anticipatory

april nudged life to a directional change; not spun but eased at an angle of surprisingly-high degree.

today about a million of us are going to see the devil and daniel johnston at the dft with MUCH anticipation. have you heard? real detroit's review of the film suggests that it is "possibly the most intimate portrayal about any one human subject ever created on celluloid." yes, it's touted to be THAT good, and hopefully it'll open up soon to play more than just at the dft for three days.

took advantage of that CRAZY but TRUE! spirit airlines promotion on friday [fly one-way for $8! which is absolutely true, except the other way is not $8, although it's still cheapcheep!], and t and i are going to nyc [!] for a few days in three weeks. seriously, that airline promotion was amazing. flights to san francisco for $8 there and $44 back! no joke!

it's sunday morning, and after truly fighting and winning the battle against yesterday's exhaustion, i'm going to go scrub the kitchen floor on my hands and knees.

and listen:

three mile pilot
eastern wave
another desert, another sea
1997 © headhunter

telefon tel aviv
i lied
map of what is effortless
2004 © hefty

IT'S FRIDAY & OF COURSE I KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU

CAM'RON + DIPSET + PRINCE = KILLER FRIDAY FUN
PURPLE REIGN

listen!:

--------------------------------->bizarre
--------------------------------------------------->let's go dipset

every day feels like an anniversary

you may not realize, but it's a big year for detroit. WAY-big. monumental. june is the month that will make hipsters and yuppies alike [wait, are those the same thing?] when IKEA opens up in canton and H&M graces both twelve oaks mall [novi] and lakeside mall [sterling heights]. no more field trips to chicago or toronto for cheap/cheap [oh, but stylish!] furniture and clothes any longer. ikea's grand opening [surely eliciting even more xanax use] is coming up quick, june 7...not much longer until you can snack on those endearing swedish meatballs mid-shop and top it off with a hot dog at the end, right after checkout [jeanne and i ALWAYS need the hot dog at the end after throwing tantrums at checkout...after the finding and lifting all those HEAVY, skinny boxes, after waiting in the eons-long line, after having to BAG your purchases yourself, knowing you have to walk ten miles to the car, pull it up, fight hoards of yuppies for a spot, figure out how to successfully fit everything in the car {inevitably winding up looking like you're in a volkswagon commercial}...after all that, sometimes you just need a hot dog to make it all better. like a hot dog band-aid. a big COKE helps too.].

anyway, i was reading about the ikea opening in the local paper this morning [ here], and it mentioned the following:

IKEA Canton also features an escalator near the store entrance. While the escalator is nothing new for IKEA, it is for Canton. Roth said township officials told him it is the first to be built in Canton.

first escalator in canton woo-HOO!! i hope i'm not alone in thinking that this statistic, even though it makes SOME sense, is still totally insane. i mean, there are 230 ikeas worldwide, and i feel nearly sure enough to guess that IKEA CANTON is the first to introduce THE ESCALATOR to its hometown.

insatiable

t hasn't been to ann arbor in so long, since far before his year in germany, and surely he's never even sipped a beer in the town. the sky's gushing with sun today, the weather's nicely suited to extended walks, and i plan on stopping for every tulip along the way. and where to eat?! there's little better than sharing your very most favorites with another.

so s unearthed the jeremy enigk solo tracks from the never-released united states of leland soundtrack from a couple years ago. i've been enjoying them immensely despite having been told i'm too happy lately to really appreciate them. something like muddied ears, right? something perhaps about depth. something about not passing enough hours alone. regardless, here's two:

jeremy enigk
--------->ballroom
--------->set it on fire

i could take away your shaky knees

of all the colors in this room, that of the tulips is by far the richest. being in love is like you found a secret room off the usual dirt path you follow, a room that acts as a life deterrent [read: join the resistance, fall in love], a room in which you see the world previously muddied and tired through now drugged, hazied eyes.

it's monday morning, and i'm wearing his clothes. i forgot how much better life is when you incorporate men's boxer briefs as part of your sleepwear. wearing a guy's clothes is always so delightful because many times they're larger than your own sleepwear, resulting in way more comfort. in one way or another, in bed or in clothes, you're always swimming. to be privy to forgotten pleasures, it feels like winning the lottery.

the new midlake album, the trials of van occupanther, is really stupendous, really-really, and it hits spring absolutely right-on. aside from the obvious fleetwood mac influence [most marked, i believe, in "roscoe"], van occupanther sounds like the unreleased soundtrack to the pbs show "reading rainbow." but not in the way that it's been in the wastebin for twenty years, in the way that the songs were far too good for the show, far too affecting to be in the background in a children's show about books. finally, i got over listening to the track "roscoe" with more than slight compulsivity and annoyance to all within ear-reach and moved on to the album as a whole. "head home" is one of the many standouts. posting "roscoe" again too in case you missed it the ten other times.

