did i ever 'blog about the internet jukeboxes in waikiki?   the ones that allow you to find and play pretty much any song you can think of?   dangerous.   cleared the room at the maddog saloon when i played the 10-minute remix of lcd soundsystem's "yr city's a sucker" over new year's - it was during the day so there weren't that many people to begin with, but seriously, every single person left during the song, including the bartender - except one guy, who applauded loud, slow and pointedly when it was finally over.   beware.

BATTLES show on wednesday rocked - went stag, which i think was the key to its success, allowing me to bike hardcore down lake street / up cedar and to enjoy the show on my own time / terms.   the fact my now-legendary 7th-caller skills got me in for free courtesy of radio k probably didn't hurt either.   (did you hear her shout out congrats to 'tom-A-hawk in uptown' ??? i think it helped that i paid into my karma by giving $20 for their emergency pledge drive june 29th...)   smoked up before the show and was psyched to discover POS' punk outfit BUILDING BETTER BOMBS was the 1st opening act!   i bet kdogg was jealous =) someone actually asked pos where they were from.   i wish i'd told pos to ask that person where he was from.   next up was SINGER, who fed my recent psychedelic jones with heavy jammy rawk.   ducked out to smoke up again before the headliners went on and pos walked by, lookin at me like he knew what i was up to ... BATTLES dominated with their solid, stoney wall of math-noise (one of them is from don cab - the main guy who played his guitar frets and keyboard simultaneously), their hit 'atlas' was a joyous, transcendent, almost levitating experience.   whoo!

so al franken's fundraising has made him a force to be reckoned with in the senate race - regardless of whether i think he's carpetbagging or not, i support him if only strategically, as a democrat who actually has a chance to oust bush lapdog coleman; plus, i witnessed franken shake my birthday bro kevin's hand at this year's gay pride parade.   there was something about that moment besides the obvious that made me wish i'd gotten a photo of it - it was probably kevin's poise and just-so hair, but it seemed iconic, like that classic shot of a young bill clinton shaking hands with jfk...

it's been a full-on 60's revival around here the last few days: got csn/y's 1st album and 'so far' plus a best of buffalo springfield collection, all on vinyl, and was cranking them last night, followed by my entire i-tunes joni mitchell collection bringin me into the 70's.   also got me down to cheapo's relatively new vinyl basement for the 1st time, which is kind of like going back in time itself, mainly because of the prehistoric environment they built around the stairs, but i have to say i was impressed with their refined curatorial approach ... it was rolling stone's flashback 1967 issue that got me goin, learning more about the era and the bands suddenly brought all this music, which otherwise had all seemed so cliched and almost depressing to me, vibrantly back to life - a welcome, exuberant, earnest, EMOTIONAL alternative to my splintered, cynical indie dance/rock exhaustion.   maybe also at its root is the undeniable similarity between our times and the vietnam era ... stop, children - what's that sound?   love is coming to us all.

while i'm catching up on odds + ends, and to follow up on posting my new musical creations, and speaking of lcd soundsystem, i realize i never posted the short film my myspace bud aj inspired me to make right before the world came back to life this spring: