In Da Club (Ayyy)

I've been in Chicago for five days now, but I was basically bedridden with sick for the first three, so let's say I've been fully upright in Chicago for two days. Today I tried to map a running route in my new hood and accidentally stumbled on a block of clubs and restaurants two blocks over. I've visited the apartment I'm currently living in many times, and yet I never realized it was within spitting distance of what appears to be a miniature equivalent of the Meatpacking District with a dash of 28th street. One of the clubs is even called Hogs and Honeys. Of course I immediately trotted home to look one of the spots up and stole this pic from its website. That dude knows Tom Ford is a homo, right?

Today in niche fetishes: All Lindsay Lohan, all spandex. You're welcome!

Cut Copy - Far Away (alt link)

Shannon - Let the Music Play (alt link)
I'm doing a big freestyle post soon, so get psyched. Or hide, depending on your feelings on freestyle.

I'm going underground, guys. Pray for me.

On Sunday I will stuff Caligula into the slightly-too-small cat carrier and relocate from Brooklyn to Chicago. I won't have Internet access right away, so GPB will be silent for at least a few weeks. It also fully dawned on me today that I'm straight-up unemployed, so feel free to e-mail me money and foodstuffs. Speaking of things I received in the mail, I'm sure this track will be all over Hype Machine by the end of the day but I can't say no to anything Amanda Blank and this remix is tight:

Amanda Blank - Get It Now (Japattack Remix) (alt link)
Related: That Wishbone ad with "Bump" as the background music is so absurd I can't even be that upset by it. That, and I'm too old to cry sellout as I do realize that even Pase Rock has to pay utility bills. Still, gross.

Wish me luck on my new misadventure and if you live in Chicago, feel free to get in touch!

I Don't Get It.

Went to the Black Kids / Cut Copy show last night at Studio B. I was feeling crappy and running on no sleep so I ended up leaving before Cut Copy even came on. The early exit also had to do with the fact that Black Kids was the sloppiest, jangliest mess I've heard in a long time. Everyone else seemed to love it, I guess I must be allergic...allergic to funkiness. Modern funk is my musical kryptonite, the province of unimaginative weddings and state-school party bands. Congratulations Black Kids, you broke my spirit! Please keep your youthful funky exuberance out of my ear holes forever.
If anyone caught Cut Copy's set though, tell me how it was. I'm really curious and sad that I missed them.

Today is lovely and mentally I'm on a blanket in the park right now. Some sunny day folk, old and new:

Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young - Suite Judy Blue Eyes (alt link)

Findlay Brown - Don't You Know I Love You (alt link)
(myspace)

Janis Ian - From Me to You (alt link)

Devendra Banhart - Hey Mama Wolf (alt link)
New fave celeb couple! "My Ban-berry Nights," I just died.

Let's Touch Unicorn Horns

Well I did it again. I sprained my party bone on a Thursday night and now I'm useless. Damn my friends for being such fun ne'erdowells! Now I just have to get them to move to the Midwest. A friend's a friend who knows what being a friend is, talking with a friend.

Kanye West ft. R Kelly - Flashing Lights rmx(alt link)

my favorite song of the week, via Mad Decent blog:
Warrior Queen - Things Change (alt link)

Islands - Creeper (alt link)

another Friday, another school dance classic:
Positive K - I Got a Man (alt link)

Manda Bala

For most of my adult life and for no apparent reason, I've had a love for things that come out of Brazil. Tropicalia, Lygia Clark's masks, caipirinhas, saudade, I even took capoeira as my gym requirement in college. In addition to the fact that Brazil's art scene had an interpretation of psychedelia that was far visually and musically superior to that of the U.S., there's a general vibrancy to all of these things that just makes me really happy. Thus, Brazil is very high on my list of places I must visit...although now I may skip São Paulo.

I watched the 2007 documentary "Manda Bala" (Send a Bullet) last weekend, and was completely blown away. It interweaves the stories of some pretty disparate characters — a plastic surgeon, an ex-pat businessman, a frog farmer, a kidnapper, a kidnapping victim, some of the most hardcore cops ever — to shed light on the the circle of corruption in Brazil. I say "shed light" because the result is by no means a comprehensive portrait; there's simply too much to cover. It did make me want to look further into the subject and I'm guessing that was intentional. Also, fans of Errol Morris will probably like the interesting way director Jason Kohn shot the interviewees and their translators as much as I did. Netflix it now.

I could write one million words about my favorite Tropicalia artists and songs, but instead I recommend delving in with a good compilation, of which there are several. "Tropicalia Essentials" (buy) is excellent, as is Soul Jazz's "Tropicalia: A Brazilian Revolution in Sound" (buy).

Tom Ze - Dor e Dor (alt link)

Os Mutantes - A Minha Menina (alt link)

Caetano Veloso - Lost in Paradise (alt link)

Gilberto Gil and Os Mutantes - Domingo No Parque (alt link)
I listen to this song when I get home from work, I'm tired, and I have to go back out.

Gilberto Gil - Samba do Aviao (alt link)

Flora / Fauna

My third-to-last weekend in New York was perfection. It reminded me of that quote from Velvet Goldmine, "It's funny how beautiful people look when they're walking out the door." In this case I'm the one walking out the door, but you know what I mean. At night I disco-danced like no one's watching, and in the sleepy-stoned day I walked around in the sun listening to Montreal's Plants and Animals.

If I had to make up a genre to describe Plants and Animals it would be The New Sincerity. Or maybe Nalgene Rock? They invite comparisons to Arcade Fire and to a lesser degree, Annuals and Animal Collective. Their lush orchestration wins me over despite the fact that I usually wouldn't like a band with a song called "Faerie Dance," just on general principle. But their pretty, optimistic springtime sound is exactly what I need a-right a-now.

Plants and Animals - Bye, Bye, Bye (alt link)

Plants and Animals - New Kind of Love (alt link)

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