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Shut Up and Play the Hits: The Very Loud Ending of LCD Soundsystem

Jonny J was kind enough to take point on LCD Soundsystem’s documentary which played for one night only in select theaters this past week. A big thank you is in order for Jon as he purchased a pair of tickets for him and I to the last show as an early birthday present for me last spring. I shared the concert with someone great!

I was fortunate enough to see LCD Soundsystem’s rock-doc in Astoria’s Museum of the Moving Image, where the theater acoustics were the most perfect I have heard in any theater to date. The concert segments made you feel you were actually at the show, superbly recorded in audio and film.

The film opens with Continue reading →

Tags: 45:33, All My Friends, Astoria, Chuck Klosterman, Dance Yrself Clean, hipster, Into the Fire, James Murphy, Keith Wood, last show, LCD Soundsystem, Losing My Edge, Madison Square Garden, Movement, Museum of the Moving Image, New York I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down, North American Scum, Reggie Watts, review, Shut Up and Play the Hits, Someone Great, Sound of Silver, Stephen Colbert, Us v Them, Win Butler, Yeah (Crass Version)

Various Artists – Clueless OST

19 Jul

Amy Heckerling’s Clueless (1995) should be on everyone’s Top 10 Teen Comedies list. First of all, it might be the best adaptation of a Jane Austen novel (Emma). Second, the film is solely responsible for the popularization of phrases like “Whatever!” and “As if!” which (regrettably in hindsight) remained a major part of teenage girl vernacular for the better part of two years. But most importantly, Clueless is a zeitgeist flick that Continue reading →

Tags: Alicia Silverstone, All the Young Dudes, Alright, Amy Heckerling, as if, Ben Carr, Brittany Murphy, Change, Cher Horowitz, Clueless, Coolio, Counting Crows, Cracker, David Bowie, Fake Plastic Trees, Fashion, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Flamin' Groovies, General Public, Here (Squirmel Mix), hipster, Jill Sobule, Just a Girl, Kids in America, Kim Wilde, Lightning Seeds, Luscious Jackson, Mott the Hoople, Mullet Head, My Forgotten Favorite, Need You Around, No Doubt, OST, Psychedelic Furs, Radiohead, review, Rollin' With My Homies, Shake Some Action, Smoking Popes, soundtrack, suck & blow, Supergrass, Supermodel, teen comedy, Tenderness, The Beastie Boys, The Ghost in You, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Muffs, Tragic Kingdom, Velocity Girl, whatever, Where'd You Go?, World Party, zeitgeist

Jovanovic – Seeing the Light: Inside the Velvet Underground

17 Jul

Seeing the Light: Inside the Velvet Underground by Rob Jovanovic (2010)

Republished on Pop ‘stache after some tidying up…

Lou Reed: “We put a ship in the water, it turned out to be a turbo-powered sub and it took a while for it to land wherever it landed. Time was the real judge. The proof was in the work, and the work is on the record.”

SHH: “Rob Jovanovic put out a book on The Velvets, it turned out to be a slow-chugging sub and although it infrequently put its periscope up for an interesting anecdote, it never lands. The proof is in the shlock, and the shlock is in the book.”

* * *

Rob Jovanovic has penned very competent and comprehensive books on artists including R.E.M., Pavement and Big Star. His latest book on music is Seeing the Light Continue reading →

Tags: Andy Warhol, Big Star, David Cezanne, Doug Yule, hipster, John Cale, Lou Reed, Maureen Tucker, Moe Tucker, Pavement, R.E.M., review, Rob Jovanovic, Seeing the Light, Sterling Morrison, Steve Sesnick, The Velvet Underground

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Categories Book Reviews, Music
Author the self-hating hipster

The Modern Lovers – The Modern Lovers

10 Jul

The Modern Lovers by The Modern Lovers (1976)

The Modern Lovers were a super group of not-yet-knowns in the 1970s. The band that played on their classic debut consisted of Jonathan Richman on guitar and vocals, Jerry Harrison on keyboard, Ernie Brooks on bass and David Robinson on drums. They disbanded after two short years in 1973 and the album itself wasn’t released until three years later. Richman went on to have a successful (albeit sappier) solo career keeping the band name as his back-up band, Harrison became the keyboardist for the Talking Heads, Brooks Continue reading →

Tags: David Johansen, David Robinson, Elvis Presley, Ernie Brooks, Girlfriend, hipster, I'm Straight, Jerry Harrison, John Cale, Jonathan Richman, Modern World, Old World, Pablo Picasso, review, Roadrunner, rock & roll, She Cracked, Someone I Care About, Talking Heads, The Cars, The Modern Lovers, The Velvet Underground

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Categories Album Reviews
Author the self-hating hipster

You Can Have New Jersey, Bruce. We Want America Back.

