The Sun
LOVEBIRDS Steven and Kathryn share a well-organised home in bustling Las Vegas.
They have a neat, if compact kitchen, a furnished living area, and a bedroom complete with double bed, wardrobe and bookshelf featuring a wide selection including a Frank Sinatra biography and Spanish phrase book.
And they make their money in some of the biggest casinos in the world.
But their life is far from the ordinary.
Because, along with hundreds of others, the couple are part of a secret community living in the dark and dirty underground flood tunnels below the famous strip.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Singles Review: Another Girl Like You
Band: Bobby Ubangi
Release: 2009
Comments: I believe the late Ubangi was once called the king of the three chord garage song. I see why! Ubangi sounded like a slightly more accessible Jay Reatard. Perhaps too like super lo-fi Ramones or the Beach Boys on salvia. B Jay’s catchy tunes no-doubt made him a legend in Atlanta punk circles. Real sappy stuff as Jared Swilley would probably say.
Grades: “Another Girl Like You” (9.8); “Greasers Lament” (9.2); “Back To You” (9.7)
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If you are more interested in reading about Ubangi and the months and days leading up to his July 1, 2009 death check out this article.
Avenue Q closes on Broadway
The Tony Award winning musical Avenue Q officially closes on Broadway after countless performances. The highly original musical features Muppet-style puppets with actors on stage providing voices and the such. But the real drawing point was its “South Park” style sense of humor. Characters included Kate Monster, the leading lady, Brian, an unemployed 32-year old, Rod, a closeted conservative homosexual, his roommate Nicky (very similar to Bert and Ernie) and a colorful collection of others. Featured songs include “It Sucks To Be Me,” “The Internet Is For Porn,” and “Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist.” Below is a clip of “It Sucks To Be Me” from the 2004 Tony Awards. Avenue Q, you will be sorely missed.
Matt Damon Not Dead!
Got this from Gather.com:
There’s no easier way to start a rumor than online. Don’t believe everything you read. One of the hottest internet search trends out there right now is Matt Damon dead. Don’t believe it! He’s alive, well, and kickin’ it as usual. Why do these rumors start? Who actually believes them? Did anyone out there consider he has a family that could get freaked out by these stories?
Also be careful which links you click through to stories on “Matt Damon dead”. There could be a nasty virus lurking there.
Live Stream of Education Speech
Hear the socialist propaganda!!! (Kidding):
http://www.whitehouse.gov/live/
And by the way…ironically it’s being held at Wakefield High School (in Virginia, though)
Edit: It’s 12:23 PM and it’s all over. In case you missed it you can read the transcript on the white house website: http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks/
No Age @ Bumbershoot
First playing “Every Artist Needs A Tragedy” then “Here Should Be My Home”…good stuff!
CD Review: Here We Go Magic
Band: Here We Go Magic
Release: 2009
1. “Only Pieces” – 8.2
2. “Fangela” – 8.7
3. “Ahab” –8.3
4. “Tunnelvision” – 9.2
5. “Ghost List” – 8.3
6. “I Just Want To See You Underwater” – 8.4
7. “Babyohbabyijustcantstanditanymore” – 6.4
8. “Nat’s Alien” – 7.2
9. “Everything’s Big” – 8.9
Comments: Freak folk can, on any given day, be a genre of its own. Here We Go Magic escape what is traditional folk and produce songs that embody major elements of modern epoch psych-folk (slightly think Grizzly Bear) YET still maintain a strangely post-punk sound (in some areas), which is similar to the Walkmen, if only the Walkmen took acid. The sort of problem, if you want to call it that, is that if Animal Collective made these songs they’d be better. Music snobbery right there. Anyway, songs that are completely instrumentals of thunder and ocean waves can, in fact, be decent. And then there are songs that are completely instrumentals of alien noises that can, in fact, be awfully obnoxious. Could I stand watching this band two nights in a row for thirty minutes or more? Yes. Maybe I will grow more of an appreciation of them. Maybe I won’t and I’ll just make it through because I know that one of my favorite bands of all time will follow.
Final Grade: 8.2
Here We Go Magic open along with the Dig for the Walkmen on September 18 and 19 at the Middle East Downstairs.
Book Club Review: Catcher
Title: The Catcher in the Rye
Author: J.D. Salinger
Year: 1951
Pages: 214
Review:”If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.” Arguably the greatest opening line to any novel. Well, Holden, if you do want to know the truth, we DO want to hear about it! In fact, for nearly 60 years our grandparents, parents, older siblings, and us have adored it. Why? What makes this novel so special? Well, Salinger masterfully captures an adolescent’s concern, fears, desires and instead of coming off as an adult attempting to represent this mentality of a teenager, he literally writes in the damn lingo of a buzzcock. Goddamit! As far as I’m concerned Salinger ain’t telling the story, it’s Holden who’s’ running the show. It’s his book entirely. Holden has become the Pied Piper for a whole slew of lonesome cowboys: Taxi Driver’s Travis Bickle, The Perks of Being a Wallflower’s Charlie, and that cute radical nerd fellow from Kids Like You & Me. In short, he’s a middle finger to the establishment or a haphazard, misanthropic messiah, trying to save everyone only if he can save himself… and all.
Why Subversive?: Catcher has the unfortunate privilege (how’s that for an oxymoron?!) of already being subversive before you even read one word. It’s subversive simply for it’s reputation of consistently being a victim of Banned Books Lists and Censorship Nazis. Apparently heavy drinking and cussing some naughty words is worse than trying to commit suicide, murder your father, and fuck your mother as we witness with Shakespeare. Also, since some weirdos decide to assassinate (or attempt) public figures (John Lennon and Ronald Reagan) after or while reading the book, doesn’t mean shit! Look at the millions that didn’t grab their guns! Why focus on the select few? Not that Reagan would have been a great loss, but Hinckley’s motives were hardly in the vein of Leon Czolgosz: impressing Jodie Foster. Really?! haha. And you can calm down I’m not advocating political assassination, I just think Leon had much better, humane reasons. Anyway, I’ve digressed into this tornado of off topic subjects. Simply, Catcher challenges the reader to question authority and reject social norms.
Questions to Ponder (or leave a comment to!): What will become of Holden Caulfield? or What became of him?
What ever happened to Jane Gallagher? Is she in any way related to the awful comedian of the same name?
Why was Holden placed in a mental institution? How did this ALL transpire?
Any others?
Grade: A+ My all time favorite!
Chris
CD Review: Watch Me Fall
Band: Jay Reatard
Label: Matador
Release: 2009
1. “It Ain’t Gonna Save Me” – 10.0 –
2. “Before I Was Caught” – 9.1
3. “Man of Steel” – 9.0
4. “Can’t Do It Anymore” – 8.7
5. “Faking It” – 8.9
6. “I’m Watching You” – 8.6
7. “Wounded” – 9.3
8. “Rotten Mind” – 8.7
9. “Nothing Now” – 8.4
10. “My Reality” – 9.2
11. “Hang Them All” – 8.9
12. “There Is No Sun” – 9.5
Comment: This album is quite like a lot of what Reatard has done in the past: fast paced, catchy garage punk, yet this time around it’s more accessible (though at some times a smidge more boring). “It Ain’t Gonna Save Me” is in the mix for best song of 2009, while “There Is No Sun” is an extraordinary closer.
Grade: 9.1
Last Post For a Week!
I’ll be away at Lake Winnipesaukee for the week, so no posts from me between now and then. Can’t wait to read new posts when I return. Peace KLYAM!
Chris
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 