Ironic Twist
seeking irony, because sarcasm clashes with my outfit
Friday, September 09, 2005 :::
Today is the slowest day in recent memory. I've already done some work, listened to a bunch of music, went out to Olsson's and bought two CDs, blogged, read all the blogs I read every day, replied to all my e-mails and read the news. And it's barely 3:30.
Tonight is the benefit concert at American University, and I’m guessing that most of the D.C. people who read this will be there. On a hurricane-related note, I’ve been wearing Mardi Gras beads all day, because Olsson’s was selling them to raise money for the Katrina victims. Luckily I work in a pretty quirky and casual office, so no one has looked at me as if I’m absolutely insane.
Tomorrow night is bluestate, of course. I have lots of fun songs picked out, from Kaiser Chiefs to AC/DC to Maximo Park to Hilary Duff, so come ready to dance. Also, I got the giveaways this morning, and we have lots of fun stuff like promotional vinyl and advance copies of Harmonies for the Haunted and buttons and stickers. We don’t have a system for giving these things away, but if you get there early and come up to me or Kyle and ask me for a giveaway, chances are that you’ll get something. And of course there’s another reason to get there early: the Cricklewood Massive DJs are on from 10-11. I’m looking forward to hearing their set, since I’ve never heard either of them for more than 12 minutes at a time.
Sunday night, after I’ve recovered from bluestate, I’m going to the Sigur Ros show. I got pretty lucky at the last minute, since the show was a) expensive and b) sold out. So, look out for a review next week. I’m not quite sure how the review will go, since I’m not good at telling apart their songs because they’re all so atmospheric and not in a language I understand, and whenever I listen to Sigur Ros, I sort of just space out and absorb it all as one long piece of music, instead of song by song.
Thursday is DCist's first birthday party. It conflicts with The O.C., but I’ll have to work something out. I don’t have much to say about The O.C. aside from “oh my god I love this show.” Also, I really want to go to rehab at the facility where Kirsten is recovering. It’s nicer than any place I’ve ever been. Oh, and the Bloc Party remix at the end of the show almost made me cry for no reason at all. I love that song.
Looking ahead, on September 21 is a new event called Backroads, taking place at Staccato. This event is being billed as a “Y’allternative Night In the Nation’s Capital.” Kenneth, one of the great people I’ve met through going to Taint and DJing bluestate, has been talking about putting this together for a few months now, so I’m really looking forward to seeing how it turns out. Kenneth will be DJing alt-country and country for the queer crowd. And me.
Your assignment today is to check out Every Move A Picture. I just discovered them yesterday through an e-mail from V2 Records (they just signed the band, no plans for a release yet), and I'm pretty excited about the discovery. (Although I'm apparently a bit behind the curve, since one of their songs has already been featured in the WB's One Tree Hill.) I streamed the three songs they have available on their site, and it's very promising. The first two songs have a synthy new-wave The Faint/She Wants Revenge sound while the third song, "Chemical Burns," is an upbeat disco punk track that reminds me more of The Futureheads/Franz Ferdinand. Actually, Every Move A Picture toured with The Futureheads, and are now touring with stellastarr*, though unfortunately they're not on the D.C. bill. Read more about the band here.
Morning commute music: Giant Drag, Hearts and Unicorns.
I have a crush on this CD. It's fantastic. I will have more descriptive words later, but for now "fantastic" will have to do. I'm going to listen to it a bunch of times today. Giant Drag are opening for stellastarr* on October 5 at the 9:30 Club. This makes me happy.
You can also download the album's opening track, "Kevin Is Gay," here from betterPropaganda.
I somehow missed this news, but luckily Ms. EBD filled me in. Britney Spears is considering Addison Shye for a girl and London Preston for a boy. Sean Preston was also in the running. Awesome. Especially awesome because I know a certain young man with a middle name of Addison who will not be happy about this. I can't wait for this baby. It's due in about a month.
Thursday, September 08, 2005 :::
I have one last thing to say to you today: The O.C. is back. 8:00 p.m. Fox.
The O.C. is back for a third exciting and snark-filled season as Ryan (Ben McKenzie), Seth (Adam Brody), Summer (Rachel Bilson) and Marissa (Mischa Barton) begin their senior hear at the Harbor School. They should be excited, but a proverbial dark cloud looms overhead; Trey (Logan Marshall-Green) is still clinging to life after being shot two months ago , and police want to know who really pulled the trigger. While Sandy (Peter Gallagher), Seth and Ryan try to fend for themselves in Newport, Kirsten (Kelly Rowan) continues rehab at a plush facility -- where she meets a fellow recovering alcoholic (guest star Jeri Ryan) who may not be everything she appears to be.
I've been enjoying the Diamond Nights EP for a while (you may have heard a song or two at bluestate) and now the full-length, titled Popsicle, is set to come out next week. "Destination Diamonds" is one of the songs from the EP that made it onto the LP. I haven't heard Popsicle yet, but it's one I'm looking forward to checking out. Which I can do by streaming the entire album here. There's no D.C. tour date, but they'll be at The Ottobar on October 23.
Morning commute music: Gang of Four, Return the Gift (disk one).
Damn, this album is good. I have to make an effort to pay more attention to the second half, but it's quite difficult because I keep getting stuck on the first few songs. So far the second track, "Damaged Goods," may be my favorite. The opening track, "To Hell With Poverty," will be the first single, and you can get it on iTunes now. But when the album comes out on October 11, you need to get the whole thing. Seriously. I've never really listened to Gang of Four before, aside from stuff DJ DCSOB played at bluestate, so this album, with re-recordings of some of their classics, is perfect for me and others who haven't listened to the band before. I only got a preview of the first disc of the two-disc set, which is comprised of the re-recordings. The second disk will have remixes of the songs by artists like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Ladytron and The Futureheads. I'm really looking forward to hearing that as well.
Wednesday, September 07, 2005 :::
I realize that I'm like the only blogger who hasn't mentioned the hurricane and how horrible things are down there and how you should be doing something to help. I suppose I just don't know where to start. Do I talk about Kanye, and how happy I am that he spoke what was on his mind? About the privitization of FEMA, with which I actually have some experience through my last job at Team America? About the federal government's general lack of ability (or unwillingness) to effectively respond to a disaster like this? About how much I love the city of New Orleans and would have liked to move there in the next few years but now probably won't get to? Do I link to all of the fundraising opportunities and mention that you should give your money to someone besides the Red Cross? Do I write about how maybe this would be a good time to draft people into some sort of federal relief organization and get everyone down there to help? Basically, that last one is something my brother and I talked about last night, and agreed that while most of us sure as hell wouldn't go if we were drafted to go to Iraq, some of us may actually welcome a draft to go help people in actual need of help, right here in the U.S. But, since there has been no planning to respond to anything like this, that's not even a possibility.
But instead of all that, I'll just tell you about the following event, since it's a really easy way to get involved and you should all do it:
DCist is co-sponsoring a Katrina Benefit Concert. It's taking place Friday night at American University. For a $5 donation, which goes to Habitat for Humanity, you get six acts: Gist, Cartel, Paul Michel, RPM, Laura Burhenn (who organized the event) and Army of Me.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005 :::
Some Treo photos from this weekend:
Weekend in words, not necessarily in the order things happened: Burton Marinkovich gallery, lots of walking in the sunshine, End of the Century on DVD, The Constant Gardener at The Avalon, Red Room, parents visting, new light fixtures, feeling anti-social, Taint, Monday brunch with out-of-town friends, being "on call" for work but not having to work, missing the season finale of Entourage, missing most of the CSI marathon because I actually had things to do, not finding what I needed at Crooked Beat, BBQ in Columbia Heights, black cat sitting on my lap, sneezing.
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
