The Xx Perform Wham's "Last Christmas".

fuck charlie sheen. this is winning.

ride's "going blank again" on 180 gram double vinyl came in the mail today, just in time for christmas. came in the mail. in the MAIL. and appeared so effortlessly on my coffee table. if only everything this great was always that easy. 

Sacramento cool kids Sister Crayon are running up and down the state this week. Continuing to make their homies proud, they play a sold-out show on Saturday in LA at the Troubador with the Tune-Yards, and then notably Sunday's last slot at SF Pride's main stage.

The sun-baked crowd this Sunday will undoubtedly cool down with the trip-hop electric soul of Terra Lopez, Dani Fernandez, Nick Suhr, and Jeffrey LaTour.

Streaming above is a remix of one of my favorite SC songs, "Souls of Gold" by fellow Sac native Raleigh Moncrief. You can find the original on their full-length Bellow, which was released earlier this year on Manimal Vinyl.

I just realized, you know which artist played the last slot at the 2008 pride...?

GAGA. That is all. Congrats, SC. 

I want to go back.

I finally caught The Horrors live at Bimbo's 365 Club in SF last week when they co-headlined two shows with The Black Angels. It was a loud, and achingly gorgeous-sounding set in a beautiful venue.

Back in England, where these decidingly throwback shoegazers are from, they're Album of the Year winners(well, NME says) and doing duets of their single "Still Life" with mega fan Florence Welch. It's about as good as you'd hope, which is close to perfection.

Hey it's like that Usher song, but for the Kate Bush-loving set. Niki and the Dove's "DJ Ease My Mind".  

When I was young, my Mom would take my older sister and I in her modest Toyota Tercel on roads to anywhere and nowhere. Day trips to the Mendocino Coast, or down to Santa Cruz, through vineyards or artichoke fields. There was always a soundtrack for the road, for my mother was still young and big on cassette tapes. INXS, Madonna, and Fine Young Cannibals were heavy in rotation. Lest not forget Pat Benatar. My mom would kill me if I didn't mention her.

Alas, another band was often filling my impressionable ears, whether on the tape deck or ol' KRQR, and that band of course was U2.

Now, you could imagine the shit I've gotten over the years for my penchant for the band's music. Especially from music lovers my age, of whom I've endured so many "Bono sucks" rants I've lost count. 

In part, I understand, Bono's persona is incredibly self-righteous, and he's always had awful hair. It's too bad, because it detracts those who may be so inclined from their music. And their music my friends, has generally been outstanding. In their prime (1980 -1991), the band's catalog is unparalleled. They became the greatest rock and roll band for their passion, their sincerity and their sound, which now has been ape'd like a bad rash (Coldplay would be served well if Chris Martin stuck to his piano).

I have no qualms stating that tonight I'm seeing my all-time favorite band for the first time. I'm not going out on a limb saying I am who I am in part to the music I've grown up listening to, and U2 is a such a significant part of that. 

They're gonna play one of my favorite songs, which you can stream above.

And when they play, I'll sing and holler and put my arm around my brother-in-law(who in fact first saw U2 in '87 for The Joshua Tree tour) and stand in awe of it all. 

The Irish band plays the Oakland Coliseum tonight with Lenny Kravitz.