i can see myself in you

when i was about 14 my godmother michele took me to see aretha franklin. that's an amazing thing for an aunt to do for a young shy fry of a girl.
my aunt was dancing her tits off and saying over and over "why is everyone sitting?". i was too shy to get up and dance with her but i still knew she was the coolest person at the riverside theater, besides for maybe the queen of soul herself.

the new erica weiner "black fist" necklace reminds me of my dark skinned sicilian godmother michele. this one is for all the strong black women out there.

blog post soundtrack:
aretha franklin "never loved a man"
cat power's cover of "aretha, sing one for me"

update: after posting this, neighbor amy made me aware of the current aretha. i haven't kept track of her sister act type of self (she's probably made a few christmas albums too) and i didn't know about her unacceptable disrespect for our friends. shame on you aretha.

i'm just out there, doing things for the community.

i used to spend hundreds of dollars a month at lou's records. now i just steal music from the internet and then buy the ones that i end up really loving. i guess that's what a lot of music nerds do now. or they buy songs from itunes, but i only do that when they have secret exclusive stuff. i'd rather give my money to lou. it's going to be a sad day when/if lou's has to close it's doors. i stopped by the other day to give them a donation/pick up a few new albums.
quick cd purchase review:
lavendar diamond - the cavalry of light
super awesome. and becky stark seems good and funny, and she's friends with neighber steve.

rufus wainwright does judy at carnegie hall
this one is slightly awesome. it was super amazing and magical seeing the live performance, but as far as listening to the audio - i'd much rather listen to the original judy version.

celebration - the modern tribe
this one SUCKED!!!

i've also entirely stopped going to mcdonalds for meatless happy meals on hungover days. and i'm trying to fix my espresso machine so i can cut buckers out. and as always, i don't party on el camino. wait, is the wine loft considered el camino?

every sensible child will know what this means

i often wonder what morrissey's mother is like. what did she do so right?

here she is, elizabeth the librarian, with her own mother

morrissey at age 7

second row, fourth

his throat it trembles when he sings

this can probably be filed under "like duh"... but do yourself a favor right now and go buy the new cat power album JUKEBOX that was just released on tuesday. if you download the deluxe edition from itunes you'll get her cover of "breathless" by nick cave! her choice in covers will always blow my mind. also on the deluxe version is a crucial cover of patsy clines "she's got you". it's hard picking favorites on any of cat powers albums, but her version of james browns "lost someone" comes pretty god damn close.

i wish they didn't set mirrors behind the bar

the new mixtape is done and it's a masterpiece. as always, included with any bona drag purchases.

quite possibly the best mixtape in mixtape history, so far.

collecting songs

i've been hot on the prowl for perfect songs to put on my new bona drag mixtape cd. so far i found what might be the sexiest song ever - these two ladies covering a serge gainsbourg song:

i also received this amazing link from neighbor amy which inspired me to add this song to the mix:

super old footage of young stevie nicks singing with feathers in her hair. is it weird how close that girl is standing to stevie while she sings the entire song?

do you have any favorite secret songs?

UPDATE - unfortunately the recorded verson of wild heart almost SUCKS in comparison to this clip! it did not make the cut and it hurts my feelings.

under the blacklight

the new rilo kiley album is totally top 40 but it's so totally great at the same time. plus, jenny lewis wears mooka kinney.

are you watching me? am i different or am i the same?

i'm pretty sure that lissy trullie is the best new female artist that i've listened to since chan marshall.

she's currently working on her first ep, but for now she has a bunch of great songs on myspace. i just can't hear them enough. i love it when that happens.

Chan Marshall rides for Chanel

kimmy just posted this on my myspace. pretty good combo.

bona drag mixtape

so it turns out that this mixtape cd is so great that i simply must continue to give it away with all purchases made all the time everyday forever until i make a new one.

this just in: rufus is cooping judy's steez!

on sunday night we went to the hollywood bowl to see rufus wainwright's tribute to judy garland's 1961 carnegie hall performance. i want to act like i knew it was going to be this rad, but i had no idea.





at least 90% of the audience were gay men. those dudes are my favorite. rufus's whole family was there and they joined him on stage and made everyone jealous that they weren't part of the wainwright family. at one point, his mother apologized to the orchestra for playing the piano off key, and rufus said, annoyed, "mother. i'm wearing a robe, on stage, at the hollywood bowl. there's a lot going on."





somewhere over the gay rainbow there is a mixed tape where rufus sings "little sister" on track 4.

presents

i'm including a very awesome mixtape (in the form of a cd) with any purchases made in the next 10 days.

or forever, i'm not sure yet.

little sister, the fates are calling on you

i fucking saw patti smith last night for the first time with my very own eyeballs. i've thought long and hard about this and it's true, she's my all time longest standing girl crush ever. basically the coolest girl in the world. even when she sang some shit about power to the people at the end and was waving her arms around all gay. it made me high five a stranger standing next to me. it also confirmed the idea i've been having that maybe i want to be a hippie. i've been trying to display this feeling lately by searching for native american inspired jewelry on ebay.





and i feel like just some misplaced joan of arc

soldiers come quickly

lately all i want to do is be at a rilo kiley concert with brian barber. some of these songs are so great in a guitar solo-teen angst-juliana hatfieldish kind of way. i should probably be writing about something more cool like bat for lashes... sorry.

let's start with the bears and the air and mountains, rivers, and streams.

happy birthday handsome.

i'm having a serious morrissey marathon today. maybe you should too? every album starting with bona drag and i'm in love all over again......

WOW

all i can say is holy crap. rufus wainwright is blowing my mind. every song he writes is entirely EPIC and i don't use that word lightly. i just fell in love with him morrissey-style on saturday night. so much that i had to see him again at the el rey last night. it was magical. also, fashion update: brooches are in.

sinead has been killing it lately

we're not
spinning
like dorothy

listen here

John I love you
I'm ever so fond of you
Will you wait for me
'till I am heavenly
Oh there's much work to do
But I love you

Oh you're tender
Your names a whisper

I let tears fall like rain
Apple-sized they were
All over her

And through all of those times
When you could have died
This is what you find

There's life outside your mother's garden
There's life beyond your wildest dreams

There hasn't been any explosion
We're not spinning like Dorothy
If you look now you'll see why
Don't be afraid to cry
This time don't let yourself fly
Child
Pick up those dancing shoes
Kick off those wedding blues
These are the ways you can choose

Child your tender
Your name's a whisper

WOW