Music Monday round 2

What a treat! I'm doing 2 Music Mondays on one Monday! (so long as I finish this one before midnight, otherwise it's irrelevant)

Tonight @ Mohawk - Viva Voce, Gang Gang Dance, and... others.

I decided to go to Mohawk after class today to see Viva Voce because they're wonderful.
Get a load of this:

Are they not wonderful? I think they're wonderful. Like I said earlier today, you can tell a great band from a good band (or a shitty one, for that matter) from how they sound live. Viva Voce sounds even better live, so I dub them great.

Before these lovelies came on, I heard a band that I wouldn't normally consider listening to. I had never heard of them before. Have you heard of Gang Gang Dance? They're an interesting mix between ethnic sounds of India and China with alternative and electronica. IT'S AMAZING. The bass made my whole body vibrate (that's what she said). There is a problem though, if you look them up on youtube, all their songs suck! Live, the vocals are glorious and haunting, but the recorded tracks just seem spastic and incomplete.

This is the best track I could find:

Vice... on Acid

I have never done acid, but imagine it to be a throwback to the 60s, where everything around you is tie-dye-esque and monsters crawl out of peoples' noses, and other such things. I also thought that acid was illegal everywhere and trips weren't broadcasted to the world over the internet. Then again, Hunter S. Thompson existed.

Vice Magazine, founded in Canada and based in NYC, is among my favorite (online) magazines because the articles are witty and entertaining. I just discovered today (via Tumblr) that Vice Magazine UK has a series of articles depicting various activities done on acid. Uhm, excuse me - what? What makes it even better is that the author is named Jamie Lee Curtis Taete, so at first glance I imagined Jamie Lee Curtis doing acid in the UK at Fashion week, which could have been more entertaining than the actual article.

She's got arms growing out of her legs.

The first in the series was a trip to a theme park... on acid. The read is mildly entertaining, but nothing spectacular. The guy that actually does the acid definitely looks like a guy that would be on acid. I was unaware that theme parks were open while it's raining. You learn something every day.

Dude on acid - looks like he's on acid.

At one point they go into one of those aquarium tunnels where you're surrounded by fish swimming over your head and such. That's probably the most entertaining part. The dude on acid tries to explain "how many levels of 2D were making up the 3D image," but they don't go into that much, which is disappointing.

Holy shit moment?

The second in the series is a bit more entertaining: spending a the night in an abandoned military base... on acid. Terrifying, no? No. Hilarious, actually. The second guy they get to do the acid trip (see what I did there? play on words, because it's a trip and he's gonna trip) also appears to be a guy that would do acid. In fact, he looks a lot like a guy I knew in San Francisco that I assume has done acid.

I look like a guy named Zach

Look at that. I want to do that. I want to sit on an abandoned tank. Let's go spend a night in a military base! No. It's terrifying... if you're not on acid. This BAMF walked around holding a leggo torch (that's what the Brits call flashlights) and explored attics, poked a dead sheep, walked around a giant "people eating oven", and was never phased by creepy sounds coming from the ceiling or strange people driving around them in circles playing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" while shinning torches in their faces.

Yeah, lemme explore this hole in the ceiling alone. I don't give a fuck!

The third in the series features the first guy that did acid, and could have been my favorite of the series, if it didn't suck so hard. This guy decided to interview KEVIN SMITH on acid. I mean, it's Kevin Smith. He's on my list of heros (which could be a blog entry in the future) for such films as Jay & Silent Bob, Clerks, Dogma, and everything else he's touched (aside from Jersey Girl). So how could this not be great? Well, the greatest part is when Kevin strokes the interviewer, and the fact that he's talking non-stop while the interviewer is staring at his shiny face.

[This is where I would normally embed the video, but I can't seem to do it on Blogger (time to switch back to Wordpress) so yall are gonna have to go watch it on Vice's website]

"Kevin Smith took away my high."

In the third article, we get to see a girl do acid at London fashion week. This was the first one I read, seeing as the Tumblr linked me to it. This one was awesome. She meets some celebrities that couldn't give a FUCK about her, and she gets bad vibes from them. Then, she sees Kelis's ass and gets the good vibes going again. Really, I couldn't put it into better words, so go read it.

The latest in the series is Druids... On Acid. This time Jamie Lee Curtis takes a break from journaling, and lets Tom Watson take over. Really though, why wouldn't you do Druids on acid? Why would you do Druids without acid? I don't really know what a druid is, but they appear to be some religious congregation in white robes chanting about spiritual things. So really.

