manic mess

a funny thing happened on the way to sxsw.

...my phone started spontaneously playing a john mayer on other people's phones when they call me. so instead of hearing a ring, they hear "your body is a wonderland" or some other annoying, white-boy, folk-rock masterpiece. seriously.

sprint, please! make it go away!!! i swear i've been a good girl and don't deserve this punishment. and nor do my friends.

anyway...sxsw recap to come. there's a roundup complete with photo slideshow and festival overview on the way, which i wrote for the new york magazine website. for now, it's coffee and more coffee until my brain recovers from the weekend.

off to sxsw!

well, not *quite* yet. but i am feeling like a little worker bee over here as i scurry around trying to get everything finished so that i can bust out for austin in a timely fashion. so....consider me on break! i may be live-blogging for new york magazine, but we haven't worked out the kinks yet...

cheers everyone! oh, and is tuesday the new thursday or what?

"TUESDAYS @ PIZZA BAR!
This is week two of our new party that includes delicious food, cheap drinks, amazing music, and a great vibe... i could go on, but instead come check it out for yourself! There is no cover for this event, Thomas will be at the door - to avoid the sass, RSVP before 6pm today: rsvp@melodynelson.com
Tuesdays @ Pizza Bar
49 9th Ave @ 14th Street
Tuesday March 14th
9pm - 3am  
Hosted By:
Sophia Lamar and Adam Wormseye  
Resident DJs:
The MisShapes (www.misshapes.com)
Melody Nelson (www.melodynelson.com)"

austin here i come. wahhooooo

ps. in case anyone still reads this thing, there is a verrrry special industry show happening on monday night so do some research. and TAKE ME OUT!

take me out!

i've already posted a number of invites below, and since it's friday afternoon and i'm lazy, i'm just going to direct you to that post.

one late-breaking (and good!) addition though...

"the ad lib presents
LOVE PARADE
jayson-panthers
cat-fannypack
the vet-ad lib ny
THIS WEEK SPECIAL GUESTS:
In The Basement 12-4
Carlos (No Ordinary Monkey)
Baby Ryan (N.O.M.I. - S.F.)
Upstairs (holyshit im so excited)
Steve (The Notorious SHOUT DJs)
10 pm FREE
fontanas 152 eldridge btw broome/grand
$2 jack/ $3prb all night"

oh yeah, and i'll be celebrating extra hard because i just found out i'm going to be on tv! hooray. more details on that to come. unless it's embarrassing.

metal madness!

i've just been advised that tickets for tonight's northsix show with the sword, early man, and priestess could very well sell out, so buy your tickets now! and while you're at it, check out the impressive array of gothic fonts used on each of the above websites. so metal.

anyway....i'll be there. say hi.

since it's friday...

...and no one likes procrastinating more than i do, here's a clip of a guy getting his cell phone to spin pirhouettes on his desk. it's pretty awesome. (via office pirates)

sondre lerche brings the lovely to the astralwerks offices.

last night sondre lerche played to a larger-than-expected group of lucky people at the astralwerks offices, and i got to go. i'd never seen him play before and he was awesome! not to mention so adorable that i wanted to put him in my pocket and keep in on permanent display in my apartment.

he played a bunch of songs from his new album duper sessions as well as a few familiar covers by elvis costello and cole porter. when he introduced that last one he said, "this is one of my favorites. it's by a great new singer, maybe you've heard of him? his name's cole porter. he's the new...bravery. you heard it here first."

hearty laughter all around. i think that part of sondre's appeal, beyond the fact that his voice is pitch-perfect without any seeming effort and his songs are whimsical and catchy, is that his stage banter is so completely endearing although totally corny. every time he referred to astralwerks he referred to it as "astralwerksandcarolinedistribution," and he made various references to how many fans he must have in that building due to the fact that there were tons of sondre lerche posters hanging everywhere and that he gets so much "fanmail" from the employees. aw.

so happy i got to go! ran into miss modernage, who took pictures.

happy friday!

almost the weekend!

what is everyone up to? tonight i'm heading out straight from work for a little intimate performance by sondre lerche (yay!) and then off to a party celebrating the kickoff of this year's armory show. ooh la la! here are some odds and ends for the coming days...

