When I get married, I totally want Twin Crystals to play

You know, I really should have done this a long freaking time ago because I love these dudes so much. Twin Crystals are so intense that I told them they reminded me of Rage Against the Machine after their set at the SLU SXSW showcase. Although they just kind of looked at me funny as I was way too messed up to articulate what I meant by such a bold statement, Rage comparisons are truly the cat's pajamas in my book. At least in terms of a live show. I mean, if I were to hear your cd and say that, than maybe you shouldn't be too psyched. But when I see a live show, I basically want a Rage like intensity at all times. I guess that means I may have some meathead in my blood somewhere up the family tree root plant. Who knew?
And, the fact that they can draw a Rage comparison with synths and not 5 string distorted basses speaks volumes. Obviously, they have more of a post Suicide No Wave sound on the record and that's great too. But I totally felt like I was hearing "Freedom" for the first time again at Beauty Bar that night. And as far as dudes go, they are certainly dudes among dudes. Shit, they fucking slept outside all week for no apparent reason other than their sheer hardcoreness. Than, they left Austin and went straight to Juarez for a show! That alone deserves more props than I am capable of bestowing. Shit, I've even been trying to convince my girl that we need them to play at our wedding and her opposition is making me seriously rethink the date we set three years in advance. So bottom line: sorry I didn't do this earlier and enjoy the Twin Crystals tracks I have on my computer now. And get hungry for more because Mr. Doug Kompany himself promises to finally show up in LA next week with a grip of SLU vinyl and wild boars armed with AIDS syringes couldn't keep me from blessing the entire internet community with more Crystalline goodness.

Twin Crystals "Trinity" mp3 zshare

Twin Crystals "With or Without You" MP3 zshare

Ravens and Chimes and Meho Plaza...Music

Wow, Paul from Better Looking Records is a real nice dude. And damn, there are a shit ton of great bands on that label. I friggin knew that name sounded familiar all along and now I know why: it's like contemplative indie rock central. Chances are, you've heard the music while making out or crying or playing pin ball in a bar with a good juke box. On the real, it is going to take a minute to sort through everything they got and pick out the gems. So for now, here are Ravens and Chimes mp3s (damn, it looks weird every time I type it) and some Meho Plaza tracks as well since I already know they rock and so do you.

Ravens and Chimes: "January" mp3 zshare

Ravens and Chimes "General Lafayette! You Are Not Alone" mp3 zshare

Meho Plaza "I Sold My Organs" mp3 zshare

Meho Plaza "The Beach" mp3 zshare

Meho Plaza "106 Beats That" (Wire Cover) mp3 zshare

your highness electric

Hey, I just got home and Spaghetti pissed all over the floor and I'm out of it so this post will be brief: I saw Your Highness Electric tonight at Silverlake Lounge and they were pretty friggin tight. I'm totally not into doing a long and intricate post right now, but needless to say, I dug the set from these guys with a stranglehold passion. As if my love for Flight 19 and Christensen in high school wasn't enough, these dudes are on a whole new level these days...well, sort of. It's hardcore but not poppy or annoying or slick or any other slashie category that tends to bring down decent hardcore bands. They just rip it and sound like sabbath mixed with black flag mixed with the minutemen fans that grew up touring with Boy Sets Fire.
However, since LA is such a fucked up and bogus town, two shitty bands played after them, for some ridiculous reason, and I missed the first two songs. Jesus, just because homeboys were from Louisville (home to one of America's top 7 music scenes hands down), they had to play before a bunch of chicks ripping off blonde redhead and two dorks emulating dj shadow. I'm really sorry to those bands, but they were so shitty I didn't even bother figuring out their names. But sadly, they blow chunks. Sorry again, but I fancy myself a learned music connoisseur and sincerely think you need a few more months of practice before playing live again. Be patient!
This city is just frustrating me to no end: bookings here are all about who you know/suck-off and have nothing to do with talent or actual ability and that is so fucking sad. I'm not even going to tackle the whole DJ breakdown (or what some no talent wanna-be male-model at chacha said about "The Pigeon Killer" even though he never even heard a single second of the tape), but it is the same for bands: Silverlake lounge would rather book two shit ass bands (that shouldn't even be allowed to play live) as headliners over a pretty friggin awesome band, just because the awesome band happens to be from the midwest. Fucking dumbshit promoters following these bogus LA seniority rules. AHHH, it is so frustrating. I'm really having a hard time taking this city seriously these days.
While Your Highness Electric played a killer set and had a bunch of super tight tracks, here is the one song I got on cd for now. Admittedly and as usual, it is certainly not their best. However, they have a full length on Longhair Illuminati Records (home to Ride the Boogie, Casket Salesman [super dope]. Mongoloid, Mythmaker, and Auditory Aphasia among others) and are going to be playing Warped Tour for a while this summer. Peep them if you get a chance and I'll post photos and auxiliary commentary tomorrow when I'm not so bitter. Holla!
Plus I know I had something else to say but I totally lost my train of thought.

Your Highness Electric: "Handing Out Hairlips" MP3 zshare

afternoons with ravens & chimes@ spaceland, 6/16/08 (afternoons MP3s!)

OK, I know I promised more Afternoons tracks by last week but I was out of it and couldn't get to Spaceland. However, that ended up being a good thing because I also got to see the awesome Ravens and Chimes from NY. After the predictably sick set from Afternoons, I was set to bounce and go pig out at Burger King before they closed. But, like any good music fan, I figured I'd stick around for the first couple songs from the next band. Usually, the last band on Mondays at Spaceland tends to be slightly more avant garde and slightly more ass. But Ravens and Chimes were fuckin sick. I kept staring at them trying to remember where I knew them from until the singer said "hey, we're Ravens and Chimes from New York." At this point, I stopped trying to place them and contentedly decided that I must have caught them in BK at some point during my extended tenure in the city. I can't really think of a good way to describe them so you'd probably be better off checking out their label, Better Looking Records, for some PR type descriptors. Here is a video of them rocking out too.

I talked to Paul from the label and he is so into hooking pillstohear up with some tracks so I'll get on that and share them with the quickness. In the meantime, here are two Afternoons tracks that are fucking sweet. Surprisingly, I really don't think any other blogger d-bags went out of their way to buy the friggin three dollar ep and share the goodness. Ridiculous: people just won't spend a goddamn cent on music these days. BUY MUSIC! BUY MUSIC FROM THESE BANDS ASAP.
In case you aren't convinced of the awesomeness, dig the tracks:

Afternoons: "Grafitti Artist" MP3 zshare

Afternoons: "Line 'Em Up" MP3 zshare

Oh, and I have some crappy quality cell phone video of afternoons playing too. Check it

Is it way too ridiculous to use some sort of bad pun in my post about Prowler's new album? Cause I totally have a shitload I could use