midlake
head home
roscoe
trials of van occupanther
[forthcoming] 2006 © bella union

head home

take every sweet thing in this world, every tiny bit of wonderful, and give them to you, not as tokens but as some-things like unwrapped gifts. keep sliding them across the table like poker chips, when they're silly and chunky when you get lucky and keeping winning and winning, when the stacks multiply, higher and higher and chunkier. when the odds fall finally in your favor. things like this are endless, i'll hand them over for some idealized infinity. let's come and go indefinitely. sweet things, ya know, like the ultra-saturated pink and yellow of the dutch tulips on the kitchen table, the flash lifespan of the magnolia tree outside my window [a secret from me for eleven long months], the little points on the philadendrum when it's nearly bursting with growth, green like the color of tender, like the muted hue of intimacy, almost wet, so soft.

walk and talk in gardens all misty wet with rain

what is there to say anymore? springtime is for making mixes, staring at blue skies. right? life has such terribly fast hands. it handles luck, coincidence and circumstance like marionettes. there are too many things to say, perhaps.

maritime we, the vehicles came out yesterday.
buy it here ---> insound

join the resistance, fall in love

listen to flashpapr:

white flowers

it's perfect; impeccable.

too much ham, taste like salt lick

i'm not typically a sucker for "cute," but i do really adore peeps. while i am not entertained by pictures of animals dressed up as people or something of the sort, pictures of peeps keep me smiling for hours.


chuck berry


gobbled by the easter bunny




identity crisis!


magritte!


mmm, france




sister act


lord of the flies


the passion


really makes me too happy.

springfever

i chase you straight through heaven
MARITIME is spring-perfect. that's the answer to last night's question. that's IT.

h/ear:

---> protein and poison
---> don't say you don't

we, the vehicles
2006 © flameshovel

buy: h/eeeere

gentlemen fill the battle lines

way into BUNNYOCALYPSE, the marshmallow bunny [PEEP!] apocalypse. bunny vs. coffee grinder is my favorite. def. head on over there, check up on the rest.

like two little drunken noodles

so it's something like you're real drunk at a party, you get pulled into a closet, and that changes everything. it's kinda like that? err, some things. it doesn't change the fact that i'm moving away soon. BUT but i can attest to the couch whining to me today because it hasn't been slept on at all this week. aww. the tv's whimpering too. ate at the brilliant thai café last night, thank you for smoking [pretty good!] at the main art, club bart [oohhh mmm, heavenly homemade veggie sausage] this morning, first time at comerica park today for the tiger game, enjoyed the impeccable weather [ALMOST got a tan], got a fantastic easter basket [thanks mom! xo], a honeybaked HAM [i love...]. i'm eating a godiva truffle easter egg right now, it doesn't get much better than that. oh, the weather's KILLER too. yes, it gets even better.

i must admit that i've been confused for some time as to what really constitutes "springtime"-appropriate music. summer [ex: ted leo, any booty/rap/r&b jams], fall [ex: elliott smith, nick drake, b&s, emo stuff] and winter [ex: iron and wine, emo stuff] all have their decently-definable, decently-delineable bands, albums, songs but spring, spring...it always seems to blur the lines with summer.


BUT but! songs of green pheasant...i think it totally fits. for a second i could mistake it for being winter music, but really, though it may be mellow, it's totally hopeful and decidedly NOT bleak. duncan sumpner is some crazy teacher guy from england [actually, i don't think he's that crazy at all] who recorded this album in his kitchen or something on a 4-track. it sounds like the extremely lo-fi musicchild of slowdive, simon & garfunkel and nick drake lullabye-ing as you fade in and out of a sunday afternoon naptime sleep/wake stupor. there's something about this record that feels like a fairy tale or a secret. it's like the mind-soundtrack of a perfect drug experience. really, i can't put it even 15% as good as fatcat records did ---> "trapped in amber".

songs of green pheasant
nightfall
songs of green pheasant
fatcat records © 2005

it's 11:30pm and 65° in detroit, michigan. and the bar awaits.

we can see it so well

today in entirety really did feel like that perfect nothing. made eggs with feta in the morning, blew off work until now [midnight], munched the best falafel ever at jerusalum gardens in ann arbor, then to see margot and the nuclear so and so's at the blind pig. they played every song we wanted to hear and even "talking in code," which we thought was perhaps a rarity in live form. really, they sounded so amazing, so right-on. there will soon be a day when we're unable to see them with such proximity, and that must be for at least a moment appreciated. and it is. decided today i will be making dinner for myself and another "orphaned" one on easter sunday. big yum. things you don't see coming, crazy, ya know.

in the way you're walking to me from the timbers

it is so absolutely spring in every single way: forward, fever, changing everything. it feels like nothing outside. that perfect nothing.



margot and the nuclear so and so's tonight, a point of much excitement. loads.

