tinyluckygenius aka the Unicorn's tear

CURTAINS OF NIGHT

Curtains of Night, Heart Shaped Hate and Trophy Wife house show tonight. Three heavy as hell all-lady bands house show that I am missing because I am covering Cornerstone. Everyone, please go in my stead. And I do mean everyone.

Thursday, July 2, 2009 at 8:00pm

Mount Happy
:
2300 W. Cermak

Chicago, IL

DRAWING ON THAT SAME FUNKY BREATH

I have read more truly great music writing in the last week than I have this year, fwiw, the loss of a towering and troubling pop figure has brought phenomenal work out of many. To wit: Greg Tate's eulogy for Michael Jackson is pure fire: I lost my breath mid-way through the second graph and was wowing at page breaks.
"The real question of the hour is, How many other Black American men born in Gary in 1958 lived to see their 24th birthday in 1982, the year Thriller broke the world open louder than a cobalt bomb and remade Black American success in Michael's before-and-after image? Where Black modernity is concerned, Michael is the real missing link: the "bridge of sighs" between the Way We Were and What We've Become in what Nelson George has astutely dubbed the "Post-Soul Era"—the only race-coded "post" neologism grounded in actual history and not puffery. Michael's post-Motown life and career are a testament to all the cultural greatness that Motown and the chitlin circuit wrought, but also all the acute identity crises those entities helped set in motion in the same funky breath."

"Real Soul Men eat self-destruction, chased by catastrophic forces from birth and then set upon by the hounds of hell the moment someone pays them cash-money for using the voice of God to sing about secular adult passion. If you can find a more freakish litany of figures who have suffered more freakishly disastrous demises and career denouements than the Black American Soul Man, I'll pay you cash-money. Go down the line: Robert Johnson, Louis Jordan, Johnny Ace, Little Willie John, Frankie Lymon, Sam Cooke, James Carr, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Al Green, Teddy Pendergrass, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield. You name it, they have been smacked down by it: guns, planes, cars, drugs, grits, lighting rigs, shoe polish, asphyxiation by vomit, electrocution, enervation, incarceration, their own death-dealing preacher-daddy. A few, like Isaac Hayes, get to slowly rust before they grow old. A select few, like Sly, prove too slick and elusive for the tide of the River Styx, despite giddy years mocking death with self-sabotage and self-abuse."

BONZONE

The thing I wrote about listening to Led Zep and writing the book is up on Largehearted Boy's Book Notes.

33 MILES AND RUNNIN

I wrote a little essay/report about Gary Indiana for the Village Voice this week.

SEE Y'ALL LATER

Maybe you have already been facebook-vited for this, or got the tweet, but this is two weeks from now and I WANNA MAKE SURE. Do you know teenager girls? Can you bring them? Can you get custody of a Girl Scout troop for the night? TRY. If not, bring a date or your band or book club. Please. Thanks.

All events are free except where otherwise noted. All events are all-ages, except 8/22 is 16+ (sorry!).

AM I COMING TO YOUR CITY?!

7/13 Portland, OR @ Powells on Hawthorne 7:30 pm
7/14 Seattle, WA @ Vera Project 7:30
7/15 Santa Monica, CA @ Public Library 2 pm (w/Mika Miko)--outdoor show!
7/15 Los Angeles, CA @ Skylight Books 7:30 pm
7/16 Minneapolis, MN @ Magers & Quinn 7:30 (w/ Laurie Lindeen)
7/19 Exton, PA @ Barnes & Noble 2 pm
7/19 Philly PA @ T and P Gallery 7 pm
7/21 New York City @ Barnes & Noble ( 396 Ave of the Americas at 8th St.)
7/22 NY TBA
7/23 Providence RI @ AS220 7 pm
7/30 Chicago, IL @ YouMedia Center @ Harold Washington Library book talk and interactive session 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m

***THIS IS WHERE THE READING & ROCKING TOUR BEGINS:
8/19 Oak Park, IL @ Oak Park Public Library 7 p.m., reading & concert w/ Katie Stelmanis
8/20 Cleveland OH @ Visible Voice (early bookstore event)
8/20 Cleveland, OH @ Happy Dog Bar (5801 Detroit Ave) Katie Stelmanis & Ghost Bees & me DJ-ing (9 p.m., $4, all-ages)
8/21 Pittsburgh @ Garfield Art Works w/ Katie Stelmanis & Ghost Bees (6:30 doors, reading, bands & dance party! all ages, $TBA)
8/22 Brooklyn, NY @ Littlefield w/ These Are Powers & Katie Stelmanis & Dynasty Handbag & me & DJ's MNDR & L-Train & feminist art blow out all-nite. 7pm. $16+/$8
8/23 Baltimore TBA w/ Katie Stelmanis
8/24 Washington DC @ Comet Pizza w/ Katie Stelmanis & more
8/25 Chapel Hill, NC @ Nightlight w/ Katie Stelmanis & Ghost Bees & more & more
8/26 Nashville, TN TBA w/ Katie Stelmanis
8/27 Champaign-Urbana, IL TBA w/ Katie Stelmanis
8/28 Bloomington, IN @ Boxcar Books & Community Center w/ Katie Stelmanis & Ghost Bees
8/29 Chicago @ Hideout w/ Katie Stelmanis & Ghost Bees 1-4 pm ($4 kids, $7 adults) + Girls Rock Chicago camper bands & more more

SPECTACLE

Looking at shrine on doorstep in Gary.

Take the Pelo and Run.

Kanye red carpet pap crush.

Curbing the drop out rate with rap show incentive, plus kid q&a:
"Whats your main message for us today, Kanye?"
"Don't drop out."
"Kanye, how would you describe yourself in 3 words?"
"I. Go. Hard."
(wild cheering)

WITH THE THICKNESS

Still enjoying the Pitchfork reviewed in the style of Pitchfork bit from Popsense:

"The review is framed by two other lol-worthy paradoxes: First, the opening paragraph overstates how influential the band has been (if they actually "garnered a level of influence in indie music that almost rivals that of Animal Collective today," it would go without explaining). Secondly, Howe closes the review by saying, "You want to see them at least risk fucking up, and acknowledging that music is played by humans. Now that Tortoise have inarguably mastered the consideration of their namesake, it might not hurt them to tap into a little of the impulsiveness of the hare." Let's try to make sense of this: Brian Howe is implying two things in the first sentence: 1) The album is perfect in every way, there are no fuck ups, and 2) as a result of (1), the members of Tortoise are not human. In the proceeding sentence we have an analogy that seems like it could make sense, until we remember that Tortoises go slowly not as a result of carefully calculating all of their choices and making safe decisions, but rather simply because they are just slow fucking animals. This pun is not effective.

MJ

Spent the entire day in the car first accidentally driving 223 miles towards Cornerstone A WEEK EARLY, realizing my mistake only a mere 11 miles from the farm field for which I was intended. On my on-purpose return, I managed to pick up NPR and subsequent MJ news for the rest of the afternoon. About an hour after I got home, Matt Kessler and Miles and I roadtripped to Gary, IN for the vigil at MJ childhood home, c. 10 pm. I wrote a little thing on the book blog about the importance of Thriller as generational pop music divide between my parents and I, learning to be a fan, etc. Thing about Gary running elsewhere v. soonish. hit this link to download The Rub's 2008 MJ mix.

HEY HEY THEY'RE THE GORIES

Massive and overdue history of The Gories and their legacy from this weeks' Metro Times.

BECAUSE I LIKE YOU LIKE MY OWN

Polvo's comeback single: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT THE HUH? When was the last time a band broke up for 10 years and then put out the best record of their career? And don't say Steely Dan, unless you are a retired jazzbo. Beggars Bowl MP3 here. My dream of Battles + Billy Squier's "The Big Beat" combined into one hook is now come true.

and

Tanlines remix of Glasser downloadable here. The horns are real squinchy. Also, when the steel drums get happy, I love that part, it's like the song is blooming.

PONY SANDAL

There is nothing quite like a humbling little walk through the hood in your jammy outfit in the blazing hotness of 8:47 a.m. on a workday. Good morning people with your dogs and fitness routine and your commuter bikes. Good morning, neighbors. Good morning I have not brushed my teeth and only have been awake maybe 15 minutes. Good morning I am wearing indoor clothes outdoors and the too big pony hair sandals Heather Kenny brought to the last clothing swap two Junes ago that were still in a bag on the back porch which was fortunate because all the way to JR's house is kind of far to go sans shoes entirely. Hello elderly couple that looks scared for me, I am only locked out, not cracked out. Hello denizens of Ukraninan Village, I am on my way to the spare keys of my best friend.

After Chicago avenue, I realized the too big pony hair sandals were an impedement and if I was looking like such crunkled shit already, what difference do shoes make. I took them off and picked them up in front of the golden Orthodox church while a pacing teenage boy watched. I put the shoes back on to cross Augusta, and then again when I reached the side of the Empty Bottle as there were so many lipstick slicked filters on the ground and the sidewalk is much darker; no one should go bare foot on Western.

I removed the right one and pounded on the door of JRs house four times. I yelled his name three times. I waited for the street sweeper and the traffic to calm a bit. I noticed his air conditioner was dripping. Surely he would not hear me. More yelling his name, this time higher, shriekier, to cut through the lulling white noise and cool air of his room, where he was probably only 4 hours into slumber. His head popped out from around a fan in the living room window. "Hi Buddy!" It is good he was home, as my other option was Matt, at his new job down at City Hall.

JR came outside with my keys and told me the dream he'd just had, about how human flight had been made possibly due to air current science and we were jumping from planes and landing safely on the ground, then partying at an abandoned hospital. I tucked my keys into my pocket, and headed home. I went shoeless most of the way. I wondered if the old people on their porches in my old neighborhood recognized me and wondered what sort of terrible fate had befowled me that was causing me to pace Oakley Avenue shoeless, with my bedhead cowlick pointing towards the sky. I wondered if people thought I was just a sloppy person, or if I was on a particularly shameful walk-of-shame.

When I passed the church a second time, the boy was still there. We made eye contact as I was putting the shoes back on to cross the street.

I kept checking for the keys in my pocket. As a kid I lost my house keys all the time, I spent most of 6th grade afterschool waiting on the porch of my parents home. I lost my keys so often that I had to go to a therapist because it was believed perhaps I was doing it on purpose. I told the therapist the only truth: This has nothing to do with my parents divorce. I was disorganized and forgetful, my school bag was a mess of undone homework and half eaten lunches and tapes, plus why would I want to be locked out of my own house? My explanation apparently sufficed and I was not made to return to further investigate the issue of chronic key loss.

Alas! I returned home, keyed and bedraggled, and realized, could have ridden my bike, and I needn't have gone into the hall looking for Wyatt, as he was trapped in the closet. Not R. Kelly style though--he was just trying to get to the cat food.

COME CORRECT

Via Ladyfest Bellingham (6/25-29): Her Jazz Noise Collective--Canadian feminist trans-inclusive noise community, setting the example:

This is an experimental music network for women in Vancouver. We are determined to help create an inclusive noise community and supportive space for women to meet and experiment musically. We hope this project will be a catalyst for the formation of more female-based groups in this genre. We are trans-inclusive, please and thank you! No experience or commitment it required - just the desire to try... This is not a band, its the beginning of a more radical, open, posi-core community invested in dialogue about gender, power and personal experience.

RUNNING WITH THE KNIGHT

I know, everyone is going to Dirty Projectors and Sea n' Cake for free in the park tonight, but just a heads-up, as I am concerned about your welfare and all. You can go an still make Mika Miko headlining at Beat Kitchen. Jenna with her golden mic and and Jennifer with the telephone! It will be punkspiration to last you through the summer. Come after yr done listening to S&C's buttery sambas and DP's--what is what they are doing? Sufjan gone vulnerable? I'm not hating on Bitte Orca or anything, but you know Dirty Proj's are going to be coming back round like 4 more times this yr due to their eminent indie success story (my we all be the Grizzly Bear of tomorrow!) and that Sea n' Cake will never really break up (again). When yr done laying on the grass at that show, come for the restive at Beat Kitchen after.

Mika Miko came all the way from LA. They tour like 1.5 tours per record, and not to scare you, but, who knows if there will be more on this record. They haven't played here since 2 springs ago. Look at how much fun it's going to be:

Also, Jenna & Cali's dog,LA's art blog star poodle Caramel Bobby, is now followable on Twitter. Also, if you live in LA, I am doing a show with them 7/15 at the library on my book tour , which is now 23 dates long; Pittsburgh, Bloomington, Chapel Hill, two Chicago dates and Oak Park Public Library shows have just been added.

GOING ROGUE DEUX

In honor of Logan Dick of Tucson, AZ, who reported back to me about rescuing my book from it's music section purgatory--shelved between a book about Guns N' Roses and one about Elvis--and relocating it to the Young Adult/Vampire heartthrobs section (a choice spot)--anyone who undertakes such a mission gets a special mixtape from me. If you find yourself in a Borders or walking past one, please take this mission upon yourself, let me know you've done it & where, and you will get a mix that will haunt you for the summer. PROMISE.

SHA-SHA-SHA-DOOBIE

I stand all the way corrected and I am glad she cleared this up. Glasser, who I wrote about yesterday sounding like a duo or a trio is actually just the beautiful handiwork of one woman, Cameron Mesirow. Blog here and music here and video for "Apply" here, which cribs a bit of Joni's "Jungle Line", but is a twinkling slinky samba.

AURAL HISTORY

We have officially entered the "Is It Gunshots or Fireworks" part of the summer.

I saw X last night. I believe most reunions to be an act of aggression towards one's fanbase, though I have made special exceptions, notably for X and Steely Dan. I begrudge them nothing. (In the Dan's case, it's more like almost nothing--their reunion albums are lite jazz twaddle so effete it make's Fagen's Nightfly sound like Houses of The Holy, but I am not missing the replaying AJA show this fall and I just pray they rope in Michael McDonald to come out and yamobethere out his beard. I know loving AJA obliterates all my cred, but I am not about to apologize.) Nevertheless, X have a handful more dates on their all-request set tour and it was just... a real band. There was no room for snarky, derisive sidewhispers to friends, there was no precious preening, there was John Doe whipping sweat out of his hair on "Los Angeles" and "Johnny Hit and Run Pauline" so merciless and Billy Zoom's pearly whites smile perm. affixed to his pink face. GO. SEE. THEM. Tickets are like $20-25 methinks, but it's a benefit for Sweet Relief. You could pay a straight $50 and feel like it was a bargain at that price. I promise.

ALMOST FREE HOUSES IN DETROIT

$100 artist houses and the city of Detroit paying people to move in to them. (via Jeff Johnson)

OFF WITH THEIR HEADS AND ON WITH MY PANTS

Liking these Glasser songs--sounds a little like west coast spooky emancipated wood vixen (Nite Jewel, Pocahaunted), but with a darkness I can get behind (Fever Ray, the bad-drugs year of yr art school tenure). I think it's three people, but it sounz like it could also be two people, but defs not just one.

I LOST IT AT THE MOVIES

Pauline Kael's birthday today, she would have been 90. Great interview from 1982:

PAYNE, YOUNG, UNIQUE.

Amidst a story of a queer boy winning being voted prom queen: "His speech was great," recalled Unique Payne, 17, a senior who said she voted for Garcia. "I did it because I support the gay community," she said.

I LOVE YOU BETH DITTO

Beth Ditto calls Katy Perry a "Boner dyke" and then goes on:

"Ditto believes the issue is much greater than a little war of words on blogs. "It's not about Katy Perry," she says. "It's about this song and its innocence on her part. To [Katy], it's just this party song. But as a gay person, it's like, 'Oh, of course this straight person singing about kissing a girl goes straight to Top 40 and people buy this record. Who can give a f--- about real gay people?' That's what's really painful about the whole thing. That's what makes me laugh about 'I'm not impressed.' It's like, 'Oh, that's what you think? Of course, because you never thought about what a real gay person feels, and the impact that a song like that has on the gay world in a time of crucial civil rights.' That's just one of the examples of what the mainstream is thinking about queer culture, when actually, we are completely fighting for our rights right now."

