The Strokes: Isle of Wight 2010

The Strokes will perform at the Isle of Wight festival in England on June 12, 2010. Pitchfork broke the news this morning, and Johnsina told me at work where I immediately flushed to the color of a tomato and started jumping around like a coneja for joy!

You know what this means, right? Album #4 is totally on, and all 5 Strokes will be together on the SAME STAGE for the 1st time since October, 2006... Albany seems like a lifetime ago. Let's hope for a Spring/Summer 2010 release and NYC tour dates, please please please. Make it happen, Ryan Gentles.

out on my skateboard the night is just humming

I don't know why I love "Range Life" so much because on the record Stephen Malkmus totally disses Billy Corgan (which you won't see in this version) but I'm uploading Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain onto my iPod now, and I gotta say, this song hooks itself into your brain and doesn't get out. I always liked the 2nd verse best of all.

"run from the pigs, the fuzz, the cops, the heat

pass me the gloves cause crime it is never complete

until you snort it up or shoot it down

you're never gonna feel free

out on my skateboard the night is just humming

and my gum smacks are the pulse i'll follow if my walkman fades

but i've got absolutely no one, no one but myself to blame.

don't worry, we're in no hurry

school's out. what did you expect?"

MAN, I wish I had gotten Summerstage tickets. Epic fail.

i look for cigarette butts you threw away

When Ryan kicks in his vocals on "To Jackson," I could die. (And I love how the person video-recording knows when to move the camera. Key.) This song is how I feel about everything right now.

In happier other news, Joseph Gordon-Levitt did NOT disappoint with his SNL performance. Dude's awesome, and he does back flips.

And I'm still Team Edward. NEW MOON ROCKED (it was a little long, yeah) BUT YOU SHOULD GO SEE IT!

And anyone who jumped ship to Team Abs, well more power to you. Leaves more of R-Patz for the rest of us! Baby, baby.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt I love you

Yesterday I saw Uncertainty at IFC. Most reviews are a little mixed, and I feel the same. From the 1st minute Lynn Collins opened her mouth, she annoyed me in that super-theatre student, over-dramatic sort of way. Turns out she was supposed to do that (I think) because she plays a Broadway dancer from a show-business-oriented family in the film. But yeah, JG-L was divine, as can be expected. He makes any movie better than okay, and he makes me want to find the first tall skinny scruffy dude I see on the street and make him love me and take me to an apartment called "home." Dude brings out the domestic girly in me. He's so adorable, how could he not?

If you have an extra $12.50 (wtf, when did IFC start tacking on an extra $.50?) go see the movie. If not, wait for Netflix and save your cash for NEW MOON!

And don't forget Gordon-Levitt hosts SNL this weekend! Baby, baby.

I've got to know you're alright.

"Laura" by Girls.

"Under Control" by The Strokes

These two songs mean more to me than most because I guess you could say I've been trying to write something like this (sin musica, of course) since I'm 18 years old. Both songs convey the same message: I'm not trying to fuck with you, man, I'm just trying to love you and let you be, but I care. I care, and I need to know.

If only poetry could say this shit without sounding horribly trite and disgusting.

The Girls song happens right after the break-up, and it's more visceral in its emotion. The Strokes song is more epic in its relevance and reach. I could live with "Under Control" for the rest of my life and be happy. (Well, sad actually, but you know, same thing.)

The Cribs at Bowery Ballroom #2

The second night at Bowery Ballroom for the Cribs didn't disappoint. They played "What About Me" from The Cribs and "We Can No Longer Cheat You" from The New Fellas. Energy was high, and they really loved the crowd. Ryan motioned multiple times for people to come up front and onto the stage.

Two notes I want to make about the crowd this time. 1. To the guy with the camera who told me to say "excuse me:" you really think I could control which way my body moved in the pit? I was just trying to hold onto my purse and not get knocked over. So, yes, I am sorry I got in your way, but I stick by my original comment. This is a concert, honey.

2. To the fat bastard who wormed his way thru the crowd toward the end only to stand next to me and get his disgusting Mexican food B.O. sweat all over my jacket. You, sir, are a joke. You do not need to body slam girls who are 1/4 your size when you weigh 400 lbs. And when you almost came in your pants when Ross tossed his sticks and nearly pushed me to the ground, all I can say is, you are lucky you didn't. Because you do NOT forget that other people have skulls when you go to concerts. You do NOT knock someone's glasses off her face so you can grab a piece of wood that a drummer held in his hand for 1.5 hours. And you especially do not act like a wild jungle beast when you weigh said 400 lbs. Because it's gross, and it's annoying, and it's just rude. You're lucky you didn't damage my face or my stuff because I really would have punched you.

Ugh. Sorry for the negative energy, but I can honestly say that that was one of the worst crowds ever last night. The 1st night was so much better!!!!!!!

But concert-wise, the Cribs went all out both nights, and I'm glad I had tix for los dos because who knows when I will see them again. Love you guys! Keep up the hard, good work.

This warms the heart

Albert and Fab hug it out at the Palace Theatre last week, waiting to see Jules perform. (Image from Laweekly.com)

Hiroshima mon amour

"Like you, I longed for a memory beyond consolation, a memory of shadows and stone. For my part I struggled every day with all my might against the horror of no longer understanding the reason to remember... You're destroying me. You're good for me. I have time. Devour me. Deform me to the point of ugliness... I'm very fond of men. I have dubious morals, you know... I somehow understand that it was there and that I almost lost you and ran the risk of never, ever meeting you. I somehow understand that it was there that you began to be who you are today... I was hungry. Hungry for infidelity, for adultery, for lies and for death. I always have been."

