Talia's Song Pick-o-the-week

It has certainly been a while since we've had a song pick of the week, hasn't it? Well today, I've decided to dedicate a silly song, with very true underpinnings to my new job, my new apartment, my empty wallet, my tortured liver, and all of my homies in NYC living the Rock and Roll Lifestyle: blazing through our twenties wearing colored paper wristbands, faded hand stamps, missing sleep, drinking gatoraid for breakfast and focusing on the music instead of mortgages!

Rock and Roll Lifestyle
By: Cake
Well, your CD collection looks shiny and costly,
how much did you pay for your bad Moto Guzzi?
And how much did you spend on your black leather jacket?
Is it you, or your parents, in this income tax bracket?

Now, tickets to concerts and drinking at clubs
is sometimes for music that you haven't even heard of.
And how much did you pay for your rock and roll t-shirt
that proves you were there, that you heard of them first?

Now how do you afford your rock and roll lifestyle?
How do you afford your rock and roll lifestyle?
How do you afford your rock and roll lifestyle...
Ohhhh tell me..
ah yeah
ahh right
ahh right
ahh yeah
ahh right
ohh

How much did you pay for the chunk of his guitar,
the one he ruthlessly smashed at the end of the show?
And how much will HE pay for a brand-new guitar,
one which he'll ruthlessly smash at the end of another show?
And how long will the workers keep building him new ones,
as long as their soda cans are red, white and blue ones?
And how long will the workers keep building him new ones,
as long as their soda cans are red, white and blue ones?

ahh yeah
ahhh yeah
ahh yeah
ahh right
ha! ahhhh haaaa haa haa
oh no..

Aging black leather and hospital bills..
And tatoo removal and dozens of pills.
Your liver pays dearly now for youthful magic moments,
but rock on completely with brand new components.

So good, ahh baby...

Excess ain't rebellion.
You're drinking what they're selling.
Your destruction doesnt hurt them,
your chaos won't covert them.
They're so happy to rebuild it.
You'll never really kill it off.
Yeah,Excess ain't rebellion.
You're drinkin' what they're selling.
Excess ain't rebellion ahhhh.
You're drinkin', you're drinkin' ahh yeah
you're drinkin' what they're selling..
ahhh
yeahahhh right
ahhh
yeah!
ahhhhhhhh right

Big Brother & the Holding Company ON TOUR!

Whoa! The 40th Anniversary of the Summer of Love continues with a reunion tour by Big Brother & The Holding Company, the band which made, singer Janis Joplin famous after a notorious performance at the Monterey Pop fest in the summer of 1967.

New Yorkers can catch the band that made rock and roll history, sans Joplin of course, at Terra Blues this Thursday, August 30.

After the Jump Festival Saturday August 25, Studio B Brooklyn

One of my friends helped put together FREE music festival, organized by the best music bloggers in NYC, called After the Jump Fest, which will take place TOMORROW, Saturday August 25 at Studio B in Brooklyn. The lineup includes:

Apache Beat
Bling Kong
David Bruno
Finger On The Pulse
Free Blood
Goes Cube
Golem
Jukebox The Ghost
Locksley
Ra Ra Riot
Riot In Belgium
Soulico
Spectrum
Teenage Prayers
The Virgins

I've also heard a rumor that there just might be a special guest, but you'll have to show up to find out who!

To get the weekend activities started right there will be a kick off party tonight, with FREE BEER! Details below:

Eddie Vedder performance in Toronto

Mr. Soundtrack himself, Eddie Vedder, is scheduled to perform songs he recorded for Phil Donohue's anti-war documentary, Body of War at the film's premier in Toronto on September 11, 2007.

The documentary features the story of Thomas Young, the wheelchair bound veteran who accompanied Pearl Jam on stage during their performance at Lollapalooza earlier this month.

Get full story from Billboard here.

You want reasons, do ya?

This morning a friend directed my attention to Radar Magazine's list of 100 Reasons You're Still Single, which was absolutely hilarious, if not enlightening! Some of my favorites were:

7. Wink in a rakish manner each time you tell a joke,
39. Take off work each year to celebrate Cinco de Mayo; are Irish
57. Own a 60-inch flat-screen plasma television but sleep on a broken futon
82. Have cellulite on your face

So, I have been inspired to come up with my own little list. Just in case you were wondering, here are a few things I will not tolerate:
10 Reasons You are Not Dating ME:
1. You have red hair. Not just reddish hair. I'm talking about seriously red hair that is almost orange and comes with a smattering of freckles all over your body. Its a matter of personal preference. I do not feel the need to explain myself, but you can watch Cartman's report on Ginger Kids if you don't understand.
2. You own and have worn a Grateful Dead t-shirt but don't know any of their music. Thinking "those wacky bears" are cool does not earn you the right to wear a Dead shirt.
3. You think Pearl Jam's last album was Vitalogy. Not only this but you immediately think of Jeremy when someone mentions the band. That's like saying Jim Carrey's artistic peak was Once Bitten. Its a completely illogical and unforgivable statement to make unless you've spent the past 10 years in a coma.
4. You have some sort of weird food issue. Lactose intolerance, vegetarians, crazy allergies that make it impossible for us to eat dinner at the same place are a deal breaker. Mamma likes her yum yums.
5. You are jealous of Beth and our toothbrush arrangements. She's given me my own head for her electrical toothbrush. In turn, she keeps a spare in my medicine cabinet. Its not weird. It does not mean we kiss.
6. You snap when you dance. This relationship is not big enough for two snappers. You gots to go!
7. You forget where your own home is. Unless you're paying my rent (or at least part of it), you should probably leave when I want to go to bed. Also, at no time is it ok for you to leave any of your personal belongings at my apartment. If you do, I will assume that you have meant to throw them out, and I will do so for you.
8. You use phrases such as "and whatnot", "it is what it is", or "say what?" These are dumb. Whatnot isn't even a word. Of course it is what it is, there is no need to say so. Unless, you are a jazz musician from the 50s, "say what" requires additional verbs and pronouns in order to fly.
9. You carry around a duffel bag in the trunk of your car with pictures of you and hot naked chicks from your spring break trip in 2000. Seriously? Nothing cool has happened to you since then? Awww.
10. You display sports jerseys on the wall in your home in lieu of artwork. It was made with head hole and sleeves so that it could be worn on a normal human body. It belongs in your closet next to your Old Navy Carpenter Jeans from the 90s and your leather jacket with the elastic at the bottom (also reason's you won't be getting your flirt on with me any time soon).

Hard Sun- a new track from Eddie Vedder

You can now listen to an excerpt from Hard Sun on AOL: a song, orignally released by Indio, but covered by Eddie Vedder on the soundtrack to Into the Wild, directed by Vedder buddy Sean Penn. The soundtrack is also the very first solo album by Eddie Vedder, and it is scheduled to come out September 18, so don't forget!

Eddie Vedder Cameo in New Movie: Walk Hard

Try to imagine a movie which is basically a cross between This is Spinal Tap, and Walk the Line. That's how I would describe Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, a new movie from the producers of Superbad (which was amazing by the way, and warrants a review all its own, when I have more time). Sure, Walk Hard, which will be in theaters around Christmas this year, looks funny, but what is making me write about it this morning is a very special, rare, comedic cameo in the movie by none other than Eddie Vedder! I read about his appearance in the movie in this week's Rolling Stone, but last night I saw the trailer that includes a peek at Eddie's part. Yeah, I'm actually nuts enough to see the movie just because Eddie's in it. What? I never claimed to be sane.

In the movie, John C. Reilly plays singer, Dewey Cox in a comedic spoof of the story behind a music legend. There are appearances by Jack White, who plays Elvis Presley, and UCB's own Matt Besser. (I'm still gonna see it cuz of Eddie) Anyway, here's the trailer I saw last night with Eddie in it. Happy Monday.

I am a sucky photographer

I was asked about photos of Pearl Jam from Lolla weekend, and I am sad to say that most of the photos I took turned out crappy! I don't know if it's me or the camera (or maybe a bit of both) but this is the only one that that is worth sharing. It's from the Vic Theater on August 5, 2007. Sorry I don't have anything better :(

Censorship, etc.