listen -----------> talking in code
dust of retreat
2006 © artemis

this heaven is a bad dream

sunday: you sleep too late, feel like hell, rectify the myriad of problems caused by all your friends and yourself getting far too blasted to make decent decisions at a party the night before, zip around the county in short sleeves searching for items undeserved, work, eat the chili again, stress out about money/time, wish to be shoved in a box with pickles, chocolate and bar cheese for the duration of the pms term, watch american splendor, work on ultra-deadlined crochet project like a madperson, sleep.

this week is going to be busy but good. goodgood. old and new faces. fucking MARGOT on tuesday. a return to munching chocolate on the weekend. subpressing human absence. skies in the 60s forever. bbq. !

big worrrrrrying

saturday: you clean a lot, make way-rad ringers for you and your friends' phones [you want?!!], eat too much, eat the much-hated chili even, go to party fancy place, dance to the tunes, gobble an inordinate amount of jello shots, spend too much time in a closet, gobble up too much white cheese popcorn, drink all the whiskey. make typos on the computer and sleep. wish you were somewhere else? jus' a lil'.

i came here to be somewhere else

the show last night was great, so many people, definitely a packed lager house. knowing that i'm leaving soonish makes me appreciate everyone/everything so much more, and it's a fantastic feeling. it's nice to be a peach, not a little crab apple, ya know?

so my mom made this killer chili last night and gave us half the batch, but now all i smell is spicy, meaty, greasy CHILI. it's quite overwhelming, and it's making me quite insane, uneasy, nauseous, &tc. the thing is, i can't tell if i can just smell it emanating through the house or if the small amount i ate of it last night is seeping through my sweat and oil glands, is stuck in my nose, has permeated my hair, has become part of me, my "smell," my aura, my flora.... UGH. yes, it's pretty disgusting, and it kinda blows because the chili's really yummy. however, i'm unsure if i can put that stuff in my mouth again, risking myself being even further incorporated into merging with this food item.

other items: the wild parrots of telegraph hill, pretty crazy, decently good, overwhelmingly cheesy music, "can't-believe-it-was-made-just-last-year" vibe; new cherry preserves enliven monotonous mornings of whole wheat english muffins [really, change up flavors sometime]; investment in polaroid film produces high yield of results. &tc. knowing you're leaving increases motivation and productivity manyfold. manymanyfold.

i could stay here, become someone different

TONIGHT


and if you can't see it, the babywords at the botton of the flyer indicate that the 10$ admission also includes both cds, paradise's city heat and leaving rouge's elsewhere.

-----------> listen!

leaving rouge ---> arrow

paradise ---> [tracks on myspace]

places to go:
paradise
leaving rouge
down peninsula audio

cd release shows are like birthday parties for bands, right?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

it's so mid-april it's almost cliché. lackluster raining, mid-50s, blanket-grey. cat power records usher in the afternoon.

have a nice friday, please.

mmm lust

so much busy-ness.. things to talk about, plans to make and execute, crocheting projects, movies to watch, dirtiness to clean, food to cook up, people to spend time with, shows to go to, books to read, ahhh! ugh, really this is how i feel. i got drenched with a new lust for life like a bucket of water was dumped on me last week, and from what i can tell lusts as such cause teenage-tendency-lists [see above], busy-ness, using-blog-as-journal, &tc.

what can be done? appreciate home, friends, being alone. be aware of the ropes tethered from our hearts to others' elsewhere, and be unafraid to feel them tugging. ya know, sink into longing like an expensive mattress.

listen to christie front drive, actually, THAT'S what we can do. today it's a favor, a duty, a command. k?

christie front drive
fin
s/t
1999 © caufield records

you're so beautiful it hurts to look

i don't know anything about this band except that i grabbed a couple of their songs off a blog recently and have been listening to this track nonstop all morning. if you like drawn-out, whiney songs that make you feel like you're on vicodin skinning a cat in a room with the water level rising from the floor up, then you're in luck today! i bet you SO want to listen to this now. but really, if you feel any sort or longing or heartache and can put up with a little whining, this song should be an essential part of today's music menu.

goodnight & goodnight
the sun hits her face perfectly this time of day/year/season
liar. hypocrite. demon. fool.
[forthcoming] june 2006 © first dimension records

in a perfect world, the perfect place is with you

i felt bad for april fools day this year, didn't you? poor unfortunate day, falling on a saturday this year where without the workday boredom [ensuing drivel also, surely-surely], it fell overwhelmingly uncelebrated upon weekend warriors and every-day-of-the-week partiers alike...and way-invariably those who stayed up far past sunrise far too fucked up to remember to utter "rabbit rabbit" to the nearest set of ears. i think i don't fall in love with people anymore, i just become enamored with places. chicago this weekend was by-far one of the best trips [yes, i still call it "vacation"] to the city yet.

so that band i love you but i've chosen darkness...am i the only person who thought the name denoted that they were a goth band and not some emo band? regardless, this tracks wins for my new obsessively-played jam of the week-ish.

i love you but i've chosen darkness
according to plan
fear is on our side
2006 © secretly canadian