Self Portrait of the Writer as a . . .

Total weirdo.

So, awhile back Gabe posted about the upcoming weirdness/amazing noir/modern dance/(with Kylie Minogue?) film Holy Motors, which I have to say, I'm really excited to see.

In this post he happened to reference Aaron Neville which took me back to the days of yore when I was a weird, somewhat solitary kid who was completely ignorant of pop culture and listened to whatever her parents happened to be listening to at the time. At this time in my life I remember a lot of Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Nottingham Hillbillies, and most importantly, the Neville Brothers. 

In the year 1990 the Neville Brothers came out with an album called Brother Blood. It featured predominantly in our car trips, dinner parties, and day-to-day lives. I was totally obsessed with this album. My obsession centered on a song called Fearless that featured the angelic voice of Aaron Neville (here). It's so inspirational! And romantic! And weird that I loved this song at nine years old!

I have a very clear memory of lying on the floor on my stomach next to our entertainment center (which featured frosted glass which would later be broken), listening to this song on repeat through my dad's huge puffy headphones, and writing down the lyrics in my tiny spiral white cat notebook so that I could, I don't know, walk around singing that song whenever I wanted.

Which was all the time.

Living Room Pop

Haim (one of my new favorites) just posted their first video. Here it is:



Living room band practice, bike tricks, R n' B synchronized dance moves, childhood video footage, and sweet lo-fi pop that somehow reminds me of our childhood babysitter who had a massive Kewpie doll collection and used to drive us around in her CRX and play "Hold on to the Nights" over and over again. Like, she would just rewind that tape and play it again. A quick Google reveals the singer of that song to be Richard Marx. I always thought it was a woman. Anyway, Haim and their modern ballads. I'm not saying that I'm planning a breakup, but should that ever happen Haim's entire library is going on my Breakup Mix.

Grimes

This video compounds so many wonderful things.
Football? Check. (I have been watching so much Friday Night Lights lately).
Bubblegum? Check.
Extreme stadium action? Check. (I prefer monster trucks but dirt bikes fit the bill.)
Girl with shaved head? Check.
Sequins? Check.
Living room dancing? Check, check, and check.

New Favorite

Oh man. Here's my new favorite band: Shannon and the Clams. Doo wop garage rock from Oakland. Swoon.

On Being Rude

I've been told that my neglect of the blog is rude. I hate to be rude and try on a pretty regular basis to be a not-rude person (nice is sometimes a stretch, but not-rude is achievable). So, with that in mind, I'd like to share Hot Chip's newest single "Flutes" from their upcoming album In Our Heads (June 12th!). Please don't watch if you get motion sickness. Just close you eyes, listen, and look forward to September 13th, when they finally show their faces in Portland after many years of neglect.

DFP (double fist pump)

Florence + The Machine tickets are mine. I have to tell you, it was like watching someone you love run through a minefield or performing open heart surgery using blunt instruments. My nerves are shot. I was refreshing my browser, pushing buttons, mistakenly typing the wrong letters in that stupid code thing (for the love of god, why are they always so illegible?), and then waiting, waiting, and waiting until they finally came through. Liz got some too. We were on the gchat together, keeping each other updated on progress and hyping each other up. I'm not sure I would have made it to the other side if it wasn't for her. Going through stuff like that, it really changes you. 

Anyway, happy Friday! 

Here are some links to make your weekend that much better (if all you're doing is sitting around looking at stuff on the internet). 

Robyn in GIF form. Prepare to be mesmerized. If you're not careful, this could be your Friday night. 

This annoying article about living alone. Like people who live with other people don't do weird things. And since when is it totally quirky and only okay for single people to sing in the shower, do random home aerobics, or eat random things like a sweet potato for dinner? Please. 

A dog on things. I want a dog. 

And in that same ilk, Kim Jong-Il looking at things. I don't think I want a Kim, but the more that I look at this, maybe I do . . . . 

People I saw at the Graveyard Show, Vol 2.

I never see celebrities in Portland, so when I saw one of the guys from Danava standing around between sets, I totally did the, Oh look, the guy from Danava, right? Right? thing to Sam and he said yeah, and then the guy from Danava looked at me, probably because hearing your band name, even if it's not said very loudly, is kind of like hearing your name in the middle of an otherwise inaudible conversation. He was wearing bootcut jeans and talking to a lady but I didn't notice her because I was too busy focusing on this mild almost-celebrity encounter. Sam asked me if I noticed her later, because apparently she was wearing this nutty white robe thing that maybe came up over her head, or included a head drape portion, or turban, and I had no idea what he was talking about. Apparently that's how excited I get about Danava.

People I saw at the Graveyard Show, Vol 1.

