MusicIsMyBeachHouse

xxxIan Carey - Shakyxxx

2009-09-29T07:34:00.000-07:00

wanna get shaky after school?

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxSemi-Precious Weapons - Skeletonsxxx

2009-09-28T09:55:00.000-07:00

hot

gettin his fix - tablod junkie.

xxxGlass Ghost - Like A Diamond [NEW VIDEO]xxx

2009-09-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

Like a Diamond by Glass Ghost from Western Vinyl on Vimeo.

xxxEllie Goulding - Wish I Stayed [NEW]xxx

2009-09-21T14:48:00.000-07:00

Ch-ch-check out this lovely new track produced by FrankMusik!

I wish (U) stayed, stayed, stayed...

xxxLittle Boy by The Honey Brothers [Music Video]XXX

2009-09-15T13:02:00.000-07:00

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xxxIan Carey - Shakyxxx

2009-08-19T19:34:00.000-07:00

wanna get shaky after school?

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxRadiohead - These Are My Twisted Words [New Single]XXX

2009-08-15T09:10:00.000-07:00

As Radiohead had said... they will release no more material in the traditional album format... and, at that, the trickling of new songs begins... Last week the single for the only remaining UK veteran of the First World War "Harry Patch (In Memory Of)" was digitally released. And now... Have a listen to...

These Are My Twisted Words - Radiohead

=*0*HM

xxxD'arcy Emerges!- [Lost Icons]XXX

2009-08-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

The former Smashing Pumpkins minx makes an eye-opening call to this radio station in CHI-Town. CLICK THE PIC... you have to hear this shit! No one's heard from D'arcy in years. WAWAWAWA. Horse farmer? Manson's dad? Davy Jones?

=0*HM*

xxxMadonna - Celebration [NEW SINGLE LEAK]

2009-07-30T10:04:00.000-07:00

come join the party...

Untitled from Jacques Peterson on Vimeo.

being called the Queen's best single since Confessions! Yay!

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie

xxxJAY-Z, Rihanna, Kanye West - Run This Town [NEW SINGLE]xxx

2009-07-24T11:02:00.000-07:00

from Jay-Z's upcoming album The Blueprint 3 9/11.

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxTHC Playlist #18 - Kicking Up DustXXX

2009-07-24T09:00:00.000-07:00

Don't be afraid to leave a little wake along your trail...

THC #18 [Kicking Up Dust]

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xxxSnake Sweat - Film Featuring the Distorted Versions of the YEAH YEAH YEAHSXXX

2009-07-23T16:00:00.000-07:00

Jump to Pitchfork.TV by clicking here to view the Video...
and meet The Black Widow... The Philosopher... and The Scientist... bwahahhaha

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xxxRegina Spektor - Far's Bonus Tracks!XXX

2009-07-23T11:11:00.000-07:00

"Time is all around except inside my clock."
Hmmmmm.

Respektor Bonus

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xxxMiike Snow - Burial [Music Video & Remix]XXX

2009-07-22T15:00:00.000-07:00

Misery is all we know lately
Saturday's are all the same
Sympathy is overrated
Like a snapshot when you've lost the game

And then DJ Mehdi got his hands & ears on Burial... and Miike Snow got his fingers into some Passion Pit... hmmm...

Miike Snow Burial

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xxxTiny Vipers @ Public Access Media TVXXX

2009-07-22T10:50:00.000-07:00

Eyes Like Ours

do you recall when the world was still young
just a small town
just a small town

well I heard you walked cross its borders
into the unknown
into the unknown

and eyes full of wonder

times, they were hard, they brought you to the dirt
that buried you
that buried you

and under the ground you got tangled by the roots
of what youd known
of what youd known

and no tears in their eyes, they had nothing to say
just watching you
just watching you

and eyes gaze and focus

things have come around but youre minding only
what has been done
what has been done

and it is a great weight thats been holding me down
while drawing you in
while drawing you in

and eyes take your breath away

taking their time, take it easy while
you're losing control
you're losing control

and eyes daze unfocused

and eyes like ours
they bring the world to us
they turn you around and around
and eyes following the daylight
back into the ground
back into the ground

Development

"But, like, there's a spider that, like, lives in my guitar. And I, like, reached in there once, and I felt its, like, web."

=*0*HM

xxxPassion Pit - To Kingdom Come [NEW VIDEO]xxx

2009-07-18T07:16:00.000-07:00

Passion Pit | To Kingdom Come from EFFIN' MEGA VIDEOS on Vimeo.

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxMadonna Cries...xxx

2009-07-17T13:00:00.000-07:00

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxNaked Boy Doing Gymnasticsxxx

2009-07-17T11:13:00.000-07:00

gettin his Friday afternoon fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxThe Killers Walk On Stage: So U Want 2 B a Rock Superstarxxx

2009-07-13T16:53:00.000-07:00

BRANDON FLOWERS IS OUR ROCK SUPERSTAR

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie

xxxImogen Heap - First Train Home [NEW]xxx

2009-07-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

Eagerly awaiting Ellipse's upcoming release on 8/24.

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxSally Shapiro - Love in July [NEW VIDEO]xxx

2009-07-11T01:15:00.000-07:00

Found this on Stereogum and now listening to it on repeat... Head over to Stereogum for the MP3.

gettin his fix out on the beach - tabloid junkie.

xxxHeading to Malibu in 5, 4, 3, 2...xxx

2009-07-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxThe Killers feat. Rhythms Del Mundo - Hotel California [NEW SONG]xxx

2009-07-02T15:39:00.001-07:00

An early 4th of July treat for ya'll...

Will you marry me Mr. Flowers? We could stay awhile down at the Hotel Claifornia for Independence Day. Maybe set off a few fireworks...

Will be featured on the charity album CLASSICS released 8/11. Alongside The Killers will also be Katy Perry, Amy Winehouse, The Rolling Stones, KT Tunstall, John Mayer, Fall Out Boy and Jack Johnson donated their support to the album.

gettin' his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxWhitney Houston - I Didn't Know My Own Strength [NEW SINGLE]xxx

2009-07-02T14:35:00.000-07:00

We're a sucker for some Whitney... Verdict: We think she's back!

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxMichael Jackson: RIPxxx

2009-06-25T14:37:00.000-07:00

tabloid junkie

xxx42 Rotations [short film]xxx

2009-06-22T21:07:00.000-07:00

Adrian + Shane's short film featuring Madonna, "42 Rotations" has just been awarded 'The Special Jury Award' at Pride Film Shorts Awards which took place in Dublin last night.

Filmed at the Astoria (G-A-Y) in London on November 19th 2005 using a Canon IXUS 50 digital camera that was meant to take a photograph but due to a wrong setting recorded a (one second long) accidental film instead. Adrian + Shane then used that second of video footage, repeating the same clip over and over 42 times. The color changes with each repetition.

-Madonnatribe.com

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxTHC# 17 - WildXXX

2009-06-20T11:46:00.000-07:00

WILD! SATURDAY NIGHT! BUT BEWARE!

THC #17

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xxxDo You Know Chris Bell's Music?XXX

2009-06-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

Looking back through some random albums today, I found I AM THE COSMOS and listened to it. I got curious about it's writer... and found, I knew next to nothing. So, I then came curiously across the following article (PS. What a wrist-slitter):

(PRESS PLAY)

Chris Bell

"The Sad Life & Death of Chris Bell
by Scott E. Miller
August 8, 2000

Rock and roll eats its own.

Senseless wastes of life and talent are nothing new in rock and roll. Elvis was ground down by the pressures of his own celebrity, ending up in the Army and following that with an endless series of lousy B-movies. He briefly returned to the top of his form; made some excellent recordings and did some good live shows, between 1968 and 1970, and thereafter became the Fat Joke Elvis, the one most people are familiar with, before dying on the toilet--a degrading, humiliating way to die if there ever was one.

And if that wasn't enough, he was posthumously libeled by Albert Goldman, who seemed to feel no compunctions about depicting the once and former King as an ignorant, cretinous hillbilly. Elvis wasn't a saint, to be sure, and he did a number of stupid things in his life, but he wasn't the rock 'n' roll L'il Abner. Unfortunately, this version of Elvis has stuck with a gigantic section of the population. You don't even want to know what I wished on Goldman for that one.

It seems perversely appropriate that the King-sized Daddy of Rock ought to be a king-sized joke, but Elvis is far from rock 'n' roll's only casualty. The people who make Pop-Tarts licensed Jimi Hendrix's rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" to advertise their little toaster pastries, nearly thirty years after he choked on his own vomit from an overdose--a death that probably could have been avoided, had anyone wit enough to turn the man on his side and keep his airway open. Of course, the use of once-revolutionary objects by the Establishment is a whole different subject, but it's enough to give one pause. Once an icon, now an undead shill for Pop-Tarts. I'm told that the Hendrix family has also licensed their Golden Boy's likeness for golf bags. "Hey, man! It's time to tee off with Jimi! Now available in new 'Purple Haze' color!" I don't begrudge the Hendrix family the right to score some real cash after being screwed over for years by Alan Douglas and Warner Bros. and all the other people with some scraps of releasable tape--ain't nothing romantic about poverty, ask someone who's been there--but golf bags? When Jimi was alive, there probably wouldn't have been more than one or two (if that) golf courses in the entire country that would have allowed a black man on their hallowed links.

Then, of course, there's Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones. Janis Joplin. Nick Drake. Phil Lynott. John Bonham. Keith Moon. Poor dumb Sid Vicious, who lived out his fantasies so thoroughly that he seems to have killed his girlfriend Nancy Spungeon and almost certainly killed himself, just by being, well, dumb.

And let's not forget the Modern Youth Culture Martyr-cum-Role Model, Kurt Cobain, who suffered from such extreme depression that he chose to shoot himself in the head rather than continue living. Nobody apparently considered the idea of getting him some help, either, other than to perform an "intervention" and chuck him into a drug clinic. Tough love didn't work for him either. In the end, he decided his own pain was so horrible, that it outweighed the pain he'd cause his family and friends by offing himself. Exuent "the modern John Lennon," as critics liked to call him.

(Mia Zapata of the Gits--raped and murdered in an alley--had it a lot worse, I'd suspect, but the Gits weren't famous, despite the best efforts of Joan Jett, so nobody outside of indie circles and some Spin readers really noticed. The real tragedy of rock 'n' roll deaths--if you ain't famous, nobody cares, no matter how good you are or how much you've left behind.)

I could go through about ten dozen more stories like this one, but I won't, for three reasons: 1) This column is mainly about Chris Bell. 2) I don't have the room to do it. 3) Frankly, it'd be unbearably depressing.

The point is: Unlike any other form of culture, popular or otherwise, excepting the movies, rock 'n' roll has an alarming tendency to claim its own on a regular basis. (Witness the case of poor Mark Sandman--died of a heart attack on stage, in the middle of a set.) It's probably the most fatal modern religion, aside from the ones that sacrifice animals bought in pet stores. If you join this church, you might have to pay the highest price. There are rational explanations--the reckless lifestyle of rockers, the fact that most creative people seem always to be depressed, maybe even statistical blips (and let's not count the stupid "Famous people die in threes" clichÃ©. They don't die in threes, they die like the rest of us. Ten people could go in a month, and a year could pass before anyone else went). But it's still a creepy feeling, no matter what.

Chris Bell's case is an especially frustrating one. Here was a man with an incredible amount of talent, whose band (Big Star) couldn't keep a record deal together; who couldn't get a record label; who ended up being forced to return to working in his parents' restaurant chain; and who, when he finally had a new band together, died in a car accident while returning from a rehearsal, only a half mile from home (bringing to mind the new popular death clichÃ©, "Most car accidents occur within a few miles of the victims' homes," which may or may not be true). To add insult to injury, his sole album, or at least the album's worth of material he'd worked on for a while in 1974, wasn't released until 1992--despite the fact that the record stands as a minor classic, nobody, except Rykodisc (bless 'em--"I Am The Cosmos," Rykodisc RCD 10222, 1992), was interested.

Of course, the entire Big Star saga revolves heavily around missed chances, unlucky breaks, and frustration. Big Star came about as the result of ex-Box-Top Alex Chilton's attempts to get Chris Bell into a Simon-and-Garfunkel-ish duo, attempts which didn't work. Chilton came home to Memphis in part to persuade Bell to work with him, ended up impressed with Bell's songwriting, and Chris, for his part, was impressed that Alex Chilton could do something more than singing (admittedly enjoyable) Top 40 fare like "The Letter," "Cry Like A Baby," etc. Chris already had a band thing going with drummer Jody Stephens and old friend (and bassist) Andy Hummel, so they invited Alex to join their lineup.

Chilton and Bell, both ardent Anglophiles, maintained the same fiction that Lennon/McCartney did--all of their songs on Big Star's first album "#1 Record" are credited to "Bell/Chilton," a partnership that simply didn't exist, despite their mutual admiration thing. Chris would say, "I would suggest a few things, changes, etc., to Alex's numbers and he would similarly add to mine but really it was a separate thing." David Bell, Chris's older brother, suggests in the liner notes of "I Am The Cosmos" (from which the preceding quote was taken) that some of Chris's songs had actually been recorded before Alex joined the band; the band simply let Chilton overdub some parts to make them seem a product of the entire band. (Some observers might decry this as "evil," so let me point out a couple of things. Number one, it was an easy way to fill out a record with more quality material--and three of the four eventual band members had been present, anyway. Number two, it also helped to preserve the band's sense of identity--listening to the album, I'm damned if I can tell which ones were recorded before Chilton joined and which ones were recorded later, although I'm not sure if Chilton has any involvement with "The India Song," which wasn't a Bell number anyway.)

It's a marvel of a record, though--the least of the tracks might be Andy Hummel's "The India Song," which is hummable if nothing else. Bell's contributions--"Feel," "In The Street," "Don't Lie To Me," "My Life Is Right," "Try Again," and probably "ST 100/6" too--range from full-out rockers ("Feel," "Don't Lie To Me") which are nothing less than ferocious, unprovoked acts of aggression, to "In The Street," a mid-tempo song which doesn't make much of an impression on me, to the horribly melancholy (but lovely nonetheless) "My Life Is Right" and "Try Again." The name of the former song tells the story well--it's a protest, a defense, and just try to imagine the man's mental state if he felt it was even necessary to protest and defend his mere existence. Compelling listening, but the depression is all too evident to allow anyone to feel comfortable here. Even on "Feel," the focus isn't on the angry verses, but on the choruses where he moans, "Feel like I'm dying...." Bell's depression is lightened and evened out by Alex Chilton's cynical romanticism--for an example, let's look at the song "Thirteen." Here he is, a veteran of large-scale rock tours of the late sixties, a former member of a Top 40 band, witness (and probably participant in) some scenes which Chilton once succinctly described as "pretty sleazy," taking on the persona of a boy putting the make on a thirteen-year-old girl ("Would you let me meet you after school?"), all set to a beautiful melody and ethereal backing vocals. And setting Chilton's more upbeat songs ("The Ballad Of El Goodo" and "Watch The Sunrise") next to Bell's more depressing efforts lightens the mood effectively and provides the entire dynamic the record hinges on. Essential stuff.

"#1 Record" has since become a beloved relic of the power pop movement (a movement which, one suspects, Big Star didn't even know existed) and has exerted a powerful influence on several generations of musicians, from REM to Teenage Fanclub to Matthew Sweet and onwards. At the time of its first release, however, it was a bomb. Hardly anybody bought it. Hardly anyone could even find it. Their label was Ardent Records, which was owned by Stax Records, the once-great soul label now mostly sustained by Isaac Hayes, which was beginning to experience money problems and didn't have any real idea of how to sell white rock 'n' roll records. So while the critics drooled, Big Star was left with a great album that nobody knew existed and was selling fewer copies than even Frank Yankovic compilations. You can imagine what this did to a group of musicians, whose two most prominent members had strong egos and an even stronger desire to be sole leader of the band. David Bell even says that Chris tried to commit suicide at this point, but, fortunately, for whatever reason, either didn't do it or failed in his attempt.

