Is Magnolia Bakery a landmark?

December 3rd, 2008 • 1 comment general
Tags: band on the street, village voice, welcome wagon, writing

Look closely at this Google Map. Why is Magnolia Bakery on here like this? I wasn’t searching for it. Has it been given landmark status? If so, I would guess that it commemorates New York’s domestic immigrants, small town girls who come to New York seeking a better life through H&M, Gawker, no-wage internships, and vanilla on vanilla cupcakes. I used to eat that crap for dinner when I worked for CMJ Magazine ($15,000/yr+Metrocard discount).

Band On The Street Profile of Welcome Wagon in this week’s Village Voice

December 3rd, 2008 • 1 comment asides
Tags: band on the street, village voice, welcome wagon, writing

I wrote a Band On The Street on Welcome Wagon for the Village Voice. They are the nicest band in the world, probably because they didn’t start out as a band, but as a married couple. I’m working on a review of another couple band. I am sorta grossed out about how cute every couple band is.

Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, ninnyish noblemen boast in major

July 15th, 2008 • albums and songs, interviews, music
Tags: miles benjamin anthony robinson, paper, paste, pitchfork, tumblr, writing

The only good anagram I could find for Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson was “ninnyish noblemen boast in major.” I didn’t talk about this with Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, but I did talk to him about his LP Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson. The guy was awesome, actually: self-deprecating but super confident, funny and full of stories. There was one I couldn’t include about his grandmother disappearing to follow a traveling tent revival. Or another about how he doesn’t own a computer, but does have a Blackberry. Sometimes talking to a nice guy can make that nice guy’s CD even better, and I don’t know if that’s a good way to form opinions about a record. Luckily, I had formed mine a month or so before.

Possibly the song of the year:

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I’ve also updated my work page with some stuff from Pitchfork, Paper and Paste—I realized I hadn’t put up anything since Sept 2007, which seems to imply I hadn’t worked since then. I most certainly have been working, and for places that don’t start with P, too.

Should I have a tumblr? I registered one a long, long time ago, but didn’t really update, and now it seems like everyone has one, especially people that write. I think that the work/stress of writing all day makes one-button photo/quote publishing extra appealing. And someone told me my blog was very ‘plain’ and ‘texty’ but! I like text, I haven’t gotten tired of text.

No Age in Paper Magazine

June 23rd, 2008 • albums and songs, music
Tags: no age, paper magazine, writing

My review of No Age’s Nouns is in Paper Magazine this month, and up on the site as well. I am realizing that deciding to only post MP3s labels/bands have said are okay to post is quite difficult when it’s not the song you want to talk about, and when it’s your personal blog and not Forkcast or Paper Thin Walls. Well.

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Recently in IRL

September 20th, 2006 • general
Tags: emily haines, m ward, paper, paste, resonance, tobey, writing

Two short profiles of M. Ward and Emily Haines, in the last and current issues of Paste (along with a couple of reviews in the former). Paste is becoming my favorite place to write for (next to Pitchfork, because nothing beats hate mail), and I’m not just saying that because my editor there reads and comments on my entries.

Also, some short reviews in Paper and something for Resonance. I don’t have much coming up, because I’ve been doing more at CMJ, and trying to catch up with stuff on the Pitchfork and Paper Thing Walls side.

I’m working on a singles review of the Women Take Back The Noise comp. Playing around with the packaging over the last two nights, Mark and I discovered that Tobey hates noise. He doesn’t seem to mind the playing, but the making. Proof. Check the glockenspiel moneyshot at the end. I found it in the trash a few month ago, and I can play the opening eight notes of “Chicago” by Sufjan Stevens and “Be Gentle With Me” by Boy Least Likely To.

Also, I’ve been reading a lot of this blog over the last two days. It belongs to Sean Nelson, whom I talked to for a story last week, and whom I possibly offended by calling the interview ‘funny and sad’. Anyway. His blog is ostensibly about music but is a lot more personal than most music writers’ blogs (and yes, it’s funny and sad too). I should know better than to keep favorite interviews locked away in (senti)mental files, but whatever. This one can sit next to the Unicorns, Man Man, Danielson, and Feist.

Finally: