The Cold War is over; Kids made a profit

Oh, fucking shit. I was amazed and awed to a degree of utter madness.

So I went to a concert today featuring Cold War Kids. I wasn't really expecting much; maybe some mediocre show...I was kinda worried that the songs would come out sounding whiny and shrill because of how their songs are sung and such (catchy and sometimes dancey as they are). The opening band, We Are Barbarians, was all right. A little...meh. I wasn't entirely impressed although I was mildly entertained. And then the kids came on. Oh man. I was blown away by Nathan's voice--it was so accurate and relatively on pitch and, while listening carefully, really beautiful. I mean, it just hit all these high notes and fit in harmony to all the songs and--it was absolutely capital. It was so funny, but at the same time mesmerizing, to watch the other guitar guy (my sources indicate his name be Jonnie)dance around while shredding boss melodies. I ended up liking it a whole bunch...as well as the band. Not obsessed with them, but more of an appreciation of their music and the people in general in the band.

I think the best part was the rock out sessions--you know, the parts where they all just do their musical things and you listen (sometimes I would close my eyes, just concentrating on hearing various individual parts) thinking, "Wow. How do they come up with this?" Most of the songs I listen to these days have long interludes of rocking out that I dance to, respectively.
OH YEAH--!
Cop-out endings everywhere, too. Fucking everywhere.
And I have, like one uploadable picture (perhaps add later?) 'cuz my new camera is ridiculously unreliable...some vids, tho'.

Against Definite Articles! Yet, who knew Belgium rocks?

I’m not going to work on my essay because it’s on some shit subject that I have no fucking care for. I have other, better, extremely more fascinating things to write about.

Soooo, retracting back to 9^th grade English class, I am against definite articles. Not like I’m ardently against aspects of grammar (I try to follow it to a degree), but, at the time, I was just really tired of bands that started with “the”. The Strokes, The White Stripes, The Beatles, The Doors, The Zombies, The Starting Line, The Back Horn, The Decembrists, The Pillows, The Streets, The Stills, etc. You get the idea. So many “The”s. It was pissing me off so bad, it still does; so annoying and shit. I try to avoid bands with such monikers, but it’s fairly difficult (for example The Wombats, The Rakes, The Pigeon Detectives, and Los Campesinos! --yes, even "the" from other languages that use it). There are some bands that I am totally into that lack the hackneyed “THE”: Arctic Monkeys, Good Shoes, Art Brut, 1990s, Cold War Kids, Vampire Weekend, and the like (mostly foreign from, like, Europe, which brings me to--).
One thing I was happy to discover yesterday was this Belgian band called The Tellers, but they sound more like some English kids. I suppose they speak French as well?


They're the exception to the whole ADA thing right now. I would say their music reminds me of some kinda crossover of Bob Dylan (especially the incorporation of the harmonica) and indie acousticals. I highly recommend ‘em to anyone who even glances at this insignificant, little post.

Right, then. Back to working on homework and the like. Dreadful, absolutely dreadful. =(

King Edward VI Aston School for Boys

I feel kinda bad again, yet at the same time I’m quite happy as fuck. So. The issue of conflict today involves ditching, in a way, and I’ll be missing a class that I particularly enjoy (Oh, interesting people to look at…namely some of the grizzled guys..hm). Of course there is a reason for my absence—a mission that I must attempt, but there is always the factor of it being done in vain. Hmm. Whatever, I’m having a good time so far. In the downtime between this top secret task here are some nice little songs that sorta sum up the situation and such :

Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers – I’m not a Juvenile Delinquent ‘Rock, rock, rock’
The Rakes - Trouble

No. I don’t think this transform into some music blog. I’ve already got some out of date web thing that deals with all that sort of musical shit. Well then, back to conspiring and homework. And that whole boys school thing--um, I stumbled upon it on facebook through some group that I chose not to join and those kids....boys..uhhh, yeah.

..Goes "Ahhh."

My mistake. It's Armistice Day from WWI. I knew that one of the World Wars ended on 11.11 at 11 but I couldn't remember which one. I think I recall reading about it, too, in Mother Night. So much for honors and AP history classes. So, for the veterans out there who read this--YAY FOR YOU GUYS!! GREAT JOB PROTECTING THE ASSETS AND IDEALS OF THIS COUNTRY IN WARS THAT WERE ACTUALLY RATHER IMPORTANT! (I'm sorry, but I feel that the people involved in the War in Iraq don't necessarily count. I sympathize with them, though.) Moving on, then.

What a lazy day it's been. I did a helluva lot of reading for classes I have in the upcoming week. Need to get that shit out the way so I can work on other crucial things (essays, preparing to seek out some Yorkshire-ness, being happy, if possible). And my musical tastes have shifted slightly; so into Motown and jazz and some old rockabilly. I mean, Astrud Gilberto (hence the title)? Dave Brubeck? Martha & the Vandellas? And Sam Cooke! Oh, the memories these people bring.

In Kafka's World

I am very, very disturbed over the news I received in one of my classes today: A 15 year-old French boy, Alexandre Robert, got raped by two men in Dubai. And one of the rapists could have AIDS. And the doctor examining Alex after the attack said that the boy was a homosexual because there weren’t any visible signs of rape. Catch up on the story here. That is really shocking. I can’t believe I didn’t know about this, but I guess that’s mostly due to the fact that I haven’t been watching any news and I haven’t read any of those weekly news magazines, like time and newsweek, since I started school here. I need to work some worldly information into my schedule.

I’m not looking forward to this upcoming holiday, not because I don’t care about V-E Day (11/12/45 at the twelfth hour, if I remember from Honors World History) and the brave veterans who fought in WWII, but because I’m going to be stuck at school and there isn’t going to be anyone here, for the most part, and it’s so unfortunate to be in this situation. Of course I would like to go home, but I have no good mode of transportation (train/plane= too much $, bus=too long…and I presume uncomfortable, car=too long, don’t have one, don’t know anyone here who has one and is going down). No ways.
Something more exciting! I will be going home next week, the weekend before Thanksgiving, on Thursday so I can devote myself to an event occurring on Friday. I’ll be missing one class, but—you know what—fuck it. I went to every damn lecture and discussion and I want a break from education…here. Besides, just a glimpse would make me happy. Oh so happy. Three days of school next week! Exciting.
Then back home for the real Thanksgiving. Yes.
Gosh, I’m hungry.

Miser Musings on Music & Miscellaneousness

I suppose I'm content academically for the most part. Besides that I don't feel particularly jubilant over anything. Except maybe the 23^rd when I'll be back in L.A. and going to see Cold War Kids. Mediocre retribution; quite droll. The future makes me a little bit pleasant because there's some leeway in deciding what will happen. Oh ho.

Well, I have recently discovered some interesting musical things. The first being The Rapture. I had heard of them before, even contemplated purchasing there album sometime last October, but I had never actually listened to them. Unaware of the strange genre these kids belonged to (from my browsing around: Dance-Disco-Punk...?), I ventured to some site and watched a vid of 'Pieces of the People We Love' (on the website under "media") and--hooo shizznits--I was intrigued with wonder...The vibe I got from it was, like, late 50's early 60's kinda old school swingers/sexual hype. I think it was the dancing that made me reminisce about that time. Mm, yes. I found the song to be relatively catchy as well.

Here is the time for picture posting. OHHHhh~! I'm so excited.


Yes. Arctic Monkeys. I've been interested in their music for a while, but I hadn't given any second thoughts to them personally so I decided to investigate a bit. After listening to "Who the Fuck are Arctic Monkeys?" I commenced an image search and I was intrigued yet again. And I have the utmost feelings for Yorkshire things (people in general, men in a subcategory). Perusing the internets I discovered this whole unknown cove with awesome Arctic Monkeyness and I'm basically...enamored.
Of course I looked around some more and found this short film thing based on "When the Son Goes Down" called Scummy Man (pt 1, pt 2). It may be a few years old, but I found it to be a little disturbing. Yep.

Other music things include Art Brut, Babyshambles (Peter Doherty is interesting, reminds of a kid), and others..