Random Media obsessions of the moment.
So there's a lot of things I can't get enough of lately.
I've been into St. Vincent since they first exploded onto the indie scene in 2006 or so.
I've never been a huge Nirvana fan. I definitely like them, though. It's taken years, but my appreciation has deepened. Though I will always probably be a bigger Foo Fighters fan at heart, I totally get why Nirvana was huge and so many are so devoted.
I also love the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. I wish I could just livestream the whole thing and I think it's utter bullshit that they didn't get to do the jam this year. (also, do not even get me started on how they inducted fucking Cat Stevens when The Stooges have not been inducted. Or so many other more important artists.) HBO does a pretty good job with the broadcast, though.
So, this year, Nirvana was inducted. Totally right on. Michael Stipe gave a great speech to induct them, and they were able to perform 4 songs. And, in a genius decision, they decided to invite 4 incredible female artists to stand in for Kurt, gone lo these 20 years. (Christ fuck, I'm OLD.) And it was awesome. Joan Jett shredded the face off of "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Kim Gordon blew the doors off of the Barclays Center with her rendition of "Aneurysm" (though I didn't care much for the song itself). I've had Lorde's twitchy, bizarre-yet-awesome David-Bowie-Meets-David-Byrne version of "All Apologies" in my head ALL BLOODY DAY. But the best of the four, in my biased opinion, is Annie Clark's take on "Lithium." "Lithium" was (and still is) my favorite Nirvana song. (I always saw it as proof of Kurt's sense of humor - and I loved how bizarre the lyrics were). Plus, it had that amazing bass line. Kurt's version always sounded a bit snarky to me (which I loved!), but Annie's version feels like she's inhabiting the narrator completely, and I can't stop listening to her version. I do not WANT to stop listening to her version. So, naturally, the only one I have available to me is the one recorded from the special on my dvr. Thankfully, digital recording allows for lots of rewinding without worrying you're going to destroy the recording or the recorder.
I also think all four of these women should head out on tour with Pat, Dave and Kris and play Nirvana songs. It can be a limited tour if it has to be, but hot damn. Whoever said that they should get these artists to step in for Kurt was a genius. The songs sound better on them, somehow.
(It's funny, but when they announced that Nirvana was getting inducted this year I joked to j_bkl that they should have Courtney sing them. Mostly because it would make the heads of SO MANY obnoxious fans that blame Courtney for every hangnail that Kurt ever had explode.)
The powers that release stuff need to get these performances on iTunes yesterday.
******
In two sleeps, I get to see Welcome to Night Vale live. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Welcome to Night Vale is a podcast. To the uninitiated, I describe it as Lake Wobegon as written by H.P. Lovecraft. Over the course of almost 50 episodes, I've experienced this weird and wonderful world, voiced by the mellifluous Cecil Baldwin as only an old-time radio drama can be. It's bizarre and brilliant and free. So, if any of this sounds vaguely interesting, go download the first episode and get listening.
*****
Supernatural is completely meta at this point. It found a place on the fuck-it plateau in crazytown and built a house. And I'm loving every damn minute. Fuck the haters. (and Mark Sheppard is going to be a REGULAR next season. I know he's the Spike of the SPN-verse, and I'm 100% okay with that.)
*********
Also, there's this show called Orphan Black that everyone needs to watch. It's hands down the best sci-fi anything that I've seen in so long I almost didn't know how to react when I first saw it. Granted, it takes a large chunk of the first season to find its feet, but once it does, its off to the races. Tatiana Maslany plays half a dozen clones and they all feel like completely different people. She's a marvel and deserves all of the awards.
Fargo is also fun, and worth watching.
*************
A few months back I went with blergeatkitty and teany to a club in Greenpoint to watch a band play nearly all of the songs in the Beatles songbook. They were trying to break the record of the most Beatles songs played by a single band at a single gig. (Not quite all, and that's fine. No one needs to hear Revolution 9 or Why Don't We Do It In the Road live anyway). The band was great, the experience was amazing, and I've been on a MASSIVE Beatles kick ever since. Massive. A few years ago my wonderful husband bought me that amazing box set of all of the remastered releases, all of which are now on my ipod. I have discovered that:
1. I still am only meh on Let It Be.
2. The White Album has its moments, but it will never be my absolute favorite.
3. Holy Shit why doesn't anyone talk about how AMAZING With The Beatles is? Maybe it's because I never listened to that one as much as Please Please Me or whatever franken-albums were released in the US in its stead, but it wasn't until this boxed set that I got to hear about fucking off the chain that album is. The Beatles are more confident than their first album, but they're not as polished as on subsequent albums. It's a feisty record.
4. They're good. They're SO good. They still manage to sound new.
It's the fiftieth anniversary of A Hard Day's Night in July, and they're bringing it back to theaters 4th of July weekend. I'm going. I'm so going.
I've been into St. Vincent since they first exploded onto the indie scene in 2006 or so.
I've never been a huge Nirvana fan. I definitely like them, though. It's taken years, but my appreciation has deepened. Though I will always probably be a bigger Foo Fighters fan at heart, I totally get why Nirvana was huge and so many are so devoted.
I also love the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. I wish I could just livestream the whole thing and I think it's utter bullshit that they didn't get to do the jam this year. (also, do not even get me started on how they inducted fucking Cat Stevens when The Stooges have not been inducted. Or so many other more important artists.) HBO does a pretty good job with the broadcast, though.
So, this year, Nirvana was inducted. Totally right on. Michael Stipe gave a great speech to induct them, and they were able to perform 4 songs. And, in a genius decision, they decided to invite 4 incredible female artists to stand in for Kurt, gone lo these 20 years. (Christ fuck, I'm OLD.) And it was awesome. Joan Jett shredded the face off of "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Kim Gordon blew the doors off of the Barclays Center with her rendition of "Aneurysm" (though I didn't care much for the song itself). I've had Lorde's twitchy, bizarre-yet-awesome David-Bowie-Meets-David-Byrne version of "All Apologies" in my head ALL BLOODY DAY. But the best of the four, in my biased opinion, is Annie Clark's take on "Lithium." "Lithium" was (and still is) my favorite Nirvana song. (I always saw it as proof of Kurt's sense of humor - and I loved how bizarre the lyrics were). Plus, it had that amazing bass line. Kurt's version always sounded a bit snarky to me (which I loved!), but Annie's version feels like she's inhabiting the narrator completely, and I can't stop listening to her version. I do not WANT to stop listening to her version. So, naturally, the only one I have available to me is the one recorded from the special on my dvr. Thankfully, digital recording allows for lots of rewinding without worrying you're going to destroy the recording or the recorder.
I also think all four of these women should head out on tour with Pat, Dave and Kris and play Nirvana songs. It can be a limited tour if it has to be, but hot damn. Whoever said that they should get these artists to step in for Kurt was a genius. The songs sound better on them, somehow.
(It's funny, but when they announced that Nirvana was getting inducted this year I joked to j_bkl that they should have Courtney sing them. Mostly because it would make the heads of SO MANY obnoxious fans that blame Courtney for every hangnail that Kurt ever had explode.)
The powers that release stuff need to get these performances on iTunes yesterday.
******
In two sleeps, I get to see Welcome to Night Vale live. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Welcome to Night Vale is a podcast. To the uninitiated, I describe it as Lake Wobegon as written by H.P. Lovecraft. Over the course of almost 50 episodes, I've experienced this weird and wonderful world, voiced by the mellifluous Cecil Baldwin as only an old-time radio drama can be. It's bizarre and brilliant and free. So, if any of this sounds vaguely interesting, go download the first episode and get listening.
*****
Supernatural is completely meta at this point. It found a place on the fuck-it plateau in crazytown and built a house. And I'm loving every damn minute. Fuck the haters. (and Mark Sheppard is going to be a REGULAR next season. I know he's the Spike of the SPN-verse, and I'm 100% okay with that.)
*********
Also, there's this show called Orphan Black that everyone needs to watch. It's hands down the best sci-fi anything that I've seen in so long I almost didn't know how to react when I first saw it. Granted, it takes a large chunk of the first season to find its feet, but once it does, its off to the races. Tatiana Maslany plays half a dozen clones and they all feel like completely different people. She's a marvel and deserves all of the awards.
Fargo is also fun, and worth watching.
*************
A few months back I went with blergeatkitty and teany to a club in Greenpoint to watch a band play nearly all of the songs in the Beatles songbook. They were trying to break the record of the most Beatles songs played by a single band at a single gig. (Not quite all, and that's fine. No one needs to hear Revolution 9 or Why Don't We Do It In the Road live anyway). The band was great, the experience was amazing, and I've been on a MASSIVE Beatles kick ever since. Massive. A few years ago my wonderful husband bought me that amazing box set of all of the remastered releases, all of which are now on my ipod. I have discovered that:
1. I still am only meh on Let It Be.
2. The White Album has its moments, but it will never be my absolute favorite.
3. Holy Shit why doesn't anyone talk about how AMAZING With The Beatles is? Maybe it's because I never listened to that one as much as Please Please Me or whatever franken-albums were released in the US in its stead, but it wasn't until this boxed set that I got to hear about fucking off the chain that album is. The Beatles are more confident than their first album, but they're not as polished as on subsequent albums. It's a feisty record.
4. They're good. They're SO good. They still manage to sound new.
It's the fiftieth anniversary of A Hard Day's Night in July, and they're bringing it back to theaters 4th of July weekend. I'm going. I'm so going.