Monthly Archives: July 2007

À la Super Eggplant, currently, I am…

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Making: About to blindstitch the binding to the back of Mariko’s quilt. Halfway through the second sleeve on Maddox.

Reading: “Landor’s Tower” by Iain Sinclair. Actually tried to read this once about two years ago and never got past the first chapter. Picked it up again and am zipping right through. Very Joycean in its language and rhythms.

Watching: Season one (and perhaps the only) of Jericho. After reading Meg’s recent post, I decided to try it out. Even though Skeet Ulrich has always given me the skeeves in the past, I am totally diggin’ him on this show!

Listening: Jason Isbell, which finally hit iTunes. Like it a lot!

Album: The White Stripes “Icky Thump”

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So in the past, I have always thought “naw, I don’t think so” when a new White Stripes album comes out. Then a few weeks after its release, I start hearing it everywhere and loving it. Then I finally buy it and it becomes completely indispensable to my listening ears. So this time, I bought it right away. Good idea — ’cause I love it! I mean I LOVE it EXCEPT I HATE “St Andrew (blah blah)”. That song just grates on my ears and in fact I believe I will DELETE it from iTunes altogether when I get home tonight so it never accidentally starts playing! Hate. Love. It’s always a fine line!
Actually I love this album so much that I think I may finally have found my new AC/DC. You know, that one band in a genre you never ever listen to but you just love that one band so much you listen to it constantly? Because THIS album to me is not rock. It’s HARD rock. Metal, almost. I mean, seriously…it rocks. It’s loud and sassy and all BEAT and GUITAR and hello is it not hard rock to you?
As close to listening to Headbanger’s ball as I will ever be, EXCEPT of course AC/DC “Back in Black” which I did in high school (and still do) listen to full-on over and over. Hello if you went to high school when I did, you young folk, there is no way you didn’t know all the words to at least three songs on this album, whether you liked it or not. And it’s certainly the only hard rock I was interested in then. (And OK, during high school, I was willing to make out to Whitesnake, but I wouldn’t listen to it otherwise.)
So there’s two recommendations for you: White Stripes “Icky Thump” = THUMBS UP. AC/DC “Back in Black” = in my all-time Top 10, no question. (Whitesnake = only during heavy petting.)

New Releases I Bought Last Night on iTunes:

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  • Crowded House
  • Stars
  • Sara Bareille (only $6.99! can’t go wrong)

New Releases I Considered Buying But Decision Postponed:
  • Spoon
  • Smashing Pumpkins
  • Jesse Harris
  • Interpol

New Releases I Wanted to Buy But They Weren’t There:
  • Jason Isbell (Why, iTunes? Why?)

Quote of the Day.

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God strike me with a urine-soaked newspaper if I ever do this drug again…
–from an article in July issue of The Sun. Let me flip back and see… “Methamphetamine for Dummies” by Poe Ballantine. I haven’t actually read any of this yet, the page just flipped open to this as I was picking up my mail the other day (like two weeks ago! doh!).

Summer Mixes.

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I have yet to make one myself (hello, you remember how I’m a lazy procrastinator, right?) as I usually never get around to it until the END of said season, but here are a few (1, 2, 3, 4) suggestions if you’re looking to make one on your end. (Hey, send me a copy!) And here is the “mix” I’m listening to right now: Japanese pop!

Maria Taylor: New to me. New to you?

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So you may or may not remember me liking the Maria Taylor song that’s on the Paste #30 sampler. I bought her latest album “Lynn Teeter Flower” shortly after that. It’s a little quirky / songs are very stylistically different from each other / you just don’t know what to expect and it feels a bit off kilter, like she hasn’t found HER sound yet. But I am quite enjoying it and can’t quite compare it to anyone else. How refreshing!

And I am also quite enjoying her 10 Things list (linked to today by Largehearted Boy). I am soooo with her on #6 and #3 (except for the fine arts high school bit. Hello there were 40 people in my graduating class, that supported one crappy high school and certainly not a fine arts high school in addition or instead).

Best of May.

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Better late(r) than never, oui?

The best movie I saw in May BY FAR was Grindhouse!!! It was a completely satisfying, entertaining and exhilarating trip to the theater and shame shame shame on those of you who didn’t go it!!! The studios will just keep on putting out mediocre bullshit movies if people don’t go see the ones that are actually good!

The best book I read in May was Love Is a Mix Tape which I loved, loved, loved. I mean, LOVED.

The best concert I went to in May was a close one but I’m going to have to give the nod to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Arcade Fire was also good, but not quite as good as the first time I saw them, so I’m giving them a close second.

My favorite tunes in May were: the Buffy: “Once More, With Feeling” soundtrack (who can resist???); the new Travis album, which I am listening to incessantly and hello I get to see them Live in about a week!!!; and Elvis Perkins. I also really enjoy the singles “Mama Who Bore Me” and “Totally Fucked” from the Spring Awakening soundtrack; “Find Love (Let Go)” a new single by Kyle Andrews, “Ordinary Days” new single by Dolores O’Riordan (who’s a Cranberries member I think); and “Broken Radio” by Jesse Malin which features Springsteen.

Random personal highlights: Maryland!; three nights at Second Story; The Strizzy wedding!!! and wandering DC with Ame.

Lowlights? Thankfully after a month between, I don’t remember what any of them were! Woot! Here’s to forgetting the bad!