ad hoc.

Is this list of songs:

a. some tracks off some new albums that I am loving right now

b. an excuse for me to show off my obscure, yet refined, taste in unknown music

c. all of the above

Listen to or right click the song name and save as.

The Dirtbombs, “Stupid“

Cold War Kids, “Hang Me Out to Dry“

Beirut; “Transatlantique“

The Cribs. “The New Fellas“

The White Stripes, “Conquest“

Matt and Kim. “Dash After Dash“

Elastica, “Stutter“

Spoon, “You Got Yr Cherry Bomb“

Jack and Meg, marry me.

Just some thoughts on my weekend…

There is an open-air amphitheater only a few blocks from where I live, and there are concerts there once every few weeks, and I didn’t realize that the sound carries so much…but Friday night I heard Daft Punk loud and clear while I was sitting in my living room. NOYCE! The White Stripes are coming in a few weeks, so I will be able to hear Jack White screeching from the comfort of my own home. If you know what I mean.

I’ve been absent from live music for so long, and I broke my streak on Saturday when I saw M.I.A. I was totally blown away, and I have a total girlcrush. I think she may be even short than me. By the by, I got a copy of her new album and it blows my mind. I sent it to a couple of you already.

Have you seen The Two Coreys on A&E? I’m surprised some high-brow channel like A&E would totally jump on the has-been stars bandwagon, but come on, it’s the Coreys! (Haim and Feldman, for those of you raised under a rock). Okay, so it is totally staged, but it is ironically touching. Corey H. gets all pumped about the idea of making Lost Boys 2, and then Corey F. has to sit him down and let him know someone is already making it, and they didn’t want him. It was a lil heartbreaking to see a bloated Corey Haim crying and wondering where his life and career went. Also, Corey F.’s annoying and co-dependent wife is always getting in the way when Corey H. just wants to hang with his best bud. Riveting television. t also made me realize that I must have seen License to Drive about a gazillion times. I don’t remember even liking it. [Check out the Times take on it.]

Oh jeez, I am embarassed to admit this, but I sat through an episode of Rock of Love (essentially Flavor of Love but with Bret Michaels). I have never heard “bitch” and “slut” used so freely, and that’s just among the women. VH1 thinks they own the rights to popular culture. Seriously, they should be ashamed of themselves for exploiting these horrendous stereotypes for the sake of ratings. I bet they believe they are so far ahead with their programming, where they are seriously setting everyone back. Regardless I did watch it. Part of me was insanely jealous because I want to nail Bret Michaels. YES I KNOW he is gross and incredibly pathetic, but in my tween years he was my ultimate fantasy. I watched the Every Rose has its thorn video about a thousand times because at the beginning he gets out of bed in his bikini briefs. I hate myself.

Other than that, I officially finished The Deathly Hollows, and I will write my official stance on it soon. So prepare yourselves, it won’t be 100% positive. I also started reading Punk Rock Dad, more about that soon.

#20 Live, Secret Smanadhi (1997)
You may be surprised that I picked this over Throwing Copper, but I stand my ground. That one was more radio-friendly, this is more dark and complex. “Freaks” is a standout track/

#19 Bush, Sixteen Stone (1994)
The future Mr. Gwent Stefani really rocked the fuck out of this one. Although it is a great album, it marked grunge going into mainstream. When this came out runway models were already wearing flannel.

#18 Le Tigre, Le Tigre (1999)
My favorite queer synth-punk band…although I am not sure of others.

#17 Nada Surf, The Proximity Effect (1999)
I want to marry this band.

#16 Aimee Mann, Magnolia (1999)
This album is so good the movie was actually written based on the songs.

#15 The Pixies, Bossonova (1990)
At least when they broke up, they went out with a bang.

#14 Social Distortion, Social Distortion (1990)
Rockabilly revival. Tell me you can’t hear “Ball and Chain” without singing along.

#13 No Doubt, Tragic Kingdom (1995)
I don’t know how a pure ska band got to be the biggest pop band in the workd, but dammit Gwen stop that ego and make another ND record.

#12 Hole, Live Through This (1994)
Although this was conveniently released around the same time as her husband’s death, it didn’t matter if she was riding coattails or not. This album is pure 90s.

#11 Radiohead, Ok Computer (1995)
I blame all my depression on this album. This was, in my opinion, Radiohead’s pure genius product, and then it all went downhill from here.

I just saw this poster for the new Sweeney Todd movie…and I am way impressed. You all know that Sweeney Todd is near and dear to my heart, and I have high hopes for this one. I never thought Sweeney could be so….hot.

A person I find funny, Kathy Griffin, interviews someone else I find extremely funny, Ricky Gervais. Do two borderline annoying people talking to each other = very fucking annoying? Maybe.

Galactica mini-sodes! Yipee!

Gavin Hood is directing the new Wolverine movie. Who is Gavin Hood? I have no idea.

Here’s why I am ashamed of America: Chuck and Larry beat Harry Potter at the box office. Wtf?

The State is finally coming to dvd...I can’t wait until Kanye West remixes “Porcupine Racetrack”.

Finally, Patrick Wolf takes off his clothes.

Here is a bunch of stuff from my mediafire account. Get what you want now, because I will take it down in a day or so.

• Beirut, Galang Orkestar
• Handsome Furs, Plague Park
• Mark Ronson, Version
• The Faint, Media
• Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
• Metric, Old World Underground where are you now?
• Placebo, Sleeping with Ghosts
• The Libertines, Up the Bracket
• Shiny Toy Guns, We Are Pilots
• Say Hi to Your Mom- Discosadness
• Jarvis Cocker, jarvis
• Camera Obscura, Let’s Get Out of this Country
• Mates of State. Team Boo
• Peaches, The Teaches of Peaches
• Draco and the Malfoys, s/t
• A.C. Newman, The Slow Wonder
• Braid, Frame and Canvas
• Tiger Army, Ghost Tigers Rise
  

RBF has a new album out. I’m semi-excited. Scot Klopfstein and I are as good as married, so I guess I should give it a listen.

02-another-fu-song.mp3

03-live-your-dream.mp3

04-my-imaginary-friend.mp3

05-slow-down.mp3

06-the-new-version-of-you.mp3

07-will-the-revolution-come.mp3

08-another-day-in-paradise.mp3

09-everybodys-drunk.mp3

10-please-dont-tell-her-i-have-a-gi.mp3

11-way-back.mp3

12-hate-you.mp3

13-call-you.mp3

14-why-do-all-girls-think-theyre-fa.mp3

15-im-her-man.mp3

16-til-i-hit-the-ground.mp3

17-cannibal.mp3

Who the hell even wears Gap clothes anymore? But apparently JOHN MAYER DOES, and he’s in the new ad campaign. Holy shit.

Can you take the anticipation?

#30 Letters to Cleo, Wholesale Meats and Fish (1995)
I have no idea why they never made it huge.

#29 Sarah McLaughlin, Fumbling Towards Ecstacy (1994)
I never got to go to Lilith Fair!

#28 Fugazi, Repeater (1990)

#27 Fiona Apple, When the Pawn….(1998)
Oh, Fiona. Remember when heroin chic was in?

#26 Ash, 1977 (1996)
“Girl From Mars” will change your life.

#25 Chemical Brothers, Dig Your Own Hole (1995)

#24 Screeching Weasel, My Brain Hurts (1991)
The second best pop-punk album ever.

#23 Dar Williams, Mortal City (1996)
“Iowa” makes me cry everytime. I listened to the shit out of Dar in college.

#22 Built to Spill, Perfect from Now On (1997)

#21 Lillingtons, Death By Television (1999)
The best pop-punk album ever.

Worst. movie. ever.

For god’s sake, Julia Ormond is in it. Get a grip on your career!

Ok, I am slooooowly trying to rebuild my music collection after losing it all, but I’ve managed to recover some interesting tidbits. Firstly, I finally found the soundtrack to 28 Weeks Later, and it is amazing. It was done by someone named John Murphy, whom I’ve never heard of before (Mike? Help me out?). Sure it’s reptitive, but it fits the movie perfectly. I am thinking of doing a list of the best movie scores.

don-abandons-alice.mp3 (dload)

Also amusing me is Avril Lavigne’s “Girldfriend” in Spanish. I hated the song when it came out, but somehow this makes it kind of better.

girlfriend-spanish-version.mp3(dload)

Also, Gary Glitter’s “Do You Wanna Touch Me There?” because it is pretty funny since he is now a child molestor. Also, you may know the song from Velvet Goldmine. In that case, the answer to the question is obvious.

do-you-wanna-touch-oh-yeah.mp3(dload)

Here’s the full list so far.

#40 Sonic Youth, Goo (1990)

#39 Smashing Pumpkins, Siamese Dream (1993)

#38 Death Cab for Cutie, Something About Airplanes (1998)

#37 Green Day, 1039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours (1991)

#36 Garbage, Version 2.0 (1998)

#35 Soundtrack, Trainspotting (1996)

#34 Alice in Chains, Dirt (1992)

#33 Matthew Sweet, 100% Fun (1995)

#32 Pearl Jam, Ten (1991)

#31 Depeche Mode, Songs of Faith and Devotion (1993)

I’ve been critical of HP stuff lately and apparently people I talk to re getting very defensive, like how DARE I criticize. I’m not talking about any of you, my dear loyal readers. This whole HP blitz has been quite emotional for me. I’m going to talk about the Order of the Phoenix movie, which I reluctantly drgged myself to see today.

OOTP is my favorite Harry Potter book thus far. Why? Because it begins to get into political allegory about progessivism v. conservatism. Because we get a lot of charcter development and learn a lot more about the complexity of some people’s relationships, and delve into the pasts of a lot of characters. We learn more about Neville’s family, the original Order, why Sirius is such an outcast, the list goes on….

None of that was portrayed in the movie. And I understand that. I understand the art of movie-making in that there is only a finite amount of time one can use to move the story along. They needed to get to the main point, which was a big Harry/Voldemort showdown. Yawn.

So the movie was well done, it was enjoyable, but I had a pit in my stomach the whole time. What astounds me is when they remove plot points. 99% of people who will see this movie has read the books. They know the plot, there is no getting around it. In fact, I have seen close to nothing in terms of marketing of this movie; people just know the date it comes out and then they go see it. So why did they make it that Cho gave up the names of Dumbledore’s army? And that is why Harry loses interest? Um, no, I wanted to see the touchingly awkward Valentine’s date. If I hadn’t read the book twice, I would be totally confused as to why Harry thought Sirius was in the Dept. of Mysteries. Kreacher gave him up, but we did not see that at all. So, why did we even get a glance of Kreacher in the beginning? I know it probably sets us up for the next movie, but still, it did not make sense.

Something else I was looking forward to was when we see Snape’s memory of being tortured by James Potter and company. This give a lot of insight into why Snape is the way that he is and shows Harry that his father and Sirius and Lupin were not the perfect people he has made them out to be. In the movie, we get only a brief flash.

I thought Imelda Staunton did a wonderful Umbridge, but somehow her evil did not come through in the movie like it did in the book. Also, I rully want a kitten room.

Another scene I was greatly anticipating was Fred and George’s major sabotage of the OWL exams. I had heard so much about this scene, I had high hopes. But, seriously, didn’t they do more than just fireworks? Is that really advanced CGI? I thought they also filled the place with suds too. Did they run out of budget?

At the department of mysteries showdown, what was with all the gray swirling around? What is this, Nightcrawler? Just show the magic. And the brain thing. And the thing that makes the bird go from old to young. You know what I mean. Sigh.

And Gawp- was it even necessary? Since they didn’t even explain why Hagrid had him? I guess they needed some comedic relief. Or something.

Luna was pretty cute. But wasn’t she picked from like 100,000 other hopefuls? Was she really the best?

Ok, I’ll try to be positive:
*Loved Tonks. I wished there were more of her.
*We finally see a non-white wizard.
*The flight from Privet Drive to Grimwald place was pretty kick-ass.
*Lupis and Sirius: totally gay for each other.
*Young Snape: emo goth. Cute!
*Ever notice the actress who plays Ginny and the actress who plays Lily Potter look a lot alike? Coincidence?
*Neville is so dapper. I don’t know what that means.

I’m sorry, I had to say something. I am really upset that I haven’t caught the Potter fever. Even though I got a head start on book 7, I still haven’t gotten through it. It’s not grabbing me. I miss them being in Hogwarts and dealing with things from there, not this mess of duels and people from the ministry. I know how it ends, and it just wraps up too neatly. I no longer feel interested in the characters. Correction, I just want more scenes that give character development, not scenes that advance an increasingly complicated plot. The plot has become pure good v. evil, with no real complications or thought-provoking dilemnas. And STILL Harry is devoid of any real personality. He just sits there for a while and every once in a while has an outburst of irrational anger.

