August is a season of change.

Everyone is moving and shifting around me. In 3 days, I'll have a new apartment, new space, new great roommate. Friends are moving out of the city; friends are moving back in; old friendships disintegrate and new ones are invigorated. Maybe it's just the age - 23, 24 - when people start feeling anxious if they don't know what they want to do with their lives. I'm kinda like, what's the hurry? I'm just trying to enjoy the moment and not get too riled up over anything.

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Do the monkeyback

When I was in high school, my friends and I made many many short videos, including a complex puppet show choreographed to Orpheus in the Underworld. Nothing we did, however, was remotely as entertaining as these high school (?) students pretending to be the Bees.

This video is great because it almost seems like something that the Bees (A Band of Bees at the time) might actually release. The retro hints and studied simplicity of the production fit the music perfectly, resulting in a video as accessible and engaging as the song itself. Nice work kids! I hope you got an A on this project.

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Hey kid. Wanna be cool?

In ninth grade, for a period of about a year, I was obsessed with Kid Rock. I'm not sure why exactly -- I guess because I too was white and shrimpy and wanted to be bad-ass. I used to walk around saying Kid Rock was my idol (god, I was so embarrassing!) and bop my head along menacingly and pretend to like songs like "Bawitdaba" (does anyone actually like that song?) and "Cowboy."

"Bawitdaba"

My parents of course had no problem with it - they heard the name "Kid Rock" and pictured Kidz Bop I'm sure, and thought the cowboy hat made him a good ole American chap. (They never actually listened to his tunes, I'll add.)

I had a teddy bear that I used to dress up as Kid Rock, in a cowboy hat and wrap-around shades, which sat at the end of my bed. My dad even went so far as to take myself and a friend to a Kid Rock concert for my 14th birthday, where we were all exposed to such wonders as mini Joe C., a midget with a mouthful, and a giant inflatable hand giving the middle finger.

Joe C.

Looking back, it's almost like Kid Rock was making fun of himself the whole time, and a whole generation of angry suburban kids were buying it. The middle finger was one of Kid Rock's trademarks (as if you can trademark a universally recognized symbol) -- the actual CD (back when they came in cases!) of Devil Without a Cause was a close-up of his hand, decorated with a ridiculous amount of bling -- giving the middle finger. Rumor had it that the censored version contained this same image, with a long black rectangle over the finger.

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Liking Kid Rock was more about rebellion and image than actual music I think, and striving to find identity in popular culture. I remember reading in interviews that Kid Rock's average fan was about 13 years old -- it's strange how music is geared towards certain age groups and when we are that age, we don't even realize it. (Although I'm pretty convinced that today's indie electro-pop is specifically geared towards people in their 20s.)

13-year olds

As we grow older however, our tastes grow and mature, and we find ourselves liking different things. But what about those people in their 20s who still listen to music that was popular in high school? Are they stuck in the past, or just complacent and lazy? Or did they seriously discover the greatest music of their lives in ninth grade? For people still listening to Kid Rock, I'm going to say no.

These people intrigue me. I like to divide them into two categories: people in their who listen to Third Eye Blind, Dave Matthews Band, and Smash Mouth, and people who listen to old-school (really mid-school) emo.

The loath-able Dave Matthews Band

The former category, obviously, I like to characterize as jocks, douchebags and people too busy reveling in the fact that they were voted Prom King to have enough time to have taste.

The latter has two sub-dimensions -- young, depressed poets full of vulnerability who think Connor Oberst really says it so well! -- and awkward alternative kids who never morphed into hipsters like most of their peers. (Although I'm sure there are many other types...these are the only types I've found.) I feel sorry for these kids. Not only are they completely out of the loop, but they're probably depressed as well.

Anyway, the music you listen to says a lot about you, which means WE ALL should strive to be as cool as possible and listen to as may unknown bands as we can find. Remember, it's not about the music, it's about the IMAGE - and you WANT to be COOL.

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Last.Fm 2.0

Is it just me, or does the new Last.Fm look an awful lot like facebook?



I'm a little creeped out right now.

