today, i start recording record #8.

i’m psyched. and terrified.
all the good extremes.

everybody got in town yesterday.
there are 5 of us.
the producers are incredible musicians.
the drummer is the engineer.
it’s gonna be an all hands on deck situation…
everybody cooking.

the studio is this funky little room in noe
valley, where they used to make jazz records.
it has tons of incredible vintage gear and vibe
for DAYS.

i haven’t made a record in town here, start
to finish, since ‘still waiting for spring’ in 1998.
the studio’s a 10 minute walk from my house,
which rules. i’m psyched to not have to pack up
all my crap and ready myself for a 4+ week
displacement. this is easy… just wake up
(in my own bed, thank you), eat breakfast & go.

the songs feel san francisco to me,
so it makes sense that we’re recording here.
they feel overcast, pacific ocean, twisted.

today is like the first day of school,
if school kicked ass.

i’ll keep you posted.

spent all day yesterday at my old high school. it’s a trip to go back to a place heavy with so much of my own history. this is gonna sound super hippy and VERY un-me, but it’s a pretty magical place. especially this time of year. i am not a big believer in the idea of a ‘spirit home’ cause it makes me feel all dream catcher-y, but.. i think this is mine. #newhampshire

sadly, i could not agree more.

i bought a bunch of records on friday. a little ‘my songs for the new record aren’t done so i might as well enjoy other people’s songs’ kinda shopping trip. here be the goods:

de la soul- 3 feet high and rising. this record is out of print. i’ve been looking for it for awhile. i assume it’s out of print ‘cause the band didn’t get clearance for all the samples they used on it. and there are TONS of samples. and getting sued is expensive and not fun. so the label just pulled the record. anyone know if this is true? well, no matter the story… this record is the shit.

the temper trap- conditions. i saw them play on ‘live from abbey road,’ which is a kick-ass show on sundance channel. bands get to go record live sessions AT abbey road, and soak up the magical beatles vibe. the band is australian, so… that rules. the kid’s voice is ethereal and rad, it’s sort of bronski beat… if bronksi beat were a band i liked. and they sound VERY ‘first wave’ type 80’s, which i’m a sucker for.

black rebel motorcycle club- howl. i worship their record ‘baby 81.’ it kills me. my friend travis, who is a fan and played in a band with them before they became BRMC, told me that i had to hear ‘howl.’ so, see… i listen to my friends.

dr. dog- fate. the new dr. dog record just came out. it is crushing my mind. i don’t know what i had against them for so long… but, i am now a changed man. this record is the beginning of me spelunking their back catalog.

court yard hounds- court yard hounds. i love me some dixie chicks. so, in lieu of a new record from them, i’m giving this a shot. it is emily & martie’s side project. i haven’t listened yet, but the artwork inside the record is rad.

rage against the machine- rage against the machine. i have NEVER owned this record. i don’t know why. maybe i had it on cassette? i have their demo tape. but don’t have this. weird. anyway, it’s real, real great. my favorite one, actually and it was time to own it on CD… just in time for CDs to become fossils.

drivin n’ cryin- great american bubble factory. i love drivin n’ cryin. i think kevn kinney is one of the most under valued lyricists of the last 25 years.

the tallest man on earth- the wild hunt. my friend paul is a nerd for music like me. when he recommends a record, i buy it. sometimes it’s great, sometimes it isn’t. but i always buy it. paul loves this record. i saw this kid (the tallest man) do one of vincent moon’s take away shows… and liked it alright. i’m looking forward to checking out the record.

jay-z- the blueprint. i’m late to the jay-z train. but it is a real nice train.

INXS- live baby live (DVD) live INXS at the height of their powers.

the jimi hendrix experience- are you experienced. (VINYL) had to have it.

the english beat- special beat service. ‘save it for later’ is SUCH a great song. and we were watching footage of them at the US festival on VH1 the other night… and they were just total bad asses. dave wakeling, rankin’ roger… they were dressed up all rude boy, sweating and skanking their way through the pretty 80s. (side note) vampire weekend wouldn’t really exist if it wasn’t for the english beat.. and haircut 100. so, you can love them or hate them for that.

the psychedelic furs- mirror moves. richard butler could deliver you your death sentence and it would be sexy… what a voice! …and his LYRICS. ugh. perfect. THE GHOST IN YOU!!!!

first off… in the last entry i totally spaced one of the reasons queen made my list AND why they rule: FREDDIE MERCURY’S VOICE! it was powerful and dynamic and… totally otherworldly! ok… moving on to the number 9 artist in my top 10 list of ‘greatest artists ever’ (based of the list VH1 gave me) VAN HALEN. controversial, i know. fact is, van halen never really gets the respect they deserve. maybe it’s the years of drama/feuding of the various band members. or the genre they’re in. or david lee roth. i don’t know… but here are the reasons they rule: - DAVID LEE ROTH! have we ever had a front man, before or since, who encompassed as much sexuality, humor, showmanship, fearlessness and power as diamond dave? he owned the stage. he owned the arena. he owned the songs. his singing/shtick was JUST as important as eddie’s playing. who else gets away with talking about ‘forgetting his pencil’ and ‘easing the seat back’ in his car in a hit song? he was the ringleader of the party. that EVERYONE was invited to. - no one has ever been able to imitate them. sure, people have jacked certain elements… but there’s never been a band that’s ever been accused of ‘doing the van halen thing.’ cause no one can. - never has a band taken so seriously the idea of NOT being serious… and in the process, been such ABSOLUTE musical BAD-ASSES! it’s like… if the 3 stooges were ninjas. laughing, shtick-ing it up for a crowd of people and then, mid joke, killing everyone. - van halen switched singers mid-career and wrote songs that were JUST AS STRONG. and they sold more records. and became more popular. (note: this did not work a third time. sorry, gary cherone) - the songs. the DLR era van halen songs were completely non-traditional, completely intuitive, 100% unique and totally transported you to a different place. (again… spoken word verses about pencils in ‘hot for teacher?!’ amazing!) and i happen to think the sammy hagar-era songs were amazing too. ‘dreams,’ ‘when it’s love,’ ‘poundcake,’ ‘finish what ya started’… those are bulletproof pop rock songs. - last, but not least. EDDIE VAN HALEN!! melodic. fearless. from the gut. i’ve never heard him play a note i didn’t like. people have emulated his speed. his technique but no one can PLAY like him. he’s dirty. and sexy. and groovy. he plays like he’s falling down stairs… in the SEXIEST POSSIBLE WAY a person can fall down stairs. his sense of melody is UNREAL. he was the last person to really change the way the guitar is played. and, for me, there has never been a better guitar player. (hendrix/clapton/jimmy page/whoever fans… start your booing now.)

so last week i shot interview clips for a new VH1 special on ‘the 100 greatest artists of all time.’ they emailed me a big old list and had me fill out a ballot with my top 10. then i got to go in, be on camera and nerd out on my top 25. you have to understand, when i was a kid… i DREAMED about shit like this. if a show had existed then where you talk about why your favorite bands were your favorite bands, i would have wiped the flaky puff crumbs off my sweatpants, put down the dungeons & dragons handbook, marched my heavy-set ass out of the basement to wherever they were filming and gotten my dork on! in short… even though the list VH1 sent had some glaring omissions (the pretenders, the pixies, ray charles), the experience was still, pretty much, the highlight of my 2010. i wanted to share my list with you. but decided to chunk it out into installments. and post it every few days or so… starting with 10.. moving to 1. obviously 1 is the highest. duh. ok… so, the band in my 10th spot….. QUEEN - first off: THE SONGS. they have an ENDLESS stream of amazing songs… all of which sound like they were beamed in from mars. - brian may = total legend. he built a guitar with his dad from a fireplace mantle and played it for his entire career. if that wasn’t rad enough, the TONE of said guitar is the aural equivalent of triumphant, orgasmic angels singing. -the bass player, john deacon, wrote ‘another one bites the dust’… THE BASS PLAYER! - freddie mercury wore short shorts. had badger teeth. and was balding and made all of that look EFFORTLESSLY COOL! - roger taylor, the drummer, not only wrote ‘radio gaga,’ but he also hit all the background vocal high notes live. - queen’s live shows were a huge spectacle… the epitome of showmanship. and to their credit, they were able to pull it off while still remaining inclusive. when you watch queen play, you never feel like an outsider. you never feel like you are watching people who you wish you could be. for all of the bombast of their music, and the over blown-ness of freddie mercury’s on stage persona, you always feel like you are watching people whose job it is to elevate you. to make you feel like you are a part of something amazing… not on the outside of it. and to me, that’s what great music’s all about.

i have officially been to the record store 3 times, and didn’t tell you. i’ve been cheating on you, blog. jesse’ james-ing your sweet ass. i’m sorry. i’m back now. and my love is strong. and my list is long. here it is… the latest jam-a-lams i’ve spent my almighty dollar on. (whoa.. that WHOLE THING rhymed!) ke$ha- animal. i figured i’d come right out with this one first. no use hiding. it took me awhile, but i’m kinda in love… (or at least i WAS in love, a month & 1/2 ago when i bought it.) “your love is a drug” alone is worth $10. miike snow- miike snow. mark and marshall raved about this record when we were in the studio last month. a few of the guys in the band produced a bunch of hit jams… including brit brit’s ‘toxic.’ shout out louds- work. i sweat the shit out of the first shout out louds record. i perspire lightly over their second. this is the third. beach house- teen dream. yum-ass-yum! ABBA- the definitive collection. inspired by their induction into the rock and roll hall of fame, i have decided to love me some abba. living colour- times up. getting my high school ON! frightened rabbit- the winter of mixed drinks. i haven’t been railroaded by lyrics like this in a long time. this kid just bleeds when he writes. heavy. when i listen to their last record, ‘the midnight organ fight,’ it feels like a bus is parked on my chest. the boomtown rats- ratrospective. (VINYL) ‘i don’t like mondays’ is 1 of my top 5 favorite songs of the last 30 years. hands down. rips me in half. every time. madness- the rise & fall. (VINYL) i have been slowly collecting all the madness records on vinyl… cause a boy needs to SKANK! echo & the bunnymen- songs to learn and sing. (VINYL) i just want to BE this record. i want to eat it. digest it. and have it come out through every one of my fucking pores. almost makes me wish i had been a goth growing up, instead of a metal head… almost. neville brothers- yellow moon. (VINYL) daniel lanois’ produced this in 1989. i actually have never owned it. i know… for shame. madonna- madonna. (VINYL) perfect record. elvis presley- elvis presley (VINYL) perfect record. i totally understand why elvis was people’s everything. this record is sex-punk- acoustic-soul greatness. jesse winchester- jesse winchester. (VINYL) he was on elvis costello’s spectacle show… which is a rough watch, cause elvis is so up his own ass. but jesse was a find. i had never heard of him. his voice is unreal. lousiana perfect. buttery and soulful. charlie sexton- pictures for pleasure. (VINYL) ‘BEAT SO LONELY,’ BITCHES!!! pat benatar- get nervous (VINYL) not only does this record have ‘shadows of the night’ but it has her in a straight jacket on the cover, looking deranged and UBER-foxy! ugh… what is wrong with me?! night ranger- midnight madness (VINYL) my favorite song on this record is NOT ‘sister christian’ or ‘(you can still) rock in america’… my jam is ‘when you close your eyes.’ takes me back to 5th grade dances. i was the one standing by myself along the back wall… reading. 

i know next to nothing about sports. i never watch them… except for the olympics. and i never played them… well, there were a few exceptions:

first day studio recap. using sweet bullet points for all you A.D.D. MFs. - silverlake felt like fall in new england. cold, sunny. perfect mass-hole weather. made me wicked homesick, guy. - we tracked a song mark & i have been calling the ‘whoo hoo song’. - jason mcgerr, who’s on loan to us from death cab for cutie, played the drums like a sexy, graceful barbarian… channeling tony thompson. - my old friend greg kurstin stopped by. he’s one of the worlds great humans. his studio’s in the same complex where we are recording. one of his many projects, the bird & the bee, have a new record coming out in a week or two. it’s a tribute to hall & oats. oh yeah! - i ate BBQ chicken for dinner. - the 12 string made it’s first appearance, of what will be many, on the ‘whoo hoo’ song. it sounded tits. ok. that’s it for me. more later.