Happy Holidays!

I missed this last year. They've been showing The Killers' Don't Shoot Me Santa on all of the Christmas video countdowns in the UK and I laugh everytime I see it. It's stereotypically American. --J

It Just Ain't Christmas

My friend DP just sent this to me. -K

It just ain't Christmas

...without Grace Jones in all her Jean-Paul Gaultier glory.I have never heard a better version of this song(excluding the Chet Aktins morphine-drip intrumental version). How tasteful- and merciful - of her to sing only a single verse. Even without all the brilliant gay subtext that made Pee Wee's holiday showa minor masterpiece of good-natured subversion (" I hope it's not afruitcake...." quips Pee Wee. "Sorry Grace, back in the box," he continues)this non-sequitur moment might provide an avant garde touch that wouldreduce Marcel Duchamp and Jean Cocteau to hot tears of envy.But they weren't around in the 80s. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98JrWm9IMMA

Papa Roach Ex-Drummer Sues Band

The ex-drummer of Papa Roach, Dave Buckner, who quit (fired) last Christmas Eve due to substance abuse issues is now suing the band for profits he supposedly should have earned over the last year. Apparently, after he officially left the band no one did anything about the fact that he remained a partner in the various companies the band formed. Profits were made and bank loans happened, all of which he was excluded from. He wants to dissolve those companies and get the money he is owed.

There's hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake here. I'm slightly curious to know what sort of "companies" the band formed, especially after I can't seem to find out anything about them online. -K

You're So Vain - Foo Fighters

Since all I have seen is this youtube video, I don't understand the context of Foo Fighters playing a Carly Simon cover on a Grammy nominations show. Was everyone performing asked to do a cover? All I know is this was a pleasant surprise to watch over morning coffee. This past June I got obsessed with that song for the second time in my life. I like the combination of Carly Simon and Mick Jagger's vocals on it and the lyrics are classic. So on a flight from Salt Lake City to London, I put it on a playlist I've been playing quite a bit.

Dave's growl adds a certain menacing quality to the song. It's more like "You're so vain and I'm gonna make sure you don't live anymore because of it". Hahaha --J

Kings of Leon - O2 Arena

Sorry, this post probably says more about me than the band…

It’s 5:45pm and I’m on a conference call that’s running over with no signs of ending. I’ve got a train to catch to get to North Greenwich at 6:42pm and I’ve got my husband’s suit to pick up from the cleaners and a parent to call about tomorrow’s slumber party and I’ve got to stop off to dispose of the laptop. I also see someone pacing outside my office door. Something’s not right here. They are seriously killing my pre-concert buzz.

Okay, I missed the 6:42 train and missed any opening act, but did make it to the arena as they were setting up for the main attraction. The arena seemed so big for Kings of Leon, the band I saw at Pop’s just two years ago, but it truly was sold out. I started to get out some paper to write down the set list and then I made the decision to get out of task mode and just enjoy the show.

The stage was not over the top busy like some arena rock shows, but pretty simple. As usual there was not a lot of chatter with the audience. Caleb did say that when they walked into the arena that day they were blown away by the size as well.

They started the set with Closer and then Crawl and for a moment I wondered if they would play Only By the Night from start to finish. After Crawl they varied the setlist to contain tracks from all of the other records. The set was a little under two hours but with little banter, they covered a lot of ground.

Rumors circulated in the UK press a few weeks ago that the whole UK arena tour might be cancelled due to Caleb’s drinking but they laughed off reports of this a few days ago. There were no signs of such an issue on stage. He never sounded better. I have to say that the worldwide success looks to be agreeing with them. They all looked confident and looked as if they were enjoying the moment. It was such a solid set that I have a hard time picking a favorite.

As I skipped out on the last song of the encore to catch the train, there was a guy and his buddy in front of me and they were very drunk and complaining that they didn’t play California Waiting. It is one of my favorites but they played so many of my other favorites that I didn’t seem to miss it. When these two guys were figuring out where their destination was one of them kept saying “We need to get to St. Pancreas Station!” (It’s St. Pancras). Hearing the word ‘pancreas’ and seeing his nauseated face made me think of bodily functions so I moved further down the escalator to avoid his potential vomit. --J

The Loneliest Man in the World

Have you ever found yourself alone at about 3:00 in the morning sitting in the dark, the party is over, no cigarettes or booze left, and you begin questioning your life? That’s what Kanye West’s new record sounds like to me. While the music on most tracks is cold and electronic, the lyrics are pure emotion, with Kanye singing more than rapping on most songs. I think this lyric from Welcome to Heartbreak explains where Kanye’s head is at:

Chased the good life my whole life long
Look back on my life and my life gone
Where did I go wrong?

It doesn’t come off as “poor me”, maybe because of the production of the songs. What a shock to hear a hip hop record where someone is reeling off brand names but only in order to say that they aren’t making him happy. Hip hop in general is not my thing, but after seeing Kanye open for U2 in St. Louis a few years ago I have always been interested to see what he is doing. His performance was not what I expected and I think this record proves he is willing to continue going in unexpected directions. --J

This is Random

I threw out my copy of Q Magazine with Noel Gallagher's mug on the cover. I wish I still had it so I could quote him directly but a paraphrase will have to do. In the interview he made a statement, something like the UK has better fashion and music than the U.S. He was asked what music he likes and he recommended a local artist, The Jim Jones Revue. This jumped out at me since that's probably the only English artist I have seen live since my arrival in the UK a year ago. I found a video of the Jim Jones Revue on youtube that I thought I would share. If this doesn't look like an imitation of American Roots Music, I don't know what does. So is Noel trying to say that the English do American music better because this looks like an imitation, and in my opinion, not a superior one.

I'm not saying that the U.S. doesn't have its fair share of manufactured music, but I feel like I'm overloaded with it here, especially covers of good songs. I read recently that the X-Factor winner (for Americans, think American Idol) will cover Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. Seriously? They are claiming it will be the number one record this Christmas. Again, seriously? Can Simon Cowell be stopped? He is the man behind this as well. Yuck.

For your amusement check out this boy band from the mid-90s that didn't make it over the pond. It's a bad cover (Cat Stevens) and it has all of the trappings of a bad boy band video. What do we do with the rest of the guys while the main guy sings the song? Let's have some of them look menacingly into the camera. How about we spend some money on crazy special effects and light up their hands?

The Killers Day & Age - J's Review

Four times through, I need to listen to a record four times through before I trust that my initial reaction is valid. It's not a good sign for me when I'm listening to a record and the music just fades into the background unnoticed, and that's what happens with Day and Age. I went back and looked at how many songs of the two previous Killers records I love. Hot Fuss, I could listen to the first five songs over and over again and do still on a regular basis. Sam's Town, I ended up liking that material more after seeing some of it live than I did on my first reaction but again five songs stick with me there as well (first six minus Bling and then The River is Wild). Honestly on Day and Age, Losing Touch and Spaceman are my only faves and will be on regular rotation. I'm not even that wild about Human.

This new record has made me wonder what is it then in that handful of songs that appeals to me. I think the song Jenny Was a Friend of Mine is a good example. The song has a prominent bass line and a good mixture of guitar and keyboards. But the vocals, I love that Brandon can sound like he is completely insane ("She said she loved me!"). That's what does it for me, and you usually only get that on the faster material. With an album made up mostly of mid-tempo songs, there aren't enough opportunities to hear this.

Even though I'm not happy with the record, I am still very disappointed that I missed out getting a ticket to their O2 Arena performance here in London in February when the tickets sold out in record time. I would go see them again in a heartbeat.

On a side note, The Killers will now always make me think of haggis. We stopped in a pub in Edinburgh to try this legendary Scottish dish back in October and the music overhead was a compilation of Sam's Town and Hot Fuss. My daughter A and I sang along as we waited for our meal.--J

The Killers Day & Age - K's Review

Due to the fact that this Las Vegas group has never denied their 80s influences (actually, calling the following artists mere influences is like saying Zoso is just influenced by Led Zeppelin) like Bruce Springsteen, Joy Division, or Roxy Music, I tend to listen to them and judge how much I like their interpretations of these influences rather than look at them as artists of original music.

The first band I ever saw in St. Louis back in 2004, when I was fresh off the boat, was The Killers at Mississippi Night. I later saw them at The Pageant with J and M. I feel like, not only do they make me nostalgic about the 80s, but they also make me nostalgic for my few years in St. Louis. In general, my Killers admiration can get complicated and cloudy.

I also feel like my admiration for this band is incredibly manic, too. I will tear up a Killers album like a dog with a new toy. Once I’m done I throw it out and have no interest in listening to it until I’m ready to start the cycle again. When I’m in full-on Killers mode I do stupid things like get speeding tickets because I’m lost in the cd. But who knows when the mood will hit? How can a band be a danger to my mental health? What is it about them?

At the end of the day, I am undeniably in love with The Killers. They symbolize a somic euphoria to me that keeps me one foot in even while I’m facing the other direction.

But, back to Day and Age. I was extremely pleased by more than half the songs I loved while the rest I felt were just fillers. In the same mold as Sam's Town, it seemed like the second half of the album contained the most. That's extremely disappointing since I think this band is capable of so much more.

My highlights include:
Losing Touch - A Bowie-esque/ U2 Pop era tune layered with saxes and ping pong or Atari-sounding keyboards that opens the album.
Human - This is The Killers that I know J loves. I do, too! It’s a synth-laden, pop new wave throwback at the band’s best. This one also happens to be the theme song to the latest Blackberry Storm ads.
Spaceman - 80s pop HIT style. This song is the gateway drug that eventually leads the way to an incredibly poor attempt of me doing Molly Ringwald dance. This song will bring a tear to my eye when I see them live next year in Nashville. God, this one will be the one to make me get a ticket again. I get lost in this one.
I Can’t Stay - In my opinion, this song is a total hats-off to Talking Heads... the Talking Heads material I can stomach. I love the breezy, Caribbean flow of this one.

I am about to echo J here regarding the tempo of some of the songs..to me, this album contains a frenzy of mid-tempo fillers (not including bonus tracks):
A Dustland Fairytale - Sad 80s.
This Is Your Life - African chant 80s, big with artists like Peter Gabriel or the Dream Academy (Life in a Northern Town guys).
The World We Live In- Bad 80s.
Neon Tiger - Tune that needs a dance remix.
Joy Ride - Roxy Music all the way. I think this one could grow on me, but just doesn’t quite cut it.
Goodnight, Travel Well - If you strip away the layers of music you’ll hear planetarium theme music wedged into the background which makes it sort of interesting to me, but otherwise this album doesn’t benefit from it.

In the end I know I have to choose a rating. In my opinion, though there are a few stand-outs, I think this one is for the fans. This is hard to do, but I give it an UNMOVING. -K

Kings of Leon - Q's Band of the Year

Great cover pic!

MGMT - Oracular Spectacular

This American band is getting a lot of press in the UK. Their song “Time to Pretend” was a free download on iTunes in America awhile back and while the lyrics are very cliché, it sticks with you. I gave the rest of the disc a spin about five times and the sounds are all over the place. There are times I think they are trying to sound like Bowie and there are times the vocals sound like Jagger on “Emotional Rescue”. In the end, it just doesn’t do much for me. --J

Is it Really Going to Happen?

Well folks, it looks like Chinese Democracy is really getting released. If you haven’t read Chuck Klosterman’s April Fool’s Review, check it out. My favorite quote is:

If you purchased a kitten on the day that Use Your Illusion I & II arrived in stores, it's probably dead by now.

--J

The Killers at Royal Albert Hall

As K reported, I was at the Royal Albert Hall last night for The Killers’ one-off London gig before their world tour starts. The show had been sold out for some time. If you go to a number of concerts, inevitably you have probably gone to a venue which used to be some grand theatre or movie house in its day, but now is kind of run down and the owners think, a perfect place for a rock show! The Riviera in Chicago is an example. Well, imagine walking into one of those places if it wasn’t run down and multiply that by six. That’s the Royal Albert Hall. It is incredibly beautiful. I walked in and instead of feeling like I was going to a rock show, I thought I was going to the opera. Because the show was going to be broadcast live on BBC Radio One, they did not have an opening band. Instead BBC Radio One’s DJ Zane Lowe took to the turntables playing a mix that began with a choir’s rendition of The Beatles’ All You Need is Love and featured ACDC’s Back in Black, The Strokes’ Last Night, Oasis’ Wonderwall, and Blur’s Song 2. He finished his set with Elvis Presley’s Viva Las Vegas. When he started his set, he said to the crowd, “Can you hear me?” and the guy behind me yelled back, “Yeah you fuckin twat!” Suddenly I didn’t feel like I was at the opera anymore…

When I was finding my way into the venue I passed two women with thick Eastern European (?) accents in matching leopard coats and jet black hair singing “Human” loudly. Two things popped into my head. 1. The new stuff is catching on. 2. They reminded me of the creepy twins in the hair metal band Cinderella’s videos.

The set was a tight 90 minutes filled with all of the big hits from Hot Fuss and Sam’s Town, some new material, and their cover of Joy Division’s Shadowplay. K and I texted back and forth throughout the set commenting on our favorite moments and what we thought of the new stuff. I loved “Spaceman” and “Losing Touch”. I may need to listen to others a bit more. Their new song “Joyride”, due to the bongos, made me think of Copacabana. I don’t want to think of Barry Manilow during a Killers show!

The band was tight and Brandon’s voice and showmanship were unbelievable. While his voice is perfect for their material, he also has this timeless air about him, like it wouldn’t be out of place for him to break into a Cole Porter standard. My favorite moments are too many to list, so I’ll just post the setlist that K so kindly compiled. --J

Human
For Reasons Unknown
Smile Like You Mean It
Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine
Somebody Told Me
Sweet Talk
Losing Touch
Spaceman
Sam's Town
Read My Mind
Joyride
Bones
Shadowplay
Mr Brightside

Neon Tiger
All These Things That I've Done
When You Were Young

The Killers at Royal Albert Hall RIGHT NOW

At this very moment, J is in the audience at the Royal Albert Hall in London watching The Killers. Thousands of miles away I am sitting at my desk in Huntsville, AL beaming in BBC Radio 1 to listen in live. J, thanks for the tip and I'm SO THERE with you babe! "...BUT MY HEART, IT DON'T BEEAAAT, IT DON'T BEEAAAT THE WAY IT USED TOOOOOO..." :-) Have fun sweety! -K

The Killers Get Existential

Seriously, are we human or are we dancer?

I'll be honest, I'd sometimes like to be more dancer than human because every now and then I just wish someone would tell me what to do, tell me how to feel, and tell me what to wear. If you don't want to think about the lyrics too much, just sit back and enjoy the 80s Pet Shop Boys sound. Otherwise, the lyrics might seem appropriate for the times...

I can't wait for Day & Age to come out because the recently released single "Human", which begs the metaphorical question above, is giving my iPod a good workout again. Hopefully, when this album is released it won't mean another speeding ticket.

Woohoo! The Killers ARE BACK! -K

The Last Shadow Puppets

Alex Turner seems to have it all here in the UK. He's lead singer of the successful Arctic Monkeys, he is dating media "it" girl and former model Alexa Chung, and now a successful side project, The Last Shadow Puppets. I'm always interested in hearing what a musician chooses to do on a side project. Is it more of the same or different?

