Eagle Rock Rocks

On Friday, I went with Noey to see Atlas Sound at the Eagle Rock Center for the Arts (http://www.centerartseaglerock.org/). Still not totally clear on where Eagle Rock is, but it's not that far from my place. And strangers, this "center" is awesome. It's basically a high school gym slash church, with a stage in front of a GIANT dramatic window and a makeshift bar with people selling strange beers I've never heard of. Most of the people there looked like 18 year old high school seniors, looking for something to do on a Friday night.

Atlas Sound is what Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox has been calling his solo work since he was 10 and the show was wonderful. I don't know that I could pick out specific "hits," but his voice is so special and he does everything himself on stage and had a lovely rapport with the audience. I was in a trance. It was good.

Here are some unrelated songs I like today:

1) "California" by Delta Spirit (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3gRn3_9p8w) Did I already post this song? Whatever I love this band. They're a California band (I loved Matt Vasquez's LA diet http://losangeles.grubstreet.com/2011/02/delta_spirits_matt_vasquez_for.html) that did a long stint in Brooklyn and it's nice to have them singing a song called "California" rather than one called "Bushwick Blues" for selfish reasons. This song is definitely more "pop" for them than I am used to, though they've toyed with this beat before and Vasquez's voice is always unique and undeniable. Excited for the new album.

2) School of Seven Bells' new song that I heard in my car on 88.5 and didn't catch the name of. What is their new song called, Strangers? Seriously, I It was so M83-does-a-ballad! I dug it!

3)"Little Talks" by Of Monsters and Men (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghb6eDopW8I&ob=av2e) So this song sounds a little Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros meets Mumford & Sons, but I like it, and I think it's elevated by the female singer's voice. She's kinda Kate Nash meets Dolores O'Riordan. I like to meet things today.

Thanks Em...

Booking my ticket to Philly now...thank you Emily for sending:

http://www.cakespy.com/blog/2012/2/28/sweet-of-the-day-ice-cream-in-pretzel-cones-millers-twist-ph.html

Um

Saturday night I slipped and fell into a box of McDonald's chicken nuggets. And fries. And then Anna and I watched The Bodyguard and swooned over Kevin Costner.

So it was an incredibly awesome/terrible weekend.

Hot New Track!

Ha, that post title is so funny to me. I just wanted to type "hot new track" so badly, so I did it. However, I am into the new single from M.Ward, "Primitive Girl." It's good:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KADgwgjCWiI

Right? I really do NOT care for the doody-tweeness of She and Him and a lot of M. Ward songs carry that overly-cutesy, bullshit stench with them, but this one seems fresh, maybe with a faint Ben Folds/silly-piano odor. See how far I took that smell metaphor?

I myself am NOT a primitive girl. Without makeup, I sort of look like one of those dancing claymation raisins that sung "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" in those commercials back in the day. Don't know what I'm talking about? Yeah, I'm old. Anyway, I'm just gonna play this song on repeat and picture Keri Russell in a field or something. And by Keri Russell I mean Scott Speedman.

2 Bands 2Day

Lil Strangers, I got Spotify. I don't know how to work it except that I can look up any music I want and listen to it and everyone I am friends with on Facebook can tell when I am listening to Lady Antebellum. Anyway, I listened to the new Sleigh Bells album, Reign of Terror and it is GREAT. Like, I saw them live so I know they put on a good show (just so LOUD and aggressive and dance-y), but aside from "Rill Rill," I wasn't thrilled with their last album. This one KILLS ME, it is so badass. I especially rec "Born to Lose," "End of the Line," "Leader of the Pack," "Road to Hell" and "You Lost Me." Okay, that is half the album, but it is enthralling and I love it.

I ALSO am loving Lower Dens. The new single "Brains" is very good, but I am discovering the 2010 album Twin-Hand Movement for the first time, and I am getting kind of crazy about it. "Blue and Silver" and "I Get Nervous" are lovely, and while I cannot make out the lyrics, "A Dog's Dick" seems like a really romantic love song. Seriously. Listen to it!

In short...Spotify, iPhone, it's the future.

Pioneertown!!!

Okay but first, the other night I went to this new record store in Los Feliz called High-Fidelity Records (http://www.yelp.com/biz/high-fidelity-los-angeles-2). Yes, the name is a schmaltzy reference to a GREAT book AND movie (so into Stephen Frears' stuff), but the place is surprisingly great too! They were having their opening party with free beer and wine and you could bring in your used records. This band, The Peach Kings (http://thepeachkings.com/) performed...and they rocked. They were a lot harder live than on their album, which I obviously LOVED. They sounded kind of like The Kills (and you know my intense emotions about Alison Mosshart) and there is an awesome dynamic between the singer and the studly young guitarist (sorry strangers, I think they're a COUPLE (explaining the sexy vibe)). Anyway, it was a pretty cool event.

So THEN I went to Pioneertown with some friends for the weekend. If you have never heard of this place, that's OKAY, but just listen to my advice and go NOW. It's this little ghost-town right outside of Joshua Tree where they used to film Westerns back in the day. There's an adorable inn there (http://www.pitowninn.com/), where we stayed. Look at the cuteness:

OMG YOU GUYS I KNOW, the iPhone takes a much better pic. Here are Kyle and Julie by a bull (fake) outside the inn (not sure what Kyle is doing behind the statue).

That is a fake hotel in the ghost town. I sort of wanted to stay there.

This is a kind-of racist Mexican gnome statue that I wanted to steal. I didn't.

OH NO!!! Julie is in JAIL.

So there is like, this kitsch graveyard in the ghost town and they lined up some weird, old typewriters. Also, Kalen made me lift one and it was like a million pounds.

So, a stone's throw from the motel is this place called Pappy and Harriet's (http://www.pappyandharriets.com/), which is basically Heaven on Earth. It's this giant restaurant/bar where they have insane BBQ and a different musical act almost every night. So like, you can eat this:

And then dance to a band like Dengue Fever (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dengue_Fever_(band)
Strangers, this band is NO JOKE. The singer is Cambodian and she sings mostly IN Cambodian, accompanied by some SICK psychedelic rock. They blew me away. Then we had an afterparty and passed out pretty early.

The next day my friend Erin joined us, we went to this DELICIOUS brunch place in Joshua Tree called The Crossroads Cafe (http://www.yelp.com/biz/crossroads-cafe-joshua-tree). I had an omelet I created with Andouille sausage, green onion, mushrooms, and salsa and then the table shared scary things like crazy mashed potatoes with onion, cheese, sour cream and an over-easy egg on top and moist banana bread with butter (okay, my friend Jesse does NOT like butter, and he doesn't think it is necessary in general, and that's probably why he is so lean and I am jealous of him even though he is a male). Then some of us (me) decided it was too cold and windy to do the hike we planned (Julie, Kyle, and Jesse were troopers), so we went bowling. The place kind of smelled of vomit, but we had fun, and by that I mean I won. Kat Scardino will be mad that I posted this picture of her:

But STRANGERS, you could wear sweats there! Then my friends Jacqueline and Antonio and their French Canadian friend Jeremy (okay, he was just French) did another round of Pappy's with us after a very cold night attempting to camp. Things got so wild that this happened:

I don't know who that man was, but that night he was just my best friend. Then we continued the dance party and I decided to pay homage to my friend, most likely during a Whitney Houston (RIP) song:

Good times, good times.

The Big Pink

Actually, their version of "Velvet" is AMAZEBALLS. I just re-listened and...wow. It's like Depeche Mode and NIN had a lusty baby:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt2jw-NcQ9s&ob=av2n

You're welcome.

Yeah, I Know What Day It Is...

Strangers, it's Valentine's Day, a day that has traditionally sucked for me. So let's see if a COOL V-Day in Los Feliz will be any better. That's really all I have to say. Oh wait, I feel love for you guys. Here are some songs that are not necessarily about romance...

1) "Wanderluster" by Band of Skulls (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vEHX3Pi7Ks) I can't find the album version of this song on Youtube, but you guys will get the idea...also see how slick this band is live. Sweet Sour is their new album and it's a LOT darker than Baby Darling Dollface Honey (yeah, cutest album title ever), but I sort of like that. Some of their riffs are borderline CAMPY, but I really like Band of Skulls and that the male and female singers sound sooooooo great together. I think this song almost sounds like 70's Heart and in my opinion, is kind of what they were going for with this album. If that IS what they were going for, then I applaud them, because 70's Heart is badass.