I feel like I start way too many posts with "wow" and instead of looking back for evidence, I'll just take the easy way out and start this one with the self-referential sentence that is about to end. My homey Tyler from Prowler just sent me a few tracks from their soon-to-drop album and I'm certainly impressed. First of all, I'm glad Philly's scene is so intense these days. I mean, we all know they've had an intense scene for a few years now, (timeout: my neighbor is such a freak during Laker games and his yells are so timely and textbook that i swear to shit he's just yelping to let the whole complex know he is, in fact, watching "the game") but I kinda feel like the bands out of the Delaware Valley that get press are all on this weirdo vaudeville tip. We could holla about it if ya'll want, (three pointer: two loud claps followed by a louder third clap) but I'd say Man Man, Dr. Dog and The Teeth are probably the first three Philly bands I think of in terms of hype from my hometown. And while each band has at least some very good music and their own intricacies, they definitely share that pared down acoustic rockabilly/gypsy punk/T-Bone Burnett sort of vibe. To me, Dr. Dog sounds more pure pop-oriented and Brian Wilson-ey, Man Man takes home the weirdo prize, and The Teeth hit somewhere in the middle. Although I may over-analyze Pennsylvania's contributions to the arts, I can't help but think that discerning music fans everywhere assume there is a lingering Quaker influence or some shit that makes all the Phila bands sound old-timey. Of course War on Drugs and Hail Social are repping Philly-town hard right this minute and earning their respect in a decidedly non old-timey way, you guys know what I mean, right?
Thankfully, we also got the motherfucking Prowler coming to bat (34-12 Lakers, respectable claps) for the 'iladelph and they're hard as nails. Actually, I need to clarify: they're not rioutous metal, nu-rave or meandering psych-rock. And they've been keeping it real for a few years now. But I guess I'd take their word for it and say they are influenced by electro, pop and funk. I'm not an expert and have never seen them live, but to the put in in layman's terms (i.e. easy to understand comparisons to popular/influential musicians of the past), the few tracks I've heard sound like a drugged out supergroup with Isaac Brock singing, John Frusciante playing guit, Martin Rev and PiL dropping synths and beats, and maybe the Talking Heads or Soul Coughing bringing up the rhythm section (there's seven dudes in the band so this dream team lineup is actually feasible). And trust me, I mean this in the best way possible. These dudes are friggin raw and I'd love to see them in Philly this weekend cause I guaran-damn-tee you they are ultra tight live. Stoppey-startey beats, shouting, low-end thumps and catchy choruses usually seem to impress me live.

Meanwhile on the west coast, I'm gonna join my neighbor and actually pay attention to the game/stop trying to sound informed or smart and just let anybody willing to rip into these two Prowler tracks go at it.
Oh, and shout out to Elbows for adding me and Discobelle for finally posting my mix, even if they did also add my incredibly damning and hilarious five minute plus blackout drunk voicemail rant against LA. Give it a listen, err, I mean, don't...or listen to the mix and not the voicemail. Holla!
Prowler: "Ahead of the Pack" MP3 zshare
Prowler: "Beware Deleware" MP3 zshare

Caps and Jones Three Year Anniversary

Yeah, Savalas is flying Brian back to rock out for the three year anniversary of their residency at this excellent Brooklyn bar. They are Savalas and vice versa. The owners worship the boys and their sound is inseparable from the bar. Seriously.
The flyer is genius and is even more genius if you know that the two boobed Phoebe Cates was the original cover of Moving in Stereo. If you don't have it, BUY IT NOW. Essential.
I would love to go but doubt I can so east coasters, vicariously attend and tell em Tom Hanks sent you. Or large marge.
Holla!

hey, i found this old demo from the band i was in when i first got to LA last year

So before law school, I played in a kick ass band with Dave and Adrian and a random cast of other heads. We were solid all last summer and played like at least four days a week. Its kinda hard to describe our sound cause me and Dave liked a bunch of the same stuff but also liked a lot of different stuff. For instance, he grew up in San Diego and likes those sort of softcore-hardcore/screamo/ wtf? bands that kids who grow up out here like. Its hard to explain, but if you're from the east coast and moved out here, you know what I mean. Basically, really bad pop-punk bands. Like who the hell in the east coast would ever listen to Alien Ant Farm or System of a Down in high school? Jocks liked hippie shit and/or hip-hop and the other kids like me liked punk or indie or art rock. The final blow, for me, was when Dave said he had never heard The Refused. Nowadays, it seems like regular kids like indie rock a bunch and I guess you can blame that on emo but that's besides the point.
Anyway, Dave didn't even write songs like that: he wrote songs that sounded like Pixies or Beatles songs (even though he claimed to hate them) and they were ALL in b minor. Basically, he didn't want to rock as hard as I did and didn't want to experiment beyond basic pop song structure. It was like waaayyy too art rock to even try and use the mini korg. I love the guy but honestly, he'd do better as a solo acoustic performer and doesn't need a band to shine. And now that he is engaged to a lovely lady, music is no longer a priority.
I, on the other hand, have way too grandiose ideas to execute without other dudes playing instruments. As a result, our songs from that band mhoney (the m is silent...or not) have such inner tension and you can totally hear it. Nowadays, I'm about to start a band with Caspar Adams and am ultra pumped: I used to go see his bands in high school and they always blew me away. Now, 8 years later, we're finally gonna play together! He spent time in Say Anything and The National Acrobat out here, but I remember him best from The Moths and Fuck the Android from my brief tenure in Lousiville, KY.

Dig these mhoney tracks: its two songs recorded together with no pause from a room mic so its bad quality but good melodies deep down. I wrote them both but Dave sings lead on the first track while the second one is only me singing the whole time.
Oh, and when I find some Moths or Fuck the Android tracks, they'll get tossed up ASAP cause they are absolutely amazing.
mhoney- "Affordable Health Care/Those Cliffs and Beaches" zshare

Music for Today: Hail Social and Lil Weezy

As far as music goes, I'm totally into all the new weezy tracks that are leaking this week and even though I already have at least half the album, I wanna go stand in line at midnight on Monday for that official CARTER III jump-off. I haven't sorted through it enough yet so I'll just hit you with the obvious choices: the track with Jigga and the track with Kanyeezy
Lil Wayne ft. Jay-Z (produced by Just Blaze) : "Mr Carter" MP3
Lil Wayne (produced by Kanye West) : "Let That Beat Build" MP3

And file under the holy shit, I'm psyched and ready for it category: Philly boys and "Pigeon Killer" alumni Hail Social dropped a remix album this week and of course, its dope. I'm not quite sure what my favorites are yet because I haven't driven around bumping the album yet, but I think the Designer Drugs remix of "Heaven" is super tight. I mean, I'm so into Hail Social right now that I dig all the remixes. Buy the album from Turntable Lab and quit stealing music.
Hail Social- "Heaven" (Designer Drugs remix) MP3

I don't know how much you guys read, but I've been hitting the books hard since law school got out

With forty hour work weeks and at least forty hours of school work a week finally abated for the time being, I justifiably have time to delve into some highly anticipated and much appreciated leisure reading. Since May 13th, I've gotten through about four books and bought a few more for the on deck circle: Steven Johnson's The Ghost Map, Cormac McCarthy's The Road, John Brandon's Arkansas, and the og version of I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. Additionally, I've finally gotten a chance to read the copies of "Believer" magazine that I kept buying and putting aside cause I knew damn well I couldn't read them in the thick of finals. I'm about twenty pages away from finishing Arkansas and its friggin amazing. I really like this guy's style and I feel like we see the world through very similar lenses. The book is about two low level Arkansas mules in a huge drug organization that runs shit in the southeast. I'm not done yet, but I anticipate finishing it tonight and can't wait to see how all the angles tie up and into each other. Barring an unforeseen shitty ending, I highly suggest it for anyone who likes drug books or at least cynical protagonists who think they're better than everyone else.
And of course, believe the hype: McCarthy is the word incarnate and The Road is a must read for discerning and terrified readers that care about Americana's place...post-apocalypse. Damn, after I finished it, I almost got like that same feeling I got when I saw "There Will Be Blood." You know, that "holy shit, that was incredible and scary in a super intelligent and super intense way that I can't quite verbalize but am terrified by what I know it means and more terrified by what I don't know it means." Ya dig?

