you belong to me

http://charlotteronson.com/campaign/video/video_spring10.php

donald cumming is back in charlotte ronson's spring 2010 video look book. how can one boy be so tall, thin, and disgustingly delicious? someday i will write an essay on how i skipped the "dating-a-so-hipster-it-hurts-and-i-haven't-showered-in-2-weeks" portion of my life (you know, minus the not showering part) and i bet you any money the central thesis will be it's because i never did get my claws into donny.

"we'll get that peanut butter i like."
"at the deli. on ninth street?"
"uh huh, yeah. but that's not gonna keep us, like... that's not fun... the whole night. half the night, sure."

Heartbreak Hotel

Sometimes when you make your own situation imposible, then you just gotta stuff your head full of (not holes) sad songs that ironically make everything not worse but livable. Key word OKAY.

Girls: Can't wait to see them in April so they can sing the songs of my broken heart for all to hear and sing along to too.

The first cut may be the deepest but the last cut is always the worst. BITCH!

i wanna be your girl friend.

NYE 2010 The Virgins

So today at work I got a sweet picture text from Adam (above.) I had to save it and zoom to find out who that was... The beard and long sleeves threw me off because you know I'd know that divine physique anywhere! It's Donald Cumming from the Virgins playing their show on NYE in Chicago. THANKS ADAM!

Then I did a little Flickr-stalking and found the above gem. Now, that's the Donald I know and love!

DON'T TO DO

Lissy Trullie's album Self Taught Learner is being re-released on Tuesday October 20 by Downtown Records, and Filter Mag has a free d/load of my favorite LT track "Don't to Do." This is the first time I've heard this song in a non-live situation! It kinda ruled my life from May to August and it's about to happen again. Whenever I feel like a shitty piece of sad shit because I'm single and self-sabotage everything that happens to me, I just blast this song because it's true! THERE'S A WHOLE LOTTA DON'T TO DO, and I'm happy to be alive to do it, baby.

P.S. Donald, I know I said I would follow you to the depths of crypt keeper hell, but I think you might be going a little too far. What is up with your face???????????? (photo from itscorykennedy.wordpress.com)

Donald = new Gaga?

These pics from Cory Kennedy's blog make me wonder if Donald Cumming is going for the Gentleman Gaga title. This is him covered in goth(?) face paint at the Paper Mag party (kinda reminiscent of Lady G covered in fake blood at this year's VMA's).

What's clear is that I don't care how far into the abyss this guy wants to go. Crypt keeping suits him well, and I'll watch him devolve into a true ghoul if that's what he wants to do. He's so horrifically beautiful it makes my eyes gloss over. Keep up the good work, Donald!

DONALD GET IN ME

Tonight The Virgins played a benefit show for Cinema Nolita with The Beets at Santos. Lox and I attended and I had pretty much the best time I've had all summer.

Donald did NOT disappoint in these pants.

Homeboy knows he's sex on sticks (I think his skinny body is constructed out of zombified matches waiting to BURN) and he's never been afraid to flaunt his goods like a modern day Mick Jagger... But even after seeing his naked package on full display in Ryan McGinley's photos, those telephone pants still tantalize. ("I'm in the phone booth, it's the one across the hall/If you don't answer I'll just ring it off the wall.") And I thought Jack White wore trouser snake enhancers!

And Donald pulled a Ryan Jarman displaying his "Tales From the Crypt Keeper" toenail polish. I don't think he could ever be more perfect than exactly as he is. Just watch the way he moves.

Thanks again, boys, for a fun night of awesomeness.

donald craze

from rolling stone via rugby.

donald=belmondo

charlotte ronson's fall 09 campaign takes cues from godard's breathless. nice call.

i like you because you're strange

Last night I had a dream that Rebecca and I were looking at apts with Bob Dylan (circa 1967) acting as broker. Of course he showed us a gorgeous 2-br suite in the Chelsea Hotel. We decided to take it, but then changed our minds at the last minute upon conviction that the place had to be swirling with ghosts.
Pretty sure I dreamed this because of the Spring 2009 video from Charlotte Ronson's campaign. I can't embed it, but you can watch it here. It's pretty much all I want in life (minus the whole living in Chelsea part) and Donald is the stuff dreams are made of.

...and we watched it. and it was amazing...

Interviewing singer-guitarist Donald Cumming, one pictures his eyes glazing over as he describes the girl who showed him the movie version of Brett Easton Ellis’s book Less Than Zero.

“(She was) this enigmatic girl, who was older than me and living dangerous — the kind of girl who had interesting things happen around her,” he said. “I had a huge crush on her but was too shy to do anything. She’d come to my house and bring over snacks. We’d get stoned and hang out in my room ... One day she came over and brought Less Than Zero, and we watched it, and it was amazing.”

Read the whole article here. Image from lissytrullie.blogspot.com

it takes a lot to change her mind

And the streak continues. Last night after witnessing alien Housewives Ramona and Simon do the red patent leather pants dance, I stayed up late watching Mr. Wonderful for the 2nd time. It was enough to erase "Rapid Fire Eyes" and "Twink Seemingly on Deathwatch" from my brain and prevent the nightmares that were sure to follow. Question: will watching some Netflix instant Dillon movie be able to ward off the LOST terrors tonight?

In other non-relevant but awesome news, Pork has this to say about the Virgins video below ("Up The Junction" cover): "i have never really watched a video of the virgins, but i just watched the one you posted and this is going to sound really weird, but donald's mouth looks exactly like i expected it would when he sings"

Somehow I get it.

up the junction

The Virgins cover Squeeze in Paris. I have to repulsed by people to really desire them. (see below)

funky strokes

So many things are right/wrong with this video, where to begin? First the teeth, always the teeth. How can you not love Donald straight away? Homeboy's looking a little more homeless than usual, but who cares? He's staring right into the camera the whole time like a dead stick figure dressed in the red flannel Brooklyn heart palpitations are made of. On drugs or drunk? Probably. But he could also be suffering from borderline somnambulism. It doesn't matter, everything he does works in the end.

Now the real reason for the post. I had a heart attack when I misheard "funky Strokes" for "fuck the Strokes" no less than 4 times in the video. Do I sense a little annoyance in Donald's slur? Probably, and I totally support it. WHY does every new young band, esp those that come out of NYC have to be compared to the Strokes? Don't get me wrong, I love that Jules & Co. are the touchstone for what matters in this town, but sometimes the comparisons can be over-top-top, or worse yet, relentless.

First Arctic Monkeys (recording 3rd album now in Brooklyn!!!) were plagued so much by the press pre-Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not release, that they lashed back with EP Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys? I foolishly boycotted due to the Alex-Turner-is-the-next-Julian-is-the-next-Kurt-Cobain bullshit that swamped the blogosphere. Turns out the lads became one of my favorite bands and went on to win the coveted Mercury Prize for their debut. Mr. Turner has since been nominated for his full-length efforts AM's Favourite Worst Nightmare and Last Shadow Puppets' The Age of the Understatement.

Countless other bands were forced to live up to Is This It? standards (including the Strokes upon releasing First Impressions of Earth, but that's another story). Vampire Weekend was immediately hailed THE NEXT STROKES when the 1st notes of "Kwassa Kwassa," etc, hit the net. WHY? Because they formed a band while studying @ Columbia? Because they wear polo shirts and Cape Cod khakis? Because they use strings at their live shows to fill in the barebones tracks, and the Strokes layer their shit like a Charlotte Ronson look book? Don't get me wrong, I am a minor fan of this band, but Strokes they are not, and this particular Venn Diagram experiment really drove me up the wall.

Then the Virgins, bless them. The first time I saw them at Mercury Lounge NYE 07 they could barely play their guitars. They were sweet, smokin' hot, and they had good songs, but honeyyyyyy they could NOT hold a candle to a Strokes live show. Out of Strokes-comparison context, the Virgins kick fucking ass, and I think their heralded "funk" comes more like an inheritance from Mick Jagger circa "Emotional Rescue" than any Wiz Kid recordings. Of course I could always be wrong. Point is, the Virgins have had to deal with facing up to the Strokes almost mythological status (since their undeclared hiatus) in this city, and unfairly, too. The Virgins now play like pros, cover amazing NYC (and not) songs from the rock and roll cool canon, and as Donald mentions above, their shows are really "fun."

The latest Strokes-addled performer is Lissy Trullie. Read this article written by Lizzy Goodman from NYMag. Can't you hear the breathless praise in a smoker's rasp? The end of the article is so romantic and cliche and abs. insane (I was at that show) that you just have to laugh. Lissy's music can stand on its own without having to put her into the NYC Cool School of Rock and Roll. I know it's fun to talk about Lou Reed and J Cas and The Ramones etc. in the same paragraph of a glossy mag, but I think Lissy's music is much more 60's girl-band influenced, with a dash of Live Thru This and a pinch of Nico's solo album. Certainly Eben de Amico's musicianship plays a role as well. (He used to play for Saves the Day.)

This is a pretty long rant. Bottom line, stop comparing every fucking single band to the Strokes. None of them will ever live up to it... and they'll probably just get annoyed that people can't listen to their tunes without calling it "funky Strokes" or "sober Strokes" or "disco Strokes" or "post-Apocalyptic Dharma Initiative coconut Strokes." You get the point.

lately i can tell that you're scared

sophomore released their new pics... thanks lox.

all i can say is. hot. damn. http://www.sophomorenyc.com/fall08.html# buy their clothes but lay off the "stay gold" tees because we got dibs, bitch.