Feel sad and confused about this weather. Might just spend the whole summer sitting at hearth's edge and thinking about other, radder summers when we won trophies for being awesome outdoors. I had made this special mix of relevant mp3s just in case things improve later, but what's the point, you know? Might add a gray or dark blue overlay on my Twitter avatar to "take a stand" against El Niño.
We've got two free tickets to tonight's very, very sold out Phoenix show at Terminal 5. Want them? Just sign up for email updates on the right (we post an average of once a week here so it's not a big commitment) and leave a comment making your case. Begging, flirting, flattery or sob stories not necessary to enter - we'll pick a random. Winner will be emailed this afternoon, you can pick these babies up in Chelsea anytime afterwards, and maybe your evening will resemble the video above. Update: Chana is the winner.
Were the ice cold tallboy Sapporos not frothy enough? Your homemade chorizo huareche too filling? Scenic canal-side dancefloor (w/ disco ball) not adequately shaded? Beats not buttery enough? You forgot how to play Connect Four? What? The lampshade is listening.
Cheers to Sunday Best and Brklyn Yard for not only hosting Mr. Scruff a few weeks back as part of their ongoing summer/Sunday series, but also offering the full set for each DJ afterwards. Only problem with this almost three-hour mix, really, is certain parts are so nasty that I literally just get uncomfortable. Like 12:38 - is that Bill Withers covering "Summertime?" Or the aggro hott claps/gymnasium danceoff beat around 1:31:45 - that was just kind of inappropriate with all the kids and dogs around.
Ten years ago Hockey Night was just a bunch of four track demos from a chill bro in Red Wing, MN named Paul Sprangers (who may or may not have contributed to this video about people from Minnesota who use knives inappropriately). When he wasn't popping wheelies, hanging with dubious Julies or performing in spazz-punk trio The Renegades (with drummer Alex Achen and guitarist Scott Wells), P penned songs that would later be compared to Pavement, Thin Lizzy, T. Rex and The Wyld Stallyns.
In 2003 I ordered their debut LP Rad Zapping, and the boys included an additional CD-R with "Hockey Night Demos" scribbled on it. Kind of like they knew Zapping was "OK" while future material would be "pretty nasty." And indeed, that series of unnamed dueling axe-wizardry was so righteous, so scrumptralescent, that three years later Daytrotter would dub it "the most wickedly great, face-freezing guitar lines this side of the apocalypse or pearly gates." In 2007 after the crew surprisingly failed to achieve interplanetary harmony, guitarists Spranger and Wells left the band to sign with DFA Records. Blog chaos and verbal shivving ensued; we spent two years poring over 2005's Keep Guessin' for clues.
The road was for us It paved the ocean with trust Started a band, but man We never took care of all the Renegade rust
What happened, bros? While we may never fully know, Hockey Night's latest status signals an era of enhanced vibes is directly ahead: "BAD STUFF + PEACE ATTACK = FREE ENERGY." And regardless of which guitar rock era you most covet, there can be no doubt that "Dream City" is a proper summer 2k9 jumpoff. It's light, it's tight, verses end with the words "tonight" and "allright." Maybe we can move on.
