happy holidays everyone! i’m here to deliver a wonderful little present to you all. greta salpeter (the hush sound) and i recorded a cover of the christmas classic “baby, it’s cold outside”. you can stream the song below or download it over at ap.net. we hope you enjoy it! huge thanks to my brother paul and chris faller from hush for helping us track and arrange the cute little ditty. let me know what you think and have a splendid day!

 

good to see her branching out a bit musically, even if it’s down the already-traveled stefani street.  the video is entertaining nonetheless.  thoughts?

so i was turned on to the amazingness that is SHAKEFACE.  for anyone not in the know, you violently thrash your face back and forth while someone takes a picture.  hilarious results ensue [as you can see above].  so i decided it would be fun to see some of YOUR shakefaces.  show me what ya got!  the best face-shaker will win a prize.  haven’t decided what yet.  i included some of my favorites of my friends below. you got some competition.

LEAVE YOUR PICS IN THE REPLIES! start your shakin’!

 
alex

j

matt

clay

bones

i will be recording a christmas song with my dear friend greta (anyone know her??).  hopefully we’ll have it done in a week, so look out for that.  greta also just showed me this crazy video of stevie wonder doing a drum solo.  incredible.

this book influenced many of the ideas that led to the lyrical concepts on our album wonderland.  it’s dismal futuristic setting mocks and criticizes our society and its values. bizarre, but great. 

Slaughtermatic by Steve Aylett 

this movie is going to be so nuts and surreal.  i can’t wait. if you’re able to, i highly suggest going here and watching the trailer in HD. otherwise, see below!

fueled by ramen, our record label, announced their newest signing today.  phantom planet.  PHANTOM FUCKING PLANET PEOPLE!  how amazing is that??  this is one of my favorite bands, and i couldn’t be more excited about being on the same label as them.  i was reading through a bunch of the responses to this news over at absolutepunk.net and i was quite disappointed to see how many people were bad-mouthing their self-titled release. phantom planet s/t is an amazing, progressive, dirty, aggressive, pop masterpiece.  yes, the guest is amazing. but bands grow.  they breathe and flex and expand.  and that’s what the s/t album is.  if you didn’t give this record a second chance because of its drastic departure from their previous sound, i urge you to go back and listen again.  and again and again and again.

UPDATE! I-5 is supposed to reopen at noon today, so we’re gonna try and make the trek to Portland! hopefully we’ll see you on the other side.. 

bad news.  AS OF NOW, due to the flooding on I-5, we won’t be able to make it to our show in portland tomorrow (12/7).  it’s possible that things could clear up tonight or tomorrow morning, but it’s not looking good. i was really excited to come play, too. if cancellation is inevitable, i apologize to anyone who was planning on seeing us play.  i promise we’ll be back soon to make it up to you. stay tuned for possible changes.

so i just found out about Isaac Brock’s (Modest Mouse) solo work, Ugly Casanova’s Sharpen Your Teeth and I can’t believe I didn’t know about it until now.  It’s a great album and a must-have for any Modest Mouse fan.  Check out ”Parasites” below.