How To Be Cool #1

Sooooooo cool

Current Obsession: Lo-Fi So-Cal Chick Rock

It’s snowing here on this dreary Monday morning in Chicago but listening to these new Best Coast tunes it feels like a cool 82 degrees in Los Angeles. Like a lazy Sunday afternoon at Venice Beach; sun tan lotion and flavor ice; the mexican man with the cooler is shouting “Mango, mango!” somewhere far off in the distance. Catchin’ Zzz’s.

I will admit that the whole Vivan Girls, Dum Dum girls, lo-fi nonsense is getting old, however these tunes from Southern California’s Best Coast have a certain melodic freshness to them that cuts through the scenester bull shit and feels much more honest than their peers. So far the band has released only a handful of  7-inches and singles but an album should be around the corner in 2010. Check it out and stay warm, chillens.

mp3: “When I’m With You”

More @ http://www.myspace.com/bestycoasty

Eddie O’KEEFE

Alfred Wertheimer’s Photos of a Young King

Dear, entire generation of those indifferent to Elvis, I give you these:

Taken by Alfred Wertheimer, in 1956 at the beginning of Elvis mania, these photos present a young man who hasn’t quite grown into his fame; a young man ignorant to what his life would become in the next few decades. The cataclysmic figure that would eventually become ELVIS, is presented here as a mere boy. It’s a humbling set of photographs that humanize the man and present him in a rare and vulnerable light.

Eddie O’KEEFE

Fox

Favorite Films of the Naughts!

In correlation with my favorite albums of the naughts list, I have also compiled a list of my top ten favorite movies of the last ten years.

10. The Squid and The Whale – Dir. Noah Baumbach

9. Ghost World – Dir. Terry Zwigoff

8. Mulholland – Dr. Dir. David Lynch

7. Almost Famous – Dr. Cameron Crowe

6. Amelie – Dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet

5. No Country For Old Men – Dir. The Coen Brothers

4. Y Tu Mama Tambien – Dir. Alfonso Cuaron

3. There Will Be Blood – Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson

2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – Dir. Michel Gondry

1. The Royal Tenenbaums – Dir. Wes Anderson

Eddie O’KEEFE

More Brando…Less Lambert

Favorite Albums of the Naughts (Updated)

Since everybody seems to be making these goofy lists, I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon as well. Below is my list of the top ten records made between 2000 and 2009 (ages 11 to 21), which had the largest effect on me in my adolescent years. I’m not going to expound upon each one and justify their inclusion on my list, that’s for Pitchfork to worry about.

1. The Strokes – Is This It

2. Black Lips – Let It Bloom

3. The White Stripes – Elephant

4. Interpol – Turn On the Bright Lights

5. Yo La Tengo – And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out

6. My Morning Jacket – At Dawn

7. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

8. Black Lips – Good Bad Not Evil

9. Amy Winehouse – Back To Black

10. The Thrills – So Much For The City

Honorable Mentions:

Beck – Sea Change, Of Montreal – Satanic Panic In The Attic, Deerhunter – Microcastle, Radiohead – In Rainbows, The Strokes – Room On Fire, My Morning Jacket – Z, King Khan & BBQ – What’s For Dinner?, Peter Bjorn & John – Writer’s Block, The Kings Of Leon – Aha Shake Heartbreak, Little Joy – S/T, Phoenix – It’s Never Been Like That, Cut Copy – In Ghost Colors, The White Stripes – Get Behind Me Satan, Wilco – A Ghost Is Born, The Shins – Oh, Inverted World, Devendra Banhart – Nina Rojo, Paul Westerberg – 49:00, Outkast – Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

All in all, I think we can safely say the 2000s brought us more musical joy and invention than the 90s. Cheers to the next ten years!

Eddie O’KEEFE

P.S. Perhaps I’ll do a top ten films of the naughts as well. We’ll see.

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Raise your hand if you think The Teenage Dead was a complete failure.

Eddie O’KEEFE

Vote For “Facebook Chat Flirtation!”

Hey friends,

The Teenage Head’s “Facebook Chat Flirtation,” is a semi-finalist in The Second City’s 50th Anniversary viral video contest! It’s us and 14 other (not as funny) videos. The top five with the most votes then goes on to the final round and are judged by Fred Willard, Rachel Dratch, Jeff Garlin and Mick Napier! The link to the videos and the poll is below:

Click Here!

Eddie O’KEEFE