COLLEGE (THE BAD PARTS) + SUNDIALS

LIFE:

i just moved to storrs, ct to attend the university of connecticut, which is part of the reason why my posting has become less frequent as of late. as of this point in time, i am pretty happy with uconn; overall, it's been a positive experience. there are a few things about this school that bother me. for my post since moving here, i figured i would elaborate on those. so here is

THE THINGS THAT I DON'T LIKE ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT (so far):

1) PARTY CULTURE - i haven't been to a uconn party yet but already this bugs me a lot. parties are a way bigger deal here than i thought. it's sort of assumed between students and authority figures (RAs, teachers) that every kid is going to go out every weekend and get stupid drunk off-campus. so not only do most students make a really big deal out of college parties but everyone in charge sort of facilitates them. i don't really feel much pressure to get drunk or whatever, but it's definitely a little weird when you're at breakfast on saturday morning and it seems like literally everyone except you was doing the same shitty thing the night before.

2. (MOST OF) THE STUDENT BODY - there are a ton of tools here. the thing that bums me out the hardest is that i can't even really consider these people all that dumb because uconn is pretty competitive as far as state schools go, and all of these kids managed to get in. at the same time though, it seems like there are also lot of great people here and i am meeting new and cool people on a daily basis. still, there is a seemingly perpetual game of frisbee going on outside of my dorm window and every other guy i see is wearing plaid shorts.

3. FEELS IMPERSONAL - though i think that i like all of my professors, sometimes i feel like things are really weirdly impersonal here. like if i have an academic problem here, there's no real friendly face that i can turn to. my professors all have hundreds of students a day and i have yet to meet my academic advisor. there are definitely a lot of resources available to me but i guess i am just missing the friendliness that comes with going to a smaller high school. of these three things, this is the only one that i think might change over time, as a i get more comfortable here.

there are some other things too, don't get me wrong, but they're not quite as significant as those. like how lately it's been absurdly hot here and sleeping in my dorm room is becoming increasingly difficult. the heat has led to some pretty strange dreams too, many of which my ex-girlfriend is the star of. as a result, when i wake up these days i am usually sweaty, bummed, and not quite rested enough. i'm trying not to let it get to me though. go huskies!



MUSIC:

my dorm room is equipped with both a tape deck and a record player. this has proven to be pretty crucial in these first few weeks of school. just recently i started listening to SUNDIALS' stuff a ton. they're a 3-piece richomond-based pop punk band who BOOK SLAVE spent a few shows of our summer tour with. they have one tape ('the first six songs') and one 7" ('the first 3 songs'), but both releases share three songs so there's not a lot of material available. this band is really great though; not only are they really nice dudes (they booked our VA show and put us up for the night, sight unseen), but they are also a super tight live act. the production on these recordings is really clean and well-done too, which only adds to how good this shit is. the band's music is definitely in-line with the current 90's pop revival trend being bolstered by bands like LEMURIA; it's super fun but also pretty heartfelt and well-written. the second song in particular, "neighborhood well," fucking slays.

my favorite part of this record is how much it reminds me of that aforementioned tour. that trip was really fun for me, and richmond was a particularly great stop. i guess no one else who downloads this is going to feel that same feeling (except maybe my brother, the only other member of the band in question) but still, there's something about this release that is bound to make you feel optimistic and good. great songwriting and musicianship abound - check it out! i think that they are going to blow up soon too, but maybe that's just my own personal bias.

http://www.ifyoumakeit.com/get/sundials-first-six-songs.zip (thanks again to IYMI for doing my work for me)

KARATE + THE SOPRANOS

MUSIC:

i guess i haven't been into KARATE for all that long. i had only listened to their self-titled debut a few times before a friend recomended that i get "in place of real insight," the band's second record a couple of months ago. only recently has it started to click with me how great "in place of real insight" is. on this record, KARATE aren't all that far removed from other mid-90's emo bands, like BRAID or THE PROMISE RING; however, their sound is much slower and more refined. their is a noticable jazz influence here, something that the band would further develope on later records. on "in place of real insight" i think that KARATE achieve a really great balance between brooding, jazzy sections and more aggressive and upbeat moments. i still listen to the first KARATE record a bit, which favors the latter style more, and i definitely prefer this.

i guess i don't have a ton more to say about this record. i've been listening to it a lot these days, which i guess speaks to the fact that it's sort of a sad-sounding record. unlike the other examples of 90's emo/indie bands i posted, KARATE aren't really a fun or catchy band. and, though one could certainly compare them to AMERICAN FOOTBALL, another 90's emo band with a slower and more refined take on the genre, there is something darker and less immeadiately appealing here. in the end, i would say that's a good thing though (not that i don't like AF though, i actually probably prefer them). this record rules.

http://www.mediafire.com/?k1tg8h5lt47xmf0

TELEVISION:

i have a problem with tv on dvd; i tend to get pretty obsessed with it. if i find a show that i like that's available for cheap/free, i will spend an inordinate amount of time watching that show. all summer i have been on a massive SOPRANOS binge. i tore through the first three seasons, breaking only for a two-week tour and a brief period of time after that. lately though, i've taken it back up. today for instance, i've been awake for 5 hours and i've spent three of those on THE SOPRANOS. i would feel a bit more pathetic if this show wasn't so fucked up good. the show, which was on hbo from 1999-2007, follows new jersey crime boss tony soprano as he struggles to keep both of his families (wife + kids, mob) successful and under control. this struggle leads to depression and panic attacks, which tony sees a female psychiatrist for. tony is one of those characters that no matter how violent, racist, and unfaithful he is, i still feel sympathetic towards him. i guess that's how he's written.

moments of this show are tense and scary, others are complex and emotional. lots of it has to do with morality and ethics, but it also features its fair share of sex and violence. almost everything is cinema-quality though, and i find myself becoming deeply immersed in the character's storylines and culture. it's really easy to understand why this is one of the most well-received television programs of all-time. i'm about halfway through the fourth season now and, though i'll probably take a break to start school (moving in on friday, fuck!), i fully intend on making it all the way to the end of season six. wish me luck!

INLAND EMPIRE + GHASTLY CITY SLEEP

FILM:

as promised, here is an entry on david lynch's latest, INLAND EMPIRE. i watched this movie a few days ago, at 10pm, alone and in my dark basement. this was a mistake by any measure - i am easily frightened, and this film is pretty fucking unsettling. at 3 hours, it's a bit of a chore to get through too, but, if you've had positive experiences with lynch films in the past (i certainly have), then maybe it's a worthwhile chore. actress and lynch regular laura dern really carries this film, seamlessly jumping from persona to persona through most of INLAND EMPIRE's 3 schizophrenic hours. it's difficult to make sense of how her different roles are related, though some of the main plot is pretty clear; dern is playing an older actress who is offered a role in a supposedly cursed film opposite an actor whom she may or may not have feelings for. while this is going on, we are shown other strange and seemingly unrelated scenes, some of which are in polish, and some of which include humans with rabbit heads (see youtube link below.) some of these things tie together towards the film's end, but i'm not sure that i've made much sense of it as a whole.

on a list of my favorite david lynch films, this one is pretty far from the top. that said, i think that i liked it. i went in expecting a confusing and strange film, and that's what i received. lynch shot this whole thing using digital cameras, so it looks pretty different from most of his other films. i'm not sure whether or not i like the change, but it appears that he is going to do everything that way from now on. in conclusion, i'm not sure that i'll ever want to watch this movie again, but it was pretty cool while it lasted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gLAMIJbAMI (one of INLAND EMPIRE's weirdest scenes. one of the rabbits is voiced by naomi watts, i guess. this is also available as a standalone short film, i believe.)

MUSIC:

the first time i ever went to the wallingford american legion, a central connecticut rental hall that hosts most of the state's hardcore shows, it was to see this band, GHASTLY CITY SLEEP. i was super excited; even though ghastly sound more like SIGUR ROS than screamo, they feature ex-members of CITY OF CATERPILLAR, and i was super into them at the time. GCS ended up taking an hour to set up and only got to play 2 songs (which still equates to about 15 minutes); however, i remember them being pretty fantastic, and listen to their self-titled "ep" (it's 4 songs in about 30 minutes - not exactly an ep by my standards) frequently to this day. it's lush and beautiful, not unlike those aforementioned icelandic post-rock dudes, but concise and relatable in a way that most post-rock bands never manage to accomplish.

the music on "ghastly city sleep" is mostly pretty and subdued and the vocals, never screamed, always sung, compliment that really well. 'ice creaks,' which is the record's first track, is both the longest song and the clear highlight (always a good combination). though the song is 9 minutes long, it's far from boring or repetitive. GHASTLY CITY SLEEP move slowly but once they get going, they really soar. at its best, this record is earnest, ethereal, and real interesting; at its worst, it's still cooler than any EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY album. i think this band just put out a full length, which i need to track down really soon. in the meantime, i'll just listen to this ep again.

http://www.mediafire.com/?6b9oj796d4cj9cq

BUCKET FULL OF TEETH + CHOCOLATE COCONUT PUDDING

MUSIC:

BUCKET FULL OF TEETH's "IV" is a real fucking doozy. this band, which contains ex-members of ORCHID, crams a half-hour's worth of killer riffs, weird sounds, and crushing breakdowns into just over 16 minutes. the songs (there are 12) are jam-packed and extremely fun to listen to. mostly a studio project, BFOT really showcases guitarist and dead air studios engingeer will killingsworth's recording ability. songs like 'a morbid gathering' seemlessly move from textural and vibrant guitar soundscapes to really brutal hardcore, replete with truly hopeless lyrics (i.e. "we've dredged the rivers clean, but the shit still fucking stinks.") there are definitely elements of powerviolence here, but this record sort of transcends any specific subgenre of hardcore and i would feel truly goofy trying to assign it one. i've heard this described as a collage of a record, and that's probably a pretty good way of saying things. it's a pretty great collage though.


"IV" is BUCKET FULL OF TEETH's only full-length. their other releases, 3 7"s released at the same time (titled I, II, and III, fittingly), are compiled on one CD too, which tends to get a lot of rotation in my car. while that CD has some really crucial moments, i definitely prefer "IV." it's super solid, and worth a listen.

http://www.mediafire.com/?qmbtj6pu801y79z

FOOD:

more vegan dessert here. this is a recipe that i kinda/sorta wrote. mostly, i took an existing vegan pudding recipe and made some changes. this makes a really rich and dark chocolate pudding. vegan friends and non-vegan parents a-like approve.

1 cup raw/turbinado sugar (you can use white sugar too, i guess)
.5 cup cocoa powder
.25 cup all-purpose flour
2.5 cup coconut milk (light works well too)
1 tbsp vanilla extract


1. mix dry ingredients in a saucepan
2. add coconut milk, stir thoroughly
3. cook on medium heat. make sure to stir the pudding constantly so it doesn't burn. this is rough on the arms but is pretty crucial, from what i understand.
4. cook untill pudding starts to boil. cook an extra minute, then take off of heat.
5. add vanilla and let cool, stirring a bit along the way (otherwise, you get a skin)


if you don't finish the whole thing in one go, refridgerate it in a plastic wrap covered container. if the wrap touches/covers the surface of the pudding, you won't get a skin. i've made this a few times, and haven't had trouble yet. one time i used half coconut milk and half soy milk and it came out alright, just not quite as rich. i would suggest serving with vegan whipped cream or something like that. cool!



special thanks to user vegansapien of vegweb.com for inspiring and contributing to this!

MALLRATS + THE STATE LOTTERY

FILM:

the best part about my dad inexplicably having a subscription to the premium movie network, starz? the fact that MALLRATS is in near-constant rotation. i could watch this movie, which i consider director kevin smith's best work by far, almost literally any time--whether happy, sad, exhausted, or anxious, it always finds some new way to entertain and resonate. maybe it's because of jason lee, whose quick wit and charm could only come from a highly-revered skateboarder, or maybe it's because i have independent crushes on all three of the film's main actresses, but i just really love this movie.

the movie follows two recently dumped friends, played by lee and jeremy london, as they haunt their local mall, bumming out and scheming to get back with their respective girlfriends. part of this involves wrecking the stage of a dating game show, which london's ex has agreed to be a part of. for this, the two employ kevin smith regulars jay and silent bob. MALLRATS' plot is far from revolutionary, and isn't even really all that good. instead, i am won over by the subtlties in MALLRATS; the little quips and jokes that are buried in the film like small nuggets of gold. of course, it also has its fair share of obvious slap-stick humor, but that actually tends to be pretty funny too (especially the scene where jay and silent bob take revenge on the mall's easter bunny-fuck.) for one reason or another, this movie always feels refreshing to me, even though it is clearly from the 1990's. cool.

predictably horrible trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eVo7aBze1w

MUSIC:

i wanted to pair MALLRATS with something a little more upbeat than previous fare. it didn't take long for me to figure out that i was going to write about THE STATE LOTTERY. i had the pleasure of seeing this band twice last month--once when my band played with them in maine and again when they came to connecticut. they sound like some rad combination of more typical salinas records fare (really good pop-punk like DELAY and P.S. ELIOT) and 70's BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, complete with full time saxophone and organ players. the songs are soulful, propulsive, and fun, and all of the people are really nice. they also give their MP3s away for free, so my job is made easier. i don't have to feel guilty either!

live, they are really tight, which is surprising considering members are all spread out across the united states. record highlights like 'stories' and 'geysers', both of which feature immaculate melodies and quality lyrics, really come alive in person; it was difficult for me to resist making a fool of myself dancing. the vocals are strained and passionate, the music bouncy and intricate. what's not to like? well, the record i bought was warped, but it only cost $8 and i'm sure they'd replace it if i asked, so i'm not about to complain. this record rules.

http://ifyoumakeit.com/get/the-state-lottery-when-the-night-comes.zip

(that's the link that ifyoumakeit provides for this album. that website is cool, you should check it out if you haven't already)

RAGING BULL + ANTIOCH ARROW

FILM:

the other day, i went to the branford public library to scope their dvd collection out. i was pleased to find that it was much better than i was expecting. i walked out with martin scorsese's RAGING BULL and david lynch's INLAND EMPIRE. today, i am going to comment on the former (i'll probably do the latter tomorow). RAGING BULL came out in 1980 and is pretty highly regarded as far as films go, though i guess most scorsese stuff is. lately, i've sort of fallen in love with robert de niro and, as a result, i've watched a ton of scorsese films (taxi driver and casino are my favorites). this was the next logical step and didn't really dissapoint, though i've never really been a fan of boxing or boxing films.

here, de niro plays a middleweight boxer, jake lamotta, who is something of a loose cannon, ferocious both in the ring and out. as he gets more acclaim as a boxer, lamotta's myriad psychological problems begin to spill out. in stereotypical form, he takes his anger and jealousy out on those closest to him. he is difficult (maybe impossible) to sympathize with, but his rise and fall is nonetheless enthralling, though sometimes quite painful, to watch. de niro and his co-stars give pretty great performances, and all of the film's technical aspects of are in line; however, i'm not in any real rush to watch it again.

MUSIC:

not unlike robert de niro's character in the aforementioned film, ANTIOCH ARROW are ferocious, chaotic, and super interesting. emerging from the same early 1990's san diego punk scene as HEROIN, SWING KIDS, and, to a lesser extent, DRIVE LIKE JEHU, ANTIOCH ARROW put out three full length records, two of which came out on seminal screamo label gravity records. "in love with jetts" is the second of those records. the music here is about as fast-paced as it is strange, peppered with all kinds of synthesizers and weird sounds. the band's singer is really theatrical and expressive and kind of sassy; the vocals are rarely screamed and aren't really sung either, they're sort of spoken, shouted, and whined, all at the same time. the lyrics are pretty abstract and weird too.

i like this band a lot, more so than HEROIN and SWING KIDS, though all three bear some definite similarities. for me, "in love with jetts" is an extremely listenable and solid record, especially considering how obtuse the band's style is. i don't know a ton about gravity records, or west coast screamo in general, but what i do know, i guess i tend to get pretty into. apologies if the tracklist for this record is messed up.

http://www.mediafire.com/?2c6mxd9irdd96wk

LYNC + CRIBBAGE

MUSIC:

LYNC are another vaguely screamo band that i got into a few years ago. unlike with A DAY IN BLACK AND WHITE though, this band is far too good to shelf for any extended period of time. LYNC's one full-length record, the very well-titled "these are not fall colors" came out in 1994 on k records. i've always had sort of a soft spot for k records stuff; if BEAT HAPPENING are a love/hate band, i guess i love them. LYNC's sound on "these are not fall colors" is pretty difficult to describe; the songs are super raw and strained sounding, but are also very sprawling, featuring cryptic lyrics and some pretty dissonant riffs. i can't think of a ton bands to compare these guys to, but if you combined elements of DRIVE LIKE JEHU, ASSFACTOR 4, and THE PROMISE RING, maybe you would be pretty close.

"these are not fall colors" ranges from heavy and noisey to light and pretty, and it's really great. most of the records i listen to these days are under 30 minutes. this one is above 40 and it ususally manages to keep my interest the whole way through. if you can't tell, it comes highly recomended.

http://www.mediafire.com/?q6dr2mynrh32qiy

ACTIVITY:

cribbage is a game that my father taught me how to play a while ago. it's a card game that utilizes a board and multi-colored pegs. for my money, it is the second best board game in the world (chess being the best), if it can be considered a board game. also, i guess you can play the game for money. i've never done that, but i think i might like to, because i am pretty good at it. unlike in a lot of gambling-friendly card games, to do well in cribbage you need comprable parts luck and skill. in the past week, my brother and i have been playing a ton. my dad says that when he went to school where we plan to attend, he played a ton of cribbage with a small group of people in his dorm. this is a key component to my imagined college experience; in it, i will meet a few people who enjoy playing cribbage and we will spend hours and hours playing. in reality, i don't expect that i will meet anyone worth spending time with who also knows how to play cribbage. it's nice to think about though.

if you want to know more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cribbage

if you attend the university of connecticut or live near by and want to play, look me up.

A DAY IN BLACK AND WHITE + THALI TOO

MUSIC:

if there is an upside to being recently single and bummed out, it's that i can better justify my love of screamo. i came across A DAY IN BLACK AND WHITE's "my heroes have always killed cowboys" a couple years ago and listened the shit out of it. today i gave it another listen after months and months of not going anywhere near it. musically, this band, at least on this album (i think their later stuff is much more straight forward), is pretty in-line with CITY OF CATERPILLAR and a bunch of bands from europe that i won't take the time to name. that means there are a lot of build-ups and a lot of shouting. shit can also get pretty heavy, especially in the last minutes of the last song, an 11.5 minute instrumental called 'the illusion of the end.'

the clear highlight here though is 'the gaze.' at about 5 minutes, it still manages to capture the scope of some of the aforementioned longer songs but is generally much more listenable. it also features the album's only real catchy vocal part. on the whole, A DAY IN BLACK AND WHITE are by no means essential, but they're a pretty good bet when you're looking for something short (it's a 5-song record), loud, and impassioned. also, maybe not as embarrassingly unabashed as other bands in this genre? what do i know though, i still like SAETIA.

http://www.mediafire.com/?3op4bcj1ds18kj8

FOOD:

today, my dad thought that buying me lunch at this mostly vegan indian restaurant in new haven might cheer me up. i guess he was right because i feel pretty good now. the place is called thali too. it's an offshoot of a much more upscale and expensive new haven restaurant just called thali. unlike the latter, thali too is entirely vegetarian, and no item on the menu is over $10. this, coupled with the fact that it's pretty much surrounded by yale's campus, makes it pretty clear who the restaurateurs are targeting.

regardless, the food was good. since my dad was paying, i ordered more food than i could possibly eat but still finished most of it anyway. i started with a mung bean, ginger, and cumin crepe, which came with some strange but tasty sauces. the crepe was about twice the size of my head but was really light and easily consumed. after that, i split an entree of eggplant and rice in a sesame/peanut/tamarind sauce. it was rad, and i still have some in my fridge. most items on the menu were vegan and the ones that weren't were pretty explicitly labeled so, which was cool. i would return here.

SWEET POTATO PIE + GUIDED BY VOICES

FOOD:

i bake a lot. it's not something i've always done, more like something i just recently found out that i'm pretty good at. i'm also a vegan, so sometimes shit can get a little difficult. still, i've had lots of success with muffins, breads, and cookies, and recently i've made some pretty cool pies. this week, i went for this sweet potato pie recipe:

http://ecovegan.blogspot.com/2008/02/vegan-sweet-potato-pie-recipe.html



(i assure you that my pie did not look this good)

i made some minor changes to the recipe, mainly out of necessity, but it came out pretty wonderful--really sweet and warm and homey. pretty fucking simple too. i used a pre-made vegan graham cracker crust, but next time i plan on making something from scratch.

MUSIC:

i used to listen to a lot of indie rock. i still do, i guess. somehow, i missed out on GUIDED BY VOICES, a seminal 90's ohio-based indie rock band. i think this band pairs really well with the above recipe; "bee thousand," the record i listen to most is, like that pie, simple, sweet, and homey. but it's also weird and cool and dark and poignant and all these other great adjectives at the same time. at the end of the record, i feel like robert pollard (main GBV dude) is my friend and that we've helped each other out in some way. in reality, that help probably only goes one way though; pollard probably doesn't give a shit about some goony teenager who downloaded a bunch of his songs and later compared them to dessert. whatever.



http://www.mediafire.com/?ebu0r51ceug6aoe

next time, maybe something interesting and/or relevant.

BROKE UP

about a week ago, my girlfriend of 14 months broke up with me. i guess i saw it coming--things haven't really been the same between us for the past two weeks--but it was, nonetheless, pretty devastating. i feel pretty shitty and it hasn't gotten any better, so i figured i would try getting back into writing on a regular basis. if shit goes according to plan, i will use this joke of a blog to communicate about stuff that is meaningful to me, be it music, food, film, or whatever. more likely is that i will forget about this in less than a month. we'll see.