A civilized kind of tour

It's been three years since I quit touring. I was beat up at the end of the North American tour and when I finally got home, I canceled the European tour due to "exhaustion." I had it with playing live. Had it with sound check. Had it with looking at the band. Had it with eating shitty random food on the side of freeways (though I did love the truck stops). Had it with sitting at the merch table... Had it with waiting around 23 hours of each day for that one hour we would play. I was done. I was bored.

And then somehow this tour materialized out of nowhere. Last month, I decided to plan a little mini European solo tour for First Husband, Mr. Bickerson, erm Darren Rademaker! This is an "inspirational" tour, greatest hits mixed with new "soon to be recorded" hits! It will mainly be Darren and his electric (in his short shorts) but I think I'll be accompanying him on some Tyde tunes... only if it feels right. The London show will be a special one. We have lovely friends from Fujiya and Miyagi, The Loves and Comet Gain joining in that night. Very loosey-goosey... Part tour, part holiday, I think this might be the best way to go from now on... I'm genuinely excited about playing again... See you out there somewhere Owley fans? And this time, no merch whatsoever...

***

The Short Shorts Euro Tour 2009

30 Oct > Paris @ Panic Room + DJs Magickrew

31 Oct > Paris @ Ground Zero Records
31 Oct > Paris @ Tigre + Deejettes Magickrew

01 Nov > Paris @ La Maroquinerie

03 Nov > Stockholm @ Last Waltz, Bonden Bar

04 Nov > Göteborg @ Woody West, Pusterviksbare 

05 Nov > London @ The Lexington

Pandemonium

Jeremy, didn't it seem like another lifetime when we went to see Pet Shop Boys' Pandemonium Tour at the Greek Theatre? And that was around two weeks ago. It was a hot and humid Indian Summer's evening. Our timing was perfect. We made it to the Redwood Lounge and just had enough time for a drink and barely a second at the mediocre buffet. Then the show started. I'm sure it reminded you of how weird LA music fans can be. Similar to the phenomenon of Latino Morrissey obsessives in Southern California, the mix at the show consisted of drunken sorority girls dressed up to the nines which gave us a good chuckle and a nudge but mostly it was the bears and otters that I was most fascinated by... especially the one standing to your right.

But the show. What a show. We were wowed. We were giddy. The Greatest Hits Tour. The Greatest Art Installation. It was a proper show. True entertainers, Neil Tennant and Christ Lowe are masters at bringing together the high and low, the refined and camp, all with a fun sense of irony. The production value was like no other. It was a visual homage to the masters of contemporary art and their eccentricities. I saw obvious references to Gilbert and George, Derek Jarman, Ellsworth Kelly, Rei Kawakubo, Warhol, Albers, Hockney, Richter and Archigram. Phew. That's a nice nod to a major list.

 

Josef Albers, Study for the homage to the square

 Gilbert and George, Existers (1984)

 Gilbert and George, The Wall (1986)

Ellsworth Kelly, Colors on a grid, Screenprint (1976)

Rei Kawakubo's CDG Spring/Summer 09

David Hockney, Mother I, Yorkshire Moors (1984)

Archigram, Instant City Airships (1968)

 

Gerhard Richter, for the Köln Cathedral (2006)

 

Derek Jarman's Prospect Cottage

PING!

Okay I can't help myself. I seriously was not going to blog on Owley Patrol for a while as I focus on something much more important, much more life-changing and stimulating than erm... this... but this is special...this is precious... I needed to follow up on this... This will complete the cycle.

This morning, a fellow LOS told me about Ping! for the iPhone. Remember how I went on and on about BBM and that's why it's been so hard to fully embrace the iPhone in this last year? Well... Have a look at this application. It is totally Awesome. And it actually works! I've Ping! four friends (John, Amy, Sam and Bob) just in the last hour. I'm hooked! Just like when I was addicted to BBM.

Don't ask for my Ping! ping... You should know that already you dolt... dolt! It's a given! And remember to keep up okay?

Less is More...

And more exists elsewhere now...

Lately, I've been feeling disconnected with Owley Patrol... A break is needed.

But for now, I may be found here sometimes... www.dotcomdotcodotuk.com
(The search engines are not going to be pleased about this.)

Last weekend at El Matador, Malibu. The last of the warm summer rays.

And so I leave you with this song: El Perro Del Mar's "God Knows (You Gotta Give to Get)."

See you soon.
I already miss you.
x

fall mix, part two

Normally my mixes are not made in any sort of order, I prefer "shuffle by song." But somehow in this instance, try playing it in reverse alphabetical order upon first listen.

a bit heavier... it's really fall now...

Bestest Song Ever.

Really? Another blog? I'm in deep now...

http://bestestsongever.blogspot.com/

Somehow, out of nowhere, I got invited to contribute to BESTEST SONG EVER. How did they know? Thanks Duskin... Have fun in Paris. x

The Most Beautiful Swiss Books in the Universe

The most elegant (and Most Beautiful) lady I know, Ms. Cynthia Leung will co-present the Most Beautiful Swiss Books 2008 this weekend.

***

The New York Art Book Fair
Oct 1: (VIP Preview)
Oct 2-4
@ P.S. 1

With a giant bottle of sake and "The Present Issue" for sale.
The winners of the Most Beautiful Swiss Books (2008) will be exhibited, with Cynthia's (!) essay included in "The Present Issue" catalogue...


Only for the true (Most Beautiful) book nerds!

Do You Love Me?

This made my morning.



via Tirado/Thrown via Filastine Frequency.

"I mean it's the nineties!"

Jeremy reminded me of how relevant this song is still today...



I used to think Neil Hannon was such a babe, still do...

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

My friend Mary's blog is pretty cool. And her Still Life Installation was pretty cool too (from what friends told me). Too bad I'm too late in posting it but I truly feel that everyone needs some Slow and Steady in their life (especially me)...

TIME-OUT

This is how I feel today. Insane. Crazy. About to snap! Out of control and no one is stopping me! Friend said it's Mercury Retrograde and I keep fighting it. I guess I'm supposed to be planning and getting things in order and not communicating or trying to resolve things with other people. I don't know if I can be patient enough until September 29th. Do I roll with the punches? Time-Out...

Traceyanne and Victoria

Can't get enough of these two....




Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything more recent.

Farmer Dave Scher

Gonna get to see Farmer in all his glory tonite!

Farmer Dave Scher at the Silent Movie Theater from Farmer Dave Scher on Vimeo.

fall (white label) mix

But my favorite was Ghost Mouth...

I went to see Girls last night. I loved it. I haven't been this excited about seeing a band live in a very long time. I stood in front the whole time, took arty pics (what an atrocity) and swayed my head back and forth to each song (and freaked out to "Hellhole Ratrace" and "Lust for Life"). Even a dumb albatross of a girl (who moved like she was on E) spilled red wine on my virginal white BOY (Band of Outsiders) dress * didn't make a damn difference.


There's something about stripes... I couldn't take my eyes off Christopher.


His timing was something to see... How many times did Christopher jerk his left knee up? Like it was some kind of uncontrollable, endearing OCD tick...

I'm growing out my hair again and am dedicating it to Girls.

* (The dress is all cleaned now.)

September is the new January...

The fires are waning... The air is cooling and becoming more bearable. I can go back to the hills for my hikes again... My favorite thing to do is to listen to music (really loud) during these hikes. And I'm in my own little world. It's invigorating and it clears my head (which so clearly needs clearing).

New MAJOR releases this season: The Clientele, Atlas Sound, The XX, Girls and Taken by Trees ...

(Non) Seasonal Music




If I like a song, I'll have it on repeat until I'm satisfied (which could take ages). Click to go to their site for a listen. All gorgeous. All essential. Daily staples.
What can I say? I'm trendy.

There's nothing I wouldn't say to you...

Ask and you shall receive Jeremy. Here's the track you requested. 1993 was a pretty good year for us I reckon...

Doods dig Girls, girls dig Girls... Yes (!) Girls do rule... a lot!

"Sometimes you've just gotta make it for yourself.
Sometimes Sugar, it just takes someone else.
Sometimes you've just gotta make it for yourself.
Sometimes Baby, you just need someone else."

Sunset (Sequoia + Yosemite)

Yosemite... (Please do not feed the animals)

Yosemite in high season is like going to Disneyland on a Saturday.

(Ma, can we go home now?)

Apparently there was a black bear sighting (and subsequent gun shots echoing throughout the night), a rock avalanche and a forest fire. Hectic.

The calm before the storm...


Avalanche!

Herb + Dorothy

The cutest and purest couple: