Sunday, August 12

how i fight insomnia and link-heavy multimedia fun














discussed below:


-"visitor" status at the local gym

-t
hey might be giants in HOME MOVIES
-malkmus on thom yorke in THE BELIEVER
-obscure myspace-able indie playlist

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at the parents' house. today i successfully avoiding working out, although it required a last minute intervention. i had gotten so far as to put on my shorts and drive out to the local Y (where, whenever i am home, i am able to work out five times a month free, as a "visitor", with the card i got when i was living in san francisco [exp. date sometime in 2006]). in the parking lot however, i decided i would get more out of driving around for two hours instead. i was wrong.

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as you might already know i've had insomnia the past week and a half. the past couple nights i've watched HOME MOVIES on youtube (hilarious animated show, click on the video above) featuring a guest spot from quirk-rockers they might be giants), played more internet poker, and revisited shit i wrote back in college (i somehow remember it being better then it was).

tonight i've been spending it reading a bunch of stephen malkmus interviews. my favorite was one that THE BELIEVER did a few years back. in it the former pavement frontman makes fun of barry hannah -- "i think he likes to think of himself as a rock and roll guy: he wears a leather jacket and rides a motorcycle [...] i should stop -- i'm kind of making fun of him" -- and thom yorke -- "i bet the guys in radiohead read the believer. i bet thom yorke's lying prone in his solar-powered tour bus, reading the believer" -- but somehow pulls off a weird kind of niceness about the jabs. good ole SM...

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and now, a thing i'm probably never going to do again because it takes more than time than i had imagined, may i present to you: MySpace-able Moderately Sad Indie Bastard Playlist August 2007:
  • The Five Cents, "Pillow Stripes". Think a more Malkmus-heavy Silver Jews meets Islands. I saw these guys open for ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead. The formerly Austin, TX-based-now-Brooklyn, NY duo certainly wasn't fancy in their presentation, but with catchy gems like these, who needs dancing or eye contact?

  • Deerhunter, "Spring Hall Convert". A tune based on an acid trip from an Atlanta, GA band self-described as "ambient punk", whatever that means. Oddly beautiful and catchy. Their recent EP FLOURESCENT GREY is just as good.

  • Ola Podrida, "Jordanna". Song requests, drinking from flasks, heartbreaking earnest delivery, and other themes that almost always equal a great alt-country song. I saw this band a couple months ago at a show in their hometown, Brooklyn. They're great live as well, although their singer's nicely understated voice can get overwhelmed at times.
  • Figurines, "The Air We Breathe". Not to be confused with The Figurines, a band from Washington, this group of Danish gentlemen evoke Neil Young-like vox with beautifully layered sounds and harmonies that make me think Sigur Ros meets Zombies, or just more ambient Brian Wilson. From their freshly released album, WHEN THE DEER WORE BLUE.

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