Blunderbuss

Jack White is one of my favorite musicians and I am overjoyed to sit and listen to his new solo album Blunderbuss which dropped last Tuesday. I'm so glad he has never stopped or gone a stray from the path of blues based story telling. Everything he has touched in my heart turns to gold. In the most snooty art critical way I love his work lol! But anyway let's get to the album!

It's starts with Missing Pieces about a love taking. And boom. There's the set up for the whole album. The sadness of moving on from love lost clouds the whole beautiful album. Weep Themselves To Sleep is like something off a Raconteurs album in it's progressiveness but then comes I'm Shakin' and it's a off tinged jam like Little Ghost. Every song is individually interesting and very Jack White... how else do you put that? Good Cd, Jack White. Yeah lol Take Me With You When You Go

As far as the title, I found out what a blunderbuss was not too long ago when someone mentioned one at a shooting range. I then looked it up on the ole' Wikipedia to find out that a blunderbuss is:

"a muzzle-loading firearm with a short, large caliber barrel, which is flared at the muzzle and frequently throughout the entire bore, and used with shot and other projectiles of relevant quantity and/or caliber. The blunderbuss could be considered to be an early form of shotgun or muzzleloader, which was often adapted to military and defensive use."

In the lately I thought Jack might have been losing his ever loving mind, but it turns out that even if he has... his heart is still in the right place. Here's the video for Sixteen Saltines.

Sometimes I feel so late :)

Why oh why is Avi Buffalo not touring and making more perfect albums???



I've been listening to Remember Last Time since 2010 and it hasn't yet gotten old. What's In It For was a metaphor for my failed relationships and the holes I saw in new ones. And now that I finally got a copy of the whole album, the love for them is hitting me even harder.

I went to the library, which amazing has an extensive CD collection and picked up three albums from Arctic Monkeys. I never gave them the fair shot they deserved after a group of kids at my school covered Fake Tales of San Francisco causing me a negative eye twitch. But then years later I was sitting at my friend Judy's and she played A Certain Romance. The riff in that song made me believe that they were at least worth another try. How that goes, I will write when I've decided.



Above Avi Buffalo right now though is Fun. Aim and Ignite was a great album and I think I've known the words to At Least I'm Not As Sad As I Used To Be since 10th grade. On the reals though, they've out done themselves with Some Nights. It's their Viva La Vida. Every song is listenable and follows  general themes of missing one's mother, one's sister, wondering how adult life dragged them and whether the struggle to make a dream are worth one's innocence. My favorite line comes from Why Am I the One when Ruess states "My life's become as vapid as a night out in Los Angeles, and I just want to stay in bed...". It reminds me of all the things I've missed in taking on my new job. The repeated war references and cadence like drum beats throughout the cd hit home. I honestly haven't felt this connected to an album since Viva La Vida connected me to my last years in LA.



Some Nights has the "End Of The Drugs" effect that I'm going through, where you look at your life now that the shine has worn off and wonder just what the hell. I love it, because in my opinion that's the state of art right now. The shine of it all has worn off. Indie rock has gone the way of the 70 guitar gods. It's self indulgent and exhausting. Movies are just an endeless flow of recycled ideas. Fashion has not evolved in two years and not even a Lady Gaga spectacle can fix it. (I realize this is a rant now) We need to pull together and create something new, our generation needs something of our own. There's no scene, and that's sad. It's not just the arts either, it's the war, it's the economy, it's literature, it's all dead and only we can fix it... so yeah lol.

Bloody Mary and The Red Room

I went on the Dangerbird records website to be informed of the new Silversun Pickups record entitled Neck of The Woods which is due out May 8th. The first single Bloody Mary is soooo good. The first time I heard it I got the same chill I got from Lazy Eye. They recorded up in Brian Aubert's old haunt Topanga Canyon. Spin Magazine did this behind the scenes shoot on the making of. http://www.spin.com/gallery/woods-behind-silversun-pickups-may-lp Here's a link to pre-order and check out Bloody Mary. As much as I loved Swoon... I think Neck of The Woods is gonna blow it out of the water.... just saying.

Preorder Silversun Pickups "Neck Of The Woods" & Hear New Song "Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings)"

I pre-ordered it... and I feel no regrets lol. 

The Red Room (second topic of this post) is a hole in the wall venue here in Tacoma that I got to see my friends Thy Floor Is Lava and Family Thief play at earlier this month. It's unmarked next to a medical dispensary, basically an empty room with a PA system and an awesome wall sign. For $7 bucks that night I got to see about 7 or so bands play, including Hella Down and stage beasts Ghost Animals. Ghost Animal really took the show. On the eve of their first cd release party they danced, did flips, spun guitars, and left everyone in awe. It was like what The Rolling Stone's Rock and Roll Circus suggested and their music is great too. I picked up a copy of their cd New English and have actually played it more than once. Chatting with the guys before and after the show they were down to Earth and extremely interested in the other bands. Not one of which was disappointing. Some really good talent came through and I hope the next time I go it'll be just as good.

I GOT A LED ZEPPELIN TATTOO!

                                                                    And there it is

Hello JSA. After a long stint debating whether or not I would end up in New York or my beloved Los Angeles after high school I joined the Army and ended up in Washington State living 40 min from Seattle! Talk about getting what you least expect when you least expect it. :) Since getting here I have had some awesome experiences and heard a lot of music.

First of all I saw Sleigh Bells live on Feb 24th when they played the Showbox at the Market with the Black Bananas. Nothing has ever been so amazing in my life seeing as it was my first concert.  I crowd surfed Infinity Guitars and Crown On The Ground and got to hold Alexis's hand while she sang. ~~~Concert Wet Dream Complete~~~ I think yes!

