I Feel Like He Could Inherit The Hipster Runoff Throne One Day...

Sergio is the most awesome guy on the planet. The whole one. I want to run into him at some seedy ass bar concert in Brooklyn and then ask him what he thinks of...um, everything. And then I'll buy him a few too many drinks, take him to my walk-up in Spanish Harlem, and force him to blog for me and sign my name at the bottom.

In between we'll perhaps play Yahtzee and watch TV shows on DVRs and do the robot to shitty DJ music.



E

This Week On The Music Front

Ugh, it's Sunday. Normally this would make me so bored and stir crazy I would want to scoop out my eyeballs and eat them with fava beans, but with all the shit that went down this week, this Sunday was a godsend. Plus I definitely had things to look forward to today.

This was a more interesting week for music, Lollapalooza actually notwithstanding. Although it did provide good amounts of interesting stories, pictures, and a big cup of Chi-town haterade for me to sip on. Here's the rundown on everything.

TTFN & CUL8R BYOP

Yes it's true kiddos. Be Your Own Pet is no more. You feel like the longer you pay attention to music, its scene, and the outcome, these kinds of things should not bother you anymore. But as I have followed BYOP since their inception and own all but one of their LPs, CDs, and EPs, this really gets me. Some say it was because they were running into issues with their Get Awkward release, namely censorship problems, but some blamed it on their signing to a big label, Universal, or because they pulled out of the Warped Tour lineup. Whatever it was, it does mean that Jemina and Co. aren't starting any more food fights, telling bitches to leave, or kicking ass at the Dude Zone anytime soon. *Tear slowly rolls down cheek* I hear there are going to be some spinoff bands but NOTHING will be like BYOP. Thank god I got to see them when they opened up for the Arctic Monkeys two years ago.

NME TRIES TO TELL THE US WHY WE'RE COOL AGAIN

This ish went down like tranqqued up grizzly from a treelimb. According to NME, we (America) were cool once, then stopped being cool, and now, thanks to 25 new bands, are offish cooler than the other side of the pillow. And while the editors can acknowledge that we have an underground scene like no other, these bands (read:the ones they picked randomly out of assrtd issues of Paste, Fader, Spin, and Filter) are suddenly making us really legit again. Because uh yeah, before Vampire Weekend, we were just a wasteland. This is the list of bands. Try not to get too angry. Or maybe get angry, and go tell other people what you think:

01 Vampire Weekend

02 Lil Wayne

03 Glass Candy

04 Kings Of Leon

5 MGMT

06 Spank Rock

07 TV On The Radio

08 Boy Crisis

09 Black Kids

10 Holy Ghost Revival

11 The Hold Steady

12 Fleet Foxes

13 Amazing Baby

14 Jay Reatard

15 HEALTH

16 The Cool Kids

17 Black Lips

18 Yo Majesty

19 White Denim

20 Telepathe

21 Iglu and Hartly

22 Chester French

23 Girl Talk
24 TheDeathSet

25 Grace Jones

Like, rly? Girl Talk is that far down? And White Denim? And TVOtR wasn't making us cool back when they actually put out an album? Glass Candy certainly deserves to be that high on the list, but, who put this ish together?

CHESTER FRENCH TALKS TO ME IN WARM, FRIENDLY TONES

I left a comment on Stereogum dealing with all this NME nonsense. Here it is, in full verbatim fashion:

Firstly, good music really is just that. Good music. It comes from Britain and America AND the rest of the UK. Like, Frightened Rabbit are amazing and they're Scottish. Oh yeah, and it DEFINITELY comes from Canada. Stars? The Guest Bedroom? Pony Up? Yes please! Oh yeah, and the Leeds music scene is killing it right now. It deserves something of a recognition since it somehow manages to create a barrier against the shitty typical shetpile of the normal music scene. Oh yeah, and Los Campesinos! Yes please! But keep in mind that NME is the equivalent of a fifteen year old's self published zine. It's whatever music they like...uh,and whoever's show they have a press badge for. I met the dude in TheDeathSet...that band is like Australian. And why are Black Kids and VW so high on that list...because they sound British? Glass Candy pwns and so does Jay Reatard and the Black Lips. But NME did acknowledge that there is a significant underground scene in NY and LA (although those of Philly, Chicago, Atlanta, and Seattle are equally noteworthy), they just choose to ignore it. Whatev. Americans may have had their fill of these bands (Chester French...sigh, whatev), but they're like still hitting the other side of the pond, no? Like Pokemon! But not with Japan, with the UK...okay, so not like Pokemon.

Then I checked my email. I received this message from DA Wallach of Chester French. First I got worried. I get in too much trouble for the things I say on the internet. When that happens, I take a deep breath and ask myself, "What would Sarah Morrison do?" This time I didn't have to:

Hey Erika-

I saw your comment on the stereogum blog where you mention our group, Chester French. I hope no one's had their fill of us yet, since the album isn't even out, but I definitely want to win you as a fan. If you send me your mailing address back I'll mail you a special edition package of our single and shall be sure to get you a copy of the album when it finally sees the light of day! Hope you're having a great weekend.

D.A.

Normally I'd get psuedo-frustrated for people taking the things I say too seriously, but this guy was just tooooo sweet to get angry at. That's Chester French for you, I guess.

All up in ur emale, leevin u messagez.

NEW VIVIAN GIRLS SONG

Someone actually compared them to a crappier version of the Pipettes. I hope she never goes on to have a music journalism career. If she does, it will probably be writing for NME. The Vivian Girls are hot awesomeness from Brooklyn. They're an all girl band that makes muddy and/or raw rock music. It's great. They're great. They just released a new song from their S/T LP called "Where Do You Run To?" and it's sort of good. Play it on a cool, sunny Autumn day, enjoy your tea, and try to figure out the fastest way to get that still sleeping one night stand out of your bed and into a taxi. Uhhh..."I know it's eight in the morning on a Wednesday, but I have to go to church now..."

Vivian Girls: "Where Do You Run To?"

As you can see, it's obvi been a busy week for everyone. In other news (ION is going to be the new abreev for that saying, so you know for future ref), Jessica Fletcher's badass friend Mistress Viviane has a new column going on Single Scoop about "the realities of sex." It's really good and worth reading, because we've all had these bedroom bafflers at least once.

And in case you missed it, Adult Swim ran an Old School night on Friday where they showed old episodes of the shows that originally made AS so fantastic: Sealab 2021, The Brak Show, Home Movies, Space Ghost, etc. What is even more fantastic is that I remember all of those shows. Mid 90's born Hannah Montana tweens? You ain't got shit on me! It was also V's birthday on Friday, the 1st of Aug, so Alex, if you catch my girl on the streets, take her by the hand and buy her a cupcake. Jess Fletch can surely recommend you some good places to go. And now the "p" key on my laptop is stuck. Great.

eace easy eo le,

Erika

Whew...I Think It's Finally Over...

This, according to Google, is what feminism looks like apparently.

So over here at The Disco, we believe in women helping women. I personally like to think of this blog as a way for women to interact and commune with other women in a positive and uplifting manner. Even if that is just talking about bowling in three-inch heels. But still, I like to think that somehow, in some way, I'm bringing women who may never ever speak to each other, together to chat and relate to each other. I hope.

Honestly, I'm sure I'm a feminist. In the most modern sense, I guess. I believe women are smarter than society gives us credit for, and that women deserve to be independent of stereotypes and labels that old-world culture continue to give us. Women who sleep around are not sluts, and women who may strip to pay for bills and school are not necessarily whores. Men can turn to a life of crime and be glorified in some gangster movie while a woman chooses to take her clothes off in a safe setting with very tangible limits on what can and can't be done, to pay for her daughter's medical bills, perhaps, but she is a whore. Personally, I don't really know enough about the past, or the present for that matter, to make snap judgments about other women and their decisions or actions, based on some strict and concrete vision of what women should do or think, rather I like to try to understand all points of view and not necessarily judge someone because of what I believe is right. Because my standards are not another woman's standards. I don't think that just because I would rather watch Project Runway than CNN that I'm setting women back. I watch Headline News, btw, but I just think that the whole "setting women back" is an excuse to preach what you believe and refuse to accept the fact that women are not all about being cultured, well-educated presidents-in-training. Although, they can be if they so choose. See feminism, to me, is all about choice. But we seem to forget that.

Anyway, all of that prose was just to sort of lead into what I really have to talk about. Almost a month ago, Tracie Egan (Oh yes, the revered Slut Machine!) and her Jezebel compatriot Moe Tkacik appeared on Lizz Winstead's talk show, "Thinking and Drinking." Beforehand, and during the show, Tracie and Moe got a little drunk...well it sort of sounded like Moe got more than a little drunk, but that's just me, and proceeded to answer Winstead's really heavy queshes about feminism and date rape. Which, by the way, are really hard things to talk about while you're inebriated. Cause dudes, I can't even get through a sentence without cackling obnoxiously when I'm under the influence.

So after that there was a bit of a terrible backlash of comments and statements and really evil words on Slut Machine's blog, One D At A Time. I pretty much watched the whole thing pan out and was really disappointed with how women were literally spewing bile at Tracie while refusing to even talk about the issues raised during Lizz's show. It was sort of sad. Because you would think, hope, that while women would disagree with what was said on the show, they could at least discuss it in a very mature, progressive way. Really, women on women violence is the last thing we need in a world where women are still viewed as less than men. I watch episodes of Maury where women are controlled by the boyfriends and husbands, who in turn call them their "property." So the last thing we need right now is to tear each other down.

But today Tracie posted a final hurrah, if you will, saying her final piece about the, I don't know, incident. Here's a small excerpt:

Before my time at Jezebel, I worked at a feminist publication for several years. I think about this shit—feminism, sexism, etc.—constantly. So a couple of weeks ago, when I was pretty much lambasted for some (albeit drunken) public statements I made, the main thing that pissed me off was that people were trying to like revoke my Feminist Club membership or something. (And honestly, I don't want to even talk to about that shit anymore, but I'm not allowed to do so on the site I work for, as absolutely fucking retarded as that is, and I need to get this one last thing off my chest.) In the wake of all that hullabaloo, I realized that maybe this is a good thing, a jumping-off point to open up a discourse about how feminism is not monolithic. It's kind of like Christianity, in that there's this one core belief—that women are people, too—but there are all these different sects and theories as to what's the best way to practice that belief.

Here's the whole post.

And now she can get back to talking about fucking. Hooray! Because that's what I like to read!

Deuces,
Erika

The Protest Issue

Okay, I pretty much luh magzines. I mean I have three current subscriptions and I still manage to buy Missbehave every quarter, Nylon every month, and Cosmo every once in awhile. But really, how many variations on the cowgirl position can they attempt to show me? (Someone bring back Jane before I get postal on mainstream women's mags, kthx)

So a few days ago I opened up my mailbox and found my new issue of Under The Radar Magazine, aptly titled The Protest Issue.

Open it up and you'll find page after page of discussions about current events, the state of music, and politics from indie artists around the world. Each artist is asked to make a personal sign of protest, and the results range from wittily clever, like Peter Moren's Down With Whistling, British Sea Power's Help: Let's Keep Polar Bears, Jamie Lidell's Free Cliche Guevara, and Akron/Family's I Want To Live In Woodrow Guthrie's America! to the more serious and more provocative, like Issac Brock (of Modest Mouse)'s Protests Only Work If The People You Are Protesting Give A Shit What You Think, Foals' Go Back To Bed America, Your Government Has Figured It All Out, and Michael Franti's George Bush Hates People.
The issue then goes on to talk about the correlations between politics and comic books, the documentary Body of War, and the Top 10 Protest Songs of the 21st Century!

All of this awesomeness is going on between interviews of Spiritualized, Portishead, Conor Oberst, and My Brightest Diamond, among others. And, as it turns out, every protest sign in the issue will be auctioned off on eBay and the proceeds will be donated to the War Child Organization. Add this to the plentitude of album, comic book, and DVD reviews and reissues and this issue goes from great to eggpants awesome.

Like, people, if you really want to hear about how the world is today from people who are living it, who saw it, who were there for it, you have to get this issue. It's amazing, and enlightening, and fucking fantastic.

Under The Radar is 4.99 at Barnes and Noble. So go get it!

Deuces,
Erika