"That was such a nice trick." "I have no idea what that meant."

"Hippies make so much sense when you're high" could be my favorite line in all the articles. I mean, it's obvious, but grand.

"That was the pointiest thing I've ever felt."

Watson ends the article saying "It turns out spending time with friendly people wearing nice white robes in a nice park on a sunny day on acid is actually quite a pleasant experience." That's about the sum of it. Nothing spectacular.

In all, the series is mildly entertaining and worth a read, but nothing mind altering or even spectacular. The initial shock factor that these articles exist is more shocking than the actual articles.

Bat Fest: Filter (Review)

"Sorry we're not 'Lady GooGoos' and 'Justin Bieeeeeeebers', but we use fucking profanity. This is Punk Rock. Right?"

I don't thoroughly enjoy Filter via their albums, but then again I never really gave them a try. When I heard they were going to be at Bat Fest, I consulted my iTunes and found I only had one song by them: Take a Picture. Live, however, they were pretty glorious. They engaged the crowd and got me excited to be there. Dude acted like he was 23, not 40s (which is what he is. 40s).

Not everyone was enjoying themselves, though.

Don't bring your babies to a fucking Filter concert.

I wanna write something but I have no subject, so I'll embed a bunch of youtube videos. Again.

I DECLARE IT MUSICAL MONDAY

It has come to my attention that I don't have the same musical repertoire as everyone else, so allow me to enlighten you with some big names, small names, and all around eargasmic material.

p.s. should I turn this into a weekly thing? I'm probably to irresponsible for a blogging schedule, but I could pretend I'll do it... My musical taste changes every week, so it'd be a perfect mixture of goods and services week to week. I shall provide this week's preferential treatments below.

Since I'm now an ATX resident it is my duty to begin today's Musical Monday with Austinites.

T H E     L O C A L S

"Be Yer Fool" - The Happen-Ins

"Does she get mad? Oh no, she explodes."

My local favorite. I've been here 11 days and I already have a local favorite! The Happen-Ins came to my attention via my favorite Austin blogger Tolly over at Austin Eavesdropper. (p.s. how adorable is ms Tolly? Damn adorable, that's how damn adorable.) I haven't actually seen these guys play live yet, seeing as they're currently on tour (playing in Tennessee, last I checked). Ever heard of them? Yeah I didn't think so. Check their full album over on their MySpace. Download all their glorious shieeeeeeeeeeeet over there too.

"97 Reasons"  - Uncle Lucius

"On the road is where I'm going, on the road is where I'll be found."

Threadgills is the first place I saw a live show in Ausitn, and boy was it spectacular. You can order godly delicious food inside, and bring it out to eat whilst watching some great bands have a grand ol' time on stage. Their main dishes come with "vegetables" which is just a euphemism for a side, unless you count Mac & Cheese as a vegetable. I digress. Uncle Lucious had a great vibe going on. They apparently knew everyone in the joint, or pretended to, at least. Some of their songs lasted an excruciating eternity, but aside from that, they're golden. They have a myspace, too.

"It's About Me" - Slowtrain

"It's about me, it's about me, it's about me. It's all about me."

Please Please go to their website and listen to "Bound to Find You Out" because it's glorious and I'm in love with it but I'm too lazy to embed it. I also saw these guys at Threadgills. They opened for Uncle Licious, and also appeared to know everyone there. They've got some great lyrics in each and every one of their songs. They seem to be an Austin staple, according to my AirBnB host (who was also the guy that suggested we go to Threadgills in the first place. Thanks dude!).

O T H E R        D U D E S

"Countdown" The Black Keys

"You done stole my heart but you can't take my mind."

Would my list be complete without a Black Keys song? Absolutely not, is how that question would be answered. I just can't seem to shake these guys out of my earbuds. I get tired of one song, and accidentally find another treat upon each push of the "next" button. I dance in my underwear to this song.

"Kiss with a Fist" Florence + The Machine

"You hit me once, I hit you back. You gave a kick, I gave a slap. You smashed a plate over my head, then I set fire to our bed."

How can a gal be so damn adorable while so extremely violent? Not to mention the adorableness of this entire music video. She's so cute! If you haven't heard of her already, get out from under that rock and join us.

"Toothbrush and My Table" Grace Potter & the Nocturnals

"I don't care which way you think the story might have went. I've already recollected all the love I wish I had not spent."