The elder Bell did a wise thing at this juncture; he removed Chris from Memphis. Chris Bell spent time in Europe with his brother, drank "an alarming amount of bourbon and was generally inconsolable" (David Bell's notes again). Once Chris came back to the States, he tried to get back into "his band," ended up either writing or cowriting three songs ("O My Soul," "Way Out West," and "Back Of A Car"), and for which he got no credit when Big Star's second album, "Radio City," was finally released. (Alex Chilton slapped his name on "O My Soul," Andy Hummel got "Way Out West," and they took a co-credit on "Back Of A Car.") Nobody seems to know whether anything further transpired, but on the basis of the officially released evidence, I doubt Chris's involvement with the album could have gone much farther than writing or helping to write those songs and maybe playing on a few tracks. (Producer John Fry told Rick Clark that "Chris had an awful lot to do with the sonic part of 'Radio City,' and its vision." Other than mentioning that Chris wrote "between two and four songs"--the ones David Bell mentions, almost certainly, and definitely "Back Of A Car" at least--he failed to further elaborate. See the liner notes to "#1 Record/Radio City," CD, Stax/Ardent/Fantasy FCD-60-025, 1992.) Of the three songs, "O My Soul" sounds a bit like a latter-day disorganized Chilton song, "Way Out West" is a pleasing, catchy trifle sung by Jody Stephens, and "Back Of A Car" is one of the best songs on the album--a sly tribute to the tradition of necking in the back seat of a car, although the narrator is continually bothered by loud music on the radio while pledging his eternal love to his girlfriend.

After this debacle, Chris fell apart again--moving around the country, he twice more tried to kill himself and was hospitalized. At some point, he also got hooked on smack. David Bell once again dragged his brother out of the country, but this time took him to the Chateau d'Herouville in France, where Elton John had recorded "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," mostly to get him away from drugs and to get Bell the younger into a proper recording studio. Eight of the tracks on Bell's sole album, "I Am The Cosmos," date from these sessions. It's just as well that Bell wasn't around Memphis--Alex Chilton was also falling apart by this point and recording his own minor masterpiece, "Third/Sister Lovers/Beale St. Green" (etc., etc.), and one can only speculate on the effect of Bell being around when relentlessly downbeat or simply numb songs such as "Holocaust" or even "Big Black Car" were being recorded. It probably wouldn't have been too healthy for either one of them, to say the least.

Chris eventually wound his way back to Memphis, where he recorded a handful of other songs. Jody Stephens rejoined him to play drums on some of these tracks, six of which made it to the CD, but the booklet fails to note which ones. Chris also made peace with Chilton, and Chilton rejoined him to record the backing vocals on one version of "You And Your Sister."

From here on, Chris's career failed to go anywhere. He recorded another song, "Though I Know She Lies," and went into his parents' business. He got to see EMI reissue the two Big Star albums (albeit only in Britain); played in a band led by someone named Keith Sykes for six months; and wangled a single out of the tiny Car Records outfit. "I Am The Cosmos" and the Chilton-backed version of "You And Your Sister" got picked for this endeavor, but once again, despite good reviews, almost nobody could find the record, and as a result--no sales. Thus, no album. And on December 27, 1978 (one day after my second birthday, I might add, though I doubt I noticed the event at the time), Chris Bell died his sadly anonymous death. He hit a telephone pole while driving a Triumph (a very, very tiny car) and died pretty much on impact.

Those are the bare facts, then, with as little adornment as possible. And what we're left with is the music.

Just to start with, "I Am The Cosmos" should probably be the anthem of any clinically depressed person suffering from the end of a bad love affair. Bell methodically scourges himself--"Never want to see you again/Really want to see you again"--in a manner most of us can, unfortunately, probably recognize, at least a little bit. "Better Save Yourself" starts out with "I'm off the street/I'm all alone" and goes downhill from there. "I know you're mine/He treats you nice/It's suicide/I know, I tried it twice." Musically, it's reminiscent of some of the "heavier" things the Beatles did around the time of the White Album, and he does sound a bit like Paul McCartney here, but this is nothing the Beatles would have done (John Lennon probably would have on "Plastic Ono Band," but his self-pity isn't this stark--I doubt whether he was ever truly suicidal). Like Kurt Cobain's howls of rage, hurt, and, yes, self-pity on "In Utero," this is the real thing, and it's not comfortable listening. Bell's voice, one of the unique instruments in rock, rasps and tears and sometimes even gets it together into a mellow baritone, sort of like Cobain's did, but Chris could actually sing in a conventional sense.

"Speed Of Sound," meanwhile, is very much like a Big Star song, dealing with the same subject as "I Am The Cosmos"--unrequited love. The music, however, is truly beautiful, seemingly always descending, returning to the top again every so often to repeat itself, largely acoustic instrumentation, tasteful synthesizers, and even some vibes (no, this is not cheesy lounge music!) underlining his jealousy, until the other instruments drop out for a moment at around two-and-a-half minutes, the synthesizers coast in and quote part of the melody from the chorus of "I Am The Cosmos" before coasting along, sad and lonely and dignified and transcendent--and then back to the chorus. Scads of better-known musicians have gone entire careers without nailing something as exquisite as this song down--Brian Wilson has, Ray Davies has, maybe Gram Parsons, but few others.

"Get Away" is in the same vein as "Don't Lie To Me"--another burst of anger directed at a former lover, with a nifty though slight riff holding the song together. "Make A Scene" follows up in a similar way, though with a funkier underpinning--the second cousin of "O My Soul."

"Look Up," though, departs a little from the jilted lover genre--it's put in the terms of a lover trying to console someone, and I can't help but hear it as self-counsel, Chris telling himself to "look up/You'll see the sky," a counsel against his depression. The melody, though not ridding itself of its underlying melancholy, reaches upward rather downward, underlined by mellotron, gentle acoustic guitar, and the occasional electric guitar. Eventually, though, his depression catches up to him--"If you look up you'll see him/You'll know we're all alone"--before leading into the chorus again, an admission of hopelessness, perhaps, and knowing even just the bare facts of his life as I do, this song can become unbearable at times.

