A Year in the Life

I have no real excuse as to why I've neglected this poor blog for the last year. I think that I may have gotten tired of thinking of things to say/was distracted by new people/definitely lazy/working toward some lofty goals/fighting feelings of blog-induced narcissism/ or just fighting the fact that I have a a narcissism-induced blog. Who knows! I'm going to try again though, mainly for the sake of improving my writing which has fallen by the wayside since graduating two years ago.

New developments in the last year:

I decided to become a high school English teacher. After MANY failed attempts at obtaining a position as an editorial assistant at some publishing company between Boston and San Francisco, I realized that I didn't actually want to do that job anymore. I had a lot of trouble mustering up enough enthusiasm to convince the editors at that EMT textbook publisher that I would love the job. I think I gave up halfway through the interview.

Life changes directions on us often, and it often pushes us along avenues we had not previously noticed. My new avenue? English teacher. I took my last certification exam this past Saturday, and I'll find out in a month whether I passed. I was also accepted to the Simmons College Masters of Art in Teaching program for Secondary Education, which will help me earn my license in middle and high school English. I'm terrified. I'm not sure how good of a job I'll do, but I know that I feel genuine enthusiasm for this venture, and being a teacher will make my life much more flexible, and I've found flexibility to be an important factor in one's overall well-being.

I start classes on Monday.

I'm not sure what I'll write about on this blog, but I feel confident that I am truly a Lady of the Century, a product of Generation Y, a young American adult struggling to find a purpose after college has ended, and a person who is fed up with not experiencing enough.

Here's to Higher Education.

And here's to Jonsi--the lead singer of Sigur Ros who recently released his first solo album. I haven't bought it yet but I've listened to a lot of it. He's as whimsical and melodious as ever. Though he isn't singing exclusively in his imagined language of Hopelandic anymore, his music still reverberates with spirit. Listening to him makes me want to do something big. Hence--this blog has been awoken.

Wild Light and Doves, 6/7 @ House of Blues Boston

Note: I hijacked an internet-bearing computer at work because my manager is away and I can get away with it for another couple of days, but its abilities are limited so I can't post any pictures or videos on here just yet. I'll flush this out later...

Always one to be late to the game, I finally saw a show at the new House of Blues across from Fenway Park on Sunday night. Wild Light, who I can't seem to stop mentioning on this thing, was opening for Doves, the ambient indie kings of Manchester.

I've never been to another existing House of Blues so I wasn't sure what to expect. It was a great use of the space formerly occcupied by Axis and Avalon (RIP). The stage was wide and just high enough off the floor to give us a great view of the bands and the sound quality was sharp. There was ample room to dance around on the floor without inconveniencing too many, as well as easy escape routes should one need to leave the concert floor for a refreshment at one of the 3+ bar areas studded along the walls.

The crowd was surprisingly sedate during Wild Light's set despite the fact that the band announced the show was a homecoming and was their last stop on the tour with Doves. A 50+ man with a toothy grin asked me what their name was at the end of their set, so I know they made at least one new fan.

TBC...

Also want to write about Passion Pit and The Phoenix Boston Music Awards...but the bank has blocked many websites from their dear tellers. I'm off to explore what else I'm blocked from seeing online, and maybe help a customer or two...

Beep my Beep, Jersey

I don't know, but it's just fucking amazing for some reason.

I can't find much about Addeboy vs Cliff, but I do know that they're a house/electro duo from Sweden, and they look like this:

I found their video floating around on another blog that I have since lost track of.

The song and video remind me of middle school...and parts of high school. And the summer nights I spent at that 17 and under club on the Jersey Shore when I was 14. My pals and I would wear our most sparkly spaghetti strap tanks and whitest keds and have someone's parents drop us off outside the club, where we'd grind with the underage surfer guys and sweat our asses off until it closed at 10pm. What the hell were we thinking?

Still, those nights were awesome, and I remember them vividly. Who knew I'd be more of a clubber at 14 than I am at 23? Is that kinda lame?

Leave it to the Swedes to bring it all back. I wonder if that club is still around...?

The Shins, The Boring.

I saw The Shins on 5/20 at The Orpheum. A friend invited me and I agreed to go because, 1) I missed the friend, and 2) I like going to shows. However, I'm not a huge fan of the band. I had a moment or two back when I was 18 during my freshman year of college, much like the tens of thousands of other college freshman who still fall victim to the band these days.

Ok, they're alright. I grew tired of the band about a week after buying Chutes Too Narrow. They still bore me, but their live set bored me something fierce.

I don't know many of their songs aside from those on that big album that came out around the same time as that little movie that helped their star to rise. I don't think that's the reason I didn't enjoy the show though. Rather, it was the fact that they played all of the slowest songs in their catalog and it was such a snooooozefest. Even my friend, who I'm pretty sure liked The Shins a lot more than I do because she bought the tickets, was yawning and fighting the urge to curl up in her seat and take a cat nap.