It’s like the first five books were cool indie films, and the last two became mindless summer blockbusters.

And some spoiler-y stuff….

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m up right now because I just experiences my FIRST EARTHQUAKE. Clearly, nothing crazy, just a 4.2, but it definately woke me up and it was the strangest feeling. Funny, people are screaming and carrying on and rioting all night outside my window, but it was dead quiet after it happened. I guess because’s it’s something to get used to. Yay, I’m a true Californian now.

With the major question of how will Harry Potter end? (hahahahahaha I know) I was thinking about some things that have come to end that I actually thought were good endings. This i rare. I usually hate when tv shows or books or series feel they have to make this big deal and wrap things up. Shows and movies are just a slice of some people’s lives, and we are supposed to believe that their lives go on after. Obvs, there are spoilers here for those of you that haven’t seen the whole thing through.

Six Feet Under- Claire leaves for New York and we don’t know what happens, but we do seehow all the characters end up dying. I have never cried so hard in my life.

The Office (UK) Tim and Dawn finally get together, and David Brent enjoys a happy moment with his old co-workers. In an over-the-top comedy, it was actually pretty poignant.

Friends: I know, the show that turned into a joke of itself, actually had a fitting ending. All the friends heading down to the coffee shop was a pretty good way to end.

Titanic…shut up. you know it was good.

Being John Malkovich…Craig trapped in Emily’s body for all eternity without any power to control. Creeeeeepy.

Requiem for a Dream- in a movie about addicts, you’d think they would show their recovery. Things just went from shitty to even shittier.

How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days- Omg, they were like made for each other. I am sew happy they fall in love at the end!

Primal Scream- once of the best surprise endings ever. When Richard Gere finds out he’s been jerked around the entire time it’s the best acting he’s done.

American Psycho (the book). Did he really kill all those people? Was it symbolic of his attitude toward society? Did he dream it? We’ll never know.

Dogville: I spent half the movie wishing she would just shoot the fuck out of everyone in the town. And then….she does.

The Village: some say it was predicatable and a cop-out, but I thought it rocked.

Inside Man- don’t fuck with the Jews.

X-Men: The Last Stand: the movie pissed me off so much, but the hint that Magneto may have not have lost his powers got me all squirmy again.

Elephant: I kind of guessed how it would end, but holy shit.

Bully: The look of shame of the parents’ faces while their children were on trial was brilliant.

Dawn of the Dead: After all that struggle….they are ultimately doomed.

I have HP Book 7. In pdf format of course. It was dangling there in front of me and there was no way I couldn’t take it. I never felt too guilty about taking music, and now here’s this opportunity and I couldn’t not take it.

I know how it all ends, folks. I am that person. I may have to not be on the internet in fear of revealing.

Ok, not really about Berkeley per se, but still pretty tragic.

• I wasn’t going to talk about this, but my external hard drive broke. I had about 200GB of music on there. Yes, my livelihood. Without my extensive collection of indie rock, really, who am I? I have been dealing with it all right, but when I think about it, I get a pain in the pit of my stomach. I have been slowly re-downloading some stuff, but it is not the same. Which brings me to…
• I can only use 5GB of bandwith per week with my internet connection. WHAT? That is barely anything. If I go over, my internet connection is cut off. Do they know who I am? I am kind of a big deal, people know me. As a music pirate.
• I do not get Bravo or the Disney Channel in my cable package. That means: no Top Chef and no Hannah Montana. I’m dying here. What happens when High School Musical 2 comes out in August? I just have to miss out?

In other news, I was at a farmer’s market and got Brussel Sprouts the size of cantelopes. That kind of made my year.

The Raveonettes have a new album coming out soon, and I feel like they are just not as appreciated as they should be. Their stuff just keeps getting better every album.

The new video looks promising.

They borrow from The Jesus and mary Chain, fifties horror movies, Here is the best stuff you should be listening to. You won’t regret it.