"I Got Kinda Lost" loosens things up again--this is a good-old-fashioned garage rocker, more hopeful, somewhat like "Back Of A Car" "There Was A Light" is another anthem of depression, which, although it has a stately melody, more nearly resembles the self-pity anthems of any number of '90s bands--maybe Morrissey heard this one when he joined the Smiths back in the '80s. Bell's sheer talent saves it from being precious, but it's not as affecting as some of the other songs, at least to me.

"Fight At The Table" covers more familiar territory. "I Don't Know" is much better, sounding like both "Feel" and Alex Chilton's "Mod Lang" (from Big Star's "Radio City")--I'd say it's one of the best rockers on the album, up there with "Better Save Yourself." It's still lyrically much the same as "Fight At The Table" and "Get Away," but rocks out with few signs of restraint.

And another acoustic gem. "Though I Know She Lies" may be arranged similarly to scads of singer-songwriter records made in the '70s, but it's far ahead of those limp efforts. In fact, it's probably the most depressing cut on the album, if only because it exemplifies the improvement he'd made since recording the other songs in his songwriting--who knows what he could have done, had he gotten a chance to live? It's a bitter admission--he's willing to do anything to hold on to his lover, no matter what he has to do, no matter how it hurts him--and executed with few signs of self-pity, highlighted by a slide-guitar solo that follows up on the twisted atmosphere, half-in-love, half hating her, finally admitting "I can't stay away" as the song simply closes.

If you own the disc, you may have noticed that I omitted a song. It was a deliberate omission.

After all, I was saving the best for last.

"You And Your Sister," originally released as the b-side of "I Am The Cosmos," is simply one of the best pop songs ever to grace the field of rock Â‘n' roll. Ever. This may be the ultimate in unrequited love--"All I want to do/Is to spend some time with you/So I can hold you"--set to a beautiful melody, coasting, bright, and always reaching upwards, though with greater effect than "Look Up."

The ultimate version, the one that graced the flip of "I Am The Cosmos," comes in at track five. The pace is measured, and with Bell's torn voice sounding both as if he's bleeding and as if he's ecstatic--and after the first chorus comes the voice of Alex Chilton, echoing the regret in Bell's voice, a poignant reminder of their short-lived partnership. The mood, sad and ebullient at once, is the best definition of "bittersweet" I could ever offer, while Bell for once is not threatening his lover or moping--he's consoling her, seducing her, madly announcing his love, and wilting in defeat. It's a great performance of a great song, and, in a fair world, would have caused his single to sell ten million copies rather than the pitiful handful of sales that greeted it. But I doubt it would have. These days, honest expressions of feelings don't count so much as coy, clever, deconstructions of emotions, which tend to be soulless (name one New Order song that matches even the least Joy Division song in raw power).

Well, it doesn't matter. This is an essential edition to anyone's album collection, warts and all. It's not a perfect album, sure. But this is the real stuff--there's nothing insincere or calculated about it. Even the extra tracks (an alternate take of "I Am The Cosmos" and two alternate versions of "You And Your Sister") are as good as the other 12 tracks. I can't stress this enough: GO OUT AND BUY THIS CD. NOW. And while you're at it, you may also enjoy the "#1 Record/Radio City" two-fer, available from Fantasy Records for your listening enjoyment--it should still be in print.

Finally, though, I have to come to something that was circling around and around in my head while I did the listening that counts as research for today's column. Chris Bell's death was a senseless waste of talent. There is absolutely no way to know what he would have done had he lived, but he should have the chance, at least. Dying when so many things were starting to look up for him, and in a senseless, non-suicidal car accident, was the cruelest irony imaginable, especially when you consider how hard he'd tried to die earlier. He lived, only to be brutally confined to obscurity on some cosmic whim. I'm not going to say "It's not fair," because as our parents always told us, "Life isn't fair." You have to have sucked on a few lemons to fully comprehend that one. And the obvious response is, "Well, at least we have these few recordings." True enough. But he could've done so much more.

Chris Bell's wasted life is one gigantic lemon.

I know I promised to write something on Smokey Robinson, but I just can't. Having spent several hours beating this column out of myself, listening to "I Am The Cosmos," and brooding, I'm not exactly inclined to write anything else.

Anyway, until we meet again.... "

Taken from... http://www.frontlinearts.com/bigstar/cache/00000032/view_article.html

=0*HM

xxxRegina Spektor - Far [A Peak At A Leak]XXX

2009-06-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

Regina's album Far... is Near, indeed. Nearr..... Far...... Nearrr.... Far...! Here are a few little leak drops to hold you over until it hits the streets on 6/23.

Far - SneakPeak!

If you still have questions about Far (or Near), please see Grover's take on the subject below.

=0*HM*

xxxPatrick Wolf The Bachelor Remixes - Triple ShotXXX

2009-06-10T17:22:00.000-07:00

Mr. Patrick Wolf's new album The Bachelor has only been out for a week or so, but has already been candied and treated with some exquisite remixes! Have a taste!

Bachelor Remix Triple Shot

=0*HM*

xxxThe Killers - A Dustland Fairytale [NEW VIDEO]xxx

2009-06-10T12:10:00.000-07:00

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxMadonna - Miles Away [OFFICIAL NEW VIDEO]xxx

2009-06-10T12:08:00.000-07:00

Don't know how this one slipped past me...

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxCoconuts by CocoRosie[New Song]XXX

2009-06-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

Anyone else ready for a vacation? Coconuts?

Coconuts

From CocoRosie's Upcoming- Coconuts, Plenty of Junk Food (EP) [2009]

=0*HM*

xxxEmpire of the Sun - Standing on the Shore [NEW VIDEO]xxx

2009-06-05T11:20:00.000-07:00

another hippy trip through the outback with our fav Australians.

if you liked that ch-ch-check this one out...

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxMy Movie Girl - Dances With Films Festival PremiereXXX

2009-06-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

Date:
Saturday, June 6, 2009

Time:
10:30am - 12:30pm

Location:
Laemmle Sunset 5

Street:
8000 Sunset Blvd.

City/Town:
West Hollywood, CA

BRING YOUR INDIE BLACK FRAMED GLASSES

=0*HM*

xxxKings of Leon - Notion [NEW VIDEO]xxx

2009-06-02T10:04:00.001-07:00

Kings Of Leon - Notion

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxLady Gaga - Paparazzi [NEW VIDEO]xxx

2009-05-29T16:14:00.000-07:00

Hmmm... Don't hate it. It pains me to say that, but it's a lot more interesting then most of the shat out there.

gettin' his freakin fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxPatrick Wolf - Hard Times [NEW VIDEO]

2009-05-29T13:05:00.000-07:00

With the upcoming release of his album (6/01) Patty Cakes gives us a visual treat to watch on repeat...

gettin' his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxBat For Lashes - Paerl's Dream [NEW VIDEO]xxx

2009-05-29T10:02:00.000-07:00

Bat For Lashes - "Pearl's Dream"

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxLaughing With by Regina Spektor [New Music Video]XXX

2009-05-28T19:24:00.000-07:00

Laughing With

No wrist slashing or Joan Osbourne references, please. :)

RE-SPEKT-HER!
=*0*HM

xxxHeads Will Roll by YEAH YEAH YEAHS [New Music Video]XXX

2009-05-28T17:17:00.000-07:00

A little thriller, a little mass hysteria, a lot of YEAH YEAH YEAH!

=*0*HM

xxxSatellite Skin by Modest Mouse [New Music Video]XXX

2009-05-17T23:47:00.000-07:00

Satellite Skin

=0*HM*

xxxFriday Feast: Weezer Covers MGMT & Lady Gaga [LIVE]xxx

2009-05-15T14:03:00.001-07:00

Rivers is sooooo dreamy. He makes me creamy... po-po-poke my face!

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxIntroducing... All Wrong And The Plans ChangeXXX

2009-05-14T10:37:00.000-07:00

"All Wrong and the Plans Change is a true story. We are Kassia and Amy and John. It is a family affair, a party, an uncomfortable silence and an invitation to be yourself. We released our self titled first record in 2007..as well as an EP "Deals" available on itunes. In 2008 we formed No Love Letters with Percy Haverson and released another EP. The latest record, "I'm Like Whatever" came out in March 2009. We hope you continue to listen closely...and thank you."

All Wrong And The Plans Change

Fuzzy & Lovey with some pop-ified spunk... I think we'll be hearing a lot more from them in the future. Grab a copy of I'm Like Whatever.

=0*HM*

xxxSt. Vincent - DUMBO SessionsXXX

2009-05-13T04:00:00.000-07:00

from the album Marry Me

Nico Cover

from the album Marry Me.

her new album Actor is available now!
gettin' his fix - tabloid junkie.
=0*HM*

xxxThe Killers - A Dustland Fairytale [LIVE ON LETTERMAN]xxx

2009-05-12T12:21:00.000-07:00

5/11

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxLove Is All - Last Chance [NEW VIDEO]xxx

2009-05-12T11:09:00.000-07:00

Here is the Stereogum premiere of Love Is All's new video Last Chance. Enjoy.

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxMadonna ft. Lil Wayne - Revolver [Snippet]xxx

2009-05-11T11:49:00.000-07:00

WARNING: This is just a demo and not Madonna's voice.

Is this the first single from Madonna's upcoming greatest hits album due out at the end of summer (This will be her third hits collection)? And why call it Revolver after you ex-husband's last failed movie. Other possible titles: Die Happy or Trigger Man.

xxxLa Roux - Bulletproof [NEW VIDEO]xxx

2009-05-11T11:27:00.000-07:00

The brand new video for La Roux's third single.

xxxRegina Spektor - Laughing With [NEW TRACK]

2009-05-08T09:40:00.000-07:00

Awesome new track by Regina Spektor off her forthcoming album FAR 6/23.

01 "The Calculation"
02 "Eet"
03 "Blue Lips"
04 "Folding Chair"
05 "Machine"
06 "Laughing With"
07 "Human Of The Year"
08 "Two Birds"
09 "Dance Anthem"
10 "Genius Next Door"
11 "Wallet"
12 "One More Time With Feeling"
13 "Man Of A Thousand Faces"

xxxTHC Play #16 - Forest Fire Fire!XXX

2009-05-07T09:05:00.000-07:00

THC Play #16

=*0*HM

xxxUme - The Conductorxxx

2009-05-06T13:05:00.000-07:00

Found these guys on Twitter.

CLICK HERE for more Ume.

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxDolly on David Letterman - Backwoods Barbiexxx

2009-05-04T18:08:00.000-07:00

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie

xxxBritney Goes Psycho Crazyxxx

2009-05-04T14:46:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxThe Today Show Today - No Doubt LIVExxx

2009-05-01T12:17:00.000-07:00

xxxPassion Pit - The Reeling [Calvin Harris Remix] [NEW]xxx

2009-04-29T10:02:00.000-07:00

Here's a brand spankin' new remix of the Passion Pit's The Reeling.

gettin' his fix - tabloid Junkie.

