I Know that You Want the Candy.

Oh yeah, I’m going. Nickel Eye opens, too.

under the influence

After a whole weekend of cool but sunny weather, Topsfield Fair-going, apple picking and cider drinking, I’m sure I touched every Fall base available. Include terrible allergy attacks provided by petting zoos in the list – even that felt good after all.

 

The other day I explored our CD collection in search of tracks that would mach the season during my Commuter Rail rides to Boston. The result was a mix of Neil Young and The Kinks with newer bands, like the ultimate candidates for best album of ’08, the Fleet Foxes. I also shopped around Hype Machine in search of even newer stuff and realized I had missed Jenny Lewis’ newest solo album’s release, and downloaded a couple of tracks to sense where the girlie girl was headed this time.

 

pick your own apple

 

 

 Turns out that Acid Tongue sounded better than I expected and I eventually found myself driving up to New Hampshire, Applecrest-bound, wrapped in the singer’s tunes. The album, as you Rilo Kiley fan would expect, has that witty aura that Lewis drags around as part of her vintage wardrobe. Besides the fact that she doesn’t mind telling you how she felt about that acid trip, Jenny doesn’t let her ultra-feminine side drop for a minute. The result is a charming, full of personality, soul-filled disc with hints of country here and there. Just in time for that plaid shirt trend to settle in.

 

For their October It Girl issue, Nylon Magazine picked Zooey Deschanel to illustrate their cover (who else!?). In the article, the actress-turned-singer – who also collaborates in Acid Tongue – reveals her admiration for Jenny’s work:

 

Jenny has such a magical amazing voice. It’s just beautiful. Everything she does has a golden touch

 

Call me naive, but I really only linked both girls when I read that interview. It all made sense when I saw them connected though. Unconsciously they probably always shared the same class of women living in my head: the smart, high-waisted skirt lovers, music inspired, It Girls.

 

 

 

 

 

“a small step for a man…”

My debut as an editorial intern at the Improper Bostonian.

don’t vote.

Loved it.

And while I wait until I’m able to vote, I have to recognize that my 1997 crush for Leonardo Di Caprio kinda kicked in when I watched this video.

PS: Vice-presidential Debate tonight! Besides checking that out, make sure you TiVo SNL this weekend. Tina Sarah Palin Fey strikes again.

On His Way

Last night I dreamed I was at some airport and bumped into Ben Kweller. He had his wife and kid by his side but apparently wasn’t going anywhere so we sat down to talk for a little while. Considering I’m a fan I didn’t really relax or stopped thinking about all the questions I wanted to ask him about his recent work. I tried to sound professional but always ended up feeling a little silly.

This has actually happened before, I mean, in real life. Back in February of ’06, I drove down to Connecticut to watch a concert and got there two hours early (at that point, I was only here for a couple of months and  wasn’t so sure about the distance between CT and Boston). When I got there, my curiosity led me into the auditorium and I ended up watching the whole sound check, no one else around. At the end I walked towards the stage and asked Ben if I could introduce myself – I’m not an autograph person. We talked about the coming album “Ben Kweller”, his fans in Brazil and took a picture. He is THE nicest guy in rock n’ roll, no doubt about it.

BK is coming out with a new album, “Changing Horses”, in September and I’ve been keeping an eye on the media for news. The other day the My Old Kentucky Blog posted a great review about one of his last concerts, in which he debuted a few songs off of it.

According to Ben, his new album reflects changes in many aspects of his life. He recently moved back to Texas, where he grew up. After living in New York for years, he’s been looking to buy a ranch and writing country inspired songs. The MYOKB interview also reveals the influence of the ‘truck driver culture’ over his new music: “..he will also release a tour-only EP entitled How ya lookin’ Southbound? Comein… (He was very specific with me about the punctuation and spelling on that title, being that it’s proper trucker lingo and all.)”

Here’s a video I found on YouTube of one of his new songs, “Fight”. That’s pretty much all we can count on at the moment. Kweller decided to kick off the “Changing Horses” tour in Europe and the album won’t be available before the Fall (Wikipedia is saying it will only be released on January ’09, but I’m keeping my faith here, if you don’t mind).

 Also, I found a BK version of Willie Mason’s “Waiter at the Station” and decided to add it to the post. Some blogs are saying it’s another new song, but that’s just poor research. The song is beautiful though, worth the download.

Ben Kweller – Waiter at the Station.mp3