Something Else

"It's really diverse. Short of bugging your own friends to come out and see you, after that it's out of my hands by and large who comes to my show. I can only make the music I want to make, and present the image that I feel represents me and hope that the right people get it. Not that there's wrong people. People who come to my shows are all over the place. Kids in high school, 20 something downtown folks like me, people my parents' age, which is really cool. It's all over the place. I'm trying to reach as many people as I can. I want to try and make the music and put on the kind of show that allows anyone to feel like they can come and express themselves and be themselves and be safe and have fun. I would be really worried if I had a demographic niche and everyone were the same that comes to my show."

And this is one of many reasons I love Diamond Rings. Thanks Brooklyn Vegan for this...John O was asked to describe his fanbase, and that's what he said. THis man loves unicorns and wears ghetto printed tshirts that say Diamond Rings. I've seen this man perform to like 5 fuckies at 11 am at sxsw. By the end of his set, there was a massive crowd. yay! I've seen this man be nervous and berated by a sound guy, only to perform the most excellent of sets. I've tried to publish said set to YouTube to no avail ;( I've mumbled and dedicated his lovely lyrics to many friends..Bless him for the split with Ps I Love You cuz PS they rule too. KSpot and I found him at Cheer Up charlies, and he was more than happy to pose for pics..plus his makeup? not a smudge in sight..that's pretty fuckin A for a Canadian in Texas. Yee Haw, y'all!

day off.

i wanna put off TCBing until tomorrow and just read all day. Going to the strand was completely inspiring. Sometimes the life biz gets in the way of the simple pleasure of the afternoon bookage. plus books smell afuckingmazing. and reading is a lot more fun when its designated, and not just right before bed style. at least for me. Fuck the bank, fuck the laundry, fuck the city, i'm embracing the day off. people like resumes right? i'll send some of those out later or maybe even TOMORROW. ahh.

Black Angels are playing for free tonite at mercury lounge. how would that queue look? prolly a bit much, but still haven't been to the mercury in years and its tempting. plus seeing atx bands in ny is super fun.

BUT,

The Hairs and Lower Dens are playing this week and maybe the best thing to do would be to save the inevitable Black Angels beer money and use it for something else. decisions decisions.. clearly i have too much time on my hands....which honestly would rule if i were independently wealthy. sheeeiiiit, i'm not. damn.

ION, most of my favorite tweets this wknd were from pitchfork festival goers in chicago those lucky fuckies...some of the highlights:

-a kid in a cast moshing at No Age
-Cupcakes from Oliver Future
-festival goers being nice to each other cuz one day they'll all be in the same lazer tattoo removal center together, haha
-dads rocking out to some dad rock
-someone's cat mesmerized at the computer screen when cut copy was streaming.. adorable
-nobody has more fun at an ariel pink show than ariel pink.

ok i'm procrastinating on both real shit and fun shit, so i'm out for now. happy mondays everyone.

observation

at the end of the day...the air was so thick and permeated with unspoken envy and competition... everything was briefly normal in a lighting bolt instant...just taunting them with a flash of the past...a giggle, a fleeting memory. We are all here. then the density of reality set in. it always did. and thank you for your times were muttered..the familiar stranger reared its grotesque head, despite resistance. luckily,to be ignored and unfortunately, seen soon enough. the usual. We are all here. then nothing else mattered..it was just two ppl trying to make sense of their surroundings. and one of them muttered, in Russian, "Kak dela?" (how are you?). The situation was sublime in the end, from an optimist's point of view. Later remedies sought and found, a coalition to end the abuse. ahem, accustomed abuse ;) We are all here. later she was reminded that familiar suckage is better than general suckage, and everything made sense. We are all here. even later, it became night and nobody cared about anything but the moment. It was a nice time after all and nobody was there. hearts and goodnite

