Julia's Summer Short List

Portugal. The Man - Evil Friends

Their last one is still in fairly heavy rotation, and I just listened to the new one 5 times in a row. I love that the lead singer wore a windbreaker (w/hood) for the whole concert, I love singing along to lyrics like "I just wanna be evil" and I love the intro to "Modern Jesus."

Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City

I used to think Vampire Weekend wasn't very good, but I was wrong. It happens.

Mikal Cronin - Mcii

This is a fun, easy summer album. Although he lives in San Francisco, so he probably doesn't really experience summer.

Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience

I think he's singing to me.

Hot Catato's Summer Short List

5. Copying dance moves from this kid and using them to make friends.


4. Discovery - I'm not a particularly huge fan of either Ra Ra Riot or Vampire Weekend, but a member of each got together to form Discovery and it's, frankly, wonderful. Especially this "Orange Shirt" song.


3. Supernova - "Mr. Hudson" ft. Kanye West
Don't tease. This song makes me want to party.


2. The Antlers - Hospice
When I'm done with all the partying to Supernova, I like to slow it down with this album.






1. Because really, there is no time like summer time to be on a boat. I really wish I was friends with T. Pain.

Passion Pit - Manners (2009)

Mmm, tastes like summertime. Pop perfection. This is the kind of album I will kill in less than two weeks. Its so catchy and I don't have alot of self control... in many different venues... hence I haven't been able to bring myself to listen to much else since I got Manners. I liked the Passion Pit EP, but this album is much much better. All the hooks are catchy. All of them. The first song, "Make Light", feels like a high pitched vocalist singing a New Order song. I don't see a problem with that. The next song, "Little Secrets", has a real nice male/female vocal component. Bonus, the "higher and higher" chorus pumps you up a little. Feels good, I'm always looking for new ways to get pumped since I've become immune to caffeine. Next up, "Moth's Wings". My favorite on the album (for now). Its epic, and I have a soft spot for epic. I could keep going like this about every song, suffice to say this album is a must for summer. It's perfect for driving around in perfect sunny 75 degree weather. Oh, is it still raining and cold in other places? Hmm, well I live in LA.

Faves: Little Secrets, Moth's Wings, The Reeling, Eyes as Candles

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz! (2009)

Karen O makes me want to lock the door to my room and put on a dress with sequins, high heels, maybe a cape if I'm feeling extra saucy, grab my favorite hair brush... and lip synch while doing lots of little leg kicks and stomps for extra emphasis. Not that I've ever done anything of the sort. Uh huh. It's Blitz! is a pretty good YYY's album. But in my opinion, they've all only been pretty good since their first one, Fever to Tell, a real doozy of an album. It's Blitz! has some really good moments. And some really boring ones. AKA all the ballads, with the borderline exception of "Runaway". That one is ok. It builds and builds but never has the breakout moment that the whole song seems to be leading up to, but its the best of the bunch. The rest of the slow ones are skippers for me, I feel like she keeps going for another "Maps" moment. In "Hysteric" Karen O has the audacity to use her god given rocker talents to croon corny crappy lyrics like "Flow sweetly/Hang Heavy/You suddenly complete me". Really? Is she taking herself seriously singing a song that uses a phrase I'll now always associate with Austin Powers? Honestly. Karen O can't pull off corny. She's at her best when she just rocks out, like in "Heads Will Roll". Yes. It's a Lays kindof song, you can't just listen to it once. I spy an indie dance floor anthem! Fist pumps! The Yeah Yeah Yeah's have gone a little more electro, which isn't exactly original, but it works for them. "Zero" has a nice little fade and echo build, and when it peaks, it peaks hard and I can't help but dance. I'm doing one right now. You're welcome world! The good songs on It's Blitz! are really on point, the bad ones are cringe-worthy. But either way, its in steady rotation for now. Also, thumbs up for the use of an exclamation point in the album title.

Favorites: "Dragon Queen", "Dull Life", "Heads Will Roll", and "Zero".

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion (2009)

Ok, so I admit I'm a big Animal Collective Fan. BUT, I've always found their albums hard to listen to all the way through. I'm a skipper of songs. One of the first things I heard about this album was that pitchfork gave it a 9.7 or something ridiculously pretentious like that. Normally, I'm one of those assholes who just loves to disagree with the common sentiment, especially if it comes from Pitchfork. BUT, the new Animal Collective album is nothing short of amazing. I've heard from around the way girls that their single "My Girls" is blowing up. I'm conflicted about this. Because by the way "My Girls", is one of the best songs I've ever heard. But a band like this - I want to keep them too close for comfort. I feel about them the same way I feel about Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia (my absolute favorite television program0. I'm happy it's getting popular because it means it will march on - BUT I also have the urge to hold it close. This is definitely the most listenable Animal Collective album. BUT, the combination on Strawberry Jam of "For Reverend Green" and "Fireworks" is def one of my fave one-two punches ever. Check those out as well. BUT, I have to give Aminal Collective a high five for this album. I mean, have you listened to "My Girls"?!?!?! Nothing short of amazing. Some other faves from this album include "Blusish", and "Brothersport". In the middle of "Brothersport" I feel like I'm about to lose my mind - in a good way. I really don't know what else to say about this album aside from Animal Collective is one of the most creatively innovative jam bands today. I'm conflicted about this album because I'm an elitist asshole and its so good I know it will recruit a multitude of new fans. And I want them to keep it real, keep it weird. But with this album they really do! And for what its worth, from a hard-core fan of theirs before this, I'm continuously impressed and would recommend this to anyone. Give it a try, you've kindof got to be trying to be an asshole not to like this album.

Best songs: My Girls, Bluish, Brothersport.

Young Jeezy - The Recession (2008)

You know times are bad when rap stars are hurting economically. But the recession apparently isn't hurting T.I. His ho's can still have whatever they like, ya know? Young Jeezy's The Recession is embarrassingly good. As in, I bump it so hard, sometimes I'm embarrassed when other cars pull up next to me. I probably need to get some rims if I'm gonna pull stuff like that off. He shines and elicits many head nods on tracks like, What They Want and Amazin', but my favorite track on the album is My President. "My President is black/My lambo's blue/And I'll be goddam if my rims ain't too." I consider it to be the catchiest political ditty I've ever had the pleasure of doing a little white-girl dance to. I rocked it pretty hard the two weeks leading up the election, so I'd like to take partial credit for Obama's landslide victory. You're welcome, world. If only a similarly banging song existed for No on Prop 8... well maybe we would have seen a different result there.

Hot Catato's 5

I'm not dead, only very very lazy. Here's my 5:

Raw Ramp - T. Rex
T. Rex is sexy music, its all about cars and broads and a base line. It's really that easy sometimes.

Fortune - Miracle Fortress
Oh, so pretty! I want to lie in bed with my eyes closed and some super dope headphones and kind of let myself swim in this song. Do you ever feel like having a good cry? Maybe its a chick thing. This would be a good song to have a little cry to.

Plaster Casts of Everything - The Liars
I fucking love The Liars. If this song doesn't get you pumped, then you're probably not the kindof person I would enjoy spending time with.

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
iPod, I am feeling so close to you right now. This is one of my all time favorite songs. I thinks its in the running for like a first-dance-at-my-wedding kindof song. The opening lines never fail to make me happy: What a beautiful face, I have found in this place, that is circling all round the sun. Aw.

Some Things You Never Get Used To - The Supremes
I love girl groups! This 4 disc greatest hits Supremes box set I have on my iPod takes up way too much space, but I cannot bring myself to remove any of it. I like to do little girl groupy hand motions while I listen, so I'm gonna stop typing and focus on that now.

Afterthought: Sortof disappointed I didn't get the opportunity to discuss my love for mainstream hip hop.

Hot Catato's Summer Short List

1. Lil Wayne: Tha Carter III - now thats how you let the beat build, bitch.




2. This football iPod speaker dock I bought at Walgreens for $10 dollars.




3. Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson - It is yet to be determined whether he will prove to be a more talented musician or alcoholic, but his self titled album is one of my favorites of the year.


4. Hot Chip at the Fillmore - Definitely go see them live if you have the chance. Try not to punch anyone in the face, tho.

5. Born Ruffians: Foxes Mate for Life - Jingle jangle, thats kind of what they sound like.

Titus Andronicus - The Airing of Grievances (2007)

Titus Andronicus, the play, is thought to be Shakespeare's first tragedy and known to be his bloodiest. Its kind of the lemon in his theatrical arsenal. No one takes it seriously for good reason, its horrifically violent and laughably overdone. Give the guy a break! He was still zeroing in on his literary sweet spot. The first time I listened to The Airing of Grievances, I laughed out loud when about a minute into the first song, "Fear and Loathing In Mahwah, NJ", the lo-fi vocal and simple guitar riff is cut through with a "FUCK YOU!" and the band starts in at a breakneck pace. From that point on, the band rocks out in a way that kinda sounds like The Boss let Connor Oberst front the E Street Band on a lark. Titus Andronicus, the band, is not honing in on anything. This album is 45 minuts of lo-fi anthemic punk rock perfection. Some of their song titles are a little pretentious, but I'll let that slide.

Faves: Arms Against Atrophy, Upon Viewing Brueghel's "Landscape With The Fall Of Icarus", Titus Andronicus, and No Future Part Two: The Day After No Future

Boyz II Men @ The Alameda County Fair

Oh, its real. And it was spectacular! Some rather large gentlemen in a Raiders jersey who sat in front of me remarked, "more like Men to Grandparents", but classics are classics folks. They're ageless.

Before I get into the main event, I'd like to talk about the opener, Too Crazy (2 Crazy? Too Crazee?). He was introduced as a Disney tween sensation but all my google searches were in vain and yielded results concerning Miley Cyrus only. He had a midget hypeman and the song he performed was called "Stay in School" (I assume from the chorus). It was a postive message for all the children in the crowd at the 6 pm show, and I was excited to find out more about him but now I'm wondering if it was all a funnel-cake induced dream. I'd love to know more about this mysterious Too Crazy character if anyone is highly-skilled at internet stalking and wants to look him up.

And then Boyz II Men came on, taking the stage to "Motownphilly". Their mikes went out and there was some very loud feedback, but they didn't let that slow them down and they belted and bootied to the best of their ability as the crowd went wild. And by went wild, I mean people stood up. I was dissapointed to see the tall, skinny member of Boyz II Men who does the deep-voiced talking interludes and carries a cane in the music video for "End of the Road" was no longer with the group. It did leave a bit of a hole in their slow numbers, ie almost every song. But there was a contagious sense of magic in the air that peaked during their classic number, "I'll Make Love to You". At this point in the show, the floodgates of emotion burst wide open as women ran down the aisles flapping their arms in a manner reminiscent of the prize-winning pigeons on display at the Small Animal Exhibit.* They were flapping not to fly, but for a rose. Boyz II Men handed out dozens of red roses to their adoring fans during this song, it was really a beautiful moment. However, I thought the song was bit of a racy choice for a 6 PM set. There were a lot of children and also a lot of babies in the crowd.** I mean there was a parking lot for strollers right next to the theatre. They ended their set with "End of the Road", inviting the crowd to sing along. My pleasure.

One of the best parts about seeing Boyz II Men at the county fair is that you're also at the county fair. And nothing says county fair like eating food on a stick, or even better is still on the bone.

*I was really dissapointed by this. Tricked by the wording, I was expecting a miniature animal exhibit so you can imagine my dissapointment when it was just a bunch of bunnies and pigeons in cages. Animals that are small by nature, not by deformity. Totally misleading.
**My theory about all the babies in the crowd: Boyz II Men is some baby making music. Some of those babies were definitely conceived to BIIM.

R. Kelly - Double Up (2007)

In honor of R. Kelly Freedom day, aka Friday June 13 2008. I'd like to review his most recent album, Double Up.

For what it is, which is an album by an insane person, Double Up is awesome. This album marked his ascension to a whole new playing field as he continues to chronicle and find inspiration in his own insanity - and the life it lends itself to.

Lyrically, he is untouchable. "Leave Your Name" is a song about, duh, leaving a voicemail for R Kelly. He's a straight forward kinda guy, so the chorus goes like this "Leave your name right after the beep and I'm sure to get back with you if I'm not asleep/ Or smoking on some trees or having a little sex/ Or if I'm not faded or making a baby." R Kelly is more subtle than you might imagine, which you can see in the above lyrics. Because sometimes, you just be having sex. And sometimes, you be making a baby. Real Talk.

There are so many good songs, its difficult for me to decide which ones to talk about. Other favorites of mine include "The Zoo" (where he refers to himself as a sexasaurus), "Real Talk", and "Sex Planet". The latter of which, contains a mind-blowing amount of outer space sexuality. More than I thought possible. He's not going to rhyme painless with uran.... oh yes he is. Wow.

Some people don't like R Kelly for the multitude of good reasons that exist not to like R Kelly. I choose not to listen to reason, and to appreciate him for what he is. He's a joke that takes himself seriously! He's the funniest "serious" artist I know.

The Dream - Lovehate (2007)

Without fail, everytime I jam the song "Fast Car" from this album someone says "Is this Prince?" Thats a pretty solid compliment for any artist in my book. I admittedly have a soft spot for slightly cheezy R&B, but I honestly think that the first 5 songs on this album are good. Swear. Do you like the Rihanna song, "Umbrella?" Don't even, everyone loves that song. And this is the guy that wrote it! Yeah! I know!

Also check out the song "Nikki," its his I gots cheated on and am gonna a write a Justin Timberlake "Cry Me a River" style song bout it. Its unabashedly awesome.

Lil' Wayne - Da Drought 3 (2007)

Dirty. This album was released last year, but I want to talk about it now. I’m obsessed with Lil' Wayne. I think it’s starting to damage relationships I have with friends, family and co-workers. Example A: In one of my favorite tracks from Da Drought 3, "Put Some Keys On It", he raps, “Baby girl getting straight dick no cuddle”. That shit is funny ok. And as a result I’ve started saying “straight dick” to describe things that totally rule. The other day a co-worker congratulated me on a successful program, and I was thiiisss close to saying “I know, straight dick, right?” So inappropriate. Also, I think my roommate is sick of me talking about how I’m gonna put some keys on him. Apparently not everyone thinks being a drug mule is as cool as I do. If right now you’re thinking, well that sounds awesome – I want to get into Lil Wayne and be hard like Julia! – I highly suggest starting with Da Drought 3. It’s a mixtape, so you’ll recognize a lot of the background beats and it will be a very easy transition for you from purity to straight… ah almost did it again… ahem from pure to dirty. Lil' Wayne absolutely murders it over the Beyonce song (I know I know, but trust me), "Upgrade". “Even deaf bitches say hi to me/ She tell a blind bitch and she say I gotta see”. At this point in the review you’re probably either totally hyped or totally turned off. Or you stopped reading already.

Faves: Upgrade, Put Some Keys On It, I Can’t Feel My Face, and New Cash Money

No Age - Nouns (2008)

No Age made no attempts to clean up their dirty grungy sound for their second album. Thank God. Nouns is raw, it sounds like it came straight from the gutter outside some shit-hole club in LA directly to you. No Age don't need no high quality sound to impress, they're totally mocking me for having such fancy-pants headphones. This punk duo makes an impressive amount of racket, but there are surprising licks of melody folded into all the feedback and guitar noise. They've also really mastered the art of tension and release. The buildups to their songs are drawn out - sometimes longer than the actual melody portion - and when they finally punch through they sound all the better for it. No Age is one of my favorites because they're so unexpectedly beautiful at times, and completely gritty at others. Best of both worlds.

Faves: Eraser, Cappo, Here Should Be My Home and Brain Burner

Hot Chip @ The Fillmore

Hot Chip is so fun. Whenever I see them live I leave wishing they were my friends. We would hang out in someone’s living room, and play with keyboards and laptops all day… I would teach them some dance moves and they would let me play the tambourine on “Over and Over”. (Seriously guys, call me!) They played at the Fillmore last night and turned the place into a big ole dance party. Its not really necessary to actually see them to enjoy them, they aren’t going to blow your mind with a guitar solo or anything like that. But I like to be up close, so a friend and I made our way towards the front. Where we evidently angered people (who were probably jealous of our mind-blowing charisma and charming hip shakes) and some silly girl shoved my friend. My friend is 5 feet of pure adorableness, and I can’t fathom anyone wanting to do anything other than hug her. I’ve had a dangerous amount of makers mark at this point in the night. So I asked the girl if she had ever been punched in the face. She said no. I said, I will punch you in the face. And then her boyfriend pulled her away from me. Which is lucky for us both, I’ve never punched anyone in the face and I’m not sure I know how. That was the only bad part of the concert. That, and waking up this morning.

Islands - Arm's Way (2008)

Someone described Vampire Weekend to me as a way for ”cool kids” to listen to Paul Simon, without actually having to listen to Paul Simon. Wait a second, is Paul Simon not cool? Stop it. Also to that I say have you heard the first Islands album, Return to the Sea? Paul Simon-influenced Carribean music was their forte. On the second Islands album, Arm’s Way, the band has fleshed out their sound dramatically. It’s a theatrical pop orchestra of an album – this one definitely was not recorded in anyone’s bedroom. It opens with “The Arm”, where the band revisits one of their favorite themes: Death, this time in a “badass car crash”. The members of Islands recently started wearing all black instead of all white. A little cliche, maybe, but it fits the lyrics better. Presentation is important to me. Arm’s Way is clearly influenced by and references a frenzy of artists. They break it down like P. Simon yet again at the end of “J’aime Vous Voire Quitter” (take that Vampire Weekend!). But one of my favorite moments on the album is at the end of “In the Rushes”, when they unexpectedly transition into a cover of The Whos “A Quick One While He’s Away”, changing the lyrics to “you are forgotten” instead of “you are forgiven”. I don’t know which is better, to forgive or forget, but these kind of unexpected moments are making me love this album more with each listen. And who knows, they might even have a hit with “Creeper”. If you can’t move to this song, I don’t know how to help you.

Faves: “The Arm”, “Creeper”, “In the Rushes” and “I Feel Evil Creeping In”