Johnson's book was interesting...but certainly not quite the engrossing page turner I expected. Historical fiction set against the last pre-germ theory cholera outbreak in the western world, it was intelligent and reminiscent of the classic Devil in the White City that intertwined tales of Chicago's preparation for the turn of the century world's fair and the deranged, narcissistic serial killer with bullshit motives that was torturing the would-be fair goers the whole time in a very "Pulp Fiction" type style. However, Johnson's book is nowhere near as engrossing and the characters are far from developed and therefore, further from interesting. Nevertheless, it was pretty decent and I'd say get it from the library and save the 13 bucks. But of course, read "Devil in the White City" first.
And Matheson's oft-adapted tale of man v. science-vampires was a good story with intelligent (and ahead of its time) theories about mankind's death wish that was markedly different from Will Smith's ego-driven film version. However, the writing style was sloppy and inconsistent to a point that I had to struggle through whole chapters. Science fiction writers just don't have the chops to keep me interested after I spent four years studying English masterpieces at Fordham. Don't wanna sound cocky or anything, but I was spoiled on early modernist literature when geniuses like Joyce, Lawrence, Yeats and T.S. Eliot were dropping classics with ease. And I certainly don't know what the hell was going on with those 200 pages of seemingly random short stories that followed the main "last man on earth story line." Honestly, I only got through the first couple.
I also started Survivor by that Chuck Palanhiuk (i think thats the spelling) guy and the quarter I've read so far is engrossing and posing questions I really wanna see answered. My bro likes him a lot and apparently so do a lot of other people. So we'll see.
Also on deck are McCarthy's Blood Meridian, a collection of short stories by various modern authors called The Worst Years of Your Life, that Dave Eggers book A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, and a seemingly simpleton book about cigs called The Joys of Smoking by James Fitzgerald. Aside from the righteous description of McCarthy's final installment of the "Border Trilogy" that I read in a big story about him, I know very little about the on-deck books and am going on some severe leaps of faith and sadly, cover judgments. So we'll see if my ass gets bitten more than it already has been recently.
I've been buying a plethora of books lately cause I realized that my new job at Urban Outfitters hooks up that massive discount and there are actually books there that are worth reading. I was doing markdowns the other day and I realized that Jonathan Lethem's debut novel Motherless Brooklyn is only $1.90 and have since told every co-worker who will listen that they should cop that shit ASAP cause it is certainly worth more than that paltry amount. While not quite as good as his masterpiece Fortress of Solitude, it is a damn fine book with an intricate and often...I guess the most apt word would be mesmerizing...style all his own. But like I said, I'm not so sure about the Eggers or the Mark Jude Poirier edited collection of shorties and only got them cause of the discount and speculation. Basically, Eggers eventually became recommended after my initial speculation and the Porier collection just seems to scream at me whenever I walk by it. But at this pace, I'll blow through them by next week.
So stay tuned for the final reviews and buy Lethem and Brandon's books NOW!

blaqstarr gives you confidence

i cut all the hair off my face and head the other day cause i had some law school related interviews and i had to rock out to blaqstarr's "the king of roq" mixtape to get through it. i don;t really remember how i got the mixtape, but i know it happened during the hollertronix reunion show in la last year and there are 31 tracks of goodness on it. i showed up super early (the advertised door time) and walked into the echoplex and grabbed a couch. several head nods and twenty minutes later, i tried to order a beer and they told me i was way too early and had to leave. i politely explained that i had had a long day and NEEDED a beer. luckily, the bartender told me to go to the gold room down the street and i conceded warily. i took a seat at the bar and found out that it was $2.50 for a shot of tequila and a beer. "great," i said. "here's 20 bucks cause i'm gettin loaded."
i was barely conscious 8 beers and 8 shots later but i came to long enough back at the club to convince blaqstarr to give me his mixtape, wile out to the hollertronix set, order 6 sparks from the bar, and get on the mic for a lengthy shit talk on the mets. after that, my next memory is waking up in my car with soaking wet jeans and a half drank sparks. due to my ignorant sense of smell, we'll never know if i was soaked in sparks or piss. dig the first real track on blaq starr's "the king of roq" mixtape.
blaq starr- "hey i" MP3 zshare

afternoons @ spaceland, 6/2/08

LA's afternoons (not to be confused with the much crappier welsh band THE afternoons) are the new monday night residents at Spaceland and they certainly started the month off with a statement: These dudes mean business.
First of all, there are 8 people in the band and they keep trading off so that some songs have as many as four drummers or two bassists. There's trumpet songs and slick guitar lick tracks and droney organ tracks and theres this goth chick with a beautiful voice who trades off lead vocal with the two guitar playing frontmen types gettin' passionate up front. They all appear to be incredibly talented musicians and the songs got melody like whoa. The extra thick sound of the dual drummers (it looked like there were at least two drummers per song) hits real hard live and makes the melodies kinda like...you know, soar. I know that sounds cheesy but its really true: I shit you not.
Although I would assume that most semi-educated music fans would immediately notice the arcade fire similarities in style and appearance, these dudes aren't rip-offs in the least. Yeah, everyone digs arcade fire. Its plain ignorance to not admit the influence they have on every musician these days. Come on, Funeral was the bomb and we all relished our early listens. But....I don't know about you guys, but I thought Neon Bible kinda sucked. If afternoons recorded their set last night, it would certainly rank higher than that sophmore slump of an album. Their songs share similar qualities with arcade fire but are original and dissimilar enough to ever accuse them of plagiarism. Nuff said.
I'm kicking myself for not buying their 3 dollar ep last night. I just thought I'd be able to gank some tracks off elbows or something. So all I got for now is the song "Say Yes" that Shepard Fairey designed a poster or album cover or something for and it was actually one of my least favorites last night. But I'll throw it up here for now and when I cop that ep next week, I'll hit ya'll with some more realness. Warpaint also played and they were pretty tight too. Three super cute chicks playing guitars and keys with a dude drummer. Not as exciting or inspiring, but certainly above average for spaceland: i.e. they don't sound like crappy interpol b sides.

afternoons- "say yes" MP3 zshare

screen savers just make all your ass pictures look stunning someetimes

this picture from last spring popped up on the screen saver the other night and there's gotta be something beautiful in a very 1996 sort of way about the duct tape. its like...alright, there is this dude in my neighborhood that i seen walking around more than once with red converse, green jean shorts that fray down just below the knee, a red and yellow striped shirt, and a head full of aged and perfectly kept white boy dreads and he probably would've loved to have had this picture on his album that undoubtedly came out that year.
damn, in retrospect it would be great if i could follow him around and take his picture so you know what i'm talking about cause you'd totally be like "oh snap, i totally know what you mean, that dude is so into duct tape."

whats up the emusic rollover minutes?

lately i've been staving off this habit of hearing something tight from a long ass playlist of recent downloads that i've finally gotten around to hearing and deciding that i needed to throw it up right away. while i really should hear something more than once and preferably at least once during the daylight hours, this black kids remix is going up. i'm not even looking around or anything to verify that fifty other dudes heard the song (maybe once, maybe once at night, or maybe the key day/night combo listen) and threw it up somewhere else.
plus i'm friggin bored and i am stalled on using up my emusic downloads that don't rollover tomorrow. but if it doesn't get done now, i know ill forget again and be salty for a day and about losing those 16 tunes. its such a tease when you click on that buy from emusic link and get dissed when they dont have the new albums.
dig this...wait, there's really no good way of abbreviating that obnoxiously verbose alt-rock song title but that be the link to super dancey version of said song that keeps it from getting stale a little while longer
Black Kids (twelves remix) MP3 share
and i guess i may ass well throw this other one up too cause i heard it too just in the knick of time. same deal as the boyfriend dancing remix: keeping a recognizable song interesting for a few more listens. i don't know anything about these remixes or the dudes cause that would entail retracing my steps to where i found it and its not important, you know?
new young pony club vocals always sound so great in contrast on remixes. i mean, i guess on the album too. i dig the jazzier but still hard synths the beat is simple but nice as hell. puts the mstrkrft attempt to shame
nypc- get lucky (twelves remix) MP3

wow, i found this and have no clue where it came from

you know when you put a new song on itunes and hear it and after it finishes, it goes right into another track you totally forgot about downloading or even hearing before?
i was listening to those two war on drugs tracks everyone has posted (without my external harddrive hooked up) and it went right into "oh" by we have band and the song was so much better than the two much hyped songs i had specifically sought out before it. so rock out to it
oh wait, i went to upload it and saw where it came from: pinglewood.com. thanks ya'll
we have band "oh" (demo) zshare

holy shit, health has a remix album

yeah, like i said, holy shit! thats such a great idea. i gotta listen to them all and decide which is the best....hold on. i'll be back in a minute...i'm at the bar and need to catch a cig and listen right quick.
the three best tracks are...or i guess my 3 favorite are: "triceratops" (acid girls remix B),"Heaven" (Narctrax Remix) and "Tabloid Sores" (Nosajithing remix). I guess these are my faves cause they sound dancey and playable but still a lot like health too. the cfcf remix is tight too but thats everywhere already. holla at these
"triceratops" (acid girls remix B) MP3 zhare
"Heaven" (Narctrax Remix) MP3 zshare
"Tabloid Sores" (Nosajithing remix) MP3 zshare

ahh man, thank douggles for the heads up

this wire shit is ridiculous. check out the first one too.
the exchange between snoop and marlo is the funniest shit i've heard (maybe not seen) in as long as i can remember.
however, i watched "adaptation" the other night and i keep silently cracking up to myself about donald saying "what, the makeup girl? she was totally hitting on me bro."

mezzanine owls at spaceland

i had such high hopes for memorial day this year. we were gonna hit up santa barbara or catalina or universal studios or some other theme park and had been planning it all week. instead, i slept til four and went to that shitshow of a mall in glendale and bought jeans. however, i did end up at spaceland in time to see mezzanine owls before their residency ended. when they first got on stage, i saw the rickenbacker bass and hoped they sounded like superdrag. but alas, like most bands here, they sounded like interpol. and while that is usually a dis, they mixed in enough superchunk vibe and the girl drummer fuckin rocked hard. her kit was tuned perfectly and she was so on-beat she sounded like a drum machine. she even one-handed the mini korg on a couple songs and still hit every beat perfectly.
wednesday, 2 days later:
on the mp3 "snow globe" i eventually found, they sound really good and not really that interpol-y at all. i guess it must be the acoustics in there... or the soundman's favorite band.

more japanther pictures

i mean, its cool that i can sit at the bar and work on my page with my phone and all but it obviously sucks that you cant send that much at once. more japanther sweat club action. wait, is that why its called the smell?

japanther at the smell

we saw japanther at the smell on saturday night and it was obviously tight. i mean, its kinda like going out to eat and ordering a cheesesteak: you know its gonna be good no matter what but may not necessarily be as good as some more unfamiliar dish thats got like blackened chili or some shit and may backfire. ive done tons of parties with them in nyc and have all their records except the new one and knew what to expect. and the guys were real cool with me, moe and susan and got us into the sold out show cause we shared their pain of being weirded out to be in la. aside from the continuous trouble with the lo-fi tape deck karaoke, the new songs seemed to be missing something. im totally not hating cause i love the band and they hooked us up and all but they totally peaked with "dump the body in ricki lake." so far. maybe i just took their awesomeness for granted and expected too much. i'm certainly guilty of that: the new indiana jones and iron man movies had me so psyched for years and it was just impossible to live up to my unreal expectations. in reality, both movies and the show were super tight but it was impossible to live up to my expectations. i mean, at the end of the day i bought a t shirt and totally shotgunned three beers in the bathroom! holla indeed.

Wait up

I think that last one was matt and kim. Heres the other one. But seriously, check out how many badass shots i got of them at bee's last year on the crimes galore flick page.

And the others

You cant really send more than 2 shots per email from a phone.

You know, i was pissed i didn't get more pictures from sxsw this year but here they are anyway

Yeah, i was like a picture taking machine in austin last year. I'm sitting here watching my screen saver picture slide show and every other shot is from south by last year. The other ones appear to be mostly from the black law student society trip to Tahoe a few months ago when I unwittingly spent 72 straight hours fucked up. Great time.
But i recently lost my camera and things haven't been the same ever since. All I got from this year are a few random shots from my camera phone and its kinda lame. Here are the shots of bruno and apache beat playing the homosexuals songs.

law school finals

im getting crazy with the property law.
even spaghetti is studyin these days.
finals blow. they blow real hard.

well, here is some collateral in the form of this awesome sound advice remix

ok, if you are roughly my age and grew up surrounded by an alt rock landscape, you probably love it when djs randomly drop "laid" by james. usually, that is a good sign that you'll love a super sweet bmore remix of the track. teenwolf from ninjasonik and soundadvice (and roughly a shitload other projects) did this awesome aforementioned (albeit, solely in an imaginary context) "laid" remix that i think anyone getting into the blogass assphere deep enough to actually peep this site would actually dig. basically, my friends like the song and since they are typically my only web visitors, they'll love this shit. there are a butload of other remixes over at the sound advice site that, while i can't individually vouch for each of them (i'm sorry, but i fucking hate brown eyed girl and a baltimore break won't divest me of such a deep loathing), these dudes are on their game and i'm sure there are plenty of gems. as a bonus, the remixes are right at the top of the page.
and if you don't believe me when i say they keep it crunk, like how happy everyone at their weekly(?) supreme trading party.
now, seriously, i don't know shit about "consistent additional terms and contract ambiguity" and the test is in six days.

sound advice- james gets laid

So i guess tom hanks the actor has hobbies?

yo, what the fuck? since when does forrest gump actually dj? you gotta be friggin kiddin me. regretfully, i've been googling dj tom hanks to see if anyone is mentioning the mix (come on, you'd do the same) and i came across this kcrw page that looked like a fan site devoted to a goddman npr affiliate and it mentioned a guest appearance by dj tom hanks. since it wasn't me and there is no further clarification, i assume it is the man himself. fuck, at least be cool enough to call yourself dj josh baskin or some shit.
it sucks, i mean i really wanna be all netted out and promoting this shit right now so i can actually do some shit this summer but i have a scheduling conflict with FUCKIN LAW SCHOOL FINALS! and believe me, this shit is hard. college was fuckin easy. i would study for like fifteen minutes on my way to class and be set. it wasn't like i went to community college either. fordham is all about being hot shit these days.
but fuck me, law school is hard. i gotta get back to oral modification and the parol evidence rule so if you'll excuse me...
after may 12th and the ensuing hangover, i promise this is going to be a real blog with mp3s and such. so hold up and maybe i'll get distracted enough to keep up the randomness, but yeah, i promise nothing and expect nothing in return. cept maybe a decent weekly this summer

Patrick North

hell yeah...patrick north is the only one of you mf-ers who was a loyal enough friend to post my shit on his blog, the all caps banger MYSTICS NOT WASTRELS.
while he's been getting mad props from some of the big boy blogs lately, he has always been on his game and the page is straight up ill-ness on a downloadable mp3 platter. fuck, who the shit post eartha kitt?
on a side note, i just ate multiple drugs and went and saw "sarah marshall." there will be a special prize if you can correctly guess at least four of the chemicals in my system that simultaneously made the movie funnier and shittier. despite my rollercoaster emotions, i dug the movie hard. "hey, look at my driver! i will have sex with her," or something to that effect was the funniest line i've heard in a long ass time.
bonus question: which of these dudes is patrick north?

the pigeon killer link

alright, i just reposted this shit on z share cause i foolishly put it on easy share...whatever the fuck that is. anyway, nothing new to report, just getting my upload on. holla. oh, and i yelled at those fools for not posting my shit and only pat north was man enough to respond. of course, he said he's on it.
i was an extra in adam's movie today too and we'e gonna use the pigeon killer in the film as often as possible...holla, indeed!

in case you missed the title bar, heres "the pigeon killer" link again on z share. and again on ysi. download you and i assure you you wont be sorry. if you are, i will personally give you the back the 35 minutes (exactly, 35 minutes) of your life that is wasted.

alright, score one for tom

alright, instant feedback. homeboy devin (aka desert eagle) dug the mix and hopefully, me and him can rock out at his friday night jump-off pretty young things party soon. if you haven't been, its a sweet party at jimmy's and they always turn it out. i even heard a kid blend the strokes with the rapture not too long ago. so you know, anything goes. ahh man, i can't wait. this shit is tight.
that mix is so poppy and easy to like that i have a hard time believing someone would hear it and think i can't rock a party. i mean, crusty old crate digging motherfuckers probably hate it but normal party people, shit, those songs are fucking likable as hell. and thats not just my ego talking.

my temporary dj bio...what d'you think?

this is the bio i'm sending out to the bars and blogs and whatnot....i'm not too sure about it but brian is real confident in it so whatevs.
plus, i gave the mix to a bunch of la djs and promoters at club 86 last night and i also managed to drop one on the mighty diplo himself. shit, i could be on mad decent in no time playa...but for real, it turns out my homey derrick (my punk band used to open for his back in the day...crazy right?) is a producer for mad decent and he should be all up in everyone's ear about expediting the dj tom hanks mixtape jump-off. so yeah, the dual santogold shows last night paid off. keep checking back cause shit is starting to happen fast. making moves....


