Friday Night Fights

I almost forget that it's time for a new episode of Rock'em Sock'em iBots...

Scout's bot is going down.

1. American Minor - Walk On
   
2. Archers Of Loaf - Harnessed In Slums
   
3. London Suede - Carck In The Union Jack
   
4. Steven Malkmus & The Jicks - Fractions And Feelings
   
5. Temporary Thing - Out The Door
   
6. Radiohead - Pyramid Song
   
7. Tall Grass Captains Of Greater Chicago - Countless Days On
   
8. Descendents - Cheer
   
9. The Psychedelic Furs - The Ghost In You
   
10. Chad VanGaalen - Somewhere I Know There Is Something
    

The Pick (me) Up - pt. II

Roman - I Found Love
I found love
in my office
and i dove
under the table

I did say i had a "couple," so here's part two of the pair. this song is like opening a box of puppies on speed (the puppies are on speed, not you. but maybe if you ask the puppies, they saved you some...) - bursting out and romping everywhere. lot's of jumping and pawing and licking and exhuberance and shamelessness.

i found love
on my shoulders
in my feet
and in my hands
and down my bones
and out my heart
so i will never
fall apart

The Pick (me) Up

Tiger Tunes - Pancake America
I've been flipping through tracks all day looking for something to give you a little boost. not the depressive mopey Neutral Milk Hotel type stuff or songs about dancing in the round. i think i've got a couple that are worth the wait. so here's a song about ... pancakes. the kind of pancakes you make after tripping on mescaline. now these aren't just any post-mescaline pancakes. The post-mescaline pancakes of which he sings are special for two reasons, as pointed out on fluxblog:

1) The flap jacks are made of love
2) They were made in america. which is really only special if, like Tiger Tunes, you're from Denmark.

cheers.

Oct 20 - Troubadour - The Gossip

The Gossip
w. We Are Wolves, The Sharp Ease

Now look - i love me the momma-dykes. the big ol' moustached, greasy-coifed, certified big denim cuffed momma-dykes. i also love the rock & roll. the ripping guitars and blues beaten wail of the rock. and roll. the roll too. i mean, i'm not gonna lie - i like the rock MORE than the roll, but the roll is cool. i like roll. it's just gotta be the right roll.

casting aside my digressions, The Gossip are a powerhouse of the rock. specifically the momma-dyke rock. all the left-over bikini kill fans who couldn't get into le tigre? they're into the gossip now. the gossip are loud, raw rock and roll the way white, floppy haired guys in the late 60's used to like it. But big bluesy rock is a staple of the Dim Mak diet. so what do you do for a side dish?

well, apparantly you have we are wolves open, but i don't really know them, so i'll talk about the sharpe ease. Reader, meet the sharp ease (if you haven't already) there's a little more delicacy to these post-punkers. a little more danceable pop and shake to the gossip's throb and stomp. but it's got pleanty of drive to keep up with the gossip. their last record 'going modern' was excellent. i know they've been an LA staple for some time, but i only got on board last year.

The Gossip - Don't (Make Waves)
The Sharp Ease - Patio Chair

Do They Know?

It's Halloween?

This song has everything good. so many hot guys and hot ladies singing hot vocals on this song of infinite hotness. and now it's has a hot-ass video to go along with it and all it's awesomeness. the visual on david cross' "oh my god in heaven" line is brilliant.

Find the Video Here

It's a little over 30 megs, so you better be on high speed for this one.

the rain brings itself

and i wouldn't mind at all if it brings itself right back. i'm more than little disapointed it stopped. i was enjoying walking out the door and into the damp. the way this city - any city - looks wet... everything looks more purposeful. more alive with intent. it takes on a different brand of resilience in the rain. less defiance, more resolve. it was inspiring my favorite songs the last couple days... let me know if i'm off on any of the lyrics.