The Cribs at Bowery Ballroom #1

The Cribs came back to Bowery Ballroom tonight, and the show kicked ass as usual. Ryan had on some seriously disintegrating pants and striped leggings underneath. He wore the same shirt he wore 18 months ago at MHOW. His guitar was adorned with a sticker of Kate Nash's face (what a lucky lady) and he wore a heart necklace with the word "Love" and his earring in his newly-pieced ear. Gary looked divine as well, and he sported his recently acquired wedding ring. Johnny Marr was amazing, and Ross was too, DUH!

The crowd got pretty rowdy, but I didn't care. I expected to be knocked around and was ready for the onslaught. I'm pretty glad I'm 5'6" and have sturdy nalgas because I was able to hold my own and managed to have fun with some boys in the front. Great times, great crowd. I hope it's the same tomorrow evening.

Song highlights definitely include "Direction," set closer and best new track "City of Bugs" and "Mirror Kissers." The latter song always induces a spiritual experience in me, and I will jump as high as I can in the pit and scream as long as my lungs allow. I love the Cribs so much for making me feel alive and loving every minute of it.

Another cool moment was when they played "Be Safe" they projected a huge video of Lee Ranaldo doing his spoken word bit. I couldn't get any pics of it, but it was almost as cool as having him there to do his part live (like last time.)

I exited the show after the 1.5 hour set almost deaf, but it was totally worth it.

You gotta love those Jahhhmans. See you tomorrow night, boys.

Hellhole Ratface

who wants something real when you could have nothing?

I am in love.

Girls

Why?

I like boys that look like they've been to the edge of the sun-bleached fields of this disgusting Earth we call home and slept among the wildflowers. I like boys that look like they've been at sea for 2 weeks with only one pair of threadbare jeans and an old holey tee shirt (and no hair brush or scissors, of course). I like boys that haven't shaved because they can't find razors or better yet can't afford them. I like skinny tall maniacs who look like they've been at a battle site without sunscreen and/or shoes. I say I don't like drug addicts and will never date one again but my type's too tied up in weed smoking and coke fiending. I don't know why. Maybe it was the early exposure to Kurt Cobain.

So my latest obsession is Christopher Owens of San Francisco band Girls. Dude's gorgeous. In all the ways I have described above, and his mom was part of the same cult as the Phoenix (River, Rain, Joaquin, etc.) Family called Children of God. So he's probably been to the edge of the abyss and back.

His music sounds like he's waking up from some Valium-induced coma or finally breaking through the bad side of a nasty hangover (you know, those hysterical tremors.) His songs are so ultimately beautiful that I can deal with his talk of the wonders of morphine. The song "Hellhole Ratface" kicks ass in a "You Bleed You" by Lissy Trullie kind of way. But Album is pure California pop, dusted with a layer of melancholy that makes this sunshine music fit in a cool NYC fall afternoon bedroom cocoon as well.

Read up on Girls. Spin. Wiki. Dazed. Pitchfork.

I WILL SEE YOU TOMORROW RYAN JAHHHMAN

Bowery Ballroom. 8 PM. The Cribs. The Von Bondies. Get in me!

Jazzy, I have got. To get. A Bike.

Everyone, please take a little 10 minute break today to rendezvous with one of my best friends, Jazzy JJ Twitter Craze (known to the masses as John Jannuzzi) on Paper Mag's blog. Paper loved Jazzy's awesome blog TEXTBOOK so much that they decided to interview him about his fabulous life. And you know what I say to that? Hands down, balls to the wall!

An Education

Tonight Lox and JJ and I saw An Education. Of course Peter Sarsgaard was the draw, but Carey Mulligan (as all reviews that I read noted) stole the show. I love a coming-of-age story more than anyone else, but this one felt a little tired and cliche to me. Yeah, yeah, what new can I expect from another bildungsroman? Nothing, really. I will say that Rosamund Pike's character gave the otherwise serious and dully-colored film a seriously needed flair and pizzazz. But would I recommend or see it again? Not really. And besides, there's nary a sliver of the customary below-the-belt naked Sarsgaard flesh.

Phrazes for the Young: Julian Casablancas

Julian kicks ass. He doesn't need anyone else to make amazing, inspirational, fun, and dirty music. I will be sad if The Strokes don't get it together and make any new music, but I will also be happy as long as Julian creates new songs.

"4 Chords of the Apocalypse" is my favorite track. It's (of course) about the disintegration of a relationship, a personal apocalypse, if you will, and Jules keeps the piano ballad simple and bittersweet. His voice really made me understand years ago how vocals are an instrument like the piano or guitar or drums, and throughout this song and entire album, he teaches that lesson again. His voice is my favorite guitar ever. haha.

I also think he's a true auteur. From the 1st notes of Is This It? to the last of Phrazes for the Young, Jules has accomplished his singular musical vision. He wants to make retro music from the future. And he does that with every breath he takes. Every note he sings. Every piece of clothes he wears on his perfectly flawed body. He lives and breathes his artistic mission, much like Jean-Luc Godard or Dennis Hopper or Andy Warhol. And that's why he's the ultimate of COOL.

I can't be more coherent about it than that. I love this guy forever and ever, as everyone knows.

Mariano Rivera, Love You!