ETERNAL OUTSIDERS

At this time last year, I was drinking. I was working during the day, but my life revolved mostly around drinking. Days and evenings were hot, even besides the pool, and the sun was too shiny too, even behind black glasses. Days were too hot even when I drove my Austin around, windows and roof opened. I spent my time between the ashtray, the fridge, and the water, smoking, drinking, and bathing naked, and the light ate my face while I grew bored.

I dreamt of Australia in the summer. I dreamt of Cairns, of the Rain Forest and the Great barrier reef, of heavenly beaches, and I dreamt of spending days locked up in a motel room to smoke, drink, and watch Nickelodeon. I could see myself go out and walk or swim under the tropical rain when the weight of the sky would melt down with a clocklike regularity, every day at the same time, and fall on my face. I’d swim in the kitsch bean-shaped pool with the amphora fountain, and rain would beat drums on the roofs and the grass will shine, and sometimes I’d hear thunder, and everything would be waterlogged and rain would stream everywhere and I’d be better, I’d be fine.

I dreamt of Australia but I only had Foster to swallow and cigarette butts to crash from the pool, before going to boring parties with a liberty shirt and docksides. The city was taunting me, dusted by light, splotted by heat, she was shining like mirrors in the August brightness, her roads whitened by the sun, when I looked like shit.

I did not want to be sober. I knew I’d be in hell, so I just drank to quiet my brain. I drank anything, but mostly gin, and my brother worried. I read Echine, and The Sun Also Rises, and Under the Volcano, and drank but went through hell still, under the burning sun of the Virgin’s day, burning in front of the calm water, and I was thankful for the ice cubes to imprison everything in my glass.

At that time, I was an outsider. It’s better than « imposter », it’s less pretentious since I did not write Pills and soap, and it really has a nice ring to it. I’m an eternal outsider, and we, at Dinosaur dog, are eternal outsiders. It means you could do real shit if you just cared enough to persevere. It means you could do real shit if you weren’t too lazy to do them after you started. One year ago, I was wasted and my talent was wasted. I was a wreck, but, hey, everybody has to hit rock bottom once in a while. Drinking was fine, there’s something appealing and comfortable in it, though I’m not too proud of that, but I got my shit together in the end. And, don’t worry, I got the girl.

One year ago, I listened to Kisses sunny disco pop, and well, their new track came out yesterday. It's produced by Pete Wiggs, from St Etienne. It’s already old, but we’re not doing it for the fame, we’re doing it out of love, and for the memories.

Get naked

Starting blogging again feels like a trap. It’s not that I’m scared, I’ve been doing that shit for years, and I’ve been doing it pretty well. I mean, girls were pretty fond of the shit I did, I guess, but you never know how things might go. I guess the key is not thinking too much and doing it.

It pretty much feels like getting back with that girl I was really in love with after a five months hiatus. I rang her bell, she came to the door, she was wearing that tight dark blue miniskirt that makes her ass look even more amazing – man, I almost wish you could see that, though I should probably kill you after that. And you know, she was on the phone, and I strolled in her apartment, which I already inhabited and it didn’t feel like home yet, you just couldn’t know everything would not fall apart right here right now, and it was kind of scary eventhough I had done all this in the past. She then hung up and I put my hands on her cheeks and we kissed and well the rest is kind of nobody’s business (but we got naked).

So there we are and I’m blogging and my opinion counts right ?

First thing : Lana Del Rey. Well, I’m glad I wasn’t doing that shit anymore when everyone was jerking off on her, cause now we all know it ain’t worth much. I mean, I’ve listened to that LP like, maybe 10 times cause I’m always a little obsessed, but that’s still not much compared to Take Care’s fifty-or-so spinnings. There’s nothing much to it but it’s Ulysses mermaids’ song, so, bleed it to death and let’s never talk about it again.

Also, good music from little acts out recently : LPs from Blouse, Phèdre and Standard Fare, among others, and a nice single from Blackbird Blackbird.

At last, let’s be serious for a second. A few bands still not that much known you probably know anyway : Charli XCX, Blondes and Princeton.

Charli XCX is that nineteen year old upcoming girl from Britian who does dark synth pop with the help of big producers, and yeah, that helps. She’s a bit too in love with the 80’s, and maybe Robert Smith (or Beetlejuice), too, but I’ve always loved ‘em both. It reminds me of Class Actress, who wrote some of the best songs of 2011, and all that synthpop revival really really excites me. Charli has been around for 3 years or so, but two weeks ago she released a song for Valentine’s day, and it does not even sound gay.

Blondes just released their first LP which is a compilation of a series of songs they did for RVNG Intl, each record reuniting too songs about opposite subjects, like wine and water or business and pleasure. Not sure it’s crystal clear but whatever. So, they’re doing electronic music in a rock way one could say, recording their tracks live, so that means you can hear them add layer of synth after layer of synth. You won’t hear much more, these are danceable and hypnotical house tracks influenced by krautrock with a psychedelic twist. Just listen to Moondance, from their first EP : it’s 11 minutes long but you won’t see the time pass.

Blondes - Moondance

Last but not least, Princeton. I’ll get to it when I’ll stop listening to the song from the Nokia Lumia ad (Gardens from Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs) that obsesses me right now.

So, if you’ve read me before, you know I’ve been a pretty huge fan of Kisses since the beginning. Last year, Jesse Kivel and Zinzi Edmundson, his girlfriend, released a vintage disco record which was perfect to make love on the beach while sipping beer you’d later let boil on a wood table. So, being a little obsessive as I already said, I did a little googling and found out about Princeton, Jesse and his twin brother’s other band. They released two EP’s, did a shoegazy Daytrotter session, and their second album just hit the internets.

Everything about them is quite great, and fuck objectivity. Remembrance of things to come is breezy and light, sometimes catchy and danceable, but not too much (Boat Club’s Memories, anyone ?). There are no guitars in any of these new songs, but there’s a shitload of marimba or whatever that is, and yeah you could but don’t mention Vampire Weekend please. It’s just too bad it went out now and not in summer again.