The Noiseboy Online

1. Miike Snow’s “Animal” is sooooooooooo good. This is my new summer anthem. I wonder if the rest of his stuff is as good?

2. I’ve been listening to a lot of Blip.fm at work. I like queuing up songs the night before and then letting it rip during the workday. Check out my blip for the above song.

3. I’m getting a new roof put on the house today … FINALLY. It only took the ‘lords a couple years to get around to doing it. Soon my records room will no longer leak and I will hopefully spend a lot more time in there. It’s been a kind of depressing place to be over the last few months as my stereo and records have been perpetually covered in towels to keep the rainwater away. And it’s been raining a LOT.

4. I went to Night 1 of the Pitchfork fest this year: Yo La Tengo, Tortoise, and Built to Spill all sounded fine but were BORING to watch. Ten years ago I believe I would have had a much different reaction. I used to LOVE watching Tortoise live, and Yo La blew me away when I saw them on the Electr-o-Pura tour. The Jesus Lizard also blew me away when I saw them in 1995, and they were the lone band on the bill that did it for me this time around, too. I’m not sure what I’m looking for anymore when I see a band perform live. I guess, in large part, it’s the newness that increases the WOW factor. So maybe the fact that this music (Yo La et al.) is so ingrained in my DNA lessens its impact? That doesn’t explain the Lizard, though. David Yow was still every bit your creepy uncle. He crowdsurfed and made snarky comments and just looked like he was having FUN. I’m seriously considering seeing them perform when they reunite again in November.

5. DJ’ing my niece’s wedding was a blast. As someone who typically spins r’n'r in bars for hipsters, it’s relatively rare to see people dance during my sets (unless very drunk). The bars I spin at — people don’t go there to dance. They go there to converse. That doesn’t mean they aren’t appreciative of the music or that they fail to acknowledge the DJ. But they just do it with subtler nods and fist pumps. But at this wedding reception I had the dance floor filled the entire time. Kids, adults, everyone. Playing some stupid dance music (Lady Gaga + Beyonce + Gnarls) was fun, but the crowd really went bonkers for the Michael Jackson/Jackson 5 block in addition to the medley I created for the bride/groom. The latter was an 8-minute block of stuff I mixed together, from the Chiffon’s “He’s So Fine” (from the woman’s perspective) to The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” (from the man’s perspective) to a climatic UB40 cover of “I Got You, Babe” (requested by the bridal party), with Chrissie Hynde playing the part of Cher. Oh, and some old dude requested Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London.” Out of left field? Sure, but I gladly played it.

6. The new job sucks. I’m trying to just accept this.

7. Bike riding. I’m improving a lot. I’ve done 325 miles in a little more than a month, including my first back-to-back 30-mile rides.

8. In late spring I made a commitment to R&B, reading and biking. The biking is working out nicely, but the reading (of books) is lagging behind, unfortunately. Attention span, lengthen please. I think I’m going to tackle Let the Right One In, which everyone says is spectacular. (I enjoyed the movie.)

9. I’ve been riding the bus to work on days that I don’t ride the bike. It’s a 30-minute commute, which I enjoy as it allows me time to knock out a long magazine article. I’ve made it through the previous four issues of Wired, but I need to find something new to read. Speaking of …

10. Does anyone have any reccomendations for site’s they check out on a daily/regular basis that have interesting long-form journalism? The subject matter doesn’t matter all that much. I’m not looking for “newsy” articles, per say. Rather, engaging subjects handled in relative depth. I need some ideas for content to pour over during lunch breaks — things I can simply print off and take with me to the cafe.