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Friday, September 8, 2000

travis fans thrown out of new york gig after bitchy catfight:

"The tussle is over whether cute singer Fran Healy or handsome bassist Dougie Payne is 'hotter'..."

now, now, girls. can't we just agree that they're equally hot?
-fred solinger | steal this link!

so about those mtv awards...: well, i didn't see them, so i can't say, really. based on what i'm hearing from our publicity people, it sucked royally, moreso than any in recent years -- which is what i figured. i did watch one skit through the scrambling: a terribly unfunny napster "p.s.a." starring the wayans brothers and the intellectual property poster boy himself, lars ulrich. basically, lars barges in on the boys' "dorm room" where they're "sharing" metallica files -- the wayans are big fans you know. lars doesn't appreciate this really, and says, "well, what if i start sharing your soda?" and the wayans boy doesn't mind...until he realizes that he's also sharing 10 years worth of groupies! the message, according to the voiceover at the end of the skit is this: "sharing is fun, except when it's your stuff!"

what little response the skit generated was mostly boos. personally, i wouldn't have minded is lars sharedmy soda, just as long as he bought me another one. but that side of napster, and mp3s in general -- people listening to music to sample it and then going out and buying the album -- is something both lars and the recording industry don't want you to think about. before i step off my soapbox, let me ask: do you think lars would've appeared in the commercial had napster won in the lawsuit?
-fred solinger | steal this link!

Thursday, September 7, 2000

GAH!: many of you know that i work right across from radio city music hall. more of you probably know that that is where the mtv video music awards are held this year. well, since tuesday, it's been a living hell trying to get around over here. mtv has just taken over this area: a mtv news area was setup in front of radio city and i ended up walking by both serena altschul and john norris -- the former is shorter than i would've thought.

anyway, today is just the very worst of it. besides being interrupted every five minutes by the sound of teenagers screaming their heads off because some pseudo-celeb has walked by, i just can't navigate the area in any reasonable amount of time. going out for lunch, for one, was hellacious, though i did get to see zach de la rocha of rage against the machine, if anyone's interested though i'd hope my readers are beyond such things -- celebrity worship, yes, but above all rage against the friggin' machine. so after squeezing my way through the mob, i just keep on going, determined to get out of this disaster area.

i will now try my very best to explain the ridiculousness of crossing the street as i headed back to work. "try" because i think a visual representation would work best, but alas, what can i do? i'm standing on the northwest corner of 51st street, needing to get to the northeast corner: the most logical way to do so is to walk in a straight line, i surmise. i do see cops in the intersection, but i also see people walking from the other side, so i begin. no sooner than i step off the curb am i met by an officer who tells me i must cross that way (meaning to the other side of 51st, i.e. the soutwest corner) and then i may cross 6th avenue to the southeast corner of 51st. then, and only then, am i permitted to cross to the northeast corner of 51st street that, at this point, i'm so desperate to reach. so instead of walking I, i had to walk ] -- if those symbols work at all for you.

while standing on the southeast corner of 51st, i heard the most perceptive comment of the day: "WOW! look at all of these people, something must be going on," said the woman standing right next to a sign, one of many, for the vma's. goodness.
-fred solinger | steal this link!

william orbit to produce jennifer lopez single: well, it looks like jen has picked up madonna's sloppy seconds. damn you, william orbit, you better not make me like a jennifer lopez single. eh, even if the production is great, i'm sure i'll find something to hate about it.
-fred solinger | steal this link!

we're baaaaaccck: indeed they are! the "we" in question is public blog, one of my faves before they vanished from the face of the earth. if you guys keep a steady connection, maybe i'll put back your permalink. ;) anyway, josef k.: my favorite album of the moment is richard harris' the webb sessions 1968-69, which contains some of the very best music of the 60s. it's passionate, extravagant, romantic, lush, pretentious, and ridiculous: everything good about that decade summed up in two fab albums.
-fred solinger | steal this link!

Wednesday, September 6, 2000

THE 6THS - HYACINTHS & THISTLES
this review of the new album from stephin merritt is taken from a review sent to the magnetic fields mailing list, a review that i never intended to be a "review," but rather a comment on the songs and such. it did become a "review" but it lacks a certain "polish," if you will. we join this review in progress, introductory "jokey" bits removed for clarity...

having listened to it now, h&t is a very slight record: i'd attribute most of this to the fact that the songs are very short (barring "oahu") and that the *album* is very short (barring "oahu"). but more than, really: there's no problem with short songs, per se -- the mf's have made a career out of it. however, many of the songs on h&t sound like demos, unfinished or at least half-finished. it strikes an odd contrast because a handful of the songs on the album are amongst the most (and best) crafted songs in stephin's career.

these standouts include "as you turn to go," "he didn't" and "just like a movie star." the latter, i'd wager, is one of the best songs he's ever written, musically and lyrically. the production is *stellar* though it's far from a perfect song as it's presented: mr. a has an annoying habit of not holding notes and the ending just goes on for too long.

this seems to be a characteristic problem of h&t: if it's not the underdeveloped songs, the songs that are very well-written have some other sort of problem to it. while i do love "as you turn to go" (though i hate the "mata hari" line), momus' performance strikes me as a tad too delicate. mould's singing on "he didn't" is admirable, but he's still not much of a crooner. it's arguable whether or not the toy piano works on "i've got new york," which is otherwise quite funny and melanie gives a nice marianne faithfull-esque performance.

