today started out alright. i slept in, woke up to a high rating from my imaginary students on the espnu facebook game ‘college town,’ or whatever it’s called, and i even had a clean bag of clothes waiting for me from a drunk laundromat wednesday. things were going pretty, pretty good. and then i saw that a collection of stories, mine included, had been reviewed by a local publication. well, cool, some press for that, that’s nice, i thought. and then i read the review.

succumbs to melodrama?! doesn’t live up to its title?! i’ve been working on that bastard of a story off and on for at least five years, and it gets dismissed in one line as a rough spot in the book? fuck. a lot of things have crossed my mind since i read that review five or ten times. a lot of cruel puns on the guy’s name. a lot of even crueler things that should happen to his family while he watches. i’ve imagined about thirty different conversations between myself and this so called ‘writer,’ all of them ending either with him in tears because of my earth-shatteringly brutal wit or with most of his teeth imbedded in my fist. i even looked up his blog and copy edited five or six different posts. and not to be too mean, but i was a little pleased with myself for finding a mistake related to grammar or punctuation in every other sentence. i mean, seriously dude? you’re an editor by trade. learn how to use parentheses.

of course, eventually the rage subsided. i realized that, well, hell, i never capitalize anything when i post on this blog, and even if i do know how to use a fucking comma correctly, the story in that book isn’t exactly my best work. not that i’m making excuses. i still love that story like a child and will go to war for it. but i will survive. this fact came to me like a bolt of lightening, and it was all because of this song. yes, one song, which is your mix until we here at mixcure come up with your next one. when an old friend posted it on my facebook wall (yes, i’m addicted to that website (and this is how you use these, dick)) it was love at first sight. or rather, at first listen. like another friend of mine (i bet i have more friends than that dude, too) says, if it works once, then use it twenty-five times. so if you’re having a shitty day, then put this on repeat until you start to feel better. it helps if it’s an angry sort of day, because this is one of those super catchy angry songs that turns all your rage into dancing. so fuck a bad day. fuck that shitty review. fuck it, let’s dance.

fitz-and-the-tantrums- moneygrabber

Big Onion

Oh, the conference? It was good. I had fun, and it seems like everyone else did – by the third day the entire lobby looked like it was filled with extras from the movie I wish George Romero had in production right now, The Hungover Dead. Saw a lot of people, talked to folks, etc.  Oh, and thanks to Sam, Jenny, and Mikal, for letting me daily pour my stank water down their shower drain.

Play loudly and throw darts at posters of Nixon or whoever.

16. Jupiter Is Busy, Take Mars

1. Big Star – When My Baby’s Beside Me
2. Foxes in Fiction – Operating Room
3. Old Time Relijun – A Wild Harvest
4. Wavves – Idiot
5. Dávila 666 – Basura
6. Jay Reatard – Fluorescent Grey [Deerhunter Cover]
7. Lightning Bolt – The Faire Folk
8. Mahjongg – Devry
9. Betty and the Werewolves – Francis

Helicopter

Deerhunter made a wavey spacey black and white video for “Helicopter,” which will be on Halcyon Digest (9/28 via 4AD.) The video has Bradford Cox’s face and some mist or something and some visual junk all over.

I can’t decide if I like it, or if I’m not amazed at all. What do you think?

Watch the video at halcyondigest.com.

Photo: NBC / Mitchell Haaseth

The Tonight Show is having its worst summer ever. Why do you think that is? Do you think it has bad ratings because Jay Leno is a show-stealing un-funny jerk, or do you think people aren’t watching TV the way they used to? Do you think Jay Leno is a nice guy who is funny? (Does anyone who reads blogs think Jay Leno is funny, or are they all adults?)

Are people watching too many other shows, like a CSI or vampire movies?

Get to AV Club to read about the Tonight Show’s moribunditude.

Read even more at James Hibberd’s The Live Feed.

Vetiver and Fruit Bats covered I Must Be in a Good Place Now by Bobby Charles. They made a sweet rendition that’s maybe even more mellow than the original.

Watch it on Tunnelvision at Pitchfork.tv.

Big Star bassist Andy Hummel died at 59‎ in Weatherstone, Texas after a two-year battle with cancer.

Read more about Andy Hummel’s death at CBC News.

Making a good summer mixtape can be one of the most important things a man does with his life. A good summer mix has legs, it is still good years after you make it. I still have one on cassette that I made during the summer of 1993 that I still pull out every once in a while and, if I still had a cassette player, would pop in and jam out to.

15. The Art of Summer Mixtapin’

The most important thing to remember when making a good summer mix is that you will need to be both Jekyll and Hyde. Depending on your age range, you will need a Side A / Side B, Volumes 1 & 2, or first and second playlist. Personally, I fall into the Side A / Side B generation.

Side A

Side A is the music you will be enjoying while slumped in a lawn chair, dipping your feet into your Smurfs inflatable kiddie pool, while downing a six-pack of High Life tallboys and wearing nothing but sunglasses and a pair of cutoffs. Side A must contain a Beach Boys song. Yes, it’s ridiculously cliché but they are still the undisputed kings of summer chilling. From there, round out Side A with some mellow tunes that will enhance your High Life fueled power nap in the sun.

1. Real Estate – Suburban Dogs
2. Of Montreal – Jimmy (M.I.A. cover)
3. Beach Boys – Surfer Girl
4. DOM – Burn Bridges
5. Cults – Go Outside

Side B

Now, that you are all relaxed from lounging all day in your Smurfs pool, sipping the Champagne of Beers, and jamming out to Side A, you are ready to go out and cruise the hot nightspots. Whether you are going to get your grind on at the hottest club, chill out on the patio of your local watering hole, or just drive around aimlessly all night, you will need a soundtrack. This is where Side B comes in. Side B should have a good mix of club bangers, surf rock, and old-school jams. Aside from that, go heavy on what you like. Oh yeah, and Luda usually works extremely well here.

1. Wavves – King of the Beach
2. Sleigh Bells – Infinity Guitars
3. Janelle Monáe (Ft. Big Boi) – Tightrope
4. Etta James – In the Basement
5. Blakroc (Ft. Ludacris and O.D.B.) – Coochie

Big Boi has a mixtape! Get it now.

Big Boi – Mixtape for Dummies

Via bigboi.com.

For the few non-consecutive months I’ve been employed in my life, I was not a happy person. It’s not a pleasant thing for me to admit that while I might be good at a lot of unprofitable things, most of America values me at about eight bucks an hour. Like most people, it takes a little extra push above and beyond the dangling paycheck at the end of every two weeks to convince me that getting out of bed before three in the afternoon and shlubbing through another day is worth it.  Some people like to reward themselves after a day’s work my mixing up a rum and coke or five on the bus ride home. Other folks get a kick out of television, massage parlors, or even, weirdly enough, the gym. For me, it’s songs. There’s nothing like an old standby from my ‘feel good’ playlist to get me through another day of anonymity. The verdict isn’t in on which song I’ll forever associate with the spring of 2010, although “Bodysnatchers” is making a pretty strong case for itself. So instead I’ll leave with with the Chris Lee Official Pick-Me-Up song of 2009. I used to throw this one on before going to work at that restaurant that fired me, and it was the only thing that kept me from shoving the nickels right back up the really cheap customers’ asses. Enjoy.

Fugazi – Bed For The Scraping