MC & CY

Paper Heart
Yessssss!

Damn, it smells dank!

So last night, I was given the privilege of witnessing Grace Jones in all her glory at the Hollywood Bowl. All I can say is that I've never said the phrase "OMG" so many times during one concert period. For every single song, she made a costume change, and with the revealing of every costume change came the words "No fucking way!" She is the fiercest thing to walk this planet. The night was fun, and enjoyable. Plenty of gay coupled men there to salute to their "fierce master." Everyone around us was either high or drunk. I kind of, sort of wish we were as belligerent as the people around us, but then again, I'd rather wake up remembering the concert, than waking up with a massive headache. Loved, loved, loved of Montreal. Their set was entertaining as usual. I'm extremely glad they didn't take away from the extremism of their set as they were the opening band. OH! And Dottie, their keyboardist, was proposed to last night in the middle of the concert! It was the sweetest thing EVER. Is it lame that I feel like family to have been able to witness such an event? Such an amazing night with such amazing people. Finger hearts for Aurora, Brenna, Claire and Mary!

I leave you with a taste of Grace Jones! (photos to come)


LN LU

Look at him go!

While we're on Friendly Fires, check out their cover of Lykke Li's song 'I'm Good, I'm Gone"

Tim Mislock

Brought to you by Vanity Fair

WTWTA

I remember being in 4th grade and having these reoccurring dreams about the Wild Things. I can't say for sure exactly what the dreams were about, but I can clearly remember waking up in the middle of the night and re-accounting what I had dreamt about, and it always came back to the Wild Things...

Strawberry Swing

Don't know how long this will stay on the interweb, so watch while you can! Reminds me of the Oren Lavie music video for 'Her Morning Elegance.' Wonderful.

1/2 Way Marker

In my opinion, the best albums/EPs of 2009 so far...

(in no particular order)

Holly Miranda :: Sleep on Fire EP
Grizzly Bear :: Veckatimest
Florence + The Machine :: Lungs
Death Cab for Cutie :: The Open Door EP
Yeah Yeah Yeahs :: It's Blitz
Passion Pit :: Manners
Metric :: Fantasies
Dirty Projectors :: Bitte Orca
Patrick Watson :: Wooden Arms
Miike Snow :: Miike Snow
Phoenix :: Wolfgang Amadeus
Fol Chen :: Part I: John Shade, Your Fortune's Made
Beirut :: March of the Zapotec/Holland EP
Now, Now Every Children :: Cars
Telekinesis :: Telekinesis!

15 for now. That's a good start if you ask me!

LN LU

Let's celebrate mediocracy!

Florence, I will be your Machine.

It's fucking 90 degrees here in LA, and I just got goosebumps watching this.

Repeat, Rewind, Repeat

I swear I know talent when I see/hear it. This is talent in flesh. I don't see how someone could disagree. It's utterly impossible. She is seriously on repeat constantly. Until her album drops...

LN LU

Sunshine Cleaning

Okay, so after the the August SF trip fell through, the "group" began planning again for a possible trip near the beginning of September. The tentative plan (once again, tentative) is to fly up September 10th, a Thursday, and fly back on September 14th, a Monday. Hopefully.

Also, more good news. For myself that is. Jar called me earlier today saying she had an extra ticket for the Phoenix and Metric show at the Greek Theater on September 16th, and asked if I wanted to go. Duh! Of course I want to go! Eck! That means I get to see Arctic Monkeys and the Klaxons on September 15th, and then see Phoenix and Metric the next day!

I guess the downer of August is now reversed!

I watched Sunshine Cleaning today. Awesome movie. I was laughing so much, but I think that's because I was laughing at parts where I wasn't suppose to. And the little boy Oscar is so cute! I definitely recommend this movie if you're down to watch something worth your time.


LN LU

There's no place I want to wake up, but besides you.

Borderline obsession. It's unhealthy, but tastes, smells, sounds and feels so good!

I'm completely pooped from this weekend. There was plenty of shopping, beaching, drinking, swimming, laughing, drooling, eating, swooning and absolutely no sleeping.

oh, hi co-DJ

beaching + (laughing)

1 of the 2 birthday boys

And of course, I cannot leave without throwing down some tunes.

Rabbit Antlers?

Miike Snow - Burial
Interesting music video; love the song.

