Is your dad a dealer 'cause you're dope to me

Liza over at Copy, Right? has a bunch of tracks of various bands covering The Cure. Great selection. So go listen to them, and wish Liza a happy birthday too.

If you wanted another reason to dislike Bright Eyes, here ya go.

According to Audioscrobbler, M.I.A. is the second most listened to artist on my iTunes. I can barely go a day without hearing Pull Up the People or URAQT. Maya makes an appearance on the Missy Elliot track Bad Man, which is on Missy's soon to be released cd, The Cookout. Her part is hot of course, but the whole song is great. It totally has a dancehall feel to it. Damn, I love being West Indian. You can stream the song on MTV's The Leak, along with the rest of the album. It's the final track (# 16). Anywho, today as I was listening to my ipod on shuffle, Do Ya' came on, and even though I've listened to that song a million times, I'm not tired of it yet, or anything by M.I.A. for that matter.

This shit is Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Today, someone in Negroclash made a post about Cobra Starship. I'm not sure what to call this: a side project? commentary on the current state of pop culture? a comedy routine? Whatever it is, it's the brainchild of Gabe Saporta, lead singer and bassist of Midtown (They did the opening theme song for that Real World/Road Rules challenge where Puck spit on David). On his myspace page is his hilarious response to Gwen Stefani's Hollaback Girl. It's called Hollaback Boy. I laughed through the entire thing.

You can download the track or stream it from Cobra Starships' myspace page.

Gwen should love this. You're nobody until somebody parodies your song.

In other news, Bella Lea had to cancel the rest of their shows scheduled for June and the beginning of July due to lead singer Maura Davis' recent back spasms. She wrote an apology to those who would be missing Bella Lea here. Hopefully, she'll make a quick recovery and get a lot of well deserved rest. The band should be back out on the road in early August.

Head Automatica and theStart are playing a bunch of shows together in July. I'm upset that their tour is not coming anywhere near here. Someone just doesn't want me to see Daryl Palumbo ever again. Here are the dates:

July 08th Portland, ME - The Station
July 09th Clifton Park, NY - Northern Lights
July 10th Danbury, CT - Empress Ballroom
July 12th Lancaster, PA - Chameleon
July 13th Washington, DC - Nation
July 15th Louisville, KY - Headliners Music Hall
July 17th Cedar Falls, IA - The Reverb
July 19th Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater
July 20th Fort Collins, CO - Aggie Theater
July 21st Salt Lake City, UT - Club Sound
July 23rd Seattle, WA - El Corazon
July 26th Orangevale, CA - Boardwalk
July 27th San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall

And last but not least, our little Avril is all grown up now. She's engaged to Deryck Whibley, lead singer of Sum 41. Isn't it great when two Canadians fall in love? Why are all these young people getting engaged and married? I feel like I'm living in another time. In a couple of years, I won't be surprised if fathers start trading their 15 year old daughters for goats and chickens.

Colorblind

There's a song that I always liked in the movie Cruel Intentions. It starts playing when Sebastian (Ryan Phillippe) goes to the train station to stop Annette (Reese Witherspoon) from leaving. For the longest time, I didn't know the name of it but it sounded like Counting Crows. I would totally forget about the song once it stopped playing, but everytime I watch the movie, and that scene comes on, I think, "Wow, what a great song."

Just recently I found out that it was indeed a Counting Crows song. During Audiography's covers week, someone posted Daughter Darling's cover of the song. It's called Colorblind. Their version sounds pretty much like the original, except with female vocals. I've never really been of fan of Counting Crows or anything, but that song is pretty amazing.

Glastonbury Festival 2005

wow, this kind of sucks.



more pictures at andrewkendall.com

Mon Frere

How many of you are on myspace?
How many of you get friend requests from bands?
How many of those bands actually end up not sounding like total shit?

I know that there's a way that I can block band add requests on my myspace account. And while that would cut down on a lot of crap in my inbox, I don't want to do it. Because while most of the bands that send me requests are pretty awful and should just give up playing music altogether, every once in awhile, one of bands will actually be kind of interesting.

Last week I got an add from a Mountlake Terrace, WA band called Mon Frere. I'm assuming they added me because I like Pretty Girls Make Graves, a band that they list as one of their influences, or as the put it, bands that they really want to play with. 3 points. And then the video for their song Real Vampires Don't Get Shitfaced (Fighting Mad) started playing, and I saw that guitarist Kyle Swisher was wearing a Will Haven hoodie. Holy hell, how rad is it that people are still rocking out to Will Haven? 5 points. And then singer/keyboardist Nouela Johnston started singing "You say you've grown into a man/Prove it the only way you can." 10 points. What do ya know, a band that found me on myspace that is actually pretty damn awesome.

Mon Frere is a mix of elctroclash and punk rock, sprinkled with creepy guitars and haunting keyboards. Nouela's vocals are strong and plesantly demanding. They've already made a big impact on their native Washington, and I'm sure that they are eager to bring their unique and varied brand of vampire and ninja loving indie rock to the rest of the country.

You can listen to a couple of songs on their myspace page. Here's a song from their debut EP, Real Vampires, which will be released July 26th on Cake Records.

Mon Frere- R.V.D.G.S.F. (Fighting Mad)

Quickly...

Work For It has the new Public Emeny Track Can't Hold Us Back.

Sixeyes has a link to the entire D.C. Bloc Party show from last Thursday. Thanks NPR!

J Clark and Derek Fudesco of Pretty Girls Make Graves have started a side project called Bullion Brothers. Check out their myspace page for two tracks.

There's an interview with Gordon Moakes over at Loose Record. I guess he's the most talkative out of the BP dudes.

Apparently, Lindsay Lohan's new beau is Diego Garcia, lead singer of Elefant. There are only about 4 other people I know who like Elefant as much as I do. If anything, this relationship should help him sell a few more cds

And not like it's a suprise but Noel Gallagher hates everybody.

Radio, play my favorite song

As you've probably heard by now, Billy Corgan placed a full page ad in Tuesday's Chicago Tribune. I wonder how much that set him back? Anyway, in addition to commenting on the release of his first debut solo record, The Future Embrace, Billy revealed that he wishes to get the Smashing Pumpkins back together. WoW. The thought of seeing a Pumpkins show again gives me chills. I love them. I was lucky enough to see them twice, but not with all 4 original members at the same time. In 1998, I saw them at the Fox but it was just Billy, James and D'arcy. I saw them again in 2000, but D'arcy had already left by then, and Melissa Auf Der Maur had replaced her on bass. Jimmy was there though, so it was nice to see him back. But yeah, I'd love to see Billy, James, D'arcy and Jimmy on the same stage, playing stuff from Gish and Siamese Dream.....that would be pretty amazing. Billy still has to make up for not playing Mayonaise at their final Atlanta show. Billy, I'm serious. I'm gonna be forever upset about that.

Tonight is the first night of Billy's solo tour. And guess what city he's rocking first? The good old ATL! He's gonna be playing stuff from his ipod on 99x this afternoon around 3:30. It should be interesting to see what he plays. The Smashing Pumpkins owe a lot of their early success to 99x because it was the first radio station to play songs from Gish. This morning when my mom and I were coming back from the park, I heard Drown on the radio, and I got all giddy inside. I'm not going to the show tonight (not having money is a bitch) but I know a few people going, and I'm sure they'll tell me how it was tomorrow. I've seen Billy perform live about four times between the Pumpkins, Zwan, and solo performance for 99x. He's always amazing.

I can't help but wonder what D'arcy and James are thinking at the moment. Would they even have any interest at all in playing with Billy again? I mean, he did refer to them as "misguided." I guess only time will tell. But in the meantime, I can dream, right?

Maura Davis' bands.

Bella Lea played at The Earl last night. I didn't even remember about the show until today. But the Earl is far away from my house, and I don't have a car, so it's not like I could have gotten there anyway. This was their 2nd show in Georgia I believe (they played in Athens at the Caledonia not too long ago) and so hopefully they'll be back later this year.

If you already know about Bella Lea, you were probably a Denali fan. Maura Davis formed Denali in 2000 with her brother Keely Davis (of Engine Down), Cam DiNunzio (ex Lazycain) and Jonathan Fuller (also of Engine Down). Usually when a musician follows in their siblings footsteps, the ending result is a complete disaster. So many siblings try to be as successful as their brothers and sisters, but never quite make it. Maura didn't have that problem. Denali put out two great records on Jade Tree: Denali in 2002 followed up by The Instinct in 2003.

Everyone I know that listens to Denali doesn't just like them, but LOVES them. I imagine that the same thing will become true of Bella Lea. Let's face it. Maura Davis' voice is amazing. Most singers in bands can carry a decent tune, but aren't vocal acrobats. And I suppose they don't need to be when the instruments are meant to take front row. So when you come across someone who does some amazing things vocally, it's a treat.

I saw Denali twice (first when the opened for Deftones and Poison the well and then again on their own tour with Laguardia and Murder by Death) and both times I was just blown away. Maura hits those high notes as effortlessly live as she seems to on record. Even when they were playing Everybody Knows and I thought to myself, "there's no way she's going to hit that," she did. The soothing and reflective quality of Denali's sound complimented Maura's voice perfectly. So a lot of us were surprised and sad when the band announced that they were breaking up last year.

But now, we have Bella Lea, so there's no need to be sad.

Maura and the boys (Stephen Howard, Matt Clark, and Ryan Rapsys) are currently out on the road and playing loads of shows. Don't be a dork like me, and not go to see them when they come to your town. While you're waiting for them to swing by your city, you can listen to three tracks on their myspace page. Man, what would we do without myspace?

Quickly...

Justin over at No Silence! has an interview up with Chris from Q and Not U. I interviewed John Davis for an article in my college paper once, and those guys are just nicer than nice. Not to mention, they put on one of the most amazing live shows I've ever seen. Awesome band. If you've never heard them, I suggest you go out and get all of their albums immediately. Well, actually read the interview first, and then go by the albums.

Also, Michelle's Interview with Gordon from Bloc Party has been up on AMG for almost a week now, but I keep forgetting to mention it. Well its written more as an article, but yeah. Anyway, go read that too. I especially loved the question about whether or not Russell has a right eye. If that doesn't crack you up then you've obviously never seen a picture of Russell.

