PHIL HAS A BLOG.

i’m thinking about buying the URL philhasacatblog.com, but...

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:00:16 -0400

i’m thinking about buying the URL philhasacatblog.com, but until then… this is killing me.

(drawonthewalls:nickholmes) Charlie had a hole in his heart...

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:56:32 -0400

(drawonthewalls:nickholmes)

Charlie had a hole in his heart that only jazz could fill.

Faith No More - As The Worm Turns (Live) As soon as I read the...

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:07:00 -0400

Faith No More - As The Worm Turns (Live)

As soon as I read the post below, it reminded me of this. Back when I was a teenager, I was an avid Faith No More bootleg collector. And I distinctly remember an exchange between the bandmembers about fake amps on stage. Thirty minutes later, I found the exact bootleg from a show in Los Angeles in 1990. (20 years ago! WHOA!)

I’m not sure if this was the tour where they opened for Metallica or Guns’n’Roses, but both seem like the kind of artists that might have fake amps on stage. Regardless, Sleigh Bells, you’re among pals.

imtoooldforthisshit: Spoiler Alert - Jokes On You Sleigh Bells...

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:03:38 -0400

imtoooldforthisshit:

Spoiler Alert - Jokes On You Sleigh Bells fans! Ryan Muir cracks the case for Baratunde Thurston.

I got a kick out of this, because it reminded me that bands have been doing this for a LONG TIME and Sleigh Bells is following in a long-standing arena rock tradition. See my next post.

welcome to “midtown” i make no effort in hiding the...

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 11:01:21 -0400

welcome to “midtown”

i make no effort in hiding the love for my little neighborhood. people swear by how great it is to live in richmond’s various neighborhoods - the fan, church hill, jackson ward. people have a lot of pride in their little parts of the city.

outside of my friends, not a lot of people sing the praises of monroe ward, where i currently live, or as we lovingly refer to it, midtown. the whole “midtown” thing started out as a joke. we were talking about the juxtaposition in our neighborhood between the good things like art galleries and the more sketchier elements like the bail bonds place that opened across the street. calling it “midtown” was our way of jokingly acknowledging and embracing the sketchiness.

the truth is, my neighborhood has been growing leaps and bounds in the past year. instead of empty buildings with “for lease” signs, i’m seeing a lot more businesses popping up. it seemed to start with the opening of the belvidere down the street, which is an incredible restaurant. then in the past few weeks i’ve seen some really exciting developments - two advertising/branding shops have opened up within walking distance. next door to me is the branding shop, release the hounds, which is brand new and seems to be doing some really cool work. they also have a kick-ass logo. another agency, INM united, opened up one block down in this AMAZING space that i’ve always had my eyes on over the years. it looks like they do a lot of different stuff but a lot of digital work and apparently they’re also “great kissers” according to one of the signs on their window. awesome.

then, of course, there’s a much-rumored retail shop opening right across the street which is really exciting, but i’m not sure i’m supposed to know about it / talk about it, so we’ll keep it under wraps for now.

it’s just so rad to see these new local businesses finding a home in my little neighborhood next to the businesses that have been holding it down in “midtown” for years: the mindblowingly awesome crew at quirk gallery and all the other galleries (including my downstairs neighbor 1708 gallery), the to-die-for food at comfort, and the hangout spot lift coffee shop.

while i sometimes think i’d like to live in a quieter, less action-packed neighborhood (especially at 2:00am), this place definitely feels the most like home.

Photo

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 22:39:04 -0400

Photo

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 22:37:58 -0400

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-7-25)

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:05:44 -0400

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-7-25):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

Belle & Sebastian - Sukie in the...

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:06:27 -0400

Belle & Sebastian - Sukie in the Graveyard

(via:asongtomakeitbetter)

On Saturday in Philly, a bunch of us went to this really cool bar National Mechanics for a Belle & Sebastian dance party. Lauren, who was previously supposed to be out of town, knew she was missing it and promptly forgot about it. So when she ended up staying in town, it popped back up on our radar, and was super excited to check it out.

I am not super familiar with Belle & Sebastian. I only know a handful of songs, but I really had a lot of fun seeing all these people who CLEARLY loved them dancing to their songs and having an all-around sweaty good time. There’s something magical about a one-act dance party. It only attracts the most serious fans. Everyone was dancing because everyone loved Belle & Sebastian. Otherwise, why the hell would you be there?

The whole thing got me inspired to do a one-artist night in Richmond. The first artist that comes to mind, obviously, is The Smiths/Morrissey, but I don’t know if I’m the right DJ to pull it off. I talked to Kenny about it and he has his doubts, as Richmond is a considerably smaller city than Philly, but I think it could work. Sadly, all the artists I really love with a catalog big enough to host a full dance night are sad bastard artists that no one would want to dance to.

Ryan Adams/Whiskeytown dance night, anyone?

DJ Robot E. Lee: Unplugged

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:33:00 -0400

No, I’m not trying to start an acoustic DJ night…

My shit actually got unplugged on Friday during my DJ set, not once but TWICE!

I’m still trying to piece together what happened, but apparently these two weirdo drunk out-of-town dudes were fucking around near my power outlet that ALL my gear was plugged into. I’m not sure if it was done intentionally or if it was due to them bumping it… but regardless, all the music stopped DEAD and my mixer went to black. I was like SHIIIIIIIIT.

Fortunately, I managed to recover pretty quickly and people generally seemed sympathetic. No one was like “Fuck you buddy!” or anything, so that’s a plus. The good news is that was the ONLY bad moment of Friday night. The entire night was a huge success. All week leading up to the event, I had some serious doubts that people would be attending. There was a lot of stuff going on in town and it was a hot summer night. I was totally surprised to look up halfway through the night and see a PACKED dance floor along with people dancing on the benches along the rear wall. AWESOME.

Things ended perfectly with R. Kelly’s “Ignition”. I can’t seem to ever DJ without playing that song. It’s just TOO GOOD. After the night ended, I packed up and headed to Parkberry pool for more late-night shenanigans.

MY UNPLUGGERS, on the other hand, had a quite different night. Supposedly after getting kicked out of Cous Cous, they got in a fight outside with some random dudes, spray painted a wall nearby, got caught by the cops, and spent the night in JAIL.

So, at 4:00am, I was drunk in a pool with a bunch of fun people and they were getting fingerprinted.

So, think about THAT next time you think of fucking with the DJ.

bear in heaven - lovesick teenagers

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 08:24:59 -0400

bear in heaven - lovesick teenagers

seattle could be fun.

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 22:59:31 -0400

seattle could be fun.

lynnasparkles: TRUTH!!! THIS x1000

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 13:42:52 -0400

lynnasparkles:

TRUTH!!!

THIS x1000

it’s friday. at last. and that means it’s time for...

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 09:52:44 -0400

it’s friday. at last.

and that means it’s time for the SWEDISH CHEF!

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-7-18)

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 22:06:41 -0400

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-7-18):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

wanderlustandtethers: Day 03 – A song that makes you...

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 20:53:00 -0400

wanderlustandtethers:

Day 03 – A song that makes you happy

Another easy one. Brett and Phil (thechildrenofactors) and (bringonthetragedy) covering Oh My Sweet Carolina, a song Ryan Adams and Emmylou Harris recorded.

This was a show at Rumors Boutique in Richmond, VA either late January or early February of 2008.

Ryan Adams is great, Emmylou is a goddess, this song is wonderful, and when these guys sing, perma-smile. Easy.

Oh man, memories! Brett and I need to sing together more often.

I’m really glad you got this on video. Thank you!

I'm Too Old For The Pitchfork Music Festival.

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 10:00:06 -0400

I'm Too Old For The Pitchfork Music Festival.:

The fine folks at I’m Too Old For This Shit asked me to write (whine) about my experience at the Pitchfork Music Festival last weekend.

I, of course, complied.

Enjoy!

lcd soundsystem - drunk girls drunk girls get invitations from...

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 23:00:44 -0400

lcd soundsystem - drunk girls

drunk girls get invitations from nations

they got the patience of millions of saints

they steal, they steal from the cupboard

drunk girls like to file complaints

(meowpewmeow:eatbird) Also, there’s this.

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:33:31 -0400

(meowpewmeow:eatbird)

Also, there’s this.

interesting google facts.

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:31:35 -0400

so i posted something recently about a certain dude who shared my name.

when i googled this fellow, i quickly realized something a little scary. MY blog popped up at the top of page two. OOPS.

so then i googled my name and then the word “blog”… i was the first result.

SHIT.

you see, i’ve always relied on a bit of anonymity due to the common nature of my name. frankly, there’s a ton of phil’s with my last name doing all kinds of different things and, well, i kinda relied on that to hide from current employers and prospective employers and old flames and stalkers.

now i’m realizing that maybe i have been a little liberal with my name out there. not that i have much to hide. i guess i’m pretty open on this blog, but i never talk about specifics about my work or say anything that could get me into any kind of trouble. but STILL.. it’s a bit of a scary/difficult thing when you try to be open on the internet but still retain a little privacy too.

so that said, i deleted my last post. so if you saw it for a hot second and wondered why it’s gone, that’s why.

also, i am researching how to legally change my last name to one that will keep me hidden on the internet FOREVER… I’ll become…

PHIL COLLINS.