❘ ❙ ❚ BEACH HOUSE ❚ ❙ ❘

Last night my friends and I sprinted from our respective classes (gender roles in the literature of Zora Neale Hurston and the nature of the ideal in Pushkin anyone?) and caught the 5:50 train into the city.

Our destination: Webster Hall to see Beach House

I'm just going to attach some of my favorite images, but I'll just say: I LOVED it. I listened to Teen Dream, their latest album, a lot over winter break, so I was singing along to a lot of the songs. They were just so on top of it and consistently great and the set design was hypnotic. So genius. And I totally loved their enthusiasm. Please go see them if you get a chance!

(All photos taken with the Helga Viking lens on the Hipstamatic)

BROTHERS FROM OTHER MOTHERS

"I want to be forgotten
And I don't wanna be reminded
You said, 'Please don't make this harder'
No, I won't yet..."

All it took was the first few lines of "Whatever Happened?" and it was love at first listen.

The Strokes. They are so important to me. They made me realize that I can be cool within myself, that I can be a self-approved island of greatness. No need for external validation. They are home. I feel like I know them, like I've known them all of my life. For some people it's a certain author, or painter, or actor whose effect can't be quantified. For me, it's them.

You need me to prove it? When I first fell in love with them (which happened to be about a week after they played a small show in my hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, which will NEVER happen again) it was just after First Impressions came out and there were rumors that they were breaking up. I actually emailed their manager at the time to verify that this wasn't true, and I got a PERSONALLY WRITTEN email back from him saying that the guys would be working on solo projects, but no break-up was forseen.

Years later and it's true! The stars have aligned and they have a new album coming out and I live in their hometown: New York.

Here's them these days:

Sad news: I can't see them at Bonnaroo

Fabulous news: I am getting tickets to see them at Madison Square Garden the day before my birthday

The dream.
is coming
true

MUSIC FOR MUSIC'S SAKE

WHAT I HAVE BEEN JAMMING TO OVER WINTER BREAK:

Beach House's latest album "Teen Dream"! Although one of my "friends" at school had a pretty derogatory status about this duo on his facebook, I DON'T CARE! I'm honestly sick of everyone labeling things as "hipster/indie" and then hating on them. I do not enjoy Converse, polaroids, NYLON magazine, and Beach House because they are hipster. I GENUINELY LIKE THEM. Gosh...

Anyways, I highly recommend this album. It just reminds me of how I felt in high school, all dreamy and hopeful and also kind of depressed and tired and hopelessly in love...

Kanye West's new album "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" is actually pretty cool. I think the man himself is a bit of an egotistical maniac, but I enjoy the tracks and some are surprisingly insightful! I also kind of liked his epic music video "Runaway". It was visually simulating if nothing else...

My one thing: When will rap stop being about "pussies" and "dicks" and "asses" and all that weirdly violent sexual stuff. Do ANY rappers have any real feelings for females? At least we have Nicki Minaj around...

My brother David's Christmas present to me: Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited". Definitely not a new album, but for sure a classic. "Desolation Row" anyone? Ah yes, Bob, the eternal intellect...

Also- WOW he really does look like Cate Blanchett!

Sufjan Steven's latest album, "Age of Adz", is pretty much amazing. It is very different from his previous work, so if you are a die-hard fan, I can understand the frustration. However,  with fresh ears I am completely impressed. Lovely lyrics and really cool experimentation. I usually can't stand 25 minute songs of any sort, but I actually love his epic track "Impossible Soul". Worth the money, it's a revelation.