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Ironic Twist seeking irony, because sarcasm clashes with my outfit



Thursday, June 16, 2005 :::
 

Thanks to the miracle of blogging, and Mr. Red Line in particular, I'm going to the sold out Bloc Party show tonight. Yay!

Also in the "yay!" column today -- it's my last day at Team America, which may or may not have been called out in this Washington Post article. Thanks to MG and BV for the heads up, live from Rehoboth Beach. Yes, I think I'm getting out of here just in time. And what better way to end the day than with a Bloc Party show? Well, there's also the Architecture in Helsinki show at DC 9, and the Bettie Serveert show at Black Cat, both of which will probably be a lot less crowded, but I'm still stuck on Bloc Party since seeing them at Merriweather on Monday.


::: posted by nm at 6/16/2005 



Wednesday, June 15, 2005 :::
 
Fort Reno schedule is up, although there are still some TBAs.

I couldn't resist watching the final episode of Chaotic last night. It was the wedding, ya'll, and I was curious. The press made it sound like it was all pimp tracksuits and fried chicken, but it was actually a lovely, classy ceremony and Britney looked lovely as a bride. Except for those stupid gloves. But otherwise, lovely. Although tainted by the horror of the previous episodes of Chaotic, with all the smoking and stupidity and looking up Britney's nose in night vision.

In other celebrity wedding news, IMDb reports that Nicole Richie wants elephant rides, swans, horse-drawn carriages and salsa dancing at her wedding.


::: posted by nm at 6/15/2005 



Tuesday, June 14, 2005 :::
 
If you like indie power pop, be sure to check out this Dressy Bessy e-card and then go enter this week's bluestate contest to win the band's new album.


::: posted by nm at 6/14/2005 


 
Last night’s show was definitely worth my $26 lawn ticket. I was a bit cranky because of the heat, but almost as soon as The BellRays went on, it started raining, lightly at first. I really liked The BellRays’ music – a combination of punk, soul and a big ‘70s rock sound. Lead singer Lisa Kekaula strutted around the stage like a diva/preacher hybrid and even got some people on the lawn to wave their arms in the air and yell “amen” like they were in church. (And no, it wasn’t just me and my friends doing that.) Towards the end of their 30-minute set, they sang a song about revolution that sounded really familiar, but I couldn’t place it. Like the rest of The BellRays’ songs, it sounded like it could have been written in the ‘70s, so I thought that it sounded familiar because it was either a cover of another band’s song or because it had been around for a while. I looked it up today and found out that the reason this song, “Revolution Get Down,” sounded familiar is because it’s in a Nissan commercial. Because nothing says “revolution” like a Nissan. Stream it if you’re curious.

Next up were Bloc Party, and I have to say that they lived up to the hype. It seems like lately I’ve had the chance to see the next-big-thing even before they became the next-big-thing, like catching The Killers open for stellastarr* at the Black Cat right before everyone started talking about them, so when the hype grew, I knew whether or not it was justified. (For the record, I like The Killers but think they put on a better show before they got really big in the U.S.) So, despite really liking the Bloc Party album, I was a bit apprehensive about seeing them after months and months of hearing and reading how amazing they are. But they were really great. I really like the way Kele Okereke uses his voice on the album, and was surprised that he pulled off some of those vocal tricks live, and seemingly without much effort. They opened with “Like Eating Glass,” followed that one with “Positive Tension” and went through pretty much all of Silent Alarm, including a few of the slower songs like “This Modern Love,” ending with “Pioneers.” I was really surprised that more people hadn’t gotten there early to catch Bloc Party, and that more people down in the pavilion, especially those standing in front of the stage, weren’t dancing. During Bloc Party’s set it started to rain really hard, and we got soaked and MG and I danced in the rain and it was just really amazing to be listening to a great band and dancing in the rain. Yeah, I know I sound like a dirty hippie right now, and I don’t even care.

Then, the Pixies. I don’t listen to the Pixies that often, so I don’t know many of their songs outside of the ones on Surfer Rosa and the big hits off of the other albums. They opened with “In Heaven,” which reminded me what a pretty voice Kim Deal has. Deal looked and sounded great. As for Frank Black, he sounded great too, and looked a bit like Alfred Hitchcock. Last night was a happy occasion for the band – after the first two songs, Black announced that Surfer Rosa had finally reached gold earlier that afternoon, thanks to Suzie Johnson in Topeka, Kansas, Black joked. Some people (their management, I'd guess) came out on stage with the framed gold records to show off, and then the show went on with “Where Is My Mind,” from the now-gold album. Over an hour and a half, the Pixies did pretty much all the hits and a bunch of songs I didn’t know, and came out for a one-song encore with “Gigantic.” Surprisingly, no “Here Comes Your Man” anywhere in the set, but that’s not really one of my favorites anyway. MG took some pictures, so I’ll link to those once she posts them.

A few asides from last night:

* If someone drops a cigarette in ketchup, it tastes like tomacco when you try to smoke it. (No mom, I wasn't smoking, I just wanted to see what tomacco tastes like.)

* Merriweather’s “gently sloping hill” is really slippery if it’s been raining and you’re wearing flip-flops.

* Thanks to the high school boys who caught me the first time I fell down the muddy hill. Well, more like ran down the muddy hill in order to avoid falling. Thanks, kids.

* Falling down the hill without anyone to catch you kinda hurts.

* If anyone has an extra ticket to Thursday night’s sold out 9:30 Club Bloc Party show, please get in touch.

Update: MG's photos.


::: posted by nm at 6/14/2005 



Monday, June 13, 2005 :::
 
Morning commute music: Bloc Party, Silent Alarm.

I wasn't going to go to the Pixies/Bloc Party/The BellRays show at Merriweather tonight, but MG and BV talked me into tagging along.

I didn't do much this weekend, but I did get a taste of D.C.'s "velvet rope scene" or whatnot with a trip to Georgetown's Blue Gin to celebrate my friend EK's engagement. Another friend of her likes the place, so that's where we ended up. It was nice - like the reviews promised, Calvin Klein-looking bartenders and a conventionally good looking "international" crowd, with the women showing off their Louis Vuitton handbags. Both of my $12 martinis (raspberry and classic dirty vodka) were incredible. But then again, for $12 before tip, they better be. I had a better time than I thought I would, once I got over the fact that I paid $10 just to get in there. The DJ was playing the sort of electronic music I don't normally go out of my way to hear, but it was actually pretty good for what it was. An expensive evening, but how often does one of your oldest friends get engaged?

(Okay, so actually it seems like every time I turn around someone else has gotten engaged... but I've known EK since we were 13 or 14.)


::: posted by nm at 6/13/2005 






Join us on April 10
_______________
Blogs, Local:

_____ Is The New _____
Articulatory Loop
Beaverhausen Blog
behind the decks with e
blah, blah, black sheep
blogs t r e t c h
C-130
Consumption Junction...
cruel sommer
[dan zimmerman]
DanCeLouder
D.C. Bloggers
DCeiver
DCFÜD
DCist
DC Metro Action
dcmetroblogmap
DC Sleeps Alone Tonight
DC SOB @ Smorgasblog
Designs on You
Drew McDermott
Dumbek's Random Stuff
eebmore.com
Fantasy Basketblog
The Ghost of Gordon Sumner
Harmany Music
Historical Ramblings
information leafblower
Kathryn on...
Last Second Thoughts
littlerobothead
live from the third rail @ Smorgasblog
melodrone.com
Micropop
Mike Holden
Notebook: Washington DC
Out of Step / DC
Pop! Goes Culture
Pretending Along @ Smorgasblog
prod & ponder
Pygmalion In A Blanket
The Real World: Bethesda
The Red Line
remainfabulous.net
Schitzophonic
Simply Becca
Tales From the Club
unrequited narcissism
The Upstate Life
The Washington Oculus
WeirdCurves
What are we gonna do now?
Whatevers and Whatnots
why.i.hate.dc
the wild, the innocent, and the DC shuffle
Wonkette

_______________
Blogs, Everywhere Else:

A Forma do Jazz
Ari Goes Down
Best Week Ever Blog
Blodnick II
Coolfer
Defamer
The Divine Ms. J
G's Bjournal
Gapers Block
Go Fug Yourself
goldenfiddle
Gothamist
Jinners
Kate Sullivan
karen plus one
La La Land
The Liam McEneaney Experience
Life During Wartime
Like a Rolling Stone...
lindsayism.com
listen missy
Lost In Texas
low culture
melodynelson.com
The Modern Age
'N' is for Neville, who died of ennui
Pink Is The New Blog
pquesblog
Rabbit Blog
Sasha Frere-Jones
shebitter
Shy Lux
soviet panda
stereojoe.com
Thighs Wide Shut
Thrown for a Loop
ultragrrrl
Veiled Conceit

_______________
MP3 Blogs:

3hive
The Big Ticket
Copy, Right?
Fluxblog
Hello! Surprise!
Hushreality
it's a trap!
kingblind
Life Of A Spuckle
music (for robots)
Mystery & Misery
PopText
Said the Gramophone
scenestars
stereogum
swedesplease
Teaching the Indie Kids to Dance Again
The Tofu Hut
You Ain't No Picasso

_______________
Links (ironic and non-ironic):

betterPropaganda
Creative Commons
Defy Magazine
Donefer
epitonic
Free the Future
Friendster
Girlprops
Grrl
Hear Music First (VH1)
IMDb
indieworkshop
insound
Kittenpants
Kludge Magazine
Martha Stewart
McSweeney's
My Space
The New Yorker
Oopsy Daisy
Pitchfork
Salon
Slate
Strange Monster
Television Without Pity
TRL's Craveworthy




_______________
Rock 'n' Roll High School:

Cedars
Five Four
The Five Maseratis
Full Minute of Mercury
Gist
Hand Fed Babies
The Hard Tomorrows
Her Daily Obsession
Karmella's Game
Laura Burhenn
Mary Prankster
Monopoli
Nethers
Sarah Azzara

_______________
Recent Interviews / Reviews:

Long-View @ 9:30 Club

Robbers On High Street @ Black Cat

The Hard Tomorrows review

The Owls review

mclusky review

CocoRosie review

stellastarr* @ Black Cat

Mary Prankster @ 9:30 Club + interview

Blur @ 9:30 Club

Moving Units @ 9:30 Club

Vue @ Fletcher's

stellastarr* @ Fletcher's

The Boxing Lesson EP review

The Raveonettes @ Black Cat

The Realistics @ Fletcher's + interview

The Realistics EP review

The Vines @ 9:30 Club

Division of Laura Lee @ Black Cat

Burning Brides @ Black Cat

Coldplay @ Pier 1

The Mooney Suzuki @ 9:30 Club + interview

The Hives @ Recher Theatre

_______________
Places to Go / Parties to Dance:

Asylum
The Avalon Theatre
Black Cat
Bliss
bluestate
DC 9
First Ladies DJ Collective
Fletcher's
Fort Reno
Gate 54
Helix Lounge
iPod Jukebox
***laundry***
Liberation Dance Party
9:30 Club
The Ottobar
Politics & Prose
Razzmatazz
Revolution Records
Taint
Velvet Lounge
Warehouse Next Door
The Wonderland Ballroom

_______________
People to See:

01/05: Taint and Bliss present INFAMY, 9:30 Club
01/10: Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton, 9:30 Club
01/19: Benjy Ferree, Meredith Bragg and the Terminals, Greenland, Black Cat
01/24: Hej Hej, Cafe Saint-Ex

_______________
_______________
Keep In Touch / Ask Me to DJ:

bring it on

seeking irony, because sarcasm clashes with my outfit



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