Author: cocokeevan

The Dunce Cap: June 21, 2010

in: heavy rotation

Terry Richardson photographs Matthew Gray Gubler

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 13: Turns out I was a vampire myself in the devil town. (mix via 8tracks)

1. “Devil Town” – Tony Lucca
2. “Your Hand in Mine” – Explosions in the Sky
3. “Muzzle of Bees” – Wilco
4. “I Made a Resolution” – Sea Wolf
5. “Carmensita” – Devendra Banhart
6. “Sci-Fi Kid” – Blitzen Trapper
7. “September Gurls” – Big Star
8. “Political Scientist” – Ryan Adams
9. “Gene Autry” – Beulah
10. “Rewind” – Stereophonics
11. “The Light” – The Album Leaf
12. “Eyes” – Rogue Wave
13. “Hard Rain” – Shout Out Louds
14. “Walk Over Me” – Dirtie Blonde
15. “Bang a Gong (Get it On)” – T. Rex

So, to be fair – the photo with this mix has nothing to do with this mix. Really, it’s just a launch pad for me to talk about Terry Richardson and Matthew Gray Gubler, as well as to complete my weekly trifecta of pin-ups. Now, this isn’t a gossip blog. It’s not the springboard for me to coo and fawn over the foxy celebrities of network television. Two weeks ago, The Dunce Cap celebrated freaks and geeks alike, and this week’s edition has a decidedly different theme.

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 13 features 15 tracks (it’s an edition and a half!) about football. Good ol’ rough n’ tough Southern football. Each of these tracks is from the soundtrack of NBC’s television drama, “Friday Night Lights,” from the first season and a half (of which I have watched 27 episodes in the last 48 hours). “Friday Night Lights” follows a high school football squad in the fictional small town of Dillon, Texas, where football reigns supreme, but it’s more than just a show about football. It’s a show with heart and with a killer cast – the characters exude charm and genuineness that extends past the petty fights and forlorn heartbreak of adolescence. The realistic nature of the show even survived the melodrama of a terrible murder subplot.

The show is fantastic. And what surpasses even the show’s eye candy, the plot twists, the characterization and the pretty awesome athleticism is the music. Yup, it all comes full circle. The soundtrack is replete with instrumental post-rock from – where else? – Texas, courtesy of Explosions in the Sky, and Tony Lucca‘s cover of the Daniel Johnston‘s eerie and haunting “Devil Town” appears multiple times throughout the first season and in a fairly titillating season three promo. Coach’s daughter Julie is an indie fangirl, convincing boyfriend Matt Saracen to see the Old 97’s and The Decemberists, and the music taste her fictional character boasts translates into a really well-rounded and interesting soundtrack.

Check out a small slice of the music from the series, and watch the rebroadcast of season 4 (originally shown on DirecTV Channel 101) on NBC Friday nights (when else).

And, for your eyes’ delight, check out two of the show’s original stars, Taylor Kitsch as fullback/running back Tim Riggins and Northwestern alumnus Zach Gilford as quarterback Matt Saracen. I apologize in advance for my salacious behavior, but yummy.

Taylor Kitsch of "FNL"

“I apologize to everyone here, and if you can find it within yourselves to let me make it up to you in the showers, I’d appreciate it.” – Tim Riggins, Season 2

Zach Gilford of "FNL"

“You don’t have to worry about me, in a fight I just kinda stand in the back and just yell stuff. ”    – Matt Saracen, Season 1

Happy listening.

Oh, and p.s. Matthew Gray Gubler portrays the nerdily inept  Dr. Spencer Reid on “Criminal Minds.” Terry Richardson is an allegedly handsy (but very talented) celebrity photographer. FTR.

The Dunce Cap: June 14, 2010

in: heavy rotation

Image from BuzzFeed

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 12: How do I make this not sound cheap? I wanna show you where I sleep. (mix via 8tracks)

1. “Barely Legal” – The Strokes
2. “Sex and Reruns” – Matt Duke
3. “Pretty Melody” – Butch Walker
4. “Nothing’severgonnastandinmyway (again)” – Wilco
5. “Summer” – Magic Kids
6. “Polaroid Thomas” – World History
7. “Sunny Day” – Adam Balbo
8. “Arms and Hearts” – The Hold Steady
9. “Never Mine” – Brilliant Colors
10. “Me and Giuliani Down by the School Yard (A True Story)” – !!!

More music for your ears. It’s summer, and I’m glued to my tube for The Real Housewives of New York City finale (as if you couldn’t tell from my other posts), so I’m not leaving an extensive explanation of this mix. There are some of my favorite favorite tracks from some of my most beloved bands, and there are a few tracks I’ve just recently discovered. Listen to it while you’re TV tanning, no?

I’m embedding below Butch Walker‘s video for “Pretty Melody,” which is a kung-fu beauty. Check it out.


“Pretty Melody,” Butch Walker and the Black Widows

Happy listening.

Book Club: Summer Television

in: on queue

The television I tune into regularly is on summer vacation. And that sucks. I miss my Glee and my 30 Rock and especially my Community, and I’m lonely enough to be regularly watching Sidereel for ’90s preteen dramas. And my loneliness and boredom has reached an incredible low: I am watching The Real Housewives of New York City.

Channel surfing:

The Real Housewives of New York City. Photo courtesy of Bravo.

This show is the worst. The cast is, generally, annoying. Their actions are deplorable. And I am going to punch Kelly Bensimon in the face. The third season concludes tonight with the third and final installment of the reunion special, and it is sure to be another screamfest of bitchy proportions. Oh, god. The drama. The catfights. The tears. The Louboutins.

My mother adores this show, and given that I am stuck in suburbia (but newly employed!), I’ve become a regular watcher of Real Housewives reruns. I want to dissect the characters a bit and, later tonight, I plan to do a play-by-play live blog of the ultimate season finale.

The show, in short, is a stage for the rich, famous and crazy women on New York City. Season 3 followed six (er, seven, but I’ll really only talk to six) of NYC’s wealthiest women as they bicker and moan and attention-grab. It’s the clash of the bourge-y – stilettos at ready. The six are, essentially, a group of frenemies with rich husbands, bratty kids and gorgeously furnished pads. Some bare their breasts, some bare their souls and all bare their total insanity.

The cast:

Bethenny Frankel – Bethenny is a natural foods chef. Well-educated, snarky and disarmingly honest, Bethenny is my favorite. I’m totally in her camp. She is a very recent mother and wife with her own new TV show (Bethenny Getting Married?, also on Bravo) and a successful brand of culinary products, Skinnygirl.
LuAnn de Lesseps – The former Countess and a matronly biotch. A former model and nurse, LuAnn sticks her broad-shouldered frame into everyone’s business and harks on the manners of all her castmates. My favorite LuAnn moment? When she chides Bethenny for introducing LuAnn to the chauffeur as her first name. LuAnn released a single, the aptly titled “Money Can’t Buy You Class.”


LuAnn de Lesseps, “Money Can’t Buy You Class”

Alex McCord – I used to hate Alex. She and her husband Simon try far too hard to get their faces plastered all over page six of The New York Times. Simon is clearly hiding deep within the recesses of a well-groomed beard of a closet (mixed metaphors just for you, Ramona), and Alex’s snotty kids Francois (“I know more than you!”) and Johan don berets when they enter French restaurants. Majorly obnoxious. But Alex has grown on me. She grew a backbone in season three, took on the bullies of the group and spoke her mind – and she is a former Wildcat. Round of applause for most redeemed.
Ramona Singer – Ramona is crazy. I really don’t have much more to say than that. She dances like a fiend and like everyone is watching, but her family is fairly cute. Thumbs up. She also mixes metaphors like crazy – “diarrhea of the mouth,” if you will. Check out the video below, in which Ramona attempts to work the catwalk, reworked by a clever YouTuber.


Ramona Singer, Loris Diran finale fashion show

Jill Zarin – Now, given my background, I feel justified in saying this – Jill Zarin is the epitome of a Jewish American Princess. She demands the attention and concern of all others around, and she screeches like a banshee before weeping like a big ol’ baby. I have rarely seen a grown woman throw fits as Jill does. It’s almost impressive. And please don’t get me started with Jill’s daughter Ally. What a total brat.
Kelly Killoren Bensimon – Oh sweet nothingness. This girl is bats**t crazy and insanely vapid. Bensimon used to be married to legendary photographer Gilles Bensimon, but I suspect she went off her rocker long before the divorce. Her hissyfit in St. Barts? Nuts. Totally nuts. The way she squinched her formerly beautiful face. She looks like a Gremlin. “Systematic bullying,” my bum.

So, the women of Real Housewives. Plastic, arguably beautiful, full of suburban rage and plain ol’ insane. I can’t wait for the next season.

Check out what I hope to be a successful live feed next.

The Dunce Cap: June 7, 2010

in: heavy rotation

The geeks of Wet Hot American Summer

I hope it’s not jumbo shrimp, because I’m allergic to oxymorons!

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 11: So many foreign worlds, so ready for us. (mix via 8tracks)

1. “Close to Home” – The Get Up Kids
2. “Laid” – James
3. “No Diggity” – Klaxons
4. “Silvia” – Miike Snow
5. “Be My Baby” – The Ronettes
6. “Britney” – I’m From Barcelona
7. “Creature Fear” – Bon Iver
8. “Happiness” – Jonsi and Alex
9. “For Real” – Okkervil River
10. “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks” – The National

*BONUS TRACK: “The Geeks Get the Girls” – American Hi-Fi

The 2000s were, undeniably, the decade of the nerd. Sure, Duckie, Long Duk Dong and any character played by Anthony Michael Hall in a John Hughes flick had their fifteen minutes of fame, fortune and genuine female attention, but the aughts saw an unprecedented rise in the triumph of wallflowers in popular culture. There was the gang from Freaks and Geeks, led by John Francis Daley of Bones, who closed out the ’90s; Ugly Betty, Napoleon Dynamite, Seth Cohen and Ted Mosby (yes, the real Ted Mosby) all had their spots in the space-time continuum of geek lead triumph, but no ragtag troupe of amateur nerdlings captured my heart like the geeks of Wet Hot American Summer.

This is a mix inspired by these gems, by the caped kid cradling his 20-sided die, by The Cure Girl (called so in the credits of the film), by David Hyde Pierce‘s caustic Henry and all of the other kids who “like science.” They “save” their summer camp by diverting a rogue piece of Skylab, but the most earnest and touching part is that they discover friendship (this would warrant a trite vomit if it weren’t so hilariously choreographed by David Wain and Michaels Ian Black and Showalter). They form li’l bond to beat the summer camp blues, stargazing, plotting, commiserating and running from dodgeball. Together.

These are songs about unrequited love, homesickness, fear, Britney Spears and, of course, geeks. It’s dedicated to those freaks, geeks and Otis Redding-belting nerds who stole my heart and let me be their friend.

For now – I am jetsetting to the exotic town of Snellville, Ga., on Monday, but fret not – The Dunce Cap will prevail! I know I haven’t done June Book Club yet, so look out for that soon.

Now finish up them taters; I’m gonna go fondle my sweaters.

Happy listening.

A.V. Club: Lil Wayne

in: viewing room


Lil Wayne, “Knockout” featuring Nicki Minaj

I don’t… Well, I don’t even have words for this. Just watch it. Lil Wayne, you’ve outdone yourself.

This song is ridiculous. The opening lines display Wayne’s lyrical stupidity, and the video is “Fast Times” cheesy. Nicki Minaj, the supposed new Lil Kim, is this creepily self-aware doll who clearly thinks she’s cute, sexy, talented, etc. She’s not. She’s bursting out of her Lady Gaga corset rip-off, and her eyes. Sheesh, those eyes. They’re lifeless and creepy.

Seriously, when Lil Wayne opens a song addressing Barbie, you know you’re in trouble. Wayne’s morphing these alternative rock baselines and drum solos with his T-Pain over-modulated voice and Minaj’s frenetic, screeching vocals. It’s as if Wayne listened to At the Drive-In and decided he could do it just as well but realized he didn’t have the vocal cajones to do real music any justice. And the video? It looks like he took a page from that Lil Jon/Cooking by the Book mash-up, begged Kelis to do costume design and rounded off the catastrophe with Celebrity Deathmatch.

And it’s all for that Barbie girl.

Ken, what would you have to say about this?

Ken and Barbie, Toy Story 3

Book Club: Summer Nostalgia

in: on queue

One of my absolute favorite things to do is to devour entire collections of artistic endeavors (book series, television shows, movie franchises, etc.) in a short period of time. I get obsessive about things and complete them (usually) without skipping a beat – books excluded. I’m an awful skip-to-the-end-and-spoil-the-surprise-r.

But, all that being said, summer is the best time to indulge in this among my favorite hobbies. And, so, first things first on the list of summer nostalgia – Felicity.

Hollaback girl:

The cast of "Felicity"

I have a particular soft spot for ’90s WB dramas, a spiel I’ve certainly launched into before. And in the land of finicky, sweaty, dramatized adolescence, Felicity was king. Or queen.

So, the series was created by J.J. Abrams, and Ron Howard, Brian Glazer, et. al. produced, and it starred Scotts Foley and Speedman, and jeez ol’ peets, it’s good old fashioned fun about rape, cheatin’ hearts and minds, sex and Estonian chocolate poisoning. It “went there” before Degrassi went edgy. Way before.

I’ve picked up from the pilot, and ten years ago, Felicity Porter, all tight ringlets and sweet Southern California charm, was entering her junior year of college. And, sure, it’s a pretty pathetic news peg, but guess who is entering her junior (or third, whatever) year of college? That’s right – yours truly.

So, Felicity lasted four seasons, one to coincide with every year of the titular character’s college experience at the fictional University of New York (based, clearly, on NYU). The show was chocked full of hilarious quips and likable characters, but it dated itself with its loose acrylic sweaters, bulky Mac desktops and cutely endearing (but totally inescapable) Scott Foley bang cuts.

And despite the show’s timeliness, the series was brilliant. Sure, critics lambasted the show after Felicity (Keri Russell) chopped off her curly locks in season 2, and the series unarguably jumped the shark in season 4 when the writers opted for a super-lame time travel device – or so Wikipedia tells me -, but the show was really charming. Full disclosure – I’ve watched 12 episodes in two days. Despite a final. Which I studied for, still. But I digress.

I’ll be finishing the series out in, say, the next two weeks, and I’m hoping it’ll be even half as enjoyable as the beginning has been. I’ve been enjoying living college through another point of view, my own sort of time travel, and I’m not only nostalgic for ’90s television but also a bit disappointed I wasn’t able to attend college in the decade. It would have been fun.

And, plus, I miss Scott Foley. Bring back that cheeky grin and that sideswept hairstyle. Jennifer Garner, how do you sleep at night?

“The only time I’ve ever been to the principal’s office was in the fourth grade. This boy kept calling me Fellatio Porter, and even though I didn’t know what that meant, I put twenty-seven packets of salt into his orange juice cup.” – Felicity Porter, Season 1, Episode 12, “Friends”

Coming up: Dawson’s Creek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Bones, Popular, Grosse Point

The Dunce Cap: May 31, 2010

in: heavy rotation

Photo courtesy of super-creepy paparazzo

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 10: I command you to dance. It’s such a sweet sensation. (mix via 8tracks)

1. “July, July!” – The Decemberists
2. “Stole My Heart” – Little and Ashley
3. “Gone Daddy Gone” – Gnarls Barkley
4. “Good Vibrations” – Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch
5. “Airplanes” – Local Natives
6. “Home” – Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
7. “Map of the World” – Monsters of Folk
8. “Shiny Happy People” – R.E.M.
9. “Kiss” – Prince
10. “Girl” – Beck

Look at that little girl. Yes, it’s Suri Cruise, and yes, it’s already been established that I am kind of obsessed with her, but seriously. Just look at the joy captured on her face. So, sure, she’s cute, but why is she the new Maybelline maven of The Dunce Cap?

Well, frankly, I’m tired of my simple explanations that these mixes are brimming with happy songs, blah blah blah. I’m letting Suri say it instead. Try to look at that face without grinning. Really. I dare you. Triple dog dare.