The Rose Buds - Hold Hands And Fight
i have told myself i know
a thousand ways to leave this place
we must tie our shoes on tight
for the march ahead through sleepy beds
and we'll get by
and we tell ourselves one more time
we get by
and we brace ourselves and hold our hands and fight

Beat Radio - Treetops
the treetops of my mind
my hearts keeping time
in the basement of my head
i remember what you said
on the jukebox in a bar
i heard the sound of old guitar
changed something in my brain
and i've never beeen the same

doing something wrong

Magnolia Electric Co - Doing Something Wrong
listen all the way through before you try to interpret this one. Jason Molina is one of the greatest song writers alive today. around the 1:20 mark, you'll hear Mike Kapinus' trumpet line kick in - which brings up this next track...

Okkervil River - No Key, No Plan
Mike Kapinus played trumpet on okkervil river's black sheep boy. Lest you think i'm depressed and morbid, this song has one of the more uplifting/defiant refrains i've heard in a while...
you never earned your soul
i know - but i'm gonna try

From Emmylou, Straight To ... Robyn?

Emmylou Harris - Icy Blue Heart

i don't know if it's the rain or the waking up cold or that i fell asleep next to my sketch book. whatever it is, that song is stuck on infinite repeat today and it is absolutely destroying me exactly how i want to be destroyed. in fact, the song is so good, i'm going to dedicate a song to myself on behalf of that song.

if you're keeping score at home: Emmylou Harris' Icy Blue Heart is dedicating the following song to me:

Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians - I Wanna Destroy You

* Correcction - I Wanna Destroy You was originally recorded by the Robin Hitchcock fronted Soft Boys - not the Egyptians.

the best reading online is at...

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/mis/104799976.html

LA Represents.

In case this link dies, i'll reprint it here...

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You...being shoved in the back of a squad car... - m4w - 27

Reply to: anon-104799976@craigslist.org
Date: 2005-10-17, 4:11PM PDT

I shouted "fuck the police"...you made the black panther fist. You got tasered, I got goosebumps. Your hair is very pretty. Let's chat.

* this is in or around The Moon
* no -- it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

---

"you got tazered, i got goosebumps" that's line of the show right there, folks...

hot whites

Tangiers - Shoestrings

a few weeks back, i went looking for a pair of vans for a most near-and-dear compatriot. melrose sportie la - my personal idealized version of star shoes - let me down just a bit but only in the most taoist kind of way (todays misfortune being the seeds to tomorrows rise and all). i bought her a pair of red and white checkered vans which, thankfully, didn't quite fit. i'd only gone to sportie because kicks on larchmont closed 15 minutes early and i wasn't in the mood to bust down a glass door to swipe the hot pink and black vans in a 6 (or was it a 7?) ... anyway, after the near-and-dear and i played a quick round of cinderella with the red-and-whites outside earl, it was determined that the slippers would have to go back. this lead to a store credit at sportie. needless to say, a day later i hit up kicks before they locked their doors to pick up the hotties in pink and black and dropped them off over at cinderella's (the girl, not the hair band). "but what happened to that store credit" you ask? ahhhh, well... the store credit became a pair of optical white low top chucks. not just chucks, but genuine made-in-the-usa chucks. golden ticket style.

this morning as i dragged my bike downstairs for the first time in weeks to ride to work in a thin layer of post thunder storm heat, white chucks on my feet, i couldn't help but smile at the prospect of scuffing up a new set of chucks.

there's nothing like watching the story take shape on some shiny white canvas all stars.

Octoberfest

so by my count this latest mix brings the august/september/october tally to ... 6 formal mix tapes - which is a breakneck pace by my standards. much like pimpin': it ain't easy, but it sure is fun.

1. Hey Willpower - Hundredaire
   
2. Immaculate Machine - Phone Number
   
3. Humanzi - Not sure what the title on this one is
   
4. Oranger - Radiowave
   
5. No Hands - Sleeves
   
6. Action - Somthing To Say
   
7. French Kicks - White
   
8. The Cribs - I'm Alright Me
   
9. The Presets - Down Down Down
   
10. Dragonette - I Get Around
    
11. Robyn - Crash And Burn Girl
    
12. Hollertronix - Tippin Toxic
    
13. Kano - Remember Me
    
14. Vitalic - Mr Friend Dario
    
15. Sleeper - Cunt London
    
16. Agent Simple - Make A Right At...
    
17. Why - Rubber Traits
    
18. Off You - Breeders
    
19. Don Covay - A Woman's Love
    

hope you dig it as much as it digs you.