Vocally and lyrically what I like about The Arctic Monkeys is also here. The arrangements are much different. I can't believe I'm using this word, but I'm gonna....orchestral. The record has a real vintage feel to it, which I love.

I don't know if it will translate to the U.S. market. I'm attaching a link to my favorite song off the record. Enjoy! --J

YouMeAtSix at HMV

The Brits call The Killers the most English American Band. I would say that YouMeAtSix is the most American British band. Standing at their in-store at HMV a few weeks ago, if I closed my eyes, I could have imagined I was at a stop on the Warped tour. The band played a high energy set from their first record, Take Off Your Colours, released that day. They also stayed and signed merch for all of the fans. The band has become a favorite of Kerrang! with a recent cover story and regular rotation on their network. Check out my favorite from the record. --J

Updated: Dee Snider in the Heart of the Valley?

This is what Dee was in Huntsville for. -K

Dee Snider in the Heart of the Valley?

Yes. I walked onto my Delta flight last night in Atlanta heading home to Huntsville after a few days at LSU and locked eyes for a few seconds with Dee Snider sitting in first class. Being so tall, he looked folded up and slightly uncomfortable even in first class. And you know what, without all the make-up and public attitude he's got really kind eyes. I did not expect that.

With blackberry in hand, I emailed and texted 10 people. I felt very Gossip Girl...Spotted: a twisted sister lost in his iPod in Delta first class. Flying south for the winter, Dee? -K

Big Spring Jam XVI

Lee Greenwood's audience of thousands.



One of my favorite memories, and something that many of my friends in Huntsville share, is seeing Foo Fighters at the Big Spring Jam ten years ago. FF weren’t the megaband they are today, but for all of us who experienced Nirvana, seeing a solo Dave Grohl was an exciting curiosity. Would they play there now?

Some folks I talked to had some questions about this year’s line-up at the 16th Big Spring Jam in downtown Huntsville, AL. Huntsvillians complain about the line-up EVERY year. That hasn’t changed.

Three Dog Night


BSJ has always had a perhaps unfair reputation here in town of boasting a line-up of artists who were on their way up or on their way out. I may not be the demographic for Gretchen Wilson, but she’s still very successful. Buckcherry and Hinder are smaller known bands, but they’ve arrived onto their rock scenes according to their demographic. Other artists include Lee Greenwood, Kenny Rogers, Kansas, Styx, Three Dog Night and The Guess Who. These artists may be past their halcyon days, but they’re still considered giants in the industry. BSJ even booked its first hip-hop artist, T-Pain.







Fred LeBlanc from New Orleans' band Cowboy Mouth.





What did change this year is the number of stages: down to 3 instead of 5. Having been to a handful of BSJs in the past, I personally liked having fewer stages and more spacial area to gather for a show.

Make no mistake, Big Spring Jam, which falls on the fourth weekend in September every year, is a family event. There may be much live music, but there are tons of kids everywhere. Beer is roughly $4.50 a bottle, so who’s gonna be able to get hammered in this environment and economy?

Josh during Shinedown's performance at WZYP stage.

There are plenty of pockets reserved to keep the kids occupied and if you’re more interested to find out how Bama or Auburn are doing there are stations set up with widescreen televisions broadcasting the games. Have a brat, have some Greek food, or have a panini. Sip some pricy Bud Light or freshly squeezed lemonade. Relax, enjoy the fact that the humidity has finally let up, and stride lazily to your stage of choice.

This weekend I caught Cowboy Mouth, waved an American flag during Lee Greenwood’s set, sang along to Shinedown’s set, of which I had no idea how much I would know, and got more than I expected from Buckcherry. Let's talk a little about Buckcherry...






LA's Buckcherry Friday night at WZYP stage.


LA’s Buckcherry is not new to the scene, but they got a boost of mainstream success after their critically acclaimed album, 15, produced hits like “Sorry” and “Crazy Bitch”. Their sound is the love child of Sunset Strip bands of the 80s like Guns N’ Roses, Faster Pussycat, and Motley Crue. With no surprise I was in the audience, awaiting the sound I grew up with and loved so desperately. The band took the stage after ten and performed an energetic and shocking set that included the most sexually explicit soliloquies from lead singer, Josh Todd. It was so explicit I saw disgusted glances between some audience members, parents leaving with their children (didn’t they know?), and shocking still were the parents remaining. And I, standing with one hand permanently glued to my mouth with eyebrows raised, waited for the cops to haul Josh away in handcuffs at any moment. I won’t lie, it was that spectacle that made thousands in the audience break into an evangelical frenzy. It was quite a performance, and when I looked past the excessive graphic descriptions, Buckcherry earned every penny with their talent and experience and good music. I walked away a new fan. Ironic, I know.

The next band that surprised me was Hinder on Sunday night. I have always been critical of their over-produced jock rock sound, though there was something about “Homecoming Queen” that I had to have it on my iPod. The band hails from Oklahoma and are no strangers to Huntsville, having performed at Sammy T’s in the recent past (there was also the dozens of
times that lead singer Austin Winkler referenced Huntsville during the set).

Crowd surfing at Hinder's show.




They definitely have a demographic here and you could tell by the size of the audience that had swelled to three times its size by the time the band took the stage. The band performed hits such as their debut single “Get Stoned”, mega-hit “Lips of an Angel”, “Better Than Me” and my favorite “Homecoming Queen”. The boys sipped jager throughout the set and worked hard for the audience’s approval. I was impressed. I suppose the next thing to look for are the four horsemen?



Happiness at Styx show.







So, with that Huntsville’s Big Spring Jam XVI came to a close Sunday night and I ate my words about two bands that I swore I would never get into. Well, perhaps I’m not a superfan of either, but I’m about to transfer a few new songs onto my little iPod. UNEXPECTED. -K

Kings of Leon - Only By The Night

We’ve said this before here at judakris.com, It’s harder to write about something you like than something you don’t. I think my buddy S though sums up how I feel about the new KoL record if I might plagiarize…

Sweet, 6lb, 8oz Baby Jesus!!!

Funny, as I listen through their back catalog, I am surprised, of all their records before this one, that Youth and Young Manhood, their first didn’t make more of an impact on the U.S. I hear lots of singles on that one. But that was before this record. This is the one. If you don’t like this record, then just hang it up, you won’t like this band. The vocals are accessible, the bass lines are groovy, it’s KoL ready for U.S. primetime. –J

Get Outta My Way iTunes!

Have any of you scratched your head at the concept of pre-ordering a record on iTunes? What really is the point since iTunes is all about instant gratification. Well, lately they have started adding bonus tracks not available unless you pre-order to make this idea more appealing. I recently pre-ordered a record since I knew the day it came out I would be purchasing it anyway in order to take a look at the bonus material.

Picture this, it is Tuesday morning in the UK and I settle down to a cup of coffee and the plugging in of my iPod to download the new record for my commute to work.

Commute to work starts and after daughter is safely off to school, I put in my ear buds and prepare for my first listen of some of the new material….but they aren’t there. I frantically do a check on the iPod and only three of the tracks have downloaded. Hmmm, maybe I unplugged before the downloading had finished?

Get to work and plug everything in and click on the check for purchases, get the message that there are no new purchases and the iPod is synched up.

Begin my commute home, thinking alright, all the tracks must now be there! NOPE!

So I try it all again when I get home, comparing the tracklist to what is in my iTunes and I still don’t see all the songs. I go to the purchase history and it looks like I have purchased ALL the tracks so next to the album title there is a “report a problem”. I use this to explain that not all the tracks downloaded. I also go to the “report a problem” next to a couple of individual tracks and report that they haven’t been downloaded thinking this is overkill since I am hoping my reporting of the problem with the album as a whole will fix the situation.

