This Modern Love

My friend Michelle (the one that just met Michael Stipe) informed me that she's interviewing Bloc Party for The Atlanta Music Guide. I'm totally jealous of course (she just met Damon Albarn like 5 days ago!) because, 1. It's BLOC PARTY and 2. I have a *LITTLE* crush on Kele. She probably won't be interviewing the entire band, but Kele will most likely be one of the members that she does talk to. The boys are going to be in town the weekend of June 10th for the annual Music Midtown festival that I wrote about here.

If you're reading my blog right now, that means you probably found it through someone elses. And if you're in the habit of reading music blogs, then there's no way that you haven't heard of Bloc Party. Actually, if you live in the world, you've probably at least heard their name mentioned by now. So I don't really need to tell you how fucking awesome they are. But in case there's some small chance that you haven't heard them, there are a bunch of mp3s and cool videos over at BlocParty.net.

I've decided that I'm not going to Music Midtown. But I'll most likely go to the afterparty at the Masquerade. Michelle will be there, and she can help me hunt down Kele. All I want is a picture. No really, that's it.

There are lots of cool Bloc Party pictures over at the Dim Mak site, most taken by Dim Mak owner, Steve Aoki.

Check out all the other great Dim Mak bands while you're there, especially Pretty Girls Make Graves. Oh, and one more thing. Someone just started a new community on LJ called Share Bloc Party where you can share and find Bloc Party videos and mp3s. Enjoy!

Happy Memorial Day Everyone!

The weather here sucks.

It's been raining pretty much non stop since Saturday night. Here's a list of some great songs about (what else) rain.

Mahalia Jackson- Didn't It Rain (The Essential Mahalia Jackson)
Sonic Youth- Rain on Tin (Murray Street)
The Cure- Prayers For Rain (Disintegration)
The Smashing Pumpkins- Raindrops + Sunshowers (MACHINA/The Machines of God)

A few words between old friends.

I found this amusing picture over at the Morrissey Daily community on LJ a couple of weeks ago. I think its fair to say a good number of people who are Smiths/Moz fans are also Cure fans. Sure not everyone loves both bands, but chances are if you listen to one, you listen to the other. The Cure is my favorite band, so they will always have a place in my heart. But I absolutely adore Moz, and the music he's made (both solo and with the Smiths).

Morrissey and Robert have been feuding for years now. There have been some pretty memorable things said by both in the press. Here are some of the more infamous quotes:

"If Morrissey says don't eat meat, then I'll eat meat, because I hate Morrissey"- Robert

"The Cure, a new dimension to the word 'crap'."- Morrissey

"Morrissey's so depressing, if he doesn't kill himself soon, I probably will."- Robert

So basically, they don't like each other all that much.

I bring this all up now because on Friday, it was announced on The Cure's website that Perry Bamonte and Roger O'Donnell are no longer in the band. Yahoo! News says that Robert kicked them out. Billboard, Filter, and Contact Music all have the story as well. A week ago, there were rumblings over at A Chain of Flowers that two members of the band were leaving. But no one knew if it was just a rumor or a trick or what. But looks like it was all true. Someone made a post about the departure in Oh No They Didn't, and there's an interesting thread about whether or not Morrissey could kick Robert's ass in a fight. So of course that made me think of the picture above.

Like I said in my LJ last week, it might not seem like a big deal to some for there to be a line up change in The Cure. There are are so many ex-members from that band (Porl Thompson, Lol Tolhurst, Andy Anderson, Boris Williams, Mathieu Hartley, Phil Thornalley, Michael Dempsey) and at times its hard to keep straight who was in the band and when. But the most recent 5 piece lineup of Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Roger O'Donnell, Perry Bamonte, and Jason Cooper was the one that I was most familiar with. These were the five faces that wallpapered my room at the start of my Cure obsession in high school. And while Robert is the only one that I've ever met, I'm still a little sad to see Roger and Perry go.

When a group of people make such great music together, it's hard to imagine that they could ever not get along. It might be difficult for us as fans to see what could possibly come between them to cause them to go their separate ways. We want to think that they're perfect and that they love one another unconditionally, and that their particular outfit will continue to make the music that we love. But people change, and friends grow apart. Just like the rest of us, musicians have problems with one another, get in fights, have differences of opinion, and sometimes can't work things out.

I look at The Smiths. Still to this day, people adore that band. They worship them. It's great knowing that you can go to a Morrissey concert in the year 2005 and hear him perform Smiths classics such as There is a Light That Never Goes Out, Big Mouth Strikes Again, Rubber Ring, and How Soon is Now? And while the guys who back Morrissey onstage are phenomenal, I think there's a little part in even Smiths fan that wonders what it would be like if Johnny Marr was performing with Moz again. Pigs would fly before the Smiths would get back together, which is why it was pretty hysterical that VH1 tried to perform this impossible task on their Bands Reunited show. But as long as Johnny and Moz are here on this earth, its a fantasy that is hard not to entertain. To stretch your mind even further and wonder what the two could do together if they decided to write new songs. How amazing would that be?

Roger and Perry had a nice run with The Cure. On his official website, Roger thanked his fans for all of their support and wished the band the best in the future. But who knows. This may not be goodbye forever. I mean, it is The Cure, and ex members have been known to return.

Reindeer Tiger Team

I got home at 3:30 this morning. No matter how much sleep you get, when you come home that late, you're always tired when you wake up. At least that's how it works for me. Stafford put on a show at Nick's place where From Exile and Reindeer Tiger Team played. The show started later than we thought it would and, unfortunately, I had to leave before Reindeer Tiger Team played (Steven picked me up around 12 so that we could go over to Azul for Decatur Social Club). Reindeer Tiger Team is from Arizona and so they probably won't be over this way for a while. Both Nick and Todd said that they were "fucking awesome!" so I guess they were really good.

Reindeer Tiger Team consists of Steven Reker and Eddy Crichton. Steven plays guitar and sings, and Eddy plays the drums. I wish I had gotten the chance to see them play, although I did meet them earlier in the night and they are super nice fellows. I'm really impressed by duos. For two people to get on a stage and play so well that you forget that its just two of them is really amazing. Jucifer, The White Stripes, and Death From Above 1979 have all mastered this, and Reindeer Tiger Team can surely be added to that list. Well at least occording to what my friends told me of their performance last night. And I'm not friends with people who listen to bad music, so you can trust their opinions. Reindeer Tiger Team list Cat Power, Wire, and Shannon Wright amongst their influences. There's a couple of songs to listen to on their myspace page, so check them out.

You can purchase their 7" here and their debut EP here.

You Want Love

Pleasure Club announced earlier this week that after 4 years together, they're calling it quits. I didn't see that one coming at all. I'm bummed out that I never got a chance to see them live, especially since I heard from many people that they always put on an amazing show. At least they're leaving behind some good music. In 2002 they released Here Comes the Trick and followed it up with The Fugitive Kind in 2004. Their music is a mix of glam and straight up rock and roll. Lead singer, James Hall, put out a couple of records before Pleasure Club, and will surely continue to make music. It's just a shame when really great bands break up.

All I wear are jeans and tshirts

I stole this from Liza over at Copy, Right?
Threadless T shirts is having a sale, and all of their shirts are just $10 until June 6th. You might like some of them so check it out.

Also Daan Was Hier has Susan Vega's Tom's Diner. God, I love that song.

On Monday, Mike over at Take Your Medicine posted the Stellastarr* track My Coco. I don't see why this band isn't as big as The Bravery or The Killers. I heard My Coco last summer, and had to get their cd immediately. It's a great, catchy song that makes you want to dance. Jenny and Untitled are also two really great songs from their self titled record. So if you like My Coco then you'll probably dig the rest of the album.

Don't Be Cruel

Bobby Brown is involved in some bad stuff....again. Two members of his entourage were stabbed at a weekly open mic night at Justin's, a soul food restaurant here in Atlanta owned by P. Diddy. Ya know, whenever I'm driving to church on Saturdays with my mom and we go past Bobby Brown Pkwy (yes there's a road named after him here) I always wonder if he's being a good boy. But it looks like trouble seems to follow him wherever he goes.

Speaking of people with their own prerogative, Britney and Kevin: Chaotic comes on tonight. I watched the premier last week. Yes it was ridiculous, badly shot, and over the top. And I found out more about Britney than I ever really wanted to know. But I'm obsessed with reality television, so of course I'll be watching tonight. I'm just fascinated, and I can't help myself.

So tomorrow night I guess we'll be finding out who's the next American Idol. I'm pretty sure Bo is going to win 'cause he'll have all the little girls voting for him. But I think that Carrie will do really well when her country album comes out in a few years. I'm certain that it will be better than most of the crap on country radio right now. And I know most of it is crap because my father rarely switches the dial from his beloved country radio station whenever we're in the car. Ick.

Swung By Seraphim has a song from Vanishing Kids for download. One of their former members, Eric, now plays keyboard in one of my favorite bands, The Prids.

Oh and apparently The Stones Roses are going to reunite.

If you're a fan of the moody dark Joy Division-esque vocals and danceable post punk feel, there's this really fantastic band from the UK called Editors. If you haven't heard them, you should listen to them, because they're great! Listen to their songs Munich and Bullets here. Listen to Munich first. It's pretty incredible. Their debut record is coming out later this year I think. There's an interview with the boys at theStereoEffect here so check that out too.

Another band I've been digging lately is Battle. Well I've been digging this one song anyway. So you should listen to Tendency as well.

Swift

On Saturday night I went to the Velvet Underground (a.k.a Hard Rock Cafe) to see Swift. I wrote about it here.

A couple of years ago, Swift was one of the unsigned bands that my friends and I couldn't get enough of. They've been compared to bands like Deftones and Glassjaw, and like those bands are not your typical run of the mill heavy music. Yeah there's screaming, and heavy crunching guitars, but also amazing lyrics, and attention to melody and song structure. Good stuff.

In 2002, Swift released an amazing record called Waging War. I was hoping that they would play something from that cd, but didn't think they would since it's three years old. But then I heard the first few strums of a familiar song. I ran over to my friend Janelle and said, "They're gonna play The Guatemalan!" It was good hearing an old favorite that I could sing along with.

Swift's new cd The Absolute Uncontrollable, will be available at their cd release show on June 11th at Ziggy's in Winston Salem. 6 p.m./$7/all ages. If you plan on going, get a ticket soon, because Swift usually sells out this 800 capacity venue like that!

Swift site

Swift on Myspace

Oh and remember in a previous post I mentioned how every one in Athens has met Michael Stipe but me? Well my friend Michelle just met him for the first time on Friday. Dammit!

To go or not to go?

Did you know that the Kaiser Chiefs used to be called Parva? Today, Matt posted the track Vending Machine, a song that the Chiefs recorded under their old moniker. Check it out.

I'm still debating on whether or not I should go to Music Midtown this year. It should be a no brainer, since the lineup is probably the best it's been in years: Interpol, Keane, The Pixies, Bloc Party, Loud Reed, Doug E. Fresh, The Lemonheads, Biz Marke, The White Stripes, She Wants Revenge, Def Leppard, Public Enemy, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Louis XIV, Tegan and Sara, Slick Rick....the list goes on and on. BUT tickets are $75 (w/o the extra Ticketmaster charges), and I don't have a job yet. I'll have enough by the time the festival rolls around, but thats a lot of money to an unemployed person who has to start paying back her college loans soon. I mean, if I get a job in the next few weeks, of course I'll buy a ticket. But right now, I'm not sure. Although, how can I not go and see Bloc Party when I've been listening to them non stop for the past few months? And I really want to check out She Wants Revenge too. Carlos introuduced me to them a few weeks ago, and when I heard the singer's voice I said to him, "Is that Paul Banks?" because it sounded so much like him. She Wants Revenge has two songs posted on their page if you're interested in hearing them. They've been on tour with Bloc Party for a little while. And of course it would be rad seeing The Pixies, and The Lemonheads, and Public Enemy, and Interpol. I should try winning tickets from 99x. But I never remember to listen to the radio unless I'm in the car.

I've been to a few festival type things, including Ozzfest and Warped tour. But they can definitely end up being aggravating with the heat, and all the people, and the expensive water, etc. I've never been to Music Midtown, even though I've lived in Atlanta all my life. In previous years, the festival took place during the 1st weekend in May. But they changed the date this year for some reason. Maybe they thought more people would be able to come to it if they held it in June? Maybe they wanted to get some bands during their summer tours? Anywho, even though I've never been, reports I've gotten back from friends always tend to include one thing. The weather sucked. It was either too hot, or it rained, or both. If it's that hot in may, I can only imagine what it will be like in June. Not to mention the fact that everyone and their mothers show up. I don't know if I can handle three days of music with everyone in Atlanta. I mean, Coachella isn't even that long! And if I'm paying $80, I want to get my money's worth for sure. This is the 1st year that they're not selling one day tickets, which are around $30. If they were, then I would just buy a ticket for saturday, and I'd get to see Bloc Party, The Pixies, and She Wants Revenge. Interpol plays on Friday night. Even though I love them, I've seen them like 5 times already, so it won't kill me if I miss them.

There's going to be a big Music Midtown afterparty on that Saturday (June 11th) at the Masquerade. DJs Kiss & Tell will be spinning. There are also supposed to be special DJ sets from Paul Banks (why not Carlos?), Bloc Party, Louis XIV, and The Features. And according to the myspace message that they sent today, "Keane, She Wants Revenge, A Fir Ju Well, and more will all be running around the club." So I'm thinking that if I don't make it to the festival, then I have to AT LEAST go to the afterparty, 'cause it looks like it might be pretty damn awesome. What a long ass weekend that's going to be. I might want to just stay home. Just thinking about doing so much in three days makes me tired.

One more thing. I'm totally pysched that Naima won America's Next Top Model. I think she was most people's favorite anyway. Well at least mine.

So about this "force" thing....

Well, I think that I'm the only person who didn't see Star Wars last night. I don't know, but those kinds of movies have never appealed to me much. I've only seen the 1st one, when it was rerelased in theaters a few years ago. I think I went with my friend Karen. It was cool I guess, but I didn't see what the big whoop was all about. Different strokes. Curtis is threatening to tie me down and make me watch all of the Star Wars movies. I told him that I would cry. It's just not for me. I'll take an 80s high school movie with Molly Ringwald over Storm Troopers and half naked princesses any day.

So on to the music.

Loose Record is giving away some New Order stuff. Go check it out if you're a fan.

Copy, Right? always has a great selection of covers. Liza recently posted Sufjan Steven's cover of R.E.M.'s The One I Love. During the 4.5 years I spent going to school at UGA in Athens, you'd think that I would've seen Michael Stipe around town AT LEAST once. But I never did. I mean, sure I didn't go out that much, and only really went downtown for shows or to go to Wuxtry, School Kids, Low Low Yo, or Cookies & Company (now Cookies Cafe) but still! It wouldn't matter to me so much if everyone else in town hadn't seen him walking around some where. The funny thing about people in Athens, is that everyone has a "The first time I saw Michael Stipe," story. How is it that so many people have seen him more than once, and I've never spotted him at all? I think I missed my best chance when I was at the 40 Watt for Coheed. Someone said that Michael had peaked his head in to see who was playing, and then left. He probably wasn't there for very long, but if I had only turned around, maybe I would have gotten a glimpse. Oh well.

If you pray, pray for Kylie Minogue. On Tuesday, she announced that she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She's having surgery later on this week. I recently bought Body Language, mostly because I couldn't get Red Blooded Woman out of my head. I'm sure she'll be fine, but it wouldn't hurt to keep her in your thoughts.

No language, just sound, that's all we need know to synchronize love to the beat of the show

Twenty-five years ago today, a young woman awoke from a strange dream. In the dream, she heard The Doors song, The End, playing on her radio.

This is the end, beautiful friend. This is the end, my only friend, the end.

She had spent the night at her parents house with her young daughter, Natalie. She had been having problems with her husband, who was cheating on her with another woman. He was controlling, verbally abusive, and they argued often. He had been dealing with severe health problems, and while she was sympathetic to them, she could no longer deal with his outbursts, infidelity, and lies. She wanted a divorce.

She returned to her house around 10 that morning, not expecting to see him there. A part of her wanted to. But they hadn't ended on great terms the night before. She left Natalie in the car while she went into the house. It was quiet. She didn't call out his name. She saw a note that he had left for her. She went to pick it up, and then saw him out of the corner of her eye. He was kneeling in the kitchen. She was relieved to see him still there. And then she saw the rope around his neck. He had killed himself. At the age of 24, Ian Curtis was dead.

Ian Curtis committed suicide just days before Joy Division was set to begin their first U.S. tour. Some say he did it because he was depressed about all of the problems he was having with his wife, Deborah. Some say that his battle with epilepsy was just too much for him to handle. And some say that Ian had always planned on dying young. Maybe it was none of those things. Maybe it was a little bit of all three. Whatever the reason, you can't help but wonder, "What if...?" What if they had made it to America? What if they had played all the dates, and didn't have to cancel any shows because of Ian's health? What if they had blown everyone away? Things would be so different. Would they have been as influential? Even more so? Would they be revered as much as they are? What would have been the biggest difference? No New Order.

I've always liked New Order more than Joy Division. I probably always will. I heard them first. As a matter of fact, I didn't really start listening to Joy Division until maybe two years ago. I'm not sure why. I guess I just never thought to.

When I was maybe 15 or 16, this guy named Patrick made a mix tape for me. He knew that I loved the Cure, so he filled the mix tape with artists he thought I would like just as much. There were some I had heard before, like Modern English and Depeche Mode. And some artists I had really never heard of, like Bauhaus, The Smiths, and New Order. At that time, it had never really occurred to me to research bands on the internet to find out what else I might like. So I'm glad that Patrick was looking out for me.

I wish I knew where that tape was (it's probably downstairs in one of the boxes I brought back from school after my sophomore year in college) because I can't remember all the songs that were on it. I don't think there was a JD song on it, although it seems like it would be an obvious choice. If there was, I guess I didn't like it that much. But I do remember two certain songs sticking out, both by New Order; All the Way and Regret. The second I heard All the Way, I absolutely fell in love with it. It's just one of those songs that you immediately feel close to. When Bernard sings, "It takes years to find the nerve to be apart from what you've done. To find the truth inside yourself, and not depend on any one," I felt so amazing and inspired and happy. And I think that's why I love New Order so much. Even though many of their songs are melancholy, there always seems to be a underlying theme of hopefulness, like everything will be ok in the end. And I love them for that, for taking you on this journey through all of the difficult things, but then easing your mind about it at the end.

The moment I heard Regret, I sat up and said, "I know this song!" I had heard it on the radio many times, but didn't know who recorded it. It's such a great feeling when you can put a name to a song that you really like.

So that was my first taste of New Order. I started to get their cds after that and they soon became one of my favorite bands. I definitely knew about Ian at that point. Once you start listening to a certain band a lot, it's only natural to want to find out more about their history. And you really can't talk about New Order without talking about Ian, and Joy Division. But still there was nothing inside of me that said, "Hey, go check out a Joy Division song and see if you like it."

And then one day I saw this movie called Series 7: The contenders. It was ok. It's one of those movies that you can watch all the way through because you're seeing it for the first time. But you probably wouldn't buy it on DVD. In the movie, this song kept playing over and over again. I didn't know if I liked it because it was a good song, or because it was being played in every other scene. But it was definitely stuck in my head. I did a little research and found out that it was called Love Will Tear Us Apart.

Little by little, I heard more Joy Division songs, whether it be from friends or on a college radio station. Eventually, I got copies of Closer, Unknown Pleasures, Still, and Substance. Joy Division and New Order give off two completely different vibes. And while I enjoy New Order for their upbeat sounds and hopeful lyrics, I could definitely relate to the dark content of Ian's lyrics and the haunting quality of Joy Division's sound. Everyone can relate to a little bit of both I think.

Last year was probably the height of my education on Joy Division. They were the subject of my research paper for my Music class, so I found out everything that I didn't know before. I also bought a copy of 24 Hour Party People, got a bootleg DVD of their live performances, and read Deborah Curtis' book Touching From A Distance. All of these things gave me a better insight into who Ian was, as an artist and a person in general. If you haven't read Touching From A Distance, I suggest you get a copy immediately. I think everyone who reads it really appreciates Deborah's honesty and openness. I for one couldn't put it down. And you really get to know all the many parts of Ian.

Someone once told me that Ian Curtis' suicide is what prevented Robert Smith from taking his own life. I can't even imagine a world without Disintegration or Faith or Wish. I don't know if it's true, but if it is, I suppose Robert saw that there were things to live for, and that the people who love you that you leave behind are never quite the same. As hard as life is, there's always a reason to keep on going, if only for the hope that good things will happen for you in the future.

When Ian died, the remaining members of Joy Division knew that they couldn't go on as Joy Division without him. And for years, and years, they didn't even play any Joy Division songs at all. But they came to realize that the songs that they had written as members of Joy Division were still their songs. Performing them live wouldn't be disrespectful, but rather an amazing way to honor their friend, their bandmate, their brother. Still today whenever they perform Transmission or Love Will Tear Us Apart, Bernard always mentions Ian. And I think that wherever he is, Ian's happy that he's remembered and missed. And glad that people are still singing and enjoying his music.

The Electric Ballroom, London, 1979

Ian Curtis

July 15, 1956- May 18, 1980

Intro

A couple of weeks ago, I decided that I'd check out some mp3 blogs. I'd heard about them for awhile, but had never really gone to any. With each one I visited, I'd come across 5 more that I liked. After a while, I had so many bookmarked, that going through them all every day was like a full time job. Lucky for me, I'm still an umemployed college graduate, so I've got the time.

I've enjoyed visiting all of these different music blogs, hearing new music, and reading the most recent news about my favorite artists. I've written about some of the exciting things I've found in my live journal. Most of my posts lately have been music related, which isn't a bad thing of course. But I figured that if I was going to write so much about music, then I should just set up a music blog. I mean, I love talking about music more than anything else anyway. I probably won't posts any mp3s or anything fun like that. Well, at least not any time soon. I'll just write about the music that interests me. I'll probably write about my favorite bands and records, maybe posts reviews when I go to shows. I'll share music news that I find on other blogs. And you'll definitely see some pictures. I recently bought a digital camera, and I take pictures of EVERYTHING. So if you happen to come across this page, I hope that you find something of interest here. And if you don't, um sorry?