Oh and if you haven't seen my new LJ layout, go look. Whenever I don't have a Cure themed look to my journal, I always end up missing it, and then have to go back to something Cure related. Oh...which reminds me. Porl is back in the Cure! Yay!

Happy Fathers Day!!

Me and my dad Thanksgiving, 1982

My parents are from the caribbean, and so they mostly listen to old calypso and soca stuff. But oddly enough, they both really love country music. How is that possible you ask? Well here's the thing. Apparently when they were kids growing up on the tiny island of Antigua, one of the more exciting things they liked to do with their friends was go to sqaure dances. Yes. Square dances. How people in the West Indies ended up having square dances, I'm still trying to figure out. Anywho, at these square dances they would dance to lots of good ole' country songs, and they grew to love the genre. Fastforward to 2005, and my father never changes the radio dial from the country station whenever I'm in the car with him (Unless it's Saturday at 4, bcause that's when 89.3 has their calypso show). It can get pretty aggravating, especially since he never lets anyone else change the dial, even if I'm driving! But just when I'm about to lose my mind after the fourth bad country song in a row, Patsy Cline or Johnny Cash or Hank Williams or Loretta Lynn will come on, and then it's not so bad

Yesterday morning, when we were driving to Duluth for Karen's wedding, two great songs came on, Patsy Cline's Crazy and Johnny Cash's I Walk the Line. You just can't go wrong with Patsy and Johnny.

And I will love you so for always

For the next two weekends, I have weddings to attend. Tomorrow (well actually in about 10 hours from now), my friend Karen is getting married. I've known her since first grade and it's so weird to know that this time tomorrow she'll be a married woman. Crazy! Next weekend, my cousin Angelo is getting married to his longtime girlfriend Nicole. Both Karen and Angelo are 23 (my age) and I think it's great that they've already found people that they want to spend the rest of their lives with. It's definitely a weird thing when people around you who are your age start tying the not. But I don't feel any pressure to go out and find a husband. As a matter of fact, the thought of getting married right now makes me want to hurl. But it's not like I have a boyfriend or anything, so it's not its not even an issue :)

I've been to probably about 6 or 7 weddings in my life. I was a flower girl at my cousin David's wedding when I was little. Angelo was the ring bearer. We were so cute.

That's Angelo's sister Alana on the left. I remember being really nervous about having to walk down the aisle. I'm sure I'll be 100 times more nervous when I walk down the aisle at my own wedding.

So in honor of the upcoming nuptials, I give you a list of songs people tend to play at their weddings. Most of these are songs that people have used as their "wedding songs" (I doubt anyone has ever used Chapel of Love, 'cause that would just be weird). And just a note, if any of you out there get married, don't use Atlantic Starr's Always as your song. Every couple I've known that's had that as their song is now divorced. Just saying. And also The Police song, Every Breath You Take, is there as a joke (of course). Sting has said many times that people come up to him and tell him that they used that song as their wedding song. Did the miss the crazy, stalker feel to it? I guess so.

Etta James- At Last
Atlantic Starr- Always
Heatwave- Always and Forever
Dixie Cups- Chapel of Love
Sade- By Your Side
Lionel Richie and Diana Ross- Endless Love
The Police- Every Breath You Take

Summertime.

Ekko over at Berkeley Place has the Will Smith track Summertime for you guys to chill out to. Who doesn't love that song? Ok so Will Smith may not be the most awesome rapper ever, but you can't tell me that you didn't love Parents Just Don't Understand. That was the shit back in the day.

Ya know, I think my favorite thing on the internet is Oh No They Didn't. Seriously, with over 13,000 members who stay right on top of celebrity news and gossip, I never have to watch Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood or E! True Hollywood story ever again. Whether you want to see the cover of Charlotte Church's first pop record, find out what HoHan was wearing on Leno last night (that's what we call Lindsay Lohan over at ONTD, well that or LiLo), or to read what Billy Bob Thorton thought about how sex with ex Angelina Jolie was REALLY like (which makes me wonder, has he actually had sex with a couch before?). Anyway, I LOVE this community. It's all the stuff about other people's lives that I could ever want to know.

So there's a wedding in TomKat's future huh? When she was on Letterman the other night, Nicole Kidman said that IF Tom was really in love, then she was happy for him. See, she doesn't buy this nonsense either.

Maybe it will all die down once their movies have been out for awhile.

Music later, but for now, a picture of me cheesing it up this morning in my Further Seems Forever shirt.

I see you left me with your, your last word. It's ringing. With the noteless shrill of jealously and the claims of imperfection. And the crying out for the things that you deserve. But your voice is never audible beneath the anger in your words. It's ringing...

McCarthy

I most certainly don't claim to be a huge music expert or anything. I think it's funny when people think that I am. But I guess that's bound to happen when you talk about music as much as I do. I just know what I like, and I like a lot of stuff. The most exciting thing to me is hearing a band for the first time and really loving them. When your ears tell your mind that this is something really special. There's nothing better than that. And if they're a band that's been around for awhile, you wonder why you haven't heard of them before, and maybe even feel a little embarrassed that you haven't. I think that's why I'm so into music blogs now. I know there's tons of music (music most will never hear) that is 100 times better than the music that surrounds us. And that kills me to think that I could be missing out on something wonderful. I have this one folder on my PC that holds all of the songs that I've downloaded from music blogs. Let's just say that after almost 2 months, I'm still only at the R's (keep in mind that all of the bands with "The" in front of their names I still have to get to). I'm also adding tons of songs to this folder every day (This is what happens when you have too much time on your hands). So yes, it's taking some time to get through. A lot of the stuff I download is just ok, some of it is good but kind of boring, and you'd be AMAZED at how many people sound like the Postal Service. Sometimes I'll delete 20 songs in a row, and then keep the 20 that come after those.
Sometimes, after deleting a lot of so-so stuff, I'll come across something that is so awesome that it makes plowing through all of the mediocre stuff totally worth it. This happened a few days ago.

Sometime last week, I downloaded a track by a band called McCarthy from a really cool music blog called Little Hits. As the name suggests, this blog is dedicated to artists who never quite made it, but still put out really good music. On Monday, I finally got around to listening to this McCarthy song, Red Sleeping Beauty. I had never heard of them before. I asked a few of my friends, and no one else had heard of them either. So, naturally, I went to allmusic for help. They formed in Barking, Essex, England, but were only together for about five years (1985-1990). Guitarist Tim Gane would go on to form Stereolab with his wife Laetitia Sadier. Since I don't know much about Stereolab, I guess it's ok that I never knew about McCarthy. But still, I can't help thinking, "Damn. I went so long without knowing this." I love music trivia, music fact books, and music encyclopedias, so little bits of information like that excite me. They may even come in handy if I'm ever on Rock 'n' Roll jeopardy (does that even come on anymore?)

McCarthy named themselves after U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy (duh) and their songs were definitely politically charged. It was rumored that they were affiliated with the Revolutionary Communist Party in England and most critics wrote their music off as "Marxist" and "anarchist" rock and roll. But lead singer Malcolm Eden definitely had a sense of humor, and his lyrics acted as witty commentary on political issues.

As I mentioned before, I finally got around to listening Red Sleeping Beauty the other day, and I was immediately drawn in by the hypnotic drumming of Gary Baker. And when Malcolm starts to sing, it's sounds as if his voice is echoing around you in a dream. When the song ended I had to listen to it again. And then again. And then again.

I'm not sure where I found the second McCarthy track, Get a Knife Between Your Teeth, but musically, it definitely has more upbeat feel to it. Still a good song though.

Looks like I'll have to add McCarthy to my ever growing list of cds to buy. But I don't mind so much. They're one more great band to listen to.

Quickly...

It's ok Liam. I really didn't know what a Libertine was either.

Bitching and Moaning has as interview up with Kayo Dot's Mia Matsumiya. Read about her plans for world domination which include unscrewing things....

Bloc Party was on Letterman last night. They played Banquet and were kick ass as always.

Finally (from Oh No They Didn't) Jennifer Anniston was just interviewed by Leslie Bennetts for an upcoming Vanity Fair article. Jennifer has finally spoken out about her divorce with Brad, saying that she did want to start a family with him, but that he cheated on her. She's also really upset about Brad's and Angelina's photo spread in W magazine.

That post lead to this poll. Who's team are you on: Anniston's or Jolie's? Well I just saw Gia for the 1st time this weekend (yeah, yeah, I know), so I'm gonna have to go with Angelina.

Chewing Gum

At the after party Saturday night, I heard Annie's Chewing Gum. We got these gift bags at the party that had the cd single for Heartbeat which includes that song and various remixes. Heartbeat was the only song from Annie I had really ever heard, so when the DJ started playing Chewing Gum, I wasn't sure who it was. Initially, I thought it was Tom Tom Clubs Genius of Love, because it has that feel to it. Turns out that I had Chewing Gum in my huge folder of downloaded songs to listen to, and now, I can't get enough of it.

Another song I came across recently is Ella Fitzgerald's Chewin' Gum. Who would've thought that chewing gum would be such a popular subject. Anybody know of any other songs about chewing gum?

Not Guilty

Today is a good day.

Son of Oz

Wow, check out Jack Osbourne. He looks great.

Destiny's Child is calling it quits. Great! Now Michelle can just do her solo gospel stuff, Kelly can get married, and Beyonce can act some more and continue denying that she's dating Jay-Z.

'Cause you're the one I love

The Music Midtown after party last night was awesome. The music was great, a lot of my friends were there, and I met Kele!

It was a fun night. And I danced ALOT

Music Midtown

The Music Midtown festival takes place this weekend here in Atlanta. Since I'm not going, I plan on dancing alone in my room to the bands that I would have seen. Feel free to dance too.

Playing Friday:
Lou Reed
Interpol
The White Stripes

Playing Saturday:
She Wants Revenge
Bloc Party
Keane
The Pixies

Playing Sunday:
Coheed and Cambria
The Lemonheads
Public Enemy
Devo

Michelle just got done interviewing Gordon for Atlanta Music Guide. Bloc Party is playing here tomorrow and then DJing at the Masquerade later on in the night. Paul Banks, She Wants Revenge, and Louis XIV are also DJing, along with DJs Kiss & Tell. Oh also Keane and The Killers are supposed to be floating around the party as well. Should be an interesting night. And if I don't get to meet Kele, then at least I can watch him from far away when he's spinning.

Tonight Carlos D is DJing at the Loft, and since Interpol plays Midtown tonight, I assume the rest of the guys will be there too. Red Letter Angent and other local bands will be there hanging out as well. But I think I'm staying in tonight because if I don't, I'll never make it through tomorrow.

And I Feel No Pain

Curtis was dazzling me with his B-52s stories the other day (hanging out with them and R.E.M.) and today I noticed that Domino Rally has the the track Whammy Kiss available. If you live in Georgia, it's pretty much mandatory that you listen to The B-52s and R.E.M., especially if you've spent any time at all in Athens.

Nubs posted some great pictures from the Motherfucker 5th anniversary Party in her LJ. She's an amazingly talented artist. Check out her page.

This afternoon, I had to take my dad to Jonesboro for a doctor's appointment. During the 2 hours I was sitting there (why do those things always take forever?) I read through the new music issue of Entertainment Weekly. It came out a couple of weeks ago, and had Coldplay on the cover. Anyway I learned some pretty interesting things:

- Sinead O'Conner has a 17 year old son and is 1/4 homosexual.
- Two of the members of Black Eyes Peas once were signed to Eazy E's record label.
- Myspace is the 6th most trafficked site on the internet.
- Sinead O'Conner and Billy Corgan are both 38.

This was the issue of Entertainment Weekly that had the Billy Corgan interview that a lot of people were talking about a few weeks ago. I was excited that I could finally read the whole interview. In it Billy said that he detest his Zwan band mates, and will never go anywhere near them again. He said that there's a better chance of the Pumpkins reuniting, saying that James (who he hasn't seen in four years) and D'arcy (who he hasn't seen in six years) are good, but misguided people. But he said that even a Pumpkins reunion would probably never happen because a lot of healing would need to go on.

Billy also said that he pretty much wanted to leave Zwan right before the album came out, but that he couldn't because ya know, their album was coming out, and they were going on tour. He's glad that the record didn't sell well, because if it had, people would have thought he was crazy to walk away from something successful, not knowing the things he was dealing with within the band.

I'm one of those people that will probably always love everything Billy Corgan does. I've loved the Smashing Pumpkins since I was 14. I was fortunate enough to see them live twice (once in 1998 and again in 2000). They're definitely in my top 5. Siamese Dream is one of the best albums ever made. I think Adore is a beautiful record, and I have two copies of MACHINA/The Machines of Gods (each came with bonus discs). I cried when the Pumpkins broke up. Billy was the first BIG rock star I'd ever met, and one of the few musicians I've met on multiple occasions (I met him three times between February and May of 2000). He even kissed me on the cheek once! Basically I'll always have love for Billy Corgan.

Towards the end of the interview, Billy was asked if he will perform any Zwan or Pumpkins songs on his upcoming solo tour. He said that he never would, because people should want to come out and see him for who he is now, and what he does now. But he said that he wouldn't be offended if people didn't come to his shows because of that. And then he said the funniest thing:

"When I'm a fan, I want to hear those songs too. I'm still mad at Richie Blackmore for not playing Man On a Silver Mountain when I saw Rainbow in 1982 at Alpine Valley. So I understand completely."

So Billy, seeing as how you understand when a fan really wants to hear a certain song, I have something to ask you. Why oh WHY didn't you play Mayonaise at your final Atlanta show in 2000 at the Tabernacle? It is my favorite Smashing Pumpkins song EVER. It was even my quote in the yearbook senior year in high school. You played it at EVERY other show on that tour. I know, I kept track of your setlists. I was so anxious and eager to hear it...and I waited for it...and waited. And you never played it. Instead, you played Raindrops + Sunshowers, which is a good song and all, but it ain't no Mayonaise. You sort of redeemed yourself when you ended the night with Drown, but it still wasn't enough. So Billy, I'm still pissed at you about that.

As if you didn't know already, Billy is a big time blogger. Visit his myspace page to see what he has to say.

The moon is down and heaven is waiting....

A day or two ago, I was talking to my friend Carlos about Bamboozle 2005. His band, Lakota, played the big 3 day music festival last month in Asbury Park, NJ. One of the most anticipated sets during the festival was Further Seems Forever's, not so much because everyone is a massive Further Seems Forever fan, but because for this one day only, Further was going to perform all the songs from their debut record, The Moon is Down, with their original singer, Chris Carrabba.

I first heard about Further Seems Forever in the summer of 2001. I think everyone goes through little periods where they get tired of some of the stuff they listen to. That was definitely the case with me. I think I was listening to so much heavy stuff and needed to tone it down a bit. Further was good for that. I read a little news item about them on some music site. Along with the little bit of news, there was a picture of a tattooed guy with really dark hair leaning into a sea of kids. He was singing to them, and they were singing back. Then I started hearing from other people that Further had just put out this cd called The Moon is Down and that is was so incredibly amazing and that I had to hear it ASAP. I found a couple of songs online, and loved them. So I went out and got the cd.

It was a while before I realized that Chris Carrabba had left the band by the time I started listening to them. I was surprised to learn that not only had he already recorded and released an EP, but two records as well; an acoustic solo cd called The Swiss Army Romance in 2000 followed up by The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most in 2001. Who was this dude, and was he making an album like every 6 months?

So I bought the two Dashboard records when I went back to school in the fall. My friends started getting into Dashboard and Further too, and before we knew it, we were all emoed out! Of course we were thrilled when we heard that Further Seems Forever would be touring with Dashboard Confessional. We had heard that Further's new singer, Jason, was pretty good, and we of course were eager to see Dashboard and scream the words to all the songs out with the rest of the kids. 'Cause that's what you do at Dashboard shows, you sing louder than Chris.

On December 5th, 2001, I went to the Masquerade with my friends to see Fairweather, Further Seems Forever, Seville, and Dashboard Confessional. I wondered if it would be weird hearing someone else sing the songs that I was so used to Chris singing. But Jason did a fantastic job, and after a while, I didn't even think of it. But then in the middle of their last song, New Year's Project (definitely the most emo out of all of the tracks on the album) who should appear from backstage but Chris Carrabba. He had a mic in his hands and started singing, "I'm waiting to give you whatever the world may bring..." and the place just errupted. He sang for maybe a minute, but I enjoyed that short moment more than anything else I saw that night. Most of the people who loved The Moon Is Down like I did never got to see Chris with Further. So it was definitely a treat to hear him sing part of New Year's Project. I thought, "Yes. Now this is the way it's supposed to be."

Jason is no longer with the band. They have a new singer named Jon. It was very cool of Jon to step aside and let Chris perform with the band for Bamboozle. I'm sure it was an amazing experience for everyone who saw their set.

I didn't think that there were any more pictures of FSF with Chris floating around on the net, but after a little searching, I found one!

Lakota recently toured with Further Seems Forever, and Carlos told me that he had a great time out on the road with the guys. I haven't heard much from them post How to Start a Fire, but they've still got tons of kids coming out to see them, so they're still going strong.

The Moon is Down is a really fantastic album, and I still listen to it often. Give it a listen if you ever get the chance.

Now I'm Lost

I've never been into sci-fi much. I've probably seen a grand total of 10 X-File episodes, and the only space movie I've really ever enjoyed is the Tim Allen comedy, Galaxy Quest, which is pretty much a parody of most space movies anyway. I don't understand what's so great about Farscape, Star Trek or even Star Wars. Basically, sci-fi is not for me. But last summer I started watching this show on USA and I got totally hooked. This show, which could've very easily been on the Sci-Fi channel's prime time schedule, is The 4400. The new season premiers tonight on USA at 9 p.m. Right now, USA is showing all of last season episodes, so it's a good time to tune in and catch up if you've never seen the show.

The 4400 is a show about a group of people, who went missing at various times throughout the years, all showing up at this one spot at the exact same time. For some, decades have past, and for others, just a few years. But none of them have aged at all. Basically time stood still for them. None of them know where they were for all of those years, what happened to them during that time, or why they were the ones abducted. When they try to go back to their regular lives, they realize that unlike them, everything else has changed. They have to deal with no longer having the lives that they were used to, and being treated like freaks by the rest of the world. As the 4400 try to go on with their lives, some realize that they have accquired some really amazing abilities (e.i. super human strength, predicting the future, etc).

Last season, we were introduced to lots of interesting characters. Maia Rutledge is a little girl who disappeared in 1946. She's the youngest out of the 4400 and has the ability to predict the future. She's the perfect creepy little kid who seems to know way more than everyone else.

And then there's Richard Tyler and Lily Moore. Richard was a pilot during the Korean War and disappeared in 1951. Lily disappeared in 1993, leaving behind a husband and a new born baby. Lily and Richard meet in quarantine and quickly fall in love. It turns out that Lily is the granddaughter of the women Richard was in love with before he disappeared. Weird. Oh and a little while after Lily returns, she finds out that she's pregnant. But she wasn't before she disappeared. That makes you wonder, whose baby is it?

Jordan Collier (The OC's Billy Campbell, ya know the one that almost got Kirstin to cheat on Sandy) disappeared in 2002. He is a billionaire and opens a center for the 4400, a safe place for them to live their lives. But there's something shady about him. You just get a feeling like his intentions aren't completely honest.

The last of the main 4400 is Shawn Farrell who disappeared in 2001 when he was hanging out with his cousin Kyle one night, drinking beers. When Shawn was taken, whatever happened caused Kyle to fall into a coma. Kyle's illness ruined his parents marriage. Besides dealing with that, Shawn also had to deal with a jealous brother, Danny, who was now the same age as him. It didn't help that Danny's girlfriend was in love with Shawn, and he ended up falling for her too. Shawn ends up running away to the 4400 center after being unable to deal with his family. And Kyle wakes up from his three year coma. But he isn't the same person. His body in inhabited by a person from the future who was sent to warn the world about the horrible things that will happen.

So that's the lowdown. I'm actually really looking forward to the new season, and I'm thrilled that the Desperate Housewives season finale was a few weeks ago, 'cause I'd hate to have to choose what to watch at 9 on Sunday nights.

For the past couple of weeks, the ads on USA about the season premiere of The 4400 has featured The Mars Volta song Inertiatic E.S.P. The song is from the group's debut full length, De-Loused In The Comatorium. Check it out if you haven't heard it.

Fell In Love With a Girl

You've probably all heard about Jack White's recent marriage to 25 year old model and aspiring singer Karen Elson. The two were married in Brazil, with Jack's ex, Meg, serving as maid of honor. Karen has previously dated James Iha (The Smashing Pumpkins) and David Pajo (Tortoise/Slint/ Zwan). It seems a little odd that Jack got married a couple weeks after his ex (Renee Zellweger) married country superstar Kinney Chesney. Perhaps its just coincidence, but still. Anyway, Karen is featured in the new White Stripes video for the song, Blue Orchid. Doesn't Jack know about the music video curse? You never date someone who is in your video, and you never put your S.O. in a music video. It's just bad news. It won't work out. Just look at Axel Rose & Stephanie Seymour. And Jennifer Lopez and P Diddy, Cris Judd and Ben Affleck.

Here's a picture of Jack and Karen in Brazil. Oh the love!

More here.

Here are some pictures of Karen performing at Sin-e'. Apparently, she's very talented. Has anyone heard her stuff?

We'll be together forever because I've tied our shoelaces together.

I've noticed that a few bloggerss have mentioned The Thermals lately (most recently Jason at Bastard Camus) and that's rad because they're a great band. Most people know (or maybe you don't?) that Thermals bassist, Kathy Foster has been involved in lots of other musical projects, including Haelah, Hutch & Kathy, Butterfly Transformation Service, and All Girl Summer Fun Band.

All Girl Summer Fun Band is a pop quartet from Portland, OR. I first heard them when I was DJing at WUOG. They were one of those great rotation finds I came across at 4:30 one morning during my shift. I loved them right away.

In addition to Kathy, the group also includes Jen Sbragia, Kim Baxter, and Arirak Douangpanya. The girls got together after a Softies show in 1998, when Kim came up to Jen with a tape of her music. Jen liked what she heard, and so Kim introduced her to Arirak and Kathy who were interested in doing similar things musically. When Kim suggested that they all get together that summer to make music, everyone was excited about the idea and said, "yes!" Kim said that they would be an "all girl summer fun band" and that became their name.

All of the girls sing and play at least two instruments. You can't help but feel great after hearing one of their poppy, playful, summery songs. They write about friendships, boys, and good times, singing in great harmonies that you find yourself humming along to. If you're looking for a fun, easy going, cheerful, summer, All Girl Summer Fun Band should be your soundtrack.

The show section of their page says that they're working on their third album for K Records. In the meantime, Kathy is keeping busy with The Thermals and her tshirt line Daydream Factory. Kim designs her own line of handbags, so be sure to check out Kissycake as well.

There are lots of mp3s to hear on their site. Go listen!

Dress Me Up, Mess Me Up, I'm Ready to Go.

Andrew Kendall took some AMAZING shots of Pretty Girls Make Graves at the Astoria in London on April 14th. Ok, so really, they're pretty much all pictures of Andrea. But can you blame him? She's gorgeous and awesome and has an incredible voice.

When I was thinking of a name for this blog, I really wanted the site address to be speakerspushtheair.blogspot.com. Since Speakers Push the Air is a an older Pretty Girls Make Graves song (and probably the most popular song from Good Health), I didn't have a lot of hope that I could get that address. And of course it was already taken. Oh well. So my next choice was moresweetsoul.blogspot.com and thankfully, that was still available.

Speakers Push the Air and More Sweet Soul are two songs from the first PGMG full length, Good Health. I heard Pretty Girls Make Graves for the first time on April 18th, 2002. Normally, I wouldn't remember the exact day I heard a band for the first time, but I remember this day because I wrote about it in my LJ. The fact that I made the effort to even mention PGMG shows how much they impressed me after just one listen. And now I list them as one of my favorite bands (they are a close and respectable second to The Cure). They are indie rock at its best: Energetic, thoughtful, a little volatile, and heartfelt.

Pretty Girls Make Graves is a Seattle band made up of Derek Fudesco (ex Murder City Devils), J Clark (ex Kill Sadie), Andrea Zollo (ex Death Wish Kids), Nick Dewitt and Nathen Johnson (both ex Bee Hive Vaults). I'm not absolutely sure if Nathen is back in the group (he left to take care of his new born baby, and Seth Jabber from Les Savy Fav took over on guitar for tour) but if he's not, the band says he's more than welcome back anytime. PGMG either got their moniker from The Smiths song of the same name, or from Kerouac's The Dharma Bums.

For the longest time, I missed Pretty Girls Make Graves every time they came into town, usually because I couldn't get a ride to whatever venue they were playing. I finally saw them in May of 2003 when they toured with Alkaline Trio. I met Andrea and Nick after the show so that was pretty cool for me. The second time I saw them (about a year later, this time with Seth on guitar) I met Derek and J, who thought my Sad Girls Por Vida hoodie was pretty rad.

Speakers Push the Air is a bit of an anthem for me. I think it is for everyone who has ever heard it. It opens up with Derek and J shouting, "Do you remember when we couldn't put it away? Do you remember what the music meant?" Andrea goes on to sing, "I found a place where it feels alright. I heard a record and it opened my eyes." She ends the song stating proudly, "And nothing else matters when I turn it up loud." Ignore cd reviews, gig flyers, shirts with band logos, or whatever your friends may think. All that should matter when you listen to a song is how you feel when you turn it up loud. If it's doing what it should do, nothing else exists in that moment but you and that song.

More Sweet Soul is a song about touring. I imagine that it would be difficult for a band that tours heavily not to write a song about being on the road. I think when people dream of being a musician and touring, they don't really think about how hard it is when you're a smaller band, and you don't have a big label to help you out. Maybe you're on a small label that helps a little, and maybe you don't have a label at all. You have to deal with finding a place to sleep so that you don't have to spend another night in the van in 20 degree weather, eating whatever you can find for $1 at convenience stores 'cause you have to save your money for gas, double booked shows that bump you off the bill, stolen equipment, car trouble, getting sick 'cause it's winter and you don't have a heavy coat 'cause you're from Florida. And that's just the little stuff. That doesn't even compare to being away from your friends and family on holidays and birthdays, and missing everyone so much that it drives you crazy. Could you handle all that with a month left to go? It's not something that everyone can do. Most bands aren't financially, physically, or mentally able to handle tour. You really have to want it bad to make it work for you, 'cause everything can (and will) go wrong.

Of course there are awesome parts to touring. Like getting to meet new and different people, hearing your fans sing back your words to you verbatim, seeing parts of the country (and world) you never thought you'd see, and doing what you love to do the most for a living. Bands that get to that point, and can take the good with the bad are the ones that are most appreciative of the great things that happen for them. Pretty Girls Make Graves is one of those bands that works hard and deserves everything good that comes their way.

So go listen to them already would ya?

Buy Good Health

A panic attack, I knock at your door.

Most of the friends that I have, I have because of music. Like my friend Stephanie who sat next to me in Ms. Whalen's religion class in high school. There was an assignment we had during the second week of freshman year where we had to discuss music, television, or movies, and how they affected young people. I decided to write about The Smashing Pumpkins song Tonight, Tonight, and I read my little paragraph in front of the class. Turns out that Stephanie was the biggest Smashing Pumpkins fan on earth. And then there was my Freshman year in college when I decided to decorate my dorm room door with pictures of Chino Moreno and Max Cavalera. And this girl walked by my door one day and saw that I liked Deftones and Soulfly, and stopped by to introduce herself, since she was a big fan of those bands as well. That was my friend Melina, and we've been going to shows together and talking music ever since. I know Michelle from a PR Administration class we had a few years ago, but we didn't really start talking until last year when she saw me at the Robert Smith meet and greet at 99x (psst, I'm in the second to last picture).

And then there are the friends that I have that love music so much that they're in bands. A few years ago, my friend Andrew started playing bass in a local band. He ended up having to leave the band after a few months because he was moving to California. But he sent me some demos that they had done, and told me to keep up with the band even though he wasn't going to be playing for them anymore. They were sure to do great things. So I did...and I still do.

I first met eNTERTAINME.nt's lead singer, Trey Ehart, at a Prids show at Lenny's Thanksgiving weekend, 2003. Like Andrew had suggested, I had been keeping up with Trey through the occasional email, but had never actually met him in person. He was at Lenny's to see The Prids too. I'm not sure how Trey found out about The Prids, but it was probably the same way I did. Andrew knew about them and knew Mistina (the Prids bassist) through LJ I guess. Through Andrew's journal, I found hers and saw that we had similar taste in bands. So I added her and she added me back. Then I found out that she was in a band called The Prids, and was thrilled to see that we had their cd in rotation at WUOG. The rest, as they say, is history. So I met her for the first time at that show as well. Snowden played the show that night too, and they would end up being another favorite local act.

I had heard a few things from eNTERTAINME.nt, demos, their Safe at One 7 ", and stuff from their Atlantis sampler, but I didn't get a chance to see them live until last summer. They played at MJQ with Self Help Tapes, Green Circles, and The Prids. So basically, it was an amazing line up. Obviously its important for a band to be good on record. But it's even more important for them to be good live, as some artists seem unable to replicate the sound that they create in the studio. eNTERTAINME.nt is amazing live. Their sound fills the room and demands your attention. Once they've got it, they've got you for the rest of the night.

I can't really say that eNTERTAINME.nt sounds like anyone. You could probably guess who their influences are, and you could probably put them into a couple of genres (post-punk/death rock/new wave/garage rock). But with with the resurgence of these familiar sounds all over the radio, I can honestly say that eNTERTAINME.nt is one of a kind.

The guys are on the cover of the current issue of Southeast Performer.

You can read the article here.

Visit their myspace page to check out their songs Patroness and Safe at One.

Purchase the Patroness 7" here.

Purchase the Safe at One 7" here.