2) "Velvet" by Lykke Li (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzt4sur2ct0) So this is a cover of a song by The Big Pink, but I love Lykke, so I picked her version. She's pretty good at yearning and wearing black, which are basically my two favorite qualities in a person. Love her.

3) "Little Less Conversation" by ELVIS (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UB-qlkJcGM) See? I'm blogging about ROMANCE! I love this song. It's so Vegas, so Tom Jones.

4) "Brothers" by The War On Drugs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9JB5YLCwgk) So I think the main dude in this band is in The Violators, Kurt Vile's band, and Vile's influence is all over this record, however this music sometimes slips into cheesy, faux-Americana for me (like that fucking STUPID Gaslight Anthem band). Mostly though, it's very pleasant listening.

PS SONG "The Winner Takes It All" by ABBA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92cwKCU8Z5c&ob=av2n) Pretty sure I blogged about this song like two weeks ago but it's SO SO SOOOOO GOOD. Also, did you guys know that a dude in the band wrote this song about a girl also in the band and then MADE HER SING IT?  Like made her sing HIS perspective. That's so messed up and I love it. Happy love day!

Weekend of Eating

Strangers, I ate a lot this weekend. On Friday, Emily and I sampled The York in Highland Park (http://www.theyorkonyork.com/). Where is Highland Park, you ask? I really haven't the foggiest...Em drove and I felt like it was somewhere by Glendale? It's not far from Silverworld and definitely next to Eagle Rock. Anyway, after getting over my annoyance that you have to order everything at the bar and then stalk people until you get a table (probably got over this because we got a table with relative ease), I took in the very cool atmosphere and then the DELICIOUS food. I had a Kickin' Mule, which is just a really good Moscow Mule as far as I could tell, followed by a tequila drink with something grapefruit-like in it...so amazing. The most incredible thing we got were the Siracha wings. We made a huge mess and I was grateful that most of the patrons at the York were hipstery gay dudes and therefore not paying attention to me taking a bath in red hot sauce. We also got a great Caesar salad and a skirt steak with a lovely Chimichurri sauce on it. Mmmmm.

Saturday, I didn't do anything wild food-wise (but did walk the reservoir with Anna, who came to me from the Westside because I love her, and it was gorgeous as always, and then went to a very cool concert at my friend Kira's loft in Little Armenia...I KNOW. HIP). Sunday, I started out my day at Millie's with Noey (http://www.yelp.com/biz/millies-cafe-los-angeles). Again, there was an incredible concentration of stylish gay-man couples. Noelia said she felt cool by proximity (even though she's already pretty rad all alone) and I agreed that I did too. So I ordered a rosemary pork chop and two eggs over-easy, because that's what cool people do, right? Noelia had an insane Benedict thing.

Then I walked again with Em, so like, I did move my body over the weekend. We ran into our friend Alison and her delightful chum Zoe and it felt very neighborhoody and warm. And I saw this cute found-art:

Afterwards, we did laundry at Silverlake Suds (not to be cool; they removed the machines from my building because of flooding...okay fine, I had a SMALL Josh Hartnett from 40 Days and 40 Nights fantasy, but dismissed it immediately). It's a good place to do laundry: clean, fast, cheap. THEN, Em and I went to our old standby, Mae Ploy, and got a little wild. Like, it was just two of us and THIS happened:

The waitress actually SAID something to us along the lines of "are you bitches kidding with all of this food?". To be fair to myself, I had a lot of leftover stuff for lunch today. What you are looking at is papaya salad with dried shrimp, garlic and pepper beef, cashew chicken, chicken satay, pad see iew, and a crap ton of rice. Oh and me cowering in my jean jacket in the corner. So that's mostly what I did this weekend.

BOOM!

Oh HEY, what's this?

It's a motherlovin' iPHONE!!!! Get ready for some weird, weird texts, strangers.

Dear iPhone

Dear iPhone-

Where are you? My dad's secretary sent you to me days ago because I am in my late 20's, yet still on my family plan. I have been wanting you for weeks. Do you think we are star-crossed? Do the Gods want to keep me just a few steps away from COOL for the rest of my life? I have wanted to be with you for so long and it feels like fate is keeping us apart.

