better than prozac.

Can't Get Enough Dolorean

This should be a "live music" post, as I am *supposed* to be at the Dolorean show at the Tractor tonight. Being the masochist I clearly am, I let my ex-husband off the hook and elected to hang out with the little one instead. Besides, after spending the day sick in bed, I suppose going out to a bar would have lost out to sleeping anyway.

I'm a little slow on the uptake here, but after hearing them on Cheryl Waters' show this afternoon, I am an instant superfan of this Portland-based band. Their beautiful, lush, dreamy songs tinged with sadness and kissed with the occasional steel guitar remind me of of a cross between the Great Lake Swimmers and Earlimart.

I'm listening today to "You Can't Win" . . . I think I'm on the third rotation , and I have no desire to listen to anything else at the moment. I'm afraid I'll project too much of how I am feeling right now to review it, but wow, I am smitten.

first track from easy tiger

Ryan Adams has "Two" up on his myspace page.

Only a month to go!

stephen king hearts ryan adams

ahh...here comes the Avalanche... a new Ryan Adams record means my google alerts are a-blazing (yes I am obsessed, I admit) with Easy Tiger news.  On Pitchfork, Stephen King waxes fan-boy on Adams (while ripping off Wilco by using "blue-eyed soul" as if it were original, but what can you do?) and on 100 years of trash, we get a track listing as well as some live versions of some of the songs.

new ryan adams june 26!

Word is that the new Ryan Adams record, Easy Tiger, is coming out June 26th, and that none other than my girl Sheryl Crow (who Adams once joked that he thought a line from "My Favorite Mistake" referenced the Bat Cave).... Although I have not heard any leaked tracks yet (hint, hint!), I am eager to hear the latest and greatest from my favorite artist, especially since just the other day, I was thinking about Gold (an excellent AMG Review here).

As you all know, it was a bright and sunny day on Monday, and Gold seemed like the perfect accompaniment inside my car, where things were partly cloudy; loneliness spiked with sunshine, love just spiked). I listened to it loud, windows down, as I drove to the suburbs.  Like me, that day, Gold fluctuates between spirited anthems (New York, New York) to sweet/sappy, peppy love notes (Somehow, Someday) and somber, regretful ballads (Harder Now that It's Over). As is typical, there are a few that really aren't good enough for the record - indeed I hate two of them, a fact that is counter-balanced by two favorites, "Rescue Blues" and "When the Stars Go Blue" which may have well been the musical theme of my week:

"Where do you go when you're lonely?
Where do you go when you're blue?
Where do you go when you're lonely,
I'll follow you."

And Ryan Adams' music generally does follow me to those places.

I also thought about how much Adams has evolved as a songwriter and musician since then, and about how much better those old songs sound live, rearranged, more intricately played, more passionately sung. I'm eager to see him perform again- both recorded and live (especially now that he is apparently sober).

confessions

I have a confession. Well, two, actually. The first is that I can't stop listening to Jay-Z's Kingdom Come. I queued that baby up on my MP3 player at 7 a.m. as I drove to Seattle from Portland, and it's all I listened to the entire 3-hour trip. It started as a little something to lift my spirits so early in the morning as I sadly pulled out of my boyfriend's driveway, but evolved into an obsession of sorts that did not end in the car: when I got home, I plugged it into my stereo and listened a little more, this time at maximum volume.  All told, I listened to that record about 10 times today.

Why is it so damned addicting? It's fucking brilliant. The man is a genuis - the subjects, lyrics, rhythms and production are all phenomenal on their own, in concert they are a masterpiece. I find myself able to relate, somehow. To demonstrate, a snippet from my favorite track (and new personal anthem), 30 Something:

30's the new 20 nigga I'm so HOT STILL (Uhh)
Better broad, better automobile (Uhh)
Bet a yard (Naw!) Bet a hundred mil
Then by the songs end I'll probably start another trend
I know ev'ry thing you wann' do
I did all that by the age of twenty-one
By twenty-two, I had that brand new Ac' coupe
I guess you could say that my LEGEND just begun, I'm--
Young enough to know the right car to buy
Yet grown enough not to put rims on it
I got that six-duece with curtains, so you can't see me
And I didn't even have to put tints on it
I don't got the bright watch, I got the right watch
I don't buy out the bar, I bought the nightspot
I got the right stock, I-- got--
Stockbrokers that's movin' it like white tops
I know you like FUCK! this is child abuse
Call DYFS, I must just be getting nicer
YOU young boys ain't ready fa' real
30's the new 20 nigga, I'm so HOT STILL

The only disturbing aspect of the record is that Jay-Z knows way to much about ladies' handbags.

The other confession? I stole Reese's Pieces from Haley's Easter Basket. And ate them. Oh the horror.

grand master flash at ctia

Now that I have fully recovered from a week in orlando florida, doing the annual wireless extravaganza, ctia, i can discuss the Grandmaster Flash show. these days, the wireless industry's pretending to be cool does not end with the air conditioning; various companies organize invitation-only soirees featuring musical acts. Some of you may recall my delight over seeing T.I. and Busta Rhymes at last year's event. I was similarly excited to see legend Grandmaster Flash, who was opening for Three Six "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" Mafia.

Unfortunately, DJ Grandmaster Flash did not ever take the mike, except to shout out the occasional invitation to all the white people (not his words, mine) to dance. And although I do give him credit for tailoring his selections to the audience, it sounded like an unremarkable wedding reception mix to me - lots of classic Michael Jackson, some Dee Lite, and a passable pastiche of 90's dance music. I wasn't sure if we were being mocked or if the guy was just cool playing a sell-out gig and walking home with a big check, thanks to MTV.

Three-Six Mafia were similarly disappointing. The show was short and not terribly energetic. But can you really blame them?

Other acts of note were: Foo Fighters and Ludacris. Unfortunately, I missed Ludacris - I would have loved to see him. (If you haven't heard the mixtape "Disturbing the Kings" with Luda, T.I. and Jay-Z, you really must.)

Damien Rice on Leno

'come pick me up'

whiskeytown cover of "song for you"

mog is the new black

my very cool colleague jen has turned me onto the coolest thing i have found on the web since rhapsody: mog. it's an awesome social networking web 2.0 blabity-blah that connects people based on their musical tastes. it's fantastic - the basis of the service is some software that runs in the background and catalogs the music in your digital music collection. it also keeps track of what you're listening to. i'm just getting the hang of it, but i love the concept. check out my mog.