Kate Aumonier

I don't really know anything about Kate Aumonier, but here's what I do know: (1) she's British and (2) while singing, she looks a lot like Lee Harvey Oswald being shot by Jack Ruby. (In fact, I think it would be so badass if, as part of her act, she sang all her songs while handcuffed to a big dude in a white suit and a cowboy hat.) Oh, and (3): the one Kate Aumonier song I know, "Much Like Yesterday" (from 2004's Here I Am, which you can't really buy anywhere), has a pretty guitar riff throughout. Here is Aumonier performing the song at the 2005 Isle of Wight Music Festival:

Spacier than an astronaut

Things I learned while in L.A. last week for my tri-annual camping trip with my Rice roommates:

1. "California Love" by Tupac and Dr. Dre is so much cooler to listen to when you're actually driving in California with a gat held sideways in your hand; doing it in Houston is nice, but it loses a little something in West U. or the Medical Center.

2. There is nothing comparable to Amoeba Records in Houston.

3. Nada Surf is not a half-bad band.

While Nada Surf is not a California band (they're from New York), I got some extended exposure to Nada Surf on the drive from L.A. to Los Olivos, and they grew on me. I had never really paid any attention to them, and in fact had kind of written them off simply because I thought their name was impossibly dumb. Also, I knew only three songs by them: the Weezer-esque "Popular," the Cake-esque "If You Leave," and the (unsurprisingly) Pixies-esque "Where Is My Mind?" (from the 1999 Pixies tribute album of the same name). My conclusion: meh.

Since coming back to Houston, though, I have to admit that I've warmed up to the band. While their music is not earth-shatteringly good, it is very melodic and pretty (though the lyrics are just okay). The main allure is just how absolutely straightforward their music is. They don't seem to be trying for too much, and for some reason, that works out for them.

Here is a live version of "Blonde on Blonde" (from 2003's Let Go):



And, just for fun, here's perennial favorite Kevin Devine performing an acoustic cover of "Inside of Love" (also from Let Go):

MMJ and the Milky Way

This past Sunday night, I was at Griffith Observatory in L.A. and what kick-ass band happened to be playing at the adjacent, outdoor Greek Theatre? If you guessed the original New Edition, you would be wrong (about their playing at the Greek Theatre on Sunday, not about them being a kick-ass band). No, it was My Morning Jacket and I could hear them very clearly from the grounds of the Observatory. The innerneck doesn't have very good footage of the show, but here's a good video of "The Way That He Sings," one of my favorite MMJ songs, from one of their ACL Festival appearances:



And here is Jim James taking the room down a notch on "Steam Engine":

Day 6 without power

AN OPEN LETTER TO CENTERPOINT ENERGY: After six days of waiting for electricity, I've decided I don't want your power, so don't bother hooking up my house. Your laziness has taught me to do without. Move on to the next house; I'm sure they need it more than I do. I'm doing just fine on my own, thank you very much. And please, whatever you do, don't come crawling back to me on your hands and your knees, begging to give me power. Because I won't accept it. I'd probably just throw your electricity in the trashcan.

You have a "Join My Tribe" invitation!

BREAKING NEWS: The heavy devastation caused by Hurricane Ike has destroyed the city as we know it, but from its post-apocalyptic ashes, New Houston has emerged. It is the Year Zero. Federal American dollars are but worthless paper here; the only currency of value is silver and gold, potable water, gasoline, . . . and fear. I have adopted the name Maximillian Seven Guns ("Max7G"), and I have declared myself Ruler of New Houston. I have also put a spiked collar and an eyepatch on my dog, Gertie. My roving band of mutant punks, armed with chainsaws attached to our dune buggies, will fight against other warring tribes for survival and for domination in this barren wasteland. You are welcome to join my tribe, and I offer you my benevolence. And my mercy.

But first, a song:

My playlist for this weekend

"Shelter from the Storm" (Bob Dylan, Blood on the Tracks)

"Stormy Weather" (The Pixies, Bossanova)

"Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" (Creedance Clearwater Revival, Pendulum)

"Wild is the Wind" (Cat Power, The Covers Record)

"Happy When it Rains" (The Jesus and Mary Chain, Darklands)

"Hurricane" (Bob Dylan, Desire)

"The Wind" (Cat Stevens, Tea for Tillerman)

"Rain" (The Cult, Love)

"City Rain, City Streets" (Ryan Adams, Love is Hell, Pt. 2)

"Rock You Like a Hurricane" (Scorpions, Love at First Sting)

"Dry the Rain" (The Beta Band, The Best of the Beta Band - Music)

"Pissing in the Wind" (Badly Drawn Boy, The Hour of Bewilderbeast)

"So. Central Rain" (R.E.M., Reckoning)

"And it Rained All Night" (Thom Yorke, The Eraser)

"Like a Hurricane" (Neil Young, Decade)

"November Rain" (Guns 'n Roses, Use Your Illusion I)

"Evolve" (David Garza, Culture Vulture)

EDIT: How could I forget this gem, by a Houstonian, no less? I am ashamed. THIS is the theme song for this weekend, no question:

We are having a heavenly time!

In my recent move to a new house, I had to throw out a lot of things because, well, Gwen made me. But one thing I couldn't part with was my favorite concert t-shirt from high school. Issued in 1985 to promote R.E.M.'s tour supporting Fables of the Reconstruction, it was such a kick-ass t-shirt, especially since I was wearing it in 1992. This, of course, allowed me to portray myself as being rad enough to have gone to an R.E.M. concert when I was in fifth grade, when the reality was I had red parachute pants in 1985 and almost had a crush on El Debarge (three reasons: I thought he was a girl with a mustache, "Rhythm of the Night" was just so ding dang catchy, and my grasp of masculine/feminine articles in Spanish was let's just say suspect). 

