lack thereof, at 33 min).

>>LISTEN: black hole, nice fox, border guards

14. bon iver - for emma, forever ago

--as was the case with a.a. bondy's american hearts (further down the list), i was under the impression that this lovely justin vernon offering belonged to 2007 (after all, 'for emma' did end up on my individual list). unlike bondy, however, i'd listened to this LP last year, and i'd loved it last year; so not to take anything away from making resolutions, but why should this year be any different?

>>LISTEN: skinny love, for emma, re: stacks

13. girl talk - feed the animals

--if only i'd been in college for girl talk's rise to becoming a party must... perhaps i would've learned via osmosis to dance properly in the company of others, thus avoiding the several injuries (and accompanying scars) i incurred this year on the dancefloor. my initial reaction to this summer staple was a simple preference for 2006's night ripper. before long, i realized i was listening to this installment what seemed like daily: in the car, working out, drinking with the roommates in our pool room. aside from a few manageable weak spots (speeding up the band's 'the weight' just sounds silly), feed the animals is 53 minutes bursting at the seams with a grab bag of nostalgia and attitude; and should anything ironic or schmaltzy from yesteryear arise, it's immediately countered with something equally contemporary and vulgar. after all, how can one possibly say no to lil wayne rapping about fellatio over sinead o'connor's 'nothing compares 2 u'?

>>LISTEN: let me see you, set it off, hands in the air

12. headlights - some racing, some stopping

--before it's run its course, it's easy to ingest opening track 'get your head around it' and passively bask in the whimsical ether it creates. there's certainly nothing wrong with it--it would likely have people flocking to google in search of finding out who played it, were it to appear in a springy ad for something along the lines of a fuel-efficient car or a new glade plug-in scent. initially, i caught myself wondering if i was getting in bed with another offspring of death cab's growing influence (this song, xylophones and all, struck me as quite similar to plans opener 'marching bands of manhattan' at times). on the other hand, the subsequent track, 'cherry tulips,' much as its title might suggest, struck--and still strikes--me as lush and refreshing; with few weak points, the rest of this compact, dreamlike boy-girl-boy-girl song-to-song dialogue accomplishes the same thing, leaving me ready for bed, quenched and with a bright red tongue.

>>LISTEN: cherry tulips, on april 2, january

11. human highway - moody motorcycle

--i've never by any means been enamored with nick thorburn's "main attraction" islands, their 2008 release arm's way being no exception. this year he teamed up with canadian songwriter jim guthrie, however, to make a dreamy little record chock full of what he referred to as "hot man-on-man vocal action." as their name would certainly indicate, the resulting product harks back to the days of neil young and even further back to the everly brothers, the final result possibly best experienced while sharing a milkshake in a swinging door salloon with sawdust on the floor.

>>LISTEN: the duties of a lighthouse keeper, what world, the sound

10. conor oberst - s/t

--stage names aside, it's hardly surprising to see conor oberst on another list of mine. if anything, this year would've been his year. back in august, i somehow ended up on stage (a stage that couldn't have been much bigger than 15 feet in any direction) directly next to him and the mystic valley band at a secret show (thus marking the height of any indie cred i'll ever amass) in koreatown. not that this didn't have any drawbacks--as great a vantage point as i had, things got a little close for comfort at times, what with his guitar up in my grill and such. as for the record, this self-titled effort is great, as expected. songs like 'cape canaveral' and 'milk thistle' invoke i'm wide awake it's morning, but the greater chunk of the album finds oberst evolving in a folkier, more seasoned direction; weathered by the journey from his introverted bright eyes persona, but by no means defeated.

>>LISTEN: get-well cards, danny callahan, moab

9. someone still loves you boris yeltsin - pershing

--from a band with arguably the best (if not most imaginative) name in recent memory, another indelible summer offering. perfectly suited for a sunny drive with the windows down and breeze running through your hair or paired with the clanging bottles and sizzling grill of a barbecue, it certainly flirts with the typical, collegiate acoustic "guster-ness" i've tried to distance myself from somewhat since graduating. on the other hand, this quality, along with the accessible catchiness and warm embrace--ultimately reels you in and whisks you away to a far more carefree place.

>>LISTEN: think i wanna die, dead right, the beach song

8. okkervil river - the stand ins

--to say will sheff and okkervil river exploded into my musical conscious in 2007 would be an understatement. i've been in love with this band ever since, spending most of the last year and change buried in their discography with scholarly dedication. while this follow-up to last year's the stage names (tops a year ago) doesn't quite live up to its predecessor (while pleasant, i'm not quite sure what to make of the three instrumental, well, "stand-in" tracks), the substance is there--namely in sheff's lush narratives. in addition to being both sincere and enthralling as a leadman, he's certainly established himself as a singer-songwriter to be reckoned with. few songs illuminated my own personal tendencies better than 'on tour with zykos,' which shone a light so bright on my own apathy i'm still wincing a little.

>>LISTEN: on tour with zykos, lost coastlines, calling and not calling my ex

7. fleet foxes - s/t

--i can say with reasonable confidence that i'm the only person i know (of those qualified) who didn't fall in love with this album when it surfaced just in time for summer--sure, i liked it; i just wasn't in love with it... yet. so while this selective deafness of mine prevents me from falling for the likes of animal collective and tv on the radio, i do like what i hear from these flannel-clad northwesterners--i like it a lot; and in time, i've slowly but surely acquired a taste for their richly layered, flowing brand of folk. (not to mention the fact that fleet foxes certainly set a lofty precedent, grabbing my attention with their sun giant EP in april.) blame it on the rain (los angeles is currently "enduring" its annual week-or-two of mild sprinkling), but come spring and summer 2009, i know i'll lose myself again in the cascading percussion of 'your protector' and appreciate this beautiful record the way i'm supposed to.

>>LISTEN: white winter hymnal, he doesn't know why, your protector

6. dr. dog - fate

--in a perfect world, i'd listen to every band's discography from start-to-finish. (when it comes to the myriad tv series i should be watching and make a point of catching myself up on, this policy is set in stone; for instance--if you sat someone down and had them watch a recent episode of LOST, you'd have no grounds for expecting them to understand anything other than the fact that everyone's stuck on an island and that matthew fox has an affinity for stroking his stubble. to me, fate--dismissed by people more familiar with the band than i as a lesser contribution--is a great episode, and i have no choice but to take it for what it is--my first taste of a great band. it might not be their best, but as far as this year goes, it only fell short of four other albums. fate pushes the listener into a slightly limited musical time machine, borrowing elements from crosby stills nash & young and the beatles, from big star and joni mitchell, dylan and the byrds. so while it's hardly the most innovative (or fluid) work to emerge from 2008, i'll take any episode of LOST over the best 'laguna beach' episode any day of the week. (big ups to homie adam kurland for his kanye-approved video for 'the ark.')

>>LISTEN: hang on, the rabbit the bat and the reindeer, the ark

5. little joy - s/t

--much like vetiver's more of the past EP, one of those undeniably charming surprises i stumbled upon toward the end of the year (and am immensely glad i did). my little brother played it for me in the car a few days back; next thing i know, i can't say no to these 11 songs that come off like a jet set weekend in 60's waikiki with lou reed, surrounded with sandy bikini-clad strangers and umbrellas in cocktails. sure, it may be on this list because i'm freshly hooked and it's barely committed to memory... and sure, perhaps i'll play this one out completely within a season. but with 'brand new start' nestling itself comfortably among my favorite singles of the year and just begging to be included in a future mixtape, i don't see myself growing wary anytime soon.

>>LISTEN: brand new start, don't watch me dancing, how to hang a warhol

4. a.a. bondy - american hearts

--as touched up on a few moments ago, allow me to reiterate: i thought this album came out in 2007. and until last night, american hearts was relegated, along releases from coconut records, lightspeed champion, and josh ritter to the handful of gems from 2007 which i simply discovered a calendar year too late. thanks to some clarification, however, from anna apocalypse (a fellow wildcat alum who could claim responsibility for the bulk of my indie education if she wanted), i've realized the album, while released in '07, was re-released in '08 in hopes of garnering a little more attention for the alabama--n? --nian? who knows? so while i can't say i'm sure of the accepted nomenclature for those who hail from our 22nd state--home to living rooms, bedrooms and dinettes (oh yeah!)--i can say with confidence that with the exception of a couple (still decent) tracks, this disc is as consistent yet interesting as any this year. while 'of the sea' may be my "go to sleep" song of '08, 'there's a reason' and 'vice rag' bring me back to a barefooted, slow-as-molasses southern summer i've never experienced, yet feels completely like home.

>>LISTEN: of the sea, rapture (sweet rapture), vice rag

3. noah and the whale - peaceful, the world lays me down

--my proclivity to saccharine, stringy love songs is no skeleton in the closet. if anything, i embrace this--from my youthful idealism, which leaves my foot in my mouth more often that not to the mixtapes i've given to unrequited loves and girlfriends alike. hell, in recent months, i may have gone as far as envisioning someone i was with walking down the aisle to the serenity of 'do what you do.' (my arms still swell up with goosebumps to the song's sweeping interlude, and equally so during that of the title track.) depending on preference, '5 years time' is as good a single as any in '08. it should come as no surprise that at one point--perhaps a slightly emotional one, but who am i to deny such qualities an influence?--i'd chalked peaceful in as my favorite album of the year.

>>LISTEN: do what you do, 5 years time, shape of my heart

2. vampire weekend - s/t

--by volume, there isn't an album i listened to more this year (according to my itunes, the VW song i listened to the least, opener 'mansard roof,' notched 50 listens). there isn't anything else remotely close. will there be a new album i listen to 50 times in 2009? will there be any album i listen to 50 times in 2009? unlikely. from the wes anderson-worthy charm of 'm79' to the rabid percussion that nails the catchy coffin shut on 'oxford comma,' i've been hooked since the first listen. in march, i drove down to san diego with jackie and saw them play a small club called the casbah because a) their show at the el rey sold out in a heartbeat; and b) ever since shelling out a c-note to see (only figuratively) the white stripes play there in 2002, i've held a passive grudge against the venue. two mornings after the casbah show, i popped ezra & company in for the drive back and she told me "i think i'm good on vampire weekend for a little while." i had the pleasure of seeing these guys twice this year (thrice, if you include their performance with the crenshaw high school drumline on kimmel)-- and both times, i was fortunate enough to show up early enough (not obsessively early, who does that?) to find myself front and center (and literally able to put my camera down on the stage if my shoulder needed a rest). my only complaint? two shows, no 'walcott.' when all's said and done, no band made me want to move to the east coast more than vampire weekend in 2008-- and i very nearly did.

>>LISTEN: oxford comma, m79, walcott

1. cut copy - in ghost colours

--from an aesthetic standpoint, all you need to know about this album is the following: it's seductive, engaging, and cohesive. it's vibrant and haunting, and that's why you're reading about it here. every now and then, we find ourselves fortunate enough to be so moved by the combination of circumstance and soundtrack that the two are forever bound. case in point: this summer, i was on a bus from jerusalem to tel aviv, on a good mixture and sharing 'lights & music' through split headphones with tori, the girl on my trip to israel i fell for--and would end up dating from across the country for three subsequent months). at one point, she turns up from my lap, looks me in the eye and somehow manages to ask with a straight face, "are you trying to seduce me?" given, i was (and given, it worked), but much like the first time i heard nada surf's 'inside of love' in the backseat of my friend katie's northbound car on tucson boulevard one summer night in 2004 or stepping off the train this october penn station on the way to my first interview in new york to okkervil's 'on tour with zykos,' it's the people and places such as these which form the musical connections we carry for a lifetime. a week or so after that night in tel aviv (where we'd end up on our first date at an overpriced sushi restaurant), we'd spent three hours killing bottles of wine and smoking cigarettes in a bus terminal in the red sea port of eilat. after uncomfortably struggling across the egyptian border at 3 a.m. in the presence of more guards than crossers and more guns than members in our party, four american twenty-somethings boarded a bumpy six-hour van ride across the sinai desert to cairo. as the rest of the group slept, i listened to 'lights & music' as we snaked our way through miles of monstrous, desolate canyon; when we emerged, i watched the sun rise.

>>LISTEN: hearts on fire, so haunted, strangers in the wind

>>DOWNLOAD:

[1-5]
[6-10]
[11-15]
[16-20]

taking advantage of the season

2008-12-23T12:11:00.000-08:00

i'm sparing the verbosity for the larger works, but in the meantime, here are 30 favorites from this past year:

30. land of talk - some are lakes (some are lakes)
29. mgmt - time to pretend (oracular spectacular)
28. estelle feat. kanye west - american boy (shine)
27. bon iver - skinny love (for emma, forever ago)
26. neva dinova - a man and his dream (you may already be dreaming)
25. the dodos - winter (visiter)
24. she and him - i was made for you (volume one)
23. jason collett - through the night these days (here's to being here)
22. the ruby suns - oh, mojave (sea lion)
21. tokyo police club - tesselate (elephant shell)
20. tv on the radio - family tree (dear science)
19. fleet foxes - white winter hymnal (s/t)
18. frightened rabbit - the modern leper (the midnight organ fight)
17. the magnetic fields - california girls (distortion)
16. vetiver - just to have you (more of the past)
15. coldplay - lost! (viva la vida or death and all his friends)
14. oxford collapse - young love delivers (bits)
13. lil wayne feat. jay-z - mr. carter (tha carter iii)
12. ra ra riot - can you tell (the rhumb line)
11. beach house - gila (devotion)
10. human highway - duties of a lighthouse keeper (moody motorcycle)
9. miles kurosky - an apple for an apple
8. conor oberst - get-well cards (s/t)
7. cut copy - hearts on fire (in ghost colours)
6. nada surf - are you lightning (lucky)
5. okkervil river - on tour with zykos (the stand ins)
4. noah and the whale - do what you do (peaceful, the world lays me down)
3. headlights - cherry tulips (some racing, some stopping)
2. vampire weekend - oxford comma (s/t)
1. little joy - brand new start (s/t)

>>DOWNLOAD:
[1-15]
[16-30]

Addicted

2008-11-23T23:12:00.000-08:00

Out on the balcony in the cold tonight
I wanted to celebrate
Wanted to celebrate today, the future
Our future

Embers falling on my legs
You’re out, white-nosed and crisp red
God, you look good in red
If only I were there

Looking at our pictures
Your smile
It only gets bigger

My hand’s a little shaky
Holding this pen like a smoke
I swallow a chip, breathe deep
I don’t even use these things

It’s raining in Philadelphia, 1 a.m.
I’m numbing myself to Wednesday
When I'll keep you dry
Shelter from the storm

Who are you with?
What are you doing?
Whatever

I miss you
Need you
Need your voice

I’m sorry
I can’t stop
Can’t keep my fucking mouth shut
Can’t keep these words to myself
They’re beautiful though, true
Clawing their way up my insides
Burning my throat

I’m only lookin’ out for you, baby
I’m gonna give you everything

Everything
You’re everything

(10.27.08)

i'm fucking obsessed with this song today

2008-11-19T21:34:00.000-08:00

Rodriguez - Jane S. Piddy (1970)

Now you sit there thinking, feeling insecure
The mocking court gesture (jester) claims there is no proven cure
Go back to your chamber, your eyes upon the wall
'Cos you got no one to listen, you got no one to call

And you think I'm curious

Drifting, drowning in a purple sea of doubt
You wanna hear she loves you,
but the words don't fit the mouth
You're a loser, a rebel, a cause without

But don't think me callous

Dancing Rosemary, disappearing sister Ruth
It's just your yellow appetite
that has you choking on the truth
You gave in, you gave out, outlived your dreams of youth

And I can't get jealous

So go on, you'll continue with your nose so open wide
Knocking on that door that says "Hurry, come inside"
But don't bother to buy insurance
'cos you've already died

And you can't be serious

I saw my reflection in my father's final tears
The wind was slowly melting, San Francisco disappears
Acid heads, unmade beds, and you Woodward world queers

I know you're lonely
I know you're lonely
I know you're lonely
I know you're lonely...

(LISTEN!)

silly red states...

2008-11-10T22:29:00.000-08:00

on my way back from philadelphia today, i encountered a 20-minute-turned-2-hours-thanks-to-mechanical-failure layover at phoenix's sky harbor today (you'll be receiving a call tomorrow, southwest--i'm not even close to finished with you guys). deciding on passing my time at one of those fun new circular tables which remind me of my childhood pediatrician's waiting room (sans the tonka trucks and fish tank) at the gate, i sat on a green and yellow cylinder and watched cnn cover barack obama's visit to the white house.

as i made sweet, sweet mouth love to my square double cheeseburger from wendy's, your run-of-the-mill scottsdale (insert anything but a sport here) mom sat her daughter down next to me and paced around the gate with her blackberry. kid couldn't have been older than 5.

within a minute:

"look mommy, it's john mccain's house."
"oh, no, honey-- the other man gets to live there now."

get me away from here, i'm dying

2008-07-29T17:59:00.000-07:00

omfgz, earthquake!

thankfully, i was in the car. on the 10. so i didn't feel shit. (which is probably a good thing, seeing i've been mortified of quakes since 4:31 a.m. on january 17, 1994.) as luck would have it, i didn't know about the tremor until about a half hour later, only via a concerned call from michael's mom. turns out michael, in brussels, had read about it before i even had the chance to feel even the slightest aftershock or see something expensive fall off a shelf somewhere (and i say i'm becoming detached from this city...)

having taken a pit stop on a run to ogle travel packs inside air-conditioned REI in santa monica, i caught myself daydreaming about hollywood boulevard splitting down the middle: toursists, douchebags, douchebag tourists, and scientologists tumbling endlessly into the depths of the earth (followed by brendan fraser and the mummy franchise).

and this was the first time i smiled all day.

as we desperately claw toward hiatus, one thing i can't stop dwelling on is how tel aviv (7,563 miles from LA) isn't nearly as far away from this cesspool as i'd like. hot pot of coffee, i can't wait to be in new york again.

master cleanse

2008-07-23T01:22:00.000-07:00

[i started this on june 30. it's july 23.]

when i went to sleep [on 6/29], i wrote myself a note:
"monday: write about becoming dispassionate."

i haven't written much lately. actually, i haven't written at all lately.

i've tried to commit myself to figuring out why this is (and when i say "trying to commit myself," i essentially mean a rigorous diet of drinking and smoking for the last season or so, and although it isn't taking nearly as devastating an effect on my body or mind as it should be (a waste is a terrible thing to mind), i really do feel like a portion of, well, me has completely burnt away. maybe this is a first step toward regaining that.

when i broke up with jackie on april 13, i didn't think i was making a mistake. she was great, and for all intents and purposes, the few months spent with her make up the most successful relationship i've had thus far. not to say it was the strongest i've ever felt about someone (it wasn't) or the longest i've been with someone (it wasn't) but things were really good for the bulk of it. my mom loved her, i thought i might someday; problem was, it never happened, and we plateaued. breaking up with her was one of the easiest and most difficult decisions i've ever had to make, but i convinced myself i was doing the right thing, and that was all i needed. we weren't falling in love, and after almost three months, i'd somehow expected that to happen by then. it only took one fight, and i lost it. i wasn't necessarily unhappy at that juncture, i just wasn't quite sure what we were doing together anymore; piss drunk on the phone for an hour outside canter's that saturday night, however, i'd made up my mind and i was too stubborn to cut my losses.

over the last three months, i've probably drank or smoked on 90% of the days. i've slept with a couple people; one old, one new. i've gone to new york, arizona and the bay area twice; i'm making my birthright trip to israel in august, followed by a few days in egypt, sandwiched between more downtime in new york. i've convinced myself i'm living in the wrong city (or at least working in the wrong city). i'm rediscovering how much i love photography and the process of framing things every day. i've gotten to play golf again; i played for the first time in almost a year out in scottsdale on a good mixture of pot and coors light and sank an ace. a good friend of mine from college has moved in with michael and i. i've flirted with a few promotions at work, but each letdown stings a little more.

i saw my closest cousin get married in june.

i don't see my parents nearly as much as i did a year ago, i see my brother once every 2-3 weeks; we all live within a couple miles of each other. my old roommate noah, who moved to new york in april to pursue a career as a playwright, moved back a few weeks ago to date and live with jackie; i'm about as comfortable as anyone with this.

i've motivationally fumbled with my ambitions of writing; after all, it requires me to write.

i'm spending my scarce hours with a different, evolving set of people. i hadn't felt genuinely affectionate toward a girl again until a couple weeks ago, and it's not necessarily a favorable situation. for the first time since i've known two of the most important women i met in college, i'm not habitually falling back in love with them after things didn't pan out; they deserve better and i think i've finally learned that lesson.

it's time to move on.

Los Angeles, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down

2008-04-15T18:18:00.000-07:00

Shortly before graduating and leaving Arizona in 2006, someone close to my heart told me she felt like she was "losing me to L.A." (This somehow remains one of the most touching things anyone's ever said to me, and I ended up writing 'Oceanside' for her shortly after. It's arguably one of my favorite poems--pieces, possibly--I've ever written.) Nonetheless, sometimes, I feel I've lost myself to this place. I love it to death--it's my home, my youth, my likely future; yet in time, it beats me into the ground and I'm overcome with the need to escape it.

As of now, if things were to go as planned this summer (but do they ever?), I could be spending time as far west as I've been from home (Hawaii) [EDIT, 6/30/08--NOT HAPPENING--flights: too fucking expensive], as far north (Alaska) [EDIT, 6/30/08--NOT HAPPENING--too fucking expensive, work frowns upon taking off for two weeks in between two 2-week hiatuses, apparently], and as far east (Israel). (Not to mention the possibility of briefly visiting some destinations in Europe and/or Asia Minor after Birthright in Israel.) [EDIT, 6/30/08--EGYPT!!--I'll need to get back to work, but not without a couple extra days off.] Perhaps I should look into Argentina or New Zealand and take care of the south. [EDIT, 6/30/08--Let's not rule this out; there's a lotta year left, and if I've learned anything thus far in 2008, it's that I'm acting more and more impulsively with less and less regard for this little thing called "finances."]

I've never been so eager to get to know my camera better.

february

2008-02-27T23:44:00.000-08:00

i met someone.

superblog XLII

2008-02-03T20:47:00.000-08:00

bill simmons gets paid a lot more than me to crack wise with his stream of consciousness during major sporting events, but know what? i finished ahead of him in the kimmel staff march madness pool last year (top ten, in case you were wondering), so i practically feel obligated to do this. i may even resort to touching upon the actual game (don't get your hopes up, though).

42 Notes on Super Bowl XLII

1. i've been betting a ten spot on the coin toss since SB38 in 2004, when i first realized that that was an option (i've since learned that you can bet on far more specific and questionable super bowl occurrences). i've never won; four years running. this year, i've consulted an outside source who's been nothing but great for me the last week (separate blog, see: near future), and we're going with heads.

2. i've been betting on the super bowl since SB36 in 2002, when i took the "greatest show on turf" rams giving a pair of touchdowns to tom 'tuck rule' brady and the upstart patriots. the rest is history, america, fuck yeah! i've been talking giants nonstop the last two weeks, but i cop out at the last minute because there's no way that happens to me and millions of other degenerate gamblers twice. pats giving 12.5. always fun to root for a blowout.

2.5. i consider the possibility of eli manning leading the giants to victory, much like brady did in 2002 for his first ring. say this happened, and we as football fans were thrust into an era of montana-esque dominance by peyton's slightly-more-retarded little brother? it'd be like bush taking over the white house in 2000. don't say i didn't warn you.

3. if you're drinking, take a swig for every time you see or hear anything about:
-pat tillman
-tom brady/terry bradshaw
-spygate
-the 1972 dolphins
-fox series cast members (all of whom happen to be at the game, sitting near each other, and sharing nachos)

4. i sprint to vons to buy tortillas and chips. i get back immediately following the coin toss, almost winded. 0 for 5. girl's got some 'splaining to do.

5. josh made us a super bowl cake; it's exactly what it sounds like. i get lit and eat a few dozen gum drops, imagining they're cars in the parking lot.

6. godfather ad by audi: fantastic. sure, i was secretly hoping for it to be an ironic ad for hyundai or kia (do they still make those?), but i must say: one sexy car (you know, if people had could have sex with cars). don't hold your breath.

7. pepsi's 'night at the roxbury' spot is an early favorite. are you surprised by the fact that they couldn't get will ferrell?

8. brent accuses josh of being a racist:
"just because i'm mexican, you assume i like tacos?"
"yup. do you like tacos?"
"yeah."
i intervene: "josh, you're jewish, do you like money?"

9. brent asks me why i'm compulsively typing away on my iphone. i tell him i've been obsessively jotting down material (anything i find remotely interesting) for a potential stand-up routine; somehow, i've now promised him one percent of my lifetime DVD sales. thankfully, probably not happening (neither of those.)

10. we're pausing the game to crack beers outside and barbecue. we're pausing the commercials to hotbox the bathroom. with all this pausing, we very may well find out who won the super bowl an hour and a half later than the rest of society. (thankfully, there end up being myriad skip-worthy commercials about native american gambling propositions and pharmaceuticals which catch us up by halftime.)

11. the cheaply animated racist in me is glad title sponsor salesgenie.com isn't above cheaply animated, racially insensitive commercials.

12. noah politely requests that i put a straw in a beer and chug it with my mouth completely around the top of the bottle and the straw sticking out sideways. it can't be more than 2 seconds. why didn't i know about this?! to quote myself, channeling ray charles one fateful night last year, "i feel like i'm seeing things for the first time, and i'm at a really good halloween carnival."

13. 'under armour: the movie' premieres. it's long, it's intense, it's a bunch of jacked dudes training in textbook locations from early '90's music videos. it's 300 meets gridiron gang, and it's hilarious.

14. brent, michael and myself are all wearing blue shirts. arin's wearing brown. to answer her question, no, she cannot sit on the couch.

15. arin jokingly asks who's playing. why can't we not take these things up a notch? ac milan-arsenal. lakers-sonics. the all-time negro league all-stars versus the raleigh, north carolina AYSO 8-9 year old boys & girls soccer team.

16. smirky kimmel writer will burke appears at the end of one of the funnier spots so far (what is it about screaming animals that really does it for me?). i don't even remember the ad right now, but at this point, it's the loudest i've yelled. i jump up from the couch and present company looks at me all funnylike.

17. fedex pigeon commercial: winner. sure, super bowl ads are always animal-heavy, today being far from an exception. it isn't typical, however, for these ads to be giant-birds-dropping-giant-cargo-on-traffic-heavy... and not nearly typical enough.

18. i can't wait to find someone at work with a stain on their shirt tomorrow and mimic everything they say with a rendition of robin williams vomiting loudly.

19. here's what i'd like to know: if your heart pops out of your chest, how the fuck are you supposed to sit back and watch as it storms into your boss's office and quits your job for you? (and why doesn't it leave bloody little footsteps with it's presumably bloody little feet?)

20. not quite beyonce, not quite vitamin water.

21. planters commercial. uni-browed redhead. peanuts in cleavage. peanuts everywhere. i may never eat planters nuts again. mr. peanut must be rolling in his grave. good thing i've already thought up a few "things that start with 'e' and 'n' enjoy emerald nuts" spots.

22. hi. that was a fucking push-off.

23. i've yet to solve the mystery of picking my perfect threesome to get stoned with. charles barkley might not make it to the final 3, but he'd make a run. i can also now say i'd pay the price of admission to see him and dwayne wade in a chick flick together.

24. josh reminds me of the brief period of our college experience best distinguished by the presence of literally a truckload of "promotional" doritos rollitos chips in our house (these were a potential new snack being tested on college kids, josh was to be administering them, but somehow, 99% of them ended up back at our place). i suggest he works in pinkberry's marketing department.

25. if you've ever watched one single quarter of any game with me, you know one of my all-time favorites from the pigskin vernacular is "football move" (i.e. a receiver must make a football move after catching a pass and controlling the ball before it can be stripped and ruled a fumble; otherwise, the play is ruled an incomplete pass). when i think of football moves, i think about striking the heisman pose, the ol' huck-n'-buck, and so on. what if a back were to catch a screen pass, break it to the outside and finger-roll the ball into the endzone? basketball move. how about a (ridiculously open) receiver catching a pass near the sideline and getting rachel nichols' hotel key before he steps out? smooth move. i'm sure that's happened several times. avoid eye contact, gonorrhea of the eye is very, very real.

26. josh tells me fox's trademark, running-in-place, football-playing robot is named (drumroll)... CLETUS. if this name elicits anything other than the slack-jawed yokel of simpsons fame, i'm probably scared of you (or at least would like a back story). is this some sort of newscorp premonition of a future rise to world-domination by the south?

27. brent insists the robot's name is MO-ANTHONY. in what may be the first-ever serious talk i've had about parenting, we discuss how fun it would be to intentionally raise one child of yours as if he were a gang member-in-training from a rough neighborhood, encouraging a lifestyle riddled with sex, drugs and crime... all while bringing your other kids up to be decent, law-abiding, gap-wearing citizens.

28. unpolished ads confronting teenaged drug dealers are definitely somewhere near the bottom of my funniest SB ad genres list. at least give me a talking ferret with some insight on cocaine use during pregnancy or a motherly hen imploring me not to drive drunk.

29. michael gives me shit for wanting to watch the halftime show (it had been initially considered for fast-forward time in order to get back live). it's not that i'd rather watch tom petty than potentially funny commercials; i simply want to watch tom petty. guy's awesome. and he opens with 'american girl,' backed by what appear to be a band of hobos. petty's the lead hobo. he gets the first bite of the half-eaten dumpster apple every night.

30. something to consider: 2004: justin timberlake introduces the world to janet jackson's right boob. 2005: paul mccartney rubs one out under his piano (ok, that was made up; i'm not even sure if he played a piano). 2007: a silhouetted prince holds his iconic guitar suggestively behind a wall of billowing fabric. 2008: an awfully phallic guitar penetrates a heart where petty and his bandmates are playing. i know the super bowl makes me sexually excited, but really? i never noticed how slowly but surely sporting events have become TV-MA.

31. did i mention we hotboxed the bathroom just in time for the halftime show? good call.

32. we hit up espn to watch ice dancing or division II biathlon regionals or whatever the fuck anyone else watches today. what the fuck else do people (theoretically) watch during the big game? i wonder if anyone would even notice if CBS started broadcasting a two-hour, heavily-produced porno at 4:00 PST on super sunday. turns out some folks (again, theoretically) watch the strongman competition. we're watching a sta-puft norwegian beast name ODD do squats with two small cars serving as weight. i can do that, i just don't want to.

33. osi umenyiora (giants' defensive end). almost sounds like "human gyro." or was it "human hero"? which would you rather eat: a human gyro, or a human hero?

34. i confide to brent that were i forced to change my name to brent or brentrelle, i'd go with the latter. everything's cooler when you just add -trelle.
josh, joshtrelle.
noah, no'trelle.
mike, miketrelle.
ok, maybe not everything.

35. referee mike carey might not be on the ball with his flag-tossing (see: declaring the giants as having 12 men on the field for a punt, removing flag from belt, enthusiastically dropping flag, penalizing the giants five yards, picking up flag), he knows his signals--he doesn't "make" signals, the man performs them... with all the grace of a gay black magician. he can come play charades at our place any time he wants.

36. leave it to the geniuses at bud light (the hit-or-miss ad-makers) to have a black guy soar through the sky (after drinking watered down piss)...and get sucked into an airliner's engine. at least they got jj abrams to direct the ad; the guy survives. (but why'd they put him in an airport? if you could fly, i'd imagine you could fly direct.)

37. smiles all around trophy for the day: parade balloon stewie and parade balloon underdog go at it for a parade balloon coke, and parade balloon charlie brown comes out of nowhere to snag it. of all the mothafuckin' parade balloons i know, he's the mothafuckest.

38. about as into an ad as i can get: big black dog furiously laps up every last drop of water from his bowl. gatorade: man's best friend. word. i could watch this ad for an hour, no prob.

39. note to bud light: cast will ferrell in as many ads as possible. suck one.

40. victoria's secret model playing with a football (which very well could be mine, or yours, or anyone's!): the most pleasant 30 seconds of my afternoon. happy valentine's day, indeed. when's that again?

40.5. i'm pretty sure donkeylips from salute your shorts just used nipple clamps...on himself. thanks to steve francisco for confirming this via txt. i've completely forgotten about that victoria's secret ad. she was hot, right?

41. eli just pulled one of the all-time great super bowl plays out of his ass. i'm not saying this lightly, either: he reached up there, felt around, had a cup of coffee and read the sunday funnies, then extracted it. meanwhile, i'm humbly eating my words, one by one, yet again.

42. giants 17, pats 14. mercury morris, you can pop your champagne.

42.5. board up your windows and buy some groceries; hurricane eli is here.
42.6. if tom brady is in fact straight, gisele won't be doing much walking tomorrow.

white out.

so let's give it up for the new year...

2008-01-01T19:03:00.000-08:00

less:
drink, smoke, waste. sit. pine. nitpick. nailbite.

more:
live, listen, love. read. write. persist. cook. exercise. experiment. reflect.

to do:
get published. get committed. get mine.

i can't believe it's been seven years.

god, forgive my tasteless tongue

2007-12-29T13:48:00.000-08:00

after excessive deliberation and the acceptance of inevitable insecurity, my 25 favorite albums of 2007:

honorable mentions:
kevin devine - tour ep
ryan adams - easy tiger

20. kanye west - graduation
--remember the kanye/50 cent feud? i don't. not only did chi-town's finest outsell fitty, but he actually made a decent album (come to think of it, his only one) in doing so. while he just had to go and name an all-around atrocity of a song after my least favorite human being (barry bonds), at least kanyeezy finally put together a disc without an annoying smattering of skits for filler. golf clap from the peanut gallery for rhyming "coldplay" with "coldplay," mr. west. ('stronger,' 'can't tell me nothing,' 'flashing lights.')

19. elvis perkins - ash wednesday
--it may not be terrifyingly outgoing; however, much like matt costa's songs we sing (2005), it's consistently sweet, charming, and even catchy at times. ('may day!,' 'emile's vietnam in the sky,' 'ash wednesday.')

18. los campesinos! - sticking fingers into sockets ep
--fuck, why couldn't this just be full-length? 16 infectious minutes that sound like everything from rilo kiley to camera obscura to the brunettes. i harbored similar feelings for voxtrot around this time last year, so now i'm stuck holding out for a debut lp. ('frontwards,' 'don't tell me to do the math(s),' 'you! me! dancing!')

17. lcd soundsystem - sound of silver
--my shying away from electronic artists is nothing new, but at least james murphy may have finally started me in the right direction. there may be a handful of incredible singles on here, but i'm just not quite there yet. ('north american scum,' 'someone great,' 'all my friends.')

16. feist - the reminder
--despite the fact that it took an omnipresent little ipod spot, at least ten listens (a couple after starting this list), and a performance on kimmel's live-from-a-bus broadcast (told you i was shameless, didn't i?) to appreciate it, i'm finally sold. ('i feel it all,' '1234,' 'past in present.')

15. band of horses - cease to begin

--the sooner you realize that a year later, b.o.h. couldn't touch their debut (my #1 in '06), the sooner you'll be able to appreciate a serene, moody and beautiful-at-times album that doesn't need one standout track to work. ('no one's gonna love you,' 'the general specific,' 'lamb on the lam (in the city).')

14. jens lekman - night falls over kortedala

--i may be more conflicted over this lp than any this year. as if it were out of a lekman song, it's an almost comical love-hate relationship; it's impossible for me to be indifferent toward it, and while i'm not sure if i buy into his narratives, if i want to, or if it's okay to, the good outweighs the bad in a very enjoyable way. ('a postcard to nina,' 'shirin,' 'friday night at the drive-in bingo.')

13. peter bjorn and john - writer's block
--for the first third of the year, 'paris 2004' was the front-runner for my favorite single of the year. given, that rarely holds up, but this was one of the most enjoyable albums of 2007, regardless of what you confine your musical preference to. ('young folks,' 'paris 2004,' 'the chills.')

12. wilco - sky blue sky
--initially, the only thing i thought about sky blue sky? not wilco's best. the issue? for me, ranking wilco albums would be as undesirable an activity as ranking beatles albums (i look at yankee hotel foxtrot not only as their white album, but as a white album of sorts in my own experience as a listener of music in general). this is a step in a different direction for wilco, in favor of modesty (perhaps a more skillful being there). it may take a while for some, but this one will grow on you. ('you are my face,' 'sky blue sky,' 'what light.')

11. voxtrot - s/t

--i don't necessarily agree with the authorities that this was a disappointing debut lp; sure, it lacks the energy of the raised by wolves and mothers, sisters, daughters & wives eps, but were this indie-pop silver to be released by anyone else, the reception may have been friendlier. ('brother in conflict,' 'the future pt. 1,' 'blood red blood.')

10. radiohead - in rainbows
--the day of its release, michael, rebecca and i came home from work, carefully arranged a dish with assorted cookies and brownies from diddy riese, killed the lights in the living room, and smoked entirely too much pot. then we listened. ('nude,' 'all i need,' 'reckoner.')

9. bright eyes - cassadaga

--as magnificent as the majority of this album is, what's left completely disinterests me. nonetheless, seeing the bulk of it performed with the assistance of the l.a. philharmonic at the hollywood bowl was unforgettable, and a handful of songs are as forceful as any by conor oberst. ('hot knives,' 'make a plan to love me,' 'no one would riot for less.')

8. two gallants - s/t
--seeing they put out an album i all but lapped up last year, i wasn't quite sure how great such a quick release could be. i almost assumed i should be disappointed; and while i'm sure there are more than a handful out there who adored what the toll tells and shrugged this one off, i can't help but disagree. ('the hand that held me down,' 'ribbons 'round my tongue,' 'despite what you've been told.')

7. stars - in our bedroom after the war

--given how long it took for me to actually enjoy 'set yourself on fire' as an lp, i was pleasantly surprised by how quickly i was hooked by this one--within the first listen. ('my favourite book,' 'midnight coward,' 'bitches in tokyo.')

6. spoon - ga ga ga ga ga

--before this year, i'd had been hard-pressed to get into any spoon album as a whole; i'd fall in love with individual tracks, but there was never a cohesiveness i could, well, go ga-ga over. it took a while, but i've realized that this is in fact that album. ('you got yr. cherry bomb,' 'the underdog,' 'black like me.')

5. the good life - help wanted nights
--it's not the most ambitious album (nor is it the good life's best), but i find a certain solace--identification, even--in tim kasher's lyrics and delivery; it's hard enough just to dismiss the lesser songs on here, which believe it or not, are there. ('your share of men,' 'keely aimee,' 'rest your head.')

4. andrew bird - armchair apocrypha
--the first word i heard used to describe this 'heretics': heroin. having never heard of andrew bird before this year, it didn't take me long to fall for his strings, quirky lyrics and velvety crooning. if you've yet to listen to an andrew bird record, please do; it may not be armchair, but be persistent--you'll eventually find something of his that blows you away. ('fiery crash,' 'plasticities,' 'heretics.')

3. the arcade fire - neon bible
--after seeing them play the greek theater in may, i had something along the lines of "win butler owns my fucking soul" up as an away message for what must've been a week; when all's said and done, their second album produces exactly that effect--it's truly a religious experience; completely unrelated to the fact that this masterpiece was recorded in a church. ('keep the car running,' 'intervention,' 'antichrist television blues.')

2. the national - boxer
--the fact that this is the album that turned me onto a band i now consider one of my favorites, yet it no longer headlines their discography--paired with a mere two songs that i merely don't care for--may be responsible for keeping it from the top (well, bottom) of this list. two months ago, that's precisely where it was. ('green gloves,' 'slow show,' 'apartment story.')

1. okkervil river - the stage names
--akin to boxer, an album that turned me onto an incredible band that i now treasure. to the contrary, where the aforementioned has flaws (albeit minimal), stage names flirts with a simple perfection; there may be only nine tracks, but not one is worth overlooking. ('unless it's kicks,' 'plus ones,' 'john allyn smith sails.')

DOWNLOAD:
(1-6) (7-12) (13-16) (17-19) (the rest)

it's christmas in california...

2007-12-25T12:58:00.000-08:00

in the true spirit of jewish christmas (or as i prefer, christian hanukkah), i'd like everyone to take a gander at my jingle balls:

(turns out all you need to turn a non-holiday sweater into a holiday sweater is booze, balls, and pins; in that order.)

i've had no choice all week but to dwell yet again on how immune i am to the holidays. don't get me wrong, december's my favorite month of the year; i just haven't gotten completely swept up in the festivities in years. the things i look forward to the most about the holidays are so simple: cold and blustery conditions (we've been known to dip down into the 50's here in l.a...at night), blowing people away with ironic gifts (shipping cases of natty ice to friends back in arizona because the postage is twice as expensive as the gift), death cab's cover of darlene love's 'christmas (baby please come home)', and knowing new year's is only a week away.

in the end, the holiday season gives me a reason to miss everyone i don't have out here (you all know who you are) just a little bit more... and i'm pretty content with that.

making my list, checking it hourly

2007-12-20T19:06:00.000-08:00

while i spent a few uneventful days mulling over last year's list and was all but certainly smoking crack when i put together 2005's (really? plans?!), i've genuinely been looking forward to compiling a singles list for this year since the beginning of fall; the past year has been rife with wonderful music, and being a more vigilant listener than ever has made it all the better.

were i to be completely straightforward with this list, a majority of the contents would probably come from a mere handful of albums; but thankfully, by deciding to arrange this list with 25 unique artists ("no repeats"), i don't have to resort to that (cough, 2005). on the other hand, i've spent the last two weeks in a holed up in my place, listening to a favorable chunk of the best 2007 had to offer nonstop (thanks largely to the strike) and compulsively rearranging a single playlist. regrettably, i've had to choose favorites out of some of the most surreal 2, 3, 4, 5-song samples (and entire albums), leaving dozens of beautiful, epic, and indelible songs unmentioned. long story short, this little project kicked my ass:

my 30 (formerly 25) favorite tracks from 2007 (followed by album):

30. the shins - turn on me ('wincing the night away')
29. bon iver - for emma ('for emma, forever ago')
28. eddie vedder - society ('into the wild' ost)
27. band of horses - lamb on the lam (in the city); ('cease to begin')
26. the mary onettes - explosions ('s/t')
25. earlimart - bloody nose ('mentor tormentor')
24. okay - natural ('huggable dust')
23. blonde redhead - 23 ('23')
22. kevin devine - the longer i lay here ('tour' ep)
21. kanye west - flashing lights ('graduation')
20. rihanna - umbrella ('good girl gone bad')
19. voxtrot - brother in conflict ('s/t')
18. stars - bitches in tokyo ('in our bedroom after the war')
17. feist - 1234 ('the reminder')
16. les savy fav - comes & goes ('let's stay friends')
15. maritime - guns of navarone - ('heresy and the hotel choir')
14. jens lekman - friday night at the drive-in bingo ('night falls over kortedala')
13. m.i.a. - paper planes ('kala')
12. los campesinos! - you! me! dancing! ('sticking fingers into sockets' ep)
11. bright eyes - no one would riot for less - ('cassadaga')
10. the good life - rest your head - ('help wanted nights')
9. ryan adams - two ('easy tiger')
8. spoon - you got yr. cherry bomb - ('ga ga ga ga ga')
7. andrew bird - plasticities ('armchair apocrypha')
6. peter bjorn and john - paris 2004 ('writer's block')
5. two gallants - despite what you've been told ('s/t')
4. the arcade fire - keep the car running ('neon bible')
3. lcd soundsystem - all my friends ('sound of silver')
2. the national - apartment story ('boxer')
1. okkervil river - unless it's kicks ('the stage names')

--> DOWNLOAD: (30-16) (15-1)

this entry's had entirely too many edits; i'm saving albums for later.

