Expect a bunch from me in the c0ming days, and hopefully a continuance of the “26 Interviews” Series.
In the meantime, I kind of genious and apt image I found over at Sissy Dude (nsfw).
hey everybody! I have finally returned from my annual early winter nervous breakdown–I usually like to wind down the stressful Christmas season in a posh Austrian insane asylum, and this year was no different! Oh my god, the croissants in that place!* But anyway, I wanted to talk to you, gentle readers, about two things;
1. Every time I fold my laundry after washing it, I find these wee little socks–like, teensy, barely-ankle-high socks. I know I would never buy such socks, so does that mean someone is giving them to me? They always look kind of worn, so are people giving me their old, slightly worn teensy socks, and I am taking them because my life is that much of a shambles, that I would take such sock? Or, worse, am I doing something like stealing these socks when I am, say, drunk and have spilled a tumbler full of vodka and Sprite Zero on my feet at a house party? A chilling thought. And yet, I end up wearing them, because I could always use some socks. The phrase “I could always use some socks” is both a true statement and a sad statement about my life.
2. Paula Abdul! I know there is/ was/ has been some kind of recent cultural conversation about her because she has been a judge on American Idol for the past 40 years, and I guess she acts koo-koo bananas on that show or whatever, which is basically who cares, but is also totally who cares because she was always insane! I had the urge to listen to her late 80s-ish ballad “Rush, Rush” today, which I used to listen to in the second grade and imagine that it would be playing someday while I very romantically lost my virginity to one of the guys from the New Mickey Mouse Club in a room full of candles. Anyway, I watched the video, and its batshit insane:
I know she doesn’t direct her videos, but I assume she okay’d them, right? I mean, she agreed to be in them. She was like “Something in this song calls for me to act out scenes from ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ with Keanu Reeves for no reason at a cost of I’m sure millions of dollars for all those flying helicopter shots and stuff!” I mean, I do realize this was the era of “November Rain” and all, but still. Also, she looks very pretty in this video but also at least 28, you know?
Also, not to beat a dead horse, but:
Isn’t the day you realize what it really, truly means for an adult, human female to be singing a song about not just fucking, BUT BEING LIFE PARTNERS WITH A CARTOON CAT, the day your youth truly ends? It is probably one thing to do such a thing in private, but quite another to celebrate it in song.
Finally:
I never realized this video was about how this dancing is the most erotic thing ever, and is blowing the minds of squares. I used to listen to this song incessantly as a kid, and I remember my parents hearing it, listening to the part where she says “all the world’s a candy store, he’s been trick-or-treating” and then laughing and telling me those were “the dumbest lyrics ever.” I like the Ubby-Dubby-style double-talk breakdown in the middle, forgot about that. Also, directed by David Fincher.
Anyway, even though her videos were wacky, she had something, and I would be lying to you if I didn’t say that part of me is depressed that when you put “paula abdul” into youtube, the like third or fourth thing that comes up is “drunk” or “farts on simon cowell.” Sigh. Oh, well.
* I was not really in an Austrian insane asylum, I was just being lazy. I am sorry that I lied to you like that.
Well, as the boys continue to be M.I.A. [concerned readers, i assure you they are alive and well] and while folks anxiously await a Sleater Kinney reunion, Carrie Brownstein is keeping busy with her comedic video project Thunder Ant (a collaboration with SNL’s Fred Armistead). Here is one of my favorites, entitled, “The Perfect Song”.
In high school, I was obsessed with San Diego rock band, The Displaced. Comprised of founding members Jen Jansen and M. Simon Mandel, The Displaced are a true 90’s revivalist band – whether they mean to or not. Think the spitfire sarcasm of The Pixies matched with The Breeders and the man/woman vocal harmonies of Hazel…
They are one of the hardest working bands I have ever known, self releasing their own work, creating their own elaborate photoshoots and music videos archive. Eventually, we became friends and paled around the San Diego music scene and even went on a tour together once Jon and I formed Swallows (with an adorable weenie dog as the co-captain)
After a haitus from the standard rock arena – (for a few years they took a detour into a Kills-esque duet using drum machines and samples) – The Displaced are back to doing what they do best: rocking hard as a three piece.
Here is some footage from a show they played at San Diego’s famous venue, The Casbah.
30
Jan
10
JOHNNY WEIR…
A gaycondo hero….
Horribly cheesy but to good too resist the following statement: Throwing Muses = my new muse. Last November, a friend with impeccable music taste related Swallows to early Throwing Muses after our Ground Kontrol show, inspiring my curiosity in the band. I plugged them into my Pandora playlist and fell merciless to the feet of Kristin Hersh and the gang (not that my band reaaaaallly sounds like TM but I can see the comparison).
Since then I have been pretty much obsessed in small doses. I am still a long way from hearing the entire Throwing Muses catalog. Currently, I have only heard tunes off of their indie-polished, University and an earlier record Jon bought me for Christmas entitled The Fat Skier. The latter is more raw, edgy and sporatic while University glides along in a produced psychedelic wave.
What I find so interesting is the band’s dedication to putting out music for decades. It is interesting to see the different eras of the band and how the musicians have changed and grown together.
