The Hot Half Life goes undercover... In Holland, 1945.

Few things in life make me happier than finding out bands I love love the bands I love more than those bands themselves.

And, upon professing such a thought, I realize that reads as a bit convoluted.

To put it a bit more simply, I love Neutral Milk Hotel. I fucking love Neutral Milk Hotel. I also love Kevin Devine, Brand New, Andrew Jackson Jihad and Eisley. And they love Neutral Milk Hotel as well. And that brings my heart an immeasurable amount of joy.



Eisley is a charming band of siblings plus one cousin from Texas that's been making music together for about ten years, since the youngest female member, keyboardist Stacy, was just 8. Their music often gets described as angelic thanks in part to the clear and gorgeous voices of co-singers Stacy Dupree and Sherri formerly-Dupree-once-Gilbert-and-now-Bemis and is frequently compared to fairy tales for Eisley's penchant for unique imagery that occasionally includes princesses and dragons.

I find nothing wrong with writing songs about dragons although I do find Eisley's sugary sweetness best in moderation. They're inarguably beautiful and this cover of Neutral Milk Hotel's amazing and powerful song In The Aeroplane Over The Sea is no different.


Eisley - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea



This is not the first time Andrew Jackson Jihad has graced The Hot Half Life. A spastic, wildly inappropriate and incredibly catchy duo from Arizona, Andrew Jackson Jihad is what you might call "folk-punk" or "anti-folk" if you prefer... Or just plain old "folk". Regardless of what you classify them as, with lyrics like "I like laughing at retards and I like throwing rocks at dogs but darling, I love you", you can definetly call them "polarizing"... Or "awesome". With songs about molestation, the existence of god and murder, it's not a wonder that wikipedia calls them "controversial".

Usually, when I fall in love with a musician, I can hear the influences of the bands they love in their work. However, I was somewhat shocked to find out that Andrew Jackson Jihad had the same adoration for Jeff Mangum as myself. After the shock wore off, however, I found myself thrilled, especially after hearing Sean Bonette's energetic take on Two Headed Boy Part 1.


Andrew Jackson Jihad - Two Headed Boy



Oh, Kevin Devine. Few people I've heard can do a cover like Kevin Devine. Joined in the above photograph by Brand New's Jesse Lacey, another Neutral Milk Hotel afficianado, Kevin Devine seamlessly weaves his own gorgeous inflections into songs by Elliott Smith, Wilco, Concrete Blonde and, of course, Neutral Milk Hotel without disrespecting the original artist in any way or losing any of his own originality. If you need proof more than just the below cover of Holland, 1945 and my humble word, I suggest checking out his cover of You Are My Sunshine, with the lyrics twisted around to become quite the tale of loss.

Brand New, while on album a very electric-based band, have some absolutely breathtaking acoustic cover songs floating around on these here internets and, much like the original, their cover of Oh, Comely is heartwrenching and absolutely gorgeous.


Kevin Devine - Holland, 1945


Brand New - Oh, Comely


Until Jeff Mangum decides to give up his ghosts and do a long awaited solo tour (because secret shows with the Elephant 6 just don't cut it, thank you very much!) or a Neutral Milk Hotel reuniuon, these covers are the best we've got.

Thankfully, they're damn good covers.

The Hot Half Life mourns...

It might seem silly that something such as a music blog can actually alter your life but the now retired Everybody Cares Everybody Understands did just that, occasionally going far past being simple enjoyable reading with great music attached to it to drastically changing my life for the better.

Even if I hadn't previously known the man behind the curtain, Chad, I believe I'd still be mourning the demise of such a wonderful site nonetheless.

Chad, who I've never met in real life but have been communicating with via the internet for too many years to count now, is someone I refer to as my "music guru" or the "indie adult I aspire to become" and I have the utmost respect for the man.

Building upon our mutual respect for bands such as Neutral Milk Hotel, Elliott Smith and Okkervil River, over the many years I've been speaking with Chad, he has introduced me to a plethora of music that my life wouldn't be the same without. My favorite of these contributions was made via his blog when he posted a rave review of the Young Coyotes amazing song Momentary Drowning last summer, heralding it his song of the summer and it quickly became my summer anthem as well. I had the fortune of being one of ten people to see the Young Coyotes play their first Chicago show at Schuba's on Valentine's Day of this year and I got to tell them that Momentary Drowning had quickly reached the top of my most played songs over July and August due to it's dreamy verses, utilization of woah's and handclaps and to think, without Chad, so many less people would be aware of their presence.

