Because Natural Child is Playing in Baltimore Next Month!

Day #21: Natural Child – “Nobody Wants to Party With Me”

Last month, Sugar Buzz Magazine had an article about the Nashville-bred band, Natural Child. The Revered Way Coomers seemed to have a crisis of faith upon reading Mark Richardson’s review of Bon Iver on Pitchfork:

‘There’s something irresistible about the thought of a bearded dude from small-town Wisconsin retreating, heartbroken, to a cabin to write some songs.’ I ask you, has rock and roll come to this, when someone can lead a review this way, with a straight face—irresistible? really?—and not instantly get the piss taken out of him (at least)?”

Oh, Reverend! Your mistake was calling Bon Iver rock n’ roll.

Dive bars, sweaty drinkers, nonsense banter, simple riffs, and amusing irreverence. Honey, that’s the real deal. That’s Natural Child.

Because I Know Some Academics

Day #20: Vampire Weekend – “Oxford Comma”

Red Lips and Academics is my new favorite blog. Don’t wave anything shiny in front of me until I’ve finished reading.

Because She Wowed Us

Day #19: The Go! Team – “Grip Like a Vice”

We were sitting in a restaurant in Chinatown last weekend when conversation got round to jobs. Danish asked Kim what her ideal job would be. Her reply: curator of 19th century paintings at the National Gallery.

Because I Should’s Said So At the Time

Day#18: Robbers on High Street – “Monkberry Moon Delight”

The other day, I was thinking about this teacher that Ali and I had in high school. Mrs. Pittman. She taught AP English. There was this one class discussion about the morality of pornography and Mrs. Pittman called on me and asked my opinion on the subject. At the time, I was just hoping to come up with an answer that didn’t make it so glaringly obvious that I didn’t do all of the homework readings. Years later, though, I thought what a stupid question to have asked me. I was a 16-year old girl who wasn’t even thinking about sex except with general awareness of it being that thing that could get me pregnant and ruin my life. Nor did I have the masturbatory habits of a teenage boy. And, if I was looking for porn in those pre-Internet days, the closest thing I was going to get was either renting bad British horror movies or struggling through some Victorian-era literature. So what the hell did I care about moral arguments?

Mrs. Pittman and I never did get along that much.

Because Cigaretting is a Disgusting Habit

Day #17: Bird and the Bee – “Diamond Dave”

Yesterday, I met a pretty cool kid named Clementine. She’s the one who came up with the term “cigaretting,” and it’s partly for that reason that Clem is OVER Foster the People. I am kind of over them, too Clem, but mostly because I listened to the album too many times. What’s say we put on something different?

This one’s for you.

Because It Is Ironic, I Really Do Think

Day #16: Carbon/Silicon – “The News”

It was probably six years ago now that I was sitting in my living room with my roommate, Mrs. C. when she worried that, by the time she was 30, she was still going to be working shitty jobs and living with roommates just to make the rent. Yesterday, I went round to the house that she and her husband now own, not far from the one Mrs. C. and I once shared, and met their new baby girl. They couldn’t have looked happier.

Because No One Else is Gonna Do It

Day #15: The Strange Boys – “Be Brave”

I’ve been living on Bachelorette Time for a full week now. Funny how quickly you can let things go just because you’re by yourself for a few days. But, Phil is returning home in a few days. Which means that it’s time to start cleaning house and restoring order. And much as I don’t want to, that is going to require going into the fridge and dumping the stuff that went bad. It’s gonna be a Detox Sunday!

Because 1970s and 1980s Dance Songs Don’t Really Need the Rap Track, Mr DJ

Day #14: The Puppini Sisters – “Walk Like An Egyptian”

Last night marked the first real snowfall for DC. It was bound to happen, eventually. It started up while we were out in the city trying to discover new territory. Destination: Chinatown. But Chinatown in DC is not a real Chinatown at all. You’ll find the same photo-op worthy Happiness Gate like Philly and Boston have, but there’s really only about a block of Chinese establishments. Otherwise, it’s basically a giant sports arena and a bunch of surrounding chains.

Scenes from last night: skateboarders in front of the public library; a black-clad bouncer who resembled Lucius Best from The Incredibles; three drunk dudes who asked where the best bars were to meet girls and we suggested all the neighborhoods we avoided; women in the bathroom talking about farting; unbearably loud 70s and 80s dance tracks interrupted by record scratching and unnecessary rap tracks; migration to a pleasant Asian fusion joint around the corner; a native Irish waiter with a forearm tattoo of the state of Texas; high-fiving the maitre di; and driving in heavy snow on the beltway.

Today’s song choice is for Danish, who last night asked “is anything original anymore?” as the DJ cued up the Bangles.

Because, J’Ecoute

Day #13: Munk – “No Milk” feat. Asia Argento (Mercury Remix)

I have nothing against milk or lemonade, but I do like this song.

Let the weekend commence!

Because Now It Sounds Sexy, Not Crazy

Day #12: Joss Stone & Jeff Beck – “I Put A Spell On You”

Though many have covered Screaming Jay Hawkin’s snarling stalker hit, “I Put a Spell On You,” including former Animals frontman, Eric Burdon, Nina Simon, Thin Lizzy, and more recently, The Kills, this was probably the best of them all. I was long under the impression that it had to be as equally snarling to really get it right (The Kills didn’t come close to that), but Joss Stone’s soulful voice is anything but threatening.

As an added bonus, she’s joined by one of rock n’ roll’s greatest guitarists, Jeff Beck (the track was released on his album). This is a guy who’s been playing for more than 4 long decades, and came out of the Yardbirds with Eric Clapton. Tom thought maybe not much had been said about him, despite the long career, because he’d killed it with liquor and drugs, but I’m not so sure. I mean, it’s possible that happened for a while. Those were the decades for it, and that is the industry for it, and even Eric Clapton took salvage in a siren named cocaine (even singing a song attesting to that). But, I think for the most part, Jeff Beck was happier just collaborating and letting someone else take center stage. Kind of like Carlos Santana.

Here, he picked 25-year old British soul singer, Joss Stone, who may not be in the limelight enough thanks to the epic popularity of another deserving young singer: Adele. And that’s probably a huge disappointment to the YouTube user who wrote: “I would go full on lesbian for Joss Stone. I’d do the weird shit for her.”

I think that’s the most hilarious comment I’d ever read on YouTube.