Hi. How are you guys doing? My name is Matt Capozzoli (DJ Tom Hanks to ya'll that don't know!) and I just finished making a new mixtape. Since I left Brooklyn and moved out to Los Angeles for law school last year, I haven't really dj'ed out a whole lot. That is partly to blame on my insanely busy schedule of working all day and going to school all night and partly to blame on my lack of connections with LA promoters. However, I was mad busy back east and was doing a bi weekly at Capone's with the Ninjasonik dudes and a weekly at Niagra for the Skinny Mafia Girls when I left NYC last winter. (Before that) I grew up in Philly and moved to NY when I turned 18 in the summer of 2001. After getting a writing degree from the Bronx Fordham in 2005, I dicked around Williamsburg for a few years and fed my habits by dj-ing, making music, working for the occasional magazines, and slanging: hardcore slanging!
When I got sick of scraping by, I decided I needed to make a shitload of money and law school was the way to do it. To that end, I attempted to sequester myself and prepare for the LSAT last winter at my parents' new house in Baltimore. However, there are just too many cool kids throwing ill parties in B more and I just continued to rage with new friends the whole three months I was there. But even though I didn't do as good as I should have, I got into a bunch of law schools and moved to Chicago last February to go to Loyola Law School.
So I was all set to start ripping apart the Chicago nu-rave scene last winter and rock out (when I wasn't rocking out to Torts homework) when my hatred for the Chicago, its residents, and the midwest in general got the best of me and I packed up my dog spaghetti and my Civic Vic and drove to LA. While I go through bursts of loving it here and hating it immensely and wanting to go back east, I am starting to focus less on the latter and am dying for the school year to end so I can start playing out again.
Oh Yeah...SO THE POINT OF THE WHOLE EMAIL THAT WAS ENTIRELY WAY TOO LONG AND DRAWN OUT (SORRY!)...
I made this bad ass mix with my best friend from back in the day, Brian Curtis (AKA, Pandemonium Jones). We lived together for a while back in the burg but I've been kinda isolated out here this past year. So after sxsw this year, me and brian drove back to LA together and had a helluva time. Between the mexican valium adventure and the 15 mile (curtis says 13 but there is certainly a disagreement in there somewhere between the valium and blistering sun) death march through the grand canyon, we had a blast. I figured out the wish list for the mix on the ride back and bpm’ed everything out when we got back to LA. And once I had it all planned out, Curtis showed me how to use Ableton and I finished the recording process. Certainly, Brian was a necessary ingredient to a smooth mix tape (what with the ableton learning curve and all) but I still feel that I had full reign of artistic freedom.
So yeah, the tape is called DJ Tom Hanks “The Pigeon Killer” in honor of my dog Spaghetti catching his first pigeon when me and Brian took an ableton break and went to Starbucks. We got stoned and convinced ourselves that Jay Zeatard was the greatest name ever, but we eventually decided we’d save it for the inevitable mash up masterpiece that some Midwestern high school kid is sweating away on now.
Well…please, listen to the mix and enjoy. Theoretically, it is supposed to be a dance party demo cd but may not be ravey and distorted keyboard-ey enough to be a dance party mix anymore. Regardless, my only regret is not including “Race Riot on the Dance Floor.” Please holla at me at (718) 930-9783 or mattcapozzoli@gmail.com. Or my blog is http://pillstohear.blogspot.com and Brian’s is www.pandemoniumjones.com. You could even get a hold of us through doug@summerloversunlimited.com or just www.summerloversunlimited.com too if you are Canadian or something. I’m not really sure who will read this someday….I’m sure I forgot to say some shit but whatevs…Holla!

Hot Chip - Made In The Dark
Foreign Born - Union Hall
Panthers - Goblin City (Holy Ghost Disco Dub)
Black Mountain - Bright Lights
Crystal Castles vs. Health - Crimewave
Glass Candy - Beatific
Hail Social - Cherry Cola Funk (STA Mix)
MGMT - Kids
Holy Fuck - Royal Gregory
Dan Deacon - Wham City
Blaqstarr - Smack
SantoGold - Creator (Scottie B Mix)
The Tough Alliance - Neo Violence
Shocking Pinks - How Am I Not Myself
Clipse - Wamp Wamp (Co.Fee Remix)
Ninjasonik vs. The Death Set - Negative Thinking About Tight Pants
Jay Reatard - It’s So Useless
The Exploding Hearts - Your Shadow
Shellac – Copper

Matthew Capozzoli (DJ Tom Hanks)
(718)930-9783
mattcapozzoli@gmail.com
1730 N. Edgemont St. #304
Los Angeles, CA 90027

Older version of "The Pigeon Killer" Link on easyshare, not the better-known and all around better zshare. Basically, download the other one up top.

Alright..so the time is near...Hopefully, the people I send this too are gonna dig it as much as my loyal friends and come running over here to download. Brian is against the p jones site getting blown up so I gotta put this link here. Plus, it is nice to actually use this site once again. 'i do wish it was named crimes galore though. But for now, here is the link. holla!
dj tom hanks: "the pigeon killer"

the return of DJ Tom Hanks

Obviously, I haven't updated this in a year...however, it has been a year from hell with the switch from not working at all to working full time and going to school all night. I literally have days that go from 6 am to 10 pm before i get any free time. But I'm not here to sob...I'm here because I am so psyched for summer, I made a mix tape for all to hear. My old roommate and homey for life Brian Curtis (AKA the boss DJ Pandemonium Jones)gave me the recording software tutorial as we engineered it and his presence was absolutely crucial.
Back in New York, I just kinda fell into dj gigs and relied on my good looks for six years and never got around to making a mix tape. Sadly, I haven't fallen into shit since I been out here ain LA nd I need something to hand out. Apparently, the Tom Hanks name is just not household enough out here. Hopefully, that will soon change: this shit thumps hard.
South By Southwest this year lit a fire under my ass and made me remember just how much fun it is to get paid doing something I would so for free. After catching a plethora of awesomeness highlighted by the tough alliance, yeasayer, the death set, amanda blank (actually playing her own songs and not just spittin fire verses over spank's) (oh and by the way, shake it til my dick turns racist), Health (cheesy corporate party at NOON: I was the only one rocking out), fuck buttons, the homosexuals, black mountain, and a shitload more that I can't remember. Ohh, and after the festie was over, me and Curtis drove back to LA and had a lovely time eating mexican pharmies and camping out in the twenty degree weather at the grand canyon rim. That fifteen mile hike put me on my ass for days. No joke!
Anyway, Brian put the mix on his page so I'll just post that link and it'll show up here eventually. Keep checking back too cause I scour the internet for music all throughout law school class and I need to be putting that shit in yo ears..for real!
DJ Tom Hanks, The Pigeon Killer
http://pandemoniumjones.com/

