Where I come from,we're proud.
And we don't name names.
Desperation is only desperate if we're in it together,you know?
Our boys?The little boys and their boys,the big boys?
The red boys?
The ugly boys with the fancy words and the PILLSTOHEAR?
Of course we can't wait to see a promise kept!
Heaven said "eternal!" is when ashes evolve and out jumps a WEREPYRE. Teeth clenched, we'll scream "SOULS UNITE."
Yes,they drink blood; your blood.
I usually don't go in for rock music in different languages. Its not that I really care all that much what they are saying, it just sounds off. Spanish sounds frantic, french sounds off-beat...ya know? But this recent find off Chris is fire. I'm obviously not sure what he is saying, but I assume it is something along the lines of "when you're deep in the heart of rape valley, Tom Mahoney ain't never gonna save you. His black heart is infinitely black and stinks of fried plastic and tar love. Kindle your foie gras in the river of shameful bestiality. Mountain goats, in the heat flame, guide me to the domed terrace of sainthood." Shit, that is what I would say if I was an Argentinian psych rocker in the 70s. Chris goes off yet again. Dig the GNR post a few below too for anyone who though Chris was a snobby cynic and hater. I never did...
Yesterday you published a blog on Myspace.com making statements about our recent business together.
I find the statements untrue and unfair. In addition the blog contains direct attacks on my character, which I believe are intended to adversely reflect my fitness to conduct my trade as a professional disk jockey.
You also made your intentions to defame my character clear in a text to me containing the words, "I'm bad mouthing your bitch ass all over net".
Furthermore you may or may not have made slanderous comments about me on public radio station KXLU, the extent of which will be determined once the transcript of the show has been received from the radio station.
I believe your conduct outlined above to be legally defamatory and I am meeting with a legal representative this week to assist in the matter.
Please immediately remove the offending blog, and any other potentially defamatory internet postings, and replace with an apology for the defamatory remarks.
Your failure to correct erroneous and false statements and their repetition after notice of their falsehood constitutes further publication of libel. It also further confirms your malicious intent to hinder profits of my disk jockey business.
You must cease and desist from tortious interference and making false and malicious comments about me. You are advised to cease contacting me with harassing phone calls and text messages. Please govern yourself accordingly.
Please note complying with my request to remove the offending article(s) and publish an apology does not constitute an offer from myself to cease any legal proceeding against you.
Sincerely, FUCKING LUNATIC WANNA-BE DJ WHO SPELLS "DISC" WRONG
Hit me up at my myspace and I'll add you so you can see this inflammatory blog. In case anyone else forgot, I'm STILL IN LAW SCHOOL!
Yo so I guess its kinda...or i guess way too late, but I am currently DJ-ing on KXLU with Bianca. Right this minute. Tune to 88.9 kxlu or hit up their website.
Ok so I linked this in the last posting but I really want to ensure (or is it insure? man, i'm supposed to be a friggin dual major in english and writing. wow!) that everybody who comes through djtomhanks.com gets to behold the wonder that is...RYAN CURRY! AKA MODEL RYAN!
I don't think he could look like more of a sissy if he tried. Seriously. Well, I guess technically, he is trying to look this way but still: dude looks ridiculous. To be fair, this was a couple years ago. And it definitely seems like the 90s lasted until 2005 sometimes. Ya know? Curry looks mad 1999 in this shit. Just so I don't piss off my homey more than I care to, here's a look at Ryan and you.
A lesson in fairness:
In addition to having multiple fan clubs (one of which, I'm told, used to have real-life straight girls in it), Ryan Curry...
Knows more about baseball than you. Or anyone you know for that matter. Banged Paris Hilton more times than you. Or...at all. Explained the difference between Williamsburg, Brooklyn and Williamsburg, Virginia more than you can imagine. Drove a souped-up Subaru down the Jersey turnpike at speeds you could only imagine. So basically, faster than you. German Suplex-ed Tom Mahoney. Twice. Passed out in his own Mohawk vomit on St. Marks once a week until he was 19.
So although you could probably beat the hell out of Model Ryan in Fantasy Football, I'd say he earned the right to look like a complete and total pussy all over youtube. Not to mention runways all over the world. Holla Curry!