LN LU

ZOMG

Okay, so I'm saying 'ZOMG' for two reasons. One bad, one good. We'll deal with the bad first. So I talked with my boss yesterday, and apparently August is blackout month when none of the employees get to ask for time off because it's inventory month! No, fuck the exclamation point. This sucks. I had to basically play dumb and act like I didn't know what she was talking about since I just recently got hired so that I could ask for a week off for the cruise that my parents have already been booked. I think my boss felt bad for me and said she would try and see if she could work something out for me. But you know what this means? This means bye bye SF trip. Great. All that planning, excitment and anticipation for nothing.

But I don't want to think about it anymore, so here's the good news:

Sainthood (not Thainthood) from Tegan and Sara on Vimeo.

ZOMG x1535898437789865232877!! I am in the process of squealing like a 12 year old adolescent! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 (six hearts for their sixth record!)

Here's an interview Tegan did with Under the Radar about their up and coming record Sainthood. Holy cow! A new record plus books? I think they're trying to eat all my money away. But boy are they worth it!

LN LU

Summer Itinerary

Itinerary is a weird word. Sounds nice, but weird.

Anyways, summer plans updated!

July 17-19: Irvine, Carson and Spencer's birthday bash, Irvine
July 23: Jimmy Kimmel Live with La Roux
July 26: Grace Jones, of Montreal and Dengue Fever at the Hollywood Bowl!

August 8: The Dodos at the Getty
August 13-17: Trip to San Francisco!!
August 22-29: Cruise to Alaska!!!

September 15: Arctic Monkeys at the Hollywood Palladium

5050505050505050505050

Side-note: To the kind commenter who commented on my last blog, I'm sorry, but I don't hand out my e-mail randomly, but feel free to continue reading my blog if you like what you see/hear! In fact, I encourage it!

Today was my mom's 50th birthday! What an achievement for her to go strong, healthy and happy for 50 years. For people like my mom, they see their 50th birthday as a marker of another passing year that edges towards old age, but in my eyes, my mother's 50th birthday is a milestone in her life. She has succeeded and overcome every obstacle and struggle thrown her way, and was strong enough to make it out as a triumphant woman. I love her, for everything she's done.



LN LU

Repeat Tunes

Because it's late/early, and because I can't sleep, I am going to write an entry about the songs, that for today, are the tunes that I can't stop pressing repeat on. Bear with me, or skip this entry if you have little, or no interest in my music taste. Blasphemy. You better read this.

Holly Miranda - Joints
She's going to make it big in the coming years, trust me. This is the first song I learned in completion on the guitar, so I'm officially obsessed. Seriously though, she's got pipes that can fill an entire room, forcing the energy of the room to rise onto unpredented volumes. Her voice is sultry, yet demanding, raspy, yet indefinitly clear. And the lines: "Dreamt of you again last night, I called your phone to hear your voice. I know, I know you know. But I'll never let you go. How do I let go?" I mean, we've all been in this kind of situation before, and if you haven't, you will. Gets me every time. And when she plays this with her live band, I feel like I'm getting hit by a truck (in a good way, but then again, there's nothing good with getting hit by a truck - we don't have universal health care here!). The build-up works so well to depict the intensity that comes with love. I seriously can't wait til her debut album drops. Might be a revolution record for me.

TV on the Radio - Family Tree
This song brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it, and I hear it a lot, because my fingers can't help but press repeat whenever it comes on. Their fourth studio album 'Dear Science' is the best they've put out to date. I don't think there is a single song I would skip while listening to the record from start to finish, and trust me, I've listened to it plenty. But this song - from the nostalgic and longing voice, to the intense build-up of sound and emotions - pleads for recognition and understanding. So powerful and beyond anything I can write.

Chairlift - Somewhere Around Here
Albeit, most of their songs were probably written while they were under the influence of drugs, but for songs such as 'Somewhere Around Here," I can't help but think that they refused the blunt and wrote the song out of sheer inspiration from raw emotions that were real and profound. With Caroline's high soothing voice, combined with Aaron's deep humdrum voice, is the core of what makes this song so touching. There's something that tugs at my heart whenever I heard Caroline sing: "I throw off my coat to bear this January air." Especially when she hits that high note...

Patrick Watson - Man Under the Sea
Have you seen this performed live? It says it all.

