Dirty Dirty Mind

Can I just say that I love The Pipettes? I saw them at Highline some months back and they completely took over the stage. Compared to classic 1960s girl groups such as The Shangri-Las and The Ronettes, they bring a vibe and energy to live music that I think is very rare. I might have mentioned this before but I'm finding myself listening to a lot more female artists, and I'm not sure whether this is because there are more great female artists out there or I'm just becoming a pussy...I'm going to go with the former for now. But honestly, Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, The Pipettes, KT Tunstall, The Like, M.I.A., The Pierces, and Architecture in Helsinki, Arcade Fire, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Magic Numbers, The New Pornographers, Shout Out Louds, and Morningwood have prominent female elements singing elements.

And all this music is equal if not better to their male counterparts coming out at the same time, but it will never gain the popularity of someone like The Strokes because a female act will always be "different." Even The White Stripes which are pretty mainstream right now are still different, and Meg gets bashed an incredible amount so that eliminates that parallel.

Whatever the case, The Pipettes are awesome and I'll gladly be Gwenno's groupie (the Sienna Miller/Lindsay Lohan looking blonde in the picture).

They have an EP out called "Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me" and their album is coming out the US on October 2nd, but I've had it for a couple years now.

I recommend checking them out October 8th at Irving Plaza. I intend to.

Fashion Sometimes Rocks

I attended Fashion Rocks at Radio City Music Hall on Thursday night. Some highlights: Jennifer Lopez was actually really awesome live. Aerosmith wasn't. Jennifer Hudson and Alicia Keys are superstars. Adam Levine is a diva. Mischa Barton is as gorgeous as I've always thought, Jessica Alba is tiny, and Tommy Hilfiger looked stoned out of his mind.

I've never been eye-level close to that many celebrities at the same time, it made me feel so insignificant. Overall, it was fun and kind of tiring, and honestly, a little overrated. All these celebrities, fashion designers, models, and entourages just walking around trying to look the coolest. It made me hate celebrity and want to be one more than ever.

Definitely a neat experience, don't know if I'd do it again---unless I were Natalie Portman's date.

If You Were There, Beware

Arctic Monkeys played Central Park last night, but you already knew that. This was the third time I’ve been able to see one of my three favorite bands, so I was extremely psyched. And each time they’ve progressed in the size of the venue and still sold out. Roseland last summer, Hammerstein earlier this summer, and now Summerstage—it’s a steady progression that I hope continues (aside from a secret show at Bowery or Webster).

Now I’m going to sound snobby for a brief second, but please disregard it and we’ll try to move on together afterwards...

I knew about the Arctic Monkeys before you.

I know, you’re like, “What? That’s not true. I discovered them. I was listening to them first.” Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but you didn’t. You might have had their album Beneath the Boardwalk, which wasn’t much of an album but songs recorded live and put together some with names chosen by the people that recorded them. You might have seen the NME cover and been quietly please the tracks already had respectable play counts on your iPod. You might have seen them at Mercury, Bowery, or Webster, with the sold out crowds.

You very well could have done all these things, but I don’t care.

Oddly enough, I don’t run into this problem much. In fact the friend who I took to the show with me had never even heard of the Arctic Monkeys, which frankly surprised me. At this point, I thought they were more than a British sensation; that they appealed to a wider audience then the NME reading Brooklyn vegans, but I guess I’m a little off in my perspective of their popularity.

But I shouldn’t be---they’ve now put out two near-perfect albums (that’s two more good albums than the Strokes currently have under their belt), they have countless EPs with a variety of tracks and covers, they put on a great live show and headline every festival that The Killers aren’t at, and they’ve sold more records faster than the Beatles. Why no Rolling Stone cover? Why no US radio play? What is the deal? These guys are absolutely legitimate—more so than Fall Out Boy, Amy Winehouse, or Zac Efron.

Maybe I’m just too eager. Perhaps they need more time. That’s fine, keep putting out albums, keep playing shows like you did at Central Park, keep ending your sets without encores, keep rock fun and real.

Set list below: (Arctic Monkeys - Central Park Summerstage - 9/5/07)

This House Is A Circus
Brianstorm
Still Take You Home
Dancing Shoes
From The Ritz To The Rubble
Fake Tales Of San Francisco
Balaclava
Old Yellow Bricks
I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
Fluorescent Adolescent
Teddy Picker
D Is For Dangerous
Mardy Bum
Do Me A Favour
If You Were There Beware
The View From The Afternoon
Leave Before The Lights Come On
When The Sun Goes Down
A Certain Romance

Also, listen to 505, a slow song that they don't usually play live.

When The Sun Goes Down

Arctic Monkeys play tonight in Central Park. Get on your Dancing Shoes, there's one thing on your mind. Or at least there should be.

Arctic Monkeys - When the Sun Goes Down

Hold On

I just saw the new KT Tunstall video for 'Hold On' her first single off Drastic Fantastic, out on September 18th. If it's anything like her last, which sold over 4 million copies and picked up three BRIT Awards and a Grammy nomination (oh and by the way, it was absolutely amazing), then a priority for the winter will be catching her live. She's headlining Irving Plaza on September 19th, but have no fear, I suspect she will be returning.

High Res video here. Pics for fun.