05-uncertain-times.mp3

09-little-animals.mp3

06-my-tornado.mp3

02-veronica-fever.mp3

05-cops-on-our-tail.mp3

12-ode-to-la.mp3

10-somewhere-in-texas.mp3

08-heartbreak-stroll.mp3

02-that-great-love-sound.mp3

A: Jake Gyllenhaal “performing” with Rufus Wainwright.

In case you missed it…

#60 The White Stripes, The White Stripes (1999)
And so it begins….They didn’t achieve widespread acclaim until their 2002 album, but this debut remains to be one of their best.

#59 Alanis Morisette, Jagged Little Pill (1995)
Maybe it is overplayed, but by god it’s catchy as hell.

#58 Extreme, Pornograffiti (1990)
They were known mostly for “More Than Words”, but that was an anomaly. They are actually a respectable, skilled metal group.

#57 U2, Achtung Baby (1991)
U2 hit their peak with this one, before starting to make Lite FM albums. “One” still makes me cry.

#56 Manic Street Preachers, Lifeblood (1994)
Another great British band that never seemed to catch on in the US.

#55 Van Halen, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991)
Many may kill me, but I prefer the Sammy Hagar VH to the David Lee Roth VH. Especially when they can write great pop songs. Yea, you heard me, this was a pop album. And a damn good one.

#54 The Verve, Urban Hymns (1997)
I rest my case. The US would not know good music if it slapped us in the face.

#53 A.F.I., Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes (1997)
Before A.F.I. were the poster children for suburban mall emo, they played pretty good punk. I do enjoy their major-label stuff as of late, but they knew how to be a punk band first.

#52 Metallica, The Black Album (1991)
I think it’s okay to sell out if your stuff is still good. “Unforgiven” and “Noting Else Matters”? So good I could cry.

#51 R.E.M., Monster (1994)
I know that you may be surprised that this is on here and not Automatic for the People. This was was a but more sublime and I like that.

#50 Smashing Pumpkins, Siamese Dream (1991)

#49 Soul Asylum, Grave Dancers Union (1992)
I played the shit out of this one. Forget “Runaway Train”; “Somebody to Shove” would be in my top ten songs of the 90s. Maybe of all time.

#48 Ozzy Osbourne, No More Tears (1991)
Before he was a cartoon version of himself with no dignity, Ozzy actually knew how to make good metal. This is one of the best radio-friendly metal albums I’ve heard that doesn’t compromise its raaaaawwwkness.

#47 Elastica, Elastica (1994)
They enjoyed a very short window of US success, but I have loved this one forever.

#46 Old 97s, Wreck Your Life (1996)
If all country music sounded like this, I’d move to Alabama.

#45 Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Don’t Know How to Party (1993)
Remember those five minutes during the 90s when ska was popular? That never went away with me.

#44 Soundtrack, Velvet Goldmine (1998)
How I wish these artists were real.

#43 Placebo, Without You I’m Nothing (1998)
Without Placebo, I’m nothing.

#42 Beck, Odelay (1996)
Right before Beck got full of himself.

#41 Spoon, A Series of Sneaks (1998)
Indie rock patron saints.

Today, in People’s Park, I noticed about five homeless people with cell phones. I am not really sure how to wrap my head around that.

Every night, around 11pm, a group of guys gathers in the parking lot behind my building to smoke up and play shitty pseudo indie-folk on their guitars. I feel like it is supposed to give me the ESSENCE of Berkeley, but for fuck’s sake they are so bad. They play through most of the night, and now it has been somehow incorporated into my dreams.

I just realized there is a Hot Topic located on Telegraph Avenue. That is like having a Taco Bell in Mexico.

Three people have already asked me where Connecticut is.

been so lazy about doing laundry that you go out and BUY NEW UNDERWEAR instead? I just did that today and I think this signifies hitting rock bottom.

Also: you know you are getting old when you want to yell at teenagers on the street to stop dragging their feet. Everyone here wears flip flops which is gross enough, but they can’t even walk correctly. It’s a mess.

Also, I need to be careful what I wish for. I kvetched about living in the suburbs, but now I am woken up every hour of the night for something. Two nights this week the bar next to my building has had some sort of brawl/riot, there is a mentally ill individual who screams about Jesus every hour on the hour*, and people can’t control their car alarms.

* I understand that the mentally ill homeless person is having a much worse time than me. I don’t mean to make light of it. But dammit, I need my sleep.