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Worthwhile side projects, or, a brief history of skepticism

I'm generally skeptical whenever artists attempt to conquer new fields - when actors release albums (sorry Paris/H. Duff/ScarJo), singers star in movies (cringe!), and reality TV show weirdos pen novels (even though I am totally doing this myself someday, as soon as somebody invents America's Next Most Snarky Midget Supermodel and I am cast.)

"when singers make movies" - 3 films that should have never happened

One thing I shouldn't be skeptical about however is when members of generally awesome, or even mediocre bands, release solo albums.

History has proved that such projects are generally awesome (think everyone in Built to Spill, the New Pornographers, the Ruff Ryders, Wu Tang) but being generally mistrusting of fame in general, I tend of feel like maybe said artist is just in it for the money, or the publicity, and there's no guarantee they will release something that doesn't sound like poop.

Two solo projects I'm totally feeling:

Peter Moren's (of Peter Bjorn and John fame) The Last Tycoon and Albert Hammond Jr.'s (of the Strokes) ¿Cómo Te Llama?.

The Last Tycoon .................................¿Cómo Te Llama?

The former is full of sweet, plaintive melodies, poetic lyrics and stripped down sound; the latter stylish, nocturnal indie guitar jams.

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Absolute Zero = 0 degrees Kelvin

So I don't usually blog about bands I'm in the process of writing about professionally, but I was watching a video of this band the Absolute Zeros and I thought: the lead singer really kind of looks like Roger Daltrey.

Exhibit:

Ok, so maybe they don't look that much alike (Cochrane could do with some fringe perhaps) but there's something very Daltrey-ian about his performance -- something very British, charismatic, and rock 'n roll.

Consider:

The band even kinda sounds like the Who! One of my coworkers said he takes figure-drawing classes with Kelvin, and he's an all-around stand-up guy -- not a Commander of the Order of the British Empire perhaps, but we can't all have Mother England bestow good will upon us.

Anyway, it's probably clear by now that I think they're rocking, so I'll leave you with another vid (not as high quality, but still fun)

Thank god for gravelly Brits and a reprieve from bands who sound like Man Man.

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My seventh grade crush was a hipster.

I didn't realize it then of course - I just thought he was cute - but now it only seems obvious. His name was Bobby Miller - a wholesome All-American name if I ever heard one - and he was everything an awkward, bespectacled 12-year weirdo could want: adorable, shy, skinny, blond and refreshingly not a part of the "popular" middle school clique. He dressed in corduroys and Simpsons tee shirts, listened to Beck (long before I knew who Beck was!), and preferred paper airplanes and playing with his cat to football. It was 1997 and I was in love, swooning over Bobby in art class and snagging a seat next to him on the bus ride to Medieval Times.

The Evolution of Homer: One of Bobby's fave tees

In high school, we pretty much fell out of touch -- I was too busy dating actors and poets and listening to emo -- but Bobby I remember continued on the same trajectory, wearing hoodies and belts made of string, listening to Modest Mouse and Danger Mouse and more Beck of course, chilling out after school, snowboarding and building things out of wood and metal.

The best Beck video ever

I should have known that I'd end up with a guy just like Bobby - skinny, blond, musically tuned-in and fond of silly tee shirts, construction and television. They say you have one type - my type is definitely the Beck type.

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Killer Parties Almost Killed Me: Craig Finn and Brief History of History of Obsession

Anyone who knows me remotely well knows that the Hold Steady's Separation Sunday is one of my top 5 "deserted island" albums. (Although if truth be told, I like Almost Killed Me almost just as much). No one, of course, understands this choice, but for me, it's obvious. I love the roughness and angst of Craig Finn's voice, the poetry, the allusions (they always get me!), but mostly I love the story. (I know, I'm a sucker.)


I don't remember when I was first exposed to this fiery literary/musical treasure - probably shortly after the album came out in 2005, back in the day when downloading music was a process of hunting down specific tracks on Limewire or whatever. As a result, I had all of the songs individually - no sense of albums or track order - just a whole bunch of random songs, and I totally dug 'em. My favorites, at the time, (and probably still!) were "The Swish", "Your Little Hoodrat Friend", and of course, "Stevie Nix". At some point I experienced the grand revelation that these songs seemed to tell a story; I looked up the order on the Internet, relabeled everything, and was off and running.