Picture this, I wake up Wednesday morning and with my cup of coffee I check my email and see that iTunes has fixed the problem but only with the two individual tracks that I have reported, which means I had to report the other two today in order to get the complete album. So what this means is that I could have walked to a London record store from my village and back and bought a copy before I had the entire album from iTunes. What the fuck?

If I am going to buy a full album, I want to hear it for the first couple of times from start to finish. Is that too much to ask for?

Accidents can happen and since I work in a technology company, I can forgive a portion of this. What I have trouble with is the stingy customer support. After typing into what ended up being six or seven “report a problem” forms, you’d think they’d just set up my account to download the whole album again. It’s not like I would be getting something for free by them doing this. Somehow the bonuses just don’t seem like bonuses now… --J

I Feel Bad For Laughing But...

You know, it's a crappy thing for me to bring this up since I know these boys have become America's "precious". Regardless, I can't get over this video in which one of the wholesome trio eats it onstage at the 2007 AMAs. I once sent this video to J to make her smile. I think it worked. Watch and enjoy. -K

Gerard and Mikey? Did I Hear That Right?

Last night Mad Men aired a repeat of the Three Sundays episode from Season 2, during which the new parish priest joins one of the characters' family for a meal. Just as the family is about to sit down at the table one of them yells "Gerard, Mikey! Wash your hands!". This is the second time I've seen this episode. How did I miss this? -K

Travis Barker and Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein Sustain Critical Burns in Weekend Plane Crash

Sometimes I feel like all I'm doing these days is delivering bad news.This weekend I got a phone call from a friend saying that the former Blink 182 drummer was killed in a plane crash. My mouth fell open from shock, but here’s what actually happened...

Travis Barker and Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein were taking off from Columbia Metropolitan Airport in a small jet when a tire blew. The crew was unable to reject the takeoff and the plane ran off the end of the runway, over a highway, and crashed into a berm. An eye witness on the news over the weekend said they saw two men stumble away from the wreckage and that they were badly burned. These two men were Travis and Adam. They are currently being treated for second- and third-degree burns, but are expected to fully recover. Unfortunately, the 2 crewmen and 2 passengers did not survive the crash.

Travis and Adam had just played a free outdoor concert in the Five Points District on Friday night and were headed back to Van Nuys, CA. -K

The Celebrity Playlist

Have you ever looked the celebrity playlists on iTunes? Every once in awhile I do, but it doesn’t influence my purchases. Sometimes it seriously looks like a celebrity must be in promotion mode for a new record/television show/movie and their publicist must have presented them with the opportunity to do a celebrity playlist. I could see the directions being something like:

At least one song must be a current hit
At least one song must be an oldie to show that you listen to more than top 40
At least one song must be obscure
At least one song must be critically acclaimed

Some of them seem unbelievable and unnecessary like Dina Lohan (?). My favorite recently was Chris Rock’s playlist. I think it got my attention because Wet Sand is my favorite song off of Stadium Arcadium, but it also seems like a believable mix by someone who loves music. Here's his playlist. Log on to iTunes to see his commments about each. --J

187um (Deep Cover Remix)[feat. Snoop Dogg] - Dr. Dre
Paper Planes - M.I.A.
Wet Sand - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Stop F****n' WIt Me - Lil John
Never Enough - The Cure
Ball and Biscuit - The White Stripes
She Lives in My Lap - OutKast and Rosario Dawson
Hello It's Me - Todd Rundgren
Stroke of Death - Ghostface Killah
The Moment is All There Is - Lenny Kravitz

Pink Floyd Keyboardist Dies

I just received a text message from a fellow Floyd fan with the sad news that Richard Wright died from cancer today. He created some of the most haunting and inspiring atmospheres to classic albums like Dark Side of the Moon, Meddle, The Division Bell and Wish You Were Here. -K

Lovebug to Sex On Fire

I am trying NOT to make my half of this blog all about Kings of Leon but they do have a new record coming out next week and since work is kicking my ass and I want a sure thing, the only concert I have on the books is seeing them at the O2 Arena in December, even though I just saw them last month. Also, because of the publicity surrounding the new record, the press is pouring in and the attached article is killing me! Maybe the Followills just need to start a mentoring program…

On a related note, KoL is sharing with their fans 23 home movies for the 23 days leading up to the release of Only By The Night. There are some hilarious moments, including their cousin and tour manager explaining how he got his nickname (some very un-Jonas behavior is discussed). My favorite though is when their mother is in the studio singing a gospel song with Caleb harmonizing, Nathan smoking, and Jared mugging for the camera as only a baby of the family can.

KoL fans, protect me… I tried to make a feminist statement about Fall Out Boy a few years back that was misinterpreted by their fans as a slam (so not what I meant). The Jonas Brothers fans may hunt me down and kill me. --J

The Jonas Brothers

The Jonas Brothers played a single gig in the UK this week. Do they cause the same stir here? Read the review...

Madonna at Wembley

So Madonna performed at Wembley on September 11th and The London Paper had a sensational review of it. My favorite quote was this:

"After seeing Kylie Minogue recently, all I can say is that maybe it is time Madonna gave it up. Kylie charges half the price for a ticket, actually signs live, looks better and cares about the audience."

It was hilarious to read that since last month I had written the following, but just hadn’t posted it.

I laugh whenever I think of an IM chat that K and I had months ago. I have never followed Kylie Minogue’s career and I was surprised to learn after I moved to the UK that her sister Dannii has also had a pop career. One day I IM’d her and said that I knew what I would say may be controversial to some people but I didn’t understand why the world needed two Minogues. Her response was, “Lay off the Minogues Woman!” hahahahaha

Today I was flipping channels and ran across Kylie’s recent concert at the O2 Arena in London and I stopped and watched for a few songs. Is Kylie the poor man’s Madonna? I ask this because there was a lot of choreography, costume changes, and even a Geisha theme as Madonna has done in the past.

Madonna, one of your target audiences may be questioning you. --J

OH MY GOD!!!!!

Oasis is releasing a new record. Underwhelmed? Feeling like the title of this post is unnecessary? Yeah, I feel that way. Should there be this much fanfare for a new Oasis record? Here in the UK Q is pulling out all the stops in their magazine and on their music channel.

I might feel differently if K and I hadn’t seen them live in 2005 in Chicago. Every time they would play a song from their catalog beyond Be Here Now, the momentum of the show just slowed. In the late 90's they seemed like a refreshing change from what was going on in American music but now, not so much.--J

2008 VMAs - Heaven Help Us

Debby Downer alert!

I just watched the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards and just want to put a couple things out there. Britney “dead eyes” Spears owned the night and gave the same acceptance speech for each award. Really there’s nothing more to say about that.

Secondly, the whole “nothing is as it seems” didn’t translate at all from my perspective. The performances seemed small and minor. The VMAs didn’t have that pomp and circumstance that it used to. The producers tried to give the illusion that it was big or something, but it failed. Simply put, I found it boring as hell.

Thirdly, why- OH WHY are we celebrating The Jonas Virgins, I mean Brothers? WHAT IS HAPPENING TO US?

Finally, poor Brit Russell Brand didn’t translate in America. His rather funny and harmless comment about the Jonas’ Brothers vow of chastity, symbolized by rings, unleashed the fury of fellow virgin Jordin Sparks who stood defiantly onstage with the shoulders of a linebacker and defended the promise of abstinence. Standing next to John Legend, who looked like Mike Meyers did when Kanye West declared that George Bush doesn’t care about black people on live television, she stated “I just have one thing to say about promise rings. It's not bad to wear a promise ring, because not everybody, guy or a girl, wants to be a slut.” Am I wrong to say that I find it hard to believe one of them is a virgin after dating Miley Cyrus? I’m just saying. We ALL saw the multiple pics of her being a regular teenager...in the shower. Anyway, as J put it, Sparks is in her fourteenth minute of fame so who gives a shit what she says. But, I think Russell put it well when he countered with “a little sex never hurt anybody.” Ha! Russell, you may want to stay on your shores. We’re all drowning in our own hypocrisy and recession in this great country.

The pomp and circumstance of past VMAs were noticeably absent, we imported a host, we celebrated mediocre virgins and then saw Britney own the night--it's clear these are signs that we are in dire straits in this country. Finland, take me away.

Check out this hilarious bit from Popcrunch.com. It's like this chick is reading my mind 0:-)



-K

Pop Britannica

Last week I watched a great documentary about pop music in England. I think it was a multi-parter but I saw just one part. In the timeline of the show, right after discussing the manufactured pop bands of the 90’s and then the rise of shows like Pop Idol and X Factor, there was a segment on Damon Albarn’s next project, Gorillaz which he created with a graphic artist. It was described as the ultimate manufactured band since it was made of two dimensional characters.

Damon Albarn said this of Gorillaz: It was “An English version of hip hop very successful in America… it is British but because it’s a cartoon it is very hard to identify that. Especially for the Americans and that’s why it did well because Americans don’t, to be honest with you allow anything other than American hip hop”

Well, my first thought was if they keep sending things like Lady Sovereign to our shores, yes, we will only accept American hip hop! But then I also started thinking about Gorillaz and how, if I am remembering correctly, Gorillaz was totally marketed to the U.S. alternative market, not the hip hop market, so I guess it still wasn’t accepted as he intended it to be. Whenever I play Feel Good Inc. I’m taken back to the summer of 2005. It was on heavy rotation on my iPod and part of mine and K’s late night drives back from concerts. --J

Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple

Even though I absolutely loved the first Gnarls Barkley record and thought their live show was something everyone should experience, I was slow to want to hear their second record. After prompting from my buddy Jim, I picked up a copy. No, it doesn’t have a phenomenon like Crazy on it but it is a really solid record, that proves once again, Gnarls Barkley do whatever the hell they want. My favorite song is probably Going On. It has been the soundtrack to my bus journey for a few weeks now. --J

My Bloody Valentine

My Bloody Valentine is reuniting. I picked up Loveless for the first time about six months ago since so many bands name them as an influence. I believe I like the bands they influenced more than My Bloody Valentine, I just don’t get it. Any readers out there who are MBV fans, I would love to hear what you think. I’ve heard the critical praise, now I’d like to hear why it speaks to you. --J

Reading - Rock Day

Metallica headlined the last day of Reading. I have a certain amount of respect for them although I don’t own any of their music and was flabbergasted that they were the band to do two hours of therapy on camera (see Some Kind of Monster). They put on an impressive live show and what blew me away is the kids in Metallica t-shirts at Reading looked just like the guys in my high school all those years ago who sported Metallica t-shirts. There is something timeless in their music that speaks to them for sure. --J

Reading and Leads - Day Two

The festival just got better on Saturday. Coverage included:

The Raconteurs
The Editors
Mystery Jets
Santogold
Cage the Elephant
Bloc Party
The Killers
The Black Kids
The Kills
The Ting Tings
Bullet for My Valentine
Manic Street Preachers
The Subways

The Killers were over the top great. How cool to see Cage the Elephant from Bowling Green, Kentucky on the big screen. Their song Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked sounds like a funkier version of The Band. --J

Reading and Leads - Day One

Watching the coverage of Reading and Leeds this year is bittersweet since I had the opportunity to cover Reading and had to turn it down. But I have to say, with a nasty summer cold, I’m glad to be enjoying the coverage wrapped in a blanket on the sofa instead of queuing at a port-a-potty with thousands of people.

Day One Coverage Included:

The Enemy
Jack Penate
The Fratellis
Biffy Clyro
Dizzee Rascal
Ida Maria
MGMT
Friendly Fires
Vampire Weekend
Queens of the Stone Age
Tom Morello and Serj Tankian (acoustic)
One Night Only
The Wombats
Babyshambles
Glasvegas

I hope this link to the Friendly Fires’ BBC3 performance can be seen in the States. The dance moves and the shoes with no socks make the performance.

What band was not televised? Rage Against the Machine. They have been making the festival rounds but nowhere have they allowed camera crews to officially cover them from what I have heard. This is unfortunate. I’m still not sure what to make of MGMT. The presentation is a bit on the hippie side but the music doesn’t match that look. Maybe I need to hear the whole record to understand it. The Enemy sounded great and so did Queens of the Stone Age. When being interviewed by Zane after the set, Josh Homme told him he was feeling sexy and then took the joke further offering to have sex with Zane. An awkward giggle from Zane wrapped up the interview. --J

Madonna Turns 50

I used to love her back in the day. Now, although occasionally I still like one of her tunes, her public image annoys me. They ran this clip on one of the UK music video show countdowns as an example of a "stunning debut". It made me laugh out loud, not because of Madonna but because this had to be the beginning of the end for Solid Gold. The dancer's disco costumes just look so out of date compared to Madonna's. You think it can't get any cheesier until host Marilyn McCoo comes on.

Here's where mainstream exposure began for Madonna in America. Enjoy! --J

Seasonal Music

Now that there is an ocean between K and I, we just don’t have those five hour road trips to discuss music like we used to. Now it’s usually a quick chat here or there over IM. I mentioned to her that one of the highlights from V Festival coverage was Travis. I am not that familiar with their stuff but now I’ll check it out. K mentioned that Travis is a fall/winter band for her. That got me thinking, (cue the Sex and the City clip as Carrie types on her laptop), “are some bands seasonal?”

Well, I would say that missing a real summer this year is making me gravitate towards breezy pop music. Check out Alphabeat’s latest single. This is sooo summer and so 80s to me. --J

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time...

How often do you see a slam dancer in a pink tutu? You would have seen it at V this weekend, hahahaha. --J

Hit the FF Button

I whizzed through about ten hours of V Festival coverage last night that included sets by

Air Traffic
The Stereophonics
The Futureheads
The Pigeon Detectives
The Kooks
The Hoosiers
The Prodigy
Ian Brown
Muse
Estelle
The Script
The Pogues
Maximo Park
Duffy
Sugababes

Wow, there’s a lot of really boring guitar rock on the main stage. The Prodigy and Muse were by far the best acts. It made me once again appreciate the Muse show at The Pageant in St. Louis that Judakris attended awhile back. When they launched into Hysteria, the massive crowd went wild. --J

Un-Summer Playlist

The only truly hot summer days I’ve experienced were outside of my new home country. Therefore, I consider this the un-summer of 2008. Here are the songs that have amused me, captivated me, and annoyed me in the last few months. M, this one’s for you since in Houston, it’s summer all year round! --J

Many Shades of Black – The Raconteurs
Let’s Dance to Joy Division – The Wombats
Sex on Fire – Kings of Leon
Strange Times – The Black Keys
Going On – Gnarls Barkley
Closer – Ne-Yo
Like This - GirlTalk

(In the annoyed me category…)
I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You – The Black Kids
I Kissed a Girl – Katy Perry
No Air – Jordin Sparks/Chris Brown

Red-State, Jock Rock Hell

For the first time in my life I left a show before seeing the headliner. It happened here in Huntsville when I got hold of a free ticket to see Alter Bridge. If you don’t know them, they are Creed without Scott Stapp. I assure you I would not have paid to see these guys.

