Choo Choo Choo Choo Beep Beep

For the 8 people (not sure how many of them (4, I think) read this) that received my best of 2006 compilation CD (so far; I ran out of CD cases and haven't made the rest), I didn't have much space to expand my usual wordy, unnecessary, if not blogalicious liner notes, so I'd like to use this virtual space to get at least one point across.

Deerhoof is a great band. They are not a consistent band. They are not a reliable band. They aren't predictable; coming through as usual when you need them. No, they are the girl who loves you one minute and can't be bothered the next, the FFL who suddenly blows you off and doesn't speak to you for months despite the fact that it is a major seasonal sporting event; I first heard of them a few years ago, first listened to them two years ago, saw them live at the first Intonation fest ("curated" by Pitchfork) about 18 months ago and wasn't too affected at all (though I was suffering from major allergy attacks). I gave them a chance but wasn't satisfied. But then, nearly randomly, after reading an article in some mainstream newspaper a year later how they turned down a corporation who wanted to use their song "Twin Killers" in a shoe commercial, I gave them another chance. Soon enough I was acting like I was in college again, buying and/or downloading every album by the band, listening to them much more than usual. They are difficult, only because they are unpredictable, a 30-second song sample is not enough to gage the full effect. Oddly enough, M, who, as I've mentioned before, loves the samey safe quality of B&S and the Shins and Owen and everything else that's quiet and pleasant and love-lorn-sounding, had no objection to my constant blaring of their CDs.

I've been so bored of indie-rock and anything associated with it lately, it takes more than a few chords and some off-key vocals to get me excited. Deerhoof are both "cute" and bombastic, loud and soft, pop and noise.

By the way, I should mention that the band has been around for more than ten years, and therefore is part of my previously discussed theory that a band shouldn't exist for more than ten years unless there is a married couple involved. And there fucking IS a married couple involved! So there! So on Saturday I've seeing them live for the first time since I've fallen in love with them. They are officially among my favorite bands, along with Saturday Looks Good to Me and Spoon, and I can't wait for the show this Saturday. If you are anyone who's anyone, you should be there too.

MP3's:

+81, (Right click and save), from their recently released Friend Opportunity.

By the way, Ticketmaster fees are ridiculous. I mean, COME ON.

Top Five things wrong with this blog

1. The reported ugly-ness of this blog. I switched to the 'beta' version of blogger, which was supposed to make it easier to create a layout, which instead has made everything worse than before. Updates don't show up, everything loads slow. I can't even pick colors that don't induce vomiting. Nerds, please assist!

2. Lack of posts. Seriously. My goal is 100 posts for 2007. That doesn't seem too hard. Maybe it should be 125? Yes, 125 posts it shall be. This is number 2. 123 to go.

3. Too much dependence on the 'list' format for posts. Just write a fucking paragraph already, Rob Fleming.

4. Lack of comments. Possibly related to item #2.

5. Lack of hot pictures of babes. This shall be remedied soon. Furthermore, if you are a babe and want your picture on this website, please email it to me. Also, if you don't have any pictures, I do have a camera.

The Greatest

Did anyone hear how Greg Oden and the Ohio State Buckeyes lost a basketball game last night. Reportedly, it was to a rival squadron in the same conference.

If you check out any major sports newspaper or website, you'll see how the valient Buckeyes turned a near-blowout into a close game in the final minute, nearly pulling off a chance to maybe be able to secure a stunning road victory, by playing like a 15th seed in the final minute of an NCAA tourney game (foul and launch threes). Oden, when not being completely shut down by force-to-be-reckoned-with Jason Chappell, apparently dominated the game by dunking the ball twice. Wow, what a fucking superstar. One could only shudder to think at the superlatives that would be flying around if Ohio State had actually won the game, instead of still searching for a single quality win.

Rumor has it that the team that Ohio State nearly had a chance to take to overtime was actually rated #3 in the country in a survey of some sort. I'm not sure how accurate these reports are, since every article accompanying the story shows the above picture (tears, caption and Oden snot bubble added by me).