So I'm Having A Birthday

Tomorrow I turn 23.

Oh, hey. Yes, still here. Still feeling guilty every day for not updating this thing, but then never having enough hours in the day. Next week I have to get my wisdom teeth out, so maybe that will be the time to let you in on some new bands I've been listening to. And to babble. Babbling on vicodin could be interesting.

But back to this turning 23 nonsense. I love birthdays, no matter if its my own or someone else's. I've never understood why someone doesn't want to celebrate, that whole notion of getting older scares some folks, and because of that they let a fun time suffer. And while I do admit that this birthday is making me a tad bit nervous about my actual state of living, I'm not going to let that deter me from having a grand ol' time. And it shouldn't stop you either.

So for the first time, I didn't plan my own party. For every year since I was old enough to remember, I had every say in the planning department for activities on or surrounding June 1. But not this year. My awfully patient, and very sweet boyfriend decided he was going to throw me a little part-ay. And I must say, he did an amazing job booking bands. In fact, I probably would have the exact same lineup, had I done it myself.

So the shindig is happening on Saturday. You should come by. It's going to be fun. I haven't seen a lot of you in some time and we should put an end to that. And plus, the bands are super frickin awesome. Pat has been interviewing them all week with funny questions, trying to embarrass me. Little does he know that I gave each band $2 and a candy bar to refrain from saying anything too incriminating. Check out the links below, more to come.

Get To Know Your Rachael's Birthday Bash Bands: A Brief Smile

Get To Know Your Rachael's Birthday Bash Bands: The Antlers

Get To Know Your Rachael's Birthday Bash Bands: Wakey!Wakey!

Get To Know Your Rachael's Birthday Bash Bands: Seth Kallen & The Reaction

The info is below. There are six(!) bands, so prepare to come early and stay late.

Saturday, June 2: Pop Tarts Suck Toasted Presents...
Rachael's 23rd Birthday Bash
at The Delancey (168 Delancey St, btween Attorney & Clinton)
Doors at 8 PM
$10, 21+

8:00pm - A Brief Smile (acoustic set)
8:45pm - Pelle Carlberg
9:30pm - The Antlers
10:15pm - Wakey!Wakey!
11:00pm - Seth Kallen and the Reaction
12:00am - Jukebox the Ghost

can i call you mine?

Wasn't feeling too great last night and then all was made better just by a friendly little link. Sean sent me a link to a band on myspace telling me that I was going to love them. I hoped for some nice indie pop and that's what I got, and with Princeton in their top friends, I was set. But then Sean pointed out that the man behind the sweet voice was none other than George Michael from Arrested Development. I almost died.

Their name is The Long Goodbye Band and I highly recommend you check them out. I believe my initial reaction was "can I marry them?" to which Sean replied "Yeah." Sure, it's kinda rough around the edges and the recording quality isn't top notch, but it's all really quite lovely. Maybe Maebye would have been quicker to fall for George Michael had she heard him sing. Lord knows it only took me a couple seconds.

Check them out on myspace.

Another pic, because he's too damn cute.

ba da be bum bum bum

I am beyond excited because 24 hours from now Holly Dolly will be making an apperance at CMJ's office. Who is Holly Dolly, you ask? Well what started out as a joke at work has now become an obsession with the animated donkey. It just may be my favorite guilty pleasure. I have no idea how she is coming to our office, whether she'll be in costume or a hologram, but I do know she will be performing. And I will be the happiest girl alive.

You must watch.

in one ear and out the other

I'm very tired today which could be a combination of a lot of things. I stayed at Pianos past 10 PM last night which never used to be a problem but has become one and so I woke up late and didn't go to get my allergy shots this morning. It could also be the fact that my apartment feels like the 6th circle of hell with the heat it emotes and that plans to put my air conditioner back into the window were carefully thought out out at about 3:30 this morning. It could be the excitement for Holly Dolly (see below) or it could be the fact that I was just sent Linkin Park's new CD. Zzzz. Who knows.

I was surprised to see Fujiya & Miyagi's video for "Ankle Injuries" at #2 on YouTube today. Not that I don't think its a fantastic song or a great video, but I just wasn't aware that they were that popular. Regardless, if I had to make a top 10 albums of 2007 list right now, I'd definitely put their album Transparent Things up at the top. Seeing them live basically sealed the deal. If you have yet to hear the album, go do so immediately. It'll make you want to dance down the street like Peter Parker in Spiderman 3. And I've done it too...just before my 10 PM bedtime.

While I love "Ankle Injuries" (video below), my favorite track is definitely "Collarbone." I kept on hearing the song while I was down in Austin and couldn't pinpoint who it was. Definitely a track born for the dance floor.

• Fujiya & Miyagi - Collarbone (live in DC, thanks to livemusicblog)

if i found a rhyme then i would take the time and draw you one more line

Look at that! Two days in a row. I promised some babbling, so here I am.

One of the greater perks I have with my job is that sometimes I get advances of CDs that I don't know how to find on the internet when leaked, so I feel special when the mail comes in and something exciting lands on my desk. As a huge Tegan And Sara fan, I was thrilled to get a copy of their latest album The Con, which everyone is really excited about because Death Cab's Chris Walla produced it. After a couple listens I really like it, but its definitely a darker side to the pop-loving sisters, and I miss the perfection of their love songs of yesteryear. Ah well, give me a couple more days and I'll be singing a different tune. Keep a look out when it comes out.

I'm sitting at work eating delicious sour gummy worms from Whole Foods (organic, go figure) and thinking about the fact that I'm turning 23 in a couple weeks. This should be scary, I think (everyone over the age of 25 simultaneously rolls there eyes) but I don't find getting older that bad. In fact, every year has been better than the last so I imagine the best is yet to come. Plus, I'm having a super dooper birthday party which I'm really excited about which my wonderful boyfriend has put together. Lots of my favorite bands in tow, and fun times to be had. More details on that will be posted soon.

The one thing that birthdays always do to me is make me look back on the year before, and think how different things were just 365 days ago. It's weird to think I've been out of college for a whole year now. And then you think about how much can change in a year, not just with me, but with bands I've known for a long time. Unfortunately, some take a worse route that others. I don't want to name names, but well I'm going to anyways because this was a band that I felt had so much potential of the bat, but it's been a rocky road to discovery. Maybe it's just that it's not the road I wanted them to always take, but I can't help feeling that they now sound like a parody of a band I once adored. Listen to the first song here. If you ever heard this band's first EP, you'll know what I'm talking about.

But always one to end on a positive note, although Levy's formation has changed recently, the music is still as strong as I remember. James sent me an mp3 of their song "Glorious" off their album of the same name, out September on One Little Indian. I've heard a rough cut of the album and frankly it's pretty incredible. This is a band I think I'll always love and adore, even at 23, 43, 73. It's timeless.

Back to gummy worms.

Levy - Glorious

So Now I'm Resolved To Act In Wicked Ways

This morning I was getting ready for work and I grabbed my purse which, of course, I didn't see had my phone on top which then went crashing to the ground of my now carpet missing floor. It shouldn't be surprising that this kind of thing happens to me on a regular basis, but this morning the crash that resulted did not sound like the others. And the phone? Well it didn't look like it did before, either.

The screen is cracked, which therefore makes my sidekick virtually useless but I surprisingly was okay by the outcome. It's broken, not exactly perfect, but still usable, so that's fine. This seems to be much of my mindset lately, which could be the reason why I've guiltlessly ignored this blog. Things have been a bit out of wacko lately, but I'm okay with all of it now.

But Katie yelled at me on Saturday for not updating this blog, so here I am. That was after she drove me to Long Island to see Renee, the fortune teller. Not a usual Saturday excursion, but for some reason in our drunken Friday night haze we decided this would be a good idea. And when we begin something, we follow through. So Renee was pretty dead-on with a lot of things, which was both frightening and exciting. The first thing she told me was to stop worrying about everything. I'm bound to live til I'm 80. So unlike my secret concerns, I am not dying at 27 like my rock star heroes. Probably for the best.

I've been on this simplifying kick, a real 180 of a lifestyle from what I have been doing for most of my life. I take on too much, and in lieu of this sickness I've been experiencing for the past couple months, I've decided to focus on what I love and what makes me happy, and to stop my concerns over everything else. If this sounds very Dr. Phil of me, it's because it should. But I'm not some new-age craze. Or maybe I am.

Anywho, the point of all this is that I've been going to shows, but not going to too many shows, which is why I haven't been inclined to update this blog as often. Even though I've taken on a job at a music publication, it's actually given me less time to listen to music and act like a rockstar. Go figure, right?

However, I do have the opportunity to interview some favorites, and recently I chatted with Seymore Saves The World who I know because it features ex-Tapes 'n Tapes bass player Shawn Neary. You can check out the interview here at CMJ.com, it was a lot of fun to do and I've very excited to see these boys live next month (mark the date - June 29 at Pianos, June 30 at Arlene's). The album is fantastic, regardless of whatever stupid Pitchfork says.

I'm going to try and update this thing every day again, if it's just babble. I'm sorry if this bores you.

• Seymore Saves The World - Love Song
• Seymore Saves The World - Red Wing

please don't think I've left you alone

Yes, I'm alive.

And yes, The Arcade Fire is hands down the best band of our generation. I'm still reeling over last night's show and then coming home and watching Lost. What the f! My mind is offically blown.

I'll get to updating this thing properly one of these days, I promise.