The doors to the venue were to open at 7:00 PM, but standing in line to enter Sammy T’s it was about 7:30 before we actually started moving. I think I made it inside the venue around 8. That seemed ridiculous.

There were a few funny moments, but the best happened while I was in line. There was a “healthy” couple behind me who were pretty clearly wasted- or at least on their way. One of them noticed musicians driving by. The man said “next time they drive by show ‘em your tits”. She said “Hell no, I’m too old. You show ‘em yours.”

By the time Baton Rouge natives and opener Meriwhether took to the stage and delivered a mediocre set I had heard Hinder’s Lips of an Angel three times overhead. When they left the stage that song plus a short playlist of other hardly discernible songs played over and over. It was 10:00 P.M. and the headliners had not come on. It was a Tuesday night and I had an 8:30 AM meeting the following morning. I put my beer down and with a sigh of relief exited the venue.

The audience was in good spirits, but mostly wasted by the time I left Sammy T’s. I’m not impressed with this venue. It’s much too loud and gets too hot too quickly with only a few good vantage points if you’re below average height (coughs). You’d be surprised how often my height has not been an issue! For being so convenient, I wish the venue would have better air ventilation and offer a wider variety of bands.

Because I work across the street, I walk past the venue whenever I walk up to the local cafe and grab my morning latte. Whenever bands are playing that evening you’ll see the buses and equipment trucks parked in the street and the flurry of activity is kind of fun to walk past. That morning I noticed a few people who were camped out determined to be first in line. It was a brutally hot day and I don’t know how they did it. Good on them. I do hope that they weren’t disappointed at the end of the night after their efforts, but something tells me their expectations were FAR different from mine. -K

Glasvegas Open for Kings of Leon

How would one describe their music? Maybe morose 50’s doo-wop (without any harmonies). They sounded good, and looked good on stage. I love the chick drummer who plays standing up. But to me, going to a concert should be an adrenaline-inducing experience so I would probably not intentionally buy a ticket to see a band with somber music. They were good at what they do but it wasn’t my cup of tea. I might check out the record, but I don’t need the live performance. --J

The Best Seat in the House and The Worst Seat in the House

I had the great fortune of covering the sold out Kings of Leon gig at Brixton’s Carling Academy last night for a web publication. On paper it sounds like the perfect night. I get to be in the photographer’s pit, the front of the front row, for one of my favorite bands for the first three songs of their set. But being a fan can have its problems in such a situation. You could tell that for the other photographers, this was just a job. While they were snapping away, trying to get the best shot to sell to the highest bidder, I would have moments of distraction wanting to sing along with the music and wanting to step away from behind the camera to take the moment in.

K and I have talked many times about the thrill of that moment when the lights get turned off and the crowd goes wild as you see the shadowy figures of a favorite band take the stage. It is such a rush. Standing up against the stage and hearing the roar of the crowd behind me, it did let me feel for a fraction of a moment what the guys on stage might be experiencing. It is amazing. But alas, I had a job to do and I think I scored some good pictures.

After being in the pit, I had to find a place to stand to enjoy the rest of the show. I found myself at the far back corner of the bottom floor of the theatre, where I could see nothing and the sound was not very good. Caleb was more talkative than usual, but I couldn’t make out what was being said.

The Followills really seemed to be enjoying themselves and they sounded great. They opened with Crawl, which has kind of a slow and sexy beginning that totally set the tone for the rest of the set. The setlist combined all of best of their records, and the new single, Sex on Fire, had everyone screaming along. I have a ticket for their sold out arena show at the O2 in London in December and I can’t wait to see how the set changes in that huge arena with the new record then released. I will be all fan that night, not worrying about anything but enjoying the music.

Sex on Fire is available on iTunes. Go get it now! --J

Jackson Browne Sues John McCain, Entire Rep Nat'l Committee

Liberal political activist Jackson Browne has filed a lawsuit against Senator John McCain and the whole Republican National Committee alleging that McCain's group used Browne's hit "Running On Empty" in a political ad without his permission.
The suit alleges that a license was never obtained and that it infringes upon the artist's right to publicity in the state of California. He's seeking permanent injunction of any Jackson Browne song AND damages (of course). I wonder how we're quantifying damages in dollar signs in this case.

Remember when Born In The USA was used by Reagan's camp? I ran across this on wikipedia and thought it was interesting and kind of funny...

Born in the U.S.A. album was selling very well, its songs were all over the radio, and the associated tour was drawing considerable press. Springsteen shows at the Capital Centre outside of Washington, D.C. thus attracted even more media attention, in particular from CBS Evening News correspondent Bernard Goldberg, who saw Springsteen as a modern-day Horatio Alger story. Yet more notably, the widely-read conservative columnist George Will, after attending a show, published on September 13, 1984 a piece entitled "A Yankee Doodle Springsteen" in which he praised Springsteen as an exemplar of classic American values. He wrote: "I have not got a clue about Springsteen's politics, if any, but flags get waved at his concerts while he sings songs about hard times. He is no whiner, and the recitation of closed factories and other problems always seems punctuated by a grand, cheerful affirmation: 'Born in the U.S.A.!'"[3] The 1984 presidential campaign was in full stride at the time, and Will had connections to President Ronald Reagan's re-election organization. Will thought that Springsteen might endorse Reagan, and got the notion pushed up to high-level Reagan advisor Michael Deaver's office. Those staffers made inquiries to Springsteen's management which were politely rebuffed.

Nevertheless, on September 19, 1984, at a campaign stop in Hammonton, New Jersey, Reagan added the following to his usual stump speech:

"America's future rests in a thousand dreams inside your hearts; it rests in the message of hope in songs so many young Americans admire: New Jersey's own Bruce Springsteen. And helping you make those dreams come true is what this job of mine is all about."

The campaign press immediately expressed skepticism that Reagan knew anything about Springsteen, and asked what his favorite Springsteen song was; "Born to Run" was the tardy response from staffers. Johnny Carson then joked on The Tonight Show, "If you believe that, I've got a couple of tickets to the Mondale-Ferraro inaugural ball I'd like to sell you."

During a September 22 concert in Pittsburgh, Springsteen responded negatively by introducing his song "Johnny 99", a song about an unemployed auto worker who turns to murder, "The President was mentioning my name the other day, and I kinda got to wondering what his favorite album musta been. I don't think it was the Nebraska album. I don't think he's been listening to this one."

A few days after that, presidential challenger Walter Mondale said, "Bruce Springsteen may have been born to run but he wasn't born yesterday," and then claimed to have been endorsed by Springsteen. Springsteen manager Jon Landau denied any such endorsement, and the Mondale campaign issued a correction.

-K

Musical Prozac

For the past few years I’ve seen bits and pieces of press on Girl Talk but shrugged it off until I heard Greg Gillis on Sound Opinions a few months ago. I’ve been dragging ass since I got back from the States this weekend. I downloaded Girl Talk’s new record, Feed The Animals, which can be downloaded for whatever price you want to pay. While I went to catch my bus to work this morning, I felt much better after hearing this on the iPod. Don’t like what you hear at the moment, don’t worry, it will change in seconds. It’s a great way to hear little snippets of favorite guilty pleasures in ways you never imagined. Check it out. You can download for free if you are skeptical. --J

You Might Be...

OK, it's been about 3 years and I'm still checking in with a live journal site dedicated to Ville Valo on a daily basis. It's weird. I've never been so committed to anything in my life. Despite the fact that M and I got in trouble with the site for this post, the ladies at the site and I have corresponded about our travels for this band a few times in the last few years and it's not something I see stopping anytime soon.

Usually, I don't enjoy reading lists like "you know you might be obsessed when…", but when I came across this one on the aforementioned site, by the end I was almost crying from laughter. I pointed some of these out to my friend M, with whom I've shared few wine-soaked HIM nights and he added a couple of subpoints to number 25. The ones we have been laughing at are numbers 25, 52&53, 61,124.

Number 44 is especially poignant to me and M and J know this firsthand. As a fan, it was shocking to see pictures, interviews, and performances become increasingly worse. Thank god he got help is alls I'm sayin. ANYWAY there are so many other things in this list that are wickedly true. Sigh. So, ladies and gentlemen, THE list that made me realize exactly how painfully devoted I am.

You Know You Might Be Obsessed with HIM and Ville Valo When:


1. Tattooing the portraits of dead poets on your body makes perfect sense.
2. You know EXACTLY what DILLIGAF means.
3. In fact, you might even have DILLIGAF somewhere on your skin.
4. November 22nd is an International holiday and should be celebrated by all.
5. If you see anything with a heartagram on it, you either buy it, or resist the urge because your house is already covered in them.
6. Your favorite colors are red, black, and purple. And sometimes hot pink.
7. You know who Daniel Lioneye actually is.
8. Someone says Our Lord and you instantly say, “Oh, you’re a fan of HIM, too?!”
9. You considered purchasing a chicken foot.
10. $50 seems completely reasonable for a Limited Edition CD.
11. Your internet screen name has one or more of the following in it- heartagram, 666, 616, Valo, razorblade, sin, poison, redemption, or any other HIM lyric reference.
12. Getting Ville Valo’s water bottle at a concert is the equivalent of the Holy Grail.
13. And you swear up and down that it has magical healing powers, too.
14. You buy a soundtrack to a movie that you have never seen just because it has a HIM song on it.
15. You say, on a regular basis, kiitos and hei…and you’re NOT Finnish.
16. When sitting next to a campfire, you say “I’m so close to the flame.”
17. You’ve seen Mige‘s naughty bits. And not on purpose.
18. You would practically sell your soul for the GOOD pics of the Bam and Ville Huck photo shoot.
19. And then you would lock yourself in your room for 24 hours or so with said pictures.
20. At some point during the day, you find yourself quoting HIM songs, completely subconsciously.
21. You remember a time when Linde DIDN’T have dreads.
22. You became enraged that a teacher lost her job because of playing a HIM song in her classroom.
23. You have taken duct tape and a black Sharpie and covered a street sign with Dead Lover’s Lane.
24. It’s a religious matter!!!
25. You can’t recall ever seeing Ville kiss a girlfriend in public…but you have all of the pics of him kissing boys in public.
And hence: 25.1 You've discussed with a friend the plausibility it would be for Ville Valo and Gerard Way to hook up
25.2 And quasi-seriously over wine discussed entry points for fan-fic even though fan-fic is denounced while sober
26. Photobucket is your own personal HIM gallery.
27. You call your friends nidiots.
28. You don’t just have a Ville Valo poster…you have a Ville Valo WALL.
29. You know who Sylvester is.
30. Even though you may like Bam, he did NOT invent the heartagram.
31. The Tavastia is your version of Mecca.
32. You’ve given a microphone a blowjob.
33. And it gave you negative feedback.
34. You have made the Love Metal drink.
35. And you liked it.
36. You realize a tower is a PERFECT place to live, and now you want one of your own.
37. You have to have a blood test done and you say to the nurse, “I bleed well.”
38. At one point in your life, you have been in love and lonely.
39. Out of Ville and Linde, you know who has the deeper voice.
40. Your life since 1997 can be separated into the following categories- When Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666 came out, when Razorblade Romance came out, when Deep Shadows & Brilliant Highlights came out……
41. Your personal mantra is “Life is short and love is over in the morning.”
42. You would die tonight for love.
43. You paid $35 for an empty Coke can on eBay…because it was designed by Ville Valo.
44. You started tearing up when you saw the pics of Ville right before he checked himself into rehab.
45. You wear a beanie even in the middle of summer.
46. You’re jealous of Bam Margera.
47. You see someone wearing a HIM t-shirt and find it a turn-on.
48. You know that all men think with their dick’s, but Ville Valo’s dick is different.
49. You had a heartagram cake for one of your birthdays.
50. And you almost couldn’t eat it because it was so damn pretty.
51. Just one look from his eyes, one look and you’re dying, because he’s so beautiful.
52. You didn’t throw panties onstage at the HIM concert. You threw a book of Baudelaire’s poetry.
53. With your phone number on the inside cover. (just in case)
54. You have a drawing of Homer Simpson wearing a HIM shirt.
55. At school, you studied ethics instead of religion.
56. You can recall basically every piece of Ville Valo’s wardrobe. Especially the leather pants.
57. As far as greatness goes, you compare Sleepwalking Past Hope with Stairway to Heaven.
58. Your idea of the PERFECT vacation spot is Finland.
59. You would happily accept an autograph from Ville Valo in sperm or blood.
60. You have crossed oceans of wine to find a HIM concert.
61. You find yourself singing “Like a wirgin, touched for the wery first time…”
62. You’re not addicted to HERoin, you’re addicted to HIMoin.
63. Your dog is named Sami.
64. Love Metal is considered by you to be a very real genre of music. (which it is, thankyouverymuch)
65. It’s been years since you went a single day without listening to at least one HIM song.
66. Your wedding vows consisted of, or will consist of, “In sickness and in health, in joy and sorrow, until love and death embrace.”
67. When the moon is full and shining, you refer to it as Dark Light.
68. During a game of tug-of-war, you yell to your teammates “Please don’t let it go! Because if you won’t let it, I won’t let it go!”
69. The first trick you taught your dog, Sami, was to Play Dead.
70. It’s not peace, love, and harmony. It’s peace, love, and VEGETABLES.
71. Every time you hear the word Venus, you think Doom.
72. You have been jealous of Ville’s cigarettes, because damn it all if you don’t want to be pressed between his lips.
73. You know for a fact that I love you is eight letters….and so is bullshit.
74. While meeting HIM, you blurt out “I’m waiting for you to drown in my love!”
75. Like myself, you took the actual time to write a list like this. XD
76. You have more pictures of Ville Valo and HIM than you do your family.
77. In fact, you have seen HIM in person more than you have some members of your family.
78. You made Ville Valo a birthday cake……and you live 8,000 miles from him.
79. While blowing out the candles for him on said birthday cake, you wished FOR Ville Valo.
80. You suddenly find yourself thinking about Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer as dinner.
81. Your Mp3 player consists of the following- HIM songs, HIM acoustic songs, cover songs done by HIM, tributes to HIM, collaborations with HIM, HIM bootlegs……and Daniel Lioneye.
82. You bought the book “Finnish for Dummies”.
83. And you drew a heartagram on it.
84. On the list of places to see before you die is a certain sex shop in Helsinki.
85. You took your Rolling Stones t-shirt with the lips and tongue and cut off the sleeves.
86. You think that the footage of Ville Valo flashing the audience his abs should win an Academy Award for “Best Short Film“.
87. A friend gives you hell about smoking, and you calmly say “Smoking kills, but only love will break your heart.”
88. You fear for the best, and hope for the worst.
89. You’re asked where you are going to take a walk, and you reply “The Path.”
90. You wish that razorblades came with heart cut-outs in the middle.
91. You have taken pictures of yourself snarling at the camera.
92. With massive amounts of black eyeliner and lip gloss.
93. And you’re a guy.
94. You truly believe that Ville Valo’s smile is the ACTUAL cause of global warming.
95. You have pet names for Ville’s “pecker”. *COUGH*
96. For Halloween, you went as one of the guys from HIM.
97. And you’re a girl.
98. It’s been raining for weeks, your lover just broke your heart, your kitty just died…..and looking at Ville still makes you smile.
99. You go to karaoke with your friends, and upon singing a HIM song, you grab the mic stand, hop onto the speaker, lean back, bend the mic stand, and fall flat on your ass…..but you still looked wicked cool doing it.
100. Upon walking into a dark house, you think to yourself “I’ve got to light this endless dark.”
101. You know that there are two guys in HIM named Mikko in real life.
102. And you know who they are.
103. You made out for the first time with the person you liked while piss drunk, and then threw up on their bed……and felt quietly proud because now you and Ville had something in common.
104. Your friends now call you (your name) Valo.
105. Instead of OMG, it’s OMV.
106. You know that the beginning of the end isn’t really the end…because then there’s Don’t Fear The Reaper and a hidden track.
107. You want to paint the outside of your bedroom door crimson, so that when you are in your room and it’s closed, you can say you are behind it.
the peace sign, but you do use the live long and prosper sign.
113. And you never watched Star Trek a day in your life.
114. You sent Ville a rubber duck.
115. You know who’s milkshake REALLY brings all the girls to the yard.
116. And some boys, too.
117. Your favorite phrase is “the pot calling the kettle black”.
118. Gorgeous, beautiful, handsome, sexy, and any other adjective in that genre do him no real justice.
119. You get annoyed when someone asks AGAIN what Love Metal is.
120. You know ALL the words to Valo Yossa…..but you have no fucking clue what you’re saying.
121. You bought a bass guitar.
122. And you named it Rambo.
123. You know that the song Razorblade Kiss is actually about fucking.
124. You have poured beer on a hotel room bed for your homies….and then fell off the bed.
125. You understand everything that I have just taken 2 days to write….and you want me to keep going.


And just because I REALLY love me some beanie...
Please go here to see more of this list and to see what the lovely ladies at v_d have for you…-K

Comic Book Tattoo

This is fascinating. Apparently, over 80 writers contributed 50 stories to produce “Comic Book Tattoo”, an anthology graphic novel inspired by Tori Amos songs, which boasts an introduction by my personal favorite graphic novelist, Neil Gaiman with whom Tori has always had an artistic connection. I found the complete list of collaborators online:

David Mack, Josh Hechinger, Matthew Humphreys, Jonathan Tsuei, Eric Canete, Jason Horn, Dean Trippe, Sara Ryan, Jonathan Case, Rantz A. Hoseley, James Stokoe, Tristan Crane, Atticus Wolrab, Kako, Nikki Cook, Drew Bell, Kevin Mellon, Jeff Carroll, Mike May, Jeremy Haun, Amber Stone, Leif Jones, Elizabeth Genco, Carla Speed Mcneil, Kelly Sue Deconnick, Andy Macdonald, Nick Filardi, Cat Mihos, Andre Szymanowicz, Gabe Bautista, C.B. Cebulksi, Ethan Young, Joey Weltjens & Lee Duhig, Omaha Perez, Irma Page, Mark Buckingham, Rantz A. Hoseley, Ming Doyle, Mike Maihack, John Ney Reiber, Ryan Kelly, Alice Hunt, Trudy Cooper, Jonathan Hickman, Matthew S. Armstrong, Neil Kleid, Christopher Mitten, Kristyn Ferretti, Stephanie Leong, Sonia Leong, Peov, Kelly Sue Deconnick, Laurenn Mccubbin, John Bivens, Hope Larson, Emma Vieceli, Faye Yong, Chris Arrant, Star St.Germain, Mike Dringenberg, Paul Maybury, Jim Bricker, Craig Taillefer, Dame Darcy, G. Willow Wilson, Steve Sampson, Neal Shaffer, Daniel Krall, Adisakdi Tantimedh, Ken Meyer Jr., Mark Sable, Salgood Sam, Tom Williams, James Owen, Seth Peck, Daniel Heard, Ivan Brandon, Callum Alexander Watt, Leah Moore, John Reppion, Pia Guerra, Mark Sweeney, Kristyn Ferretti, Jessica Staley, Shane White, Ted Mckeever, Chris Chuckry, Jimmie Robinson, Lea Hernandez Derek Mcculloch, Colleen Doran and Jason Hanley.

For more information and a list of songs and creators go to Tori’s official website here.

Tori appeared at the San Diego Comic Con last Saturday as part of a panel and book signing. One attendee blogger who who was there, recounted that Tori said when she read the stories, she didn’t hear the songs they were based on in her head- she heard new music, which she is now working on.

The book itself became available in comic shops on July 23rd and will be everywhere on July 29th.




Tori works the Comic Con Chic look. -K

Manna - Sister

Sexy Finnish lass Manna has debuted with a sweet and mysterious album that paints the picture of a woman with a pure heart capable of witholding a secret or two. Sister is an ambient and sometimes Beatles-esque dreamscape of an album that I find perfect for these lazy summer days. Download it all, but my picks are “Just For Tonight”, “Stars” , “In the Book of Love”, and my favorite “I Gave In”. I can’t believe it, but the album is actually available on iTunes. For the complete experience, go here . -K

This is completely gratuitous of me , but I just love these green shoes...

Hit It, CC! Poison in Birmingham, AL

There was no where this former 80s rocker wanted to be Saturday night but the Verizon Wireless Music Center in Pelham, AL outside Birmingham last weekend. On the bill was Sebastian Bach, Dokken, and Poison.

When I first saw Sebastian Bach live as lead singer of Skid Row, he was opening for Bon Jovi at Giants Stadium in 1989 and he was as Kerrang! once put “a swaggering one man tornado”. He hasn’t changed. I must admit, as soon as he stepped out onstage my heart skipped a little. Supporting his new album Angel Down, he opened strongly with a remake of Aerosmith’s Back in the Saddle and then hit us with classics like 18 and Life, I Remember You (which brought me right back to summer 1988), and Youth Gone Wild. Sebastian still has the pipes he had years ago and I could tell he didn’t want to leave the stage. It seemed wrong that he was the opener of the opener and I hated that the amphitheater was not sold out.

Dokken was pretty cool to see, but the absence of guitarist George Lynch and Don’s inability to hit the high notes was a disappointment for at least one fan, who I overheard say “Don needs to give it up”. Regardless, the band’s setlist included classics such as Kiss of Death, Tooth and Nail, Breaking the Chains, Alone Again, In My Dreams, and Just Got Lucky. Don did crack me up once, commenting on how hot and humid Birmingham was that night, saying “I haven’t sweat this much since the first time I had sex!”

Poison did a fantastic job connecting with the audience. Drummer Rikki Rocket hung a Bama jersey from his drum kit, CC Deville played Amazing Grace and Georgia on my Mind, and Bret Michaels gave a shout out to our Bama boys over in Iraq and sang Something to Believe In as a dedication to our Armed Forces overseas. Poison invited everyone to join them at the Iron Horse Cafe for an after party. The last song? Bret yelled out “give me some Sweet Home Alabama” and at his command Lynyrd Skynyrd blasted through the speakers. I once mentioned to a friend once that it was funny how Poison, probably due to the success of Rock of Love, had suddenly become the symbol of the hair metal era even though at the time a lot of us who were rockers in the 80s wouldn’t admit to liking these fluffy pop metallers. The set itself wasn’t jam-packed with music. In fact, a lot of the show was Bret talking (and a reference to CC every five minutes- even a “hit it CC” which had me rolling.) I think we’re all ready for a good time in these dark days in America. Maybe I’ve mellowed in my age, but I sang every fucking song they played Saturday night and I was not the only one. I must have been paying some attention back in the 80s... I give it an UNEXPECTED. -K



















By the way, does anyone know what happened to this guy? I saw him walking north on I-65 the next morning. You can’t forget seeing a shirt that reads “Warning: choking hazard” with an arrow pointing down.