Oh yeah, and I don't like shows at The Orpheum. Rows of stationary chairs? Assigned seating? $10 beers? Three strikes, Orpheum. Three strikes.

So, case and point, The Shins are really boring live and I think their fame has worked against them. Maybe in a small club with no chairs and a large bar they would put on a good show, and I was in fact told that they do great in that kind of venue. But that show in Boston was a fail. A crowded, sleepy, steamy, expensive fail.

Newport Folk Festival: August 1st & 2nd

This might be a little early to write about, but I don't want to forget that it's happening.

First, the meat and taters:

General Admission: General Admission seating is first-come first-served on the lawn. Patrons may bring blankets and low-backed beach chairs. Adult: $ 69.00 in advance, $ 75.00 on festival weekend, if available.

Venue: Fort Adams State Park, Newport, RI

What a dump, right?

Apparently, most people only buy tickets to one day of this 2 day festival. I will be one of those people. I plan to go August 1st, to see the following:

Pete Seeger, The Decemberists, Fleet Foxes, Gillian Welch, The Avett Brothers, Billy Bragg, Iron & Wine, Mavis Staples, Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Ben Kweller, The Low Anthem, Brett Dennen, Tift Merritt, Tao Rodriguez Seeger, Langhorne Slim.

The fucking Fleet Foxes. My beloved bearded baroque band of Washington state. They're the reason I'm really going, because it's the only scheduled show they're playing in the area.

Also, the venerable Iron & Wine. The closest I've come to seeing him live is watching an episode of Austin City Limits at 3am one morning. My fuzzy, crackly, horrible TV hardly distracted from the fact that it was an absolutely beautiful concert. His songs are mesmerizing.

My former/future roommate and I stayed up until 7am one night drinking wine and watching music videos. I kept playing this video over and over and over and over and over. We both swore to become flamenco dancers that night. These women are so sexy and graceful. They were the most strong, beautiful, confident, and amazingly sensual women I'd ever seen. And I said as much, over and over and over and over and over again that night.

Also, Tom Morello, of Rise Against the Machine, will be performing. At a folk festival. Who knew?

The legendary Pete Seeger is performing both days of the festival to continue celebrating his 90th birthday, which was May 3rd. HIS 90TH BIRTHDAY.

To help Pete celebrate, watch this video and buy a ticket to the festival here, because this land was made for you and me.

And not to be outdone by Pete Seeger, I am also going to celebrate my birthday. That's right, on August 2nd, I will become 23 years old. 90? Pfft. Whatever.

Update on Wild Light Show

I mentioned Wild Light 2 posts ago, and saw them in Northampton with Bodega Girls last Saturday.

The show was at Iron Horse, a literal hole in the wall on a side street that you wouldn't know was there unless you had already managed to stumble by it once before. There wasn't much of a crowd, but the crowd present was spirited and friendly.

Also, the bartender was fucking amazing. He reminded me of a saloon owner from the Wild West, complete with an oxford shirt under a dark vest and long scraggly hair. He recommended certain drinks to my friend and me, resulting in our quick intoxication.

Bodega Girls were amazing. The lead singer jumped off the stage and made good use of the ample space available to him on the empty dance floor. Well, empty except for my table on one side and the members of Wild Light propped up against the wall on the other. I thought they'd be hiding downstairs somewhere waiting for their set, seeing as they're becoming big wigs with all their big wig touring, but no. They were among the plebes the entire time. I was impressed, and drunk.

I'm pretty sure Wild Light played every song on their debut album, Adult Nights. The dance floor filled up quickly, and everyone who was previously unfamiliar with them picked up some of the lyrics and were singing along with the band.

After the show, the band hung around a bit and talked to friends. I pushed my way through and started telling them about my love for their album and how it's become a valuable writing tool for me. Which is totally true. But, I was drunk, and I'm pretty sure I said something like "from one artist to another...thank you!" They were so friendly, all shook my hand and introduced themselves and were very gracious. True gents.

But the fact that they tolerated my inebriated ramblings really makes me hope they'll "hit it big" or whatever it is bands wish for. I will definitely be seeing them with Doves at House of Blues in Boston next month.

Next time though, I think I'll lay off the sauce.

Sweden wins again: FIRST AID KIT

I've always been fond of female singer-songwriters. I had my hulking black boombox perched on my windowsill for most of the 90's cooing out everything from Jewel's Pieces of You, to the banshee anthems of Alanis Morisset's Jagged Little Pill, Fiona Apple's nightmare-inducing Extraordinay Machines, and a healthy side of prime R&B courtesy of Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of... in 1998.