Anyone gonna be at the show with us?!?!?

xxxDucktails - Landrunner [NEW VIDEO]xxx

2009-04-28T14:07:00.000-07:00

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxMaybe California by Tori Amos [New Song & Video]XXX

2009-04-27T11:27:00.000-07:00

From Spinner.com:

“There are people in our lives, and we all know them, that are able to give even in the darkest of times,” Amos, who has an 8-year-old daughter, Natashya, says. “Even when they seem depleted. But somehow by giving, they gain this magical light. Even the most giving person needs a gift every once and a while, just to know they are seen and appreciated. ‘Maybe California’ is my gift to you.”

tapping his feet in anticipation..

=*0*HM

xxxLittle Boots - New In Town [NEW VIDEO]xxx

2009-04-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

Little Boots - New In Town

I'm going to take you out tonight. I'm going to make you feel alright. I don't have a lot of money, but we'll be fine...

RATED POP FANTASTIC

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxPirates!!! No, not SomaliXXX

2009-04-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

The Guardian published an interesting article on a study that was done surrounding music piracy... turns out the pirates are the major supporters of the money making music machine. Click here to Ch-Ch-Ch-Check it out.

JAGUAR-RRR PIRATES!

=0*HM*

xxxPatrick Wolf On XFM RadioXXX

2009-04-21T11:58:00.000-07:00

Patrick Wolf made a live appearance on the radio yesterday and discussed all things from rock, bullies, Peaches, growing into guitars, and a grande tour on the way. Listen to his acoustic version of Hard Times & the b-side to Vulture... The Tinderbox which is based on the Hans Christian Anderson tale. The Bachelor's coming at the end of May!

XFM Wolf

=*0*HM

xxxThe Water by Feist [New Music Video]XXX

2009-04-13T11:18:00.000-07:00

She's still pulling from her album The Reminder... and deservedly so.

Feist The Water
Uploaded by tictacworld

...more like a short film if you ask me rahahaha...

=0*HM*

[Film Replaced by Shortened Version-Full Version Here]

xxxSt. Vincent - Actor Out Of Work [New Music Video]XXX

2009-04-10T15:53:00.001-07:00

Familiar to anyone?
=0*HM*

xxx30 Min. Live With The Deer TracksXXX

2009-04-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here they are, live in Manchester. My my, their Swedish eyelashes! :)

=0*HM*

xxxxRoyksopp - Happy Up There [VIDEO]xxx

2009-04-02T11:54:00.000-07:00

Thanks Topher. From the album Junior out in stores NOW!

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxSpit and Repeat...xxx

2009-04-02T11:12:00.000-07:00

A silent 44.5 foot tall loop of Marilyn Minter's "Chewing Color" will begin running on the Jumbotron in Times Square today.

CLICK HERE for more info.

xxxFiona Apple - Why Try To Change Me [NEW SONG]xxx

2009-04-01T09:32:00.001-07:00

Fiona's cover of Cy Coleman will be featured on the tribute EP Then Was Then and Now is Now - A Tribute to Cy Coleman. Also includes tracks by Patty Griffinm Nikka Costa, Missy Higgins.

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxKiss My Name (Live) by Antony & the Johnsons [Live Music]XXX

2009-04-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to April, Kiss it's name.
If you haven't heard this album.... GO!

=0*HM*

xxxTorn by Sammy Allen [Music Video]XXX

2009-03-31T16:11:00.000-07:00

=0*HM*

xxxAndrew by Crystal Antlers [New Music Video]XXX

2009-03-31T13:07:00.000-07:00

=0*HM

xxxCourtney Love - Pacific Coast Highway [NEW SONG]xxx

2009-03-30T16:26:00.000-07:00

New Courtney Love... can you believe it?!?! There's some debate on whether this is a demo or the real thing. If it's a demo, I'd say it's pretty damn close to the real thing.

I knew a boy, he came from the sea
He was the only boy who ever knew the truth about me

I'm overwhelmed and undersexed
Oh baby what did you expect?
I'm overwrought and so disgraced
And too ashamed to show my face

And they're coming to take me away
What I want I will never have
I'm on the Pacific Coast Highway
With your gun in my hands...

xxxSay Hi - Triple Shot!XXX

2009-03-30T08:44:00.000-07:00

Say Hi to their album Ooohs & Aaahs :)

Say Hi Triple Shot

=0*HM

xxxPrince on Jay Lenoxxx

2009-03-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

In case you missed his three night engagement...

gettin his royal fix - tabloid junkie.

erotic city come alive...

xxxThe Killers - Spaceman [LIVE MTV Australia Music Awards]xxx

2009-03-28T08:51:00.000-07:00

Anyone else as excited as we are for Coachella?!?!

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxMadonna - I Am Because We Are [INTRO]xxx

2009-03-27T14:46:00.000-07:00

A message from the Queen...

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxThe Killers - Four Winds [NEW - Bright Eyes Cover]xxx

2009-03-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

from their upcoming EP Spaceman out 4/4.

The Spaceman EP:
01 "Spaceman" (Album Version)
02 "Four Winds"
03 "Tidal Wave" (Bonus Track)
04 "Spaceman" (Closed Captioned)

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxTHC Play #15 - N-n-new Shit (Well, mostly.)XXX

2009-03-26T13:38:00.000-07:00

THC Play #15

=0*HM*

xxxWhere Arcade Fire Arexxx

2009-03-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

Obsessed with Where the Wild Things Are trailer? I can't seem to get Arcade Fire's Wake Up out of my head now...

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxGimme Sympathy by Metric [New Music Video]XXX

2009-03-25T20:00:00.001-07:00

=0*HM*

xxxPatrick Wolf's The Bachelor [Cover Art]XXX

2009-03-25T17:43:00.001-07:00

=0*HM*

xxxLily Allen - Not Fair [NEW VIDEO]xxx

2009-03-24T09:45:00.000-07:00

Happy to see this as Ms. Allen's next single. Still addickted to this album.

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxA Girl's Gotta Make a Living...x

2009-03-21T19:15:00.000-07:00

Fornarina Commercia

Champagne!

uno haute + trash rag

xxxBlack Hearted Love by PJ Harvey & John Parish[New Music Video]XXX

2009-03-20T12:11:00.000-07:00

PJ ain't messin' around.

=0*HM

xxxPatrick Wolf - Vulture [NEW VIDEO]!!!xxx

2009-03-18T16:39:00.000-07:00

Patrick Wolf - Vulture

Is it Patty's Justify My Love?

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxWelcome To England by Tori Amos[New Song]XXX

2009-03-18T03:17:00.000-07:00

!!!!

=0*HM

xxxPrince - Creep [LIVE @ COACHELLA 08]xxx

2009-03-17T13:07:00.000-07:00

To celebrate the release of Prince's 3 (count 'em...3)albums on Mrach 29 and the upcoming Coachella music festival, here is a vid of Prince from last year's Coachella covering Radiohead's Creep.

CLICK HERE for more info on Prince's upcoming releases.

gettin' his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxThis Is It Mr. JacksonXXX

2009-03-16T13:23:00.000-07:00

The setlist of the MJ tour has arrived:

Billie Jean'
'Wanna Be Startin' Somethin''
'Rock With You'
'The Way You Make Me Feel'
'Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough'
'I Just Can't Stop Loving You'
'Human Nature'
'Smooth Criminal'
'Girlfriend'
'Man In The Mirror'
'Beat It'
'One Day In Your Life'
'Heal The World'
'You Are Not Alone'
'Remember The Time'
'Thriller'

What's missing for you?
I could do with a little In Da' Closet.

=0*HM*

xxxPatrick Wolf - Vulture [NEW SINGLE]xxx

2009-03-16T10:54:00.000-07:00

Finally. What do you guys think of this new offering from St. Patrick?

gettin' his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxChrist Truck by Matthew MansonXXX

2009-03-15T12:39:00.001-07:00

If you live in the L.A. area keep your eyes peeled and hearts reeling for... CHRIST TRUCK! HOLY HOLY HOLY!

=0*HM*

xxxLooking For Leprechans in Mobile, AlabamaXXX

2009-03-14T17:15:00.000-07:00

The time has come for green beer and leprechaun mischief. Nobody knows it like the folks in Mobile, Alabama who spotted a Leprechaun in 2006. Faery Folk or Crackhead, you decide.

What an artist's rendering! Wonder if they dug under that tree for the pot o' gold?

=0*HM*

xxxIt's Blitz Getz AcousticzXXX

2009-03-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

Blitzed by It's Blitz? The Acoustic Versions will spin you right 'round again. And then the acoustic take on Maps from wayyyyy back.

YYY Blitz Acousticz

=0*HM*

xxxTrent Fucks Chris Like An Animalxxx

2009-03-13T10:34:00.000-07:00

Chris Cornell - Scream.

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxTHC Play #14 - Press Your Luck!XXX

2009-03-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

It's Friday the 13th...

THC Play #14

... care to Press Your Luck?

=0*HM*

xxxBritney Spears - If You Seek Amy [NEW VIDEO]xxx

2009-03-12T09:40:00.000-07:00

Or CLICK HERE for the world premiere of Brit Brit's latest vid.

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxBat For Lashes - Daniel [NEW VIDEO]xxx

2009-03-12T09:25:00.000-07:00

Daniel - Bat For Lashes

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxDisappearing Ink by Deerhunter[New Video]XXX

2009-03-10T16:08:00.000-07:00

There was White Ink... Red Ink... and now... Disappearing Ink. It's a new track from Deerhunter live in the studio.

Deerhunter - New Music - More Music Videos

=0ne *Haute Mess*

xxxTori Amos: Album Cover and Tracklist Revealedxxx

2009-03-10T11:36:00.000-07:00

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Abnormally Attracted to Sin out May 19th.

1. Give
2. Welcome to England
3. Strong Black Vine
4. Flavor
5. Not Dying Today
6. Maybe California
7. Curtain Call
8. Fire to Your Plain
9. Police Me
10. That Guy
11. Abnormally Attracted to Sin
12. 500 Miles
13. Mary Jane
14. Starling
15. Fast Horse
16. Ophelia
17. Lady in Blue

FUN FACT: The new album, Abnormally Attracted to Sin, takes its name from a line in Guys and Dolls.

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.

xxxZero by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs [New Music Video]XXX

2009-03-10T08:28:00.000-07:00

Get your leather on !

=0*HM*

xxxBritney, You Need Some Pussy Control...xxx

2009-03-09T14:12:00.000-07:00

gettin his fill - tabloid junkie.

xxxPatrick Wolf [NEW PHOTO]xxx

2009-03-09T08:44:00.001-07:00

yummy, yummy, yummy...

taken on the set for his upcoming vid Vulture.

gettin his fix - tabloid junkie.