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Stereogum's Indie Rock Crushes 2009 →

Any last shred of a claim on my part to think apart from the herd appears to be swept away in Zooey’s eyelashes:

1. Zooey Deschanel
2. Annie Clark
5. Angel Deradoorian (below)
9. Jenny Lewis

Bulletin: New indie rock girlfriend

Of course, it has been Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis since I was 16 and fell madly in love with Science vs. Romance, her short red locks and pouty bass playing. Kori Gardner and others have been affections or fleeting passions, but I haven’t had true blue new Indie Rock Girlfriend for years.

Spurred by nothing much more than her dazzling beauty, delicate songcraft, and the fact that I was reading this top albums list of hers, I think I’m going to go steady with Annie Clark (St. Vincent). Shoot. I’ve listened to ‘Marry Me’ a good thirty times and those cute little outfits just slay me. Here she is with the band playing the opening track off this summer’s album, “Now, Now,” shot by some nice kids I linked earlier, Schedule Two:

And if you’re just so out of the loop and need to hear her stuff, there are links to three tracks on her website.

Do you wanna come inside my house?

Jenny Lewis sings about sex in the 1996 flick Foxfire, long renowned amongst Rilo Kiley fans and…well, probably just Rilo Kiley fans. It’s remarkable how her voice has remained, though she has grown up a whole lot. Maybe notable for also starring Angelina Jolie? And Peter Faccinelli?

They’re all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.

Without a TV I miss some important cultural milestones; one which I stumbled upon with some amazement tonight is a nifty habit of Showtime’s Weeds.

Their theme song is a pithy bit of suburban satire from the 1960s by San Franciscan folk singer Malvina Reynolds called “Little Boxes,” and after the first season they started inviting a litany of mainstream and independent artists to record it for each episode’s fifty-one second opening.

The list includes the absurdly diverse likes of Regina Spektor, Angelique Kidjo, Death Cab for Cutie, Randy Newman, and Linkin Park (obviously not linking to Linkin Park). But here, of course, I’ll feature Jenny Lewis:

[EDIT: Also great versions from The Decemberists, The Shins, and Joan Baez]

Flotsam and jetsam

Jenny Lewis played the Berklee Performance Center tonight. Just fine show - ‘Jack Killed Mom’ is such an incredible song - Lauren and I sat so far away in the first row of the mezzanine. Had a thoroughly enjoyable conversation with Runion and picked up his EP, said hi to Jason and got fashion tips. The new RK record is nearing completion, due out next year. He seemed subtly unenthused about it, which doesn’t really bolster excitement. Really, the more resonant issue from the evening was: how will I ever get over Jenny Lewis? She is just far, far too beautiful. How will I love someone as I love Jenny? One can only guess.
All the girls are sick. Here I am, sitting up late and Chelsea and Lauren are cough-coughing in their respective beds. So pitiful.

Firefox 2.0 RC2 has a scrolling tab bar if you open too many tabs. I wish NNW did that already. I wish it did several things, actually - where’s my NNW update? Shoot, it’s been almost a year, yeah?

Got a lot of work done with weekend, though I’m still afraid to process my inbox. Having a hard time jumping back on the GTD wagon after falling off all summer. Must grit and do this! Big week coming up. Jenny kicked it off, I’m shift lead at the Diesel, going to The City on Thursday, Rosie’s party on Saturday. Big things.

I love Pitchfork. [via Andy]

Eight albums that mattered to me in 2006

Stars - Heart
‘What the Snowman Learned About Love’ was my NYU roommate’s favorite track, a fact he surprised me with after I’d had this record on repeat for a couple weeks in the financial district. ‘Life Effect’ was my goddamn anthem through one of the more epic phases of a troubled relationship, and then I went and saw these kids play Webster Hall. My definitive New York record, for better or for worse.

Magnetic Fields - 69 Loves Songs Vol. 1
One memorable night alone in the apartment as winter turned into spring. ‘Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side’ cranked up extra loud and the front door cracked open, praying that some roving band of affable hipsters would hear the siren song and befriend me. Instead I think I folded pants and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to a pizza and cold hands and a brilliant view. I connected with this album in the city and will probably never lose that; it’s been with me all year.

Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
Spring. First listen was one of those 94 minute spin workouts I used to have for training at Palladium. For my cycling season that never materialized (at least on the road). Back when I was a vegetarian. It was catchy then and it caught me all through the spring. Dance, dance, dance. Saw these Scotsmen, too, and froze my toes so bad that I couldn’t hardly walk to the Times Square Starbucks to warm up.

Regina Spektor - Soviet Kitsch
Burned for me by Ally Milligan. What more needs to be said? It took me a month to put this record on my computer and another several weeks to really give it a listen, but there is a flashbulb moment, crossing La Guardia Place towards Bobst, stepping my foot into traffic and hearing ‘Poor Little Rich Boy’ in a more visceral way than anything I’d known. This record was basically a constant on my commutes to Palo Alto through the summer. “WALKA-WALKA-WALKA…”

Magnetic Fields - i
‘It’s Only Time’ is actually the song that comes up with the house lights at the end of a 2004 bootleg of Jenny Lewis playing a solo show in L.A. I fell in love with the song, but put this entire record into increasing rotation as 2006 wore on. I always seem to listen to it straight through - something about the coherent beauty of it all. ‘I Don’t Really Love You Anymore’ has meant so many things to me about so many different women in my life in the last six months, I don’t know where I’d be without it.

Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope
Big fat Regina Spektor kick carried into the fall semester and then Lauren and Chelsea (‘my girls’ at 124) discovered this through me and it became a house staple. We all love her. I saw her play the Avalon. I gave Soviet Kitsch to half of Trunk. So much Regina under the molded tin ceiling of our kitchen.

The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
I’m not ashamed to admit that I am completely enthralled by everything the Decemberists release. Do I love big archaic words and fanciful stories? Absolutely. Do they make me work to appreciate their pop? Absolutely not. But it’s so much fun and I just loved this record. Refused to let Cam or Carlo play it for me this summer, then I missed the boat when it was legitimately released. ‘Sons & Daughters’ sounded so spetacular over the Diesel speakers and it’s still one of my most played tracks on the album.

Camera Obscura - Let’s Get Out of this Country
This was the girls’ summer anthem and felt for so much of the semester like something I’d just missed out on. Had to pick something for the hostess of honor at Lauren’s 21st birthday party, though, and the choice was obvious. This was study music piped down from upstairs, this was party music from Chelsea’s stately desk. This was our Alpha and Omega, what they shared and what I came to feel a part of when we three settled into the most beautiful rhythym at the end of the semester. Then the record came from my own computer and kept on playing in the December chill of California to warm me up and remind me of what I had to look forward to back east.

Honorable Mentions
Peter, Bjorn, & John - Writer’s Block
I realized this was my anthem for fall somewhere around the twelfth play. ‘I happily have to disagree’ was my line in November, for some reason. Playing this and ‘Crane Wife 1 & 2’ on Tuesday evening rides back and forth from The Guidance Center what seems like every week. To and from work, to and from campus, this is biking music and one of those defining albums.

Kate Bush - The Whole Story
Shit, this is a compilation, but it went into the disc changer of the Passat after I’d had a rather protracted love affair with Kate for several months. She became my go-to record when driving, and things just took off from there. Old favorite ‘Wuthering Heights’ took a back seat to ‘Hounds of Love,’ ‘Breathing,’ and who knows what else. I love you, Kate!

QotD: My First Car

Tell us a little something about your first car. Do you have any photos you can share?
Submitted by tamara.

Her name is (still) Jenny. She’s a ‘97 Volkswagon Jetta Trek Edition, and we met on a Toyota used car lot in Sunnyvale in September of 2002. I think she had just turn 60,000 miles when we picked her up and we’re pushing well into the 90’s these days.

I love her dearly: she took me from Junior year of high school (rainy Friday afternoons for Jimmy Eat World and lunch with the boys) to where I am today. Always steadfast. Even when I ran into that pick-up Senior year because I was trying to read the liner notes to sing along to ‘Gone For Good,’ off the new Shins album.

I lived a horrific day last summer thinking that I had lost her forever: ‘totalled’ from some minor dents up front after a driver turned into me. And we hadn’t even had a decent road trip together.

But I got a call the next day that they’d pay for the repait, and here we are four years later - I’m planning that road trip for us, Jenny - we’ve got a lot of love left.