Stream nu Gossip album here: GOSSIP MUSIC FOR MEN. It's tough as shit, disco struttin through the struggle.

KEHINDE WILEY

Lena just directed me to this great Q&A with painter Kehinde Wiley in Anthem:

"Well the very utterance of ‘post-black’ includes the term ‘black,’ which means there’s a type of schizophrenia: the inability to recognize what one is, but also of a desire to go beyond it. I think that’s the constant state of people of color working within the fine arts; regardless of what you do with subject matter, it always comes down to something so essential about skin color, but the dream of the artist is always to go beyond that. To transcend expectations, to transcend class, race, gender, sexuality, class. But in the end when we are most honest with ourselves, we start with something very specific, very local, very personal. And that usually is strongly influenced by race, class, gender; it’s all in there."

FRANCIS FORD IOWA

Daniel Kraus, now author and filmmaker (he did the Vandermark doc.) was once a long limbed Iowa teen with a dream, and a video camera. He spent a lot of time remaking Hollywood films (Godfather trilogy, Misery etc) with his friends... and now he's blogging them for the world to see. The trailer is killing me. This is going to be good.

WANNA SWEET SWEET YOU

ITEM:
1. The "best Cex record ever made" is also the latest--Bataille Royale is now available direct from Rjyan.

T(EEN W)REX

"Be My Girl" by The Smith Westerns, Chicago's hot teen garage pop burn up/future of the 60647 postal code scene. No fidelity, direct from heaven, someone in this band might have braces still I think, I want this on cassette, unmitigated summertime genius.

ONE TO GROW ON

Artist statement from Steven Cochrane.

Also, I am saving my bucks starting today to go see the Elles@CentrePompidou in Paris before it closes next May 24. Matt was there last week playing a show and saw it and brought me back the book/catalog and I am about to go check out improve-yr-franch tapes from the library so I can read it, though sentences like: "1980 was the year women interceded on the boy's world of conceptual art" is almost the same in French. Given that all I remember how to say in French is "how old are you" and "my name is" and names of fruits and animals, the book is a real motivator to dive back in. Here's some info:
:

"For the first time in the world, a museum will be displaying the feminine side of its own collections. This new presentation of the Centre Pompidou's collections will be entirely given over to the women artists from the 20th century to the present day.

This will be the occasion for the institution, which has built up the very first collection of modern and contemporary art, to show its commitment to women artists, nationality and discipline taken together, and place them at the core of modern and contemporary art of the 20th and 21st centuries."
(Elles@ site, with videos & images from the exhibition.)

As someone who was mostly disappointed by the trad WACK! exhibit (which seemed to limit it's curation to art that tackled porn/vaginas/motherhood/70's lesbian identity, do so in exactly the way you would expect it to and end the time line of feminist art somewhere in Brooklyn c. 1986)--this Elles@ is the big dream come true; international, modern, includes furniture, design, architecture, recent gender-fuck radicalism, Niki de Saint Phalle from shotgun-era to enter-the-rainbow-vagina era, and what appears to be a surplus of early Marina Abramovic & Ghada Amer whose porn-embroidery/paintings I have never actually seen in person, yet. Yet.

(Site for the Elles@ show, with videos & images from the show)

& some more lively bits of interest here in a review of the show, which makes the MOMA look like the knuckle draggers they are.

"“The Museum of Modern Art practices a form of gender-based apartheid,” wrote Jerry Saltz, art critic for New York Magazine, on his Facebook page a couple of weeks ago, engendering a lively debate. He noted that only 4 percent of the works currently on show in MoMA’s permanent collection are by women and that only nine of the 135 different artists represented are women. “MoMA is telling a story of modernism that only it believes,” he said. “MoMA has declared itself a hostile witness.”

POSITIVE FORCE

IF YOU KNOW OF A BETTER SONG THAN "MUSIC TIME" BY DOMINIQUE YOUNG UNIQUE YOU ARE PROBABLY LYING. For the sake of summer, Dominique, please drop an album. She makes Santigold sound like the teacher from Peanuts. BEST THING OF MUSIC EVER. At least since the Gay Beast show last night. Respect is due that whole band, putting Minneapolis back on the map para rock, but honest to Gaga, when you are watching that band, you are watching Angela. You are transfixed upon her. I kept thinking, "once the right person knows about her, she is going to end up playing on Mike Patton records." Or replacing John Stanier in Battles. She's got this really bizerk Sunny Murray textural glory going, but with this mechanical stop startness--long fest tom rolls with these micro breaks to play disconnected fits of hardcore. One song, she just played this same beat that got incrementally faster and tighter and smaller and faster until it was micro; it was the Russian dolls of beats. At first you think she's just all over the place, but then you realize she is a total machine. I like their records but I had no idea that they'd be so sublime and powerful.

THIS BAT'S FUR LASSES

My review of Bat For Lashes in the LA Weekly covers the usual topics: bedwarming for power, leotards, subjugation, who's zooming who, animal companions. The words next gen got inexplicably capitalized in editing, which I think make it read like it's a unexplained Star Trek reference in the middle of a Billy Joel reference, which is fine. I prefer when things are a little WTF.

TOUR TIMES

Hi.
Going on tour with Katie Stelmanis and her all lady quintet and certain dates, the twins in her band, Ghost Bees will open. They will rock, I will read. I am looking for suggestions for DC, as well as 8/26-29, if anyone has ideas on Asheville, Bloomington Ind./Champaign? LOOK AT THIS MAP OF FUN. Katie & her band are from Toronto, you may know her from her split/collabo with Fucked Up. Ghost Bees are from Nova Scotia! LETS PARTY WITH OUR NEIGHBORS TO THE NORTH. Holler if you have an idea or wanna help hook something up between NC and Nashville.

8/20 Cleveland w/ Katie Stelmanis & Ghost Bees
8/21 Pittsburgh w/ Katie Stelmanis
8/22 Brooklyn, NY w/ These Are Powers & Katie Stelmanis
8/23 Baltimore w/ Katie Stelmanis
8/24 Washington DC TBA w/ Katie Stelmanis
8/25 Chapel Hill, NC w/ Katie Stelmanis & Ghost Bees
8/26 TBA w/ Katie Stelmanis (Asheville? Nashville?
8/27 TBA w/ Katie Stelmanis (Nashville? St. Louis?)
8/28 TBA w/ Katie Stelmanis (Bllomington IN? Champaign?)
8/29 Chicago @ Hideout w/ Katie Stelmanis & Ghost bees & MORE 1 p.m. show
8/30 ++ (Iowa, Omaha KCMo? maybe?)

GIFT OF PROVIDENCE

Awesome Providence benefit show for the launch of Girls Rock Rhode Island and their inaugural Girls Rock Camp.

THAT CAN'T HAPPEN

I just wiki'd THE EX for name-spelling and found this totally unreported shocker:

"In 2009, after 30 years with the group, singer and co-founder G.W. Sok announced his departure from the band. Sok did so believing he lacked sufficient enthusiasm to continue with the group, having decided to focus on writing and graphic design. He plans on continuing to "participate in Ex activities, one way or another" [5]. His replacement is Arnold de Boer from the Dutch group Zea, with whom The Ex have toured and collaborated."

HOW CAN YOU HAVE THE EX W/O HIM?! I mean, naturally, no offense to the rest of the bands interest in continuing a 30 year investment BUT HOW DO YOU HAVE THE EX WITH NO G.W.? HE IS THE SINGER! THIS MAKES ARNOLD DE BOER IS THE SAMMY HAGAR OF ANARCHIST PUNK! I remember where I was the first time I heard "Frenzy" off Starters & Alternators--it was everything I ever wanted from music in one song, full on revelation. This is upsetting! The Dead Fish 10" is the only 10" I own because every other 10" ever made is inferior. I AM UPSET! Why does one of the best lyricists ever--in or outside of punkdom!--need to FOCUS ON GRAPHIC DESIGN?! UGH! I hate it when my favorite bands stop meeting my needs.

Here's the Ex at WFMU: