The Drop

MTV...we've spoken before. But oddly enough, you guys are not my problem. It's MTV2 I'm taking up beef with.

Usually, I don't mind MTV2. When it first came out, it filled the space MTV had left by playing music videos..alot. There were a lot of special shows that focused on certain types of music, and...oh then, Subterranean was still a living, breathing, thriving musical forum on talent, artists, and videos. Jim Shearer...where for art thou?

Anyway, fast forward 20 hundred years and you guys are nothing more than a born-again MTV for the alternative set. Granted, you don't force me to sit through marathons of Next, Room Raiders, and Real World at 2 am, but I do have to watch a hell of a lot more Wildin' Out and Rob and Big...for some reas0n. Whatev. Your scheduling conflicts are not my interest.

My beef is with this recent institution of yours: The Drop. You claim to be "dropping" new artists and then you torture music lovers by giving them only small snippets of the album during commercial breaks.

But you know what? I personally wouldn't mind The Drop so much if you didn't claim to be breaking new music when you're really just rehashing old school albums and artists for a new wave of "oh, that's indie" kids.

Take, for instance, when you guys featured Kooks. I'm pretty sure "She Moves In Her Own Way" is not on their new album Konk. It's on Inside In/Inside Out. I know this because I got that album almost TWO years ago. And now you guys are playing MGMT. Yeah, that's recent. Oracular Spectacular came out last year, sucked the music world's teet dry, and then retired to a comfy life of occasionally being brought up in the mouths of Brooklynites and neo-psychadelia enthusiasts.

So, uh, thanks MTV2 for beating us indie lovers over the head with music we were listening to back when you guys were still showing your Crank Yankers and Wildboyz lineup at 3:30 am.

Deuces,
Erika

I'm Confused

What is going on with fashion? Are we out of rules, guidelines, trends, and do's and don't's? Is it just everything and anything goes and if you look like a schizophrenic 57 year old bag lady then you are cool because you have your own style?

As it is, I've never bought much into trends (except for skinnies, which will never die in my eyes, and leggings, because they are the amazing bastard child of comfort and style), and I've always been an advocate of personal style and that whole Fuck you, I wear what I want, bitch! attitude. But uh, street style is turning into a circus. We need some serious Allure's Top 5 Beauty Trends and Nylon's Fashion issue over here like whoa. Before I mistake walking down the street as tripping on a speedball.

Like, are designers just creating tacky shit because they know people will buy it? Cos I will slap a Prada label on a bedazzled sack cloth and sell millions if that is how ish is going down. This is getting out of hand.
I think the new rule of fashion is:

As long as you are between a size 00 and size 2, you may wear anything you want. This includes circus tents, Hammer pants, AA dresses, bikini tops as shirts, those weird gladiators heels, dresses made out of paper that are stapled at the seams, bikini bottoms as shorts, and pretty much anything that a six year old would wear to her birthday party.

Miss Wintour, you may call me for more pointers for your annual fashion issue. Kthx.

This ain't a scene, it' a goddamn Mardi Gras parade. (images via facehunter and click/clash)

Deuces,
Erika

Now 28!

Everyone has to remember at least one Now CD. It's short for Now That's What I Call Music! in case you didn't know. Some of the heavy hitters from the most recent Now are:

Leona Lewis "Bleeding Hearts"
Lil Wayne "Lollipop"
OneRepublic "Stop And Stare"
Metro Station "Shake It"
Daughtry "Feels Like Tonight"

As you can see this Now is a veritable bevy of Top 40 singles. But don't fret, some of pop's best rejected dumpster babies are here too. There's obvi a lot going on on this thing. Since I used to work at the 99X radio station, which shared a floor with Q100 (the Top 40 station), I hate popular music. I have to emphasize because I actually love pop music, but I can't stand popular music.

Um, except for "Tears On My Guitar" by Taylor Swift. Oh shit, do I love that song.

Moving on, with the rushing excitement of Now 28's debut, I thought I would do some research. It's been 28 years of great music, right? There have got to be some amazing tracks between now and 1980. Let's see...here is the tracklisting for Now 1:

Janet Jackson - Together Again
The Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me
Fastball - The Way
Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta
Spice Girls - Say You'll Be There
KCi & JoJo - All My Life
All Saints - Never Ever
Tonic - If You Could Only See
Hanson - Mmmbop
Cherry Poppin' Daddies - Zoot Suit Riot
Imajin - Shorty (You Keep Playin' With My Mind)
Brian McKnight - Anytime
Aqua - Barbie Girl
Radiohead - Karma Police
Everclear - I Will Buy You A New Life
Lenny Kravitz - Fly Away
Marcy Playground - Sex and Candy

Holy shit! Even though I wasn't born in 1980, I remember almost all of those songs. I used to rock out to Spice Girls, Janet, Marcy Playground, and THE BACKSTREET BOYS!!! like it was going out of style.

It's been a long 28 years, no?

Deuces,
Erika

WTF? Blog Fighting?

It should be common knowledge to all you sassy Missbehavers out there that Sarah Morrison hates the word blog. Cool. So do I. So do a lot of people. But then I came across something that made me hate blogs themselves.

How did I come across this foolishness you ask? Erm, I was searching for a way to lose five pounds in four days. Shut up! I have to! My birthday is this Friday and I have a pair of high-waisted shorts I wanted to wear to my party. Yes! I had to buy them a size too small; they didn't have my size. It was an impulse buy, but they're very cute shorts...ahem. Anyway...in my quest for quick weight loss, I stumbled across a blog with this comment in the comments section:

I'm sorry but that was the most poorly written blog that I have ever read. Some of the sentences just run on too long. Besides from that, it is complicated and I don't really think that most people will understand. Deny my criticism as you wish, but I can guarantee you this blog needs some editing. P.S-The idea for the blog post is pretty good though.

WTF?! Is there such thing as the blog grammar police and I just don't know about it? I won't put the author of the comment here, but is he a professor of Rhetoric at Harvard or something?

This is what Wikipedia had to say about blogs:
Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries.

See that last part about online diaries? That means grammar, sentence structure, spelling - that shit don't count. People write what they want how they want. So evil grammerphiles stop preying on people that may have slept through 9th grade lit. Stop taking shit so seriously. It's not like all these 18-25 year olds are writing life-altering manifestos on the 'net. Chill the fuck out.

Internetz=peace!

Deuces,
Erika

ZOMG I Remember This Show!!

Anyone remember this show from back when? I used to watch it all the time when I was littler. I was so down with those cynical, sarcastic ladies!

But anyone else wonder whether Brett Butler used to be a dude? Her voice is so husky! Watching this show again, on Oxygen, makes me seriously question why this show was my ish back in the day. Oh what? There's a marathon? Damn.

And did you know they worked this shit out in Russian? Yeah! Who knew they could swear on public Russian cable?



He don't need that shit.

Deuces,
Erika

WTF.

What the fuck is this?



I mean, I know what it is, but for goodness sakes. Really?

Rihanna x Isotoner

They call her Jay-Z's "Little Miss Sunshine." Back in the day, she stole my haircut and everyone told me I looked like her. Appreciate it? No! But then she makes a song called "Umbrella" and everyone thinks, "hey, maybe she should make some..."

And with that anecdote-ish, I present to you Isotoner by Rihanna:



For that $25, you could head down to the Paul Frank flagship store in San Fran and get a way cuter umbrella.

The Last (We Hope) Kanye Video, Or Flashing Lights Cubed

Okay, back in whenever, the first video for Kanye West's song "Flashing Lights" premiered. Hollister wearing rich white preppy kids went apeshit. Okay, then a second one surfaced. Stereogum holla'd at it and then a few other blogs (and also me, yes) caught on to it. There was a model in it, and she was wearing American Apparel, so we couldn't really turn away.

Finally, there is another "Flashing Lights" video. Kanye and Co. set out to make a bad video about vampire soup. This is possibly the last installment of videos made for the exact same song. Maybe this will turn into a "Trapped In The Closet" thing. Then Kanye will need to write new material.



Deuces,
Erika