i'm in love with a ripper

if you weren't at the empty bottle last night, you missed one helluva dance party. yacht always brings their a-game, but last night was especially retarded. love these two. they brought on bobby birdman and a drummer to back em up in lieu of their typical av projection and drum machine synth get up. dancing. drinking. dancing and way more drinking. what other venue can you get a pint of bells and a shot of whiskey on a sat night for $5.50? and what other show will rock mad crazy dance moves. i got a bunch of vids too, but drunken jodi is SHOUTING the words to all the songs, so to spare myself mad embarassment i'm opting to keep them off youtube this time around. i really hope these dudes rock sxsw this year. soooo much fun dot com.

for realzies.

missin' my momz

being sick + unemployed + having no energy = suck. not being able to call my mom up and receive her mommy comfort = more suck. but how can i tell her about the job situation? she'll just freak out. can't freak out my momz, i'm "the rock." the stable one. can't let her down. so instead, i'm lying in bed - worrying myself sick with this neverending hacking cough. sometimes, i just really miss the simpler days. where i wore a red velvet jumper and could still fit on my mom's lap. and jamie had a wicked 80's hair-do. and i still loved the taste of syrupy dimetap. some of my fondest memories were as a little girl, falling asleep with my head on my mom's lap as she'd crochet and i'd drift into slumberland with the rotation of her arms, swaying me into a trance. waking up drowsily as she would carry me draped on her shoulder,  into my room and tuck me in. if i was sick, having her pet my hair and place a warm/cold washcloth on my head, telling me everything will be ok. and actually, believing her. why do we have to ever grow up? i wanna barf all over my germs. teach them a g'damn lesson for messing with the wrong broad.

soundtrack to unemployment : my new obsession vol. 1

Ok, so yeah, I'm prob milking this not working thing to death but whatever. As you're all aware, I'ma try to focus more on music related shit until it's time to get off my extended vacation and get back to work. While I actually have been pretty content with recent musical finds as of late (hello phantogram!), I'm in the mood to revisit and discover some older traxx I prob should have dug up years ago. And the past few weeks I finally decided to flirt with the smidgeon of a handful of siouxsie & the banshees tracks on my ipod - while I only had a few, (face to face, happy house, peek-a-boo, hong kong garden), it was enough to get me smitten.

i'm almost kind of ashamed i never really knew what this british 80's post-punk/new wave/gothic staple was all about. apparently they started out obsessed with what the sex pistols had going on and even recruited sid vicious to temporarily join their outfit with a later on/off obsession of outspoken fan, robert smith of the cure. i've read in interview and interview, time and time again, that pretty much anyone who is or has been relevant in the music scene has been somehow inspired by this group, (i.e. lcd soundsystem, santigold, massive attack, tricky, the smiths, garbage, jeff buckley, radiohead, the list goes on and on). . .

but still. never really paid much attention. i remember, (albeit vaguely), my first actual exposure to this goth-pop orchestral dancey soundtrack. i was at some party of a friend of a friend last winter. i knew maybe 3 people in this apartment packed full of pretentious drunk hipsters. it was a kinda depressing time for me and i wasn't really in the mood to be at this american apparel hellhouse. but when i went into the bathroom, there was a casette player atop of the toilet tank, playing a scratchy, warped casette tape. i remember being cranky and pretty damn drunk and thinking, wait - what is this. glancing at the tape, reading siouxsie & the banshees and thinking, 'go figure, damn hipsters, just jonesin' for some indie cred." despite enjoying the 45 or so seconds it took me to drunkenly urinate, i vowed to get the hell out of the house and forgot all about it.

damn. now that i've gotten a taste, i can't get enough. i've downloaded '83's nocturna (which i think is a live album), '84's hyaena and just purchased one of several greatest hits' comps, 92's collection twice upon a time.

now i think its time for me to apply some heavy ass black eyeliner, douse my head in a can of aquanet, tear up some fish net stockings and go brood into my own reflection in the dark. goddamn, i love the 80's. next up i hope to reignite my angst/passion for the cure and stumble upon any additional 80's noisepop post-new wave delectables or perhaps educate myself on some late 70's punk.

here's to uncle sam footin' the bill.

Why is it that Thurs SXSW edition is always the tuffest?

