Plasticaisle

The End.

I believe I may have finally reached the saturation point.

I have decided to stop writing this blog. I haven’t written on it since before Christmas so this news shouldn’t be exactly Earth shattering. I have met many fine folks through this thing and have enjoyed writing posts here and there, but I feel like my heart is not really in it. I have so much going on in my life right now (95% good) but I’d rather share my opinions and life with my friends and family in a more personal forum….like over drinks or on the phone (or email).

While I believe that blogs and the internet in general have been great in popularizing cultural critique, I’m also kind of deafened by the noise and finding myself increasingly disinterested in nearly everything I read online. Life’s too short to be disinterested. Why continue to be a part of the chatter when the conversation bores you?

So I am putting my money where my mouth is and closing up shop!

Not sure how long the site will stay up, but feel free to drop me a line!

XOXO

Bryce

I'm back (ish)

I don't think that I have been busier and crazier than I have been in the last 4 months in my entire life.  It's been a whirlwind, I tell ya!  Things are good, in case you are wondering.  It's just that posts (even microposts) are about the last thing I have on my mind these days.  I hopefully will have more time over the 11 day break (yay!) to write more in depth re: my latest exciting events.

A few things:

• Neil and I are currently holed up in the OKC airport on our way to GA to visit his folks.  We just had a wonderful 36 hour visit with my entire immediate family, spouses, nieces, etc.  All I can say is that I absolutely adore each and every one of them.  I am the luckiest guy in the world when it comes to family.  They are all wonderful.
• The place we are holed up in at the airport is called the 1907 Lounge and our coctail waitress is a Korean lady named Conchita who I freaking love.  Yes we've had a few drinks.  What else do you do when your flight was cancelled and you've got 5 hours to kill?
• I have 12 movies on my list to see over the break.  First is Persepolis.  I just read the book and can't wait for the film.
• I got a few AMAZING gifts this year. I gave gift cards.  Everyone loves Targét, right?
• I will have 5 days off after we get back on the 28th, so gimme a ring if you are in NYC!  I'd love to see you.

Here are a few tracks off one of my fave reissues to come out in 2007, Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind (Singles and Demos 1964 to 1967) .  "Winter is Blue" is the rare version that wasn't on her Diamond Day reissue. 

Vashti Bunyan---Winter is Blue

Vashti Bunyan---I Want to be Alone

The gayest thing ever.

I just spent nearly $200 on the Kate Bush box set. I love the music, but I am so happy that I'm not a closeted 14 year old listening to Hounds of Love on my walkman anymore while curled up under a blanket.

New Dove viral video

I am loving the latest Dove viral vid.

Maybe there should be one specifically aimed at gay men and metrosexuals, no? Can you imagine? Haha!

Gravenhurst---Trust

I am obsessed with this song.  It's been on my iPod for only a few days, but I've listened to it dozens of times already.  I got the full LP tonight.  Check out the video.  Beautiful song.  Nice video.  Sad as fuck lyrics.  And those guitars!!  Damn, it's the same reason I love the old Clientele so much.  Just turn the reverb ALL THE WAY UP.  The slinky lead guitar reminds me of old New Zealand bands jamming with the Velvet Underground in an airplane hanger.  Sublime!

Download

More hospital.

Have you seen The Squid & the Whale?

Brilliant film.  Had to watch it twice before I sent it back to Netflix.  I can't say enough good things about the genius script. 

Well, a week and a half ago, as I lay with an IV in my arm in the hospital, I swear to God that Walt, the annoying son, was laying next to me behind a sheet.  The way he spoke to the doctors and nurses was nearly identical to the way Walt spoke to nearly everyone he came into contact with.  He just had that annoying, smug attitude that only kids from educated East Coast families have.   I called Neil and we had a laugh of acknowledgment.  Those Walt types are all around us in this city offering their opinions about all manner of subjects.  So you woke up feeling dizzy?  You aren't currently working, just remodeling the loft your parents just bought you?  Your girlfriend thought you might have meningitis?  Boo friggin hoo.  Go back to your Ivory tower and get out of my third world hospital.

The nurse shot me up with morphine, directly into my IV and I understood why heroin addicts enjoy the rush of drugs directly into their veins.  It's heaven.  Remind me never to try heroin.

So I lay in the hideous Beth Israel hospital for 4 days.  No food.  No water.  Nothing but an IV and occasional shots of morphine.  I didn't turn on the TV once.  I just watched episodes of Buffy on my laptop (damn those kids were young looking in season 1!).  I watched a creepy film called Séance on a Wet Afternoon which Glenn recommended to me and I recommend to you.  When they finally brought me something to eat, it was this.

I was starving and yet, I refused to eat it.  It smelled like it looked.  Can you believe it?!?

I have tremendous sympathy for people in the hospital.  Endless hours of boredom, noise, hideous food, IVs, uncomfortable beds, and scary staph infections.  I really wouldn't wish it on anyone.  I make a terrible patient too.  I never want anyone to visit me.  I told Neil he wasn't allowed to tell anyone where I was because the last thing I wanted were visitors.  I hate the smocks they make you wear and I hate that people come in to your room everyday asking you if you went #2 today.  It's all so incredibly humiliating.  The darling Irish lass in the ER inserting a thermometer into my rectum was just the beginning. 

So I came home from the hospital exactly one week ago today and spent the rest of the week doing work from home, watching films, obsessively watching Ken Burns The War (brilliant, BTW) and buying mass amounts of things on Amazon.  When you can't go out and blow your money on dinner, drinks, cabs and fun, why not indulge in hundreds of dollars worth of CDs and books?!?

I got this one by an old favorite's new band.  I ordered this one directly from the label.  Katy Davidson and M. Ritchey were in Dear Nora, a band from PDX that I saw many times back in the day.  We even shared a label.  I LOVE their new record under the name Lloyd & Michael.  It's gorgeous.  I particularly love when Ritchey's harmony vocals come in towards the end of this track.  And the police sirens in the background.  And the loping guitar/vocal hook.  Ingenious and simple.  Bedroom folk/pop at it's finest.

Lloyd & Michael---A Real Time Here

Out of the hospital...

Well that sucked.  And it was not the way I wanted to spend my weekend.

I'll have surgery to cut out a few inches of my colon in the winter.  Hopefully FAR FAR away from Beth Israel Hospital (aka. the cradle of filth). 

Seriously, when I got into that cab, I told them to take me to NYU Medical Center's emergency room.  DO NOT make the same mistake that I did and get out at Beth Israel.  They are a few blocks apart but apparently completely on different planets in terms of medical care.  BI is seriously Third World.  Thankfully, I was on an IV and no food or liquids.  I wish someone had warned me.

Adrian Klumpes---Passing Pain

In praise of Unwound.

I have been listening to so much Unwound on my iPod lately that I feel like I'm 23 and living in the Pacific Northwest ca. 1995.  And I'm not complaining at all!!

This is my all-time favorite rock trio.

Justin's perfect guitar squall, Sara's inventive and crackling beats, and Vern's bass holding all the glorious mess together...nothing rocks me more.

They put out consistently amazing records in the 90s and broke up before they started sucking.  Their last record, released in 2001, was brilliant but the core Unwound sound happened between 93 and 98.  I've put some Unwound up in the past, but here's some more in case you needed convincing.  Their sound developed over the course of these 5 albums.   New Plastic Ideas is my personal favorite, but I love them all.

Unwound---Nervous Energy (from Fake Train --1993)

Unwound---Envelope (from New Plastic Ideas---1994)

Unwound---Demolished (from The Future of What---1995)

Unwound---Message Received (from Repetition---1996)

Unwound---No Tech (from Challenge for a Civilized Society---1998)

 

It's Britney bitch..

Every once in a while when you buy fireworks, they fail to explode and you are left with the feeling that your drive across state lines to buy them was a major waste of time. 

Sightings at PS1

I have to say, I get a perverse thrill out of witnessing culture clash.  And for that, I was absolutely thrilled by the Sightings show at PS1 this past Saturday.  It's kind of amazing to watch what hundreds of people, expecting to hear dance music, will do when forced to endure a massive wall of atonal noise for 45 minutes.  It was thrilling.  It felt like people were going to get violent.  The tension in the air was palpable.  Endorphins were definitely pumping.

I have only felt that way once before...at a 1991 My Bloody Valentine concert.  During that show, it was late and most left.  At PS1, most were socializing, drinking micro brews and awaiting DJs.  A real NYC racial and cultural mix.  Very few were there to see "bands". 

And they were pissed. 

All of my friends left. 

So I just stood there, watching as dozens of people held up their middle fingers at the stage and shouted obscenities.  I soaked in the noise and watched everyone around me get agitated.  I wonder how often members the insular NOISE scene play in front of people who don't expect or appreciate it.  It was sorta awesome to witness, even if everyone I know ditched me.  And while I wouldn't throw a Sightings record on my next party mix, I most definitely would go see them again.  People need to get their mind's fucked once in a while.  It's healthy.