'cause there's no love like apathy

2007-12-17T15:22:00.000-08:00

i've been out of work for two weeks now. initially, our suspension in the wake of the strike seemed inevitable and devastating. when this actually happened, i tried to welcome the notion of all this newfound free time; i'd get to sleep in; i'd run my own errands, see a doctor, see a dentist (which i did: four fillings, $540); i wouldn't need to panic if one tuesday night i sat down, started writing, and next thing i knew, it was 6 a.m.

i'd have... time.

...and i'm not saying i haven't had time. i just haven't had shit to do; and the one thing i want to be doing more than anything else, i'm not.

it's become a game of procrastination. i'll sit here for 2 hours spacing out and listening to music before i can even pull it together and take a shower. i get so excited about wanting to write something after i get out, i play (bob) dylan's 'desolation row' (11:24, and one of my absolute favorites of the 10-minute-plus set) to "limit" my shower in favor of productivity. instead, i stand in the shower, gradually getting it as hot i can take (day by day, i've been testing how much heat i can stand in there. make what you want of it, but i made it past half-strength for the first time the other day. !?) given, i think my best ideas hit me when i'm in one of three places: a) lying in bed before i go to sleep; b) traffic; or c) the shower; so 15 minutes later and somewhere near the end of wilco's 'how to fight loneliness,' i get back to my desk and i hurry to get it down. nothing's coming.

it should be noted that i've also discovered i can take full swings with a wedge in my bedroom without destroying anything, so i suppose my swing's coming back a little after not touching a club since july.

here's another example: i'll call it "the traveling blue envelope." i have this blue envelope (see? told you i'm at a loss of creativity) of time-sensitive forms heading back to the unemployment people sitting around since probably last friday; everything's completed and signed, it's just waiting to be mailed in so that in theory, i can start collecting my pittance from the establishment. monday i rummage about for the handful of postage stamps i'm convinced i have (still am), but i can't find them. i figure i'll walk a block to vons, but it just doesn't happen. no sweat, there's always tomorrow. i even bring the envelope with me to dinner with my mom, thinking "sweet, i'll get a free stamp out of it." i forget to ask. tuesday: i bring it along with michael as we run errands. bay cities. rebecca's. guitar center. i end up at home, it's 4:30, but i don't know where the closest mailbox to our place is (note: i've been informed--nine months after moving here--that there's a drop box in our building), so i decide it's best not to rush the block up to vons just to get flustered at the last minute and not be able to find a mailbox. i end up making the trip to vons on wednesday afternoon. there's a mailbox on the same corner; can't be more than a hundred yards. it takes me three days to walk a block, buy a stamp, and mail a single letter-sized envelope.

none of this is typical of me. (edit: i've been procrastinating since i learned to talk.) i'm slipping. i'm not sharp right now; i'm not concise. i'm drawn out all over the place; i'm just doing it calmly. i'm addicted to convenience. i've got hundreds upon hundreds of these little situations, jokes and lines coursing through my body; i'm talking my fucking existence here. the problem? i've got zero--ZERO--drive to make anything tangible of them.

i've had to make plenty of adjustments over the last couple weeks (in addition to the three weeks leading up to our suspension). for one, i was contently at a point where my biggest concerns weren't my health or finances or career, just my inability to find myself in a stable relationship (subconsciously, it's my favorite thing to lose sleep over). i'm not sleeping with anyone for the sake of sleeping with someone, which is a nice change. hell, the last month or so has been the first time in probably four years that i'm not "in love" with one or more people. (quotations due to the fact that 80% of the time, this is unrequited; so for now, let's go with "at the moment, i'm not pining over anyone.")

a few months back, i reconnected with someone from the past (try, well...my first), made myself available, and i got fucked over. i hadn't really been all that bitter about it until lately, but now that i've got all this free time, it's hard to ignore. long story short: a girl who stays with her distant, construction-working stoner boyfriend of several years out of pity, yet doesn't mind blowing you under the sheets in a vegas hotel room with her former sorority sister and your buddy 10 feet away in the other bed, then doing bong rips and fucking your brains out at your place two weeks later (take a breath...) probably isn't gonna stick. i could be wrong. i hope i'm wrong. i try to see the best in people, but maybe sometimes it's not actually there; maybe i'm just enamored with everything these girls evoke from within me. at least i got to try my hand at homewrecking.

on a positive note, i actually talked to a girl i found interesting (very) last night at an ugly christmas sweater party. high point of my week. from what i remember, she probably has a boyfriend. sweet.

oh. i went to dinner at my dad's tonight with this mustache:

i think what's getting under my skin (among other things, of course) is that it's my favorite time of year, yet i'm feeling so completely uninspired.

there. that felt good.

quarter-life crisis solution

2007-12-17T14:48:00.000-08:00

i'll be 25 in a matter of weeks. seeing i impulsively got a new car last year (a month and change out of college) and a new mac this year (after punching my old one), i'm playing things a little safer for the upcoming year and creating a new blog (you know, in case anything else i touch breaks). frankly, i just got sick of seeing "mikedub22" everytime i logged into my livejournal. where's the charm in that? in fact, i'm gonna blame my reluctance/inability to write solely on that fact. we had a good run (four years, nine weeks), but i'll gradually (edit: pretty much abruptly) be phasing it out. if it's any silver lining, it won't be going anywhere (as far as i know.)

http://mikedub22.livejournal.com

obviously, this must be flustering for you; "what's next? you gonna drop the all-lower case thing and start using proper capitalization?"

doubtful.