The following is why I DIDN’T get to pick which song they used:

“Convinced of the Beard”
“Waitin’ for a SuperDurant”
“Do You Russellize??”
“The ObSerger”
“I’m Working at OKC on Acid”

92 pictures and not ONE beauty shot of The Gorge. Ugh.

However, beauty shots of Emily Haines & Zola Jesus ARE in this gallery. They are good.

The sun never sets when you’re cool.

I can get behind this.

“MIXIM upside down” out June 5th!!!

Earlier this year our 4th grade teacher assigned the class a project. We had to craft something ourselves and then present it to the whole class.

Michael_, being the good student, was first to present. His project was a VOLCANO! So Cool! You could tell that he had spent a lot of time on it. It was really detailed, a wide array of colors made the volcano look rugged. There was even grassy vegetation at the base of the volcano. But that wasn’t even the best part. He had concocted a colorful mixture of baking soda, vinegar and red food dye that looked just like lava! It spilled out the top of the volcano and even spilled out on Bailey’s shoes in the front row of the class. Everyone was shouting and laughing. It was a fun day in school! Michael_ got an ‘A’ for his project.

The following week it was my turn to present. I had put off the project all year because I’m a lazy student. After seeing Michael_’s volcano and the reaction the class gave his project, I figured I’d just build a volcano too. Class was about to start and I was still coloring in my small volcano with brown sharpie leading up to my presentation. My mom didn’t have any baking soda in stock so I didn’t have any way to make lava pour out of mine. Thankfully, the science teacher let me use a piece of dry ice that I could pop in the top and then have vapor roll down the mountain. It was pretty neat. I got a ‘B’ for my project, so, not bad!

If only that was the end of the story.

A few days later I came into class and saw Michael_ yelling at the teacher saying, “Do you realize how much of a mess I made at my house testing out my baking soda and vinegar mixture?!” As I listened on, I realized he was upset because he thought my volcano was inferior to his and that its existence degraded the quality of his volcano. He demanded that his volcano be obliterated. The teacher did not want to destroy it. She wanted future students to marvel at Michael_’s volcano.

Michael_ wasn’t having it. He waltzed over to the Project Table and started PUNCHING his volcano repeatedly. He picked it up and threw it across the room and hit old thompson in the head! Then he walked right up to me and said, “You Win,” and stormed out of the classroom.

I was shocked. Donny T. came up and shared some comforting words, but I still didn’t know what to make of it all. Was I a thief for stealing his idea? I mean, he got a better grade than me, wasn’t that enough?

School wasn’t the same after that. People were always whispering behind Michael_’s back and he would just flip out and body-slam people and said he was a pro wrestler now. It was weird. Then one day he came to school in a disguise and pretended to be somebody else. He looked like the Hamburglar. I felt like I had caused all of this, and it didn’t feel good.

So I decided to write Micahel_ a story. I posted it on the chalkboard and hoped that maybe if he knew how I felt, it would help.

tl;dr Top that metaphor Jack White.

To anybody that plans on spending Memorial Day weekend by a pool, on a lake, underwater, or anyplace remotely aquatic, I have two words for you:

Lemonade – Diver

Have a great weekend everybody!

Two Jorah Mormonts are better than one.

You are forgiven in the name of The Old Gods!

I’m joining Peter on the downvote train for:

-Citing CMG.
-Wanting to remove Sleigh Bells (SORRY D-TitS!) and Death Grips (SORRY Michael_!)

Although I still don’t understand the bamboo stick in the fish anus comparison… I feel like we can forget about those two albums now that we have R.A.P. Music & Cancer 4 Cure.

So now do we make our own Commenters List of EPS?

1. Burial – Kindred
2. Mr. Dream – Fatherland

What are some other contenders? Daniel Rossen got a mention, we like him! Anybody else rocking EPs on loop from this year??

Definitely The Men.

Johnny Jewel didn’t play enough Scrabble in the studio.

Whoa! Really? Today my Spiritualized radio show episode aired and I had no idea it was the anniversary. That’s too cool.

I was late to being a fan of Spiritualized. It was the 2008 Coachella lineup that I saw the band name and thought it was unusual. After hearing Ladies & Gentlemen… and being floored by the weight of the lyrics, I became a Spiritualized Evangelist. I ran to my friends with a copy and told them to buckle up. That was a great year. That was my introduction to Pure Phase, Lazer Guided Melodies and of course Spacemen 3.

I connected with the Jason’s lyrics instantly. Having had a few troubled relationships, I felt like I had found someone that knew exactly how I felt. Needless to say, his albums landed in that rare category of music that has the power to make me weep.

When Spiritualized announced the Ladies & Gentlemen… performances in London, I remember a certain line of the Pitchfork news post that Tom wrote sticking out:

“This is the sort of thing that makes me wish I could afford plane tickets.”

I re-read the line and was like, “Hey, my mom’s a flight attendant! I have no excuse!”

I made the pilgrimage. Even though there wasn’t a single soul back home that could wrap their brain around why I was flying all the way to London just to see a band. They’d ask, “Who are you seeing?” Me: “Spiritualized” Them: “Huh?”

That was late 2009 and I had my connection with them a year prior, so I knew. The album being so fresh on my heart I knew that seeing it live in its entirety would completely level me. Oh, it did. I’ve never felt like my eye sockets were water hoses ever since.

The main reason I went is because I didn’t know if I’d ever get to see them live again. Thankfully that wasn’t true, as I saw Spiritualized play last week for over 2 hours. Sure, there were 30 less people on stage than in London, but the music was still there. This time I wasn’t by myself and got to see it with 3 friends, there first times all around. One of my friends had never even heard a Spiritualized album, but two songs in he said in my ear that this was going to be great.

He didn’t play anything from Lazer Guided Melodies, unfortunately, as hearing “Shine A Light” would leave me paralyzed I’m sure. I know there is a video of them performing it at the Pitchfork festival, and that song is just too much. Even when it’s kinda-sorta-synched to 2001, it still leaves a crater sized impact.

I pray that Jason’s health stays on the positive. Even though he just put out one of his best records to date, the thought of this world without Spiritualized’s life-changing live shows is a world I don’t want to imagine. God Bless you Jason, we feel your heartache.

tl;dr Everybody go listen to Spiritualized.

Yes, that is indeed him.