snippets and blippets

OMG, Captured Tracks pop up store opening when Krissie gets here! In greenpoint, super close... damnit i miss having a record player ... much less a fucking stereo...or a car to plug my ipod in. FUCK, when's christmans again? Well, i'm going, cuz that's where all our boyfriends hand their music over... Thanks as usual to craig for the heads up. oh and for being a total disser on Radiohead and deathcab and generally covering all the bases conversation wise.. obscure musical knowledge, fixed gear bikes, grrr, drug cartels, cocaine drug additives, crack babies, sex drives of our siblings. Yep went there too. @craigz is the jam.
Been revisiting the playin on blip..just a lil commentary, An Horse is great, and totally underblipped. Thanks @Locostavos. currently hearing Bradford Cox at Primavera sound...@pratinsky is kicking out the jams today...tom waits, Atlas sound, yee haw.. Thinking of making a few itunes purchases today..with my meager account balance...just wanna get some stuff..Gardens and Villa perhaps? Burnt Orange? Grooms? getting around to the cults as so recommended? new pump up songs to get ready to? i'm feeling more in the vein of up tempo and aggressively happy. I have a feeling the new future islands will be amazing.. but for now.. choices. love that preview button y'all

its getting nice in here..

its getting to be a good time feeling type of mood. IOW, i'm starting to really enjoy just BEING here. being as in physically as well as socially, contemplatively, and emotionaly all around just being right here. in brooklyn, ny, where i chose to call home about 6 weeks ago. its been fabulously tough, emphasis on both.. i think the whole 3 days off and making plans suited me just fine, a listmaker at heart. The beach yesterday had me smiling cheek to cheek, feeling like an actual kid..a kid that grew up without too much worry, just enough to still look forward to a trip out to the waves. I almost impromptued my "King Of The Beach" routine right on the sand.. i digressed..a 45 minuted jog in the morning had me a lil ready for just lazing..and that i did. afterwards, had a great nite with ex roomie julia, and found my first, admittedly, yet best margarita here to tally. Woods on s. 4th has an excellent taco truck and i was super stoked to get 2 texas fixes...
Today i tcbd and was pleasantly surprised by the pop up listing of Future Islands at Death By Audio tonite.. thought about seeing Puro Instinct and John Maus at glasslands, but the cheap cover and super duper <3 for FI had me giddy..
The set and sound was spectacular.. ive yet to see a show at DBA that isn't sardined packed and sweaty as a steam room on acid. srsly, god bless $1 water bottles! I was still not let down. didn't get 10 arms lengths from the front, but didn't really matter. The opening two songs from first full length Wave like Home were Beach Foam and Little Dreamer..they provided such anticipation for the bulk of the set, hit after hit from Tin Man, Walking Through that door, IOD, and VE.. all so lovely..so many fucking handclappers and even crowd surfers! this crowd had their shit together.. how can you not with such an endearing and comedic front man!?? GAWD!!! Plus two new ones that had been played "4 or 5 times". They were more in the vein of Wave Like Home versus the dancier beat driven In evening Air.. But was totally enthralled..esp since i knew i wouldnt get to see Washed Out in a couple of weeks.. this totally hit the spot. speaking of spots.. K Spot will be here in like two weeks and Mom and Dad this sunday. THese events most likely have an impact on my sudden surge of endorphins..way excited! bro downs with new roomates never hurt, and neither does a good hard jazzericize session (speckled with 2+ routines that i remember from ATX classes. ) So...referencing the list maker, i feel the time to TCB on that right now..just for clear head purposes:
Good Things:
1. Craig goes to shows with me
2. i've live closer to a beach that is more beautiful than any one i've been to in TX
3. Visitors from TX
4. My balcony
5. Naming a bar Old faithful, even though i've been in the hood about a month
6. Patio soon to be , if not already , opened at No Name Bar
7. Trains arriving 3 seconds after entering the platform
8. Cooking at home
9. Discovering foods on the outs..esp
10. Jogging long distances just to see what's next
11. surprise shows
12. Brooklyn Vegan
13. flip flops
14. settling in
15. 24 hour bakeries
16. rice to riches
17. captured tracks
18. lack of clutter
19. walking
20. i haven't locked my keys/phone inside the house..knock on wood!
21. random awesome texts
22. visitors
23. little italy
24. ppl asking me for directions and confident i gave the right info
25. getting to know brooklyn with a jogging stride


dislikes:
1. haven't taken a bus yet
2. not a crazy awesome place to dance has been discovered
3. the L sucks after hours
4. fear of bedbugs and thrift store shopping
5. no bluebell ice cream
6. overheard in new york (my new twitter tag) is kinda gross
7. missing tons of shows due to work
8. leaving my sewing machine and keyboard to gather dust while i miss them
9. Finding my way around the west villiage..daunting
10. fewer laughs, acronyms, and shouting.. must be remedied!!

all in all..things are feeling bright.. weather is nice..looking forward to:
1. rollerskating
2. pies n thighs
3. scarves
3. finishing the book on hasidic judaism
4. Coney Island
5. East River ferry
6. Lower rent, perhaps fingers crossed
7. Local shows/side project collaborations TBD
8. VISITORS!!

ok ok gotta quit with the head space...just had to TCB for the moment.. esp since there's not much space here. luckily, nooks and corners are in exploratory and curios stages.. i can't wait to plop down , make a grass angel and just breathe..then maybe a spelling lesson? forgive me.
xo
erin

Northside festival

Sure was a festival this weekend. Northside Festival in Williamsburg and Greenpoint, very young, very much an in utero sister festival to sxsw, which in my opinion, is a nice thing. Now that i live here among the thick of the area of said festival,i can honestly appreciate the compact geography and smaller size of the northside fest.. versus the beast that is SXSW. even living on the outskirts of sxsw, where i had to bus or car it ,i could still bitch about the shows taking over my favorite venues and bars knowing i didn't have a space to call home...that means YOU Nomad bar, Longbranch Inn, etc..i love you but i want a quite calm amongst the storm ;) But here, yeah, it was small enough to where the venues didn't amass into a complete takeover and a lot of the shows were in sepparate rooms from the hangout bar area. Plus, I could walk everywhere, including home, yeah!! That said, i enjoyed both aspects..the shows and the scene. i must say i was most enamoured with X-Ray Eyeballs, an apparent brooklyn fave introduced to me by my go to goer of shows, craig (!!!) They had me hooked on first listen and nearly took down the ceiling at death by audio at an unofficial showcase this past weekend. I had visions of shapes have fangs or the apeshits or one of Penny's many projects at beerland as i listened. Ass shots, weiner shots, you name it :


also caught The Oh Sees as said venue, the sweatiest, DIYest, smokiest indoors, you could walk by and miss it totalliest venue i've been to here. They killed it.

Surprise sneak in to Music hall of Williamsburg brought Thelonius London, and honestly was captivated. Never a fan before. Clueless in fact. But i see the rage now...

Other highlights included a decent outdoor set by wavves, who was much funner w/ KSpot at FFF BTW...it was a weird setup..the crowd was blocked 10 feet from the steve madden stage and apparently nathan was a lil under the weather..Still played my faves and i was happy to see it, big as all Jesus pot leaf T shirts and all. Beirut gave me a new reason to love them playing on the same stage...go figure. Surfer Blood gave me chills with Catholic Pagan, and GBV did 3 fucking encores. yes emphasis on 3 and fucking, cuz these dudes have been around the block and still do kicks and mic swinging, yelling.. and 3 encores. Woven Bones show also blew my mind and cant hardly believe the transformation of Andy and his new crew. A +

Last day i opted for Blair and Airwaves at Glasslands... super duper cool to see Blair solo, WOW! and despite sound and mix issues, Airwaves brought the songs that made me smile. Go Knock Out.

I also became infatuated with Fergus and Geronimo..a brooklyn band that i'd heard of but never experienced. I heard TV personalities, The Clean, Gogol Bordello, and all kinds of gypsy craziness and i figured an accordian would make its way on stage at some point.
In other Hardly Art news, i saw Collen Green (the east coast version of Best Coast) and was amped TTM hearing her solo and electric. Sweet lady and a drum machine, a guitar, pink sunglasses, and a voice that made me jealous. YES.

