the rose man

What could you take from a man who gives nothing?

In hate and in selfish pride you withhold ransom denying those without the fat which they deserve. When Truth she asks, "Ain't I A Woman?" and you pass her by knowing that it's not her just deserve -- you speak without thinking, but what's worse, you think without speaking.
Your selfish, bleeding heart turns you into not just a swine -- an entire hoard. Constantly you slide by them, each time sending a chill up your spine. That's the fingers of sympathy, of compassion and kindness running and grasping for your attention. But instead you treat it as a stray dog with which you cannot find it within yourself to emote not one, NO, not even one ounce of pity despite your knowledge, your experience, your own personal self-worth.
Even if on the rare occasion you actually do notice the man in the wheelchair sitting outside the cafe selling long-stem roses of various colors, does it really cause you to become imbued? Or rather is it simply just scratching for a moment at a scab that can never quite seem to heal?


*Inspired by the documentary "Great Speeches From A Dying World"

silver trees

saw The Delta Spirit last night. played to a small-ish crowd, but more people than they expected were there, and everyone got really into it, so they ended up playing this awesome extended set. but really, this isn't news -- it was expected. because i love them and saw them before when they opened for Cold War Kids which was equally as good.

the real news is this band i found called Big Boots. By far the best local band I've ever heard. They played various styles, but I think the band they were closest to is Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. On the slower songs though, they sounded like good ole' Bobby Dylan sometimes. Yes, my pants, they were creamed. It sucks that they don't have a CD out yet, but they have a couple of songs on their myspace. You should really check out that link. After their hour long set at Juanitas they went to Midtown Billiards and played a 1:30 - 4:00 am set. Sound familiar? Phil Lesh maybe? They have a lot of material and have been playing together for a while. Very tight sounding.

Besides all that, the bassist had one of the most wicked mustaches ever.

cobwebs / spiderwebs

daughter of ohio

Damien Jurado.
Give him a listen.
You won't regret.
Excellent lyrics too.
And that site has 4 downloads.
How's that for a perk?
You don't even have to find it at a store, itunes, or, god forbid, a torrent.

ode to sunshine

Here's the lyrics to one of my favorite songs by Delta Spirit called Streetwalker. I missed them when they came with Nada Surf because I was in Canada, but they are coming back on the 12th. Really pumped for the show.

Streetwalker knows how to strut right
She knows the truth
Bad boys walking through the corridor
God knows what they're gonna do.

Darkness paraded across the headlines:
'Little girl stolen from her bedroom,'
Homeless, beat to death, or put out
Hopeless... greedy and cruel.

Oh why can't I feel for you?
My heart is so black to you--
Oh--

Her head was spinning like a hurricane,
Tina was singing her name
Old men like to rape her in the red light
She's too young and numb to complain

Little boy bought at the age of six,
Down the street he's wearing a dress
Look at his face, you won't see no innocence
He's got so much experience

Oh why can't I feel for you?
They lie, what can I do?

Oh Love, set me free!
Set me free!
Come on and set me free!

Oh Lord, set me free!
Set me free!
Come on and set me free!

Underground... the German Casanova
Underground... The Panamanian Queen
He whispers, "Down here, the law will never find you.
Down here I am your God and King"

It's a sin to sit and just do nothing,
There's a special place in hell for me
Oh God I just gotta do something
I swear to God this is happening--

Oh Love, set me free!
Set me free!
Come on and set me free!

Oh Lord, set me free!
Set me free!
Oh, it could have been me.


Oh Lord, set them free!
Set them free!
It could have been me.

the national

they definitely had one of the best albums of last year.
boxer is one of my favorites still.

john wayne gacy, jr.

learned this song by sufjan stephens tonight:

His father was a drinker
And his mother cried in bed
Folding John Wayne's T-shirts
When the swing set hit his head
The neighbors they adored him
For his humor and his conversation
Look underneath the house there
Find the few living things
Rotting fast in their sleep of the dead
Twenty-seven people, even more
They were boys with their cars, summer jobs
Oh my God

Are you one of them?

He dressed up like a clown for them
With his face paint white and red
And on his best behavior
In a dark room on the bed he kissed them all
He'd kill ten thousand people
With a sleight of his hand
Running far, running fast to the dead
He took of all their clothes for them
He put a cloth on their lips
Quiet hands, quiet kiss
On the mouth

And in my best behavior
I am really just like him
Look beneath the floorboards
For the secrets I have hid

sha la la la la la la la la la la la ti da

possibly doing a bit of recording this weekend.
i really hope so.
it will be with josh's brother's portable stereo thing.
not great, but will do fine for me for sure.
i actually borrowed it for a month or so, but i ended up being sick the whole time.
so i couldn't sing.
it sucked really bad.

anyway, when it goes down, because it will soon or i'm going to go insane, josh is going to help mix which is not the easiest thing to do on that machine. the machine's "review" process is what's lame about it really. but anyway. very shortly there better be music. or somebody better kick my ass.

dylan is the man

"No one is free; even the birds are chained to the sky."

hurts too much

new starsailor song.

excitement floods the city in light

New Ryan Adams.

New Ray Lamontagne.

New Bob Dylan too.

Get ready to rock your socks off.

Choking

Last night I watched the film Choke (Palahniuk -- not that any of you don't know that already).  I was going to actually write a review of it this morning, but before I started I wanted to see what a few other critics had to say about it first.  The first one I came to was a review from the Sundance Film Festival and it said everything i wanted to say.  Read it here.

Basically though, the movie is good.  I would give it a nice, solid B.  Sam Rockwell and Anjelica Huston, esp. Rockwell, MAKE the movie.  Without them I don't think the film would have been nearly as successful.  Rockwell definitely meets the grunge level required for the film.  Obviously this is a movie so parts of the book had to be left out, but the last part of the book, when the stoning takes place, is left out (Sundance explains that it was because of budget issues) and that was disappointing.

Musically:  the soundtrack is amazing, but, and don't get me wrong here -- I LOVE radiohead -- but they closed the movie with RECKONER off of the new album and it didn't fit.  Lyrically you can bend the lyrics to kind of tie it in with ending, but without that the music came out of nowhere and didn't fit the mood.

Sundance also talks about a crappy score, but to be honest, I didn't really pay attention to it most of the time, so I don't think I can even comment on that portion.  I was too wrapped up in the dialogue.

------

Just remember when you see this film, that it is not Fight Club.  They are both good, but also both totally different animals.

Adios.

not right with me

and baby, baby, oh the good times

(rain slicker / overalls brought to you by hurricane ike)
(this is pregame at the lucero show -- not saying what's in that bottle in my hand)

i can fix that hole in you

Jenny Lewis (of Rilo Kiley).

She has a new song for the new album Acid Tongue coming out real soon that goes by the same name.

God...

she is so hot / sexy / talented / you name it.

foundations of a sad romance

i met a friend from Australia at Lollapalooza. Her name is Maddy Phelan and she just recorded 3 songs (quickly and in Montreal) and put them up on myspace. It's extremely good. Very impressive especially her voice; pure and solid. Her phrasing feels very natural, very rhythmic, often singing to the beat and motion of the guitar. I've been trying to figure out who her voice reminds me of, but as of yet all I can think of is Marketa Irglova from the band The Swell Season and the movie Once. You can also check out her blog here.

without further ado:

Maddy Phelan

something anything

(new TRAVIS single)

like beams of light in a star

dylan has a new track called "dreamin' of you"

it's fantastic, of course.

get it here.

dear hst, why, why, why?

gonzo in little rock august 8th.

fucking excited.
finally.

but wait, i'll be out of town that weekend too.
dammit.
when will i ever see this film?

got new:

1) Beck modern guilt
2) Mason Jennings in the ever

both fantastic.
buy them.
download them.
just listen to them.

on the road to hitting bottom

i'm afraid, dear friends, that i may never be able to enjoy another single movie in my life.

batman was that good.

see also:

i am reed fish

check out:

the disturbia soundtrack
(it actually has a few surprises -- though i'm not saying it's awesome. only a few songs are)

read also:

roberto bolano

it is porno.
in the good way.
or is there any other?