Bah, so apparently mob, schubas/lincoln hall, death + taxes, fader fort and filter are all competing on thursday. filter/fader no biggie, they're e'ryday. but shit, check out this line-up: http://filtermagazine.com/index.php/rsvp/sxsw/ Thursday's obvs where it's at - Minus the Bear, Uffie and Miike Snow? shit girl shit. life can be so hard sometimes. . .

check out my khaki dick!!!!!

it's official. i do NOT understand fashion. some wackjob (pun intended, har har), fashion designer by the name of isabel mastache debuted these "slacks" at madrid's fall/winter 2010 fashion week. i think i'd prefer my man to just let it all hang out naturally and save the scratch that would be spent on these pantalones on buying me some pizza. but that's just me.

T minus 24 Days

until texass. i just wrote down all the names of old/new friends alike who i'll be kickin it with and this year is holy crap crew for sure. i'll know something like 15 close homies, it's gonna be the bestest. to get in the spirit of thangs, I just killed some time viewing some of my youtube vids from last year. i forgot how many stellar acts i caught and how good the vid ops are at fader fort day parties. i think it's hilarious i have damn near 2,000 hits from my shaky shitty kanye vid of love lockdown. man, i love ye.

but damn, will this year hold a candle to last year's highlights? i mean, i can't say i found too much new stuff other than miss janelle monae - but a brief taste of what i did catch. . .

cursive
amanda palmer, again, & again (covering radiohead, on ukelele, even)
we have band (we have forgotten, already)
pains of being pure at heart (wow. dance moves, dude.)
handsome furs (love love love them)
wavves (this kid is such a gabie brat)
natalie portman's shaved head (hey, after several complimentary budweiser tallboys, you can pretty much get down to anything)

so this year. . . i'm looking forward to the fader fort, again, obvs. lincol hall/schuba's is showcasing a pretty solid chicago set with hood internet, sharon von etten (who i caught opening for final fantasy/owen pallett a month or so back), and a few others. muzzle of bees has a day time gig with peter wolf criier and some others i can't seem to recollect at the moment. death + taxes has a decent line-up, i wanna say the japandroids are headlining. . . terrorbird + forcefield pr has got a stellar day party with neon indian representing amongst others. and there's still hella events not announced yet; crazy how it all comes out at the last minute.

whatever happens, i'm sure a week in sunshine with fists full of shiner bock and hannah montanna notebooks will do me good. bat caves. dalmations. girlfrands. forget about this unemployment shit and just focus on some mad new beats.

3 weeks and counting. . .

Jodi + St. Vincent = Star Crossed Lovers

I almost feel like St. Vincent and I are some pair of star crossed lovers. That might be pushing it a bit, but the past 3-4 times I’ve tried to see her live, something or another has prevented it last minute from coming to fruition. Used to the disappointment, I was a bit on the skeptical side so I wouldn’t get my hopes up when I got confirmation for her Thursday night at the Metro.  Well, sweetheart, I’m pretty sure after last night, we are meant to be. Along with several others in the sold-out full house Chicago venue, I finally had my Annie Clark rite of passage--and I gotta say, I had severely underestimated what this mighty songbird guitaress rock star is capable of.

Unsure what to expect, I wound up getting in just as St. Vincent had kicked the set off around the 10:00 PM mark. It was as if I had walked into a lush, sweet dream sequence twisted with honey dripped madness – the band was in full throttle, in the midst of “Save Me from What I Want,” with a gorgeous Miss Clark slyly seducing the mic. The next hour passed in an incredible whirlwind – Clark is definitely more than a pretty face with a nice set of lungs – the girl can wail on her guitar and she owns the stage. Even with her petite feminine frame and full head of curls, Clark makes rocking look simple  with her adorable stage banter and walking in place, strutting dance moves.  The orchestration of the back-up band was downright jaw dropping; from the variety of chimes, keys and light percussion to the smooth sounds of sax, the light flute and clarinet melodies, dreamy violins and of course, heavy guitar work and molasses-coated harmonic vocals, I felt as if I had stumbled into a twisted, party dimension from Alice in Wonderland.