Ok, I'm not going to spend more time than necessary blathering on and trying to sound pseudo about the new mix I'm working on for Footsie's. Here's the summary: Last week, I dropped off my mixes at a bar in northern Los Angeles called Footsie's. Although I don't hang there too often, I certainly make plans to do so often. Shit, the current and former door guys are homies of mine. But for some reason, I get sidetracked and end up eating Thai food or watching ESPN with Model Ryan. Much like I'm doing now... So I dropped off the mixes and had a little convo with the manager about getting some Hanks action up in there. I told him "Listen man, I'm not gonna talk your ear off about some bullshit and wait til you're confused enough to book me. I'm gonna make this simple: You...Need...More...Hanks...in your life! Plain and simple. Now I'm gonna bounce because I have places to go and whatnot. But take these cds and I'll wait for your call. Oh, yeah...I know that all black one is kinda ravey but trust me: I am a punk rock kid and I'm gonna smack this crowd in the face with some good olde-timey-rocke-rolle. Trust me, you'll see. Hollatyaboy!" And then I left. A few days later, me and my homey Camerin Kelly were talking about how awesome Jerusalem is and how weirdo rock from the 60s and 70s is next big ish in music snob lifestyles. Scenesters already beat the crap out of post-punk and now the cool guys need another easily-mastered genre that lets them get all knowledgeable in a matter of days. And then it dawned on me: not only does Footsie's need some more Hanks in their life, they need more psych rock too.
I told Camerin (from now on, exclusively referred to as the motherfucking one and only DJ 'RON!) and he goes "Shit, those dudes need more prog too man. Lots of it." "Shit," I said. "You're right. Those motherfuckers need all that weird shit. You know, the shit that the cool kids were into when losers were into Zeppelin and the Who. Dude, we're doing it yo. We're doing a night at Footsie's where we play weirdo, obscure rock tunes from the 70s that no one has ever heard of but wishes they had." "I'd go to that night." "Fuck yeah man. I'd fuckin own that night. For real, we're gonna change lives and shit." "Yeah...I think LA could get into this. I really do." "Yo...fuck man! Seriously, we go off Ron. We go the fuck off! Hanks and Ron! For real, we're those motherfuckers that go off. People are gonna walk by us and start saying that shit: 'Ah damn, there go Hanks and Ron...they're those motherfuckers that go off.' For real dude. Fuck! I'm psyched. I'm psyched about psych. Lemme email this dude right now." So I hit him up and he called me back the other day and now...well now we're making POUNDTOWN: THE MIX! Moth-er Fuck-er!
OK, so due to the strict Trademark laws in the High Sierra territories, one of these tracks is not on the mix...first person to get it right gets drink tickets on opening night! And obviously, look out for the finished mix in the next few days. Holla! (all files on mediafire then ysi)
I don't think it ever really set it: we won the world series. My squad finally sealed the deal and won it all. I have a championship team. Chase and Cole and Ryan and Myers and Shane and the rest of the most likable team in baseball are the champions of the whole goddamn world. And I still don't think I know what it feels like to be on top of the world. I always thought I'd have this year long euphoria and feeling that everything is right in the world. But now that I think about it, the feeling is more like a general sense of completion. Like the satisfaction you get after crossing something off a checklist: content, but the feeling is temporary and fleeting. Maybe this has to do with my horrible night of "celebration" (so annoyed by the choice of companions at Cam's house that I gave myself a rash) (I'm not kidding...the shit hasn't even completely gone away. I was that annoyed by those motherfuckers.) Or maybe I just haven't been around enough Philly fans. I know one thing: the whole 46 hr rain delay did not ruin my series. I know all the media d-bags get off on being able to pigeonhole this series for the whole rain delay incident and act like it somehow ruined our victory. Fuck that noise: if anything, it only made the victory sweeter. Even Bud Selig and his bullshit maneuvering ("ok, tie game...time for the rain delay" - ARE YOU KIDDING ME?) couldn't thwart our steamroller pummeling of the Rays. We're the shit. Seriously, no one could touch us last year and I knew we had the series locked up since the first playoff game in Milwaukee. In 2007, I knew we weren't getting past the first round. And this year, I knew the series was ours the whole way. Even after the bullshit analysts and sports writers started acting like we would forget how to play ball for 2.3 games because someone tried to screw us. They obviously don't know about Philly: we thrive on getting screwed.
So I don't have mixed feelings about the victory for the city and team (longest drought of any city with all four franchises is officially over!) even though baseball may want me to. I just wish i could be reminded of how badass my team is all day every day. But for now, I'll just have to content myself on the simple fact that when I find time to watch a couple highlights, tears of joy start leaking out my eyes and I remember cutting class to watch the Phils give it to Joe Buck and the rest of the irrational Philly haters out there. And I'm certainly holding out hope that finally getting back east in a few weeks will cement this feeling for the next 10 months. Oh and one more thing: Fuck yeah we know how to riot! Seriously, I'd of been severely disappointed if we hadn't gone ape-shit on Broad Street like we did.
Hey yo...check out my multi-tasking: Hanks, in the third person, signed up for iLike and Imeem during the studying (law school, right). And to celebrate how on-point and touching the whole affair is, I'm throwing up Imeem's "single of the second" without even watching it. I mean, how could you go wrong with Jigga and Santi rapping over a Kanye Beat? And while I'm not sure what you might be able to ascertain from more pages of data about Hanks, here they are:
just thought i'd show you that not all the songs are about ill-fitting pants. some are just about art school girls. staybad motherfucker. 12/5 temporary spaces. ninjasonik/japanther
Ok so my homey Camerin hipped me to the most amazing blog ever a few months ago: http://ChrisGoesRocks.blogspot.com. This saint of man in Sweden, apparently named Chris, took the time to upload thousands of amazing full-length albums by bands no one has ever heard of. I mean, I dig some obscure psych rock and prog and all that and I am ashamed of how little I know compared to this dude. So far, the standout track is by a band called Jerusalem. "Primitive Man" rips it so hard and I can't get the song away from my brain. All day, I hear a pretty much steady loop of that killer riff and vocal line...you know which one I'm walking about. Fire. Also, imagine the scene 30+ years ago: no one rocked properly, let alone with Big Black style production. Start bulking up on the psych, metal and folk now because I will beat yo over the head with it. I want to move in with Chris and be his apprentice.
And Tom hipped me to this one. Not much to say about Godflesh other than they are the template for all heavy music after 1990. It derives all its power from the gnarly rhythm section. And every band after them derives something from them. The Shape of Punk to come actually came out in 1989. Sorry Refused
Despite the world's best efforts, Rape Valley Records will officially begin rolling out the hits this winter. We're all over the place and when it comes down to it, we're just the dudes who will put out the goofy shit; the eclectic shit; the shit that everyone is afraid to Trademark. We're bringing the thunder and we're doing it sans marketing professionals.
Here is the first track. And I'm leaking it. Business?
So we're not gonna be 100% evil tomorrow. It was a long weekend, what with us killing it at Mountain Bar and raging and all that. Plus I got finals coming up. Instead, we're getting disco. And a little worldly. And a little werepire...that's half werewolf and half vampire. Plus we got our boy Chad, AKA DJ High Speed Dub coming though to help turn it out. Future Disco: Its where the other weeknights go when they disco.
Damn, I think I like the Jets more than the Eagles right now. Maybe its just because I don't take their bullshit personally. Friggin Pats. Meanwhile, spring guns are illegal. Spring electrocution is still up for grabs in most jurisdictions. Frayed wires are my future. Dig the headshot sample:
So if any of ya'll know me or even check in on this piece every once in a while, you'll know that I think the world of Mack Winston and the Reflections. I randomly saw them in Hollywood one night and jumped right on the train. They play rock music properly and without any prefixes or suffixes. Not to say I don't love me some post- and get down with some dance- but its supremely comforting to hear the real thing sometimes. And lucky for us, they played our STAYBAD party at Temporary Spaces in October. And even luckier for me, I convinced them to let me learn how to do a remix with one of their ass kicking tracks, possibly the most ass kicking: "Manipulator." I posted the original on here a while ago and have been quietly tinkering with my version since the party last month. While I'm sure it will never be up to snuff or on par with the og version, I threw some wicked mid-atlantic drums on there and hacked at it til I got this version. Now I'm not saying it can bump in the club, but I'd certainly dance to it. And from what I hear, homeboy Brap is working on his own take on the song and I'm sure it'll be something other than a club track. Thanks for the opportunity guys and now that I got the hang of it, I'm accepting submissions. Holla!
alright, just in case you ain't up these dudes, the icy lytes are some of the best rappers around town. they are super clubby and energetic and on their way to the top. dig this sneak preview demo and get down hard tomorrow at STAYBAD. and just to keep shit crazy, they're playing at an undisclosed time. shit, i want them to just jump out there are rage. and rage they shall.
just in time for the cool weather, its getting icy at temporary spaces. icy lytes are some of the best in LA right now and you guys are in for a treat. these kids are on some neon clothes, hand gesturing madness and spit raps faster than you can figure them out. i wouldnt be surprised to see a cartwheel pop off or some shit. and we're filming the show too so look good. damn, if you only saw how amped they are getting for this show... ya'll know the drill with us: we are gonna bring it hard. straight up this time: Hanks and Brap have been plugging away at the standard all month and are dying to unleash our bangers. and we got bangers!
S.T.A.Y.B.A.D. Volume 1 (zshare) So here is a smaller version of S.T.A.Y.B.A.D. Volume 1. I know firsthand that downloading huge ass mixtapes is a bitch. Also, there is another little surprise in this version so get with it. And come holla at the S.T.A.Y.B.A.D. boys this Monday at the Standard in Hollywood and we'll see about getting you guys an official copy with the dope black album packaging. See you there. Also, Ninja fuckin Sonik, Sonik fuckin Ninja. December.
o we're heading west for the next three mondays and getting fancy at the olde timee weho-e Standarde (uh, those olde e things are so un-standard). come through and rock out with me and puddin and I'll see about playing "murda murda," "i ain't saying my goodbyes," and "brave men run (in my family)." all with a little tittsworth on top. for once, i made a playlist so i don't screw anything up on our first night and it was a swell idea. oohh and i bet i have the mack winston remix done in time too. holla indeed motherfucker. drenched
Yo I hate to keep repeating myself but these dudes are out of control good. I posted their stuff before but now I'd rather you go to the S.L.U. web store and buy the two girls 7 inch. I mean, how often do you buy records these days? This one is worth it. I'm re-posting "Trinity" because it blew me away especially last night. And I'll save you the trouble of scrolling down to check it. But really, I think a new 7 inch will do everybody a world of good. And look how adorable they are in Canadian Tuxes pawing at the Crue... "Trinity"
And fuck those part-time punks guys. Yeah, I said it.
Yo heard it right...me and Brent's new STAYBAD tape is dropping tomorrow or maybe tonight. Basically, I just have to hear on a few more types of speakers to be certain of its excellence. But just to get ya'll salivating, here is the tracklist. Holla!
Kanye West - Love Lockdown Kanye West - Love Lockdown (Roan refix) Hail Social - Heaven (Designer Drugs remix) New Young Pony Club - Get Lucky (the Twelves remix) Fake Blood - Restless Health - Heaven (Narctrax remix) The Rapture - I Need Your Love (live) Icy Demons - 1850 Afternoons - Grafitti Artist Dandi Wind - Searching Flesh (Jokers of the Scene remix) Poni Hoax - I Shall Take it Anyway Zeigeist - Tar Heart The Voyeurs - Sunny Afternoon Panthers - We Are Louder Cousin Cole - Chicken Moose Rhino Monkey pt. 1 Prodigy - Outaspace (Jamtech Foundation remix) Kissy Sellout - Night Swimming John Legend and Andre 3000 - Green Light (MSTRKRFT remix) Twitch - Contort Yourself (Optimo mix) Bo Bliz - Put Your Hands Up Thunderheist - Jerk It Yeasayer - Sunrise (Teenwolf remix) Vampire Weekend - Walcott
Hey yo...S.T.A.Y.B.A.D. is the new first Friday dance party at Temporary Spaces and it is friggin dope. DJs Tom Hanks and Brap come through with the bangers and don't let up till the cops start talking shit. Indisputably, they keep it real. But why? For starters, they've been doing this dj shit for a minute and aren't just some tight jeans wearing, itunes rocking bitches. Hanks came up in New York's kitchen-sink styled scene and learned under some of the best DJs the East Coast has to offer. Expect anything. Well, anything raw. And here is the cool part: DJ Brap cut his teeth in the uber-competitive London nightlife scene where only the strong survive. Not to get overly Darwinian on ya'll, but dude had to learn some knob-twiddling, live-looping madness to compete with those bitches over there. Basically, his professionalism tempers Hanks's punk rock mess and keeps the night from eroding into a complete nihilistic shit show where Ludacris punches out Richard Hell and art school girls od in the shitter. Not to say that won't happen anyway, just that Brap's selection of fidget house, wonk and nu soca keep it in check. So expect that and a healthy serving of Mid-Atlantic club music, alt-rock gems, balls-to-the-wall dirty south and all the illest remixes around because they're killin them blogs son! And in case you didn't notice, TS1 is basically on fire these days. Holla at RSVP@staybad.com and we'll see you there.
me and brent's new monthly at temporary spaces started off pretty friggin hype for having two and a half days to promote and me being in arizona for two of them. we got asked back and are beginning our premeditated rise to the top yo. so lets "go all west coast on this one" and you fools better come through in a big way october 3rd. to hold ya'll over, here's brent's mixtape. and don't worry about being a download buster: its only 20 megabytes and rages hard. oh, and we saw mack winston again last night at spaceland and i'm still convinced that they sound exactly like a rock band should in 2008. while i heard strokes tinges last time, now i know the truth: they don't sound like the strokes, they sound like tom petty imitating the strokes. i wanna remix them and hopefully, we'll get them cleared for october 3rd. stay bad ya'll, stay bad.
yo...come through to me and brent's new party at temporary spaces. its our first, first friday of the month monthly and i shit you not, we will rage. rsvp below if ya'll wanna be cool and make us look tight for our dope new bosses. and smoke while doing so. i'll be bringing out everything i got before brent comes on at midnight with a loud fast dance set that better get all your bandannas soaking fucking drenched two for ones and cheap domestics if you're early so come through. holla!
Bad Religion meets the Refused. Queens of the Stone Age meets Blanks 77. Get Up Kids meets Archers of Loaf... Channels 3x4 meets Dr. Feelgood meets Electric Soft Parade meets Elliott meets Gallows meets The Stooges meets Jesus Lizard meets Leftover Crack meets Les Savy Fav meets The Thermals.
And eventually, they kind of sound like Nation of Ulysses if they had gotten together on the west coast.
I really like these guys a lot. I don't know what else to say about them...I mean, I already compared them to a litany of bands I friggin worship. I mean, I could have gone the easy route and just said they sound like Nation of Ulysses fist-fighting Nofx while early Boy Sets Fire albums blare in the background. That might have worked; but it would've been lazy and somehow, despite my undying love for those bands, kind of sounds derogatory. I work with one of the dudes and have mad respect for him. I don't know the other guys but I do know they have high-minded ideals and a burning desire to speak the truth on politics and the shite state of affairs. They're in the studio now working on a full-length album and seem to be spending almost as much time working on their manifesto because I shit you not, these dudes are motherfucking for real. Rock stars in Bakersfield and making an impact in LA, I can't wait to hear the album and read this goddamn manifesto. Shit, a manifesto on their first record. Man, I can't wait to get blown away.
Hey yo...I'm finally dj-ing in LA this Thursday and as I expected, it is through a friend and not my diligent marketing. Anyway, I just spent a week with Curtis up north and I'm still sub par. But hopefully, I'll be recovered and me and Tom can rock out on Thursday. I figure Beauty Bar is a good place to start since its a mixture of east siders and everyone else. I mean, I go there when I get dragged to Cahuenga...
I'm going to the American Apparel flea market sale tomorrow and Sebastian Tellier is supposed to rock out at some point. Although I probably wouldn't throw this mix up on here just to enter the Discobelle contest, I'll do so because I'm going to the throw-down and I'm not entirely focused on the "Fade to Black" DVD playing on my TV. To be honest, I barely even listened to the mix. However, I'm sure its tight. So dig it. And when I win this prize package, I'll certainly spread the wealth.
I forgot to add this to the last post: a friggin awesome new track by Mack Winston and the Reflections. It has this gnarly keyboard powering through the song with thick ass guitars and rhythm section dropping in right away. And homeboy can definitely sing. Watch out for the organs battling during the chorus. Supposedly, they're making a video for this track too and if we live in a just world, it'll be huge. Or at least make it on my nemesis, Indie 103.
Oh, and just because I mentioned this before, I thought I'd follow up: Mack Winston and the Reflections are playing at Le Doux this coming Monday, 7/28. Also, the guys told me the Donnas are playing now too if you're into that sort of thing. And although I'm a little confused as to how rock bands can play or draw crowds at that kind of venue, it should be cool and I can't wait to take pictures with overly-busy Doux wall paper all over the background.
Alright: I usually don't like to write about bands I've never seen rock out live. And I especially don't like writing about bands that I don't know anything about. But in this case, my homey OD gave me the heads up and I sincerely trust his taste and advice. He knows his shit and has hipped me to a lot of ill shit in the past. And 3 seconds into the song, you'll know Knyfe Hyts are for real. So dig the Maiden cover and I'll figure these guys out at a later date. Holla! Knyfe Hyts- "Run Free" (zshare)
The good people at Baeble Music were nice enough to hip me to the live HEALTH show in Brooklyn they just posted. And on the real...it is ridiculously tight! I've only seen HEALTH once and it was at some suited up industry party that Village Voice and their city paper cohorts around the country (I don't feel like doing the pertinent internet digging right now, but I'd bet one dude owns them all) threw during SXSW. While I can't knock them too hard because it was a decent lineup (shit, HEALTH played) and they gave away these sweet gym bags with the show flyer printed on them, the crowd of almost entirely forty-somethings wasn't really feeling experimental noise punk at noon. And even though I'm friggin certain those dudes weren't partying nearly as hard as I was the night before, I can totally see where they were coming from. If I wasn't already hooked on the intensely abrasive and still defiantly melodic HEALTH album I'd just copped before heading to Austin, I might have been sulking near an A/C duct and pounding bloody marys too. So to quit acting tough and finally set the scene: I stood real close to the stage and rocked out for the duration of the set and I shit you not, there wasn't a single person within 15 feet of me or the band. And as we all know, it is kind of awkward to dance by yourself to noisy art punk, let alone doing so at noon. But the point is: HEALTH are so goddamn amazing live that I couldn't help but flail around and air drum. And all the while, I was dead sober. Or, you now what, I guess I was probably still a little boozed from ending my night a few hours beforehand. Also, I'm fairly certain me and Brian burned one on the ride down... But speaking of sober, this brings me to my next point: I'm kind of bitter that all the best and most exciting shows in LA are all all-ages and no beer. I totally feel like a dick saying this because I was such a fervent hater throughout my childhood whenever bands I liked didn't play all-ages shows. "Punk's supposed to be for the kids, man" and all that business. I can't tell you how many times I snuck in and/or got kicked out of 18 or 21 and up shows. Shit, the second best show I ever saw was the 21+ Modest Mouse show we snuck into when I was 16 and they were touring for Lonesome Crowded West. (Quick side note: I had just gotten my license three days beforehand and my midnight curfew came and went about 15 minutes into the 2 hour set. When I finally got home around 2, my mom started screaming and I calmly replied "you can ground me forever but it was worth it." And it was. To her credit, she saw that look in my eye and I got off with a stern warning. Her leniency might also have had something to do with a similar occurrence involving my dad and a Who concert in Philly when he was 16). But for the most part, I saw some pretty sweaty shows in community centers and church basements and loved every one of them. Sadly, nowadays I've become a mutant drug addict that needs a lukewarm PBR in my hand in order to enjoy a show. (I know, I know...but it breaks down like this: I always have some sort of beverage handy no matter what. Coffee, water and beer are my go-to bevies of choice. And if I'm out somewhere at night, I really don't wanna pay money for anything but a beer. Ya know?) Obviously, there are plenty of good shows at beer-selling venues in LA. I go to Spaceland every Monday and hit up the Echo, etc. on a pretty regular basis. Sometimes there are good local bands at the bars (see postings below). Additionally, I'm certainly not above pounding said lukewarm beers in the bathroom at the Smell (see postings below). But coming back around to Brooklyn: it just never seemed like age was an issue for shows in New York. Although I never really looked into it, their alcohol laws are probably less strict about shit like that. And besides: kids in NYC all get fakes well before their 21st and flaunt them. Damn, I must have gone through 10 fake ids before I turned 21. But out west, LA just seems to have a gaping chasm surrounding your 21st birthday and it's really weird sometimes. While I've been noticing this schism between the ages since I got here, going to the 18+ party at Cinespace with DJ Huggs the other night really drove this fact home: all the under 21s were dancing (forget about whether they were on drugs or not) and all of us that were of age were scornfully watching them have fun. They were just so different and it was blatant: you could tell who was of age and who wasn't just by their demeanor. I mean, yeah, I'm totally down for dancing when the time is right and everyone know I always end up getting rowdy when the music hits me. But these kids were crazy ecstatic just to be at a club in Hollywood with a DJ playing...gasp...fucking MSTRKRFT! I don't know: they just seemed really different and immature. And I certainly don't mean that in a bad way at all. I just mean it. It was almost like they were dancing because they thought they were supposed to dance. On the flipside, we saw Meho Plaza at an all-ages cafe show last week and Doug and I couldn't help moving around and pounding our legs like tom-toms. Meanwhile, the teens sipped from their contraband Tecates and watched in utter stillness. It was almost like they weren't dancing because they were certain they weren't supposed to show any emotion. Once again, I want to reiterate that I don't mean to hate and I certainly admire the youth. But it kinda pisses me off to see them underage drink from communal backpacks full of beer while I sit and salivate because I remain too respectful of the all-ages atmosphere to bring in the beers I always have waiting in the cooler (or what I call my real man's purse) in the trunk of my car. Ya heard? And if I do bring them in, I hide in the bathroom (see above) or cautiously sip them when I think no one is looking. It is just such a crazy role reversal and it annoys me to no end. It is especially frustrating that all the best shows and bands from LA (HEALTH or Meho Plaza, for starters) play these venues. And this is the whole reason I got all tangent-ed: I've only seen HEALTH play once and it was in Texas! And last time I checked, they lived down the street. But because I like beer, I'm stuck seeing shitty bands that sound like they're ripping off b-sides from Interpol's last album (I don't know if I mentioned this before, but due to the fact that so many of the bands at Spaceland sound like Interpol, I rate them on a scale of first album [obviously the best] through last album [a flaming chunk of ass germs]). I'm going to make a bold statement here (with no real factual evidence), but please don't criticize before you think about it: LA's best bands (i.e. the bands that play mostly all-ages jump-offs) spring up organically from like-minded individuals getting together and playing music they enjoy. While fame and fortune are welcome footnotes to the music, punk rock's shadow looms and getting down and rocking out are the first concerns. On the other side of the spectrum, bands like Spaceland's current Monday night residents, Under the Influence of Giants, seem like they are the product of either a) an ego-driven and unoriginal front man who moved to LA in order to get famous, or b) a bunch of ego-driven dudes with minimal talent who wanna be famous and don't care whose coattails they have to ride to get there. We all know it: those of us who live out here are surrounded everyday with almost exclusively people who wanna be famous one day. Usually, it's amusing and cute and not really that bothersome. But sometimes, it leads to shitty results for those of us who just love music and want to see people do it big as often as possible. (Just to reiterate, I'm in law school and getting the hell back east when I'm done). And once again, I'll bring it full circle: watching HEALTH play in my old hood just makes me wish for those days in the early 2000s when Brooklyn was awesome. Of course, New York will always have wanna-bes latching on to scenes. But back then, they were too busy playing yuppie bars in Manhattan to bother anyone rocking out in the boroughs. And there was never a need for a comparable all-ages scene in NYC because almost all the venues have all-ages shows "where the beer flows like wine." But the originality is fading and nowadays, it really seems like bands move to BK just so they can call themselves Brooklyn bands. I see it every time I go back or one of those schmuck-rock bands comes out this way and makes it onto a bill (usually at Spaceland). Or shit, SXSW this year was a prime example: all the "new" bands from BK were totally derivative and un-amusing. Brooklyn is just too expensive to really devote yourself to art anymore (please don't let me hype Philly again) and tons of cheesedicks have infiltrated the scene on both sides of the East River. The music is no longer organic and therefore, dying out. I'm not all that familiar with what was going on out here in the last ten years, but it doesn't seem like LA ever really had a scene comparable to the one in Brooklyn during the first part of this decade: there aren't enough good venues now and I can't imagine the dearth of hipster infrastructure when rent was actually affordable! Even if the scene is popping off now, it is annoying as hell to people like me to have to choose between socializing with my peers and hanging out with the kids that are ill-adjusted because they're barely allowed in grown-up spots. Does LA have a pedophile problem? Is that why they keep it separated like this? Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm guessing musicians that come to LA have just always done so in order to get famous. In contrast, I know for a fact that plenty of kids went to New York ten years ago to rock out with talented and like-minded individuals and a scene just sprang up in their wake. For now, LA's best scene is the one with the kids just playing music that they know is good. But like I said...it is different and problematic.
OK, I'm done. But because I know I'm not always that clear when I have a lot of abstract shit to vent about, here is a succinct conclusion: 1) I am bitter because LA's best bands play all-ages shows. They most likely play these shows because: a) they retain a sense of punk rock morality, and b) there are way too many synthetic d-bags at the LA rock bars playing ass music in hopes of one day having an opportunity to suck a dick for record contract consideration. 2) Even though LA may have one of the most exciting and innovative music scenes in the world right now, it will never be as enjoyable as New York's scene from a few years ago because of the aforementioned problems. This fact sucks. 3) While they are earnest and mean well , LA's kids don't necessarily deserve or appreciate the bands/shows they are privy to. 4) As a result of the division of music scenes out here, the youth stay young and ill-informed while the twenty-somethings become frustrated and prematurely bitter. 5) Fuck all-ages club owners: I'm bringing my Coney Island backpack full of beer to every friggin no-beer venue in town from now on.
Since I got added to the SLU myspace page, I guess I am one of the artists now? Cool huh? But dig this: me and Doug (aka DJ Omar Omar) are doing a mix tape called "Rape Valley" that is going to be pressed up and released for real! Tight, right? I don't wanna give anything away or run my mouth, but its going to be extreme and violent but also eerie as hell. Just think of barely legal knives, illegal drugs, red jeans, Patrick Bateman and associated acts of debauchery usually reserved for HBO drama, Hype Williams videos and millionaires with vacation homes in Thailand. Sound good to you? Cause it sounds good as fuck to me. As far as music I've been rocking out to, it has been weird: Doug was here for a week and than after he left, DJ Alex Huggs came in the next day. So I was just keeping it real with my boys for like weeks straight and instead of geeking around the blogs finding new tracks to wow yous guys, my homies and I were blasting tracks we like. Also, anything associated with raping valleys is now classified for the next couple months. However, Doug and I had to dig up the first Hollertronix mixtape one crazy night because I couldn't get track 6 out of my head. And that's below in case ya'll feel me. Also, I have to give Huggs props on his current project. I'm not saying anything else, but it is gonna be tight and out soon. Keep your eyes peeled if you're not looking up out of a hole in a valley somewhere. Well I mean, I guess you could still keep your eyes peeled at that point... but you probably wouldn't give a rat's ass about some mixtape. Even though they're both awesomer than you can imagine. Oh, and Hellboy 2 was decent and I already copped tickets for the new Batman next Thursday/Friday at 1 AM. To be clear, I don't think I've been this excited for movie (superhero or otherwise) since the first Ninja Turtles movie came out when I was 6. But to reiterate, for now you should rock out to this old Hollertronix track and be prepared for all the aforementioned dope shit I just mentioned.
Hey, I saw Mack Winston and the Reflections Wednesday at Three of Clubs and they were bad ass. My homey does sound there and he said, upon arrival, "This is my favorite band in LA." Obviously, this type of comment always draws skepticism from my music snob side and I drank $4 PBRs patiently awaiting this best band hoopla. Sooner, rather than later, they came on and ripped it real hard. I can't really compare them to anyone except like the Strokes, or something of that ilk...wait, new the Rambo is on in the background and Sly totally just said "Live for nothing... or die for something" and that is about the most awesome thing he ever said on-screen in a non South-Philly accent. Goddamn. Anyway, he's busting Burmese motherfuckers in the head with a bow and arrow and I'm sitting here shotgunning beers and writing about this band that forgot to send me their tracks. And, btw, is playing at friggin LeDoux next week! How hilarious is that? Anyway, they were raw. And peep the myspace in the meantime until I throw up tracks bc I swear it will happen sooner rather than later. And if anyone cares to expedite this process, email the mf-ers at mackwinston@gmail.com or drop intense myspace comments begging for free tracks. Holla! Ok, the track is called "Dark, Dark Night" and I really hope that the (5-9) that showed up with it is supposed to be there because it is infinitely more badass that way. Mack Winston and the Reflections- "Dark, Dark Night (5-9)" MP3 zshare
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