Brad Walsh

Happy Valley Alliteration

Wednesday, April 19th, 2006

Mariano & Martin: Current! Cultivated!

Jason & Brad: Disenchanted! Disaffected!

Amanda: Beleaguered! Blasé!
And, uh, Boobs.
(!)

The Book of Day Job

Tuesday, April 18th, 2006

Oy. I hate when people condescend to me, and even more than that I hate raging hypocrites. Combine the two and I’m ready to walk out for good.

But, plenty of other good things are happening, one very good thing in particular, and I’ve adopted a (maybe temporary) apathy toward a couple of people who’ve made me mad; as much as a worrier like me can do that, anyway. So all in all I would have to say that I’m in the green.

So anyway, I never really remember to forecast where I’ll be, and sometimes people say “if I had known you were going to go there, I would have come by.” So here’s what I’ve been told I’ll be doing this week:

Tuesday: Prada party and then Happy Valley (but not for long).
Wednesday: AddVice’s First Taste at Hi-Fi (where this week’s flyer mentions all new music from Brad Walsh, woo hoo) and then a Joan Osborne concert at Southpaw in Brooklyn (shut up, I can relive 8th grade if I wanna).
Thursday: Stolen Transmission at Annex.
Friday: Trash and some other stuff that Jason mentioned. Maybe Sophia’s thing at Annex.
Saturday: MisShapes, of course.

And on the seventh day I will rest.

Quiz

Monday, April 17th, 2006

Did this fight happen right in front of us?

Did I bebop and rocksteady with Sienna Miller?

Backup… before we went out, did Kathy and I shoot Alize and almost die because it’s totally gross?

Did I really get my finger stuck in my jewelry?

Did Jason have a bunch of warm college-type vodka and cranberry juice in an Aquafina bottle?

Did David come by and stick his tongue in Kathy’s ear, and did he confuse the word “argyle” with “gargoyle?”

Did Gurj and I dance wildly, causing her ring to go flying, and while we were searching the floor for it, we bonked heads like total tards?

Did these guys fight forfuckingever?

Did Jason look adorable in my hoodie, and did I really think this was cool?

Were there lots of candy eggs at Kathy’s parents’ house today for Easter?

Did Kathy burn her hand on the teapot at Empire Hunan?

Is “NYU Manhole” my new nickname?

Am I a lucky, lucky son of a bitch?

If I Had A Hammer, I’d Be 2 Legit 2 Quit

Friday, April 14th, 2006

I keep starting new songs and really liking them, but I either get distracted or go to bed or can’t think of lyrics and then I start something else. There are probably thirty songs in my folders that are half-finished, which is why I haven’t had anything new to share since the fall other than the quick Amy Kasio cover. iTunes agreed to start selling my stuff, so I think I’m going to finish a couple more and then give them an EP. Anybody want to do the cover art? I don’t.

In case you missed it, there are new things to hear from me here.

Yesterday I spied Chloe Sevigny, and while I’ve always been on the fence with her, she looked amazing. Rarely do I comment about famous people looking amazing (I think, I don’t know, I may be lying), but she really did. I wouldn’t have expected her to be so arresting in person. Way to go, Chlo.

Thank you to the people who send me e-mails and MySpace messages saying they like my songs. It makes me very happy, especially when you’re super hip college kids from the UK and I feel inadequate just looking at your pictures.

Promo music recommendations: the latest Mates of State (I promise I actually like it, I wasn’t just looking for an excuse to say “latest Mates of State.” Though, that was pretty awesome). Tiga’s latest is good for the subway. And for shameless poptards, the only song I enjoy on Pink’s entire new album is “Cuz I Can.”

Word that has been inexplicably recurring: “melancholia.”

P.S. Simon Doonan wrote this, and I’m thrilled that he did.
P.P.S. Do frontwomen come more stunning than Ollie the Oohla?

Splendiferous, You Say?

Thursday, April 13th, 2006

I forgot how amazing some junk e-mail subject lines can be. I went into my junk mail folder and found some good ones:

“Bernadette” alerts me to “splendiferous Hussy in hardcore action!”

“Build your family, make kids with Spermamax.”
A new kind of modeling clay? Where’s my erector set?

“Did you know that Americans and Russians”
Did I know that Americans and Russians what?

“Irresistible teen in great black panties”
The only thing amazing about it is that the sender is “Vectone-Vectone.” That’s my new name.

From now on, I’m Vectone-Vectone.

Blogs & Sites of Friends & Lovers

Thursday, April 13th, 2006

What I most often look at:
Kathy Cacace
Melissa Howard
KarenPlusOne
Ebby Brett
Ultragrrrl
Joey Comeau
Amnesia Sparkles
Pink is the New Blog
Perez Hilton
Gawker
Gurj Bassi
McSweeney’s
Shit & Stuff
Imaginary Socialite
Last Night’s Party
Sarah Slean
MisShapes
LittleBigChris
Jake Bronstein

Editors on Editors

Wednesday, April 12th, 2006

I downloaded an Editors song last year and didn’t like it. Then a friend sent me the whole album (The Back Room) and I didn’t like it. A few months ago I received a promo copy of the CD, played it once through again and still didn’t really like it, so I filed it away with the rest of the promos. Then a couple of weeks ago I had a photo pass for their show in Brooklyn with Stellastarr, and I went in prepared to be bored.

But during their first song, “Lights,” all the music strategically went away and Lead Singer Tom screamed, un-amplified, into the audience just before everything came crashing back in. Kathy and I looked at each other with our mouths wide open because it was the most perfect and amazing moment of any live show I’ve seen in recent years. It probably didn’t hurt that he was standing practically on top of us. I listened closely to the following six or seven songs and found that I really liked them all. Ever since, I’ve been listening to The Back Room in my iPod almost every day, and I really, really love the whole album. Also, I didn’t think Lead Singer Tom was attractive until that scream, and after that he could do no wrong.

Did I just not pay close enough attention the first few times I heard these songs over the last year? Did they start to grow on me coincidentally at the same time I saw the band live, or did seeing them live make everything click? Now LST’s voice is one of my favorites. It’s like Paul Banks’ with a little bit more control. Come to think of it, a lot of the Editors album sounds like Stellastarr and Interpol went into the shower together. I know those comparisons are made all the time, but I agree.

The point is, buy the Editors CD and listen to it over and over again, and for God’s sake, go out see them in person.

Way to Go

Tuesday, April 11th, 2006

It’s nine in the morning and already three adults have embarrassed themselves in front of me today.

On the subway a grown man was leaning against the window because he was tired, and he jerked awake and noticed he had left breath prints on the glass where his nose had been. He tried to wipe them off with his bare hand but that just made a mess. He was embarrassed.

Also on the subway was a fifty year old woman who dressed, walked, talked, did her makeup, scrunched her hair, chewed, snickered, rolled her eyes, blew gum bubbles, complained, glared, and laughed like a fifteen year old girl. It was really like somebody had taken a tenth grader off the street and shot her with a “grow up now” laser, but she hadn’t yet gotten used to being that age yet. Anyway, she slammed her head into a pole when the train made a quick stop on the bridge. She was embarrassed.

The third person was in the elevator at work. A woman bound for floor nine was very visibly reading James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces like it was still at all relevant. Visit a liquor store and make yourself a brown paper book cover, lady. She may not have known it at the time, but she was totally embarrassed.

Anybody Need a Haircut?

Monday, April 10th, 2006

From Now On

Friday, April 7th, 2006

Sarah Lewitinn is my new favorite party. Period.