Clark and co. primarily showcased several tracks from “Actor,” along with a handful of “Marry Me” numbers as well. Perhaps the highlight of the evening, however, was Clark’s adorable spoken interpretation of Ice Cube  – “I mean, how nice is it to have someone cook you breakfast?,” she joked – “You don’t get your car jacked either – I feel like that happened a lot in the 90’s – wait do carjacking still happen? Things to think about after the show, maybe not with the mic.” Charisma at its best, Clark continued to woo the crowd with her simple humor, “He wins at dominos and craps, then meets a girl he bones, smokes hydro and gets drunk – When I say this aloud, it’s not as romantic as I thought. . .” Half expecting her to start into some folksy rendition of “It was a Good Day,” I was not let down in the least when she instead led into her “folky, melancholy analog to Ice Cube,” – a cover of Jackson Browne’s “These Days.” Eloquent and heartwarming, girl killed it.

Closing her sweet one-night affair with Chicago, whom she reflected upon saying multiple times how nice it was to be back playing, after having “spent many nights here doing terrible things, so it’s nice to do constructive things . . . for the planet,” Clark concluded the set with a 2-song encore with a solo rendition of Marry Me’s “Paris is Burning” and the band, backed-up, “Your Lips are Red.” Every detail, from the Metro’s sharp acoustics, quality of sound, and warm, red/blue and green/violet lighting and overall energy contributed to what I believe may be one of 2010’s top stellar performances. Until you see St. Vincent live, you may never know Miss Clark’s full musical capabilities – while her recordings are beautiful and melodic, her live performances are pure majesty, magnified tenfold.

Setlist:

&Save Me from what I Want

&lLaughing with a Mouthful of Blood

&lActor out of Work

&lJesus Saves, I Spend

&lJust the Same but Brand New

&lThe Bed

&lThese Days (Jackson Browne cover)

&lBlack Rainbow

&lMarrow

&lThe Party

&lParis is Burning (solo – encore)

&lYour Lips are Red (encore)

where is my wallet? :: i heart sell-outs

so yeah. if it weren't for selling out, i'da never seen my fave band ever the pixies. since they pretty much hate each other and broke up in the early 90's, i figured seeing them live would be as likely as a nirvana tour. however, frank black listens when money talks, and even though he blatantly admits that it's all about the "fucking money" and not about the "artsy fartsy," i don't care. he was interviewed saying that yeah, surfer rosa and cmon pilgrim tours could be a possibility if the promoters set it up.

well after catching their initial reunion tour in 2005 and the doolittle tour this past november, i say to you frank black or black francis or whoever the hell you wanna be referred to as - YES PLEASE. can you even imagine??? doolittle's great and all, don't get me wrong - but surfer rosa is my IT album. i mean, seriously. . . just imagine:

1. bone machine (YOU TRY TO MOLEST ME IN THE PARKING LOT. YUP, YUP YUP YUP)
2. break my body
3. something against you
4. broken face
5. gigantic 
6. river euphrates
7. where is my mind? (my bro would dig this one)
8. cactus
9. tony's theme (channelling miss tessa hernandez - THIS IS A SONG ABOUT A SUPERHERO NAMED TONY, IT'S CALLED TONY'S THEME)
10. oh my golly!
11. vamos
12. i'm amazed
13. brick is red

. . . and then i would die and go to heaven. or hell. or that place religious people believe in when your soul is in turmoil and you're just floating around all confused and stuff. i wouldn't care, because i'd have seen surfer rosa. i really like the pixies. reminds me of a simpler time. . . when i was 18 in the all-girl dorm, parker hall (virgin vault, four floors of whores, etc), living down the hall from quinn & tessa and snacking on tessa's wheat thins, bouncing around to bone machine with fight club playing in the background. elimidate. calling boys creepy. being mega radiostars. the football house. strolling in the woods. runs to hudson taco bell.

ahhh. nostalgia. the pixies. friends.

here's to selling out.

Phantogram - Schuba's, Chicago - 2/17/10 (The day I got laid off)

If members of The xx, Metric and The Kills managed to produce some form of love child, (or children, rather), in a hot, musical orgy, the final result would sound a lot like Phantogram. This Saratoga Springs native outfit first came across my radar this past October at CMJ. The 30 or so minutes I had spent in a random bar basement checking this sexy, sultry synth pop duo stood out as the most impressionable find in my week long NYC adventure and I knew this shit was about to blow up. Fast forward to last night, where I joined a mass pack of friends and other eager fans at Schuba’s to find my prediction to have come more than true.


Opening up the night was Illegal Art’s Junk Culture, who typically presents as a two-man outfit, but was missing his drummer due to “getting married, which is a pretty good excuse,” as Deepak Mantena explained to the crowd. My first time hearing Junk Culture, it was pretty decent for having to pull off as a one-man show. Homey leapt around behind his synth set up, at one point even jumping into and around the crowd like a sweaty, mad, animal outta the cage. The set was very Animal Collective-esque, and you could totally tell he shares his label residence with Girl Talk with all his dancey influences. Even though JC may not have the reason I was there, I gotta give credit to Mantena for his enthusiasm and energy – at one point he even led the crowd into a Happy Birthday sing-a-long for Sarah, (who, I’m assuming is the same Sarah as Phantogram) and other members of the audience who drunkenly shouted their way into inclusion (thanks Caroline, but it was NOT my birthday). All in all, it was a decent warm-up for what was about to come.

Around 10:20, Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel approached the dark, intimate stage illuminated by strobe effects and an intense audiovisual backdrop of city scenes. Murmurs of eager anticipation floated amongst the enveloped crowd, “This is gonna be so good,” and more than a handful of “Oh my god’s!” built and eventually ceased as the club exploded with bass, combustive guitar action and mad synth work. The next forty-five or so minutes of the set passed like a dream – the sound was top notch and the chemistry between Carter and Barthel was undeniable. Barthel seemed to channel a lush vocal style similar to Emily Haines, which complimented the sultry and sexy contributions of her partner.

The AV presentation transitioning from city night life to country fields took the audience on a secret journey into a digital underground of pulsing bass, electrified guitar, entrancing synth work and sexy vocals. Their hypnotic, pounding, electronic lullabies lulled the crowd into a deep trance – subconsciously getting everyone to move in unison, while being both mesmerizing and unforgettable at the same time. The transition from track to track in the set was seamless, and the coordinating black rockstar uniform sporting duo owned the night. I can honestly say that I have not enjoyed a show to this extent in quite some time. For only two people, they sure made a helluva loud sound. Dark, dancey glam pop at its very best – Phantogram is going to own 2010.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uqVp-RNIgM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVT9cZxCeSI

What About Your Frieeeeends?

oh my god. dudes. i am one of the luckiest girls in the world. i am surrounded by genuine, awesome, supportive people in my life. and i am so grateful, so thanks, dudes.

for those of you who haven't heard da' werd yet, i got laid off yesterday. it was my 3-year mark in january - where i was wasting away in corporate america, as an account supervisor for a communication event planning company. it was far from my dream job, but despite my lack of passion, it was tolerable and not too bad of a gig. decent salary, benefits, met some great people. but, of course, the company was hit with a new VP and "restructuring plan," which resulted in me and a few others being laid off.

it happens.

i'm being extremely positive about the entire situation now though. i realize with the help of uncle sam and a devoted job hunt, i'll be on my own two feet again in no time. but first - i'm going to take the next month for some much needed self reflection, re-evaluation of what i am passionate about, and figure out some sort of life path. re-charge my batteries, if you will.

i'm going to write, dudes. i'm going to network. apply for some internships at local venues. introduce myself to people in the chicago music scene. get out there! i've got a good start, already know some pretty good folks in the scene. focus on reviews. revamp my resume. pursue my passion! sxsw will be a great networking experience, im feeling good about it. if, after, my 30-something day plan, i'm still where i'm at today, i'll rejoin my fellow corporate bees and get a day job. but who knows? i think this will be great for me mentally. if i don't land a job at a venue or as a writer, fine. there's no shame in bartending or serving for a bit. meet some new folk, get a job where i don't sit on my ass for 9 consecutive hours. help me get back to my ideal physical shape, mental state, you know - be happy?

i'm excited. for reals. sometimes it takes involuntary action to get where you need to be. i got laid off, ok, that sucks. but now i have this opportunity to really do what i want whereas i wouldn't have had the guts before.

and plus, i have excellent friends. last night all my peeps joined me at a spectacular concert at one of my fave venues. phantogram was incredible, and it was amazing being with everyone. getting laid off = pity free drinks! everyone was so compassionate and supportive. drinks were had. dancing commenced. hugs and high fives. lots of supportive text messages. i just can't thank you all enough. i love you all so much. thanks for helping me  start my new life. i'm pretty excited. . . friends, family, a great boyfriend, a cuddly kitty, and now finally - i can focus on what i WANT in life and deserve.

there, that's my sappy segment for the day. stay tuned for updates on jodi life path in the near future. . .