Ok, everyone has heard by now that AT&T made a BIG boo boo by censoring the webcast of Pearl Jam's set at Lollapalooza, by excluding Eddie Vedder's anti-Bush commentary.

Of COURSE, Pearl Jam was publicly PISSED! A message posted on the band's official website encouraged fans to fight censorship:
"If you have examples of AT&T censoring artist performances around political content, it's a good thing for everyone to know about. Feel free to post examples on the official Pearl Jam Message Pit."

AT&T came back with an apology, calling the whole thing a MISTAKE:
"We screwed up on Sunday night when we deleted some lyrics from a live Pearl Jam performance that we were webcasting on attblueroom.com. We understand why Pearl Jam and their fans are upset. We're upset, too, and embarrassed by this mistake which is totally against our policy - of never, ever censoring political speech. The attblueroom.com exists to bring great music to as many people as possible, free of charge. We're committed to musicians and know we have a responsibility to them and to all of their fans.

We've webcasted more than 16 free concerts featuring approximately 310 bands and over 350 hours of live music and this hasn't happened before. We're making changes to ensure it won't happen again. We apologize to Pearl Jam, Lollapalooza and music fans everywhere. We've asked the band if we can post the complete, uncut performance to our website immediately. "

Here is a complete unedited version of Daughter, which includes the political tag.

MY TWO CENTS:
While I generally feel that there is a time and a place for everything, I cannot condone censorship of this type. Personally, I share a disapproval of our president's decisions with regard to the war in Iraq, but I don't necessarily think a rock concert is the best place to hold a political rally. We are fans of pearl jam for the music, not necessarily because we all share the same political views as Eddie Vedder. That said, I do not think it was ok for AT&T to censor the webcast. Whether we, or the president, or anyone else for that matter likes it or not, Eddie Vedder has every right to express whatever opinion he may have when he is on the microphone, and as fans, we have come to expect it. This is America. The first amendment was drafted to protect our freedom for a reason. That's all.

Lollapalooza 2007 In a Nutshell

Now that I have a new job, I don't have as much time to fiddle around on the interweb, but fear not, I'll still post...just as part of my leisure time (obscure Flight of the Conchords reference).

As a result, here's the quickie version of my weekend at Lollapalooza (If I have time, I'll add photos later)

Thursday: We arrived into Chicago early, by mid afternoon, with plenty of time to check into the hotel, change, eat, and head to the Vic Theater to get our wrist bands for the special Pearl Jam warm up show. By the time we got there (4:30 pm) the line was around the block, and the people in the front had been there since morning. Just as security came around to check IDs and give out wristbands, I realized that my ID was not in my wallet! I had taken it out to get through airport security, and I never put it back in my wallet! Thankfully, the tickets were in my friend's name, and am obviously over 18, so I got my wrist band alright- phew! I did, however run back to the hotel to get it, just in case I wanted to celebrate after the show with a cocktail or two. We got back by 6, but still didn't want to wait in the ridiculous line, so we bought a big box of Popsicles and passed them out to thirsty, tired fans in line. When doors opened after 7, I was able to secure a place on the floor, about 8 people away from the stage near the middle toward Stone's side.

Pearl Jam put on, what I believe may be the best show I have seen so far (I know, I say that all the time). But they certainly played for a fan club only audience by playing mostly rarities and b sides. See for yourself:
Setlist August 2, 2007

Set 1	All Or None, Education, Sad, In Hiding, Parachutes, I'm Open, Wishlist, Down, Undone, Off He Goes, Hard To Imagine, Gods' Dice, World Wide Suicide, Rats, Gone, Why Go
Encore 1	No More, Inside Job, Low Light, Love Reign O'er Me
Encore 2	Comatose, Black Diamond, Sonic Reducer
Encore 3	Indifference (with Ben Harper)

Friday: Day 1 of Lollapalooza I saw the following bands:
1. Fratellis- Great show, but we missed the song from the Ipod commercial.
2. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists- another good show. Ted fell on stage, cutting his hand and breaking his guitar strap. I didn't see it happen, but he showed us the blood. His socks were blue.
3. Polyphonic Spree- an enjoyable performance both audibly and visually. After a costume change, they put on their trademark robes, ran through the crowd, then did a killer cover of Nirvana's Lithium to my complete glee! This was the first highlight of Lollapalooza for me!
4. Against Me- pretty good, although I'd not heard of them before Lolla. I mostly just sat in the shade and bobbed my head.
5. Silversun Pickups- I finally got to see this band which I have come to really really like! Lazy Eye, my former ring tone, was played well (although I got the feeling I'd prefer to hear the band play in a small club rather than outside). Toward the end of the set, the lead singer acknowledged a female fan singing all the words up front, and told us all that her passion was distracting him (in a good way)!! *sigh* See ladies, the effort is worth it!!
6. LCD Soundsystem- Brooklyn in Da House! This group set the electronica tone for the rest of the night, with their very appropriate jam "Daft Punk is Playing at My House".
7. Daft Punk- Before the space suit clad duo went on, I was feeling very tired and had suggested leaving early, however once they got the beats goin, I found myself jumping and fist pumping, shouting "Around the world, around the world" and "One more time!" Aahhhh, Acapulco memories!!

Saturday: Day 2 of Lollapalooza:
I met a relative who lives in Chicago for brunch, so i didn't get to the park till after 2, but when I did, I went straight to the kids stage because rumors were flying that the "very special guest" on the schedule was going to be none other than Eddie Vedder. It wasn't BUT, I did get to see an acoustic set by Jim James of My Morning Jacket, which included the Chipmunks Christmas song, and that song about Rainbows that Kermit the Frog sings. It was cute, so I stayed there, sitting on the ground in front of the stage with the 3, 4, and 5 year olds who had their hair painted blue, pink and orange. Next up was Patti Smith, on the kids stage with a toned down version of "The People Have the Power". Cool to see her up that close. I'm glad I stuck around. Onto the big kids stages for
1. The Roots- Fun set, lots of covers.
2. The Hold Steady- I was busy talking during this set, but what I heard was good. My friend who was actually paying attention said they were great. I trust her opinion.
3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs- So much fun live. Karen O made ripped fishnets look hot!
4. Spoon- as I suggested last winter, Spoon is way better at an outdoor venue (even in the pouring rain) than they were at Webster Hall. Good thing I listened from the myspace tent and stayed relatively dry till the storm blew over.
5. Muse- This band rocked harder than I ever imagined. If I didn't owe the best performance nod (by lifetime loyalty standards) to Pearl Jam, I'd give it to Muse! Seriously, I need to go out and buy all their albums now! Phenomenal!

Sunday: Day 3 of Lollapalooza:
1. Amy Winehouse- I love me some Amy, but by Sunday I was dehydrated, and exhausted. I nearly passed out during her set, under the unforgiving heat! We had to retreat halfway through to get more water. In my bleary state, I could tell she sounded good, but I was a bit out of it. I'm sorry Amy.
2. Paolo Nutini- This kid (he looks about 13) got so into his vocals, it was cute. I enjoyed the set, but really only remember the song, "Jenny". I remember thinking, "I could totally listen to this album." He's got a soulful voice for a kid!
3. Kings of Leon- Such hotties! I never realized how cute these guys were before! Eddie Vedder came out and sand with them for a song- the name of it escapes me at the moment. I enjoyed it.
4. My Morning Jacket- Teaming up with the Chicago Youth Orchestra, MMJ outdid themselves. I actually couldn't hear the orchestra all that loudly, but whatever they were doing it was just right! "One Big Holiday" at the end of the set rocked my world. I love that song!
5. Pearl Jam- My favorite band closed the weekend with a greatest hits-esque setlist that included Alive, Do the Evolution, and Elderly Woman... Eddie graced us with a song about boycotting BP and Amoco for dumping in Lake Michigan, and added a few rants about Bush. The set closed with an emphatic Rockin in the Free World, with Dennis Rodman (wtf?) on stage alongside a ton of other lucky bastards that no one knew! Pearl Jam did Lollapalooza proud, as fans new and old came together in Eddie's home state.

What a great end to a beautiful, musical weekend!

Back from Lollapalooza weekend and lots to talk about

However, I am exhausted and I start my new job tomorrow so I have to get some sleep. I will have all my reviews and photos for you soon. Hold tight, and have a good Tuesday!

























MORE COMING SOON......