after all of this bitching, though, the main problem i find is that only a handful of these songs wouldn't sound better given the stephin and mf treatment. those songs are "kissing things" (which is one of the few perfect songs present), "volcana!" (which isn't, even though i love almond) and "you you you you you." it would've been nice if this album came paired with a cd containing stephin's demos of the songs, but alas.

so what am i saying? do i hate this album? not at all; it'll still end up as one of my faves from the year, but when it comes to a stehpin release, i have very high standards indeed. and whose fault is that, eh?
-fred solinger | steal this link!

madonna's "music" hits #2: hmm, what tastes better? crow? or my hat?
-fred solinger | steal this link!

just kidding: to all of those perplexed by the last post and, especially, those indicted in the last post, please don't take my comments too seriously. yes, i am irritated that this here blog was included in that batch of names hidden in source codes of numerous blogs a week or so ago but, as anyone who knows me willingly attest, i am also given to histrionics and melodramatics. so there.
-fred solinger | steal this link!

sigh: it's like having your e-mail address taken and given to spammers, except worse since at least the spam e-mail is interesting to read, at least when compared to the weblogs "hidden" in the source codes. wonder why you're here? well, probably not, after that introduction, but this is dedicated to you mindless jackasses out there who followed the herd: your blogs are atrocious and mind-numbing and as human beings, you're even worse. "excrement" would be too kind of a word, so i'll leave it to your collective imaginations: "collective" because as individuals...well, your work on your blogs are a more than sufficient indicator of the level of thought you're capable of. have a nice day and enjoy your stay. :)
-fred solinger | steal this link!

well, catherine...: ...it's interesting that you mention altman moving to france if bush wins, because john malkovich ended up moving to france because of tipper gore and her cronies in the pmrc. then again, now that her hubby is running for president and that she's made friends in hollywood as the veep's wife, gore shouldn't frighten malkovich anymore because, according to this george article, she doesn't even know who eminem is.
-fred solinger | steal this link!

i have this saying: it goes, "it's never too early for starbursts." it means, quite literally, that it is never too early too enjoy starbursts, those mouth-watering fruit chews that are now available in the california fruits variety -- highly recommended!

so i guess it's not much of a saying -- only in the literal sense that it is something for one or that one can say. you're now free to carry on with your doubtlessly productive lives.
-fred solinger | steal this link!

thank yous: thank yous must go out to the folks who've been so kind to buy me things. yesterday, i received richard harris' the webb sessions 1968-69, which is brilliant, so thanks very much to mike. i also received raise high the roofbeam carpenters and seymour: an introduction from josh, which is one of my favorites. and i'm going to assume that the package that i have to go and pick up today from ups is from claire, which i believe is franny and zooey, my favorite book so thank you very much to her as well.

in closing, just let me say that it's never too late to buy me things.
-fred solinger | steal this link!

Tuesday, September 5, 2000

howdy!: i trust you all had an enjoyable weekend, particularly my fellow americans whose weekend was extended by a day. around these parts, it was fairly quiet: "the last weekend of summer," if you will, was dampened, literally, by rain, so much of it was spent indoors. today, it's unseasonably cool: it seems as if mother nature has taken it upon herself to change labor day from "unofficial end of summer" to "official end of summer."

i did something this weekend i haven't done since college: i purchased books. more than that, really: i purchased books without being compelled to by a professor! that is to say i bought books that i intend to read for pleasure. before college, i fancied myself as a very avid reader; during college, i had no interest in keeping up with my required reading which made me feel guilty about reading anything i did find interesting; and after college, i was burned out by the very little reading i did do. happily, i now think i'm over that.

what did i buy? well, i bought a salinger biography, economically titled, salinger, a biography. it was very interesting and a definite page turner: i finished its 300 pages+ in a matter of hours. for those that don't know, salinger wrote the catcher in the rye and several other novels, mostly about the glass family. after the publication of raise high the roofbeam, carpenters, he just stopped publishing: that was 34 years ago. the book seeks to get to the bottom of his reclusiveness and reluctance to publish; it turns out that he's an immensely private person and that he dislikes and, more importantly, distrusts publishers and the whole process based on several key incidents in his life. if you're a fan like myself, it's a must read (in particular, i was elated to find out that franny & zooey, my favorite book, was published on sept. 14, the day before my birthday).

i also bought david foster wallace's brief interviews with hideous man which is a collection of short stories. i'm about 75% through that one. it's very challenging but more often than not turns out to be just as rewarding, if not moreso. the salinger bio engendered in me thoughts of trying my hand at writing stories again; this wallace book shatters those ideas and makes me wonder why anyone else out there is even trying. the collection is often hilarious and often headache-often and, even more often, it's both.
-fred solinger | steal this link!

def leppard show is just too quiet: blogged for no other reason than that it contains my favorite quote of the day.

"The group hand out refunds to fans after they fail to rock hard enough..."
-fred solinger | steal this link!

virgin's all-time top 1,000 albums ever: virgin will be publishing a book with that very same title, and the top ten list can be seen in this link. combined, the beatles and radiohead have recorded the five greatest albums ever. you crazy brits and your lists, i swear!
-fred solinger | steal this link!

'bring it on' tops box office again: sure, it's troubling that bring it on topped the box office yet again. but what's most troubling is the fact that it suffered a mere 15% drop-off in revenue from its opening week.
-fred solinger | steal this link!

puffy and lopez split?: that's what they're saying. the breakup is allegedly due to puffy's comments about jen's new movie, the cell, something like it was a "steaming pile of shit." but don't quote me.
-fred solinger | steal this link!