Florence + the Machine From last year

The 2011 Grammy Awards are on February 13th live on TV. I decided to look into who was nominated and for what awards. I went to their website ( www.grammys.com). I looked through the nominees and realized I really didn’t care about 99% of these musicians and their work. I did however notice the Florence + the Machine was nominated for best new artist. I was surprised and frankly pleased as I love Florence + the Machine and the debut album Lungs. This has been in my CD player since it first came out. To be honest the record came out in late 2009 but didn’t really get much American airplay until 2010 so technically it can be considered a 2010 release. The first song I heard from the record was “Dog Days Are Over”. I was totally into the song the first time I heard it. The song has a positive tone that I think is something that our society can use at this point in time. I decided to Google the song and found a you tube link to the video ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWOyfLBYtuU) . I was thrilled by the video she has a Boudicca meets Jackie Collins quality. The next song that really got me was the first single released in the UK “Kiss with a Fist”. This song is really more to my taste as it is faster and the a little edgier.

Florence of Florence + the Machine is Florence Welch. The Machine is whoever is backing her. I have been listening to the record on an almost daily basis for the last year. I don’t watch a lot of network TV but have read that cuts from the record have been on several TV show like Glee and Grey’s Anatomy. Florence Welch went to Art School in London and met Isabella Summers and the two of them performed as Florence Robot and Isabella Machine. Isabella Summers performs on “Lungs”.

I look forward to the next release from Florence + the Machine. She has a distinct sound and I think she is going to be a very big name in the coming decade. She is my vote for new best artist for 2010!

The Drawing Room

Are you looking for a dark loud bar? There is an el shaped strip mall on Hillhurst in Los Feliz you need to stop into. Tucked in next to a laundromat and easy to miss The Drawing Room is loud, dark and a lot of fun. Iggy Pop’s “Passenger” was playing and an informal sing-a-long was going on the first time I entered. I had two out of town guests with me. One was from San Francisco the other from New York and both were ready to turn up their noses at an “El Lay” rocker dive bar. Ha! They were enchanted. Who wouldn’t love an old Chinese restaurant that rocks?

We quickly discovered that The Drawing Room is an “and” bar; a vodka and tonic, a scotch and soda, a beer and a shot. Don’t sashay into The Drawing Room and try to order a Boodles dry martini or a pink squirrel unless you wanted to be glared at, rightfully. Have a beer, play some darts, put a buck in the juke box and laugh loud. You’ll fit right in. The regulars are a friendly mix of locals and rockers. The bartenders are sassy and a riot. Don’t walk in there and try to start trouble The Drawing Room does not play that way. This is a bar for good time socializing and nothing else. There aren’t any frills at The Drawing Room unless you consider napkins a frill. It’s got drinks, music, fun people and nothing else. This is a cash only bar but there is an ATM by the toilets. The Drawing Room is a dark loud good time.

So So Saturday

Last night was no freaky Friday it was just a so so Saturday when Lindsay Lohan hosted Saturday Night Live. To be 100% honest I didn't make the effort to stay awake to catch it on Saturday night. I live in LA so it isn't live anyway so why tax myself. I watched it Sunday morning over coffee and a yoplait. It hink if I had stayed up and was a little sleepy I may have enjoyed it a little more than I did wide eyed and busy tailed. She wasn't bad but she wasn't all that good either. I give her credit for pushing herself and getting herself back out on the stage but I think she maybe should have gotten herself a little more prepared in the psych department. She needs some more time to heal and get whole. She is a shadow of what she once was and that for a 25 year old is a sad statement. I also don't think Lorne Michaels did her a service by agreeing to have her on as host but let's face it he got some good ratings and free press out of having her. He isn't in the business of helping washed up actresses he is in the business of producing a hit show.
Lindsay has been surrounded by people who have not really had her best interests in the forefront of their minds and I tend to think she is still not surrounded by people who will say no. If she were someone would have said no its too soon for you. You aren't ready, wait a little more. But to give her credit she did it, not unfortunately it was a flat and mediocre performance. She may not be up to speed as of yet but the woman has got guts. Let's hope in the future she can really pull it together and prove all her nay sayers wrong. Don't give up girl just keep plugging and keep it together!

Punk Rock Goes to College

The Ramones are icons there is no way around it. They exemplify Punk Rock. Everyone knows the lyrics to at least one Ramones song. If you ask Barak Obama to sing a Ramones song he can. Perhaps some of the “Christian Right” would be a bit hard pressed by it, but really who cares about them anyway. The Ramones have entered our society and are here to stay. Perhaps one day they’ll be thought of the way we think of Mozart today. The Gershwins of a new generation; they are the classics. Brown University, an Ivy League school, is offering a course this semester called the Ramones. They are now the stuff of a University education. The course is a guided independent study about the Ramones. I wondered how much is there to study. The more I thought about it, the more it hit me. The kids studying the Ramones were born around 1988. They were ten and under when the band played their last show. The Ramones were formed 14 years before they were born. Suddenly I felt old. I remember the thrill of buying my first Ramones album, going to see “Rock and Roll High School” when it first came out, underage standing outside of a club watching them load their gear into a van after a show. These poor kids, I thought they’ll never know the thrill of seeing them live.Joey Ramone rocking forward and backward leaning on his micstand with the rest of the band bouncing behind him. I still find it hard to believe that Joey is actually dead. I met him a couple of times. He was a nice guy. Soft spoken and polite, anyone’s mother would have liked him. He called me once shocking my horrible roommate by actually being him on the phone. “Some guy’s on the phone claiming to be Joey Ramone.”

Somewhere in this country is a father paying top dollar for his kid to study The Ramones. Oh the irony! They don’t care about history but now they are history. The Ramones, masters of the 3 chord short fast song are now worth studying. They are venerable. How un-punk rock! I guess the next generation will have to look back and study. They have no choice, they missed it. Punk Rock isn’t dead but it isn’t what it once was. It’s not nearly as outside and controversial. It’s been done. The era is over only the genre remains. Musically punk rock is still as vibrant and energetic as ever but the edginess is gone. The shock of the new is past. Today one can look back reflect upon the shock and write college level papers and books about it. There is a punk rock section in bookstores now. Semiotexts on Siouxsie Sioux can’t be far from publishing. Critical analyses of the societal impact of Boy George and Jayne County are due out any day. What had started out as some kids playing guitars at CBGB’s is now an “A” on a college transcript. Somehow I am saddened and elated at the same time. What had once been my rebellion is now the fodder for someone’s class project.

I could sleep forever

I recently have developed a strong desire to sleep. I mean really sleep. I go to bed early and wake up late and then take a nap in the middle of the day. I think it could be some sort of backlash from my younger days when I hated to sleep. I do it well too. I am an excellent sleeper. I sometime wake refreshed and I sometimes wake wishing I could go back to sleep. Is this age catching up with me?
When I take my naps I fall into a very deep REM sleep and dream.

I almost always remember my dreams when I wake. I have very odd dreams too. Dreams of Denny's and placing Matchbox cars around my house as decorative accents. I just had a dream I was kidnapped and had to arrange ransom. I have to say I enjoy these dreams and all of my sleep. Sometimes I wake tired and wonder if there is something wrong. Usually I wake up and feel great but the times I wake up tired I get nervous. Am I just bored and sleep out of boredom? Am I just old, wearing down like an old clock. 

Link to a video

I was asked to be in a video by a friend of mine Michael Frost. He is a VERY interesting film maker I think the video came out nice and creepy!
http://vimeo.com/37579239

LAX