This mix is fist-pumping (yuck) with hip-shaking, high-fiving tracks from artists like The Decemberists and Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch (so much yammering love about to happen in the coming days).  There’s a really great Violent Femmes cover from, of all people, Gnarls Barkley (Cee-Lo!) and my favorite Prince track ever. There’s even a reminder of home, a track from Athens’ own R.E.M.

So give it a whirl, and I hope your face lights up like Suri Cruise. And if you really do cheese that much, please send me photos.

Happy listening.

Book Club: Summer music

in: on queue

We’re two weeks away from summer, at least here at Northwestern, and yesterday the university’s famed Dillo Day marked the real start to summer celebrations. First up on The Dunce Cap’s music list: Guster, the midday artist at Dillo Day 2010. Guster performed alongside Regina Spektor, Super Mash Bros, Rhymefest and Nelly, who rounded out the day’s line-up.

Pretty melody:

Photo courtesy of NU student

See, my older sister got me into Guster six years ago. I’d listen to “Amsterdam,” from the band’s 2003 effort Keep It Together (or the one with the hummingbird on it), on repeat for days on end, and I’ve since fallen in love with their quirky lyricism and catchy hooks. The four nice Jewish boys from Tufts are known for their stage antics, wherein the members may pick up strange and unusual instruments, partake in witty stage banter or even participate in large-scale stage gags, such as a 2001 show in Rochester, NY, in which the guys were summoned to an empty stage “Price is Right” style. The members have paraded as a hillbilly opener (Peace Soldiers) and then as a jam band (Trippin’ Balls), and they continue to play hilarious covers, as with yesterday’s version of “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” an almost obvious epilogue to their own tune, “Red Oyster Cult.”

All in all, Guster remains one of my favorite bands, a constant tribute to summer, a theme The Dunce Cap seems a bit obsessed with. Check out “Two Points for Honesty” and “Amsterdam” below, and try to catch them out on the road this summer.

Congratulations on being the greatest looking place ever (existed). – Guster member on Northwestern’s Dillo Day crowd

“Two Points for Honesty,” from 2001’s Lost and Gone Forever

“Amsterdam,” from 2003’s Keep It Together

In other news: The use of Paula Cole’s “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone” as a torture device in the Star Wars-themed episode of “Family Guy” (“Something, Something, Something Dark Side“) was pretty upsetting. A hilarious but sad remembrance of one of my favorite songs from the ’90s.

The Dunce Cap: May 24, 2010

in: heavy rotation

Image from unknown source

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 9: (S)he dances in secret, (s)he’s a part-time punk. (mix via 8tracks)

1. “Glue Girls” – Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin
2. “Gardenia” – Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks
3. “Outta My Head” – M. Ward
4. “Two Doves” – Dirty Projectors
5. “Eleanor” – Low Millions
6. “Seen the Light” – Supergrass
7. “The Blues are Still Blue” – Belle & Sebastian
8. “Abe Lincoln” – Bishop Allen
9. “It’s There” – All Girl Summer Fun Band
10. “West End Girls” – Pet Shop Boys

Okay, folks. It’s getting more and more difficult to compose thoughtful explanations for each week’s mix. So here’s the long and short of it: These are songs I like. They make me smile. I want to belt them out obnoxiously. I want to bask in the summer sun with these as my soundtrack. Period.

These are all fun, optimistic songs, about break-ups (“Eleanor” and “Two Doves” – kind of), crushes (“Glue Girls” and “Gardenia,” among others. I like songs about major league crushes) and all things in between. There’s a whole litany of strong and interesting artists, from the monumental Stephen Malkmus to the one-hit-wonders Low Millions, who wrote a whole album about break-ups, even naming each vixen by name. There’s some Pet Shop Boys paired alongside some light and enjoyable All Girl Summer Fun Band. It’s replete with soaring hooks and roaring sing-a-longs, and it’ll put your ma’s old mixtapes to shame.

Happy listening.

P.S. I love to shout out to some of my peers, including my former editor (and constant inspiration) Jeremy Gordon. He wrote a really great piece on Chuck Klosterman, a man who captured my heart at 15, on his site Taintbrush. Gordon created Taintbrush with fellow Northwestern student Emmy Blotnick, and the site is brimming with hilarious pop culture analysis. Check it out, and demand more updates soon!