"RESTRICTED
tonight! (3/9) and every Thursday, 10:00pm - ??
DJ PUNK ASS JASON spins hot rock // soul // new wave till his fingers bleed
Beefcakes ERIK FOSS and BRANT will drunken the living hell out of you
$1.00 vodka drinks and Budweiser bottles from 11:00pm till midnight as always. Plus $3.00 Rheingolds ALL night.
FREE admission... 21 and over with ID...
upstairs @ LIT, 93 2nd Avenue (bet. 5th & 6th St.)"

"This Thursday March 9,
The Cheeky B*stard party is back in Hiro Ballroom, where resident Peter Makebish plus Alex English and special guests will be delighting your senses with a startling array of dance rock, new wave, and hip hop.
Hosted by Alejandro Torio, Dagny, Dimitry, Nico, May, Simcha & Rosie, Mike Deguzman, and Ruben & Noel.
For Complimentary admission rsvp to alejandro@gbh.tv
Doors open 10pm"

"stolen transmission at the annex tonight.
152 orchard btw stanton and rivington.
11-4
nora and mahsas birthday, and an intense prospect for a secret show...."

"XLR8R and Nublu present Rip It Up and Start Again
A Post-Punk Par-Tay to celebrate the release of Simon Reynolds' new book
KUDU - live performance at 1am
DJs
Dan Selzer (Acute Records)
Mike Simonetti (Troubleman Unlimited)
Roy Dank (Pop Your Funk)
Fri Mar 11 at 8:30 PM, $10
@ Nublu: 62 Avenue C btwn 4th & 5th"

"Get ready for the next FIXED bash...
Friday, March 10th:
FIXED w/ THE PRESETS (Modular Records/ Australia) live at midnight!!
And special guest DJ BLAIR from Music For Robots (www.music.for-robots.com)
Plus resident DJ JDH before and after the band! (Dave P will be back next month)
Late night dance party madness!
11pm doors, $5 Cover till 1am (for the band), FREE after. Cheap drinks!
@ Cake Shop- 152 Ludlow"

oh! and i missed posting it this week, but melody nelson, the misshapes kids, etc, have a new party at a place i've never been to called the pizza bar. here's the info...

****TUESDAYS @ PIZZA BAR!****
That's right, mark your calendars... The MisShapes, Adam of Wormseye Films, Sophia Lamar and myself are presenting an exciting NEW PARTY at hot spot Pizza Bar! Expect something a little different than what you're used to, a little less dancy, a little more loungy - think more of a "salon" with great music, friends, food and drinks... Not only is the food at Pizza Bar delicious and served all night, but the drinks will be tasty and cheap!
One more thing, there is no cover for this event. Thomas will be at the door, and unless he knows you, you MUST RSVP back to me by 6pm on Tuesday if you want to party with us :: rsvp@melodynelson.com
Tuesdays @ Pizza Bar
49 9th Ave @ 14th Street
9pm - 3am  
Tuesday March 7th  
Hosted By: Sophia Lamar and Adam Wormseye
Resident DJs:
The MisShapes (www.misshapes.com)
Melody Nelson (www.melodynelson.com)"

so many bands are bad.

...which is why, despite the fact that there are mountains of brand-new CDs at my desk, i have a hard time getting excited about new acts.

today though, after hearing that sub pop records had just signed local band oxford collapse, i decided to have a listen.

i'm glad i did! i'm going through the songs on their website as we speak, and i'm loving 'the boys go home'. click on the purple bull (or whatever that large mammalian icon is) to hear it for yourself.

project poop.

here at the manicmess household, we are thoroughly disappointed by the judging on project runway this season!

santino was robbed, daniel vosovic was robbed a little less, and chloe being crowned the winner is the most inexplicable choice ever. mon dieu! i need a new show.

am i the only one who wonders if maybe santino is related to condoleeza rice? his mom kind of looks like her.

anyway, time to see if top chef can fill the void. fingers crossed! [update: yes, it can! obnoxious, utterly hate-able contestants plus food = success. hooray.]

me: "y'all ready for this?"

austin: "TOTALLY."

just one week to go and and the weather is looking delightful!

for the sxsw-minded, here are some juicy invites that may or may not have found their way to your mailbox. i can already TASTE the ribs. mmm.

annnnd....be sure to check this out, if you like sparks.

speaking of which, did you know that there is now such a thing as sparks plus? that's right- all the sickeningly sweet orangey sparks goodness you've come to know and love with even more alcohol! john tried it the other night.

he gave it the thumbs up and then sprinted around the apartment all night. just kidding. kind of.