Thursday, January 29, 2009

Buddy Holly Tribute at Vintage Vinyl, Fords, NJ this Saturday

In memorial of the death of Buddy Holly, Vintage Vinyl in Fords NJ will be having a show. Many acts including myself and my friend Liam Moroney, the Gripweeds, Locksley, Willy Nile and others will be playing our favorite Buddy songs. Come on out, its free and Vintage Vinyl has one of the best music shops around. Liam and I play our set at 2pm. Rave on!

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Wylin!

its midnight in asbury and people are freakin out in the alley. theres a man outside arguing with himself. a bad fight. he's been screaming at the sky for about an hour now. music everywhere. a band upstairs playing what sounds like "let my love open the door." 5 metal bands across the street playing. people are drunk in the bars and i just finished a big cleaning sesh in my house. bought the new neil young double disc and the second disc is blank. so theres nothing else i really want to listen to to beat the noise. this is one loud alley i tell ya. bright and manic outside. no sleep.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Grossness Killed the Radiostar.

Last week I was shocked and saddened to hear that my favorite LA indie station, Indie 103.1, would be going off the air and now only available online. It seems that they were being forced to start spinning awful playlists that plague most radio stations (you know, most likely either mindless pop, atonal r&b or buttrock) and instead of just let that happen, they just said no. One of my favorite things about going out to LA was to just drive around the canyons in my rental car and listen to 103.1 and hear lots of new music and dj Mick Jones from the Clash interview people and have whistling contests. I've discovered some of my favorite new bands from that station.
This week I'm at home in New Jersey and a station 106.3 that I grew up on. Discovered when I was in high school bands like the Sundays, Pixies, Pavement, the Church, etc via the excellent DJ Matt Pinfield. Sure they went through some subtle format shifts through the years but recently were getting pretty good again playing new stuff from Beck, Arcade Fire, Gaslight Anthem, and MGMT. Anyways, I turn it on yesterday and I am met with Nelly, then Britney Spears. What the fuck?! Why are there no outlets for good fresh new music with some heart and some fucking balls anymore. Record stores are a rarity these days and now it seems that good radio stations and DJs have fallen to the same fate. Just makes me so sad. It makes me sad that there is a chance that my nieces and nephews and in the future, my kids, will never know the joy of discovering good music that isnt bullshit that corporations create and shove down your throat. that they might never know the excitement of the release day of a record from one of their favorite bands and go after school to their local record shop and buy a real hard copy and go home, listen, and pore over the liner notes. The power of listening to something in high quality, not digital. Ugh, I'm sorry but i just think this is such a tragedy.
Real music plays such an important role in everyones lives. Its how we meet people, how we fall in love, how we hang. I tie almost all of my important life events to songs and so do most of my friends. Alot of these events took place while we were listening to the radio. I hope all is not lost. There are still good stations like 101.9 (pinfield again with leslie fam!) fighting the good fight. Bringing us music that actually means something other than cheap sex and money most of us will never have. Give me Neil Young, give me Spoon, fuck man, give me even World Party. Just not this awful noise and static.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

wish i was a baller.....

its sunday, football day. we have some folks over to watch the game and enjoy some jambalaya, cheap beer and various dips that have been sitting in our fridge waiting to be consumed on occasions such as these. everyone is shouting, having a joyous time. i'm having a good time yet i have this horrible horrible guilt. i fucking hate football. hate sports in fact. i try. i try so hard. i just don't get it really. i like the aspect that sports bring all my friends together. but i just don't feel the love for a team. the feeling of being so into a sport or player that i am moved to jump up and down and scream. i am missing that gene. it makes me feel kinda weird and bad. i tried to think of what kind of sport i could really get into. iceskating is not a sport really. not a team sport. i guess the closest i can get to liking a team sport is just liking bands. i remember when Starter jackets were wildly popular when i was in 7th and 8th grade. i felt so out of place because i was the only one in my school other than my best friend colin, not to have one. i remember wishing desperately that they would come out with a Led Zeppelin Starter jacket. so i could join in the fun. I guess my role in sports life will be that of maid. feeding fans and cleaning while secretly having a panic attack that i am wasting my life for half of the day. jeeeez.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Goin Where the Weather Suits my Clothes

It's that time of year again. Bronchitus time! I get it at least 2 times every winter. Now and it'll come back around sometime in March. I think i need a sunny winter. Not sure where but I'm taking off a couple months to write anyway so it's not like I need to stay in asbury anyways. Breathe in some sunshine and not worry about tearing my throat out every which way. Perhaps I could join my parents in NJ south aka Florida for the winter. Write an album about drinking and aging. Nah. I think I already wrote that one last time. hahah! anyways, winterize yoself people! Go pick up some Dr. Weil books and LISTEN to him! I wish I did but I guess it being the holidays and all I forgot. So here I am left now on day four barely breathing and watching more episodes of Top Chef than one should ever watch. Maybe I'll write an album about Top Chef. Ohhh reprieve! Top Chef is finally over and now it's Inside the Actor's Studio with Josh Brolin! Love him, who knew a Goonies alum would grow up so awesome. I think I'm gonna watch the Goonies tonight. My eyes are like telescopes. owwwwwwwww.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Best Night Evaaaa!

This past new years eve i had the honor of singing two duets with one of my favorite singers, mr. jim james of one of my favorite bands, my morning jacket. the show was at madison square garden. it was easily one of the coolest night of my life. i found some youtube videos of it. here ya go and happy new year bunnies!

"you're all i need to get by"- marvin gaye and tammi terrell