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It was 4AM and I was in the home of two complete strangers, a French Canadian couple I’d met at a bar earlier that night. Initially I thought maybe they were angling for some sick sex experiment to spice up their marriage but it turns out they just wanted someone to do cocaine and talk Israel-Palestine with. I was only interested in one of those things though. I was about to go home but made one request before I left. I asked kindly if the man in capri pants, drinking a red stripe with his feet up and playing edm from a Bluetooth speaker connected to his phone would put on one song for me, Madonna’s “What It Feels Like for a Girl.” He shrugged and put it on and they went back to talking about how Israel was actually super fun or whatever and I quietly got up and started dancing. This must have surprised them because pretty soon they stopped talking and watched with horror forming on their faces. The song ended and I asked for a cigarette for the road. As far as I was concerned these people hadn’t done enough for me. Free cocaine and cigarettes were the least they could do considering the show I’d just put on for them. I don’t remember exactly how I got home, no train route from that neighborhood to mine that would make sense and no record of an Uber, but I made it home nonetheless and awoke the next day in my bed feeling pretty stupid about the whole ordeal. Nights like that make me sad, make me feel irresponsible and reckless, like I need to value my life more. I was feeling regretful and somber, I had a slight headache and if I wanted to I could cry on command, so I was in the ideal state to be seeing Mark Kozelek (red house painters, sun kil moon), one of my absolute heroes, that night at the Roxy.
Jan 15, 2024
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The energy palpably shifted as soon as Hamilton Leithauser started playing “A 1000 Times” last night. And what a thing it is, to share space with a bunch of people you don’t know being moved by the same perfect piece of music.
The last time I heard this song live, I went alone to see him play in DC. It was 2017, I was very single, and feeling a bit despondent about the state of the world (living in DC during that period was just hard). What a wild form of time travel it is to see him so many years later in Chicago with my husband sitting next to me! Little lonesome heartbroken Sandy would have loved to know that everything was going to be okay. And that, my friends, is the magic of music. It transports us, unlocks portals, connects us to people we don’t know, moves us, tells stories, and creates a mood.
If you’re looking for a good entry to Hamilton Leithauser, I highly recommend his album with Rostam Batmanglij titled “I Had A Dream That You Were Mine”. Not a single song is worth skipping.
Mar 2, 2025
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I went to a Crywank show last month but I had an anxiety attack and had to leave before they actually came on. I’ve been doing this kind of a lot lately – leaving shows before the headliner plays is actually a bonus recommendation from me. It helps you really appreciate the openers. Luckily for me, the opener at the Crywank show was this Toronto artist called COMMUTED and he totally rocked my world. He makes kind of surreal dance-pop that sounds sort of like if LCD Soundsystem was more manic and also covering the Barenaked Ladies. I’ve been listening to this song literally every single day since I first heard it.
May 24, 2022
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I went to a festival, Sun Cycle NYD, here in Melbourne and Overmono were just excellent. I haven't stopped listening all week and I am rethinking full time employment for full time doof-rat-ness instead.
Jan 4, 2024
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Woke up next to someone this morning, went to my computer to put on some music and when I opened it up it was just this pic of Lars Von Trier and she looked aghast and said … “who is that?”
Jan 8, 2024
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My roommate is google searching images from Lars Von Trier’s “The House That Jack Built,” pointing emphatically at Matt Dillon as the titular character, a prolific serial killer, and shouting “this bitch is Jack-made!” I have at points in my life been “the crazy bitch whisperer”… I think I’m maybe just into the high risk, under the cover of darkness, we cant be found out, there’s something deeply wrong with all this VIBE… not always, this kind of thing usually runs parallel with other self-destructive behaviors and periods in which I am simply not doing too hot! Said roommate also shouted at me recently, “yo she’s James Spader-made as fuck!”
Jan 7, 2024
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Because you love him.
Jan 16, 2024