Okay, this rocks: a video entitled “Alive with Pleasure” by Viva Voce. Great vocals, Guy Maddin cheap effects, a white double-neck guitar, and a story that is funnier upon second watching. Over one year old, but a valuable procrastination tool:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_X7m7xFVJw&hl=en&fs=1&]

Interesting video of Nick Cave on Letterman during his Nocturna tour in 1993. Cave is just starting to look old here and he looks like he brought on his own encore.
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds-Bring It On(Live)
http://mediaservices.myspace.com/services/media/embed.aspx/m=11429395,t=1,mt=video

Spring has not sprung here in Winnipeg, which is featuring -1 degree Celsius temperatures, snow, and the possibility of major flooding due to ice buildup over a seven-month winter.
There’s always a “but” here at Deckchairs, however. The Primavera Sound Festival features some of the most interesting acts around. To be held in Barcelona from May 28 to 30th, if I had a will and a way, I would be there.
Who the heck produced this thing? It’s a work of utter genius. The acts I would love to see include the following (in order):
Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, Neil Young, Chad VanGaalen, Kimya Dawson, Spiritualized, Damien Jurado, Plants and Animals, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Black Lips, Andrew Bird, Vaselines, Throwing Muses, Deerhunter, Yo La Tengo, and Shearwater. Ooh, and I love Shearwater.

Nothing, nothing.

It’s interesting to compare the warm hirsuteness of Bonnie “Prince” Billy below to the quietly agony on visual display in Antony and the Johnsons’ Antony Hegarty.
I’m so amazed at the raw, sentimentalized and deeply emotive power of Antony. He’s practically busting out of his body through the tiny voice:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CImsEJHYyv4&hl=en&fs=1]
And now that we’ve seen thesis and antithesis, here’s the dialectic: Antony singing with Lou Reed. Two sad, sweet men full of rage and agony singing across the chasm at each other and making that light beautiful:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em7gC0bq_aM&hl=en&fs=1]

Since I twigged to Bonnie “Prince” Billy, aka fellow Brown-dude Will Oldham, in the article The Pretender by Kalefa Sanneh, I’ve become slightly more than fascinated in the way he presents himself visually.
The music itself is quite grand but in the most quiet possible way.
To try to explain it, here is a lovely video of him on a beach singing in a hidden track (which I can’t find for some reason) on The Letting Go. Video is directed by Jennifer Parsons.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpUIsmv3AGI&hl=en&fs=1]

It’s been requested that I don’t entirely kill this weblog. So, I’m going to start writing again.
Here’s what I’m going to say today.
First, I didn’t realize that the reason I so much love Elliott Smith and Matthew Sweet and Yoni Wolf (of Why?) and other male artists with sad, ridiculously beautiful vocal chords is because I listened to way too much Alex Chilton and Big Star when I was a teenager. I had no idea how influential he was, despite my reading about his influence for the past 25 years, on both the artists I admire and my internal musical chemistry.
I blame, in the very best of ways, my old friend, V.S., who sent me some Big Star stuff, I believe about a year ago, and which I quickly shelved. I thought I knew that stuff and I guess I don’t or didn’t.
I’m now listening to Third – Sister Lovers, which iTunes calls, quite accurately in turns out, a “shambling wreck of an album.” Every word is true – the album reeks of jealousy, petty madness, total frustration, and utter longing for some place that doesn’t exist. I remember first listening to his “Holocaust,” the seventh song on Sister Lovers, and how grotesquely adequate I felt that description was back at 15 for almost everything. Amazing to realize those cassette tape blues again.
The album really falls apart at the end.

Okay, I saw Juno finally, and it was strong. In large part, it was the acting that carried the good but flawed storyline. In larger part, it was the music, mostly by the Moldy Peaches and friends.
If you don’t believe me, check out this video of the Moldy Peaches, who completely rock and deserve their 15 hours of fame because of their sheer, simple, smart talent:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFff-FekFWU&hl=en]

It turns out that Gnalrs Barkley is giving away its whole album free, backwards and in one continuous track. You can download it from their crazy mini-site. It’s not bad.

Everything looks better with Gnarls Barkley’s “Run (I’m a Natural Disaster)” – this was almost impossible to find as, seemingly, NBC has taken crazy steps to keep it off the Net.
This song and everything about it is brilliant.

I’d be surprised if this is video is still around tomorrow.