Metal shows are just the best for people watching. You see so many interesting people and for some reason, they just stick out in my memory a lot more than the typical flannel-wearing, soft leather shoe, tortoiseshell glasses types. Take this girl for instance. I noticed her waiting in line for a drink because she had an enormous neck tattoo and I started thinking about how not tough my tattoos are and what I would get if I were to get a neck tattoo. Probably a manatee. And all I could really see was her torso because it was pretty crowded in there (sold out show!). But then, when I walked past her, it turned out that she was wearing these crazy lace bell bottoms and platform boots. Lace! Bell bottoms! Underwear!

Graveyard

Hot tip of the day: Graveyard, a rocking psychedelic band from Sweden, will be at the Doug Fir on the 31st. I will be there.

Christmas Came Early!

Oddly reminiscent of the cacophony of sound pouring out the pachinko parlors, I have found my favorite video of 2011. This comes to us from Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, the new queen of Jpop (japenese pop for you rookies). Her first hit was Pon Pon Pon, released in July. Apparently Fred Durst is a fan? That's how you know she's good. Sidenote, she's also a purveyor of fake eyelashes (which may or may not be promoted in this video. That's for you to decide). Look out for the maximum awesome past the two-minute mark. 

New Favorite Band

Just when you think you will be stuck listening to the Beach House (or whatever) album on repeat  forever, a new band jumps out from the hedges. I mean, they're not new, but new to me. Mr. Gnome is from Cleveland, Ohio, which is also the inspiration for one of my absolute favorite Youtube clips. Barille's voice shares the keening edge of Karen O's, their guitar/drum combo rocks, and their cover art is comfortingly weird. What else could you ask for?

The Last Sasquatch Vol. 3

 From top:

Kali's space, Kyle's hiking boots

Stage and sky

Pod in contemplation

Rachael found a dread

Girls!

I've been listening to the Father, Son, Holy Ghost album on repeat. It has this wonderful nostalgic guitar vibe and also takes me back to the 90s when I was obsessed with Pink Floyd. This is the first song on the album and definitely the most peppy. Note the awkward crop top. Speaking of crop tops and the 90s, Sam and I watched "Fear" last night. I had never seen it. The 90s Seattle fashion with all those underwear-skimming skirts, knee high tights, and crop tops is just priceless.

What a story though; the whole thing really escalates. One minute it's harmless roller coaster handjobs and the next thing you know people are smoking out of crack pipes and Mark Wahlberg is tattooing "Nicole 4 Eva" into his torso and snapping necks in the woods. Amy Brenneman drills through someone's hand! The ultimate moral of the story? Don't have sex with Mark Wahlberg. 

The Last Sasquatch Vol. 2

From top:

Kale and Kyle love hats

Kyle in Kali's hat

Up

Wool and fur

Good Morning Music

The first thing to pop up on my ipod this morning. What a great way to start Friday.

The Last Sasquatch

All shot on slide film.

From top:

Bryan Davis at Stonehenge

The haunted house

The stage

Kali and the sunset

The bus

Charles Bradley Tonight!

At the Aladdin. This is going to be so good.

New Bon Iver

It's great and you can listen to it on NPR. Not quite as heartbreaking as For Emma, Forever Ago, but no less touching. He creates these spaces with sound that take me back to childhood, when I rode in the backs of cars and my parents would play self-recorded tapes from their favorite records, and we would wind through valleys lined with hillsides wrinkled like dropcloths, sharp aired forests, and plains studded with straw. I watched sun strike through the ponderosa pines, clouds twist on bony peaks, horses stand round backed in dry fields, broken ridged barns, hawks on wires, and daydreamed. It's nice to listen to music that reminds you when life was like that. And yes, it's nostalgia, but there's nothing wrong with remembering.

Summer Vacation

 

Dream Vacation: A big road trip through the south, complete with a stop at Dollywood. You know, Dolly Parton's Great Smoky Mountains family amusement park.  I've wanted to go there for ages. Dolly got me through a rough patch at work this morning, and I'm pretty sure this won't be the first time. Listen to her evangelizing below. She's so great. 

Gucci Gucci!

I have to admit. There's a big part of me that wishes I could start a rap duo, perhaps a trio, a la Salt n' Pepa, and swagger around, make up some synchronized dances, and rap about things like wedgies, bum poop, and people who don't dance. Those of you who were at Chopsticks the night that Jocelyn and I attempted to recreate Shoop, know this probably isn't going to happen. However, if it does, I'm taking a page from Kreayshawn's book. I especially like the blond girl who doesn't really do anything. Her vague gestures and half-hearted lip-syncing are mesmerizing.