northwestern

About a Girl: When Yer Twenty-Two

on: the girl

Over the last two years with this li’l blog, I’ve expended countless words attempting to define and redefine my identity. It’s a tough go for a nomadic college kid – post-adolescence, coupled with the particulars of my familial situation, makes for a murky sense of self. But I keep chugging away, rattling off facts, quirks and circumstances as if, compiled, they’ll be able to make some decoupaged mannequin of me.

Last week, I turned 22. I was to have a college degree tucked tight beneath my belt, able to change my Facebook education status to the past tense re: Northwestern. Things got in the way – I’ll claim responsibility enough to say it was me – and the steps to my future seem a bit more formidable than they did four months ago, but it’s important to keep a few things in mind. A friend of mine suggested recently that I were wallowing (an interesting juxtaposition, it should be noted, to the suggestion from another friend that I was superb at hiding emotions in mixed company), and the idea greatly unsettled me. I’ve long prided myself on my unbridled (public face) of optimism, and I’ve truly got so much to be grateful for. I’m 22, healthy, living in one of the greatest cities in the world and privy (mostly) to an exceptional education in the field of my choice. This is the time of my life in which I am expected to be most carefree and happy consciously. When it’s most permissible that I don’t give a damn about much else other than frolicking and sunshine and friendship. It’s not as if I can hide from my dilemmas. I still have bills to pay, countless accounts and debts to settle before I can sit contentedly, but I’m young, and I’m mostly free, and it’s high time I start acting like it.

For the blissful past few weeks, I’ve resided in a (rat-free) new sublet, this gorgeous little place just a block from where I used to live. Charlie Conway, that beautiful piece of modern machinery, is back in Chicago, rebuilt and repositioned as my iron horse. Spring break, when Charlie finally reappeared, brought the perfect weather for cycling, too; warm, sunny, with the tiniest hint of a lake-induced wind. Just gorgeous (though it should be noted that the gorgeous weather turned fickle and cold and has yet to dissipate. Alas). I have, at minimum, three months with some of the greatest people I have ever known, and those three months will be replete with memories. It’s hard to be pessimistic about what lies ahead; I made it through the winter, and not to perpetuate the cliche, but, truly, there’s sunshine ahead.

This particular post sat untouched in my draft folder on WordPress for a few weeks; Harvey Danger (boo-yah, The Sextarines, I owned that shit at trivia) crooned that “Happiness Writes White,” and it certainly seems to hold true for me. Here’s a snippet of what I’d written:

“This week was Spring Break for Northwestern students, and I was a bit wary of its approach. Work was to be closed, and many of my friends were to jetset to exotic locales (or, if not exotic, to something comfortable and welcoming), and I was to be stuck in an empty apartment with nothing but time. It turned out, though, to be kind of great. I kept myself occupied preparing for the move and, too, enjoying the weather. There was one truly perfect afternoon, taking a good book (the new Jonah Lehrer) to the lakefill, sporting flip flops and shorts, gorging myself on Chipotle and eying the incredible Chicago skyline to the south. This particular afternoon – one that reminded me of the sheer beauty of life – was followed by a rollicking trip downtown to catch “Bring It On: The Musical” – yes, really – a hilarious monstrosity it’s hard to believe actually exists. The week wasn’t through with me yet, though. There was a drinking game set to Mario Kart drenched in debauchery, trivia dominance and a week in heaven spent with a boy I’ve really grown to admire.”

A few things have changed since, sure – not my affection for the boy (The Teacher’s Pet), certainly – and the weather has failed to stabilize or even truly warm, but I’m still right where I want and need to be. Twenty-two started out swimmingly, with a midnight bassoon surprise serenade and a real adult-like night on the town, and it’s been fairly fantastic since. I’m thrilled for what lies ahead; check back for an exciting official announcement in the next few weeks. I’m ironing out the details now and am itching to make a more public statement*!

Happy (almost) May,
The Girl

*Like my blog is public or viral. Guffaw.