M83 - Too Late
The song begins with a simple piano tune, and right when Anthony's voice comes in, I'm hooked. This song is so simple, but so captivating. It's so much harder to write a perfect simple song, than it is to write a perfect complicated song, and this song is definitely a perfect simple song. "I look into your eyes, dive into the ocean...like a wall of stars, we are ripe to fall." Probably close to one of my favourite lyrics of all time.

Grizzly Bear - Ready, Able
So it was a struggle to choose between 'Ready, Able' and 'Cheerleader,' but for today, I'll go with 'Ready, Able." I love that everyone in the band has a voice when it comes to singing. Truly an amazing band when it comes to harmonizing. Ed's voice is like a glacier, so smooth and polished, and with his band-mates echoing in the background, it's no wonder their album was such a success.

Matt & Kim - Lesson Learned
Not only do I want to dance when I hear this song, but I also want to strip my cloths off while running through Time Square as tourist gawk and take photos of me. Kidding, but I remember when I watched the music video for this song for the first time, I genuinely wanted to join Matt and Kim on their escapade. "And so I stayed up all night, slept in all day, this is my sound!" Sounds a bit like college if you ask me.

Belle and Sebastian - Funny Little Frog
Adorable love song, and I'm uber excited about 'God Help the Girl,' a musical film shot by the frontman, Stuart Murdoch. This song is featured in the film, and sounds super cute sung by a girl, but the original is still superb.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Hysteric
I remember when I first downloaded 'It's Blitz,' I had expected the heavy guitar riff sound that the YYY's had perfected over the years, but to my surprise, for almost all the songs on the album, the syth is main instrument streaming the songs along. I remember on the car rides home from Irvine, I would hit repeat over and over again for this song and the line that I would catch myself repeating all the time was: "flow sweetly, hang heavy, you suddenly complete me, you suddenly complete me." Beautiful.

Discovery - Swing Tree
Summer dance jam. Enough said.

This is what I have on repeat for today. Tomorrow, it will change. But that's the beauty of music at its best.

LN LU

Crystalised

I've come to a conclusion of conclusions. XL Recordings knows exactly the right people to sign. Their A&R Reps are definitely working for their money, for in the past few months, or even year, XL has signed Holly Miranda, Discovery and The xx. If you've been following this blog at all, then you'll know that I'm obsessed with Holly Miranda, I love Discovery, and today, you learn that I also enjoy The xx. Check 'em out! It's my dream to be an A&R Rep and find these talented people scattered all over the world playing in tiny, dingy coffee shops every other night. Yes, I will one day be the one finding these artists and putting them onto a stage. Yesss.





LN LU

doorway

Daaaaammmmn! These kids are pretty dope!

Nada Surf

I believe I would be more eager to learn how to surf if the water lining the California coast looked this clear and beautiful, but as a Californian, I shamefully admit that the water looks nothing like this. Not even close. God knows what I can contract in that water. For now, I'll just dream about surfing. I wait till the day I go to Hawaii to learn. Patience.

LN LU

Is it wrong to have favourites?

freshest oxygen I'd ever inhale

Death Cab for Cutie - Little Bribes from Ross Ching on Vimeo.

I recently stumbled upon Ross Ching's work after Pitchfork announced that his video for 'Little Bribes' has become the official music video for the Death Cab for Cutie song. I've always had an appreciation for stop motion film, which is probably why I have such an attraction to Ross's work. Check out some of his videos, he's a genius when it comes to time lapse.

Eclectic 2.0: Earth, Water, Sky from Ross Ching on Vimeo.

Enjoy!
LN LU

Discovery

I am currently dancing to these songs in my room. You should try it.

Autograph

Recently, I went to the postal office to get my passport renewed. I was asked by the kind old lady working behind the desk to sign some official documents. As I finished signing the papers, I slid them back to the lady, and as she looked at my signature, she looked up and asked me: "Is this your real signature?" Okay, I know my signature is messy and looks like a bunch of scribbled circles, but really? I was slightly offended, slightly embarrassed, and seriously reconsidering my signature at that point. As I proceeded to inform her that that was indeed my real signature, she, at the same time, began writing "actual signature" in parentheses next to my signature. I think it's time for me to rethink my signature. Damn.

LN LU

Now, I can drive










...legally!
Yay!

(500) Days of Summer

Zooey and Joseph reenact Sid and Nancy
I MET HER!