1 Jul

Over the past four decades Bruce Springsteen has become synonymous with “America.” And that is bullshit. He is the single most over-rated member of pop/rock royalty. As we approach the 4th of July, the celebration of America’s independence, let us review some reasons why Bruce Springsteen is not only Continue reading →

Tags: 4th of July, America, Born in the U.S.A., Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen, Clarence Clemons, Courteney Cox, Dancing in the Dark, Denim, Glory Days, Greetings From Asbury Park, Independence Day, Lady Gaga, Max Weinberg, Nebraska, New Jersey, Pete Seeger, Philadelphia, Silvio Dante, Steven Van Zandt, The Boss, The E Street Band, The Edge of Glory, The Sopranos, Tunnel of Love, We Shall Overcome

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Categories Humor, Music
Author the self-hating hipster

Jaill – Traps

19 Jun

Traps is Jaill’s second release on Sub Pop after 2010′s That’s How We Burn and their third record as a band. Their first album, There’s No Sky (Oh My My), was released on Burger Records as Jail. Apparently Sub Pop forced them to change their name as there was a European band named Jail years ago. Continue reading →

Tags: Andrew Harris, Austin Dutmer, Burger Records, Everyone's a Bitch, Flaming Lips, hipster, House With Haunting, Jaill, Madness, Million Times, Perfect Ten, review, Stone Froze Mascot, Sub Pop, That's How We Burn, the dB's, The Shins, The Unicorns, There's No Sky, Traps, Vinnie Kircher, While You Reload

Reynolds – Totally Wired: Post-Punk Interviews and Overviews

18 Jun

Totally Wired: Post-Punk Interviews and Overviews by Simon Reynolds (2010)

Simon Reynolds is one of the most critically acclaimed music journalists of the past decade and has found himself the authority on both 90’s electronic dance music and the post-punk movement of the late 70’s and early 80’s. If his 2006 release Rip It Up and Start Again: Post-Punk 1978-1984 is Continue reading →

Tags: ABC, Alan Vega, Ari Up, art rock, David Byrne, David Thomas, Dennis Bovell, Gang of Four, hipster, Ian Curtis, Jah Wobble, John Lydon, John Peel, Josef K, Joy Division, Lydia Lunch, Mark Stewart, Melody Maker, MTV, New Order, New Pop, NME, Orange Juice, Paul Haig, Pere Ubu, PiL, post punk, Radio One, Rip it Up and Start Again, Scritti Politti, Simon Reynolds, Sounds, Steven Morris, Suicide, Swell Maps, Talking Heads, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, The Human League, The Pop Group, The Slits, Top of the Pops, Totally Wired, TOTP

12 Songs About Extraterrestrial Life

14 Jun

There are two alien-centered blockbusters in theaters currently. To immense anticipation, Ridley Scott tries his directorial hand at sci-fi for the first time since 1982’s Blade Runner with Prometheus, a prequel to his genius Alien. To far less excitement, the third installment of the Men in Black series is out and combines at least three formulaic plot devices. In any event, what better time to visit/revisit some songs about extraterrestrial life? Continue reading →

Tags: Alien, Alien Being, Alien Boy, Alien She, androids, Ash, Bee Thousand, Bikini Kill, Blade Runner, Books About UFOs, Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, David Bowie, Fred Schneider, Gary Numan, Greg Norton, Guided by Voices, Hardcore UFOs, hipster, Husker Du, Illinoise, Is This Real?, James Carville, jeff bridges, Joe Satriani, Kathleen Hanna, Life on Mars, Men in Black, New Day Rising, OK Computer, Philip K. Dick, Planet Claire, Praying to the Aliens, Prometheus, Pussy Whipped, Radiohead, Replicas, Ridley Scott, soundtrack, Starman, Stephin Merritt, Subterranean Homesick Alien, Sufjan Stevens, Surfing With the Alien, The B-52's, The House of Tomorrow, The Magnetic Fields, The Pleasure Principle, The Soft Boys, Tubeway Army, Underwater Moonlight, Wipers, Ziggy Stardust

Psychedelic Furs at The Egg (6/2/2012)

12 Jun

At 7:41AM on Thursday May 31st I received a text message from my father:

“I’m sure you read that the Psychedelic Furs are at The Egg Saturday at 8PM?”

I hadn’t heard. And so, this article is going to prove two things: Continue reading →

Tags: Albany, Amanda Kramer, Heartbeat, hipster, Imitation of Christ, India, Into You Like a Train, live, Love My Way, Mars Williams, Mirror Moves, Paul Garisto, Pretty in Pink, Psychedelic Furs, review, Rich Good, Richard Butler, Talk Talk Talk, The Egg, Tim Butler

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Categories Live Shows
Author the self-hating hipster

Lower’s “Craver” Will Have You Gasping

6 Jun

Punk as a genre has seen countless quick and powerful bursts followed by unbearably long dwindles in mainstream mediocrity. Punk seems to thrive in bleak, industrial cities that are otherwise devoid of culture. Surprisingly, the brightest spot on the punk map of late is the burgeoning scene in Copenhagen, Denmark, a city known for its jazz, architecture and clean environment.

Early last year, the Copenhagen-based punk quartet Iceage released their debut LP New Brigade to near universal acclaim. In late March 2012, Iceage’s Escho Records lablemate Lower released Continue reading →

Tags: Adrian Toubro, Copenhagen, Craver, Denmark, Escho Records, hardcore, hipster, Iceage, Lower, New Brigade, post punk, punk, review, Walk On Heads EP