This love for the empowered singer-songwriter femme fatale developed further into our current decade. It's morphed into something a bit more hipster and hokey, very unlike the broody tunes with which I entered adolescence in the 90's. Now, instead of Alanis and Fiona, it's Kate Nash, Regina Spektor and Kaki King.

The 2000's are nearing their end, and with the end of another developmentally complicated decade I feel I must continue my journey along the river of the female songstress with a new breed of talent. I present my latest obsession: First Aid Kit.

Meet Johanna and Klara Söderberg, two Swedish sisters who were still infants in their cribs when Alanis was singing to me about traffic jams and irony.

I accidentally found First Aid Kit on youtube while searching for Fleet Foxes, whom I was planning on writing about. Eventually I will write about Fleet Foxes, and the Newport Folk Festival, and camping, and the general appeal of bearded men. I serendipitously found a cover that these girls sang on a log in the woods of Sweden. Their voices gave me goosebumps that still are struggling to recede.

And they're so young! They are the same ages as my two little brothers. Which, naturally, leads me to wonder why the hell my little brothers haven't formed a melodic folk duo yet. I mean, what the hell? The only thing I've seen them perform together is "Albie the Racist Dragon" from Flight of the Conchords.

I'm going to try to adopt Johanna and Klara as the precious little Swedish sisters I've always wanted. I also want to take them camping, though I think they could kick my Yankee ass in that department. I mean, 1) they wear amazing flannels regularly, and 2) they film live performances in the woods. They win, I think.

Favorite of 2009 thus far

Wild Light. An indie band from New Hampshire. Have been compared to early U2, Arcade Fire (with whom they've toured) and Bright Eyes. Not convinced yet?

I first heard their single, "California on My Mind," on WFNX out of Providence while driving home after another bleak day at work. I couldn't get it out of my head but I also couldn't remember the name of the band. I kept hearing parts of the song on the radio, but the band name escaped me for a good 2 weeks. Why? Who knows. Incongruous black holes along Rt. 9 that only hit when I hear a good song. Or maybe I'm just very dull after a day full of bank-tellering.

Doesn't that drive you crazy when you hear a song that you instantly love, and need to hear again, but it alludes you somehow? Finally, on one rainy ride home, I heard the song again. I pulled out my notebook and wrote down some of the lyrics so I could ask my friend Google to find the song for me. Google, once again, prevailed.

I went to Newbury Comics that day and bought the album, and it's been spinning in my car stereo since. It's turned out to be a really amazing writing tool, too. I always think most clearly when I'm driving, and that's why I get most of my pages written in random parking lots up and down Massachusetts. Turns out, driving + Wild Light gets the pages written even faster.

I'm seeing them at Iron Horse in Northampton in May with Bodega Girls, a completely ridiculous group [that I think will be amazing live] with a sound best described as a "lo-fi hedonistic dance party."

Ironically, I'm going to San Francisco the very next weekend. Fuck California, though.

It's them Brits again

I don't know how well The Charlatans are known in the US, but I do know that it isn't easy to find their albums at my local record store. What gives?

I've been listening to this song a lot. The video tries too hard to be indie and it features the trust fund hipster "celebuspawn" of the UK, but...I have no good excuse to justify my actions. I hum it at work and try to reenact their hip English dance moves in the mirror at the end of the hall, even though my brother tells me my moves are heinous.

Nevertheless, here's a bit of good ol' Brit Brat Pop.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

Spike Jonze. Maurice Sendak. Monsters. Arcade Fire.

This gives me goosebumps!

Animal Collective: YAY

I've been a fan of Animal Collective and their weird hypno-pop for a few years now, though I admit to having lost track of them within the last year. That was until their video for My Girls appeared.

Give it some time...it starts off slow but it's such a great song. It makes me think of Disney World and pineapples and red shoes and green leaves and lemonade in shorts.

The whole album, Merriweather Post Pavilion, is great. Great for road trips and trips home from work (it's therapeutic to yell "Whoooo!" along with the chorus to My Girls.)

And isn't it nice to hear a happy song that's all about a dad wanting nothing more than to be able to provide "four walls and adobe slabs" to shelter his girls? It makes my heart throb in a very sweet way.

Chester French. Yay or Nay?

I can't decide what I think about these guys. I'm going to make a list:

Pros:
*undeniably adorable
*Harvard grads (pfft, but whatever...)
*I've always appreciated musical duos (see: white stripes, mates of state)
*local boys
*super catchy
*violent video (i like being surprised)

Cons:
*I just can't decide whether I really like them

I think that, in the spirit of being open-minded, fair, balanced, knowledgeable, yellow, downtown, equal, curvy, mellon...I should listen to another song by them. It isn't fair to judge a band based on only one song, right?

This verdict will require more contemplation and more tracks.

Oh, I just thought of another con.

*One member of band in question [see: Max] was married to Peaches Geldof. Said member is now divorced from Peaches Geldof. But she's a pretty big con.

Nothing I con more than trust fund tarts who spend their days doing blow and divorcing rather than working and appreciating.

Okay, okay, so I'm bitter. I don't want to spend my days doing blow...but I wouldn't mind the trust fund or the Chester French.

While I'm posting videos...

I should just stick my favorite videos from my favorite bands on here. I think I decided that my three favorite bands are Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene and Kaki King.

Though not exactly a music video, this Arcade Fire performance inside of a French elevator is mindbogglingly beautiful. Also, I wasn't sure "mindbogglingly" was an official word when I started writing it, but apparently dictionary.com approves it. So be it! Mindbogglingly beautiful performance of Neon Bible:



As for Kaki King, this is the video that introduced me to her about 4 years ago and it was love at first pluck. I was finally able to see her last spring at Pearl Street in Northampton. I bought two tickets hoping that one of my roommates would see her with me, but said roommates turned out to be mindbogglingly disappointing people. I also had SEVERELY sprained my ankle the week before the show (about 3 months after I had SEVERELY broken my foot on the other leg) and I had been home for a week trying to heal a bit. I drove from Framingham to Northampton that fateful Sunday night and dragged my bum leg(s) into Pearl St and stood (painfully) for the show. It was worth it. And she is the smallest person I have ever seen. And absolutely my favorite female musician in the galaxy. So here is Kaki King with Playing with Pink Noise:



I have another post on here about the Broken Social Scene show I saw at the (boooooo!) Wilbur Theater. I was introduced to them back when I was 16, and they've been in the Top 3 ever since. My shoulder hurts from long hours at the bank (ugh...just ugh) so I won't type any more tonight. Ouch ouch ouch, but this is lovely lovely lovely. Fire Eye'd Boy by BSS:



Okay I just found this so one more. I don't think I even need to explain why this one is significant. Behold--David Bowie joins Arcade Fire on Wake Up:

From youtube virals to SNL digital shorts

I've been a great fan of The Lonely Island boys for a few years now thanks in large part to my little brother's uncanny ability to discover hilarity in every nook of the internet. I imagine that boy is capable of finding anything online. Andy Samberg is now a familiar face on the funny-again SNL (also my initials, ha!) and Jorma and Akiva, his Lonely Island brethren, are also part of the SNL family now. Akiva directs the digital shorts and writes them alongside Jorma and Andy. Finally, Jorma makes an appearance on the show rather than just spending his time dancing behind the scenes:



and to another of my favorite bands:



But this is possibly my favorite Lonely Island video. I think I can just really relate to it.



I love storks.

Must Elaborate: 10/26 Broken Social Scene @ Wilbur Theater

Amazing show. The word "epic" popped into my mind at least three times during their set, and possible even one "EPIIIIIIIIIIIIIC".

It will be discussed further...later...

I will point out that while the Wilbur is in a lovely area and looks nice, old and charming on the outside, it's a pretty poorly designed venue. They consider "general admission" to be a relative term that actually means "we'll slap different colored wrist bands on you (and rip off some arm hair with our reckless binding of of the straps adhesive) then herd you into designated fenced-in areas depending on how early you get to the theater."

In my case, I arrived a bit late because traffic was balls, and on a Sunday night, too! Booooo. So, my accomplice and I were put here:



That little yellow box was the cattle pen I was designated to. Those sinister looking red dots surrounding my pen represent the hoard of vicious security personnel. That sad gray dot inside of the pen? Yes, I'm afraid that was me. Saddened with the position I'd been forced into, and a little in pain due to the arm hair I lost due to aforementioned macabre wrist-banning.

Nevertheless, a light could be seen through the gates of my Wilbur prison. And that light was Elizabeth Powell, front-woman of Land of Talk and incumbent female voice on the BSS tour.

I offer this gem of portable media: Elizabeth Powell singing "Anthems for a 17 year old girl" with BSS at the Wilbur on 10/26. It was towards the end of their set and it was completely entrancing. Powell's voice handles all of the BSS songs amazingly well, and she can sing them just as well as Feist or Emily Haines. She's also completely adorable and the unfiltered energy she brings to the stage is addicting and refreshing...especially when viewing the band from a fenced off corner in the back of the theater with alarmingly butch security forces guarding the aisles, preventing anyone from shifting closer to the stage. But I digress...

A thick buzz pulsed through the entire crowd when she began "Anthems" and everyone's hearts suddenly felt a little lighter, and a little more emo. It is possible to feel both at the same time? That's a topic too controversial for these pages. Anyways, we were rewarded with this amazing performance of the song:





I loved this song when I was a 17 year old girl and like, really felt it, man. Doesn't everyone at some point in their lives wish that someone would "park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me"? I did/do/will continue to do so.