Hot Chip - Made In The Dark
Foreign Born - Union Hall
Panthers - Goblin City (Holy Ghost Disco Dub)
Black Mountain - Bright Lights
Crystal Castles vs. Health - Crimewave
Glass Candy - Beatific
Hail Social - Cherry Cola Funk (STA Mix)
MGMT - Kids
Holy Fuck - Royal Gregory
Dan Deacon - Wham City
Blaqstarr - Smack
SantoGold - Creator (Scottie B Mix)
The Tough Alliance - Neo Violence
Shocking Pinks - How Am I Not Myself
Clipse - Wamp Wamp (Co.Fee Remix)
Ninjasonik vs. The Death Set - Negative Thinking About Tight Pants
Jay Reatard - It’s So Useless
The Exploding Hearts - Your Shadow
Shellac - Copper

Me and Spaghetti en route to LA

Korea Town

Spaghetti-Head
Well even though I packed all my shit up and drove over to my new apartment, there were glazing issues and the attempted move had to be aborted. But of course, today is the first real hot day I've had out here and I did all my packing during peak sun hours only to be told about the bathtub glazing after getting to k town. The girl in charge of my account is a very nice and sweet your lady from San Diego who loves Spaggy Face and let me put my expensive stuff at her place so I could leave the car loaded up overnight with the balance of clothes and accesories stuffed up in the Civic.
i just want to move in and get it over with so I can begin the job search in earnest and hopefuly start work before next month's rent is due. Then, I want to lease a civic hybrid and drive a nice car like every other a-hole out here. My car is falling apart and the duct tape only last a couple days each round so I have to keep on taping unless I want to hear the highly annoying and nerve-wracking sound of aluminum coated duct tape flapping on the driver's back side mini window all damn day.
And no matter how hard you try to avoid it, you gots to drive a shitload out here. You can't even park the car and get out and explore neighborhoods. I wanted to go to American Apparel, Amoeba, a book store, and a cafe yesterday and had to drive to three different neighborhoods to do so. Los Feliz and Echo Park and Silverlake, for all their "west coast Brooklyn" hype are far from urban ped-friendly areas. I always imagined long Bedford Ave like streets with loads of indie record stores and overproced vintage boutiques. Nuh uh. Losse conglomeration of overpriced wackness.

However, I still like it out here and can't wait to find whatever it is I've been searching for these last few years. Being that this is the seventh city I've lived in in as many years, I'm still not quite happy with the hand I've been dealt.

Goodbye Chicago, Hello Los Angeles

SEE YA LATER CHIT-TOWN
My girl dumped me and kicked Spaghetti and me out of the house. But whatever, I hated Chicago and now I get to soak up the sun in beautiful southern california. Before I hated it out here but after being in chicago, this is certainly an upgrade. I'm happy and I like the sunnyness and even though the stories about people being fake are true, at least I have material to silently laugh about to myself. I'm still getting used to it and all but everybody is real nice so far and I'm excited about everything.

Holy Shit, I totally forgot I even had a blog

Yeah, I shit you not...I forgot I had a blog. I knew something's been missing. And what really sucks is I could have used this to whine about Chicago all winter. Since I last wrote anything on here, I moved to my parents's house in Baltimore and then on to Chicago in December. But I didn't (and still kind of don't) know anyone here all winter and could have totally written some bad ass, angst-ridden stories. It was so cold all winter and snowed every friggin day...uhhh, the weather itself made me stay inside and I was usually bored enough to watch fucking cold pizza on espn...sometimes twice. I played music sometimes but hit a rut in february and have kept playing but haven't recorded since then.
Obstensibly, I've been applying to law school and looking for jobs but have procrastinated so much that I've just finishing the applications now. I'll be all done by tomorrow finally and its just in time: I got tons of shit to write about on here. For instance, I just got back from South By Southwest.
I also got a dog...Spaghetti. Or spaghetti face, or spaghetti head or fettucine head or ravioli brain. you know, any italian dish. more to come...i promise. i'm about to go home now. you'll seee....if anyone still checks on this but i doubt they do...i haven't touched it since august.

1:59 am

After a long day of procrastinating productivity, it's still 1:59 am and I finally got everything ready to rock. I moved the studio into the living room so my girl can sleep and got everything plugged into the four track. I'm pumped and I got ideas ready to flow. So what the shit am I doing putting it in pill form (dig how I have the ready-made slang on pillstohear.blogspot? Pressing that shit up...)? I'm geting warmed up so I'll type and talk about music for a spell. Ease off my gangsta.

With the car stereo and ipod still sidelined, I haven't been able to listen to as much new music as I should. I mean, I've heard the albums I got recently. But instead of bumping them on repeat for a couple days like usual, I just hear them over bogus computer speakers when I have the gumption to fuck around with the computer. Which means I'm not loving the thom yorke, brightblack morning light, herbert, rhymefest, this heat, and spoon records of the last month yet. I haven't had those
intimate experiences yet that develop mutual respect between a man and an album. Come on, I know you know when a record hates you. Or is just pissed at you. It's like a half-step low or some shit and you can't figure it out. And as I type that esoteric bullshit, my itunes malfunctions and the hold steady is silenced. Speaking of the hold steady (as I no doubt have been doing lately), not only is the entire new album straight-up top-shelf, "Cattle and The Creeping Things" is one of the best songs I've heard in a minute. From the referential (to what, I can't recall) title to the churning piano heavy rhythm jam, this song would be a gem even without the classic "Tripping is for teenagers and hard drugs are for bartenders" line at the 40 second mark. Admittedly, I don't always pay attention to rock and roll lyrics as much as I should. It's usually not a problem as I wouldn't mind hearing mainstay indie rock lyrics about women, pot and California only sparingly for the remainder of my days. However, homeboy from the steadies has got my ear and I lament the fact that I miss what he's saying every couple lines. And that just shows how much I really don't listen since this dude (craig, i think?) belts out some crystal clear, plain speaking phrases. I don't know if its cause they live in nyc and their lifestyles might somehow be sorta like mine, but the lyrics about doing drugs in bathroom stalls, low-key big city catholicism, the idiocy of the rest of the country, threatening to move west, working on "vision quests," dealing with no good whores and being "strung out on the scene" really reverberate with me.
Ahh man, I just bullshitted around about "seperation sunday" (the only title associated with the album that doesn't sit right with me; figure, son!) for so long that I don't have time to talk about my other topics ranging from my ear wax removal treatment, today's battle in the epic war with cocksucker cockroaches, the quality of the pot I'm rolling with, season 2 of the wire, and my impending solitude in B-more. Dammit, if I could just remind myself to update this shit everyday, I'd be a happy healthy man. I also need to remind myself to return that library book and get one about Ben Franklin.

"Hey Nelson Algren, Chicago seemed tired last night, they had cigarettes where there's supposed to be eyes. Hey William Butler Yeats, all the Irish seemd wired last night. They tried to seperate our girls from our guys."
And she wants my to move somplace where the cigs got eyes.

ahh damn

I should have something to talk about. I've been up all night for no reason listening to and finding new music and I should have something to talk about. But that one domed me out and I freaked out about the hour. I can barely read the cnn ticker, which seems remarkably out of place rattling off the contract terms of the Islander's restricted free agents signing 'pacts.' I'm concerned about the civilian casualities in the new war and wonder if hezbollah really exists. Wait a minute, the blowing of the fan in this would-be sweltering apartment is definitely affecting my typing. It's like being in the opposite of outer space. Plus my brain hurts, and the hold steady rocked it. They did it with their guitars and their relevant lyrics about rocking and slacking. And skateboard p (dude better be ill) made a brief appearance cause i got it like that, off the inter-net net. I signed up for the fifty free jawns on emusic and went crazy so i didn't forget to quit before the two weeks of freeness ended. and there are apparently two kinds of free songs on the server so i cant keep count of my fifty. ahhh whatever. dammit, typing is so hard. yeah, its the fan but im sore as a whore after the dodgeball the other day. its not like normal exercise. its all running and contorting and throwing you body out of whack like only little kids in shape should do. my muscles ache. good gangster wheezy, they ache. i'm gonna throw on that this heat reissue and sleep it off. cause i got it like that.