The other Stevie Nicks

I'm not sure what it is exactly about this album that attracted me so much - I guess the whole straying Catholic thing was sort of interesting, but really I think it was the emotion behind the words, as if Craig Finn was literally pouring his heart out with each song, encapsulating moments and feelings for us to experience again and again, only with more poise and snarkiness than we could ever manage.

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I went to see the Hold Steady in concert last fall, by myself, after all of my friends politely turned me down. It was well after Boys and Girls in America had been released, and I expected the crowd to be a good mix of chicks and dudes. Instead, it was mostly dudes of the hip-to-be-square variety -- Springsteen fans in polo shirts, feeling all hip and liberal 'cause they're out on a weeknight experiencing culture.

This stock photo, entitled "Cool Dude" sums it up perfectly.

I was wearing something nondescript that night - jeans, shirt and boots, probably -- and by the end of the Hold Steady's set (I skipped out on the openers), no less than 3 of these so-called "dudes" had attempted to make awkward small talk and flirt WHILE the band was playing. One fellow, who I maybe might have recognized had it not been dark, spotted me right away, offering a cheery "Kate! From Postmodernism?" in between songs, and I had to pretend not to hear him and drift away when the band started up again. (I've leave you to wax philosophical on the relationship between a post-Boys-and-Girls Hold Steady and postmodernism class at Penn.)

(Although actually...



Anyway, I'm not sure what any of this all means exactly, other than the fact (which we all already knew) that 1.) it's no longer cool to like the Hold Steady, although nearly everyone does secretly, and 2.) that if you're ever looking to pick up guys, go to a concert solo.

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As for the concert itself...it was really something else. Watching Craig sing it was obvious that he was so happy and gracious and just glad to be making music for these drunken, eager crowds. He flitted around the stage like a 5-year-old at Sesame Place, acting totally goofy and spontaneous, a silly grin slapped across his face the whole time. At the end of the show, the audience rushed the stage and he totally ate it up, embracing the crowd and declaring "All of us, we're the Hold Steady!"

I hear he teaches a Master class at BC, where he graduated from in the early '90s. Can you imagine having Craig Finn as a teacher? I bet that class is impossible to get into.

"Philly's full of friendly friends..." - "Killer Parties" live at the TLA, 10/23/07

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Yet while the concert was fun, I knew, at the end of the day, that Boys and Girls and America didn't stand a chance in my mind of trumping its predecessors. It was no one thing really (the band signing to Vagrant, becoming more popular, smoothing over their rough edges), and while I liked the album, I didn't love it. (And actually, I HATED the backing vocals throughout "Chillout Tent" - they made my skin crawl with their tepid cheesiness.)

I've since come to appreciate the cheese

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It's 2008, and the Hold Steady's newest release, Stay Positive, has been floating around the internet for weeks now. My initial thought was: Wow! Finn is starting to sound alot like BILLY JOEL, and that piano playing is really out of control. (Note: I like and respect Billy Joel, but he sounds a bit dated. Finn is 36.)


The album, of course, was still totally rockin' -- I listened to it 3+ times, had "Sequestered in Memphis" in my head for a few days, but didn't really think about it too much either way until this past weekend, when the title track came on shuffle on my friend's boat-iPod soundsystem, while we were sailing down on the Chesapeake. (Quite the set-up really.)

Maybe it was the beautiful weather, and the water, and the high spirits of the day in general, but for some reason, and that point, that song seemed so appropriate, and quite possibly the best advice Finn could give to his fan base. The journey from Almost Killed Me to to now seems complete - as if Finn is saying, yeah, we've been through it all: drugs, sex, religion, prostitution, rock 'n roll, but man, what are you doing NOW? And then, without a beat, We're right here damn it, and we may be getting old, but fuck you!, we're wiser now, and we can cope.

Really, I think this is what they've been saying all along.

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