Wednesday, July 28, 2004

miss hilton you must be worth a trillion bucks

okay, so i bought the new midtown album. like i said before, its very mature. well, more mature than their last work.

anyhow.

i really like it. i mean i REALLY like it. i like it as much as the snow patrol disc. well, not as much, but its REALLY close. midtown hired a GREAT producer in butch walker, and he really refined their sound. there's a lot of instrumental songs, and it's a lot angrier than before.

i think i found someone to go to the ACL with. which would be AMAZING. because i'd rather not drive 2000 miles by myself. actually, i'll probably do the driving myself anyway, but i'd rather do the trip itself with other people.

the best tracks, i think, are "give it up", "empty like the ocean", and "is it me, is it true". listening to this album, well.. it has this weird sense of urgency to it, if that makes sesne.

fuck, i want to play some of these songs in a bar. maybe even at my new (possible) dj gig.

posted by b, 7/28/2004 04:07:00 AM | link | |

Monday, July 26, 2004

i made a bunch of new cds

i made a bunch of new cds for the club tomorrow

its really funny when i work there - i feel like such a fraud. i really dont like most of the music i play, but its such a nice source of income, that i cant get rid of the job.

also, the good guys won again.

the yankee pitching staff is a mess right now. they have NOTHING. NOTHING, i tells you.

we're hurt, and we'll be losing ortiz, varitek, and kapler at least for a little bit.

but with the way kevin millar is hitting... i mean holy shit. his tear is NUTS.

Jesus saves and Kevin drives him in.

posted by b, 7/26/2004 07:37:00 AM | link | |

Saturday, July 24, 2004

what are YOURS...

i was thinking about this today... what are my top five rock and roll moments? five times in my life that i A) felt like a rock star B) met a rock star C) general rock and roll moments...

5) seeing the streets up close and personal this was only a few weeks ago, and it still sticks out like it was yesterday. fuck, it was incredible. it was just an AMAZING show. the whole thing, dizzee rascal, the streets... fuck. i would have paid twice as much as i did to see them.

4) doing shots with sum 41. after they opened for treble charger at alfie's, i talked to the brown guy in the band and the lead singer, who were both fucked on mushrooms. we ended up doing a bunch of shots and talking about punk rock (well, me and the brown guy, since the lead singer went off to have sex, i think) for an hour. it was pretty cool, and to this day, i still defend sum 41 because of this shit.

3) seeing rancid in a small setting. it was in may or june of 1999, and i saw rancid with the pietasters and the brusiers (whose lead singer is now with the dropkick murphys), and they played an unannounced show in the middle east. i distinctly remember listening to "avenues and alleyways" and losing my shit. to this day, that song still rocks my world.

2) meeting jello biafra, one of my heroes. he was the lead singer of the political punk/hardcore group, dead kennedys. he spoke at queens in late 2001, and he blew me away. it was truly amazing getting to meet him before his show and getting to guard his table. yeah, it was kind of a bitch job, but man... this guy.... he's fucking fantastic. ask anyone who has seen him.

1) doing queen's players. moreso in terms of doing sabotage, because its a MUCH more rocking song, but bust a move certainly had some rock moments. screeching the beastie boys and then someone telling me that i did it better than the beasties... well, i'd assume he was just being nice, but it was a HUGE compliment.

so what are yours?



fuck i love my ipod. if it was a woman, i'd have sex with it. or at least take it on a date. on sunday (if its nice) i'm going to go to the common in between shifts and people watch and listen to music. fuck fuck FUCK, i love my ipod. and i love the carrying case i have (thank you), and i love the remote, and how cool i feel on the train when i'm using it, and i love how smooth it is, and i love the scratches i've made on it through use, and i love how it ALWAYS seems to know what song i want to hear next.

maybe this sounds a bit obsessive, but at least i'm not puff daddy. he listens to his ipod WHILE having sex. so... yeah.

posted by b, 7/24/2004 05:58:00 AM | link | |

so on

kind of cool

the other night at the opera house, i worked a private party for clearchannel (BOO!), boston, and disney higher-ups, including mayor menino. that was kind of cool, to be honest. if you're wondering - he had a gin and tonic and a glass of pinot grigio. nothing special, but it was neat.

the job is really fun. i earn a -decent- amount of money doing it, and i work the BEST people. seriously. its like working at a clark type of place again. everyone is really friendly, and fun. we're all about the same age (except one woman, who is like the mom of the group... she was peeved with me for how slowly i was ironing my pants so she did it for me, without me asking), and everyone likes to have a good time. some of the people i work with... dave and jay, my managers who joke around all the time, make fun of each other and are as obsessed with the sox as i am. john is a dj from ireland who has been helping me along a bit in terms of djing in boston; he's a good shit.

i guess what i'm saying is that this job is a good time. it's nice as it isnt a HUGE time committment, but its at the very least, $50 for four hours of work.

oh and the hives... eh. some of it is real good. some of it sucks. they REALLY want to be the rolling stones though.

posted by b, 7/24/2004 04:29:00 AM | link | |

Friday, July 23, 2004

ask me what its like to have myself so figured out

i was going to see a free ben kweller show tonight, but i slept straight through it. go me. fuck.
what else...i downloaded some songs recently...
Joe Budden - Wait a Minute: He steals the beat from Dizzee Rascal's "Fix Up, Look Sharp" and raps over it. It's a tight track. Seriously, excellent stuff.
Story of the Year - Until the Day I Die: This sounds like a year song to me. It's a fucking brilliant track. It really holds you the entire way through the track. No other way to describe it.
My Chemical Romance - I'm Not Okay (I Promise): A bizarre love-triangle song... it's refreshing sounding, if that makes sense.not much else recently.

posted by b, 7/23/2004 06:24:00 AM | link | |

Tuesday, July 20, 2004

so i worked for the last five hours, DJing like a madman.

this is what went wrong tonight:
- i had to pee bad, so i ran down to the bathroom (located two floors down, through MASSIVE crowds of people), only to find that a guy was passed out, so i had to tell my boss, etc.
- i had to then run back to put on the next song. so, no peeing for me.
- repeat that process three times. each time, finding a line for the mens room, but not the womens room. ugh.
- i am told by my boss to run outside onto the fire escape and piss there. i do, cueing up a song with a very similar beginning to the song currently playing (cueing up billie jean, playing hella good). i run outside and i pee, only to realize that in fact, it is another COPY of hella good playing.
- i run back inside after peeing. my boss is laughing at me.
- later, i play 'pimp' by 50 cent. the cd BREAKS while in the player (i don't get it either), and i put on another song, which has skips in it. i swear to god, this only happens to me.
- i can't find a certain song, "turn me on" by kevin lyttle which just so happens to be the HOTTEST song out there. so fucking hell. it turns out to be on the broken cd.

STILL, DESPITE ALL OF THIS, i manage to pack the dancefloor SO tight that the downstairs of the bar is empty. it was a horrible shift, but at the same time, nothing makes me happier than when i see people grinding to "freek-a-leek" by petey pablo. well, there are other things.

a few things i've learned DJing in a nightclub.
- its apparently EVERYONE's birthday! ('oh please, can you play "roses"? it's my birthday!')
- despite everything i've ever experienced, apparently not EVERY hot female bartender in a nightclub is a raging bitch. in fact, sometimes they are incredibly nice and friendly and give you free drinks despite the fact you're supposed to pay for them. it's great!
- its hard to tell when someone says 'hey, nice job djing tonight!' if they are sincere or not when they are loaded and its 2 am and the club just let out. 90% of the time its entirely impossible to tell.
- the l'il jon superpack is fantastic. its like they made 4 songs in a row that ALL line up perfectly in 'yeah' 'freek-a-leek' 'saltshaker' and 'get low'. its awesome at 1 am because then everyone gets down and dirrty. i saw this one 6'4" black dude grinding with this 5'1" white girl and he just was having his way with her on the dance floor. absolutely fantastic.

other random thoughts:
- the DNC is next week. fuck fuckity fuck fuck. this should FUCK the city up ROYALLY. and i work downtown like an idiot.
- fucking bret boone. actually, fucking curtis leskanic.
- new hives album comes out today (officially today, i guess).
- i now own the streets on vinyl. hurrah!
- also now own a yeah yeah yeah's single on vinyl. RED vinyl. its oh so sexy.
- i need to clean my car, badly.
- my two jobs kick ass.

not much else.

keep it real, yo.

posted by b, 7/20/2004 05:45:00 AM | link | |

bill simmons put out a list of levels of vengeance today. it's damn funny. one of my favorite parts (besides the pedro parts) was his ranking at 8.0

"8.0 -- Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me A River" video.

(Note: The most underrated example of vengeance on this list. After Britney cheated on him, not only did he dump her, he put out a best-selling album fueled by a song about their breakup in which he basically destroys her with the lyrics. Just an unbelievable piece of work. It's devastating. I can't even imagine what she did when she first heard it. And if that wasn't enough, he made a well-received video about the song, starring a Britney look-alike. And if THAT wasn't enough, he immediately started going out with Cameron Diaz. By the time he was done, Britney's career was in the tank -- she was chain-smoking and hanging out with backup dancers and white trash guys from her hometown. Now that, my friends, is vengeance. Bravo, Justin. Bravo.)"

ABSOLUTELY brilliant. and its true. kudos, justin.

posted by b, 7/20/2004 03:43:00 AM | link | |

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

nothing better than seeing the devil lose

okay so, roger getting tagged for 6 runs in the first inning is up there on a top 10 sports memories. i mean, yeah. and THEN, having the game 'dedicated' to him... just fantastic. the HEIGHT of comedy.

edit: i've read tonight that there's a chance (considering the mets have no shot at the playoffs, and piazza HATES roger clemens) that piazza was tipping the pitches to the AL hitters. i mean, it's probably not true, but wouldn't that just be the BEST THING EVER?

posted by b, 7/14/2004 02:14:00 AM | link | |

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

okay... what?

so yeah. scariest and most FUCKED UP movie trailer i've ever seen. "saw". you know a movie is going to be gory and scary when the tagline for the film is "How Fucked Up Is That?" i mean, the ring was scary, and seven was freaky, and 28 days later was flat out terrifying at some points, but i mean . . . yeah. this just looks flat-out fucked up. like it could trigger someone going on a killing spree or having inspired some copycat murders.

if you want to see something fucked up, go to Saw. and its got real good actors in it too - cary elwes, danny glover. this is so messed up.

posted by b, 7/13/2004 04:08:00 PM | link | |

last night's set list

this was my set list last night. keep in mind that no one was really in the bar until 11pm, so i played some songs twice.

the songs that got the biggest reactions were "let's get retarded", "yeah", "turn me on", and "move your body".


930
Beyonce - Naughty Girl
Christina Aguilera - Fighter
Beastie Boys - Hey Ladies
Outkast - Miss Jackson
Eminem - Without Me
NERD - She Wants to Move
Kanye West - Jesus Walks
1000
Pras - Ghetto Superstar
Nelly, P. Diddy, and Murphy Lee - Shake Ya Tailfeather
The Roots - The Seed 2.0
Outkast - Roses
Nick Lachey - Shut Up
Eve - Who's That Girl
Black Eyed Peas - Hey Mama
Christina Milian - AM 2 PM
1030
Sugababes - Hole in the Head
50 Cent - If I Can't
Sarah Connor - Bounce
Miss-Teeq - Scandalous
Beyonce - Crazy in Love
Lumidee - Never Leave You
Mario - Just a Friend 2002
Chingy - Right Thurr
Petey Pablo - Club Banger
1100
Murphy Lee - What Da Hook Gon Be?
Pharrell & Snoop - Beautiful
Justin Timberlake - Rock Your Body
Mark Ronson feat. Sean Paul - International Affair
Black Eyed Peas - Where is the Love?
Ludacris - Stand Up
Mya - My Love is Like... WOAH.
Outkast - The Way You Move
Britney Spears feat. Madonna - Me Against the Music
1130
Missy Elliott - Gossip Folks
Nina Skye - Move Your Body
50 Cent - In Da Club
Beyonce - In Da Club
Blu Cantrell - Breathe
Notorious BIG - Mo Money Mo Problems
Pras - Ghetto Superstar
Dr. Dre - The Next Episode
Mario Wynans - I Don't Wanna Know
1200
Christina Milian - Dip it Low
Nelly, P. Diddy, and Murphy Lee - Shake Ya Tailfeather
Kelis - Milkshake
NERD - She Wants to Move
Black Eyed Peas - Let's Get Retarded
Missy Elliott - Work It
Justin Timberlake - Senorita
Beyonce - Naughty Girl
1230
Black Eyed Peas - Hey Mama
L'il Jon - Get Low
Ying Yang Twins - Saltshaker
Petey Pablo - Freek-a-Leek
Usher - Yeah
J-Kwon - Tipsy
Outkast - Hey Ya
Britney Spears - Toxic
100
Sean Paul - Get Busy
Twista - Overnight Celebrity
Chingy - Holidae Inn
Christina Aguilera - Dirrty
D12 - My Band
Kevin Lyttle - Turn Me On
Chingy - One Call Away
Sean Paul - I'm Still in Love With You
130
Nick Cannon - Gigolo
R. Kelly - Ignition (Remix)
Ludacris - Splash Waterfalls
Ice Cube - You Can Do It
Eazy-E - Gimme That Nut

posted by b, 7/13/2004 03:41:00 AM | link | |

Monday, July 05, 2004

bulllllshit

this is bulllllshit.
i could have spent the day happy on the beach drinking and swimming with people from the cape and then partying at my house in brewster with my friends and my sister and her friends.

but no, i drove up to boston to work. which was great, since it would be PACKED in there. and then 1.5 hours later, my boss' brother shows up and tells me he's working now. so i went home. oh, and i might not work TOMORROW night.

this is just stupid, and i'm pretty pissed off about it.

that being said, i love the first track on the franz ferdinand CD, "jacqueline". i listened to it basically on repeat on the way back home from the bar, EXCEPT, when i started listening to lenny kravitz's new single, "Where are we runnin'?". it's got a KILLER riff to it. holy shit, it has a killer riff.

posted by b, 7/05/2004 03:40:00 AM | link | |

Sunday, July 04, 2004

regrets are worthless, they misconstrue the past with sight and sound

the sox -finally- won again. feels like a month. everything feels like a month these days, but hey.

here's my top 50 of the 90s i did for a ritual back in february or so.

1 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
2 NIN - Closer
3 Pearl Jam - Jeremy
4 Rage Against the Machine - Killing in the Name
5 Guns n Roses - November Rain
6 The Smashing Pumpkins - Today
7 Jane's Addiction - Been Caught Stealing
8 Radiohead - Creep
9 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under the Bridge
10 Stone Temple Pilots - Plush
11 Beck - Loser
12 The Offspring - Come Out and Play
13 REM - Losing My Religion
14 Blur - Song 2
15 Oasis - Wonderwall
16 Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun
17 Beastie Boys - Sabotage
18 Weezer - Say It Ain't So
19 Green Day - When I Come Around
20 Nirvana - Come As You Are
21 Radiohead - Karma Police
22 Pearl Jam - Alive
23 The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Impression That I Get
24 Sublime - What I Got
25 Jane's Addiction - Jane Says
26 Fatboy Slim - Rockafella Skank
27 Jeff Buckley - Last Goodbye
28 Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonna Go My Way?
29 Foo Fighters - Everlong
30 Rage Against the Machine - Bulls on Parade
31 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Give It Away
32 Nirvana - Lithium
33 Rancid - Ruby Soho
34 The Chemical Brothers - Block Rockin' Beats
35 Beck - Where It's At
36 Pearl Jam - Daughter
37 Everclear - Santa Monica
38 Green Day - Basketcase
39 Bush - Machine Head
40 No Doubt - Just A Girl
41 Weezer - Undone
42 The Offspring - Self Esteem
43 The Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
44 Cracker - Low
45 Temple of the Dog - Hunger Strike
46 Tool - 46 and 2
47 Cake - The Distance
48 Elastica - Connection
49 The Butthole Surfers - Pepper
50 Soul Asylum - Runaway Train

thoughts?

posted by b, 7/04/2004 03:45:00 AM | link | |

Friday, July 02, 2004

So I saw Spider-Man 2 yesterday, and wow. It was REALLY good. It had the look of watercolor paints in some places (mimicing the Alex Ross watercolors in the opening credits.... my old comic book knowledge comes back to help!), and it was actually really good. It was fun, and all. My only problem was when all those people saw Spider-Man's face (this isn't a spoiler, it's in the commercial) - are you telling me not a single one of them would take that knowledge to the paper for a tidy cash sum? Whatever...

I also saw Fahrenheit 9/11 which was also really good, but emotionally draining to watch. I can best describe it as Fox News for liberals. It is NOT fair, it is NOT balanced, but there is so little in the mainstream that is biased for the liberals, that this is entirely fair to have out there. But if even 10 million people see this who were undecided on who they were going to vote on before... this could seriously impact the election. I'm voting John Kerry, by the way. Just makes sense!

I just finished a book yesterday called "Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, and Emo", that I found fascinating. It's got a lot of merit and really validates the "emo" lifestyle. If you want to borrow it, please do. You learn a lot about the music, the kids, the bands, and everything. Kind of makes you realize how important Dashboard Confessional is to so many teenagers, some claiming that his music saved their lives, and there are stories to back it up. It's really truly an interesting study of the scene, going back to Minor Threat, Rites of Spring, The Promise Ring, and Sunny Day Real Estate.

I burned 45 CDs the other day, all full of crappy top 40 music. So if there's a popular song from the last 1.5-2 years that you really want, I can pretty much get it to you in perfect quality. I don't know if this is a good thing, but whatever.

Oh... and a few songs.

  • Saves the Day - Shoulder the Wheel: StD is kind of annoying, but they're good. This is a song about being on the road and it being hard. But it has the (in)famous lyric "And I'm sorry / I didn't mean to yell / I'm having a bad week / I miss my Mom!". Not often do you hear rockers talking about missing their Mom. Kind of sweet, kind of lame.
  • Thursday - A0001/Understanding in a Car Crash: Okay. These are the first two tracks off of "Full Collapse". Get them and listen to them in that order. A0001 is only 30 seconds and is the lead-in to the ridiculously good beginning of Understanding in a Car Crash. And he (Geoff Rickly) quotes Neil Young. Fantastic. Screamo at its finest.
  • One-T and Cool-T - The Magic Key: Derek Burpee threw this one at me. Uh. Okay. It's like Junior Senior's "Move Your Feet" except its CATCHIER. It's got a beat that Dr. Dre would envy. I mean... this is kind of ridiculous how you can't NOT nod your head to this.

So there's today's big update. Tomorrow is Independence Day, and I'm working at night.


posted by b, 7/02/2004 07:21:00 PM | link | |

i love that dirty water

So its been exactly 2 months. Funny how times flies. I have tons of songs that I love right now, so here's a quick list.

  • Dashboard Confessional - Vindicated. It's off the Spider Man 2 soundtrack, and its catchy.
  • Journey - Don't Stop Believin'. Yes, Journey. It's old, and its Journey. But dammit, I love it.
  • Jay-Z - Dirt Off Your Shoulder. Nothing new, but its damn good. The beat is so so tight. The lyrics are so so tight. Timbaland, you are a beast.
  • Snow Patrol - Spitting Games. (Pete Yorn + Coldplay) x Ireland = Snow Patrol. Maybe the best album I've bought in months.
  • The Killers - Somebody Told Me. Fantastic. It's electronic rock. Dammit, it's sexy, it's fun, and it's the best androgenous song since "Boys and Girls" by Blur.
  • Bob Dylan - I Can't Get You Off of my Mind. It's a Hank Williams cover on a tribute album. It's a GREAT album first and foremost (Beck, Keith Richards, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Tom Petty all have songs on it...), but this one is just great. The Cash track is great too.
  • The Radical Dudez - Ukelele. C'mon. It's the Dudez! It's on their website, and I think that my friend Adam is just a great songwriter. I burned it to CD. It's awesome to drive to.
  • Jay-Zeezer - Yeah in the Sun. Yeah vs. Island in the Sun. And, uh, it's damn good. Check the Jay-Zeezer Website.
  • The Streets - Give Me My Lighter Back. Its a Streets b-side, and its brilliant. Just download it.
I saw the streets live, by the way. Best live show I've EVER seen, and I've seen Radiohead. So there.

posted by b, 7/02/2004 06:25:00 AM | link | |