Above and beyond, a great weekend.. missed diamond rings and the strange boys, atlas sound, porcelain raft, reading rainbow, and Dom. whatcha gonna do? I was able to work and see shows and get paid. That spells FUCK YEAH in my lil book.
Speaking of pay, more of it woulda resulted in a splurge to see Foster The People and Gardens and Villa ... or a venture out to see Hooray for Earth DJ in Greenpoint last night.. but rest was much needed.
Many more brooklyn musings to come... so many more i could type for hours..but the sun comes up early here and i have readily available project runway to watch..more to come after a lil R and R and cable TV xoxo

Hello New York!

i arrived in the lovely Brooklyn last wednesday..and i've had no time to do anything but drag my booty all over this burrough looking for a fucking apartment. The search has been maddening, frustrating, and enlightening. I thought i had discretion and selective skills when dealing with our friend craigslist, however...I came upon a couple of trainwrecks as of late. 1) Beer-drinking, advice-giving, compulsive cig- smokin in the middle of the afternoon lady (i think) who was slightly successful at her attempts to grow a beard. That was awesome...i mean no judgement, live your life, just prolly not a good fit for me and and the 2 other people who were involved with the living situation. NEXT
2) damn seriously had to body spray myself after goin into this one dudes place..rust and mold and who-knows-what smell from his kitties, rain leaking thru roof, and i think he had an aversion to using the lights...dungeon y'all....Sheesh, i vanillafied myself immediately after so as to not offend the next apartment owner! dude, i wll not be cast out as a big fat smelly NO WAY upon arrival just cuz i was dumb enough to actually think this apt was liveable...and after you fell asleep and never called...after you still have the place for rent even though its 700 ABP in a prime williamsburg location. no wonder.
I'm not even that clean, girly, or prissy...and i've seen some shitty apts in my time in this city..but wowzass So...the search goes on...and buying a can of soda for a buck and a half just to pee somewhere..lets keep it up.. woo hoo!

more important news, aka fun in new york news: i finally met one of my blip friends, Craigz. We met for Karaoke Underground on saturday. This was awesome, my first nite to actaully go out and have a lil fun here. Craigz (yes, its habit to add that z, his name is craig) is fuckin A!! we had a blast, he was an excellent sport and we sang the vaselines "Son of a Gun" with Julia...and then later Julia and i sang "Damaged Goods.) The stage was really elevated and the crowd was so excited..it was like a normal concert of covers of your favorite songs. Congrats KU, i think you have won the crowd over!

Last nite, after a brief ray of sunshine in apartment hunting forecast, i was feeling like celebrating and catching my first show. God bless Craigz for getting me to go.. I saw Widowspeak and The Vivian Girls at 285 Kent, a nice converted warehouse with white walls, black graffiti, high ceilings, a disco ball, and a makeshift bar that actually served wine, but more importantly, $3 budweisers..OMG!
Widowspeak was gently sweet, but the real treat was vivian girls. i admittedly wasn't crazy about them 3 years ago during sxsw...not disappointed, just a lil curious about why so much hype to come..anyhow, i was certainly willing to see the newer and more developed VGs...sooo not let down! fandom resurrection!! First off, the band is now only 3 ladies (saw them with 4 or 5 before). This set up is essential for this band, there need not be any frills here..and they sound a lot tighter. Second, the sound -after a few micpops/crackles from the monitor- was pretty fucking great. Third, these girls stole my heart with their set...it ran the spectrum from a punked-out Lush to a sweet and more savory Holly Golightly. These songs flowed in and out of one another, even with the tempo changes and dynamics of each. Mad props to the set order and the entire set in general. Lastly, it was fucking refreshing to see a band back from tour, playing at home, unfazed by the sound mishaps, and in a proper sized venue. I think the VGs thrive in a setting like this over a festival type space, displaced from the crowd and serious fans. It was a perfect way to see em..despite what Craigz deemed a "hipster moshpit" to our left. I am soo happy i went.

Coming up is the Northside festival all over brooklyn...not sure exactly how its gonna work since i'm a rookie, but the line up is pretty swell. holiday shores, GBV, wavves, takka takka, the black hollies, atlas sound, sooo many!! i'll shut up cuz who knows if i'll even see anything.

And so it goes.. one week down. I have to find an apartment and start getting on with life. Its amazingly weird not having a job or a home. Amazingly awesome regarding the job. Im blessed for Julia's space and her lovely roomates.. but i feel unable to accomplish anything without cultivating my own space. Attitude has been up and down, but all in all, it has to get better. Patience is a virtue. I'm ready for a dance nite. I can't believe its been a whole month since i've danced and i'm 3 weeks in to jazzercise withdrawal. suck sucks..i need some advice in those departments.. No Jsize at the YMCA in greenpoint, but aerobic dance and punk rope? those sound fun.

ok, off to the races for now. umbrella and quarters in tow.