Grace Potter is way too cute. I love this whole song. I can feel the emotions she must have had whilst writing it. I guess you can't really tell here, but if you watch Paris (Oh La La) (which is my favorite song) you'll see her perfect fashion sense. I want her wardrobe. I guess I'd have to get her body first, though. And long blonde hair. Hmmmm.

"Behind the Moon" Matt Costa

"All the stars point me to you and lately they just drive me crazy."

I don't remember who introduced me to Matt Costa's songs, but I'm sure glad they did. (Nate, was that you?) All of his songs are perfection. This song is intoxicating, through and through.

There ya have it, folks. I'm beat.
Here's all the songs in one nifty playlist:

ATX Pride Parade

In the midst of all the chaos of moving, I've neglected to look up when the pride festival is in Austin. Since LA, NYC, Seattle, and tons more all have their pride parades and festivals during the same weekend as SF, I had assumed ATX would be the same...

Thank goodness I was mistaken!

September 1st, you could quite possibly be my favorite ATX day of the year. We shall see.

I've signed up to volunteer at the festival!
Look at me, the little LGBT community member is finally growing into her platform heels.

Nostalgia: I had terrible tastes in music (and probably still do)

Every once in a while (several times a week) I look back on the music I used to listen to growing up and laugh at the poorly written lyrics, realizing most of these songs had the same background music.

I've posted about this before with plenty of music videos, and this is exactly what I'm doing now, but with the added benefits of the worst lyric, interesting facts, and where they all are now. For some reason I'm fixated on the late 90s/early 2000s today.

JoJo - "Leave (Get Out)"

"It's too late and I can't wait for you to be gone." BURN!
Real Name: Joanna Noelle Blagden Levesque
Age upon album release: 14
Comes from: (born in)Vermont, (raised in) New Hampshire and Massachusetts
What she's up to now: Gearing up to release her third album: Jumping Trains
Were you aware she still existed? I sure wasn't.



More after the jump

This is how Brian Wilson gets from point A to point B

Went to the giants game for the 4th. Close game, close seats, close to beards...

Obama Loves Bieber, but From Afar

pic from Mediaite

Let's say your favorite celebrity is Justin Bieber (Stick with me). Let's say you wrote a letter to Bieber, and never got a response. What would be your second move? Write a letter to the president of the United States asking him to make Bieber respond? That's what 14 year old Payton Wall did!

Payton Wall, 14, whose dad died in the 2001 attack on New York's World Trade Center, originally wrote a letter to the "Baby" hitmaker asking to meet him, and when she received no response, she called on President Obama in a bid to make her dream come true. (via SF Gate) 

So Obama met Payton at Ground Zero (Bieber-less). Is the site of her father's death really the best place BO could come up with to meet the 14-year-old? He made-up for her traumatizing childhood by promising to arrange the meeting with Bieber.

I imagine the conversation went something like this-

Obama: Yo Biebz, I got a gal for you.
Bieber: A gal, OB? Just 'cause I look like a lesbian doesn't mean I am one.
Obama: Meet the bitch and I'll give you a dollar.
Bieber: Yeah ok.

However the conversation went, it worked out for Payton Wall. Obama arranged the meeting, which occurred this weekend. OB was absent.

YO OBAMA! I wanna meet Edward Norton. Help a sista out? I don't know anyone that died on 9/11, but I did make up a song about it the day after it happened, if that helps.

Terrorists, terrorists you killed our people.
Terrorists, terrorists you slayed.
Twin towers, twin towers how could you fall down
Down into the empty grave.

Alice @ 97.3 hate gays.

This weekend is going to be fairly epic.
My own personal Nebraskan is flying in for an appearance.
I'll be wearing hardly any clothing,
The entire city of San Francisco will liquored up...

IT'S PRIDE WEEKEND, BABY!

Y'all remember last year

Here's a shocker: I'm not 21 WHAT WHAT! Who knew? Yeah ok everyone knew.
Since I cannot attend all the official Pride festivities (aside from the main event) I will not tell you about them. What I will tell you is where my Nebraskan and I will be on Friday: The Mission; and where my Nebraskan, our Mama and I will be on Saturday night: The Mission & Castro; and where my Nebraskan, our Mama, and thousands of gays will be on Sunday: Civic Center.

Know where gays won't be on Saturday?
ALICE SUMMERTHING
Really though, does this not sound like an ounce of fun?
Matt Nathanson, OneRepublic, Michelle Branch, Parachute & Andrew Allen are going to be on stage for a free show this Sunday from noon-4 in Golden Gate Park.
Riddle me this, Sarah & Vinny, why is it that Alice @97.3 puts on a decent sounding show every year the same day as Pride? Are there not enough weekends in the summer for you to choose from that you have to exclude the out and proud? Something smells fishy, and it's not my pants.

UPDATE 10:22am 
Who the fuck is Sandra Bernhard and why is she headlining Pride this year?
What happened to the days of Gaga and Backstreet Boys?
Why aren't Matt Nathanson, OneRepublic, Michelle Branch, Parachute, and Andrew Allen playing at Pride? I mean, since they're already in SF and everything... Wouldn't that make more sense?

This whole situation is bugging me.

UPDATE 10:27am
Have you heard of anyone from the lineup at Pride? Cause I haven't.

11:00	BAAITS
11:05-11:50	DJ Paul Goodyear
11:50	MicahTron
12:05	Moonalice
12:20	Brenda Reed
12:30	Grand Marshals
12:50	Tales of the City
1:00	Mark Leno & Trevor Project
1:05	Bishop Flunder & the City of Refuge Choir
1:25	Butch County
1:40	Last Regiment of Syncopated Drummers
1:55	Foxee and Liam
2:00	Derrick Barry
2:15	Stiletto Ghetto
2:30	Kat Graham
2:45	Cheer SF
3:05	Lime
3:25	Linda Perry/Deep Dark Robot
3:50	Jessica 6
4:10	Big Freedia
4:25	Kerli
4:45	Wendy Ho
4:55	Sandra Bernhard
5:15	Luciana
5:30	Taxi Doll
5:45	RWCB
6:00	Sister Crayon

UPDATE 11:23am
Michelle Branch's new single kinda sucks.




UPDATE 11:43am
I stopped caring about anybody but OneRepublic. Thank goodness they're playing last (3:45ish). I think I can have it all: Pride Parade, Pride Festival, AND OneRepublic! Sweet.

Carnaval 2011: Beautiful Women & Bored Children

I was dazzled by this year's Carnaval parade. Last year was a'ight, but this year was spectacular: sparkly tits, jungle-themed floats, and dogs with broken tongues.

There was a noticeable change this year, though, in the children on the floats. Maybe I just didn't take notice last year, but they seemed to be super bored. Is desensitization to blame, or was I like this at that age? (click to enlarge)

Despite the young downers, I declare a Carnaval success.

at least there was 1 little girl getting her groove on.

2011 Summer Music Festivals

(I bet you were expecting a post about Bay to Breakers, huh?)

Tis the season for festivals!

Health & Harmony 2010

Yes, I realize I’m a little late on this one, what with Coachella and Bamboozle already done and over-with. In my quest for the best festival of the year (and my options among venues in San Francisco, Austin, and Chicago) I’ve compiled a spreadsheet (yes, I said spreadsheet. I'm extremely organized when it comes to the most unnecessary shit) containing all the bands I give a shit about playing at all the festivals anyone gives a shit about in the continental US. I even included Coachella and Bamboozle for comparative fun. It seems to me (out of the festivals that announced their line-ups already) those in Chicago or Manchester, TN areas are the most fortunately located. Of course if I were to consider Milwaukee, I’m 99.99% sure Summerfest will, once again, host the largest amount of attendees at any given festival this year, what with their KILLER line-ups and 2 whole weeks of festivities. 

my spreadsheet of festivals

Is this all gibberish to you? I assure you, you’re not alone. Up until about an hour ago, I was under the impression that Coachella, Sasquatch, Outsidelands, SXSW, Austin City Limits and Lollapalooza were the only large-scale music festivals in the US. Goodness, I was sorely mistaken. How many of these have you never heard of before?

All Good Festival

Austin City Limits

Bamboozle

Bonnaroo

Bumbershoot

Coachella

Health & Harmony

LA Rising

Lollapalooza

Musikfest

North Coast

Outside Lands

Rocklahoma

Sasquatch

Summerfest

Sunset Strip

Treasure Island

Voodoo Experience

Wanderlust (California)

Wanderlust (Vermont)

How do they come up with all those names? There are plenty more, but those were the most, shall we say Coachella-esque of them all? Who knows if that makes any sense... So I went through each festival listed above and have selected a few winners: Bonnaroo, Summerfest, LA Rising, Lollapalooza, and North Coast. In stead of talking about the ones I’m disappointed in (Health & Harmony, ACL, Wanderlust), let’s stay positive and glorify the ones that make me consider finding myself a sugar-daddy to finance my musical rendezvous. I shall list my highlights in alphabetical order by priority (mine, of course) 1, 2, and 3. Skip to the bottom for my notes, if yall give a crap :)

Bonnaroo

June 9th-12th

Manchester, Tennessee

Bassnectar

The Black Keys

Buffalo Springfield

Florence + the Machine

Gogol Bordello

Grace Potter & the Nocturnals

Lewis Black

Mumford & Sons

Ratatat

Atmosphere

Eminem

LilWayne

Pretty Lights

Amos Lee

Arcade Fire

Beats Antique

Black Uhuru

Chiddy Bang

Cold War Kids

Neon Trees

NOFX

Portugal. The Man

Primus

Robyn

Scissor Sisters

The Strokes

   +more

Summerfest

June 29-July 10th (closed July 4th)

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The Black Keys

Florence + The Machine

Goo Goo Dolls

Maroon 5

311

Britney Spears

Buckcherry

Dropkick Murphys

George Clinton

Katy Perry

Kid Rock

Meat Loaf

Alkaline Trio

Amos Lee

Ben Harper

Blue Oyster Cult

Cage the Elephant

De La Soul

Def Leppard

Finger Eleven

Fuel

Hollywood Undead

Kanye West & Kid Cudi

Los Lonely Boys

Michael Franti

Michelle Branch

Neon Trees

Owl City

Panic! at the Disco

Parachute

Rise Against

Sara Bareilles

Sick Puppies

Stephan Marley

Styx

Sugarland

Switchfoot

Taking Back Sunday

The Bravery

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

Third Eye Blind

Toby Keith

   +lots and lots more

LA Rising

July 30th

Los Angeles, California

Rage Against the Machine

Muse

Lauryn Hill

Rise Against

Immortal Technique

Lollapalooza

August 5th-7th

Chicago, Illinois

City & Colour

Deadmau5

Grace Potter & the Nocturnals

Lykke Li

Muse

Nas & Damian Marley

Ratatat

The Pretty Reckless

Atmosphere

Coldplay

Eminem

Flogging Molly

Foo Fighters

Kid Cudi

Manchester Orchestra

Pretty Lights

The Kills

Beats Antique

Cage the Elephant

Cee Lo Green

Cold War Kids

Crystal Castles

Death from Above 1979

OK GO

Portugal. The Man

  +more

North Coast 
(line-up not fully announced yet)

September 2nd-4th

Chicago, Illinois

Bassnectar

Deadmau5

Gogol Bordello

Ratatat

Daft Punk

David Guetta

Fatboy Slim

Pretty Lights

Steve Aoki

Chemical Brothers

Common

Major Lazer

Of Montreal

It has become evident that my biggest goals this year (aside from ending world hunger) are to see The Black Keys, Gogol Bordello, and Rage Against the Machine. I’ve obviously got my favorites that keep popping up at almost every festival around this year (City & Colour, anyone? Dallas is making his rounds!), and it’s also come to my attention that there are a shit-ton of artists and bands that I have never heard of but should scope, mostly because I keep seeing their names on every festival line-up as well. Who is Skrillex? Best Coast? There were a few other bands I’m taking a mental notes of just because they have glorious names: Rad Bromance, Reptar, Disciples of Christ, The Durdens, Hot Buttered Rum, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Dangermuffin, G. Love & Special Sauce, Surgeons in Heat.

Summerfest has by far the longest list of bands I’ve ever given a shit about, a ton being from my Middle School days: Third Eye Blind, Britney Spears, Dropkick Murphys, Meat Loaf, etc. This would probably be my best and only excuse to ever want to be in Milwaukee, which I’m sure is why they’re so keen on keeping up this festival year after year. I haven’t done enough research into it to find out how it all began, but I do know that it consistently has been the largest music event in the states by attendance. Am I the only one that didn’t know it existed before today?

Bonnaroo has the largest concentration of bands I’ve been passionate about over the past year or so: Bassnectar, The Black Keys, Buffalo Springfield!!!, Florence + the Machine, Gogol Bordello, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Lewis Black (one of my favorite comedians), Mumford & Sons, and Ratatat. Man, if Rage Against the Machine were doing this festival, I’d make the trip to Tennessee for this in a heartbeat. I’d still consider it if I weren’t signing up for classes in Austin during the same weekend. 

In conclusion, I probably should be moving to Chicago in stead of Austin, judging by the combination of  line-ups at Lollapalooza and North Coast (and the fact that they call themselves the friggen North Coast makes me chuckle).

Enjoy your Summer of Music, errbody!

Health & Harmony 2010