I also picked a copy of Reign of Terror on vinyl and at first I did not like it. It's slow and rings like a continuation of Rachel from their first album Treats. The songs are more repetitive and the abstract ideas are few. After many listens the songs have been accepted and I can listen with interest, but overall it's a slight digression in my opinion. Demons= Take It Down. Rill Rill = Have A Heart. For all the creative genius and potential exhibited on Treats you would think finding a new melodic line for Reign Of Terror would be easy. Songs like Born To Lose and Comeback Kid are a logical progression for the band but the rest could easily have been cutting room floor tracks from Treats...

The Black Bananas formerly RTX fronted by the astounding Jennifer Herrema were the opening act for Sleigh Bells that lovely night and they changed my world a little. First of all they came on unannounced looking like Sleigh Bell's drugged out roadie crew. No introduction just about 6 minutes of awkward sounds checking and launched into their set. If you've heard any of their music then you know it sounds like a teenage jam band in a Topanga Canyon basement. The crowd had no idea wtf was happening and didn't really figure it out until the end of their set. There was a lot of talking and booing but I'll tell you what, I was in love. Herrema moved with the grace of a Fear and Loathing Depp around the stage, her head down, her words a low murmur over a most funked out guitar and effects section. She wore a Sleigh Bells hoodie with signature ripped jeans, fox tail, and fur collared jacket. Every song in my ears was a hit, so I bought rushed to pick up two of their cd's after the show. Now I am a proud owner of Rad Times Express and Rad Times Express IV, both of which do the band consistent justice.

What shows will come my way next I do not know, but sadly it won't be Girls at Pappy and Harriet's on April 19th. "Somone" <-- will be still stuck in Washington when the most intimate of amazing concerts happens in my old desert since the Cold War Kids and Vampire Weekend!!! But I digress, eventually Courtney and Girls will be together in one room and it will be fantastical... Like their new cd Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!~which is what summer dreams are made of. I remember the first time I heard Lust For Life and wanted to marry the song. The images Owens paints with his words, the longing for a better more love filled reality felt (corny I know) like they were being pulled from the pages of my most inner diary and I never thought music could be in a more current and perfect state. Alex... is the next chapter. I know everyone is all gaga for Vomit and Honey Bunny, but Alex in my opinion is the next chapter to Lust and Summertime. It's like he finally found love, but the honeymoon phase is over and even though the feelings remain, the romance is slightly jaded. Almost , reminiscent of America's "Work To Do".

Sorry to ramble but I wonder if Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! is a stream of consciousness take on the band's current successes. Coming off the major waves of success and acceptance given for Album. FSHG! sound's like an new adult at the end of their last teenage drug binge getting ready to walk out and face the world as a functioning member for the first time. The light hitting their face and them twitching up their nose in the realization of why their parent's are the way they are.

That's probably thinking too much into though. 

So let's just look at Hedi Slimane's photos of Chris Owens from his MOCA exhibit Hedi Slimane: California Song which showed this January.

I'm in love, are you in love?

Next up on my rant log:

Avi Buffalo

Fun

Foo Fighters

Fleet Foxes

Ghost Animals

And

!!!SILVERSUN PICKUPS!!!

Hellooooo JSA

I haven't neglected my baby, I  just haven't had internet at my house for the past month and nowwww I'm off to bootcamp. So as soon as I get a way to use internet regularly again I will be back and posting regularly. I miss you

Stuff to do...

Hey so I finally decided to start uploading recordings of the songs I've written. They're on a MYSPACE page... remember those? LOL well if you go there I'll smile and then put more songs up.


Fur Coats On Jesus


L                   O                     V                      E

I'm Still Here... Where else would I be?

Summer is officially here and my baby Troy is now all grown up and running his own blog http://whatsatroy.tumblr.com/ I'm so proud of him, following his dreams and making me dresses for tea. (What, you thought I was not gonna be selfish with his gifts?)

I've been busy working and getting into shape *yes I said working* to make sure my butt is in order come August. It makes me feel better to know that the time is finally drawing near. I can feel pressured and actually want to exercise instead of make this face: @.+ all day.

Incubus and 311 have been dominating my ears lately. The new Incubus song "Adolescents" is so good. I love how dark and rich their tone is. There's a special place in my heart for Incubus, especially my favorite song A Crow Left Of The Murder. And even though Brandon and friends keep getting older they write about teenage angst like it's new to them. Well done, well done. I am in love. I'm going back in time with 311, listening to First Straw and All Mixed Up. I love them and I don't love ska, so that's saying a lot.





Guys never cease to amaze me... when they're in love nothing can stop them and it's supposed to be romantic, but when you love them you're a crazy bitch that needs to stop creeping... just an observation HA!

I'm still obsessed with Hysteric Glamour!!! They so sick with the threads  IT  AIN'T  EVEN  FUNNY. They have the best rock and roll clothes and the nicest materials. Most of their clothes pay homage to their favorite bands like the MC5, Hole, The Ramones and Nirvana. They also have a sexy motorcycle thing going on. They've found fans in Steve Aoki, Courtney Love, annnd most importantly Miss Courtney Niles. Check em out. Cool Shit

The Courtney Love dress from Nylon!!!

DJ Steve Aoki

I got a steal from the Cobra Shop on these pants that feature an MC5 patch and a mix of pant/jean/sweat with Kick Out The Jams Mother FUCKER etched across the front <3 These are definitely going in the KEEP pile when I pack.

Days for me have been pretty quiet other than that :) I really want to watch Confessions Of A Teenage Drama Queen and work to go see Maroon 5 and the Foo Fighters this summer. Hopefully it happens and I can get in some good times with all my friends before I'm off to the rest of my life.

I love you all and all music
~Courtney