Just so you know, I've heard from two of the members of The Werewolves (who I mention here and here) and they are alive and kicking!  Awesome!  Also, um, it's soincrediblycool to get email from an indie band from Brooklyn. Fuck yeah!

They say on their blog that they'll be leaking more music soon.  Leak away!  And, if you visit, check out that awesome poster with what looks like a crochet doily and some tatting details.  I think I'm going to pass out!

As I mentioned earlier, I'm in love with the defunct band, the Werewolves. They've been my only ONLY listening choice for weeks.  I googled the name of one one of my favorites among their songs, Dora Gerson.  Here they are performing it for the first time live:



A week or so ago, I was listening to a CD of Japanese songs from the 60's and a song came on that I recognized from my childhood.  My Pop used to sing it while playing his guitar to me and my sisters as we were falling asleep ... one of my cherished childhood memories, those nights of singing.  It took a bunch of googling to figure out what song it even was, because they were singing it in Japanese and I hadn't heard it since I was about 5-years-old.  It was Dona Dona.  Here's Donavon performing it:



And not long before that, I learned that Neutral Milk Hotel's album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (one of my favorite albums) is inspired by Anne Frank:



Sometimes the sadness walks up behind you silently and taps you on the shoulder and you turn and see it as if for the first time and it says, "I've always been here, and I'm never very far away."

Man, I'm loving Netflix On-Demand lately.  When we first tried using Netflix On-Demand, oh, I don't know ... was it a year or two ago? ... well, it sucked then.  But they've done some things lately that make it awesome and easy.  They are also starting to add lots of great films.

I was looking to see if they had Groundhog Day, in honor of the hog-along, and I saw Man Bites Dog, which held the title of my "number one favorite movie" for about 5 years.  It's like the French version of Spinal Tap using a serial killer instead of a band.  And, instead of the drummer coming to a bad end and getting replaced over and over, it's the sound guy on the documentary crew.  Dark, dark, dark, dark, French, and funny.  What's not to love?!

I was sitting here listening to the Werewolves album Dance Raincoat Glass and thought I'd write a little post here because I LOVE THEM SO MUCH.  So I was googling around and I found their blog.

ACK!!!

They are done. :(  According to their blog, they had tons of equipment stolen in October, and decided to take a break of indefinite length in December.  SO SAD.

These guys are awesome.

I love the whole album, but if you visit the Werewolves' MySpace, listen to Dora Gerson and Christa Pafgen Head Injury.  Love!

We learned of them from this Village Voice blog post.  After hearing their album, I thought they'd definitely be the next big thing.

I have my fingers crossed that they really are taking a break and we didn't just loose one of the most talented new bands I've heard in a long, long time.

I already liked the band Beirut, but when we recently purchased the double EP March of the Zapotec & Realpeople: Holland, I sort of lost my mind.  I listen to them all the time, although it's terrifyingly hard to find their album in iTunes because I have a hell of a time spelling Beirut.

So far I've learned that it starts with a B and is followed by an E and and I, but I'm never quite sure what order those two are in.  Yes, I'm s-m-r-t.

Anyway, the double EP's first half is folky sounding Eastern European-ish marching songs they recorded in Mexico with the help of Oaxacan march masters The Jimenez Band. The second half is techno-y, dreamy, and just as catchy. There's even an instrumental, which should be a crime because Zach has an amazing voice, but it's wonderful, too.  I love me the computer beeples.

I know it sounds like an improbable combination, but it *works* like magic.  I really can't stop listening to this album (unless it's to listen to Shampoo).

Here's a song from the EP's first half:


Here's a song from the EP's second half:


Before I wrote this post I had no idea how adorable and young this guy is.  He's got the voice of a seasoned Lothario ... and mad talent.

My favorite song at this moment is Elvis Perkins' Shampoo.  The lyrics make my throat tight everytime I hear them, which is about 137 times a day.  In part ...


I totally think it's more touching to be worth your weight in sorrow than worth your weight in gold.

Here is a video of him playing the song live.  I have to say, though, I prefer the album's version.

Listed in the order we watched them.  The IMDB links are automatically generated searches for the title, so they might not always find the movie.

L E G E N D

**	highly recommended
*	recommended
	not recommended (no asterisks)

	title (release year) director
*	Tetro (2009) Francis Ford Coppola
*	Blue Velvet (1986) David Lynch
*	Presumed Innocent (1990) Alan J Pakula
	Pineapple Express (2008) David Gordon Green
*	Near Dark (1987) Kathryn Bigelow
**	I'm Not Scared (2003) Gabriele Salvatores
*	Tell No One (2006) Guillaume Canet
*	Frontiere(s) (2007) Xavier Gens
*	The Nines (2007) John August
*	Tokyo! (2008) Joon-ho Bong, Leos Carax, Michel Gondry

Last night we saw Destroyer at the Unitarian Church.  It's been hotter than hell around here this week, so we were afraid that we'd have a melty repeat of last summer's show at the church.

But luckily* there was a huge storm right before the show which cooled things down.  A little.  It was still super hot in the church, but at least we could breathe.

He was awesome.  He played most of the songs Andrew hoped he'd play.

* Not luckily for my walk home from work during which I got drowned in torrential rains on two separate occasions.  I'd planned ahead and worn a skirt to work with flip flops.  I was soaked through by the time I got home.  The edge of my skirt dripped on the floor in the hall as I waited for the elevator.

We saw Mark Eitzel last night at Johnny Brenda's.  This time he was just singing (instead of fussing with a guitar and singing) and that, my friends, makes all the difference.  From his first note to the last, Mark was amazing. Literally. Amazing.  

He's one of the few people who I've seen live that sounds perfect on his albums and 20 times better in person.  He could have sung the whole show without the mike, his voice is so powerful, and did several times.  Magical.  Perfect. Enchanting.  He was accompanied by a piano player, who was *awesome* and perfectly in sync with Mark.

They seemed to really be enjoying hanging out and singing for us.  I loved hearing him cover I Left My Heart In San Francisco and Me and Mr. Jones (changed from "Mrs.").  And, of course, I loved seeing him perform his own songs, like The Decibels & The Little Pills ... as you see below from a previous show (with some horns, which we didn't have).

If you watch the video, he seems to ease into this one, and by the time he gets to 3:30 on the timer, he's totally in the zone.  He was in that zone the WHOLE show last night.

For years and years I've had this million-dollar idea that I was going to start a self-help movement where the premise is that people are their own problem.  I'd name the book "You're The F*cking Problem."  I would point out all the ways people create their own poopy worlds and then brow beat them (or get them to brow beat themselves ... this *is* self-help) into shaping up.

I know!  Brilliant.  

Right?

Well, don't judge me too quickly.  Time just ran an article about the power of negative thinking and how it figures into the third wave of psychology (which is apparently being spearheaded by Uncle Fester).

Who's the negative nancy now?