Witness, “Bright Yellow Gun” circa mid-nineties television show
In this early performance on a UK television set, Kristin Hersh screams like a maniacal Laura Palmer and discusses the difference between cerebral and “gut” music
January 26th marks Patti Smith’s Portland appearance at the Bagdad Theater. She will be reading lines from her new book, Just Kids, an autobiography detailing the early years of art in New York City and her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe.
More readings and tickets here.
I have been experiencing a wave of 90’s nostalgia and discovered an early 90’s gem I had previously overlooked: Liz Phair. I’m talking about the Exile In Guysville sardonic queen rather than the glitzy yawn fest of post-millenium alterna-queen Liz Phair
Surprisingly, there aren’t a lot of Liz Phair videos on youtube. (perhaps the digital divide between eras?)
Here is one of my favorite songs from EIGV, “Divorce Song”… made by a fan
Love it!
Girls have an incredible fun day [um, hello, ice cream, kites, and balloons!!!] when they star in Working Horse Productions take on Devendra Banhart’s “Little Yellow Spider’..
and for those who are still gay at heart…
I’ve always been kind of *meh* about Belle and Sebastian. This realization kind of makes me not want to grab them by the shoulders and shake them (while saying “Snap out of it!”) as much….
ps: Racist!
ray guns are not just the future
The Bird And The Bee
Just before the clock strikes and propels us into 2010 I remembered to wrap up my best records list with The Bird And The Bee!
On their 14 song, Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future, Los Angeles duo, The Bird and The Bee, mix equal concoctions of 60’s spy movie soundtrack and glitzy cool post-millenia production.
The record is perfect to start your day off slowly as the tunes carry you away in a gentle whisk off your feet. It’s perfect background music too since it is fun but not too overpowering and energetic.
Since YouTube has clearly started a partnership with EMI and Universal Music Group thus banning the ability to embed certain music videos on blogs – and waving the gift of free promotion from music fans – you will have to click away from gaycondo to watch these videos from Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future:
“My Love” : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv3ZdOdjXso
“Diamond Dave” : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wxuQ9szJ3A
“Polite Dance Song” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB2RgDQrHgI
“Love Letter To Japan” : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6rxbgAm-Do
And that wraps up Keep It On The Brownlowe’s Best Records of 2009 list! Thank you for reading! Below is a full list of the best records!
30
Dec
09
Jon: “Cry Baby Cry”…
…by Throwing Muses.
I’m in the process of converting Em into a Throwing Muses Super fan and thought I may as well convert all of you as well.
25
Dec
09
Merry Christmas From Gaycondo!
When I was 18, like most productive young people from not particularly interesting rural towns, I left my hometown. Four hours north of New Jersey, I set roots in a small artistic city in Western Massachusetts. This was in the midst of a more fervent period in my obsession with Patti Smith, who I felt a certain kinship with because she was from a not so fantastic small town in N ew Jersey as well.
I didn’t really have many friends right away, but I got along okay. Early on I met an older woman who just happened to be named Patti (or so she said), and though she was a little spacey, we got along well because she was also obsessed with Patti Smith. She had had a head start on me though, since she was so much older, and had amassed a pretty impressive collection of Patti Smith audio and visual treasures. Patti was always bringing me exciting little gifts like photos she had taken herself in the 70’s, old ticket stubs from shows, and bootleg cassettes she copied from vinyl.
My favorite recording she ever gave me was of a very early live radio performance by Patti Smith on New York radio station WBAI. It was so old in fact, that the band hadn’t even recruited a drummer yet! All the tracks were either never recorded in a studio, or they were really wierd/different early versions of songs that were later recorded. The best part was the stories that Smith told between songs. Amazing. Though Smith and I were both from New Jersey, we didn’t have the same accent (she was from deep south Jersey), I remember being so jealous of her voice and wishing I too had the same inflections when I talked. Sometimes I would even try and fake her accent, but it just sounded like I was drunk.
I listened to my cassette of that show so many times that it eventually fell apart. I have been looking for another copy (vinyl hopefully) with no luck. For some reason it didn’t occur to me till today that these songs might be on youtube.
They are.
Make sure to listen all the way through for the stories after each song! Unfortunately only about a third of the show is posted on youtube, but hopefully there will be more to come…
Austin based photographer Sarah Wilson’s most recent project, Blind Prom, documents the 2008 senior prom at The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. The photos, which include both candid documentary style pieces as well as more formal portraiture, capture the uneasiness with which teenagers transition into adulthood. By documenting blind teens, Wilson is able to catch moments that this normally trepidatious and self concious age group may have otherwise hidden from the camera.
It is impossible to not be compelled by this alternate adolescent world in which much of the status quo assumed to be inherent in High School life is seemingly undone. In a world without sight, and perhaps more importantly one in which these outsiders from birth have achieved critical mass, do not expect to see your average King and Queen.
Check out the rest of the images at Sarah Wilson’s website.
20
Dec
09
Jon: Dragon Lady…
I just got the 7″ of this song off of Ebay and I can not stop listening to it! Fantastic song with and unfortunately sub-par 90’s style music video. Watch it anyway!
Today Luanne Platter died from cardiac arrest. She will be sorely missed.
