i'll be in New York City from March 17 to 22. i arrive on St. Patrick's Day, so even the cops will be drunk. and maybe there'll be a war on then too! or maybe i'll get deported to some country i've never been to.

i'll be flying first class because coach is for losers. i plan on sticking my head out the curtain and saying "that's right, you scum" in my best Chef Luigi voice. it's funny when short people complain about how cramped coach is. hey, try being 6'3, so that your kneecaps are lodged 3 inches into the metal bar holding the magazines up in the seat infront of you. actually, i'm going first class because the airmiles are racked up. "more of anything?" more of everything!

i'll staying with a buddy in Manhattan too, somewhere near the Chrysler building. so far the plans include finding a nearby coffee shop and having breakfast everyday. which is to say, i'm only going for the breakfast.

if you have any other NYC suggestions, let me know.

to finish off music week (or two), here is my list of top 7½ albums of 2002 that you will probably skim over instead of read. its okay, i understand. i'd do the same thing.

1. ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - Source Tags and Codes
If you think back now about the differences between say, 1992 and 1993, the memories of those years probably just blend in together. I'm sure 10 years from now, if asked to detail my account of 2002, I wouldn't remember a thing. I'd probably confuse it with 2001 or 2003. But if 10 years from now, I play Source Tags and Codes, I'd remember everything about 2002. Melancholy, anger, frustration, forgiveness, and oh yeah, hope. Everything about last year, it's all there. A true epic. A true album. Album of the year.

2. Bad Astronaut - Houston, We Have A Drinking Problem
If I were in an empty white room with no windows or doors and which was slowly filling with water seeping up from the floor, a suspended dream state, then this would be the soundtrack.

½. The Dillinger Escape Plan feat. Mike Patton - Irony Is A Dead Scene EP
Omnipresent Mike Patton sounds like he's gurgling blood while DEP provides the technical precision and ability of the only avant-math-grindcore-metal-post-hardcore band around. A blistering dissonant assualt. Do I sound like a record reviewer yet? Might I add that this album also has its share of thrills, spills, and chills!

3. Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
The perfect CD for days when you're out of it.

4. Eels - Souljacker
The songs tell a story. Nobody really does that any more. Sublime did it. wow, 4 albums in and they're all sad (or angry) albums so far. it was a good year.

5. Division of Laura Lee - BlackCity
I've almost lost my voice singing "I'm in need for love! I'm in need for drugs!" from "Number One" on more than one occassion. And I swear he says "You ain't got shit!/Like Radiohead" in "Pretty Electric". Like Trail of Dead, its good to see ugly singers back in rock n roll.

6. Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
I would have placed this one higher, but the radio interludes throughout are funny the first time, but annoying for subsequent listens. They take away from the general re-listenabilty of the album; well that and tracks 5 and 7. But other than that, this is still a fucking kick ass rock album.

7. Transplants - Transplants
Punk and rap, together at last! I've been waiting since Nuts and Gum were united.

Other albums (in no real order):

• Hot Hot Heat - Make Up the Breakdown
  I didn't like it as much as others, but they're a bunch of dorks from Victoria and it's nice to see them make it big. And its still better than Coldplay.
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Master EP/Machine EP
  Karen O is hot. Can't wait till their debut LP album comes out this year.
• OK Go - OK GoExcellent pop-rock album. They stole the show from The Vines last August too.
• Red Hot Chili Peppers - By The Way
  
• It's clear that Frusciante makes this band what it is. Thank god they fired Dave Navarro.
• Nine Inch Nails - And All That Could Have Been
  Yeah it was a DVD, but I've listend to the mp3s just as much as any other album on this list. The DVD is excellent as well.
• Nirvana - Nirvana
  Even though I already have most of the songs on this album, but when are you ever going to hear a new song by that voice again?
• Rolling Stones - 40 Licks
  Holy fuck do they ever have a lot of good songs. But no "I'm Just Waiting on a Friend"? Best Stones video ever!

Rap sucks. Hip Hop is okay:

• N.E.R.D - In Search Of
• Roots - Phrenology
• Blackalicious - Blazing Arrow

Albums I thought sucked at first:

• The Liars - They Threw Us In a Trench and Stuck a Monument On Top
  Something about it that made me go back for a second listen. They definitly have their own sound. All my favourite bands have that.
• Sparta - Wiretap Scars
  "Cut Your Ribbon" is pretty fucking cool now.
• Bright Eyes - The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground
  If I'm in the mood for some vaginal rocking. Well, sure, he is gay, but its still vaginal rock to me.

Canadian Album of the Year:

• Wide Mouth Mason - Rained Out Parade
  If it were a just world, these guys would be stars and Our Lady Peace would be opening for the Honeymoon Suite reunion show.

A Simple Plan is NOT Punk:

• Ben Weasel - Fidatevi
• Millencolin - Home From Home
• The Queers - Pleasant Screams
  The Queers are finally back on Lookout! and back to their Don't Back Down sound. I've been waiting here for a while, welcome back.
• Bad Religion - Process of Belief
  BR are also back after that horrible last album. It's no scooter, but still good to see them totally redeem themselves with this album.

***

No more music talk. Thanks for indulging me, pretentious fucker that I am.

this is a list of upcoming concerts in Vancouver i'd like to see. it's mostly for my own record and i'd probably only end up going to a few of them.

02.20.03	The Roots Commodore Ballroom
02.24.03	Nashville Pussy Richards on Richards
02.27.03	"SnoCore Rock" (Sparta/Glassjaw/Hot Water Music) Commodore Ballroom
02.28.03	Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Pat's Pub
03.05.03	Ladytron Commodore Ballroom
03.09.03	Royksopp Commodore Ballroom
03.16.03	Even In Blackouts/Moral Crux/The Spinoffs Piccadilly Pub
03.18.03	The Vines Commodore Ballroom
03.23.03	King Crimson Commodore Ballroom
03.23.03	Sahara Hotnights The Royal
04.04.03	Bright Eyes Commodore Ballroom
04.08.03	The Datsuns/The Sights Richard's On Richards
04.11.03	Soundtrack of Our Lives Commodore Ballroom
04.11.03	Millencolin Croation Cultural Center all ages probably. fuck.
04.17.03	Matthew Good Commodore Ballroom
04.26.03	Yeah Yeah Yeahs/The Icarus Line Richard's On Richards
07.04.03	"Vans Warped Tour '03" (Less Than Jake/Rancid/Pennywise/Distillers)

and hopefully the RHCP/QOTSA tour comes around Vancouver. Lollaplooza and the We-Once-Kicked-Ass-and-Now-We're-Just-a-Joke and the Guy-in-the-Backwards-Red-Hat Tour can just go fuck off.

today i bought the vinyl edition of one of my favourite albums, Lagwagon - Lets Talk About Feelings. next week i'll buy the vinyl edition of another of my favourite albums. and the following week the same. i'll repeat this until i have them all.

and then i'll go buy a record player that actually works.

name that tune

1. her stories are boring and stuff
   she's always calling my bluff
2. this is for the misfits, the freaks and runts
   fuck them motherfucking backstabbing cunts.
3. when a boy is still a worm its hard to learn the number seven
4. i like your Mom and it's no fad.
   i wanna marry her and be your Dad.
5. i woke up in a horse's stomach upon a foggy morning
   his eyes were crazy and he smashed into the cemetery gates
6. Venus was a fly trap
   the man you loved devoured
   i used to dream about your sister
   fucking me in the shower
7. beat me, bite me, whip me, fuck me, like the dirty pig that I am.
   cum all over my tits and tell 'em that you love me
   then get the fuck out.
   
   (bonus points if you get this one)
8. step out the front door like a ghost into the fog
   where no one notices the contrast of white on white
9. so believe it or not, this is a plan of action
   this ain't no mercy mission, this is target practice
   the atomic thrust is gonna tear you askew
   Agent X is Bettie Page, she's in the rear-view

{ more }

here's my favourite WinAmp skin:

It's called EGS. i found it a long time ago, and have no clue who made it or even where i got it. overly designed WinAmp skins suck, and the basic one is too basic. EGS is pretty much the same thing, but smoothed out. it looks good when minimized as well; the colours in the playlist stand out, so it's easy to see which song is playing when minimized.

***

HotAmp is a simple utility program that lets you control music playback in Winamp with hotkeys. it lets you easily play/pause/stop/next/previous tracks in WinAmp while you're using other programs, so that WinAmp doesn't have to be in focus. so if you're writing HTML or designing in Photoshop, you can hit Ctrl-Alt-Home to pause instead of moving your mouse over and clicking the tiny pause button in the minimized WinAmp window.

Full Controls:

Play:	Ctrl-Alt-Insert
Pause:	Ctrl-Alt-Home
Stop:	Ctrl-Alt-End
Next Track:	Ctrl-Alt-Page Up
Previous Track:	Ctrl-Alt-Page Down

it's very small and sits in your system tray. i have mine setup in StartUp as minimized. the official site is xerosoft.com, but it seems to be down, so you can download the file here.

***

MP3ext is a shell extension so that you can access ID3 tags from a Property panel. it also lets you see the bit rates of mp3 files in Windows explorer. i'm using the WinAmp theme here:

(shut up, those are all good songs)

if you have a Windows iPod, use EphPod. it kicks ass over that MusicMatch bloatware.

***

We're A Happy Family, the Ramones Tribute album is out this week. Some of the covers are okay (Eddie Vedder, RHCP) and others really suck (Marilyn Manson, Pete Yorn, Metallica). First off, it's so wrong putting out a Ramones tribute album that doesn't include tracks from either The Queers or Screeching Weasel. If you want a real tribute, get The Queers - Rocket to Russia or Screeching Weasel - Beat is on the Brat which are covers of entire Ramones albums. Or listen to The Queers - I Wanna Be Happy from Pleasant Screams, which is a written by Joe Queer and Ben Weasel around an unfinished Joey Ramone demo. Now thats a tribute.

***

listening to The Liars - This Dust Makes That Mud. that riff you hear on their site repeats for 25 minutes on this track.

i love epics.

The Cowbell Project is a database of recordings that feature the cowbell inspired by the SNL/Christopher Walken sketch. "More Cowbell" is the key to making any song a success.

***

i don't care if its a marketing gimmick or not, but i like that T.A.T.U - All the Things She Said song, and the video's not bad either! and if they're ever here for an outdoor concert, i'm so going!

***

wow, no need for kneepads, she could blow Yao Ming and Special Ed standing up!

Van Morrison - Astral Weeks

First Track - Astral Weeks

Last Track - Slim Slow Slider

Astral Weeks by Lester Bangs - one of the greatest rock journalism pieces ever written. This is literature.

waking up for breakfast
burning matches
talking quickly
breaking bottles
throwing garbage
drinking soda
looking happy
taking pictures
so completely stupid
just go away

—White Stripes - There's No Room For You Here

just downloaded the vinyl-advance rip of White Stripes' Elephant and i can say without hyperbole that it is bigger than Jesus and God combined.

pallalink is the best photolog forever and ever times infinity to the max plus one.

Pitchfork is reporting ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead will be releasing a new four-song EP entitled The Secret of Elena's Tomb this year. my reaction was "holy fuck! yes yes yes!"

Pulp Magazine Art: The Secret of Elena's Tomb

i like it when record label's offer full MP3 samples. there's a much higher chance i'll give your band a shot if it has an MP3 download instead of that streaming windows media and especially real player shit.

• The International Noise Conspiracy covers N.E.R.D.'s "Baby Doll" (MP3: Epitaph, 4.9MB)
• Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?" (MP3: Lookout Records, 4.6MB)
• Bright Eyes - "Lover I Don't Have to Love" (MP3: Saddle Creek, 1.8MB)
• Division of Laura Lee - "We've Been Planning This For Years" (MP3: Burning Heart, 1.9MB)
• The Faint - "Agenda Suicide" (MP3: Saddle Creek, 1.8MB)
• Interpol - "PDA" (MP3: Matador, 5.8MB)
• Shat - "Tit Fuck" (MP3: Buddyhead, 648KB)
• Digger - "Try and Catch Me" (MP3: Hopeless, 4.2MB)

division of laura lee / burning brides / catheters January 30, 2003 Richards on Richards, Vancouver