Challengers of Ghosts in Summer Skin

Summation of last night: HOLY FUCK!!! (yes, it needs 3 exclamation marks)

I want to write a summary of what exactly happened, but I don't think I could put into words how amazing, life-altering, extravagant and mind-blowing last night was. A summary of last night would take 10 pages, not to mention describing the emotions I felt last night, which would take another 10 pages to describe. Let's just say this:

A car ride with the craziest bitches I know in a Mini Cooper with the windows down and music blasting so loud our voices get drowned out is probably the best way to get to a concert. The ushers who work at the Bowl are fucking cute as fuck. The family I shared my booth in were extremely nice. The New Pornographers hammered in my love for Canadian indie bands. Disappointed that Neko Case wasn't with them, but the song 'Challengers' was just as good as I expected. Tegan and Sara solidified my love for Canadians. Lesbians love Tegan and Sara. Straight girls love Tegan and Sara. I love Tegan and Sara. They could still make the audience roar with laugther, thank God. And this audience consisted of old men, old women, moms, dads, daughters, sons, grandparents, lovers, hipsters, friends, Death Cab for Cutie fans, The New Pornographer fans and celebrities. All laughing. Their 45 minute set was just as good as their 90 minute set. Death Cab for Cutie lite the night up with their amazing set by playing songs from all of their records. Chris Walla felt left out that both opening bands were Canadian, so he proposed DCFC to be semi-Canadian since they originate from Seattle. Moved from my Terrance seat to box seats in the front thanks to Claire, who happens to work at the Bowl and managed to pull some strings for us. The LA Philharmonic Orchestra came out to accompany DCFC. Whoa. Sat in front of Jason McGerr's neighbor and struck up a conversation with him. Made a new friend. He said we could totally hit up Seattle. His son has Jason McGerr's old drum set from their last tour. WTF, lucky. We were informed by Jason's neighbor that all the members were taken except for Mr. Chris Walla. YES! Highlight of the night: DCFC playing 'Transatlanticism' with the LA Philarmonics as the night lite up with fireworks. The show ended, people began to file out. We stayed. We saw Lindsay Lohan. Lesbians really do love Tegan and Sara. I could not help but laught as I realized that we had better seats than her. She must've read that Tegan Quin wanted to make-out with her, but that was only a joke because TQ never thought she would meet LL. I guess TQ was wrong. I also learned that while we were walking to our box seats, that I walked right by Emily Haines of Metric. WHOA WHOA WHOA. I had better seats than her too? Didn't get to see her, but I sure did breath the same air as her. As we proceeded to stay around longer, we then saw and talked to Zooey Deschanel. You may know her from the band She & Him, or you may have seen her in the acclaimed films 'Elf' and 'The Happening,' or as some like to say, Katy Perry's twin sister. She also happens to be Ben Gibbard's fiance. Damn. Damn. Damn. She was right in front of me. The night ended, we left. Chinatown. Chinese food. 1 AM. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. That was too good.

The New Pornographers

Tegan and Sara

Death Cab for Cutie

This was suppose to be the condensed version, but I obviously failed at that.

More Pictures

SPIN review

Videos coming soon!

LN DCFC TNS TNP LU

15

They will forever be my favourites -- no one can ever replace them. And 15 songs for the new record? YESSSSSS! Fuck, I love them and I get to see them in 1 day! I think July 5th, 2009 will be the day that changes my life. I get to witness the glory of Death Cab for Cutie, and Tegan and Sara all in one atmosphere. It will definitely be life altering if the show is anything as good as the video above, which I'm sure it will be.

The next time I write in this blog I will probably be a whole new person. Watch out World.

LN LU

Pool Parties

Dear Santa,

Can I move to Brooklyn, please? What is Brooklyn FDA putting in their food supply that enables so many musical geniuses to spring from the nest of Brooklyn? And why do these geniuses play free shows every Sunday at the East River State Park? Again, can I move there? I know I'm 6 months early for Christmas, so to compensate, I've left out a pina-colada (non-virigin) and Sprinkles cupcakes.

Your favorite Earthling,
Ellen Lu

enjoi

Death Cab for Cutie - Little Bribes from Ross Ching on Vimeo.

the day that will change my life

(July 5th, 2009)
5 more fucking days till...

Death Cab for Cutie
Tegan and Sara

The New Pornographers

Am I bursting at the seams with excitement? Yes. Can I possibly contain it? No.
On July 5th, 2009 the Hollywood Bowl will be oozing with musical genius-ness, and I can't fucking wait to be a witness to it.