SATURDAY NIGHT

THE SKINNY TOM HANKS MAFIA IS THROWING THE ILLEST AFTERPARTY FOR SIREN WITH THE NARRARATOR AND THE END OF THE WORLD AT 3RD WARD. STAY TUNED.

you ain't nothing but a car theif who must be stopped

So I’m trying to turn up the heat. You know…turning it up. I decided that I’m sick of screwing around. I’m just like constantly hanging by a thread and when something goes wrong, I’m destitute. I hate to be a downer but my karma is in trouble: some ignorant piece of shit broke into my car last week even though it was parked right out front of Union Pool, that freaking clubhouse. Jesus, it’s a cop clubhouse too. Dig this ignorance: my mini glass panel on the driver’s side was still duct taped in from the last smack job who broke into my whip but the culprits thought about it and decided that it was probably better if they smashed out the driver’s window too. Its like the intersection wasn’t hot enough already and they needed to up their adrenaline or something. I mean, that area is just so crowded all night and there are always cop cars parked along the triangle somewhere. Some sissy hipsters must have seen something go down but were too busy pissing in their pants to do anything ‘cept run. But whatever, I guess I deserved to get broken into for the...let’s see…sixth time. Man, I gotta have shit luck cause this is just unreal. And they finally got my bass out of the trunk this time. So that’s three cd players, a fat book of my mostly burnt discs, and one bazooka tube. Plus they got my ill aviators. Bunch of savages in this town.

But it’s just sad: I worked my ass off last month and was finally going to have some extra loot to put away for the first time in a year. I was psyched. Rent check written and $200 left. But that money is gone. Spent at the junkyards in southwest Philly and my car still looks like shit. My A/C is fucking dilapidated now and I’m stuck with a 9 dollar Wal-mart boom-box. But that’s a wake-up call: I gotta hustle. Everyday. Snoop Doggy Dogg need to get a jobby job.

I’ve been enjoying helping my uncle plumb in Philly but the time away from home and on people’s couches, even if they are my family’s, is beginning to wear thin. Plus my uncle dissed me last week and asked my cousin help him because he claimed he couldn’t get hold of me. But I call bullshit on that so fuck all these hoes. Now that my girl might be staying, I need a real a 9-5 to seal the deal. I do alright freelancing but if I have a full-timer she can’t try and get me to move anywhere. I don’t want her to go but what is really killing me is the uncertainty. I gotta put my plans on hold til she figures out what the shit she’s doing. If I did bounce, it would surely not be to the yuppies infested north side of Chicago. I’m talking an ill row house in Northeast Phila. For 8 houndo a month, I get three floors and a backyard. It’s calling my name.

But then I go and catch an ill Les Savy Fav show at the park and Brooklyn regains some luster. Fuck man, the more I talk about this the more I don’t know what to do with myself. I better just stay put and hustle myself to death.

The Life and Times of Elmo Black

Started writing a concept album but i dont think I want to give away any secrets yet. It basically traces my life up from about the time i started making bad decisions. I guess its a way of suggesting whout could have been. We'll see.

Niagra Wednesday

Long Overdue Props to RossWhere

When Kevin and I used to do mockeries of DJ sets at the trashiest college bar in NYC, Fordham’s bastion of cheese, meats and tape-ups The Upper Deck, neither one of us really approved of what the other one listened to or played. I mean obviously, we dug at least some of the same tracks. If we hadn't, we wouldn’t have been able to endure two or three nights a week together playing music for losers and embarrassed friends. But even though we generally agreed on the bangers to fuel the dance floor date raping, I wasn’t down with James Brown and he wasn’t down with DFA. Yet.

Now two years later, I’m re-discovering old friends and leaving my house again. And no sooner did I reach out to DJ K. Ross (or did he reach out to me? Who the fuck cares anyway: we’re boys again) than he and Elsewhere drop the “Play Anything” bomb on that ass. And Jesus Christ, these cats really are onto everything these days. While I was too busy listening to pointless indie bands, Kev was slowly planning his world domination with stacks upon stacks of classic jump-offs. Indie rock had embedded its pseudo intellectual superiority complex in my tastes and sheer punk rock stubbornness had kept me away from the heart of soul of DJ music. But nowadays I know he was right: indie rock is DJ poison. Shit, it'll take any misguided rock head years to catch up to his dust crates.

Of course I mean everything I say in a good way: he's gotta be one of the most talented djs in NYC. Not to mention his music and production skills. So as always, K’s mixing is flawless. I mean, shit, the whole album is flawless so I guess that means Elsewhere’s on point as well. Duh. From the obscure Motown shit Kevin’s been stashing for years to the Bangles, and back through with those bangers we used to rock and the dance tracks we used to argue about. And honestly, they’ve been digging cause I don’t even know who a lot of the tracks are by.

Yeah, everyone agrees that DJs are all on some “I play everything” shit these days. But they usually mean they just play everything they’ve seen people dance to. What sets this mix apart, aside from the utter devotion to Cusack’s masterpiece “Say Anything,” is how the blends turn otherwise unlistenable songs into dance-floor get-downs. Of course the stand-alones are there too as evidenced by the lead-off Nas and too quick mid-album Rapture tease, but these dudes turn shit your parents think is too lame into 3AM tracks. I’m not positive, but I’m pretty sure it was a Neil Diamond blend that made me start banging my hand of the roof of the car and yelling for more.

Above all else, the flow is what gets you here though. When you start losing interest in one style, they drop “Bloody Sunday” or “Shake” and everything gets dizzy and crunk again til the next breakdown. And when you’re dancing and geeking out in the fifth quarter, they hit you with technical acrobatics in the form of a Tears for Fears-Juelz-“You Can’t Hurry Love”-Marvin tear fest. Ahhhh, that's right, I said it. But dry those eyes player. It’ll all be yours one day. And you don’t want to be all moaning in front of them dirty south boys coming up next. Cause they CAN hear you and WILL definitely bitch slap your ass.

But that’s enough praise for my homies this time. Bedsides, I gotta save my compliments for Gnarls Biggie. Goddamn, ya’ll been warned.

DJ TOMHANKS

That sucks. I just lost a long and incredibly witty blog because I had to use freaking windows media player to burn a man man/sunset rubdown disc for my ride ro Philly. Fucking bullshit. Ahhhh! Well obviously, I'm here today to talk about DJ motherfucking tomhanks ya'll! Back and here to stay. This ain't no freaking left turn trip, son. I'll try and recreate this but I totally lost my flow. I'll tell you this much: my last one didn't start like that. Whatever, no one reads this anyway. I dj-ed all throughout college up at Fordham and even rocked out downtown once in a while. I was never that good but I was fine with my relative shittyness. I was used to dj-ing with cats like k. ross or capsandjones and getting blown out of the water. I mean, I never practiced ever and didn't give a rat's ass about mixing. I just wanted to put on the track that was gonna get the most hype whenever possible. And that's that. But By the time I got back from the road trip these dudes were 'so freaking focused,' as funk flex would say. I had a hard time calling myself a dj anymore.
I could always get by as a dj because I know my music. The money I've made spinning records is a slight return on the tens of thousands of dollars I've spent on music throughout my years. Someone owes me dammit! You there, come to the tomhanks party and booze heavier than Papa. I can rock a party with my classics catalog and shake your asses with the newness. Thats just how I do. Now that I'm back to work and can practice while spinning, dj tomhanks is finally mixing. I've realized that all I need to play a good set are a few decent mixes. I can get by the rest of the night with letting songs ride out and cutting the power for dramatic effect. Plus that takes care of my urge to just let shit rock regardless of beat orientation. Putting on a consistent set has eluded me for so long but I know I can do it now. I've been studying music my whole life and know beats. I'm just lazy up there and that shits gotta stop. I gotta get on my game.
Shamefully, I didn't really make any money at either party this week. I think they dicked us at Niagra and there just weren't enough people at Capone's. But thats how it happens and its also the beginning. Shits gonna pop off sooner or later. I can just feel it: its gonna be a dope summer. And I'm getting ready. With at least one weekly, I must stay on my music now. To help with the first week, I stocked up on every dj's best friend this year: the Justice remix. I found about 15 of them in addition to the 'never be alone' and dfa 1979 mixes I already had. Most of them were funky as hell and the scenario rock 'schitzo dancer' remix is fire. The way he ironicaly pleads 'please no techno' is enough to make anyone at least grimmace and shake. Its worth coming out to see me just to hear that jam. Trust me. I got plenty of jams. And while the hipsters at niagra aren't that down with the new rap bangers, the capones kids aren't that self-aware and delusional. They like good music of all genres. So for them, I also prepared. I gotta bounce though. Stay tuned for full reviews of my party rocking jawdroppers.
spot this week.

well, there you have it: the triumphant return of dj tomhanks.. hell fucking yeah.
niagra everything wednesday at 7th and A. this week, japanther is obviously playing with me and as we all know, they will tear us all a new asshole.
me and curtis just got back from montreal and we had a blast upon all blasts. raged it so hard and fell in love with a city i only previously respected. for some reason, those people up there are so much nicer than us. maybe its just nyc, but every single person we met was so genuinely nice. even when i got drunk and talked shit, which was often. i was hoping to have more hockey convo but i guess they're all bitter about choking in the first round. flyers did too so i'll leave it at that.
bored out of my gored now that im back and supine on the couch. watching father of the bride when i should be studying for my lsats that are now less than a month away. im so fucked on that too since i know, deep within my heart, that i will never be able to comprehend those logic games. wish me luck and come rage on wednesday. holla

the decline

I don't really have much to say....i've been kinda busy and stopped listening to my new music. However, I think everyone in the world should listen to Nofx's "The Decline." It is an eighteen minute punk opera that touches on many of america's problems today. A beautiful song. Quite possibly the most complete punk rock statement ever and not just because they have endurance and attention spans. It goes through stages and gets better and better as the track goes on and progresses into intensity. Serious shit but as rocking and fun as any classic nofx. "Where are all the stupid people from...and how'd they get to be sooooo dumb." While not as poetic as the rest of the song, it is definitely an attention grabber to start off with. "Blame it on the greedyocracy" "Add the bill of rights subtract the wrong, memorizing six star-spangled songs. Our endeavor asks 'is anybody learning from the past? We're living in united stagnation." Yeah, I know that those words are somewhat silly but these motherfuckers are dead serious. And when you compare it to the rest of the so-cal punk lyrics, Fat Mike may as well be TS Eliot. Download now and play at maximum levels. Immigration, gun rights, fast food, suburban sprawl, and general commercialization of life as we know it. Plus, they are at the epicenter of all that is wrong with America: Los Angeles. Like he said: "A gun in California, a 20 dollar fine." And just when you think its over, they give it to you harder than ever.
Plus that TI jam is so hot right now.

how about this

I'm having a tough time trying to quantify what I've been listening to lately. As per usual, I've been scheming on some downloaded material and came up with some good-review-only basis finds. Well, of course there've been others that didn't end up on my computer solely based on one simile-laden record review. For one, I'm feeling that new ghostfact record. Every song is either cut throat raw or a gritty soul loop like only ghost can rock well. I also dl-ed the strangest version of the new Built to Spill album. Instead of embedding the usual "This is a promo" messasge in the tracks, some clever A&R guy slipped in Mike Jones samples at dead-on perfect crescendo to spill moments. At first I thought I had accidentally opened up a different player and had that doubled-up moment like when you land on some jakey's myspace page and "boys don't cry" starts playing over your itunes so that the already distressed computer speakers sputter in pain. But no, that wasn't it and I hadn't opened up a web page. Well then shit, I thought. I was about to go find it again on soulseek before I talked to dustin and he insisted and I leave it on til he could pilfer it. It does kind of sound like those rock/rap mashups his mid-western pals are always sending out this way.
But as far as I can tell, the new Built to Spill album is butt-kicking raw. It really kind of sounds like the Strokes. Thats right, I said it. The freaking bowery boys themselves. The record starts off with a very fab-ian hollow ticking bass/bass/snare, bass/bass/snare, bass/bass/snare before an old-timey sci-fi sample says "welcome to violence" and the guitarist reinterprets the dun dun dun dun intro to "last night." Before long, the other guitar drops and they start duking it out classic BTS style. But this time, its just so much faster and more direct sounding. There is no more of that wayward meandering type junk they used to come with in the superchunk and pavement indie rock heyday of the late nineties. When emo was just an adjective and cats laid off the make-up and the hair products. Even when ahh shit, what's his name? Huh, Doug Martsch? Turns out, I didn't even know that guys name in the first place. Oh well. But even when homeboy starts singing, it is much more in-your-face and not quite as winey as usual. While not every song on here is as blatantly up-to-date as the opener, you can definitely tell these guys have been listening to records lately. Which is a good thing. I mean, artists should be changing gradually and subtly with the times so they don't end up having mid-life crisises and joining Nine Inch Nails like some knife-heir rock stars out there.

Trader Blows

Well that trip didn't last long: God, I hate that fake-hippie, so-cal crap they try to put on at Trader Joe's. I don't know why people have the impression that the company treats their employees so nicely. Other than starting the enlisted (I have trouble using the term employee since no one is really treated like they matter) out at around 10 bucks an hour, they really stack the cards against the 'crew members.' First of all, the union square store that I managed to work at for just under two weeks has more employees than any other Trader Blows in the country. The store is just so busy all the friggin' time that they have to hire scores of un-trained and barely interviewed pseudo-employees to keep the operation afloat. But the amount of traffic wasn't a turnoff so much as the way they handled it. Which brings me to the main reason I hated the place: the "full-timers." As part of their supposedly earthy philosophy, there aren't managers but asshole full-timers. Immediately, my forty hour weeks seem inadequate, don't they? These kids were all about my age but much stupider and less ambitious; thus fit to earn the full-time label and abuse power over a couple hundred generally nice 'crew members.' I don't know how they got their jobs, but I bet the screening was a modified version of my 5 minute interview. They are way too ignorant to actually run the store properly and love enforcing stupid rules. Our shelves remained empty while the registers were carding everyone (old ladies and peevish grown men included) for beer and even ringing the bell for full-timer verification if the customer happened to be from out-of-state. That meant ringing a friggin bell to get the people not wearing t-shirts to come over and double-check some 68 year old's Jersey ID just because. And the customers are all from out of state and love acting like they're insiders for knowing to go to the only grocery store in town with a line out front. "oh we're from California so we know all about Trader Joe's." Jesus Christ, get over your self.
The full-timers were too lazy to make a functioning schedule so I was usually forced to work register for entire shifts. Since the place was always so full of California transplants and curious old ladies and everyone they knew times ten, that meant a full 8 hours of one after the next people coming through my lane. Never a pause. After you thank them and give out the receipt, you flip this light switch for five minutes waiting for the line judge at the other end to send down the next custy. All that stuff was a pain in the ass but mainly I just couldn't reconcile the fact that double-bagging the groceries every time meant you needed to invest in stronger bags. You know? That was basically indicative of the entire relationship between company and employee: they don't really care about being nice and know you're going to quit sooner or later anyway. At my interview we talked about how I could escape the dreary desk job and be active at work. But I still sat at a computer all day; now I just wasn't allowed to sit. No one cared if I wanted to shuffle onto the produce or dairy department. Before I got there, the words "cigarette break" weren't uttered at the store. Powerless against my insane addiction to butts, I muttered something about not being able to work under such cig-less afternoons and was 3 minutes every two hours the end of the world? After some deliberation and references to the NYC Clean Air Act, I was granted tentative cig permission but still got dirty looks every time I asked. And thats an abbreviated version of why Trader Blows.