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Vinyl Junkies 02.26.05
"Old Enough To Know Better (Too Young To Resist)" is one helluva cheeky title! I've never heard this Dolly Parton B-side from 1965, but something tells me I'm gonna love it. It's nice to be home on a Saturday night- hanging out on ebay and gemm.com instead of at a bar and listening to a Northern Soul radio show on the BBC website. I just started Brett Milano's Vinyl Junkies: Adventures In Record Collecting. I'm only on page 27, but it's turning out to be every bit as fun as High Fidelity, possibly the most joyous reading experience of my life. A collector himself, Brett Milano understands why reissues can never compare to the original. And he quite eloquently verbalizes the HUGE difference between putting a needle to a record versus pressing play on a CD player. Thurston Moore, Robert Crumb, Peter Buck from R.E.M. are a few of the "celebrity" collectors interviewed along with the nerdy, bespectacled, never-leave-the-house types. Last night I hung out at Bouche Bar on East 5th Street where Jonathan Jacobs (aka the Vintage DJ) was spinning a crazy selection of vinyl (78s, 45s, 33s) from the 20s thru 60s. The guy has impeccable taste, and he spins off these two gorgeous Audiotronics Classroom record players. I was impressed, and let him know in no uncertain terms ("Oh my god! You're the greatest!"). Here's a photo of the stunning Pernille from Tiger Baby that Nikolaj sent me. I must have her dress. Sheila Posted by Sheila at 09:33 PM Intolerable Cruelty 02.22.05
It cannot be true. My neighbor is blasting "Man In The Mirror" and singing along at full volume. Surely he is aware of the paper-thin walls that divide us, and that "Man In The Mirror" is a god-awful song that does not belong in anyone's collection. The Subway Soul Club at Rififi on Saturday night was swinging! Five girl DJs taking turns spinning soul, keeping the dance-floor well packed with lots of shaggy-haired boys and this adorable Betty Page lookalike in a striped sweater. I realize that I gush an awful lot over girls, and that's not because I don't like boys- quite the opposite actually- but I just never go out to clubs or bars and see guys that appeal to me. There aren't even any male actors that I can get excited over (well except for that hot tall guy in Belle Du Jour). Johnny Boy's "We Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes And We Get What We Deserve" is all over the Internet, but I've only recently picked up on this Jesus And Mary Chain-styled wall-of-sound treasure. This one's for you girl group fans. I'm suffering from the worst bout of writer's block ever. My cousin suggested I light a candle and write down exactly what I want out of the candle's healing powers. I never seek spiritual guidance for real-world troubles, but at this point I'm desperate. Sheila photo: Catherine Deneuve & foxy Pierre Clementi in Belle Du Jour Posted by Sheila at 03:29 PM English & 日本語 02.13.05
Just last week I reconnected with a gal pal from way back- the days when Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine were all we ever cared about- and on the spur of the moment we booked flights to Austin, Texas for the SXSW music festival. Yay! I need more girl-bonding. All my friends are boys. The last time I headed down south was in 2000 when Puffy made their US debut at SXSW, and I interviewed a bunch of the Japanese bands- Puffy, Supercar, Tomovsky- for Cha Cha Charming. Believe it or not, Japanese pop music was once good. Kim Cooper (brilliant pop writer, editrix of Scram magazine and Lost In The Grooves) put me in touch with Xavier Alves from the Euro-visions label in France. Xavier is in New York with his girlfriend Candice for one month- painting a room at the infamous Carlton Arms hotel. I feel like I've known Xavier forever. It's rare to meet someone bursting with the same enthusiasm and lust for music and life in general. Xavier and Candice are getting married at City Hall on Monday. How sweet is that? Here's a photo from last night at Decibel ('round the table clockwise: Xavier, Jacques-Olivier, Sheila, Candice, Cedric). I've neglected my Japanese readers- who I recently discovered make up 50% of Cha Cha Charming's visitors. And now a message for our sponsors: 最近日本語で書かなくてごめんね。みんな元気？ このサイトの統計を調べた時、訪れてくれる人の50％は日本人ということに気がつき、びっくりした！昨日パフィーについてメールを送ってくれた人へ、優しいメールをありがとう。すぐ返事を出しますね。昨日の夜一番好きなお酒バーDecibelへフランス人の友達を連れていきました。着いた時、ウエーターとお客さんがけんかの真っただ中で、ちょっと怖かった。お客さんは明らかに酔っぱらっていて、チップを払わなかったから、ウエーターがすっごい怒っていた。でも、 Decibelへよく行く友達によると、そんなことがよく起こるらしい。昨晩私がチップを余分に払っちゃった。 MTVのフリーペーパーを知ってますか？これから（2月20日の号をはじめとして）ちっちゃいコラムを毎月書きます。ニューヨークのセレブと音楽関係のニューズを報告します。ぜひチェックしてね！ Sheila Posted by Sheila at 12:17 PM Flu'ed In 02.10.05