Outisde of blogging however, perhaps the most memorable musical contribution of Chad's to my life was the Decemberists. This was years ago, right after the release of Her Majesty. I wasn't a fan of the Decemberists based upon what I'd previously heard and Chad told me to reserve judgement until I heard the song Red Right Ankle. I humored Chad, if memory serves, claiming I would listen to it but knowing I'd never bother. Of course, when I heard Red Right Ankle, I fell in love. Chad was right. Chad was always right about music. So of course he was right about The Decemberists, why should that be any surprise to me?

When I talk to people about indie music, I aspire to be to them what Chad has been to me - Informative and a treasure trove of great, obscure tracks, both new and old, without being snobby or condescending at all. Everybody Cares was by far my favorite music blog with Chad being by far my favorite music blogger and I do find it quite bittersweet that upon The Hot Half Life's return to the blogging world, I find it just that much less special due to the absence of such a beautiful, moving site.

Weekends aren't going to be the same for a while without Sunday Links to look forward to or the amazing Saturday is for Covers feature. People Singing Songs I Love (featuring amazing covers by regular people via youtube of songs such as Paper Planes and In The Aeroplane Over The Sea) posts won't be forgotten. Nor will Chad's full day devoted to the passing of Elliott Smith on the fifth anniversary of his death and I am not ashamed to admit that I cried on more than one occasion when reading the upwards of twenty entries on Elliott that Chad must've posted that day, each just as affecting and interesting as last, all culminating with a repost of Chad's eulogy of sorts for Elliott, eloqunetly stating why his music mattered as much as it did.

So here's to Everybody Cares, a great blog run by a great guy. I aspire to blog half as good as that fellow did on his worst day.


Young Coyotes - Momentary Drowning


The Decemberists - Red Right Ankle


Thankfully however, all hope is not lost and the blogosphere is not completely devoid of Chad. While Everybody Cares is dead and gone and will leave a void, Chad now healms Some Songs Matter where he will be posting once a week on one song and why it matters (thus the title) and he recently posted a beautifully written entry on Okkervil River's Seas to Far to Reach which I couldn't have written better myself and you can read here.

Oh, what a joy to finally be free.

Since the recent resurrection of my hot half life and the blog of the same name, my tiny brain has been a-buzz with ideas of what to blog about. Should I review the new Kevin Devine album? Talk about the great new Metric track, Help I'm Alive? Or should I shed some light on my recent discovery (via my excellent-tasted friend Ryan) of Paul Baribeau?

Well, after not all that much deliberation on the subject at all, I've decided to cover all subjects at once because... Well... Why not? Let's make up for my long internet absence somehow. And I can't think of a better way to do it than with a bombardment of music related facts and opinions.

I've noticed that it's so easy when going through a transitional phase in life to sink to the comfort of the saddest songs and, as I made clear with my last entry heralding the Good Life's Inmates as the current theme to my life, I haven't been completely avoiding that familiar trapping. However, more important to me than that is making like the Hold Steady and staying positive. While Kevin Devine's beautiful new album, Brother's Blood, is full of politics and introspection, the opening track, the amazing All Of Everything Erased, ends with a line that strikes a particular chord in my life at the moment : "Oh, what a joy to finally be free."

I could write novels for years on the beauty of Kevin Devine and the way his work has matured since his years with the snotty-punk leaning rock band Miracle of 86 into what is now acoustic, whispered musings worthy of Elliott Smith but I do feel it necessary to bite my tongue for you see, on May 29th I shall be writing my 3rd Hot Half Life Rocks Out concert review to Kevin Devine and his Goddamn Band at Schuba's so to keep from overloading this here little blog with K. Dev, I must for once shut my mouth and let the song speak for itself.


Kevin Devine - All Of Everything, Erased




If I made music, I imagine it would sound like Emily Haines of Metric. Distant, forlorn and usually rife with clever metaphors and analogies (Like "(Love's) pathetic, it's impossible, like girls in stilettos trying to run." from The Lottery), lyrically, Emily Haines has always impressed me more than most any of her indie, female music counterparts of modern times. While it will come to no surprise to anyone who knows my preference for lo-fi and indie that I prefer her solo work to her work with Metric, I nevertheless have found myself having quite the soft spot for Metric's newest song, Help I'm Alive due to the sheer relatable-ness of the simple refrain "Help, I'm alive, my heart keeps beating like a hammer."

If I could simplify my tomes into verses, I'd hope it would sound like the melancholy lonliness of Metric. Only without a synthesizer or any drum machines.


Metric - Help, I'm Alive




Paul Baribeau was an artist I was, up until last week, blissfully unaware of the existence of until a friend of mine, whilst sitting in the parking lot of Dunkin' Donuts drinking coffee in my car in the rain, introduced me to him in the most perfect way possible - Via his song Ten Things.

Simple and infectious and perhaps the most positive thing this side of that Hold Steady song I mentioned earlier, Ten Things might be the cure for any bad mood. I find it consistently stuck in my head and I've taken the lyrics to heart, from the simple request to "Name ten things you want to do before you die and then go do them" to the slightly more constructive "Think of all the things that are wrong with your life and then go fix them" and "Think of all the mistakes you've made in your life and make sure you never repeat them."

It's probably been sung a million times before in slightly different words with slightly less catchy melodies but for some reason, at this point in my life, this song is doubtlessly the most affecting thing I could have heard in the parking lot of Dunkin' Donuts if not the most affecting thing I will hear all year.


Paul Baribeau - Ten Things


All of the artists I just blogged about are either on tour now or will be soon, so I suggest you check the Myspaces of Mr. Devine, Metric and Paul Baribeau and, as always, if you plan on hitting up the Chicago Kevin Devine or Paul Baribeau show, look for the short, pale brunette in black mini-skirt rocking out as best an indie kid can because that'd be me!

The Hot Half Life Returns!

Older? Slightly. Wiser? Well, considering the status of my life at the moment, I'm not sure if I'd go quite that far but I'm convinced this time to fully learn from the errors brought on by the hot half-life I half live and grow from it. Fact of the matter is that at the end of the month, I shall be 25. And in some respects at least, it's high time I started acting like it.

So what's new in The Hot Half Life Headquarters these days? Well, I'm still the awkwardly optimistic lo-fi loving misanthrope I've always been, moving locales slightly to leave a boy who was, well, to put it simply, a bit detrimental and move in with my sister in everything but blood. And of course, as with every major life upheaval, I lean on the words of others, plagiarizing them and applying them to my own life to find comfort in.

My first major break up was orchestrated to the overwrought emotion of Brand New's The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me, an album I will defend to this day despite its more or less complete lack of all things indie because of Jesse Lacey's beautiful lyrics and the lingering adoration I've felt for him since 18.

This time around however, I've found my life described perfectly by one of the midwest's finest indie rock poets, Tim Kasher via his band The Good Life's Album of the Year.



From meeting in a drunken stupor per the title track to moving too fast and discovering the basis of your relationship is unsound ("Notes In His Pocket", "Lovers Need Lawyers") to finally leaving and, in turn, moving on ("A New Friend"), I've found a kindered spirit in The Good Life with an album I've always consistently admired but never (fortunately) found myself relating to... That is, up until now. That being said, I am glad I have it, particularly the song Inmates.

When I was slightly younger and much more veunerable to things such as heartbreak, Brand New's You Won't Know was my song to lean on, the song that perfectly described my break up to a tee.

Now, I have Inmates with Tim Kasher's jilted lover asking him the same questions I begged of my own boyfriend ("When you said you needed me, did you really need me or was it just someone? Would you take anything?") and staying regardless of distrust and control ("I recognize your off-white lies still I lie beside you and that's what really hurts") until the culmination in both the song any my life of the refusal to stay any longer - "I won't be your prisoner."

It's not easy. It's never easy. But this song make it easier. Friends, going out for coffee, meeting new people and trading mix cds with them after finding out they love Neutral Milk Hotel as much as you do... It all helps. The point here is that the future isn't a bleak thing. I have myself figured out quite well but my problem is that when others are introduced into the mix, things begin to get muddled. But one day, I will meet someone who doesn't complicate anything, who respects me for who I am and realizes me fully and accepts me. Some people have it easy and meet that person when their 18 or in college. Others have, to quote Brand New, a life full of lies and failing relationships and soon 25 rolls around and they're still alone. But I won't be forever. I'm writing again. I'm blogging. I'm happy. And if I have to be alone to be as much, I'd rather be alone the rest of my life.

However, I doubt that will be the case.

The Good Life - Inmates