Charlie the 9th grade Blacklight Kid saw Neil Young the other night. He checked in:

It was Death Cab For Cutie and Neil Young and it was at the Comcast Arena in Everett. I was there for Neil Young. Death Cab played a mixed set of new and old songs and I was getting more and more excited as the night wore on. I was waiting for Neil. His set started out with a feedback frenzy of wide-stanced solos and fist-pumping power-chords.

He played old favorites like “Hey Hey My My”, “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere”, and “Cinnamon Girl”. He paused one time and said, “This is a new song…it sounds a lot like the other ones” And tore into “Spirit Road” off of his most recent album Chrome Dreams II.

He went acoustic for classics like “Heart of Gold” and “Old Man.” He stepped up to the organ to play “Mother Earth”. He ended the night with “Rockin’ in the Free World” which built up to a free for all with Neil dueling it out with Ben Keith. It was a never-ending ending of fuzz and cymbals. He finally stopped by tearing the strings from his guitar and using them like mallets on the pick-ups. He was whipping his guitar. He walked off with the amp still emitting echoes of feedback.

Was it good?
Charlie: It was Neil Young.

Are you a big Neil Young fan?
Yes. I’m a very big Neil Young fan.

How did you get into Neil Young?
My Dad.

Were there a lot of old people there?
It was a pretty even mix.

How was Death Cab?
They weren’t bad. I was there for Neil.

Did you have a lot of homework?
Yeah. Algebra and Spanish. I got it finished before the concert.

How would Neil Young do in Algebra?
I think he would do well. He seems like he knows math and has a good memory.

Because I will put a lezbo ring on it ANY TIME, ANY PLACE. Your new single/video is giving me some serious feeeeeeeelings!!!

Plus, as a friend pointed out, it's clearly the choreographical descendant of this:

If you need me, I'll be done watching these two videos approximately NEVER.

UPDATE!
Apparently Stranger columnist Michaelangelo Matos already posted this extremely brilliant comparison on a very, very popular blog that I do not read (I try to stay at least 2-3 weeks behind the times). Sorry, Michaelangelo Matos!

But still, my desire to get suuuper Single White Female on Beyonce will not be silenced (where can I buy one of those Leotards of the Future?).

Via noiseaddicts.com:

Paul Mawhinney was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. Over the years he has amassed what has become the world’s largest record collection. Due to advancing age, financial issues, health issues and a struggling record industry Paul has been forced to sell his collection…. AGAIN.

Read the complete story at www.NoiseAddicts.com.

I would LOVE to get my hands on his Christmas music collection... I'm a sucker for good Christmas songs.

NW Stand Up or whatever! Mingle is sittin pretty on the charts right now. Anybody who caught them at Block Party knows why- even me, who was blacked the fuck out for a good portion of their performance. In the immortal words of Barfly- "No one can start us now".

For good measure, check out this vintage ('06) interview I did with TSK:

Thursday Plantation - The Saturday Knights from Propadata Films on Vimeo.

Paul scooped me on this one (see below) so I'll provide a few extra links. First, Delia beat matching ... probably sometime around the Summer of Love.

I like to think this video gives a little weight to Brian Eno's suggestion (can't find the reference) that the invention of the digital sampler was merely a mechanical innovation, as opposed to an aesthetic or functional one. Tape Loops 4 Eva!

More of Ms. Derbyshire's work can be heard at her "official website."

P.S. The original Doctor Who theme song is sublime. Fact.

Some Girl Talk fan out there has a lot of free time on his hands, but at least he's using it for creative endeavors instead of watching daytime TV, eating chips and masturbating like most people with nothing to do. Who knows if this YouTuber plans on creating videos for the entire Feed the Animals record, but he's finished the 2nd and 3rd tracks and they came out pretty impressive:

Girl Talk plays the Capitol Hill Block Party on Friday, July 25th.

His name is Pico. He plays bass for a band called Woody Hagfy and he told me his dream. Or loosely told me after he had a slugfest battle between himself and a two pitchers of PBR.

What does Woody Hagfy sound like?
Pico: Like a piñata full of sex.

Who is Woody Hagfy?
Woody Hagfy stands for ‘Why Don’t You Go Outside and Play Hide and Go Fuck Yourself?’

Excellent. Do you have any shows coming up?
We don’t do shows.

What was your dream?
I dreamt that I was being punished by Jerry Garcia for making fun of Dead Heads. Instead of following the Dead in the dream, I had to follow My Chemical Romance. I had to stand outside all the shows with a box full of puppies and let Goth people pet them.

How did the dream end?
There was another Katrina flood during one of the shows and everyone was trapped in the arena. After a while all the food ran out and everyone wanted to eat the puppies. There were all these starving Goth teens chasing after me trying to eat the puppies.

What do you think it means?
I don’t really care what it means.

Do you like My Chemical Romance?
No.

Do you like the Grateful Dead?
No.

What do you like?
I like piñatas.

For maximum enjoyment of sunny spring days in Seattle, listen to these songs, in this order, all day long.

1. Cheap Trick, "Come On, Come On" (studio version)
2. The Lightning Seeds, "All I Want"
3. The Lightning Seeds, "Pure"
4-13. The entirety of Marshall Crewshaw's Field Day
14. Cheap Trick, "If You Want My Love"
15. Cheap Trick, "Surrender" (live version)

The best mix in the long-running DJ-Kicks series, Kid Loco's installment, faces a serious challenge in the near future, Burial's installment. Burial is the moment in the production of new music. Where he is is where all most go before becoming something that is no longer in the past. A mix by him will, one, reveal what it is that leads up to him and, two, currently nourishes his thinking processes. Burial is the sound of "chains clanging loudly," the deep "sound of the underground train."

Natalie showing some African men the amazing things that American girls can do.

Five Metro Station fans braving the freezing rain and snow until Neumo's box office opens.

Seen at: King Cobra's Grand Opening with Three Inches of Blood, Book of Black Earth, Toxic Holocaust, Plaster

Why are you moshing so hard?

'Cuz I love metal!

What is your favorite kind of cake?

German chocolate.

Which is sweeter, metal or German chocolate?

Metal.

Seen at: A Gun That Shoots Knives EP release party, Sunset Tavern, Saturday, 1/12

_{Photo by Trent Moorman}

Do you love A Gun That Shoots Knives?
They saved my life. Before I first saw them I thought everything was bullshit. Now they make me wanna be a better person. They make me wanna hug more.

Why a goose?
Because the walrus outfit was too bulky.

Seen at: Gabriel Teodros & Khingz, Bambu, Sleep of Oldominion, and Orbitron at Neumo's on 1/10

Are you having a good time?
Yeah, it's great!

What's your favorite part about the local hip hop scene?
For me, it feels like family. It feels like everyone is real. You see them out on the block, you see them hanging out, you see them getting coffee. They are polite. Also, it's all about the lyrics for me.

In the Sonic Youth song "Death Valley '69," I always thought they were singing: "City I Love It." Which is a pretty cool thing to sing.

But it turns out they're saying: "Sadie, I Love It." Which (Witch!) is a really really cool thing to sing.

Right on.

Watch out, pigs.

Seen at: The Lashes, Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground, the Lonely H, Ships @ the Vera Project Saturday 1/5

Why are you dressed as a ninja?
It's a stupid tradition of mine. I dress as a ninja at every show I go to. Usually my costume is much more complex but I found out I was going to this at the last minute.

Who are you going to vote for in the 2008 presidential election?
There is no candidate quite strong enough.