Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Props to Karen O- Yeah Yeah Yeah's.

I LIKE KAREN O. For those of you in the dark, she is the lead singer for the Yeah Yeah Yeah's. I share a few similarities with this woman, but for the most part there are numerous things I admire about her.


Don't get me wrong, the last thing I want is to be a woman in her prime, but the redeeming qualities of Karen O are to envy. First, although she has attained main stream commercial success and fame, she still maintains indie status among that indie circle. It's not often that you can find an artist that straddles between commercial success and indie acclaim. What is indie you ask? As defined in wikipedia, an indie rocker is someone who places a premium on maintaining complete control of their music.

On that note, it is often too tempting to give up artistic ownership to a Hollywood music label interested only in creating mediocre songs for maximum profits. However, the Yeah Yeah Yeah's have reached commercial success without having to succumb to this usual temptation. You may disagree with me, but I wholeheartedly believe in the premium they take to control their music.

Nowhere is this control more evident than in their process of making a new album: They leave New York or L.A. behind and head to a secluded barn somewhere in the Northeast. This arrangement deters outside influences and temptations. Can you imagine spending six to eight months out in the middle of nowhere to work on music?; that involves a lot of dedication. Listen to my favorite song on their new album, It's Blitz:



Aside from controlling the quality of her music, Karen O also tries to maintain the quality of her image. A few years ago she was offered a spread on Playboy, and I am not surprised - if you look closely at her photo she does have the quality of a 1970's porn star, with the pouty lips, high cheekbones. However, she is quoted as saying that she would refuse any such offer, as the audience for Playboy is not one she wishes to attract. Talk about ideals; I'm sure they offered her a hefty sum for that spread!

Aside from Karen O's success and fame, which I do not possess, we are similar in a few ways. We are both 30 years old. In middle school, we wore baggy pants and listened to Dr. Dre and Snoop Dog; In high school, we were part of the grunge scene and listened to Nirvana; In college, we were influenced by the indie scene in New York and LA. Karen is not interested in labels, but in style. Her style suites her well, and speaks a multitude about her personage. Don't you think?

Cheers to you Karen O. Thanks for being steadfast and unwavering about your vision. It shows that you don't have to give up your ideals to be successful and famous in this world!

Karen O. currently resides in Silverlake in Los Angeles like all the indie rockers and indie superstars. Maybe one day I will also live in LA.

SFMOMA & AMBER

With time on my hands, I ventured out into the city alone on a Sunday. I started-off at the the SFMOMA to view the new rooftop garden which I had seen numerous times in glossy computer- rendered form, but was unpleasantly surprised that the actual built-form wasn't as cool. Despite that, my trip to the museum wasn't entirely disappointing: The musuem always has a fresh round of installations, which I try to visit at least once every six months. This installation was particularly interesting:




Here is a description from the SFMOMA site in response to the artist's intention and meaning:

Fritsch's intention is to lodge an indelible visual image in the mind of the viewer, indissolubly fusing experience and memory. Although some viewers may find the poodles threatening, they also appear to be on alert watch, guarding over the child. And despite the ominous atmosphere, a strange undercurrent of humor is present in the quirky oddness of both the poodles and the baby.

After the museum, I ventured over to the Mission to see Francisco Fernandez from the Ferocious Few perform on stage. I was getting restless standing in a crowd of obnoxious "dirty hipster meets vegan hippie meets political activist" types! I think I sat there for an hour talking to no one waiting for the onstage performance before I decided to bail.

After the show I headed over to Amber, one of the last remaining smoking bars in the city. I sat there, expecting to have a quiet Sunday evening alone observing the other patrons. But for some reason or another, as the night wore on, everyone at the bar became so friendly with everyone else.


My first friendly encounter was with a beautiful African American gal studying acting in Denver. We psychoanalyzed her movie preferences before her boyfriend came to pick her up. Once that conversation ended, I started up another one with a writer. He and I had a great conversation about the anti-semitic author H.P. Lovecraft and his most reknowned book " the Call of Cathulhu". When the writer left his seat for the night, a sound engineer took-over and explained to me his occupation more thoroughly. Then, out of the blue, this lesbian British girl comes up to me and asks "Honey, how are you?"- with the expected accent of course.

Unfortunately, I don't remember any of their names, but the ability to sit down and be amongst the company of interesting strangers is god-sent. At intermitten times when a stranger had not come to keep me company, at least the good ol' rock n' roll music was there to listen to. Strangers are friends without mutual baggage. I left the bar so happy, and walked to BART feeling that I hadn't wasted that Sunday at all. To be amongst the company of strangers and to exchange all those ideas is so amazing to me. Equally as fun is roaming around the city alone, venturing out to familiar places with unexpected outcomes.