The Dunce Cap: Week of Feb. 21, 2012

in: heavy rotation

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 43: I should find someone better for me, but Mom says we’re born this way. (click on link to listen to mix via 8tracks or play above)

1. “Holland 1945” – Neutral Milk Hotel
2. “Dawned on Me” – Wilco
3. “Star Wars” – Ryan Adams
4. “Rubber Lover” – Marmaduke Duke
5. “Sweethearts” – Butch Walker & the Black Widows
6. “Girls and Boys in Love” – The Rumble Strips
7. “Range Life” – Pavement
8. “Holiday” – The Get Up Kids
9. “Glendora” – Rilo Kiley
10. “I Can’t Make You Love Me” – Bon Iver

I’m sorry for the delay with this post, folks. I made the mix some time ago, but I’d forgotten to post the accompanying WordPress post. I’m sure you all were eagerly awaiting my return.

I’m stationed currently in one of the journalism labs at Northwestern, and I’m looking out the giant glass window, positively dismayed to find snow flurrying outside. What is this nonsense? Chicago weather is utterly fickle, and we’ll go from sunshine (see Wednesday’s love-for-global-warming-inducing midday 60s) to driving rain to snow. It’s days like this I revel in the idea of approaching Florida warmth.

For now, this playlist ought to rev up your desire, too, for something resembling spring. These ten tracks are fairly representative of what I’ve been listening to quite a bit lately. I’m sans iPod – and, really, reliable technology in general – but spending 40 hours a week in a moving vehicle, so I’ve started to slowly rebuild my music collection. Reckless Records and Second Hand Tunes, two local Chicago record stores, offer much in the way of cheap used CDs, and I’ve spent hours on end picking through their selections. The result is a car trip full of 90s nostalgia, from Pavement to the Get Up Kids to Jawbreaker to the Gin Blossoms, and, while Pavement’s getting quite a bit of play on my radio these days, it’s Neutral Milk Hotel which has really stolen my heart. I had the unique pleasure of catching NMH’s Jeff Mangum in Milwaukee last month, and it was truly transcendental. Both of the group’s full lengths have been in regular rotation as of late, and “Holland 1945” – rumored to be about Anne Frank – is likely my favorite tune from both releases.

The Pavement track here (“Range Life,” from their seminal album Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain) is one of my favorites, with, it seems, frontman Stephen Malkmus cleverly employing a thesaurus to detail the comforts of laziness. The Get Up Kids’ “Holiday,” the lead track from their 1999 album Something to Write Home About, remains one of my very favorites, and I was thrilled to find a copy of the album after losing mine so many years ago. This mix also has a sweet Butch Walker track from his newest album, The Spade, and an excellent Bon Iver B-side, his haunting cover of Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” as well as two of the catchiest tracks I’ve heard in some time, Marmaduke Duke‘s totally filthy “Rubber Lover” and the Rumble Strips‘ “Girls and Boys in Love.” These are ten I’m really loving, which, I suppose, has been my m.o. with these for a while now. Alas, alack.

Happy listening.

About a Girl: West Coastin’

on: the girl

Hello, readers, stumblers, ex-spouses and prospective employers!

I’ve been blogging so sporadically that I fear I’ve lost even the small readership I’d managed to build (thanks in great part to all of the murmurings of a “Veronica Mars” movie – shame on you, Warner Bros.), and I think a reintroduction may be necessary.

I’ve been living on the West Coast for nearly three months, and I can’t begin to express the adoration I feel for this place. It really must be in the air here, for I can’t imagine being anywhere else. This experience, and the incredible internship I’ve had since I got out here, has been immensely transformative. I fell back in love with journalism, and I wrote nearly everyday, whether in short quips, Gchats, drafts or notes home. I now get compliments on my svelte-lier bod (#humblebrag) from passerby cyclists, and that’s because the Frisco hills have shaped my rockin’ calves. I think, in truth, I regained my swagger, and it’s been a pretty rollickin’ good time.

Next month, well, really, in a few short weeks, I’ll be headed back home to Atlanta for the holidays. My mother has promised a full-scale turkey dinner to repent for my solo status this Thanksgiving. And, soon after, I’ll head back to Evanston for what I truly hope will be my last Chicago winter. Then, it’s off on a new journalistic journey. I will hopefully be purchasing a brand spankin’ new laptop in the next month, so I plan to open 2012 with regular posting. For now, a bit about me; I wrote this during my freshman year of college, and it somehow still rings true:

Coco “President Dancefloor” Keevan (c.1990-present) comes from Georgia, where the peaches grow. She is an actual student at Northwestern University, studying, much to her chagrin, the fine art of journalism. Her focus is on nothing and everything at once, with a concentration in John Cusack, made- for-TV movies and dinosaurs. In 2000, Coco wowed an audience of ten with her dissertation on the sensual powers of marinara sauce. She has a penchant for appropriate musical handclaps and the Culkin brothers, but she abhors the New York Yankees and geographically-named bands. She is oft-compared to a raven-haired Paris Hilton, and she hopes to star in a film or television series with a one-dimensional, awkward Michael Cera. Coco’s verbose nature often gets her into trouble in academics and common society, as she occasionally loses control of her vowel movements and practices the terrible talent of word vomit. Coco has aspirations of one day claiming Mars in the name of Rock’n’Roll. If that doesn’t quite pan out, she’ll settle for a cushy cubicle job at Rolling Stone, eating green M & Ms from the riders of famous musicians and relishing the sweet free merchandise that comes as a perk.

Welcome back to what I hope will be the best incarnation of The Girl With the Dunce Cap yet; I think there may be a bit of a makeover and perhaps even a content overhaul. It should be back with some degree of regularity; I hope you’ll keep reading.

xo,co

About a Girl: New Shoes

on: the girl

“hello new shoes, bye bye blues.”
– paolo nutini, “new shoes”

So many exciting things to write about this week! There’s been a lot going on in my life – though the weather in Evanston is still pretty treacherous (if warm) – and a lot of joy and thrills, but I’m making an actual effort to regularly blog this time around.

Some tidbits on me/life in general:

  • Red Sox sweep their series against the Yankees earlier this week! And the Bravesare holding strong at just above .500, especially after a win tonight against the Phillies. Gotta love that sort of success, even if the Phillies are whooping us in the NL East.

    San Francisco, CA

  • I found out Wednesday I will be placed in beautiful San Francisco, California, for my JR this fall! I’ll be working at San Francisco magazine for three months beginning in mid-September, and I’m truly thrilled to begin. There’s so much to do in SF, and I’m hoping to hit up AT&T Park, the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market (y’know, the one at the Embarcadero), Haight, the sea lions, etc. It’s surely going to be a whirlwind experience, and I’ll be damned if I waste a single second of it.
  • I’ve become a serious fashionista in the last few weeks or so, cleaning my closet a bit (throwing out some still-gross pukey flats and donating some beloved and still fashionable Gap T-shirts) and repopulating it with some pretty exceptional (if secondhand) designer threads. I’ve picked up a little Vera Neumann, some Kate Spade and, of course, Marc Jacobs and Betsey Johnson. I’ve been doing a good bit of clearance rack diving at Anthropologie, Gap, J. Crew and even Macy’s, where I picked up a gorgeous pair of navy Marc Fisher pumps. I’ve given my wallet a brand new policy – I only purchase clothes which I will want to wear to the office in the future. That means no more Threadless tees, no matter how hilarious, and a depleted Converse collection, though I like to believe that I can still wear Chuck Taylors in the real world. All in all, I think I’m really becoming a clothes horse – and I love it.
  • I chopped off all of my hair. Reinvention. It hasn’t been this short since…well, ever.
  • It’s formal season here at Northwestern, and, though I’ve all but removed myself from my chapter to claim allegiance to a particular fraternity, I attended both my sorority formal and my favorite fraternity’s formal this weekend. The latter was at the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower, the 66th floor, and it was a truly gorgeous venue. I had a blast, and the view was absolutely exceptional. I do love college, Asher.
  • Northwestern’s Dillo Day is next weekend. B.O.B. was announced as the night headliner months ago, while both the New Pornographers  and Chiddy Bang were announced last week as the early and late afternoon performers.

    The Mighty Ducks' Charlie Conway

  • And, finally, my brand new (birthday) bicycle is here and built and totally perfect. It’s a smokin’ hot Bianchi hybrid, and I just want to keep it in my bed and cherish it always. It’s got a built-in bike light in the seat and a sweet streamlined style. I’m calling in Charlie Conway after my reignited passion for the Mighty Ducks trilogy. I’m rewatching D2 as I type this, and I’d forgotten how great (slash terrible slash slightly racist slash totally jingoistic) this film is. But I seriously do love this movie. All of ’em. Even 3.

    The Bianchi Milano Citta, my brand new baby

  • I took my bike for a nice ride along the lake tonight. There was a storm a-brewin’, and it was a bit eerie. The waves were lapping, and there were birds flying really low at the shore. It was indescribably beautiful.

Okay, that was a heck of a lot. I’ll be back tomorrow with a new mix (I promise!), and some other fun stuff, so check back then. Happy living!

xoxococo

Book Club: Pulse for Android

in: on queue, in: the press

Okay, so those of you who know me intimately know I’m not exactly tech-savvy. Web-savvy, yes, but technologically inclined? Certainly not. But I’m an avid Wired reader (and thanks to Thomps, subscriber!), and I love to pretend to know about all sorts of technological thing-a-ma-bobbers.

So, I’m celebrating nine months with my beloved Android phone (the original Droid), and I honestly don’t know how I got by without it. I’ve invested my life into this phone. I’m always going through a bit of an application cycle, wherein I cleanse my phone of particular apps and then install new ones (sayonara, Northwestern’s particularly shitty, useless and space-wasting application, hello Buzzfeed‘s totally twee and squeal-inducing application for cuddly animals* and Joseph Gordon-Levitt). And the other day, I hit the proverbial motherload.

I downloaded Pulse from Alphonso Labs at my market’s urging, and I’m addicted. I know the application’s been out for a while (and has been free on both Android and iPhone platforms for a few months), but this discovery was the answer to my calls for a streamlined news application. I found myself wondering this break how to find the information and news I wanted when I’d read all of my Twitter updates. My brain’s grown finicky and tired of traditional news sites. How am I to read the news if it’s not presented in an easy, scrollable format a la New York Magazine‘s fantastic Android widget?

Pulse is it. You can follow up to 20 feeds on Pulse, and the most recent articles and updates are presented on a flowing visual interface. It’s similar to Google Reader but features images instead, and there’s even the capability for Reader integration. Also, it’s so freaking simple to share articles on Twitter, Facebook and a number of other sites.

Now, The Dunce Cap isn’t one for gushing about a product. I’m not here to sell you anything (except for me, future employers!), and the best thing about Pulse is that it is free. I can’t even believe it – it’s easy to read and friendly to my news ADD, and I can even create a widget for any news site, blog or even comic (!) I follow. I’m following enough publications and blogs to really round out my knowledge. I’ve got my Frisky fix and my A.V. Club updates, as well as Salon, Gawker, NYT (to pretend I’m a real human being interested in daily news), Wired and even The Girl with the Dunce Cap! (Why do I follow myself, you ask? Because I can.) I’ve spent so many nights with my finger glued to Pulse. It feels like something approaching productivity.

*Cute Overload is also a great site I will inevitably follow on Pulse and features very cuddly animals

Image from Gizmodo

So, to follow that total product plug (I’m not getting any sort of compensation for this. I’m just obsessed.), an article I found courtesy of Pulse. I’m following Gizmodo for some of my dorkier tech news needs, and this article made me laugh. Check it out.

I’m Not Buying Any More CDs That Don’t Look Like Lunch Meat

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.

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.

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!

The Dunce Cap: April 19, 2010

in: heavy rotation

Image courtesy of chrispartida.com.

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 4: It’s good having somebody good for a change.
(mix via 8tracks)

  1. “Heroes and Villains” – The Beach Boys
  2. “Kiss With a Fist” – Florence + The Machine
  3. “I Just Love You More” – Kate Nash
  4. “Sleep All Summer” – St. Vincent and the National
  5. “Cannibal Queen” – Miniature Tigers
  6. “Suzanne” – Weezer
  7. “Pachuca Sunrise” – Minus the Bear
  8. “Holiday” – The Films
  9. “A Well Respected Man” – The Kinks
  10. “The Light is You” – Said the Whale

As promised, The Dunce Cap presents this week’s second spectacular playlist, courtesy of RTVF 230. An intimate look at subcultures inspired this particular mix, with a number of familiar artists who once straddled the cusp between popularity and utter obscurity. Among these tracks are my favorite Kinks single (and a plug for Do it Again, the documentary which seeks to reunite the Kinks and has me beyond excited!), a beloved Weezer B-side, a new Kate Nash song and a very Brian Wilson-heavy Beach Boys tune. I love the Florence + the Machine track, and, in re-listening to her voice, I realized I’d been digging her for a while. Who knew?

Check out the mix, and look out soon for a profile on the excellent Downtown Sound free summer concert series.

Happy listening, and happy weekending!