I thought I could escape the wrath of the New York City flu, but two 5 am nites in a row completely did me in. As a result, I missed the Kings Of Convenience show at Bowery Ballroom, which friends tell me was absolutely magical thanks to the entire audience providing backing vocals- hums, whistles, lyrics- throughout the show. Jason was amazed that every single person in attendance had every single lyric and melody down to a T. This got me thinking about how segmented our society has become. Inside Bowery Ballroom, fans could recite Riot On An Empty Street like it was Thriller, yet outside the club you'd be lucky to find a person who has even heard of the group. There are no more Beatles, Madonnas, or Michael Jacksons to unite us all- just a trillion little bands with their pack of dedicated fans. This is the cause of the music industry upheaval- not file-sharing. I have two fairly large writing jobs to complete, and then I'm taking off for six weeks to travel around the world. It sounds exotic, but four of the six weeks will be spent in Japan. My dad insists I stop in Tehran, Iran (my birthplace!) on the way, but I'm too chicken to visit the Middle East on my own. I'm thinking Hong Kong, though I don't know a soul in that city. Any Cha Cha Charming readers from Hong Kong? Please get in touch! When the clock struck midnight on January 31st (correction: Dec 31st), I was alone- well, the group Saint Etienne was performing and crowds of people around me were hugging and kissing each other, but I was on my own- no friends or acquaintances in sight. Strangely, that moment had a profound effect on me- I was little sad that I had no one to hug post-countdown, but at the same time I felt amazingly free- like I could be anywhere in the world, on my own, and be truly comfortable. This feeling has stuck with me since that night, and has given me a sense of independence and enthusiasm that I've never had before- hence my need to take off and explore the world once again. But for now, I'm stuck at home with the flu. Sheila Photo: Here's an oldie! Karaoke partner-in-crime, Mary & I together in Tokyo. Seems the menu wasn't quite satisfactory. Posted by Sheila at 11:23 AM Music Notes 02.06.05
Arrived at Magnetic Fields in Brooklyn way too late on Friday night and missed my friend Lex's DJ set as well a live performance by the Dansettes, a New York girl group on the soul tip. The Dansettes' Jennie Wasserman (pictured) is da bomb! A petite blonde with a voracious appetite for '60s soul, she spun a set of Northern soul (a version of Evie Sands' "Take Me For A Little While" that I had never heard before) and girl pop (Lesley Gore's "Wonder Boy"). Subway Soul @ Rififi on 332 East 11th Street is hosting a '60s night with five girl DJs (Jennie included) on February 19th- I am so there. Just got word that filmmaker (+ Cha Cha Charming contributing writer) Pink Frankenstein is screening a sample of his film Bardot A Go Go at the San Francisco Indie Film Festival. Here's the info: Tuesday February 8th, 5pm Check the SF Indie Fest Website for more details: I am deeply immersed in the book Lords Of Chaos: The Bloody Rise Of The Satanic Metal Underground, a fascinating and very thorough document of the Norwegian black metal scene and its connection to Satanism, suicide, murder, and Church burnings. I figured it'd be a healthy break from my usual pop reading. Remind me to e-mail the editor of Roctober magazine to thank them for stealing my diary entry (the one about Kiiiii in Tokyo) and reprinting it with the cruelest credit ever (from some website by someone named Sheila). Lovely. I'm going to be writing a monthly column for MTV Japan's free music paper. I guess I'm now their official New York correspondent- yay! I can't get enough of Bang Gang. Listen and love this song. Sheila Posted by Sheila at 08:54 PM BUST party tonite 02.02.05
TONITE! Bust magazine is throwing a tsunami benefit/ issue launch party @ Opaline. Seems it's open to the public, so check here for details. I'll be spinning from 7-9 pm, and again from 11 pm -12 am in the Lover's Lounge (ooh!). I wanted to dedicate my entire set to Lou Christie, but then I'll never get hired again. Come join the fun: Opaline This past Saturday nite/ Sunday morning was spent at Japas (tiny Japanese karaoke bar on St. Mark's Place) with Mary and her two boy-mates who watched us giggle, gulp sake, and scream passionately along to Heart's "Alone." The once pretentious "Japanese customers are preferred" hole-in-the-wall has now been invaded by American hooligans who have no problem slaughtering the most revered pop songs. Japanese people wouldn't dare mock "Careless Whisper" or "I Want You To Want Me." But Americans (or at least the ones at Japas that night) find it endlessly amusing to make the greatest pop songs as intolerable as possible. Or maybe I'm just being a total snob. I have an unhealthy obsession with Roman Polanski's wife Emmanuelle Seigner, who must be the sexiest woman alive (watch Bitter Moon & Frantic and you'll see why I'm gushing). Photographs don't do her justice, but here's a shot anyway. Sheila Posted by Sheila at 01:54 PM |