Anyway, a good article on R.E.M.'s early t-shirt designs can be found here.

Matt Costa > Jack Johnson

Former skateboarding pro Matt Costa started focusing on the guitar after a skateboarding injury (a shattered leg) in 2003 sidelined him for eighteen months of rehab. He began writing and recording songs and eventually ended up on Jack Johnson's 2005 summer tour. But unlike Jack Johnson, Costa is not an incredibly lame, surfer version of Jimmy Buffett with a carefully-cultivated "Hey, I'm all about chillaxing. Did you notice that I'm wearing sandals on stage? That's because I'm chillaxing" vibe.

Anyway, I'm a sucker for finger picking, and this song ("Astair" from 2005's Songs We Sing) has been stuck in my head all Labor Day. Here is a live version, performed at a Vans store:

This version is good, too

For some reason, this song--"Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix" from Saint-Saëns's Samson et Dalila--just totally pumps up the crowd every time I sing it. Here is Marilyn Horne trying her hand at it:

Ryan Adams is rich

So Ryan Adams is playing Verizon on Tuesday, October 14, 2008, and I says to myself, I says, "Self, you deserve a treat. But since My Morning Jacket has decided to skip over Houston on its way to Dallas and Austin this month, you'll just have to make do with Ryan Adams." Which is actually fine because I do like the Ryan Adams. Songs like "City Rain, City Streets" and "I See Monsters" (both from 2004's Love Is Hell) are catchy. And also "Summer of '69." (God, I hate myself for just saying that. Number 4 sign that the person you're hanging out with is a complete bore: he or she still thinks that the Ryan Adams = Bryan Adams joke is funnee.)

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes. What I don't like about all this is that the two tickets I bought for Gwen and me somehow cost $94.15. What the? Does Ryan Adams's guitar run on unleaded gas? Because that's the only way I can understand that price. WHY CAN'T WASHINGTON STAND UP TO BIG OIL AND STOP THIS MADNESS.

I will try not to sing on a Kia

Fact: misheard lyrics are mildly amusing at best. Fact: Joe Cocker was Stan Lee's inspiration for The Hulk. But further fact: the following video made me laugh kinda. (By the by, how freaking awesome is that above photo of the Cockster? Every time I look at it, I can't help but think, "He did the mash / he did the mooonster mash / the monster mash / it was a graveyard smash . . . .")

(H/T to Houston Clear Thinkers for this video)

Look what I can do with my feet

So I like this video and this song. I'm not hurting anybody!

Once again, back is the incredible

Pitchfork's video site, Pitchfork.TV, is commemorating the twentieth anniversary of Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back with a three-part video series offering a behind-the-scenes look at the making of that kick-ass album. You know what other great album was released in 1988? If you said Martika by Martika, then you get a gold star. I used to do this totally rad lip synch routine to "Toy Soldiers" in front of my stuffed animals, and let me put it this way: I got a standing ovation EVERY time.

Here's the first chapter of Pitchfork.TV's three-part look at Nation of Millions (go to the above link to see the full picture at Pitchfork.TV):

You're not a kid at 33

This 1972 gem by Danny O'Keefe, covered by countless others (including Elvis, Waylon Jennings, Charlie Rich, and Dwight Yoakum), is my favorite song of the moment:

We're fated to pretend

This song (from the 2007 album Oracular Spectacular) is catchy. (Yes, I know I'm late to the MGMT party.)  Here is a live version from the show "Later . . . with Jools Holland." You ingrate.

Lottery or car crash

Another good song from 1995's Post is "Possibly Maybe." The lyrics are interesting, and the opening riff is cool and spooky and moody sounding. And here we go:

And everybody knows Bjork's most famous song, "Big Time Sensuality" (from 1993's Debut). But here is a pretty different, live version of the song, with Bjork accompanied by Talvin Singh and Guy Sigsworth:

Betty Hutton did it first, but Bjork did it cuter

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Bjork of the 1940s. Okay, I'm saying that only because the Icelandic weirdo's "It's Oh So Quiet" (from 1995's Post) is a remake of Betty Hutton's "Blow a Fuse." Here is the original song:

And here is Bjork's remake, complete with endearing Spike Jonze video (I especially like the dancing mailbox):

Only iTunes knows what I'm going through.

When I go to the iTunes music store, the songs it suggests for me (based on my recent purchases) are, in order:

1. "Baby Come to Me" by James Ingram

2. "Sister Christian" by Night Ranger

3. "Dance Hall Days" by Wang Chung

4. "So Much in Love" by All-4-One

5. "Pinch Me" by Barenaked Ladies

What's weird is that, if I had to come up with a suicide note made up of five songs, these would probably be the exact five songs I would choose. And in this particular order, no less.

WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO TELL ME, iTUNES.

P. Cet in the house

I'm being totally serious when I say this was one of my favorite songs as an elementary school kid. Yes, I had a very dramatic internal life, full of romance and wonder!

And an external life full of getting beaten up.

The end of the universe

Here is Lewis Black doing his mildly amusing "End of the Universe" routine on The Daily Show. I like that it centers on Houston, though. Go H-town! Best end of the universe EVER!