Friends Don't Let Friends Be Hipsters

UNREQUITED TUESDAYS ARE BACK! So this week, I just decided to go...

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 23:41:22 -0400

UNREQUITED TUESDAYS ARE BACK!

So this week, I just decided to go for the straightforward. The honest. The Bruce.

No apologies, no explanations. Just the Bruce.

Bruce Springsteen - I’m On Fire

Until next Wednesday

—Kdar

I’m. On. Fire.

So guys I kind of went in a different direction this week. This...

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 10:33:43 -0400

So guys I kind of went in a different direction this week.

This week, I tried to get a little hilarious with my choice. I love Bloodhound Gang. But at the same time, I wanted a song that fully encapsulated my man problems but still managed to make me laugh.

And with that, I present to you:

The Bloodhound Gang - Three Point One Four

An Ode To Wow Dudes, Sorry About That

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 22:35:25 -0400

When did it become Wednesday already?

How did that happen?

Anyway, last week was an Ode To Strings, and my were they ever. There were violins and cellos and violas and harpsichords and some things I don’t even know what they were.

Los Campesinos! “You! Me! Dancing!”
That Dog “Gagged and Tied”
Andrew Bird & Bowl of Fire “11:11”
Café Tacuba “Ojala Que Llueva Cafe”
Guineafowl “Botanist”
Her Space Holiday “Tech Romance”
I Am Kloot “AN ORDINARY GIRL”
Pale Young Gentlemen “PAPER PLANES”
Patrick Wolf “The Libertine”
Paul’s Grandfather “BONES”
Ciara “Like A Boy”
David Bowie “Sorrow”
Old Crow Medicine Show “Wagon Wheel”
Mirah “Cold Cold Water”
Margot & The Nuclear So and So’s “Paper Kitten Nightmare”
Scott Walker “Jackie”
The Go-Betweens “Was There Anything I Could Do?”
The Auteurs “Underground Movies”
Echo and the Bunnymen “Silver”
Camera Obscura “Lloyd, I’m Ready to Be Heartbroken”
The Beatles “SHE’S LEAVING HOME”
Razorcuts “Brighter Now”
Francoise Hardy “J’aurais Voulu”
Hefner “China Crisis”
Patrick Wolf “HARD TIMES”
Larrikin Love “Edwould”
The June Brides “No Place Called Home”
Pulp “Seconds”
Serge Gainsbourg “Initials B.B”
The Indelicates “New Art Theme”
Heavenly “Me and My Madness”

Until about two hours from now,

—Kendar

Stay Stringy, America

My goodness! It seems that in all the excitement we almost...

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 01:01:54 -0400

My goodness! It seems that in all the excitement we almost forgot about An Ode To Unrequited Love.

This week’s song is dedicated to the following:

People who have been friendzoned recently

People who have been balls out ignored

People who enjoyed Josie and the Pussycats.

Until tomorrow,

—Kdar

I’m all three!

I’m going to start a new series like I did for...

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:00:06 -0400

I’m going to start a new series like I did for Valentine’s but this one’s all about unrequited love because I’ve realized an absurd number of fantastic songs are written about it, and also because I love Girl In A Coma and I’m going to post this video at least once a month from now on, because it was the first Girl In A Coma song I heard and it’s still so good and everyone should listen to it.

And every description will be a run on sentence you can bet your bottom dollar on it because they are just that much fun for me to write so deal with it.

AN ODE TO NOT TOTALLY ABANDONING FIDDLE FIB BUT ALMOST DOING...

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 00:59:11 -0400

AN ODE TO NOT TOTALLY ABANDONING FIDDLE FIB BUT ALMOST DOING THAT.

So sorry this guy went quiet for a while. I’ve been busy being a second semester senior and all that that entails. But I’m back, at least until my future catches up with me, but that’s a thing for future Kendar to deal with.

But I digress.

Poor Reenes meanwhile has had to navigate the rocky shores of broadcast without me for almost a month. BUT NO MORE**.

Last week was an Ode to Fashion, something with which the Serene and I are well versed. Let’s take a look:

David Bowie “Fashion”
The Indelicates “Our Daughters Will Never Be Free”
Girls at Our Best “it’s fashion”
Pulp “Underwear”
Denim “The Supermodels”
Heavenly “Ben Sherman”
Blur “Popscene”
The Monochrome Set “The Lighter Side of Dating”
Mo-Dettes “satisfy”
Dolly Mixture “miss candy twist”
Television Personalities “JohnPeel Talks About Part Time Punks”
The Wedding Present “My Favourite Dress”
The Cramps “Sunglasses After Dark”
The Magnetic Fields “California Girls”
The Kinks “Dedicated Follower Of Fashion”

The week prior was spring break, which I spent cobbling together bits of a set from scraps of tin, and Ree spent combing her hair in preparation for the impending Pulp show.

PRIOR TO THAT was An Ode To Real People, and by that I of course mean songs about people who exist and are famous because they are the only types who matter.

The Go-Betweens “Lee Remick”
The Wedding Present “Shatner (Live)”
Hefner “Alan Bean”
David Bowie “Andy Warhol”
Serge Gainsbourg “Bonnie And Clyde”
The Velvet Underground “Candy Says”
Camera Obscura “Dory Previn”
Allo Darlin’ “woody allen”
The Monkees “DAYDREAM BELIEVER”
McCarthy “Charles Windsor”
The Bodines “William Shatner”
Dolly Mixture “How Come You’re Such a Hit with the Boys, Jane?”
The Indelicates “We Love You, Tania”
The Monochrome Set “Goodbye Joe”
The Pooh Sticks “I Know Someone Who Knows Someone Who Knows Alan McGee Quite Well”
Felt “Penelope Tree”
Emmy the Great “Cassandra”
The Beatles “JULIA”
Herman’s Hermits “Henry The VIII I Am”
The Modern Lovers “Pablo Picasso”
Lou Reed “Walk On The Wild Side”
John Lennon “Oh Yoko”
Pulp “Watching Nicky”
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart “Kurt Cobain’s Cardigan”
Neutral Milk Hotel “Holland, 1945”
Patti Smith “we three”
The Avett Brothers “Famous Flower of Manhattan”
Manic Street Preachers “Kevin Carter”
The Pastels “Anne Boylen”

In other news, I’ve been listening to the Unlovables a lot lately. There are some things that are happening in my face and unrequited pop punk seemed like a good move.

Did you listen to the song yet?

Maybe listening to the Unlovables at an emotionally vulnerable time is a bad move. Don’t do it, bra.

On the plus side this whole album is pretty great.

If you count New Jersey.

Which I don’t.

Until this Wednesday,

Stay true to your heart.

—K&R

Watches cartoons heaps

An Ode To Generally Judging Books By Their Covers: The Additional Addendum

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 10:00:05 -0500

So remember that time I said that Jenny Lewis was the trump to my rule because I hate her face but dig her tunes? Well, from there it can get more complicated. There’s another kind of mixed feelings-fest that goes on.

The other is kind of the next step up from the Jenny Lewis effect. What happens when I both sort of enjoy the music but 100% hate the image BUT ALSO that image is a total lie formed because it was the most financially sound decision for the backers building the perfect HypeFactory?

Let’s just call it Lana Del Rey.

You have a look. I look at your topiary headband and your dead-eyed stare and your ironic cross and assume you’re kind of an alt-douche who probably buys their clothing full price at places that make it look like it’s from a thrift store because the thought of used clothing sickens you to your very capitalist center.

But, while you probably do hate poor people, everything else I surmised about your image is a lie. Whereas at least Jenny Lewis formed organically you were berthed out of some horrible desire on somebody else’s part to cash in on a demographic that prides itself on not being a cash commodity: hipsters.

It’s not even that being manufactured bothers me. Lots of pop stars have whole hordes of people who quoiff them and preen them and write their music and tell them how to dance and that is fine because when you appear before a crowd of thousands you look manufactured. You look like a sum of your parts.

It’s the dishonesty that sets my teeth on edge. It’s not that you’re manufactured. It’s not that your music is interesting. It’s not that I just hate your image. It’s that the thing you are projecting onto the world implies that you are not a product of a lot of money and a record label when in reality you are.

It’s the fact that in this era of constant and immediate information they thought they could be so arrogant as to outfox the entire internet into thinking Lana Del Rey was any different than Rihanna when she’s posing as Leslie Feist.

It’s the fact that they thought the world was so stupid.

So I guess the moral of the story is always judge a book by its cover except for those times that don’t because they may be corporate lies.

Now I’m kind of in a tangle. I know she’s fake and she knows she’s fake and pop stars are fake all the time but what happens when fake pop stars and built to look like Zooey Deschanel’s plastic sister?

Here’s Alex Winston singing Locomotive moving real fast.

Until next time,

-Kder

Mad mixed feelings

An Ode To Generally Judging Books By Their Covers: The Addendum

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 10:00:05 -0500

There are a few issues with my method, and I would like to address those here.

One is the Jenny Lewis effect. It goes like this:

I hate Jenny Lewis. As a person. If I saw her I would get angry and be in her face at least a little bit. I see her smug expression and her big stroke victim doe eyes and my bile ducts just go bazonkers. She is very pretty—that’s not my issue. There are scores of pretty people in this world who are talented musicians, but rather than focusing on how faux vintage 1960s retro throwback Instagram pretty and precious and special they are, they make music and have a visual aesthetic that doesn’t really get in the way of that.

But I really like some of Jenny Lewis’ music. It works like this:

If you made me have to look at Jenny Lewis’ face while I listened to her music, I would not ever do it and could safely say I flat out hated her.

If we lived in a magical world where I never had to see that horrible self satisfied sense of dignity but could totes jam to some slightly southern-tinged indie rock sometimes, I could safely say I enjoyed Jenny Lewis.

So basically, I hate the cover, but once I cover up the cover in black tape or a photo of a newborn baby animal the book inside is actually pretty enjoyable. So like…what the fuck do I do there?

Any suggestions anyone?

Until next time,

-K

Reconcile love & hate?

An Ode To Generally Judging Books By Their Covers

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:00:05 -0500

Day 4:

I thought The Oceanics would probably be fun danceable things because look at their necklines and tell me any other sort of music could come out of chests that free.

And I was right.

Until next time,

-K

HAIR AND STUBBLE!

An Ode To Generally Judging Books By Their Covers

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:00:05 -0500

Day 3:

I thought I would be ambivalent about The Hello Morning because this is a lot of nice hair for one photograph:

And I was right.

Until next time,

—K

Slick that shit!

Goldfrapp - Train Because I’m pretty sure this song is too...

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 10:00:06 -0500

Goldfrapp - Train

Because I’m pretty sure this song is too obscene to be played anywhere, even though there isn’t a single dirty word in the whole thing.

Whitney Houston - It’s Not Right, But It’s...

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:59:09 -0500

Whitney Houston - It’s Not Right, But It’s Okay

Because it’s too soon :(

Grizzly Bear - He Hit Me (The Crystals Cover) Because even...

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:00:06 -0500

Grizzly Bear - He Hit Me (The Crystals Cover)

Because even though it was written by Carole King and even if it was sung by Courtney Love an ode to spousal abuse in a weird a-tonal mishmash is not cool.

Timothy Seth Avett As Darling - About Love Because even...

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:55:51 -0500

Timothy Seth Avett As Darling - About Love

Because even I’m not this pessimistic about Valentine’s Day.

Jim Croce - I’ll Have to Say I Love You In A Song Because...

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:00:06 -0500

Jim Croce - I’ll Have to Say I Love You In A Song

Because if my heart melts on air I’m going to look really unprofessional.

Damn it this song is endearing.

Damn you, Jim Croce.

You beautiful, adorable, little muppet.

Lady Lamb The Beekeeper - All I Really Wanna Do Because...

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:00:05 -0500

Lady Lamb The Beekeeper - All I Really Wanna Do

Because it’s too darn cute! Also because if you’re going through all the effort of telling someone something in a song with a big sweeping strings section, you probably are not just saying “All I really wanna do is be friends with you,” and I cannot support ulterior motives in songs.

Because I AM NOT THIRTEEN.

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 20:25:55 -0500

Because I AM NOT THIRTEEN.

Weezer - Getchoo Because if I ever heard someone singing this ...

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:00:06 -0500

Weezer - Getchoo

Because if I ever heard someone singing this to someone, I would literally weep for them. And not in a loving way. In a christ-get-out-before-he-starts-anger-sobbing-into-your-unwashed-pajamas sort of way.

Terrifying.

Because fuck this movie for ruining a decent Smiths song. Not...

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 10:00:06 -0500

Because fuck this movie for ruining a decent Smiths song.

Not like, the best song they ever wrote, but a pretty agreeable one.

And now it’s ruined.

“OH MY GOD YOU’VE HEARD AN ALT SONG? LOOK AT MY BANGS! I CAN’T MAKE EYE CONTACT BECAUSE SOCIAL SITUATIONS ARE UNCOMFORTABLE. I HAVE COMMITMENT PHOBIAS BUT WE’VE BOTH HEARD ONE SONG SO YOU BETTER START FANTASIZING ABOUT ME SOON. UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS!”

Fucking movie almost ruined IKEA for me too. If I ever, EVER see some alt-douche and his alt lady-douche running through IKEA in order to flop on a bed and make out I swear to god I will trip them on IKEA’s patented no-skid surfaces or just smother them with their EPA-friendly pillows until those stupid grins have faded from their horrible chipper alt-faces.

Patrick Wolf - Tristan “I am a sexually confused, very...

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:00:06 -0500

Patrick Wolf - Tristan

“I am a sexually confused, very angry young man. YAAARGH PENISES!”