I know I said I wouldn't talk about personal stuff... but whatever. My brother is going through a divorce. Yikes. And he's got two kids. The woman he's divorcing is this caucasian, nice, but neurotic woman who I guess is a little too nuts for my brother to handle. He's kept their 2-year-long separation a secret until now. And then the news poured out about how he's getting divorced. I just spoke to him and he's totally just happy.
Understand I practically grew up with him and his relationship with this woman. So I, in the midst of my 20s, hear my brother talking about he's getting so much pussy and what-not. It's just kind of fucking bizarre. He's a different person. He used to be more reserved. Now he's kind of a douche. But I love him anyway. Just strange. He's getting numbers from strippers and shit. Fuck, dude.
I don't want to be like that. Please, people. Don't let me be like that. At fucking 40 years old.
I've been listening to this one Joy Orbison song on repeat for the past hour. Hyph Mngo is totally epic in its airy, effervescent glory.
I posted up a Spring Break playlist more than a week ago, and Spring Break is, to say the least, pretty much over. What a week, man. I'd rather not go into full detail as to what happened during the break, since I've totally given up talking about any type of personal history or issues on this blog. I did go to Orlando, though, and throughout my trip and after, I was heavily into a lot of pop shit. Good pop shit, though. I mean I feel it's pretty good.
1. Lady Gaga - Bad Romance/Telephone Throughout the past couple of months, I've been growing a huge admiration for Lady Gaga. I'm not quite sure why. Well maybe I do; I can probably pinpoint a couple of reasons. A) On her Monster Ball Tour, her preface/intro performance had some kinda performance video art type shit with her in like this raggedy white dress and some chick vomiting next to her. Meanwhile, Zomby's Tears in the Rain played in the background. It was totally rad and gave her a shit-ton of credibility in my book... because vomiting and Zomby aren't usually two factors to pinpoint on a mainstream pop star. B) Her style exhibits a complete abandon of independent/alternative mentality. She is on the polar opposite side of the culture spectrum. She is pop. But... there is definitely a sense of parody and over-the-top play to her performance. And it's just that: a performance. She's probably a genius. Somehow? and C) Her songs are undoubtedly catchy. Bad Romance is pretty annoying at first listen and Telephone has criminally dumb lyrics (Just a second; it's my favorite song they're gonna play/and I cannot text you with a drink in my hand, eh? ) Ugh. But the fact that each songs' play count keeps increasing by the hour gives Lady Gaga an advantage over shit like Local Natives, a band I cannot get into.
2. Nelly Furtado - Promiscuous Girl This song is definitely a throwback and spawned onto the scene after a major sonic transformation for Nelly Furtado, a Canadian songstress mostly known for her intimate, folky relationship with nature and those ridiculous parachute/bell-bottoms jeans. But here she's all unchaste and shit. Man, see all these songs contain amazing hooks. And y'know, sometimes it's good to take a break from Wolf Eyes and Boredoms to listen to something that has a melody. And this song has a great hook/chorus. Timbaland is goofy as always, constantly face acting every time he's in a music video. Nelly Furtado is just sexy, man. And after having this song rehash into your life while drinking a Landshark at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, you kind of feel ashamed to even sing-a-long. But you forgot that I don't care.
3. Drake - Over God, finally Drake is putting something out that's not on a mixtape or on anyone else's album. I'm a really big fan of Drake and his So Far Gone mixtape was one of my favorites last year. This one is just epic, with string arrangements and a beat that shreds. Along with some ridiculous lines (I can't complain/Everything is kosher/two thumbs up/Ebert and Roeper; Haha whatever, dude) and swagger to beat, Drake is coming into his own. It's about time.
4. Caribou - Odessa I'm not sure how this isn't Erlend Oye, because Dan Snaith does not sound like this on Andorra or Up In Flames or any of his other albums. But this song is just awesome. It''s got a great hook with diverse arrangements, and it gives a lot of complexity to standard electro-pop beats. Just a good song.
5. Slim Dunkin - 80's Baby (feat. D-Bo, Dae Dae and Waka Flocka Flame) I just really like this song a lot. I'm not quite sure why I do. It's catchy and the chorus stays in your head. I was born in the 80s. You also find out that most of these guys are pretty much my age. And Waka Flocka Flame continues to be one of the silliest people on So Icey, which says a lot when he shares house with someone like OJ Da Juiceman and Gucci Mane-- considered like a godfather of trap rap with the amount of reverence he gets throughout. It's just fun and Spring Break should always be about fun.
So there you go. My Spring Break comprised not one alternative/garage/nowave/chillwave/noiserock/punk/hardcore song.
It seems like Spring Break really starts a week or two before the actual vacation commences. We're already mentally prepping our schedules and agendas for the lapse in fun, sun and trips around Florida. Though, it seems with every Spring Break, I always retrospectively make a mix of songs I was really into during that week-long vacation. Last year, I was knee-deep into punk and garage rock from the likes of Minor Threat and The Seeds, with a borderline obsession with Yo La Tengo's I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One. But It was always assembled after the fact.
This year I've been given the privilege of making a Spring Break mix and, yes, it might not be the songs I'll be blasting in my car or my home stereo, but it's a compilation of music that essentially sounds "springy" and should probably get the proper airplay that others might be more inclined to get.
1. Happy Birthday - Girls FM This song is really the highlight of Happy Birthday's self-titled debut off of Sub Pop, set to come out March 16. It's a perfectly crafted tune with equal parts garage, grunge, 90s alternative and bubblegum pop. It's got sing-a-long potential and has a great chorus.
2. Smith Westerns - Dreams This Chicago all-boy band can do wonders to the soul if played on a period of downers. Channeling early-Beatles songwriting and lo-fi garage panache, Smith Westerns provide a perfect wave of beachy pop for the break.
3. Wavves - So Bored After various fistfights and nervous breakdowns, Nathan from Wavves kinda kept a low profile these past couple of months. He hooked up with Hella's Zach Hill to invert the already-loud Wavves sound to epic heights of monster no-fi with powerhouse percussion. So Bored is a pretty honest portrayal of slacker conduct, the kind of behavior one would show during Spring Break. It also sounds amazing when the sun is hitting your face from outside of your house.
4. Dum Dum Girls - Jail La La I've written about them before and I still don't feel they've become redundant. Jail La La is just all kinds of fun.
5. Pavement - Shady Lane Classic Indie/Alternative rock band actually just reunited to play a huge tour and fan favorite Shady Lane is just the ultimate definition of indie rock. I'm a bit biased because I first heard this song two years ago during spring break and just fell head over heels for Pavement.
6. Galaxie 500 - Snowstorm You kind of need a slow jam if you're providing a soundtrack for someone's spring break. This song is filled with intense reverb and all types of nostalgia tones. Make sure to fall in love with someone to this song during your break.
7. Javelin - Lindsay Brohan This group of producers pretty much cut and paste samples and drum beats to make some of the best electronic/hip-hop work around. Aside from the fact that the song title is awesome and silly, the song is just very chill and ringing of disco.
8. Toro Y Moi - Causers of This Reminds me of what Zach Morris would be playing in his convertible during Spring Break.
9. Memory Tapes - Stop Talking This whole album is actually just really infatuating. It's a mix of the "chill wave" genre, which really never gets old to me, and shoegaze elements from the likes of Cocteau Twins and Slowdive. This one is good to listen to because it fits right in with a lot of the stuff coming down for Winter Music Conference, which is soon.