Did some technology-thief intercept you? Did you return to sender? I promise to be good to you! I will only take hipstamatic photos on you! I will get every app even though it will make me accidentally call my high school crush in the middle of the night! I will never drop you, even when Emily teaches me how to download that "shake puppy" app and I shake the shit out of you whilst chuckling uncontrollably at photos of adorable young dogs!

Can you just get here already? Please?

Love you already,

Stranger in Silverlake

Boyfriends

OMGee, I love when my men collab:

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2012/02/tom-jones-is-jack-whites-newest-best-friend.html

Tom Jones might be the only human who can distract me from the fact that Jack White is making love to his guitar. AND there are HORNS. I mean, for all intents and purposes, this song is totally silly. But strangers, I AM silly. This song reminds me of the fact that I like to put on a party dress and go out and spend too much money on a steak and a dirty vodka martini and then go dancing somewhere weird. Yup, doing that tonight.

Tuesongs

It's hard to be creative about posting music on a Tuesday, OKAY? But, that said, it's easy to find actual tunes to type about. If I was being completely honest with you, my tiny little strangers, I would confess that for the past 2-5 days, I have just been listening to Sharon Van Etten's "Love More" on repeat (hey! I alternate between her version and Justin Vernon's, OKAY?), but in an attempt to appear slightly less pathetic than usual, I will offer up some more varied melodies. Also, I am going to see Sharon in real life at the Avalon in March! The Avalon is cool (http://www.avalonhollywood.com/) and I haven't been since Mason Jennings 2006 (oh God, I am old). She's playing with War on Drugs and I like that dude too. Anyway, here we go:

1) "Burial" by Miike Snow (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N-XckisnpM&ob=av2e) I was at my friend/neighbor/hero Jason's house the other evening, and this song came on. I was only ever familiar with "Animal," which I dug, but this song is much more ME. I don't know why. However, when I said aloud, "I love this song," my friend Jon immediately responds "I KNEW you'd love this song." I don't know if he was insulting me maybe, but at least he GETS me, right?

2) "All I Need" by Radiohead (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY4APDrl66s) So sometimes I ignore the later Radiohead albums. For me, The Bends is IT. Like, that album is so melodic and has such a rich story to every song and I'm sorry, I am a very literal person and Thom Yorke is so cerebral sometimes and I feel shut out of his deep, dark head and it makes me sad. So that album is extremely accessible. But when I really listened to In Rainbows, I realized it is actually a very raw album emotionally and this song, with it's building background, ripped me right open. In a good way.

3) "Creature Fear" by Bon Iver (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdburO6YWe8) Lately, I've been getting all kinds of mushy about my love Justin all over again. I mean I was super all about him over the Summer with that recent album but then you start listening to him all the time and especially if you're in between romantic partners, you just get fucking depressed. But Bon Iver's back on my radar right now and I just rediscovered this JAM with its rocking chorus and it made me happy. Soon to be depressed, but happy, for now. Oh also Justin, don't worry, I know you're dating Kathleen Edwards and I can totally hear your influence all over her album and I will totally back off for now but like, see you in 5 years.

4) "Bye Bye Bye" by Plants and Animals (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4ofb73U9ow) So this band is GOOD, but I always forget them because, I don't know, I'm a bitch. Anyway, I saw them live at the Troubadour back in the day, and I hadn't heard this song yet and I was like THIS COVER IS SO GOOD because it sounds like an old song, right? BUT I AM PRETTY CERTAIN THEY WROTE IT. And that's rad. Correct me if I'm wrong, though. God, it's good. It's like Cat Stevens and Queen made a baby.

Stranger's Still a Giant!

Happy Mondrizzles Lil Strangers!

MY GIANTS WON LAST NIGHT THAT'S RIGHT I AM A COMPLETE FAIR-WEATHER FAN AND DON'T REALLY UNDERSTAND FOOTBALL BUT BY GOD, IT WAS GREAT! So I guess part of me is still tied to old NYC.

But anyway, I totally went to a hip Superbowl party in deep, deep Silverlake at my friend Audrey's house. Audrey is an extremely sweet lady who teaches Pilates (so she obviously has a hideous figure) and has a giant backyard with a pizza oven (so obviously no one wants to go over there ever). She put her TV outside and we all gathered around to watch Eli Manning make those precious, silly faces he likes to make. And strangers, I COOKED. Noelia and I made Buffalo Chicken Dip, which is like, THE BEST THING EVER. It's basically cream cheese and cheese and Frank's Red Hot sauce and cheese and chicken and CHEESE IN YOUR MOUTH. You can make it too (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/buffalo-chicken-dip/detail.aspx).  Everyone loved it and ate so much of it. Okay, I ate half the bowl. Here is the party:

You can't tell how gorgeous it was because my iPhone is still in the mail and my view is obstructed by my friend Martin's GIANT HEAD.

What's funny about watching the game with hip people (I will NOT call my actual, real friends "hipsters") is that they judge all those big commercials VERY harshly (a lot of people were upset by that "naked M&M" commercial...I pretended to totally agree that it sucked and then laughed hysterically on the inside) and then Madonna's performance became a very big deal (I was sitting with a bunch of musician's for Pete's sake).  We decided (and I agreed) that Madge's new song is utter doodie and I am furious I still have that chant "L.U.V., Madonna!" (disgusting) stuck in my head. I was sort of into the drum line "Open Your Heart," but that song gets me every time and "Like a Prayer," with a choir and Cee-lo in that fabulous cape I wish to purchase is just an undeniable JAM. Also, Nicky Minaj and MIA added nothing, but I LOVE that new MIA song "Bad Girls" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uYs0gJD-LE&ob=av3e). Then my boys won, we hung out for a while eating more pizza and dip, got a little tipsy, and called it a night. Solid Bowl this year, friends.

Oh, HI Sharon

So my music guru slash friend-in-general Noey just got me hooked on this lady-woman singer Sharon Van Etten. Okay, so I 've mentioned before, I am not the HIPPEST kid on the Silverlake-ian block and haven't been like, "soooo totally obsessed with her since her 2009 EP," but SO WHAT, DUDE? I like her NOW. Live in the moment! Lay off me!

Anyway, I'm completely crushing on this sad little elf, especially when she says things like, "To say the things I want to say to you would be a crime, to admit I'm still in love with you, after all this time, I'd rather let you touch my arm until you die, seduce me with your charms until I'm drunk on them go home and drink in bed and never let myself be loved like that again." UM, I AM SORRY SHARON, WHEN DID YOU BREAK INTO MY SKULL AND RIP OUT MY INNER-MOST THOUGHTS?! Okay, let's be honest, when did you overhear me bitching to my ladies at the Crow? Anyway, here are a couple of jams so you can love her too.

1) "One Day" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=7m3Ly2A9mbo&NR=1) This song kind of reminds me of Empire Records. Like the essence of the movie. I don't know.

2) "A Crime" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UHoXqlUqLk) This is the one with those incredibly painful lyrics. You strangers might judge me for saying this...but this song reminds me of Brandi Carlisle circa her "Throw it All Away" days when I was admittedly real into her music. She's good! I am not ashamed.

3) "Serpents" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYgyQ20TJAs) This song is very hot in a sort of 90's, Susanna Hoffs kind of way. Do you know who Susanna Hoffs is? Sigh, I'm OLD.

Sickness is Productive

So Lil Strangers, I have strep throat. I know, I know, I'm DISGUSTING, I know. However, between lying in bed shivering and passing out at 9pm to Dance Moms (that's when you KNOW you're sick, when you cannot focus on Abby Lee Miller), I have been pretty productive. Seriously! Below please find a list of all the things I've gotten done:

1) ORDERED AN IPHONE (it's HAPPENING, Strangers. You're about to see some hella professional pictures).

2) Formatted my pilot script that I am still too shy to show anyone.

3) Cooked eggs with Mayan sweet onions, spinach and white mushroom (never mind that my strep prevented me from actually swallowing said meal).

4) Downloaded the Lana Del Rey album (I KNOW, I KNOW backlash, fake lips, some terrible songs, blah, BLAH, it's a kitsch item and I want to own it and now I DO).

5) Cleaned out my closet (when was I ever into VESTS?).

6) Did on-demand yoga (my body felt SO ACHY from sickness and lack of movement that I forced myself to stretch out).

7) BLOGGED. Thank you and good day.